Part 5

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 Perier, 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 In July, the last Austrian forces were withdrawn from the Papal States.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 Perier, 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 Perier 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 _Vermae_ 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 College 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 Moliere.

[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 L117,000. 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 Chateau Plassac, in the Vendee, 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 Chateau 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 Zweibruecken, 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 Goettingen. Among those who witnessed it was young Bismarck, who had already achieved a reputation as a duellist among the students of Goettingen. 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 Muenchengraetz, 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 "Eugenie Grandet" and Prosper Merimee'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, Chalons, 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]