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Title: A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year
       Volume Two (of Three)

Author: Edwin Emerson

Release Date: October 12, 2008 [EBook #26901]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NINETEENTH CENTURY ***




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  [Illustration: THE FIRST STEAM RAILWAY
    Painted by Edward L Henry, N.A.
    Copyright by C. Klackner]




  A HISTORY OF
  THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
  YEAR BY YEAR

  BY

  EDWIN EMERSON, Jr.

  Member of the American Historical Association, New York
  Historical Society, Franklin Institute of Philadelphia,
  Honorary Member of the Royal Philo-Historical Society
  of Bavaria, etc., etc.

  WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
  GEORG GOTTFRIED GERVINUS

  ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTEEN COLORED PLATES AND
  THIRTY-TWO FULL-PAGE, HALF-TONE CUTS
  AND TWO MAPS

  _IN THREE VOLUMES--VOLUME TWO_

  [Illustration]

  NEW YORK

  P.F. COLLIER AND SON

  MCMII




  COPYRIGHT, 1900

  By EDWIN EMERSON, Jr.

  [Illustration]




  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  VOLUME TWO


  FULL PAGES IN COLOR

  THE FIRST STEAM RAILWAY. Painted by Edward L. Henry      _Frontispiece_

  BALAKLAVA. Painted by Elizabeth Thompson (Lady Butler)

  SOLFERINO. Painted by E. Meissonier

  LAST MOMENTS OF MAXIMILIAN. Painted by J. Paul Laurens


  FULL PAGES IN BLACK AND WHITE

  AMERICAN INVENTORS. Painted by C. Schussele

  THE KING OF ROME. Painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence

  LORD BYRON. Painted by Maurin

  BEETHOVEN AND HIS ADMIRERS. Painted by A. Grafle

  QUEEN VICTORIA TAKING THE OATH. Painted by Sir George Hayter

  LORD TENNYSON. Painted by Frederic Sandys

  WASHINGTON IRVING AND HIS FRIENDS. Painted by Daniel Huntington

  THE BATTLE OF INKERMANN. Painted by Gustave Doré

  WAGNER AND LISZT. Painted by W. Beckmann

  OPENING OF THE OPERA. Painted by Edouard Detaille

  EXECUTION OF SEPOY REBELS. Painted by Verestchagin

  THE EMPEROR OF CHINA RECEIVING THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS.




1816


[Sidenote: Parliamentary rule in France]

[Sidenote: Revival of French letters]

An era of peace and reconstruction had begun. After a generation of war and
turmoil France was started on her new career of parliamentary government.
The brief period of retaliation ended with the so-called amnesty act of
January, which condemned Napoleon and all his relatives to perpetual exile.
The Chambers now entered into a prolonged discussion of the propositions
for a new election law. The Ministry was headed by the Duc de Richelieu,
who had taken the place of Talleyrand and Fouché. The latter was compelled
to leave France forever. Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, who succeeded Davoust,
reorganized the army on a permanent footing of military equality which
satisfied even Napoleon's veterans. In the Chambers, the Comte d'Artois
represented the ultra-royalist right wing, while the left was brilliantly
led by Lafayette, Manuel, and Benjamin Constant. Guizot, during the same
year, for the first time ascended the tribune as spokesman of the moderate
party--the so-called Doctrinaires. Chateaubriand so offended the king by
his book "La Monarchie selon la Charte" that his name was crossed from the
list of the Council of State. Yet he remained the foremost man of letters
in France.

[Sidenote: Béranger]

Béranger was the foremost lyric poet. A typical song by him is that
rendered by Thackeray:

  With pensive eyes the little room I view,
    Where, in my youth, I weathered it so long;
  With a wild mistress, a stanch friend or two,
    And a light heart still breaking into song:
  Making a mock of life, and all its cares,
    Rich in the glory of my rising sun,
  Lightly I vaulted up four pair of stairs,
    In the brave days when I was twenty-one.

  Yes; 'tis a garret--let him know't who will--
    There was my bed--full hard it was and small;
  My table there--and I decipher still
    Half a lame couplet charcoaled on the wall.
  Ye joys, that Time hath swept with him away,
    Come to mine eyes, ye dreams of love and fun;
  For you I pawned my watch how many a day,
    In the brave days when I was twenty-one.

  And see my little Lizette, first of all;
    She comes with pouting lips and sparkling eyes;
  Behold, how roguishly she pins her shawl
    Across the narrow easement, curtain-wise;
  Now by the bed her petticoat glides down,
    And when did woman look the worse in none?
  I have heard since who paid for many a gown,
    In the brave days when I was twenty-one.

  One jolly evening, when my friends and I
    Made happy music with our songs and cheers,
  A shout of triumph mounted up thus high,
    And distant cannon opened on our ears:
  We rise,--we join in the triumphant strain,--
    Napoleon conquers--Austerlitz is won--
  Tyrants shall never tread us down again,
    In the brave days when I was twenty-one.

  Let us be gone--the place is sad and strange--
    How far, far off, these happy times appear;
  All that I have to live I'd gladly change
    For one such month as I have wasted here--
  To draw long dreams of beauty, love, and power,
    From founts of hope that never will outrun,
  And drink all life's quintessence in an hour,
    Give me the days when I was twenty-one!

It was the period of a new revival for French literature.

[Sidenote: Reaction in southern Europe]

In the other Latin countries, Spain, Portugal and Italy, the restoration of
the old monarchies was not attended by like beneficent results. In Spain,
the re-establishment of the Inquisition stifled free thought and free
speech to such a degree that some of the most progressive Spaniards
emigrated to the revolted Spanish dependencies in America. The return of
Bourbon rule in Naples and Sicily was made odious by a general suppression
of Freemasons and kindred secret societies.

[Sidenote: Metternich's influence]

[Sidenote: German Confederation established]

[Sidenote: The Frankfort Diet]

In the German States, similar measures of persecution were invoked against
the student societies at the universities. The University of Erfurt was
suspended. The Duke of Hesse, who had gained early notoriety by renting his
subjects to foreign armies, now revived corporal punishment together with
the stocks and other feudal institutions. In Wurtemberg serfdom was
re-established. Throughout Germany the reactionary suggestions of Prince
Metternich were carried into effect. A good opportunity for Metternich to
assert his ascendency was presented by the first session of the new German
Diet. Late in the year the delegates from all the States of the New
Germanic Confederation met at Frankfort, Austria holding the permanent
presidency. Count Buol von Schauenstein opened the Diet with a solemn
address, which fell flat. First of all, it was settled that Hesse would
have to cede a large part of Westphalia to Prussia. Next, the title of the
Duke of Cambridge to rule as Regent in Hanover was fully recognized. In
all resolutions relating to fundamental laws, the organic regulations of
the Confederation, the _jura singulorum_ and matters of religion, unanimity
was required. All the members of the Confederation bound themselves neither
to enter into war nor into any foreign alliance against the Confederation
or any of its members. The thirteenth article declared, "Each of the
confederated States will grant a constitution to the people." The sixteenth
placed all Christian sects on an equality. The eighteenth granted freedom
of settlement within the Confederation, and promised "uniformity of
regulation concerning the liberty of the press." The fortresses of
Luxemburg, Mainz and Landau were declared common property and occupied in
common by their troops. A fourth fortress was to be raised on the Upper
Rhine with twenty millions of the French contribution money. This was never
done. For future sessions of the Diet the votes were so regulated that the
eleven States of first rank alone held a full vote, the secondary States
merely holding a half or a fourth of a vote, as, for instance, all the
Saxon duchies collectively, one vote; Brunswick and Nassau, one; the two
Mecklenburgs, one; Oldenburg, Anhalt, and Schwartzburg, one; the petty
princes of Hohenzollern, Lichtenstein, Reuss, Lippe, and Waldeck, one; all
the free towns, one; forming altogether seventeen votes. In constitutional
questions the six States of the highest rank were to have each four votes;
the next five States each three; Brunswick, Schwerin, and Nassau, each two;
and all the remaining princes each, one vote. This arrangement, as it
turned out, proved fruitful of endless trouble.

[Sidenote: Unfair representation]

Austria and Prussia at that time contained forty-two million inhabitants;
the rest of Germany merely twelve million. The power of the two predominant
States, therefore, really were in proportion to that of the rest of Germany
as seven to two, whereas their votes in the Diet stood merely as two to
seventeen, and in the plenary assembly as two to fifteen.

[Sidenote: Prussia predominant]

Though Prussia had lost Hanover and East Friesland, she had received
sufficient compensation still--thanks to Hardenberg's diplomacy--to start
her on her future career as the predominant German State. Incorporated with
the Prussian provinces now were half of Saxony, the Grandduchy of Posen, a
portion of Westphalia, nearly all of the Lower Rhine region from Mainz to
Aix-la-Chapelle, and Swedish Pomerania, for which Prussia paid some eight
million thalers by way of indemnity.

[Sidenote: Restoration of the Netherlands]

In Holland, the new Stadtholder, Prince William Frederick of Orange-Nassau,
having incorporated Belgium as an integral part of the kingdom of the
Netherlands, set himself to nullify the French racial traits of his Belgian
subjects. A suggestion of future strife on this score could already be
found in Van der Palm's memorial on "The Restoration of the Netherlands,"
published during this year.

[Sidenote: England's commanding position]

[Sidenote: Industrial depression]

[Sidenote: Art and Letters]

The final settlement of Napoleon's great upheaval of Europe left England
feverish and exhausted. The prolonged financial strain of twenty years of
war had saddled Great Britain with a national debt of eight hundred million
pounds. Of material gain there was little to show but the acquisition of
Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch; of the former French
colony of Mauritius, and of a few West Indian islands. The continued
possession of the Rock of Gibraltar, and of Malta, the old stronghold of
the Knights of Malta, together with the British protectorate over the Ionic
Isles, assured to England her commanding position in the Mediterranean. At
home the pressure of the heavy taxes required to meet the financial
legacies of the war was imbittered by the general distress of the country.
The new tax on the importation of grains resulted in famine prices.
Corresponding tariff restrictions abroad kept British markets overstocked
with goods. Mills and factories had to be shut down, while at the same time
the labor market was glutted with several hundred thousand discharged
sailors and soldiers. The starving working people grew bitter in their
opposition to new labor-saving devices. Thus the appearance of the first
steamship on the Thames and of the earliest ships constructed of iron,
followed shortly by Sir Francis Reynold's invention of an electric
clock-work telegraph and by James Watt's introduction of stereo plates in
book-printing, heightened this feeling. The resentment of laboring men
found expression in riotous meetings at Manchester, Littleport and
Nottingham. The movement spread to London. A great labor meeting was held
there on the Spa fields. The favorite newspaper of the workingmen,
Cobbett's radical "Two Penny Register," rivalled the London "Times" in
power. In Parliament the leaders of the radical opposition grew ever more
importunate. Not until the end of the year did matters mend. The most
comforting sign of better times was a partial resumption of specie payments
by the Bank of England, followed shortly by the opening of the first
Savings Bank in London. Other memorable events of the year were the
acquisition of the famous Elgin marbles from the Parthenon in Athens,
celebrated in Keats's sonnet "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles," and the
publication of Shelley's long poem "Alastor," and Leigh Hunt's "Story of
Rimini." A diplomatic setback pregnant with future trouble was the
dismissal of Lord Amherst, the British Ambassador at Pekin, for refusing to
kow-tow to the Emperor of China.

[Sidenote: Depression in America]

[Sidenote: Financial relief measures]

[Sidenote: Tariff _vs._ Free Trade]

[Sidenote: Changes in New England]

In America the depression of commerce and industry resulting from the war
with England continued unabated. To relieve the situation, the Secretary of
the Treasury, A.J. Dallas, proposed as a measure of relief the chartering
of a new national bank with increased capital and enlarged powers and the
readjustment of the tariff by the imposition of higher duties. The bank was
chartered for twenty-one years with a capital of $35,000,000, a portion of
the stock to be owned by the government and the institution to have in its
management five government directors in a board of twenty-five. The tariff
policy of Madison was sustained by the Southern party and opposed by the
Federalists, especially in New England. Thus it became more a question of
sectional interests than of abstract political economy. The capital of New
England was invested in shipping, so that the exclusion of articles of
foreign production was bound to injure, by a high tariff, New England's
carrying trade. On its part, the South sought to establish a home market
for its cotton--almost the only staple of the Gulf States. Efforts were
made to encourage the domestic manufacture of those coarse fabrics which
were indispensable in a slave-holding region. The question thus grew into a
struggle between slave labor and free trade. The free-trade party was led
by Daniel Webster, and the tariff party by Calhoun. During the first year
of the new tariff the value of foreign imports fell off about thirty-two
per cent. In the adjustment of capital and trade to an enforced industrial
policy, the American people passed through a commercial crisis which
paralyzed the flourishing sea-ports of the New England coast. Newburyport,
Salem, Plymouth, New London, Newport, and intermediate places sank from
lucrative commercial centres into insignificant towns. Manchester, Lowell,
Fall River, Pawtucket, Waterbury and other New England cities on the other
hand became great manufacturing places.

The Fourteenth American Congress, under the leadership of Clay, imposed a
protective tariff of about twenty-five per cent on imported cotton and
woollen goods, with specific duties on coal and iron. The average duties on
imports amounted almost to prohibition. Late in the year Indiana was
admitted as the nineteenth State.

[Sidenote: War with Florida Indians]

The tranquillity of the end of Madison's administration was broken by new
troubles with the southern Indians. General Jackson by his impulsive
manner of dealing with the Indians of Florida nearly forced the United
States into a war with Spain and England. The Indians had reason to
complain of the injustice that had marked their treatment by the whites.
Florida had become a refuge for runaway slaves from Georgia and South
Carolina. The treaty of 1814 was repudiated by many of the Creeks, who
resented the new settlements of the whites. Those who were most
dissatisfied made common cause with the Seminoles. For a year, General
Gaines, in command at the frontier, complained to the authorities at
Washington of the conduct of the Indians and Spaniards. General Jackson, to
whom the matter was referred, wrote to Gaines that the forts standing in
Spanish territory "ought to be blown off the face of the earth, regardless
of the ground they stand on." In July, a detachment of men and gunboats
under Colonel Church advanced upon Fort Negro. A shot from one of the boats
blew up the powder magazine. The fort was laid in ruins. Of the 324 inmates
270 were killed. Most of the survivors were wounded.

[Sidenote: Death of Gouverneur Morris]

During this year, the "Washington," the first American line-of-battle ship
put to sea with seventy-four guns on her decks. The first American rolling
mill and plant for puddling iron-ore were built at Red Stone Bank in
Pennsylvania. Bishop Asbury, the founder of Methodism in the United States,
preached his last sermon at Richmond, Virginia. During the same year he
died at the age of seventy-one. Other noted Americans who died this year
were Gouverneur Morris of New York, and Spaulding, the reputed author of
the book of Mormon.

[Sidenote: Death of Miranda]

[Sidenote: Independence of Argentine]

Miranda, the South American revolutionist, expired on July 14, in a dungeon
at Cadiz. A British officer who saw him shortly before his death, described
him as "tied to a wall with a chain about his neck like a dog." Ever since
his defeat and detention in Venezuela, his last years had been spent in
captivity. He passed from prison to prison--now at San Carlos, now in Porto
Rico, and finally in Spain. Miranda's failure to obtain grants of amnesty
for Bolivar and his fellow rebels, when he came to terms with the Spanish
general Monteverde, left him discredited with the patriots of South
America. In the meanwhile, Miranda's friend, San Martin, was fighting in
Chile and Peru for South American independence, and was aided in his
struggle by Louis Beltran, an unfrocked friar. On July 9, the independence
of Argentine was proclaimed. Pueyrredon was made President of the new
republic. Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia established independent
governments.

[Sidenote: The struggle in Venezuela]

After Miranda's defeat and the fall of Porto Cabello, Bolivar had fled to
Curaçoa. He enlisted a corps of refugees in Cartagena and headed an
expedition into New Granada. There he rallied more revolutionists about
him, and, capturing Madalena from the Spaniards, fought his way through to
Caracas. He was welcomed there with extravagant demonstration as the
"Savior of Venezuela." After one more victory on the field of Araure his
star declined. The Spanish general, Boves, defeated him at La Puerta, and
took a terrible vengeance on the patriots. The wounded and prisoners were
killed on the field; the homes of all reputed rebels were burned to the
ground; and the entire population of Aragua was massacred.

[Sidenote: Spanish vengeance]

[Sidenote: Bolivar's adventures]

Montalvo, the Spanish War Minister, reported officially: "General Boves
does not distinguish between the guilty and innocent--soldiers or
non-combatants. All alike are killed for the crime of being born in
America." Bolivar retired to New Granada and thence to Jamaica. An attempt
to assassinate him there failed; for the negro cut-throat who had
undertaken to murder Bolivar killed the wrong person. Bolivar crossed over
to Hayti. There he raised a new expedition. A negro leader, Petion, then
acting-governor of Hayti, helped him in this enterprise, and strongly
advised him to proclaim the freedom of all slaves as the first step on
landing in his country. "For, how can you free your country," said Petion,
"if you don't free all the people in it?" Bolivar heeded his advice. With
six ships and one hundred and fifty men, he set out to reconquer Venezuela
from Spain. He landed at Margerita, where he had the good fortune to
capture several Spanish ships. With them he returned to Santo Domingo for
more men and ammunition. Petion furnished him with funds. Thus reinforced,
Bolivar made a dash for Barcelona in Venezuela. The end of the struggle was
at hand.




1817


[Sidenote: Return of Bolivar]

[Sidenote: General Piar shot]

[Sidenote: O'Higgins]

[Sidenote: San Martin]

Bolivar landed on the north coast of Venezuela on the first day of the new
year. His landing place, Barcelona, was a small town at the foot of the
Maritime Andes, so unprotected against attack that he resolved to leave it
at once. He marched his force in the direction of Santa Fé in New Granada,
hoping to push through to Peru. Marino and Piar, two insurgent leaders
operating in the south, joined forces with Bolivar, and brought 1,200
additional men. By the time their joint column had penetrated well into
Orinoco, the three leaders were at odds with each other. Piar tried to
incite revolt among his followers. Bolivar caused Piar to be seized, and
after a drum-head trial had him shot. In the meanwhile a Spanish force had
swooped down on Barcelona, and massacred the inhabitants. Things were at
this pass when the standard of revolt was once more raised in Chile by
Bernado O'Higgins. He was a natural son of Ambrosio, and had just returned
from school in England. At the time the supreme command of the
revolutionary forces was given to him this famous South American leader was
still a young man, as was his chief lieutenant, MacKenna. By his clever
handling of the campaigns that followed he won the title of "El Primer
Soldado del Nuevo Mundo"--the first soldier of America. It was still at the
outset of his career, in 1817, that help came to the Chileans from Buenos
Ayres across the Andes. The man who brought this aid was San Martin.

At Mendoza, on January 17, San Martin reviewed his little army of 5,000,
all Gaucho horsemen, as lightly clad and provisioned as the Indians of the
Pampas. The women of Mendoza presented the force with a flag bearing the
emblem of the Sun. San Martin held the banner aloft, declaring it "the
first flag of independence which had been blest in South America." This
same flag was carried through all the wars along the Pacific Coast. And
under its tattered shreds San Martin was finally laid to rest sixty years
later.

[Sidenote: Battle of Chacabuco]

[Sidenote: Acuoncagua]

Marching from Mendoza, San Martin made a feint of crossing the Andes by way
of Planchon, thereby inducing a Spanish column under Captain-General Marco
del Ponte to concentrate at Talca. During the progress of these movements,
San Martin and his followers crossed the mountains by the steep route of
Putaendo and Cuevas. Three hundred miles of the stiffest mountain riding
were covered in less than a fortnight. Early in February, San Martin's
army, now barely 4,000 strong, descended upon Villa Nueva. On February 7,
they fought their first battle on Chilean soil with the Spanish outposts at
Chacabuco. Driving the Spaniards before him, San Martin, advanced into the
plain, and presently joined forces with O'Higgins' infantry. New mounts
were provided for the cavalry. At the strong post of Acuoncagua the
Spaniards made a stand, but they were outnumbered by the insurgents. San
Martin delivered a frontal attack, while O'Higgins outflanked the enemy
with an impetuous charge, with the result that the whole Spanish force was
routed beyond recovery. The officers fled to Valparaiso. By the middle of
February, San Martin entered Santiago de Chile. A new republican junta was
formed and complete independence of Spain was declared. O'Higgins assumed
the position of dictator.

[Sidenote: Battle of Talca]

[Sidenote: Battle of the Maypo]

[Sidenote: Liberation of Chile]

All Chile was free now except in the south. General Ordoñez, commanding the
Spanish forces there, was defeated and fell back to Talcahuano. San Martin
prepared to invade Peru. Anticipating such an attack, Abascal, the Spanish
Viceroy of Peru, despatched Osorio with an expedition of 3,500 veterans,
who had just arrived from Spain, to Talcahuano. As soon as these
reinforcements came, Ordoñez set out from Talcahuano with the vanguard to
march on Santiago de Chile, and met the patriot forces near Talca. The
revolutionists largely outnumbered the Spaniards, but were poorly
disciplined and ill-provisioned. While they lost time the Spanish main
column under Osorio came up. Ordoñez took advantage of the clumsy
manoeuvres of the revolutionists to drive a sharp attack between their
two wings, piercing their centre. The battle was won after the first
fifteen minutes. O'Higgins was wounded and had to be carried out of the
fight. San Martin, with his right wing, fell back on San Fernando. With
great difficulty O'Higgins managed to reach Santiago, where he was
presently joined by San Martin. Steadily the Spanish column advanced on
Santiago. The two revolutionary leaders by almost superhuman efforts
succeeded in rallying and equipping a force of 5,000 defenders. On April 5,
the Spanish army appeared before Santiago de Chile. Near the Maypo, nine
miles from Santiago, the revolutionists took up a strong position. Osorio
opened the battle about noon with artillery. Soon all the troops were
engaged, the fiercest fight raging around a hacienda where San Martin and
O'Higgins had their headquarters. Several times the ranch was lost and
retaken. By sundown the Spaniards advanced all along the line. The battle
seemed lost to the patriots. At this juncture, as the famous regiment of
Burgos on the Spanish right was drawing in its deployed lines for a final
column attack, Colonel O'Brien, at the head of the insurgent cavalry
reserves, charged into the opening and overthrew the Burgos battalions.
O'Higgins immediately charged the rest of the Spanish right wing, and San
Martin simultaneously attacked in the centre. The whole Spanish army gave
away. More than 2,000 Spaniards were killed and wounded. Osorio with his
staff escaped to Peru. The victory of Santiago not only freed Chile, but
left Peru open to the revolutionists.

[Sidenote: Monroe's Presidency]

In the United States of North America, during this interval, a new
President had begun his administration. James Monroe was inaugurated as
President in his fifty-ninth year. He had been a member of the Continental
Congress, and at thirty-six a Minister to France. Under Madison he served
as Secretary of War. Crawford, Calhoun, Meigs, Wirt and Rush were members
of his Cabinet, and were all of the dominant Democratic-Republican party.
Business throughout the country began to revive almost at once when the
re-chartered National Bank went into operation in Philadelphia on the day
of Monroe's inauguration.

[Sidenote: "Era of good feeling"]

In June, President Monroe undertook a three months' personal inspection of
the military posts of the country. Passing through New York, Boston and
Portland, and crossing New Hampshire and Vermont to Ogdensburg, he took a
boat to Sackett's Harbor and Niagara. From there he went to Buffalo and
Detroit, and returned to Washington. Everywhere the people greeted him by
thousands. Monroe on this occasion wore the three-cornered hat,
scarlet-bordered blue coat and buff breeches of the American Revolutionary
army. The "Boston Journal" called the times the "Era of Good Feeling," and
the expression has passed into American history as a characteristic of
Monroe's entire administration.

[Sidenote: Western prairies settled]

It was an era notable for the extraordinary growth of the Western States.
Settlers were encouraged to buy government land on the instalment plan, and
the States refrained from levying taxes on these lands until years after
the settlers had received their title deeds. Endless processions of prairie
wagons passed through New York and Pennsylvania. On one turnpike alone,
16,000 vehicles paid toll during the year. Pittsburg at this time had a
population of 7,000 persons. The log cabin was the house of all, with its
rough chimney, its greased paper in a single window, its door with latch
and string, a plank floor and single room, corn husk brooms and its Dutch
oven. In the newly broken ground corn and wheat were planted, which, when
harvested, were thrashed with the flail and winnowed with a sheet. Little
settlements sprang up here and there on the rolling prairie, with
store-taverns, blacksmith shops and mills. This a thousand times repeated
was seen in western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and
Michigan.

[Sidenote: Steam navigation]

[Sidenote: The Erie Canal]

[Sidenote: "Thanatopsis"]

During the same year the newly organized territory of Mississippi, formed
from a division of Alabama, was admitted as the twentieth State to the
Union. The first line of steam propelled ocean packets was organized to run
between New York and Liverpool. In the western frontier town of St. Louis
the first steamboat made its appearance. On July 4, ground was broken for
the Erie Canal, which was to connect the city of New York with the great
inland waters. On the strength of this progressive achievement De Witt
Clinton became a candidate for the governorship of New York. Among other
notable events of this year were the foundation of the New York State
Library, Gallaudet's foundation of the first school for the deaf and dumb
at Hartford, and the establishment of the earliest theological seminaries
of the Episcopal Church in America, as well as of the first Unitarian
Divinity School at Harvard. William Cullen Bryant, barely come of age,
published his master work, "Thanatopsis," in the "North American Review."

[Sidenote: Stenography]

[Sidenote: German liberalism]

[Sidenote: The Wartburg festival]

[Sidenote: European courts alarmed]

[Sidenote: Advances in scholarship]

[Sidenote: African missionary work]

In other parts of the world, likewise, the return of peace was followed by
a general advance in culture and civilization. Shortly after the
re-establishment of the American National Bank, Canada followed suit with
government banks at Montreal and Quebec. Hanka, in Bohemia, claimed to have
discovered the famous medieval lyrics of Rukopis Kralodvorsky written at
the end of the thirteenth century. Across the border in Poland the new
University of Cracow began its career. In Munich, Franz Gabelsberger
invented the first working system of shorthand, which, in a perfected form,
is still in use in Germany. During this year common school education took
an immense stride in Germany, after the establishment in Prussia of a
distinct Ministry for Public Education. Unfortunately the government soon
came into conflict with the bolder spirits at the universities. By reason
of the more liberal privileges allowed to it by the Duke of Weimar, the
University of Jena took the lead in the national Teutonic agitation
inaugurated by Fichte. On October 18, the students of Jena, aided by
delegates from all the student fraternities of Protestant Germany, held a
festival at Eisenach to celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the
Reformation. It was also the anniversary of the battle of Leipzig. Five
hundred ardent young men, among them scholars who had fought at Leipzig,
Ligny and Waterloo, assembled in the halls of Luther's Wartburg Castle.
They sang and drank, and fraternized with the members of the militia of
Eisenach. In the evening they had a torchlight procession and lighted a
huge bonfire on the hill opposite the castle. In imitation of Martin
Luther's burning of the Pope's Bull they consigned a number of their pet
aversions to the flames. Thus they burned a soldier's straight-jacket and
corporal's cane, as well as a recent pamphlet by one Schmalz written in
defense of the old Prussian bureaucracy. Rash words were uttered about the
broken faith of princes. They were aimed at King Frederick William of
Prussia, who had promised to give his country a constitution, but had
failed to keep his word. The Wartburg festival, childish as it was in many
of its manifestations, created singular alarm throughout Germany and
elsewhere. The King of Prussia sent his Prime Minister, Hardenberg, to
Weimar to make a thorough investigation of the affair. Richelieu, the Prime
Minister of France, wrote from Paris whether another revolution was
breaking out; and Metternich insisted that the Duke of Weimar should
curtail the liberties of his subjects. The heavy hand of reaction fell upon
all German universities. German scholars were compelled to turn their
interests from public affairs to pure science and scholarship, to the
benefit of German learning. The study of history and archeology took an
upward turn with Brentano's publication of old German ballads and
Lachmann's original version of the Nibelungen songs. At this time an
Italian archeologist, Belzoni, was adding new chapters to ancient history
by his original researches in Egypt, which resulted in the removal of the
Colossus of Memnon to Alexandria, and in the opening of the great Cephren
pyramid. In distant South Africa the first English missionaries began their
labors among the blacks. Although the Governor of Natal at first refused to
permit Robert Moffat, the first Wesleyan missionary in those parts, to
disturb the Kaffirs with his preachings, Moffat pressed on undismayed and
soon established a mission beyond the Orange River.

[Sidenote: Green Bag inquiry]

[Sidenote: Manchester Blanketers]

[Sidenote: Dissatisfaction in England]

In England, industrial depression dragged on. Early in the year riots broke
out in London on the opening of Parliament. While driving to the House of
Lords, the Prince Regent, now grown thoroughly unpopular on account of the
scandals with his wife, was hooted by a crowd in St. James's Park. The
police claimed that an air gun had been discharged at the Prince and made
an attack on the crowd. A number of persons were injured. This was followed
in February by the great Green Bag Inquiry, when Lord Sidmouth laid before
Parliament a green bag full of reports concerning seditions. Bills were
introduced to suspend the habeas corpus act and to provide for the coercion
of public meetings. Seditious publications were likewise to be suppressed.
In March occurred the rising of the so-called Blanketers in
Manchester--dissatisfied workingmen who started in a body for London
carrying blanket rolls and other necessaries. Their march was stopped by
the military. In April, seven members of the so-called society of Luddites
were hanged at Leicester for breaking labor-saving machinery. Shortly
afterward eighteen persons were hanged for forging notes on the Bank of
England. It was found that since the redemption of specie payments no less
than 17,885 forged notes had been presented. Nearly two hundred persons
were apprehended and tried in court for this offence. Shortly afterward
another insurrection which broke out in Derbyshire, and which was led by
Jeremiah Brandrett, was suppressed by soldiers.

[Sidenote: "The Revolt of Islam"]

[Sidenote: "Lalla Rookh"]

[Sidenote: John Keats]

[Sidenote: "Blackwood's"]

While the working classes of England and Ireland were thus struggling
against their miseries, English literature shone forth in new splendor.
Shelley brought out his "Revolt of Islam" and Tom Moore published his
"Lalla Rookh." John Keats at the age of barely twenty-one published his
first poems. The volume attracted little attention. The appearance of
Blackwood's new magazine in Edinburgh, on the other hand, was hailed as an
event in English letters.

[Sidenote: French letters]

[Sidenote: Béranger]

In France, likewise, the return of peace gave a new lease of life to
literature. The French Academy was reorganized to consist of forty members,
who were elected for life, and who were to be regarded as "the highest
authority on questions relating to language, grammar, rhetoric, poetry and
the publication of the French classics." Chateaubriand was the Academy's
foremost member. Béranger on the other hand, albeit his lyrics had reached
the height of their popularity, fell into official disfavor by reason of
his glorification of Napoleonic times, as exemplified in his ballads "La
Vivandière," "La Cocarde Blanche," or "Le Juge de Charenton." The last
poem, with its veiled allusions to the Lavalette episode, was made the
subject of an interpellation in the Chamber of Deputies. While this was
still pending further offence was given by the publication of Béranger's
satirical piece on "The Holy Alliance." Béranger had to give up his
position as secretary at the University of France, and was soon afterward
arrested among his boon companions at Madame Saguet's near Le Moulin Vert.
He was placed on trial for the alleged blasphemies committed in his song
"Le Dieu des Bonnes Gens," and condemned to spend three months in prison
and to pay a heavy fine.

[Sidenote: Death of Madame de Staël]

[Sidenote: Death of Masséna]

Other literary events of the year were the publication of Beyle's "Lives of
Mozart and Haydn"; the performance of Scribe's early plays, and the death
of Madame de Staël, which occurred on July 14. This gifted daughter of
Necker had not been allowed to return to France until after the fall of
Napoleon. Her last work was a treatise of the Constitutional Government,
entitled "Considerations sur les Principaux Evénements de la Révolution
Française," and published posthumously by her long time German companion
and adviser, Schlegel. Marshal Masséna died during the same year. His
funeral was attended with imposing military honors rendered him by his old
followers and comrades-in-arms, who recalled the triumphs of Rivoli,
Essling, and a score of other victories in which this famous warrior had
borne the brunt of the fighting.

[Sidenote: Wachabite rebellion]

[Sidenote: Seminole war]

This year would have been one of peace, the first since the outbreak of the
French Revolution, but for another uprising of the Wachabites in Arabia
under the standard of Tourkee and the re-occurrence of North American
Indian troubles. A year had passed after the destruction of Fort Negro in
Florida before the whites found a pretext for another attack. King Natchez
was accused of receiving fugitive negroes, and he replied: "I have no
negroes.... I shall use force to stop any armed American from passing my
lands or my towns." The Seminoles looked with alarm on the new forts of the
United States. At Fowltown, on Flint River, the Indians, in November, put
up a war pole, and the chief warned Colonel Meigs in command at Fort Scott
not to cross the Flint River. Gaines reached the place with some regular
troops and volunteers, and Twiggs, with 250 men, moved upon the town,
killed some of the people and burned the village. The revenge of the
Seminoles was swift and bloody. Settlers were massacred and the property of
the whites within reach of the Indians was destroyed. Over 2,700 Seminoles
took the field. General Jackson assumed command on the day after Christmas.
He declared that so long as the Spaniards held Florida the trouble would
continue.

[Sidenote: Pindaree war]

[Sidenote: Treaty of Toona]

About the same time the British in India were plunged into further wars
with the natives. First the Pindarees sent out plundering bands from Malwa.
To suppress them, Lord Hastings had to collect an army of 120,000, the
largest force yet mustered in India. From Madras, four army divisions under
Sir Thomas Hislop crossed the Nerbudda, and drove the Pindarees toward
Bengal. By the great number of his remaining troops Lord Hastings overawed
the neighboring rulers, Peishwa Sindia of the Mahratta, Ameer Khan, Holkar
and Runjit Singh of the Punjab. Peishwa Baji Rao was compelled to sign a
treaty of neutrality at Toona. In October, thereupon, Lord Hastings left
Cawnpore and crossed the Jumna. The Pindarees were routed in a series of
swift-fought engagements. One of their chieftains, Khurin, gave himself up
with his whole household, while another, Chetu, was killed by a tiger while
hiding in the jungle.

[Sidenote: Mahratta war]

The Peishwa of the Mahrattas, who was biding his time until the British
forces should withdraw from his dominions, grew impatient and threatened
open war. To appease him a newly arrived British regiment was withdrawn
from Toona to Khirki, a village about four miles from the British
Residency. This concession only encouraged the Peishwa to further
resistance.

[Sidenote: Hindu Blondin]

[Sidenote: Outbreak of Poonah]

[Sidenote: Flight of Baji Rao]

The Mahratta war opened with a romantic incident. Trimbukji Dainglia, one
of the favorites of the Peishwa, was held closely confined by the English
at Thanna for his share in the murder of one of Baji Rao's enemies. Before
the outbreak of hostilities the Mahrattas managed to get word to him of
what was coming. A native groom in the service of one of the British
officers passed the window of the prisoner every day leading his master's
horses. As he did so he trolled a native song the purport of which the
British guards neither understood nor suspected. It has thus been
translated by Bishop Heber:

  Behind the bush the bowmen hide
    The horse beneath the tree.
  Where shall I find a chief to ride
    The jungle paths with me?

  There are five-and-fifty horses there,
    And four-and-fifty men;
  When the fifty-fifth shall mount his steed,
    The Dekhan thrives again.

A few days after this Trimbukji Dainglia was missing. He had broken a bar
from its setting, scaled the wall, and joined a party of horsemen lying in
wait. With them he fled to the jungles of Kanderish. Just before the
outbreak of hostilities a British officer thought he recognized him at
Poonah. On November 5, the British Resident, Elphinstone, left Poonah to
inspect the forces at Khirki. On that same day the Mahrattas burned
Elphinstone's house and rich Sanskrit library. Baji Rao attacked the
military post Khirki with 26,000 men, but was repulsed with a loss of five
hundred. The British immediately despatched an army under General Smith for
Poonah. On November 15, they prepared for a general attack on the morrow,
but in the night Baji Rao fled from Poonah. Thus he surrendered his
dominions without a blow.

Appa Sahib, the Rajah of Nagpore, meanwhile had made common cause with Baji
Rao. On the evening of November 24, he brought up his forces and attacked
the British Residency at Nagpore. The resulting battle of Sitaboldi is
famous in Hindu annals. As Wheeler, the historian of British India,
describes it:

[Sidenote: Battle of Sitaboldi]

"The English had no European regiment, as they had at Khirki; they had
scarcely fourteen hundred Sepoys fit for duty, including three troops of
Bengal cavalry, and only four six-pounders. Appa Sahib had an army of
eighteen thousand men, including four thousand Arabs, the best soldiers in
the Dekhan; he had also thirty-six guns. The battle lasted from six o'clock
in the evening of the 26th of November until noon the next day. For many
hours the English were in sore peril; their fate seemed to hang upon a
thread. The Arabs were beginning to close round the Residency, when a happy
stroke of British daring changed the fortunes of the day. Captain
Fitzgerald, who commanded the Bengal cavalry, was posted in the Residency
compound and was anxious to charge the Arabs; but he was forbidden. Again
he implored permission, but was told to charge at his peril. 'On my peril
be it!' cried Fitzgerald. Clearing the inclosures, the Bengal cavalry bore
down upon the enemy's horse, captured two guns, and cut up a body of
infantry. The British Sepoys hailed the exploit with loud huzzahs, and
seeing the explosion of one of the enemy's tumbrels, rushed down the hill,
driving the Arabs before them. The victory was won, but the English had
lost a quarter of their number."

  [Illustration: LAST MOMENTS OF MAXIMILIAN
    Painted by J. Paul Laurens
    From Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co., N.Y.]

[Sidenote: Appa Sahib's escape]

[Sidenote: Battle of Nahidpore]

[Sidenote: Defence of Korygaun]

[Sidenote: End of Mahratta rule]

Appa Sahib surrendered himself and was placed under arrest. Presently he
made good his escape and found a refuge with the Rajah of Jodhpur. In
Holkar's State of Indore affairs ran in a similar groove. The Regent Mother
showed herself inclined to come to an agreement with the British marching
northward under Sir Thomas Hislop. But the Mahratta chiefs were bent on
war, and murdered the Regent Mother. A battle, henceforth, was unavoidable.
Already the British supply train had been plundered by the Mahrattas. The
battle was fought on December 21, at Nahidpore. On each occasion Sir John
Malcolm commanded the British troops and won a complete victory. All the
Hindu guns and swords fell into British hands. Then came the heroic defence
of Korygaun, still celebrated in British Indian annals. A detachment of
Bombay Sepoys and native cavalry, under the command of Captain Staunton and
ten English officers, in all 800 men with two guns, were caught unawares by
the Peishwa's army of 30,000 Mahratta Gosains. Captain Staunton's force
intrenched itself in the village of Korygaun and prepared for the worst.
The Mahrattas completely surrounded the place and the defenders were cut
off from all water and supplies. Then came a succession of fierce rushes by
the Mahratta horse and foot, every one of which had to be fought off in
desperate hand-to-hand encounters. Of the ten white officers eight were
killed; besides them Staunton lost one-third of his Sepoys. The Mahrattas
left 600 on the field. To the present day the exploit is celebrated in the
songs and stories of the Dekhan. The Peishwa witnessed the long fight from
a neighboring hill, and was beside himself when his discouraged troops
refused to renew the battle. After this Baji Rao could no longer hold his
army together. By the close of the year his forces were dispersed. It was
the end of Mahratta rule in the Dekhan.




1818


[Sidenote: Battle of Ashti]

[Sidenote: Baji Rao's surrender]

Peace was re-established in India shortly after New Year's day. Lord
Hastings would stop at nothing but the absolute deposition of the Peishwa.
He had long resolved to reduce Baji Rao to the condition of Napoleon at St.
Helena. Accordingly, he delivered the Rajah of Satara from the thraldom of
generations, and assigned to him sufficient territory for support. This
done he set himself to hunt down the deposed Peishwa. For several months
Baji Rao remained at large. He made a feeble stand at Ashti, but fled at
the first shot, leaving his army to be defeated by General Smith. It was on
this occasion that the Rajah of Satara fell into English hands. Later in
the year Baji Rao was surrounded by British troops, under the command of
Sir John Malcolm. No alternative was left him but to die or give up. The
terms offered by Malcolm were so liberal as to excite astonishment in
Europe. While the great Napoleon was condemned to spend his remaining days
on a mere pittance at St. Helena, this most cowardly of Indian princes was
allowed to live in luxury near Cawnpore, on a yearly grant of £80,000. His
friend Trimbukji Dainglia, however, when captured, was condemned to close
confinement in the fortress of Chunar.

[Sidenote: Lord Hastings' Indian policy]

The remains of the Holkar states were permitted to endure, nor would
Hastings sanction the proposed dethronement of the family of Jaswant Rao.
Holkar was merely required to seize certain territories, and to confirm the
grants already made to Ameer Khan. From a sovereign principality the land
was reduced to a subsidiary state under British guarantee. Otherwise the
infant Mulhar, Rao Holkar, was treated as an independent prince and his
administration was left in the hands of a native Durbar, aided by the
British Resident. The policy of Lord Hastings, although severely criticised
in England, must be pronounced a success in the light of later events. From
the suppression of the Pindarees and the extinction of the Peishwa in 1818,
down to the days of the great mutiny, no serious attempt was made to
overthrow British suzerainty by means of an armed confederation of native
states.

In some respects the administration of Lord Hastings marks a new era in the
history of India. Hastings was the first Governor-General who encouraged
the education of the native population. Early in his administration he
denounced the maxim of his predecessors, that native ignorance would insure
the security of British rule, as an utterly unworthy and futile doctrine.
Accordingly, he promoted the establishment of native schools and
publications.

[Sidenote: Death of Warren Hastings]

[Sidenote: Hastings' career]

The affairs of India were kept before the British public by the renewed
discussion that followed the death of Lord Hastings' great namesake, Warren
Hastings. It was due to the scandals of Warren Hastings' career in India,
and his famous impeachment toward the close of the previous century, that
the administrative reforms and modern rule in India were inaugurated during
the nineteenth century. This reform began with the act, known at Pitt's
Bill, by which the British Crown assumed supreme authority over the civil
and military administration of the affairs in India by the British East
India Company. Henceforward, no alliances could be formed with any native
prince without the express sanction of Parliament. This act arose directly
out of Warren Hastings' confession that he had accepted a present of a
hundred thousand pounds from Asof-Ud-Daula. Warren Hastings' record, though
he was ultimately acquitted, was lastingly besmirched by his dubious
monetary transactions, and it was for this reason that William Pitt refused
to recommend him for the peerage, or for honorable employment under the
British Crown. Yet he was the greatest statesman that ever ruled India. His
overthrow of the French in India, of the first Mahratta rising, and of the
formidable rebellion of Hyder Ali, are among the greatest achievements of
British colonial extension. The disgrace of Warren Hastings was a great
event in English history, but it made no impression on the people in India.
They only knew him as one of the greatest of conquerors and their
deliverer. Philip Francis, who brought about Hastings' downfall, so far
from supplanting him, is remembered now only as the probable author of the
anonymous "Letters of Junius."

[Sidenote: Ross' and Franklin's Expeditions]

[Sidenote: "Frankenstein"]

[Sidenote: "Endymion"]

[Sidenote: Macadam roads]

[Sidenote: Invention of Velocipede]

Besides the death of Warren Hastings, several other notable events
preoccupied the attention of Englishmen. During this year Sir John Ross
sailed north to discover a northwest passage. Another relief expedition
under Lieutenant Franklin, which had sailed after him, resulted only in
failure. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley published her curious novel
"Frankenstein," and John Keats brought out his long poem "Endymion," for
which he was violently assailed by the critics, notably by Jeffries, of
"Blackwood's Magazine." Shelley, Moore, Hunt, and eventually Byron, warmly
took his part. In the meanwhile a number of industrial reforms were
introduced in England. Infant schools were first thrown open during this
year, and steam was first used for heating purposes. A company in Edinburgh
undertook to light the streets with gas. John Loudon Macadam's new system
of road building was successfully introduced. In France similar strides
were made in industrial progress. Joseph Nicéphore Niepce invented his
velocipede. The kindred invention of the "draisine," or dandy-horse was
patented for Baron Drais of Sauerbron. These inventions contained the germ
of the modern bicycle.

[Sidenote: Congress of Aachen]

[Sidenote: Czar Alexander aroused]

The Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, consisting of the sovereigns of Russia,
Austria and Prussia, aided by ministers of Great Britain and France, signed
a convention for the withdrawal of the army of occupation from France, and
for the reception of France into the European concert. For other countries
the deliberations of this Congress were not so beneficent. Since the Polish
Diet in the spring, when Alexander had promised to give all Russia a
constitutional government, a change of spirit had come over the Czar. This
change has been explained by the revelation of a military conspiracy
against his person. At all events, Alexander appeared at Aix-la-Chapelle
with the most reactionary proposals. Up to this time Metternich, the
inveterate foe of liberalism, had found in the Czar his most formidable
opponent. Now the Czar distributed among his fellow sovereigns a pamphlet
written by one Stourdza, which described Germany as on the brink of
revolution, and blamed the universities and public press. Metternich
instantly took his cue from the Czar. Before the end of the conference he
delivered to the King of Prussia and to Hardenberg two papers containing
his recommendations for the management of Prussian affairs. Frederick
William was warned against giving his people a national parliament. After
the example of the Czar, Metternich inveighed against the universities and
the press.

[Sidenote: Metternich's sentiments]

"The revolutionists," he said, "despairing of attaining their end
themselves, have formed the settled plan of educating the next generation
for revolution. The high school establishment is a preparatory school for
university disorders. The university seizes the youth as he leaves boyhood,
and gives him a revolutionary training. This mischief is common to all
Germany, and must be checked by joint action of the governments. Gymnasia
(high schools), on the contrary, were first invented at Berlin. For these,
palliative measures are no longer sufficient; it has become a duty of
State for the King of Prussia to destroy the evil. The whole institution in
every shape must be closed and uprooted."

[Sidenote: Prussian reaction]

The reactionary policy outlined in these papers became the guiding star of
King Frederick William of Prussia. They outline the history of what
actually was carried out in Prussia during the succeeding generation.

[Sidenote: Misgovernment in Spain]

It was not only in Germany that the new spirit of liberalism gave concern
to the members of the Holy Alliance. In Spain it appeared in a more
dangerous form, since it was espoused there by the military class.
Ferdinand's misgovernment of Spain had soon resulted in an empty treasury,
in consequence of which soldiers and sailors received no pay for several
years. Military revolts were instituted by General Mina, and by Porliar and
Lacy at this period; but they failed through the indifference of the
soldiers themselves. The government's attempt to offset the numerous
desertions from the army by seizing and enrolling some 60,000 beggars in
military service, proved a complete failure. Napoleon's prediction to
Rear-Admiral Cockburn that Spain was doomed to lose all her colonies was
reaching fulfilment in America.

[Sidenote: Defection of Spanish colonies]

Amelia Island, at the mouth of the St. Mary's River in Florida, had long
been the resort of lawless men, among whom were European adventurers
attracted by the South American revolution, and many fugitive slaves from
Georgia and South Carolina. A plan was formed to organize a revolution on
that island and to add Florida to the revolting South American republics.
The forces gathered there became too strong for the Spaniards, and
President Monroe decided to interfere. Gaines was sent to Amelia Island;
but before he arrived, Aury, the commander of the malcontents, had
surrendered to Commodore Henley. General Jackson, who was operating in
those parts against the Seminoles, declared that "the cause of the United
States must be carried to any point within the limits of Florida where an
enemy is permitted to be protected." All eastern Florida, he set forth to
the President, should be seized when Amelia Island was taken, and should be
held as an indemnity for the outrages of Spain upon American citizens. This
plan, Jackson said, could be carried out without implicating the United
States. "Let it be signified to me that the province of Florida would be
desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."

[Sidenote: Andrew Jackson in Florida]

[Sidenote: Summary military measures]

[Sidenote: Pensacola occupied]

When the order to assume command reached Jackson, he raised a volunteer
force in Tennessee from among his old soldiers. With these and the troops
left by Gaines he marched into Florida. On the site of the Negro fort he
built Fort Gadsden. He then advanced to the Bay of St. Marks, defeating the
few Seminoles whom he encountered. On April 7, he raised the American flag
there in place of the standard of Spain. Two Seminole chiefs who had taken
refuge on an American vessel in the bay, and who were supposed to have
participated in the massacre of a party of Americans, were brought on shore
and hanged. Leaving a strong garrison at St. Marks, Jackson marched a
hundred miles to the Indian town of Suwanee, where he hoped to capture
Billy Bowlegs and his band. But the Indians, warned of his approach,
escaped across the river. Suwanee was destroyed. Jackson, when at St.
Marks, had taken prisoner one Arbuthnot, a Scotchman and supposed Indian
sympathizer, whom he ordered to be confined until his return. At Suwanee,
Captain Ambrister, a former English officer, intending to join the Indians,
blundered into Jackson's camp, and was held a prisoner. On his return,
Jackson ordered the two men to be tried by court-martial, on the charge of
warning the Indians of the approach of the American soldiers, and both were
convicted and executed. Jackson, on reaching Fort Gadsden, received from
the Spanish Governor of Pensacola a protest against his invasion. He turned
back, occupied Pensacola, and took the Fort of Carrios De Barrancas, to
which the governor had fled.

[Sidenote: Jackson unrebuked]

[Sidenote: An amicable settlement]

When the news of Jackson's course reached Washington, Congress engaged in a
heated debate over his occupation of the forts of a friendly power. In
defending himself Jackson wrote that the Secretary of War had given him
full power to conduct the campaign in the manner which seemed best. Spain,
he claimed, had failed to fulfil that article of the treaty by which she
was bound to restrain the Florida Indians from hostilities. Popular feeling
proved too strong for Congress to assert its privileges as the sole
war-making power. Jackson was not even rebuked for his course. During all
those months, Onis, the Spanish Minister, and Adams were in negotiation
over a treaty, which was not ratified until two years later. Florida was to
be ceded to the United States on a payment of $5,000,000, to be applied in
satisfying the claims of American citizens against Spain. The Sabine River,
instead of the Rio Grande, was made the dividing line between the United
States and Spanish territory. The line was to run from the mouth of the
Sabine to the 32d parallel, thence north to the Red River and along it to
the 100th meridian, thence north to the Arkansas and along that river to
its source on the 42d parallel, and thence west to the Pacific. War with
Spain was thus averted.

[Sidenote: The slavery issue]

While the Florida question was under consideration, there arose another far
more momentous to America. Free labor in the North and slave labor in the
South were brought squarely face to face. Slave labor was fast rising in
value. The new lands of the lower Mississippi opened a vast field for the
employment of slaves in the production of cotton, sugar and tobacco. It was
believed the extension of slavery into that new territory would save it
from gradual extinction. The interstate traffic in slaves was viewed with
abhorrence by many leading men in the South. John Randolph, while upholding
slavery, denounced the traffic that was carried on in the Southern
plantations. On the other hand it was seen that compromise would be of
little value if the North only was to be permitted to increase its power by
the admission of new States. New slave States as well were demanded by the
Southerners.

[Sidenote: Contention over Missouri]

In March, the citizens of Missouri had asked permission to form a State
constitution and to be admitted into the Union. It was tacitly understood
that slavery might be carried into territory east of the Mississippi
belonging originally to the existing slave States. But Louisiana, west of
the Mississippi, belonged to the whole of the United States rather than to
any one of the several States. The question now arose whether Congress
should establish slavery anew in territory of the United States. The
alternative was presented to the people of the North whether to submit to
the demands of the South or to consent to a dissolution of the Union.
Though represented by a majority in Congress, the Northern States were
defeated after a long struggle. John Quincy Adams doubted if Congress,
under the American Constitution, had the right to prohibit slavery in a
territory where it already existed. "If a dissolution of the Union should
result from the slave question," he wrote, "it is obvious that it must
shortly afterward be followed by a universal emancipation of the slaves."

[Sidenote: American Pension system inaugurated]

[Sidenote: Oregon in dispute]

During this same year Congress first granted pensions to needy veterans of
the Revolutionary War and soon afterward to the widows and children of dead
soldiers. Thus began the system of American pension legislation for former
American soldiers which was destined to grow to such gigantic proportions
in later years. Up to that time the number of stripes in the American flag
had been eighteen. Now a bill was approved reducing the number of stripes
to thirteen, the number of original States comprising the Union. The
number of stars was to be made equal to that of the States. Soon afterward,
the new flag, with twenty stars in its quartering, was first raised over
the halls of Congress. Shortly after this the Fifteenth Congress adjourned.
On October 20, a convention with Great Britain was signed respecting
fisheries and boundaries, giving to Americans the right to fish in
Newfoundland waters and renewing the agreement of 1815, making the 49th
parallel the boundary between the United States and British North America.
The convention also provided for the joint occupation of Oregon for ten
years longer.

The glossy finish to leather known as "patent" leather was first patented
in this year. Another notable invention of the time was the process of
engraving on soft steel.

[Sidenote: Illinois a State]

The second session of the American Congress was not called until late in
the year. Illinois was then admitted as the twenty-first State of the
Union.




1819


[Sidenote: Florida ceded by Spain]

[Sidenote: Southern Indians dispossessed]

[Sidenote: Alabama a state]

Early in the year Andrew Jackson was called to Washington. He was the hero
of the day. When he visited New York he was received with public honors. On
February 22, a treaty with Spain was adopted by which she surrendered all
claims to Florida and ceded West Florida. The cost of the war to the United
States had been forty million dollars. The year was marked by the enforced
retirement of large bodies of the Cherokees from Georgia to the
Mississippi. The Cherokees as well as the Creeks, the Choctaws and the
Chickasaws were greatly perturbed at the prospect of their final removal
from the land which the United States had guaranteed to them. Partly as a
result of these changes, the Territory of Alabama was admitted to the Union
as the twenty-second State.

[Sidenote: The Missouri problem]

There were now eleven free and eleven slave States; and serious opposition
arose to the admission of Missouri. In February, the first bill was
introduced in the House for the admission of that Territory. James
Tallmadge, Jr., of New York, proposed that there should be no personal
servitude in the State except by those already held as slaves, and that
these should be manumitted within a certain period. This proposition he
modified by moving an amendment providing that the introduction of slavery
should be prohibited, but that those already slaves in Missouri should
remain so, and that the children of such slaves should be liberated upon
reaching the age of twenty-five. The proposition to hold in slavery a
generation yet unborn was fiercely resented. The two Houses did not agree,
and the question went over to another year. The South presented an unbroken
and unyielding front. Caleb of Georgia said that this attempt to interfere
with slavery was "destructive of the peace and harmony of the union"; that
those who proposed it "were kindling a fire which all the waters of the
ocean could not extinguish. It could be extinguished only in blood."

[Sidenote: Antagonism to slavery]

[Sidenote: Maine _vs._ Missouri]

The Missouri question having been left for the next session, the cognate
issue concerning a government for the Arkansas country south of parallel
33° 30' was taken up. In both Houses an amendment to prohibit slavery was
lost. As a compromise a representative from Delaware suggested a division
of the Western Territory between the free and slave States. The contest was
renewed at the December session. Resolutions of Northern Legislatures
condemning the placing of slavery under the national government were
presented, and were treated with contempt by the Southern statesmen.
Senator Mason of North Carolina said: "They may philosophize at town
meetings about it as much as they please, but they know nothing about the
question." In the House the matter was brought up in the same form as in
the previous session. James W. Taylor of New York presented an amendment
prohibiting slavery, but holding in bondage those who were already slaves.
He kept this point clearly in view through the debate that followed.
Finally the bill was passed by a vote of 91 to 82, the prohibitory
amendment being adopted by a majority of eight. The bill for the admission
of Missouri was attached to that for the admission of Maine. The suggestion
of this stratagem was made on the 20th of December by Henry Clay, who
declared that he did "not mean to give his consent to the admission of
Maine, so long as the doctrine was upheld of annexing conditions to the
admission of States beyond the mountains." The analogy was scarcely just.
Under the Constitution the right was absolute; Maine was a part of the
original thirteen States of the Republic. The problem respecting Missouri
was radically different, and resolved itself into the question whether
Congress, under the American Constitution, had the right to create a new
State out of the purchased territory, and to admit it to the Union without
a republican form of government. Clay's threat was improved upon. The
judiciary committee reported the House bill for the admission of Maine,
adding an amendment for the admission of Missouri. Roberts of Pennsylvania
moved to amend the amendment by prohibiting slavery in Missouri, but his
motion was rejected by a majority of eleven (including six Senators from
free States). A motion to make the admission of Maine a separate question
was also defeated. The two Houses now stood directly opposed to each other.
The Representatives would not retreat from their decision to prohibit
slavery in Missouri; the Senate was equally determined that Missouri should
be admitted as a slave State. Had the House maintained its ground, the
United States for the next half century might have had another history.

[Sidenote: The Missouri compromise]

Senator Thomas of Illinois, who had voted thus far with the South, now came
forward with a compromise. He proposed to prohibit slavery in that portion
of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36° 30' excepting Missouri. This was
accepted in the Senate by thirty-four votes against ten. But when the bill
came up two days later for its final passage it received only a majority of
four. After much delay the compromise measure was finally passed through
the House by a majority of 134 to 42 votes. The measure was a Northern
victory, having been carried by Northern votes. For the moment peace was
gained; but the fire was only smothered. On the one side there was a gain
of one slave State; on the other side, a mere promise to prohibit slavery
in future States.

[Sidenote: Modern progress]

[Sidenote: Irving's "Sketch Book"]

Notwithstanding the political agitation, general progress in America was
pronounced and rapid during this period. Steam navigation was no longer a
novelty. The Erie Canal was well under way. New towns were springing up
along its course. Blanchard invented his lathe for turning irregular forms.
The famous Danish physicist, Hans Christian Oersted, made his classical
electrical experiments with the magnetic needle and laid the foundation of
our modern theory of electromagnetism. The literary event of the year in
America was the appearance of Washington Irving's "Sketch Book." The work
found favor in England, where Sir Walter Scott befriended Irving.

[Sidenote: Polar expedition]

[Sidenote: Cochrane in Chilean service]

In England, too, it was a period of new industrial and colonial expansion.
Following the unsuccessful polar expeditions of the previous year,
Lieutenant Franklin undertook his second search for the northwest passage,
and a similar expedition, under Perry and Liddon, set out for Arctic
waters. In India, where the Sikhs under Runjeet Singh were engaged in their
great conquest of Cashmere, a British settlement was established in
Singapore. British supremacy at sea received its tribute in an invitation
from the Chileans to Sir Thomas Cochrane to command their new navy. After
their victory on the Maypo, the patriot leaders of Chile had set to work to
create a navy for their country. The British ship "Cumberland" was
purchased in London, and renamed the "San Martin." Within a few months she
captured the "Maria Isabella" from the Spanish. The prize was taken to
Valparaiso, remounted, and renamed the "O'Higgins." To these ships were
added the "Galvarino," "Araucano," "Interpodo," and the "Independencia."
With the "O'Higgins" for a flagship, Cochrane took this squadron up and
down the coast of South America, harrying the Spanish sea-ports everywhere.

[Sidenote: The "Six Acts"]

[Sidenote: Birth of Victoria]

In England, meanwhile, there was renewed agitation for Parliamentary
reforms. Henry Grattan in Parliament moved for a Committee of the Whole
House to consider the laws excluding Catholics from public offices. His
motion was defeated by a narrow vote of 243 against 241. Instead of this
reform the British Government, falling in line with the reactionary
measures of the Continental governments, passed through Parliament the
so-called "Six Acts" for the prevention and punishment of sedition in
England. To latter-day Englishmen this year is principally noted for the
birth of Queen Victoria. The little princess, the daughter of Edward, Duke
of Kent, son of George the Third and Maria Louisa Victoria of Saxe-Coburg,
a sister of Leopold I. of Belgium, was born at Kensington Palace, and was
named Alexandrina Victoria.

[Sidenote: Schopenhauer]

Germans of the present day remember this year for the appearance of
Schopenhauer's great philosophic work "The World, as Will and Idea"--"Die
Welt als Wille und Vorstellung." Schopenhauer, in this book, laid down the
doctrine that the universe, and therefore human life as such, is governed
by the conflicting principles of the ungoverned will and of the
unattainable ideal. The true solution of life, he held, was to be found in
subjecting brute will to the intellectual force of the ideal.

[Sidenote: Assassination of Kotzebue]

Schopenhauer's book at that time passed almost unnoticed. The educated
classes of Germany were in too much of a ferment over the recent police
restrictions inflicted upon the universities and public press. By this time
it had become well known what part Czar Alexander had played at the
Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. A vehement outcry arose at the universities
against the interference of foreigners in German affairs. The wrath of the
Liberals turned against August von Kotzebue, the prolific playwright, who
held the office of Russian agent in central Germany. Kotzebue conducted a
weekly newspaper at Mannheim in which he inveighed against the German
national movement of the day, and ridiculed the patriotic eccentricities of
the students. Having himself studied at Jena, Kotzebue was denounced by the
students there as a traitor. He was believed to be responsible for the
Czar's conversion from liberal ideas to reactionary principles. This belief
cost Kotzebue his life. One Sand, a theological student at Jena, noted for
piety and patriotic ardor, formed a fanatical resolution to do away with
this enemy of the country. An extract from Sand's diary, written on the eve
of his last New Year's day, reveals the character of the man: "I meet the
last day of this year in an earnest festal spirit, knowing well that the
Christmas which I have celebrated will be my last. If our strivings are to
result in anything, if the cause of mankind is to succeed in our
fatherland, if all is not to be forgotten, all our enthusiasm spent in
vain, the evil doer, the traitor, the corrupter of youth must die. Until I
have executed this, I have no peace; and what can comfort me until I know
that I have with upright will set my life at stake? O God, I pray only for
the right clearness and courage of soul, that in that last supreme hour I
may not be false to myself." On March 23, Sand sought out Baron Kotzebue in
the midst of his family and stabbed him to the heart. Then he turned the
dagger against himself. Unfortunately Sand recovered from his wounds, and
thus lived to die on the scaffold.

[Sidenote: Retaliatory measures]

[Sidenote: German liberals persecuted]

The mad deed was followed by the worst possible results for Germany.
Minister Hardenberg, when he heard of the murder of Kotzebue, declared that
a Prussian Constitution had now been rendered impossible. Metternich, who
was then in Rome, instantly drew up a scheme for further repressive
measures and summoned the ministers of the various German States for a
meeting at Carlsbad. "By the help of God," wrote Metternich, "I hope to
defeat the German revolution, just as I vanquished the conqueror of the
world. The revolutionists thought me far away, because I was five hundred
leagues off. They deceived themselves; I have been in the midst of them,
and now I am striking my blows." A number of innocent persons were arrested
in various parts of Germany under utterly unwarrantable circumstances. The
houses of professors were searched and private papers were seized. Jahn,
the founder of the popular Gymnastic schools, was arrested in Berlin. De
Wette, a professor of theology at the University of Berlin, had to flee to
Switzerland on account of a letter of sympathy addressed by him to Sand's
mother. With him Oken, the great naturalist, and Corres, the pamphleteer,
became exiles in Switzerland. Professor Fries lost his chair at Jena; the
poet Arndt was suspended at Bonn, and his private papers, in garbled form,
were published by the government. Many of the younger professors,
accompanied by their favorite students, emigrated to America.

[Sidenote: Convention of Carlsbad]

[Sidenote: Police censors appointed]

[Sidenote: Binzer's poem]

During August the German ministers met at Carlsbad. Their conferences, in
the memory of the German people, are justly associated with the suppression
of intellectual freedom for a whole generation. It was ordered that in
every State within the German federation a strict censorship should be
established over all publications. Within fifteen days an inquisitorial
commission was called together at Mainz to investigate the students'
societies at the universities. The commission was empowered to arrest any
subject in any German State. Special police commissioners were appointed at
the universities, whose duty it was to keep a strict eye on the drift of
the professor's teachings. Any professor or student expelled from a
university was not to be employed by any other German government. The
students' societies were suppressed, at least to all outward appearance.
The poet Binzer wrote a defiant song ending with the lines:

  The Spirit liveth in us all,
  For God is still our stronghold.

[Sidenote: Resignation of Wilhelm Humboldt]

[Sidenote: South German liberalism]

So far was repression carried in Prussia that out of 203 students arrested
for wearing black-red-yellow ribbons, no less than 94 were condemned to
death. Wilhelm von Humboldt, the best and most liberal of Prussian
Ministers during the first half of the nineteenth century, resigned his
portfolio in disgust. The zeal with which the Prussian Government accepted
these measures made it useless for the minor German States to offer much
opposition. Yet they formed the only remaining bulwark against
Metternich's restrictive policy. In spite of his strenuous opposition, the
rulers of Bavaria and Baden granted to their subjects constitutional forms
of government. Representative assemblies with lower and upper houses, after
the manner of the English Parliament, were established. In Wurtemberg,
serfdom was abolished, and a constitution was published a few days before
the enrolment of the decrees of Carlsbad.

[Sidenote: Laënnec's stethoscope]

In France, Dr. Laënnec published his epoch-making work "Traité
d'Auscultation Médiate," the result of his recent experiments in listening
to human heart-beats and lung respirations through a hollow cylinder.
Various names were given to the instrument until Laënnec decided to call it
"stethoscope," the name it has ever since retained. Laënnec's contributions
to the study of diseases of the lungs, of the heart and of the abdominal
organs may be said to have laid the foundation of modern clinical medicine.

[Sidenote: Decazes Prime Minister]

[Sidenote: The Gregoire episode]

[Sidenote: Troubles in Spain]

Parliamentary government in France worked none too smoothly. In the
Chambers the rise of the independent party and anti-Bourbon faction caused
the Duc de Richelieu to resign. When the news of Kotzebue's assassination
reached Paris, the Comte d'Artois remarked exultingly to the king: "Well,
brother, you see what they are driving us to." Louis XVIII. intrusted to
his favorite, Decazes, the formation of a new Cabinet. Decazes found it
difficult to select competent men for the various portfolios. His Cabinet,
when finally brought together, lacked internal unity and outward support.
Its career was early imperilled by the untoward election of Bishop Gregoire
of Grenoble, one of the regicides, to the Chamber of Deputies. This popular
manifestation, though sufficiently explained by the sterling public
qualities of the bishop himself, created the utmost apprehension among the
Royalists. Decazes had to bend to the storm, and the election of Gregoire
was declared null and void by the Ministerial majority in the Chambers. The
French Royalists next professed to find cause for apprehension in Spain.
Danger of war with the United States, before the cession of Florida, had
caused King Ferdinand of Spain to assemble an army at Cadiz to embark for
America. It was now proposed to send these troops to South America to quell
the revolutionary movements there. The return of a number of soldiers
stricken with yellow fever in the colonies filled the troops at Cadiz with
consternation. The common soldiers, lying in squalor and inaction at their
barracks, came to regard their expected order of embarkation as a sentence
of death. Their officers plotted with the secret societies in Cadiz and
neighboring towns. Abisbas, the commandant at Cadiz, to safeguard his own
interests pretended to encourage these plots. Then, convinced of their
ultimate failure, he arrested the principal leaders by a stratagem and
hurried to Madrid to reveal all and claim credit for saving the crown. The
ringleaders were imprisoned and the troops were distributed into
cantonments. As it turned out this only served to foment the growing spirit
of dissatisfaction throughout Spain.




1820


[Sidenote: Spanish military revolt]

[Sidenote: Riego's plight]

New Year's Day was fixed for the outbreak of revolt by the revolutionists
of Spain. The chosen leaders were Riego, Cabazes and Quiroga. It was
arranged that Quiroga, who was held in light confinement at Medina, east of
Cadiz, should gather the battalions outside of Cadiz, throw himself into
the city, and there await the co-operation of his fellow conspirators.
Riego with a band of chosen men was to pounce upon the military
headquarters at Arcos, and to arrest the general officers before they could
interfere. Accordingly, Riego, on the first day of January, proclaimed the
Constitution of 1812, and, falling upon headquarters, seized the general
officers and rallied the men to his standard. Quiroga was less successful.
After gaining possession of San Fernando at the eastern point of the
peninsula of Leon, he failed to get into Cadiz. The commandant closed the
gates against him, and the troops within gave no sign of defection. By the
time Riego arrived, there were but 5,000 insurgents wherewith to overcome
the strong garrison and fortifications of Cadiz. Leaving Quiroga before
Cadiz, Riego set himself to raise the people of the surrounding towns. He
was received with kindness, but the obvious weakness of his force
discouraged others from joining him. Strong forces were sent in pursuit,
and the insurgents were compelled to march back and forth through the
country to escape their pursuers. At Cordova, Riego was made to realize
that the game was lost. The soldiers of the government were upon him, and
he had only some two hundred followers left. The little band took to the
mountains and there dispersed.

[Sidenote: Spread of the revolt]

The revolt, despite its miserable end, was followed by widespread results.
The example of a bold stroke had been given, and the weakness of the
government had been exposed. While Riego's followers were still hunted from
place to place, the soldiers and citizens of Corona together declared for
the Constitution. The revolutionary movement spread to Ferrol and thence
along the coast towns of Galicia.

[Sidenote: Cochrane's exploit]

[Sidenote: Abisbas' treachery]

[Sidenote: King Ferdinand succumbs]

In South America, Cochrane in a brilliant action took the Spanish
stronghold of Valdivia, held to be a Gibraltar in strength. King Ferdinand
in Madrid was terrified. From all points of Spain the commandants wrote
that they could not answer for their garrisons. Abisbas was ordered to
return to Cadiz with reinforcements. On leaving Madrid he boasted to the
king that he knew how to deal with rebels. By the time he reached Ocaña,
early in March, he himself proclaimed the Constitution. The news of
Abisbas' defection created consternation in Madrid. On the night of March
6, the king convoked his Council of State. On the morrow he issued a
summons for the Cortes. This was not enough. Crowds gathered in the streets
and clamored for the Constitution. A report that the guards were on the
point of going over to the people brought the king around. From the balcony
of the royal palace Ferdinand announced his readiness to take the oath to
the Constitution. The next day was spent in riotous rejoicing. The prison
of the Inquisition was sacked and all political prisoners were liberated.
On the following day the mob broke into the gates and gardens of the royal
palace. The members of the old municipal council entered the royal private
chamber and called for a fulfilment of the king's public promise. Ferdinand
accepted the inevitable under a smiling exterior, and swore an oath of
fidelity to the Constitution of 1812. A provisional Junta took charge of
affairs until the new Cortes should be convened.

[Sidenote: Duc de Berry assassinated]

The news of the Spanish revolution astounded Europe. In France a fanatic by
the name of Louvel deemed the moment come to strike at the reigning house
of France. Louvel had followed Napoleon to exile in Elba. After the Hundred
Days he dogged the footsteps of the Bourbon princes with a settled project
of murder. The heir-presumptive to the French crown was the Duc de Berry.
If he died without a son the elder Bourbon line was bound to become extinct
as a reigning house. On the night of February 13, Louvel attacked the Duc
de Berry at the entrance of the opera house and plunged a knife into his
heart. The Duchess was covered with her husband's blood. That night Duc de
Berry died beseeching forgiveness for the man who had killed him. King
Louis XVIII. himself closed the eyes of his nephew.

[Sidenote: Fall of Decazes' Ministry]

The assassination of the Duc de Berry involved the ruin of the Ministry of
Decazes. The ultra-royalists in their frenzy of grief and indignation
charged their chief opponent with complicity. Clausel de Coussergues, a
member of the Court of Cassation, moved the impeachment of Minister Decazes
in the Chambers as an accomplice in the assassination. The King himself
felt menaced by the unwarranted accusation. "The Royalists give me the
finishing stroke," said he; "they know that the policy of M. Decazes is
also mine, and they accuse him of assassinating my nephew." Yet he had to
abandon his favorite to the violent entreaties of the Comte d'Artois and
the Duchesse de Angoulême. Decazes was permitted to retire, and set out for
London with his new titles of Duke and Ambassador to the Court of St.
James. Richelieu was recalled to the Ministry. The Duchesse de Berry
retired to Sicily.

[Sidenote: Rise of the Carbonari]

[Sidenote: Neapolitan military revolt]

[Sidenote: Revolution in Naples]

[Sidenote: Bourbon duplicity]

In Naples and Sicily the recent events in Spain and France exerted a
powerful influence over the minds of the people. In southern Italy the
secret society of the Carbonari had become a power in the land. The members
of this society, after the manner of Freemasons, took their name and the
symbolism of their rites from the calling of the charcoal burners. Since
the revolt against Bourbon tyranny in 1799, the Carbonari had played their
part as revolutionary conspirators. By the year 1820 it was believed that
one person out of every twenty-five in Naples belonged to the society. To
offset their hidden power, the government encouraged the foundation of a
rival society, known as the Calderari, or Braziers. This only made matters
worse. After the success of the revolution in Spain, the head lodge of the
Carbonari in Salerno issued orders for a rising in June. Later the date was
postponed. A score of Carbonari serving in the ranks of a cavalry regiment
at Nola, persuaded one of the officers, Lieutenant Morelli, to head a
revolt in favor of a constitutional government. On July 2, Morelli marched
out with a squadron of 150 men, and proclaimed for the Constitution. Only
one trooper refused to follow his standard. The others rode along the road
to Avellino and were received with enthusiasm all along the way. The
country was ripe for revolt. At Avellino the commandant with all his
garrison and the Bishop with the townspeople gave them a magnificent
reception. The news of the revolt spread like wildfire throughout the
kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Everywhere the Carbonari declared in its
favor. Before the government had taken a single step, the Constitution was
generally proclaimed and joyfully accepted by the populace. From Naples the
King sent General Carrascosa to negotiate with the insurgents. In the
meanwhile General Pepe, himself a Carbonaro of high rank, hastened to
Avellino and placed himself at the head of the revolution. On July 6, the
King published an edict promising a constitution within eight days, and
then, feigning illness, committed the royal authority to his son, the Duke
of Calabria. The Carbonari, recalling the fact that the King, in order to
preserve his contingent rights to the Spanish crown, had but recently
helped to sign the Spanish Constitution of 1812, insisted that this same
Constitution should be proclaimed for Naples. Old King Ferdinand yielded
and signed an edict to that effect. General Pepe and Morelli, at the head
of the garrison of Avellino, and the national guards of Naples,
triumphantly entered the city with public honors, and were received by the
Duke of Calabria, in his capacity as viceroy. On July 13, the King in
person swore to support the Constitution. Standing before the altar in the
royal chapel, he raised his eyes to the crucifix and prayed that the
vengeance of God might fall upon him if ever he broke his oath. Immediately
afterward he wrote to the Emperors of Austria and Russia, declaring that
his conduct on this occasion was a mere farce and that he regarded his
obligations as null and void.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Portugal]

[Sidenote: End of Lisbon regency]

The contagion of Spain and Sicily proved too much for the people of
Portugal. The continued absence of the royal family in Brazil, and the
unwelcome prolongation of the British regency had long caused
dissatisfaction in Portugal. The feeling of discontent was deepened by
industrial and commercial distress which made the manifest prosperity of
Brazil seem all the more galling. Marshal Beresford, the English
commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, was generally execrated for his
barbarous treatment of military conspirators. After the outbreak of the
Spanish revolution, the aspect of affairs became so threatening in Portugal
that Beresford set out for Rio Janeiro to induce the Princes of Braganza to
return to their Court in Lisbon. Before he could accomplish his purpose,
the government that he had left behind him was overthrown by the people. On
August 24, the city of Oporto rose against the regency. The officers of the
army, the magistrates, the priests and townspeople united in declaring
against the regency. They established a provisional Junta to govern in the
name of the King until the Cortes of Portugal could be convened to frame a
constitution. The authority of the regency in Oporto was lost without a
blow. The Junta immediately seized the reins of government, and began its
career by dismissing all English officers and paying the arrears of the
soldiers. In Lisbon the regency itself tried to stem the storm by giving
its formal approval to the measures of the Junta of Oporto. The troops of
Lisbon, however, would no longer recognize the authority of the government.
Within a fortnight the regency was deposed, and a Junta installed in its
place. Beresford was forbidden to return to Portugal. He went to England,
but found there that the British Ministry did not deem it advisable to
interfere further in the domestic affairs of Portugal. Dom Juan VI., in Rio
Janeiro, promised to return to Portugal and bestow on his subjects a
liberal constitution.

[Sidenote: British liberalism]

[Sidenote: Sale of Russian fleet]

In England, Lord Beresford's attempt to induce the government to suppress
the revolutionists of Portugal only served to strengthen the popular
antipathy that had grown up against the reactionary tendencies of the Holy
Alliance. Prior to this an attempt had been made to persuade England to
act as instrument of the Alliance by suppressing the rebellious colonies of
Spain in South America. At the last session of the Holy Alliance, the
envoys of Russia and France submitted a paper in which they suggested that
Wellington, as "the man of Europe," should go to Madrid to preside over a
negotiation between the Court of Spain and all the Ambassadors, regarding
the terms to be offered to the transatlantic States. If the colonies
continued rebellious, England's fleet was counted upon to reduce them to
submission. But the force of liberalism was too strong in England for any
British Minister to enter into such a scheme. Then it was that the Czar of
Russia sold a large part of the Russian fleet to Spain. To Englishmen, who
had seen these same ships in their harbors at the time they were held as
hostages by England, this action gave but little concern. The scandal that
followed in Spain was anticipated in England. On their arrival at Cadiz,
the Russian ships were found to be useless rotten hulks.

[Sidenote: Death of George III.]

[Sidenote: Queen Caroline's trial]

[Sidenote: Death of the Queen]

Another more trying scandal engrossed public attention in England. On
January 29, old King George III. had at last sunk into his grave. His son,
George IV., became king, and began his rule with the same Ministry under
Lord Liverpool that had served him as Prince Regent. The new king's first
public act was to call for a bill for the divorce of his wife, Caroline of
Brunswick. The Cabinet refused to favor such a bill. On April 23,
Parliament met. The King sent "a green bag" to each House of Parliament,
containing a mass of testimony and accusations concerning the queen's
conduct with her Italian chamberlain, Pergami. On June 6, Queen Caroline
arrived from Italy. Having been refused passage on a royal ship, she
chartered a vessel of her own. This bold step was taken to imply innocence.
She was received with great popular demonstrations in her favor. Before a
secret committee of Parliament, Queen Caroline offset the King's charges
against her by laying stress on his own well-known failings as a husband.
On July 5, Lord Liverpool introduced a bill of "Pains and Penalties" to
dissolve the marriage of Queen Caroline. Her trial was taken up by the
House of Lords, where she was defended by Lord Brougham. To this day the
proceedings of the trial are remembered as one of the most outrageous
scandals in England. The feelings thereby engendered in the people have
been immortalized in the trenchant writings of Thackeray. Before the trial
was concluded, Lord Liverpool's bill was brought up for the third time in
Parliament. It passed by a majority of a few votes. With so slender an
indorsement, the Ministry had cause to tremble for its existence. Lord
Liverpool prevailed upon the King to recede from his extreme position, and,
succeeding in this, moved for the abandonment of the bill. The trial was
quashed. Queen Caroline died shortly afterward.

[Sidenote: The Missouri Compromise]

[Sidenote: Cabinet in a quandary]

In America, public feeling was no less excited. The occasion for this was
the first serious clash of the Northern and Southern factions of the United
States over what was known as the Missouri Compromise. On February 18, the
Missouri Compromise bill passed the Senate, and on March 2 the House. It
admitted Missouri as a slave State, and prohibited slavery north of
parallel 36° 30', the southern line of Missouri. Henry Clay declared that
it settled the slavery question "forever." The bill went to the President.
There was still another compromise, and that was in the Cabinet. The
President asked advice on two points. The first point was whether Congress
had a Constitutional right to prohibit slavery in a Territory. The Cabinet
agreed that the right existed. Then the question arose whether the section
prohibiting slavery "forever" referred only to the territorial condition,
or whether it also applied when the Territory became a State. The Cabinet,
with the exception of Adams, agreed that "forever" applied only to the
territorial condition; Adams held that "forever" meant literally forever,
in State as well as in Territory. In order to escape this dilemma it was
proposed that the question of "forever," as relating to States, should be
avoided; and that the only question should be, whether the section
prohibiting slavery in the Territories forever was Constitutional. The
order of proceeding was reversed; Mr. Adams was to reply in the affirmative
without giving his reasons, while the others were to explain in writing
that the provision was Constitutional; but "forever" meant only while the
territorial condition existed. With this understanding the bill was signed.
It is plain now that in the unsettled point the whole pith and meaning of
the Missouri Compromise was contained, as the country learned fully and
decisively thirty-five years afterward.

[Sidenote: Monroe elected President]

New issues then came to the front--protection, internal improvements, and
recognition of the South American republics. Presently, in order to
preserve the balance of power between slavery and freedom, it was enacted
that Maine was to be admitted on March 15, making twelve free and twelve
slave holding States. A bill was passed pronouncing the maritime slave
trade piracy. On October 20, Spain ratified the treaty ceding Florida.
Congress reassembled in November. James Monroe and John Quincy Adams were
the opposing candidates for the Presidency. Monroe received 231 electoral
votes; Adams received one from a New Hampshire elector who voted in
sympathy with a popular sentiment that Washington should stand alone in the
high honor of a unanimous choice.

[Sidenote: Quinine]

In this year the great fever drug quinine was first clearly separated and
identified by Drs. Pelletier and Caventou, who were spurred on to their
labors by the previous experiments with the drug by Drs. Gomez and Lambert.
In its crude form the bark of the chinchona tree had been used for its
medical properties since times immemorial.

[Sidenote: Homeopathy]

It was about this time that the German physician Hahnemann's theory of
homeopathy caused general discussion among medical practitioners and
laymen. Hahnemann's first thesis was that many diseases could most quickly
be eradicated by similar effects--fever with fever, poison with
anti-poison. This theory of "like with like"--the Greek homoia
homoiois--was accordingly named by him homeopathy. It was most fully
expressed in his "Dogma of Rational Healing" and in the later treatise
"Chronic Ailments and their Homeopathic Cure." These books created such a
widespread sensation that they were at once translated into several
languages and ran through a great number of editions. As a matter of
course, Hahnemann's peculiar theories were violently combated by his fellow
practitioners.

[Sidenote: Hydropathy]

Almost at the same time with the rise of the new science of homeopathy came
Vincenz Priessnitz's innovation of hydropathy or water cure. He established
his first sanitarium at Grafenberg, his birthplace, and in the face of
vehement medical opposition soon won government recognition for his
sanitarium. Similar water-cure establishments were erected by many
imitators and followers in Germany and elsewhere.

[Sidenote: Convention of Troppau]

[Sidenote: Intervention in Naples]

Late in the year Emperor Alexander of Russia and Metternich came together
to settle on the counter strokes to be delivered against the revolutionists
of Spain and southern Italy. When Metternich first heard of the fall of
absolute government in Naples he was dismayed. Gentz, who saw him at that
time, has left this record: "Prince Metternich went to-day to inform the
Emperor of the sad events in Naples. As long as I know him I have never
seen him so upset by any event." Metternich had reason to feel alarmed. A
revolution in Naples was almost sure to be followed by an Italian uprising
in the Austrian possessions of Venice and an insurrection in the Papal
States. Had Metternich felt free to follow his own devices, he would
forthwith have marched an Austrian army into southern Italy to put an end
to the troubles there. With all his exasperation he did not feel free to
cut loose from joint action with the Czar and with the other sovereigns of
Europe. Thus it came that the summer was spent in arranging for another
conference of the allied monarchs. They met on October 20, at Troppau in
Moravia. The Emperors of Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia
received one another in state. The envoys of England and France were found
to be in accord against armed intervention in southern Italy. The other
powers determined to proceed on their course without them. Metternich's
diplomatic dealings with the Czar were greatly hampered by the clever
intrigues of Count Capodistrias, Alexander's foreign minister. For once
Metternich found himself matched by a diplomat even more subtle than
himself. In the end, he prevailed over Capodistrias sufficiently to
overcome Alexander's scruples against harsh measures in Naples. It was
determined to invite King Ferdinand to meet the sovereigns at Leibach, in
Austria, and to address a summons to the Neapolitans commanding them to
abandon their constitution, under threat of immediate invasion. Accordingly
a note was issued from Troppau to all the courts of Europe, embodying the
doctrine of federative intervention, as applied to Naples.

[Sidenote: King Ferdinand's duplicity]

As soon as King Ferdinand received the summons he prepared to leave Naples.
The populace became aroused, and angry crowds surrounded the palace.
Ferdinand was not allowed to leave Naples until he had once more sworn on
his honor to maintain the constitution borrowed from Spain. The King took
this oath as readily as he did the other. Then he journeyed northward. Half
way, at Leghorn, he sent letters to each of the five principal sovereigns
of Europe declaring his last declaration just as null and void as his
previous perjuries. His double-dealing was rather too much even for the
Holy Alliance. As Gentz, the secretary of the Congress, expressed himself
in private: "The conduct of this wretched sovereign, since the beginning of
his troubles, has been nothing but a tissue of weaknesses and lies. Happily
they will remain secret. No Cabinet will care to draw them from the
graveyard of its archives. Till then there is not much harm done."

[Sidenote: Benjamin West]

Benjamin West, the celebrated American-English artist, died at London in
his eighty-second year. At the opening of the Eighteenth Century, West was
in the forefront of the agitation that grew out of his contested succession
to Sir Joshua Reynolds as president of the Royal Academy. Wearied with
these quarrels he visited Paris, where he studied the newly pillaged
masterpieces at the Louvre. He resigned from the Royal Academy, but was
almost unanimously re-elected. It was then that he painted his famous
"Christ Healing the Sick." His later works failed to attain the success of
his earlier historical paintings. When West died, his reputation had
declined appreciably, still a public funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral was
accorded to him, a unique honor for an American.




1821


[Sidenote: Congress of Leibach]

[Sidenote: Naples under duress]

The Congress of Leibach met in January. It was attended by the
representatives of Russia, Austria, Prussia, England, France, Sardinia and
Modena. When King Ferdinand of Naples arrived he was received by the
Emperors of Russia and Austria in person. It was predetermined that
absolute government in Naples should be restored by Austrian arms. The only
problem remaining to diplomacy was to put a respectable face on King
Ferdinand's dishonor. Capodistrias offered to make up some fictitious
correspondence in which Ferdinand was proudly to uphold the constitution
which he had sworn to support, and to yield protestingly to the powers only
after actual threats of war. The device was rejected as too transparent.
Moreover, the old king scarcely cared how his conduct appeared to his
subjects. A letter was sent in his name to his son, the acting-viceroy,
stating that the Powers were determined not to tolerate the order of things
sprung from revolution, and that certain securities for peace would have to
be given. The reference to securities meant the occupation of the country
by an Austrian army. The letter reached Naples on February 9. Three days
before the Austrian troops had received their orders to cross the Po.

[Sidenote: Battle of Rieti]

[Sidenote: Revolt of Piedmont]

The invading army of Austria was 50,000 strong. The Neapolitan soldiers
numbered a little more than 40,000, of whom 12,000 were in Sicily engaged
at Palermo in suppressing a counter revolution for home rule. At the first
encounter at Rieti in the Papal territory, the Neapolitans under General
Pepe were utterly routed. Their forces melted away, as they did when Murat
made his last stroke for Italy and Napoleon. Not a single strong point was
defended. On March 24, the Austrians entered Naples. Then came a moment of
danger. Rebellion broke out in Piedmont, and an attempt was made to unite
the troops of Piedmont with those of Lombardy. The King of Piedmont rather
than sign the Spanish Constitution abdicated his throne. On the refusal of
the King's brother, Charles Felix, to recognize a constitution, his cousin
Charles Albert of Carignano was made the regent and commander of the
troops. He advanced so cautiously that the conspirators at Milan dared not
follow suit with a revolution of their own. In the meanwhile the Czar had
ordered 100,000 Russians to march in the direction of the Adriatic. The
Austrian forces advanced westward from the Venetian strongholds, and,
brushing aside all resistance, entered Piedmont.

[Sidenote: End of Italian revolution]

[Sidenote: Silvio Pellico]

The victory of absolutism in Italy was complete. Courts-martial sat all
over Italy. Morelli, the officer who had led out the so-called sacred band
of Nola, was shot. His followers were expressly excluded from all amnesty
acts. An attempted insurrection in Sicily cost the conspirators their
lives. Hundreds of persons were cast into prison, or were marched off to
distant fortresses in Austria. It was at this time that Silvio Pellico, the
author of the famous "Prison Records," was sent to the dungeon of
Spielberg. Then began that long stream of fugitives to England and America.

[Sidenote: Revolt in Brazil]

[Sidenote: Mexican independence]

[Sidenote: San Martin's Campaign]

The Holy Alliance, sitting at Leibach, thought the time was ripe to
pronounce its anathema against all peoples seeking their liberties
elsewhere than in the grace of their legitimate sovereigns. Yet the spirit
of revolt was abroad, and its flames continued to flicker up at widely
separated points. On February 26, the Portuguese troops in Brazil rose in
revolt. The king, still residing at Rio Janeiro, was compelled to appoint a
new Ministry pledged to give to both Portugal and Brazil a new
representative system. In Mexico, General Iturbide, at the same time,
issued a pronunciamiento, containing his so-called "Plan of Iguala," which
proposed independence for Mexico under a Spanish Bourbon prince. Several
rebel leaders acquiesced in this, and forced the Spanish viceroy to resign.
Juan O'Donoju became acting-viceroy. He signed a treaty with Iturbide
virtually accepting the plan. The people of Buenos Ayres profited by the
military troubles in Brazil to throw in their lot with that of the
Argentine Republic. Their popular idol, San Martin, meanwhile was leading
his victorious troops from Chile into Peru. Lima, one of the greatest
Spanish strongholds in South America, was threatened by the revolutionists.

[Sidenote: War in Annam]

[Sidenote: Taouk-Wang]

At the other end of the earth, the new force of national feeling showed
itself in popular uprisings. In distant Annam the death of Emperor
Gia-Long, followed by a bloody struggle for the succession between his
sons, incited the people to a national demonstration against the
encroachments of the French in Tonquin. In China the new Emperor Taouk-Wang
was enthroned. He was the first to throw his whole personal influence
against the evils of the opium trade inflicted upon China by English
merchants since 1800.

[Sidenote: Philike Hetairia]

[Sidenote: Ypsilanti]

[Sidenote: Vladimiresco]

In Greece and in the Balkans the people rose against the yoke of Turkey.
The plan of the Philike Hetairia--_i.e._ Patriotic Association--was to
begin their revolution on the Danube, so as to induce Russia to take a hand
in their favor. They believed that Capodistrias, the Prime Minister of
Russia, himself a Greek, would win the Czar to their cause. Unfortunately
for them, Metternich's influence proved stronger than that of the Greek
Minister. Capodistrias deemed it advisable to publish a pamphlet warning
his countrymen against any rash step. Failing to win the open support of
Capodistrias, the Hetairists turned to Prince Alexander Ypsilanti, a Greek
exile serving in the Russian army. Ypsilanti agreed to raise the standard
of revolt in Moldavia. It was arranged that Theodore Vladimiresco, a
Roumanian who had served in the Russian army, was to call his countrymen to
arms against the Turk. Then the Greeks were to step in, and the help of
Russia was to be invoked.

[Sidenote: Rising of Roumania]

In February, Vladimiresco proclaimed the abolition of feudal servitude in
Roumania, and marched with a horde of peasants upon Bucharest. Early in
March, the Greek troops at Galatz, let loose by their commander, Karavias,
massacred the Turkish population of that town.

Ypsilanti, waiting on the Russian frontier, crossed the Pruth and appeared
at Jassee with a few hundred followers. A proclamation was issued, calling
upon all Christians to rise against the Crescent. Ypsilanti went so far as
to declare that "a great European power," meaning Russia, was "pledged to
support him." The Greek Hospodar of Jassee immediately surrendered the
government, and supplied a large sum of money. Troops to the number of
2,000 gathered around Ypsilanti. The road to the Danube lay open.

[Sidenote: Ypsilanti repudiated]

[Sidenote: Death of Vladimiresco]

[Sidenote: Georgakis]

Ypsilanti wasted valuable time loitering at Jassee. A month was lost before
he reached Bucharest. He delayed partly on account of his expectations of
Russian help in response to a letter he had written to the Czar. The delay
proved fatal to him. The Czar, now wholly under the influence of
Metternich, sent a stern answer from Leibach. Ypsilanti was dismissed from
the Russian service. The Russian consul at Jassee issued a manifesto that
Russia repudiated and condemned Ypsilanti's enterprise. The Patriarch of
Constantinople was made to issue a ban of excommunication against the
rebels. In an official note of the Powers, the Congress of Leibach branded
the Greek revolt as a token of the same spirit which had produced the
revolution of Italy and Spain. Turkish troops crossed the Danube. The
Roumanian peasants, seeing no help from Russia, held aloof. Vladimiresco
plotted against the Greeks. It was in vain that brave Georgakis captured
the traitor at his own headquarters and carried him to his death in the
Greek camp. Ypsilanti was defeated in his first encounter with the Turks.
He retired before them toward the Austrian frontier. In the end he fled
across the border and was promptly made a prisoner in Austria. His
followers dearly sold their lives. At Skuleni, 400 of them under Georgakis
made a last stand on the Pruth. They were surrounded by ten times their
number. Georgakis refused to surrender. Bidding his followers flee, at the
moment when the Turks broke in the doors, he blew himself up in the
monastery of Skuleni.

[Sidenote: Revolt of Morea]

[Sidenote: Gregorios hanged]

At the news of Ypsilanti's uprising in Moldavia the entire Greek population
of the Morea rose against the Turk. From the outset, the Moreotes waged a
war of extermination. They massacred all Turks, men, women and children.
Within a few weeks the open country was swept clear of its Mohammedan
population. The fugitive Turks were invested within the walls of
Tripolitza, Patras, and other strong towns. Sultan Mahmud took prompt
vengeance. A number of innocent Greeks at Constantinople were strangled by
his executioners. The fury of the Moslem was let loose on the Infidel. All
Greek settlements along the Bosphorus were burned. But the crowning stroke
came on Easter Sunday, the most sacred day of the Greek Church. The
Patriarch of Constantinople, while he was celebrating service, was summoned
away by the dragoman of the Porte. At the order of the Sultan he was haled
before a hastily assembled synod and there degraded from his office as a
traitor. The synod was commanded to elect his successor. While the
trembling prelates did their bidding, Patriarch Gregorios was led out in
his sacred robes and hanged at the gate of his palace. His body remained
hanging throughout the Easter celebration, and was then given to the Jews
to be dragged through the streets and cast into the Bosphorus. A similar
fate befell the Greek archbishops of Salonica, Tirnovo, and Adrianople. The
body of Gregorios floating in the sea was picked up by a Greek ship and
carried to Odessa. This return to Christian soil of the remains of the
Patriarch was hailed as a miracle in Russia. Gregorios was solemnly buried
by the Russian Government as a martyr.

[Sidenote: Russia aroused]

[Sidenote: The Czar found wanting]

If the will of the Russian people had been carried out, the Russian army
and nation would have avenged the murder of their high-priest by an
immediate war upon the Turks. Strogonov, the Russian Ambassador at
Constantinople, at once proposed to his diplomatic colleagues to join him
in calling for warships to protect the Christians there. Lord Stranford,
the British Ambassador, refused to accede to this proposition.
Single-handed, Strogonov presented an ultimatum to the Sultan demanding the
restoration of Christian churches and the Porte's protection for Christian
worship. A written answer was exacted within eight days. Encouraged by
England's attitude, the Sultan ignored Strogonov's requests. On July 27,
the Russian Ambassador left Constantinople. To the amazement of his
moujiks, the Czar did not declare war. The councils of Prince Metternich
prevailed. With the help of the representatives of England, Metternich
persuaded the Czar to view the rebellion of Greece as a mere unfortunate
disturbance. Any countenance of it, he argued, would imperil the peace of
Europe.

[Sidenote: Rising of the Greeks]

[Sidenote: Ali Pasha]

[Sidenote: Moreote campaign]

[Sidenote: Petrobei]

[Sidenote: Kolokotrones]

[Sidenote: Maurokordatos]

[Sidenote: Massacre of Navarino]

[Sidenote: Sack of Tripolitza]

The murder of the Greek Patriarch was followed by risings of the Greeks
throughout continental Greece and the Archipelago. Here, as in the Morea,
the cause of Greek freedom was disgraced by massacres, and indignities to
Turkish women. The Sultan's troops, led by able commanders, retaliated in
kind. Khurshid, with a large Turkish army, besieged Janina. He held firmly
to his task, even after his whole household fell into the hands of the
Moreotes. The Greeks in Thessaly failed to rise, and thus the border
provinces were saved for the Ottoman Empire. The risings in remoter
districts were soon quelled. In Epirus, Ali Pasha, the Albanian chieftain,
was surrounded by overwhelming numbers and lost his life. On the Macedonian
coast the Hetairist revolt, in which the monks of Mount Athos took part,
proved abortive. Moreover, the desultory warfare on water carried on by the
islanders of Hydra, Spetza, and Psara served only to annoy the Turks. The
real campaign was waged in the Morea, where Tripolitza, the seat of the
Turkish Government, was besieged by the insurgents. Demetrios Ypsilanti,
Prince Alexander's brother, landed on the coast and was welcomed as a
leader by the peasants in arms. Three other leaders rose to prominence.
First, in the eyes of the people, came Petrobei, chief of the family of
Mauromichalis. Surrounded by his nine sons, this sturdy chieftain appeared
like one of the old Homeric kings. Second in popular favor was
Kolokotrones, a typical modern Clepht, cunning and treacherous, but a born
soldier. The ablest political leader was Maurokordatos, a man of some
breadth of view and foresight, but over-cautious as a general. The early
insurgent successes were marred by bad faith and gross savagery. On the
surrender of Navarino, in August, a formal capitulation was signed,
safeguarding the lives of the Turkish inhabitants. In the face of this
compact the victorious Greeks put men, women and children to the sword. Two
months later the Turkish garrison of Tripolitza, after sustaining a siege
of six months, began negotiations for surrender. In the midst of the truce,
the Greek soldiery got wind of a secret bargain of their leaders to extend
protection for private gain. In defiance of the officers, the peasant
soldiers stormed Tripolitza and scaled the walls. Then followed three days
of indiscriminate looting and carnage. By thousands, the Turks, with their
women and children, were slaughtered. Kolokotrones himself records how he
rode from the gateway to the citadel of Tripolitza, his horse's hoofs
touching nothing but human bodies.

[Sidenote: Philhellenism]

The Greek struggle for independence aroused conflicting emotions in Europe.
The passionate sympathy of the Russians rested wholly on their religious
bonds. The more enlightened Philhellenes of France and Germany affected to
see in this struggle a revival of the ancient Greek spirit that blazed
forth at Thermopylæ and Marathon. For this same reason, perhaps, Metternich
and his colleagues in the Holy Alliance looked upon the Greek revolution
with an evil eye. Any cause espoused by the hot-headed liberals at the
universities in those days of itself became obnoxious to the reactionary
rulers of the German and Austrian states.

[Sidenote: Lord Byron's Greek lyrics]

The sympathy with the Greeks was most pronounced in England. There the
stirring lyrics of Lord Byron had reached the height of their popularity.
His songs of Greece and Greek freedom were justly regarded as among his
best. It was but a short time before this that the poet, to use his own
phrase, had awakened one morning to find himself famous. Now his Greek
songs were hailed by the whole world as classics. Notable among them were
the "Isles of Greece," embodied in the third canto of his "Don Juan" with
the famous stanza:

  The mountains look on Marathon--
    And Marathon looks on the sea;
  And musing there an hour alone
    I dreamed that Greece might still be free.

And the equally celebrated lines from "The Bride of Abydos":

  Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle
    Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime?
  Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle,
    Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime!

[Sidenote: Death of Keats]

[Sidenote: Byron's satire]

[Sidenote: Keats's work]

In English literary annals this year was marked furthermore by the death of
John Keats. He was but twenty-five, still in the first flush of his genius.
Keats was buried in Rome, where he died. On his gravestone is the epitaph
composed by himself: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water." It was
generally assumed in England that the poet's death was caused by his
anguish over the merciless criticisms of "Blackwood's Magazine" and the
"Quarterly Review." Lord Byron was unkind enough to exploit this notion in
his "Don Juan":

  John Keats, who was killed off by one critique,
    Just as he really promised something great
  If not intelligible, without Greek
    Contrived to talk about the gods of late
  Much as they might have been supposed to speak.
    Poor fellow! His was an untoward fate;
      'Tis strange the mind, that very fiery particle,
      Should let itself be snuffed out by an article.

As a matter of fact Keats died of consumption. The ravages of this disease
in his case were accelerated by his feverish passion for poetry, his love
affair with Fanny Brawne, financial embarrassments, and only to a slight
extent by the inevitable disappointment arising from adverse criticisms.
What Byron did for modern Greece in England, Keats may be said to have done
for ancient Greece. The beautiful songs of Greece, embodied in "Endymion"
and "Hyperion," no less than the enthusiastic odes and sonnets in praise of
Hellenic works of art, opened the eyes of many of the contemporaries of
Keats to the enduring beauties of Greece. It was in his exquisite "Ode to
a Grecian Urn," that Keats expressed his poetical master passion for
beauty:

  Beauty is truth, truth beauty--that is all
  Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

  [Illustration: LORD BYRON
    Painted by Maurin]

[Sidenote: "Adonais"]

Shortly after Keats's death appeared one of the most beautiful of Shelley's
longer poems--"Adonais," written as an elegy on the death of Keats:

  I weep for Adonais--he is dead.
  Oh, weep for Adonais! though our tears
  Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
  And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
  To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
  And teach them thine own sorrow! Say. "With me
  Died Adonais; till the Future dares
  Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
  An echo and a light unto eternity."

[Sidenote: Wilhelm Meister]

[Sidenote: Rise of romantic literature]

[Sidenote: Victor Hugo]

Other literary events of the year were the publication of Goethe's "Wilhelm
Meister's Wander Jahre," and of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin's first long
poem, "Ruslan and Ludmilla." In this epic, written during Pushkin's early
banishment to Bessarabia, an old Russian theme of the heroic times of Kiev
was treated much after the manner of Byron's romantic examples. In France
the romantic period in literature was inaugurated by young Victor Hugo,
who, but the year before, had been crowned as "Maître des jeux floraux" for
a prize poem on Henri IV. Now Chateaubriand, in his journal "Le
Conservateur," welcomed him as "Un enfant sublime." By his own romantic
followers Hugo was hailed as chief of their poetic "Bataillon Sacré."
During the same year the poet, then barely nineteen, married Mademoiselle
Foucher, a girl of fifteen.

[Sidenote: Death of Napoleon]

The most important event of the year for Frenchmen was the death of
Napoleon Bonaparte at Longwood, in St. Helena. He died on May 5, after
taking the holy sacrament. He left a last will with several codicils. In it
Napoleon made the following declarations:

[Sidenote: Napoleon's will]

"I die in the Apostolical and Roman religion, in the bosom of which I was
born more than fifty years ago. It is my wish that my ashes may repose on
the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people whom I have loved
so well. I have always had reason to be pleased with my dearest wife, Maria
Louisa. I retain for her, to the last moment, the most tender sentiments. I
beseech her to watch, in order to preserve my son from the snares which yet
environ his infancy. I recommend to my son never to forget that he was born
a French prince, and never to allow himself to become an instrument in the
hands of the triumvirs who oppress the nations of Europe: he ought never to
fight against France, or to injure her in any manner; he ought to adopt my
motto--_Everything for the French people_. I die prematurely, assassinated
by the English oligarchy and its tool. The English nation will not be slow
in avenging me. The two unfortunate results of the invasions of France,
when she had still so many resources, are to be attributed to the treason
of Marmont, Augereau, Talleyrand, and Lafayette. I forgive them--may the
posterity of France forgive them as I do! I pardon Louis for the libel he
published in 1820; it is replete with false assertions and falsified
documents. I disavow the 'Manuscript of St. Helena,' and other works, under
the title of 'Maxims, Sayings,' etc., which persons have been pleased to
publish for the last six years. Such are not the rules which have guided my
life. I caused the Duc d'Enghien to be arrested and tried because that step
was essential to the safety, interest and honor of the French people, when
the Comte d'Artois was maintaining, by his own confession, sixty assassins
at Paris. Under similar circumstances I should act in the same way."

[Sidenote: The bequests]

To his son and immediate relatives, Napoleon left most of his personal
effects. Among his relatives and favorite followers he distributed a sum of
6,000,000 francs, left in the hands of his bankers at the time of his
flight from Paris; likewise the proceeds of a possible sale of his
confiscated crown jewels. Count Lavalette and the children of Labédoyère
were remembered with bequests of 100,000 and 50,000 francs, respectively.
The final clauses were:

"To be distributed among such proscribed persons as wander in foreign
countries, whether they be French, Italians, Belgians, Dutch, Spanish, or
inhabitants of the departments of the Rhine, under the directions of my
executors, one hundred thousand francs. To be distributed among those who
suffered amputation, or were severely wounded at Ligny or Waterloo, who may
be still living, according to lists drawn up by my executors. The Guards
shall be paid double, those of the Island of Elba quadruple, two hundred
thousand francs."

[Sidenote: Cantillon remembered]

A curious bequest was that of 10,000 francs to Cantillon, a French
subaltern, who was tried and acquitted for the attempted assassination of
the Duke of Wellington in Paris on February 11, 1818. Napoleon thus
explained this bequest:

[Sidenote: Last fling at Wellington]

"Cantillon had as much right to assassinate that oligarchist as the latter
had to send me to perish upon the rock of St. Helena. Wellington, who
proposed this outrage, attempted to justify it by pleading the interest of
Great Britain. Cantillon, if he had really assassinated that lord, would
have pleaded the same excuse, and been justified by the same motive--the
interest of France--to get rid of this general, who, moreover, by violating
the capitulation of Paris, had rendered himself responsible for the blood
of the martyrs Ney, Labédoyère, etc., and for the crime of having pillaged
the museums, contrary to the text of the treaties."

This last legacy was not paid until 1855, when Napoleon III. discharged it.

[Sidenote: Fall of Richelieu's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Villèle Prime Minister]

Late in the year the Ministry of Duc de Richelieu succumbed to the
machinations of Comte d'Artois. Before his resignation, Richelieu
complained to the Count, reminding him of his promises of support at the
first formation of the Cabinet. "The fact is, my dear Duke," replied
Monsieur, "if you allow me to say so, you have taken my words too
literally. And then the circumstances at that time were so different." The
Prime Minister rose abruptly and sought out the King. "Monsieur has broken
his word of honor," he said, "he has broken his word as a gentleman." "What
would you have me do?" said Louis XVIII. "He conspired against Louis XVI.;
he conspires against me; he will conspire against himself." The explosion
of a barrel of gunpowder in the royal palace raised apprehensions of
another painful scene, like that preceding the fall of the Ministry of
Decazes. Richelieu resigned, and Villèle took his place. Chateaubriand was
sent to London as Ambassador. While Parliamentary government in France
labored thus under the onslaughts of the Royalist plotters in the Chambers,
the so-called Era of Good Feeling in America was continued under the second
administration of President Monroe.

[Sidenote: Inauguration of Monroe]

[Sidenote: Missouri admitted to Statehood]

The 4th of March fell on a Sunday, and Monroe was the first President to be
inaugurated on the 5th. Missouri was admitted conditionally, and, on August
10, the President proclaimed its admission as the twenty-fourth State amid
a tempest of political excitement. The contest over the slavery question
was now supposed to be forever settled. In the debates of 1821, the House
stood firmly against Missouri's admission as a slave State, and the Senate
was equally determined that the colored citizens of other States should be
denied citizenship in Missouri if the people so desired. At last it came to
a conference committee. It was decided that the State should be admitted,
as soon as its Legislature would agree that the section of the Constitution
in question should not be construed as authorizing a law excluding any
citizens of other States from the immunities and privileges to which they
were entitled under the Constitution. The Legislature of Missouri gave this
pledge, but it remained open whether free negroes and mulattoes were
citizens in other States, and whether they were to be made citizens in
Missouri. In the admission of Missouri there was for the first time an
unmixed issue on the question of a free government or a slave-holding
government in the United States. Doubtful dealings on the part of the
Senators from Indiana and Illinois were followed by an attempt to make
these States both slave-holding States, in face of the binding law of the
Ordinance of 1787. A popular movement led by Governor Edward Coles of
Illinois defeated this project.

[Sidenote: Liberia]

[Sidenote: Junius Brutus Booth]

On May 5, the territory of Liberia was secured on the west coast of Africa,
and a colony was founded for the repatriation of negro slaves, with
Monrovia for a capital. During this same period Junius Brutus Booth made
his first appearance in America, as Richard III., at Richmond. Late in the
year the remains of André, the British officer who was shot as a spy during
the American Revolution, were placed on a British ship for interment in
Westminster Abbey.




