Qfornell Ilntticr0itg SItbrarg 3tl|aRi, S?rat ^ork CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 Date Due \?<^ \m \ x^ ni m 3 1924 024 256 947 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024256947 HISTOHY OF EUROPE PRIMTED BY n-Il.r.MM BLArKITOOD AND EONS, EDrNniPGH. HISTOEY OF EUEOPE FALL OF NAPOLEON IN MDCCCXV ACCESSION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON IN MDCCCLII SIR AECHIBALD ALISON, BART. Author of tiho " History of Europe from the aommenccinont of tlie French Revolution, in 1789, to the Battle of Waterloo," Ao. d:a. VOL. IL WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON :- MDCCCLTII OOUN^jJt s work notifies that he reserves the right of translalivg it. t^qfi i i s,^ fffffffffi The Authm- 0/ this t CONTEirS Relating to China and the Chinese Wall cf China mentioned 123, 392 Exiles near frontiers cf China 251 Restricted state of trade 444 CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER VII. SPAIN AND ITALY FROM THE PEACE OB" 1814 TO THE EEVOLUTION Or 1820. § Page 1. Analogy of the early history of Spain and England, ... 1 2. The colonies were not a source of weakness to Spain, ... 2 3. Colonies are always a benefit to the parent state, ... 3 i. Support which colonies afford to the mother country, . . . ib. 5. What the colonial policy of the parent state should be, . . 4 6. Inevitable loss to the parent state from the separatioii of the colonies, 5 7. Tyrannical rule of old Spain over her colonies, ... 7 8. The trade of Spain was all with foreign manufactures, ... 8 9. Want of industry in the national character, . . . .9 10. The physical circumstances of Spain favoured commerce, but not manufac- tures, ........ 10 11. Effect of the long-continued hostility with the Moors, . . 11 12. Impolitic laws of Spain in regard to money, . . . . 12 13. Important effect of the Romish faith, . . . . . 13 14. Difference of the towns and country in respect of political opinion, . 14 15. Disposition of the army, . . . . . . 16 16. The church, ........ 16 17. State of the peasantry, . . . . '. . . 17 18. State of the nobility, ....... 19 19. Huge gap in the revenue from the loss of the South American colonies, 20 20. Constitution of 1812 : how it was formed, .... 21 21. Its extreme democratic tendency, ..... 22 22. Utter unsuitableness of the constitution to the generality of Spain, . 23 23. Universal unpopularity of the Cortes and constitution, . . 24 24. Influence of the Cortes on South America, .... 25 26. Situation of Portugal: effect of the. removal of the seat of government to Rio Janeiro, . . . . . . . 27 26. Its general adoption of English habits and ideas, . . . ib. 27. Character of Ferdinand VII., ...... 28 28. Ferdinand's arrival in Spain, and treatment by the Cortes, . . 29 29. Universal unpopularity of the Cortes, ..... 30 30. Decree of Valencia, ....... 31 VOL. II. " vi CONTENTS OF CHAP. VII. g Page 31. King's declaration in favour of freedom, and promise to convoke a legal Cortes, ... 32 32. Universal transports in Spain at this decree, and the king's return to Madrid, ^^ 33. Reflections on this event, and the obvious courses which lay open to the Hng .. ■ \\ 34. Ferdinand's despotic measures. Re- establishment of the Inquisition, 6b 35. Discontent in various quarters, . . . ■ ■ 36. Revolt of Mina in Navarre, ....•• °' ST. Fresh arbitrary decree of Ferdinand, . . . • • ^8 38. Further violent proceedings of the king, and Porlier's revolt, . . 39 39. Its failure, and his death, ...••• '°- 40. Invasion of France, and retreat of the Spaniards. Fresh tyrannical acts of the king, ■10 41. Change of ministers, and policy at Madrid, . . • • *2 42. Restoration of the Jesuits, and other despotic measures, . . 43 43. Double marriages of the royal families of Spain and Portugal, . 44 44. Creation of the kingdom of Brazil, . . . ■ • ^5 45. Insurrection in Valencia, .....■»''• 46. Abortive conspiracy in Barcelona, and death of General Lacy, . 46 47. Papal bull regarding the contribution by the Spanish church, . 47 48. Treaty regarding the Queen of Etruria, ....*. 49. Treaty for the limitation of the slave-trade, .... 48 50. Miserable state of Spain : its army and navy, .... 49 61. Extreme penury of the finances of Spain. Decree, April 3, 1818, . SO 52. Death of Queen Maria Isabella of Spain, .... 51 63. Disastrous fate of the first expedition to Lima, . . . ib. 64. Fresh revolt at Valencia, vphich is suppressed, .... 62 55. Causes of the revolt in the Isle of Leon, . . . . ib. 56. Efforts of the Cadiz Liberals to promote it, . . . . 53 57. Insurrection at Cadiz, ....... 54 68. The conspiracy is at first arrested by d'Abisbal, ... 65 69. D'Abisbal is deprived of the command of the expedition, . . 66 60. Additional measures of severity on the part of the Government, , ib. 61. Yellow fever at Cadiz, ....... 67 62. Sale of Florida to the Americans, ..... 58 63. Marriage of the king,* ....... 69 64. Revolution attempted by Riego, ..... 60 65. Vigorous measures adopted against the insurgents, . . . 61 66. Capture of the arsenal, and expedition of Riego into the interior, . 62 67. Its defeat and failure, ....... 63 68. Perilous position of Quiroga in the Isle of Leon, . . . ib. 69. Insurrection at Corunna, and in Navarre, . . . . 64 70. Revolution at Madrid : the king accepts the constitution, . 65 71. Reflections on this revolution, ...... 67 72. Rapid advances of the revolution, ..... 68 73. Reception of the revolution at Barcelona, Valencia, and Cadiz, , ib. 74. Massacre at Cadiz, ....... 69 76. New ministry at Madrid, ...... 70 76. First measures of the new government, . . . . -71 77. Establishment of clubs in Madrid, and other revolutionaiy measures, ib. CONTENTS OP CHAP. VII. VU 78. Legislative measures, . 79. Meeting of the Cortes : its composition, 80. Disorders in the provinces, 81. Murder of one of. the body-guard, and reward of the murderers 82. Opening of the Cortes, ..... 83. Report on the state of the army, 84. Majority of the Cortes : its leaders, . 85. Suppression of the Jesuits, and measures regarding entails, 86. Financial measures, ..... 87. Tumult at Madrid, and dismissal of Riego, 88. Closing of the session, and rupture with the king, 89. Reception of the decree against the priests in Spain, , 90. Illegal appointment of General Carvajal by the king, . 91. Return of the king to Madrid, . 92. Victory of the revolutionists, .... 93. New society for execution of lynch law, 94. Identity of recent history of Spain and Portugal, 95. Revolution at Oporto, ..... 96. Which is followed by a revolution at Lisbon, . 97. Establishment of a joint regency at Lisbon, 98. Return of Marshal Beresford, who is forced to go to England, 99. Effect of the banishment of the British, 100. Reaction, and adoption of more moderate measures, . 101. Commencement of reforms in Italy, 102. Breach of the king's promise of a constitution, 1 03. Progressive but slight reforms already introduced, 104. Origin of secret societies, .... 105. Their origin and previous history, 106. Commencement of the Neapolitan revolution, 107. Defection of General Pepe and the garrison of Naples, 108. The king yields, and swears to the constitution, 109. Causes which prepared revolution in Sicily, 110. Revolution in Palermo, 111. Frightful massacre in Palermo, 112. First measures of the new junta, 113. Failure of the negotiations with Naples, 114. Suppression of the insurrection in Palermo, 115. Renewal of hostilities, . 116. Meeting of the Neapolitan parliament, 117. Insurrection of the galley slaves in Civita Vecchia, 118. Commencement of the revolution in Piedmont, 119. Revolt in Alessandria and Turin, 120. The king yields, and accepts the constitution, 121. Resignation of the king, and proclamation of the Prince of Carignau i regent, and the Spanish constitution, 122. General character of the revolutions of 1820, . 123. What caused their speedy overthrow, . 124. What should the military do in such circumstances Till CONTENTS OF CHAP. VIII. CHAPTER VIII. RUSSIA AND POLAND, FEOM THE PEACE OF 1815 TO THE AOOESSIOK OE BIOHOLAS IN 1825. 1. Vast growth and extent of Russia, America, and British India in recent times, .•••■■ 2. Increase of Russia by the treaties of 1814 and 1815, . 8. Important acquisition of Russia in the grand-duchy of "Warsaw, 4. Statistics of the grand-duchy of Warsaw, 5. Establishment of the kingdom of Poland, 6. Biography of the Grand-duke Constantino,, 7. His character, . • • 8. His first acts of administration, and training of the army, 9. Great advantage to Poland from its union with Russia, 10. Great increase of its mihtary strength, . 11. Failure of the representative system in Poland, 12. Great, influence of Russia, . ■ 13. Great wisdom of its external policy, 14. Their unity of purpose, . . . ■ ■ 15. Statistics of the empire : its population, 1 6. Great, rapidity of increase of the Russian population, . 17. Great room for future increase in its inhabitants, 18. Unity of feeling in the whole empire, . 19. Reason of this unity. Their Asiatic habits and religious feelings, 20. Unity of interest in the empire, 21. General insufficiency of the schools to produce enlightenment, 22. The clergy, ...... 23. Rank in Russia : the Tchinn, .... 24. Great power given by the Tchinn, 25. Caste of the nobles, ..... 26. Of the bourgeois and trading classes, 27. The serfs : their number and condition, 28. PrivUeges and advantages they enjoy, . 29. The Tieglo : its advantages and evils, . 30., Way in which it is carried into effect, . 31 . Contrast of English and Russian cultivators, 32. Opinion of M. Haxthausen on the serfs and their enfranchisement, 33. EvUsof the Russian, serf system, 34. Foreign conquest ever forced upon Russia by its climate, 35. Fear the universal principle of government in Russia, . 36. General use of corporal chastisement, . 37. Character which these circumstances have imprinted on the ftussiaus, 38. Causes which have led to this character, 39. Great, effect of the distances in Russia, . 40. Civilisation depends entirely on the higher ranks, 41. Strong imitative turn of the Russians, . 42. Military strength of Russia, .... 43. The military colonies, ..... Page CONTENTS OF CHAP. VIII. IX 44. The Cossacks, ....... 45. The admirable discipline and equipment of the army, . 46. Russian navy, ....... 47. Revenue of Russia, ...... 48. Positions of the principal armies, .... 49. General corruption in Russia, ..... 50. Enormous abuses which prevail, .... 51. Striking instances of this corruption, .... 52. Emigration in Russia is all internal, .... 53. Great impulse to agricultural industry in Russia from free trade, 54. What is the destiny of Russia? ..... 55. Tvro different people in Russia, ..... 56. Liberal ideas with which the troops retui'ned from France and Germany, 57. First steps of Alexander on his return to Russia in 1814, 58. His beneficent measures, .... 59. Marriage of Alexander's sister to the Prince of Orange, and of the Grand duke Nicholas to the Princess of Prussia, 60. Incessant travels of Alexander from 1815 to 1825, 61. Various beneficent measures introduced by him, 62. His arrival at Warsaw in 1818, . 63. Alexander's memorable speech to the Diet, 64. Journey of Alexander to his southern provinces, 65. His efforts for the enfranchisement of the peasants, 66. Transactions of 1819, .... 67. Expulsion of the Jesuits, 68. Great changes in the emperor's mind from the revolution of 1 820, 69. Violent scene, and dissolution of the Polish Diet, 70. Congress of Troppau, .... 71. Congress of Troppau: its resolutions, . 72. Congress of Laybach, .... 73. Reflections on the division among the allied powers, 74. Limits of the right of intervention, 75. What share had the Holy Alliance in this ? 76. Attitude taken by England on the occasion, 77. War declared against the revolution in Naples, 78. Unresisted march of the Austrians towards Naples, 79. Subjugation of Naples, and return of the king, . 80. Movement of the insurgents in Piedmont, 81. Meeting of the Allies, and fresh revolution in Genoa, 82. Increasing difficulties of the insurgents, 83. Total defeat of the insurgents at Agogna, 84. Submission of the capital, and termination of the war, 85. Violent reaction in Italy, 86. Reaction in Piedmont, and treaty with Austria, 87. Revolt in a regiment of guards at St Petersburg, 88. Alexander refuses to support the Greeks, 89. Extension of the Russian empire in North America, 90. Suppression of freemasons' and other secret societies, 91. General failure of the emperor's philanthropic projects, 92. Dreadful flood at St Petersburg, 93-94. Description of the situation of St Petersburg, . . 204-205 X CONTENTS OF CHAP. VIII. R Page 95. Great inundation of St Petersburg, . . . • • 206 96. Noble charity of the emperor and nobles, . . ■ • 207 97. Internal measures of 1824, and settlement of the boundaries of Russian America, ^08 98. The Empress of Kussia : her birth, parentage, marriage, and character, 209 99. Amours of the Czar, .....-■ ^10 100. Death of Alexander's natural daughter, .... 211 101. Reconciliation of the emperor and empress, .... 212 102. Solemn service in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Kazan, . • 213 103. His departure from the cathedral, . . • • ■ 214 104. His arrival at Taganrog, . . • • • ■ 215 105. His last illness, .216 106. And death, 217 107. And funeral, . . . . . • • .218 168. Death and burial of the empress, ..... 219 ] 09. His character, .....••• 220 110. His failings, ......•■ 221 111. State of the succession to the throne, . . . . ib. 112. Constantine refuses the throne, ..... 222 113. How this came about, ...... 223 1 14. Constantine's previous renunciation of his right of succession, . 224 lis. Nicholas refuses the crown, and proclaims Constantine, . . 225 116. Contest of generosity between the two brothers, and Nicholas mounts the throne, . 226 117. Account of the conspiracy against him, .... 227 118. Details on the conspiracy, ...... 228 119. Information given of the conspiracy to Alexander, . . . 229 120-121. Plans of the conspirators, ..... 230-231 122. A revolt is decided on by the conspirators, .... 231 123. Commencement of it, . . . . . . . 232 124. Heroic conduct of Nicholas on the occasion, .... 234 126. Nicholas advances against the rebels, ' . , . . . 236 126. Forces on both sides, and irresolution of the chiefs of the revolt, . ib. 127. Death of Milaradowitch, ...... 237 128. The Archbishop also fails in reducing the mutineers, . . 238 129. The emperor gains the victory, ..... 239 130. Seizure of the leaders of the conspiracy, and generous conduct of Nicholas to the privates, ....... 240 131. Appointment of a commission of inquiry, . , . .241 132. Its composition and report, ...... 242 133. Leaders of the revolt in the army of the south, . . . 243 134. And in that of the west, . . . . . .244 135. Arrest of the Mouravieffs, and outbreak of the conspiracy in the army of Poland, ........ 245 136. Its suppression, ....... it. 137. Sentences on the conspirators, ..... 246 138. Their conduct on the eve of death, ..... 247 139. Their execution, ....... 248 140. Reflections on this event, ...... 249 141. Noble conduct of the Princess Troubetzkoi and the other wives of the convicts, ....... 260 CONTENTS OF CHAP. IX. XI 142. Condition of the exiles in Siberia, ..... 251 143. Generous conduct of the emperor to the relatives of the convicts, . 252 144. Expiatory, ceremony on the Place of the Senate, . . . 2S3 146. Great reforms in all departments introduced by the emperor, . 254 146. Great legal reforms of the emperor, ..... 256 147. Crime of the insurgents, ...... 257 148. Coronation of the emperor and empress at Moscow, . . . 258 149. Character of the Emperor Nicholas, and parallel between him and Peter the Great, ....... 259 150. He is essentially Russian, ...... 260 151. His personal appearance and failings, . . . . .261 CHAPTER IX. ROYALIST REACTION IN FRANCE. rBANOE PBOM THE COUP D'BTAT 01" 5tH MARCH 1819, TO THE ACCESSION ■01' THE PUBELT KOYALIST MINISTRY IN DBCEMBBK 1821. 1. Great evils of France at the close of 1816, 2. Rapid flow of prosperity which succeeded them in the next year, 3. Brilliant appearance of Paris, ..... 4. Exports, imports, and revenue of France during this period, . 5. Thorough establishment of representative institutions in France, 6. Which have no effect in conciliating th« Liberal party, 7. Popular acts of the new ministry, .... 8. Return of Maret and many other of the proscribed to France, 9. Increasing strength of the Liberals, and resistance to the Government, 10. Law regarding the press, 11. Debate on the return of the proscribed persons, 12. Speech of M. de Serres on the subject, . 13. Immense sensation produced by this debate, '. 14. Increasing violence and exasperation of the press, 16. Budget of 1819, ..... 16. Preparations for the election of 1819, 17. Their result : election of the Abb6 Gr6goire, . 18. Biography of the Abb6 Gr^goire, 19. General Foy : his biography, 20. M. de Serres, ..... 21. His character, ..... 22. Conversation of Louis XVIII. and the Count d'Artois on the election, 23. Change in the ministry, 24. Violent attacks on the new ministry by the press, 25. King's speech at opening the session, 26. Comparative strength of parties in the Chamber, 27. Designs of the Liberals in Paris, 28. New electoral law proposed by the Government, 29. Electoral law finally agreed on by the Government, 30. Violent opposition of the Liberals, 263 264 265 iA. 266 267 ib. 269 270 ib. 271 272 273 274 275 ib. 276 277 278 279 ib. 281 282 283 284 285 ib. 286 287 288 xu CONTENTS OF CHAP. IX. 31. The Duke de Bern, 32. His biography, 83. LouTel, his assassin, 34. Assassination of the Duke de Berri, 35-36. His last moments, 37. His death, 38. Immense sensation which it produced, 39. Chateaubriand's words on the occasion, 40. General indignation against M. Decazes, 41. The king resolves to support him, , . 42. He at length agrees to his dismissal, .... 43. Resignation of M. Decazes, and the Duke de Eichelieu sent for, 44. The king's inclination for Platonic attachments, 46. The Countess Du Cayla, ..... 46. Her first interview with Louis, which proves successful, 47. Character of M. Decazes, ..... 48. Merits of his measures as a statesman, 49. Division of parties in the Assembly after M. Decazes' fall, 50. Fufleral of the Duke de Berri, and execution of Louvel, 51-52. Ministerial measures of the session. Ai-gument against the first, S3. Answer by the Government, ..... 54-55. Censorship of the press. Argument against it by the Opposition, 56-57. Answer by the Ministerialists, .... 58. Result of the debate, ...... 59. Reflections on this subject, ..... 60. Alarming state of the country, and defensive measures of Government, 61. Denunciation of the secret government, 62. Ministerial project of a new electoral law, 63-66. Argument against it by the Opposition, 67-71. Answer by the Ministerialists, .... 72. Camille-Jourdau's amendment carried, 73. The amendment of M. Boin is carried by Government, 74. Disturbances in Paris, . , . 75. Which become serious, ...... 76. Loud declamation on the subject in the Chamber of Deputies, 77. Their suppression, ...... 78. The budget, ....... 79. Military conspiracy, headed by Lafayette, 80. Their designs, and efforts to corrupt the troops, 81. Which fails by accident, ..... 82. Lenity shown in the prosecutions, . . ... 83. Birth of the Duke of Bordeaux, .... 84. Universal transports in France, .... 86. Congratulations from the European powers, and promotions in France, 86. Rupture with the Doctrinaires, . 87. Views of the Doctrinaires, 88. Views of the Royalists, . 89. Disturbances in the provinces. Internal measures of the Government, 90. Changes in the household, 91. New. organisation of the army, 92. Ordonnance regarding pubUo instruction, Page 289 290 291 292 293-29i 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 ib. 306 ib. 306 307 308-309 809 311 312-313 314 31S 316 317 318 319-321 321-324 326 326 327 ib. 328 329 830 331 333 334 ib. 335 836 338 339 340 ib. 342 343 ib. 345 CONTENTS OF CHAP.'X. XI 11 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. The king's ciroulai- to the electors. Result of the elections favourable to the Eoyalists, Effect of the change in the Assembly, . Accession of Villele, &o. to the ministry, Speech of the king, and answer of the Chambers, Measures of the session, fixing the boundaries of the electoral diBtricts, Law for additional ecclesiastical endowments, . Modifications in the corn-laws, ... Law for the indemnity of the Imperial donataries. Law regarding the censorship of the press, Speech of M. Pasquier on the occasion, Increasing irritation of parties, and difficulties of the ministry. Rupture with the Eoyalists, and fall of the Richelieu ministry, The new ministry, ..... Reflections on this event, .... Great effects of the change in the electoral law. Defects of the representative system in France, Undue ascendancy of the Parti-Prdtre, . Cause of the reaction against Liberal institutions, Death of Napoleon, ..... Reflections on his captivity, .... Great exaggeration regarding the English treatment of him, Lamartine's account of his exile. Irritation between him and Sir Hudson Lowe, . All parties were wrong regarding his treatment at St Helena, Change on Napoleon before his death, . His death, ...... His funeral, ...... Immense sensation it excited in Europe, He was the last of the men who rule their age, . Page 345 347 348 349 350 351 352 ib. 353 354 355 356 358 359 360 361 362 ib 363 364 365 366 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 CHAPTER X. DOMESTIC HISTOET OF ENGLAND, PROM THE PASSINO OF THE OUREENCT ACT OF 1819 TO THE DEATH OP LORD LOKDONDBRET IN 1822. 1. Difference of the objects of the Liberal party in France and England, 376 2. Difference in the causes which produced discontent in the two countries, 377 3. Great effects of the change in the monetary laws, . . . 378 4. Mr Smith's views on this subject, . ... 379 5. Great effects of any variation in the value of the standard of value, . ib. 6. Examples of this from former times, ..... 380 7. Discovery and wonderful effects of a paper currency, . . . 382 8. Advantages of a paper circulation, duly limited, . . . 383 9. What is the standard of value ? . . . . . .384 10. Vast effect of variations in the currency, .... 385 11. When this effect takes place, . . . . . . 386 12. Vast importance of an inconvei-tible currency as a regulator of prices, 387 XIT CONTENTS OF CHAP. X. 13. A currency based on the precious metals is always liable to fluctuations, 14. Concurring causes which brought about the bill of 1819, 15. Danger of a currency entirely rested on a metallic basis, 16. True system, ........ 1 7. Peculiar dangers with which the resumption of cash payments was attended, 18. Strain on the money market, from the immense loans on the Continent, 19. Great prosperity of England in end of 1818 and spring of 1819, from extension of its currency, 20. Great internal prosperity of the country, 21. Disastrous contraction of the currency, 22. Its effects on the Bank issues, . 23. And on prices of all commodities, 24. Rapid increase of disaffection in the country, .. 25. Meeting at Peterloo, .... 26. Great excitement, and objects of the meeting, 27. Its dispersion by the military, 28. Noble conduct of Lord Sidmouth on the occasion, 29. Besult of Hunt's trial, .... 30. Reflections on the impolicy of allowing such meetings, 31. And on the conduct of the magistrates, 32. Seditious meetings in other quarters, 33. Augmentation of the Chelsea pensioners, 34. Meeting of Parliament, and measures of Government, 35. Lord Sidmouth's Acts of Parliament, . 36. Impression Lord Sidmouth and Lord Castlereagh made on the Radicals, 37. Death of the Duke of Kent, 38. Death of George III., .... 39. Deep impression which his death made on the country, 40. Birth of Queen Victoria, 41. Alarming illness of George IV., 42. Ominous questions regarding the omission of Queen Caroline' the Liturgy, .... 43. Remarkable speech of Mr Brougham, 44. Cato Street conspiracy. Thistlewood's previous life, 45. Design of the conspirators, 46. Their final plans, .... 47. Conflict in the dark in the Cato Street loft, 48. Execution of the conspirators, . 49. Disturbances in Scotland and north of England, 60. Insurrection in Scotland, 51. Outbreak of the insurrection, and its suppression, 52. Death and character of Mr Qrattan, 53. His character as a statesman and orator, 54. Increase of the yeomanry force, 56. The budget for 1820, .... 56. Important subjects of debate in this session, 57. Statistics on education in England and Wales by Mr Brougham 58. Difficulties of this subject, and necessity of an assessment, 59. Its difficulties, and attempts at their solution, 60. Probable mode of solving it, . 6 J . What is to be done with tho educated classes 1 Page 387 888 390 391 392 393 CONTENTS OF CHAP. X. XV § Page 62. Effect of education in leading to the dispersion of mankind, . . 442 63. Disfranchisement of Grampound, and transfer of its members to Yorkshire, 443 64. Kise of free-trade ideas among the merchants, and Lord Lansdowne's declaration on the suhjeot, ..... 444 65-67. Lord Liverpool's memorable speech in reply, . . . 445-447 68. Appointment of a committee to inquire into agricultural distress, . 448 69-71. Opinion of Mr Brougham on this subject, .... 448-449 72-74. Answer by Mr Ricardo, ...... 450-452 75. Additional facts since discovered on this subject, . ... 453 76. Commencement of the troubles about the queen, . . . 454 77. Sketch of her life prior to this period, . . . .455 78. Her conduct abroad, and proceedings in consequence of it, . . 456 79. Omission of the queen's name in the Liturgy, and her return to England, 467 80. Her landing in England, and enthusiastic reception, . . 458 81. Views of the Radical leaders on the occasion, , . . 459 82. Enthusiastic reception of the queen at Dover and in London, . 460 83. Failure of the negotiations, and commencement of the inquiry, . 461 84. Scene which ensued on the trial, ..... 462 85. Progress of the trial, and its difficulties, .... 463 86. Peroration of Mr Brougham's defence, .... 464 87. Queen's defence, and failure of the bill, .... 465 88. General transports of the people, ..... 467 89. Rapid reaction of public opinion, ..... i6. 90. Consternation of the ministry, who resolve to remain at their posts, 468 91. Return of popularity of Government, and causes of it, . . 469 92. Meeting of Parliament, and first proceedings, . . . 470 93. Debates on foreign affairs, . . . . . .471 94. Sir James Mackintosh's efforts to improve the criminal law, . ib. 95. Mr Canning's striking speech on Catholic emancipation, . . 472 96. Answer by Mr Peel, ....... 473 97. Which is carried in the Commons, and lost in the Peers, . . 474 98. Lord John Russell's motion for parliamentary reform, . . 475 99. Appointment of a committee to inquire into agricultural distress, . 476 100. Bank Cash Payment BiD, ...... 477 101-102. Mr Baring's speech on the subject, .... 477-478 103. Vehement demand for a reduction of taxation, . . . 479 104. Agricultural committee reports, and state of the consumption of articles of luxury, ..... 105. Increase of the desire for reform among the agriculturists, 106. Coronation of George IV., .... 107. Ceremony on the occasion, .... 108. Aspect of Wellington, Londonderry, and George IV., 109. The queen is refused admittance : her death, 110. King's visit to Ireland, .... 111. Funeral of the queen, ..... 1 12. Dismissal of Sir R. Wilson from the army, 113. Changes in the Cabinet, .... 114. Retirement of Lord Sidmouth, who is succeeded by Mr Peel as Home Secretary, ..... 115. Lord Wellesley appointed Viceroy of Ireland, and change in the govern- ment there, ..... 480 482 483 484 485 486 ib. 487 488 489 490 491 X71 CONTENTS OF CHAP. XL § Page 116. Cause of the wretchedness of Ireland, . . . .492 117. What would have relieved the couutry, and its neglect, . • 493 118. Ruinous effect of the contraction of the currency upon Ireland, . 494 119. Progress of the agrarian disturbances in Ireland, . . . 496 120. Lord Wellesley's able conduct and impartiality, . . . 496 121. Dreadful examples in the disturbed districts, . . . 497 122. Dreadful famine in the south and west of Ireland, . . . ib. 12.3. Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and Insurrection Act, . 499 124. Divisions on the Catholic claims, ..... 500 126. Increasing strength of the minority on parliamentary reform, . 501 1 26. Peroration of Mr Canning's speech, ..... 602 127. Sir James Mackintosh's motion regarding the criminal law, . . 503 128. Great fall in the price of all sorts of produce, . . . 504 129. Measures for the relief of the agricultural classes, . . . 505 130. Detailed measures of Government for the relief of the agriculturists, 506 131. Motion of Mr 'Western on the currency, .... 507 132-135. Mr Huskissou's arguments in support of the existing system, 507-509 136-142. Reply by Mr Attwood, ...... 510-514 143. Repeated defeats of Ministers in the House of Commons, . . 515 144. Great reductions of taxation introduced by Ministers, . . 516 145. The budget, . 617 146. Reduction of the 6 per cents, . . . . . . 518 147. Equalisation of the Dead Weight, and military and naval pensions, 619 148. Details of the measure, ...... 520 149. Important Small Notes Bill, ...... ih. 150. Its provisions, ........ 621 151. Six acts relating to commerce and navigation, . . . 522 152. Visit of the king to Edinburgh, ..... j6. 153. Particulars of the royal visit, ..... 523 164. Death of Lord Londonderry, ...... 524 155. His character, ........ 525 156. Its indomitable firmness, . . . . . .626 157. His policy in domestic affairs, ..... 527 158. Political changes in progress, from the resumption of cash payments, ib. 169. Internal changes arising from the same cause, , . . 528 160. Lord Londonden-y was the last of the real rulera of England, . 529 161. Increased ascendant of the rulers of thought, . . . 530 1 62. Simultaneous outbreak of the revolutionary spirit in different countries, ib, 163. Different characters of the revolts in the different states, . . 531 CHAPTER XI. ENGLAND, EEANOE, AND SPAIN, PROM THE ACOESSION OF VILLi;LE IN 1819 TO THE CONQEESS OF VERONA IN 1822. 1. Divergence of Prance and England in regard to the Spanish revolution, 533 2. Peculiar causes which augmented this divergence, . . . 534 3. Character of Mr Canning, ...... 535 4. His peculiar style of eloquence, ..... 533 CONTENTS OF CHAP. XI. xvn 5. His defects, 6. Visooiwt Chateaubriand, 7. His merits as an orator, 8. His character as a statesman, 9. His defects, 10. M. de Villele, . 11. His peculiar turn of mind, and course of policy, 12. M. de CorbiSrfi, M. Mathieu de Montmorency, M. de Peyronnet, Victor, 13. Law regarding the press, .... 14. Its stringent provisions, .... 15. Discussionon.it, ..... 16. Rise of the Carbonari and secret societies in France, . 17. Rise of Carbonarism in France, 18. Abortive conspiracy at Effort, .... 19. Berton's conspiracy at Thouars, 20. Conspiracy at La Kochelle, .... 21. Their trial and execution, .... 22. Reflections on these events, . . , . 23. Insurrection at Colmar, Marseilles, and Toulon, 24. Budget of 1822, 25. Favourable result of the elections to the Royalists, 26. State of public opinion, .... 27. Attempted restoration of theroyal authority at Madrid, 28. Opening of the Cortes, and dismissal of the ministers, 29. Conduct of the Cortes, and appointment of a nfew Ministry, 30. Effect produced in Spain by the crushing of the revolution in Italy, 31. Extraordinary outbreak of revolutionary fury in the east of Spain, 32. Revolutionary laws passed by the Cortes, 33. Barbarous murder of the priest Vinuesa, 34. Institution of the Order of the Hammer, 85. Insurrection in Navarre, and appointment of Murillo at Madrid, 36. Proceedings of the Cortes, . .... 37. Deplorable state of the finances, and measures regarding them, 38. Fresh tumults in Madrid, ..... 39. Resignation of General Murillo, .... 40. The secret societies, or Communeros, .... 41. Riego's plot at Saragossa, and his arrest, 42. Suppression of the tumults thence arising at Madrid, . 43. Yellow, fever at Barcelona, ..... 44. Fresh agitation, ... 45. Refusal of Cadiz and Seville to receive the king's governors, and revolt Corunna, 46. Opening of an extraordinary Cortes, .... 47. Contradictory resolutions of the Cortes, ... 48. Irresolute conduct of the king, and Royalist insurrection in the north, 49. Proposed laws against the press and patriotic societies, 50. Riots in Madrid on the passing of a bill against the press, 51. Composition of the new Cortes, .... 52. New ministry, ....... 53. Opening of the Cortes, and disastrous state of the finances, 54.. General disturbances in Spain, ..... at XVlll CONTENTS OF CHAP. XTI. 55. Proceedings of the Cortes, and progress of the civil war, 56. The Trappist : his appearance and character, and followers, fi7. Desperate assault of Cervera, . 68. Defeat of Misas, 59. Severe laws passed by the Cortes, 60. Great extension of the civil war, 61. Deplorable state of the Spanish finances, 62. Riot in Madrid, and death of Landabura, 63. Commencement of the strife between the guard and the garrison, 64. Departure of the royal guard from Madrid, . 65. Progress of the negotiations vrith the insurgents, 66. Attack of the -guards on Madrid, and its defeat, 67. Destruction of the royal guard, . . . • 68. Defeat of the insurgents in Andalusia and Cadiz, 69. Change of ministry, and complete triumph of the revolutionists, 70. The new ministry, and provincial appointments, 71. Murder of Geoiffeux, . . . . ' . 72. Second'trial, and execution of Elio, .... 73. Civil war in the northern provinces, . . . ■ 74. Vigorous measures of the revolutionary government, . 75. Capture of Castelfollit, and savage proclamation of Mina, 76. Continued disasters of the Royalists, and flight of the regency from Urgel, ........ Page 591 593 594 ib. 695 S96 598 599 a. 600 601 602 603 604 606 606 ib. 607 609 610 611 612 CHAPTER XII. OONaEESS OS VEROHA — rRBNOH INVASION OP SPAIN-^DEATP OF LOUIS XVIII. 1. Great effect pi-oduced by these successes of the Liberals, . . 614 2. Effect of these events in France and Europe, . . . . 616 3. Lamartine's observations on the subject, .... 616 4. Opposite views which prevailed in Great Britain, . .^ . 617 5. Repugnance to French intervention, . . . . . 618 6. Danger of a renewal of the family compact between France and Spain, 61 9 7. Influence of the South American and Spanish bondholders, . . 620 8. Immense extent of the Spanish and South American loans, . . 621 9. Views of the Cabinet and Mr Canning on the subject, . . 622 10. Congress of Verona agreed on by all the powers, . . . 623 11. Members of the Congress there, ..... 624 12. Description of Verona, ...... 625 13. Views of the different powers at the opening of the Congress, . 626 14. Brilliant assemblage of princesses and courtiers at Verona, . . 627 15. Treaty for the evacuation of Piedmont and Naples, ... ib. 16. Resolution of the Congress regarding the slave-trade, , . 628 17. Note of England regarding South American independence, . . 629 18. Instructions of M. do Villele to M. de Montmorency regarding Spain, 630 19. Mr Canning's instructions to Duke of Wellington, . . . 631 20. Measures adopted by the majority of the Congress on the subject, . 632 CONTENTS OP CHAP. XII. XIX 21. Questions proposed by France, and answers of the Continental powers and England, ..... 22. Views of what had occurred in this. Congress, 23. Views of M. de Vi]161e and Louis XVIII., 24. Secret correspondence of M. de VillMe and M. de Lagarde, 25. Debate on it in the Cabinet, and resignation of M. de Montmorency, who is succeeded by M. de Chateaubriand, . 26. The warlike preparations of Fiance continue, . 27. Failure of the negotiations at Madrid, and departure of the French ambas- sador, ........ 28. Speech of the king at the opening of the Chambers, 29. King of England's speech at opening of Parliament, 30. Reply of the Spanish government, .... 31. M. Hyde de Neuville's address in reply to the speech of the king, 32-39. Speech on the war in the House of Commons by Mr Brougham, 647- 40. Mr Canning adopts the principle of non-interference, 41-52. M. de Chateaubriand's reply in the French Chambers, . . 656-i 53. Immense sensation produced by this speech, . 64. M. Talleyrand's speech ou the war, .... S5. Vote of credit of 100,000,000 francs, .... 66-57. Affair of M. Manuel, in the Chamber of Deputies : his speech, 58. Storm in the Chamber, . ..... 59. Expulsion of M. Manuel, ..... 60. Dramatic scene at his expulsion, .... 61. Geneiul enthusiasm excited by the Spanish war, 62. Preparations of the Liberals to sow disaffection in the army, . 63. Feelings of Mr Canning and the English people at this crisis, . 64. Views of Mr Canning at this juncture, .... 65. Portrait of Mr Canning, by M. Marcellus, 66. His opinion as to the probable duration of the war, 67. Views of George IV. and the Duke of Wellington on the subject, 68. Difficulties of the French at the entrance of the campaign, 69. Which are obviated by M. Ouvrard, 70. Forces, and their disposition on both sides, 71. The Spanish forces, ..... 72. Theatrical scene at the passage of the Bidassoa, 73. Progress of the French, and their rapid success, 74. Advance of the Duke d'Angoulfeme to Madrid, 75. Advance of the French to Madrid, 76. Entry of the Duke d'AngoxiIgme into Madrid, . 77. Advance of the French into Andalusia, 78. Proceedings of the Cortes, and deposition of Ferdinand VII., 79. Violent reaction at Seville, and over all Spain, . 80. State of affairs in Cadiz, ..... 81. Advance of the Dtike d'Angoultoe into Andalusia, and decree of Andujar, 82. Its provisions, ...... 83. Violent irritation of the Royalists in Spain, 84. Progress of the siege of Cadiz, .... 85. Assault of the Trocadero, .... 86. Operations of Riego in the rear of the French, . 87. Defeat and capture of Riego, .... 633 635 637 639 641 642 643 644 645 647 653 654 663 664 ib. 665 666 667 668 670 671 672 673 674 676 677 678 679 681 682 683 ib. 685 ib. 686 688 689 ib. 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 700 XX CONTENTS or CHAP. XII. Page 701 702 703 ib. 704 705 ib. 706 708 709 710 711 712 88. Resumed negotiations at Cadiz, and assault of Santa Petri, 89. Deliverance of the king, and dissolution of the Cortes, 90. Scei;e at his deliverance, ..... 91. First acts of the new Government, .... 92. Loud calls on Ferdinand for moderation and clemency, 93. Sentence of Riego, ...... 94. His execution, .....•■ 95. Entry of the king and queen into Madrid, . . 96. Distracted and miserable state of Spain, 97. State of Portugal during this year. Royalist insurrection, . 98. Royalist counter-revolution, ..... S9. Triumphant return of the Duke d'Angoul^me to Paris, 100. Offer of assistance by Russia to France rejected, 101-102. Views of Mr Canning in recognising the republics of South America, ..,...• 713-715 103. Mr Canning did not give independence to South America, but only acknowledged it, . . . . . .716 104. Recognition of the South American republics by Mr Canning, . 717 105. Effects of this measure on British interests, .... 718 106. M. de Chateaubriand's designs in regard to the South American states, 719 107. Speech of Mr Canning at Plymouth, ..... 720 108. The elections of 1824, and strength of the Royalists, . . . 721 109. Great effect which this had on the. future destinies of France, . 722 110. Meeting of the Chambers, and measures announced in the royal speech, 723 111. Law of septenniality : considerations in favour of it, ... it. 1 1 2. Argument on the other side, ...... 724 113. Law for the reduction of interest of the national debt, . . 725 114. Which is passed by the Deputies, but thrown out by the Peers, . 726 115. Reflections on this decision. Difference of the English and French funds, ........ 727 116. Splendid position of M. de Chateaubriand, . . . . ib. 117. His dismissal, and that of Marshal Victor, .... 728 118. Statistics of France in this year, ..... 729 119. Reign of Louis XVIII. draws to a close, . . . . ib. 120. His declining days, ....... 730 121. His great powers of conversation, . . . . .731 122. His religious impressions in his last days, .... 732 123. His death, ........ ib. 124. Character of Louis 5VIII., ...... 733 125. His private qualities and weaknesses, ..... 734 126. Political inferences, from the result of the Spanish revolution, . 735 127. Great merit of the French expedition into Spain in 1823, . . 736 128. It had nearly established the throne of the Restoration, . . 737 129. The French, invasion of Spain was justifiable, .... 738 130. Was the English intervention in behalf of South America justifiable 1 739 131. Its ultimate disastrous effects to England,, .... 740 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAPTER VII. SPAIN AND ITALY FROM THE PEACE OP 1814 TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1820. Differing from each other in climate, national charac- chap. VII ter, and descent, there is a striking, it may be a porteu- L_ tous, resemblance in their history and political destinies ^^'*" between Spain and Great Britain. Both were inhabited Analog of originally by a hardy race, divided into various tribes, 11^10^ of which maintained an obstinate conflict with the invaders, Engi""^. and were finally subdued only after nearly a century's harassing warfare with the Legions. Both, on the faU of the Empire, were overrun by successive swarms of barba- rians, with whom they kept up for centuries an indomitable warfare, and from whose intermingled blood their descen- dants have now sprung. The Visigoths to Spain were what the Anglo-Saxons were to Britain ; and the Danes in the one country came in place of the Moors in the other. The rocks of Asturias in the first were the refuge of independence, as the mountains of Wales and the Gram- pian Hills were in the last. Both were trained, in those long-continued struggles, to the hardihood, daring, and perseverance requisite for the accomplishment of great things in the scene of trouble. In both the elements of freedom were laid broad and deep in this energetic and VOL. II. -*• 2 HISTORY OF BUKOPB. CHAP, intrepid spirit ; and it was hard for long to say which was destined to be the ark of liberty for the world. The 1814. ardent disposition of both sought a vent in maritime adventure, the situation of both was eminently favourable for commercial pursuits, and both became great naval powers. Both founded colonial empires in various parts of the world, of surpassing magnitude and splendour, and both found for long in these colonies the surest founda- tions of their prosperity, the most prolific sources of their riches. When the colonies revolted from Spain in 1810, the trade, both export and import, which she maintained with them, was exactly equal to that which, thirty years afterwards, England carried on with its colonial depen- dencies. Happy if the parallels shall go no farther, and the future historian shall not have to point to the sever- ance of her colonies as the commencement of ruin to Great Britain, as the revolt of South America, beyond all question, has been to the Spanish monarchy. Historians have repeated to satiety that the decline of The Mio- Spain, which has now continued without interruption for noTaTource nearly two centuries, is to be ascribed to the drain which neZ'^' *^^^® S''®^* colonies proved upon the strength of the parent Spain. state. They seemed to think that the mother country is like a vast reservoir filled with vigour, health, and strength, and that whatever of these was communicated to the colonial offshoots, was so much withdrawn from the parent state. There never was a more erroneous opinion. No country ever yet was weakened by colonial depen- dencies ; their establishment, like the swarming of bees, is an indication of overflowing numbers and superabundant activity in the original hive. As their departure springs from past strength, so it averts future weakness. It saves the state from the worst of all evils — a redundant popu- lation constantly on the verge of sedition from suffering— and converts those who would be paupers or criminals at home, into active and useful members of society, who encourage the industry of the parent state as much by 2. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 3 their consumption as they would have oppressed it by chap. their poverty. ^^^' Every emigrant who is now landed on the shores of '''^*" Australia, converts a pauper, whose maintenance would colonies have cost Great Britain £14 a-year, into a consumer Tben^uo who purchases £8 yearly of its manufactures. Rome *ate."™' and Athens, so far from bfiing weakened, were immea- surably strengthened by their colonies : those flourishing settlements which surrounded the Mediterranean Sea were the brilliant girdle which, as much as the arms of the Legions, contributed to the strength of the Empire ; and England would never have emerged victorious from her immortal conflict for European freedom, if she had not found in her colonial trade the means of maintaining the contest, when shut out from the markets of the Con- tinental states. If it were permitted to follow fanciful analogies between the body politic and the human frame, it would be safer to say that the prolific parent of many colonies is like the happy mother of a numerous offspring, who exhibits, even in mature years, no symptoms of decline, and preserves the freshness and charms of youth for a much longer period than she who has never under- gone the healthful labours of parturition. There is no reason, in the nature of things, why colo- nies should exhaust the mother country ; on the contrary, suppo'rt the tendency is just the reverse. They take from the parent J^n;* "f' state what it is an advantage for it to lose, and give it mothe'r*^'' what it is beneficial for it to receive. They take off" its "o""''/- surplus hands and mouths, and thereby lighten the labour market, and give an impulse to the principle of popula- tion ; while they provide the means of subsistence for those who remain at home, by opening a vast and rapidly increasing market for its manufactures. A colony for long is always agricultural or mining only. Manufac- tures, at least of the finer sort, can never spring up in it for a very long period. An old state, in which manu- factures and the arts have long flourished, will nowhere VII. 1814. HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, find such a certain and growing vent for its fabrics as in its colonial settlements ; -while they will never find so sure and steady a market for their rude produce as in the wants of its inhabitants. Similarity of tastes and habits renders the fabrics and productions of the parent state more acceptable to the young one than those of foreign lands. The certainty of not having their supplies of necessaries interrupted, is an inappreciable advantage to the mother country. Their identity of interest perpetuates the union which absolute dependence on one part had at first com- menced. The connection between a parent state liberally and wisely governed, and its colonies, is founded on the surest of aU foundations — a real reciprocity of advan- tages; and, as such, may long prove durable to the great benefit of both, and retain the infant state in the bonds of allegiance, after the time has arrived when it might aspire to the honours of separate dominion. To preserve, however, this connection between the What' the mother countries and her robust colonies, a wise and liberal poUcy°'of system of government is indispensable. If such be not steteXoum adopted, they will, when they have attained majority, ^^- inevitably break ofi" on the first serious difficulties of the parent state. Nothing can permanently retain them in their allegiance but a real reciprocity of advantages, and the practical enjoyment of the powers of self-government by the colonies. The reason is, that the rule of the dis- tant old state, if unaided by colonial representation, direct or indirect, never can be founded upon an adequate know- ledge of the necessities, or attention to the interests, of the youthful settlement. It will always be directed by the ideas, and calculated for the advantage of the society with which it is surrounded — generally the very reverse, in the first instance at least, of what the young state requires. The true colonial policy, which can alone insure a lasting connection between the mother country and her transmarine descendants, requires the most diffi- cult of all sacrifices on the part of the former — that of HISTORY OF EUROPE. her established prejudices and selfish interests. Yet it is chap, the sacrifice of her immediate advantages only ; for never VII. ■will the interests of the old state, in the end, be so pro- moted as by the most liberal and enlarged policy towards its distant oflPspring. What that policy should be, has been written in characters of fire on the tablets of his- tory. It should be the exact reverse of that which lost England North, and Spain, South America. It should be the government of the colonies, not for the interest of the mother country, but for the advantage of themselves — an administration which should make them feel that they would lose rather than gain by a severance of the connec- tion. Rule the colonies as you would wish them to rule you, if the seat of government were in the colony, and you were the distant settlement, and it will be long indeed before they will desire to become independent. This is, perhaps, the last lesson of wisdom which will be learned by the rulers of mankind ; yet is it the very first precept of the religion which they all profess; and the whole secret of colonial, as indeed of all other governments, is to do to others as we would they should do unto us. There is no idea more erroneous than that which is entertained by many in this country, that it is for the inevitable interest of the old state to sever the connection with the parent state colonies when they have arrived at a certain degree of separation strength; because by so doing, as it is said, you retain "^'^s.""' the advantages of mercantile intercourse, and get quit of the burden of providing for defence. Experience has proved that this opinion is of all others the most falla- cious; because the very first thing which a colony does when it becomes independent, is to levy heavy import duties on the manufactures of the mother country, in order to encourage its own, and thus the benefit of its rising market is at first abridged, and at length lost to the parent state. The United States of America, accordingly, have imposed an import duty of 30 per cent on all imports whatever ; and the consequence is, that our average HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Til. 1814. iSee ante, c. iv. § 107, where the figures are given. .Humboldt's Nouvelle exports to them are not now so great as they were forty years ago, when their inhabitants were little more than a fourth of what they now are ; and while our colonies con- sume, some £2, 10s., some £2, some £6 or £8 a-head of our manufactures, our emancipated offspring in North America do not, on an average of years, consume 12s. worth.* To the shipping of the parent state the change is still more disastrous, for, instead of being all on the side of one country, it becomes divided into two, of wbich the younger rapidly grows on its older rival. Witness the British trade to her North American colonies, with 2,600,000 of inhabitants, which employs 1,200,000 tons of British shipping; while that with the United States, with their 24,000,000, employs only 1,400,000, the re- mainder, about double that amount, having passed into the hands of the Americans themselves.! And while Spain, while she possessed her colonies,^ carried on a traf- fic with them equal to what England has since attained Exports from Great Britain in 1851 to Australia, .... £2,807,356 British North America, . 3,813,707 West Indies, . . . 2,201,032 South Africa, . . . 752,000 United States of America, 450,000 14,362,000 24,000,000 -Parliamentary Paper, Nov. 29, 1852. Population. Rate per Head. 500,000 £5 16 2,600,000 1 10 970,000 2 10 1 15 12 f Shipping of Great Britain with British Tons. Population. Foreign Tons. British North America— 1849, 1,280,000 2,400,000 — United States, „ 1,482,707 23,000,000 2,658,326 — Pobter's Progress of the Nation, 1851, p. 392. The great amount of the British tonnage to the United States of late years has been mainly owing to the prodigious emigration — on an average, 250,000 souls — from Great Britain to that country. Before this began, our tonnage with America stood thus ; — Years. British to United States. BritUh to N. Am, Cols. America, Tons. Exports to United States. Exports to Canada. 1842 1843 1844 1845 152,833 200,781 206,183 223,676 541,451 771,905 789,410 1,090,224 319,624 396,189 338,781 444,442 £3,528,807 5,013,610 7,938,079 7,142,839 £2,333,525 1,751,211 8,070,861 3,555,950 — Pobteb's Pari. Tables,yl 43; vii, 43; iii. 50, 52, 518— years 1839, 1840, 1841. HISTORY OP EUROPE. with her settlements in all parts of the •worldj and fleets chap. capable for long of maintaining an equal conflict with the ¥11. mistress of the seas, since she lost them her foreign trade ^®"' has sunk to nothing, and her fleet, the successor of the invincible Armada, has dwindled to two ships of the line and three frigates, * Although the prosperity of the Spanish colonies had become such that they contained, when the Revolution Tyrannical severed them from old Spain, nineteen millions of inha- spain over bitants, and carried on an export and import trade with '>*"<'^"''"^* it of above £16,000,000 sterling in all, yet this had arisen chiefly from the bounty of nature and the resources of wealth which they themselves enjoyed, and in no degree from the government of the parent state. Its adminis- tration had been illiberal, selfish, and oppressive in the very highest degree. It was founded mainly on three bases — 1. The establishment of the Romish faith in its most bigoted form, and the absolute exclusion and refusal even of toleration to every other species of worship ; 2. The exclusive enjoyment of all ofiices of trust and emolu- ment in the colonies, and especially the working and direc- tion of the mines of gold and silver, by persons appointed by the Spanish government at Madrid ; 3. The entire monopoly of the whole trade with the colonies to the merchants and shipping of the mother country, especially those of Cadiz and Corunna, whom its immense profits had long elevated to the rank of merchant princes. Here the radical selfishness and shortsighted views of human nature appeared in their full deformity ; and accord- ingly, as these were the evils which depressed the ener- * Imports and exports of Spain to her colonies in 1809 : — Exports, .... 59,200,000 piastres, or ^16,200,000 Imports, .... 68,600,000 piastres, or £17,160,000 — HcMBOLDT, Nonvdle Espagne, iv. 153, 164. See also write, c. iv. 107, where the details are given. Exports of Great Britain to her whole colonies in 1847, . . £14,912,000 1850, . . £18,517,000 1848, . 12,833,000 1861, . . 19,496,000 1849, . 15,690,000 —Pari. Retv/rm of these years. 8 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, gies and cramped the efforts of the colonies, the prevailing ^^^" feeling which produced the rcTolution, and the war-cry ^^^^* which animated its supporters, were for the opposite set of immunities. Liberation from Romish tyranny, self- gOTornment, and free trade with all the world, were in- scribed on the banners of Bolivar and San Martin, and in the end proved victorious in the conflict. Happy if they had known to improve their victory by moderation, and exercise the powers it had won with judgment, and if the liberated states had not fallen under a succession of tyrants of their own creation, so numerous that history has not attempted to record their succession, and so savage that it recoils from the portrait of their deeds. Although, too, the trade which Spain carried on with The trade of her coloules was so immense anterior to the revolution in au Tith*^ Spanish America, yet we should widely err if we ima- ^ttfac- gined that it consisted of the manufactures raised or tures. M'orked up in Spain itself ; on the contrary, it consisted almost entirely of manufactured articles produced in Hol- land, Flanders, Germany, and England, brought by their merchants to the vast warehouses of Cadiz and Co- runna, and transported thence beyond the Atlantic. The government of Madrid was entirely swayed in these matters by the merchants of these great seaport towns ; and their interest was wound up with the preservation of the monopoly of the trade, and by no means extended to the production of the manufactures. On the contrary, they were rather interested in keeping up the purchase of the articles which the colonies required from foreign states, for they enjoyed in that way in some degree a double transit, first from the seat of the manufactures in Britain or Belgium to Cadiz and Corunna, and again from thence to the American shores. Spain, notwith- standing the efforts of the Government to encourage them, had never possessed any considerable manufac- tures; and even if the merchants engaged in the colonial trade had wished it, they could not have found in their HISTORY OF EUROPE. 9 own country the articles of which their colonies stood in chap. need. Thus the traffic with those colonies, great as it ^^^' was, did little to enrich the country in general. It created '^'''''• colossal fortunes in the merchants of Cadiz and Corunna, of the Havanna or Buenos Ay res, but nothing more — like the railway traffic from London to Liverpool and Manchester, which does much for the wealth of these great towns at either end of the line, but comparatively little for the intermediate country along the sides of the communication between them. The causes of this pecu- liarity are to be found in .the peculiarities of its physical circumstances, national character, and long-established policy, which have deprived old Spain of nearly all the advantages of her magnificent colonies, and afford the true, though hitherto unobserved, key to her long decline. 1. The first of these is to be found in the national cha- racter and temperament, the real source from which, Want 'of in- here as everywhere else, more even than its physical ti"! national or political circumstances, its fortunes and destiny have **'*"'°''- flowed. The races whose mingled blood have formed the heterogeneous population of old Spain, have none of them, excepting the Moors, been remarkable for their industrial habits. Tenacious of custom, persevering in inclination, repugnant to change, the original inhabitants of the coun- try,- with whom the Legions maintained so long and doubt- ful a conflict, were, like all the other families of the Celtic race, formidable enemies, indomitable guerillas, but by no means either laborious husbandmen or industrious arti- sans. The Visigoths, who poured through the passes of the Pyrenees, and overspread the country to the Pillars of Hercules, added nothing to their industrious habits, but much to their warlike propensities : from them sprang Pelayo and the gallant defenders of the Asturian hills, but not either the cultivators of the fields or the manu- facturers of the towns ; from them sprang Pizarro and Cortes, and the conquerors of the New World, but neither a Penn or a Franklin, nor the hardy pioneers of civilisa- 10 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, tion in its wastes. The Moors alone, ■who at one time ^"' had nearly wrested all- Spain from the Christians, and ^^^*' established themselves for a very long period on the banks of the Guadalquivir, were animated by the real spirit of industry, and great was the wealth and prosperity of their provinces to the south of the Sierra Morena. But reli- gious bigotry tore up from the state this source of wealth; and the banishment, three hundred years ago, of nearly a million of its most industrious and orderly citizens, de- prived Spain — as a similar measure, at a later period, did France — of the most useful and valuable portion of its inhabitants, and with them of the most important advan- tages she could have derived from her colonial settlements. 2. The physical circumstances and peculiarities of Thephysi- Spain, and the pursuits to which its inhabitants were for stances o?" the most part of necessity driven, were such as favoured voured^ nautical and commercial, as much as they obstructed ma- but'^oT''^' nufacturing pursuits. Placed midway between the Old manufac- g^ud the Ncw World, with one front washed by the waves of the Atlantic, and another by the ripple of the. Medi- terranean, with noble and defensible harbours forming the access to both, she enjoyed the greatest possible advan- tages for foreign commerce ; and accordingly, even in the days of Solomon, the merchants of Tarshish rivalled those of Tyre in conducting the traffic of the then known world. But she had little natural advantages for interior traffic or manufactures. The mountainous nature of the greater part of the country rendered internal intercourse difficult; the entire want of roads, save the great chauss^es from Madrid to Bayonne, Cadiz, Barcelona, Badajos, and Valencia, made it impossible. What little traffic there was off these roads, was all carried on on the backs of mules. Having little or no coal, and few of the forests which in France supply in some degree its want, she had none of the advantages for manufacturing industry which that invaluable mineral has furnished to northern Europe, enabling the inhabitants of Great Britain to HISTORY OP EUROPE. 11 reap the whole advantages of their own colonies, and chap. great part of those of Spain, by supplying the former directly, and the latter by the merchants of Cadiz and Co- ^^^*' runna, or the contraband trade in the West Indies, with the greater part of the manufactured articles which they required. Hence it was that the Spanish merchants sought the materials of their traf&c in Belgium or Lanca- shire, and that the manufacturers of Flanders and Eng- land, not Spain, reaped the principal advantages arising from the growth of its colonial dominion. 3. If the physical circumstances of Spain were such as almost to preclude the possibility of manufacturing indus- Effect of try arising among its inhabitants, its history had still more continufd clearly marked their character and occupations. Their '^Ith the annals for five centuries are nothing but a 'continual con- ^""^^ flict with the Moors. These ruthless invaders, as formi- dable and devastating in war as they were industrious and orderly in peace, spread gradually from the rock of Gibraltar to the foot of the Pyrenees. They were at last expelled, but it was only after five hundred years of almost incessant combats. These combats were not, for a very long period, the battles of great armies against each other, but the ceaseless conflicts of small forces or guerilla bands, among whom success and defeat alternated, and to whom at length the predominance was given to Spain only by the perseverance and energy of the Spanish character. It was the wars of the Heptarchy or of the Anglo-Saxons with the Danes, continued, not till the reign of Alfred, but to that of Henry VII. Incalculable was the effect of this long-continued and absorbing hostility upon the bent and disposition of the Spanish mind. As much as eight centuries of unbroken peace, during which the southern counties of England have never seen the fires of an enemy's camp, have formed the English, have the five centuries of Moorish warfare stamped their impress on the Spanish character. Engrossing every thought, ani- mating every desire, directing every passion in the coun- Til. 1814. 12 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP try; uniting the fervour of the Crusader to the ardour of chivalry, the glow of patriotism to the thirst for con- quest; penetrating every valley, ascending every mountain in the Peninsula, they have stamped a durable and indelible character on the Spanish nation. They made it a race of shepherds and warriors, but not of husbandmen and arti- sans. In the Cid we may discern the perfection of this character, when it was directed to the highest objects and refined by the most generous sentiments; in the indolent hidalgo, who spent his life in lounging under the arcades of Saragossa or in the coffee-houses of Madrid, the oppo- site extreme, when it had become debased by the inac- tivity and degraded by the selfishness of pacific life. 4. These circumstances would have rendered it a very Impolitic difficult matter, if not an impossibility, for the manufae- spTin ia turers of Spain, had any such sprung up, to have main- money'° taincd their ground against those of northern Europe, even in the supply of their own colonies. But, in addi- tion to this, there was a very curious and decisive circum- stance, which must at once have proved fatal to the manu- facturers of Spain, even if they had begun to arise. This was the possession of the mines of Mexico and Potosi by the Government, and the policy, in regard to the precious metals, pursued with determined perseverance by the cabinet of Madrid. This was the policy of favouring the importation and prohibiting the exportation of the pre- cious metals, in the belief that it was the only way to keep their wealth to themselves. The effect of this policy is thus described by the father of political economy : " That degradation in the value of gold or silver, which is the effect of the increased fertility of the mines which produce those metals, or the discovery of new ones, ope- rates equally, or nearly so, over the whole commercial world ; but that which, being the effect either of the peculiar situation or political institutions of a particular country, takes place only in that country, is a matter of very great consequence, which, far from tending to make HISTORY OF EUROPE. 13 anylaody really richer, tends to make everybody really chap. poorer. The rise in the money-price of all commodities, VII. which is in this case peculiar to that country, tends to ^^^^' discourage, more or less, every sort of industry which is carried on within it, and to enable foreign nations, by furnishing almost all sorts of goods for a smaller quantity of silver than its workmen can aflford to do, to undersell them not only in the foreign, but even in the home mar- ket. Spain by taxing, and Portugal by prohibiting, the exportation of gold and silver, load that exportation with the price of smuggling, and raise the value of those metals in those countries much above what it is in other coun- tries. The cheapness of gold and silver, or, what is the same thing, the dearness of all commodities, discourages both the agriculture and manufactures of Spain and Por- tugal, and enables foreign nations to supply them with many sorts of rude, and with almost all sorts of manufac- tured produce, for a smaller quantity of gold and silver ' wealth than they themselves can either raise or make them forb.iv. cs. ' at home."^ 5. The religion which obtains a lasting place in a coun- try is often to be regarded as an effect rather than a cause, important It is the consequence of a predisposition in the general iiomish mind which leads to the embracing of doctrines or forms ^*'*" which fall in with its propensities. We are apt to say that the Scotch are energetic and persevering because they are Protestants, the Irish volatile and indolent be- cause they are Roman Catholic ; forgetting that the adoption of these different creeds by these different na- tions was with both a voluntary act, and that it bespoke rather than created the national character. Had the English been of the turn of mind of the Spaniards, they never would have become Protestants; had the Spaniards been of the English, they never would have remained Catholic. But admitting that it is in the distinctive character of Race that we are to look for the remote cause of the peculiar modification of faith which is to be 14 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, durably prevalent in a nation, it is not the 4ess certain ^"" that the reaction which it exerts upon its character and •'^'*- destiny is great and lasting. The fires of the Inquisition •were not fed with human victims for three centuries in Spain, without producing durable and indelible effects upon the national character and destiny. Independence of mind, vigour of thought, emancipation from supersti- tion, were impossible in a people thus shackled in opin- ion ; adherence to the faith which imposed the shackles was not to be expected among the educated few, who had emerged from its restraints. Thus the Spanish nation, like every other old state in which the Romish faith is established, was divided in matters of religion into two classes, widely diiferent in point of numbers, but more nearly balanced in point of political influence and power. On the one side were a few hundred thousand citizens in Madrid, Cadiz, Corunna, and Barcelona, rich, compara- tively educated, free-thinking, and engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; on the other, twelve millions of peasants in the country, hardy, intrepid, and abstemious, indifi^erent to political privileges, but devotedly attached to the faith of their fathers, and blindly following the injunctions of their priests, and the mandates of the See of Rome. 6. From these circumstances arose an important dif- Differe'nce fcrcuce bctwecn the views of the citizens of the towns and and'cortry ^^6 inhabitants of the country in political thought and poikicaf ''^*^^^^^®^- '^^^ former, placed within reach of political opinion, advancement, were animated, for the most part, by an ardent desire for freedom, and an emancipation from the fetters on thought and expression, which had so long been imposed by the tyranny of the priests and the tortures of the Inquisition; the latter, living in the seclusion of the country, and having nothing to gain by political change, were enthusiastically attached to the throne, and devotedly submissive to the mandates of the clergy. In the Basque Provinces alone, where important political privileges had from time immemorial been enjoyed by the peasantry, 1814. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 15 their loyaKfeelings were mingled, as in England, with chap. attachment to their constitutional rights; in the other provinces of Spain, they were founded on their entire abandonment. "Viva el Rey apostolico!" was the cry which expressed at once their feelings and their wishes. From the small number of considerable towns in the Peninsula, the largest of which had not two hundred thousand inha- bitants, while the generality had not more than thirty or forty thousand, the democratic section of the community was not a twentieth part of the immense mass of the rural population. But from their position in the great towns and fortresses of the kingdom, and their being in posses- sion of nearly the whole of its available wealth and energetic talent, they had great advantages in the event of a serious conflict arising; and it was hard to say, in the event of civil war, to which side victory would inchne. 7. The apparent inequality of parties, from the im^ mense preponderance of numbers on the country side, was Disposition more than compensated by the temper and feelings of the ° ' ^^"^y- Aemy. This body, formidable and important in all coun- tries, was more especially so from the peculiar circum- stances of Spain, which had just emerged, on the accession of Ferdinand, from a desperate war of six years' dura- tion, in the course of which nearly all the active energy of the country had been enrolled in the rants of war, and the troops had at last, under the guidance of Wellington, acquired a tolerable degree of consistency. These men, and still more their officers, were for the most part demo- cratic. During the long contest in the provinces, the generals had enjoyed nearly unlimited power in their separate commands, and they did not relish the thought of returning from the rank of independent princes to sub- ordinate command. All of them had been brought in contact with the English, numbers of them, in a friendly way as prisoners, with the French troops ; and from both they had imbibed the free spirit and independent thoughts by which both were characterised. Great, indeed, was 1814. 16. 16 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, the contrast between their extensive information and general knowledge of the world, and the narrow ideas of the spiritual militia who had hitherto been their sole instructors. The contrast was rendered the more strik- ing, from the brilliant career which had attended at first the arms of France, then those of England, when com- pared with the almost uniform defeats which their own had sustained. Hence the armies of Spain, as indeed those of all the Continental monarchies, retired from the conflict deeply imbued with democratic principles ; and the ofBcers, especially, were generally impressed with the belief that nothing but the estabhshment of these was wanting to open a boundless career of prosperity to their country, of promotion and elevation to themselves. 8. But if the army was an important, it might be a The Church, dccisivc ally to the democratic party in the towns, the royalists in the country had a force for their support equally numerous, equally zealous, and still better dis- ciplined and docile to their chiefs. The Church was unanimous in favour of the crown and the establishment of arbitrary power : an unerring instinct told them that freedom of thought would inevitably lead to freedom of action, and the termination of their long-established do- minion. Their numbers were immense, their possessions extensive. A hundred thousand priests, doomed to celi- bacy in a country suffering under the want of hands, and capable of maintaining, with ease and comfort, at least double its number of inhabitants, were diffused over its whole extent, and in all the rural districts, at least, exer- cised an unlimited sway over the minds of their flocks. Essentially obedient to the voice of their spiritual chiefs, which was everywhere governed by the commands issuing from the conclave of the Vatican, the efforts of this im- mense body of spiritual militia were entirely devoted to one object — the re-establishment of despotic power, in its most unmitigated form, over the whole Peninsula. The policy of the court of Rome was directed to this object HISTORY OP EUROPE. 17 in Spain and Portugal, from the same motive which led chap. it to support the democratic propensities of the Romish Church in Ireland. In both cases, regardless of the real ^^^*" welfare of the people of their persuasion, they were go- verned by one motive — the furtherance of the power and extension of the influence of their own establishment. In the Peninsula, this was to be done by aiding despotic power against democratic infidelity ; in the British Islands, by supporting democratic ambition against heretical power. But when the vast influence and wide-spread possessions of the clergy are taken into consideration, and the abso- lute direction which they had of the minds and opinions of their followers in all the rural districts and many of the towns, it was a most formidable enemy with which the republicans had to contend, and it was douibtful whe- ther, in a protracted struggle, victory might not incline to the side which it espoused. 9. This influence and importance, in a political point of view, of the clergy, was the more important, from, gene- state Jf the rally speaking, the comfortable and prosperous condi- ^**^™ "^^^ tion of the peasantry, and their entire submission to the voice of their pastors. If the clergy were a zealous and admirably trained phalanx of officers for the church mili- tant, the peasantry composed an incomparable body of private soldiers. Sober, abstemious, regular, and yet ardent and capable of great things, the Spanish peasant is the one in Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of the Polish, who most readily forms a good soldier, and is most easily induced to undertake his duties. The five centuries of incessant warfare with the Moors had nur- tured this tendency ; the benignity of the climate, and absence of artificial wants among the peasantry, have ren- dered it easy of retention. The Castilianor Catalonian loses little by leaving his home and joining a guerilla band in the mountains ; his fare remains the same, his habits are little dififerent, the sphere of his a,chievements is much extended. The roving adventurous life of partisan VOL. 11. B 18 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, warfare, "with, its hairbreadth escapes and occasional L_ triumphs, suits his tastes and rouses his ambition. Un- ^®^*- like the peasant of Northern Europe, the Spanish cultiva- tor is never worn down by the labours, or depressed by the limited ideas, of daily toil. Blessed with a benignant climate, tilling a fruitful soil, or wandering over vast downs after immense flocks, he can satisfy his few wants with a comparatively small amount of actual labour. The greater part of his life is spent in doing nothing, or in such exer- cises as nourish rather than depress his warlike disposi- tion. " The Spaniards," says Chateaubriand, " are Chris- tian Arabs : - they unite the savage and the religious char- acter. The mingled blood of the Cantabrian, the Cartha- ginian, the Roman, the Vandal, and the Moor, which flows in their veins, flows not as other blood. They are at once active, indolent, and grave." " Every grave nation/' says Montesquieu, in discoursing of them, " is indolent ; for those who do not labour consider themselves as masters of those who do. In that country liberty is injured by independence. Of what value are civil privileges to a man who, like the Bedouin, armed with the lance and followed by his sheep, has no need of food beyond a few acorns, figs, or olives 1" The dolce far niente is as dear to the Spaniard as to the inhabitant of the Ausonian fields ; but the precious hours of rest are not spent in listless inactivity : they are cheered by the recital of the ballads, or the recounting of the stories which recall the glories, the dangers, the adventures of war. There was scarcely one at this time who had not his musket sus- pended over his hearth, which had been used in the guerilla warfare with the French, and his tale to recount of the indignities endured, or the vengeance taken, or the surprises achieved, in the conflict with those ruthless ichateaub. ^^^.^'^^^S' Mutual benefits and dependence, and along congr. do" series of kind actions and good deeds, performed bv Verone, i. . i i • i i i . ,, , ' I^ "^j 12,13. the parochial clergy to their flocks, had endeared them to the whole rural population ;* and it was easy to see HISTORY OP EUROPE. 19 that if any civil warfare ensued they -would take the side, chap. ■whichever it was, which was espoused by their spiritual directors. ^^^^' 10. So great was the influence of the clergy, and so loyal the feelings of the peasantry, that they would in all state of the probability have enabled the king to resist all the efforts "" " ^^ of the malcontents, had there been any body of efficient and united landed proprietors in the country. But none such existed in Spain. Generally speaking, the clergy were the sole leaders of the people. There were many nobles in Spain, and they were inferior to none in the world in pride and aristocratic pretension ; but they had neither political power nor rural influence. Nearly all absentees, residing the whole year round in Madrid, they had none of that sway over the minds of their tenantry which is enjoyed by landed proprietors who have attached them by a series of kind acts during many generations : intrusted with no political power, they had no weight in national deliberations, or authority in the affairs of Government. The grandees of Spain, who cherished the purity of their descent as carefully as the Arabs do the pedigree of their steeds, and who would admit of, and indeed could contract, no marriage where sixteen quarterings could not be counted on both sides, had incurred the penalty prescribed by nature for such overweening pride and selfishness. They had become a worn-out and degenerate race, considerably below the usual stature of the human frame, and lamentably infe- rior in vigour, courage, and intelligence. Not one great man arose during the whole of the protracted Penin- sular war : few of the generals who did distinguish them- selves belonged to the class of grandees. Nevertheless, this selfish faineant race possessed a great part of the landed property in the kingdom, and by the operation of the strict entails under which it was nearly all held, and the constant intermarriage of the nobility among each other, it was every day running more and more 20 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, into a few hands. The greater part of the remain- !_ ing landed property was in the hands of incorpora- ^^^*- tions, municipalities, or the Church ; so that there was perhaps no country in the world which, from its political situation, stood so much in need of an efficient body of rural proprietors, and yet was so entirely desti- tute of it. 11. It was scarcely possible that a monarchy so situ- Huge gap ated, distracted by such passions, and divided by so many venue from oppositc interests, could long escape the convulsions of civil the Souft ■war ; but it was accelerated, and the means of averting it TOiSni'es!" ^^^® taken away, by the peculiar circumstances in which, on the restoration of Ferdinand in 1814 to the throne of his ancestors, the Finances of the country stood. From the causes which have been mentioned, the industry and resources of old Spain had declined to such a degree, that little revenue was to be derived from taxation at home ; while, on the other hand, the gold and silver mines in the hands of Government in the colonies had become so prolific that the chief revenue of the state had long been derived from its transmarine possessions, and the principal attention of Government was fixed on their main- tenance. The income derived by Spain from her colonies, anterior to the Revolution, amounted to 38,000,000 piastres, or £9,500,000 — fully a half of the whole revenue, at that period, of the Spanish crown. It is true, about £7,500,000 of this sum was absorbed in expenses connected with the colonies themselves, leaving only £2,000,000 available to the royal treasury at Madrid; but still it was by this vast colonial expenditure, and the estab- lishment it enabled the king to keep up, that nearly the whole power and influence of Government was maintained. It was the gold of Mexico and Peru that paid the armies and civil servants, and upheld nearly the entire sway of the court of Madrid. Now, however, this source of influ- ence was gone. The revolution in South America had cut off fully a half of the whole revenue of Spain ; and HISTORY OF EUROPE. 21 how was revolution to be combated without armies, chap. themselves the creatures of the wealth which had been ^^'' lost 1 This is the true cause of the ceaseless embar- ^''^*- rassments of finance, which have ever since distinguished the Spanish government ; which led them, as will ap- pear in the sequel, to hazard revolution at home in the desperate attempt to extinguish it in the colonies, and ^^™^°i"''' has since led them into so many acts alien to the old Espagno, Castilian honour, and discreditable to subsequent admi- is3,i54. ' nistrations,^ 12. While so many circumstances tended to prognos- ticate future and fierce dissension in the Spanish penin- constit'u- sula, the enormous defects of the Constitution of 1812, how°it -was' which was the ruling form of government at the time of ^°™''^- the restoration, rendered it imminent and unavoidable. The circumstances under which that constitution was framed have been already explained, and the calamitous influence they exercised on the deliberations and temper of the Spanish Constituent Assembly.^ That Assem- ^ Hist, of bly — convoked in 1811, at the most disastrous period of fTsgfisis, the contest with France, and when the Imperial armies 22^''23^^ occupied the whole country except a few mountain provinces and fortresses on the sea-coast — so far from presenting a faithful representation of the feelings of the majority of the nation, presented the very reverse. Ga- licia and Asturias alone — evacuated by Key at the tinjQ of the advance of Wellington to Talavera — with, the sea^ port towns of Valencia, Cadiz, and Alicante, were in the hands of the Spaniards: the whole remainder of^Toreno, the country was occupied by the French ; and, of laGuMte^ course, the election of members for the Cortes was ira- Monffi™' possible from the provinces they were masters of. Thus Mrfg^ac, the Cortes was returned only by the seaports of Cadiz, ^^'^^l^gl Valencia, and Alicante, and the mountaineers of Galicia s?; Hist.' ■I , . 11 1 p "' Europe, and Asturias ; and as they were not a tenth part ofi789-i8is, the entire inhabitants of the country,^ the remaining i3,T4. members were all selected by the people of those pro- 22 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, vinees then in Cadiz — that is, by tlie most democratic — portion of the community. In this extraordinary and ^^'^" unconstitutipnal device, perhaps unavoidable under the circumstances, the real germ of the whole subsequent calamities of Spain, and of the south of Europe, is to be found. 2j As might have been expected, from its construction by Its extreme the representatives of little more than the democratic tendency, rabble of three seaport towns, the Constitution of 1812, formed by the Cortes at Cadiz, was republican in the extreme. It preserved the shadow of monarchy, but nothing more. It did not establish a " throne surrounded with republican institutions," but a republic surrounded by the ffhost of monarchical institutions. The Legisla- ture consisted of a single Chamber, elected by universal suffrage ; there was to be a representative for every 70,000 inhabitants in old Spain ; and the American colonies were also admitted on similar terms to a consider- able share in the representation. Every man aged twenty- five, and who had resided seven years in the province, had a vote for the representation of his department in the Cortes. The king had a veto only twice on any legislative measure : if proposed to him a third time by the legislature, he was constrained to pass the measure, whatever it was. There was no House of Peers, or check of any kind on the single Chamber of the Cortes, elected, as it was, by universal suffrage ; and the king's minis- ters, by becoming such, ipso facto lost their seats in the National Assembly. The Cortes was to be re-elected every two years ; and no member who had once sat could be again returned to its bosom. The king had the appointment of civil and military officers, but only out of a list furnished to him by the Cortes, who could alone make regulations for the government of the army. The judges in all the civil courts were to be appointed by the Cortes. The king could declare peace or war, and con- clude treaties in the first instance ; but his measures in HISTORY OP EUROPE. 23 those particulars required, for their validity, the ratifica- chap. tion of the Cortes. Finally, to aid him in the govern- ment of the kingdom, he was empowered to appoint a ^ p^ ^' , privy council of forty members, but only out of a list of congresde a hundred and twenty furnished to him by the Cortes, a^ast' ]' In like manner all diplomatic, ministerial, and ecclesias- 328™4i7 tical appointments were to be made out of a list of three, Europ7,c! presented to him by the same body ; and, to perpetuate ^^s'cV^l- its power, a permanent committee was appointed, which t^uon ^^ exercised, during the intervals of its sessions, nearly the cMve's di- whole powers of the administration intrusted to the entire f. wi'"' body.i This constitution was so thoroughly democratic in all its parts, that it could not by possibility coexist with a utter un- 1 • ^ , . ,r-,i .1 suitableness monarchical government m any country oi the earth, of the con- Biennial parliaments, universal suflFrage, the exclusion of the"gene-° the king's ministers from the legislature, a single cham- |p|^^°* ber, the practical appointment to all offices, civil and mili- tary, by a Cortes thus popularly elected, and the eternal succession of new and inexperienced persons into the legis- lature, by the self-denying ordinances which they had passed, were amply sufficient to have overturned society in Great Britain — long as its people had been trained to popular institutions — in six months. What, then, was to be expected when such a constitution was suddenly imposed on a country inured to political nullity by cen- turies of absolute government — by a so-styled National Assembly, elected, during the whirl of the French war, almost entirely by the populace^of Cadiz, when crowded to suffocation by all the most ardent spirits in the Penin- sula refluent within its walls from the effects of the French invasion 1 It was impossible to imagine a constitution more at variance with the ancient institutions, or repug- nant to the present feelings of nineteen-twentieths of the Spanish people. It was like a constitution for Great Britain formed by a parliament elected by the inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets, Marylebone, and Manchester, with 24- HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP, a few returned from the mountains of Cumberland and ^"" Wales. But, unfortunately, in proportion to its utter ^^^*- unsuitableness for the entire inhabitants of the Peninsula, and the abhorrence of the vast majority of the people to its provisions, it was the object of impassioned attach- ment on the part of the democratic populace in the capi- tal and a few seaport towns. It was so for a very ob- vious reason : it promised, if established in a lasting way, to put the whole power and patronage of the state at their disposal. Therein the seeds of a lasting division of opinion, and of a frightful civil war at no distant period in the Peninsula, in which it might be expected that 12,000,000 bold, hardy, and loyal peasants, scattered over the whole country, would be arrayed on one side ; while 500,000 ardent and enthusiastic democrats concentrated in the capital and chief fortresses, and having the command of the army, were in arms on the other. The proceedings of the Cortes, and the democratic Universal charactcr of the measures they were pursuing, was well S7of the known to the Duke of Wellington, and discerned by TOMtTtu-""* him with his wonted sagacity. He repeatedly warned t'on- the government of Great Britain, that while the spirit, of the nation was anti- Galilean, not democratic, that of the Cortes and its narrow body of constituents was demo- cratic, not anti-Gallican ; and that it would be their wisdom, without sanctioning in any shape, or interfering at all with the proceedings at Cadiz, to turn their atten- tion exclusively to the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula. * They di(^so, and with what effect need be * " The natural course of all popular assemblies — of the Spanish Cortes among others-T-is to adopt democratic principles, and to vest all the powers of the state in their own body ; and this Assembly must take eai-e that they do not run in this tempting course, as the wishes of the nation are decidedly for a monarchy. By a monarchy alone it can be governed ; and their inclination to any other form of government, and their assumption of the power and patronage of the state into their own hands, would immediately deprive them of the confidence of the people, and render them a worse government, and more impotent, because more numerous, than the CeutraJ Junta." — Wellihqton to ' H. Welleslet, Nov. 4, 1810 ; Guewood, iv. 6S9. " The Cortes aro unpopular everywhere, and, in my opinion, deservedly so. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 25 told to none ; but though Spain marched under his chap. guidance in the career of conquest, and, to external : 1_ appearance, was enveloped in a halo of glory, the work- ^^'*' ing of the democratic constitution was not the less felt, and it had become beyond measure repugnant to the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Peninsula. What chiefly excited their indignation was the selfishness and rapacity of the half-starving employes, who, issuing from Cadiz, overspread the country in every direction, like an army of locusts, and ate up the fruits of their industry, by exactions of every description, from the sufiering inhabitants. The general abhorrence in which these rapacious employes were held, recalls the similar indigna- tion excited in Flanders by the Jacobin commissioners sent down there by Danton, when the country was over- run by the republican armies in 1792.^ It will be so tOg^o';"* the end of the world, in all governments, monarchical «• ^- § ss. and republican, where the executive and legislative func- congrirde tions are united in one person or assembly ; for then J^g®"^!' '■ there is no possible check upon the misdeeds of either, fj-'f^^"' The only security which can be relied upon is to be Ann. Beg. found in their separation and mutual jealousy, for then 68. ' ' they act as a check upon each other.^ The proceedings of the Cortes, and the republican spirit with which they were animated, acted in a still influence of more important way upon the destinies of the , New on^soutr World than those of the Old. The deputies from the ^"""'='- Transatlantic provinces, to whom, in a liberal and worthy spirit, the gates of the national representation at Cadiz Nothing can he more cruel, absurd, and impolitic than those decrees respect- ing the persons who have served the enemy. It is extraordinary that the revolution has not produced one man with any knowledge of the real situa- tion of the country. It appears as if they were all drunk, thinking and speak- ing of any other subject tlaan Spain." — Wellington to H. Welleslet, Nov. 1, 1812; GnEWOOD, ix. 524. " It is impossible to describe the state of confusion in which affairs are at Cadiz. The greatest objection I have to the new constitution is, that in a country in which almost the whole property consists in laud — and these are the largest landed proprietors which exist in Europe — no measure has been adopted, and no barrier provided, to guard landed property frpm the 26 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, had been opened, came to the hall of the Cortes, in the ^"' Isle of Leon, -with feelings wound up to the highest ^^^^" pitch, from the wrongs they had so long endured from the selfish and monopolising policy of the mother coun- try, and the free and independent spirit which the break- ing out of the revolution in the Caraccas and elsewhere had excited in her transmarine possessions. They found themselves in a highly democratic and vehemently ex- cited assembly, in which the noble name of liberty was continually heard, in which the sovereignty of the people was openly announced, the whole fabric of the new con- stitution was made to rest on that foundation, and in which the most enthusiastic predictions were constantly uttered as to the future regeneration and happiness of mankind from the influence of these principles. They returned to South America, under the restriction which had been adopted of each Cortes to two years' sitting, before these flattering predictions had been brought to the test of ex- perience, or anything had occurred to reveal their fallacious character. They instantly spread among their constituents enoroachmenta, injustice, and violence to which it is at all times liable, particu- larly in the progress of revolutions. Such a guard can only be afforded by the establishment of an assembly of the great landed proprietors — like our House of Lords, having concurrent power with the Cortes; and you may depend upon it there is no man in Spain, be his property ever so small, who is not interested in the establishment of such an assembly. Unhappily, in legislative assemblies, the most tyrannical and unjust measures are the most popular. I tremble for a country such as Spain, in which there is no barrier for the preservation of private property, excepting the justice of a legislative assembly possessing supreme power. It is impossible to calculate upon the plans of such an assembly : they have no check whatever, and they are governed by the most ignorant and Uoentious of all licentious presses — that of Cadiz. I believe they mean to attack the royal and feudal tenths, the tithes of the Church, under pretence of encouraging agriculture ; and finding the supplies from these sources not so extensive as they expected, they will seize the estates of the grandees. Our character is involved in a greater degree than we are aware of in the demooratical transactions of the Cortes, in the opinion of all moderate, well-thinking Spaniards, and, I am afraid, with the rest of Europe. It is quite impossible such a system can last : what I regret is, that I am the person who maintains it. If the king should return, he will overturn the whole fabric, if he has any spirit; but the gentlemen at Cadiz are so completely masters, that I fear there must be another convulsion." — Wellington to Don Diego de la Vega, Jan. 29, 1813; Gurwood, x. 64, 65, 247; xi. 91. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 27 the flattering doctrines and hopes with which the halls of chap. the Cortes had resounded in Europe. Incalculable was ^^^' the influence of this circumstance upon the future des- ^^'*' tinies of South America, and, through it, of the whole civilised world. To this, in a great degree, is to be ascribed the wide-spread and desperate resolution of the i comte de vast majority of the inhabitants in the revolutionary con- ^"oT'de test in those magnificent settlements: their frightful deso- I'Angie- O ' a terre et lation by the horrors of a war worse than civil : and their Lord Pai- final severance, by the insidious aid of Great Britain, from a. 26s. ' the Spanish crown.^ In all the particulars which have been mentioned;, PoETiTGAL was in the same situation as Spain ; but in situation of two respects the situation of that country was more eSof the favourable for innovation, and her people were more th^sJatof ripe for revolt than in the Spanish provinces. The royal ?„ r™ j™' family having, during the first alarm of the French inva- '^^"°- sion, migrated to Brazil, and dread of the terrors of a sea voyage having prevented the aged monarch from returning, he had come to fix his permanent residence on the beautiful shores of Rio Janeiro. A separation of the two countries had thus taken place; and the government at Lisbon, during the whole war, had been conducted by means of a council of regency, the members of which were by no means men either of vigour or capacity, and which was far from commanding the respect, or having acquired the afi^ections, of the country. While the weight and influence of Government had been thus sensibly weakened, the political circumstances of Portugal, and the events of the war, had in an extraor- dinary manner difilised liberal ideas and the spirit of independence through a considerable part of the people. Closely united, both by political treaties and commer- cial intercourse, with Great Britain, for above a century its general Portugal had become, in its maritime districts at least, Enliish" "^ almost an English colony. English influence was pre- \^^^^^ ^""^ dominant at Lisbon : English commerce had enriched 28 HISTORY €F EUROPE. CHAP. Oporto : the English market for port had covered the VII, 1814. slopes of Tras-os-Montes with smiling vineyards. In addition to this, the events of the late war had spread, in an extraordinary degree, both admiration of the Eng- lish institutions, and confidence in the English character, through the entire population. Thirty thousand Portu- guese troops had been taken into British pay : they had felt the integrity of British administration : they had been led to victory by British officers. Unlike the native nobles who had held the same situations, they had seen them ever the first in the enemy's fire— -the last in acts of domestic corruption. Immense had been the influence of this juxtaposition. Standing side by side with him in battle, they had learned to respect the English soldier in war, to admire the institutions which had trained him in peace. Even the hatred in which they had been bred of the heretic, yielded to the evidence of their senses, which had taught them his virtues. In daily intercourse with the British soldiers, they had learned to appreciate the liberty which had nurtured them ; they had come to envy their independence of thought, and imitate their freedom of language. The mercantile classes in Lisbon and Oporto, almost entirely supported by British capital, and fed by British com- merce, were still more strongly impressed with the merits of the political institutions, from intercourse with a nation governed by which they had derived such signal benefits. Thus a free spirit, and the thirst for liberal institutions, was both stronger and more wide-spread in Portugal than in the adjoining provinces of Spain ; and it was easy to foresee that, if any circumstances impelled the latter country into the career of revolution, the former would be the first to follow the example. 2^_ Feedinand VII., whom the battle of Leipsic and Character of conquest of Frauce had restored to the throne of his Ferdinand , , , , ^ ^m. ^^^ vii. ancestors, was not by nature a bad, or by disposition a cruel man ; and yet he did many wicked and unpardon- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 29 able deeds, and has, beyond almost any other of his con- chap. temporary princes, been the object of impassioned invec- L_ tive on the part of the liberal press in Europe. Placed '^^^*' in the very front rank of the league of princes, ruling a country in which the vast majority were decidedly monarch- ical — a small minority vehemently democratic — brought, the first of all the monarchs of Europe, in contact with the revolutionary spirit by which they were all destined to be so violently shaken, it was scarcely possible it could be otherwise. But the character of Ferdinand was, per- haps, the most unfortunate that could have been found to tread the path environed with dangers which lay before him. He had neither the courage and energy requisite for a despotic, nor the prudence and foresight essential in a constitutional sovereign : he had neither the courage which commands respect, the generosity which wins afi'ection, nor the wisdom which averts catastrophe. Indolence was his great characteristic ; a facility of being led, his chief defect. Incapable of taking a decided line for himself, he yielded easily and willingly to the representations of those around him, and exhibited in his conduct those vacillations of policy which indicated the alternate ascen- dancy of the opposite parties by which he was sur- rounded. His inclination, without doubt, was strongly in favour of despotic power ; but he had great powers of dissimulation, and succeeded in deceiving Talleyrand himself, as well as the liberal ministers subsequently im- posed upon him by the Cortes, as to his real intentions. Supple, accommodating, and irresolute, he had learnt . hypocrisy in the same school as the modern Greek has loo, loe. learned it from the Turk — the school of suffering.^ The treaty of Valen9ay, as narrated in a former work,''^ restored Ferdinand VII. to liberty, and he re-entered the Ferdinand's kingdom of his fathers on the 20th March 1814, just ten sp"In,and days before the Allies entered Paris. This treaty had byth"^"' been concluded with Napoleon while the monarch was'^'"''^*- * History of Europe, 1789-1815, chap. Ixxxvii. § 71. 30 HISTORY OF BUKOPB. CHAP, still in captivity, and it was a fundamental condition of ^"' it that he should cause the English to evacuate Spain. 1814. rpjjg subsequent fall of the Emperor, however, rendered this stipulation of no eflfect ; and, after having been received •with royal honours by the garrisons, both French and Spanish, in Catalonia, the monarch proceeded by easy journeys to Valencia, where he resided during the whole of April. The reason of this long sojourn in a provincial town was soon apparent. He was there joined by the Duke del Infantado, and the leading grandees of the kingdom, as well as many of the chief prelates. Mean- while the Cortes, who had testified the greatest joy at the deliverance of the king, refused to ratify the Treaty of Valen9ay, as having been concluded without their consent — continued resident at Madrid, without advancing to meet their sovereign — and soon began to evince their imperious disposition, and to show in whom they understood the real sovereignty to reside. At the moment when Ferdinand re- entered his kingdom, they published of their own authority a decree, in which they enjoined him to adopt, without delay, the Constitution of 1812, and to take the oath of fidelity towards it. Until he did so, he was enjoined not to adopt the title, or exercise the power, of King of Spain ; and they even went so far as to prescribe the itinerary he jfarS ^^^ *° follow on his route to the capital, the towns he 1814; Mar- was to pass through, and the expressions he was to use in tignac, 107j ,,111 1 -1 . T Ann. Reg. answcr to the addresses he was expected to receive. It 68. ' ' is not surprising that he turned aside from such task- masters.^ Scarcely had the monarch set his foot in Spain when Universal hc rcceived the most unequivocal proofs of the detestation rityTthe in which the constitution was generally held, and the univer- sal hatred at the subordinate agents to whom the Cortes had intrusted the practical administration of government. From the frontier of Catalonia, to Valencia — in the fort- resses, the towns, the villages, the fields — it was one continual clamour against the Cortes : " Viva el Rey Cortes. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 31 Assoluto," was the universal cry. The king was literally chap. besieged with petitions, addresses, and memorials, in which he was supplicated, in the most earnest terms, to annul all ^^^''• that had been done during his captivity, and to reign as his ancestors had done before him. The constitution was represented — and with truth — as the work of a mere revo- lutionary junta in Cadiz, in a great measure self-elected, and never convoked either from the whole country or according to the ancient constitution of the kingdom. There was not a municipality which did not hold this language as he passed through their walls ; not a village which did not present to him a petition, signed by the most respectable inhabitants, to the same effect. The generals, the army, the garrisons, besieged him with addresses of the same description. The minority of the Cortes, consisting of sixty-nine members, presented a sup- plication beseeching the king to annul the whole pro- iMartigaac, ceedings of their body, and to reign as his fathers had ^^^ g^' done. From one end of the kingdom to the other but iS^, 68; , ^ Uhateaub. one voice was heard, that of reprobation of the Cortes congres de and the constitution, and prayers to the king to resume 26, 27. ' ' the unfettered functions of royalty.^ Impelled in this manner by the unanimous voice of the nation, not less than his own secret inclination, to Decree of annul the constitution, and grasp anew the sceptre M^yX*' of his ancestors, Ferdinand ventured on the decisive act. ^^'*" On the 4th May 1814 appeared the famous decree of Valencia, which at once annulled the whole acts of the Cortes, and restored absolute government over the whole of Spain, In it the king, after recapitulating briefly the principal events which had occurred in the Peninsula since his treacherous seizure and captivity by Napoleon in 1808, declared that he had, by a decree of 5th May in that year, convoked the Cortes ; but the French inva- sion prevented it from being assembled, and compelled the several provinces to elect juntas, and severally provide for their own defence. " An extraordinary Cortes," said the 32 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, monarcli, "was subsequently convoked in the island of ^^^' Leon, when nearly the whole country was in the hands of 1814. the French, consisting of 5 7 proprietors, 104 deputies, and 47 supplementary members,* without either the nobles or the clergy being summoned to their deliberations, and convoked in a manner wholly illegal and without a pre- cedent, even in the most critical and stormy days of the monarchy. The first step of this illegal assembly was to usurp the whole powers of sovereignty on the very first day of their installation, and to strip me of nearly my whole prerogatives ; and their next, to impose on Spain the most arbitrary laws, and compel it to receive a new constitu- tion, unsanctioned either by the provinces, the provincial juntas, or the Indies. By this constitution was estab- lished, not anything resembling the ancient constitution, but a republican form of government, presided over by a chief magistrate, deprived alike of consideration and power, and framed entirely on the principle and form of the democratic French constitution of 1791. Force alone compelled the members to swear to the constitu- tion: the Bishop of Orense refused to take the oath, and Spain knows what was the fate of that respectable prelate. " Nothing has consoled me amidst so many calamities, King's de- but the innumerable proofs of the loyalty of my faithful favour of subjects, who longcd for my arrival, in the hope that it and premise might terminate the oppression under which they groaned, Tie^rcor- ^^^ restore the true happiness of the country. I promise — *^'- I swear to you, true and loyal Spaniards — that your hopes shall not be deceived. Your sovereign places his chief glory in being the chief of a heroic nation, which, by its immortal exploits, has won the admiration of the whole world, and at the same time preserved its own liberty and honour. / detest, I abhor despotism : it can never be reconciled neither with civilisation, or the lights of * Members chosen ia the Isle of Leon, to represent the provinces in the hands of the French. 31. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 33 the other nations in Europe. The kings never have been chap. despots in Spain ; neither the sovereign nor the consti- ^"" tution of the country have ever authorised despotism, ^^^*- although unhappily it has sometimes been practised, as it has been in all ages by fallible mortals. Abuses have exist- ed in Spain, not because it had no constitution, but from the fault of persons or circumstances. To guard against such abuses in future, so far as human prudence can go, while preserving the honour and rights of royalty (for it has its own as well as the people have theirs, which are equally inviolable), I will treat with the deputies of Spain and the Indies in a Cortes legally assembled, composed of the one and the other, as soon as I can convoke them, after having re-estabhshed the wise customs of the nation, established with the consent of the kings our august pre- decessors. Thus shall be established, in a solid and legitimate manner, all that can tend to the good of my kingdoms, in order that my subjects may live happy and tranquil under the protection of our religion and our sovereign, the only foundation for the happiness of a king and a kingdom which are rightly styled Catholic. No time shall be lost in taking the proper measures for the assembly of the Cortes, which I trust will insure the happiness of my subjects in both hemispheres." The decree concluded with declaring the resolution of the king not to accept the constitution; to annul all the acts of the Cortes; and declaring all persons guilty ofy«<=ree, high treason, and punishable with death, who should i8i4; Arch, attempt, by word, deed, or incitement, to establish the 64,V9?' "'" constitution, or resist the execution of the present decree.^ No words can describe the universal transport with .32 which this decree was received, or the loyal enthusiasm universal which the prospect of the re-establishment of the ancient in™p^n at constitution and customs of the monarchy excited in the ^^'j^he"""' nation. The joy was universal : it resembled that of the \^^\l^' English when they awoke from the tyranny of the long ^*'*'[|- Parliament and Cromwell to the bright morning of the " yoL. II. c 34 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Restoration. The journey of Ferdinand froin Valencia to ^^^' Madrid was the exact counterpart of that of Charles II. '^^** from Dover to London, a hundred and fifty-three years before. It was a continual triumph. In vain the Cortes assumed a menacing aspect, and, in a tumultuous and stormy meeting, adopted the most violent resolutions to resist the royal authority, and to declare traitors, and punish as such, all who should aid the king in his criminal designs. Physical force was awanting to support their resistance. The troops which they sent out to withstand the royal cortege were the first to array themselves in its ranks, amidst loud cheers and cries of " Viva el Rey Assoluto !" Everywhere the pillar of the constitution was overthrown and broken : enthusiastic crowds, wherever he passed on the journey to Madrid, saluted the returning monarch ; and the Cortes, deserted by all, even their own ushers, in utter dismay fled across New Castile towards Cadiz. Some remained, and were thrown into prison. It ni^mr''^^^ oil ^^^ 13th May that the king, surrounded by a i8u,7o^' W^^ ^^^ enthusiastic crowd, which, as he approached the teiuSd capital, was swelled to above a hundred thousand persons, Congr^s de and amidst the universal and heartfelt acclamations of his 27, 28. ' ■ subjects, entered Madrid, and reascended the throne'&f his fathers.^ Thus fell the work of the Cortes — the Constitution 33. Reflections of 1812, the victim of its own violence, folly, and injus- ou this the obvious courses whicli la; open event, and ticc. Happy if it had never been revived, and become, in consequence of that very violence and injustice, the to tL watchword of the revolutionary party all over the world ! ^'"s- Hitherto the proceedings of the king had been entirely justifiable, and such as must command the assent of all the friends, not only of order, but of freedom, throughout the world. The constitution which had been overthrown was not only an object of horror to the vast majority of the nation, but had been imposed upon it by a. small minority, whose ideas and designs were not less threaten- ing to the interests than repugnant to the habits of the 1814. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 35 people. It -was the work of a self-elected knot of revo- chap. lutionists at Cadiz, whose object was to secure to tbem- selves the real government of the country, strip the Crown of all its prerogatives, and divide the whole offices and patronage of the country among themselves. The king had pledged his royal word that he would without delay assemble the Cortes, convoked according to the ancient laws and customs of the country, and with their aid commence the formation of laws and the reformation of abuses, which might secure the happiness of his subjects in both hemispheres. It was a matter of little difficulty in Spain, whatever it might be elsewhere, to effect such a reformation; for its ancient constitutions contained alli^^^j^^^^ the elements of real freedom, and its inha;bitants could Congrea de tread the path of improvement in the securest of all is, 19. ' ' ways, without deviating into that of innovation.^ * But Ferdinand did not do this, and thence has arisen 34. boundless calamities to his country, lasting opprobrium to Ferdinand's himself. He resumed the sceptre of his ancestors and measures. reigned as an absolute monarch ; but he forgot all the pro- ifshment'of mises, so solemnly made, to reign with the aid of a Cortes Jfon!"*"^' assembled according to the ancient laws and customs of the realm. He fell immediately under the direction of a camarilla composed of priests and nobles, who incessantly represented to him that there could in Spain be no con- stitutional government, and that the only way to secure either the stability of the throne or the welfare of the * It is a curious and iastructive oircurastance how it was tliat tlie ancient elements of freedom were lost in Spain ; Chateaubriand thus explains it : " Les premieres auxqueUes les deputes du Tiers assistSrent, fureut celles de L6on en 1188 : cette date prouve que les Espagnols marchaient S. la tfete des peuples litres. Peu a peu les bourgeois fatigues laissaient le souverain payer leurs mandataires, et designer les villes aptes ^ la deputation. Douze citfe seulement en obtinrent le droit. Charles V. tyran, natureUement ligu^ aveo son coUdgue oet autre tyran, le peuple, ^leva les villea repr&ent^es ^ vingt ; mais en mtoe temps, dans la reunion de TolSde, en 1S35, il retrancha pour toujours des Cortes le Clerg^ et la Noblesse. Les rois, dftarrassSs du joug des Cortds, furent contraints de s'en imposer d'autres. Des conseils ou des con- seillers dirigeaient la monarchie." — Chatbaubeiand, Congrls de V4rone, tom. 1 9. See also Eistoria d'Espana, viii 471. Madrid, 1851. 36 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, kingdom, was to restore everything to the condition in '— which it was before the Revolution. He was not slow ^^^*" in following their advice. Disregarding a patriotic and moderate address from the University of Sala- manca, in which he was prayed to follow up the gracious intentions professed in the declaration from Valencia, of convoking a Cortes, and establishing with their concurrence the laws which were to govern the kingdom, he re-estab- lished by a decree from Madrid the Inquisition, and as a July 21. natural consequence recalled the Pope's nuncio, who had left the country on its abolition by the Cortes. The use of torture, however, in all the civil tribunals, was pro- Aug. 3. hibited by a decree soon after ; and in a memorial to the Pope by the Spanish government it was proposed to abolish it also in the dungeons of the Inquisition, and various regulations were submitted for mitigating the severity of that terrible tribunal. These proposals were carried into eflfect ; and thereafter its proceedings were 1 Ann. Reg. confined to a species of police surveillance over opinions, 73-^Moii- ^^ check the progress of heresy, but without the frightful Hnd^is^' ^o^*"^^^^ which had characterised its secret, or the Autos- 1814. ' da-fS which had for ever disgraced its public proceed- ings.i gj The open assumption of absolute power by the Govern- Discontent mcut, the delay in convoking the Cortes, and, above all, in various , . it i ■• i -r ... quarters, the re-estabushment oi the Inquisition, excited the utmost alarm in the liberal party throughout Spain, and spread great dissatisfaction even among the officers of the army, by whose support alone they could be carried into effect. Symptoms of disturbance soon appeared in various quarters ; for in Spain the habits of the people are so independent, and danger or life are so little regarded, that from dissatisfaction to hostility, as with the Bedouins, is but a step. The roads in the whole of Estremadura, the Castiles, Andalusia, Aragon, and Catalonia, were so infest- ed by bands of guerillas, who, long inured to violence and rapine, had now become mere robbers and bandits, that HISTORY OP EUROPE. 37 the captains-general of those provinces were enjoined to chap. take the most effectual measures for their suppression ; 1_ but they had no adequate armed force at their disposal to ^^^^• effect that object. A proclamation by the governor of Aug. 7. Andalusia revealed the existence of more serious distur- bances, having a decided political tendency, and threatened every person -who should be found either speaking or acting against Ferdinand VII. with death, within three days, by the sentence of a court-martial. A great number of arrests took place soon after in Madrid — ninety persons were apprehended in a single night; and so numerous did the i^™^^^' prisoners soon become that the ordinary places of con- ^P'> Memo- i _ . "38 del finement would not contain them, and the spacious con- Espoz y vent of San Francisco was converted into a vast state lee, ieg, prison, to embrace the increasing multitude.^ These proceedings excited the greatest consterna- tion among the liberals, and great numbers of persons Revolt ot who deemed themselves compromised fled across the Navan". Pyrenees into France. Among the rest, the famous ^^p'^®- Espoz r Mina, who had gained such great celebrity as a partisan chief in Navarre in the war with Napoleon, fell under the suspicion of the Government, who sent him an order, on 1 6th September, to fix his residence at Pam- peluna, and place the troops he had formerly commanded under the orders of the Captain-general of Aragon. Re- garding this injunction, as it certainly was, as a decided measure of hostility, this daring chief, at the head of the 1st Regiment of Volunteers, approached that fortress in the night of the 26 th. They were provided with scaling- ladders, and acted in concert with the 4th Regiment, then in garrison in the city, by whom Mina was admitted into the fortress, and with the officers of which he spent a part of the night on the ramparts, expecting a movement in his favour. Although the greater part of the ofiicers, however, had been engaged in the conspiracy, the private soldiers nearly all remained faithful ; and in Mina's own regiment of volunteers they sent information to the gover- 38 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, nor of Aragon of what was in agitation, and warned him ^"- to be on his guard. The consequence was, that the ^^^*- attempt proved abortive ; Mina himself with difficulty dd'E^ptz*' made his escape, his troops nearly all deserted him, and le^ws"* lie deemed himself fortunate in being able to retire to Monitem, France by Puente la Reyna — thus seeking refuge among 1814; Ann. the cnemics whom he had so strenuously combated, from fsfit ' the king he had so powerfully aided in putting on the throne.^ This abortive insurrection, as is ever the case in such Fresh kr- circumstanccs, strengthened the hands and increased the CTe™3^^" rigour of the monarch. It soon appeared that the resto- sept^is!^' ration of the absolute government, and the chief privi- leges of the nobles, had been resolved on by the camarilla which ruled the State. Already, on 15th September, a decree had been issued restoring the feudal and seigno- rial privileges of the nobles, which had been abolished by a decree of the Cortes on 6th August 1811 ; and this was soon followed up by the still more decisive step of reinvest- ing the council of the Mesta with its old and ruinous right of permitting its flocks to pasture at will over the downs in Leon, Estremadura, and the two Castiles, thus rendering the enclosure of the land or the improvement of the soil impracticable. On 14th October, on occasion of the king's going to the ^theatre of Madrid, an amnesty for State offenders was ,^ublished, which professed to be general, but contained so many exceptions that it in reality Not. 7. was little more than nominal ; and the resolution of the Government to extinguish anything like free discussion in the kingdom was evinced by the king in person arrest- ing and committing to prison M. de Macanay, the Minis- Dec. 17. ter of Justice and of the Interior. Soon after, the state sMoniteur, pj-igoners at Madrid were sentenced, some to ten, some to 25^1814; ?i^' ^^'i so'^e to two ycars of the galleys, or of imprison- A°°- Keg. ment in strong castles ; and they included the editors of, 79. ' ' or contributors to, the Redacta General, and principal liberal journals published at Madrid.^ HISTORY OP EUROPE. 39 Open war was now proclaimed by tlie Spanish Govern- chap. ment against the liberals of all grades, and, unhappily, the violence of the Government kept pace with the in- ^^'*- creasing desire of the inhabitants of the great towns for Farther constitutional privileges. As it had now become a mat- ceedlngs'of' ter of imminent danger to hazard such opinions in public, ltd Pof- the liberal leaders had recourse to the usual resource of a lie^'^evoit. zealous and determined party under such circumstances. Secret societies were formed under the direction of the chiefs of their party, and the ancient and venerable order of free-masons was laid hold of as a cover for designs against the Government, The Inquisition, in consequence, issued a proclamation denouncing these societies ; and March s. ere long it appeared that there was too much foundation for their apprehensions. On 18th September, General Porlier, who had greatly signalised himself in the Penin- sula, assembled the troops stationed at St Lucia without the gates of Corunna at night, and suddenly entering the city, the sentinels of which had been gained, put the Captain-general of Galicia, the governor of the town, and a few other persons, under arrest. No sooner was this done than he issued a proclamation, in which he proposed the reassembling of the Cortes, and dismissal of the Ministers ; and another, purporting to be from the gf ^yp""^' Provincial Junta of Galicia, under the "presidency of Jf^^',^,"?' General Porlier, General-commandant of the Interior of ii7." the Kingdom." 1 In taking these bold steps, which at once committed him with the Government, the principal reliance of Porlier its failure, was on a body of grenadiers and light infantry stationed death.'^ at St lago, which he had reason to believe would join him. Being informed, however, that they hesitated, and that his presence might probably determine them, he set out in haste from Corunna at the head of eight hundred men and four guns, and arrived at a village within four leagues of St lago, where he halted to rest his men, who were much fatigued by their march. While there, some 40 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, emissaries from the convent of St lago introduced them- VII • '—. selves in disguise among his men, and urged them to 1815. arrest their general by the promises of ample rewards in case of success. These promises proved successful : Porlier and his officers were suddenly surrounded and seized by their own men, wbile reposing in a cabaret in the heat of the day after their march ; and the general, being taken Oct. 3. back to Corunna, was condemned by a court-martial to be hanged, which sentence was immediately carried into execution. He wrote, on the eve of his death, a pathetic letter to his wife, with a handkerchief steeped in his tears, in which he exhorted her not to afflict herself on account of the species of death to which he was sentenced, since it was dishonourable only to the wicked, but glorious to the virtuous. He met his fate with dignity and reso- lution. Then began the days of tragedy in Spain, which ere long led to such frightful reprisals on both sides, and for many long years deluged the Peninsula with blood : oSo,*"'' *^® iinhappy bequest of the insane liberals, who estab- ^i^iiis"' ^^^^^^ ^ constitution utterly repugnant to the vast majo- uT. ' rity of the people, but eminently attractive to the ardent and generous among the educated classes.^ 40. "'^^ *^^ ®°^ °^ August, one Spanish army, under Cas- Frlnce"and *^^°^' <^^ossed the frontier near Perpignan ; and another, repeat of" undcr the Conde d'Abisbal, the Bidassoa, with the pro- iard^Fresh fcsscd design of aiding Louis XVIII. in his contest with Wthe t^e partisans of Napoleon. As that contest had been king. already decided by the battle of Waterloo and the presence of a million of the allied troops in France, it may readily be imagined that the presence of the Spanish auxiliaries was anything but desirable, and accordingly the Duke d'Angoul^me, as already mentioned, hastened to the Spanish headquarters, where he had an interview with Castanos, whom he prevailed on to retire ; and his ^^'intetc *'®*^®^* 0" tlie eastern was soon after followed by that of iii. § 29. the Conde d'Abisbal on the western frontier.^ The people both in Pampeluna and Corunna had taken no part in 1815. HISTORY OP EUKOPB. 41 the attempts of Mina and Porlier ; thelatter had been pub- chap. licly thanked by the king for their conduct on the occasion. ^"" It was hoped, therefore, that no measures of seTerity would follow the suppression of these insurrections ; and the dismissal, soon after the death of Porlier, of several of the ministers most inclined to arbitrary measures, led to a general hope that a more moderate system was about to be adopted, and that possibly a Cortes con- voked according to the ancient customs might be assem- bled. But these hopes were soon blasted ; and before the end of the year the determination of the king to act upon the most arbitrary principles was evinced in the most unequivocal manner. The trial of the liberals who had been arrested in Madrid, among whom were included several of the ministers of state, and most distinguished members of the late Cortes, began in November ; but after long proceedings, and a transference of the cases from one tribunal to another, which it was thought might be more subservient to the royal will, the judges of the last reported that the evidence against the accused was not such as to bring them within the laws against traitors or persons exciting tumults and disturbances, which alone authorised severe punishments. Upon receiving this report the king ordered the proceedings to be brought to him, and pronounced sentences of the severest kind, and en- tirely illegal, on thirty-two of the leading liberals in Spain, which he signed with his own hand. Among these was one of ten years' service, as a common soldier, in a regiment stationed at Ceuta, on the celebrated Senor Arguelles, whose eloquence had so often resounded through the halls of the Cortes ; and one of eight years of service in chains, in a regiment stationed at Gomera, on Senor ^ Ann. Reg. Garcia Herreros, formerly Minister of Grace and Jus- 119.' ' ticeli Notwithstanding these severities, the situation of the king was very hazardous at Madrid, and secret infor- mation soon after reached him, which convinced him 42 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, that a change in the system of government had become ■ indispensable. The extreme penury of the treasury, from 1816. 41. the loss of nearly all the resources derived from South Change of Amerfca, and the distracted state of society in Spain Sid policy after the six years' dreadful war of which the Peninsula Ja^at"'' ^^^ been the theatre, rendered it impossible to maintain ^'"^- the national armaments on anything like an adequate scale ; and if it had been practicable, it was doubtful whether the danger of convulsion would not be thereby increased, since the whole revolts came from the army, and had been organised by its leading officers. The pre- carious condition of the royal authority was the more strongly felt, that the clergy, though possessed of un- bounded influence over their flocks, and invaluable allies in a protracted struggle, had no armed force at their command to meet the rebellious bands of the soldiery, whom the liberal leaders had shown they could so easily array against the Government. The. weight of these con- siderations ere long appeared in a partial change of the ministry. To the surprise of all, there appeared in the Jan. 26. Madrid Gazette of 28th January 1816, a decree appoint- ing the celebrated and enlightened Don Pedro de Ceval- los to his former office of First Secretary of State, and admitting that his dismissal, on the resumption by the king of the royal authority, had been founded on erroneous information.'^ By the same decree, the cognisance of state ofiences was taken from the extraordinary tribunals, by which they had hitherto been tried, and remitted to the ordinary tribunals. This was a great step towards a more just system of administration ; and the changed- policy of the Court was at the same time evinced by the conferring of honours and offices on the ministers who had * " Considering as unfounded the motives -which induced me to order your discharge from the office of my First Secretary of State and of the Cabinet, and being highly satisfied with the zeal, exactitude, and affection with which, in the crudest times, you have served myself and the State, I reinstate you in the use and exercise of your office, pf which you will immediately take charge."— Decree, 26th January Uli.— Madrid Qazette. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 43 formed the cabinet of Don Pedro de Cevallos, though they chap. were not reinstated in the ministry. These advances VII. ac mea- siues. towards a liberal government, however, had no effect in ^"^^^ checking the conspiracies, for one was soon after dis- p™''"^*^"''' covered at Madrid, chiefly among half-pay officers, who if-'^^s^g"' had flocked there in great numbers — which, however, was 12C130. ' suppressed without any commotion.^ It soon appeared, also, that if the liberals were deter- mined on continuing their conspiracies, the king was not Restoration less set on rushing headlong into the most arbitrary mea- suits,* and sures. A severe decree against all persons bearing arms foi' ^^^' after nightfall was issued on 20th March, and another on 4th December. The discovery of the conspiracy at Madrid was made the pretence for innumerable arrests in every town, and almost every village, in the kingdom, of persons who were found meeting after ten at night ; and the utmost terror was struck into the persons apprehended, and their relations, by the information that, on the 19th July, the State prisoners at Ceuta, who embraced most July 19. of the members of the late Cortes, had been removed at dead of night, put in irons, and hurried on board a zebecque, which set sail with them on an unknown des- tination. In fact, they were conveyed to Port Mahon in Minorca, where it was thought they would be more secure. And about the same time a decree appeared which re- Juiy 2s. vealed, in a still more decisive manner, the determina- tion of Government permanently to destroy freedom of thought. Not content with enthralling the present, they aimed at throwing their chains over the future ; and a decree issued in July, re-establishing the order of the 2 Dg^^^e Jesuits, restoring to them their possessions in so far as^^J^^^^_ they had not been alienated, and intrusting them with f 'fok^^s the entire direction of education, both male and female, Ann. Eeg. threatened to throw the same chains permanently over the 131.' ' souls of the people.^ An event occurred in the autumn of this year, which was fondly looked forward to by the persecuted liberals 44 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, as a harbinger of rest, and that was a double union of ^^^' the royal families of Spain and Portugal. Ferdinand, ^^^^' who, since the loss of his young and captivating consort Double in 1808, had been a widower, now resolved to afford a ofXToyai chance for the continuance of the direct line of succes- s™in Md^ sion, by entering into a second marriage, and, by the sert^ls' advice of his Council, he determined on making proposals to his niece, the Infanta Maria Isabel Francisca, second daughter of the King of Portugal. At the same time, proposals were made for an alliance between Doiir Car- los, the King's younger brother, and the heir-presump- tive to the throne, for whom so adventurous a fate was reserved, and the Infanta Maria Francisca de Acis, third daughter of the same sovereign. Both proposals were accepted ; and as the princesses were at Rio Janeiro, where the royal family of Portugal had been since their flight thither in 1808, when Portugal was first overrun by the French, the Duque del Infantado was sent with a splendid retinue to Cadiz, to receive the princesses on their landing from Brazil. The marriages were both celebrated with great pomp at Madrid on the 28th Sep- Sept. 28. tember ; and on this occasion an amnesty, which pro- fessed to be general, was published. It contained, how- ever, so many exceptions as practically left it in the power of Government to continue, with scarce any limi- tation, the oppression of the liberals, for it excluded all persons charged with the following crimes — " Lese majesty, divine and human treason, homicide of priests, 1 Decree blasphemy, coining false money, exporting prohibited isfe-^Mo- ^^■''i^l^^' resisting the of&cers of justice, and mal-admin- niteur.oct. istratiou in the exercise of the royal powers." There Ann. Reg. wcrc fcw crimcs connected with the State which might 131. ' ' not, with the aid of a little straining, be brought within some one of these exceptions.^ An event connected with the Peninsula occurred in the close of the preceding year, and was heard of in Europe in this, strongly illustrative of the vast consequences HISTORY. OF EUROPE. 45 ■which were to follow to the most distant parts of the chap. VTT earth from the events following on the French Revolu- tion. On December 28, 1815, the Prince-Regent of ^^^^■ Portugal, who had never, since the migration of the royal creation of family, quitted the shores of Brazil, issued a decree, indomof^ which, after enumerating the vast extent and boundless o^e! 28 capabilities of his dominions in the New World, and the i^is. benefits which would result from the entire union of the dominions of the house of Portugal in both hemispheres, he declared that the colony of Brazil should thenceforward be elevated to the kank of a kingdom ; and directed that, in future, Portugal, the two Algarves, and Brazil, shall form one united kingdom, under the title of the " United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the two Al- garves." Thus was monarchy, for the first time, erected by the European race in the New World — an event of the more importance that the immense territories of the house of Braganza in the New World, embracing above four times the area of Old France, were placed alongside of the newly emancipated republics, broken ofi" from the dominions of Spain in the same hemisphere ; and thus an opportunity was afibrded of demonstrating, by actual ]^^''lf' experiment, the comparative influence of the monarchical i^i^^j, ^^^ and republican forms of government on the welfare of the le, is'is; species under the chmate of South America, and with the laie, 131! Iberian or Celtic family of mankind. ^ The year 1817 commenced with an insurrection of a more serious character than had yet occurred in the lusunec- Peninsula. Unlike the preceding, it began not with the vaienda. soldiers, but the citizens. A trifling tax on coals excited 1817.'^' a tumult in Valencia on the 17th January, which ere long assumed the character of an insurrection. At first the populace were successful ; and during the whole of the 17th the^ity was, with the exception of the barracks, in their possession. They immediately proclaimed the Constitution of 1812 ; but their triumph was of short duration. General Elio, who commanded the garrison, 46 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. coDcentrated his forces ; the troops continued faithful ; the respectable inhabitants remained in their houses, and ^^'^" took no part in the insurrection ; and the populace, meet- ing with no other support than what they could derive ^rom their own numbers, were at length defeated, but not before much blood had been shed, and General Elio himself wounded. He immediately published a severe decree, denouncing the penalty of death against all per- sons, except those privileged as cavaliers to carry arms, found with weapons in the dark, and authorising the patrol to fire upon them. This was soon followed by a March 2. dccrcc prohibiting the importation of a great variety of books into Spain, among which the works of Voltaire, Gibbon, and Robertson, Benjamin Constant, and a great many others, are specially mentioned as " false in poli- tics, and to the hierarchical order, subversive of the 1 Moniteur, power of the chm'ch, and tending to schism and religious 1817; Ann. toleratiou, and pernicious to the state." It was easy to nT,'u8. ' see what influence had been predominant in the prepara- tion of this decree. ^ Ere long another conspiracy broke out in Barcelona of AbortiVe a very extensive character, in which Generals Lacy and in Bar™^ Mllaus, who had distinguished themselves so much in the deatii^o'f ^^^^ ^^^' "^^i"® implicated. The object of the conspirators. General as of all the preceding ones, was the re-establishment of the Constitution of 1812, and the convoking of the Cortes. April 5. It was to have broken out on the night of April 5, and a gi?^t number of officers, besides a considerable part of the battalion of the light infantry of Tarragona, were engaged on the side of the conspirators. Castanos the captain-general of the province, however, received intelli- i)rodam^^ gcncB of the plot, and arrested Lacy and three hundred i2,°i8i^f officers who were implicated in his designs. He was May'?^"'' iniioediately tried by a court-martial, and^ sentenced to He^'im'' ^® shot.2 Being sent over, however, to Minorca, to have m, 120. ' the sentence carried into execution, as it was deemed unsafe to attempt it in Spain, he attempted, when on the 1817. HISTORY OP EUROPK 47 beach of that island, and attended only by a slender chap, escort of prisoners, to make his escape. The soldiers pursued him, and in endeavouring to defend himself he was, fortunately for himself, accidentally killed. A Tery important papal bull was issued in the same month, regarding the property of the church in Spain. Papai biiii Such had become the penury of the royal treasury, in afcoitn- consequence of the loss of the South American colonies, theSpankh and the cessation of industry in Spain during the dread- ^bruie. ful war of which, for six years, it had been the theatre, that it had become absolutely necessary to have recourse to some extraordinary resources, and the church, as the body which was most tractable and capable of bearing such a burden, was selected to make up the deficiency. A negotiation in consequence was opened with the court of Rome, to which the necessity of the case was fully represented, and the consequence was, that on the 16th April a papal bull was issued, which, on the narrative of the " enormous expenses at which we have had the satis- faction of seeing an extremely glorious victory gained, as well for religion as the monarchy, authorised Ferdinand to exact annually, during six years, the sum of 30,000,000 reals (£300,000) from the estates of the church, as well regular as secular." This was an immense relief to the treasury, but, great as it appears, it was not more than suffi- cient to fill up the annual deficit which had been constantly V^Tgo""'' increasing since the restoration. Such as it was, however, i8i7; Ann. it led to incalculable calamities, both to the nation and i2°^,'i2i. ' the monarchy .1 The King of Spain had certain claims on the part of the Infanta, Queen of Etruria, on the states of Parma, Treaty' re- Placentia, Guastalla, which had been made the subject of ^een^of* anxious claim and negotiation at the Congress of Vienna ^'""''*- in 1815, and subsequently with the allied powers. Such were the difficulties with which the question was involved that it led to a very protracted negotiation, which was not brought to a conclusion till this year, when 1817. 48 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, a treaty was concluded, by which, on the one hand, Spain was admitted into the European alliance and the treaties signed at the Congress of Vienna ; and, on the other, the reversion of the duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guas- talla was secured to the Infant Don Carlos Louis, the ^Treaty, Infanta's son ; and until that reversion opened, the states i8^'7;Mar- of Lucca wcrc assigucd to her majesty the Queen of vii. 122; ■ Etruria. It is in virtue of this treaty that the present 1817, i2i! Duke of Parma, who married the daughter of the Duke de Berri, now enjoys the duchy of Parma.'^ In the close of this year the negotiations, so long and Timty'for anxiously conducted on the part of the British govern- tion o" tht ment, for the suppression of the slave trade, were brought mcAof^' to a successful issue with Spain. By it the King of ^^^^- Spain prohibited, absolutely and immediately, all pur- chase of negroes in Africa north of the line, and de- nounced ten years' transportation against whoever should infringe the present decree. Leave was to be given, how- ever, to purchase slaves south of the line, to such as might apply for a license to that effect, until the 30th May 1820, when it was to cease absolutely and for ever in the Spanish dominions in every part of the woi'ld. Foreign vessels trading to Spanish ports were to be sub- ject to the. same regulations, in every respect, as the Spanish. This decree was only extorted from Spain with great difficulty by the British government, by the engagement, as already mentioned, on their part, to pay « Ante, c. *o ^P^™ £400,000 for the abolition, on 20th Feb. 1818, aofcKe ^^^'^^ ^^^ punctually done.^ It is a singular circum- dJ°26' stance, as creditable to the English as it was discreditable niteur, Jan', to thc Spauish govcrnmcnt, that the one consented to Pari" Deb. gi^e and the other to receive so considerable a sum for an xxxviii.®'^' ^^t ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^7 every consideration of humanity and tveJ, Dec". J'^^tice.^ It wiU appear in the sequel how entirely both Ke'^'im' P^^*'^^ *° *^^^ treaty departed from the object it had J2l.' ' in view, and how the one, by its fiscal policy, restored the slave trade to a frightful extent, and the other, by HISTORY OP EUROPE. 49 repeated evasions, continued to practise it until it arose to chap. the enormous amount of from fifty to seventy thousand ^^^' slaves annually sent into Cuba alone. ^^'^• The internal situation of Spain had not sensibly ame- liorated during the years the transactions of which have Miserable been now briefly enumerated. The Inquisition had spaL° its spread its leaden arms over the kingdom, and crushed nlvy.™'* any approach to independent thought : the severance of South America had dried up the principal sources of its material industry. The army, in great part without pay, always long in arrears, was with diiSculty held to its standards, and the effective strength of the regiments exhibited a very different return from the rolls on paper. So great had the dilapidation of the military force of the kingdom become, from the penury of the Exchequer, and discontent and desertion of the troops, that, by a decree on June 1, its organisation was entirely changed, and June i. they were divided into forty-seven regiments of common . and light infantry, twenty-two regiments of cavalry, five thousand artillery, two regiments of guards : in all, seventy thousand men, to which were to be added forty- three regiments of provincial militia, which mustered about thirty thousand combatants. As to the navy, it had fallen into such a state of decay, that the power which, two hun- dred and thirty years before, had fitted out the invincible Armada, and planted suchmagnificent coloniesin the Indies, and even in later times had all but rivalled the power of England upon the seas, was unable to fit out a fleet to transport the military succours which were so loudly called for to the New World. In this extremity the Government, with the money extorted the preceding year from the priests, bought a squadron of old worn-out line- of-battle ships from Russia, to which Alexander, out of pure generosity, added three frigates in a present. Such, however, was their state of decay that they took five ^ Ann. His- months to make the voyage from Cronstadt to Cadiz, sw^sob!' and had to put into Plymouth to refit.^ At length the VOL. II. D 50 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, squadron arrived at Cadiz, on 21st February, and two ^"' thousand men were embarked on board of it for Lima. 1818. rpjjg extreme penury of the finances, in consequence of Extreme the loss of the miues of South America to the Govern- thSnL ment, and its commerce to the country, was the cause of Set"' this woeful state of decrepitude— a memorable proof of tsis. ^' *h® straits to which even the greatest naval power may be reduced by the severance of its colonies. The Govern- ment was overwhelmed with demands for payment of debts by foreign countries, when by no possible contrivance could they raise money to pay their own armaments. The most pressing part of the debt consisted of 1,500,000,000 reals (£14,500,000), composed of vales, a species of assignats issued in former times by the treasury. The Cortes had provided for the payment of the interest of this debt by assignation of the property of the Inquisi- tion ; but as the restoration of the property of that body left nothing for the creditors, the minister of finance, by a decree on 3d April, reduced the debts to a third of their amount, and made provision for the interest of that third from the estates of the Church. By another March 30. decrco, Corunna, Santander, Cadiz, and Alicante were declared free ports — a vain attempt to restore the com- merce to which the loss of the colonies had brought total ruin. A manifesto was prepared, and submit- sept. 14. ted in the end of the year to the Congress of Aix la Chapelle, to be addressed to the revolted colonies, which promised them an amnesty for the past, reform- i.^Me'lioj ^tion of abuses, and a certain degree of freedom of com- \m,\^', iiierce. It was approved of and published, but proved of ^61. no avail with men resolutely set upon asserting their in- dependence.^ An event occurred in the close of this year, which, in its final results, was attended with most important efilects upon both kingdoms of the Peninsula. On 26th December, the young Queen Maria Isabella, who had arrived from Brazil in the autumn of 1817, to share the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 51 fortunes of the King of Spain, and tvho was very near chap. her time, was suddenly seized with convulsions, and VII. expired in twenty minutes. The infant was delivered ^^^^' after the mother's death by the Cesarean operation, but Death of it expired, after being baptised, in a few minutes after Mari^ its mother. Being a female, it could not have succeeded iTsflin. by the existing law, sanctioned by all the powers of°*°'^®' Europe at the treaty of Utrecht, to the crown of Spain ;i but this bereavement, by leaving the king to i Ann. Hist, marry again, which, as will appear in the sequel, he'' actually did, was attended with consequences of the last moment to the Peninsula, and of general interest to the whole of Europe. This death was almost immediately followed by that of the old King, Charles IV., who had been forced to resign the crown at Bayonne in 1808, gg^}"'!'^;]-. who expired at Naples on 20th January 1819, a few Moniteur, weeks after his Queen, Louisa Maria Theresa of Parma, isia had died on the road to that place.^ Meanwhile the preparations for the grand expedition to South America, which had been so long in prepara- Disastrous tion, went on without intermission ; although the fate 6^1 expe- which befel the advanced guard of two frigates, with two L?mT. *° thousand men, despatched in the preceding year, was not such as to afford very encouraging hopes of its ulti- mate success. The soldiers and crew on board one of the frigates mutinied, threw the officers overboard, and sailed into Buenos Ayres, where they were received with open arms by the insurgents, whom they immediately joined. The other was captured off the coast of Peru by the insurgent squadron, and eight thousand muskets which it had on board were immediately appropriated to their use. Undeterred by these disasters, however, the Govern- ment continued their preparations for the grand expedi- tion with the utmost activity; and by the middle oi\^iyf^f- January fifteen thousand men were collected in the Isle f g^i,^\'j'- of Leon, and six ships of the line, in a tolerable state of u. ssi, 383. equipment for the voyage.^ 52 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. The disorganised state of all parts of Spain, however, ^"' still continued, and the repeated revolts -which broke out, ^^'^' especially among the soldiery, might have warned the Fresifre- Govemmeut that a serious disaster was impending over lenda!^'^ t^e monarchy, and that the great armament in the Isle rappressed of I^eon was not likely to sail without making its strength Jan. 21. ■ felt by the Government. On the 21st January a fresh conspiracy was discovered by General Elio in Valencia, the object of which was to assassinate him and his prin- cipal officers, and immediately proclaim the Constitution of 1812. At its head was Colonel Vidal, who made a vigorous defence against the soldiers sent to arrest him, and was only made prisoner after he had been run through the body. He himself was hanged, and his associates, to the number of twelve, shot from behind, the punishment reserved for traitors. This event had a melancholy e;ffect upon the fate of the prisoners at Bar- celona, who had been implicated in General Lacy's revolt in the preceding year. They were condemned to death to the number of seventeen, and executed without mercy. Disturbances at the same time broke out in New Castile, Estremadura, and Andalusia, the roads of which were infested by bands of old guerillas, who formed themselves into bands of robbers, amounting to three hundred men. But all these disorders were ere long I Aw^''^^»g*; thrown into the shade by the great revolt which broke Ann. Reg. ' Qut amoug the troops in the Isle of Leon, which was 179.' ' attended with the most important consequences on both hemispheres. ^ Such had been the penury of the exchequer, and the Causes" of statc of dilapidation into which the once magnificent inaieYsie arsBuals and dockyards of Cadiz had fallen, that the of Leon, fitting-out of tho expedition, after two years' incessant preparation, was still incomplete. Two ships of the line and a frigate were despatched on 11th May, to clear the coasts of America of the insurgent corsairs who infested them ; but one of these— the Alexander — was obliged, a HISTORY OF EUROPE. 53 few days after, to return to Cadiz to refit. During the chap. long delay occasioned by these difficulties, the troops ^^^' collected for the expedition, which by the end of May ^®^^" amounted to twenty-two thousand men — a force perfectly capable of effecting the subjugation of South America, had it arrived in safety at its destination — were left con- centrated and inactive in the island of Leon. During the leisure and monotony of a barrack life they had leisure to confer together, to compare the past and present condition of their country, and ruminate on the probable fate which awaited themselves if they engaged in the warfare of South America. A large number of veterans, who had served under Murillo in those dis- astrous campaigns, not a few of whom were in the public hospitals suffering under severe mutilations, gave the most dismal accounts of the dreadful nature of the warfare on which they were about to be sent, the fero- cious enemies with which they had to contend — the English veterans trained under Wellington, who formed so large a part of the insurgent forces — the interminable deserts they had to cross, the pestilential gales, so fatal to European constitutions, with which the country was infested, and the frightful warfare, where quarter was neither asked nor given on either side, which awaited them on their arrival. A proclamation of the king, issued on 4th January, in which it was announced Jan. 4. that no quarter would be given to any soldiers of foreign ~ nations found combating in the insurgent ranks, rather i^^j^jji^j^ increased than diminished these alarms, by proving the ij;^^^*^^^' reality of one of the many, and not the least fosmid- 1819, 179; ,,"^_,, 1 • 1 , 1 • • Martignac, able, of the dangers which were represented as awaiting i. ns, 179. them.i To these considerations, already sufficiently powerful, were added the efforts of the merchants and revolutionists Efforts of of Cadiz, who spared neither their talents nor their riches liberals to to induce the assembled troops to abandon their duty p"""°'® "• and revolt against the Government, They painted to 54 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, them in the most gloomy colours the disastrous state of L_ the country, with its colonies lost, its trade ruined, its 1^1^- exchequer bankrupt, its noblest patriots in captivity or in chains, its bravest generals shot, its liberties destroyed, the Inquisition restored, the public education in the hands of the Jesuits, an inconsistent camarilla, fluctuat- ing in everything except evil, ruling alike the monarch and the country. They professed the utmost respect for the king, and the firmest determination to protect his person and just authority : the only object was to displace a ministry, the worst enemy he had in his dominions, and restore the Cortes, the only security for their pros- perity and just administration. To these considerations, in themselves sufficiently just and powerful, was added the gold of the Cadiz merchants, who hoped, by frustrat- ing the expedition, to succeed in re-establishing peace with the colonies, and regaining the lucrative commerce they had so long enjoyed with them. The result was, 'Martignac, t^^*' beforc the time arrived when the expedition could Anr'Hilt.' ^y possibility set sail, the whole army was imbued with i[-^387^388; revolutionary ideas, and only awaited the signal of a 1819,179; leader to declare openly against the Government, and avert the much dreaded departure for South America. ^ ^^ The CoNDB d'Abisbal, formerly General O'Donnell, insurrec- of Irish cxtractiou, who had distinguished himself in Cadiz. Catalonia during the late war, was at the head of the ■^"'^ ^" expedition. He was a man of a bold and enterprising character, and possessed of such powers of dissimulation that those most entirely, as they thought, in his confi- dence, were not in the slightest degree aware of what he really intended. He had at first entered cordially into the designs of the conspirators, and their principal hopes of success were founded on his heading the enterprise. For a long time he adopted the views of the disaffected, and from the knowledge which they had of this, he gained unlimited influence over the minds of the soldiers. But when the decisive moment arrived, the deep dissimula- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 55 tion of the man became apparent. In the night of the chap. 7th Julj, -when the conspiracy was on the point of ^^^' breaking out, the Conde d'Abisbal assembled the gar- ■^^^®" rison of Cadiz, six thousand strong, -which was entirely at his devotion, and, without revealing to them what he intended to do, informed them that he was about to lead them on a short expedition, of which the success was certain, and which would entitle them to the highest rewards from their sovereign and country ; but he required them to bind themselves by an oath to obey his orders, whatever they were. The soldiers, ignorant of his design, i^^^ jj;^j_ but having confidence in his intention, at once took the ';-3ii8,389; oath, and as soon as this was done he led them into the isis, i79; camp "des Victoires," where seven thousand men, destined i. Tsofm. to be first embarked, were assembled.^ These troops were ordered to assemble in parade order, and no sooner was this done than d'Abisbal stationed his The con- men round them in such positions as to render escape at first ar- impossible, and then, ordering the soldiers to load their d^Abtbd. muskets and the artillerymen their pieces, he summoned -^"'y **• the men to lay down their arms, and deliver up the officers contained in a list which he had prepared. Re- sistance was impossible, as the men who were surrounded had no ammunition, and they were compelled to submit. A hundred and twenty-three officers, comprising the chiefs of the army, were put under arrest, a part of the troops sent out of the camp, and dispersed through villages of Andalusia, and three thousand compelled to embark and set sail they knew not whither. In fact, their des- tination was the Havannah, where they arrived in safety six weeks afterwards. Having by these extraordinary means gained this great success, succeeded in arresting his comrades, and crushing a conspiracy of which he him- ^^^^^ ^^^ self had been the chief, d'Abisbal hastened to Madrid, i. i80;Ann! • 1 ■ 1 p p 1 • 1 Hist. oo9 ; where he took credit to himself for having at once de- Ann. Reg. 1819 179 feated a dangerous conspiracy, and compelled a mutinous i8o.' ' body of soldiers to obey orders,^ and proceed on their 56 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, destination. He was received with the greatest distinc- VTT • L_ tion at Court, decorated with the great ribbon of the 1819. order of Charles III. ; and his second in command, Gene- ral Saarsfield, who had powerfully seconded him in his enterprise, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. But these flattering appearances were of short duration, D'AbUbai and the discovery of the conspiracy proved entirely fatal of thelom- to the expedition, with the exception of the three thou- ^Mdition.* sand who, in the first stupor of astonishment, had been hurried on board, and sent ofl^ to the Havannah. The Government had become, with reason, so distrustful of the troops that they no longer ventured to keep them together, or in the neighbourhood of Cadiz ; and sinister rumours ere long reached Madrid as to the share which the Conde d'Abisbal had had, as well as his second in command, in the conspiracy. The consequence was that they were both called to the capital, under pretence of giving personal information on so dangerous an afiair ; and while there they were deprived of their com- mands, and the direction of the expedition intrusted to the Conde de Calderon, a veteran of seventy years of age. D'Abisbal was too powerful a man, however, to be brought to judgment ; and, to the surprise of every one, this scene of dissimulation and hypocrisy on both sides lAnn^iiist ^^^ brought to a close by a decree, which, after reciting ii. 389, 390 i the great services he had rendered to his country, ap- i. iBif^' pointed him Captain-general of Andalusia, President of the Audience of Seville, and Governor of Cadiz.^ But although everything was thus smooth on the sur- Additionai face, d'Abisbal was far from having really regained the ^verity on Confidence of the Government, and they were daily thrown the&ovem-iiito greater consternation by the discoveries made as to "«■"• the extent of the conspiracy, and the share which the new captain-general had had in fomenting it. Great numbers of officers were arrested ; but the Government did not venture on the hazardous step of bringing them to justice. They took the opportunity, however, of acting with ex- 1819. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 57 treme severity in other quarters. Ten officers who had chap. been arrested for their accession to Porlier's conspiracy in Galicia in 1815, and had remained in prison ever since, were ordered to be executed par contumace, twenty were sent to the galleys, and twenty-five imprisoned for various periods. Additional levies of troops were ordered ^n Galicia and Catalonia, the mountaineers of which pro- vinces were deemed attached to the royal cause. General Elio adopted the most rigorous measures, and even made use of torture, to discover the traces of a conspiracy which was suspected to exist in Valencia, and to implicate a large number of the most respectable citizens ; and every effort was made to prevent the introduction of French books across the Pyrenees, by which it was suspected the minds of the soldiers and people had been chiefly cor- rupted. But these measures of precaution proved ineffec- tual : the importation of foreign revolutionary books continued, and the concentration of the troops in the great towns, where the principal danger was apprehended, jA°g°- i^j'^': left the provinces open to the incursions of armed bands Ann- Reg. ' which infested the roads, and, in some instances, openly isi.' proclaimed the constitution.^ Still, however, the preparations for the expedition con- tinued at Cadiz ; but in the course of the autumn a fresh Yeiiow difficulty arose, which proved insurmountable. In the claL! end of July, a dangerous epidemic broke out at Cadiz, ■*^"^' '^*'' which soon spread from the hospitals to the crews of the ships and the troops in garrison, or in the adjoining camps in the Isle of Leon ; and though the punishment of the galleys was, in the first instance, threatened to the physician who gave it its true appellation, on the 20th of August a proclamation of the commander ad interim of the expedition, Don Blaise- Foumas, announced the true character of the disease, which was the yellow fever, though it was disguised under the name of the typhus iterodis. In spite of all the precautions which could be taken, the progress of the malady was very 58 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, rapid, especially among the indigent and crowded popula- ^'' tion of that great seaport. Ten thousand were soon seized '^'•''- with the disorder — the hospitals were full — the deaths rose to a hundred a-day ; and the soldiers, seized with a sudden panic, mutinied against their officers, burst through the barriers of the quarantine which had been established round the island of Leon, and, spreading to the number of nine thousand oyer the adjoining villages of Andalusia, carried the seeds of real contagion and the terrors of imaginary danger wherever they went. So far did the alarm spread that the most rigorous measures were adopted, to prevent any communication between Anda- lusia ajid New Castile ; a sanitary junta of eighty per- sons was established at Madrid to prevent the contagion lAnn Hist spreading to the capital ; and a decree published, denounc- ii.391,392; ing the punishment of death against any person who 1819, i8o! should enter the capital, without a certificate of health, from the infected province.^ While these events, fraught with incalculable, and then Sale of Flo- unforeseen, consequences to both hemispheres, were in Am^erLns. progress iu Spain, its Government was actively engaged Feb. 22. ^^ diplomatic negotiations of the most important charac- ter. The extreme penury of the exchequer compelled them to have recourse to every imaginable device to re- plenish it : one thought of was the sale of the Floridas to the Americans, which was eflFected, under colour of determining the limits of the two countries, by a treaty signed at Washington on 22d February. By this treaty the Americans acquired the whole territories known by the name of the Floridas, between the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico — a territory of vast extent, and in great part of surpassing fertility. The price, disguised under the name of discharging claims on the Spanish Government, was to be 5,000,000 dollars, (£1,250,000). Some difficulties arose about the ratification of this treaty by the Spanish government, on the ground of a preda- tory expedition, alleged by the Spaniards to have been HISTORY OF EUROPE. 59 connived at by the American government, into the pro- chap. vince of Texas. At length, however, these difficulties ^"' ■were adjusted, and the cession took place. Thus while ^®^^- Spain, in the last stage of decreptitude, was losing some of its colonies by domestic revolt, and others by sales to foreign states, the great and rising republic of America was acquiring the fragments of its once boundless dominions, and spreading its mighty arms into farther provinces, the scene of war and appropriation in future times. One pl"^' of the most interesting things in history is the unbroken ]^^^l^^^ succession of events which obtains in human affairs, and Congress, . . Dec. 7, the manner in which the occurrences, appai'ently trivial, I8i9; Ann. of one age, are linked in indissoluble connection with S97,'604. changes the most imp'ortant in another.^ Anxious, if possible, to continue the direct line of suc- cession, the king, after the death of his former queen, did Marriage of not long remain awidower. On 12th of August aproclama- Aug.TI.' tion announced to the astonished inhabitants of Madrid that the king had solicited in marriage the hand of the Princess Maria Josephine Amelia, niece of the Elector of Saxony, and been accepted. The marriage was solem- nised by proxy at Dresden on the same day, and the young queen set out immediately for Spain. She arrived at the Bidassoa on 2d October, and at Madrid on the 19 th of the same month, when she made her public entry into Madrid on the day following, amidst the discharges of artillery, rolling of drums, clang of trumpets, and every demonstration of public joy. But it was of bad augury for the married couple that the very day before an edict oct. is. had been published, denouncing the penalty of death against any one coming in from the infected districts in the south. An amnesty was published on occasion of the „ . „. 1-1 J n • 1 1 1 II ^Ann.Hist. marriage ; but as, like the former, it excluded all persons ii. 395,396; charged with political offences, it had no effect in allaying 1819, ili! the anxiety of the public mind.^ But the time had now arrived when an entire revolu- tion was to take place in the affairs of the Peninsula, and 60 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, those changes were to commence which have changed the ^"" dynasty on the throne, altered the constitution of the '^^"- country, and finally serered her American colonies from Revolution Spain. The malcontents in the army, so far from being by Riego? deterred by the manner in which the former conspiracy jg2o^ had been baffled by the double and treacherous dealing of the Conde d'Abisbal, continued their designs, and, dis- trusting now the chiefs of the army, chose their leaders among the subordinate officers. Everything was speedily arranged, and with the concurrence of nearly the whole officers of the army. The day of rising was repeatedly adjourned, and at length definitively fixed for the 1st Janu- ary 1820. At its head was Rieqo, whose great achieve- ments and melancholy fate have rendered his name im- perishable in history.