Part 11

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 Malmoe 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, Duesseldorf 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 Piraeus]

[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 Piraeus. 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 Honore 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 "Moliere," 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 Comedie 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 Egalite, 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 Leonard, 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 demolir." 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 Olmuetz. Without awaiting Austria's reply he posted thither. In a treaty signed at Olmuetz 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 "Tannhaeuser." 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 defroquee." 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 _succes 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 Olmuetz 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 L180,000. 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 Jose 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 L73,000, 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 Francois 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 chateau 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 Massena. 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 Bluecher 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 Coruna 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'Etat]

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 Elysees. 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 Lamorciere, 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 Elysee, 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 Elysee, 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'etat_ were received with equanimity. Pope Pius IX. went to a review held by General Gemeau 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]