1822


[Sidenote: Greek independence declared]

[Sidenote: Sack of Chios]

[Sidenote: Kanaris' exploit]

Greek independence was declared on January 27. After the fall of Ali Pasha
in February, the Sultan was able to turn his undivided attention to the
Greek revolt. In March, a body of Samian revolutionists landed in Chios and
incited the islanders to rise against the Turk. They laid siege to the
citadel held by a Turkish garrison. Had the fleet of the Hydriotes helped
them, they might have prevailed. As it was they rendered themselves a prey
to the Turkish troops on the mainland. An army of nearly 10,000 Turks
landed in Chios, and relieved the besieged garrison. Then the fanatical
Moslems were let loose on the gentle inhabitants of the little island.
Thousands were put to the sword. The slave markets of Northern Africa were
glutted with Chian women and children. Within a month the once lovely
island was a ruined waste. All Greece and Europe was filled with horror.
Maurokordatos, now at the head of Greek affairs, was bitterly blamed for
not sending over a fleet to save Chios. One single Greek took it into his
hands to avenge his countrymen. The Turks were celebrating their sacred
month of Ramazan. On the night of June 18, the festival of Biram, the
Turkish fleet, under command of Kara Ali, was illuminated with colored
lanterns. On that night Constantine Kanaris, a sea-captain from Psara,
drove a fire-ship into the midst of the Turkish fleet. Sailing close up to
the admiral's flagship he thrust his bowsprit into one of the portholes.
Then setting fire to the pitch and resin on board his ship, he dropped into
his small boat and pulled away. A breeze fanned the flames, and in a moment
the big Turkish man-of-war was afire. The powder magazine blew up and the
lifeboats went up in flames. The burning rigging fell down upon the doomed
crew, and the admiral was struck down on his poop-deck. The ship was burned
to the water's edge. The Turkish fleet scattered before the shower of
blazing sparks, and was only brought together under the guns of the
Dardanelles. This exploit made Kanaris the hero of Greece. Within the same
year he repeated the feat.

[Sidenote: Morea reinvaded]

[Sidenote: End of Philhellene corps]

[Sidenote: Defence of Argos]

[Sidenote: Turks demoralized]

The Sultan had thrown his whole land force into the Greek mainland.
Khurshid, after his defeat of Ali Pasha, marched to Larissa, in Thessaly.
Thence two armies, 50,000 strong, under Bramali and Homer Brionis converged
upon the Morea. In the face of so formidable an invasion, Maurokordatos
took the field himself. He mismanaged things badly. At Arta he sacrificed
his choicest regiment, the famous corps of Philhellenes, composed of
foreign officers and commanded by men who had won distinction in Napoleon's
campaigns. They were cut down almost to a man. Maurokordatos fell back to
Missolonghi. In the meanwhile Dramalis with 25,000 foot and 6,000 horse
penetrated into the Morea. The Greek Government at Argos dispersed. All
would have been lost for the Greeks had Dramalis not neglected to cover the
mountain passes behind him. While he marched on to Nauplia, the Greek
mountaineers rose behind him. Demetrios Ypsilanti, the acting-president of
Greece, with a few hundred followers threw himself into Argos. There he
held the Acropolis against the Turkish rearguard. Kolokotrones, calling out
the last men from Tripolitza, relieved Ypsilanti at Argos. The mountain
passage was seized. Dramalis had to give up his conquest of the Morea, and
fight his way back to the Isthmus of Corinth. Without supplies and harassed
by hostile peasant forces the Turkish army became badly demoralized.
Thousands were lost on the way. Dramalis himself died from over-exposure.
The remainder of his army melted away at Corinth under the combined effects
of sickness and drought.

[Sidenote: Capodistrias resigns]

A decisive turn in the Greek war for independence was reached. Europe
realized that the revolt had grown to the proportions of a national war.
Popular sympathy in Russia became more clamorous. Capodistrias, the Russian
Prime Minister, rightly measured the force of this long pent-up feeling.
Unable to move the Czar, who still floundered in the toils of the Holy
Alliance, Capodistrias withdrew from public affairs and retired to Geneva.

[Sidenote: Suicide of Castlereagh]

[Sidenote: Canning]

[Sidenote: Iturbide Emperor of Mexico]

[Sidenote: Battle of Pichincha]

[Sidenote: San Martin retires]

[Sidenote: Battle of Junin]

[Sidenote: Ayacucho]

[Sidenote: Independence of Brazil]

In England, the suicide of Castlereagh brought Canning once more into
prominence. Robert Peel was made Home Secretary. Canning's long retirement
after the fiasco of his American policy, and his breach with Castlereagh,
had served to chasten this statesman. As leader of the opposition, he had
learned to reckon with the forces of popular feeling. When he returned to
power in 1822, he was no longer an ultra-conservative, but a liberal. He
now made no disguise of his sympathies with the cause of Greece, and with
the struggle for independence in South and Central America. There the
course of freedom had gathered so much momentum that it was plain to all
that Spain could never prevail without help from others. In Mexico, upon
the refusal of Ferdinand VII. to accept the separate crown of Mexico,
General Iturbide proclaimed himself emperor. On May 19, he assumed the
dignity. As Augustine I., he was crowned in the Cathedral of Mexico in
July. At the same time San Martin and Bolivar met at Guayaquil to dispose
of the destinies of South America. San Martin had just succeeded in
liberating Peru, and had made his triumphal entry into Lima. Bolivar had
brought aid to Ecuador, and established independence there. José de Sucre,
whom Bolivar called the "soul of his army," defeated the Spaniards in the
famous battle of Pichincha, fought at a height of 10,200 feet above the
sea. When Bolivar and San Martin met on July 25, San Martin announced his
determination to give a free field to Bolivar. The two men parted at a
great public love-feast at which San Martin toasted Bolivar as the
"liberator of Colombia." In his farewell address he said: "The presence of
a fortunate general in the country which he has conquered is detrimental to
the state. I have won the independence of Peru, and I now cease to be a
public man." Speaking privately of Bolivar, he said: "He is the most
extraordinary character of South America; one to whom difficulties but add
strength." With his daughter Mercedes, San Martin retired to Europe, to
dwell there in obscurity and poverty. Bolivar, with Generals Sucre, Miller
and Cordova, assembled a great liberating army at Juarez. After a
preliminary victory at Junin, Bolivar returned to Lima to assume the reigns
of government, while his generals pushed on against the forces of the
Spanish viceroy. Late in the year a decisive battle was fought at Ayacucho.
The revolutionists charged down the mountain ridges upon the Spaniards in
the plain, and utterly routed them. The viceroy himself was wounded, with
700 of his men, while 1,400 Spaniards were killed outright. In these
casualties the unusual disparity between killed and wounded reveals the
unsparing ferocity of the fight. In Brazil a peaceful revolution was
effected in September. After the return of Juan VI. to Portugal his son Dom
Pedro reigned as regent. On September 7, he yielded to the demands of his
American subjects, and proclaimed the independence of Brazil. He was
declared constitutional emperor of Brazil on October 12, and was crowned as
such shortly afterward at Rio Janeiro.

[Sidenote: Discontent in Spain]

[Sidenote: Foreign aid invoked]

The South American colonies had now in great part secured independence.
Spain was thereby robbed of her best resources. As financial distress
became more widespread, the spirit of discontent rose. The King's plottings
with the extreme Royalists of France lost him the confidence of his
subjects. In the south the triumphant party of the so-called Exaltados
refused obedience to the central administration. The municipal governments
of Cadiz, Cartagena and Seville took the tone of independent republics. In
the north, the Serviles, instigated by French agitators and their money,
broke into open rebellion. After the adjournment of the Cortes, Ferdinand
attempted to make a stroke for himself. The Royal Guards were ordered to
march from Aranjuez to Madrid to place themselves under the King's personal
command. The people took alarm, and several regiments of disaffected
soldiers were induced to head off the guards. A fight ensued in the streets
of Madrid. The guards were scattered. The King found himself a prisoner in
his own palace. He wrote to Louis XVIII. that his crown was in peril. The
Bourbon sympathizers in the north at once seized the town of Seo d'Urgel,
and set up a provisional government. Civil war spread over Spain.
Napoleon's final prophecy that Bourbon rule would end in the ruin of Spain,
and the loss of all the best colonies was near fulfilment. It was then that
the Continental powers of Europe proposed to interfere on behalf of the
Spanish monarchy. The death of old Minister Hardenberg in Berlin did not
loosen Metternich's hold on Prussia. Emperor Alexander hoped to conciliate
his army, burning to fall upon the Turk, by treating them to a light
campaign in Spain. In France, the Spanish war party likewise had the upper
hand.

[Sidenote: Monroe Doctrine]

Nothing could save Spain; but Spanish South and Central America presented
another issue. The new republics had developed a thriving trade with Great
Britain and the United States of America, which made it impossible for
these countries to ignore their flags. In America, Henry Clay on the floor
of Congress, had already urged the recognition of South American
independence. In his annual message to Congress in 1822 President Monroe
took up the question. On behalf of the United States he declared that, the
American continents were henceforth not to be considered a subject for
further colonization by any European power. "In the war between Spain and
her colonies," said President Monroe, "the United States will continue to
observe the strictest neutrality.... With the existing colonies or
dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not
interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence
and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great considerations
and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition
for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner
their destiny by any European power, in any other light than as the
manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States."

[Sidenote: Jefferson's indorsement]

[Sidenote: Canning's part]

[Sidenote: Fyffe's comment]

It was the famous Monroe Doctrine, a doctrine that in its substance, if not
in words, had already served as the guiding star of Thomas Jefferson's and
Madison's foreign policy. It is related that President Monroe, applying to
Thomas Jefferson for his opinion on the matter, was surprised at the
positive nature of the reply which he received. "Our first and fundamental
maxim," said Jefferson, "should be never to entangle ourselves in the
broils of Europe; our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with
cis-Atlantic affairs." At the same time that America thus flung down her
gauntlet to Europe, Canning, on behalf of the British Ministry, proposed to
inform the allied Cabinets of England's intention to accredit envoys to the
South American republics. Assured of the support of the United States, and
of Great Britain as well, South America could feel free to work out her own
destiny. This was the master-stroke of Canning's career. When brought to
bay afterward in Parliament, he could proudly boast: "I called the New
World into being, in order to redress the balance of the Old." To Americans
Canning's boast has ever seemed to rest on a flimsy foundation. As Fyffe,
the English historian of modern Europe, has justly said, "The boast, famous
in our Parliamentary history, has left an erroneous impression of the part
really played by Canning at this crisis. He did not call the New World into
existence; he did not even assist it in winning independence, as France had
assisted the United States fifty years before; but when this independence
had been won, he threw over it the ægis of Great Britain, declaring that no
other European power should reimpose the yoke which Spain had not been able
to maintain."

[Sidenote: Death of Shelley]

At the time that Canning made British liberalism respected abroad, literary
England suffered another irreparable loss by the death of Percy Bysshe
Shelley. The last few weeks had been spent by Shelley in Italy in the
company of Trelawney, Williams and Lord Byron. Before this Maurokordatos,
now battling in Greece, had been their constant companion. In June Leigh
Hunt arrived. Shelley and Williams set out in a boat to meet him at
Leghorn. The long parted friends met there. On July 8, Shelley and Williams
set sail for the return voyage to Lerici. Their boat was last seen ten
miles out at sea off Reggio. Then the haze of a summer storm hid it from
view. Ten days later Shelley's body was washed ashore near Reggio. It was
identified by a volume of Sophocles and of Keats's poems found on his
person. In the presence of Byron, Trelawney and Leigh Hunt, Shelley's
remains were cremated on the shore. His ashes were buried in the same
burial ground with Keats, hard by the pyramid of Caius Cestius in Rome.

[Sidenote: Lyric quality of his work]

[Sidenote: Shelley's career]

[Sidenote: Shelley's threnody]

Shelley's poetry belongs primarily to the Revolutionary epoch in modern
history. Though he wrote several long narrative poems and one great
tragedy, he was above all a lyric poet--according to some the greatest
lyric poet of England. His life, like his poetry, was almost untrammelled
by convention. Both gave great offence to the stricter elements of English
society. In some respects Shelley was peculiarly unfortunate. At the age of
eighteen, after his expulsion from Oxford University, he married Harriet
Westbrook, a girl of sixteen, and then found himself unable to support
her. Later he abandoned her and eloped with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.
Within a year his first wife committed suicide, and, three weeks later,
Shelley married Mary Godwin. The tragedy stirred up much feeling among his
friends. Among others the poet-laureate, Southey, remonstrated with
Shelley. Shelley replied: "I take God to witness, if such a Being is now
regarding both you and me, and I pledge myself, if we meet, as perhaps you
expect, before Him after death, to repeat the same in His presence--that
you accuse me wrongfully. I am innocent of ill, either done or intended."
Next came Shelley's trouble with the Chancery. Lord-Chancellor Elden
refused to give to Shelley the custody of his own children on the ground
that Shelley's professed opinions and conduct were such as the law
pronounced immoral. Shelley replied with his famous poetical curse "To the
Lord Chancellor." While the poem stands as a masterpiece of lyric invective
it did not mend matters for Shelley in England. In many of his other poems
his detractors saw nothing but the glorification of revolution, incest, and
atheism. When he wrote a satirical drama on so delicate a subject as the
unhappy affairs of Queen Caroline, even his publisher turned against him.
Yet the charm and beauty of Shelley's purely lyric pieces was such that he
must ever stand as one of the foremost poets of England. Either his
"Adonais" or the beautiful "Ode to the West Wind," would alone have
perpetuated his name in English letters. One of Shelley's most exquisite
pieces, written shortly before his death, has come to stand as the poet's
own threnody:

  "When the lamp is shattered
    The light in the dust lies dead--
  When the cloud is scattered
    The rainbow's glory is shed.
  When the lute is broken,
    Sweet tones are remembered not;
  When the lips have spoken,
    Loved accents are soon forgot.

  As music and splendor
    Survive not the lamp and the lute,
  The heart's echoes render
    No song when the spirit is mute,
  No song but sad dirges,
    Like the wind through a ruined cell,
  Or the mournful surges
    That ring the dead seaman's knell."

[Sidenote: Revival of letters]

[Sidenote: Golden age of music]

During this same year Thomas de Quincey published his "Confessions of an
Opium Eater," a masterpiece of balanced prose. In other parts of the world,
likewise, it was a golden period for literature. In France, Victor Hugo
published his "Odes et Poésies Diverses," a collection of early poems which
contained some of his most charming pieces. The rising Swedish poet,
Tegnér, brought out his "Children of the Last Supper." In Germany, Heinrich
Heine, then still a student at Bonn, issued his earliest verses. For
Germany this was no less a golden age of music. Beethoven, though quite
deaf, was still the greatest of living composers. His great Choral
Symphony, the ninth in D minor, was produced during this year, as was his
Solemn Mass in D major. As a virtuoso he was rivalled by Hummel, who at
this time gave to the world his famous Septet, accepted by himself as his
masterwork. Two other German composers so distinguished themselves that
they were invited to London to conduct the Philharmonic accompaniments.
They were Carl Maria von Weber, who had just brought out his brilliant
opera, "Der Freischütz," and Ludwig Spohr, who performed in London his new
Symphony in D minor. Of other composers there were Franz Schubert, whose
melodious songs and symphonies won him the recognition of the Esterhazys
and of Beethoven. Among those whose career was but beginning were Jacob
Meyerbeer, a fellow pupil with Weber under Abbé Vogler at Vienna, and Felix
Mendelssohn, the precocious pupil of the famous pianist Moscheles.

[Sidenote: Death of Herschel]

Sir Frederick William Herschel, the greatest modern astronomer, died at
Slough in England. Herschel was born in 1738 at Hanover. He was a musician
of rare skill and a self-taught mathematician of great ability. In 1757, he
deserted the band of Hanoverian Guards in which he played the oboe,
although a mere boy, and fled to England, where he taught music and
achieved success as a violinist and organist. His studies in sound and
harmony led him to take up optics; and from optics to astronomy the step
was short. Dissatisfied with the crude instruments of his time, he made his
own telescopes; for it was his ambition to be not a mere star-gazer, but an
earnest student of the heavens. By day, he and his brother and sister
ground specula; by night he observed the heavens. His astronomical work
includes a careful study of variable stars; an attempt to explain the
relation of sun-spots to terrestrial phenomenæ; the determination that the
periods of rotation of various satellites, like the rotation of our own
moon, are equal to the times of their revolutions about their primaries;
and the discovery of the planet Uranus and two of its satellites, and of
the sixth and seventh satellites of Saturn. His greatest work was his study
of binary stars and the demonstration of his belief that the law of
gravitation is universal in its application. His labors were invariably
systematic, and were characterized by dogged, Teutonic perseverance. His
discoveries were never purely accidental, but were made in accordance with
a well-conceived plan.

[Sidenote: Death of Canova]

Late in the autumn news came from Venice that Canova, the celebrated
sculptor, had died. Antonio Canova was born in 1757 at Passaguo near
Treviso. He was first an apprentice to a statuary in Bassano, from whom he
went to the Academy of Venice, where he had a brilliant career. In 1779 he
was sent by the Senate of Venice to Rome, and there produced his Theseus
and the Slain Minotaur. In 1783, Canova undertook the execution of the tomb
of Pope Clement XIV., a work similar to the tomb of Pope Clement XIII. His
fame rapidly increased. He established a school for the benefit of young
Venetians, and among other works produced the well-known Hebe and the
colossal Hercules hurling Lichas into the sea. In 1797, Canova finished the
model of the celebrated tomb of the Archduchess Christina of Austria.
Napoleon called the rising sculptor to France, and he there executed the
famous nude portrait of Napoleon now preserved in Milan. After his return
to Italy he fashioned his Perseus with the Head of Medusa at Rome. When the
Belvidere Apollo was carried off to France, this piece of statuary was
thought not unworthy of the classic Apollo's place and pedestal in the
Vatican. Among the later works of Canova are the colossal group of Theseus
Killing the Minotaur, a Paris, and a Hector. After Napoleon's second fall
in 1815, Canova was commissioned by the Pope to demand the restoration of
the works of art carried from Rome. He went to Paris and succeeded in his
mission. At his return to Rome in 1816, the Pope created him Marquis of
Orchia, with a pension of 3,000 scudi, and his name was entered into the
Golden Book at the Capitol. His closing years were spent in Venice. There
he died October 13, 1822.

[Sidenote: Congress of Verona]

[Sidenote: England slighted]

Upon Canning's accession to the Ministry in England, Wellington was
appointed representative of Great Britain at the Congress of Powers
convened at Vienna. The unsettled state of public opinion kept Wellington
in England and later at Paris. He did not join the Congress until after its
adjournment to Verona, to dispose of purely Italian affairs. Thus it
happened that the supplementary meetings at Verona became the real European
Congress of 1822. With the Neapolitan problem practically settled, and the
Greek war with Turkey at a standstill, the situation in Spain was the most
vital issue. The Czar of Russia and Metternich were determined not to
tolerate the Constitution of the Spanish liberals. Alexander hoped to make
good Russia's non-intervention in Greece by marching a victorious army into
Spain. The extreme Royalists of France, on the other hand, were so bent on
accomplishing this task themselves that they were resolved not to permit
any Russian troops to pass through France. With the spectre of a general
European war thus looming on the horizon, England endeavored to hold the
balance for peace. Acting under the instructions of Canning, Wellington
declared that England would rather set herself against the great alliance
than consent to joint intervention in Spain. In his despatches to Canning,
Wellington expressed his belief that this would result in a decision to
leave the Spaniards to themselves. The only result was that England was
left out of the affair altogether, as she had been in the case of Naples.
It was partly owing to this international slight that Canning put his foot
down so firmly in behalf of Portugal and the South American colonies.

[Sidenote: French attitude toward Spain]

At the Congress of Verona, Metternich once more won the day. With this
backing, the French envoys, Montmorency and Chateaubriand, in defiance of
their home instructions, committed France to war with Spain. An agreement
was reached that, in default of radical changes in the Spanish
Constitution, France and her allies would resort to intervention. On the
part of England, Wellington rejected this proposal, but all the other
powers consented. When the French Ambassadors returned to France, their
Prime Minister, Villèle, vented his dissatisfaction by repudiating his
envoys. He addressed himself to the foreign Ambassadors at Paris with a
request that the allies' demands on Spain be postponed. Montmorency at once
resigned. No notice was taken of Villèle's request except by England. The
King himself went over to the war party and appointed Chateaubriand his
Minister of Foreign Affairs. Great Britain's tentative offer of mediation
was summarily rejected by France. To Villèle, King Louis XVIII. thus
explained his attitude: "Louis XIV. destroyed the Pyrenees; I shall not
allow them to be raised again. He placed my house on the throne of Spain; I
shall not allow it to fall."




1823


[Sidenote: French invasion of Spain]

The Spanish Government was resolved to maintain the national independence
of Spain. It would make no concession. The French Ambassador in Madrid was
recalled. At the opening of the French Chambers in January, the King
himself announced his decision: "I have ordered the recall of my Minister.
One hundred thousand Frenchmen, commanded by a prince of my family, whom I
fondly call my son, are ready to march with a prayer to the God of St.
Louis that they may preserve the throne of Spain to the grandson of Henri
IV. They shall save that fair kingdom from ruin and reconcile it to
Europe." By the middle of March, the Duke of Angoulême and his staff left
Paris. On April 7, the French vanguard crossed the Bidassoa, and the Duke
entered Irun, welcomed by Spanish royalists. About the same time the Cortes
and Constitutional Ministry left Madrid, and compelled King Ferdinand VII.
to accompany them to Seville. The forces of the Spanish Government fell
back without striking a blow. Bands of freebooters calling themselves
royalists went pillaging throughout the northern provinces. The commandant
of Madrid felt constrained to beg the French to hasten their advance lest
the city fall a prey to the freebooters. Already the looting of the suburbs
had begun, when the French entered the Spanish capital on the 24th of May.
A regency was appointed under the Duke of Infantado. The Continental powers
sent accredited representatives to Madrid. Meanwhile the Cortes withdrew to
Cadiz. King Ferdinand refused to accompany them; so they suspended his
powers and appointed a regency over his head. The French prepared to lay
siege to Cadiz.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Portugal]

[Sidenote: Independence of Central America]

[Sidenote: The South American struggle]

Civil war broke out in Spain. Across the border in Portugal, Dom Miguel,
the second son of the absent king, excited a counter revolution. This state
of affairs in the Peninsula gave a finishing stroke to the royal cause in
America. In Central America, the revolutionists of Costa Rica and
Guatemala, who had made common cause with Mexico, proclaimed their
independence. In Mexico, Santa Anna proclaimed the republic at Vera Cruz.
Emperor Iturbide, who felt his throne tottering beneath him, retired, and
was banished from Mexico with an annuity. His sympathizers in Costa Rica
were overthrown in a battle at Ochomoco. On the first day of July, Costa
Rica was united with its neighboring States in the federation of Central
America. Nor had Peru been idle. Two royalist armies under Santa Cruz had
entered the upper provinces. During the summer months they overran the
country between La Paz and Oruro. But in early autumn they were forced back
by the revolutionists under Bolivar, who entered Lima on September 1, and
had himself proclaimed dictator of Peru. In Brazil, during this interval,
the Constitutional Assembly had been convoked in accordance with Dom
Pedro's promise. Under the leadership of the two Andrade brothers the
delegates insisted on the most liberal of constitutions. Dom Pedro's first
attempt to suppress the liberal leaders was foiled by the Assembly. Finally
he dissolved the contentious assembly and exiled the Andrade brothers to
France. In the provinces of Pernambuco and Ceara a republic was proclaimed.
Rebellion broke out in Cisplatina.

[Sidenote: Warring factions in Spain]

[Sidenote: Siege of Cadiz]

In Spain, the two opposing regencies vied with each other in retaliatory
measures. Odious persecutions were instituted on both sides. In vain the
Duke of Angoulême tried to restrain the reprisals of the Spanish royalists.
In August he appeared before Cadiz. He called upon King Ferdinand to
publish an amnesty and restore the medieval Cortes. But the Spanish
Ministry, in the King's name, sent a defiant answer. Cadiz was thereupon
besieged. On August 30, the French stormed the fort of the Trocadero. Three
weeks later the city was bombarded. For the Spanish liberals, the cause had
become hopeless. The French refused all terms but the absolute liberation
of the King. On Ferdinand's assurance that he bore no grudge against his
captors, the liberals agreed to release him. At last, on the 30th of
September, Ferdinand signed a proclamation of absolute and universal
amnesty. Next day he was taken across the bay to the French headquarters.
The Cortes dissolved.

[Sidenote: Release of Ferdinand VII.]

The Duke of Angoulême received King Ferdinand with misgivings. Already he
had written to France: "What most worries the liberals is the question of
guarantees. They know that the King's word is utterly worthless, and that
in spite of his promises he may very well hang every one of them."
Angoulême's first interview confirmed his impression. In reply to his
demand for a general pardon, Ferdinand pointed to the ragged mob shouting
in front of his windows, and said: "You hear the will of the people."
Angoulême wrote to Villèle: "This country is about to fall back into
absolutism. I have conscientiously done my part, and shall only express my
settled conviction that every foolish act that can be done will be done."

[Sidenote: Royalist reprisals]

[Sidenote: Riego executed]

Within twelve hours Ferdinand annulled all acts of the Constitutional
Government during the preceding three years. By approving an act of the
regency of Madrid, which declared all those who had taken part in the
removal of the King to be traitors, Ferdinand practically signed the death
warrant of those men whom he had just left with fair promises on his lips.
Even before reaching Madrid, Ferdinand VII. banished for life from Madrid
and from the country fifty miles around it every person who had served the
government in Spain during the last three years. Don Saez, the King's
confessor, was made Secretary of State. He revived the Inquisition, and
ordered the prosecution of all those concerned in the pernicious and
heretical doctrines associated with the late outbreak. Ferdinand justified
his acts with a royal pronunciamiento containing this characteristic
passage: "My soul is confounded with the horrible spectacle of the
sacrilegious crimes which impiety has dared to commit against the Supreme
Maker of the universe.... My soul shudders and will not be able to return
to tranquillity, until, in union with my children, my faithful subjects, I
offer to God holocausts of piety." Thousands of persons were imprisoned, or
forced to flee the country. On November 7, Riego was hanged. Young men were
shot for being Freemasons. Women were sent to the galleys for owning
pictures of Riego.

The Duke of Angoulême was indignant and would have nothing more to do with
the King. In a parting letter of remonstrance he wrote: "I asked your
Majesty to give an amnesty, and grant to your people some assurance for the
future. You have done neither the one nor the other. Since your Majesty has
recovered your authority, nothing has been heard of on your part but
arrests and arbitrary edicts. Anxiety, fear, and discontent begin to spread
everywhere." Angoulême returned to France thoroughly disenchanted with the
cause for which he had drawn his sword.

[Sidenote: The French elections]

In France, as in England, the return of absolute rule in Spain was viewed
with extreme disfavor by the Liberals. The success of the French arms, to
be sure, gave the government an overwhelming majority at the elections. The
voice of the Liberals was heard, however, in the first debate over the
Spanish war. Manuel, a Liberal deputy, denounced foreign intervention in
Spain. He said: "Can any one be ignorant that the misfortunes of the
Stuarts in England were caused by nothing so much as the assistance granted
them by France--an assistance foreign to the Parliament and to the people.
The Stuarts would have avoided the fate that overtook them had they sought
their support within the nation." For this alleged defence of regicide
Manuel was excluded from the Chambers. On his refusal to give up his
constitutional rights, he was forcibly ejected by the National Guards. "It
is an insult to the National Guard," exclaimed the venerable Lafayette. In
spite of the momentary triumph of the Royalists, Guizot's final verdict on
French intervention in Spain expresses the true attitude of France:

[Sidenote: Guizot's verdict]

"The war was not popular in France; in fact, it was unjust, because
unnecessary. The Spanish revolution, in spite of its excesses, exposed
France and the Restoration to no serious risk; and the intervention was an
attack upon the principle of the legitimate independence of States. It
really produced neither to Spain nor France any good result. It restored
Spain to the incurable and incapable despotism of Ferdinand VII., without
putting a stop to the revolutions; it substituted the ferocities of the
absolutist populace for that of the anarchical populace. Instead of
confirming the influence of France beyond the Pyrenees, it threw the King
of Spain into the arms of the absolutist powers, and delivered up the
Spanish Liberals to the protection of England."

During this year in France occurred the deaths of Dumouriez, the famous
general of the Revolution, and of Marshal Davoust, the hero of Eckmühl,
Auerstädt, and a score of other victories won during the Napoleonic
campaigns. At Rome, Pope Pius VII., the one time prisoner of Napoleon, died
in old age, and was succeeded by Pope Leo XII.

[Sidenote: Death of Jenner]

[Sidenote: Vaccination]

Dr. Edward J. Jenner, the great English surgeon and originator of
vaccination, died in the same year at London. Jenner was led to his great
discovery by the remark of an old peasant woman: "I can't catch smallpox,
for I have had cowpox." In 1796, Jenner performed the first vaccination on
a boy patient, James Phipps, whom he subsequently endowed with a house and
grounds. The scientific results of this experiment and those that followed
were embodied by Jenner in his "Inquiry into the causes and effects of the
variolæ vaccinæ," published on the eve of the Nineteenth Century. Unlike so
many other medical innovations, Jenner's epoch-making cure for the dread
disease of smallpox won him almost instant general renown. Parliament, in
1802, voted him a national reward of £10,000, and a few years later added
another gift of £20,000. After his death a public monument was erected to
Jenner's memory on Trafalgar Square.

[Sidenote: Amherst Governor in India]

In India, Lord Hastings retired from the governorship at Calcutta and was
succeeded by Lord Amherst. At the time of his accession to office, Dutch
influence had already become paramount in Borneo, whereas the British were
firmly settled in Singapore.

[Sidenote: American letters]

In North America it was a year of industrial progress. On October 8, the
first boat passed through the new Erie Canal from Rochester to New York. In
Brooklyn the first three-story brick houses were built and the paving of
streets was begun. The new system of numbering houses came in vogue. The
earliest steam printing press was set up in New York and issued its first
book. The manufacture of pins was begun, and wine in marketable quantities
was first made in Cincinnati. American letters saw the appearance of
Cooper's novels, "The Pioneers" and the "Pilot." Halleck published his
famous poem, "Marco Bozarris." During this year an American squadron under
Commodore Porter put an end to piracy and freebooting in the West Indies.
On the first day of December the Eighteenth Congress met and Henry Clay was
once more elected Speaker of the House.




1824


[Sidenote: American high tariff]

[Sidenote: Southern ascendency waning]

In January, a protective tariff bill was introduced in the American
Congress. It was opposed by the South and by New England. On May 22,
Congress, by a majority of five in the House and four in the Senate, passed
Clay's measure. The average rate of tariff was thirty-seven per cent.
Before the passage of the bill England had been importing goods more
cheaply than Americans could manufacture them. American manufacturers could
now sell their goods at a profit. Even then there were believers in free
trade, who held that the country would naturally produce that which was
prohibited, and that the productions which were brought into existence by
taxation put a portion of the people into unprofitable employment,
advantageous only to the manufacturers. But the Middle and Western States,
with the aid of the representatives from the manufacturing districts of New
England, were strong enough to give the tariff a small majority. From 1824
the imposition of protective duties has been the bone of contention of the
two great political parties in America. The economical struggle between
protection and free trade has since gone on with varying features.
Political leadership in the United States was passing from the South to the
North. New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio were fast pushing to the front.
Buffalo had 20,000 population; and other interior towns were growing
rapidly. Millions of acres of valuable lands were put under cultivation in
the central and western counties of New York and Pennsylvania and in Ohio;
manufacturing industries multiplied. From a sparsely inhabited country in
1800, Ohio had grown, in 1824, to be the fifth State in population.

[Sidenote: American letters]

American letters were enriched in this year by Irving's "Tales of a
Traveller," Paulding's "John Bull," Bancroft's "Politics in Ancient
Greece," and Verplanck's "Revealed Religion."

[Sidenote: South American republics recognized]

During the first session of Congress a special message from President
Monroe recommended the establishment of intercourse with the new
independent States of South America--Venezuela, New Granada, Buenos Ayres,
Chile and Peru. Congress voted for recognition by an overwhelming majority,
and the President signed the bill. The United States was the first among
the civilized powers to welcome the new republics.

The struggle for independence in South America was furthered more than ever
by the unsatisfactory state of affairs on the Peninsula. In Spain the
return of absolute rule was still followed by a reign of terror. The people
there relapsed into medieval barbarism.

[Sidenote: Portuguese Constitution triumphant]

[Sidenote: Growth of republican sentiment]

[Sidenote: Iturbide shot]

[Sidenote: Santa Anna in power]

In Portugal, the revolution stirred up by Dom Miguel ended with the
expulsion of that prince from Lisbon. His father, Dom Pedro, in Brazil,
thought it wise to recognize the liberal constitution imposed upon him by
his people. In the other Latin-American countries the people rebelled
against one-man rule. In Chile, General O'Higgins was forced to resign his
dictatorship and a provisional Triumvirate assumed the government. At Lima,
Bolivar found his powers curtailed. Mariano Prado was elected president.
The feeling against imperialism was so strong in Central America that all
the smaller States joined in confederation to ward off this danger
threatening them from Mexico. The Junta of San Salvador went so far as to
pass a resolution favoring annexation by the United States of North America
in case the Mexican imperialists crossed its borders. Eventually San
Salvador, together with Nicaragua and Costa Rica, joined the Central
American Union. The first Congress in Costa Rica elected Juan Mora
president. In Mexico, in the meantime, a strong provisional government was
established by Santa Anna. Ex-Emperor Iturbide, who in defiance of his
exile returned to Mexico, was arrested as he landed at Sota la Marina in
July. He was taken to the capital, tried, condemned, and shot. As he faced
death he said: "Mexicans, I die because I came to help you. I die gladly,
because I die among you. I die not as a traitor, but with honor." With
Iturbide out of the way, Santa Anna established a government strong enough
to accomplish the annexation of California. Henceforth there was no danger
of a return to Spanish rule. In England, Canning followed Monroe with an
absolute recognition of the independent governments in America.

[Sidenote: Death of Byron]

[Sidenote: Rhegas' hymn]

By this time public opinion in England had been aroused in behalf of the
Greeks still struggling for their independence from the yoke of Turkey. A
powerful impetus was given to this feeling by the tragic death of Lord
Byron in Greece. A few months before the poet had sailed from Genoa for
Greece to take active part in the war for freedom. He died of fever at
Missolonghi on April 19, at the age of thirty-six. One of his last poems
was a spirited translation of Rhegas' famous Greek national hymn:

  Sons of the Greeks, arise!
    The glorious hour shines forth,
  And, worthy of such ties,
    Display who gave us worth!

  Sons of Greeks! let us go
    In arms against the foe,
  Till their hated blood shall flow
    In a river past our feet.

  Then manfully despise
    The Turkish tyrant's yoke,
  Let your country see you rise,
    Till all her chains are broke.

  Brave shades of chiefs and sages,
    Behold the coming strife!
  Greeks of past ages,
    Oh, start again to life!

  At the sound of my trumpet,
    Break your sleep, join with me!
  And the seven-hill'd city seek,
    Fight, and win, till we are free!

[Sidenote: Goethe on Byron]

[Sidenote: Mazzini's verdict]

[Sidenote: Shelley's estimate]

[Sidenote: Symonds' judgment]

[Sidenote: Byron's best works]

Byron's death served the Greek cause better perhaps than all he could have
achieved had his life been prolonged. It caused a greater stir throughout
Continental Europe than it did in England. In truth Byron's poetry was
more appreciated by the world at large than by his countrymen--a literary
anomaly that has prevailed even to the end of the Nineteenth Century.
Goethe said of Byron after his death: "The English may think of Byron as
they please; but this is certain, that they can show no poet who is to be
compared with him. He is different from all the others, and for the most
part greater." Mazzini, many years later, concluded his famous essay on
Byron and Goethe with this vindication of the English poet's claim: "The
day will come when Democracy will remember all that it owes to Byron.
England too, will, I hope, one day remember the mission--so entirely
English, yet hitherto overlooked by her--which Byron fulfilled on the
Continent; the European cast given by him to English literature, and the
appreciation and sympathy for England which he awakened among us." Shelley,
who knew Byron intimately, has given perhaps the best expression to the
English view of him. He said of him in 1822: "The coarse music which he
produced touched a chord to which a million hearts responded.... Space
wondered less at the swift and fair creations of God when he grew weary of
vacancy, than I at this spirit of an angel in the mortal paradise of a
decaying body." To most Englishmen of his day, Byron, like Shelley,
appeared as a monster of impious wickedness. Unlike Shelley, he attained
thereby the vogue of the forbidden. His earliest poems achieved what the
French call a _succès de scandal_. His satire, "English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers," brought to the youthful poet a notoriety amounting to fame.
After the publication of the first two cantos of "Childe Harold," in 1812,
according to his own phrase, he awoke to find himself famous, and became a
spoiled child of society. Trelawney has recorded that Byron was what London
in the days of the Prince Regent made him. One of Byron's ablest critics,
Symonds, has put this even more strongly: "His judgment of the world was
prematurely warped, while his naturally earnest feelings were overlaid with
affectations and prejudices which he never succeeded in shaking off.... It
was his misfortune to be well born, but ill bred, combining the pride of a
peer with the self-consciousness of a parvenu." Byron's life in London
between 1812 and 1816 certainly increased his tendency to cynicism, as did
his divorce from his wife. While these experiences distorted his personal
character, they supplied him, however, with much of the irony wrought into
his masterpiece, "Don Juan." His poetic genius derived its strongest
stimulus from his imbittered domestic life and from his travels in Spain,
Italy and Greece. This twofold character of the poet it is that is revealed
in his best poems, "Childe Harold" and "Don Juan." He used both works as
receptacles for the most incongruous ideas. "If things are farcical," he
once said to Trelawney, "they will do for 'Don Juan'; if heroical, you
shall have another canto of 'Childe Harold.'" This means of disposing of
his poetic ideas accounts for the great volume of Byron's verse as well as
for its inequality. That "Don Juan" was never finished cannot therefore be
regretted.

[Sidenote: His last verses]

Byron's last verses were lines written on January 22, 1824, at Missolonghi.
To one of his English military associates in the expedition of Lepanto he
remarked: "You were complaining that I never write any poetry now. This is
my birthday, and I have just finished something which, I think, is better
than what I usually write." They were the famous lines, "On this Day I
complete my Thirty-sixth Year":

  'Tis time the heart should be unmoved,
    Since others it hath ceased to move;
  Yet, though I cannot be beloved,
      Still let me love!

  My days are in the yellow leaf;
    The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
  The worm, the canker, and the grief
      Are mine alone!

         *       *       *       *       *

  Awake! (not Greece--she is awake!)
    Awake my spirit! Think through whom
  Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
      And then strike home!

  If thou regret'st thy youth, why live?
    The land of honorable death
  Is here--Up, to the field, and give
      Away thy breath!

  Seek out--less often sought than found--
    A soldier's grave, for thee the best!
  Then look around, and choose thy ground,
      And take thy rest!

[Sidenote: Russian suzerainty rejected by Greeks]

[Sidenote: Ibrahim invades Greece]

[Sidenote: Sack of Psara]

When Byron died, Missolonghi had been delivered from its first siege.
Greece was plunged in civil war. Kolokotrones, who set himself up against
the government of Konduriottes and Kolletes, was overthrown and lodged in
a prison on the island of Hydra. An offer of Russian intervention at the
price of Russian suzerainty was rejected by the Greeks. Encouraged by this,
the Sultan appealed to his vassal, Mehemet Ali of Egypt, to help him
exterminate the Greeks. The island of Crete was held out to Mehemet Ali as
a prize. The ambitious ruler of Egypt responded with enthusiasm. He raised
an army of 90,000 men and a fleet, and sent them forth under the command of
his adopted son Ibrahim. Early in the spring the Egyptian expedition landed
in Crete and all but exterminated its Greek population. The island of
Kossos was next captured; and its inhabitants were butchered. In July, the
Turkish fleet took advantage of the Greek Government's weakness to make a
descent upon Psara, one of the choicest islands of Greece. In spite of
desperate resistance, the citadel of Psara was stormed, and the Psariotes
were put to the sword. Thousands were slain, while the women and children
were carried off as slaves. How little the miseries of the Greeks affected
the rulers of Europe may be gathered from this bright side light on
Metternich given by his secretary Gentz:

[Sidenote: Metternich's comment]

[Sidenote: Defeat of Turkish fleet]

"Prince Metternich was taking an excursion, in which unfortunately I could
not accompany him. I at once sent a letter after him from Ischl with the
important news of the Psariote defeat.... The prince soon came back to me;
and (pianissimo, in order that friends of Greece might not hear it) we
congratulated one another on the event, which may very well prove the
beginning of the end for the Greek insurrection." The Greeks, instead of
desponding, were aroused to fiercer resistance than ever. A Hydriote fleet
foiled Ibrahim Pasha's attempt on Samos. When he tried to return to Crete
his fleet was beaten back with a signal reverse. Finally, late in the year,
the Egyptians succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the Hydriote
sea-captains, and regained their base of supplies in Crete.

[Sidenote: Burmese war]

[Sidenote: Siege of Rangoon]

[Sidenote: British checked at Donabew]

While Canning's Ministry was still preparing the ground for European
intervention in Greece, the British Government in India found itself with
another native war on its hands. In 1822, the Burmese leader Bundula had
invaded the countries between Burma and Bengal. The Burmese conquered the
independent principalities of Assam and Munipore, and threatened Cachar.
Next Bundula invaded British territory and cut off a detachment of British
sepoys. It was evident that the Burmese were bent on the conquest of
Bengal. Lord Amherst, who had assumed charge early in 1824, sent an
expedition against them under Sir Archibald Campbell. The resistance of the
Burmese was despicable. The British soldiers nowhere found foes worthy of
their steel. In May, the British expedition, having marched straight to
Burma, occupied the capital Rangoon, which was found deserted and denuded
of all supplies. Ill fed and far from succor, the British had to spend a
rainy season there. Taking advantage of their precarious position, Bundula
returned late in the year with an army of 60,000 men. The Englishmen were
besieged. In December they made a successful sortie and stormed the
Burmese stockades. Bundula with the remains of his army was driven up the
banks of the river Irawaddy. They made a stand at Donabew, some forty miles
from Rangoon, where they held the British in check.

[Sidenote: German letters]

The rest of the world throughout this year lay in profound peace. In
Germany the rulers of the various principalities were allowed to continue
their reigns undisturbed. Only in Brunswick the assumption of the
government by Charles Frederick William met with the disapproval of the
German Diet. Although pronounced incapable of reigning, he succeeded none
the less in clinging to his throne. A more important event for the
enlightened element in Germany was the appearance of the first of Leopold
von Ranke's great histories of the Romance and Teutonic peoples. In the
realm of poetry a stir was created by the publication of Rueckert's and
Boerne's lyrics, and Heinrich Heine's "Alamansor" and "Ratcliffe."

[Sidenote: French literature]

[Sidenote: Clericals in the ascendant]

[Sidenote: Chateaubriand dismissed]

[Sidenote: Death of Louis XVIII.]

In France, Lamartine brought out his "Death of Socrates," and Louis Thiers
published the first instalments of his great "History of the French
Revolution." Simultaneously there appeared François Mignet's "History of
the French Revolution." While these historians were expounding the lessons
of this great regeneration of France, the Royalists in the Chambers did
their best to undo its work. After the ejection of Manuel from the
Chambers, and the Ministers' consequent appeal to the country, the
elections were so manipulated by the government that only nineteen Liberal
members were returned to the Chambers. Immediate advantage was taken of
this to favor the Clericals and returned Emigrées, and to change the laws
so as to elect a new House every seven years, instead of one-fifth part of
the Chamber each year. Monseigneur Frayssinous, the leader of the
Clericals, was made Minister of Public Instruction. The friction between
Prime Minister Villèle and Chateaubriand was ended by Villèle's summary
dismissal of Chateaubriand as Foreign Minister. Chateaubriand at once
became the most formidable opponent of the Ministry in the "Journal des
Débats," and in the Chamber of Peers. At this stage of public affairs Louis
XVIII. died, on September 16, with the ancient pomp of royalty. Before he
expired he said, pointing to his bed: "My brother will not die in that
bed." The old King's prophecy was based on the character of the French
people as much as on that of his brother. Indeed, Louis XVIII. was the only
French ruler during the Nineteenth Century who died as a sovereign in his
bed. He was duly succeeded by his brother, Count of Artois, who took the
title "Charles X." and retained Villèle as Minister of France.




1825


[Sidenote: Charles X.]

Charles X. was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Rheims. His first
public measure was the appropriation of a million francs to indemnify the
French Royalists, whose lands had been confiscated during the French
Revolution. Next came the proposal of a law on sacrilege, and one for
primogeniture. Both bills were strenuously opposed by the Liberals. Broglie
exclaimed: "What you are now preparing is a social and political
revolution, a revolution against the revolution which changed France nearly
forty years ago." Old Lafayette was glad to leave the country to visit
North America.

[Sidenote: American election contest]

[Sidenote: John Quincy Adams President]

[Sidenote: Henry Clay rewarded]

[Sidenote: Changes in American politics]

[Sidenote: Adams's first message]

In the United States the election of 1824 had to be decided by the House of
Representatives. For the Presidency the candidates were Andrew Jackson,
John Quincy Adams, Crawford and Clay, and for the Vice-Presidency Calhoun,
Sanford, Macon, Jackson, Van Buren and Clay. They all belonged to the
Democratic-Republican party. Jackson had received the highest number of
electoral votes--99 were for him and 84 for Adams. Calhoun, as candidate
for Vice-President, led with 182 votes. In the House of Representatives
Clay, as leader, opposed Jackson. Adams was declared President, with
Calhoun for Vice-President. The electoral vote of thirteen States was given
to Adams, while Jackson received seven. John Quincy Adams was then
fifty-eight years of age. Washington had made him Minister to The Hague,
and then to Lisbon, and in 1797 his father, then President, sent him as
Minister to Berlin. In 1803, he was United States Senator. Six years later
he was Minister to Russia. During both of Monroe's terms he was Secretary
of State. Upon his inauguration as President, Adams made Clay Secretary of
State. Wirt, McLean and Southard were retained in the Cabinet. The
adherents of Jackson declared that a bargain had been made between Clay and
Adams, who then paid Clay they alleged for his support in the "scrub race"
for the Presidency. Randolph characterized the supposed arrangement as a
"bargain between the Puritan and the Black Leg," and in consequence was
challenged by Clay to fight a duel. Neither was injured. The election was
followed by an immediate reorganization of political parties, on the
question of supporting Adams's administration. Whether the successor of
Adams should be a Northerner or a Southerner was the question at issue. His
opponents were slave-holders and their Northern friends; his supporters,
the antagonists of the Democratic party, whether known as National
Republican, Whig or Republican party, all of which terms were in use. For
the first time the new Congress, under the reapportionment, represented the
entire population of the country, with New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio in
the lead. In the Senate were men of brilliant promise. Clay was still a
leader, and so was Webster, in the rising majesty of his renown. The
contest between the parties was narrowed down to two great issues--internal
improvements under national auspices and tariff for the protection of
manufactures. President Adams in his first message gave opportunity for
concerted opposition. He took advanced ground in favor of national
expenditure on internal improvements, and urged the multiplication of
canals, the endowment of a national university, expenditures for scientific
research, and the erection of a national observatory. He announced that an
invitation had been accepted from the South American states to a conference
at Panama, in regard to the formation of a political and commercial league
between the two Americas. The Senate requested President Adams to give it
information "touching the principles and practice of the Spanish-American
states, or any of them--in regard to negro slavery." The subject was
debated for almost the entire session. When enough had been said to show
that slavery must not be interfered with, the delegates were nominated and
an appropriation was made. The delegates never went.

[Sidenote: Erie Canal completed]

[Sidenote: Beneficial results]

On November 4, the first boat travelling along the new Erie Canal reached
New York. Through the efforts of De Witt Clinton, the State of New York
without Congressional aid had completed the great Erie Canal. Its annual
tolls were found to amount to half its cost. The financial and commercial
results of the great work were immediate and manifest. The cost of
carrying freight between Albany and New York was reduced from the 1820 rate
of $88 per ton, to $22.50, and soon to $6.50. Travel was no less
facilitated, so that it was possible for emigrants to reach Michigan,
Illinois and Wisconsin cheaply. These fertile States grew accordingly in
population. In 1825 the Capitol at Washington was nearly completed; the
outer walls proved to be uninjured by the fire of 1814. The foundation of
the central building had been laid in 1818, and this edifice was now
completed on its original plan.

[Sidenote: Lafayette visits America]

The American visit of the old Marquis de la Fayette--to give him his French
name--was celebrated with national rejoicings. Years ago, when he left the
American republic after its independence was achieved, it was a poor, weak
and struggling nation. Its prosperity and increasing power now amazed him.
The thirteen colonies along the coast had increased to twenty-four
independent, growing and progressive commonwealths, reaching a thousand
miles westward from the sea. Lafayette was the nation's guest for a year.
On June 17, 1825, just fifty years after the battle of Bunker Hill, he laid
the cornerstone of the obelisk which commemorates that battle in Boston. On
this same occasion Daniel Webster made one of his great speeches. Lafayette
returned to France in the American frigate "Brandywine," named in honor of
the first battle in which Lafayette fought and was wounded half a century
before. Congress presented him with a gift of $200,000 in money, and with a
township of land in recognition of the disinterested services of his
youth.

[Sidenote: Argentine Republic]

Shortly before President Adams accepted the invitation to send North
American representatives to the proposed Congress of Panama, thirteen
independent States joined at Buenos Ayres in a powerful confederation and
formed the Republic of Argentine. A national constitution was adopted and
Rivadiera elected President. The new republic was soon called upon to prove
its mettle in the war levied against it by Brazil for the possession of
Uruguay. In the end Uruguay remained a part of Argentina. Brazil had
previously achieved its complete independence from the mother country by
assuming the public debt of Portugal, amounting to some ten million
dollars. England gave its official recognition to these new changes of
government as it had to the others.

[Sidenote: Burmese reverses]

[Sidenote: New British acquisitions]

The British war against the Burmese was nearly over. Early in the year the
British forces left at Rangoon advanced up the river Irawaddy toward
Donabew. The first attempt to take this stronghold was repulsed, whereupon
the British settled down to a regular siege. While trying to get the range
with their mortars the gunners succeeded in killing Bundula, the chieftain
of the Burmese. His brother flinched from the command of the army and was
promptly beheaded. The Burmese forces went to pieces. The British proceeded
to Prome, and inflicted another crushing defeat on the remaining
detachments of the Burmese army. At the approach of the British column the
Burmese rulers at Ava became frantic. All the demented women that could be
found in and about Ava were gathered together and conducted to the front
that they might bewitch the English. When this measure proved ineffectual,
Prince Tharawadi tried to stem the British approach, but could not get his
followers to face the enemy. All the country from Rangoon to Ava was under
British control. The Burmese came to terms. As a result of the conflict the
territories of Assam, Arrakan and Tenaserim were ceded to the British.

[Sidenote: Crisis in Bhurtpore]

[Sidenote: Summary British dealings]

While the British were still in the midst of this campaign a crisis
occurred in Bhurtpore. The sudden death of the Rajah there left no
successor to the throne but an infant son of seven. He was proclaimed Rajah
under the guardianship of his uncle. A cousin of the dead king won over the
army of Bhurtpore, and putting the uncle to death imprisoned the little
Rajah. Sir David Ochterlony, the aged British Resident at Delhi, interfered
in behalf of the little prince and advanced British troops into Bhurtpore.
His measures were repudiated by Lord Amherst. Sir David took the rebuff so
much to heart that he resigned his appointment. Within two months after his
retirement the old soldier died in bitterness of soul. The sequel
vindicated his judgment. In defiance of the British Government, the usurper
of Bhurtpore rallied around him all the dissatisfied spirits of the
Mahrattas, Pindarees, Jats and Rajputs. Lord Amherst was forced to retreat
to Vera. The British army under Lord Combermere crossed the border and
pushed through to Bhurtpore. The heavy mud walls of the capital had to be
breached with mines. The usurper was deposed and put out of harm's way in a
British prison. With the restoration of the infant Prince in Bhurtpore, all
danger of another great Indian rising seemed at end.

  [Illustration: SOLFERINO
    Painted by E. Meissonier
    From Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co., N.Y.]

[Sidenote: The first railway]

At home in England it was a period of unprecedented scientific and
industrial development. Following Faraday's recent conversion of the
electric current into mechanical motion, Sturgeon invented the prototype of
the electro-magnet. The first public railway for steam locomotives was
opened between Stockton and Darlington by Edward Peese and George
Stephenson--an innovation which caused great excitement throughout England.
On the opening day, September 27, an immense concourse of people assembled
along the line to see the train go by. Nearly every one prophesied that the
"iron horse" would be a failure. The train weighed about ninety English
tons, and consisted of six wagons loaded with coal and flour, then a
covered coach containing directors and proprietors, with twenty-one coal
wagons fitted up for invited passengers, nearly 600 in number. Stephenson's
engine, named the "Locomotion," had a ten-foot boiler and weighed not quite
1,500 pounds. As six miles an hour was supposed to be the limit of speed,
it was arranged that a man on horseback should ride on the track ahead of
the engine carrying a flag. The train was started without difficulty amid
cheers. Many tried to keep up with it by running, and some gentlemen on
horseback galloped across the fields to accompany the train. After a few
minutes, Stephenson shouted to the horseman with the flag to get out of the
way, for he was going to "let her go." Ordering the fireman to "keep her
hot, lad," he opened wide the throttle-valve and the speed was quickly
raised to twelve miles an hour and then to fifteen.

[Sidenote: Stephenson's practical demonstration]

The runners on foot, the gentlemen on horseback and the horseman with the
flag were left far behind. So, with the cross-beams and side-rods trembling
from the violent motion, the red-hot chimney ejecting clouds of black
smoke, amid the cheers of the delighted spectators and to the astonishment
of the passengers--the immortal George Stephenson brought his train safely
into Darlington.

As the "Newcastle Courant" (October 1, 1825) put it, "certainly the
performance excited the astonishment of all present, and exceeded the most
sanguine expectations of every one conversant with the subject. The engine
arrived at Stockton in three hours and seven minutes after leaving
Darlington, including stops, the distance being nearly twelve miles, which
is at the rate of four miles an hour; and upon the level part of the
railway, the number of passengers was counted about four hundred and fifty,
and several more clung to the carriages on each side. At one time the
passengers by the engine had the pleasure of accompanying and cheering
their brother passengers by the stage coach, which passed alongside, and of
observing the striking contrast exhibited by the power of the engine and of
horses; the engine with her six hundred passengers and load, and the coach
with four horses and only sixteen passengers."

[Sidenote: Immediate railroad development]

So successful was the Stockton and Darlington railway that a bill was
brought in Parliament for the construction of a railroad between Liverpool
and Manchester after Stephenson's plan. The scheme was violently opposed.
Its detractors, among whom were Lords Lefton and Derby, declared that
Stephenson's locomotive would poison the air, kill the birds as they flew
over them, destroy the preservation of pheasants, burn up the farms and
homesteads near the lines; that oats and hay would become unsalable because
horses would become extinct; travelling on the highways would become
impossible; country inns would be ruined; boilers would burst and kill
hundreds of passengers. Indeed, there was no peril imaginable that was not
predicted to attend the working of a railroad by steam.

When Stephenson was examined by a Parliamentary committee, one of the
members put this question: "Suppose, now, one of these engines to be going
along a railroad at a rate of nine or ten miles an hour, and that a cow
were to stray upon the line, and get in the way of the engine, would not
that, think you, be a very awkward circumstance?" "Yaw," replied
Stephenson, in his broad Northumbrian dialect, "ay, awkward--for the
_coo_." On account of his speech Stephenson was denounced as a "foreigner,"
and the bill was thrown out by the committee, by a vote of 37 against 36.
After a second Parliamentary battle, the bill was passed through both
Houses by a majority of forty-seven votes. The passage of the act cost
£27,000.

[Sidenote: Other modern inventions]

[Sidenote: English financial crisis averted]

[Sidenote: Canning's attempted reforms]

Almost coincidentally, Faraday found that benzine was a constituent of
petroleum, a discovery destined to affect the modern construction of
automobile vehicles toward the close of the century. A number of other
achievements made this an important year for science in England. John
Crowther took out a patent for his invention of a hydraulic crane. The
steam jet was first applied to construction work by Timothy Hackworth.
Joseph Clement built a planing machine for iron. One of the earliest chain
suspension bridges was erected at Menai Strait by Thomas Thelford, and at
the same time Brunel sunk his first shaft for the Thames tunnel.
Significant of the industrial revival of those days was the opening of
mechanics' institutes at Exeter and Belfast. In Canada, the newly founded
McGill College was raised to the rank of a university. A financial measure
of far-reaching import was the Bank of England's sudden diminution of its
circulation to the extent of £3,500,000 by the combined exertions of the
bank and of the royal mint. A crisis in public funds was thus averted. The
most important political measure of the year was Canning's attempt to
repeal the political disabilities of the Catholics in England. A bill to
this effect was passed through the Commons, but was thrown out by the House
of Lords. Canning's friend Huskisson inaugurated a commercial policy, which
was founded on the theory of free trade, destined to bring about the repeal
of the corn laws.

[Sidenote: Greek reverses]

[Sidenote: Nauplia and Missolonghi besieged]

[Sidenote: Greece devastated]

The situation in Greece was calculated to stiffen the backbone of Canning's
foreign policy. On February 22, Ibrahim's Egyptian army had crossed the sea
unopposed and overran the Morea. The Greeks were defeated near Nodoni, and
the garrison of Sphakteria was overwhelmed. The forts of Navarino
capitulated. In vain was old Kolokotrones released from his prison to
oppose the onslaught of Ibrahim's Arabs. The Greeks were driven back
through Tripolitza, and did not succeed in making a stand until the Turks
reached Nauplia. Here Demetrios Ypsilanti with a few hundred men repulsed
the Turkish vanguard at Lerna. Ibrahim settled down to the siege of Nauplia
and of Missolonghi. The country round about was laid waste and the people
killed. Ibrahim's hordes even cut down all trees and saplings. Thus the
fertile mountains and hillsides of Greece were changed into the barren
rocks they are to-day. Nothing so excited the sympathy of the lovers of
liberty in Europe as these wanton ravages on classic soil committed by the
savages of the desert. Even Alexander of Russia was so moved by the rising
indignation of his people that he dissolved diplomatic conferences at St.
Petersburg in August. He issued a declaration that Russia, acting on its
own discretion, would put a stop to the outrages of Greece. Accompanied by
the leaders of the Russian war party, he left St. Petersburg and travelled
to the Black Sea. All Europe waited for the long-threatened Russian advance
on Constantinople. Suddenly news arrived that the Czar had died at
Taganrog.

[Sidenote: Death of Czar Alexander]

[Sidenote: Alexander's early reforms]

[Sidenote: Russian letters stimulated]

Alexander expired on November 19 (December 1), in the arms of Empress
Elizabeth. His last hours were clouded by revelations of a plot to
assassinate him. As if to recant his reactionary measures of the last few
years, he said: "They may say what they like of me, but I have lived and
will die republican"--a curious boast which is justified only by the
earlier years of Alexander's reign. In the beginning of his rule the Czar
reversed the despotic tendencies of his predecessors. Free travel was
permitted; foreign books and papers were allowed to enter; the better
classes of the community were exempted from corporal punishments; the
emancipation of serfs was begun, and the collegiate organization of the
administration was supplanted by ministries modelled after those of the
chief European countries. As early as 1802 Alexander could boast of a
Cabinet as good as that of any constitutional monarch. Another far-reaching
reform was the reorganization of Russian public education, and the
encouragement given to the publication of Bibles. A temporary relaxation of
the censorship resulted in the foundation of societies of literature and of
such journals as the "Russian Messenger," "The Northern Mercury," and the
"Democrat." Writers like Pushkin and Gogol brought forth their earliest
works. Koltsov discovered a new source of poetry in the popular songs.
Lermontov sang the wild beauty of the Caucasus, and Ozerov wrote his
classical drama "Dmitri Donskoi," which recalled the struggles of Russia
against the Tartars. Modern romantic tendencies were advanced by
Joukovsky's translation of Schiller's and Byron's poems. Ginka composed the
scores for his earlier operas.

[Sidenote: Changes for the worse]

[Sidenote: Araktcheyev]

[Sidenote: The Russian succession]

[Sidenote: Conflicting proclamations]

[Sidenote: Nicholas, Czar of Russia]

[Sidenote: Moscow mutiny]

[Sidenote: Miloradovitch shot]

[Sidenote: End of revolt]

When Alexander came under the influence of Madame de Krüdener and the more
baneful ascendency of Metternich everything was changed for the worse. The
publication of Bibles was stopped; the censorship was re-established in its
full rigor; Speranski's great undertaking of a Russian code of laws was
nipped in the bud; Galytsin, the liberal Minister of Publication, had to
resign, and Araktcheyev, a reactionary of extreme type, was put in his
place. Some idea of the dark days that followed may be gathered from
Araktcheyev's first measures. The teaching of the geological theories of
Buffon and of the systems of Copernicus and Newton were forbidden as
contrary to Holy Writ. Medical dissection was prohibited, and the practice
of medicine was reduced to that of faith cure. All professors who had
studied at seats of learning abroad were dismissed. Then it was that the
secret societies sprang up in Poland and in the north and south of Russia.
One of the foremost conspirators was Pestel, who had undertaken to frame a
new code of laws for Russia. When Alexander died, Russia was on the brink
of a military revolution. It was the intention of the conspirators to
assassinate the Czar in the presence of his troops and to proclaim a
constitution; but his unexpected departure to the Black Sea frustrated the
plan. Alexander's death threw the Russian court into confusion. For a while
it was not known who was to succeed him. The supposed heir to the throne
was Alexander's brother, Constantine. Unbeknown to the people he had
formally renounced his right to the throne. At the time of his brother's
death he was in Warsaw. His younger brother, Nicholas, at St. Petersburg,
had him proclaimed emperor. When they brought him Constantine's written
abdication, Nicholas refused to acknowledge it and caused the troops to
take their oath of allegiance to his brother. Constantine in Warsaw
proclaimed Nicholas emperor. Nicholas would not accept the crown unless by
the direct command of his elder brother. At length the matter was adjusted,
after an interregnum of three weeks. On Christmas Day, Nicholas ascended
the imperial throne. The confusion at St. Petersburg was turned to account
by the military conspirators who had plotted against Alexander's life. To
the common soldiers they denounced Nicholas as a usurper who was trying to
make them break their recent oath to Constantine. When ordered to take the
oath to Nicholas, the Moscow regiment refused, and marched to the open
place in front of the Senate House. There they formed a square and were
joined by other bodies of mutineering soldiers. It is gravely asserted by
Russian historians that the poor wretches, ignorant of the very meaning of
the word constitution, shouted for it, believing it to be the name of
Constantine's wife. An attack upon them by the household cavalry was
repulsed. When General Miloradovitch, a veteran of fifty-two battles
against Napoleon, tried to make himself heard, he was shot. The mutineers
would not listen even to the Emperor. Not until evening could the new Czar
be brought to use more decisive measures. Then he ordered out the artillery
and had them fire grapeshot into the square. The effect was appalling. In a
few minutes the square was cleared and the insurrection was over. Its
leaders were wanting at the moment of action. A rising in the south of
Russia was quelled by a single regiment. Before the year ended, Nicholas
was undisputed master of Russia.

[Sidenote: Death of Fresnel]

By the death of Augustin Jean Fresnel, France lost a brilliant scientist,
who shares with Thomas Young the honor of discrediting the old emission
theory of light, and of formulating the undulatory theory.

[Sidenote: Death of David]

Jacques Louis David, founder of the new French school of classicism in
painting, died at the close of the year at Brussels. Many of his paintings
were on exhibition before the fall of the old régime in France. In the days
of the French Revolution, David was a Jacobite and friend of Robespierre,
and suffered in prison after the latter's fall. It was not, however, until
the time of the First Empire that David's fame spread. He then reached the
zenith of his success. His masterpieces of this period are "Napoleon
Crossing the Alps"--a canvas on which is founded Hauff's story of "The
Picture of the Emperor"--"The Coronation of Napoleon," "Napoleon in His
Imperial Robes," and the "Distribution of the Eagles." Equally famous is
his portrait of "Madame Recamier resting on a Chaiselongue." After the fall
of the First Empire, David was exiled from France, and retired to
Brussels. David, unlike so many other beneficiaries of the Empire, remained
warmly attached to Napoleon. Once when the Duke of Wellington visited his
studio in Brussels and expressed a wish that the great artist would paint
him, David coldly replied, "I never paint Englishmen." In his declining
years he painted subjects taken from Grecian mythology. Among the paintings
executed by David during his banishment were "Love and Psyche," "The Wrath
of Achilles," and "Mars Disarmed by Venus." The number of David's pupils
who acquired distinction was very great, among whom the best known were
Gros, Gérard, Derdranais Girodet, Jugros, Abel de Pujel and Droming.




1826


[Sidenote: Czar Nicholas' measures]

[Sidenote: Ryleyev and Pestel hanged]

[Sidenote: Russian laws codified]

Driven to assert his rights to the crown by bloodshed, Nicholas I. showed
himself resolved to maintain the absolute principles of his throne. He
accorded a disdainful pardon to Prince Trubetskoi, whom the conspirators of
the capital had chosen as head of the government. The mass of misled
soldiery was likewise treated with clemency. But against the real
instigators of the insurrection the Czar proceeded with uncompromising
severity. One hundred and twenty were deported to Siberia; and the five
foremost men, among whom were Ryleyev, the head of the society in the
north, and Pestel, were condemned to be hanged. All died courageously.
Pestel's chief concern was for his Code: "I am certain," said he, "that one
day Russia will find in this book a refuge against violent commotions. My
greatest error was that I wished to gather the harvest before sowing the
seed." In a way the teachings of these men gave an impetus to Russia that
their death could not destroy. Even the Czar, with his passion for military
autocracy, made it his first care to take up the work of codifying the
Russian laws. Alexis Mikhaielovitch during the next four years turned out
his "Complete Code of the Laws of the Russian Empire."

[Sidenote: Persian war]

[Sidenote: Defence of Choucha]

[Sidenote: Russian victories]

[Sidenote: Persia abandoned by England]

[Sidenote: Russia's ultimatum to Turkey]

[Sidenote: Massacre of Janizaries]

The military ambitions of Nicholas found a vent in the direction of Persia.
The encroachments of Ermolov, the Governor-General of the Caucasus, so
exasperated the Persians that soon a holy war was preached against Russia.
Ebbas-Mirza, the Prince Royal of Persia, collected an army of 35,000 men on
the banks of the Araxes. A number of English officers joined his ranks.
Nicholas at once despatched General Kasevitch with reinforcements for
Ermolov. Ebbas-Mirza was checked on his march on Tivlas by the heroic
defence of Choucha. In the meanwhile the Russians concentrated their
forces. The Persian vanguard, 15,000 strong, was defeated at Elizabethpol.
On the banks of the Djeham, Paskevitch, with a division of the Russian
army, overthrew the main body of the Persians and forced them back over the
Araxes. The Persians continued their resistance, relying on the terms of
the treaty of Teheran, wherein England had promised financial and military
subsidies in case of invasion. The English, promise was not kept. Hence
forth the Persians were at the mercy of the Russian army of invasion.
Almost simultaneously a rebellion against the Chinese Government broke out
in Kashgar. Undeterred by this diversion, Nicholas took up a vigorous stand
against the Turks. In March he presented an ultimatum insisting on the
autonomy of Moldavia, Wallachia and Servia, and on the final cession to
Russia of disputed Turkish territory on the Asiatic frontier. Turkey
yielded. Nicholas then joined in an ultimatum with England and France for
an immediate stop of the Turkish outrages in Greece. In this matter
Nicholas, who regarded the Greeks as rebels, showed himself more lenient to
the Turks, and negotiations with the Porte were permitted to drag. The
Sultan profited by the lull to execute a long contemplated stroke against
the Janizaries. The whole of this famous corps of bodyguards was massacred.

[Sidenote: Death of Bennigsen and Rostopchin]

During this year two men died in Russia who had distinguished themselves at
the time of Napoleon's invasion. One was General Bennigsen, a soldier of
German extraction and training, who took a leading part in all the Russian
campaigns against Napoleon. The other was Prince Rostopchin, who as
Governor of Moscow consigned that city to the flames after Napoleon's
triumphant entry.

[Sidenote: Death of Hastings and Heber]

[Sidenote: Alfred Tennyson]

[Sidenote: English letters flourishing]

[Sidenote: Scientific progress]

England lost two men who had distinguished themselves in India. One was the
Marquis of Hastings, who had but lately relinquished his
Governor-Generalship of British India, and whose rule there both from a
military and from a political-economical point of view must be regarded as
pre-eminently successful. The other was Reginald Heber, the Bishop of
Calcutta, who endeared himself to Anglo-Indians by his translations of the
folk songs and classic writings of Hindustan. In other respects this year
is notable in English literary annals. Alfred Tennyson published his
earliest verses in conjunction with his brother; Elizabeth Barrett also
brought out her first poems; Macaulay had begun to captivate England by his
essays; Thomas Hood issued his "Whims and Oddities"; Scott and Coleridge
were then in the heyday of literary favor. Scott had just brought out his
"Talisman" and "The Betrothed," and now published "Woodstock." Coleridge
contributed his "Aids to Reflection." A new impetus was given to
scholarship by the foundation of the Western and Eastern literary
institutions of England, and the establishment of a professorship for
political economy at Oxford. London University was chartered. Drummond's
namesake, Lieutenant Thomas Drummond, perpetuated his name by his
limelight, produced by heating lime to incandescence in the oxy-hydrogen
flame.

[Sidenote: English lotteries suppressed]

While Herschel was working out his spectrum analysis, Fox Talbot
contributed his share by his observation of the orange line of strontium.
John Walker perfected his invention of friction matches. Industrially, on
the contrary, England still suffered from the canker of the corn laws and
the recent financial crisis resulting from the operations of ill-fated
stock companies. In Lancashire nearly a thousand power looms were destroyed
by the distressed operatives. Some relief was given by Canning's abolition
of all public lotteries.

[Sidenote: Louis I. of Bavaria]

[Sidenote: Munich embellished]

[Sidenote: German romantic literature]

[Sidenote: "Die Wacht am Rhein"]

[Sidenote: Froebel]

In Germany, arts and literature flourished in the same degree. King Louis
I. of Bavaria, upon his accession to the throne, gathered about him in
Munich some of the foremost artists and writers of Germany. The capital of
Munich was embellished with public monuments; public buildings were
decorated with fresco paintings, and art galleries were established. The
University of Bavaria was transferred from Landshut to Munich, and other
institutions of learning were erected by its side. Streets were widened,
new avenues and public squares laid out, and public lighting introduced
throughout the city. Within a short time the quasi-medieval town of Munich
was changed into a modern metropolis and became the Mecca of German art.
Among the artists who gathered round Louis of Bavaria were Moritz von
Schwind, Cornelius, Hess, Raupp, and the elder Piloti. Among the writers
who drew upon themselves the notice of this liberal king were the Count of
Platen, who during this year published his "Ghazels" and the comedy "The
Fatal Fork"; and Hauff, who brought out his romantic masterpiece,
"Lichtenstein." Of the rising writers, Heinrich Heine alone withstood the
blandishments of Louis with verses of biting satire. Little noticed at the
time was the appearance of Reichardt's "Wacht am Rhein," a song which was
destined to become the battle hymn of Germany. Scant attention, likewise,
was given to Froebel's epoch-making work, "The Education of Man." On the
other hand much pother was made over some curious exchanges of sovereignty,
characteristic of German politics in those days. The Dukes of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Meiningen exchanged their respective possessions.
Saalfeld Meiningen received Gotha. Altenburg was assigned to
Saxe-Hilburghausen, which latter principality in turn was relinquished to
Meiningen. The settlements of the succession in those petty principalities
called forth volumes of legal lore.

Jens Baggesen, the most prolific Danish humorist, died this year,
seventy-two years of age. After his death Baggesen's writings declined in
popularity.

[Sidenote: American semi-centennial]

[Sidenote: Death of Jefferson and Adams]

[Sidenote: "The Father of Democracy"]

In America, the people of the United States commemorated the
semi-centennial of their independence. The Fourth of July, the date of the
declaration of American independence, was the great day of celebration. The
day became noted in American history by the simultaneous death of two
patriots: Jefferson and Adams. Thomas Jefferson's greatest achievements, as
recorded by himself on his gravestone at Monticello, were his part in the
declaration of American independence, in the establishment of religious
freedom and in the foundation of the University at Virginia. He was the
most philosophic statesman of his time in America. Much of the subsequent
history of the United States was but the development of Jefferson's
political ideas. His public acts and declarations foreshadowed the policies
of his most worthy successors. The essentials of the Monroe Doctrine, of
the emancipation of slaves, as well as of the doctrine of State rights and
of American expansion, can all be traced back to him. Thus he has come to
be venerated by one of the two great political parties of America as "The
Father of Democracy."

[Sidenote: Jefferson's principles]

[Sidenote: Third term discountenanced]

Jefferson's principles were stated in his first inaugural address: "Equal
and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or
political; peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations,
entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments and
all their rights as the most competent of administrations for our domestic
concerns; the preservation of the general government in its whole
constitutional vigor, as a sheet anchor of peace at home and safety
abroad.... The supremacy of civil over military authority; economy in
public expense, honest payment of public debts; the diffusion of
information; freedom of religion; freedom of the press and freedom of the
person, under the protection of the habeas corpus and trial by jury." When
Jefferson's second term as President came to an end he retired from the
White House poorer than he had entered it. A third term was declined by him
with these words: "To lay down a public charge at the proper period is as
much a duty as to have borne it faithfully. If some termination to the
services of a chief magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution or supplied
by practice, this office, nominally four years, will in fact become for
life; and history shows how easily that degenerates into an inheritance."
Together with Washington's similar action, this established a custom which
has since been followed in the North American Republic.

[Sidenote: John Adams's career]

Jefferson's predecessor, John Adams, who died on the same day, though
likewise a model President, was less fortunate in his career. His
administration was a struggle almost from beginning to end. The troubles
with France, though not attaining the dignity of international warfare,
presented all the difficulties of such a war. Adams's extreme measures
against domestic danger, as embodied in his "alien and sedition laws," were
unfortunate. They were in fact an infringement of the rights of free
speech and personal liberty, and were with justice denounced as
unconstitutional and un-American. His departure from the American Bill of
Rights among other things effectually prevented his re-election as
President. His wisest closing act was the appointment of John Marshall to
the Chief Justiceship of the American Supreme Court.

[Sidenote: Stars of the stage]

[Sidenote: "The Last of the Mohicans"]

In the annals of the American stage the season of 1826 is remembered for
the first appearance of the three great actors Edwin Forrest, Macready and
James H. Hackett, the American comedian. The same year saw the first
appearance of Paulding's "Three Wise Men of Gotham," and Cooper's "Last of
the Mohicans."

[Sidenote: Philhellenic efforts]

The Greek cause found friends in Switzerland, England and America. Two
loans for $14,000,000 were raised in London by American and English
subscriptions. Both loans were disgracefully financed. Barely one-half of
the amount was finally accounted for. With the proceeds contracts were made
for eight warships. The "Perseverance," a steam corvette, mounting eight
68-pound cannon, reached Nauplia in September. The "Hope," a staunch
frigate of 64 guns, built in New York, arrived in December. She was
rechristened the "Hellas."

[Sidenote: Dom Pedro IV.]

The death of Dom Juan de Braganza in March had placed the throne of
Portugal as well as that of Brazil at the disposal of his oldest son, Dom
Pedro IV., at Rio. Under the terms of England's mediation of the previous
year, Dom Pedro renounced the throne of Portugal in favor of his infant
daughter, Maria Gloria, while at the same time he conferred upon Portugal a
liberal constitution, the so-called Charta de Ley, similar to that conceded
to Brazil in 1822.

[Sidenote: Dom Miguel's revolt]

[Sidenote: Canning's policy]

Dom Pedro IV. had intrusted the throne of Portugal to the regency of his
sister Maria Isabella, on condition that his infant daughter should marry
her uncle, Dom Miguel. It was his intention that the infant Princess should
be recognized as Queen, while Dom Miguel would reign as regent. Under the
leadership of Marquis de Chaves, instigated by Dom Miguel, several
provinces revolted and declared for Miguel as absolute king. Conquered in
Portugal, the insurgents retired to Spain, where they were well received.
The Portuguese constitutional government called for help from England.
France threatened to invade Spain. Canning acted at once: "To those who
blame the government for delay," declared Canning in Parliament, "the
answer is very short. It was only last Friday that I received the official
request from Portugal. On Saturday the Ministers decided what was to be
done. On Sunday our decision received the King's sanction. On Monday it was
communicated to both Houses. At this very moment the troops are on their
way to Portugal." It was then that Canning delivered the great speech in
defence of his foreign policy which he closed with Shakespeare's famous
lines:

                          Oh, it is excellent
     To have a giant's strength. And it is tyrannous
     To use it like a giant.




1827


[Sidenote: Portuguese revolt suppressed]

On the first day of January an English army corps under Clinton was landed
at Lissabon and a squadron of eleven British ships of the line came to
anchor at the mouth of the Tagus. The news of this foreign intervention
dismayed the revolutionists. On the banks of the Mondego the Marquis de
Chaves, with 10,000 rebels, still commanded the approach to Coimbra. On
January 9, a drawn battle was fought with 7,000 constitutional troops under
Saldanha. Next morning Dom Miguel's followers, on the news of an
approaching British column, quitted the field and dispersed. The Spanish
troops on the frontier disarmed those that crossed into Spain.

[Sidenote: Dissatisfaction in France]

In France, the government of Charles X., after some violent attacks in the
Chambers, recalled the Swiss brigade sent to protect the royal family in
Madrid. There was trouble enough at home. The clerical reaction in France
brought about a popular outcry against the order of the Jesuits. On the
occasion of a royal military review on April 29, some of the companies of
the National Guards shared in demonstrations against them. "I am here,"
said the King, "to receive your homage, not your murmurings." The entire
National Guard of Paris was disbanded by royal ordinance.

[Sidenote: Russians invade Persia]

Early in the spring the Russian forces under Paskievitch had crossed the
Araxes and forced the defiles of the Persian frontier. By a rapid flank
movement an army of 10,000 Persians was detached and brought to surrender.
Erivan, the bulwark of Persia, was taken by assault. The triumphant Russian
column entered Pauris, the second city of the kingdom. Thence an advance
was made on Teheran.

[Sidenote: Intervention in Greece favored]

These easy victories in Persia left the Czar free to resume his threatening
attitude toward Turkey. In this he received the hearty support of Canning.
A protocol at St. Petersburg, concluded between the Duke of Wellington and
Nesselrode, formed the basis for Anglo-Russian intervention in the East.
The royalists of France were won over by an offer from the Greek insurgents
to place the Duke of Nimours on the throne of Greece. Without giving actual
support to the proposed intervention the French ambassador in
Constantinople was instructed to act with his English and Russian
colleagues. Under the weight of this combination even Prince Metternich
gave way.

Affairs in Germany were calculated to excite his alarm. At Dresden the
accession of Anthony Clement to the crown of Saxony met with extreme
disfavor on the part of the Saxon people by reason of Anthony's pronounced
Catholicism. Soon his measures provoked a rising of the people. Anthony had
to resign, and Frederick Augustus II. became regent.

[Sidenote: Death of Hauff]

In Wurtemberg, where public affairs had taken a more liberal turn, the
death of Wilhelm Hauff, the young author, was felt as a great loss. Hauff
died in his twenty-fifth year, while still in the first promise of his
literary activity. His stories of the Black Woods and his Oriental Tales,
together with his medieval romance "Lichtenstein," modelled after the best
of Walter Scott's romances, have assured him a prominent place in German
letters.

[Sidenote: Laplace]

[Sidenote: The nebular hypothesis]

On March 15, Marquis Pierre Simon de Laplace, one of the greatest
mathematicians and physical astronomers of all time, died at Arcueil.
Laplace was born in 1749, in Normandy. Although a poor farmer's son, he
soon won the position of a teacher at the Beaumont Military School of
Mathematics, and later at the Ecole Militaire of Paris. One of the early
notable labors of Laplace was his investigation of planetary perturbations,
and his demonstration that planetary mean motions are invariable--the first
important step in the establishment of the stability of the solar system
and one of the most brilliant achievements in celestial mechanics. In his
"Exposition du Systeme du Monde" was formulated the theory called the
"nebular hypothesis," the glory of which he must share with Kant. "He would
have completed the science of the skies," says Fourier, "had the science
been capable of completion." As a physicist he made discoveries that were
in themselves sufficient to perpetuate his name, in specific heat,
capillary action and sound. In mathematics he furnished the modern
scientist with the famous Laplace co-efficients and the potential function,
thereby laying the foundation of the mathematical sciences of heat and
electricity. Not satisfied with scientific distinction, Laplace aspired to
political honors and left a public record which is not altogether to his
credit. Of his labors as Minister of the Interior, Napoleon remarked: "He
brought into the administration the spirit of the infinitesimals." Although
he owed his political success, small as it was, to Napoleon--the man whom
he had once heralded as the "pacificator of Europe"--he voted for his
dethronement.

[Sidenote: Death of Beethoven]

Shortly after the death of Laplace, Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna on
March 26. The last years of his life were so clouded by his deafness and by
the distressing vagaries of his nephew that he was often on the verge of
suicide. In December, 1826, he caught a violent cold, which brought on his
ultimate death from pneumonia and dropsy. Beethoven, though he adhered to
the sonata form of the classic school, introduced into his compositions
such daringly original methods that he must be regarded as the first of the
great romantic composers. Some of his latest compositions notably, were so
very unconventional that they found no appreciation, even among musicians,
until years after his death. Technically, his art of orchestration reached
such a perfection of general unity and elaboration of detail that he must
stand as the greatest instrumental composer of the nineteenth century. The
profound subjective note that pervades his best compositions lifts his
music above that of his greatest predecessors: Bach, Haydn and Mozart.

[Sidenote: Beethoven's career]

[Sidenote: Notable compositions]

[Sidenote: "Fidelio"]

[Sidenote: Beethoven's declining years]

Beethoven came of a line of musical ancestors. His grandfather and
namesake was an orchestral leader and composer of operas. His father was a
professional singer, who took his son's musical education in hand at the
age of four. At eight the boy was a fluent performer both on the violin and
on the piano. When but ten years old Beethoven produced his first
pianoforte sonata, and was installed as assistant organist in the Electoral
Chapel at Bonn. When the lad visited Vienna, in 1787, his extemporizations
on the piano made Mozart exclaim: "He will give the world something worth
listening to." It was Haydn that persuaded Beethoven's patron to send the
youth to Vienna; there he became Haydn's pupil and received material
support from Prince Lichnovsky, one of his warmest admirers. From his first
entrance into the musical circles of Vienna, Beethoven was justly regarded
as a highly eccentric man. His generosity of soul and transcendent genius
made all those that learned to know him condone his freaks. It was after
the opening of the Nineteenth Century that Beethoven reached his freest
creative period. Between 1800 and 1815 he composed the first six of his
great symphonies, the music to "Egmont," the best of his chamber-music
pieces, fourteen pianoforte sonatas, among them the "Pastorale" and the
"Appassionata," and his only opera "Fidelio." This opera, which was first
named "Leonore," with an overture that was afterward abandoned, had its
first public performance in Vienna just before Napoleon's entry into the
capital in 1805. After three representations it was withdrawn. Nearly ten
years later, after complete revision by Beethoven, "Fidelio" achieved its
first great success. The great "Heroica Symphony" composed at the same time
was originally dedicated to Bonaparte. When Napoleon had himself proclaimed
Emperor, Beethoven tore up the dedication in a rage. It was subsequently
changed "to the memory of a great man." After 1815, when the composer had
grown quite deaf, his compositions, like his moods, took a gloomy cast. The
extravagances of his nephew, whose guardianship he had undertaken, caused
him acute material worries. In truth he need have given himself no concern,
for his admirers, Archduke Rudolph and Princes Lobkovitz and Kinsky,
settled on him an annuity of 4,000 florins; but to the end of his days the
unhappy composer believed himself on the verge of ruin. When he died, his
funeral was attended by the princes of the imperial house and all the
greatest magnates of Austria and Hungaria. Twenty thousand persons followed
his coffin to the grave.

  [Illustration: BEETHOVEN AND HIS ADMIRERS
    Painted by A. Grafle]

[Sidenote: English officers in Greece]

[Sidenote: Fall of Athens]

[Sidenote: Turks reject armistice]

By this time a number of foreign volunteers had flocked to Greece. Lord
Cochrane, an English naval officer of venturous disposition, was appointed
High Admiral. Sir Richard Church was put in command of the Greek land
forces. Early in May, Church and Cochrane sought in vain to break the line
of Turks under Kiutahi Pasha pressing upon Athens. They were defeated with
great loss, and on June 5 the Acropolis of Athens surrendered to the Turks.
In July a treaty for European intervention in Greece was signed in London.
Turkey and Greece were summoned to consent to an armistice, and to accept
the mediation of the powers. All Turks were to leave Greece, and the Greeks
were to come into possession of all Turkish property within their limits on
payment of an indemnity. Greece was to be made autonomous under the
paramount sovereignty of the Sultan. The demand for an armistice was gladly
accepted by Greece. But the Sultan rejected it with contempt. The conduct
of the Turkish troops in Bulgaria caused the Bulgarians to rise and call
for Russian help.

[Sidenote: Death of Canning]

[Sidenote: Canning's policy]

It was at this crisis of European affairs that Canning died. His Ministry,
brief as it was, marked an epoch for England. Unlike his predecessors,
George Canning was called to the Ministry by a king who disliked him. What
he accomplished was done amid the peculiar embarrassments and difficulties
of such a situation. On the other hand, it freed him from certain
concessions to the personal prejudices of his sovereign that hampered other
Ministers. Thus he was able to introduce in Parliament his great measure
for the removal of the political disabilities of the Catholics, a reform on
which so great a Prime Minister as the younger Pitt came to grief. Had this
measure passed the House of Lords it would stand as the crowning act of
Canning's administration. By an irony of fate the same Canning that so
bitterly opposed the French Revolution and the claims of America achieved
highest fame by his latter day recognition of the rights of revolution in
the New World.

[Sidenote: William Blake]

[Sidenote: Artist and poet]

[Sidenote: Blake's mysticism]

[Sidenote: Thomson's lines]

William Blake, the English poet and artist, died at Fountain Court in
London on August 12. While Blake's poems and paintings belonged to the
Eighteenth Century, chronologically, the spirit of his works, with its
extraordinary independence of contemporary fashions, make him a herald of
the poetic dawn of the Nineteenth Century. An engraver by profession and
training, Blake began while still very young to apply his technical
knowledge to his wholly original system of literary publication. As a poet
he was not only his own illustrator, but his own printer and publisher as
well. Beginning with the "Poetical Sketches" and his delightful "Songs of
Innocence," down to the fantastic "Marriage of Heaven and Hell," all of
Blake's books, with the exception of his "Jerusalem" and "Milton," were
issued during the Eighteenth Century. Blake's artistic faculties seemed to
strengthen with advancing life, but his literary powers waned. He produced
few more satisfying illustrations than those to the Book of Job, executed
late in life. His artistic work also was left comparatively untainted by
the morbid strain of mysticism that runs through his so-called "prophetic
writings." The charm of Blake's poetry, as well as of his drawings, was not
fully appreciated until late in the Nineteenth Century. Charles Lamb, to be
sure, declared, "I must look upon him as one of the extraordinary persons
of the age," but his full worth was not recognized until Swinburne and
Rossetti took up his cause. In America, Charles Eliot Norton, at Harvard,
was Blake's ablest expounder. Famous are James Thomson's lines on William
Blake:

  He came to the desert of London town,
    Gray miles long;
  He wandered up and he wandered down,
    Singing a quiet song.

  He came to the desert of London town,
    Mirk miles broad;
  He wandered up and he wandered down,
    Ever alone with God.

  There were thousands and thousands of human kind,
    In this desert of brick and stone;
  But some were deaf and some were blind,
    And he was there alone.

  At length the good hour came; he died
    As he had lived, alone;
  He was not missed from the desert wide,
    Perhaps he was found at the Throne.

[Sidenote: Richard Bright]

In this year Dr. Richard Bright of London published his famous "Reports of
medical cases with a view to illustrate the symptoms and cure of diseases
by a reference to morbid anatomy." A special feature of the book was a full
description of Bright's discoveries in the pathology of the peculiar
disease of the kidneys which bears his name. Bright, in response to urgent
demands, lectured more fully on his great discovery before the London
College of Physicians and Surgeons.

[Sidenote: Delacroix]

Eugene Delacroix, the great exponent of French romantic art, and a pupil of
Guerin, exhibited this year his "Christ in the Garden of Olives." He had
previously exhibited "Dante and Virgil," which created a sensation by its
rich coloring. This was followed by his "Massacre of Scio," "The Death of
the Doge," "Marino Faliero," "Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi" and
"Death of Sardanapalus." Not until some time after his death was he
recognized as the greatest early master of the French art after David. The
great majority of his works, embracing mural paintings and pictures of
immense size, are to be found in the principal churches and galleries of
France.

[Sidenote: Wellington Prime Minister]

[Sidenote: Powers intervene in Greece]

[Sidenote: Greek Naval victory]

[Sidenote: Turkish warships stopped]

[Sidenote: The Morea ravaged]

[Sidenote: An international demonstration]

After the brief interregnum of Goderich's administration in England,
Canning was succeeded by his rival, the Duke of Wellington. The good sense
and great renown of this distinguished soldier promised strength and
prestige to his administration. For a while the change of Ministry brought
no avowed change in Canning's plans. Huskisson and Palmerston were retained
in the Cabinet, and Canning's policy of active intervention in Greece was
upheld. In consequence of the Turkish refusal of mediation, the war
continued on both sides. The Turks got heavy reinforcements from Egypt, and
a strong expedition was on the point of leaving Navarino to make a descent
upon Hydra, the last stronghold of the insurrection. An Anglo-French fleet
under Admirals Codrington and Regnier made a demonstration in Greek waters.
The foreign admirals exacted a promise from Ibrahim that he would make no
movement until further orders should arrive from Constantinople. An oral
agreement to this effect was reached late in September. A few days later
the Greeks in free continuance of hostilities won a brilliant naval victory
in the Gulf of Corinth. The hero on this occasion was Captain Hastings, an
English volunteer. Ibrahim was so incensed that he sailed out of Navarino
and made for Patras. Codrington threw his British squadron across the
track of the Egyptian ships and forced them to turn back by a threat to
sink them. It was regretted at the time that Codrington did not compel
Ibrahim to take his expedition out of Greek waters back to Alexandria. As
it was, Ibrahim returned to Navarino, and there found orders from the
Sultan to carry on the war without regard to Western intermeddling. Another
Turkish column was forthwith despatched into the Morea and devastated that
country with fire and sword. Clouds of smoke revealed to the European naval
officers how the Turks had met their proposals for peace. Admiral
Codrington sent messages to Ibrahim, calling for instant cessation of
hostilities, for the evacuation of the Morea, and the return of his fleet
to Constantinople and Alexandria. The answer to this message was that
Ibrahim had marched into the Morea and could not be reached. The three
squadrons of England, Russia and France cruising off Zante immediately came
together. They consisted of twenty-nine vessels, ten ships of the line, ten
frigates, four brigs and five schooners. United in one column, under
command of Codrington as senior admiral, they sailed for Navarino.

Codrington was unhampered by instructions. He could feel sure of the
support of his government, however, for in his pocket was a confidential
note from the Duke of Clarence, the royal commander of the navy,
encouraging him to "find" a quarrel with the Turkish admiral.

[Sidenote: Navarino]

On October 20, the three squadrons sailed into Navarino harbor in battle
array, and came to anchor within pistol shot of the Turkish fleet,
composed of seventy warships, forty transports and four fire-ships,
anchored under cover of the land batteries. To windward of the British
corvette "Dartmouth" lay a Turkish brulote or fire-ship. A gig was sent to
demand the withdrawal of this dangerous vessel. The Turks fired on the boat
with cannon-shot and musketry. When Codrington sent a boat to the Egyptian
flagship, Moharem Bey, the admiral, opened with his guns. One shot struck
the "Asia," Codrington's flagship, and his pilot was killed. Codrington
opened with all his guns. The British broadsides soon reduced the Egyptian
flagship on one side, and a Turkish man-o'-war on the other side to mere
wrecks. The French and Russians joined in. The Moslem ships, which had a
superiority of 800 guns, replied with spirit. At close range they fought
the combined fleets of their hated Christian adversaries. From the
surrounding shores 20,000 Moslem soldiers discharged their guns into the
land-locked harbor. The fight lasted from three in the afternoon until
seven in the evening. All bravery was in vain when pitted against Western
seamanship and gunnery. In the course of a short afternoon one Turkish ship
after another was sunk or blown to pieces. By sundown little was left of
the Turkish fleet but a mass of wreckage. Only fifteen ships escaped, to be
scuttled by their own sailors. Four thousand Moslem seamen lost their
lives. All night long the Turkish gunners on shore kept up their fire. On
the morrow, when Ibrahim returned to Navarino, he found the waters of the
harbor strewn with wreckage and the floating bodies of his sailors. One of
the best accounts of the battle of Navarino has been given by Eugène Sue,
the novelist, who then served as surgeon on one of the French vessels.

[Sidenote: Greece saved]

The island of Hydra and with it all Greece was saved. The subsequent course
of Sultan Mahmoud was that of blind infatuation and fury. So far from
accepting the European demands for an armistice, he put forward a
peremptory request for an indemnity for the losses inflicted upon him. The
Ambassadors of the Powers quitted Constantinople. It was then that the loss
of Canning was felt in England. Instead of pursuing the vigorous policy to
which it stood committed by the battle of Navarino, Great Britain hung
back. Further intervention, with the profits accruing therefrom, was left
to Russia.




1828


[Sidenote: Peace of Tourkmanchay]

The time for undisturbed intervention in the East was most auspicious for
Russia. Peace with Persia was concluded early in the year. By the treaty of
Tourkmanchay, Fet Aly of Persia ceded to Russia the provinces of Erivan and
Nakhitchevan and paid an indemnity of 20,000,000 roubles. The river Araxes
was recognized as the frontier of both states. England's ascendency in
Persia was effectually set at naught. Even in China Emperor Taouk-Wang felt
encouraged to issue edicts prohibiting England's pernicious opium trade on
the Chinese coast. Russia's armies were now let loose on Turkey.

[Sidenote: Independence of Greece]

[Sidenote: Capodistrias summoned]

[Sidenote: Russia's double game]

[Sidenote: Understanding with France]

In the meanwhile, the Greeks profited by the Turkish check at Navarino to
assert themselves as an independent people. On January 18, Capodistrias,
the former Prime Minister of Russia, was summoned from Geneva and made
president of the Greek republic. His term of office was to last seven
years. This eminent statesman justified his selection by immediate
beneficent measures. A grand council of state was established and a
national bank opened in Athens. With the help of France, immunity from
further incursions from the Turks was practically assured. To preserve the
_status quo_ in Greece, Russia undertook to limit its single handed war on
Turkey to operations on the mainland and in the Black Sea. Within the
waters of the Mediterranean the Czar proposed to continue as an armed
neutral in harmony with the other Powers under the treaty of London, and,
to allay the apprehensions of Austria, the Russian forces in the Balkans
were ordered to carry their line of operations as far as possible from
Austria's sphere of influence. A still more effectual check on Austria was
secured by the Czar's secret encouragement of French aspirations toward the
Rhine. Charles X. exposed the plot when he said: "If the Czar attacks
Austria, I will hold myself in reserve and regulate my conduct according to
circumstances. If Austria attacks, I will instantly march against her." As
Prince Metternich put it, "The two powers were at one: France against the
European _status quo_; Russia against that of the Orient."

[Sidenote: Holy War proclaimed in Turkey]

[Sidenote: Russia declares war]

[Sidenote: Early success]

Although the recent Turkish concessions to Russia left to the Czar no
ground for war, a pretext was supplied by Sultan Mahmoud himself. With true
Turkish infatuation he chose this moment to issue a direct challenge to
Russia. The Czar was denounced as the instigator of the Greek rebellion,
and the arch enemy of Islam. The treaty of Akerman was declared null and
void. A holy war was proclaimed against the Muscovites. "The Turk does not
count his enemies. If all the unbelievers together unite against us we will
enter on the war as a sacred duty, and trust to Allah for help." This
proclamation was followed by the expulsion of all Christians from
Constantinople. Unfortunately for the Sultan, his recent massacre of the
Janizaries deprived him of the flower of his troops, and the reorganization
of the Turkish army, which was the motive of that act, was only under way.
For seven years the Russians had been preparing for this war. Nicholas lost
no time in answering the Sultan's challenge. He replied with a declaration
of war on April 26. Field Marshal Wittgenstein crossed the Pruth, while
Paskievitch entered Asia Minor. The Russian troops overran the Roumanian
provinces, Wallachia and Moldavia. The Danube was crossed early in June,
under the eyes of the Czar. Unable to meet their enemy in the open field,
the Turks withdrew into their strongholds, Ibraila and Silistria on the
Danube, Varna and Shumla in the Balkans. The Russians besieged and stormed
Ibraila, and thence pushed on through the Dubrudsha toward the Black Sea.
In the meanwhile Paskievitch in Asia Minor defeated two Turkish armies and
captured Erzeroum.

[Sidenote: Brionis victorious]

[Sidenote: Surrender of Varna]

After these early successes the Russian operations began to lag. The Czar's
presence at headquarters was a source of embarrassment rather than of
strength. Wittgenstein committed the error of dividing his army into three
slender columns. Too weak to conduct forward operations, they were held in
check before Silistria, Varna and Shumla. The Russian transport service,
none too good at best, collapsed under the threefold strain. The ill-fed
soldiers wasted away by thousands. At length Homer Brionis, the commandant
of Shumla, took advantage of the weakness of his besiegers. On September 24
he broke out of Shumla and marched to the relief of Varna. The Czar,
notwithstanding the evident weakness of his troops, ordered his cousin,
Eugene of Wurtemberg, to check the Turkish advance with a frontal attack.
The result was a severe defeat. Had Brionis marched onward Varna would have
been relieved. He clung to Shumla, however, and the Turks at Varna were
forced to surrender. It was late in autumn now, and cold weather put a stop
to the campaign for the year. The display of military weakness seriously
injured the prestige of Russia. The manifold mistakes of this campaign have
been unsparingly laid bare in a famous monograph of Moltke. Henceforth the
successful prosecution of the war became a _sine quâ non_ for Russia.

[Sidenote: Turks evacuate Morea]

[Sidenote: Vacillation in France]

During the progress of these events, French forces were landed in Greece.
They occupied Navarino, Patras and Modon. The Turks gave in and consented
to evacuate the Morea. In France, the ultra-royalist measures of Charles X.
gave rise to an ever growing spirit of dissatisfaction. The death of
Manuel, the outcast of the Chambers, was made the occasion of a great
public demonstration. The coalition of Liberals with a faction of Royalists
opposed to the Ministry had a brilliant triumph. Villèle's Cabinet offered
to resign. Instead of that, the King placed Martignac above him. "You are
deserting M. Villèle," said the Princess Royal to the King. "It is your
first step downward from the throne." The Duc de Broglie wrote: "Should we
succeed, after the fall of the present Ministry, in getting through the
year tranquilly, it will be a triumphant success." By way of concession to
the Liberals, a royal edict suppressed all the educational institutions
maintained by the Society of Jesus. The effect of this measure was offset
later in the year by renewed imprisonment and a heavy fine inflicted upon
Béranger for writing political songs.

[Sidenote: South American revolutions]

[Sidenote: Mitré's résumé]

Latin attempts at parliamentary government in America were productive of
even more discouraging results. In the Argentine Republic, the army, after
defeating the Brazilians, was led against its own government by General
Lavalle. The administration was overturned and President Dorrego was shot.
General Rosas became the leader of the Federalist forces and took the field
against the revolutionists. In Chile, the different parties contending for
the government patched up a precarious peace which was not destined to last
long. In Colombia, the Nueva Granada of the Spaniards, Bolivar clung to the
dictatorship. A new proclamation of dictatorial powers was issued by him on
February 10. Soon afterward an insurrection broke out against him led by
Peadella. Scarcely had this uprising been quelled when an attempt was made
to kill Bolivar at his seat of government. Henceforth the history of Latin
America degenerated into an endless series of revolutions and
counter-revolutions. The only real strength supplied to the various
republican governments, so called, was that derived from strong personal
characters, yielding one-man power. General Mitré, the great statesman and
historian of South America, has drawn up this striking résumé of the fate
of the foremost leaders of Spanish American revolutions. Their story is the
quintessence of the subsequent turbulent career of Latin America during the
Nineteenth Century.

[Sidenote: The gratitude of republics]

"The first revolutionists of La Paz and of Quito died on the scaffold.
Miranda, the apostle of liberty, betrayed by his own people, died, alone
and naked, in a dungeon. Moreno, the priest of the Argentine revolution,
and the teacher of the democratic idea, died at sea, and found a grave in
the ocean. Hidalgo, the first popular leader of Mexico, was executed as a
criminal. Belgrano, the first champion of Argentine independence, who saved
the revolution, died obscurely, while civil war raged around him.
O'Higgins, the hero of Chile, died in exile, as Carrera, his rival, had
done before him. Iturbide, the real liberator of Mexico, died a victim to
his own ambition. Montufar, the leader of the revolution at Quito, and his
comrade Villavicencio, the promoter of that of Cartagena, were strangled.
The first presidents of New Granada, Lozano and Torres, fell sacrifices to
colonial terrorism. Piar, who found the true base for the insurrection in
Colombia, was shot by Bolivar, to whom he had shown the way to victory.
Rivadavia, the civil genius of South America, who gave form to her
representative institutions, died in exile. Sucre, the conqueror of
Ayacucho, was murdered by his own men on a lonely road. Bolivar and San
Martin died in exile."

[Sidenote: Dissension in North America]

[Sidenote: New tariff]

[Sidenote: North _vs._ South]

In North America, likewise, the radical issues between the Northern and
Southern States produced ever more dissensions and discord. The question of
State sovereignty was prominent in the discussion of the tariff law of
1828, and assumed more and more a sectional aspect. The North had grown
rich and prosperous; when under free trade her energies were directed to
agriculture and commerce. This was the more emphasized when, under a
protective policy, her labor and her capital were devoted to the
development of manufactures. The Southern States had originally desired a
protective policy for their own supposed advantage; now they demanded free
trade for the same reason. But the North had put much money into
manufactures, and therefore demanded that Congress, which had placed her in
this position, should protect her in it. So the tariff of 1828, the highest
adopted in the United States up to that time, was a more comprehensive
measure than any which preceded it, and was adjusted throughout to
encourage Northern industry. New England was largely at one on this
subject, and the Middle and Western States were practically united. Thus it
became a question of party politics. From the tariff of 1828 dates a new
era in American Federal legislation. The division between the North and the
South began. Led by Daniel Webster, the New England States became advocates
of the protective system. The question, from being a national issue, became
distinctly sectional.

[Sidenote: Injustice to Indians]

[Sidenote: State rights precedent]

State sovereignty was the most important problem that presented itself
during John Quincy Adams's administration. The trouble with the Creek and
Cherokee Indians in Georgia brought this issue to the front. These tribes
were now partially civilized, and were tilling their lands in contentment.
Although they held their lands under treaty with the United States, Georgia
sought to eject them. Instead of protecting the Indians the national
government allowed Georgia to have its way and sent them to the Indian
Territory. Thus was an individual State permitted to act in defiance of the
national government.

[Sidenote: Industrial development]

[Sidenote: Webster's Dictionary]

[Sidenote: The "Book of Mormon"]

In other respects, it was a year of great prosperity and progress for the
United States. The differences with British North America in regard to
boundaries and to the proposed joint settlement of Oregon were amicably
settled by arbitration. The question of indemnities arising out of the
differences with England was likewise satisfactorily adjusted. England's
recent introduction of railroads was eagerly followed up in America. The
rails of the first American steam road were laid at Baltimore. They were
made of wood covered with iron bars. At Baltimore, too, the manufacture of
fire bricks was begun. Boston harbor beheld its first steamboat. The new
canal between Providence and Worcester was opened and produced an instant
increase of traffic for New England. In the other Eastern States factories
grew in number and new processes were introduced. Thus, the first varnish
made in America was produced at New York. Damask table linen was
manufactured at Pittsburg. The first straw paper was turned out at
Meadville, Pennsylvania. The planing mill was introduced. The Franklin
Institute at Philadelphia awarded to Stephen Boyden of Newark the premium
for his malleable castings. Arts and literature likewise flourished. Among
the new paintings exhibited during this year in America were Inman's
portrait of Halleck, Stuart's "Jared Sparks," Greenough's "Chanting
Cherubs," Dunlap's "Calvary" and Thomas Cole's "Garden of Eden." At Boston
the first lithographic press was established. Noah Webster published his
dictionary. Fenimore Cooper brought out his American romances, "The
Prairie" and "Red Rover," while Richard H. Dana published his "Buccaneer."
A book of singular fruition was Joseph Smith's "Book of Mormon," a
corrupted version of Spaulding's "The Manuscript Found."

[Sidenote: Heine's "Book of Songs"]

About the same time Wergeland in Norway published his tragedy, "Sinclair's
Death." In Germany the appearance of the "Book of Songs," instantly raised
Heine to the foremost rank among German lyric poets. The early influence of
Byron was revealed by his masterly translations from "Manfred," and of the
opening stanzas of "Childe Harold" and the lines addressed to "Inez." Most
felicitous was Heine's German version of Byron's famous farewell to his
wife:

  "Fare thee well, and if forever,
  Still forever, fare thee well."

Heine's own lyrical pieces, now put forth in profusion, were fully equal to
those of his English prototype. The "Book of Songs" throughout breathed
the spirit of the poet's sad boast:

  "From my heavy sorrows
  Made I these little songs...."

Heine's love songs, alone, by their subtile fusion of exquisite simplicity
with cynicism in a perverse form, won him immediate recognition outside of
Germany. This in itself has never been forgiven by the Germans. Such
prejudice did not deter German song composers from setting to music Heine's
melodious verses. Franz Schubert, the foremost song composer, just before
his death found inspiration in Heine's poems for his famous "Swan Song."

[Sidenote: Death of Schubert]

Schubert died in Vienna on the 19th of October, at the age of thirty-one.
Notwithstanding his brief career and lack of systematic schooling, he was
one of the most prolific as well as original of German composers. His
earliest extant song, "Hagar's Lament," was written at the age of fourteen.
Such early master works as "Margaret at the Spinning Wheel," and the
"Erl-King," both written for Goethe's words, mark the swift development of
his genius. During his eighteenth year, when he wrote the "Erl-King," he
composed no less than 144 songs. On one day alone he wrote eight. Besides
this he composed two operettas, three song plays, three other stage pieces,
four masses and several cantatas. In spite of his astonishing fecundity the
young composer suffered signally from lack of recognition. His whole life
was a long-drawn battle for subsistence. All his efforts to obtain a steady
income were unavailing. Though he composed scores for no less than
seventy-two of Goethe's lyrics, that great poet was indifferent to the
young composer. Beethoven, too, gave him but reluctant recognition. Not
until the year of his death did Schubert succeed in giving a public concert
that was a pecuniary success. He was wretchedly underpaid by his
publishers, and his greatest works utterly failed of contemporary
recognition. He died in the depths of poverty. In accordance with his last
request, Schubert was buried in the eastern graveyard at Waehring, close to
the grave of Beethoven. Schubert achieved immortal fame as the creator of
the modern lyric song. No less original were his effective transfers of the
song motive to pianoforte music, as shown in his "Moments Musicales" and
"Impromptus." Some of his symphonies, notably that in C and the "Fragment"
in B minor, are equal to those of Beethoven.

[Sidenote: Moratin]

Spain lost one of her most distinguished modern playwrights by the death of
Nicolas Fernandez de Moratin, a pupil of Goldoni, and the author of such
enduring Spanish comedies as "El Baron," "La Mogigata" and "El Sí de Las
Niñas." Besides his plays, Moratin also wrote an authoritative work on the
"Origins of the Spanish Stage."

Toward the end of the year the disorders in Portugal appeared to have
subsided sufficiently to warrant the withdrawal of the British troops. Dom
Miguel, the regent, promptly proclaimed himself King. After having grasped
the reins of power, one of his first measures was the dissolution of the
seven ancient estates of Portugal. In Spain King Ferdinand VII., in
December, celebrated his wedding to Maria Christina of Naples.