* On that day he assembled a bat- talion in the village of Las Cabezas where it was quartered, harangued it, proclaimed amidst loud shouts the Constitu- tion of 1812, and marching on Arcos, where the head- quarters were established, disarmed and made prisoners General Calderon and his whole stafi^ ; and then, moving upon San Fernando, efi^ected a junction with Quieoga, i'ls?- An^' ^^° "^^^ ^^ *^® hesid of another battalion also in revolt. ¥}o*'-k'A The two chiefs, emboldened by their success, and haviug Ann. Reg. hitherto expcnenccd no resistance, advanced to the gates 223.' ' of Cadiz, within the walls of which they had numerous partisans,! upon whom they reckoned for co-operation * " Raphael y Nunez del Riego was born in 1785 at Tuna, a village of Astu- rias. His father, a Hidalgo without fortune, placed him in the Gardes-du-Corps, which, ever since the scandalous elevation of the Prince of Peace, by the favour of the Queen, from its ranks, had been considered as the surest road to fortune in Spain. He was in that corps on occasion of the French invasion of that country in 1808; and when it was disbanded by the seizure of the royal family, he entered a guerilla band, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of an ofldcer in the regiment of Asturias. He was ere long made prisoner, and em- ployed the years of his captivity in France in completing his education, which he did chiefly by reading the works of a liberal tendency in that country. On the peace of 1814 he was liberated, returned to Madrid, and received the appointment of Lieut.-Colonel in the 2d battalion of the Regiment of Asturias. That regiment formed part of the army under the Conde d'Abisbal, destined to act against South America ; and it was thus that Riego was brought to destruction and mm."— JBiographie Unmenelle, Ixxix. 114, 115 (Rieqo). HISTORY OP EUROPE. 61 and admission within it. But here they experienced a chap. check. The gates remained closed against them — the ^"• governor of the fortress denounced them as rebels — the ^^^o. expected co-operation from within did not make its appearance, and the two chiefs were obliged to remain encamped outside, surrounded with all the precautions of a hostile enemy. The intelligence of this revolt excited the greatest alarm at Madrid, and the Government at first deemed their vigoro'ua cause hopeless. The next day, however, brought more XpTed^ consoling accounts — that Cadiz remained faithful, and S?gents! a majority of the troops might still be relied on. to act against the insurgents. Recovering from their panic, the Government took the most vigorous measures to crush the insurrection. General Freyre was despatched from Madrid at the head of thirteen thousand men hastily collected from all quarters, upon whom it was thought reliance could be placed, and he rapidly reached the Isle of Leon, where the insurgent troops, to the number of ten thousand, lay intrenched. A part of them, however, joined the insurgents, the force of whom was thus raised to ten thousand men. By the approach of the royalist army, however, they found themselves in a very critical situation, placed between the fortress of Cadiz on the one side and the troops from Madrid on the other, and in a manner besieged themselves in the lines of the besiegers, J^Sj'f^f > They published proclamations and addresses in profusion,* Ann. Hist.' but without obtaining any material accession of strength Ann. Reg. ' beyond what had at first joined them ;i and the defection 223.' ' and disquietude began to creep over them which invari- * "Notre Eapagne touoliait si Ba destruction, et votre ruine aurait entrainfi celle de la Patrie : vous ^tiez destines h la mort, plutot pour dSlivrer le Qouverne- ment de Teffroi que votre courage lui impose, que pour faire la conquete dea colonies, devenue impossible. En attendant vos families restaient dans resclar vage le plus honteux, sous un Gouvernement arbitralre et tyrannique, qui dis- pose k son grS des proprifites, de I'existence, et de la liberty des malheureux Espagnols. Ce Qouvernement devait dfetruire la nation, et finir par se d^truire lui-m^me j il n'est pas possible de la souffirirplus longtemps. — Violent et faible a la fois, U ne peut inspirer que I'indignation ou le mepris ; et pour que la 62 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, ably pervade an insurgent array -when decisive success ' does not at once crown their efforts. 1820. Unable to endure this protracted state of suspense, and Capture of foarful of its effect on the minds of the soldiers, Riego andexpedi- directed an attack on the arsenal of the Caraccas, an im- Riego^into portant station on an island in the bay of Cadiz, which rior.''"°' ■^^s taken by a detachment under the command of Quiroga. Jan. 12. By this success, a large quantity of arms and ammunition fell into their hands, as well as a seventy-four gun-ship laden with powder ; and they rescued from the dungeons of that place a number of liberals in confinement. Several attacks were afterwards made on the dykes which led from the opposite sides of the bay to Cadiz, but they all failed before the formidable fortifications by which they were defended ; and though several Smeutes were at- tempted in the fortress, they all failed of success. Mean- while Freyre's troops were drawn round them on the outside, and effectually cut them off from all communica- tion with the mainland of Andalusia ; and the troops became discouraged from a perception of their isolated position, and the long inactivity to which they had been exposed. To relieve it, and endeavour to rouse the popu- lation in their rear, Quiroga, who had been invested with the supreme command, detached Riego with a movable column of fifteen hundred men into the interior of the pro- Jan.27. vince. They set out on 27th January, and without diffi- culty passed the river near Chictana, and reached Algesiraz Jan. 29. in Safety, where they proclaimed the constitution amidst the loud acclamations of a prodigious concourse of inhabi- tants. After remaining fiye days, however, in that town, Patrie soit heureuse, le aouvernement doit inspirer laconfiance, I'amotir, et le respect. Soldats ! nous allons employer pour notre bien, et pour oelui de nos frSres, les armes qui ont assurl I'indSpendance de la nation contre le pouvoir de Buonaparte : I'entreprise est facile, et glorieuse ! Existe-t-il un soldat Espagnol qui puisse s'y opposer ? Non ! dans les rangs m^me de ceux que le Gouverne- ment s'e£force de rassembler, voua trouyerez des frJres qui s'uniront h vous ; et si quelques-uns assez vils osaient tourner leurs armes contre vous, qu'ils p&- issent comme des satellites de la tyrannic, indignes du nom d'Espagnols." — Antonio Quirooa, Oiniral-enrchef de I'Armie Nathnale, 5 Jan. 1820. An- muxire Biatorique, lii. 390, 391. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 63 he found that shouts and huzzas were all that the in- chap. habitants were disposed to afford ; and leaving their ^^'' inhospitable streets, he directed his march to Malaga, ^®^"- which he reached, after several combats, and entered on the 18th February, and immediately proclaimed the con- dJ^Exp". stitution. But although his little corps had been received K^ego.'i*?, with acclamations wherever he went, it had met with no ?,^!. ^,'»S: , , , Umv.lxxix. real assistance; the people cheered, but did not join'is. ns; them ; and, to use the words of Riego's aide-de-camp, iii.396,397. " All applauded : none followed them."i Meanwhile his associate, Quiroga, was the victim of tbe most cruel anxieties. Weakened by the detachment its defeat of the force under Riego, and besieged in his intrenched *' ""' camp before Cadiz, he daily found his situation more critical, and his soldiers evinced unequivocal symptoms of discouragement from the inactivity in which they had been retained since their revolt, and the want of any suc- cour from the troops with which they were surrounded. He sent, in consequence, orders to Riego to return to the lines in the island of Leon, but it had become no longer possible for him to do so. Riego was closely followed by a light column under the orders of O'Donnell ; and finding that the population of the country were not in- clined to join him, and that his corps was daily diminish- ing by desertion, he evacuated Malaga, and bent his steps towards the Cordilleras, with a view to throwing him- March 11. self into the Sierra-Morena. He crossed the Guadal- L^pExp"- quiver by the bridge of Cordova, and directing his steps ^^1^%, towards the hills, at length reached Bien-Venida on the uniwxxix 11th March with only three hundred followers, destitute J'?; a?»- of everything, and m the last stage or exhaustion and sss, 400. discouragement.^ The intelligence of the disasters of Riego, which reached the Isle of Leon in spite of all the precautions which the Perilous generals of the revolutionary army there could take to^°airigarn intercept it, completed the discouragement of the troops Leon! of the revolutionary army there assembled. Mutually 64 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, fearful of defection, Quiroga and General Freyre had — long ceased to combat each other, but by proclamations ^^^^' and invitations to the soldiers on either side to abandon their colours and range themselves under the banners of their opponents. But in this wordy warfare the royalists had the advantage ; the words of honour and loyalty did not resound in vain in Spanish ears, and although defec- tion was experienced on both sides, it was soon apparent that the balance was decidedly against the liberal host. Their numbers were at last reduced to four thousand men ; Jif4oi?o2" "^^il® t'lsi'' opponents, under Freyre, independent of the Biog. Univ! orarrison of Cadiz, were three times that number : and this Ixxix. 119 o ' ■' 120; Mar-' little band was so discouraged as to be incapable of i87,''iii8. attempting any of those bold steps which alone, in a pro- tracted war of rebellion, can reinstate a falling cause.^ But while the cause of the revolution seemed to be insurrec- thus sinking, and to have become well-nigh hopeless in ru™nt*and t^e south, the flame burst forth simultaneously in several in Navarre, other quartcrs, and at length involved the whole Penin- sula in conflagration. The blow struck at Cadiz resounded through the whole of Spain. Everywhere the movement was confined to the officers of the army and a few citizens in the seaport towns ; but in them it took place so simul- taneously as to reveal the existence of a vast conspiracy, directed by a central authority which embraced the whole Feb. 21. Peninsula. On the 21st February, the day after Vane- gaz, the new Captain-general of Galicia, had arrived at Corunna, an insurrection broke out among the officers of that fortress, who surprised Vanegaz, when disarmed and incapable of making any resistance ; and on his refusal to place himself at the head of the movement, made him a prisoner, and conducted him with all his staff to the Fort of St Antonio, where they were placed in confinement. The Constitution of 1812 was immediately proclaimed, the gates closed, the drawbridges raised, and the revolution effected in an hour, without any resistance. A provisional junta was established ; the prisons were broken open, 1820. HISTORY OP EUROPE, 65 and their inmates liberated ; a sergeant named Chacon, chap. who had denounced Porlier, massacred, and his widow, ^"' sobbing with grief, carried in triumph amidst revolutionary shouts through the streets. The insurrection spread to Ferrol, where the military revolted, and proclaimed the constitution on the 23d ; Vigo declared on the 24th : Feb. as. Pontevedra on the 26th ; and at the end of a week, with the exception of St lago, where the troops remained steady, the whole of Galicia had hoisted the standard of the constitution. Saragossa shortly after followed the Feb. 24. example, and there the insurrection assumed a more seri- ous aspect by being under the direction of Don Martin de Garay, the former Finance Minister, who had been dis- Feb. 25. graced. Mina, at the same time, reappeared on the in. 402,407! frontiers of Navarre, which he entered with a few fol- f^xfiA2oi lowers. He immediately proclaimed the constitution, ^iQenerai and being joined by some soldiers, made himself master ^^p^^X' of the important cannon foundry at Aizzabal, and lent to 2S5, 259'; the cause of insurrection the aid or a name which still 1. 188, i89. spoke to the hearts of the patriotic throughout Spain. ^ The intelligence of these repeated and general defec- tions excited the utmost consternation in the Court of Revolution Madrid ; and the conduct of the King and Cabinet tl^^g^ '' evinced that vacillation which, as it is the invariable ^^'tu-** mark of weakness in presence of danger, so it is the usual ^™;^ ^ precursor of the greatest public calamities. At first the most vigorous measures were resolved on. General Elio was recalled from Valencia to organise the means of de- fence in the capital, and a corps hastily assembled to move against the insurgents in Gahcia, of which the Conde d'Abisbal was appointed commander. But vain are all attempts of government to make head against treason when their own of&cers and soldiers are the traitors. Unknown to them, the Conde d'Abisbal had already con- certed with the chiefs of the conspiracy at Madrid, and with his brother Alexander O'Donnell, who commanded a regiment stationed at Ocana, the plan of a general VOL, II. E 66 HISTOKY OP EUROPE. CHAP, insurrection, -which was to embrace all the troops in Old ^^^' and New Castile, and compel the king to accept the ^^^"' constitution. In pursuance of this plan, the Conde left March 3. Madrid on the 3d March, to take the command of the troops destined to act against Galicia ; but, like Ney in 1815, instead of doing so, he no sooner arrived at Ocafia, nine leagues from Madrid, where his brother's regiment was stationed, which had been prepared for the outbreak, than he harangued the troops, proclaimed the constitution, threw the magistrates into prison, and formed a Provisional Junta, subordinate to that of Gali- cia. The news of this defection at once brought matters to a crisis in Madrid. A general disquietude, which the police were no longer able to restrain, appeared among the lower orders in the capital. Many attempts were made to raise again the pillar of the constitution ; the regular troops deserted by companies to the side of the populace, and the barracks became the scene of mutinous transport and revolutionary enthusiasm. The Puerto del Sol, since so famous in revolution, was filled with tumul- tuous mobs loudly demanding the constitution. Symp- toms of disaffection even appeared among the Guards, and the officers of that- chosen corps were among the first to attempt the raising the pillar of the constitution. In this extremity the cabinet sat permanently ; and at length, seeing that no means of resistance remained, they resolved, on the advice of General Ballasteros, who was inclined to liberal opinions, to yield. On the 7th March, the Madrid Gazette contained a decree convoking the Cortes, and declaring the king's resolution to do every- 1 Ann. Hist, thing which the good and wishes of his people demanded, 410; Biog.' " "who have given me so many proofs of their loyalty." ^ YwJm^v^' This was followed the next day by a decree declaring frnTm; *^^*' " *° ^"^^^^ *^® delays which might arise in the GerMhia ^^scution of the decree pronounced yesterday for the ii. 273, 279. immediate convocation of the Cortes, and the general will of the people (la voluntad general del pueblo) being HISTORY OP EUROPE. 67 pronounced, I have resolved to swear to the constitution chap. VTT promulgated by the general and extraordinary Cortes in 1812." 1^2"' Thus fell the despotic government of Ferdinand VII. in Spain, the work of the nobles and the priests over- Reflections thrown by the army and the populace. If little was to volution? be expected of a government framed by the first, still less was to be augured of its overthrow by the last. Stained in its origin with treachery in the army, and treason by the officers even in the highest commands, the movement was brought about, and rendered for the time inevitable, by the revolt of the soldiery, and their abandonment of the oaths they had taken, and the sovereign under whose banners they were enrolled. History can find no apology for such conduct. The first duty of all persons in autho- rity, whether civil or mihtary, is to discharge the functions intrusted to them, and defend their sovereign with the powers which he has committed to their administration. If that sovereign has become despotic, and violated the rights of his subjects, that may be a good reason for throwing up their offices, and in extreme cases, where no other remedy is practicable, joining the ranks of the in- surgents, but it is never for deserting a trust while still holding it. Even the splendid abilities of Marlborough, and the glorious career of Ney, have not been able to wipe out the stain affixed by such treachery on their memory. Many honourable and noble men have suffered death for high treason, and their descendants have gloried, and shall glory, in their fate ; but none ever pointed with exultation to success gained by breach of trust. We might well despair of the fortunes of the human race if the fair fabric of freedom was to be reared on such a foundation. Such as it was, however, the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy was too important an event not to rouse to the very highest degree the spirit of revolutionary ambition, not only in Spain, but over all Europe. Its effects are 68 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, still felt in both hemispheres. Being the first instance 1_ in which democracy had gained a decided victory since '^^**- its terrible overthrow in 1814 and 1815, it made a 72 . Rapid 'ad- prodigious sensation j and everywhere excited the hopes th^revoiu- and rcvivcd the expectations which had ushered in the tion. French Revolution. The march of events at Madrid was as rapid as the most ardent partisans of innovation could desire. A Supreme Junta was immediately formed, to whom the king, two days after his proclamation of the March 9. 7th, took the oath to observe the constitution. The nobles and magistrates, obedient to the royal will, followed his example. In the midst of the ringing of bells, the dis- charge of artillery, and the cheers of the multitude, the guards, the soldiers, and all the civic authorities, took the oath, in the square of the Pardo, to the constitution. The whole prisoners confined for state oflfences were libe- iii^Tii^'^'" r^ted, and paraded through the streets amidst the shouts i8°2o fas' ^^ *^^ populace ; many of them soon passed from their 226;'Mar- cclls to thc Cabinet. In the evening a general illumina- 202,203. tion terminated the first day of the revolution, which hitherto had been one of unmingled joy. ^ But the march of revolution is not always on flowers ; Reception the thoms soou began to show themselves. Some days \atioVir' before the constitution was accepted at Madrid by the vafencir,"' ^^"S' ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ proclaimed at Saragossa and at Pam- and Cadiz, pgluna, whcrc Mina had already of his own authority supplanted Espelata, the royal governor. At Barcelona the garrison compelled Castanos to do the same, and March 10. sooH removcd that sturdy veteran to make way for Gene- ral Villa-Campa, then in exile at Arons. He returned, ere long, liberated all the political prisoners, and burnt the office of the Inquisition amidst general transports. At Valencia, General Elio, who had taken so decided a part against the former attempts at revolution, was only saved from death at the hands of the populace by being humanely thrown into prison ; at Granada, General Eguia was displaced by the students, and Campo- Verde in- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 69 m stalled in his stead. The revolution at Madrid was an chap. unexpected godsend to Riego, who received it when wan- 1_ dering, almost alone, and destitute of everything, in the ^^^*'" solitudes of the Sierra Morena. From the depths of misery and despair he was suddenly elevated to fame and fortune, and brought back to Cordova, where he joined iii.4i2,4i3'j in proclaiming the constitution with General O'Donnell, fg'^o.'lll'; and those who had lately pursued him with such unre- ^wg. univ. lenting severity, and soon after made a triumphant entry 121. into Seville.'^ A deplorable catastrophe at Cadiz first interrupted ^^ these transports, and revealed an alarming division of Massacre at opinion even among the military, by whom the revolution March 9 had been effected. On the 9 th March the people in^° Cadiz, accompanied by a part of the military, flocked to the square of San Antonio, and General Freyre, seeing no other way of extricating himself from his difficulties, published a proclamation, in which he engaged, on the following day, at ten o'clock, in the same place, to an- nounce the acceptance of the constitution. The people, who looked upon this as a certain step to the pacifica- tion of the colonies, and the recovery of the lucrative commerce they had so long enjoyed with South America, were in transports, and flocked on the day following, at the appointed hour, to the Place San Antonio. But a dreadful fate awaited them. In the midst of the general joy, when the square was crowded with joyous multitudes, when every window was hung with tapestry, or filled with elegantly dressed females, and flags waved in every direc- tion, bearing liberal devices, a discharge of musketry was suddenly heard in one of the adjoining streets, and imme- diately a disordered crowd, with haggard countenances and cries of horror, were seen flying into the square, closely pursued by the military. It was the soldiers of the regiments of the Guides and delLealtad (of Fidelity), which, issuing from their barracks, had, without any or- ders, and by a spontaneous movement, commenced a fire 70 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, on the people. Instantly, as if by magic, the square was ^^^' deserted; the multitude, in the utmost consternation, 1820. dispersed on every side, and took refuge in houses or the casements of the fortifications, closely pursued by the soldiers, who massacred them without mercy, and aban- doned themselves to all the atrocities usual in a town taken by assault. The deputies of the Isle of Leon, who were in an especial manner the object of indignation to the soldiers, were only saved from destruction by being trans- ported to Fort Saint Sebastian, where they were kept during three days, crowded in the casements, and almost starving. On the following, day the same scenes of dis- order were renewed ; the soldiers issued from their bar- . „. racks, and systematically began the work of plunder and iii.4i3,4iSi extortion ; and before order was restored, the killed 1820, 22fi amounted to four hundred and sixty, including thirty-six Mariagnac, ^^jjjg^ g^jjjj seventeen children, and the wounded to above a thousand.^ While these frightful scenes were inaugurating the New minis- revolutiou at Cadiz, the new ministry was formed, and drid? *^^ entered upon its functions at Madrid. It was composed, as might be expected, of the leading men of the liberal party, several of whom passed from a dungeon to the palace of the Government. It contained, however, many eminent names, which have acquired a lasting place in the rolls of fame. Senor Arguelles, whose eloquence in the former Cortes had acquired for him the surname of " the Divine," was Minister of the Interior ; Don Gar- cias Herreras, one of the most violent orators on the liberal side, was appointed Minister of Justice ; Canga Arguelles was Minister of the Finances ; the Marquis Las Amarillas, of War ; Perez de Castro and Don Juan =Ann Hist J^^at, wcrc appoiutcd to the Exterior and the Marine.^ iii.418,419; Though the new ministers had all been leading orators Ann. Reff, "^ 1820,227'; ou the liberal side in the Cortes, and many of them had i. 204^205. suffered persecution and imprisonment from the king, yet, with the acquisition of office, they felt, as is generally the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 71 case, its difficulties and responsibilities. They endea- chap. Toured, so far as in their power, to moderate the general ^"' fervour which had elevated themselves to office ; but their ^^^''• ' views were by no means shared by their impatient fol- lowers, and it was soon apparent that their reign was not destined to be of very long duration. The first measures of the new Government betrayed the external pressure to which they were subjected, and First mea^ the extreme division of opinion which prevailed in theTZ^gl^^^ country on the recent changes. A decree was issued on MarcT2e. 26th March, declaring that every Spaniard who should refuse to swear to the new constitution, or who, in taking it, should qualify it with mental reservation, should, if a layman, be deprived of all honours, distinctions, and offices ; if an ecclesiastic, his property was to be seques- trated. Another decree allowed the Juramentados or Afrancesados, as they were called, or Spaniards who had sworn fealty to Joseph Buonaparte, and who were esti- mated at six thousand, to return to Spain ; but another, April 23. after they had in great part returned, compelled them to remain in Biscay or Navarre, provinces under the govern- ment of Mina, their implacable enemy. A third placed April 26. the sixty-nine members of the former Cortes, who had signed the petition to the king to resume the powers of an absolute monarch, under surveillance of the police in certain convents, till the pleasure of the new Cortes was taken on their fate. It augured ill of the cause of free- i. 205,'io9°' dom when its inauguration was signalised by measures of ii°4i9."'" such oppressive character or revengeful severity.^ The Cortes was convoked for the 9th July ; but in the mean time the real powers of government resided, not Estabiish- in the King's Ministers, but in the Supreme Junta which dufefu sat alongside of them in Madrid. That body, elected by ^^l'^^^^ the populace in the first fervour of the Revolution, was revoiution- r ir ' ary mea- composed of persons of the most violent character, and sur^s. as they foresaw that their tenure of power would be of short duration, as it would be superseded by the meeting 72 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, of the Cortes, their principal care was to organise the ^"' means of controlling that body, and subjecting it to the ^^■^*'- domination of the democrats in the capital. It was under the influence of this body that the severe decrees which have been mentioned had been passed. Nothing could be done without their sanction — nothing could withstand their control. In imitation of the Jacobins and the Girondists at Paris, they established clubs in the capital and in the principal towns throughout the pro- vinces, in which the measures of Government were daily canvassed, and the most violent language constantly used to keep up the fervour of the public mind. Many of them acquired a fatal celebrity in the future history of , „ ,. the revolution. At the same time, all restrictions on the 1.206,207; press being removed, a host of journals sprang up in the iii. 420. " capital, which vied with each other in the propagation of the most violent revolutionary sentiments.^ The measures of the Government soon gave tokens of Legislative their influence. Swift as had in 1789 been the march of revolution in France, swifter still was now its advance in Spain. Before the Cortes had even assembled, the junta and clubs of Madrid had dictated decrees to the nominal Government, which had effectually secured the supremacy of the democratic party. Some of them were worthy of unqualified admiration ; others were of the most perilous April 4. tendency. Among the first, were decrees abolishing the Jesuits and the Inquisition, and all monuments and em- blems which bore reference to them, and establishing an entire freedom of the press. In the last category must April 13. be placed the decrees which followed, abolishing all ex- clusive privileges, and investing in the nation all seignorial April 24. jurisdictions ; the institution of national guards, with their officers chosen by the election of the privates, agreeably to the Constitution of 1812 ; and one, declaring that the tak- ing of all monastic vows should be suspended until the meeting of the Cortes, and that, in the mean time, no alienation of an^ part of the monastic property should be HISTORY OF EUROPE. 73 valid. The last enactment was of the most sinister augury, chap. the more especially as the necessities of the exchequer had been noways diminished by the recent convulsions, ^^^' and the property of the church in Spain was estimated at eighteen thousand millions of reals. Meanwhile honours, gratuities, and pensions were showered on the generals and officers of the army in the island of Leon, which had made the revolution ; and all idea of prosecuting the expedition to South America having been abandon- ed, an invitation was sent to the insurgent states to send deputies, in terms of the constitution, to the Cortes ; {jf 425^2t- and in the mean time thirty Suppliants, or substitutes, ?''|'i'j^ij"^ ' were chosen among the South Americans resident in the 223. Peninsula.1 The elections were conducted with great regularity, and the Cortes met on the 9th July. Elected by uni- Meeting of versal suffrage during the first fervour of the revolution, its^omposi- its members presented that strange assemblage, and ex- *"'°' elusion of various important classes, which invariably result from a uniform and single system of suffrage. Not a single grandee of Spain was elected ; very few of the noblesse or landholders ; only three bishops. Advo- cates, attorneys, factors, merchants, generals and military officers, who had risen to eminence by the revolution, and were ardently attached to its fortunes, constituted a de- cidedmajority. Generals Quiroga and O'Daly, and the other chiefs of the army of Leon, were amongst its ranks : Riego was only absent, because, having been appointed to the command of the army in the Isle of Leon, he could not be spared from its ranks. ^The conservative party, or the one attached to old institutions, was almost unrepresented, Navarre, and a few remote and obscure parts of New Castile, had alone returned members in that interest, and their number was so small that they had no weight in the assembly, and from the very outset were stigmatised i. 224,2265 by the name of Serviles? Universal suffrage had done its iu. 422." ' work: it had established, as it invariably does, class 74 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. gOTernment of the very worst kind, that of an ignorant ^^^' and irresponsible majority. 1820. Disorders meanwhile had broken out in the provinces, Disorders which Sufficiently demonstrated that, however popular in v^ntes.^™' the great and seaport towns, the revolutionary regime was anything but agreeable to the inhabitants of the May 14. couutry. At Saragossa a disturbance arose, in the attempt of five or six hundred peasants to throw down the pillar of the constitution, which was only put down by General Haxo, with two regiments of infantry and cavalry, and a battery of artillery, with the loss of twenty lives, and triple that number wounded. The consequences were serious. The Marquis Alazan, governor of the province, brother of the famous Palafox, was deprived of his command, which was bestowed on Riego, his wife was arrested, and sixty monks were thrown into prison to await their trial before a military commission. Shortly after June 15. an insurrection broke out in the mountains of Galicia, near the confines of the Portuguese province of Entre Douro e Minho. A junta, styled " the apostolical," was elected, with the device " Religion and the King." Crowds of peasants flocked round the sacred standard. The royalists passed the Minho, and advanced towards St lago, where they hoped to be joined by numerous July 7. partisans. Their number soon amounted to three thou- sand ; but they were worsted in several encounters with the regulars near Zuy on the Minho, and at length dis- persed. Among the papers of their chiefs, which M'ere seized, were letters which proved that they were in cor- iiim^m. respondence with secret royal,ist committees in Aragon, Andalusia, Old Castile, and the capital itself^ On the night before the assembling of the Cortes, an Murder of eveut happened of evil augury as to its future career. A body°-guarf, V^^ of the body-guard attached to liberal principles ofthe^mar^. '^^0^6 into the royal palace, under pretext, which was derers. wholly uufouudcd, that a number of Serviles had as- sembled there to offer the king their services, and mur- 1 Ann. Hist, HISTORY OP EUROPE. 75 dered a faithful officer who withstood their entrance. So chap. far there was nothing remarkable ; such tragedies are al- most invariably the accompaniment of ciyil dissension. But ^^^"" what followed proved the impotence of the law ; and that the majority, as in America, had now become so powerful that no crime committed in their interest could be brought to punishment. The fact of the murder was notorious, it had been committed by the assassins with their official scarfs on : the persons implicated in it were well „ . known ; but so far from being punished, they were all i. 224, 225. acquitted on a mock trial, and immediately promoted.^ The session of the Cortes was opened with great pomp by the king on the 9 th July, in presence of the queen and Opening of whole corps diplomatique. The sovereign again took the jniy a ^^' oath to the Archbishop of Seville, the first President of the Cortes, who addressed his Majesty in a speech which ter- minated with these words : " The most virtuous of nations will forgive its injuries, pardon the outrages it has receiv- ed, establish its constitutional government, and preserve in all its purity its holy religion. The distrust, the seeds of discord, the fears, the odious suspicions, which the perfidious have so long sought to inspire in the best of kings, will cease, and all will unite around his throne by a fraternal alliance, which will secure the public peace, produce abundance, and prove the source of every social blessing." The king pronounced a speech which re-echoed these warm anticipations and benevolent intentions. It . will appear in the sequel how, on either side, these pro- iii.'426. mises were fulfilled and these anticipations realised.^ One of the most important public documents pre- sented to the Cortes was a report on the state of the Report on array, which gave a graphic picture of its deplorable con- the army." dition, and revealed the main cause of the revolutionary •'"'^ ^^" spirit with which it was animated. The minister reported that, including the guard, its entire efi^ective strength was only 53,705 men, in lieu of 87,000, its strength on paper; and 7085 cavalry mounted. The whole was in the most 76 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, deplorable state of nudity and destitution. The clothing L_ of the infantry for the most part had not been renewed ^®^''" since 1814 ; only seven regiments of cavalry were dressed in anything like homogeneous uniform ; various dresses clothed the remainder, all worn out. The artillery was crazy and broken down, the arsenals empty. The entire cost of the army was 352,607,000 reals (£3,500,000), being more than half the revenue of the monarchy, and yet every branch of the service was deeply in arrear of their pay. No less than 38,000,000 reals (£380,000) was due to the cavalry, and £450,000 to the infantry. The report announced that the constitution had been accepted at Puerto Rico, St Domingo, and Cuba, but that the war, " fomented by the stranger," still lingered on the continent of America, to which, since 1815, forty- two thousand men had been despatched from Old Spain. Here is the secret of the Spanish revolution ; it is to be found in the destitution of the exchequer, and ruin of the external commerce of the kingdom, in consequence of the South American revolution. Had the trade of Cadiz and Corunna been as flourishing as it was prior to 1810, and the Spanish troops been paid, clothed, fed, and lodged, like the English soldier, there would have been no revo- lution ; the king, with the general consent of the nation, would have reigned like his fathers, and Riego, unknown and guiltless, would have died a natural death. The majority of the Cortes was composed of the Majority of Hbcrals of 1812, whom six subsequent years of the gal- tlie Cortes \ i . . , 'iii n i * ,t ' its leaders. Icys, impHsonmeut, or exile, had confirmed m their prin- ciples, and inspired with an ardent thirst of vengeance against their oppressors. It was no wonder it was so ; the royal government now experienced the retribution due for its severities, and had leisure to lament the fail- ure to act in that magnanimous spirit which, by forgiving error, might have caused it to be abjured. But although the composition of the majority was such as presaged vio- lent and destructive measures at no distant period, its HISTORY OF EUROPE. 77 leaders \rere men of enlarged views and great capacitj, chap, VII. "whose statesmanlike wisdom at first imposed a consider- able check upon its excesses. In the front rank of the ^®^*'' leaders must be placed Maetinez de la Rosa, a man of great ability and uncommon oratorical powers ; and Calatbata, an orator less brilliant, but more argumenta- tive, and a statesman more experienced in public affairs. The Marquis ToEENO also, a nobleman of the most en- larged views, who had studied with advantage, and learned the action of representative governments by travelling in foreign countries, lent the aid of his extensive know- ledge and profound reflection. If anything could war- rant the hope of a prudent use of power in a body con- stituted as the Oortes was, it was its being directed by such men. But there were others of a different stamp, whose influence ere long increased, and at length became irresistible from the combined influence of the clubs and the press. Among these were soon remarked Gasco, Philippe Navarro, Romoro, Alpuente, and Moreno, the Jacobins of the revolution. Their party at first did not lyi^^^g^ number above a sixth of the whole Cortes ; but, as is too ';22^vl^?'>' often the case m such circumstances, they in the end ac- iii.428,429. quired its entire direction. ^ The first measures of the Cortes, though not of a vio- lent or sanguinary character, were nevertheless obviously Suppression calculated to increase the democratic influence and action suits%nd in the country. The Afrancesados, who awaited their "gardiDg fate in Biscay in deep distress, were restored to their ™**''^- property, but not to their offices, pensions, or honours ; the sixty-nine of the old Cortes were included in thesep. 21. amnesty, but, with the exception of the Marquis of Mattaflorida, declared incapable of holding any election or public office. The decree of the former Cortes and of the king against the Jesuits was adopted, with certain modifications. An important law was also passed re- stricting the entails, which had so long operated to the prejudice of Spanish agriculture. They were prohibited 78 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, in future absolutely in landed estates, and permitted ^"" only in payments out of land, as right of superiority, ^^^°- or of the manor, to the extent of 20,000 ducats for grandees, 40,000 for persons enjoying title, and 20,000 Oct. 12. for private individuals. No entail was admitted below 6000 ducats. These were steps, and important ones, 1 Ann. Hist. in the right direction; and if the leaders of the revo- 439; Mar- ' lutiou had limited themselves to such practical reforms, I'Cssi'. they would have deserved well of their country and of the human race.^ But in the midst of these beneficent labours, the dread- FinaMiai ful cvil of cmbarrassmcnt of the finances still made itself measures, ^-^jj.^ ^^^ ^-^j^ iucrcasing Severity, from the cessation of speculation and confidence which had arisen from the revolution. The loss of the revenue derived directly from South America by the produce of the mines, and indi- rectly by the stoppage of the commercial intercourse with the revolted colonies, rendered abortive all attempts to pay the interest of the debt and carry on the current expenses of the nation from its domestic resources.* In this extremity the Spanish Cortes did what the Consti- oct. 1. tuent Assembly had done before them ; they suppressed all the monasteries except eight, and confiscated their property to the service of the state ; the monks and nuns, 61,000 in number, turned out, received small pensions varying from 100 to 400 ducats (£20 to £80). Akeady Oct. 14. the clubs had become so formidable that a decree was 'litiiinii'- Passed closing their sittings, which remained a dead letter. comteTo" ^ithcs wcro abolishcd, both in the hands of the clergy reno;Mar- and lay proprictors, but the half of them was kept up as 230, 231'. a direct contribution for the service of the state.^ Even after all these extraordinary revolutionary resources had * According to a report presented to the Cortes by the Commission of Finance, on 22d October, the National Debt consisted of — Reals. Franca. £ 142,220,672,391 or 3,839,580,000 or 140,000,000 The whole revenues of Spain were not equal to the discharge of the interest of this debt annually. — Bapport, Oct. 22, 1850. Annuaire Historique, iii. 440. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 79 been taken into the exchequer, the budget exhibited & deficit chap. of 172,000,000 of reals (£1,720,000), being about a _!!i. fourth of the annual revenue,''^ which was provided for by ^^'^''• a loan of £2,000,000, negotiated with Lafitte and the bankers on tlie liberal side in Paris. But meanwhile the Government, the creature of mili- tary revolution, was subjected to the usual demands and Tumult at insults consequent on such an origin. They found ere dismLaiof long that the praetorian guards in the Isle of Leon were ^'*^°' as imperious, and as difficult of management, as their pre- decessors in the camp which had overawed the masters of the world. Incessant were the efforts made by Riego, who had now the command of that force, to keep alive the spirit of revolution among the troops ; but as it rather declined, and rumours of an intention to separate the army began to reach the Isle of Leon, Riego hastened to Madrid, to support by his presence the revolutionary clubs against the Government, which was suspected of leaning to moderate ideas. He arrived there in the end of August, and for a week was the object of general adula- Aug. 29. tion. He was surrounded by the club Lorrenzini, by the influence of which the minister-at-war was removed, and succeeded by Don Gastano Valdes. In the middle of it he visited the theatre, where an audience from the Sept. 3. clubs, vehemently excited, called for a party air, the Tragala Perro, which had been composed in hatred of the noblesse during the fervour at Cadiz ; and Riego himself, standing up surrounded by his whole staff, joined in the chorus. This open insult to the nobility and the Government led to a fearful tumult in the theatre, in the course of which Riego openly resisted the police and other * The budget proposed by the Cortes exhibited — From all sources 630,394,271 reals, or ^£5,304,000 An expenditure of 702,807,000 7,028,000 Deficit, 172,408,033 £1,724,000 which was j)royided for by a loan of 200,000,000 reals, or £2,000,000.— ^km. Bist. iil 443. 80 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, authorities ; and next day the clubs were all in a tumult, ^"- and the banners so well known in the French Revolution '^2"- were seen in the great square—" The Constitution or Death." The Government, however, was not deterred. The troops remained faithful to their duty : large bodies, with artillery loaded with grape-shot, were stationed around the square of the Puerto del Sol, where the mobs were assembled ; and the revolutionists, seeing themselves mastered, were compelled to submit. On the following Sept. 4. day a decree of the Cortes put the clubs under a strict surveillance, closed the Lorrenziui, and Riego was deprived of his command in Galicia and sent into exile at Oviedo. At the same time the army in the Isle of Leon was broken up ; but to keep the troops in good humour, and insure obedience to the decree, large gratuities and pensions were voted to the troops, according to their rank and \!isilfio-, periods of service. Riego and Quiroga for their share got .^"432^435. a pension of 84,000 reals each (£840), equivalent to about £1500 in Great Britain.^ This vigorous step was attended by an immediate Closing of schism in the popular party. Arguelles and Quiroga, Ind rapture ^^^ ^ad bccu forcmost in resisting the clubs, were soon wHhthB denounced as traitors and apostates; and Riego, for a Nov. 16. short time, was the rallying-cry of the seditious in the provinces. If this victory had been followed up with vigour and perseverance, the downward progress of the revolution might have been arrested, and Spain saved unutterable calamities. But it was not so : the press con- tinued as violent as ever ; the clubs resumed their ascen- dant, and the progress of anarchy became unrestrained. The Cortes had passed the decree, despoiling the religious houses for the advantage of the state, already mentioned, and it was brought to the king to adhibit his signature in terms of the constitution, which declared that necessary for it to become a law. Instead of doing so, he wrote at the bottom the words prescribed for his refusal. He was perfectly entitled to do so, as much as the Cortes was to HISTORY OP EUROPE. 81 present to him the project of the law. It was on the chap. third presenting only in successive sessions that he was ^^^' constrained to accept. But it is not in the nature of ^^^"^ democracy to admit of any compromise, or tolerate any bridle, how gentle soever, in its career. The clubs were instantly in motion ; the cry of a counter-revolution was heard. Frightful crowds of the lowest of the populace, yelling and vociferating vengeance in the most violent manner, paraded the streets, and converged towards the arsenal which contained all the arms and ammunition. The report spread that the troops would not act against the insurgents ; that the life of the king was in danger. Intimidated and overawed, the ministers counselled sub- mission, and renewed their entreaties to the king to sanc- tion the law. He long resisted ; but overcome at last by , ,^ ,. ,. ., 1 1 ■ 11 iMartignac, the increasmg danger, and their assurance that the troops i. 246, 248; could not be relied on, he affixed his signature, and im- iii.443,444. mediately after set out from Madrid for the Escurial.^ The victory thus gained over the king was not attended by the advantages which had been anticipated. In some Reception places in and around the great towns, as Valencia and cree against Barcelona, the people broke in tumultuous crowds into the * spafnf monasteries, forcibly expelled the monks and nuns, and it was with difficulty that the heads of the houses were rescued from their hands. At Valencia, the archbishop, besieged by a furious mob in his palace, on account of an anathema which he had fulminated against the sale of the ecclesiastical estates, was only rescued from death by being embarked in the night for Barcelona, where, on landing, he encountered similar dangers. But in the rural districts, especially Galicia, Leon, Navarre, Asturias; Old Castile, and Aragon, the decree against the priests met with a very different reception, and was found to be incapable of execution. Transported with indignation at the thoughts of the hospitable doors, where they had so often been fed in adversity, being closed against them, and their revered inmates being turned adrift upon the world YOL. II. F 82 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, without house or home to shelter them, the people rose ^"- in crowds and forcibly prevented the execution of the ^^^''- decree. Between the resistance of the people in some districts, and the cupidity of their own agents in others^ the treasury derived scarcely any aid from this great measure of spoliation. It was exactly the same in Prance in 1789 ; it will be so in similar circumstances to the end of the world. When Government takes the 'Ann Hi ^^^^ ^^ iuiquity, it soon finds it impossible to restrain iii.444,44si the extoi'tions of inferior agents : it is like a woman who i. 248f 26i'. has deviated from virtue attempting to control the man- ners of her household.^ Meanwhile the king, shut up in the Escurial, refused Illegal' ap- to bc present at the closing of the session of the Cortes, ofGlner"' which terminated on the 9th November ; and in secret ttTe'ltig.*'^' meditated an attempt to extricate himself from the Nov. 16. mesbes in which he was enveloped. To eflfect this, the support of the military was indispensable ; and with that view the king, of his own authority, and without the con- currence of any of his ministers, which, by the constitu- tion, was required to legalise the appointment, promoted General Carvajal to the situation of Captain-general of New Castile, in room of the constitutional General Vigo- det, who h«ld that important command. A warm alter- cation ensued between the two generals when the order to cede the command was produced, which ended by Vigodet declaring that he would retain the command till superseded by a general legally appointed. The intelligence of this rash step on the part of the king soon transpired : the clubs immediately met and commenced a warm agitation ; the committee of the Cortes met, and declared its sittings permanent ; the ministers were in constant consultation ; and in the clubs and agitated crowds in the streets, it was openly announced that a coun- ter-revolution had been resolved on, and that dethronemmt had become now indispensable. Anxious to avoid such an extremity, the ministers sent in their collective resigna- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 8^ tion to the king ; and the permanent commission of the chap. Cortes, and municipality of Madrid, sent deputations to ^^^' the Escurial, with grave and severe remonstrances against ^*''^'*- the illegal step which had been taken. The irreso- lute and inconsistent character of the king immediately appeared. No sooner were the addresses read than he declared he had no idea he was doing an unconstitutional thing in the appointment of General Carvajal, that he jj^^^g^'^^-. revoked it : that he would dismiss the Count Miranda, ?*s^'is'°f .' 1. 25d, 254; the grand-master of his household, and his confessor, Don Ann. Reg. 1820 229 Victor Paez, and within three days would re-enter his 230. ' ' capital.^ He arrived, accordingly, on the 21st, accompanied by the queen, who was in a very feeble state of health. Return of surrounded by a crowd shouting vociferous revolutionary Madrid? '° cries, through a double line of National Guards, and ^''^' ^^' amidst cries of " Viva el Constitution !" Suddenly a child was raised up above the crowd, with the book of the constitution in its hand, which it was made to kiss with fervour. A thousand cries, and the most fearful threats of vengeance, accompanied the incident; and when the king inquired what it was, he was informed it was the son of General Lacy come to demand justice against his father's murderers. Overcome with terror, and almost stupefied with emotion, the king, with feeble steps and haggard looks, re-entered the palace, and immediately shut himself up in his apartment. The most sinister presentiments were felt. Terror froze every heart. The striking resemblance of the procession which had just terminated to that of Louis XVI. from Ver- 2^^„ gj^j sailles to Paris in 1789, struck every mind; and loen ijj^^^l^^^^ shuddered to think how short an interval separated that h^'^^'o^' melancholy journey from the 21st January, when the I820, 230.' martyr king ascended the scaffold. ^ The victory of the revolutionists was now complete, and they were not slow in improving it to the utmost advantage. General Riego, so recently in disgrace, was 84 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, appointed Captain-general of Aragon; Velasco, the late ■ gOYernor of Madrid, ■who had been dismissed from his ^g^"" office for his supineness on occasion of Riego's riot in Victory of the theatre, was appointed Governor of Seville; Mina lutioniltT. was made Captain-general of Galicia; Lopez Banos, of Navarre; Don Carlos Espinosa of Old Castile; Arco- Arguerro, of Estremadura; the Duque del Infantado, President of the Council of Castile ; and all the persons of moderation in the Government were sent into exile from the capital. These were all men, not only of approved courage, but of the most determined revolu- tionary principles. The whole subordinate officers, civil as well as military, were selected from the same party; so that the entire authority in the kingdom had, before the end of the year, passed into the hands of the supporters of the new order of things. The clubs resumed their former activity, and increased in vigour and audacity in the metropolis; and with them were now associated a still more dangerous body of allies in the secret societies of the provinces. The ancient and venerable institution of free-masonry, formed for the purposes of benevolence, i'259'§6f-' ^'^'^ hitherto unstained by those of party, was now per- Ann. feist.' verted to a different object, and converted into a huge Ann. Reg. Jacoblu Socicty, held together by secret signs and oaths; 232. ' ' and along with it was associated a new institution of a still more dangerous and pernicious tendency.^ This was a society, which assumed the title of "Franc- Newsociety Communevos." Theij principles were those of the So- t?onof™ cialists, in their widest acceptation; their maxims, that lynch law. universal equality was the birthright of man, and that nothing had hitherto so much impeded its establish- ment as the false and hypocritical ideas of philanthropy and moderation by which the reign of despots had been so long prolonged. In pursuance of these principles, they were bound by their oath, on entering the society, to obey all mandates they received from its supe- rior officers, whatever they were, and however contrary HISTORY OP EUROPE. 85 to the laws of the state; and they engaged " to judge, chap, TII. condemn, and execute every individual, without excep- tion, including the hing or his successors, who might ^^^^' abuse their authority." So far was this power of self- judging and lynch law carried, that it led to serious disturbances, particularly in Asturias and Galicia, in the end of November and December, which were not sup- pressed without serious bloodshed ; while in Madrid the agitation was so violent that one of the clubs was shut up by order of Government, while the whole garrison was called out to enforce the order; and the king, trembling for his life, no longer ventured to leave his own palace. An incident soon occurred which showed how well- founded his apprehensions were, and gave a . pitiable proof of the state of degradation to which the royal authority was reduced. The king at length went out in his carriage, which was speedily surrounded by an insult- ing mob, which, from furious cries, proceeded to assail the royal vehicle and guards with showers of stones. Indig- nant at such conduct,, the guards wheeled about, charged the assailants, wounded several, and dispersed the rest. Instantly a furious mob got up, which surrounded the barrack to which the guard had retired, and insisted upon the obnoxious men being delivered up to them. This was done : they were thrown into prison and de- tained there long, though their conduct was so evidently justifiable that they were not brought to trial ; and the king, on the representation of his ministers that the ^-^^^^ sacrifice could no longer be averted, was obliged to '"; '-^6^67;' dismiss his whole guard, and confine himself to his own iii.450,451, palace.^ Portugal evidently was intended by nature to form part of the same monarchy as Spain. The Pyrenees, identity of which separate them both from all the rest of Europe ; tory°of '^" the ocean, which encircles both their shores, and opens to lortngai.'^ them the^same commerce and maritime interests ; the 86 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, identity of soil and climate which they both enjoy in "' the old hemisphere, the vast colonies they had acquired 1.820. -jj ^.jjg jjg^^ ^jjg homogeneous nature of the races and nations from which they were both descended, and the similarity of manners ^nd institutions which both, in consequence, had established, have caused their history, especially in recent times, to be almost identical. The tyranny of the Spanish government, the patriotic resist- ance of the heroic house of Braganza, even entire centu- ries of jealousy or war, have not been able to eradicate these seeds of union so plentifully sown by the hand of nature. Like the English and Scotch, they yearned to each other, even when severed by political discord, or engaged in open hostility ; happy if, like them, they had been reunited in one family, and one pacific sceptre restored peace to the whole provinces of the Peninsula. It was not to be expected that so very important an Revolution evcut as thc Spanish Revolution of 1820, overturning as Aug^as."" it did, by military revolt, an aged throne, and establish- ing a nominal monarchy and real democracy in its stead, was to fail in exciting a corresponding spirit, especially among the military in the sister kingdom. But, in addi- tion to this, there were many circumstances which render- ed revolution in favour of a constitutional form of govern- ment more natural — it might almost be said unavoidable — in Portugal than in Spain. Long habits of commer- cial intercourse, close alliance between the two countries, glorious victories in which the two nations had stood side by side, had inspired the Portuguese with an ardent, it might almost be said an extravagant, admiration of British liberty and institutions. They had seen the probity of English administration, and contrasted it with the corruptions of their own : they ascribed it all to the influence of English institutions, and thought they would exchange the one for the other, by adopting a representa- tive form of government; they had seen the valour of British soldiers, and thought liberty would in like manner HISTORY OF EUROPE. 87 render them invincible. A conspiracy, which proved abor- chap. tive, headed by General Freyre, in 1 8 1 7, had already given ^"" proof how generally these ideas influenced the army ; and ^^"■^"• three additional years of government by a Regency at Lis- bon, without the lustre or attractions of a court to enlist the selfish feelings on the side of loyalty, had given them additional strength, and rendered the whole population of the seaports and army ripe for a revolt. The conse- quence was, that when it broke out, on the night of the ^^^^^ ^g 23d August, it met with scarcely any resistance. The \^lf-j^lf. whole military commenced the revolt ; the people all Ann. Re^. ' joined them; a junta, consisting of popular leaders, was 233.' established, and a constitutional government proclaimed.^ When the English, retiring from their long career of victory, withdrew from Portugal, Marshal Beresford, who which'is had trained their army and led it to victory, was left at arevoiution its head, and about a hundred English officers, chiefly on sept!'!™' the staff or in command of regiments, remained in Portu- gal. Aware of the crisis which was approaching, Marshal Beresford had, in April, embarked for Rio Janeiro, to lay in person before the king a representation of the discon- tents of the country, and the absolute necessity of making a large and immediate remittance to discharge the pay of the troops, which had fallen very much into arrears. Many of the English officers, however, were at Oporto when the insurrection broke out; and as their fidelity to their oaths was well known, they were imme'diately arrested and put into confinement, though treated with the utmost respect. Meanwhile the insurrection spread over the whole of the Aug. 28. north of Portugal, and the Conde de Amarante, who had endeavoured to make head against it in the province of Tras-os-Montes, was deserted by his troops, who joined the insurgents, and obliged to fly into Galicia. The Regency at Lisbon, on the 29th August, published a fierce proclamation, denouncing the proceedings at Oporto, and declaring their resolution to subvert them. But they soon had convincing proof that their authority rested 88 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, on a sandy foundation. The 15th September, the anni- ^"' Tersary of the delivery of the Portuguese territory from ^^^^- Junot's invasion in 1808, had hitherto always been kept as a day of great national and military rejoicing in Por- tugal. On this occasion, however, the Regency, distrust- ful of the fidelity of their troops, forbade any military display. The soldiers had been ordered to be confined to their barracks, when, at four in the afternoon, the 18 th regiment, of its own accord, marched out, headed by its officers, and, making straight for the great square of the city, drew up there in battle array, amidst cries of " Viva el Constitution," They were soon joined by the 10th regiment from the castle, the 4th from the Campo d'Ourique, the cavalry, the artillery, and ere long by the whole of the garrison. All, headed by their officers, and in full marching order, were assembled in the square, amidst cheers from the soldiers and deafening shouts from the people. No resistance was anywhere attempted ; nothing was seen but unanimity, nothing heard but the " vivas" of the soldiery, and the huzzas of the multitude. The halls of the Regency -were thrown open, and a new set of regents appointed by the leaders J Aun.^Eeg. of the rcvolt by acclamation ; and having accomplished 236; 'Ann. tho rcvolution, the soldiers returned at ten at night, in 473/475. parade order, to their barracks, as from a day of ordinary festivity.^ Universal enthusiasm ensued for some days, and the Establish- unanimity of the people proved how general and deep- j^fntregen- scatcd had bccn the desire for political change and a cy^atLis- representative government, at least among the military Oct. 6, and the citizens of the towns. The entire country fol- lowed, as is generally the case in such instances, the example of the capital ; the constitution was everywhere proclaimed, and the former persons in authority were superseded by others attached to the new order of things. On the 1st October, the Oporto Junta entered the capital, and immediately fraternised in the most cordial way with HISTORY OP EUROPE. 89 the Junta already elected there. The British officers chap. were everywhere dispossessed of their commands, and put ^"' under surveillance, but treated with equal kindness and ^^'^''• consideration. After a debate, which was prolonged for several days, it was decreed that the two Juntas should be united into one composed of two sections — one charged with the ordinary administration, and the other with the steps necessary for assembling the Cortes ; and Count Palmella was despatched on a special embassy to Brazil, j^^^ ^j.^^. to lay before the king an account of the events which iii.47M76; had occurred, and assure his Majesty of the continued 234,235. * loyalty of the Portuguese to the royal family.^ In the midst of these events. Marshal Beresford re- 98. turned from Brazil to Lisbon, in the Vengeur of 74 guns, Eetum of charged with a message from the king to the former junta. Beresford, Being informed by a fisherman, as he approached the wa to coast, of the revolution, and subversion of the former f^^° ^°S' authorities, he made no attempt to force his way in, but requested permission to land as a private individual, as he had many concerns of his own to arrange. This, however, was positively refused : he was forbid on any account to approach the harbour ; the guns were all loaded, and the artillerymen placed beside them to enforce obedience to the mandate. Beresford expostulated in the warmest manner, but in vain ; and as the agitation in the city became excessive as soon as his return was known, it was intimated to him that the sooner he took his departure for England the better. During all this time the shores were strictly guarded, and no precaution omitted which could prevent any communication with the Vengeur. At length Beresford, finding he could not open any correspondence with the new Junta, sent them the money he had received at Rio Janeiro for the pay of the 3 j^^ g^ troops, and returned to England in the Arabella packet : 1820,237; *•_-. T, .,.. , Ann. Hist. while the Vengeur proceeded on its destmation up the iii. 426, 427. Mediterranean.^ Such was the return which the Portuguese nation 90 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, made to the British for their liberation from French ■ thraldom, and the invaluable aid they had rendered 1820. them during six successive campaigns for the maintenance E£Fect of of their independence ! A memorable, but, unhappily, a mentTf ^ ' not unusual instance of the ingratitude of nations, and the the British, jjuuiediate disregard of the most important services when they are no longer required, or when oblivion of them may be convenient to the parties who have been bene- fited. Above a hundred oflScers accompanied Marshal Beresford to England ; and the effects of the absence of this nucleus of regular administration soon appeared in the measures of Government. The two Juntas came to open rupture in regard to the manner in which the Cortes was to be convoked. The Lisbon maintained it should be done according to the ancient forms of the constitution ; but this was vehemently opposed by the Oporto Junta, which was composed of ardent democrats, who asserted that these antiquated forms were far too aristocratical, and that the public wishes would never be satisfied with any- thing short of the immediate adoption of the Spanish constitution. Few knew what that constitution really was ; but it instantly was taken up as a rallying-cry by the extreme democratic party. Still the Junta of Lisbon held out, upon which Silviera, who was at the head of the violent revolutionists, and had great influence with Nov. 11. ^^^ troops, surrounded the Palace of the Junta with a HU78,«o; ^°'^y of soldiers, who, by loud shouts and threats, in- fm 236' ' ^''^^^ extorted a decree, adopting in toto the Spanish 237. ' ' constitution, and appointing one deputy for every thirty thousand inhabitants, to be elected by universal suffrage.^ ^^^ So far the victory of the revolutionists was complete. Reaction, but the stcp had been too violent ; neither the public nor «on of more the majority of the army were, on consideration, inclined measures. *« go i^^to such vlolcnt measurcs. The incorporations {Qremios) and magistrates protested against the proceed- ings, and a majority of the officers in the army came round to the same sentiments. A hundred and fifty HISTORY OP EUROPE. 91 officers in the army, and nearly all the civil authorities, chap. resigned their situations. The consequences were soon ^^^' felt. On the 1 7th November a general council of oflBcers ^^^''• was held, at which Colonel Castro Sepulveda, who was at the head of the moderate party, laboured so assiduously to convince them of their error, that, after a debate of six hours, resolutions were passed to the eflFect that the state of public opinion in the capital required that those who had resigned should resume their situations ; that the election of the Cortes shall be made according to the Spanish system, but no other part of the Spanish consti- tution adopted till the Cortes had met and considered the subject. The reaction was now complete : upon these resolutions being intimated to the officers of the late Government who had resigned, they resumed their func- tions. Silviera was, with the general concurrence of the people, ordered to quit the city in two hours, which he did amidst loud acclamations, and the ascendancy of the moderate party was for a time established. But it was for a time only. The fatal step had been taken, the irrecoverable concession made. The resolution that the Cortes should be elected on the Spanish principle, which was a single i Ann. Hist, chamber and universal suffrage, and that there should be Ann.^Keg. • a member for every thirty thousand inhabitants, neces- l^^^.'^l;-^^ sarily threw the power into the hands of the multitude, ^e Lisbon, and precluded the possibility of anything like a stable or ie26. free constitution being formed.^ Italy was not long of catching the destructive ilame which had been kindled, and burned so fiercely, in the Commence- Spanish peninsula. The career of reform was begun in forms°iJ^' Piedmont on the 25th February 1820, by a decree of ^'"''y- the King of Sardinia, which created a commission com- posed of the most eminent statesmen and juris-consults, to examine the existing laws, and consider what altera- tions should be made to bring them into harmony with the institutions of other countries and the spirit of the 92 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, age ; and even in the realm of Naples, the germ of prac- tical improvement had begun to unfold itself. The ex- ^^^''- cessive increase of the land-tax, -which had in some places risen to thirty-three per cent, had tended to augment in that country the general discontent, which in the inhabi- tants of towns, and the more intelligent of those in the country, had centred in an ardent desire for representa- tive institutions, which they regarded as the only effectual safeguard against similar abuses in time to come. The government of Murat, and the society of theFrench officers during eight years, had confirmed these ideas, and aug- mented the importunity for these institutions. This desire had been fanned into a perfect passion in Sicily by the ex- periment which had been made of a representative govern- ment of that country by the English during the war, which was in the highest degree popular with the liberal leaders. But it had been found by experience to be so alien to the character and wants of the rural inhabitants, that it fell to the ground of its own accord after the with- Hutorfadi ^I'^^^l of tlie English troops on the peace ; and the only !l*r'i'o-,^ t^^ce of the constitutional regime which jremained was the ii. 33o,340i ommous word "who ouagetto, & money account, which iii?488.'^ ■ had been imported from their Gothic allies into the har- monious tongue of the Italian shores.^ Ferdinand the king had, in accordance with the de- Bieach'ot clarcd wishes of the most intelligent part of his subjects, pram;s"?of announced the acceptance by the Government of a con- aconstitu- gtitutioual regime during the crisis which preceded the fall of Napoleon and conclusion of the war. Before July 25. leaving the Sicilian shores to reoccupy the throne of his May 1815. fathei's. On the dethronement of Murat in 1815, he had issued a proclamation, in which he announced " The peo- ple will be the sovereign, and the monarch will only be the depositary of the laws, which shall be decreed by a constitution the most energetic and desirable." These words diffused universal satisfaction, and, like Lord Wil- liam Bentinck's celebrated proclamation to the Genoese HISTORY OP EUROPE. 93 in the preceding year, were regarded with reason as a chap. pledge of the future goTernment under which they were 1— to live.* But it soon appeared that these promises, ^^^'*' like those of the German sovereigns during the mortal agony of 1813, were made only to be broken. What- ever the individual wishes of Ferdinand may have been, i Ann. Eeg. he was overruled by a superior influence, which he had Ann.' Hist, no means of withstanding. By a secret article of the coiitto, ii. treaty between Austria and Naples, concluded in 1815, l^^^i^'^' it was expressly stipulated that " his Neapolitan majesty fg^^.^l'^ should not introduce in his government any principles cueii'oi- irreconcilable with those adopted by his Imperial majesty Si! 2|4T°' in the government of his Italian provinces."^ The hands of the King of Naples were thus tied by an overwhelming power, which he had not the means. Progressive even if he had possessed the inclination, to resist. All r "forms ' that could be done was to introduce local reforms, and trodulcd"' correct in a certain degree local abuses ; and some steps towards a representative government had already been taken in this way. Provincial and municipal assemblies had been authorised, which had commenced some reforms and suggested others, and were in progress of collecting information from practical men as to the real wants and requirements of the country. But these slow and pro- gressive advances by no means suited the impatience of the ardent Italian people, and least of all, of that ener- „ p^jj^jj^ getic and enthusiastic portion of them who were enrolled "• 338, 341 ; in the Secret Societies which already overspread that iii. 488; beautiful peninsula, and have ever since exercised so im- i8"2o, 238'. portant an influence on its destinies.^ Secret societies banded together for some common pur- pose are the natural resources of the weak against the * " De' cinque fogU del re, soritti in Messina dal 20 al 24 maggio erano i Bensi : pace, concordia, oblio delle passate vicende ; yi traluceva la modesta confessione de' propri torti ; parlavasi di leggi fondamentall dello state, di libertjl civile, di formali guarentigie ; e cosl vi stava adombrata la cos- tituzione senza profferirsene il nome."— Colletta, Hiitoria di NapoU, ii. 261. 94 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, strong, of the oppressed against the oppressors. It is ^^^' the boast, and in many respects the well-founded boast, 1820. of fj.gg nations, that bj removing the necessity which has Origin of produced it, they alone have succeeded in eradicating this secret sooie- ^rgadful evU from the social system. Where men are permitted to combine openly, and the constitution affords a legitimate channel of complaint, the necessity of secret associations is removed, and with that removal their frequency is much abated. Yet is it not altogether re- moved : the desire to compass even legitimate ends by unlawful means sometimes perpetuates such societies when the necessity for them no longer exists ; and the Rib- bonism of Ireland and trades-unions of England remain a standing reproof against free institutions, and a lasting proof that the enjoyment of even a latitudinarian amount of liberty sometimes affords no guarantee against the de- sire to abuse its powers. In Italy, however, at this time, the despotic nature of the institutions had given such societies a greater excuse — if anything can ever excuse the banding together of men by secret means and guilty acts, to overturn existing institutions, j^^ The Carbonaei of Italy arose in a very different Their origin interest from that to which their association was ulti- vioushis- raately directed. They were founded, or perhaps taken ''"^' advantage of, by Queen Caroline, on occasion of the French invasion of Naples in 1808 ; and it was by their means that the resistance was organised in the Abruzzi and Calabria, which so long counterbalanced the repub- lican influence in the southern parts of the Peninsula. Subsequently they were made use of by Murat at the time of the downfall of Napoleon, to promote his views for the formation of a great kingdom in Italy, which should be free from Tramontane influence, and restore unity, independence, prosperity, and glory to the descen- dants of the former masters of the world. Being directed now to a definite practicable object, which had long occupied the Italian mind, which had been the dream of HISTORY OP EUROPE. 95 its poets, the aspiration of its patriots — wliich it was chap. hoped -would rescue it from the effects of the " fatal gift !_- of beauty" under which it had so long laboured, and ^®^''" terminate a servitude which clung to it conquering or conquered^* — this association now rapidly increased in numbers, influence, and the hardihood of its projects. It continued to grow rapidly during the five years which succeeded the fall of Napoleon and re-establishment of the Bourbon dynasty in Naples ; and as the desires of peace had come in place of the passions of war, it had grown up so as to embrace considerable portions of the membei's, and by far the greater part of the talent and energy of the State. It had comparatively few partisans in the rural districts, among which ancient influences still retained their ascendancy ; but in the towns, among the in- ii. m, sl'sj corporations, the universities, the scholars, the army, and cinqJe the artists, it had nearly spread universally ; and it might /.^^'t^^g with truth be said, that among the 642,000 persons '^ho |^ |*p]^^'^ in Italy were said to be enrolled in its ranks, were to be h^*-.."L„ ,.,1111 • • 11- 1 • • 488,11.298, found nearly the whole gemus, intelhgence, and patriotism 299. of the land.i Governed both by princes of the house of Bourbon, and intimately connected for centuries by political alii- Commence- . , . o n 'f 1 ■ '1 >i f ment of the ance, intermarriage 01 lamilies, and similarity 01 manners, Neapolitan Naples had for long been influenced in a great degree by '^®™'"'"'°- the political events of Spain. Upon a people so situated, actuated by such desires, and of so excitable a tempera- ment, the example of the Spanish revolution operated immediately, and with universal force. The Carbonari over the whole Peninsula were speedily in motion, to effect the same liberation for it as had already been achieved without serious effusion of blood in Spain ; and as it was known that the Franc- Oommuneros of that country had played an important part in its revolution, sanguine hopes were entertained that they might be equally successful in their patriotic efforts. Their great * " Vincitrice vinta sempre asserva.'' 96 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, reliance was on the army, many of the higher officers of ^^^' which were already enrolled in their ranks, and which it 1820. was hoped would be generally influenced by the example and rewards obtained by the insurrectionary host in the island of Leon. These hopes were not disappointed ; on the 2d July, Morelli and Menichini — the one a simple lieutenant in the army, the other a priest in the town of Nola, but who both held important situations in the society of the Carbonari — assembled the soldiers of the former's troop, raised the cry of " God, the King, and the July 2. Constitution;" fraternised with the National Guard, who joined in the same sentiments; and with their united force marched upon Avellino, the chief town of the pro- vince, in the hope of inducing its inhabitants to join their cause. This was not long in being effected. Concilii, who commanded the militia of that town, joined the popular J^y 3. 'cause ; Morelli and he proclaimed the Constitution ii. 346, 347; amidst unanimous shouts, and Concilii was, by acclama- iiU89,496. tion, declared the head of the patriotic force and the Riego of Naples.^ The news of the insurrection at Nola, followed as it 107 . Defection was immediately by the defection of the garrison of Pepe^n'd Avellino, threw the court of Naples into the utmost con- of^ifapies™ sternation, and General Campana, who had the command at Salerno, received orders to march without delay on the latter town, while all the disposable force at Naples was ordered to advance in support. But vain are all attempts to extinguish revolt by soldiers who themselves are tainted wjth the spirit of insurrection. General Caras- cosa, who commanded the troops which came up from Naples, was no sooner in presence of the insurgents who were mpehing on Salerno, than he found his men so shaken that he was constrained to retire, to prevent them from openly joining their ranks. The revolutionists ad- vanced accordingly to Salerno, which they occupied in force ; and the intelligence of their approach excited such a ferment in Naples that it soon became evident that the the consti- tution. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 97 maintenance of the government had become impossible, chap. A large body of the principal officers in the garrison ^"' M'aited on General Pepe, and entreated him to put him- ''^^*'- self at the head of the insurrection, assuring him of the support of the entire army. He yielded without difficulty to their entreaties ; and taking the command of a regi- ment of horse in Naples which had declared for the constitutional cause, he set out amidst loud cheers for , „ „ , ^ Colletta, the headquarters of the insurgents, -whom he joined at ".348,349; Salerno, where he was immediately saluted by acclama- iii.490,492. tion General-in-chief.'^ Every day now brought intelligence of fresh defec- tions; the whole regiments in the gamsou of Naples iie king declared for the constitution, and every post announced J^efra t? the junction of some new garrison to the cause of the in- surgents. Numerous crowds constantly surrounded the palace, and with loud cries and threats demanded the instant proclamation of the constitution. The students, the professors, the municipality, the whole intelligent classes, loudly supported the demand ; and the king, without guards or support of any kind, moral or physical, found himself constrained to yield to their demands. Anxious to gain time, he consented, after some negotia- tion, to resign his authority into the hands of his son, the Duke of Calabria, whom he declared his Vicar- general, with the unlimited authority of '^ Alter ego" The prince immediately issued a proclamation declaring his acceptance of the Spanish Constitution, under cer- tain conditions ; but the silence of the king still ex- cited the alarm of the popular party, and at length his majesty himself issued a proclamation, in which he July 7. ratified the promise made by his son, and engaged to accept the Spanish Constitution, under the reservation of such alterations as the national representation legally convoked might find it necessary to adopt.* The » " La costituzione del regno delle Due Sicilie sarjl la stessa adottata per il regno delle Spagne nell' anno 1812, e sanzionata da S. M, Cattolica nel marzo di VOL, II. ^ 98 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, prince, at the same time, issued a decree declaring his ^"- unconditional acceptance of the Spanish Constitution as 1820. promulgated by His Most Catholic Majesty on the 7th March ; and the king two days after solemnly took the oath in presence of all the ciyil and military authorities of the kingdom.* The whole authority in the kingdom immediately passed into the hands of the revolutionists. General Pepe was declared Commander-in-chief instead of the Austrian General Nugent, who was dismissed. General Felangiers was appointed Governor of Naples ; the ministry was entirely changed, and a new one, com- posed of ardent liberals, appointed ; a junta of fifteen persons nominated to control the Government, and the whole appointments solemnly confirmed by the king. Great popular rejoicings and a general illumination tes- icoiietta, tifisd the universal joy at these rapid changes; but it An? ffil^ augured ill for the stability of the new order of things, iii.494,495; or its adaptation to the people by whom it was adopted, i82°d,24§". that they had to send to Spain for a copy of the Consti- tution to which they had all sworn fealty.^ While military treason was thus overturning monarchy questo anno ; salve le modificazioui clie la rappresentanza nazionale, costitu- zionalmeute convocata, crederS, di proporci per adattarla alle oircostanze par- tioolari dei reali dominii." FRiNOESOO, Vicario. July 6, 1820. — Colletta, Storia M Napoli, ii. 361. ' The oath taken by the Prince Vicar-general was as follows : " In quanto alia oostituzione di Spagna, oggi ancora nostra, io giuro (e alzd la voce pift diquel ohe importava 1' essere udito) di serbarla illesa, ed all' uopo difenderla col sangue." — Colletta, ii. 368, 369. The oath of the king, taken on the 13th in presence of all the authorities of the kingdom, was still'more solemn : " ' Io Ferdinajido Borbone, per la gra2da di Dio e per la costituzione della monarchia napoletana, re, col nome di Ferdi- nando I. del regno delle Due Sicilie, giuro in nome di Dio e sopra i Santi Evangeli che difendero e conserverd "... (seguivano le basi della costitu- zione : poi diceva). ' Se operassi contra il mio giuramento, e contra qualunque artioolo di esso, non dovrd essere ubbidito ; ed ogni operazione con cui vi con- trawenissi, sarS; nulla e di nessun valore. Cosi facendo, Iddio mi ajuti e mi protegga ; altrimenti, me ne dimandi oonto.' II profferito giuramento era scritto. Finite di leggerlo, il re alzo il capo al cielo, fiss6 gli occhi alia croce e spontaneo disse : ' Onnipotente Iddio che oollo sguardo infinito leggi nelV anima e neU' awenire, se io mentisco o se dovro mancare al giuramento, tu in questo istante dirigi sul mio capo i fulmini della tua vendetta.' "— Colletta, ii. 370, 371. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 99 in Naples, and blasting the growth of freedom, by eS' chap. tablishing a constitution utterly at variance with the ^^^' habits, capacities, or interests of the great majority of the ^^■^''• people, and not understood by ten in a million of the causes' inhabitants, the progress of insurrection was still more pedrCTo- rapid in Sicily, where, as already mentioned, a constitu- gf^^y/" tional monarchy had been established by the English juiy i4. during their occupation in the latter years of the war, and the people, generally speaking, were more practically acquainted with the working of a free constitution. The English institutions had been abolished when they with- drew from the kingdom — unlike the Code Napoleon, which,' founded on the matured wisdom of the Roman law, everywhere survived the fall of his dynasty. The government, however, had established municipal coun- cils, elected by the more respectable classes, declared any additional imposts illegal without the consent of the States-General of the realm, and issued some salutary decrees for the limitation of the excessive evils of entails. But these practical reforms did not in the least answer the wishes of the Sicilian revolutionists, who, even more than the Neapolitans, sighed for the establishment of representative institutions, and ardently desired in- stantly to separate from Naples, and get the command of the country by adopting the Spanish Constitution, The first news of the revolution at Naples excited a great sensation; and this was fanned into a perfect tumult when the official intelligence arrived on the 14th juiy n. of the acceptance of the constitution by the king. They had no thought, however, of remaining subject to his government. In the Sicilian mind, as in the Irish, per- sonal freedom and revolution are inseparably connected i coUetta with insular independence; and the first impulse of j^-^sts^s/t; patriotism ever has been to detach themselves from the ii;. 496,498; dominant power which has ruled, and, as they think, i82o, m. oppressed them.^ The following day, July 15, happened to be the great 100 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, national festival of the Sicilians— that of St Rosalie—, ^^^■_ when, even in ordinary times, all business is suspended, ^^^''- and the whole inhabitants devote themselves to festivity Revolution and joy. It was held on this occasion with more than jluyls?""" wonted splendour and animation at Palermo, the capital of the island. Early in the morning, the committees of the Carbonari were in activity, the bands of the revolutionists in motion ; cries of " Viva la Costituzione Spagnuola ! — Viva rindepenza!" were universal ; and the inhabitants even of an opposite way of thiniing were compelled to adopt cockades of the national colour (yellow) with the Sicilian eagle ; and a trifling incident having excited their resentment against General Church, an Englishman, who still retained the command of the place, he was attacked, and his house pillaged. General Naselli, who commanded the Neapolitan troops in the island, in vain endeavoured, by yielding to the movement, to moderate its excesses. The populace, having once tasted of the pleasures of pillage, and become excited by the passions of revolu- tion, became wholly ungovernable, and proceeded to the most deplorable excesses. They advanced in tumultuous bodies to the three forts of La Sancta, Castellamare, and Palermo Realo, which commanded the city ; and as the 1 cojigtta troops, having received no orders how to act, made scarcely Anl^nit' ^°y resistance, the populace made themselves masters of Hi. 499; ' the forts and the whole arsenals they contained, from 1820, 24i; which they armed themselves, and immediately com- menced an indiscriminate pillage.^ Alarmed at the consequences of the movement they Frightful had in the first instance encouraged, Naselli and the nobles ISpaiemo. now endeavourcd to restrain the excesses of the populace. July 16. They appointed a junta of fifteen persons armed with full powers to restore order ; and then having rallied the troops, succeeded, on the following day, in regaining pos- session of the forts which had been lost on the preceding. But the revolutionists, now infuriated by wine, and ren- dered desperate by the loss of the forts, proceeded to the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 101 prisons, which had been with difficulty defended on the chap. preceding day, broke open the doors, burst through the ^^^' barriers, and, amidst frightful yells on both sides, liberated ^^^"^ eight hundred galley-slaves, who instantly joined their ranks. Encouraged by this great reinforcement, they proceeded, amidst revolutionary cries and shouts of triumph, to assail the troops which were concentrated on the Piazza del Castello, to the number of seventeen hun- dred. Assailed on all sides by a highly excited multitude twenty thousand strong, armed with the weapons they had won on the preceding day, and led on by a fanatic monk named Yagleia, the troops were soon broken, and immediately a frightful massacre ensued. Prince Cato- lica, who had, in the first instance, declared in favour of the cause of independence, but subsequently united with the troops to coerce the excesses of the people, was in- humanly massacred, his head piit on a pike in the centre of the city, and his four quarters exposed in four of its principal streets. Prince Aci and Colonel Sanzas, who had resisted the seizure of the artillery in the forts, shared the same fate ; and General Naselli, who was besieged in the governor's palace, with great difficulty made his escape by a back way with a hundred soldiers, and, reaching the harbour, set sail in the utmost conster- nation for Naples. Nearly the whole remainder of the troops, fifteen hundred in number, were put to death ; the whole Neapolitans in Palermo, to the number of six thousand, were thrown into prison; a new junta, com-^^^^ j^.^^^ posed of the most ardent revolutionists, was appointed by iii.so6,soii the populace ; and during the remainder of the day and 1820, 2I4 j following night the town was abandoned to pillage, and 378,^379."' all the horrors of a fortress taken by assault.^ The first care of the new junta, as is generally the case in such instances, after the victory has been gained. First mea- was to coerce the excesses of the unruly allies by whom new'junu! it had been achieved. The galley-slaves were with some difficulty persuaded to give up their arms, a general 102 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, amnesty for all offeuces was proclaimed, and they all ^"" received a free pardon upon condition of leaving the •^^20. city ; the whole murders and robberies of the preceding day were hushed up, and their perpetrators declared to have deserved well of their country ; the most prominent of them receiTed golden medals ; the monk Vagleia was declared a colonel in the national army, and the Piazza del Castello, where the troops had been massacred, was directed to be called "Piazza dellaVittoria." More efficient means were taken to assert the national independence, and restore the order which had been so fearfully disturbed. A national guard was established, and soon acquired in Palermo a tolerable degree of efficiency ; circulars were , „ sent to the other towns in the island, inviting them to 1 Ann. Reg. . .. . ,• p • ^ , 1820,241; join the patriots m its capital, and a deputation or eight iii?5oi;'^ ■ persons was sent to Naples to arrange the terms of an ac- 379,180."' commodation, on the footing of the political independence of Sicily.^ But the republicans of Naples were by no means Failure of incUncd to these sentiments; and the revolutionists of tioM wUh*" Sicily soon found, as those of Ireland had done in the Naples, ^g^yg Qf Cromwell, that whatever changes the elevation of the people to power may produce in the measures of government, it makes none in the ambition by which it is animated, and that a democratic rule is even more hard to shake off than a monarchical. So far from being inclined to agree to a separation of the two governments, the popular leaders at Naples were determined to uphold the union, and animated with the most intense desire to take vengeance on the Sicilians for the frightful atroci- ties with which the revolution had commenced. When the deputation from Sicily approached, it was only allowed to come to Procida, an island in the Bay of Naples ; and the first question asked, was whether they recognised King Ferdinand, which having been an- swered in the affirmative, the negotiation commenced ; 'but it soon broke off upon discovering that the sine qud HISTORY OF EUROPE. 103 non of the Sicilian deputies was a separate parliament chap, and constitution for themselves. " Repeal of the Union " !_ was their watchword, which was answered in equally ^®^*'' loud terms from the Parthenopeian shores, " Unity and Indivisibility of the Constitution." So far from acquies- \^^f'^^^. cing in the demand for a separation, the Neapolitan gov- A°?nAn«.' ernment made the most vigorous preparations lor assert- Ann. Reg. il, • x. c J J • 4.1, • 1820,241, mg their supremacy by lorce, and reducing the sanguinary 242, and rebellious Sicilians to entire subjection. ^ In the beginning of September, General Floridan Pepe, brother to the generalissimo at Naples, landed at Malazzo Suppression in Sicily, four leagues from Palermo, at the head of four surrectbn thousand men ; and though he met with some opposition 00^5.*™°" he easily overcame it, and in a few days appeared before the gates of the capital. Its inhabitants were nearly reduced to their own resources, for the other boroughs in the island, horror-struck, and terrified at the frightful excesses of which Palermo had been the theatre, hung back, and had forwarded none of the required contin- gents for the support of the cause of separation in that city. The guerillas which infested his flanks, composed almost entirely of the liberated galley-slaves, who dreaded the reimposition of their fetters, having been cleared away, the attack on the forces of Palermo began in good ear- nest on the 3d and 4th of September. They at first at- Sept. 3. tempted to keep the field, but their raw levies proved no match for the regular troops of Naples. Defeated with serious loss in several encounters, their forces were soon shut up in Palermo ; and the principal towns in the island having sent in their adhesion to General Pepe, and the regular troops in the garrisons, which still held out for the royal cause, having joined their forces to his, the junta of Palermo became convinced that the contest was hopeless, and were disposed to lend an ear to an accom- modation. To facilitate and enforce it, Pepe moved for- ward on the 2.5th September to the very gates of the city. sept,2s. He then renewed his propositions ; but the violent party 104 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, in the city had now regained the ascendancy, and dis- possessed their own. junta ; the flag of truce was fired '^^*'' on, and the people seemed prepared for a desperate Sept. 26. resistance. But it was seeming only. On the next day the Neapolitan forces succeeded in penetrating into the city by the royal park, and the Neapolitan flotiUa in the roads drew near, and prepared to second Pepe by a general Sept. 27. bombardment. The most furious republicans, now con- vinced that further resistance was hopeless, and could end only in the destruction of themselves and their city, listened to terms of accommodation. Pepe humanely ac- ceded to their ofifer of submission, and, to save the city from the horrors of an assault, withdrew his troops from the posts they had won within its walls. The populace, seeing the troops withdraw, ascribed it to fear, and recommenced hostilities ; but the retribution was immediate and terrible. On the 27th the bombardment commenced, and with the most dreadful effect. The town was soon on fire in several places, and the infuriated mob, passing from one extreme to another, ere long craved peace in the most iiUfs^tsi; abject terms. A capitulation was concluded on the 5th, Hubfso5-^°^ General Pepe was put in possession of the forts. 1820 24^ ' •'"^® Neapolitan constitution was proclaimed, a new 242.' ' junta named, and the Prince of Palermo appointed to its head.^ jj^ Hitherto everything had succeeded to a wish with the Renewal of Neapolitans, but they soon found that great diflBculties remained behind. The question of separation was not yet decided ; the second article of the capitulation had provided that that difficult matter should be decided by a majority of votes in the Sicilian parliament legally con- voked. This article, as well it might, was extremely ill Oct. 15. received at Naples; the capitulation was annulled, as having been entered into by General Pepe without any authority to leave the question of separation unsettled. He was dismissed from his command, which was conferred on General Colletta. He was soon reinforced by six HISTORY OP EUROPE. 105 thousand troops from Calabria, with the aid of which he chap. reduced Palermo to entire subjection, disarmed the in- ^"" habitants, and imposed on the city a heavy military con- ^^^*'" tribution, which had a surprising effect in cooling their revolutionary ardour. Hostilities immediately ceased through the whole island, and the Sicilians soon found, to i Ann. Hist. their cost, that they had gained little by their change of 5^;^"^^^^^' masters, and that their revolutionary rulers at Naples Q^^fjjf*']? were more difficult to deal with than their former feeble 398, 399. monarch had been.^ By the Spanish Constitution, now adopted as that of j^^ Naples, there was to be one deputy for every thirty Meeting of thousand inhabitants, which gave seventy-four deputies litL par-" for Naples, and twenty-four for Sicily ; the inhabitants of oc™T * the former being 5,052,000, of the latter 1,681,000. The electors were anxiously adjured in a proclamation to choose wise and patriotic representatives — a vain recommendation in a country recently convulsed by the passions and torn by the desires of a revolution. The deputies were such as in these circumstances usually acquire an ascendancy — violent democrats, village attorneys, revolutionary leaders of the army, a few professors and literary men, and some renegade priests. The report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that all the great powers had refused to recognise the revolutionary changes at Naples ; that of the Minister of the Interior signalised the numerous abuses which had prevailed in the internal administration of the kingdom, and which it was proposed to remedy, and recommended the sale of a large part of the national domains to meet the deficiencies of the exchequer ; that of the Minister at War, the measures which were in pro- gress for providing for its external defence. This con- sisted in a regular army of 52,000 men, movable, national ^ ^^^l^^^^ guards 219,000 strong, and an immovable one of 400,000 ii'-399,4o'3i men. But these forces existed on paper only, notwith- iii.606,so7; standing all the efforts of the Carbonari ; 2 the recruiting 1820, '24I.' went on extremely slowly ; disorder and corruption per- 106 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, vaded every branch of the public administration ; and, ^"' distrustful of all the vaunted means of national defence, 1820. 117. all eyes were already turned to the congress of the allied powers at Troppau, where it was evident the real des- tiny of the revolution would be determined. The Roman States were too near, and too closely con- insunVc- nected with the Neapolitan, not to participate in their thTgliiey- passions, and in some degree share their destinies, Dis- ciTSl'" turbances accordingly took place at an early period in the Irti" pontifical dominions ; but they began in a very peculiar class, whose efforts for liberation proved of as little value as their assistance was discreditable to the liberal cause. On the night of the 4th September a revolt broke out in the great depot of galley-slaves at Civita Vecchia, where sixteen hundred convicts of the worst description were confined. At seven in the evening a low murmur was heard in the principal depot, and immediately a general insurrection commenced. The irons were broken, and by sheer strength and the weight of numbers the barriers were burst through, and the infuriated multitude rushed with frightful cries into the outer parts of the enclosure. The troops arrived, and the galley-slaves immediately invited them to fraternise with them, calling out " Long live the republic ! Join with us, and to-morrow we shall establish a republic in Civita Vecchia, and all will be right." But the troops were not convinced that all would be right with the aid of such allies ; they did their duty : several volleys fired at point-blank distance spread terror among their ranks, and at length, at seven next morning, the insurrection was suppressed, though not without considerable bloodshed. This outbreak was connected with a much more considerable conspiracy in 1 Ann. Reg. ^°'^® and Benevcutum, which, although suppressed in 1820, 243; the Capital by the vigilance of the police, succeeded in 396, 400. the latter town, and tor a time severed it from the Eccle- siastical States.^ A more serious insurrection soon after ensued in Pied- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 107 MONT, which, from its close vicinity to France, the long chap. service of its troops with the armies of that power, and ^^^' the martial spirit of its inhabitants, has always been more ■^®^'- swift to share in the revolutionary spirit, and more sturdy commcnce- in maintaining it, than any other of the Itahan states, revolution^ Like Spain and Portugal, the desire for free and repre- '^^",^' sentative institutions had there come to animate thej^gi^'' breasts of the officers in the army, and nearly the whole of the educated and intelligent classes of the people. The Carbonari numbered not only the whole of the ardent and enthusiastic, but by far the greater part of the intel- ligence and patriotism in the state. Unhappily, their information and experience were not equal to their vigour and spirit, and by at once embracing the Spanish Con- stitution they entangled themselves in all the evils and difficulties with which that absurd and perilous system was environed. On the 11th January some young stu- jan. u. dents appeared at the theatre of Andennes, in the dis- trict of Novarrais, wearing the red cap of liberty, and by the violence of their conduct occasioned a tumult, Jan. 12. which was only suppressed next day by four companies of the guards from Turin, which were marched from that capital under the command of its governor. But though suppressed on this occasion, the revolutionary spirit was far from being extinct, and it soon broke out under more serious circumstances, and in a far more influential class. In the end of February, on the representation of the Austrian minister that they were engaged in a con- spiracy to chase the Imperialists from Italy, several noblemen, leaders of the liberal cause, were arrested in Piedmont, and conducted to the citadel of Finistrelles. Luo^pled- This was the signal for a general movement, which it^^j'^"^'" appears was embraced by the highest officers in the army, comte^ and principal nobles in the state, to whose conspiracy de santa for the establishment of a constitutional government the 24; Ann. Prince of Carignan, the heir-apparent to the throne, 335, 'sse. was no stranger.i He at first engaged to co-operate in 108 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, their designs, but soon after, despairing of success, he ^"' drew back, and counselled the abandonment, or at least ^^'^'' postponement, of the undertaking. But the conspirators were too far advanced to recede, and the advance of the Austrians towards Naples convinced them that not a moment was to be lost if they were ever to strike a blow for the independence of Italy. On the morning of the 4th March symptoms of revolt Revoit'in appeared in some regiments stationed on and near Verulli, ^dT^Jrim" but the conspirators failed in their object then, from the March 10 majority of the troops holding out for the royal cause. But on the 10th the constitution of Spain was openly proclaimed at Alessandria, by Count Parma and Colonel Regis, who permitted such of the troops as were opposed to the movement to retm-n to their homes, which a great number of them, including nearly all the mountaineers from Savoy, accordingly did. With the aid of such as re- mained, however, and a body of ardent students, the leaders got possession of the citadel of that important fortress, and immediately hoisted the Italian tricolor flag — green, red, and blue. No sooner was the intelligence of this impor- tant success received in Turin than the whole Carbonari and conspirators were in motion. Cries of " Viva il Re!" and "Viva la Costituzione!" were heard on all sides from a motley crowd of soldiers and students who surrounded the royal troops, who were not permitted to act against them, and probably would not have done so if ordered. Emboldened by this inaction, and hearing every hour of some fresh insurrection of the troops in the March J 2. viciuity, the conspirators, on the following day, ventured on still more decisive measures, which proved entirely suc- cessful. Captain Lesio, setting out earlyfrom Turin, raised the regiment of light-horse at Pignerol, who moved towards lAnn Hist ^^ heights of Carmagnuola, shouting "Death to the Aus- jv. 358; trians !" ^ Their arrival at Turin, joined to the alarming Ann. Reg, .,_..,. . . , 1821, 238. inteUigence received oi similar insurrections m other quar- ters, decided the governor of the capital, the Chevalier di HISTORY OP EUROPE. 109 Varas, to evacuate the town with the few troops which still chap. adhered to the royal cause. This was immediately done ; ^^*' the citadel and forts were taken possession of by the ^^^'' liberals, and the Spanish Constitution proclaimed amidst the combined shouts of the mOitary and people. On receiving intelligence of this alarming and suc- cessful insurrection, the king, who was at the chateau of The kiig Monte-Calveri, in the neighbourhood, hastened to Turin, aMeptsaa and a cabinet council was hurriedly assembled to consider ^0°?''" what should be done in the circumstances. At first it was intended by the monarch to put himself at the head of the guards and march upon Alessandria, which was regarded as the headquarters of the insurrection ; and a proclamation was issued denying the statements which had been spread abroad that Austria had demanded the disbanding of the Piedmontese troops and the occupation of the fortresses. But the accounts which rapidly arrived from all quarters of the general defection of the troops, rendered this a hopeless undertaking. The guards them- selves were not to be relied on. Crowds, which there was no means of dispersing, collected on all sides, exclaiming, " Viva la costituzione !" The military sent against them joined in the shouts, or remained passive spectators of the tumult. In this extremity a fresh council was held gf the king's ministers, and it was there proposed to pro- claim the constitution of France as a sort of mezzo-termine between monarchy and a republic. But matters had gone too far to admit now of such a compromise. While the council was sitting in the palace, and a vast crowd, with the military in their front, filled the great square adja- cent, three guns were heard from the citadel, which an- nounced that it had fallen into the hands of the conspira- ^^nn-Hist. 1 • T n 1 • 1 1 IV. 338,340; tors ; and soon the tricolor flag, hoisted on the ramparts, Ann. Reg. amidst loud cheers from all parts of the city, announced 238.' ' that the triumph of the insurgents was complete.^ Upon receiving this stunning intelligence, the king despatched the Prince of Carignan to the citadel to 110 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, ascertain the objects and demands of tlie conspirators. He found an immense crowd on the glacis, shouting 1821. « yj^g^ -^ g^g — y-^g^ jg^ Costituzione di Spagna ! " and the Resignation troops in -dcuse masses on the ramparts responding to the aL^prods^' cries. The Prince was received by the garrison with the fte'prince honours of War, and every demonstration of respect ; but ofcarignan ^-j^q demand was universal for the Spanish Constitution. as regent, ^ and the « Qur hcarts," said they, " are faithful to the king, but Spanish . , . "J. i • n ^ ^^ • i Constitu- we must extricate mm from his ratal councils : war with March 13. Austrfa, and the constitution of Spain — that is what the situation of the country and the people require. " With this answer the prince returned to the palace, where a long conference took place . between the princes of the royal family and the cabinet. It was animated in the extreme, and continued through the whole night. The king was firm ; resolved not to be unfaithful to his engagements with his allies or the cause of royalty, he took the resolution to abdicate in favour of the next heir, who was less implicated in the one, and might feel less reluctant to forego the rights of the other. This deter- mination was immediately acted upon. Early on the morning of the 13th, the royal family, under a large escort, set out from Turin for Nice, and a proclamation was issued by the Prince of Carignan, declaring that he ti?n Pi^d- ^^d ^^^^ appointed regent of the realm. The change of montein, government was immediately notified to the foreign min- A°°- Hist, isters, the regent installed in full sovereignty, and the Am. Reg. ' coustitution of Spain proclaimed amidst universal accla- 239. ' ' mation, without the vast majority knowing what they had adopted or were shouting about. ^ Such was the Revolution of 1820, in the Spanish and General Italian pcniusulas, and which more or less extended its of the°re- influence over all Europe. Commencing with military volutions of treason, it ended with robbery, massacre, and the insur- rection of galley-slaves. Nothing durable or beneficial was to be expected from such a commencement, " non tali auxilio nee defensoribus istis." It was characterised, HISTORY OP EUROPE. Ill accordingly, throughout, by impassioned conception and chap. ephemeral existence : violent change, disregard of former usage, inattention to national character, oblivion of the ^^^^' general national interests. Designed and carried into execution by an active and energetic, but limited and special class of the people, it exhibited, in all the coun- tries "where it was established, the -well-known features of class legislation ; and by the establishment of class re- preseirtation of the very worst kind — universal suflFrage — it insured at no distant period its own downfall. It will appear in the sequel how sudden and violent the reaction was, how quickly the newly-raised fabric yielded to the aroused indignation of mankind, and how galling, and heavy, and lasting were the chains of servitude which, from the failure of this iU-judged attempt at liberation, were imposed upon the people. In truth, all revolutions which, like that of Spain, and its imitations in Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and Piedmont, what are brought about by a single and limited class of society, speedy ovei- involve in themselves the principles of their own speedy "'"''^" destruction. They may be propped up for a time by the aid of foreign powers politically interested in the establishment of such institutions ; but even with such external aid they cannot long endure ; without it, they at once fall to the ground. The reason is, that the constitution which they establish, being founded on the principle of opposition to all that has preceded it, the growth of centuries, is soon found to be wholly unsuited to the national disposition and necessities ; and having been brought about by the efforts of a single class, it is calculated only for its interests, and proves destructive to those of all the other classes. There was no need of the bayonets of Austria or France to overturn the revolutions of the two peninsulas. Left to themselves, they would speedily have perished from their experienced unsuitableness to the circumstances of the countries. The only revolutions which ever have or ever can terminate 112 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, in durable institutions, are those -which, brought about, ^"' like that of Great Britain in 1688, by an unbearable 1821. tyranny which has for a time united all classes for its overthrow, are limited to the change requisite to guard against the recurrence of that tyranny, avoid the fatal evil of class legislation, the invariable result of class revo- lution, and make no further change in the institutions or government of the state, the growth of centuries, and the creation of the national wants, than is necessary to secure their unimpaired continuance. What, it is often asked, are the military to do when What ■ called on by the government to act against insurgents Lmtary ^ demanding a change in the national institutions 1 Are ci°ium"* they to imbrue their hands in the blood of their fellow- stances? citizeus, guilty of no other offence but that of striving to obtain the first of human blessings, that of civil liberty 1 The answer is, " Certainly," if they would secure its acquisition for themselves and their children. Freedom has been often won by the gradual pressure of pacific classes on the government ; it never yet was secured by the violent insurrection of armed men. To be durable, it must be gradually established : its builders must be the pacific citizens, not the armed soldiers : it never yet was won by the sudden revolt of the military. The only effect of the success of such an insurrection is an increase in the strength and means of oppression in the ruling power — the substitution of the vigour of military for the feebleness of monarchical, or the infatuation of priestly government. Riego and Pepe were the real murderers of freedom in the Spanish and Italian peninsulas, for they overturned the national constitution to establish military rule, and blasted the cause of liberty by the excesses which came to be committed in its name. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 113 CHAPTER VIII. RUSSIA AND POLAND, FROM THE PEACE OP 1815 TO THE ACCESSION OF NICHOLAS IN 1825. Geeat as have been the changes, marvellous the events, chap. of recent times, in all countries, the most wonderful have — occurred in diflfierent and distant parts of the -world, where j ' they exceed everything not only witnessed by contempo- ^^^'1^°^^'' raries, but recorded by history of former periods. We are of Russia, too near them to measure their proportions with the eye ; andBntlsii future times, which hear of them at a distance with the ear, recent'" or are witnesses, after the lapse of ages, of their effects, '™^^' will more correctly estimate their relative magnitude and importance. The simultaneous growth of theRussian power in Europe and Asia, of the United States in America, and of the British empire in India and Australia, stand forth pre-eminent in this age of wonders. Great changes in human affairs — the overthrow of aged, the rise of youth- ful empires — the realisation of the dreams of the Crusa- ders; — the dwindling away of the Mahommetan faith, the boundless extension of the Christian — the restoration of a European and civilised empire on the shores of the Euxine — vast transplantations of mankind to the East and the West — the rolling back of the tide of civilisation to the land of its birth — the peopling of a new world with the race of Japhet — are obviously connected with, or the direct consequence of, these events. The effects they have produced will always be regarded as a decisive turning- VOL. II. H 114 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, point in the annals of mankind ; not less memorable than ^^"' the overthrow of the Roman Empire — not less prolific of 1815. 2. consequences than the Reformation in Europe, and the discoTerj of America. Nor have the gifts of Providence been wanting to aid in the mighty movement, and carry it out in accordance with the welfare and happiness of mankind. If to the age of Columbus it gave the compass and the art of printing, to that succeeding Napoleon it gave steam navigation, railway communication, and the electric telegraph ; and if the activity of the former period was stimulated by the grant to man of the silver mines of Potosi and Mexico, the enterprise of the latter was still more powerfully aroused by the discovery of the gold- laden fields of California and Australia. Vast and powerful as the Russian empire was when its Increase of children, in emulation of those of Numantium, applied ihl^tieatfea the torch to the palaces of Moscow, or carried their vic- 1815. *" torious arms to the heights of Montmartre and the banks of the Seine, it had not then attained half the influence and importance which it has since acquired. The victory of Alexander doubled his power — the overthrow of Napo- leon halved his enemies. Independent of the immense increase of influence and importance, which necessarily and immediately resulted from the destruction of the vast armament which Napoleon had marshalled for its destruc- tion, and the proud pre-eminence conceded to it in the diplomatic negotiations of Vienna, the physical resources and territorial extent of Russia had been enormously augmented during, and by the results of, the struggle. It was hard to say whether it had prospered most from vic- tory or defeat. The carnage of Eylau, the overthrow of Tilsit, led only to the incorporation of Finland with its vast dominions, the acquisition of a considerable territory from its ally Prussia, the consolidation of its power in the Caucasus and Georgia, and the incorporation of Wal- lachia and Moldavia, and extension of its southern fron- tier to the Danube. And although, during the first HISTOEY OF EUROPE. 115 agonies of the French invasion, these ralnable provinces chap. were in part abandoned, and the Pruth was fixed on as 1_ the boundary in the mean time of the empire, yet it was ^^^^' at the time evident, what the event has since abundantly proved, that this unwonted retirement of the Russian eagle was for a time only ; and that their march towards Constantinople, conquering and to conquer, was destined to be not permanently arrested. But the great and lasting acquisition of Russia, from the results of the war, was that of the Geand-dtjcht of important Warsaw. This important territory, which brings the of KiaTn Russian outposts within a comparatively short distance duc^T/ of both Vienna and Berlin, and renders the influence of ^''™*'^- its diplomacy irresistible in eastern Europe, was virtually annexed to Russia by the treaty of Vienna in 1815 ; for although, by the strenuous efforts of Lord Castlereagh and M. Talleyrand, its immediate incorporation with the dominions of the Czar was prevented, yet this was done only by its establishment as a state nominally indepen- dent, but really part of his vast territories. The grand- duchy of Warsaw was erected into a separate state, but the Emperor Alexander was at its head ; his brother, the Grand-duke Constantino, was his viceroy, and Rus- sian influence was predominant in its councils. A con- stitutional monarchy, and the form at least of representa- tive institutions, were, by the strenuous efforts of France and England, established at Warsaw ; but it was the form only. National habits and character proved stronger, as is ever the case, than diplomatic changes ; freedom was found to be unavailing to a nation when it was con- ferred, not by domestic effort, but by foreign intervention ; and the prosperity communicated to the Poles by the vigour of Russian rule, and the organisation of Russian power, proved only an addition to the strength of Russia, when, after an unsuccessful and ill-judged revolt, the grand- duchy was formally incorporated with her dominions. The grand-duchy of Warsaw, which the treaty of 116 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Vienna in this manner handed over to Russia, contained, ^""^ in 1846, 4,865,000 inhabitants ; it extends over 47,000 ^^^*" square geographical miles (about half more than Ireland), Statistics of the people being thinly scattered ov«r it, at the rate of duc^*of ' 100 to the square mile ; and the land under cultivation ■Warsaw. ^jtjjJQ jtg limits amounts to 5,444,000 dessiatines, or 14,000,000 English acres, being at the rate only of 1.12 dessiatine (three acres) to each inhabitant.* As the soil is generally rich, everywhere level, and for the most part capable of yielding the finest wheaten crops, it is evident that the inhabitants might be five times their present amount, not only without any diminution, but with a great and durable increase in their comfort and wellbeing. But the character of the Poles, like that of the Celts, ardent, enthusiastic, and daring, but gay, volatile, and insouciant, had rendered these gifts of nature of little avail, and retained the nation in a state of internal poverty and external weakness, when the means of attaining the reverse of both were within their power. Great part of the country was overshadowed by dark forests of fir ; vast iTegob. swamps extended along the margin of the rivers, and j^'ru ^™'i_ formed morasses and lakes in the interior, which chilled Haxthau- *^® atmosphcro around ; and even where cultivation had sen, Stat, crept into the wilderness, it was in such a rude and im- delaRussie, » , i i i i i. 227. perfect manner as bespoke rather the weakness of savage than the powers of civilised man.^ g The new kingdom of Poland, on the throne of which Establish- the Emperor of Russia was placed, was proclaimed at mentofthe -..-■, t^/^it -r • kingdom of Warsaw on the 20th June 1815. It consisted of the June°26, grand-duchy of Warsaw, as it existed in the time of ^^^^" Napoleon, with the exception of the city and little terri^ tory of Cracow, which was erected into a separate re- public, the salt mines of Wicleiza, which were ceded to Austria, and the grand-duchy of Posen, which was set apart to Prussia. Still the portion left for Russia was * The Russian desaixaime, by which all their laud is measured, contains .2| acres nearly, the acre being ,37 of a dessiatine. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 117 verj great, and formed an immense addition to its already chap. colossal strength; for it brought its dominions almost into the centre of Europe, and left the capitals of Austria and ^*'^' Prussia within ten days' march of its frontiers, with- out a fortified town or defensible frontier between. It added, too, the military strength of a warlike race, cele- brated in every age for their heroic exploits, to the Rus- sian standards — ^men whom Napoleon has characterised as those of all Europe who most readily become soldiers. They formed at this time a willing and valuable addition to the Muscovite legions, for the Poles clung to this little kingdom, as a nucleus from which might arise the restoration of their lost nationality ; and the benevolent dispositions and known partiality for Poland of the Em- peror Alexander inspired the warmest hopes that this long-wished-for result might take place. The strength and vigour which were ere long communicated to the new kingdom by the Russian administration, caused the coun- try rapidly to prosper in the most remarkable manner in all its material interests ; while the shadow, at least, of xMaite representative institutions, which was obtained for it by u^";^^''^- the efforts of Lord Castlereagh at the Congress of Vienna, un^^]°f flattered the secret hope that, with its lost nationality, Hommes the much-loved liberties of Poland might one day be ii. 8-27. ' jestored.^ The Grand-duke Cgnstantine, who was placed as viceroy at the head of the government of this infant Biography kingdom, was one of those strange and bizarre characters Grand-duke which occur but seldom in history, and can be produced only by a temporary, and, in some degree, fortuitous blending of the dispositions of various races, and the feelings produced by different states of society. The second son of the Emperor Paul I. and the celebrated Empress Catherine, he was born on 8th May 1779, and christened Constantine, from the design of that aspiring potentate to place him on the throne of Constantinople, and restore the Byzautine empire, as an appanage of the Constan- tine. 118 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, imperial house of Russia. He was married on 26th L:. February 1796 to a princess of the house of Saxe-Coburg; ^^^^' but the marriage proved unfortunate, and was soon fol- lowed by a separation. The savage manners and despotic inclinations of the Grand-duke were speedily felt as in- supportable by a princess accustomed to the polished and considerate manners of European society.* He soon after entered on the career of arms, and in it from the very first he greatly distinguished himself. His first essay in real warfare was in 1799, under SuwarroflF on the banks of the Po, where his daring character and head'- long valour were very conspicuous. Subsequently he joined the allied army, at the head of his splendid regiment of cuirassiers, in the plains of Moravia in 1805 ; and by the glorious charges, in which he defeated the best regiments of the imperial guard, and captured an eagle, had all but changed the face of Europe on the field of Auster- 1 Hiat. of litz.i Subsequently he arrested the triumphant march of c."xi?§| Napoleon at Eylau, and nearly closed his career amidst ' ■ the snows of Poland. He went through the whole cam- paigns of 1812, 1813, and 1814 in Russia, Germany, and France, and attended the victorious march of his countrymen from Moscow to Paris.f He did not accom- Hom^vi* P^°y ^^^'^ *° London, but attended the Congress of ii. 227. Vienna, from whence he proceeded to take possession of his new kingdom in June 181 5. ^ His character and habits but ill qualified him for the ter. 7. Hiacharac- task. Bom ou the confines of Europe and Asia, inherit- ing the Tartar blood, warmed by the Slavonian tempera- ment, his Oriental character had never yielded to the manners or civilisation of Europe. He was an emblem of the nations of which he was so nearly the head : * The author has been informed by a lady, to whom the Graad-duchesB herself recounted it, that, in some of his fits of passion, he used to make her rise during the night, and lie across the threshold of the door of their apart- ment ! t The author met him frequently there in 1814, and the chief traits in this description are taken from his own observation. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 119 refinement had never penetrated the interior — the deli- chap, cacy and graces of polished manners were on the surface VIII. only. His countenance, which was strongly characterised ^^^^' by the Tartar features, and severely marked by the small- pox, was ill-favoured and ungainly ; but his manners were polished in society, and no one, when so inclined, could be more winning and attractive. But the real disposition was widely different ; he had nothing mild or gentle in his temperament. He rivalled Richard Cceur-de-Lion in his valour in the field, but he surpassed him also in the vehe- mence with which he ruled the cabinet, and the acts of tyranny by which both his public administration and private life were characterised. Violent, capricious, and imtable, he could never brook contradiction, and when in- flamed by passion, indulged his vehement disposition by frightful and disgraceful acts of cruelty. He was an un- tamed savage, armed with the power and animated by the imperious disposition of an Eastern sultan, imperfectly veiled over by the chivalrous manners of modern Europe. Yet was the savage not destitute of generous sentiments; he could occasionally do noble things ; and though the dis- cipline he maintained in his troops was extremely severe, yet it was redeemed, and their afifections won, by frequent acts of kindness. The close of his public career was very remarkable, and afibrded a memorable proof of what is the real vanquisher of the savage dispositions of man, and how love can melt even the most ferocious bosoms. Such was the influence which a Polish lady of charming and fascinating manners acquired over him, that he sacrificed for her the most splendid prospects which the world could offer ; and it will appear in the sequel that "all for love, or g^j^^'^" the world well lost," was, to the astonishment of Europe, ii- 227, 228; _.,. !!• 1 Personal realised by an Oriental prince, the heir to the greatest knowledge. empire in Christendom.^ As might have been expected from a prince of such a character and habits, his chief attention was concentrated ■ on the army. On the 11th December 1815, when the an- l20 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, nexation of Poland to the Russian crown was seriously con- tested in the Congress of Vienna, Constantine addressed to '^^^^" it an animated proclamation, in which he recounted with His first truth and deserved pride their glorious deeds in arms, their mtniste^ fidelity in misfortune, their inextinguishable love of their trakingrf couutry, and called on them to rally round th« emperor the army, g^g jjg q^Jj bulwark.* On the 24th of the same month Dec. 24. he presided at a solemn meeting of the Senate, at which the new constitution was read, and proclaimed with great solemnity. The prospect of the restoration of their country, of its resuming its place in the family of Europe, the known aifection with which the emperor regarded Poland, and the generous deeds towards it by which his reign had already been signalised, the hope of the restora- tion of their liberties by means of the constitution which ' had been promulgated, diflFused a universal enchantment, • Biog. dea and for a brief season made the Poles forget the long- ii. 228. ■ continued misfortunes of which their country had been the theatre.'^ Great material prosperity followed the junction of the Polish and Russian crowns, and vast advantage to both countries. The very cessation of the jealousy and hostility which had so long subsisted between them, and the opening of the vast market of Muscovy to Polish industry, was of itself an immense advantage. * " ESuniesez-vous autour de votre drapeau j armez vos bras pour d^fendre Totre Patrie, et pour maintenir son existence politique. Pendant que I'Em- pereur Alexandre prepare I'heureux avenir de votre pays, montrez-vous prets a, Boutenir ses nobles efforts. Les mSmes chefs qui, depuis Tingt ans, vous ont conduits sur le ohemin de la gloire, sauront vous ramener I'Euipereur appr^cier votre valeur. Au milieu du d&astre d'une guerre funeste, 11 a vu votre honneur survivre ^ des ^vfeements qui ne dgpendaient pas de vous. De hauts faits d'armes vous ont distinguSs dans une lutte dont le but souvent vous 6tait Stranger ; h pr&ent que vos efforts ne seront consacrls qu' £l la Patrie, vous serez invinoibles. Soldats et guerriers de toutes les armes, donnez les premiers I'exemple de I'ordr^ qui doit r§gner ehez tous vos compatriotes. Devouement sans bornes envers I'Empereur, qui ne veut que le bien de votre Patrie, amour pour son auguste personne, ob^iseanoe, Concorde : voili le moyen d'assurer la prospgrit6 de votre pays, qui se trouve sous la puissaute ilgide de I'Empereur. C'est par U que vous arriverez ^ I'heureuse situation, que d'autres peuvent vous promettre, mais que lui seul pent vous procurer. Sa puissance et ses vertus vous en sont garant." — Biogrwphie des Bommes Vivantt, ii. 229. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 121 Add to this the termination of the long anarchy of Polish chap. democracy, and the substitution of the steady rule of a ^^"' 18] 6. regular government, which, howCTer despotic, -was strong, uniform, and consistent, for the ceaseless dissensions and Greatad- senseless jealousies of their stormy national assemblies, pdan^from "Warsaw, which, in 1797, contained only 66,572 inhabi- "-trsus- tants, and at the accession of Alexander less than 80,000, *'*• rapidly increased in splendour and opulence, and in 1842 numberedl40,000 souls. The industryof the countrymade sensible progress with the preservation of peace, and the steady market opened for agricultural produce both in the warehouses of Dantzic and in the consumption of the capital. Its revenue had augmented before 1830 by more than a third, and the seeds even of manufacturing pros- perity had begun to germinate on its soil. The entire kingdom, which in 1815 could number only a hundred weaving looms, had come, in 1830, to contain six thou- sand, which manufactured annually seven million yards of cloth. All other rude fabrics had advanced in a simi- lar proportion ; but capital was still chiefly accumulated in the hands of the Jews, who amounted in Warsaw alone to twenty-seven thousand, and were to be found at the head of nearly all the industrial establishments in the kingdom. Nor was public instruction neglected ; on the con- trary, it was extended in the most remarkable manner during the pacific rule of the Russian emperor. Schools of every description had been established at Warsaw, and in various parts of the kingdom, which were crowded by the ardent youth of that impassioned land. The scholars, who were only a few hundreds in 1815, had risen in the j j^^j^^ capital alone in 1830 to 3700, and over the whole king- Brnn,Geog. XJniv. vi, dom to 35,000, which was in the proportion of 1 to 130 S28,S30; souls, while in the neighbouring realm of Russia it was CihT^ ' only 1 to. 280.1 But as it was to the military force of this new king- dom that the attention of the viceroy and the govern- ment was chiefly directed, so it was there that the most 122 HISTORY OE EUROPE. CHAP, rapid changes and the most extraordinary progress took '— place. It would pass for incredible, were it not attested \^o^' ^ undoubted evidence, and accounted for by the singular Great in- aptitudc of the Poles for military instruction, and the itymiiitary extraordinary skill of the Russians in military organisa- strength. ^^^^ rpj^^ PoUsh army, though it never exceeded forty thousand men — less than one in a hundred of the entire population — soon became, under the tuition o.f Constan- tine, one of the most formidable in Europe, from its incomparable state of discipline and equipment. The viceroy was extremely anxious on this subject, and rigor- ous to a fault in exacting the most ceaseless attention to the smallest minutiae of dress and discipline. Though second to none in the hardihood with which he headed his chivalrous guards in a charge, it was on the trifling splen- dour of pacific display that he was chiefly set. He often said, after seeing his guards defile before him, "What a pity it is to go to war ! — it dirties their dress ; it spoils sol- diers." To such a degree of perfection did he bring them in these respects, that when, in October 1816, the Emperor Alexander passed them in review at Warsaw, he was so struck with their martial air, exact discipline, and splendid appearance, that he embraced his brother several times in their presence. But they were not mere carpet knights who thus charmed the greatest military monarch in the world by their appearance : none showed, when the hour of trial arrived, that they were more equal to the duties and penetrated with the spirit of real soldiers. When the disastrous revolt of 1830 arrived, and the little kingdom of Poland strove to detach itself from its colossal neighbour, its fortresses of Modlin and Zamosc were in such a state of defence, and its army so efficient, that for ten months it 1 B;g„ jgj maintained a doubtful conflict with its gigantic foe, and in Hom-^viv. the end was only subdued by the aid of Prussia^ — a me- MaiteBrua, morablc instance of devoted though mistaken patriotism, S30. ' and of the glorious destiny which awaited Poland, if its sons had had the sense to establish a stable government, HISTORY OF EUROPE. 123 and their heroic courage and military spirit had not been chap. rendered nugatory by the insane divisions and democratic ^^^^' selfishness of former times. ^®^^' The powers of western Europe acted naturally and in a liberal spirit in stipulating, for the fragment of the Failure of Polish nation embraced in the new kingdom, constitutional sentliFve' privileges and a representative government, and the FoS." Emperor Alexander not less so in conceding them. But they proved worse than useless in practice ; and their entire failure adds another to the numerous instances which history affords of the extreme danger of transplant- ing institutions suitable to one race and state of society to men inheriting a different blood, and in a different stage of political existence. Not less stormy and un- manageable by ordinary means, or any appeals to reason, than their ancient diets, where eighty thousand horsemen discussed the affairs of state in the plains of Volo, the new Assembly united to it the selfishness, interested motives, and corruption which are the gangrenes of the representative system, even in the most highly-advanced and polished societies. They were seldom convoked, and, when assembled,more than once abruptly dissolved. Poland flourished under the Russian rule prior to the calamitous revolt in 1830, not in consequence of her representatives, but in spite of them. No salutary or useful measures are to be traced to their influence ; and they drew forth from no common man, the Emperor Nicholas, the following, it is to be feared, as applied to that people, just condemna- tion : " I understand a republic ; it is a clear and sincere government, or at least it may be so : I understand an absolute government, since I am the chief of such an order of things ; but I do not understand a representative monarchy. It is the government of falsehood, fraud, and corruption : I would retreat to the wall of China rather than adopt it. I have been a representative monarch ; and the world knows what it has cost me declining to submit to the exigencies of that infamous government. 124 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. I disdained the usual means of managing such assemblies : ^^"' I would neither purchase votes nor corrupt consciences, ^^'^' nor seduce some to corrupt others. I disdained such methods, as not less degrading to those who yield to, than disgraceful to him who employs them, and I have paid dear for my sincerity ; but God be praised, I have done, and for ever, with that form of government." Thirty years ago, these words would have passed for the violent declama- tion of a despotic prince, abusing any institutions which iLeMarquis put a restraint upon his own power ; but time has since LaRussielk then taught us many lessons : we have seen the representa- 46''47."' *^^^ system working in France, Ireland, and some parts of England.l Strengthened by this great accession of power and Great in- territory, which brought their advanced posts into the Eussi°a.° heart of Europe, within a hundred and eighty miles both of Vienna and Berlin, Russia now assumed the place which she has ever since maintained as the undisputed arbiter of eastern Europe. Happy if she does not also become the mistress of the west, and the endless divisions of its aspiring inhabitants are not in the end extinguished by the unity of her advancing power. Great as are the physical resources of Russia, and rapidly as they have recently increased her influence, the prestige of her name, the dread of her strength, have increased in a still greater proportion. Men looked with a sort of superstitious awe on an empire which had never receded for centuries — which, secured in rear by the snows of the polar circle, had stretched its mighty arms almost to the torrid zone ; which numbered the Vistula, the Amour, the Danube, and the Euphrates among its frontier streams, and already boasted of possessing a seventh of the habitable globe within its dominions. Nor had the events of recent times weakened this undefined impression ; Napoleon's words had proved true, that Russia was backed " by two invincible allies, time and space :" foreign assault was hopeless against a state which had repelled the invasion of five hundred thousand men ; and no empire, how strong HISTORY OP EUROPE. 125 soever, seemed capable of ■withstanding a power which, chap beginning its career of victory with the burning of Mos cow, had terminated it by the capture of Paris. * " What has augmented in the most remarkable degree jg this moral influence, is the prudence and wisdom with Great wis- which it has been exercised. Never impelled by senseless external ambition on the part of its rulers, or frantic passions ^°''°^' among its people, the policy of Russia for two centuries has been eminently moderate and judicious. Its rulers are constantly actuated by the lust of conquest, but they never precipitate the moment of attack ; conscious of their own strength, they await calmly the moment of action, and then appear with decisive effect. Like a great man in the conduct of life, they are never impelled by the thirst for immediate display which is the torment and bane of little minds, but are satisfied to appear when circumstances call them forth, aware that no effort will then be required to prove their superiority. Their conquests, how great soever, seem all to have been the result of necessity ; constantly, in reality, aggressive, they have almost always appeared, in serious warfare, on the defen- sive. The conquest of Finland in 1808, the result of the treaty of Tilsit, is the only one for the last century in which its cabinet was avowedly and ostensibly the aggres- sors. While this prudent policy disarms their neighbours, and induces them to rely on the supposed moderation and magnanimity of the government, it adds immensely to their own strength when the moment of action has arrived. Every interval of peace is attended by a rapid growth of their internal resources, and its apparent leisure is sedulously improved by the government in pre- paring the means of future conquest. No senseless cry for economy, no " ignorant impatience of taxation," para- lyses their strength on the termination of hostilities, and makes them* lose in peace the whole fruits of conquest in war. Alike in peace as in war, at home and abroad, their strength is constantly rolling on ; like a dark thun- der-cloud, a hundred and fifty thousand men, ready for 126 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP instant action, constantly overhang in Poland eastern ^"'' Europe ; and every state -within reach of their hostility '^^^' is too happy to avert it by submission. When the storm broke on Hungary in 1849, it at once extinguished the conflagration which had set Europe in flames.* The secret of this astonishing influence of Russia in Their unity Europcan poHtics, is not merely her physical resources purpose. ^^^ ^^^.^ growth, great as it will immediately appear both are, but the unity of purpose by which the whole nation is animated. Like that of individuals in private life, this is the great secret of national success ; it is not so much superiority in means, as their persevering direction to one object, which is the spring to which in both it is mainly to be ascribed. The ceaseless direction of Roman energy to foreign conquest gave Rome the empire of the world; that of the French to the thirst for glory and principle of honour, conferred on them the lead in continental Europe ; that of the English to foreign commerce and domestic industry, placed in their hands the sceptre of the waves. Not less persevering than any of these nations, and ex- clusively directed to one object, rivalling the ancient masters of the world in the thirst for dominion, and the modern English in the vigour with which it is sought, the whole Russians, from the emperor on the throne to the serf in the cottage, are inspired with the belief that their mission is to conquer the world, and their destiny to efiect it. Commerce is in little esteem among them ; its most lucrative branches are in the hands of the Germans, who overspread its towns as the Jews do those of Poland, Agriculture, abandoned to the serfs, is regarded only as the means of raising a rude subsistence for the cultivators, and realising a fixed revenue for the proprietor. Litera- ture is in its infancy, law considered as an inferior line ; but war is cultivated with the utmost assiduity, and vast schools, where all subjects connected with it are taught in the most approved manner and with the latest improve- * The EuBsian army which invaded Hungary in 1849 was 161,800 strong. — Georgbt's Memoirs of the War in Tlungary, ii. 149. HISTORY Of EUROPE. 127 ments, are constantly attended by two hundred thousand chap. of the best young men in the empire. The ablest among '— them are selected for the diplomatic service, and hence ^^ ^' the great talent by which that profession in Russia is ever distinguished ; but the whole remainder are turned into the army, where they find themselves at the head of ignorant but bold and hardy men, not less inflamed than themselves with the thirst for foreign conquest — not less impressed with the idea that to them is destined the sceptre of the world. The physical circumstances of Russia are such as to justify, in a great degree, these anticipations. Its popu- statistics of lation in Europe consisted in 1850 of 62,088,000 souls, its^llT-' and in Asia of 4,638,000 more ; in all, 67,247,000, and "'"'• including the army, 68,000,000. It is now (1853) not less than 70,000,000. Of this immense mass no less than 60,500,000 are the inhabitants of the country, and engaged in cultivation, and only 5,388,000 the in- dwellers in towns, and engaged in their industrial pursuits, the remainder being nomads, or in the army. This enor- mous proportion of the cultivators to the other classes of society — twelve to one — at once indicates the rude and infantine state of civilisation of the immense majority of the inhabitants, and demonstrates in the clearest manner the utter groundlessness of those apprehensions regarding the increasing difiBculty of raising subsistence for the increasing numbers of mankind in the later stages of society, which in the early part of this century took such general hold of the minds of men. For while, in the immense and fertile plains of Russia, twelve cultivators only raise food for themselves and their families and one inhabitant of towns, and perhaps an equal number of consumers in foreign states — that is, six cultivators feed themselves and one other member of society — in Great Britain, hy the census of 1841, the number of persons engaged in the cultivation of the soil was to the remain- ing classes of society as one to seven nearly ; and yet the nation was self-supporting. In other words, the power 128 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. vm. 1815. 1 Koepper'e Population de la Russia en 1838,72; Tegoborski, i. 130, 132, 193. of labour in raising food was hJooyq forty times greater, in proportion to the population in the old and denselj- peopled, than the young and thinly-peopled state.* The same truth has been exemplified in America, where, by the census of 1841, the cultivators over the whole Union are to the other classes of society as four, and beyond the Alleghany Mountains as eight to one ; facts which demonstrate that so far from population, as Mr Malthus supposes, pressing in the later stages of society on subsis- tence, subsistence is daily acquiring a greater and more decisive ascendancy over population.^ The rapidity with which this immense body of men increases in numbers is as important in a political point of view as it is formidable to the rest of Europe. The annual present addition to the population has been from * By the census of 1840, the proportion of cultivators to all other classes in the United States of America stood thus : — Agricultural, .... 3,717,756 All other classes, . . . 1,078,660 Or about 3| to 1. Beyond the Alleghany Mountains they were : — Agricultural, .... 2,092,266 All other classes, . . . 287,761 Or about 8 to 1 in the basin of the Mississippi, the garden of the world. On the other hand, in Great Britain, by the census of 1831 and 1841, the families respectively engaged in agriculture and other pursuits stood thus : — 1831. 1841. Great Britain and Ireland. Agricultural, . . . 961,134 3,343,974 All other pursuits, . . 2,463,041 23,482,116 Or 7 to 1 in the latter period only. And yet, down to this period, the nation was, to all practical purposes, self-supporting— the importation of wheat having been for forty years back not only trifling but declining, and in some years nothing at all. Average of wheat imported yearly ; — AVBBAOES. Tears. Quarters. 1800 to 1810 1810 to 1820 1820 to 1830 1830 to 1835 600,468 458,678 534,992 398,507 SIHQLS TEABS. Tears. Quarters. Tears. Quarters. 1808 1816 1819 1820 1821 1822 122,133 34,270 2 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 82,341 64,363 28,483 24,876 244,087 ^Vide Pouter's Progress of the Nation, 3d edition, 139, 140 ; Bistory of Europe, chap. xc. 34 ; an4 Amerioan Census, 1840. HISTORY OP EUROPE, 129 1840 to 1850, as one to one hundred, and that notwitli- chap. standing the fearful ravages of the cholera, -which in 1_ 1847 caused a decrease of 296,000.-^^ This average ^^^^• increase will cause a dupHcation of the population in Great rapi- seventy years, being as nearly as possible the rate of creLfoT' increase in the British empire for thirty years prior to pop^Xn." 1846 ; since that time the prodigious drain of the emi- gration, -which has no-w reached the enormous amount of 365,000 a-year, has occasioned an annual decline, pro- bably only temporary, of from 200,000 to 250,000. It is greater than that of any other state in Europe, Prussia alone excepted, which is increasing at such a rate as to double in fifty-two years ; but far from equalling that of the United States of America, which for two centuries has ;. 88^°9^2 regularly doubled its inhabitants every twenty-four years, ^^' ^o^«p- aided, it is true, by a vast immigration from Europe, which suriaPopu- 11^,- . ft lation de has latterly risen to the enormous amount or 500,000 Ruasie. a-year.^ But the formidable nature of this increase, which, if it remains unchecked, will bring Russia, in seventy years. Great room to have 140,000,000 of inhabitants, or about half of the inorras"ln whole population of Europe at this time, which is esti- mated at 280,000,000, arises from the vast and almost boundless room which exists in its immense possessions for future augmentation. Such is the extent of its terri- tory, that, great as its population is, it is at the rate less than 30 the square mile for Russia in Europe, while in Oreat Britain it is at the rate of 220, and in France of 171. If Russia in Europe were peopled at the rate of its inhabi- tants. * Population. Excess of births over deaths. In 10 1840, 60,231,000 393,000 . .8 18il, 60,626,000 ■ 344,000 -. .6 1842, 60,940,000 ' 842,000 1.7 1843, 51,782,000 ' 972,000 1.9 1844, 62,754,000 755,000 1.4 1845, 63,609,000 ■ 683,000 1.1 1846, 64,092,000 638,000 1 1847, 64,630,000 296,000 decrease (ch olera) .5 Ti;gobobs SI, 1. 88. TOL. II. I 130 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Great Britain and Ireland, it would contain 500,000,000 ^"^' souls — a number by no means impossible, if the vast ex- ^^^^' tent of waste land in thei Highlands of Scotland, and the mountains pi Cumberland and Wales, not less sterile than the fir forests of the north of Russia, is taken into account.* Its entire superficies is 2,120,000 square geo- graphical miles, while that of Great Britain and Ireland Sifpo- is 120,340 ; that of France, 207,252 ; that of Austria, iogiie,et 257,830: that of Prussia, 107,958; facts which, even Finland, ' ' , i n • i i • 238; Tego- morc than its present number of inhabitants, demonstrate 98,^9.^' the prodigious capabilities which it contains, and the destinies to which it is ultimately called.^ What renders a people, advancing at such a rate, and Unity of possessed of such resources, in a peculiar manner formid- thewhoTe able, is the unity of purpose and feeling by which the «™pife. ^hole of the immense mass is animated. It is a common opinion in western Europe that a people inhabiting so vast and varied a territory cannot by possibility remain united, and that Russia broken up, as it must ere long be, into a number of separate dominions, will cease to be formidable to the other powers of Europe. There never was a greater mistake, To reason thus is to fall into the usual error of supposing that all mankind are placed in the same circumstances, and actuated by the same desires. There have been many insurrections and revolts in Russia, but none which ever pointed in the most remote degree either to a change in the form of government, or to a separation of one part of the coun- try from the other. It is in its Polish conquests alone that this passion has been felt. Even when the Rus- Population in 1851. Proportion to aq. mile geog. British Meg, . . , 27,436,315 220 Fraaoe, , Prussia, . Austria, , Russia in Europe) — Tbqobobski, i. 99, The population of Great Britain and Ireland, however, was only 27,435,316 by the census of 1851, but that was in consequence of the Irish famine, 1846, and emigration ever since, so that the rate for it must be taken at what it was in 1 845. 38,680,000 171 16,676,000 150 38,286,000 148 62,000,000 30 HISTORY OP EUROPE. 131 sians have appeared in revolt, as they have often done, it chap. was ever in obedience to the impulse of loyalty : they ^^^^' combated the Czar in the name of another Czar, not ^^^^' knowing which was the right one, as the Scotch High- landers did the Hanoverian family in the name of the Stuarts. The principle of cohesion is much stronger in Russia than it is in the British dominions, infinitely more so than in the United States of America. England and France may be subjugated, or broken into separate states, before the integrity of Russia is threatened; and many rival republics will be contending for the superiority on the Transatlantic plains, while the Muscovites are still slumbering in conscious strength and patient expectation under the sceptre of the Czar. The cause of this remarkable, and, to the other states 19 of Europe, most formidable unity of feeling in the Russian Reason of dominions is to be found, in the first place, as that of all Their a'£ great national peculiarities is, in the original character and reu-'^ and disposition of the race. The Russians are not, it is g^onsfeei- true, encamped on the plains of Scythia as the Turks have been for four centuries on those of the Byzantine Empire ; they have taken root in the soil, they constitute its entire inhabitants, and are now devotedly attached to it by the possession of its surface and the labours of agri- culture. But they are not on that account less Oriental in their ideas, feelings, and habits ; on the contrary, it is that very circumstance, joined to their agricultural pur- suits, which renders them so formidable. They unite the devotion and singleness of purpose of Asia to the industry and material resources of Europe. It is incor- rect to say that the Russians, like the inhabitants of England or France, are generally loyal, and only occa- sionally seized with the disturbing passions of revolution or religion. They are loyal at all times, and in all places, and under all circumstances. They can never be brought to combat the Czar but in the name of the Czar. Devo- tion to the throne is so interwoven with the inmost feeir 132 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, ings of their hearts that it has become part and parcel of ^^^^' their very being ; it is as universal as the belief in God ^^^^- or a future state is in other countries. No disturbing or rival passions interfere with the unity of this feeling, -which is sublime from its universality, and respectable from its disinterestedness. The Czar is at once their temporal sovereign, their supreme chief, whose will is law in all temporal affairs, and the head of their church, under the segis of whose protection they alone hope for entrance into paradise in the world to come. The Patriarch of Constantinople is, properly speaking, the head of the Greek Church, but he is a foreigner, and at a distance ; the real ecclesiastical authority resides in the Czar, who ' Levcsque, i . . i Histoire de appomts all the bishops ; and his brows are surrounded, 89,90.' ■ in their eyes, at once with the diadem of the sultan and the tiara of the pontiff.^ This unity of feeling — the result of the combination, in Unity of the same people, of the Asiatic principle of passive obedi- the^empire. cuce in temporal, and the Roman Catholic one of unity of belief in religious concerns — has been much enhanced in Russia by the entire identity of materialinterests over every part of the empire. Other nations are partly agricultural, partly manufacturing, partly commercial ; and experience has proved that not the least serious causes of internal division are to be traced to the varied and conflicting in- terests of these different classes of society. But in Russia no such cause of division exists. The empire is, speaking in general terms, wholly agricultural. Its seaports are only emporiums for the sale of its rude produce ; its merchants, its grain and hemp factors; its manufacturers, the clothers of its rural population ; its nobles, the persons enriched by their labours. So inconsiderable is the urban popula- tion — only a twelfth of the rural— that it can secure no sort of influence in the state ; and such as it is, its most lucrative professions are chiefly in the hands of foreigners. St Petersburg itself has, including the garrison, which is never less than 60,000 men, only 470,000 inhabitants ; HISTORY 01 EUROPE. 133 but for the court, it would soon sink below 100,000 ; chap. Moscow 349,000, — neither greater than Manchester or ^^^'' Glasgow at this moment.* If this extremely small pro- ^*^^" portion of the urban to the rural population is prejudicial to the national wealth, by depriving the state of the great hives of industry which in other states are the nur- series of capital, it is eminently favourable to the unity of feeling which pervades the empire. The Russians have the two strongest bonds of cohesion which can exist in a state — identity of religious belief, and unity of tem- poral interests. The Empress Catherine took some steps towards introducing schools into her vast dominions ; and great General in- establishments for the young of both sexes excite theofthT""^ admiration of travellers both at St Petersburg and Mos- produc,*° cow. But she did so, only that her vanity might be ^l'^^^' gratified by the praise of the philosophers of western Europe ; for she at the same time wrote to one of her favourites that if they were general through the empire, neither he nor she would long remain where they then were.f- Catherine was right ; the unbounded authority of the Czar, both as the temporal sovereign of the state and the head of the church, is based on the general ignorance which prevails. Before the light of knowledge the vast fabric would insensibly melt away, but with it would disappear at the same time the internal solidity and ex- ternal strength of the empire. The Emperor Alexander * Population in" 1840 of— uce ,611- ment. St Petersburg, 470,202 Riga, 59,960 Moscow, . 349,068 Cronstadt, 54,747 Warsaw, . 140,474 Wilna, 54,499 Odessa, . 60,055 Toula, 64,735 Astrakan, 45,938 Kiev, 47,424 Kajian, . 44,304 Woronije, . 43,800 — Tegobobski, i. 122, 123. + " Mon cher Prince,— Ne vous plaignez pas de ce que les Eusses n'ont pas le desir de s'instruire. Si j'institue des ecoles, ce n'est pas pour nous; c'est pour I'Europe, oft il faut maintenir notre rang dans I'opinion : mais du jour ou nos paysans voudraient s'^clairer, ni yous ni mqi nous ne resterions si nos places." — Cathebihe, Impiratrice, au Gouverneur de Moscow, 8 June 1772; Di CasTiNE, La Russie en 1839, ii. 115. 134 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, did much to establish schools in his dominions ; but as ^^^^' they were all either in the hands of the sovereign or the ^^^^' Church, they did little to enlighten the general mind, save in the military art, in which they kept it on a level with, if not superior to, any country of Europe. The schools, other than the government ones, which are mere military academies, being entirely in the hands of the clergy, who are themselves, with some bright exceptions, the most uninformed of the community, little is to be expected for the training of the general mind from the spread of edu- cation, as it is at present constituted. There is no nation in the world more profoundly im- The clergy, prcsscd with rcHgious feelings than the Russians, and yet there is none to which the Gospel has less been preached. The Bible is to them a sealed book, for not one in a hun- dred can read ; preaching is unknown, for it would not be understood ; form is all in all. Repeated genuflexions at passing the image of a saint, invariable crossing them- selves before eating, and attendance at church to witness a few ceremonies around the altar on Sunday, form, in general, the whole of their devotional practices. In truth, the vast majority of the people are in so backward a state as to civilisation, that they could neither under- stand doctrines nor apprehend precepts apart from the influence of the senses. Like all rude nations, they are deeply impressed with religious feelings; but it is the religion which enters by the eye rather than the ear, and is nourished by visible objects, not abstract ideas. Paint- ings of Scriptural subjects are to be seen in all directions, and are the objects of the most superstitious devotion to the entire people ; for they think that the prohibition in the Commandments is only against graven, not painted images ; and that, provided only the surface is flat, it is lawful to fall down and worship it. The clergy are a very numerous body in the empire — they amounted, in 1829, to 243,000 ; and being allowed to marry, their children are still more numerous, and having nearly all HISTORY OF EUROPE. 135 received the elements of education, they constitute the chief class from whom the numerous civil employes of government are drawn.* They are little elevated, either in instruction, station, or circumstances, above the peasants by whom they are surrounded, whose virtues and vices they in general share ; but among the higher prelates, appointed by the emperor, are to be found men, as in the elevated diplomatic circles, second to none in the world in piety and zeal, and learning.^ Titles and estates are hereditary in Russia, but not rank— a curious distinction, little understood in western Europe, where they are invariably united, but highly characteristic of its social system, and important in its social and political effects on the inhabitants. It is this distinction which has crushed the feudal system in that country, and placed society on an entirely different basis — half European, half Asiatic — from any of the other states founded by the conquerors who overthrew the Roman Em- pire. Peter the Great was the author of the system which is called the Tchinn, and by its establishment he effected a greater revolution in the destinies of the empire than by the destruction of the Strelitzes. The whole people were by this strange but vigorous lawgiver divided into fourteen classes, corresponding to the grades in the army, and something analogous to the centuries into which, for the purposes of taxation and election, the Romans, in the days of the Republic, were divided. Each of these classes has certain privileges peculiar to itself, which are not * The clergy are thus divided, which shows how vast a preponderance the Greek Church enjoys — viz. Greek Church, 223,000 CHAPl VIII. 1815. 1 Custine's Russia, iii. 276, 279. 23. Bask in Russia : the Tchinn. United Greeks, Boman Catholics, Mahommedan, Reformed, 7,000 6,000 6,000 400 243,000 The whole are married, or capable of being so, except the Eoman Catholic priests. The entire persons belonging to the clergy and their families, forming the clergy class, amounted, in 1829, to 900,000, and are now above a million of souls Maltb Bbun, vi. 414. 136 HISTOEY OP EUROPE. CHAP, enjoyed by the one below it : the lowest class, which is ■ immediately above the serfs, is invested with the single 1815. I CUBtine, privilege of not being beaten except by judicial authority ; and to insure the enjoyment of this privilege, and pre- vent strangers from in ignorance invading it, every person in that class is obliged to have his number placarded above his door. All the inferior 'empIoySs of government, and persons charged with subaltern duties in the admi- nistration, belong to this class. Every person who be- comes a soldier acquires its privileges when he puts off his uniform and obtains his discharge. As to the serfs, ii. 311, 312; they are left in the condition that our peasants were MalteBrun, , "' ■ ;r >~ii . ■, , ■, vi. 415,417. by Magna Charta — any one may beat them at plea- sure. ^ This singular organisation of society, which pervades Greatpower all ranks in Russia, from the Czar downwards, augments thrTchmn. to a most enormous degree the power of the sovereign, for it places the personal rank and privileges of every individual in the realm at his disposal. By a stroke of the pen the Czar can degrade every individual in the empire, whatever his descent, or family, or titles may be, from his rank, deprive him of all the privileges belonging to it, and cast him down to the very lowest class imme- diately above the serfs. With equal facility he can ele- vate any person to a class in which he was neither born, nor to which he is entitled by any distinction or services rendered to the state, and thus place him in a rank superior to any, even the very highest noble in the land. The rank thus conferred is personal only ; it does not descend with the holder's titles or estates to his heirs ; it is given by the sovereign, held of, and may at any moment be resumed by him. An awful example of the exercise of this power by the Czar is sometimes given, who, in flagrant cases, degrades a colonel at the head of his regi- ment, or a civil governor in the seat of his authority-^ has him flogged in presence of those so recently subjected to his authority, and instantly sent oflf in one of the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 137 cars provided for convicts to Siberia. It is these terrible chap. instances of severe, but, in so despotic a state, necessary 1_ justice, often falling like a flash of lightning on the highest ^*^*" functionaries, and in the most unforeseen manner, which inspires so universal a dread of the power of the Czar, and causes his mandates to be obeyed like the laws of the Almighty or the decrees of fate, which mortals must accept and submit to in trembling silence. It has given rise to the common opinion that rank in Russia is mili- tary only, and depends on the position held in the army. This is in appearance true, but not really so ; for in no country are civil gradations more firmly established or scrupulously observed than in Russia. They are abreast of the steps in military rank, and confer the same rights, but they do not confer steps in the army ; hence a hair- dresser or tailor sometimes has the rank of a major- general, but he could not command a company. At the head of the Tchinn was long placed Field-marshal L^^"«. Paskewitch, the conqueror of Persia and Poland, and ^os, 412; governor of Warsaw; at its toot the whole postilions 312, sjs. and couriers in the empire.^ This organisation of society betrays its Eastern origin ; it recalls the castes of Egypt and Hindostan, with this dif- casteof the ference, that the rank is personal, and entirely dependent ^°^^^^' on the emperor's will — not hereditary, as with them, and naturally descending, like the colour of the skin, from parent to child. As such, it confers an influence on the sovereign unknown even on the banks of the Nile or the Ganges. The class of nobles is very numerous ; it em- braced in 1829 no less than 389,542 individuals. It need hardly be said that a great proportion of this class are destitute of property ; but such as are so, for the most part find a refuge in the ample ranks of the army. Some of them are possessed of enormous fortunes, and when not trained to civil or military duties in the diplomatic or military line, they for the most part spend their lives in St Petei:sburg or Moscow, where a great proportion of 138 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, them, even to the most advanced age, are engaged in an ^^"' incessant round of profligacy and pleasure. It exceeds *®'*' anything ■witnessed, at least on the surface, either in Paris or London ; for passion, relieved from the pressure of public opinion, and too distant to fall under the coer- cion of the emperors, riots without control, and to a degree which would not be tolerated in the societies of western Europe. Democratic desires, 'with all their iucon- veniences, have this good effect, that they provide for the decorum of society, and check those gross instances of license which at once degrade and corrupt it. They render every man a spy on his neighbour, and the espion- 1 custine ^S^ °^ ^° arbitrary sovereign is so willingly and effectu- iii.3S7,36i; ally exercised : for though no man likes to have a restraint MalteBrun, . "^ , , . . . .„. , , Ti. 413. imposed on his own passions, every one is willing to have it fastened upon those of his neighbour.^ 2g The trading ov bourgeois class, which composes several Of the' ranks of the Tchinn, is made up in Russia, so far as the a^aS- higher persons in it are concerned, for the most part, of ing classes, foreigners. The portion of it drawn from the nation is composed of persons entirely emancipated, or of those who, still serfs, are not attached to the soil, and have commuted their obligation of personal service into the payment of a certain annual sum called the ohrok, generally ten or twelve rubles a-year (£1, 12s. 6d. or £l, 18s.) This latter class is very numerous ; it con- tains no less than 14,000,000 of souls, including the families of the semi-emancipated serfs. They cannot, however, leave their trade or force the purchase of their freedom on their master against his consent, and the obrok is generally raised as their supposed gains augment. This is perhaps the very best way in which the step, always difficult, sometimes dangerous, can be made from slavery to freedom, because it makes the gaining of the habits of industry precede the cessation of its compulsion, and renders man capable of being free before he becomes so. The peasants on the domains of the Crown, though HISTORY OP EUROPE. 139 engaged in the labours of agriculture, are substantially in chap, the same situation ; they pay their obrok or capitation- ^"^' tax, and enjoy the whole remaining fruits of the soil they ^''^^■ have cultivated, or of the manual labour. Their number is very great ; it amounts to no less than 7,938,000 indi- viduals of the male sex. The trading classes are all arranged in separate guilds or corporations, in -which they enjoy considerable privileges — in particular, those of being exempt from personal chastisement, and the obligation to serve in the army, and to pay the capitation-tax, and hav- ing courts of their own, where their matters in dispute are determined, as in the Saxon courts of the Heptarchy, by a jury of their peers. This arrangement of the trading classes in separate guilds or fraternities, enjoying certain privileges, and bound together by community of interest, is the very best that human wisdom ever devised to improve the condition and habits of the industrious classes, because it tends to establish an aristocracy among them, which at once elevates their caste and protects their labour, and tends to prevent that greatest of all social evils, equality among the poor; which, as it de-'Maite stroys their influence, inevitably ends in the equality of 412, iri.' despotism.^ The last class in Russia is that of the Seeps or 27 peasants, the property of their masters, who are by lawTheseks: attached to the soil, and, for the most part, engaged in Lr and™" the labours of agriculture. Their number is immense : "•""i''""'- they amounted in Russia in Europe alone to 10,865,993 males in 1834, and in 1848 they had increased to 11,938,000, being as nearly as possible one-half of the entire population engaged in the cultivation of the soil.'^' * Peasants in Russia slaves in 1848, . . . 11,938,182 Free peasants, viz. : — Free peasants and Odnovostry, . 2,395,070 Crown peasants 9,209,200 Crown colonists, .... 1S0,000 Newly emancipated, . . . 146,560 — Teqobobski, i. 320. 11,900,820 140 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. It is a total mistake, however, to suppose that this iiu- ^"'' mense body of men are slaves in our sense of the word J81S, — ^jj^j. jg^ -jj ^]jg g|.j^^g ^jj M-hich the negroes till recently were in the West India islands, or as they still are in the Southern States of America. They are the property, indeed, of their masters ; they are sold with the estate, and cannot leave it without his consent ; and the pro- perty in them, as in the West Indies till of late, consti-; ischnitzier, tutes the chlcf part of its value. But they enjoy several t^nefiii?"'" ™Portant immunities, which go far to assuage the bitter- 371, '380; jjggg Qf gervitude, and render it doubtful whether, in the Tegoborski, ' i. 311, 312. existing state of Russian society, they could be so well off under any other circumstances.^ . They are sold with the estate, but they cannot, without Privileges their owH conscut, be sold without it — a privilege of in- tagea^they' Calculable value, for it prevents the separation of husband ™''°^" and wife, parent and child,, and the tearing up of the slave from the home of his fathers, which constitutes the last drop in the cup of his bitterness. By a ukase of the Emperor Paul in 1 79 7, who, in this instance at least, proved himself a real father to his people, every slave or peasant subject to forced labour on his master's account, is permitted during three days in the week to work on his own. By a ukase of the present emperor, slaves are even permitted to hold small pieces of land on their own account, though in their master's name ; and if he attempts to interfere with their enjoyment of the fruits, he is liable to be restrained by an order from the governor of the pro- vince. In addition to this, the master is obliged to maintain the slave in sickness or old age — an obligation which is al- ways and willingly discharged, for a very sufficient reason, '^iie" 22oI' *^**^ tbs great extent of waste land in his possession, or ^ifsS'l surplus produce in his hands, in general enables the mas- i'^^ien ' ter to discharge the duty without feeling it as a burden.^ hausen It rcsults from these circumstances that the condition of iand,i. 174. thc scrf is, generally speaking, so far as rude comfort goes, equal or superior to that of any peasantry in Europe, and HISTORY OF EUROPE. 141 that even the best-conditioned cultivators in its western chap. states would find something to envy in the constant food and secure position, of a Russian serf.* *^'''' There is a very curious institution, almost universal among the serfs of Russia, which betrays their Eastern The Tiegio: origin, and has done more than any other circumstance tages and to mitigate the severity of slavery amongst them. It ^"'^' savours of the village system so firmly rooted in all the northern parts of Hindostan, and recalls the days when the whole lands of Palestine were allotted afresh every half-century to the Jews in ancient times. It is called the Tieglo, and consists in this : All the peasants of Russia or of Spain live in villages ; isolated cottages, the glory and mark of English and Swiss freedom, are un- known. Each village has a certain portion of land allotted to it by the emperor, if the lands hold of the Crown, or by their lord, if of a subject, and which they labour on their own account for the subsistence of them- selves and their families. Another portion of the estate is cultivated by the serfs, under the corv4e, on their master's account. As the waste land in general bears so great a proportion to that under cultivation, both portions are very extensive, and there is room and to spare for future i Haxthau- increase.^ The land allotted to the peasants is not divided Xr russ- into separate portions as it would be in England, where, '^"Z'^-'^?' . . i T 1 . J, 1 • n uo\ Tegob. m some places, " each rood has its man, but is all put i. 328, 331. * The Marquis Custine, anything but a eulogist of Russian institutions and manners, gives the following account of the appearance of the old serfs, re- leased from labour for life, sitting at the doors of their cottages : " Je ne puis m'empecher de trouver un grand oharme h I'ignorance, lorsque j'en vois le fruit dans la physionomie celeste des yieux paysans russes. Ces patriarches modemes se reposent noblement au d^clin de leur vie : travailleurs exempts de. la corvee, ils se d^barrassent de leur fardeau vers la fin du jour et s'appuyent aveo dignity sur le seuil de la chaumiSre qu'ils ont reb^tie plusieurs fois, car sous ce rude climat la maison de I'homme ne dure pas autant que sa vie. -Quand je ne rapporterais de mon voyage en Russie, que le souvenir de ces vieil- lards sans remords, appuyes contre les portes sans serrures, je ne regretterais pas la peine que j'ai prise pour venir voir des or&tures si diffSrentes de tous les autres paysans du monde. La noblesse de la chaumiSre m'inspire toujours un profond respect." — De Cvarnt^jVoyageen Sussie, iv. 10. — Would the inmates of pur workhouses present an equally agreeable spectacle 1 142 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, at the disposal of the entire village community, •which, in ^^"' its turn, becomes responsible for the whole charges and 1815. obligations incumbent on its members. A certain number of the elders of the village make the on '-' Way in partition of the lands among all the householders, and it i^'iarried IS generally done with great care and circumspection, into effect, accoi'ding to the necessities and capabilities of each in- habitant. The lot awarded to each is in proportion to the numbers which he has to feed, and the arms he can bring to aid in the cultivation of its furrows. When a son marries during the lifetime of his father, he applies for and obtains a separate portion for himself, which he labours on his own account, and which is augmented in proportion as his family increases. On the other hand, if it declines, his lot is proportionally contracted ; and if he dies with- out children, it is given to some other by the little senate of the village. Inequality in the richness of the soil, or difficulties in its cultivation, are carefully weighed and com- pensated by the grant of a larger or smaller portion of ground. If the land at the disposal of the community exceeds the wants of its inhabitants, the surplus is divided among such of her peasants as have the largest stock of cattle and implements of husbandry, who are propor- tionally burdened with a share of the charges of the community. On the other hand, if the land falls short, a portion of the community hives off like a swarm of bees, and settles in some government or province where there is enough, and where they are always sure of a cordial welcome, for they bring with them industry, wealth, and cultivation. So firmly is this system estab- lished iii Russia— as, indeed, it is generally in the East — and so suitable is it to the circumstances of the people, that, although it has many inconveniences, and checks the improvement of agriculture by the sort of community of land which it establishes, and its frequent repartition, the peasants resolutely resist any attempt at its removal and limitation, and cling to it as the great charter which HISTORY OP EUROPE. 143 secures to them all the means of living and briiiging up chap. their children. In some instances it has been given up, and the land permanently allotted to each inhabitant ; but ^^^^" they have almost always recurred to the old system, as the only one fitted to their circumstances. It is so : it almost realises the aspirations of the Socialists of Paris, as it did those of the Spartans ; and it is a curious circum- stance, indicating how extremes meet, that the nearest j jj^^t^j^^. approximation that ever has been made in modern Europe ««?,i- iw, 1 • • o 1 ^ • . -,1 n ^, 178;Tegob. to the visions of the Communists, is amidst the serfs, and i. sso, 331. under the Czar of Russia.^ A very simple reason chains the peasants in the greater part of Russia to the conditions of feudal servitude : it Contrast of is necessity. Slavery is the condition of existence. Writ- RufsiLcui- ers in England are, for the most part, strangely misled '''*'°"- on this subject by what they see around them. They behold their own farmers living in comfort, often rising to affluence, each on his own possession, and they ask why should not a similar state of things arise in Russia ? They forget that the English farmer has a county bank near him, to furnish him with the means of improvement; a canal or a railway at his door, to transport his produce to market — an unfailing vent in numerous great towns for its disposal; ample means of purchasing the most approved implements, and learning the best methods of cultiva- tion in the publications to which he has access. In all these respects the situation of the Russian peasant is not analogous, but a contrast. Situated in the midst of a vast and thinly-peopled wilderness, he is fortunate if he is only three or four hundred miles from any sea- port, thirty or forty miles from any. considerable town. Canals or railways there are none ; banks are unknown, and if established, he has no security to offer for ad- vances ; his capital is confined to the axe which he car- ries on his shoulder, and the plough which he steers with his hands. Instead of the mild climate which enables country labour to go on, country animals to pasture in. the . 144 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, open fields, during the greater par6 of the winter, he is ^"'■■_ doomed to inactivity during eight months in the year by ^^'^* three or four feet of snow upon the ground, and compelled to make the most of a brief summer to gather stock to live on :during a long and dreary winter. How are animals to be fed, the wages of freemen paid, markets found, or free- men to exist, under such circumstances 1 Withdraw the capital of the landowners; throw the slaves upon their own resources, or the imaginary wages of labour in the present state of society, and the human race woiild perish, in a great part of Russia, as fast as, from the want of 1 Haxthau- gQine Similarly protective system, it has recently melted 190.'' ' away in Ireland. The first winter would gather many millions to their fathers.^ M. Haxthausen, whose very interesting work has thrown Opinion of guch light on the rural economy and agricultural p'opula- hausen^on tion of Russia, has enumerated three particulars in which Ind tMr the peasants of that country difi'er from those of western ment!'*'^*' Europo, and which render any general and compulsory enfranchisement of the serfs extremely perilous, if not im- possible. 1. The mass of disposable capital available to carry on cultivation by means of free labourers, paid by day's wages, bears no sort of proportion either to the wants of the inhabitants or the immense extent of arable land which requires to be cultivated. 2. In a great part of the empire the existing value of the product of the soil, if sold, so far from enabling the cultivators to pay any rent) would not even cover the expenses of cultivation. 3. In the remoter provinces,, or where seaports are distant and money scarce, the only possible mode of paying a rent is by rendering forced labour legal, for there are no means of turning the rude produce into money. A similar neces- sity has been felt in similar circumstances in other coun- tries. Witness the services in kind, and obligations to render rent in labour, formerly universal, still known in the remoter parts of Scotland. Accordingly, it has been often found in Russia that peasants whom the proprietors, from HISTORY OF EUROPE. 145 motives of humanity, or in imitation of the emperor, chap, have put under the obrok system, and who enjoy the entire Tin. fruits of their labour after paying a certain annual sum, ^^^^' are much less at their ease than the old serfs, and they in general leave the cultivation of their fields to seek a less laborious existence in towns. In many instances, such has been their suffering from having incurred the destitution of freedom, that they have returned to their masters, and re- quested to be again made serfs. In general, it has been observed that emancipation has not succeeded, except in circumstances where easy modes of earning subsistence in other ways exist ; and hence M. Haxthausen judiciously j concludes that the liberation of the serfs should never be ^en, i. 174, made a general or compulsory measure in Russia, but i. 323, 327.' should be left to the wants and interests of each locality.^ It is not to be supposed from this, however, that slavery in Russia is not both a very great social evil, and emi- Enia of tho nently dangerous to the rest of Europe^ and that he would Berf system. not be the best friend of both who could devise and establish a method for its gradual and safe abolition. Probably that method is to be found only in the progres- sive rise of towns and spread of manufactures, which, by rendering the obrok system more general, should give the slaves the means of purchasing and the masters the desire of selling freedom to them. It is not easy to see, how- ever, how this safe and wise method, which is analogous to the way in which it imperceptibly died out in the states of western Europe, is to spread generally in a country of such enormous extent as Russia, possessing eighteen times the area of Britain and Ireland, in Europe alone, intersected by few rivers, and for the most part so far distant from the sea-coast. Its inhabitants seem chained by their physical circumstances to the system of compul- sory labour for an indefinite course of years. This system provides amply, and better than any other under such circumstances could, for their subsistence, and the gratifi- cation of the animal wants of life ; but it provides for TOL, II. K 146 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, nothing more. No gradation of rank can exist among the ' labouring classes while it continues ; all are equally -well ^*^^' fed, and equally iU civilised. The spread of knowledge, the extrication of genius, the growth of artificial wants, are alike impossible. If this state of matters is a great evil to the inhabitants of this empire, what is it to the rest of Europe, when it promotes the growth of a population of sixty millions, doubling every seventy years, and all nearly equally supplied with the physical, and destitute of the intellectual food of man 1 Perhaps the only safe- guard against the encroachments of such a colossus, directed in politics and war with consummate ability, is to be found in the growth of a similar colossus, similarly directed, on the other side ; and it would be a curious ob- ject for the contemplation of philosophy in future times, if the barbarism of infant could be stopped only by that of aged civilisation, and the ambition of the Czar, heading tlie strength of the desert, was first checked by the ambi- tion of the emperor leading forth the forces induced by the Communist doctrines of Paris. Marquis Custine says, that in Russia we are perpe- Foreigli tually reminded of two things — the absence of the Sun enforced and the presence of Power. Both are equally important m by'^t's" alike in their social and external effects ; perhaps the last climate, jg ^jjg neccssary consequence of the first. A very simple reason makes, and ever must make, the Russians desirous above all things of escaping out of their own country ; it is the severity of its climate. Those who live in a coun- try where the snow covers the ground for eight months in the year, and the long nights of winter are illuminated only by the cold light of the aurora borealis, long with inexpressible ardour for the genial warmth and sunny hills of the south, where the skies are ever blue, the sun ever shines, and nature teems with the luxuriance of tropical vegetation. The shores of the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, the dome of St Sophia, are not only the secret dream of ambition to every Russian, but the un- doubted object of their expectation. " I do not wish HISTORY OP EUROPE. 147 Constantinople," said Nicholas; "my empire is already chap. too large ; but I know that I or my successors must have it : you might as well arrest a stream in its descent from ^^^^' a mountain, as the Russians in their advance to the Hellespont."^ The habits which necessity has given to ischnitzier, them, permanently fit, and ever must fit them for foreign "" conquest. Their life is a continual conflict with the severity of nature ; actual warfare, as to the Roman soldiers, is felt chiefly as a relaxation from the rude but invigorating discipline of peace. What are the hardships of a campaign to men who never knew the luxury of beds, whose food is black bread and water, who sleep ever on the hard bench or cold ground, and know no pleasure save the simple ones of nature, and the exciting ones of conquest 1 When the north ceases to communicate vigour to the frame, hardihood to the habits, and ambi- tion to the soul, Russia wiU cease to be a conquering, country, but not till then. The presence of Power is not less universally felt in Russia than the absence of the sun. It is not merely Fear tiie that the Czar is despotic, that his will constitutes law, prfJcTpTe of and that he is the master without control of the lives, f°^™™' liberties, and fortunes of all his subjects — the same system is continued, as is always the case in such circum- stances, through every, inferior grade in society. What the emperor is in his council or. his palace, every inferior prefect or governor, is within the limits of his territory, over his vast dominions. , Despotism is the general system, force the constant weapon of authority, fear the universal basis of government. Gross acts of maladministration^,, indeed, are often made the subject of immediateo and terrible punishment ; the efibrts of government arp un- ceasing to find them out, and the justice of the C^ar im- placable when they are clearly established. But it may easily be conceived that in a country of such enormous extent, where the machine of government is so compli- cated, and no free press exists to signalise its abuses, these instances are the exception, not the rule. Potrer is, 148 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, in general, undetected in its abuses, or supported in its ^^"' measures. So uniyersal is the dread of authority in 1 Custine, ^^i^' Russia, that it has moulded the national character, deter- mined the national tastes, and even formed the national manners. Obedience is universal, from the Empress on the throne to the humblest serf in his log-house. All do not what they like, or what they would have them- selves chosen, but what they are ordered and expected to do. Dissimulation is universal : if they are not happy, they pretend to be so, to avoid the reality of sorrow which awaits expressed discontent. The present Empress — a woman of high spirit and the most captivating manners — is sinking under the incessant labour of amusing and being amused; the fortunes even of the greatest nobles or highest functionaries are wasting away under the enormous ex- penses imposed on or expected of them by the court. All must exert themselves incessantly, and to the uttermost, vols.!., ill, to keep up with the demand of authority, or conceal the passim!' eunui or discontent which, in reality, is preying upon their bosoms.^ Clark, the celebrated English traveller, says that there General is not a secoud in Russia, during the day or night, that porafchaa- ^ blow is uot desccndiug on the back or shoulders of some tisement. Russian peasant. Notwithstanding a considerable soft- ening of manners since the time when the description was given, it is still precisely applicable. Corporal chastisement of their slaves is permitted to masters, without any other authority but their own ; and, except in the classes in the Tchinn, who are exempt from that penalty, it is the great engine of authority with all intrusted with judicial power. The punishment of death is abolished by law in all cases except high treason ; but such is the severity of the cor- poral inflictions authorised, that it would be a mercy if it was restored. When a man receives the sentence of above a hundred strokes with the knout, the executioner under- stands what is meant ; by striking at a vital place, he in mercy despatches him at the third or fourth. The police officers lay hold of disorderly persons or malefactors in HISTORY OF EUROPE. 149 the streets, and beat them, without the formality of a trial, chap. in the severest manner, without their cries exciting any !_ attention among those who witness it, who, glad that the ^^^*' tempest has not fallen on their shoulders, quietly pass by without either observation or surprise. The nobles and higher classes of the Tchinn are exempt from such chas- tisement ; but Siberia is constantly hanging over their heads, the most effectual of all bastinadoes to the mind ; and the prisons resound with the cries of those upon whom the punishment of flogging for crime, or at the instance of their masters, is inflicted. The frightful screams of the sufferers under these inflictions leave the most melancholy impression on the minds of such as have , „ 111 11111 ci Custine, heard them ; they recall the horrors of slavery among iv.28i,283. the boasted republican institutions of America.^ It is this constant recurrence to force, and the frequency and severity of corporal punishments in Russia, which character has imprinted at once its regular methodical aspect on drcumstan- the march of government, and their supple character and "mprfrted extraordinary powers of dissimulation on the people. °^*^^"^' Like a well-disciplined regiment, in which the lash is the constant object of apprehension, everything goes on silently and smoothly in Russia. Nothing retards or checks the machine of government ; riots or disturbances of any sort are unknown ; resistance is never thought of, or, if attempted, is speedily suppressed by the strong arm of power. The country resembles rather a vast array obeying the directions and coerced by the authority of a single general-in -chief, than a great community actuated by separate interests and impelled by various passions. As a necessary consequence of this irresistible force of power and necessity of submission, the character of the Russians has been modified in a most essential degree. Originality or independence of thought is in a great degree unknown; where these qualities exist, as doubtless they must in many breasts, they are carefully concealed, as the most dangerous qualities which the possessor can discover. Like the Greeks under the Mussulman yoke, 38, ises ■which have 150 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, the Russians have become perfect adepts in all the arts ^^"' by which talent eludes the force of authority, and astute- ^^^^' ness escapes the discoveries of power. They are admir- ably skilled in the use of flattery, and, like aU persons initiated in that dangerous art, passionately desirous of praise themselves. The Americans do not exceed them in their thirst for national, the French in their passion for individual praise — the certain proof in both of the secret consciousness of very serious defects. Those who feel none, do not desire the balm. They are most skilful imitators ; and their powers of dissimulation are univer- sally admitted to exceed those of the most accomplished courtiers or skilful diplomatists in western Europe. It was not thus in former days : this dissimulation and address is a contrast to the manliness and simplicity kd'totMr of early times. The Slave originally, like a rude and character, barbarous savage, was bold, intrepid, and outspoken, piti- less to his enemies, but simple, kind, and guUeless to his friends ; and such is still the character of the Cos- sacks, and of those distant tribes which have not felt the crushing influence of the central government. The prin- ciples of freedom had strongly taken root among them, and at a time when all the nations of western Europe were sunk in slavery, a republic flourished in Novgorod the Great, which rivalled for centuries the energy, as in its fall it equalled the heroism, of the republics of Greece and Rome. It was the dreadful irruption of Bati and the Tartar hordes in the fourteenth century, who overran the whole eastern and southern countries of the empire, and for three long centuries kept them in a state of cruel servitude, which induced this disposition upon them ; they assumed the character because they were subjected to the lot of slaves. During those disastrous centuries the Poles joined their arms to the Tartars ; and the Muscovites, assailed on all sides, and driven to their last fastnesses, were fain to avoid utter destruction by the most abject submission. Ivan IV. first extricated them from this dreadful yoke ; he won for them Kazan, Astracan, and HISTORY OP EUROPE, 151 the boundless realms of Siberia, but it was only to sub- chap. VIII ject them to a tyranny almost as terrible as that from which they had escaped, and which won for him the last- ^^^^' ing surname of the Terrible. Severe as it was, his yoke was cheerfully borne for half a century, because it averted the still more dreadful oppression of the Tartars ; and when Peter the Great, a century after, sought to gain for them a place in the European family, he found the Muscovites prepared to submit to any mandates, and ready to be moulded by any will which assumed their direction. Let us not boast of the independent character and fearless disposition of the English peasantry, but rather thank the Almighty, who, in the encircling ocean, has given them a barrier against their enemies. Had the circumstances of both been different — had the Russians been located in Yorkshire, and the Anglo-Saxon on theig^j,j^j^^.^ banks of the Volga — -who will affirm that the character Histoire de' of the two nations, despite the all but indelible influence 447, 448. of race, would not have been exchanged 1 ^ * The Emperor Nicholas has often said that " its dis- tances are the scourge of Russia ;" and considered with Great effect reference to the march of civilisation, it is obvious that tance^a in " the observation is well founded. It is difficult, indeed, ®'^^'*' to conceive how civilisation can spread generally in a country of such enormous extent, possessing such slen- der means, natural or artificial, of internal communication, with so few seaports, and these few, for the most part, blocked up half the year with ice. At the accession of Peter the Great, Russia possessed only one seaport (Arch- angel) on the White Sea; and it was the pressing want of * " L'orgueil national e'an&ntit parmi les Kusses ; ils eurent recours aux artifices qui suppUent k la force chez les hommes condamnls 4 vine obSssanca serrile ; habiles A tromper les Tartares, ils devinreut aussi, plus savants dans I'art de se tromper mutuellement ; achetant des barbares leur slcuritS per- sonnelle, ils furent plus avides d'argent et moins sensibles aux injures et k, la honte; exposes sans cesse h I'insolenoe des tyrans strangers, il se pourrait que le caractere actuel des Kusses conservSt quelques-unes des taches dont I'a souins labarbarie des Mongols. Le soutien des boyards ayant disparu, il fallait oblir au souverain sous peine d'etre regards comme traltre ou comme rebelle : et il n'exista plus aucune voie Ugitime de s'opposer h ses volont^s, en iin mot on vit naitre I'autocratie." — Kaeamsin, BistoVre de Enssie, v. 44; yi. 361. 152 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, a great harbour to connect it with the commerce and ^"^* ideas of western Europe which made him layish such ^®^^- sums, and waste such an enormous amount of human life, in the construction of St Petersburg. The same want is still felt with unmitigated seyerity in the interior. Civi- lisation meets with grievous impediments in a country entirely flat, without minerals or coal to stimulate manu- factures, covered with snow half the year, in great part shaded by forests, with few navigable rivers, and still fewer canals or railroads, distant from any harbour, and neces- sarily chained by physical necessity, over great part of its extent, to rude agricultural labour during the whole year. The situation of the basin of the Mississippi, of surpass- ing fertility, and intersected in every part by a vast net- work of navigable rivers, which descend from the AUe- ghanies on the one side and the Rocky Mountains on the other, is not a parallel but a contrast to that of Mus- covy ; and if we would rightly appreciate the advantages which Great Britain has derived, and Ireland might have derived, from its insular situation, compact provinces, nu- merous harbours, and mineral riches, we have only to con- template what Russia has suffered from the want of them. It results necessarily from these circumstances, that as Civilisation much as Russia abounds to overflowing in the elements tire™on*°" of physical, is she weak in the materials of intellectual rank's?'*''' Strength ; and that if a great destiny awaits her, as it plainly does, it is to be found in the conquest of the bodies, not the subjugation of the souls of men. Civilisation de- pends entirely on and flows from the higher ranks ; there is none of the ascending pressure from below which con- stitutes so important an element in the society of west- ern Europe. In the very highest ranks it exists in the most refined and captivating form, and one of the many contrasts which strike a stranger most in that extraordinary country, is the strange contrasts which exist between the manners, habits, and tastes of the nobility and those of the great body of the people. After traversing hundreds of leagues over a country imperfectly cultivated, overrun HISTORY OP EUROPE. 153 by forests or swamps, and tilled in the places which the chap. plough has reached by ignorant serfs, the astonished ^^"' traveller finds himself suddenly landed in an enchanted '^'^• palace, where the last refinements of European civilisation are to be met with, where the finest copies of the Greek statues adorn marble haUs of surpassing magnificence, where the choicest gems of Titian or Raphael enchant the eye, in drawing-rooms enriched with all the luxury of Ormolu and Sevres, and beautiful women, arrayed in the last Parisian fashion, alternately fascinate the mind by conversation on the most celebrated novels or operas of the day, or charm the senses by the finest melodies of Mozart or Beethoven. It is this strange and startling combina- tion of rudeness with refinement, of coarseness with ele- gance of taste, of barbarity with the last delicacies of civilisation, in one class, with the first attempts at im- provement in those beneath it, which strikes the traveller at every step in Russia, Diderot long ago said that " the Russians were rotten before they were ripe;" but it would be more just to say that they are ripe in one class before they are even beginning to form fruit in those below it. The Russians are essentially an imitative people, and they have carried talent in this respect to a length strong'imi- unequalled in any other age or country of the world, full r™. Their manners, their fashions, their arts, their luxuries, their architecture, their painting, are all copied from those of western Europe, Like the inhabitants of all northern countries, they are passionately fond of travel- ling, for this plain reason, that they seek in foreign coun- tries gratifications they cannot find in their own. They make good use of the opportunities they thus enjoy: they are well known as the most lavish patrons of art both in France and Italy, and they carry back with them to their deserts not only the finest specimens of ancient statuary or modern painting, but the most refined taste for their beauties, and correct appreciation of their excellencies. Their architecture, in all but the very siane. 154 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP, oldest structures of the empire, is all copied from the ^ '■ Greek or Roman ; it is the Parthenon of Athens, the ^^^^- Pantheon of Rome, at every step. In the Kremlin alone, and some of the oldest structures of Nijni and Great Nov- gorod, is to be seen the ancienfr and native emanations of Russian genius before it was crushed by the barbarism of the Tartars, or nipped in the bud by the imitative passion of Peter the Great. The eye of the traveller is fascinated by these long lines of pillared scenery inter- spersed with monuments and obelisks j but after a time it palls on the senses, from its very richness and uniformity : it is felt to be an exotic unsuited to the climate, and which cannot take root in the soil ; and the imagination sighs for the original architecture of the English cathe- drals and the Moorish Alhambra, which mark the native- born conceptions of the Gothic and Arabian conquerors of the world. But if western Europe has little to fear from the Military Hvalry of Russian art or the flights of Russian genius, it RSf" "' is otherwise with the imitation of the Military Abt, which has been carried to the very highest point in the Muscovite armies. The army consisted in 1840 of 72 regiments of infantry, 24 of light cavalry, 90 batteries of foot and 12 of horse artillery. Each regiment consists of 7 battalions of 1000 men each ; so that the infantry alone, if complete, would contain above 500,000 men. The guards, which are composed of the ilite of the whole male population of the empire, consist of 12 regiments of infantry, 12 of cavalry, 12 batteries of foot and 4 of horse artillery, which are always kept complete. Besides this, there are 24 regiments of heavy reserve cavalry, and 12 batteries of reserve horse-artillery, and the corps of the Caucasus, Orenburg, Siberia, Finland, and the interior, which contain 100 battalions of 1000 men each, 40 regi- ments of cavalry, and 36 batteries of cannon. Besides these immense forces, the emperor has at his disposal 164 regiments of Cossacks, each containing 800 warriors, of whom 56 come from the steppes of the Don, and are HISTORY OP EUROPE. 155 superior to any troops in the world for the service of light cavalry. If these immense forces were all complete, they would contain above 800,000 infantry, 250,000 horses, and 100,000 artillerymen. But the ranks are very far, indeed, from being complete ; and in no country in the world is the difference so great between the numerical force of an army on paper and its effective muster in the field. The reason is, that numerous officers in every grade have an interest in representing the force as greater than it really is ; as they draw pay and rations for the whole, and appropriate such as is allotted to the non- existing to themselves. Still, after making every allow- ance for these great deficiencies, it is not going too far to assert that Russia, when her strength is fully called forth, could produce 400,000 infantry, 100,000 cavalry, and 50,000 artillerymen for service beyond her own frontier, though the distances of the empire are so great that it would require more than a year to bring even the half of this immense force to bear on any point in Europe or Asia.^* A very curious and interesting part of the institutions of Russia is to be found in the Military Colonies, which are established in several of the southern provinces of the CHAP. VIII. 1815. 'Marmont, Voyages, i. 184, 189; MalteBrun, ti. 408; London> deny, Russia, ii. 156, 159. 43. The military colonies. Russian Army, August 1853 :- Men. Guns. Horses. Guards, 60,296 116 17,100 Grenadiers, 47,178 112 8,900 1st corps, . 59,178 112 8,800 2d do., . 69,178 112 8,800 3d do., . 59,178 112 8,800 4th do., . 59,178 112 9,400 £th do., . 59,178 112 8,800 6th do., . 59,178 112 8,800 Reserve Horse, 33,979 96 35,760 Active, 496,821 133,608 996 176 99,160 Caucasian, 16,188 Finland, 13,880 16 1,300 Orenburg, . 21,000 24 10,480 Siberia, 29,100 24 10,000 196,488 240 37,868 Grand total, . 693,309 -United Service Journal, Aug. 1853, 496. 1,236 137,028 1816. 156 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, empire. They owe their origin to the Emperor Alexan- der, who, being struck with the protection which similar establishments on the frontiers of Transylvania had long afforded to the Austrians and Hungarians in warding off the predatory incursions of the Mussulman horse, resolved in 1817 to found colonies of the same sort in several parts of his dominions. The system was extended and improved, under the able guidance of General de Witt, in the southern provinces in 1821. Several divisions of veterans, regular cavalry, were colonised in this manner, and a floating population of seventy thousand wandering tribes settled on certain districts allotted to them. The principle of these establishments is, that an immense tract of arable and pasture land is divided among a cer- tain number of leading colonists, who are married, and for the most part have families, each of whom holds his lands, like the military tenants of former days in Europe, under the obligation of maintaining constantly a horse- man and horses completely equipped, and providing for his maintenance. In return, he is entitled to the labour of the cavalier, when not actually in the field. In addi- tion to these horsemen, who are constantly ready for service, there are a much greater number of substitutes, or suppUans, as they are called, who also are trained to the use of arms, and being all expert horsemen, are ready at a moment's warning to take the principal's place if he is killed or disabled for active service. All the children of the colony are trained to military service, and are bound to serve, if required, twenty-two years, after which they obtain their discharge and a grant of land to themselves. The whole are subjected to the most rigorous military disciphne, and regulated by a code of laws entirely for Bran,*ti. themselves. At first the children were brought up some- MMmint ^^^* ^^*^'-* *^® Spartan fashion, being taken from their i97*lis-''' P^''®"*'^ ^t t^6 e^rly a.ge of eight years, and bred exclu- schkitzie'r, sively at the military schools ; ^ but this was found to be attended with so many evils that the system was essen- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 157 tially modified by various regulations established by tbe chap. Emperor Nicholas between 1829 and 1831. At present ^"^' the military colonies form a sort of permanent canton- ^^^^• ment of a part of the army, and they can, at a moment's warning, furnish 100,000 soldiers, fully drilled and equip- ped, capable of being raised by the suppUans and prin- cipal colonists to 250,000 men. The Cossacks, so well known during the war with Napoleon, form another sort of military colony on a still The Cos- greater scale. Their lands are of immense extent, em- bracing fifty-seven thousand square geographical miles— about two-thirds of the entire area of Great Britain, and incomparably more level and fertile. They are all held under the obligation of furnishing, when required, the whole male population of the country capable of bearing arms for the service of the emperor. They constantly furnish 100,000 men, distributed in 164 regiments, to the imperial forces. So strong, however, is the military spirit among them, and so thoroughly are they all trained from infancy to the duties of horsemanship, that if sum- moned to his standard, they could easily furnish double this force, either for the defence of the country or the purposes of aggressivfe waifare. Glory, plunder, wine, and women, form irresistible attractions, which impel the en- tire nation into the career of conquest. It is their im- mense bodies of horse, more nearly resembling the hordes of Timour or Genghis Khan than the regular armies of western Europe, which constitute the real strength of the Czar; and as their predatory and roving habits never 1 3^,^^!^^^^^. decline, and cannot do so from the nature of the country ^^''^li^: which they inhabit, while their numbers are constantly EnJrowsky, and rapidly increasing, it is easy to foresee how formidable 74, 7s| ' they must ere long become to the liberties of the other vi.*402,403.' states of Christendom.^ What renders the Russian armies the more formidable is the extreme ability with which they are trained, disci- plined, and commanded. Whatever may be thought of 158 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, the inferiority, in an intellectual point of view, of a nation ^"^- -vsrhere only 1 in 280 is at the entire schools of the state ^^^^- of any description, the same cannot be said of their mili- Thatdmir- tary training, which is cond'ueted on the most approved mJeand'^' system, and in the most efficient manner. All the im- of the"my. proTements in arms, tactics, accoutrement^ evolutions, or discipline, "which experience or science has suggested to the other nations of Europe, are, with the rapidity of the electric telegraph, transmitted to Russia, and taught in the military schools which train its youth for their duties in the field, or adopted in its vast arrays. The Russian army, accordingly, exhibits a combination of physical strength and intellectual power — of the energy of the de- sert and the resources of civilisation, of the unity of despotism and the vigour of democracy — ^which no other country in modern times can exhibit, and to find a parallel to which we must go back to the Roman legions in the days of Trajan or Severus. The ranks of the infantry are recruited by a compulsory levy, generally, in time of peace, of five in a thousand-=-of war, of two or three in a hundred ; but the cavalry, in a country abounding so much in nomad tribes, and where, in many vast districts, the whole male population nearly live on horseback, is in great part made up by voluntary enrolment ; and as the whole rising talent of the empire is drawn into the military or diplo- matic lines, it may easily be conceived what a formidable body, under such direction, the military force of the empire must become. Every soldier is entitled to his discharge after twenty-two years' service in the line, or twenty in the guards ; and he leaves the ranks a freeman, if before he was a serf^^ — a privilege which goes far to diminish the hardship of the compulsory levy on the rural population. 1 Maite '^^^ weakness of the army consists in the want of inte- 41T413'; Srityin its, inferior officers, which is as conspicuous in ixToT' §®°®*"^^ ^^ *^® honour and patriotism of its generals and schaitzier. commandcrs : the necessary consequence of the want of a class of gentry from which they can alone be drawn.^ HISTORY OF EUROPE. 159 The navy, like the army in Russia, is maintained by a chap. compulsory levy, -which amounts in time of peace to ^"^' 33,000 men. The fleet consists of thirty ships of the ^^^^• line and twenty-two frigates in the Baltic, and of sixteen Russian sail of the line and twelve frigates in the Black Sea, "*''^' carrying in all 6000 guns. These large forces give the Czar, in a manner, the command of those two inland seas, which cannot be regarded in any other light but as vast Russian lakes. But as the sailors who man them are accustomed only to navigate a sea shut up with ice during half the year, or to plough the comparatively placid waters of the Euxine, they could never contend in the open sea with those who have been trained in the storms of the German Ocean, or braved the perils of the Atlantic. Still, as the Russian sailors, like their soldiers, are indivi- dually brave, and stand to their guns, as well as point them, as steadily as any Englishman, they may eventually prove formidable even to the colossal maritime strength of England ; the more especially when it is recollected that Cronstadt is within a fortnight's sail of the mouth of the Thames ; that the fleet is constantly kept manned and afloat in summer, by the compulsory levy ; that thirty thousand soldiers are habitually put on board those in the Baltic, to accustom the crews to their conveyance to dis- tant quarters ; and that the interests of Great Britain j j^^j^^ and Russia in the East so frequently come into collision, Jfof'g';^ that several times during the last thirty years they have ii. 375,376'; been on the eve of a rupture, once with France and Russia u. 176. ' united against England.^ The revenue of Russia, though not considerable com- pared with that of France or England, is perfectly Revenue of adequate to the maintenance of its vast establishments, "^*'*" from the high value of money and low rate of pay of nearly all the public functionaries, civil and military, in the empire. It amounts to 460,000,000 paper rubles, or 500,000,000 francs (£20,000,000), and is raised chiefly by, 1st, A capitation-tax of four francs (3s. 6d.) on every 160 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, male inhabitant, that of serfs being paid by their masters ; ^""^ 2d, A tax on the capital of merchants, ascertained by ^^^^- their own disclosure, checked by judicial authority ; 3d, The revenues of the Crown domains, with the obrok paid by the emancipated serfs, who are very numerous ; 4th, The customhouse duties by sea and land, which, on arti- cles of foreign manufacture, are for the most part very heavy ; 5th, The stamp-duties, which on sales of herit- able property amount to an ad valorem duty of 5 per cent ; 6th, A duty on spirituous liquors and salt ; 7th, The imperial duties on the mines of gold and platina, which are daily becoming more productive, from the great quantities of these valuable metals, now amount- ing to £3,000,000 annually, which are worked out in the Ural and Atlas mountains. It cannot be said that any of these taxes are peculiarly oppressive, or such as weigh on the industry or capital of the nation ; but they pro- duce, when taken together, a sum which is very large in a country where the value of money is so high, and the standard of comfort so low, that the common soldiers are deemed to be adequately remunerated by a pay which, ii. 276, 280; after the deductions for rations and other necessaries are viA06,m'. made, leaves them scarcely a halfpenny a-day to them- selves.i * As the distances in Russia are so prodigious that it Positious of takes at least a year and a half to gather up its mighty pal OTmfes. Strength, the principal armies are permanently disposed in positions where they may be comparatively near the pro- bable scene of military operations, and best favour the * The Emperor Nicholas, since his accession to the throne, has laboured assi- duously to diminish the public expenses and check the frauds continually practised in the distribution of the national revenue. In his own household and guards he has effected a reduction, with no diminution of splendour, of no less than 67,500,000 paper rubles. The expenses of the kitchen and cellar were reduced at once from 600 paper rubles to 200 a-day. By similar economics in every department he was enabled to carry on the costly war in Turkey and Russia, in 1827 and 1828, without any sensible increase to the public debt. In 1830 it amounted in all to 1,300,000,000 francs, or £52,000,000. —SoHNiTZLEB, ^is«. /m*., ii. 184-186. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 161 designs of the diplomatic body. The first army, 1 12,000 chap. strong, is composed of three corps, and stationed in Poland ^"^" and the adjacent frontiers of Russia : it is intended to ^^^*' overawe the discontented in the former country, and hang like a thunder-cloud on the rear of Austria and Prussia. The second army, also 112,000 strong, is cantoned in the southern prorinces of the empire, bet^veen Odessa and the Danube : it is destined to intimidate the Turks, and give weight to the ceaseless diplomatic encroachments of Russia at Constantinople. The third, which musters 120,000 combatants, is stationed as a reserve at Moscow, Smolensko, and in the central provinces of the empire : it is intended to reinforce either of the great armies on the frontier which may require to be supported, and is advanced nearer to the scene of active operations the moment that hostilities commence. In addition to this, there are never less than 60,000 men, including the guards, at St Petersburg, and 40,000 on the Caucasus, or in the province of Georgia to the south of it. These immense forces may all be rendered disposable without weakening any garrison or military station in the interior. They i jjjjj ^^ are, however, so far separated from each other that itf"°|*^e: requires a long time to concentrate them on any one point, Schnitzier, or produce the imposing array of 160,000 warriors, whom int. deu Alexander, in 1815, reviewed on the plains of Vertus in 3,T'°'"' Champagne.^ Montesquieu long ago said that honour is the principle of a monarchy, and virtue of a republic. Both are true. General in a certain sense, of society generally, though not ofiTiteTa! every individual of which it is composed ; for though few are willing to practise these virtues themselves, yet all are ready to exact them of their neighbours. Public opinion inclines to the right side, because it is founded on our judgment of others ; private acts often to the wrong, because they are prompted by our own inclina- tions. If we are to form our opinion from the example of Russia, we should be forced to conclude that the prin- VOL, 11. L 162 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, ciple of despotism is Coeeuption. This arises from the ^^"" selfish desire of gain in individuals being unchecked by ^^^^- the opinion of those who, as they do not participate in, are not biassed by it ; and from the immensity of the empire, and the innumerable number of functionaries em- ployed, rendering all the vigilance of the emperor and of the higher officers of state inadequate to check the general abuses -which prevail. Doubtless there are many men in the highest situations, both civil and military, in Russia, who are as pure and honourable as any in the world ; but they are the exceptions, not the rule. Generally speak- ing, and as a national characteristic, the functionaries in Russia are corrupt. The taking of bribes is general; jus- tice is too often venal ; the chiefs of the police, on the most moderate salaries, soon accumulate large fortunes ; and even elevated functionaries are often not proof against the seductions of- a handsome woman, or a magnificent Cashmere shawl for their wives or daughters.* The Em- peror Alexander, in a moment of irritation at some great dilapidations which he had discovered in the naval stores, ffiSe'^'' ^^^*^' " -'■^ *^®y knew where to hide them, they would Int. de la steal my ships of the line ; if they could draw my teeth Russie, I. • 1 1 . ,1 11. 4i5,ii. 182. Without wakening me, they would extract theip during the night."! No words can convey an idea of the extent to which so. this system of pillage, both on the public and on indivi- abTs™""' duals, prevails on the part of those intrusted with power TOih '"'' in Russia ; those practically acquainted with the admini- stration of affairs in Great Britain may approach to a * On the accession of the Emperor Nicholas in 1826, it was discovered that in sixteen governments of Russia out of no less than 2749 ukases, or decrees of the Senate, passed, 1821 had remained unexecuted ; in the single govern- ment of KouTok 600 lay buried and unknown in the public archives. In the same year there were 2,850,000 causes in dependence in the different tribunals of the empire, and 127,000 persons under arrest. The Senate decides annu- ally 40,000 causes on an average ; in 1826 the number was 60,000 ; which suffi- ciently proves that the vast majority must have been decided in absence, or without any consideration. — Sohnitzler, Histoire Int. de la Sussie, ii. 171, 175, 176. HISTORY OP EUKOPB. 163 conception of its magnitude, from the strenuous efforts chapi constantly making to introduce the same system into the British dominions, when the vigilant eye of Parliament ^^^^■ and Government is for any considerable time averted. It is the great cause of the unexpected reverses or trifling suc- cesses which have so often attended the Russian arms on the first breaking out of fresh hostilities. So universal and systematic had been the fraud of the whole functionaries connected with the armies, that they are often found, when they take the field, to be little more than half the strength which was represented on paper, and on which the cabinet relied in commencing the campaign. When Nicholas de- clared war against Turkey in 1827, he relied on Witt- genstein's army in the south being, as the returns showed, 120,000 strong ; but it was never able to bring 60,000 sabres and bayonets into the field : and when the army approached the Danube, he found, to his utter dismay, JJ^^'j^' that the wood for the bridges, which were represented as ^t- de la already thrown over the Danube, was not even cut in the 184,185." forests of Bessarabia.^ Sometimes, indeed, the enormous abuses that are going on are revealed to the emperor, and then the stroke of striking justice falls like a thunderbolt from heaven on the head oTthi's°cor- of the culprit ; but these examples are so rare in compa- ""p''""- risen with the enormous number of dilapidations which are going on in every direction, that they produce no lasting impression. Like the terrible railway accidents which frequently occur in England, or steamboat explo- sions in America, they produce general consternation for a few days, but are soon forgotten. Occasionally, too, the malversation is found to involve such elevated function- aries, that the tracing of guilt or its punishment are alike impossible. At a review in April 1826, soon after his accession to the throne, four men, dressed as peasants, with great difficulty succeeded in penetrating to the Em- peror Nicholas, near his magnificent palace of Tsarcko- Selo, and revealed to him an enormous system of dilapi- 164 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, dation of the public naval stores which was going on at Cronstadt, where cordage, anchors, and sails belonging to *^^*" the Crown were publicly exposed at the bazaar, and pur- chased at a low price by foreigners, Nicholas instantly ordered an officer with three hundred men to surround the bazaar ; and upon doing so, ample proofs of the truth of the charges were discoTered. Orders were given to prosecute the delinquents with the utmost rigour, and the imperial seal was put on the dilapidated stores ; but the culprits were persons of great consideration ; in the night of the 21st June following, a bright light was seen from St Petersburg to illuminate the western sky, and in the morning it was cautiously whispered that the bazaar had been totally consumed by fire, and with it the whole evidence of the guilt of the accused. The Gazette of St Petersburg made no mention of the fraud, ii. ISO, 182! or of the conflagration by which its punishment had been prevented.^ As a set ofi" to this inherent vice and consequent weak- Emigration ness in the Russian empire, there is one most important is aiunter-. source of Strength which is every day contrasting more "*'• strongly with the opposite cause of decline operating in western Europe. Emigration among them is very general : in no country in the world is a larger propor- tion of the population more able and prepared, on the slightest motive, to locate themselves in fresh habitations. Armed with his hatchet on his shoulder — his invariable auxiliary — the Muscovite peasant is often inclined to leave his log-house and his fields, and carve out for himself fresh ones in some distant or more fertile forest. Followed by his flocks, his mares, and his herds, the Cossack or the dweller on the steppes is ever ready to exchange the pas- ture of his fathers for that of other lands. But there is this vital difference between these migrations and the emigration of western Europe — they are internal only ; they do not diminish, they augment the strength of the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 165 state. From the British islands, at this time, an annual chap. stream of 350,000 emigrants, nearly all in the prime ^"^' of life, issues, of whom two-thirds settle in the wilds of '^^^• America ; * and from Germany the fever of moving has, since the revolution of 1848, become so violent that 100,000 annually leave the Fatherland. It is needless to say that such prodigious drains, springing out of the passions and necessities of civilisation, cannot go on for any length of time without seriously weakening the strength and lessening the population of western Europe. But the very reverse of all this obtains in Russia, for there the movement is all within ; what is lost to one part of the empire is gained to another, and a rate of increase approaching the Transatlantic appears, not in a distant hemisphere, but on the plains of the Ukraine and the banks of the Volga. Nor will it for • long be otherwise, for the remote situation of the Rus- sian peasants renders them ignorant of other countries, and averse to the sea ; while their poverty precludes them from moving, except with their hatchets to a neighbouring forest, or their herds to an adjoining steppe. To this it must be added that the introduction of the free-trade system into Great Britain has already given a very great impulse to agricultural industry in Russia, where it is advancing as rapidly as it is declining in the British * Emigration feom the Bretish Isles. Number of Excess of Births Total Annual Year. Emigrania. over Deatbe. Decrease. 1860, 280,484 240,000 40,484 1851, 335,966 240,000 95,966 18S2, 368,764 250,000 118,764 Total in three years, 985,214 . 730,000 . 255,214 — Emigration Meport, March 1853. The annual increase of the births over the deaths is about 230,000 ; so that, when the emigration is taken into view, there is an annual decline of 120,000 or 130,000 in the entire population. This ap- peared in the census of 1851. Though the great emigration had only recently begun, it showed a decline in Great Britain and Ireland, taken together, of 600,000 souls since 1845 ; in Ireland, taken singly, of 2,000,000. — See Census 1851, and cmte, o. 1, § 58. 166 HISTORY OP EUROPE. GHAP. VIII. 1815. 63. Great im- pulse to agricultural industry ia Russia from free trade. 54. What is the destiny of Russia P Islands. As this change has arisen from the necessary effect of the wealth, civilisation, and advanced years of the British empire, so there is no chance of its undergoing any alteration, and it must come every day to evince a more powerful influence on the relative strength and for- tunes of the two empires. Even before the free-trade system had been two years established in Great Britain, it had, despite the rude system of agriculture there preva- lent, nearly doubled the exportation of grain from the har- bours of Russia,* and tripled its value, while it has caused the production of cereal crops in the British Islands to decline 4,000,000 of quarters. The effect of such a continued and increasing augmentation on the one side, and decline on the other, cannot fail ere long to exercise a powerful influence on the fortunes and relative strength of the two empires ; and when it is recollected that the increase is given to a young and rising, and the drain taken from an old and stationary state, it may easily be foreseen how important in a short time the difference must become. What, then, is the destiny of Russia ? — for a destiny, and that a great one, she evidently has. Her rapid growth and ceaseless progress through all the mutations of for- tune in the adjoining states clearly bespeak not only con- summate wisdom of general internal direction, but the EXPOBTATION ON AN AVERAGE OS THREE TbABS Off WHEAT, BARLEY, AND Oats from Eussia. In Pounds Sterling. £1,970,000 4,031,500 6,566,000 1,722,900 5,312,200 7,958,900 6,689,000 19,262,100 — Tegobobski, i. 350. Captain Laroom has reported that the wheat produce of Ireland has declined 1,500,000 quarters since 1845; and the return of sales in the market-towns of England indicates a diminished production of wheat alone in Great Britain of at least 2,500,000 quarters more. t Free trade in Kngland. Years. Tohetwerts. Value in Rubles; 1824—6, 3,398,127 11,913,200 1827—9, 7,486,012 24,191,500 1830—32, 11,324,831 39,407,400 1833—35, 2,244,266 10,357,900 1836—38, 7,640,299 31,873,200 1839—41, 8,864,364 47,753,900 1842—44, 8,685,907 40,131,400 tl845— 47, 14,349,986 115,483,700 1815. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 167 evolutions of a miglity design.* She is probably not in- chap. tended to shine in the career of civilisation. Her sons will ^^^^' not, at least for long, rival the arts of Italy or the chivalry of France, the intellect of England or the imagination of Germany. There will be no Shakspeares or Miltons, no Racines or Corneilles, no Tassos or Raphaels, no Schillers or Goethes, amidst the countless millions of her boundless territory; but there maybe — there will be — an Alexander, an Attila, a Timour. Literature, science, the arts, are the efflorescence of civilisation ; but in the moral, not less than the physical M'orld, efflorescence is succeeded by decline, the riches of the harvest border on the decay of autumn. There is a winter in nations as well as in seasons ; the vulture and the eagle are required to cleanse the moral not less than the physical world. If the glories of civilisation are denied to Russia, she is saved from its corruption ; if she does not exhibit the beauties of summer, she is not stained by its consequent decay. Hardened by suffering, inured to privation, compelled to struggle eternally with the severities of climate, the difficulties of space, the energy of the human character is preserved entire amidst her ice and snows. From thence, as from the glaciers of the Alps, the destroying but purifying streams descend upon the plenty of the vales beneath. Russia will evi- dently conquer Turkey, and plant her eagles on the dome * Table showing the inoeease of Edssia since 1462, Extent in Square p„_„i.tio_ Epochs. German MUes, 16 A„°?ox?mate to an English. Approximate. Under Ivan III., in 1462, . . . 18,200 . 6,000,000 At his death, in 1606, . . . 37,137 . 10,000,000 At the death of Ivan IV., in 1584, . 125,465 . 12,000,000 (Conquest of Kazan, Astracan, Siberia.) At the death of Michael I., in 1645, . 254,361 . 12,500,000 Attheacoessionof Peter the Great, in 1689, 263,900 . 15,000,000 At his death, in 1725, . . . 273,815 . .20,000,000 At the accession of Catherine II., in 1763, 319,538 . 25,000,000 At her death, in 1796, . . . 331,810 . 36,000 000 Atthedeathof Alexander, in 1826, . 367,494 . 63,000,000 Under Nicholas, in 1829, . . . 373,000 . 66,000,000 Under Nicholas, in 1852, . . . 376,000 . 70,000,000 — Mamb Beun, vi. 380. 168 HISTORY OV EUROPK CHAP, of St Sophia : she will do what the Crusaders failed in VTTT !_ doing — she will rescue the Holy Shrines from the hands of ^®^^- the Infidels. But that, though an important part, is not the whole of her destiny. Still, when the Cross is seen triumphant over the wide expanse of the Lower Empire, will her millions remain in their snowy deserts, invigor- ated by necessity, hardened by suffering, panting for con- quest. She is never destined to be civilised, save for the purposes of war ; but she is destined to do what intellect and peace can never do. Scythia will for ever remain what it has been from the earliest times — the storehouse of NATIONS, THE SCOUBGE OF yiCIOUS CIVILISATION. 55. It has been well observed, that the great difficulty in Two differ- Russia is, that it contains, in a manner, two different fn rSs! people I the one on a level with the most highly civihsed states of Europe, the other, at the utmost, only fashioned to civilisation by the police. The Marquis Custine says, " it contains a society half barbarous, but restrained in order by fear;" and though that is by no means true of the first people, it is strictly so of the last. The interests, feel- ings, and desires .of these two different people are irrecon- cilable; an impassable abyss separates them. That which the first desires with the most passionate ardour, is a matter of indifference or unintelligible to the other. The highly-educated classes, acquainted with the society, fami- liar with the literature, impregnated with the ideas of western Europe, often sigh for its institutions, its ex- citements, its freedom. The immense mass of the pea- santry, the great majority of the trading classes, repel such ideas as repugnant to their feelings, at variance with their habits, subversive of their faith. The first long for parliaments, elections, constitutional government, a national literature, a free press ; the latter are satisfied to go on as their fathers did before them, with their Czar, their bishops, their popes — obeying every mandate of government as a decree of the Most High ; desiring. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 169 knowing nothing beyond their village, their fields, their chap. steppe. For which of these different people is the Em- ^"^' peror to legislate 1 for the enlightened few or the ignorant ^^^^• many ; for the three hundred thousand travelled and highly-polished nobles, or the seventy millions of simple and unlettered peasants 1 Yet must institutions of some kind be established, legislation of some sort go on ; and the great difficulty in Russia is, that the one class inJJ°j5"44" secret desires what the other in sincerity abominates, and ^^l cus-' what would be beneficial to the former would prove utter 95. ' ruin to the latter.^ This great difficulty, by far the most serious which exists in Russian society, was much aggravated after the Liberal termination of the war by the feelings with which the wWchThe officers of the army returned from the fields of their con- tumed from quest and their fame. In the hard-fought campaigns of Ge^°ny!'^ Germany and France they had stood side by side with the ardent youth of the Teutonic universities, whose feel- ings had been warmed by the fervour of the Tugend- bund, whose imaginations had been kindled by the poetry, of Korner ; at the capture of Paris they had seen the world in transports at the magnanimous words of the Czar in praise of liberal institutions ; many of them had shared in his reception in Loudon, and witnessed the marvellous spectacle of a free people emerging unscathed from a contest, from which they themselves had been extricated only by committing their capital to the flames. Immense was the influence which these circumstances came ere long to exercise on the highly-educated youth of Russia, speaking French and English as well as natives, associating with the very highest society of these nations, and contrasting the varied excitements and intellectual pleasures at their command, with the stillness and mono- tony, save from physical sensations, of their own fettered land. They saw civilisation on its bright side only : they had basked in its sunshine, they had not felt its shade. They returned home, as so many travellers do, to 170 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, the cold regions of the north, discontented with their own ■ country, and passionately desirous of a change. These 1814. sentiments were dangerous ; their expression might con- sign the utterer at once to Siberia : they were shrouded in silence, like a secret passion in the female heart from a jealous husband ; but like all other emotions, they only lef t^'ls' became the more violent from the necessity of being con- 5^' 9°»- cealed, and came in many noble breasts entirely to absorb tme, 111. ' •' Z , 95, 99. the mind, to the exclusion of all objects of pacific mterest or ambition.! g^ Ignorant of the spread of passions which were destined First steps erc loug to causc the earth to quake beneath his feet, and der, on Ms Carried away by the intoxicating incense which the loudly Bu"dain expressed admiration of the world had lavished upon ^^^*" him at Paris, the Emperor Alexander returned to St Petersburg in 1814, after his magnificent reception in London, with a mind set rather on vast projects for the pacification of the world, the extirpation of war, and the spread of the sway of the Gospel in every land, than the establishment of any safe or practicable reforms in his own. His benevolence was great, his heart large, his imagination warm ; but his practical acquaintance with men was small, and he aimed rather at reforming mankind at once by the ukases of despotism, than putting matters in a train for the slow and almost imperceptible growth of real improvement, working through the changed habits and desires of the people. He re-entered his capital after his long absence on the 24th July, and his arrival, after- such marvellous events as had signalised his absence, was prepared to be celebrated by extraordinary demonstrations of joy. By an order from the Emperor lef.tlt *^6y ^e'^e all stopped. « The events," said he to the uiv^ivf go'^srnor of St Petersburg, "which have terminated the 180, 181 ■ bloody wars of Europe, are the work of the Most High ; dre.) it is before Him alone that it behoves us to prostrate ourselves." ^ He refused the title of "the Blessed" which the HISTORY OF EUROPE. 171 Senate had decreed should be conferred upon him. His chap. first care was to efface, so far as possible, the traces of the ^"'' war ; his next, to grant a general pardon to all the per- ^^l^' sons, of whom there were many, who had, during its con- His be'nefi- tinuance, been drawn into traitorous correspondence with "raes?^* the enemy. He remitted the capitation tax to the pea- sants in the provinces which had suffered the most from invasion, and opened at Berlin and Konigsberg banks, where the notes of the Bank of Russia which had been given in payment during the war were retired from the holders at the current rate of exchange. Soon after, he concluded a peace with the Sultan of Persia, by which, in consideration of a very large district of country ceded to Russia, he promised his aid in supporting the son whom the Shah might design for his successor. By this treaty the Russians acquired the whole important country which lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian, and j^.^ ^^.^ became masters of the famous gates of Derbend, which ivi. isi, « . » 1,1 1 m ie2(Alex- 80 often m former ages had opened to the iartars an andre.) entrance into Southern Asia.^ A full account has already been given of the part which Russia took in the Congress of Vienna and the acquisi- Mamage of .. n -r% T T ' n 10 iiTii * Alexander's tion or Jroland m a former work \^ and oi the magnanimous sister to the sentiments which Alexander displayed at the Congress of orLn°ge,''Ld Aix-la-Chapelle in this.^ Two important alliances, des- q^}^^. tined to influence materially the international relations of ^'^'^^N'cho- •' , las to the Europe, were concluded during this period. The first Princess of was the marriage of his sister, the Grand-duchess Ann, ^ Hisrof to the Prince of Orange, which took place wjpn he visited f-^g^f^jj Brussels and the field of Waterloo in September 1815 ; "-^^'-SS the second, the conclusion of the arrangements for the 3 Ante, c. marriage of his brother Nicholas, who has since become ^j)-'§§ ^^> emperor, to Charlotte, Princess of Prussia, who is still Empress of Russia, which was solemnised some years after. From thence he proceeded to Warsaw, where he concluded the arrangements for the establishment of the isis. kingdom of Poland, and left General Zayonchek, a Pole 172 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, by birth, in command as viceroy. He returned to St ^"'' Petersburg on 13th December, having, by this acquisi- ^^^^- tion of territory and family alliances, extended the Rus- 1817. ' sian influence in a direct line, and without any break, over isirim?' tte whole north of Europe, from the Niemen to the Rhine, Biog! uni'v. Thus was the Netherlands restored to its proper position Biog. des and rank in Continental affairs ; instead of being the out- virantes, work of France against Europe, it became the bulwark of IV. 542. jjm-ope against France.^ Consumed with the desire to heal the wounds of war. Incessant and conviuce himself with his own eyes of the necessities AtJxindL of the districts for which succour was petitioned, Alexan- toT825.^^ der gave himself only a few months' repose at St Peters- burg. His life, for the next ten years to his death, was more than half spent in travelling, and flying with almost incredible rapidity from one part of his vast dominions to another. The postilions, urging their horses to the utmost speed, carried him over the rough roads of Russia at the rate of seventeen miles an hour : wrapt in his cloak, meditating acts of justice, dreaming of projects of philanthropy, the Czar underwent, for days and nights together, with almost incredible patience, the exhausting fatigue. Hardly was his departure from St Petersburg heard of, when the thunder of artillery announced his arrival at Moscow, Warsaw, or Odessa. But although Alexander thus wasted his strength and passed his life in traversing his dominions, his heart was elsewhere. Tlie great events of Paris had got possession of his imagina- tion ; the ttoly Alliance, the suggestions of Madame Krudener, occupied his thoughts ; and he dreamt more of 2 schnitz- ^^^ supposed mission as the apostle of peace, the arbiter !er, i. 75-; of Christeiidom, than of his duties as the Czar of Russia, uTfisd!'"' the supreme disposer of the lives and liberties of sixty millions of men.^ The heart of the emperor, however, was too warm, his disposition too benevolent, for him not to feel keenly the sufferings of his subjects, and engage in any measures HISTORY OP EUROPE. 173 that appeared practicable for their relief. Various bene- chap. ficent acts signalised the. pacific years of his reign ; but ^"^' they were such as went to relieve local distress, or induce ^^^''■ local advantage, rather than to stimulate the springs of in- various dustry over his whole empire, or remove the causes which J'°°^*''=®°' measures obstructed civilisation over its vast extent. In August J,y h"^"** 1816 he visited Moscow, then beginning to rise from its Aug. 25, ashes ; and in a touching manifesto, which evidently came from the heart, testified his profound sympathy for the sufferings induced by its immortal sacrifice. At the same time, he set on foot or aided in the establishment of many valuable undertakings in difi^rent parts of the empire. He rebuilt, at a cost of 160,000 rubles, the bridge over the Neva ; he took the most efficacious measures for restoring the naval forces of the empire, which had been unavoidably neglected during the pressure of the war — several ships of the line were begun both at Cron- stadt and Odessa ; no less than 1,500,000 rubles was advanced from the treasury to set on foot several new buildings in the two capitals ; the completion of the splendid facade of the Admiralty; the building of a normal school for the training of teachers ; an imperial lyceum, in which the imperial founder ever took a warm interest ; and several important regulations adopted for the encouragement of agriculture and the establishment of colonies in desert districts. The finances of the empire engaged his special and anxious attention. By a ukase, dated ]6th April 1817, he devoted to the payment of April le, the debts contracted during 1812 and 1813, which were still in floating assignats, 30,000,000 rubles annually out of the imperial treasury, and a like sum out of the here- ditary revenue of the Crown. At the same time he ad- vanced 30,000,000 riibles to establish a bank specially destined for the support of commerce ; and decreed the " Council of Public Credit," which, by its constitution, presented the first shadow of representative institutions. Such was the effect of these measures, that when the 174 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, emperor opened a subscription for a large loan, to enable ■^"^^ him to retire a proportion of the floating, and reduce at "Warsaw in 1818. 1818. considerably the immense mass of paper assignats in cir- culation, at an advance of 85 rubles paid for 100, inscribed as 6 per cent stock, 30,000,000 was subscribed the first 1-^7 Jth day, and before the end of the year 33,000,000 more— in ^i!^i85.°'''' all, 63,000,000— which enabled the Government to retire a similar amount of assignats.^""'' Alexander was sincerely and deeply interested in the His arrival prospcrity of Poland, to which he was attached, not only by the brilliant additions which it made to the splendour and influence of the empire, but by the more tender feelings excited by the Polish lady to whom he had been so long and deeply attached. The sufierings of the country had been unparalleled, from the events of the war, and the enormous exactions of the French troops : the population of the grand-duchy of Warsaw, which, before it commenced, had been 3,300,000, had been re- duced at its close to 2,600,000 souls. The country, how- ever, had prospered in the most extraordinary degree during the three years of peace that it had since enjoyed : new colonists had been invited and settled from the neigh- bouring states of Germany ; and industry had flourished to such an extent that the state was now able to maintain, without difficulty or contracting debt, a splendid army of forty thousand men, which, clothed in the Polish uniform, i. 270,' 271;' commanded by Polish officers, and following the Polish ut^eT^' standards, was almost worshipped by the people as the germ of their reviving nationality .^ The emperor arrived The public debt of Russiaj Foreign (Dutch loan), Bank assignations, In silver. In gold, . on Ist January 1818, stood thus : — 99,600,000 florins 214,201,184 rubles 3,344,000 do. 18,520 do. Eubles. Paid off in 1817— Capital, . . 13,863,000 Interest, . . 16,171,000 -Ann. Historique, i. 277. HISTORr OF EUROPE. 175 at Warsaw on the IStli March, and immediately the chap. Tin. 1818. Polish standard was hoisted on the palace amidst the thunder of artillery and cheers from every human being in the city. The diet opened on the 27th of March, and the speech of the emperor, which was listened to with the deepest Alexander's attention, was not only prophetic of peace and happiness ^e^ch to " to Poland, but memorable as containing evidence of the March°27, views he at that period entertained for the regeneration ^^^^■ and freedom of mankind. After having expatiated on the advantages of a constitutional regime, he added, " With the assistance of God, I hope to extend its salu" tary influence to all the countries intrusted to my care. Prove to the contemporary kings that liberal institutions, which they pretend to confound with the disastrous doc- trines which in these days threaten the social system with a frightful catastrophe, are not a dangerous illusion, but that, reduced in good faith to practice, and directed in a pure spirit towards conservative ends and the good of humanity, they are perfectly allied to order, and the best security for the happiness of nations." Such were the sentiments and intentions of the Czar, while yet influenced by the illusions of 1814, and before the brilliant and benevolent dream had been dissipated by the military treason and social revolutions of southern Europe in 1820. When such words came from such lips, and every- thing around bespoke order and peace, and the reviving nationality of Poland, it need not be said that all was unanimity and hope in the Diet, and its sittings 'were .'Ann. Hist. closed, after a short session of thirty days, without a dis- aVs; Biog.' senting voice on any question of general interest having ismss!' been heard in the assembly.'- From Warsaw, which he left on the 30th April, the 64. emperor proceeded to Odessa, after traversing, with the joum'ey of utmost rapidity, the fertile plains and verdant turf toUs^" " of the Ukraine, where, as their poets say, the " sky is p™*„™ . ever blue, the air clear, and storms and hurricanes are 176 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, unknown." In Odessa he beheld, with astonishment, the ^"' rapid progress and rising importance of a city which, ^^'^" under the fostering care of government, and the wise direction of the Duke de Richelieu, had sprung up, as if by enchantment, on the edge of the wilderness, become the emporium of the south, and realised all that the genius of Virgil had fancied of the fabled rise of Car- thage under the sceptre of Dido. He there assisted at the launching of a seventy-four, laid down an 110- gun ship, and evinced at once his sympathy with the sufferings of humanity, by erecting a monument to the celebrated Howard, who had died, in 1790, in the neighbourhood of that city, and his admiration of its vir- tues, by subscribing to the erection of one in Paris to Malesherbes, the generous and intrepid defender of Louis XVI. He there appointed also a government commis- sion, specially intrusted with the duty of watching over and aiding the settlement of colonists in Bessarabia and the southern provinces of the empire, of whom vast numbers had already begun to flock from the neighbour- ing states ; and, passing by Moscow to the north, he there met the King of Prussia, with whom he returned to St Petersburg, where magnificent rejoicings attended the union of the two sovereigns. Hardly were they con- cluded when he set out for Aix-la-Chapelle, where his generous interposition, in conjunction with the Duke of yimei', Wellington, in favour of France, already mentioned,^ was 2^Ann.HL. ^**®"'^^'^'^^*^ ^^^^^ happy results ; and from thence 're- i 278; 27?;' turned to St Petersburg, and concluded an almost inces- Joiog. Univ. , _ '-' ivi. 186. sant journey of two thousand leagues, devoted, without a day's intermission, to the interests of humanity. 2 65. Although Alexander's mind was not of the most pene- for'thom' *''^*^"S character, and his practical knowledge of mankind ftanohis™ ■was small, his intentions were all of the most generous, "eafanlf ' ^^^ fceliugs of the most philanthropic kind. He had already, by several ukases, completed the enfranchisement of the peasants on the Crown domains ; and at Mittau, HISTOKY OF EUROPE. 177 on his -way to Aix-la-Chapelle, he had assisted at a very chap. interesting ceremony — that which completed, by a solemn ^^^^' act, the entire liberation of the serfs of Courland, Es- ^^l^' thonia, and Livonia, the provinces of the empire next to isie". Germany, by the voluntary act of the nobles, who, in this instance, had anticipated the wishes of the emperor. He had also, in the same year, published a ukase, which accorded several important immunities to the peasants of Merick, whose miserable condition had forcibly arrested his attention in passing through that province on his way from Warsaw to Odessa. He opened the year 1819 by a still more important step, because it was one of general application, and of vast influence on the social training of the nation. This was a ukase which extended to serfs in every part of the empire, and to whomsoever pertaining, the right, hitherto confined to the nobles and merchants, of establishing themselves as manufacturers in any part of the empire, and relieving them from the capitation tax during four years. At the same time he took a step, and a very material one, in favour of public instruction, by completing the organisation of universities at Moscow, Wilna, Alo, St Petersburg, Karkow, and Kazan ; and of religious freedom, by taking the Lutheran and Cal- j-ISg-^'J*- yinist clergy and flocks under the imperial protection, "-.sssi and establishing in the capital an Episcopal chair for the ivh^'ae.""^' clergy of those persuasions.'^ The finances of the empire, in the following year, exhi- bitea the elasticity which might have been expected from Transa'c- the continuance of peace, and the wise measures for the im.° reduction of the floating debt adopted in the preceding year. The sinking fund had withdrawn from circulation 80,000,000 paper rubles (£4,000,000) in the preceding year ; and specie, to the number of 26,000,000 silver ru- bles (£4,600,000), had issued from the mint in the same time — a quantity greater than had been coined during the ten preceding years. The deposits and discounts at the bank recently established exhibited a large and rapid VOL. 11. . M 178 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, increase. The Lancasterian system of instruction was ex- ^"^^^ tended by the emperor even to Siberia, and normal schools ^^^'*" established at St Petersburg to train teachers for the principal towns, from which alone the light of knowledge could radiate to the country. In the autumn of this year the emperor visited Archangel, which had not been honoured by the presence of the sovereign for a hundred and seventeen years ; and from thence he issued a decree, authorising the levy of two men in every five hundred, which produced a hundred and eighty thousand soldiers— the first levy which had taken place since the war. At the same time, measures were taken for colonising the army cantoned in Bessarabia, above a hundred thousand strong ; and steps adopted for establishing the army on the Polish frontier in like manner. The design of the emperor, which was a very magnificent one, was to encircle the empire with a zone of military colonies, stretching from the Black Sea to the Baltic, where the soldiers might acquire dwellings, and pursue the labours of agri- culture, like the Roman legions, while still guarding the frontiers, and connect them with similar establishments of a pastoral kind on the frontiers of Persia and Tar- 1 Ann. Hist. *^^y' '^^^^^ ^^^ vigilauce of the Cossacks guarded from ii. 359, 360. insult the vast steppes which run up to the foot of the Caucasus.^ gy_ The year 1820 commenced with a very important ^/I^'t"" step — the entire expulsion of the Jesuits from Russia. of the Je- _,, 1. 1 1 1 • Buits. iney had already, m consequence of their intrigues, been banished in 1815 from St Petersburg and Moscow, but their efforts to win over proselytes to their persuasion had since that time been so incessant and harassing, that they were now finally expelled from the whole empire.* * " Lea Jdeuites quoique suflSsamment avertis par ranimadversion qu'ils avaient enoourue, ne ohangSrent pas nianmoins de oonduite. IlMbient6t constate par les rapports des autoritfe oiviles qu'ils oontinuaieut ^ attirer daua leur communion les gloves du rit orthodoxe, placfe au ooUgge de Moholow a Saratof et dans la Sibgrie. Le Moniteur des Cultes ne manqua point de signaler oes transgressions au Pdre G6ngral de I'ordre, d6s I'annee 1815. Ces Adminis- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 179 Provision was made for their maintenance in the mean chap. time, and every precaution taken to render the measure ^^"' as gentle in its operation as possible. Certainly, as the ^^^*'- Roman Catholics, like most other sects, regard theirs as the only true faith, and aU others as heresies, it can be no matter of surprise, still less of condemnation, that they everywhere make such strenuous efforts to gain proselytes and reclaim souls, as they deem it, on the eve of perdi- tion, to the bosom of the Church. But as other persua- sions are equally convinced that their own is the true form of worship, they cannot be surprised, and have no right to complain, if their everywhere aggressive atti- -H^as?'^'" tude is met by a corresponding defensive one; and ^^^l^^^l°f- these states, without seeking to convert them to their 297; ijkase, faith, seek only to adopt measures that may secure their I820. ' own.i The time, however, had now arrived when the views of the emperor, heretofore so liberal and indulgent, were Great ' to undergo an entire change, when the illusions of 1814 thrempe" were to be dispelled, and Russia, instead of being, as it "oi^ X'' had been for many years, at the head of the movement ofY82o,''" party in Europe, was to become its most decided oppo- nent. Already the emperor had been warned by anony- mous letters and various mysterious communications, as well as by reports from the secret police, of the existence of a vast conspiracy, which embraced several of the leading officers in the armies both of Poland and the Danube, and nobles of the highest rank and considera- tion in St Petersburg. The object of the conspirators was stated to be to dethrone and murder the emperor, imprison the other members of the imperial family, and establish a constitutional monarchy on the footing of those of western Europe. For long the emperor gave trations furent inutiles. Loin de s'abstenir, a rinstance de I'gglise domi- nante, de tout moyen de agduotion et de conversion, lea Jfeuitee continu§rent S. semer le trouble dans les colonies du rit Protestant, et sepoussSrent jusqu'a. la violence pour souatraire les enfants Juifs ^ leurs parents." — Ukase, 25 Mars 1820. Annuaire Histongue, iii. 296, 297. 180 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, no credit to these warnings ; he could not believe that ^"^' an armj which, under himself, had done such great ^^^''" things, and had given him personally such proofs of entire devotion, could have so soon become implicated in a traitorous project for his destruction. But the miUtary revolution in Spain, Portugal, and Naples, in the early isohnitz- part of the year 1820, opened his eyes as to the volcano 32'; Ann. on which possibly his empire might be resting ; and the ^M02. events in Poland ere long left no doubt that the danger was rapidly approaching his own dominions.^ The Polish Diet opened in September, and the em- vioient peror, who assisted at it in person, in the Polish uniform, dS'utbn and surrounded with Polish officers, was received with fsVoiet"'' enthusiasm : the city was illuminated on his arrival, and at Sept. 28. several reviews the troops of the national army evinced the most loyal feelings. The exposition of the minister exhibited the most flattering appearance ; the population had increased to 3,468,000, being no less than a million since the termination of the war ; agriculture, manufac- tures, the finances, were in the most flourishing state. But what is material prosperity, beneficent government, to a country infested with the fever of revolution 1 It soon appeared, when the Diet proceeded to real business, with what species of spirit they were animated. On a proposition to amend the criminal law, brought forward by the ministers, a violent opposition broke forth in the chamber, on the ground that the proposed mode of trial was not by jury ; and it was rejected by 120 votes to 3. Another proposal of government, for certain changes in the Senate, was also rejected bv a large majority. It was evident that the Diet was animated with the wild spirit of Pohsh equality, not merely from their measures, but from the extreme violence of the language which they used, and that they would be as difficult to manage as the old comitia, where any member, by the exercise of his liberum veto, might paralyse the whole proceedings. Alexander was profoundly afiected ; he saw at once the depth of the HISTORY OF EUROPE. 181 abyss which yawned beneath his feet, if these ideas, as in chap. Spain and Naples, should gain possession of the army, the main prop of the throne in his despotic realms ; and he ^®^**'. closed the Diet with a speech, in which his apprehensions iii.304,306! and indignation exhaled in the most striking manner.^* This incident exercised an important influence on the afiuirs of Europe in general, for the emperor at this period Congress of was on his way to the Congress of Troppatj, where the oetlT,' recent revolution in the Spanish and Italian peninsulas, ^^^^' and the alarming state of affairs in France, were to be taken into consideration. As this congress was called chiefly in consequence of the suggestions of the Emperor Alexan- der, and was the first practical application of the princi- ples of the Holy Alliance of which he was the autjior, it belongs more properly to the annals of Russia than Ger- many, within whose bounds it was held. The Emperor of Austria, whose terror at the alarming situation of Italy was extreme, arrived there on the 18th October; the Emperor of Russia joined him there on the 20th. In- Oct. 20. disposition prevented the King of Prussia from coming till the 7th November, but he was represented by the hereditary prince, his son. Prince Metternich and M. Gentz on the part of Austria ; Count Nesselrode and Capo d'Istria on that of Russia ; Prince Hardenberg and Count Bernstorf on that of Prussia ; Count Caraman, the * " Parvenus au terme ou s'arr^tent aujourd'hui les travaux qui doivent vous couduire par degrgs vers oe but important de developper et d'affermir vos institutions nationales, voua pouvez facilement apprendre de oombien vous en Stes rapprochfe. Interrogez votre conscience, et vous saurez si dans le cours de vos discussions, vous avez rendu A la Pologne tous les services qu'elle attendait de votre sagesse, ou si, au contraire, entratn^s par des seductions trop communes de vos jours, et immolant un espoir qu' aurait realist une prevoyante confiance, vous n'avez pas retards dans son progrfe I'aurore de la restauration de votre Patrie. Cette grave responsabilite pdsera survous. Elle est la sfiretg nScessaire de rindSpendance de vos suffrages. lis sout libres, mais une intention pure doit toujours les determiner. La Inienne vous est oonnue. Vous avez recu le bien pour le mal, et la Pologne est remont6e au rang^es Stats. Je pers^vSrerai dans mes desseins ^ son Sgard, quelle que soit Topinion qu'on puisse se former sur la manidre dont vous venez d'excuser vos prorogations." — Diacowrs de VEmperewr Alexandre & Varsmie, 1/13 Octobre 1820, d, la Mture de la Dike Polonaise. Annuaire Hietorique, iii. 616. 182 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. French ambassador at Vienna, and Sir Charles Stuart, the English ambassador there, represented the several powers. 1820. rpj^g events in Italy and Spain had excited the greatest alarm among all the parties assembled, and the most 1 Ann. Hist, ■vigorous measurcs were resolved on; and although the E^^lilv' English government did not take an active part in their ivi.1'87. ' deliberations, it did not formally oppose the measures re- solved on.i J.J So great was the importance of the topics discussed at congressof the Congrcss of Troppau, and so various the interests of its resoiu- thc powers there assembled, that in former days it would in all probability have led to a general war. But the remembrance of past strife was too recent, the terror of present revolutions too great, to permit of any serious divergence of opinion or measures taking place. From the very outset the Emperor Alexander, whose apprehen- sions were now fully awakened, declared that he was pre- pared to second with all his forces any measures which the Emperor of Austria might deem necessary for the settlement and pacification of Italy. At the same time the march of the Austrian troops towards the south of Italy continued without intermission, and a holograph letter was despatched from the assembled sovereigns to the King of Naples, inviting him to join them in person at a new ^^^ ^^ congress, to be held at Laybach in Styria. A minister 2 Ann. Hist. ®®^*' ^^°™ Naplcs ou the part of the revolutionary govern- Aper*u det' mcut was rcfuscd admission ; and the views of the assem- resuitatsdea bled mouarchs on the late revolutions were announced conferences . , • «■ • i • i deTroppau, lu sevcrai semi-official articles, published in the Vienna 630.' "'■ papers, which, even more than their official instruments, revealed their real sentiments.^ * * " On a acquis la conviction que cette revolution, produite par une secte %ar«e et exgoutSe par des soldats indisciplinfe, suivie d'un renversement violent des institutions legitimes, et de leur remplaoemeut par uu systlme d'arbitraire et d'anarchie, est non-seulement contraire aux prinoipes d'ordre, de droit, de morale, et de vrai bien-«tre des peuples, tels qu'ils sont Stablis par les monarques, mais de plus incompatible par ses rgsultats inevitables aveo le repos et la security des autres etats Italiens, et par consequent aveo la oonser- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 183 The congress, to be nearer the scene of action, was chap. soon after transferred to Laybach, where the Emperor of ^^^^' Austria arrired on the 4th January, and the Emperor of ■^^^^• Russia on the 7th. The King of Prussia was hourly ex- congress of pected ; and the King of Naples, whom the revolutionary jai^sf ' government established in his dominions did not venture to ^^^^" detain at home, came on the 8th. So much had been done atTroppau in layingdown principles, that nothing remained for Laybach but their practical application. The prin- ciple which Alexander adopted, and which met with the concurrence of the other sovereigns, was that the spirit of the age required liberal institutions, and a gradual admis- sion of the people to a share of power ; but that they must flow from the sovereign's free will, not be forced upon him by his subjects ; and, therefore, that no com- promise whatever could be admitted with revolutionists either in the Italian or Spanish peninsulas. In conformity with this determination, there was signed, on 2d Feb- Feb. 2. ruary 1821, a treaty, by which it was stipulated that the allied powers should in no way recognise the revolutionary government in Naples ; and that the royal authority should be re-established on the footing on which it stood prior to the insurrection of the army on 5th July 1820. To carry their resolution into effect, it was agreed that an Austrian army should, in the name of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, be put at the disposition of the King of the Two Sicilies ; that, from the moment of its passing the Po, its whole expenses should be at the charge of that kingdom, and that the Neapolitan dominions should be occupied by the Austrian forces during three years, in the same manner, and on the same conditions, as France had vation de la paix en Europe. Pgnetrfe de ces vSritfe, les Hauts Monarques ont pris la ferme resolution d'employer tons leurs moyens afin que I'^tat actuel des ohoses dans le royaume dea Deux-Sioiles, produit par la r^volte et la force, soit dgtruit, mads cependant S. M. le Roi sera mis dans une position telle qu'il pourra determiner la constitution future de ses etats d'une maniere com- patible avec sa dignity, les iuter^ts de son peuple, et le repos des etats voisins." — Ohservateur Autrichien. 184 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, been by the army under the Duke of Wellington. Eng- ■ land and France were no parties to this treaty, but sion the allied powers. ^*^^" neither did they oppose it, or enter into any alliance •with the revolutionary states. They simply remained Fekl'f' neuter, passive spectators of a matter in which they were Hut'i'if""' *oo remotely interested to be called on practically to in- 6*2sJLord terfere, but which they could not theoretically approve. reagh'sDea- Lord Castlercagh contented himself with declaring that fsj'isaiT' Great Britain could take no part in such transactions, as 689.' "■ they were directly opposed to the fundamental laws of his country.! * This deserves to be noted as a turning-point in the Reflections modcm history of Europe. It marks the period when amrag separate views and interests began to shake the hitherto firmly cemented fabric of the Grand Alliance ; and Great Britain and France, for the first time, assumed a part together at variance with the determination of the other great powers. They had not yet come into actual colli- sion, much less open hostility ; but their views had become so different, that it required not the gift of prophecy to fore- * " Le systeme des mesures proposes «erait, s'il etait I'objet d'uno rSoipro- oitg d'aetion, diametralement opposfi aux lois foudamentales de la Grande-Bre- tague ; mais lors mSme que oette objection decisive n'existerait pas, le gouverne- meut Britannique n'en jugerait pas moins, que lea principes qui servent de base i, ces mesures, ne peuvent dtre admis avec quelque sdret^ comme systSmes de loi entre les nations. Le gouvernement du roi pense que I'adoption de ces principes eanctionuerait indvitablement, et pourrait amener par la suite, de la part des Bouverains moins bienveillauts, une intervention dans les affaires in- terieures des etats, beaucoup plus frequente et plus gtendue que celle dont il est persuade que-les augustes pereonnages ont I'intention d'user, ou, qui puisse se concilier avec I'int&fit ggnSral, ou avec I'autoritg rfoUe, et la dignity dea souveraina ind^pendants. Quant 3, 1'affaire partioulidre de Naples, le gouvernement Britan- nique n'a pas hgsitS, des le commencement, 4 exprimer fortement son improba- tion de la maniere dont cette Revolution s'est effectuie, et des pirconstances dont elle paraissait avoir fet^ aocompagnfie, ma:is en meme temps, il dSclara express^- ment aux difiSrentes oours alU^es, qu'il ne croyait pas devoir, ni meme conseil- ler une intervention de la part de la Grande-Bretagne. II admit toujours que d'autres Stats Europ^ens, et spgoialement I'Autriclie, et les puissances Italienues, pouvaient juger que les oirconstances ftaient diffgrentea relativement a eux, et il dgclara que aon intention n'gtait pas de pr&iuger la question en ce qui pou- vait les affeoter, ni d'iutervenir dans la marche que tela ^tats pourraient juger convenable d'adopter pour leur propre siiret^ ; pourvu toutefois, qu'ils fusaent 1821. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 185 see that coUisiop was imminent at no distant period. This chap. was the more remarkable, as England had been, during the ^"'' whole of the revolutionary war, the head and soul of the alliance against France, and strenuously contended for the principle, that though no attempt should be made to force a government against their will on the French people, yet a coalition of the adjoining powers had become indispen- sable to prevent them from forcing their institutions upon other states. The allied governments commented freely on this great change of policy, and observed that England was very conservative as long as the danger was at her aJ^NSsS-^ own door, and her own institutions were threatened by the comtTde contagion of French principles ; but that she became very ^^^°''j^„ liberal when the danger was removed to a more distant si, I821; quarter, and the countries threatened were Italy, southern a, 692,693, Germany, or France itself^ * To fix the just principles, and define the limits of the right of intervention, is unquestionably one of the most Limits' of difficult problems in politics, and one fraught with the Iflntfrven. most momentous consequences. If the right is carried '"'°' out to its fuU extent, incessant warfare would, in civilised disposes k donner toutes les assurances raisonnables que, leurs vues n'Staient, ni dirig^es rers des objets d'agrandissement, ni vers la subversion du systeme territorial de I'Europe, tel *° ^^^^^^ ^° *^^ pacification of Italy ; and An" nts^ °^ *^® following day the troops, nearly fifty thousand iv. 319,320. strong, commenced the passage of that river at five points between Cremona and St Benedetto.^ HISTORY OP EUROPE. 189 The marcL. of the Austrian army met with so little chap. VIII opposition that the events which followed could not be called a campaign. When they arrived at Bologna, the ^^^^' troops were separated into two divisions ; one of which, unresisted under the command of Count Walmoden, crossed the ^exZ- Apennines, and advanced, by Florence and Rome, by the ^LrdsNa- great road to Naples ; while the other moved by the left fj^^' ^^^' to the sea-side, and reached Ancona. The first corps passed Rome, without entering it, on February 28th ; the second occupied Ancona on the 19th. Meanwhile the preparations of the Neapolitans were very extensive, and seemed to presage a serious resistance. Their forces, too, were divided into two corps ; the first of which, forty thousand strong, under General Carascosa, occupied the strong position of St Germans, with its left on the fortress of Gaeta, within the Neapolitan territory ; while the second, under General Pepe, of thirty thousand, chiefly militia, was opposed to the corps advancing along the Adriatic, and charged with the defence of the Abruzzi. But it was all in vain. Pepe, finding that his battalions were disbanding, and his troops melting away before they had even seen the enemy, resolved to hazard an attack on the Austrians at Reidi. But no sooner did they come in sight of the German vanguard, consisting of a splendid regiment of Hungarian cavalry, than a sudden panic seized them. The new levies disbanded and fled, with the cry of " Tradimento ; salvarsi chi pud ! " The contagion spread to the old troops. Soon the whole army was a mere mob, every one trying to outrun his neighbour. Cannon, ammunition, standards, were alike abandoned. Pepe himself was carried away by the torrent, and the j g^ji^^j^ Abruzzi were left without any defence but the impediments ".435,438; . . - 1 p 1 1 • 1 r •*"°- Hist. arismg from the wreck 01 the army, whose implements 01 w. 322, 325. war strewed the roads over which it had fled. ^ * * " Vaoillarono le nostre giorani bande, si ritirarono le prime, non procederono le seconde, si confusero le ordinanze. Ed allora avanzd prima lentamente, 190 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. This catastrophe was a mortal stroke to the insurrec- ^"^' tion ; for, independent of the moral influence of such a ^^■^^- discreditable scene succeeding the warm appeals and con- suwlgation fident predictions of the revolutionists, the position of andretam thclr main army, and on which alone they could rely for M^chi2f' tlie defence of Naples at St Germans, under Carascosa, was liable to be turned by the Abruzzi, and was no longer tenable. The broken remains of Pepe's army dispersed in the Apennines, and sought shelter in its fastnesses ; some made their appearance in Naples, where they ex- cited unirersal consternation. In this extremity the par- liament, assembled in select committee, supplicated the Prince Vicar to mediate between them and the king; and, above all, to arrest the march of the Austrian troops. But it was all in vain. The Imperial generals, seeing their advantage, only pressed on with the more vigour on the disorderly array of their opponents. Walmoden ad- vanced without opposition through the Abruzzi. Aquila March 10. Opened its gates on the 10th March, its castle on the 12th ; and Carascosa, seeing his right flank turned by the mountains, gave orders for his troops to retire at all points from the position they occupied on the GarigUones. This was the signal for a universal dissolution of the force. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery, alike disbanded and fled. A few regiments of the royal guard alone preserved any semblance of military array, and the main Austrian army advanced without opposition towards Naples, where terror was at its height, securities of all sorts unsaleable, and the revolutionary government power- poBcia inoalzando i passi, ed alfine in oorsa vm superbo reggimento di cavalleria Uugherese, ei che nell' aspetto del orescente pericolo le milizie civili, nuore alia guerra, trepldarono, fuggirono, BtraBoinarono coll' impeto e coll' esempio qualche compagnia di piii vecchi soldati, si ruppero gli ordini, si udirono le Toci di iradimento, e salmirsi chi pud : soomparve il campo. — Proseguirono nella Bucoedeute notte i disordini dell' eseroito : Antrodoco fii abbandonata ; il General Pepe seguiva i fuggitivi. — Miserando spettacolo ! gettate le armi e le insegne ; le macohiue di guerra, fatte inoiampo al fuggire, roveBoiate, spez- zate ; gli argini, le trinoere, opere di molte menti e di molte bracoia, aperte, abbandonate ; ogni ordine scomposto : eseroito pooo innanzi spaventoso al nemioo, oggi v61to in ludibrio." — Colletta (a liberal historian), ii. 437,438. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 191 less. Finding further resistance hopeless, Carascosa made chap, the Prince Vicar, -who had set out to join the army, Tin. return to Naples : and on the 20th of March a suspension ^^^^■ or hostilities was agreed on, the condition of which was the surrender of Capua and Aversa to the Imperialists. March 23. This was followed by the capitulation of Naples itself, a few days after, on. the same terms as that of Capua. The Austrians entered on the following day, and were put in March 24. possession of the forts ; while Carascosa, Pepe, and the other chiefs of the insurrection, obtained passports, which were willingly granted by the conquerors, and escaped from the scene of danger. Sicily, when the revolution had assumed so yirulent a form, submitted, after a vain attempt at resistance, shortly after ; and the king, on the ^Ql^l^^^^ 12th May, amidst general acclamations, re-entered his ".444, 455; capital, now entirely garrisoned, and under the control of iv. 329,333. the Austrian troops. ^ It was during these events, so fatal to the cause of revolution in Naples, that the old government was over- Movement turned in Piedmont, and the standard of treason hoisted, surgentsin on the citadel of Turin. The account of that important MarchTs! but ill-timed event, which took place on the 13th March, has been already given, as forming the last in the catalogue of revolutionary triumphs which followed the explosion in Spain. 2 As it broke out at the very time when the vh. § lis. Neapolitan armies were dissolving at the sight of the Hun- garian hussars, and only ten days before Naples opened its gates to the victors, it was obviously a hopeless move- ment, and the only wisdom for its promoters would have been to have extricated themselves as quietly and speedily as they could from a contest now plainly become for the time hopeless. But the extreme revolutionary party, deeming themselves too far committed to recede, deter- mined on the most desperate measures. War was resolved March 21. on by the leaders of the movement at Alessandria, which had always been the focus of the insurrection, and a ministry installed to carry it into execution ; but the 192' HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Prince Regent escaped in the night from Turin, -with ^"^' some regiments of troops, upon whom he could still rely, ^^^^- to NoTarra, where the nucleus of a royal army began to be formed, from whence, two days after, he issued a de- March 23. claration renouncing the office of Prince Regent, and thus giving, as he himself said, " now and for ever, the most respectful proof of obedience to the royal authority." This made all persons at Turin who were still under the guid- ance of reason aware that the cause of revolution was for the present hopeless. Symptoms of returning loyalty appeared in the army ; and Count de la Tour, who was secretly inclined to the royalists, resolved to retire to Alessandria, with such of the troops as he could rely on, iv. 346, 349.' to await the possible return of better times ; and orders were given to that effect. ^ Meanwhile the allied sovereigns at Laybach were Meeting of taking the most vigorous measures to crush the insurrec- Indtesr' tion in Piedmont. The Emperor of Austria instantly irGeMa" ordered the formation of a corps of observation on the frontier of that kingdom, drawn from the garrisons in the Lombard- Venetian provinces ; and the Emperor of Russia directed the assembling of an army of 100,000 men, taken from the armies of the South and Poland, with instruc- tions to march direct towards Turin. Requisitions were made to the Helvetic cantons to take precautionary mea- sures against a conflagration which threatened to embrace the whole of Italy. Before this resolution, however, could be carried into effect, intelligence was received that the queen's regiment of dragoons had left Novarra amidst cries of " Vive la Constitution ! " This news March 24. SO clevatcd the spirits of the insurgents that the orders to retire to Alessandria were countermanded, and on the following day they issued from the seat of government a proclamation, in which, after declaring that the king was a captive in the hands of Austria, and that the Prince Vicar had been deceived, they called on the Piedmontese to take up arms, promising them " the « HISTORY OP EUROPE. 193 succour of the Lombards and the support of France." chap. VITF This appeal had little effect ; the intelligence of the !_ unresisted march of the Austrians towards Naples froze ^^''^^• every heart in the capital. At Genoa, however, the popular determination was more strongly evinced. A proclamation of the governor, calling on the people to March 24. abandon the constitution and submit themselves to the former government, led to a fresh commotion, in which he narrowly escaped with his life, and which was only appeased by the appointment of a junta of government composed of the most decided popular chiefs. The intel- ligence of this fresh insurrection greatly raised the spirit of the leaders at Turin, and the preparations for war in ^ the capital were continued with unabated zeal by the iv. 352, 353! government. 1 But it was too late : the fate of the Piedmontese re- volution had been determined in the passes of the Abruzzi. increasing Already, on the requisition of Charles Felix, the deposed ofthein-^ king, a corps of Austrians, fifteen thousand strong, had ^'s^ts- been assembled, under Count Bubna, on the Ticino, the bridges over which had been broken down, to prevent any communication with the insurgents. General Latour, meanwhile, the governor of Turin, seeing the cause of the revolution hopeless, and wishing to avoid the interference of foreigners, was taking measures to restore the royal authority there without the intervention of the Austrians ; and a large part of the army, especially the royal cara- bineers, were already disposed to second him. But his designs were discovered and frustrated by the Minister at War, a staunch revolutionist, who caused several regi- ments known to be most attached to the constitution to come to Turin, where they had a skirmish with the cara- 2 comte bineers, which ended in two-thirds of the latter body 1';.^;.'*' leaving the capital and taking the road to Novarra, where '^^^^^^^^ eight thousand men were already assembled round the W; am. royal standard.^ The knowledge of their strength, which sso/ssi nearly equalled that of the troops on the other side, and YOL. II. ^ 194 HISTORY OP BUKOPB. CHAP, of the certain support of the Austrians, made the members ^^^'' of the junta lend a willing ear to the proposals of the 1821. 83. Count Mocenigo, the Russian minister, who suggested, in the name of the emperor, a submission to the king on the condition of a general amnesty, and the hope of a con- stitution which should guarantee the interests of society. But, as often happens in such convulsions, the ardour TotaTde- of the cxtremo and enthusiastic of the insurgents defeated fnsurgeSs ^11 the cfforts of the more moderate of their party, and ApiisT' ^^^^ *^ ^^^ Piedmontese the exasperation of civil war and the bitterness of foreign subjugation. The majority of the junta continued to hold out ; and their eyes were not opened to the declining circumstances of their cause even by the disbanding of several battalions of the militia, who, instead of joining the general rendezvous at Ales- sandria, left their colours, and returned home. At length, seeing no prospect of an accommodation, the Count de la Tour, who had joined the royal army at Novarra, and was at its head, having concerted measures with the Austrian general, advanced to Vercelli. Here, however, he was met by a considerable body of the insurgents, and not deem- ing himself in sufficient strength to encounter them, he fell back to Novarra, where he was joined, on the 7th April, by the Austrians, who had crossed the Ticino at Buffalora and Mortera. Their junction, which took place at two April 8. in the morning of the 8 th, was unknown to the insur- gents, who, driving the light troops of the royalists before them, appeared, at ten in the morning, in front of the bas- tions of the place, anticipating its speedy capture, and an easy victory. But they were soon undeceived. Suddenly a terrible fire of grape and musketry opened from the bas- tions ; as the smoke cleared away, the Austrian uniform and schakos were seen above the parapets, and the insur- gents found themselves engaged with the combined Aus- trian and Piedmontese forces, nearly triple their own, supported by the guns of the place. The eflFect of this unexpected apparition was immense upon the spirits of VIII. 1821. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 195 the assailants, who immediately fell back towards Vercelli. chap. The retreat was conducted at first with more order than could have been expected, as far as the bridge of Agogna, at the entrance of a long defile formed by the chaussee, where it traverses the marshes. There, however, the rear-guard was charged vigorously by the Austrian horse, and thrown into confusion ; the disorder rapidly spread to the troops engaged in the defile, who were already encumbered with their artillery and baggage-waggons ; and ere long the whole dispersed, and sought their homes, leaving their cannon, baggage, and colours to theiv.3S5,3S6. enemy.i This aflFair terminated the war, although it had cost only a few killed and wounded to the defeated party ; so submission swift had been their flight that very few prisoners were Li, andTr- taken. The junta at Turin, upon hearing of this defeat, Sl"™.""' gave orders to evacuate the capital, and fall back to April 8. Genoa, where they declared they would defend themselves to the last extremity. But it is seldom, save in a single city, that the cause of an insurrection can be maintained after a serious defeat. The constitutionalists melted away on all sides ; every one hastened to show not only that he was loyal now, but had been so throughout, and in the worst times. Finding the case hopeless, the junta surrendered their powers, on the day following, to a com- April 9. mittee of ten, invested with full power to treat. They immediately sent a deputation to General La Tour, offer- ing him the keys of the capital, and entreating that it should be occupied only by the national troops. This was agreed to, and it was promised that the Austrians should not advance beyond Vercelli. On the 12th, April 12. General La Tour, surrounded by a brilliant staff, and followed only by the national troops, made his public entrance into Turin, where the royal authority was imme- diately re-established. The revolutionary journals dis- appeared ; the clubs were closed ; and the public funds, which had lately been at 69, rose to 77. On the follow- 196 HISTORY OP EUROEB. CHAP, ing day, the Austrian troops took possession of Alessan^ ^"^' dria, and other fortresses on the frontier ; and as the old 1821. jj^jjjg^ Victor Emmanuel, persisted in his resolution to April 19. abdicate after he had become a free agent, and his sin- cerity could no longer be suspected, his brother, the Duke de Genevois, assumed the title, and began to exer- cise the powers of royalty. A commission was appointed to examine the conduct of the chiefs of the insurrec- tion ; the leaders had, for the most part, escaped into lADD.Hist France : but the effects of forty-three were put under 370. sequestration, and themselves executed, happily only in effigy.' The violent repression of the revolution in Italy, by 85. Violent re- tho Austrlan bayonets, was followed by a great variety iLi™ '" of harsh and oppressive measures on the part of the con- querors, which augured ill for the peace of the peninsula in future times. A general disarmament of all the pro- vinces of the Neapolitan territories where Austrian sol- Aprii 12. diers had been assassinated was decreed, and enforced by domiciliary visits ; the whole irregular corps, raised since 5th July 1820, were disbanded ; foreign journals loaded with such heavy taxes as amounted to a prohibition ; and the most rigorous inquiry made into the books, many of them highly dangerous, which had been put into the hands May 15. of the youug at schools. The king, on his return, published a decree, engaging to " stifle all personal resentment, and make the nation forget, in years of prosperity, the disas- trous events which have stained the last days of Neapolitan history;" but within three days after, measures of severity began. Four courts-martial were constituted, to take cog- nisance of the military who had taken part in the revolts which ended in the revolution, and several of the leading deputies of the assembly were sent into confinement in juiyi. Austria. By a decree on July 1, which commented, in severe but just terms, on their treacherous conduct, the army, which had been the chief instrument of the revolu- tion, was disbanded, and reorganised anew on a different HISTORY OF EUROPE. 197 footing.* The finances were found to be in so deplorable chap. a condition, that loans to the amount of 3,800,000 ducats (£850,000) alone enabled the king to provide for imme- ^^^'' diate necessities, and heavy taxes were levied to enable him to carry on the government. Finally, a treaty was signed on 28th October, by which it was stipulated that the army of occupation should consist of forty-two thou- liSflg'i , sand men, including seven thousand cavalry, besides the ^fTiki-"*^' troops stationed in Sicily ; and that it should remain in A^gg^ggj. the Neapolitan territory for three years, entirely at the es'i. charge of its inhabitants.^ Piedmont did not fare better, after the dissolution of gg the revolutionary forces, than Naples had done. The Reaction in prosecutions against the principal authors of the revolt, and treaty' both civil and military, were conducted with vigour, and tfL great numbers of persons were arrested, or deprived of"'^'^^^®" their employments. Happily, however, as the whole chiefs of the conspiracy had escaped into France, there were no capital executions, except among a few of the most guilty in the army. To tranquillise the fears of Austria, and give stability to the restored order of things in Piedmont, a treaty between the two powers was con- cluded on the 26th July, by which it was stipulated July 26. that an imperial force of twelve thousand men should continue in occupation, until September 1822, of Stra- della, Voghera, Tortona, Alessandria, Valencia, Coni, * " L'artnge est la prinoipale cause de ces maux. Faotieuse, ou entretenue par des factions, elle nous a abandonnes au moment du danger ; et nous a par i&, privfe des moyens de prgvenir les malheureuses consequences d'une revo- lution. S'etant livree ^ une seote qui detruit tous les liens de la subordination, et de I'ob&ssance, I'armSe, aprds avoir trahi ses devoirs envers nous, s'est vue incapable de remplir les devoirs que la r6volte avait voulu lui imposer. Elle a op6r6 elle-m^me sa destruction, et les chefs qu'elle s'etait donnes, n'ont fait que prgsider i, sa dissolution ; elle n'offre plus aucune garantie necessaire it I'existence d'une arm^e : le bien de nos 6tats exige cependant I'existence d'une force protectrice, nous avons &t& obligfe de la demander a nos Allies ; ils I'ont mise a notre disposition. Nous devons pourvoir a, son entretien, mais nous ne pouvons pas faire supporter k nos sujets, le pesant fardeau des frais d'une armfie qui n'existe plus, parce qu'elle n'a pas su exister. Ces motifs nous ont dfetermings 3, dissoudre I'arm^e, t compter du 24 Mars de cette ann6e." — Dicret, 1 Juillet 1821. Annuaire Historigw, iv. 364. 198 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, and Vercelli. Its pay, amounting to 500,000 francs ^™" (£20,000) a-month, and its maintenance, extending to 1821. thirteen thousand rations daily, was to be wholly at the charge of the Piedmoutese government. A general am- nesty, disfigured by so many exceptions as to render it applicable only to the mass of the insurgents, was pub- sept. 30. lished on 30th September ; and a few days after, a very Oct. 5. severe decree was fulminated against the secret societies, which had brought such desolation and humiliation on Get. 17. Italy. The king made his public entry into Turin shortly after, assumed the reins of government, and appointed a royalist ministry ; but every one felt that it was a truce only, not a peace, which had been established between the contending parties, and that beneath the treacherous surface there lurked the embers of a conflagration which iv. 376,379! would break out with additional violence on the first favourable opportunity.^ The Emperor Alexander found, on his return to St Revolt in a Petersburg after the closing of the Diet of Warsaw, that guirds at" the danger had reached his own dominions, and infected St Peters- ^^^^ ^^^ guards of the imperial palace. During his absence 18^0.^^' ^^ Poland a serious mutiny occurred in the splendid regi- ment of the guards called Semenoff, which had been established by Peter the Great, and was much esteemed by the present emperor. It was occasioned by undue severity of discipline on the part of the colonel, who was a Courlander by birth, and enamoured of the German mode of compelling obedience by the baton. The regi- ment openly refused to obey orders, broke the windows of its obnoxious colonel, and was only reduced to obedi- ence by the courage and sang froid of the governor of St Petersburg, General Milaradowitch, at whose vene- rated voice the mutineers were abashed, and retired to their barracks. It was ordered by the Czar to be dis- solved, and the officers and men dispersed through other regiments, and the most guilty delivered over to courts- 1821. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 199 martial. The St Petersburg papers all represented this chap. mutiny as the result merely of misgovernment on the part of its colonel, and unconnected with political events ; but its succeeding so rapidly the military rcTolutions in Spain and Naples led to an opposite opinion being generally entertained, and it had no slight influence in producing the vigorous resolutions taken at the congresses of Trop- pau and Laybach against the insurgents in the south of Europe. This impression was increased by the emperor in the following year, after his annual journey to the ^fnn. Hist. southern provinces, after the usual great reviews of the iv.'304.' ' army there, returning abruptly to St Petersburg.^ In truth, Alexander was now seriously alarmed, and the suspicions which he had conceived as to the fidelity Alexander of his troops, and the dread of insurrection, not only sup^port the embittered all the remaining years of his life, but mate- ^'^^*'' rially modified his external policy. This appeared in the most decisive manner in his conduct in regard to the Greek revolution, which began in this year, and which will form the interesting subject of a subsequent chapter of this History. Everything within and without emi- nently favoured a great and decisive movement in favour of the Greeks, on whose behalf, as co-religion- ists, the warmest sympathy existed among all classes in the Russian empire. The army was unanimous in favour of it, and at a great review of his guards, fifty thousand strong, in September 1821, at Witepsk, the feelings of the soldiers were so strong on the subject that, amidst unbounded demonstrations of enthusiastic loyalty, they could not be prevented from giving vent to their warlike ardour in favour of their Greek brethren. The news of the insurrection of Prince Ipsilanti in Mol- davia reached the emperor at Laybach, and such was the consternation of the European powers at the revo- lutions of Spain and Italy at that period, that no serious opposition was to be apprehended to any measures, how formidable soever, which he might have proposed, against 200 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, the Turks, or even their entire expulsion from Europe. But that very circumstance determined the Czar, in ^^^'* opposition to the declared wish of both his army and people, to disavow the insurrection. He saw in it, not, as heretofore, a movement in favour of the Christian faith, or an eflfort for religious freedom, but a revolutionary outbreak, similar to those of Spain and Italy, which he could not countenance without departing from his prin- ciples, or support without the most imminent risk of the contagion spreading to his own troops. He returned for answer, accordingly, to the earnest application for aid from the insurgent Greeks, " Not being able to consider the enterprise of Ipsilanti as anything but the effect of the excitement which characterises the present period, and of the inexperience and levity of that young man, he had given orders to the Minister of the Interior to dis- 1^303^04- ^PPi'ove of it formally." The consequence was that the Bi.og. Univ. insurrcctiou was crushed, and a great number of the Ivi. 186 189. ' heroic youths who had taken up arms in defence of their faith perished under the sabres of the Mussulmans. ^ * This year the already gigantic empire of Russia received Extension a hugc addition by the appropriation of a vast territory sian empire oppositc Kamtchatka, on the north-western coast of Ame- America. i"ica. Several settlements of the Russians, chiefly for the purpose of fishing and the fur trade, had already been made on this desert and inhospitable coast from the oppo- site shores of Asia, which, in the immensity of the wilder- * The Emperor Alexander, in a highly-interesting conversation with M. de Chateaubriand at Verona in 1823, explained the views on this important sub- ject : " Je suis Men aise," said he, " que vous soyez venu ^ Vdrone, afin de rendre tgmoignage 4 la vgritS. Auriez-vous cru, comme le disent nos ennemis, que I'Alliance n'est qu'un mot qui ne sert qu' 4 couvrir des ambitions 1 Cela eut pu Stre vrai dans I'ancien 6tat des choses ; mais il s'agit bien aujourd'hui de quelques intgrSts particuliers, quand le monde civilisg est en p4ril. II ne peut plus y avoir de Politique Anglaise, Franf aise, Prussienne, Autrichienne. II n'y a plus qu' une politique g&6rale qui doit, pour le salut de tons, toe admise en commun par les peuples et les rois; C'est si moi de me montrer le premier couvaincu des principes, sur lesquels j'ai fondg I'Allianoe. Une occasion s'est presentee, le soul6vement de la Grdce. Rien sans doute ne paraissait 6tre plus dans mes int6r6ts, dans ceux de mon peuple, dans I'opinion de men pays qu' une HISTORY OP EUROPE. 201 ness, had scarcely been noticed even by the United States, chap. most interested in preventing them. They were for the most part made on the shores which had been discovered '^'^'" by Captain Cook and Vancouver, so that, on the footing of priority of discovery, tlie best claim to them belonged to Great Britain. But England already possessed an enor- mous territory, amounting to four million square miles, of which scarce a tenth was capable of cultivation, and her government was indifferent to the settlement of Russians on the coast of the Pacific. The consequence was that they were allowed quietly to take possession, and on the 16/28 September the Czar issued a ukase defining thesept. 28, limits of the Russian territory in America, which embraced ^^^^' twice as much as the whole realm of France. The ukase also confined to Russian subjects the right of fishing along the coast from Behring Straits to the southern cape of the island of Ouroff, and forbade all foreign vessels to fish within a hundred miles of the coast, under pain of confiscation of their cargo. These assumed rights have not hitherto been called in question, but as the Anglo-Saxons in America are as aspiring as the Muscovites, and grow- g^^^lg' ing even more rapidly, it is not likely that this will long J^si ; Ann. continue ; and it is not impossible that the two great soi,'-doh; races which appear to divide the world are destined to ivi!^i89.""'' be first brought into collision on the shores of the Pacific.^ The increasing jealousy of the Czar at liberal opinions, and the secret societies by which it was attempted to guerre religieuse contra la Turquie ; mais j'ai era remarquer, dans les troubles du PSlopontee, le signe r^volutionnaire ; d& lors je me suis abstenu. Que n'a- t-on fait pour rompre I'Alliauce ? On a cherche tour ^ tour 3, me donner des provocations; on ^ blesser mon ajnour-propre; on m'a outrage ouvertement. On me connaissait bien mal, si Ton a cru que mes principes ne tenaient qu' ^ des vanitfe, ou pouvaient ofider Si des ressentiments. Non, je ne me separerai jamais des mouarques auxquels je me suis uni. Ildoit .^tre permis aux Eois, d'avoir des alliances publiques, pour se defendre centre les societes seorStes. Qu' est-ce qui pourrait me tenter ? Qu' ai-je besoin d'accroltre mon empire ? La Providence n'a pas mis h mes ordres huit cent mille soldats, pour satisfaire mon ambition; mais pour protSger la religion, la morale, la justice; et pour faire reguer oes principes d'ordre, sur legquels repose la soci6te bumaine." — Cha- tBAtiBKiAND, Congria de V^rone, i. 221, 222. 202 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, propagate them in his dominions, was evinced in the same year by a decree suppressing the order of Free-masons vm, 1823, 90. throughout the whole of his dominions. In spite, how- Suppression ever, of every precaution that could be taken, the secret masms' societies continued and multiplied ; and it was ere long se°cre°'so- ascertained that they embraced not only many of the first oc^is. nobles in the country, but, what was far more dangerous, several of the of6.cers high in the army, and even in the imperial guard. Obscure intimations of the existence of a vast conspiracy were frequently sent to the government, but not in so distinct a form as to enable them to act Aug. 18, upon it until 1823, when a ukase was issued, denounc- ing, under the severest penalties, all secret societies, espe- cially in Poland ; and a number of leaders of the "Patriotic Society," in particular Jukasinsky, Dobrogoyski, Machy- nicki, and several others, chiefly Poles, were arrested, and sent to Siberia, It was hoped at the time that the danger was thus removed, but it proved just the reverse. The seizure of these chiefs only served to warn the others of the necessity of the most rigorous secresy, and gave addi- tional proof, as it seemed to them, of the necessity for a forcible reformation in the state. The secret societies rapidly spread, especially amongst the highest in rank, the first in patriotic spirit, and the most generous in feel- ing, both in the civil and military service ; a melancholy state of things, when those who should be the guardians of order are leagued together for its overthrow, but the natural result of a state of society such as then existed in 1 Ann. Hist. Russia, whcro the power of the sovereign, entirely despotic, Biog! Univ.' was rested on the blind submission of the vast majority sJhnitder, ^^ ^^^ nation, and a longing for liberal institutions and fekVu°sie, *^® enjoyment of freedom existed only in a very limited i. 90, 91. ' circle of the most highly-educated classes, but was felt there in the utmost intensity,^ _ The desponding feelings of the Czar, occasioned by the discovery that his efforts for the amelioration of his coun- try were only met by secret societies banded together for HISTORY OF EUROPE. 203 his destruction, was much aggravated by the failure of some chap. of his most favourite philanthropic projects. In many of the ^"'' 1823. provinces in which the peasants had received from the sove- reign or their lords the perilous gift of freedom, they had General suffered severely from the change. The newly enfranchised the"em^e- peasants, in many places, regretted the servitude which had anthrople secured to them an asylum in sickness or old age. In the P''''i«'='^' province of Witepsk, where the change had been carried to a great extent, they refused to pay the capitation- tax imposed on them in lieu of their bondage, alleging that they had not the means of doing so ; and besieged the empress-dowager, who was known to adhere to old ideas, with the loudest complaints on the " fatal gift " which they had received. So serious did the disorders become among the new freemen, that they were only appeased by the quartering of a large military force on the disturbed districts. Russia suffered even more than the other countries of Europe, in this and the preceding year, from the depreciation of prices, which fell with un- mitigated severity on the holders of the immense stores of its rude produce. Banks, by order of the emperor, were established in many places to relieve the distresses of the surcharged proprietors, but they did not meet with ^ ^^.^^ general success ; and the advances meant to stimulate in- vi. 319,321; dustry, were too often applied only to feed luxury or ii.^lrs!'^ "' minister to depravity.-^ The external transactions of Russia in regard to the Con- 92 gress of Verona, the Greek revolution, and the Turkish Dreadful war, will be recounted more suitably in the chapters which p'e'tersburg. relate to those important subjects. But there are a few internal events in Russia which deserve notice before the melancholy period when Alexander paid the common debt of mortality. The first of these was the dreadful inundation at St Petersburg, in November 1824. The em- peror had just returned from a visit to Orenburg, and the south-eastern provinces of his empire, to his palace at Tzarskocelo near St Petersburg, when a terrible hurri- 1824. Nov. 19. 204 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, cane arose, which, sweeping over the whole of the Baltic, strewed its shores with wrecks, and inflicted the most frightful devastation on all the harbours with which it is studded. But the catastrophe at the capital was so 1 s„h^;tj;. frightful, that for some hours it was menaced with entire icr, Hist, destruction, and all but accomplished a remarkable pro- Int. 1.85; ' ^ '■ Ann. Hist, phccj, mado to Peter the Great when he commenced 387. ' its construction, that it would one day perish under the! waves of the Baltic.^ ^^ To understand how this happened, it is necessary to Description obtaiu a clear idea of the local circumstances and situation tion o/sr' of St Petersburg. When Peter selected the islands at the Petersburg, j^q^jj^ ^f jjjg j.jygj. Neva, which, descending from the vast expanse of the Lake Ladoga, empties itself in a mighty stream into the Baltic, for the site of his future capital, he was influenced entirely by the suitableness of its situa- tion for a great harbour, of which he severely felt the want, as Archangel, on the frozen shores of the White Sea, was the only port at that period in his dominions. Carried away by this object, which, no doubt, was a very impor- tant one, he entirely overlooked the probable unhealthiness of the situation, where a metropolis rested like Venice on marshy islands, the highest part of which was only elevated a few feet above the branches of the river with which they were surrounded; the extreme cold which must ensue in winter from the close proximity of enor- vii.'386;'^' mous ice-fields,^ and the probability of its being ex- ^ c^nitz er, p^g^^ ^.^ |.jjg gj-gatcst danger from a sudden rising of the waters of the river owing to a high wind of long con- * A curious incident, highly characteristic of Peter, occurred at this time. " When the foundation of his new capital was commencing on the desolate islands of the Neva, which are now covered by the fortress of Cronstadt and the superb palaces of St Petersburg, Peter observed, by accident, a tree marked at a considerable height from the ground. He called a peasant of Finland, who was working near, and asked him ' what the mark was for ?' ' It is the highest level,' replied the peasant, ' which the water reached in the inundation of 1680.' ' You lie ! ' cried the Czar in a fury ; ' what you say is impossible ;' and seizing a hatchet, he with his own hands cut down the tree, hoping thereby to extinguish alike all memory of the former flood, and guard against the re- currence of a similar calamity." — Sohhitzleb, i. 86-86. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 205 tinuance blowing in the waters of the Baltic, and back chap, those which usually flow from the Lake Ladoga. It was this which had previously occurred on more than one ^^^*' occasion, and which now threatened the capital with de- struction. Regardless of these dangers, and of the enormous con- sumption of human life which took place during the build- continued. ing of the city, from the unhealthiness of the situation, which is said to have amounted to a hundred thousand per- sons, the Czar drove on the work with the impetuosity which formed so leading a feature in his character, and at length the basis of a great city was laid amidst the watery waste. On the spongy soil and low swamps, which had previously encumbered the course of the Neva, the modern capital arose. Vast blocks of granite, brought from the adjacent plains of Finland, where they are strewed in huge masses over the surface, faced the quays ; palaces were erected, of more fragile materials, on the surface, within the isles; and the Perspective Newski is perhaps now the most imposing street in Europe, from the beauty of its edifices and the magnitude of its dimensions. The splendid fa9ade of the Admiralty, the Winter Palace of the emperor, the noble Cathedral of St Isaac — the statue of Peter the Great, resting on a single block of granite of 1800 tons weight — the noble pillar of Alexander, formed of a single stone of the same material, the largest in the world, combined in a single square, now overpower the imagination of the be- holder by their magnificence, and the impression they convey of the power of the sovereign by whose energy these maiTcls have been made to spring up amidst the watery wilderness. But the original danger, arising from the lowness of the situation, and its liability to inunda- tions, still continues. Great as it is, the power of the Czar is not so great as that of the Baltic waves. From the main channel, where the Neva majestically flows through superb quays of granite, surmounted by piles of palaces, branch ofi', as from the great canal at Venice, numerous 206 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, smaller streams, forming by their intersection so many "■ isles, some covered with streets, and forming the most 1824. ]824. populous quarters ; others adorned by beautiful villas and public gardens, the recreation of the citizens during their brief but brilliant summer. But these canals open so many entrances for the floods of the Neva or waves of the Baltic to penetrate into every part of the city. None of ' o?='ol'n it is elevated in its foundations more than a few feet above Schnitzier, the Ordinary level of the water, and the spectator shud- 1. 83, 84, ,.11 1 . n 1 n 1 • 85. ders to thmk that the rise of the flood, even m a small degree, may threaten the entire city with destruction.^ This was what in effect happened at this time. On Great Inun- scvcral former occasions the river had been much swollen : sfpSers- once, immediately before the birth of the present emperor, nJv"i9 it was ten feet above its ordinary level. But this was as nothing compared to the terrible inundation which now presaged his death. All the 19th of November the wind blew from the south-west with terrific violence, and brought the Baltic waves in such a prodigious mass to the mouth of the Neva that its waters were made to regorge, and soon the quays were overflowed, and the lower parts of the city began to be submerged. This at first, however, (sxcited very little attention, as such floods were not un- common in the end of autumn; but the alarm soon spread, and terror was depicted in every visage, when it rapidly ascended and spread over the whole town. By half-past ten the water in the Perspective Newski was ten feet deep ; in the highest parts of the city it was five. The Neva had risen four fathoms above its ordinary level, and, worse still, it was continuing to rise. The whole inhabitants crowded to the upper stories of the houses. Despair now seized on every heart; the reality of the danger came home to every mind; the awful scenes of the Deluge were realised in the very centre of modern civilisation. At Cronstadt a ship of the line was lifted up from a dry dock, and floated over the adjacent houses into the great square. At eight in the morning the cannon of alarm began to be discharged. The terrible warning, repeated every minute, so unusual HISTORY OP EUROPE. 207 amidst the ordinary stillness of the capital, proved the chap. terror which was felt by government, and augmented the ^^"' general consternation. Ships torn up from their anchors ; ^^^''" boats filled with trembling fugitives; stacks of corn borne on the surface of the waves from a great distance ; cattle buflFeting with the torrent, intermingled with corpses of persons drowned, or at their last gasp, imploring aid; and immense quantities of furniture, and movables of every description, were floated on to the most intricate and secluded parts of the city. The waters continued to rise till four in the afternoon, and every one imagined that all who could not save themselves in boats would be drowned. The rush was dreadful, accordingly, into every vessel that could be seized on, and numbers perished in striving to get on board. At five in the evening the wind fell, and the water sunk as rapidly as it had risen, and by the next morning the Neva had returned to its former channel. The total loss occasioned by the wind and the inundation i schnitz- was estimated at 100,000,000 rubles (£4,000,000) ; fives?: Ann'. hundred persons perished in the waves, and twice that ^g^'ss"'; number, sick or infirm, were drowned in their houses. ^^peJersf Such had been the violence of the wind and flood, that 2q''|'j''*°''- when the waters subsided they were found to have floated i824. ' from their place cannons weighing two tons and a half.^ At the sight of this terrible calamity, which for a time seemed to bid defiance to the utmost human efforts, the NoUe' Czar in despair stretched forth his hands to Heaven, and the "mperor implored that its anger might fall upon his own head, and *"'* '"'''^*'' spare his people. He did not, however, neglect all human means of mitigating the calamity. Throwing himself into a bark, he visited in person the quarters most threatened, distributed the troops in the way most likely to be ser- viceable, and exposed himself to death repeatedly in order to save his people. AH would have been unavailing, how- ever, and the city totally destroyed, if the wind had not mercifully abated, and the waters of the Neva found their usual vent into the Baltic. Munificent subscriptions fol- lowed the calamity ; the emperor headed the list with 208 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, fifty thousand pounds. The most solid houses were im- ^^"' pregnated with salt, and in a manner ruined ; and a seyere 1824. fj-Qg^ which set in immediately after, before the water had left the houses, augmented the general sufi^ering by filling them with large blocks of ice. Even the most solid granite was exfoliated, and crumbled away before spring, from the efi'ects of the frost on the humid structures. The people regarded this calamity as a judgment of Heaven for not Pss^sf-*"^' ^^''^^S assisted their Christian brethren during their recent Ann.' Hist, aud frightful persecutions from the Turks — the emperor 388. as a punishment tor sins oi which he was more imme- diately concerned in his domestic relations.^ The year 1824 was marked by a ukase ordering a levy Internal of two in five huudrod males over the whole empire — a o/Sf measure which brought 120,000 men to the imperial metfof'the Standards. As this measure was adopted during the con- of Russiln t^st in Greece, and when all thought was turned towards Au^'sT *^® liberation of its inhabitants from the Ottoman yoke, it was obeyed with alacrity, and even enthusiasm. The persons drawn took their departure as for a holy war, amidst the shouts of their relations and neighbours ; and from them, in great part, were formed the redoubtable^ bands which in a few years carried the Russian eagles to Varna, Erivan, and Adrianople. A dangerous revolt in the same year broke out in the province of Novgorod, owing to the peasants having been misled into the' belief that the emperor had given them their freedom, and that it was withheld by their lords, which was only crushed by a great display of military force and consi- derable bloodshed. It was the more alarming, froni its being ascertained that the conspiracy had its roots in the military colonies recently established in the southern pro- vinces. The financial measures adopted in 1820 and 1822, for withdrawing a large part of the assignats from circulation, were continued with vigour and success — a cir- cumstance which, of course, made a progressive rise in the value of money, and fall in that of produce, and added HISTORY OF EUROPE. 209 much to the general distress felt among the class of pro- chap. ducers. Already the ruble was worth 50 per cent more than it had been a few years before. A treaty Was signed '®"^*- on the 27th April between Russia and the United States, which settled the respective limits of their vast possessions in North America : the line of demarcation was fixed at 54° north latitude ; all to the north was Russian, all to the south American ; and the reciprocal right was secured Hist.°inJi! to the inhabitants of both countries, of fishing on each ^^^JiffJ' other's coasts, navigating the Pacific, and disembarking ^^j'^""' on places not occupied, but for the purpose only of trade 389, on. with the inhabitants, or supplies for themselves.^ When, in 1793, the Empress Catherine deemed it ^^ time to select a spouse for her grandson, Alexander, The Em- she cast her eyes on the family of the Grand-duke of ^'Ssia: Baden, who at that time had three daughters, gifted parentage, with all the virtue and graces, and much of the beauty "^''^tfrac- of their sex. They all made splendid alliances. The '«•■• eldest became Queen of Sweden; the youngest, Queen of Bavaria; the second, Empress of Russia. Married on 9th October 1793 to the young Alexander, then onlyoct.9, sixteen years of age, when she was fifteen, she took, according to the Russian custom, the name of Eliza- beth Alexejiona instead of her own, which was Louise- Marie-Auguste, under which she had been baptised. The pair, though too young for the serious duties of their station, charmed every eye by the beauty of their figures, and the affability of their manners. But the union, however ushered in by splendid prognostications, proved unfortunate : it shared the fate of nearly all in every rank which are formed by parental authority, be- fore the disposition has declared itself, the constitution strengthened, or the tastes formed. The young empress was gifted with all the virtues and many of the graces of her sex. Her countenance, though not regular, was lightened by a sweet expression; her hair, which she wore in locks over her shoulders, beautiful : her figure VOL. II. 210 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, was elegant, and her motions so graceful that she seemed ^"^' to realise the visions of the poet, which made the goddess 1824. jgyeal herself by her step.* In disposition she was in the highest degree amiable and exemplary, self-denying, generous, and affectionate. But with all these charms and virtues she wanted the one thing needful for a man of a thoughtful and superior turn of mind : she was not a companion. She had little conversation, few ideas, i. 96^97^' and none of that elasticity of mind which is necessary souvenira for the charm of conversational intercourse. Hence even deVero?e' ^^^ carliest years of their marriage were productive of teabmnd"*^ HO ksting tics ; they seldom met, save in public; and the congresde death of their two only children, both of whom were Vcronfi I •/ . 207. ' ' daughters, deprived them of the enduring bond of parental love.i No one need be told that conjugal fidelity is of all others the virtue most difficult to practise on the throne, and that it is never so much so as to sovereigns of the most energetic and powerful minds. Ardent in one thing, they are not less so in another : of few, from Julius Caesar to Henry IV., can it be said that they are, like Charles XII., " Unconquered lords of pleasure and of pain." ^^ Alexander was not a sensualist, and he had not the Amours of passion for meritricious variety, which so often in high rank has disgraced the most illustrious characters. But his mind was ardent, his heart tender, and he had the highest enjoyment in the confidential 4panchements which> rarely felt by any save with those of the opposite sex, can never be so but with them — by sovereigns whose elevation keeps all of their own at a distance. Before many years of his married life had passed, Alexander had yielded to these dispositions; and the knowledge of his infidelities completed the estrangement of the illus- trious couple. " Out of these infidelities arose," says • " Et vera inoeasu patuit Dea." — Virgh. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 211 M. de Chateaubriand, " a fidelity whicli continued eleven chap. . VIII years." Alexander, however, suffered in his turn by a righteous retribution the pangs of jealousy. The object ^^^*" of his attachment (a married Polish lady of rank) had all the beauty, fascination, and conversational talent which have rendered her countrywomen so celebrated over Europe, and to which even the intellectual breast of Napoleon did homage; but she had also the spirit of coquetry and thirst for admiration which has so often turned the passions they have awakened into a con- suming flre. Unfaithful to duty, she had proved equally so to love : the influence of the emperor was, after a long constancy, superseded by a new attachment; and the liaison between them was already broken, when a domestic calamity overwhelmed him with affliction. Mean- while the empress, who had left Russia, and sought solace in foreign travelling, mourned in silence and dignified retirement the infidelity of her husband — the blasting of her hopes. Yet even then, under a calm and serene air, and the cares of a life entirely devoted to deeds of bene- ischnitzier, ficence, was concealed a heart wasted by sorrow, butj^^^^^^s faithful to its first attachment. " How often," says the congres'de • 1 • 1 • 1 Verone, i. annalist, " was she surprised m tears, contemplating the 207. portrait of that Alexander, so lovable, yet so faithless ! "^ From this irregular connection had sprung three chil- dren, two of which had died in infancy. But the third. Death k Mademoiselle N., a child gifted with all the graces and natural charms of her mother, though in delicate health, still ^""^ ^^' lived, and had become the object of the most passionate affection to her father. It became necessary to send her to Paris, for the benefit of a milder climate and the best medical advice ; and during her absence, the emperor, a solitary hermit in his palace, but thirsting for the enjoy- ments of domestic life, sought a temporary respite to his anxiety in frequenting the houses of some highly respect- able famines in middle life, for the most part Germans, to whom his rank was known, but where he insisted upon 212 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, being treated as an ordinary guest. There he often VIII JO expressed his envy at the happiness which reigned in ^*^** those domestic circles, and sighed to think that the Emperor of all the Russias was compelled to seek, at the hearth of others, that felicity which his grandeur or his faults had denied him at his own. But the hand of fate was upon him ; he was to be pierced, to the heart through the fruit of his own irregularities. His daughter, who was now seventeen, had returned from France, apparently restored to health, and in all the bloom of youth and beauty. She was erfgaged to be married, with the entire consent of her father : the magnificent trousseau was ordered at Paris, but when it arrived at St Peters- burg she was no more. So sudden was the death of the ischnitzier, youug fiaucee, that it occurred when the emperor was Madii'e. ' out at a Tovlew of his guards. An aide-de-camp, with a GouffiCT, melancholy expression, approached, and requested leave ™rAie^-^*'to speak to him in private. At the first words he chttoauK ' ^i^™ed the whole : a mortal paleness overspread his vSt\^* visage, and, turning up his eyes to heaven, he struck his 207. ' ' forehead and exclaimed, " I receive the punishment of my sins ! " ^ j^j These words were not only descriptive of the change Reconciiia- in thc emperor's mind in the latter years of his life, but tionofthe , iii . , •!• emperorand tuoy presagcQ, and truly, an important change in his empress, (jomestic rclations, which shed a ray of happiness over his last moments. His mind, naturally inclined to deep and mystical religious emotions, had been much afifected by the dreadful scenes which he had witnessed at the inundation of St Petersburg, and this domestic bereave- ment completed the impression that he was suffering, by the justice of Heaven, the penalty of his transgressions. Under the influence of these feelings, he returned to his original dispositions ; and that mysterious change took place in his mind, which so often, on the verge of the grave, brings us back to the impressions of our youth.. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 213 He again sought the society of the empress, who had re- chap. turned to St Petersburg, was attentive to her smallest wishes, and sought to eflFace the recollection of former ^^^^' neglect by every kindness which affection could suggest. The change was not lost upon that noble princess, who still nourished in her inmost heart her first attachment ; and the reconciliation was rendered complete by the generous tears which, in sympathy with her husband's sorrow, she shed over the bier of her rival's daughter. But she, too, was in an alarming state of health ; long years of anxiety and suffering had weakened her constitution, and the physicians recommended a change, and return to her native air. But the empress declared that the sovereign must not die elsewhere but in her own dominions, and she refused to leave Russia. They upon this proposed the Crimea ; but Alexander gave the preference of Tagan'EOQ. The emperor fixed his departure for the 13th September 1825, some days before that of the empress, in order to prepare everything for her reception. Though his own health was broken, as he had not recovered from an i Madiie. attack of erysipelas, he resolved upon running the risk ^^^^} of the journey ; an expedition of some thousand miles 384, 386'; had no terrors for one the half of whose life was spent i. io5. in travelling.^ Sincerely religious to the extent even of being super- stitious, the emperor had a presentiment that this jour- Solemn ser- ney was to be his last, and that he was about to ex- cathedral of pire beside the empress, amidst the flowery meads and de°KLan?° balmy air of the south. Impressed with this idea, he had ®°p'' ^^* fixed his departure for the 1st September (old style, 13th), the day after a solemn service had been celebrated in the cathedral of Kazan, on the translation of the bones of the great Prince Alexander Newski from the place of his sepulture at Vladimir to that holy fane on the banks of the Neva. On every departure for a long journey, the emperor had been in the habit of repairing to its altar to 214 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP, pray ; but on this occasion he directed the metropolitan ^^"' . bishop in secret to have the service /or the dead chaunted 1825. |-Qj. j^-jjj -when he returned on the following morning at four o'clock. He arrived there, accordingly, next day at that early hour, when it was still dark, and was met by the priests in full costume as for the burial service, the service of which was chaunted as he ap- proached. He drove up to the cathedral by the mag- nificent street of Perspective Newski in a simple caliche drawn by three horses abreast, without a single servant, and reached the gate as the first streaks of light were beginning to appear in the eastern sky. Wrapped in his military cloak, without his sword, and bareheaded, the emperor alighted, kissed the cross which the arch- bishop presented to him, and entered the cathedral alone, the gates of which were immediately closed after him. The prayer appointed for travellers was then chaunted ; the Czar knelt at the gate of the rail which surrounded the altar, and received the benediction of the prelate, who placed the sacred volume on his head, and, receiving with pious care a consecrated cross and some relic of the DCTnters ^^^'^^ ^^ ^^^ bosom, he again kissed the emblem of salva- d'Aiex *^°°' " ^'^i^^ gi^^s lif'^'" * ^'^^ departed alone and unat- andre, 54, tondcd, savo by the priests, who continued to sing till he i. 105° m'. was beyond the gates of the cathedral the chaunt, " God save thy People." ^ The archbishop, called in the Greek Church " the Hisdepar- Seraphim," requested the emperor, while his travelling thrcath" carriage was drawing up, to honour his cell with a visit, ^''*'- which he at once agreed to do. Arrived at this re- treat, the conversation turned on the Schimnik, an order of peculiarly austere monks, who had their cells in the vicinity. The emperor expressed a wish to see one of them, and immediately the archbishop accompanied him to their chief The emperor there found only a * A term consecrated in the Russian Church. small apartment furnished with deal boards, covered pH^/"- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 215 t furnished with deal boards, covered with black cloth, and hung with the same funeral garb, " I see no bed," said the emperor. " Here it is," said the monk, and, drawing aside a curtain, revealed an alcove, in which was a coffin covered with black cloth, and surrounded with all the lugubrious habiliments of the dead. " This," he added, " is my bed ; it will ere long be yours, and that of all, for their long sleep." The em- peror was silent, and mused long. Then suddenly start- ing from his reverie, as if recalled to the affairs of this world, he bade them all adieu with the words, " Pray for me and for my wife." He ascended his open caliche, the horses of which bore him towards the south with their accustomed rapidity, and was soon out of sight ; but he g^.®^jf^fj"' was still uncovered when the carriage disappeared in the i. uo, m. obscure grey of the morning.^ Alexander made the journey in twelve days ; and as the distance was above fifteen hundred miles, and he was His amvai obliged to stop at many places, he must have gone from * "^^ a hundred and fifty to two hundred miles a-day. He was fully impressed with the idea of his approaching death the whole way, and often asked the coachman "if he had seen the wandering star 1 " " Yes, your majesty," he replied. " Do you know what it presages 1 Misfor- tune and death : but God's will be done." Arrived at Taganrog, he devoted several days to preparing every- thing for the empress, which he did with the utmost soli- citude and care. She arrived ten days after, and they remained together for some weeks, walking and driving out in the forenoon, and conversing alone in the evening with the utmost aflfection, more like newly-married per- sons than those who had so long been severed. The cares of empire, however, ere long tore the emperor from this charming retreat ; and on the urgent entreaty of Count Woronzoff, governor of the Crimea, he undertook a journey in that province. He set out on the 1st Novem- 216 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, ber ; and during seventeen days that the expedition lasted, '— alternately admired the romantic mountain scenery and NovT" I'^^^tif"! sea views, rivalling those of the Corniche between Nice and Genoa, which the route presented. At Ghirai, Nov. 10. however, on the 10th, after dinner, when conversing with Sir James Wylie, his long-tried and faithful medical attendant, on his anxiety about the empress, who had just heard of the death of the King of Bavaria, her brother-in-law, he mentioned, as if accidentally, that he felt his stomach deranged, and that for several nights his sleep had been disturbed. Sir James felt his pulse, which indicated fever, and earnestly counselled the adoption of immediate remedies. • " I have no need of you," replied the emperor, smiling, " nor of your Latin pharmacopoeia iSchnitzier, — I kuow how to treat myself. Besides, my trust is in Am^iifst.' Grod, and in the strength of my constitution." Notwith- 374- ^sfr standing all that could be said, he persisted in his refusal w"iie 37 ^^ *^^® medicine, and even continued his journey, and 41. ' ' exposed himself to his wonted fatigue on horseback when returning along the pestilential shores of the Putrid Sea.^ jQg He returned to Taganrog on the 1 7th, being the exact His last ill- day fixed for that event before his departure ; but already Nov^ 17. shivering fits, succeeded by cold ones, the well-known symptoms of intermittent fever, had shown themselves. The empress, with whom he shared every instant that could be spared from the cares of empire, showed him the most unremitting attention, and by the earnest entreaties of his physician he was at length prevailed on to take some of the usual remedies prescribed for such cases, For a brief space they had the desired effect ; and the advices sent to St Petersburg of the august patient's a Wylie, convalcsceuce threw the people, who had been seriously iflst tiii!°' alarmed by the accounts of his illness, into a delirium of Ichnf/ier, PJ- ^"* ^^'^^^ ^°P^s provcd fallacious. On the 25th i. 132, 131 the symptoms suddenly became more threatening.^ Ex- treme weakness confined him to his couch, and alarming HISTORY OF EUROPE. 217 despatches from General Diebitch and Count Woronzoif chap. ^ 7111. 1825. 