[Sidenote: Huskisson]

[Sidenote: O'Connell]

[Sidenote: Robert Peel]

Domestic affairs in England at this turn furnished an all-absorbing topic.
In the Cabinet, Huskisson's strong stand on the rotten borough question,
with his desire to accord Parliamentary representation to the working
people of Birmingham, had caused his expulsion from the Duke of
Wellington's councils. His resignation was followed by that of the former
members of the Canning Cabinet. Among those chosen to supply their place
was Vesey Fitzgerald, member for County Clare in Ireland. His acceptance of
office compelled him to go back to his constituents. It was then that
Daniel O'Connell, the great leader of the Catholic Association in Ireland,
saw his chance to strike a blow for Catholic emancipation. Though
disqualified from sitting in the Commons as a Catholic, O'Connell ran
against Fitzgerald. From the first Fitzgerald's cause was hopeless. The
great landowners, to be sure, supported his cause with all their wealth and
influence, but the small freeholders, to a man, voted against him. After a
five days' poll, Fitzgerald withdrew from the contest. The result was that
the hitherto irresistible influence of England's territorial aristocracy
lay shattered. The Protestant conservatives of England were filled with
consternation. Every debate in Parliament showed that the Catholic party
was daily gaining strength, while the resistance of the government became
weaker. It was clear that something must be done. At this crisis Robert
Peel, hitherto the champion of the Protestant party in the House of
Commons and Cabinet, became convinced of the necessity of yielding. He lost
no time in imparting this conviction to the Duke of Wellington, his chief,
and therewith offered his resignation. Wellington had learned a lesson from
the events that followed Huskisson's withdrawal. He refused to let Peel go.
Reluctantly he became a party to Peel's change of views. As late as
December 11, Wellington wrote a letter to the Catholic primate of Ireland,
deferring all hope of Catholic emancipation to the distant future. Before
the year closed, however, Wellington, armed with the arguments of Peel,
wrung from the King the Crown's consent to concede Catholic emancipation
without delay. Peel, as the author of this radical measure, consented to
take charge of the bill in Parliament.




1829


[Sidenote: Wellington's change of front]

At the opening of Parliament in England, the concessions of the government
in regard to Catholic emancipation were revealed in the royal speech,
delivered by commission. The great Tory party, thus taken unawares, was
furious. The Protestant clergy opposed the bill with all their influence
and clamored for a dissolution of Parliament. In the excited state of
public feeling, an immediate appeal to the country would undoubtedly have
wrecked the bill. Unable to carry out such a plan, the Tory opposition
showed itself ready to unite with any party in order to defeat the measure
and wreak vengeance on its framers. Within the Cabinet itself, Wellington's
change brought him bitter opposition. When the bill was brought into
Parliament in March, the Attorney-General, Sir C. Wetherell, not content
with refusing to draw the bill, sprang up to explain his position.

[Sidenote: Wetherell's attack]

"Am I, then," he exclaimed, "to blame for refusing to do that, in the
subordinate office of Attorney-General, which a more eminent adviser of the
Crown, only two years ago, declared he would not consent to do? I dare them
to attack me! I have no speech to eat up. I have not to say that a thing
is black one day and white another. I would rather remain as I am, the
humble member for Plympton, than be guilty of such treachery, such
contradiction, such unexplained conversion, such miserable and contemptible
apostasy.... They might have turned me out of office, but I would not be
made such a dirty tool as to draw _that_ bill. I have therefore declined to
have anything to do with it." Of course, Wetherell was at once dismissed.

[Sidenote: Defeat of Peel]

[Sidenote: Emancipation of English Catholics]

But an opportunity to avenge his dismissal was soon afforded. Robert Peel,
since he was not suffered to withdraw from the Ministry, felt in honor
bound to go back to his constituents at Oxford. The Protestant party that
had sent him to Parliament now opposed him with a simple country gentleman,
in no wise his Parliamentary equal. Peel was crushingly defeated. On the
other hand, the Whig party almost in a body went over to the government.
With their help the Catholic Emancipation act was passed. The Tories waited
only for the time to strike down their former leaders.

[Sidenote: Reforms in India]

[Sidenote: Fanny Kemble]

[Sidenote: Humphry Davy]

[Sidenote: Thomas Young]

The precarious position of Wellington's Ministry at home was offset by a
firm policy abroad. In British India the new Governor-General, Lord
Bentinck, upheld British prestige by his firm abolition of the native
custom of burning widows and by his extermination of the roving gangs of
Thugs. In regard to the Eastern Question and the war in the Balkans,
England came to an agreement with Austria to frustrate Russia's plans with
respect to Constantinople. Thanks to this _entente cordiale_ between the
two countries, enterprising English capitalists and engineers were allowed
to put into operation the first line of steamboats that plied the waters of
the Danube. Among other minor events of interest to Englishmen during this
year, may be mentioned the first public appearance of Fanny Kemble, the
actress, and the earliest boat race between student crews from the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. England lost two of her famous
scientists during this year--Sir Humphry Davy and Thomas Young. Davy was
born in 1778 and died in Geneva. Besides inventing the miner's safety lamp,
with which his name will be forever associated, he made valuable
experiments in photography; discovered that the causes of chemical and
electrical attraction are identical; produced potassium and sodium by the
electric current; proved the transformation of energy into heat; formulated
a theory of the properties of particles of matter (or atoms); and made
remarkable experiments which led to the theory of the binary composition of
chemical compounds. Young was born in 1773. At Cambridge they called him
"Phenomenon Young," because he was said to know everything. In truth, Young
developed into the most profound English scientist of the century. When
only twenty he was asked to read papers before the Royal Society. In 1801
he delivered the Bakerian lecture, his subject being "The Theory of Light
and Colors." That lecture marks an epoch in physical science; for it
brought forward for the first time convincing proof of the correctness of
the undulatory theory of light. The intangible substance which pulsates
and undulates to produce light, Young christened the "luminiferous ether."
And the term is still to be found in our scientific vocabulary.

  [Illustration: AMERICAN INVENTORS
    Painted by C. Schussele

   1 Dr Morton, Etherization
   2 Bogardus, Iron Architecture
   3 Colt, Revolvers
   4 McCormick, Reapers
   5 Saxton, Coast Survey Machinery
   6 Goodyear, Vulcanizing Gum Elastic
   7 Cooper, Gelatine
   8 Prof Henry, Electricity as a Motor
   9 Mott, Works in Iron
  10 Dr Nott, Management of Heat
  11 Ericsson, Caloric Engine Monitors, etc.
  12 Sickles, Steam Cut off, etc.
  13 Morse, Telegraph
  14 Burden, Horseshoe Machine
  15 Hoe, Rotary Press
  16 Bigelow, Carpet Loom
  17 Jennings, Friction Matches
  18 Blanchard, Eccentric Lathe
  19 Howe, Sewing Machine]

[Sidenote: War in the Balkans]

[Sidenote: Battle of Kulevtcha]

[Sidenote: Fall of Adrianople]

[Sidenote: Powers save Turkey]

[Sidenote: Russia's hold on Turkey]

In the Balkans Russia's war with Turkey was waged with vigor. The winter
months had been spent in bringing up reserves. The Czar withdrew from
interference at headquarters, and Wittgenstein was superseded by General
Diebitsch, a trained Prussian soldier. This general made preparations to
cross the Balkans as soon as Silistria should have fallen, without waiting
for the fall of Shumla. On the other side of the Balkans the Russian fleet
made a diversion so as to prepare the way for joining forces on the banks
of the Black Sea. In accordance with these plans Diebitsch sent a strong
force against Silistria. Before anything had been effected in front of
Silistria, Reshid Pasha, the Turkish Grand Vizier, moved eastward from
Shumla and took the field against the weak Russian forces at Varna. He lost
time, however, and suffered himself to be held at bay by the Russians.
Diebitsch hurried across Bulgaria in forced marches. Coming up in Reshid's
rear he could either fall upon Shumla or force the Turks to open battle. He
chose the latter course. The Turks, harried in their rear, attempted to
regain the roads to Shumla. On June 10, the two forces met in a pitched
battle at Kulevtcha. Reshid was badly defeated, losing 5,000 men and
forty-three guns, but made good his retreat to Shumla. Diebitsch had to lay
siege to Shumla. Soon after this, Silistria fell into the hands of the
Russians. Turning Varna over to the Bulgarians, and leaving a blockading
force before Shumla, Diebitsch boldly crossed the Balkans. The resistance
of the Turks was weak. On August 19, the Russians appeared before
Adrianople. In the Black Sea the Russian frigate "Mercury" defeated two
Turkish men-of-war. The Turks were seized with terror. Adrianople
surrendered without a blow. In the Morea the Turks evacuated Tripolitza and
Missolonghi and acknowledged the independence of Greece. The ports of the
Black Sea, almost as far south as the Bosphorus, fell into Russian hands.
Flying columns of the Russian army penetrated down to the Ægean coast and
as far as the Euxine. Yet the Russians were so weak in numbers that
anything like determined resistance could easily have checked them. As it
was, all Turkish resistance collapsed before the Russian onward march
toward Constantinople. The Sultan appealed to the Powers for help. England
and Austria intervened, and peace was forced upon Russia. The treaty of
Adrianople, signed on September 14, confirmed to Russia its protectorate
over the Danubian principalities. No Mussulman was to be permitted to stay
within the principalities, and all Turkish lands were to be sold within
eighteen months. No fortified point on the left bank of the Danube was left
to Turkey. Territory in Asia was ceded to Russia, as well as the ports of
Poti and Anapa on the Black Sea. The waters of this sea were thrown open to
international navigation; and the straits of Constantinople and the
Dardanelles were declared open to the merchant ships of all powers at
peace with the Porte. The payment of a money indemnity of 2,000,000 roubles
to Russia was deferred, thus leaving to Russia the means for exerting
pressure on the Yildiz Kiosk.

[Sidenote: French ambitions]

[Sidenote: Polignac Prime Minister]

[Sidenote: Liberal opposition]

Russia's acceptance of foreign mediation at Adrianople brought
disappointment to France. Reverting to Napoleonic ambitions, King Charles's
Ministers had proposed a partition of the Ottoman Empire on the basis of a
general rearrangement of Europe. Russia was to have the Danubian provinces
near the Austrian empire, Bosnia and Servia; Prussia was to have Saxony and
Holland; Belgium and the Rhine provinces were to fall to France, and the
King of Holland was to be installed in the Sultan's divan at
Constantinople. It was a chimerical project which it was hoped might avert
the impending troubles at home by dazzling acquisitions abroad. A
formidable majority had been raised up against the government by its
persistent encroachments upon the freedom of speech and of the press.
Martignac's Ministry resigned and Prince Polignac, a crony of the King, was
put in his place. In August, the "Journal des Débats" thundered against
him: "Now again is broken that bond of love and confidence which joined the
people to the monarch. The people pay a million of taxes to the law; they
will not pay two millions on the orders of the Minister. What will he do
then? Will he bring to his assistance the force of the bayonet? Bayonets in
these days have become intelligent. They know how to defend the law.
Unhappy France, unhappy King!" The Bertins were prosecuted for that
article and condemned. It only made matters worse. Societies were formed
throughout France to refuse the payment of taxes should the government
attempt to raise them without the consent of the Chambers. In the face of
this growing popular opposition, the King and his Minister resolved to
prepare an expedition against Algiers. As Guizot put it, "They hope to get
rid of their difficulties through conquest abroad and a resulting majority
at home." The death of Paul Barras about this time served to revive
revolutionary memories in France.

[Sidenote: The Schlegels]

The memory of Madame de Staël and her struggle for freedom of speech and of
literary opinion against Napoleon were recalled by the death of her
long-time friend and biographer, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlegel,
brother of August Wilhelm, the German poet. Karl studied at Göttingen and
Leipzig, devoting most of his time to the classics. It was his ideal to
become the "Winckelmann of Greek Literature." Schlegel's first publication
was "Greeks and Romans." In 1798 he wrote "Lucinda," an unfinished romance,
and "Alarcos," a tragedy. In 1803 he joined the Roman Church, and several
years later was appointed an imperial secretary at Vienna. He served as
Consul of Legation for Austria in the German Diet at Frankfort. Besides his
published lectures, Schlegel's chief works are: "History of the Old and New
Literature" (1815), "Philosophies of Life" (1828), "Philosophy of History"
(1829), and the posthumous work "Philosophy of Language." His wife, a
daughter of Moses Mendelssohn, was the author of several works published
under Schlegel's name. During the same year Pope Leo XII. died at Rome and
was succeeded by Pius VIII.


[Sidenote: Andrew Jackson inaugurated]

In the United States of North America, John Quincy Adams was succeeded by
Andrew Jackson. Calhoun was re-elected Vice-President. A motley crowd of
backwoodsmen and mountaineers, who had supported Jackson, crushed into the
White House shouting for "Old Hickory." For the first time the outgoing
President absented himself from the inauguration of his successor. He had
remained at his desk until midnight of the previous day signing
appointments which would deprive Jackson of so much more patronage. Jackson
took his revenge by the instant removal of 167 political opponents. His
remark, "To the victor belong the spoils," became a byword of American
politics. The system of rotation in office dates from his administration.


[Sidenote: "The Kitchen Cabinet"]

[Sidenote: "Pocket Vetoes"]

[Sidenote: Peggy O'Neill]

Jackson's first Cabinet was headed by Van Buren, with Samuel D. Ingham for
Secretary of the Treasury. The President also encouraged a set of
confidential advisers, among whom Kendall, Lewis and Hill were the most
influential. They came to be known as the "Kitchen Cabinet." The regular
members of the Cabinet were treated as mere head clerks. In one week
Jackson vetoed more bills than any of his predecessors had done in four
years. Other bills he held back until after the adjournment of Congress,
and then failed to sign them. The bills remained, as it were, in the
President's pocket. This new method of vetoing became notorious as the
"Pocket Veto." In other respects Jackson's first administration was stormy.
International relations were repeatedly threatened by the long-standing
controversy over the indemnity for French spoliations. An adjustment of the
indemnity claims with Denmark was likewise forced to an issue. At home,
Jackson's abandonment of the principle of extreme protection and his
hostility to the United States Bank lost him the support of the loose
constructionists. As a Freemason, the President was likewise opposed by the
new anti-Masonic party in politics. In a quarrel over the character of the
wife of Secretary Eaton, the beautiful Peggy O'Neill, all Washington was
involved. It was commonly believed that the subsequent break-up of
Jackson's Cabinet was caused by the social bickerings among the wives of
the members. Van Buren was the first to resign. Soon he was appointed
Minister to England, but the Senate rejected him through the vote of
Vice-President Calhoun. Jackson afterward took his revenge by defeating
Calhoun's aspirations to the Presidency through Van Buren. The new Cabinet
consisted of Livingston, McLean, Cass, Woodbury, Tracy and Berry. By reason
of the new protective tariff, the States of Georgia and South Carolina,
toward the close of 1829, returning to the Kentucky Resolutions of 1799,
affirmed the right of any State to declare null and void any act of
Congress which the State Legislature deemed unconstitutional. This was the
doctrine of nullification which grew to secession in 1860.

[Sidenote: American development]

The industrial progress of the United States was little affected by the
political dissensions during Jackson's first Presidential year. On July 4,
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was opened. The first trip of an American
locomotive was made on the Carbondale and Honesdale road. Throughout the
country many canals were opened; to wit, the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal,
the Delaware and Hudson, and the Oswego in New York; the Farmington in
Connecticut, and the Cumberland and Oxford Canal in Maine. Among the
literary productions of the year were a collection of minor poems by Edgar
Allan Poe, Parkman's earlier essays, Cooper's "Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish,"
Sparks's "John Ledyard," and Washington Irving's "Granada."

[Sidenote: Early automobile vehicles]

In England the first successful experiments with steam-propelled stage
coaches were made by Sir Goldsworth Gurney. These machines were the
precursors of the latter-day automobile vehicle. This account of a ride in
the Gurney stage coach was published by the "United Service Journal":

[Sidenote: A contemporary description]

"We numbered four in a coach attached to the steam carriage, and we had
travelled without difficulty or mishap as far as Longford, where they were
repairing the bridge over the Cambria. On this was a large pile of bricks,
so high as to conceal what was happening on the other side. Precisely at
the moment we began to cross the bridge the mail-coach from Bath arrived on
the other end. As soon as we perceived it we shouted to the driver to take
care; but, as he was not aware of the extraordinary vehicle he was going
to meet, he did not slacken speed. To avoid a collision, Mr. Gurney guided
our steam carriage into the pile of bricks. Some damage to our apparatus
resulted, but was repaired in less than a quarter of an hour. As to the
horses of the coach, they had taken the bit between their teeth and had to
be cut loose.

"Upon our arrival at Melksham, we found that there was a fair in progress,
and the streets were full of people. Mr. Gurney made the carriages travel
as slowly as possible, in order to injure no one. Unfortunately, in that
town the lower classes are strongly opposed to the new method of
transportation. Excited by the postilions, who imagined that the adoption
of Mr. Gurney's steam carriage would compromise their means of livelihood,
the multitude that encumbered the streets arose against us, heaped us with
insults, and attacked us with stones. The chief engineer and another man
were seriously injured. Mr. Gurney feared we could not pursue our journey,
as two of his best mechanics had need of surgical aid. He turned the
carriage into the court of a brewer named Ales, and during the night it was
guarded by constables."

[Sidenote: Jobard]

[Sidenote: Jobard's impressions]

To have assisted at the experiment of Gurney's steam carriage was, in those
days, almost a title to glory. These carriages became speedily one of the
curiosities of London. Foreign travellers who printed accounts of their
journeys, did not fail to devote a chapter to the new means of locomotion.
Jobard, the Belgian savant and economist, was of the number, and so were
Cuchette, St. Germain Leduc and C.G. Simon, three prominent scientific
writers of that time. Jobard's impressions noted down at the time are
worthy of record: "My first visit in England was to the starting station of
Sir Goldsworth Gurney's steam omnibus, running between London and Bath.
This carriage does not differ materially from other stage-coaches, nor has
it had any serious mishap as yet. For my benefit it manoeuvred back and
forth over the street pavement and later on the smooth macadam of the
highway, without any apparent difficulties of guiding. The drivers of other
stage-coaches are agreed that the thing is a success, and that before long
it will do them much harm."

[Sidenote: Lamarck]

Jean Baptiste de Lamarck, a forerunner of Charles Darwin died in this year.
As early as 1801 Lamarck had outlined his ideas of the transmutation of
species and attempted to explain the manner in which that transmutation had
been brought about. There is no such thing as a "species," he held; there
are only individuals descended from a common stock and modified in
structure to suit their environment. Lamarck was scoffed at in his own
time; he was respected as a naturalist, but unrecognized as a prophet.




1830


[Sidenote: First sewing machine]

Early in the year, Bartholemy Thimonnier, a French tailor, took out a
patent for his invention of a sewing machine. It was an invention destined
to revolutionize the manufacture of clothing and the matter of dress in all
civilized countries. Thimonnier's device was a chain stitch sewing machine
worked with a treadle. It had taken the inventor, ignorant as he was of
mechanics, four years of painful application to perfect it. The first to
recognize the real value of the invention was M. Beunier, supervisor of
mines at Paris. He took Thimonnier to Paris and installed him as a partner
and manager of a large clothing firm that manufactured army uniforms. They
set up eighty machines and did so well with them that the workmen of Paris,
profiting by the revolutionary disturbances of the times, wreaked their
vengeance on the new labor-saving device by wrecking the establishment. The
inventor was compelled to flee for life. During the same year, another
Frenchman, Charles Barbier, invented the system of raised printing for the
blind.

[Sidenote: Sir Thomas Lawrence]

Sir Thomas Lawrence, the celebrated English portrait painter, died at the
outset of the year. In his early youth at Bristol and Oxford, this artist
showed marked talent for portraiture, and became a pupil of Sir Joshua
Reynolds at the Royal Academy. His delicate pastel portraits obtained great
vogue in the most aristocratic circles of London. On the death of his
master, Lawrence was appointed painter to the King. He became the
fashionable portrait painter of the age. As such, Lawrence was summoned to
Aix-la-Chapelle during the International Congress of 1818 to paint the
various dignitaries of the Holy Alliance. While at Vienna he painted the
famous pastel of Napoleon's son, the little King of Rome--by all odds the
most charming of all the many likenesses of that unfortunate eaglet.
Lawrence returned to England a few days after the death of Benjamin West,
and was immediately elected to succeed him as President of the Royal
Academy. He held this office for ten years, until his death. Among the most
noted works of Lawrence, executed during this time, were the portraits of
Master Lambton and of the Duke of Wellington. Lawrence's ambitious essays
beyond the limits of portrait painting, such as his once celebrated
"Satan," obtained no lasting success. After the artist's death a number of
his best known canvases were collected for permanent exhibition in the
Waterloo Gallery of Windsor.

[Sidenote: Lister's microscope]

In this year Joseph Jackson Lister, an English amateur optician,
contributed to the Royal Society the famous paper detailing his recent
experiments with the compound microscope. Aided by Tully, a celebrated
optician, Lister succeeded in making of the microscope a practical
scientific implement rather than a toy. With the help of his own
instrument Lister was able to settle the long mooted question as to the
true form of the red corpuscles of the human blood.

[Sidenote: Conquest of Algiers]

[Sidenote: England's vain protest]

In the face of the menacing attitude of the liberal elements of France,
which had been rendered more acute by the King's increase of the Chamber of
Peers to the detriment of the Deputies, the French Government launched
forth upon the conquest of Algiers. It was believed to be an auspicious
moment. The Sultan's reluctant acknowledgment of the independence of
Greece, April 25, showed how powerless he was. The Dey of Algiers had
insulted France by his discourteous treatment of a French consul. He
refused the satisfaction demanded by France. On the failure of a blockade
to reduce the city of Algiers, an expedition commanded by Bourmont set out
for Africa in spring. A landing was successfully effected by the middle of
June. Early in July, Algiers was taken. Immense spoils, valued at
48,000,000 francs, were seized by the French. England grew apprehensive.
George IV. had just died (June 26), and the Duke of Wellington, who was
retained in power by the new king, William IV., demanded from the French
Government an engagement to retain none of its new conquests. "Never," said
Lord Alverdon to Lavel, the French Ambassador, "never did France, under the
Republic or under the Empire, give England such serious ground of complaint
as she has been giving us for the last year." It was in vain. The seething
spirit of the people in France seemed to demand an outlet. The victories
of French arms in Africa were cast before the French people as a sop. The
permanent annexation of Algiers was announced. It was too late.

[Sidenote: "Hernani"]

[Sidenote: Théophile Gautier]

[Sidenote: Honoré de Balzac]

[Sidenote: French Government outvoted]

[Sidenote: Charles Xth's Coup d'État]

The heated spirit of the rising generation had already been revealed in the
hysterical demonstrations that occurred on the occasion of the first
performance of Victor Hugo's "Hernani" on February 25. Conspicuous among
the leaders of the literary tumult was Théophile Gautier, then a youth of
eighteen, but already an author and an _Hugolâtre intransigeant_, who led
the claque on this first night resplendent in a rose-colored doublet and
streaming long hair. With him was young Balzac, who had just won renown and
notoriety by his "Physiologie du Mariage," and the first of his "Contes
Drôlatiques." In March, the Liberals in the Chambers declared their want of
confidence in the government by a majority of forty votes. Charles X.,
staking all on the success of his Algerian campaign, dissolved the
Chambers. "No compromise, no surrender," was the motto of the Royalists as
they appealed to the people. The result was an overwhelming majority
against the government. No less than 202 deputies pledged to opposition
were elected. The whole of France was now waiting for the _coup d'état_,
and Europe waited with France. "Your two weakest points are the electoral
law and the liberty of the press," said Metternich to the French Ambassador
in Vienna, "but you cannot touch them except through the Chambers. A _coup
d'état_ would ruin the dynasty." The Czar, in St. Petersburg, spoke in a
like strain to the Duc de Mortemart. Charles X. could not be restrained.
"There are only Lafayette and I who have not changed since 1789," said the
King. On July 24, a Sunday, after attending mass, Charles X. signed the
orders that were to rid him of his Chambers. All his Ministers signed with
him. "For life and for death, gentlemen," said the King. "Count upon me as
I count upon you."

[Sidenote: Thiers]

[Sidenote: Marmont]

[Sidenote: The July revolution]

The Orders in Council appeared in the "Moniteur" the next day. It was said
that Sauvo, the editor of the "Moniteur," as he gave the order to go to
press, exclaimed: "God protect the King." The publication of the edict
caused an instant extraordinary fall in stocks. Thiers thundered against it
in the "Journal des Débats." Government troops seized the printing presses
of the leading journals. Murmuring crowds gathered on the streets. The King
appointed Marshal Marmont commandant of Paris. It was the last stroke, for
Marmont was popularly execrated as the betrayer of Napoleon. The National
Guards brought forth their old tricolor cockades of the Revolution and the
Empire. Though military patrols tramped the streets, the night passed
quietly. Next morning all work stopped, and the people fell to building
barricades. Whole streets were torn up. The pupils of the Polytechnic
School broke open the gates and the tricolor flag floated on the towers of
Notre Dame. Marshal Marmont reported to the King: "Sire, it is no longer a
riot, but a revolution. There is urgent need for your Majesty to take means
of pacification. Thus the honor of the Crown may yet be saved. To-morrow
it will be too late." The King's answer was to declare Paris under a state
of siege. The so-called "Great Week," or "three days' revolution," had
begun. The bourgeoisie or middle class and all the students joined the
revolt. Before nightfall 600 barricades blocked the streets of Paris. Every
house became a fortress. "Where do the rebels get their powder?" asked the
King in astonishment. "From the soldiers," was the curt reply of the
Procureur-General.

[Sidenote: Charles X. obstinate]

[Sidenote: Fall of Ministry]

[Sidenote: An interim republic]

[Sidenote: Duke of Orleans summoned]

In the evening the Hôtel de Ville was captured. That evening the Ministers
tried to enlighten the King, but he only replied: "Let the insurgents lay
down their arms." While the discharges of artillery shook the windows of
the palace the King played whist. Next day two line regiments openly joined
the revolt. The Louvre was stormed. Still the King at St. Cloud would not
yield. "They exaggerate the danger," said he. "I know what concessions
would lead to. I have no wish to ride like my brother on a cart." Instead
of concessions he vested the command in the Dauphin, having grown
suspicious of Marmont. The mob sacked the Tuileries and hoisted the
tricolor flag on the clock tower. At the Hôtel de Ville a municipal
commission was installed, composed of Lafayette, Casimir Périer, General
Lobau and Audry de Puyraveau. At last, when it was too late, the King
countermanded his obnoxious orders and dismissed Polignac with his
Ministry. The people no longer paid attention to the King's acts. He was
declared deposed. A republic was proclaimed and its presidency offered to
Lafayette. But the old hero declined the honor. With Thiers he threw his
influence in favor of the Duke of Orleans. The Duke of Orleans, the son of
Philip Egalité, of Revolutionary fame, was invited to Paris to exercise the
functions of lieutenant-general of the kingdom. The deposed King at St.
Cloud hastened to confirm the appointment. The Duke of Orleans respectfully
declined the royal appointment. "You cannot receive things from everybody,"
said Dupont. General Lafayette soon came to pay his respects. "You know,"
said he, "that I am a republican, and consider the Constitution of the
United States as the most perfect that has been devised." "So do I,"
replied the Duke; "but do you think that in the present condition of France
it would be advisable for us to adopt it?" "No," answered Lafayette; "what
the French people must now have is a popular throne, surrounded by
republican institutions." "That is just my opinion," said Prince Louis
Philippe.

[Sidenote: Charles X. abdicates]

Lafayette's conversation with the prince led to the so-called programme of
the Hôtel de Ville. "I shall not take the crown," said the Duke of Orleans,
"I shall receive it from the people on the conditions it suits them to
impose. A charter will henceforth be a reality." At last Charles X.
abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Duke of Bordeaux. The Duke of
Orleans refused to recognize the claims of Henri V., and France and Europe
were with him. Charles X. relinquished further hopes.

[Sidenote: Louis Philippe, King of France]

The Dauphin, formerly Duke of Angoulême, in like manner resigned his rights
to his nephew. The act was signed on the 2d of August. Charles X. now set
out for Normandy with his guards, commanded by Marmont, and, on August 16,
embarked at Cherbourg in two American vessels, with the Dauphin and
Dauphiness, the Duchess of Berry, the Duke of Bordeaux, and a numerous
suite of attendants. The ships sailed for England, and, anchoring at
Spithead, the royal fugitives took up their residence at Lulworth Castle,
in Dorsetshire, but eventually removed to Holyrood Castle at Edinburgh,
which was placed at their disposal by the British Government. On August 9,
Louis Philippe, on the formal request of the two Chambers, accepted the
crown of France with a solemn oath to uphold the Constitution.

[Sidenote: Louis Philippe's previous career]

[Sidenote: Sojourn in America]

[Sidenote: "Le Roi Citoyen"]

[Sidenote: A new power in France]

The overthrow of the Bourbons was not a revolution in the sense of the
great French Revolution of the previous century. It resulted chiefly in the
transfer of government from one political faction to another. Louis
Philippe, raised to the throne by reason of his supposed democratic
principles, rather than for his royal lineage, was a Republican only in
name. His early education, together with that of his brothers, was directed
by the Countess of Genlis. On the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, the
young Prince, then Duke of Chartres, fought with distinction by the side of
Kellermann and Dumouriez at Valmy and Jemmapes. He accompanied the latter
when he took refuge in the camp of the imperialists in April, 1793. After
the death of his father, Philippe Egalité, refusing to bear arms against
France, he joined his sister and Madame de Genlis in Switzerland, where
they lived for some time under an assumed name. In 1795 he travelled into
the north of Germany, Sweden and Norway, and in the following year sailed
from Hamburg for the United States of America. Here he was joined by his
two brothers, and after some years in America, during which they were often
in distress, the three princes went to England in 1800. The Duke of Orleans
now obtained a reconciliation with the heads of his family, Louis XVIII.
and the Count of Artois. Subsequently he became a guest at the court of
Ferdinand IV., the dispossessed King of Naples, at Palermo; and here was
celebrated, in November, 1809, his marriage with the Princess Marie Amelie,
daughter of that monarch. Upon the restoration of Louis XVIII. he
re-entered France, and took his seat in the Chamber of Peers; but having
fallen under suspicion of disaffection, he once more retired to England and
did not reappear in France till 1817. During the remainder of the reign of
Louis he took no part in public affairs and lived in tranquillity at his
favorite villa of Neuilly. He was a "citizen king," only in so far as he
sent his children to the public schools and walked about the streets of
Paris with an umbrella under his arm. The most lasting effect in France of
the July revolution was the obliteration of clerical influences in the
administration and public education. The Royalist nobility likewise lost
what political ascendency they had regained during the Restoration.
Henceforth the party in power was that of the bourgeoisie or great middle
class of France, of which Louis Philippe himself was the self-constituted
representative.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Belgium]

[Sidenote: Bombardment of Antwerp]

[Sidenote: Talleyrand's last mission]

[Sidenote: Belgian Independence recognized]

Outside of France, on the contrary, the effects of the short revolution
were far-reaching. In the Netherlands ever increasing friction between the
Dutch-speaking Protestants of Holland and the French Catholics of Belgium
had excited the country to the point of revolution. Recent repressive
measures on the part of the Dutch Government made matters worse. On August
25, the performance, at the Brussels Opera House, of Auber's "La Muette di
Portici," with its representation of a revolutionary rising in Naples, gave
the signal for revolt. From the capital the insurrection spread throughout
Belgium. The King summoned the States-General to The Hague and agreed to an
administrative separation of Belgium and Holland; but the storm was not
quelled. On the appearance of Dutch troops in Brussels, barricades were
erected and the insurgents drove the soldiers out of the city. For several
days fighting continued in the outskirts. A provisional government declared
the independence of Belgium. Mediation by a conference in Holland was
frustrated by the bombardment of Antwerp by its Dutch garrison. The French
Liberals were burning to give assistance. Austria and Russia stood ready to
prevent their intervention by force of arms. Louis Philippe, while holding
the French war party in check, felt constrained to look about him for an
ally. In this extremity Prince Talleyrand, the old-time diplomat of the
Bourbons, the Republic, the Empire and the Restoration, now in his
eightieth year, was sent to London. He approached Wellington and the new
King with such consummate address that an understanding was soon reached
with England, which set at naught all projects of European armed
intervention on behalf of the Prince of Orange. Such intervention could not
have failed to drag the French into war. Now it was agreed that the
regulation of Belgian affairs should be submitted to a conference at
London. In the interim Belgian independence was accepted in effect and
hostilities ended.

[Sidenote: Leopold of Coburg declines Greek crown]

In Greece, the government of Capodistrias was beset with such difficulties
that it was decided to invite some European prince to set up a
constitutional monarchy. The throne was offered to Prince Leopold of
Coburg, the husband of the late Princess Charlotte of England. Leopold
accepted, but when he learned that the Powers would not grant complete
independence to Greece, without restoring Ætolia, Thessaly and the fertile
islands of Samos and Candia to the Sultan, he withdrew his acceptance.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Poland]

[Sidenote: War declared on Russia]

Peace had scarcely been restored in the Netherlands when the spirit of
revolt, travelling northward, seized the ardent people of Poland.
Alexander's recognition of home rule in Poland had given the Poles a
parliament and army of their own. After the Polish conspiracies at the
outset of Nicholas's reign, Alexander's successor would no longer invoke
the Polish Diet, and Russian troops and officers were sent into Poland. Of
course this was bitterly resented. Plans for an uprising had already been
made in 1828 during the Turkish war. The example of the successful risings
in Paris and Brussels now brought matters to a head. On November 29, the
revolt broke out in Warsaw. The Polish regiments of the garrison joined the
insurgents. The Russian troops, finding the odds against them, withdrew.
Grandduke Constantine narrowly escaped with his life. A provisional Polish
Diet was convoked. Prince Czartoryski was elected President. The Poles, in
remembrance of the late Czar's kindly attitude toward them, flattered
themselves that the fruits of their revolution might be left to them.
Lubecki, the former chief of the Imperial Council in Poland, with two
associates, set out for St. Petersburg to voice the Polish demands for
constitutional government before the Czar. It was even proposed that
constitutional government should be conceded to those Russian provinces
that had formerly belonged to Poland. On the way to St. Petersburg the eyes
of the envoys were opened as they met the formidable columns of Russian
troops marching to the Polish frontier. Forthwith, Lubecki forsook the
cause of Poland. His colleagues found difficulty in obtaining a hearing
from the Czar. When they were finally admitted to the imperial palace,
Nicholas gave them clearly to understand that Poland had but two
alternatives, unconditional submission or complete subjugation. When this
answer reached Warsaw it was too late to swing the outside Polish provinces
and Lithuania into the movement. Yet the Polish Diet, in a spirit of
patriotic frenzy amounting to national suicide, passed a resolution
declaring that the House of Romanoff had forfeited the Polish crown.
Feverish preparations were made for a life and death struggle with Russia.

[Sidenote: Revolt in Spain]

The fall of the Bourbons in France had once more raised the hope of the
Spanish Liberals. On the other hand, King Ferdinand's abolition of the
Salic law of succession in Spain, so as to assure the throne to his new
wife, raised up a party of absolutists against him. His brothers, Don
Carlos and Francisco, became the heads of this movement and rallied their
supporters around them, in the Basque provinces. In Portugal kindred
dissensions rent the land in twain. Dom Miguel's claims to the crown were
disputed on behalf of the constitutional government by the Duke of Palermo.
Across the seas, Dom Pedro of Brazil proclaimed himself the legitimate heir
to the throne of Braganza.

[Sidenote: Death of Bolivar]

Like other South American States, Brazil was itself a prey to internal
dissensions and civil strife. To put an end to the recurrent revolutions of
South America, Simon Bolivar conceived a scheme for a Pan-American Congress
to weld together all the quasi-republican governments of the Southern
Hemisphere and Central America. Unfortunately for this project, Bolivar's
own aspirations to dictatorial rule told against him. His chief opponents
were those who were striving for a disruption of the Colombian Union. His
own States, Peru and Bolivia, had already declared against him. The
Congress finally voted to give Bolivar a pension of $3,000 a year on
condition that he should leave America forever. Bolivar's pride was stung
to the quick. He resigned all public offices and honors, and went to
Caracas to sail for England. He died at Santa Marta, on the sea-shore, on
December 17. His last words were: "The people send me to the tomb, but I
forgive them."

[Sidenote: Bolivar's career]

In Bolivar, South America lost the most fiery of her liberators. Born at
Caracas, in 1783, he was pre-eminently a child of the modern spirit
engendered by the French Revolution of 1792. He saw Spain in the days of
its quasi-medieval darkness, and was in Paris at the close of the great
revolution. Later he was a witness of Napoleon's coronation as King of
Italy, and saw for himself the benefits of republican institutions in North
America. The turning-point in his career was the loss of his young wife
after two years of domestic happiness. As he said himself: "I loved my wife
so much that at her death I made a vow never again to marry. I have kept my
oath. Perhaps, had I not lost her, my career would have been different. I
might not, then, have been General of the Liberators. My second visit to
Europe would never have been made. The ideas which I imbibed during my
travels would not have come to me, and the experience I have had, the study
of the world that I have made, and of men and things--all this, which has
so well served me, would never have been. Politics would never have
attracted me. But the death of my wife caused the love of my country to
burn in my heart, and I have followed the chariot of Mars rather than
Ceres' plow."

[Sidenote: Van Diemen's Land]

[Sidenote: Extermination of natives]

In the new English penal colony of Van Diemen's Land in Australia, the
Tasmania of latter days, the self-assertive and domineering traits of the
Anglo-Saxon race were no less apparent among the convicts than among the
few free settlers. A few years before this the colonists had proclaimed
themselves independent of New South Wales and established a separate
government. The Van Diemen's Land Company received a grant of twenty-five
thousand acres; white population increased; religious, educational and
commercial institutions were founded. The natives were all but
exterminated. During this year Governor Arthur made an extraordinary
attempt to settle the native problem. His idea was to catch all the
aborigines of the island and pen them up on the narrow neck of land known
as Tasman's Peninsula. Upward of three thousand five hundred white persons,
including three hundred soldiers, turned out for the exciting operation of
clearing Van Diemen's Land by means of a cordon across the island. All
seemed to be going well until the line of beaters contracted, when it was
found that the natives were in the rear, instead of in the front. The
attempt proved a total failure; only two natives were captured. The total
cost of the expedition amounted to £35,000. The individual measures of the
settlers against the despised natives proved more efficacious. Within a few
years, when the last of the Tasmanian aborigines were transferred from the
mainland to Flinder's Island, by the instrumentality of George Augustus
Robinson, it was found that but three hundred were left. The white
population--largely of convict antecedents--by this time numbered more than
15,000 persons.

[Sidenote: North American dissensions]

[Sidenote: Nullification debate]

[Sidenote: Webster's declaration]

In North America the doctrine of nullification, newly put forth, emphasized
the growing differences between the Northern and Southern States. The great
debate between Hayne and Webster came about casually in the course of a
discussion of the sale of public lands. The topic of nullification was
dragged in by Southern speakers. Webster felt called upon to uphold the
cause of the Northern States. Smarting under some of his animadversions of
Southern sloth, Hayne made a two-day speech in which he inveighed against
the spirit of the New Englanders. His own State, South Carolina, and her
sister States in the South, he declared, would defend their sovereign
rights, or "perish in the last ditch." Webster's reply to those prophetic
words was the grandest oratorical effort of his life. He declared for the
continued union of all the States in all their strength: "Liberty and
Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." Jackson's progressive foreign
policy poured oil on the troubled waters. His repeal of the shipping acts
of 1818 and 1823 brought about a resumption of direct trade with the West
Indies. On October 5, Jackson was able to issue a proclamation announcing
the opening of permanent trade with all ports of the West Indies, Bermudas,
Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico and South America.

[Sidenote: Anglo-American treaty]

[Sidenote: O'Connell's State trial]

[Sidenote: Anti-reform utterances]

[Sidenote: Wellington unpopular]

[Sidenote: Fall of Ministry]

[Sidenote: Earl Grey, Prime Minister]

This friendly treaty with America was the last satisfactory measure passed
by Wellington's Ministry in England. As elsewhere in Europe the success of
the sudden revolution in Paris created a great stir, and was brought home
to Englishmen all the more forcibly by the deposed king's flight to English
shores. In Ireland, matters were stirred up by Daniel O'Connell, who now
commenced an agitation for the repeal of the union with England. His
prosecution for treason became a State trial. O'Connell's ultimate
conviction once more alienated the powerful Catholic Association of
Ireland. The Duke of Wellington became so prejudiced against reform that he
declared in Parliament: "I am not only averse to bringing forward any
measure of this nature, but I will at once declare, so far as I am
concerned, so long as I hold any station in the government of the country,
I shall always feel it my duty to resist such a measure when proposed by
others." After this declaration the fall of the Ministry was assured.
Stocks fell in London from 84 to 77 points. Abuse and obloquy were heaped
upon the Ministers from every quarter. Caricatures of them were stamped
even on handkerchiefs and calico aprons. The Duke was mostly represented in
the livery of an old hackney coachman, while Sir Robert Peel figured as a
rat catcher. The King no longer concealed his dislike of Wellington, who in
former days had mortally offended him by his support of Admiral Cockburn,
resulting in the resignation of the Prince as Lord High Admiral of England.
As soon as Parliament was reopened late in the year, a significant rebuff
was administered to the Ministry by the Crown. The King preferred to
deliver his speech in person. In the face of the Prime Minister's
declaration against reform, Sir Harry Parnell, even before the delivery of
the King's speech, announced a bill for the revision of the civil list.
Parnell's motion was carried. Brougham followed this up with a motion for a
reform of the rotten borough system. Rather than submit to another
inevitable defeat Wellington's Ministry resigned. Earl Grey, leader of the
Whig opposition, was made Prime Minister. Brougham was raised to the
peerage, and accepted the post of Lord Chancellor. Palmerston was
reappointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Lord Grey's appointment of six or
seven of his relatives to administrative posts weakened his Ministry from
the outset.




1831


[Sidenote: Belgian conference]

[Sidenote: Leopold, King of Belgium]

[Sidenote: Luxemburg question]

[Sidenote: Dutch invasion of Belgium]

[Sidenote: French counter-invasion]

[Sidenote: Foreign intervention]

Under the leadership of Lord Palmerston, the Belgian Conference in London
was conducted to a successful issue. Early in January the representatives
of the Powers signed a protocol defining the limits of Belgium and Holland
and apportioning to each country its share in the national debt. The
problem of providing an acceptable government for Belgium still remained.
The Belgians themselves would have welcomed incorporation into France. With
this object in view they elected for their sovereign the Duc de Nemours,
second son of Louis Philippe. When a proclamation to this effect was made
on February 3, Louis Philippe, acting under Talleyrand's advice, withheld
official sanction. Privately he had encouraged his son's candidacy, the
more so as a Bonapartist rival, the son of Eugene Beauharnais, was in the
field. The conference at London determined not to permit Belgium thus to
become a dependency of France. The British Government decided that it would
no longer discountenance armed intervention in Belgium against French
schemes of aggrandizement. Talleyrand obtained the best terms open to his
sovereign by insisting on the withdrawal of the Bonapartist pretender. The
selection of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who had just been disappointed
in his aspirations for the empty throne of Greece, was encouraged by France
on the understanding that Leopold, if elected King of Belgium, should marry
a daughter of Louis Philippe. Leopold was elected on June 4, and accepted
the crown only on the condition that the London Conference should modify
its territorial arrangements of January. This brought up the Luxemburg
question. Since the Paris treaty of 1814, the formidable stronghold of
Luxemburg, though under the sovereignty of the King of Holland, was
maintained as the strongest border fortress of the German Confederation.
Now, the Luxemburgers had made common cause with the Belgians. Leopold
accordingly insisted that Luxemburg should be treated as an integral part
of Belgium. The powers at London yielded to this demand sufficiently to
annul the declarations of January, with the promise of a future settlement
of the status of Luxemburg. On this repudiation of the recent international
declaration in favor of the Netherlands, the King of Holland took up arms.
A Dutch army of 50,000 advanced into Belgium. Leopold at once appealed to
France for assistance. A French army marched into Belgium from the other
side. The powers at London made haste to intervene. A British fleet made a
demonstration before Antwerp. Under pressure Leopold signed an agreement to
raze the fortifications on the Belgian frontier. Reluctantly the King of
Holland recalled his army. Under the threat of another armed coalition
against France, Louis Philippe withdrew his forces. Outward tranquillity
was once more restored. No immediate settlement, however, was reached in
regard to Luxemburg. The union of the Luxemburgers with the Belgians
remained in effect, while on the other hand strong German garrisons
continued to hold the fortifications. For years to come this remained a
vexatious problem.

[Sidenote: Difficulties in Greece]

[Sidenote: Holocaust of Greek fleet]

[Sidenote: Mavromichalis imprisoned]

[Sidenote: Assassination of Capodistrias]

After the restriction of the Greek frontiers by the Powers, Capodistrias'
government was appreciably weakened. As difficulties thickened about him,
he resorted to the restrictive measures he had become accustomed to while
Prime Minister of Russia. He felt that the cause of Greece would be
jeopardized unless order was maintained at any cost. When the old
revolutionary leaders became turbulent, Capodistrias only put his
government on a firmer basis. Mavrocordato, Konduriottes and Miaulis at
this juncture waited upon the President as a committee from the opposition
and demanded the withdrawal of the obnoxious measures. Capodistrias would
not yield, and the popular leaders betook themselves to Hydra. Preparations
for civil war were begun. The President sent out an expedition to suppress
them. To prevent the fleet from falling into his hands at Paros, Miaulis
set fire to the "Hellas," the American-built frigate, and that ship and
twenty-eight others were burned to the water's edge. Among those that were
imprisoned by Capodistrias was Petro Mavromichalis, the hero of the Morea.
The Russian admiral sailed to Nauplia to intercede in his behalf, but in
vain. Mavromichalis' brother and son, Constantine and George, appealed to
the President in person, but were put under arrest themselves. On October
9, Constantine and George Mavromichalis fell upon Capodistrias as he was
going to church and shot him dead. One of the assassins was killed on the
spot while the other was executed later. Capodistrias' brother, Augustine,
assumed charge. His government was short-lived. After a few months he
sailed away with his brother's body to Corfu.

[Sidenote: Revolt in Bologna]

[Sidenote: Menotti]

[Sidenote: Mazzini]

[Sidenote: Papal legate repudiated]

In the meantime another blow for national unity was struck in Italy. On the
death of Pius VIII., late in 1830, Gregory XVI. was elected. He had
scarcely been installed in the chair of St. Peter, when a report reached
him that Bologna had revolted against papal rule. On February 3, Menotti
raised the signal of revolt at Modena. He was lured into the power of the
Grandduke of Modena, but the insurrection spread so rapidly throughout the
north of Italy that the Grandduke had to fly to Austria. Menotti was
carried to Austria and there put to death. It was about this time that
Mazzini made his first public appearance as a revolutionist and was
imprisoned. Pope Gregory sent Cardinal Benvenuti to Bologna as a legate to
treat with the rebels, but the legate was made a captive and the revolt
spread southward to the papal dominions. In his extremity the Pope called
upon Austria for help.

[Sidenote: Austrian intervention invoked]

[Sidenote: Attitude of France]

Austria, whose own dominions in Italy were threatened, had every reason to
grant this request. The only obstacle was the threatening attitude of
France. Before sending out his troops, Metternich took pains to ascertain
the immediate intentions of France. The official answer given to the
inquiries of the Austrian Ambassador in Paris, was that Austrian
intervention in favor of the sovereigns of Parma and Modena, who were
related to the House of Hapsburg, might be tolerated. An extension of such
intervention to the Papal States or to Piedmont would certainly constitute
a _casus belli_. In token of this declaration, the French Ambassador at
Constantinople was instructed to make overtures for an offensive and
defensive alliance to the Sultan.

[Sidenote: Metternich diplomacy]

[Sidenote: Papal dominions invaded]

[Sidenote: Casimir Périer's French policy]

In this crisis Metternich put forth all the powers of statesmanship at his
command. He declared that it was better for Austria, if necessary, to
perish by war than by revolution. On the instant he assured to Russia the
support of Austria against the Poles, while he worked upon the fears of
Louis Philippe by pointing to the presence of young Louis Bonaparte and his
brother with the Italian insurgents. As a last resort he could always let
loose upon France Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt, now growing to
manhood at Vienna. In defiance of the French declaration, Austria advanced
a strong army through northern Italy into the papal dominion. The
insurrection was ruthlessly stamped out. Louis Philippe did nothing.
Lafayette resigned his Ministry in chagrin. He was succeeded by Casimir
Périer, a constitutional statesman of modern mold. On behalf of France he
put forward a double-edged demand that the Austrians should evacuate the
papal dominions as soon as the papal government should reform its abuses.
For the first time in their history, Austria and the Papacy were made to
declare for constitutional reforms. A conference at Rome agreed upon the
schemes of reforms to be instituted by the Pope. Further pretext for
revolution was thus removed. In July, the last Austrian forces were
withdrawn from the Papal States.

[Sidenote: War in Poland]

[Sidenote: Early successes]

[Sidenote: Polish disasters]

[Sidenote: Ostrolenka]

[Sidenote: Ravages of cholera]

[Sidenote: Death of Diebitsch]

[Sidenote: Civil war in Poland]

[Sidenote: Paskievitch, Russian commander]

[Sidenote: Fall of Warsaw]

The Polish struggle, during the earlier part of this year, had assumed the
proportions of a national war. In February, the Russians took the
offensive. General Diebitsch at the head of a column of 120,000 men marched
into Poland. In the first encounters against the Polish forces, who were
led by officers who had served under Napoleon, the Russians sustained such
losses at Stoczek, Grochov and Bialolenska that Diebitsch had to call for
reinforcements. The main body of the Russian army had to abandon the bank
of the Vistula. Three detached corps remained stationed there. The Polish
general, Skrzynecki, who had succeeded Prince Radzivil in the command, then
took the offensive. He defeated the Russians under Geismas at Waver, and
General Rosen at Dembevilkie and Igknie, but then stopped short. In the
meanwhile a Polish expedition into Volhynia failed completely. Dvernicki
was driven back into Gallicia. Another Polish expedition sent into
Lithuania under Vilna likewise ended in disaster. The main body of the
Poles had to cross the Prussian frontier. Only one division under Dembinski
recovered the road to Warsaw. In the interval, the Polish army under
Skrzynecki fought a pitched battle on May 26 with the right wing of the
Russian main army at Ostrolenka. After a severe fight the Poles had to fall
back over the Narev. Cholera now broke out in both camps. General Diebitsch
and Grandduke Constantine on the Russian side succumbed to the disease.
During this breathing space for the Poles, a revolution against the
provisional government broke out in Warsaw. The streets ran with blood.
Czartoryski fled in disguise. General Krukoviecki was made dictator. He
shot a number of the mutineers and replaced Skrzynecki by Dembinski.
Prussia and Austria turned against the Poles. The Prussian arsenals and
military stores at Dantzig and Koenigsberg were placed at the disposal of
Diebitsch's successor, General Paskievitch. He crossed the Vistula at
Warsaw and marched on the capital along the left bank. On September 6, the
Russians attacked Warsaw from the side of Vola and Czyste. On the Polish
side Wysocki, who had begun the revolution, and General Suvenski, who had
lost a leg at Borodino, were killed. Krukoviecki offered to capitulate. The
Russians demanded unconditional surrender. The Polish Diet deposed
Krukoviecki and put Niemoievski in command. Paskievitch ordered a general
attack on the city. The Russians stormed the ramparts and Warsaw
capitulated. "Sire, Poland lies at your feet," wrote Paskievitch to the
Czar. It was the truth. At Plock 20,000 Poles laid down their arms.
Ramarino took 15,000 into Gallicia.

[Sidenote: Poland's aspirations crushed]

[Sidenote: Polish patriots scatter]

Emperor Nicholas made an example of Poland. All those who had borne a
prominent part in the insurrection were banished to Siberia. The
constitution granted by Alexander was annulled. No more Polish Diets were
tolerated. Poles in public office were superseded by Russians. The Polish
soldiers and officers were mustered into Russian ranks and distributed over
widely different points of the empire. The country was divided into Russian
provinces, and Russian systems of taxation, coinage and of administration
of justice were imposed upon Poland. In Lithuania, the Polish language was
banished from the schools. The University of Vilna was suppressed.
Henceforth the ancient spirit of Poland lived only in those foreign exiles
who fomented revolutionary risings in Italy, France, Austria and Germany.

[Sidenote: Spirit of revolt in Germany]

[Sidenote: Liberal leaders lost]

Until the subjugation of Poland, the German governments, apprehensive of
the course that events might take, had shown moderation in meeting the
liberal movements incited by the French and Polish revolution. Trouble
first broke out in Brunswick and Hesse, the two worst-governed States of
Germany. The despotic princes of Brunswick and Hesse had to resign, and
reforms were instituted by their successors. In Hanover and Saxony, too,
the people had to be appeased by parliamentary concessions and an extension
of the liberty of the press. In the Bavarian Palatinate, where French
institutions and ideas prevailed, the tricolor of France and the flag of
Poland were saluted side by side with the red, black and gold banner of
ancient Germany. After the fall of Warsaw the governments of Prussia and
Austria insisted on new reactionary measures. The Diet of the German
Confederation began a campaign against all liberal tendencies. German
liberalism during this dark period lost some of its foremost leaders by the
deaths of Stein the statesman, Arnim the poet, Niebuhr the historian, and
Hegel the philosopher.

[Sidenote: Death of Hegel]

[Sidenote: German emigration to America]

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was born in 1770 at Stuttgart. He held chairs
successively at the Universities of Jena, Heidelberg and Berlin. His works
reached an aggregate of eighteen volumes. As a philosopher he was one of
the most brilliant exponents of modern rationalism. He reached this
standpoint by pushing to their extreme logical conclusions the
philosophical doctrines enunciated by Kant. Hegel's most lasting works
proved to be his "Phenomenology of the Mind," "History of Philosophy," and
"Philosophy of Religion." At the time of Hegel's death there was a general
exodus of German liberals to Switzerland, France and America.

Despite a small but influential class of Americans who copied foreign
manners, the United States of America had gained something of a national
character in European estimation. In the New World alone, labor was deemed
compatible with gentility. The increasing facilities of traffic and
manufacture gave a tremendous impulse to the development of the country.
Thus a surprising number of railroads were opened in the States of New
York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Improvements connecting Philadelphia and
Pittsburg were completed at a cost of twelve million dollars. Several
thousand miles were covered by canals.

[Sidenote: Development of the United States]

[Sidenote: Chicago founded]

[Sidenote: Black Hawk war]

The American census of 1831 showed nearly 13,000,000 inhabitants, a
doubling of the population since the beginning of the century. An area of
725,406 square miles of territory was contained in thirty-four States and
three Territories. The population spread westward, no longer in large
groups, but in small bodies of pioneers, travelling along the chief rivers.
West of the Missouri River all was still virgin soil. During this year
Schoolcraft discovered the source of the Mississippi. The settlement of
Chicago was laid out and the first sale of lots there was held. A boundary
and commercial treaty was concluded with Mexico in the spring. Later in the
year President Jackson obtained from the French Government a promise of
25,000,000 francs indemnity for the spoliations on American commerce made
under Napoleon. On April 21, the so-called Black Hawk war broke out with
the Indian tribes of the Sacs and Foxes. Some 6,500 soldiers were
despatched to subdue them. In this war it so happened that Abraham Lincoln
and Jefferson Davis served as captain and lieutenant.

[Sidenote: Abolitionist movement]

[Sidenote: William Garrison]

[Sidenote: Nat Turner's revolt]

The issue of slavery was brought to the front early in the year. On the
first day of January, Garrison's "Liberator" appeared in Boston. Garrison
advocated immediate and unconditional emancipation of the black slaves. In
his first issue he said: "I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be
heard." It was not long before Garrison made himself heard, and gathered
about him a few men and women as determined as himself. Among them was the
young poet Whittier, Louis Tappan, and Lucretia Mott, the Quaker. A storm
of obloquy and persecution was raised against Garrison. Social and public
ostracism was visited upon him and his fellow abolitionists. Garrison's
efforts to free the negroes were made especially unwelcome in the South by
an insurrection of blacks led by Nat Turner of South Hampton. The revolt
was speedily suppressed, and Turner with seventeen of his followers
suffered death by hanging. Turner's attempt called forth a debate of
several weeks in the Virginia Legislature, remarkable throughout for its
exposure of the evils of slavery and their bad effect on national
prosperity.

[Sidenote: Death of Monroe]

[Sidenote: Monroe's career]

One of the foremost statesman of the day was lost to America by the death
of James Monroe. He expired on July 4, the third President to die on
Independence Day. Monroe was born in Virginia in 1758. He was educated at
William and Mary College, studied law under Jefferson, and became a member
of the Continental Congress at twenty-five. He saw his first military
service in the War of the Revolution. Appointed Minister to France in 1794
he was recalled in 1796, and was Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802. He
then returned to France as envoy extraordinary and helped to accomplish the
purchase of Louisiana. In 1811 he was again made Governor of Virginia. He
served as Secretary of State under Madison from 1811 to 1817 and also as
Secretary of War from 1814 to 1815. When the War of 1812 emptied the
national treasury he pledged his personal credit for the defence of New
Orleans. In 1816 he was elected President of the United States. While
serving his second term as President, Monroe sent to Congress the famous
message against European intervention in South America, which has
permanently linked his name with the doctrine of "America for the
Americans." His name has been preserved likewise in Monrovia, the capital
of Liberia, the negro free state in Africa, which was founded under his
auspices.

[Sidenote: The Reform Bill]

Throughout this year in England raged the great debate over the
government's proposed reform of the rotten borough system. A bill to this
effect was introduced by Lord Russell on March 1, immediately after the
opening of Parliament. In the seven days' debate that followed the best
speakers of England took part, among them Lord Palmerston, Sir Robert Peel,
Daniel O'Connell, and young Macaulay, who had only just entered Parliament.
By the opponents of the bill reform was denounced as revolution. The
government of the United States of North America was cited as a deterrent
example. Thus Sir Robert Peel said:

[Sidenote: Robert Peel's speech]

[Sidenote: America a "Deterrent Example"]

"Many experiments have been tried to engraft democratical on monarchical
institutions, but how have they succeeded? In France, in Spain, in
Portugal, in the Netherlands, in every country on the face of the earth,
with the exception of the United States, has the experiment of forming a
popular government, and of uniting it with monarchy, been tried; and how,
I will again ask, has it succeeded? In America, the House has been told
that the most beneficent effects of a representative form of government are
plainly visible. But I beg to remind the House that there is a wide
difference indeed between the circumstances of this country and of America.
In the United States the Constitution has not been in existence more than
forty years. I will not say it has been deteriorating, for I wish to avoid
all invidious phrases; but it has been rapidly undergoing a change from a
republic to a mere democracy. The influence of the executive--the influence
of the government--has been daily becoming less, and more power has
consequently been vested in the hands of the people. And yet, in that
country, there is land uncultivated to an extent almost incalculable--there
is no established church, no privileged orders--property exists on a very
different tenure from that on which it is held in this country; therefore
let not the people of England be deceived, let them not imagine, from the
example of the United States, that because democracy has succeeded and
triumphed there, it will also succeed and triumph here."

[Sidenote: Reform Bill debate]

[Sidenote: Exciting elections]

[Sidenote: Tories defeated]

[Sidenote: Cobbett's state trial]

Altogether seventy-one speakers joined in the debate. In the end the
government obtained a second reading of the bill by a bare majority of one.
The opposition had made a motion to withdraw the bill. After another
prolonged debate this was carried against the government by a majority of
eight. Parliament was dissolved as both Houses were on the point of
carrying a motion asking the King not to consent to a dissolution. The
elections which followed were turbulent in the extreme. Throughout England
the reformers raised the cry: "The bill, the whole bill, and nothing but
the bill." It was then that the custom of electioneering by means of
processions and bands of music came into vogue. When the results of the
elections were announced it was found that the Tories had lost more than a
hundred seats. On the other hand a few of the most prominent supporters of
the government suffered signal defeat, notably Lord Palmerston and
Cavendish. On the Tory side, young Gladstone, then still a student at
Oxford, came into notice by his warm speech against the proposed reform.
Parliament was reopened with another hot debate on the all-engrossing bill.
It was passed to a second reading by a strong majority of 135 votes.
Scarcely had this been accomplished when the government was embarrassed by
William Cobbett's state trial for sedition. Throughout the trial the
Attorney-General treated Cobbett with marked courtesy, speaking of him as
"one of the greatest masters of the English language who had ever composed
in it."

[Sidenote: Macaulay]

[Sidenote: Commons pass Reform Bill]

[Sidenote: Rejected by the Lords]

In truth Cobbett's pure, virile, racy, Saxon style, while it delighted men
of taste, was also intelligible to the humblest commoner, and accounted in
some measure for the tremendous popularity of his journal, the "Political
Register." The government was unable to secure Cobbett's conviction and he
was suffered to escape punishment by a disagreement of the jury. After this
interlude the debate on the Reform Bill went on. On the second night of
the debate Thomas Babington Macaulay delivered his first reform speech.
When he sat down he had taken rank among the best Parliamentary orators.
"Portions of the speech," said Sir Robert Peel, "were as beautiful as
anything I have ever heard or read. It reminded me of old times. The names
of Burke, Fox and Canning during the evening were linked with that of Mr.
Macaulay." The "Spectator" computed the number of speeches which were
delivered in committee between the middle and end of July at more than two
hundred. Sir Robert Peel alone spoke forty-eight times, while Wetherell,
the Tory wag of the House, spoke fifty-eight times. Finally the Opposition
was caught unawares late one night on September 19, when they could muster
but fifty-eight votes before the doors closed for division, and the bill
was thus passed to its third reading. The Tories took pains to be present
in force a few days afterward, when the final passage of the bill was
moved. After a last passionate debate lasting through three days and nights
the Commons passed the bill by a majority of 106 votes. That same night
Earl Grey proposed the bill before the Lords. Addressing himself to the
bishops he said significantly: "I specially beg the spiritual portion of
your lordships to pause and reflect. If this bill shall be thrown out by a
narrow majority and the scale should be turned by the votes of the
prelates, what would be their situation? Let them set their houses in
order!" These menacing words gave great offence to the clergy. The Duke of
Wellington spoke strongly against the measure. The bill was thrown out by
the Lords after an all-night debate.

[Sidenote: Riots in England]

The immediate effect was a sharp decline in stocks. A few hours after the
House of Peers adjourned at six o'clock in the morning, a run for gold
began on the Bank of England. The simultaneous effort of the French to
abolish their hereditary peerage was hailed as an omen of what was coming
in England. Riots broke out all over England. The return to Bristol of Sir
C. Wetherell, one of the chief opponents of the bill, was made the occasion
of ominous demonstrations. A riotous mob burned the mansion house over his
head. Next, the Bishop of Bristol was driven from his episcopal seat. The
mob fired the mansion house, the bishop's palace, the excise office, the
custom house, three prisons, four toll houses, and forty-two private houses
of prominent Tories.

No one was injured until the troops were called in to disperse the mob.
Then a number of rioters were sabred and shot. About the same time riots
broke out at Bath, Worcester, Coventry, Warwick, Lichfield, Nottingham and
Canterbury. With difficulty Archbishop Howley of Canterbury was rescued
from the hands of an infuriated mob. The Bishops of Winchester and Exeter
were burned in effigy before their very palaces. The Bishop of London did
not dare to hold services at Westminster. The news from France served to
increase the alarm. Disturbances of a far more serious character were
reported from Lyons.

[Sidenote: Reform Bill up again]

Late in the year, after another rejection of the Reform Bill by the Lords,
the bill was triumphantly reintroduced in the Commons. The question now was
no longer, "What will the Lords do?" but, "What will be done with the
Lords?" Rather than risk the threatening downfall of the House of Peers,
the Ministers reluctantly determined to pack the Upper House by the
creation of a sufficient number of new peers pledged to vote for the Reform
Bill. A verse attributed to Macaulay ran:

  What though now opposed I be,
  Twenty peers shall carry me,
  If twenty won't, thirty will,
  For I'm his Majesty's bouncing Bill.

"Thus," as Molesworth, the historian of the Reform Bill, has put it, "amid
the anxieties of the reformers on one hand, and the dread of revolution on
the other, amid incendiary fires and Asiatic cholera spreading throughout
the country, amid distress of trade and dread of coming bankruptcy, the
year 1831 went gloomily out."




1832


[Sidenote: English sedition trials]

[Sidenote: Fall of Grey's Cabinet]

[Sidenote: Wellington impotent]

[Sidenote: The King humiliated]

[Sidenote: Passage of Reform Bill]

[Sidenote: Changes effected]

The new year opened in England with a series of trials arising out of the
disturbances which followed the rejection of the Reform Bill in the House
of Lords. A great number of rioters were convicted. Altogether, seven men
were put to death at Bristol and Nottingham. The officers who commanded the
troops during the riots were court-martialed. When Parliament reassembled,
the Commons once more passed the Reform Bill and carried it up to the
Lords. In the course of the renewed debate on the Reform Bill in the House
of Peers the Duke of Wellington announced that he had reason to believe
that the King did not approve of the bill. The statement was confirmed by
the King's refusal to create new peers wherewith to pass the bill through
the Upper House. Thereupon Lord Grey and his colleagues resigned from the
Ministry. The King accepted their resignation. Monster petitions were
immediately sent in to the Commons from Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and
other great centres of population, urging the Commons to refuse the
supplies until reform should have been secured. Once more stocks fell
sharply. For the express purpose of embarrassing the King's chosen
successors for the Cabinet, runs were made on the Bank of England, and on
the savings banks at Birmingham and Manchester. The streets of London were
covered with placards: "Go for gold and stop the Duke!" In the face of this
agitation the Duke of Wellington declined the King's offer to form a
Ministry. Sir Robert Peel likewise declined. As a last resort Wellington
consented to form a Ministry, but could not get together a Cabinet strong
enough to stem the storm. The Iron Duke's popularity as well as the King's
was at an end. When the King came up to London, accompanied by his sons,
they were received with hoots and insults. Missiles were thrown at the
royal carriage, and the Life Guards had to fight a way through the mob with
their swords. The King was driven to the humiliating expedient of recalling
his dismissed Ministers. William IV. now consented to create the required
number of new peers. Lord Brougham gave mortal offence to the King by a
request that he should put his promise in writing. With the King's written
pledge in their hands the Ministers obtained an agreement from their
opponents to pass the bill without further coercion. Early in June, at
length, the Reform Bill passed through the House of Lords after a third
reading. One hundred and six peers voted for it and only twenty-two against
it. On this occasion Sir Robert Peel made a remark to which his subsequent
change of front gave peculiar significance: "Whenever the government comes
to deal with the corn laws, the precedent formed by the present occasion
will be appealed to." The reform measure, as at last adopted, swept away
142 seats in the Commons. It gave to the counties sixty-five additional
representatives and conferred the right of sending members to Parliament on
Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and thirty-nine other large towns hitherto
unrepresented. The King showed his disapproval of the reform by
peremptorily declining to give his assent to the bill in person. The
Crown's sanction was given by commission. This ended all agitation for the
time being.

[Sidenote: Otto, King of Greece]

It was in May that the great Powers, in response to another appeal from
Greece, suggested Prince Otto of Wittelsbach, the second son of the
Philhellene King of Bavaria, for the vacant throne. This choice was
ratified in October amid general rejoicings by the population of Greece.

[Sidenote: Foreign intervention in Italy]

In Italy, early in the year, the Pope's failure to carry out his promise of
reform created new troubles. An amnesty, which had been granted by the
legate Benvenuti, was disregarded and the papal soldiery practiced all
manner of repression. Another revolt broke out and once more the Austrians,
at the Pope's request, crossed the frontier. They restored order so well
that they were actually welcomed as protectors against the ruthless
condottieri of the papal troops. Austria's intervention was resented by
France as a breach of the peace. Casimir Périer, now on his deathbed,
despatched a French force to Ancona. The town was seized before the
Austrians could approach it. Austria accepted the situation, and both
powers in Italy remained face to face jealously watching each other. Had
Casimir Périer lived he might have made Ancona a lever for effecting the
desired reforms at Rome. As it was, the French garrison at Ancona remained
merely as a balancing point between the contending parties in Italy.

[Sidenote: Death of Cuvier]

[Sidenote: Cuvier's Works]

France in the same year lost one of its distinguished men of science, by
the death of Baron Cuvier, the great naturalist. Georges Leopold Cuvier was
born in 1769 at Montbeliard. After studying at Stuttgart he became private
tutor in the family of Count D'Hericy in Normandy, where he was at liberty
to devote his leisure to natural science and in particular to zoology. A
natural classification of the _Vermæ_ or worms was his first achievement.
The ability and knowledge shown in this work procured him the friendship of
the greatest naturalists of France. He was invited to Paris, took a chair
at the Ecole Centrale, and was received by the Institute as a member of the
first class. His lectures on natural history, distinguished not less for
the elegance of their style than for profound knowledge and daring
speculation, were attended by some of the most accomplished persons of
Paris. In January, 1800, Cuvier was appointed to the Collège de France.
Under Napoleon, who fully recognized his merits, Cuvier held important
offices in the department of public instruction. Under the Restoration he
was made one of the forty members of the French Academy. In 1831, a year
prior to his death, he was appointed a Peer of France. Among the numerous
works by which Cuvier greatly expanded the study of natural history may be
mentioned as foremost "Researches into Fossil Bones," "Discourse of the
Revolutions on the Surface of the Globe," "A Course of Comparative
Anatomy," "Natural History of Fishes," and his great work, "The Animal
Kingdom," with its subdivisions into the four great classes--vertebrates,
mollusks, articulates and radiates.

[Sidenote: Death of Goethe]

On March 22, Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany's foremost man of letters,
expired at Weimar. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749, at
Frankfort-on-the-Main, the son of a councillor under the old German empire.
His best traits were inherited from his mother. As he himself sang in later
years:

  Vom Vater hab ich die Statur,
  Des Lebens ernstes Fuhren,
  Vom Mutterchen die Frohnatur
  Und Lust zum Fabuliren.[A]

[Footnote A:
  From my father I have my stature
  And serious view of life;
  From dear little mother my glad heart
  And fondness for telling stories.]

[Sidenote: Goethe's career]

[Sidenote: "Goetz von Berlichingen"]

[Sidenote: "The Sorrows of Werther"]

[Sidenote: Goethe at Weimar]

[Sidenote: "Hermann und Dorothea"]

His father had him educated for the study of law. In his sixteenth year he
was sent to the University at Leipzig. Later he went to Strasburg, where he
became acquainted with the poet Herder, and had his first love affair with
Friederike Brion of Sesenheim, whose charm has been kept alive in Goethe's
autobiography, "Dichtung und Wahrheit." In 1772 he returned to Frankfort
and practiced law. While thus engaged he wrote his first
romantic-historical play, "Goetz von Berlichingen." In the following year
he published his sentimental romance, "The Sorrows of Werther," based in a
measure on one of his own unfortunate love affairs at Wetzlar. Both of
these early works achieved instant success. "The Sorrows of Werther"
inaugurated in German literature what is known as the period of storm and
stress. Disenchantment of life, or "Weltschmerz," became a fashionable
malady. The romantic suicide of Goethe's sentimental hero Werther was aped
by a number of over-susceptible young persons. Wieland drew the attention
of the Duke of Weimar to Goethe, and the young poet was invited to Weimar.
He remained under the patronage of this enlightened prince until the end of
his days. At Weimar, Goethe was the centre of a court comprising some of
the foremost spirits of Germany. The little capital became a Mecca for
poets, scholars, artists and musicians from all over the world. Goethe's
only rival poet in Germany, Schiller, was drawn into the circle and the two
became life-long friends. Most of Goethe's lyric poems were written during
the first ten years at Weimar. At the outbreak of the French Revolution he
accompanied the Duke of Weimar in one of the campaigns against France. The
thrilling atmosphere of the Revolution furnished him with a literary
background for his epic idyl, "Hermann und Dorothea." Goethe's subsequent
journey to Italy, which was a turning-point in the poet's career, was
commemorated in his "Letters from Italy"--a classic among German books of
travel. Another eminently successful creation was the epic of "Reynard, the
Fox," modelled after the famous bestiary poems of early Flemish and
French literature.

  [Illustration: THE KING OF ROME
    Painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence]

[Sidenote: Goethe's dramas]

[Sidenote: "Wilhelm Meister"]

[Sidenote: "Dichtung und Wahrheit"]

[Sidenote: "Faust"]

During the same period Goethe wrote four of his greatest dramas, "Iphigenie
in Tauris," "Torquato Tasso," "Egmont," and the first part of "Faust."
Later he wrote his great prose work, "Die Wahlverwandtschaften," a
quasi-physiological romance; "Wilhelm Meister's Lehr und Wander Jahre," a
narrative interspersed with some of Goethe's finest lyrics, such as the
songs of Mignon and of the old harper, as well as the famous critique of
Hamlet. The height of Goethe's superb prose style was reached in "Dichtung
und Wahrheit," which stands as one of the most charming autobiographies of
all times. Goethe's versatility as a writer and man was shown not only by
his free use of all literary forms, but also by his essays on such abstruse
subjects as astrology, optics, the theory of color, comparative anatomy and
botany. Shortly before his death, the poet finished the greatest of his
works, the tragedy "Faust." He died in the eighty-third year of his life,
uttering the words "More Light." Goethe was entombed in the ducal vault at
Weimar, by the side of his friends, Friedrich Schiller and Carl August of
Weimar.

[Sidenote: Goethe's genius]

Like Heine, Goethe offended his fellow Germans by his apparent lack of
purely national and patriotic sentiments. To the present day his outspoken
admiration of Napoleon and his cold abstention from the ardent enthusiasm
of the Prussian war of Liberation have not been forgiven by certain
Germans. As a man, Goethe has been denounced as an egotist, for the
apparently selfish character of his relations with women, ending with his
marriage to a woman far below him. On the other hand, Goethe must be
regarded as the most universal literary genius produced by Germany. He
stands in line with those master spirits of all ages, Homer, Virgil, Dante,
Cervantes, Shakespeare and Molière.

[Sidenote: Death of Scott]

[Sidenote: Walter Scott's poems]

[Sidenote: "The Waverley Novels"]

[Sidenote: Scott a bankrupt]

[Sidenote: Literary drudgery]

A few months after the death of Goethe, in September, Sir Walter Scott died
in England. Goethe was accustomed to speak of Scott as "the greatest writer
of his time." Shortly before his death Goethe said: "All is great in
Scott's 'Waverley Novels'--material, effect, characters and execution."
Scott himself derived much of his inspiration from Goethe's writings. One
of his earliest works was a translation of "Goetz von Berlichingen." The
creation of Mignon, in "Wilhelm Meister," furnished Scott with the
character of Fenella in his "Peveril of the Peak." Scott began his career
as a writer with a translation of Buerger's "Ballads." His most successful
metrical pieces, "The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," "The Lay of the
Last Minstrel," "Marmion," and "The Lady of the Lake," for the most part
appeared during the opening years of the Nineteenth Century. Then came the
great series of the "Waverley Novels," named after the romance of
"Waverley," published anonymously in 1814. The series comprised such
classics as "Guy Mannering," "The Heart of Midlothian," "Kenilworth,"
"Quentin Durward," and "Ivanhoe." Scott's historical romances, based as
they were on painstaking researches into old chronicles, revived in
Englishmen an interest in their own past. The romance of the Middle Ages
was recognized for the first time, if in an exaggerated degree, throughout
the civilized world. The romantic movement in French literature, now in
full swing, was directly inspired by Scott. Notwithstanding his great
success as a writer, Scott's later career was clouded by difficulties and
debt. Through his friendship with Canning early in his career he obtained
the post of court clerk in Edinburgh. This left him leisure to edit a
number of literary works, such as the editions of Swift, Dryden and Sir
Tristan. The great popular success of his novels soon made him rich. His
hospitality at Abbotsford grew so lavish that in order to defray his
expenses he joined in a financial partnership with his publishers. The
failure of the Bank of Constable, in 1826, and the consequent failure of
the house of Ballantyne, ruined Scott. His debts amounted to £117,000. In
his efforts to earn enough money wherewith to pay this enormous sum, Scott
became a literary drudge. It was at this time that he wrote his
seven-volume history of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, "Tales of a
Grandfather," and a two-volume "History of Scotland." His work as a
historian was by no means equal to that of his purely literary creations.
In 1830, as the result of overwork, Sir Walter Scott suffered from a stroke
of paralysis. A journey to Italy brought no relief. Two years later he
died. He was buried at Dryburgh Abbey. For several generations after his
death Scott remained one of the most popular authors of England.

[Sidenote: Advances in Medicine]

A remarkable instance of good resulting from evil was afforded this year by
the revolting murders committed by Burke and Hare in Edinburgh. These two
men deliberately killed a number of persons to sell their bodies to medical
dissecters. The discovery of their crimes led to a Parliamentary
investigation in the course of which Sir Astley Cooper boldly stated that
any man's body could be obtained in the United Kingdom if enough money were
offered. The scandal resulted in the passage of an Anatomy Act licensing
the traffic in human bodies within strict limitations. Before this reform
surgeons experimenting in human anatomy had to rely on body-snatchers for
their material. The repeal of the old laws on this subject removed much of
the odium hitherto attached to the science of dissection, while the
increase of experimental material gave a fresh impetus to the study of
anatomy.

[Sidenote: Death of Napoleon II.]

A menace to the royal crown of France was removed by the death of
Napoleon's son, the young Duke of Reichstadt, erstwhile King of Rome. He
expired at Schoenbrunn, after an empty life spent under Metternich's
tutelage in Vienna, and was buried there. His death at the time was
commemorated in the famous German ballad, beginning with the lines:

  In the gardens of Schoenbrunn
  Lies buried the King of Rome.

The French playwright Rostand made the life and death of this unfortunate
Prince the subject of a romantic tragedy "The Eaglet," in which Sarah
Bernhardt achieved so striking a success at the close of the Nineteenth
Century.

[Sidenote: Attempted revolts in France]

[Sidenote: Repressive measures]

The removal of another menace to Louis Philippe's throne was accompanied by
circumstances less tragic. In April, the Duchesse de Berry, wearying of her
exile, crossed over to Marseilles and travelled thence in disguise to
Château Plassac, in the Vendée, where she summoned the Royalists to arms.
She was betrayed into the hands of constables sent to arrest her, and was
placed in safe keeping at Château Blaye on an island in the Gironde. The
affair took an awkward turn for the cause of the Orleanists in France, when
the Duchess gave birth to an infant daughter, whose parentage she found it
difficult to explain. Next, the death of General Lamarque, a popular
soldier of France, started an insurrection at Paris in the summer. An
attempt was made to build barricades, and conflicts occurred in the
streets, but the National Guard remained true to the army and the King, and
the revolt was soon put down. The government of Louis Philippe resorted to
severe repressive measures, and trials for sedition were common. In Germany
a revolutionary appeal to arms, made at a popular festival at the Castle of
Homburg, near Zweibrücken, resulted in renewed reactionary measures. The
German Diet, at the instance of Metternich, declared that the refusal of
taxes by any legislature would be treated as an act of rebellion. All
political meetings and associations were forbidden and the public press was
gagged.

[Sidenote: Naval demonstration at Lisbon]

[Sidenote: Civil war in Portugal]

The excesses of Dom Miguel's followers in Portugal were followed by more
serious international results. A series of wanton attacks upon foreign
subjects in Lisbon called for outside intervention. English and French
squadrons appeared in the Tagus. Lord Palmerston, the British Foreign
Secretary, declared himself satisfied after Portugal had apologized and
paid an indemnity to the British sufferers. The French admiral, unable to
obtain quick redress, carried off the best ships of the Portuguese navy.
The worst result for Dom Miguel was the foreign encouragement given to his
brother, Emperor Pedro of Brazil, who was preparing an expedition against
him in the Azores. Some of the best British naval officers and veterans of
the Peninsular War were permitted to enlist under Dom Pedro's banner.
Captain Charles Napier took charge of Dom Pedro's navy. In July a landing
was made near Oporto, and that important city was captured by Dom Pedro's
forces. Dom Miguel was constrained to lay siege to Oporto. Thus the civil
war in Portugal dragged on.

The most formidable revolt of the year was that of Mehemet Ali, the Viceroy
of Egypt, against his suzerain, Sultan Mahmoud of Turkey. The disappointing
results of Egypt's participation in Turkey's war in Greece left Mehemet Ali
dissatisfied. He considered the acquisition of Crete by Egypt but a poor
recompense for the loss of his fleet at Navarino.

[Sidenote: Mehemet Ali's revolt]

[Sidenote: Siege of Acre]

[Sidenote: Turkish reverses]

[Sidenote: Russian intervention]

A quarrel with the Pasha of Acre, Abdallah, gave Mehemet Ali a chance for
Egyptian aggrandizement in that direction. Egyptian forces under the
command of Mehemet Ali's adopted son Ibrahim marched into Palestine and
laid siege to Acre. That stronghold resisted with the same stubbornness
that Bonaparte had encountered years before. The protracted struggle there
gave the Sultan time to prepare an expedition wherewith to intervene
between his warring vassals. He took the part of the Pasha of Acre. A
proclamation was issued declaring Mehemet Ali and his son rebels. A Turkish
army under Hussain Pasha entered Syria. The fall of Acre, while the
relieving army was still near Antioch, enabled Ibrahim to throw his full
force against the Turks. In the valley of the Orontes the two forces met.
The Turkish vanguard was routed and the Turkish main column fell back on
Aleppo, leaving Antioch and all the surrounding country to the Egyptians.
The Pasha of Aleppo, won over by Mehemet Ali, closed the gates of his city
against Hussain's disordered forces. The Turks retreated into the mountains
between Syria and Cilicia. The Egyptians pursued. At the pass of Beilan a
stand was made by Hussain. The fierce mountain tribes turned against him,
and with their help Ibrahim won a signal victory over the Turks, on July
29. The retreat continued through Cilicia far into Asia Minor. After
several months a new Turkish army under Reshid Pasha, Ibrahim's colleague
in the siege of Missolonghi, advanced from the north. A pitched battle was
fought at Konieh on the 21st of December. The Turks were utterly routed.
The army was dispersed and Reshid himself was made a prisoner. The road to
Constantinople now lay open to Mehemet Ali. Sultan Mahmoud was so alarmed
that he turned to his old adversary, Russia, for help. General Muravieff
was summoned to Constantinople and was empowered to make terms for Turkey
with Mehemet Ali.

[Sidenote: Affair of Quallah Buteau]

In America, likewise, President Jackson had found it necessary to assert
the rights of the United States by means of a punitive expedition. This
grew out of the affair of Quallah Buteau on the Island of Sumatra in the
Dutch East Indies. The American ship "Friendship" had put in there during
the previous year to load with pepper. The captain, whose men were on
shore, permitted the crew of a Malay boat to come on board. There was not a
sign of danger, when suddenly the Malays attacked the Americans, killing
the first officer and two sailors and plundering the vessel. They then
tried to beach the vessel, but two other American ships compelled the
Malays to flee. The Rajah of Quallah Buteau appropriated the plunder and
refused to return it. Commodore Downs, with the frigate "Potomac," was
ordered to Sumatra. He reached there early in February. Finding that
nothing could be accomplished by peaceful means he landed two hundred and
fifty of his sailors under command of Lieutenant Shubrick. The Malays
refused to give or receive quarter. Their palisades were torn down and
turned into a bridge, and the fort was stormed. The Stars and Stripes were
hoisted. Another fort with its magazines was blown up. The town was
occupied. In all one hundred and fifty Malays were killed and wounded,
among them the Rajah. The total loss of the Americans was two men. The
offending town was razed.

[Sidenote: Struggle over United States Bank]

Jackson's domestic policy during this year brought him into conflict with
two powerful factors. One was the United States Bank at Philadelphia.
Jackson disapproved of the Bank on the ground that it failed to establish a
sound and new form of currency. A financial panic had been caused by
worthless paper currency issued by so-called "wildcat" banking
institutions. A petition for the renewal of the National Bank's charter,
which was to expire in 1836, was laid before the Senate. Both Houses passed
a bill to that effect. Jackson vetoed it, and a two-thirds vote wherewith
to override his veto could not be obtained for the measure. Jackson then
ordered the Bank's deposits removed. He read to the Cabinet a long paper,
in which he accused the officers of the Bank of mismanagement and
corruption, and stated that he would assume the entire responsibility for
the removal of the deposits. The Bank made a stubborn fight and spent over
$50,000 in defending itself. In the Senate, Benton was the chief opponent
of the Bank, and Webster was its principal defender. In December, the
President sent a message to Congress recommending the removal of the public
funds from the National Bank to certain State banks. Congress refused to
remove the funds.

[Sidenote: American tariff legislation]

[Sidenote: South Carolina nullification]

[Sidenote: Jackson's vigorous measures]

The passage of a new tariff law, on July 14, which was considered harmful
to Southern interests, brought the Federal Government into armed conflict
with the South. On November 19, a State Convention met at Columbus, South
Carolina, in response to a call of the Legislature, and on the 24th a
nullification ordinance was adopted. The tariff laws were declared
unconstitutional, and therefore "null and void and no law, nor binding upon
the State." On December 10, President Jackson issued a proclamation against
nullifiers, threatening them with trial for treason. Governor Hamilton of
South Carolina in reply warned citizens not to be diverted from their
allegiance to their State by this Federal proclamation. Jackson summoned
General Scott to Washington and sent a part of the army to Charleston with
a ship of war to collect the revenues. On December 28, J.C. Calhoun
resigned the office of Vice-President on account of Jackson's proclamation.
He was forthwith elected Senator from South Carolina.

[Sidenote: Treaty of Payne's Landing]

[Sidenote: Troubles with Indians]

[Sidenote: Black Hawk War]

It was during this year that renewed troubles with the Seminoles in Florida
resulted in one of the most serious Indian wars of the century. By the
treaty of Fort Muller, in 1823, the Indians were to be confined to a
reservation on the eastern peninsula, but the Territorial Legislature
petitioned Congress for their removal. Finally, in 1832, the treaty of
Payne's Landing stipulated that seven Seminole chiefs should examine the
country assigned to the Creeks west of the Mississippi, and that if they
could live amiably with the Creeks, the Seminoles were to be removed within
three years, surrendering their lands in Florida, and receiving an annuity
of $15,000 and certain supplies. President Jackson sent a commission to the
West to convince the seven chiefs that the country was eminently
desirable, and a supplementary treaty from these seven was obtained without
consulting the rest of the Seminoles. Many Seminoles were opposed to moving
West through fear of the Creeks. The Sacs and Foxes and Winnebago Indians
of Wisconsin by treaty, in 1830, had ceded their lands to the United
States, but they still refused to leave their territory. Governor Reynolds,
of Illinois, called out troops to compel them to go to the lands set apart
for them, west of the Mississippi. Black Hawk returned, but was again
driven off. In 1832 he came back with a thousand warriors and Indian
warfare broke out. Generals Scott and Atkinson were sent with troops to
Rock Island. It was the first time that a steamboat was used as a military
transport. The force was there divided. General Scott could effect nothing,
but General Atkinson pushed on, and in August defeated the Indians and took
Black Hawk and his two sons prisoners.

[Sidenote: Cholera reaches America]

[Sidenote: Death of Charles Carroll]

In many other ways public attention was engrossed in America. On June 21,
the Asiatic cholera appeared in New York with appalling results. The
epidemic spread to Philadelphia, Albany, Rochester, and westward. A number
of new railroads were opened in New York and Pennsylvania. The first
horse-drawn street cars began running in New York. On July 2, the
Agricultural Society of New York was founded, and the first public trial
was held of Obett Hussy's new reaping machine, which Cyrus MacCormick also
claimed as his invention. The device was destined to give a tremendous
impetus to agriculture in the development of the western prairies. About
the same time the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence,
Charles Carroll of Maryland, died at the age of ninety-six. In American
letters, this year is noted for the appearance of Smith's national anthem,
"My Country, 'tis of Thee." Among the books that attracted attention were
Whittier's "Moll Pitcher," Sparks's "Gouverneur Morris," and Irving's
"Alhambra." James Gordon Bennett began the publication of the "New York
Globe."




1833


[Sidenote: American abolition movement]

At the very outset of this year in America the slavery question burst into
flame. The abolition movement inaugurated by Garrison and Whittier in the
North was in full sway. In the slave-holding States large rewards were
offered for the apprehension of Garrison, Whittier and others connected
with the publication of the Boston "Liberator," Philadelphia "Freeman" and
New York "Emancipator." The legislatures of Northern States were called
upon to suppress anti-slavery societies by penal enactments. Governor
Edward Everett of Massachusetts and Governor Marcy of New York commended
such legislation. Prominent Northern citizens travelling in the South were
arrested, imprisoned and flogged for flimsy reasons. At New York,
Montpelier, Utica, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Alton, meetings
were broken up, houses sacked, newspapers destroyed and public halls
burned. Berry's "Philanthropist" at Cincinnati and Lovejoy's "Observer" at
Alton were destroyed and Pennsylvania Hall at Philadelphia, a costly
building intended for anti-slavery discussion, was burned on the day after
its dedication, at which a poem by Whittier had been read. The firemen
refused to extinguish the flames. In Boston, Garrison was dragged through
the streets with a rope around his neck. Whittier and Thompson tried to
lecture against slavery in Boston, but their meeting could not be held in
the face of the following placard posted in all parts of Boston:

[Sidenote: A typical manifesto]

"That infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson, will hold forth this afternoon
at 46 Washington Street. The present is a fair opportunity for the friends
of the Union to snake Thompson out. It will be a contest between the
Abolitionists and the friends of the Union. A purse of _one hundred
dollars_ has been raised by a number of patriotic citizens to reward the
individual who shall first lay violent hands on Thompson, so that he may be
brought to the tar-kettle before dark. Friends of the Union, be vigilant!"

[Sidenote: Wendell Phillips]

These events inspired Wendell Phillips, who was present at a meeting in
Faneuil Hall, Boston, called to approve these outrages, to take an open
stand in favor of the rights of the people, which were threatened, and gave
to the cause for thirty years his active brain and eloquent tongue.

[Sidenote: Compromise tariff]

As a counterpart to the popular excesses in behalf of slavery, the
Catholics of New England had to suffer persecution. At Charlestown, in
Massachusetts, a mob burned the Ursuline Convent. Another indignation
meeting was held at Faneuil Hall in Boston to denounce this outrage. As a
concession to the Southern agitators, the American Congress, on February
26, adopted a so-called "Compromise tariff." The new bill cut down all
duties of over twenty per cent by one-tenth of the surplus of each year,
so as to bring about a uniform rate of twenty per cent within a decade. On
the other hand, Congress passed a "force bill," which empowered the
President to execute the revenue laws in South Carolina by force of arms. A
State Convention in South Carolina for its part repealed the ordinance of
nullification, but proceeded to declare the new Federal force bill null and
void.

[Sidenote: Death of Randolph]

On May 24, John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia, a descendant of Pocahontas,
died at the age of sixty. He commenced public life in 1799, and served
thirty years in Congress. There he became distinguished for his eccentric
conduct, his sharpness of wit, and his galling sarcasm, which made him
feared by all parties. He had to resign from the Cabinet under odious
charges. In 1830, Jackson appointed him Minister to Russia. Randolph's
speeches are still widely read.

[Sidenote: Texas filibusters]

In the extreme South the American settlers of Texas, aided by Davy
Crockett's filibusters from the United States, began a war for independence
against Mexico.

[Sidenote: English abolition movement]

[Sidenote: Gladstone's first speech in Parliament]

[Sidenote: Misgovernment in Ireland]

[Sidenote: Irish resentment]

The abolition of slavery was likewise the most absorbing topic that came up
during this year in the Parliament of England. Young Gladstone, the newly
elected member from Newark, taunted with his father's slave-holding methods
at Demerara, made his maiden speech in Parliament on this subject. One who
heard the rising orator recorded: "Burke himself could not be more
sympathetic, more earnest, and more strong." Another engrossing topic was
that of Ireland. The state of Ireland at this period, as conceded by a
Tory historian of modern England, was a disgrace to the history of the
Nineteenth Century. So wretched was the government of this unhappy
dependency that during the year 1832 alone nearly 1,500 people were
murdered and robbed in Ireland. Instead of giving to Ireland a better
administration, Parliament passed another coercion bill. Tithes for the
Protestant clergy were collected at the point of the bayonet. The cause of
Ireland, as heretofore, was pleaded most eloquently by Daniel O'Connell. He
denounced the Irish Church bill as "the basest act which a national
assembly could sanction." The people became so enraged that when an
Englishman was killed in a riot the coroner's jury returned a verdict of
justifiable homicide. The Court of King's Bench quashed the verdict and
tried the murderer before a jury. He was acquitted in the face of the
clearest proofs against him and in direct contravention of the instructions
of the judge. The spirit of the English aristocracy was indicated by the
fact that a bill for relieving Jews from their civil disabilities was
thrown out by the House of Lords.

[Sidenote: Death of Wilberforce]

On July 26, William Wilberforce died in his seventy-fourth year. He lived
long enough to hear that the bill for the abolition of slavery in the
British colonies, to which he had devoted the greater part of his life, had
passed its second reading, and that success was assured. Of all English
advocates of human freedom he was the most persevering and faithful. After
a distinguished Parliamentary career of forty-five years, he gave up all
political ambitions to devote himself to the cause of humanity and
religion. He had been the intimate friend and associate of Pitt, Fox, G.
Milner, Brougham and Macaulay. His wish that he be buried simply and
privately was not granted by England. He was buried in Westminster Abbey,
close to the tombs of Pitt, Fox and Canning. Around his open grave stood
the royal dukes of Sussex and Gloucester, the Duke of Wellington, Lord
Chancellor Brougham, the venerable Archbishop Howley, with other
representatives from the House of Lords and Commons.

[Sidenote: Tractarian Movement]

[Sidenote: Newman]

[Sidenote: Dr. Arnold]

It was at this period of the ecclesiastical history of England that the
Tractarian Movement began at Oxford. It is a significant fact that the
"Tracts for the Times" appeared at Oxford within less than a year after the
passage of the Reform Bill. The connection of the two movements has been
revealed in Newman's "Apologia Pro Vita Sua." In January, Dr. Arnold, the
celebrated headmaster at Rugby, published his "Principles of Church
Reform." He aimed at a reunion of all Christians within the pale of a great
national church. In the discussion that followed, the foremost spirits were
Newman, Froude, Dr. Pusey, and Keble, the sweet singer of the Church of
England, whose "Christian Year" will live as long as that Church endures.

[Sidenote: Browning]

[Sidenote: Keane]

[Sidenote: Steel pens]

[Sidenote: Electro-magnetism]

Enlightened Englishmen were further stirred at this time by the publication
of Robert Browning's "Pauline," a narrative in unusually virile verse, and
by Edmund Keane's original creation of the character of "Othello." The new
invention of steel pens first came into general use during this same year,
as did Hansom's "safety cab," and Lord Brougham's favorite style of
carriage. Robert Brown, an English scientist, in the course of his
microscopic studies of orchids happened to make the important discovery of
the nucleus of cells. Joseph Saxton, an American, constructed the first
electro-magnetic machine in England.

[Sidenote: Bismarck]

[Sidenote: Revolt at Frankfort]

[Sidenote: Caspar Hauser]

The invention of the electro-magnetic telegraph was claimed by Gauss and
Weber in Germany. The first telegraph actually constructed and used was set
up at Göttingen. Among those who witnessed it was young Bismarck, who had
already achieved a reputation as a duellist among the students of
Göttingen. An impulse toward his political ambitions of the future may
possibly have been given by the sensational events at Frankfort during this
year. A band of misguided enthusiasts attempted to establish German unity
by a _coup de main_. They overpowered a small detachment of guards and
hoisted the black-red-gold banner of Germany. The expected rising of the
population did not follow. The little band of revolutionists was dispersed
at the first appearance of a strong military force. It is characteristic of
the premature nature of this movement that it excited less serious
attention in Germany than the death of Caspar Hauser, a freak foundling,
whose unexplained origin has remained one of the mysteries of the
Nineteenth Century.

[Sidenote: Teplitz conference]

[Sidenote: Zollverein]

The affair at Frankfort received the usual serious consideration by
Metternich, who arranged for meetings of the allied monarchs at
Münchengrätz, and of their ministers and authorized representatives at
Teplitz. The most beneficial measure agreed on at these meetings was the
comprehension of all German States in a tariff union known as the
Zollverein.

[Sidenote: Otto's reign in Greece]

Full recognition was given to Prince Otto of Wittelsbach as King of Greece.
The young prince, then in his eighteenth year, had already landed at
Nauplia. He commenced his reign with a regency consisting of Bavaria's
ablest ministers, Count Armandsberg, Von Maurer, and Heideck. King Louis of
Bavaria commemorated the accession of his son to the throne of Greece by
erecting a number of monumental buildings at Munich in imitation of the
architecture of ancient Greece, and by mural paintings in the arcades of
his palace garden depicting all the most famous places and incidents of the
Greek struggle for independence.

[Sidenote: French painters]

[Sidenote: Death of Legendre]

In France, a new impetus was likewise given to art. Jean Baptiste Leloir
began his career as a painter of religious and historical subjects;
Lecquereux, the great historical painter, stood already at the zenith of
his power, and Corot's exquisite landscapes were receiving their full
measure of appreciation. In French letters, this year is noted for the
first appearance of Balzac's "Eugénie Grandet" and Prosper Mérimée's
"Double Erreur." Legendre, the great French mathematician, died during this
year.

[Sidenote: Treaty of Keteya]

[Sidenote: Compact of Unkiarskelessi]

[Sidenote: Moltke]

It was the foreign policy of France to supplant Russia as mediator between
Turkey and Egypt. Admiral Roussin had made it plain to the Sultan that if
Syria could not be reconquered from the rebellious Mehemet Ali except by
Russian forces the province was more than lost to Turkey. Accordingly, a
French envoy was sent to Mehemet's victorious son, Ibrahim, with powers to
conclude peace on any terms. The French suggestions were adopted on April
10, in the treaty of Keteya. The Sultan made over to his viceroy all of
Syria and a part of Adana. The Egyptians consented to leave Anatolia. The
Sultan took the spoliation so much to heart that he turned from France.
Once more he entered into negotiations with Russia. Russian warships were
permitted to enter the Dardanelles, and Russian troops camped side by side
with the Turks on the east bank of the Bosphorus. A secret treaty for
defence and offence was concluded between Russia and Turkey at the palace
of Unkiarskelessi: The Porte undertook to close the Dardanelles to the
warships of all other nations whenever Russia should be at war. Thus the
entrance to the Black Sea was made practically a Russian stronghold. As
soon as the purport of this treaty was apprehended it had the effect of
uniting the rest of Europe against Russia--notably, France and England.
Henceforth Russia's ascendency in the East was watched by the chancelleries
of Europe with growing suspicion. Sultan Mahmoud set himself seriously to
reorganize his army after Western models. Following the example of Mehemet
Ali, he summoned foreign officers to his general staff. It was then that
Moltke, the subsequent strategist of Germany, entered Turkish service.

[Sidenote: Portuguese civil war]

[Sidenote: Civil war in Spain]

[Sidenote: Revolt in Cuba]

Lord Napier's namesake, Captain Charles Napier, had won fresh laurels in
the Portuguese war for the succession to the throne. In command of the
fleet fitted out by Dom Pedro of Brazil he attacked and annihilated Dom
Miguel's navy off St. Vincent. Napier's colleague, Villa Flor, landed his
forces and marched on Lisbon. The resistance of Dom Miguel's forces was
overcome. On July 28, Dom Pedro was able to enter Lisbon as a victor. Still
the struggle went on. Among those who linked themselves with Dom Miguel was
Don Carlos, the rebellious pretender to the throne of Spain. Upon the death
of King Ferdinand VII., in September, and the coronation of the Infanta
Isabella as Queen of Spain under a regency, Don Carlos was proclaimed king
by his followers. The Basque provinces declared in his favor. Civil war
began. Had Don Carlos crossed the border at once he might have captured his
crown. Unfortunately for his cause, he lingered in Portugal until the end
of the year. The regency of Spain, in the face of this embarrassment at
home, was called upon to proceed energetically against a revolutionary
rising in Cuba under the leadership of Manuel Quesada. Henceforth the Pearl
of the Antilles was no longer the "ever faithful Isle."




1834


[Sidenote: Death of Pedro IV.]

[Sidenote: Quadruple alliance]

[Sidenote: Foreign intervention in Portugal]

[Sidenote: Pretenders withdraw]

The death of Pedro IV., the Emperor of Brazil and claimant king of
Portugal, made matters worse in Portugal. Diego Antonio Fergio set himself
up as Regent. Monasteries were suppressed and the Society of Jesus was
expelled from the kingdom. Dom Miguel continued his fight for the throne.
Don Carlos, the Spanish pretender, remained with him. The situation grew so
threatening for the established governments in Portugal and Spain that
they, too, combined for mutual defence. Queen-Regent Christina of Spain
found that she would have to rely for support upon the Spanish Liberals.
Martinez de la Rosa was made Prime Minister. His first measure was to give
his country a constitution, which was ratified, on April 10, by royal
statute. He then entered into negotiations with Portugal as well as with
England and France to crush the two rebellious pretenders by a combined
effort. On April 22, a fourfold treaty was signed at London by the terms of
which the Spanish and Portuguese Governments undertook to proceed
conjointly against Miguel and Carlos. England promised to co-operate with
her fleet. France agreed to send an army into the Peninsula if called upon.
Before the treaty had been ratified even by the English Parliament and
French Chambers, General Rodil marched a Spanish division into Portugal.
Dom Miguel's forces were driven before him. The threatening demonstrations
of British cruisers and the simultaneous publication of the terms of the
quadruple alliance in Lisbon and Madrid cowed the revolutionists. On May
22, Dom Miguel yielded. On the promise of a handsome pension, he renounced
his rights to the crown of Braganza and agreed to leave Portugal forever.
Don Carlos, while declining thus to sell his rights, took refuge with the
British admiral on his flagship and was taken to London.

[Sidenote: Return of Don Carlos]

[Sidenote: Zumalacarregui]

For a while it seemed as if order had been restored in the Peninsula. The
problem of Portugal was settled. Don Carlos' shrewd move, however, left
matters open in Spain. The pretender had not been made a prisoner of war,
nor was he placed under any constraint or obligations. After a short
residence in England he crossed the Channel, and, travelling through France
in disguise, reappeared on July 10 in Navarre, where Zumalacarregui, a
brigand chief of considerable military ability, was conducting brilliant
operations against the Spanish government forces. Of the detachments sent
against him one after another was defeated in the mountains of Navarre.

[Sidenote: Spanish reverses]

All manner of help from the peasants was obtained by a system of ruthless
intimidation. The personal presence of Don Carlos strengthened the cause.
It was in vain that old General Mina, who had won renown in these parts ten
years ago, was sent against the Carlists. Unable to cope with them, the
old soldier resigned from his command. The Spanish Minister, Valdes,
thereupon took the field himself. His attempt to operate in Navarre with a
large army resulted in the worst defeat that had yet befallen the
government forces. He had to retreat before the victorious Carlists.
Zumalacarregui prepared to cross the Ebro to march upon Madrid.

[Sidenote: Delacey's expedition to Spain]

[Sidenote: French intervention refused]

[Sidenote: Fall of La Rosa's Ministry]

The Spanish Ministry in alarm turned to its allies for aid. The English
Government would render no further aid beyond that already given by the
British squadron in Spanish waters. Permission, however, was granted to
enroll volunteers for the Spanish cause in England and in Ireland. Colonel
Delacey Ebbons raised a corps of needy adventurers, and, having been
supplied with arms and funds, crossed over to Spain. The first appeal for
French intervention resulted in like failure. France had cause to hesitate
before embarking in another Peninsular War. Lord Palmerston's refusal on
behalf of the British Government to co-operate with France in any such
undertaking gave Louis Philippe reason to reflect. A large party in France,
moreover, was in sympathy with Don Carlos. The Spanish Government was
informed that French military assistance, under the circumstances, was
impossible. The first result of this refusal was the downfall of La Rosa's
Ministry in Spain. The civil war continued.

[Sidenote: Revolts in France]

[Sidenote: Fall of Broglie's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Thiers, Prime Minister]

[Sidenote: Death of Lafayette]

In France, domestic troubles rather than international questions were the
problems of the day. On April 5, a violent outbreak had been precipitated
by Mazzini among the workingmen of Lyons, which arose from a labor strike
involving thousands. Soon the whole city was in uproar. Barricades were
thrown up. Blood was shed in hand-to-hand fights with the troops. Similar
outbreaks had been prepared at St. Etienne, Vienne, Grenoble, Châlons,
Auxerre, Arbois, Marseilles, and Luneville. The insurrection spread to
Paris. On April 13, a conflict of some workmen with the troops was followed
by the building of barricades all over the city. The revolt was ruthlessly
suppressed by General Bugeaud, the commandant of Paris, who was henceforth
denounced as a butcher. After it was all over the Ministry of Duc de
Broglie fell in consequence of an adverse vote of the Chambers on the
subject of the indemnities due to America. The succeeding Ministry lasted
just three days. Then came the recall of Thiers, Guizot, Duchatel, Humann,
and Rigny. Marshal Mortier became President of the Council. The Chamber of
Deputies was dissolved. The aged Prince Talleyrand quitted the embassy at
London. A proposal to form a Ministry headed by Marquis de la Fayette for
the last time brought the name of that venerable hero into the public
affairs of France. Shortly afterward he died in peace at La Grange,
surrounded by his children and calling for his dead wife. His burial in the
graveyard of Picpus, consecrated to the memory of the victims of the
Terror, was left undisturbed by political demonstrations.

[Sidenote: Lafayette's career]

The name of Lafayette is indissolubly linked with the cause of the American
Revolution and struggle for independence. To join the revolutionists'
cause, Lafayette not only had to sacrifice his private fortune and
brilliant prospects at home, but also to leave a young, dearly-loved wife
with an unborn babe. Throughout the weary struggle of America against the
overwhelming power of England, Lafayette, together with Kosciusko and De
Kalb, stood by Washington and the cause for which he had drawn his sword.
Lafayette's presence in the American army, and the example of his constant
financial sacrifices for the American cause, were instrumental in winning
France over to that offensive alliance against England which helped to turn
the tide of war against that country. Throughout his subsequent career,
Lafayette sustained the reputation he had won in early manhood. He was one
of the few prominent figures of the French Revolution who emerged from that
ordeal with untainted reputation. From then until his closing days he was
the foremost champion of liberal thought and political freedom in France.

[Sidenote: Delaroche]

[Sidenote: Death of Blackwood]

Another distinguished Frenchman who died during this year was Jacquard, the
inventor of the loom which bears his name. In the French Salon in spring,
"The Execution of Lady Jane Grey in the Tower," by Paul Hippolyte
Delaroche, took the highest prize. The picture was a happy medium between
the ultra-romantic method of Delacroix and the classicism of David. Three
years previous to this, Delaroche sent to the Salon his famous paintings
"Cromwell at the Bier of Charles I.," and "The Children of Edward IV. in
the Tower." At this same time he was engaged on the greatest of his works,
"The Hemicycle," now in the Hall of the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
England lost three men prominent in letters, Blackwood, Lamb, and
Coleridge. Blackwood's contribution to English letters was the "Edinburgh
Magazine," founded and maintained by him from 1817 until his death.

[Sidenote: Charles Lamb]

[Sidenote: "Essays of Elia"]

Charles Lamb appeared in the world of letters as "Elia," a fancifully
adopted name of an Italian fellow clerk at the South Sea House, where Lamb
served his literary apprenticeship. While serving as a clerk for the South
Sea Company he published his first poems at the age of twenty-two, followed
shortly by "Rosamond Gray" and "John Woodville," at the beginning of the
century. With his sister Mary he shared in the publication of the two
children's books, "Tales from Shakespeare" (1806), and "Poetry for
Children" (1809). During this same period he compiled and edited the famous
"Specimens of Dramatic Poets Contemporary with Shakespeare." The "Essays of
Elia," which made Lamb's reputation, did not appear until 1823. The charm
of these essays is a frank note of autobiography tempered by a kindly humor
and whimsicality peculiar to Lamb. His fond appreciation of the poetry of
Elizabethan days, as revealed in these essays, was instrumental in bringing
about that revival of Shakespeare and old English poetry which set in early
in the Nineteenth Century.

[Sidenote: Death of Coleridge]

Thus it happened that Lamb and Coleridge were intimately associated. Lamb's
first poems appeared in a volume of Coleridge's. Lamb repaid the debt by
his tribute to Coleridge in his letters. There he has aptly described him
as a "logician, metaphysician and bard." It so happened that both friends,
who were almost of the same age, died in the same year.

[Sidenote: The "Lake School"]

[Sidenote: "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"]

[Sidenote: Swinburne on Coleridge]

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in 1772 at Ottery St. Mary, in Devonshire,
the son of a clergyman. He studied at Cambridge and then went to London,
where he enlisted as a trooper in a regiment of dragoons. Finding military
service uncongenial, he obtained a discharge and devoted himself to
literature. Together with Southey and Lovell he undertook to found a
communistic colony on the banks of the Susquehanna in America. The project
failed from lack of money. The three friends married the three sisters
Fireckes of Bristol and settled in Stowey. There Coleridge, Southey and
Wordsworth founded their so-called "Lake School of Poetry." Coleridge has
told in his "Biographia Literaria," how the "Lyrical Ballads," issued at
that time, derived their inspiration from two sources; to wit, supernatural
themes, which appealed to Coleridge, and homely every-day subjects, which
Wordsworth loved to beautify. Occasionally Coleridge tried himself in the
other field, as in his "Lines to a Young Ass." In the same year Coleridge
brought out the famous "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," his "Odes," and wrote
his first version of "Christabel." The period at Nether Stowey, from 1797
to 1798, was Coleridge's most fruitful year as a poet. All his best poetic
works had their origin at that time. Swinburne has said of Coleridge: "For
height and perfection of imaginative quality he is the greatest of lyric
poets, this was his special power and is his special praise." Much of the
charm and magnetic suggestion of his famous poem "Christabel" rests on its
exquisite vowel-music. The same is true of his wonderful "Rime of the
Ancient Mariner." There the running prose glossary accompanying the poem
displays the same delicate, fanciful tone as his most musical verse. By
these two poems alone Coleridge proved himself the most successful of the
English poets who have tried to imbue their verse with an eerie sense of
the invisible and the unreal:

  Like one that on a lonesome road,
  Doth walk in fear and dread,
  And, having once turned round, walks on,
  And turns no more his head;
  Because he knows a frightful fiend,
  Doth close behind him tread.