106. augmented his anxiety, by revealing the existence and magnitude of the vast conspiracy in the army, which had for its object to deprive him of his throne and life. " My friend," said he to Sir James Wylie, " what a frightful design ! The monsters — the ungrateful ! when I had no thought but for their happiness." * The symptoms now daily became more alarming, and the fever assumed the form of the bilious or gastric, as it And death. ° Nov. 26. is now Called, and at last showed the worst features of the typhus. His physicians then, despairing of his life, got Prince Volkonsky to suggest the last duties of a Christian. " They have spoken to me, Wylie," said the emperor, " of the communion ; has it really come to that 1 " " Yes;" said that faithful counsellor, with tears in his eyes ; " I speak to you no longer as a physician, but as a friend. Your Majesty has not a moment to lose." Next day the emperor confessed, and with the empress, who never for an instant, day or night, left his bedside, received the last communion. " Forget the emperor," said he to the confessor ; " speak to me simply as a dying Christian." After this lie became perfectly docile. " Never," said he to the empress, " have I felt such a glow of inward satisfaction as at this moment ; I thank you from the bottom of my heart." The symptoms of erisy- pelas in his leg now returned. " I will die," said he, " like my sister," alluding to the Grand-duchess of Olden- burg, who had refused Napoleon at Erfurth, and after- * " he monarque dit un jour k M. Wylie, ' Laissez-moi, je sais moi-meme ce qu'il me faut : du repos, de la solitude, de la tranquillity.' XJn autre jour, il lui dit ; ' Men ami, ce sont mes nerfs qu'U faut soigner ; ils sent dans un dfeordre 4pouvantable.' ' C'est un mal,' lui r^pliqua Wylie, ' dont les roia scut plus souvent atteints que les particuliers.' ' Surtout dans les temps aetuels,' rgpliqua vivement Alexandre ! ' Ah ! j'ai bien sujet d'etre raalade.' Enfin, 4tant en apparence sans auoune fi^vre, I'Empereur se tourna brusque- ment vers le docteur, qui Stait seul pr&ent. ' Men ami/ s'ecria-t-il, ' quelles actions, quelles gpouvantables actions : ' et il fixa sur le m^decin un regard terrible et incomprehensible." — Annnaire Mistorique, viii. 37, note. CHAP. VIII. 218 HISTORY OP EUROPE. wards died of that complaint. He then fell into a deep sleep, and wakened when it was near mid-day, and the 1826. gmj ^as shining brightly. Causing the windows to be opened, he said, looking at the blue vault, "What a beautiful day ! " * and feeling the arms of the empress around him, he said tenderly, pressing her hand, " My love, you must be very fatigued." These were his last words. He soon after fell into a lethargic sleep, which lasted several hours, from which he only wakened a few Dec. 1. minutes before he breathed his last. The power of speech was gone ; but he made a sign to the empress" to approach, and imprinted a last and fervent kiss on her ,„!..,, hand. The rattle was soon heard in his throat. She iScnnitzler, i i • i i. 134,136; closed his eyes a few minutes after, and, placing the cross 82J Ann. ' on his bosom, embraced his lifeless remains for the last s/l'sFsI' time. " Lord ! " said she, " pardon my sins ; it has pleased thy omnipotent power to take him from me." ^ t The body of the emperor, after being embalmed, was Andfune- brought to the Church of St Alexander Newski at Tag- ""*'■ anrog, where it remained for some days in a chapelle ardente, surrounded by his mourning subjects, and was thence transferred, accompanied by a splendid cortege of cavalry, Cossacks, and artillery, after a long interval, to the cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, in the citadel of St Petersburg, where his ancestors were laid. The long journey occupied several weeks, and every night, when his remains were deposited in the church of the place * " Light — more light ! " the well-known last words of Goethe, as noticed by Bulwer in his beautiful romance, " My Novel." Those who have witnessed the last moments of the dying, know how often a request for, or expressions of satisfaction for light, are among their last words. ■I" The empress addressed the following beautiftd letter to her mother-in- law on this sad bereavement : " Maman, votre ange est au ciel, et moi, je vggdte encore sur la terre. Qui aurait pens^ que moi, faible malade, je pour- rais lui survivre? Maman, ne m'abandonnez pas, car je suis absolument seule dans ce monde de douleurs. Notre cher dfifunt a repris son air de bienveil- lance, son sourire me prouve qu'il est heureux, et qu'il voit des choses plus belles qu' ici-bas. Ma seule consolation dans cette perte irreparable est, que je ne lui survivrai pas ; j'ai I'esp^rance de m'unir bientdt k lui." — L'lMPfiBA- TRiOE d, Mabie Foedobovna, 2 Dgo., 1825. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 219 ' where the procession rested, crowds of people, from chap. a great distance around, flocked to the spot to kneel '— down, and kiss the bier where their beloved Czar was ^^^' laid. The body reached St Petersburg on the 10th of March, but the interment, which was conducted with ex- traordinary magnificence in the cathedral, did not take place till the 25th. The Grand-duke Nicholas (now become emperor), with all the imperial family, was present on the occasion, and a splendid assembly of the nobility of Russia and diplomacy of Europe. There was not a heart which was not moved, scarce an eye that was not moistened with tears. The old grenadiers, his comrades in the campaigns in Germany and France, and who bore the weight of the coffin when taken to i Gazette do the grave, wept like children ; and he was followed to f„rg,^Mar'ch his last home by his faithful servant Ilya, who had l^j^^.®!^^^. driven the car from Taganrog, a distance of fifteen hun- ii. 235,244; dred miles, and who stood m tears at the side 01 the «. 337, 338. bier, as his beloved master was laid in the tomb.^ The Empress Elizabeth did not long survive the hus- band who, despite all her sorrows, had ever reigned Death and supreme in her heart. The feeble state of her health the empress, did not permit of her accompanying his funeral proces- ***^ " sion to St Petersburg, which she was passionately desir- ous to have done ; and it was not till the 8th May that she was able to leave Taganrog on her way to the capital. The entire population of the town, by whom she was extremely beloved, accompanied her for a con- siderable distance on the road. Her weakness, however, increased rapidly as she continued her journey ; grief for the loss of her husband, along with the sudden cessation of the anxiety for his life, and the want of any other object in existence, proved fatal to a constitution already weakened by long years of mourning and severance. She with difficulty reached Belef, a small town in the govern- ment of Toule, where she breathed her last, serene and tranquil, on the 16th May. Her remains were brought M»y le. 220 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, to St Petersburg, where she was carried to the cathedral "■ on the same car which had conveyed her husband, and ^^^®' laid beside him on the 3d July. Thus terminated a mar- riage, celebrated thirty years before with every prospect of. earthly felicity, and every splendour which the most exalted rank could confer. " I have seen," said a Rus- sian poet, " that couple, he beautiful as Hope, she ravish- ing as Felicity. It seems only a day since Catherine isohnitzier placcd ou their youthful heads the nuptial crown of roses : ii. 263, 266) goon the diadems were mingled with thorns; and too Ann. Hist. ° ix. 341,342. soon, alas ! the angel of death environed their pale fore- heads with poppies, the emblem of eternal sleep." ^ jgg Had Alexander died shortly after the first capture of Hischarac- Paris in 1814, he would have left a name unique in the history of the world, for seldom had so great a part been so nobly played on such a theatre. It is hard to say whether his fortitude in adversity, his resolution in dan- ger, or his clemency in victory, were then most admirable. For the first time in the annals of mankind, the subhme principles of the forgiveness of injuries were brought into the government of nations in the moment of their highest excitement, and mercy in the hour of triumph restrained the uplifted hand of justice. To the end of the world the flames of Moscow will be associated with the forgive- ness of Paris, But time has taken much from the halo which then environed his name, and revealed weaknesses in his character well known to his personal friends, but the existence of which the splendour of his former career had hardly permitted to be suspected. He had many veins of magnanimity in his character, but he was not a thoroughly great man. He was so, like a woman, by impulse and sentiment, rather than principle and habit. Chateaubriand said, " II avait I'^me forte, mais le carac- t^re foible." He wanted the constancy of purpose and perseverance of conduct which is the distinguishing and highest mark of the masculine character. Warm-hearted, benevolent, and affectionate, he was HISTORY OP EUROPE, 221 without the steadiness which springs from internal con- chap. viction, and the consistency which arises from the feelings ^"^' being permanently guided by the conscience and ruled by ^^^®* the reason. He was sincerely desirous of promoting the Hisfaulngs. happiness of his subjects, and deeply impressed with a sense of duty in that respect ; but his projects of amelio- ration were not based upon practical information, and con- sequently, in great part, failed in effect. They savoured more of the philanthropic dreams of his Swiss preceptor La Harpe than either the manners, customs, or character of his own people. At times he was magnanimous and heroic, when circumstances called forth these elevated qua- lities; but at others he was flexible and weak, when he fell under influences of a less creditable description. Essen- tially religious in his disposition, he sometimes sank into the dreams of superstition. The antagonist of Napo- leon at one time came to share the reveries of Madame Krudener at another. Affectionate in private life, he yet broke the heart of his empress, who showed by her noble conduct on his deathbed how entirely she was worthy of his regard. His character affords a memorable example of the truth so often enforced by moralists, so generally forgot in the world, that it is in the ruling power of the mind, rather than the impulses by which it is influenced, that the dis- tinguishing mark of character is to be looked for ; and that no amount of generosity of disposition can compensate for the want of the firmness which is to control it. The death of Alexander was succeeded by events in . Ill Russia of the very highest importance, and which revealed state of the the depth of the abyss on the edge of which the despotic toThe^'"" sovereigns of Europe slumbered in fancied security. It *''™°''" occasioned, at the same time, a contest of generosity be- tween the two brothers of Alexander, Constantine and Nicholas, unexampled in history, and which resembles rather the fabled magnanimity with which the poets ex- tricate the difficulties of a drama on the opera stage, than anything which occurs in real life. By a ukase of 222 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, 5/1 6th April 1797, the Emperor Paul had abolished the ^^ ■ right of choosing a successor out of the imperial family, 1826. which Peter the Great had assumed, and established 17^97. ' for ever the succession to the crown in the usual order, the males succeeding before the females, and the elder in both before the younger. This settlement had been formally sanctioned by the Emperor Alexander on two Ukase, solcmn occasious, and it constituted the acknowledged faii^kd ^^^ settled law of the empire. As the late emperor f-^^^^ '' had only two daughters, both of whom died in infancy, the undoubted heir to the throne, when he died, was the Grand-duke Constantine, then at Warsaw, at the head of the government of Poland. On the other hand, the Grand-duke Nicholas, the next younger brother, was at St Petersburg, where he was high in command, and much beloYed by the guards in military possession of the capital. In these circumstances, if a contest was to be apprehended, it was between the younger brother on the spot endeavouring to supplant the elder at a distance. Nevertheless it was just the reverse. There was a con- i. 141, 149.' test, but it was between the two brothers, each endea- vouring to devolve the empire upon the other. ^ Intelligence of the progress of the malady of Alexander constaitine was communicatcd to Constantine at Warsaw, as regularly throue. ° as to the empress-mother at St Petersburg; and it was '^°°' ''' universally supposed that, as a matter of course, upon the demise of the Czar, to whom he was only eighteen months younger, he would succeed to the throne. The accounts of the death of the reigning sovereign reached Warsaw on the 7th December, where both Constantine and his youngest brother, the Grand-duke Michael, were at the time. The former was immediately considered as em- peror by the troops, and all the ministers and persons in attendance in the palace, though he shut himself up in his apartment for two days on receiving the melan- choly intelligence. But to the astonishment of every one, instead of assuming the title and functions of empire, he HISTORY OP EUROPE. 223 absolutely forbade them ; declared that he had resigned chap. his right of succession in favour of his younger brother ^"^' Nicholas ; that this had been done with the full know- ^^^®' ledge and consent of the late emperor; and that Nicholas "was now emperor. And in effect, on the day following, the Grand-duke Michael set out for St Petersburg, bear- ing holograph letters from Constantino to the empress- i^nn. Hist, mother and his brother Nicholas, ia which, after referring g^^-t^^^^ to a former act of renunciation in 1822, deposited in the k^^"t' 'j'' archives of the empire, and which had received the sane- st Peters- tion of the late emperor, he again, in the most solemn iSf 150.' manner, repeated his renunciation of the throne. ^ * To understand how this came about, it is necessary to premise that the Grand-duke Constantine, like his brother Howthis Alexander, had been married, at the early age of six- °™^ " °" ' teen, by the orders of the Empress Catherine, to the Princess Julienne of Saxe-Coburg, a house which has since been illustrated by so many distinguished marriages into the royal families of Europe. The marriage, from the very first, proved unfortunate ; the savage manners of the Grand-duke proved insupportable to the princess ; they had no family ; and at the end of four years they * The letter to the empress-mother was in these words : " Habitufi d6s mon enfance, S. accomplir religieusement la Tolont6, tant de feu mon p6re que du ddfunt empereur, ainsi que celle de V. M. I. ; et me reufermant mainte- nant encore dans les homes de ee principe, je considSre comme une obligation, de c4der mon droit h la puissance, conformgmeut aux dispositions de I'acte de I'empire sur I'ordre de succession dans la famille imperiale, i S. A. I. le Grand- due Nicolas et a ses h&itiers. " In the letter, of the same date, to the Grand- duke Nicholas, Constantine thus expressed himself : " Je regarde comme un devoir sacr6, de prier tr6s-humblement V. M. I. qu'elle daigne accepter de moi, tout le premier, mon serment de sujkion, et de fdUite; et de me permettre de lui exposer que, n'filevant mes yeux a aucune dignitg nouvelle, ni a, aucun titre nouveau, je desire de conserver seulement celui de C&arowitch, dont j'ai et6 honors pour mes services, par feu notre pSre. Mon unique bonheur sera toujours que V. M. I. daigne agreer les sentiments de ma plus profonde v6n6ration, et de mon dSvouement sans homes; sentiments dont j'offre comme gage, plus de trente annfies d'un service fidMe, et du z61e le plus pur qui m'anime envers L. L. M. les empereurs mon p6re et mon frSre de glorieuse memoire. C'est avec les mSmes sentiments que je ne cesserai jusqu' 6, la .fin de mes jours de servir V. M. I., et ses descendants dans mes Junctions et ma place aetuelle." — doNSTANTiN A V ImpiratHce Mabie et an 6rand-duc Nicolas, 8th December 1825. ScHHiTZLEE, Hist. Int. de la Russie, i. 190-191. 1826, ^Schnitzler, 224 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, separated by mutual consent, and the Grand-duchess returned, with a suitable pension, to her father in Ger- many. The Grand-duke was occupied for twenty years after with war, interspersed with temporary liaisons; but at length, in 1820, when he was Viceroy of Poland, his inconstant affections were fixed by a Polish lady of uncommon beauty and fascination. She was Jeanne Grudzinska, daughter of a count and landed proprietor at Pistolaf, in the district of Bromberg. So ardent was the passion of Constantine for the Polish beauty, that he April 1, obtained a divorce from his first wife on 1st April 1820, and immediately espoused, though with the left hand, the object of his present passion, upon whom he bestowed the title of Princess of Lowicz, after a lordship in Masovia which he gave to her brother, and which had formerly . 136, 137? formed part of the military appanage bestowed by NapO' leon upon Marshal Daroust.^ jj^ The marriage of Constantine, however, was with the Constan- left hand, or a morganatic one only ; the effect of which viousreaun- was, that, though legal in all other respects, the sons of hisiightof the marriage were not grand-dukes, and could not suc- succession. ^^^ ^^ jj^g throuc J uor did the princess by her marriage become a grand-duchess. But in addition to this, Con- stantine had come under a solemn engagement, though verbal, and on his honour as a prince only, to renounce his right of succession to the crown in favour of his brother Nicholas ; and it was on this condition only that the con- sent of the emperor had been given to his divorce. In pursuance of this engagement he had, on the 14/2 6th Jan^26, Jauuary 1822, left with his brother, the Emperor Alex- ander, a solemn renunciation of his right of succes- sion, which had been accepted by the emperor by as solemn a writing, and a recognition of Nicholas as heir to the throne. The whole three documents had been depo- JSchnitzier, ^^''^^ ^^ ^™ '° * packct scalcd with the imperial arms, i. 162, 163.' endorsed, " Not to be'opened till immediately after my death, before proceeding to any other act,"^ with Prince HISTORY OF EUROPE. 225 Pierre Vassiluvitch Lapoukhine, President of the Im- chap. perial Council.* ^^"' . Tlie intelligence of the death of Alexander arrived at ^^^^" St Petersburg on the 9th December, in the morning, at Nicholas re- the very time when the imperial family were returning c™™, Li thanks, in the chapel of the palace, to Heaven for his sup- ^jo^Sn-^ posed recovery, which the despatches of the preceding q°^- 9 day had led them to hope for. The first thing done was, in terms of the injunction of Alexander, to open the sealed packet containing Constantine's resignation. As soon as it was opened and read, the Council declared Nicholas emperor, and invited him to attend to receive their homage. But here an unexpected difficulty pre- sented itself Nicholas positively refused to accept the throne. " I am not emperor," said he, " and will not be so at my brother's expense. If, maintaining his renunciation, the Grand-duke Constantino persists in the sacrifice of his rights, but in that case only, will I exercise my right to the throne." The Council remained firm, and entreated him to accept their homage ; but Nicholas positively refused, alleging, in addition, that as Constantine's renunciation had not been published or acted upon during the lifetime of the late emperor, it had * " Ne reoonnaissant en moi, ni le g^nie, ni les talents, ni la force nficessaire pour 6tre jamais gleve k la dignity souveraine, h laquelle je pourrais avoir droit par ma naissance, je supplie V. M. I. de transferer ce droit k celui S, qui il appartient aprSs moi, et d'asBurer ainsi pour toujours la stability de I'empire. Quant ^ moi, j'ajouterai par cette renonciation, une nouvelle garautie et une nouvelle force t I'engagement que j'ai spontan6ment et solenneUement contracte, eb I'occasion de mon divorce aveo ma premiere Spouse. Toutes les cir- constances de ma situation actueUe, me portent de plus en plus ^ cette mesure, qui prouvera ^ I'empire et au monde entier la sincerity de mes sentiments. Daignez, sire, agrger avec bontema pridre, daignez contribuer ^ ce que notre auguste m6re veuille y adhgrer; et sanctionnez-la de votre assurance imp^riale. Dans la spbdre de la vie priv^e, je m'efforcerai toujours de servir d'exemple El vos fiddles sujets; 4 fous ceux qu' anime I'amour de notre chdre Patrie." — CoNSTANTiN d I'Empereur, St. P4tersbov/rg, 14/26 Jan. 1822. The accept- ance of the emperor of this renunciation was simple and unqualified, and dated 2/1 4th Feb. 1822. The emperor added a manifesto in the following terms, declaring Nicholas his heir : " L'acte spontanS par lequel notre frdre putng, le C&arowitch et Grand-due Constantin, renonce 3, son droit sur le trdue de toutes les Eussies, est, et demeurera, fixe et invariable. Ledit Acte VOL. II. P 226 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, not acquired the force of a law, and that he was conse- ^^"' quently emperor, and if he meant to renounce, must do so ^^2^- afresh, when in the full possession of his rights. The Council still contested the point ; but finding the Grand- duke immovable, they submitted with the words, " You are our emperor ; we owe you an absolute obedience : since, then, you command us to recognise the Grand-duke Constantino as our legitimate sovereign, we have no alter- native but to obey your commands." They accordingly declared Constantine emperor. Their example deter- mined the Senate ; and the guards, being drawn up on the place in front of the Winter Palace, took the usual oath to the Cesarowitch as the new emperor. The ix. 381 ! ■ motives which determined Nicholas to take this step i.'i68,''i69'. were afterwards stated in a noble proclamation on his own accession to the throne.^* Matters were in this state, the Grand-duke Constan- Contest of tiuc being proclaimed emperor, and recognised by all between'^ the authorities at St Petersburg, when the Grand-duke tws^Tnd Michael arrived there, with the fresh renunciation by the mran'ti''the foi'"^^'* of his Hghts, after the death of the late sovereign throne. Jiad bccu kuowu to him. Nothing could be more clear Dec. 24. , . . , , . . . 1 , . and explicit than that renunciation, concerning the vali- de Eenonciation sera, pour que la notori^tS en soit assurfe, conserve ^ la Grande Cathgdrale de I'Assomption S, Moscow, et dans les trois hautes administrations de notre Empire, au Saint Synode, au Conseil de I'Empire, et au Sgnat Diri- geant. En consequence de ces dispositions, et conformfiment h, la striote teneur de I'aote sur la succession au trdne, est reconnu pour notre hgritier, notre second frfire le Grand-duo Nicolas. Alexandre." — Journal de St Peters- lourg, No. 160. Sohniizlee, i. 163, 164. * " Nous n'e^mes ni le dfisir, ni le droit, de considfirer comme irrevocable cette renonciation, qui n'avait point 6t6 publiSe lorsqu'elle eut lieu; et qui n'avait point et6 convertie en loi. Nous voulions ainsi manifester notre respect pour la premiere loi fondamentale de notre Patrie, sur I'ordre in- variable de la succession au tr6ne. Nous cherchions uniquement k garantir de la moindre atteinte la loi qui rigle la succession au Tr6ne, it placer dans tout son jour la loyautfi de uos intentions, et de preserver notre chSre Patrie, in6me d'un moment d'incertitude, sur la personne de son legitime souverain. Cette determination, prise dans la puretS de notre conscience devant le Dieu qui lit au fond des coeurs, fut b^nie par S. M. I'lmpgratrice Marie, notre" mfire bien-aim fie." — Proclamation, 25 Deo. 182S; Jownal de St Peterahowg, No. 160. Sohnitzlee, i. 169, 170. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 227 dity of "which no doubt could now be entertained. Never- chap. theless Nicholas persisted in his generous refusal of the throne, and, after a few hours' repose, despatched the '^^^' Grand-duke Michael back to Warsaw, with the intelli- gence that Constantine had already been proclaimed em- peror. He met, however, at Dorpat, in Livonia, a courier with the answer of Constantine, after he had received the despatches from St Petersburg, again positively declining the empire, in a letter addressed " To his Majesty the Emperor." Nicholas, however, still refused the empire, and again besought his brother to accept it. The inter- regnum continued three weeks, during which the two brothers — a thing unheard of — were mutually declining i Ann. Hist, and urging the empire on the other ! At length, on 24th pi'^cesHis- December, Nicholas, being fully persuaded of the sin- sSSLr, cerity and legality of his brother's resignation, yielded Ne\!eirodt' to what appeared the will of Providence, mounted the^"^P"'«- ■*• *■ sancos throne of his fathers, and notified his accession to all the Etrangereg, sovereigns of Europe, by whom he was immediately re- 1825. cognised.^ But while everything seemed to smile on the young emperor, and he was, in appearance, receiving the reward Account of of his disinterested and generous conduct, in being seated, racy™gamst by general consent, on the greatest throne in the world, '""" the earth was trembling beneath his feet, and a conspi- racy was on the point of bursting forth, which ere long involved Russia in the most imminent danger, and had well-nigh terminated, at its very commencement, his event- ful reign. From the documents on this subject which have since been published by the Russian Government, it ap- pears that, ever since 1817, secret societies, framed on the model of those of Germany, had existed in Russia, the object of which was to subvert the existing government, and establish in its stead representative institutions and a constitutional monarchy. They received a vast additional impulse upon the return of the Army of Occupation from France, in the close of 1818, where the officers, having '228 "HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, been living in intimacy, during three years, with the Eng- ^^"' lish and German officers, and familiar with the liberal press ^''^^- of both countries, as well as of Paris, had become deeply imbued with republican ideas, and enthusiastic admirers of the popular feelings by which they were nourished, and of the establishments in which they seemed to end. The conspiracy was the more dangerous that it was conducted with the most profound secresy, embraced a J number of the highest nobles in the land, as well as de la Cora- military oflScers, and had its ramifications in all the con- Squete, siderablc armies, and even in the guards at the capital. ?825;^A^n. So strougly was the danger felt by the older officers of Ts'^sb'taa- ^^^ empire, who were attached to the old regime, that f tod''^-^''' ^^^ °^ them said, on the return of the troops from France, 7, 14.' " Rather than let these men re-enter Russia, I would, were I emperor, throw them into the Baltic."^ jjg The conspiracy was divided into two branches, each of Details' on which formed a separate society, but closely connected racy!°°'^'' by correspoudence. The directing committee of both had its seat at St Petersburg, and at its head was Prince Troubetzkoi — a nobleman of distinguished rank, but more ardour than firmness of character, who was high in the em- peror's confidence — Ryleif, Prince Obolonsky, and some other officers in the garrison, besides sixty officers in the guards. The second society, which was much more numer- ous, and embraced a great number of colonels of regiments, had its chief ramifications in the army of the south on the Turkish frontier, then under the command of Count Witt- genstein. At the head of this society were Captain Nikita Mouravieff, Colonel Pestel, and Alexander Mouravieff, whose names have acquired a melancholy celebrity from the tragedy in which their effiarts terminated. These men were all animated with a sincere love of their coun- try, and were endowed with the most heroic courage. Under these noble qualities, however, were concealed, as is always the case in such conspiracies, an inordinate thirst for elevation and individual ambition, and an entire HISTORY OP EUROPE. 229 ignorance of the circumstances essential to the success of chap, VIII. any enterprise, having for its object the establishment of representative institutions in their country. They were ^^^^' among the most highly educated and cultivated men in the Russian empire at the time ; and yet their project, if successful, could not have failed to reduce their country to anarchy, and throw it back a century in the career of improvement and ultimate freedom. So true it is that the first thing to be inquired into, in all measures intended to introduce the institutions of one country into another, is, to consider whether their political circumstances and national character are the same. The conspiracy was headed by the highest in rank and the first in intelligence, i Rapport, because it was on them that the chains of servitude hung is^^. Ann. heaviest. " Envy," says Bulwer, " enters so largely into f^%l^' the democratic passion, that it is always felt most strongly Documents by those who are on the edge of a line which they yet Partie 2. feel to be impassable. No man envies an archangel." ^ Information, though in a very vague way, had been communicated to the late emperor of these societies ; but informa- it was not suspected how deep-seated and extensive they omf lon- in reality were, or how widely they had spread through- AieSde°r. out the queers of the army. The privates were, generally speaking, still steady in their allegiance. Wittgenstein, however, and Count de Witt, had received secret but authentic accounts of the conspiracy at the time of Alex- ander's journey to Taganrog, and it was that information, suddenly communicated during his last illness, whicli had so cruelly aggravated the anxiety and afflicted the heart of the Czar. The project embraced a general insurrection at once in the capital and the two great armies in Poland and Bessarabia ; and the success of similar movements in Spain and Italy inspired the conspirators with the most sanguine hopes of success. The time had been frequently fixed, and as often adjourned from accidental causes ; but at length it was arranged for the period of Alexander's journey to Taganrog, in autumn 1825. It was only pre- 230 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, vented from there breaking out by the appointment of Wittgenstein to the command of the army of the south, VIII, ^^^®' whose known resolution of character rendered caution necessary ; and it was then finally resolved it should take place in May 1826. The conspirators were unanimous as to an entire change of government, and the adoption wFots. of representative institutions ; but there was a consider- ffist/i^""' ^ble division among them, at first, what was to be done Do'c^ffist ^^*^ ^^^ emperor and his family. At length, however, Ibid. 383; as usual iu such cases, the more decided and sanguinary Schnitzler, . .1 i i • i ■ 1 , ii. 87, 91. resolutions prevailed, and it was determined to put them all to death.-' The death of Alexander at first caused uncertainty in Plans of the their dosigus ; but the long continuance of the interreg- toi"?"^'" num, and the strange contest between the two brothers for the abandonment of the throne, offered unhoped-for chances of success of which they resolved to avail them- selves. To divide the army, and avoid shocking, in the first instance at least, the feelings of the soldiers, it was determined that they should espouse the cause of Constantino ; and as he had been proclaimed emperor by Nicholas and the Government, it appeared an easy matter to persuade them that the story of his having resigned his right of succession was a fabrication, and that their duty was to support him against all competitors. As Nicholas seemed so averse to be charged with the burden of the empire, it was hoped he would renounce at once when opposition manifested itself, and that Constantine, supported by their arms, would be easily got to acquiesce in their demands for a change of government. Their ulterior plans were, to convoke deputies from all the governments ; to publish a manifesto of the Senate, in ij^sssf '^'' which it was declared that they were to frame laws for a ssTle.'' representative government ; , that the deputies should be pi'll; wf ■ summoned from Poland, to insure the unity of the em- Doc. Hist, pire, and in the mean time a provisional government established.2 Constantine was to be persuaded that it HISTORY OF EUROPE. 231 was all done out of devout feelings of loyalty towards chap. himself. ^"^- In contemplation of these changes, the greatest efforts ^^^^• had been made for several days past to gain the regi- continued. ments of the guards, upon whose decision the success of all previous revolutions had depended; and they had succeeded in gaining many officers in several of the most distinguished regiments, particularly those of Preobra- zinsky, Simoneffsky, the regiments of Moscow, the body- guard grenadiers, and the corps of marines. Information, though in a very obscure way, had been conveyed to Nicholas, of a great conspiracy in which the household troops were deeply implicated, and in consequence of that the guard had not been called together ; but it was determined that, on the morning of the 26th, the oath of allegiance should be administered to each regiment in their barracks. The Winter Palace, where the emperor dwelt, was intrusted to the regiment of Finland and the sappers of the guard, instead of the grenadiers-du-corps, to whom that charge was usually confided, and all the posts were doubled. But for that precaution, incalculable evils must have arisen. In truth, the danger was much greater, and more instant, than was apprehended. Prince Troubetzkoi, Ryleif, and Prince Obolonsky, the chiefs of the conspiracy, had gained adherents in almost every regiment of the guards, especially among the young men who were highest in rank, most ardent in disposition, and most cultivated in education ; and the privates could easily be won, by holding out that Constantine, who had ig^t„;t^,^^ already been proclaimed, was the real Czar, and that i- 201, 202;' ■, ■ 1 .-11 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 • 1 • •^''- Hist. their duty required them to §hed their blood in his ix. 385,386. defence.'^ Matters were brought to a crisis by the return of the Grand-duke Michael from Livonia with the intelligence a revolt is of the final refusal of the throne by Constantine. It by'the con- was then determined to act at once; and Troubetzkoi Secf24!' was named dictator — a post he proved ill qualified to fill, 232 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, by his want of resolution at the decisive moment. The VTTT L_ emperor published a proclamation on the 24th December, 1826. jjj -5piii(.}i ]ie recounted the circumstances which had com- pelled him to accept the empire, and called on the troops and people to obey him ; and on the same day a general meeting of the conspirators was held, at which it was determined to commence the insurrection without delay. It was agreed to assassinate the emperor. " Dear friend," said Ryleif to Kakhofski, " you are alone on the earth ; you are bound to sacrifice yourself for society ; dis- embarrass us of the emperor," Jakoubovitch proposed to force the jails, liberate the prisoners, and rouse the refuse of the population by gorging them with spirits ; but these extreme measures were not adopted. Orders were sent to the army of the south, where they reckoned on a hundred thousand adherents, to raise the standard of revolt. On the following evening, very alarming intel- ligence was received, in consequence of which it was agreed immediately to adopt the most desperate mea- sures. They learned that they had been betrayed, and information sent to government of what was in agitation : thus their only hope now was in the boldness of their reso- lutions. " Una spes victis nullam sperare salutem." " We have passed the Rubicon," said Alexander Bestoujif, "and now we must cut down all who oppose us." " You see," said Ryleif, " we are betrayed ; the court is partly aware of our designs, but they do not know the whole. Our forces are sufficient; our scabbards are broken; we can no longer conceal our sabres. Have we not an ischnitrfer, ^^"^^^^^'® ^^^^^ ^° Troubctzkoi 1" "Yes," answered Am^mst'' J^^oi^bovitch, " in height "—alluding to his lofty stature, ix. 385, 386. At length all agreed upon an insurrection on the day when the oath should be tendered to the troops.^ j^g On the morning of the 26th, the oath .was taken Commence- without difficulty lu sevcral of the first regiments of the dIc. 26.' ■ guards, especially the horse-guards, the chevalier guards, and the famous regiments Preobrazinsky, Simoneffsky, 1826. HISTORY OP BUKOPB. 233 Imailoffsty, Pauloffsky, and the chasseurs of the guard, chap. But the case was very diflFerent with the regiment of Mos- cow, the grenadiers of the body-guard, and the marines of the guard. They were for the most part at the devotion of the conspirators. The troops were informed that Con- stantine had not resigned, but was in irons, as well as the Grand-duke Michael ; that he loved their regiments, and, if reinstated in authority, would double their pay. Such was the eflFect of these representations, enforced as they were by the ardent military eloquence of the many gifted and generous young men who were engaged in the conspiracy from patriotic motives,* that the men tumul- tuously broke their ranks, and, with loud hurrahs, " Con- stantine for ever ! " rushed into their barracks for ammu- nition, from whence they immediately returned with their muskets loaded with ball. They were just coming out when an aide-de-camp arrived with orders for the officers to repair forthwith to the headquarters of the general (Frederick) and the Grand-duke Michael. " I do not acknowledge the authority of your general," cried Prince Tchechipine, who commanded one of the revolted companies, and immediately he ordered the soldiers to load their pieces. At the same instant Alexander Bestoujif discharged a pistol at General Frederick him- self, who was coming up, and wounded him on the head. He fell insensible on the pavement, while Tchechipine attacked General Chenchine, who commanded the brigade of the guard of which the regiment of Moscow formed a part, and stretched him on the ground by repeated blows * Alexander Bestoujif, brother of Michael Bestoujif, one of the leaders of the revolt, addressed the following prayer to the Almighty, as he rose on the eventful day: "Oh God! if our enterprise is just, vouchsafe to us thy support ; if not, thy will be done to us." It is di^pult to know whether to admire the courage and sincerity of the men who braved such dangers, as they conceived, for their country's good, or to lament the blind- ness and infatuation which led them to strive to obtain for it institutions wholly unsuited for the people, and which could terminate in nothing but temporary anarchy and lasting military despotism. — Sohnitzlbe, i. 223, note. 234 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, of his sabre. In a transport of enthusiasm at this 1_ success, he with his own hand snatched the standard of ^^^' the regiment from the officer who bore it, and, waving it in the air, exclaimed aloud, "Constantino for erer!" The soldiers loudly answered with the same acclamation, and immediately the greater part of the regiments, disre- garding the voice of their superior officers. Colonel Adles- berg and Count Lieven, who held out for Nicholas, moved in a body forward from the front of their barracks, and took up a position on the Grand Place behind the statue of Peter the Great. There they were soon joined by a battalion of the marines of the guard, who had been roused in a similar manner by Lieutenant Arbouzoff, and by several companies of the grenadiers of the body- guard. By ten o'clock, eighteen hundred men were drawn up in battle array on the Place of the Senate, behind the statue, surrounded by a great crowd of civilians, most of whom were armed with pistols or sabres; i. 223,' 223.' and the air resounded with cries of " Oonstantine for ever!"i The die was now cast, and the danger was so imminent Heroic 'con- that, if there had been the slightest indecision at head- Nichoias quarters, the insurrection would have proved successful, and Russia have been delivered over to the horrors of military license and servile revolt. But in that extremity Nicholas was not awanting to himself; he won the empire by proving he was worthy of it. He could no longer reckon on his guards, and without their support a Russian emperor is as weak as with it he is powerful. At eleven he received intelligence that the oath had been taken by the principal officers in the garrison, and it was hoped the danger was over ; but in a quarter of an hour news of a very different import arrived — that an entire regi- ment of horse-artillery had been confined to their bar- racks, to prevent their joining the insurgents, and that a formidable body of the guards in open revolt were drawn up on the Place of the Senate. He instantly took his on the oc- casion, HISTORY OP EUROPE. 235 resolution, and in a spirit worthy of his race. Taking the chap. empress, in whom the spirit, if not the blood, of Frede- ^'"' rick the Great still dwelt, by the hand, he repaired to ^^^^' the chapel of the palace, where, with her, he invoked the blessing of the Most High on their undertaking. Then, after addressing a few words of encouragement to his weeping but still courageous consort, he took his eldest son, a charming child of eight years of age, by the hand, and descended to the chief body of the yet faithful guards, stationed in front of the palace, and gave orders to them to load their pieces. Then presenting the young Grand-duke to the soldiers, he said, " I trust him to you; yours it is to defend him." The chasseurs of Finland, with loud acclamations, swore to die in his cause ; and the child, terrified at their cheers, was passed in their arms from rank to rank, amidst the tears of the men. They put him, while still weeping, into the centre ig^hnit^i^,. of their column, and such was the enthusiasm excited '-224,225; ^ Ann. Hist. that they refused to give him back to his preceptor, ix. 387,388. Colonel Moerder, who came to reclaim him. ^ * " God * What a scene for poetry or painting ! — realising on a still greater theatre all that the genius of Homer had prefigured of the parting of Hector and Andromache : — " Thus having spoke, the illustrious chief of Troy Clasped his fond arms to clasp the lovely boy ; The babe clang crying to his nurse's breast, Soared at the nodding plume and dazzUng crest. With secret pleasure each fond parent smiled. And Hector hastened to reheve his child ; The ghttering terrors from his brow unbound. And placed the beaming helmet on the ground ; Then kissed the child, and, lifting high in air, Thus to the gods preferred a father's prayer : Thou ! whose glory fills the ethereal throne. And all ye deathless powers, protect my §on ! Grant him, like me, to purchase just renown. To guard the Trojans, to defend the crown ; Against his country's foes the war to wage. And rise the Hector of the fature age. So, when triumphant from successful toils, Of heroes slain, he bears the reeking spoils. Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim. And say this chief transcends his fathei's fame ; While, pleased amidst the general shouts of Troy, His mother's conscious heart o'erflows with joy." —Pope's Iliad, vi. 596, 610. 236 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, knows our intention," said they ; " we will restore the ^"'' child only to his father, who intrusted him to us." 1826. Meanwhile Nicholas put himself at the head of the Nichoka first battalion of the regiment Preobrazinsky, which turned aglfnTthe out with unhcard-of rapidity, and advanced towards the rebels. rcbcls, supportcd by the third battalion, several com- panies of the grenadiers of PauloflFsky, and a battalion of the sappers of the guard. On the way he met a column proceeding to the rendezvous of the rebels.. Advancing . to them with an intrepid air, he called out in a loud voice, " Good morning, my children ! " — the usual salutation of patriarchal simplicity of the em- perors to their troops. " Hourra, Constantine ! " was the answer. Without exhibiting any symptoms of fear, the emperor, pointing with his finger to the other end of the Place, where the insurgents were assembled, said, " You have mistaken your way ; your place is there with traitors," Another detachment following them, to which the same salute was addressed, remained silent. .Seizing the moment of hesitation, with admirable presence of mind he gave the order, " Wheel to the right — march ! " with a loud voice. The instinct of discipline prevailed, and the men turned about and retraced their steps, as if i. 227, 228.' they had never deviated from their allegiance to their sovereign.! The rebels, however, reinforced by several compa- Forces'on nics and detachments of some regiments which sueces- anfireero- sivcly joiucd them, were by one o'clock in the afternoon thecHefs ^^ovc three thousand strong, and incessant cries of oahere- " Hourra, Constantine 1" broke from their ranks. The ground was covered with snow, some of which bad recently fallen ; but nothing could damp the ardour of the men, who remained in close array, cheering, and evincing the greatest enthusiasm. Loud cries of " Long live the Emperor Constantine !" resounded over the vast Place, and were repeated by the crowd, which, every minute increasing, surrounded the regiments in revolt, until the shouts were heard even in the imperial palace. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 237 Already, however, Count Alexis Orlof had assembled chap. several squadrons of his regiment of horse-guards, and ^"^' taken a position on the Place in front of the mutineers ; ^^^®- and the arrival of the emperor, with the battalion of the Preobrazinsky regiment and the other corps from the palace, formed an imposing force, which was soon strengthened by several pieces of artillery, which proved of the greatest service in the conflict that ensued. Of the chiefs of the revolt, few had appeared on the other side. Troubetzkoi was nowhere to be seen ; Colonel Boulatoff was in the square, but concealed in the crowd of specta- tors awaiting the event. Ryleif was at his post, as was Jakoubovitch ; but the former, not seeing Troubetzkoi, could not take the command, and lost the precious minutes in going to seek him. Decision and resolution were to be found only on the other side, and, as is gener- i. -Iso'm ally the case in civil conflicts, they determined the contest.^ Deeming the forces assembled suiEcient to crush the revolt, the generals who surrounded the emperor besought Death of him to permit them to act ; but he long hesitated, from a^wltcL feelings of humanity, to shed the blood of his subjects. As a last resource, he permitted General Milaradowitch, the governor of St Petersburg, a noble veteran, well known in the late war, who had by his single influence appeased the mutiny in the guards in the preceding year, to advance towards the insurgents, in hopes that his presence might again produce a similar effiect. Milara- dowitch, accordingly, rode forward alone, and when within hearing, addressed the men, in a few words, call- ing on them to obey their lawful sovereign, and return to their duty. He was interrupted by loud cries of " Hourra, Constantino !" and before he had concluded. Prince Obolonsky made a dash at him with a bayonet, which the veteran, with admirable coolness, avoided by wheeling his horse ; but at the same instant Kakhofski dis- ag^tnit^i^y charged a pistol at him within a few feet, which wounded ''^'^p'' him mortally, and he fell from his horse.^ " Could I have i*. ssz. believed," said the veteran of the campaign of 1812, 238 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. " that it was from the hand of a Russian I was to receive ^"^' death 1" " Who," said Kakhofski, " now speaks of sub- 1825, mission 1" Milarado witch died the following morning, deeply regretted by all Europe, to whom his glorious career had long been an object of admiration.* The emperor, notwithstanding this melancholy catas- The Arch- trophc, was rcluctaut to proceed to extremities ; and per- feiblinfe" haps he entertained a secret dread as to what the troops muthfeCTs! he commanded might do, if called on to act decisively against the insurgents. A large part of the guards were there ranged in battle array against their sovereign : what a contest might be expected if the signal was given, and the chevalier guards were to be ordered to charge against their levelled bayonets ! Meanwhile, however, the forces on the side of Nicholas were hourly increasing. The sappers of the guard, the grenadiers of Pauloffsky, the horse-guards, and the brigade of artillery, had successively come up ; and the Grand-duke Michael, who acted with the greatest spirit on the occasion, had even succeeded in ranging six companies of his own regiment, the grenadiers of Moscow, the leaders of the revolt, on the side of his brother. Still the emperor was reluctant to give the word ; and as a last resource, the Metropolitan Arch- bishop, an aged prelate, with a large part of the clergy, were brought forward, bearing the cross and the sacred * " ' Hear me, good people : I proclaim, in the name of the king, free pardon to all excepting' ' I give thee fair warning,' said Burley, presenting his piece. ' A free pardon to all but ' ' Then the Lord grant grace to thy soul !' with these words he fired, and Cornet Eichard Graham fell from his horse. He had only strength to turn on the groimd, and exclaim, ' My poor mother !' when life for- sook him in the effort. ' What have you donel' said one of Balfour's brother officers. ' My duty,' said Balfour firmly. ' Is it not written. Thou shalt be zealous even to slaying ? Let those who dare now speak of truce or pardon.' " — Old Mortality, chap. viii. How singular that the insurrection of St Peters- burg in 1825 should realise, within a few hours, what the bard of Chios had conceived in song and the Scottish novelist in prose, at the distance of twenty- five centuries from each other; and what a proof of the identity of human nature, and the deep insight which those master-minds had obtained into its inmost recesses, that a revolt in the capital of Eussia in the nineteenth cen- tury should come so near to what, at such a distance of time and place, they had respectively prefigured. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 239 ensign, who called on them to submit. But although chap. strongly influenced by religious feelings, the experiment failed on this occasion : the rolling of drums drowned the ^^■^®- Toice of the Archbishop, and the soldiers turned his grey hairs into derision. Meanwhile the leaders of the revolt, deeming their victory secure, began to hoist their real colours. Cries of " Constantine and the Constitution ! " broke from their ranks. " What is that V said the men to each other, " Do you not know," said one, " it is the j^gts 234-' empress (Constitoutzia)'? " " Not at all," replied a third : BremLer, ' " it is the carriage in which the emperor is to drive at his 127. ' coronation." ^ * At length, having exhausted all means of pacification, the emperor ordered the troops to act. The rebels were The empe- attacked in front by the horse-guards and chevalier guards, theffct'ory. while the infantry assailed them in flank. But these noble veterans made a vigorous resistance, and for a few minutes the result seemed doubtful. Closely arrayed in column, they faced on every side : a deadly rolling fire issued from the steady mass, and the cavalry in vain strove to find an entrance into their serried ranks. The horse- men were repulsed : Kakhofski with his own hand slew Colonel Strosler, who commanded the grenadiers ; and Kuchelbecker had already uplifted his arm to cut down the Grand-duke Michael, when a marine of the guard on his own side averted the blow. Jakoubovitch, charged with despatching the emperor, eagerly sought him out, but, in the melSe and amidst the smoke, without effect. The resistance, however, continued several hours, and night was approaching, with the rebels, in unbroken strength, stm in possession of their strong position. Then, and not till then, the emperor ordered the cannon, hitherto con- * " The. leaders of the revolt, however, had different ideas of what they, at all events, understood by the movement. On loading his pistols on the morn- ing of that eventfal day, Boulatoff said, ' We shall see whether there are any Brutuses or Eiegos in Russia to-day.' Nevertheless, he failed at the decisive moment ; he was not to be found on the Place of the Senate." — Rapport swr les Evinements, &c., 26 Ddc, p. 125 ; and Sohnitzleb, i. 232, note. 182S. 240 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, cealed by the cavalry, to be unmasked. The horsemen ^"'- withdrew to the sides, and showed the muzzles of the guns pointed directly into the insurgent square : they were again summoned to surrender, while the pieces were charged with grape, and the gunners waved their lighted matches in the now darkening air. Still the rebels stood firm ; and a first fire, intentionally directed above their heads, having produced no effect, they cheered and mocked their adversaries. Then the emperor ordered a point- blank discharge, but the cannoneers refused at first to fire on their comrades, and the Grand-duke Michael, with his own hand, discharged the first gun. Then the rest fol- lowed the example, and the grape made frightful gaps in the dense ranks. The insurgents, however, kept their ground, and it was not till the tenth round that they broke and fled. They were vigorously pursued by the horse-guards along the quays and through the cross streets, into which they fled to avoid their bloody sabres. Seven hundred were made prisoners, and several hundred bodies 'Schnitzier, remained on the Place of the Senate, which were hastily i. 237, 239; burfcd uuder the snow with which the Neva was over- Ann. Hist. ix. 389,390; spread. By six o'clock the rebels were entirely dispersed; LaRussie and the emperor, now firmly seated on his throne, re- ias"i., 126. turned to his palace, where the empress fell into his arms, and a solemn Te Deum was chanted in the chapel.^ Of all the conspirators during this terrible crisis, Jakou- Seizure'of bovitch had alone appeared at the post assigned him. of^hrcon- Troubetzkoi, whose firmness had deserted him on this occa- generou's'""^ siou, sought rcfugc iu the hotel of the Austrian ambassador, NfchoiLto Count Libzeltern, but, on the requisition of the emperor, theprivates. Jxe was brought from that asylum into his presence. At first he denied all knowledge of the conspiracy ; but when his papers were searched, which contained decisive proof not merely of his accession to it, but of his having been its leader, he fell at the emperor's feet, confessed his guilt, and implored his life. " If you have courage enough," said Nicholas, " to endure a life dishonoured and devoted to HISTORY OF EUROPE. 241 remorse, you shall haye it ; but it is all I can promise chap. you." On the following morning, when the troops were ^^"' still bivouacked, as the evening before, on the Place of the ^^^^• Senate, and the curious crowds surveyed at a distance the theatre of the conflict, the emperor, accompanied by a single aide-de-camp, rode out of the palace to review those who had combated for him on the preceding day. Riding slowly along their ranks, he thanked them for their fidelity, and promised them a considerable augmen- tation of pay, as well as the usual largesses on occasion of the accession of a new emperor. He then proceeded to the regiments which had revolted, and granted a pardon alike politic and generous. To the marines of the guard, who had lost their colours in the conflict, he gave a fresh one, with the words, " You have lost your honour ; try to recover it." The regiment of Moscow, in like manner, received back its colours, and was pardoned on the sole condition that the most guilty, formed into separate companies, should be sent for two years to expiate their fault in combating the mountaineers of the Caucasus. The emperor promised to take their wives and children under his protection during their absence. These generous words drew tears from the veterans, who declared them- ix.39i,392S selves ready to set out on the instant for their remote i. 242, 247. destination.^ But although aU must admit the justice of these senti- ments — and indeed it was scarcely possible to act other- Appomt- wise with men who were merely misled, and who resisted "mmissfon the Czar when they thought they were defending him — a ^^^29?' very difi«rent course seemed necessary with the leaders of the revolt, who had seduced the soldiers into acts of treason through the very intensity of their loyalty. All the chiefs were apprehended soon after its suppression, and the declarations of the prison^^, as well as the papers discovered in their possession, revealed a far more exten- sive and dangerous conspiracy than had been previously imagined. The emperor appointed a commission to inves- VOL. II. Q 242 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, tigate the matter to the bottom, and on the 31st he ^"^' published a manifesto, in \?hich, after exculpating the *^^®- simple and loyal-hearted soldiers who were drawn into the tumult, he denounced the whole severity of justice against the leaders, " who aimed at overturning the throne and the laws, subverting the empire, and inducing anarchy. " * A commission was accordingly appointed, having at its head the Minister at War, General Talischof, president ; the Grand-duke Michael ; Prince Alexander Gallitzin, Minister of Public Instruction ; General Cher- nichef. Aide-de-camp General, and several other members, i. 268,' m' nearly all military men. There were only two civiUans, Prince Alexander Gallitzin and M. Blondof.^ From a commission so composed, the whole proceedings itscompo- of which were private, there was by no means to be ex- reportr pectcd the same calm and impartial inquiry which might be looked for from an English special commission which conducted all its proceedings in public, and under the surveillance of a jealous and vigilant press. But never- theless their labours, which were most patient and unin- terrupted, continuing through several months, revealed the * " Deux classes d'hommes ont pris part & I'^vfinemeut du 14-16 DSoembre, gvfinemeut qui, peu important par lui-mgme, ne Test que trop par son principe et par ses consequences. Les uns, personnes SgarSes, ne sayaieDt pas ce qu'ils fadsaient ; les autres, vSritables oongpirateurs, Toulaient abattre le TrSne et les lois, bouleverser I'empire, amener I'anarchie, entralner dans le tumulte les sol- dats des compagnies s6duites, qui n'ont participS h ces attentats, ui de fait, ni d'intention : une enquSte s§vcsre m'en a donnS la preuve ; et je regarde, oomme un premier acta de justice, comme ma premiere consolation, de les dMarer innocents. Mais cette mgme justice defend d'^pargner les coupables. D'aprfe leg mesures d€j& prises, le cMtiment embrasserait dans toute son £teudue, dans toutes ses ramifications, un mal dont le germe compte des anndes ; et j'en ai la confiance, elles le dStruiront jusque dans le sol sacr€ de Russie ; elles feront disparaltre cet odieux mfilange de tristes vfiritSset de soup90ns gratuits, qui rgpugne aux fimes nobles ; elles tireront k jamais, une ligne de dfimarcar tion entre I'amour de la Patrie et les passions rfivolutionnaires, entre le d&ir du mieux et la fureur des bouleversements ; elles montreront au monde, que la nation Busse, toujours fidMe k son souverain et aux lois, repousse les secrets efforts de I'anarchie, comme elle a repoussS les attaques ouvertes de ses enne- mis d^clarfe; elles montreront comme on se d^vre d'un tel fl&iu; elles mon- treront que 06 n'est point, pourtant, qu'il est indestructible." — Proclamation, 29th December 1825 ; Sohkitzler, i. 2SS-296 — said to have come from the pen of the celebrated historian Karamsin, who died shortly after. 1826. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 243 magnitude and frightful perils of the conspiracy, and the chap, abyss on the edge of which the nation had stood, when the firmness of Nicholas and the fidelity of his guards saved them from the danger. Their report — one of the most valuable historical monuments of the age, though of necessity, under the circumstances in which it was drawn up, one-sided to a certain degree — unfolds this in the clearest manner : and although no judicial investigation can be implicitly relied on which is not founded on the examination of witnesses on both sides, in public, yet enough which cannot be doubted has been revealed, to demonstrate how much the cause of order and real liberty is indebted to the firmness which on this momentous )^^'^^''^' occasion repressed the treasonable designs which in such i826; am. an empire could have terminated only in the worst excesses 79, 112.' of anarchy. ^ Before the commission had well commenced their la- bours, a catastrophe occurred in the south which afibrded Leaders of confirmation strong of the extent of the conspiracy and m'thr^y the magnitude of the danger which had been escaped. "f"'«^<"'*''- The great armies both of the south and west were deeply implicated in the designs of the rebels, and it was chiefly on their aid that the leaders at St Petersburg reckoned in openly hoisting the standard of revolt. It was in the second army (that of the south) that the conspiracy had the deepest roots, and Paul Pestel was its soul. He was son of an old officer who had been governor-general of Siberia, and had gained his company by his gallant con- duct at the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube, in France, in 1814. He was colonel of the regiment of Vicitka in 1825, when the revolt broke out, and his ability and pleasing manners had made him an aide-de-camp of the commander-in-chief. Count Wittgenstein. He was inspired with a strong horror at oppression of any kind ; but the other conspi- -f f "{3?'"'' rators said it was only till he was permitted to exercise it Rapport,' himself.^ He was a declared republican, but Ryleif said of i826,p.V4, him, " He is an ambitious man, full of artifice — a Bnona- 244 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, parte, and not a Washington." He had great resolution, however, and power of eloquence, and these qualities had *^^^" procured for him unbounded influence among his comrades. In the first army, stationed on the Polish frontier, the And in that couspiracj had ramifications not less extensive. At its ewes . j^gg^jj^ ^jj ^jjg^^ force, were two brothers. Serge and Matthew Mouraviefi-Apostol, the first of whom was a colonel of the regiment of Tchernigof ; the second a captain in that of Semonof. Their father, who was nephew of the preceptor of Alexander, had been educated with that prince, by whom he was tenderly loved ; and he was one of the few Russians of family, at that period, who engaged in hterary pursuits. He had translated the Cloud's of Aristophanes into Russian ; and his Travels in Tauris, published at St Petersburg in 1825, revealed the extent and accuracy of his classical knowledge. He had composed a beautiful sonnet, in Greek verse, on the death of Alexander, which he had also translated into Latin. His two sons, on whom he had bestowed the most polished education, had been brought up abroad, where they had imbibed the liberal ideas, and vague aspirations after indefinite freedom, at any that period so common in western Europe. They re- turned to Russia deeply imbued with republican ideas, and in good faith and with benevolent views, but without any practical knowledge of mankind, or any fixed plan of reform, or what was to be established in its stead, entered into the project for the overthrow of the government. A third leader was a young man named Michel Bestoujif- Rumine, an intimate friend of Pestel, and who formed ii.'i7T2i;'^'the link which connected the two Mouravieffs with the ix!'329, 330. projects of the conspirators in the capital, and in the army of the south. ^ When the papers of the persons seized at St Peters- burg, on the 26th December, were examined, it was dis- covered that the two MouravieflFs were deeply implicated in the conspiracy, and orders were sent to have them immediately arrested. The orders, however, got wind, HISTORY OP EUROPE. 245' and they sought safety in flight, but were arrested, on chap. the 18th January, in the burgh of Trilissia, by Colonel ^'"' Ghebel, -whose painful duty it was to apprehend one of ^^^^• his dearest friends. Informed of their arrest, a number Arrest of of officers of the Society of United Sclavonians sur- Se'ff^TnT rounded the house in which they were detained by Ghe- ^e »ntp°.' bel, and rescued them, after a rude conflict, in which '*"y 'Vp° /-^iiinn. army ot ro- Ghebel fell, pierced by fourteen wounds. Delivered in '*"*• this manner, the Mouraviefi's had no safety but in a change of government. Serge Mouraviefi" succeeded in causing his regiment to revolt, by the same device which had proved so successful at St Petersburg, that of persuad- ing them to take up arms for their true Czar, Constantine. The leaders of the conspiracy, amidst the cries of " Hourra, Constantine!" tried to introduce the cry of "Long live the Sclavonic Republic!" but the soldiers could not be brought to understand what was meant. " We are quite willing," said an old grenadier, " to call out, ' Long live the Sclavonic Republic ;' hut who is to he our emperor f" The officers spoke to them of liberty, and the priests read some passages from the Old Testament, to prove that democracy was the form of government most agreeable to the Almighty ; but the soldiers constantly answered, omdei"* " Who is to be emperor — Constantine or Nicholas Paulo- ^q^{^. vitch ? " So strong was this impression, that Mouravieff, SchnUzier,' by his own admission, was obliged to give over speaking 29; Ann.' of liberty or republics, and to join in the cry of " Hourra, 329, m Constantine ! " ^ It was now evident that the common men were at heart loyal, and that it was by deception alone that they had its suppres- been drawn into mutiny. Taking advantage of their j'™; 12. hesitation. Captain Koglof, who commanded the grena- diers,- harangued his men, informing them that they had been deceived, and that Nicholas was their real sovereign. " Lead us, captain," they exclaimed ; " we will obey your orders." He led them, accordingly, out of the revolted regiment, without Mouravieff venturing to oppose any '246 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, resistance. Reduced by this defection to six companiesj ^"^" that regiment was unable to commence any ofiFensive *^^®- operations. Mouravieff remained two days in a state of uncertainty, sending in vain in every direction in quest of succour. Meanwhile, the generals of the army were accumulating forces round them in every direction ; and though numbers were secretly engaged in the conspiracy, and in their hearts wished it success, yet as intelligence had been received of its suppression at St Petersburg, none ventured to join it openly. The rebels, obliged to leave Belain-Tzerskof, where they had passed the night, were overtaken, on the morning of the 15th, on the heights of Ostinofska. Mouravieff, nothing daunted, formed his men into a square, and ordered them to march, with their arms still shouldered, straight on the guns pointed at them. He was in hopes the gunners would declare for them ; but he was soon undeceived. A point- blank discharge of grape was let fly, which killed great numbers. A charge of cavalry quickly succeeded, which completed their defeat. Seven hundred were made prison- ers, among whom were Matthew and Hippolyte Mouravieff, and the chief leaders of the revolt ; and a conspiracy, which pervaded the whole army, and threatened to shake the offidli?'' empire to its foundation, was defeated by the overthrow ^9^ ^84 °^ ^^■^ companies and fifty men killed and wounded. The isp/abii. unhappy Mouravieff, father of the rebels, saw himself Hist. io2D, T.-|/»1«l t* 11 -mTl- p. 84, i30j deprived or his three sons at one fell swoop. " Nothing ii!3o,34T' remained," he said, "but for him to shroud his head under their ashes." ^ The commission which had been appointed to try the Sentences iusurgeuts at St Petersburg extended its labours to the spiStOTs?" conspiracy over the whole empire, and traced its ramifi- cations in their whole extent. It cannot be said that their proceedings were stained with unnecessary cruelty ; for of so great a number of conspirators actually taken in arms against the Government, or whose guilt was estab- lished beyond a doubt, five only, viz.. Colonel Pestel, HISTORY OF UUROPB. 247 Ryleif, Colonel Serge MouraTieflf, Bestougif-Rumine, chap. and Kakhofski, were sentenced to death. While thirty- ^^^^' one others, originally sentenced to death, had their sen- ^^''^®- tences commuted to exile, accompanied with hard labour, for life or for long periods, in Siberia. They formed a melancholy list ; for among them were to be found several men of the highest rank and noblest feelings in Russia, the victims of mistaken zeal and deluded patriotism. Among them were Prince Troubetzkoi, Colonel Matthew Mouravieff-Apostol, Colonel Davidof, General Prince Serge Volkonsky, Captain Prince Stchpine Boslowsky, V"se™ent, and Nicholas TourgunofF, councillor of state. One hun- i826; Ann. dred and thirty others were sentenced to imprisonment 112, usl' and lesser penalties.^ The conspirators who were selected for execution met 1 S8 their fate in a worthy spirit. They faced death on the Their con- scaffold with the same courage that they would have done eTeof'death. in the field. Their original sentence was to be broken on the wheel ; but the humanity of the emperor led him to commute that frightful punishment, and they were sentenced to be hanged. This mode of death, unusual in Russia, was keenly felt as a degradation by men who expected to meet the death of soldiers. Ryleif, the real head of the conspiracy, and the most intellectual of all its members, acknowledged that his sentence was just, according to the existing laws of Russia ; but he added, that, having been deceived by the ardour of his pa- triotism, and being conscious only of pure intentions, he met death without apprehension. " My fate," said he, " will be an expiation due to society." He then wrote a beautiful letter to his young wife, in which he conjured her not to abandon herself to despair, and to submit, as a good Christian, to the will of Providence, and the justice of the emperor. He charged her to give his confessor one of his golden snuff-boxes, and to receive „„ , . , 11- c 1 /Y-iiOTkTi- Schnitzler, from him his own last blessing from the scaffold.-^ Nothing ii. 303, 305. shook Pestel's courage ; he maintaineti to the last his 248 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, principles and the purity of his intentions. All received ^^"' and derived consolation from the succours of religion. 1826. 139. There had been no capital sentence carried into execu- Thei°exe- tion in St Petersburg for eighty years ; and in all Russia July 25. but few scaffolds had been erected for death since the reign of the Empress Elizabeth, a century before. The knowledge that five criminals, all of eminent station, were about to be executed, excited the utmost conster- nation in all classes ; and Government wisely kept secret the exact time when the sentence was to be carried into effect. At two in the morning of the 25th July, however, a mournful sound was heard in every quarter of the city, which presaged the tragedy which was ap- proaching : it was the signal for every regiment in the capital to send a company to assist at the melancholy spectacle. Few spectators, save the milita;ry, were pre- sent, when, on the edge of the rampart of the citadel, was seen dimly through the twilight which preceded the morn- ing, a huge gallows, which froze every heart with horror. The rolling of drums was soon heard, which announced the approach of the thirty-one criminals condemned ' to death, but whose lives had been spared, who were led out, and on their knees heard their sentence of death read out. When it was finished, their epaulettes were torn off, their uniform taken off their backs, their swords broken over their heads, and, dressed in the rude garb of convicts, they were led away to undergo their sentence in the wilds of Siberia. Next came the five criminals who were to be executed : they mounted the scaffold with firm steps, and in a few minutes the preparations were adjusted, and the fatal signal was given. Pestel and Kakhofski died imme- diately; but a frightful accident occurred in regard to the othei- three. The ropes broke, and they were preci- pitated, while yet alive, from a great height into the ditch beneath. The unhappy men, though severely bruised by their fall, reascended the scaffold with a firm step. The spectators hoped they were about to be pardoned ; but HISTORY OP EUROPE. 249 this was not so, for the emperor was absent at Tsariko- chap. Velo, and no one else ventured to give a respite. " Can !_ nothing, then, succeed in this country," said Ryleif — " not ^^^^' even death 1" " Woe to the country," exclaimed Serge MouravieflF, " where they can neither conspire, nor judge, nor hang ! " Bestoujif-Rumine was so bruised that he bad to be carried up to the scaflFold ; but he, too, evinced no symptoms of trepidation. This time fortunately the rope -f 304"3o7! held good, and in five minutes a loud rolling of drums Castin'e,^ii. announced that justice was satisfied, and the insurrection 29,31.' terminated.^ It is impossible to recount these details without the most melancholy feelings — feelings which will be shared Reflections to the end of the world by all the generous and humane, event.' who reflect on capital executions for political offences. The peculiar and harrowing circumstance in such cases is, that the persons upon whom the extreme punishment of the law is thus inflicted are sometimes of noble character — men actuated by the purest patriotism, who, in a heroic spirit, sacrifice themselves for their country, and, as they conceive, the good of mankind. Even when, as in this, as in most other instances, such conspiracy could terminate only in disaster, and its suppression was a blessing to humanity, and a step in the march of real freedom, it is impossible to avoid feeling respect for the motives, however mistaken, of the persons engaged in it, and admiration for the courage with which they met their fate. The ends of justice, the cause of order, is more advanced by the humanity which, in purely political offences, remits or softens punishment, than by the rigour which exacts its full measure. The state criminal of one age often becomes the martyr of the next, the hero of a third ; and the ultimate interests of society are never so effectually secured as when, by de- priving treason of the halo of martyrdom, it is allowed to stand forth to the memory of futurity in its real colours.''^ * Eyleif, who was a man of fine genius, in his remarkable poem, entitled 250 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. But if the fate of these gallant though deluded men ^"^' must ever excite very mixed feelings in every generous ^^^®- bosom, there is one subject connected with their com- Nobit 'con- panions in suflfering, which must ever awaken the most PriHf * unbounded interest and admiration. The convicts who kound'the '^^^® banished to Siberia were for the most part of high other-wives pant and noble family ; many of them were married, and victs. their wives, of equal station in society, had moved in the very first circles in St Petersburg. The conduct of these ladies, on this terrible crisis, was worthy of eternal admir- ation. When their husbands set off" on their long and painful journey of three thousand miles into the interior of Siberia, seated on wooden chariots without springs, and often exposed to the insults and assaults of the populace, they did not go alone. These noble women, who were themselves entirely innocent, and were offered the protec- tion of the emperor, and all the luxuries of the elevated circles in which they had been born and lived, if they would remain behind, unanimously refused the offer, and insisted upon accompanying their husbands into exUe. They bore without repining, even with joy, the mortal fatigues of the long and dreary journey in open carts, and all the insults of the populace in the villages through which they passed, and arrived safe, supported by their heroic courage. To accustom themselves to the hardships they were to undergo, they voluntarily laid aside in their palaces at St Petersburg, some weeks before their depar- ture, the splendid dresses to which they had been accus- tomed, put on instead the most humble garments, and inured their delicate hands to the work of peasants and Voinarofski, expressed Ms firm confidence in the irresistible "march of freedom in these words, -which he put into the mouth of an Ataman of the Cossacks : " That -which in our dream seemed a dream of heaven, -was not recorded on high. Patience ! Let us await till the colossus has for some time accumulated its wrongs — till, in hastening its increase, it has weakened itself in striving to embrace the half of the earth. Allow it : the heart swollen with pride, parades its vanity in the rays of the sun. Patience ! the justice of Heaven will end by reducing it to the dust. In history, Ood is retribution : He does not permit the seed of sin to pass -without its harvest." — Schnitzlbk, ii. 309. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 251 servants, on which they were so soon to enter. " Thou chap. shalt eat thy bread with the sweat of thy brow" became ^"^' their resolution, as it is the ordinary lot of humanity. ^®^^- The Princess Troubetzkoi, the Princess Serge Volkonsky, Madame Alexander Mouravieff, Madame Nikitas Moura- Tieff {n4e Tchencichef), and Madame Narisichkine {nie Ronovnitsyne), the two last of the noblest families in Russia, were among the number of those who performed ig^^^jj^j^j this heroic sacrifice to duty. History may well preserve «. 309,311 1 .1 . .,, ., . . 111. • , Custine, iii. their names with pnde ; it is seldom that m either sex 29, 30. it has such deeds to recount.^ It is some consolation to know that the generous self-sacrifice did not even in this world go without its Condition reward. A sense of duty, the courage which often springs L sibe^a!^ up with misfortune, the consciousness of suffering together, softened the horrors of the journey to such a degree that before it was concluded they had come to be contented, even happy, and it would have been deemed a misfortune to have been turned back.* Their ultimate destination was the village of Tchitinsk, on the Ingoda river, beyond the lake Baikal, and not far removed from the frontiers of China. The climate there is somewhat less severe than in the same latitude in other parts of Siberia ; and the humanity of the emperor permitted a few articles of com- fort to be introduced, which softened the asperities of that deep solitude. Tchitinsk, where they were all assembled, became a populous colony, an oasis of civilisation in the midst of an immense desert. The forced labour of the con- victs extended only to a few hours a-day ; some slender comforts, and even luxuries, were stealthily introduced ; and a library containing a few books, permitted by the police, enlivened the weary hours of solitude by the pleasures of intellectual recreation. But the simple duties of their situation left them little leisure for such amusements, and * One of the travelling companions of one of ttose mothers overheard her Bay to her daughter, who had been petulant on the journey, " Sophie, if you don't behave better, you shan't go to Siberia."— Sohnitzleb, ii. 310. 252 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, the regular routine of humble life, if it deprived them of ^^"' the excitement, at least saved them from the torment of 1826. iSchnitzler, ennui, the bane and punishment of civilised selfishness. Many of them tasted a happiness, in this simple and patriarchal existence, to which they had been strangers amidst all the splendours of St Petersburg, The Princess Troubetzkoi had been on distant terms with her husband before his banishment, and she had no family ; but mis- fortune did that which prosperity had failed to effect — ii. 311, 313] they were drawn together by suffering in common ; they 29, 31. ' ■ lived contentedly together in their humble cottage, and she is now the happy mother of five children. ^ The emperor behaved generously to the families and Generous rclatious of such as had suffered either death or exile theemperor for their political offences. So far from involving them t?ves rfth^ i"! ^^7 species of responsibility, he in many cases did convicts, much to relicvo them from the consequences of that which they had already undergone in the punishment of those who were dear to them. He gave 50,000 rubles (£2500) to the father of Pestel, with a valuable farm on one of the domains of the crown, and appointed his brother, a colonel in the chevalier guards, one of his own aides-de-camp. He was extremely anxious to relieve the distresses of Ryleif's widow, who had been left in very destitute circumstances, and sent repeatedly to inquire into her necessities ; but this high-minded woman, proud of her suffering, refused all his proffered kindness, and said the only favour she asked of him was to put her to death, and lay her beside her husband. Unknown to her, he caused relief to be conveyed to her children, with whose maintenance and education he charged himself. But to the women who had accom- panied their husbands into exile he showed himself inex- orable ; he thought that by so doing they had adopted their crimes, instead of extenuating it by the opposite virtues. After undergoing fifteen years of exile in their appointed place of banishment, the Princess Troubetzkoi earnestly HISTORY OP EUROPE. 253 petitioned the emperor for a removal, not into Russia, chap. but to a place where the climate was milder, and she L. might obtain the rudiments of education for their children, ^^^®- and be near an apothecary to tend them when ill. She wrote a touching letter to the emperor, which concluded with the words, " I am Tery unhappy ; nevertheless, if it was to do over again, I would do the same." But her petition was sternly refused, " I am astonished that , „ . 1 )) • T 1 1 1 T 1 Custine, you venture to speak to me, said he to the lady whoiii.3i,4i; ventured to present it, " in favour of a family which has iCm^iii. conspired against me.'7 According to an established usage in Russia, a solemn religious ceremony was performed on the termination of Expiatory the great contest with the principles of anarchy which oSpiace had signalised the emperor's accession to the throne, g^**^ "On the spot," said the emperor in another proclama--'"'y 21. tion, " where seven months ago the explosion of a sudden revolt revealed the existence of a vast conspiracy which had been going on for ten years, it is meet that a last act of commemoration — an expiatory sacrifice — should conse- crate on the same spot the memory of the Russian blood shed for religion, the throne, and the country. We have recognised the hand of the Almighty, when He tore aside the veil which concealed that horrible mystery : it per- mitted crime to arm itself in order to assure its fall. Like a momentary storm, the revolt only broke forth to anni- hilate the conspiracy of which it was the consummation."* In conformity with these ideas, the whole garrison of St * The address contained these words, applicable to all ages and people : " May the fathers of families by this sad example be led to pay proper attention to the moral education of their children. Assuredly it is not to the progress of civilisation, but to the vanity which is the result of idleness and want of intelligence — to the want of real education — that we are to ascribe that licen- tiousness of thought, that vehemence of passion, that half-knowledge, so con- fused amd so perilous, that thirst after extreme theories and political visions, which begin with demoralising and end by mining. In vain will the Govern- ment make generous efforts, in vain will it exhaust itself in sacrifices, if the domestic education of the people does not second its views and intentions, if it does not pow into the hearts the germs of virtue." — Journal de St. P4tersbourg, July 24, 1826, No. 86; and Sohnitzleb, ii. 316. 254 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP. Petersburg, sixty thousand strong, was on the morning after ^^"' the execution of the conspirators assembled on the Place of ^®^^* the Senate, where the mutineers had taken their station. The emperor issued from the Church of the Admiralty, which is the centre of St Petersburg, led by the Metro- politan Archbishop, clad in his pontifical robes, and accompanied by the Empress and Prince Charles of Prussia, her brother. A solemn thanksgiving was then performed at the altar, and the priests, descending from the steps, scattered holy water over the soldiers, the ischnitzier P^oplc, and the pavement of the square. When the ii. 318, 32o| purification was completed, the bands of all the regiments St. Peters- struck up a hallelujah; and the discharge of a hundred 2T\lm.^ guns announced that the expiation was concluded and the crime eiFaced.^ Nicholas made, in one important respect, a noble use of Great re- his victory. During the course of the long investigation de™?t-° *" which took place into the conspiracy, great part of which "oduceT ■^^s conducted by the emperor in person, ample revelations ''eror* *" ^^^^ made, not merely in regard to the extent and ramifica- tions of the conspiracy, but to the numerous social and poli- tical evils which had roused into such fearful activity so large a portion of the most intrepid and patriotic of the higher classes. The leaders, who were examined by the emperor, unfolded without reserve the whole evils which were com- plained of, in particular the dreadful corruption which pervaded every branch of the administration, and the innumerable delays and venality which obstructed or per- verted the course of justice in every department.* He * While the conspirators avowed that their designs ultimately involved the destruction of the emperor and his family, and expressed the deepest con- trition for that offence, they at the same time portrayed with courage and fidelity the social evils which consumed their country, and had induced them to take up arms. Many of them, Ryleif and Bestoujif in particular, evinced a noble spirit in misfortune. " I knew before I engaged in it," said the former to the emperor, " that my enterprise would ruin me, but I could no longer bear to see my country under the yoke of despotism : the seed which I have sown, rest assured, will one day germinate, and in the end bear fruit." " I repent of nothing I have done," said Michel Bestoujif; "I die satisfied, and HISTORY OP EUROPE. 255 was so horror-struck by the revelations ■which were made, chap. that for a long time he despaired of success in the attempt ^"•'' to cleanse out so vast and frightful an Augean stable ; ^^^®- and his spirits were so affected by the discoveries made, that gloom pervaded the whole court for a long time after his accession. But at length he rose superior to the difiB- ^^^^ ^^.^^ culties with which he was environed, and boldly set about ix. m-, applying a remedy, in the only true and safe method, by it 135, m. cautious and practical reform,^ His first care was to despatch circulars to all the 146. judges and governors in the empire, urging them in the Great I'egai most earnest way to the faithful discharge of their duty, JL^empe- under the severest penalties, and inculcating in an especial ''"'• manner the immediate decision of the numerous cases in arrear before them, both in regard to persons and pro- perty. With such success was this attended, that out of 2,850,000 processes depending in the beginning of 1826, nearly all had been decided before the end of that year ; and out of 127,000 persons under arrest, there remained only 4900, in the beginning of 1827, in custody. The change was so great and satisfactory, that it was with reason made the subject of a special congratulation from the emperor to the Minister of Justice. Some of the laws which pressed with most severity on the Cossacks and the southern provinces were repealed. But the grand defect, which struck the emperor in the internal adminis- tration of Russia, was the want of any regular code of laws in the hands of all the judges, accessible to all, according to which justice might be uniformly adminis- soon to bs avenged."' The emperor was so struck with the courage of his answers, and the hideous revelations which he made in regard to the abuses of the public administration, that he said to him, " I have the power to pardon you; and if I felt assured you would prove a faithful servant, I would gladly do so." " That, sire ! " said he, " is precisely what we complain of; the emperor can do everything, and there is no law. In the name of God, let justice take its course, and let the fate of your subjects not in future depend on your caprices or the impressions of the moment." They were noble men who, in presence of the emperor, and with the axe suspended over their heads, could express such sentiments in such language. — Schnitzler, ii. 134, 135. 256 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, tered in all the governments. This was the more essen- VIII, 1826. tial, since, as already noticed, in a great proportion of the governments the ukases of the emperors had never reached the judges. Great part, indeed, were what may be termed private ukases, being addressed to individuals, not the Senate, and yet binding on the whole community. They formed, as was well observed at the time, " a hidden code of laws yet ruling the empire. " To remedy this great defect, a complete collection of the ukases, which formed, like the rescripts of the Roman emperors, the laws of Russia, was formed, printed, and codified by the, order of Nicholas. The great work proved to be one of immense labour ; but by the vigilant attention and inces- sant energy of the emperor, it was completed in a sur- prisingly short space of time. The printing commenced on 1st May 1828, and was concluded on 1st April 1830. It then embraced 35,993 ukases or acts, of which 5075 had been pronounced since the accession of the present emperor, and the collection which was sent to all the judges amounted to flfty-six large quarto volumes. In addition to this, Nicholas undertook, and successfully carried through, a still more difficult undertaking — viz., the construction of a uniform code, forming a complete system of law, out of the enormous and often heteroge- neous materials. This gigantic undertaking, akin to the Institutes and Pandects of Justinian, was completed in seven years more, and now forms the "sood" or body of Russian law. Thus had Nicholas the glory, after having rivalled Caesar in the courage with which he had sup- pressed military revolt, of emulating Justinian in the zeal with which he prosecuted legal reforms. Yet must 1 Ann. Hist. ^^^ autagouists not be denied their share in the honour sdinttder ^^^ *° *^® fouudors of tho august temple ; for if the em- ii!i34,'i46. peror raised the superstructure, it was the blood of the martyrs which cemented the foundations.^ Yet was the crime of these generous but deluded men great, and their punishment not only necessary, but just. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 257 The beneficial results which followed their insurrection chap. were accidental onlj, and arose from its defeat ; had it been suppressed by other hands, or proved successful, it ^j^^^^- could not have failed to have induced the most terrible crime of calamities. Met and crushed by Ivan the Terrible orgentT'"'" the Empress Catherine, it would have drawn yet closer the bands of tyranny on the state, and thrown it back for centuries in the career of real freedom. No man had a right to calculate on the suppression of the revolt being immediately followed on the part of the con- queror by the compilation of the Pandects. It was utterly impossible that a military revolt, of which a few officers only knew the object, into which the private sol- diers had been drawn by deceit, and to which the com- mon people were entire strangers, could, if successful, ter- minate in anything but disaster. Even the Reign of Terror in France would have been but a shadow of what must have ensued in the event of success ; the pro- scriptions of Marius and Sylla, the slaughter of Nero, the centralised unmitigated despotism of the Lower Em- pire, could alone have been looked for. Benevolent intentions, generous self-devotion, patriotic spirit, are neither alone sufficient in public men, nor do they afford, even in the light of morality, an adequate vindication of their acts, if the laws are infringed. It is the first duty of those who urge on a movement to consider in what it must terminate, and whether the instruments by which it is to be accomplished are capable of performing the new duties required of them, if successful. Nations have seven ages, as well as man ; and he is their worst enemy, who, anticipating the slow march of time, inflames childhood with the passions of youth, or gives to youth the privileges of manhood. The coronation of the emperor and empress took place, with extraordinary pomp, at Moscow on the 22d August (3d September) in the same year. The youth and beauty of the two sovereigns, the dreadful contest which VOL. II. R VIII. 1826. 148. 258 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, had preceded their accession to the throne, the generous abnegation of self by which the mutual renunciation of the throne by the two imperial brothers had been cha- coronation racteriscd, gave an extraordinary interest to the august perorand spectaclo, and crowds of the most distinguished strangers M^.^cow." from every part of Europe flocked together to witness it. (s"|'t 1). The entry of their imperial majesties took place on the 5th August (17th), the emperor riding between the Grand-duke Michael and Prince Charles of Prussia ; the empress followed in a magnificent chariot, drawn by eight horses, having her son, the heir of the empire, by her side. Enthusiastic acclamations burst from the immense crowd, which advanced several miles on the road to St Peters- burg to meet them. Moscow exhibited the most splen- did spectacle. All traces of the conflagration of 1812 had disappeared, magnificent buildings had arisen on every side, and the quarters which had sufi'ered most from its ravages could now be traced only by the supe- rior elegance and durability of the stone structures, by which the former wooden palaces and buildings had been replaced. On the 15th, when, according to the custom of Russia, a great religious ceremony took place, an unex- pected event threw the people into transports of joy. The emperor appeared, holding with his right hand the Grand-duke Constantino, who had arrived the evening before in Moscow, and with his left the Gr-and-duke Michael. Shouts of joy arose from the assembled multi- tude, but the cry which resounded above all, "Hourra, Constantino !" at first startled the emperor; he had heard it on the Place of the Senate on the 26 th December. It was but for a moment, however, and his countenance was soon radiant with joy, when that prince was the first to do him homage, and threw himself into his arms. The universal acclamations now knew no bounds, the reality of the self-sacrifice was demonstrated ; future con- cord was anticipated from the bappy union in the imperial family. Splendid reviews of fifty thousand of the guards HISTORY OP EUROPE, 259 and chosen troops of the empire, and a hundred and sixty chap, guns, succeeded, and the coronation took place on the day ^"^' fixed, 22d August (3d September), in the cathedral of ^ ^^'^^: Moscow, with circumstances of unheard-of magnificence ix. 353,366; and splendour. The Grand-duke Constantino was the ftmfssj. first to tender his homage to the new sovereign. 1 Nicholas I., who, under such brilliant circumstances, and after the display of such invincible resolution, thus character ascended the throne of Russia, and whom subsequent perwNt^" events have, in a manner, raised up to become an arbiter pSKe^- of Eastern Europe, is the greatest sovereign that that^^fp^^^^ country has known since Peter the Great ; in some re- "^^ ^'^**- spects he is greater than Peter himself. Not less ener- getic in character and ardent in improvement than his illustrious predecessor, he is more thoroughly national, and he has brought the nation forward more com- pletely in the path which nature had pointed out for it. Peter was a Russian only in his despotism : his violence, his cruelty, his beneficence, his ardour for im- provement, his patriotic ambition, were all borrowed from the states of western Europe. As these states were greatly farther advanced in the career of civilisa- tion than his was, his reforms were in great part prema- ture, his improvements abortive, his refinements super- ficial. He aimed at doing by imperial, what so many ardent men have endeavoured to effect by democratic despotism — to engraft on one nation the institutions of another, and reap from the infancy of civilisation the fruits of its maturity. The attempt failed in his hands, as it has ever done in those of his republican imitators, as it will do in those of their successors, whether on the throne Or in the tribune, to the end of the world. His civilisation was all external merely ; it made a brilliant appearance, but it did not extend beneath the surface, and left untouched the strength and vitals of the state. He flattered himself he had civilised Russia, because he ruled by a police which governed it 260 HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP, by fear, and an army which retained it in subjection by discipline. \f^- Nicholas, on the other hand, is essentially Russian in Heisessen- all his idcas. He is heart and soul patriotic, not merely sjanf "^" in -wish, but in spirit and thought. He wishes to improve and elevate his country, and he has done much to effect that noble object; but he desires to do so by developing, not changing the national spirit, by making it become a first Russia, not a second France or England. He has adopted the maxim of Montesquieu, that no nation ever attained to real greatness but by institutions in conformity with its spirit. He is neither led away by the thirst for sud- den mechanical improvement, like Peter, nor the praises of philosophers, like Catherine, nor the visions of inexpe- rienced philanthropy, like Alexander. He has not at- tempted to erect a capital in a pestilential marsh, and done so at the expense of a hundred thousand lives; nor has he dreamt of mystical regeneration with a visionary sybil, and made sovereigns put their hands to a holy alliance from her influence. He neither corresponds with French atheists nor English democrats; he despises the praises of the first, he braves the hostility of the last. His maxim is to take men as they are, and neither sup- pose them better nor worse. He is content to let Russia grow up in a Russian garb, animated with a Russian spirit, and moulded by Russian institutions, without the aid either of Parisian communism pr British liberalism. The improvements he has effected in the government of his dominions have been vast, the triumphs with which his external policy have been attended unbounded ; but they have all been achieved, not in imitation of, but in opposition to, the ideas of western Europe. They be- speak, not less than his internal government, the national character of his policy. But if success is the test of worldly wisdom, he has not been far wrong in his system ; for he has passed the Balkan, heretofore impervious to ^ his predecessors ; he has conquered Poland, converted HISTORY OF EUROPE, 261 the Euxine into a Russian lake, planted the cross on the chap. bastions of Erivan, and opened through subdued Hun- ^^"' gary a path to Constantinople. ^^^^• Nature has given him all the qualities fitted for such an elevated destiny. A lofty stature and princely air His peiaon- give additional influence to a majestic countenance, inaLTS' which the prevailing character is resolution, yet not un- '''"'"^'" mixed with sweetness. Like Wellington, Csesar, and many other of the greatest men recorded in history, his expression has become more intellectual as he advanced in years, and became exercised in the duties of sovereignty, instead of the stern routine of military discipline. Ex- emplary in all the relations of private life, a faithful hus- band, an affectionate father, he has exhibited in a brilliant court, and when surrounded by every temptation which life can offer, the simplicity and affections of patriarchal life. Yet is he not a perfect character. His virtues often border upon vices. His excellencies are akin to defects. Deeply impressed with the responsibility of his situation, his firmness has sometimes become sternness, his sense of justice degenerated into severity. ^'' He knows how to * " It is in regard to political offences of a serious dye, however, that this Beverity chiefly applies. In lesser matters, relating to order and discipline, he is more indulgent, and at times generous. At his coronation at Moscow, his eyes met those of General Paskewitch, who had severely upbraided him for some military error at the head of his regiment some years before. ' Do you recollect,' said he, with a stern air, ' how you once treated me here ? The wind has turned ; take care lest I return you the like.' Two days after, he appointed him General-in-Chief. " — Schnitzlee, ii. 356. A striking proof of the emperor's simplicity of character is recor3ed by the Marquis Custiue, who had frequent and confidential conversations with him. Speaking of his conduct on the revolt of 26th December, he said: " ' J'ignorais ce que j'allais faire, j'gtais inspire.' 'Pour avoir de pareilles inspirations,' disait le Marquis, ' U faut les meriter. ' ' Je n'ai fait rien d'extraordinaire, r^pliqua PEmpereiu" ; ' j'ai dit aux soldats, retoumez ^ vos rangs; et au mo' ment de passer le rdgiment en revue, j'ai crid, h, genoux. Tons ont obM. Co qui m'a rendu fort, c'est que I'instant auparavant, j'^tais rgsign^ k la mort. Je Buis reconnaissant du succes, je n'en suis pas fier ; je n'y ai auoun m§rite.' ' Votre majestS, ' r^pliqua Custine, 'a 6t& sublime dans cette occasion.' ' Je n'ai pas ^t^ sublime, ' rgpondit I'empereur,. ' je n' ai fait que mon metier. En pareUle circonstance, nul ne pent savoir ce qu'il dira ; on court au-devant du p^ril, sans se demander comment on s'en, tirera.' " — Lb Mabquis de Custinb, Eussk en 1839, ii. 40, 41, 67. Lamartine has frequently said in society, in re- 262 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and has often '^^"' evinced a noble and magnanimous spirit in separating the ^^^^- one from the other, and showing oblivion of injury, even kindness to the relatives of those who had conspired against his throne and life. But towards the guilty themselves he has not been equally compassionate. He has not always let the passions of the contest pass away with its termination. He is an Alexander the Great in resolution, but not in magnanimity. He wants the last grace in the heroic character — he does not know how to forgive. ference to his conduct when he persuaded the people to lay aside the red flag at Paris, on the revolution of 1848, " J'^tais sublime ce jour-la. " Such is the difference between the simplicity of the really magnanimous and the self-love of those in whom it is deformed by overweening and discreditable vanity. I have heard this anecdote of Lamartine from two ladies of high rank, both of whom heard him use the expression on different occasions in reference to his own conduct, which was really noble and courageous on that day. aiSTORY OP EUROPE. 263 CHAPTER IX. EOYALIST REACTION IN FRANCE. FEANCE FROM THE COUP d'eTAT OP 5TH MARCH 1819, TO THE ACCESSION OP THE PURELY ROYALIST MINISTRY IN DECEM- BER 1821. Theee is no instance in the whole records of history of chap. a country which so rapidly recovered from the lowest point '- — of depression, as France did in the interval from the close j^^' of 1816 to the beginning of 1820. Every conceivable cf^ateviia ill which could afiQict a state seemed to have accumu- at the close lated around it at the commencement of that period. Its ° capital was taken, its government overturned, its sovereign a dethroned captive, its army defeated and disbanded, and eleven hundred thousand armed men in possession of its territory. Contributions to an enormous and unheard-of extent had been imposed upon its inhabitants; the armed multitude lived at free quarters amongst them, and were supported by exactions coming from their industry ; and above sixty millions sterling of indemnities had been levied on them for the allied powers or their subjects. Such was the bequest of the Revolution to France. The incle- mency of nature had united with the rigour of man to waste the devoted land. The summer and autumn' of 1816 had been beyond all example cold and stormy; the harvest had proved extremely deficient, and prices risen 264 HISTORY OP BUROPtf. CHAP, in many places to a famine level. It seemed impossible for human malignity to conceive a greater accumulation 1819. 2. of disasters, or for human ability to devise any mode of rendering them bearable. Nevertheless it proved otherwise, and the resurrection Eapid'flow of France was as rapid as had been her fall into the abyss rity "luch of misfortune. Three years only had elapsed, and all was themln\he changed. Plenty had succeeded to want, confidence to next year, (jigtrugt^ prosperity to miscry. The Allies had withdrawn, the territory was freed : the contributions were paid or provided for, the national faith had been preserved entire. All this had been purchased by a cession of territory so small that it was not worth speaking of. The pubhc funds were high in comparison of what they had been ; and though the loans necessary to furnish the Govern- ment with the funds to make good its engagements had been contracted at a very high rate of interest, yet the resources of the country had enabled its rulers to pay it with fidelity and exactness, and strengthened their credit with foreign states. The simple preservation of peace — a blessing so long unknown to France — had effected all these prodigies, and worked wonders in the restoration of the national industry. Agriculture, relieved from the wast- ing scourge of the conscription, had sensibly revived ; the husbandman everywhere sowed in hope, reaped in safety; and the benignity of Providence, which awarded a favour- able harvest in 1818 and 1819, filled the land withplen- teousness. Great improvements had in many places been introduced into this staple branch of the national indus- try. The division of property, which always induces a great increase in the amount of labour applied to the cultivation, had not as yet been attended by its subse- quent effect — an exhaustion of its productive powers; and the six millions of proprietors succeeded in extracting a considerable increase of subsistence from the fields. New and valuable trees had been planted in the woods ; and HISTORY OF EUROPE. 265 horticulture, to which a large part of the country near the chap. great towns was devoted, had made rapid strides by the ^^' introduction of the improved style of English gardening. ^^'^• Population had largely advanced since the peace ; but no want was experienced among the inhabitants. Commerce had everywhere revived, latterly it had come to flourish to an extraordinary degree. The animation on the roads in the interior, on the canals which conveyed merchandise, and in the seaport towns, proved how largely the means 3i9, m. of consumption had increased among the inhabitants. ^ The capital, in an especial manner, had shared in the general prosperity, and gave unequivocal proof of its Briuiant reality and extent. The concourse of strangers attracted oFparir* by its celebrity, its monuments, its galleries, its theatres, and its other attractions, was immense ; and their great expenditure consoled the Parisians for the national re- verses which had paved the way for their arrival. The Russians and English, their most formidable and perse- vering enemies,»were in an especial manner conspicuous in this lucrative immigration. Under the influence of such extraordinary stimulants, Paris exhibited an unwonted degree of aflluence : the brilliant equipages and crowded streets bespoke the riches which were daily expended, while the piles of splendid edifices arising on all sides exceeded anything previously witnessed in the brightest days of its history, and added daily to the architectural observation. beauties it presented. ^ Statistical facts of unquestionable correctness and con- vincing weight attested the reality and magnitude of this Exports, change. The exports, imports, and revenue of the coun- Mv^ueof try had all gone on increasing, and latterly in an ac- furbg^twa celerated ratio. The imports, which in 1815 (the last ?'"'"'• year of Napoleon's reign) had been only 199,467,660 francs, had risen, in 1817, to 332,000,000, and in 1821 they had advanced to 355,591,877 francs. The exports also had risen considerably; they had increased from 266 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. IX. 1819. 422,000,000 to 464,000,000 francs.* The amount of revenue levied during these years could not, by possi- bility, afford a true index to the real state of the coun- try, from the enormous amount of the contributions to the allied powers ; but in those items in which an increase was practicable, or which indicated the greater wellbeing of the people, the improvement was very conspicuous. So marked a resurrection of a country and advance of its social condition, in so short a period, had perhaps never been witnessed ; and it is the more remarkable, from its occurring immediately after such unprecedented misfor- tunes, and from the mere effect of an alteration in the system and policy of Government. Add to this, that France had now, for the first time in Thorough its entire history, obtained the full benefit of representa- ment'lfre- ti^^ iustitutions. The electors of the Chamber of Depu- presentative jjgg ^gj.g fg^ [^ numbcr — indeed, not exceeding 80,000 institutions ^ , •, in France, for the wholc couutry — but they represented the national feelings so thoroughly, that their represantatives in par- liament had not only got the entire command of the state, but they expressed the national wishes as faithfully as eight millions could have done. If there was anything to be condemned on the part of Government, it was that it had yielded too rapidly and immediately to the wishes of the people, whatever they were at the moment. The Royalist reaction of 1815; the subsequent leaning to liberal * Exports and Tmfoets and Eetentje of Fbanob, peom 1815 to 1821. Years. Imports. Franca. . ^Exports. Francs. Revenue Ordinary. Francs. Revenue Extraordinary. Francs. Total Revenue. Francs. 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 199,467,661 242,698,763 382,874,593 335,574,488 294,648,286 335,009,566 355,591,857 368,990,533 422,147,776 547,706,317 464,049,387 502,284,083 460,232,224 543,112,774 450,788,843 427,679,156 729,154,571 878,903,354 899,813,624 937,751,487 895,386,818 933,439,553 928,515,658 937,427,670 147,163,661 157,801,000 370,498,896 476,329,198 41,271,966 5,798,510 7,436,491 16,493,692 876,318,232 1,036,804,354 1,270,312,550 1,414,080,685 936,668,784 939,238,063 936,653,049 953,921,262 — Statistique de la France Commerce Exttrieur, p. 9 ; Ibid., Administration PuUique, 116, 121, HISTORY OP EUROPE. 267 institutions ; the coup d'Uat of September 5, 1816 ; the .chap. .1819. great creation of peers in March 1819, had all been done in conformity with the wishes, and in obedience to the fierce demands, of the majority at the time. Weak from the outset, in consequence of the calamitous circumstances under which it was first established, and deprived at length of all support from external force, the Government had no alternative throughout but to conform, in every material step, to the national will, and for good or for evil inaugurate the people at once in the power of self- government. To such a length had this been carried, that at the close of the period the king had come to an entire rupture with his Royalist supporters, and thrown himself without reserve into the arms of the Liberal and anti-monarchical party. It might reasonably have been expected that these great concessions would have conciliated the Constitutional which have party, who were now not only in possession of the bless- conciliating ings of freedom, but the sweets of of&ce, and that they pa^ty.' ^™ would have done their utmost to support a Government which had conferred such advantages upon their country and themselves. Yet it was just the reverse. With every concession made to them, their demands rose higher, their exasperation became greater; the press was never so violent, the public effervescence so extreme, as when the Government was opposing the least resistance to the po- pular will ; and at length the danger became so imminent, from the increasing demands of the Liberals and the me- nacing aspect of the legislature, that the king, from sheer necessity, and much against his will, was driven into a change of system, and return to a monarchical adminisr tration. The new Ministry, appointed when the Liberals were in the ascendant, being not altogether confident in PopuiLracta their stability, and having come to an open rupture with Minitt^yr ■ the Royalists, did everything in their power to increase 1819. 268 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, their popularity, and conciliate the democratic party, upon whom they exclusively depended. Various measures of great utility, and attended by the very best consequences, were set on foot, which have been felt as beneficial even to these times. To them we owe the first idea of an exhi- bition of the works of national industry, which was fixed for the 25th August 1819, to be followed by a similar one every two years afterwards, and which was attended with such success that it gave rise, in its ultimate efiects, to the magnificent Great Exhibition in London, in the year 1851. A Council-General of Agriculture was esta- blished, consisting of ten members, of whom the Minister of the Interior was President, which was to correspond with and direct affiliated societies all over the kingdom. In the choice of its members the most laudable impartial- ity was shown, and the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, the head of the Royalist nobility, was the first person on the list, followed by the Dukes of Choiseul and Liancourt, who were equally distinguished by their opposition to the present Government. A Council-General of Prisons was established, and the attention of the philanthropist directed to the unhappy convicts, a class of sufferers who had been alike neglected amidst the declamations of the Republic and the glories of the Empire. To aid them in their philanthropic labour, a society was formed, under the direction of the Minister of the Interior, which, under the title of the " Royal Society of Prisons," was soon actively engaged with projects for the improvement of prison discipline, and moral and religious instruction of the inmates. Great solicitude was evinced for the , advancement of primary instruction ; and in no former 32^^3-26'; P^"°*^' either of the Republic or the Empire, had a greater ui' m- ""'^'^sr of improvements been efifected in that important aufpr^n •^^P*^'''"®'^* of public instruction.! Finally, the attention ii. 271.^ ' of the Government was directed, in an especial manner, to the administration of justice, and the numerous abuses HISTORY OF EUROPE. 269 which prevailed in the delay generally incurred in bring- chap. ing prisoners to trial ; and a circular issued by M. de ^^' SeiTes, the Minister of Justice, deserves a place in history, '^'^• from the admirable spirit which it breathes on a subject hitherto unaccountably neglected by all the parties who had been successively called to the helm of affairs. * At the same time, nearly the whole persons banished for their accession to the conspiracy of the Hundred Days Returiof received permission to return to their country. Maret, m^y oatr Duke of Bassano, the principal author of that revolt, ob- °cribe/to' tained it, and after his return the same indulgence could ^'^^<^^- scarcely be refused to inferior delinquents. The king never refused forgiveness to any application from any of his Ministers; rarely to any respectable inferior application. By these means, in a few months nearly all the proscribed persons, excepting the actual regicides, had returned to their country, and these were so few in number, and for the most part so old and infirm, that their absence or presence, except as an example, and indicatmg the triumph ise, iss; or defeat of a principle, was almost equally an object of alii"' ' indifference.^ Notwithstanding this indulgent administration, and substantial benefits conferred on France by the Govern- ment of the Restoration, it was daily becoming more un- * " Des reclamations nombreuses ont signale dans ces demiers tempa divers abus dans I'lnstruction des Procedures crimineUes. Ces plaintes peuvent n'etre pas exemptes d'exag&atioa. II paralt eependant que plusieurs ne sont que trop foud&s. EUes ont port^ sur la facilite, la Iggeret^ mSme, aveo laqueUe sont faites les arrestations. 2. Sur une prolongation ou un application abusive de rinterdiction aux pr^venus de communiquer. 3. Enfin, sur la negligence apportee dans I'lnstruction des proces. Je crois done utile de retracer sur chacun de ces points les principes, ^ la stricte application desquels vous devez sans oesse rappeler les Procureura du Eoi, les Juges d'Instruction, et chacun des agents judiciadres qui vous sont subordonnSs. .... Attachez-vous h imprimer fortemeut cette v^rite aux Magistrate Instruoteurs que la cSUritS dans les Informations est pour eux un devoir imperieux, et qu'ils se chargent d'une grande responsabilitg lorsque, sans une ngcessitS gvidente,ils la prolongent au del& du temps suffisant pour faire rigler la Competence, et statuer sur la Prgoonisation en Connaiasance de Cauae." — Circulaire aux PrSfeti, 24th April 1819. Circulaire aiia Pr^fetSyU. 211. , 270 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, popular, and the general discontent had now reached such ^^' a height as seriously to menace its existence. Three ^^'^' elections remained to complete the last renewal of the Increasing Chamber, and the persons elected, M. Daunou, Saint- th^^be-^ Aignan, and Benjamin Constant, were all leaders of the lil^^cetT extreme democratic party. Nor was the hostility to the the Govern- Miuistcrs coufiued to electoral contests. In the Chamber ment.- itself the most violent and systematic resistance was made to every proposal of the Government ; and every conces- sion they made, so far from disarming the opposition, only rendered it more virulent and persevering. The press was never so violent and undisguised in its attacks on the administration ; and to such- a length did its hostility proceed, that before two months had elapsed from the coup d'Stat creating sixty new peers in the democratic interest. Ministers found it necessary to bring forward a lasting law regarding the press, to be a bridle on its fexcesses. Although this law was a great concession to the Lawre'gard- popular party, and placed the liberty of the press upon a press!'^ better basis than it had ever been, since the Restoration April 21. gg^Ye freedom to France, it excited the most violent oppo- sition in both Chambers and in the public press. It abolished the censorship- — an immense step in the progress of real freedom — and declared that offences against the laws for restraining its excesses should be tried by juries. This was evidently laying the only true foundation for entire freedom on this subject ; but the enactment which it also contained, that the proprietors of newspapers should find security to meet fines or claims of damages which might be awarded against them, gave rise to the most violent opposition, both in the legislature and the public journals. " The press is strangled," was the uni- versal cry ; " give us back the censorship." Yet — mark- worthy circumstance — the proposal passed into a law ; the resistance was overcome ; of the whole journals, not HISTORY OF EUROPE. 271 one perished from inability to find caution ; but the chap. violence and vehemence of the press became greater than L_ ever. In truth, in an age of intelligence and strong poli- ^®'^" tical excitement, it is impossible to restrain the press ; and the enactments of the legislature, be they what they may, are of little consequence, for they ere long become a dead letter. During the whole of the stormy discussion which took place on this subject, the Royalists took no part, confining themselves to the urging an amendment, declaring offences against religion punishable ; which was agreed to. They desired freedom of discussion as the only means of achieving their return to power ; but they were ashamed of the allies who aided them at the moment in the attempt. The project passed ultimately into a law by a majority of eighty-five ; the numbers being a i cap. yi. hundred and forty- three to fifty-eight ; and thus the LaI,'.i^Vo7; Restoration might justly boast of having obtained for ^^gji^J^'- France the inestimable blessing of a real liberty of the liosMom- press, to which no approach ever had been made during 22, isis. either the Revolution or the Empire.^ A still more vehement debate took place on a matter which was anxiously pressed on the king by the whole Debate on extreme left of the Chamber, and all their supporters in of Ihe p™ the public press — viz., the general and unqualified return sons.'**^^'" of the proscribed persons. From the state of maturity to which the project for the overthrow of the Bourbons had arrived, this was a matter of very great importance ; for the exiles whom it was proposed to get back would be the very first to become its leaders. The Ministers resisted the attempt to force such a measure upon the king ; they had some information as to the danger which impended over the monarchy, and thought justly, that if the sovereign was driven into such a general measure, it ^ ^^ ^j would take away all credit for acts of grace conferred i 70, 171; ■i ° . , Ann. Hist. upon individuals.^ M. de Serres, on this occasion, broke ii. 228,229, forth into an eloquent declamation, the termination of 272 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, which made an immense sensation, and contributed, in an ^^' essential manner, to alienate the democratic leaders from ^^'^- the crown, and reveal the secret hostility with which they were actuated against it. " In the petitions which have been presented," said speelhof M. de Serres, "it is particularly to be observed, that res on the' thcro is no question as to individuals exiled for a time subject ^Q^gj. tijg ig^^ of 12th January 1816, but of all the pro- scribed individuals in a mass. They include not only the regicides, but the family of Buonaparte himself. When the deplorable day of the 20th March 1815 appeared, in the midst of the profound consternation of all good citi- zens, and the frantic joy of a few agitators ; when, from the confines of Europe and Asia to the shores of the ocean, Europe ran to arms, and France was invaded by millions of foreign soldiers ; when it was despoiled of its fortune, its monuments, and in danger of having its terri- tory reft away, every one felt that the first duty of every good citizen was to defend the crown by severe measures against fresh aggressions. Then arose the question, whether the individuals who had concurred in the vote for the death of Louis XVI. should be removed from the French territory ; and every one knows with what perseverance the royal clemency struggled against the proposition for their banishment. Many men, known by their boundless devotion to the royal cause, and to the principles of a constitutional monarchy, maintained that a universal and unqualified amnesty should be pronounced. But it was otherwise decided ; and having been so, the decision was irrevocable. The extreme generosity of the king might engage individuals to abstain from voting; but when once the law was passed, it was evidently im- 1 Ann. Hist, possible, without doing violence to the strongest moral n;tln?'Mly f'sclings, without inflicting a fatal wound on the royal ca ^vPih ^"tboJ'ity i° tl^6 eyes of France and Europe, to urge the 173." ■ ' king to restore to the country the assassins of his brother, his lawfully crowned predecessor.^ It is necessary, there- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 273 fore, to make a distinction between the individuals struck chap. at by the law of January 1816. In the irrevocable ^^' category should be placed the family of Buonaparte and ^'"^■ the regicide voters. The rest are only exiled for a time. To conclude in one word — ^the regicides, never; as to those exiled for a time, entire confidence in the goodness of the king." The expression used by M. de Serres, jamais (never), made an immense sensation. It at once separated the immense extreme Left from the Ministry, and, by the exasperation Zt^ which it produced, revealed their secret designs. So great ll^'^ ^^' was the ferment that, in the report of his speech in the Moniteur, it was deemed necessary to add a qualifying expression, to the effect that, although the regicides could never claim a return, they might hope for it from the clemency of the king, in consideration of age and infir- mities.* But this qualification produced no impression. The unqualified words had been spoken by the minister in his place in the Chamber, and were taken as a decisive indication of the intentions of Government. The exas- peration of the extreme Liberals, accordingly, continued unabated, and was so strongly expressed in the contem- porary journals in their interest, that both M. de Serres and M. Decazes began to hesitate in regard to the pos- sibility of carrying on the government by the support of such allies. A schism, attended in the end with important effects, was beginning in the Cabinet, and to this period is to be referred the commencement of an j ^^^ . alteration in the sentiments of the leading members i?*, \p\ of administration, which ultimately led to a change of 317.'"* ' government.^ Open war being now declared between the Govern- ment and the Liberal press, and all restraints upon the latter being taken away by the removal of the censorship, • " A rSgard des rggioides jamais, sauf, oomme je I'ai dit, les tolerances ac- cordges par la cUmence du roi &, 1'fl.ge et aux infirmitfe." — Momtewr, May 18, 1819; Ann. Mist. ii. 230. VOL. II. S 274 HISTORY OP EUKOPE. CHAP, there was no end to the violence with which Ministers were assailed by the democratic party. All that they had ^\f' done was forgotten; what it was feared they would do Increasing alone was considcred. The coup d'Mat, which had changed Ixas^era-" the Electoral Law, and promised soon to give them the pre^s?^*''^ command of the Chambers— the creation of peers, which had already given them a majority in the npper cham- ber — were never once mentioned : the word " jamais" alone resounded in every ear. The most unbounded benefits conferred on their country and themselves were forgotten in the denial of an amnesty to a few hoary Jacobins, stained with every atrocity which could dis- grace humanity. Three-fourths of the pubhc press was leagued together against the Government, and poured forth its venom daily with a vigour and talent which bore down all opposition. The Gourrier, which was support- ed by the Doctrinaire party, and adorned by the talents of M. Guizot, Royer-OoUard, and Kerratry, proved in this strife no match for the Gonstitutionnel, which then first attained its immense circulation, and in which M. Thiers was beginning his eventful career. The Royalist journals, in which M. Chateaubriand and Hyde Neuville exerted their talents, were supported with greater genius and eloquence than the Liberal, and strongly confirmed the minority, which agreed with them in their opinion of the present downward progress of things ; but their voices were those of a minority only of the entire population. The majority, upon the whole, was decidedly with the Liberals, and they were more vehement in their attacks on the Government than they iLac. ii. ^^^ been on the Royalist administration. A popular cip.vf.'' P'^''! "^liich is suspected of an intention of stopping ilm-VT' ^° ^^^ career of concession, soon becomes the object of 2J3,"2i4. more inveterate hostility than that, which had always opposed it.i As these ulcerated feelings arose from disappointed ambition rather than patriotic feeling, they were in no HISTORY OP BUKOPB. 275 degree abated by the general prosperity which prevailed, chapj and which proved how much, as a whole, the. Government !_ of the Restoration had deserved the support and affee- ^^'^• tions of the country. The budget of 1819 presented a Budget of striking and most gratifying contrast to those which had preceded it, and proved the immensity of the relief which the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the evacuation of the territory, had procured for the French nation.* The estimated expenses of the year were only 889,200,000 francs, being a reduction of nearly 300,000,000 francs from those of the preceding year, which had amounted to 1,154,000,000 francs. In the expense of the year, independent of the cessation of the payments to the Allies, there was a reduction of 15,000,000 francs. The Government had good reason to congratulate itself upon the exposition of its financial situation : nothing nearly so favourable had been presented since the Revolution; for here was a reduction of £12,000,000 a-year, effected, not by contributions exacted from other countries, or any reduction in the national armaments, but simply by sue- ^^^^ ^^ ^ cessful diplomatic arrangements with foreign states, and "• lei, les; the moderation on the part of their rulers which the isl.'"' ' policy of the French Government had inspired.^ All eyes, in the autumn of this year, were fixed on the annual election for filling up the fifth of the Chamber, Prepar'a- which by law was vacated and renewed every season. eiectio"of* Already the evils of these annual elections had come to ^^^^■ be severely felt; and the expression of the approach of * The budget of 1819 stood thus :— Francs. Interest of public debt, . 232,000,000 Civil list and royal family, 34,000,000 Foreign Affairs, 8,000,000 — Justice, 17,460,000 — Interior, 102,700,000 — War, . . ' . 192,750,000 — Marine, 45,200,000 — Miscellaneous, . 257,000,000 889,210,000, or ^636,450,000 -A nnuaire Sistorique, ii. 161. 276 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, the " Electoral Fever " had become as common as, in ^^' after days, that of the approach of the cholera was to '^'*- be. Ministers felt strongly the importance of the ensuing election, and exerted themselves to the utmost to gain popularity before it came on. The king visited frequently the magnificent exhibition of the productions of native industry, which was held in the Louvre, and was prodigal of those flattering expressions of which he was so accom- plished a master : not a manufacturer withdrew without believing that he had captivated the royal taste. Crosses of the Legion of Honour were profusely bestowed; but yet with discernment, and without regard to party; and the circulars to the prefects earnestly inculcated the utmost lenity in prosecution of offenders, and diligence in encou- raging every object of social improvement. The prose- cution of the assassins of Marshal Bxune was authorised, if they could be discovered ; the proscribed returned in crowds from Belgium; while, to conciliate the Royalists, the concordat with the court of Rome was modified; bulls were given to the new French bishops; and the sacred ceremonies frequently announced the installation of a new bishop in his diocese. A million of francs (£40,000) was devoted to the establishment of new parish priests ; while, to evince their impartiality, three new Protestant ministers were endowed at the same time with the Catholic bishops; and the presidents of the electoral colleges were all chosen from the Centre of the 216^^2191* Assembly, and taken from men of modei'ation and respectability.! It was all in vain; and the elections of 1819, which 17 . Theirresuif. had au important effect on the destinies of the monarchy, theTbbf afford another example of the truth exemplified by so Gr^goire. j^any passages of contemporary history — that in periods of excitement, when the passions are violently roused, moderate men are assailed on both sides, and it is the extremes on either who alone prove successful. All that HISTORY OP EUROPE. 277 the king and the ministers had done for the Liberal party chap. — and it was not a little — went for nothing ; or rather, ^^ they only encouraged them to rise in their demands, and ^"^^^ return representatives who would extort what they wished from the Government. The Royalists in many places coalesced with them to throw out the ministerial candi- dates : their journals openly advised them to do so, inculcating the doctrine, " Better the Jacobins than the Ministerialists; for the Jacobins will bring matters to a crisis." In truth, however, the crisis was nearer than they imagined, and it was brought on very much by their policy. Five-and-thirty extreme Liberals were re- turned, fifteen Ministerialists, and only four -Royalists. Among those whom the Liberals returned were General FoT, the most distinguished popular orator of the Resto- ration, and two extreme Jacobins, whose appearance in the returned lists excited universal consternation — M. 2i6*'22t' Lambrecht, and the AbbiS Gri^goire, the Jacobin and ^i^-'i-^so. constitutional bishop of Blois, whose name was identified vi. 221,222. with several of the worst acts of the Convention.^ The Abbe Gr^goire, who had left the Church of Rome during the Revolution, and received in return from the Biography civil authorities the bishopric of Blois, had not actually Gregoire. " voted for the death of Louis XVI., having been absent on a mission at the time; but he had given several subse- quent votes, which evinced his approval of that great legislative murder. His language had always been violent and immeasured against royalty and the Bourbons; and no one had spread brief sarcastic sayings against them more widely, or done more to injure their cause with the great body of the people, with whom stinging epithets or bold assertions often prevail more than sound argument or truth in the statement of facts. A mute senator under the Empire, he had possessed good sense enough to abstain from joining in the movement which followed the return of Napoleon from Elba, which prevented his being in- 278 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, eluded in the sentence of banishment pronounced against IX. 1819. those concerned in that event, and paved the way for his return as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He had never been wholly faithless to the cause of Chris- tianity, though he had to that of the court of Rome, in whose service he had been; and there were many worse men in the Convention. But it was impossible to find 1 Lam. VI. ^ 222,223; Que morc personally obnoxious to the Bourbons, or whose 229.' ' 'return was considered a more decided triumph by the party which aimed at their overthrow.^ General Foy, a far nobler and superior character. General though uot SO much dreaded at the time, proved a much biography, more formidable enemy in the end to the Government of the Restoration. Born at Havre in 1775, he had early served under Dumourier, Pichegru, and Dampierre in the legions of the Revolution. Subsequently he was wounded by the side of Desaix, in one of the campaigns in Germany; and he served under Massena in the cam- paign of Zurich in 1799. He early evinced, however, an independent spirit, and devoted his leisure hours, in the intervals of his campaign, to the study of law and social questions. He refused to sign the servile addresses which were sent by the troops with whom he acted to Napoleon, fell, in consequence, under the imperial displeasure, and was sent to Spain to expiate his offence in the dreadful campaigns in that country. To this circumstance we owe his very interesting account of the early campaigns in that memorable war. He joined the Bourbons in 1814; but, without being implicated, like so many others, in the revolt of 1815, he hastened to the scene of danger when the independence of France was menaced; and none 22^^'227-' ^°°^b^t®<^ ^it'i ™ore gallantry both at Quatre-Bras and Biog. Univ. Waterloo. In 1815, he returned to private life, on the 294? ' disbanding of the army, and employed his leisure hours in writing the annals of his campaigns.^ The only man in the Chamber who, on the Ministerial HISTORY OF EUROPE. 279 side, was capable of balancing the power of General Foy chap. on the Liberal, was M. be Seeres. He was in every sense a very eminent man, and seemed to have inherited the ^^^^' spirit of Mirabeau without being stained by his vices, and m. de sor- enlightened by experience and subsequent events. He '^°'' was fitted by nature, if any man was, to have brought about the marriage of the hereditary monarchy with the liberty of the Revolution, which that great man, in the close of his career, endeavoured to effect, but which his own vio- lence at that period had contributed to render impossible. A Royalist by descent, born on 12th March 1776, of a noble family in Lorraine, he had, in the first instance, served with the other emigrants in the army of the Prince of Conde against the Revolution. But his inclination led him to peaceful studies rather than warlike pursuits, and he returned to France on occasion of Napoleon's amnesty in 1801, and began his studies for the bar. Such, how- ever, at that period, from long residence abroad, was his ignorance of his own language, that he required to study it as a foreign tongue. He made his dSbut at the pro- vincial bar of Metz, and in a few years had distinguished himself so much that in 1811 Napoleon appointed him public prosecutor there, and soon after President of the Imperial Court at Hamburg. In that situation he re- mained till 1814, when, having declared his adhesion to the Bourbons on the fall of Napoleon, he was appointed President of the Royal Court at Colmar, a situation which he held when he was named deputy for that uniy.' department in 1815. With that commenced his pariia- 133^134. mentary and ministerial career.^ His principles were Royalist from birth and early im- pressions, and he was of a religious disposition ; but when Hischarac- his reason was fully developed, his opinions inclined to ^''' the Liberal side, and then he readily fell into the alli- ance of the Royalist Liberals, of whom M. Decazes was the head, and which Louis XVIII. adopted as the basis 280 HISTORY OF BUKOPB. CHAP, of his government. He was more remarkable for the TV power of his eloquence, and the commanding flow of 1819. his oratory, than the consistency of his political con- duct. His soul was ardent, his imagination rich, his words impassioned, his elocution clear and emphatic. He was thus the most powerful debater, the most brilliant orator on the ministerial side, and was put forward by them on all important occasions as their most valuable supporter. Such was the force of his language, and the generous liberality of his sentiments, that he not only never failed to command general attention, but often to elicit the warmest applause from both sides of the Cham- ber — an intoxicating but dangerous species of homage, to which the consistency of more than one very eminent man, on both sides of the Channel, has fallen a sacrifice. His previous life and known principles still obtained for him the applause of the Royalists, while the newborn liberality of his sentiments extorted the cheers of the Liberals on the left. Thus his parliamentary influence at the moment was extensive — more so, perhaps, than that of any other man ; but it was not likely to be durable. Mere talent, how great soever, will not long secure the sufirages of any body of men, least of all of an assembly in which ambition is the ruling principle of action in the great majority. Both sides applaud him so long as both hope to gain him, but when his decision is once taken, the party which he has abandoned becomes his bitterest enemy. Wisdom of thought and consistency of conduct, though often exposed to obloquy at the time, are the only secure foundation for lasting fame, because they 2nT' "' alone can lead to a course upon which time will stamp its approval.^ The result of the elections, and in an especial manner the return of the Abbe Gr^goire, acted like a clap of thunder on Louis XVIII. and M. Decazes, to whose Elec- toral Law it was obviously to be ascribed. It was no longer 1 Lam. vi. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 281 possible to shut their eyes to the danger. Every successive chap. election, since the coup d'etat of September 5, 1816, had 1819. 22. proved more unfavourable than the preceding ; and the last had turned out so disastrous, both in the general conversa- results and the character of the individuals returned, that xvm.tnd not a doubt could remain that the next would give a ^Irtortn decided majority in the Chamber to the declared enemies tteeiection. of the Bourbon family. Immense was the sensation which these untoward residts produced at the Tuileries ; and the evidence of facts was now too clear and convincing for the king any longer to shut his eyes to the inferences deducible from them. On the evening of the day when intelligence had been received of the return of the Abb^ Gr^goire, the Count d'Artois thus addressed Louis : " Well, my brother, you see at last whither they are leading you." " I know it, my brother," replied the king, softening his voice, and in an under-tone, " I know it, and will provide against it." Confidence was by these words immediately re-established between the heir-apparent and the throne. A long and cordial conversation ensued be- tween the two brothers, in the course of which it was agreed that an Electoral Law, which had induced such a succession of defeats to the Government and insults to the throne, evidently required to be altered. The very same evening M. Decazes received orders to prepare a new electoral biU. The minister saw that his master's mind was made up, and at once agreed to do so. M. de Serres, whose early prepossessions and imaginative turn of mind inclined him to the same side, and even to magnify the approach- ing dangers, readily fell into the same views, and M. Portal, the Minister of Marine, adopted them also. On the other hand, the President, General DessoUes, General Gouvion St Cyr, War Minister, and Baron Louis, the i ^^^ ^j Finance Minister, were decidedly in favour of the exist- ^^^^gf ^g^. ing system ; so that the Cabinet was divided on the sub- Lac. ivm. ject, as well as the country.^ CHAP, IX. the Minis-- try. 282 HISTORY OP EUROPE. When a division had taken place in the Cabinet on so vital a subject as the Electoral Law, it \vas impossible that 181^- it could be adjusted without a change in the composition changtiu of the Ministry. The king and M. Decazes, aware of the danger of showing symptoms of division in their own camp, in presence of an enterprising and insatiable enemy, made great efforts to avert the rupture, and laboured hard to convince the Liberal members of the administration that no change involving principle was contemplated, but only such a modification in details as circumstances had rendered necessary. But the minis- ters adverse to a change stood firm, and resolved to resign rather than enter into the proposed compro- mise. On the other hand, the king was fortified in his view of the case by the accession of M. Pasquier, who laid before him a very able memoir, in which the dangers of the present law were clearly pointed out, and its further maintenance was shown to be inconsistent with the existence of the monarchy. The Liberal journals, made aware of the danger of their chiefs, sounded the alarm in the loudest possible notes, and praised General DessoUes, General Gouvion St Cyr, and Baron Louis to the skies, as the sole patriotic ministers, and the only ones who had the interest of the people and the support of the national liberties really at heart. But it was all in vain. The king's mind was made up : the danger was too obvi- ous and pressing to be any longer disregarded ; and as no compromise was found to be practicable, the result was a great and important change in the Ministry. M. Decazes was sent for by the king, and declared President of the Council. He reserved for himself the situation of j,£a.p- vi- Minister of the Interior, for which his talents and habits Lam. vi. peculiarly qualified him. M. Pasquier was appointed Lac'. ii. 339. Minister of Foreign Affairs; General Latour Maubourg, Minister-at-War; and M. Roy, Finance Minister.^ It was comparatively a matter of little difficulty to make HISTORY OP EUROPE. 283 a change in the Ministry, but it was not so easy to see chap. how the alteration was to be supported in the Cham- ^^- ber, or rendered palatable to the public press, in both of '"ig. which Liberal principles were in the ascendant. Every- violent at- thing depended on the Centre of the Assembly, and to *ew MinS^ secure its support the new Cabinet Ministers had been '■'y ^y *''^^ taken from its ranks ; and to gain time for the parties to ^^°''' arrange themselves, the opening of the Chambers was adjourned to the 29th November. But meanwhile, both the journals and the pamphleteers on the Liberal side, now freed from the restraints of the censorship, com- menced a war to the knife with the new Ministry. M. Decazes, so recently the object of general idolatry as long as he headed the movement, was instantly assailed with the most virulent reproaches ; none are so much so as public men who change their line, or are unfaithful to their principles, especially when the change con- duces, as in this instance it did, to their own advantage. Nor were publications awanting of a higher stamp, and which had greater weight with persons of thought and reflection. In particular, M. de Stael, son of the illustrious authoress, in a pamphlet of great ability, de- fended the contemplated change in the Electoral Law, pointed out the evils of the existing system, and pro- posed, to remedy them, the duplication of the Cham- ber of Deputies, elections by arrondissements and chief places, and a renewal of the entire Chamber every five years, instead of the annual renewal of a fifth. The Doc- trinaires, including M. de Stael, M. Guizot, and M. de Broglie, tendered their powerful support to the new Cabi- ^ ^^ ^. net, demanding only, as a guarantee for its sincerity, two 256, 259'; portfolios, one for M. Royer-CoUard, and one for M. de228,m Broglie or M. de Barante.^ The king's speech, at the opening of the Chamber on November 29, gave tokens of the apprehensions with which the royal mind was inspired, and of the change of 284 HISTOEY OP EUROPE. CHAP, policy which was in contemplation. " In the midst," ^^' said he, " of the general prosperity, and surrounded by ^^'^- so many circumstances calculated to inspire confidence, King's" there are just grounds for apprehension which mingle open'nglhe with our hopcs, and demand our most serious attention. Nov-^ls. -^ Tague but real disquietude has seized every mind ; pleased with the present, every one asks pledges for its duration : the nation enjoys, in a very imperfect way, the fruits of legal government and peace ; it fears to see them reft from it by the violence of faction ; it is terrified by the too undisguised expression of its designs. These fears and wishes point to the necessity of some additional guarantee for repose and tranquillity. Impressed with these ideas, I have reverted to the subject which has so much occupied my thoughts, which I wished to realise, but which requires to be matured by experience, and enforced by necessity before it is carried into execu- tion. Founder of the charter, to which are attached the whole interests of my people and my family, I feel that if there is any amelioration which these great interests require, and which should modify some regulating forms connected with the charter, in order the better to secure its power and action, it rests with me to propose it. The moment has come when it is necessary to fortify the Chamber of Deputies, and withdraw it from the annual action of party, by securing it a longer endurance, and one more in conformity with the interests of public order and the exterior consideration of the state. It is to the devotion and energy of the two Chambers, and their cor- N^rso"' ^^^^ co-operation with my government, that I look for the 1819; Ann. mcaus of saviug the public liberties from license, confirm- 2,'3!' "'■ ing the monarchy, and giving to all the interests guaran- teed by the charter the entire security which we owe to it." ^ It was impossible that words could announce more explicitly a change of policy adopted by the king and the Government ; but the result of the first division in the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 285 Chamber proved that the extreme Left, reduced to itself, chap. could not disturb its movements, and that, if the centre ^^' supported Ministers, they vrould be able to carry through '''^^• their measures. In the division for the president, M. compara- -Lafitte, who had aU the extreme Liberal strength, had rfpanieT"' only sixty-five votes, while M, Ravez, who was supported chlmber. by the Centre and Right, had a hundred and five, and M. de Villele by the Right alone, seventy-five. This suffi- ciently proved where the majority was to be found ; but that it could not be relied on to support any change in the Electoral Law was proved by the division on the ad- dress, on which Ministers were defeated by a majority of one, the numbers being a hundred and eight to a hundred and seven. The new address, drawn up by the commis- sion which the majority had nominated, bore, " Why weaken our hopes, and the calmness of our felicity, by unnecessary fears 1 The laws are every day meeting with an easy execution ; nowhere is the public tranquillity disturbed ; but it is no doubt true that a vague dis- quietude has taken possession of the public mind, andj^^^^j.^^ the factions, which attempt no concealment of their pro- >•;• 3, i; . -^ ., . \ Moniteur, jects and their hopes, endeavour to corrupt public opinion, Dec. 2, and they would plunge us into licentiousness, in order to vi.27b,2?'i*. destroy our liberties." ^ It was too true that the factions made no attempt to .... 27 conceal their projects, and the impunity with which they Designs of were permitted to carry them on in face of day afibrded in p'arisr'^ the clearest proof of the weakness of the Government. The following account of the secret associations at this time in Paris, and of their designs, is given by a dis- tinguished writer, who himself has since been, for a brief season, their principal leader : " At this period," says Lamartine, " the opposition, obliged to avoid the light of day, took refuge in secret societies. The spirit of conspiracy insinuated itself into them, under the colour of liberal opinions. Public associations were formed, to 286 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, defend, by all legal means, the liberty of thought, of opinion, and of the press. MM. de Lafayette, d'Ar- ^^^^' genson, Lafitte, Benjamin Constant, Gevaudeau, Mechin, Gassicourt, de Broglie, and others, impressed the course of public action. M. de Lafayette, in his hotel, held- meetings of still more secret and determined committees. Every defensive arm gained by our institutions to public freedom, became, in their hands, an aggressive arm for the purposes of conspiracy. Secret correspondences were established between the persons proscribed at Brussels and the malcontents in Paris. They spoke openly of changing the dynasty. The King of the Netherlands, it was said, secretly favoured their projects, and hoped to elevate his house on the ruins of the Bourbons. Nego- tiations were attempted between the Prince of Orange, the proscribed persons, and Lafayette. The threads of the conspiracy extended into Germany, Italy, Spain, Piedmont, and Naples. The spirit of freedom which had roused Europe against Napoleon, seeing itself men- aced in France, everywhere prepared to defend itself Caebon AEiSM was organised in Italy, anti-monarch liberty at Cadiz, and a general union in the universities of Ger- many. One of the young members of that sect, the . student Sand, assassinated, in cold blood, Kotzebue, who 219,220.' formerly enjoyed an extensive popularity, but who was supposed to be sold to Russia.^ A full account of these important changes in Europe New Eiec- has already been given ; but their influence was great proposed" and decided on the measures of Government at Paris. verament!' It '^as uo longer a question, whether the Electoral Law should be modified — the only point was, to what extent. The Cabinet, in conjunction with M. de Broglie, M. Guizot, M. Vilmain, and the Doctrinaires, drew up a bill, the heads of which were — 1st, That the Chamber should be renewed entire every five or seven years, and not a fifth every year as at present ; 2d, That the number of its HISTORY OP EUROPE. 287 members should be considerably augmented; 3d, That the chap. colleges of arrondissement as they now stood should be ^^' broken into smaller divisions. The Doctrinaires agreed to ^^'^• support this bill with their whole weight from the centre of the Chamber, and it was hoped it would pass. But great delay took place in adjusting the details, and the Liberals took advantage of the time thus gained to rouse the country against the Government. Petitions against the Ministers were got up in all quarters, and the violence of the press exceeded anything ever witnessed since the days of the Convention. In vain were prosecutions instituted against the delinquents : the juries, in the face of the clearest evidence, constantly acquitted the persons brought before the tribunals. Caulaincourt openly saluted Napoleon as Emperor in his writings, and Beranger lent to his cause the fascination of genius and the charms of poetry. The intelligence daily received of the progress of the revolution in Spain, and the fer- mentation in Germany and Italy, added to the general excitement ; and the Napoleonists, deeming the realisa- tion of their hopes approaching, everywhere struck the chord which still vibrated so powerfully in the hearts of the French ; and the mighty image of the Emperor, long g^^^aj'; banished from the lips, but treasured in the hearts of Cap'.vi.'i?;, , . . , .» 281;Lac. li. men, again seemed to arise in gloomy magnincence on 347, 353. the extreme verge of the distant ocean.^ The project ultimately agreed on for the modification of the Electoral Law was one founded in wisdom, and Electoral which, by providing a remedy against the great danger of a^eedm^ the existing system — the uniform representation, and con- vernment!' sequent preponderance of one single class in society — ■ promised to establish it in France on the only basis on which it can ever be beneficial or of long duration in an old and mixed community. It obtained the concurrence both of the Royalists and the Doctrinaires. It was agreed that the Chamber of Deputies was to be composed of 288 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. 430 members, instead of 260, the present number — 258 ^^' being returned by the colleges of arrondissements, and 1819. 2ijr2 j,y t]jg colleges of departments. The colleges of arrondissements were to appoint the electors of the col- leges of departments among those who paid 1000 francs (£40) of annual taxes ; the half of all taxes, to make up the quota, was to be of land-tax ; the elections were to be made by inscriptions on a bulletin ; the 1 72 de- partmental deputies were to be elected immediately ; the Chamber to go on without renewal in any part for seven years. The material thing in this proposed law was, 1 ca vi ^^^^ ^ different class of electors was introduced for the 290, 292J colleges of departments — ^viz., persons paying 1000 francs 236,237. of annual taxes, instead of 300, which constituted the franchise at present.^ The project no sooner got wind than the Liberals Violent op. sounded the alarm. The violence of the press became theLi'be" insupportable. Assassination was openly recommend- ed; Brutus and Cassius, Sand and Carlisle, Riego and Quiroga the leaders of the Spanish revolution, were lauded to the skies as the first of patriots. In a pam- phlet by Saint Simon it was asserted that the murder of the king, of the Duke d'Angoul^me, and the Duke de Berri,' would be less to be deplored than that of the humblest mechanic, because persons could more easily be found to act the part of princes than of common workmen. But, dangerous as these publications were, all attempts to check them proved entirely nugatory ; for neither weight of evidence nor magnitude of delin- quence had the slightest effect in inducing the juries to convict. The contest ere long assumed the most viru- lent aspect ; the Government and Royalists felt that they had no chance of saving the monarchy but by a g^^p^j]-, change in the Electoral Law ; and the Liberals and revo- Lara. vi.' lutionists wcrc resolute to prevent, at all hazards, any Lad ii. 353. change in the present law, which promised so soon to subvert it.^ HISTORY OF EUROPE. 289 These open incitements to assassination were not long chap. of leading to the desired result ; and a deplorable erent ^^' plunged the royal family and Royalists in grief, and caused ^^^"• such consternation in the general mind as for a time made The Duke the balance incline in favour of conservative principles. The Duke de Berei, second son of the Count d'Artois, had now become the chief hope of the royal family, be- cause it was from him alone that a continuance of the direct line of succession could be looked for. This cir- cumstance had given an importance to his position and an interest in his fate which could not otherwise have belonged to it. He was more gifted in heart and dispo- sition than in external advantages. His figure was short, his shoulders broad, his lips thick, his nose retroussS; everything in his appearance indicated a gay and sensual, rather than an intellectual and magnanimous disposition. But the sweetness of his smile, and the cordiality of his manner, revealed the native benevolence of his disposition, and speedily won every heart among those who approached him. He had all the hereditary courage of his race, and had sighed all his life for a share of the military fame which surrounded his country in a halo of glory, but from which his unfortunate position as a prince of the exiled family, and in arms against his compatriots, necessarily excluded him. He was not free from the foibles usual in princes in whom luxury has enhanced and idleness has afforded room for the gratification of the passions ; but he caused them to be forgotten by the generous qualities with which they were accompanied. Constant in love, faithful in friendship, eager for renown, thirsting for arms, if he had not acquired military fame, it was not owing ^ to any lack of ambition to prove himself the worthy de- 239, 241 ;' scendant of Henry IV., but to the circumstances of his ivaf 82."'^' destiny, which had condemned him to inaction.^ Being the youngest of the princes of the blood, he came to play a more important part on the Restoration. He was the bridge of communication between the pacific roL. II. T 290 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, family of the Bourbons and the army ; and being himself passionately attached to the career of arms, he took to the ^®^°' soldiers as his natural element. He anxiously cultivated His biogra- the friendship of the marshals, the generals, the officers — '^^^' even the private soldiers attracted a large share of his attention ; and before his career was cut short by the hand of an assassin, he had already made great progress in their affections. On the return of Napoleon from Elba, he was invested with the command of the army which was assem- bled round Paris ; and when the retreat to Flanders was resolved on, he commanded the rear-guard, and by his personal courage and good conduct succeeded in escort- ing his precious charge in safety to the frontier, without having shed the blood of a Frenchman. At Bethune he advanced alone against a regiment of cavalry, and by his intrepid bearing imposed upon them submission. On the return to Paris after Waterloo, he continued his military habits, and many happy expressions are recorded of his, which strongly moved the hearts of the soldiers. He had been very kindly received by the inhabitants of Lisle, on the retreat to Ghent ; and having been sent there after the second Restoration, the mutual transports were such, that on leaving them he said, " Henceforth it is between us for life and death." At the barracks in Paris, having one day fallen into conversation with a veteran of the Imperial army, he asked him why the soldiers loved Napoleon so muchl " Because he always led us to victory," was the reply. " It was not very difficult to do so with men such as you," was the happy rejoinder of the prince, which proved that, besides the spirit, he had in some degree the felicity of expression of Henry IV. On the 28th March 1816, a message from the king to both Chambers announced that the Duke de Berri was about to espouse Caroline Mart, eldest daughter of the heir to the crown of Naples — an event which was hailed with every demonstration of joy both by the Legislature and the people of France. The Chambers spontaneously HISTORY OF EUROPE. 291 made him a gift of 1,500,000 francs (£60,000), but he chap, declared he ■would only accept to consecrate it to the ^' departments which had suffered most during the dreadful *^^''" scarcity of that year — a promise which he religiously performed. The marriage proved an auspicious one. The young princess won every heart by the elegance of her person and the engaging liveliness of her manner ; and she gave proof that the direct line of succession was not likely to fail while her husband lived. The two first children of the marriage, the eldest of whom was a prince, died in early infancy ; but the third. Princess Mary, who after- wards became Duchess of Parma, still survived, and the ]^tTn^' princess had been three months enceinte when the hand BmilcEttv. of an assassin deprived her of her husband, and induced 11^^*?' a total change in the prospects and destinies of ^i"^"ce. 239,241^^ Never were severed married persons more tenderly at- 358; Biog.' tached, or on whose mutual safety more important con- 83, si sequences to the world were dependent.^ There lived at Paris at that time a man of the name of Louvel, whose biography is only of interest as indicating louvJ, his by what steps, and the indulgence of what propensities, and what opinions, men are conducted to the most atro- cious crimes. He had been born at Versailles, in 1787, of humble parents, who made their bread by selling small- wares to the retainers of the palace. He had received the first rudiments of education, if education it could be called, amidst the f^tes of the Convention, where regicides were celebrated as the first of patriots, and the operatic worship of the theo-philanthropists, where universal liberation from restraint was preached as the obvious dictate and intention of nature. Solitary in his dispo- sition, taciturn in his habits, he revolved these ideas in his mind without revealing them to any one, and they fermented so in his bosom that when Louis XVIII. landed at Calais, in 1814, he endeavoured to get to the pier to assassinate him the instant he set foot on the soil of France. For several years after, he was so haunted "292 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, 'bj the desire to become a regicide, or at least signalise IX 1820. 34. Berri. liimself by the murder of a prince, that he was forced to move from place to place, to give a temporary distraction to his mind ; and he went repeatedly to St Germain, St Cloud, and Fontainebleau to seek an opportunity of doing so. He was long disappointed, and had hovered about J . the opera for many nights,, when the Duke de Berri was 244, 247;' there, in hopes of finding the means of striking his victim, 357.'"' 'when, on the 13th February' 1820, chance threw the long-wished-for opportunity in his way.^ On that day, being the last of the carnival, the Duke de Berri was at the opera with the princess ; and Louvel Dukede " lurked about the door, armed with a small sharp poniard, with which he had previously provided himself. He was at the door when the prince entered the house, and might have struck him as he handed the princess out of the carriage ; but a lingering feeling of conscience withheld his hand at that time. But the fatal moment ere long arrived. During the interval of two of the pieces, the Duke and Duchess left their own box to pay a visit to that of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, who, with their whole family, destined to such eventful changes in future times, were in a box in the neighbourhood. On returning to her own box, the door of another one was suddenly opened,, and struck the side of the Duchess de Berri, who, being apprehensive of the eiFects of any shock in her then delicate situation, expressed a wish to the prince to leave the house and return home. The prince at once agreed, and handed the Duchess into her carriage. " Adieu ! " cried she, smiling to her husband, " we shall soon meet again." They parted, but it was to be reunited in another world. As the prince was returning from the carriage to the house, Louvel, who was standing in the shade of a projecting part of the wall, so still that he had escaped the notice both of the sentinels on duty and the footmen of the Duke, rushed suddenly forward, and seizing with his left arm the left shoulder of the prince, HISTORY OP EUROPE. 293 struck him violently -with the right arm on the right side chap^ with the poniard. So instantaneous was the act that the assassin escaped in the dark ; and the Duke, who only ^^'^^' felt, as is often the case, a violent blow, and not the stab, put his hand to the spot struck. He then felt the hilt of i ^^^ ^i_ the dagger, which was still sticking in his side ; and being 2^. '^35^^ then made aware he had been stabbed, he exclaimed, " I seo; Biog.' am assassinated ; I am dead ; I have the poniard : that 84, 86. man has killed me ! "^ The princess was just driving from the door of the . opera-house when the frightful words reached her ear. His last She immediately gave a piercing shriek, heard above aU™""™ the din of the street, and loudly called out to her ser- vants to stop and let her out. They did so, and the moment the door was opened, before the steps were let down, she sprung out of the carriage and clasped her husband in her arms, who was covered with blood, and just drawing the dagger from his side. " I am dead ! " said he ; " send for a priest. Come, dearest ! — let me die in your arms. " Meanwhile the assassin, in the first mo- ments of terror and agitation, had made his escape, and he had already reached the arcade which branches offi from the Rue de Richelieu, under the spacious arches of the Biblioth^que du Roi, when a waiter in a coffeehouse, named Pauloise, hearing the alarm, seized, and was still writhing with him, when three gendarmes came -up, and having apprehended, brought him back to the door of the opera-house. He was there nearly torn in pieces by the crowd, which was inflamed with the most violent indig- nation ; but the gendarmes succeeded with great difficulty in extricating him, being fearful that the secrets of an extended conspiracy would perish with him. Meanwhile the prince had been carried into a little apartment behind his box, and the medical men were arriving in haste. On being informed of the arrest of the assassin, he exclaimed, " Alas ! how cruel is it to die by the hand of a French- man !" For a few minutes a ray of hope was felt by the 1820. 294 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, medical attendants, and illuminated every visage in the ^^' apartment ; but the dying man did not partake the illu- sion, and fearing to augment the sufferings of the princess by the blasting of vain expectations, he said, " No ! I am not deceived : the poniard has entered to the hilt, I can 254^257;' assurc you. Caroline, are you there 1 " " Yes, " ex- Mlm'ente claimed the princess, subduing her sobs, " and will never Beni"32° Q^iityou." His domestic surgeon, M, Bougon, was sucking 42; Biog.' the wound to restore the circulation, which was beginning 84. ' ' to fail. " What are you doing 1 " exclaimed the prince : " for God-sake, stop : perhaps the poniard was poisoned." ^ The Bishop of Chartres, his father's confessor, at length His last arrived, and had a few minutes' private conversation with momens. ^^^ dying man, from which he seemed to derive much consolation. He asked for his infant daughter, who was brought to him, still asleep. " Poor child ! " exclaimed he, laying his hand on her head, " may you be less unfor- tunate than the rest of your family." The chief surgeon, Dupuytren, resolved to try, as a last resource, to open and enlarge the wound, to allow the blood, which had begun to impede respiration, to flow externally. He bore the operation with firmness — his hand, already clammy with the sweat of death, still clasping that of the Duchess. After it was over, he said, " Spare me any further pain, since I must die." Then caressing the head of his beloved wife, whose beautiful locks had so often awakened his admiration, " Caroline," said he, " take care of yourself, for the sake of our infant which you bear in your bosom." The Duke and Duchess of Orleans had been in the apart- ment from the time the prince was brought in, and the king, the Duke d'Angouleme, and the rest of the royal L^g^^ei';" family, arrived while he was still alive. " Who is the uSf-'slf^' "lan ^^0 has killed mel" said he: " I should wish to see Moments ^™' ^^ °^*^®^ *° iuquiro into his motives : perhaps it is Berai"4S° ^0™® 0^® ^^omlhavo uncousciouslyoffended." TheCount fii. ' ' d'Artois assured him that the assassin had no personal animosity against him.^ " Would that I may live long 1820. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 295 enough to ask his pardon from the king," said the worthy chap. descendant of Saint Louis. " Promise me, my father — promise me, my brother, to ask of the king the life of that man." But the supreme hour soon approached : all the re- g^ sources of art could not long avert the stroke of fate. His death. The opening of the wound had only for a brief period relieved the accumulation of blood within the breast, and symptoms of suflFocation approached. Then, on a few words interchanged between him and the Duchess, two illegitimate children which he had had in London, of a faithful companion in misfortune, and whom both had brought up at Paris with the utmost kindness, were brought into the room. As they knelt at his side, striving to stifle their sobs in his bloody garments, he said, em- bracing them with tenderness, " I know you sufficiently, Caroline, to be assured you will take care, after me, of these orphans. " With the instinct of a noble mind, she took her own infant from Madame de Gontaut, who held it in her arms, and, taking the children of the stranger by the hand, said to them, " Kiss your sister." The prince confessed soon after to the Bishop of Chartres, and received absolution. " My God," said he, at several responses, " pardon me, and pardon him who has taken my life. " It was announced that several of the marshals had arrived, eager to testify their interest and afSiiction. " Ah ! " he exclaimed, " I had hoped to have shed my blood more usefully in the midst of them for France." But still the pardon of his murderer chiefly engrossed his thoughts. When the trampling of the horses on the pavement announced the approach of the king, he tes- tified the utmost joy; and when the monarch entered the apartmeiit, his first words were, " My uncle, give me your hand, that I may kiss it for the last time;" and then , added with earnestness, still holding the hand, " I entreat of you, in the name of my death, the life of that man." " You are not so ill as you suppose," answered Louis ; 296 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. " we will speak of it again. " "Ah!" exclaimed the dying ^^' man, with a mournful accent, " you do not say Yes ; ^^^''- say it, I beseech you, that I may die in peace. " In vain they tried to turn his thoughts to other subjects. "Ah !" said he, with his last breath, " the life of that man would 262''264-' ^^^^ softened my last moments ! If, at least, I could ?.?kV°}j' depart with the belief that the blood of that man would lviii.85,86; -t i i • Derniers not flow after my death. With these words he expired, duDucdo and his soul winged its way to heaven, having left the 7Z™' ' prayer for mercy and forgiveness as its last bequest to earth. ^ No words can convey an idea of the impression which Immense the death of the Duke de Berri produced in France. which h" Coming at a time of increasing political excitement, when produced. |.jjg mji^jg of men were already shaken by a vague dis- quietude, and the apprehension of great and approaching but unknown change, it excited a universal consternation. The obviously political character of the blow struck mag- nified tenfold its force. Levelled at the heir of the monarchy, and the only prince from whom a continuance of the direct line of succession could be hoped, it seemed at one stroke to destroy the hopes of an heir to the throne, and to leave the nation a prey to all the evils of an un- certain future and a disputed succession. Pity for the victim of political fanaticism, admiration for the magna- nimity and lofty spirit of his death, mingled with appre- hensions for themselves, and a mortal terror of the revo- lutionary convulsions which might be expected from a repetition of the blows of which this was the first. The public consternation manifested itself in the most unequi- vocal ways. All the theatres — and that, in Paris, was a decisive symptom — were closed. The balls of the carni- val were interrupted ; and it was decreed by the Govern- ment, with the general consent of the people, that the opera-house should be removed from the spot where the execrable crime had been committed, and an expiatory monument erected on its site. But these changes did mSTORY OF EUROPE. 29 T not adequately express the public feelings. Tliey exhaled chap.- in transports of indignation against the rashness of the ^^' ministries whose measures had brought matters to such a ^^^^' point, and the incapacity of the police, which had per- 1 j^^^ ^; mitted the crime to be committed : and it was loudly ?^*. 266; . . ' •' Lac. 11. ODD, proclaimed, that an entire change of gOTerument and ses; Bio^. measures had become indispensable, if the monarchy was 86. to be saved from perdition.^ " The hand," said Chateaubriand, " which delivered 39. the blow is not the most guilty. Those who have really chateau- assassinated the Duke de Berri are those who, for four Jorfs on years, have laboured to establish democratic laws in the gl^fn™"*' monarchy ; those who have banished religion from our laws ; those who have recalled the murderers of Louis XVI. ; those who have heard, with indifference, impunity for regicides discussed at the tribune ; those who have allowed the journals to preach up the sovereignty of the people, insurrection, and murder, without making any use of the laws intended for their repression ; those who have favoured every false doctrine ; those who have rewarded treason and punished fidehty ; those who have filled up all employments with the enemies of the Bourbons, and the creatures of Buonaparte ; those who, pressed by the public indignation, have promised to repeal a fatal law, and have done nothing during three months, apparently to give the Revolutionists time to sharpen their poniards. These are the true murderers of the Duke de Berri. It is no longer time to dissemble ; the revolution we have so often predicted has already commenced, and it has already produced irreparable evils. Who can restore life to the Duke de Berri, or give us back the hopes which love and glory had wound up with his august per- son 1 Surprise is expressed that a poniard should have been raised; but the real subject of wonder is, that a thousand poniards have not been levelled at the breasts of our princes. During four years we have overwhelmed with rewards those who preach up an agrarian law, a 298 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, republic, and assassination ; we have excited those who have nothing against those who have something; him who ^^'^' is born in a humble class against him to whom misfortune has left nothing but a name : we have permitted public opinion to be disquieted by phantoms, and represented a Fews*"''' P^''*' ^^ *^® nation as set on re-establishing rights for ever Tim^ abolished, institutions for ever overturned. If we are (Euvres, not pluuged in the horrors of external or civil war, it is 291. ' not the fault of the administration which has just ex- pired."! When language so violent as this was used in the midst General of the crisis, bj SO distinguished a writer as the Viscount IgaSM." Chateaubriand, it may be supposed that inferior authors Decazes. ^^^^ g^^j^ moro impassioncd in their strictures. The clamour became so violent that no ministry could stand against it. An untoward incident, which occurred while the Duke de Berri yet lived, tended to augment the pub- lic feeling on the subject. Entering the room in which Louvel was detained, M. Decazes was seized with a sudden suspicion that the dagger might have been poisoned ; and thinking, if so, an antidote might be applied, and possibly the life of the prince saved, he had whispered in his ear, " Miserable man ! a confession remains for you to make, which may save the life of your victim, and lessen your crime before God. Tell the truth sincerely to me, and me alone — was the dagger poisoned 1 " " It was not," replied the assassin coldly, with the accent of truth. The words spoken on either side were not heard ; but the fact of M. Decazes having whispered something to Louvel, during his first interrogatory, became known, and was seized upon and magnified by all the eagerness of faction. It was immediately bruited abroad that the minister had enjoined silence to the assassin, and thence it was con- cluded he had been his accomplice. So readily was this atrocious calumny received in the excited state of the public mind, and so eagerly was it seized upon by the vehemence of faction, that next day M. Clausel de Cons- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 299 sergues, a Royalist of the extreme Right, a respectable chap. man, but of an impassioned temperament and credulous disposition, said in the Chamber of Deputies, " There is ^^^''• no law which prescribes the mode of impeaching ministers ; but justice requires it should be done in public sitting, and in the face of France. I propose to the Chamber to institute a prosecution against M. Decazes, Minister of the Interior, as accomplice in the assassination." The Chamber revolted against such an accusation, and only twenty-five voices supported it. General Foy said, " If such an event is deplorable for all, it is in an especial manner so for the friends of freedom, since there can be i ^^^ ^ no doubt that their adversaries will take advantage of^^'^P^^^ this execrable crime to wrest from the nation the liberties ^?i Ann. ' which the king has bestowed upon it, and which he is so 32, 33. anxious to maintain." ^ From the moment when the Duke de Berri breathed 41. his last, the king foresaw the immense advantage it would The king give to the ultra- Royalists, and the efforts they would support ° make to force him to abandon the system of government '""■ and public servants to whom he was so much attached. " My child," said he to M. Decazes next day, " the ultras are preparing against us a terrible war ; they will make the most of my grief. It is not your system that they will attack — it is mine ; it is not at you their blows are levelled — it is at me." "Should your Majesty," an- swered M. Decazes, " deem my retiring for the good of your service, I am ready to resign, though grieved to think my retreat will lead to such fatal consequences." " I insist upon your remaining," replied the monarch ; " they shall not separate you from me," Then, after weeping in common over the deplorable event which had altered the destinies of France, and let loose the parties , ^^p ^j who tore its entrails with such fury against each other, ^^^^H' they agreed on the measures to be adopted in conse- g^s, 274^1^ quence y^ and these were, that the Chamber of Peers 372; should be summoned as a Supreme court to try the assas- 300 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, sia of the Duke de Berri : and that laws, restrictive of IX ■ _ the license of the press, and giving the Government extra- ■*^"* ordinary powers of arrest, and modifying the Electoral Law, should be introduced into the lower Chamber, But how determined soever the king might be to sup- Heatiength port his favouritc minister and system of government, the dfsmhsai. '^ tide of pubHc feeling soon became so strong that it was impossible to resist it. The terrible words of M. de Chateaubriand regarding M. Decazes in the Conservateur, " His feet have slipped in blood," vibrated in every heart. The accusation against him, though quashed in the Cham- ber of Deputies, and repudiated by every unprejudiced mind, still hung over him in general opinion. People did not believe him guilty, but he had been openly accused, and no proof of his innocence had been adduced. The agitation of the public mind was indescribable, and soon assumed such a magnitude as portended great changes, and is always found, for good or for evil, to be irresistible.. The terrible nature of the catastrophe — its irreparable consequences on the future of the monarchy — the chances of future and unknown dangers which it had induced, were obvious to every apprehension. Every one trem- bled for his fortune, his life ; a few for the public liberties. The Liberals became subdued and downcast, the Royalists vehement and exulting. Matters were at last brought to a crisis by a conversation which ensued between the king and the principal members of the royal family. The Count d'Artois demanded the dismissal of the prime- minister, and a change in the system of government. " We are hastening to a revolution, sire," said the Duchess d'Angoul^me, " but there is still time to arrest- it. M. Decazes has injured the Royalists too deeply for any accommodation to take place between them : let him, cease to be a member of your Cabinet, and all will hasten to tender to you their services." " I do not suppose," replied the king, " that you propose to force my will :. it belongs to me alone to determine the policy of my HISTORY OP EUROPE. 301 government." " It is impossible for me," rejoined the chap. Count d'Artois, "to remain at the Tuileries when M. Decazes, openly accused of the murder of my son, sits ^^'^' at the council : I beseech you to allow me to retire to Compifegne." The Duchess d'Angouleme united her instances to those of the Count d'Artois, and at length ^ ^^^ ^. the king, dreading a total rupture of the royal family, 299,300 ;' said, "You are determined on it; well, we shall see 31?,' 319. you shall be satisfied."^ When M. Decazes heard of the result of this con- ference, he saw it was no longer possible to maintain his Resignation position, and he accordingly sent in his resignation. The "azes", and king, deeply affected, felt himself constrained to receive a^^Eiche* it. "My child," said he, "it is not against you, butjj,^^'*"" against me that the stroke is directed. The Pavilion Marsan would deprive me of all power. I will not have M. de Talleyrand : the Duke de Richelieu alone shall replace you. Go and convince him of the necessity of his agreeing to the sacrifice which I demand of him. As for you, I shall show these gentlemen that you have in no- ways lost my confidence." The Duke de Richelieu accordingly was commissioned to form a ministry, but he evinced the utmost repugnance at undertaking the task, and it was only at the earnest solicitation of the king, and as a matter of patriotic duty, that he at length agreed. M. Simeon was made Minister of the Interior, and M. Portalis under-secretary to the Minister of Justice. No other changes were made in the Cabinet ; and M. Decazes was appointed ambassador at London, with magnificent allowances. He was so far from losing his influence, however, by his departure, that the king corresponded with him almost daily after he was settled in London. The Duke de Richelieu made the absolute and uncon- 2 ^^p ^j ditional support of the Royalists a condition of his taking ^^^^p ofi&ce, and this the Count d'Artois engaged to secure ;2 and 3o^3, sos^^ as a pledge of the cordiality of the alliance, M. Capelle, 382." his private secretary, was made principal secretary to 302 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, the Minister of the Interior. The Ministry therefore was ^^' materially modified by the introduction of Royalist mem- 1820. bers, though it still retained, as a whole, its Liberal charac- ter. But a still more material change took place at this period in the private disposition of the king, owing to a change of favourites, which materially influenced his policy during the remainder of his reign. Although the age and infirmities of the king prevented The king's him from becoming the slave of the passions which had forPkto-" disgraced so many of his race, and his disposition had ml^ta^^' always made him more inclined to the pleasures of the table than to those of love, yet he was by no means insen- sible to female charms, and extremely fond of the conver- sation of elegant and well-informed women. He piqued himself, though neither young nor handsome, upon his power of rendering himself agreeable to them in the way which he alone desired, which was within the limits of Platonic attachment. He had a remarkable facility in expressing himself, both verbally and in writing, in elegant and complimentary language towards them : he spent several hours every day in this refined species of trifling, and prided himself as much on the turn of his flattery in notes to ladies, as on the charter which was to give liberty to France and peace to Europe. Aware of this disposition on the part of the sovereign, the Royalists, in whose saloons such a person was most likely to be found, had for long been on the look-out for some lady attached to their principles, who might win the confidence of Louis, and insensibly insinuate her ideas on politics in the midst of the complimentary trifling or unreserved confidence of the boudoir. Such a person was found in a young and beau- tiful woman then in Paris, who united a graceful exterior to great powers of conversation, and an entire command 279,'2m'' of diplomatic tact and address ; and to her influence the future policy of his reign is in a great degree to be traced.^ Madame, the Countess Dtr Cayla, was the daughter of M. Talon, who held a respectable position in the ancient ' Lam. vi, HISTORY OP EUROPE. 303 magistracy of France, and had taken an active part, in chap. concert with Mirabeau and the Count de la Marche, in ^^' the intrigues which preceded the Revolution. He was *^^''' said to be possessed of some valuable papers, implicating The coun- Louis XVIII., then Count of Provence, in the aflFair for cayia."^ which the Marquis de Favras suffered death in 1789, and these had descended after his decease to his daughter. She had been brought up in the school of diplomacy under Madame Campan, and was intimate both with the Empress Josephine, and Hortense Queen of Holland, since Duchess of St Leu. She was married early in life to an old man of fortune, whose temper was soon found to be incompatible with her own, and having separated from him, without reproach, after the French fashion, she was living without scandal in the family of the Prince of Cond^, with whose natural daughter, the Countess de RuUy, she was intimate, when the Royalist leaders cast their eyes upon her as a person likely to confirm their 281,282.' ascendancy in the royal councils.^ The Viscount de la Rochefoucauld was the person intrusted with the management of this delicate affair. Her first and he did so with great tact and address. He first im- withSs, pressed upon the young and charming countess that she povl's suc- would confer inestimable services on the cause of religion "°°'^"'' and her country if she would take advantage of the gift of pleasing which Providence had bestowed upon her, and reclaim the sovereign to the system of government which would alone secure the interests of his religion, his people, or his family.* The mind of Madame Du Cayla, * " Louis a besoin d'aimer ceus k qui il permet de le oonBeiller, son cceur est pour moitiS dans la politique. Madame de Balbi, M. Duvarny, M. de Blacas autrefois, M. Decazes aujourd'hui, sent les preuves encore vivantes de cette disposition de sa nature. V. faut lui plaire pour avoir le droit de I'in- fluencer. Des femmes illustres par Icur crgdit, utile ou funeste, sur le coeur et sur Tesprit de nos rois, ont tour k tour perdu ou sauvS la royaute en France et en Espagne. C'est d'une femme seule aujourd'hui que peut yenir le salut de la religion et de la monarohie. La nature, la naissance, I'gducation, le malheur mSme, semblent vous avoir d€signge pour ce r51e. Youlez-vous Hre le salut des princes, I'amie du roi, I'Eather des royalistes, la Maintenon ferme et irr6- prochable d'une cour qui se perd et qu'une femme peut r^ooncilier et sauver ? r304 HISTORY OP EUROPE. .CHAP, as her published letters demonstrate, at once pious and .__^fl_ tender, and endowed with a reach of thought equal to ^'*^<'- either Madame de Sevign^ or the Princess des Ursins, readily embraced the duty thus assigned to her by the political party to which she was attached. " It was necessary," said she afterwards, playfully, " to have an Esther for that Ahasuerus." The next point was to throw her in the king's way, and this was easily brought about by the unfortunate circumstances in which she was placed. Her husband, with whom she had come to open rupture, at once claimed her fortune, and insisted upon obtaining delivery of her children ; and the disconsolate mother soli- cited an interview with Louis, to throw herself at his feet, and solicit his interest and support in the difficult circum- stances in which she was placed. The king granted it, and the result was entirely successful. Dazzled by her beauty, captivated by her grace, impressed by her talents, melted by her tears, the king promised to aid her to the utmost of his power, and invited her to a second inter- view. So great was the ascendancy which her genius and charms of manner soon gave her, that she became necessary to the monarch, who spent several hours every day in her society, without any of the scandal arising which in ordi- iLettres, ji^ry cascs follows such interviews. Great was the effect do Madame J ^ _ Du Cayia, of this secrct influence on the future destinies of France, Ti.'28i,296! especially after the removal of M. Decazes to London had removed the chief counterpoise on the other side.^ Demaudez au roi une audience sous pretexts d'implorer sa protection dont vous avez besoin pour vpus et pour vos enfants. Montrez-lui comme par hasard oes trfesors de gr^ce, de bon sens, et d'esprit que la nature vous a prodigufe, non pour I'ombre et la retraite, mais pour I'entretien d'un roi apprfioiateur pas- sionng des dons de I'Sme ; charmez-le par une premiere conversation ; retouruez quand il vous rappellera; et quand votre empire inaper^u sera fondg dans un attachement par les habitudes, employez peu 3, peu cet empire S d&aciner de son conseil le favori dont il est fasoiufi, et k rSoonoilier le roi avec son ivixe, aveo les princes, et d lui faire adopter de concert, dans la personne de M. de Vill61e, et de ses amis, un ministfire §, la foia royaliste et oonstitutionnel qui remettele tr6ne £l plomb sur la basemonarohique, et qui prfivienneles proohaines catastrophes dont la train est menac6e." — Paroles de M. de la Boohefoucawld d, Madame la Comtesse Du Cayla. Lamaetine, Eist. de la Sestaitration, vi. 290, 292. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 305 Thus fell, never again to rise, M. Decazes ; for though chap, he was appointed ambassador to Loudon, and retained the confidence of the king, yet he never again formed , '^^°' part of the Ministry, and his career as a puhlic man characterof ■was at an end. It is impossible to deny that he was possessed of considerable abilities. No man raises him- self from a humble station to the rule of empire, with- out being possessed of some talents, which, if they are not of the first order, are at least of the most marketable description. It is generally characters of that descrip- tion which are most successful in maintaining themselves long at the head of affairs. Genius anticipates the march of events, and is often shipwrecked because the world is behind its views ; heroism recoils from the con- cessions requisite for success, and fails to conquer, because it disdains to stoop. It is pliant ability which discerns the precise mode of elevation, and adopts the principles requisite for immediate success. M. Decazes had this pliant ability in the very highest degree. Discerning in character, he at once scanned the king's disposition, and perceived the foibles which required to be attended to in order to gain his confidence. Able in the conduct of affairs, he made himself serviceable in his employment, and attracted his notice by the valuable iilformation which he communicated, both in his own department and that of others. Energetic and ready in the tribune, he defended the ministerial measures with vigour and success against the numerous attacks with which they were as- sailed. He acquired the surprising ascendancy which he gained over the mind of the king mainly by studying his dispo- Merits' of sition, and proposing measures in the Cabinet which were sure" aTa in a manner the reflection of those which he perceived ^tatesmaD. were already contemplated in the royal breast ; but the temporary success which they met with proved that both had correctly discerned, if not the ultimate consequences of their measures, at least the immediate signs of the VOL. II. TJ 306 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, times. The Royalists justly reproach him with having - ' ' established, by the royal authority, an electoral system of ^^^**" the most democratic character, and thrown himself into the arms of the Liberals, who made use of the advantage thus gained to undermine the monarchy. . But, in justice to him, it must be recollected that the working of repre- sentative governments was then very little understood, and the practical results of changes, now obvious to all, were then only discerned by a few ; that his situation was one surrounded with difficulties, and in which any false step might lead to perdition ; and that if the course he pur- sued was one which entailed ultimate dangers of the most serious kind on the monarchy, it was, perhaps, the only one which enabled it to shun tlie immediate perils with which it was threatened. In common with the king, his leading idea was reconciliation; his principle, concession ; his policy, to disarm opposition by anticipating its de- mands. This view was a benevolent and amiable one, but unfortunately more suited to the Utopia of Sir Thomas More than the storm-beaten monarchy of the Bourbons-; and experience has proved that such a policy, in presence of an ambitious and unscrupulous enemy, only postpones the danger to aggravate it. ^g The Assembly, by the fall of M. Decazes, and the Division of infusion of Royalist members into the Cabinet, was di- theAssem- vidcd diflFereutly from what it had hitherto been. The M^Decazes' intermediate third party was extinguished by the fall of ^*"" M. Decazes. The Royalists and Liberals now formed two great parties which divided the whole Assembly between them — the centre all adhered to the right or left. This circumstance rendered the situation of the Ministry more perilous in the outset, but more secure in the end ; it was more difficult for them to gain a majority in the first instance, but, once gained, it was more likely to adhere permanently to them. It is a great evil, both for Govern- ment and Opposition, to have a third party between them, the votes of which may cast the balance either way ; for HISTORY OP EUROPE. 307 it imposed upon both the necessity of often departing chap. from their principles, and avoiding immediate defeat by '. — permanently degrading themselves in the eyes of the '^^^^ country. The Doctrinaires all retired with their chief, M. Pecazes, but they voted on important questions ■with the new Ministry ; and the abilities of M. Guizot, M. de Stael, M. de Barante, and M. de Saint- Aulaire, whoif, , formed the strength of that party, were too well known 33*>337; 1 ■ Ti • p T • Lam. VI. not to make their adhesion a matter of eager solicita- 312, su; tion, and no slight manoeuvring, on both sides of the 394.' '' ' Assembly.-' Two painful scenes took place before the measures of the new Ministers were brought forward in the Chamber Funeral of of Deputies — the funeral of the Duke de Berri, and de^Berai, the trial and execution of his assassin. The body of the t£n 0?™" prince was laid in state for several days in the Louvre, mScU 14. and afterwards carried with every possible magnificence to the ancestral but now untenanted vaults of Saint-Denis. The king, accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of An- gouleme, attended the mournful ceremony, which was celebrated with every circumstance of external splendour which could impress the imagination, and every reality of woe which could melt the heart : — " When a prinoe to the fate of a peasant has yielded, The tapestry waves dark in the dim-lighted hall ; With scutcheons of silver the coffin is shielded. And pages stand mute by the canopied pall ; Through the courts at deep midnight the torches are gleaming, In the proudly-arched chapel the banners are beaming, Far adown the long aisles sacred music is streaming. Lamenting a chief of the people should fall." Such was the emotion of the Duchess d'Angouleme at witnessing such a scene in such a place, that she sunk sense- less on the pavement. One only ray of hope remained to the royal family, arising from the situation of the Duchess de Berri, which gave hopes that an heir might yet be preserved for the monarchy, and the hopes of the assassin blasted. That fanatical wretch was brought to trial, and condemned oh the clearest evidence, fortified by. his own 308 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. coBfession. He admitted the enormity of his crime, but ^^' still insisted that on public grounds it was justifiable.* 1820. jjjg answers, when interrogated, evinced the deplorable atheism in which the dreams of the Revolution ended. " I was sometimes a Catholic," said he, " sometimes a theophilanthropist." " Do you not fear the Divine jus- iMoniteur ticc ?" askcd the Prevost de Montmorency. "God is a i82o-\nn ^^^^ name," replied the assassin. He was executed on Hist.';ii. the 7th June, and evinced on the scaffold the same strange ii. 383,391. indifference which had characterised his demeanour ever since the murder.^ The first measures of the new Ministers were di- Ministeriai rcctcd to the prosccution of the measures prepared thrBesXn. by the former ones, arming Government with extra- ^Sfte ordinary powers of arrest, and restraining the licen- ^'■'"- tiousness of the press. Much difliculty was at first experienced in arranging terms of accommodation with the Royalists on the right, so as to secure a* majority in the Chambers, but at length the terms were agreed on ; and these were, that the powers of arrest were to be con- ferred on Government for a limited period, that the press was to be restrained, and that a new electoral law was to be introduced, restoring the double step in elections. Nothing could equal the vehemence with which these laws were assailed by the Opposition, when they were in- troduced. That on the law of arrest was the first that came under discussion. " It belongs to the wisdom of the Chambers," said General Foy and Benjamin Con- stant, " to defend a throne which misfortune has rendered more august and more dear to fidelity. Let us beware lest, in introducing a law more odious than useful, we substitute for the present public grief other grounds of discontent which may cause the first to be forgotten. The * " C'Stait une action horrible, e'est vrai," disait Louvel, " quand on tue un autre homme : cela ne peut passer pour vertu, e'est nn crime. Je n'y aurais jamais 4te entrain^ saus I'intfirtt que je prenais il la nation suivant moi ; je oroyais bien faire suivant mon idde." — Moniteiir, June 4, 1820 ; Prods de Louvel, 37. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 309 prince whom we mourn pardoned with his dying breatff chap. his infamous assassin. Let us take care that the ex- ^^' ample of that sublime death is not lost for the nation, ^®^*'' the royal family, and the public morality ; that posterity may not reproach us with having sacrificed the public liberties on a hecatomb at the funeral of a Bourbon. " The abyss of a counter-revolution is about to open : a system is announced which will attack successively all Continued. our rights, all the guarantees- which the nation sighed for in vain in 1789, and hailed with such gratitude in 1814. The regime of 1788 is to be revived by the three laws which are proposed at the same time, the first reviving lettres de cachet, the second establishing the slavery of the press, the third fettering the organs of freedom whom it sends to the Chamber. Experience has demonstrated in every age, and more especially in the disastrous epoch of the Revolution, that if a government once yields to a party, that party will not fail soon to subjugate it. The pre- sent time aflbrds a proof of it. The barrier, feeble and tottering as it was, which the Ministry opposed to the counter-revolution, shakes, and is about to be thrown down. Perhaps the Ministry does not at this moment foresee it ; but all the laws which you are called on now to pass, will be turned to the profit of the counter-revo- lution, and that principle is to be applied to the proposed law, compared to that of 1817. That which in 1817 was, from the pressure of circumstances, merely irregular, i^^^ gj^j will in 1820 be terrible: that which in 1817 was only «i. eij su ' ., , . . Lac. 11.39/, Vicious in principle, will m 1820 become terrible in its sss. application."^ On the other hand, it was answered by the Duke de ^^ Richelieu and the Duke de Fitz-james, on the part of the Answby Government : " Is it possible that any one can be so ^ent"™ bUnd to existing circumstances, and the dangers which menace the state and the royal family 1 Does any one persist in asserting that the assassination of the 13th February is an isolated acti Have the persons who 810 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Assert this been shut up in their houses for the last six months ? What ! are those ferocious songs, repeated I'^^o. nigiit; after night with such perseverance that the indul- gent police have at length come to pretend that they do not hear them, nothing 1 — those songs which commenced on the very night of the assassination, and which they had the effrontery to repeat under the windows of the Duchess de Berri herself? What! those placards, those menaces, those anonymous letters — ^not to us, who are ac- customed to, and disregard them, but to her for whom they know we are disposed to sacrifice a thousand times our lives ; — those execrable threats against a bereaved father, whose grief would have melted tigers, but has only increased the thirst for blood in our revolutionary tigers. What ! those medals, struck with the name of Marie Louise and her son — their images sent everywhere through the kingdom, and now paraded even in the capi- tal ; those clubs, in which they count us on our benches, and have a poniard ready for each of our breasts ; the coincidence of what passes in the nations around us with what we witness in our interior — the assassination by Sand, the attempted assassination of Thistlewood, repe- titions abroad of what was going on in our interior — homicide and regicide converted into virtues, and recom- mended as deeds worthy of eternal glory. What ! Spain become the prey of a military faction, and of acts of treason which have dishonoured the name of a soldier. Are these not proofs of a conspiracy extending over all western Europe, which is' advancing with rapid strides towards its maturity 1" So obvious were these dangers, iih 6i',i2f *'^^*' notwithstanding a vehement outcry in both houses, m'-cJth *^® pi*oposed law was passed by considerable majorities, 34s;36S;'""the numbers in the Chamber of Deputies being 134 to 113 ; in the Peers, 121 to 86 ! ^ The law re-establishing the censorship of the press ex- cited a still more violent storm in the Chambers. As a prelude to it, the most extraordinary ferment took place HISTORY OP EUROPE. 311 in the public journals, which nearly unanimously assailed chap. the proposed measure with a degree of vehemence unex- ampled even in those days of rival governments and 1,820. 64. desperate party contests. On the one hand, it was said Censorship by M. Manuel, M. Lafayette, and M. Camille-Jourdan : Ar^umenr* " The censorship is essentially partial ; it has always been bf thf Op- so, and it is impossible it should be otherwise, for it is p^^'''""- absolute government in practice. You have already sus- pended individual liberty, and you are now about to add to the rigour of arbitrary detention by the censure, for you render it impossible for the Ministers to be made aware of their error. You ask for examples of the abuse of the censorship ; they are innumerable : the most arbi- trary spirit prevailed when it was last established, for they erased even the speeches of your own colleagues, when they were in defence against attacks. To what do you aspire with these ill-timed attempts at repression 1 To extinguish the volcano 1 Do you not know that the flame is extending beneath your feet, and that, if you do not give it an: adequate means of escape, it will occasion an explosion which will destroy you all 1 While the liberty of Europe is advancing with the steps of a giant, and when France wishes, and ought to be at the head of that great development of the dignity and faculties of man, a government, to whom, indeed, hypocrisy can no longer be objected, is endeavouring to drag you into a backward course, and to widen more and more the breach which already yawns in the nation. Whither are we tending 1 You accumulate lettres de cachet and censors ! I am no panegyrist of the English government, but I do not believe that any minister could be found so bold as to propose, in that country, at the same time, the cen- sorship of the press, and the suspension of the Habeas •Corpus Act. ' " To prevent is not to repress, say the partisans of the ^^ censorship. Never was a more deplorable illusion. To Concluded, subject the journals to such fetters is to strike at the 312 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, liberty of the press in its very heart. The liberty of the ^^' periodical press is the life-blood of freedom. Vigilant ^*^''- advanced guards, ever wakeful sentinels, their sheets are to representative governments -what language is to man. They serve as the medium of communication between distant places, whose interests are the same ; they leave no opinion without defence, no abuse in the shade, no injustice without an avenger. The Government is not less aided by its efforts. The Ministry know beforehand what it has to hope or to fear ; the people, who are their friends, and who their enemies; and to them we owe that early communication of intelligence, and that rapid expression of wishes, which is an advantage which nothing else can supply. Attack openly the liberty of the press, or respect that of the public journals ; but recollect that the charter has not separated them, and that it has with- drawn both alike from every species of censorship. This is not a question of principle ; it is a question of life or death. We have arrived at that point, that if our per- sonal freedom, the liberty of the press, and the liberty of elections, are taken away, the charter has become a mockery, the constitutional monarchy is at an end. No- thing remains for us but anarchy or despotism. Power will rest with the strongest ; and if so, woe to the feeble majority in this Chamber which now directs it. Nothing 1 Ann. Hist, can loug remain strong which is not national. Do not 72. ' ' denationalise the throne : if you do so, your majority will soon be broken to pieces." ^ On the other hand, it was contended by Baron Pas- Answer by quier and Count Simeon: " It is books, and not pam- teriaiistr phlcts, which havc enlightened the world. Cast your eyes on the condition to which the unrestricted liberty of the journals has brought society, and everywhere you will see the passions roused to the highest degree, hatreds enven- omed, the poniards of vengeance sharpened — and the horrible catastrophe which we all deplore is a direct con- sequence of it. Consider the character of that crime : HISTORY OF EUROPE. 313 one special character distinguishes it, and that is fanati- chap. cism. But what sort of fanaticism 1 Every age has had ! — . its own, and ours is not less clearly defined than that ^^ "' which, two hundred years ago, sharpened the dagger of Raraillac. It is not now the pulpit, it is the journals which encourage fanaticism ; it is no longer religious, but political. Where are the organs of that fanaticism which threatens to tear society in pieces to be found ? By whom is it cherished, flattered, exalted 1 Who can deny that it is the journals and periodical publications that do this 1 Men eminent for their talents, respectable for their virtues, influential from their position, have not disdained to descend into this arena, and to employ their great abilities to move the people. Others, borrowing every mask, have learned and employed every art to turn to their advantage the most shameful projects, the most infamous objects which the heart of man can harbour. Such is the government of journals ; powerful to de- stroy, they are powerless to save. They have destroy- ed the Constitution of 1791, which gave them liberty; they destroyed that Convention which made the world tremble. " We are told that the liberty of the press is the soul of representative governments. Doubtless it is so ; but it Concluded, is not less true that the licentiousness of the press is its most mortal enemy. I do not hesitate to assert there is no political system suflSciently strong to bear the attacks which it has now come to organise amongst us. Possibly the time may come when, as in England, it may be prac- ticable to establish fully the liberty of the press amongst us ; but unquestionably that time has not yet arrived. The event we all deplore, the universal dSbdcle of violence which has succeeded it, is a sufficient proof of this. In the mean time. Government, without the aid of extraordi- nary powers, cannot command a remedy for these evils ; it has not, and should not have, any influence over the tribunals ; the dependence of magistrates would degrade, IX. 1820. 314 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, unsuccessful prosecutions weaken it; verdicts of juries,: so" powerful on public opinion, might destroy it. In a word, it is necessary to supply the deficiency of repressive, by augmenting the strength of preventive checks ; and this can only be done by the censorship. It is in vain to object to such a power, that it may be converted into the arm of a party. Doubtless it might be so ; but that party is the party of France — of the Bourbons — of the charter of freedom. That party must be allowed to triumph, for it is that of regular government. The time has arrived when we must say to the people, ' The danger with which you are menaced does not come from your governors ; it comes from yourselves — from the fac- tions, in whose eyes nothing is fixed, nothing sacred, and which, abandoned to their senseless furies, would not Frt"'i9™'' scruple to trample every law under their feet. It is from 1820; Ann. them that we must wrest their arms, under pain of perish- Hist. iii. .. (•(.•! ci • !• 1 65, 66. ing in case oi railure, for they aim at nothing short or universal ruin.' " ^ The Doctrinaires, who felt that their influence was 58, Result of mainly dependent on strength of intellect, and dreaded jviLchso.' any restriction upon its expression, almost all voted against the Government on this occasion in the Chamber of Deputies ; and in the Peers, M. de Chateaubriand, whose ardent genius revolted at the idea of restraint, was also ranged against them. The Right Centre, however, with that exception, nearly unanimously adhered ; and the. re- sult showed how nearly the parties were balanced, now that the Chamber was divided into two only. In the Peers the numbers were 106 to 104 ; in the lower house, 136 to 110. It is remarkable that, on so vital a point for public free- dom, the majority was so much greater in the Commons than the Peers. On the day after the final division in the ^MonUeur, Chamber of Deputies, a commission was appointed by the i!&0; Ann. Minister of the Interior to examine all periodical journals 65,66,81, before their publication, and the censorship came into full operation. 2 HISTORY OP EUROPE. 315 , Experience has confirmed tlie assertion here made, that chap. no government has ever been established in France, since the Revolution, which has been able to stand for any ^^^''■ length of time against the unrestricted assaults of the Reflections public press. Whether it is from the vehemence and j^t. '^ ™ ' proneness to change in the French character, or from the • absence of that steadying mass of fixed interests, which, like the fly-wheel in the machine, steadies its movements, and restrains the actions of the moving power, the fact is certain. No dynasty or administration has ever existed for any length of time, which had not contrived somehow or other to restrain the violence of the periodical press. There is more here than a peculiarity of national tem- perament, to which, on this side of the Channel, we are so apt to ascribe it. It points to a great truth, of general application and lasting importance to mankind — that is, that the public press is only to be relied on as the bul- wark either af freedom or good government, where classes exist in society, and interests in the state, which render the support of truth a matter of immediate profit to those engaged in the great work of enlightening or directing the public mind. Individuals of a noble and lofty character will, indeed, often be foixnd who will sacrifice interest to the assertion of truth, but they are few in number ; and though they may direct the thinking few, they cannot be expected, in the first instance at least, to have much in- fluence on the unthinking many. The ability of those engaged in, the public press is in general very great; but it is like the ability of the bar — it is employed to support the views which suit the interests of its clients, and more occupied with objects of present interest than with those of ultimate importance. Those who live by the people must please the people. There is no security so complete alike for stable government and public freedom as a free press, when great interests on both sides exist in society, and the national talent is equally divided in pleading their cause respectively. But where, either from the violence of pre- 316 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, vious convulsions, or any other cause, only one prevailing interest is left in society, the greater part of the public ^^^''* press at once ranges itself on its side : the other is never heard ; or, if heard, never attended to. The chains are thrown over the minds of men, and a free press becomes, ■ as in republican America, the organ of the mandates of a tyrant majority ; or, as in imperial France, the instrument of a military despotism. Government soon found that the decree directed against Aiaming thc pcriodical press had neither extinguished the freedom country, * of thought uor takcu away the arms of faction. The sivtme™' journals, being fettered by the censorship, took refuge in Govern- pamphlcts, -which were not subjected to it, and Paris soon ment. ^9,8 ovcrruu with brochures which assailed Government with the utmost fury, and, on the plea that it had de- parted from the constitutional regime, indulged in the most uncontrolled violence of language. Not the Ministry merely, the dynasty was openly assailed ; and then, for the first time, there appeared decisive evidence of the great conspiracy which had been organised in France against the Bourbons. As long as the electoral system was established on such a footing as gave them a near prospect of dispossessing the Crown by legislative means, this conspiracy was kept in abeyance ; but now that a quasi-Royalist Ministry was in power, and there was a chance of a change in the Electoral Law which might de- feat their projects, they became entirely undisguised in their measures, and openly menaced the throne. In these arduous circumstances the conduct of Government was firm, and yet temperate. Prosecutions were instituted against the press, which, in some instances, were success- ful, and in some degree tended to check its licentiousness. The army, moreover, was firm, and could be relied on for the discharge of its duty ; ^ which was the more fortunate 1, 7Ti2;"' and meritorious on its part, that a great portion of its 405." "■^**^'ofl5cers were veterans of Napoleon's army, and that the greatest efforts had been made by the Liberal party to HISTORY OP EUROPE, 317 seduce both them and those on half-paj into the treason- chap. able designs ■which were in contemplation. Aware of the ' approach of danger, the Minister of War drew the Royal '®^''" Guard nearer to Paris, and arranged its station so that in six hours two-thirds of its force might be concentrated at any point in the capital which might be menaced. An untoward circumstance occurred at this juncture, which, although trivial in ordinary times, now considerably Denun'cia- augmented the difficulties of Government. A magistrate seciefg*^ at Nimes, M. Madier, a respectable but injudicious and ''«""""''• credulous man, presented a petition to the Chamber of Deputies, in which he stated that, some days after the death of the Duke de Berri, two circulars had been sent to Nimes, not from the Minister of the Interior, but from the Royalist committee, denouncing M. Decazes, and directing the Royalists to organise themselves as for ulterior events.* It was evident from the tenor of these circulars, which without doubt had emanated from the Roy- alist committee at Paris, that they related only to elec- tioneering preparations, in the event of a dissolution of the Chambers taking place in consequence of the change of Ministry; and that when the retreat of M. Decazes was secured, nothing more was intended to be done. But this petition and the revelation of the Royalist circulars served as an admirable handle to the Liberal party, who pointed to it as a proof of a secret government, which counteracted all the measures of the responsible one, and was preparing the entire ruin of the public liberties. Vehement debates followed on the subject in the Chamber of Deputies, in the course of which the " factious person- * " Ne soyez ni surpris ni effragfe quoique I'attentat du 13 Ffivrier n'ait pas amen^ sur-le-champ la chute du Favori; agissez comme s'il ^tait d&}k ren- Toy^. Nous rarracherons de ce poste si on ne consent pas S, Ten bannir : en attendant, organisez-vous ; les avis, les ordres, I'argent ne vous manqueront pas." Another — " Nous vous demandions il y a peu de jours une attitude imposante, nous vous recommandons aujourd'hui le calme, nous venons de remporter nn avantage d^cisif en faisant chasser Decazes : de grands services peuvent vous fetre rendus par le nouveau ministSre : il faut bien vous garder de lui montrer des sentiments hostiles." — Capefique, v. 1 1 . 318 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, age" near the throne, from -whom they all ema,nated, was • openly denounced, and a motion was even brought forward .182Q, £qj. j^jj address to the Crown to dismiss the new Ministers. The proposal was negatived, but the object was gained j j;A°°^^fg': the public mind was agitated, and the people were prcT cap.vi'i.]5,'pared to embrace the idea that the continuance of the 21; Lac. II. ,,. . . . .11 ,. r J.I 403, 407. Ministry was inconsistent with the preservation ot the public liberties.^ g2 It was in ..this agitated state of the public mind that Mi^Kteriai Miuistcrs wcre chai'ged with the arduous duty of bringing new eiec- forward their new law of election — the most dangerous and exciting topic which it was possible for them to broach, but which was made an indispensable condition of the Royalist alliance with the Centre in support of the Government. No small difficulty was experienced, however, in effecting a compromise on the subject, and adjusting a project ia which the coalescing parties might agree ; but at length, by the indefatigable efforts of M. Simeon, M. Pasquier, and M. Mounier, the terms were agreed to on both sides, and were as follows : Two classes of colleges of electors — one of the departments, the other of the arrondissements. The electoral college of each department was to consist of a fifth part of the whole electors paying the highest taxes ; the electoral colleges of the arrondissements were to consist of the whole remainder of the electors having their domicile within their limits. The electoral colleges of the arron^ dissements named bya simple majority as many candidates as the department was entitled to elect ; and the college ■of the department chose from among them the deputies to send to the Chamber. This project was imperfect in its details, and drawn up in haste ; but it tended to re- move the grand evil of the existing system — the election s Cap. vii. ^^ *^® whole Chamber by one uniform class of electors ; 26, 27. ' and as such it was promised the support of the Doctrin- aires and a large part of the centre of the Assembly,^ The discussion was brilliant and animated in both HISTORY OP EUROPE. 319 Chambers, and called forth, the very highest abilities on chap. either side. On the side of the Opposition it was con- ^^' - tended by M. Royer-CoUard, M. Lafayette, and General ^^f- Foy : " The charter has consecrated the Revolution by Argument subjecting it to compromise ; it is it which has given us bftSe op- all our liberties— the liberty of conscience, which is ex- p"""""" pressly guaranteed by it; and equality, which is guaranteed • by representative institutions. The Chamber of Deputies is the guarantee of the charter. That is a proposition which no one will be so bold as to dispute. Take away the Elective Chamber, and power resides alone in the Executive and the Chamber of Peers; the nation be- comes retrograde — it becomes a domain, and is possessed as such. Take away the guarantees promised by the charter, and you turn that instrument against itself ; or, what is even worse, you render it an object of derision, ahke against the sovereign who granted and the people who received it. If the Government had persisted in its intention of revising the charter, it would have ex- perienced less opposition than in this attempt, which is pretending to uphold the charter, to undermine its most important provisions. It is not because the charter has given this one the title of Baron, another that of Bishop, that it is the idol of the nation ; it is because it has se- cured liberty of conscience and personal freedom that it has become so, and that we have sworn fidelity to it. Now we are virtually absolved from our oaths — the aristocracy is secretly undermining both the nation and the throne. -Can you doubt it, when you recollect the contempt and -derision it has cast on that glorious standard with which such recollections are associated — that standard which, we do not hesitate to repeat, is that of public freedom 1 " In vain may the proposed law be passed, and even for a time carried into execution ; the public feeling will continued. extinguish it, wear it out, destroy it by resistance ; it never will become the law of France. Representative government will not be wrested from you ; it is stronger 320 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, than the will of its adversaries. By a coup d'Stat of 18th '■ — Fructidor* you may transport men ; you cannot trans- ■ port opinions. Our old parliaments were not so robust as a representative assembly ; they did not speak in the name of France, but they sometimes defended the public liberties, and the eloquent and courageous remonstrances which they laid at the foot of the throne resounded through the nation. The ministry of Louis XV. wished to overthrow them : he was conquered. The parliaments, for a moment subdued, raised themselves again amidst the public acclamations ; and the ephemeral puppets with whom they had filled their benches disappeared for ever. Thus will vanish the Chamber of Privilege. " You strive in vain against an irresistible torrent. You 65 Continued, are uudcr the iron hand of necessity. So long as equality is the law of society, equal representation is imposed upon it in all its energy and purity. Ask from it no concessions ; it is not for it to make them. The repre- sentative government is itself a guarantee. As such it is called on to demand concessions, not to make them. Be not surprised, therefore, that it is partial to the new order of things — it exists only to insure the triumph of the charter. Would you obtain its support 1 — Embrace its cause. Separate right from privilege. Affection is the true bond of societies. Study what attracts a nation, what it repudiates, what it hopes, what it fears ; in a word, show yourself a part of it, and you will be popular. During eight centuries, this has been the secret of the English aristocracy. Legitimacy is the idea the most profound, and withal the most fruitful, which has pene- trated modern society. It renders evident to all in a visible and immortal image the idea of right, that noble appanage of the human race ; of right, without which there would be nothing on earth, but a life without dig- nity, and a death without hope. Legitimacy belongs to us more than any other nation, for no other nation * In 1797, when the Directory was overturned. HISTORY Of" EUROPE. 321 possesses it in such purity as ourselves, or can point to so chap. illustrious a line of great and good princes. ^^' " Rivers do not flow back to their sources : accom- ^^f- plished facts are not restored to nonentity. A bloody Concluded. Revolution had changed the face of our earth : on the ruins of the ancient society, overturned with violence, a new society had raised itself, governed by new maxims and new men. Like all conquerors, I say it in its pre- sence that society was barbarous : it had neither re- ceived, in its origin nor in its progress, the true prin- ciple of civilisation — right. Legitimacy, which alone had preserved the ark of our salvation, could alone restore it to us : it has restored it. With the royal race, right has reappeared ; every day has been marked by its progress in opinions, manners, and laws. In a few years we have recovered the social doctrines which we had lost. Right has succeeded to power. Legi- timacy on the throne has become the guarantee of the general ascendant of law. As it is the ruling prin- ciple in society, good faith is its august character ; it is profaned if it is lowered to astuteness or devoured by fraud. The proposed law sinks the legitimate monarchy to the level of the government of the Revolution, by rest- lAnn.Hist. ing it on fraud. The project of the proposed law is the i^jl^^'o- most fatal which has ever come out of the councils of kings f^-'^'^J since those, of fatal memory, which overturned the family Lac. i'i.4i3| of the Stuarts. It is the divorce of the nation from its vh, bo, p. sovereign." ^ On the other hand, it was contended, on the part of the Government, by M. de Serres, M. Simeon, and M. Villfele : Answei by " We are reminded of two periods — the days of our Re volu- rlSutr"^ tiou and the present time. History will judge the first, and it will judge also the men who were engaged in it. But I cannot dissemble what the strange speech of M. Lafayette obliges me to declare, that he put himself at the head of the men who attacked the monarchy, and in the end overturned it. I am convinced that generous and, VOL. II. X 322 HISTOEY OF EUROPE. CHAP, elevated sentiments animated him ; but, inspired by these ^^' feelings, is it surprising to him that men attached by prin- ^^^*'- ciple and duty to that monarchy should have defended it before it fell 'i He should be just enough not to impute to the victims of those times all the evils of a Revolu- tion which has pressed so heavily on themselves. Have these times left in the mind of the honourable member some mournful recollections, many useful lessons 1 He should have known — many a time he must have felt, with death in his heart and blushes on his face — not only that, after having once roused the masses, their leaders have no longer the power to restrain them, but that they are forced to follow, and even to lead them. " But let us leave these old events, and think of our Continued, prescut coudition, and the questions which are now before us. What chiefly weighs with me is the declaration made by General Lafayette, that he has entered these walls to make oath to the constitution (he has not said the king. and the constitution), and that that oath was reciprocal; that the acts of the legislature — your acts — have violated the constitution, and that he is absolved from his oath ! He declares this in the name of himself and his friends : he declares it in the face of the nation ! He adds to this declaration an ^loge, as affected as it is ill-timed, of colours which cannot now be regarded as any other colours but those of rebellion. The scandal which I denounce, so far from being repented of, has been renewed a second time in the tribune. What, I ask, can be the motive for such conduct 1 If insensate persons, excited by such language criminally imprudent, proceed to acts of sedition, on whose head should fall the blood shed in rebellion, or in extinguishing it by the hands of the law \ And when a man, who himself has precipitated the ex- cesses of the people, saw their fury turned against him- self — when that man, respectable in many respects, uses language of which his own experience should have taught him the danger, are not his words to be regarded as more HISTORY 01 EUROPE. 323 blamable tlian if they came from an ordinary man 1 The chap. honourable member, who should be so -well aware of the ^^' danger of revolutionary movements, now pretends to be ^^"^''■ ignorant of them. With the same breath he pronounces a glowing eulogium on the cause of rebellion ; and declares, in his own name and that of his colleagues, that he con- siders himself absolved from his oath of fidelity to the charter : he proclaims the sovereignty of the people, which is, in other words, the right of insurrection. Is not such an appeal an incitement to rebellion 1 And does not that point to your duty in combating an opposi- tion animated by such principles 1 " The Electoral Law of 1817 has lost, since it was car- ried into execution, the most important of its defenders, continued. It has been the cause of the present crisis in society. The same Ministers who formerly proposed, who subsequently have been compelled to defend it, convinced by experi- ence, animated by a sense of duty, now come forward to propose its modification. The very Chamber of Peers which voted its adoption has risen up against it. Sixty peers were created to vanquish the resistance to it in that Chamber ; a hundred would be required to insure its con- tinuance. It is no wonder it is so, for the law of 1817 failed in the chief object of representative institutions. It excluded the masses alike of property and numbers. What renders it in an especial manner dangerous is, that the limited homogeneous class to which it has confined the franchise becomes every year, by the annual elections, more grasping, more selfish, more exclusive. So evident has this danger become, that if the present change is not carried, the friends of liberty will be compelled themselves to bring forward a modification of the law in the interest of freedom. " France will never bear for any time a homogeneous representation, as the proposer of the existing law at one Continued. time supposed it would : unmistakable proofs of the general revolt against such a system arise on all sid^s. 324 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Besides, in the present state of things, the existence of a ^^' revolutionarj faction amongst us — of a faction irreligious, 1820, iniinoral, the enemy of restraint, the friend of usurpation — has been demonstrated beyond the possibility of a doubt. It speaks in the journals, it sits in the directing com- mittees : this conviction is forced upon all the Ministers, not merely by their reason, but their official information. I predict to the honourable members who are now the allies of that faction, that they will in the end sink under its attacks, and that they will disappear from the Cham- ber the moment they venture to resist it. Public opinion has already repudiated both the faction and the Electoral Law which supports it. Horror-struck at the spectacle of a regicide returned to the Chamber, real public opinion has become alarmed alike at the principle of that law and its consequences. " It has become indispensable to alter the mode of Concluded, elcctiou, siuco WO see faction straining to support it, from a conviction that it throws the greatest influence into the lowest class of proprietors — to the very class which has the least interest in the soil. The law pro- posed, by restoring to the larger proprietors a portion of that influence of which the existing law has deprived them, gives a share in the choice of deputies to those who are most interested in upholding it. The law will never be complete and safe till the electoral power is made to rest on the entire class of proprietors, and is intrusted by them to a smaller body, chosen from among those who pay the greatest amount of assessments ; and whose list, accessible to all, and from its very nature shift- ing and changeable, can never constitute a privileged class, since those who fall within it to-day may be excluded from it to-morrow. In the political system pursued since the Restoration is to be found the seat of the evil which is devouring France. Under the existing law a constant system of attack against the existing dynasty is carried on. Lofty ambitions arrested in their course, great HISTORY OP EUROPE. 325 hopes blasted, fanaticism ever rampant, have coalesced chap. together : the conspiracy was at first turned — it has now sapped the foundations of the throne — it will soon ^^^''• overturn it. At Lyons, as at Grenoble, cast down but not destroyed, it ever rises again more audacious than ever, and menaces its conquerors. Intrenched in the law of elections as its last citadel, it threatens its con- 1 Moniteuf, querors. It is determined to conquer or die. It is no iggo-^Ani. longer a matter of opinion which it agitates, ' to be or J^l'^js. not to be, that is the question.' The uniform suflFrage Lao- «• *20. 1111 11 n 1 423; Cap. has placed the monarchy at the mercy of a pure demo- fii. 3S, 37. cracy." ^ So sensible were the Liberal chiefs of the weight of these arguments, and of the large proportion of enlight- Camm'e- ened opinion which adhered to them, that they did not amendrntDt venture to meet them by a direct negative, but endeav- '*"'''*• oured to elude their force by an amendment. It was proposed by Camille-Jourdan, and was to this efiFect, " That each department shall be divided into as many electoral arrondissements as there are deputies to elect for the Chamber ; that each of these arrondissements shall have an electoral college, which shall be composed of the persons liable to taxes, having their political domicile in the arrondissement, and paying three hundred francs of direct contribution ; that every electoral college shall nominate its deputy directly." Though this was repre- sented by him as a compromise, it in reality was not so ; for, by perpetuating the uniform sulFrage and direct re- presentation, it continued political power exclusively in the hands of the most democratic portion of the commu- nity, the small proprietors. It received, accordingly, the immediate and enthusiastic support of the whole Liberal party ; the democratic press was unanimous in its praise; and so nearly were parties balanced in the Chamber, that the amendment was carried against Government by a majority of one, the numbers being a hundred and twenty- eight to a hundred and twenty-seven. The balance was 326 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, cast by M. de Chauvelin, who, though grievously ill, was ^^' carried into the Chamber, and decided the question by 1820. his vote. He was conveyed home in triumph by a voci- ferous mob, and became for a brief period the object of popular idolatry. The revolutionists were in transports, 37,38"; Ann. and everywhere anticipated the immediate realisation of m" "'■ their hopes, by the defeat of the Government on so vital a question.^ In this extremity. Ministers made secret overtures to The amend- the chiefs of the Doctrinaires, whose numbers, though Born^s^- small, were yet sufficient to cast the balance either way verament"" in thc cqually divided assembly. This overture proved entirely successful. A fresh amendment was proposed by M. Boin and M. Courvoisier on their part, and sup- ported by the whole strength of the Government^ the Right, and their adherents in the Centre. It was to this effect, that the Chamber of Deputies was to consist "of two hundred and fifty-eight members chosen by the arron- dissements, and a hundred and seventy-two by the depart- ments ; the latter being chosen, not by the whole electors, but by a fourth of their number, composed of those who paid the highest amount of taxes." This was an immense change to thp advantage of the aristocracy ; for not only did it add a hundred and seventy members to this Cham- ber, but it added them of persons chosen by a fourth of the electors for each department paying the highest assessment : in other words, by the richest proprietors. Nevertheless, so gratified were the Doctrinaires by getting quit of the much-dreaded double mode of election, or so sensible had they in secret become of its dangerous ten- dency, that they agreed to the compromise ; and M. de Boin's amendment was carried by a majority of f'Ve, the numbers being a hundred and thirty to a hundred jS'I"' ^^^ twenty-five. Only five members were absent from i820jAiin. the entire Chamber — an extraordinary circumstance. Hist. 111. • 1 11 1 128,153. proving the unparalleled interest the question had ex- cited.2 This victory was decisive,; the waverers came HISTORY OP EUROPE. 327 round after it was gained ; and the final division on chap. the question showed a majority of ninety-five for Govern- '' ' ment. ^^^o. It soon appeared that this vehement strife in the Chamber was connected with still more important de- Disturb- signs out of doors— that they were linked with the revo- ParisV" lutions in progress in Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; and "'°°* ^" that it was not without an ulterior object that Lafayette had invoked the tricolor flag, and thrown down the gauntlet, as it were, to the monarchy. No sooner was the news of the decisive vote in favour of the principle of the new law known in the capital than the most vio- lent agitation commenced. M. Manuel and M. Benjamin Constant published an inflammatory address to the young men at the university and colleges ; and the sinister omen of crowds collecting in the streets indicated the secret orders and menacing preparations of the central demo- cratic committee. Seditious cries were heard ; and so threatening did afiairs soon appear, that the military were obliged to disperse them by force ; and in the tumult a young student of law, named Lallemand, was shot, and died soon after. This unhappy event augmented the general excitement ; the mobs assembled in still greater force, and the Government took, serious precautions. The posts were everywhere doubled ; the guards were drawn into Paris ; large bodies of infantry and cavalry were ju^gg''""' stationed on the bridges in the Place Carrousel, and J820; Ann. ° . . Hist. 111. around the Chamber of Deputies ; and proclamations i3o, i36; were placarded in all directions, forbidding all assem- 323, 324. blages of persons even to the number of three.^ This proclamation was met by a counter one from the democratic committee, which was affixed to the gates of which be- all the colleges and schools, calling on the young men to rious. meet and avenge their comrade who had been slain. They did so accordingly ; and, marching two aud two, so as to avoid the literal infringement of the order of the ^|>olice, formed a column of above five thousand persons, 328 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, armed with large sticks and sword-capes, which debouched ^^' upon the Place Louis XV., directly in front of the palace 1820. Qf ^i^g legislative body. The gates of the Tuileries and gardens were immediately closed, and the huge mass was driven, by repeated charges of cavalry, who behaved with the most exemplary forbearance, out of the Place. They immediately marched along the Boulevards towards the Faubourg St Antoine, where the immense masses of work- men, so well known in the worst days of the Revolution, were already prepared to receive them ; and, returning from thence with numbers now swelled, by the idle and excited from every coffeehouse, to between thirty and forty thousand men, moved towards the Place de Greve 1 Moniteur, ^nd Hotcl dc VjUc. The head of the column, however, June 7» "i 1820 J Ann. "w^as mct ou the way by a strong body of the gendarmerie- 133,135"; ^-cbeval, which charged and dispersed it, upon which the 32™*"' whole body took to flight. Thirty or forty were made prisoners, and immediately lodged in custody.^ It may be readily imagined what use was made of these Loud deck- untoward events by the unscrupulous and impassioned the'subject leaders of the Liberal party in the Chamber of Deputies, ciilmber '^^^ loudcst and most vehement complaints were made rf Depu- against all concerned in the repression of the riots, — the Ministers, for having ordered the measures which led to their suppression ; the military, gendarmerie, and police, for having executed them. Although the conduct of all the three had been prudent, forbearing, and exemplary in the highest degree, yet they were all overwhelmed by the most unmeasured obloquy. Not a whisper was breathed against the leaders or followers of the seditious assemblages, which had not only for days together kept the metropolis in alarm, but seriously menaced the mon- archy. Still less was it observed by these impassioned declaimers, that a revolt of so serious a kind had been stifled with the loss of a single life. " Blood," exclaimed M. Lafitte, " has never ceased, during eight days, to flow in Paris; a hundred thousand o^ its peaceable citizens HISTORY OF EUROPE. 329 ■were charged, sabred, and trampled under the hoofs of chap. horses yesterday by the cuirassiers. The indignation of . — the capital is at its height ; the agitation of the people ^^^^' is hourly increasing ; tremble for the morrow." " Here is the blade of a sabre broken by a cut," exclaimed M. de Corcelles, holding up the fragment with a theatrical air. " Blood flows, and you refuse to hear us ; it is in- famous." The Ministers ably and energetically defended ^^^ ^. their measures ; and the violence of the two parties be- 325, 327; came so great that the president, in despair, covered iii.is9, 142. himself, and broke up the meeting.^ These violent appeals, however, failed in the desired result, and their failure contributed more than any other Their sup- circumstance to produce that adhesion of the Doctrinaires ''"*"°''* to the proposed electoral law, as modified by M. Boin, which led to its being passed into a law. A suppressed insurrection never fails, for the time at least, to strengthen the hands of government. In the present instance, the influence of that repression was enhanced, not only by the patience and temper of the armed force employed, and moderation of the Government in the subsequent prosecu- tions, but by another circumstance of decisive importance — the military had faithfully adhered to their duty. The utmost efibrts had been made to seduce them, and failed of success. All the hopes of the insurgents were rested on their defection, and their steadiness made them despair of the cause. The leaders of the revolt saw that their at- tempt had been premature, that the military had not been sufficiently worked upon, and that the attempt must be adjourned. They let it die away accordingly at the moment, reserving their eflbrts for a future period. Al- though the crowds continued to infest the streets for several days, and great efforts were made at the funeral of Lallemand — who was buried with much solemnity, in presence of some thousand spectators, on the 9th — yet the danger was evidently past. The capital gradually be- came tranquil ; the large majority of 95 in the Chamber 3.30 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, of Deputies, on the last reading of the bill, passed almost ' without notice ; and it was passed by a majority of 95 ^^^"' in the Peers, the numbers being, 141 to 56. The Go- vernment behaved with exemplary moderation, it may even be said timidity, in repressing this revolt. It was known that money had circulated freely among the insur- gents, and it was known from whom it came. But it I Ann. Hist. ^^^ deemed more prudent, now that the insurrection had iii.i39,i6i;ijggQ surmounted, not to agitate the public mind by the Lam. VI, ' o r ^ J 32S, 327; trial of Its Icaders, and no further prosecutions were at- Cap. vii, _ _ .,, -Ill 1 47, 49, tempted. It will appear in the sequel what return they made for this lenity, when the crisis of 1830 arrived, ^ This was the great struggle of the year, because it was The budget, a dircct effort to supplant the Bourbon dynasty on the one hand, and establish it more firmly in the legislature on the other. Everything depended on the troops : if they had wavered when the insurgents marched on the Hotel de Ville, on June 6th, it was all over, and 1820 would have been 1830, The remaining objects of the session, which involved the comparatively trifling mat- ters of the public welfare or social happiness, excited scarcely any attention. The budget was voted with scarce any opposition. The gross revenue of the year was 8,741,087,000 francs; the net income, deducting the expense of collection, 739,712,000 francs, which showed a cost of above £5,000,000 in collecting an income of £30,000,000, or nearly 17 per cent — a veiy large pro- portion, but which is explained by the circumstance of the direct taxes, forming above a third of the whole, being exigible from above five millions of separate lit- tle proprietors. The expenditure was estimated at 511,371,000 francs, exclusive of the interest of the debt. Every branch of the public revenue exhibited symptoms of improvement, and the most unprecedented prosperity . . ,T. . pervaded the country.^ It is a singular circumstance, "Ann. Hist, f , , , , .•' , „ , ,° . , , , iii,]75,i92, but highly characteristic of the real motives which ac- tuated the Liberal opposition at this period, that this HISTORY OF EUROPE. 331 era of unexampled social wellbeing was precisely the one which they selected for most violently agitating the public mind for an overthrow of the monarchy and change of the dynasty, by whom alone those blessings had been introduced. * Convinced, from the unsuccessful issue of this attempt, that they had no chance of success in their attempts to overthrow the Government, unless they qould enlist the military on their side, the Liberal leaders, after the pro- rogation of the Chamber, bent their whole efforts to that object. It is now known who they were ; subsequent success has made them boast of their attempts ; they are no longer afraid to admit their treason. " M. Lafayette," * The Budget of 1820 and 1821 stood thus :— CHAP. IX. 1820. 79. Military conspiracy, headed by Lafayette. RECEIPTS. 1820.— Franca nett. 1821.— Francs nM. Direct taxes, . . 311,773,780 325,035,159 Indirect ditto, . 140,000,000 191,666,300 Registrations, , 147,000,000 158,986,500 Woods,' . 14,000,000 17,047,400 Customs and salt, 86,000,000 111,113,000 Postes, . 12,097,000 23,790,710 Lottery, . 9,000,000 • 14,000,000 Ketained from salaries , 6,600,000 5,600,000 Miscellaneous, . 14,712,970 15,433,970 Total nett. 739,712,750 740,566,105 Expense of collection, 134,375,130 874,087,880 136,871,285 Total gross, 877,437,880 BXPENDITtBB. 1820.— Francs nett. 1821.— Francs nett Interest of public debt, 188,341,000 189,052,764 Sinking fund, . 40,000,000 40,000,000 King and Royal Family, 34,000,000 34,000,000 Justice, 17,460,000 17,959,500 Foreign affairs, . 7,850,000 7,855,000 Interior, . 102,840,000 , 109,060,800 War, 184,750,000 179,736,600 Marine, 45,200,000 52,970,000 Finances and miscel- laneous. 115,880,000 119,572,000 739,712,750 747,206,664 From a statement laid before the Chamber by the appeared that the produce of the sinking fund, which. Minister of Finances, it in 1816, was 20,000,000, 332 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, says Lamartine, " declared to his friends that open force ' could now alone overturn the Government, which had ^ Lam. vi. '®^''' declared war against the equality of classes." Emissaries despatched from this centre set out to sound the depart- ments and the troops. The parliamentary opposition of M, Lafitte and Casimir Perier unconsciously aided the conspirators, who were grouped around Lafayette, d'Ar- genson, Manuel, Corcelles, Roy, and Merilhou, That con- spiracy found innumerable accomplices, without the need of affiliating them, in the half-pay officers, the remains of Napoleon's army, in the small number of Republicans, in the Buonapartists — as numerous as the discontented — in the holders of the domains of the emigrants, who were every day more apprehensive of the loss of their heritages, 3287"' '" and of the influence of those who were now protected by the Government.^ and in 1817 was increased to 40,000,000, had been highly gratifying. It was as follows : — Sums applied (francs.) Annuities bouglit up (francs.) 1816, . . 20,439,724 1,782,766 1817, . . 43,084,946 3,322,114 1818, . . 51,832,333 3,675,642 1819, . . 67,094,682 4,854,776 And from a statement laid before the Chamber by the celebrated economist M. Ganihl, it appeared that before the Revolution the public burdens stood thus : — Francs. Total taxes, £588,000,000 Of which the direct taxes were — Francs. f. s. On realised property, . . 260,000,000, or 8 1—40 per cent. Industry and commerce, . 30,000,000, or 1 1—20 Consumers, . . . 304,000,000, or 10 1— 2 After the Revolution in 1820 they stood thus : — Francs. Francs. Total revenue and taxes, .... 875,941,663 Of which raised by taxes, . . 800,712,600 Of which the land paid, Taxed capital money. Industry and commerce. Consumers, 288,000,000, or 9 francs 16 cents. 154,000,000, or 9 ... 16 ... 56,000,000, or 1 ... 16 ... 302,116,300, or 6 ... 16 ... So that the taxes on land, industry, and fixed capital had increased a third, and those on consumption had remained the same, though their amount per head diminished, from the increase of population, in the intervening period, from 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 souls.— ..iim. HUt, iii. 175, 198,200: and iv. 601, 603. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 333 Numerous as this band of conspirators was, it was not chap, on them alone that their leaders totally, or even chiefly, rested. The great object was to seduce the military ^^^' actually in arms ; for long experience had taught the Their de- French that it is by them that all social convulsions in efforts I" their country are, in the last resort, determined. They troops'.' '''^ were not long in finding a few desperadoes who were willing to execute their designs. A captain in the Legion de la Meurthe, in garrison at Paris, named Nantil, a half- pay colonel, named Sauzet, and a colonel of the disbanded Imperial Guard, named Maziare, agreed to act as leaders. Their plan was to surprise the fortress of Vincennes, to corrupt the regiments in Paris, to rouse the faubourgs and the schools, and with the united forces march on the Tuileries. A great number of the half-pay generals of the Empire — in particular, Generals Pajol, Bacheluz, Merten, Maransin, Lafitte, and superior officers in retire- ment — ^were engaged in the conspiracy, the object of which was to dethrone the Bourbons. On that they were all agreed, but on ulterior measures there was great difier- ence of opinion. Lafayette desired to proclaim a re- public or a constitutional monarchy, whose interests were identical with those of the Revolution, and who might be " fettered by the bonds of a representative democracy." The great majority wished to proclaim Napoleon II., hoping to restore with him the days of glory, of promo- tion, and plunder. Lafayette indulged a sanguine hope that, as Napoleon's son was in the hands of the Austrians, who would not allow him to accept the proffered crown, it would become a matter of necessity to bestow on him the dictatorship, of which he had enjoyed a foretaste in 1790, and of which he had dreamed in 1815. The day of rising was fixed for 19 th August : Nantil was to raise his legion, and head the attack ; Lafayette went to his g^*™- j;- chateau of Lagrange to rouse his department, and aid in cap. vii.' the assault on Vincennes; M. d'Argenson went to Alsace iii.'6-9,m' to array in arms its numerous republicans ; * and M. de 334 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Corcelles was charged with organising the revolt in the great and populous city of Lyons. ^^"*'' An accidental circumstance prevented this deeply laid Which fails design from being carried into effect. On the day before Au^ts.^"'' '* ^^^ *<^ ^^^^ taken place, an explosion of powder, from fortuitous causes, took place in the castle of Vincennes, and this led to the military and police being assembled in considerable numbers in that important fortress. Their presence led the conspirators to suppose that their designs were discovered, which was really not the case, for they were not fully developed till long afterwards. Informa- tion had, however, been given to Government, by some of the officers upon whom unsuccessful attempts had been made, of a plot to overturn the Government, and the whole Ministers, in consequence, were summoned to the Duke de Richelieu's on the morning of the 19 th. From the information there laid before them, it was resolved to remove the Legion de la Meurthe, which was most dis- affected, from Paris to the frontiers, and the suspected officers were arrested in their barracks early in the fore- noon by officers of the police. M. de Latour Maubourg, the War Minister, was himself present when this was done. No resistance was attempted ; the common soldiers were astonished, not irritated ; it was their officers, not themselves, who were privy to the conspiracy. Before night, the Legion de la Meurthe marched out for Land- recies in a state of tumult and indiscipline, which recalled the description given by Tacitus of the Roman legions 32^*"3r-" "^ *^® mutiny which Germanicus repressed. Several of cap^vii.' their officers were arrested on the march. Nantil, jii's.s. 'and the principal leaders of the conspiracy, however, made their escape.^ Government acted with the utmost lenity in the prose- Lenity cutions consequent on this abortive revolt. Lists of the thepros'L persons implicated in it had been furnished to the cutions. Ministry, and they comprised most of the leaders of the Liberal party in Paris. M. Lafayette and M. Manuel HISTORY OF EUROPE, 335 were at its head. Ministers, however, recoiled from the chap. idea of openly coming to a rupture of an irreconcilable ^^' kind with the chiefs of a party strong in the Chambers, '^^''■ strong in popular support, strong, as had recently ap- peared, in the affections of a part at least of the army. It was doubtful how far — however clear the moral evi- dence might be — the complete measure of legal proof could be obtained against the real but half-veiled leaders of the conspiracy. It was deemed more expedient, there- fore, to proceed only against the inferior agents, and even against them in the most lenient manner. They were sent for trial to the Chamber of Peers, by whom a few, after a long interval, were convicted, and sentenced to secondary punishments, and several acquitted. But ten years after- ^^m- Hi. wards, the real leaders were revealed in those who re- vli. 67, es; ceived the rewards of treason, at a time when none dared 330, '333. call it by its right name.^ While conspiracies so serious and widespread were in 83. progress to overthrow the dynasty of the Bourbons, Pro- Birth of the vidence appeared in an extraordinary manner to have Borirux. interposed in their behalf ; and an event occurred which, ^°p*' ^"' beyond any which had yet occurred, elevated the hopes of their partisans throughout the country. The Duchess de Berri, notwithstanding the dreadful shock received from the murder of her husband, went successfully through the whole period of her pregnancy, and on the night of the 20th September was safely delivered of a son, who was christened Henry Duke of Bordeaux. As by the Salic Law males only can succeed to the throne of France, and the infant which the duchess bore was the last hope of continuing the direct line of succession, the utmost pains were taken to secure decisive evidence of the child really being of the royal line. The moment the duchess was seized with her pains, she desired that Marshal the Duke of Albufera (Suchet) should be sent for, and she had the courage and presence of mind, after the delivery was over, to insist that the umbilical cord should not be cut till the 336 HISTORY OF BUKOPB. CHAP, marshal with his own eyes had been satisfied with the ' reality of the birth and the sex of the infant. Several 1820. of tiie Guard, besides the usual attendants on the princess, were also eyewitnesses to the birth. The old king has- tened to the apartment on the first alarm, and when the infant was presented to him, said, " Here is a fine Duke de Bordeaux : he is born for us all ;" and taking a few drops of the wine of Pau, which according to old tra- dition had anointed the lips of Henry IV. before he had received his mother's milk, did the same to his infant descendant. Then taking a glass, he filled it, l^il'7"' and drank to the health of the duchess. " Sire ! " she vi. 335,336; replied, "I wish I knew the song of Jean d' Albert, 17. ' that everything should be done here as at the birth of Henry IV." i No words can convey an idea of the transports into Universal which the Royalists were thrown over all France by this inTrance. auspicious cveut ; and even those of the opposite parties could not resist feeling the influence of the general enthu- siasm. There was something in the birth of the infant — the last remnant of a long line of kings, and who had been born in so interesting and almost miraculous a manner after his father's death — which spoke to every heart. The general enthusiasm exceeded even that felt at the birth of the King of Rome, ten years before — for Napoleon might have had many other sons — but no one, save this infant, could transmit in the direct line the blood of Henry IV. and Louis XIV. to future generations. It had been announced that twelve cannon-shots should announce the birth of a daughter, twenty-four of a son. When the guns began to fire, all Paris was roused, and in speechless anxiety watched the successive discharges ; but when the thirteenth report announced that an heir to the monarchy had been born, the transports were universal. The tele- graph speedily conveyed it to every part of France, and the thirteenth gun in all the fortresses and harbours announced the joyful intelligence to the people. One HISTORY OP EUROPE. 337 would have supposed^ from the universal joy, that France chap. had but one heart, one soul — so strongly had the ro- ^^' mantic and interesting circumstances of the birth wrought ^^^''• upon the public mind. Congratulatory addresses from every part of the country poured in to the king and the duchess, and the grace of her manner and felicity of her answers added to the general enchantment. A protest, in the name of the Duke of Orleans, was published in the London papers, though disavowed by that prince ; but he asked the important question solemnly of the Duke of Albufera — " M. le Marechal," said he, " you are a man of honour ; you were a witness of the accouche- ment of the Duchess de Berri. Is she really the mother of a boyl" "As certainly as your royal highness is father of the Duke de Chartres," replied the marshal. "That is enough, M. le Marechal," rejoined the Duke; and he immediately went with the duchess to congratu- late the happy mother, and salute the infant who might one day be their king. At the same time, the Duchess de Berri gave proof that she was animated with the sub- lime spirit of forgiveness shown on his death-bed by her husband, by requesting and obtaining the pardon of two men, named Gravin and Bonton, sentenced to death for an attempt on her life, or that of her child, which she^^ac. iii. ,.,. ,., . , , J7,19;Cap. did m terras so touching that they deserve a place even vh. 73, 83; in general history.^* Her conduct at this period was 33^337. so generous and noble, that the Emperor Alexander * " Sire ! comme je ne puis voir le Roi aujourd'hui, je lui Scris pour lui demander la grilce de deux malheureux qui ont ete oondamnds & mort pour tentative eontre ma personne. Je serais au d&espoir qu'il pdt y avoir des Francais qui mourussent pour moi : I'ange que je pleure demandait en mour- ant la gtkce de son meurtrier, il sera I'arbitre do ma vie ; me permetfcez- vous, mon oncle, de I'imiter, et de supplier votre Majesty d'accorder la grace de la vie ^ ces deux infortuu^s 1 L'auguste exemple du Eoi nous a habitufis k la cUmence ; daignera-t-il permettre que les premiers instants de I'existence de mon Henri, de mon cber flls, du vdtre, du fils de la France, soient marquds par un pardon ? Exousez, mon oher oncle, la libertS que j'ose prendre de vous ouvrir mon coeur; dans toutes les occasions votre indulgente bonte m'y a encouragfe Je supplie le Roi d'excuser ma hardiesse, et de croire au res- pect profond avec lequel je suis," &c. — Caroline Duchesse de Bern au Roi de France, 28 Sept. 1820. VOL. II. Y 338 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, expressed his admiration of it in a touching epistle L_ addressed with his own hand to the princess. ^''^''- The birth of the Duke de Bordeaux, which afforded Congratu- SO fair a prospect of continuing the direct line of suc- from''the cessiou, Confirming the dynasty of the Bourbons, and ^"wX,*" establishing the peace of Europe, was too important an m^tiontin eveut uot to awake the general sympathy and interest of France, tjjg Europcau powcrs. Congratulations were received from all quarters : that from the Emperor Alexander was peculiarly warm and cordial. The corps diplo- matique of Paris expressed a noble sentiment on this oc- casion in the words, " Providence has awarded the greatest possible blessing to the paternal tenderness of your Majesty. The child of grief, of regrets, of tears, is also the child of Europe — he is at once the guarantee and the pledge of the repose and peace which should follow so many agitations." This expression revealed the feeling of the European powers : it was, that the elder branch of the Bourbons was the sole pledge for the peace of Europe, and that the newborn infant was the bond which was to unite its rulers. The Emperor Alexander wrote to Louis — " The birth of the Duke of Bordeaux is an event which I consider as most fortunate for the peace of Europe, and which affords just consolation to your family. I pray your Majesty to believe that 1 adopt the title of the ' child of Europe,' which the diplomatic body has already bestowed upon him." Promotions, honours, and gratifications were bestowed in the most liberal man- ner in France : the crown debtors were nearly all Ts'l^- Lac liberated from prison ; most of the political offenders Hi.' 17,' 19; pardoned; immense sums bestowed in charity; and a •6zT,'^ii great creation of the order of the Gordon Bleu attested at once the gratitude and liberality of the sovereign.^ But though these circumstances augured favourably for the stability of the dynasty, and the consequent peace of 'Europe, symptoms were not awanting of a divergence of opinion, which portended divisions that might prove fatal HISTORY OP EUROPE. 339 in future times. It was with the Doctrinaires that the chap. rupture first took place. This party, which afterwards, ^^' from the talents of some of its members, became so cele- ^''^*'- brated, had already become important, from its position Rupture between the two great parties which divided the state, Doctrin! and its power, by inclining to either side, to give a pre- °'"®'' ponderance to either. The conduct of the leaders of this party during the session, if not decidedly hostile to the Ministry, had been equivocal ; and the increasing leaning of Government to the Royalist side, since the great re- action consequent on the death of the Duke de Berri, had rendered the position which they still held under the Administration precarious and painful. At the same time Government could not dispense with the support of the Royalists, for it was by their aid alone that the ma- jorities, slender as they were, in the Chamber of Deputies had been obtained. The Doctrinaires had become sensible of the great error into which they had fallen in supporting tlie coup d'Stat of 5th September 1816, which changed the Electoral Law ; and it was by the secession of a part of their members from the Liberal ranks that the amend- ment of M. Boin, which again changed it, had been carried. But on other points they were decidedly opposed to the Government as now constituted ; and the divergence be- fore the close of the session had become so evident, that neither the security of the one party, nor the character of the other, would admit of their longer remaining united. The Duke de Richelieu, accordingly, at the instigation of M. Laine, who had been much hurt by a speech of M, Royer-CoUard on the budget, took his resolution, in which he was unanimously supported by the Cabinet ; and the Moniteur, in announcing, after the close of the session, the names of the Council of State, omitted those of Royer-CoUard, Guizot, Barante, Camille-Jourdan,, and Mirbel. Four prefects, who were known to belong to ^-'^^g-.^"- the same party, were dismissed from office.^ At tlie same vi.'337, sss". time, the Duke de Richelieu had several conferences 340 HISTORY OF EUROPE. GHAP. with M. de Villfele and M. Corbifere, on the conditions IX . ■ '— of a cordial union with the Royalist party. ^^'^' Although the great abilities of the persons thus dis- views'of missed from the Government deprived them of very power- tri^S'es". ful support, especially in debate, yet in truth the severance was unavoidable, for there was an irreconcilable diflPer- ence between them. It arose from principle, and an entirely different view of the most desirable structure of society, or of what was practicable under existing circum- stances. The Doctrinaires were conservative in their views, but they were so on the principles of the Revolu- tion, They adored the equality which was at once the object of its ambition, and the victory it had achieved. They thought it was possible, on the basis of absolute equality, to construct the fabric of constitutional monarchy and regulated freedom. They wished a hierarchy, but it was one, not of rank, or territories, or fortune, but of talent ; and, being conscious of great abilities in them- selves, they indulged the secret hope that under such a system they would rise to the power and eminence which they were conscious their capacity deserved. They had the natural jealousy which intellectual always feels of political power, and felt the utmost repugnance at the restoration of those distinctions in society which tended to re-establish the ancient supremacy of rank or fortune. In a word, they were the philosophers of the Revolution ; and philosophers, when they are not the sycophants, are always jealous of nobles. The Royalists, on the other hand, were set upon an viewsof the entirely different set of objects. They were as well aware ^* "^' as the Doctrinaires that the old regime could not be re- established, that feudality was for ever abolished, and that general liberty was at once the birthright and greatest blessing of man. But they thought it could only be secured by the continuance of the monarchy, and that constitutional government was impossible without the reconstruction of a territorial nobility and ecclesiastical IX. 1820. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 341 hierarchy, who might be at once a support of the throne chap, and a check upon its power. Absolute equality, accord- ing to them, was the best possible foundation for Eastern despotism, but the worst for European freedom ; you might as well construct a palace out of the waves of the ocean, as a constitutional monarchy out of the absolute equality of classes. Infidelity had been the principle of the Revolution in matters of belief ; the only foundation for the monarchy was to be found in the restoration of the influence of the ancient faith. The centralisation of all power in the capital by the system of the Revolu- tion, and the destruction of all power in the provinces by the division of property, threatened, in their view, the total destruction of public freedom, and would leave France no other destiny but that of an armed democracy or an irresistible despotism. The sequel of this history will show which of these sets of opinions was the better founded ; in the mean time, it is obvious that they were wholly irreconcilable with each other, and that no har- monious cabinet could by possibility be constructed out of the leaders of such opposite parties.* The gi'eat military conspiracy, which was to have broken out on 19th August, had its ramifications in the provinces, and in several places the disturbances which ensued * M. de Chateaubriand, in an article in the Conservateur, on 30th Nov. 1819, has weU explained the views and intentions of the Royalists at this period ; and subsequent events have rendered his words prophetic : " Voila done les Boyalistes an pouvoir, fermement rSsolus i maintenir la charte ; tout leur Edifice sera pose sur ce fondement ; mais, au lieu de bfttir uue dgmocratie, ils dlSveront une monarchie. Ainsi leur premier devoir, comme leur premier Boin, serait de changer la loi des flections. lis feraient en mSme temps re- trancher de la loi de recrutement le titre VI.,t et rendraient ainsi k la oouronne, une des plus importantes prerogatives. lis rgtabliraient dans la loi sur la liberty de la presse le mot "Eeligion," qu'a leur honte ^ternelle, de pretendus hommes d'Etat en ont banni. Ministres ! vous fondez une legislation, et elle produira des moeurs conformes i vos regies. " Apres la modification des lois capitales, les Eoyalistes proposeraient les lois les plus monarchiques, sur Torganisation des communes et sur la Garde Na- tionale. lis affaibliraient le systeme de centralisation; ils rendraient une puissance salutaire aux conseils gin6raux. Cr^ant, partout, des agr^gations ■f" That rogvlating the promotion of officers irrespective of the Crown.— ^?tfc, ch. vi. § 47. 342 HISTOBY OF EUROPE. CHAP, required to be coerced by open force. At Brest, M. ^^" Ballart, the deputy, was openly insulted by the populace, ^'''■^"- and the national guard evinced such symptoms of dis- Disturb- affection that it required to be dissolved. At Saumur, thrpro" M. Benjamin Constant -was threatened by the scholars tonal me°al of the military school for cavalry. Everything indicated GoTem-'''* *^i6 approach of the most fearful of all contests — a con- "'™'- test of classes. The exasperation of parties, as usual in cases where they are nearly balanced, was extreme ; the Royalists were excited by the prospect of ere long at- taining power, the Liberals exasperated at the thoughts of losing it. The ruling principle with the Duke de Richelieu, and which had directed the distribution of the honours of the Gordon Bleu, had been to form a new hierarchy, drawn from all classes, around the throne, and thus to interest in its support alike the Liberals, Impe- rialists, and Royalists. This maxim had been acted upon with great discrimination and success ; but now the violent exasperation of parties, and the ascertained conspiracies iio7ii2j' in the army, rendered it advisable to adopt still more 8,T' ^"' vigorous measures of conciliation, and those resolved on were the following.^ A new organisation was given to the household of the king, which embraced a considerable extension. It was d'interfets. Us les Bubstitueraient % ces indiTidualitfe trop favorables & I'Stablisse- ment de la tyraunie. En vm mot, ils reoomposeraient I'aristooratie, troisieme pouwir qui manque a nos institutions, et dont I'absenoe produit le frottement dangereux que I'on remarque aujourd'hui eutre la puissance royale et la puissance popnlaire. C'est dans cette vue, que les Eoyalistes solliciteraient les substitutions en faveur de la Pairie. lis chercheraient d, arr^ter, par tous les moyens legaux, la division des propri^tgs, division qui, daua trente ans, en rfalisant la loi agraire, nous f era tomber en dSmocratie forcee. " Une autre mesure importante serait encore prise par I'admimstration Boyaliste. Cette administration demanderalt aux Chambres, tant dans riat6r£t des aoqu^reurs que dans oelui des anciens propri6taires, une juste indemnity pour les families qui ont perdu leurs biens dans le cours de la Bfivolution. Les deux espfices de propri^tfe qui existent parmi nous, et qui orient, pour ainsi dire, deux peuples sur le moment, sent la grande plaie de la France. Pour la gu^rir, les Eoyalistes n'auraient que le mfirite de faire revivre la pro- position de M. le MarSchal Macdonald ; ' On apprend tout dans les camps Franpais: la justice comme la gloire.'" — Conservateur, 30 Nov. 1819; and CEmres de M. Chateaubriand, xx. 270, 271. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 343 divided into six departments, the heads of four of which chap. •were great officers of the Crown, and the other two great ^^' officers of the household. * The king regulated these ^^^"■ departments entirely himself, and never would permit changes ia any interference on the part of his Cabinet Ministers. hoid.™*°" He said, and not without reason, that as he left them ]82o.'' the disposal of all the offices of state, they might leave him the patronage of his own household. In filling up the situations, however, he carried out to its full extent the system of fusion, on which he was so much bent. M. de Lauriston was put at the head of the household, in reward of his military services, and recent activity in suppressing the disturbances in Brest, His devotion to the royal family, good sense, and discernment, justified the choice. But so far did the king go in his desire to conciliate all parties, that he appointed General Rapp, a brave and distinguished, but rough and homespun veteran of Napoleon's, Grand Master of the Wardrobe. The old soldier, however, soon showed, that if he had been bred in camps, he could take on, late in life, if not the polish, at least the address of courts ; for, on occasion of the death of Napoleon, which soon after ensued, having been gently chid by the king for the extreme grief which ^ cap. vii. he manifested, he replied : " Ah ! Sire, I owe him every- Lac'.iii.2o, thing — even the happiness of serving your Majesty." ^ A more important change was adopted soon after, - which tended, more than anything else, to the prolonged Ne-w o'rga- existence of the dynasty of the Restoration. This was an "hrarmy! entirely new organisation of the army. The object of the former division of the troops into departmental legions had been, to destroy the disaffected spirit of the Imperial army, by breaking up the regiments from whose esprit de corps its continuance was chiefly to be appre- * Viz. : " De la grande Aumonerie, du grand Maltre, du grand Chambellan, du grand l^ouyer, du grand Veneur, du grand Maltre des C&gmoniea. Le grand Veneur et le grand Maltre des C&StQonies §taient grands officiers de la maisou ; les autres, grands officiers de la couronne." — Histoire de la jRestawr- ation, vii, 1 1 i. 344 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, bended ; and the measure had in a great degree been ^^' attended with success. But the military conspiracy of 1820. August 19 and the certain information obtained that a considerable part of the army had been privy to it, proved that the new regulations, recently introduced, regarding promotion in the army, which determined it by certain fixed rules, irrespective of the choice of the sovereign, was fraught with danger, and might, at some future period, prove fatal to the monarchy. M. Latour- Maubourg, accordingly, felt the necessity of a change of system ; and he presented a report to the king, stating a variety of considerations, which, however just, were not the real ones,* which determined the altera- tion he proposed — a return to the old system. According Oct. 27, to his recommendation, a new ordonnance was issued, ^*^'*' which re-established the army, very much on the footing on which it had stood prior to the great change intro- ducing departmental legions in 1815. The infantry was divided into eighty regiments, of which sixty were of the line, and twenty light infantry. Each regiment consisted of three battalions, and each battalion of eight 1 Moniteur, compauics J cach company of three officers and eighty ?82b'^ Ann. sub-officcrs and soldiers. Thus each regiment, including S3*234- field-officers, consisted of two thousand and ten men, and ord'on- ' the whole foot-soldiers of a hundred and sixty-one thou- 27, 1820. " sand men.^ Fourteen etats-majors, six legions, and be- tween two thousand and three thousand officers, were put ' " Que I'appel sous les drapeaux des jeunes soldats donnait lieu, dans le syst Jime des legions, b. des depenses considerables, par la necessity de les diiiger sur les legions de leur d^partemeut, qui en €tait souvent plac§ k une grande distance ; or en diminuant la distance k parcourir, on obtenait avec une reduc- tion dans les depenses, I'avantage de compter moins de dfeerteurs. Dans cer- taines Ifigions le nombra des sujets capables est si grand, que I'avancement qui leur est d^volu, n'offre pas assez de chances pour les retenir au service, tandis que dans d'autres legions on est totalement dgpourvu de bons sous-officiers ; et puis, k la guerre, ou dans le cas d'une expedition lointaine un evSnement malheureux p6serait tout entier sur la population militaire de quelques d6pai-te- ments, et rendrait impossible, pour longtemps, la reorganisation de leur corps." — Rapport de M, de Gouvion St Cyr. Capefigub, Histoire de la Sestaaration, vii. 115, 116. IX. 1820. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 345 on half-pay. No change was made on the guards or chap. cavalry, the spirit of which was known to be suflSciently good. The ordonnance experienced no resistance in any quarter ; very much in consequence of its gratifying the soldiers, by ordering^ the resumption of the old blue uni- form, associated with so many recollections — a change which induced them to hope, at no distant period, for the restoration of the tricolor cockade, A change not less important, both in its effects and as indicating the altered disposition of the Government, was Ordonnance made by the Minister of the Interior in the important pScTn- matter of public instruction. An ordonnance of the king No"v.'i°°' re-established the " Secretaries General" of schools, which ^^'^*'' had been abolished in 1816. These officers were erected into a royal commission, of which M. Corbiere soon be- came the head ; and their duty was to exercise a super- intendence over the system of education pursued, and the works read, in all the schools of the kingdom. As they virtually came in place of the old university of Napoleon, and discharged its functions, so they were divided into its departments, and resumed its costume.^ The object ivide Hist, of this measure, as that of Napoleon had formerly been, c.^^§§T8, was to bring public opinion into harmony with the exist- ^®* ing dynasty and system of government by moulding the minds of the rising generation. An academy of medicine was soon after created by the king, and several stringent Dec. 20. regulations passed, the object of which was to restrain the f.AsSi'Si,*'- turbulent and refractory spirit which, in the late tumults, Moniteur, had manifested itself in Paris in the students of law and 1820. ' physic.2 All these matters, however, though most momentous in their ultimate effects, yielded in importance to the The kbg'a elections, upon the result of which the fate of the Ministry, the'eiectlrs. in a great measure, depended, and which were this year °°'" '^^' of the greater importance, that they would indicate, for the first time, the working of the new Electoral Law upon the composition of the Legislature. At a Cabinet 346 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Council assembled to consider this question, M. Pasquier ^^' stated, that the circunistances appeared to be so grave ^^^''- that a circular should be written by the king to the elec- tors, explaining his views, and the course which he was desirous they should adopt on the occasion. Louis caught up the idea ; and, to render the royal intervention still more apparent, he proposed that M. Pasquier should draw up the address, that he should correct it, copy it over with his own hand, and sign it, and that lithographic copies of the royal autograph should he sent to every elector in the kingdom. This was accordingly done, and a hundred thousand copies thrown off and circulated for that purpose.* This is a very curious circumstance, strongly indicative of how little the first elements of con- stitutional government were understood in France. They were destitute of what must ever be the basis of the fabric — the power of self-direction. Both the Royalists and the Liberals were aware of this, and neither wished to alter it They regarded the people as a vast army, which would best discharge its duties when it obeyed with doci- lity the voice of its chiefs ; they had no conception of the chiefs obeying the voice of the army. Sad and irre- mediable effect of the destruction of all intermediate * " Une liberty forte et legitime, fondle sur des lois Sman^es de son amour pour lea Fraufais, et de son espgrauce des temps, ftait asBur^e 3, ses peuples : ' ificartez des fonctions de d^putg,' ajoutait-il, ' les fauteurs de troubles, les artisans de discordes, les propagateurs d'injustes defiances centre mon gou- vernement. II depend de vous d'assurer le repcs, la gloire et le bonheur de notre commune patrie ; vous en avez la volontfi, manifestez-la par tos cboiz. La France toucbe au moment de recevoir le prix de tous ses sacrifices, de voir sea imp5ts diminufe, les charges publiques all6gges ; et ce n'est pas quand tout fleurit et tout prospfire, qu'il faut mettre dans les mains des fao- tieux, et livrer 3. leurs desseins pervers, les arts, I'industrie, la paix des fa- milies, et une ffilicit^ que tous les peuples de la terre envient. Vos depute choisis parmi les citoyens, amis sinceres et zglgs de la charte, d^voufe au trdne et ^ la patrie, affermiront avec moi I'ordre sans lequel nulla sooi^tS ne pent exister ; et j'affermirai avec eux ces libert6s que deux fois je vous ai rendues, et qui ont toujoura eu pour asile le trfine de mes aieux.' " — Louis XVIII. anx Electeurs, 25 October 1820 j Annuairss Historiques, iii. 231 ; and Ca.pepigub, Histoire de la Restauration, vii. 1 19, 121. The idea of Louis XIV., " L'elat, c'est moi," is very apparent in this proclamation of his descendant, notwith- standing all the lessons of the Revolution. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 347 ranks and influence by the Revolution, which left only chap. IX. the executive standing erect, in awful strength, amidst the level surface of the people. Of the two, however, the ^®^**' Royalists were the most likely, if they had been permitted to do so, to prepare the people for the exercise of consti- tutional rights ; because they desired to restore the nobi- lity, hierarchy, and provincial incorporations, by whom a public opinion and rural influence, capable of counter- balancing the executive, might be formed : but it is more than doubtful whether the attempt could have been suc- cessful ; because, in their insane passion for equality, the ^ nation would not permit the foundation even of the edi- 119,120.' fice to be laid.^ At length the elections came, and were more favour- able to the Royalists than their most sanguine hopes Besuit'of could have anticipated. They demonstrated not only tio^Mfavour- the magnitude of the change made on the consti- RoyaiisL* tuency by the late change in the Electoral Law, but the reaction which had taken place in the public mind from the birth of the Duke of Bordeaux, and improved prospects of the Bourbon dynasty. Not merely were the whole new members elected for the departments chosen for the first time by the fourth of the whole who paid the,^ highest amount of taxes — one hundred and sixty in number — with a few exceptions, on the Royalist side, but even those for the arrondissements, of whom a fifth, according to the existing law, were changed, proved, for the first time since the cowp d'4tat of 5th September 1816, on the whole favourable to their views. Out of forty-six to be chosen to fill up the fifth, twenty-seven were Royalists and only seventeen Liberal. On the whole, the Royalists had now, for the first time since 1815, obtained a decided preponderance in the popular branch of the legislature. Passionately desirous of victory in civil equally as military contests, the majority of the French in any conflict invariably, irrespective of principle, range themselves on the side of 348 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, success. The principle, so strong in England, of dogged resistance to victorious power, is almost unknown among ^^^"- them. Louis XVIII. was terrified at the success of the friends of the monarchy. " We shall be overwhelmed, LsiC 111 20/21; ckp.M. de Richelieu," said he : "can you possibly restrain i2i; Ann. such a majority V " We have the word of Monsieur," ^T'm replied the Minister ; and at all events, it was indispens- able above all to save the monarchy. ^ This great change in the composition of the popular Effert of deputies proved decisively how much the long-continued inlihe aE* ascendancy of the Liberals had been owing to the fatal Bembiy. eflFects of a constituency founded on one uniform qualifi- cation, which the coup d'etat of 5th September 1816 had introduced. The Royalists and their adherents in the Centre were now fully two-thirds of the Assembly ; and this majority was formidable, not only from its number, but from its ardent and uncompromising character. Now was seen how little crime advances any' cause : deeply did the Liberals mourn the murder of the Duke de Berri. Among the new deputies were upwards of sixty of the old Chamber of 1815, whom the change in the law had since excluded from the Chamber, and who had nursed in solitude their opinions, and become confirmed in their prejudices. M. de Peyfonnet, who had been king's advocate at Bourges, was returned, but he was cau- tious and reserved at first, and far from presaging the eminence which as Minister he afterwards attained. M. Dudon, who had commenced his ofiicial career rather unfortunately, soon rose to eminence, chiefly from the great facility of speaking which he possessed, and the energy with which he defended any cause which he espoused. General Donnadieu, who had become known by the prompt suppression of the insurrection at Grenoble, and the exaggeration and violence with which it was followed, acquired distinction also, from the intrepidity of his thoughts and the fearlessness of his language. He was able and energetic in his ideas, but impetuous and HISTORY OF EUROPE. 349 declamatory in his language — a peculiarity very common chap. ■with military men, when they become orators or authors, ■ and one which sensibly impedes their influence. An ultra- ^''^''" Royalist, he included the whole Ministry in his long- cherished hatred of M. Decazes, and did not advert to the rapid modification towards Royalist principles which it was undergoing. The Liberals beheld with satisfaction j ^^ ^.. those feuds among their adversaries, and loudly applauded i^s, isi; />! iT~» !• •!• T M . 1 T • • Lac. iii. 20, (jenerai Uonnadieu in his diatribes against the adminis- 21. tration of the Duke de Richelieu.^ The first public proof of the leaning of the Ministry towards the Royalists — which, in truth, had become un- Accession avoidable from the composition of the Chambers — was &c. to the given by the appointment of M. de Chateaubriand to the *^""''^'- embassy at Berlin, which he accepted, at the special request of the JDuke de Richelieu. It was arranged between the Royalist chiefs and the Premier that M. de Vill^le and M. de Corbiere should, at the same time, be taken into the administration ; but there was some diffi- culty in finding, at the moment, places for men of their acknowledged talents and weight in the legislature. It was got over by the moderation of M. de Villele, who, set on higher objects of ambition, stooped to conquer. " Do something for Corbiere : a place in the king's Council is enough for me." It was arranged accordingly that M. Laine should, in the mean time, cede the port- folio of Public Instruction to M. de Corbifere, and that M. de Villele should be admitted without office into the Cabinet ; but the appointment did not appear in the Moniteur till after the session commenced. The onlyaM^^^e condition which M, de Villele made on entering the ^a^*^*"^. Cabinet, was that a new Municipal Law should be 276, 279; introduced by the Government, which was done accord- isi,' 132. ingly.? The Chambers met on the 20th December, and the speech of the king, which was delivered in the hall of the Louvre bearing the name of Henry IV., on account 350 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, of the health of his majesty not permitting him to go to the Palace of the Legislative Bodj, earnestly counselled ^^^"^ moderation and unanimity. " Everything announced," Speech of Said he, " that the modifications introduced into our elec- and aMwer toral System will produce the desired results. Whatever chlmbers. ^-^ds to the influence and consideration of the legisla- ture, adds to the authority and dignity of my crown. By strengthening the relations necessary between the monarch and the Chambers, we shall succeed in forming such a system of government as a great monarchy such as France will require in all time to come. It is to accomplish these designs that I would see the days prolonged which Providence may accord to me ; and, to insure this great object, desire that you may reckon on my firm and invari- able will, and I on your loyal and constant support." The address was, as usual, an echo of the speeeh ; but it terminated with expressions which revealed the ruling feel- ings of the majority, and furnish the key to. nearly the whole subsequent career of the Royalist administration in France. " To fortify the authority of religion, and purify morals by a system of education at once Christian and monarchical ; to give to the armed force that organi- sation which may secure tranquillity within and peace without ; to improve all our institutions which rest on the charter, and are intended to protect our liberties — such are the well-known intentions of your Majesty, and such also are our duties. We will pursue these ameliora- tions with the moderation which is the accompaniment of strength ; we will obtain them by patience, which is the act of awaiting in patience the fruits of the beneficial changes already introduced. May Heaven, measuring the years of your Majesty by the wishes and prayers of your > Am. Hist, people, cause to dawn on France those happy and serene Dof'Hist. ^*ys "which are presaged by the birth of a new heir to taflc^p. *^® throne."! " You have expressed," said the monarch vii. us. in reply, "my intentions, and your answer is a pledge that you will second them. I repeat it : if I wish to HISTORY OP EUROPE. 351 prolong my days, it is to consolidate the institutions I chap. have given to my people. But whatever may be the intentions of Providence, let us never forget our constitu- ^^'^*'" tional maxim, ' The king never dies in France.'" Although these expressions and allusions seemed to ^g presage an important and perhaps eventful session, yet Measures ot it proved otherwise, and the session passed over with exlngTe"' fewer legislative measures of importance than any which „? theX'- had occurred since the Restoration. The reason was *°i™',f''' that the Royalist majority was so decided that the strife of party was over, while, at the same time, as they were still in a minority in the Cabinet, they could not bring forward those measures on which their leaders were set, with a view to modify the general frame and influence of Government. The initiation of laws still belonged to the king's Ministers : the opposition could only introduce their ideas by amendments, which, how- ever, often assumed the importance of original proposi- tions. An important bill in its practical effects, though not so much so in appearance, was introduced and carried, to determine the boundaries of electoral districts. It was intended to increase the Royalist influence, and did so most effectually. Great difficulty was experienced in arranging the details of the municipal law which had been promised to M. de Villele, but at length M. Mounier succeeded in drawing one which met the views of both parties. But being founded on a compromise, it was really acceptable to neither ; and it experienced so much resistance in the Chamber that after a prolonged dis- cussion it was at length, withdrawn. The king said on , . „. , ° . ° 1 Ann. Hist. this occasion, " I had abandoned the rights of the crown ; >v. 44, si ; the Chambers would not permit it: I have learned a 149,151'. lesson."^ The strength of the Royalists in the Chamber made Ministers feel the necessity of bringing forward some measure in support of the Church, upon which they were so anxiously set. They did so accordingly, and the law 352 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, they proposed gave the king power to establish twelve ! new bishoprics, and to raise considerably the salaries of ^*'^*'" the clergy in those situations where it might be deemed Lawfo'r nccessary. The report of the commission, to whom the eccieSl matter was referred, bore " that religion, resting between men™?'"'" t^^ two concordats of 1801 and 1817, without any solid basis, was reduced with its ministers to the most deplorable state, to which the legislature is not suffi- ciently alive. The absolute absence of religion in the country districts is an evil to which no other is compar- able. Civilisation is the perfection of the laws — very dif- ferent from politeness, which is the perfection of the arts — and is nothing but Christianity applied to the legislation of societies. The law met with very violent opposition from the Liberal party in the Chamber, but it passed by lAnn.Hist. ^ majority of more than two to one — the numbers be- jj^^S'.ii"; ing 219 to 105 : a result which sufficiently indicated the 161,162. vast change which the recent changes in the Electoral Law had made in the popular branch of the legislature.^ JPP The return of peace, and opening of its harbours to Modifica- the commerce of all nations, had produced, though in a corn-ia-ws. Icsscr degree, the same effect in France as in Great Bri- tain. Importation had increased to a degree which ex- cited alarm ; and the grain districts loudly demanded some restrictions upon foreign importation, as a protec- tion to native industry. In the course of the discussion, M. de Villfele stated, that the annual consumption of France was 160,000,000 hectolitres of grain ; that the crop of 1819 had exceeded that amount by a tenth; not- withstanding which 1,400,000 hectolitres, or about ^ of the annual consumption, had been imported; while the exportation had only been 538,000 hectolitres; leaving a balance of 862,000 hectolitres introduced when not required. The import duty paid on these 862,000 hec- tolitres was 2,573,000 francs. The importation came ■chiefly from Odessa, America, and Egypt. The regula- tions proposed and adopted in consequence were chiefly HISTORY OF EUROPE. 353 of a local character, throwing restrictions on the importa- chap. tion of foreign grain, by limiting the number of places ^^' ■where it might be receiyed. But the increased importa- '^'^'■ tion, even under the considerable protecting duty which existed in France, is a valuable illustration of the eternal law, that the old and rich state is always undersold in the productions of subsistence by the poor one, as much ? Ann. Hist. as it undersells the latter in the production of manufac- ssV. ' tures.i* A law, which excited much more attention, though not of so much real importance, was brought forward Law for the by Government for an indemnity to the Imperial dona- S t™im^ taries. These were the marshals, generals, and others tariTs. '"'*' whom, as explained in a former work, Napoleon had endowed, often richly, out of the revenues of Italy, Germany, and other countries over which his power ex- tended, during the spring-tide of his fortunes, ^ but who, " Hist, of by the refluence of his dominion to the limits of Old c. i. § m. France, had been entirely bereaved of their possessions, and were reduced to great straits in consequence. The distresses of these persons had been such, that they ob- tained a slight relief from the Treasury by the finance law of 1818, but now it was proposed, to give them a durable indemnity. As many of these persons were of the highest rank, and their names associated with the most glorious epochs of the Empire, the proposal ex- cited a very great sensation, and was loudly applauded by the Imperial party, who were to profit by it. The * The price of wheat at Odessa was, on an average, this year — which was there one of scarcity — 12 francs ; freight to Marseilles, 3 francs SO cents, and the import duty 6 francs SO cents ; in all 20 francs (163.) the hectolitre, or 48s. the quarter. The usual price at Odessa was 4 francs the hectolitre, which cor- responds to about 12 francs (IDs.) the quarter. Exportation was permitted in France by the law of 14th December 1814, only when the price in the frontier departments was 23 francs for the best wheat, 21 francs for the second, and 19 francs for the third, which showed that the average "cost of production was above the highest of these sums. The import duty was 5 francs SO cents the hectolitre, but even at this high import duty the influx of foreign grain from America, Odessa, and the Nile had caused a ruinous fall of prices in all the southern provinces. — L'Annuaire Sistmque, iv. 75. VOL. II. Z 354 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, intention of Government was to make this grant to tbe time-honoured relics of the Imperial regime a precedent ^^^'- for the great indemnity which they meditated to the emigrants and others who had been dispossessed of their estates by the Revolution ; for after the Liberals had unanimously supported grants from the public funds for the relief of their chiefs who had lost their possessions by the calamities of war, it was not easy to see on what principle they could oppose a similar grant to the sufferers under the confiscations of the Revolution. The Royalists, however, did not see this, or they had no faith in the existing. Ministry carrying out this design, as Marshal Macdonald, who introduced the project in 1814, had in- tended, and it met accordingly with the most impassioned resistance from the Right of tbe Assembly. No words can describe the indignation of the Royalists when they heard the names of the chief persons to be benefited by the new law, embracing the principal leaders of the Napoleonist party, and those most deeply implicated in the conspiracy of 1815.* "It is," said M. Duplessis " a reward for conspirators." The indemnity proposed was an inscription on the Grand' Livre — in other words, the gift" of so much stock in the Five per Cents, bear- ing date 22d Sept. 1821, in certain fixed proportions. J . The bill underwent many amendments in committee ; iv.ii6,i28Jbut at length, after great hesitation, indicative of weak- iil',u9. ness on the part of Ministers, it passed as originally proposed by a majority of 203 to 125.^ The question of the censorship of the press still re- La-wregard- uiained, which afforded as regular a subject for the encoun- ship'ofthe' *^^ ^^ parties in France as that of Catholic Emanci- P'®''- pation did in England. Although the Ministry was now of so mixed a character that it might reasonably have * They were, MM. Jeau-Bon Saint-Andr^, Jean de Bry, Quinette, General Hullin, LabSdoyere, Marshal Ney, Count d'Estar, General Lef^vre-Desnouettes, General Gilly, General Mouton-Duvemet, General Clauzel, Count de Laborde, General Exoelmaus, the Duke de Bassano, General Lamarque, Baron M6ohin. — Capefigue, ffist. de la Hestaaration, yii. 149. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 355 been supposed that both sets of journalists, having each chap, something to hope from the Government, would support IX. it, yet it proved otherwise ; and there is no period in the ^^^^" whole annals of the Restoration when the press was more violent, or parties were more exasperated against each other. Perhaps this was unavoidable : the effect of the change in the Electoral Law was now evident, and a party in possession of power is never so exasperated as when it sees the reins gradually but perceptibly slipping from its hands. The Minister of the Interior accordingly. Count Simeon, brought forward a project for continuing the censorship, alleging, in justification of the proposal, that it had during the past year been so gently exercised, that no fair discussion had ever been interfered with, but intemperate abuse alone excluded. The commission, however, to which the matter was referred, reported against the project, and Government, in the Chamber itself, were defeated on an amendment proposed by M. Courtarvel, on the part of the Liberals, that the restric- tion should continue only three months after the com- mencement of the session of 1821. Thus modified, how- ^ Ann. Hist, ever, the proposal passed into a law in the Deputies by a m. ' ' majority of 214 to 112 ; in the Peers, by 83 to 45.''^ This debate was chiefly memorable for the first open ... 103. declaration of opinion on the part of Ministers, which speech'of revealed an irreconcilable division of opinion and ap- on" theTc^ proaching rupture in the Cabinet. " If the censorship," j°]ye_ said M. Pasquier, " has been useful, it has been chiefly in what relates to foreign affairs, and certainly it has ren- dered great services, in that respect, not only to France, but to Europe. We. are accused of having enmities and partialities; yes, I admit I have a repugnance to those men, to whatever party they belong, who wish to trouble, or, without intending it, do trouble, the tranquillity of our country, who disunite minds when they should be united, I have a repugnance to the men who, too often exhuming from the tomb the revolutionary maxims. 356 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, would gladly make them a means of destroying the feli- ^ city we enjoy, perverting the rising generation, and bring- 1821. ijjg ypQQ ^.jjgjj. iieads the evils which have so long de- solated us. I have a repugnance to the men who, by odious recriminations, generally unjust, always impolitic, furnish arms and auxiliaries to those whom I have desig- nated. As I distrust every usurpation, I have a repug- nance to a small body of men who would claim exclusively for themselves the title of Royalists — ^who would wish to monopolise for themselves the sentiments which belong to the French nation ; and who would every day contract a circle which it is for the interest of all should be ex- panded. Still more have I a repugnance to the same men, when they evince too clearly the design of making of a thing so sacred as royalty, and the power which emanates from it, the instrument of their passions, their interests, or their ambition. I have a repugnance to these men, but chiefly because I feel assured that if they obtained all that they desire, they would make use of the power they have acquired for no other end j^y'sf"'^' ^"'^ *° gi'^tify private interests, and that we should thus HL^'iv"""' ®^^ ^^^"^ reproduce, by the successive triumph of their 187; Cap. petty ambition, that system of government which, in the 158. ' years preceding the Revolution, had done such mischief to France." ^ j^^ When sentiments such as these were expressed by Increasing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in language so unmea- parties,and surcd iu regard to a body of men who formed part of the oftheMinIs- Ministry, who had a majority in both Chambers, and "^' whose support was essential to their existence, it was evident that the dissolution of the Government was at hand. The difficulties of Ministers and the irritation of parties increased rapidly after the session of the legislature terminated. The Count d'Artois and the Royalists were dissatisfied that, when they had a majority in the Cham- bers, they had not one in the Ministry, and that M. Po- lignac and Peyronnet had not seats in the Cabinet. They HISTORY OP EUROPE. 357 condemned also, iu no measured terms, the conduct of the chap. Government, which, after having obtained, by the revela- ^^' tions made in the course of the trial of the conspirators ^®^'- of August 19th, decisive evidence of the accession of the Liberal leaders, especially Lafayette and Manuel, to the design of overthrowing the Government, let them escape untouched, and chastised even the inferior delin- quents only -with subordinate penalties. * " M. de Riche- lieu is an honest man, but weak; M. de Serres, uncertain ; M. de Pasquier, a Buonapartist in disguise ; M. Portal, worst of all, a Protestant ; M. Roy, a representative of the Hundred Days ; M. Simeon, the minister of the Emperor Mrdme ; M. Mounier, secretary to the usurper." Such was the language of the Royalists, and the Liberals and Doctrinaires were not behind them in vehemence. In particular, M. Guizot published a pamphlet entitled, " On the Restoration of the Present Ministry," which made a great noise, chiefly by the graphic picture it presented of their difficulties and divisions. The bland temper and moderate disposition of the Duke de Richelieu was sorely tried by these accumulated attacks on every side; and, on lEirMmT his return from the embassy in London, he complained j|j^"^j°|^^," to M. Decazes on the subject. " I wonder you are sur-p^[^'^*|"i- prised," said he : " they betrayed me, they will betray cap. vh. you ; it is their part to do so : it is impossible to act 173.' ' with them." 1 At length matters came to such a pass that M. de Villele and M. Corbiere, finding they could no longer preserve terms with the Royalists on the one hand, and the semi-liberal Ministry on the other, resigned their * " Dans le proces des troubles du mois de juin le pouvoir ministdriel avait recul^ devant un systeme de p^nalit^ trop forte, trop afflictive. De tous ces dgbats Stait r&ultee la certitude qu'il existait un comit6 actif, dirigeant, dont les chefs et les projets 6taient connus. Comment des lors les Eoyalistes pou- vaient-ils s'expliquer cette insouciance et cette faiblesse qui s'arretaient devant certains noms propres ■! La Correspondanoe de M. de Lafayette avec Gohier de la Sarthe rSvfilait les desseins et les plans revolutionnaires : pourquoi ne pas la deposer comme piece principale d'un acte d'acousation 1 " — CAPEriQDE, HiBt, de la Eesiauration, vii. 164. 358 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, situations shortly before the parliamentary session came to a close. Chateaubriand retired with them, greatly re- ^^'^^' gretted, from the embassy at Berlin. Negotiations upon Ruptuie this were opened with Monsieur and the Royalist chiefs, Eoyaitts, who wished to retain the Duke de Richelieu as premier, ?heRidie- but demanded the Ministry of the Interior for M. de lieu Minis- vilMc, the crcation of a Ministry of Public Instruction for M, Corbike, the embassy at London for M. de Cha- teaubriand, and another embassy for M. de VitroUes. The Cabinet offered the Ministry of the Marine to M. de Villele, but held firm for retaining M. Mounier in the Ministry of the Interior, by far the most important for political influence of any in the Gorernment. The negotiations broke off on this vital point, and Ministers, without the support of the Right, ventured to face the next session. In their expectations, however, of being able to go on without their support, they soon found themselves mistaken. The elections of 1821 consider- ably augmented the Royalist majority, already so great, and on the first division in the Chamber the latter were victorious by an immense majority. The speech of the Crown was studiously guarded, so as if possible to avoid a division ; but in the answer of the Chamber to the king, a passage was inserted at which both the monarch and the 22?'^'47-' ^^^^ ^^ Richelieu took mortal offence, as seeming to Ann- Hist, implv a doubt of their patriotism and honour.* The IV. 205,240; , . "^ •' , ^ , . Moniteui, king retumcd a severe answer to the address, t and it was Dec. 15 . , . . 1821. ' for a time thought the triumph of the minister was com- plete ; but this hope proved fallacious. ^ The Duke de * " Nous noiis KlioitoDB, Sire, de vos relations oonstamment atnioales aveo lea puissances fitrangeres; dans la juste eonfiance qu'une paix si prgoieuse n'est point achetie par des aacrifices incompatibles amc I'honneur de la nation et ateo la dignity de la Couronne." — Moniteur, 30th Nov. 1821. Ann. Hist., iv. 228. + " Dans I'exil et la persecution, j'ai soutenu mea droits, I'honneur de ma race et celui du nom fran^ais ; sur le tr6ne, entour6 de mon peuple, je m'indigne k la seule pensfie que je puisse jamais saorifier I'honneur fran9ais et la dignitg de ma couronne. J'aime & croire que la plupart de ceux qui ont vot6 cette adresse u'en ont pas pes6 toutes lea expressions — s'ils avaient eu le temps de les appr6cier, ils n'eussent pas souffert une supposition que, comme Roi, je ne dois pas caract6riser." — Moniteur, 20th Nov. 1820. CAPEriQUE, vii. 237. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 359 Richelieu found his situation so painful, with a decided chap. majority hostile to him in the Chamber, that, after some ^^' conference with the Count d'Artois, in which it was found ^^^^' impossible to come to an understanding, he resolved on resigning with all his colleagues, which was accordingly done on the 13th December. According to established usage, the Duke de Richelieu advised the king whom to send for, to form the new Minis- The new try, and he of course recommended M. de Vill^le. There *'""^'''y- was no difficulty in forming a Government ; the near approach of the crisis had been so long foreseen, that the Royalists had their arrangements all complete. M. de Vill^le was President of the Council and Minister of Finance; M. de Peyronnet, Secretary of State and Minister of Justice; Viscount Montmorency, Minister for Foreign Affairs ; M. Corbiere, Minister of the Inte- rior; Marshal Victor, of War; the Marquis Clermont- Tonnerre, of the Marine. In addition to this, the ex-ministers, M. de Serres, General Latour-Maubourg, Count Simeon, Baron Portal, and M. Roy, were ap- pointed members, as usual on such occasions, of the Privy Council ; and, in addition, Latour-Maubourg was appointed Governor of the Invalides. The Ministerial revo- lution was complete ; the Royalists were in entire posses- sion of the government, and the change in all subordi- nate, as well as the principal offices, was thorough and universal. The king would probably never have con- sented to so entire a revolution, had he possessed the bodily or mental vigour which he did in the earlier parts of his reign. But this was very far from being the case. His health, which had been long declining, had now become so feeble that his life was almost despaired of; and he had fallen into that state of dependence on those around him, which such a state of debility generally pro- duces. To a monarch who was not able to rise from his chair, who was wheeled about the room, and required to be tended almost with the care of an infant, the 360 HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP, influence of Monsieur, the Duchess d'Angoul^me, and the Countess Du Cayla, was irresistible. Louis, in fact, ^^^^" had almost resigned the reigns of government to his brother. He regarded his reign as having terminated ■with the retirement of the Duke de Richelieu. " At last," said he, " M. de Villele triumphs : I know little of the men who are entering my Council along with him : I believe, however, that they have good sense iMonitear ^'^ough uot to follow blindly all the follies of the Right. Po'n,- '^' For the rest, I consider myself annihilated from this 1821; Ann. ' i i ^ ,. . . , Hist. iv. moment; I undergo 'the usual fate of constitutional vii.247. " monarchs: hitherto, at least, I have defended my crown; if my brother casts it to the winds, it is his affair." ^ The fall of M. de Richelieu's administration, and the 107. Reflections accessIon of a purely Royalist Government, was so great event!^ a change in France, that it was equivalent to a i-evolu- tion. Nothing appears so extraordinary as that such an event should have taken place, in consequence of a parliamentary majority, so soon after the period when the tide of Liberal opinions set in so strongly in the nation that two successive coups d'4tat had been deemed necessary by the Government, in September 1816 and March 1819, to mould the two branches of the legisla- ture in conformity with it. But many similar examples of rapid change of opinion, and the setting in of entirely opposite flood-tides of opinion, are to be found both in the previous and subsequent annals of that country ; and they are not without a parallel both in the ancient and recent history of this. Whoever studies the changes of public opinion in the reign of Charles II., which within a few years led to the frightful judicial massacres of the Papists, and the inhuman severities of the Rye- House Plot — or recollects that the same nation which ■ brought in Sir Robert Peel by a majority of 91 in 1841, in the House of Commons, to support Protection, ten years afterwards obliged Lord Derby to abandon it — will see, that, though the variations of opinion in Great HISTORY OF EUROPE. 361 Britain are not quite so rapid as in France, they are chap. not less remarkable, nor less decisive in their results. No doubt, the great change in the Electoral Law of j"^'" France, carried through with so much difficulty by the Great e'f- Duke de Richelieu's administration, contributed largely change in ^ to this result. The new principle introduced by that torafLaw. law, of giving the departmental electors representatives of their own in the Chamber, and of having them chosen, not by the electors generally, but by a fourth of their number who paid the highest amount of taxes, was a great change, not merely in its numerical results, upon the composition of the Chamber, but in the principle of representation itself. It was a return from the principle of the Revolution, which was that of a mere representa- tion of numbers, to the general ancient representative system of Europe, which was that of classes. It was an abandonment of the principle of uniform representation, the most pernicious which can possibly be engrafted on the constitutional system, because it tends at once to introduce class government, and that of the very worst, because the most irresponsible kind. Some one class inevitably, under such a system, acquires the majority in the elections and in the legislature; and the moment it does so, and feels its strength, it commences and carries through a series of measures calculated for its own benefit, without the slightest regard to the eflfect they may have upon the interest of other classes, or the general pros- perity of the state. The only way to check this is to introduce into the legislature the representatives of other classes, elected under a different suffrage, and thus prevent the selfishness of one class from becoming para- mount, by permitting the selfishness of another class to combat it. But although the introduction of the hundred and sixty departmental members, elected by " les plus imposes," was a most important step, and one in the right direction, yet another step was wanting to give the French nation 362 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, a proper representation. This was a representation of IX numbers. To base the whole legislature upon them is ^®*'' doubtless to introduce class government of the worst 109, , Defects'of kind; but it is also a great mistake, which in the end senMve' maj bc attended with fatal consequences, to exclude Fran^."* them from the representation altogether. The interests of labour are not only not identical with those of monied wealth, but thej are often adverse to it : the sequel of this history will place this beyond a doubt, with re- spect to the British islands. The condition of the great body of the working classes may not only be noways benefited, but essentially injured, by a representation resting entirely on property, especially of a commercial kind ; because measures injurious to their welfare may be passed into law by the class which alone is repre- sented. As the representative system of the Restora- tion in France, even when amended by the act of 1820, contained no provision whatever for the representation of the working classes, by allowing no vote except to those paying at least 300 francs yearly of direct taxes, it was wanting in a most important element both of util- ity and general confidence. It will appear in the sequel how large a share this defect had in inducing the great catastrophe which, ten years afterwards, proved fatal to the dynasty of the Restoration. Connected with this great defect in the French repre- Undue'aa- sentativc systcm was another circumstance, attended in the prrtl." the end with consequences not less disastrous. This was, Pietre. ^j^^^^^ while labour was unrepresented, religion was too much represented. This was the natural, and, in truth, uuavoidable result of the irreligious spirit of the Revolu- tion : the reaction was as violent as the action ; . its oppo- nents conceived, with reason, that it could be combated only with the weapons and with the fervour of the ancient faith. The class of considerable proprietors, in whom a decided majority of the Chamber of Deputies was now vested, was attached to this party from principle, tradi- IX. 1821. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 363 tion, and interest. But although it is impossible to over- chap, estimate the salutary influence of religion on human society, it unhappily does not equally follow that the ascendancy of its professors in the legislature is equally beneficial. Experience has too often proved that the Parti-PrStre is perhaps the most dangerous that can be intrusted "with the administration of aflPairs. The reason is, that those who direct are not brought into contact with men in the actual business of life, and they deem it their duty to be regulated, not by expedience, or even prac- ticability, but solely by conscience. This disposition may make courageous martyrs, but it produces very bad legis- lators ; it is often noble in adversity, but always perilous in prosperity. Power is the touchstone which the Romish Church has never been able to withstand, as suffering is the ordeal from which it has never failed to emerge, sur- rounded by a halo of glory. The danger of this party holding, as they now did, the reins of power, supported by a large majority in both Chambers, was much increased by the circumstance, that, though the peasants in the country were, for the most part, under the influence of the ancient faith, it was held in abhorrence by the majo- rity of the working classes in the great towns, who were, at the same time, without any legal channel whereby to make their feelings influential in the legislature, but in possession of ample resources to disturb the established government. Although the change in the Electoral Law was the ^^^ immediate cause of the majority which the Royalists now Cause of ^^ "^ ^ 1 T • , • , the reac- got in the Chamber, yet the real and ultimate cause is to tion against be looked for in circumstances of wider extension and stltutTons!" more lasting effects. It was the violence and crimes of the Liberal party over Europe which produced the gene- ral reaction against them. It was the overthrow of gov- ernment in Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Piedmont, and the absurd and ruinous institutions established in their stead, which alarmed every thinking man in France : the 364 HISTORY OP EUEOPB. CHAP. IX. 1821. assassination of the Duke de Berri, the projected assassi- nation of the Cabinet Ministers in London, the attempted insurrection in the streets of Paris, opened the eyes of all to the means by which the hoped-for change was to be effected. The alteration in the Electoral Law in France was itself an effect of this change in the public mind ; for it took place in a Chamber heretofore decidedly Liberal. A similar modification had taken place in the views of the constituency, for the Royalists were now, for the first time for five years, in a majority in the arrondissements with regard to which no change had been made. It is Louvel, Thistlewood, and Riego, who stand forth as the real authors of this great reaction in Europe, and of the long stop to the progress of freedom which resulted from it — a memorable instance of the eternal truth, that no cause is in the end advanced by means at which the general mind revolts, and that none are such sufferers from the effects of crime as those for whose interest it was committed. 112. Death of Napoleon. May 5. 1 Hist, of Europe, c. Ixxxix. §26. While France was thus undergoing the political throes and changes consequent on its great Revolution, and the forcible change of the dynasty which governed it, and at the very moment when the infant prince was baptised who, it was hoped, would continue the ancient race of the Bourbon princes, that wonderful man breathed his last upon the rock of St Helena who had so long chained the destinies of the world to his chariot-wheels. Since his transference, by the unanimous determination of the allied sovereigns, to that distant and melancholy place of exile, he had alternately exhibited the grandeur of a lofty, the weaknesses of a little, and the genius of a highly gifted mind. He said at Fontainebleau, when he took leave of his faithful guards, that what "they had done together he would write ;"^ and he had fulfilled the promise, in part at least, with consummate ability. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 365 It is hard to say whether his fame does not now rest chap. nearly as much on his sayings and thoughts recorded at '- St Helena, as on all the mighty deeds which he achieved ^^'^^' in Europe. Yet even here, and when his vast genius alternately revealed the secrets of the past, and pierced the depths of the future, the littlenesses of a dwarf ap- peared in striking contrast to the strength of a giant. He was irritable, jealous, and spiteful, not less than able, discriminating, and profound ; his serenity was disturbed by his being addressed with the title of General, or attended, at a distance, by an English orderly in the course of his rides ; and exaggeration, falsehood, and envy, appeared in his thoughts and writings, not less than genius, capacity, and depth. His character, as revealed by misfortune, that touchstone of the human heart, affords the most striking proof of the truth of Dr Johnson's observation, that no man ever yet raised him- self from a private station to the government of man- kind, in whom great and commanding qualities were not blended with littlenesses which would appear inconceiv- able in ordinary men. Without doubt, it must ever be a matter of deep re- gret to every generous mind, and to none so much so as Keflec'tions to the inhabitants of Great Britain, that it was necessary twity.""^" to impose any restraint at all on the latter years of so great a man. How much more grateful would it have been to every honourable mind, to every feeling heart, to have acted to him as Xerxes did, in the first instance at least, to Themistocles, and in the spirit to which he him- self appealed when he said, that he placed himself on the hearth of the " greatest, the most powerful, and the most persevering of his enemies." But there was this essential difference between the two cases — Themistocles, when he took refuge in the dominions of the great king, had not given his word and broken it. Napoleon had been treated with signal lenity and generosity when, after having 366 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, devastated Europe by his ambition, he was allowed the IX. splendid retirement of Elba ; and the only return he ^^^^' made for it was, to invade France, overturn Louis XVIII., and cause his kingdom to be overrun by a million of armed men. He had signed the treaty of Fontainebleau, and the first thing he did was to break it.* When chained to the rock of St Helena, he was still an object of dread to the European powers ; his name was more powerful than an army of a hundred and fifty thousand men ; he was too great to be forgotten, too little to be trusted. Every imaginable precaution was necessary to prevent the escape of a man who had shown that he regarded the faith of treaties only till it was his interest to break them ; and of whom it had been truly said by exalted genius, that " his cocked hat and great-coat, placed on a stick on the biiand. coast of Britauny, would cause Europe to run to arms from one end to another." ^ Great was the sensation excited in Europe, and espe- Grcate'xag- cially England, by the publication of the St Helena Me- |arfin™the moirs, and the loud and impassioned complaints made of teeftment ^^^ alleged harsh treatment of the exiled Emperor by the of him. English authorities. They were re-echoed in Parliament by Lord Holland and the leaders of the Opposition, and even the most moderately disposed men were led to doubt the necessity of the rigid precautions which were adopted, and to regret that more generous feelings had not been shown to a fallen enemy. Time, however, has now exercised its wonted influence over these mournful * The author ia well aware of the ground alleged by the partisans of Napo- leon for this infraction, viz., that the payments stipulated by the treaty had not been made by the French Government to him. But supposing that there was some foundation for this complaint, it could afford no justification for so desperate and outrageous an act as invading France, without the slightest warning or declaration of war, and overturning the Government. The exces- sive pecuniary difficulties under which France at that period laboured, owing to the calamities in which he himself had involved and left her, were the cause of this backwardness in making some of the payments ; and the last man in the world who had any title to complain of them was the person whose insa- tiable ambition had caused them all. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 367 topics : it has demonstrated that the conduct of the chap. English Government towards their illustrious captive was ^^' not only, in the circumstances, unavoidable, but highly ^^^^' liberal and considerate ; and so clearly is this demon- strated, that it is now admitted by the ablest and most impassioned of the French historians of the period.''^ England bore the -whole brunt of the storm, because she was in the front rank, and held the Emperor in her cus- tody ; but she did not act singly in the matter — she was only the executor of the general resolutions of the Allies. These were to treat Napoleon with all the respect and consideration due to his rank, but under such precau- tions as should render his escape a matter of impossibi- lity. The conduct of his partisans, to which he was no stranger, added to the necessary rigour of these precau- tions ; for several plots were formed for his escape, and only failed of success by the vigilance of the military and naval authorities on the island. Yet, even in the presence of these difficulties, the indulgence with which he was treated was such as now to excite the surprise of the j ^^^^ j^,^ most impassioned historians of the Revolution. The ac- Napoleon at Till • -1 -I n t 11 1 St Helena, count shall be given in the words or the ablest and most iii. 343,34s. eloquent of their number.^ "The sum of 300,000 francs (£12,000) a-year," says Lamartine, "often added to by additional grants, was * " AprSs la crise de 1816, lorsque I'Europe, encore una foia menac^e par Napoleon, orut n&essaire de prendre une mesure de prgcaution qui empSchSt une seconde tourmente, Sainte-Helene fut choisie comme prison d'etat. Les puissances durent arrSter un syst&me de surveillance k I'figard du prisonnier, car elles craignaient par-desBus tout le retour de Napoleon. L'Angleterre pourvut largement t ses besoins ; la table seule de Napoleon coutait a la Trg- sorerie 12,000 livres sterling. 11 y a quelque chose qui dSpasse mes idles, quand j 'examine le grandiose du caraotSre de Napoleon, et sa vie immense d'administration et de batailles ; c'est cet esprit qui s'arrfete tant i, Sainte-Helene aux petites difficult6s d'gtiquette. Napoleon boude si Ton s'aeeied en sa pre- sence, et si I'ou ne le traite pas de Majestg, et d'Empereur ; il se drape per- pgtuellement : il ne voit pas que la grandeur est en lui et non dans la pourpre et de vains titres. A Austerlitz, au conseil d'Etat, NapolSon est un monu- ment de granit, et de bronze : si Sainte-H616ne, c'est encore un colosse, mais parfi d'un costume de cour." — Capefigue, Bistmre de la Restauratioti , vii. 209. 368 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, consecrated by the English Government to the cost of ^^' the table of the little court of the exiled Emperor. Ber- ^"^^^ trand the marshal of the palace, his wife and son ; Lamart'ine's M. and Madame de Montholon, General Gourgaud and wrexlie! Dr O'Meara ; the valet-de-chambre Marchand, Cypriani maitre-d'hotel, Prerion chief of office, Saint -Denys, Noverras, his usher Santini, Rousseau keeper of the plate, and a train of valets, cooks, and footmen, formed the establishment. A library, ten or twelve saddle-horses, gardens, woods, rural labours, constant and free commu- nication at all times between the exiles, correspondence under certain regulations with Europe, receptions and audiences given to travellers who arrived in the island, and were desirous to obtain an audience of the Emperor — such were the daily amusements of Longwood. Piquets of soldiers under the command of an officer watched the circuit of the building and its environs ; a camp was established at a certain distance, but out of sight of the house, so as not to offend the inmates. Napoleon and his officers were at liberty to go out on foot or on horse- back from daybreak to nightfall, and to go over the whole extent of the island accompanied only by an officer at a distance, so as to prevent all attempt at escape. Such was the respectful captivity which the complaints of Na- poleon and his companions in exile styled the dungeon iLamartine, and martyrdom of St Helena."^ To this it may be la Restaur- added, that the entire establishment at St Helena was 4i274r3.' ^^pt W by the English Government on so splendid a scale that it cost them £400,000 a-year ; that cham- pagne and burgundy were the daily beverage — the best French cookery the fare of the whole party ; that the comfort and luxuries they enjoyed were equal to those of any duke in England ; and that, as the house at Longwood had been inconvenient, the English Govern- ment had provided, at a cost of £40,000, a house neatly constructed of wood in London, which arrived in the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 369 island two days after the Emperor's death. Such were the alleged barbarities of England towards a man who had so long striven to effect her destruction, and who had chastised the hostility of Hofer by death in the fosse of Mantua, of Cardinal Pacca by confinement amidst Alpine snows in the citadel of Fenestrelles, and the sup- posed enmity of the Duke d'Enghien by massacre in the ditch of Vincennes.^ * But all this was as nothing as long as Mordecai the Jew sat at the king's gate. In the first instance, indeed, the bland and courteous manners of Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who was intrusted with the chief command, softened the restraints of captivity, and made the weary hours pass in comparative comfort ; but he was unfortunately succeeded by Sir Hudson Lowe, whose manners were far less conci- liating. A gallant veteran, who had accompanied the army of Silesia, in the quality of English commissioner, through its whole campaign in France, he was overwhelmed with the sense of the responsibility under which he laboured, in being intrusted with the custody of so dangerous a captive ; and he possessed none of the graces of manner which so often, in persons in authority, add to the charms of concession, and take off the bitterness of restraint. The obloquy cast on Sir Colin Campbell, in consequence of having been accidentally absent from Elba when the Emperor made his escape, was constantly before his eyes. He does not appear to have exceeded his instructions ; * The allowance of wine to the establishment at Longwood was as follows, a fortnight : — CHAP. IX. 1821. 1 Pari. Deb. XXXV. 1 138, 1159; Por- ejth, iii, 345. 116. Irritation between Mm and Sir Hudson Lowe, Bottles. Vin ordinaire, 84 Cqjistantia, . 7 Champagne, 14 Vin de Grave, 21 Ttoeriffe, . 84 Claret, 140 360 And besides, forty-two bottles of porter. A tolerable allowance for ten grown persons, besides servants. — See Parliamentary Debates, xxxv. 1 1 59. Thfl total cost of the table was iei2,000 a-year.— 7iW., 1158. VOL. 11. 2 A 370 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, and certainly the constant plots wliicli were in agita- ' tion for Napoleon's escape, called for and justified every 1821. imaginable precaution. But he was often unreasonably exigeant on trifles of no real moment to the security of the Emperor's detention ; and his manner was so unpre- possessing, that, even when he conferred an indulgence, it was seldom felt as such. Napoleon, on his part, was not a whit behind the governor of the island ii; irritability or unreasonable demands. He seemed anxious to provoke outrages, and his ideas were fixed on the effept the account of them would produce in Europe. He was in correspon- dence with the leading members of the English Opposition, who made generous and strenuous efforts to soften his captivity ; and he never lost the hope that, by the effect these representations would make on the British people, and on the world, his place of confinement might be altered ; and, by being restored to Europe, he might suc- ceed in playing over again the game of the Hundred Days. All his thoughts were fixed on this object, and it was to 1 Forsyth's ^^7 ^ foundation for these complaints that he affected to smiiXa"' *^^® offence at every trifle, and voluntarily aggravated iii. 334,357; the inconvenicnces of his own position. Montholon said Jjam. VI. - , *■ " 416,417. truly to Sir Hudson Lowe, " If you had been an angel from heaven, you would not have pleased us." ^ * j^^ The truth is, none of the parties implicated in the All parties treatment of Napoleon at St Helena have emerged un- regardTng"^ scathcd out of the ordeal through which they have passed raentrm since his death; and the publication of the papers of Sir Helena. Hudsou Lowc, by Mr Foi'syth, has placed this beyond a * "En lisant attentivement lea correspoudances et les notes gtrangeres S, tout prfitexte, eutre les famlliers de Napoleon et de Hudson Lowe, on est coufondu des outrages, dea proyooations, des invectives, dont le captif et ses amis in- sultent a, tout propos le gouverneur. Napoleon en ce moment cherohait i, imou- voir par des oris de douleur la piti^ du parlemeut anglais et S. fournir uu grief aux orateurs de I'oppositiou centre le ministere, afiu d'obtenir sou rapproche- ment de I'Europe. Le dgsir de provoquer des outrages par des outrages, et de pr&enter en suite ces outrages comme des crimes au Continent, transpire dans toutes ces notes. II est Evident que le gouverneur, souvent irritS, quelquefois inquisiteur, toujours inhabile, se sentait Iui-m6me victime de la responsabilitg." — Lamartine, Hist, de la Sestauration,-n. 416, 417. * HISTORY OF EUROPE. 371 doubt. The British government was the first to blame : chap. its conduct in the main, and in all essential articles, was L_ indulgent and considerate ; but in matters of lesser real ^®'^^- moment, but still more important to a person of Napoleon*s irritable disposition, their instructions were unnecessarily rigid. Admitting that after his stealthy evasion from Elba it was indispensable that he should be seen daily by some of the British officers, and attended by ojie, beyond certain prescribed limits, where was the necessity of refusing him the title of Emperor, or ordering every- thing to be withheld which was addressed to him by that title 1 A book inscribed " Imperatori Napoleon " might have been delivered to him without his detention being rendered insecure. A copy of Coxe's Marlborough, pre- sented by him to a British regiment which he esteemed, might have been permitted to reach its destination, with- out risk of disafifiction in the British army.