[Sidenote: "Aids to Reflection"]

[Sidenote: "Sartor Resartus"]

After his twenty-fifth year, Coleridge's poetic qualities declined. As a
result of his travels in Germany he published, in 1800, a translation of
Schiller's "Wallenstein," after which he reluctantly undertook to edit the
"Morning Post," a government organ. In 1804 he went to Malta as secretary
of Governor Ball. His last works were "Biographia Literaria" (1817),
"Zapolya" (1818), "Aids to Reflection" (1825), "Constitution of the Church
and State" (1826), as well as his posthumous "Literary Remains,"
"Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit," and the "Theory of Life." In English
literary annals this year is noted likewise for the appearance of Carlyle's
"Sartor Resartus."

[Sidenote: The Church of Ireland]

[Sidenote: Royal interference]

[Sidenote: Earl Grey resigns]

A Parliamentary bill admitting dissenters to university honors in England
was thrown out by the House of Lords. Another bill for the removal of the
civil disabilities of the Jews was again carried in the Lower House only to
be rejected by the Lords. Next, another coercion bill against Ireland was
introduced by the Ministry early in July. In the Commons much fault was
found with the Government's manner of dealing with Irish questions. In
spite of the concessions to O'Connell, that formidable leader had not been
won over. The Tories held that the Ministry had gone altogether too far. At
this critical moment, on the King's birthday, the Irish prelates, with the
Primate at their head, presented an address signed by fourteen Irish
clergymen in which they deprecated the proposed changes in the discipline
of the Church in Ireland. Instead of leaving the reply to his Ministers,
the King answered it in person: "I had been by the circumstances of my life
led to support toleration to the utmost extent of which it is justly
capable, but toleration must not be suffered to go into licentiousness....
I have spoken more strongly than usual, because of unhappy circumstances
that have forced themselves on the observation of all. The words which you
hear from me have not been learned by heart, but do indeed flow from my
heart." This speech was received with transports of joy by the opposition.
Earl Grey and his colleagues, on July 9, handed in their resignation.
Viscount Melbourne was called in with a heterogeneous Cabinet. During this
interregnum, on October 16, the two Houses of Parliament burned down.
Westminster Hall, the Abbey and the Speaker's residence were saved, but all
the rest, including the interior of the tower and the library of
Parliament, was destroyed.

[Sidenote: Troubles in China]

[Sidenote: Opium trade resented]

[Sidenote: Lord Napier's defiance]

[Sidenote: British ships fired on]

The most serious of the many embarrassments inherited from the
Administration of Grey was the trouble with China, that had arisen out of
the East India Company's opium trade in the Far East. When the charter of
the East India Company was renewed in 1834, it was shorn of its monopoly of
this trade. The consequent extension of the trade in opium, so strenuously
opposed by the Chinese Government, incensed Emperor Taouk-Wang. Lord
Napier, the new British Commissioner, reached the Canton River in July. His
instructions from Lord Palmerston were to foster the English opium trade
not only at Canton, but to demand an extension of the trade to other parts
of the Chinese empire. The Chinese mandarins, under instructions from the
Viceroy of Canton, refused to have anything to do with Napier. He was
lampooned in Chinese prints as "the foreign eye." The Viceroy issued an
edict forbidding the British Commissioner to proceed up the river. At the
same time all trade with English merchants was suspended. In defiance of
the Chinese orders Lord Napier left Macao, and sailing up the river made
his way to the English factory at Canton. There he found himself isolated.
An Imperial proclamation declared that the national dignity was at stake,
and ordered all Chinese subjects to keep away from the Englishmen. The
Canton factory was deserted by all of its coolies and domestic servants.
Lord Napier, ailing in health as he was, found his position untenable. He
sent a final defiance to the Viceroy of Canton: "The merchants of Great
Britain wish to trade with all China on principles of mutual benefit. They
will never relax in their exertions until they gain this. The Viceroy will
find it as easy to stop the current of the Canton River, as to carry into
effect his insane determination." After this the Viceroy sent his troops
into the foreign settlements, and ordered the Bogue forts to fire on any
English ship that attempted to pass. On September 5, two British ships in
the river were fired upon by the Chinese. The English merchants petitioned
Lord Napier to retire to Macao. This he did with a futile protest against
China's acts "of unprecedented tyranny and injustice." Lord Napier died,
leaving to others the settlement of the difficulties which his presence had
intensified.

[Sidenote: Lord Melbourne dismissed]

[Sidenote: Peel dissolves Parliament]

The death of Earl Spencer, which raised Lord Althorp, his son, to the Upper
House, gave the King a chance to get rid of his new advisers. When Lord
Melbourne, on November 14, submitted to the King the changes he proposed to
make in the Ministry in consequence of the vacancies in the Exchequer,
William IV. expressed his disapproval and called in the Duke of Wellington
in his stead. The Duke advised that the task of forming a new Cabinet be
intrusted to Sir Robert Peel, then in Rome. Sir Robert arrived in London
on December 9, and at once accepted the task imposed on him. The opposition
against his new-formed Ministry was so strong that it was decided to appeal
to the country. On December 30, Parliament was dissolved.

[Sidenote: American slavery agitation]

[Sidenote: "Atherton Gag"]

[Sidenote: American events]

In North America, the contest between the Northern and Southern States in
regard to slavery steadily gathered force. President Jackson, in his annual
message, called attention to "the fearful excitement produced in the South
by attempts to circulate through the mails inflammatory appeals addressed
to the slaves." The Federal postmasters of the South and in several cities
of the North were encouraged in the practice of rifling the mails of
possibly offensive matter. John Quincy Adams was threatened with public
censure at the bar of the House for proposing to print a petition for
freedmen. All attempts to get such petitions before Congress were defeated
by a standing rule known as the Atherton Gag. During this year the national
debt was almost liquidated by Jackson's payment of $4,760,082. A measure
was passed through Congress establishing the value of gold and silver. Gold
flowed into the Treasury through all channels of commerce. The mint was
kept busy, and specie payments, which had been suspended for thirty years,
were resumed. Gold and silver became the recognized currency of the land.
The President's measures against the National Bank were less successful. On
March 28, the Senate debated Clay's resolution censuring the President for
his removal of the government deposits. A joint resolution by both Houses
of Congress was passed, in the Senate, June 3, by a vote of 29 to 10. Other
events of the year of interest to Americans were the popular riots that
threw New York into a turmoil on the occasion of the first mayoralty
election in that city, the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Legislature
of Illinois, the establishment of the Indian Territory; and the first
appearance of Bancroft's "History of the United States."

[Sidenote: Friction matches]

Of world-wide interest was the emancipation of all black slaves in the
British West Indies, South Africa, and other colonies; the establishment of
the German tariff union, including all German States except Austria; the
transfer of the capital of Greece from Nauplia to the site of Athens; the
foundation of the free university of Brussels, and the death of the great
German theologian Schleiermacher. An innovation that was destined to add to
the convenience and comfort of domestic life throughout the world was the
introduction of lucifer matches during this year.




1835


[Sidenote: Irish balance of power]

[Sidenote: Gladstone's anti-Irish speech]

[Sidenote: O'Connell's reply]

On February 19, Parliament reassembled. It was found that a working
majority of Tories had been returned, but the first vote on the King's
speech revealed a junction of the Whigs with O'Connell's Irish party, which
foreboded disaster to the government. For the first time in Parliamentary
history the Irish members held the balance of power. In vain did Sir Robert
Peel attempt to stave off his downfall by the introduction of welcome
measures of reform. Once more it was on a question affecting Ireland that
the government was defeated. This was Peel's high commutation bill. Lord
Russell in reply moved that the surplus revenues of the Irish Church be
used for non-ecclesiastical purposes. In the debate that followed,
Gladstone spoke strongly against the measure. For this early speech,
embodying as it did views so radically different from those of his later
life, he was constantly reproached during his career. It ended with the
words, "I hope I shall never live to see the day when such a system shall
be adopted in this country; for the consequences of it to public men will
be lamentable beyond all description." O'Connell said in reply: "I shall
content myself with laying down the broad principle that the emoluments of
a church ought not to be raised from a people who do not belong to it....
All that the Catholics of Ireland require is justice--equal and even-handed
justice."

[Sidenote: Fall of Peel's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Melbourne's second Administration]

When the matter came to a vote the government was defeated by a majority of
thirty-three. On April 8, the resignation of the Ministry was announced to
Parliament. The King sent for Earl Grey, and, on his refusal to form a
Ministry, was driven to the humiliating expedient of recalling Lord
Melbourne. On April 18, a new Cabinet was formed, composed largely of the
men who had been so summarily dismissed by the King a few months before.
Lord Melbourne's second Administration was marked by the elevation of the
settlements of South Australia to a Crown colony. The city of Melbourne,
which was founded that year, was named in his honor.

[Sidenote: Death of William Cobbett]

An extraordinary career was ended, on June 18, by the death of William
Cobbett, from overwork in Parliament. With but little school education,
this remarkable man succeeded in becoming not only one of the foremost
prose writers of English, but the leader of a great popular party.

[Sidenote: The Orange Lodges]

[Sidenote: Duke of Cumberland implicated]

During the early part of Lord Melbourne's Administration, the discontent
and irritation prevailing in Ireland were heightened by the agitation
against the Orange lodges. The original purpose of these lodges had been to
defend, against the Stuarts and their supporters, the Protestant ascendancy
which had begun with the reign of William of Orange. The lodges had grown
in strength until, in 1835, it was estimated that they numbered 140,000
members in Ireland, and as many as 40,000 in London alone. The Grand Master
of all the Orange Lodges was no less a personage than the Duke of
Cumberland, the King's brother. It was believed in Ireland that a
conspiracy existed on the part of the Orangemen to set aside the Princess
Victoria, the next heir to the throne, in favor of the Duke of Cumberland.
The subject was brought to the notice of Parliament by Hume and O'Connell,
who drew special attention to the illegal introduction of Orangemen into
the British army, under warrants signed by the Duke of Cumberland. The
scandal grew to such an extent that the Duke of Cumberland hastened to
dissolve the order before a resolution condemning his conduct could pass
through the Commons.

[Sidenote: D'Urban in South Africa]

[Sidenote: Beginning of Boer trek]

In South Africa, another war over boundary questions broke out between the
Dutch and English settlers and the Kaffirs. Sir Benjamin d'Urban advanced
the frontier of Cape Colony to the Keir River. The Zulu chief, Dingaan, on
the assassination of King Chaka, who had welded together a confederation of
warlike tribes, succeeded to his powers. In the midst of these difficulties
an advance guard of Boers, exasperated by Great Britain's abolition of the
old Dutch moot courts or "Heemraden," and of slavery in Cape Colony,
trekked across the Orange River and founded a colony of their own.

[Sidenote: South American disorders]

[Sidenote: Revolution of Texas]

In South America, political changes rapidly followed one upon the other.
Rocafuerte seized the reins of power in Ecuador. About the same time
General Rosas had himself re-elected for fifteen years as dictator of the
Argentine Republic. President Santa Cruz of Bolivia made a raid into Peru,
and in his absence the State of Bolivia promptly fell a prey to internal
disorders. In Mexico, General Santa Anna established his rule as dictator.
The affairs of Texas soon demanded his attention. On December 20, Texas
declared itself independent of Mexico. Support came from the United States.
The revolution began with the battle of Gonzales, in which 500 Americans
took part. The Mexicans were defeated. Soon afterward Goliad and the strong
citadel of Bexar, known as the Alamo, were taken and the Mexican forces
dispersed.

[Sidenote: Osceola in Florida]

[Sidenote: Treaty of Payne's Landing disputed]

In the meanwhile the Seminole war in Florida had assumed a serious aspect.
The chief Indian leader who opposed the removal of the Seminoles west of
the Mississippi was Osceola, son of a half breed squaw and an Englishman.
His wife, the daughter of a slave, had been seized and returned to her
mother's master. Thenceforth Osceola became an uncompromising enemy of the
whites. The Indian controversy with the American Government turned on the
interpretation of a pronoun in the treaty of Payne's Landing. President
Jackson held that the word "they" in the most important clause of the
treaty relating to the compensation of the despoiled Indians referred only
to the deputies who executed the document, whereas Osceola contended that
it was meant to stand for all the Indians. The continued quibbling so
enraged Osceola that he drove his knife into the table exclaiming: "The
next treaty I will execute is with this."

[Sidenote: American progress]

[Sidenote: New York conflagration]

[Sidenote: Death of Justice Marshall]

Among the intellectual and scientific achievements of this year in America
must be reckoned Colt's invention of a revolver and the manufacture of
pins. Longfellow brought out his "Outre-Mer," and Audubon published his
"Birds of America." On December 16, a disastrous fire destroyed most of the
commercial houses of New York City. In all 530 houses burned down and
$18,000,000 worth of property was consumed. Chief Justice Marshall of the
United States Supreme Court died during this year, eighty years of age. As
a member of Congress, a Cabinet officer, and the foremost jurist of the
United States, Marshall won lasting distinction. His ability as a writer
was conspicuously displayed in his popular "Life of Washington."

[Sidenote: Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria]

[Sidenote: Wilhelm von Humboldt]

[Sidenote: Andersen's Fairy Tales]

In Europe, in the meanwhile, there had been some significant changes. On
March 2, Emperor Francis of Austria died at the age of sixty-seven. The
succession of Archduke Ferdinand to the throne produced no change in the
national policy. Metternich was retained at the head of affairs. Almost of
more moment to Germany was the death of Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt, the
diplomat, and brother to Alexander, the great German explorer and
philosophic writer. Besides his services as a statesman at the time of the
international conferences at Paris and Vienna, he is distinguished for his
philological researches in the Basque and Kauri languages. About the same
time Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish author, published his first
collection of fairy tales. The book had an immediate success, and after its
translation into German achieved a world-wide reputation. Various
translations from the German version and from the original had large sales
in England and America.

[Sidenote: Artistic activity in France]

[Sidenote: May riots of Paris]

[Sidenote: Fieschi's infernal machine]

[Sidenote: Second campaign in Algiers]

In France, too, notwithstanding political disturbances, fine arts and
letters flourished. New creations appeared from the pens of Lamartine,
Victor Hugo, Balzac, De Vigny and Alfred De Musset. Théophile Gautier
brought out his masterpiece "Mademoiselle de Maupin." Among the musicians
at Paris, Meyerbeer, Auber, Berlioz, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Spontini,
and Schapa were at the height of their activity. Politically it was a year
of disturbances for France. The opening of the State trial of last year's
conspirators before the Chamber of Peers was followed by diatribes in the
press. The liberties of the press were further restricted. Riots again
broke out in May. After all, but one man was condemned to death. Most of
those who were implicated were sentenced to transportation. New laws for
the repression of sedition were proposed by the Cabinet. Then it was that
the first serious attempt was made on the life of Louis Philippe. Already
seven projects of assassination had been discovered and frustrated, when a
grand review of the National Guards, on July 28, gave an opportunity for a
telling stroke. At the moment when the royal procession arrived on the
Boulevard Temple, an infernal machine was set off by a Corsican named
Fieschi. The King was saved only by the fact that he had bent down from
his horse to receive a petition when the machine was discharged. Among
those that were struck down were the Dukes of Orleans and Broglie, Marshal
Mortier, General Verigny, and Captain Vilate. The perpetrators of the crime
were put to death. In French foreign affairs a renewed uprising of Arab
tribes under Abd-el-Kader necessitated another military campaign in
Algeria.

In Greece, King Otto, having come of age on June 1, dissolved the Bavarian
regency and assumed his full royal powers at Athens. His reign, lacking
though it was in national spirit or sympathies, assured to Greece an era of
undisturbed peace and tranquillity.

[Sidenote: Seminole War]

Toward the close of the year, the American Government's attempt to remove
the Seminole Indians from their hunting grounds in Florida resulted in a
sanguinary Indian war. Micanopy the Seminole Sachem and Osceola were the
Indian leaders. Osceola opened hostilities with a master stroke. On
December 28, he surprised General Wiley Thompson at Fort King. Thompson had
wantonly laid Osceola in chains some time before. Now Osceola scalped his
enemy with his own hands. On the same day, Major Dade, leading a relief
expedition from Tampa Bay, was ambushed and overwhelmed near Wahoo Swamp.
Only four of his men escaped death. Within forty-eight hours, on the last
day of the year, General Clinch, commanding the troops in Florida, won a
bloody fight on the banks of the Big Withlacoochee.




1836


[Sidenote: Withlacoochee]

[Sidenote: Creek Indians subdued]

[Sidenote: Fight in Wahoo's swamp]

Throughout this year the Seminole War in Florida dragged on. Gaines's
command was assailed by the Indians near the old battleground of the
Withlacoochee on February 27. In May, the Creeks aided the Seminoles in
Florida, by attacking the white settlers within their domain. Success made
them bold, and they attacked mail carriers, stages, river barges and
outlying settlements in Georgia and Alabama, until thousands of white
people were fleeing for their lives from the savages. General Scott was now
in chief command in the South, and he prosecuted the war with vigor. The
Creeks were finally subdued, and during the summer several thousand of them
were forcibly removed to their designated homes beyond the Mississippi.
Governor Call of Georgia marched against the Seminoles with some two
thousand men in October. A detachment of five hundred of these had a severe
contest (November 21) with the Indians at Wahoo swamp, near the scene of
Dade's massacre. As in so many other engagements with the Seminoles in
their swampy fastnesses, both sides claimed the victory.

[Sidenote: Diet of Pressburg]

[Sidenote: Magyar demands]

[Sidenote: Kossuth]

[Sidenote: Scechenyi]

[Sidenote: Transylvanian Diet]

[Sidenote: Vesselenyi]

In Europe, early during 1836, the conclusions reached by the long-sitting
Diet of Hungary opened the eyes of the new Emperor of Austria and of
Metternich to the changed spirit within their own dominions. For many years
during the long period when the government did not dare to convoke the
Diet, the Hungarians in their county assemblies had opposed a steady
resistance to the usurpations of the crown. These county assemblies,
rejoicing as they did in the right of free discussion, and the appointment
of local officials, were one of the hardiest relics of home rule existing
anywhere in Europe, comparable only to the democratic government of the
Swiss cantons and to the old English town meetings reconstituted in New
England. By banishing political discussion from the Diet to the county
sessions, Metternich only intensified the provincial spirit of opposition
which he thought to quell. When the Hungarian Diet reassembled at Pressburg
at last, the new spirit showed itself in the demand of the Magyars for the
substitution of their own language, in all public debates, for the older
customary Latin. The government speakers, who attempted to address the
deputies in Latin, were howled down by the Magyars. When the government
forbade the publication of all Magyar speeches, Kossuth, one of the
youngest of the deputies, circulated them in manuscript. After the
dissolution of the Diet, in summer, he was punished for this act of
defiance by a three years' imprisonment. The foremost leader of the
Hungarian Liberals at this time was Count Scechenyi, a Magyar magnate of
note. He it was that opened the Danube to steam navigation by the
destruction of the rocks at Orsova, known as the Iron Grates, and to him,
too, Hungary owes the bridge over the Danube that unites its double capital
of Budapesth and Ofen. Of the Hungarian noblemen he was one of the few who
recognized the injustice of the anomalous institution which restricted
Parliamentary representation to the noblemen, and absolved them at the same
time from taxation. The new liberal spirit thus manifested was turned into
revolutionary channels by Metternich himself. The dissolution of the
Hungarian Diet and the subsequent imprisonment of deputies whose persons
should have been inviolable aroused bad blood among the Magyars. This was
made worse by the peremptory dissolution of the Transylvanian Diet, where
the Magyar element likewise predominated. The leader of the Transylvanian
opposition, Count Vesselenyi, a magnate in Hungary, betook himself to his
own county session and there inveighed against the government. He was
arrested and brought to trial before an Austrian court on charges of high
treason. His plea of privilege was supported by the Hungarian county
sessions as involving one of their oldest established rights. In the face
of this agitation Count Vesselenyi was convicted and sentenced to exile.
Henceforth opposition to the government and hostility to all things
Austrian were synonymous with patriotism in Hungary.

[Sidenote: Poland restive]

The discontent in Hungary and the Slav provinces of Austria was fomented by
a keen sympathy with the misfortunes of Poland groaning under the yoke of
Russia. Notwithstanding Austria's official conference with Russia, Polish
refugees were received with open arms in Galicia, Bohemia and Hungary.

[Sidenote: The great Boer trek]

[Sidenote: Piet Retief]

[Sidenote: Zulu treachery]

[Sidenote: Massacre of Weenen]

In various other parts of the world the spirit of revolution would not be
quelled. More Dutch settlers in South Africa sought relief from British
interference with their customs and the institution of slavery by
emigrating into the virgin veldt lying to the north of their former
settlements. It was in vain that the British authorities of Cape Colony
tried to stop this "great trek." Rather than submit to British domination,
the Boers preferred to renew the inevitable struggle with the wild beasts
and the savages of the African wilderness. While one part of the emigrant
body remained in the Transvaal and Northern Free State, the foretrekkers
passed over the Drakensberg Mountains into Natal, under the leadership of
Piet Retief. The land of Natal was at that time practically unpopulated.
Chaka and his warriors had swept the country clean of its native
inhabitants, so Dingaan considered it within his sphere of influence. The
Boers accordingly made overtures to Dingaan, Chaka's successor, who resided
at his kraal on the White Umvolosi, a hundred miles distant in Zululand,
for the right to trek into this country. This was granted after the Boers
had undertaken to restore some cattle of the Zulus stolen by the Basutos. A
thousand prairie wagons containing Boer families trekked over the
Drakensberg into Natal, and scattered over the unpeopled country along the
banks of the Upper Tugela and Mooi Rivers. Piet Retief, with sixty-five
followers, went to visit Dingaan in his kraal. They were made welcome. A
solemn treaty of peace and friendship was drawn up by one Owens, an English
missionary with the Zulus. During a feast, the Boers, disarmed and wholly
unprepared for an attack, were suddenly seized and massacred to a man. Then
the Zulus, numbering some ten thousand warriors, swept out into the veldt
to attack the Boer settlements. Near Colenso, at a spot called Weenen
(weeping), in remembrance of the tragedy there enacted, the Zulus
overwhelmed the largest of the Boer laagers, and slaughtered all its
inmates--41 men, 56 women, 185 children and 250 Kaffir slaves. In spite of
this and other battles the Boers held their ground.

[Sidenote: South Australia settled]

[Sidenote: British seize Aden]

The Englishmen likewise extended their colonial conquests. The unsettled
Bushland of South Australia was colonized by Captain Hindmarsh and his
followers. They founded the city of Adelaide, named after the consort of
William IV. A wrecked British ship having been plundered by Arabs, the
Sultan of Aden, under a threat of British retaliation, was made to cede
Aden to Great Britain. New claims for territory were preferred by Great
Britain against the Republic of Honduras, in Central America.

[Sidenote: Mexican independence acknowledged]

[Sidenote: Defence of the Alamo]

[Sidenote: Joaquin Miller's lines]

The neighboring republic of Mexico, under the dictatorship of Santa Anna,
at last succeeded in having its independence formally acknowledged by
Spain. On March 6, Santa Anna, having raised a new force of 8,000 men,
marched on Fort Alamo, which had been left in charge of a small garrison of
Americans under Colonel Jim Bowie. All night they fought. Every man fell
at his post but seven, and these were killed while asking quarter. Here
died David Crockett, the famous American frontiersman, whose exploits had
made him so popular in Tennessee, that, though unable to read, he was
thrice elected to Congress. Joaquin Miller, the American poet, based on
this encounter his stirring ballad on "The Defence of the Alamo":

  Santa Anna came storming, as a storm might come;
  There was rumble of cannon; there was rattle of blade;
  There was cavalry, infantry, bugle and drum,--
  Full seven thousand, in pomp and parade,
  The chivalry, flower of Mexico;
  And a gaunt two hundred in the Alamo!

[Sidenote: Battle of San Jacinto]

On April 21 was fought the decisive battle of San Jacinto, in which Santa
Anna with 1500 men was defeated by 800 Texans under Sam Houston. On the
next day General Santa Anna was captured. He was compelled to acknowledge
the independence of Texas, but the people of Mexico refused to ratify his
act. Nonetheless serious hostilities against the Texans were abandoned.

[Sidenote: Peru and Bolivia joined]

The abolition of slavery in Bolivia gave a new impetus to the government of
that republic. President Santa Cruz of Bolivia felt encouraged by this to
attempt to carry out his pet project of the amalgamation of Peru with
Bolivia. A prolonged guerilla war was the result.

[Sidenote: Spanish rule in Cuba and Philippines]

[Sidenote: Civil war in the Peninsula]

[Sidenote: Portuguese slave trade abolished]

The example of these movements in Central and South America encouraged the
revolutionists of Cuba to keep up their struggle against the rule of Spain.
Unfortunately for them, the apparent weakness of the Spanish
constitutional government at Madrid did not extend to the more distant
possessions of Spain. The only result of the rising of Manuel Quesada was
that Cuba was deprived of her representation in the Spanish Cortes. In the
Philippine Islands, Spanish rule was extended to the Island of Sulu. On the
Peninsula, on the other hand, matters went from bad to worse. The Carlist
war continued unabated. On May 5, General Evans, commanding the
constitutional troops and foreign volunteers, won a victory over the
Carlists at Vigo, but within a few months he was himself defeated at San
Sebastian. On Christmas Day, another crushing defeat was inflicted on the
Constitutionalists by the Carlist leader Espertero at Bilboa. In Portugal
the marriage of Princess Maria II. to Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
was followed by fresh disorders. Revolution broke out at Lisbon, on August
9, and could be subdued only by the re-establishment of the Constitution of
1832. On November 8 came another popular rising. It was a sign of the times
and of a more liberal turn of affairs at Lisbon that one of the first
measures of the new government was a total abolition of Portuguese slave
trading.

[Sidenote: British reforms]

[Sidenote: Charles Dickens]

[Sidenote: "Pickwick Papers"]

[Sidenote: Marryat]

[Sidenote: Landor]

[Sidenote: Death of Mill]

[Sidenote: Wheatstone]

[Sidenote: Balfe]

Reform of all kinds had become popular in England under the dexterous
resistance of O'Connell, who held the balance in Parliament. The government
was induced to bring in a corporation reform bill for Ireland. An official
register of births, deaths, and marriages was conceded to the dissenters.
Next came the abolition of one of the most barbarous practices of English
and Irish law courts. Up to this time prisoners accused of felony were not
allowed to be defended by counsel. At the instance of Lord Lyndhurst this
was now changed. Another gain for humanity was made by the abolition of the
law which required that persons convicted of murder should be executed on
the next day but one. On the other hand a bill for the abolition of
imprisonment for debt miscarried. The most potent plea against the abuses
of this particular relic of barbarism in England was put forth by Charles
Dickens in his "Pickwick Papers." These serial papers relating the humorous
adventures of Mr. Pickwick and his body servant Sam Weller, when brought in
conflict with the English laws governing breach of marital promise and
debt, had an immense success in England and all English-speaking countries.
Already Dickens had published a series of "Sketches of London," under the
pseudonym of Boz, while working as a Parliamentary reporter for the
"Morning Chronicle." The success of the "Pickwick Papers" was such that he
felt encouraged to emerge from his pseudonym and to devote himself entirely
to literature. Other literary events of the year in England were the
publication of the initial volumes of Lockhart's "Memoirs of the Life of
Sir Walter Scott," of Captain Marryat's "Mr. Midshipman Easy," and "The
Pirate and the Three Cutters," and of Landor's "Pericles and Aspasia." The
first Shakespeare jubilee was celebrated at Stratford-on-Avon in the
spring. A loss to English letters was the death of James Mill, the great
political economist, in his sixty-third year. About this time Wheatstone
constructed his electro-magnetic apparatus by which he could send signals
over nearly four miles of wire. The Irish composer Balfe began his
brilliant career as a composer of English operas with the "Siege of
Rochelle," produced at Drury Lane in London. About the same time
Mendelssohn brought out his "St. Paul" in Düsseldorf.

[Sidenote: Death of La Malibran]

[Sidenote: Her operatic career]

[Sidenote: Alfred de Musset's lines]

Maria Felicitá Malibran, the great contralto singer of the early part of
the Nineteenth Century, died on September 23, at Manchester, in her
twenty-eighth year. Taken from Paris to Naples at the age of three, she
made her first appearance as a public singer in her fifth year. Two years
later she studied solfeggio with Panseron. At the age of sixteen she made
her début as Rosina in "Barbiere di Seville" at London. The success of her
first appearance was so great that she was at once engaged for the season.
Next she appeared in New York, where she was a popular favorite for two
years, singing in Mozart's "Don Giovanni," in "Tancred," "Romeo and
Juliet," and two of her father's operas. Here she married a French
merchant, Malibran. After her separation from him she returned to Paris,
where she was engaged as prima donna at a salary of 50,000 francs.
Thereafter she sang at every season in Paris, London, Milan, Rome and
Naples. For one engagement of forty nights in Naples she received 100,000
francs. Both as a singer and woman she exercised an extraordinary
fascination over her contemporaries. Only a few months before her death she
married the violinist De Beriot. In England she suffered a severe fall
from her horse, which shattered her health. After this she literally sang
herself to death. Her loss was mourned most of all in France, where her
death has been commemorated by Alfred de Musset's beautiful threnody ending
with the lines:

  Die, then. Thy death is sweet, thy goal is won;
  What is called genius by men here below
  Is the great cry for Love; all else is but show;
  And since, soon or late, human love is undone,
  It is for great hearts and great voices like thine
  To die as thou didst--for Love all-divine.

[Sidenote: Meyerbeer's "Huguenots"]

[Sidenote: Gounod]

[Sidenote: Chopin]

[Sidenote: Liszt]

[Sidenote: Georges Sand]

[Sidenote: Death of Ampère]

In France, great strides had been made in music, art and literature.
Giacomo Meyerbeer, whose real name was Jacob Beer, surpassed the success of
his "Robert le Diable" with his greatest opera "Les Huguenots," produced on
February 20, at the Paris Opera House. The success of this masterpiece so
disheartened Rossini that he resolved to write no more operas, and withdrew
to Bologna. Charles François Gounod, on the other hand, now began his
musical career by entering the Paris Conservatory. Frederick Chopin, the
Polish composer, at this time was at the height of his vogue as the most
_recherché_ pianist of Paris. He was the favorite of a circle of friends
consisting of Meyerbeer, Bellini, Berlioz, Liszt, Balzac, and Heine. It was
during this year that Liszt introduced Chopin to Madame Dudevant, better
known as Georges Sand, the famous French novelist. Their attachment was the
talk of Paris. André Marie Ampère, the noted French mathematician and
physicist, died during this year at sixty-one years of age. He was the
inventor of the electrical unit of measure which bears his name.

[Sidenote: Thiers Prime Minister]

[Sidenote: Algerian reverses]

[Sidenote: Thiers resigns]

[Sidenote: Fiasco of Strasburg]

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon exiled]

[Sidenote: Amnesty acts]

Politically it was a turbulent year for France. On the question of the
budget the Ministry was defeated in January and had to resign. The new
Ministry called in went to pieces on February 22, when Guizot and De
Broglie retired from the Cabinet. Thiers was placed at the helm. On June
26, another attempt to assassinate the King was made by Louis Alibaud, a
former soldier of the south who had taken part in the revolution of July.
The military expedition to Algeria under Marshal Clauzel and the Duke of
Orleans first met with distinguished success. The French army occupied
Mascera. But later the unfortunate issue of an expedition against the town
of Constantine caused the retirement of Marshal Clauzel as Governor-General
of Algeria. Commander Changarnier at the head of a French battalion was
beaten back step by step by an overwhelming body of Achmet Bey's cavalry of
the desert. The question of French intervention in Spain resulted in the
downfall of the Ministry of Thiers. King Louis Philippe, ever since Lord
Palmerston's chilling reply to his overtures for joint intervention, was
opposed to such a project. "Let us aid the Spaniards from a distance," said
he, "but never let us enter the same boat with them. Once there we should
have to take the helm, and God knows where that would bring us." He
demanded the retirement of the French corps of observation in the Pyrenees.
Thiers was utterly opposed to this: "Nothing can bring the King to
intervention," said he, "and nothing can make me renounce it." On
September 6, the Cabinet resigned, having been in power but six months.
Count Molé was charged with forming a new Ministry. A new cause of
disquietude was given late in October by Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte at
Strasburg. On the last day of that month, Louis Napoleon, with no other
support than that of Persigny and Colonel Vauterey, paraded the streets of
that town and presented himself at the barracks of the 4th regiment of
artillery. He was received with the cry "Vive l'Empereur." An attempt to
win over the soldiers of the other barracks failed. The young prince was
arrested. Ex-Queen Hortense interceded in his behalf. The attempt to regain
the Napoleonic crown had been so manifest a fiasco that Louis Philippe
thought he could afford to be generous. Louis Napoleon was permitted to
take himself off to the United States of America with an annuity of fifteen
thousand francs from the royal purse. His adherents were taken before the
court at Colmar and were all acquitted by the jury. A simultaneous military
mutiny at Vendome was treated with like leniency. After the death of
ex-King Charles X., Prince Polignac and other of his Ministers who had come
to grief after the revolution of 1830 were sent out of the country. A
general amnesty was announced.

[Sidenote: American elections]

[Sidenote: The "Gag Law"]

[Sidenote: Smithson's bequest]

[Sidenote: Jackson's specie circular]

The arrival of Prince Louis Napoleon created little stir in the United
States. The people there were in the midst of a Presidential election.
President Jackson wished Vice-President Van Buren to be his successor. He
therefore recommended that the Democratic nomination should be by national
convention. The National Republicans had by this time generally adopted the
name of Whigs. They supported William H. Harrison and John McLaine of Ohio
with Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. The opposition hoped to throw the
Presidential election into the House, but did not succeed in doing so. A
majority of Van Buren electors were chosen by 761,549 votes against 736,656
divided among the other candidates. Congress met on December 5. Arkansas
and Michigan were admitted as new States of the Union. Before this
Jackson's Administration had won a complete success over his opponents. The
President gave his sanction to a Congressional resolution in favor of the
South, that "all petitions, memorials, and resolutions relating to slavery
shall be laid on the table, and no further action whatever shall be had
thereon." A select committee resolved that "Congress cannot
constitutionally interfere with slavery in the United States and it ought
not to do so." The so-called "Gag Law" was adopted by 117 over 68 votes.
About this same time Congress accepted the bequest of James Smithson, an
Englishman, who left $515,169 to be expended in America "for the general
diffusion of knowledge among men." After the fall of the United States
Bank, a number of State banks were formed, many of which were without
adequate capital. Their notes were used in large quantities for the
purchase of public lands from the United States. Thereupon President
Jackson issued the so-called specie circular, ordering federal agents to
receive no other money but gold and silver. This caused such a demand for
specie that many of these minor banks fell into difficulties. By the close
of the year bank failures had become so numerous that a financial crisis
was at hand.

[Sidenote: Death of Madison]

Ex-President James Madison died this year at the ripe age of eighty-five.
His entire career was such as to make him one of the great line of Southern
Presidents of Virginian stock: Washington, Jefferson and Monroe.

[Sidenote: Seminole War]

[Sidenote: American railroad development]

The military campaign against the Seminoles was far from satisfactory. Many
of the soldiers sent into Georgia and Florida succumbed to disease. They
had to abandon Forts King, Dane and Micanopy, giving up a large tract to
the Indians. The Indians were defeated in battle at New Mannsville, and in
the fall of the year General Call rallied them on the Withlacoochee, but
could not drive them into the Wahoo Swamp. A change in commanders was once
more made, and Jesup succeeded Call. With 8,000 men he entered on a winter
campaign. The Indians were forced from their positions on the
Withlacoochee, and were pursued toward the Everglades, and at the end of
1836 sued for peace. On December 15, the Federal Post-Office and
Patent-Office burned down. Irreparable loss was caused by the destruction
of 7,000 models and 10,000 designs of new inventions. At the close of
Jackson's Administration some three thousand miles of railroad had been
constructed. Eight years previously, when he came into office, no railway
had ever been seen in America.




1837


[Sidenote: American financial crisis]

[Sidenote: Government relief measures]

[Sidenote: Sub-Treasury system]

[Sidenote: Texas independent]

The financial crisis of this year was not only one of the most severe, but
also the most remarkable in the financial history of the United States. A
Congressional act of the previous year provided that after January 1, 1837,
all surplus revenues of the government should be divided as loans among the
States. The amount to be distributed this year aggregated $28,000,000. No
part of this large sum was ever recalled. When the government called for
its deposits in order to distribute the surplus an immediate shrinkage of
specie was the result. As bank after bank suspended, it was found that the
paper issue had increased from $51,000,000 in 1830 to $149,000,000 in 1837.
Jackson's attacks on the National Bank had shaken public confidence in this
institution, and it likewise suspended specie payments. The mercantile
failures of a single fortnight in New York City amounted to $100,000,000. A
repeal of Jackson's order that payments for public lands should be in coin
filled the National Treasury with paper money. Congress met in special
session to relieve the financial distress. A law was passed authorizing the
issue of $10,000,000 in Treasury notes. This brought some relief. President
Van Buren's first message recommended the adoption by the government of
the Sub-Treasury plan. A bill for the establishment of an independent
treasury passed the Senate, but was defeated in the House by a union of
Whigs and Conservatives. The Sub-Treasury plan, as eventually carried out,
provided for complete separation of the National Bank and the government,
and established the principle that the government revenues should be
received in coin only. President Van Buren in his message specially
deprecated any interference by Congress in the struggle between Texas and
Mexico. Texas, which had been bargained away by Southern votes in 1819, was
now an eagerly desired prize. It had now become a part of Coahuila, and had
declared its independence. Still Congress persisted in its attempt to
interfere, but a bill to that effect was voted down by the adherents of the
President.

[Sidenote: Distress in Spain]

In Mexico, Bustamente had again become President. In the neighboring State
of Colombia, President Marquez, likewise, had himself re-elected. The
influence of North American progress was shown in Cuba by the opening of
the first railway there, long before the mother country, Spain, could boast
of such an advance in civilization. There the civil war was still draining
the resources of the country. On May 17, General Evans took Trun, but
failed to follow up his success. In Portugal, the restoration of Pedro's
Charta de Ley was proclaimed by the Duke of Terceira.

[Sidenote: Fall of Guizot]

[Sidenote: Death of Fourier]

In France, an unfortunate attempt to fix large dowries on the Duc de
Nemours and the Queen of the Belgians raised an outcry against the private
avarice of the King. As the result of the Ministerial crisis that followed
the defeat of these measures in the Chambers Guizot had to retire from the
Ministry. Molé remained in charge with the reconstituted Cabinet. The
success of a second expedition against Constantine, in which the Duc de
Nemours gained distinction, invested Molé's new Ministry with a certain
popularity. Measures for a general political amnesty and for the closing of
gambling houses were readily voted by the Chambers. The people of Paris
were kept amused first by the marriage of the Duc d'Orleans to Princess
Hélène of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and by the subsequent wedding of Princess
Marie d'Orleans, the amateur sculptress, to Duke Alexander of Wurtemberg, a
dilettante, like herself, in letters. The occasion provoked the German poet
Heine, then lying ill at Paris, to some of his most pungent witticisms.
Ailing though he was, Heine was made a member of the new "Société des Gens
de Lettres," founded by Balzac, Lamennais, Dumas and Georges Sand. Further
events in French letters were the publication of Eugène Sue's
"Latréaumont," and the appearance of the early part of Michelet's "History
of France." François Charles Marie Fourier, the philosophic writer and
follower of St. Simon, died in his sixty-fifth year. Before his death his
well-elaborated system of communism, as put forward in his "Traité de
l'Association Domestique et Agricole," had found general acceptance among
the radical orders of France.

[Sidenote: Death of Leopardi]

[Sidenote: Ode to Brutus Minor]

[Sidenote: A self-apostrophe]

Count Giacomo Leopardi, the foremost lyric poet of modern Italy, died on
June 14. Leopardi's genius was tinctured with pessimism. Like Byron, he was
powerfully moved by the painful contrast between the classic grandeur of
ancient Italy and the degeneracy of its latter days. The tendency toward
pessimism was increased by his own ill health. His first works were the
result of his eager study of classic antiquities. Thus he brought out a new
edition and translation of Porphyrios' "De vita Plotini." His earliest
verses, such as the fine "Ode to Italy," and his poem on a projected
monument for Dante, already contained the strain of sadness that ran
through all his later poems. On the publication of Leopardi's first
collection of verses, Niebuhr, the Prussian Ambassador at Rome, offered him
a professorship at Berlin, but the poet's failing health prevented
acceptance. Religious dissensions with his father depressed his spirits
still more. He gave expression to his increasing sadness in the beautiful
ode on the "Minor Brutus." In 1825 he took part in bringing out the famous
"Antologia" at Florence, and also issued an edition of Petrarch and two
collections of Italian verse. Another collection of his own poems was
published in 1826, followed by the prose dialogues "Operette Morali." In
1833, declining health led Leopardi to withdraw to Naples. One year before
his death he brought out a last collection of poems distinguished alike for
poignant pessimism and for their high lyric beauty. Characteristic of
Leopardi's verse is this poem addressed to himself:

  Now lie forever still,
  My weary heart. Farewell, my last illusion
  The dream that we endure. Farewell! Too surely
  I know my end, and now of self-deception
  The hope long since and dear desire has left me.
  Be still forever! Enough
  Of fluttering such as thine has been. Vain, vain
  Thy palpitation, the wide world is not worth
  Our sighs; for bitter pain
  Life's portion is, naught else, and slime this earth.
  Subside henceforth, despair forever!
  Fate gave this race of ours
  For only guerdon death. Then make a sport
  Of thine own self, of nature, and the dark
  First power that, hidden, rules the world for harm--
  And of the infinite emptiness of all.

[Sidenote: Death of Pushkin]

[Sidenote: Lermontov]

Russia lost her foremost man of letters at this period by the death of
Count Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, as the result of a duel. His last
work, the drama "Boris Goudunov," was left uncompleted. After his recall
from his exile in Bessarabia, Pushkin had been appointed as imperial
historian by Czar Nicholas, in which capacity he wrote a history of Peter
the Great and an account of the conspiracy of Pugatshev. Of his poetic
works, the most important was "Eugene Onegin," an epic written after the
manner of Byron's "Don Juan." "Eugene Onegin" has remained one of the
classics of Russian literature throughout the Nineteenth Century. Pushkin's
brother poet Lermontov, then an officer of the Guards, wrote a poem
demanding vengeance for Pushkin's death. He was banished to the Caucasus,
and his writings were suppressed. Under a false name he now wrote his
famous epic: "Song of Czar Ivan Vasilyevitch."

[Sidenote: The first kindergarten]

[Sidenote: German clerical struggle]

A joyful event in German letters was the great festival at Mainz in honor
of Gutenberg and his invention of the art of printing. Froebel opened his
first kindergarten at Blankenburg in Thuringia. Auerbach, the popular
novelist, brought out his "Spinoza." Much was made by Germans of the
opening of the first railway between Dresden and Leipzig, and of the
invention of coal-tar colors, or aniline dyes, by a process destined to
revolutionize the arts of coloring and dyeing throughout the world. A great
stir was created by the imprisonment of the Archbishop of Cologne at Minden
after a quarrel with the Prussian Government concerning marriages between
persons of different creeds. He was forbidden to go to Bonn. Backed by the
Holy See in Rome, he continued to defy the Protestant authorities.

[Sidenote: Death of William IV.]

[Sidenote: Victoria's accession]

A change of rule, fraught with future consequences for Hanover, resulted
from the death of William IV., King of England and Hanover, on the 20th of
June. By the death of the old King, his niece, Victoria Alexandra, then in
her eighteenth year, became Queen of England. Miss Wynn, in her "Diaries of
a Lady of Quality," has told how the news was brought to the young Princess
at Kensington by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Howley) and the Lord
Chamberlain (Marquis Conyngham): "They did not reach Kensington Palace
until five o'clock in the morning. They knocked, they rang, they thumped
for a considerable time before they could rouse the porter at the gate;
they were again kept waiting in the courtyard, then turned into one of the
lower rooms, where they seemed forgotten by everybody. They rang the bell,
and desired that the attendant of the Princess Victoria might be sent to
inform Her Royal Highness that they requested an audience on business of
importance. After another delay, and another ringing to inquire the cause,
the attendant was summoned, who stated that the Princess was in such a deep
sleep that she could not venture to disturb her. Then they said, 'We are
come on business of state to the Queen, and even her sleep must give way to
that.' In a few minutes she came into the room in a loose white nightgown
and shawl, her nightcap thrown off, and her hair falling upon her
shoulders, her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected
and dignified."

[Sidenote: Her first Privy Council]

Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, was summoned, and at eleven o'clock
that same morning a Privy Council was held, which is thus described by
Charles Greville, an eye-witness: "Never was anything like the first
impression she produced, or the chorus of praise and admiration which is
raised about her manner and behavior, and certainly not without justice. It
was very extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for. Her
extreme youth and inexperience, and the ignorance of the world concerning
her, naturally excited intense curiosity to see how she would act on this
trying occasion, and there was a considerable assemblage at the palace,
notwithstanding the short notice which was given. The first thing to be
done was to teach her her lesson, which for this purpose Melbourne had
himself to learn.... She bowed to the Lords, took her seat, and then read
her speech in a clear, distinct, and audible voice, and without any
appearance of fear or embarrassment."

[Sidenote: Hanover separates from England]

[Sidenote: Ernest, King of Hanover]

[Sidenote: Royal breach of faith]

[Sidenote: Revolt at Göttingen]

The first signature to the Act of Allegiance was that of Ernest, Duke of
Cumberland, eldest surviving brother of the late King William. To him
passed the crown of Hanover, which for a hundred and twenty-five years had
been held by the occupants of the British throne. Under the Salic law,
restricting succession to the male line, Hanover now became separated from
England. On June 28, the new King arrived in Hanover. He refused to receive
the deputation of the estates that had come to greet him. Dispensing with
the formality of taking the required oath to the constitution, he dissolved
the estates. The validity of the Hanoverian Constitution was next called in
question, and the restoration of the less liberal constitution of 1819 was
ordained. The first to protest against this royal breach of faith were
seven professors of the University of Göttingen. Among them were the two
brothers Grimm, to whom the German language and literature are so deeply
indebted, and Gervinus, the great historian of modern Europe. The
professors were instantly dismissed. This high-handed act provoked an
insurrection among the students, which had to be quelled by troops, with
bloodshed.

The departure of the unpopular Duke of Cumberland and the dissolution of
the embarrassing connection with Hanover wrought distinct relief to the
people of England. According to usage on the accession of a new sovereign,
Parliament was dissolved, in this instance by the Queen in person. She
drove to the House of Lords in state, and created a sensation by her youth
and graciousness. What she said of her own good intentions, her confidence
in the wisdom of Parliament and the love of her people and her trust in
God, was re-echoed throughout the English dominion. Her popularity speedily
became unbounded. The change in the person of the sovereign was a great
advantage for the Melbourne Ministry. They had no longer to fear such a
summary dismissal or interference by the throne as they had suffered during
the last reign. The dissolution of Parliament only resulted in their favor.
The Tories were in despair. The departure of the Duke of Cumberland, their
power behind the throne, had deprived them of a leader. The old Duke of
Wellington regarded the accession of a female sovereign a probable bar to
his return to power. To a friend he said: "I have no small talk, and Peel
has no manners."

[Sidenote: The Victorian era]

The Victorian era in England, a period comparable for brilliancy only to
that of Queen Elizabeth, began indeed under auspicious circumstances. In
the field of letters there was the galaxy of diverse spirits: Southey,
Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning. A new start was given to English prose
by such powerful writers as Lord Macaulay, Carlyle, Charles Dickens, and
William Makepeace Thackeray, who brought out his "Yellowplush Papers" this
very year. Another newcomer in the field of romance was the Irish
novelist, Charles Gaines Lever, whose early "Adventures of Harry Lorrequer"
found instant favor. Among the women writers were Maria Edgeworth, Jane
Austen, and Elizabeth Barrett. Great strides were also made in science.
Shortly after the appearance of Whewell's "History of Inductive Sciences,"
the Ornithological and Electrical Societies were founded at London. The
principle of working clocks by electricity was advanced by Alexander Bain.
Wheatstone and Cooke invented the magnetic needle telegraph. Ericsson's new
screw steamer "Francis Bogden" was found to develop a speed of ten miles an
hour. John Upton patented his steam plow, and the first photographic prints
on paper were made by Fox Talbot.

[Sidenote: Macaulay joins Cabinet]

[Sidenote: Famine in India]

[Sidenote: Boers defeat Zulus]

When Parliament was reconvened, Lord Macaulay was added to the Cabinet. In
the northwestern provinces of East India a widespread famine, which cost
the lives of 8,000 natives, necessitated relief measures on a large scale.
In the midst of these troubles the death of the ruling King of Delhi caused
a vacancy, which was filled by Mahmoud Bahadour Shah, the last titular
Great Mogul under the protection of the British colonial government. In
South Africa some measure of home rule was accorded to Cape Colony by the
institution of a representative legislative council under a governor
appointed by the Crown. To the north of Cape Colony the Boer emigrants
carried on their war of revenge against the Zulus. In a fierce battle on
December 16, at Blood River, the Boers under Maritz and Potgieter utterly
defeated Dingaan's warriors. Pantah, the brother of Dingaan, became King of
the Zulus. The anniversary of this battle was ever after celebrated as a
holiday by the Boers. A settlement was founded in the conquered land, and
the first church was built on the site of Pietermaritzburg, named after the
Boer leaders.

[Sidenote: Canada restive]

[Sidenote: Papineau]

[Sidenote: The "family compact"]

On December 22, the British Parliament received the news of rebellion in
Lower Canada. The distress occasioned by the financial panic of this year
in the United States had spread to Canada. It found vent in agitation
against English rule on the part of the French Canadians. On the occasion
of the announcement of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne, when Te
Deums were sung in the churches, the French Canadians signified their
disapproval by walking out of church. Louis Joseph Papineau, Speaker of the
Lower House, led the opposition to the government proposals regarding the
application of the revenues of the province. The home government kept up a
narrow "British party" devoted to the so-called interests of the mother
country. The majority in the Legislative Council constantly thwarted the
resolutions of the vast majority of the popular Assembly. In Upper Canada,
a British and official class practically held within its control the
government of the province. This class became known as the "family
compact." The public offices and lands were parcelled out among themselves
and their followers.

[Sidenote: Supplies refused]

The immediate points in dispute in 1837 were, that the government retained
in its service certain officials contrary to the wishes of the
Representative Assembly, and insisted on paying their salaries out of
colonial funds. The Representative Assembly declined to furnish the
supplies, complained of arbitrary infringement of the Constitution, and
demanded that the Legislative Council, instead of being nominees of the
Crown, should be made elective.

[Sidenote: Lord Russell's measures]

When intelligence reached England that the Assembly obstinately refused
supplies for the payment of public officials, and of the arrears, which up
to that time amounted to nearly one hundred and fifty thousand pounds
sterling, Lord John Russell carried in the English House of Commons a
series of resolutions rejecting the demand for an elective legislative
council and other changes in the Constitution, and empowering the executive
government to defray the expenses of the public service out of the
territorial and casual revenues.

[Sidenote: Fils de la Liberté]

[Sidenote: Mackenzie]

[Sidenote: American filibusters]

[Sidenote: Sinking of "Carolina"]

[Sidenote: Major Head's measures]

On November 6, the so-called "Fils de la Liberté" rose in Montreal under
the leadership of Papineau. In Upper Canada, a similar rising was headed by
William Lyon Mackenzie, a journalist. On December 4, an attempt was made to
surprise Montreal. With the help of the militia the insurgents were
defeated, on December 4, at St. Eustace. The leaders of the insurrection at
Toronto fled to the United States and persuaded Van Rensselaer with other
citizens of Buffalo to join them. On December 12, they seized Navy Island
in Niagara River, established a provisional government, and issued paper
money. Loyalists of Canada attempted in vain to capture the place. On
December 29, they attacked the steamer "Carolina" and sent her over the
Falls, resulting in the loss of several lives. This incident caused great
excitement, both in England and this country. President Van Buren issued a
proclamation of neutrality forbidding all interference in Canada, and sent
General Wool with a military force to compel obedience to the proclamation.
In Upper Canada, Major Head--afterward Sir Francis Head--undertook to
suppress the rebellion by throwing the Canadians on their honor. Trusting
to the good will of the people, he sent all the regular soldiers out of the
province to the assistance of Governor Gosford in Lower Canada. The plan
worked well. The Canadians, proud of the confidence reposed in them,
enrolled themselves in the militia to the number of ten or twelve thousand,
and when Mackenzie and the rebels assembled to show fight, they were routed
at the first encounter, and the rebellion in Upper Canada was at once
suppressed. But Major Head's policy was not approved by the British
Government, and Head had to make way for Lord Durham, the newly appointed
Governor of Canada.




1838


[Sidenote: Lord Durham in Canada]

[Sidenote: Napierville]

[Sidenote: Prescott]

[Sidenote: Durham repudiated]

[Sidenote: Canadian interregnum]

Early in the year the Canadian insurgents and their sympathizers at Navy
Island were compelled to surrender. United States troops were posted at the
frontier. In the meanwhile Lord Durham had taken charge in Canada with
dictatorial powers. He undertook to remodel the Constitution of Canada. His
first act was a proclamation of amnesty from the Queen. The beneficent
effect of this was spoiled by a clause of exceptions providing for the
perpetual banishment of a number of men implicated in the recent rising. On
April 2, Lunt and Matthews, two conspicuous rebels, were hanged. Lord
Durham's confession that his measures were illegal evoked a storm in
Parliament. Lord Brougham, who had a personal quarrel with him, led the
opposition there. In Canada, Mackenzie promptly proclaimed a republic. On
June 5, a fight between the rebels and British troops near Toronto quelled
the rebellion for a short time. Within a few months it broke out again at
Beauharnais. A pitched battle was fought at Napierville early in November.
After their defeat there, the rebels made another stand at Prescott on
November 17, but suffered so crushing a defeat that the insurrection was
believed to have been ended. In the meanwhile, Lord Brougham had succeeded
in passing a bill through the House disapproving Lord Durham's measures.
Durham, he said, had been authorized to make a general law, but not to hang
men without the form of law. To save his own Administration Lord Melbourne
on the next day announced that the Cabinet had decided to disallow Durham's
expatriation ordinances. Durham was called upon to proclaim to the
rebellious colonists that the ordinance issued by him had been condemned by
his own government. Venting his mortification in a last indignant
proclamation, he quitted Canada without waiting for his recall. By the
express orders of the government the honors usually paid to a
Governor-General were withheld from him. Lord Durham returned to England a
broken-hearted and dying man. He was succeeded by Sir John Colbourne. His
first measure was to offer a reward of £1,000 for the apprehension of
Papineau. The storm of indignation that followed was so violent that
Colbourne incontinently threw up his post, and hastened back to England.
The Hudson's Bay Fur Company improved the interval of the interregnum to
monopolize the functions of government in the vast regions of the extreme
north of America. An expedition was sent out to explore the northernmost
coast. The United States also fitted out an Antarctic exploring expedition,
consisting of six vessels, under the command of Lieutenant Wilkes.

[Sidenote: Renewed agitation in England]

[Sidenote: People's Charter]

In the British Parliament, the question of the adoption of the ballot was
raised by Duncombe, but Lord John Russell spoke against it, stating that
the majority of the people were against fresh changes, or any renewal of
the agitating circumstances which preceded the Reform Bill. But twenty
members voted with Duncombe, of whom six were asked to meet six members of
the Workingmen's Association to discuss a programme of action. At that
meeting a document in the shape of a Parliamentary petition was prepared
containing "six points," which were: Universal suffrage, or the right of
voting by every male of twenty-one years of age; vote by ballot; annual
Parliaments; abolition of the property qualification for members of
Parliament; members of Parliament to be paid for their services; equal
electoral districts. At the conclusion of the meeting, Daniel O'Connell
rose and handed the petition to the secretary of the Workingmen's
Association, saying, "There, Lovett, is your Charter. Agitate for it and
never be content with anything else."

[Sidenote: Feargus O'Connor]

[Sidenote: Chartist leaders]

The "People's Charter" was submitted to a large public meeting and
enthusiastically approved, and the leaders of the movement began to
organize. They soon fell into two factions; those who were in favor of
force and those in favor of agitation only. The leader of both parties was
Feargus O'Connor, an Irish barrister, and once a follower of O'Connell,
with whom he subsequently quarrelled. Associated with him as leaders of the
movement at various periods were Lovett, Heatherington, Henry Vincent,
Ernest Jones, and Thomas Cooper "the poet of Chartism."

  [Illustration: QUEEN VICTORIA TAKING THE OATH
    Painted by Sir George Hayter]

[Sidenote: French expedition to Mexico]

[Sidenote: Coast towns bombarded]

In France, the sympathies of the people with the cause of the French
Canadians were kept under firm control by the government of Louis
Philippe. A dissolution of the Chambers, which modified the condition of
the Assembly, served to strengthen the Ministry of Molé. To vent the
feelings excited in behalf of the Frenchmen of Canada, the French
Government picked a quarrel with the Republic of Mexico. Reparation was
demanded late in March for injuries inflicted on French residents during
the internal dissensions of Mexico. The demand was refused. A French
squadron of warships, under Admiral Baudin and Prince de Joinville, was
sent out to blockade the coast of Mexico. On November 27, San Juan de Ulloa
was bombarded. Vera Cruz likewise suffered bombardment. The Argentine
Republic became involved and declared war on France. French cruisers
blockaded Buenos Ayres.

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon returns]

[Sidenote: Alexandre Dumas]

On the occasion of his mother's death, Prince Louis Napoleon returned to
Europe. His book, "Idées Napoléoniennes," which was widely read throughout
France, at once drew attention upon him. At the request of the French
Government he was expelled from Switzerland. Louis Philippe's friend,
Alexandre Dumas, at this time achieved a popular success with his book "Le
Capitaine Paul." Dumas's romantic plays and several of his latest comedies,
written in the style of Scribe, were at the height of their vogue.

[Sidenote: Daubigny]

In the French salon of this year, François Daubigny, the great pupil of
Delaroche, first exhibited his early masterpieces, "Banks of the River
Oulins" and "The Seine at Charenton." Both paintings were purchased by the
French Government.

[Sidenote: Poe]

[Sidenote: Hawthorne]

[Sidenote: Emerson]

[Sidenote: Wendell Phillips]

In America, a new writer had arisen in Edgar Allan Poe, who disputed the
field with Longfellow and Whittier. Poe's "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym,"
a story of marine adventures, which had begun in Poe's own journal, "The
Messenger," was published in complete form by Harpers. Before this several
of his works, among them that of "Ligeia," had already brought him into
some prominence. Nathaniel Hawthorne during this same year wrote his early
stories, which were afterward collected under the title of "Twice Told
Tales." Ralph Waldo Emerson at Concord, Massachusetts, had begun to deliver
those penetrating lectures which, rewritten in the form of essays, later
established his rank as the foremost philosophic writer in America. Wendell
Phillips made his appearance as a lecturer against slavery in Boston.
Shortly before this a pro-slavery mob at Alton, Illinois, murdered the Rev.
E.P. Lovejoy and destroyed the press and building of his newspaper,
published in the interests of abolition. Abraham Lincoln, who had been
re-elected to the Legislature of Illinois, voiced a strong protest against
this and other pro-slavery tendencies in Illinois.

[Sidenote: Removal of Cherokees]

Other acts of persecution during this year brought lasting disgrace upon
America. In direct violation of the Federal treaties with the Indians the
State troops of Georgia forcibly removed 16,000 Cherokees from their lands
in that State. Nothing was done to alleviate the sufferings of the
Cherokees, who were driven from their settlements in midwinter. The
resulting death rate was fearful. More than 4,500 Indians, or one-fourth
of the whole number, perished before they reached their destination in the
distant Indian Territory.

[Sidenote: Persecution of Mormons]

The members of the new sect of Mormon, numbering some 12,000 souls, were
driven from their homes at Nauvoo in western Missouri. They went across the
plains of Iowa, stopping temporarily at Council Bluffs. From there they
passed over the great American prairies, and, crossing the Rocky Mountain
range, settled near the Great Salt Lake of Utah.

[Sidenote: Record transatlantic trip]

Chicago was incorporated with a population of 4,170 residents. Much comment
was excited by a record trip of the steamboat "Great Western," which
steamed from Bristol, England, to New York in fifteen days. Among those who
lived to witness this event was John Stevens, one of the pioneers of modern
steamboat building. Shortly afterward he died in his eighty-ninth year.

[Sidenote: Indian truce broken]

[Sidenote: Betrayal of Osceola]

[Sidenote: Zachary Taylor in Florida]

Within a short time after suing for peace, the Southern Indians broke the
truce and made a determined effort to take Fort Mellon. In this they were
unsuccessful. In March, at Fort Dade, five of the chiefs signed an
agreement, in which they stipulated to cease from war until the government
decided whether they might remain in Florida. Some seven hundred Indians
and negroes were taken by the government before its decision was announced,
and were sent off to Tampa for shipment. In violation of a flag of truce,
Osceola and several of his principal chiefs were seized and sent to Fort
Moultrie as prisoners. Their treatment there was such that Osceola soon
died. In May, Colonel Zachary Taylor succeeded Jesup. The remaining forces
of the Indians were now wary. They scattered in the swamps, eluding
attempts of organized troops to capture them. In December, Colonel Taylor
set out with over a thousand men for their almost inaccessible haunts. On
Christmas Day they found the Seminoles prepared to receive them near
Okeechobee Lake. After a hard fought battle, in which Taylor lost 139 men,
the Indians once more retreated into the swamps of Florida.

[Sidenote: Boers in Natal]

[Sidenote: Pretorius]

In South Africa during this year, the new community of Dutch settlers, who
had evaded English jurisdiction, soon revived their peculiar institutions
in the region that is now Natal--from the Drakensberg to the sea at Durban,
and from the Tugela River to the Umzimbolbu. The fight against the African
savages continued. Early in the spring, a Boer expedition was defeated by
the Zulus, who followed up their advantage by an attack on the nearest Boer
laager. Seventy Boers, with their Kaffir servants, were massacred. A large
Boer settlement, numbering some 800 persons, was saved from extermination
only by a timely relief expedition under Pretorius, in December. On the
other side troubles arose between the Boers and the Bechuanas in
consequence of King Moroka's prohibition of the importation of spirituous
liquors into Bechuanaland. The growth of a new Dutch State to the north of
Cape Colony caused uneasiness among the British authorities at Cape Town. A
movement was started to extend British rule to Natal, and to secure the
important seaport of Durban.




1839


[Sidenote: French hold on Mexico]

[Sidenote: Ancona evacuated]

[Sidenote: Status of Belgium]

[Sidenote: Fall of Molé's Ministry]

[Sidenote: French provincial government]

[Sidenote: Parisian revolt suppressed]

The French expedition against Mexico was brought to a successful close
after the capture of the fort of San Juan d'Ulloa and the town of Vera
Cruz. General Santa Anna's attempt to relieve Vera Cruz resulted only in
another upheaval of the government at the capital. President Bustamente had
to call in a new Ministry, with which, through the mediation of England,
negotiations for peace were undertaken. On March 9, the terms of peace were
concluded. Mexico had to pay an indemnity of $600,000. Further use for the
French squadron in American waters was found in the complicated affairs of
the small South American republics at the mouth of the Plata and the
alleged injuries suffered by Frenchmen from the disordered state of affairs
in Hayti. On the other hand, France withdrew its troops from the citadel of
Ancona in the Papal dominions, simultaneously with the withdrawal of the
Austrian forces of occupation from the Papal States. The long-pending
difficulties between Belgium and Holland were brought to a settlement at
last by the King of Holland's acceptance of the conditions of separation
fixed by the international conference. The abandonment of Casimir Périer's
vigorous foreign policy in Europe was viewed with regret by the Liberal
party in France. Guizot combined with Thiers and Odilon Barrot against the
Ministry, and thus accomplished its downfall, though they retained Marshal
Soult, the most popular member of Molé's Cabinet. "I must have that gallant
sword," remarked Louis Philippe. Their efforts to conduct the government
proved a failure. The King established a provisional government in their
place, which prolonged the crisis. On May 12, an insurrection broke out in
the most populous quarters of Paris. Under the leadership of Barbes,
Bernard and others, attacks were made on the Hôtel de Ville, the Palace of
Justice and the Préfecture of Police. The revolt had to be put down by
merciless measures. Marshal Soult was placed at the head of the government
to the exclusion of Guizot and Odilon Barrot, while Thiers was made
president of the Chambers. Guizot employed his leisure time to write his
famous "Life of Washington." About the same time Daguerre published his new
invention of making the sun prints which were called daguerreotypes after
him. A life pension of 6,000 francs was awarded to him by the government of
Louis Philippe. The interest in the family of Bonaparte and its dreaded
pretensions in France was revived by the death of Letizia Buonaparte, the
mother of Napoleon, in her eighty-ninth year. The first problem confronting
the new administration of France was the fresh trouble that had broken out
in the Orient.

[Sidenote: Turkish-Egyptian War]

[Sidenote: Battle of Nissiv]

[Sidenote: Abdul Medjid, Sultan]

The long-brewing war between Sultan Mahmoud of Turkey and his vassal,
Mehemet Ali of Egypt, broke out in May. In the face of new assurances of
peace, the Sultan ordered his commander-in-chief of the Euphrates to
commence hostilities. The Turkish troops crossed the Euphrates on May 23.
In spite of the good counsels of Moltke and other European officers at the
Turkish headquarters, the Turks were outmanoeuvred by the Egyptian forces
under Ibrahim. June 24, Ibrahim Pasha inflicted a crushing defeat on the
Turkish army at Nissiv. All the artillery and stores fell into his hands.
The Turkish army dispersed in another rout. Mahmoud II. did not live to
hear of the disaster. One week after the battle of Nissiv, before news from
the front had reached him, he died. The throne was left to his son, Abdul
Medjid, a youth of sixteen.

[Sidenote: Turkish fleet betrayed]

[Sidenote: Anglo-French intervention]

[Sidenote: French diplomacy offset]

Scarcely had the new Sultan been proclaimed when the Turkish admiral,
Achmet Fevzi, who had been sent out to attack the coast of Syria, sailed
into Alexandria and delivered his fleet over to Mehemet Ali. Turkey, now
practically rulerless, was left without defence, on land and on water.
Mehemet Ali not only declared Egypt independent of the Porte, but,
encouraged by France, prepared to move on Constantinople. In this extremity
the foreign Ambassadors at Constantinople addressed a collective note to
the Divan, announcing European intervention. Shortly afterward a squadron
of British and French warships sailed into the Dardanelles for the
ostensible purpose of protecting Constantinople against Mehemet Ali, in
reality to prevent Russia from profiting by the terms of its treaty of
Unkiar Skelessi. In vain did Russia propose to join the coalition. The
recent acquisition of Aden gave England the upper hand. Russian diplomacy
accordingly directed itself toward effecting a breach between the allies. A
good opening was afforded by the French intrigues at Cairo, which fell in
with the ambitions of Mehemet Ali. As a result, France was gradually
crowded out of the European coalition during the course of 1839.

[Sidenote: Decamps]

At the French Salon of this year Decamps exhibited his celebrated
"Punishment of the Hooks," "Executioners at the Door of a Prison," and
"Children Playing with Turtles." Decamps with Delacroix, the leader of the
French school of romanticism, was praised at this time for the exceeding
charm of his colors.

[Sidenote: Rise of English Conservatives]

England during this period passed through a Cabinet crisis. The popularity
of Melbourne's Ministry was waning. Lord Melbourne was a typical Whig,
opposed to the policy of the Tories, or, as they were beginning to be
called at that time, the Conservatives. The alteration in title is
attributed to John Wilson Croker, who, in the "Quarterly Review," referred
to "what is called the Tory, but which might with more propriety be called
the Conservative party." This new name was indorsed by Lord John Russell,
who said, "If that is the name that pleases them, if they say that the old
distinction of Whig and Tory should no longer be kept up, I am ready, in
opposition to their name of Conservative, to take the name of Reformer,
and to stand by that opposition." Sir Robert Peel defined Conservatism when
he said, "My object for some years past has been to lay the foundation of a
great party, which, existing in the House of Commons, and deriving its
strength from the popular will, should diminish the risk and deaden the
shock of collisions between the two branches of the legislature."

[Sidenote: Fall of Melbourne Ministry]

[Sidenote: Bedchamber question]

In May, the government's proposition to suspend the Constitution of Jamaica
brought about the fall of the Ministry. The measure was sustained by a
majority of only five. The Queen sent for Sir Robert Peel. Her wish to
retain as ladies of her household the wife and sister of two members of the
last Cabinet brought forth a respectful remonstrance from Peel. The Queen
replied in this wise: "The Queen having considered the proposal made to her
yesterday by Sir Robert Peel, to remove the Ladies of her Bedchamber,
cannot consent to a course which she considers to be contrary to usage, and
is repugnant to her feelings."

[Sidenote: Queen Victoria yields]

This ended Peel's attempt to form a Ministry and Melbourne was recalled.
The question created much discussion at the time. Lord Brougham maintained
that Lord Melbourne "had sacrificed liberal principles and the interests of
the country to the private feelings of the sovereign." "I thought," he
said, "that we belonged to a country in which the government by the Crown
and the wisdom of Parliament was everything, and the personal feelings of
the sovereign were absolutely not to be named at the same time." In the
end the Queen yielded her point. A statement was put forth that "the Queen
would listen to any representation from the incoming Prime Minister as to
the composition of her household, and would arrange for the retirement, of
their own accord, of any ladies who were so closely related to the leaders
of Opposition as to render their presence inconvenient."

[Sidenote: Chartist agitation]

On behalf of the Chartists large public meetings were organized in London
and in all parts of England at which violent speeches were made. On the 1st
of April, at a public meeting in Edinburgh to support the Ministry, the
Chartists took possession of the platform, ejected the Lord Provost, and
passed their own resolutions. On the same day at Devizes, in Wiltshire,
Vincent entered the town at the head of about a thousand men, carrying
sticks, and attempted to address them in the market-place. In May, the
Chartist National Convention removed from London to Birmingham. There they
were met by a mob of five thousand persons and conducted through the
principal streets to the meeting-place.

[Sidenote: Chinese oppose opium trade]

[Sidenote: English opium destroyed]

[Sidenote: British resentment]

[Sidenote: Chinese orders defied]

[Sidenote: Opening of hostilities]

[Sidenote: Sea fight off Chuenpee]

[Sidenote: British squadron sails for China]

Meanwhile, Great Britain was embroiled in another Oriental war. The
despatch of Admiral Maitland and Captain Elliot to China to deal with the
difficulties growing out of the English opium trade there only served to
make the situation more acute. In January, Emperor Taouk-Wang ordered Lin
Tsiaseu, Viceroy of Houk Wang, to proceed to Canton to put a definite stop
to the opium traffic. The peremptory instructions given to Commissioner
Lin were "to cut off the fountain of evil, and if necessary to sink the
British ships and to break their caldrons, since the hourly thought on the
Emperor's part was to do away with opium forever." Within a week of Lin's
arrival at Canton he issued an edict wherein he stigmatized the foreigners
as a heartless people who thought only of trade and of making their way by
stealth into the Flowery Land, whereas the laws of England, he asserted,
prohibited the smoking of opium in their own country. A demand was made to
surrender to him all stores of opium within three days. To enforce this
demand, Chinese troops were concentrated around the European settlement.
Eventually more than 20,000 chests of opium were seized and dumped into the
sea. After this triumph, Lin wrote a letter to Queen Victoria calling upon
her government to interdict the importation of opium. At the same time a
memorial was sent to England by the British merchants of Canton begging the
government to protect them against "a capricious and corrupt government"
and demanding compensation for the opium confiscated by the Chinese. On the
part of the British Government no answer was vouchsafed to the demands of
the viceroy. In China, matters took their course. Captain Elliot at Canton,
on May 22, issued a notice in which he protested against the action of the
Chinese Government "as utterly unjust per se," and advised all British
merchants to withdraw to Hong Kong. The merchants acted on the suggestion,
and the English factory at Canton, which had existed for nearly 200 years,
was abandoned. The British sailors in Chinese waters threw off all
restraint. Frequent collisions occurred between them and the natives. In
one of them a Chinaman was killed. The Chinese viceroy denounced this act
as "going to the extreme of disobedience to the laws" and demanded the
surrender of the British sailor who perpetrated the murder. This demand was
flatly refused. The Chinese thereupon refused to furnish further supplies
to the ships and prohibited all British sailors from coming ashore on
Chinese soil. The official notice said: "If any of the foreigners be found
coming on shore to cause trouble, all and every one of the people are
permitted to withstand and drive them back, or to make prisoners of them."
The English naval officers retaliated by sending out their men to seize by
force whatever they needed. A boat's crew of the British ship "Black Jack"
was massacred. Thus hostilities began. Two British men-of-war exchanged
shots with the forts in the Bogue. On November 3, the two frigates "Volage"
and "Hyacinth" were attacked by twenty-nine junks-of-war off Chuenpee. A
regular engagement was fought and four of the junks were sunk. On the news
of the fight at Chuenpee, Emperor Taouk-Wang promoted the Chinese admiral.
On December 6, an imperial edict prohibiting all trade with Great Britain
was issued. Already a strong British squadron was on its way to China.

[Sidenote: War with Afghans]

[Sidenote: Fall of Kandahar]

[Sidenote: British enter Kabul]

[Sidenote: Failure of Russian counter move]

Simultaneously with these troubles the British had become embroiled in war
with the Afghans. The ostensible purpose was to depose Dost Mohammed Khan
from his usurpation of the throne of Afghanistan. In reality this chieftain
had aroused the ire of England by entering into negotiations with Russia,
after Lord Auckland had declined to call upon Runjit Singh to restore
Peshawar to Afghanistan. When it was learned that a Russian mission had
been received at Kabul, the British Government resolved to dethrone Dost
Mohammed Khan and to restore Shah Shuja to the throne of Kabul. War was
declared at Simla. Columns were sent out from Bombay and Bengal and were
united at Quetta under the command of Sir John Keene. Kandahar was captured
in April. In July, Ghasni was taken by storm. It was on this occasion that
Sir Henry Durand, then a young subaltern, distinguished himself by blowing
up the Ghasni gate. In August, the British entered Kabul. Dost Mohammed
Khan fled over the Oxus into Bokhara. Shah Shuja was restored as ruler of
Afghanistan under the tutelage of a British resident minister. In response
to Dost Mohammed's appeals, the Russian Government sent out an expedition
toward Khiva, in November; but the winter weather in the mountains was so
severe that the expedition had to return.

[Sidenote: British colonial problems]

Other problems engaged the attention of the British Colonial Office. A
rebellion in Borneo had to be suppressed by force of arms. In Canada, the
new Governor-General, Charles Pollot Thompson, later Lord Sydenham, found
it difficult to carry out Durham's scheme of union. In November, martial
law had to be declared again at Montreal. The reported discovery of gold
by Count Strzelescki in New South Wales, and the discovery of copper in
South Australia, drew great numbers of emigrants thither. New Zealand was
incorporated in New South Wales. The wild financial speculations engendered
by these changes plunged almost all of Australia into bankruptcy. In Cape
Colony the public school system was introduced by Sir W. Herschel.

[Sidenote: Industrial development]

[Sidenote: Charles Darwin]

In England, it was a period of material advances in civilization. Postal
reforms were introduced by Sir Roland Hill. In July, a bill for penny
postage was introduced in Parliament, resulting in a new postage law
providing a uniform rate of fourpence per letter. New speed records were
made on land and on water. While the steam packet "Britannia" crossed from
Halifax to Liverpool in ten days, the locomotive "North Star" accomplished
a run of thirty-seven miles in one hour. Wheatstone perfected his invention
of a telegraph clock. A patent was obtained for the process of obtaining
water gas. Charles Darwin, having returned from his scientific travels on
H.M.S. "Beagle," published his "Journal of Researches."

[Sidenote: Death of Schelling]

[Sidenote: Agassiz]

A loss to German philosophic literature was the death of Joseph Schelling,
whose theories formed the main inspiration of the romantic poet Novalis.
Agassiz, the naturalist, published his original researches on fresh-water
fishes.

[Sidenote: Schwann's cell theory]

[Sidenote: Liebig's theory of fermentation]

It was then that Dr. Theodore Schwann, stimulated in his microscopic
researches by the previous discoveries of Robert Brown, Johannes Müller
and Schleiden, propounded the famous cell theory in his work, "Microscopic
Researches Concerning the Unity in the Structure and Growth of Animals and
Plants." Schwann's book became a scientific classic almost from the moment
of its publication. It was Schwann, too, who, simultaneously with Cagniard
la Tour, discovered the active principle of gastric juice to be the
substance which he named pepsin. The cell theory was for some time combated
by the most eminent German men of science. Thus Liebig, in apparent
agreement with Helmholtz, took a firm stand against the new doctrine with
his famous "theory of fermentation" promulgated this same year.

[Sidenote: Death of William Smith]

[Sidenote: The new geology]

In England, William Smith, "the father of English geology," died. Born in
1769, Smith, like many another English scientist, was self-taught and
perhaps all the more independent for that. He discovered that the fossils
in rocks, instead of being scattered haphazard, are arranged in regular
systems, so that any given stratum of rock is labelled by its fossil
population; that the order of succession of such groups of fossils is
always the same in any vertical series of strata in which they occur, and
that a fossil, having once disappeared, never reappears in a later stratum.
The facts which he unearthed were as iconoclastic in their field as the
discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo.

[Sidenote: Spanish civil war]

[Sidenote: Carlist reverses]

[Sidenote: Flight of Don Carlos]

[Sidenote: Decline of Spain]

In Spain, a signal defeat of the Carlists at Pennecerrada during the
previous year had caused a decisive turn in the civil war. Don Carlos'
attempted march on Madrid had to be abandoned, and was followed by the
retreat of his forces to the Ebro. General Espartero forced back the
Carlist forces step by step, and carried the fight into the Basque
provinces. There the struggle degenerated into a war of extermination. The
Carlist leaders turned against one another. The priests excommunicated the
generals, and the generals in turn shot the priests. At last, by the middle
of September, so many of the insurgents had surrendered to Espartero that
Don Carlos found himself almost without followers. He gave up the struggle
and fled into France. This ended the civil war. It had lasted six weary
years, and had proved almost as disastrous for Spain as the great
Peninsular War. Robbed of her former colonial resources, excepting only
those from Cuba and the Philippines, Spain's finances were all but ruined.
Of industrial progress there was next to none. The country relapsed into
semi-barbarism.

[Sidenote: American Whig Convention]

[Sidenote: Henry Clay's candidacy.]

[Sidenote: Financial failures]

[Sidenote: Longfellow's poems]

In the United States, prominent Northern abolitionists met at Warsaw, New
York, and resolved to form an independent political party. A Whig
Convention, the first of such gatherings, was held at Harrisburg, fifteen
months before the next Presidential election. Harrison was nominated for
President and John Tyler for Vice-President. In the West, Henry Clay,
popularly known as "Harry of the West," was the ideal of a strong minority.
His repeated failures to attain the Presidency led to the remark: "He is
too good a man to be President." The first session of the Twenty-sixth
Congress opened in December. An organization of the House was at last
effected by John Quincy Adams, who put a question to vote which the
Speaker had refused to present. The Representatives indulged for the first
time in the practice of "pairing off." Adams opposed this, declaring that
it was a violation of the Constitution, of an express rule of the House
which the Representatives owed to their constituents. Another event of the
year in America was the failure of the United States Bank at Philadelphia,
in consequence of speculations in cotton, as the result of which the
government lost $2,000,000 of its deposits. Other bank failures followed.
Mississippi repudiated $5,000,000 of its State bonds. The first power loom
for making carpets was set up at Lowell, Massachusetts. Charles Goodyear
obtained his first patent for making vulcanized rubber. The express
business was organized by Harndon, who sent his first pack from New York to
Boston by the public messenger. Longfellow published his romance
"Hyperion," and "Voices of the Night," a collection of verses embracing
some of his most widely known poems. In the same year appeared Willis's
"Letters from Under a Bridge" and Cooper's "History of the Navy."

Toward the close of the year, Queen Victoria held a Privy Council at
Buckingham Palace, at which she announced her intention to marry her
cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

[Sidenote: Queen Victoria's betrothal]

Greville wrote in his diary that "about eighty Privy Councillors were
present, the folding-doors were thrown open, and the Queen came in, attired
in a plain morning gown, but wearing a necklace containing Prince Albert's
portrait. She read the declaration in a clear, sonorous, sweet tone of
voice, but her hand trembled so excessively that I wonder she was able to
read the paper which she held."

All this time the agitation for the People's Charter in England went on
unabated. In the autumn, St. Paul's Cathedral in London was temporarily
taken possession of by a large body of Chartists. Churches were likewise
entered in Manchester.

[Sidenote: Popular riots in England]

[Sidenote: The Charter propaganda]

At Newport, in Monmouthshire, an organized attempt was made, under the
leadership of John Frost and Zephaniah Williams, to rescue Henry Vincent
from prison. Armed with guns, crowbars and pick-axes the mob poured into
the town twenty thousand strong. They were met by a small body of soldiery,
and after a sharp conflict were scattered with a loss of ten killed and
fifty wounded. The leaders were arrested and condemned in court. A vast
periodical literature kept alive the agitation. Among the new Chartist
newspapers were the "Northern Star," the property and the organ of Feargus
O'Connor; the London "Despatch"; the Edinburgh "New Scotsman"; the
Newcastle "Northern Liberator"; the Birmingham "Journal," and many others.




1840


[Sidenote: England declares war on China]

The Chinese edict prohibiting all trade and intercourse with England was
put in force on January 5. The English missionaries in China fled to Hong
Kong, which port was put in readiness for defence against the Chinese.
Great Britain declared war, and sent out an expedition consisting of 4,000
troops on board twenty-five transports, with a convoy of fifteen
men-of-war.

[Sidenote: End of Dingaan]

In South Africa, during January, the Boers inflicted a crushing defeat on
the Zulus under Dingaan. The Zulu King himself was killed. His brother,
Upanda, succeeded him as ruler.

[Sidenote: Union of Upper and Lower Canada]

[Sidenote: Canadian boundary commission]

On the other side of the globe, the legislative union of Upper and Lower
Canada was at last effected, after a separation of forty-nine years. Each
had equal representation in the common legislature, with practical
concession on the part of the mother country of responsible government.
Kingston was selected as the new seat of government, to be shifted
presently to Montreal. To settle the long pending boundary dispute between
Canada and the United States, a commission was appointed, consisting of
Lord Ashburton for England and Daniel Webster for America. Between the line
claimed by Great Britain and that demanded by the United States lay 12,000
square miles of territory. The commission sat all the year.

[Sidenote: American Presidential election]

[Sidenote: Morse]

[Sidenote: Draper]

[Sidenote: Florence]

[Sidenote: Fanny Ellsler]

The American Senate early in the year passed the Sub-Treasury bill. By this
measure it was required that the national funds should be kept at
Washington, and in federal sub-treasuries in some of the large cities,
subject to the orders of the Washington office. The first National
Convention against anti-slavery met at Albany. James G. Birney, a
Kentuckian, was nominated for President. The Whigs were incensed at the
nomination and Birney withdrew. The Democratic National Convention at
Baltimore unanimously renominated Van Buren. The political campaign that
followed began a new era in American elections. The facilities of transit
effected by the railroads now first rendered possible immense gatherings at
central points. In May, 20,000 political followers gathered at Baltimore in
Harrison's interest. The contest had just opened, when a leading Democratic
paper stated "if some one would present Harrison with a barrel of cider he
would sit down on a log content and happy the rest of his days." The log
cabin and hard cider jug forthwith became the emblems of the Whigs. Log
cabin songs were heard, with shouts for "Tippecanoe, and Tyler too." All
the Middle States gave their majorities to Harrison. Harrison and Tyler
were elected by a vote of 1,275,017 to 1,128,702 for Van Buren. It was a
political revolution, breaking the Democratic success of forty years. It
was during this year that Samuel F.B. Morse obtained his first American
patent on the telegraph. William Draper of New York turned out the most
successful daguerreotype portraits yet obtained. Florence, the actor, made
his first appearance at the National Theatre in Philadelphia, while Fanny
Ellsler appeared at the Park Theatre in New York City. Ralph Waldo Emerson
published the "Dial." Other notable publications in American letters were
Poe's "Tales of the Arabesque and Grotesque," Willis's "Loiterings of
Travel," Cooper's "Pathfinder," and Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast."

[Sidenote: New Mexico]

[Sidenote: Yucatan]

[Sidenote: Revolution in Mexico]

[Sidenote: Dom Pedro II. of Brazil]

[Sidenote: General Lavalle shot]

In Central and South America, it was likewise a year of political
upheavals. The Yankee settlers of Texas maintained their independence
against Mexico. Their movement was joined by the Northern States along the
Rio Grande. The independent State of New Mexico was formed. Yucatan
likewise became an independent government. On July 25, a revolution broke
out in the City of Mexico. General Urrea captured in person President
Bustamente. After two days Bustamente was released on a pledge of general
amnesty and administrative reforms. Santander, the first President of
Colombia, died in May. The election of Marquez to the Presidency was
followed by civil war. The province of Cartagena seceded from Colombia. The
union of Central American States was dissolved, and Costa Rica became an
independent republic. In Brazil, another political overturn resulted in
material changes in the Constitution. In July, the Brazilian Legislature
declared Dom Pedro II., then still under age, Emperor of Brazil. In the
Argentine Republic, General Lavalle, who had taken the field against his
opponents, was utterly defeated and shot. A new treaty was concluded
between Argentina and Montevideo.

[Sidenote: Hawaiian Islands recognized]

In the distant South Seas, the Hawaiian Islands were recognized as an
independent kingdom by the Powers on the condition that free access be
given to white missionaries and the teachings of Christianity.

[Sidenote: Oriental problems]

[Sidenote: Egypt's status defined]

In regard to the affairs of the Orient, the Powers found agreement more
difficult. France gave continued support to the pretensions of Mehemet Ali
of Egypt against Turkey. The French scheme to anticipate Russia's designs
on Constantinople by a dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the
establishment of Mehemet Ali at Constantinople found little favor with the
Powers. The Russian statesmen understood the true weakness of Turkey, and
were willing to bide their time. Metternich and Lord Palmerston clung to
the belief that the Ottoman Empire could still be reconstructed. Thus Lord
Palmerston said at this time: "All that we hear about the decay of the
Turkish Empire, and its being a dead body, or a sapless trunk, and so
forth, is pure and unadulterated nonsense." Metternich affected to look
upon Mehemet Ali as a mere rebel. At last, on July 15, the negotiators of
Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia, without waiting for France,
concluded a treaty at London. Egypt was offered to Mehemet Ali in
perpetuity with southern Syria for his lifetime. If this offer was not
accepted within ten days, Egypt alone was to be ceded; if, after twenty
days, this alternative were not accepted, joint action was to be taken
against Mehemet Ali.

[Sidenote: France slighted]

[Sidenote: French pretensions on the Rhine]

[Sidenote: Becker's Rhine song]

[Sidenote: Musset's defiance]

The exclusion of France from the concert of Europe aroused a storm of anger
at Paris. Guizot, the French Ambassador at London, expostulated with Lord
Palmerston. Thiers, then at the head of affairs in France, issued orders
for an increase of the strength of army and navy. The long-delayed
fortifications at Paris were begun. Military spirit was so awakened in
France that the familiar cry was raised to avenge Waterloo and recover the
Rhine. The Germans fiercely resented this threat of invasion, prompted
largely by French exasperation over the turn which Egyptian affairs had
taken. Even the Rhenish provinces, which owed so much to France, shared in
this national feeling. It was at this time that Becker, himself a man from
the Rhine, wrote the lines which in later years became one of Germany's
most famous war songs:

  "Sie sollen ihn nicht haben
  Den freien deutschen Rhein."

Alfred de Musset answered this with his defiant verses:

  "Nous avons eu votre Rhin Allemand,"

[Sidenote: Napoleonic memories]

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon's second fiasco]

Under the stress of this new military ardor in France, agitation was
revived for the return of Napoleon Bonaparte's remains from St. Helena to
France. The consent of the British Government having been obtained, a
decree to this effect was passed by the French Chambers. Other events
helped to fan to fresh life the smouldering flames of Napoleonic
imperialism. Thus the death of Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's eldest
brother, and of Marshal MacDonald, hero of Wagram, recalled a host of
Napoleonic memories. On August 6, Prince Louis Napoleon deemed the time
ripe for another Napoleonic rising. Crossing over from England with General
Moltenon and fifty followers he attempted to incite an insurrection at
Vimereux near Boulogne. He hoped to re-enact the events after Elba. Once
more his plans ended in a fiasco. "Bonaparte or not, I see in you only a
conspirator," exclaimed Colonel Puygelier. The conspirators fled back to
their boat and capsized. Louis Napoleon was taken and sentenced to life
imprisonment within the fortress of Ham. As a sop to popular feeling, King
Louis Philippe permitted the bronze statue of the Great Napoleon to be
replaced on the column of the Grande Armée in Paris.

  [Illustration: WASHINGTON IRVING AND HIS FRIENDS
    Painted by Daniel Huntington

   1 Henry T Tackerman
   2 Oliver Wendell Holmes
   3 William Gilmore Simms
   4 Fitz Greene Halleck
   5 Nathaniel Hawthorne
   6 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
   7 Nathaniel Parker Willis
   8 William H Prescott
   9 Washington Irving
  10 James K Paulding
  11 Ralph Waldo Emerson
  12 William Cullen Bryant
  13 John P Kennedy
  14 J Fenimore Cooper
  15 George Bancroft]

[Sidenote: Prince Consort Albert]

[Sidenote: First attempt to assassinate Victoria]

In England, great popular rejoicings had been occasioned by the marriage of
Queen Victoria to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. A bill was passed
appointing the Prince Consort regent of England in case of the Queen's
death. The royal couple were well matched. The credit of having brought
about this marriage was chiefly due to Lord Melbourne. The tactful conduct
of Prince Albert after the marriage fully justified his choice. Yet Prince
Albert was never popular in England. Parliament cut down his proposed
income from the Crown by nearly one half. The lower classes were prejudiced
against him as a foreigner, while the nobility and army turned against him
when they found that he preferred the society of men eminent for their
intellectual attainments to that of dukes and marquises. On June 10, an
insane pot-boy named Oxford attempted to assassinate the Queen and the
Prince Consort with a pistol. The would-be assassin was confined in an
asylum. On November 21, Queen Victoria gave birth to her eldest child,
Augusta, who subsequently became Empress of Germany.

[Sidenote: First Charter petition]

[Sidenote: Jack Frost's revolt]

Other English events of domestic importance were the passage of the
vaccination act, the introduction of screw propellers in the British navy,
and the State trial of the three leaders of the Chartist movement of the
previous year. A monster petition subscribed by 1,280,000 signatures on a
great cylinder was rolled into Parliament. In it were embodied new demands
for a bill of rights, or the "People's Charter," comprising universal
suffrage, including that of woman, secret ballots, payment of Parliamentary
representatives, and the like. The denial of this petition provoked a
popular uprising under the leadership of Jack Frost at Newport, which had
to be suppressed by the military. After a sensational trial, the leaders
were condemned to deportation.

[Sidenote: Death of Beau Brummel]

Echoes of the English Regency were re-awakened by the death of "Beau"
Brummel, a dandy after the manner of the French exquisites. It was a boast
of this leader of fashion that he spoiled twenty-five cravats before one
was tied to his liking. The Prince Regent in his dress imitated Brummel.
The offended beau retaliated one day, when some of his friends saluted the
Prince on Rotten Row, by asking, "Who is your fat friend?" Leigh Hunt
improved upon this in his "Examiner" by describing the Prince as "a
corpulent Adonis of fifty." For this Hunt was sentenced to imprisonment for
two years and fined £500. After George IV. became king, Brummel fell into
disfavor and had to leave London. Years later, the bankrupt beau, who had
been cheated out of a snuff-box by Prince George, presented the King with
another in token of submission. In the words of Thackeray, "the King took
the snuff, and ordered his horses, and drove on, and had not the grace to
notice his old companion--favorite, rival, enemy, superior." Poor Beau
Brummel died in extreme poverty. Some of the striking episodes of the
beau's career were dramatized in a play, which has kept alive the memory of
this lesser light of modern English society.

[Sidenote: Death of Paganini]

[Sidenote: Foremost violin virtuoso]

[Sidenote: Genius and charlatan]

[Sidenote: Paganini's compositions]

The career of another striking figure of the Nineteenth Century was ended
by the death of Paganini, the most remarkable of violin virtuosi. The son
of a poor shopkeeper, with little musical knowledge, but of some
proficiency on the mandolin, Paganini received an indifferent early
schooling in music. After the boy had come under the tutelage of Costa, the
orchestral leader of Genoa, his progress on the violin was rapid. At the
age of eight he composed a violin sonata. Soon he surpassed his
instructors. At sixteen he ran away from his father, after a concert at
Lucca, and made a tour of his own through Italy. Already he was addicted to
gambling and other forms of dissipation. At Leghorn he had to sell his
violin to pay a gambling debt. A Frenchman, M. Levron, lent him his own
Guarnero violin. When he heard him play on it he was so charmed that he
made him a present of the instrument. Paganini kept the Guarnero throughout
the rest of his life. It was the turning-point of his career. After two
years of incessant practice, Paganini appeared in public again at Lucca,
where he aroused unbounded enthusiasm by his novel performances on the G
string. For the next twenty years he travelled and played throughout Italy,
vanquishing all rivals. His superstitious countrymen believed him to be in
league with the Evil One, an impression which Paganini loved to confirm by
dark utterances and eccentricities of dress. Not until 1828 did he leave
his own country to gather foreign laurels. His first appearance at Vienna
was an unprecedented triumph. The Emperor appointed him court violinist and
the city of Vienna presented him with a gold medal. From there he made a
triumphal tour through Europe, appearing in Berlin, Paris and London. He
was acknowledged the most wonderful violinist that had ever been heard. He
soon amassed a colossal fortune. Withal, Paganini was almost as much a
charlatan as he was an original genius. He liked to impress his audiences
by fantastic eccentricities and by mere tricks of legerdemain, such as
dropping and catching his instrument, or breaking one string after another
to finish his concert on one alone. Other tricks of virtuosity, such as
tuning up the A string by a semi-tone, left hand pizzicato, or his double
thirds, were executed with such stupendous technique that they held
connoisseurs and amateurs spellbound. His individuality, in fact, was so
abnormal that it rendered him unfit to play with others in quartets or
other chamber music. As a man he had all the worst faults of a genius. The
vast sums of money which he accumulated were gambled away. His whole life
was disgraced by unbridled sensuality coupled with sordid avarice. This
explains in a measure Paganini's inferior rank as a composer. Famous are
his variations on the tune "God Save the King," his "Studies," his twenty
variations on "Il Carnevale di Venezia," and the concert allegro "Perpetual
Motion." The celebrated twenty-four violin capricci, written early in
Paganini's career, have been rendered familiar by their transcriptions to
the pianoforte by Schumann and Liszt. Paganini died from the results of
dissipation. He left his famous Guarnero fiddle to his birthplace, Genoa.

[Sidenote: Frederick William IV. King of Prussia]

In Germany, King Frederick William III. of Prussia died in his sixty-sixth
year. He was succeeded by Frederick William IV. The pending dispute between
the Prussian Government and the Vatican, arising out of the refusal of the
Rhenish priests to sanction marriages between Catholics and Protestants,
found a temporary adjustment by the new king's concessions to the clergy.

[Sidenote: Religious discussions]

[Sidenote: Chinese naval brigade]

[Sidenote: Capture of Chusan]

In England, too, church questions temporarily rose uppermost during debates
in Parliament over the proposed government assistance to schools in which
the Douay Bible, or Roman Catholic version of the Scriptures, was used. On
account of these Parliamentary debates, and the attempted reform of Irish
registration by which more Roman Catholic voters were to be admitted, a
loud anti-Popery cry was raised by the English Tories. Once more the House
of Peers rejected a bill for removing the political disabilities of the
Jews, after its passage through the Commons by a handsome majority of 113
yeas. The attention of Englishmen at this time was diverted to questions of
foreign policy. The British expedition against China had arrived at the
mouth of the Canton River in June. A naval blockade was established in
Chinese waters. The Chinese retaliated by offering a reward for every
Englishman taken, and a prize of $20,000 for the destruction of a British
man-of-war. Sir Gordon Bremer sent an expedition against the Island of
Chusan. The Chinese officials refused to surrender until after the city of
Tinghai had been all but demolished by the English guns. Tinghai was made a
British base of supplies, but proved a very unhealthy place. The Chinese
capture of an English subject, Vincent Stanton, was followed by a British
expedition into the Canton River. The barrier forts, after a heavy
bombardment, were taken by storm. Stanton was released. The British fleet
made demonstrations at Amay, Ningpo, and in the Gulf of Pechili. Emperor
Taouk-Wang sent for troops from the interior. Mandarin Lin, who had entered
into negotiations with the British, was degraded and was succeeded by
Viceroy Keshen of Peiho. Keshen received Lord Palmerston's formal demands
upon China and forwarded them to Pekin. By dilatory tactics he succeeded in
gaining a breathing space.

[Sidenote: Burmese expedition]

[Sidenote: Sikhs restive]

[Sidenote: Fall of Kelat]

[Sidenote: Todd leaves Herat]

In India, the British occupation of Kabul continued. New trouble broke out
in Burma where the British Resident was expelled from Ava. An expedition
had to be sent against Burma. The death of Runjit Singh led to a series of
revolutions which shook the Sikh dominion to its foundations. The
successive deaths of Runjit Singh's son and grandson, who had succeeded him
as Maharajas, led to a general belief that they had been murdered by the
Prime Minister, Dhian Singh. All the chief Sirdars rose against Dhian. The
Sikh army of Khalsak, numbering 7,000 soldiers, became a menace for
Hindustan. In July, the British garrison of Kelat in Beluchistan was
overpowered by the natives. Lord Auckland had to prepare another expedition
to restore English prestige in that quarter. Kelat was retaken by the
British in November. New complications arose at Herat. This had long been
the bone of contention between Great Britain and Russia in Central Asia.
British ascendency over Herat had been gained by large financial subsidies,
which had been spent in frustrating the designs of the Persians and
Russians in that quarter. Major d'Arcy Todd, the English envoy at Herat,
incensed by King Kamram's continued dealings with Russia, withheld the
further payment of the British subsidies, unless British troops were
admitted to Herat. The situation became so acute that Major Todd on his own
authority threw up his post and left Herat. It was a severe setback for
British influence in Central Asia. Lord Auckland in exasperation dismissed
his erstwhile ambassador from political employ. Todd found a soldier's
death on the field of Ferozeshahar. The continued rebellion of the
Sarawacks in Borneo gave the British an opportunity for interference there.
Sir James Brooke, at the head of a British expedition, helped the Sultan of
Borneo in quelling the rising.

[Sidenote: Turkish-Egyptian War]

[Sidenote: Mehemet Ali brought to terms]

The operations of the international coalition against Mehemet Ali of Egypt
had now begun. Though the Viceroy's soldiers lay on Turkish soil without a
foe before them, and France stood at his back, Mehemet Ali found himself
checkmated. While Russia undertook to keep Ibrahim's army out of
Constantinople, all French support was neutralized by Germany's
mobilization on the Rhine. A naval squadron, composed of British and
Austrian warships, was free to land the Turkish forces in Syria. On October
10, Commodore Napier bombarded Beyrout. The Syrians were armed against
their Egyptian oppressors. On November 3, the British and Austrian fleets
captured Acre. Ibrahim, with the remains of his army, fell back toward the
Egyptian frontier. When the British fleet arrived before Alexandria,
Mehemet Ali made haste to come to terms. In contravention of the ultimatum
of the Powers, he was allowed to retain his hereditary dominion over Egypt
upon relinquishment of Syria, and of the Turkish fleet, which had been
betrayed into his hands. Sir Charles Napier in later years, while speaking
of his part in this expedition in Parliament, said: "I was ashamed for my
country and for myself."

[Sidenote: Fall of Thiers' Ministry]

[Sidenote: Oriental affairs readjusted]

The humiliating position forced upon France caused the downfall of the
Ministry of Thiers. Marshal Soult was placed at the head of affairs. Guizot
was recalled from his embassy at London to take the portfolio of Foreign
Affairs. He succeeded in restoring France to her former place in the
concert of Europe. The French Government joined with the other powers in
the restoration of the ancient rule of the Ottoman Empire by which all
foreign warships were excluded from the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.
Russia thereby virtually conceded the abrogation of her treaty of Unkiar
Skelessi. On the other hand, Sebastopol and the Russian arsenals of the
Euxine were thus safeguarded against any maritime attack except by Turkey.

[Sidenote: Napoleon's body returned]

The revival of the Napoleonic legend by such writers as Béranger,
Lamartine, and Victor Hugo, together with other influences which served to
keep bright the glories of the Empire, bore their fruit in the return of
Napoleon's remains to France. On October 15, his body had been removed from
the simple tomb at St. Helena. On November 30, the ship bearing Napoleon's
remains arrived at Cherbourg. A million francs were voted by the Chambers
for the new sepulchre under the dome of the chapel of the Hôtel des
Invalides. On this occasion great publicity was given to Lord Palmerston's
letter to Ambassador Granville: "The government of her British Majesty hope
that the promptness of their response to this French request will be
considered in France as a proof of their desire to efface all traces of
those national animosities which, during the life of the Emperor armed
against each other the French and English nations. The government of her
Majesty are confident that if such sentiments still exist anywhere, they
will be buried in the tomb in which the remains of Napoleon are to be
laid." Napoleon's reburial was witnessed by a million of persons including
a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers drawn up in line to do him honor. The
ceremonies were attended by the royal family and all the dignitaries of
France, excepting only the immediate relatives of the great Napoleon. As it
happened, those of the Napoleonides that were not dead were either in exile
or in prison.

[Sidenote: Floods in France]

[Sidenote: Earthquake of Zante]

Shortly before this, great havoc had been wrought in France by disastrous
inundations of the Saone and Rhone. The water, which covered 60,000 acres,
and flooded Lyons, rose higher than it had within 250 years. In Greece, a
tremendous earthquake laid the city of Zante in ruins. These catastrophes
were made the object of special study in Germany and Switzerland, where
Agassiz was in the midst of his epoch-making discourses on the glacial
period.

[Sidenote: Isabella abdicates]

[Sidenote: Rule of Espartero]

Toward the end of the year wretched Spain suffered another political
upheaval. After the last abandonment of the cause of Don Carlos by General
Cabrera, in July, the Queen-Regent found herself confronted by a strong
democratic party both in the Cortes and the country. The scandals of her
private life undermined her political authority. By an insurrection at
Barcelona she was forced to call in General Espartero, the chief of the
Progressist party, as her Prime Minister. Rather than submit to his demands
she abdicated the Regency in October and left Spain. Espartero, toward the
close of the year, was acknowledged by the Cortes as Regent of Spain. His
first measures turned a large part of the people against him. On December
29, as a result of the growing discussions between the government and the
clergy, the Papal Nuncio was expelled from Madrid. Thereafter Espartero and
the clerical party of Spain were at daggers' points.

[Sidenote: Overbeck]

This year Friedrich Overbeck finished his masterpiece, the "Triumph of
Religion and the Arts." This German artist, at the time when the classicism
of David was at its height, had become his most strenuous opponent, and had
brought about the regeneration of the German religious school of painting.
He and several of his followers formed the Nazarites, whose fundamental
principle was that art existed only for the service of religion. Overbeck's
frescoes of the "History of Joseph" and "Jerusalem Delivered" are best
known. Among his paintings of this period, "The Entrance of Christ into
Jerusalem" at Luebeck, "Christ on the Mount of Olives" at Hamburg, and "The
Coronation of Mary" in the Cathedral of Cologne, are the most celebrated.




1841


[Sidenote: British capture Bogue forts]

[Sidenote: Hong Kong ceded to Britain]

The dilatory tactics of Viceroy Keshen in China had prolonged the
negotiations there for several weeks. In the meanwhile a large Chinese army
was gathering in the interior. Early in the year, after the arrival of the
British plenipotentiaries, orders were issued for an attack on the Bogue
forts. On January 7, 1,500 British troops were landed on the flank and rear
of the forts at Chuenpee. After a sharp cannonade by the fleets, the forts
were carried by a storming party under Captain Herbert. Simultaneously the
forts at Taikok were destroyed by the fleet, and their Chinese garrison was
routed by landing parties. Several Chinese junks were sunk during the
engagement. In all the Chinese lost some 1,500 men in casualties; the
British losses were small. After the capture of the Bogue forts, Viceroy
Keshen came to terms. He agreed to pay a large money indemnity and to cede
Hong Kong absolutely. On January 29, Hong Kong was declared a British
possession, and was heavily garrisoned with the troops transferred from
Chusan. The importance of the new acquisition was scarcely realized by
Englishmen at the time.

[Sidenote: Chinese convention repudiated]

[Sidenote: British threaten Canton]

[Sidenote: English opium factory destroyed]

[Sidenote: Canton bombarded]

[Sidenote: Heavy ransom exacted]

[Sidenote: British camp attacked]

[Sidenote: More ransom saves Canton]

The suspension of hostilities proved but temporary. Keshen was degraded and
banished. Emperor Taouk-Wang issued an edict that he was resolved "to
destroy and wash the foreigners away, without remorse." Keshen's successor,
Elang, repudiated the convention signed by his predecessor. On February 25,
the British proceeded to attack the inner line of forts guarding the
approaches to Canton. The formidable lines of Anunghoy, with batteries of
two hundred guns, were carried in the first rush. In quick succession the
other positions of the Chinese were taken, until, on March 1, the English
squadron drew up in Whampoa Reach, under the very walls of Canton. On the
arrival of Sir Hugh Gough, to take command of the British forces, a brief
armistice was granted. After a few days, hostilities were renewed by the
capture of the outer line of defences. Under the threat of immediate
military occupation, the Viceroy of Canton came to terms. On March 18, the
British reoccupied their opium factories in Canton. Emperor Taouk-Wang's
anti-foreign policy remained unshaken. He appointed a new commission of
three mandarins to govern Canton, and collected an army of 50,000 men in
that province. In May, Captain Elliot was insulted in the streets of
Canton. He sent for reinforcements from Sir Hugh Gough at Hong Kong. A
notice was issued advising all Englishmen to leave Canton that day. On the
following night the Chinese sacked the opium warehouses and fired upon the
British ships lying at anchor. Fire rafts were let loose against the
squadron, but drifted astray. The British promptly took the offensive. They
sunk forty war junks, and dismantled the Chinese batteries. On May 24, Sir
Hugh Gough arrived at Canton with all his forces. The fleet advanced up the
Macao passage, and troops were landed under unusually difficult
circumstances. The Chinese failed to take advantage of this, preferring to
await the British attack in a strong line of intrenchments north of the
city. On May 25, two British columns of 2,000 men each, with sixteen pieces
of artillery and fifty-two rockets, advanced to the attack across the
sacred burial grounds. Three of the hill forts were carried with slight
loss. At the fourth fort desperate resistance was encountered. After this
fort had succumbed to a bayonet attack the Chinese rallied in an open camp
one mile to the rear. Intrenchments were thrown up with remarkable
rapidity. The British troops, led by the Royal Irish Fusiliers, streamed
over the open ground and scattered the remaining forces of the Chinese. The
brilliancy of this exploit was dimmed by the slaughter of Chinamen while
asking quarter. The British losses were 70 killed and wounded. A general
attack on the city was ordered for the next day. A fierce hurricane and
deluge of rain frustrated this plan. During the day the Canton mandarins
came to terms. They agreed to pay an indemnity of $6,000,000, and to
withdraw their troops sixty miles from the city. A few days after this,
when $5,000,000 of the indemnity had already been paid, the Chinese broke
the armistice by an attempt to surprise the British camp. Instead of
driving the attack home, the Chinese soldiers, some 10,000 in number,
contented themselves with waving their banners and uttering yells of
defiance. The British artillery opened on them, and a running fight ensued.
In the midst of it a violent thunderstorm burst over Canton. A detachment
of Madras Sepoys lost its way, and was all but overwhelmed by the Chinese.
They had to be extricated by a rescue party of marines, armed with the new
percussion gun, which was proof against wet weather. Under threat of
immediate bombardment, the payment of more ransom was exacted from Canton.
In the end the city was spared, to remain, according to the English
formula, "a record of British magnanimity and forbearance."