^ It is hard to > Forsyth, . iii 277 279 say whether most littleness was evinced by the English ' ' government refusi^|f such slight gratifications to the fallen hero, or by himself in feeling so much annoyed at the withholding the empty titles bespeaking his former great- ness. It is deeply to be regretted, for the honour of human nature, which is the patrimony of all mankind, that he did not bear his reverses with more equanimity, and prove that the conqueror of continental Europe could achieve the yet more glorious triumph of subduing himself. For a year before his death he became more tractable. The approach of the supreme hour, as is often the case, change on softened the asperities of previous existence. He per- before hu sisted in not going out to ride, in consequence of his ''• quarrel with the governor of the island, who insisted on his being attended by an officer beyond the prescribed limits ; but he amused himself with gardening, in which he took great interest, and not unfrequently, like Diocle- sian, consoled himself for the want of the excitements of royalty, by labouring with his own hands in the cultiva- tion of the earth. The cessation of riding exercise, how- 372 HISTOEY OP EUROPE. CHAP, ever, to one who had been so much accustomed to it, '- — proved very prejudicial. This, to a person of his active ^^^^' habits, coupled with the disappointment consequent on iiU9ofi96; the failure of the revolutions in Europe, and the plans wlaii^iie; formed for his escape, aggravated the hereditary malady^ iu'iii- ^^ ^^^ stomach, under which he laboured, and in spring M?m*""' ^^^^ caused his physicians to apprehend danger to his 16M63.'' life. 1 The receipt of this intelligence caused the English His death, govemmcnt to send directions for his receiving every pos- *^ ■ sible relief and accommodation, and even, if necessary, for his removal from the island. But these humane intentions were announced too late to be carried into effect. In the beginning of May he became rapidly worse; and on the evening of the 5tb, at five minutes before six, he breathed his last. A violent storm of wind and rain at the same time arose, which tore up the trees in the island by their roots, — it was amidst the war of the elements that his soul departed. The howling of the wind se^ed to recall to the dying conqueror the roar of battle, and his last words were — " Mon Dieu — La Nation fran9aise — T^te d'arm^e." He declared in his testament, " I die in the Apostohc, and Roman religion, in the bosom of which I was born, above fifty years ago." When he breathed his last, his sword was beside him, on the left side of the couch ; but the cross, the symbol of peace, rested on his breast. The child of the Revolution, the Incarnation of War, died in the Christian faith, with the emblem of the Gospel on his bosom ! His will, which had been made in the April pre- f Ann. Hist, ccdiug, was fouud to conH;ain a great multitude of bequests, Forsyth, iii.' but two in au especial manner worthy of notice. The first AntomaV- was a rcqucst that his body " might finally repose on the n^ers^Mom. ''^"^^ ^^ *^^6 ^^i"®' amoug the people he had loved so ko^ir229, ■"'^^1 j" tlie second, a legacy of 10,000 francs to the assassin 246/312. ' Cantillon, who, as already noticed,* had attempted the life of the Duke of Wellington,^ but had been acquitted by * Ante, chap. vi. § 73. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 373 the jury, from the evidence being deemed insufficient. He chap. died in the 53d year of his age, having been born on the ^^' 5th February 1768. i^^i. Napoleon had himself fixed upon the place in the island of St Helena where he wished, in the first instance at His funeral. least, to be interred. It was in a small hollow, called Slanes Valley, high up on the mountain which forms the island, where a fountain, shaded by weeping willows, meanders through verdant banks. The tchampas flourished in the moist soil. " It is a plant," says the Sanscrit writings, " which, notwithstanding its beauty and perfume, is not in request, because it grows on the- tombs." The body, as directed by the Emperor, lay in state in a " chapelle ardente," according to the form of the Roman Catholic Church, in the three-cornered hat, military surtout, leather under-dress, long boots and spurs, as when he appeared on the field of battle, and it was laid in the coffin in the same garb. The funeral took place on the 9 th May. It was attended by all the military and naval forces, and all the authorities in the island, as well as his weeping house- hold. Three squadrons of dragoons headed the procession. The hearse was drawn by four horses. The 66th and 20th regiments, and fifteen pieces of artillery, formed part of the array, marching, with arms reversed, to the sound of mournful music, and all the touching circumstances of a soldier's funeral. When they approached the place of sepulture, and the hearse could go no farther, the coffin was borne by his own attendants, escorted by twenty- four grenadiers of the two English regiments who had the honour of conveying the immortal conqueror to his last resting-place. Minute-guns, during the whole ceremony, were fired by all the batteries in the island. The place j^^°^.^^^J; of sepulture was consecrated by an English clergyman,* ^}h^k according to the English form, though he was buried with Antomarl the Catholic rites.^ Volleys of musketry and discharges 192. ' ' of artillery paid the last honours of a nation to their noble * The Rev. Mr Vernon. 374 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, antagonist. A simple stone of great size was placed over ! bis remains, and the solitary willows wept over the tomb ^*^^" of him for whom the earth itself bad once hardly seemed a fitting mausoleum. The death of Napoleon made a prodigious sensation in Immense Europe, and caused a greater change of opinion, especially eldtedTn in England, than any event which had occurred since that Europe. ^£ LQ^jg XVI. Thcro was something in the circum- stances of the decease of so great a man, alone, unbe- friended, on a solitary rock in the midst of the ocean, and in the contrast which such a reverse presented to his for- mer grandeur and prosperity, which fascinated and subdued the minds of men. All ranks were affected, all imagina- tions kindled, all sympathies awakened by it. In Eng- land, in particular, where the antipathy to him had been most violent, and the resistance most persevering, the reaction was the most general. The great qualities of their awful antagonist, long concealed by enmity, mis- represented by hatred, misunderstood by passion, broke upon them in their full lustre, when death had rendered him no longer an object of terror. The admiration for him in many exceeded what had been felt in France it- self. The prophecy of the Emperor proved true, that the first vindication of his memory would come from those who in life had been his most determined enemies. Time, however, has moderated these transports; it has dispelled the illusions of imagination, calmed the effervescence of generosity, as much as it has dissipated the prejudices and softened the rancour of hostiUty. It has taken no- thing from the great qualities of the Emperor ; on the contrary, it has brought them out in still more colossal pro- portions than was at first imagined. But it has revealed, at the same time, the inherent weaknesses and faults of his nature, and shown that " the most mighty breath of life," in the words of genius, " that ever had animated the human clay, was not without the frailties which are the common inheritance of the children of Adam." HISTORY OP EUROPE. 375 With Napoleon terminated, for the present at least, chap. the generation of ruling men — of those who impress their signet on the age, not receive its impression from it. ^^2'" " He sleeps," says Chateaubriand, " like a hermit at the He was the extremity of a solitary valley at the end of a desert path, men who He did not die under the eye of France ; he disappeared ^e! on the distant horizon of the torrid zone. The grandeur of the silence which shrouds his remains, equals the im- mensity of the din which once environed them. The nations are absent, their crowds have retired." The ter- rible spirit of innovation which has overspread the earth, and to which Napoleon had opposed the barrier of his genius, and which he for a time arrested, has resumed its course. His institutions failed, but he was the last of the great existences. The shadow of Napoleon rises on the frontier of the old destroyed world, and the most distant posterity will gaze on that gigantic spectre over ictateaub. the gulf into which entire ages have fallen, until the les, 171.' appointed day of social resurrection. ^ 376 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAPTER X. DOMESTIC HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FEOM THE PASSING OF THE CUEEENCT ACT OF 1819 TO THE DEATH OF LOED LONDON- DEEET IN 1822. The contest between parties in France was directed CHAP, to diflFerent ends, and was of an entirely different charac- !__. ter from that in Great Britain. At Paris the object ^®^^' was to overthrow a dynasty, in London it was to gain a Difference subsistcnce. The contest in the one country was politi- j'ectB^of the cal, in the other it was social. All the discontented in paJtytl France, however much disunited upon ulterior objects, EnXnd?'^ were agreed in their hatred of the Bourbons, and their desire to dispossess them. The multitude of ambitions which had been thwarted, of interests injured, of glories tarnished, of prospects blasted, by the disasters in which the war had terminated, and the visions which it had overthrown, rendered this party very numerous and fearfully energetic. In England, although there were, doubtless, not a few, especially in the manufacturing towns, who desired a change of government, and dreamt of a British or Hibernian Republic, the great majority of the discontented were set upon very different objects. The contest of dynasties was over : no one thought of sup- planting the house of Hanover by that of Stuart. Few, comparatively, wished a change in the form of govern- ment : there were some hundred thousands of ardent re- publicans in the great towns ; but those in the country HISTORY OP EUROPE. 377 who were satisfied, and desired to live on under the rule chap. of King, Lords, and Commons, were millions to these. 1819. 2. But all wished, and most reasonably and properly, to live comfortably under their direction ; and when any social evils assumed an alarming aspect, or distress pre- vailed to an unusual degree among them, they became discontented, and lent a ready ear to any demagogue who promised them, by the popularising of the national institutions, a relief from all the evils under which the country laboured. From this difference in the prevailing disposition and objects of the people in the two countries, there resulted Difference a most important distinction in the causes which, on the iauset opposite sides of the Channel, inflamed the public mind, duMddiv or endangered the stability of existing institutions. In thftwo'" France, the objects of the opposition in the Chambers, countries. the discontented in the country, being the subversion of the Government and a change of dynasty, whatever tended to make the people more anxious for that change, and ready to support it, rendered civil war and revolu- tion more imminent. Hence, general prosperity and social welfare, ordinarily so powerful in allaying discon- tent, were there the most powerful causes in creating it ; because they put the people, as it might be said, into fighting trim, and inspired them, like a well-fed and rested army, with the ardour requisite for success in hazardous enterprises. In England, on the other hand, as the con- test of dynasties was over, and the decided republicans who aimed at an entire change of institutions were com- paratively few in number, nothing could enlist the great body of the people, even in the manufacturing towns, on the side of sedition, but the experience of sufiiering. So strong, however, is the desire for individual comfort, and the wish to better their condition, in the Anglo-Saxon race, that general distress never fails to excite general disaffec- tion, at least in th.e great cities ; and whatever tends to in- duce it, in the end threatens the public tranquillity. Thus, in 378 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. France at that period, at least, general prosperity augment- , ! ed the danger of revolution ; in England, it averted it. ^^'^" A cause, however, had now come into operation, which, Great'ef- uiore than any other recorded in its modern annals, pro- chang°/in° duced loug-continued and periodically returning distress tarvTaws." ^^oug the British people j and at length, from the sheer force of suflFering, broke the bonds of loyalty and patriot- ism, and induced a revolution attended with lasting and irremediable consequences on the future prospects of the empire. It need not be said what that cause was : a great alteration in the monetary laws, ever affecting the life-blood of a commercial state, is alone adequate to the explanation of so great an effect. The author need not be told that this is a subject exceedingly distasteful to the great bulk of readers : he is well aware that the vast majority of them turn over the pages the moment they see the subject of the currency commenced. He is not to be deterred, however, by that consideration from enter- ing upon it. All attempts to unfold the real history of the British empire, during the thirty years which followed the peace, will be nugatory, and the views they exhibit fallacious, if this, the main-spring which put all the move- ments at work, is not steadily kept in view. History loses its chief utility, departs from its noblest object, when, to avoid risk to popularity, it deviates from the great duty of furnishing the materials for improvement : the nation has little shown itself prepared for self-govern- ment, when in the search of amusement it forgets inquiry. Enough of exciting and interesting topics remain for this history, and for this volume, to induce even the most in- considerate readers to submit for half an hour to the elucidation of a subject on which, more than on any other, their own fortunes and those of their children depend. It may the more readily be submitted to at this time, as this is the turning-point of the two systems, and the sub- ject now explained need not be again reverted to in the whole remainder of the work. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 379 The great father of political economy has well explained chap. the principles of this subject, and was himself more than ' anj other man alive to their importance. " Gold and sil- '^'^• ver," says Adam Smith, "like every other commodity, vary Mr smith's in their value, are sometimes cheaper, sometimes dearer, luasi^iet. sometimes of easier, and sometimes of more difficult pur- chase. The quantity of labour which any particular quantity of these can purchase or command, or the quan- tity of other goods it will exchange for, depends always upon the fertility or barrenness of the mines which hap- pen to be known about the time when such exchanges are made. The discovery of the abundant mines of America reduced, in the sixteenth century, the value of gold and silver in Europe to about a third of what it had formerly been. As it cost less labour to bring those metals from the mine to the market, so when they were brought there, they could purchase or command less labour ; and this revolution in their value, though perhaps the greatest, is by no means the only one of which history gives some account. But as a measure of quantity, such as the natural foot, fathom, or handful, which is continually varying in its own quantity, can never be an accurate measure of the value of other commodities ; so a commo- dity which is itself continually varying in its own value, ^ Wealth of can never be an accurate measure of the value of other bookTc. 5. commodities." 1 If debts, taxes, and other encumbrances, could be made at once to rise or fall in their amount, according to the Great 'e.- fluctuation of the medium in which they are to be dis- varfatform charged, any changes which might occur in the exchange- of thTstMd- able value of that medium itself would be a matter of little »'* of value. practical importance. But the experience of all ages has demonstrated that this is impossible. The transactions of men, when they become at all extensive or complicated, absolutely require some fixed known standard by which they are to be measured, and their discharge regulated, without anything else than a reference to that standard 380 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, itself. It never could be tolerated that every debtor, ^' after having paid his debt in the current coin of the ^®^^- realm, should be involved in a dispute with his creditor as to what the present value of that current coin was. Hence the necessity of a fixed standard ; but hence also the immense effects of any material alteration in the value of that standard, and the paramount necessity, so far as practicable, of preventing any considerable fluctuations in it. If the standard falls in value, the weight of all debts and encumbrances is proportionally lessened, because a lesser quantity of the produce of labour is required for their discharge ; if it rises, their weight is proportionally augmented, because a larger quantity is required for that purpose. So great is the effect of any considerable change, in this respect, that it has occasioned, and can alone ex- plain, the greatest events in the intercourse of nations of which history has preserved a record. The great contest between Rome and Carthage, which Examples Hannibal and Scipio conducted, and Livy has immor- former^""'" taliscd, was determined by a decree of the Senate, in- "'°^^' duced by necessity, which postponed the payment of all obligations of the public treasury in specie to the conclu^ sion of the war, and thereby created an inconvertible paper currency for the Roman empire.* More even than the slaughter on the Metaurus, the triumph of Zama, this decree determined the fate of the ancient world, for it alone equipped the legions by whom those victories were gained. Rome itself, saved in its utmost need by an expansion, sunk in the end under a still * " Hortati oenaores, ut omnia perinde agerent, locarent ac si pecunia in cera- rio esset: neminem nisi betto confecto, pecuniam ab arario petiiurum esse," — Lrv. lib. xxiv. cap. 18. — On one occasion, when in a party in London, composed chiefly of Whigs, opponents of Mr Pitt's Currency Act of 1797, the dangerous effects of this measure were under discussion, the late Lord Melbourne, whose saga- city of mind was equal to hia charm of manner, quoted this passage from memory. " The censors," says Arnold, " found the treasury unable to supply the public service. Upon this, trust monies belonging to widows and minors, or to widows and unmarried women, were deposited in the treasury ; and whatever sump the trustees had to draw for were paid by the quarter in bills 1819. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 381 greater contraction of the national currency. The sup- chap. plies of specie for the Old World became inadequate to the increasing wants of its population, when the power of the emperors had given lasting internal peace to its hundred and twenty millions of inhabitants. The mines of Spain and Greece, from which the chief supplies were obtained at that period, were worked out, or be- came unworkable, from the exactions of the emperors ; and so great was the dearth of the precious metals which thence ensued, that the treasure in circulation in the Empire, which in the time of Augustus amounted to £380,000,000, had sunk in that of Justinian to £80,000,000 sterling ; and the golden aureus, which in the days of the Antonines weighed 118 grains, had come, in the fifth century, to weigh only 68, ^ though it was ^ Greaves only taken in discharge of debts and taxes at its original CoinsTi.™ and standard value. As a necessary consequence of so ' " prodigious a contraction of the currency, without any proportional diminution in the numbers or transactions of mankind, debts and taxes, which were all measured in the old standard, became so overwhelming that the na- tional industry was ruined ; agriculture disappeared, and was succeeded by pasturage in the fields ; the great cities were all fed from Egypt and Libya ; the revenue became a Gibbon's irrecoverable ; the legions dwindled into cohorts, the j?:""!'^; cohorts into companies ; and the six hundred thousand Miiman'a' men, who guarded the frontiers of the Empire in the time son's' Es- of Augustus, had sunk to one hundred and fifty thousand in 442? '"' that of Justinian — a forcewhollyinadequate to itsdefence.^ on the banking commissioners, or triumvirs mensarii. It is probable that these bills were actually a paper currency, and that they circulated as mone^, on the security of the public faith. In the same way, the goTemment contracts were also paid in paper ; for the contractors came forward in a body to the censors, and begged them to make their contracts as usual, promising not to demand payment till the end of the war. This must, I conceive, mean that they were to be paid in orders upon the treasury, which orders were to be converted into cash when the present difficulties of the government should be at an end." — Arnold, ii." 207. This was just an inconvertible paper currency, and its issue, after the battle of Cannae, saved the Eoman empire. 382 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. What rendered this great contraction of the circulating medium so crushing in the ancient world was, that they ^^^^' were wholly unacquainted, except for a brief period during Discovery tho nccessitics of the second Punic War, with that mar- fui 7sZi^^ vellous substitute for it-^a paper currency. It was the cumn|r7 Jews who first discovered this admirable system, to faci- litate the transmission of their wealth amidst the violence and extortions of the middle ages ; and it is, perhaps, not going too far to assert that, if it had been found out, and brought into general use, at an earlier period, it might have averted the fall of the Roman Empire. The effects of a scarcity of the precious metals, therefore, were immediately felt in the diminished wages of labour and price of produce, and increasing weight of debts and taxes, A paper currency, adequately secured and duly limited, obviates all these evils, because it provides a Representative of the metallic currency, which, when the latter bepomes scarce, may, without risk, be rendered a Substitute for them. Thus the ruinous effects of a con- traction of the circulating medium, even when most vio^ lent, may be entirely prevented, and the industry, reve- nue, and prosperity of a country completely sustained during the utmost scarcity, or even entire absence, of the precious metals. It was thus that the alarming crisis of 1797, which threatened to induce a national bankruptcy, was surmounted with ease, by the simple device of de- claring the Bank of England notes, like the treasury bonds in the second Punic War, a legal tender, not con- vertible into cash till the close of the war ; and that the year 1810, when, from the demand for gold on the Con- tinent, there was scarcely a guinea left in this country, was one of general prosperity and the greatest national efforts recorded in its annals. As paper may with ease be issued to any extent, either by Government or private establishments autho- rised to circulate it, it becomes an engine of as great danger, and attended with as destructive effects, when it is HISTORY OP EUROPE. 383 unduly multiplied as ■when it is unduly contracted. It chap. is like the blood in the human body, -whose circulation ^' sustains and is essential to animal life^ drained away, or ^^'^" not adequately fed, it leads to death by atrophy ; unduly Advantages increased, it proves fatal by inducing apoplexy. To lllSiL, preserve a proper medium, and promote the circulation If J ""'*" equally and healthfully through all parts of the system, is the great object of regimen alike in the natural frame and the body politic. Issued in overwhelming quanti- ties, as it was in France during the Revolutiou, it induces such a rise of prices as destroys all realised capital, by permitting it to be discharged by a mere fraction of its real amount ; contracted to an excessive degree, either by the mutations of commerce or the policy of Govern- ment, it proves equally fatal to industry, by lowering the money price of its produce, and augmenting the weight of the debts and taxes with which it is oppressed. A paper currency, when perfectly secure, and hindered by the regulations under which it is issued from becom- ing redundant, may not only, in the absence of gold and silver, supply its place, but in its presence almost super- sede its use. " If," says Adam Smith, " the gold and silver in a country should at any time fall short, in a country which has wherewithal to purchase them, there are more expedients for supplying their place than almost any other commodity. If provisions are wanted, the people must starve ; if the materials ,for manufacture are awanting, industry must stop ; but if money is wanted, barter will supply its place, though with a good deal of inconvenience. Buying and selling upon credit, and the different dealers compensating one another once a month or year, will supply it with less inconveniency. A well- regulated paper money will supply it, not only ivithout inconveniency, but in some cases with some advantage."'^ Nation? °^ Experience may soon convince any one that this latter b. 4, c. i'. observation of Mr Smith is well founded, and that a duly regulated paper is often more convenient and serviceable 384 HISTORY OE EUROPE. CHAP, than one entirely of specie. Let him go into any bank ^' at a distance from London, and he will find that they ■1819. .^j^ gjyg jjjju sovereigns to any extent without any charge ; but that for Bank of England notes, or a bill on London, they will, in one form or other, charge a pre- mium : and if he has any doubt of the superior conye- nience of bank-notes over specie for the transactions of life, he is recommended to compare travelling in England with £500, in fiveEnglish notes, in his waistcoat pocket, with doing so in France with the same sum in napoleons in his portmanteau. The question is often asked, "What is a pound 1" and What i's the Sir Robcrt Peel, after mentioning how Mr Locke and Sir value? " Isaac Newton had failed, with all their abilities, in an- swering it, said that he could by no possible effort of intel- lect conceive it to be anything but a certain determinate weight of gold metal. Perhaps if his valuable life had been' spared, and he had seen the ounce of gold selling in Australia at £3 to £3, 10s. instead of £3, 17s. lO^d., the mint price, he would have modified his opinion. In truth, a pound is an abstract measure of value^ just as a foot or a yard is of length ; and different things have at different periods been taken to denote that measure according as the conveniency of men suggested. It was originally a pound weight of silver ; and that metal was till the present century the standard in England, as it still is in most other countries. When gold was made the standard, by the Bank being compelled by the Act of 1819 to pay in that metal, the old word, denoting its original signification of the less valuable metal, was still retained. During the w^r, when the metallic currency disappeared, the pound was a Bank of England pound- note : the standard was thus paper, — for gold was worth 28s. the pound, from the demand for it on the Con- tinent. Since California and Australia have begun to pour forth their golden treasures, the standard has prac- tically come again to be silver, as the precious metal HISTORY OP EUROPE. 385 ■which is least changing in value at this time. The proof chap. of this is decisive ; — the ounce of gold is selling for £3 to £3, 1 Os. at Melbourne ; gold is measured by silver, not silver ^^^^■ by gold. In truth, diflFerent things at diflferent times are taken to express the much-coveted^bstract standard ; and "what is always taken is that article in general circulation which is most steady in value and most generally received. None but those practically acquainted -with the sub- ject can conceive how powerfully, and often rapidly, an vast eifeot extension or contraction of the currency acts upon the "n X mr-' general industry and fortunes of the country. All other '*°°^' causes, in a commercial state, sink into insignificance in comparison. " The judicious operations of banking," says Mr Smith, " enable the trader to convert his dead stock into active and productive stock. The first forms a very valuable part of the capital of the country, which pro- duces nothing to the country. The operation of bank- ing, by substituting paper in room of a great part of the gold and silver, enables the country to convert a great part of dead stock into active and productive stock — into stock which produces something to the country. The gold and silver money which circulates in any country may very properly be' compared to a highway, which, while it circulates and carries to market all the grass and corn of the country, does not itself produce a single pile of either. The judicious operations of banking enable the country to convert, as it were, a great part of its highways into good pastures and corn-fields, and thereby increase considerably the annual produce of its land and labours."^ To this it may be added, that so great is the iweaithof effect of an increase of the paper circulation, and conse- b. n'-Tz. qiiently of the expansion of the credit, industry, and enterprise of a commercial state, that a country which has dead stock, as Mr Smith says, of the value of twenty thousand millions, may find the value of all its articles of merchandise enhanced or diminished fifty per cent by the expansion or contraction, of the currency to the VOL. II. 2 B 386 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, extent of ten millions sterling. Such an addition or &\xb- ^' traction is to be compared, not to the entire amount of -''"^- its realised wealth, but to the amount of that small por- tion of it -which forms its circulating medium, upon which its prosperity depends ; just as the warmth of a house is determined, not by the quantity of coals in the cellar, but by what is put upon the fires. Such an addition to the wealth of a state may be as nothing to the value of its dead stock, but it is much to the sum total of its circulating medium. It is not in the general case immediately that this When this great effect of an expansion or contraction of the currency place.'* °' acts upon the price of the produce and the remuneration of the labour of the country : months may sometimes elapse after the augmented issues go forth from the bank before their effects begin to appear upon prices and enter- prise ; years, before these effects are fully developed. But these effects are quite certain in the end : an expansion never fails by degrees to stimulate, a contraction to de- press. The reason of the delay in general is, that it takes a certain time for the augmented supplies of money and extended credit to flow down from the great reservoirs in the metropolis, from whence it is first issued, to the country banks which receive it, and through them upon their dif- ferent customers, whose speculation and industry it devel- opes. There is no immediate connection between aug- mented supplies of money, whether in gold, silver, or paper, and a rise in the price of commodities, or between their diminution and a fall ; it is by the gradual process of stimulating enterprise, and increasing the demand for them in the one case, and diminishing it in the other, that these effects take place ; and either is the work of time. When matters approach a crisis, however, and general alarm prevails, any operations on the currency are attended with effects much more rapidly, and sometimes instantaneously. Several instances of this will appear in the sequel of this history. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 387 As the increase or diminution of the currency in any chap. considerable degree is thus attended with such incalcu- '- — 1819. 12. lable effects upon the industry, enterprise, and prosperity of every country which is largely engaged in under- vastTm- takings, it becomes of the last importance to preserve its an incon-° amount as equal as may be, and to exclude, if possible, Juwency as all casual or uncalled-for expansions or contractions. o/p§ces.°'' Such variations are fatal to prudent enterprise and legitimate speculation, because they induce changes in prices irrespective altogether of the judgment with which they were undertaken, against which no wisdom or fore- sight can provide, and which render commercial specula- tions as hazardous, and often ruinous, as the gaming- table. They are injurious in the highest degree to the labouring classes, because they encourage in them habits of improvidence and lavish expenditure at one time, which are inevitably succeeded by depression and misery at another. They often sweep away in a few months the accumulated savings of whole generations, and leave the nation with great undertakings on its hands, without either credit or resources to carry them on. Their effects are more disastrous than those of plague, pesti- lence, and famine put together, for these, in their worst form, affect only an existing generation ; but commercial crises extend their ravages to distant times, by sweeping away the means of maintaining the future generations of man. No currency which is based exclusively upon the pre- cious metals, or consists of them, can possibly be exempt a currency from such fluctuations, because, being valuable all over J^e p,e™ous the world, these are always liable to be drained away at "^aysiL- particular times by the mutations of commerce or the i"'® *" *"<=■ necessities of war m the neighbouring states. A war between France and Austria occasioning a great demand for gold on the Continent ; a bad harvest in England ren- dering necessary a great exportation of it to bring grain from Poland or America ; a revolution in France ; three 388 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, weeks' rain in August in England — events, unhappily, ! — nearly equally probable — may at any time induce the cala- ^®^^" mity. True, the precious metals will always in the end be attracted to the centre of wealth and commerce ; but before they come back, half the traders and manufacturers in the country may be rendered bankrupt. Any interruption of the wonted issues of cash to them is like the stopping the issuing of rations to an army, or food to a people. The only possible way of averting so dire a calamity, is either by having had such immense treasures of gold and silver in the country, that they are adequate to meet any possible strain which may come upon them, and may fairly be considered inexhaustible ; or by having some currency at home not convertible into specie, but which, issued in moderate quantities, and under sufficient safeguards against excess, may supply its place, and do its work during its temporary absence. Of the first. Great Britain and the whole civilised world afforded in 1852 a memorable ex- ample, when the vast and newly-discovered treasures of California and Australia diffused animation and prosperity over every nation ; the second was illustrated by England in 1797 and 1810, when not a guinea was left in the coun- try, but every difficulty was surmounted by the moderate issue of an inconvertible paper, which, without becoming excessive, was adequate to the wants of the community. The bill of 1819, which re-established cash payments. Concurring aud thereby rendered the national currency, with the wMch exception of £14,000,000, whicli the Bank was authorised abouuhe to issue upou securitics, entirely dependent on the reten- biiiof 1819. |.Jqq Qf ^}jg precious metals in the country, was brought about by a singular but not unnatural combination of causes. In the first place, there was the natural reaction of the human mind against the enormous evils which had arisen in France from the abuse of the system of assignats, the quantities of which issued exceeded at one timie £700,000,000 sterling, and caused such a rise of prices as swept away nearly the whole realised capital of the HISTORY OF EUROPE. 389 country. In the next place, there was the natural dread chap. X. 1819. on the part of all the holders of realised wealth of such a continued elevation of prices as might lessen the ex- changeable value of their fortunes, and in somg degree deprive them of their inheritances or the fruits of their toil. Thirdly, the whole persons engaged in manufac- tures — a large and increasing class — were impressed with the same ideas, from the experience which the opening of the harbours had aflForded them, since the peace^ of the great difference between the money wages of labour and prices of raw material on the Continent, where money was scarce, because its inhabitants were poor, and Eng- land, where it was plentiful, because they were rich, and the necessity of contracting the currency in order to lower prices, especially of raw material and labour, and enable them better to compete with their Continental rivals. The Whigs, as a party, naturally and unanimously ad- hered to the same opinion. They did so, because Mr Pitt and Lord Castlereagh had supported the opposite system, on the principle of Mr Tierney : " The business of the Opposition is to oppose everything, and turn out the Government." Lastly, the political economists, struck with the obvious dangers of great variations in prices, of which recent times had afforded so many examples, formed the same opinion, from an idea that, gold being the most precious of all metals, and the most in request in all countries and ages, no circulation could be considered as safe or lasting except such as was built upon that im- perishable foundation. These circumstances, joined to the weight and abilities of Mr Huskisson, Mr Horner, and the Bullion Committee, who had recommended the resumption of cash payments, and of Mr Peel, who had recently embraced their views, and the general ignorance of the greater part of the community on the subject, pro- duced that " chaos of unanimity " which, as already men- ^ tioned, led to the resolutions introducing it being adopted iv. § 78. by the House of Commons without one dissenting voice.^ 390 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP. A chaos of unanimity, however, -which confounds par- ' ties, obliterates old impressions, and is followed by new ^^'®' alliances, is seldom in the end attended by advantages ; Danger of OH. the contrai'y, it is in general the herald of misfortune. enSy °^ As it arises from the judgment of men being obliterated rSaiiio for a season, by the pressure of some common passion or ^^'^- apprehension, so it ends in their interests being con- founded in one common disaster. The great danger of considering paper as the representative of gold and silver, not, when required, a substitute for them, consists in this, that it tends necessarily to multiply or diminish them both at the same time ; a state of things of all others the most calamitous, and fraught with danger to the best interests of society. When gold and silver are plen- tiful abroad, and they flow in large quantities into this country, from its being the best market which the holders of those metals can find for them, they, of course, accumu- late in large quantities in the banks, especially the Bank of England, which being obliged to take them at a fixed price, often above the market value, of course gets the largest proportion. It pays for this treasure with its own paper, which thus augments the circulation, already, perhaps, too plentiful from the affluence of the precious metals. Then prices rise, money becomes easy, credit expands, and enterprises often of the most absurd and dangerous kind are set on foot, and are generally for a brief period attended with great profit to the fortunate holders of shares. When a change arrives — as arrive it must, from this rapid increasing of the currency both in specie and paper at the same time, and the pre- cious metals are as quickly withdrawn to other coun- tries, probably to pay the importations which the pre- ceding fever had brought into the country — the very reverse of all this takes place. The banks, finding their stock of treasure daily diminishing, take the alarm ; discounts cease, credits are contracted ; the greatest mercantile houses are unable to obtain even incon- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 391 siderable advances, and the nation is left with a vast ohap.' X. 1S19. variety of speculations and undertakings on hand, with- out either funds or credit to bring them to a successful issue. The true system would be just the reverse. Proceed- ing on the principle that the great object is to equalise True sjs- the currency, and with it prices and speculation, it would ™" enlarge the paper currency when the precious metals are withdrawn and credit is threatened with stoppage, and proportionally contract it when the precious metals re- turn, and the currency is becoming adequate without any considerable addition to the paper. In this way, not only would the immense danger of the gold and paper being poured into the circulation at the same time be avoided, but a support would be given to credit, and an adequate supply of currency provided for the country when its precious metals are drained away, and a mone- tary crisis is at hand. A few millions, secured on Govern- ment credit, not convertible into cash, judiciously issued by Government commissioners when the exchanges are becoming unfavourable and money scarce, would at any time arrest the progress of the most dreadful monetary crisis that ever set in upon the country. That of 1793 was stopped by the issue of Exchequer bills ; that of 1 79 7 by suspending cash payments ; that of 1825 was arrested, as will appear in the sequel, by the accidental discovery and issue of two millions of old bank-notes in the Bank of England, when their treasure was all but exhausted ; that of 1847 was at once stopped by a mere letter of the Premier and Chancellor of the Exchequer, authorising the suspension of cash payments. The prospect even of a currency which was to be a substitute for gold, not a representative of it, at once arrested the panic, and saved the nation. Such an expedient, when intrusted to Govern- ment commissioners, and not to bankers or interested par- ties, is comparatively safe from abuse ; and it would at once put an end to that fluctuation of prices and commer- §36. 392 HISTORY OP BUKOPE. CHAP, cial crises, -which have been the constant bane of the coun- ^' try for the last thirty years/'' ^^^^- In addition to these dangers with which the resumpT Peculiar tion of cash payments and the establishment of a paper thf which currency— the representative,' not the substitute for gold, tioVrS' and therefore dependent on the retention of the precious payments metals — must always be attended, there were peculiar cir- WAS 3i1it6IlUi~ " •TIT 1 ed. cumstances which rendered it eminently hazardous, and its effects disastrous, at the time it was adopted by the English government. The annual supply of the precious metals for the use of the globe, which, as already men- tioned, had been on an average, before 1810, ten millions sterling, had sunk, from the effects of the revolution in iAnte,c.i. South America, to little more than two millions.^ The great paper currency guaranteed by all the allied powers, issued so plentifully during 1813 and 1814, and which had circulated as cash from the banks of the Rhine to the wall of China, had been drawn in, in conformity with the Convention of London of 30th September 1813; and the, Continent had never yet recovered from the contrac- * Adam Smitli clearly saw the advantages of an inconvertible paper cur- rency issued on such principles, and on such safeguards against abuse. " The government of Pennsylvania," says he, " without amassing any treasure, in- vented a method of lending, not moTiey, indeed, but what is equivalent to money, to its subjects. By advancing to private people at interest, and upon land security to double the value, paper bills of credit, to be redeemed fifteen years after their date, and in the mean time made transferable from hand to hand lite bank-notes, and declared by act of Parliament to be a legal tender in all payments by one inhabitant of the province to another, it raised a mode- rate revenue, which went a considerable way towards defraying the expenses of that orderly and frugal government. The success of an expedient of this kind must depend on three circumstances : first, upon the demand for some other instrument of commerce besides gold and silver money, or upon the demand for such a quantity of consumable stock as could not be had without sending abroad the greater part of their gold or siher money in order to purchase it ; secondly, upon the good credit of the government which makes use of the expedient ; thirdly, upon the moderation with which it is used, the whole value of the paper bills of credit never exceeding that of the gold and siher money which would have been necessary for carrying on their circulation, had there been no paper bills of credit. The same expedient was upon different occa- sions adopted by several other American States; but from want of this mode- ration, it produced in the greater part of them much disorder and inoonve- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 393 tion of credit and shortcoming of specie consequent on its disappearance, and on the cessation of the vast expen- diture of the war. The loans on the Continent, in the years following its termination, had been so immense, that they had ruinously contracted the circulation, and destroyed credit. The fall of prices^ in consequence, and from the good harvest of 1818, had been as great in Germany after the peace as in Great Britain, and the cabinets of Vienna, Berlin, and St Petersburg, were as much straitened for money in the beginning of 1819 as the French government.^ * In addition to this, the strain on the money market at Paris, in the close of 1818 and commencement of 1819, had been so dreadful that a monetary crisis of the utmost severity had set in there, which had rendered it a matter of absolute necessity, as already mentioned, for the French government to solicit, and the allied cabinets to grant, a prolongation of the term for payment of the immense sums they were required to pay, by the treaty of Aix-la- Chapelle, as the price of the evacuation of their territory, nience." — Wealth of Nations, book v. chap. 2. This is the true principle which should regulate the issue of inconvertible paper, its main use serving as a substitute for gold and silver, not as a representative of it, to be used chiefly where the precious metals are drawn away, and nemr exceeding the amount of them which would have been required to conduct and facilitate Us real transac- tions. The moderation of Pennsylvania was a prototype of the wisdom of the English ; the extravagance of the other American colonies, of the madness of France in the use of this powerful agent for good or for evil during the subse- quent revolutionary war. * Fall op Prices op Wheat on the Coktinent pbom 1817 to 1819. Vienna, Munich, Norway, Venice, Lisbon, Fiume, Udine, The bad harvest of 1816 was the cause of the high prices in 1817, but the prodigious fall in 1819 was due mainly to the pressure on the money market. — ToOKB On Prices, ii. 93, 94, and authorities there quoted. CHAP. X. 1819. 1 Ante, c. vi. § 76. 18. Strain on the money market, from the immense loans on the Conti- nent. March 1817. Septemlier 1819 114s. Od. 19s. 6d. ISls. Od. 24s. Sd. 81s. lOd. 26s. 8d. 99s. 6d. 293. 4d. 117s. Od. 543. 2d. 88s. lid. 29s. 9d. 99s. 6d. 31s. 7d. 394 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, ■which was extended, hj a conTcntion in December 1818, ^' from nine to eighteen months.^ It was not surprising ^®^^' . that such a financial crisis should hare taken place on the §76.°''"'' Continent at this time, for the loans negotiated by its. diflFerent governments in the course of 1817 and 1818 amounted to the enormous sum of £38,600,000,* of which £27,700,000 was on account of France. At least three- fourths of these loans were undertaken in London and Amsterdam by Messrs Baring and Hope ; and as the whole sums they had to pay up under them required to be remitted in specie, the drain which in consequence set in upon the Bank of England was so serere that its ac- cumulated treasure, which in October 1817 had been j^TooiejOn £11,914,000, and in February 1818, £10,055,460, had sl-se!'"" sunk, on 31st August 1818, to £6,363,160, and on 27th February 1819 was only £4,184,000.2 It was the suspension of cash payments by the Bank Great pros- of England in 1817 and 1818, which, as already men- Singkndin tioned, alone enabled this country to prosper during this andsprhig^ terrible crisis, which was acting with such severity upon of 1819, other states, and occasioning so fearful a drain on its own from exteu- ' o sionofits met9,llic resources. But that suspension had not only, by providing it with an adequate internal currency, averted the catastrophe so general at that time on the Continent, but had given it at the very same time an extra- ordinary degree of prosperity. " In consequence," says Mr Tooke, " of the great fall in the French funds, com- bined with the great and sudden fall of the prices of grain on the Continent, extensive failures occurred in Paris, * Loans raised in Europe in 1817 and 1818. France, ^627,700,000 Prussia, ...... 2,800,000 Austria, ...... 3,600,000 Russia, ...... 4,500,000 currency. *— Appendix to Lords' Com. on Cash Payments, 1819, p. 424. ^£38,600,000 HISTORY OP EUROPE. 395 CHAP. X. 1819, Marseilles, and other parts of France, as also in Holland and in Hamburg, in 1818, before any indication had ap- peared of discredit, or of any pressure on the money market of this country. A loan bad also been negotiated in 1818 for the Russian government, tbe payments for a large proportion of which were made in bullion exported from this country, thus adding greatly to the pressure on the money market, and at the same time exhibiting the phenomenon of prices falling rapidly on the continent of Europe — much more rapidly than here— while bullion was flowing there from hence." ^ It is not surprising it was ' Xooke, ii. so; for the Continental states, during 1817 and 1818, ' had- no paper adequate to sustain their industry during the scarcity of money, owing to the immense pressure on their money market, whereas England enjoyed in the highest degree that advantage. The paper circulation of Great Britain had greatly increased during the drain on the precious metals, and compensated for their want, and in the last of these years had reached £48,000,000 in England alone, a higher amount than in any year of the war. Hence the prosperity in this country which co- existed with the most serious pressure and distress on the Continent.* The consequences of this abundant supply of the cur- rency in Great Britain had been an extraordinary degree Great inter- of prosperity to the country in the last months of 1818 ftyofthe"' and first of 1819, accompanied by a corresponding and™""''^- a too sudden start in speculations of every sort. It was so great, and the change so rapid, that it was made the * CiEcniiATioN OF Bank oe England and Countet Notes. Years. Bank of England. Country Banks. Total. 1816 1817 1818 1819 £27,013,620 27,397,900 27,771,070 25,227,100 £16,096,000 16,894,000 20,507,000 16,701,328 £42,109,620 43,291,900 48,278,070 40,928,428 — Alison's Ewope, chap, xcvi. Appendix. 396 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. X. 1819. subject of special congratulation and notice in the speech from the throne.* Statistical facts demonstrate how great a start had at the same time taken place in all our principal articles of imports and manufactures, and in the general rise of prices of all sorts. The former had more than doubled, the latter advanced fully 50 per cent.t The unavoidable consequence was, that prices were high, but not unreasonably so : they had not advanced so as to afford grounds to fear a reaction. Wheat, on an average of 1819, was at 72s., while during the scarcity of 181 7 it had been 116s., and at the lowest point of the great fall of spring 1 8 1 6, 52s. And that the imports, how great and increased soever, as compared with the distressed years which had preceded it, were not excessive, or running into dangerous speculation, is decisively proved by the facts that the imports and exports of Great Britain in 1818, as compared to its population and revenue, were not half what they have since become, not only without risk of collapse, but with the most general and admitted prosperity. In a word, the British empire, in the whole of 1818 and commencement of 1819, was beginning to taste the blessed fruits of peace and prosperity ; and industry, vivified and supported by a currency at once adequate and duly limited, was flourishing in all its * " The Prince-Regent has the greatest pleasure in being able to inform you that the trade, commerce, and manufactures of the country are in a most flourishing condition. The favourable change which has so rapidly taken place in the internal circumstances of the United Kingdom, affords the strongest proof of the solidity of its resources. To cultivate and improve the advantages of our present situation will be the object of your deliberations." — Pbincb- Regbnt's Speech, Jan. 21, 1819 ; Parliamentary Debates, xxxix. 21. + Impobts into Great Britain • years. Silk. lb. Wool. lb. Cotton, lb. Manuf. Tona. Tallow. Tons. Linseed. Qrs. Colonial. Produce. 1816 1817 1818 1,137,922 1,177,693 2,101,618 8,117,864 14,715,843 26,405,486 93,920,055 124,912,968 177,282,158 18,478 22,863 33,020 20,858 19,298 27,149 70,S92 162,769 287,141 £26,874,920 29,916,320 35,819,798 -ToOKE On Prices, ii. 61, 62. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 397 branches, and daily discovering new channels of profit and enterprise, at the very time when the scarcity of money on the Continent was involving all classes in unheard-of disasters.* But these flattering prospects were of short duration, and Great Britain was soon doomed to experience, in all its bitterness, the disastrous effects of an ill judged and worse timed contraction of the currency. At the moment when the annual supplies of the precious metals for the use of the globe had been reduced, by the South American revolution, to a fourth of their former amount — when the coin annually issued from the English mint had in conse- quence sunk to only £1,500,000 a-yearf — when the drains of gold on the Bank, to meet the gigantic loans contracted for in this country for the Continental powers, and pay for the immense importations of the year, had reduced the treasure in the Bank from £12,000,000 to £3,500,000, and when the large mercantile transactions recently entered into in this country, and the general prosperity and ac- tivity which prevailed, imperatively required, instead of a contraction, a great increase of the currency. Parlia- ment, without one dissenting voice, passed an act, re- quiring the Bank of England, at no distant period,^ to resume cash payments, thereby rendering the currency CHAP. X. 1819. . 21- Disastrous contraction of the cur- rency. ' Ante, c. iv. § 78. * This opinion was s"trongly expressed by the most intelligent persons at the time. " Both trade and manufactures are in a flourishing condition, and liltely to improve still further. There appears to be little speculation beyond the regular demands of the different markets, men without capital finding it al- most impossible to procure credit ; so that there is now no disposition to force a trade, and no injurious competition to procure orders, and consequently wages are fair and reasonable." — Lord Sheffield to Lord Sidmouth, 17th Dec. 1818 ; Sidmouth's Life, iii. 242. t Money Coined and Issoed at the Mint. 1817, £6,771,595 1818, 8,488,662 1819, 1,270,817 1820, 1,787,233 1821, 7,954,444 Poeter's Pari. Tables. Alison's Europe, chap, xevi., Appendix. 398 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, dependent on the retention of gol4 — the very thing ^L_ -which, in the circumstances of the country, could not ■^^^^- :be retained.* The effects of this extraordinary piece of legislation Its effects were soon apparent. The industry of the nation was ""sues.^*"'' speedily congealed, as a flowing stream is by the severity of an arctic winter. The alarm became universal— as widespread as confidence and activity had recently been. The country bankers, who had advanced large- ly on the stocks of goods imported, refused to con- tinue their support to their customers, and they were in consequence forced to bring their stock into the mar- ket. Prices in consequence rapidly fell — that of cotton, in particular, sunk in the space of three months to half its former level. The country bankers' circulation was contracted by no less than five millions sterling; the entire circulation of England fell from £48,278,000 in 1818, to £40,928,000 in 1820 ; and in the succeeding year it sunk as low as £34,145,000. Nothing in this disastrous contraction of the currency, at a period when its expansion was so loudly called for, sustained the national industry, or averted a general bankruptcy, but the fortunate circumstance that the obligation on the Bank to pay in specie was, by the Act of 1819, only to * Lord Eldon, however, had strongly opposed it in the Cabinet, and wished the project postponed for two years. — Twiss's Life of Lord Eldon, ii. 329. Mr Ward (Lord Dudley) said "Those that are near the scene of action are not less surprised than you are at the turn the Bullion question has taken. Canning says it is the greatest wonder he has witnessed in the political world."— Earl of Dudley's Letters, 222. The truth is, Ministers at the period were very weak, and had sustained several defeats in the House of Commons, particularly on the Criminal Law, and they did not venture to face the Oppo- sition on the Bullion question. Lord Liverpool, at the period it was lirst broached in the Cabinet, wrote to Lord Eldon in allusion to their difference of opinion on the subject : " After the defeats we have already experienced during this session, our remaining in office is a positive evil. It confounds all the ideas of government in the minds of men. It disgraces us personally, and renders us less capable every day of being of any real service to the country now. If, therefore, things are to remain as they are, I am quite clear that there is no advantage in any way in our being the persons to carry on the public service."— Lord Liverpool to Lord Eldon, May 10, 1819; Eldon's Life, ii. 329. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 399 CHAP. X. 1819. commence on 1st February 1820;^^ and this enabled that establishment, in the preceding autumn, when the crash began, not only not to contract its issues, but even in a slight degree to increase them.f The effects of this sudden and prodigious contraction of the currency were soon apparent, and they rendered And ok the next three years a period of ceaseless distress and ^u commo- suffering in the British islands. The accommodation^'''*'- granted by bankers diminished so much, in consequence of the obligation laid upon them of paying in specie when specie was riot to be got, that the paper under discount at the Bank of England, which in 1810 had been £23,000,000, and in 1815 not less than £20,660,000, sunk in 1820 to £4,672,000, and in 1821 to £2,676,000 ! I The effect upon prices was not less * Bank and Bankers' Notes. Years, Bank of England. Country Bankers. Total. Money Coined and Issued at the Mint. 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 £27,771,000 25,227,100 23,509,150 22,471.450 18,172,170 £20,507,000 16,701,328 10,576,245 8,256,180 8,416,430 £48,278,070 40,928,428 34,145,395 30,727,630 26,588,600 £3,438,652 1,270,817 1,797,233 9,954,444 5,388,217 — Parliamentary Papers quoted in Alison's Europe, chap. xcvi. ; Appendix to TooKE On Prices, ii. 129. Mr . Sedgewict, of the Stamp Office, estimates the contraction of country- bank-notes as follows : — 1819, £15,284,491 1820, 11,767,391 1821, 8,414,281 1822, ..... 8,067,260 1823, 8,798,277 — TooKB On Prices, ii. 128. t Circulation of the Bank oe England. Bullion. 27th February 1819, . £25,126,970 £4,184 620 31st August 1819, . 25,252,790 3,696,360 — TooKE On Prices, ii. 96. J Paper under Discount at the Bank of England. 1808, . . £12,950,100 1814, . . £13,363,475 1809, . . 18,127,597 1815, . . 20,660,000 1810, . . 23,070,000 1819, . . 6,515,000 1811, . . 15,199,032 1820, . . 3,883,600 1812, . . 17,610,950 1821, . . 2,676,700 1813, . . 14,514,744 1822, . . 2,662,000 TooKB On Prices, ii. 381-383, 400 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. X. 1819, 1 Ann. Reg 1819, 301, 306; App. to Chron. immediate or appalling. They sunk in general, within six months, to half their former amount, and remained at that low level for the next three years.* Imports sunk from nearly £36,000,000 in 1818, to £29,769,000 in 1821 ; exports from £45,000,000 in the former year, to £35,000,000 in the latter.f Distress was universal in the latter months of the year 1819, and that distrust and discouragement was felt in all branches of industry, which is at once the forerunner and the cause of disaster. The Three per Cents, which had been at 79 in January, gradually fell, after the Bank Restriction Act passed, to 65 in December ; and the bankruptcies, which had been 86 in January, rose in May to 178 : the total in the year was 1499, being an increase of 531 over the preceding year.^l The effects of this panic, and consequent distress, espe- cially in the manufacturing districts, speedily appeared ; * Prices of the undermentioned Articles in the Tear, and Wheat in Deoembbe of each Year. Year. Wheat, Cotton, Iron, Rice, Bilk, Tea, Wool, Sugar, Beef, per tierce. per qr. pep lb. per ton. per ton. per lb. per lb. per lb. per cwt. s. d. a. d. £ s. s. a. d. s. d. s. d. s. s. 1818... 80 8 2 9 45 39 3 1 6 70 100 1819... 66 3 1 11 8 10 43 30 2 10 6- 66 115 1820... 54 6 1 5 9 32 24 5 2 4 3 58 130 1821... 49 1 1 7 10 36 24 2 4 3 3 58 115 1822... 3811 1 6 10 33 25 1 2 8 3 6 42 80 -TooKE On Prices, ii 390, 397, 420. Exports, Declared Value. Importa. £35,845,340 29,681,640 31,515,222 29,769,122 29,432,376 + 1818, . . . £45,180,150 1819, . . . 34,252,251 1820, . . . 35,569,677 1821, . . . 35,823,127 1822, . . . 36,176,897 — Alison's Europe, chap, xcvi.. Appendix. J Mr Tooke, whose industry and talents entitle his opinions to the highest respect, has laboured hard to show that the contraction of the ouiTency in 1819 had no connection with the distress of that and the three following years, but that it is entirely to be ascribed to overtrading ; and in this opinion he is followed by Miss Martineau. With what success their arguments are founded may be judged of by the facts above stated. Mr Toote's arguments are based upon an idea which every one acquainted with the real working of commerce knows to be fallacious — that the effects of monetary changes, if real. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 401 and the demagogues were not slow to turn to the best chap. account this unexpected turn of fortune in their favour. ^' Mr Cobbett said afterwards, that the moment he heard in ^^^^• America of the resumption of cash payments in Great Rapid in- Britain, he prepared to return to this country, as he felt dSertion certain that the cause of Reform in Parliament could not j^*«™""- long be averted ; and the result proved that he had cor- rectly scanned the effects of that measure. The disaf- fected, under the direction of their able and intelligent leaders, changed the direction of their tactics. They no longer confined their operations to the breaking of mills or destruction of machinery ; political changes became their object ; and their method of effecting them was by making displays of vast multitudes of men, in a cer- tain degree disciplined, and closely banded together in feeling. At a great meeting of 30,000 or 40,000 per- sons, which took place at Glasgow on 16th May, called upon prices, must be immediate, and, therefore, as he finds the Bank issues a shade higher in August 1819 than they had been in February of that year, he concludes that there was no contraction to account for the distress, and that it arose entirely from overtrading. — (Tookb On Prices, ii. 96, 113.) He takes no account of the prodigious drain on the metallic currency which brought the bullion in the Bank down from £12,000,000 to £3,500,000, nor of the con- traction of £5,000,000 in the country bankers' issues, from the passing of the act. But, in truth, his.notion that there is an immediate connection between currency and prices if there is any, is entirely erroneous. Sometimes, doubt- less, the effect is very rapid, but in general it is the work of time. If a sud- den panic is either produced or arrested by legislative measures, the effect may be instantaneous ; but in other cases it is by slow degrees, and by work- ing through all the ramifications of society, that a contraction or expansion of the currency acts upon the interests of society. If five milUons additional are thrown into the money market, or gradually withdrawn, it by no means follows that there is to be an instantaneous effect on prices. The effect takes place gradually, in consequence of the extended speculations and undertakings which are set on foot in the one case, or ruined or contracted in the other. The effect of the contraction of the currency, which began in 1819, continued through the whole three following years, till it was arrested by an expansion of it in 1823, which soon landed the nation in another set of dangers on the opposite side. The speculation of 1818 was doubtless considerable, and would probably, in any. event and with the best regulated currency, have led to a check and a temporary fall of prices, just as an abundant harvest for a season lowers the price of grain. But it is quite chimerical to suppose that the long- continued distress, from 1819 to 1823, was owing to the importations of 1818. If they were excessive, that evil would speedEy check itself, and restore prices to their average and healthful state. But that they were not excessive, and VOL. II. 2 C 402 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. X. 1819. to petition the Prince-Regent for relief and means to emigrate to Canada, an amendment was proposed, and carried by an overwhelming majority, that no good was to be expected but from annual parliaments, uni- versal suflfrage, vote by ballot, and diminished taxation. They now, for the first time, assumed the name of Radical Reformees, and began to use, as their war- cries, the necessity of annual parliaments, universal suf- frage, vote by ballot, and the other points which have since been combined in what is called the People's Charter. The leaders of the great meetings which took place, much to their credit, strenuously inculcated upon the people the necessity of keeping the peace, and abstaining from all acts of intimidation and outrage ; and, considering the immense multitudes who were con- Bhould not, if the currency had been let alone, have terminated in anything like disaster, is decisively proved by the fact that they were not half as great, relatively to the population of the empire, as they have since become in years not only unaccompanied by disaster, but marked by the most unequivocal prosperity. This distinctly appears from the following table of exports and imports : — Years. Exports— ofBcial value. Imports — official value. Population of Great Britain and Ireland. 1818 1819 1820 1823 1824 1825 1834 1835 1836 1844 1845 1846 1847 £42,700,521 33,534,176 38,396,625 43,804,372 48,785,551 47,106,620 73,821,550 78,376,731 85,229,837 131,564,503 134,599,116 132,288,345 125,907,063 £35,845,340 29,681,640 31,615,222 34,591,260 36,066,551 42,660,954 49,362,811 48,911,542 67,023,867 75,441,555 86,281,955 75,958,874 99,921,806 20,500,000 22,000,000 23,500,000 27,400,000 — POetbb's Pari. Tables; and Alison's Europe, Appendix, chap. cxvi. It is true, several of these prosperous years terminated in disaster; but that was the necessary effect of the system of currency established in the empire, which rendered periods of disaster as necessarily the followers of prosperity as night is of day. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 403 gregated together, amounting often to 30,000 and 40,000 ' chap, persons, it was surprising how generally the directions ■were followed. Aware from the symptoms in the poli- ^^^^" tical atmosphere of an approaching storm, but wholly ijig^jti^^g^^ unconscious that it had proceeded from their own acts, j^jl^^^^^,^!?^^* Government strengthened themselves by the admission """^.iii. of the Duke of Wellington into the Cabinet as Master^ Ann. Reg. General of the Ordnance, on his return from the com- loe. ' ' mand of the Army of Occupation in 1819.^ These political meetings were general in all the manu- facturing towns of England and Scotland during the Meeting at whole summer of 1819, and the leading topics constantly AgAs', dwelt on were the depression of wages and misery of the ^®^^" poor, which were invariably ascribed to the Corn Laws, the weight of taxation, the influence of the boroughmon^ gers, or holders of nomination boroughs, and the want of any representation of the people in Parliament. The speeches, which were often eloquent and moving, acquired additional force from the notorious facts to which they could all refer, which were too expressive of the general distress which prevailed. No serious breach of the peace occurred till the 16th August 1819, when a great assem- blage, took place at Peterloo, near Manchester. As it was known that multitudes were to come to that meet- ing from all the towns and villages in that densely- peopled locality, great apprehensions were entertained by the local authorities, and extraordinary precautions taken to prevent a breach of the peace, in conformity with a circular frora the Home OfiBce on 7th July, which recommended the utmost vigilance on the part of the local magistracy, and the adoption of prompt and vigorous a Ann. Reg. measures for the preservation of the public tranquillity. loe^'Mat- The yeomanry of the county of Cheshire, and a troop of gal^Life Manchester yeomanry, were summoned ; and the military, ^^^t^^f^' consisting of six troops of the 15th Hussai'S, two guns, 234, 237; 11 iici • .°Mr Johffe's and nearly the whole of the 31st regiment, were also on Letter. the spot and under arms.^ A large body of special con- 404 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, stables was sworn in, and, armed with their batons, sur- ^' rounded the hustings where the speakers were to be placed. 1819. rpjjg avowed object of the first proposed meeting, which Great ex- had been called by regular advertisement, was to elect " a and"bj'ecta representative and legislatorial attorney" to represent the of the meet- ^.j^y ^f Manchester, as had already been done at Birming- ham, Stockport, Leeds, and other places. This meeting was called for the 9th August ; but as the magistrates, feeling such an object to be illegal, had intimated it would be dispersed, the next or adjourned meeting, which was called for the 16 th, was simply to petition for a reform in Parliament. Drilling had been practised in many places in all the country round ; and large bodies of men had met on the hills between Lancashire and Yorkshire, in the grey of the morning, to go through their evolutions, though without having any arms. The consequence was, that they marched into Manchester from every direction for thirty miles around, six abreast, with bands of music and colours flying. On these were inscribed, " No Corn Laws;" " Annual Parliaments;" " Universal Sufirage ;" " Vote by Ballot ; " " Equal Hepresentation or Death ; " " Liberty or Death ; " " God armeth the Patriot " — with a figure of Wallace. Two bands of female reformers were among them, one numbering 150 members, with light-blue silk flags : they added much to the interest and 1 Life of a cxcitement of the scene. Mr Hunt was the person who fg'^'goi-"' '^^^s *o address the multitude, and before he arrived on Martineau, i}iq ground it was computcd that 60,000 persons were Life of Lord assemblcd, chiefly from places around Manchester, a large iii. 254,258. proportion, as usual in such cases, being women, and not a few children.^ The magistrates of Manchester, deeming such a meeting Its disper- for such an object to be illegal, resolved to prevent it by multaJy! " arresting Mr Hunt, its avowed leader, before the pro- ceedings had begun. He arrived about noon in an open carriage, and made his way with some dif&culty to the hustings erected on the centre of the ground, amidst cheers HISTORY OP EUROPE. 405 "which rent the air. A •warrant was immediately made chap. out to arrest him, and put into the hands of Mr Nadin, X. the chief constable, with orders to execute it immediately. ^^^^' He declared, however, that he could not do so ; which was evidently the case, as the crowd was so dense that it was physically impossible to force a passage through the throng up to the hustings. Upon this they directed the military to be called up to clear the way — and notes were despatched to the commanders of the yeomanry and the military to advance to the support of the civil oflBcers who were to execute the warrant. The Manchester yeo- manry were nearest at hand, and, coming up, adopted the unlucky resolution of advancing two by two at a walk. A loud shout was set up when they appeared, and as they continued to move on, they were speedily detached from each other, hemmed in, and some of them unhorsed. Upon seeing this, the commanding officer of the hussars said to Mr Hutton, the chief magistrate, " What am I to do 1 " " Do you not see they are attacking the yeo- manry 1 — disperse the crowd," was the answer. Upon this the word " Forward" was given ; the hussars came up at a trot, and, forming on the edge of the throng, the trumpet sounded the charge, and the horsemen, advancing, wheeled into line, and speedily drove the multitude before them. The dense mass of human beings forced forward was in- stantly thrown into the most dreadful alarm ; numbers were trod down, and some suffocated by the pressure ; and although the hussars acted with the utmost forbear- ance, and struck in general only with the flat side of their sabres, yet four or five persons, including one woman, were pressed to death, and about twenty injured by sabre . wounds. About seventy persons in all were more or less j ^^ ^^ hurt during this unhappy affray, including one special Lord sm- constable ridden over by the hussars, and one yeoman 2S6,26i;' struck from his horse by a stone from the mob.^ Mr i. 229°234; Hunt and ten of his friends were arrested and committed, Ac'couat.*' first on a charge of high treason, and afterwards of con- 406 HISTORY OP EUROPE. GHAP. spiring to alter the law by force and threats ; and several ^- men were wounded by a discharge from the foot-soldiers, ^^^^- when violently assailed by the mob when conveying the prisoners to jail. Lord Sidmouth, to whom, as Home Secretary, the first Nobir'con- intelligence of this unhappy affair was sent, acted in the sidmoJtr^ noblest manner on the occasion. Perceiving at once that oil the oc- g^ (;j.jgig Qf QQ ordiuarv kind had arrived, and that the conduct of the magistrates in ordermg the dispersion of the crowd before any acts of violence had been committed, would be made the subject of unbounded obloquy, and probably great misrepresentation, on the part of the popular press, he at once determined to take his full share of the responsibility connected with it ; and accordingly, before there was time to call together the entire Cabinet to deliberate on the subject, he conveyed, with the concur- rence of the Prince-Regent, the law-officers of the Crown, and such of the Cabinet as could be hastily got together, the royal approbation for the course pursued on the occasion.* In doing this, he acted on the principle which " he considered an essential principle of government, namely, to acquire the confidence of the magistracy, especially in critical times, by showing a readiness to sup^ port them in all honest, reasonable, and well-intended acts, without inquiring too minutely whether they might have performed their duty a little better or a little worse." ^ 1 Life of His conduct on this occasion, though attacked with the iii. 262. ' utmost vehcmencc at the time, earned the support of all men really acquainted with the necessary action of govern- * " The Prince-Regent desires me to convey to your lordship his approba- tion and high commendation of the conduct of the magistrates and civil autho- rities at Manchester, as well aa the officers and troops, both regular and yeo- manry cavalry, whose firmness and effectual sxipport of the civil powers pre- served the peace of the town upon that most critical occasion. His Royal Highness entertains a favourable sense of the forbearance of Lieutenant-Colonel L'Estrange in the execution of his duty, and bestows the greatest praise upon the zeal and alacrity manifested by Major Trafford and Lieut. -colonel Towns- end, and thiir respective corps. I am, &e. B. Bloomi'IELD. "To the Lord Viscount Sidmouth." ^^hwd Sidmouth's Life, iii. 263. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 407 ment in a popular community, as it must command the chap. admiration of every right-thinking man in all time com- ^' ingft 1819. The generosity of Lord Sidmouth's conduct is -wholly irrespective of the real merits of the conduct of the ma- Resuit'of gistracy on tms occasion ; nay, it becomes greater, it, after the act was done, and could not be undone, he voluntarily interposed the shield of his responsibility, to shelter those whose conduct may be considered as open to some exception. Mr Hunt was afterwards indicted, along with Johnson, Moorhouse, and seven others, before the Manchester Grand Jury, for seditious conspiracy, who found true bills against them all. They traversed, in English law phrase — that is, got the trial postponed till the next assizes — in order to give the public effer- Apviii820. vescence time to subside ; and they were ultimately tried before Mr Justice Bayley at York, and, after a long and most impartial trial, which lasted eleven days, and which Mr Hunt himself had the candour to call " a magnificent specimen of British justice," Hunt, Johnson, Healy, and Bamford, were convicted of conspiracy to get up a sedi- tious meeting, and " alter the government by force and threats." The case was afterwards carried to the Court of King's Bench, by which the verdict was affirmed, and Hunt sentenced to two years and a half, the others to one year's imprisonment in Ilchester jail; which sentences HunT,&c., were carried into full execution. ^ The verdicts of the MaTcSe, coroner's inquest on the persons killed in the Manchester tS^am. affray were of such a kind as amounted to casual death, ff$- ^po, or justifiable homicide, with the exception of one, which, to chron. after having been long protracted, was quashed by the 147. Court of King's Bench on the ground of irregularity, * " To attack the executive for supporting the magistracy ou such an occasion, appears to me perfectly senseless. How can it he supposed that any magis- trate will act unless assured of support — nay, unless supported with a high hand ? Assuredly as the executive shrinks from encouraging, approving, and supporting the magistracy, there will be an end of all subordination." — Lord Shefheld to Lord Sidmouth, Nov. 1, 1819 ; Sidmouth's Life, iii. 263. 408 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, from the coroner not having, "with the jury, inspected the body, as bj law directed.* 1819. 30, The judgment of these high authorities leaves no room Reflections for doubt as to the illegality of the meeting at Manchester poHcy^o?" by the English law ; and very little reflection is required sucrmlet- to show that it was a proceeding of such a kind as in '"s^" no well-regulated community should now be tolerated. So long, indeed, as the great majority of the manu- facturing towns and districts were unrepresented in Par- liament, there was a plausible — it may be a just — reason assigned for allowing such meetings, that there was no other way in which the people could make known their wishes to the legislature. But since the Reform Act has passed, and every considerable place is fully repre- sented in Parliament, and a legal channel has been pro- vided for the transmission of the popular will to Govern- ment, this plea can no longer be advanced. Such meet- ings are now simply dangerous and pernicious, without being attended with one countervailing advantage. Too large and promiscuous either for deliberation or discussion, . they tend only to inflame passion and multiply misrepre- sentation. Their purpose really is not to express opinion, but to inspire terror ; it is by the display of their physi- * Lord Eldon said, ia the debates whieh followed in the House of Lords, " When I read in my law books that numbers constitute force, and force ter- ror, it is impossible to say that the Manchester meeting was not an illegalone." — Pari. Deb., 23d Nov. 1819 ; Hansaed, xli. 38. This is undoubtedly true ; but it may be observed, that it is impossible the law on this point can be on a more unsatisfactory footing, and that it is high time it should be at once defined, by act of Parliament, what is an illegal meeting, independent of actual commenced violence. Who is to be the judge of what inspires ter- ror, and in whom ? In a dozen old men or old women, or a dozen intrepid young men ? Between these two extremes, infinite diversities of opinion will be found to exist ; no two witnesses will agree, no two juries will arrive at the same conclusion. The practical result is, tliat no man, as the law now stands, can say with certainty what is an illegal meeting ; and every magistrate, if he gives orders to disperse it, places himself at the mercy of a subsequent jury, who may be called on to determine whether the circumstances were such as to have inspired terror in a reasonable mind, as to which, it is a mere Chance what opinion they form. The only security for the magistrate in such cases is, to wait till the danger has become so imminent that a tolerable unanimity of witnesses may be hoped for before orders to act are given. X. N 1819. HISTORY 0¥ EUROPE. 409 cal numbers, not their intellectual strength, that they chap. hope to gain their object. As such, they tend to uproot the very foundations of government, which must always be laid in the loyalty and submission of the great body of the people. They are always on the edge of violence, if they do not actually commence it ; and if they are not actually treasonable, they may be rendered such at no distant period. In all considerable towns in the empire, where such meetings are in use to be held, there are rooms capable of holding at least as many as can possibly hear the speakers ; the press will next morning convey their sentiments to the whole nation ; and if the display of numbers is desired, the petition or resolutions agreed to may be presented to Parliament, supported by a mil- lion of signatures. The conduct of the magistrates on this unhappy occa- sion, though not illegal, appears to have been more open And on the to exception in point of prudence; and though properly the magis- and courageously approved of by the Government at the ''**'^" time, it should by no means be followed on similar occa- sions. They had not issued any proclamation before, warning the meeting that its object was illegal, and that it would be dispersed by force ; nor, indeed, could such a proclamation have been issued, as the avowed ob- ject of the meeting to petition for a reform in Parliament was legal. The banners carried, though in some in- stances inflammatory and dangerous, could hardly be called, upon the whole, seditious. " God save the King," and " Rule Britannia," had been played by the bands without any signs of disapprobation from the meeting ; and though they had in part marched in military array, they had no arms except a few pikes, had numbers of women and children among them, and had attempted no outrage or act of violence. They had not commenced the proceedings when the dispersion began, so that nothing had been said on the spot to justify it. The Riot Act had been read from the window where the magistrates 410 HISTORY 0¥ BUEOPB. CHAP, were, but the hour required to justify the dispersion of a peaceable assembly had not elapsed. The highest ^^^^' authorities have taught us that the meeting was illegal, from its menacing and dangerous character ; but the point is, was it expedient at the moment, when no warn- ing had been given of its illegality, to disperse it by force 1 * True, the warrant to arrest Hunt and his friends could not be executed but by military force ; but where was the necessity of executing it at all in the presence of the multitude 1 Could they not hare been observed by the police, and arrested in the evening, or at night, after they had dispersed, when no tumult or disorder was to be apprehended 1 Had the crowd proceeded to acts of vio^ leuce or depredation, they could not have been too quickly or vigorously charged by* the military; but while yet pacific and orderly, and when no seditious resolutions had been proposed, ^Ae«/ at least were innocent, whatever their leaders may have ,been. In a word, the conduct of the magis- trates, though legal, seems to have been ill-judged, and their measures inexpedient. But great allowance must be made for unprofessional men suddenly placed in such trying circumstances ; and as their error, if error there 1 Pari. Deb. was, was ouo of judgment only, there can be but one 369. ' opinion on the noble and intrepid course which Govern- ment pursued on the occasion.^ t * Lord Eldon appears, at first at least, to have been of this opinion, for he wrote to his brother, Sir William Scott, soon after hearing of it : " Without all doubt the Manchester magistrates must be supported ; but they are very generally blamed here. For my part, I think if the assembly was only an nn- lawful assembly, that task will be difficult enough in sound reasoning. If the meeting was an overt act of high treason, their justification was complete." He then goes on to say he thought it was an overt act of treason. — Lord Eldon to Sir W. SooTT ; Bldon's Life, ii. 338. ■f* In truth, in all such cases, what the magistrate has chiefly to consider is, not what is, strictly speaking, legal merely, but what will bear the efforts of misrepresentation and the ordeal of public opinion. Many things are legal which must often not be attempted by those intrusted with authority ; many things illegal, in those subjected to it, which must yet be sometimes tolerated. The following rules to guide the magistrate in such difSoult circumstances may perhaps be of use to those who are liable to be called on to act under them, and have been the result of some experience and much reflection on the part of the author : Ist. If a meeting, evidently treasonable or seditious, or obviously tend- HISTORY OS" EUROPE. 411 It soon appeared how little effect the violent suppres- chap. sion of the Manchester meeting had in preventing assem- 1819. 32. blages of a similar or still more alarming description throughout the country. Meetings took place at Birming- Seditious ham and Leeds, in Westminster, York, Liverpool, Bris- Sh,er quVr- tol, and Nottingham, attended by great multitudes, at*°™' which flags representing a yeoman cutting at a woman were displayed, with the word " Vengeance'' inscribed in large letters, and resolutions vehemently condemning the Manchester proceedings were adopted. A meeting of the Common Council of London was held on 9th Sep- tember, when a petition was voted to the Prince-Regent, condemning the conduct of the magistrates and yeo- manry, and praying for inquiry ; and at Paisley a meeting of the most violent and seditious character was held, which led to still more serious results. The magis- trates of the burgh and sheriff of the county had there very properly issued a proclamation, denouncing the pro- ing to a breach of the peace — as to choose a provisional government, or to levy war on the Government, or to train vfithout proper authority, or to have an Orange procession among Ribbonmen — is announced, to meet it by a counter-proclama- tion denouncing it as Ulegal; but not to do this unless the illegality or danger is manifest, and the magistrate is prepared, and has the force to act decidedly if his admonition is disregarded. 2d. If, in defiance of the proclamation, the meeting is held or the procession attempted, to stop it as gently as possible by force, the magistrate being alvpays himself at the head of the civil or military force which may be employed. 3d. If a meeting, not called for treasonable or seditious purposes, takes place, but threatening to the public peace, to assem- ble in the vicinity as large a civil and military force as he has at his disposal, but place them out of sight, and never let them be exposed passively either to the insults or the seductions of the people. 4th. If acts of violence, as breaking into houses, setting fire to them, or assaulting or robbing individuals, are attempted, to charge the mob instantly, the magistrate taking his place beside the cominanding officer, and taking on himself the entire responsibility; but not to give orders to act till the felonious acts are so clear and decided as to leave no doubt of the impending danger, and to be capable of being proved, in defiance of misrepresentation, by numerous witnesses. 5th. If the leaders are to be arrested, but nothing illegal has yet been done by the multitude, to have the warrant ready, but not to attempt to execute it till they have dispersed, taking the precaution, however, to have the speeches listened to, or taken down by per- sons who can be reHed on. 6th. If acts of decided felony have been commenced, to act at once, vrithout waiting for the hour required to elapse by the Riot Act, and though it has not been read, the object of that Act being to render illegal a legal and peaceable, not to justify the dispersion of a violent and illegal assembly. 1819. 412 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, posed meeting as illegal, and warning the public that it -would be dispersed by force ; but notwithstanding this, the people met on a common near the town, and entered it in great force, with colours, bearing seditious devices, flying, and music sounding. They were met by the sheriff and magistrates, who seized the colours, and warned the people to disperse. This led to a violent tumult, in the course of which several shops were broken into and pillaged, and order was not restored till the military had been brought from Glasgow, and twenty of the ringleaders seized. In Yorkshire a meeting was held, on a requisition to the high sheriff, signed by Lord Fitzwilliam, the lord-lieutenant of the West Riding of the county, and many other noblemen and gentlemen, where resolutions strongly condemnatory of the Man- chester proceedings were adopted. For his share in that proceeding, Lord Fitzwilliam was immediately removed 1 Ann. Reg. ^om his high office by order of Government, to the great iii%^w^' I'sgJ'st of the friends of that highly-respected nobleman ; mouth;8 but the divergence of opinions between him and the Mem. 111. ° '^ 208, 304. Administration had become such that it was impossible they could longer act together. ^ Great inconvenience had been experienced throughout AugmJntar all thcsc disturbancos, occurring simultaneously in so Chelsea many different and distant quarters, from the want of any adequate military force to overawe the disaffected and preserve the public peace. A serious riot occurred at Ely, in the course of which the rioters got possession of, and kept for some time, the little town of Littleport, and the only force to oppose to them was eighteen dra- goons. The like force was all that could be collected to oppose an insurrection at Derby. When the disturb- ance broke out at Paisley in the end of September, and the most pressing request for more troops was sent by Sir Thomas Bradford, the Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, the only mode of answering it was by sending a regiment from Portsmouth, and supplying its place by one from pensioners. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 413 Guernsey. The Commander-in-Chief, with the exception chap. of the Guards, who could not with safety be moved from '- — London, had not a single regiment at his disposal, when ^^^®" applications for protection were coming in from all quar- ters, and yet Parliament was ringing with declamations about the undue increase of the military force of the coun- try. In this extremity GoTernment adopted the wisest course which could have been followed, by calling out the most ef&cient of the pensioners, and arranging them in veteran battalions — a measure which, at a cost of only' £300,000 a-year, added nearly 11,000 men to the military force of the kingdom. Lord Sidmouth was indefatigable Oct. 29. in pursuing this object, as well as in augmenting the num- ber and strength of the yeomanry force throughout the country ; and so ceaseless and energetic were his efforts in both respects, that the Prince-Regent observed, with equal truth and justice, "He is the Duke of Wellington on home service." At the same time that illustrious com- mander, who now, on his return from the Continent, commenced that career of administrative reform and amelioration which, not less than his military career, entitle him to the gratitude and admiration of his coun- J^g"-jf^*p try, addressed a letter to Lord Sidmouth, of lasting value sidmouth's to all magistrates and officers placed in similar circum- 29o,'294. stances. ^ ^' * " I strongly recommend to you to order the magistrates to carry into exe- cution, without loss of time, the law against training, and to furnish them with the means of doing so. Do not let us be again reproached with having omit- ted to carry the laws into execution. By sending to Carlisle and Newcastle 700 or 800 men, cavalry and infantry, and two pieces of cannon, or, in other words, two of this movable column, the four would be more than sufficient to do all that may be required. Rely upon it, that, in the circumstances in which we are placed, impression on either side is everything. If, upon the pass- ing of the training law, you prevent training, either by the use of force or the appearance of force, in the two places above mentioned, you will put a stop at once to all the proceedings of the insurgents. They are like conquerors ; they rwmt go forward ; the moment they atop they wre lost. Their adherents will lose all confidence, and by degrees every individual will relapse into their old habits of loyalty or indi£ference. On the other hand, the moment the loyal see there is a law which can prevent these practices, and means and inclination and determination to carry it into execution, they will regain courage, and will do everything which you can desire. In my opinion, if you send the troops, and 414 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Parliament met on the 23d November, and of course there was special allusion in the Speech from the Throne ^®^^' to the seditious practices which had unfortunately become Meeting of SO prevalent in the country. There were no congratula- andm"™' tions ou the prosperity of the country, or the general vernmL?"' weflbeing of the working classes. On the contrary, the Nov. 23. speech contained an emphatic admission of deep distress in several branches of industry.* It is not surprising that Ministers alluded to the distress which pervaded 'several branches of manufacturing industry, for from the papers laid before Parliament, to justify the measures of repression which were proposed, it appeared that wages in the cotton manufacture had sunk a half within the last eight months, and in most other trades in the same proportion, — a fact speaking volumes both as to the real cause which at this particular period had rendered the efforts of the demagogues so successful in disturbing the population, and the futility of the ideas of those who ' y^f-f"^' ascribe the distress which prevailed to the excess of 422;Aj)'n. importations, which could have had no other effect isl" ' but a beneficial one on the manufactures for the export sale,^ by diminishing the price at which the raw mate- order that the law shall be carried into execution, you ■will not be under the necessity of using them ; and the good effect of this will be felt not only in these towns, but over all England. Observe also, that if training is continued after the passing of the law, which it will be unless you send a force to prevent it, the insurgents will gain a very important victory." — Wellinqtok to Lord SiDMOUTH, Dec. 11, 1819 ; Sidmouth's Life, iii. 293. * " The seditious practices so long prevalent in several parts of the manu- facturing districts of the country, have been continued with increased activity since you were last assembled. They have led to proceedings incompatible with the public tranquillity, and with the peaceful habits of the industrious classes of the community ; and a spirit is now fully manifested utterly hostile to the constitution of this kingdom, and aiming not only at the change of those political institutions which have hitherto constituted the pride and security of the country, but at the subversion of the rights of property, and of all order in society. .... Some depression still continues to exist in certain branches of our manufactures, and I deeply lament the distress felt by those who more immediately depend upon them ; but this depression is in a great measure to be ascribed to the embarrassed situation of other countries, and I earnestly hope it will be found to be of a temporary nature." — Peihoe-Begent's Speech, 23d Nov. 1819; Ann. Reg. for 1819, 116, 117. Parlia- ment. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 415 rial and the subsistence for the -workmen would be pur- chap. chased.'^^ ^- As soon as the debates on the Address, which were ^^^^• unusually long and stormy, but which terminated in large Lord sid- ministerial majorities in both houses, were over, Lord Sid- SctTo? mouth in the House of Lords, and Lord Castlereagh in the Commons, introduced the new measures which the Cabinet had deemed essential to meet the exigencies of the times. They were four in number, and, with the addition of two others not immediately connected with the public disturbances, were long famous in England under the name of the Six' Acts. By the first, all training or practising Nov. 29. military exercises, by persons not authorised by Govern- ment, was prohibited, and persons engaged in it were declared liable to punishment by fine, or imprisonment not exceeding two years. By the second, justices of the peace were authorised to issue warrants in certain coun- ties of England and Scotland, to search for arms or other weapons dangerous to the public peace, on a sworn in- formation. By the third, the court was authorised, in the event of the accused allowing judgment to go by default, to order the seizure of all copies of a seditious or blas- phemous libel, to be restored if the person accused was afterwards acquitted ; and for the second offence banish- ment might be inflicted. By the fourth, no more than fifty persons were to be allowed to assemble, except in borough or county meetings called by the magistrate ; and the carrying of flags or attending such meetings armed was prohibited, and extensive powers given to justices of peace or magistrates for dispersing them. In addition to this, a bill was introduced hj the Lord-Chancellor, to pre- vent traversing or postponing of the trial, in cases of mis- demeanour, to subsequent assizes ; and another in the * " In all the great stations of the cotton manufacture, as Manchester, Glasgow, Paisley, the rate of wages had fallen on an average more than one half. This depression might be traced through the last twenty years to measures oi political economy." — Lord Lansdownb's Speech, Deo. 1, 1819; Pari. Del. xiii. 422. 181fl. 416 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, Commons by Lord Castlereagh, subjecting newspapers to certain stamps, and to prevent the abuses arising from the publication of blasphemous and seditious libels. The first and third of the first four acts alone were permanent ; the. second and third were temporary only in their en- durance, and have Igng since expired. The bills were all strenuously resisted, with the exception of the first, in both houses, but were passed by large majorities, — that in the Commons, on the Seditious Meetings Bill, being 223, the numbers 351 to 128 ; in the Lords, on the same bill, 97, the numbers being 135 to 38. In regard to the Training Act, however, which is still in force, a much greater de- gree of unanimity prevailed. Several members of both xii.^75, '''■ houses usually opposed to Government, but officially aIl^rsII acquainted with the state of the country, added their lai^'w' testimony to its necessity ; and that the practice of sidmouth'8 training was then generally prevalent has since been iii. 302,303. admitted by the Radical leaders, and their ablest his- torical advocates.^ * A curious but instructive circumstance took place Impression whcu the Radical leaders were brought up for examina- mouth and tion bcforc the Privy Council, into the presence of those tiereagr' whom they had been taught to regard as of a cruel and the'R^di- unrelenting disposition, and the bitterest enemies of the cais. people. " The simple-minded men who had followed Hunt were surprised," says Miss Martineau, " when brought into the presence of the Privy Council, at the actual appearance of the rulers of the land, whom they had regarded as their cruel enemies. They found no i. 246.'°^*"' cruelty or ferocity in the faces of the tyrants ^ — Lord Castlereagh, the good-looking person in a plum-coloured * " There ia, and can be, no dispute about the fact of military training ; thp only question is in regard to the design or object of the practice. Numerous informations were taken by the Lancashire magistrates, and transmitted to Government in the beginning of August." Bamford, the Kadical annalist, assures us it was done solely with a view to the great meeting on the 16th August at Manchester. — See Miss Mahtikeau, i. 227; Bamfobd's Life of a Radical, i. 177, 180. HISTORY OP EUROPU. 417 coat, with a gold ring on the little finger of his left hand, chap. ou which he sometimes looked while addressing them : ^' Lord Sidmouth, a tall, square, and bony figure, with thin '^^o. and grey hairs, broad' and prominent forehead, whose mild and intelligent eyes looked forth from their cavernous orbits ; his manners affable, and much more encouraging to freedom of speech than had been expected." ^ " How ^ Bamford's often," says Thiers, " would factions the most opposite be Radical, i. reconciled, if they could meet and read each other's hearts." On the other hand. Hunt was far from exhibit- ing the constancy in adversity which, in every age, has animated the patriot and the hero. He was alternately querulous and depressed — elated by popular applause, but sadly cast down when the intoxicating draught was taken from his lips. In this there is nothing surprising ; rectitude of intention is the principle which animates the patriot, who is sustained by its consciousness when aiding the people often against their will. Vanity is the pre- vailing passion of the demagogue, and his spirits sink the i. 246,' 247.' moment the exciting influence is withdrawn.^ The beginning of the year 1820 was marked by two events which strongly riveted the attention of the nation, Deathofthe and had a beneficial general efi"ect in reviving those feelings Kent! °^ of loyalty, which, though sometimes forgotten, are never ex- ^*°" '^' tinct in the breast of the English people. The Duke of Kent, the father of our present gracious Sovereign, had accompanied the Duchess and his infant daughter, the future Sovereign of Great Britain, to Sidmouth in Devon- shire, for the benefit of change of air. There he was un- fortunately exposed to wet and cold on the 13th January, which brought on a cough and inflammation of the lungs, which, notwithstanding the most active treatment, termi- nated fatally on the 23d of the same month. He was in- terred, with the usual solemnities, at Windsor on 7th February. This prince took little share in public life ; and the rigorous discipline which he had found it neces- sary to enforce in the army, in Ins earlier years, when in VOL. II. 2d 418 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, command, had at the time given rise to considerable dis- cussion. But he had survived this temporary unpopu- 1820. 1 Ann. Reg. larity, as really estimable characters seldom fail to do ; and in his latter years he possessed alike the respect of the nation and the warm affection of his personal friends. Personally intrepid, as his race have ever been, he pos- sessed at the same time the kindness of heart and charm of manner, which in all, but in none so much as those of exalted station, are the main foundation of lasting affec- tion. In politics he inclined to the Liberal side, as his brother the Prince-Regent and the Duke of Sussex had so long done ; but he had little turn for political conten- tions, and shrouded himself in preference in the seclusion and enjoyments of private life. Deeds of beneficence, or the support of institutions of charity, of which he was a munificent patron, alone brought him before the eye of 1820,6; ° the public ; but in private, no one was more kindly in his vi. 403.' disposition, or had secured by acts of generosity a wider or more attached circle of friends.^ gg The death of the Duke of Kent was speedily followed Death of by that of his father, who had so long swayed the Jan. 28. " sccptrc of the realm. Towards the end of January, the health of George III., which had hitherto been surpris- ingly preserved during his long and melancholy mental alienation, rapidly sunk. His strength failed, his appetite left him, and it became evident that the powers of nature were exhausted. At length, at half-past eight on the 28th January, he breathed his last ; and the Prince- Regent, as George IV., formally ascended the throne, of which, during ten years, he had discharged the duties. On Monday the 31st, the new sovereign was proclaimed = Ann. Reg. '^^*'^ ^^^ usual formalities at the Palace, Temple Bar, HughJs'vi. Charing Cross, and other places ; the members of Par- 4*i- ' liament were sworn in, and both houses immediately adjourned to the I7th February.^ Although he had lived nearly ten years in retirement, and the practical discharge of the functions of royalty by HISTORY OP EUROPE. 419 the sovereign who succeeded him had so long withdrawn chap. him from the public gaze, the death of George III. made ^" a profound impression on the British heart. The very 1820. 39. circumstances under which the demise had taken place Deep'i'm- added to the melancholy interest which it excited, and the whiXhia feelings with which the bereavement was regarded by the onthe"*^^ people. Nearly the whole existing generation had grown '=°"°''^'' up during his long reign of sixty years ; there was no one who had not been accustomed to regard the 4 th of June, the well-known birthday of the sovereign, as a day of re- joicing ; no one could form an idea of a king without the aged form which still flitted through the halls of Windsor occurring to the mind. The very obscurity in which his last days had been shrouded, the mental darkness which had prevented him from being conscious of the surpassing glories of the close of his reign, the malady which had secluded him from the eyes of his affectionate people, added to the emotion which his death occasioned. Old feelings were revived, former affections, long pent up, gushed forth, and flowed without control. The realisation of the catas- trophe, though not of the sorrows, of Lear on the theatre of the world, profoundly affected every heart. The king had survived all his unpopularity ; he had lived down the bitterest of his enemies. When the eloquent preacher quoted the words of Scripture, " And Joseph asked them of their welfare, and said. Is your father well ? the old man of whom ye spake, is he yet alive 1 And they an- swered. Our father is yet alive. And they bowed their heads, and made obeisance,"* all felt that now, as in the days of the patriarchs, the same affections of a people to their common father were experienced. The removal of the aged king from this earthly scene made no change in the political world ; it was unfelt in the councils or cabinets of princes ; but, like a similar bereavement in private life, the circle of the domestic affections was for a * Sermon on the Jubilee, 1810, by Rev. A. Alison— /Sfermons, i. 419. 420 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, season drawn closer, from the removal of one who had shared in its brightness. Nor did it lessen the emotion 1820. 40. felt on this event, that it occurred at the time when tlie mighty antagonist of the departed sovereign was declining in distant and hopeless captivity, and that while George III. slept to death in the solitude of his ancestral halls, Napoleon was dying a discrowned exile in the melancholy main. The French said, in the days of their loyalty, " The Birtro'f king is dead — long live the king ! " Never was the value torfa." "^ of this noble maxim more strongly felt than on the pre- 181^. ' sent occasion. The death of the king, preceded as it had been by that of the Princess Charlotte, the heiress of the throne, the age and circumstances of the sovereign who had just ascended it, and the situation of the other members of the royal family, had long awakened a feel- ing of disquietude as to the succession to the monarchy, The Duke of York, now the heir-apparent, was married, had no family, and the duchess was in declining health ; the Duke of Clarence, the next in succession, was ad- vanced in years, and although he had had children, they had all died in infancy or early youth. The successors to the crown, after the present sovereign, whose health was known to be in a precarious condition, were, a prince from whom no issue could now be expected, and, after him, an infant princess. Many were the gloomy apprehensions entertained of the eventual conse- quences of such a state of things, at a time when Europe was convulsed by revolutionary passions, and vigour and capacity on the throne seemed, in an especial manner, requisite to steer the monarchy through the shoals with which it was surrounded. But how often does the course of events deviate from what was once anticipated, and Providence, out of seeming disaster, educe the means of future salvation ! Out of this apparently untoward com- bination of circumstances arose an event of the last im- 1820. HISTORY OF EUROPE, 421 portance in after times to the British empire. George IV, chap. reigned just ten years after his accession to the throne, ^' the Duke of Clarence only seven ; and his demise opened the succession to our present gracious sovereign, then an infant in the arms, who, uniting the courage and spirit of her Plantagenet and Stuart, to the judgment and inte- grity of her Hanoverian ancestors, has reunited, in troubled times, all hearts to the throne, and spread through her entire subjects the noble feelings of disinterested loyalty. The sequel of this history will show of what incalculable importance it was that, at a time when every crown in Europe was shaking on the brow of its wearer, and the strongest monarchies were crumbling in the dust, a Queen should have been on the British throne, whose virtues had inspired the respect, while her intrepidity had awakened the admiration of all her subjects, and who, like her ancestress Queen Mary, was regarded with warmer feelings of chivalrous devotion than any king, how eminent soever, could have been ; for towards her, to all that could command respect in the other sex were united - " the gallantry of man In lovelier woman's cause." The English were soon made aware on how precarious a footing the succession to the throne was placed, and Alarming how soon they might have to mourn a second death Gro?ge''iv. among their monarchs. Hardly had the new king ascended the throne, when he was seized with a violent attack of inflammation in the chest, which was the more alarming, from its being the same complaint which had so recently proved fatal to the Duke of Kent. For several days his life was in imminent danger, and almost despaired of : but at length the strength of his constitution, and the , . „ ' o ° 1 Ann. Reg. skiU of his physicians, triumphed over the virulence of isao, 17, 1. Ill- , T 11 ISjHughes, the disease, and the alarming symptoms disappeared,^ i. 405, loe. He long continued, however, very weak, from the copious 422 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP, bleedings -which he had undergone ; and when his royal ! father was laid in the grave at Windsor, on the 16th 1820. February, the highest in station was absent, and the Duke of York was chief mourner. Parliament met again, after the prorogation, on the Ominous 17th February, By the Constitution, the House of regarding Commons must be dissolved within six months after the Bi'on''rf ^" demise of the king, and the state of the public business TOUne''a^°^ rendered it advisable that this shotfld take place as soon name in as Dossible, in order to get it over by the ordinary time theLiturgy, . ^ '. ^ .=,. , , , n t.^- • or prorogation, it was indispensable, however, for Mini- sters to obtain some votes in supply before the House was dissolved ; and, in doing so, they received early warning of a serious difficulty which awaited them at the very threshold of their career as ministers of the new monarch. Hitherto Queen Caroline had been prayed for in the Liturgy as the Princess of Wales, But as the king was determined never, under any cir- cumstances, to acknowledge her as Queen of England, it was deemed indispensable to make a stand at the very Feb. 12, outset ; and, accordingly, her name was omitted in the Liturgy by an order of the Privy Council. This gave rise to an ominous question in the House of Commons a Feb. 18. few days after. Mr Hume asked, on the 18th February, whether the allowance of £35,000 a-year, hitherto made to her Royal Highness, was to be continued ; and Lord Oastlereagh having answered in the affirmative, no further notice of the subject took place, though Mr Brougham, her chief legal adviser, was present, and had made a vio- lent attack on the Government. But on the 21st, when a motion was made that the House should resolve itself into a committee of supply, Mr Hume again introduced 1 Ann. Reg. t^'^ subjoct, and Said that, without finding fault with any aefpfri. exercise of the prerogative, on the part of the sovereign, miim ^^ ^^^^ °^ *^^ Church,! he might be permitted to ask why i62i|i6i!3.' an address of condolence and congratulation had not been voted to her Majesty on her accession to the throne, HISTORY OF EUROPE. 423 and to express his regret at the manner in which slie had chap. been treated. Was she to be left a beggar upon the ^' Continent, and the Queen of England to be thrown a ^^^"^ needy suppliant on the cold charity of foreign princes 1 Something definite should be fixed in regard to the future provision for her. The speech of Mr Brougham on this occasion was Tery remarkable, and seemed to presage, as he was the Remaric- Queen's Attorney-general, a more favoi^rable issue to this of Mr^*'" unhappy division than could have been at first anticipated. ^™"g'^'°- He deemed it unnecessary to lay any stress on the omis- sion of her name in the Liturgy, or her being called by the King's ministers in this debate an " exalted personage " instead of H«r Majesty. Was she not the wedded wife of the sovereign 1 What she was called could not alter her position one way or other. These are trifles light as air, which can never render her situation either precari- ous or uncertain. If the advisers of the Crown should be able to settle upon her what was necessary to maintain her rank and dignity out of the civil list, there would be no need to introduce her Majesty's name. He had refused to listen to any surmise ; he had shut his ears to all reports ; he knew nothing of any delicate investigations ; but if any charge was preferred against her Majesty, he ^ would be prepared to meet it alike as her Majesty's confi- xii. le'ie; ' dential adviser, and as an independent member of Parlia- im, 27?' ment.i Nothing further followed on this conversation, and Par- liament, having been prorogued to the 13th March, was cato street next day dissolved, and writs issued for the election of a Thisti™^' new Parliament to meet on 27th April. But ere it could ^ous life?' assemble the nation was horror-struck by the discovery of one of the most atrocious murderous conspiracies that ever disgraced the annals of mankind, and which was only prevented from ending in the massacre of the whole Cabinet by the timidity or treachery of one of the mem- bers of the gang, who revealed the plot to the Government. 424 mSTOBY OF EUBOPB. CHAP. This was the Cato Street CoNSPiRAqY, -which may well ^' take its place beside the worst outbreaks of Italian crime, ■*^''' and showed to what frightful extremities the English mind, when violently excited by political passions, is capable of being led. The author of the plot was Arthur Thistlewood, who was born in 1770, had received a toler- able education, and had served both in the militia and in a West India regiment. He soon, however, resigned his commission, and, notwithstanding the war, succeeded in making his way to Paris, where he arrived shortly after the fall of Robespierre. He there embraced all the extra- vagant ideas which the Revolution had caused to ger- minate in France, and he returned to England firmly persuaded that the first duty of a patriot was to massacre the Government, and overturn all existing institutions. He was engaged in Watson's conspiracy, already men- lAntej^c. tionedji and, like him, acquitted in the face of dis- tinct proof, chiefly from the indictment having been laid for high treason, which was straining a point, instead of conspiracy and riot, as to which the evidence was clear. On his acquittal he sent a challenge to Lord Sidmouth, for which he was handed over to the civil authorities, by whom he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment. He came out of prison at its expiration thirsting for ven- geance, and burning with revolutionary passions, at the very time when the " Manchester massacre," as it was iv. § " Ann. ) 1820,29; called, had excited such a ferment in the country, and he 408; Mar-' immediately engaged himself in the furtherance of a con- 242.""' '■ spiracy, the object of which was to murder the Ministers and overturn the Government.^ He soon succeeded, in that period of excitement, in Design" of coUcctiug a band of conspirators as determined and reck'- rators"'^'' less as himsclf — men fit, indeed, "to disturb the peace of the whole world," though certainly not to " rule it when 'tis wildest." Ings, a butcher ; Davidson, a Creole ; Brunt and Tidd, shoemakers, were his principal asso- ciates, but with them were collected forty or fifty more, Feb. 19. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 425 •who were to be employed in the execution of their de- chap. X. signs. They met twice a-day, during February, in a hired room near Gray's Inn Lane, and their first design ^''^*'' was to murder the king, but this was soon laid aside for the massacre of his ministers, who were to be despatched separately in their own houses. On Saturday, February 19th, their plans were arranged. Forty men were to be set apart for these detached murders, and whoever fal- tered in the great work was to atone for it with his life ; while a detachment was, at the same time, to seize two pieces of artillery stationed in Gray's Inn, and six in the artillery ground. The Mansion House was to be imme- diately attacked, and a provisional government established there, the Bank assaulted, and London set on fire in several places. But this design was modified, in consequence of information given by Edwards, one of their number, who afterwards revealed the conspiracy, that the M'hole Cabinet was to dine at Lord Harrowby's in Grosvenor Square, i Thistie- Thistlewood immediately proposed to murder them all^^'l"^'" at once when assembled there, which was assented to : *5; Ann. "for, said he, "as there has not been a dinner for so so, ai; Mar- long, there will no doubt be fourteen or sixteen there ; m""' '" and it will be a rare haul to murder them, all together" ^ In pursuance of this plan, two of the conspirators were stationed in Grosvenor Square to see what was going on Their final there ; and a room was taken above a stable in Cato ^'*°^" Street, ofi" the Edgeware Road, where the conspirators were to assemble on the afternoon of the 22d February, when the dinner at Lord Harrowby's was to take place. The only access to this room, which was large enough to hold thirty persons, was by a ladder, which led up to a trap-door, and there, at six in the evening, Thistlewood, and twenty-four of the conspirators, fully armed, were assembled. It was arranged that one of the conspirators was to call at Lord Harrowby's with a note when the party were at dinner, and on the door being opened the whole were to rush in, murder the Ministers, and as 426 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, trophies of their success bring out the heads of Lords Sid- ^' mouth and Castlereagh, for which purpose bags were pro- ^^^"' Tided. Meanwhile the cavalry barracks in King Street,' Portman Square, were to be set on fire by throwing fire- balls into the straw depot, and the Bank and Mansion House attacked by those left in the city. Everything was in readiness, arms and ammunition provided, fire-balls prepared, the treasonable proclamation ready, and at half-past seven the conspirators were arming therhselves in the Cato Street loft by the light of two small candles. But meanwhile Ministers had information of their de- signs from the information of Edwards, who had re- vealed the whole conspiracy, and instead of dining at Lord Harrowby's they dined together privately in Down- ing Street. The preparations for the dinner at Lord Harrowby's, however, were allowed to proceed without any interruption, and a party of fourteen police, under that able police magistrate, Mr Birnie, proceeded to the place of rendezvous, where it had been arranged they were 1 Thistle- *o be supported by a detachment of the Coldstream TrTai'^se Gruards. The Guards, however, were not ready to start 64; Ann.' instautlv whcn Birnie called with the police at their Reg. 1820, , , , . 1 • 1 ■ 32,33;Mar. barracks, and m consequence, thmking not a moment 242*243. was to bc lost, that intrepid officer hastened on with his fourteen policemen alone.^ * The first of the police who ascended the trap-stair was Conflic'tin an active and brave ofiicer, named Smithers, who, the the Cato '° moment he got to the top of the ladder, called on the Feh^i!'^' conspirators to surrender. As they refused to do so, he advanced to seize Thistlewood, and was by him run * The delay in getting tlie detachment of Foot Guards ready when Birnie called at the barracks with the police, was not owing to any want of zeal or acti- vity on the part of that gallant corps, the detachment of which, under their noble leader, Captain Fitzolarence, behaved with the utmost spirit, and ren- dered essential service in the affray when they did come up. It arose from a different meaning being attached by military men and civilians to the words, " ready to turn out at a moment's warning." The former understood these words to mean, " ready to take their places in file, and be told off," when ordered to do so ; the latter, ready to face about and march straight ovt of the HISTORY OP EUROPE. 427 through the body and immediately fell. The lights were chap. instantly extinguished, and a frightful conflict began in ^' the dark between the police officers and the gang, in the ^^'^°' course of which some dashed headlong down the trap- stair, and others, including Thistlewood, made their escape by the back windows of the loft. At this critical moment the Foot Guards, thirty in number, came up with fixed bayonets, and, hastening in double-quick time to the door of the stable, arrired there as some of the conspirators were rushing out. Captain Fitzclarence, who was at their head, advanced to seize the sentinel at the door, who instantly aimed a pistol at his head, the ball of whicli was averted by his covering Sergeant Logge, whom it wounded. Fitzclarence upon this ordered his men to fol- low him into the stable, himself leading the way. He was met by a mulatto, who aimed a blow at him with a- cutlass, which one of the soldiers warded off with his musket. Both these men were made prisoners. They then mounted the ladder, and five men were secured in i Tnai of the loft, making, with those previously taken by the ^ood,' 65, police, nine in aU. The rest, in the darkness and con- k ' .^820 fusion, had escaped, among whom was Thistlewood ; but 'f^'^l^^"^- a reward of £1000 having been offered for his apprehen- sss, 940,' sion, he was made prisoner the following morning in his4iof4Yi."" bed.i The Ministers, whose lives had been saved by the dis- covery of this conspiracy, returned thanks publicly at St Execution Paul's a few days after, and the whole respectable classes spirators. in the country were horror-struck at the intelligence. *^ Thistlewood, Ings, Tidd, Brunt, and Davidson, were barrack gate. The difference should be known, and is often attended with inaportant consequences. In this instance, if the Guards had been drawn up and told off in the barrack-yard, and marched out with Bimie the moment he arrived, the whole conspirators would at once have been taken in the loft, and perhaps no lives lost. They had been ordered to be in readiness to start at a moment's warning, but some little time was lost in putting them in their places and telling off. Another instance will occur in the sequel of this history, where a similar misunderstanding as to the meaning of these words between the magistrates and military occasioned the loss of five lives. X. 1820. 428 HISTORY OP BUKOPE. CHAP, arraigned for high treason on the i7th of April, found guilty, and sentenced to death, on proof which, though consisting in part of the testimony of two of the conspira- tors who were taken as king's evidence, was so confirmed by the police oiBcers, military, and others engaged in the capture, that not a doubt could exist of their guilt. Five were sentenced to transportation for life, and one, after sentence, received a free pardon. Indeed, so far from denying their guilt, Thistlewood and Brunt gloried in it at their trial, alleging that assassination was fully justi- fiable in the circumstances, and that it was a fit retribution for the high treason committed against the people by the Manchester massacre.* They were executed on the 1st May, in presence of an immense crowd of spectators, many of whom evinced a warm sympathy with their fate. They behaved with great firmness in their last moments, exhibiting that mixture of stoicism and ruf&anism so com- mon in persons engaged in political conspiracies. All at- tempts to awaken them to any sense of religion or feelings of repentance failed, except with Davidson. " In ten mi- nutes," said Ings, as he ascended the scaffold, " we shall vif SfiT' ^^0^ tbe great secret." The frightful process of decapi- 1820 32?' tating, prescribed by the English law for cases of high chron°946 t^'^^sou, was exccutcd, it is to be hoped for the last time, 949; Mar-' Qu their lifcless remains, amidst the shudders of the crowd,- 243. ' ' who were more horror-struck with this relic of ancient barbarity than impressed with the guilt of the criminals.^ * " High treason was committed against the people at Manchester, but jus- tice was closed against the mutilated, the maimed, and the friends of those who were upon that occasion indiscriminately massacred. The Prince, by the ad- vice of his Ministers, thanked the murderers, still reeking in the gore of their victims. If one spark of honour, if one spark of independence still glimmered in the breasts of Englishmen, they would have risen as one man. Insurrection then became a public duty, and the blood of the victims should have been the watchword for vengeance on their murderers. Albion is still in the chains of slaveiy. I quit it without regret. I shall soon be consigned to the grave ; my body will be immured beneath the soil where I first drew breath. My only sorrow is, that the soil should be a theatre for slaves, for cowards, and for despots. I disclaim any personal motives. My every principle was for the prosperity of my country. My every feeling, the height of my ambition, was HISTORY OP EUROPE, 429 Hardly had the nation recovered from the shock arising chap. . from this atrocious conspiracy, and its dreadful punish- ^- ment, when a fresh alarm of a more serious and wide- '^'^'*- spread nature broke out in the north. Notwithstanding Distwb- the powers given to the magistrates to suppress military Sand training by the late act, it still continued through the^Jg"'','*^ whole winter in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lanca- shire, Durham, and the neighbourhood of Glasgow. All the vigilance of the magistrates was unable to detect or suppress these alarming practices, which evidently pre- saged, at no distant period, a general insurrection against the Government. It was at first fixed for the 1st No- vember, but adjourned then, and on various other occa- sions, in consequence of the preparations not being com- plete. Meanwhile the midnight training went on without intermission on the hills and moors, sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, so as to elude discovery or pursuit ; and at length, all things being conceived to be in readiness, the insurrection was arranged to take place on the 2d April. The large military force, however, which was stationed in Lancashire and Yorkshire pre- vented any serious outbreak in that quarter, and it ended in an assembly of three hundred malcontents near Hud- i ^nn. Reg. dersfield, who dispersed on the rumour of the- approach 1^^^^^^^ of a body of cavalry .^ But in Scotland affairs became j;'*}2; more serious, and revealed at once the precipice on the i. 245. brink of which the nation stood, and the extraordinary for the welfare of my starving countrymen. I keenly felt for their miseries ; but when their miseries were laughed at, and when, because they dared to express those miseries, they were inhumanly massacred and trampled upon, my feelings became too intense, and I resolved on vengeance ! I resolved that the lives of the instigators should be required to the souls of the murdered innocents." — Thistlewood's A ddress before receiving sentence. " Lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth have been the cause of the death of millions. I conspired to put them out of the world, but I did not intend to commit high treason. In undertaking to kill them and their fellow-ministers, 1 did not expect to save my own life ; but I was determined to die a martyr in my country's cause, and to avenge the innocent blood shed at Manchester." — Brunts Speech iefore receiving sentence ; Ann. Reg. 1820, 946, 947 ; .Appendix to Chronicle, 430 HISTORY Of EUROPE. , CHAP, sway ■which the leaders of the moTement had obtained ' over the working classes in the manufacturing districts, 1820. Qjj Sunday morning, April 2d, a treasonable procla- insurrec- mation was found placarded over all the streets of Glas- scotund. gow, Paisley, Stirling, and the neighbouring towns and April 2. villages, in the name of a provisional government, calling on the people to desist from labour; on all manufacturers to close their workshops ; on the soldiers to remember the glorious example of the Spanish troops; and on all friends of their country to come forward and effect a revolution by force, with a view to the establishment of an entire equality of civil rights. Strange to say, this treasonable proclamation, unsigned, proceeding from an unknown authority, was widely obeyed. Work imme- diately ceased ; the manufactories were closed from the desertions of their workmen ; the streets were filled with anxious crowds eagerly expecting news from the south; the sounds of industry were no longer heard ; and two hundred thousand persons in the busiest districts of the country were thrown at once into a state of compulsory idleness by the mandates of an unseen and unknown power. Never was there a clearer proof how powerful an engine fear is to work upon the human heart— ^how much its influence is extended by the terror being sfateTriais, ^Wakened from a source of which all are ignorant. How Efe^'m'o' *™^ ^^® *^^ words of Tacitus, " Omne ignotum pro mag- 36,37; ' nifico;" and how well founded was the boast of Marat, xl.U?I16S Vl 412, 413; ■ that with three hundred determined bravos he would obs?r™iion. govern France, and cause three hundred thousand heads to fall.i Fortunately at this juncture the energy of Govern- Otttbreakof ment, and the spirit of the untainted parts of the country, rection^Md '"'ere adequate to encounter the danger. Volunteer 'sionT'''^'' ^'^'^ yeomanry corps had shortly before been formed April 3. in various districts ; regiments 800 strong had been raised in Edinburgh and Glasgow, entirely clothed at their own expense. Squadrons of yeomanry had been X. 1820. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 431 formed in both towns, and they came forward at the chap, approach of danger with the most praiseworthy alacrity. . At 2 P.M. on April 3, summonses were despatched to the Edinburgh squadron, which was 99 strong, to assemble in marching order; at 4 P.M. 97 were at the appointed rendezvous, and set out for Glasgow.'^^ Volunteer and yeomanry corps rapidly poured into that city ; in a few days 5000 men, of whom 2000 were horse, with eight guns, were assembled in it. The crown-oificers has- tened to Glasgow, and directed the proceedings. This great demonstration of moral and physical strength ex- tinguished the threatened insurrection. The expected movement in England did not take place ; the appointed signal of the stopping of the London mail in vain was looked for : a tumultuous body of insurgents, which set out from Strathaven, in Lanarkshire, melted away before they arrived in Glasgow ; another between Kilsyth and Falkirk was encountered at Bonnymuir by a detach- ment of fourteen hussars and fourteen of the Stirling- shire yeomanry, totally defeated, and nineteen of their number made prisoners. Before the week had elapsed the danger was over ; the insurgents saw they were over- matched ; a rigorous search for arms in Glasgow revealed to them their weakness; numerous arrests paralysed all the movements of the leaders, and sent numbers into volun- tary exile ; the people gradually resumed their avoca- tions ; and this outbreak, which at first had appeared so threatening, was terminated with the sacrifice only of two men executed at Stirling, one at Glasgow, and seven or eight transported. But the rebellious spirit of the manu- * The author has much pleasure in recording this just tribute to a fine and spirited corps, in the ranks of which some of the happiest days of his life have been spent. The Edinburgh squadron at that time, which was the successor of that in which Sir Walter Scott had served, and has immortalised, contained several young men destined to distinguished eminence : among others, the present Lord Justice Clerk, Hope ; Mr Patrick Tytler, the historian of Scot- land ; Mr Lockhart, since editor of the Quarterly Review ; and Mr Francis Grant, since so eminent as a painter in London. 432 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP, facturing districts was suppressed in a far more effectual ^" and better way, which neither caused blood to flow nor a '^^''' tear to fall. They were morally slaughtered ; the strength of their opponents, their own weakness, was evinced in an unmistakable manner. The ancient spirit and loyalty of the Scotch was shown in the most striking manner on this occasion : the flower of the youth in all the counties ranged themselves in arms around the standard of their k^wiedgl; country ; and Sir Walter Scott, whose chivalrous spirit im 3p' ^^^ strongly roused by these exciting events, boasted, in 39;Scouh the pride of his heart, that at a public dinner of 800 ii. 100, 234| gentlemen in Edinburgh, presided over by the Marquis 414^ 415!'' of Huntly, there were gentlemen enough assembled to have raised 50,000 men in arms.^* Parliament met, after the general election, on 21st Death and April. Its result had made no material difference in the Mr Gral-°^ respective strength of parties, but, if anything, strength- '*"• ened the ministerial ranks, — the usual result of public disturbances, which awaken men to a sense of the neces- sity of supporting the Government, whatever it is, which is intrusted with the duty of repressing them. One dis- tinguished member of the House, however, Mr Gkattan, never took his seat in the new Parliament, and expired June 6. soon after the session commenced. He was the last of that bright band of patriots, who, warmed into life by the ^gAnn.Rjg. great struggle for Irish independence in 1782, when the i43;'Ma> chaius iu which that country had so long been held by ^mjau, 1, gjjgig^^jj gj.g^ ijegan to be broken, were, after the Union, transferred to the British Parliament,^ which they caused • " We have silenced the Scottish Whigs for our time, and, I think, drawn • the flower of Scotland round the King and Constitution. Literally I do not exceed the mark, when Lord Huntly, our Cook of the North, as he is called, presided over 800 gentlemen, there was influence and following enough among us to raise 50,000 men, property enough to equip and pay them for a year; young men not unacquainted with arms enough to discipline them, and oui or two experienced generals to command them. I told this to my Whig friends who were bullying me about the popular voice — and added, they might begin when they liked, we were as ready as they." — Sir Walter Sooit to Lord SiDMOUTH, 17th February 1821 ; BidmmtKs Life, iii. 348. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 433 to resound with strains of eloquence rarely before lieard chap. ■within its walls. ^' He "was not so luminous in his exposition of facts as 1820. 53. Pitt, nor so vehement in his declamation as Fox ; but in His ch'arac- burning thoughts, generous feelings, and glowing language, statesroan he was sometimes superior to either. Occasional passages *'"^°"*'"'- in his speeches, when quoted or repeated, are perhaps the finest and most imaginative pieces of eloquence in the English language. It was justly observed by Sir James Mackintosh, in moving a new writ for Dublin, which he had long represented, that he was perhaps the only man recorded in history who had obtained equal fame and in- fluence in two assemblies differing from each other in such essential respects as the English and Irish Parliaments. Forty years before his death, he had been voted a grant to purchase an estate, by the Irish Parliament, in considera- tion of his eminent national services, a thing unknown in an individual not connected with the public establishments. He had been a warm supporter of the Union, hoping, as he himself expressed it, that Ireland, instead of receiving laws from England, should henceforth take an equal share with her in legislating for the united empire. It is only to be regretted that his genius, great as it was, had been through life chiefly directed to an unattainable object. The independence of Ireland was the chief aspiration of his mind, and he lived to see that it was hopeless. He said, in his figurative and beautiful language, " I have sat by its cradle, I have followed its hearse." Hence his name, with the exception of the Union and the shackles burst in 1782, is linked with no great legislative improve- ment in his native country — for Catholic emancipation, of which he was the strenuous and able advocate, has failed, by the admission of its warmest supporters, to prove such. It is remarkable that the Irish or Celtic character, gifted, often beyond the Anglo-Saxon, with the brightest imaginative qualities, has in general been found deficient in that practical turn and intuitive saga- VOL. II. 2 E 434 HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP, city which, is necessary to turn them to any good pur- ^" pose ; and that, amidst all our admiration of their genius, ^^'^^ we are too often reminded of the elegant allegory told of the Duke of Orleans, that every fairy invited to his christening sent him a gift of person, genius, or fortune ; 1 Pari. Deb. but that ouo oM fairy, to whom no invitation had been 10S8. ' given, sent one fatal present — that he should be unable to make any use of them.^ One of the first measures adopted by Government, with Increase of tho sauctiou of Parliament, was the increase of the yeo- rj'torc™*"' manry force, which was so much augmented that before the end of the year it amounted to nearly 35,000 men, all animated with the best spirit, and for the most part in a surprising state of discipline and efficiency. With- out doubt, it takes above a year to make a good horse- soldier; but it often excites the wonder of military offi- cers how quickly men of intelligence and spirit, such as usually compose the yeomanry corps, if previously able to ride, acquire the rudiments of skill even in the cavalry service ; and still more, how quickly their horses learn it. The Duke of Wellington recommended that the militia should be called out throughout the kingdom ; but this was thought not advisable, probably because it was doubt- ful how far, in the manufacturing districts, such a force could be relied on. Two thousand men, however, were added to the marines, which rendered disposable an equal amount of the regular force stationed in the garrison sea- port towns. Such was the vigour of Lord Sidmouth in following up the measures for the increase of the yeomanry force, that the king happily said of him, " If England is to be preserved England, the arrangements he \m,'^t^' ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^° *^^* preservation." 2 Without doubt, Life'"iri!'''° the powerful volunteer force, organised especially in the Debi^uis? i"3'""facturing districts at this period, and the decisive new series.' demonstration it afforded of moral and physical strength on the part of the Government, was the chief cause of HISTORY OP EUROPE. 435 Great Britain escaping an alarming convulsion, at the chap. time -when the spirit of revolution was proving so fatal to ^' monarchy in so many of the Continental states. ^^^''^ The revenue for the year fell considerably short of what had been anticipated, the natural consequence of the The budget general distress which prevailed in the country. Mr " / Alderman Heygate, who had so strenuously resisted the resumption of cash payments in the preceding year, did not fail to point out the contraction of the currency as the main cause of that deficiency.* Great disputes as usual took place as to the real amount of the revenue, as compared with the expenditure ; but it appeared upon the whole evident that the revenue had fallen above a million short of what had been anticipated, and that instead of the expected real sinking fund of £5,000,000, no reduc- tion in the public debt had taken place, as the unfunded debt had decreased £2,000,000, and the funded debt in- creased by exactly the same sum. The revenue for 1820 and 1821 exhibited, without any change in taxation, and the most strenuous efforts at economy on the part of Government, decisive evidence of the labouring state of the finances of the country, and took away all hopes of making, during peace, any serious impression on the public debt.^ The details are of little practical importance in a ] ?*^'„^'''- work of general history ; but the result is so, as demon- 1174. strating how entirely the effects had corresponded to what » " Let the House contrast the quantity of the circulating medium which was floating in the country in May 1818, with the amount in circulation in the same month in the present year. In the issue of Bank of England notes there had been a diminution of ^£4,000,000 ; in the issue of country bank- notes there had been a diminution of £6,000,000. The total diminution in that short period had been £9,000,000, a sum amounting to more than one- sixth of the whole circulation of the country. The state of the exchange during that period had been almost uniformly in our favour, but not a, single piece of gold had made its appearance to replace the notes which had been withdrawn. Three-fourths of the distress of the country was to be ascribed to the haste with which so large a proportion' as £9,000,000 had been with- drawn from the circulation."— Mr Hbtgate's Speech, June 19, 1820; Pari. Debates, i. 1178, new series. 436 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. X. 1820. had been predicted as to the eifects of the currency bill passed so unanimously in the preceding year by both Houses of Parliament.* The Parliamentary debates of 1820 embrace fewer topics than usual of general moment, in consequence of the engrossing interest of the proceedings regarding the Queen, to be immediately noticed. But three subjects of The revenue of Great Britain and Ireland for 1820 and 1821 stood thus : — INOOln)!. 1820— Nett. 1821— Nett. Customs, £10,743,189 £11,475,259 Excise, ...... 28,622,248 28,941,629 Stamps, 6,794,866 6,853,986 Lands Assessed, including Ireland, 8,313,148 8,192,301 Post Office, .... 1,692,636 1,621,326 Lesser Imposts, .... 1,323,893 1,731,231 Hereditary Eevenue, 127,820 136,077 £57,304,650 £58,108,865 Loans from Sinking Fund, 17,292,544 13,833,783 Total, £74,597,195 £71,937,638 Of which was Irish Eevenue, . 3,905,899 3,672,419 EXPEHUrruBB. 1820. 1821. National Debt and Sinking Fund, £47,070,927 £47,130,171 Unfunded Debt, Ireland, 1,849,219 2,219,602 Civil List, &c., 2,134,213 2,268,940 Civil Government, Scotland, 132,080 133,077 Lesser Payments, 438,339 476,873 Navy, 6,387,799 5,943,879 Ordnance, .... 1,401,585 1,337,923 Array, .... 8,926,423 8,932,779 Miscellaneous, 2,616,700 3,870,042 Foreign Loans, &c., 50,357 48,464 £71,007,648 £72,361,756 NATIONAL DEBT. Unfunded Debt, £37,042,433 £36,244,726 Debt Redeemed by Sinking Fund to Sth January 1821, . 399,560,101 399,358,449 Unredeemed Debt at ditto. 772,066,898 795,312,767 Annual Interest : — Funded Debt, 31,450,128 31,450,128 Sinking Fund, 16,649,514 16,649,514 —Arm. Reg. 1821, 254, 271 ; and 1822, 319, 325. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 437 lasting importance were brought forward — namely, that chap. of general education, introduced by Mr Brougham ; the ^' disfranchisement of Grampound, by Lord John Russell; '^'^*'- and Free Trade, by Mr Wallace of the Board of Trade, important On the first point it is superfluous to give the speeches, debSn even in an abbreviated form, because the subject is one '^'° '*'"'"'• upon which the minds of all men are made up. It is no more necessary to prove that the sun's rays will give light and warmth, than that the lamp of know- ledge will illuminate and humanise the mind. But the subject, as all others in which the feelings of large bodies of men are warmly interested, is beset with dif&culties ; and Mr Brougham's speech was replete with valuable in- formation on it. His project, which was for the establish- ment, as in Scotland, of a school, maintained by the public funds, in every parish, failed chiefly from its proposing to connect the schools with the Established Church, which at once lost for it the support of all the Dissenters. But the facts which he had collected were of lasting value i. aes. ' in the great cause of moral and social improvement.^ * According to Mr Brougham's statement, there were then 12,000 parishes or chapelries in England ; of these, 3500 statisticson had not a vestige of a school, endowed or unendowed, England"" and the people had no more means of education than the by1\^*'°^' Hottentots or the Cafires. Of the remainder, 3000 had B"»s1'»°'- endowed schools, and the remaining 5500 were provided only with unendowed schools, depending entirely on the * " No solieme of popular education can ever become national in this coun- try, whicli gives the management of schools and appointment of masters to the Church, while Dissenters constitute a large proportion of the inhabitants in almost every district, and especially in the most populous, where the Dis- senters bear their full share in such education as already exists. This difficulty was immediately fatal to Mr Brougham's measure, and has been so in every scheme proposed in succeeding years ; the members of the EstabUshed Church insisting on direct religious instruction as « part of the plan, and the Dis- senters refusing to subject their children to the religious instruction of the Church, or to pay for a system from which their children are necessarily ex- cluded."— Miss Maetineatj's Thiriy Years of Peace, i. 265. 438 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP> casual and fleeting support of the parents of the children '■ attending them. -The number of children annually re- ^^^^' ceiving education at all the schools, week-day and Sunday, ■was 700,000, of -whom only 600,000 were at day-schools, where regular attendance was giren and discipline en- forced. Fifty thousand were estimated as the number educated at home, making in all 750,000 annually under tuition of one sort or another, which, taking the popula- tion of England at 9,540,000, the amount by the census of 1811, was about one-fifteenth of the whole population. But in reality the population of England was proved, by the census taken in the succeeding year, to be con- siderably greater that he supposed, for it amounted to no less than 11,260,000, besides 470,000 in the army, navy, and mercantile sea-service. Thus the real proportion receiving education was not more than one-seventeenth of the entire population ; a small figure for a country boast- ing so great an amount of inteUigence and civilisation, for in many countries with less pretensions in these respects the proportion was much higher. In Scotland the pro- portion at that period was between one-ninth and one- tenth ; in Holland it was one-tenth ; in Switzerland, one- eighth ; in Prussia, one-tenth ; in Austria, one-eleventh. In France — to its disgrace be it said — the proportion was still one-twenty-eighth only, though 7200 new schools had been opened in the last two years. But though England presented a much more favourable aspect, yet there the deficiency was very great ; for the total children 1 Pari. Deb. requiring education were about 1,000,000, and as 750,000 full'ii' ''^^^ ^^^^ ^* ^°y place of education, it followed that 1820; Ann. 250,000 pcrsons, or a quarter of the entire iuvenile Reg. 1820, 1 .• , . . , "^ , 50, 51. population, were yearly growing up without any educa- tion whatever.^ * * Mr Brougham stated that in endowed schools 165,432 children were edu- cated, and 490,000 in unendowed, besideslljOOO who might be allowed for the unendowed schools in 160 parishes, from which no returns had been obtained. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 439 It is abundantly evident from these facts, and the chap. same has been proTed in other countries, that no reliance ' can be placed on the voluntary system for the support ^^^''' of education, and that unless the means of instruction Difficulties are provided at the public expense, the education of the Ject/and " people will always be in a most unsatisfactory state, and "rassesi"^ its blessings in a considerable portion of society wholly "'^''*' unknown. Whatever ministers to the physical necessi- ties or pleasures of the people is easily rendered self- supporting, but it is otherwise with what tends to their moral improvement or social elevation. These can never be safely left to private support, for this plain reason, that a large portion of society, and that the very one which most stands in need of them, is wholly insensible to their value, and will pay nothing for their further- ance. Had the property which once belonged to the Church still remained in its hands, and been righteously administered, it might have solved the difl&culty, be- cause it was adequate to the gratuitous support of the whole religious and educational institutions requisite for the country. But as so large a part of it had been seized on by private cupidity, and been alienated from the Church at the Reformation, this precious resource was lost, and nothing remained but assessment, and there the difficulty at once is felt. At first sight, it appears easy to solve the difficulty by simply establishing a school-rate in every parish, to be its difficui- collected along with the poor-rate and prison-rate, and attempts at which, at a trifling cost to the community, would affi)rd to tion'^""' the children of all adequate means of instruction. This was what Lord Brougham proposed in England, and Of tWs number 53,000 were at dame Bohools, where only the rudiments of education were taught. Small as the proportion of educated children was, it had only become such as it was of late years, for of the total educated about 200,000 were at 1520 Lanoasterian schools, which only began to be established in 1803, so that before that time not more than one-twentieth of the population was annually receiving instruction. — Awn. Reg, 1820, 50. 440 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAR which has been long established with great success in ! America. But a difficulty, which has hitherto been found ^^^'^' insurmountable, lies at the verj threshold in this country, which is the more serious that it arises from the combined sincere convictions and selfish jealousies of the ministers of religion and their zealous followers. What religion is to be taught 1 Is it to be the Episcopalian, Catholic, or Dissent 1 If the last, which Dissent, for their name is legion 1 So great is this difficulty, that it has hitherto been found insurmountable both in England or Ireland, and caused all attempts at a general system of education to fail. Each sect not only gives no support to any attempt to establish any general system of education con- nected with any other sect, but meets it with the most strenuous opposition. Nor is this surprising, for each considers its own tenets and forms the ones most condu- cive to temporal wellbeing — and not a few, the only por- tals to eternal salvation. Scotland is the exception. Its parochial schools were Probable established in 1696, when the fervour of the Reformation solving it. in a community as yet only agricultural had produced an unusual degree of unanimity on religious subjects, and the burden was laid entirely on the landholders. No general school-rate could by possibility succeed now, in the divided state of the religious world in that country. The difficulty might perhaps be solved by simply levy- ing a rate, and dividing it in each parish, for the sup- port of schools, in proportion to the number of families belonging to each considerable persuasion ; and possibly this is the way in which alone the difficulty can ulti- mately be overcome. In urban parishes, at least, where the evils of want of education for the poor are most strongly felt, it would be easy to establish in every school a room or rooms, in which the elements of secular education are taught to all, while in an adjoining apartment the chil- dren of the different persuasions are in succession in- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 441 structed on religious subjects by tbeir respective religious chap. teachers. A general rate might be IcTied on all for the ' support of the teachers in the first ; a special rate on ^^^'^' those professing each persuasion for the instruction in the last. This is done in several schools in manufactories in Scotland, and is generally practised in America with per- fect success. The system appears complicated, but it is perhaps the only way in which the difiiculties connected with the subject can be obviated, or a general assessment ^ ^^ ^ for educational purposes be reconciled with the sincere, tare's Ame- rica 56 57 and therefore respectable, scruples of the serious portion ei. ' ' of the community.^ But supposing this difficulty surmounted, another, and a yet more formidable one, remains behind, to the magni- what is to tude of which the world is only beginning to awaken, ydfkthe When the people are educated, what is to be done with li^^sf them 1 How is the country to get on when so many more are trained . to and qualified for intellectual labour than can by possibility find a subsistence, even by the most successful prosecution of any of its branches 1 How is the constantly increasing multitude of well-educated per- sons, armed with the powers of intellect, stimulated by the pressure of necessity, not restrained by the possession of property, to be disposed of, when no possible means of providing for them but by physical labour, which they abhor, can be devised 1 How are they to be prevented, in periods of distress, from becoming seditious, and listening to the suggestions of the demagogues who never fail to appear in such circumstances, who tell them that all their distresses are owing to. the faulty institutions of society, and that under the reign of " Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity," they will all dis- appear before the ascending power of the people 1 How, in such circumstances, is the balance of the different classes of society to be preserved, and the great, but inert, and comparatively, unintellectual mass of the rural 442 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, population to be hindered from falling under the domi- nion of the less numerous, but more concentrated, more 1820. 62. ■wealthy, and more acute inhabitants of towns 1 If they do become subjected to them, what is that but class- government of the worst and most dangerous, because the most numerous and irresponsible kind 1 And what is to be expected from it, but the entire sacrifice of the interests of the country, by successive acts of the legisla- ture, to those of towns 1 England has already felt these evils, but not to the degree that she otherwise would, from the invaluable vent which her numerous colonies have afforded to her surplus educated and indigent population : in America they have been wholly unknown, because the Far West has absorbed it all. These observations are not foreign to a work of general Effertof history : its subsequent volumes will be little more than a fnkadhig commentary on this text. And -without anticipating the pers'ion^of march of events, which will abundantly illustrate them, it mankind, jjjg^y jjg obscrvcd that the maintenance of despotic institu- tions in a country of advancing intelligence is impossible; that as knowledge is power, so knowledge will obtain power ; that the wisdom of government with a people growing in information, is gradually and cautiously to admit them to a share in its duties ; that the only way to do this with safety, is by the representation of interests, not numbers, the latter being class-government of the worst kind ; and that, with all that, safety must mainly be looked for in the providing ample outlets for the indi- gent intelligence of the state in colonial settlements. It is impossible it should be otherwise, for it is by the force of education that the destinies of the species are to be worked out by the voluntary acts of free agents. The desires consequent on information, with their natural off- spring, democratic ambition, are the great moving powers of nature ; and in the last days of man, as in the first, it is by eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge that he HISTORY OF EUROPE. 443 is torn up from his native seats, and impelled by the force chap. of his own desires to obey the Divine precept to over- ^' spread the earth and subdue it. ^''^*'- Another subject, destined in the end to be attended with paramount importance, though its moment was not Disfran- perceived at this time, was at the same time introduced of &"m" into Parliament, and showed how closely the growing fj^Mfe/rf intelligence of an era is connected with the desire for an J^^yoa-*"^' extension of political power. This was Paeliamentaey sWre. Reform. Lord John Russell on 9 th May introduced the subject by proposing three resolutions : 1. That the people were dissatisfied with the representation ; 2. That boroughs convicted of bribery should be disfranchised ; and, 3. That their members should be transferred to some populous place not represented. Grampound had been convicted of bribery in the last election, on so extensive a scale that it appeared in evidence that " perhaps there might be two or three electors who had not received bribes." The bill disfranchising the borough passed with- out any opposition, but a great division of opinion arose as to the place to which the members for it should be transferred. In the bill, as it originally stood, it was proposed that they should be transferred to Leeds ; but the aristocratic party, in both Houses, inclined to give them to some rural district, where their influence might be more easily exerted. The bill was not pushed through all its stages this session, in consequence of the pro- ceedings against the Queen absorbing the whole atten- tion of the legislature; but it was revived in the next, and, as it passed the Commons, the franchise was con- ferred on Leeds. In the Lords, however, this was altered, and the members were bestowed on the county of York. With this alteration the Reform party were far from being satisfied; but they wisely agreed to it, and the bill, thus amended, passed into a law. Thus was the foundation laid of the great fabric of parliamen- 444 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, tarj reform, ten years before the empire was shaken to the centre by the superstructure, being raised. Even at this 1820. ^ Ann. Reg. early period, however, the opening made awakened very serious alarms in many able persons, who afterwards be- came leaders of the Whig party.* Happy would it have been for the nation if it had been regarded by the oppo- site parties as a question of social amelioration, hot poli- tical power, and the use that was practicable had been 1820^467^' made of the progressive and just reforms which might Deb. V. 604, havc been founded on the disfranchisement of the boroughs 874! ' convicted of corruption, instead of the wholesale destruc- tion of the majority of their number.^ The doctrine of Fkee Trade, afterwards so largely ' Rise of free- actcd upon by the British legislature, first began at this Imongtre ti^e to cugross the thoughts not only of persons engaged md Lord'' i'l commerce and manufactures, but of the heads of the downe' Government. On 8th May, Mr Baring presented a petition declaration on this subjcct from the merchants of London ; and on the je°t. *™ ' 16th, Mr Kirkman Finlay, a Glasgow merchant, equally remarkable for the extent of his transactions and the liberality of his views, brought forward a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Glasgow, which set forth, in strong terms, the evils arising from the restricted state of the trade with China and the East Indies, and the * In October 1819, after the Grampound Diefranoliiseinent Bill had first been introduced into Parliament, Mr Ward, afterwards Lord Dudley, wrote to the Bishop of Llandaff : " All I am afraid of is, that by having the theoretical defects of the present House of Commons perpetually dinned into their ears, the well-intentioned and well-affected part of the community should at last begin to suppose that some reform is necessary. Now, I can hardly conceive any reform that would not bring us within the whirlpool of democracy, to- wards which we should be attracted by an irresistible force, and in an hourly accelerated ratio. But I flatter myself there is wisdom enough in the country to preserve us long from so great an innovation." In April 1820 he again wrote : " When I see the progress that reform is maJking, not only among the vulgar, but persons, like yourself, of understanding and education, clear of interested motives and party fanaticism, my spirits fail me. I wish I could persuade myself that the first day of reform will not be the first of the English revolution." In February 1821 he writes : " MaoTcintosh would Jceep the nomina- tion boroughs ; ■ for my part, I am content with the constitution as it stands, "-s' Lord Dudley's LeiUrs, 226, 247, 277. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 445 advantages over Britisli subjects which the Americans chap. enjoyed in that respect ; and urged the repeal of the ^' Usury Laws, and the reduction or removal of the duties ■'''^''* on the importation of several foreign commodities. These views were so favourably received in both Houses of Parliament, that Lord Lansdowne was encouraged, a few days after, to bring forward a motion for the appointment of a committee to take into consideration the means of extending our foreign commerce. He dwelt, in an espe- cial manner, on the inconveniences to which the trade of the country was now exposed by the numerous duties which restricted it in every direction, and argued that, " whatever brought the foreign merchant to this country, and made it a general mart for the merchandise of the world, was beneficial to our trade, and enriched the in- dustrious population of our ports. Such freedom of transit would allow an assortment of cargoes for foreign markets, and thus extend our trade in general. The im- port duties on Baltic timber should be removed, for they cost us annually £500,000 more for our ships and houses than if we bought it from the north of Europe. The duties on French wines also should be lowered, to aug- ment the trade with that country, and the trade with India entirely thrown open. As a proof of the superior value of the free trade to the East to that of the East India Company, it is sufficient to observe, that the former has 61,000 tons of shipping and 4720 seamen, while the latter employs only 20,000 tons and 2550 ; and our trade to America, which, at the period of the inde- j^^^^^^^- pendence of that country, was only £3,000,000, has ss; kri'. now swelled to the enormous amount of £30,000,000 466." ' a-year." ^ Lord Liverpool made a very remarkable speech in reply ; memorable as being the first enunciation, on the Lord Liver- part of Government, of the principles of free trade, which, mombi™^' half a century before, had been promulgated by Quesnay ^^^^ '° in France, and Adam Smith in Great Britain. " It 446 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, must be admitted," he observed, " that there has been a L_ great falling off in our foreign trade in the last year ; for ^^^"^ our exports have declined no less than £7,200,000 in the year 1819, compared with the average of the three pre- ceding years. It is of importance to examine in what branches of our trade so great and alarming a diminution has occurred. It is not in any great degree in our inter- course with the Continent ; with it the decline has been only £600,000. The great decrease has been in our trade with the East Indies and the United States of America : with the latter alone there was a falling off in the last, compared with the three preceding years, of no less than £3,500,000. The general doctrines of freedom of trade, viewed in the abstract, are undoubtedly well founded ; but the noble marquis (Lansdowne) who intro- duced the subject is too experienced a statesman not to qualify them in their application to this country. It is impossible for us, or any country in the world, except, perhaps, the United States of America, to act unreser- vedly upon that principle. " If we look to the general principles of trade and com- Contin'ued. mercc, WO must, at the same time, look to our law con- cerning agriculture. We shall there see an absolute prohibition of the importation of great part of foreign agricultural produce, and heavy duties on the remainder. Under the operation of these laws, we cannot admit free trade to foreign countries. We will not take their cattle, nor their corn, except under heavy duties ; how can we expect them to take our manufactures 1 With what pro- priety may not those countries say to us, ' If you talk big of the advantages of free commerce, if you value so highly the principles of your Adam Smith, show your sincerity and your justice by the establishment of a reci- procal intercourse. Admit our agricultural produce, and we will admit your manufactures.' Your lordships know it would be impossible to accede to such a proposition. We have risen to our present greatness under the oppo- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 447 site system. Some suppose that we have risen in conse- chap. quence of that system ; others, of whom I am one, believe ' we have risen in spite of that system. Whichever of '^'^*'" these hypotheses be true, certain it is we have risen un- der a very different system from that of free and unre- stricted trade. It is utterly impossible, with our debt and taxation, even if they were but half their existing amount, that we can suddenly adopt the principles of free trade. To do so would be to unhinge the whole property in the country ; to make a change in the value of every man's possessions, and in none more so than those of agriculture, the very basis of our opulence and power. " I was one of those who, in 1815, advocated the Corn 67. Bill. In common with all the supporters of that measure, concluded. I believed it expedient to give an additional protection to the agriculturist. I thought that, after the conclusion of a twenty years' war, and the unlimited extent to which speculation in agriculture had been carried, and the com- paratively low price at which corn could be raised in several countries of the Continent, great distress would ensue to all persons engaged in the cultivation of the land. I thought the Corn Bill should be passed then, or not at all. Having been passed, it should now be steadily adhered to ; for nothing aggravates the difficul- ties of all persons engaged in cultivation so much as alterations in the laws regarding importation. While, therefore, I advocate going into a committee, with a view to removing many of the restrictions and prohibitions af- fecting our foreign and colonial trade, I must at the same time state that, as a general measure, absolute freedom of trade cannot be established. In agricultural productions, and several branches of our manufactures, protection must be adhered to.