[Sidenote: Reduction of Amoy]

[Sidenote: Chinese reverses]

[Sidenote: An Indian diversion]

After this the opium trade reverted to its former footing. To bring the
Chinese Emperor, himself, to terms, Sir Henry Pottinger, the new British
plenipotentiary, sailed northward, and appeared before the seaport of Amoy,
nominally at peace with England. The Viceroy of Amoy sent a flag of truce
to demand what was wanted. He was called upon to surrender the town. This
he refused to do. The British ships at once engaged the land batteries, and
landing parties were sent around the rear. The Chinese gunners were driven
from their pieces, but several of their officers committed suicide. The
commandant of the chief fort drowned himself in the face of both armies.
The capture of Amoy remained barren of useful results. The British fleet
proceeded northward until scattered by a hurricane in the Channel of
Formosa. Coming together off Ningpo, the fleet attacked Chusan for the
second time. Spirited resistance was offered by the Chinese. In the
defence of the capital city Tinghai, Keo, the Chinese general-in-chief, was
killed. All his officers fell with him. Leaving a garrison at Chusan, the
British attacked Chinhai on the mainland. Here the Chinese suffered their
heaviest losses. After this victory the city of Ningpo was occupied without
opposition. The inhabitants shut themselves up and wrote on their doors:
"Submissive people." Nevertheless, Ningpo was put to ransom, under threats
of immediate pillage. More British troops and warships were arriving to
carry the war to the bitter end, when news arrived of disastrous events in
Afghanistan. Troops had to be diverted in that direction, and a more
definite settlement of the Chinese question was accordingly postponed.

[Sidenote: Corn Law agitation]

[Sidenote: Richard Cobden]

[Sidenote: Defeat of Melbourne's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Parliamentary precedents defied]

[Sidenote: Adverse elections]

[Sidenote: Peel, Prime Minister]

The attention of Englishmen at home was all but engrossed by domestic
topics. In Parliament, the opposition found its strongest issue in the long
demanded reform of the Corn Laws. Various circumstances, such as increase
of population and bad harvests, contributed to bring this issue to the
front. The retaliatory tariffs adopted by America, Russia, France, Sweden
and the German Zollverein had their serious effect on British trade. The
resulting financial depression engendered discontent. It was at this time
that Richard Cobden came into prominence with his free trade views. Then
began the great struggle over the Corn Laws which, until its settlement,
remained the most important question of the day in England. Lord
Melbourne's Ministry by its attempt to adjust the sugar bounties, and
incidentally the Corn Laws, dealt the first formidable blow against the
great system of monopoly called protection. The government's proposals on
that subject were denounced as an encouragement of the produce of the
sugars of Cuba and other slave states at the expense of the British West
Indies, where slavery had been abolished. As a result the anti-slavery
Whigs joined with the Tories, under the leadership of Peel. The government
was defeated by a majority of thirty-six votes. In contravention of
Parliamentary customs, Lord Melbourne's Ministry did not hand in their
resignations, neither did they see fit to dissolve Parliament. When
Parliament met again Sir Robert Peel, amid tumultuous cheering from his
followers, moved a direct vote of want of confidence in the government. By
a majority of one the motion was carried. The dissolution of Parliament was
announced on the morrow. The appeal to the country resulted in a strong
gain of Conservatives. The moribund Ministry made another attempt to carry
their measures before retiring from office. Sir Robert Peel, in his
proposals for a sliding scale in the duties on corn, already showed some
bias toward that free-trade policy to which he afterward became committed.
On the first division on this question the government was outvoted by a
majority of sixty-four. Melbourne's resignation was of course followed by
the elevation of Peel to the Prime Ministry. Lord Palmerston was replaced
by the Earl of Aberdeen in the Foreign Office. Lord Lyndhurst was retained
in the Chancellorship. The leadership of the Upper House was left to the
Duke of Wellington, who joined the Cabinet without taking any office.

[Sidenote: Growth of mission work]

Throughout the year industrial distress prevailed in England and Ireland,
with the usual consequence of an increase in crime. The vigorous support of
British trade in the Far East was followed by an extension of Christian
missions. Thus missionary work was resumed in China, while Livingstone
preached the Gospel to the Hottentots of South Africa. The growth in
colonial bishoprics caused Sidney Smith to say that soon there would not be
a rock in the ocean without an English bishop and archdeacon. During this
year adhesive postage stamps were first used in England. Wheatstone
patented his alphabetic printing telegraph, and telegraph wires were strung
as far as Glasgow. Almost simultaneously with the death of Hook, the
British humorist, the new publication of "Punch, or the London Charivari,"
made its appearance. One of its earliest contributors was George
Cruikshank, the caricaturist.

[Sidenote: William H. Harrison inaugurated]

[Sidenote: Death of Harrison]

[Sidenote: Tyler, tenth President]

[Sidenote: Canadian boundary treaty]

[Sidenote: American financial policy]

In British North America, the first Parliament of Canada was opened with
great ceremony in June. After the changes in the Ministry, Sir Charles
Bagett became Governor-General of Canada. In the United States, General
Harrison was inaugurated as President. It rained on his inauguration day,
and the aged General suffered so from exposure that he contracted
pneumonia. One month later he died. The clamor of office-seekers during his
brief tenure contributed largely to his death. Harrison had been active in
public life since he was Secretary of the Northwest Territory in 1797. He
acquired a national reputation by his victory over the Indians at
Tippecanoe. He served as Senator from Indiana from 1825 to 1828, when he
became Minister to the Republic of Colombia in South America. Congress,
after some debate, passed a bill to appropriate one year's Presidential
salary to General Harrison's widow. Vice-President Tyler became President.
A Virginian by birth, he was committed to the Southern theory of State
rights. In his first message he recognized the veto of the United States
Bank measure as approved by the nation. This caused a decisive break with
the holdover Cabinet. All the members resigned except Daniel Webster, who
was retained to complete the Canadian boundary treaty with England. The
line at length agreed upon gave to the United States 7,000 square miles,
and to Great Britain 5,000, with the navigation of the St. John's River.
Lord Ashburton in a speech at New York declared that never again could war
be possible between the two countries. Tyler's new Secretary of State was
Upham. The first measure of the Whigs was the repeal of the independent
Treasury act of the previous Congress, and the next was the establishment
of a general system of bankruptcy, and for distribution of the public land
revenue. The former was more than a bankrupt law; it was practically an
insolvent law for the abolition of debts at the will of the debtor. The
bill passed both Houses. The land-revenue distribution was made imperative
by the fact that various American States and municipalities owed
$200,000,000 to European creditors. These became uneasy, and wished the
Federal Government to assume their debts. The system was first favored in
1838, and again in 1839, and in 1840 became a national issue. Although
Calhoun and Benton both opposed the measure as a squandering of the public
patrimony, it passed by a party vote.

[Sidenote: Tyler's vetoes]

[Sidenote: Loss of Whig support]

A compromise tariff measure, advocated by Clay, provided for an upward
scale of duties, to reach their maximum during the following year. The bill
was vetoed by the President. Another important measure was that for the
rechartering of the National Bank. It passed both Houses by a close vote,
but Tyler vetoed it, to the consternation of the Whigs. On the second vote
the necessary two-thirds majority was not obtained. Thus the second attempt
to resuscitate the old United States Bank resulted in failure. After this
the Whigs withdrew their support from the Administration they had put into
office.

During this year, in America, the grain drill was patented. Wilkes explored
the coast of California. Graham's Magazine was published--one of the first
American literary magazines of high pretensions. Among its earliest
contributors was Edgar Allan Poe. At the same time Longfellow published his
ballads, Cooper his "Deerslayer," and Ralph Waldo Emerson brought out his
philosophical lectures in essay form.

[Sidenote: Close of Seminole War]

War with the Seminoles continued unabated. In the spring, General William
J. Worth had been appointed to succeed Armisted. During the summer, Worth
dispersed his troops into small parties, which ascended the rivers and
penetrated the swamps to the islands to which the Indians had retired.
Worth brought Chief Coacoochee to Tampa in irons. To secure peace, Worth
bade him name five of his fellow chieftains, who were to return to the
Indians and inform them that unless they should appear at Tampa within a
given time and give themselves up, Coacoochee and his fellow prisoners
would forthwith be hanged. The Indians came within the appointed time. As
one band after another surrendered they were sent West to Mississippi. The
cost of the war from first to last had been $40,000,000, which was twice
the sum paid for the Territories of Louisiana and Florida together. It was
estimated that for each black slave brought back from Florida to his
owners, three white men had lost their lives, and $80,000 had been
expended.

[Sidenote: Latin-American upheavals]

In Mexico, the Presidency of Bustamente was superseded by that of General
Santa Anna. The northern States of Mexico maintained their independent
attitude. The State of Costa Rica attempted to withdraw from the ascendant
influence of Guatemala. About the same time the city of Cartago was
destroyed by an earthquake. In Colombia, Marquez maintained himself as
President against his opponents. The States of Panama and Veragua seceded
from the Colombian Union, but the President prevailed upon them to return
to the confederation. In South America, an expedition from Peru invaded
Bolivia and laid siege to La Paz, only to be driven back. Peru was now
invaded by an army from Bolivia, but General Bolnes, the newly elected
President of Chile, interfered on behalf of Peru.

[Sidenote: Revolts in Spain]

In Spain, General Espartero throughout this year continued his precarious
rule. In October, Generals O'Donnel and Concha headed a rising at Pambulna
in behalf of the former Queen-Regent Christina. The Queen's guard repelled
an attack of Don Diego Leon on the palace. On October 15, Don Diego was
captured and shot. One week later O'Donnel fled to France. On the same day,
General Zurbano gained possession of the citadel and port of Bilbao. He
declared himself in favor of the Queen-Regent.

[Sidenote: French Algerian victories]

On the other side of the Pyrenees the restoration of the French _entente
cordiale_ with England and the other European Powers was manifested in the
conclusion of the International Convention of Alexandria in July, and the
quintuple treaty for suppression of the slave trade proposed by the British
Government. The French cry for the forcible recovery of the Rhine frontier
died down and public funds rose accordingly. Alfred de Musset's second
invective poem on "Le Rhin Allemand" scarcely raised a stir. All desire for
military conquests was satisfied for the moment by the exploits of French
arms under General Bugeaud and the Duc d'Aumale in Algeria. For once the
Arab chiefs of the Desert were cowed into submission. The effect of the Duc
d'Aumale's triumphal return was spoiled somewhat by the attempt to
assassinate him on September 13. Under Guizot's guidance the French
Chambers showed their appreciation of the flourishing state of literature
in France by their amendments to the copyright law, extending the
provisions of copyright to a period of thirty years after an author's
death.

[Sidenote: Death of Lermontov]

[Sidenote: Lermontov's work]

Michel Jurgevitch Lermontov, the Russian poet, died on July 27, as the
result of a duel in the Caucasus. His romance, "A Hero of Our Time," was
the immediate cause of the duel. This poet was the Russian spokesman of the
so-called Weltschmerz (world-sorrow) which had come into vogue with the
"Sorrows of Werther." Following in the wake of Chateaubriand and Byron,
Lermontov wrote epic poems in a pessimistic, cynical strain, without
attaining quite the bitterness of spirit of a Byron or Heine, nor the
melancholy lyric beauty of a Lenau or Leopardi. Pre-eminent, on the other
hand, are his poetical descriptions of the scenery and wild national traits
of the Caucasus, which furnished the background for almost all of his
poems. Noteworthy among his epics are "The Circassian Boy," "Ismail Bey,"
"Valerik," "Hadshy-Abrak," and "The Demon." Under Czar Nicholas,
Lermontov's works were forbidden in Russia. After having been banished to
the Caucasus, for demanding revenge for Pushkin's death, the poet published
his last brilliant epic, "Song of Czar Ivan Vasilyevitch," under a
pseudonym.

[Sidenote: German letters]

[Sidenote: Prussian General Estates]

In Germany, too, letters and arts were flourishing. In Vienna, Nikolaus
Lenau (Baron Strehlenau) and his friend, Anastasius Gruen (Count
Auersperg), were the leaders of a literary movement which found its
counterpart in the so-called "Young German" movement of the north, where
Ferdinand Freiligrath, Laube, Gutzkow, and Emanuel Geibel came under the
ban of the German Bundesrath. The great political event of the year was the
meeting of the first General Estates, convoked at Berlin. The new king's
hostile attitude toward their popular demands for constitutional rights and
larger liberties soon destroyed the hopes of liberal Germans for a change
of spirit in the government of Prussia. A more material advance in
civilization was assured by the opening of the first railway from Berlin to
Magdeburg.

[Sidenote: Cornelius]

Peter von Cornelius, one of the leaders of the religious Catholic movement
in art which had followed the classicism of the first decade of the
century, was commissioned by the King to decorate the cemetery at Berlin.
These decorations afterward, as well as the mural paintings in the Church
of Saint Louis at Munich, proved to be his masterpieces.

[Sidenote: Defence of Jellalabad]

The British occupation of Afghanistan had continued since the last year.
The expenses of the occupation were so heavy that economy was imperative.
As soon as the British Resident cut down the subsidies paid to Shah Shuja
the situation took a sinister turn. In October, Sir Robert Sale left Kabul
with a brigade of British troops to reopen communications with Jellalabad,
which had been interrupted by hostile mountain tribes. He got to Jellalabad
only after a desperate struggle and heavy losses. His subsequent defence of
that stronghold against the Afghans is one of the heroic traditions of
British India.

[Sidenote: Massacre of Kabul]

[Sidenote: Afghans up in arms]

At Kabul, in the meanwhile, the garrison had been removed from the citadel
of Bala Hasir to open cantonments outside of the city. Sir William
MacNaghten, the British Resident, had been appointed Governor of Bombay,
and was about to be succeeded by Sir Alexander Byrnes. Byrnes took up his
abode in the centre of the city amid the turbulent bazaars. On November 2,
the people of Kabul rose against the English. Byrnes barricaded his house
and sent to MacNaghten for help. On the advice of General Elphinstone,
MacNaghten decided to wait for further information before acting. The delay
was fatal for Byrnes. He held out with thirty-two others from eight in the
morning until two in the afternoon. Then the ammunition gave out. The mob
rushed in and tore the house to pieces. Byrnes and twenty-three of his
followers were massacred. One hour later a British relief corps tried to
enter the city. All Kabul turned against them. The British were forced to
retire. The news of this set Afghanistan wild. Thousands of armed
mountaineers flocked to Kabul, and the whole nation rose against the
foreigners. The British troops were cut off from all supplies. They
maintained their precarious position only by lavish promises of ransom. At
length, after many parleys, a meeting was arranged, for December 23,
between MacNaghten and the Afghan chiefs. When the English envoy walked
into the meeting the Afghans fell upon him, and he was slain by Akbar
Khan.




1842


[Sidenote: MacNaghten's murder unavenged]

[Sidenote: The retreat from Kabul]

[Sidenote: Disaster of Khaibar Pass]

The situation of the British in Afghanistan was so critical that they could
not avenge the murder of their countrymen. Negotiations were actually
renewed with Akbar Khan upon his statement that he had not meant to murder
the British envoy, but had been goaded into the act by the taunts of
MacNaghten. Promises of safe conduct were obtained. In January the British
forces began their retreat from Kabul. Then followed a series of
treacheries and mutual breaches of faith. Akbar Khan and his hordes of
Afghans dogged the retreating column exacting further concessions. The
English women and children were demanded as hostages. From the heights of
the Khaibar Pass, the Ghilzai mountaineers poured a destructive fire into
the Englishmen. Akbar Khan's followers made common cause with them.
Thousands of Englishmen were slain, or perished in the deep snows of the
Khaibar Pass. The wounded and those who fell behind were butchered by the
Afghans. A fortnight sufficed to cut the whole column to pieces. Of the
entire force of 4,000 soldiers and 12,000 followers, one single survivor
succeeded in reaching Jellalabad. He was a British surgeon named Brydon,
who dragged himself on all fours out of reach of the Afghans; but he lived
to tell the tale for more than thirty years afterward.

Colonel Stoddart and Captain Connelly had been sent as British emissaries
to Bokhara. When the news of the British massacre at Kabul reached Bokhara,
both men were promptly thrown into prison. Later, when the news of the
British disaster in the Khaibar Pass reached Bokhara, the Ameer had the two
envoys taken from their dungeons. They were publicly beheaded in the
market-place of Bokhara.

[Sidenote: Lord Ellenborough in India]

[Sidenote: Jellalabad relieved]

[Sidenote: Recapture of Kabul]

[Sidenote: British vandalism]

Such was the state of affairs in India when Lord Ellenborough landed at
Calcutta in February, to succeed Lord Auckland as Governor-General. The
first trying need was to rescue the remaining British garrisons at
Jellalabad and Kandahar. General Pollock, with a strong force of Sepoys,
was sent through the Punjab and Peshawar. In April, he pushed his way
through the Khaibar Pass, in the face of fierce resistance from the
mountaineers. The relieving force reached Jellalabad none too soon. General
Sale and his garrison were fighting for time. In a last sortie they had
just inflicted a telling defeat on Akbar Khan and his besieging army. From
Kabul the boy sovereign of the Afghans fled out of Akbar Khan's reach and
put himself under the protection of General Pollock. Akbar Khan now wrote
to General Pollock, offering to deliver up his British prisoners and
hostages if he would withdraw from Afghanistan. Lord Ellenborough showed
himself inclined to accept this proposition. The British officers at the
front were furious. General Pollock wrote to Nott at Kandahar not to move
until further instructions, while he himself reported to headquarters that
he could not retire to Jellalabad for want of transports. Eventually, Lord
Ellenborough consented to modify his instructions. Without waiting for
this, General Nott was already marching on Kabul. Pollock, accompanied by
Sale, left Jellalabad to support Nott's advance. In the Tezeen Valley the
British came upon the scene of one of the bloodiest massacres of the
retreat from Kabul. The sight of the murdered bodies of their comrades
exasperated the soldiers. The heights around were bristling with Akbar
Khan's men. In the face of a murderous fire from their matchlocks, the
British stormed the heights and gave no quarter. Akbar Khan fled into the
northern hills. In September, Nott's column took Kabul and hoisted the
British flag over the Bala Hassar. The English captives managed to bribe
their keepers and to join the rescuing army, amid general rejoicings. The
British conquest of Afghanistan was followed by barbarous deeds of
vandalism. The great bazaar of Kabul, one of the handsomest stone
structures of Central Asia, was blown up by gunpowder. The city itself was
turned over to loot and massacre. The bloodcurdling atrocities of the white
men on that occasion kept alive the fierce hatred of all things British in
Afghanistan for years to come. By the express orders of Lord Ellenborough
the sacred sandalwood gates of Somnath, which had adorned the tomb of
Mahmud of Ghasni since the Eleventh Century, were brought away as trophies
of war.

[Sidenote: Boers driven from Natal]

[Sidenote: Foundation of Transvaal]

In South Africa, too, the seeds of enduring hatred were sown at this time.
Scarcely had the new Boer community in Zululand become well settled when a
proclamation was issued in Cape Town, declaring that Natal should become a
British territory. Soldiers were despatched to Durban to support this
claim. After some sharp fighting the Boers were driven out of the seaport.
When the British Commissioner arrived at Pietermaritzburg, a stormy mass
meeting was held. For two hours Erasmus Smith, the Boer predicant, argued
in vain in behalf of his flock. In the end the Boer women passed a
unanimous resolution that rather than submit to English rule they would
emigrate once more. Pointing to the Drakensberg Mountains, the oldest of
the women said: "We go across those mountains to freedom or to death." Over
these mountains almost the whole population of Natal trekked their way into
the uninhabited regions beyond. Only 300 families remained, the ancestors
of some 10,000 Afrikanders of Natal in later days. On the other side of the
Orange and Vaal Rivers the Boer emigrants founded once more their
commonwealth, known later as the Transvaal, or South African Republic.

In Australia the first representative constitution was granted to the
English colonists of New South Wales. Almost simultaneously with this began
the agitation for separating Victoria from New South Wales.

[Sidenote: "The Sliding Scale"]

[Sidenote: British Income Tax]

In England, early in the Parliamentary session, Sir Robert Peel on behalf
of the government moved his famous bill for a sliding scale of the duties
on corn. In the debate that followed, the most notable speeches were made
by Cobden and Macaulay, who advocated complete free trade. In spite of all
opposition, the bill in an unamended form reached its third reading and was
passed on the 5th of April. The most serious difficulty confronting the
government was a financial deficit of £2,570,000, to which had to be added
the heavy expenditures for the wars in India and China. To fill up this
deficiency, Peel resorted to the levy of an income tax. To make this
unpopular tax more acceptable a number of minor mischievous taxes were
abolished. Thus rendered palatable, this bill, too, was carried through
Parliament with tolerable speed, and was passed with handsome majorities by
both Houses. It called for a tax of sevenpence on every pound of annual
income above £150.

[Sidenote: Copyright reform]

[Sidenote: "Lays of Ancient Rome"]

[Sidenote: "Locksley Hall"]

In emulation of the new provisions for copyright in France, a bill was
brought in to extend English copyright from twenty-eight to forty-two
years. Among the considerations which prompted Parliament to perform this
long delayed act of justice was the recent lamented death of Sir Walter
Scott. The royalties on his works were the only resource left to his
family, and the copyright on the most important of them, the Waverley
Novels, was about to expire. Southey, the Poet Laureate, before his recent
illness, it was stated, had been deterred from undertaking a projected
great work by the unsatisfactory copyright provisions. Wordsworth was about
to lose the fruits of some of his earliest and most patriotic poems. Among
those who actively pressed the measure were Charles Dickens and Thomas
Carlyle. The sixty years' copyright demanded in Carlyle's petition was not
obtained; but authors were allowed to retain the property of their works
during life, while their heirs could possess it for seven years after their
death. Coincident with this literary victory came other triumphs in
literature. Thomas B. Macaulay published his "Lays of Ancient Rome"; Alfred
Tennyson brought out "Locksley Hall" and other poems; Bulwer Lytton
finished "Zanoni"; the new Shakespeare Society issued some twenty volumes
of researches. A new impetus to the making of books and printing was given
by Woolwich's new system of electrotyping, and Charles Young's new device
of a type-setting machine, first employed on the "Family Herald."

It was then, too, that Dr. Julius Robert Meyer, an obscure physician in
Heilbronn, published a paper in Liebig's "Annalen," entitled "The Force of
Inorganic Nature." Not merely the mechanical theory of heat, but the entire
doctrine of the conservation of energy was clearly formulated. It is true
that he was anticipated in a measure by Mohr, and that Helmholtz more
exhaustively demonstrated the truth of the hypothesis of the conservation
of energy; but Helmholtz himself hailed Meyer as the rightful claimant of
the honor of having first clearly formulated the doctrine.

[Sidenote: Second Charter petition]

[Sidenote: The "Sacred Month"]

A great gain for humanity was made in Lord Ashley's successful bill for the
restriction of work done by women and children in mines and collieries.
Under the leadership of O'Connell's former Irish rival, Feargus O'Connor,
the agitation for a People's Charter was revived. On May 2, another monster
petition, containing nearly three and a half million signatures, was rolled
into Parliament. Too voluminous to pass through the doors, it had to be cut
up and carried into the hall by sixteen men. A motion to consider it was
violently opposed by Macaulay. Once more the petition was rejected by 287
over 49 votes. Now followed one of the most singular labor strikes of
England. This was the so-called sacred month, or thirty days' idleness to
be enforced throughout the United Kingdom. Within a few days the Chartists
could boast that for fifty miles round Manchester every loom was still. The
attempt to extend the strike to London was followed by the arrest of
O'Connor and nearly a hundred of his associates. They were tried and
convicted, but owing to a flaw in the indictment sentence could not be
carried out. The agitation was made to appear more serious by two attempts
to assassinate the Queen in May and July, but the young Queen was not
deterred thereby from making her first visit to Scotland.

[Sidenote: Chinese opium war]

[Sidenote: Fall of Chapoo]

[Sidenote: Shanghai occupied]

[Sidenote: Assault of Chinkiangfoo]

[Sidenote: China brought to terms]

[Sidenote: Treaty ports designated]

[Sidenote: Opium forced upon China]

In August, the Duke of Wellington was reinstated as commander-in-chief of
the British army. Among the military reforms undertaken was the general
introduction of the percussion-cap musket in the infantry, and the use of
the carbine in the artillery. The war in China was brought to a close. The
long period of inaction following the occupation of Ningpo had been broken
in March by Chinese attempts to recapture Ningpo, Chinhai and Chusan. In
all three places the British beat off their assailants. At Ningpo the
Chinese succeeded in breaking through the south and west gates, and reached
the centre of the city only to be mowed down there by the British
artillery. At Tszeki a strong Chinese camp was captured by the British. The
Chinese losses on this occasion were over a thousand killed, including many
of the Imperial Guards. The British casualties did not exceed forty. A
naval expedition next attacked Chapoo, China's port of trade with Japan.
The main body of the Chinese was routed, but 300 of their soldiers shut
themselves up in a walled inclosure, and held their ground until
three-fourths of their number were slain. As heretofore, the British
casualties were small. The important city of Shanghai was captured without
appreciable resistance. The most serious affair of the war was the attack
on Chinkiangfoo on the southern bank of the Yangtse-Kiang at one of the
entrances of the great canal. A part of the Manchu garrison held out there
until shot down to the last man. The inner Tartar city was only taken after
the Manchus had first killed the women and children and then themselves.
The immediate losses of the British were nearly two hundred. Owing to the
intense heat, they failed to bury the bodies of the Chinese. Pestilence and
cholera broke out, and caused more serious losses than befell the main
force sent against Nanking. On August 5, the British fleet appeared before
Nanking, the second city of the empire. It was then that Minister Elepoo,
the leader of the Chinese peace party, prevailed upon Emperor Taouk-Wang to
give in. On August 26, peace was concluded on board the British flagship
"Cornwallis." China paid an indemnity of $21,000,000, and confirmed the
cession of Hong Kong to England. The English opium factory at Canton was to
be reinstalled, and, in addition to this, foreign trading was to be allowed
at the ports of Shanghai, Ningpo, Amhoy and Foochow, after a tariff should
have been agreed upon and consular officers appointed. The final ceremonies
of peace were marred by barbarous injuries inflicted upon the famous
porcelain tower of Nanking by a party of British officers and soldiers. In
the words of a British historian: "The only weak point in the commercial
treaty was that it contained no reference to opium. Sir Henry Pottinger
failed to obtain the assent of the Chinese government to its legalization."
In reply to Sir Henry Pottinger's final demand for legalization of the
opium trade in China, Emperor Taouk-Wang delivered this ultimatum: "True, I
cannot prevent the introduction of the poison; but nothing will induce me
to raise revenue from the vice and misery of my people." The emperor,
himself a reformed opium smoker, had lost three sons by this vice. All this
time American, Dutch and Russian trade with China had been continued.
President Tyler made it the subject of his message to the American Congress
during this year. From the first any American traffic in opium was
discouraged.

[Sidenote: Webster-Ashburton agreement]

[Sidenote: "Battle of the Maps"]

[Sidenote: American interests in Hawaii]

[Sidenote: Daniel Webster resigns]

The Webster-Ashburton treaty, regulating the northeastern boundary between
the United States and Canada, was signed on August 9. A strip of territory
claimed by the State of Maine was ceded to Canada, while a more important
strip was yielded to Vermont and New York. The treaty also provided for a
joint repressive action against the slave trade, and for the extradition of
criminals. It was Webster's greatest achievement in diplomacy, as was
indicated by the fact that the American Senate, notwithstanding its
hostility to President Tyler, ratified it by a three-fourths vote. In
England more serious opposition was encountered. In Parliament the treaty
was termed "Ashburton's Capitulation," and Lord Palmerston went so far as
to attribute its concessions to Ashburton's partiality toward his American
wife. The ratification of the treaty was followed by an international
controversy known as "The Battle of the Maps." An early map found by Jared
Sparks, the American historian, in the Library of Paris, had been used in
the Senate to insure the ratification of the treaty without the knowledge
of Lord Ashburton. When this became known in England it was denounced as
underhand dealing. Frantic search in the archives of the British Museum
brought to light another map, bearing the autograph indorsement of King
George III. As it turned out, this only sustained the American contentions,
and was used in Parliament to vindicate Lord Ashburton, just as Sparks's
map had been used in behalf of Webster. Credit also belongs to Webster for
his strong stand made at the time the Hawaiian Islands were threatened by
a French expedition. It was then stated, as reiterated by President Tyler
to Congress, that, in view of the preponderant intercourse of the United
States with those islands, the American government would insist that no
European nation should colonize or possess them, nor subvert the native
governments. After a settlement of these international questions, Daniel
Webster was permitted to resign his secretaryship to join the Whig
opposition on the floor of the House. His resignation was the more readily
accepted since he was known to be out of harmony with the Administration's
designs against Mexico. As the son of President Tyler has recorded: "The
time had come when it was necessary to have in the office of the Secretary
of State one who would go the full length of the Texas question. Certainly,
that man was not Webster." In the Senate, Henry Clay resigned his seat, the
better to carry on his canvass as a candidate for the Presidency.

[Sidenote: First American submarine cable]

At the time that Charles Dickens paid his first visit to America the
agitation for a better copyright law was renewed, and was in a measure
successful. Dickens's early impressions of the United States, as published
later in England, were distinctly unfavorable to the American people. Had
he lingered longer he might have witnessed the laying of the first
submarine telegraph between Governor's Island and New York City. In the
extreme West another outlet toward the Pacific Ocean was found by Fremont
and Kit Carson in the south pass of the Rocky Mountains.

[Sidenote: Latin-American affairs]

In Central America, General Morazan invaded Costa Rica to re-establish by
force the federation of the Central American States. At first he was
welcomed by the population and recognized as President of Costa Rica. But
later, as the guerilla war dragged itself out, the opposition gained
ground. José Maria Alfaro was recognized as President. In South America,
General Rosas made another attempt to subject Montevideo. Gold was
discovered in Uruguay. In the West Indies, the restoration of peace in Cuba
was followed by educational, far-reaching reforms. Another revolution in
Hayti provoked French interference.

[Sidenote: French-Algerian campaign]

The French squadron that had made demonstrations in the Caribbean Sea
presently descended upon the Marqueso Islands in the southern Pacific. The
islands were annexed to France. In Africa, the war against Abd-el-Kader was
pushed forward. The Arabs attacked Mostaganem and Arzee and lured Yussuf,
the commander of the new French corps of native Spahis, into an ambush.
General Vallè, with a division of 9,000 men, drove Abd-el-Kader from an
intrenched pass between Medah and Muzaia; but the French lost heavily. The
Algerian war during this year alone cost 12,000 lives and 50,000,000
francs. Vallè was superseded by Bugeaud.

The French general elections had just resulted in favor of the government,
when, on July 13, the Duke of Orleans was killed by a fall from his
carriage. After this event the Chambers fixed the succession to the throne
upon the Duke of Nemours, until the children of the Duke of Orleans should
be of age.

[Sidenote: Louis Blanc]

[Sidenote: Proudhon]

[Sidenote: Eugène Sue]

[Sidenote: "Stendhal"]

By this time the socialistic theories of Saint Simon and Fourier were
exploited still further by Louis Blanc and Proudhon. Blanc's writings had
an immense vogue among the workmen of Paris. This was especially true of
his "Organisation du Travail," published this year, wherein he proclaimed
the opportunity to work as a social right. Proudhon carried Etienne Cadet's
"Icarian" theories so far that in his famous book, "What is Property?"
after describing the conditions under which property is held according to
the Napoleonic Code, he delivered the categorical dictum, "If this be
property, then property is theft." Other popular books of the day were
Eugène Sue's "The Mysteries of Paris," "Le Morne au Diable," and Georges
Sand's famous novel "Consuelo." Marie Henri Beyle, known better under his
pseudonym, "Stendhal," died during this year. As a novelist he was the
precursor of the naturalistic school of romance in France, and was later
acknowledged as such by Balzac, Flaubert and Emile Zola. His powers of
prose were most ably demonstrated in the novel "Rouge et Noir," treating of
the adventures of a worldly Abbé.

[Sidenote: Cherubini]

Another notable figure in Paris passed away with Luigi Cherubini, the great
Italian composer. Cherubini, many of whose works were brought out during
the previous century was so popular by the beginning of the Nineteenth
Century, that he was esteemed above Beethoven. A Viennese critic who
ventured to say that Beethoven's "Fidelio" was of equal merit with
Cherubini's "Fanisca" was laughed to scorn. Cherubini's best opera, "The
Water Carrier," was brought out in Paris and London in 1800 and 1801. Owing
to his disregard of Napoleon's musical opinions, Cherubini found himself
out of favor throughout the First Empire in France. He retired to the
estate of his friend, Prince de Chimay, and would have given up music but
for the latter's request to write a Mass for his chapel. The result was the
celebrated three-part Mass in F, which proved such a success that Cherubini
thenceforward devoted himself to sacred music. After Napoleon's fall he
received an appointment at the Paris Conservatory of Music, from the
directorship of which he did not retire until 1841. Cherubini's voluminous
compositions reveal him as one of the great modern masters of counterpoint.
His great skill and erudition show to the best advantage in his sacred
music.

[Sidenote: Bunsen]

[Sidenote: Gervinus]

[Sidenote: Forecasts of German union]

Germany about this same time lost her great Oriental scholar, F.W.
Genesius. Bunsen invented his carbon battery. Gervinus, the banished
Hanoverian professor, brought out his History of German Literature, which
ended with a stirring appeal for political unity. The same ideal, in a
measure, was voiced during the ceremonies commemorating the resumption of
work on the great Cathedral of Cologne. King Frederick William IV. of
Prussia, fresh from the riots of Berlin, declared: "The spirit that builds
this cathedral is the same that has broken our chains, and the disgrace of
foreign domination over this German river--it is the spirit of German
strength and unity." Even Archduke John, the uncle of the Emperor of
Austria, proposed this toast: "No Austria, no Prussia; but a great united
Germany--firm-rooted as her mountains."

[Sidenote: Reforms in Russia]

[Sidenote: Gogol]

[Sidenote: Turgenyev]

In Russia, a concession to modern ideas was made by Czar Nicholas, in his
ukase of April 14, permitting the great landholders to liberate their
serfs. Another imperial ukase deprived the Roman as well as the Greek
clergy of all church lands upon condemnation proceedings and money payments
by the government. Russian literature, notwithstanding the strict
censorship, flourished during this period. A new source of poetry was
discovered by Koltsov in the Slavic folk songs. Griboyodov's new comedy,
"Gore Ot Ouma" (Too Clever by Half), had already become one of the stock
pieces. The success of this play was rivalled by Gogol's comedy, "The
Revisor." In 1842, this same writer brought out his celebrated romance,
"Dead Souls." Ivan Turgenyev was just entering upon his career.

Toward the close of the year new troubles broke out in Spain. In November,
a popular insurrection at Barcelona was joined by the National Guards.
Following upon a bitter fight in the streets of the city, on November 15,
the Guards retired into the citadel, where they held their ground. After
one month's stubborn resistance there, they were subjected to such heavy
artillery fire that they were glad to surrender to Espartero's government
forces on Christmas Eve.




1843


[Sidenote: Napier's desert march]

To carry on the British war with Afghanistan it was necessary to pass
troops through Scinde. The Ameers remonstrated. Emaun-Ghur, in the Desert
of Beluchistan, was a stronghold where the Ameers could gather a numerous
army unobserved by the English. Sir Charles Napier determined to strike for
this point with a small force, capable of speedily traversing the desert.
On the night of January 5, he commenced his perilous adventure. With 360
Irish soldiers on camels, with 200 of the irregular cavalry, with ten
camels laden with provisions, and with eighty carrying water, he set forth.

[Sidenote: Emaun-Ghur reduced]

[Sidenote: Battle of Meanee]

When the fortress, which no European eye had before seen, was reached, it
was found deserted. Immense stores of ammunition had been left behind.
Napier mined Emaun-Ghur in twenty-four places, and blew up all the mighty
walls of its square tower. After great privations on the march back, Napier
and his men rejoined the main army on the 23d near Hyderabad. The Duke of
Wellington said that the march to Emaun-Ghur was one of the most arduous
military feats of which he knew. On February 12, the Ameers at Hyderabad,
who, according to the British Resident himself, had been "cruelly
wronged," came to terms. On the day after their apparent submission the
British Resident, Major Outram, was attacked by the infuriated Beluchees.
With a hundred followers he barely succeeded in fighting his way through to
two British war steamers lying in the river. Napier, with his 2,600 men,
now moved against the Beluchee army, numbering nearly 10,000. On February
17, the day of the battle of Meanee, Napier wrote in his journal: "It is my
first battle as a commander. It may be my last. At sixty it makes little
difference what my feelings are. It shall be do or die." It proved an
all-day fight. Most of the white officers fell. In the end, Napier closed
the doubtful struggle by a decisive cavalry charge. The Sepoy horsemen
charged through the Beluchee army and stormed the batteries on the ridge of
the hill of Meanee.

[Sidenote: Hyderabad]

Napier followed up his victory the next day by a message sent into
Hyderabad that he would storm the city unless it surrendered. Six of the
Ameers came out and laid their swords at his feet. Another enemy
remained--Shere Mahomed of Meerpoor. On March 24, Napier, with 5,000
troops, attacked this chief, who had come with 20,000 Beluchees before the
walls of Hyderabad. Napier won another brilliant victory, which was
followed up by the British occupation of Meerpoor. The spirit of the
Beluchees was so broken that after two slight actions in June, when Shere
Mahomed was routed and fled into the desert, the war was at an end. Scinde
was annexed to the British Empire.

[Sidenote: English free-trade agitation]

[Sidenote: Irish disaffection]

[Sidenote: O'Connell arrested]

[Sidenote: Anti-corn law league]

[Sidenote: Mill's "System of Logic"]

[Sidenote: Death of Southey]

[Sidenote: Ballad of Blenheim]

At home, in the meanwhile, the Chartist agitation, with its "sacred month"
strike, was carried over into this year, while the leaders were tried
before the Lancashire Assizes. Popular meetings were held at Birmingham,
Manchester and London. O'Connor, after his suspension of sentence in court,
made the mistake of setting himself against the anti-corn law agitation led
by Cobden and Bright. To most Englishmen of the day the free-trade issue
appeared the most momentous. O'Connor's star paled accordingly. Early in
the year a new free-trade hall had been opened in London, the largest room
for public meetings in the United Kingdom. A dozen lecturers were kept
busy. Cobden alone addressed some thirty great country meetings during the
first half of the year. At the same time the Irish agitation for repeal of
the legislative union with England assumed formidable proportions. The
Irish secret society of the "Molly Maguires" spread alarmingly. On March
16, Daniel O'Connell addressed 30,000 persons at Trim, urging repeal of the
act of united legislation for Ireland and Great Britain. A few months later
several hundred thousand people gathered on the hill of Tara to listen to
his eloquent words. As a result of this agitation, O'Connell, with several
of his followers, was arrested, in October, on charges of sedition.
Simultaneously with this the so-called "Becca Riots" against turnpikes
broke out in Wales. One month after O'Connell's arrest the greatest
free-trade meeting of the year was held at Manchester. Both Cobden and
Bright made speeches against the corn laws. One hundred thousand pounds
were collected on the spot from wealthy manufacturers who attended the
meeting. This opened the eyes even of the editors of the London "Times."
Under the caption "The League is a Great Fact," it announced that a new
power had arisen in the State. This reluctant concession of the leading
Tory paper of England caused a great sensation. Other events that excited
the attention of Englishmen were the erection of the great Nelson column in
Trafalgar Square and the opening of the Thames tunnel for pedestrians.
Thousands of curious Londoners passed through its shaft, measuring 1,300
feet in length. Nasmyth invented his steam hammer. Mill published his
"System of Logic." The event of the year in English letters was the death
of Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate. During the last few years his brain
had softened, and his mind had become enfeebled. Southey was born at
Bristol in 1774. He was educated at Westminster School and Baliol College,
Oxford. While still at college he brought out two volumes of poems,
together with Robert Lovell. His first long narrative poem, "Joan of Arc,"
was written at the age of nineteen, and gave him, as he called it, "a
Baxter's shove into the right place in the world." At the opening of the
Nineteenth Century, he published the "wild and wondrous song" of "Thalaba,
the Destroyer," founded on Moslem mythology. "Kehema," founded on Hindu
lore, followed. In 1803, after some years of wandering, the poet went to
live at Greta Hall, near Keswick, which remained his home until his death.
Besides a long line of prose works, Southey wrote innumerable short poems.
Famous among them is the ballad of the battle of Blenheim, with its homely
irony:

  "With fire and sword the country round
  Was wasted far and wide,
  And many a childing mother then
  And new-born baby died;
  But things like that, you know, must be
  At every famous victory."

[Sidenote: Brilliant occasional pieces]

[Sidenote: Southey's works]

[Sidenote: "Stanzas in My Library"]

Southey nourished a passionate hatred against Napoleon Bonaparte. Again and
again he invoked the Muse against the world conqueror. Thus he wrote to
Landor in 1814: "For five years I have been preaching the policy, the duty,
the necessity of declaring Bonaparte under the ban of human nature." Under
this stress of feeling he wrote his great "Ode During the Negotiations for
Peace." It was the most powerful of his occasional pieces. In 1813, he was
made Poet Laureate. As such, it fell to him to write another occasional
piece on the death of the Princess Charlotte. The grace and beauty of his
lines on this occasion have long outlived the memory of that lamented
princess. Unlike his great contemporaries, Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott,
Southey never achieved a great material success. Having married young, he
often walked the streets, so he himself confessed, "not having eighteen
pence for a dinner, nor bread and cheese at his lodgings." In 1835, when he
was sixty-one years old, he wrote to Sir Robert Peel while declining the
offer of a baronetcy, "Last year for the first time in my life I was
provided with a year's expenditure beforehand." Yet his works at this time
filled nearly a hundred volumes. In the words of his brother poets:

     "Southey's epics crammed the creaking shelves."

It was in his declining age that he wrote the prophetic "Stanzas Written in
My Library":

  My days among the Dead are passed:
    Around me I behold,
  Where'er these casual eyes are cast,
    The almighty minds of old;
  My never-failing friends are they,
    With whom I converse day by day.

         *       *       *       *       *

  My hopes are with the Dead, anon
    My place with them will be,
  And I with them shall travel on
    Through all Futurity;
  Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
    That will not perish in the dust.

[Sidenote: Wordsworth, Poet Laureate]

[Sidenote: "The Lost Leader"]

After Southey's death, William Wordsworth was made Poet Laureate. His
acceptance of this benefice from the government incensed his more radical
friends. Robert Browning then wrote the famous invective lines entitled
"The Lost Leader":

  Just for a handful of silver he left us,
    Just for a ribbon to stick in his coat--
  Found the one gift of which fortune bereft us,
    Lost all the others, she lets us devote;
  They, with the gold to give, doled him out silver,
    So much was theirs who so little allowed:
  How all our copper had gone for his service!
    Rags--were they purple, his heart had been proud!
  We that had loved him so, followed him, honored him,
    Lived in his mild and magnificent eye,
  Learned his great language, caught his clear accents,
    Made him our pattern to live and to die!
  Shakespeare was of us, Milton was for us,
    Burns, Shelley, were with us--they watch from their graves!
  He alone breaks from the van and the freemen,
    He alone sinks to the rear and the slaves!

[Sidenote: Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico"]

[Sidenote: Edgar Allan Poe]

[Sidenote: "The Gold Bug"]

America this year lost three of her prominent literary men by the deaths of
Allston, the poet and painter, Noah Webster, the lexicographer, and Key,
the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The historian Prescott now
brought out his great "Conquest of Mexico." Longfellow published his
"Spanish Student." Edgar Allan Poe entered upon his new journalistic
venture "The Stylus." For this he wrote his stories of "The Tell-Tale
Heart," "Leonore," and his "Notes upon English Verse." For other
publications he wrote "The Pit and the Pendulum," and the striking poem,
"The Conqueror Worm." His fearful tale of the "Black Cat" was published in
the "Saturday Evening Post." At this time he was ailing in health, while
his young wife, Virginia, was dying. During these trying months his
principal income was a hundred dollar prize received for his famous story
of "The Gold Bug," published in the "Dollar Newspaper." The judges
confessed later that they awarded the prize to this contribution largely on
account of its neat handwriting.

[Sidenote: Oregon controversy]

[Sidenote: Texas unannexed]

On June 17, the new Bunker Hill Monument of Boston was dedicated amid
impressive ceremonies. Daniel Webster, who as a young man had spoken there
when the cornerstone was laid by Lafayette, was once more the orator of the
day. In the South, Jefferson Davis began his political career as a member
of the Mississippi Convention, as did Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, who was
then elected to Congress. The pending negotiations with Great Britain
concerning the possession of Oregon were made more momentous by the exodus
of some thousand American emigrants from Missouri, on an overland journey
to distant Oregon. The first session of the Thirty-eighth Congress, in
December, showed a Democratic majority in the House of sixty-nine votes.
Under the Whig régime, the policy of a great navy had been developed. A
bill for a large increase in ships was passed. Tyler's last message
recommended the annexation of Texas, for which a treaty was pending. It was
voted down in the Senate by a two-thirds vote.

[Sidenote: Central-American upheavals]

Under the shadow of impending war with the United States, a new
Constitution was proclaimed in Mexico. Santa Anna prepared for the conflict
by assuming the practical powers of a dictator. In Ecuador, too, a new
Constitution was adopted. General Flores had himself made President for a
third time. When the opposition to him became too formidable, he consented
to yield and quit the country after accepting a bonus of $20,000 and the
title of generalissimo. Another revolution in Hayti resulted in the
expulsion of President Boyer.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Spain]

[Sidenote: Isabella proclaimed queen]

[Sidenote: Spanish marriage projects]

In Spain a revolutionary junta in June once more assumed power at
Barcelona. Other parts of the country declared for the ex-Queen Regent
Christina. On July 15, General Narvaez compelled the surrender of Madrid to
Christina. General Espartero laid siege to Seville. On November 8, the
Spanish Cortes proclaimed as queen, Princess Isabella, then in her
thirteenth year. With the crown of Spain on the head of a young girl, and
no immediate successor in sight but her sister, the King of France and his
Prime Minister, Guizot, deemed the time ripe for action. It was proposed to
marry both Spanish princesses to the sons of Louis Philippe, so as to
secure the throne of Spain to the House of Orleans, as it had once been
secured to that of Bourbon. For the French people the interest in Spain was
revived by Gautier's new book, "Tras los Montes." During the negotiations
over the new extradition treaty with England, the project was
confidentially broached to Lord Aberdeen. He gave his consent to the
proposed marriage of the Duke of Montpensier to the Infanta Fernanda, on
the express understanding that it should not be celebrated until Queen
Isabella had been married herself, and had children. For some time still
the plan hung fire.

In the meanwhile, Hungary was once more in uproar. Kossuth, after his
release from prison in 1840, had become the spokesman of the new generation
of Magyars. The other wings of the Hungarian party were led by Scechenyi
and Déak.

  [Illustration: THE EMPEROR OF CHINA RECEIVING THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS]

[Sidenote: Hungarian reform movement]

[Sidenote: Clash at Agram]

[Sidenote: Kossuth's oratory]

By the time the Hungarian Diet of 1843 was convoked, all parties united in
demanding the most important reforms, _i.e._ of a new electoral system, a
new criminal code, trial by jury, and official recognition of the Magyar
language. One of the first resolutions of the Lower Chamber was that no
language but Magyar should be permitted in debate, and that all persons
incapable of speaking Magyar should gradually be excluded from all public
employment. Against the prohibition of Latin in the Diet, the Croatians
appealed to the government. The Emperor promptly vetoed the resolution.
Upon the publication of the imperial rescript a popular storm broke forth
in Hungary. At Agram, the capital of Croatia, the two factions fought on
the streets. The Austrian Cabinet receded from its position. A compromise
was accepted whereby Latin was to be permitted in the Hungarian Diet for
the next six years. Of all the important schemes for reform brought before
the Hungarian Diet of this year, only the language compromise became law.
This was due to the fact that the members of the Lower House were bound to
vote as directed by the Provincial Assemblies, which vetoed everything
affecting their local interests. To do away with this anomaly Kossuth and
his followers now set themselves to bring their appeal before the country
at large. Kossuth dropped the pen and became an orator.

[Sidenote: Algerian campaign]

[Sidenote: "Foreign Legion" formed]

In other parts of the world the spread of Western civilization was carried
on with accustomed vigor. A French squadron seized Tahiti in the Society
Islands. In Algiers the war against Abd-el-Kader was kept alive by
occasional raids and by buying over the less faithful of his followers. The
natives were enrolled in the French army in regiments of Turcos, Zouaves
and Spahis. The barbaric glamour of their oriental garb, as well as the
reputation of their dashing leader, Colonel Lamorcière, attracted many
Frenchmen and foreign adventurers to this service. Soon there were enough
men to form the famous "Foreign Legion."

[Sidenote: Chinese treaty ports opened]

[Sidenote: British seize Sindia]

In China, after the ratification of the Nanking treaty, the five treaty
ports were opened to all foreigners on the same footing as to Englishmen.
Long before this, the Russians had already established themselves in
certain parts of China. The smouldering resentment against the white men
found vent in the truculent doings of the anti-foreign society of the
"Green Water Lily" in Hoonan. Now trouble broke out in the Punjab. Jankoji
Bao Sindia had died in February, and his widow, a girl of twelve, now ruled
over the Sikhs. She outwitted her native Minister, who was supported by the
British. Lord Ellenborough hastened to interfere. He ordered the British
army to advance to Gwalior, under Sir Hugh Gough, in December. All Sindia
made common cause against the foreigner. The Sikh warriors tried to oppose
the British advance in two simultaneous battles at Maharajpore and Punniar,
fought on the twenty-ninth day of December. Both engagements resulted in
their defeat. The Queen and her Ministers submitted to England's terms.
They were deposed. The Sikh army was reduced to 6,000 men.




1844


[Sidenote: Texas]

[Sidenote: Calhoun becomes Secretary of State]

[Sidenote: Texan annexation rejected]

Tyler's scheme for the annexation of Texas to the North American Union was
uppermost in American affairs from the outset of this year. After the
retirement of Daniel Webster from the State Department, active efforts
toward that end were begun. The Mexican Government, learning of this
movement, notified the United States that annexation would be regarded as a
cause for war. Texas first asked for American interference, and, failing in
this, came to an agreement with Great Britain. In return for England's
action in securing the recognition of independence by Mexico, Texas pledged
itself not to be annexed to any other country. This agreement was approved
in Mexico. The Texan debt was largely owed in England, and it was the
policy of Lord Aberdeen, accordingly, to encourage her independence. In
February, a note by Lord Aberdeen was transmitted to the American
Government, stating that Great Britain desired to see slavery abolished in
Texas, as elsewhere, but disclaimed any intention unduly to force that
point. This statement in itself whetted the desire of the Southern States
of the Union to incorporate Texas among the slave-holding States. Calhoun,
who as early as 1836 had demanded the annexation of Texas on behalf of the
interests of Southern slavery, was invited to join Tyler's Cabinet as
Secretary of State. The office had been rendered vacant by the calamitous
explosion of a new monster gun on the U.S.S. "Princeton," killing Secretary
of State Upshar and Secretary Gilmer of the Navy in the immediate vicinity
of President Tyler. Calhoun entered office on March 6, and on April 12 the
Texan treaty of annexation was signed. On April 18, Calhoun answered Lord
Aberdeen's note, declaring that "the British avowal made it the imperious
duty of the Federal Government to conclude in self-defence a treaty of
annexation with Texas." As to this transaction, Von Holst, Calhoun's
biographer, has said: "It may not be correct to apply, without
modification, the code of private ethics to politics; but, however flexible
political morality may be, a lie is a lie, and Calhoun knew there was not a
particle of truth in these assertions." The annexation treaty was held back
in the American Senate until the Democratic Convention of 1844 had declared
for the reannexation of Texas. In the hope that this would secure
ratification the treaty was submitted in June, but the Senate once more
rejected it by 35 to 16 votes. Undismayed by this, President Tyler within
three days sent another message to the House of Representatives asking for
reconsideration of the subject, but the matter went over until after the
Presidential campaign in the autumn. Henry Clay's vacillating stand
throughout this controversy proved fatal to his Presidential aspirations.

[Sidenote: Anti-Mormon riots]

[Sidenote: Brigham Young]

During this same year, the Indians surrendered the regions adjoining Lake
Superior, which were promptly settled by white men. Iron was then
discovered at Marquette and copper at Kewenaw Point. At Nauvoo, Illinois,
where the Mormons had just erected a temple, their revival of patriarchal
polygamy excited the wrath of the people. Riots broke out June 27. The
Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, and his brother, who had been lodged in jail,
were killed. Brigham Young thenceforth became the leader of the Mormons.

[Sidenote: Morse's telegraph]

[Sidenote: Wells' anæsthetic discovery]

By means of a Congressional grant of $30,000, Samuel B.F. Morse constructed
his first telegraph line over the forty miles between Baltimore and
Washington. The first message, "What hath God wrought?" is still preserved
by the Connecticut Historical Society. Before this Alfred Vail had
perfected his telegraph code of alphabetical signs, with his dry point
reading register and relay key. Now Ezra Cornell contributed his invention
of an inverted cup of glass for insulating live wires. Dr. Horace Wells, a
dentist of Hartford, Connecticut, first employed nitrous oxide gas,
popularly known as laughing gas, in extracting one of his own teeth.

[Sidenote: Death of John Dalton]

In England, Faraday published his first "Experimental Researches in
Electricity." The anonymous publication of "Vestiges of the Natural History
of Creation," containing the first enunciation of Darwin's doctrine of the
origin of species by evolution, was followed by a storm of controversy.
Another subject for controversy was furnished by the invention of the new
tonic system in music (Do re mi fa). Kingsley brought out his "Village
Sermons," while Max Müller came into prominence by his new edition and
translation of "Hitopadesa," a collection of old Hindu fables. The
necrology of the year in England includes John Dalton, the physicist, and
Sir Francis Burdett, the parliamentarian and popular leader, who did so
much for liberty of speech and of the press. John Dalton, a strangely
original genius, and perhaps the greatest theoretical chemist of his
generation, first came into prominence by showing that water existed in air
as an independent gas. The wonderful theory of atoms, on which the whole
gigantic structure of modern chemistry rests, was the logical outgrowth of
the original conception of this country-bred, self-taught Quaker.

[Sidenote: O'Connell's trial]

[Sidenote: Government monopoly of English railways]

[Sidenote: Y.M.C.A. founded]

A feature of the year was the sensational trial of Daniel O'Connell and his
associates on charges of sedition in Ireland. On May 30, O'Connell was
sentenced to imprisonment for one year and fined £2,000. After Lord
Heytesbury's advent as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland the judgment of the Irish
Court of Queen's Bench against O'Connell was reversed and O'Connell and his
associates were liberated. Baring's bill for a renewal of the Bank of
England's charter was passed with a handsome government majority. The new
Royal Exchange was opened by the Queen in October. Another measure which
was speedily passed through Parliament, owing to the slight importance
attached to it, was Gladstone's bill requiring the railroads of England to
provide proper accommodations and to run cheap trains daily. The government
was authorized, with the approval of Parliament, to undertake the gradual
purchase of all existing railways before the year 1866. At this same time
there were but fourteen miles of railroad in all British America. Minor
events of importance to Englishmen were the foundation of the Young Men's
Christian Association by certain drygoods clerks of London, and the
demolition of the notorious Fleet Prison, made immortal by the novels of
Dickens.

[Sidenote: Secession of Santo Domingo]

The discovery of gold in South Australia drew hordes of immigrants to that
colony. Others were attracted to America by the discovery of diamonds in
Brazil. In the West Indies, the successful rising against President Boyer
of Hayti resulted in the foundation of the Black Republic of Santo Domingo.
President Rivière, at the head of 20,000 negroes from Hayti, was defeated
and had to abandon his attempt to subdue the Dominicans. Guerrier
superseded him as President of Hayti. The warlike spirit of these negroes
spread to the neighboring island of Cuba. Various armed risings of the
blacks in the province of Santiago and elsewhere were sternly put down by
the Spaniards and their white descendants in Cuba.

[Sidenote: Otto's reign in Greece]

A bloodless revolution in Greece resulted in the dismissal of King Otto's
Bavarian Ministry and the King's acceptance of a Constitution, which left
the King almost as absolute as before. Yet his government was weak and
slipshod. The wretched fiscal system and heavy taxation of the old Turkish
régime were retained, while ill-managed innovations from Bavaria, such as
military conscription, drove large numbers to brigandage. As an American
traveller remarked at the time: "The whole Greek Government is one enormous
job."

[Sidenote: Revolt of Calabria]

The long-smouldering discontent of the common people in Italy and Sicily,
fomented by the secret agitation of such men as Mazzini and Garibaldi,
found premature vent in a popular insurrection in Calabria. The revolt was
ruthlessly put down. The patriotic leaders, Attilio and Emilio Bandiero,
with eighteen others, were shot for their part in the affair.

[Sidenote: Death of Bernadotte]

On March 8, Bernadotte, latterly known as King Charles XIV. of Sweden, died
in his eighty-first year. During the last years of his reign he received
many signs of love and appreciation from his adopted people, notably on the
occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coronation. Shortly before
his death this self-made king asserted with good reason: "No one living has
made a career like mine."

[Sidenote: Progress in Sweden]

[Sidenote: Geijer]

[Sidenote: Tegnér's "Frithiof's Saga"]

The reign of Bernadotte produced a new line of eminent scientists and was
the golden age of Swedish literature. Berzelius remolded the science of
chemistry and founded theoretical chemistry. Elias Fries devised a new
system of botany. Sven Nilsson, a distinguished zoologist, also became the
founder of a new science, comparative archeology. Schlyter brought out a
complete collection of the old Scandinavian laws, a work of equal
importance to philology and jurisprudence. Ling invented the Swedish system
of gymnastics and founded the Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm, where
his Swedish massage or movement cure was further developed. Geijer, as a
philosopher, was a follower of Hoeijer, while as a historian he attained
foremost rank in Sweden. As a poet and composer, Geijer also attained
noteworthy success. Professor of History at Upsala, he was accused of
atheism, but acquitted. His political career was equally remarkable. Geijer
was a firm supporter of the government until fifty-seven years of age, when
he joined the opposition. Swedish writers were divided in factions as
opposed to each other as political parties. The old Gustavian school, of
which Leopold remained the last representative, was attacked by the "New
School," which was inspired by German Romanticism. Of this so-called
"phosphoristic" school Atterbom was the leader. Stagnelius, the young poet,
who died early, belonged to the same group. The New School was in turn
opposed by the Gothic Society or Scandinavian School, among whom were Ling
and Geijer. Franzen and Wallin devoted themselves to religious poetry. The
most famous of all modern Swedish poets was Esaias Tegnér, whose
"Frithiof's Saga" achieved an international reputation. Politically, he was
conspicuous for his inveterate hostility to the "Holy Alliance" and its
reactionary spirit in state, church and literature.

[Sidenote: Oscar I. of Sweden]

Bernadotte's son, Oscar I., was forty-five years old when he ascended the
throne. Like his father, he was a patron of the fine arts. Upon his
accession several important reforms were at once enacted by the new
Riksdag. It was decided that this assembly should meet every third instead
of every fifth year; the liberty of the press was extended, and equal
rights were accorded to women in certain matters of inheritance and of
marriage. This last reform aroused so much criticism that a powerful
opposition was organized in the Riksdag, under the leadership of
Hartmansdorff and Bishop Wingan.

[Sidenote: Death of Thorvaldsen]

[Sidenote: The great sculptor's career]

Albert Bertal Thorvaldsen, the great Danish sculptor, died suddenly on
March 25, at Copenhagen. Thorvaldsen was the son of an Icelandic sailor,
who incidentally earned a living by carving wooden figure-heads for ships.
The boy was born at sea, in 1770, while his mother was making a voyage to
Copenhagen. At the age of twenty-four, young Thorvaldsen, who had attended
the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Copenhagen, won the grand prize, which
enabled him to pursue his studies at Rome. His first work was the model of
a colossal statue of Jason, a marble execution of which was ordered by
Thomas Hope, the English banker. For this work Thorvaldsen asked six
hundred sequins. Hope offered him eight hundred. Yet Thorvaldsen did not
fulfil his contract with Hope until fourteen years had passed. At the house
of Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt, in Rome, Thorvaldsen met Count von Moltke,
who commissioned him to execute two statues of Bacchus and Ariadne. About
the same time he made his famous "Cupid and Psyche" for the Countess von
Ronzov. The fame of these statues and others was such that the Academy of
Copenhagen bestowed upon the young sculptor another prize of four hundred
crowns.

[Sidenote: Famous works]

[Sidenote: A Napoleonic order]

[Sidenote: "Morning and Night"]

In the spring of 1805 Thorvaldsen made his first important bass-relief,
"The Abduction of Brisëis," which still remains one of the most celebrated
of the sculptor's works. Orders now began to come in from all over the
world. Marquis Torlogna commissioned Thorvaldsen to make companion pieces
to Canova's famous group "Hercules and Lycas" in the Palazzo Brazzino,
while a government representative of the United States offered to pay five
thousand crowns apiece for colossal statues of a Liberty and a Victory to
be erected in the city of Washington. These and other works Thorvaldsen was
prevented from executing by his unfortunate entanglement with Signora
d'Uhden, whose fits of jealousy imbittered his life. About this time the
sculptor formed life-long friendships with his German fellow-sculptor,
Rauch, and with Prince Louis of Bavaria, who commissioned him to execute an
Adonis for the Munich Museum, and to restore the Ægean marbles lately
acquired by that prince. Napoleon's visit to Rome in 1811 resulted in a
characteristic order. The Emperor left to Thorvaldsen the choice of the
subject, but gave him only three months' time wherein to finish his models.
The sculptor accordingly executed his colossal frieze presenting the "Entry
of Alexander the Great into Babylon." It remains one of the largest and
most ambitious of Thorvaldsen's works. It was intended for the Temple of
Glory, now the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, and the price stipulated
by Napoleon was 320,000 francs. Before Thorvaldsen could execute the frieze
in marble, Napoleon suffered his reverses and was exiled to Elba. The
Bourbon Government in France refused to take the monument. A replica in
marble now adorns the Palace of Christianborg in Denmark. No less abortive
was Thorvaldsen's undertaking of a great monument intended to commemorate
the re-establishment of Poland. The monument was ordered in 1812, after
Napoleon's entry into Warsaw. By the time the work was finished Poland was
no more. To the year 1815 belong Thorvaldsen's famous bass-reliefs "The
Workshop of Vulcan," "Achilles and Priam," and the two well-known
medallions, "Morning" and "Night," which were reproduced a thousand-fold
throughout Europe. They were conceived, it is said, during a sleepless
night, and were modelled in one day.

Despite the urgent requests of his countrymen, Thorvaldsen would not be
weaned from Rome. About this time Thorvaldsen produced his famous "Dancing
Girl," "Love Victorious," "Ganymede and the Eagle," and "A Young Shepherd
with his Dog." It was then, too, that he modelled the portrait of Lord
Byron which served for the monument subsequently erected to that poet in
the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

[Sidenote: "The Lion of Luzerne"]

[Sidenote: Thorvaldsen in Copenhagen]

At last, after thirty-three years of absence from home, Thorvaldsen
resolved to return to Denmark. On the way he stopped at Luzerne in
Switzerland, and there executed the famous Lion of Luzerne, carved into the
solid rock of the Alps. When he modelled this monument, Thorvaldsen had
never seen a live lion. From Luzerne, Thorvaldsen proceeded straight to
Copenhagen. He was received like a royal sovereign. At Copenhagen the
artist began his great series of sculptural embellishments for the
Cathedral. As completed, they comprised almost all his works on religious
subjects, among them the colossal "Christ and the Twelve Apostles," the
grand frieze of "Christ on the Road to Calvary," "The Baptism of Christ,"
"The Preachings of St. John the Baptist," "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem,"
and "The Lord's Supper." From Copenhagen Thorvaldsen went to Warsaw, where
he executed a bust of Emperor Alexander, and an equestrian statue of Prince
Poniatovski. This monument did not reach Warsaw until 1829. It was never
put up. What became of it is still a matter of conjecture.

[Sidenote: Roman honors]

[Sidenote: Thorvaldsen's friends]

[Sidenote: Sculptures for Germany]

[Sidenote: The Thorvaldsen Museum]

The accidental collapse of Thorvaldsen's studio at Rome, and the damage
done to several of his sculptures there, hastened his return to that city.
On the death of Pope Pius VII., shortly afterward, Thorvaldsen was
commissioned by Cardinal Consalvi to execute a monument to his memory. The
death of Canova having left the Academy of St. Luke without a president,
Pope Leo XII. himself nominated Thorvaldsen as Canova's successor. When
objections were raised that he was a heretic, the Holy Father asked: "Is
there any doubt that Thorvaldsen is the greatest sculptor in Rome?" "The
fact is incontestable," answered the prelates. "Then Thorvaldsen shall be
made president," said Leo XII. The office was held by the Danish sculptor
for the full term of three years, when he was glad to resign it. Just
before the outbreak of the Paris Revolution of 1830, Thorvaldsen was
commissioned to execute a colossal bust of Napoleon I. He entered upon this
task with enthusiasm. During the trying times of the revolution at Rome,
Thorvaldsen formed a close friendship with Horace Vernet, the French
artist, and Felix Mendelssohn, the German composer. Mendelssohn would play
on the piano in Thorvaldsen's studio at Rome, while the sculptor worked on
his models. About this time, too, occurred the famous interview between
Thorvaldsen and Walter Scott. Neither understood the other's language, yet
they took a warm liking to each other. Later, Thorvaldsen modelled a bust
of Sir Walter Scott. Shortly after the Revolution of 1830, the new French
Government of Louis Philippe appointed Thorvaldsen an officer of the Legion
of Honor. At the invitation of King Louis of Bavaria, Thorvaldsen went to
Munich. There he finished his monument to Prince Eugene, the equestrian
statue of Elector Maximilian, and another model of his famous "Adonis,"
ordered by that art-loving King. For the city of Mainz he finished his
model of Gutenberg, for which he refused to receive any pay, while for the
city of Stuttgart he made a monument of Schiller. On Thorvaldsen's return
to Rome, his stay there was brought to an end by an epidemic of cholera.
The government of Denmark sent a royal frigate to Leghorn to bring
Thorvaldsen and all his sculptures back to his native land. Arriving in
Copenhagen, the old artist was received with even greater honor than
before. The Castle of Nysoe was put at his disposal, and there he executed
his last works, among them a statue of himself. In his seventy-second year
he died very suddenly, while attending a performance at the Royal Theatre
at Copenhagen. His obsequies were marked by all the pomp and ceremony due
to a sovereign of Denmark. Four years later, after the completion of the
Thorvaldsen Museum, his remains were laid in the vault that had been
prepared for him there, amid the rich collection of his masterpieces.

[Sidenote: The master's pupils]

As a sculptor, Thorvaldsen's name will always be linked with that of his
great rival and contemporary, Canova. Both sculptors are equally remarkable
for the way they returned to the classic traditions of Hellenic sculpture.
It can be said of them that they bridged the chasm of nearly two thousand
years that had elapsed between antiquity and modern times. It was reserved
to their successors to introduce a modern note in sculpture. Like Canova,
Thorvaldsen exerted great influence on almost all the sculptors who came to
Rome in his day. Thus Rauch declared himself indebted to him for the purity
of his style. From his school in turn issued Riechel of Dresden, Drake,
Wolff and Blauser of Cologne. Among the friends of Thorvaldsen, who
profited by his councils, were Dannecker, Schadow and Schwanthaler. At
Rome, Tenerini, Louis Bienaimé, Pierre Galli and Emile Wolff proved
themselves apt pupils of the Danish master, while, at Copenhagen,
Thorvaldsen's influence was kept alive by Bisson.

[Sidenote: Death of Saint Hilaire]

[Sidenote: Comte]

[Sidenote: Lacordaire]

[Sidenote: "Count of Monte Cristo"]

In France two other great personages of Napoleonic days passed away with
Joseph Bonaparte, the great Napoleon's brother and quondam king of Naples
and Spain, and Jacques Lafitte, Napoleon's banker, to whose honor were
intrusted the millions left behind by Napoleon, when he fled from Paris.
More lamented than their death, perhaps, was that of Etienne Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire, the great French naturalist. Born in 1772, he first came
into prominence as the curator of the wild animals in the Jardin des
Plantes. Here he formed his life-long friendship with Cuvier. General
Bonaparte took him along on the expedition to Egypt, where Saint-Hilaire
helped found the Institute of Cairo. In 1807 he was admitted into the
French Institute, and two years later was appointed Professor of Zoology
and Comparative Physiology in the Faculty of Sciences. This chair he
retained until his death. Starting as a pure zoologist, Saint-Hilaire
became the founder of the science of philosophical anatomy. This new
doctrine was fully expounded in his "Philosophie Anatomique" (1818-1822).
Other important works of Saint-Hilaire were "Histoire Naturelle des
Mammifères," collaborated with Cuvier (1819-1837); "Principes de la
Philosophie Zoologique" (1830), and "Etudes Progressives d'un Naturaliste."
During this same year Comte published his "Discours sur l'Esprit Positive."
Père Lacordaire brought out his "Funeral Orations," while Charles
Lenormais, with others, published the great French work on "Ceramographic
Monuments." Practical effect to the teachings of Saint-Simon, Fourier and
Louis Blanc was given by the establishment of the so-called Crèches, or
infant asylums for the temporary care of children of working mothers. The
greatest literary success of the year was that of Alexandre Dumas's serial
novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo."

[Sidenote: French war with Morocco]

[Sidenote: Hawaiian independence guaranteed]

The foreign affairs of France throughout this year were conducted by
Guizot. As a result of the military occupation of Algiers, war with Morocco
broke out in May. The Prince de Joinville bombarded and captured the
fortified town of Mogador. Marshal Buguead won a signal victory over the
Moors on the banks of Isly. After the defeat of the rebellious subjects of
the Sultan of Morocco, this potentate, Abder Rahman, made common cause with
the French against Abd-el-Kader. A French treaty with China was negotiated
by Guizot in October. In regard to the vexed problem of Tahiti and the
Hawaiian Islands an understanding was reached with the other Powers. Amends
were made to England for the French indignities to the British Consul at
Tahiti, while the independence of Hawaii was guaranteed by a joint
declaration of France, Great Britain and the United States. Toward the
close of the year the uncertainties of government in Spain were once more
made manifest by a military insurrection, headed by General Zurbano.




1845


[Sidenote: Poe's "Raven"]

At the beginning of the year, in America, came a literary sensation of
unwonted brilliancy. In the New York "Evening Mirror," January 29, Edgar
Allan Poe's famous poem "The Raven" was reprinted from the advance sheets
of "The American Whig Review," in which the name of the author was masked
under the pseudonym of "Quarles." The poem was copied all over America and
soon reached England. Baudelaire translated it into French. As Poe's
biographer, Woodberry, has said: "No great poem ever established itself so
immediately, so widely and so imperishably in men's minds." A literary
tradition has it that Poe only received ten dollars for this masterpiece,
and had to wait a year and more for his money.

[Sidenote: Texas annexed to the United States]

[Sidenote: Florida admitted to Union]

[Sidenote: James K. Polk, President]

[Sidenote: Oregon dispute settled.]

War between the United States of North America and Mexico was now seen to
be inevitable. On January 25, a joint resolution for the annexation of
Texas passed through the American House of Representatives by a vote of 120
to 98, and through the Senate by 27 over 25 votes. On March 1, President
Tyler signed the bill. The tactics by which Texas was annexed were similar
to those by which the Missouri Compromise had been forced through Congress
in 1820, and the nullification compromise in 1833. It meant a distinct
gain for the pro-slavery party in the United States, and was denounced as
such by the abolitionists of the North. Both in Mexico and in the United
States active preparations were now made for war. American ships were still
welcomed in the ports of Mexico, the more so since many of them brought
needed munitions of war. In the United States strenuous efforts were made
to settle all pending differences with other countries. In February, Great
Britain had already accepted the forty-ninth parallel as a boundary line
agreeable to the governments of both countries, and soon the Oregon
boundary dispute was likewise settled by treaty. Caleb Cushing's treaty
with China was ratified by the Senate. Florida was admitted into the Union
on March 3, the day before Tyler ceased to be President. James K. Polk
succeeded him as the eleventh President. He had represented Tennessee in
the House for fourteen years, serving twice as Speaker. Having declined the
re-election to Congress, he was chosen Governor of his State. His
nomination to the Presidency had been brought about by accident.
Immediately after his inauguration, Polk appointed James Buchanan as his
Secretary of State. Polk in his inaugural address suggested a settlement of
the Oregon boundary dispute with England on the line of 54° 40'. The
Democratic platform of 1844 had declared: "Fifty-four-forty, or fight." In
other words, both Great Britain and the United States claimed the country
on the Columbia River. When Calhoun proposed a line of boundary along the
forty-ninth degree of latitude, the British Ministry made a counter
proposition, accepting the line to the summit and thence along the Columbia
River to the Pacific. Despite much talk of war, Calhoun's successor in the
end accepted the British proposition of a boundary along the line of forty
degrees, continuing to the ocean.

[Sidenote: Death of Andrew Jackson]

By the aid of the Whig Senators a treaty on this basis was approved by the
Senate. With this question out of the way, the brunt of preparing for war
now fell upon the new administration. Troops were massed within striking
distance, and General Taylor was put in command of the American army. He
proceeded to St. Joseph's Island, and from there crossed over to Corpus
Christi on the mainland, near the mouth of the Neuces. At this point more
troops were concentrated to remain in winter quarters until the opening of
hostilities. On June 8, Andrew Jackson died at "The Hermitage" in
Tennessee. He had lived there quietly ever since his retirement from the
Presidency. One of his last acts was to write a public letter to President
Polk, wherein he urged him to prompt action in the Oregon boundary matter
so as to be ready for decisive measures in Texas.

[Sidenote: Slave trade under ban]

[Sidenote: General Zurbano shot]

The frustration of the British attempt to keep slavery out of Texas was
offset in other directions. A convention was concluded between Ecuador and
Great Britain to suppress slave trading in that region. In Cuba, likewise,
General Concha took measures for the total suppression of the slave trade.
A law was passed making the trade a criminal offence in the Spanish West
Indies. The government of Spain after much reluctance recognized the
independence of Venezuela. Affairs in Spain had taken a new turn. On
January 21, General Zurbano was betrayed into the hands of his enemies and
was shot. The Cortes adopted a reactionary constitution.

[Sidenote: Atrocities in Algiers]

In France, a Liberal majority in the Chambers, after a prolonged struggle,
brought about the expulsion of the Jesuits. In the midst of this movement,
Cavaignac, the great opposition journalist, expired. The French war in
Algeria by this time had degenerated into mere guerilla fighting. The chief
event of the year brought execration upon the arms of France. A tribe of
Kabyles had taken refuge in the caves of Dahra. Unable to dislodge them
from there, General Pelissier gave orders to smoke them out. Some five
hundred of the tribesmen, among them women, children and aged people, were
suffocated.

[Sidenote: Colonial expansion]

[Sidenote: Sikhs belligerent]

Colonial extension in other parts of the world was carried on in like
aggressive manner. Thus a joint expedition of France and Great Britain made
an attack on Tamatave in Madagascar, but failed of success. Another joint
expedition of the two powers forced the Republic of Argentine to concede
free navigation of the La Plata River. From China concessions were wrested
by which Christian missionaries were to be admitted to all of the five
treaty ports. As a consequence of these concessions a virulent hatred of
the foreigners sprang up among the common people of China. In South
Africa, Governor-General Maitland of Cape Colony earned the everlasting
hatred of the Boers by sending out an armed expedition to assist the black
warriors of Griqualand against the Boers. In India, affairs at Lahore had
reached a crisis. There the boy Maharajah, with his regent mother and her
favorite sirdar, Lal Singh, were at the mercy of their Sikh soldiery. To
save themselves they determined to launch their army upon the British.

[Sidenote: John Franklin's Arctic quest]

[Sidenote: Conflagration of Quebec]

[Sidenote: Irish famine]

[Sidenote: Peel's Cabinet resigns]

British enterprise found a vent in other ways beyond colonial conquests. In
the spring of this year Sir John Franklin sailed out once more with the
"Erebus" and "Terror," in quest of the Northwest Passage. The last message
from him was received in July. News also reached England that he had
entered Lancaster Sound, but it was long after that before anything was
heard concerning him. Since then more than thirty Arctic expeditions have
searched in vain for the body of Franklin. About the same time that
Franklin sailed on this expedition, a great fire in Quebec destroyed 1,650
houses, rendering 12,000 people homeless. Just one month later, on June 29,
a second fire destroyed 1,365 houses. Two-thirds of the city was laid in
ashes. Another serious calamity was the Irish famine of this year, caused
by the failure of the potato crop. The distress thus occasioned increased
the agitation against the corn laws. As during the preceding year, great
mass meetings were held in Birmingham and Manchester. Sir Robert Peel,
early in the year, had showed his new leanings toward free trade, by the
introduction of a bill for the abolition of import duties on no less than
four hundred and thirty articles. The government's discrimination in favor
of the duties on sugar provoked a long debate in Parliament. Gladstone
continued to support his old colleagues in the government, while Cobden and
Bright led the opposition on the floor of the House. By the time Parliament
was prorogued in August, the Ministry had won a complete victory. The
spread of the famine during the summer, when almost all harvests failed,
reacted powerfully upon the government. A strong public letter from the pen
of Lord Russell brought the precarious position of the government home to
the Cabinet. Sir Robert Peel admitted the necessity of an absolute repeal
of the corn laws. Rather than confess such a complete change of position,
Peel's Cabinet resigned. Lord Russell was summoned to form a new Cabinet.

[Sidenote: Death of Hood]

[Sidenote: Thomas Hood's Works]

During this interim the practice of duelling in England, but recently
countenanced in the army by the Duke of Wellington, fell under lasting
disfavor by the fatal outcome of an army duel, in which Lieutenant Hawkes
killed Lieutenant Seaton. About the same time occurred the death of Thomas
Hood, the poet and humorist. Born in 1798, as a son of a bookseller, he
soon became a writer. As one of the editors of the "London Magazine," he
moved among all the principal wits of the day. His first book, "Odes and
Addresses to Great People," was written in conjunction with J.H. Reynolds,
his brother-in-law. This was followed by "Whims and Oddities," in prose
and verse; "National Tales," and "The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies," a
book full of imaginative verse. Hood's rich sense of humor found scope in
his "Comic Annual," appearing through ten successive years, and his
collection of "Whimsicalities." Among his minor poems, "The Bridge of
Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt" deserve special mention.

  [Illustration: LORD TENNYSON
    Painted by Frederic Sandys]

[Sidenote: Death of Sydney Smith]

[Sidenote: Pungent satire]

Sir Sydney Smith, the essayist, died shortly before this. Born in 1771, he
studied for orders and became a clergyman. At the opening of the Nineteenth
Century he entered the field of authorship with the publication of "Six
Sermons Preached at Charlotte Chapel." Then came the famous "Letters on the
Catholics, from Peter Plymley to his Brother Abraham." This book
established Sydney Smith's reputation as a satirist. For nearly twenty
years he published no more books, though a constant contributor to the
"Edinburgh Review." Some idea of Sydney Smith's pungent style may be
derived from his famous remarks on England's taxation during the wars with
Napoleon: "The schoolboy," he said, "whips his taxed top; the beardless
youth manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a taxed road; and the
dying Englishman, pouring his medicine which has paid seven per cent, into
a spoon which has paid fifteen per cent, flings himself back upon his
chintz bed which has paid twenty-two per cent, and expires in the arms of
an apothecary, who has paid a license of one hundred pounds for the
privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately
taxed from two to ten per cent. Large fees are demanded for burying him
in the chancel; his virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble,
and then he is gathered to his forefathers to be taxed no more."

[Sidenote: Meagre literary remains]

It was Sydney Smith, too, who asked the famous question: "Who ever reads an
American book?" In 1824 Sydney Smith broke his long silence as an author,
with the fervent pamphlet "The Judge that Smites Contrary to the Law." This
was followed by a long series of open letters on clerical and political
questions of the day. Shortly before his death he brought out a collection
of sermons. A posthumous work was his collection, "Elementary Sketches of
Moral Philosophy." Sydney Smith's case has been held up, together with that
of Swift, as an example of political ingratitude. Despite all his labors
for the Whig cause, but slender recognition was given to him by his
political friends in office. The excuse for not making him a bishop was
that his writings were generally regarded as inconsistent with clerical
decorum. Like Jeffrey, Wilson and other distinguished contributors to
English periodical literature at this time, he left no truly great work to
posterity.

[Sidenote: Elizabeth Fry's work]

Elizabeth Fry, the great English prison reformer, died on October 15. She
it was that improved the condition of women prisoners at Newgate. Later her
influence was apparent in most of the reforms introduced into the jails,
houses of correction, lunatic asylums and infirmaries of England, the
abuses of which were so eloquently voiced by Dickens.

[Sidenote: Peel recalled]

[Sidenote: A premature announcement]

Lord John Russell's attempts to form a new Ministry proved unsuccessful,
largely because Lord Howick--who by the death of his father had become Earl
Grey--refused to join the new Ministry on account of his objections to the
foreign policy of Lord Palmerston. Sir Robert Peel was presently recalled.
All of his colleagues retained their posts, except Lord Stanley, superseded
by Gladstone. Soon after Peel's re-entry into office, the London "Times"
announced that the Cabinet had decided on proposing a measure for the
repeal of the corn laws. This premature announcement was one of the most
startling journalistic achievements of the time. Notwithstanding all the
published denials it was generally believed, and was followed by a great
fall in the price of corn.

[Sidenote: War with Sikhs]

[Sidenote: Moodkee]

[Sidenote: Ferozeshahar]

In the mind of the Ministry, as well as of the country at large, the
threatening state of foreign affairs claimed precedence. In Autumn the Sikh
army of the Khalsa had crossed the Sutlej, to the number of 60,000
warriors, 40,000 armed followers and 150 guns. Sir John Little marched out
of Ferozepore with 10,000 troops and 31 guns to offer battle, but the Sikhs
preferred to surround them. Meanwhile, Sir Hugh Gough and Sir Henry
Hardinge, the new Governor-General, hurried toward the frontier with a
large relieving force. On September 18, they met the army of Lal Singh at
Moodkee and won a slender success. But for the flight of Lal Singh, the
Sikhs might have claimed the victory. The British troops now advanced on
the Sikh intrenchments, Ferozeshahar, where they effected a junction with
Little. On December 21, the British advanced in force, but encountered such
stubborn resistance that the day ended in a drawn battle. Not until after
sunset did Gough's battalions succeed in storming the most formidable of
the Sikh batteries. After a night of horrors the battle was resumed. The
Sikh soldiers, who had risen in mutiny against their own leaders, fell back
and yielded their strong position. The second army of the Sikhs under Tej
Singh came up too late. After a brief artillery engagement, all the Sikh
forces fell back across the Sutlej River.




1846


[Sidenote: Battle of Sobraon]

[Sidenote: End of first Sikh war]

In January, the hostile forces on both sides of the Sutlej River in India
were reinforced. The Sikhs recrossed the river, entered British territory,
and hostilities were renewed. On January 27, Sir Harry Smith defeated a
part of the Sikh forces at Aliwal. The Sikhs threw up intrenchments at
Sobraon. On February 10, the British army advanced to the attack under
Gough and Hardinge. The battle proved one of the hardest fought in the
history of British India. Advancing in line, the British had two battalions
mowed down by the Khalsa guns. Tej Singh broke down the bridge over the
river. After fighting all day, the British at last succeeded in driving the
Sikhs into the Sutlej at the point of the bayonet. The victory was dearly
won. The British losses were 2,000 men, while the Sikhs were said to have
lost 8,000. This practically ended the first Sikh war. The British army
crossed the Sutlej River by means of their pontoons, and, pushing on to
Lahore, there dictated terms of peace. An indemnity of a million and a half
pounds was exacted. It was paid by Gholab Singh, the Viceroy of Cashmere
and Jamu, upon British recognition of his independence of the Sikh
Government at Lahore. The British frontier was extended from the banks of
the Sutlej to those of the Ravi.

[Sidenote: English internal affairs]

[Sidenote: Death of Clarkson]

[Sidenote: Disraeli]

[Sidenote: Repeal of corn laws]

[Sidenote: Fall of Peel's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Richard Cobden's reward]

[Sidenote: Modern progress]

[Sidenote: Astronomical discoveries]

[Sidenote: Sue's "Wandering Jew"]

In England, Sir Henry Hardinge's services in the Sikh war were rewarded by
his elevation to the peerage. The distress of the previous year continued,
owing partly to a commercial panic brought on by overspeculation in
railways, and partly to a repeated failure of the crops. To relieve the
potato famine in Ireland, Parliament voted £10,000,000 for that country. In
the midst of this general distress the twopenny omnibuses made their first
appearance in London, and the first issue of the "Daily News" appeared in
the metropolis. Leigh Hunt brought out his stories from the Italian poets.
Sir Aubrey De Vere, the Irish poet, died in his thirty-ninth year. A few
years before his death he had published his "Song of Faith" and other
poems. A posthumous publication was the poetic drama "Mary Tudor." Thomas
Clarkson, the great anti-slavery advocate of England, died soon afterward,
in his eighty-sixth year. Early during the first Parliamentary session Sir
Robert Peel avowed his complete change of face in regard to the corn laws.
The rage of the protectionists was voiced by Benjamin Disraeli, then known
chiefly as a writer of novels remarkable for the wild exuberance of their
fancy. He denounced Peel as a political trimmer and no more of a statesman
"than a boy who steals a ride behind a carriage is a great whip." Peel, in
speaking for the principle of free trade, declared that England had
received no guarantees from any foreign government that her example would
be followed. Notwithstanding their hostile tariffs, however, he showed that
the value of British exports had increased above £10,000,000 since the
first reductions in the tariffs were made. On June 26, a bill for the total
repeal of the corn laws was at last accepted. It passed through the Commons
by a majority of 98 votes, while in the House of Peers, largely through the
efforts of the Duke of Wellington, a majority of 47 was attained. The wrath
of the defeated protectionists found vent on the same day when another
Irish oppression bill was brought before the House. Lord Bentinck, as the
mouthpiece of the protectionist party, launched forth in vehement invective
against Sir Robert Peel, "his forty paid janizaries, and the seventy other
members who, in supporting him, blazoned forth their own shame." In
conclusion, Lord Bentinck called upon Parliament to "kick the bill and the
Ministry out together," exclaiming, "It is time that atonement should be
made to the betrayed honor of Parliament and of England." After this speech
the Ministry called for a vote of confidence. It was denied by a majority
of 73 votes against the government. On June 29, Sir Robert Peel announced
his resignation. In a final speech he gave all credit for the repeal of the
corn laws to Richard Cobden. A few weeks later a testimonial of £80,000 was
placed at the disposal of Richard Cobden for his eminent services in
promoting the repeal of the corn laws. On July 16, Lord Russell succeeded
Peel as Prime Minister. His Cabinet included the Marquis of Lansdowne,
Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, Earl Granville, Lord Auckland and
Gladstone. The Duke of Wellington was retained in supreme command of the
army. Unlike other heroes, he lived to see several monuments raised to his
fame. Thus the grand Wellington Monument in London, made chiefly from
captured cannon, was erected at the corner of Hyde Park. Otherwise it was a
year of bridge building in England. At Newcastle a high level bridge was
erected, while at Conway and at the Menai Strait work was begun on two of
the greatest tubular bridges of England. In Germany, Schoenbein invented
gun-cotton. About the time of the death of Friedrich Bessel, the great
German astronomer, one of the greatest triumphs of abstract astronomical
reasoning was achieved. In France, Leverrier had worked out the position of
the planet Neptune, finally determining it on September 23. He communicated
this to Johann Gallé at Berlin, who discovered the planet on the same
night. Adams, in England, a few months previous, had made calculations to
the same effect, and communicated with Challis, but owing to delays Challis
did not discover the planet until after Gallé. The Royal Astronomical
Society at London awarded its gold medal to each as equally deserving.
Within a few days after this discovery, on October 10, a satellite of
Neptune was discovered by Laselle. Eugène Sue, moved by the popular
agitation against the Jesuits, wrote his novel of the "Wandering Jew,"
first published in serials.

[Sidenote: Attempts to kill French king]

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon escapes from Ham]

Another attempt to kill King Louis Philippe by one Lecompte in April had
been frustrated by the Guards. On July 29, Joseph Henry risked his life in
the seventh attempt at the assassination of the King. Louis Bonaparte, the
quondam king of Holland, who resigned his throne rather than submit to his
brother Napoleon's demands, died in his sixty-eighth year. His namesake,
Prince Louis Napoleon, imprisoned in the fortress of Ham, succeeded in
making a sensational escape disguised in the garb of a stone mason. Once
more he returned to his exile in England.

[Sidenote: Schleswig-Holstein question]

On July 8, King Christian VIII. of Denmark published an open letter in
which he reasserted the union of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein with
Denmark regardless of the differing systems of succession prevailing in
these provinces. The question of succession was so intricate that the
Chancelleries of Europe despaired of satisfactory solution. Inasmuch as
Schleswig and Holstein had been recognized as German principalities
entitled to representation in the Germanic Confederation, the German people
as such objected to their absolute incorporation with Denmark. The storm
raised over King Christian's letter was such as to forebode no other
settlement than by arms.

[Sidenote: Gioberti]

[Sidenote: Pius IX.]

[Sidenote: Early Papal measures]

Pope Gregory XVI. died at Rome in his eighty-first year. At the time of his
death the Papal prisons were filled with conspirators and reformers, among
whom were some of his best subjects. His death gave new hope to the
followers of Gioberti, whose political dreams depicted a new Italy,
regenerated by the moral force of a reforming Papacy. Austria's candidate
for the Papacy having failed to secure the requisite number of votes in the
College of Cardinals, Mastai Ferretti, Bishop of Imola, was elected, and on
June 17 assumed the title Pius IX. The choice of this popular prelate was
taken to be a tribute to Italian feeling. The first acts of Pio Nono
confirmed this impression. Universal amnesty was extended to political
prisoners. Hundreds of Italian patriots who had been sentenced to
imprisonment for life were set free. When, in addition to this, permission
was given to the citizens of Rome to enroll themselves in the new civic
guard, all Rome gave itself up to popular rejoicings. The climax of
national enthusiasm was reached when the new Pope took occasion to voice a
formal protest against the designs of Austria upon Ferrara.

[Sidenote: Revolt of Cracow]

[Sidenote: Anarchy in Austrian-Poland]

[Sidenote: Cracow incorporated in Austria]

[Sidenote: Tennyson on Poland]

For the time being the Austrian Government was too preoccupied with its
troubles at home to carry its Italian policy to extremes. The Polish
refugees at Paris had long determined to strike another blow for the
freedom of their country. It was arranged that the Polish provinces in
Austria and Prussia should rise and revolt, early during this year, and
extend the revolution to Russian Poland. But the Prussian Government
crushed the conspiracy before a blow was struck. In Austria the attempt was
more successful. Late in February insurrection broke out in the free city
of Cracow. General Collin occupied the city, but his forces proved too
weak. The Polish nobles around Tarnow in Northern Galicia raised the
standard of revolt. Some 40,000 Polish insurgents marched on Cracow. A
severe reverse was inflicted upon them by the government troops. Now the
peasants turned against the nobles, burning down the largest estates and
plunging the country into anarchy. The landowners, face to face with the
humiliating fact that their own tenants were their bitterest foes, charged
the Austrian Government with having instigated a communistic revolt. In a
circular note to the European courts, Metternich protested that the
outbreak of the Polish peasantry was purely spontaneous. A simultaneous
attempt at revolution in Silesia was ruthlessly put down. Austria, Russia
and Prussia now revoked the treaty of Vienna in regard to Poland. Cracow,
which had been recognized as an independent republic, was annexed by
Austria with the consent of Russia and Prussia, and against the protests of
England, France and Sweden. New measures of repression against Polish
national aspirations were taken in Russia. The last traces of Poland were
blotted from the map of nations. It was then that Tennyson wrote his famous
sonnet on Poland:

  "How long, O God, shall men be ridden down,
  And trampled under by the last and least
  Of men? The heart of Poland hath not ceased
  To quiver, tho' her sacred blood doth drown
  The fields, and out of every smouldering town
  Cries to Thee, lest brute Power be increased."

In Russia during this year Otto von Kotzebue, the great navigator and
Arctic explorer, died in his fifty-ninth year.

[Sidenote: Civil war in Portugal]

Almost simultaneously with the attempted revolution of Poland, another
revolt broke out in Portugal. On April 20, the northern provinces rose
against the Ministry of Costa Cabral, the Duke of Tomar. After desultory
fighting, the Duke of Plamella, one of the commanders of the constitutional
army, gave up the struggle. He resigned his post and was banished from the
country. Late in the year the Marquis of Saldanha, with a force of Pedro
loyalists, defeated Count Bonfinn at the Torres Vedras.

[Sidenote: Spanish princesses married]

In Spain, the long-pending diplomatic struggle over the Spanish marriages
culminated, on October 10, in the wedding of Queen Isabella to her cousin,
Don Francisco d'Assisi, Duke of Cadiz. Put forward by France, this prince
was physically unfit for marriage. Simultaneously with the Queen's wedding,
her sister was married to the Duke of Montpensier, the son of Louis
Philippe. Thus the King of France and his Minister, Guizot, had their way.

[Sidenote: Guizot's doubtful success]

Lord Palmerston's candidature of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg for Queen
Isabella's hand was foiled. It proved a doubtful success for France. The
_entente cordiale_ between France and Great Britain was broken. Guizot was
charged in the Chambers with sacrificing the most valuable foreign alliance
for the purely dynastic ambitions of the House of Orleans. Having cut loose
from England, Guizot now endeavored through his diplomatic envoys to form a
new concert of Europe from which England should be left out.

[Sidenote: Oregon treaty signed]

[Sidenote: Rae's Arctic explorations]

Great Britain's diplomatic dispute with America, concerning the
northwestern boundary, was satisfactorily settled by the Oregon treaty,
signed on June 15. Before this a peremptory demand had been put forward by
the American Congress that the joint occupation of Oregon should cease. The
British originally claimed all the territory west of the Rocky Mountains,
from Mexico to Alaska. For years the land was settled jointly. Now the
forty-ninth degree of northern latitude was accepted as the boundary
between British North America and the United States. The Columbia River was
retained by the United States, with free navigation conceded to English
ships, while the seaport of Vancouver, the importance of which was not as
yet recognized, fell to England. The value of this possession was soon
revealed. Agents of the British Hudson's Bay Company selected Victoria, on
the Island of Vancouver, as the most promising British port in the Pacific.
During this same year, Dr. John Rae, by sledge journeys of more than 1,200
miles, explored the northernmost region, Boothia, wherein was determined
the northern magnetic pole.

[Sidenote: Ether in surgery]

[Sidenote: Chloroform]

On October 16, Dr. J.C. Warren of Boston, to whom Drs. Wells and Morton had
communicated their discoveries with sulphuric ether, demonstrated the
potency of the drug in a public test. A severe operation was performed at
the Boston Hospital, in the presence of some of the foremost medical men of
the city, while the patient remained unconscious. The news was heralded
abroad and was received by medical men throughout the world as a new
revelation. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the famous physician and author,
named the new method "Anæsthesia." The credit of the new discovery was
claimed forthwith by several persons--notably by Dr. Charles T. Jackson of
Boston, and Dr. Crawford W. Long of Alabama. A few months after the value
of ether in surgery had come to be clearly recognized, a Scotch surgeon,
Sir J.V. Simpson, discovered that chloroform could be administered with
analogous effect.

[Sidenote: Mexican war begun]

[Sidenote: Mexican success]

[Sidenote: American reverse at Fort Brown]

[Sidenote: Palo Alto]

[Sidenote: Resaca de la Palma]

[Sidenote: Invasion of Mexico]

In the United States, during this period, the long-expected war with Mexico
was well under way. By a joint resolution of Congress, Texas had at last
been admitted into the Union. General Taylor took position in Texas,
opposite Matamoras on the Rio Grande, where the Mexican troops were
gathering. Taylor presently moved his troops to Point St. Isabel. There a
fleet of seven ships brought supplies. Leaving a part of his force there,
he marched to a point on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, where he built
Fort Brown, named after Major Brown, whom he left in command. The ground
was malarious, and many soldiers died of disease. On April 12, the Mexican
general, Ampudia, moved forward with a strong force to drive Taylor beyond
the Rio de la Nueces. Ampudia demanded that Taylor should withdraw within
twenty-four hours, but Taylor refused to leave what he claimed to be the
soil of the United States. Ampudia hesitated, and General Arista was
appointed in his place. Learning that two vessels with supplies for the
Mexicans were about to enter the Rio Grande, Taylor caused the river to be
blockaded, at the "cost of war." Arista prepared to attack Fort Brown, and
cut off communication between Taylor and his supplies. Captain Thornton's
command, sent out to reconnoitre, was captured on April 26. Only Thornton
escaped by leaping his horse over a dense hedge. On May 1, leaving Major
Brown in command at the fort, Taylor made a forced march to Point Isabel.
The Mexicans promptly sent men across the river to the rear of Fort Brown,
and opened fire together with the guns of Matamoras on that work. Major
Brown was first among the killed. Signal guns were fired to recall Taylor.
With 2,300 men he turned back on May 6. Meanwhile, 6,000 Mexicans had
arrived and taken up a strong position at Palo Alto. On the 8th, Taylor
assaulted the superior force confronting him. Two eighteen-pounders and two
light batteries made fearful havoc in the closed ranks of the Mexican
infantry. The prairie grass between the two armies took fire. Both lines
drew back, but soon renewed the fight. Taylor's left was met by cannonade,
but the Mexican column was overthrown and the entire force fell back to
Resaca de la Palma. The Americans took up their march to Fort Brown. When
within three miles of the fort they encountered the Mexicans, strongly
posted in Resaca de la Palma, a ravine three hundred feet wide bordered
with palmetto trees. Taylor deployed a portion of his force as skirmishers,
and a company of dragoons overrode the first Mexican battery. The
Americans then advanced their battery to the crest. A regiment charged in
column, and, joined by the skirmishers, seized the enemy's artillery. After
hard fighting in the chaparral, the Mexicans were put to flight. The
Mexicans lost one thousand men, the Americans conceded but one hundred.
Refusing an armistice, Taylor crossed the river on May 18, and unfurled the
Stars and Stripes on Mexican territory. Another attempted stand of the
Mexicans resulted in worse defeat. Arista's retreat became a rout. Of 7,000
men he brought only 2,500 to Linares. The American troops occupied
Matamoras, Reinosa and Camargo. The three States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila
and Nuevo Leon were annexed to the territory of the Rio Grande. In the
interior of Mexico a revolution broke out. General Paredes was made
President.

[Sidenote: Kearney annexes New Mexico]

[Sidenote: Fremont in California]

In July, Colonel Philip Kearney, with an American force, marched unopposed
from the Arkansas River and took possession of Santa Fé. On August 1, he
annexed the State of New Mexico as a Territory of the United States. In
May, Captain John C. Fremont, in charge of an exploring expedition in the
South, received a message from Secretary of State Buchanan and Senator
Benton, whose daughter he had married, suggesting that he should remain in
California. Fremont took the hint and returned to Sacramento. There he
learned that the Mexican commander was about to take the offensive. He at
once assumed command of the American forces, and on June 15 captured
Sonoma. Meanwhile Commodores Sloat and Stockton took possession of the
coast towns as far as Los Angeles, and, on August 13, held Monterey, the
capital of California. Fremont set up a provisional government, placing
himself at the head. In the meantime, the United States had sent a company
of artillery, which took two hundred days in making the journey around the
Horn. Among its members were three future heroes of the American Civil
War--Lieutenants Sherman, Halleck and Ord.

[Sidenote: Tardy declaration of war]

The news of these events did not reach Washington until after Congress had
declared war on April 26, authorized a call for 50,000 volunteers, and made
an appropriation of $10,000,000. Three hundred thousand volunteers
responded. Of these some 75,000 were enrolled with the regular army of
40,000. President Polk, on May 11, sent to Congress an aggressive measure,
announcing that war existed by the act of Mexico. On May 23, Mexico made
her formal declaration of war. General Taylor, with the army of occupation,
was ordered to seize and hold points on the Rio Grande.

[Sidenote: Assault of Monterey]

[Sidenote: Hoffman's stanzas]

[Sidenote: Long armistice]

General Taylor waited at Matamoras until September 19, when, having been
joined by General Worth, he encamped with 6,000 men within three miles of
Monterey, a strongly fortified place, ninety miles distant from Matamoras.
On the north, Monterey was protected by a strong citadel, with lunettes on
the east, and by two fortified hills on either side of the river just above
the town. Worth's division planted itself above the city on the Mexican
line of retreat. Garland's brigade, advancing between the citadel and the
first lunette, reached the city with heavy loss. After three companies had
failed to move to Garland's support, two other companies passed to the rear
of the citadel and compelled the Mexicans to abandon that point. An attempt
on the second lunette failed with heavy loss to the Americans. The next
morning Worth endeavored to capture the fortified eminence south of the
river. The Americans advanced in the face of a plunging artillery fire. A
host of skirmishers clambered over the parapet and turned its guns on the
fleeing Mexicans, and, with two supporting regiments moving along the
slope, drove the Mexicans out of Fort Saldado. At daybreak the hill on the
north side of the river was carried. These positions commanded the western
half of the city. On the morning of the 23d, the American troops fought
their way in, but were driven out again. Worth's men then pushed into the
town from the west, and finding the streets swept by artillery, broke into
the houses. On the next morning, September 24, Ampudia capitulated. The
capture of Monterey inspired the American poet, Charles F. Hoffman, to a
song modelled after the famous St. Crispin's Day speech in Shakespeare's
"King Henry V.":

  We were not many--we who stood
    Before the iron sleet that day;
  Yet many a gallant spirit would
  Give half his years if he but could
    Have been with us at Monterey.

  Our banners on those turrets wave,
    And there our evening bugles play;
  Where orange-boughs above their grave
  Keep green the memory of the brave
    Who fought and fell at Monterey.

An armistice of eight weeks was agreed upon. The armistice was disapproved
by the American Secretary of War, and, in November, General Scott was
ordered to take command and conduct the war on his own plans.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Mexico]

In Mexico, General Paredes, who favored the restoration of monarchical
rule, was opposed by General Alvarez in the south. When Paredes left the
capital to go to the front, revolution broke out behind him. Don Mariano
Solas, the commandant of the City of Mexico, summoned to his aid General
Santa Anna. On his arrival this popular general, but recently banished from
the capital, was hailed as the saviour of his country and was invested with
the supreme military command. Paredes went into exile. Santa Anna, after
inexplicable delay, raised war funds to the amount of six million dollars,
and advanced toward San Luis Potosi. There the "Napoleon of the West," as
they called him in Mexico, wasted more precious months.

[Sidenote: Howe's sewing machine]

[Sidenote: Iowa becomes a State]

On the American side, too, little was done. On August 8, the Wilmot Proviso
was considered. It was a proviso to the $2,000,000 bill asked by the
President to arrange peace with Mexico, and it declared it to be "an
express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from
Mexico, that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist
therein." August 10 the proviso came up for final passage, but John Davis
of Massachusetts, in order to defeat action on the bill, held the floor
till the session expired. Congress adjourned on that day. Great agitation
prevailed in the North over the defeat of this proviso. The Democrats lost
their majority in the Twenty-ninth Congress, owing to the new tariff and
the predominance of pro-slavery issues in the war. Polk had but 110 votes
against 118 when the new Congress met. Now the new tariff went into effect.
Howe, the American inventor, secured a patent for an improvement in
sewing-machines, which embodied the main features of the machine used at
present; to wit, a grooved needle provided with an eye near its point, a
shuttle operating on the side of the cloth opposite the needle to form a
lockstitch, and an automatic feed. On December 28, Iowa was admitted to the
Union as the twenty-ninth State.




1847


[Sidenote: Santa Anna's advance]

[Sidenote: Buena Vista]

General Winfield Scott reached the harbor of Vera Cruz in January, and
assumed command of all the American forces. He took with him the best
officers and troops on the field of action, and left Taylor with only 5,200
men, most of whom were volunteers. Santa Anna, who had gathered 12,000 men
eager to be led against the Americans, was approaching Saltillo. Leaving
Monterey on January 31, Taylor reached Saltillo on February 2, and passed
on to Aqua Nueva, twenty miles south of Saltillo, where he remained three
weeks. Thence he fell back to a mountain gorge opposite Buena Vista. On
February 22, his troops and those of Santa Anna were within sight of each
other. Under a flag of truce, Santa Anna demanded Taylor's surrender, which
was refused. The famous battleground, taking its name from the estate of
Buena Vista, is a rugged valley from two to five miles wide, between rocky
walls a thousand feet high. The slopes on either side are cut by deep
ravines. Taylor placed his forces in groups on the crests of the bluffs, at
the base of the eastern mountain, and in the southern edge of the plateau.
The Mexican troops attempted to flank his position, but were driven off.
The Mexican cavalry were sent to Taylor's rear to intercept the American
retreat, but they were beaten back after a fierce hand-to-hand fight, led
by Taylor himself. Santa Anna made his first attack in three columns. Two
of these combined and turned the American left. The third, thrown against
the American right, was forced to retreat, the Americans having formed a
new front. Again the Mexicans sought to gain Taylor's rear, but with two
regiments supported by artillery and dragoons, the American commander drove
them back, firing into their heavy mass.

[Sidenote: Taylor's order to Bragg]

[Sidenote: Conflicting claims of victory]

At one point in the engagement, an Indiana regiment, through a mistaken
order, gave way, thereby placing the American army in peril. But the
Mississippians and the Kentuckians threw themselves forward; the Indiana
troops rallied, and the Mexicans were repulsed. General Taylor, standing
near Captain Bragg's battery, saw signs of wavering in the enemy's line.
"Give them a little more grape, Captain Bragg," he exclaimed--a command
which was repeated all over the United States during the political campaign
two years later. The Mexican column broke, and Taylor drove it up the slope
of the eastern mountain. By means of a false flag of truce the endangered
wing, however, escaped. Santa Anna, forming his whole force into one
column, advanced. The Americans fell back, holding only the northwest
corner of the plateau. When morning broke, the enemy had disappeared. The
Mexican loss was 2,000, that of the Americans 746. Henry Clay, a son of the
Kentucky statesman, as he lay wounded, was despatched by a Mexican
vacquero. Colonel Jefferson Davis commanded with distinction a regiment of
Mississippi riflemen. Buena Vista was Taylor's last battle. Its fame was
heralded throughout America. Both sides claimed the victory. The Mexicans
chanted Te Deums. In the United States the poet Kifer sang:

    From the Rio Grande's waters to the icy lakes of Maine,
    Let us all exult! for we have met the enemy again.
  Beneath their stern old mountains we have met them in their pride,
  And rolled from Buena Vista back the battle's bloody tide;
  Where the enemy came surging swift, like the Mississippi's flood,
  And the reaper, Death, with strong arms swung his sickle red with blood.

After the battle of Buena Vista, General Taylor returned to the United
States, his task finished. The exploit shed such lustre on his name that he
was soon regarded as the fittest candidate for the Presidency.

[Sidenote: San Juan d'Ulloa captured]

[Sidenote: Battle of Cerro Gordo]

[Sidenote: American advance into Mexico]

In March, Scott's army of 12,000 landed at Vera Cruz. After four days'
bombardment by land and water, the city and castle of San Juan d'Ulloa
surrendered. General Worth was left in command at Vera Cruz, and Scott
started on his march to the City of Mexico, two hundred miles away. Santa
Anna, with the flower of his army, awaited him in the strong position of
Cerro Gordo, fifty miles northwest. General Twiggs turned the Mexican left
flank. On the following morning, April 18, the Americans attacked in three
columns. Pellow advanced against the Mexican right, where three hills at an
angle in the road were crowned with batteries. Shields' division, climbing
by a pass, fell upon Santa Anna's right and rear. Twiggs and Worth,
bearing to the right, covered the El Telegrafo Hill, and attacked the
height of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna commanded in person. Carrying this
position, they turned its guns on the retreating Mexicans. Caught between
the columns of Pellow, Twiggs and Worth, Santa Anna's forces surrendered.
The American troops thus gained the national road to the capital of Mexico.
They had made 3,000 prisoners and taken forty-three cannon, with $22,000 in
silver and immense munitions of war. They lost, at Cerro Gordo, 481 killed
and wounded; the Mexican loss was 2,000. Jalapa was occupied on April 19,
and on the 22d the American flag waved above the Castle of Perote, fifty
miles beyond. Puebla, containing 80,000 inhabitants, was occupied without
opposition on May 15. On account of the sufferings of the men in the hot
climate, General Scott rested at Puebla for several months.

[Sidenote: Doniphan's exploit]

The authority of the United States was established on the Pacific Coast,
after a final defeat of the Mexicans at San Gabriel. Colonel Doniphan of
Kearney's command, having been left in charge in New Mexico, compelled the
Navajo Indians to enter into a treaty of peace, after which he set out with
1,000 Missourians to join General Wool. At Bracto, a Mexican commander with
a superior force sent a black flag demanding his surrender. On refusal of
this summons notice was given that no quarter should be granted. The
Mexicans then advanced firing; the Americans lying down to escape the
bullets. Cheering, the Mexicans ran forward, when suddenly Doniphan's
command rose and fired, killing more than 200 Mexicans. The rest turned and
fled. Near the capital of Chihuahua, Doniphan, after a sharp encounter,
dispersed 4,000 Mexicans. The Stars and Stripes were raised above the
citadel. In May, Doniphan rejoined Wool at Saltillo. Then followed a long
lull in the Mexican campaign.