^ It might have been better had it been -Jge 5m-^ otherwise from the beginning, and each country had ^"j^'^^^^d •'y attended only to those branches of manufacture in which pool. it has natural advantages ; but, as matters stand, we can- 1820. 448 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, not, save under large exceptions, attempt to retrace our steps. I do not believe the change in the currency has had any connection with the general distress which has . since unhappily prevailed." This subject of agricultural distress was anxiously Appoint- pressed on both Houses of Parliament during this session ; ™mmWee ^nd tho pctitious relating to the subject were so numer- into2gri-° o^S' ^°-?32,340; against her Majesty were not abandoned.^ They paid Twiss'sLife ° i , ,„■,■, i ofEidon, no regard to these threats, and walked or drove to the 405. ' ' House every day as if nothing had occurred ; and the people, admiring their courage, abstained from actual * " The Whig faction flocked round the Queen, directly after the abandon- ment of the bill, and her lawyers, who now called themselTea her constitu- tional adYisers, belonged to that faction who thought to get possession of power by her instrumentality, she having the people at her back. But the people, who hated this faction more than the other, the moment they saw it about her, troubled her with no more addresses. They suffered her to remain very tranquil at Brandenberg House ; the faction agitated questions concern- ing her in Parliament, concerning which the people oared not a straw ; what she was doing soon became as indifferent to them as what any other person of the royal faniily was doing : the people began to occupy themselves with the business of obtaining a ParUamentary reform ; and her way of life, and, her final fate, soon became objects of curiosity, much more than interest, with the people." — CoBSBTi'a L^e of George IV., i54. 1821. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 469 violence.* Division, as might naturally have been ex- chap. pected, ensued in the Cabinet, and more than one resig- nation -was tendered to his Majesty ; but one only — that of Mr Canning, as President of the Board of Control — was accepted, M^ho was succeeded by Mr Bragge Bathurst, and the Government, as a body, ventured to weather the storm. The result showed that they were right, and had not miscalculated the effect of just and courageous conduct Retum' of on the English mind. Though liable to occasional fitSofcjOTem- of fervour, which for the time have often looked like na- ^u^es^ont. tional insanity, the English mind, when allowed time for reflection, and not precluded from thinking by the pres- sure of suffering, rapidly in general regains its equili- brium, and never so much so as after a decisive victory. In the present instance, the change in the public feeling was so rapid and remarkable, that it attracted the notice of the King himself, and his Ministers felt no difficulty in meeting Parliament.f Nor is it surprising that this was so; for reflection soon taught the nation that their zeal, how generous and honest soever, had been exerted on an unworthy object; that the Queen was by no means the immaculate character they supposed ; and that * " Matters here are in a very critical state. Fear and faction are actively, and not unsuccessfully, at work ; and it is possible we may be in a minority and the fate of the Government determined in a very few days." — Lord Sid- mouth to Mr Bathuest, 27th October 1820. " I cannot describe to you how grievously I suffer, and have suffered, on account of the dangerous and deplor- able situation in which our country, the King's Government, and indeed all of us, have been placed — a situation from which I profess to see no satisfactory or safe deliverance." — Ditto to ditto, 28th October 1820. " One day, at this time, when Lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth were walking through Parliament Street, they were violently hooted at by the mob. ' Here we go,' said Lord Sidmouth, ' the two most popular men in England.' ' Yes,' replied Lord Castlereagh, ' through a grateful and admiring multitude;' "— Life of Sidmouth, iii. 330, 338. + " It is clear beyond dispute, from the improvement of the public mind, and the loyalty which the country is now everywhere displaying, if properly cultivated and turned to the best advantage by Ministers, that the Govern- ment will thereby be enabled to repair to the country and to me those evils, of the magnitude of which there can be but one opinion." — George IV. to Lord Eldon, Jan. 9, 1821 ; Twiss's Life of Eldon., ii. 413. 470 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, however culpable and heartless the King's conduct had .. : been to her in the outset of her married life, latterly at ^^^'' least the principal fault had been on her side; in truth, also, be the fault where it may, her habits abroad had been such as rendered her unfit to be placed at the head of English society. The trial, they saw, was of her own seeking ; she was offered the title of Queen, and a hand- some provision abroad ; and they could not regard with- out regret the enthusiasm which had prevailed in favour of a woman whom the highest court in the kingdom, upon evidence the force of which all must feel, had virtu- ally pronounced guilty. The battle had been a drawn one : the people could pride themselves on their victory ; the Ministers on the evidence by which they had justified their proceedings; and both parties having thus some- thing to gratify their self-love, their mutual irritation was lessened, and reconciliation resulted from a proceed- • ing which presaged at first irreparable alienation. Parliament met, after being prorogued in the end of Meeting of Novcmber, on the 23'd January, and Ministers were able and ST" 'to congratulate the country with reason on the improved proceed- coudition of the people, and more contented temper of the public mind. In truth, the change in both respects was most remarkable ; and Ministers, who had anticipated a narrow division, if not a defeat, on the question of the Queen, and their conduct in regard to her, were, to their surprise, supported by large majorities in both Houses, which on 6th February rose to 146 in the Commons. This great victory in a manner terminated the contest of parties on that painful subject. It was now evident that the long proceedings which had taken place on the Queen's trial, and the weighty evidence which had come 1 Pari Deb ^^^ against her, had completely changed the public iv. 460,507; opinion on the subject, and that even the Radicals must i82i',is°li. look out for some fresh subject of complaint in their attempts to overturn the Government.^ Such a subject would, but for the manly and judicious HISTORY OF EUROPE. 471 course adopted by the Government, have been afforded chap. by the course which foreign affairs had taken at this ' period. The revolutions in Spain, Portugal, Naples, and *®^^" Piedmont, and the ferment in Germany, had deeply Debate's on agitated the public mind. It was hard to say whether foirsf the hopes these events had awakened in one party, or the fears in another, were most preponderant. AH observed, many hoped, some feared, from them. The Congresses of Laybach and Troppau, of which an account has already been given,^ which had been assembled \Ante, c. avowedly to consider the qourse to be adppted by the ''"" great Continental powers -in regard to these portentous events, afforded a fertile field for eloquent declamation on the part of the Liberal leaders; and Lord Grey in the Upper House, and Sir James Mackintosh in the Lower, in moving for the production of papers relative to these . events, took occasion to inveigh strongly against the dangerous attempts, evidently making by the Conti- nental powers, to stifle the growth of freedom, and over- turn constitutional monarchies in all the lesser states around them. Ministers resisted the motion, but de- clared at the same time that the English Government were no parties to these congresses, and that they had officially notified to the powers there assembled their dissent from the principles and right of interference there advanced. It was known that this statement was well founded, and Parliament, satisfied with having ob- tained such an assurance from the Government, and with the strong declaration of English feeling from the Opposi- ^ Ann. Reg. tion, supported Ministers in both Houses by large majo-104.' ' rities.2 Sir James Mackintosh continued in this Parliament, as 94 he had done in the last, his able and indefatigable efforts sir Janiea to obtain a relaxation of the monstrous severities and tosVs'ef- anomalies of the English criming,l code. His increasing p"^^*"^™' success, though npt unmixed with checks, demonstrated j"™'"*^ that public opinion was rapidly changing on this impor- 472 HISTORY OF EUKOPE. CHAP, tant subject, and that the time was not far distant when, practically speaking, the punishment of death would not ^^^^" be inflicted in any case except deliberate murder, in which, both on the authority of the Divine law, and every consideration of human justice, it never should be abrogated. As this blessed change has now for above ten years been practically in operation, it is superflu- ous to enumerate all the steps by which it was effected. Suffice it to say, therefore, that it was by the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly, and after him of Sir James Mack- intosh, that the necessity of this great reform was first impressed on the public mind, and by the adoption of their principles by Sir Robert Pee^ when he became Home Secretary, that it was on a large scale carried into effect. The only thing to be regretted is, that when the penalty of death was so justly taken away for so many offences, care M'as not taken at the same time to in- crease the certainty and enlarge the eificiency of secondary punishments ; and that from the long-continued neglect by the colonial secretaries of the obvious expedient of always mingling, in due proportion, the streams of gra- tuitous Government with forced penal emigration, the country has in a great measure lost the immense advan- tage it might otherwise have derived from the posses- sion of such outlets for its surplus population and dan- gerous crime ; and that the colonies have been led to regard with horror, and strive to avert, a stream which, duly regulated, might, and certainly would, have been hailed as the greatest possible blessing. Mr Plunkett, on the 28th February, brought forward Mr Can- a motion regarding Roman Catholic Emancipation, and fng^a'peedf' it soon becamc evident, that if the mantle of Romilly Em*indp»° ^^^ descended on Mackintosh, that of Grattan had t'""' fallen on the shoulders of Plunkett. As this subject will be fully discussed in a subsequent part- of this volume, when the passing of Catholic Emancipation is narrated, it would be superfluous to give the arguments 1821. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 473 advanced on both sides ; but there is one speech in the chap. Commons, and one in the Lords, from which brief ex- . ^' tracts must be given, from the importance of the senti- ments -which they conveyed. Mr Canning was the most eloquent supporter, Mr Peel the most determined oppo- nent, of the measure. " We are," said the former, " in the enjoyment of a peace, achieved in a great degree by Catholic arms, and cemented by Catholic blood. For three centuries we have been erecting mounds, not to assist or improve, but to thwart nature ; we have raised them high above the waters, where they have stood for many a year frowning proud defiance on all who at- tempted to cross them ; but, in the course of ages, even they have been nearly broken down, and the narrow isthmus now formed between them stands between " Two kindred seas, Which, mounting, Tiewed each other from afar. And longed to meet." Shall we, then, fortify the mounds which are almost in ruins 1 or shall we leave them to moulder away by time or accident? — an event which, though distant, must happen, and which, when it does, will only confer a thankless favour — or shall we at once cut away the . isthmus that remains, and float on the mingling waves iv.isiC the ark of our common constitution 1 " ^ On the other hand, it was argued by Mr Peel, in words which subsequent events have rendered prophetic : " I do Answer by not concur in the anticipation that the emancipation of the Catholics would tend to re-establish harmony in the state, or smooth down conflicting feelings. I do not wish to touch prospectively upon the consequences of intem- perate struggles for power. I do not wish to use lan- guage which may be construed into a harsh interpretation of the acts and objects of men who proceed in the career of ambition, but I must say this much, that if Parliament admits an equal capacity for the possession of power be- tween Protestant and Catholic in this respect, they will ' Pari. Deb. 1821. 474 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, hare no means of considering the state of the population, of securing that equal division of power which is, in my opinion, essential to the stability of the existing form of government. The struggle between the Catholic and Protestant will be violent, and the issue doubtful. If they were to be sent forth together as rival candidates, with an equal capacity for direct parliamentary representation, so far from seeing any prospect of the alleviation of points of political differences, I can only anticipate the revival of animosities now happily extinct, and the continuance, in an aggravated form, of angry discussions, now happily gliding into decay and disuse. If, in consequence of this alteration of the constitution, the duration of Parliament should be reduced from seven to three years, then will the frequent collision of Catholic and Protestant furnish a still greater accession of violent matter to keep alive domestic dissension in every form in which it can be arrayed, against the internal peace and concord of the empire. These are my honest sentiments upon this all- \ ^^^'a?^''- important question, uninfluenced by any motive but an 1003. ' ardent anxiety for the durability of our happy constitu- tion."! This debate is memorably for one circumstance — it Which is was the first occasion on which a majority was obtained th^com- for Catholic Emancipation. The second reading was ksTfnfte carried by a majority of 11, the numbers being 254 to Peers. £43 ; and this majority was increased, on the third read- ing, to 19, the numbers being 216 to 197. The bill, accordingly, went into committee, and passed the Com- mons ; but it was thrown out, on the second reading, by a majority of 39 in the House of Lords, the numbers being 159 to 120. On this occasion the Duke of York made a memorable declaration of his opinion on this subject. " Educated," said his Royal Highness, " in the principles of the Established Church, I am persuaded that her in- terests are inseparable from those of the constitution. I consider it as an integral part of the constitution. The HISTORr OP EUROPE. 475 more I hear the subject discussed, the more am I con- chap. firmed in the opinion I now express. Let it not be sup- ^' posed, howerer, that I am an enemy to toleration. I ^^^^" should wish that every sect should have the free exercise of its religion, so long as it does not afi^ct the security of the established, and as long as its members remained loyal subjects. But there is a great difference hetween allowing the free exercise of religion and the granting of political power. My opposition to this bill arises from principles which I have embraced ever since I have been able to judge for myself, and which I hope I shall cherish to the last hour of my life." This decisive declaration on April 17, 1821 the part of the heir-apparent of the throne, whose early accession seemed likely from the health of the reigning Sovereign, produced a very great impression, and carried the popularity of his Royal Highness to the highest point. He became the object of enthusiastic applause at all the political meetings of persons attached to the Established Church, at which the singular coincidence in number of the thirty-nine peers who threw out the bill and the thirty-nine articles of the Church of England, never failed ,. 282, m. to be observed on, and elicit unbounded applause.^ Lord John Russell, about the same time, brought for- ward a bill for a gradual and safe system of Parliamen- Lord John tary Reform. It wa,s founded on resolutions, that there motbn for were great complaints on the subject of the representation fry kX™' of the people in Parliament ; that it was expedient to give such places as had greatly increased in wealth and population, and at present were unrepresented, the right of sending members to serve in Parliament ; and that it should be referred to a committee to consider how this could be done, without an inconvenient addition to the number of the House of Commons ; and that all charges of bribery should be eflPectually inquired into, and, if proved, such boroughs should be disfranchised. The motion was rejected by a majority of 31, the numbers being 156 to 125 ; but the increasing strength of the 4:76 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, minority, as well as weight of the names of which it was _ composed, indicated the change of general opinion on the ^^^^' subject, and might have warned the supporters of the existing system of the necessity of consenting to a safe , „ , „ and prudent reform, if anything could convince men who 1 Pari. Deb. ■*■ . i i i i • ■ i i • V. 622, 623. are mainly actuated by the desire to retain, or the thirst to obtain, political power.^ The various branches of manufactures, during this year. Appoint- exhibited a marked and gratifying improvement ; but in mmmHtee agriculture the prevailing distress was not only unabated, intoa^icui- b'^t tad become greater than ever, and, in truth, had now tresB.'*'^" ^^s^" to such a height that it could no longer be passed March 7. over iu silence. On 7th March, Mr Gooch brought for- ward a motion for the appointment of a committee to inquire into agricultural distress ; and in the course of the debate Mr Curwen observed, " In the flourishing days of the empire, the income of the nation was £400,000,000, and the taxation was £80,000,000 annually. At pre- sent the income is only £300,000,000, yet the taxation was nearly the same. In what situation was the farmer 1 The average of wheat, if properly taken, was not more than 62s. a quarter ; the consequence of which was, that the farmer lost 3s. by every quarter of wheat which he grew. On the article of wheat alone, the agricultural interest had lost £15,000,000, and on barley and oats £15,000,000 more. In addition to this, the value of farming stock had been diminished by £10,000,000 ; so that in England alone there was a diminution of £40,000,000 a-year. The diminution on the value of agricultural produce in Scotland and Ireland cannot be less than £15,000,000 ; so that the total loss to the ■ agriculturists of the two islands cannot be taken at less than £55,000,000. This is probably a quarter of the whole value of their productions ; and as their taxation ■ ^1 uf^''' ^^'"^i^^ *t^ same, it has, practically speaking, been in- .1151. ' creased twenty-six per cent also."2 The truthof these state- ments, how startling soever, was so generally known, that HISTORY OF EUKOPE. 477 Govermnent yielded ; and a committee was appointed to in- chap. quire into the causes of agricultural distress, -which made a most valuable report in the next session of Parliament. ^^^^' Great light "was thrown upon the causes of this distress in a debate which took place, shortly after, on a bill ofBankdsh little importance, introduced by Government, authorising bS"^" the Bank, if they chose, to resume cash payments on 1st May 1821, instead of May 1822, as had been provided by the bill of 1819. The reason assigned by the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer for giving the Bank this option was, that they had, at a very heavy expense to themselves, accumulated a very great treasure, and that the paper circulation of the country had been so much contracted that cash payments might be resumed with safety. He stated that, " in June 1819, the issues of the Bank amounted to £25,600,000 ; and they had been progres- sively diminished, till now they were only £24,000,000. The country bankers had drawn in their notes in a still greater proportion. Above four miUions had been with- drawn from the circulation in less than two years — a state of things which amply justifies the present proposal ] Pari. Deb. to give the Bank the option of issuing gold coin, if they isie. thought fit, a year sooner than by law provided." ^ The efiects of the contraction of the currency, thus made the subject of boast by the Chancellor of the Ex- Mr Baring's chequer, were thus stated by Mr Baring in the same de- tSfsubj'CTt. bate : " In looking at this question, it is very material to consider what is the state of the country in this the sixth year of peace. Petitions are coming in from all quarters, remonstrating against the state of sufiering in which so many classes are unhappily involved, and none more than the agricultural class. When such is the state of the country in the sixth year of peace, and when all the idle stories about over-production and under-consumption, and suchlike trash, have been swept away, it is natural to inquire into the state of a country placed in a situation without a parallel in any other nation or time. No country 478 HISTORY 0¥ EUROPE. CHAP, before ever presented the continuance of so extraordinary '. — a spectacle as that of living under a progressive increase ^^^^" in the value of money, and decrease in the value of the productions of the people. It appears clear that, from the operations of the altered currency, we have loaded our- selves, not only with an immense public debt, but also with an increased debt between individual and individual, the weight of which continues to press upon the country, and to the continuance of which pressure no end can. be seen. JJJ2 " The real dif&culty is to meet the increased amount of Continued, dcbts of Bvory sort, public and private, produced by the late change in the currency. It is an observation than which nothing can be more true, that an alteration in the value of the currency is what nobody, not even the wisest, generally perceive. They talk of alteration in the price of bread and provisions, never reflecting that the altera- tion is not in the value of these articles, but in that of the currency in which they are paid. To talk of the alteration of the value of money being three, five, or six per cent is mere trifling. What we now are witnessing is the exact converse of what occurred during the war, from the en- larged issue of paper, and over the whole world from the discovery of the mines of Mexico and Peru. The mis- fortune is, in reference td agriculture, that what is a remunerating price at one time becomes quite the reverse at another. Formerly it was thought that 56s. a quarter was a remunerating price, but that is not the case now. What is the reason of that 1 It is occasioned by the altered currency, and by the produce of this country com- ing into contact with the commodities from all parts of the world, at a time when the taxes, debts, and charges which the farmer has to meet have undergone no alteration. His products did not bring their former price, while his private debts remained at their original amount. Besides this, there is the great mortgage of the National Debtj which sweeps over the whole country, and renders it im- possible for the farmer to live on prices which formerly HISTORY OF EUROPE. 479 CHAP. X. 1821. were considered a fair remuneration. The difficulties of the country, then, arise from this, that you have brought back your currency to its former value, so far as regards your income ; but it remains at its former value, so far as regards your expenditure." Weighty, indeed, are these remarks, which subsequent events have so fully confirmed, and which came then from the first merchant in the world, ] Pari. Deb. who afterwards conferred honour on, instead of receiving 1323. ' it from, the title of Ashburton.^ The increased weight of debts and taxes, coinciding with the diminished incomes arising from the contracted cur- vehement rency, produced its natural and usual efi^ect in inducing a^reduction an additional pressure on Government for the reduction ''"*^**'°°* of taxation. Mr Hume brought this subject before the House of Commons, and the whole finances of the coun- try underwent a more thorough investigation than they had ever previously done. His labours embraced chiefly the expenses of the offices connected with the army, navy, and ordnance departments j * and there can be no * The returns obtained by Mr Hume presented the following comparative statement of the British army, exclusive of the troops in India, in 1792 and 1821 respectively, viz. ; — 1792. Men. Eegulars in Great Britain — ) , - g, „ Infantry and cavalry, . ) ' Do. Ireland, .... 12,000 Colonies, 17,323 Artillery, 3,730 Marines, 4,425 Total regulars. Militia disembodied. 53,397 33,410 86,807 1821. Eegulars in Great Britain- Cavalry and infantry, . Do. Ireland, Do. Colonies, . Artillery, Marines, .... Colonial troops — Cape, , Do. Ceylon, . Recruiting Establishment, Total regulars. Disembodied militia — England, Do. Ireland, .... Yeomanry — Great Britain, Do. Ireland, .... Volunteer infantry, . Great Britain — Veterans \ disembodied, . . / ' East India Company's regiment. Men. 27,852 20,778 32,476 7,872 8,000 452 3,606 497 101,539 55,092 22,472 36,294 30,786 6,934 10,000 750 Total irregulars. Grand Total, . 162,328 263,867 -I>arJ. Papers, No. 363, 1821 ; Pari Deh., v. 1362. 1821. 480 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, doubt that he rendered good service by exposing many abuses that existed in these departments; and a committee was appointed to inquire into the subject. In conse- quence of the universal complaint of agricultural distress, Mr Western brought forward a bill to repeal the malt duties, which was carried, on the first reading, by a majority of 24, the numbers being 149 to 125. It was thrown out, however, on the second reading ; and so productive is this tax, and so widely is its weight diffused over the community, that its repeal has never yet been carried. The majority on the leave to bring in the bill, - however, was an ominous circumstance, characteristic of the depression of the agricultural interest ; and members ^ Ann. Reg. ^ere SO imprcsscd with it that they deemed it expedient 100. ' ' to yield on a subordinate point, and the agricultural horse- tax was accordingly repealed this session.' The committee on agricultural distress presented their Agriouitu- report on 18th June. It was a most elaborate and valu- tee reports, able documeut, as it bore testimony to the fact estab- thecon-^" Hshed before the committee, that "the complaints of the ofrfciea petitioners were founded in fact, in so far as they repre- of luxury, ggnted that, at the present price of corn, the returns to the owners of occupied land, after allowing growers the interest of investments, were hy no means adequate to the charges and outgoings ; but that the committee, after a long and anxious inquiry, had not been able to discover any means calculated immediately to relieve the present distress." ^'' It is by no means surprising that it M'as so'; for as their difficulties all arose from the contraction of the currency, it was impossible they could be removed * So far as the pressure arisea from superabundant harvests, it is beyond the application of any legislative provision ; so far as it is the result of the increased value of money, it is not one peculiar to the farmer, but extends to many other classes. That result, however, is the more severely felt by the tenant, in consequence of its coincidence with an overstocked market. The departure from our ancient standard, in proportion as it was prejudicial to all creditors of money, and persons dependent on a fixed income, was a benefit to the active capital of the country; and the same classes have been oppositely affected by a return to that standard. The restoration of it has also embar- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 481 till that contraction was alleviated, a thing which the great majority of the legislature was resolved not to do. It is remarkable that at the very same time Lord Liver- pool demonstrated in the House of Lords, that the general consumption of the icountry, in articles of comfort and luxury, had considerably increased in the last year.* This fact is important, as affording an illustration of tlie observation already made^ as to the eternal law of nature, that the division of labour and improvement of machinery, capable of indefinite application to manufacturing indus- try, have no tendency to cheapen the production of the subsistence of man, and consequently that the first and the last to suffer from a contraction of the currency, and enhancement of the value of money, are the classes engaged in the cultivation of the soil.^ CHAP. X. 1821. 1 Ante, c. i. §§41,42. s Ann. Eeg. 1821,73; Commons' Heport, June 18, 1821; Pail. Deb. V. 79, App. rassed the landholder, in proportion as his estate has been encumbered with mortgages, and other fixed payments assigned on it during the depreciation of the currency. The only alleviation for this evil is to be looked for in such a, gradual reduction of the rate of interest as may lighten the burdens on the landed interest. At present the annual produce of corn, the growth of the United Kingdom, is, upon an average crop, equal to, our present consumption, and that, with such an average crop, the present import prices, below which foreign corn is by law altogether excluded, are fully sufficient, more especially since the change in the currency, to secure to the British farmer the complete monopoly of the home market. The change in the value of our money is virtually an advance upon our import prices ; and the result of every such advance, supposing prices not to undergo a corresponding rise in other coun- tries, must but expose this country to greater and more grievous fluctuations in price, and the business of the farmer to greater fluctuation and uncertainty. Protection cannot be carried farther than monopoly, which the British farmer has completely enjoyed for the last two harvests — the porta having been almost constantly shut against foreign imports during thirty months." — Commons' Re- port, June 18, 1821 ; Pari. Deb., v. 81, Appendix. Tear 1821. Average of three years ending January 1820. * Beer, barrels, S,356,000 Candles, lb.. 79,810,000 Malt, 23,289,000 Salt, . 1,936,000 Soap, lb.. 69,474,000 Spirits, 6,047,000 Tea, . 22,186,000 Sugar, 3,117,000 -Ann. Reg., 1821, 73. VOL. II. 5,699,000 88,350,000 24,511,000 1,981,000 73,766,000 6,576,000 22,542,000 3,413,000 2H 482 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP This long-continued and most severe depression in the ^' price of agricultural produce, coupled with the reiterated 1821. refusals of Parliament to do anything for their relief, at Incite of length came to produce important political effects. It for reform Spread far and wide among the landowners and farmers, a"Sur^ "^^0 ™ every age had been the firmest supporters of the j8ts. throne, the conviction that they were not adequately represented in Parliament, and that no relief from their sufferings could be anticipated, until, by a change in the composition of the House of Commons, their voice was brought to bear more directly and powerfully upon the measures of Government. Everything was favourable : all the world was at peace ; trade had revived ; the seasons were fine ; importation was prohibited, and had ceased. Nevertheless prices were so low that it was evi- dent that a few more such years would exhaust all their capital, and reduce them to beggary. Reform had become indispensable, if they would avoid ruin. Now, accord- ingly, for the first time, the desire for parliamentary reform spread from the towns, where it had hitherto prevailed, to the rural districts, and gave token of an important change in this respect in the landed interest ; and the ablest of the historians of the time in the Ra- dical interest has borne testimony to the fact that, but for the change in the currency, the alteration of the consti- tution never could have taken place.* * " In the beginning of 1822," says Miss Martineau, " every branoli of manu- facturing industry was in a flourishing state ; but agriculture was depressed, and complaints were uttered at many county meetings, both before and after the meeting of Parliament. These incessant groanings, wearisome to the ears, and truly distressing to the hearts, were not borne idly to the winds. The com- plainers did not obtain from Parliament the aid which they desired, but they largely advanced the cause of parliamentary reform. If the agricultural inte- rest had been in a high state of prosperity from 1820 to 1830, the great ques- tion of reform i» Parliament must have remained much longer afloat than it actually did, from the inertness or opposition of the agricultural classes, who, as it was, were sufficiently discontented with Parliament to desire a change. Extraordinary as thia may appear, when we look only to the preponderance of the landed interest in the House at that time, we shall find, on looking abroad through the oountiy, that it was so. Such politicians as Cobbett pre- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 483 Lord Castlereagh, to whom the mutability of the chap; populace was well known, had prophesied, at the close ^' of the proceedings against the Queen, that " in six months *^^^* the King would be the most popular man within his coronation dominions." This prediction was verified to the letter, iv. '""^^^ The symptoms of returning popularity were so evident, ■'"^^^^* that his Majesty, contrary to his inclination and usual habits, was prevailed on by his Ministers to appear fre^ quently in public, both in the parks and principal theatres, on which occasions he was received with unbounded ap- plause. This favourable appearance induced Govern- ment to determine on carrying into efibct the coronation, which had been originally fixed for August in the pre- ceding year, but had been postponed in consequence of the proceedings against the Queen, and the disturbed state of the public mind which ensued. Her Majesty, who was not aware that her popularity had declined as rapidly as that of her royal spouse had increased, was so imprudent as to prefer a claim, both to the King and the Privy Council, to be crowned at the same time as Queen- Consort. The Council, however, determined that she was not entitled to demand it as a matter of right, and that in the circumstances they were not called on to con- cede it as a matter of courtesy ; and her demand was in consequence refused. .Upon this the Queen applied to the Duke of Norfolk, as Earl-Marshal of England, and seuted themselves among the disoontented farmers, and preached to them about the pressure of the debt, a bad system of taxation, a habit of extravagant ex- penditure, and of a short method of remedying these evils by obtaining abetter constitution of the House of Commons. It was no small section of the agri- cultural classes that assisted in carrying the question at last ; and it would be interesting to know how many of that order of reformers obtained their con- victions through the distress of these years." — Maetineau's Thirty Years of Peace, i. 267. At that period the author, whose head was then more full of academical studies than political speculations, frequently stated it in company as a problem in algebra, easy of solution, " Given the Toryism of a landed proprietor, required to find the period of want of rents which will reduce liim to a Radical reformer." He little thought then what momentous conse- quences to his country and the world were to ensue from the solution of the problem. 484 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, the Archbistop of Canterbury, for a place in the Abbey ^' at the coronation ; but as they were subject to the King ^®^'- in Council in this matter, the petition was of course re- fused, though in the most courteous manner. Upon this her Majesty declared her resolution to appear personally at the coronation, and deliver her protest into the King's own hand. This determination, being known, diffused a general apprehension that a riot would ensue on the occasion ; and to such a degree did the panic spread, that liiism- P^^c^s to see the procession, which previously had been fm ?24' s^^li"g fo^ t^^ guineas, were to be ha,d on the morning of i2S;'Mar- the coremony for half-a-crown, and all the troops in 259. ' ' London and the vicinity were assembled near Westmin- ster Abbey to preserve the peace.^ The ceremony took place accordingly, but it soon Ceremony appeared that the precautions and apprehensions were casion.""" alike groundless. This coronation was memorable, not only for the unparalleled magnificence of the dresses, de- corations, and arrangements made on the occasion, but for this circumstance — it was the last where the gor- geous but somewhat grotesque habiliments of feudal times appeared, or will ever appear, in the realm of England. All that the pomp of modern times could produce, or modern wealth purchase, joined to the magnificence of ancient costume, were there combined, and with the most imposing effect. The procession, which moved from the place where it was marshalled in Westminster Hall to the Abbey ; the ceremony of coronation within the Ab- bey itself, which had seen so many similar pageants from the earliest days of English story ; the splendid banquet in the Hall, where the Champion of England, in full armour, rode in, threw down his gauntlet to all who challenged the King's title, and backed his harnessed steed out of the Hall without turning on his sovereign, were all exhibited with the most overpowering magni- ficence. Sir Walter Scott, whose mind was so fraught HISTORY OF EUROPE. 485 "with chivalrous images, has declared that " a ceremony chap. more august and imposing in all its parts, or more calcu- 1821. lated to make the deepest impression both on the eye and the feelings, cannot possibly be conceived. The ex- Scott;a De- pense, so far as it is national or personal, goes directly idmburgh and instantly to the encouragement of the British manu- jjy'^s,"' facturer. It operates as a tax on wealth, and consider- Regl'i^X' ation for the benefit of poverty and industry — a tax 'will- ^l'^^[i ingly paid by one class, and not less acceptable to the ^^i, 472; other, because it adds a happy holiday to the monotony chron. of a life of labour." ^ Men whose names have become immortal, walked — some of them, alas ! for the last time — in that magnificent Aspect of pageant. There was Wellington, who grasped in his ton, Lon- hand the baton won on the field of Vittoria, and bore and G^ge by his side the sword which struck down Napoleon on ^^" the plains of Waterloo, and whose Roman countenance, improved but not yet dimmed by years, bespoke the lofty cast of his mind ; there Lord Castlereagh, who had recently succeeded to the title of Londonderry, in the magnificent robes of the Garter, with his high plumes, fine face, and majestic person, appeared a fitting repre- sentative of the Order of Edward III. ; and there was the Sovereign, the descendant of the founder of the Garter, whose air and countenance, though almost sinking under the weight of magnificence and jewels, revealed his high descent, and evinced the still untarnished blood of the Plantagenets and Stuarts. Nor was female beauty want- ing to grace the splendid spectacle, for all the noblest and fairest of the nobility of England, the most lovely gfot™'" race in the world, were there, and added the lustre of gpra; . their diamonds, and the still brighter lustre of their eyes, 473! to the enchantment of the matchless scene.^ But the first and highest lady in the realm was not there ; and the disappointment she experienced at being refused admittance was one cause of her death, which 486 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, soon after ensued, The Queen, ■with that resolution and ! indomitable spirit •which, for good or for evil, has ever ^®^^- been the characteristic of her race, though refused a The Queen tickct, rcsolved to force her way into the Abbey, and adrnfuante: witness, at least, if she was not permitted to take part in, Aug'^7'*' ^^^ ceremony. She came to the door, accordingly, in an open barouche, drawn by six beautiful bays, accompanied by Lord and Lady Hood and Lady Anne Hamilton, and was loudly cheered by the populace as she passed along the streets. When she approached the Abbey, however, some cries of an opposite description were heard ; and when she arrived at the door, she was respectfully, but firmly, refused admittance by the door-keeper, who had the painful duty imposed on him of denying access to his sovereign. She retired from the door, after some altercation, deeply mortified, amidst cries from, the people, some cheers, but others which proved how much general opinion had changed in regard to her. Such was the chagrin she experienced from this event, that, combined with an obstruction of the bowels that soon after seized her, mortification ensued, which terminated fatally in little i^jjjj jj more than a fortnight afterwards. The ruling passion m^-'A^' ^W^^^^^ strong in death. She ordered that her remains to chron.; should uot bo left in England, but carried to her native 473^ 474!'' land, and buried beside her ancestors, with this inscrip- i. leor*"' tion, " Here lies Caroline of Brunswick, the injured Queen of England."! Before the death of the Queen was known, the King King's ^sit had made preparations for a visit to Ireland, and it was Aug.'u'*' nof thought proper to interrupt them. On Saturday, 11th August, his Majesty embarked at Holyhead, and on the following afternoon landed at Howth in the Bay of Dublin, where he was received with the loudest acclama- tions, and the most heartfelt demonstrations of loyalty, by that warm-hearted and easily-excited people. They escorted him with the most tumultuous acclamations to HISTORY OP EUROPE. 487 the viceregal lodge, from the steps of which he thus chap. addressed them : " This is one of the happiest days of ^' my life. I have long wished to visit you. My heart has ^®^^- always been Irish : from the day it first beat, I loved Ireland, and this day has shown me that I am beloved by my Irish subjects. Rank, station, honours, are nothing ; but to feel that I live in the hearts of my Irish subjects, is to me exalted happiness." These felicitous expressions diffused universal enchantment, and, combined with the graceful condescension and dignified affability of manner which the Sovereign knew so well to exhibit when inclined to do so, roused the loyalty of the people to a perfect enthusiasm. For the week that he remained there, his life was a continued triumph ; reviews, theatres, spec- tacles, and entertainments^ succeeded one another in bril- liant succession : and after a short sojourn at Slanes , . , "^ * Ann. Reg. Castle, the seat of the Marquis of Conyngham, he re- '821, 129, turned to England, and soon after paid a visit to Hanover, to dhronfi where he was received in the same cordial and splendid 474%75.^'" manner.^ The funeral of the Queen took place on the 14th 111 August, at the very time when the King was receiving Punerai of the impassioned demonstrations of loyalty on the part of 'n^'dbm^s- his Irish subjects ; and it caused a painful and discredit- g' ^^^^ able scene, which led to the dismissal of one of the most f™" *« army. gallant ofiicers in the English army from the service which his valour and conduct had so long adorned. It had been directed by her Majesty that her body, as already mentioned, should be taken to Brunswick to be interred. Anxious to avoid any rioting or painful occur- rence in conveying the body from Brandenberg House, where she died, to the place where it was to be embarked, Romford in Essex, Ministers had directed that the hearse which conveyed the body, with attendants suitable to her rank, should proceed by a circuitous route through the north suburbs of London and the new road to Islington, 488 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. The direct road to Romford, however, lay through the ' city ; and the people were resolved that the procession 1821. g^Qui(j go tiiat way, that they might have an opportunity of testifying their respect to the illustrious deceased. As the orders of the persons intrusted with the direction of the procession were to go the other way, and they at- tempted to do so, the populace formed in a close column twenty deep, across the road at Cumberland Gate, and after a severe conflict, both there and at Tottenham Court Road, in the course of which two men were un- 1 A„„_ Eeg, fortunately killed by shots from the Life-Guards, the pro- 127^'app' cession was fairly forced into the line which the people H "^hervi '^^sired, and proceeded through the city in great pomp, 474,475; amidst an immense crowd of spectators, with the Lord i. 2f)i. ' Mayor and civic authorities at its head, the bells all toll- ing, and the shops shut.^ The procession reached Romford without further inter- 112 . Dismissal ruption, and the unhappy Queen was at length interred Wilson " at Brunswick on August 23d. But the occurrence in aiT^.*^ London led to a melancholy result in Great Britain. Sir Robert Wilson, who had remonstrated with the mili- tary on occasion of this afiray, and taken an active part in the procession, though not in the riot, and the police magistrate who had yielded to the violence of the popu- lace, and changed the direction of the procession, were both dismissed, the first from the service, the last from his situation. However much all must regret that so gallant and distinguished an officer as Sir Robert Wilson should have been lost, even for a time, to the British army, no right-thinking person can hesitate as to the propriety of this step. Obedience is the first duty of the armed force : it acts, but should never deliberate. He » Hu hes ^^° *^'^®^ *° aiake soldiers forget their duty to their sove- vi. 475,476; rcigu, or sets the example of doing so, fails in his duty to issT.ilS his king, but still more to his country ;^ for the cause of freedom has been often thrown back, but never yet was, HISTORY OF EUROPE. 489 in the end, promoted by military revolt ; and it was not chap. a time to proToke such a catastrophe in Great Britain, ^' ■when military revolution had just proved so fatal to ^^^'* the cause of liberty not less than of order in southern Europe.* Notwithstanding the favourable state of general feel- ing in the country, and the improved condition of the change's in manufacturing classes. Ministers felt that their position *''*'^'''"''*'' was insecure, and that it was highly desirable to obtain some further accession of strength, both in the Cabinet and the House of Commons. The continued and deep distress of the agricultural interest had not only led to several close divisions in the preceding session in the House of Commons, but occasioned several public meet- ings, where the voice of that class had made itself loudly heard. They had actually resigned upon his Majesty's demand for a divorce; they had been all but shipwrecked on the Queen's trial ; and on occasion of the late riots at her funeral, he had let fall some alarming expressions as to the way in which that delicate affair had been con- ducted. It was deemed indispensable, therefore, to look out for support; and the Grenville party — a sort of flying squadron between the Ministerialists and Liberals, but who had hitherto always acted with the Whigs — presented the fairest prospect of an alliance. Proposals were made accordingly, and accepted. Lord Grenville, the head of the party, was disabled by infirmities from taking an ac- tive part in public life, and could not be lured from his retreat ; but the Marquis of Buckingham was made a duke ; Mr Wynne, President of the Board of Control ; and Mr H. Wynne, envoy to the Swiss Cantons. This coalition gained Ministers a few votes in the House of Commons ; but it was of more importance as indicating, * Sir R. Wilson was afterwards restored to his rank in the army, and was for some years Governor of Gibraltar ; but his military decorations, bestowed by the English Government, were never restored. 490, HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, as changes in the Cabinet generally do, the commencement — -! — of a change in the system of government. The admission ^^^^' of even a single Whig into the Cabinet indicated the increasing weight of that party in the country, and as U{7,1V tbey were favourable to the Catholic claims, it was an stdmouth''*"^?*'^*'^^' change. Lord Eldon, ultimus Uomanorum, Ann^lL presaged no good from the alliance. " This coalition," 1821,4,5; he said, " will have consequences very difierent from Hoghes, VI. Ill , C11-. 482. those expected by the members of the administration who brought it about. I hate coalitions," ^ A still more important change took place at the same Retirement tlmc, in tho retirement of Lord Sidmouth from the mouth, who onorous and responsible post of Home Secretary. A life by^Mr Peel of thirty ycai's in harness, oppressed with the cares of Secretey. official life, had nearly exhausted the physical strength, though they had by no means dimmed the mental energy of this conscientious and intrepid statesman ; and though no decline in his faculties was perceptible to those around him, he felt that the time had arrived when he should withdraw from the cares and responsibility of office, and dedicate his remaining years to the enjoyment of his family, to which he was strongly attached, and his duties to his Maker. He deemed it a fitting opportunity to take such a step, when the internal situation of the country was so tranquil that the public service could sustain no detriment by his withdrawing from it; for had it been otherwise, he would, at any hazard to his own health or life, have remained at his post.''^ He was succeeded in his arduous duties by a much younger man, Mr, after- wards Sir Robert Peel, one of greater abilities, and whoso mind was more in harmony with the spirit of the age, but not of greater energy and integrity, and by no means of equal moral courage. Lord Sidmouth's abilities, though not of the highest order, were of the most useful * " The truth is, it waa because my official bed had become a bed of roses, that I determined to withdraw from it. When strewn with thorns, I would not have left it." — Sidmouth's Life, iii. 390. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 491 kind, and his administrative talents stood forth pre- chap. eminent. His industry was indefatigable, his energy un- ' tiring, his intrepidity, both moral and physical, such as ^^^^' nothing could quell. He steered the vessel of the state. 1 Lord Sid- to during the anxious years which succeeded the close of the m^^jh war, through all the shoals with which it was beset, with h^JJ^P exemplary vigour and undaunted courage ; and it was not t^'^i^iT" a little owing to his resolution that the crisis was sur- sidmouth's mounted in 1820, which proved fatal to the cause of 388,'396. liberty and order in so many other states.-' This parliamentary coalition was attended with still more important changes in Ireland, for there it com- Lord Wei- menced an entire alteration in the system of government, pointed''" which has continued, with little interruption, to the pre- JrXnT.^nd sent day. As the Protestants, ever since the Revolution, fjj*"^^g°„. had been the dominant party in that island, and the m™t there. Catholics were known to be decidedly hostile both to the British government and alliance, the Viceroy, and all the officers of state who composed its government, had hitherto been invariably staunph Protestants ; and Lord Talbot, the present Viceroy, and Mr Saurin, the At- torney-general, were of that persuasion. But as the Cabinet itself was now divided on the subject of conces- sion of the Catholic claims, it was thought necessary to make a similar partition in the Irish administration. Accordingly, Marquis Wellesley, a decided supporter of the Catholics, was made Lord-lieutenant in room of Lord Talbot ; Mr Saurin, the champion of the Orange party, made way for Mr Plunkett, the eloquent advocate of the Catholic claims in the House of Commons ; and Mr Bushe, also a Catholic supporter, was made Solicitor-general ; while, on the principle of preserving a balance of parties, Mr Goulburn, a staunch Protestant, was appointed Secre- tary to the government. Great expectations were formed of the beneficial ej0Fects of this conciliatory policy, which, it was hoped, would continue the unanimity of loyal feeling which had animated the country during the visit 492 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, of the Sovereign. But these hopes were miserably dis- appointed : party strife was increased instead of being 1 Pe^^ce'8 diminished by the first step towards equality of govern- Memoirsof meut, and the next year added another to the innumer- iii.316,317; able proofs which the annals of Ireland hare afforded, i82°2, n^\ that its evils are social, not political, and are increased ^^ughes,vi. j,g^j.jjgj. ^^^ diminished by the extension to its inhabitants of the privileges of free citizens. ^ Entirely agricultural in their habits, pursuits, and de- Causeoftte sires — solcly dependent for their subsistence on the fruits Zlli ofVe- of the soil, and without manufactures, mines, fisheries, or '*°^' means of livelihood of any sort, save in Ulster, except that derived from its cultivation — the possession of land, and the sale of its produce, was a matter of life or death to the Irish people. The natural improvidence of the Celtic race, joined to the entire absence of all those limi- tations on the principle of increase which arise from habits of comfort, the desire of rising, or the dread of falling, in the world — and the interested views of the Catholic priesthood, who encouraged marriage, from the profits which bridals and christenings brought to themselves — had overspread the land with an immense and redundant population, which had no other means of livelihood but the possession and cultivation of little bits of land.' There were few labourers living on paid wages in any of the provinces of Ireland ; in Leinster, Munster, and Con- naught, where the Celtic race and Catholic creed predo- minated, scarcely any. Of farmers possessed of capital, and employing farm-servants, there were in the south and s Pearce's west nouc. Emigration had not as yet opened its bound- vpeliesiey, Icss rcsourccs, or spread out the garden of the Far West Ann! fiig. for the starving multitudes of the Emerald Isle. They Maquis' ^^^ °*^ resources or means of livelihood, but in the pos- ^M/serae ^essiou of little pieces of land, for which they bid against taryPeei, each Other with the utmost eagerness, and from which 1823. ' they excluded the stranger with the most jealous care.^ Six millions of men, without either capital or industry, HISTORY OP EUROPE, 493 shut up ■within the four corners of a narrow though fruit- chap. ful land, were contending with each other for the posses- ' sion of their patches of the earth, like wolves enclosed ^®^' within walls for pieces of carrion, whose hostility against each other was only interrupted by a common rush against any hapless stranger who might venture to ap- proach their bounds, and threaten to share their scanty meal. Experience has abundantly proved, since that time, what reason, not blinded by party, had already discovered whatwouw — what were the real remedies for such an alarming and lleved the disastrous statef of things, and what alone could have aDTiulie- given any lasting relief. Ihese were, to furnish thes'^"'- means of emigration, at the public expense, to the most destitute of the peasants of the countiy, and form roads, canals, and harbours, to facilitate the sale of the produce of such as remained at home. Having in this way got quit of the worst and most dangerous part of the popula- tion, and lessened the competition for small farms among such as were still there, an opening would have been afforded for farmers, possessed of capital and skill, from England and Scotland, to occupy the land of those who had been removed to a happier hemisphere ; and with them the religion, industrial habits, and education of the inhabitants of Great Britain, might gradually, and in the course of generations, have been introduced. But, un- fortunately, party ambition and political delusion blinded men to all these rational views, which went only to bless the country, not to elevate a new party to its direction. Faction fastened upon Ireland as the arena where the , Ministry might be assailed with effect ; Catholic emanci- pation was cherished and incessantly brought forward, as the wedge the point of which, already inserted, might be made, by a few hard strokes, to split the Cabinet in pieces ; and while motions on this subject, involving the entry of sixty gentlemen into Parliament, enforced by the eloquence of Canning and Plunkett, and resisted by the 494 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, argument of Peel, never failed to attract a full attendance ' of members on both sides of the House, Mr Wilmot ^^^'^- Horton's proposals regarding emigration, the only real remedy for the evils of the unhappy country, and in- volving the fate of six millions, were coldly listened to, and generally got quit of by the House being counted out. But it was not merely by sins of omission that the Euinoua legislature, at this period, left unhealed the wounds, thecontrao and unrcHeved the miseries, of Ireland. Their deeds of currency''* commissiou wcro still more disastrous in their effects. llnd.^'"' The contraction of the currency, and consequent fall of the prices of agricultural produce fifty per cent, fell with crushing effect upon a country wholly agricultural, and a people who had no other mode of existence but the sale of that produce. This had gone on now for nearly three years ; and its effect had been, not only to suck the little capital which they possessed out of the farmers, but in many instances to produce a deep-rooted feeling of ani- mosity between them and their landlords, which was leading to the most frightful disorders.* All the agrarian outrages which have in every age disgraced Ireland have 1 Pearce'3 ariscu from one cause — the contest for pieces of land, the WeUesieyt drcad of being ejected from them, and jealousy of any AnD^Reg. stranger's interference. It is no wonder it is so; for ilfMara'aia *° them it is a question, not of change of possession, Weiiesiey but of life or dcath.^ The ruinous fall in the price of to Secretary , ^ of State, agricultural produce of all sorts had rendered the pay- 1822. ' ment of rents, at least in full, wholly impossible, and had led, in consequence, to measures of severity having been * " I request your attention to the suggestions which I have submitted for the more effectual restraint of this system of mysterious engagements, formed under the solemnity of secret oaths, binding his Majesty's liege subjects to act under authorities not known to the law, nor derived from the State, for pur- poses undefined, not disclosed in the first process of initiation, nor until the infatuated novice has been sworn to the vow of unlimited and lawless obe- dience."— Marquis Welleslkt to Mr Secretary Peel, Jan. 29, 1823 ; Life of WelletUy, iii. 360. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 495 in many instances resorted to. Distrainings had become chap. frequent ; ejections were beginning to be resorted to, ' and the landlords were fain to introduce a set of Scotch ^®^" or English farmers, who might succeed in realising those rents which they had enjoyed in former days, but saw no longer a chance of extracting from their Celtic tenantry. This was immediately met by the usual system of re- sistance on the part of the existing occupants of the soil ; Progres's of and on this occasion it assumed a more organised andrim'div formidable appearance than it had ever previously done. S'^and. Over the whole extent of the three disturbed provinces a regular system of nocturnal outrage and violence was commenced, and carried on for a long time with almost entire impunity. Houses were entered in the night by bands of ruffians with their faces blackened, who carried off arms and ammunition, and committed outrages of every description; the roads were beset by armed and mounted bodies of insurgents, who robbed every person they met, and broke into every house which lay on their way ; and to such a length did their audacity reach, that they engaged, in bodies of five hundred and a thousand, with the yeomanry and military forces, and not unfre- quently came off victorious. Even when, by concentrating the troops, an advantage was obtained in one quarter, it was only at the expense of losses in another; for the " Rockites," as they were called, dispersed into small bodies, and, taking advantage of the absence of the mill- ^ Pearce's tary, pursued their depredations at a distance. No less lesiey, iii.^ " than two thousand men assembled in. the mountains to the 349', lei'; north of Bandon, and their detachments committed several I'^eyTo^m murders and outrages ; and five thousand mustered toge- 1^°|' j^^ ther, many of them armed with muskets, near Macroom, 29, 1823; and openly bid defiance to the civil and military forces of 1822, 10. ' the country. 1 These frightful and alarming outrages commanded the early and vigilant attention of the Lord-lieutenant. Not 496 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, content with sending immediate succour, in men and arms, to the menaced districts, he prepared and laid before ^^^''^' GoTernment several memorials on the measures requisite Lord wei- to restorc order in the country, in which, as the first step, conduct and a great increase in the police establishment of the country impartial!- ^^^ suggested.* At the same time the greatest exertions were made to reconcile parties, and efface party distinc- tions at the Castle of Dublin. Persons of respectabihty of all parties shared in the splendid hospitality of the Lord-lieutenant; Orange processions and commemorations were discouraged ; the dressing of King William's statue in Dublin, a party demonstration, was prohibited ; and every effort made to show that Government was in earnest in its endeavours to appease religious dissensions, and heal the frightful discord which had so long desolated the country. But the transition from a wrong to a right system is often more perilous than the following out of a wrong one. You alienate one party without conciliating the other ; so much more deep is recollection of injury, than gratitude for benefits in the human breast. Mar- iAnn.Eeg.quis Wcllcsley's administration, so different from any- fis^Pe'ws thing they had ever experienced, gave the utmost offence kik^^iH^^' ^^ ^^^ Orange party, hitherto in possession of the whole 348,351; situations of influence and power in the country. To lesieyto such a length did the discontent arise, that the Lord- tary vlti, lieuteuant was publicly insulted at the theatre of Dublin, 1^823.^^' and the riot was of so serious a kind as to give rise to a trial at the next assizes.^ * One auttentio document may convey an idea of tlie general state of Ire- land, with the exception of the Protestant province of Ulster, at this period. " The progress of this diabolical system of outrage, during the last month, has been most alarming ; and we regret to say that we have been obliged, from want of adequate force, to remain almost passive spectators of its daring advances, until at length many have been obliged to convert their houses into garrisons, and others have sought refuge in the towns. We cannot expect individuals to leave their houses and families exposed, while they go out with patrolling parties ; and to continue in such duty for any length of time, is beyond their physical strength, and inconsistent with their other duties." — (Memorial of twenty-eight Magistrates of County Cork.) Annual Register, 1823, p. 9. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 497 Dreadful but necessary examples were made, in many chap. of the disturbed, districts, of the most depraved and hardy of the depredators. So numerous had been the j^^^- outrages, that although the great majority of them had Dreadful 1 111-,!-- •> J examples in been perpetrated with impunity, yet great numbers of thedistarb- prisoners had been made — prisoners against whom t^je ^^*'^'"'''^- evidence was so clear that their conviction followed of course. In Cork, no less than 366 persons awaited the special commission sent down in February to clear the jail, of whom thirty-five received sentence of death. Several of these were left for immediate execution. Similar ex- amples were made in Limerick, Tipperary, and Kilkenny, where the assizes were uncommonly heavy; and by these dreadful but necessary examples the spirit of insubordi- nation was, by the sheer force of terror, for the time sub- dued. One curious and instructive fact appeared from the evidence adduced at these melancholy trials, and that was, that the principal leaders and most daring actors in their horrid system of nocturnal outrage and murder, were the persons who had been cast down from the rank of substantial yeomen, and reduced to a state of desperation ' Ann. Reg. by the long-continued depression in the price of agricul- si. ' ' tural produce.^ * But ere long a more dreadful evil than even these agrarian outrages broke out in this unhappy land ; and oreadM the south and west of Ireland was punished by a cala- thTsmth mity the natural consequence, in some degree, of its sins, ^md!' °^ but aggravated to a most frightful extent by a visita- -^^p"' ^^2^- tion of Providence. The disturbed state of the coun- * " The authors of the outrages consisted of three classes : 1. Many farmers had advanced their whole capital in improvements upon the land. These men, by the depression of farming produce, had been reduced from the rank of substantial yeomen to complete indigence, and they readily entered into any project likely to embroil the country, and, by the share of education which they possessed, unaccompanied by any religious sentiments, became at once the ablest and least restrained promoters of misphief. 2. The second consisted of those who* had been engaged in the Eebellion of 1798 and their disciples. 3. The third consisted of the formidable mass of ignorance and bigotry which was diffused through the whole south of Ireland." — Annual Register, 1822, pp. 30, 31. VOL. II. 2 I 498 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP, try during the whole of 1822 had caused the cultiva- '. — tion of potatoes to be very generally neglected in the ^^^' south and west, partly from the numbers engaged in agrariain outrages, partly from the terror inspired in those who were more peaceably disposed. In addition to this, the potato crops in the autumn of 1822 failed, to a very great degree, over the same districts ; and though the grain harvest was not only good, but abundant, yet this had no effect in alleviating the distresses of the peasantry, because the price of agricultural produce was so low, and they had been so thoroughly impoverished by its long continuance, that they had not the means of purchasing it. Literally speaking, they were starving in the midst of plenty. The consequence was, that in Connaught and Munster, in the spring of 1 823, multitudes of human beings were almost destitute of food ; and the nocturnal disturb- ances ceased, not so much from the terrors of the law, as from the physical exhaustion of those engaged in them. What was still worse, the sufferings of the present had extinguished the hopes of the future ; and the absorption of three-fourths of the seed-potatoes, in many places, in present food, seemed to presage a still worse famine in the succeeding year. In these melancholy and alarming cirr cumstances, the conduct of Government was most praise- worthy, and was as much distinguished by active and well- judged benevolence as it had previously been by impar- tial administration, and the energetic repression of crime. Five hundred thousand pounds were placed at the dis- posal of the Irish government by the English cabinet ; 1 Pearce's and roads, bridges, harbours, and such objects of pubhc weteiey" Utility, wcro set on foot wherever they seemed practicable, slb.'sli; ^^^ tl'is melancholy calamity called forth a still more tm^f' striking proof of British kindness and generosity, and BaiJt s" ^^°^^^^ proof how thoroughly Christian charity can ob- H. Taylor, literate the fiercest divisions, and bury in oblivion the 1822. ' worst delinquencies of this world. England forgot the sins of Ireland ; she saw only her suffering.^ Subscrip- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 499 tions were opened in every church and chapel of Great chap. Britain; and no less than £350,000 was subscribed in a ^' few weeks, and remitted to Dublin, to aid the efforts of the ^^^^• local committees, bj whom £150,000 had been raised for the same benevolent purpose. By these means the famine was stayed, and the famishing multitude was supported, till a favourable crop, in the succeeding year, restored the usual means of subsistence.* Those awful scenes, in which the visitations of Provi- dence were mingled with the crimes and punishment of Suspension man — and both were met, and could be softened only, by Las corpus the unwearied energy of Christian benevolence— excited, tnkZi as well they might, the anxious attention of Government ''™ ^'''• and the British Parliament. Whatever the remote causes of so disastrous a state of things might be, it was evi- dent that nothing but vigorous measures of repression could be relied on in the mean time. Justice must do its work before wisdom commenced its reform. Unfortu- nately only the first was energetically and promptly done ; the last, from political blindness and party ambition, was indefinitely postponed. Lord Londonderry (Lord Castlereagh) introduced into the Lower House two bills, one for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act until the 1st August following. This was strongly resisted by the Opposition, but agreed to by a large majority, the numbers being 195 to 68. The Insurrection Act, which authorised the Lord-lieutenant, upon application of a * " The distress for food, arising principally from the want of means to pur- chase it, continues to prevail in various districts ; and the late accounts from the south and west are of the most afBicting charactei-. Colonel Patrickson, whose regiment (the 43d) has recently relieved the S7th in Galway, reports the scenes which that town presents to be truly distressing. Hundreds of half-famished v^retches arrive almost daily from a distance of fifty miles, many of them eo exhausted by want of food that the means taken to restore them fail of effect from the weakness of the digestive organs, occasioned ly long fasting." —Sir D. Baibd to Sir H. Tatloe, 24th June 1822 ; Memoirs of Lord Welles- ley, iii. 343, 344. In June 1 822 there were in Clare alone 99,639 persons subsisting on daily charity ; in Cork, 122,000 ; in Limerick, 20,000, out of a population not at that period exceeding 67,000. — Ann. Beg., 1822, p. 40. 500 HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP, certain proportion of the magistrates of a district, to de- Am 1822. clare it by proclamation in a state of insurrection — and in that event gave extraordinary powers of arrest to the magistrates of all persons found out of their houses between sunset and sunrise, and subjected the persons seized, in certain events, to transportation — was next brought forward, and passed by a large majority, the. numbers being 59 to 15. Two other bills were also passed, the one indemnifying persons who had seized gunpowder without legal authority since 1st November, and the other imposing severe restrictions on the impor- tation of arms and ammunition. The lawless state of the coimtry, and the constant demand of the nocturnal rob- bers for arms, rendered these measures absolutely neces- sary in this as they have been in every other disturbed period of Irish history, and the powers thus conferred were immediately acted upon by the Lord-lieutenant. ^.H^gtes, A still more efiicient measure of repression was adopted Ann. Reg. by a great increase of the police, who were brought to 34, ' ' that state of vigour and efficiency which they have ever since maintained.^ The Catholic claims were in this session of Parliament 124. Divisioison again brought forward by Mr Canning, in the form of a claims. " '° motion to give them seats in the House of Peers, and April 30. enforced with all the eloquence of which he was so con- summate a master.* They were as strongly opposed by * On this occasion Mr Canning made a very happy use of the late imposing ceremony of the coronation, the splendour of which was still fresh in the minds of his auditors. " Do you imagine," said he, " it never occurred to the representatives of Europe that, contemplating this imposing spectacle, it never occurred to the ambassadors of Catholic Austria, of Catholic France, or of states more bigoted, if any such there be, to the Catholic religion, to reflect that the moment this solemn ceremony was over, the Duke of Norfolk would become deprived of the exercise of his privileges among his fellow-peers — stripped of his robes of office, which were to be laid aside, and hung up until the distant (be it a very distant !) day, when the coronation of a successor to his present and gracious sovereign should again call him forth to assist at a similar solemnisation t Thus, after being exhibited to the peers and people of England, to the representatives of princes and nations of the world, the Duke HISTORY OP EUROPE. 501 Mr Peel, who repeated his solemn assurances of indelible chap. hostility to the claims of that body. The progressive ^' change in the public mind on this question was evinced in ^^^'■^' the increasing majority in the Commons, which this year rose to 12, the numbers being 235 to 223, the largest the Catholics had yet obtained in Parliament. The bill, as was anticipated, was thrown out, after a keen debate, in the House of Lords, by a majority of 42, the numbers being 171 to 129. But as the Cabinet was divided upon the subject, and its ablest members spoke in favour of the Catholic claims, and as the House of Commons, by having the command of the public purse, have the real command of the country, these divisions were justly considered by the Catholic party as decisive triumphs in ^ Ann. Reg. their favour, and as presaging, at no distant period, their 67. ' ' admission into both bfanches of the legislature.^ Another question — that of parliamentary reform — made a still more important stride in this session of Par- increasing liament; and the increasing numerical strength of the th?mmodty majority, as well as weight of the names of which it was mentary*" composed, indicated in an unequivocal manner the turn ^f°^^2g, which events were ere long to take on that yital question. Several important petitions had been presented on the subject, both from boroughs and counties, and Lord John Russell was intrusted with the motion. He dwelt in a peculiar manner on the increasing intelligence, wealth, and population of the great towns, once obscure of Norfolk, highest in rank among the peers, the Lord Clifford, and others like him, representing a long line of illustrious and heroic ancestors, appeared as if they had been called forth and furnished for the occasion, like the lustres and banners that flamed and glittered in the scene ; and were to be, like them, thrown by as useless and temporary formalities : they might, indeed, bend the knee and kiss the hand; they might bear the train and rear the canopy; they might perforni the offices assigned by Roman pride to their barbarian fore- fathers, ' Purpilrea tollant aidcsa Britarmi ; ' but with the pageantry of the hour their importance faded away as their distinction vanished : their humi- liation returned, and he who headed the procession to-day could not sit among them as their equal to-morrow." — Cahnikg's Speech, 30th April 1822; Pari. Deb., vU. 232, 233. 502 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, villages, which were unrepresented, and the impossibility ^' of permanently excluding them from the share to which 1822. they were entitled in the legislature. Mr Canning as decidedly opposed him, resting his defence of the consti- tution on the admirable way in which it had practically worked, and the incalculable danger of substituting for a system which had arisen out of the wants, and moulded itself according to the wishes of the people, one more specious in theory — one which, on that very account, would in all probability be found on trial to be subject to some fatal defect in practice. As the arguments on this all-important question will be fully given in a future volume, they need not be here anticipated ; but the pero- ration of Mr Canning's splendid reply deserves a place vii.*84, lis! in history, as prophetic of the future career both of the noble mover and of the country.^ " Our lot is happily cast in the temperate zone of Pevoration frccdom — the climo best suited to the development of ning's *" the moral qualities of the human race, to the cultivation speech. ^^ ^.j^gjj. faculties, and to the security as well as improve- ment of their virtues — a clime not exempt, indeed, from variations in the elements, but variations which purify while they agitate the atmosphere which we breathe. Let us be sensible of the advantages which it is our happiness to enjoy. Let us guard with pious care the flame of genuine liberty — that fire from heaven, of which our constitution is the holy depository; and let us not, for the chance of rendering it more intense and more brilliant, impair its purity or hazard its extinction. That the noble lord will carry his motion this evening, I have no fear ; but with the talents which he has already shown himself to possess, and with, I hope, a long and brilliant parlia- mentary career before him, he will no doubt renew his efibrts hereafter. Although I presume not to expect that he will give any weight to observations or warnings of mine, yet on this, probably the last opportunity I shall have of raising my voice on the question of parliamentary HISTORY OJP EUROPE. 503 reform,* •while I conjure the House to pause before it chap. consents to adopt the proposition of the noble lord, I cannot help adjuring the noble lord himself to pause ^^^^" before he again presses it upon the country. If, how- BTer, he shall perseyere, and if his perseverance shall he successful, and if the results of that perseverance shall be such as I cannot help anticipating, his be the triumph to have precipitated these results, be mine the consola- tion that, to the utmost and the latest of my power, I have opposed them." The motion was thrown out by j p^^^ ^^^ a majority of 105 only — the numbers being 269 to™. iss. 164.H Sir James Mackintosh continued his benerolent and ^^ important efforts this year for the reformation of our cri- sir james minal law, and contrasted with great effect the state of tosh's mo- our code, which recognised tw6 hundred and twenty-three iig°th?cri-' capital offences, with that of France, which contained only """** '^'^* six. In this country, the convictions in the first five years after 1811 were five times greater in proportion to the population than in France ; in the second five years they were ten times greater. " This increase," he add- ed, " though in part it might be ascribed to the distress under which the country had groaned, and continued to groan, was also in part caused by the character of our penal code. The motion to take the subject into serious * Mr Canning at this period expected to proceed immediately to India, aa Governor-general, a prospect which was only changed by his being soon after appointed Foreign Secretary. + Lord John Eussell on this occasion brought forward a very curious and important statement in regard to the newspapers published in the three king- • doms in 1782, 1790, and 1821, which clearly indicated the necessity of a con- cession to the great towns, where their principal readers were to be found. It was as follows : — England, Scotland, Ireland, London — Daily, „ Twice arweek, „ Weekly, British Islands, —Ann. Beg., 1822, p. 69. 1782. 1790. 1821. 50 60 135 8 27 31 3 27 56 9 14 16 9 7 8 11 32 6 1822. 504 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, consideration next session was carried by a majority of 117 to 101. There can be no doubt that this was a step in the right direction, and paved the way for those important changes in the criminal law of England which Mr Peel soon after introduced. But the result has shown that it was a mistake to ascribe the superior rapidity in the increase of crime in Great Britain, as compared to France, to the severity of our penal laws; for the same disproportion has continued in a^ still greater degree since the punishment of death was taken away, practically speaking, from all offences except deliberate murder. The truth is, that, like the disturbed state of Ireland, the increase of crime arose mainly from the general distress which had prevailed, with very few exceptions, since the peace ; and the errors on this subject afford only another 'illustration of the truth which so many passages of contemporary history illustrate, that the great causes determining the comfort, conduct, and 1 Ann. Reg. tranquillity of the working classes are to be found in 94. ' ' those which, directly or indirectly, affect the wages of labour.^ But these material distresses had increased, and were Great fall mcrcasmg with a rapidity which outstripped all calcula- ofaUsor™ tiou, and had now reached a height which compelled- o pro uoe. inyggtjgation, and threatened to bear down all opposi- tion. The great fall in the price of the whole articles of agricultural produce, which had gone on without inter- mission from the monetary bill of 1819, and had now reached 50 per cent on every product of rural labour, had, at length, spread to every other species of manufac- ture. All, sharing in the influence of the same cause, exhibited the same effect. The long continuance of the depression, and its universal application to all articles of commerce, excluded the idea of its being owing to any glut in the market, or any excess in trading in particular lines of business, and furnished a valuable commentary on the predictions of Mr Ricardo and Mr Peel, that the change HISTORY OP EUROPE. 505 of prices could not by possibility exceed 3 per cent.^* chap. This subject accordingly engaged the repeated and anxious 1822. consideration of both Houses of Parliament; it was made the topic of repeated and luminous debates of the very §71, note.' highest interest and importance, and it forced at length a change of the utmost moment in our monetary system, "which for the next three years entirely changed our social condition, and induced another set of dangers the Tery reverse of those under which the nation for the three preceding years had been labouring. This important debate was opened by Mr Brougham on the 8 th February, who in a powerful speech demon- Measures strated the extreme distress of the agricultural class, in iSr oAL connection with the heavy load of poor-rates and local cfasses!"'"^' taxes with which they were exclusively burdened. The motion he made for the consideration of the burdens peculiarly affecting agriculture was negatived by a majo- rity of 212 to 108 ; but this was brought about only by Lord Londonderry, on the part of the Government, engaging to introduce some measures for the relief of that interest. On the 15th of the same month his lordship redeemed his pledge, by introducing the measures of relief proposed by Government, which were, the repeal of the annual malt-tax, which produced £1,000,000 a-year, and the advance of £4,000,000 in Exchequer bills to the landed proprietors on security of their crops, until the markets improved. In the course of his speech on this subject Lord Londonderry remarked, and satisfactorily proved, that no diminution of taxation to any practicable amount could afford any adequate relief to the agricultural 'classes f and it was no wonder it was so, for the utmost \^™-^^^- extent of any such relief, supposing it conceded, could 101.' not have amounted to more than six or seven millions * Peioes of Wheat in December of each Yeab, from 1818 to 1822. 1818, 80 8 1821, ... 49 1819, 66 3 1822, . , . 38 11 1820, 54 6 — TooKE On Prices, ii. 390. 506 HISTORY OP EUROPE. OHAP. yearly, whereas their difficulties arose from a depression '• in the value of their produce, which could not be esti- ^^^^" mated at less than sixty or seventy millions. Lord Londonderry's plan was laid before Parliament, Detailed with the Tcport of the committee on agricultural distress, of Govern- which had been agreed to early in the session without arreikf opposition, and was replete with valuable information cuikiriX" ai^ suggestions.* The leading resolutions proposed were, that whenever the average price of wheat shall be under 60s. a quarter, Government shall be authorised to issue £1,000,000 on Exchequer bills to the landed proprietors on the security of their crops ; that importation of foreign corn should be permitted whenever the price of wheat shall be at and above 70s. a quarter; rye, pease or beans, 46s. ; barley, 35s., and oats, 25s. : that a sliding-scale should be fixed, that for wheat being under 80s. a quarter, 12s. ; above 80s. but under 85s., 5s.; and above 85s., only Is. Greatly lower duties were proposed for colonial grain, with the wise design of promoting "the cultivation and securing the fidelity of their dependencies. They 1 Ann. Reg. wero as foUows : For colonial grain — ^wheat at and above 1822 98 107.' ' 59s., rye, &c., 39s., barley 30s., and oats 20s. ; subject to certain moderate rates of duty.^ Mr Huskisson and Mr * The committee reported that the prices of wheat for eiz weeks preceding Ist April 1822, the date of their report, had been — March 16, 45 11 46 10 46 11 47 7 SO r Feb. 23, . . . Highest price in 1822, . " And that the quantity sold, both of wheat and oats, between 1st November and 1st March has, under these prices, very considerably exceeded any quantity sold in the preceding twenty years. That it is impossible to carry protection farther than monopoly, and this monopoly the British grower has possessed for more than, three years, which is ever since February 1819, with the exception of the ill-timed and unnecessary importation of somewhat more than 700,000 quarters of oats, which took place during the summer of 1820. It must be considered farther, that this protection, in consequence of the increased value of our currency, and the present state of the corn market, combined with the prospect of an early harvest, may in aJl probability remain uninterrupted for a very considerable time to come." — Common^ Report on Agriculture, Ist April 1822; Annual Register, 1822, pp. 438, 441. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 507 Ricardo proposed other resolutions, which were, however, chap. negatived ; and Lord Londonderry's resolutions, with the ^' exception of the first, regarding the Exchequer bills, which ^®^^- was withdrawn, were agreed to by large majorities in both Houses, and passed into law. The great debate of the session, however, came on on 11th June, when Mr Western moved for the appointment Motion' of of a committee to consider the eflFect of the act 59 Geo. ^'t^e^cu™ III., c. 14 (the Bank Cash-Payments Bill), on the agri- J'^Jn. culture, commerce, and manufactures of the United King- dom. The motion was negatived, after a long debate, by a majority of 194 to 30. This debate was remark- able for one circumstance — Lord Londonderry spoke against the motion, with the whole Ministers, and Mr Brougham in support of it. It led, as all motions on the same subject have since done, to no practical result, as the House of Commons has constantly refused to enter- tain any change in the monetary policy adopted in 1819 ; but it is well worthy of remembrance, for it elicited two speeches, one from Mr Huskisson in support of that sys- tem, and one from Mr Attwood against it, both of which i^^^ios^" are models of clear and forcible reasoning, and which '21;' Pari. . f Deb. vii. contam all that ever has or ever can be said on that ail- 878, 1027. important subject.^ Mr Huskisson argued — " The change of prices which has undoubtedly taken place is only in a very slight de- Mr Huskis- gree to be ascribed to the resumption of cash payments, mmts^ir To that measure we were in duty bound, as well as policy, the exTstlng for aU contracts had been made under it. Even if it ^y^*^""- had been advisable not to revert to a sound currency, the irrevocable step has been taken, and the widest mischief would ensue from any attempt to undo what has been done. It is said on the other side, that it would be for the benefit of all classes that the value of money should be gradually diminished, and that of all other articles raised. What is this but the system of Law the pro- jector, of Lowndes, and of many others 1 But it is one 508 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, to which, it is to be hoped, this country will never lend its sanction. It is, in truth, the doctrine of debtors ; and ^''^■^' still more of those who, already being debtors, are de- sirous of becoming so in a stiU greater degree. " The foundation of the plan on the other side is, that Continued, the Standard of value in every country should be that which is the staple article of the food of its inhabitants ; and therefore wheat is fixed upon, as it is the staple article of the food of our people. At that rate, potatbes should be the standard in Ireland, rice in India, maize in Italy. To what endless confusion in the intercourse of nations would this lead ! Who ever heard of a potato standard 1 It does not, in the slightest degree, obviate the objection, that you propose to make the currency, not of wheat, but of gold, as measured by that standard. How can a given weight of gold, of a certain fineness, and a certain denomination, which in this country is now the common measure of all commodities, be itself liable to be varied in weight, fineness, or denomination, accord- ing to the exchangeable value of any other commodity, without taking from gold the quality of being money, and transferring it to that other commodity 1 All that you do is, in fact, to make wheat the currency, and gold its representative, as paper now is of gold. But to say that one commodity shall be the currency, and another its standard, betrays a confusion of ideas, and is, in fact, little short of a contradiction in terms, " Again, it is said we ought to measure the pressure Continued, of taxatiou by the price of corn ; and we are reminded that, as in 1813, wheat was at 108s. 7d., and the taxes £74,674,000, 13,733,000 quarters of wheat were suffi- cient for their payment ; while in the present year, the price being 45s., nearly double that amount of quarters are necessary to pay the reduced taxes of £54,000,000. But observe to what this system of measuring the weight of taxes by the price of wheat, or any other article save gold itself, would lead. The year 1817 was a prosperous HISTORY OP EUROPE. 509 year, for the taxes were reduced to £55,836,000, and chap. wheat having risen to 94s. 9d., it follows that 11,786,000 ^' quarters were sufficient for the payment of its taxes. Was ^^^^" this actually the case 1 If distress, bordering upon fa- mine — if misery, bursting forth in insurrection, and all the other symptoms of wretchedness, discontent, and dif- ficulty, are to be taken as symptoms of pressure upon the people, then is the year 1817 a year which no good man would ever wish to see the like again. On the other hand, the years 1815 and 1821, being the years of the severest pressure of taxation, according to this new mode of measuring its amount, are among the years when the labouring parts of the community have had least reason to complain of their situation. " The proposition now boldly made is for a deprecia- tion of the standard of the currency. How strange must Concluded. be the condition of this country, if it can only prosper by a violation of national faith, and a subversion of pri- vate property ; by a measure reprobated by all statesmen and all historians ; the wretched and antiquated resource of barbarous ignorance and arbitrary power, and only known among civilised communities as the last mark of a nation's weakness and degradation ! Would not such a measure be a deathblow to all public credit, and to all confidence in private dealings between man 1 If you once, in an age of intelligence and enlightenment, con- sent, under the pressure of temporary difficulty, to lower the standard, it will become a precedent which will im- mediately be resorted to on every future emergency or temporary pressure, the more readily as credit, and every other more valuable resource, on which the country has hitherto relied, will be at an end. If the House enter- tain such a proposition by vote, the country will be in alarm and confusion from one end of it to another. All pecuniary transactions will be at an end ; all debtors called on for immediate payment ; all holders of paper will instantly insist for coin ; all holders of gold and 510 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, silver be converted into hoarders! Neither the Bank, nor the London bankers, nor the country bankers, could 1822. survive the shock ! What a scene of strife, insolvency, stagnation of business, individual misery, and general ^.P»i- Deb. disorder, would ensue ! All this would precede the pass- 923. ' ing of the proposed bill ; what would it be after it had become a law 1 " ^ " The fall of prices," said Mr Attwood in reply, " has BepiybyMr uot bcen coufiued to any one article, nor has it been of passing nature, as all are which arise from over-production or a glut in the market. It has been uniform and pro- gressive since the monetary act of 1819 was passed, em- bracing all commodities, extending over all periods. Who ever heard of a fall in prices, arising from over-produc- tion, enduring for three years 1 It is invariably ter- minated in six or eight months, by the production being lessened. In the present instance all the leading articles of commerce have undergone a similar reduction, and in all it has continued without abatement during that long period. Wheat, which in the year 1818 was 84 s., is now selling at 47s., showing a reduction of 37s., or 45 per cent. Iron, in 1818, was £13 the ton ; it is now £8, being a fall of 40 percent. Cotton, inl818, was Is. thepound; itisnow 6d., being a fall of 50 per cent. Wool, which in 1818 was selling at 2s. Id., now sells for Is. Id., being a reduc- tion of 50 per cent. These are the great articles of com- merce, and the average of the fall upon them is 45 per cent, being exactly the reduction on the price of grain. This is recommended to the consideration of those who tell us of over-production and an excessive cultivation of corn-land. Mr Tooke has compiled a table exhibiting the fall be- tween May 1818 and May 1822, and the fall is the same in all the articles, with the exception of indigo. The fall, therefore, is not peculiar to agriculture ; it is universal, and has embraced every article of industry, every branch of commerce. How trade or production could by possi- bility be carried on with a profit, while a fall of such HISTORY OP EUROPE. 611 magnitude was going forward, it is for the supporters of chap. the opposite system to explain. ^' " This fall of prices must have been produced byone of ^^^^• two causes : either the quantity of all commodities has continued. increased, or the quantity of all money has diminished. One of these must of necessity have occurred, for the pro- portion is altered. Are we to believe that great changes have suddenly taken place in the productive powers of nature, or the resources of art, so as to account for this sudden and universal fall of prices ? Is it likely that production in all branches of industry, agricultural and manufacturing, would go on for three years constantly increasing in the face of a constantly diminishing price 1 The thing is evidently out of the question. It is the quantity of money that must have been reduced. That this has really been the case is sufficiently proved by authentic documents, which show distinctly where the deficiency is to be found. " The circulation of the country rests entirely upon that of the Bank of England ; and its notes in circulation, continued. immediately preceding the Act of 1819, and the fall of prices, were, at an average, from twenty-nine to thirty millions. That was the amount in circulation for the last half of 1 8 1 7 and first of 1 8 1 8 . If we take the circulation in the middle of each quarter, which Mr Harman states is the fairest mode of striking the average, it will appear that the diminution of the circulation has been nearly a third. ■^ Nothing can be more regular, gradual, and uni- * Amotjnt in Circulation of all Notes. August 16, 1817, November 13, February 1818, August „ November „ February 1819, £30,100,000 29,400,000 28,700,000 28,000,000 26,600,000 26,000,000 25,600,000 May 1819, . . 23,900,000 August „ . . 26,000,000 November,, . . 24,000,000 February 1820, . 24,000,000 May „ . . 23,900,000 August „ . . 24,400,000 November,, . . 23,400,000 Amount of £5 Notes and upwards November 1817, . £19,600,000 1818, . 16,900,000 1819, . 15,100,000 November 1820, . 15,300,000 1821, . 14,800,000 May 1822, . . 14,600,000 512 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, form than the contraction of the currency immediately ^' preceding and accompanying the great reduction in the ^^'^'^- rate of prices. It was altogether a forced and systematic contraction. It did not take place in consequence of the fall of prices ; it preceded it. It worked silently but unceasingly through every branch of industry, till it had reduced them all to the same miserably low level. It was not effected by means of any lessened demand for bank- notes ; on the contrary, it took place in the midst of a constantly increasing demand for them, when population was rapidly augmenting, general peace prevailed, and the growing commerce and transactions of men were daily rendering more necessary an enlargement of the circulat- ing medium by which they were to be carried on. The requisitions made to the Bank by the mercantile com- munity were less at the time of its greatest circulation, in the last half of 1817, than they had been at any sub- sequent period when the circulation has been so fearfully contracted. The Bank is now under greater advances to merchants with a circulation of only £23,000,000 than it was when its circulation was £30,0 00,000. The reduc- tion in the circulation, therefore, has taken place in con- sequence of no decline in the demands of the mercantile community, but solely and entirely from the forced but yet regular and persevering measures of the Bank direc- tors to reduce its circulation, first in preparation for, and next in consequence of, the Cash Payments Bill of 1819. jgg " The reduction of prices has been in a much greater Continued, proportion than the contraction of the currency. The bank-notes have been diminished by about a fourth, but prices of every article have fallen a half. This is a very important fact, for it indicateshow powerfully — much more so than could have been expected — a reduction in the amount of the currency affects prices, and through them the resources of all the producing classes in the community. The same is observable in regard to grain, or meat, or any other article in universal and daily use : a failure of the HISTORY OF EUROPE. 513 crop to the extent of a fourth or fifth doubles prices, and chap. often more. It is not difficult to discoyer the cause of ^' this anomaly. The bank-notes do work far beyond their '^^^■ amount in value : they conduct and turn over the whole transactions of the country. The payment of taxes and dividends, and all the innumerable transactions between man and man, are done bv their means. A diminution of their number, by lessening credit and the means of purchase or speculation over the whole community, affects prices far more extensively than the nominal amount of this diminution, for it affects the power of buying among all the persons through whofee hands the notes pass in their circulation through the community. " In addition to this, there are a great many payments which do not fall with a diminution on the circulating Continued, medium of the community. The great and burdensome charges of the nation remain the same, however much the currency may be contracted and prices fall. The taxes, the interest of mortgages and bonds, jointures to widows, provisions to children, poor-rates, life insurances, and the like, undergo no diminution. Nay, there are several articles of consumption, as salt, tea, malt, sugar, and some others of equal importance, in which the tax bears so great a proportion to the price of the article, that its price cannot fall in any perceptible degree from a diminu- tion in the demand. These heavy fixed burdens, and ex- tensive articles of consumption, require the same amount of bank-notes for their discharge or payment under a reduced as amidst a plentiful circulation. Thus the whole effects of the reduction in the circulating medium are run into, and act upon, the sale of those articles of commerce in which a reduction of price is practicable ; and as they are not half the entire expenditure of the nation, the effect upon them is proportionally greater. It is like a man with a fixed income, say £1000 a-year, who is burdened with fixed payments to the extent of £600, being deprived of one-half of the remainder, or VOL. II. 2 K 1822. 514 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. £200. Though that reduction is only of a fifth of his entire income, it ■will draw after it a reduction of that part of his expenditure over -which he has a control to the extent of a half; and if he does not draw in to that amount, he will very soon become bankrupt, j^j " The repayment of the Bank advances by Government Continued, has bceu tho measure on which this reduction in the quan- tity of money, and the consequent increase in its value^ was founded. Since 1817, no less than £15,000,000 has been repaid to the Bank by Government. When the Bank got these repayments, they did not re-issue them again, as they had been accustomed to do in former days, but they retained them in their coffers, and thereby with- drew them from circulation. These proceedings have produced a regular progressive reduction of prices, irre- spective altogether of any excess in the production. If the Bank were to advance again this £15,000,000, or any considerable part of it, to Government, and were enabled to do so by the necessary alteration in the Act of 18 19, the effect would be an immediate return to the scale of prices which existed in 1818 and during the war. " Such is the evil under which we are now labour- 142 Concluded, lug, and which will suffer no abatement so long as the causes which produced it continue in operation. We have been occupied with changes in our pecuniary sys- tem, and it is precisely since they were commenced that our difficulties have been experienced. To enhance the value of money, to raise the price of gold, we have lowered that of all other commedities, while at the same time we have left the great payments of the nation raised from the sale of these commodities ! Strange, indeed, would it be if such a system was not to have produced the general and long-continued distress which we see around us. The reduction effected in the amount of money in circulation has been nearly one-half of that employed in supporting agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing industry. Hence these classes are unable HISTORY OF EUROPE. 515 to obtain much more than half the return they obtained chap. for their industry before the alteration took place, and ^' yet all their great money engagements remain the same ! ^^^^• This is the origin of that state of things which in its result leares the landowner without rent, the merchant i „ , „ . without profit, the labourer without employment or wages, vii. 898, which revolutionises property, and disorganises all the 1007. ' dififerent relations and interests of society." ^ Dr Arnold said that Sir Robert Peel " would yield 143 to pressure on everything except the currency." It is Repeated not surprising it was so ; for determination to adhere on BiSersin that one point necessarily drew after it concession on co^onl"^ every other. The distress produced by the general fall of all prices 50 per cent had become such among the producing classes, that no combination of the leaders of the opposite parties, and no efibrts on the part of Mini- sters, were able any longer to avert its efi"ects. It was in the loud and fierce demand for a reduction of taxation that the public voice, in the House of Commons, first made itself heard in an unmistakable manner. Several ominous divisions, presaging total defeat in the event of any further resistance to the demands of the country in this particular, took place in the early period of the ses- sion. A motion by Mr Calcraft, for the progressive diminution of the salt-tax, by taking off a third in each of the next three years, was only thrown out by a majo- rity oifour, the numbers being 169 to 165. This near Feb. 28. approach to a defeat was the more remarkable, that Lord Londonderry and the Chancellor of the Exchequer had loudly declared that this tax was essential to the main- tenance of the Sinking Fund, and that its repeal would be the signal for the entire abandonment of that fund. This doubtful conflict was soon followed by decided de- ^ p^°, p^^ feats. On the very next day, on a motion made by Sir y'- s^i.^si, John Osborne, for a reduction of two of the junior lords 3i2;'Ann. of the Admiralty, Ministers were left in a minority of uT 54j the numbers being 182 to 128.2 This was soon after 516 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, followed by another defeat, on the motion of Lord Nor- ! manby for the reduction of one of the two joint Post- '^'^^" masters-general, which was only thrown out by a majo- Marci.13. j-jj^ ^f 25, the numbcrs being 184 to 159. The same motion, put in a different form, was, in a subsequent period of the session, carried against Ministers by a majo- rity of 15, the numbers being 216 to 201, These disasters were sufficient to convince Ministers 144. Great re- that, howevcr iguoraut they might be of the real source taxaHonin- of their difficulties, and however tenacious they might Mini'sTera"!^ bc of tho monetary bill of 1819, the distresses of the country had become such that relief, in some form or another, was indispensable ; and that, if they would not give it in the form of measures calculated to raise the remuneration of industry, they must give it in the form of a reduction of its burdens. The effect of the shake they had received soon appeared in the financial measures which, in a subsequent period of the session, they brought forward. Although, in February, Lord Londonderry had declared that the retention of the salt-tax was indispen- sable to the upholding of the Sinking Fund to the level of £5,000,000, which the House had solemnly pledged itself, in 1819, to maintain inviolate, he was yet corn- May 24. polled to bring forward, on 24th May, a motion for its reduction from 15s. a bushel to 2s., which occasioned a loss to the revenue of £1,300,000 a-year. This was followed by a reduction of the war-tax on leather, which occasioned a further loss of £600,000 a-year. The ton- nage-duty and Irish hearth-tax were also abandoned, which produced between them £400,000 yearly. These great reductions, amounting, with the annual malt-tax, which brought in £1,500,000 a-year, and which Gov- ernment had announced their intention of abandoning at an early period of the session, amounted together to £3,500,000 a-year, being half a million more than the Iv^ai!'"' amount of the new taxes, imposed in 1819, to keep up the Sinking Fund to £5,000,000 yearly.^ There can be HISTORY OP EUROPE. 517 no doubt thdt the taxes thus removed were judiciously chap. selected, as they were those which bore most heavily on ^' the labouring classes of the community ; and still less ^®^^- that their distress had become such as to render a con- siderable reduction of the taxes pressing on them indis- pensable ; for, measured in quarters of wheat, their true standard, the poor-rates of England were now twice as heavy as they had been in 1812.* But the necessity of removing these taxes, and thereby abandoning the very l^l^'iff^- foundation of the Sinking Fund, afforded the most deci- i48;'pari'. sive evidence both how widespread the distress had be- 1407, uis; come, and how entire a revolution it had already induced 496? "'"'' in the financial system and policy of the country.^ The budget was brought forward on 1st July, and its leading feature was the reduction of the Sinking The budget. Fund from £13,000,000 to £7,500,000, by appropriat- ing £5,500,000 to the current service of the year. This signal and calamitous departure from the form even of our former policy, in this vital particular, was sought to be justified by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on various grounds ; but it was evident that it was imposed upon him by sheer necessity, and was a direct abandonment of the solemn resolution to maintain a real surplus of £5,000,000 over the expenditure, which Parliament had unanimously adopted only three years before ; for, as the nominal Sinking Fund was reduced to half its former amount, it was plain that the real redemption of debt was virtually abandoned. The expenditure of the pre- sent year, however, as the great reduction of taxation made in the course of it had not taken effect, was nearly £5,000,000 below the income, leaving that sum appli- * P00B-BATE& PAID IN Monet and Quaetebs of Wheat. Year. ' , Quarters of wheat. 1811, . . . . ie6,656,105 1,440,445 1814, .... 5,418,846 1,702,255 1821j .... 6,969,249 2,657,763 1822, .... 6,358,702 2,940,440 — HuoHES, yi, 495. Alison's Europe, chap, cvi., Appendix. 518 HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP. X. 1822, ^ Ann. Reg, 1822, J49, 161; Pari. Deb. vii. 1414, 1434. 146. Reduction of the 5 per cents. cable to the diminution of debt — a striking' and melan- choly proof of what the resources of the country really were at this period, had the ruinous contraction of the currency not imposed upon the present and all future governments the necessity of remitting the indirect. taxes, by which alone the Sinking Fund could be maintained. It is not surprising it was so, A hundred millions a-year is not cut off from the remuneration of productive labour, in a country the source from which its entire wealth must be drawn, without producing lasting effects upon its finan- cial situation and ultimate destiny, i* Two measures, the one of the most unquestionable, the other of very doubtful wisdom, were brought for- ward during this session of Parliament, and carried into effect. The first of these was the reduction of the navy 5 per cents to 4 per cent. About £156,000,000 stood in this species of stock ; consequently, any reduction in the interest payable on it was a very great relief to the national finances. The condition proposed to the holders was, that for every £100 of their existing stock they should be inscribed for £105 in a new stock bearing 4 per cent interest. Those who signified their dissent be- fore 1st March 1823 were to be paid off. So high were the Funds, however, that those who took advantage of Income and Expbnditukb ov the Year 1822. Income — Nett. Customs, Excise, . Taxes, Post- Office, Lesser Payments, Total Taxes, . Loans, "I" . Grand Total, £12,923,420 28,976,344 6,880,494 7,517,643 2,049,326 1,451,341 £59,798,568 11,872,155 £71,670,724 Navy Pensioners, Ordnance, Miscellaneous, , Lesser Payments, Surplus applicable to Debt, Grand Total, -Parliamentary Paper in Annual Register, 1823, pp. 215-217. Expenditure. Charges of Collection, , £6,688,091 Interest on Funded Debt, 29,490,897 Interest on Unfunded do., 1,430,596 Naval and Military Pen- ) -, .«(! nnn sions, . . . . f -I.*"")""" Civil List and Expenses, . 1,057,000 Army, Navy, 7,698,973 4,915,642 246,000 1,007,821 2,105,797 629,961 4,915,529 £60,102,741 t The loans went to discharge Kxchequer Bills. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 519 this were only 1373, and the stock they held amounted chap. to £2,605,978— not a fiftieth part of the entire stock ; ^- so that the measure was carried into execution with the ^®^^- most complete success. The entire saving to the nation, including that effected by a similar saving on the Irish 5 per cents, was no less than £1,230,000 a-year — a very great sum, and which affords the clearest proof of the justice of the observations made in a former work,* as to the impolicy of the system which Mr Pitt so long pur- sued, of borrowing the greater part of the public debt in the 3 instead of the 5 per cents ; for if the whole debt \^\^^' had been borrowed in the latter form, the reduction i29j'pari'. eflFected in the annual interest this year would not have smim. been £1,200,000, but above £6,000,000 sterling.i The next great financial measure of the session, upon which a more doubtful meed of praise must be bestowed, EquaiisV was that, as it was commonly called, for the equalisation aeVead of the Dead Weight. This was a measure by which the ^I'^il. burden of the naval and military pensions, most justly *^J!Ja,ren- bestowed upon our gallant defenders during the late war, """s. was equalised for more than a generation to come, by being spread, at an equal amount, over the present and the future. This burden amounted to nearly £5,000,000 a-year; and although, as the annuitants expired, its amount would diminish, and at the end of forty or fifty years would be a mere trifle, yet that prospect proved but a poor resource to the present necessities of a needy Chancellor of the Exchequer. In these circumstances, when the difficulties of Government to make head against present exigencies were so great, the expedient was thought of, of granting a fixed annuity, for forty-five years certain, to parliamentary commissioners, who, in consideration of 'Ann. Reg. that, were to undertake the burden of the varying exist- 137. ' ' ing annuities.^ The effect of this, of course, was to dimi- * Vide History of Europe, chap. xli. § 62. The difference of the interest paid in the 3 and the 6 per cents seldom exceeded a quarter per cent. — Ibid. chap. xli. § 64, note. the mea- 520 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, nish in a great degree the burden in the outset, and '. proportionally augment it in the end. u? Government in the first instance received £4,900,000 Details' of from the commissioners, and paid out only £2,800,000, thereby effecting a present saving y adopting the principles which they have spent the best part of their life in combating. Unbounded present applause never fails to attend the unlooked-for and much-prized conversion. Time will show whether it is equally followed by the respect and suffrages of subse- quent ages. Mr Canning rose to power in England, by embodying Viscount in the most effective and brilliant form the spirit and briand."" wishes of his country at the time : as Napoleon said of him- self, "II marchait toujours avec I'opinion de cinq millions d'hommes." By a singular coincidence, another man of similar talents and turn of mind at the same time was ele- vated by the influence of the ruling party at the moment in France to the direction of its foreign affairs, and, equally with his English rival, embodied the ideas and wishes of the ruling majority on the other side of the Channel. Viscount Chateaubriand has attained to such fame as a writer, that we are apt to forget that he was also a powerful statesman ; that he ruled the foreign affairs of his country during the most momentous period which 1821. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 541 had elapsed since the fall of the Empire ; and achieved chap. for its arms a more durable, if a less brilliant conquest than the genuis.of Napoleon had been able to effect. Like Mr Canning, he was a type of the "literary character." Mr Disraeli could not, in all history, dis- cover two men whose productions and career evince in more striking colours its peculiarities, its excellencies, and defects. His imagination was brilliant, his disposition elevated, his soul poetical. Descended of an ancient and noble family — bred in early life in a solitary chateau in Brittany, washed by the waves of the Atlantic, the gloomy imagery which first filled his youthful mind affixed a character upon it which subsequently was ren- dered ineffaceable by the disasters and sufferings of the Revolution.* He had the spirit of chivalry in his soul, * Francois EfoS de Chatbaubkiand waa bom on 4tli September 1769, tbe same year with Marshal Ney, and which Napoleon declared was his own. His mother, like those of almost all eminent men recorded in history, was a very remarkable woman, gifted with an ardent imagination and a wonderful memory, qualities which she transmitted in great perfection to her son. His family was very ancient, going back to the tenth century ; but, till immortalised by Francois R6ng, they lived in unobtrusive privacy on their paternal acres. After receiving the rudiments of education at home, he was sent at the age of seventeen into the army ; he was engaged in the campaign of 1792, imder the Prince of Condfi, and the Prussians under the Duke of Brunswick, against Dumourier. He there, as he was marching along in his uniform as a pri- vate, with his knapsack on his back, accidentally met the King of Prussia. Struck with his appearance, the king asked him where he was going : " Wher- ever danger is to be found," was the reply of the young soldier. " By that answer," said the king, touching his hat, " I recognise the noblesse of France." His regiment soon after revolted, in consequence of which he resigned his commission, and came to Paris, where he witnessed the storming of the Tuileries on 10th August 1792, and the massacres in the prisons on 2d Sep- tember. Many of his nearest relations, in particular his sister-in-law, Madame de Chateaubriand, and his sister, Madame Eosambo, were executed along with Malesherbes, shortly before the fall of Robespierre. Obliged now to leave France to avoid death himself, he escaped to and took refuge in England, where he lived for some years in extreme poverty and obscure lodgings in London, supporting himself entirely by his pen, and, like Johnson, often scarce able, even by its aid, to earn his daily meal. He there wrote his first and least creditable work, the Essai Historique, many passages in which prove that even his ardent spirit had for a time been shaken by the infidelity and dreams of the Revolution. But he soon awakened to better feelings, and regained amidst suffering his destined and glorious career. Tired of his obscure and monotonous life, and disconcerted by the issue of a love affair in England, he set out for 1821. 542 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, but not the gaiety of the troubadour in his heart. Gene- rous, high-minded, and disinterested in the extreme, he was so inured in youth to the spectacle of woe, that it was stript of most of those terrors which render it so appalling to less experienced sufferers. Like the veteran who has seen his comrades for years fall around him, the America, with the Quixotic idea — indicative, however, of a mind as aspiring as that of Columbus— of discovering by land the long-sought north-west passage to the Pacific. He failed in that attempt, for which, indeed, he was possessed of no adequate means ; but he saw the Falls of Niagara, dined with Washing- ton ; and in the solitudes of the Far West inhaled the spirit, while his eye painted on his mind the scenes, of savage nature. Many of the finest descrip- tions and allusions which adorn his works are drawn from the scenes which then became impressed on his memory ; and, combined with those of the East, which he afterwards visited, constitute not the least charm of his writings. Finding that there was nothing to be done in the way of geographical discovery, with his limited means, in America, he returned to England in 1798, from whence, on the pacification of France, on the fall of the Directory and acces- sion of Napoleon, he returned to Paris, and began his literary career. He was now in the thirty-second year of his age, and the mingled ardour, information, and poetic fervour of his mind appeared in their full perfection in the works which he gave to the. public. Attala and Il4n4, a romance, of which the scene was laid in and the characters drawn from America, ex- hibited in the most brilliant form the imagery, ideas, and scenery of the Far West, seen through the eyes of chivalrous genius ; while the G^nie dm Chris- tianisTne presented, on a larger scale, and in an immortal work, the combined fruits of study, observation, and experience, in illustrating the blessings which Christianity has conferred upon mankind. Such was the celebrity which these works almost immediately acquired, that they attracted the attention of Na- poleon, who was anxious to enlist talent of all kinds in his service. He sent for Chateaubriand accordingly, and offered him the situation of Minister to the Eepublic of the Valais, as a first step in diplomatic service. He at once accepted it.; but ere 'he had time to set out on his proposed mission, the murder of the Duke d'Eughien occurred, and while all Europe was in con- sternation at that dreadful event, he had the courage, while yet in Paris, to brave the Emperor's wrath by resigning his appointment. His friends trembled for his life in the first burst of Napoleon's fury ; but he was sheltered by the Princess Eliza, and having made his escape from Paris, he turned his steps to the East, the historic land on which, from his earliest years, his romantic imagination had been fixed. He visited Greece and Constantinople, the isles of the ^gean. and the stream of the Jordan, Jerusalem and Cairo, the pyramids, Thebes, and the ruins of Carthage. From this splendid phantasmagoria he drew the materials of two other great works, which appeared soon after his return to Paris ; Les Martyrs, which embodied the most striking images which had met his eye in Greece and Egypt, and the Itineraire de Paris A Jermalem, which gave the entire details of his journey. The wrath of Napoleon having now subsided, as it generally did after a time, even when most strongly provoked, he was allowed to remain at Paris, which he did in privacy, supporting himself by literary contribu- tions to the few reviews and journals which the despotism of the Emperor 1821. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 543 image of death had been so often before his eyes, that it chap. had ceased to affect his imagination. He was ever ready . ^^' at the call of duty, or the impulse of chivalrous feeling, to imperil his life or his fortune even in behalf of a cause which was obviously hopeless. " Fais ce que tu dois, advienne ce que pourra," was his maxim, as it ever permitted to exist, and by the sale of his acknowledged works, until 1814, when, as the approach of the Allies gave rational hopes of the restoration of the Bourbons, he composed in seoresy, and published within a few days after their entry into Paris, his celebrated pamphlet, Buonaparte et les Bour- hons, which had almost as powerful an effect as the victories of the Allies in bringing about the restoration of the exiled family. On the accession of Louis XVIII. parties were too much divided, and the influence of Talleyrand was too paramount, to allow of his being admitted into the Government ; but, with his usual fidelity to misfortune, he accompanied Louis during the Hundred Days to Ghent, where he powerfully contributed by his pen to keep alive the hopes of the Royalists, and hold together the frag- ments of their shipwrecked party. On the second restoration the real or sup- posed necessity of taking Fouchg into power made him decline any office under Government, although he was, at the earnest request of the Count d'Artois, created a peer of France in 1815. Subsequently the principles and policy of M. Decazes and the Duke de Richelieu were so much at variance with those which he professed, and had consistently maintained through life, that he not merely kept aloof from the Government, but became an active member of the Royalist Opposition, which, as usually happens in such cases, occasionally found themselves in a strange temporary alliance with their most formidable antagonists on the Liberal side. As they were in a minority in both Chambers, their only resource was the press, of the freedom of which Chateaubriand became an ardent supporter, as well from the consciousness of intellectual strength as from the necessities of his political situation. This added as much to his literary fame as it diminished his popularity with Govern- ment. Power has an instinctive dread, under all circumstances, of the unre- strained exercise of intellectual strength. He only obtained, under the semi- liberal administration of the Restoration, the temporary appointment of an embassy to Prussia; and it was not till the Royalists in good earnest succeeded to power, on the downfall of the Duke de Richelieu's second administration, that he was appointed ambassador to London, in the begin- ning of 1.822, a situation which, in the following year, was exchanged for that of Minister for Foreign Affairs, which brought him into direct colli- sion with Mr Canning, in one of the most interesting and momentous periods of the history of France and England. He held that situation only for two years : he had too much of the pride of intellect in his mind, of the irritabijity of genius in his disposition, to be a practicable minister under another leader. His noble and disinterested conduct in refusing the portfolio of Foreign Affairs on the accession of Louis Philippe, and preferring exile and destitution to power and rule obtained by the sacrifice of principle and honour, will form an interesting, and, for the honour of human nature, redeeming episode in a sub- sequent volume of this History. — Memoires d'^Outre-Tomhe, par M. le Yicomte de Chateattbeiahd, vols. i. to viii. ; and BiograpMe des Hommea Vivants, ii. 144-149. 1821, 544 ' HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP, has been, and ever will be, of the really great and noble in every age and country. He evinced this intrepidity alike in braving the hostility of Napoleon in the zenith of his power, on occasion of the murder of the Duke d'Enghien, and in opposing the government of the Restora- tion, when it sought, in its palmy days, to impose shackles on the freedom of thought ; and in adhering to it with noble constancy amidst a nation's defection, when it was laid in the dust on the accession of Louis Philippe, Chateaubriand's merits as an author — by far the most His merits sccure passport he has obtained to immortality — will be as an orator, cojjgi(jgj.g(j Jq j^ subscqueut chaptcr, which treats of the literature of France during the Restoration, It is with his qualities as an orator and a statesman that we are here concerned, and they were both of no ordinary kind. Untrained in youth to parliamentary debate, brought for the first time, in middle life, into senatorial contests, he had none of the facility or grace of Mr Canning in ex- tempore debate. This was of the less consequence in France, tha^ the speeches delivered at the tribune were almost all written essays, with scarcely any alteration made at the moment. But, independently of this, his turn of mind was essentially different from that of his English rival. It was equally poetical, brilliant, and imaginative, but more earnest, serious, and impassioned. The one was a high-bred steed, which, conscious of its powers, and revelling in their pacific exercise, canters with ease and grace over the greensward turf; the other, a noble Arab, which toils have inured to privation, and trained to efforts over the sterile desert, and which is any day prepared to die in defence of the much-loved master or playmates of its childhood. Many of his speeches or political pamphlets contain passages of surpassing vigour, eloquence, and pathos ; but we shall look in vain in them for the light touch, the aerial spirit, the sportive fancy, which have thrown such a charm over the speeches of Mr Canning, HISTORY OF EUROPE. 545 As a practical and consistent statesman, we shall find chap. more to applaud in tlie illustrious Frenchman than the !_ far-famed Englishman. It was his good fortune, indeed, ^^^^• not less than his merit, -which led to his being appointed His ch'arac- Minister of Foreign Affairs in France at the time when statesman. its external policy was entirely in harmony with his recorded opinions through life. Mr Canning's evil star placed him in the same situation, when his policy was to be directly at variance with those of his. But, unlike Canning, Chateaubriand showed on other occasions, and on decisive crises, that he could prefer consistency, poverty, and obloquy, to vacillation, riches, and power. His cour- ageous defence of the liberty of the press alone prevented his obtaining a minister's portfolio during the ministry of the Duke of Richelieu. His generous adherence to the fallen fortunes of Henry V. caused him to prefer exile, poverty, and destitution, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he was offered on the accession of Louis Philippe.-' ' chatean- He was in general to be found in direct opposition to the Memoi'res, ruling majority, both in numbers and influence, around""'" him — the sure sign of a powerful and noble mind. Power came for a brief season to him, not he to power ; he re- fused it when it could be purchased only at the expense of consistency. Yet with all these great and lofty qualities. Chateau- ^ briaud was far from being a perfect character, and many His defects. of his qualities were as pernicious to him as a statesman as they were valuable to him as a romance or didactic writer. He had far too much of the irritability of genius in his temper — that unfortunate peculiarity which is so often conspicuous where the force of intellect is not equal to the brilliancy of imagination, and which so generally disquali- fies imaginative writers from taking a permanent lead in the government of mankind. He had a great store of his- torical knowledge at command, but it was of the striking and attractive more than the solid and the useful kind ; and there is no trace, either in his speeches or writings, VOL. 11. 2 M 546 HISTORY OF EUROPE, CHAP, of his having paid any attention to statistics, or the facts ^^' connected with the social amelioration of mankind. In ^^'^^- that respect he was decidedly inferior to Mr Canning, who, although not inclined by nature to that species of information, was yet aware of its importance, and could at times, when required, bring out its stores with' the happiest effect. Above all, he was infected with that inordinate vanity which is so peculiarly the disgrace of the very highest class of French literature, and which, if it at times sustained his courage in the most trying cir- cumstances, at others led him into the display of the most puerile weaknesses, and renders his memoirs a melan- choly proof how closely the magnanimity of a great can be connected with the vanities of a little mind. M. DE ViLL^LE, who was the head of the new and 10 M. deVii- purely Royalist Ministry which succeeded the second lele, one of the Duke de Richelieu, and who played so im- portant a part in the subsequent history of the Restora- tion, was a very remarkable man. He had no natural advantages, either of rank, family, or person.* What * Joseph db VillJile was bom at Toulouse in 1773, of an ancient Langue- doc family. He entered, at a very early age, the service of the marines, and, under M. de St F^lix, served long in the Indian seas. On the breaking out of the revolutionary war, the crew of the vessel in which he was revolted against their officers, who held out faithfully for their captive king, and in con- sequence he was brought, with M. de St F^lix, a prisoner into the Isle of France, where the latter escaped and was sheltered by a courageous friend, while the revolutionary authorities in the island put a price on his head. M. de ViUfele was acquainted with the place of his retreat, and as this was known, he was seized, thrown into prison, and threatened with instant death if he did not reveal it ; but neither menaces nor offers could prevail upon him to be unfaithful to his friend. Meanwhile M. de St F61ix, informed of his danger, voluntarily quitted his retreat, and surrendered himself to the revolutionary authorities, by whom he was brought to trial along with M. de VillMe. The latter, however, defended himself with so much courage, ability, and temper, that he excited a general interest in his behalf, which led to his acquittal. As he could not rejoin his vessel, which was entirely under the guidance of revolutionary officers, he remained 'in the island, where his ami- able manners, and the universal esteem in which he was held among its in- habitants, procured for hini the hand of the daughter of a respectable planter, and with it a considerable fortune. He fixed his residence in consequence there ; made himself acquainted with its local affiiirs ; and from the atten- tion which he bestowed upon them, and the ability he displayed, he was HISTORY OF EUROPE. 547 he became he owed to the native Tigour of his mind, and chap the practical force of his understanding, and to them ^^- alone. Diminutive in figure, thin in person, and in his ^'*^'' later years almost emaciated, with a stoop in his shoulders, and a feeble step, he was not qualified, like Mirabeau or Danton, to overawe popular assemblies by a look. His voice was harsh — even squeaking; and a nasal twang rendered it in a peculiar manner unpleasant. The keenness of his look, and penetration of his eye, alone revealed the native powers of his mind. When speak- ing, he generally looked down, and was often fumbling among the papers before him — the most unfortunate habit which a person destined for public speaking can possibly acquire. But all these disadvantages, which, in the case of most men, would have been altogether fatal, were compensated, and more than compensated, by the remarkable powers of his mind. Thought gave expres- elected a member of the colonial legislature, and obtained nearly its entire direction. He returned to France in 1807, with a moderate fortune, and fixed his resi- dence at his paternal estate of Marville, near his native town of Toulouse, where he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, without losing sight of the colonial interests, of which he had become so entire ainaster. In 1814, when the Bourbons were first restored, he evinced the strength of his Boyalist prin- ciples by the publication of a pamphlet, in which he protested against the charter as an unwarrantable encroachment on the rights of the crown. His conduct subsequently, on the return of Napoleon from Elba, was so courage- ous, that it attracted the notice of the Duke of Angoulfime, who recom- mended him to the king for the situation of mayor of Toulouse, which he accordingly obtained. His conduct in that capacity was so firm, temperate, and judicious, that it procured for him the esteem of all classes of citizens, and led to his being chosen, in a short time after, to represent that city in the Chamber of Deputies. He did not rise, like a meteor, to sudden eminence there, but slowly acquired confidence, and won the ascendancy which is never in the end denied to men who save their more indolent but not less impassioned associates the labour of thinking and the trouble of study. He did not shine by his eloquence or fervour at the tribune, but by degrees won respect and confidence by the information which his speeches always dis- ' played, the moderation by which they were distinguished, and the thorough acquaintance which they evinced with the pressing wants and material in- terests of the dominant middle class of society. It was easy to see how much ■ he had profited by the salutary misfortunes which had rendered him for so , many years a planter in the Isle of France. Thenceforward his biography forms part of the history of France. — Biographie des Bommes Vivants, v. fill, ' 613; and Lamaetinb's Sistoire de la Restcmration, vii. 9, 11. 1821. 548 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, sion to his countenance, elocution supplied the want of voice, earnestness made up for the absence of physical advantages. Intelligence revealed itself in spite of every natural defect. His auditors began by being indifferent; they soon became attentive ; they ended by being ad- mirers. A clear and penetrating intellect, great powers of expression, its usual concomitant, a just and reasonable mind, and an enlightened undei:standing, were his chief characteristics. He did not carry away his audience by noble sentiments and eloquent language, like Chateau- briand ; nor charm them by felicitous imagery and bril- liant ideas, like Canning ; but he succeeded in the end in not less forcibly commanding their attention, and often more durably directed their determinations. The reason was, that he addressed himself more exclusively to their reason : the considerations which he adduced, if less cal- culated to carry away in the outset, were often more effec- tive in prevailing in the end, because they did not admit of a reply. He was a decided Royalist in principle ; but his loyalty was that of the reason and the understanding, not the heart and the passions, and, therefore, widely different from the unreflecting violence of the ultras, or the blind bigotry of the priests. He was a supporter of the monarchy, because he was convinced that it was the form of government alone practicable in and suited to the necessities of France ; but he was well aware of the diffi- culties with which it was surrounded, from the interests 1 p ^;i_ created by, and the passions evolved during, the Revolu- l™^vu' ^^^"^ ' ^ ^'' ^^® ^^^ great object to pursue such a mode- 7, 8.' ■ rate and conciliatory policy as could alone render such a system durable.^ j^ His penetrating understanding early perceived that, in His peculiar this vicw, the most pressing of all considerations was the mind, and management of the finances. Aware that it was the poHcy." frightful state of disorder in which they had become in- volved which had been the immediate cause of the Revo- lution, he anticipated a similar convulsion from the recur- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 549 rence of similar difficulties, and saw no security for the chap. monarchy but in such a prudent course as might avoid the embarrassments which had formerly proved so fatal. ^®^^" He saw not less clearly that, as the territorial aristocracy had been destroyed, and the Church shorn of its whole temporal influence, during the Revolution, it was neither by the sentiments of honour which thrilled the hearts of the nobility, nor the pious devotion which conciliated the power of the Church in the olden time, that attachment to the throne was now to be secured. The land, divided among four millions of little proprietors, the majority of whom could not read, had ceased to maintain an influen- tial body in the state ; literary talent, all-powerful in directing others, had no separate interests save that of consequence and place for its possessors, and its energies were directed to the support of the wishes of the really ruling class in society. It was in the burgher class that power was now in reality vested ; and it was by atten- tion to their interests and wishes that durability, either for any administration or for the monarchy itself, Avas to be secured. Economy in expenditure, diminution of burdens, were the great objects on which they were set ; no argument was so convincing with them, no appeal so powerful, as that which promised a reduction of taxation. Penetrated with these ideas, M. de Villele, from the out- set of his parliamentary career, devoted himself, in an especial manner, to the subject of finance, and by his close attention to it, and the store of statistical informa- tion which his vast powers of application enabled him to accumulate, and his retentive memory to bring forth on every occasion, he soon acquired that superiority in debate which ultimately led to his being placed at the head of the Government. He was, in every sense, the man of the age ; but he was the man of that age only. He had ^^^^^i^^: no great or enlarged ideas : he saw the present clearly, i-*^,-.™;^ with all its necessities; but he was blind to the future, iu. 191,192, with its inevitable accessories.^ His mind had, in the 1821. 550 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, highest perfection, the powers of the microscope, but not of the telescope. He fell skilfully in with, and worked out admirably, present ideas ; Wt he was not their director, and never could have become the ruler of ultimate thought. M. de Villele was the life and soul of the new Ministry, M. de Cor- but he had several coadjutors, who, though not of equal Mathleu de Capacity, were yet important in their several departments. Montmo- ]y[_ ^jg Corbierc, in the important situation of Minister of de Peyron- Financc, displayed qualities, not only of the most suitable, but the most marketable kind. Though of good family, he was essentially bourgeois in his character ; he had its virtues, its industry, its perseverance, but at the same time its contracted views, selfishness, and jealousy. The aristocracy was not less the object of his animosity, than it was of the most democratic shopkeeper in the Faubourg St Antoine. His morals were austere, his probity univer- sally known; his manners harsh, his conversation cynical; respected by all, he was beloved by none ; but he was a favourite with the Liberal deputies, and possessed great weight in the Chamber, because he was the enemy of their enemy — th-e noblesse. No contrast could be more strik- ing than the Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Mathieu de Montmorency, exhibited. Born of the noblest family in France, inheriting from his historic ancestors their cour- age, their elevation of mind, and grace of manner, he had united to these qualities of the olden time the liberal ideas and enlarged views of modern society. Carried away, like so many of the young noblemen of the day, by the de- ceitful colours of the Revolution, he had at first been the warm supporter of its doctrines ; and when their fatal tendency had been demonstrated by experience, he fled from France, and consoled himself on the banks of the Leman Lake with the intellectual conversation of Ma- dame de Stael, the fascinating grace of Madame Reca- mier. Latterly, he had become devout, and was the steady supporter of the Parti-Pr^tre ; but he did not pos- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 551 sess the habits of business or practical acquaintance 'with chap. affairs requisite for his office, and was more fitted to ^'^ shine in the saloons than the cabinet of the Foreign Office. ^^^ • M. de Peyronnet, the Minister of Justice, had been a barrister who had distinguished himself by his courage at the side of the Duchess of Angouleme at Bordeaux in 1815, and by his ability in pleading the cause of Ma- dame Du Cay la, when claiming her children and fortune from her inexorable husband. His talent was remark- able, his fidelity to the royal cause undoubted, his zeal great, his firmness equal to any emergency. But his prudence and capacity were not equal to his resolution ; and it was already feared, what the result too clearly proved to be the case, that he might ruin the royal cause while wishing to save it. Finally, Marshal Victor, Duke of Belluno, in the important situation of Minister at War, presented a combination of qualities of all others the most important for a ministry of the Restoration. A plebeian by birth, a soldier of fortune who had raised himself by his courage and capacity, a marshal of Napoleon, he conciliated the suffrages of the Liberals ; a resolute cha- ^ Lam. vii. racter, a determined minister, a faithful Royalist, a man vii'. 253, 257 • LsiC of intrepidity and honour, he carried with him the esteem iii. i90,m. and respect of the aristocratic party.^ The first difficulty of the new Ministry was with the laws regarding the press, and this, situated as they were, Uw regard- was a difficulty of a very serious kind. The administra- '^rlL" tion of the Duke de Richelieu had been overthrown, as is usually the case with a legislature divided as that of France was at that period, by a coalition of extreme Roy- alists and extreme Liberals, who for the moment united against their common enemy, the moderate Centre. But now that the victory was gained, it was not so easy a matter to devise measures which should prove acceptable to both. The first question which presented itself was that of the press, the eternal subject of discord in France, and, like that of Catholic emancipation in England, the 552 HISTORY OF EUROPE CHAP, tliom in the side of every administration that was or -. — '. — could be formed, and which generally proved fatal to it ^^' before any considerable period had elapsed. It was the more difficult to adjust any measure which should prove satisfactory, that the former Ministry had been mainly' overthrown by the press, and M. Chateaubriand, who held a distinguished place in the new appointments, had always been the ardent supporter of its liberty, and owed his great popularity mainly to his exertions in its behalf. Nevertheless, it was obviously necessary to do something' to check its licentiousness ; the example of successful re- volution in Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Piedmont, was too inviting not to provoke imitation in France ; and it was well known to the Government that the secret societies, which had overturned everything in those countries, had their affiliated branches in France. It was foreseen also, what immediately happened, that the great majority of the journals, true to the principle " to oppose everything, and turn out the ministry," would speedily unite in a fierce attack upon the new administration. The necessity of the case prevailed over the dread of being met by the imputation of inconsist-* •Xaciv. ency, or the lingering qualms of the real friends of free- Cap. ^t ^'^^ of discussion ; and a law was brought forward, which, Ann.^Hist. professing to be based on the charter, in reality tended to t- 6, 7. abridge the liberty of the press in several most important particulars.1 j^ By this law, which was brought forward by M. de Its stringent Poyrounot on the 2d January, it was enacted that no periodical journal could appear without the king's autho-' rity, excepting such as M'ere in existence on the 1st Janu- ary 1822 ; the delinquencies of the press were declared to fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the royal courts, which decided without a jury : they were autho- rised to suspend, and, in serious cases, suppress any jour- nal which published a series of articles contrary to reli- XI. 1821. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 553 gion or tlie monarchy ; the pleadings were permitted to ghap, be in private, in cases where the court might be of opinion that their publication might be dangerous to order or public morality. In the event of serious offences against the law, during the interval of the session of the Cham- bers, the king was authorised to re-establish the censure by an ordonnance, countersigned by three ministers ; but this power was to be transitory only, and was to expire, if, within a month after the meeting of the Chambers, it was not converted into a law. There can be no doubt that these provisions imposed very great restrictions upon the press, and, by withdrawing the offences regarding it from the cognisance of juries, rendered the punishment of them more expeditious and certain. Still, as it did not re-establish the censorship, and left untouched publica- tions exceeding twenty leaves, it did not infringe upon the most valuable part of public discussion, that which gTs^Vo-' was addressed to the understanding, however galling it Ann mst. might be felt by that which was most dangerous, being 111.222,223. addressed to the passions.^ The " Gauche " in the Chambers, the Liberals in the country, rose up at once, and en masse, upon the project of Discission a law being submitted to the deputies. " It is the slavery of the press, the entire suppression of its freedom, which you demand. Better live in Constantinople than in France, under such a government.'' Nothing could ex- ceed the violence with which the project was assailed, both by the Opposition in the Chambers and the press in the country. M. de Serres on this occasion rejoined the ranks of the Liberals, from which he had so long been separated : he distinguished himself by an eloquent speech against that part of the project which proposed to with- draw offences against the laws of the press from the cog- nisance of juries. " The mask has fallen," said he ; " we are presented with a law destructive of the liberty of the press — one which, under pretence of saving our institu- 554 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, tions, in reality subverts them. The proposed law strikes '- — at the root of representative institutions, for it goes to destroy intelligence in those who are to exercise them. What is the present condition of society .1 Democracy overwhelms us like a spring-tide. Legitimate monarchy has nothing to fear from a power which places the press under its safeguard ; it is our adversaries who have exposed it to its real danger, by holding out its liberty as inconsistent with monarchical institutions. The press is a social necessity which it is impossible to uproot. The proposed law tends to destroy its utility by subject- ing it to arbitrary restrictions. In vain, however, do you attempt, this : its power will resist all your attacks, and only become the more dangerous from being directed against the throne, not the ministers who abuse its powers." " We wish the charter," replied M. Castelbajac in a voice of thunder, " but still more we wish the king : we wish for liberty, but it is liberty without license : un- restrained freedom of discussion is another word for anarchy : the law presented to us is peculiarly valuable, for it brings back this difficult subject to the principles of the charter. Respect religion, the laws, the monarch — such are the laws which order demands ; the liberty of the press can only be maintained by the laws which pre- vent its abuse. Such repression is the soul of real free- dom." It is doubtful how, under ordinary circumstances, this difficult matter might have been determined; but the example of the ruin of monarchy in the adjoining states iAuii Hist. pJ'O'^sd all-powerful with the majority in both Houses — the Iq^UJ%i majority, however, a curious circumstance, being greater 28i, 298; in the Commons than the Peers. In the former it was 225," 228. 82, the numbers being 219 to 137; in the latter 41, they being 124 to 83.1 This victory on the part of the administration was imme- diately followed by a general organisation of secret socie- ties over all France, and the turning of the energy of de- mocratic ambition into the dangerous channel of occult HISTORY OP EUROPE. 555 conspiracy. Ever since the second Restoration and the chap. Royalist severities of 1815, these societies had existed in ^^' France, and many of the leading men of Opposition were *^^^- initiated in them, but the events of this stormy year gave Rise of the them redoubled activity and importance. The example and\°cret of government overturned, and the Liberals universally ^i^^T. '" installed in power in Spain and Italy, was sufficient to turn cooler heads than the ardent republicans of France. The Carbonari of Italy established corresponding socie- ties over all the country, with the same signs, the same oaths, the same objects, the same awful denunciations of vengeance, in the event of the secrets of their fraternity being revealed. The existence of these societies, which were the chief means by which the revolutions of 1820 were brought about, was strenuously denied at the time, on both sides of the Channel, while the designs of the i L^m. vii. conspirators were in progress ; but they have been fully ^^'IVj^^p* revealed since 1830, when they were entirely successful. s^^jVauia- T-i " If- T 1 • 1 belle, des Every one was then forward to claim a share in the move- societgs ment which had placed a new dynasty on the throne, and i. so. ' which none then dared call treason.^ This most perilous and demoralising system was first introduced from Italy into France in the end of 1820, RiseofCar- and the autumn of the succeeding year was the time when Pranc™ '" it attained its highest development, and when it became a formidable power in the state. Nothing could be con- ceived more admirable for the object to which it was directed, or better calculated to avoid detection, than this system. It was entirely under the direction of a central power, the mandates of which were obeyed with implicit faith by all the initiated, though who composed it, or where it resided, was unknown to all save a very few. Every person admitted into the ranks of the Carbonari was to provide himself with a musket, bayonet, and twenty rounds of ball-cartridge. All orders, resolutions, and devices were transmitted verbally ; no one ever put pen to paper on the business of the association. Any 556 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, revelation of the secrets or objects of the fraternity was punished with death, and they had braroes ready at any XI. ^®^^* time to execute that sentence, which was pronounced only by the central committee, or to assassinate any person whom it might direct. The members were bound by the most solemn oaths to obey this invisible authority what- ever it might enjoin, without delay, hesitation, considera- tion, or inquiry. The assaciation borrowed the illusions of the melodrama to add to the intensity of its impressions: it had, like the German, its Geheim-gericU nocturnal assemblages, its poniards directed against the breast, its secret courts of justice, its sentences executed by unknown hands. It was chiefly among the students at colleges, the sub-officers in the army, and the superior classes of mechanics and manufacturers, that this atrocious system prevailed, and it had reached its highest point in the end of 1821. It has since spread across the Channel, and 8mS°"^' t'^ose who are acquainted with the machinations of the Secretes^ Ribboumen in Ireland, and the worst of the trades- vii'. 301, 'unions in Great Britain, will have no difficulty in recog- vii. 21,^^'. nisiug features well known to them, perhaps by dear- bought experience.^ M. Lafayette,* Manuel, and d'Argenson were at the head of these secret societies in France, and they had attained such an extent and consistency in the end of 1821 that it was thought the time for action had arisen, * " Cette foia, M. Lafayette, preset sans .doute par les ann^es qui B'aooumu- laient, et craignant que la mort ne lui ravlt, comma h, Moise, la terra promise de la liberty, avait manqu£ ^ sou rdle de tribun l£gal, & son caractdre, & sou germent civique de d^put€, si ses habitudes d'oppositiou eu plein jour ; at il avait cousenti, au risque de la s€curit6 de sa vie, et de sa consciauca, il deTenir le moteur, le centre, et le chef d'une t&i^breuse conspiration. Toutes les Bociet€s secretes des eunemis des Bourbons, et le Carbonarisme qui les r€su- mait toutes en ce moment, parlaient de ses menees, et aboutissaient i, lui." — Lahabtihe, Histoire de la Restauraiion, vii. 26. See also, to the same effect, Capefioub, Histoire de la Sestauration, vii. 308. The chiefs of this dark con- spiracy were General Lafayette and his son, M. Manuel, Dupont de I'Eure, M. d'Argenson, Jacques Kochlar, Comte Thiard, General Taragre, General' Corbineau, M. de Lascelles, and M. Merithou. General Lafayette was by all acknowledged to be the head and soul of the conspiracy. — Lamaetinb, Sist. di la RestauraUon, vii. 29, 30. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 557 the more especially as the revolutions of Spain and Naples, chap. XI. 1821. 18. •which were mainly their work, had strongly excited men's minds, and the accession of the Royalist Ministry in France threatened danger if the execution of their Abortive measures "was any longer delayed. It was determined "^^Beton. to make an outbreak in several different places at once, 1822.^' in order to distract the attention of Government, and inspire a belief of the conspiracy having more extensive ramifications than it really had. Saumur, Thouars, Befort, Nantes, Rochelle, and Toulon were the places where it was arranged insurrections should take place, and to which the ruling committee at Paris transmitted orders for immediate risings. So confident were they of success, that General Lafayette set out from Paris to Effort, to put himself at its head, and only turned back when near that town, on hearing that it had broken out, and failed of success. Befort, in effect, was so filled with conspirators, and they were so confident of success, that they at length were at no pains to conceal their designs, and openly armed themselves with sabres and pistols, and mounted the tricolor cockade. The vigour and vigilance of the governor, however, and the fidelity of the garrison, caused the attempt to miscarry. M. de Tourlain, the go- vernor, was shot by one of them ; but the rest, including M. de Corcelles and Carrel, fled on the road to Paris, and met General Lafayette a few leagues from the gate, just in time to cause him to turn back to his chateau of La Grange, near that capital. Such was the energy with which the Carbonari removed all traces or proofs of the conspiracy, that Colonel Pailhis Tellier, and two or three others, who g^^^jgp, had been caught in the very act, alone were brought to ^jj^.^^fa'c justice, and escaped with the inadequate punishment of iu. 233/234. three years' imprisonment.^ A more serious insurrection broke out, towards the end of February, at Thouars, where General Berton was at the head of the conspirators. In the night of the 23d February he set out from Partheuay, and surprised 558 HISTOEY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Thouars, where he made prisoners the brigade of gen- darmerie, and published a proclamation, declaring the ^j^g'" establishment of a proyisional government, composed of Berton's Gcnerals Foy, Demarcay, and Lafayette, M. Benjamin at Thouara. CoDstant, Manuel, and d'Argenson, at Paris. He next attempted an attack upon Saumur, but in that he was foiled by the intrepidity of the mayor, at the head of a body of young Royalists, at the military school, and the commander of the castle. Obliged to retreat, the insur- gents soon lost heai*t, and dispersed ; and Berton himself sought refuge in the marshes of Rochefort, where he was at length arrested, along with several of his accompliceSi Their guilt was self-evident ; they had made themselves masters of Thouars, and proclaimed a provisional govern- ment. Six of the leaders, including Berton and a physi- cian. Gaffe, were sentenced to death ; but the lives of all 1 Aiin.Hist. "*^6re spared, at the intercession of the Duchess de Angou- Lao^iif2^5 l^D^^j excepting the two last. Caff4 anticipated the lim^vfi' ^^^^^ of justice by committing suicide in prison ; but 56,58; Cap. Berton was brought to the scaffold, and died bravely, 312. ' exclaiming with his last breath, " Vive la France ! Vive la liberty !"i Still more important consequences followed a conspi- Conspi'racy Tacy at Rochellc. It originated at Paris, on the insti- cheUe. ° gation of General Lafayette, who directed a young and gallant man, named Bories, a sub-ofl&cer in the 45th regi- ment, to proceed from Pau, with some of the privates of his regiment, whom he had enrolled in the ranks of the Carbonari, to that city, in order, with the aid of the affiliated there, to get up a revolt. They were betrayed, however, before the plot could be carried into execution, by one of their accomplices, at the very time when they were concerting with the emissaries of General Berton a joint attack upon Saumur. Most important articles of evidence were found upon them, or from the information to which their apprehension led ; among others, the cards cut in two, and the poniards, marked with their number HISTORY OP EUROPE. 559 in the vente or lodge, which had been put into their chap. hands by Lareche, an agent of Lafayette. From the ^^' declarations of these prisoners, and others apprehended i^ai. •with them, a clue was obtained to the whole organisation of the Carbonari in France, ascending, through various intermediate stages, to the central committee in Paris, presided over by Lafayette himself. These revelations were justly deemed of such importance that the trial of the accused was transferred to the capital, and conducted by-M, Marchangy, the King's Advocate, himself. The oath taken by the af&liated bound them to face any peril, even death itself, in support of liberty, and to abandon, at a moment's warning, their own brothers by blood to succour their brethren among the Carbonari.'"' The ob- ject of the association was to overturn the existing gov- ernment in every country, and establish purely republican forms of government. To carry it into complete effect, there was a central committee of three persons at Paris, whose mandates were supreme, and which all the inferior lodges throughout the kingdom were bound instantly, and at all hazards, to obey ; and subordinate committees of nine members, whose mandates were equally supreme within their respective districts. A more formidable conspiracy never was brought to light, or one more calcu- lated, if successful, to tear society in pieces, and elevate the most ambitious and unscrupulous characters to its i p^^^-j ^^ direction. It is melancholy to think that Lafayette, |°'„'''^*t;' d'Argenson, Manuel, and the leaders of the Liberal party v. 777,802; 1111-1 -11 Lam. vu. in the legislature, were at the head of such a perilous and m, 47. destructive association, ^t Bories and his associates made a gallant defence when * The oath was in these terms : " Je jure de tenir avant toute chose 3. la liberty ; d'affronter la mort en toutes les occasions pour les Carbonari ; d'aban- donner au premier signal le tr^sor de men propre sang, pour aider et secourir mes fr6res." — Anrmaire Bisiorique, v. 777. f " II existe k Paris un grand comit§ d'orateurs, qui entretient des con-es- pondances aveo tous les departements. II y a dans chaque dgpartement, un oomite de neuf membres, dont I'uu est president. " Ce GomitS correspond aveo ceux de I'arrondissement, et avec le grand 560 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, brought to trial ; and the former melted every heart by the noble eiFort which he made, when the case had ob- ^^^^" viously become desperate, to draw to himself the whole Their trial responsibility of the proceedings, and exculpate entirely an^execa- j^j^ unhappy associates. " You have seen," said he, in the conclusion of his address to the jury, " whether the evidence has produced anything which could justify the severity of the public prosecutor in my instance. You have heard him yesterday pronounce the words, ' All the powers of oratory will prove unavailing to withdraw .Bories from public justice ;' the King's Advocate has never ceased to present me as the chief of the plot : well, gentlemen, I accept the responsibility — happy if my head, in falling from the scaffold, can save the life of my com- rades." The trial, which took place at Paris, lasted several days, during the course of which the public in- terest was wound up to the very highest pitch, and every .effort was made, by crowds surrounding the court-house, anonymous threatening letters to the jury, and other means, to avert a conviction. But all was unavailing ; Bories, Gouben, Pommier, and Rautre, were convicted, and sentenced to death. They received the sentence with calmness and intrepidity. Determined to make a great example of persons deeply implicated in so wide- comitS. II 7 a dans chaque arrondissement un comitS compost de cinq mem- bres, dont I'un est president. " Les chevaliers de I'ordre doivent 6tre pris ; 1. Parmi les jeunes gens in- itruits des villes et des campagnea. 2. Les fetudiants des collfiges, et des ^coles de droit, de mSdecine et d'autres. 3. Les ancietis militaires r^formfe, retraitfe ou a demi-solde. 4. Les posscsseurs de biens nationaux. 5. Les gros pro- pri^taires dont les opinions sont parfaitement connues. 6. Ceux qui profes- sent les arts libSrauz, avocats, m^decins, et autres. 7. Les sous-officiers de I'arm^e active, rarement les officiers, k moins qu'ils n'aieift donn€ des preuves non Equivoques de leur manidre de penser. " Le rScipiendaire sera instruit terbalement de Texistence de la soeifitS, du but qu'elle se propose, ensuite il pr^tera le serment suivant ; " Je jure d'etre fiddle aux statuts de I'ordre des chevaliers de la liberty. Si je viens ?i les trahir, la mort sera ma punition. " C. signifie chevalier ; V., vente ; V. H., haute vente ; V. C, vente cen- trale ; V. P., vente partiouliSre ; P., Paris; B. C, bon cousin." — Proems de Bories, &o,, No. ix. Anrmmre Histonque, v. 801, 802. HISTORY CiP EUROPE. 561 spread and dangerous a conspiracy, Government was in- chap. «xorabIe to all applications for mercy. An effort was ^^- made, with, the approbation of Lafayette, to procure '^^'• their escape by corrupting the jailer; he agreed, and the money was raised, and brought to the prison gates : but the persons in the plot were seized by the police at the Tery moment when it was counting out. As a last resource, twelve thousand of the Carbonari of Paris bound themselves by an oath to station themselves behind the files of gendarmes who lined the streets as the accused were led to execution, armed with poniards, and to effect their deliverance by each stabbing one of the executors of the law. They were on the streets, accordingly, on the day of execution, and the unhappy men went to the scaffold expecting every moment' to be delivered. But the preparations of Government were so complete that the conspirators were overawed ; not an arm was raised in their defence ; and the assembled multitude had the gf "?^' ^\ pain of beholding four gallant young men, the victims of Ann. Hist' deluded enthusiasm, beheaded on the scaffold, testifying Lam. vii. ' M'ith their last breath their devotion to the cause forni'Mi^u. which they suffered.^ It is impossible to read the account of four young men suffering death for purely political offences, under a Reflections Government founded on moderation and equity, without deep regret, and the warmest commiseration for their fate. Yet must justice consider what is to be said on the other side, and admit the distinction between persons openly levying regular war against their sovereign, who may be perhaps entitled to claim the right of prisoners taken in external warfare, and those who, like these unhappy young men, belong to secret societies, having for their object to overturn Government by murder, and sudden and unforeseen outbreaks, veiled in their origin in studi- ous obscurity. It is the very essence of such secret societies to be veiled in the deepest darkness, and to accomplish their objects by assassination, fire-raising, and VOL. II. 2 N on tliese events. 