[Sidenote: Slavery controversy revived]

The question concerning the power of the American Congress to legislate on
slavery again came up in connection with the bill for the establishment of
the Oregon Territorial government. In February Calhoun had introduced his
new slavery resolution, declaring the Territories to be the common property
of all the States, and denying the right and power of Congress to prohibit
slavery in any Territory. Thus began the agitation which led to the
abrogation of the Missouri Compromise. By the terms of an amendment offered
for the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean,
slavery was to be excluded from all future territory in the West. This
amendment was lost, but the bill passed with another, incorporating the
anti-slavery clause of the ordinance of 1787. Calhoun declared that the
exclusion of slavery from any Territory was a subversion of the Union, and
proclaimed "the separation of the Northern and Southern States complete."

[Sidenote: John Franklin's career]

[Sidenote: Long overland journey]

[Sidenote: The Northwest Passage]

In British North America a new era of home rule began after the Earl of
Elgin took his oath as Governor-General of Canada in January. The imperial
government abandoned all control over the customs of Canada. The building
of the first great Canadian railroad was begun on the main line of the
Grand Trunk system. Discouraging reports from the extreme northern regions
of America at last confirmed the impression that Sir John Franklin, with
the other members of his expedition, had perished in the Arctic regions. A
romantic naval career was thus brought to a close. Born in 1786, John
Franklin entered the British navy at the age of fourteen as a midshipman,
and soon saw his first active service at the battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
In the following year he was taken on his first trip of exploration to
Australia by his cousin, Captain Flinders of the "Investigator." In 1818 he
was a member of an expedition sent out by the British Government to attempt
a passage to India by crossing the Polar Sea. His bold seamanship during
this voyage brought him into such prominence that during the next year he
was appointed by the Admiralty to command an expedition to travel overland
from Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Ocean. During the course of this expedition
he and his companions walked 5,560 miles and endured many hardships, of
which Franklin wrote a thrilling narrative on his return to England in
1822. He then married Eleanor Porden, the author of the heroic poem
"Coeur de Lion." In 1825 he was appointed to the command of another
overland Arctic expedition. When the day of his departure arrived, his wife
was dying of consumption. Lying at the point of death as she was, she would
not let him delay his voyage, and gave him for a parting gift a silk flag
to hoist when he reached the Polar Sea. On the day after Franklin left
England she died. When he returned again he was knighted and showered with
honors by various scientific societies of England and France. After serving
as Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir John, in 1845, was appointed an
admiral, and then another Arctic expedition to discover the Northwest
Passage was organized. He sailed from Sheerness on May 26, 1845, and was
last seen by a whaler in Baffin's Bay. Many years later a record was found
on the northwest shore of King William's Land, announcing that Sir John
Franklin died in the spring of 1847, and that the survivors of his
expedition had attempted to make their way back on the ice to the American
continent. To Sir John Franklin belongs the honor of the first discovery of
the northwest passage leading from Lancaster Sound to Behring Strait.

[Sidenote: O'Connell's last speech]

[Sidenote: Death of O'Connell]

On February 8, Daniel O'Connell, the great Irish Parliamentary leader, made
his last speech in the English House of Commons. The question on which he
spoke was a proposed bill for the relief of famine in Ireland: "I am
afraid," he said, in the course of this address, "that the English people
are not sufficiently impressed with the horrors of the situation in
Ireland. I do not think they understand the accumulated miseries which my
people are suffering. It has been estimated that 5,000 adults and 10,000
children have already died from famine, and that one-fourth of the whole
population must perish unless something is done." Failing in health
himself, O'Connell went to Italy. At Rome, Pope Pius IX. prepared a
magnificent reception for him. Before he could reach the Eternal City,
O'Connell died in his seventy-second year. Lacordaire, who but shortly
before this had pronounced his greatest of funeral orations over the bier
of General Drouot, thus spoke of O'Connell: "Honor, glory and eternal
gratitude for the man who gave to his country the boon of liberty of
conscience. Where is a man in the Church since the time of Constantine who
has at one stroke enfranchised six millions of souls?" When the body of
O'Connell was buried at Glasnevin, it was followed to the grave by fifty
thousand mourners, among whom Orangemen and Ribbonmen walked side by side.
In England, O'Connell's death was regarded with a feeling akin to relief.
There his persistent demands of "justice for Ireland" had come to be
regarded with derision, bringing him the nickname of "Big Beggarman."

[Sidenote: Death of Thomas Chalmers]

[Sidenote: "Vanity Fair"]

[Sidenote: "Jane Eyre"]

[Sidenote: Jenny Lind]

Another spirit that won religious renown in England passed away with Thomas
Chalmers, the great Scotch divine. As a teacher of theology at Edinburgh he
wrote no less than twenty-five volumes, the most famous of which is his
"Evidences of the Christian Revelations," a reprint of his article on
"Christianity" contributed to the "Encyclopedia Britannica." In other
respects it was a notable year for English letters. Charles Dickens had
just published his famous stories "Dombey and Son" and "The Haunted Man."
The success of these novels was surpassed by that of Thackeray's "Vanity
Fair." Three writers now made their appearance. Anthony Trollope brought
out his "MacDermotts of Ballycoran"; Emily Brontë published her first
novel, "Wuthering Heights," while her sister, Charlotte Brontë, at the same
time achieved an immense success with her story of "Jane Eyre." These
successes were more than rivalled by that of Jenny Lind, the great soprano
singer, who made her first appearance in London during this season. Another
event for intellectual England was the sale at auction of Shakespeare's
house at Stratford. It was acquired by a united committee of Shakespeare
lovers for the sum of £3,000.

[Sidenote: Jewish disabilities reconfirmed]

The oft-mooted question of the civil disabilities of the Jews in England
was brought up again by the election of Baron Rothschild as a member of
Parliament for London, together with Lord John Russell. The Premier, whose
name was already identified with the cause of civil and religious liberty,
made another strong effort to obtain the recognition of his colleague's
claim to his seat. He was supported in this not only by most of the Whigs
in the House of Commons, but also by three such prominent men of the
opposition as Lord Bentinck, Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, himself of
Jewish lineage. As heretofore, this proposed reform was accepted by the
Commons only to be rejected by the Lords, now installed in their new House
of Peers. Otherwise, Lord Russell's Ministry followed largely in the
footsteps of their immediate predecessors. Palmerston pursued his wonted
vigorous foreign policy.

[Sidenote: Don Pacifico affair]

[Sidenote: British retaliation]

[Sidenote: Palmerston obdurate]

It had been customary in Greek towns to celebrate Easter by burning an
effigy of Judas Iscariot. This year the police of Athens were ordered to
prevent this performance, and the mob, disappointed of their favorite
amusement, ascribed the new orders to the influence of the Jews. The house
of one Don Pacifico, a Portuguese Jew of Gibraltar, happened to stand near
the spot where the Judas was annually burned. Don Pacifico was known to be
a Jew, and the anger of the mob was wreaked upon him accordingly. On April
4, his house was sacked. Don Pacifico made a claim against the Greek
Government for compensation. He estimated his losses, direct and indirect,
at nearly £32,000. Another claim was made at the same time by another
British subject, Finlay, the historian of Greece. The Greek Government,
which was all but bankrupt, was dilatory in settling these claims. A
British fleet was ordered to the Piræus. It seized all the Greek vessels
belonging to the government and to private merchants that were found within
those waters. The Greek Government appealed to France and Russia as Powers
joined with England in the treaty to protect the independence of Greece.
France and Russia both made bitter complaint of not having been consulted
in the first instance by the British Government, nor was their feeling
softened by Lord Palmerston's peremptory reply that it was all a question
between England and Greece. It was on this occasion that Palmerston made
the famous speech harking back to the sentiment expressed in the old Roman
boast "Civis Romanus Sum."

[Sidenote: Troubles in China]

[Sidenote: Bogue forts recaptured]

[Sidenote: A Chinese protest]

Next, new troubles arose with China. During the previous year riots broke
out in Canton, by reason of a superstitious belief that a weather-vane on
top of the flagstaff over the American Consulate interfered with the
spirits of the air. A Chinaman was shot during the riots. The British had
to interfere on behalf of the threatened Americans. The outraged feelings
of the Chinese populace were allayed by a conciliatory declaration of
Emperor Taouk-Wang, to the effect that the Christian religion could be
commended as a faith for inculcating the principles of virtue. At the same
time he sent a special commissioner, Ke-Ying, "amicably to regulate the
commerce with foreign merchants at Canton." Trouble again broke out in
March, when a small English hunting and fishing party violated the
agreement confining them to the foreign concession at Canton. They were
pelted with stones by the natives. Sir John Davis denounced this incident
as international outrage, and, in disregard of the accepted treaty
provisions, proclaimed "that he would exact and acquire from the Chinese
Government that British subjects should be as free from molestation and
insult in China as they would be in England." On April 1, all the available
forces at Hong Kong were summoned to Canton. Three steamships, bearing two
regiments of soldiers, convoyed by a British man-of-war, attacked the Bogue
forts. The Chinese, acting under orders from Ke-Ying, made no resistance. A
British landing force seized the batteries and spiked the guns. Next, the
forts opposite Canton were captured without a blow. Without a shot fired,
Canton, on April 3, lay at the mercy of the British guns. Ke-Ying accepted
the British ultimatum that the whole city of Canton should be opened to
Englishmen two years from date. The agreement was closed with this
significant statement on behalf of the Chinese Emperor: "If mutual
good-will is to be maintained between the Chinese and foreigners, the
common feelings of mankind, as well as the just principles of heaven, must
be considered and conformed with."

[Sidenote: Nicaragua coerced]

[Sidenote: Threatened intervention in Portugal]

A new phase in Great Britain's boundary dispute with Nicaragua was reached
by a British squadron's abrupt seizure of the harbor of San Juan del Norte,
Nicaragua's only seaport on the Atlantic coast. In regard to the demands
made for the free navigation of the La Plata River, the Argentine Republic
at last came to terms. The joint squadrons of England and France thereupon
raised their blockade of Buenos Ayres. At London a conference of English
and French statesmen, to which Spain was likewise admitted, had come to an
agreement to interfere on behalf of Queen Maria II., in Portugal. When this
was made known, Bandiera, one of the chief partisans of Dom Pedro,
announced his submission. Nonetheless, Pedro's followers persevered, and on
June 26 the Junta at Oporto had to capitulate to Pedro's army.

[Sidenote: German Parliamentary essays]

[Sidenote: Schleswig-Holstein issue]

In Germany, in the meanwhile, the agitation for Parliamentary government
steadily gained ground. In Bavaria, where King Louis's open liaison with
the dancer Lola Montez had turned his subjects against him, the deputies
of the Landtag exerted their power to abolish the crown lotteries by a
unanimous vote. In Prussia, King Frederick William IV. at last issued his
long-promised summons for a united provincial Diet. A semblance of
representative government was established. It was at this time that
Frederick William became Elector of Hesse-Cassel. The agitation for a
representative government grew. On September 12, the Liberals held a
meeting at Orthenburg. Within a month the Constitutional party met at
Heppenheim, in Hesse. At length a united Prussian Parliament, called the
Landtag, was convoked at Berlin. The first question to claim the attention
of this Parliament was that of Schleswig-Holstein. The gauntlet recently
flung down to the German population of Schleswig and Holstein, by King
Christian VIII. of Denmark, was picked up not only by the anti-Danish
Holsteiners, but by the whole German nation as well. Little Schleswig, with
its 160 square miles and 400,000 inhabitants, was claimed by every German
as German borderland. King Christian at this time was failing in health.
His condition had been aggravated by the recent great fire at Copenhagen,
which, amid other costly properties, destroyed invaluable records of
Icelandic literature, including more than 2,000 unpublished manuscripts.

[Sidenote: Death of Mendelssohn]

[Sidenote: "Songs Without Words"]

An event of like international importance was the death of Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, at the age of thirty-eight. He was the grandson of
the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and the son of the gifted Lea
Solomon-Bartholdy, from whom he received his first piano lessons. At the
age of ten he joined the Singing Academy of Berlin, where a composition of
his, the "Nineteenth Psalm," was performed shortly after his entry. In 1825
his father took him to Paris to consult Cherubini, as to his future.
Cherubini offered to take him as a pupil, but his father preferred to bring
him up in the musical atmosphere of his own home. There the boy perfected
himself as a piano player and wrote a host of early compositions. The
overture to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was written in 1826, when
Mendelssohn was but seventeen years old. Two years later his first opera,
"The Marriage of Camècho," was given at the Berlin Opera. In Berlin,
Mendelssohn became the leading figure in the propaganda for the music of
Bach. Having undertaken a journey to England, at the suggestion of
Moscheles, he gave a series of concerts there, after which he travelled
throughout Europe. It was at this time that he wrote his "Songs Without
Words," and composed the overture, "A Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage."
After filling a musical directorship at Düsseldorf, he was summoned to
conduct the orchestra of the Gewandhaus there. This proved an important
turn in his career. In 1841, Frederick William IV. of Prussia invited him
to Berlin, where he organized the famous Cathedral choir. Returning to
Leipzig, he founded the musical conservatory in that city. The sudden death
of his favorite sister, Fannie, gave him such a shock that he died within a
few months after her. Mendelssohn exerted little influence as an operatic
composer, but achieved the highest rank by such vocal compositions as the
oratorios "St. Paul" and "Elijah," and some of his beautiful songs, which
have become folksongs. Of his orchestral pieces, the most famous are his
concert overtures, such as that of the "Midsummer Night's Dream," or "Ruy
Blas," and his "Funeral March." The most celebrated of his piano pieces are
the popular "Songs Without Words," the "Wedding March" and the brilliant
"Rondo Capriccioso."

[Sidenote: Death of Marilhat]

[Sidenote: Gautier on Marilhat]

By the death of Prosper Marilhat, a young artist of great promise was lost
to France. But a few years before, Marilhat sent no less than eight
masterpieces to the Salon, but they were received so coldly that the young
artist fell into a state from which death was a happy deliverance.
Théophile Gautier wrote of him, "That exhibition was Marilhat's swan song,
and the works he sent were eight diamonds." After Marilhat's death, some of
his unfinished paintings commanded great prices. Thus his "Entrance to
Jerusalem," at the Wertheimer sale at Paris in 1861, fetched 16,000 francs.
Fifteen years later, at the Oppenheim sale in Paris, Marilhat's "Ruins Near
Cairo" brought no less than 29,000 francs. It was as a painter of Oriental
subjects that Marilhat won his most lasting distinction. Having travelled
to the East with Baron Hugel, he remained for many years in Egypt, painted
portraits of the Khedive and decorated several of the buildings of
Alexandria. In an obituary article published in the "Revue des Deux
Mondes," Théophile Gautier wrote: "Marilhat was a Syrian Arab. He must
have had in his veins some blood of the Saracens whom Charles Martel did
not kill.... One of the glories of Marilhat was that he preserved his
originality in presence of Decamps. The talents of these two men are
parallel lines, it is true, but they do not touch each other. The more
fruitful fancy of the one is balanced by the character in the works of the
other."

[Sidenote: Death of Oudinot]

[Sidenote: Death of Grouchy]

[Sidenote: Death of Marie Louise]

[Sidenote: Mérimée and Dumas]

In France the dissatisfaction with Louis Philippe's government, as
administered by Guizot, was steadily increasing. The Socialist party, led
by Louis Blanc, agitated the country for reform. An appeal to Revolutionary
traditions was made by the simultaneous publication of Blanc's and
Michelet's histories of the French Revolution. At the same time, Lamartine
brought out his "Histoire des Girondins." Napoleonic traditions were
revived by a series of events following the death of General Drouot. In
September came the death of Marshal Oudinot, the hero of Bitche,
Moorlautern, Trêves, Ingolstadt, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Ostralenka,
Friesland and Wagram. Oudinot was wounded innumerable times and was twice
made a prisoner. He bore a prominent part throughout the Russian campaign
and that of 1814. During the Hundred Days he remained in retirement. For
this he was made Commander-in-chief of the National Guards under the
Restoration, and passed through the campaign of Spain in 1823, when he
captured Madrid. After his death, Marshal Soult, another veteran of the
Napoleonic wars, succeeded him as general commander of the French army.
Before this, Marshal Grouchy had likewise expired in his eighty-first year.
He it was who was held responsible by Napoleon for the final crushing
defeat at Waterloo. There he failed to support his chief, when Blücher came
to the support of Wellington. To the end of his days, Grouchy insisted that
Napoleon's orders to this effect never reached him, but it was held up
against him that some of his officers on that occasion had vainly urged him
to march on the sound of the cannons at Waterloo. On October 10, Jerome
Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother and the quondam king of Westphalia, was
permitted to return to France after an exile of thirty-two years. Late in
the year, ex-Empress Marie Louise, Napoleon's second wife, died at the age
of fifty-six in Austria. Never beloved like her predecessor Josephine, she
lost the esteem of all Frenchmen by her failure to stand by her husband
after his downfall and exile to St. Helena, and by her subsequent liaison
with her chamberlain, Neipperg, to whom she bore several children. Other
events of lasting interest in France, during this year, were the opening of
the great canal from Marseilles to Durano, the death of Duc de Polignac,
who helped cause the downfall of his royal master Charles X., and the
publication of Mérimée's "Carmen" and of "Aventures de Quatre Femmes et
d'un Perroquet," by the younger Dumas.

[Sidenote: Austrians occupy Ferrara]

[Sidenote: Italy aroused]

Under the stimulus of Pius IX.'s apparent sympathy for the cause of
national unity in Italy, as well as that of the teachings of Mazzini, the
Italian patriots took heart again. One group, consisting mostly of the
politicians and military men of Piedmont, centred their hopes in the
traditional antagonism of the princes of Savoy against Austria. Charles
Albert of Carrignano, whom Metternich had attempted to exclude from the
succession, showed marked independence in his dealings with Austria. In
1847, the Italian question came uppermost again when the Austrian
Government, on a new interpretation in one of the clauses in the treaty of
Vienna, occupied the town of Ferrara in the ecclesiastical states. Pius IX.
promptly protested against this trespass of his territories. The King of
Sardinia openly announced his intention to take the field against Austria,
should war break out. English and French warships appeared at Naples. In
Sicily and southern Italy the attitude of the patriots grew threatening.
Apprehensions of a general revolution throughout Italy at length induced
Metternich to agree with the neutral powers on a compromise concerning the
occupation of Ferrara. Lucca was united with Tuscany. Still patriotic
passion seethed in Italy.

[Sidenote: Mexican campaigns resumed]

[Sidenote: Santa Anna outflanked]

In America, after several months of comparative inaction, the war in Mexico
was renewed with vigor. On August 6, General Scott received reinforcements.
Leaving a governor at Puebla, he marched on with 14,000 men. He met with no
resistance at the passes of the Cordilleras. On August 10, from the top of
the Rio Frio Mountains, the City of Mexico, lying in a fertile, lake-dotted
basin, was in sight. The land around the city was under water, and the
capital was approached by causeways across the low and marshy ground. The
numerous rocky hills were all fortified. Scott passed around Lake Chalco to
the southwest, and thence moved west skirting the south shore. Santa Anna,
intercepting the Americans, took up his headquarters at San Antonio, five
miles from the city. His position was flanked on the west by broken lava,
and on the east by marshy ground. The ground was as bad as could well be
encountered. Santa Anna sent orders to General Valencia, who held a
fortified hill in front of the Americans, to spike his guns, destroy his
stores and retreat, but Valencia refused. Riley, occupying a hill in his
rear, took his intrenchments in reverse. He was cut off both north and
south; 2,000 of his force were killed and wounded; a thousand with four
generals were captured, and guns, stores and ammunition fell into the hands
of the Americans.

[Sidenote: Battle of Contreras]

The divisions of Pellow and Twiggs were ordered, August 19, to storm
Contreras. The line between that position and Santa Anne's reserves was cut
at the close of the day, and General Persifer F. Smith at sunrise the next
morning led an assault on the Mexican camp, and in less than half an hour
drove 6,000 Mexicans out of the fortification. Shortly afterward General
Worth attacked Santa Anna and routed the garrison.

[Sidenote: Churubusco]

The Americans followed to Churubusco on the road to the capital, where
Santa Anna had concentrated his whole force. Here the river was protected
by levees, the head of the bridge strongly fortified, and the stone convent
surrounded by a strong field-work. The attack on the bridge and the
convent was desperate. Pierce and Shields had made a detour to the main
road in the rear of Churubusco. They struck the Mexican reserves, and all
the troops on both sides were engaged. Worth and Pellow carried the bridge
in time to save Pierce and Shields. The Mexican left gave way. A detachment
crossed the river and threatened the bridge from the rear. Worth threw his
whole force upon the broken line. Through ditches and over parapets they
went with a rush, and the battle was won. The Americans lost a thousand men
and seventy-six officers.

[Sidenote: Santa Fé captured]

[Sidenote: Mexican reverses]

General Kearney had left Fort Leavenworth in the spring of 1847. To him
fell the task of conquering New Mexico and California. On August 18, Santa
Fé was captured, and all New Mexico submitted. From Santa Fé, Kearney, with
400 dragoons, set off for California. Kit Carson, whom he met on the road,
informed him that Colonel Fremont had conquered California. On learning
this Kearney sent back most of his force, and with the few remaining pushed
on to the coast. In the five distinct victories thus far gained over the
Mexican army of 80,000, scarcely 10,000 Americans had been engaged, 4,000
Mexicans had been killed and wounded, and 3,000 made prisoners, and
thirty-seven pieces of artillery were captured.

[Sidenote: Another armistice]

Scott again made overtures for peace. He had with him a government
commissioner, Trist, who had already made a vain effort to secure peace.
Scott accordingly advanced to Tecubaya within three miles of the capital,
and on August 21 sent to Santa Anna a proposition for an armistice looking
to negotiations for peace. The proposition was accepted, and Trist entered
the capital on the 24th, where he remained until September 5. He reported
that the American proposition had not only been rejected, but that Santa
Anna had improved the armistice to strengthen the city's defences. Scott
instantly declared the armistice at an end.

[Sidenote: Molino del Rey]

Scott had now 8,500 men and 68 guns. He moved, September 7, upon Molino del
Rey (King's Mill), a group of stone buildings 500 yards long, forming the
western side of the inclosure surrounding the rock and castle of
Chapultepec, and 1,100 yards from the castle, which is a mile and a half
from the city wall. Scott's purpose was to enter the city on the south, and
he considered the castle of slight importance. He supposed that the battle
of Molino would be a small affair. Worth anticipated a desperate struggle,
and took up his position in the dark on the morning of the 8th. At 3 A.M.
he opened fire with his twenty-four pounders, and his storming party
advanced toward the point where the enemy's batteries had been, but their
position had been changed, and they suddenly opened fire on the flank of
his 500. After various contests, the fighting became a struggle for the
possession of the Molino. A desperate and deadly fight took place. The
southern gate gave way and the Americans passed in. The fight was renewed
with bayonet and sword, and Worth lost a large number of the flower of his
forces. At last the Mexicans, all but 700, retreated to Chapultepec. On the
left the Americans were received with a murderous fire, which was long
continued. Their whole artillery was then concentrated upon the Casa Mata
and its works, which, after a desperate defence, were abandoned. Except as
an outpost to Chapultepec, the position had no value. By Scott's order
Worth withdrew his command, and left to the enemy the field which had been
so dearly won. Of 3,500 Americans in the fight, 787 had fallen, including
59 officers.

[Sidenote: Chapultepec]

The Rock of Chapultepec rises 150 feet, and is crowned by the great castle.
The northern side was inaccessible; the eastern and southern sides nearly
so, and the southwestern and western could be scaled. A zigzag road on the
southern side was swept by a battery at an angle. The crest was strongly
fortified; ditches and strong walls and a redoubt were constructed at
various points. The garrison numbered 2,000, and thirteen long guns were
mounted. A select party under Captain Joseph Hooker seized the Molino, and
at night Pellow threw his whole force into it. Two forces made a desperate
assault on the intrenchments in front, united and passed the Mexicans and
mounted the western slope. A party passed around the western front, which
they scaled, and gained the parapet. Their comrades on the western side
climbed the southern slope at the same time and joined the two. The whole
castle was occupied. The Mexicans were dislodged and many prisoners were
taken.

[Sidenote: Fall of City of Mexico]

The approach to the capital was difficult. It was by two roads, each along
a stone aqueduct. On the Belen road the Mexicans were gradually pressed
back, however, and the Americans entered the first work, where they were
confronted by the citadel commanded by Santa Anna. A terrible fire rendered
further advance impossible. On the San Cosme road the enemy was pursued to
a second barricade, which was carried under Lieutenant U.S. Grant and
Lieutenant Gire. Worth's columns pushed on. Having passed the arches, they
began breaking their way through the walls of the houses. Howitzers were
hauled to the roofs, and at last the main gate was carried. During the
night a delegation proposed a capitulation. Scott refused to grant terms.
At dawn Quitman advanced to the grand palace and occupied the Plaza, and an
hour later Scott took up his headquarters there. Presently some 2,000
liberated convicts and others began casting paving stones on the soldiers,
and it became necessary to sweep the streets with grape and canister. By
the 15th Scott was in full possession of the City of Mexico.

[Sidenote: Flight of Santa Anna]

On the morning of September 14, Generals Quitman and Worth raised the
American flag over the national palace, and Scott soon afterward reined up
at the Grand Plaza, where he removed his hat, and, raising his hand,
proclaimed the conquest of Mexico. Santa Anna's men afterward treacherously
attacked the hospital at Puebla, where were 2,000 Americans, sick and
wounded. They bravely resisted and were presently rescued; the Mexicans
being routed by General Lane. Santa Anna, again a fugitive, fled for safety
to the shores of the Gulf.

[Sidenote: Many reputations made]

Among the officers who distinguished themselves were many who gained a
lasting reputation fifteen years later, during the American civil war; for
instance, Jefferson Davis, Grant, Lee, McClellan, Beauregard, Sherman,
Hill, Jackson, Hooker, Longstreet, Buell, Johnston, Lyon, Kearney,
Reynolds, French, Ewell and Sumner.

[Sidenote: Premonitions of trouble in France]

Late in the year simultaneous risings against the Bourbon government of
Naples and Sicily occurred in Calabria and at Messina. In the north a
conspiracy against further government by Austria assumed the proportions of
a national movement. In France the popular clamor for reforms grew to
threatening proportions. Prime Minister Guizot declined to enter into any
of the radical schemes for reform. In the Chambers, Guizot declared: "The
maintenance of the union of the Conservative party, of its policy and
power, will be the fixed idea of the rule of conduct in the Cabinet." Late
in December the Chambers met but promised no reforms. Defeated in this, the
opposition determined to voice its protests at a political banquet in Paris
similar to those that had been held at Strasburg, Lille, Lyons, Rouen, and
other cities. The government forbade the banquet. It was postponed until
the nest year. Popular passions for the moment were appeased by
Abd-el-Kader's final surrender to General Lamorcière in Algeria, and the
reported end of the troublesome war with the Arabs.




1848


[Sidenote: Revolution in Palermo]

[Sidenote: Neapolitan constitution granted]

[Sidenote: Anti-Austrian riots at Milan]

[Sidenote: Northern Italy aflame]

[Sidenote: Revolt at Rome]

[Sidenote: Rome bombarded]

The long seething discontent of the lower classes in Italy, fomented by the
national aspirations of such radical leaders as Mazzini and Manin, had
reached its culmination by this time. The centenary of the expulsion of the
Austrians from Genoa had just been celebrated with such enthusiasm
throughout central Italy that Austria was forewarned of the storm that was
about to burst. Metternich wrote to Apponyi, "The world is very sick. The
general condition of Europe is dangerous." Communications passed between
the patriots in northern Italy and the opponents of the Bourbon government
in Sicily. On January 12, the people of Palermo rose in revolt. The
government troops were driven from the city. Palermo was bombarded and
fighting continued for a full fortnight. In the end the insurgents were
victorious, and a provisional government was established. Other towns in
Sicily followed suit. On January 27, revolutionary riots broke out in
Naples. Threatened by revolution throughout his dominions, King Ferdinand
II. of Naples and Sicily, like his grandfather, made haste to proclaim a
popular constitution. A Liberal Ministry was called in on January 29. The
city of Messina was still in full insurrection when the standard of revolt
was raised in northern Italy. In order to deprive the Austrian Government
of one of its chief financial supports, the patriotic societies of Italy
formed a resolution to abstain from the use of tobacco, on which the
government had a monopoly. On the following Sunday, Austrian officers,
smoking in the streets of Milan, were attacked by the populace. The troops
had to be called to arms, and blood was shed on both sides. Similar
outbreaks followed in Padua and elsewhere. Radetzky, the Austrian
commander-in-chief, proclaimed martial law. On February 15, the people rose
in Tuscany, and compelled their grandduke to proclaim a constitution. In
March the insurrectionary movement spread from Lombardy to Piedmont. The
republic of Venice was proclaimed. The King of Sardinia declared himself in
sympathy with the liberation of Venice from Austrian rule. For a while Pope
Pio Nono showed similar leanings. On March 15, the Nationalists of Rome
declared against the Pope. The National Guards joined in the movement. The
Papal troops had to be called out to put down the revolt by force of arms.
The hordes of Roman lazzaroni or beggars profited by the confusion to
commit hideous crimes. The Pope created a high council and Chamber of
Deputies with privileges of limited legislation, the Pope retaining his
full veto power on whatever they might decree. But on April 29, after the
Jesuits had been expelled from Sardinia, Pio Nono turned his back on these
reforms, and returned to the conservative policy of his immediate
predecessors in the chair of St. Peter. His definite refusal to declare
against Austria provoked another insurrection at Rome. This time the revolt
grew to such proportions that the city had to be subjected to bombardment
by artillery.

[Sidenote: Spread of the revolution]

[Sidenote: Democratic governments spared]

In the meanwhile a revolution of far more serious proportions had broken
out at Paris. Successful from the start, the contagion of its example had
spread from France to most of the various principalities of Germany, to
Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, and thence to almost every quarter in Europe.
Few other events afford so striking an illustration of the modern
cosmopolitan spirit that had arisen in Europe during the first half of the
Nineteenth Century. The great revolutions of England, of America and of
France, in previous times, affected the rest of humanity only long after
their occurrence. The overthrow of Charles X. in 1830 gave rise to more or
less abortive revolutions in Belgium, Italy and Poland, as well as some of
the smaller German States. But the French February revolution of 1848
spread instantly to all the civilized communities of the world, except
Switzerland, Great Britain, and the United States of North America. The
exemption of these three countries, where alone true democratic forms of
government prevailed, was in itself a revelation of the general discontent
of European peoples. Other explanations in plenty have been given, every
one of which contained its measure of truth. To Polish refugees the
upheavals of this year have been in part attributed. The rise of the new
national spirit in literature was revealed in Italy and Germany as well as
among the Magyars, Slavs and Greeks. The apparently epidemic character of
the movement found another explanation in the improved means of transit and
communication, and the great development of the public press.

[Sidenote: Changes in Switzerland]

In the countries untouched by revolution internal progress kept pace with
the continued spread of civilization. In Switzerland, the expulsion of the
Jesuits resulted in the attempted secession of the seven Catholic cantons.
This was frustrated by General Dufour's prompt occupation of Freibourg and
Luzerne. The so-called Sonderbund of the seceding cantons was dissolved. In
place of the former union of sovereign cantons, the Swiss republic was now
reconstituted after the model of the United States of North America, as a
union of States with a central federal government at Berne. The Swiss army,
postal system and finances were put under federal control and a national
coinage was established. The separate interest of the cantons found
representation in the Stænderat, while the Swiss people at large were
represented in the Nationalrath, the members of which were elected from
districts apportioned among the cantons according to equal numbers of
population.

[Sidenote: England unaffected]

[Sidenote: Insurrection in Tipperary]

[Sidenote: Queen Victoria in Ireland]

[Sidenote: Orange River territory annexed to England]

The people of England, though the stirring events on the Continent were
brought home to them by so many eminent refugees seeking shelter in their
land, held the issues at stake too well settled by their own great
revolution of 1649 to find a sufficient incentive for another such
movement. The popularity of the young Queen doubtless contributed its share
to the stability of the government. The renewed demonstrations of the
Chartists in London were merely co-incident with the revolutionary
demonstrations abroad. Still the influence of contemporaneous events in
Europe was strong enough to frighten Parliament into passing an act which
made the utterance of seditious speeches a felony. A popular insurrection
in Tipperary, Ireland, was made the pretext for once more suspending the
habeas corpus act in Ireland. By the end of July the revolt was put down.
Its leaders, John Mitchell, O'Brien and others were apprehended and tried
in court for high treason. They were sentenced to death, but the Queen
mitigated their sentences to transportation. A calming effect on Ireland
was produced by the personal visit of the young Queen and her royal consort
to Ireland. When she held her court at Dublin in midsummer, the most
poignant causes for discontent were lost sight of amid wild demonstrations
of apparently universal loyalty. A constitution on home rule principles was
proclaimed in West Australia. In South Africa, Sir Harry Smith, the
Governor of Cape Colony, after his successful termination of a fourth war
with the Kaffirs, proclaimed the authority of Great Britain over the Orange
River territory. The Boer settlers there under the leadership of Pretorius
found themselves unable to maintain their independence. The adjoining lands
of the Basutos were declared under British protectorate.

[Sidenote: Massacre of Multan]

[Sidenote: Punjab up in arms]

[Sidenote: Sikhs and Afghans join revolt]

Early in the year, Lord Dalhousie had relieved Lord Hardinge as
Governor-General of India. Up to that time the British occupation of the
Punjab had continued without material change. Now a new fiscal system was
to be introduced there to settle up the arrears of Viceroy Mulraj of
Multan. In April, Vance Agnew, a British commissioner, with a military
escort of three hundred men, arrived at Multan to occupy the citadel as
surety for these arrears. The British officers were admitted to the city,
but as they emerged from the citadel they were attacked, and all the
Englishmen were massacred. Mulraj called upon the Sikhs to rise against the
English. A force of seven thousand British troops were sent against Multan.
When they reached the city all the native troops turned against them. The
whole of the Punjab revolted and a holy war was proclaimed against England.
Lord Dalhousie rose to the occasion. As he left Bengal to go to the front
he delivered a characteristic speech containing the historic declaration:
"Unwarned by precedent, uninfluenced by example, the Sikh nation have
called for war. On my word, sirs, they shall have it with vengeance!" The
Sikh garrisons of Peshawar joined in the revolt, which was quickly taken up
by the Afghans. George Lawrence, the British Resident there, was carried
off as a prisoner. In the fort of Attock, Captain Herbert held out for a
while, but in the end was forced to succumb. The first general engagement
between Lord Gough and Sagr Singh at Ramluggar, late in the year, resulted
in a drawn battle. On both sides reinforcements were hurried up wherewith
to wage the coming year's campaign.

[Sidenote: More Arctic expeditions]

[Sidenote: Death of George Stephenson]

[Sidenote: Stephenson's career]

From England, during this time, two more expeditions had been sent out in
search of Sir John Franklin. The first of these was commanded by Sir James
Ross, the famous Antarctic explorer. The second expedition, while
discovering no trace of Franklin, claimed that it had discovered the long
sought for Northwest Passage. The science of astronomy lost one of its most
distinguished representatives in England by the death of Caroline Herschel,
the sister of the famous discoverer of Uranus. Besides her the necrology of
the year in England included the two authors, Isaac d'Israeli, the father
of Lord Beaconsfield, and Captain Frederick Marryat, the romancer of the
sea; Lord Alexander Ashburton, the framer of the Canadian boundary treaty
that commemorates his name, and George Stephenson, the inventor of the
first practicable locomotive. Stephenson began life as a pit-engine boy at
twopence a day near Newcastle-on-Tyne. Having risen to the grade of
engineman, he was employed in the collieries of Lord Ravensworth improving
the wagon way and railway planes under ground. In 1814 he completed a
locomotive steam-engine, which was successfully tried on the Killingworth
Railway. The locomotive "Rocket," constructed by Stephenson and his son
Robert, which won the premium of five hundred pounds in 1829, offered by
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, ushered in the greatest
mechanical revolution since the invention of the steam-engine by Watt.
After this Stephenson became a locomotive builder on a large scale and
acquired enormous wealth. Another invention standing to the credit of
Stephenson was one of the earliest safety lamps, but a committee which
investigated the subject accorded to Sir Humphry Davy the priority of this
invention. During this year Sir Austin Henry Layard published the results
of his original researches of Nineveh and its remains. Macaulay printed the
first two volumes of his "History of England," while Matthew Arnold brought
out his "Strayed Reveller" and other poems. Elizabeth Gaskell published
"Mary Barton."

Of the various expeditions undertaken in search of Sir John Franklin, the
most noteworthy perhaps was Dr. John Rae's overland journey through the
northwestern territory of America from the Mackenzie to the Copper Mine
River. This opened up a vast tract of country to adventurous Canadians.
Another lasting benefit was conferred upon Upper Canada by the
reorganization of the public school system of Ontario.

[Sidenote: Peace with Mexico]

[Sidenote: Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]

[Sidenote: American expansion]

On the part of the United States the war with Mexico was brought to a
close. The President of the Mexican Congress assumed provisional authority,
and, on February 2, that body at Guadaloupe Hidalgo concluded peace with
the United States. With slight amendments the treaty was ratified by the
United States Senate on March 10, and by the Mexican Congress at Queratero
on the 30th of May. President Polk, on July 4 following, finally proclaimed
peace. The Americans under the terms of the treaty evacuated Mexico within
three months, paid Mexico $3,000,000 immediately, and $12,000,000 in three
annual instalments, and assumed debts of $3,500,000 due from Mexico to
American citizens. These payments were made in consideration of new
accessions of territory which gave to the United States not only Texas, but
Arizona, New Mexico and California. The war had cost the United States
approximately $25,000,000 and 25,000 men.

[Sidenote: Gold found in California]

While these negotiations were under way, Colonel Sutter had begun the
erection of a mill at Colonna on the American branch of the Sacramento
River. In January one Marshall, who was engaged in digging a race-way for
the mill for Colonel Sutter, found a metal which he had not seen before,
and, on testing it in the fire, found that it was gold. The "finds" were
sent to Sacramento and tested, with the result that they were declared to
be pure gold. The mint at Philadelphia also declared the metal to be gold,
and the President referred to the fact in his annual message to Congress.

[Sidenote: Influx of Gold Seekers]

Then the gold seekers poured into California. They arrived in multitudes
from all parts of America and other countries--thousands tracking across
the plains and mountains with ox-teams and on foot, and other thousands
crossing the Isthmus with scarcely less difficulty, while around the Horn a
steady procession of ships passed up the coast of South America and Mexico
to the new El Dorado. In two years the population of California increased
100,000, and still the hordes of gold seekers came.

Wisconsin, the thirtieth State, was admitted May 29. It had been one of the
first districts to receive the visits of the fur traders and the French
missionaries, who went thither in 1639.

[Sidenote: Death of John Quincy Adams]

John Quincy Adams was overtaken by death in the midst of his career. On
February 21 he entered the House and took his seat. Suddenly he fell to the
floor, stricken with apoplexy. As he was carried to the Speaker's room and
was laid on a lounge, he feebly murmured: "This is the last of earth. I am
content." He died on February 23.

[Sidenote: His diplomatic career]

[Sidenote: Morse on Adams]

John Quincy Adams's long career is unique in American history. At the age
of eleven he accompanied his father on a diplomatic mission to Europe, and
early acquired a knowledge of French and German. When barely fourteen he
went to St. Petersburg as private secretary to the American Minister, Dana.
At sixteen Adams served as one of the secretaries of the American
Plenipotentiaries during the negotiations resulting in the treaty of peace
and independence of 1783. At the age of twenty-seven he was appointed
Minister to Holland by President Washington, and afterward was Minister to
Berlin and Commissioner to Sweden. After serving for some years in the
United States Senate he was sent, in 1809, as Minister to Russia, where he
remained till 1815. Then he was transferred to London, where he resided
till 1817, when he became Secretary of State. His career as President of
the United States and his subsequent Congressional life was honorable in
the extreme. Yet Adams's biographer, Morse, has aptly said: "Never did a
man of pure life and just purposes have fewer friends or more enemies....
If he could ever have gathered even a small personal following, his
character and abilities would have insured him a brilliant and prolonged
success; but for a man of his calibre and influence, we see him as one of
the most lonely and desolate of the great men of history."

[Sidenote: James Russell Lowell]

During this year James Russell Lowell published his "Bigelow Papers," a
humorous satire on the Mexican war in Yankee dialect, the "Indian Summer
Reverie," and "A Fable for Critics."

[Sidenote: Death of Donizetti]

[Sidenote: Early operas]

[Sidenote: Prolific compositions]

On April 8, Gaetano Donizetti--who together with Rossini and Bellini formed
the brilliant triumvirate of Italian composers in the first half of the
Nineteenth Century--died in his native town of Bergamo. Donizetti composed
his first opera, "Enrico di Borgogna," in 1819, while serving as a soldier
in Venice. Three other operas followed quickly. His fourth, "Zoraide di
Granada," was such a success that he was exempted from further military
service in 1822. During the following six years he wrote no less than
twenty-three operas, many of which were cheap imitations of Rossini. In
1880, stung by the success of Bellini, he wrote "Anna Bolena," which
inaugurated his second more original period, which included "Lucrecia
Borgia" and the immensely popular "Lucia di Lammermoor." The prohibition of
his opera "Poliecto," while he was serving as a director of the Naples
Conservatory, so exasperated Donizetti that he betook himself to Paris in
1838. There he brought out the "Daughter of the Regiment" and "La
Favorita." After a few years he went to Vienna, where his "Linda di
Chamounix," sung in 1842, achieved an immense success. Having returned to
Italy he was stricken with paralysis from overwork in 1845. He never
recovered. Besides more than threescore of operas, Donizetti composed seven
masses, twelve string quartets, and a host of songs, cantatas and vespers,
as well as pianoforte music.

[Sidenote: Death of Chateaubriand]

[Sidenote: New world inspirations]

[Sidenote: "Essay on Revolutions"]

[Sidenote: "Atala"]

[Sidenote: "Réné"]

[Sidenote: "Genius of Christianity"]

[Sidenote: "The Last of the Abencerrages"]

[Sidenote: "The monarchy under the Charter"]

[Sidenote: The poet's political career]

Another figure of world-wide renown was lost by the death of the French
poet François René de Chateaubriand. Born at château Combourg in 1768, the
scion of one of the noblest families of France, he received a careful
education at château Combourg. Roaming about on the sea-shore and in the
famous forest of Brezilien, the youth received his earliest impressions of
the grandeurs of nature. Shortly before the outbreak of the French
Revolution he was sent to Paris, where he received a commission in the
royal army. It was then he published his first poem, "L'Amour de la
Campagne," in the Almanach des Muses. Dissatisfied with the revolutionary
turn of affairs, he resigned his commission in 1790, and journeyed to North
America. There he travelled extensively, seeking poetic inspiration from
the wilderness and the primitive customs of the Indians. After the downfall
of King Louis XVI. and the French nobility, Chateaubriand hastily returned
to France and joined the army of émigrés under Prince Condé. At the siege
of Thionville he was wounded and went to England. By the time
Chateaubriand recovered he found himself in abject poverty, and had to
spend his days in bed for lack of fuel. In England, he wrote his "Essai sur
les Révolutions," in which he compared the recent rising in France to that
of the English Commonwealth. On the fall of the Directorate he returned to
France, and became one of the editors of Fontaine's "Mercure de France." At
the opening of the Nineteenth Century he published "Atala," an episode of
his epic poem "Les Natchez," treating of the suicide of an Indian virgin,
who sought death rather than violate a solemn vow of chastity given to her
mother. In 1802 appeared the second episode, "Réné," a subjective story
treating of the hapless love of a sister for her brother, full of a French
form of _maladie du monde_ akin to Goethe's _Weltschmerz_ in the "Sorrows
of Werther." During the same year, Chateaubriand brought out his famous
"Genius of Christianity, or the Beauties of the Christian Religion," which
achieved an immense success. It won the approbation even of Napoleon, who
appointed Chateaubriand to diplomatic posts at Rome and Vallis. The
execution of the Duc d'Enghien was so horrifying to Chateaubriand that he
forthwith resigned his appointments. After extensive travels through
Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land, Chateaubriand went to Spain, where he
found inspiration at the Alhambra to write "Le dernier des Abencerrages."
There, too, he wrote his story of "The Martyrs, or the Triumph of the
Christian Religion," brought out in Paris in 1809. Less successful was his
tragedy "Moses." In 1810, Chateaubriand published the famous political
pamphlet "La Monarchie selon la Charte," which was made the basis of the
subsequent royal constitution of France. On the restoration of the Bourbons
he wrote another political pamphlet, directed against Bonaparte, which sent
him into exile together with Louis XVIII. during the Hundred Days. On the
return of Louis XVIII. he was made a member of State, a peer of France, and
member of the French Academy. In 1820 he was sent as ambassador to Berlin
and then to London, from where he was recalled into the Cabinet. Crowded
out of the Cabinet by Villèle, he became one of the leaders of the
opposition. In 1828, he went on another diplomatic mission to Rome. The
rest of his life was uneventful. Shortly before his death he brought out
his complete works, including his latest "Etudes Historiques." A posthumous
work was his "Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe," containing the famous comparison
between the characters of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte.

[Sidenote: Paris reform banquet]

[Sidenote: Ministry impeached]

In the French Chambers, early in February, a great debate had been held on
the Reform Bill. Guizot, the Prime Minister, held firm in his opposition to
all the proposed reforms. It was now proposed to hold the reform banquet,
that had repeatedly been prohibited and postponed, on February 22. The
banquet was once more interdicted, and it was announced that any unlawful
assemblage would be dispersed by force. Thereupon the banquet was
abandoned. The evening papers declared that the deputies of the opposition
had agreed to abstain from the proposed manifestation. A manifesto
published by the "Journal National" was the cause of a noisy demonstration
in the streets of the 12th Arrondissement. The National Guards were called
out. On the same day fifty-two deputies of the Left laid before the
Chambers a bill of impeachment against the Ministry. The King and his
advisers were in a state of blind security.

[Sidenote: Street demonstrations]

[Sidenote: National Guard disaffected]

On the morning of the eventful 22d of February, the Parisian populace
congregated by thousands near the Madeleine and the Rue Royale, shouting
"Vive la réforme; à bas les ministres!" and singing the "Marseillaise." No
troops made their appearance; but encounters occurred at several points
between the mob and the municipal guards. Still the day passed over without
serious hostilities. On the next day, the National Guards of Paris were
called out. Their cry, as they marched through the different quarters of
the city, was "Vive la réforme!" This emboldened the leaders of the
revolutionists. The members of the secret societies flew to arms; and in
the skirmishes which followed between the populace and the regular troops,
the National Guard everywhere interfered in favor of the former. Thus
confronted, officers and soldiers hesitated to commit a general assault
upon their fellow citizens. They allowed themselves to be reduced to
inaction. The insurrection thus triumphed almost without actual strife.

[Sidenote: Fall of Guizot's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Barricades erected]

[Sidenote: Thiers' manifesto]

[Sidenote: The last stroke]

[Sidenote: Louis Philippe succumbs]

The King at length became acquainted with the true situation. In the
afternoon of the 23d, Guizot tendered his resignation, which was promptly
accepted, and published as an act of satisfaction on the part of the King
to the demands of the people. Count Molé was charged with the formation of
a new Ministry. It was now generally expected that tranquillity would be at
once restored. But late at night the detachment of troops posted at the
Office of Foreign Affairs was attacked by a band of rioters. The commanding
officer ordered them to fire, and several persons in the crowd were shot
down. Their dead bodies were paraded through the city. This spectacle
raised the indignation of the multitude to the highest pitch. Fresh
barricades were erected in all the most populous quarters of the city, and
the soldiers, stupefied and panic-struck, renounced all further opposition
to the revolt. The King now named Marshal Bugeaud to the supreme command of
the whole military force at Paris. Molé having declined the task of
constructing a Ministry, the King summoned Thiers to the head of affairs.
This statesman, in conjunction with Odillon-Barrot, immediately issued a
proclamation announcing their appointment as Ministers, and stating that
orders had been given to the troops to withdraw and abandon the contest.
This gave the last blow to the monarchy of Louis Philippe. Marshal Bugeaud
resigned his command. The soldiers quitted their ranks, giving up arms and
ammunition to the insurgents. The National Guard openly joined the masses
of the people and marched with them upon the Tuileries. The catastrophe was
now inevitable. Louis Philippe, feeling that all was lost, signed an act
of abdication in favor of his grandson the Comte de Paris, and withdrew to
St. Cloud.

[Sidenote: Mob invades the Chamber]

An attempt was made to obtain the recognition of the Duchess of Orleans as
regent, and thus to preserve the throne to the heir of Louis Philippe,
according to the terms of his abdication. The Duchess went to the Chamber
of Deputies, holding by the hand her sons the Comte de Paris and the Duc de
Chartres. They took their seats in front of the tribune. More than one
member spoke earnestly in favor of the regency. In the midst of the debate
the Chamber was invaded by a tumultuous throng of armed men. One of them
was Arnold Böcklin, the Swiss artist, who subsequently rose to highest rank
among the painters of the Nineteenth Century. Marie, a violent Republican,
ascending the tribune, announced that the first duty of the Legislature was
to appoint a strong provisional government capable of re-establishing
public confidence and order. Cremieux, Ledru-Rollin and Lamartine in turn
insisted on a new government and constitution to be sanctioned by the
sovereign people. The proposition was hailed with tumultuous acclamations.
The Duchess of Orleans and her children retired precipitately.

[Sidenote: Provisional Government formed]

[Sidenote: Fulsome promises]

[Sidenote: Proclamation of French Republic]

The Republicans remained masters of the field. A provisional government was
forthwith nominated. It included the poet Lamartine, Ledru-Rollin,
Garnier-Pagès and Arago. While the mob was searching the Hôtel de Ville
these men conferred in a small out-of-the-way chamber behind locked doors.
Louis Blanc, the great socialistic writer, and one Albert, a locksmith,
were added to the provisional government. Every half hour Lamartine had to
confront some new crowd of rioters preferring fresh claims. The confusion
lasted several days. Throughout this time more barricades were thrown up,
until the government gained a breathing space by a promise to distribute
one million francs among the laboring men. Louis Blanc and Ledru-Rollin
signed another decree whereby they pledged the government to furnish every
Frenchman with work. With the help of National Guardsmen, and an organized
body of students, Caussidière, the new police prefect, succeeded at last in
keeping the mob out of the Hôtel de Ville and the Palais Bourbon. On
February 27, the Republic was formally proclaimed from the Place de la
Bastille. The barricades were levelled and the crowds that had surged
through the streets of Paris gradually dispersed. Throughout France the
Republic was accepted without serious opposition.

[Sidenote: Flight of royal family]

For a while it was feared that Louis Philippe's sons in Algiers, the Duke
d'Aumale and Prince de Joinville, who commanded the French army and navy,
disposing of more than a hundred thousand men, might make a stroke on their
father's behalf. This hope of the Royalists was doomed to disappointment.
Both princes resigned their command, to be succeeded by General Cavignac,
who took charge of the forces in the name of the French Republic. The other
members of the dynasty accomplished their escape from France amid many
curious adventures. After leaving Paris the party separated so as to avoid
suspicion. Louis Philippe and the Queen with a few attendants fled to
Honfleur, where they lay for nearly a week in concealment. At length the
packet steamer "Express" was placed at their disposal by the British
Government. On March 4, Louis Philippe, having assumed the name of William
Smith, landed at Newhaven in Sussex. With the Queen he proceeded to
Claremont, a country-seat belonging to his son-in-law, King Leopold of
Belgium. The Duke of Montpensier with the Duchess of Nemours fled to
Belgium, as did the Duchess of Orleans.

[Sidenote: English Chartists encouraged]

[Sidenote: Inflammatory speeches]

[Sidenote: London ready for revolution]

[Sidenote: Rioters discouraged]

The French Revolution gave quickening impulse to the Chartist movement in
England. Feargus O'Connor had been returned at the General Election of 1847
as member for Nottingham. He threw himself into a renewal of the agitation
with all the strength and vigor of a madman. A National Convention was
summoned, and it was determined that another monster petition should be
carried to the House of Commons, to be followed by a procession of half a
million persons. The idea got abroad that a revolution might break out in
London on the presentation of the petition. Ernest Jones had exclaimed on
Kensington Common, "Never fear the vile men of the law; the police, the
troops, sympathize with you. Down with the Ministry! Dissolve the
Parliament! The Charter, and no surrender!" At the National Convention,
Vernon declared: "If a few hundreds do fall on each side, they will only be
the casualties in a mighty movement." On April 10 a great demonstration
was to be held on Kensington Common. In anticipation, special constables to
the number of 170,000 were sworn in to keep the peace; troops were
quartered in the houses of the main thoroughfares; two thousand stands of
arms were supplied to the officials of the General Post-Office; the Custom
House, Bank, Exchange, and other public buildings were similarly equipped;
the Admiralty was garrisoned by a body of marines, and the Tower guns were
mounted. On the eventful morning, London assumed a military guise such as
it had never worn before. Traffic was suspended along the streets for fear
that the vehicles should be employed, as in France, in the construction of
barricades. Finally a proclamation was issued warning people against
collecting for disorderly purposes. The military arrangements were in the
hands of the Duke of Wellington. Owing to these thorough precautions the
threatened mass meeting collapsed. The procession was never held. The whole
affair was covered with ridicule. The "monster petition" was found to
contain not six million signatures as was alleged, but only 1,975,469, and
many of these proved to be fictitious, whole sheets being found to be in
the same handwriting, and containing such names as Victoria Rex, Prince
Albert, Punch, and so forth.

[Sidenote: Collapse of Chartism]

[Sidenote: End of Feargus O'Connor]

In the words of a contemporary, "Chartism had received its death-blow.
O'Brien, Vincent, and others endeavored to revive it, but in vain. Its
members fell off in disappointment and allied themselves with reformers of
greater moderation, and Feargus O'Connor, who for ten years had madly
spent his force and energy in carrying forward the movement, gave it up in
despair. Everything he had touched had proved a failure. From being an
object of terror, Chartism had become an object of ridicule. O'Connor took
the matter so much to heart that he soon became an inmate of a lunatic
asylum, and never recovered his reason."

[Sidenote: Progress of Italian Revolution]

[Sidenote: Austrians driven northward]

[Sidenote: Radetzky seeks refuge]

All Italy now, from the southern shores of Sicily to the Alps, was in a
blaze of insurrection. Venice, Piedmont and Lombardy were in arms. Charles
Albert, the King of Sardinia, put himself at the head of the movement in
northern Italy. From all parts of Italy volunteers crowded to his banners.
In defiance of the Pope's orders a compact body of these volunteers marched
from Rome. Radetzky, the Austrian commander, a veteran of all the Austrian
wars since the outbreak of the French Revolution, had long prepared for
this struggle by formidable fortifications at Verona. When Milan revolted
and the Austrian Vice-Governor, O'Donnell, was captured, Radetzky evacuated
the city at the approach of Charles Albert's army from Piedmont. His
outlying garrison was cut off by the Italians. Preferring the loss of Milan
to a possible annihilation of the army, Radetzky fell back upon Verona. On
the banks of the Adige, about twenty-five miles east of the Mincio, he
rapidly concentrated all available forces, while the Italians threw up
intrenchments on the Mincio. There, with the armies of Piedmont and
Lombardy in front of him and the revolutionary forces of Venice behind him,
Radetzky stubbornly held his ground. Nothing remained to Austria on
Italian ground but Verona and the neighboring fortresses on the Adige and
Mincio.

[Sidenote: Kossuth's appeal]

[Sidenote: Magyar Constitution proclaimed]

[Sidenote: Stocks fall in Vienna]

The Austrian Empire itself, by this time, was shaken to its foundations.
When the news of the February Revolution in Paris reached Austria the
Magyar Diet was in session in Hungary. The success of the revolutionists in
France inflamed the Liberal leaders in Hungary. Casting aside all reserve,
Kossuth declared in the Diet: "From the charnel house of the Viennese
system a poison-laden atmosphere steals over us. It would paralyze our
nerves and pin us down when we might soar. The future of Hungary can never
be secured while Austria maintains a system of government in direct
antagonism to every constitutional principle. Our task is to found a
happier future on the brotherhood of all the races in Austria. For a union
enforced by bayonets and police spies let us substitute the enduring bond
of a free constitution!" On March 3, the Hungarian Lower House triumphantly
passed a resolution to that effect. The cry for a liberal constitution was
instantly taken up in the other dominions of Austria. It so happened that
the Provincial Estates of Lower Austria were to meet about this time. It
was planned that an address embodying demands similar to those of Hungary
should be forwarded to the Emperor by this assembly. The political
agitation in Vienna became feverish. The students indulged in noisy
demonstrations. Rumors of the impending repudiation of the paper currency
and of State bankruptcy made matters worse. A sharp decline in stocks
showed Metternich that a public catastrophe was near at hand.

[Sidenote: Viennese Diet stormed]

[Sidenote: Fighting in the street]

[Sidenote: Imperial palace invaded]

[Sidenote: Downfall of Metternich]

On March 13, the Provincial Diet met. Dense crowds surged about the Diet
Hall. The students marched around in procession. Street orators harangued
the crowds. The tumult was at its height when a slip of paper was let down
from one of the windows of the hall, stating that the Diet was inclining to
half measures. An announcement to this effect was received with a roar of
fury. The mob overran the guards and burst into the Diet Hall. All debate
was stopped, and the leading members of the Estates were forced to head a
deputation to the Emperor's palace to exact a hearing. All the approaches
to the palace were choked with people. Street fighting had already begun.
Detachments of soldiers were hurried to the palace and to the Diet Hall.
From the roof and windows of the Diet Hall missiles were hurled upon the
soldiery. The interior of the Hall was demolished. The soldiers now fired a
volley and cleared the Hall with their bayonets. Blood flowed freely and
many were killed. The sound of the shots was received by the crowds around
the palace with howls of rage. The whole city was in an uproar. Barricades
were thrown up and the gunsmith shops were sacked. At the palace, where the
Emperor himself remained invisible, Metternich and his assembled Council
received the deputation in state. The Council urged the aged Prime Minister
to grant the demanded concession. At length he withdrew into an adjoining
chamber to draft an order annulling the censorship of the press. While he
was thus engaged the cry was raised, "Down with Metternich!" The deputies
in the Council Chamber peremptorily demanded his dismissal. When the old
statesman returned he found himself abandoned even by his colleagues.
Metternich realized that the end had come. He made a brief farewell speech,
marked by all the dignity and self-possession of his greatest days, and
left the Council Chamber to announce his resignation to the Emperor.

[Sidenote: Quiet restored]

[Sidenote: Hungarian demands]

[Sidenote: Kossuth in Vienna]

[Sidenote: Demonstrations of enthusiasm]

The news of Metternich's downfall was received with deafening cheers. His
personality was so closely identified with all that was most hateful in
Austrian politics that the mere announcement of his resignation sufficed to
quell the popular tumult. On the night of March 14, Metternich contrived to
escape from Vienna unobserved, and fled across the frontier. On the same
day a National Guard was established in Vienna, and was supplied with arms
taken from the government arsenal. The Viennese outbreak gave irresistible
force to the national movement in Hungary. Now the Chamber of Magnates,
which had hitherto opposed the demands of the Lower House, adopted the same
by a unanimous vote. On March 15, a deputation was despatched to Vienna to
demand from the Emperor not only a liberal constitution, but a separate
Ministry, absolute freedom of the press, trial by jury, equality of
religion, and a free public-school system. The Hungarians, with Kossuth in
the lead, were received in triumph in Vienna. They paraded through the
streets, and were greeted by Emperor Ferdinand in person. He consented to
everything and issued an imperial rescript, promising a liberal
constitution to the rest of Austria as well. The light-hearted Viennese
indulged in indescribable jubilations. On March 18, the Emperor drove
through the city. Somebody put a revolutionary banner into his hands. The
black, red and gold ensign of united Germany was hoisted over the tower of
St. Stephen. In an intoxication of joy the people took the horses from the
imperial carriage and drew it triumphantly through the streets. The regular
troops around the imperial palace were superseded by the new National
Guards.

[Sidenote: Germany in a ferment]

[Sidenote: Prussian Assembly convoked]

[Sidenote: King of Prussia cowed]

[Sidenote: Revolt in Berlin]

[Sidenote: Prince William's part]

[Sidenote: King of Prussia submissive]

[Sidenote: Royal promises]

[Sidenote: Rising of Schleswig-Holstein]

[Sidenote: Reverse at Bau]

By this time the same storm of revolution was sweeping over Germany.
Popular demonstrations occurred at Mannheim, Cassel, Breslau, Koenigsberg
and along the Rhine region in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Aix-la-Chapelle. A
popular convention at Heidelberg, on March 5, had resolved upon a national
assembly to be held at Frankfort-on-the-Main by the end of March. Elections
for this assembly were being held throughout Germany. The long-desired
union of Germany was at last to be accomplished. On March 14, King
Frederick William of Prussia convoked the Prussian Assembly for April 27,
to deliberate upon Prussia's part in the proposed German union. Then came
the news of the events in Vienna. Crowds gathered in the streets excitedly
discussing the events of the day. Attempts on the part of the police to
disperse them led to threatening encounters. Under the stress of alarming
bulletins from Vienna, the King issued a rescript on March 18, in which he
not only convoked the Prussian Assembly for the earlier date of April 2,
but himself proposed such reforms as constitutional government, liberty of
speech, liberty of the press, and the reconstitution of the Germanic
Federation as a national union of states--a realization in brief of all the
most ardent ideals of the German Liberals. Now the popular agitators
proposed a monster demonstration to thank the King for his concessions.
Shortly after noon, on March 18, the processions converged upon the palace.
Immense crowds filled the streets. The appearance of the King upon the
balcony was greeted with cheers. King Frederick William tried to speak but
could not make himself heard. The troops set out to clear the palace
grounds. Angry shouts arose for the withdrawal of the soldiery. In the
confusion two shots were fired. A panic ensued: "We are betrayed," cried
the leaders, and called the people to arms. The troops of the garrison
charged into the rioters. Barricades were thrown up, and here and there
church bells rang the tocsin. From three in the afternoon until early the
next morning, fighting continued in the streets. The entire garrison of
Berlin was called out and with the help of the bright moonlight succeeded
in clearing one street after another. Prince William, the future German
Emperor, gained unenviable notoriety by his zeal. At two in the morning
the King gave orders to stop firing. He issued a proclamation: "To my dear
people of Berlin," the mild tone of which only betrayed his weakness. On
the following day all the troops were withdrawn and ordered out of the
city. Prince William likewise left Berlin in deep chagrin and departed for
England. His palace had to be protected from the fury of the people by
placards pronouncing it the property of the nation. Once more the rioters
appeared before the royal palace with the bodies of some of their slain.
The King convoked a new Ministry and consented to substitute armed citizens
and students for his royal guards. A general amnesty was proclaimed. On
March 21, the King agreed to adopt "the sacred colors of the German Empire"
for those of Prussia. After the manner of the weak Emperor of Austria, he
rode through the streets of Berlin wearing a tricolor sash. Not satisfied
with this, the revolutionists, on March 22, paraded before the palace with
the open biers of 187 men that had been killed during the riots. Standing
on his balcony with bared head, King Frederick William reviewed the ghastly
procession. In a manifesto published at the close of the day he declared:
"Germany is in ferment within and exposed from without to danger from more
than one side. Deliverance from this danger can come only from the most
intimate union of the German princes and people under a single leadership.
I take this leadership upon me for the hour of peril. I have to-day assumed
the old German colors, and placed myself and my people under the venerable
banner of the German Empire. Prussia is henceforth merged into Germany."
Thus Frederick William, by word and acts, which he afterward described as a
comedy, directly encouraged the imperial aspirations of liberal Germany.
The passage of his address in which he spoke of external dangers
threatening Germany came true sooner than was expected. King Christian
VIII. of Denmark had died early in the year. The fear of revolution at
Copenhagen drove his son Frederick VII., the last of the Oldenburg line, to
prick the war bubble blown by his father. On March 22, he called the
leaders of the Eider-Dane party--the party which regarded the Eider as the
boundary of the Danish dominions, thus converting Schleswig into a Danish
province--to take the reins of government. The people of Schleswig and
Holstein protested. The King was checkmated at Kiel by the appointment of a
provisional government. The troops joined the people, and the insurrection
spread over the whole province. The struggle then began. Volunteers from
all parts of Germany rushed to the northern frontier. The German Bundestag
admitted a representative of the threatened Duchies, and intrusted Prussia
with their defence. An attempt was made to organize a German fleet. General
Wrangel was placed in command of the Prussian forces despatched toward
Denmark. Before he could arrive, the untrained volunteer army of
Schleswig-Holsteiners suffered defeat at Bau. A corps of students from the
University of Kiel was all but annihilated.

[Sidenote: Russia stems revolution]

An attempted rising of the Poles, in the Prussian province of Posen and at
Cracow, was quickly suppressed. As soon as the news of the revolution in
Paris reached Russia, the absolute ruler of that vast empire mobilized his
armies, "so that, if circumstances should demand it, the tide of Anarchy
could be dammed." After the abortive revolt at Cracow, Czar Nicholas issued
an imperial manifesto, closing with a quotation from Isaiah: "Listen, ye
heathen, and submit, for with us is God." When the spirit of revolt spread
to Moldavia and Wallachia, Emperor Nicholas without further ado despatched
a Russian army corps across the Pruth. The Sultan of Turkey was prevailed
upon to do the same. Russian and Turkish troops occupied Jassy and
Bucharest during the summer.

  [Illustration: OPENING OF THE OPERA
    Painted by Edouard Detaille
    Copyright by M. Knoedler & Co.]

[Sidenote: Frankfort Vor-Parlament]

[Sidenote: Revolution in Baden]

[Sidenote: General Gagern shot]

[Sidenote: Flight of rebels]

The German preliminary Parliament of five hundred delegates had met at
Frankfort in April. It lasted but five days. The Republicans found
themselves outnumbered, when they submitted their scheme for a national
constitution. Repulsed in this, the Liberals proposed that they should
continue in session until the real National Parliament should meet, thus
extending their function beyond the limits of a mere constituent assembly.
Outvoted in this, the leaders of the extreme Republicans resorted to armed
revolt. Assisted by Polish refugees and men from France, they raised the
red flag in Baden. Friedrich Hecker, a popular orator and representative of
Baden, headed the movement. George Herwegh, the poet, took charge of the
refugees from Switzerland and a group of German operatives recently
returned from France. A provisional government was declared in the lake
district of Baden. The Parliamentary majority of Frankfort, on breaking up,
left behind a committee of fifty to prepare the draft of a constitution.
The Bundestag meeting at the same time called for military measures against
the insurgents. From three sides troops advanced into Baden. A Bavarian
detachment marched from Lindau, Swabian troops came from the Black Forest,
while from the north Hessian forces were led by General von Gagern, a
brother of the new Prime Minister of Hesse. On April 19, Von Gagern
encountered the revolutionists under Hecker at Kandern. While haranguing
the insurgents, he was shot from his horse. The troops charged the
insurgents with the bayonet and dispersed them in less than an hour. Four
days later the revolutionary intrenchments at Freiburg were stormed. On the
27th, Herwegh's corps of 1,000 refugees was dispersed by General Miller.
Hecker fled to America. The other leaders likewise made good their escape.
On April 29 they issued a manifesto at Strasburg: "An overwhelming number
of imported bestial mercenaries have crushed Republican aspirations in
Baden, and have once more subjected the people to the hateful tyranny of
princes."

[Sidenote: The cause of Italy]

[Sidenote: Other Powers hostile]

[Sidenote: Italy isolated]

The unexpected outbreak of revolution in Vienna and Hungary had inspired
the Italians to rebel against Austrian rule with new confidence. On March
30, Pio Nono at Rome issued a proclamation to the people of Italy, in which
he said: "The events which have followed one another with such astounding
rapidity during the last two months are not the work of man. Woe to him
who, in this storm that shatters cedars as well as oaks, hears not the
voice of the Lord." Under the command of General Durando, a band of
Crociati, or crusaders, marched from Rome against the Austrians. Count
Balbo was placed in command of the Piedmontese army. To the remonstrances
of the British Ambassador at Turin, King Charles Albert replied that he
must either march against Austria or lose his crown. England, indeed, was
emphatic in its disapproval of the Italian national movement. In the pages
of the "Edinburgh Review," Sir Archibald Allison, the court historian,
wrote: "It is utterly repugnant to the first principles of English policy,
and to every page in English history, to lend encouragement to the
separation of nationalities from other empires." The new republican
government in France, on its part, had no desire to see a strong Italian
national State spring up on its southern frontier. Lamartine, the French
Foreign Minister, declined Charles Albert's request to sanction his
military occupation of Lombardy. A strong French army of observation was
concentrated on the Italian frontier in the Alps. Germany, which in later
years was destined to become the strongest ally of Italy, was still so
bound up with Austria that when Arnold Ruge in the Frankfort Parliament
dared to express a wish for the victory of Italian arms against Austria, a
great storm of indignation broke out in Germany. As a last resort, Charles
Albert, on April 6, proposed an offensive and defensive alliance to
Switzerland, but the little republic wisely declined to emerge from its
traditional neutrality. It was then that the Italians raised the defiant
cry: "Italia fara de se" (Italy will fight her own battles). When the hard
beset Austrian Government, in a confidential communication of Minister
Wessendberg to Count Casati, showed itself inclined to yield Lombardy upon
payment of Lombardy's share in the Austrian national debt, the proposition
was curtly declined.

[Sidenote: Set-back at Naples]

[Sidenote: Neapolitan forces recalled]

[Sidenote: Pio Nono's allocution]

It was a fatal move. The course of Italy, as Dante once sang, seemed like
that of "a ship without stars in a wild storm." Affairs took a wrong turn
in Naples. There a new popular Parliament had just been elected, which was
about to meet, when there were some final difficulties between the King and
his Liberal Ministers over the exact wording of the oath of allegiance. The
excitable Neapolitan populace forthwith became unmanageable. The Swiss
Guards, who had long been the butt of the people, put down the revolt
without mercy. Once more King Ferdinand was master. He hastened to dismiss
his Cabinet and dissolved the Parliament before it could come to order.
Orders were sent to General Pepe, who had marched to the front in northern
Italy with 14,000 men, to return at once. General Pepe, who had already
reached Bologna and had entered hostilities under Charles Albert's command,
declined to obey the orders of his sovereign. His rank and file trooped
back to Naples. Only fifteen hundred Neapolitan volunteers remained with
Pepe at the front. A number of the officers who returned felt their
disgrace so keenly that they committed suicide. The Neapolitan fleet, which
had already succeeded in raising the Austrian blockade of Venice, was
likewise ordered home. A more serious blow to the cause of Italy was Pio
Nono's apparent change of front. On April 29, without previous consultation
with his new Ministry, the Pope issued the famous "Allocution," in which he
declared that he had despatched his troops northward only for the defence
of the Papal dominions, and that it was far from his intentions to join
with the other Italian princes and peoples in the war against Austria. The
Papal Ministry immediately handed in its resignation. The Municipal Council
of Rome called upon the Pope to abstain from interference with his army.
General Durando, commanding the Papal troops at the front, had already
yielded to their entreaties by crossing the Po. Now he threw in his lot
with Charles Albert. Pio Nono sent a confidential messenger to Naples to
arrange for an asylum there, in case the people should turn against him at
Rome.

[Sidenote: Garibaldi]

[Sidenote: Battle of Goito]

[Sidenote: Cortatone]

[Sidenote: Surrender of Peschiera]

[Sidenote: Radetzky firm]

Charles Albert on the Mincio lost three precious weeks. His army now
numbered nearly one hundred thousand men, only sixty thousand of whom were
trained soldiers. About this time he was joined by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who
had just returned from the revolutionary battlefields of South America,
whither he had been driven an exile from Charles Albert's own dominions. He
was received with honor, and was put in charge of a volunteer corps which
he had raised at Milan. The Austrian commander profited by the delay of his
opponents to place his army between the strong fortresses of Verona,
Mantua, Legnano and Peschiera, and to draw reinforcements from the Tyrol,
until the situation in Austria itself became so threatening that no further
aid could be given him. In truth, the fate of the Austrian empire now
rested on the aged shoulders of Radetzky. On April 8, the Sardinian army,
in a sharp engagement at Goito, effected the passage of the Mincio. The
Austrians lost one thousand men. Siege was now laid to Peschiera. A Tuscan
division moved on Mantua, while the bulk of Charles Albert's army cut off
Verona from the roads to the Tyrol. Radetzky was driven to take the
offensive. In a fight at Cortatone he defeated the Tuscans, but within
twenty-four hours the Austrian garrison of Peschiera was brought to the
point of capitulation. The Italians took two thousand one hundred and fifty
men. On May 6, Charles Albert made an attempt to drive the Austrians out of
their positions in front of Verona. Repulsed at Santa Lucia, he was forced
to fall back on the Mincio. Under the influence of the peace party, the
Austrian Emperor now directed Radetzky to offer an armistice to the
Italians. Simultaneously with this, Austrian reinforcements cut their way
through to Verona. Radetzky sent Prince Felix Schwarzenberg to Innsbruck to
implore the Emperor for permission to continue the combat. This was
reluctantly given. Fearing another reversal of his orders, Radetzky
forthwith threw his army into Venetia. General Durando and his Papal army
were shut up in Vicenza, and compelled to capitulate. The capture of
Vicenza was followed by that of all the Venetian mainland east of the
Adige.

[Sidenote: Custozza]

[Sidenote: Fall of Milan]

[Sidenote: Truce of Vigevano]

The republic of St. Mark sought shelter under the royal Ægis of Piedmont.
Manin, the liberator of Venice, resigned his presidency and went into
retirement. Charles Albert now moved on Mantua, leaving half his army at
Peschiera and further north. Radetzky instantly threw himself on the weakly
guarded centre of the long Sardinian line. Charles Albert sought too late
to rejoin his northern detachments. At Custozza, on July 25, he suffered a
signal defeat. While he was thrown back over the Mincio the northern
divisions were also overcome. Charles Albert retreated to Milan closely
followed by Radetzky. He declared himself unable to hold the city. The
people rose against him. On the night of August 5, he escaped with
difficulty, protected by General La Marmora and a few guards. Milan
capitulated on the following day. When the Austrians made their triumphant
entry, half of the population left their homes to emigrate to Piedmont and
Switzerland. On August 9, an armistice was arranged at Vigevano. Venice
refused to accept it, and detaching itself once more from Sardinia,
restored Manin to power. Garibaldi with his volunteers likewise held aloof
and carried the fight into the northern mountains. From there he was
eventually dislodged by D'Aspre and crossed the frontier into Switzerland.

[Sidenote: Raffet's battle scenes]

The picturesque scenes of the revolutionary struggle in Italy have been
perpetuated by Denis-Auguste-Marie Raffet, a pupil of Charlot and of Gros,
who had already distinguished himself by his lithographs of the brief
Belgian war of 1832, and by his Russian and Oriental sketches made while
travelling with Prince Demidov. The motley uniforms of the volunteers of
Garibaldi, the Swiss Papal Guards and the Austrian, Piedmontese and French
troops, as well as the picturesque costumes of the Italian peasantry,
afforded a great scope for Raffet's brush. One of the most characteristic
specimens of Raffet's art during this period is his well-known picture of
"The Evening of the Battle of Novara."

[Sidenote: Austrian court returns]

[Sidenote: Jellacic ban of Croatia]

[Sidenote: Croats and Serbs secede from Magyars]

[Sidenote: Riots in Vienna]

[Sidenote: Jellacic disavowed]

[Sidenote: Civil War in Hungary]

[Sidenote: Metternich's comment]

The success of Radetzky restored a measure of confidence in Austria. The
Emperor and his court, who had sought refuge at Innsbruck, consented to
return to Vienna. There the promised elections had been held, and an
assembly representing all the provinces of the Empire, excepting Hungary
and Italy, had met in the third week of July. With the armies of Radetzky
and Windischgrätz within call, the Emperor and his Ministry assumed a
bolder front toward the Magyars. The concessions exacted by Hungary in
April had raised that kingdom almost to the position of an independent
state. Under its separate management of the Hungarian army, Austria found
it difficult even to use her Magyar troops at the front in Italy. The
Magyars showed the same haughty spirit toward the Austrian Serbs, Slavs and
Croatians. After Hungary's successful emancipation in March, the Serbs of
southern Hungary demanded from Kossuth the restoration of their own local
autonomy. The Magyars insisted on maintaining their ascendency, and decreed
that only the Magyar language should be the language of the state. Slavic
race feeling was kindled to sudden hatred. The Croatian national committee
at Agram, that had assumed charge of affairs after the catastrophe in
March, elected Jellacic, the colonel of the first Croatian regiment, Ban of
Croatia. The appointment was confirmed at Vienna, even before formal
notification had reached the Emperor. On assuming office, Jellacic caused
all Magyar officials to be driven out of the country, and broke off all
relations with the Hungarian government at Pesth. Batthyany, the Hungarian
Premier, hastened to Vienna, and obtained the disavowal of Jellacic. No
attention was paid to this at Agram. Now, General Hrabovsky, commanding the
troops in the southern provinces, received orders from Pesth to suspend
Jellacic from office and bring him to trial for high treason. In the
meanwhile the Serbs, meeting in Congress at Carlowitz on the Lower Danube,
proclaimed home rule, elected a Voiovode of their own and authorized him to
enter into intimate relations with their fellow Slavs in Croatia. This was
in the middle of May. Vienna during these same days was in a continual
uproar. Early in May a report that the Austrian Ambassador at London had
given a formal reception to Prince Metternich upon his arrival in England
caused an outbreak of popular wrath in Vienna. A mob surrounded the house
of Count Ficquelmont, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and compelled him to
resign his office. Detachments of troops patrolled the streets at night. On
May 15, the people revolted against this measure before the Palace, and
compelled Minister Pillersdorf to sign an order for the withdrawal of the
troops. The Emperor and his family fled to the Tyrol. At Innsbruck, where
he was received with great demonstrations of loyalty, the Emperor issued a
rescript in which he declined to return to his capital or to open the
national assembly until order should be restored. In Croatia, on hearing of
Hrabovsky's orders, the Palatine was burned in effigy. Batthyany hastened
to Innsbruck to turn this Slavic affront to the crown to account. By
assuring to the Emperor the support of Hungary's troops against the
Italians, Batthyany obtained the Emperor's signature to an emphatic
condemnation of Jellacic and his suspension from office. Jellacic then set
out for Innsbruck, accompanied by a large deputation of Croats and Serbs.
On the day that he arrived at Innsbruck, Batthyany at Pesth published the
text of the Emperor's orders against the Ban. Still Jellacic held his
ground. He regained the Emperor's favor by issuing an address to the
Croatian soldiers serving in Italy, enjoining them to stand by the colors
no matter what reports reached them from home. He was permitted to return
to Croatia and to resume his government at Agram. As soon as he reached
home, he declared himself the champion of Austrian unity, and assumed
dictatorial powers. Civil war broke out in Lower Hungary. General
Hrabovsky, when he attempted to occupy Carlowitz, encountered serious
opposition. He was attacked with such vehemence, by the Serbs led by
Stratimirovic, that he had to beat a retreat. The Hungarian Diet at Pesth
called for a levy of 200,000 men to crush the Slavic rebellion. In the face
of a letter from the Emperor, condemning the resistance offered to the
Hungarian government by the Slavs, Kossuth charged the Austrian Court with
instigating the civil war. Evidence was brought forward to show that the
Minister of War at Vienna was encouraging Austrian officers to join the
insurrection. Such was the situation in Austria at midsummer. A
characteristic comment on this apparently sudden disintegration of the
Austrian Empire at this time was furnished by Prince Metternich to his
fellow refugee, François Pierre Guizot, the fallen Prime Minister of
France. "During the catastrophes of 1848," writes Guizot, in his "Mémoires
pour servir a l'Histoire de mon Temps," "meeting Prince Metternich at
London one day, I said to him: 'Explain to me the causes of your revolution
in Austria. I know why and how things happened in Paris; but in Austria,
under your government, I cannot understand.' He replied with a smile of
mingled pride and sadness: 'I have sometimes ruled Europe, but Austria
never.'"

[Sidenote: The Frankfort Parliament]

[Sidenote: John of Austria elected leader]

[Sidenote: Prussia discredited]

[Sidenote: Foreign Powers intervene]

[Sidenote: Truce of Malmö]

[Sidenote: Frankfort Parliament powerless]

At Frankfort, during this interval, the national parliament of Germany was
convened on May 18. The event was celebrated throughout Germany with the
ringing of bells and bonfires at night. In truth, the assembly was such
that Germany might well be proud of it. Of the 586 delegates, more than a
hundred were university professors and scholars of eminence. Among them
were such men as Arndt, the poet, Gervinus and Dahlberg, the historians,
with others of like note. A promising unity of ideals seemed to prevail.
Heinrich von Gagern, a man of high character and parliamentary experience,
was elected chairman by a majority of 305 out of 397 votes. It was his
proposal to create a central executive in the person of a _Reichsverweser_.
Archduke John of Austria, one of the most popular of German princes, was
elected to this office by an overwhelming majority of 436 votes. The
Archduke, who was then presiding over the new Austrian Assembly at Vienna,
accepted the honor. By the time the German Bundestag adjourned, on July 13,
everything seemed full of promise. The minor German States formally
acknowledged the new Reichsverweser. King Frederick William of Prussia
invited him, together with many members of the Frankfort Parliament, to the
Cologne Cathedral festival on August 14. There the King pledged the
Archduke at a public banquet: "May he give us," declared the King, "united
and free German peoples; may he give us united and free sovereigns." A few
days later an event occurred which opened the eyes of the Germans to
Prussia's real part in the destinies of Germany. This was the armistice of
Malmö, concluded on August 26, between Denmark and Prussia. The early
German victories at Dannewirk and Oversee had borne no fruit. The Danes
were masters of the sea, and mercilessly ravaged the German coasts,
unprotected by any navy. As King Frederick William remarked, it was like a
fight between a hound and a fish. The Danes took innumerable prizes and
crippled the commerce of the Hanseatic cities. General Wrangel thereupon
exacted a contribution of 2,000,000 thalers in Jutland. For every
fisherman's hut that the Danish fleet might injure on the German coast, he
threatened to lay a Danish village in ashes. The foreign Powers objected to
such ruthless campaigning. The Scandinavian States intervened on behalf of
Denmark. Emperor Nicholas of Russia, who regarded the Schleswig-Holstein
movement as an unjustifiable rebellion, came to their support. Lord
Palmerston, who had once proposed to end the quarrel by simply cutting the
disputed territory in two, according to the preferences of the inhabitants,
now threw in the weight of England with the other Powers. Prussia was
constrained to withdraw her army. According to the provisions of the seven
months' truce forced upon Prussia at Malmö in Sweden, all prisoners were to
be returned, the Schleswig-Holstein army was to be disbanded, while a
temporary government of the duchies was to be administered by
representatives of Denmark and Prussia. All Germany was in an uproar. The
Frankfort Parliament repudiated the armistice by 238 against 221 votes. The
new-formed German Ministry resigned. Prof. Dahlmann, one of the
protagonists of the Schleswig-Holstein movement, was commissioned to form a
new Ministry. His efforts resulted only in failure. The conviction grew
that the German Parliament was powerless. Presently the Parliament revoked
its own decision, approving the armistice by 258 over 236 votes. After all,
it was plain that the most momentous German question of the day had been
settled independently of united Germany by Prussia standing alone. In South
Germany the revolutionists were once more called to arms.

[Sidenote: The French Republic]

[Sidenote: National workshops]

[Sidenote: Fyffe's judgment]

The new republican government of France had been kept far too busy by the
logical consequences of its revolutionary measures to take any active part
in the international settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein question. The
majority of the provisional government were moderate republicans,
representing the _bourgeoisie_, or middle class, rather than the workmen,
but associated with them were such radicals as Louis Blanc, Ledru-Rollin
and Albert, a locksmith. During the first few days of the installation they
undertook to guarantee employment to every citizen. It proved a gigantic
engagement. The mere distribution of idle workmen among the various
industries in which they were employed called for a new branch of the
administration. The task outgrew all expectations. Within four weeks the
number of applicants for government work rose from 140 to 65,000. Under the
stimulus of government competition, a series of labor strikes were declared
against private factories and establishments. The scheme, as then
attempted, grew utterly unmanageable. As Fyffe has said in his chapter on
this subject: "If, instead of a group of benevolent theorists, the
experiment of 1848 had had for its authors a company of millionaires
anxious to dispel all hope that mankind might ever rise to a higher order
than that of unrestricted competition of man against man, it could not have
been conducted under more fatal conditions."

[Sidenote: Radicals outvoted]

[Sidenote: Another attempted revolution]

[Sidenote: National workshop abolished]

The elections of April 23 gave the moderate element a handsome majority. An
attempt to change the elections was frustrated by the National Guard.
Strengthened by this manifestation of popular approval, Lamartine and his
colleagues got rid of their radical associates in the Cabinet. The excluded
radicals now planned a new revolution. On May 15, simultaneously with the
renewed riots in Vienna, an attempt was made to overthrow the government.
On the pretext of presenting a petition on behalf of Poland, a mob invaded
the Chambers and dissolved the Assembly. A provisional government was
installed at the Hôtel de Ville. The government supporters rallied the
National Guard. The leaders at the Hôtel de Ville were taken captive. The
Palais Bourbon was cleared, and the Deputies were reconvened in their
assembly hall. Encouraged by this success, the government resolved to rid
itself of the incubus of the national workshops, after a variety of schemes
with this purpose in view had been brought forward in the Assembly. The
government cut the Gordian knot by a violent stroke. On June 21, an edict
was issued that all beneficiaries of the public workshops between the ages
of seventeen and twenty-five must enlist in the army or cease to receive
support from the State.

[Sidenote: Paris up in arms]

[Sidenote: Archbishop killed]

[Sidenote: End of bloodshed]

At this time more than a hundred thousand destitute men had flocked to the
national workshops. They rose as of one accord. The rising of June 23 was
the most formidable yet experienced in Paris. The number of the workmen
alone exceeded that of several army corps. The unity of grievances and
interests gave them an _esprit de corps_ similar to that of an army. The
whole eastern part of Paris was barricaded like a fortified camp. Instead
of a mere revolt, the government found itself entering upon a civil war.
General Cavaignac, the Minister of War, was placed in supreme command, the
executive commission resigning its powers. He summoned all available troops
into the capital. Regardless of private interests, Paris was treated as a
great battlefield in which the enemy was to be attacked in a mass and
dislodged from all his main lines. The barricades were battered down with
field and siege artillery. Four days and nights the fight lasted. Whole
houses and blocks in which the insurgents had found a lodgment had to be
demolished. On the third day the Archbishop of Paris was struck by a bullet
while trying to stop the bloodshed. On both sides the fight was waged with
inexcusable savagery. The National Guard, with a few exceptions, fought
side by side with the regular troops. The workmen, threatened with the loss
of their subsistence, fought with the courage of despair. At the point of
the bayonet they were at last driven into the northeastern quarter of the
city. There, plied with grape and canister from every direction, they were
brought to the point of surrender.

[Sidenote: Cavaignac]

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon]

After this hard-won victory, the government did not hesitate to transport
without trial the whole mass of prisoners taken alive. A policy of reaction
set in. The government workshops and other concessions to socialism were
abandoned. General Cavaignac, at the direction of the Assembly, retained
his dictatorial powers until a new Constitution could be drafted. It seemed
as if Cavaignac was marked to become the permanent ruler of France, but his
own rigid republicanism stood in his way. It was at this time that Prince
Louis Napoleon once more came into prominence. When he first made his
reappearance in Paris he was requested to leave by the Provisional
Government. Retiring to England, he awaited developments, while his friends
and supporters agitated in his behalf. During the supplementary elections
he was nominated for the Chambers by four districts at once, and, despite
the government's efforts, he obtained a fourfold election. A vote of the
Assembly declared the election valid. With unwonted self-command the Prince
declined to take his seat, on the ground that it might embarrass the
government in its difficult situation. His letter to the president of the
Assembly ended with the significant declaration that if duties should be
imposed upon him by the will of the people he would know how to fulfil
them.

[Sidenote: France spellbound]

Three months later, in the midst of the debates on the constitution, while
Cavaignac was still in power, Louis Napoleon was re-elected to the
Assembly--this time by five departments. His hour had come. From this
moment he was a recognized aspirant for power. The great name of his uncle
shed its glory upon him. The new constitution of the Republic provided that
a President with executive powers should be elected by a direct vote of all
citizens. Louis Napoleon at once became a candidate. In an address to the
people he declared that he would devote himself without stint to the
maintenance of the Republic. In well-worded generalities something was
promised to all the classes and parties of France. The other candidates
were Cavaignac and Lamartine. Out of seven millions of votes cast in this
election, five million went to Louis Napoleon. The mere glamour of an
imperial name cast a new spell over France.

[Sidenote: Death of Chopin]

[Sidenote: The pianist's career]

In the midst of these stirring events in Paris, Frederick Chopin, the piano
composer, died on October 17. Born at Jelisovaya-Volia in Poland, he
received his early musical education at Warsaw. At the age of nine he
played a pianoforte concerto with improvisations in public. His first
compositions were Polish dances. In his fifteenth year he published a rondo
and a fantasie. Having perfected himself as a pianist, he set out on a
concert tour through Vienna, Munich, Paris and London. After his first
appearance in Vienna, the foremost musical critic there wrote of him: "From
the outset Chopin took place in the front rank of masters. The perfect
delicacy of his touch, his indescribable mechanical dexterity, the
melancholy tints in his style of shading, and the rare clearness of his
delivery are in him qualities which bear the stamp of genius. He must be
regarded as one of the most remarkable meteors blazing on the musical
horizon." In Paris he gave a concert at Pleyel's house. His reception was
such that he gave up all idea of proceeding further and made Paris his home
for life. He was welcomed to the intimacy of men like Liszt, Berlioz,
Meyerbeer, Bellini, Balzac and Heine. As one after another of his unique
compositions for the piano appeared, he took rank as the foremost composer
for that instrument. On the publication of his preludes and new Polish
dances, Schumann wrote of Chopin: "He is and ever will be the most daring
and proud poetic spirit of the time."

[Sidenote: Chopin and Georges Sand]

In 1836, Chopin met Madame Dudevant, better known as the celebrated
novelist Georges Sand. Their attachment was mutual. For her he wrote some
of his most inspired pieces. They spent the winter of 1838-39 together on
the Island of Majorca, where Georges Sand nursed Chopin through a severe
attack of bronchitis. Of this episode, which had its profound effect on
Chopin's music, Georges Sand has left an unengaging record in the novel
"Lucreticia Floriani," published shortly afterward, and another in her
"Histoire de ma Vie." Chopin returned from Majorca broken in health. He was
supplanted in Georges Sand's affections by Alfred de Musset. During the
season of 1848-49 he gave concerts in London, whence he returned to Paris
only to die. He was buried at Père la Chaise, between Bellini and
Cherubini's graves.

[Sidenote: Sicilian elections]

[Sidenote: King of Sardinia wary]

In Italy, after the armistice between the Austrians and the Piedmontese,
matters went from bad to worse. In Sicily, a National Parliament had met
and put Ruggiero Settimo at the head of affairs by a unanimous vote. King
Ferdinand and the House of Bourbon were declared to have forfeited the
crown of Sicily forever. Elections were ordered to call another Prince to
the vacant throne. England, interested as ever in Sicilian affairs,
impressed upon the Sicilian leaders the urgency of an early settlement. The
elections were held in haste. On July 12, at two in the morning, the vote
was announced in Parliament. The Duke of Genoa, Albert Amadeus of Savoy,
Charles Albert's second son, was elected King. The British and French
warships in Sicilian waters fired a royal salute. For Charles Albert this
only meant fresh embarrassment. In case of acceptance, he was sure to be
involved in war with Naples in the south, as well as with Austria in the
north. When the Sicilian deputies submitted their proposition in Piedmont,
on August 27, they obtained no definite reply.

[Sidenote: Venice steadfast]

[Sidenote: Riots at Bologna]

[Sidenote: Rossi, Papal Minister]

Meanwhile King Ferdinand of Naples gathered his forces to win back Sicily.
In the north the cause of Italy was on the wane. Francis V. was reinstated
as Duke of Modena, with the help of Austrian arms. On his return in August
he granted an amnesty, from the benefits of which "only those who had taken
part in the revolution" were to be excluded. Austrian troops under Count
Thurn likewise occupied the Duchy of Parma, the Duke remaining in Germany.
In Tuscany, the Archduke found it difficult to maintain himself at
Florence. His principality was overrun by radical refugees. A revolutionary
junta at Leghorn threatened to proclaim the republic unless the Duke of
Tuscany should appoint a governor in sympathy with their ideas. In his
extremity the Duke sent them Montanelli, a political dreamer, who
proclaimed Jesus Christ as the father of democracy. At Venice the Republic
of St. Mark, under Manin's able leadership, still held its own. Austria's
occupation of Ferrara and the Romagna brought new embarrassment to the
Pope. Baron Von Welden, the Austrian general, made matters worse in the
Romagna by his threatening language: "Woe to those who dare to oppose me!"
Formal protests were made in vain by Pope Pio Nono and the diplomatic
representatives of France and England. The Papal Ministry of Mamiani
resigned. The Roman Radicals, under the leadership of Prince Canino, a
Bonaparte, clamored for war, and some Austrian officers dared to show
themselves in Bologna. They were attacked in the streets and murdered by
the mob. Fighting began around Bologna. Too late the Austrians consented to
relieve the Pope from this embarrassment by withdrawing their troops from
his dominions. The Pope's new Minister, Count Pellegrino Rossi, an
unusually able and forceful man who had once acted as an envoy for Louis
Philippe, was denounced as a Frenchman and an enemy to Italy.

[Sidenote: Bombardment of Messina]

In September, King Ferdinand of Naples, having got rid of his Parliament,
launched his forces upon Sicily. General Filangieri, with 12,000 men, was
sent against Messina. There the Neapolitan garrison still held the
citadel--all that remained to Ferdinand of his Sicilian kingdom. Three
days before Filangieri landed, the gunners in the citadel began to bombard
the helpless town lying beneath them. Half of the city was laid in ruins.
The foreign warships in the harbor were filled with refugees. It was this
outrage that gave to King Ferdinand the nickname of "King Bomba." The
inhabitants remained steadfast. When Filangieri effected his landing, the
fight was carried on with ferocity. The fall of the city was followed by
barbarous excesses. For three days incendiary fires raged in the hapless
town. At last the foreign admirals, Parker and Baudin, put a stop to the
horrors, "as against all canons of civilized nations." An armistice was
established between the Neapolitans and the Sicilians. King Ferdinand's
dogged resistance to the remonstrances of the French and English
Ambassadors was strengthened by the latest event in Rome.

[Sidenote: Assassination of Rossi]

[Sidenote: Flight of Pio Nono]

On November 15, as the Roman Chambers were about to be opened, Prime
Minister Rossi was assassinated as he left his carriage to enter the
Chambers. It was the signal for a new revolt. The delegates in the Hall of
Chambers sought safety in flight. The National Guards made common cause
with the insurgents. A howling mob beset the Quirinal. But for the resolute
stand of the Pope's Swiss mercenaries, the palace would have been stormed.
As bullets penetrated the walls of the Pope's ante-chamber, Pio Nono
exclaimed: "Has Heaven no lightning?" For a while the Pope was practically
a prisoner in his palace, while the Prince of Panino and Sterbini, the
President of the Circolo Popolare, ruled Rome. At last, on the night of
November 24, Pio Nono, in the disguise of a groom, escaped from Rome,
seated on the box of the carriage of the Bavarian Ambassador, Count Spaur.
He fled to Naples. From the Neapolitan fortress Gaeta he sent a letter to
his "dearest son," the Emperor of Austria, imploring his help against the
Republic of Rome.

[Sidenote: Revolt in Frankfort]

At Frankfort, the ratification of the armistice of Malmö by the German
Parliament had aroused the Radicals to fury. On September 17, the day after
the second vote on this matter, a mass meeting was called at Frankfort. One
delegate, Zitz, proposed the abolition of the Parliament; another, Ludwig
Simon, declared the time had come to discuss all further questions from
behind barricades. The Municipal Senate of Frankfort, taking alarm, ordered
out the city troops and appealed for help to Prussia. On the morrow
fighting began in the streets of Frankfort. Barricades had been erected
overnight, and all day long the insurgents held their ground. It was known
that a Prussian column was approaching. Prince Lichnovsky and General Von
Auerswald, two leaders of the Conservative majority in the Parliament,
rashly undertook to meet the Prussian troops halfway. At the gates of
Frankfort both men were seized by the insurgents and were lynched by the
mob. Shortly before midnight the Prussian troops arrived and soon overran
the barricades with their bayonets. On the following day the city was under
military rule.

[Sidenote: South Germany restive]

In other parts of South Germany revolution had broken out anew. The Prince
of Sigmaringen was driven from his little domain, which was proclaimed a
republic. Insurgent expeditions were organized in Wurtemberg and Baden.
There Karl Blind and Gustav Struve made another attempt on Freiburg. At
Staufen, on September 24, they were beaten back by regular troops under
General Hoffmann and fled toward Switzerland. Struve himself was captured
near the frontier. On the same day the German Cabinet at Frankfort was
reinstated. Still the ill success of popular government in Germany brought
the Parliament into lasting disrepute.

[Sidenote: Reaction in Berlin]

[Sidenote: Brandenburg Prime Minister]

[Sidenote: Prussian Parliament dissolved]

The reaction was first felt at Berlin. There the return of General
Wrangel's troops from Denmark was followed by friction between the soldiers
and the democratic agitators in the streets. A resolution was passed in the
popular Parliament of Prussia that all officers out of sympathy with
democratic government should be encouraged to leave the army. The failure
of the Minister of War to act on this suggestion was followed by his
downfall. Having succeeded in this, the parliamentary majority next passed
a vote to eliminate the words "by the grace of God" from the titles of the
King. Toward the end of October a national convention of democrats met at
Berlin, and held its sessions amid tumultuous scenes in the streets. In
exasperation, the King dissolved the Cabinet that had been forced upon him,
and commissioned Count Brandenburg, a natural son of Frederick William II.,
to form another. It included Major-General von Strotha, Minister of War,
and Otto von Manteuffel, Minister of the Interior. The Parliament sent a
deputation to remonstrate with the King. One of the delegates, Jacoby, as
the King terminated the audience, called after him: "Behold the chief
misfortune of kings, that they will not listen to the truth!" Immediately
after this King Frederick William IV. prorogued the Parliament to the town
of Brandenburg. The majority of the delegates declined to adjourn. The
Cabinet Ministers, followed by the members that had been outvoted, left the
hall. On November 15, the remaining Parliament issued a proclamation to the
people to withhold all further payment of taxes. General Wrangel posted his
troops throughout Berlin. The Municipal Guards of Berlin were dissolved. An
attempt on the part of the Parliament to meet again was easily frustrated.
The taxes were collected as before. When the Parliamentary minority came to
order at Brandenburg their sessions were dissolved by royal order. On his
own initiative, King Frederick William IV. now proclaimed a constitution.
The Chambers, provisions for which were contained in this royal
constitution, were to meet at Berlin on February 24, 1849. Such was the end
of the People's Parliament in Prussia.

  [Illustration: WAGNER AND LISZT
    Painted by W. Beckmann]

About the same time Robert Blum, one of the radical Parliamentarians of
Frankfort, was shot in Austria. Together with Froebel, he had been
despatched to Vienna by the Parliamentary minority in Frankfort with
messages of sympathy for the popular cause in Austria. To offset this, the
majority sent two delegates to the Emperor to offer the Parliament's good
services for mediation with his rebellious subjects. They were coolly
received.

[Sidenote: Slav Congress of Prague]

[Sidenote: Bohemian revolt suppressed]

[Sidenote: Ferdinand's duplicity]

[Sidenote: Archduke Stephen withdraws]

[Sidenote: Kossuth in power]

[Sidenote: Murder of General Lamberg]

[Sidenote: Count Zichy shot]

All Austria was in a state of civil war. After the example of the Slavs in
Servia and Croatia, the Czechs of Bohemia rose at Prague. Austrian-German
authority there collapsed. A National Guard was organized, and a popular
Assembly convened. In midsummer a Congress of Slavs from all parts of
Austria met at Prague. Popular excitement rose to a threatening pitch. On
the day that the Panslavistic Congress broke up, barricades were erected
and fighting began in the streets of Prague. The wife of Count
Windischgrätz, the military commandant, was killed by a bullet.
Windischgrätz, after withdrawing his troops, threatened to bombard the city
unless the barricades were removed. This was not done. Windischgrätz then
took the city by storm. Military law was proclaimed. This success, like
that of Radetzky's arms in Italy, gave new hope to the Austrian Emperor. He
pronounced his veto on Hungary's military measures against Croatia. A
hundred delegates from the Magyar Diet at Pesth posted to Vienna to exact
from the Emperor the fulfilment of his promises to Hungary. On September 9,
the Emperor received them at his palace with renewed assurances that he
would keep his plighted word. A few hours afterward the official "Gazette"
published a letter over the Emperor's signature, expressing his full
approval of Jellacic's measures in Croatia. This was all Jellacic had been
waiting for. On September 11, he crossed the Drave with his Croatians and
marched upon Pesth. Archduke Stephen, the Hungarian Palatine, took command
of the Magyar army and went to the front. At Lake Balaton he requested a
conference with Jellacic. The Ban paid no attention to it. Realizing the
secret support given to Jellacic by the Crown, Archduke Stephen resigned
his command in Hungary. The Emperor now appointed General Lamberg at Vienna
to the supreme command over the military forces of Hungary as well as
Croatia. At the same time the Austrian Cabinet submitted a memorial
suggesting that the laws establishing Hungarian autonomy be declared null
and void. On the publication of this memorial in Pesth, Batthyany's
Ministry resigned. Kossuth openly proposed war with Austria. When Lamberg
arrived at Pesth, Kossuth prevailed upon the Diet to withhold its
ratification of Lamberg's appointment. Should Lamberg attempt to resume his
military command Kossuth demanded that he should be outlawed as a traitor.
As General Lamberg crossed the bridge at Budapesth he was recognized by the
populace. A cry was raised that he meant to seize the citadel and bombard
the town. He was dragged from his carriage and torn to pieces by the mob.
His body was dragged through the streets, and finally strung up before one
of the government buildings. A few days later, Count Zichy, one of the
Magyar magnates, was court-martialled by order of Arthur Goergey, the
Hungarian Honved leader, for entering into a correspondence with Jellacic,
and was shot.

[Sidenote: Imperial rescript repudiated]

[Sidenote: Troops mutiny in Vienna]

[Sidenote: Flight of Emperor]

On the receipt of this news, Emperor Ferdinand declared the Hungarian
Parliament dissolved, and pronounced all its acts null and void. Jellacic
was appointed representative of Austria in Hungary with command of all the
forces. The Magyar Diet repudiated the Emperor's manifesto as a breach of
the constitution, and pronounced Jellacic a traitor. Jellacic's forces were
checked by the Hungarian army in their advance upon Pesth. General Latour,
the Austrian Minister of War, ordered a division of troops at Vienna to go
to the support of Jellacic. The Magyar sympathizers at Vienna raised a
fearful uproar. As the troops were marching out of the city several
battalions were prevailed upon to mutiny. The Hungarian flag was hoisted
above the Cathedral of St. Stephen. The National Guard joined the mutiny.
Other battalions of the line were driven out of the city. The guards at the
arsenal capitulated. Vienna was at the mercy of the insurgents. The
Emperor, who had sought refuge at Schoenbrunn, left his palace at four on
the morning of October 1, and fled to Olmütz.

[Sidenote: Jellacic marches on Vienna]

[Sidenote: Windischgrätz moves from Bohemia]

[Sidenote: Assault on Vienna]

[Sidenote: Arrival of Hungarians]

[Sidenote: Battle of the Schwechat]

As soon as the news of these events reached Jellacic he evacuated his
threatened positions on the banks of the Raab and marched for Vienna.
Windischgrätz, with his garrison, set out from Prague. Revolutionists of
all races flocked into Vienna. Among them were the German delegates Froebel
and Blum, and the Polish general, Bem. The Hungarians pursued Jellacic no
further than their frontier. The regiments expelled from Vienna, under the
command of Count Auersperg, joined forces with Jellacic. The insurgents at
Vienna manned their fortifications as well as they could, and called upon
the people throughout Austria to take up arms. Emperor Ferdinand, at
Olmütz, offset this by an imperial proclamation to his people in which he
guaranteed all peasant rights. Prince Windischgrätz was created a field
marshal, with full command over all the forces in the empire, except those
under Radetzky in Italy. Windischgrätz took immediate steps to effect a
junction with Jellacic by seizing the bridges at Krems and Stein. In vain
did the delegates from Frankfort, who now appeared upon the scene, present
their offer of intervention. Windischgrätz would not listen to them. On
October 23, the Austrian army, 80,000 strong, appeared before Vienna. The
defence of the city had been intrusted to Captain Messenhauser, an officer
of the regular army, and to General Bem. Robert Blum, the German
Parliamentarian, fought in the ranks. While Windischgrätz was wasting his
time in parleys, an army of 18,000 Hungarians crossed the frontier and
threatened Jellacic's rear. On October 28, twenty-four hours after the time
fixed in Windischgrätz's last ultimatum, he began his assault on the city.
In the course of an all-day fight the troops succeeded in taking the
suburbs. The scenes of that night were frightful. The troops bivouacked on
the ramparts. The following Sunday was spent in further parleys. Already
the terms of capitulation had been settled, when Messenhauser, from the top
of the church of St. Stephen, made out the approaching columns of the
Hungarians. The news of their arrival was signalled to the city by a column
of smoke rising from the top of the tower. All negotiations for surrender
were dropped. The Hungarians attacked Jellacic on the banks of the
Schwechat, within a few leagues of the capital. The boom of their artillery
could be plainly heard in Vienna. In a frenzy of enthusiasm the Viennese
resumed the struggle. A corps of students attempted a sortie. Unfortunately
for them, the engagement on the banks of the Schwechat turned against the
Hungarians. Shortly after noon they gave way all along the line and fell
back toward Hungary. On the ramparts of Vienna the hopeless fight of a few
thousand civilians against an army of 90,000 men was continued until
nightfall. At six in the evening the troops broke into the city.

[Sidenote: Fall of Vienna]

[Sidenote: Stadion's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Abdication of Ferdinand]

On the following day, November 1, Prince Windischgrätz declared Vienna
under military law. All arms had to be delivered within forty-eight hours.
Arrests and courts-martial followed in profusion. Robert Blum was one of
the first to be shot. His colleague, Froebel, owed his life to a political
pamphlet signed with his name, in which he had defended the interests of
Austria against those of a united Germany. A new Ministry was installed,
under the leadership of the notorious Prince Felix Schwarzenberg and Count
Stadion. They announced their programme to be the maintenance of a strong
central government and the integrity of the Austrian Empire, with quick
suppression of the civil war in Hungary. A new Reichsrath was convoked at
the village of Kremsier, near Olmütz. On December 2, it was announced that
Emperor Ferdinand had resolved to abdicate his throne. His brother,
Archduke Francis Charles, renounced the succession. The Archduke's son,
Francis Joseph, a youth of eighteen, was declared by a family council to
have attained his majority. In virtue of this he ascended the throne as
Emperor.

[Sidenote: Francis Joseph, Emperor]

[Sidenote: The war in Hungary]

The Hungarian Diet, on learning of this transfer of the crown, refused to
acknowledge Francis Joseph as King of Hungary. The whole nation was
summoned to arms. The command of the army was given to Goergey. His first
serious problem was a rising of the Roumanians in Transylvania against
Magyar rule. The Roumanian peasants committed all conceivable atrocities.
When they raised the standard of the Empire, the Austrian commander,
General Puchner, espoused their cause. Transylvania was lost to Hungary.
The Roumanians led by Puchner co-operated with Jellacic's forces in
Croatia, and moved on Hungary from that quarter. On December 15, the main
Austrian army, under Windischgrätz, crossed over the River Leitha and
invaded Hungary. Goergey declared from the first that Pesth would have to
be abandoned. Kossuth's frantic efforts to prevent this only served to
hamper Goergey's able campaign. One line after another had to be abandoned.
At last, toward the close of the year, Kossuth and his Magyar Diet were
compelled to evacuate Pesth. The Hungarian army fell back over the River
Theiss, upon the fortress of Comorn, and the mountainous regions of
northern Hungary. Kossuth's government was established at Debreczin.




1849


[Sidenote: Bem's aggressive campaign]

[Sidenote: Goergey and Dembinsky]

On January 5, Windischgrätz and Jellacic made their triumphant entry into
Budapesth. The Vienna "Gazette" announced "the glorious end of the
Hungarian campaign." Prince Windischgrätz rested on his arms. During this
interval the Polish general, Bem, who had escaped from Vienna, aroused his
countrymen in Siebenbürgen and carried the war into that region. The
Austrian troops under General Puchner were beaten in a series of
engagements. Goergey, aided by another Pole, Dembinsky, repulsed the
Austrian troops under General Schlik in the north. While Windischgrätz
remained idle at Pesth, Klapkah, the new Hungarian Minister of War,
organized the Magyar forces and created new defences for his country.

[Sidenote: Afghan war]

[Sidenote: Chilian Wallah]

[Sidenote: Lord Gough superseded]

[Sidenote: "Battle of the Guns"]

[Sidenote: Punjab annexed to England]

Prince Metternich, whiling away his idle hours among other notable refugees
at London and Brighton, now had the satisfaction of seeing the dangers of
revolt brought home to the people of England. The tidings of a disaster in
Afghanistan provoked an outburst of alarm and indignation in England. On
January 13, Lord Gough had advanced on Sher Singh's intrenchments at
Chilian Wallah. They were held by 30,000 Sikhs with sixty guns, screened by
a thick jungle. As the British imprudently exposed themselves the Sikhs
opened fire. Lord Gough ordered a general charge. The drawn battle that
followed proved the bloodiest affair in the history of British India.
Driven from their first line of defences, the Sikhs stood their ground in
another stronger position, and repulsed the British attack. Nearly 2,500
British officers and men fell in the fight. In the face of the Afghan
rejoicings Lord Gough claimed a victory. The British War Office, however,
hastily despatched Sir Charles Napier to India to supersede Lord Gough.
There was still time for that commander to retrieve himself. General Whish
captured the town of Multan, and by terrible bombardment of the citadel
brought Mulraj to surrender. General Whish then joined forces with Lord
Gough in his final struggle with Sher Singh. At Guzerat, on February 22,
Lord Gough achieved the crowning victory known as "the battle of the guns."
For two hours a terrific artillery duel was maintained, the Sikhs firing
with all their sixty pieces. Finally the British stormed their batteries in
a combined charge of bayonets and cavalry. The Sikh forces were scattered,
and their camp, with most of their standards and guns, were captured by the
British. Dost Muhammad Khan and his Afghans were driven out of Peshawar and
narrowly escaped to Kabul. Mulraj was imprisoned for life. The whole of the
Punjab was annexed to British India. A successful administration of this
hostile province was Lord Dalhousie's first great triumph.

[Sidenote: President Taylor inaugurated]

[Sidenote: Development of Western America]

[Sidenote: The "Forty-Niners"]

About the same time, General Taylor, the conqueror of Buena Vista, was
inaugurated as President of the United States. One sentence in his
inaugural address provoked derision: "We are at peace with all the world
and the rest of mankind." The old Spanish missions in the conquered
territory were deprived of their wealth and influence. The name of San
Francisco was adopted in place of Yerba Buena. Besides California, the new
territory included the subsequently admitted States of Nevada, Arizona,
Utah, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas. The Apache and
Navajo Indians in those regions gave immediate trouble. The gold seekers
tracking across the plains were the first to suffer from the Indians. Still
the stream of immigrants poured into California. Their halfway stations on
the Missouri River developed into the two thriving towns of Omaha and
Council Bluffs. The Bay of San Francisco was soon surrounded by a
settlement of tents and sheds. A Vigilance Committee took affairs into its
own hands, and administered justice without fear or favor. Six times the
new city was destroyed by fire. Within two months all traces of the
disaster would be lost. California soon had a population entitling it to
Statehood. President Taylor eagerly seconded the wishes of the people for a
government of their own. The first Constitutional Convention of California
declared against slavery. More than $40,000,000 worth of gold was produced
in the new State, and the first gold dollars were coined.

[Sidenote: Death of Poe]

[Sidenote: Posthumous poems]

[Sidenote: "The Conqueror Worm"]

The death of Edgar Allan Poe, the American poet, was as tragic as his life
had been. After the death of his wife, Poe had engaged himself to marry a
wealthy lady in Richmond, and the wedding day was fixed. On his way to New
York to settle up affairs in anticipation of his marriage, Poe fell in with
some of his companions in dissipation at Baltimore. He became drunk,
wandered through the streets, and was finally taken to a hospital in an
unconscious condition. Later he became delirious and finally expired,
saying: "Lord, help my poor soul!" After Poe's death the simplest and
sweetest of his ballads, "Annabel Lee," and the wonderful poem of "The
Bells," were published. His former friend and editor, Griswold, published a
scathing denunciation of the dead man in the New York "Tribune." Poe's fame
as a master of the weird and fanciful in literature was already established
wherever his thrilling tales and superb poem "The Raven" had penetrated. He
was one of the few poets of America at that period who had succeeded in
achieving an international reputation. The best of his poems were rendered
in choice French by Baudelaire, while his short stories were translated
into almost all European languages. As his biographer, Woodberry, has said:
"On the roll of American literature Poe's name is inscribed with the few
foremost, and in the world at large his genius is established as valid
among all men. Much as he derived nurture from other sources, he was the
son of Coleridge by the weird touch in his imagination, by the principles
of his analytic criticism, and the speculative bent of his mind." Most
characteristic of Poe's genius perhaps are these lines from his famous
poem "The Conqueror Worm":

  Lo! 'tis a gala night
  Within the lonesome latter years!
  An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
  In veils, and drowned in tears,
  Sit in a theatre, to see
  A play of hopes and fears,
  While the orchestra breathes fitfully
  The music of the spheres.

         *       *       *       *       *

  That motley drama--oh, be sure
  It shall not be forgot!
  With its Phantom chased for evermore
  By a crowd that seize it not,
  Through a circle that ever returneth in
  To the self-same spot,
  And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
  And Horror the soul of the plot.

         *       *       *       *       *

  Out--out are the lights--out all!
  And over each quivering form
  The curtain, a funeral pall,
  Comes down with the rush of a storm,
  And the angels, all pallid and wan,
  Uprising, unveiling, affirm
  That the play is the tragedy "Man,"
  And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

[Sidenote: Abortive Spanish rising]

[Sidenote: Italian republics]

[Sidenote: Situation in Sicily]

In Europe, the startling upheavals of the previous year were followed by an
aftermath no less startling. Even in Spain, where a first attempt at
revolution had easily been crushed at Madrid, Don Carlos deemed the time
ripe to join Cabrera's revolutionary rising in Catalonia. On his way there
he was arrested at the French frontier. Deprived of his support, Cabrera
himself had to remove his forces to French soil. In Italy, the
revolutionary movement spread. On February 7, Duke Leopold of Florence was
driven out of Tuscany. A republican government was established at Florence
under the triumvirate of Guerazzi, Montanelli and Manzoni. Taking refuge on
a British man-of-war, the Duke of Tuscany fled to Gaeta to share the Pope's
exile there. On the same day that the new republic was proclaimed at
Florence a popular assembly at Rome formally deposed the Pope from temporal
power and proclaimed the Republic of Rome. The armistice in Sicily was
about to expire. King Ferdinand's final concessions to his rebellious
subjects were repudiated. Lord Palmerston, who had vainly offered British
mediation to Ferdinand, on the floor of Parliament openly defended the
uncompromising attitude of the Sicilians. In preparation for the inevitable
conflict, Filangieri gathered an army of 20,000 Neapolitans, while
Mierolavsky, a Pole, took command of the Sicilian insurgents.

[Sidenote: Hungarian defeats]

[Sidenote: Austrian reverses]

[Sidenote: Windischgrätz "Reconcentrates"]

[Sidenote: Hungarian declaration of independence]

Meanwhile the tide of war set against the Hungarians. On February 4, Bem
was defeated on the site of his former victory at Hermannstadt. While
retreating he was defeated again at Paiski. By the middle of February the
Austrians succeeded in taking the fortress of Essek from the Hungarians.
Toward the close of the month a disastrous defeat was inflicted upon the
Hungarians under the command of General Dembinsky at Kapolna. Kossuth had
made the mistake of superseding Goergey by that commander. Now Goergey was
reinstated. The Hungarians rallied. On March 5, the Magyar Csikos, or
irregular cavalry, under Janos Damjanies, defeated the Austrians under
General Grammont at Szolnok. A few days later the Hungarian army in
Transylvania, under General Bem, retrieved their ill-fortune by another
glorious victory at Hermannstadt. A Russian contingent from Wallachia,
which had crossed the frontier to assist the Austrians, was defeated by Bem
at Brasso. General Puchner and his Russian allies sought refuge across the
border. Goergey relieved Komorn. The ablest of the Austrian generals,
Schlik, was beaten at Hapvan, while Jellacic was overthrown at Isaszteg and
Goedoelloe. Prince Windischgrätz had to give up Pesth, or, as he put it in
his immortal thirty-fourth bulletin: "Reconcentrate the army in front of
Budapesth, a movement hastily imitated by the enemy." Goergey added another
touch of humor by attributing the Hungarian victory solely to the activity
of Windischgrätz and Jellacic. On March 4, Emperor Francis Joseph had
annulled the old Hungarian constitution. Kossuth retaliated in kind. Under
his influence the Magyar Diet at Debreczin pronounced the deposition of the
House of Hapsburg from the throne of Hungary and declared the independence
of Hungary and the adjoining southern provinces. While the Hungarian army,
instead of marching on Vienna, lost valuable time before Ofen, the Austrian
Government improved the interval to perfect its long-threatened alliance
with Russia.

[Sidenote: Sardinia renews war]

[Sidenote: Polish leaders]

[Sidenote: The "Five Days' Campaign"]

[Sidenote: Battle of Novara]

[Sidenote: Italian retreat]

[Sidenote: D'Aspre's heavy losses]

[Sidenote: Charles Albert abdicates]

In the interim war had broken out anew in Schleswig-Holstein and in Italy.
Before the expiration of the Austrian-Italian armistice, Charles Albert of
Sardinia, in a spirited address on February 1, announced his determination
to renew the war. To this desperate resolve he was driven by the increasing
turbulence of Italian affairs. The spread of the revolutionary movement to
his dominions could be forestalled only by placing himself once more at the
head of the Italian movement. In some respects the moment appeared
propitious. Charles Albert's army now numbered a hundred and twenty
thousand men, while Radetzky had little more than seventy thousand
Austrians. A characteristic note of the times was the appointment of Poles
to command the Italian troops. Prince Chrzanovsky, who had fought under
Napoleon at Leipzig and Waterloo, and had subsequently commanded a Russian
division at Varna, was put in supreme command, seconded by Alexander La
Marmora. Another Pole, or half Pole, Ramorino, who had figured in the
unfortunate rising of 1833, commanded the legion of Lombardy. On March 12,
the pending termination of the truce was officially announced. At noon on
March 20, hostilities were to be resumed. The campaign that followed lasted
but five days. Radetzky, by his preliminary feint, made the Italians
believe that he would evacuate Lombardy as heretofore; but at the last
moment he quickly concentrated his five army corps at Pavia. At the stroke
of noon, on March 20, he threw his army across the Tessino on three
bridges. While the Italians believed that Radetzky was retreating on the
Adda, the Austrians were already bivouacking on the flank of the
Piedmontese army. Three bloody engagements at Mortara, Gambola and
Sforzesca, on March 21, ended in a retreat of the Italians all along the
line. Ramorino had received orders to move northward and to destroy the
bridges behind him. Out of accord with his countryman, Chrzanovsky, he
disobeyed his orders and lingered at Stradella. Radetzky flung his army in
between, and cut off the Italian line of retreat upon Turin and
Alessandria. It was then that Benedek, an Austrian colonel, distinguished
himself by leading his troops far in advance of the Austrian army, and
cutting his way through an Italian brigade, under the cover of night. At
midnight of March 21, Charles Albert had to order a general retreat on
Novara. There Chrzanovsky determined to make a stand with his main column
of about 50,000 men. Radetzky was in doubt whether the Italians had fallen
back on Novara or Vercelli. To make sure he sent his troops in either
direction. He himself remained at his headquarters, so as to be ready to
ride either way. The roar of artillery from Novara, on the morning of March
23, told him where the battle was to be fought. There General D'Aspre,
commanding the second Austrian army corps, undertook to win some laurels on
his own account by a bold attack on the superior position of the Italians.
As Charles Albert rode out of the gate of Novara he received the last
cheers of his devoted Bersaglieri. After a three hours' fight the scale
turned against the Austrians. Count D'Aspre repented of his rashness, and
sent for help to Count Thurn at Vercelli. Fortunately for him, Radetzky and
Thurn had marched in that direction as soon as they heard the sound of the
cannon. It was a race between the two divisions. As Radetzky, at the head
of the first army corps, galloped through Nebola, the aged marshal met the
retreating columns of D'Aspre's second corps. Both the first and the third
Austrian corps rushed into the battle almost simultaneously. The Italian
advance was checked. At last, when Thurn's fourth corps arrived at sundown,
the Austrian bugles sounded for a general charge. The Italian line of
battle was overthrown. The Austrian cavalry circled around the flank. While
the Italians fled into Novara they suffered from the fire of their own
artillery. Charles Albert was one of the last who left the Bicocca to seek
refuge in Novara. The town itself was bombarded by the Austrian artillery
far into the night. Standing on the ramparts of Novara, Charles Albert
realized the disastrous nature of his defeat. His losses aggregated more
than seven thousand, of whom three thousand had been taken captive. Of the
Austrian losses of 3,158 men, five-sevenths fell to D'Aspre's corps. The
other Austrian divisions were practically intact. The Italians were in
confusion. Charles Albert, who throughout the day had exposed his person
with the utmost gallantry, had to be dragged from the ramparts by General
Durando. As the Austrian shells struck all around them he exclaimed, "Leave
me, General. Let it be the last day of my life. I wish to die." At last he
consented to send his Minister, Cadorna, to Radetzky's headquarters to sue
for an armistice. Cadorna was received in an insulting manner. Charles
Albert came to the conclusion that his own person was an obstacle in the
way of peace. That night he resigned his crown. In the presence of his
generals he pronounced his eldest son, Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia.
Accompanied by but one attendant he left Novara, and passed unrecognized
through the enemy's lines. Sending a farewell letter to his wife, he went
into exile. A few months later he died at Oporto in Portugal.

[Sidenote: Death of Charles Albert]

As Fyffe has said of this unfortunate Prince: "Nothing in his reign became
him like the ending of it. He proved that there was one sovereign in Italy
who was willing to stake his throne, his life, the whole sum of his
personal interests, for the national cause.... The man who, beaten and
outnumbered, had for hours sat immovable in front of the Austrian cannon in
Novara, had, in the depth of his misfortune, given to his son not the crown
of Piedmont only, but the crown of Italy."

[Sidenote: Victor Emmanuel yields]

[Sidenote: Italian Princes reinstated]

[Sidenote: French expedition to Rome]

On the day after the battle of Novara, King Victor Emmanuel sought out
Marshal Radetzky and came to terms. Venice and the Italian duchies had to
be relinquished to the Austrians. Austrian troops, in conjunction with
those of Piedmont, occupied Alessandria. Piedmont was to reduce its army to
a peace footing, to disperse all volunteers, and to pay a war indemnity of
75,000,000 francs. The Austrian demand that Victor Emmanuel should annul
the liberal constitution granted by his father was unconditionally refused.
For this Piedmont had to suffer a prolonged military occupation by Austrian
troops, but Victor Emmanuel, by the same token, retained his father's
claim to the leadership of the national cause of Italy. The victory of
Austrian arms was speedily followed by the return of the princes of
northern Italy to their petty thrones. Radetzky's troops undertook the
reconquest of Venice. To forestall an Austrian movement against Rome,
France undertook to reinstate Pio Nono in the Holy Chair of St. Peter. A
French expedition under Oudinot, a son of the famous marshal, disembarked
at Civita Vecchia. Mazzini and Garibaldi alone rallied their men to the
defence of the republic.

[Sidenote: Subjection of Sicily]

In Sicily, hostilities had been likewise renewed on March 29. The Sicilians
were discouraged by the report of the Italian defeats in the north.
Filangieri succeeded in capturing Taormina, the Sicilian base of supplies.
In the defence of Catania the Polish general commanding the Sicilian
troops, Mierolavsky, was severely wounded. At the foot of Mount Etna, the
Sicilians were again defeated on April 6, Good Friday. Catania was taken.
Syracuse surrendered to the Neapolitan fleet. Filangieri's army penetrated
into the interior. In vain did the English and Austrian Ambassadors offer
mediation. Ruggiero Settimo resigned his Presidency of the Sicilian
Republic. The heads of the insurrection fled the country. Palermo
surrendered. The customary courts-martial and military executions followed.
Until the accession of King Ferdinand's eldest son to the throne,
Filangieri ruled as military governor. In commemoration of one of the
cities he had laid in ashes, he was created Duke of Taormina. When England
tried to exact the promised recognition of the Constitution of 1812, King
Ferdinand rejected the proposal with the sardonic statement that peace had
been re-established in Sicily, and everybody was content.

[Sidenote: Danish war]

[Sidenote: Dueppel trenches stormed]

[Sidenote: Battle of Gudsoe]

The armistice of Malmö with Denmark expired on February 26. The German
Bundestag mobilized three divisions of the allied German federation. Within
a month Prussian, Bavarian and Swabian troops marched into Holstein. A
Prussian general, Von Prittwitz, assumed supreme command. On April 3, the
Danes opened hostilities by a bombardment of the Island of Allston. Then
came the battle of Eckenfoerde, when German shore batteries blew up the
Danish ship of the line, "Christian VIII.," and two smaller vessels, the
crews of which surrendered. On April 13, the Bavarians and Saxons stormed
the intrenchments of Dueppel. One week later, the German troops, in
conjunction with the volunteers of Schleswig-Holstein, under Von Bonin,
occupied Jutland, and defeated the Danes at Kolding. A Danish advance from
Fridericia was repulsed after a seven hours' fight, on May 7, at Gudsoe.
The Danes fell back on Fridericia, where they were invested.

[Sidenote: Francis Joseph's "Constitution"]

[Sidenote: German Constitution adopted]

[Sidenote: German imperial crown rejected]

Meanwhile the German Parliament had met again at Frankfort. After the
resignation of the former Austrian chief of the Cabinet, Schmerling, the
Parliament was split into two factions, according to their preferences for
a German union with or without Austria. Early in January it had been
decided to elect some German prince to assume the leadership of German
affairs as Emperor of the Germans. To this plan the minor German
sovereigns gave their consent. During the first week of March, when the
Emperor of Austria issued his new Constitution, which declared the whole of
the Austrian Empire under one indivisible constitutional monarchy, it was
plain to the German delegates that Austria could no longer be reckoned on.
On March 28, King Frederick IV. of Prussia was elected by 290 votes. Some
284 delegates, among whom were 100 Austrians, abstained from voting. An
imperial constitution was adopted which limited the former sovereign rights
of the various principalities, declared for the liberties of speech and of
the press, religious worship, free public schools, and the total abolition
of all feudal titles of nobility. On April 23, the great Parliamentary
deputation, with President Simpson at its head, came to Berlin to notify
the King of Prussia of his election. To the consternation of all, Frederick
William declined the honor. He explained in private that he did not care
"to accept a crown offered to him by the Revolution."

[Sidenote: Saxon revolution]

[Sidenote: South German risings]

[Sidenote: German Parliament dispersed]

The immediate effects of his rejection were new attempts at revolution in
Germany. After Frederick William's refusal to enter into the plans of the
German Parliament, this body fell into utter disrepute. Its radical
elements could no longer be kept in control. Armed revolts, encouraged by
the radical delegates, broke out in Frankfort, Kaiserslautern and
throughout Saxony. The King of Saxony, with his Ministers, Von Beust and
Rabenhorst, fled from Dresden. From the barricades the provisional
government was proclaimed. The garrison was at the mercy of the insurgents,
great numbers of whom flocked to Dresden from Leipzig and Pirna. Prussian
troops overran Saxony. The revolutionary movement spread to Hesse, Baden,
the Rhine provinces, Wurtemberg and the Bavarian Palatinate. Encounters
with the troops occurred at Elbafeldt, Düsseldorf and Cologne. The reserves
and municipal guards sided with the insurgents. All Baden rose and declared
itself a republic, forming an alliance with the revolted Palatinate. The
people of Wurtemberg, in a turbulent mass-meeting, demanded coalition with
both of these countries. It was then that the Parliament at Frankfort
decided to hold its future sessions at Stuttgart. Those principalities
which had not yet succumbed to revolution withdrew their delegates. Prussia
now gave to the Parliament its _coup de grace_ by arrogating to herself all
further prosecution of the Danish war, on the ground that "the so-called
central government of Frankfort had no more weight of its own to affect the
balance of peace or war." The remnants of the Parliament tried to meet at
Stuttgart, under the leadership of Loewe and Ludwig Uhland, the foremost
living poet of Germany. When they came together at their meeting hall they
found the doors blocked by troops. Attempts at protest were drowned by the
roll of drums. Under the threat of a volley the delegates dispersed. Such
was the end of the first German Parliament.

[Sidenote: Princes reinstated]

[Sidenote: Battle of Fridericia]

Prussian troops advanced into the Palatinate, Baden and Wurtemberg. After
desultory encounters with ill-led bands of insurgents, the sovereigns of
these principalities were reinstated on their thrones by the Prussian
army. The refugees thronged into Switzerland. In the north, on the other
hand, Prussia's further advance into Denmark was stopped by the
threatening attitude of England, Russia and France. On July 5, the Danes
made a sortie from Fridericia and inflicted a crushing defeat on the
Schleswig-Holsteiners, capturing 28 guns and 1,500 prisoners. The Germans
lost nearly 3,000 men in dead and wounded.

[Sidenote: Danish armistice]

Five days after this disgrace to German arms, the Prussian Government
accepted an armistice, according to which Schleswig was to be cut in two to
be occupied by Swedish and Prussian troops. The provisional government of
this province was intrusted to a joint commission, presided over by an
Englishman. Holstein was abandoned to its fate. The final downfall of all
the ideals of the German Liberals was followed by a feeling of dejection in
Germany akin to despair. The number of immigrants who left Germany to seek
new homes in America and elsewhere rose abruptly to 113,000 persons.

[Sidenote: Austrian-Russian alliance]

[Sidenote: Russians invade Hungary]

[Sidenote: Fall of Budapesth]

[Sidenote: Last Hungarian victories]

[Sidenote: Kemmisvar]

[Sidenote: Surrender of Vilagos]

[Sidenote: Batthyany hanged]

[Sidenote: Hungary crushed]

Worse even than in Germany fared the cause of popular government in
Hungary. On the day that Goergey's Hungarians stormed Ofen (May 21),
Emperor Francis Joseph had a personal interview with Czar Nicholas at
Warsaw. A joint note announced that the interest of all European States
demanded armed interference in Hungary. The Emperor of Russia placed his
whole army, under the command of Paskievitch, at the disposal of his "dear
brother, Francis Joseph." On June 3, the vanguard of the Russian main army
occupied Pressburg. Paskievitch called upon all Magyars to submit. Instead
of that, Kossuth called upon his countrymen to destroy their homes and
property at the approach of the enemy, and to retreat into the interior as
did the Russians before Napoleon. The rapid course of military events made
this impracticable. While Kossuth and his government retired to Scegedin in
the far southeast, Goergey, with the bulk of the army, took post on the
upper Danube to prevent the junction of the Austrians and Russians. There
the notorious Haynau, who had been recalled from Italy, was in command.
While Goergey attacked his left wing on the River Vag, Haynau perfected his
junction with the Russians. On June 28 their united forces, 80,000 strong,
captured Raab, under the eyes of Francis Joseph. The Russians occupied
Debreczin, while the Austrians moved on Budapesth. Goergey's attempts to
stop them resulted only in placing him in a dangerous position between both
armies. On the same day that the Austrians reoccupied Budapesth, the
Hungarians under Vetter succeeded in inflicting another disastrous defeat
on Jellacic at Hegyes. Three days later, Goergey won his last victory over
the Russians at Waitzen. After this the tide of war turned against Hungary.
The united army of Austria and Russia exceeded 225,000 men and 600 guns.
The Hungarian resources were exhausted. In the first week of August the
final conclusion of peace between Austria and Sardinia and the victorious
movement against Venice put new forces at Austria's disposal. Dembinsky,
who was to defend the passage of the Theiss before Scegedin, was defeated,
on August 5, at Czoreg with heavy losses. Kossuth now gave the command to
Bem. He fought the last battle of the campaign at Kemmisvar, on August 9,
ending in the disastrous defeat of the Hungarians. Bem barely succeeded in
saving the remnant of his army by crossing the Moldavian frontier. On
August 11, Kossuth at Arad relinquished his dictatorship in favor of
General Goergey. This headstrong soldier, in realization of his
helplessness, led his army of 20,000 foot, 2,000 horse and 130 guns within
the Russian lines at Vilagos and surrendered unconditionally. Goergey's
life was spared. Not so those of his foremost fellow prisoners, who were
handed over to the tender mercies of Haynau. "Hungary," wrote Paskievitch
to the Czar, "lies at the feet of your Majesty." Goergey's galling
explanation that he did not deign to surrender to his despised Austrian
adversaries was brutally avenged by Haynau. The foremost Magyar officers
and statesmen who fell into Austrian hands were court-martialled and shot.
Count Batthyany, the former Prime Minister, was hanged as a common felon.
Hungary lost all her ancient constitutional rights, besides her former
territories of Transylvania and Croatia. The flower of her youth was
enrolled in Austrian ranks and dispersed to the most remote garrisons of
the empire. Her civil administration was handed over to German bureaucrats
from Austria. The exiled patriots sought refuge in Turkey and in America.

[Sidenote: Paris insurrection suppressed]

[Sidenote: French enter Rome]

[Sidenote: Flight of Garibaldi]

[Sidenote: Pio Nono firm]

The French interference in Rome aroused the Republicans in France. While
Oudinot was carrying on siege operations against Rome, Ledru-Rollin, in
Paris, demanded the impeachment of the Ministry. The rejection of this
motion by the Chambers was followed by revolutionary risings at Paris,
Lyons, Marseilles and other cities. Then it was shown that France had a new
master. President Louis Napoleon was on his guard. Large forces of troops,
held in readiness for this event, put down the insurrections without much
trouble. The siege of Rome was pressed to its conclusion. On June 14,
Oudinot began his bombardment of Rome. Garibaldi prolonged his defence
until the end of the month. Then, when sufficient breaches had been opened,
the French stormed the ramparts and entered Rome. Garibaldi attempted to
throw his forces into Venice to prolong the war against Austria. With his
ever-dwindling followers he was hunted from place to place. In the end,
through the devotion of Italian patriots, he managed to escape to America.
On July 14, the restoration of the Pope's authority over Rome was announced
by Oudinot. Pio Nono, however, showed no inclination to place himself in
the power of his protectors. Remaining at Gaeta, he sent a commission of
cardinals to take over the government of Rome. Their first act was to
restore the Inquisition, and to appoint a court for the trial of all
persons implicated in the Roman revolution. Thereat great wrath arose
among the Republicans of France. Louis Napoleon felt compromised. In
reliance on the growing ascendency of Austria, the Pope insisted on his
absolute rights as a sovereign of Rome. All that Pio Nono would consent to,
under the pressure of the French Government, was to suffer his political
prisoners to go into exile, and to bestow a small measure of local powers
upon the municipalities of the various States.

After the fall of Rome and of Hungary no hope remained for Venice. A
fortnight after the surrender of Vilagos, and several months after the
subjugation of the Venetian mainland, the Republic of St. Mark, reduced by
cholera and famine, gave up its long struggle. The Austrians re-entered
Venice.

Having gained a free hand in her Hungarian and Italian dominions, Austria
set to work to recover her ascendency in Germany.




1850


[Sidenote: Blockade of the Piræus]

[Sidenote: Cholera in England]

At the opening of the year the British Foreign Office determined to bring
pressure to bear upon Greece for payment of the public debts which were
owing to English bankers. A British squadron, during January, blockaded the
Piræus. On January 17, a resolution was passed in the British House of
Lords condemning the foreign policy of the government in Greece. Later
France interposed in behalf of Greece and the blockade was discontinued.
Throughout the earlier part of the year the scourge of cholera continued in
England. In London alone the death-rate for a while was 1,000 per week.
More than 50,000 people died from the epidemic in England and Wales.

[Sidenote: Death of Wordsworth]

[Sidenote: "Lyrical Ballads" and "Peter Bell"]

[Sidenote: The "Lake School"]

[Sidenote: Wordsworth's doctrine]

William Wordsworth, the English Poet Laureate, died on April 23, at Rydal
Mount. Born at Cockermouth in 1770, Wordsworth received his academic
education at Cambridge University. Two years after his graduation, he made
his first appearance as a poet with the publication of "An Evening Walk; an
Epistle in Verse." In the same year he published "Descriptive Sketches in
Verse," inspired by a pedestrian tour through the Alps. These poems brought
the appreciation of Coleridge, and both men soon became friends. Together
with Wordsworth's sister they made a tour of Germany. On their return,
Wordsworth brought out the first volume of his "Lyrical Ballads," which won
great popularity, and the anonymous "Peter Bell," the most condemned of all
his poems. After his marriage in 1803, Wordsworth settled at Grasmere in
the lake country, where he was joined by Southey and Coleridge. This caused
the writings of all three to be classified under the generic title of "The
Lake School of Poetry" by the "Edinburgh Review." The fame of Wordsworth's
poetic productions, and especially of his sonnets, slowly grew. While he
won the immediate approbation of his countrymen by some of his stirring
patriotic pieces, his strongest appeal to the world at large and to future
generations lay in his poetic appreciation of the beauties of nature and of
the essential traits of human character. As he sang in the famous preface
to "The Excursion":

  Beauty--a living presence of the earth,
  Surpassing the most fair ideal forms
  Which craft of delicate spirits hath composed
  From earth's materials--waits upon my steps;
  Pitches her tents before me as I move,
  An hourly neighbor. Paradise, and groves
  Elysian, Fortunate Fields--like those of old
  Sought in the Atlantic main--why should they be
  A history only of departed things,
  Or a mere fiction of what never was?
  For the discerning intellect of man,
  When wedded to this goodly universe
  In love and holy passion, shall find these
  A simple produce of the common day.

[Sidenote: Ode on immortality]

The annunciation of this doctrine was greeted by the critic of the
"Edinburgh Review" with the insolent: "This will never do." In truth,
Wordsworth's fondness for the inner beauty of common things sometimes led
his verse into the commonplace. Wordsworth reached the height of his poetic
fervor in his "Ode on the Intimations of Immortality," containing the
famous lines:

  Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
  The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
      Hath had elsewhere its setting,
      And cometh from afar.

[Sidenote: Shelley's sonnet to Wordsworth]

It is at the end of this ode that Wordsworth summed up his veneration for
nature in the lines:

  To me the meanest flower that blows can give
  Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

After the death of his friend Southey, the mantle of the Poet Laureate fell
upon him. His acceptance of this honor, and of the humble office of stamp
distributer in the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, was decried by
some of his fellow poets as a sordid compromise. Robert Browning then wrote
his stirring invective, "The Lost Leader," while Shelley wrote the famous
sonnet addressed to Wordsworth:

  Poet of Nature, thou hast wept to know
  That things depart which never may return:
  Childhood and youth, friendship and love's first glow,
  Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn.
  These common woes I feel. One loss is mine
  Which thou too feel'st, yet I alone deplore.
  Thou wert as a lone star, whose light did shine
  On some frail bark in winter's midnight roar,
  Thou hast like to a rock-built refuge stood
  Above the blind and battling multitude:
  In honored poverty thy voice did weave
  Songs consecrate to truth and liberty--
  Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve,
  Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be.

[Sidenote: "The Prelude"]

Sir Robert Peel's recognition of Wordsworth's genius, on the other hand,
was regarded by the English Liberals as one of the brightest points in that
famous statesman's career. The University of Oxford, shortly afterward,
bestowed upon Wordsworth an honorary degree. One of Wordsworth's latest
poems was addressed to the Mount of Wanswell, rising above his country home
at Ambroside, closing with the prophetic lines:

                  When we are gone
  From every object dear to mortal sight,
  As soon we shall be, may these words attest
  How oft, to elevate our spirits, shone
  Thy visionary majesties of light,
  How in thy pensive glooms our hearts found rest.

After Wordsworth's death, appeared "The Prelude, or Growth of the Poet's
Mind," an autobiographical poem.

[Sidenote: Death of Peel]

[Sidenote: First international cable]

[Sidenote: The Koh-i-noor]

The next noted death in England this year was that of Sir Robert Peel,
which occurred after a stirring debate on the foreign policy of Lord
Palmerston in Greece. On the following day Peel was thrown from his horse
while riding near London. The injuries he received were such that he died
three days later. A monument to his memory was erected in Westminster
Abbey; but in accordance with his own wish he was buried in the village
churchyard of Drayton Bassett. Of other events arousing interest in
England, the most noteworthy was the laying of the first submarine electric
telegraph between England and France. The cable, which was twenty-seven
miles long and covered with gutta-percha, stretched from Dover to Cape Gris
Nez. Messages were interchanged, but the cable soon parted. During the
same year the great East Indian diamond, Koh-i-noor, was presented to Queen
Victoria. The history of this great jewel was more stirring, in its way,
than that of any living man. Its original weight was nearly 800 carats. By
the lack of skill of the European diamond cutters this was reduced to 270
carats.

[Sidenote: Death of Taouk Wang]

[Sidenote: Hien Fong, Emperor]

[Sidenote: The Taiping rebellion]

[Sidenote: Chinese emigration]

Beyond the immediate shores of England the course of events kept the
British Colonial Office fully occupied. In Canada, a movement arose for the
annexation of British America to the United States. Earl Grey, the Colonial
Secretary, took occasion to warn all Canadians against this movement as an
act of high treason. In India, the Afghans succeeded in reconquering Balkh.
The fifth Kaffir war broke out in South Africa. The affairs of China gave
fresh concern. On February 24, Emperor Taouk Wang died in his sixty-ninth
year. The thirty years during which he reigned were among the most
eventful, and in some respects the most portentous, for China. His
strenuous opposition to the evils of the opium trade mark him as a wise, if
not a powerful, ruler. He never wasted the public moneys of China on his
own person, and his expenditures in behalf of the court and mere pomp were
less than that of most of his predecessors. One of Taouk Wang's last acts
showed how his mind and his health had been affected by the recent
misfortunes of the empire. It appeared that the Chinese New Year's
Day--February 12, 1850--was marked by an eclipse of the sun. Such an event
being considered inauspicious in China, the Emperor decreed that the new
year should begin on the previous day. The decree was utterly disregarded,
and the Chinese year began at the appointed time. Taouk Wang's end was
hastened by the outbreak of a great fire in Pekin, which threatened the
imperial city with destruction. On February 25, a grand council was held in
the Emperor's bedchamber, and Taouk Wang wrote in his bed an edict
proclaiming his fourth son, Yihchoo, ruler of the empire. Prince Yihchoo,
who was less than twenty years old, took the name of Hien Fong, which means
great abundance, and immediately upon his accession drew to his aid his
four younger brothers, a new departure in Manchu rule. Their uncle, Hwuy
Wang, who had made one attempt to seize the throne from his brother Taouk
Wang, once more put forward his pretensions. After the imperial Ministers,
Kiaying and Muchangah, had been degraded, Hwuy Wang's attempt signally
failed, but his life was spared. Later in the year, as a result partly of
poor harvests, the great Taiping rebellion began. The great secret society
of the Triads started the movement by raising an outcry in southern China
against the Manchus. Their leader, Hung Tsiuen, a Hakka or Romany,
proclaimed himself as Tien Wang, which means the head of the Prince. Under
the cloud of the impending upheaval, Chinese coolies in great numbers began
to emigrate to the United States. At the same time the bitter feeling
against foreigners was intensified by an encounter of the British
steamship "Media" with a fleet of piratical Chinese junks. Thirteen of the
junks were destroyed.

[Sidenote: California an American issue]

[Sidenote: Fugitive slave bill]

In California, where most of the Chinese immigrants landed, this movement
was scarcely considered in the heat of the discussion whether California
should be admitted into the Union as a pro-slavery or anti-slavery State.
In the American Senate, Henry Clay introduced a bill for a compromise of
the controversy on slavery. His proposal favored the admission of
California as a free State. On March 7, Daniel Webster delivered a
memorable speech in which he antagonized his anti-slavery friends in the
North. This was denounced as the betrayal of his constituents. State
Conventions in South Carolina called for a Southern Congress to voice their
claims. Not long afterward a fugitive slave bill was adopted by the United
States Congress. A fine of $1,000 and six months' imprisonment was to be
imposed on any person harboring a fugitive slave or aiding him to escape.
Fugitives were to be surrendered on demand, without the benefit of
testimony or trial by jury. This served to terrorize some 20,000 escaped
slaves and created intense indignation in the North. The issues were still
more sharply drawn by the resignation of Jefferson Davis from the Senate,
to run as a State-rights candidate for Governor of Mississippi. His
Unionist rival, Foote, was elected.

[Sidenote: American filibusters in Cuba]

[Sidenote: Bulwer-Clayton treaty]

[Sidenote: Friction with Portugal]

In the meanwhile trouble had arisen with Spain and Portugal. On May 19,
General Narcisso Lopez, with 600 American filibusters, landed at Cardenas
to liberate Cuba from the dominion of Spain. He was defeated and his
expedition dispersed. Another Cuban expedition was agitated in America. On
April 25, President Taylor felt constrained to issue a second proclamation
against filibusters. In May, the United States, in conjunction with Great
Britain, recognized the independence of the Dominican Republic. Both
countries at the same time agreed not to interfere in the affairs of
Central America. In accordance with this agreement the famous
Bulwer-Clayton Treaty was completed. It provided that neither country
should obtain exclusive control over any inter-oceanic canal in Central
America, nor erect fortifications along its line. In June an American
squadron was sent to Portugal to support the United States demand for
American war claims of 1812. The claims were refused and the American
Minister was recalled from Lisbon. The American fleet was withdrawn without
further hostile demonstrations. The American President, in pursuance of his
policy of peace, proclaimed neutrality in the civil war which had arisen in
Mexico.

[Sidenote: Shields' prophecy]

[Sidenote: Webster scourged]

The furious slavery debate was resumed when Clay's so-called "Omnibus Bill"
was offered for final consideration. It was during this debate that Senator
Shields of California uttered his famous prophecy that the United States,
so far from dissolving, would within a few generations send its soldiers to
Asia and into China. On July 9, Webster soothed the angry passions of the
legislators when he announced that President Taylor was dying. Webster's
support of the Compromise Act of 1850, with its fugitive slave bill,
dimmed his Presidential prospects. It was then that Whittier wrote the
scathing lines entitled "Ichabod":

  So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn
    Which once he wore!
  The glory from his gray hairs gone
    For evermore!

  Revile him not! the tempter hath
    A snare for all;
  And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath,
    Befit his fall.

  Oh, dumb be passion's stormy rage,
    When he who might
  Have lighted up and led his age
    Falls back in night!

  Scorn! would the angels laugh to mark
    A bright soul driven,
  Fiend-goaded, down the endless dark,
    From hope and heaven?

  Let not the land once proud of him
    Insult him now,
  Nor brand with deeper shame his dim
    Dishonor'd brow!

  But let its humbled sons, instead,
    From sea to lake,
  A long lament, as for the dead,
    In sadness make!

  Of all we loved and honor'd naught
    Save power remains,
  A fallen angel's pride of thought
    Still strong in chains.

  All else is gone; from those great eyes
    The soul has fled:
  When faith is lost, when honor dies.
    The man is dead.

  Then pay the reverence of old days
    To his dead fame!
  Walk backward, with averted gaze,
    And hide the shame!

[Sidenote: Death of Calhoun]

John Caldwell Calhoun, after a final speech on the issues of the country,
died on the last day of March. He was the most prominent advocate of State
sovereignty. He was noted for his keen logic, his clear statements and
demonstrations of facts, and his profound earnestness. Webster said
concerning him that he had "the indisputable basis of high character,
unspotted integrity, and honor unimpeached. Nothing grovelling, low, or
mean, or selfish came near his head, or his heart."

[Sidenote: Death of President Taylor]

[Sidenote: Fillmore's Presidency]

On July 9, President Taylor died, and Vice-President Fillmore succeeded
him. He received the resignations of all the Cabinet. His new Cabinet was
headed by Webster, Secretary of State (succeeded by Everett in 1852). The
new fugitive slave bill was signed by Fillmore. But the law was defied in
the North as unconstitutional. Benton called the measure "the complex,
cumbersome, expensive, annoying and ineffective fugitive slave law." In
Boston occurred the cases of the fugitives Shadrach, Simms and Anthony
Burns. Fillmore and Webster came to be looked upon in the North as traitors
to the anti-slavery cause. But for this Fillmore would have had a fair
chance of re-election to the Presidency.

[Sidenote: "Uncle Tom's Cabin"]

[Sidenote: "The Scarlet Letter"]

Then appeared in the "National Era" at Washington the opening chapters of
Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." A million copies of the book
were sold in America and in Europe. It spread and intensified the feeling
against slavery. Emerson published "Representative Men"; Hawthorne "The
Scarlet Letter"; and Whittier brought out his "Songs of Labor." Parodi,
the Italian singer, made her first appearance in America. She was eclipsed
presently by Jenny Lind, whose opening concert at Castle Garden in New York
netted $30,000 to her manager, Barnum.

[Sidenote: Russian conscription]

[Sidenote: Schleswig-Holstein abandoned]

[Sidenote: Ibsen]

Under the stress of another Mohammedan rising against the Christians in
Syria and the Balkans, Emperor Nicholas of Russia decreed a notable
increase of the Russian army. Out of every thousand persons in the
population seven men were mustered into the ranks in western Russia, thus
adding some 180,000 men to the total strength of the Russian force. In
midsummer, the city of Cracow, in Poland, was nearly destroyed by fire.
Later in the year occurred the death of the Polish general Bem, in Turkey,
who had won such distinction while serving the cause of Hungary. Another
attempt to win Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark was made in summer. Unaided
by the Germans, the Schleswig-Holsteiners, under the leadership of
Willisen, a former Prussian general and distinguished theoretical
strategist, engaged a superior Danish army at Idstedt. They were beaten.
Their defeat had so discouraging an effect that Prussia abandoned the
struggle in their behalf. In Norway, about this time, Henrik Ibsen came
into prominence with a publication of his early drama "Catalina."

[Sidenote: Dumas Fils]

In France, the younger Dumas proved himself a formidable rival of his
father by such works as his "Trois Hommes" and "Henri de Navarre."

[Sidenote: Death of Balzac]

[Sidenote: "The Human Comedy"]

The death of Honoré de Balzac, the celebrated French novelist, was an event
in literature. Born at Tours in 1799, he soon devoted himself to writing.
His first work, the tragedy "Cromwell," written at the age of nineteen,
proved unsuccessful, as did all of his earlier novels, which appeared under
a pseudonym. Various unfortunate undertakings, such as the publication of
new editions of "La Fontaine" and "Molière," plunged him into debt. He
returned to writing novels. Not until late was his authorship openly
avowed. By this time several of his stories, such as "Le Dernier Chouan,"
"La Femme de Trente Ans," and his sprightly "Physiologie du Mariage," had
achieved immense success. Still Balzac failed to turn his successes to
financial account. He sank ever deeper in debt. In 1843 he turned upon his
critics with a slashing "Monograph on the Parisian Press." The major part
of his striking, realistic novels was published in the famous series "La
Comédie Humaine." This in turn was divided into these seven parts: "Scenes
of Private Life," "Life in the Provinces," "Life in Paris," "In Politics,"
"In the Army," "In the Country," with "Philosophical Studies" and "Studies
in Analysis." In his preface of 1842, Balzac thus explained the scheme of
his work:

     "In giving the general title of 'The Human Comedy' to a work begun
     nearly thirteen years ago, it is necessary to explain its motive, to
     relate its origin, and briefly sketch its plan, while endeavoring to
     speak of these matters as though I had no personal interest in them.
     This is not so difficult as many imagine. Few works conduce to much
     vanity; much labor conduces to great diffidence....

     "As we read the dry and discouraging list of events called History,
     who can have failed to note that the writers of all periods, in Egypt,
     Persia, Greece and Rome, have forgotten to give us the history of
     manners? The fragment of Petronius on the private life of the Romans
     excites rather than satisfies our curiosity....

     [Sidenote: The novel defined]

     "A sure grasp of the purport of this work will make it clear that I
     attach to common, daily facts, hidden or patent to the eye, to the
     acts of individual lives, and to their causes and principles, the
     importance which historians have hitherto ascribed to the events of
     public national life.... I have had to do what Richardson did but
     once. Lovelace has a thousand forms, for social corruption takes the
     hues of the medium in which it lives. Clarissa, on the contrary, the
     lovely image of impassioned virtue, is drawn in lines of distracting
     purity. To create a variety of Virgins it needs a Raphael.

     "It was no small task to depict the two or three thousand conspicuous
     types of a period; for this is, in fact, the number presented to us by
     each generation, and which the Human Comedy must require. This crowd
     of actors, of characters, this multitude of lives, needed a
     setting--if I may be pardoned the expression, a gallery. Hence the
     division into Scenes of Private Life, of Provincial Life, of Parisian,
     Political, Military and Country Life. Under these six heads are
     classified all the studies of manners which form the history of
     society at large.

     "The vastness of a plan which includes both a history and a criticism
     of society, an analysis of its evils, and a discussion of its
     principles, authorizes me, I think, in giving to my work the title
     'The Human Comedy.' Is this too ambitious?"

[Sidenote: Balzac's Works]

Altogether, Balzac brought out more than a hundred prose romances. They
contain the most graphic pictures of the life of the French people under
Louis Philippe. Balzac said of himself that he described people as they
were, while others described them as they should be. A few months before
his death Balzac improved his circumstances by a marriage with the rich
Countess Hanska. On his death Victor Hugo delivered the funeral oration,
while Alexandre Dumas, his rival throughout life, erected a monument to him
with his own means.

One week later Louis Philippe, the deposed King of France, died at
Claremont in England, in his seventy-seventh year. His career, from the
time that he followed the example of his father, Philippe Egalité, by
fighting the battles of the Revolution, and through the vicissitudes of his
exile until he became King in 1830, was replete with stirring episodes.

[Sidenote: Death of Gay-Lussac]

Gay-Lussac, the great French chemist and physicist, died during the same
year. Born at Saint Léonard, Haut-Vienne, in 1788, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
distinguished himself early in his career as a scientist by his aerial
voyages in company with Biot for the observation of atmospheric phenomena
at great heights. In 1816, he was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the
Polytechnic School of Paris, a chair which he held until 1832. Promoted to
a professorship at the Jardin des Plantes, Gay-Lussac labored there
incessantly until his death. There is scarcely a branch of physical or
chemical science to which Gay-Lussac did not contribute some important
discovery. He is noted chiefly for his experiments with gases and for the
discovery of the law of combination by volumes.

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon's presidency]

Louis Napoleon, while administering affairs as President, began to let
France feel his power. Early in the year he created his incapable uncle,
Jerome Bonaparte, a marshal of France. On August 15, his Napoleonic
aspirations were encouraged by a grand banquet tendered to him at Lyons.
His government felt strong enough to enact new measures for the restriction
of the liberty of the press.

[Sidenote: Prussian constitution]

[Sidenote: South German alliance]

[Sidenote: Denmark's integrity guaranteed]

[Sidenote: Hessians resist despotism]

In Germany, as well as in Austria and Russia, similar reactionary measures
were enforced. Frederick William IV. of Prussia for a while appeared
anxious to undo the effects of his narrow policy of the previous year. A
constitution had been adopted in Prussia on the last day of January, and on
February 6 the King took the constitutional oath. Austria now began to edge
her way back into the management of German affairs. Under her influence
Hanover withdrew from the alliance of the three North German powers,
Hanover, Saxony and Prussia. Later Saxony also withdrew. On February 27,
the Kings of Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Saxony signed a joint agreement for a
restoration of the German Confederation and a maintenance of the federal
union. The Emperor of Austria gave to this scheme his full support. When
the Bundestag met again at Frankfort, Austria insisted on her rights as a
German State. Too late the Prussian representative advocated a German
federal State, with Austria excluded. The disastrous failure of Prussian
intervention in Schleswig-Holstein about this time brought Prussia into
further disrepute with the rest of Germany. England, France and Sweden
united to guarantee the integrity of Denmark. Prussia left the Duchies to
their fate. On July 19, Austria called for another assembly of the old
Confederation. Prussia and her adherents could not join. On August 17, the
German sovereigns met on the call of Austria at Frankfort to consider a
plan of federal union. The old Bundestag was reopened at Frankfort on
September 2, under the auspices of Austria. Prussia clung to her rival
federal union. A bone of contention was furnished by the little State of
Hesse. The Archduke of Hesse, the most reactionary of German princes, had
resumed his rule with the help of his hated Prime Minister, Hassenpflug.
The financial budget of this Minister was disapproved by the Hessian
Estates. Hassenpflug now dissolved the Assembly and proceeded to levy taxes
without its sanction. The people refused to pay. The courts decided against
the government. Even the soldiers and their officers declined to lift a
finger against the people. In the face of this resolute attitude the Prince
and his Minister fled the country, on September 12, and appealed to the new
Bundestag at Frankfort for help. The restoration of the Archduke to his
throne was decreed.

[Sidenote: Prussians intervene]

[Sidenote: Austria prepares for war]

[Sidenote: Prussia cowed]

[Sidenote: Hessia ground under]

Prussia now took a decided stand. On September 26, General von Radowitz,
the originator of the North German Union, was placed at the head of
Prussia's foreign affairs. He declared for the cause of the people in
Hesse. The Prussian troops were withdrawn from Baden over the military
roads leading through Hesse. To meet this situation, Francis Joseph of
Austria, in October, had a personal interview with the Kings of Bavaria
and of Wurtemberg at Bregenz. It was decided to crowd the Prussians out of
Baden and Hesse by moving Bavarian and Austrian troops into those
countries. Another personal conference between Francis Joseph and Czar
Nicholas at Warsaw assured to Austria the support of Russia. In vain did
Frederick William send his cousin, Count Brandenburg, to win over the Czar
to his side. Count Brandenburg met with so haughty a reception that he
returned chagrined, and, falling ill, died soon afterward. Both Austria and
Prussia mobilized their armies. At Vienna the Austrian Prime Minister
avowed to the Ambassador of France that it was his policy to "avilir la
Prussie, puis la démolir." On November 8, the vanguards of the Prussian and
Austrian troops exchanged shots. The single casualty of a bugler's horse
served only to tickle the German sense of humor. The Prussians retired
without further encounters. Radowitz resigned his Ministry. Otto von
Manteuffel was put in charge. On November 21, the Austrian Ambassador at
Berlin, Prince Schwarzenberg, demanded the evacuation of Hesse within
forty-eight hours. Prussia gave in. Manteuffel requested the favor of a
personal interview at Olmütz. Without awaiting Austria's reply he posted
thither. In a treaty signed at Olmütz late in the year, Prussia agreed to
withdraw her troops from Baden and Hesse, and to annul her military
conventions with Baden, Anhalt, Mecklenburg and Brunswick. Thus miserably
ended Prussia's first attempt to exclude Austria from the affairs of
Germany. As heretofore, the Prussian-Polish provinces of Posen and Silesia
were excluded from the Confederation. Austria, on the other hand, tried to
bring her subjected provinces in Italy and Hungary into the Germanic
Confederation. Against this proposition, repugnant to most Germans, France
and England lodged so vigorous a protest that the plan was abandoned. The
Elector of Hesse-Cassel returned to his capital. Under the protection of
the federal bayonets he was able to bring his wretched subjects to complete
subjection.

[Sidenote: Gervinus]

[Sidenote: Richard Wagner]

[Sidenote: Lenau]

[Sidenote: Lenau's pessimism]

The profound disappointment of the German patriots at the downfall of their
political ideals found its counterpart in German letters and music. Georg
Gottfried Gervinus, the historian, who had taken so active a part in the
attempted reorganization of Germany, turned from history to purely literary
studies. It was then that he wrote his celebrated "Study of Shakespeare."
Richard Wagner, who had escaped arrest only by fleeing from Dresden, gave
up active composition to write pamphlets and essays, and published his
remarkable essay on "The Revolution and the Fine Arts." In the meanwhile,
Franz Liszt at Weimar brought out Wagner's new operas "Lohengrin" and
"Tannhäuser." Nicolas Lenau, the most melodious of the German lyric poets
after Heine, died insane. Lenau, whose true name was Niembsch von
Strehlenau, was a Hungarian by birth. He joined the group of German poets
among whom were Uhland, Gustav Schwab and Count Alexander von Wurtemberg,
whose literary aspirations were ridiculed by Heine as "la Romantique
défroquée." Stimulated by his fellow poet Chamisso's voyage to Bering
Strait, Lenau sought new inspiration in America. On his return he wrote a
number of poems on America, which were published under the title of
"Atlantica." In later years Lenau's verses, like those of Leopardi in
Italy, became ever more melancholy, owing partly to inherited tendencies.
In the early forties the poet's pessimism turned into absolute melancholia.

[Sidenote: Uhland]

[Sidenote: Heyse]

After the death of Lenau the mantle of German poetry fell upon Uhland. One
of the younger poets, Paul Heyse, at the same time made his first
appearance with the poetic drama "Francesca da Rimini."

[Sidenote: Babism in Persia]

In this year, Mirza Ali Mohamad, the great founder of the new Bab religion
in Persia, with his disciples Aka Mohamad Ali and Sayyid Husayn of Yezd,
suffered martyrdom. Sayyid Husayn recanted under torture, but the Bab and
Aka went firmly to the place of execution. Condemned to be shot, the Bab
escaped death by an apparent miracle. The bullets only cut the cords that
held him bound. He was afterward slain by a soldier. His body was recovered
by his disciples. Thus, in the words of Denison Ross, the Persian scholar,
"died the great Prophet-Martyr of the Nineteenth Century, at the age of
twenty-seven, having during a period of six brief years, of which three
were spent in prison, attracted to his person and won for his faith
thousands of devoted men and women throughout Persia, and having laid the
foundation to a new religion destined to become a formidable rival to
Islam." Further persecution of the Babis during this same year did much to
forward the new religion.




1851


[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon's measures]

President Louis Napoleon's growing mastery of France was revealed early in
the year. On January 3, as the result of his restrictions of the liberty of
the press, the Ministry had to resign. The President deprived General
Changarnier, a pronounced Republican, of the command of the Paris garrison,
and dissolved the Assembly, which might have objected to these measures.

[Sidenote: Death of Spontini]

[Sidenote: Spontini's career]

Gasparo Spontini, the celebrated Italian composer, died on January 24, at
his birthplace in Ancona province. Born in 1774, Spontini was intended for
the priesthood, but while still a lad ran away and took up music. A
sympathetic uncle sent him to the musical conservatory at Naples, where he
studied under Sala Tritto. Spontini began his career as a dramatic composer
at the opening of the century while acting as orchestral conductor at
Palermo. In 1800 he brought out three operas, and wrote others for Rome and
Venice, so that by the time he went to Paris in 1803 he had sixteen operas
to his credit. His study of Mozart's music served to bring about a complete
change in his style. Thus his one-act opera "Milton," dedicated to Empress
Josephine, may be regarded as the first of his truly original works.
Empress Josephine appointed him her chamber composer, and secured a hearing
for his new opera "The Vestal," produced at the Grand Opera. Napoleon
awarded to him the prize for the best dramatic work of that year. In 1810,
Spontini became the director of the Italian opera, and there staged
Mozart's "Don Giovanni." Dismissed in 1812, on charges of financial
irregularity, he was reappointed as court composer by Louis XVIII. His
stage pieces in glorification of the Restoration only achieved a _succès
d'estime_. He was glad to accept an appointment to Berlin as court composer
for Frederick William III. There he brought out "Lalla Rookh," "Alcidor,"
and "Agnes Hohenstauffen," none of which found currency in other cities.
His overweening conduct gradually made his position at Berlin untenable. He
was finally driven out by the hostile demonstrations of his audiences, and
retired, in 1841, a broken man. After a few years spent in Paris he
returned to Italy, where the Pope created him a count. Spontini returned to
his birthplace of Magolati village only to die.

[Sidenote: Prussian events]

[Sidenote: Schleswig-Holstein again]

[Sidenote: Metternich returns]

[Sidenote: Bismarck]

[Sidenote: The Dreibund]

[Sidenote: Austrian-Turkish agreement]

In Germany, King William IV. at Berlin celebrated the 150th anniversary of
the Prussian monarchy on January 18. A colossal statue of Frederick the
Great was made for this occasion by the sculptor Christian Rauch. At the
same time a further humiliation upon Prussia was inflicted by the military
occupation of Schleswig-Holstein by Austria. The Austrian troops, who came
to put a definite stop to hostilities in those provinces, marched into
Schleswig-Holstein over a pontoon bridge laid by the retreating columns of
the Prussians. As a concession to outraged German feeling, representatives
from Schleswig-Holstein were to be readmitted to the Diet of the Germanic
Confederation. This superannuated Diet met again at Frankfort as in the
days of the Holy Alliance. Before this a conference of Ministers had been
held at Dresden, at which Prussia was represented by Baron Lamsikell, while
Prince Felix Schwarzenberg appeared for Austria. With the powerful backing
of Russia, Austria could force the hand of Prussia into reacceptance of the
old order of things. As if to emphasize this, old Prince Metternich made
his reappearance in Vienna as if nothing had happened. On May 30, the
Confederate Diet met again at Frankfort. Baron Bismarck was appointed as a
delegate from Prussia. On the day after the opening of the Diet, the
sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussia met at Olmütz to renew the
former alliance of these countries. A period of reaction set in. The
Prussian Constitution was modified. The Emperor of Austria began to undo
the reforms granted by the Liberal Constitution of 1849. On August 20, he
arrogated to himself absolute powers in a series of Cabinet letters, in
which he declared that his Ministers were "responsible to no other
political authority than the throne," while the Reichsrath was to be merely
"considered as the council of the throne." Before this the Austrian and
Turkish Governments had come to a settlement respecting Hungarian and
Polish refugees in Turkey. With the exception of Kossuth and seven others
of the foremost leaders of the Hungarian revolution, a so-called amnesty
was extended to all refugees, provided they did not set foot in Hungary.
About this time another popular rising occurred in Bosnia. A Turkish army
was sent to suppress it, and Austrian troops took up their station on the
frontier. Many of the exiled Hungarians betook themselves to America.
Kossuth first went to England. A magnificent reception awaited him there.

[Sidenote: Palmerston rebuked]

[Sidenote: Boers lose Orange Colony]

Lord Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary, in the meanwhile had
compromised himself with his colleagues in the Cabinet by his independent
threats of interference in regard to the Hungarian refugees in Turkey.
Queen Victoria sent a letter to Prime Minister Russell containing these
significant words: "The Queen expects to be kept informed by Lord
Palmerston of what passes between him and the foreign Ministers, before
important decisions are taken based upon that intercourse; to receive the
foreign despatches in good time; and to have the drafts for her approval
sent to her in sufficient time to make herself acquainted with their
contents before they be sent off." Lord Palmerston replied: "I have taken a
copy of this memorandum of the Queen, and will not fail to attend to the
directions which it contains." Some of the most troublesome foreign
complications, as often before, first came up for settlement in the
Colonial Office. Thus, in March a British force under Sir Harry Smith
defeated a commando of Boers at Boomplaatz. Other Boer forces were
dispersed. The British flag was hoisted beyond the Orange River and the
annexation of that territory to Great Britain was accomplished.

[Sidenote: Second Burmese war]

[Sidenote: Fall of Rangoon]

In India, war was renewed with the King of Burma. As usual, the trouble
started with complaints of the British merchants at Rangoon calling for the
protection of their country. Lord Dalhousie sent Commodore Lambert to
Rangoon on the "Fox." Lambert seized one of the ships of the Burmese king
lying in the river, promising to restore it on receipt of ten thousand
rupees as compensation for the injured merchants. In reply the Burmese
opened fire on the "Fox." Now all Burmese ports were declared in a state of
blockade. Lord Dalhousie sent nineteen steamers and 6,000 men to Rangoon
under General Godwin. Rangoon was captured after a heavy cannonade. The
three terraces of the great Pagoda there were carried by storm, and the
British flag hoisted over the golden dome of the sacred Pagoda. The capture
of Rangoon was followed by that of Bassie on the Irawaddy, and Prome. The
whole of Pegu was annexed to the British Empire.

[Sidenote: Gold found in Australia]

In Australia great excitement was created by the discovery of gold in
various places. As early as February, gold was found in New South Wales by
returned gold seekers from California. A great number of immigrants rushed
into that province. In July, a squatter on Meroo Creek found a mass of
virgin gold weighing above a hundred pounds. Thereupon the famous gold
fields of Ballarat were opened in Victoria. In October, gold discoveries
were made near Melbourne surpassing all others. As a result of the great
tide of immigration that swept into Victoria that province separated itself
from New South Wales. Melbourne became the capital of Victoria.

[Sidenote: Crystal Palace show]

In England, throughout the summer, a great international exposition in the
so-called "Crystal Palace" erected on Hyde Park attracted visitors from far
and wide. A special ode by Alfred Tennyson was sang at the opening:

  Uplift a thousand voices full and sweet,
    In this wide hall with earth's invention stored,
    And praise the invisible universal Lord,
  Who lets once more in peace the nations meet,
    Where Science, Art and Labor have outpoured
  Their myriad horns of plenty at our feet.

The Exposition was the most ambitious affair of the kind held so far. The
building, which covered an area of nineteen acres, cost about £180,000. The
total receipts of the Exposition were more than a half million pounds. At
one time it was calculated nearly a hundred thousand visitors were
assembled under its roof. The difficult problem how to place the exhibits
of various countries was settled by awarding the choice places in an
arrangement according to Mercator's projection of the map of the world.
Even then Spain refused to be represented at the Exposition unless she were
provided with an entrance distinct from that of Portugal.

[Sidenote: Civil war in Portugal]

Portugal was scarcely in a condition to share in any exhibition of
industrial progress. Another outbreak of the persistent conflict between
the Septembrists and Cabralists broke out in April. An insurrection in
Oporto declared for the fugitive Duke of Saldanha. On April 29, he arrived
at Oporto. The movement assumed such threatening proportions that Queen
Maria da Gloria dismissed Count Thomar de Costa Cabral, and made Saldanha
Prime Minister.

[Sidenote: South American convulsions]

In Portugal's former colonial possessions a civil war, no less wearing, was
maintained. On October 2, General Urquiza of the Argentine Republic, having
joined forces with Brazil and Montevideo, compelled General Oribe to
capitulate at Montevideo. This ended the nine years' investment of
Montevideo. Later in the year General Urquiza overthrew General Rosas at
Montevideo and proclaimed himself military dictator. In Chile, about the
same time that a violent earthquake wrecked more than four hundred houses
at Valparaiso, a military insurrection broke out under Colonel Ourriola. In
a sharp engagement between the government troops and the insurgents
Ourriola with three hundred of his followers was killed. The insurrection
was prolonged by General José Maria de la Cruz. Between four and five
thousand men were killed in the desultory engagements that followed. At
last the revolt was crushed by the decisive defeat of General Cruz in the
battle of Longamilla.

[Sidenote: Extension of railways]

In China, the threatening Taiping rebellion gathered force. In Siam, the
unusual spectacle was beheld of the simultaneous enthronement of two kings
as rulers of that country. The progress of modern civilization was attested
by the opening of a steam railway in Egypt between the cities of Cairo and
Alexandria. In Russia, too, a straight line of railroad was laid over the
long stretch between St. Petersburg and Moscow, and work was begun on
others no less ambitious.

[Sidenote: American filibusters pardoned]

[Sidenote: American yacht victory]

[Sidenote: Kossuth in America]

[Sidenote: Death of Fenimore Cooper]

[Sidenote: Cooper's novels]

The fears of unpleasant complications between the United States and Spain,
by reason of Cuban filibustering expeditions, were allayed by a general
pardon extended to the American filibusters on the part of the Queen of
Spain. On August 11, Lopez had landed with more filibusters in Cuba. He was
captured shortly after his landing and was shot. The same fate was shared
by his Cuban followers. Only to the American adventurers who accompanied
the expedition did the Spanish Queen's pardon apply. An event of joyful
interest to Americans was the victory of the American schooner-yacht
"America" over all her English competitors in the yacht races at Cowes on
October 22. She carried off the trophy of an international cup, which,
under the name of the America's Cup, was destined to remain beyond the
reach of English racing yachts throughout the rest of the century. Not long
after this the visit of two distinguished Europeans excited general
interest in America. One was Lola Montez, the famous Spanish dancer, whose
relations with King Louis I. of Bavaria had resulted in the loss of his
crown. The other was Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, who had been
brought from England on an American vessel. His reception in America
surpassed even that which had been accorded to him in England. During this
same year in America occurred the deaths of Audubon, the great naturalist;
Gallaudet, the benefactor of deaf-mutes, and James Fenimore Cooper, the
novelist. Cooper was born in Burlington, New Jersey, the son of a wealthy
father, who settled on the shores of Lake Otsego in New York. After
attending Yale College for three years, Cooper entered the United States
navy as a common sailor. He was promoted after some time to the rank of
midshipman and eventually to that of lieutenant. On his marriage in 1811 he
left the service, and soon began his career as an author. His first novel,
"Precaution," was not promising. In "The Spy," which appeared in 1821, he
gave the first indications of his peculiar originality. It made Cooper's
reputation as an American author. The knowledge that Cooper had acquired in
his father's estate on the borders of the wilderness and later on the sea
was turned to account in his many tales of Indian life and sea stories,
which took his contemporaries by storm. Most famous among them are:
"Deerslayer," "The Last of the Mohicans," "Pathfinder," "Pioneers,"
"Prairie," and the sea tales "The Pilot" and "Red Rover." His strictures on
American customs in "Homeward Bound" and "Home as Found" brought upon him
much newspaper abuse. About the time of Cooper's death, Francis Parkman
published his "Conspiracy of Pontiac," Longfellow his "Golden Legend,"
while Nathaniel Hawthorne brought out "The House of the Seven Gables."

[Sidenote: Tennyson, poet laureate]

In England, Alfred Tennyson had been selected as the worthiest successor of
William Wordsworth in the office of Poet Laureate. He showed his
appreciation of the honor by his famous dedication to Queen Victoria in
"The Keepsake."

  Revered, beloved--O you that hold
    A nobler office upon earth
    Than arms, or power of brain, or birth
  Could give the warrior kings of old,

  Victoria--since your Royal grace
    To one of less desert allows
    This laurel greener from the brows
  Of him that utter'd nothing base:

  And should your greatness, and the care
    That yokes with empire, yield you time
    To make demand of modern rhyme
  If aught of ancient worth be there;

  Then--while a sweeter music wakes,
    And thro' wild March the throstle calls,
    Where all about your palace walls
  The sunlit almond-blossom shakes--

  Take, Madam, this poor book of song;
    For tho' the faults were thick as dust
    In vacant chambers, I could trust
  Your kindness. May you rule us long,

  And leave us rulers of your blood
    As noble till the latest day!
    May children of our children say,
  "She wrought her people lasting good;

  "Her court was pure; her life serene;
    God gave her peace; her land reposed;
    A thousand claims to reverence closed
  In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen;

  "And statesmen at her council met
    Who knew the seasons when to take
    Occasion by the hand, and make
  The bounds of freedom wider yet

  "By shaping some august decree,
    Which kept her throne unshaken still,
    Broad-based upon her people's will,
  And compass'd by the inviolate sea."

[Sidenote: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley]

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, daughter of Godwin and wife of the poet
Shelley, died during this year. She wrote some half dozen novels and
stories, the best of which was "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus."
The weird story, which was written in 1816 in a spirit of friendly rivalry
with Shelley and Byron, achieved great popularity. This was largely by
reason of the originality of the author's conception of the artificial
creation of a human monster which came to torment its maker. Mrs. Shelley's
last book was an account of rambles in Germany and Italy. She also brought
out a careful edition of her husband's complete works.

[Sidenote: Death of Turner]

[Sidenote: "The Slave Ship"]

Joseph M.W. Turner, the most celebrated English artist of the Nineteenth
Century, died in this same year. Born in 1775, he displayed his artistic
talents at an early age. At the outset of the Nineteenth Century he
achieved a national reputation by his "Battle of the Nile," but did not
reach the apotheosis of his fame until Ruskin sang his praises. One of his
most discussed pictures was that of the "Slave Ship," which has in turn
excited the most scathing ridicule and the most extravagant admiration.
Thus George Inness, the American artist, wrote of him: "Turner's 'Slave
Ship' is the most infernal piece of clap-trap ever painted. There is
nothing in it." Thackeray confessed with delightful frankness: "I don't
know whether it is sublime or ridiculous." Mark Twain, the American
humorist, has voiced both of these views at once, whereas Ruskin has
recorded:

[Sidenote: Ruskin's estimate]

"I believe if I were reduced to rest Turner's immortality upon any single
work, I should choose 'The Slave Ship.' Its daring conception, ideal in the
highest sense of the word, is based on the purest truth, and wrought out
with the concentrated knowledge of a life. Its color is absolutely perfect,
not one false or morbid hue in any part or line, and so modulated that
every square inch of canvas is a perfect composition; its drawing as
accurate as fearless; the ship buoyant, bending, and full of motion; its
tones as true as they are wonderful; and the whole picture dedicated to the
most sublime of subjects and impressions (completing thus the perfect
system of all truth, which we have shown to be formed by Turner's
works)--the power, majesty, and deathfulness of the open, deep, illimitable
sea."

[Sidenote: Some Turner prices]

The picture, having first been acquired by Ruskin, finally went to America.
About this time Turner's canvases began to command fabulous prices. "Van
Goyen Looking for a Subject," sold in 1833 for a few hundred pounds, was
resold in London thirty years later for 2,510 guineas. At a Turner sale in
1878 hitherto unsold canvases and unfinished sketches brought over £73,000,
or about $365,000. Over a hundred of Turner's paintings and as many
sketches and drawings, dating from 1790 to 1850, are now in the National
Gallery of London.

[Sidenote: Death of Sebastiani]

[Sidenote: Corsican diplomacy]

[Sidenote: Death of Soult]

[Sidenote: Soult's early successes]

[Sidenote: First Peer of France]

[Sidenote: Foremost soldier of Empire]

In France, Marshal Horace François Sebastiani, one of the favorites of
Napoleon the Great, died on July 21 at Paris. Sebastiani was a Corsican
like Napoleon. He was identified with his great countryman's career from
beginning to end. A soldier of fortune, like his illustrious chief, he
distinguished himself chiefly by his Machiavellian talents for diplomacy.
It was he who stirred up Napoleon's first war with England by his famous
mission to the East to lay bare England's weakness in that quarter. After
this, Sebastiani's name figured in many confidential missions. By his
machinations at Constantinople, at one time he embroiled both England and
Russia with Turkey, when such a diversion came most welcome to Napoleon,
who was then fighting on the frontiers of Poland. On the downfall of
Napoleon, Sebastiani was temporarily intrusted with the management of
affairs at Paris. His conduct at this time as at all others laid him open
to charges of double dealing and treachery. Napoleon showed his
appreciation of Sebastiani's services by remembering him in his will. The
famous old marshal's death gave to Prince Louis Napoleon a welcome
opportunity to recall the lost glories of the First Empire. A still better
chance was presently afforded. For, soon after Sebastiani, Marshal Soult
died at château St. Amans, on November 26, in his eighty-second year. The
death of this distinguished Marshal-General of France served to recall some
of the brightest glories of Napoleonic days. Born in 1769 at St.
Amans-la-Bastide, Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult joined the royal army of
France at the age of sixteen. He served as a sous-lieutenant under Marshals
Lukner and Ustine, and so distinguished himself that he soon won his steps
and was attached as adjutant-general to Marshal Lefebvre's staff. As a
brigadier-general he turned the tide of victory at the battle of Fluress.
After this he was intrusted with the command of a division, and took part
in all the campaigns in Germany, and through the Swiss and Italian
campaigns waged by Massèna. In a sortie from Genoa he was taken prisoner.
Set at liberty after the battle of Marengo, he returned to France at the
peace of Amiens, and was made one of the four colonels of the guard of the
consuls. Napoleon Bonaparte, though by no means fond of Soult, was quick to
detect his great talents as a soldier. After this a prominent part was
assigned to Soult in all of Napoleon's campaigns. He was one of the first
of the generals selected for the new rank of marshal in 1804, and was the
first of the marshals to be advanced to the dignity of a peer of France. In
1805, Soult led the main column of the Grand Army, which gained the
Austrian rear, and thus brought about the disastrous capitulation of Ulm.
On the field of Austerlitz he was charged with the execution of the
brilliant manoeuvre which decided the fate of that battle. His share in
the battle of Jena was scarcely less distinguished. After this victory,
Soult defeated Kalkreuth, captured Magdeburg, and put to flight Blücher and
Lestocq. On the bloody field of Eylau, Soult's ardor helped to secure the
semblance of victory for France. In 1808 he was sent to secure the French
conquest of Spain. He defeated the Spaniards at Manuessa and fought the
battle at Coruña where Sir John Moore lost his life. The English army
having fled, Soult overran Galicia and the north of Portugal, where he
stormed Oporto. On the landing of Wellington he retreated before that
commander into Spain, but after the battle of Talavera once more drove the
Spaniards and English before him into Portugal.

[Sidenote: Last stand at Toulouse]

[Sidenote: Minister of war]

[Sidenote: Marshal-General of France]

After the loss of Badajoz and Ciudad Rodrigo, Soult was recalled to aid
Napoleon in Germany after the catastrophe of Moscow. He was the Emperor's
chief-of-staff in the battles of Luetzen and Bautzen. On Wellington's
invasion of France, Soult was sent against him. Marching through the passes
of the Pyrenees, he succeeded in inflicting great losses on the English.
His attempts to secure Pampeluna and San Sebastian having failed, Soult was
compelled to face Wellington on the soil of France. His dispirited troops
were driven back at Toulouse, where he held his ground tenaciously until
the allies had lost 5,000 men. At the Peace of Paris he signed a separate
suspension of arms, and was rewarded for this by Louis XVIII. with the
cross of St. Louis and the portfolio of the Ministry of War, but during the
Hundred Days he declared for Napoleon, and once more served as his
chief-of-staff at Waterloo. On his return from exile in 1819 his marshal's
baton was restored to him. Charles X. also confirmed him in his rank as
peer. Louis Philippe twice made him Minister of War. At the coronation of
Queen Victoria in 1838, Soult was elected to represent France. When he
retired into private life, nearly ten years later, the King revived for him
the ancient dignity of Marshal-General of France.

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon's aspirations]

[Sidenote: Maupas]

[Sidenote: Emphatic disavowals]

By the time of Marshal Soult's death, the storm that arose over Louis
Napoleon's abrupt removal of Changarnier had been suppressed with a firm
hand. The majority in the Assembly who voted for a revision of the
Constitution was found to be ninety-seven less than the three-fourths
required, and all further opposition of the Assembly against Louis
Napoleon's measures was denounced as factious. Maupas, the obsequious Chief
of Police, discovered dangerous plots against the government and against
the person of the President. Fears of possible Napoleonic aspirations had
been silenced by Louis Napoleon's energetic protests. He himself stated
publicly: "They think that I wish to revive Napoleon. What could I revive
of Napoleon? One sole thing--a crime. I am not a genius--so I cannot copy
Napoleon; but I am an honest man--so I will imitate Washington. My name,
the name of Bonaparte, will be inscribed on two pages in the history of
France. On the first there will be crime and glory; on the second propriety
and honor. And the second, perhaps, will be worth the first. Why? Because,
if Napoleon is the greater, Washington is a better man. Between the guilty
hero and the good citizen I choose the good citizen. Such is my ambition."

[Sidenote: A last denial]

[Sidenote: The Coup d'État]

Later, after a caricaturist had been imprisoned and fined for depicting
Louis Bonaparte in the act of shooting at the French Constitution as a
target, Morigny, Minister of the Interior, declared in the Council that "a
guardian of public power should never so violate the law, as otherwise he
would be--" "A dishonest man," interposed President Napoleon. Such was the
situation on the eve of December 2. As Victor Hugo put it, in the opening
chapter of his "History of a Crime": "People had long suspected Louis
Bonaparte; but long continued suspicion blunts the intellect and it wears
itself out by fruitless alarms." On December 1, the session of the Assembly
was devoted to a discussion on municipal law. It terminated with a peaceful
tribunal vote. Prince Louis Napoleon held an informal reception at the
Elysées. During that night, Louis Napoleon, in complicity with the bastard
princes, De Morny, Valevsky, Saint-Arnaud, Persigny, Maupas and others,
having made sure of the commanding officers of the troops on duty, caused
the arrest before daylight of all the leading Republicans. It was alleged
afterward that Colonel Espinasse, who was in charge of the soldiers
stationed at the Legislative Palace, received 100,000 francs and the
promise of a general's rank for his part in the affair.

[Sidenote: "Boxed up"]

At the stroke of five in the morning, columns of soldiery filed out of all
the Paris barracks and occupied the commanding positions where barricades
had been thrown up in former times. At the same time a score of detectives
in closed carriages apprehended the leading members of the Assembly. Among
them were Cavaignac, Changarnier, Thiers, Bedeau, General Lamorcière, the
Acting-Secretary of War, and Charras. The government printing establishment
and all the newspaper offices were occupied by troops. Soldiers were placed
at the side of the printers, who were then ordered to set up a series of
proclamations. Before six in the morning bands of bill stickers, hired for
the occasion, posted them up all over Paris. At breakfast time, when
sixteen deputies and seventy-eight citizens had been arrested and were held
secure, the Duke of Morny reported the success of the undertaking to Louis
Napoleon with the two words: "Boxed up." Louis Napoleon hereupon issued the
following decree in the name of the French People:

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon's manifesto]

     "ARTICLE I.--The National Assembly is dissolved.

     "II.--Universal suffrage is re-established. The law of May 31 is
     abrogated.

     "III.--The French People are convoked in their electoral districts
     from the 14th December to the 21st December following.

     "IV.--The State of Siege is decreed in the district of the first
     Military Division.

     "V.--The Council of State is dissolved.

     "VI.--The Minister of the Interior is charged with the execution of
     this decree.

     "Given at the Palace of the Elysée, 2d December, 1851.

     "LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

     "DE MORNY, Minister of the Interior."

[Sidenote: A Napoleonic address]

Together with this decree Louis Napoleon issued this appeal to the people:

     "FRENCHMEN! The present situation can last no longer. Every day which
     passes enhances the dangers of the country. The Assembly, which ought
     to be the firmest support of order, has become a focus of
     conspiracies. The patriotism of three hundred of its members has been
     unable to check its fatal tendencies. Instead of making laws in the
     public interest it forges arms for civil war; it attacks the power
     which I hold directly from the People, it encourages all bad passions,
     it compromises the tranquillity of France; I have dissolved it, and I
     constitute the whole People a judge between it and me. The men who
     have ruined two monarchies wish to tie my hands in order to overthrow
     the Republic; my duty is to frustrate their treacherous schemes, to
     maintain the Republic, and to save the Country by appealing to the
     solemn judgment of France.

     "Such is my firm conviction. If you share it, declare it by your
     votes. If, on the contrary, you prefer a government without strength,
     Monarchical or Republican, borrowed I know not from what past, or from
     what chimerical future, answer in the negative.

     "But if you believe that the cause of which my name is the
     symbol--that is to say, France regenerated by the Revolution of '89,
     and organized by the Emperor, is to be still your own, proclaim it by
     sanctioning the powers which I ask from you.

     "Then France and Europe will be preserved from anarchy, obstacles will
     be removed, rivalries will have disappeared, for all will respect, in
     the decision of the People, the decree of Providence.

     "Given at the Palace of the Elysée, 2d December,
     1851.          LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE."

[Sidenote: The Second December]

[Sidenote: Summary executions]

[Sidenote: Proscription]

During the same day the Assembly was dissolved by troops. Attempts at
public protests were roughly suppressed. A few barricades were thrown up,
but the crowds were quickly dispersed, and those agitators who were caught
were hurried off to prison. On December 4, the troops were ordered out in
force, and proceeded to clear the streets. Nearly a thousand persons were
shot during the course of the day. The insurrection was stamped out. A few
days later, when the National Assembly tried to meet again, a hundred and
eighty members were arrested. Then appeared two parallel lists of names.
One contained the names of those who could be counted on for the purposes
of Prince Napoleon. They were all created members of a consultative
committee, which was to sit "until the reorganization of the legislative
party." The other list contained the names of those who were proscribed
from French territory, from Algeria, and from the colonies "for the sake of
public safety." Among them were Victor Hugo, Thiers, Baune, Laboulaye,
Theodore Bac, and Lamarque. Many hundreds of compromised Republicans fled
before they were proscribed. Others were transported across the borders
without any publication of the fact. Still others were summarily shot in
the barrack courtyards.

[Sidenote: The plebiscite]

[Sidenote: Foreign congratulations]

[Sidenote: Palmerston dismissed]

On December 21, the result of the so-called popular plebiscite was
announced. Louis Napoleon had been elected President for ten years by an
alleged vote of 7,473,431 ays against 641,341 nays. He was clothed with
monarchical power and was authorized to issue a constitution for France.
Outside of France the results of the _coup d'état_ were received with
equanimity. Pope Pius IX. went to a review held by General Gémeau in Rome
and begged him to congratulate Prince Louis Napoleon for him. Lord
Palmerston in London, it was stated, told the French Ambassador that he
"entirely approved of what had been done, and thought the President of the
French fully justified." The British Ambassador at Paris was instructed to
make no change in his relations with the French Government, and to do
nothing that might wear the appearance of English interference. It appeared
that Lord Palmerston had once more acted on his own initiative. He was
requested to resign. Before long the dismissed Minister had an opportunity
of showing the government how formidable an adversary he could be.




1852


[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon in power]

[Sidenote: Empire foreshadowed]

On the first day of January, Louis Napoleon was reinstalled as President of
France in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The day was made a public holiday.
On New Year's Eve the Diplomatic Corps had congratulated Prince Napoleon at
the Palace of the Tuileries. A few days later some of the more prominent of
the President's opponents, among them Changarnier and Lamorcière, were
conducted to the Belgian frontier. On January 10, the President banished
eighty-three members of the Legislative Assembly. Some six hundred persons
who had been arrested for resisting the _coup d'état_ at the same time were
taken to Havre for transportation to Cayenne. On January 14, the new
constitution was made public. All real powers were vested in the President.
He had the initiative for all new measures, as well as the veto on
deliberations of both Senate and Legislative Assembly. The Senators were to
be appointed by him. The sessions of both bodies were to be held behind
closed doors. The impotence of the legislators was offset by their princely
salaries. Senators were to receive 30,000 francs per year, while the
Deputies drew half that sum. The actual sessions of the Legislature were
limited to three years. The President himself was to draw an annual salary
of 12,000,000 francs. The money for these expenditures was raised by
extraordinary means. A decree on January 22 confiscated all former crown
lands and the estates of the Princes of Orleans. The press was gagged by a
decree prohibiting the publication of any newspaper without the sanction of
the government. All liberty poles were chopped down, and the motto of
"Liberté, Fraternité, Egalité," was tabooed. On February 29, the elections
for the Legislative Assembly were held. The government nominated all the
candidates, and practically all were elected. Late in March, Prince Louis
Napoleon opened the Senate and Corps Legislatif. His address throughout was
couched in the language of a monarch. While he conceded the intention of
the republican reforms to be harmless, he suggested the possibility that he
might be called upon "to demand from France in the interest of peace a new
title, by which the powers that have been conferred upon me may be
confirmed once for all." A Cabinet was formed of the President's most
devoted followers, under the nominal leadership of Persigny. One of the
first votes of the Legislature, after fixing the President's salary, was a
grant of 80,000,000 francs for public works wherewith to occupy the
laboring classes. This done, the President made a triumphal tour of France.
The government officials saw to it that he received a magnificent welcome
wherever he appeared.

[Sidenote: Death of Schwarzenberg]

[Sidenote: Buol Schauenstein, Austrian Minister]

In the neighboring countries the progress of events in France created less
misgivings than had the doings of the Republic. In Austria, Emperor
Francis Joseph further undid the work of the recent revolution by his total
abolition of the rights of trial by jury on January 15. Shortly afterward,
Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, the Prime Minister, died in Vienna. He was a
nephew of Charles Philippe, the famous Prince of Schwarzenberg who
negotiated the marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise, and later led the
allied armies against Napoleon. In 1848, Prince Felix Schwarzenberg
commanded a division in Italy. Later he joined Windischgrätz in the
military occupation of Jena, and soon took charge of the civil
administration of the empire, in which he continued until his death. He was
succeeded by Count Buol von Schauenstein.

[Sidenote: German affairs]

[Sidenote: The Danish succession]

[Sidenote: German fleet sold]

Throughout the year the affairs in Germany were tranquil. Shortly after the
death of the old King of Hanover, a tariff union was established with
Russia, while a postal and telegraph union was extended to all the German
States. Early in the year the King of Prussia revived the old Council of
State as it was before 1848. The Constitution underwent new modifications.
In May, a conference of the great Powers met at London to treat of certain
German affairs. An agreement was signed practically assuring the
independence of the Swiss district of Neuchâtel, which had revolted from
Prussia in 1848. Three days later, on May 8, a protocol was signed
concerning the Danish succession. This intricate problem continued to vex
the souls of diplomats. Lord Palmerston, when interrogated about it, said
that there were only three persons who understood the Danish succession.
One was the Queen Dowager of Denmark, the second was God Almighty, and the
third was a German professor, but he had gone mad. While attempting to
settle the terms of the succession the five great Powers and Sweden signed
a treaty guaranteeing the integrity of the Danish monarchy. The throne was
granted to Christian of Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Christian, Duke of
Augustenburg-Holstein, consented to surrender his rights for a money
consideration. The treaty was not recognized by the German Confederation,
but was accepted by Hanover, Saxony and Wurtemberg. In June, Germans had
the humiliating experience of seeing their fleet, the formation of which
was undertaken in 1848, sold at public auction. All aspirations for sea
power had been abandoned by the Bund. In July, Prussia's representative at
the Bund meetings, Baron Bismarck, was sent as envoy to Austria. Through
his efforts at Vienna the Austrian Government was prevailed upon to join
the German Zollverein and to sign commercial treaties.

[Sidenote: Death of Froebel]

During this year in Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel, the German
educator, died at Marienthal on July 21, in his seventieth year. After an
unsettled and aimless youth, he started teaching, and soon developed a
system which has become famous under the name of Kindergarten (children's
garden). It was intended to convert schooling into play, which, according
to Froebel, is the child's most serious business. The first Kindergarten
was opened in 1840 at Blankenburg, Prussia. Meeting at first with little
encouragement, it gradually gained a footing in most civilized countries.
Froebel was largely assisted in the propagation of his ideas by the
Baroness Marenholz-Buelow. He was the author of "Die Menschenerziehung"
(Human Education) and "Mutter und Koselieder," a book of nursery songs and
pictures for children.

[Sidenote: "Prometheus" affair]

In England, the dismissal of Lord Palmerston left the Foreign Office in an
embarrassing position as regarded Louis Napoleon's government. Other
embarrassments were likewise bequeathed. Thus, on January 10, Lord
Palmerston's successor, Lord Granville, had to disavow to the American
Minister the act of the British man-of-war "Empress," which had fired into
the American steamer "Prometheus." England offered an apology which was
accepted.

[Sidenote: "The Third of February"]

The caustic comments of the English press on French affairs, together with
the free utterances of Victor Hugo and other French exiles on English soil,
gave great offence to Louis Napoleon. Count Valevski's diplomatic protests
found support in the British House of Lords. It was then that Alfred
Tennyson, undeterred by the supposed reserve of his Poet Laureateship,
wrote the invective lines entitled "The Third of February."

[Sidenote: "Henry Esmond"]

About the same time Thackeray brought out his "History of Henry Esmond," a
masterpiece of English historical fiction. In the dedication to Lord
Ashburton, Thackeray thus announced his departure for America. "My volume
will reach you when the author is on his voyage to a country where your
name is as well known as here."

[Sidenote: Transvaal's independence recognized]

In South Africa, at the Sand River Convention on January 17, the British
virtually accepted the independence of the Transvaal. In the meanwhile the
fifth war with the Kaffirs was begun by Sir George Cathcart. Incidentally a
crushing defeat was inflicted on the Basutos at Guerea. Toward the close of
the year the situation grew so alarming that martial law was proclaimed by
the Governor of Cape Colony. All inhabitants were bidden to the frontier
for the defence of the colonies.

[Sidenote: Progress of Taiping rebellion]

In China, the Taiping rebellion grew ever more threatening. Early in the
year Tien Wang decided to march out of Kmaysi to invade the vast untouched
provinces of Central China. He averred that he had "the divine commission
to possess the Empire as its true sovereign." The rebels now became known
as Taipings, after a town of that name in Kwangsi province. Tien Wang began
his northern march in April. Irritated by the conduct of Tien Wang's
lieutenants, the Triads took a secret departure and made peace with the
Imperialists. Their secession put an end to the purpose of attacking Canton
which Tien Wang had cherished, and he made an assault on Kweisling. The
Imperial Commissioners at that place having beaten them back failed to
pursue and conquer them, and they advanced unopposed across the vast
province of Hoonan. At Changsha they encountered strong resistance. After a
siege of eighty days they abandoned the attack and marched northward. They
captured Yoochow, which was an important arsenal, and soon afterward
Hankow, Manchong and How-Kong were taken.

[Sidenote: South American struggles]

In the Argentine Republic, the civil war and its consequent upheavals were
continued. On February 3, General Urquiza, commanding the combined army of
Entre Rios and Brazil, defeated General Rosas at Monte Cazeros, "the gate
of Buenos Ayres." The city capitulated and the civil war seemed ended.
Urquiza announced himself as provisional dictator. On May 31, he was
elected Provisional President, while Vincente Lopez was elected Governor of
Buenos Ayres. One month later, Urquiza, having won over the army by a
sudden _coup d'état_, seized the reins of government as dictator. His first
measure was to acknowledge the independence of Paraguay. In September,
Urquiza's refusal to recognize the political and commercial pre-eminence of
Buenos Ayres produced another revolt. On September 11, the people of Buenos
Ayres, under the leadership of Bartholomay Mitré, seceded from the
confederacy. Urquiza was compelled to leave Buenos Ayres and proceeded to
Santa Fé, where he was acknowledged as President by the thirteen other
provinces. They bound themselves by a treaty to secure the free navigation
of all rivers flowing into the La Plata. On November 20, the Congress of
the Confederation met at Santa Fé and invested Urquiza with full powers to
suppress the revolution in Buenos Ayres. Urquiza's blockade of the city by
sea led to another revolution within the walls of Buenos Ayres. General
Pintos assumed charge and Urquiza withdrew.

  [Illustration: EXECUTION OF SEPOY REBELS
    Painted by Verestchagin]

[Sidenote: Death of Gogol]

[Sidenote: "Dead Souls"]

Nicholas Vasilievitch Gogol died on March 4 at Moscow. Born in 1810, at
Soroczince, in the district of Poltava, he began his career as a writer
with poems and a metrical tragedy, written in the dialect of Little Russia.
To this period belongs his ballad "Two Fishes." After travelling in
Germany, he was called to a professorship at the patriotic institute of St.
Petersburg, where he wrote his famous prose romances in Greater Russian
dialect. His "Evenings at a Farm" admitted him to the literary circles of
the capital and brought him the friendship of his fellow poet, Pushkin. He
wrote a series of short stories, treating of life in the Russian provinces,
and among the middle class, which were subsequently published in the
collection of four volumes, entitled "Mirgorod." In 1833, Gogol brought out
his satirical comedy, "The Commissioner," in which he laid bare the
all-pervading corruption of Russian official life. After prolonged travels
through Germany, France, Italy and Palestine, Gogol returned to Russia and
settled near St. Petersburg. He wrote more short stories and descriptions
of travel, and finally published the incomplete satirical novel, "Dead
Souls," which is the best of his works. In this novel he handled Russian
life fearlessly, with satirical comments on the weak points of Russian
society. It is stated that he finished the story before his death, but
burned the manuscript. When he died he was acknowledged as the best writer
of satirical prose in Russia.

[Sidenote: Palmerston's revenge]

[Sidenote: Earl of Derby Premier]

On February 20, Lord Palmerston was enabled to make his former colleagues
in the Cabinet feel his power. Owing to general vague apprehensions that
Prince Louis Napoleon might revive his illustrious namesake's projects
against England, a cry had arisen for the strengthening of the national
defences. To satisfy this demand, Lord John Russell brought in a local
militia bill. Lord Palmerston promptly moved an amendment for a general
volunteer force instead of local militia, thus totally altering the nature
of the bill. The amendment was sustained by a majority of eleven votes.
Lord John Russell's Ministry thereupon resigned, and the Earl of Derby was
called in. The most conspicuous member of the new Cabinet was Benjamin
Disraeli, who took the portfolio of the Exchequer. Disraeli by this time
had already achieved popularity as an author. Some idea of his personality
may be gathered from a contemporary's description of his outward appearance
in those days:

[Sidenote: Disraeli's appearance]

"Usually he wore a slate-colored velvet coat lined with satin, purple
trousers with a gold band down the outside seam, a scarlet waistcoat, long
lace ruffles falling down to the tips of his fingers, white gloves with
brilliant rings outside them, and long black ringlets rippling down over
his shoulders. When he rose in the House, he wore a bottle-green frock
coat, with a white waistcoat, collarless, and a needless display of gold
chains."

[Sidenote: American fisheries dispute]

The new Ministry was so distinctly protectionist that the Anti-Corn Law
League was reorganized to resume the agitation for free trade. Soon the
perennial troubles with America about the fisheries of Newfoundland broke
out afresh. The new Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Malmesbury, insisted
upon a strict fulfilment of the terms agreed upon in the convention of
1818. Armed vessels were sent to the coast of British North America. The
United States likewise sent a war steamer to the disputed fishing-grounds.
Many vessels were boarded for information, but both sides abstained from
giving serious grounds for complaint.

[Sidenote: Franklin Pierce elected]

In the United States, the Whigs, encouraged by their success with Taylor,
put forth another military officer, General Scott, as their Presidential
candidate. At the convention held in Baltimore in June, Webster, Fillmore
and Scott were put in nomination. Fifty-two ballots were cast before Scott
was nominated. The candidates before the Democratic Convention in Baltimore
were Buchanan, Cass, Marcy and Douglas. Franklin Pierce was chosen after
more than forty ballots. The Free Democrats selected John P. Hale and
Julian of Indiana. Pierce carried twenty-seven States, to Scott's four,
receiving 254 votes to Scott's 42.

[Sidenote: Death of Clay]

[Sidenote: Death of Webster]

[Sidenote: Webster's oratory]

[Sidenote: The Concord speech]

[Sidenote: Webster in Congress]

Henry Clay died in June. He was a candidate for the Presidency three times.
Few Americans have been more idolized than he. His great success was
largely due to his manner, which captivated opponents as well as friends.
In will and fine sense of honor he was as firm and lofty as Jackson or
Jefferson. He it was who said that he would "rather be right than
President." His death was followed in October by that of his great rival,
Daniel Webster. This great American orator was born in 1782, the son of a
New England farmer. He was graduated from Dartmouth College, and began the
study of law. While reading Vattel, Montesquieu, and Blackstone, he eked
out a humble income as a school teacher. He became associated with
Christopher Gore, a noted lawyer of those days in Boston, and presently
acquired a reputation as an orator. An address delivered at Fryeburg in
1802 furnished the model for his great Concord speech four years later. As
a result of the speeches in opposition to Jefferson's and Madison's embargo
policy against England, Daniel Webster was elected by the Federalists of
New Hampshire to represent them in the Thirteenth Congress. Henceforth
Webster's stirring addresses were delivered in the national forum of the
United States. Pitted against such distinguished speakers as Calhoun and
Henry Clay, he gradually came to be acknowledged the foremost orator of
America. He was at the height of his reputation when he died. His most
lasting achievement, perhaps, was the conclusion of the famous
Webster-Ashburton treaty with England, settling the boundaries between
British North America and the United States.

Shortly before Webster's death another orator of world-wide reputation was
heard at Washington. This was Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian exile. On the
occasion of a banquet tendered to him by the American Congress early in the
year, Kossuth delivered the famous speech in which he compared the Roman
Senate of antiquity to that of the New World.

[Sidenote: Junius Brutus Booth]

Junius Brutus Booth, the great English tragedian, died in America while
returning from a lucrative tour to California. Booth made his début at
Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1814 as Richard III. His personal
resemblance to the hunchbacked tyrant conformed so well to the traditions
of the stage, and his personification of the character was in other
respects so striking, that he eclipsed Edmund Keane, then acting at Drury
Lane. The rivalry of the two actors grew so intense that Booth was driven
from the stage by a serious theatrical riot. In 1821, he made his first
appearance in the United States, again as Richard III., and was received
with such enthusiasm that he settled permanently at Baltimore. From here he
made professional excursions to other American cities. Among his most
familiar personations were Iago, Hamlet, Shylock, Sir Giles Overreach, and
Sir Edmund Mortimer. Over his audiences he ever exercised a wonderful
power. On his death he left two sons, both actors like himself, and both
destined to make their mark in life.

[Sidenote: Death of Tom Moore]

[Sidenote: Moore's American impressions]

The death of Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, excited as much attention in
America as it did in England. Born at Dublin in 1779, Tom Moore, as he was
usually called, wrote verses in early youth. Like Pope, he may be said to
have lisped in numbers. At the age of thirteen he was a contributor to the
"Anthologia Hibernica." After graduating at Trinity College he came to
London, and there dedicated his translation of the poems of Anacreon to the
Prince Regent. He became a favorite of fashionable society. Among his
patrons were the Earl of Moira, Lord Holland, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and
other noblemen of the Whig party. He obtained the appointment of Registrar
to the Admiralty in Bermuda, but on arriving there hired a deputy to
discharge the duties of the office and went on a tour to America. Like some
other famous travellers, he conceived a poor opinion of the American
people. In commemoration of his trip, Moore brought out "Epistles, Odes and
other Poems," containing many defamatory verses on America. One scurrilous
stanza read:

  The patriot, fresh from Freedom's councils come,
  Now pleas'd retires to lash his slaves at home;
  Or woo, perhaps, some black Aspasia's charms,
  And dream of freedom in his bondmaid's arms.

[Sidenote: "Irish Melodies"]

[Sidenote: "Lalla Rookh"]

In a footnote Moore was careful to explain that this allusion was to the
President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. The poems were roughly
handled by the "Edinburgh Review." This led to a duel between Moore and
Jeffrey--a bloodless encounter, which resulted in a life-long friendship
between the two men. The same affair produced a quarrel and Moore's
subsequent friendship with Byron. Throughout this time Moore brought out
his charming "Irish Melodies," the most popular of all his productions.
Messrs. Longwin, the publishers, agreed to give him £3,000 for a long poem
on an oriental subject. Moore retired to the banks of the Dofe, surrounded
himself with oriental books, and in three years produced "Lalla Rookh." The
success of this work was beyond the expectations of the publishers. After
achieving this triumph, Moore travelled abroad in the company of the
wealthy poet Rogers, and later of Lord John Russell. At Venice he visited
Lord Byron. The affairs of his office in Bermuda next called him there,
after which he resided in Paris, where he wrote his famous "Fables for the
Holy Alliance." Returning to England, he settled at Bow-wood near
Wiltshire, the seat of his life-long friend, Lord Lansdowne. There he spent
his declining years and died in dotage.

[Sidenote: "Dear Harp of My Country"]

Tom Moore, while a very popular poet, produced few poems of lasting
quality. Most characteristic of Moore, perhaps, are his lightest verses,
such as "The Time I Lost in Wooing," the melodious lines "Oft, in the
Stilly Night," or the famous Irish apostrophe:

  Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee,
    The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long,
  When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee,
    And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song!

  The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness
    Have waken'd thy fondest, thy liveliest thrill;
  But, so oft hast thou echoed the deep sigh of sadness,
    That ev'n in thy mirth it will steal from thee still.

  Dear Harp of my Country! farewell to thy numbers,
    This sweet wreath of song is the last we shall twine!
  Go, sleep with the sunshine of Fame on thy slumbers,
    Till touch'd by some hand less unworthy than mine;

  If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover,
    Have throbb'd at our lay, 'tis thy glory alone;
  I was but as the wind, passing heedlessly over,
    And all the wild sweetness I wak'd was thine own.

[Sidenote: Death of Wellington]

[Sidenote: Wellesley's campaigns]

The death of Wellington, on September 14, was felt as a national loss in
England. The Iron Duke died in his eighty-fourth year, having grown more
and more infirm in his last few years. Arthur Wellesley, or Wesley, as the
name was originally written, singularly enough received his first military
education in France, under the direction of Pignorel, the celebrated
engineer. He saw his first active service with the Duke of York's
disastrous expedition to the Netherlands in 1794. There he gained his
colonelcy. After his transfer to India he served under his elder brother,
Marquis Wellesley, and gained the brilliant victories of Assaye and of
Argaum. On his return from India he was appointed Secretary of Ireland, and
there established the celebrated police force which later served as a model
for that of London. In 1807, he took part in the expedition against
Copenhagen, and after the death of Sir John Moore was sent to Portugal,
where he won the battles of Rolica, Vimiera, the brilliant passage of the
Douro, and the hard-fought field of Talavera. The battle of Busaco, the
storming of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, the victories of Salamanca and
Vittoria, followed, and the Viscount successively became Earl and Marquis
of Wellington, and a grant from Parliament subsequently placed him in
possession of the domain of Strathfieldsaye. The capture of Pampeluna and
St. Sebastian, and the defeat of the French in the passes of the Pyrenees,
enabled him to plant the British ensign on French ground.

[Sidenote: Wellington's funeral]

[Sidenote: Tennyson's Ode]

The concluding triumphs of Orthes and Toulouse were succeeded by the
general peace and by his own promotion to a dukedom, the baton of a
field-marshal having previously been conferred upon him for his victory at
Salamanca. In 1814, the Duke of Wellington was appointed Ambassador to
France, and proceeded in that capacity to the Congress of Vienna. While
there, the return of Napoleon from Elba once more called him to the field;
and on June 18, 1815, he gained his greatest triumph at Waterloo. After
this Wellington served his country in the capacity of a diplomat, as
Commander-in-Chief of the army, Prime Minister, and again as
Commander-in-Chief of the army. A public funeral was of course decreed.
William Gladstone pronounced the funeral oration in Parliament. In the
procession that followed Wellington's bier, British soldiers of every arm
and of every regiment of the service for the first time marched together.
From Grosvenor Gate to St. Paul's Cathedral there was not a foot of
unoccupied ground. An unbroken silence was maintained as the procession
moved slowly by to the mausoleum where the remains of England's great
warrior were to be placed side by side with those of Nelson. Alfred
Tennyson recited his famous ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington:

  Bury the Great Duke
  With an empire's lamentation,
  Let us bury the Great Duke
  To the noise of the mourning of a mighty nation,
  Mourning when their leaders fall,
  Warriors carry the warrior's pall,
  And sorrow darkens hamlet and hall.

         *       *       *       *       *

  Lead out the pageant: sad and slow,
  As fits an universal woe,
  Let the long, long procession go,
  And let the sorrowing crowd about it grow,
  And let the mournful martial music blow;
  The last great Englishman is low.

[Sidenote: Disraeli and Gladstone]

A new Parliament assembled in November. The result of the elections left
the government in as hopeless a minority as before. An elaborate system of
finance brought forward by Disraeli was rudely handled by Gladstone. The
debate was one of the fiercest ever heard in Parliament. The excitement on
both sides was intense. Disraeli, animated by the power of desperation, was
in a mood neither to give nor to take quarter. He assailed Sir Charles
Wood, the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, with a vehemence which more
than once went to the very limits of Parliamentary decorum. The House had
not heard the concluding word of Disraeli's bitter and impassioned speech,
when Gladstone leaped to his feet to answer him. The Government was
defeated. Disraeli took his defeat with characteristic composure. The
morning was cold and wet. "It will be an unpleasant day for going to
Osborne," he quietly remarked to a friend as they went down Westminster
Hall together and looked out into the dreary street. That day, at Osborne,
the resignation of the Ministry was accepted by the Queen.

[Sidenote: New English Ministry]

The Earl of Aberdeen formed a new Ministry including Lord John Russell as
Foreign Secretary; Lord Palmerston, Home Secretary; Earl Granville,
President of the Council; Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Sir
W. Molesworth, the historian, was Commissioner of Public Works. The Marquis
of Lansdowne occupied a seat in the Cabinet without holding any office. It
was another Ministry of all the talents. Recent events in France demanded
instant attention, the more so since the municipal council of London had
taken upon itself to send an address of congratulation to Louis Napoleon
upon his assumption of the empire. In the end the British Government took
the same course.

[Sidenote: End of French Republic]

[Sidenote: Second Empire]

In Paris, the Senate had been reconvened to consider the reinstitution of
the empire. Within three days a _senatus consultum_ was ready recommending
the desired change to another plebiscite. Every one of the Senators, so the
Parisians suggested, had 30,000 francs' worth of reasons for advocating the
change. The formality of a plebiscite was accomplished by November 21. The
government functionaries reported 7,854,189 yeas against 253,145 nays. On
the anniversary of his _coup d'état_ of the previous year, Louis Napoleon
took the title of Napoleon III., by the grace of God and the will of the
nation, Emperor of the French. The title was made hereditary. In vain did
the Count of Chambord voice the protest of the Royalists, and Victor Hugo,
in his exile on the Island of Jersey, that of the Republicans. France was
once more under imperial rule, and seemed content to remain so. About this
time the great Crédit Mobilier was established as a joint-stock company by
Isaac and Emile Pereire.

[Sidenote: Holy Sepulchre controversy]

Outside of France, Louis Napoleon's second _coup d'état_ created little
stir. Only Emperor Nicholas of Russia refused to recognize Louis Napoleon
as a full-fledged monarch. An ecclesiastical dispute concerning the
guardianship of the holy places in Palestine threatened to make trouble
between France and Russia. In the end the Sultan was prevailed upon to sign
a treaty confirming the sole custody of the Holy Sepulchre to the French.




1853


[Sidenote: Empress Eugénie]

[Sidenote: French Royalists reconciled]

On January 30, Louis Napoleon married Eugénie Marie de Montijo de Guzman, a
Spanish beauty. Raised to the rank of Empress, this ambitious lady at once
became a leader of fashion. The Czar of Russia, acting in conformity with
the sovereigns of Austria and Prussia, finally consented to acknowledge
Napoleon III. as Emperor of the French, and Great Britain followed.
Strengthened by this outward recognition, Louis Napoleon deemed it safe to
extend an amnesty to some 4,500 political prisoners and Republican exiles.
On February 5, however, General Saint-Priest, with many other Royalists,
was secretly arrested on charges of communicating with the Comte de
Chambord and of sending false news to foreign newspapers. Not long
afterward a bill was passed restoring capital punishment for attempts to
subvert the imperial government and for plots against the life of the
Emperor. On the recognition of the Empire by Great Britain, application was
made to the English Government for a surrender of the Great Napoleon's last
testament. The request was granted. Louis Napoleon thereupon undertook to
carry out his famous uncle's bequests. Under the stress of adversity, the
two branches of the Bourbon family became reconciled to each other. The
Duke de Nemours, on behalf of the House of Orleans, made his peace with the
Comte de Chambord. Henceforth, the Count of Paris was recognized by the
Royalists of France as the rightful pretender to the crown.

[Sidenote: Gervinus' State trial]

[Sidenote: Death of Tieck]

In Germany, reactionary measures of repression were still in order. An
alleged democratic conspiracy was unearthed at Berlin in March, and another
in April. In Baden, Georg Gervinus, the historian, on charges of high
treason for writing his "Introduction to the History of the Nineteenth
Century," was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment, and his book was
ordered to be burned. The sentence of imprisonment, however, was not
executed. On April 28, Ludwig Tieck, the great German Shakespearian scholar
and romantic poet, died at Berlin. Born in 1778 at Berlin, he entered into
literary activity at the opening of the Nineteenth Century, and joined the
enlightened circle of Weimar. There he issued his great collection of
German medieval romances, and of the works of the Minnesingers. It was he
who drew Goethe into the study of Shakespeare, and who persuaded Henry
Steffens, the Norwegian philosopher, to try his hand at purely literary
productions. Together with Schlegel he was the greatest German exponent of
the works of Shakespeare.

[Sidenote: Reaction in Italy]

In Italy, likewise, severe measures of reaction were inflicted on the
people of the governments of Austria, Naples and some of the petty
principalities. In Tuscany, the reading of the Bible was prohibited. In
February, a revolt at Milan, instigated by Mazzini, was ruthlessly put
down. A few months later a revolutionary plot was revealed at Rome. Some
hundred and fifty conspirators were thrown into prison. As heretofore,
Garibaldi figured in these movements. In Sardinia alone, under the
enlightened Ministry of Count Cavour, the liberal movement for united Italy
was encouraged. The Pope's hostile attitude was resented by the passage of
anti-clerical measures in Sardinia. Thus at first ecclesiastical
jurisdiction was abolished, and later bills were proposed for the
suppression of convents and for the ultimate withdrawal of all State
support from the clergy.

[Sidenote: Tommaso Grossi]

In October, while the conspiracy trials were still in full prosecution at
Milan, Tommaso Grossi, the Italian romantic poet, died in that city. Grossi
was born at Belland, on Lake Como, in 1791, and at an early age won
distinction by a patriotic satire against Austrian rule in northern Italy.
In 1817 he published "La Fuggitiva," a love story of the French wars, which
found great favor. Inspired by his intercourse with Manzoni, a few years
later he wrote "Ildegonda," a romantic poem treating of the times of
chivalry and cloister life. This poem won a great success. Less happy was
his attempt to rival Tasso with an epic poem in fifteen cantos on the
Crusades. Among his prose tales, the most lasting in interest are the
historical novel "Marco Visconti" and the idyl "Ulrico e Lida." Of his
lyric songs, "La Rondiella" achieved the greatest popularity.

[Sidenote: Gustave Courbet]

Gustave Courbet, the French originator of realism in painting, the author
of "Le Beau c'est le Laid," the man who claimed that all search for the
beautiful or ideality in art was a gross error, this year exhibited his
"Women Bathing," and again created a stir on the exhibition of his "Funeral
at Ornans" and his "Drunken Peasants at Flagny." This early exponent of
realism in its most radical form, despite his taste for vulgar types,
showed such strength of technique that his landscapes were accepted almost
at once as masterpieces.

[Sidenote: International expositions]

In England, a period of great prosperity had set in, notwithstanding
several great labor strikes, among them that of the London cabmen, and of
many thousands of operatives at Stockport and Preston. The success of the
Crystal Palace Exhibition had been such that another great Industrial
Exhibition was held at Dublin. It was made the occasion of Queen Victoria's
second visit to Ireland. International expositions were likewise held at
Berlin and in New York.

[Sidenote: President Pierce inaugurated]

The change of Administration in the United States of North America gave a
new tone to affairs there, and incidentally brought America into closer
touch with the East. Congress had counted the electoral vote on February 9,
giving to Pierce 254 and 42 to Scott. Franklin Pierce was forty-nine years
of age when he became President, and was the youngest man who had been
elected to that office. During the Mexican war he had fought with credit
under Scott. William L. Marcy became Secretary of State, and Guthrie,
McClelland, Jefferson Davis, Dobbin, Campbell and Cushing completed the
Cabinet. It was said that Pierce came into office with no bitter
opposition and went out with none. In his inaugural message he spoke with
doubt concerning his own powers. In truth, he proved himself the tool of
different managers.

[Sidenote: Kane's Arctic voyage]

The American Government also assisted Grinnell in fitting out a second
expedition to the Arctic under charge of Dr. Kane, who was surgeon and
naturalist of the former expedition. The ships were frozen fast on the
shores of Greenland. Kane's crew, without waiting for relief, set out to
return in open boats, and after a voyage of 1,300 miles reached a Danish
settlement in Greenland, where a relief expedition met them. They reached
New York on October 11, 1855, where they were welcomed as men risen from
the dead. They brought no news concerning Sir John Franklin.

[Sidenote: Death of Arago]

Dominique François Arago died on October 2, at the age of sixty-seven.
Scientists remember him chiefly for his experiments and discoveries in
magnetism and optics. He was one of the few men who championed Fresnel
during the controversy which raged at the time when the undulatory theory
of light was first announced. As a popular expounder of scientific facts,
Arago had few equals. With Gay-Lussac he was the founder of "Annales de
Chimie et de Physique." He was also an active politician, and was a member
of the French Provisional Government of 1848.

[Sidenote: The opening of Japan]

[Sidenote: Japanese dissensions]

[Sidenote: Preparing for intrusion]

A thriving oriental trade had sprung up, fostered partly by the development
of steam navigation and partly by the discovery of gold in California. A
few years previously a first attempt had been made by the United States
Government to break down if possible the system of exclusion kept up by
Japan. Commodore Biddle was despatched with two war vessels. His mission
proved unsatisfactory, and the Commodore was subjected to humiliating
experiences. Early in 1853, President Fillmore sent Commodore Perry with a
squadron of four vessels to present a letter from the President of the
United States to the Mikado of Japan, asking consent to the negotiation of
a treaty of friendship and commerce between the two governments. On July 7,
Commodore Perry's squadron steamed into the harbor of Yeddo. Perry got a
favorable reception after using his big guns. The President's letter was
left with the Mikado for the consideration of the Japanese Government,
while Perry sailed away, promising to return the following spring. In the
meanwhile violent upheavals in Japan resulted from the appearance of the
American mission at Yeddo. The appearance of the squadron had long been
anticipated, and was the subject of violent political discussions. Japan at
that time was threatened with civil war. Two parties were disputing
concerning the proper successor to the worn-out Shogun, who had hitherto
wielded the powers of the impotent Mikado. The head of one party was Ee
Kamong No Kami, the head of the Fudai Daimios. By right he was to be
appointed Regent in case of an emergency. The head of the other party was
the Prince of Mito, one of the "three families," hereditary Vice-Shogun in
Yeddo, and connected by marriage with the family of the Emperor and with
the wealthiest Daimios. The two parties made the arrival of the American
squadron a pretext for grasping at the reins of power. Letters were sent to
all the Daimios and Ometkis, requesting their opinions as to the reception
to be given to the Americans. The majority were for resenting any foreign
interference in the affairs of Japan by force. It was agreed, however, that
open declaration of war had best be deferred until the comparatively
defenceless shores of Japan could be strengthened and sea forts could be
erected. Orders were sent to the Daimios to muster the full strength of
their retainers and munitions of war, for "if Japan does not conquer, it
will be a great disgrace."

[Sidenote: Taipings capture Nanking]

[Sidenote: Peking threatened]

In China, the Taipings, having captured Kinkiang and Gurking, closely
invested Nanking. After a fortnight's siege, the city surrendered to an
armed rabble. The Tartar colony of 200,000 threw themselves upon Tien
Wang's mercy, but not a hundred of them escaped: "We killed them all," said
one of the Taipings; "we left not a root to sprout from." The acquisition
of Nanking, the second city in the empire, made the Taipings a formidable
rival to the Manchus, and Tien Wang became a contestant with Hienfung for
imperial honors. It cut off communication between north and south China.
Chinkiangfoo, at the entrance of the Grand Canal, and Yangchow, on the
north bank of the river, also fell into their hands. Tien Wang proclaimed
Nanking, the old Ming city, his capital. At a council of war it was decided
to provision and fortify Nanking, and then march against Peking. By the
end of May the Taiping army numbered 80,000. They attacked Kaifong and were
repulsed, but continued their march toward Peking. After crossing the
Hoang-ho, they were again repulsed at Hwaiking. Passing on, they defeated a
Manchu force in the Sin Simming Pass, and in September added the province
of Pechili, and came to Tsing, twenty miles south of Tien-tsin, less than a
hundred miles from Peking. The fate of the Manchu dynasty trembled in the
balance. The Mongol levies at last arrived under their great chief,
Sankolinsin, and the invaders retired to their fortified camp at Tsinghai
and sent to Tien Wang for succor. At Tsinghai they were closely beleaguered
for some time to come.

[Sidenote: American declaration as to Cuba]

The recurrence of American filibustering expeditions to Cuba appeared to
the governments of England and France as evidence of an American purpose to
secure Cuba and the West Indian Islands. To avert this, they suggested to
the United States Government to make a treaty which should secure Cuba to
Spain. The American Government was asked "to decline now and forever
hereafter all intention to obtain possession of the island of Cuba and to
discontinue all such attempts in that direction on the part of any
individual or power whatever." Secretary of State Everett replied that the
question affected American and not European policy, coming not properly
within the scope of the interference of European Cabinets; that the United
States did not intend to violate any existing laws; that the American
Government claimed the right to act regarding Cuba independently of any
other power, and that it could not view with indifference the fall of Cuba
into any other hands than those of Spain. This was tantamount to a
reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine. France did not reply to Everett's note,
and the correspondence with the British Foreign Office was scarcely more
satisfactory.

[Sidenote: Gadsden's Mexican treaty]

A new treaty with Mexico was negotiated by Gadsden, by which the United
States secured Marrila Valley, with 44,000 square miles, on the payment of
$10,000,000. This settled the Mexican boundary dispute and averted all
danger of further war.

[Sidenote: Koszta episode]

Another international complication had arisen with Austria. On June 21,
Martin Koszta, a Hungarian refugee and would-be American citizen,
travelling under a United States passport, was arrested by the Austrian
consul at Smyrna. Captain Ingraham of the United States sloop-of-war "St.
Louis," cruising in Turkish waters, hearing of this, put into Smyrna. In
accordance with the recent treaty governing Austrian refugees in Turkey, he
demanded the surrender of Koszta within eight hours. If the man were not
surrendered he threatened to land marines and take him by force. It was
finally agreed to leave Koszta in the hands of the French consul, who
presently released him. Austria issued a circular note to the courts of
Europe protesting against the conduct of Captain Ingraham, and followed
this up with a formal protest to the government of the United States. The
reply of the American Congress was to vote a medal for Captain Ingraham.
There the incident closed.

[Sidenote: Austria supports Montenegrins]

[Sidenote: Russia threatens Turkey]

Other affairs absorbed the interest of Austria's Foreign Minister. A treaty
was signed with Prussia establishing a virtual defensive and offensive
alliance. At the same time Austria joined the German Zollverein for twelve
years. When the Montenegrins rose against their Turkish oppressors, Austria
supported their cause and demanded a redress of their grievances from
Turkey. After protracted negotiations this was granted. The wrongs of the
Montenegrins and other Christian subjects of Turkey were warmly espoused by
Russia. Czar Nicholas, as the pontiff of the Russian-Greek Church, claimed
a protectorate over the Greek Christians in Turkey. The pending
difficulties concerning the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem became part of the
controversy. On the pretext of legalizing the predominant position of the
Greek Church as one of the guardians of the Holy Sepulchre, the Czar
assumed a threatening attitude toward Turkey. For a while Lord Stratford
Canning, the British Ambassador at Constantinople, succeeded in mediating
between Russia and France. A temporary agreement was effected. At this
point the appearance of a French fleet in Turkish waters gave great offence
to Russia, making it appear that the concessions to France had been
extorted by a menace. Already Sir Hamilton Seymour, the British Ambassador
at St. Petersburg, had been sounded by the Czar. It was on that occasion
that Nicholas uttered the historic phrase that "the sick man was dying,"
meaning the Ottoman Empire. It was then, too, that tentative offers were
made to England to let her take Egypt and the island of Candia, provided
Russia could make herself mistress of the Balkans.

[Sidenote: International concern]

The traditional aspirations of Russia toward Constantinople were well
understood in Europe. With the exception of Prussia, the European Powers,
contrary to the Czar's expectations, were resolved to preserve the
integrity of Turkey.

[Sidenote: Austria's timely measures]

[Sidenote: Menzikov's mission]

[Sidenote: French-English naval demonstration]

The Continental Powers diplomatically met the Czar on his own religious
ground. Protestant England, on the other hand, with no pilgrims to defend,
could protest only on the score of preserving the balance of power. A
deeper reason for British opposition lay in the possible opening of the
Black Sea to Russian commerce, and the consequent loss of oriental trade to
English merchants. Louis Napoleon, who could hardly begin his imperial
reign in France more auspiciously than by avenging the disasters of his
immortal uncle and of the Grand Army in Russia, entered the lists as the
champion of the Roman Catholic Christians of the Orient. Austria, though
she took no active part against her recent ally, ingeniously frustrated the
plans of the Russian autocrat by bringing the Sultan to terms in his
attempt to crush the insurgent Montenegrins, who had been incited by Russia
to revolt. Thus was Nicholas robbed of his best pretext for impressing his
will upon Turkey. Chagrined at the triumph of Austria, angered by the
demands made by the French Ambassador, Marquis de Lavalette, in behalf of
Roman Catholic pilgrims, Nicholas sent his Admiral, Prince Menzikov, as
Ambassador Extraordinary to the Porte. With unusual ostentation Menzikov
gathered the Russian fleet and an army of 30,000 men at Sebastopol, and
then went alone to Constantinople. He demanded an audience of the Sultan,
and on March 2 appeared before him in a plain overcoat and with boots
covered with dust. His appearance was in keeping with his mission. In the
name of his master he demanded the protectorate over all Greek Christians.
Failing to attain his end, Menzikov, after a six weeks' stay, delivered a
Russian ultimatum. Late in May he left Constantinople, prophesying his
speedy reappearance in uniform. Three weeks later the French and English
fleets cast anchor in the entrance to the Dardanelles.

[Sidenote: Russians cross Pruth]

[Sidenote: Cossacks in Danube provinces]

It was not to be expected that a ruler like Nicholas would shrink from war.
On July 7, he despatched Prince Michael Gortschakov, together with two army
divisions of 40,000 men each, respectively commanded by Generals Lueders
and Danneberg, across the Pruth, with orders to hold the Danube
principalities until the Sultan had granted the Russian demands. Sultan
Abdul Majid, through his grand vizier, Reschid Pasha, issued a firman
recognizing the rights of his Christian subjects. Upon crossing the Pruth,
the Russian Commander-in-Chief assured the people of Moldavia and Wallachia
that their property and persons would not be molested; but the Russian
soldiers seized the public funds, compelled peasants to give up their
cattle and their grain, and pressed the native militia into the Czar's
service.

[Sidenote: Turkish ultimatum]

[Sidenote: Russia declares war]

[Sidenote: Oltenizza]

Still, European diplomats hoped to preserve peace. The Porte was persuaded
not to regard the invasion of the Danube principalities as a _casus belli_.
The conference which was held by the representatives of the Powers resulted
in the Viennese mediatory note, by the terms of which the Sultan was to
yield to the Czar, with certain restrictions. Russia's claim of a
protectorate was utterly ignored. The Czar accepted the conditions imposed,
but held that the note gave him the desired protectorate by implication. In
England, the press fiercely attacked the faint-hearted politicians of the
Continent. Layard, the discoverer of the royal palaces of Nineveh, appeared
as the champion of Turkey in the House of Commons. Still more threatening
was the attitude of the war party in Constantinople. The Sultan was forced
to reject the note and to prepare for the storm. Hatred of Russia and
religious fanaticism inspired the Turks with something of the old love of
battle and lust of conquest. On October 4, an ultimatum was sent to Russia
in which war was threatened if the invaded territory were not forthwith
evacuated. Russia replied with a declaration of war on November 1. The
Sultan, for complying with the wishes of his people, was rewarded by the
ready payment of heavy war taxes, and by hordes of volunteers flocking to
arms. Even Tunis and Egypt placed troops at the disposal of the mother
country. In a short time a considerable fighting force was gathered under
Omar Pasha on the south bank of the Danube. On the 4th of November the
river was crossed and a defeat inflicted on the Russians at Oltenizza.

  [Illustration: THE BATTLE OF INKERMANN
    Painted by Gustave Doré
    From Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co., N.Y.]

Had the Czar sent his troops into the Balkans immediately after he declared
war, he might have struck a decisive blow before the Powers could come to
the assistance of the Turks. But he had pledged himself not to cross the
Danube when he met the Emperor of Austria at Olmütz, and again when he
visited the King of Prussia in Berlin. Thus he had persuaded them to adopt
a policy of neutrality. England and France now promised to give Turkey
their armed support if the Czar persisted in his demands. Their fleets
sailed for the Bosphorus.

[Sidenote: Turkish naval disaster]

At Sinope, a Turkish squadron composed of two steamers, two corvettes and
seven frigates rode at anchor under the guns of a small battery. On
November 30, the Turks were surprised by a Russian fleet commanded by
Admiral Nachimov, consisting of six ships of the line and three
steamers--all vessels of large size, armed with the smooth-bore shell-gun.
For the first time in naval history the disastrous effect of shell fire on
wooden ships was demonstrated. Only one Turkish steamer escaped to tell the
tale.

This blow, dealt beneath the very guns of the allied fleets, had its
immediate effect. Lord Aberdeen, whose foreign policy was far too mild for
the taste of most Englishmen, was so bitterly attacked that he resigned.
The return of Palmerston to the Ministry was the signal for war. In
December, the Vienna Conference sent to Nicholas a second note, demanding
the evacuation of the Danube principalities.




1854


[Sidenote: Opening of Nebraska]

[Sidenote: American slavery issue revived]

[Sidenote: Rise of Republican Party]

In the American Congress, on January 4, Senator Douglas introduced a bill
for opening the Territory of Nebraska. All land west of Iowa and Missouri
had been closed against immigrants, so that it was impossible for them to
secure a farm. By "Nebraska" was meant all territory north of Texas
westward to the Rocky Mountains. On January 23, Douglas introduced his
second bill, repealing the provisions of the Missouri Compromise for the
proposed two Territories. This reopened the slavery discussion, which
President Pierce six weeks before had declared to be closed forever. At the
East, Mason and Dixon's line between Pennsylvania and Maryland had been
regarded as separating freedom from slavery. At the West, the parallel of
36° 30', agreed on in 1820, was regarded as the border line. To cross this
boundary, and remove all obstacles against slavery, promptly became the
determination of the South. Douglas's bill now declared that the Compromise
of 1850 left the question of slavery to the people within the Territory.
General Cass gave to this doctrine the title of "Squatter Sovereignty." The
bill passed by 113 to 100, and was taken up by the Senate, May 24, and
passed by 35 to 13. President Pierce signed it on May 30. By the
provisions of the bill, the country in question was to be organized into
the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska; the slavery question was to be
settled by the residents; the Supreme Court was to determine the title to
slaves, if appeal was taken from the local courts, and the Fugitive Slave
law was to be enforced. The Whig Party was destroyed and the Republican
Party rose in its place. On July 6, a State Convention of all anti-Nebraska
citizens irrespective of former political affiliations assembled. This
Convention designated the fusion of Whigs, Free Soilers, "Know Nothings,"
and Democrats who opposed the extension of slavery, by the name
"Republicans."

[Sidenote: Opening of Kansas]

[Sidenote: Fraudulent elections]

Within the three months immediately preceding, treaties had been quietly
made with a half score of Indian nations in Kansas, by which the greater
part of the soil for 200 miles west was opened. In June, within a few days
after the act had been passed, hundreds of Missourians crossed into Kansas,
took up quarter-sections and claimed the right of pre-emption upon the
eastern region. In Massachusetts and other Eastern States, societies were
meanwhile formed for the purpose of making Kansas a free State. All the
Northwest was eager to furnish squatters. In the East, Eli Thayer organized
immigration to Kansas. When the country was thrown open to settlement, the
company which he had organized took up claims at Lawrence. A population of
8,000 pressed in from the North. Meetings were held in Missouri in the
slave interest, which pledged that State to send men to Kansas and remove
all the Free State immigrants. A bloody election was held in Kansas. The
pro-slavery Legislature made it a felony to circulate anti-slavery
publications, or to deny the right to hold slaves. Reeder, the newly
appointed first Governor, arrived. An election was ordered to choose a
delegate for Congress. Armed Missourians from across the border took
possession of the polls, and by methods of intimidation elected Whitfield,
a slave-holding delegate, to Congress. At a second election 13 State
Senators and 26 members of a Lower House were declared elected. For this
purpose 6,320 votes were cast--more than twice the number of legal voters.

[Sidenote: Mexican adjustment]

Foreign affairs for a short while served to distract attention from the
all-engrossing subject. Mexican boundary disputes were further ended by a
repeal of the obligation of Guadeloupe Hidalgo which required the Mexican
frontier to be defended against the Indians. For this release the United
States paid to Mexico $10,000,000.

[Sidenote: Reciprocity with Canada]

A reciprocity treaty was made with Great Britain which opened to the United
States all the frontiers of British America except Newfoundland, and gave
to the British the right to share the American fisheries to the 36th
parallel. Commerce in breadstuffs, fish, animals and lumber between the
United States and the British provinces was made free. The St. Lawrence and
Canadian Canals were opened to American vessels. All future differences
were to be settled by arbitration.

[Sidenote: Fremont in California]

During this year news arrived of the safe arrival of Fremont's fifth
expedition to California. He had crossed the Rocky Mountains at the
sources of the Arkansas and Colorado Rivers, passed through the Mormon
settlement, and discovered a number of passes. He was chosen the first
United States Senator from California, and served for a short term.

[Sidenote: Cuban filibusters]

[Sidenote: Ostend manifesto]

On February 28, the American steamship "Black Warrior" was seized in Havana
Harbor, and was confiscated by the Spanish Government on the charge of
filibustering. The American House of Representatives prepared to suspend
the neutrality laws between the United States and Spain; but it was finally
decided to demand an indemnity from Spain. This action gave an interest to
filibustering operations in Cuba. Expeditions were fitted out, but were
stopped by a proclamation of the President on June 1. The American
representatives at the courts of England, France and Spain, by direction of
the President, met at Ostend, Belgium, to confer on the best method of
settling the difficulties of Cuba and obtaining possession of the island.
In the Ostend Circular these diplomats recommended to the government of the
United States that Cuba should be purchased if possible, and if that could
not be done that it should be taken by force. "If Spain, actuated by
stubborn pride and a false sense of honor, should refuse to sell Cuba to
the United States, then by every law, human and divine, we shall be
justified in wresting it from Spain if we possess the power." In this
Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soule were held to have gone beyond the demands
of public opinion.

[Sidenote: Course of Taipings]

In their camp at Isinghai the Taiping rebels, in China, were closely
beleaguered through the early part of the year until spring. Their
provisions then becoming exhausted, they cut their way out and retreated
southward. A relieving army from Nanking rescued them from imminent
capture. They then captured Lintsing, where their headquarters remained for
some months. During the rest of the year their successes were unimportant.

[Sidenote: Orange Free State recognized]

In South Africa, the difficulties of administering the recalcitrant
communities of the Boers in the Orange River territory proved such that
during this year the struggle was abandoned as hopeless by the British
authorities. The Orange River Free State, organized as an independent
republic of Dutch settlers, was recognized as such.

[Sidenote: Espartero in Spain]

On June 28, another military insurrection broke out near Madrid. General
Espartero assumed charge of the movement. It found favor in Madrid and
Barcelona. Within a fortnight the Ministry was overthrown. On July 19,
Baldomero Espartero was welcomed with great enthusiasm on his return to
power. On the last day of the month the Queen had to present herself on the
balcony of her palace in Madrid while 3,000 revolutionists from the
barricades paraded before her. Espartero on his return to power forthwith
convoked the Cortes to frame a new liberal constitution, a task which was
accomplished before the close of the year.

[Sidenote: Death of Sontag]

In Mexico, the celebrated operatic singer Henriette Sontag died of cholera.
Born at Coblenz in 1805, she made an early début, and appeared with
brilliant success in all the capitals of Europe, where she was recognized
as a worthy rival of Malibran. In 1829 she married Count Rossi, and in the
following year retired from the stage. Twenty years later, in consequence
of the loss of her fortune, she returned to the stage, and it was found
that her voice had lost none of its power and charm.

[Sidenote: The Crimean war]

In the Balkans, the Servians, Bulgarians and the Bosnians, in view of the
meagre success of Russian arms so far, were disinclined to rise against
Turkey. In Greece, on the other hand, Russian partisans succeeded in
inciting the populace to revolt. From all sides volunteers rushed to the
northern frontier. There was even some talk of establishing a new Byzantine
Empire. King Otto, partly from lack of sympathy, but more through fear of
the Western Powers, whose ships suddenly appeared at the Piræus, opposed
the movement. The Greek volunteers who had gathered at the frontier were
ordered to disperse.

[Sidenote: Kalafat]

[Sidenote: Cetate]

[Sidenote: Russians cross Danube]

[Sidenote: Powers declare war]

The war had so far not fulfilled the expectations of Russia. Not only had
the Czar's troops been repulsed at Kalafat, despite their greater numbers,
but they had also been surprised and beaten at Cetate. The respect which
Russia commanded as a great Power had been engendered largely by her
supposed inexhaustible resources. The Czar was therefore forced to maintain
the old appearance of strength by recruiting troops throughout his empire
and by intrusting the command of all his men to Prince Paskievitch,
regarded, despite his great age, as the best general of Russia. Operations
were shifted further to the east, partly to still the apprehensions of
Austria, partly in the hope that more Slavic Christians would join the
Russian army. In the middle of March, Paskievitch crossed the Danube not
far from the mouth of the Pruth, despite the promises made by the Czar to
Prussia and Austria. The Czar's rejection of a second pacific note from
Vienna, together with the breach of the promise given to his fellow
sovereigns, was followed, on March 28, by a formal declaration of war on
the part of France and England.

Without effective resistance on the part of the Turks, General Lueders
seized the Dobrudsha and joined General Schilder before the walls of
Silistria, while Omar Pasha, in the face of a superior Russian force, was
compelled to retire to the fortress of Shumla. These energetic Russian
movements spurred the Western Powers to greater activity.

[Sidenote: Allied troops landed]

In April, an English army of 20,000 men under Lord Raglan, together with a
French force more than twice as large under the command of Marshal St.
Arnaud, distinguished for his deeds in Africa and for his part in Louis
Napoleon's _coup d'état_, landed at Gallipolis. The allies bombarded Odessa
on April 22, taking good care, however, not to destroy English property in
the city.

[Sidenote: Austrian-Prussian remonstrances]

[Sidenote: Assault of Silistria]

[Sidenote: Paskievitch withdraws]

[Sidenote: Allies at Varna]

The crossing of the Danube by the Russians led Austria and Prussia to form
an offensive and defensive alliance, both agreeing to wage war on the Czar
if he sent his armies across the Balkans or incorporated the Danube
principalities. But how little Prussia intended to engage in a struggle
with the Czar was indicated by the retirement of Bonin, the Minister of
War, and of Bunsen, the Ambassador to London. Even a tentative offer of
Schleswig and Holstein made by England could not tempt Prussia to forsake
her old confederate. A joint note was sent to St. Petersburg by Austria and
Prussia, demanding the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the invaded
territory of the Danube. Austria concluded a treaty with the Porte, by the
terms of which she was to seize the Danube principalities, on the borders
of which she had mobilized her troops. Paskievitch's efforts to reduce
Silistria proved fruitless. The courageous example of Mussa Pasha and the
skill of Grach, a Prussian officer of artillery, were more than a match for
the strategy of the Russian commanding general. The hostile attitude of the
Austrian troops on the frontier of Wallachia and Moldavia, and the landing
of French and English expeditions at Varna, caused Paskievitch, on June 21,
to withdraw his weakened force across the Danube and the Pruth. In the
attempt to reduce Silistria the lives of many Russian soldiers had been
sacrificed. Paskievitch himself was slightly wounded. Eighteen months after
his defeat he died in Warsaw. Schilder, Mussa and Grach, all mortally
wounded, had been carried off before him. The losses of the allies were
also serious. An ill-considered march of the French from Varna into the
Dobrudsha resulted in the loss of 2,000 men, most of whom succumbed to the
insufferable heat. In the camp at Varna cholera wrought terrible havoc.

[Sidenote: Ineffectual naval operations]

Upon the sea the allies were no more successful. An English and French
fleet, under Sir Charles Napier, proceeded to the Baltic Sea for the
purpose of persuading Sweden to join France and England, of reducing the
fortress of Kronstadt, the key to the Russian capital, and of attacking St.
Petersburg itself. Sweden, despite the efforts of the Powers, held aloof
like Prussia. The walls of Kronstadt defied the ships. Besides the capture
of Bomarsund on August 16, nothing was accomplished.

[Sidenote: A council of war]

[Sidenote: Before Sebastopol]

[Sidenote: Battle of the Alma]

In Varna, a council of war was held to decide upon the course to be pursued
against the Russians. Among others, General Stein, or Ferhat Pasha, as he
was called after his conversion to Mohammedanism, proposed the landing of
troops in Asia in order to drive the enemy from the Caucasus. But St.
Arnaud, who felt that he had not long to live, and, therefore, wished to
end his career as gloriously as he could, voted for an attack on
Sebastopol, the naval port of the Crimea. He was supported by Lord Raglan,
who desired nothing more fervently than the destruction of the Russian
fleet. So far no less than 15,000 men had perished in the campaign. The
remaining force, composed of 56,000 soldiers, of whom 6,000 were Turks, was
landed, on September 14, at Eupatoria on the west coast of the peninsula.
To the south of Eupatoria the sea forms a bay which receives the waters of
the River Tchernaya, flowing past the ruins of Inkermann. Upon the southern
side is the fortified city of Sebastopol. On the northern side
fortifications had been built to protect the fleet anchored in the bay.
Upon the heights overlooking the river Alma, Prince Menzikov, Governor of
the Crimea, had stationed his army of 39,000 men with 106 guns. Although
the heights overhanging the Alma are more than five miles long, the Russian
troops by which they were defended formed a front of but three miles. This
left the extreme left of the Russians open to an attack by a ford opposite
the village of Almatack. Against Menzikov, Marshal St. Arnaud and Lord
Raglan could oppose 63,000 men and 128 guns. The weakness of the undefended
left flank of the Russian army was discovered from the French ships. St.
Arnaud laid his plans accordingly. On the morning of September 20, the
attack was begun. The warships steamed up the river and opened fire on the
enemy. Bosquet, in command of a French division and a Turkish contingent,
was assigned to attack Menzikov's left. He pushed his way through the
village of Almatack and forded the river. His Zouaves nimbly climbed the
heights and reached the feebly defended plateau. Menzikov, busily engaged
in resisting the advance of the English against his right, at first refused
to believe the unwelcome tidings. He endeavored to shift a part of his
force from right to left. Meantime the English, under Lord Raglan, were
subjected to so fierce a fire from the Russian main position that they
could make no headway. They lay passive upon the ground waiting for the
French under Canrobert and Louis Napoleon to begin the attack in front, and
thus divert the attention of Menzikov. Weary of their long delay, Lord
Raglan took matters into his own hands. The English infantry rose from the
field, advanced upon the Russian main position, and, under a hot fire,
stormed the Russian redoubt with dreadful loss. Attacked on the one side by
the English and on the other by the French, Menzikov was compelled to beat
a retreat.

[Sidenote: War artists and correspondents]

The battle of the Alma was one of the first modern engagements described by
special war correspondents in the field. The news of the victory was
despatched to London with a rapidity prophetic of the feats performed by
latter-day correspondents. Besides the war correspondents, several artists
of note followed the armies of the allies. Among the French painters who
have perpetuated some of the well-known episodes of the Crimean War were
Horace Vernet, who painted a "Battle of Alma," and Paul Alexandre Protais,
a pupil of Desmoulins, who first came into note about that time. Another
artist who made his early reputation in the war of the Crimea was Adolphe
Schreyer.

[Sidenote: Tolstoi]

On the Russian side, Count Lyof Tolstoi served at the front, together with
his namesake and fellow writer, Count Alexander Tolstoi. There he gathered
impressions for his stories on the siege of Sebastopol, and for his
subsequent great novel of the Napoleonic invasion, "War and Peace."

[Sidenote: Cholera]

Besides the news of victory, the Crimean War correspondents told of the
sore plight of the English army, of the ravages of cholera, and of the
wretchedly organized hospital system. No preparations had been made for a
very long campaign. The taking of Sebastopol, it was thought by the
English, would present no grave difficulties.

[Sidenote: Todleben]

But Sebastopol was better prepared to meet an attack than England knew.
True it is that early in the war the city might have been taken by a dash
from the land and sea. But the chance was now gone. Three days after the
defeat of Alma, Menzikov sank seven vessels of the Russian Black Sea fleet
in the mouth of the harbor. On all sides the city was strongly fortified in
accordance with the suggestion of Todleben, an ingenious artillery officer.

[Sidenote: Allies beaten off]

Instead of moving directly upon Sebastopol the allies first marched to
Balaklava, further to the south, where they would be in constant
communication with the ships and could establish a base of supplies. On
October 17, an unsuccessful attack was made on Sebastopol.

[Sidenote: Russian success]

At dawn on October 25, the Russians crossed the Tchernaya and stole rapidly
on until their vanguard had reached a position from which they could
cannonade Canrobert's Hill, the post most distant from the forces of the
allies and nearest the village of Kamara. The main Russian army under
Liprandi soon came up and began to fire upon Canrobert's Hill and the
adjacent works. The English replied with the assistance of a troop of horse
artillery and of a field battery. Two English divisions and two French
brigades were sent to the aid of the garrison on the hills. The Russians
succeeded in storming Canrobert's Hill and in capturing the next and
smaller fortification. Threatened by overwhelming numbers, the troops on
the remaining hills withdrew.

[Sidenote: Balaklava]

Two English cavalry brigades--the Light and the Heavy--commanded by Lord
Lucan, had been manoeuvring to protect Balaklava. The Light Brigade,
under Lord Cardigan, faced the Tchernaya; the Heavy Brigade, under
Scarlett, was on the Balaklava side of the ridge. A great body of Russian
cavalry swept down the slope upon the Heavy Brigade, and for a moment threw
it into disorder. But Scarlett's men charged the Russians. The two opposing
bodies of cavalry clashed and seemed to melt one within the other. Then the
Russian horsemen yielded, and fled over the ridge whence they had first
appeared five minutes before.

[Sidenote: The charge of the Light Brigade]

A disposition on the Russian side to carry off the captured guns induced
Lord Raglan to send Lord Lucan an order "to advance rapidly to the front
and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns." The order was carried
by Captain Nolan, who found Lucan between his two brigades, with the Light
Brigade beyond Woronzov road. Whose "front" was meant Lucan did not know.
Nolan conjectured that "the guns" in question were those which had retired
with the retreating Russian cavalry. Already the Russian cavalry had taken
protection behind its works toward the Tchernaya, and was supported by
Liprandi's troops posted along the Woronzov road, and by Russian guns
bearing on the valley from the ridge and from Fedioukin heights. Nolan,
Lord Lucan reported later, insisted that these very guns must be regained.
Although Lord Cardigan of the Light Brigade shared Lucan's misgivings he
obeyed the command. With the order, "The Brigade will advance!" the famous
charge of the Six Hundred began. Nolan galloped obliquely across the
Brigade as it started. He was killed by the first shell fired from a
Russian gun. Into the thick of the Russians Cardigan rode with his men. The
forlorn exploit has been immortalized by Alfred Tennyson:

  Half a league, half a league,
    Half a league onward,
  All in the valley of Death
  Rode the six hundred.
  "Forward, the Light Brigade!
  Charge for the guns!" he said:
  Into the valley of Death
    Rode the six hundred.

[Sidenote: Liprandi's victory]

The whole Brigade would have been wiped out after the repulse, when the
Russian cavalry rode in pursuit, had not several squadrons of French
cuirassiers ridden to the rescue. The fact that the Russians retained the
hills which they had captured justified Liprandi in claiming the victory.

[Sidenote: Preparing for battle]

In November, the French infantry in the Crimea numbered 81,000, the British
16,000, and the Turkish 11,000. Brave as the Moslems undoubtedly were, they
were not permitted to demonstrate their value in subsequent encounters.
While the allies strengthened their batteries and replenished their
magazines, the Russians likewise fortified their position and gathered
reinforcements. It was a race on both sides for the first delivery of the
attack. On November 4, the allied commanders definitely arranged for a
cannonade and an assault which was to place Sebastopol at their mercy. The
Russians, recognizing their peril, completed the assembly of their forces
to attack the allies and forestall them. In all, Menzikov could oppose
115,000 soldiers to the 65,000 available men of the allies. The Russian
commander assigned the main attack to General Soimonov with 19,000 infantry
and 38 guns and to General Paulov with 16,000 infantry and 96 guns. The
regiments in the valley of the Tchernaya, formerly commanded by Liprandi,
but now led by Gortschakov, were "to support the general attack by drawing
the enemy's forces toward them." The garrison of Sebastopol was to cover
with its artillery fire the right flank of the attacking force. After
effecting their junction, the two divisions were to place themselves under
General Danneberg's command.

[Sidenote: Inkermann]

Soimonov issued under cover of a thick fog from the fortress before dawn on
November 5, and to the surprise of the allies began the attack on the
English left. The timely arrival of reinforcements under Buller enabled the
British to repel the Russians. Soimonov was left dead on the field. The
attack of Paulov on the right was no more successful. The Russians were
here repulsed with frightful loss. When Danneberg arrived on the scene he
found that, with Paulov's battalions on Mount Inkermann and with those of
Soimonov, he could recommence the battle with 19,000 men and 90 guns. Ten
thousand of these men were hurled against the English centre and right by
Danneberg. The carnage was frightful. Between the hostile lines rose a
rampart of fallen men. The Russians would probably have swept away the
British by the sheer force of greater numbers, had they not been taken in
the flank and repulsed by a French regiment which arrived just in time to
save their English comrades.

[Sidenote: A dear victory]

Although the Russian attacking force had been diminished to 6,000 men, it
was once more resolutely launched against the enemy, this time against the
centre and left of the allied armies. So impetuous was the assault, that
for a time the Russians carried all before them. But a simultaneous,
irresistible advance of the French and English not only repulsed the
attacking force, but drove it off the field. Shortly before noon the battle
was decided. The heavy losses suffered by the Russians enabled the allies
to oppose greater numbers of men against Danneberg's broken battalions and
his still unused reserve, and to make use of their guns, now for the first
time superior in number to the Russian ordnance. The battle of Inkermann
closed with no grand charge on the one side, nor wild flight on the other.
When the Russians saw that success was hopeless, they withdrew gradually,
with no attempt on the part of the wearied allies to convert the repulse
into a rout. On both sides, men had been ruthlessly sacrificed.

[Sidenote: Crimean horrors]

Inkermann was followed by a gloomy winter. The Black Sea was swept by
terrible storms which destroyed transport ships laden with stores for the
army. The horses that charged at Balaklava became unfit for service; the
men who had fought at Inkermann languished in field hospitals. In the
wretchedly organized lazarets at Scutari the sick and wounded died by
scores for lack of proper medical attendance. Shameful frauds were
perpetrated in filling the contracts for preserved meats. With grim humor
"Punch" exclaimed: "One man's preserved meat is another man's poison."
After the harrowing misery that prevailed in camp had been pictured in the
London newspapers, something like system was finally established in the
hospitals by the energy of Miss Florence Nightingale.

[Sidenote: Sardinia's offered help]

Balaklava and Inkermann had a profound effect upon the diplomatic
negotiation of the Powers. England and France attempted to induce Austria
and Prussia to take arms against the Czar. But Prussia would do nothing
without the Confederation; and Austria would do nothing without Prussia.
Buol-Schauenstein, the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, would gladly
have mediated; but the prospects of success were not rosy. To the annoyance
of Austria, Piedmont, which had maintained its position in Italy despite
Austria, offered to take part in the war. Austria saw that she must now act
quickly if she wished to preserve her European prestige. On December 2, she
signed a treaty with England and France binding herself not to negotiate
separately with the Czar; to defend the principalities which she had
occupied in accordance with her compact with Turkey, after their evacuation
by the Russians; and to deliberate with the Powers as to the best course to
be pursued if the war were not ended by January 1, 1855. The treaty was
intended merely to thwart Piedmont.




1855


[Sidenote: Crimean war scandals]

[Sidenote: Parliamentary inquiry]

Complaints of neglect and maladministration in the Crimea waxed ever
louder. The reports of the war correspondents at the front aroused
indignation in London and Paris. Now the London "Times" came out with a
leading article which produced a profound sensation throughout England. The
burden of it was a bitter complaint that "the noblest army ever sent from
our shores has been sacrificed to the grossest mismanagement. Incompetency,
lethargy, aristocratic hauteur, official indifference, favor, routine,
perverseness and stupidity reign, revel, and riot in the camp before
Sebastopol, in the harbor of Balaklava, in the hospitals of Scutari, and
how much nearer home we do not venture to say. We say it with extremest
reluctance, no one sees or hears anything of the Commander-in-Chief.
Officers who landed on the 14th of September, and have incessantly been
engaged in all the operations of the siege, are not even acquainted with
the face of their commander." The exposures of the "Times" were taken up in
Parliament. Already Lord John Russell had urged upon the Earl of Aberdeen
the necessity of having the War Minister in the House of Commons, and
recommended that Lord Palmerston should be intrusted with the portfolio of
war. The Prime Minister refused to recommend the proposed change to the
Queen, on the ground that it would be unfair to the Duke of Newcastle,
against whom, he said, no positive defect had been proved. As soon as
Parliament assembled on January 25, the opposition moved for a commission
of inquiry "into the condition of our army before Sebastopol, and into the
conduct of those departments whose duty it has been to minister to the
wants of that army." Lord John Russell at once wrote to Lord Aberdeen that
since this motion could not be resisted, and was sure to involve a censure
of the War Department, he preferred to tender his resignation. The
retirement of the leaders of the House of Commons served to paralyze the
government's resistance. After a debate of two nights the motion for an
inquiry was accepted by 305 against 148 votes. As Mr. Molesworth, who was
present, wrote:

[Sidenote: Aberdeen's Ministry defeated]

"Never, perhaps, had a government been more decisively defeated. When the
numbers were announced, the House seemed to be surprised, and almost
stunned by its own act. There was no cheering; but for a few moments a dead
silence, followed by a burst of derisive laughter. The Ministers of course
resigned."

[Sidenote: Palmerston, Premier]

Lord John Russell and Lord Derby, each in turn, tried to form a Ministry,
but both failed. Lord Palmerston was then called in, and succeeded in
rallying a Cabinet composed largely of the members of the old
Administration. Thus Lord Granville, Earl Grey, the Duke of Argyll, Lord
Clarendon and William E. Gladstone were retained. The chief change was the
appointment of Lord Panmure to take the place of the Duke of Newcastle as
Secretary of War. Lord Panmure, better known as Fox Maule, had already
served as Minister of War during the six years of Lord Russell's
administration, and had shown himself thoroughly capable in that post.
Commissions of inquiry were now sent to the Crimea. At the same time
diplomatic conferences were reopened at Vienna.

[Sidenote: Cavour's master-stroke]

The evident insincerity of Count Buol stirred up a hornet's nest of
indignation. The people of England and France became incensed as they saw
that Austria showed no inclination to fight. Prussia flatly refused to
assist Austria in any warlike undertaking. Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia took
advantage of the situation to join the allies. On April 21 he sent 15,000
men to the Crimea.

During the diplomatic parleys of the Powers, the siege of Sebastopol
wearily dragged along. The commissariat and land-transport systems broke
down. The armies were weakened by cholera, cold, and starvation.
Negotiations for peace were set on foot by Austria. A conference was opened
at Vienna under promising auspices.

[Sidenote: Death of Emperor Nicholas]

[Sidenote: The Four Points]

Czar Nicholas, with whom the war was a personal grievance, died on March
2--of pulmonary apoplexy, reported the physicians--of bitter disappointment
and despair, claimed his people. His son, Alexander II., peace-loving as he
was known to be, did not venture to show himself less of a true Russian
than his father. The Conference proved a failure. Lord John Russell,
England's representative, was instructed to insist upon the admission of
Turkey into the Concert of Powers. To secure this end, four principal
points were to be considered, now famous under the name of the Four
Points--the fate of the Danube principalities, the free navigation of the
Danube, the limitation of Russian supremacy in the Black Sea, and the
preservation of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The attempt to limit
Russia's supremacy in the Black Sea was the chief point upon which the
Powers could not agree.

[Sidenote: Changes at the front]

The operations in the Crimea were vigorously renewed. Lord Raglan died and
was succeeded by General Simpson. Long before him, old Marshal St. Arnaud
was carried away by disease. His post was taken by Canrobert, who afterward
resigned in favor of Pelissier. On August 16, the Russians under Liprandi
made a desperate effort to raise the siege by an attack on the allies. The
assault was made on the French divisions and on the Sardinian contingent.
Liprandi was foiled. Northern Italy was in a delirium of joy when the news
came that the banner of Piedmont had been carried to victory over a great
Power, side by side with the flag of France. The far-sightedness of
Cavour's audacious policy was now fully appreciated.

[Sidenote: Russian works assaulted]

[Sidenote: Zouaves storm the Malakov]

[Sidenote: British beaten off]

[Sidenote: Sebastopol yielded to allies]

[Sidenote: Cost of the great siege]

The repulse proved fatal to the Russians. Nearer and nearer the French drew
to the city. But the ingenious Todleben threw up works which also brought
the Russians closer to the enemy. Sometimes it seemed as if the allies were
the besieged and not the besiegers. Malakov Tower and the Mamelon battery
in front of it were the scenes of bloody conflicts. Night sorties were made
and repelled. On June 7, the English assaulted the quarries in front of the
Redan, and the French assailed the Mamelon. Both attempts were successful.
On the 18th, a fierce attack was made on the Redan and the Malakov
batteries, which resulted in failure, because the French did not act with
sufficient precision. A simultaneous assault was made on the Malakov and
the Redan on September 5. The French upon capturing the Malakov were to
hoist their flag, and thereby signal to the English when to move against
the Redan. A brilliant success was won by the Zouaves. Their tricolor waved
over the ramparts fifteen minutes after they had started to scale the steep
heights. The task of the English troops proved more difficult. They were
compelled to advance under a galling fire, but stormed the parapets despite
the resistance which they encountered. The attacking force, however, was
too small; reinforcements did not come in time, and the remnant of the
party was compelled to withdraw. It was the story of Balaklava told over
again with bloody emphasis--the story of splendid courage on the part of
the men, of wretched generalship on the part of their commanders. After the
attack, the Russians withdrew from the south side of Sebastopol. That
portion of the city had been so thoroughly bombarded that Gortschakov could
no longer hold out. "It is not Sebastopol that we have left to them, but
the burning ruins of the town, to which we ourselves set fire," wrote the
Russian commander after his brave defence. He could indeed boast that later
generations would "recall with pride" the great siege and its stirring
events. The investment had lasted eleven months. It involved the
construction of seventy miles of trenches and the employment of 60,000
fascines, 80,000 gabions, and 1,000,000 sandbags. One and one-half million
shells and shot were fired into the town from the cannon of the besiegers.
The Russian forces in and about Sebastopol numbered 150,000; their losses
sustained in its defence amounted, in killed, wounded and missing, to
90,142. The allied armies numbered 80,650 French, 43,000 English, and
20,000 Turks in January, 1855. The British troops suffered terribly from
disease. The forty-one English infantry battalions, which embarked
originally, mustered 36,923, and were reinforced by 27,884. Their strength
at the conclusion of hostilities was 653 less than it was at the beginning.
The Sardinians suffered proportionately. The wastage, due principally to
disease, thus amounted to 28,537 men.

  [Illustration: BALAKLAVA--"OUT OF THE MOUTH OF HELL--"
    Painted by Elizabeth Thompson (Lady Butler)
    Copyright. By permission of Henry Graves & Co., Ltd., London]

[Sidenote: The defense of Kars]

With the fall of Sebastopol the war may be said to have ended. A brilliant
chapter which had little effect on the Crimean campaign, partly because it
occurred after the fall of Sebastopol, partly because it concerned chiefly
the Armenians, was the long defence of Kars by Colonel Williams and Wassif
Pasha against an overwhelming Russian army under General Muraviev. Williams
sturdily held his ground, bravely repulsed a violent attack in which the
Russians lost over 5,000 men, and surrendered on November 27, with all
the honors of war, only when starvation stared his little garrison in the
face.

[Sidenote: First ironclads before Kinburn]

[Sidenote: Success of first trial]

Hostilities still continued for a time in the Crimea. The allied fleet was
sent to bombard various sea forts. The most important of these naval
operations from a historical standpoint was the expedition against Kinburn,
for here it was that the modern ironclad was first tried. On September 5,
1854, Napoleon had ordered the construction of five armored floating
batteries, which embodied the results obtained in the tests of plating made
before the War Ministry's representatives at Vincennes. The ships were of
1,400 tons displacement, were armed with eighteen 50-pounder smoothbores,
and protected by four inches of iron armor. They were the prototypes of the
later ironclads. Not without some misgivings three of these batteries were
sent to the Crimea to join the allied fleet under Admirals Lyons and Bruat.
The English squadron consisted of six line-of-battle ships, seventeen
frigates and sloops, ten gunboats, six mortar-boats and ten transports. The
French fleet, besides the three armored batteries mentioned, included four
line-of-battle ships, three corvettes, four despatch boats, twelve gun
boats and five mortar-boats. The combined fleets prepared to attack the
Russian works at Kinburn. On October 18, the bombardment began. The
ironclads steamed up to within 800 yards of the main fort; the other ships
took up positions at distances varying from 1,200 to 2,800 yards. Without
appreciable effect the Russian 32-pound and 18-pound shot and shell
dropped into the sea from the iron plating of the French ships. Whatever
injury was sustained was caused by the entrance of shot and splinters
through the portholes. Unable to withstand the well-directed fire of their
invulnerable enemy, the Russians hoisted the white flag, after having lost
45 killed and 130 wounded. The allies lost but two killed and had but
forty-five wounded--all on board the armored ships. "Everything may be
expected of these formidable engines of war," wrote Admiral Bruat in his
report. The Black Sea was the cradle of the modern ironclad.

[Sidenote: Achievements in Science and Letter]

Another achievement of far-reaching consequences was Captain Henry
Bessemer's process for manufacturing steel. He took out a patent for his
invention of forcing air through liquid molten iron. Other inventions of
interest were Brewster's prismatic stereoscope, Garcia's laryngoscope (a
mirror for examining the throat), and Drummond's light, patented by Captain
Thomas Drummond. Captain Robert Le Mesurier M'Clure of the "Investigator"
received the £5,000 prize for the discovery of the Northwest Passage and
was knighted. Famous English books of the year were Robert Browning's "Men
and Women," Charles Kingsley's "Westward Ho!" and George Henry Lewes' "Life
of Goethe."

[Sidenote: Death of Charlotte Brontë]

Charlotte Brontë, the novelist, died on the last day of March. She was born
in 1824, the daughter of the Rev. Patrick Brontë of Haworth in Yorkshire.
In June, 1854, she married her father's curate, the Rev. Archer Bell
Nicholls. Under the pseudonym of Currer Bell she published several novels,
in which she displayed great power in the delineation of character. The
most important of these were "Shirley," "Villette" and the celebrated "Jane
Eyre." At the same time her sister, Emily Jane, who published under the
name of Ellis Bell, won fame by her novel "Wuthering Heights." She died six
years earlier.

[Sidenote: Corot]

This year Jean-Baptiste Corot, the famous French painter of "Paysage
Intime," and follower and modifier of the new realistic schools under the
lead of Courbet, exhibited his "Souvenir de Marcoussy," which was purchased
later by Napoleon III.

[Sidenote: Death of Rogers]

Samuel Rogers, the English poet, wit and patron of art, died, on December
18, in his ninety-second year. The son of a banker, he travelled
extensively while a young man, and applied himself to the study of art and
letters. His first published essays and poetry were an "Ode to
Superstition" and "The Pleasures of Memory." The death of his father in
1793 left him in the possession of an ample fortune, and he lost no time in
retiring from active business. In 1798 he published "The Epistle to a
Friend" and other poems. During the early part of the Nineteenth Century,
Rogers figured in the foremost rank of the literary and artistic society in
London, where he went by the name of "The Banker Bard of St. James's
Place." In 1812 he brought out an epic on "The Voyage of Columbus," which
met with indifferent success. This was followed by "Jacqueline" and "Human
Life." His last and largest publication was his descriptive poem "Italy,"
brought out in 1822. Rogers devoted the rest of his literary life to the
publication of exquisitely illustrated editions of his "Italy" and his
"Poems." Shortly after Rogers' death a collection of his witty sayings was
published under the title of "Table Talk."

[Sidenote: Horace Vernet]

[Sidenote: His early works]

[Sidenote: Vernet's earnings]

[Sidenote: Highest artistic honors]

At the Parisian Art Exposition of this year, Horace Vernet, the celebrated
French battle painter, had a Salon devoted entirely to his works. The walls
were covered by his immense canvases. At this time Vernet was the most
successful of French artists. Born at the Louvre at the outbreak of the
French Revolution, Vernet in his early career was identified with the
events of that epoch. For the Duke of Orleans he painted his celebrated
series of the four revolutionary battles, "Jemmapes, Hanau, Montmirail, and
Valmy." In 1812 he received his first important commission from King Jerome
of Westphalia, and in 1813 another from Empress Marie Louise. In 1814,
Horace Vernet, with his father and Géricault, fought on the Barrière de
Clichy, and for his gallant conduct there received the decoration of the
Legion of Honor from the hands of Napoleon. After the Restoration, Vernet
achieved a great success by his "Battle of Torlosa," which was purchased
for 6,000 francs for the Maison du Roi. At the Salon of 1819 Vernet
contested the field with Géricault and Ingres, whose "Medusa" and
"Odalisque" were the success of the season. By his popular lithographs of
Napoleonic scenes, Vernet so jeopardized his interests at Court that it was
thought best for him to transfer his studio from Paris to Rome. On his
return from there in 1822 he painted his masterpiece, "The Defence of the
Barrier of Clichy," for which Odiot paid 4,000 francs. It was presented to
the Chamber of Peers, from which it was transferred subsequently to the
Gallery of the Louvre. Thenceforward Vernet's pictures, the first of which
had sold for a few hundred francs, commanded ever higher prices. For
Avignon, his ancestral home, Horace Vernet painted "Mazeppa Pursued by
Wolves," a picture which was injured by a sabre stroke in the artist's
studio. After his election to the Institute, Vernet changed the style of
his subjects, charging staggering prices. For a ceiling fresco in the
Museum of Charles X. he received 17,910 francs; for "Phillip Augustus
Before Bovines," now at Versailles, 24,775 francs; for "The Battle of
Fontenoy," 30,000 francs. Still these pictures were scarcely up to the
standard of the "Barrier of Clichy," and on Vernet's second removal to Rome
his art seemed to decline. After many years spent in Rome and with French
armies in Algiers and in the Orient, Vernet went to Russia, where he was
received with great favor at the Court of the Czar. The highest financial
point in his career was marked by a 50,000-franc commission for a portrait
of the Russian Empress. He returned to France in good time to receive, in
1855, the greatest honors yet showered upon a French painter.

[Sidenote: "Leaves of Grass"]

[Sidenote: American "Know Nothings"]

In America, Longfellow brought out his "Hiawatha" and Walt Whitman
published "Leaves of Grass." At this period the "Know Nothing" Party had
come to be a power in politics. The party had started from a New York
society formed to check the influence of the Pope, for purifying the ballot
and maintaining the Bible in the public schools. It was called the American
Party. Wherever the difference of opinion on the Missouri Compromise in
1854 dissolved party ties in the North, multitudes flocked to the new
party. Before 1855 it had a million and a half of voters. In 1854 it all
but wrecked the old organizations. In Virginia, Henry A. Wise, an old Whig,
led the Democratic Party, and overthrew the new organization. At the
National Convention of the new party, Southern resolutions were adopted by
a vote of 80 to 59. The Northern delegates met and repudiated the
anti-slavery alliance. In 1855 the party carried New York, California and
Massachusetts, and the Democrats carried New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana
and Illinois.

[Sidenote: Stirring party contest]

[Sidenote: Buchanan elected]

The American Convention met in Philadelphia, February 22, and nominated
Fillmore and Donelson. On the same day a convention met at Pittsburg to
effect a national organization of the Republican Party, which appointed a
National Convention for the 17th of June, the anniversary of Bunker Hill.
The Democratic Convention met at Cincinnati. Pierce, Douglas and Buchanan
were candidates. On the seventeenth ballot Buchanan was chosen by unanimous
vote with Breckenridge for Vice-President. The Republican Convention met,
and in it were King, Clay, Wilson and Wilmot. Fremont was made a candidate
by 359 votes against 196 for McLean. For Vice-President, Abraham Lincoln
had 110 votes, but Dayton received the majority. The nominees of the
American Convention were afterward withdrawn. The various nominees each
represented real issues. Buchanan stood for the South, Fremont for
non-extension, and Fillmore for the Union. The election resulted in the
choice of Buchanan, who received 1,838,169 votes, to Fremont's 1,341,000,
and Fillmore's 875,000. Of the electoral votes, Buchanan received 174,
Fremont 114, and Fillmore 8.

[Sidenote: Struggle in Kansas]

[Sidenote: "Bleeding Kansas"]

At another election in Kansas to choose members of the Territorial
Legislature, armed bodies from Missouri took possession of the polls and
elected a pro-slavery Legislature. Of 6,218 votes cast but 1,310 were
legal. Governor Reeder set the election aside and ordered another. May 22,
supplementary elections were held and the Free State men won. June 11,
Governor Reeder was charged with fraud in the purchase of the Indian lands,
and, on July 26, was removed. Dawson was appointed in his place, with
Woodson as acting-governor. On July 2, the pro-slavery Legislature met at
Pawnee, organized, expelled nine Free State members, and adjourned to the
Shawnee Mission, near the Missouri State line. Thereupon the Free State men
met at Lawrence, repudiated the Shawnee Mission Legislature as spurious,
and summoned a new convention at Topeka. The Convention adopted a Free
State Constitution, and nominated Reeder for Congress. On October 1, the
pro-slavery party elected Whitfield for Congress by more votes than the
census list contained. The Free Staters declared the pro-slavery
Legislature to have been elected by fraud. A rival government was
organized. Discord, violence, and crime prevailed for a year. "Bleeding
Kansas" became an issue in American national politics.

[Sidenote: Congress takes action]

The House resolved by 101 to 93 votes to send a special committee to Kansas
to inquire into the anarchy prevailing there. The committee consisted of
Howard, Sherman, and Oliver. After several weeks' investigation they
returned and reported that every election in Kansas had been carried by
Missourians, and the people had been prevented from exercising their
rights; that the Legislature was illegal and its acts null and void; that
Whitfield held his seat under no valid law, and Reeder had received more
votes than he; that a well-devised election law was necessary, and
impartial judges should be guarded by United States troops, and that the
Topeka Free Soil Convention embodied the will of the majority. A bill
admitting Kansas under her free constitution was defeated by 107 to 106,
but was subsequently passed by 99 to 97. In the Senate the bill was
defeated. Meanwhile turmoil and disorder continued in Kansas. Finally
negotiations between Shannon, and the Free State leaders suspended the feud
for a time.

[Sidenote: Mexican filibusters]

[Sidenote: Count Bouldon shot]

[Sidenote: Alvarez revolution]

[Sidenote: Santa Anna withdraws]

[Sidenote: Anarchy in Mexico]

[Sidenote: General Comonfort]

The latest attempts to overthrow the government in Mexico, while they
brought General Santa Anna once more to the head of affairs seriously
imperilled his position. After the release of the United States Government
from guarding the frontiers of Mexico, the Indians once more became
troublesome. Predatory bands of Apaches and Comanches so ravaged the
province of Cohauila that the government had to distribute arms among the
inhabitants. A filibustering expedition under Major Walker of Kentucky
established itself in Lower California. They proclaimed the independence of
that province, so as to bring about annexation by the United States. A
strong display of Mexican forces had the effect of driving them into Texas.
Another filibustering expedition led by a French adventurer who called
himself Count Raousset de Bouldon terrorized the north. From Guyamas this
expedition marched inland, but was defeated in the first encounter with a
strong Mexican force. Raousset de Bouldon was taken captive and was shot.
More serious was a military revolution in the south led by General Alvarez.
In his proclamation of Ayutla, Alvarez called for a new Constitution and a
new Congress, and promised such reforms as the abolition of personal
taxation, of military conscription, and of the feudal system of passports.
Other popular leaders like Bravo and Moreno joined the movement. In vain
did Santa Anna put forth all the powers of a military dictator. The
revolutionists took Monterey, and the insurrection spread throughout the
country until it reached the capital. Santa Anna gathered fourteen hundred
of his best troops and left the City of Mexico to march upon his enemies.
Soon the hopelessness of his enterprise became apparent. On the way to Vera
Cruz he suddenly abdicated, and embarked on August 19 for Havana. Scarcely
had Santa Anna left Mexico when the country was plunged into new
disorders. General Carrera, on August 15, declared for the plan of Ayutla
and proclaimed himself Vice-President. Funds were raised by a forced loan
from the clerical orders. Several provinces of Mexico refused to recognize
Carrera. Within a month he had to abdicate. He was succeeded at first by
General Diaz de la Vavaga, and then by Juan Alvarez, the leader of the
Puros. While he tried to establish his rule, General Vidini in the north
strove to wrest the States of Cohauila, Tamaulipas and Nuego Leon from
Mexico, to form an independent republic under the name of Sierra Madre.
Before the close of the year Alvarez likewise found his position untenable
and resigned. General Comonfort seized the reins of power as substitute
president--the thirty-sixth President within forty years, the fifth within
four months. He fell heir to the serious international complication with
Spain resulting from the unpaid dividends of Mexico's original debt of
indemnity to that country.

[Sidenote: Growth of Taiping movement]

In China, the Taiping rebels still holding Lintsing were beset by the
imperial troops. They were expelled from the province of Shantung during
the spring, but on the other hand carried their arms up the Yangtse-Kiang
as far as Ichang, and eastward from Nanking to the sea. The establishment
of the Taiping power at Nanking attracted the attention of Europeans. At
length a ruthless system of capital executions, by which nearly one hundred
thousand victims are believed to have perished, terrorized China.




1856


In America, the increasing virulence of the long controversy over slavery
was brought home to the people by a cowardly assault committed by one
Albert Rust upon Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York "Tribune," and
one of the leaders of the agitation against slavery.

[Sidenote: Buford in Kansas]

[Sidenote: The "Kansas War"]

At a Territorial election in Kansas on January 15 a Legislature was chosen,
and Robinson was elected Governor under the Free State Constitution.
January 26, President Pierce recognized the pro-slavery Legislature in
Kansas, and, on February 11, by proclamation ordered the dispersion of
armed invaders of Kansas. The Legislature met at Topeka, March 4, and
inaugurated Robinson. Congress appointed a committee to investigate the
Kansas troubles. On May 5, the Grand Jury of Douglas County found
indictments against Reeder, Robinson and Lane, the Free State leaders. In
the spring of 1856, Colonel Buford of Alabama, with a thousand young men
from South Carolina and Georgia, came to Kansas in military array. In May,
Lawrence was surrounded by these men bearing Federal arms taken from the
United States armory. Nearly all the pro-slavery leaders were with them.
They demanded the surrender of the people's arms. The inhabitants were
unprepared to resist. The armed pro-slavery force marched through the town,
destroying the hotels and printing-offices and the residence of Governor
Robinson, doing a damage of $150,000. Such was the beginning of the "Kansas
War" which continued throughout the year.

[Sidenote: "Osawatomie Brown"]

Acting-Governor Woodson proclaimed the Territory to be in a state of
rebellion. A large pro-slavery force was gathering at Lecompton and another
at Santa Fé. Osawatomie was captured, seven men were killed and thirty
buildings burned. Among the killed was a son of John Brown. Atchison's
pro-slavery force withdrew into Missouri. On September 1, in a municipal
election at Leavenworth, an armed band of Missourians killed and wounded a
number of Free State men, burned their houses, and compelled one hundred
and fifty of them to embark for St. Louis.

[Sidenote: Fight at Lawrence]

The attack on Lawrence was renewed under the direct authority of the
government. Many lives were lost. The United States troops at Leavenworth
were used by Shannon. The Free State Legislature was dispersed by the
United States forces. Other Missouri forces invaded the Territory and
destroyed Brown's village of Osawatomie, but the Free State men compelled
them to retreat across the Missouri. In September, President Pierce
appointed Gray Governor of Kansas. Arriving at Lecompton, he released
Robinson and other Free State prisoners on bail, and ordered all hostile
forces to disband. On September 15, three regiments of Missourians with
cannon attacked Lawrence. Governor Gray with United States troops
compelled them to retire. December 15, Lecompton, a partisan judge, was
removed on demand of the Governor, and Harrison of Kentucky was appointed.
The Free State preponderance among settlers constantly increased. Nearly
all the clearing, plowing, and planting was done by Free State men. All
manner of irregularities constantly thinned the ranks of volunteers from
the South. Kansas, according to Greeley's expressive phrase, "was steadily
hardening into the bone and sinew of a Free State."

[Sidenote: Senator Sumner assaulted]

The National Convention of the American Party virtually approved the
Fugitive Slave law and the Kansas-Nebraska act. In Congress, Sumner
delivered a philippic on "The Crime against Kansas," in which he commented
severely on Senator Butler of South Carolina. Thereupon Preston Brooks
brutally assaulted Sumner in his seat in the Senate. As a result of his
injuries Sumner was an invalid for four years.

[Sidenote: Puebla revolts]

In Mexico, President Comonfort had barely reached a temporary adjustment of
difficulties with Spain when his government was embarrassed by a serious
insurrection in Puebla. Government troops in overwhelming numbers put a
bloody end to the revolt. Orihuela, the rebel chief, was shot.

[Sidenote: Friction with Spain]

[Sidenote: Civil war in Mexico]

A new liberal Constitution in Mexico, proclaimed by President Comonfort,
did not mend matters much in that distracted republic. New troubles with
Spain arose over unpunished robberies and murders of Spanish subjects. In
March, diplomatic intercourse between the two countries was severed.
Spanish warships were ordered to the Gulf of Mexico. At the last moment,
diplomatic mediation on the part of England and France succeeded in
averting war. General Comonfort, finding himself unable to make much
headway by constitutional means, invoked the help of General Zuloaga, and
established himself once more as military dictator. When it came to
dividing the spoils, Comonfort and Zuloaga fell out, and a seven days'
conflict resulted. Comonfort's followers were routed. The defeated
President had to flee the country.

[Sidenote: Death of Heine]

[Sidenote: Heine's Muse]

Heinrich Heine, the foremost German lyric poet, died at Paris, February 18.
The last ten years of his life were clouded by ill health. Heine derived
his first poetic inspiration from A.W. Schlegel, while a student at the
University of Bonn. In the literary and artistic circle of Rachel Varnhagel
in Berlin he found further encouragement in his early literary labors. He
was a Jew, but, for the purpose of taking up the study of law, he had
himself baptized a Christian, and became a doctor of law at the University
of Göttingen. After a journey to England, he gave up law to devote himself
exclusively to the pursuit of letters. In 1827, he brought out his "Buch
der Lieder," and followed this up with the first part of his famous
"Reisebilder." Heine's lyrics, by their unwonted grace and sprightliness,
captivated German readers. Some of his songs, like that of the "Lorelei" or
"Thou Art Like a Flower," soon became German folksongs. More
characteristic, perhaps, of Heine's light muse are lines like these:

  A youth once loved a maiden,
    But for another she sighed;
  This other loved still another
    And took her for his bride.

  The maid for spite then married
    The first that came along;
  Alas for the youth who loved her,
    He suffered grievous wrong!

  It is an old, old story,
    But yet it is ever new,
  And the one to whom it happens
    His heart is broken in two.

[Sidenote: The poet in Paris]

[Sidenote: "La Mouche"]

Shortly after the July Revolution, Heine went to Paris, where he became a
contributor to several of the foremost literary journals of the day as a
writer of French feuilletons. His French prose style was almost equal to
his brilliant command of German. Not until 1844 did Heine bring out any new
German poems. Then he published the epic satires "Germany, a Winter's
Tale," and "Atta Troll, a Summer Night's Dream," two works which aroused
intense indignation in Germany. Much was made of the fact that Heine
accepted an annual pension of 4,800 francs from the government of Louis
Philippe. On the other hand, Heine made the terse observation that whenever
he was treated with rude discourtesy he could be sure that he had met a
German. In Paris, the poet was captivated by the charm of young Matilde
Mirat, his "lotos flower," as he called her, or also "la mouche." The
uneducated yet infinitely charming and loyal grisette was the good angel of
Heine's later years. On the eve of the famous duel with his rival poet
Börne, in 1841, Heine married Matilde at the Church of St. Sulpice.

[Sidenote: Deathbed wit]

To his sorrow the poet lived many more years suffering great agony from a
spinal complaint which confined him to his bed, or "mattress grave" as he
called it. His powers of wit and raillery never failed him, even to the
last. On the night before he died an anxious friend called to bid farewell.
He asked if the dying man had made his "peace with God." Heine replied with
a wan smile: "Do not trouble yourself. God will pardon me. That's his
trade." These were the last recorded words spoken by Heine. Another story
has it that when the physician put a handglass to the lips of the dying man
and said, "Can you hiss (siffler)?" Heine murmured, "No, not even a play of
Scribe."

[Sidenote: German romantic poets]

Among German writers of this period, Friedrich Rueckert, the lyric poet,
and Fritz Reuter, who wrote in Low German dialect, were at the height of
their activity. Emanuel Geibel presented himself as heir presumptive to the
mantle of Heine. Unlike Heine, this poet devoted his muse to the
glorification of German patriotism. He achieved such a success that he was
soon called to Munich, where he brought out the first "Golden Book of
Poets." Other German poets, such as Gottfried Kinkel, the revolutionist,
Hoffmann von Fallersleben, and Ferdinand Freiligrath, famous outside of
Germany for his happy translations of English and American verse, had to
write their poems in exile.

[Sidenote: Biela's comet]

On February 18, Wilhelm von Biela, the great German astronomer, died at
Venice. Born in 1782 at Rossla in the Hartz Mountains, he entered the
Austrian military service in 1805, and was made colonel in 1826, and
commandant of Rovigo in 1832. On February 27, 1826, he discovered the
famous comet named after him. According to Biela's prediction, the comet
returned every six years and thirty-eight weeks until 1852. Thereafter it
was not seen as a comet during the century. Biela also discovered two other
comets.

[Sidenote: Crimean peace conference]

[Sidenote: Black Sea and Danube opened]

[Sidenote: Status Quo in Balkans]

After the fall of Sebastopol, Austria made another attempt to secure peace.
Two of the Powers, France and Russia, were heartily weary of the war. Louis
Napoleon had entered the struggle merely to gain military glory and
political prestige. He had succeeded in attaining his ends. Alexander II.,
who had continued the war largely as a matter of filial piety, was ready to
seize the first opportunity to conclude peace with honor. A Congress was
therefore assembled in Paris to draw up terms satisfactory to all
concerned. On March 30, a treaty was signed which gave Kars back to the
Sultan and restored Sebastopol to the Czar. The Porte was admitted to the
Concert of Powers. Most important was the regulation of the navigation of
the Black Sea. It was decreed in the treaty that "the Black Sea is
neutralized; its waters and its ports, thrown open to the mercantile marine
of every nation, are formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of
war of the Powers possessing its coasts or of any other Power." Patrolling
of the sea by small armed vessels was permitted. The Danube was thrown open
to the commerce of the world. In order more fully to secure free navigation
of the river, the Czar's frontier in Bessarabia was somewhat changed by
the cession of certain territory to Moldavia under the suzerainty of the
Porte. Both Wallachia and Moldavia continued under the protection of
Turkey, and were permitted to enjoy their former privileges. The _status
quo_ of Servia was assured. It was further stipulated that, following the
ancient rule of the Sultans, no foreign war vessels were to pass through
the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus while Turkey was at peace. To insure the
integrity of the Ottoman Empire, England, France and Austria signed a
treaty, on April 15, guaranteeing the independence of the Sultan's
dominions and declaring that any violation of this would call for war.

[Sidenote: The Paris convention]

Besides drawing up the treaty of peace, the Congress of Paris settled
various moot points in international law. The plenipotentiaries all agreed
to the doctrines: "First, privateering is and remains abolished. Second,
the neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of
war. Third, neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not
liable to capture under an enemy's flag. Fourth, blockades in order to be
binding must be effective; that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient
really to prevent access to the enemy's coast." The United States of
America did not subscribe to this convention.

[Sidenote: Results of Crimean war]

Russia came out of the conflict defeated but respected. She had received a
check in the Black Sea and her frontier line had been readjusted. Still her
political losses were trivial. The war most deeply affected Austria. She
had played a false game and had lost. The sceptre of European leadership
slipped from her. The situation afforded to Bismarck and Cavour the
opportunity each was anxiously awaiting.

[Sidenote: Italy benefited]

Cavour had won his first point. At the Conference of Paris he took his
place as a representative of Sardinia by right of an alliance with the
other great Powers. Then it was seen that every Italian soldier who had
fallen on the Tchernaya, or who had wasted away in the fever-stricken
camps, had died indeed for the honor of Italy among the nations of the
world. At the close of the Conference Cavour made a plain statement
concerning the misgovernment of southern and central Italy and the evils of
the Austrian occupation. When Count Buol von Schauenstein protested, the
French and English representatives supported Cavour. The effect of these
representations was such that there was a sudden change in Austria's
restrictive measures hitherto inflicted upon her Italian dominions. Old
Marshal Radetzky, the man of the sword, was retired. The sequestrated
Italian estates were returned to their owners. Emperor Francis Joseph came
in person to Milan to proclaim a general amnesty. His brother Maximilian, a
prince of liberal tendencies, came with his young bride Charlotte to undo
the harsh measures of the military government. Maximilian's liberal policy
proved too much for the narrow spirit of the Ministry at home.

[Sidenote: After effects in England]

[Sidenote: Friction with America]

[Sidenote: Australian Home Rule]

One of the first results of the Crimean war was the threatened suspension
of the Bank of England. In November, it was found that the reserve funds
of the Bank had shrunk to £1,462,153, while the deposits that might at any
moment be drawn out aggregated £18,248,003. In these circumstances, a
special bill of Parliament authorized a new issue of paper notes for
£180,000 more than the law permitted. Furthermore, the war with Russia left
behind it a dispute between the governments of Great Britain and of the
United States. Under the provisions of a recent foreign enlistment bill in
England, American citizens had been induced to enter the British military
service. The American Government complained that the practice was in
violation of international law. The point was practically conceded by the
English Government, which at once put a stop to the enlistment of American
citizens and tendered an apology to the government of the United States.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that one of the attachés of the
American Legation in London at this very time was refused admission to a
diplomatic levee at the Court of St. James because he did not appear in
court dress. The British Minister at Washington received his passports. In
Australia, the first Home Rule Parliament had been opened at Sydney by Sir
William Denison. The popular elections were conducted under the famous
ballot system which was afterward adopted in other parts of the world.

[Sidenote: Singular suicidal mania]

In South Africa, the province of Natal was separated from Cape Colony, and
became an independent Crown Colony with a constitution of its own. The land
of the Basutos, no longer under British protectorate, suffered greatly from
hostile incursions and cattle raids from the Boers. During the summer the
Kaffirs fell victims to a fatal delusion. Their prophet Amaxosa foretold
the resurrection of all their dead heroes and warriors, on condition that
they themselves should put an end to their lives. In all, some 50,000
Kaffirs committed suicide. Emigrants from Cape Colony occupied the Kaffir
lands, which had become depopulated.

[Sidenote: Affair of "The Arrow"]

[Sidenote: British reprisals on China]

[Sidenote: Canton bombarded]

[Sidenote: Insufficient British forces]

In October, the Chinese Emperor, beset as he was by the victorious Taiping
rebels, was made to feel the heavy hand of Great Britain. A Portuguese
lorcha, "The Arrow," flying the British flag though without British
register, was overhauled by the Chinese authorities while at anchor near
Dutch Folly. One of her crew had been recognized as one of a band of
pirates who had committed some recent outrages. The Taotai of Canton had
the offender arrested. Sir John Bowring at Hong Kong at once protested. The
Chinese Imperial Commissioner Yeh replied that "The Arrow" was not a
foreign vessel, and therefore declined to enter into any discussion about
her. As a first step toward obtaining reparation the British seized a
Chinese imperial junk and held her in reprisal. As this failed to bring the
Chinese to terms, Sir Michael Seymour with a British squadron bombarded and
seized the barrier forts of Canton. The fleet proceeded up the river, and,
after capturing the Chinese fort of Macao Passage, came to anchor before
Canton. An ultimatum was addressed to Yeh, stating that unless he at once
complied with all English demands they would "proceed with the destruction
of all the defences and public buildings of the city and of the government
vessels in the harbor." No reply was vouchsafed. The Canton forts were
seized by the British and their men-of-war trained guns on the city. All
able-bodied Chinamen were called upon by the Viceroy of Canton to rally for
the defence of their city. The British bombarded Canton and sunk a large
fleet of Chinese war junks up the river. A fort at French Folly was
reduced, and the Bogue forts on both sides of the river were captured. The
Chinese retaliated by burning the whole foreign settlement, and by chopping
off the heads of all the Englishmen who came into their power. Sir Michael
Seymour found his force inadequate to capture Canton, and had to withdraw
from his positions while he sent home a request for reinforcements. The
urgency of the request opened the eyes of the British Foreign Secretary to
the gravity of the situation. A force of 1,500 men was at once sent from
England, another regiment from Mauritius, and a division from the Madras
army. The situation in India shortly became such that this force never
reached China.

[Sidenote: British war with Persia]

New difficulties had arisen with Persia respecting Herat. The death of Yar
Muhammad Khan in 1852 was followed by intrigues in Herat. The province
became a bone of contention between the Shah of Persia and the aged Dost
Muhammad Khan. This ruler's hostility to England during the second Sikh war
had been condoned, and a treaty of friendship concluded between him and
Lord Dalhousie. In virtue of this treaty the British sided with Dost
Muhammad. When the Shah moved an army into Herat and captured the capital,
England declared war on Persia. Arms and munitions in great quantity were
presented to Dost Muhammad, together with a subsidy of ten thousand pounds
a month so long as the Persian war should last. An expedition under Sir
James Outram was sent from Bombay to the Gulf of Persia. The capture of
Bushire by the English and their victory at Mohamrah brought the Shah of
Persia to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan. Herat was relinquished.
While the war lasted a new danger to the British Indian Empire arose at
Delhi. In July, the heir-apparent of old Bahadur Shah, the reigning King of
Delhi, suddenly died. A younger queen was believed to have poisoned him.
She persuaded Bahadur Shah to proclaim her son heir to the throne. Lord
Canning withheld Great Britain's recognition. An elder brother was
recognized as successor by Lord Canning, on condition that he should leave
Delhi upon his succession to the throne and take up his abode at Kutut. The
young Queen was moved to wild wrath. She was a daughter of the House of
Nadir Shah, burning with the traditional ambitions of her family. Forthwith
she took a part in all manner of intrigues against the English on the side
of Persia as well as of the Afghans. The remarkable outbursts of
anti-British feeling that followed have been credited to her.




1857


[Sidenote: Chinese war ships sank]

[Sidenote: Assault on Fatshan]

The reverses of the Persians brought the Shah to terms. A treaty of peace
was presently concluded in which all claim to Herat was abandoned by
Persia. Early in the year the British expedition in China resumed
hostilities. Commodore Elliot with five gunboats and a host of small boats
destroyed a fleet of forty armed junks. Next an attack was delivered on the
Chinese headquarters at Fatshan. A flotilla of English small boats cut
their way through the long line of war junks, and a landing party under
Commodore Harry Keppel attacked the main position. The Commodore's boat was
sunk and several others had to be abandoned. A number of the Chinese junks
were burned. Keppel's force was found too small to capture Fatshan. Sir
Michael Seymour decided to postpone further hostilities until the arrival
of the promised reinforcements that were to come after Lord Elgin. When
these troops failed to arrive in good time, Lord Elgin went to Calcutta
himself to hasten their despatch. There he found affairs of far more
serious import than those in China.

[Sidenote: Murmurs in India]

[Sidenote: The greased cartridges]

Some time previously rumors had been circulated concerning a danger to
British rule in India. Mysterious little cakes were circulated far and
wide. Lord Canning, the new Governor-General, was blamed for not taking
alarm. A dangerous story got abroad early in the year. The Enfield rifle
had been introduced. Its cartridges were greased with animal lubricants.
The fat of pigs was hateful to Mohammedans, while that of cows was still
more of an abomination in the eyes of the Hindus. At Barrackpore, near
Calcutta, where Sepoys were stationed, a Laskar reviled a Brahmin as
defiled by the British cartridges. The whole of the Bengal army was seized
with horror. The British authorities claimed that none of the greased
cartridges had been issued to the Sepoys. The story of the greased
cartridges ran up the Ganges to Benares, Delhi and Meerut. It was soon
noised abroad that the bones of cows and pigs had been ground to powder and
thrown into wells with flour and butter in order to destroy the caste of
the Hindus so as to convert them to Christianity.

[Sidenote: Hindu soldiers demur]

In March, incendiary fires broke out at Barrackpore. The Sepoys from the
Nineteenth Regiment refused to receive the cartridges dealt out to them.
There was only one white regiment in the 400 miles between Barrackpore and
Patna. After remonstrances had been made by the English officers, the
Sepoys returned, but there still remained disaffection at Benares, Lucknow,
Agra and other places. When it was believed that the excitement was allayed
another outbreak occurred at Lucknow. Lawrence's energetic measures
maintained order in Oude. The mutiny was only scattered, however. Within a
week Meerut, thirty-eight miles northeast of Delhi, and the largest
cantonment in India, was in a blaze. The story of the greased cartridges
had been capped by that of the bone dust. Some eighty-five of a regiment of
Sepoy cavalry refused to take the cartridges and were marched off to the
guard-house. During the afternoon of the following Sunday, when the
European officers were preparing for church, the imprisoned Sepoys were
liberated with others. They shot down every European they met.

[Sidenote: The Indian mutiny]

The mutiny became a revolt. The rebellious Sepoys marched on Delhi. When
the rebel troops came up from Meerut the English officers prepared to meet
them. Their Sepoys joined the mutineers. The revolt spread throughout
Delhi. In despair, Willoughby blew up the fort with 1,500 rebels who were
assaulting it. Only four of his command escaped. Willoughby himself died
six weeks afterward, while India and Europe were ringing with his name.
Fifty Englishmen whom the rebels had captured were butchered in cold blood.
Delhi on Monday evening was in rebel hands. The remaining officers on the
Ridge fled for their lives. Their subsequent suffering was one of the
harrowing features of the great convulsion. The revolution at Delhi opened
Lord Canning's eyes. He telegraphed for regiments from Bombay, Burma,
Madras and Ceylon.

[Sidenote: Lahore mutineers foiled]

On May 11, the news of the outbreak at Meerut was brought to the
authorities at Lahore. Meean Meer is a large military cantonment five or
six miles from Lahore, and there were then some four thousand native troops
there, with only about thirteen hundred Europeans of the Queen's and the
Company's service. There was no time to be lost. A parade was ordered on
the morrow at Meean Meer. On the parade-ground an order was given for a
military movement which brought the heads of four columns of the native
troops in front of twelve guns charged with grape, the artillerymen with
their port-fires lighted, and the soldiers of one of the Queen's regiments
standing behind with loaded muskets. A command was given to the Sepoys to
stack arms. Cowed, they piled their arms, which were borne away at once in
carts by the European soldiers. All chances of a rebellious movement were
over for the moment in the Punjab.

[Sidenote: Situation at Lucknow]

[Sidenote: Massacre of Jhansi]

At three stations--Lucknow, Jhansi and Cawnpore--the mutiny was of
political importance. The city of Lucknow, the capital of Oude, extended
four miles along the right bank of the river Goomti. The British Residency
and other principal buildings were between the city and the river. The
Residency was a walled inclosure, and near it stood a castellated
structure, the Muchi Bowun. Since the affair of May 3, Sir Henry Lawrence
had been making preparations for a defence in case of insurrection. The
native force consisted of three regiments of infantry and one of cavalry,
all Sepoys, and there was a European force of 570 men with sixty
artillerymen. Lawrence brought all the European non-combatants within the
Residency walls, and established a strong post between the Residency and
the Muchi Bowun to command the two bridges which led to the cantonments.
The outbreak began on May 30, when the insurgents rushed to the bridges,
and, being repulsed by Lawrence, made off to Delhi. At Jhansi, the garrison
of fifty-five men was butchered in cold blood.

[Sidenote: Defence of Cawnpore]

[Sidenote: Massacre of Cawnpore]

[Sidenote: Englishwomen spared]

At Cawnpore, on the Ganges, fifty-five miles southwest of Lucknow, the
tragedy was even more terrible. Cawnpore had been in the possession of the
English for more than fifty years. In May, sixty-one artillerymen and four
Sepoy regiments were there. Sir Hugh Wheeler, the commandant, prepared for
the coming storm. He took some old barracks and there quartered the white
women, children and invalids. He accepted from the Nana, who professed
great friendship, 200 Mahrattas and two guns. On the night of June 4, the
Sepoy regiment at Cawnpore broke out in mutiny. The Nana overtook them on
the road to Delhi and soon returned with them to Cawnpore. Sir Hugh was
taken by surprise on the morning of the 6th, when he received a message
from the Nana, announcing that his men were about to attack the Englishmen.
Sir Hugh prepared for the defence of the barracks. The mutineers first
rifled the city and cantonment, and murdered all the English who came in
their way. At noon they opened fire on the intrenchments. From the 6th to
the 25th of June, the inmates struggled against fearful odds. Though
starving, they resisted successfully. On June 25, Wheeler received a
proposal that safe passage would be given to Allahabad to those who were
willing to lay down their arms. An armistice was proclaimed, and next
morning terms were negotiated. The English were to capitulate and march
out with their arms and sixty rounds of ammunition for each man, to the
river a mile away, where boats would be furnished for all. The next morning
they marched down to the boats--the men on foot, the wounded and
non-combatants on elephants and bullocks. They were all huddled together on
board the boats. Suddenly, at the sound of a bugle, a murderous fire was
opened on them. The women and children, one hundred and twenty-five in
number, were hurried off to prison, and the men were ordered to immediate
execution. All was soon over. Nana was proclaimed Peishwa. English
reinforcements were coming from Allahabad. Nana hastened back to Cawnpore.
There, within a few days, more than two hundred English were taken
prisoners. The men were all butchered, and eighty women and children were
sent to join those in a house near the Nana. Great excitement prevailed in
England, where it was believed that these women were subjected to all
manner of outrage and made to long for death as an escape from shame. As a
matter of fact the royal widows of the Nana's adoptive father did their
utmost to protect the captive Englishwomen. They threatened to throw
themselves and their children from the palace windows should any harm
befall the English ladies. Thanks to them no worse indignity than the
compulsory grinding of corn was inflicted on the white women. Meanwhile,
Colonel Mill was pushing up from Calcutta. In July, he was joined at
Allahabad by a column under General Havelock.

[Sidenote: Havelock to the relief]

[Sidenote: Englishwomen slaughtered]

[Sidenote: Capture of Cawnpore]

In July, Havelock left Allahabad for Cawnpore with 2,000 men, Europeans and
Sikhs. He burned to avenge the massacre of Cawnpore. On the 12th and 15th
of July he inflicted three defeats on the enemy. When within twenty miles
of Cawnpore, having halted for the night, he heard that the women and
children at Cawnpore were still alive, and that the Nana had taken the
field to oppose him. He broke camp and marched fifteen miles that night. In
the meantime, the crowning atrocity was committed at Cawnpore. The defeated
rebels had returned to the Nana. On receiving the tidings of their repulse,
he ordered the slaughter of the 200 women and children. They were hacked to
death with swords, bayonets, knives and axes. Their remains were thrown
into a well. At 2 p.m. Havelock toiled on with a thousand Europeans and
three hundred Sikhs, and without cavalry and artillery, to meet the 5,000
rebels. Failing to silence the enemy's batteries, Havelock ordered a
bayonet charge. Nana Sahib with his followers took flight. He was never
heard from again. The next morning Havelock marched into the station at
Cawnpore, and there found the well filled with mangled human remains. On
July 20, having been reinforced by General Neill, whom he left in charge at
Cawnpore, Havelock set out for the relief of Lucknow.

[Sidenote: The defence of Lucknow]

[Sidenote: Havelock captures Bethan]

The entire province of Oude was in a state of insurrection. The English had
been closely besieged in Lucknow since the last day of May. The garrison
had held out for two months against fifty thousand Hindus. On July 4, Sir
Henry Lawrence was killed by a shell which burst in his room. Two weeks
later, the rebels, learning of the advance of Havelock to Cawnpore,
attacked the Residency with overwhelming force, but the garrison at last
compelled them to retire. By the middle of August, Havelock advanced toward
Bethan with 1,500 men. He met the enemy in force, and overcame him with a
bayonet charge. The Mahratta palace was burned. This ended Havelock's first
campaign against Lucknow. Without cavalry for the pursuit of the enemy, he
fell back to Cawnpore.

During the months which followed the outbreak at Delhi, all political
interest was centred in that ancient capital of Hindustan. Its recapture
was vital to the re-establishment of British sovereignty. In the absence of
railways the British were slow to cope with the situation. Every European
soldier sent for the relief of Delhi from Calcutta was stopped en route. On
June 8, a month after the affair at Delhi, Sir Henry Barnard took the field
at Alipano, ten miles away. He defeated the mutineers, and then marched to
the Ridge and reoccupied the old cantonment, which had been abandoned.

[Sidenote: Defence of Delhi]

[Sidenote: Delhi recaptured]

On June 23, the enemy made a desperate assault, and not long afterward
repeated the attempt. Reinforcements came from the Punjab. The British now
had 8,000 men. With their fifty-four guns they could shell the besiegers.
At last, at 3 a.m. on September 14, three columns were formed for a sortie,
with one in reserve. They rushed through the broken walls, and the first
and second columns met at the Kabul Gate. Six days of desperate fighting
followed. On September 20, the gates of the old fortified palace were
broken open, but the inmates had fled. Thus fell the imperial city. The
British army lost 4,000 men, among them Brigadier-General Nicholson, who
led the storming party. The great mutiny at Delhi was stamped out, and the
British flag waved over the capital of Hindustan. This was the turning
point of the Sepoy mutiny.

[Sidenote: British vengeance]

[Sidenote: Delhi princes murdered]

The capture of Delhi was followed by acts of barbarous retribution. Hindu
prisoners were shot from the mouths of cannon. Hodson, of "Hodson's Horse,"
a young officer who had once been cashiered for high-handed conduct in
India, offered to General Wilson to capture the king and the royal family
of Delhi. General Wilson gave him authority to make the attempt, but
stipulated that the life of the king should be spared. By the help of
native spies Hodson discovered that when Delhi was taken the king and his
family had taken refuge in the tomb of the Emperor Hoomayoon. Hodson went
boldly to this place with a few of his troopers. He found that the royal
family of Delhi were surrounded there by a vast crowd of armed adherents.
He called upon them all to lay down their arms at once. They threw down
their arms, and the king surrendered himself to Hodson. Next day the three
royal princes of Delhi were captured. Hodson borrowed a carbine from one of
his troopers and shot the three princes dead. Their corpses, half naked,
were exposed for some days at one of the gates of Delhi. Hodson committed
the deed deliberately. Several days before, he wrote to a friend to say
that if he got into the palace of Delhi, "the House of Timour will not be
worth five minutes' purchase, I ween." On the day after the deed he wrote:
"In twenty-four hours I disposed of the principal members of the House of
Timour the Tartar. I am not cruel; but I confess that I do rejoice in the
opportunity of ridding the earth of these ruffians."

[Sidenote: The Princess of Jhansi]

[Sidenote: An Amazon's death]

The mutineers had seized Gwalior, the capital of the Maharajah Scindia, who
escaped to Agra. The English had to attack the rebels, retake Gwalior and
restore Scindia. One of those who fought to the last on the mutineers' side
was the Ranee, or Princess of Jhansi, whose territory had been one of the
British annexations. She had flung all her energies into the rebellion. She
took the field with Nana Sahib and Tantia Topi. For months after the fall
of Delhi she contrived to baffle Sir Hugh Rose and the English. She led
squadrons in the field. She fought with her own hand. She was foremost in
the battle for the possession of Gwalior. In the garb of a horseman she led
charge after charge, and she was killed among those who resisted to the
last. Her body was found upon the field, scarred with wounds enough to have
done credit to any hero. Sir Hugh Rose paid her a well-deserved tribute
when he wrote: "The best man upon the side of the enemy was the woman found
dead, the Ranee of Jhansi."

[Sidenote: Relief of Lucknow]

Lucknow was still beleaguered. Late in September, Havelock had prepared for
a second attempt to relieve that place. Sir Colin Campbell had reached
Calcutta as Commander-in-Chief. Sir James Outram had come to Allahabad on
September 16. He joined Havelock with 1,400 men. With generous chivalry the
"Bayard of India" waived his rank in honor of Havelock. "To you shall be
left the glory of relieving Lucknow," he wrote. "I shall accompany you,
placing my military service at your disposal, as a volunteer." On September
20, Havelock crossed the Granges into Oude with 2,500 men. Having twice
defeated the enemy, on September 25 he cut his way through the streets of
Lucknow. Late in the day he entered the British cantonments. The defence of
the Residency at Lucknow was a glorious episode in British annals. It has
been sung in immortal strains by Alfred Tennyson. The fortitude of the
garrison was surpassed only by the self-sacrificing conduct of the women
who nursed the wounded and cared for all. They received the thanks of Queen
Victoria for their heroic devotion. For four months the garrison had
watched for the succor which came at last. The surrounding city remained
for two months longer in rebel hands. In November, Sir Colin Campbell with
2,000 men took charge of the intrenchments at Cawnpore, and then advanced
against Lucknow with 5,000 men and thirty guns. He defeated the enemy and
carried away the beleaguered garrison with all the women and children.

[Sidenote: Cawnpore rises again]

[Sidenote: Death of Havelock]

Still the British were unable to disperse the rebels and reoccupy the city.
Sir Colin Campbell left Outram with 4,000 men near Lucknow. He himself
returned to Cawnpore. On approaching that city he heard the roll of a
distant cannonade. Tantia Topi had come again to the front. He had
persuaded the Gwalior contingent to break out in mutiny and march against
Cawnpore. General Windham resisted his advance. The whole city was in the
hands of the rebel Sepoys, but the bridge of boats over the Ganges was
saved to the British. Sir Colin Campbell marched over it, and in safety
reached the intrenchment in which Windham was shut up. He routed the
Gwalior rebels and drove them out of Cawnpore. General Havelock the day
after he left Lucknow succumbed to dysentery. Throughout the British Empire
there was universal sorrow that will never be forgotten so long as men
recall the memory of the mutinies of Fifty-seven. Havelock's victories had
aroused the drooping spirits of the British nation.

[Sidenote: Aftermath of the Mutiny]

[Sidenote: Rose's brilliant campaign]

[Sidenote: King of Delhi transported]

The subsequent history of the Sepoy revolt is largely a recital of military
operations for the dispossession of the rebels and the restoration of
British supremacy. Sir Colin Campbell, now Lord Clyde, undertook a general
and successful campaign against the rebels of Oude and Rohlikund, and Sir
James Outram drove them out of Lucknow, and re-established British
sovereignty in the capital of Oude. At the same time a column under Sir
Hugh Rose and another under General Whitlock did a similar work in Central
India and Bundelkund. Rose's campaign was peculiarly difficult. It was
carried out amid the jungles and ravines of the Vindhya Mountains, and in
the secluded regions of Bundelkund. He fought battles against baffling
odds, and captured the stronghold of Jhansi. He then marched against Tantia
Topi, who had an army of 40,000 near Kalpi, which he routed and scattered.
Having brought his campaign to a close, he congratulated his troops on
having marched a thousand miles, defeated and dispersed the enemy, and
captured a hundred guns. The old King of Delhi was put on trial, convicted
and sentenced to transportation. He was sent to the Cape of Good Hope, but
the colonists there refused to receive him. The last of the line of the
Great Moguls of India had to go begging for a prison.

Toward the close of the year, when the Indian mutiny appeared to have spent
its force, Lord Elgin returned from Calcutta to Hong Kong. In the meanwhile
the English, French and American Governments had exchanged notes on the
subject of Chinese outrages against Christians. Louis Napoleon was found to
be in hearty accord with England's desire to make an example of China.
Baron Gros was sent to China charged with a mission similar to that of Lord
Elgin. The United States declined to join in active measures against China.

[Sidenote: Buchanan, American President]

In the United States of America, James Buchanan had become President at
sixty-six years of age. He had served as a member of Congress from 1821 to
1831; then as Minister to Russia from 1832 to 1834; United States Senator
from 1834 to 1845; Secretary of State under Polk from 1845 to 1849, and
Minister to Great Britain from 1853 to 1856.

[Sidenote: Dred Scott case]

Buchanan's first message repeated the assurance that the discussion of
slavery had come to an end. The clergy were found fault with for fomenting
the disturbances. The President declared in favor of the admission of
Kansas with a Constitution agreeable to the majority of the settlers. He
also referred to an impending decision of the Supreme Court with which he
had been acquainted and asked acquiescence in it. This was Judge Taney's
decision in the Dred Scott case, rendered two days after Buchanan's
inauguration. An action had been begun in the Circuit Court in Missouri by
Scott, a negro, for the freedom of himself and children. He claimed that he
had been removed by his master in 1834 to Illinois, a free State, and
afterward taken into territory north of the compromise line. Sanford, his
master, replied that Scott was not a citizen of Missouri, and could not
bring an action, and that he and his children were Sanford's slaves. The
lower courts differed, and the case was twice argued.

[Sidenote: The decision]

The decision nullified the Missouri restriction, or, indeed, any
restriction by Congress on slavery in the Territories. Chief-Justice Taney
said: "The question is whether that class of persons (negroes) compose a
portion of the people, and are constituent members of this sovereignty. We
think they are not included under the word citizen in the Constitution, and
can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges" of that instrument.
"They were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class who
had been subjugated by the dominant race--and had no rights or privileges
but such as those who held the power and the government might choose to
grant them. They had for more than a century been regarded as beings of an
inferior grade--and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white
man is bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be
reduced to slavery for his (the white man's) benefit. The negro race by
common consent had been excluded from civilized governments and the family
of nations and doomed to slavery. The unhappy black race were separated
from the whites by indelible marks long before established, and were never
thought of or spoken of except as property." The Chief-Justice nullified
the Missouri restriction, by asserting that "the act of Congress, which
prohibited a citizen from holding property of this kind north of the line
therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution, and is therefore
void." This made slavery the organic law of the land. Benton said that it
was "no longer the exception with freedom the rule, but slavery the rule,
with freedom the exception."

[Sidenote: Financial distress]

[Sidenote: Trouble with Mormons]

It was a year of financial distress in America, which recalled the hard
times of twenty years before. The United States Treasury was empty. There
had been a too rapid building of railway lines in comparatively undeveloped
regions where they could not pay expenses for years to come. Settlers did
not come so quickly as was expected, and a fall in railway shares resulted.
There was great loss, yet the country suffered less than in 1837. During
the summer the Mormons in Utah gave new trouble. Brigham Young, after Utah
was excluded from the Union, destroyed the records of the United States
courts, and practically drove Federal judges from their seats and other
officials from the Territory. The Mormons now numbered 40,000 members, and
felt strong enough to defy the government.

[Sidenote: Massacre of Mount Meadow]

In September, the Indians, believed to have been instigated by the Mormons,
massacred an immigrant train of 120 persons at Mountain Meadow in Utah.
Alfred Cumming, Superintendent of Indian Affairs on the upper Missouri,
displaced Young as Governor of Utah. Judge Eckles of Indiana was appointed
Chief-Justice of the Territory. A force of 2,500 men under Colonel A.S.
Johnston was sent to Utah to suppress interference with the laws of the
United States. On the arrival of the Federal troops in the autumn, they
were attacked, on October 6, by the Mormons, their supply trains were
destroyed, and their oxen driven off. Colonel Johnston was compelled to
find winter quarters at Fort Bridger.

Early in the year a Legislature had met at Topeka, Kansas, and was
immediately dissolved by the United States marshals. A Territorial
Legislature also met at Lecompton and provided for a State Constitution.
The people of Kansas utterly refused to recognize the Legislature chosen by
the Missouri invaders, and both parties continued to hold their elections.

[Sidenote: Quintana]

Manuel José de Quintana, the Spanish playwright and patriotic poet, died on
March 11, at Madrid. He was one of the many Spanish writers whose first
poetic inspirations were derived from the stirring incidents of the
Peninsular War. On the return of King Ferdinand VII., Quintana had to
expiate his liberal sentiments by a term of six years in the prison of
Pampeluna. The revolution of 1820 brought about his release, but three
years later he was banished again from Madrid. An ode on King Ferdinand's
marriage restored him to royal favor. He was appointed tutor to the Infanta
Isabella, and in 1833 was made Minister of Public Instruction. Two years
before his death Queen Isabella publicly crowned the poet with a wreath of
laurel in the hall of the Cortes. It was a well-merited honor, for the
poet's patriotic odes and ringing lyrics long before this had taken rank
among the finest productions of the modern literature of Spain.

[Sidenote: Jules Breton]

Jules Breton, the famous French pupil of Drolling and of Devigne, exhibited
this year at Paris one of his greatest works, "La Bénédiction des Blés." It
was of this picture that Hamerton, the author of "Painting in France,"
wrote: "It is technically a work of singular importance in modern art for
its almost perfect interpretation of sunshine."

[Sidenote: Alfred de Musset]

[Sidenote: Relations with Georges Sand]

[Sidenote: "Rolla" and "Les Nuits"]

Alfred de Musset, the French lyric poet, died on May 1, in Paris. Born in
1810, the scion of an old aristocratic family, he was brought up with the
Duke of Orleans. They remained intimate friends until the Duke's death in
1842. In his eighteenth year De Musset took rank among the romantic writers
of Paris by his first volume of poems--"Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie."
During the next two years De Musset published another volume of poems and
the collection "Un Spectacle dans un Fauteuil," and followed this up with
several essays in dramatic verse, published under the title "Comédies
Injouables." In 1833, De Musset went to Italy together with Georges Sand,
but in Venice the lovers quarrelled and separated. The character of Stenio
in Georges Sand's novel "Lelia" was recognized as a personification of De
Musset. Alfred de Musset himself drew on these experiences for his novel
"Confessions d'un Enfant du Siècle," published upon his return from Italy
in 1836. Georges Sand, stung by De Musset's allegations concerning her,
gave her version of their relations in the famous book "Elle et Lui,"
whereupon De Musset's brother Paul published an even less lovely version of
the affair, in his book "Lui et Elle." During the succeeding year De Musset
became one of the foremost contributors to the "Revue des Deux Mondes." In
its pages appeared most of his "Comédies et Proverbes," and the lyric
pieces of "Rolla" and "Les Nuits." Among his prose tales of this period
were "Emmeline," "Les deux Maitresses," "Frédéric et Bernerette," and "Le
Fils du Titien." Having lost part of his income, the poet was made
librarian of the Ministry of the Interior at the instance of the Duke of
Orleans, and as such received an ample pension. After the revolution of
1848 he was deprived of this stipend. Louis Napoleon, on his coronation as
Emperor, restored Alfred de Musset to office and had him elected to the
French Academy. During his last years the poet wrote but little verse.

[Sidenote: De Musset's pessimism]

[Sidenote: "Rappelle-toi"]

As a lyric poet, Alfred de Musset claims foremost rank among the modern
writers of France. His verse, like that of his contemporaries, Byron,
Lermontov, Leopardi, Lenau and Heine, is tinged with sadness and pessimism.
Like them, too, he excels in the mastery of the subtile beauties of his
native tongue. Characteristic of the spirit of his verse, if not of its
outward form, are these lines, translated from his beautiful lyric
"Rappelle-toi!"

  Recall our love when the shy dawn unfoldeth
  The enchanted radiance of the morning sun--
  Recall our love when darkling night beholdeth
  Veiled trains of silvery stars pass one by one,
  When wild thy bosom palpitates with pleasure,
  Or when the shades of night lull thee in dreamy measure;
  Then lend a willing ear
  To murmurings far and near:
  Recall our love!

  Recall our love when fate hath separated
  Thy heart and mine, estranged for evermore--
  When by the grief of exile ever mated
  The soul is crushed that soared so high before--
  Remember our sad love, remember how we parted--
  Time, absence, grief, are naught for love full-hearted,
  So long as fond hearts beat,
  They ever must repeat:
  Recall our love!

  Recall our love when under earth reposes
  This heart at last lulled in eternal sleep--
  Recall our love when on my grave dark roses
  In solitude their tender petals weep.
  You will not see me more, but in immortal anguish
  My stricken soul will ever near you languish;
  Under the midnight sky
  A spirit voice will sigh,
  Recall our love!

[Sidenote: "Les Fleurs de Mal"]

[Sidenote: Baudelaire's Litany]

During this same year in France the pessimism of Alfred de Musset was
outdone by Baudelaire's famous collection of poems "Les Fleurs de Mal."
Baudelaire, as a poet, took a unique place in French literature. Following
in the footsteps of Victor Hugo, and the American, Poe--whose works he was
the first to translate into French--he outdid both these masters of the
grotesque in bizarre creations. He was the founder of diabolism in French
letters. As Sainte-Beuve wrote of Baudelaire: "S'est pris l'enfer et s'est
fait diable." The lucubrations of the so-called Satanic School of Byron,
Shelley and Hugo were surpassed by Baudelaire's rapt worship of evil as the
great power of the world. Take his famous Litany to Satan:

  O thou the wisest and most beautiful of cherubim,
  A god betrayed by fate and reft of worshipping,
  O Satan, have pity on my endless woe!

  Thou, who dost save the bones of the old sot
  That reels 'twixt prancing steeds and heeds them not,
  O Satan, have pity on my endless woe!

  Adopted father of those whom in his rage on high
  The God of Vengeance banished from his paradise,
  O Satan, have pity on my endless woe!

Baudelaire's worship of evil was genuine, since he cared nothing for any
virtue save the crowning virtue of artistic excellence. From beginning to
end his "Fleurs de Mal" may be said to have blossomed in defiance of all
that the world has accepted as virtuous. Baudelaire's unusual sense of the
grotesque is believed to have been fostered by his early voyages in the Far
East.

[Sidenote: Czerny]

Carl Czerny, the eminent pianist and teacher, died on July 15, at the age
of sixty-six, at his birthplace, Vienna. Czerny while a boy showed rare
talent for music. He received encouragement from such men as Beethoven,
Clementi and Hummel, and began his career as a teacher at sixteen. An early
concert tour in 1804 had to be given up on account of the wars. The rest of
his life was spent in Vienna, where he became one of the most influential
teachers. In all he published over a thousand compositions, the most
lasting of which were his pedagogic piano studies. As a musical writer he
gained recognition by a work on the history of music.

[Sidenote: Death of Béranger]

[Sidenote: The poet's early career]

[Sidenote: Napoleonic songs]

[Sidenote: Béranger in prison]

On the day following Czerny's death, Jean Pierre Béranger, the great French
song writer, died at Paris. He was seventy-seven years old. Little cared
for by his father, he was brought up by his grandfather, a tailor, who let
him roam the streets as a gamin. At the age of nine he was sent to act as a
tavern boy for his aunt, who kept a small inn near Peronne in Picardy. In
his fourteenth year he was apprenticed to a printer, and learned the first
principles of versification while setting up the poems of André Chenier. On
his own behalf he soon printed a small volume of songs entitled "A Garland
of Roses." In 1798, he returned to Paris, and was reclaimed by his father.
For more than a year he had no settled occupation, during which time he
composed some of his best songs. At the outset of the Nineteenth Century,
Béranger definitely determined to follow the career of letters. He wrote a
comedy, but failing to get it accepted threw it into the fire. Collecting
all his poems he sent them to Lucien Bonaparte, the enlightened brother of
the First Consul. Prince Lucien took the young poet under his patronage,
but, unfortunately for Béranger, soon had to leave France, an exile. On
his arrival at Rome, Lucien Bonaparte transmitted to Béranger the salary
coming to him as a member of the Institute. As a song writer Béranger made
the most of his opportunities. In 1809, he was appointed Secretary of the
University of France, an office which he held throughout the Napoleonic
era. In 1813, he became a member of the Jolly Topers of the Caveau, then
the resort of the most distinguished literary men of Paris. On the fall of
Napoleon, Béranger took it upon himself to sing the glory of the fallen
empire in elegiac strains. A severe reprimand was administered to him by
the government. His second series of Napoleonic songs, published in 1821,
cost him his place and three months' confinement in the prison of St.
Pelagie, while his third (1828) subjected him to nine months' imprisonment
in La Force and a fine of ten thousand francs. The fine was paid by his
admirers, and the prison in which he was incarcerated became the gathering
place of the most celebrated literary men of the day. The songs which he
composed during this period helped to bring about the revolution of 1830.
Béranger now retired to Passy, then to Fontainebleau, and finally to Tours,
where he completed what he called his "Mémoires Chantantes" by the
publication of a fourth volume of songs. After the revolution of 1848 he
was elected to the Constituent Assembly, but soon resigned that post. His
declining years were spent at Passy.

[Sidenote: Death of Comte]

Isidore Auguste Comte, the metaphysical writer and founder of modern
positive philosophy, died on September 5, at Paris. He was born at
Montpellier in 1798, and became acquainted in his early manhood with
Saint-Simon. Failing to agree with Saint-Simon's doctrines, Comte began to
lecture on his own system of philosophy as early as 1826. In 1849, he gave
readings on the "History of Humanity." After the _coup d'état_, however,
the government of Louis Napoleon prohibited the continuance of his
readings. Comte's teachings are a combination of empiricism and socialism.
The first of his numerous works was published in 1822--"Plan of Scientific
Work Necessary for Reorganizing Society." Comte's most important work, "A
Course of Positive Philosophy," was published in six volumes, 1830-1842.
During the period of his religious enthusiasm Comte published his "System
of Positive Politics, or a Treatise of Sociology." This was followed by his
"Positivistic Catechism," "An Appeal to Conservators," and "Subjective
Synthesis." In England and America, Comte's works found many illustrious
interpreters, and congregations adhering to the "Positivistic Ritual" were
formed at several places in England. Among his most fervent adherents were
Miss Martineau, R. Congreve, Stuart Mill, Buckle, Lewes, Bridges, Tyler,
and the American, Carey. Positivism also found some noted exponents in
Italy and Germany.





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