562 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, treason. Every man y/ho enters into them surrenders ^^' his conscience and freedom of action to an unseen and ^^^^- unknown authority, whose mandates he is bound in- stantly to obey, be they what they may. He is never to hesitate to plunge a dagger in the heart of his king, his father, his wife, his benefactor, or his son, if the orders of this unseen authority require him to do so. Such institutions convert the society which they regulate into a disciplined band of bravoes, ready to murder any man, burn any house, fire any arsenal, or commit any other atrocious act that may be enjoined. It is impos- sible to hold that death is too severe a penalty for the chiefs who establish in any country so atrocious and demoralising a conspiracy; and the example of the Rib- bonmen in Ireland, and some of the trades' unions in Oreat Britain, too clearly prove to what abominable ex- cesses, when once established, they inevitably lead. The only thing to be regretted is, that these chiefs so often escape themselves, while the penalty of the law falls upon their inferior and less guilty agents. But their guilt remains the same ; and it was not the less in this instance that those chiefs were Lafayette, Manuel, d'Argenson, Benjamin Constant, and the other leaders of the Liberal party in France, whose declamations were so loud in the legisk' ture in favour of the great principles of public morality.* The insurrections at Befort, Thouars, and La Rochelle * It is fully admitted now by the Frenoli historians of both parties, that these men were the chiefs of the Carbonari in France, and that the statements of M. Marchangy on the subject, in the trial of the Rochelle prisoners, were entirely well founded : " Le r^quisitoire de M. de Marchangy restera oomme uu monu- ment de viSritS historique et de courage ; son tableau du carbonarisme n'dtait point un roman, oomme on le disadt alors, mais de I'histoire, comme on I'aTOue aujourd'hui. II avait parfaitement p§ndtr^ dans le mystfire des soci§t6s secretes; il en avait oompris la port^e et les desseins." — CAPBFiauB, Hutoire de la Res- tmi/ration, vii. 312. " Le voile longtemps ^pais par la dissimulation parle- mentaire des orateurs de 1822 ^ 1829, qui couvraient des conspirations actives du nom d'opposition loyale et inoffensive, s'est dfichire depuis 1830. Les meueurs, les plans, les oomplots, les instigateurs, les acteurs, les diges, les vio- times de ces conspirations ont apparu dans toute la franchise de leurs roles. •Les Casernes, les soci^tfe secrHes, les prisons, les echafauds mfemes, ont parl6. Sous cette opposition k haute voix, et i, visage dScouvert, qui luttait centre HISTORY OF EUROPE. 563 were not the onlj ones that Lafayette and the Car- chap. bonari committee projected, and tried to carry into exe- ^^' cution during this eventful year. A few days after the ^^^^• outbreak at Befort had failed, Colonel Caron, a half- insJL- pay officer, deeply implicated in their designs, with the "Zt, aid of Roger, another discontented ex-military man, ^^'Touioi attempted to excite an insurrection in a regiment of''"'yi- dragoons stationed at Colmar. It in effect received him with cries of "Vive NapoUon II.!" and Caron led them from village to village for some time trying to excite an insurrection ; but they everywhere failed, and the regi- ment which had revolted, seeing the affair was hopeless, ended by arresting him, and delivering him over to the police, who were all along privy to the design. He was brought, after the manner of Napoleon, before a military council, by whom he was condemned, and shot in one of the ditches of the citadel of Colmar. Similar attempts, attended with no better success, were made about the same time at Marseilles and Toulon, but they were all frustrated by the vigilance of the police and military, and terminated in similar judicial tragedies, which every friend of humanity must deeply regret, but which were absolutely necessary to extinguish the mania for secret societies and conspiracies which had so long been the scourge of France, and had been encouraged in so flagitious a man- les ministres, en affichant le respect et I'mviolabilitl de la royaut^ des Bour- bons, on a Tu quelles trames obstiuees et implacables s'ourdissaient pour la renverser, les unes au profit de Napoleon II., les autres au profit de la rSpu- blique, celles-ci au profit des pr^toriens subalternes, celles-13, au profit d'un Prince Stranger, d'autres au profit d'un Prince de la Maison Royale, d'autres enfin au hasard de toutes lea anarchies pouvant Clever ou engloutir de tgm&aires dictateurs oomme M. de La Fayette. Nous-mSmes nous awns repu, d'acteurs principaux, une partie de ces mystSrieuses confidences. Nous em- pruntons le reste £l des bistoriens initios par eux-mfimes ou leur parti ^ ces con- spirations, oii ils furent confidents, instruments, ou complices : surtout 3, xm historieu consciencieux, exacte, et pour ainsi dire juridique, M. de Vaulabelle, tSmoignage d'autant moins recusable que ses jugements sur la Bestauration Bont plus s6veres, et que son opinion et ses sentiments conspiraient involon- tairement aveo les opinions et les sentiments des conspirateurs, pour lesquels il reclame la gloire et la reconnaissance devaut la postdritS." — Lamaetihe, Bis- toire de la Bestauration, vii. 21, 22. 564 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, ner by the Liberal leaders in the Chamber of Deputies, ^^' and Lafayette, Manuel, and Kochlin, the central chiefs '^^'' at Paris. Happily the failure of these conspiracies, and the executions, had the desired effect, and France, during V. 210, 216'; the remaining years of the Restoration, was freed from a .4M2r'' political disease of all others the most fatal to public morality and the ultimate interests of general freedom.^ The interest excited by these events diminished the Budget of importance of the parliamentary proceedings in this year : ^^'^^' it was useless to attempt legislative measures when the Liberal leaders were every day expecting the Government to be overturned, and a republican regime established, of which they themselves were to be installed as the primary leaders. Thus, after the grand discussion on the restric- tion of the press, which lasted six weeks, had terminated, the parliamentary history of France, during the remainder of the session, exhibits nearly a blank. The budget alone called ifcrth an animated discussion, and the de- tails which the Finance Minister brought forward on this subject proved that the country was in as pros- perous a condition, so far as its material interests were concerned, as it was in a disturbed one, as regards its poli- tical feelings and passions. From these details it ap? peared that the revenue of the year 1823 was esti- mated at 909,130,000 francs (£36,4.50,000), and the expenditure at 900,475,000 francs (£36,025,000), leaving a surplus of above 8,000,000 francs, or £320,000. The vote of the supplies for 8000 Swiss in the army was the subject of impassioned invective on the part of the Liberal Opposition : they dreaded a repetition, on a similar crisis, of the fidelity of 10th August 1792. The revenue of '^»n.HUt.j^822 was 915,591,000 francs (£36,600,000); the ex- ordon-^ J penditure 882,321,000 francs (£35,960,000), leaving a 2ori8'22r' surplus of 33,270,000 francs (£1,320,000) disposable in Novell.' the hands of Government.^ To what object they destined this large surplus was obvious from the magnitude of the HISTORY Of EUROPE. 565 sums voted for the army, which amounted to 250,000,000 chap. francs (£10,000,000), from a supplementary credit for !_ 13,000,000 francs (£520,000), put at the disposal of ^^^i- the Minister of Finance, and a levy of 40,000 men for the army, authorised by an ordonnance on 20th November. The annual election of the fifth of the Chamber, in the 25 autumn of this year, indicated the great change which Favourable the law of the preceding had made in the constituency, efectfonstT and the increased ascendancy of property and superior ■^''ts.^''^*^" education which the classifying the electors into colleges of the arrondissements and the departments, and the throwing those paying the highest amount of direct taxes in the department into the latter, and forming it of them exclusively, had occasioned. In the colleges of arrondissements, the Royalists gained twenty-eight seats, the Liberals seventeen ; in the colleges of departments, the former had twenty-four, the latter only five.'"' Thus, upon the whole, the gain was thirty to the monarchical party. So considerable an aQquisition, and, still more, the fact of the majority being decided in both colleges, proves that the result was owing to more than the change, great as it had been, in the Electoral Law; and that the example of successful revolutions in the two adjoining peninsulas, and the numerous plots which had broken out in various parts of their own country, had brought a i^^^ jjj^j large portion of the holders of property, who formerly ^;2S9, 26oi were neutral, or inclined to be Liberal, to vote with the m',m. monarchical party .^ Notwithstanding these favourable appearances in the * The election showed the following results : — Voted in the Colleges d'Arrondissemeut, For Royalist candidates, . For Liberal, Voted in Colleges de Depart6ment, For Royalist candidates, . For Liberal, —Annuaire Bittorigue, v. 260. Voted. Total Electors. 13,804 16,930 9,058 — 5,751 — 3,158 4,426 2,418 — 740 — 566 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, elections, and the indication they aflForded of the state of XI, •' opinion in the wealthier classes, in -whom the suffrage was ^ g^' exclusively rested, the tone of general feeling was very state of much opposcd to this ; and the results of the elections opinion, tended only to augment the discontent generally felt in the towns, at least in the middle classes of society. These important classes, who alone had emerged unscathed from the storms of the Revolution, were extremely ambitious of enjoying the powers and the freedom of self-govern- ment, and felt proportionate jealousy of an administra- tion which was based on aristocratic influences, and closely connected with the ultra party in the Church. It was the latter circumstance which, more than any other, tended to depopularise the Government of the Restora- tion, and in its ultimate results induced its fall. The reason was, that it ran counter to the strongest passion of the Revolution, and the one which alone had survived ia full vigour all its convulsions. That passion was the desire ^i freedom ofthougM — the strongest wish of eman- cipated man — the source of all social improvement, and all advances in science, literature, or art, but the deadly enemy of that despotism of opinion which the Romish Church had so long established, and sought to continue over its votaries. The Roydists committed a capital mistake in allying themselves with this power — the declared and inveterate enemy of all real intelligence, and therefore the object of its unceasing and unmeasured hostility. Those best acquainted with the state of France during the Restoration are unanimous in ascribing to this circumstance the increasing unpopularity of Govern- ment during its later years, and its ultimate fall.* And — markworthy circumstance ! — at the very same time, it * " Religieux par naturo, je dis avec douleur, ce qui fit lo plus de mal k la Eestauration, oe fut pr^cisSment cette idfie qu'on parvint ^ inculquer au peuple, que les Bourbons B'identifiaieut aveo le olergfi." — Capepiotb, Histoire de la Sestauration, vii. 322. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 567 was in the support of the clergy, and the identity of chap. feeling between them and the vast majority of the ^^' educated classes of society, that the British goyernment ^^^'■ found their firmest bulwark against the efforts of the revolutionists — a clear proof that tfiere is no real anta- gonism, but, on the contrary, the closest national alliance between the powers of thought and the feelings of devo- tion, and that it was the ambition and despotism of the Church of Rome that alone set them at variance with each other. The French Revolution, in all its phases, was mainly a reaction against the revocation of the Edict of Nantes ; and had Louis XIV. not sent half a million of innocent Protestants into exile, his descendants would 3227325"' not have been now suppliants in foreign lands.^ While France and England were thus with difficulty struggling with the fresh outbreak of the revolutionary Attempted passions which had resulted from the overthrow of the oftheroyai government in Spain, the monarch of that country was mS'^^'* sinking fast into that state of impotence and degradation ^^p'- ^^^i- which in troublous times is the invariable precursor of final ruin. After the humiliation experienced in the affair of the guards at Madrid, which has been recounted - , .11 • Ante, c. in a former chapter,^ the king perceived that a vigorous vh. § 112. effort had become necessary to vindicate his fallen power, and he resolved to make it in person. He came suddenly, accordingly, into the hall of the Council of State, when its members (a sort of permanent Cortes) were assembled, and in a long and impassioned speech detailed the series of humiliations to which his Liberal Ministry had sub- jected him. He painted his authority set at nought, his complaints disregarded, his dignity sacrificed. He re- counted the long course of suffering which he had under- gone, and concluded with declaring that the limits of human endurance had been reached, and that he was resolved to deliver himself from his oppressors. Stupefied 56S HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, at this sudden outbreak, the Council directed the Minis- XI • . 1- ters to be called in, that they might be heard in their ^*^^" defence; but when they arrived, instead of vindicating themselves, they commenced an attack upon the king, recapitulated all hfs violent and illegal acts, and even accused him of having violated his oath, and conspired to overturn the constitution. Furious at this unexpected resistance to his authority, the king rushed out of the hall, and signed an order for the immediate arrest of his Ministers. But his attendants and family represented to him in such strong colours the extreme peril of such a step, of which no one could foresee the consequences,, that the order, before it could be executed, was revoked,, and the Ministers remained in power. But as the king's secret intention had now been revealed, the seeds of irreconcilable jealousy had been sown between him and his Ministers ; and the executive, torn • by intestine divi- 1 Marti ac ^i*'^^' ccascd to bc any longer the object either of respect i. 268, 270; or appreheusiou to the ambitious Liberals, who were i». 438, 439. rapidly drawing to themselves the whole power and con- sideration in the state.^ ^g The result soon appeared. The session of the Cortes Opening of opeucd on 1st March 1821, and the king, who had anddismis- adopted from his Ministers his opening speech, added Ministers, to i* sevcral sentences of his own comppsition. In the March 1, gj.gj. pg^j.^ q|- jj. ^^ astonished the Royalists by an unequi- vocal approbation of the revolutions of Naples and Pied- mont, blamed the King of Naples for having gone to the congress of sovereigns at Laybach, and openly condemned the threatened invasion of the Neapolitan States by the Austrian forces. The Liberals were in transports ; they Qould scarcely believe their own ears ; the king seemed at last to have identified himself in good earnest with the cause of revolution, and loud applause testified the satis- faction of the majority at the sentiments which had pro- ceeded from the throne. But what was their surprise HISTORY OP EUROPE. 569 when, after this concession to the democracy, the king chap. suddenly began on a new key, and, raising his voice as he ^^' came to the sentences composed by himself or his secret ^^^'• advisers, recapitulated the repeated attempts made to represent him as insincere in his career as a constitutional sovereign, the insults to which, in his person and his government, he had so often been subjected — "insults," he added, " to which he would not be subjected if the executive power possessed the energy which the constitu- tion demands, and which, if continued, will involve the Spanish nation in unheard-of calamities." The audience were stupefied by these unexpected words ; the Ministers ^^^^ j^.^^ felt themselves struck at ; they recollected the former scene iv. 439,440'; in the Council of State, and, deeming themselves secure of 321'; Mar- ' victory if they held out, in the same evening they, in a 2^5^^!^. body, tendered their resignations.^ With so little foresight or consideration were the king's measures pursued, that though it might have been antici- condait of pated tliat a resignation of Ministers would follow such an andappoint- outbreak, no arrangements whatever had been made for "™ mLu- appointing their successors. For several days the country ''y- remained without a government, during which the capital was in the most violent state of agitation ; the clubs re- sounded with declarpations, the journals were in trans- ports of indignation, and the hall of the Cortes was the scene of the most violent debates. They carried, by a large majority, a resolution, that the late ministers had de- served well of the nation, and, in proof of their gratitude, settled on each of them a pension of 60,000 reals (£600). To allay the tempest he had so imprudently conjured up, the king requested the Cortes to furnish him with a list of the persons whom they deemed fit for the situation ; but they refused to do so, alleging that the responsibility of ^^^^ ^^.^^ choosing his ministers rested with the king. At length iv. 441, 445; . -11 11 11 J.1 Martignac, he made his choice, and he was compelled to choose tnem i, 278, 281. among the Liberal leaders.^ Among them was Don Ramon 570 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Felix, who had long been imprisoned (since 1814) for his '- — violent conduct, who was appointed Minister of the ^^^^' Transmarine Provinces ; and Don Eusebio Bardaxi, who had been Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Cortes at Cadiz, was reinstated in the same office, gu It was now evident that the king had not in reality Effect pro- the choice of his ministers ; and in order to conciliate the Spain by majority, he addressed a message of condolence to them in| oFtL" on the overthrow of the revolution in Naples and Piedmont, I7itaij°'^ which soon after ensued, and promised the fugitives from these countries a safe asylum in Spain, where, in effect, great numbers of them soon after arrived, and were very hospitably received. These external events produced a very deep impression in Spain ; for the hopes of the Li- berals had been unbounded upon the first outbreak of these convulsions, and their depression was proportionally great upon their overthrow. They produced, as usual in such cases, a fresh burst of the revolutionary passion over the whole country. Terror, as it had done in France when the advances of the Duke of Brunswick into Champagne induced the massacre in the prisons of Paris, produced cruelty; and the actions of the secret societies occasioned a measure so extraordinary, and of such extent, that nothing in the whole annals of history is to be compared to it. At once, and at the same moment, in all places, a vast Exhao'rdi- uumbcr of individuals, of both sexes, and of all ranks and breKf classes of society, chiefly on the east coast of Spain, who a^^f "^™" were suspected of a leaning to the monarchical party, were spainf' "^ arrested, chiefly during the night, hurried to the nearest seaport by bands of armed men acting under the orders of self-constituted societies, and put on shipboard, from whence they were conveyed, some to the Balearic Islands, and some to the Canaries, according to the caprice of the imperious executors of the popular will. There was no trial, no legal warrant of arrest, no conviction, no con- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 571 demnation. With their own hands, of their own autho- chap, rity, under their own leaders, the people executed what ^^' they called justice upon their enemies. Several hundred ^^'■^^• persons — many of them of high rank — were in this man- ner torn from their families, hurried into exile, without the hope of ever returning, chiefly from Barcelona, Valen- cia, Corunna, Carthagena, and the neighbourhood of these towns. With such secresy was the measure de- vised, with such suddenness carried into execution, that no resistance was anywhere either practicable or at- tempted ; and the unfortunate victims of this violence had scarcely awakened from the stupor into which they had been thrown by their seizure, when they found themselves at sea, on board strange vessels, surrounded by strange faces, and sailing tliey knew not whither! The annals of the Roman proscriptions, of Athenian cruelty, of French ij^^^^ „^^ atrocity, may be searched in vain for a similar instance ^^^*|^^"' of general, deliberate, and deeply-devised popular ven- iv.463,454,. geance.^ Deeds of violence on the side of the populace seldom ^^ fail to find apologists. The illegal seizure and deportation Kevoiution- of such a number of persons at the same time in various passed by parts of Spain was a public and notorious event, which Aprini?' could not be concealed ; while the secresy with which it had been devised, and the suddenness with which it had been executed, indicated the work of occult and highly dangerous societies. It was accordingly made the sub- ject of discussion in the Cortes, but the turn which the debate took was very curious, and eminently characteristic of the slavish cowardice which successful revolutionary violence so often induces. No blame whatever was thrown on the authors or executors of this atrocious proceeding ; not one of them was even accused, though they were as well known as the commanders of the provinces where the violence had occurred. The whole blame was thrown on the judges and civil authorities in the provinces, whose 572 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, supineness or dilatorj conduct in bringing the enemies of ^^' - the people to justice had obliged them, it was said, to ^^^'" take the affair into their hands. All that was done, to avert similar acts of violence by self-constituted autho- rities in future, was to pass two laws, worthy to be. placed beside those constituting the revolutionary tribunal at Paris in point of atrocity. By the first of these the punishment of death was decreed against all persons ■who should be convicted of offences agains^t either reli- gion or the constitution ; and by the second, those charged with such offences were to be arrested by the armed force, and brought before a council of war chosen out of the corps which had ordered the arrest. This judgment was to be pronounced in six days, to be final and without appeal, and carried into execution, if con- firmed, by the miUtary governor of the province within forty-eight hours. And the only reparation made to the lAnn Hist ^^ansported victims was, that government, when they ■ iv. 462, 4S3; learned the places to which they had been conveyed, Martignac, i i i c i i i i i . i. 290, 294. secretly brought some ot them back, one by one, to their own country.^ As the military force of Spain was entirely in the Birbarous hands of the Liberals — at least so far as the officers were the pries" coucemed — and it had been the great agent which brought Ma7 3?' about the Revolution, these sanguinary laws, in effect, put all at the mercy of the revolutionists, by whom, as by the Jacobin clubs at Paris, death to any extent, and under no limitation, might with impunity be in- flicted on their political opponents or personal enemies. But the proceedings of the courts-martial, summary and final as they were, appeared too slow for the impatient wrath of the populace ; and an instance soon occurred in which they showed that, like the Parisian mob, they coveted the agreeable junction, in their own persons, of the offices of accuser, judge, and executioner. A fanatic priest, named Vinuesa, had published at Madrid a crazy BISTORY OP EUROPE. 5^3 pamphlet recommending a counter-reTolution. For this chap. oflFence he was brought before the court intrusted with the ^^- trial of such cases at Madrid, and sentenced to ten years •''^i. ■ of the galleys — a dreadful punishment, and the maximum which law permitted for crimes of that description. But this sentence, which seemed sufficient to satisfy their most ardent passions, was deemed inadequate by the revolutionists. " Blood, blood ! " was the universal cry. May 4. On the day following, an immense crowd assembled in the Puerto del Sol, the principal square of Madrid, where a resolution was passed that they should them- selves execute the sentence of death on their victim. This was at noon ; but so deliberate were the assassins, and so secure of impunity, that they postponed the exe- cution of the sentence till four o'clock. At that hour they reassembled, after having taken their siesta, and proceeded to the prison-doors. Ten soldiers on guard there made a show of resistance, but it was a show only. They soon submitted to the mandates of the sovereign people, and withdrew. The doors of the prison were speedily broken open ; the priest presented himself, with a crucifix in his hand, and in the name of the Redeemer prayed for his life. His entreaties were disregarded ; one of the judges . of the Puerto del Sol advanced, and beat out his brains i- ass, 296j with a sledge-hammer as he lay prostrate before them on iv. 454.'° * the pavement of his cell.^ Barbarous and uncalled-for as this murder was, it has too many parallel instances in cruelty, aristocratic and institution democratic, in all ages and in all countries. But what dlr*o*f the follows is the infamy of Spain, and of the cause of revo- h^"™®'- lution, and of them alone. Having despatched their vic- tim in prison, the mob proceeded, with loud shouts, to the house of the judge who had condemned him to ten years of the galleys, with the intention of murdering him also ; but in this they were disappointed, for he had heard of his danger, and escaped. In the evening the clubs 574 HISTORY OP EUEOPE. CHAP, resounded with songs of triumpli at this act of popular ■ justice ; the better class of inhabitants trembled in silence ; -■^21. the violent revolutionists were in ecstasies. Martinez de la Rosa had the courage in the Cortes to denounce the atro- cious act, but a great majority drowned his voice and applauded it. The press was unanimous in its approba- tion of the glorious deed. To commemorate it for aH future times, an order of chivalry was instituted by the assassins, entitled the Order of the Hammer, which was received with general applause. Decorations consisting of a little hammer, for these who were admitted into it, were prepared, and eagerly bought up by both sexes ; and to the disgrace of Spain be it said, the insignia of an order intended to commemorate a deliberate and cold- i. 297, 299.' blooded murder were to be seen on the breasts of the brave and the bosoms of the fair.^ This cruel act, and still more the general approbation insurrec- with which it was received in the clubs, and by the press yln^xai of Madrid, opened the eyes of the better and more re- meut of' spectable classes over the whole country to the frightful Madrid.^* nature of the abyss into which all the nation, under its pre- sent rulers, was hurrying. A reactionary movement broke out in Navarre, at the head of which was the curate Merino, already well known and celebrated in the war with Napo- leon. He was soon at the head of eight hundred men, with which, after having been successful in several en- counters, he was marching on Vittoria, when he was met and defeated at Ochandiano by the captain-general of the province. Four hundred prisoners were made, and sent to Pampeluna ; the chiefs — nearly all priests or pas- tors — were immediately executed. Taking advantage of the consternation produced by these events, the king » Ann. Hist. "^^"'''^'^^^ ^"^ *^® ^^^^ ®*^®P °^ appointing Don Pablo iv.454,4.5s; Murillo, the celebrated general under Wellington in the Martignac, '1.1x71 it o ■ j. 300, 304, war With Napoleon — the undaunted antagonist of Bolivar in that of South America 2— to the situation of captain- 1821. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 575 general at Madrid. Murillo was very unwilling to under- chap, take the perilous mission, but at length, at the earnest soli- citation of the king, who represented that he was his last resource against the revolution, he agreed to accept it. The knowledge of Murillo's firm and resolute character had for some time a considerable effect in overawing the Proceedings factions in the capital ; for though the army was the focus L. of the revolution, such was known to be his ascendancy with the troops, that it was feared, under his orders, they would not hesitate to act in support of the royal autho- rity. But unhappily his influence did not extend over the Cortes, and the proceedings of that body were daily more and more indicative of the growing ascendancy of an extreme faction, whose ideas were inconsistent, not merely with monarchical, but with any government whatever. The clubs in Madrid, as they had been during the first Revo- lution at Paris, were the great centres of this violent party, and it was through them that the whole press had been ranged on the democratic side. Fatigued with a perpetual struggle with their indefatigable adversaries in the Cortes, the galleries, the clubs, and the press, the moderate party in the legislature at length gave way, and submitted to almost everything which their adversaries chose to demand of them. So far did this yielding go, that they consented to pass a law which entirely withdrew the clubs from the cognisance both of the government and the magistrates ; forbade any persons in authority to in- trude upon the debates ; and by declaring the responsi- bility of the president for what there took place, in effect declared the irresponsibility of every one else. So ob- vious was the danger of this law, that the king, in terms of the constitution, and relying on the support of Murillo, refused his sanction. A few days after he did the same ]^^l%l' with a law which passed the Cortes, tending to deprive sio; a™. the chief proprietors of a considerable part of their 469." seignorial rights.^ 576 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. The finances were daily falling into a more deplorable XI, •condition — the necessary result of the unsettled state of ■"f^'' the kingdom, and the extreme terror regarding the future Deplorable which pervadcd all the more respectable classes, from the finances, ^ violence of the Cortes and the absence of any effective con- surerre-" trol upou their proceedings. Though a half of the tithes thlm."^- of the clergy had been appropriated to the service of the state, and half only left for the support of the Church, the budget exhibited such a deficit that it became necessary to authorise a loan of 361,800,000 reals (£3,600,000), being more than half the whole revenue of the state ; but such was the dilapidated state of public credit, that, not- withstanding the utmost efforts of the Liberals, only a fourth part of the sum was subscribed by the end of the year.* Insurrections were constantly breaking out in the provinces, which were only suppressed by the armed force, and a great effusion of blood. No sooner were they put down in one quarter than they broke out in another; and the country, as in the war with Napoleon, was in- fested by guerilla bands, who plundered alike friend and foe. In the midst of this scene of desolation and disaster, , the king, on 30th June, closed the sitting of the Cortes, i with a speech composed by his Ministers, in which he 1 Ann. Hist. P™^^™''^^ the most pompous eulogium on the wisdom, jj-^^*7,^4S8; justice, and magnanimity of their proceedings, the flour- i.3iQ, 317. ishing state of the finances, and the general prosperity which pervaded all parts of the kingdom.^ gg The event soon showed how far these praises of the Fresh tu- revolutiouary regime were well founded. Ever since the Madrid" murder of the priest Viuuesa, it had been the practice of "^' ■ the mobs in Madrid to assemble every evening under the windows of such persons as were suspected of anti-revo' lutionary principles, and there sing the Fraga la Perro, * The expenditure was 756,214,217 reals, or £7,560,000 The revenue, . . 675,000,000 „ or 6,750,000 Deficit, . . . 81,214,217 „ or mWfiW — Budget, 1821 ; Anrmaire Histmque, iv. 458. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 577 the Marseillaise of the Spanish reTolution, accompanied chap. in the chorus with strokes of a hammer on a gong, to put ^^' them in mind of that tragic event. In the beginning of '^^'-^ August, an unhappy prisoner, charged with anti-revolu- tionary practices, and condemned to the galleys, was lying imprisoned in a convent, awaiting the execution of his- sentence, along with the soldiers apprehended some months before on the charge of assaulting the people, while dispersing the mob who insulted the king in his carriage, as narrated in a former chapter.^ It was " Ante, c. determined in the club of the Fontana d'Oro that they should all be executed summarily in prison; and bands were already formed for this purpose, when MurUlo appeared with a body of troops, and dispersed the as- sassins. This prompt vindication of the law occasioned the most violent ebullition of wrath in the clubs, and it was resolved to act more decidedly and with greater force on the next occasion. Accordingly, on the 20th August an immense crowd assembled around the con- Aug. 20. vent where the soldiers were confined, singing the Traga la Perro, and beating the hammers as usual; and when the guard interfered, and tried to make them disperse, they were surrounded and overpowered. Informed of ^^^^ ^^.^^ the danger, Murillo hastened to the spot with a strong iv.466,46i I body of troops, and, drawing his sword, charged the mob, i. 329, 330. who immediately dispersed.^ This fresh act of vigour completed the exasperation of ^^ the Liberals at the intrepid general who had coerced Resignation their excesses. Next morning the clubs resounded with Muri^i'oT declamations against the bloody tyrant who had dared to insult the majesty of the sovereign people; the journals were unanimous in" their condemnation of his conduct; seditious crowds uttering menacing cries were formed, and everything indicated an approaching convulsion. Con- scious of the rectitude and integrity of his conduct, and desirous of allaying a ferment which threatened in its results to compromise the throne, Murillo anticipated the VOL. n, 2 578 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, sentence of the clubs, and resigned his command, declar- XT ing, at the same time, he would not resume it till he was ^^^'' cleared of the charges brought against him. This cour- J ageous act produced an immediate i-eaction in public i. 331,333;' opinion in his favour; and the accusation against him iv. 461, 462. being proTed, on examination, entirely groundless, he re- sumed his functions with general approbation.^ Meanwhile the secret societies, styled in Spain " Gom- The secret mutieros," which had gone so far to shake society to its Commune- ceutrc iu FraucB, had spread equally to the south of the "'• Pyrenees. Violent as the proceedings of the open Libe- rals in possession of the government at Madrid had been, they were nothing compared to the designs formed by these secret associations, which were, not merely the de- struction of the monarchy and of the Cortes, but the establishment of a republic on the basis of an equal divi- sion or community of property, and all the projects of the Socialists. The oath taken by these political fanatics bound them, as elsewhere, to obey all the mandates of the chiefs of the association at the peril of their lives, and to put at their disposal their swords, property, and exist- ence.'^^ This tremendous association had its chief ramifi- cations in Madrid, Barcelona, Saragossa, Corunna, Va- lencia, and Carthagena ; and it was by their agency that the extraordinary measure of seizing and transporting such a number of persons in these cities had recently been * " Je jure de me Boumettre sans reserve ^ tous les dfiorets que rendra la coufed&ation, et d'aider en toute circonstance, tous les chevaliers Commvmeros, de mes biens, de mes ressources, et de mon 6pge. Et si quelque homme puis- sant, ou quelque tyran, voulait, par la force ou d'autres moyens, dfitruire en tout ou en partie la confederation, je jure en union avec les oonf^d^res de dgfendre, les armes 3, la main, tout ce que j'ai jur€, et comme les illustres Oomrmmeros de la bataille de Villalar, de mourif plut6t que de elder h la tyrannie ou ^ I'oppression. Je jure si quelque chevalier Communero manquait en tout ou en partie 3, sou sermeut, de le mettre & mort, des que la confedera- tion I'aura declare trattre ; et si je viens si manquer d, tout ou partie de mes serments sacres, je me dSclare moi-m6me traStre, meritant que la confederation me condamne ^ une mort infftme ; que les portes et les grilles des chateaux et des tours me Boient fermees, et pour qu'il ne reste rien de moi aprSs mon trl- pas, que Ton me brMe, et que Ton jette mes cendres au vent." — Bngagemeai des Communeros. Sur la RSmlution d'Espagne — Mabtignao, i. 326, 326. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 579 effected. Murillo was well aware of the secrets and de- chap, signs of these conspirators, and was in possession of a ^^' number of important papers establishing them. It was ^^''^^• mainly to get these papers out of his hands, as well as on account of his known resolution of character, that the. public indignation was so strongly directed against him ^ on occasion of his conduct in repressing the recent dis- i. 326,'^7!' turbances in Madrid.^ Riego, who, as akeady mentioned, had been reinstated in his command in Arragon after having been tempor- Riego's plot arily deprived of it, was closely connected with the tl,^^nKi^ clubs in Saragossa, and was suspected by the govern- septis. ment, not without reason, of having lent himself to their extravagant designs. His principal associate was a French refugee named Montarlot, who employed him- self at Saragossa in writing proclamations which were sent across the Pyrenees, inviting the French troops to revolt and establish a republic. Government having received intelligence of the conspiracy, took the bold step of ordering Moreda, the political chief at Saragossa, to arrest Riego. He was apprehended, accordingly, as he was returning to that city from a tour in the provinces, where he had been haranguing and exciting the people, and conducted a prisoner to Lerida. Immense was the excitement which this event produced among the Liberals over all Spain. His bust was carried at the head of a triumphal procession through Madrid ; the clubs re- sounded with declamations; the press was unanimous in denying his criminality ; and to give vent to the public transports, a picture was painted, intended to be carried in procession through the streets, representing Riego in the costume which he wore on occasion of the revolt in 25(^,4; „^ the island of Leon, holding in one hand the Book of the >• 339 340; ° Ann. Hist. Constitution, and overturning with the other the nguresiv.46s,466, of Despotism and Ignorance.^ The moment was decisive. Anarchy or law must triumph ; and the victory of the former was the more to 580 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, be apprehended, as it was known that the military were _ — '- undecided, and that some regiments had openly declared ^^2^" they would take part with the insurgents. But in this Suppres- crisis Murillo was not wanting to himself or the cause tumults * with which he was intrusted. Having assembled the arSSg at clvic guard, he harangued them on the necessity of crush- Madnd. jjjg ^j^g advance of the factions ; and having previously given orders to the military to stop the procession, he put himself at the head of the national guard to support them. The revolutionists, however, declared that they would proceed with the procession carrying the picture ; and when they arrived at the Puerto del Sol, the royal guard stationed there refused to stop them ; and. the regiment of Saguntum, stationed in another part of the city, broke out of their barracks to advance to their sup- port. All seemed lost ; but then was seen what can be done by the firmness of one man. Murillo advanced at the head of the national guard; San Martin, his intrepid associate, seized the picture with his own hands, which he threw down on the ground ; and at the same time Murillo charged the head of the procession with the bayonet. Struck with consternation at a resistance iMarti ac "^^^^^ ^^^7 ^^^ ^'^^ anticipated, the mob fled and dis- i. 341 343;' persed, and Madrid was for the time delivered from the iv. 463. " efibrts of a faction, which threatened to involve the country in anarchy and devastation.^ In the midst of these civil dissensions, a fresh scourge Yellow broke out in Spain, which threatened to involve the Barcelona, couutry iu thc cvils, not merely of political troubles, but Sept. Oct, p^ physical destruction. The yellow fever appeared in the end of July in Barcelona, and by the middle of August it had made such progress that all the authorities, quitted the town, and a military cordon was established within two leagues of the walls around it. In spite of this precaution, or perhaps in consequence of the greater intensity which it , occasioned to the malady in the infected districts, the disease soon appeared in various HISTORY OF EUROPE. 581 quarters in the rear of the cordon, particularly Tortosa, chap. Mequinenza, and Lerida. By the middle of October, ^^' -when the fever was at its height, 9000 persons had been ^^^^• cut off by it in Barcelona alone, out of a population not at that period exceeding 80,000 persons, and 300 died every day. So terrible a mortality struck terror through every part of Spain ; and the French government, under pretence of establishing a sanitary cordon, assembled an army of 30,000 men on the eastern frontier of the Pyrenees, but which was really intended chiefly to pre^ vent communication between the revolutionary party in the Spanish towns and the secret societies in France, In the midst of these alarms, physical and moral, two classes of the people alone were insensible to the peril, and hastened, at the risk of their lives, to the scene of danger. The French physicians flocked over of their own accord to the theatre of pestilence, and brought to its alleviation the aid of their science and the devotion of their courage ; and the Sisters of Charity appeared in the scenes of woe, and were to be seen, amidst the perils of the epidemic, by the bedside of the sick, and assisting at the supreme unction of the dying. Their exertions were not unavailing in alleviating individual distress ; and the cool weather having set in, the epidemic gradually abated, and by December had entirely disappeared, but not^^^^ j^.^^ before it had cut off 20,000 persons in Barcelona, out '^^^J'^^f' of 80,000 ; and in Tortosa six out of twelve thousand i. 347, 34i inhabitants.! The terrors of the epidemic did not allay for any con- ^^ siderable time the political agitation of Spain, The club Fresh agita- of the Fontana d'Oro resounded with declamations, of """' which the arrest of Riego was the principal subject ; and its orators declared " that the political atmosphere would never be purified but by the blood of twelve or fifteen thousand inhabitants of Madrid." The Government felt itself unable to coerce these excesses ; and the ex- treme democrats in the provinces, seeing the impotence 582 HISTORY OF EUEOPE. CHAP, of the executive, erected themselves, with the aid of self- XT constituted juntas, into separate powers,- nearly as inde- ^^^^' pendent of the central government at Madrid as they had been during the war with Napoleon. Saragossa continued the theatre of such violent agitations that Moreda, the intrepid officer who had arrested Riego, was obliged, on the summons of the municipality and clubs, to resign his post and retire. At Cadiz, the Government dismissed General Jauregui, and having appointed the Marquis de la Reunion, a nobleman of moderate principles, to the command, the Liberals refused to receive him. The Baron d'Andilla having upon this been substi- tuted in his room, he too was rejected, and General Jauregui, a noted Liberal, who was entirely in their interest, forcibly retained in his post. The municipality and people of Seville, encouraged by this example of successful resistance, revolted also against the central authority ; and Manuel de Velasco, the captain-general, and Escovedo, the political chief of the province, addressed the king in the same style as the Liberals at Cadiz, and caused their names to be inscribed in the national guard of the city, " in order to die at their post, if necessary, in defence of their country." Nor was Valencia in a more tranquil condition, for General Elio, a gallant veteran of the war, the former governor of the province, had been condemned to death by the revolutionary authorities in ? Ann. Hist that city, as having acted in 1814 against the Constitu- 471; Mar-' tion of 1812, and the sentence having not as yet been slsj^sss. executed, the clubs resounded with incessant declamations, demanding his instant execution.^ Matters had now come to such a pass that the Govern- ment at Madrid saw they had no alternative but to take a decided line, or to abdicate in favour of the provincial authorities. They accordingly transmitted orders to Baron d'Andilla to proceed to Cadiz and take the com- mand. But they soon found that their real power was HISTORY OF EUROPE. 583 confined to the walls of Madrid. The authorities at chap. Cadiz continued Jauregui in the command, refused to ^^' admit the baron within their gates, put the city in a ^"^^ 46. posture of defence, and sent orders to all the towns in Refusal of Andalusia to stop and arrest him wherever he might seviiuTo appear. The same thing was done at Seville, where ting-rgo-" General Moreno Davix, sent from Madrid to assume the ™""S'a'"^ revolt at command, was stopped at Ecija, on his waj to that city, Corunna. and sent back. Meanwhile Meria at Corunna, who had been replaced by General Latr6, sent from Madrid, revolted, and having secured the garrison in his interest, expelled Latr^ and declared himself independent of the central government. But Latrd was not discouraged. He raised the militia of the province of Galicia, which was thoroughly loyal, and appearing with an imposing force before the gates of Corunna, compelled Meria to surrender and depart to Seguenza, the place assigned for his exile. At the same time troubles broke out in Estre- madura, Navarre, and Old Castile, where guerilla bands appeared, ravaged the country, and rendered all collection of the revenue impossible. To such straits was the i Memorias treasury in consequence reduced, that the Minister ofMina'T"' Finance was obliged to open a fresh loan of 200,000,000 ^^^J^^^ reals (£2,000,000) in foreign states, which was only in '\l^^'^?J^' part obtained, and that at a most exorbitant rate of iv.47o,47i. interest.^ The distracted state of the country rendered an early and extraordinary convocation of the Cortes necessary, openiiig of in the hope of obtaining that moral support from its votes orff^ary" which was sought in vain in the affections of the country, ^"^^'i^^ It met accordingly on the 25 th November, and the king, in his opening speech, deeply deplored the events at Cadiz, and earnestly invoked the aid of the Cortes to support him in his endeavour to cause the royal authority to be respected.* The Cortes, in reply, appointed two * " C'est dans la plus profonde amertume de mon cceur, que j'ai appris les 584 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, commissioners, one charged with preparing an answer to ' the royal address, the other, with considering what was ^^'^^' to be done to support the royal authority. The reports. Dec. 9, were presented on the 9 th December, and although drawn in the most cautious style, and with the anxious wish to avoid giving oflFence to the Liberals, they did so most effec- tually, for they bore that the authorities at Seville and Cadiz should be brought to trial — ^a resolution which was adopted by the Cortes by a majority of 130 to 48. This decision excited the most violent animosity in the clubs, the journals, and the coffee-houses.: cries of " Long live Riego! Down with the Ministers! down with the Ser- viles ! " were heard on all sides ; an;i so completely were the majority of the Cortes intimidated by these proceed- ings, that a few days after an amendment was carried by Dec. 14. a majority of 104 to 59, which bore, " that as the Minis- 1 Ann. Hist, ^^''■s did Hot fossoss the moral force requisite to conduct Martfg'ntc!' *^^ affairs of the nation, they implored the king to adopt i, 359, 367. the measures imperatively called for by such a state of public affairs."^ 47_ This vote of want of confidence in Ministers coming tOTy'r^oiu- ^° ^°°° ^^*'®^ ^ solemn condemnation of their adversaries, tions of the indicated in the clearest manner the prostration of the executive and disastrous state of the monarchy, reeling like a sinking ship alternately before one wind and an- other. Immense was the general exultation in the great cities at this direct vote of censure on Ministers. The authorities at Cadiz and Seville were so encouraged by it that they carried their audacity so far as openly to bid defiance to the Cortes and the king, and sent an address derniera 6v4ii8meiita de Cadiz, oft, sous le pretexte d'amour pour la constitution, on I'a foulee aux pieds en mgconnaissant les droits qu'elle m'aocorde. J'ai ordonn^ k mes seorgtaires d'6tat de pr&enter aux Cortes, la nouveUe d'un gvgne- ment aussi faoheux, dans la oonfiance interne qu'ils coopSrerout aveo toergie^ d'aocord avec mon gouvernement, k faire en sorte que les prgrogatives de la •couronne, ainsi que les libert6s publiques, qui sont une de ses garanties, soient conserves intaotes."— i)is(!oa»-s du Roi, 25th NoTember 1821. MenUev,r, 2d December 1821. Ann. Hist., iv. 471, 472. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 585 to the latter, stating that they would receive or execute chap. no order or appointment from the king till the present •^^' Ministers were dismissed. On this occasion the Cortes ^''^'• rescinded virtually their last resolution : their amour propre was wounded by this open defiance of their autho- rity ; and after a long and stormy debate, in which the leading orators on the Liberal side took part with the Dec. 23. r-i ■ 1 -11 . . „ iMartignac, (government, it was determined by a majority of 112 to;. 366, 370; 36 that all those who had signed this seditious address iv. 477, 479. should be prosecuted.^ Being now supported by the Cortes, and sure of the protection of a part, at least, of the military, the king, irresolute had he possessed firmness adequate to the undertaking, the kiugf had a fair opportunity for asserting the royal authority, ^5°/^°^*'' and rousing the vast majority of the country to check the J^°''™jj^ urban faction which had turned the revolution into such a downward channel. But he had no consistency in his character, and was as vacillating in his acts as the Cortes in their votes. Hardly was his authority in some de- gree reinstated by this last vote of the Cortes, than he gave the factious a triumph by dismissing four of his Ministers, the most decided in the intrepid conduct which had lately been pursued. Two others resigned, so that one only remained and continued in the new administra- tion, which was composed entirely of the most moderate of the patriots of 1812. This act of weakness renewed the resistance of Cadiz and Seville at the very time when the vote of the Cortes had disarmed it. Mean- while, insurrections of an opposite character, in favour of religion and the monarchy, broke out, and were daily gaining ground in Navarre, Arragon, Galicia, and Biscay, and the year closed with Spain torn in all quarters — i*aAn„.Hist. was hard to say whether most by the furious democrats 5J;*^^'^*f ' of the cities in the south, or the hardy royalists of the i. 367,372. Talleys in the north.^ The action of the secret societies styled Gommuneros andBescamisados ("communists" and "shirtless") became 586 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, more violent and dangerous -when the elections for the XI new Cortes, which had to take place in the first month ^^^' of 1822, drew near. To counteract their influence, 49 Proposed which was daily becoming more formidable, Martinez the prMs"^' de la Rosa, Toreno, Calatrava, and some of the other tr/socS's. moderate Liberals, set up another society, styled " The Society of the Friends of the Constitution," or of " the King." It at first met with some success ; but, as usual in times of vehement excitement, it soon declined, and was no more heard of. When the passions are ex- cited, moderation is considered on all sides as a species of common enemy, and nothing has any chance of in- fluence but such associations as, by alimenting, inflame them. The evils of a licentious press, of the unrestrained right of presenting petitions to the Cortes, and of the extreme violence in the clubs, at length became so flagrant Jan. 21, that the Government submitted three laws for their repression to the legislature. As they proposed to im- pose very efifectual checks on these evils, they were re- 1 Ann Hist ^^^*^^ ^^''^ *^^ whole Strength of the anarchists, and V. 408, 413; gave risc to serious disturbances in Madrid, which i. 371, 377. still further impaired the royal authority, and proclaimed its weakness.^ These proposals came to be discussed in the Cortes Riots in under very peculiar circumstances. The resignation of the passing the former ministers had been accepted, but their suc- agalnst the ccssors had uot bccn appointed — the places were vacant* press. rpjjg leading orators on the Liberal side then conceived hopes that they might be selected as their successors, and to improve their chances of success, they, for the most part, joined in the debate in favour of the proposed laws. Martinez de la Rosa and Toreno particularly distinguished themselves in this manner, and a motion made by Calatrava, to throw out at once the whole three proposed laws, was rejected by the narrow majority of 90 to 84. This unexpected result inflamed the clubs and the anarchists to the very greatest degree ; every means HISTORY OP EUROPE. 587 to excite the public mind were instantly adopted -without chap, reserve ; and so successful were they in rousing the pas- ^^' sions of the multitude, that a furious crowd surrounded '^^^" Toreno as he left the hall of the Assembly after the decisive vote, pursued him with groans and hisses to his own house, which they broke into, and wounded some of the domestics. Toreno escaped by a back door, upon which the crowd proceeded with loud shouts to the house of Martinez de la Rosa, which they were proceeding to attack, when Murillo and San Martin arrived with a body of cavalry, by whom the mob was dispersed, amidst the most violent cries and imprecations. The laws against the offences of the press, and against the seditious peti- tions, were adopted by considerable majorities. It was observed that the whole deputies from South America, about thirty-eight in number, voted on all these occasions with the Opposition, which swelled their ranks to"feighty, or nearly the half of the Cortes. The extraordinary session closed on the 12th February, having, during its long and momentous sittings, effected great changes, ex- hibited many acts of courage, and, on the whole, done less to pull down the entire fabric of society than might have ^^^^ ^.^^ been expected from the excited state of the pubhc mind y-^is, 419; when it was elected, and the universal suffrage on which ;. 379, ssd. it was founded.^ The new Cortes was elected under darker auspices, and the incurable vices of the electoral system developed compo'si- themselves in stronger colours. The kingdom was dis- new cortes. tracted in all its parts when the elections took place; in some by the triumph of the Liberals, in others by the efforts of the Royalists. The former had been every- where active, and in most places successful; the latter had in great part abstained from voting, to avoid all responsibility in the formation of a legislature which they plainly foresaw would terminate only in disaster. In some places, especially Granada, open violence was em- ployed at the elections; the multitude broke into the 588 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, place of voting, and by force imposed their favourites on ^^' the electors. But, in general, open violence did not re- 1822. quire to be resorted to ; the clubs and universal suflfrage rendered it unnecessary. The extreme Liberals got everything their own way. The result was soon apparent. In the whole Cortes there was not one single great pro- prietor or bishop. The noblesse were represented only by a few nobles of ruined fortunes and extreme demo- cratic opinions : the Duke del Parque, a leading orator at the Fontana d'Oro, was the only grandee in the assembly. The majority was composed of men who had signalised themselves by opposition to the Government during the sitting of the last Cortes, — governors who had taken part with the people, and refused to execute the laws or obey the injunctions of the Government ; magistrates who had betrayed their trust, soldiers who had violated their oaths. "Among the most dangerous of these characters, who readily found a place in the new legislature, were the monk Rico, who had been proscribed in 1814, and -had since been involved in every seditious movement; Manuel Bertrand du Lys, a man of the most violent temper and extreme principles; Galiano, a brilliant orator but rebel- lious magistrate, who was under accusation as such when he was elected; Burnaga, a leading speaker at the Fon- tana d'Oro ; Escovedo, the chief of the revolt at Seville, also saved from prosecution by his return ; finally, Riego, also delivered from trial by being made a member of the legislature, and who was immediately chosen its president. Uniformity of qualification had done its usual work; it had practically disfranchised every class except the very lowest intrusted with the suffrage, which, as the most nuinerous, gained nearly all the returns, and the govern- i. 381^85;' ment of the country was intrusted to the uncontrolled V. 419, 420. direction of the most ignorant, the most dangerous, and the most ambitious class of the community. ^ The first duty of the king, before the new Cortes met, was to fill up the six vacant places in .the Administration; HISTORY OP EUROPE. 589 and as the temper of the new assembly was not fully chap. known, the moderate party obtained the appointments. ^'' Martinez de la Rosa was Prime Minister, and had the ^''^^• portfolio of foreign affairs, and the choice of his col- NewMinis- feagues. Aware of the difficulty of conducting the^'^' government in presence of a Cortes of which Riego had been chosen president, he long refused the perilous post, and only yielded at length to the earnest solicitation of the king. Don Nicolas Garotti, an ex-professor of law in Valencia, was appointed Minister of Justice, Don Jose de Alta Mira of the Interior ; Don Diego Clorumeneros, Director of the Royal Academy of History, Colonial Minister ; Don Philippe Sierra-Pambley to the Finances ; Brigadier Balanzat, Minister at War ; Don Jacinti Romo- rate for the Marine. These persons all belonged to the Moderate party,- — that is, they were the first authors of the revolution, but had been passed in the career of innovation by their successors. It was a circumstance , , „. , •' 1 Ann. Hist. characteristic of the times, and ominous to the nobility, v.4i9;Mar- . . 1 /» T tignac, 1. that two of the most important ministers — those or Jus- 385,386. tice and the Interior — were professors in universities.^ The Cortes opened on the 1st March; and the open- ing speech, and reply of the President Riego, were more opening of auspicious than could have been anticipated, and pro- and aLr^ mised returning prosperity to the country. The report ofThefinln- of the Finance Minister was the first to dispel these flat- "*^- tering illusions. It exhibited a deficit of 197,428,000 reals (£1,974,000), which required to be covered by loans; and as no money could be got in the country, they required to be borrowed in foreign states,^''' They were nearly all got, though at a very high rate of interest, in London; the prospect of high profits, and the belief in * The public accounts for the year 1822 were— Receipts, .... 664,162,000 reals, or £6,664,000 Expenditure, . . . 861,591,000 „ or 8,615,000 Deficit, .... 197,428,000 „ or 1,974,280 — Kmance Report, March. 12, 1822; Ann. nkt.,y. 421, 423. 1822. 590. HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, the stability of popular institutions, inducing our capital- ists to shut their eyes to the obvious risks of lending their money to such unstable governments as those which then ruled in the Peninsula. This circumstance deserves to be especially noted, as the commencement of numberless disasters both to the Peninsula and this country. It gave a large and influential body of foreign creditors an interest in upholding the revolutionary government in the Peninsula, because no other one would recognise the loans it had contracted. Their influence was soon felt in the public press both of France and England, which, with a few exceptions, constantly supported the cause of revo- lution in Spain and Portugal; and to this circumstance lAnn Hist '"^^^ *^^^ ^^y other the long and bloody civil wars V. 421,422; w^hich distracted both nations, and the entire ignorance i. 383, 384. which pervadcd this country as to their real situation, are to be ascribed.^ g^ The entire divergence of opinion between the Cortes General dis- aud the Govemmeut was n.ot long of proclaiming itself. Spain. The Corteg insisted that the execution of the royal decrees should be intrusted to the authorities in the Isle of Leon and Seville, who had revolted against the Government. This was resisted by the administration, and the division led to animated and impassioned debates in the legislature. But while these were yet in progress, disorders broke out in every part of the country, which were not only serious in themselves, but presaged, at no distant time, a universal civil war in the country. The extreme leaders, or " Exaltados," as they were called, were in such a state of excitement that they could not be kept from coming to blows in all the principal towns of the kingdom. At Barcelona, Valencia, Pampeluna, and Madrid itself, bloody encounters took place between the military, headed by the magistrates of municipahties, on the one side, and the peasantry of the country and royalists, led on by the priests, on the other. " Viva Riego ! Viva el Constitucion !" broke out from the ranks HISTORY OP EUROPE. 591 on one side ; " Viva Murillo ! Viva el Rey Assoluto ! " chap. resounded on the other. Riego was the very worst per- ^^' son that could have been selected to moderate the Cortes ^**^- in such a period of effervescence. Himself the leader of the revolution, and the acknowledged chief of the violent party, how was it possible for him to restrain their ex- cesses 1 "I call you to order," said he to a deputy who was attacking that party in the assembly ; " you forget I am the chief of the Exaltados." — " To refuse to hear the petitioners from Valencia," said another, " is to invite the people to take justice into their own hands in the streets." To such a length did the disorders proceed that the Cortes appointed a committee to inquire into them, which reported that the state of the kingdom was deplorable. The King's Ministers were ordered, by the imperious majority in that assembly, to the bar of the Cortes, to give an account of their conduct ; the military were as much divided as the people ; and under the very eye of the legislature a combat took place between the March 24. grenadiers of the guard, who shouted, " Viva Murillo ! " and the regiment of Ferdinand VII., who replied, " Viva Riego ! " which was only ended by a general discharge of musketry by the national guards, who were called out, by which several persons, including the standard-bearer of the guard, were killed. Intimidated by these disorders, which he was wholly powerless to prevent, the king left , „ . . . r 1 1 ^Martignac, Madrid, and went to Aranjuez, from whence he went on to i. 391,393; pass Easter at Toledo ; and his departure removed the only v.°424, 425. restraint that existed on the excesses in the capital. ^ The first proceedings of the Cortes related to the trial of various persons on the Royal side who had taken a part Proceedings in the late tumults. It was never thought of prosecuting Ls'a^ndpro- any person on the Liberal. A committee of the Cortes, fi>,f "1*^ to whom the matter was referred, reported that the ex- Minister of War, Don Sanchez Salvador, and General Murillo, should be put on their trial ; and the resolution was adopted by the assembly as to the former, and only i592 HISTORY OP EUROPE. .CHAP, rejected as to the latter by a narrow majoritj. A new ^ law also was passed, submitting offences of the press to *^^^' • the decision of the juries, which, in the present state of the country, was securing for them alternately total im- punity, or subjecting them to vindictive injustice. A bill was also brought in, and passed, for the reduction of the ecclesiastical establishment, which was certainly excessive, notwithstanding all the reforms which had taken place. It was calculated that, when it came into full operation, it would effect a reduction of 73,000 ecclesiastics, and 600,000 reals (£6000) a-day. The knowledge that these great changes were in progress, which went to strike so serious a blow at the influence and possessions of the Church, tended to augment the activity and energy of the royalist party in the provinces. The civil war soon became universal ; the conflagration spread over the whole country. Every considerable town was wrapt in flames, every rural district bristled with armed men. In Navarre, Quesada, at the head of six hundred guerillas, was in entire possession of the country up to the gates of Pampeluna, and although often driven by the garrison of that fortress into the French territory, yet he always emerged .again with additional followers, and renewed the war, and united with the Royalists in Biscay. In Catalonia, Misas led a band of peasants, which soon got the entire command of the mountain district in the north \ while the Baron d'EroUes, well known in the War of In- dependence, secretly, in the south of the province, organ- ised a still more formidable insurrection, which, under the personal direction of Antonio Maranon, surnamed the . " Trappist," soon acquired great influence. This singular 1.396,^8;' man was one of the decided characters whom revolution v.'427, 428. and civil war draw forth in countries of marked native disposition.^ Originally a soldier, but thrown into the convent by misfortunes, in part brought on by his impetuous and unruly disposition, the Trappist had not with the cowl HISTORY OP EUROPE. 593 put on the habits, or become endued with the feelings of chap. the Church. He carried with him into the cloister the 1822. passions, the desires, and the ambition of the world. He was now about forty-five years of age — a period of life The Trap^ when the bodily frame is, in strong constitutions, yet in its appearance vigour, and the feelings are steadily directed rather thanterjand^foL. enfeebled by age. His eye was keen and piercing, his '°'"™'" air confident and intrepid. He constantly wore the dress of his order, but beneath it burned all the passions of the world. Arrayed in his monkish costume, with a crucifix on his breast and a scalp on his head, he had pistols in his girdle, a sabre by his side, and a huge whip in his hand. Mounted on a tall and powerful horse, which he managed with perfect address, he galloped through the crowd, which always awaited his approach, and fell on their knees as he passed, and dispensed blessings to the right and left with the air of a sovereign prince acknow- ledging the homage of his subjects. He never commenced an attack without falUng on his knees, to implore the protection of the Most High ; and, rising up, he led his men into fire, shouting, " Viva Dio ! Viva el Rey !" In April 1822 he was at the head of a numerous band of men, animated by his example, and electrified by his speeches. Monks, priests, peasants, smugglers, curates, landowners, hidalgos, were to be seen, side by side, in his bands, irregularly armed, scarcely disciplined, but zealous and hardy, and animated with -the highest degree of reli- gious enthusiasm. Their spirit was not so much that of the patriot as of the crusader ; they took up arms, not to defend their homes, but to uphold the Roman Catholic faith. Individually brave, they met death, whether in the field or on the scaffold, with equal calmness ; but their want of discipline exposed them to frequent reverses when brought into collision with regular troops — which, m^^ignac, however, were soon repaired, as in the wars of Sertorius, '^^98,^oi/ the Moors, and Napoleon, by the unconquerable and per- v. 428. severing spirit of the peasantry.^ VOL, II. 2 P 594 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. The insurgents, after a variety of lesser successes, had ! made themselves masters of Cervera, where they had 1^2^- established their headquarters. The Trappist, after sus- Desperate taiuing scveral gallant actions, was driven back into that Ge'rvera! towu by General Bellido, who attacked him with three May 18. regimcuts drawn out of Lerida, and on the 18 th May made a general assault on the town. To distract the enemy, he set it on fire in four different places, and in the midst of the conflagration, which spread with frightful rapidity, his troops rushed in. The Trappist made a gallant and protracted defence ; but after a conflict of ten hours' duration, from house to house, and from street to street, his men were driven out with great slaughter, though with heavy loss to the victors. Twelve hundred of the Royalists fell or were made prisoners, among whom were One hundred and fifty monks, and nearly half the number 1^428,4291 of tbe Constitutional troops were lost. The Trappist S'l^oa- himself escaped with a few followers to the mountains, Mr'26"' ^'^^'^^ his powerful voice soon assembled a second band, 1823. ' not less gallant and devoted than that which had perished amidst the ruins and flames of Cervera.-* ^g Meanwhile Misas, who had been driven into France, Defeat of rc-entercd Spain, drew together several desultory bands May 26. to his Standard, and carried the war to the very gates of Barcelona. He was attacked, however, by the regular troops in that fortress, driven back to Puycerda, where he was utterly routed, and the remains of his band driven back a second time into France, where they again found an asylum — an ominous circumstance for the republican regime in Spain. But in other quarters the Royalists appeared with indefatigable activity : Galicia was almost entirely, in its mountain districts, in their hands ; Navarre was overrun by their adherents ; and in the neighbourhood of Murcia, Jaimes, a noted partisan, had again raised his standard and drawn together a considerable number of followers. The king, meanwhile, was at Aranjuez, and May 30. on the 30th May, being the day of his fete, an immense HISTORY OP EUROPE. 595 crowd of peasants assembled in the gardens of the palace chap, shouting " El Rey Assoluto ! " which was caught up and ^'- repeated by the soldiers of the guard. The national ^^^z. guard upon this was called out by the Liberal authorities, and dispersed tlie crowd ; in the course of which one of them drew his sabre against the Infant Don Carlos, and was with difficulty saved by that prince from the fate which awaited him at the hands of the enraged soldiery. On the same day a still more serious tumult broke out at Valencia, where a great mob assembled, shouting, " Long Uye Elio ! — Down with the Constitution ! " and proceeded to the citadel where that general still lay in prison, having never been brought to trial. They got possession of the stronghold by the aid of the garrison by which it was held, but were immediately invested there by the national guard and remainder of the garrison of the place, and being without provisions, they were soon obliged to surrender. The victors now proceeded to Elio's dungeon, shouting " Death to Elio ! " and his last hour seemed to have arrived ; but he was reserved for a still more mournful end, A little gold which he had about him occupied the first attention of the assassins, and meanwhile v. 434, 436] the address of the commander of the place got him extri- i. m^u, cated from their hands and conveyed to a place of safety.^ The intelligence of these events worked the Cortes up to a perfect fury ; and in the first tumult of passion they seveie'iawa passed several decrees indicating their extreme exasper- the cortes, ation, and which contributed in a great degree to the "''"'* ^ sanguinary character which the civil war in the Peninsula soon afterwards assumed, and has unhappily ever since maintained. It was decreed that "all towns, villages, and rural districts, which should harbour or give shelter to the factious, should be treated as enemies with the whole rigour of military law ; that those in which there were factious juntas should be subjected to military exe- cution ; that every convent in which the factious were june t: found should be suppressed, and its inmates put at the 596 HISTORY OP EUROPE. .CHAP. XI. .1822. June 16. ^Ann. Hist. V. 432, 435, 437; Mar- tignac, i. 412, 413. 60. Great ex- tension of the civil war. . disposal of the political authorities" Such extreme measures necessarily produced reprisals on the other side, and led to a war where quarter was neither given nor taken. A few days after, a decree was passed putting 20,000 of the militia on permanent duty, and establish- ing national guards throughout the kingdom on the same, footing as in France during the Revolution — that is, with the ofiBcers of every grade appointed by the privates. .They at the same time summoned the Ministers to their bar to give an account of the state of the kingdom, aud supplicated the king in the most earnest terms to change his advisers, and intrust everything to the Liberal party — a demand which he had the address in the mean time to evade.* The wisdom of this determination on his part was soon apparent ; for a few days after, on a represen- tation by the Ministers of the alarming and distracted state of the kingdom, the Cortes themselves saw the neces- sity of conferring upon them the extraordinary powers which the public exigencies imperiously demanded.^ In truth the state of the country had now become such, that such a measure could no longer be delayed if the shadow even of peace and tranquillity was to be pre- served in the kingdom. The Royalists in the north, far from being discouraged by their reverses, were daily increasing in numbers and audacity, and, sheltered by the * " Que le peuple voie le pouvoir oonfifi 4 des hommes qui aiment les Ubertfe publiques, que la Nation Espagnole voie que le titre et les vertus du T^ritable patriote sent le seul droit, le seul chemin, pour monter jusqu'4 Votre Majestg, pour m6riter la faveur, et pour obtenir les honneuvs qu'elle peut aooorder, et que toute la rigueur de la justice et I'indiguation du roi retombent sur lea mgcbants qui osent profaner son nom auguete et saorg, pour opprimer la patrie et la libertS. Lea Cortea aupplieraient V. M. inatamment, pour faire cesser les craintes auxquelles nous aommes livr^s, et prSrenir lea maux que noua avons indiqufe, de vouloir bien ordonuer que la milioe nationale volontaire aoit imm^diatement augmentSe et armge dans tout le royaume. En mSme temps les Cortfe esp^rent que V. M. fera connaitre k tout gouternement Stranger qui," directement ou indireotemeut, voudrait prendre part k nos affaires domestiquea, que la Nation n'est paa dans le cas de recevoir des lois ; qu'elle a des forces et dea resaouroea pour se faire respecter, et que si elle a |u dSfendre son indSpen- danoe et son roi aveo gloire, c'est aveo la m4me gloire et aveo de plus granda efforts encore qu'elle aaura toujours dfifendre sou roi et aa liberty." — Adresse des Oortis au Roi, 24th May 1822 ; Ann. Hist., v. 433, 434. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 59 1 mountain ridges ■which in that quarter intersect Spain in chap. every direction, they had come to extend their ramifi- ^^' cations over half the kingdom. Eguia, Nunez, and ^®^^- Quesada, who had taken refuge in France after the disaster at Cervera, issued from thence a proclamation juue ii. in the name of the Royalist provisional government, in which they offered 160 reals (32s.) to every Spaniard who should repair, armed and in uniform, to the head- quarters of the Army of the Faith at Roncesvalles before the end of the month. This proclamation put every part of Navarre, Biscay, and the north of Catalonia on fire. In a few days Quesada was at the head of fifteen hun- dred men, with which, ascending the Pass of Ronces- valles, he entered the valley of Bastan ; and as General Lopez-Bafios, with the regular troops from Pampeluna, which had been considerably reinforced, succeeded in cutting him off from France and Biscay, he boldly threw himself into Arragon, where nearly the whole rural population joined him. Meanwhile a still more important success was gained in Catalonia, where Miralles, Romagosa, and the Trappist, having united their forces, to the amount of five thousand men, suddenly moved upon La Sue d'Urgel, . a fortified town on the June is. frontier, in which were deposited large stores of artillery and ammunition. Encouraged by their partisans within June 21. the town, the Royalists in a few days ventured upon an assault by escalade. The attempt was made at dead of night : the Trappist, with a huge cross in one hand and his whip in the other, was the first man of the assaulting columns that ascended the ladders; and, after a sanguinary contest of several hours' duration, the whole forts and town were taken, with sixty pieces of cannon, sixteen hundred muskets, and large stores of ammunition. Great , , „_ . . T • p 1 'Ann. Hist. part of the garrison were, m retaliation for the massacre v. 438, 439; at Cervera, and subsequent decrees of the Cortes prohi-i.4i4,4J5l biting quarter, put to death without mercy.^ This great success, by far the most important which 598 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, had yet attended the Royalist arms, gave an entirely nev character to the war, by diflfusing universal encouragement 1822. 61 among their partisans, and giving them a base of opera- Depbrabie tious, the munimcnts of war, and a secure place of refuge Spanish*''* ^^ case of disaster. It in a manner stilled the passions finances. qJ ^j^g Cortes, whlch, after voting extraordinary powers June 30. to the Ministry to meet the danger, was prorogued, shortly after the intelligence was received, without oppo^- sition. Even befbre the session was closed, howevier; several quarrels, attended with bloodshed, of sinister augury, had taken place between the royal guards and the national guards of the capital ; and the budget exhibited a melancholy proof of the deplorable state of destitution to which the treasury had been reduced by the distrust and convulsions consequent on the Revolu- tion.* Though the army had been reduced to 62,000 men from 80,000, and the expense of the navy from 104,000,000 reals (£1,040,000) to 80,000,000 reals (£800,000), it was found necessary to contract a loan of 102,000,000 reals (£1,020,000), to cover the ordinary expenses calculated on for 1823. The interest of the debt contracted by the Cortes since 1820 amounted to 65,586,000 reals (£655,800), and the interest of the Steur national debt was no less than 148,894,000 reals junefi, (-£1,488,000), although three-fifths of it had been held ffis?v^44o ^^ extinguished by Church confiscation, and of what re- iil'^' 'mained no less than 2,069,333,613 reals (£20,693,336) had been set down without interest,^ as having been also * The entire debt of Spain in 1822 was thus disposed of by the finance com- mittee of this session of the Cortes : — Total Debt, .... 14,020,572,591 reals, or £140,205,723 Extinguished by confiscation of church and charitable funds by decrees of the Cortes, . . 8,459,896,260 or 84,598,962 Eemained, .... 6,560,676,331 or £55,606,763 Of which bore no interest, . . 2,069,333,613 or 20,693,336 Remained bearing interest, . 3,491,342,718 or £34,913,427 — Finance Ovmmisiioners' Report, June 21, 1822; Annuaire Historic, v. 440,441. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 599 provided for by the Church property confiscated to the chap. state, which was estimated at eight milliards of reals, or £80,000,000 sterling. i^^^- Such a state of the Spanish finances said but little gg either of the benefits which the nation had derived from Riot in Mi- the revolutionary regime during the three years it haddeatiiTf endured, or of the resources either in warlike preparations june^sol"' or national credit to meet the difficulties with which it was on every side beset. But the march of events was so rapid as to outstrip the convulsions inevitable under such a state of the national finances, and induce a crisis much sooner than might have been expected from the comparatively slow progress of pecuniary embarrassment. On the very day on which the Cortes was prorogued a melancholy event occurred, which brought matters to a crisis. An immense crowd assembled and accompanied the king's carriage from the hall of the Cortes to the pal- ace, part shouting " Viva el Rey Netto ! Viva el Rey Assoluto !" part " Viva Riego ! Viva Libertade." To such a length did the mutual exasperation proceed that it reached and infected the royal guard itself, which was nearly as much divided and inflamed; and as i ^^^^ jj.^j^ Landabura, an officer of the guard, of decided Liberal ?■ 44?, 445) feelings, endeavoured to appease the tumult among his i. 416, 417. men, he was shot in the breast, and instantly expired,^ This atrocious murder, for such it really was, though ^^ disguised under the name of a homicide in rixa, excited commence- the most violent feelings of indignation among the Libe- SrSeL- ° rals of all classes in Madrid; for however willing tol^^'Hnd excuse such crimes when committed by, they were by no *^^,8""- means equally tolerant of them when perpetrated on,J™«3o. themselves. The whole city was immediately in a tumult ; July 1. the militia of its own accord turned out, the troops of the line and artillery joined them; the municipality declared its sitting permanent, and everything presaged an imme- diate and violent collision between the Court and royal guard on the one side, and the Cortes, soldiers of the 600 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, line, and militia on the other. The night passed in ~ — ! mutual suspense, both parties being afraid to strike the ^^^- first blow; and next day nothing was done, except an order on the part of the king to have the murderers of Landabura punished, and a decree settling a pension on his widow. Meanwhile the royal guard, against which the public feeling in the metropolis was so violently ex- cited, remained without orders, and knew not how to act. Being more numerous and better disciplined than the regiments in the garrison, and in possession of all the principal posts, it might with ease hare made itself mas- ter of the park of artillery in the arsenal — an acquisition which would have rendered it the undisputed master of the city. Had Napoleon been at its head, he would at once have done so ; the seizure of the park of artillery near Paris by Murat, under his orders, on occasion of the revolt of the Sections in October 1795, determined the 1 Hist, of contest there in favour of the Directory.^ But there was ^p^xlx. ^^ Napoleon in Spain; and the indecision of the Goyern- »am Hist ™^°*' ^J leaving the guard without orders, exposed them T. 444, 446i to destruction, and lost the fairest opportunity that ever i. 4i8f4T9. occurred of reinstating, without foreign aid, the royal authority. 2 Two of the six battalions of which the guard was cora- Departure poscd wcro ou servicc at the king's palace ; the remaining guard S four "w^ere in barracks, detached from each other, in the Jni^i?" city. Fearful of being shut up there by the troops of the line and mihtia, they took the resolution, of their own accord, of leaving the capital and encamping in the neighbourhood— a resolution which was carried into effect, without tumult or opposition, at nightfall on the 1st July. Meanwhile the most energetic preparations were made by the municipality to meet the crisis which was approach- ing, and a fresh corps, called the " Sacred Battalion," was formed of volunteers, consisting for the most part of the most desperate and energetic revolutionary characters, who threatened to be even more formidable to their friends HISTORY OP EUROPE. 601 than their enemies. The Government and permanent chap. deputation of the Cortes were in consternation, and fear- ^^' ing alike the success of either of the extreme parties now '^^'^• arrayed against each other, they sought only to temporise, and if possible effect an accommodation between them. Murillo, who, as captain-general of New Castile, had the entire command of the military and militia in the pro- vince, was the natural chief upon whom it devolved to make head against the insurrection. He was distracted by opposite feelings and duties, for, in addition to his other appointments, the king had recently named him commander of the guard; and it was hard to say whether ^^4" 5^47. he should attend to his public duties, as the head of the l^J^'is^?,?,' J^ ' 1.420,422; armed force in the capital, or the whisperings of his am. Reg. secret inclinations, which led him to devote himself to the 242.' personal service of the king.^ Riego was clear to attack the guards instantly, and in person urged that advice on Murillo. " Who are you V Progress of asked the general, with an ironical expression. " I am," tion" with*" he replied, " the deputy Riego." " In that case," replied f^l^""" the general, " you may return to the congress ; you have -^"'y ^^'^• nothing to do here." Six days passed in fruitless negotia- tions, in the course of which, however, the Liberals gained a decided advantage ; for the Sacred Battalion, during the night of the 3d, got possession of the park of artillery at St Gol, which proved of the utmost importance in the contest which ensued. The royal treasury, meanwhile, was empty, and so low had the credit of the Government fallen that no one in Madrid would advance it a real. Public anxiety was much increased, during this period of suspense, by the intelligence that a regiment of carabineers had revolted in Andalusia, that several corps of militia had joined it, and that their united force was advancing into La Mancha, to join the insurgent guards in the capital, amidst cries of " Viva el Rey Assoluto." Mean- while the opposite forces were in presence of each other in the neighbourhood of the Royalist camp, and frequent dis- 602 HISTORY OF EUROPE. oftAP. charges of musket-shots from the outposts at each other '—■ kept the public in an agony of apprehension, from the be- ]«22. 2ief that the impending conflict had commenced. In eflFect, a combined movement was soon found to be in preparation ; for early on the morning of the 7th, while it was yet dark, the guards broke up in silence and the best order, and advanced rapidly to the capital. They effected their entrance, without difficulty, by a barrier which was not iMartignac, g"^^'^^*^' ^^^ "^'^^^ withiu the city divided into three Ann^fifst' columns. The first advanced to take possession of the V.454 4ssjpark of artillery posted at the gate of St Vincent, the 1822, 24! second to the Puerta del Sol, the third to the Place of the Constitution.^ From the secresy with which this movement was exe- Attack of cuted, arid the success with which in the first instance it was on^il^drid, attended, it was evident that it was the result of a well- foal''' ^^" laid design ; and if it had been carried through with as July 7. much resolution as it was planned with ability, it would in all probability have met with success, and might have altered the whole course of the revolution. But one of those panics so frequent in nocturnal enterprises seized two of the columns when they came in contact with the enemy, and caused the whole undertaking to terminate in disaster. The corps directed to attack the park of artil- lery never reached its destination. Assailed by a few musket-shots from the Sacred Battalion as they approached the gate of St Vincent, they turned about, fled out of the town, and disbanded in the wood of La Monda. The second column was more successful ; it gained possession of the Puerta del Sol, after a vigorous resistance from a body of cavalry stationed there to guard the entrance. But instead of moving on to the general point of rendez- vous in the Place of the Constitution, it marched to the palace to rally the two battalions of the guard stationed there. The third reached the Place of the Constitution without opposition ; but there they found Murillo, Bal- ksteros, Riego, and Alava, at the head of the militia, and HISTORY OP EUROPE. 603 two guns. Though met by a brisk fire, both from the chap. troops and the artillery, they replied by a vigorous and ^'' ■well-sustained discharge of musketry, and forced their ^^^'^ •way into the square, where they maintained themseiTes for some time with great resolution. But at length, hearing of the rout of the corps destined for the attack of the artillery, and discouraged by the non-arrival of the corps which had gained the Puerta del Sol, but gone on instead to the palace to obtain the aid of the battalions in guard there, who were under arms ready to succour them, they broke their ranks and retreated in disorder towards the palace, closely followed by Ballasteros, who with his guns kept up a destructive fire on their ranks. At length the whole guard, with the exception of the corps which had disbanded, found itself united in front of the palace, but in a state of extreme discouragement, and in great con- fusion. There they were speedily assailed by ten thou- sand militia, with a large train of artillery, who with loud shouts and vehement cries crowded in on all sides, and ^■*^°°- ^^\ had already pointed their guns from all the adjacent An"- |e|. streets on the confused mass, when the white flag was 243; Mar- hoisted, and intelligence was received that the guard had i^s^lhi. surrendered.^ This ill-conducted attempt to reinstate the royal authority had the usual effect of all such efforts when' Destruction I 1 1 I 1 • ( rm ^^ *^® royal terminatmg in miscarriage : it utterly destroyed it. Ine guard. 7th July 1822 was as fatal to the crown in Spain as the "^ 10th August 1792 had been to that of Louis in France. The permanent committee of the Cortes, which had been entirely unconnected with these events, immediately took the direction, and tacitly, without opposition, usurped the entire powers of Government. Their first care was that of the guards, who had laid down their arms without any regular capitulation. The committee compelled the king to impose upon the four battalions which had combated the hard condition pf a sulrender at discretion ; the two at the palace, which had not fought, were to retire from 601^ HISTORY OP EUROPE CHAP. Madrid with their arms, but without ammunition, to XI . . 1— distant quarters assigned them, after delivering up the ^^^' murderers of Landabura. The two last battalions de- parted in silence, armed and downcast; but the four others, foreseeing in a surrender at discretion only a snare to involve them in destruction, adopted at the eleventh hour the desperate resolution of resistance. Determined to sell their lives dearly, they opened a general volley on the corps of militia which advanced to disarm them, and, instantly levelling bayonets, charged in close column down the street leading to the nearest gate of the city. All opposition was quickly overthrown, and the entire column succeeded in forcing its way out of the town, closely pursued, however, by two squadrons of the regi- ment of Almanza, some companies of militia, the Sacred Battalion, and a few guns. They sustained great loss, during the pursuit, which was continued until nightfall without intermission. A considerable body of them scaled the walls of the Gasa del Gampo, a country palace of the king, and for some time resisted the pursuers ; but being destitute of provisions, they were obliged to surrender, to the number of 360 men and 9 officers, at two on the following morning. Such of the remainder as were unwounded escaped. The entire loss of the guard in these disastrous days was 371 killed, 700 wounded, and 600 prisoners ; and the brilliant corps which a few days before seemed to hold the des- ' Ann. Hist, tiuies of Spain in their hands, disappeared for ever Ann. keg. ' from its annals. Conducted with more skill, led with 1 822 243 244;'Ma> greater courage, they might, with half the loss, have ^'liT&s. re-established the monarchy and averted the French invasion.! The same day which witnessed the destruction of the en (- •' Defeat'of royftl giiai'd at Madrid, was marked by the suppression of '^entein'" the military revolt in the south of Spain. The Royalist M^cadiz. carabineers and their adher^ts w^e attacked in the neighbourhood of Montero by Geiieiral O'Donoghu, at HISTORY OP EUROPE. 605 •the head of a greatly superior body of Constitutional chap. troops, and completely routed. The fugitives escaped to ^^' the vicinity of Ciudad Real, where they were again '^^''^• attacked on the 16th, and obliged to surrender. About ^"^^^^" the same time a conspiracy of a totally different charac- ter was discovered and defeated at Cadiz. This had been set on foot by Don Alphonso Gueriera, Don Ramon Ceruti, and a number of others, the chiefs of the ultra-revolutionary party in that city, the object of which was to depose all the constituted authorities, proclaim a republic, and divide among themselves all its places and emoluments. The civil and miFitary authorities in thei^„„ jj island of Leon, having received intelligence of the plot, ^^^^'^j^J and having put the garrison and militia under arms, ^^^p.^eo; apprehended the whole conspirators without opposition j. 432, 43s'. on the night of the 9 th July.i These repeated successes utterly prostrated the royal authority in Madrid, and deprived the king of the shadow change of of respect which had hitherto belonged to him. The and com- violent party, supported by the clubs, the press, and the SmpV"/ secret societies, became omnipotent. For some days the ^onirto!'"' king remained shut up in his palace without ministers ; his former ones had resigned, and no one in such a crisis was willing to incur the danger of becoming their suc- cessors. At length the absolute necessity of having some government prevailed over the terrors of those offered the appointments, and a new ministry was appointed, consist- ing, as might be expected in such circumstances, entirely of the leaders of the extreme Liberal party. The king, wholly powerless, agreed to everything demanded of him, provided he were allowed to leave Madrid, and take up his residence at St Ildefonso, which was agreed to. San Miguel, formerly chief of the staff to Riego during the sMartignac, revolution in the island of Leon, was made Minister of ^*^^'j^^[' Fofeign Affairs, with the lead in the Cabinet ; ^ Lopez- ^f" fg^"- Banos, another chief of the Isle of Leon, was appointed 246." Minister at War ; and M. Gasco, one of the most violent 606 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, members of the Opposition, in the last Cortes, of the inte- ^^' rior ; M. Benicio Navarro, another deputy of the same ^*22- stamp, received the portfolio of Justice ; and M. Mariano, Egoa, and Cassay, of the Finances and the Marine re- spectively. The triumph of the extreme Liberals was complete ; their adherents, and those of the most deter- mined kind, filled all the offices of Government. The first care of the new Cabinet was to make an en- Thenew tlro chango in the royal household, and to banish, or de- andpro-' privc of their commands, all the leading men of the coun- pSmente. try whoso sentiments were not in accordance with their own. Murillo, notwithstanding the determined stand he had made at the head of the Constitutional troops against the royal guard, was deprived of his offices of Captain- general and Political Chief at Madrid, which were be- stowed on General Copons, a staunch revolutionist ; Quiroga was made Captain-general of Galicia, and Mina of Catalonia. The Duke del Infantado, the Marquis las Amarillas, General Longa, and several other noblemen, who, although Liberals, were known to belong to the Moderate party, were exiled, some to Ceuta, some to the Canaries ; and in the palace an entire change took place. The Duke de Montemart, Major d'Uomo, Count Toreno, and the Duke de Belgide, were dismissed ; and the Marquis de Santa-Cruz, General Palafox, and Count I Ann. Hist. OuBite, substltutcd in their room. In a word, the extreme Matd'na?' P^^'^J ^^^ evcrywhcro triumphant ; the Jacobins of the i. 437, 438. Revolution, as is usually the case when the malady is not checked, had supplanted the Girondists.^ It soon appeared what the new Government was to be. Murder of aud whether the Jacobins of Spain were to be behind their predecessors of France in their thirst for blood. The soldiers of the guard who had been implicated in the murder of Landabura had already been condemned to death, but the revolutionists demanded, with loud cries, the head of Colonel Geoifioux, an officer of the guard, and HISTORY OP EUROPE. 607 who, although, neither connected -with the death of that chap, man, nor the revolt of the guards, as he was with the two ^^' battalions which remained at the palace, was known to ^^2^- entertain decided Royalist sentiments, and as such was selected as the object of popular indignation. He was arrested accordingly at Butrago, when on his way back to France, of which he was a natiye. When taken, his name was not known, and a falsehood might have saved him ; but when asked who he was, he at once answered, " Geoiffeux, first-lieutenant in the guard." He was im- mediately brought back to Madrid, taken before a court- martial, and condemned to death. His character, how- ever, was generally esteemed, his innocence known. His courage on his trial excited universal admiration ; sym- pathy was warmly excited in his behalf, and even the revolutionary municipality was preparing a petition in his favour. The anarchists feared lest their victim should escape ; the clubs, the press, the mob in the street, were put in motion, and the innocent victim was led out to death. His courage on the scaffold made even his ene- mies blush with shame, and shed a lustre on the cause for which he suffered. General Copons, who, as military commander at Madrid, had confirmed the sentence, soon afterwards gave the clearest proof of its illegality by de- claring the tribunal which had tried him incompetent in the case of some other officers charged with a similar offence, who were not marked out for destruction ; a de-,,^ ^. cision which excited so great a clamour m referenpe i- 440,441; to the former trial, that he was obliged to resign his v. 463. appointment.^ Elio was the next victim. This distinguished general and intrepid man had been three years in prison, charged second trial with alleged offences committed when in command attbnofEilo. Valencia ; but though convicted by the revolutionary tri- bunal, he had never been executed : so flagrant and ob- vious was the iniquity of punishing a military commander 608 HISTOET OP EUROPE. CHAP, for acts done in direct obedience to the orders of Govern- ^^' ment. The cry for his blood, however, was now so, ^®^^* vehement that he was again brought to trial, not on the former charges, but for alleged accession to the riot of 30th May, when an attempt, as already mentioned, had been made by a Royalist mob to eflFect his liberation from prison. The absurdity of charging him with participa- tion in that affray, when at the time he was a close pri- soner, carefully watched under military guard in the citadel, made as little impression on his iniquitous accusers as did his patriotic services and glorious career. No small difficulty was experienced in finding military officers who would descend to the infamy of becoming his judicial murderers. The Count d'Almodavar, the Captain-gene- ral, resigned his office to avoid it ; Baron d'Andilla, ap- pointed in his stead, feigned sickness to escape. None of the generals or colonels in Valencia would sit on the commission ; and they were at last obliged to take for its president a lieutenant-colonel, named Valterra. Every effort was made to suborn or falsify evidence, but in vain. The cannoneers accused of being concerned in the plot for his liberation were offered their lives if they would declare they had been instigated by Elio ; none would consent to live on such terms. An alleged letter was produced by the general to his sister, avowing his participation in Aug. 28. the offence ; it was proved he had no sister. The ac- cused had no counsel, but he defended himself with cour- age and spirit for two hours. Even Valterra long hesi- tated to sign a conviction wholly unsupported by evidence, but the revolutionists were inexorable. The municipahty threatened to make Valterra responsible with his head if J Ann Hist ^® ^^ ^'^^ lustautly sigu the conviction ; the clubs re- v.463;i^n. soundcd with declamations ; a furious mob surrounded 247; Mar- the court-house ; he trembled and obeyed.^ Elio was led ih^ui. out to the scaffold, erected on a public promenade with which he had embellished Valencia during his govern- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 609 ment. He died with the courage which had marked his chap. life, firm in his religious and political principles, and ^'' praying for the forgiveness of his murderers. '^^^• Meanwhile, the civil war in the northern provinces ^^ assumed a more regular and systematic aspect, by the cwiiwarin solemn installation of a regency at Seo d'Urgel on the provinces. 14th September, consisting of the Archbishop of Tarra- '^' gona and the Baron d'EroUes, which appointed ministers to all the offices of state, and professed to administer the government of the state in the name of Ferdinand VII. during his captivity. It soon found itself at the head of an imposing force : a considerable park of field artillery had been collected, uniforms and arms in great quan- tities purchased, officers for a powerful army had re- paired to the royal standard, and twenty thousand men were enrolled under their banners. No less than four hundred and fifty towns and villages in the northern pro- vinces had overturned the pillar of the constitution. Already, on the 23d July, Mequinenza had been carried, July 23. and the garrison, four hundred strong, massacred with savage cruelty, in revenge for the slaughter at Cervera. Lerida and Vich were threatened, and the whole of Catalonia, with the exception of the fortresses, had fallen into the hands of the Royalists. In Navarre, Quesada had been defeated by Lopez-Banos, who surprised his July 3- troops by a nocturnal attack ; but he retreated to Ron- cesvalles, where his dispersed men rejoined his standard.; reinforcements poured in from Biscay, and he was soon in a situation to resume the offensive, and establish him- self in a fortified camp at Irati, where he maintained himself during the whole remainder of the campaign. The regency issued proclamations in the name of the ia„„, 0;,^ king, in which they declared null all his acts since ^^^^jj^ffi he had been constrained to accept the Constitution of i822,2jj 1812, called on the troops to abandon the standard 445,446. ' of treason,^ and engaged to establish a constitutional TOL. II. 2 Q 610 HISTORY OF EUKOPB. CHAP, monarchy based on the ancient laws and customs of the L_ state.* 1822. rpjjg government at Madrid was seriously alarmed at Vigorous these successes of the Royalists in the north ; the estab- Se'r"oiu- lishment of a regular government in the name of the vlmmeifr ^^^S ^t Seo d'Urgel, in particular, struck them with consternation. They acted with vigour to make head against the danger. Mina, appointed captainrgeneral of the seventh military division, which comprehended the whole of Catalonia and part of Arragon, repaired to his post in the beginning of September, and having drawn together a considerable force at Lerida, advanced towards Cervera on the 7th September. It was high time he should do so, for the Constitutional forces had recently before been defeated in an attempt upon Seo d'Urgel Aug. 10. by the Baron d'EroUes, and driven back with great loss into Lerida. The Trappist, who had received orders to penetrate into Navarre in order to eflfect a junction with Aug. 19. Quesada, after sustaining a severe check on the 19th from Zarco del Valle, had succeeded in rallying his troops in Aug. 23. the mountains, and joined Quesada on the 23d. Their united force defeated a division of the enemy at Bena- 1 Ann. Hist ^^^''^' Commanded by Tabuenca, who was shot in cold v. 468, 469; blood. From thence they proceeded against Jaca, an i.447;Ann. important fortress on the frontier commanding one of the 251." ' chief passes into France ; but they failed in the attempt, and retired to the mountains.^ These alternate victories and defeats, in which success * The proclamation of the Baron d'EroUes bore : " We, too, wish for a consti- tution, a fixed law to govern the state ; but we do not wish it to serve as a pretext for license, or to take crime for its ally. After the example of their ancestors, the people, legally assembled, shall enact laws adapted to their man- ners and to the times in which they live. The Spanish name shall recover its ancient glory, and we shall live, not the vile slaves of factious anarchists, but subject to the laws which we ourselves shall have established. The king, the father of his people, will swear as formerly to the maintenance of our liberties and privileges, and we shall thus have him legally bound by his oath." — Pro- clamation of Baron d'EroUes, 18th August 1822 ;' Ann. Reg. 1822, p. 249. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 611 was nearly equally balanced between the contending chap. parties, and cruelty was unhappily practised alike by ^^' both, determined nothing. The arrival of Mina, how- ^^'^'^■ ever, speedily altered the face of affairs, and, combined Caphfre of with the destruction of the royal guard at Madrid, and ^Xnt the general establishment of the most violent revolutionary cSion " authorities iu all parts of the country where the Royalists "^ **"''• were not in force, caused the balance to incline decisively to the Liberal side. He first laid siege to Castelfollit, a considerable town on the river Bregas, which he took after a siege of six days. Five hundred of the garrison Oct. 24. escaped before the assault; the rest were put to the sword after having surrendered. The town was sacked, burned, and totally destroyed. This was done, although Mina himself, in a proclamation after the assault, said, i822"2Mf' "The defence had been long, firm, and obstinate; the^uy^m-, garrison had performed prodigies of valour, and acts of ^""egfMq- heroism equal to the most noble which history has re-™°"*^''^^^ corded." This frightful massacre diffused the utmost m™. '"• consternation in Catalonia, which was not a little increased dot. '25. by a proclamation issued immediately after,i * in which * " 1. Every town or village which shall yield to a band of rebels, amounting iu number to less than one-third of its population, shall be sacked and burnt. " 2. Every town or village which shall surrender to a band of rebels, greater in number than one-third of the inhabitants, and the greater part of which inhabitants shall join the insurgents, shall also be sacked and burnt. " 3. Every town or village which shall furnish succour or the means of subsistence to rebels of any kind, who do not present themselves in a force equal to a third of the inhabitants, shall pay a contribution of one thousand Gatalonian livres, and the members of the municipality shall be shot. " 4. Every detached house in the country, or in any town or village which may be abandoned on the approach of the Constitutional troops, shall be sacked, pulled down, or burnt. " 5. The municipal councillors, magistrates, and cures, who . shall, being within three hours' march of my headquarters, neglect to send me daily infor- mation of the movements of the rebels, shall be subjected to a pecuniary con- tribution ; and if serious disadvantage shall arise from the neglect of this duty, they shall be shot. " 6. Every soldier from the rebel ranks who shall present himself before me, or one of my generals of division, before 20th November next, shall be par- doned. " Mina." — Annual Register, 1822, p. 251. 612 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. Mina threatened the same fate to all who should stiU '■ resist the Liberal forces, offering a free pardon to such as ^^^^- should desert with their arms before the 20th of No- Tember. The cruel resolution to put all to the sword who were found in arms contending against the Liberal forces, was too faithfully executed. All, whether monks, priests, peasants, or soldiers, were shot in cold blood, after having surrendered. Upon receiving intelligence of the fall of CastelfoUit, Continued the Baron d'EroUes hastened to unite himself to the tCRoyai- remains of the garrison, with five thousand men whom he fltlMonhe ^^^ collected in the mountains. Mina advanced to meet from ^r- ^™ • *^® opposite forces met between Tora and Sanchaga, g«i- and the Royalists were surprised and totally defeated. From thence Mina advanced to Balaguer, and its gar- rison, one thousand strong, fearing the fate of that of Nov. 3. CastelfoUit, evacuated the place, and withdrew to the Oct. 27. mountains on his approach. Quesada, a few days before, had been worsted in an encounter with Espinoza in Na- varre, his corps, three thousand five hundred strong, dispersed in the mountains, and he himself obliged to Oct. 28. take refuge in Bayonne. In Old Castile the curate Merino had about the same time been defeated, and his band dispersed near Lerma. The Royalist cause seemed everywhere desperate, and the regency at Urgel, des- pairing of being able to maintain their ground in Spain, Nov. 10. had evacuated that town, and taken refuge in Puycerda, close to the French frontier. The Trappist, after vainly endeavouring to make head against greatly superior Nov! 23! forces, now concentrated against him in Catalonia, had Vm^96'-^^^^ obliged also to take refuge within the French Ann. iieg. ' frontier, and had repaired to Toulouse, where he was the 253j Memo- object of almost superstitious veneration and dread ;^ and E^oz-y- the Baron d'EroUes himself, closely followed by Mina, 24''32."'' ^^^ obliged to accept battle from his indefatigable pur- suer, and being defeated, and his corps dispersed, had 1822. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 613 also found an asylum withia the friendly lines of France, chap. The sole strongholds now remaining to the Royalists in the north of Spain, in the end of November, were the forts of Urgel and Mequinenza, which were immediately invested by Mina ; and although the guerilla contest still continued in the mountains, everything like regular warfare was at an end throughout the Peninsula. 614 HISTORY OP EUROPE. XII. 1822. CHAPTER XII. CONGRESS OF VEEONA — FEENCH INVASION OP SPAIN — DEATH OF LOUIS XVIII. These decisive successes on the part of tlie Spanish CHAP, revolutionists demonstrated the immense advantages they possessed from the command of the Government, the army, the treasury, and the fortified places, and rendered Great'effect it morc than doubtful whether, ■with all the support which b^ftese*^ tlie rural population could give it, the Royalist cause of the Li- "^ovld ever be able, without external aid, to prevail. berais. Experience had now suf&ciently proven, that however individually brave, ardent, and indefatigable the detached corps of the Royalists might be, and however prolonged and harassing the warfare they might maintain in the mountains, they could not venture beyond their shelter without incurring the most imminent hazard of defeat. It was impossible to expect that a confused and undis- ciplined band of priests, monks, curds, peasants, hidalgos, and smugglers, hastily assembled together, in general without artillery, always without magazines or stores, could make head against regular armies issuing out of fortresses amply supplied with both, and conducted by generals trained in the campaigns of Wellington. Im- mense was the impression which these successes pro- duced on both sides of the Pyrenees. There was no end to the exultation of the Liberals, in most of the French and Spanish towns, at victories which appeared HISTORY OP EUROPE. 615 to promise a lasting triumph to their cause. Great as chap. they had been, they were magnified tenfold by the en- ^"' thusiasm of the Liberals in the press of both countries ; ^*'^''^" it -was hard to say whether the declamations of their adherents in the Spanish Cortes or the French Cham- ber of Deputies were the most violent. On the other hand, the Royalists in both countries were proportionally depressed. A ghastly crowd of five or six thousand fugitives from the northern provinces had burst through the passes of the Pyrenees, and escaped the sword of their pursuers only by the protection of a nominally neutral but really friendly territory. They were starv- ing, disarmed, naked, and destitute of everything, and spread, wherever they went, the most heart-rending accounts of their sufi'erings. They had lost all in the , . „. 1 • T ■ 1 1 ■ 1 • 11 1 ^Ann.Hist. contest for their religion and their king — all but the v. 497,498; remembrance of their wrongs and the resolution to avenge i. 4S2f453. them.i These events made the deepest impression upon the Government and the whole Royalist party in France. Effect 'of The exultation of the Liberals in Paris, and the open inTianc" ' lo Pceans sung daily in the journals, filled them with dis- »'"^^""'p^- may. The conviction was daily becoming stronger among all reflecting men, that however calamitous the progress of the revolution had been to Spain, and however much it threatened the cause of order and monarchy in both countries, it could not be put down without foreign inter- ference, and that the Royalists, in combating it, would only ruin themselves and their country, but effect nothing against the organised forces of their enemies. The ques- tion was one of life or death to the French monarchy ; for how was royalty to exist at Paris if cast down at Madrid? The necessity of the case cannot be better stated than in the words of a celebrated and eloquent but candid historian of the Liberal school. " Whatever," says Lamartine, "may have been the faults of the Government of the Restoration at that period, it is impos- 616 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, sible for an impartial historian to disguise tlie extreme !_ clanger against -which Louis XVIII. and his ministers ■^^^ had to guard themselves from the revolutions in the adjoining countries of -Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Piedmont, from which the contagion of military revolu- tions and secret societies had spread into the armies, the last support of thrones. It was not the cause of the French Bourbons which tottered, it was that of all kings and of all thrones. Even more, it was the cause of all the ancient institutions which were sapped in all the south of Europe by the new ideas and institutions. The north itself — Germany, Prussia, Russia — felt themselves penetrated in their inmost veins by that passion for a renewal of things, that pouring of youthful blood into the institutions, that participation of the people in the government, which is the soul of modern times. Entire nations, which had slept for centuries in their fetters, gave symptoms of returning life, and even on the confines of Asia hoisted the signal of the resurrection of nations. All was the work of seven years of peace, and of the free- dom of thought in France. " The Bourbons had given freedom to the press and Lamartine's to the tribuno iu their country ; and that liberty of tion"on thought, re-cchoed from Paris and London in Spain, jeot.™* Italy, and Greece, had occasioned the explosion of the revolutionary elements which had been accumulating for centuries in the capitals of those countries. By a natural rebound, these revolutions — restrained at Naples and Turin, fermenting and combating in Greco -Moldavia and Wallachia, triumphant and exasperated in Spain — reacted with terrible effect on the press, the tribune, the youth, and the army of France. The Constitution proclaimed at Cadiz, which left only the shadow of royalty, which surpassed in democracy the constitution of 1791. in France, and which was nothing in reality but a republic masked by a throne, threw into the shade the Charter of Louis XVIII. and the mixed constitution of Great Bri- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 617 tain. Revolutionary France blushed for its timidity in chap. the career of innovation in presence of a nation which, •^"' like the Spanish, had achieved, at the first step, the '^^^' realisation of all the visions of the philosophy of 1789; which had established freedom of worship in the realm of the Inquisition, vindicated the land from the priesthood in a state of monastic supremacy, and dethroned kings in a nation where absolute royalty was a dogma, and kings a faith. Every audacious step of the revolution at Madrid was applauded, and proposed to the imitation of the French army. The most vehement speeches of the orators in the Cortes, the most violent articles in the revolutionary journals, were reprinted and eagerly read in France ; the insurrection, the anarchy of the Spanish revolution, were the subject of enthusiasm in Paris ; every triumph of the anarchists at Madrid over the throne or the clergy was publicly celebrated as a triumph by the French revolutionists. Spain was on the verge of a repub- lic; and a republic proclaimed on the other side of the Pyrenees could not fail to overturn the Bourbons in France. Europe was slipping from beneath the monarchies; all felt it, and most of all the revolutionists of Paris. Was it possible that the Bourbons and their partisans should alone not perceive it 1 War was declared between their j^^";J^'^°' enemies and themselves : the field of battle was Spain : i* Restau- T -iTTi 11 ration, vii. it was there they must conquer or die. Who can blame 64, 66, them for having not consented to die 1 " ^ But while the considerations here so eloquently set ^ forth demonstrate the absolute necessity of French in- opposite tervention in Spain, and vindicate the steps they took prevailed m accordingly, there were many reasons, equally cogent and tain?* well-founded, which caused a very dififerent view to be taken of the subject in Great Britain. The first of these was the general, it may be said invariable, sympathy of the English with any other people struggling for freedom, and their constant conviction that the cause of insurrection is that of justice, wisdom, and ultimate 618 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, happiness. This is not a mere passing conviction on the ■^"" part of the inhabitants of this country — it is their firm ^®'^''^" and settled belief at all times, and in all places, and under all circumstances. No amount of experience of ruin in other states, or suffering in their own, from the effect of such conyulsions, is able to lessen their sympathy for the persons engaged in them, or shake their belief in their ultimately beneficial consequences. Justly proud of their own freedom, and tracing to its effects the chief part of the grandeur and prosperity which this country has attained, they constantly think that if other nations could win for themselves similar institutions, they would attain to an equal degree of felicity. They never can be brought, generally speaking, to believe that there is an essential difference in race, physical circumstances, and degree of civilisation, and that the form of government which is most beneficial in one situation is utterly ruinous in another. Their sympathy is always with the rebels; their wishes, in the outset at least, for the people and against the government. This was the case in 1789, when nearly all classes in Great Britain were carried away by the deceitful dawn of the French Revolution, and Mr Pitt himself hailed it with rapture; and the same disposition led them, with a few exceptions of reflecting men, to augur well of the Spanish revolution,, and to sympathise warmly with its fortunes. In addition to this, there was another circumstance. Repugnance strougly rootcd in the national feelings, which rendered interTn- the thouglits of any French intervention in Spain pecu- '""■■ liarly obnoxious to every person actuated by patriotic dispositions in Great Britain. Spain had been the battle- field of England and France during the late war; it had been the theatre of Wellington's victories — the most glorious victories her arms had ever gained. The last time the French ensigns had been seen in the Pyrenees was when they were retiring before the triumphant host HISTORY OF EUROPE. 619 which the English general led in pursuit ; the last time chap. the English flag had waved in Roncesvalles was when they ^^^' were preparing to carry a war of retaliation into the ^^^■ heart of France. To think of all this being reversed; of a hundred thousand French retracing their steps as con- querors through those defiles where they had so lately fled before a hundred thousand English, Spaniards, and Portuguese, was insupportable. Most of all did it appear so, when the invading host was now thought to be arrayed in the cause of despots against the liberties of mankind, and the defensive bands of the Spanish were united in the great cause of civil freedom and national indepen- dence. Add to this another consideration, not so obvious to the general feelings of the multitude, influenced by present Dange'r of impressions, but perhaps still more cogent with the far- onhTfamiiy seeing statesman, guided by ultimate results. England had between repeatedly, during the course of the eighteenth century, g'™"^*""* been brought to the brink of ruin by the superiority of the French and Spanish fleets, taken together, to her own : the admirable skill of her admirals, the heroic resolution of her seamen, had alone enabled her to make head against the odds. The fatal error committed by the Tories, in the days of Marlborough, in allowing the Spanish crown to remain on the head of a Bourbon prince, had become apparent to all reflecting men : it was equalled only by the error of the Whigs, in the days of Wellington, in doing their utmost to allow it to remain on the head of a brother of Napoleon. The " family compact " in either case might prove fatal to the independence of Great Britain. Such a compact was in an especial manner to be dreaded, if it became an alliance of feeling and interest, not less than blood and cabinets ; and a Bourbon king, restored to his throne by the arms of a Bourbon prince, was thrown into a close alliance with our hereditary enemies by identity of cause and necessity of situation, 620 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, not less than family connection and the danger of common !_ enemies. 1822. These considerations must ever be entitled to respect, rnfiuence of for they were founded on the generous feelings, a sincere, American though pcrliaps mistaken zeal for the happiness of man- i^imi- tind, and a just appreciation of our political situation, and holders. ^]jg daugcrs which might ultimately come to threaten our independence. But in addition to this there were others less entitled to respect, because based entirely on selfish desires, but not on that account the less likely to guide the opinions and form the wishes of a powerful portion of society. Influenced partly by their constant sympathy with revolutionary efibrts, and partly by the thirst for the extravagant gains offered for loans by the rulers of revo- lutionary states, the capitalists of England had largely embarked in adventures connected with the independence of South America. The idea of " healthy young repub- lics" arising in those immense regions, and equalling those of North America in rapidity of growth and extent of consumption of our manufactures, influenced some ; the prospect of seven, eight, and nine per cent, offered for loans, and for a few years regularly paid, attracted others ; the idea of the cause of liberty and independence spread- ing over the whole of the New World carried away a still greater multitude. No one doubted that these young re- publics, which had been mainly rescued from the colonial oppression of Spain by the sympathising arms of England, and the valour of Wellington's disbanded veterans, would speedily become po^verful states, in close alliance, poli- tical and commercial, with Greati Britain, paying with regularity and thankfulness the ample interest due upon their debts, consuming an immense and daily increasing amount of our manufactures, and enriching in return the fortunate shareholders of the mining companies that were daily springing up, with a large share of the riches of Mexico and Peru. The sums expended by the capitalists of Great Britain HISTORY OF EUROPE. 621 in advances to the revolutionary governments of the chap. Peninsula and their revolted colonies were so great as ■^"' almost to exceed belief. They were stated by Lord ^^^^' Palmerston, in his place in Parliament, at £150,000,000 immense between 1820 and 1850 ; and a considerable part of this the™panish immense sum had been advanced before the end of 1822. AmeSn Payment of the interest even of those vast loans was'"*"^- thought, and not without reason, to be entirely dependent on support being given the revolutionary governments in the Peninsula and South America. It was well known that the independence of the revolted colonies had been mainly secured by the insurrection of the army assembled in the island of Leon, which had also overturned the mon- archy of Spain ; and it was expected, with reason, that the utmost exertions would be made by the royal government, if once restored, to regain their sway over regions with which so lucrative a commerce was wound up, and from which so large a part of the royal revenues was derived. Great fears were entertained, which were afterwards amply justified by the event, that the king, if restored to unre- stricted authority, would not recognise the loans contracted by the Cortes, nearly the whole of which had been sup- plied from London. Influenced by these considerations, the large and powerful body of English capitalists im- plicated in these advances, made the greatest efforts, by means of the press, public meetings, and detached publi- cations, to keep alive the enthusiasm in regard to Spanish freedom and South American independence ; and with such success were their efforts attended, that the people of England were kept almost entirely in the dark as to the real nature and ultimate results of the contest in both hemispheres, and the enthusiasm in their favour was all but universal. A feeling so general, and supported by so many heart- stirring recollections and warm anticipations, could not fail, in a country enjoying the popular form of govern- ment which England did, to communicate itself to the 622 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. House of Commons ; and so powerful was the current, that it is probable no ministry could have been strong .1822. enough to withstand it. But, in addition to this, there viewVof were many circumstances at that period which rendered andM^rCau- any rcsistauce to the popular wishes in this respect siibfect.*^ impossible. The Ministry, which had narrowly escaped shipwreck on the question of the queen's trial, was only beginning to recover its popularity, and the king, who had so long laboured under the load of unpopularity, had for the first time recently experienced, in Dublin and Edinburgh, the intoxication of popular applause. It was not the time to check these favourable dispositions, by running counter to the national wishes on a great question of foreign policy. Add to this, that the Cabinet itself was divided on the subject, and a considerable por- tion, probably a majority, were inclined to go along with the popular views regarding it. Mr Canning, in particular, who, on Lord Londonderry's death, had exchanged the office of Governor-general of India, to which he had been appointed, for the still more important one of Foreign Secretary, was an ardent supporter of these views. He was actuated in this alike by sentiment, ambition, and necessity. His feelings had originally led him to take part with the Whigs ; and although on his entrance into public life he, by the advice of their leaders, joined Mr Pitt, and became one of the most ardent opponents of the French Revolution, yet it was its excesses, not its original principles, which he condemned. His first in- clinations never deserted him through life. The 'steady supporter of Catholic emancipation, he had also warmly embraced the new views in regard to freedom of trade which were then beginning, not only to prevail in Parlia- ment, but to influence Government. During his keen contest for Liverpool, he had been thrown much among, and been on the most intimate terms with, the leading merchants of that city, and become acquainted with all their sanguine expectations as to the immense benefits XII. 1822. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 623 which would accrue to this country from the establishment chap, of South American independence. A .steady supporter of Wellington during the war, the idea of the work he had achieved being undone, and French influence re-established in the Peninsula, was utterly abhorrent to his mind : a pohtician influenced rather by feeling and impulse than reasoning and reflection, he did not see that the cause he was now so anxious to support in Spain was precisely the same as that which he had formerly so energetically combated in France. Finally, he was ambitious, and a great career lay open before him ; he was the man of the people, and they had placed him in power ; he was the champion of England, and his present greatness, as well as future renown, was wound up with the maintenance of its interests and the furtherance of its desires. When views so utterly opposite were entertained on a great question of European politics, upon which it was Congress indispensable that a decision should be immediately agreed"™ adopted by the powers most immediately interested, and p^^eL*^ by whose amity the peace of the world had hitherto been preserved, it was not surprising that the other powers should have become anxious for the result, and eagerly sought after every means of avoiding the dreaded rupture. If England and France came to blows on the Spanish question, it was obvious to all that a desperate European strife, possibly equalling the last in duration and blood, would be the result. For although the military strength of France, backed by that of the Northern powers, was obviously far greater than that of Spain supported by Great Britain and Portugal, yet who could say how long this would last, and how soon an outbreak at Paris might overturn the Government there, and array the strength of France on the side of revolution 1 Tlie throne of Louis XVIII. rested on a volcano ; any day an eruption of the fires smouldering beneath the surface might blow it into the air ; and if such a catastrophe should occur, what security was there either for the independence of other 624 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, nations, or the ability of the Northern powers to with- ^^' stand the advances of revolution supported by the united ^^22- strength of France and England 1 These considerations ■were so obvious, that they forced themselves on every mind ; and in order to avert the danger, a congress was resolved on, and VEEOisrA fixed on as the place of its assemblage. It was originally intended that Lord Londonderry, Members then Forcigu Minister, should himself have proceeded to gres3°there. tilis important Congress ; but his unhappy death rendered this impossible, and the Duke of Wellington was appointed to go in his stead. It was thought with justice that England, in an assembly where the leading object of deliberation would be the French intervention in Spain, could not be so appropriately or ef&ciently represented as by the illustrious warrior who had elFected its liberation from the thraldom of Napoleon. He was accompanied by Lord Strangford, the English ambassador at Con- stantinople, the present Marquis of Londonderry, and Lord Burghersh. France was represented by her Foreign Ministers, M. de Montmorency, M. de la Ferronnay, who was highly esteemed by the Emperor Alexander, at whose court he was ambassador, and M. de Chateaubriand, who was admired by all the world, and who, at his own re- quest, had left the situation of ambassador at London to share in the excitement and deliberation of the Congress. From his known semi-liberal opinions, as well as his great reputation, he was selected to be in some degree a check on M. de Montmorency, who was the representative of the extreme Royalists in France, and might, it was fear- ed, unnecessarily precipitate hostilities. The Emperor Alexander was there in person, accoippanied by Nes- selrode, M. de Takicheff, M. de Strogonoff, his ambas- sadors at Vienna and Constantinople, and Count Pozzo di Borgo. Capo d'Istria, on account of his known in- terest in the Greek insurrection, was absent. Metter- nich, who soon became the soul of the negotiations. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 625 was there on the part of Austria, with Count Lebzeltern, chap. the ambassador at St Petersburg ; and Prussia was ^"' represented by its veteran diplomatists, Prince Harden- ^®^^" berg and Count Bernstorff. Florence was at first i cap. vii. thought of as the place of meeting ; but at the request Lam.^vi' -of the Emperor Alexander it was exchanged for Yerona, ?^'^^f J'*^; on account of the latter city being a sort of midway phateau- station between Spain and Grreece, the two countries gres de ve- which it was foreseen would principally occupy the atten- 22?*' '" ' tion of the Congress.^ Verona, a city celebrated alike in ancient and modern times, is situated at the foot of the Alps, at the place Description where the Adige, after forcing its way through the defile " *"'°*" of Chiusa, immortalised by Dante, first emerges into the smiling plain of Lombardy. It is chiefly inown to tra- vellers from its noble amphitheatre, second only to the Coliseum in solidity and grandeur, and the interior of which is still as perfect as when it was filled with the admiring subjects of the Roman emperors. Its situation, at the entrance of the great defile which leads from Ger- . many into Italy, has rendered it the scene since that time of many memorable events, when rival generals contended for the mastery of the Empire, and the Gothic hordes descended from the north to slake their thirst for spoil with the riches of the fairest part of Europe. The great contest between Otho and Vitellius, which Tacitus has immortalised,^ was decided under its ^"["l^ij, walls; the hordes of Alaric, the legions of Theodoric, 34?""" ' defiled through its gates ; and it was from thence that Napoleon set out at the head of the redoubtable grena- diers who decided the terrible strife between France and Austria on the dykes of Areola. Nor is the charm of imagination wanting to complete the interest of these historic recollections, for it contains the tomb of Juliet, and has been immortalised by the genius of Shakspeare.* * See " The Tomb in Verona," a fragment, but one of the most interesting of the many interesting monuments of Sir E. B. Lytton's genius. VOL. II. 2 ^ 1822. 626 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. The modern city presents an interesting assemblage of the relics of ancient and modern times ; for if the stately remains of its amphitheatre carry us back to the days of the Roman emperors, its fortified bridges, curious arches, and castellated towers, remind us not less forcibly of the times of Gothic strife ; while its spacious squares, ele- gant piazzas, and decorated theatres, bespeak the riches observation, and luxury which have grown up with the peace of mo- dern society. 1 Before going to Verona, M. de Montmorency repaired Views of to Vienna, where he had several confidential interviews rentpfwera 'w^ith M. dc Mettcmich. Their views were entirely in ingrftl™' Tinison ; and as it was anticipated that the intentions of Congress. t]ie cabinet of Berlin would be mainly influenced by those of the Emperor Alexander, who was known to have the utmost dread of the military revolts of Southern Europe, it was with reason expected that the resolutions of the assembled powers would be all but unanimous.. England, indeed, it was well known, would be strongly opposed to . any armed intervention of France in the Peninsula ; but, oppressed as she was with debt, and absorbed in pacific objects, it was not anticipated that she would draw the sword in its behalf, in opposition to the declared resolu- tion of all the great powers on the Continent ; and the extreme division of opinion in Spain and Portugal them- selves, on the subject of the revolution, encouraged the hope that their governments would fall to the ground of themselves, without the necessity of military operations. Yet, notwithstanding the favourable circumstances which a Cap. v!!. augurcd so well for vigorous measures, the Cabinet of lie llf ' Louis XVIII. was much divided on the subject. The Lam^vu' ^^^^ himself, with M. de Villele, his Prime Minister, 96, 99. ' strongly inclined to a pacific policy, and deprecated war as a last resource to be avoided as long as possible.^ Verona exhibited, when the Congress opened within its walls, even more than the usual union of rank, genius, celebrity, and beauty, which are usually attracted by such HISTORY OF EUROPE. 627 assemblages. The Empress of Austria was present, the ex- chap Empress Marie-Louise was there, aud enjoyed the happi- •^"' ness of being again united to her august family ; but the ^''"^^• brilliant dream of her life had already passed away, and Bniiiant the widow of Napoleon had sunk into the obscure wife of ofprbce^Ks her own chamberlain. The Queen of Sardinia, with the tbrsatve- princesses her daughters, the princesses of Tuscany, Mo- ''""'• dena, and several of the German powers, embellished the saloons by their beauty, or adorned them by their charms. Never had any town in Italy exhibited such a combina- tion of everything that could distract the thoughts of the diplomatists, or dazzle the eyes of the multitude. The principal actors and actresses from Paris and Vienna had arrived, and added by their talents to the general enchantment ; splendid balls succeeded each other in rapid succession, intermingled with concerts, in which the genius of Rossini shone forth with the highest lustre. In the midst of all this pomp and splendour, the business of diplomacy proceeded abreast of that of amusement ; the ambassadors were as much occupied as the chamberlains; and a hidden but most formidable power — that of the , ^ ... , . . 1 Lac. 111. Jesuits, and the extreme religious party — carried on a408,4ii; series of intrigues destined to produce the most important 37I," 37s. results.^ The first matter brought under the consideration of the Congress was.the insurrection in Greece, and the com- Treat/for plicated relations of Russia and the Porte ; but they cuatfon'of must be reserved for a subsequent chapter, when that Ja Naptea. important subject will be fully discussed. The state of fggi^*' Piedmont next came under discussion, and as it presented much fewer difficulties, it was soon adjusted. The King of Sardinia declared that the time had now arrived when the state of his dominions was so satisfactory that he could dispense with the presence and protection of the auxiliary Austrian force. The allied sovereigns acceded to his request for its removal, and a treaty was in conse- quence concluded, by which it was stipulated that the 1822. 628 HISTORY OP JEUROPB. CHAP. Austrian troops should begin to evacuate his territories ^^ ' on the 31st December, and that the evacuation should be completed by the delivery of the fortress of Alessandria 1 Treaty ^u the 30th September 1823, By a separate convention, fm^*lan concluded at the same time, itwas agreed that the auxiliary Hist.'v.707i Austrian force which occupied Naples and Sicily, and which 375," 376. was supported entirely at the cost of their inhabitants, should be reduced by seventeen thousand men.^ A strenuous and most praiseworthy attempt was made Resolution by the Dukc of Wellington, uuder Mr Canning'siustructions, IteJie-"' to procure some resolution from the allied powers against fia^'-teade! t^e slavo-trade. He stated, in his note on this subject, that of the eight powers who, in 1815, had signed a declaration against that .atrocious traffic, and expressed a desire to " put a period to a scourge which had so long desolated Africa, disgraced Europe, and afflicted humanity," seven had passed laws with the design of prohibiting their sub- jects entirely from engaging in it ; but Portugal and Brazil continued to carry it on to an unprecedented ex- tent. To such a length was this trade now pushed, that during seven months of the year 1821 above 38,000 human beings had been torn from the coast of Africa, and thrown into hopeless and irremediable slavery ; and from the month of July 1820 to that, of October 1821, no less than 332 vessels had entered the rivers of Africa, to the north of the equator, to buy slaves, each of which could carry 500 or 600 slaves, which would, if they were s Weiiin *^^ filled, imply a transportation of nearly 200,000 human ton's Note, bciugs. Great part of this detestable traffic was stated 1822'; Be- to bo Carried on under the French flag.^ Notwithstand- Stau- ing these appalling facts, which could neither be denied n" v" 26, nor controverted, the resistance on the part of the French bSo^s^' government to any decisive measure which might exclude des Con- them from a share of this lucrative commerce was so eres, Nov, - ■ 28, 1822; great, that all that Great Britain could obtain from the T. 700, 707. Congress was a vague declaration from the five great powers, "that they have never ceased, and will never HISTORY OP EUROPE. 629 cease, to regard the slave-trade as a traffic which has too chap. long desolated Africa, disgraced Europe, and afflicted ^"' humanity ; and that they are ready, by all means in their ^^^^• power, to concur in all measures which may insure and accelerate the entire and final abolition of that commerce." Another subject was brought under the notice of the Congress by Great Britain, upon which the views of its Note of Cabinet and of that of the Tuileries were still more at ?eg!rdj4 variance, and which presaged great and lasting changes rican^nd"^ in both hemispheres. This was the all-important one of p™^*""*' South American Independence. The Duke of Well- ington presented a note to the Congress, in which it was stated, " The connection subsisting between the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the other parts of the globe has for long rendered it necessary for him to recognise the existence de facto of governments formed in different places, so far as was necessary to conclude treaties with them ; the relaxation of the authority of Spain in her colonies in South America has given rise to a host of pirates and adventurers — an insupportable evil, which it is impossible for England to extirpate without the ai^ of the local authorities which occupy the adjacent coasts and harbours ; and the necessity of this co-operation cannot but lead to the recognition de facto of a number of governments of their own creation." Veiled under a desire to suppress the undoubted evil of piracy, this was an attempt indirectly to obtain from the Congress some act or declaration amounting to a recognition of the inde- pendence of South America. The other powers, accord- ingly, saw the object, and immediately took the alarm. Austria answered, " that England was perfectly entitled to defend her commercial interests from piracy ; but as to the independence of the Spanish colonies, Austria would never recognise it, so long as his Christian Majesty had not formally renounced the rights of sovereignty hereto- fore exercised over these provinces." Prussia and Russia answered the note in the same terms ; and in a long and 630 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, able note, drawn by M. de Chateaubriand, on the part of France — "In so grave a question, France feels that 1822. gpain should, in the first instance, be consulted as sove- reign de jure of these colonies. France concurs with England in holding that, when intestine troubles have long prevailed, and the law of nations has thereby been practically abrogated, on account of the weakness of one of the belligerent powers, natural right resumes its empire. She admits that there are inevitable prescriptions of some rights, and that, after a government has long resisted, it is sometimes obliged to yield to overbearing necessity, in order to terminate many evils,, and prevent one state from alone reaping advantages in which other states are entitled to participate. But to prevent the jealousies and rivalries of commerce, which might involve governments against their- will in hostilities, som'e general measure should be adopted ; and perhaps it would be possible to reconcile the interests of Spain, of its colonies, and of the European states, by a measure which, founded on the broad basis of equality and reciprocity, might bring into harmony also the rights of legitimacy and the necessities of policy." The proposed measure, as a mat- ter of course, came to nothing ; but the circumstance of br?and^co"n- '^^^ being broached at all proved what adverse interests gresde've- ^q^g arisiug in the world, and the seeds of what divisions rone, i. 89, .° . 94. were germinatmg beneath the treacherous surface of the European alliance.^ jg But all these subjects of division, important and preg- inatnictions naut with futuro changes as they were, yielded to the viue'ieto Spanish question, for the solution of which the Con- morency re- gross had bceu assomblcd, and which required imme- splti? diate decision. The instructions of M. de Vill^le on this subject were very cautiously worded, and intended, above all, to avoid the appearance of France request- ing from the other powers instructions how to act in the aflFairs of the Peninsula. They bore, " We have not determined to make war on Spain ; the Cortes would HISTORY OF EUROPE. 631 cany Ferdinand back to Cadiz rather than suffer him to chap. be conducted to Verona. The situation of France is not ^"' such as to oblige us to ask for permission for a war of ^^'"^■^• invasion, as Austria was at Laybach ; for we are under no necessity of declaring war at all, nor of asking for succour to carry it on if we do ; and we could not admit of it, if it should lead to the passage of foreign troops through our territory. The opinion of our plenipoten- tiaries upon the question of what the Congress should determine on in regard to Spain is, that France is the sole power which should act with its troops, and that it must he the sole judge of when it is necessary to do so. The French plenipotentiaries must never consent that the Congress should prescribe the conduct which France should pursue in regard to Spain. They should accept of no pecuniary succour nor aid from the passage of troops through our territory. They should be firm in considering the Spanish question in its general aspect, and endeavour to obtain from the Congress a contingent treaty, honourable and advantageous to France, either J,j^^„^°c"„. for the case of a war between herself and Spain, or for g^^s ^p ^e- the case of the powers recognising the independence 0/104.' ' South America." ^ On the other hand, the instructions of England to her plenipotentiary were equally decided, and such as Mr can- apparently to render almost unavoidable a rupture be- stnfctions tween the two powers. Lord Londonderry, before his weiung-" death, had drawn up a note for our plenipotentiaries, g °'t. 27, which repudiated, in the strongest manner, any inter- ^'''^^• ference in the domestic concerns of Spain.''^ Mr Canning had only been forty- eight hours in office when he was * " With respect to Spain, there seems nothing to add to, or vary, in the course of policy hitherto pursued. Solicitude for the royal family, observance of our engagements with Portugal, and a rigid abstinence from any interference in the internal affairs of that countrt/, must be considered as forming the limits of his Majesty's policy."— Marquis Londondebby's Instructions, transferred to the Duke of Wellington, Sept. 14, 1822. Armual Register, 1822, p. 96. (Pub- lic Documents.) 632 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP.' called on to give his' instructions to the Duke of Welling- ^"' ton, -who was appointed successor to that lamented noble- ^^^2- man as the plenipotentiary of England ; but he had no difficulty in at once dra-wing them up. His private inclin- ation, not less than his public duty, led him to adhere to the line marked out by Lord Londonderry. His in- structions to Wellington, accordingly, on this point were, '^ If there be a determined project to interfere, by force or by menace, in the present struggle in Spain, so con- ling'B^nl vinced are his Majesty's Ministers of the uselessness and to'weiung- danger of any such interference, so objectionable does it 27°'i82^*' ^Ppsar to them in principle, as well as utterly impracti- Ann. Reg. cable iu exccution, that, when the necessity arises — or, I Public Do- would rather say, when an opportunity presents itself — I and Ann. am to iustruct your Grace at once frankly and decidedly 68S.'' ^' to declare, that to any such interference his Majesty will not be a party." ^ When instructions so directly at variance were given Measures to the English and French plenipotentiaries upon a great themafority piiblic qucstion, ou which an instant decision required to "^ei^n^the ^^ taken by the powers immediately concerned, it need subject., not be said that the peace of Europe was seriously threat- ened. In effect, the divergence of opinion upon this point, as well as the ulterior one of recognising the inde- pendence of the revolted colonies m South America, was so great, that it probably would have been broken, and a calamitous war ensued, if the other powers had been less unanimous and decided than they were in supporting the French view of the necessity of an armed interven- tion. The Emperor Alexander, from the first, both offi- cially through his plenipotentiaries, and privately in society, expressed his opinion in the strongest manner on this subject, and declared his readiness to support any measures which France might deem essential for its safety. Prussia adopted the same views : the obligations contracted in 1813 rendered no other course practicable HISTORY OF EUROPE. 633 to the Cabinet of Berlin. Austria was more doubtful : chap. Metternich had a mortal dread of the northern Colossus, ^"' and in secret urged M. de Villfele to adopt no measures ^^^'■^• ■which should give the Emperor of Russia a pretext for again moving his troops across Germany. But as he was fully impressed with the danger to Europe from the Te- Tolutionary principles acted upon in Spain, and he had himself coerced them in the most vigorous manner in Italy, he could not ostensibly deviate from the other Con- tinental powers on a subject so vital to their common welfare. Accordingly, after several conferences, in the course of which the Duke of Wellington strongly insisted on the necessity of limiting their interference with Spain to resistance to its external aggressions or attempts at verbaiToct. propagandism, but not attempting any armed interference 171^822^' with 'its domestic concerns, the matter came to this, that ^^g^^gg'^. the Duke of Wellington refused to sign the proems ver- S*^'?"' haux of the conference, when the opinions of the other congrla de powers were expressed in favour of an intervention, in 104, 120.' certain events, in the Peninsula.^ • The mode of deliberating on this subject was very peculiar, but well calculated to cut short the usual eva- Questions sions and subterfuges of diplomatic intercourse. France, prTcefand through its minister, proposed three questions to thOj^^'cmti- Congress, which were as follows: " 1. In case France "^'^^^'^^^^ should find herself under the necessity of recalling her England. ambassador from Madrid, and interrupting all diplo- matic relations with Spain, are the great powers dis- posed to adopt similar steps, and to break off their intercourse with that country also 1 2. If war should break out between France and Spain, in what way, and by what acts, would the great powers give France their moral support, in such a manner as to inspire a salutary terror into the revolutionists of all coun- tries I 3. What, in fine, are the intentions of the great powers in regard to the extent of the material succour 634 HISTORY OF BUEOPE. CHAP, which they are disposed to give to France, in case, on her 1822. requisition, such assistance might appear necessary V To these questions "the three Continental powers answered, on the 30th October, that they would follow the example of France in respect to their diplomatic relations; that they would take the same attitude which France took ; and that they would give all the succour of which it might stand in need. A treaty was to fix the period and mode of that co-operation." The Duke of Wellington answer- ed, on the part of Great Britain, " that having no infor- mation as to the causes of this misunderstanding, and not being in a situation to form a judgment on the hypothe- tical case put, it was impossible for him to answer any of the questions." It was afterwards agreed that, instead of a joint note being prepared by the four Continental powers, and signed by their respective plenipotentiaries, each should toSiemo- address a separate note to the Cabinet of Madrid of the Nov™' same general import, but containing in detail the views 1822, and by which they were severally actuated : which was accord- Questions .•' "^ *' ; of France; inglv douc : whilo the Duke of Wellington addressed a Ann. Hist. ° ■' , ^ . , i i . ^ V. 684, 686. note to the Congress, stating the reasons why his Govern- ment abstained from any such intervention. ^ * * The notes of the four Continental powers were all of the same import ; that of Prussia was the most explicit, and was in these terms : " The Prus- sian Government sees with grief the Spanish Government enter upon a career which menaces the tranquillity of Europe ; it recollects the title to the admir- ation of the world which the Spanish nation has given during so many ages, and the heroic perseverance with which it has triumphed over the ambitious and oppressive efforts of the usurper of the throne of Prance. The moral- state of Spain is such at present, that the foreign powers must necessarily find themselves disturbed by it. Doctrines subversive of all social order are there openly preached and protected; daily insults against all the sovereigns of Europe fill its journals with impunity. The clubs of Spain have their emis- saries in all quarters, to associate with their dark designs conspirators in every country against the public order and the legitimate authority. The inevitable effect of these disorders is seen in the interruption of the relations between France and Spain. The irritation to which it gives rise is such as to inspire the most serious alarm as to the preservation of peace between the two countries. That consideration itself would sufBoe to determine the united sovereigns to break silence on a state of things which from day to day threatens to compromise the tranquillity of Europe. It is not for foreign powers to determine what institutions answer best for the character, manners, and real necessities of the Spanish nation ; but it belongs to them undoubt- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 635 The business of the Congress at "Verona was now chap. concluded, and it had turned out entirely to the advan- ^"- tage of France ; for not only had she gained the consent ^^^'^• of all the Continental states to the policy which sheview deemed it expedient to adopt, but, what was of equal ^^^rreL importance, she had been allowed to remain the judge of'^^'f™" that policy : the other powers had agreed to follow in her wake, not take the lead. For the first time for a very long period, England found herself isolated on the Continent, and doomed to be the impotent spectator of operations which she neither approved of nor could pre- edly to judge of the effects whioli experience has taught them such changes produce upon themselves, and to fix their determination and future position in regard to Spain on these considerations." — Chateadbeiand, Gongrh de Verone, i. 130, 131. On the other hand, the Duke of Wellington, in his note to the Continental sovereigns, said, "The origin, circumstances, and consequences of the Spanish Kevolution, the existing state of affairs in Spain, and the conduct of those who have been at the head of the Spanish Government, may have endangered the safety of other countries, and may have excited the uneasiness of the Govern- ments whose Ministers I am now addressing, and those Governments may think it necessary to address the Spanish Government upon the topics referred to in their despatches. But I would request those Ministers to consider whether the measures now proposed are calculated to allay the irritation against France, and to prevent a possible rupture, and whether they might not with advantage be delayed to a later period. They are certainly calcu- lated to irritate the Government of Spain ; to afford ground for a belief that advantage has been taken of the irritation which subsists between that Gov- ernment and France to call down upon Spain the power of the Alliance, and thus to embarrass still more the difiScult position of the French Government. His Majesty's Government is of opinion, that to animadvert upon the internal transactions of an independent state, unless such transactions affect the essen- tial interests of his Majesty's subjects, is inconsistent with those principles on which his Majesty has invariably acted on all questions concerning the internal concerns of other countries ; that such animadversions, if made, must involve his Majesty in serious responsibility if they should produce any effect, and must irritate if they should not ; and if addressed, as proposed, to the Spanish Government, are likely to be injurious to the best interests of Spain, and to produce the worst consequences upon the probable discussion between that country and France. The King's Government must therefore decline to advise his Majesty to hold a common language with his allies upon this occa- sion ; and it is so necessary for his Majesty not to be supposed to participate in a measure of this description, and calculated to produce such consequences, that his Government must equally refrain from advising his Majesty to direct that any communication should be made to the Spanish Government on the subject of its relations vrith France." — Duke of Wellinotoh's Note to the Allied Powers, 20th November 1822; Awnmal Eegiater, 1822, p. 101. (Public Documents.) 636 HISTORY OF EUROPE. qHAP. rent. Without following out farther the thread of the •'^"' negotiations, which were now substantially decided, it is ^^^- more material to show what were the secret views of the French diplomatists in this, for them, auspicious state of affairs. " The despatch of M. de Montmorency," said Chateaubriand to M. de Villele, " will show you the con- clusion of the affair of Spain, which has turned out entirely as you wished. This evening we are to have a conference,, to determine on the mode of making known the senti- ments of the Alliance to Europe. Russia is marvellously favourable ; Austria is with us on this, though on other points inclined to the English policy ; Prussia follows Austria. The wish of the powers is decidedly pronounced, for a war with Spain. It is for you, my dear friend, to consider whether you ought not to seize the occasion, perhaps unique, to replace France in the rank of mili- tary powers ; to restore the white cockade in a war, in short, almost without danger, to which the opinions of the Royalists and the army strongly incline. There is no question of the occupation of the Peninsula, but of a rapid movement which would restore power to the true Spaniards, and take away from you all disquietude for the future. The last despatches of M. Lagarde prove how easy that success would be. All continental Europe would be for us ; and if England took umbrage, she would not even have time to throw herself on a colony. As to the Chambers, success covers everything. Doubt- brimd to' Isss commerce and the finances would suffer for a moment,, i^iJ'vCTo- ^^^ nothing great can be done without some inconveniences. iia,bct. 31, To destroy a focus of Jacobinism, to re-establish a Bour- 1822; Con- , , •' , , , J. -r, , , gresdeVe- bou. On the throue by the arms or a Bourbon, — these are 145!' '■ ' results which outweigh all considerations of a secondary nature." ^ But while M. de Chateaubriand, M. de Montmorency, and the war party, were with reason congratulating themselves on the success of France at the Congress, very different views were entertained by Louis XVIII. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 637 land M. de Vill^le at Paris. They were sincerely pacific chap. in their ideas, and, not without reason, extremely ap- '''■"■ prehensive of the possible consequences of a war with ^''^^" 23. Spain. It was not external, but internal, danger that viewaofM, they dreaded. They were well aware that Spain, in its and Luu distracted state, would be wholly unable to withstand ^^"^' the arms of France, if these arms were united ; but who could answer for this unanimity prevailing in a war of opinion, when the French troops grouped round the white flag were to be met by the Spanish arrayed under the tri- color standards 1 The recent disasters of the Royalists in Spain had shown how little reliance was to be placed on their support in any serious conflict ; and was there no reason to apprehend that, if the arms and the Liberal press of England were engaged on the side of the re- publicans in the Peninsula, a convulsion fatal to the reigning dynasty might ensue to the south of the Channel 1 These considerations weighed much both with the king and his Prime Minister ; and although, on his return from the Congress, M. de Montmorency was made a duke, yet grave doubts were still entertained whether it was either prudent or safe to go into the measures agreed on by the Congress. They were confirmed in these opinions by the Duke of Wellington, who, on his way back from Verona, had a long and confidential inter- view with Louis XVIII. at Paris, in which he repre- sented to him in the strongest manner the extreme danger which France would run in the event* of a rupture, both from internal dissension and the loss of the alliance and moral support of England. The great personal influence of the Duke of Wellington, the services he had rendered to the royal cause, and the obvious weight of his argu- , ^^^ ^.. ments, produced such an efi"ect, that fliey had well-nigh w, i^os; overturned everything done at Verona, and detached s, ?.' France from the alliance of the Continental sovereigns.^ * • The duke's instructions ou tliis occasipn were as follows : " Tlie Duke of Wellington may declare openly to his Mnjesty the King of France, that the 638 HISTORY OF EUROPE. .CHAP. The first effect it -produced was to overturn M. de YTT ^ Montmoreucj, and place M. de Chateaubriand in his ^^'^^" stead. So uneasy was the king at what the Duke of Secret oor- Wellington had represented, that he demanded a distinct orAi.''de'"'* explanation from M. de Montmorency of the causes of M-'de lT-^ complaint which he had against the Spanish government, garde. rpjjg Jitter replied, " that the causes of difference between France and Spain were not of so precise a kind as to admit of an exact and special definition ; that a ne\y state of things had been formed by the relations of the two countries ; that the opinions in the ascendant in Spain were such as to endanger his Majesty's dominions, and that France would rather incur all the risks of war than expose itself to the inconveniences of the other alter- native." Meanwhile the journals in the interest of the respective ministers commenced a violent contest on the subject, the Journal des Debats maintaining the necessity of preserving peace, the Quotidienne the imperative duty of going to war. In this state of division, both in respect of public opinion and in his own Cabinet, the king, with the concurrence of M. de Villele, adopted the ques- tionable step of opening, through the Prime Minister, a secret correspondence with M. de Lagarde, the ambassa- dor at Madrid, unknown to the Foreign Minister, in which he recommended a conciliatory course of policy, entirely at variance with what had been agreed upon at the Congress, and very nearly in accordance with the views of England -on the subject. The idea of Louis J ... XVIII., and which flattered his secret vanity, was, that 7, 10;" Lam. Fcrdiuaud VII. should follow his example, and give a m. ^' constitution to his subjects,^ which might establish a re- presentative monarchy in harmony with that existing to * Government of His Britannio Majesty has always been opposed to any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Spain. The Spanish Government has given no cause of complaint to any power, and the defects of its constitution are a matter of internal politics, with which no foreign power has any title to interfere."^Mr Cannino's Memorandum to the Duke op Wellihoton, Nov. 4, 1822 ; Capepioue, viii. S, 6. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 639 the north of the Pyrenees. It never occurred to him chap. that, without the support of the allied bayonets, that con- ^"' stitution never would have been accepted in his own ^^^'^" dominions.* As soon as M. de Montmorency was made acquainted with this secret intrigue, which virtually superseded him in Debate on his own department in the most important branch of state cabinet, policy, he insisted on a meeting of the Cabinet being called, natiorof" The point submitted to them was, whether a decided note ^ofe^j^^' prepared by M. de Montmorency, in accordance with ^^^°j^ ™'=" what had been agreed on at Verona, and to which his^. decha- . ° ' ' teaubnand. personal honour as well as the faith of France stood pledged, should be forwarded to Madrid, to supersede the conciliatory and temporising one prepared by M. de VilMe 1 A majority of the council approved of M. de Montmorency's note ; in particular, Peyronnet and Clermont-Tonnerre were energetic in its support. The Duke of Belluno (Victor) strongly advocated the same side. He represented the state of opinion in the army, which he as war-minister had peculiar means of * The note of M. de VillMe approved of by Louis XVIII. set forth—" Since the revolution which occurred in Spain in April 1820, France, regardless of the dangers with which she herself was threatened by that revolution, has used its best endeavours to draw closer the bonds which unite the two kings, and to maintain the connections which unite the two people. But the influ- ences which had led to the changes in the Spanish monarchy have become more powerful than the changes themselves, as it was easy to foresee would be the case. A constitution which King Ferdinand had neither recognised nor accepted in resuming his crown, was imposed upon him by a military insur- rection. The natural consequence of that has been, that every discontented Spaniard has conceived himself entitled to seek by the same method an order of things more in harmony with his opinions and principles, and the use of force has caused it to be regarded as a right. Thence the movement of the guard at Madrid, the appearance of armed corps in different parts of Spain. The provinces adjoining France have been the principal theatre of that civil war. Thence arose the necessity on the part of France to take measures for its own security. The events which have taken place since the establishment of the army of observation at the foot of the Pyrenees have sufficiently justi- fied the foresight of his Majesty in forming it. The precautions of France have appeared just to its allies ; and the Continental powers have adopted the resolution to unite themselves to her, if it should become necessary, to main- tain her dignity and repose. France would have been contented with a resolu- tion at once so friendly and honourable to her ; but Austria, Prusiia, and 640 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, knowing; that the example of the Spanish reyolution 1822. 109, was extremely dangerous for the throne of France ; tha;t the impression it had already produced upon the soldiers might prove prejudicial to the tranquillity of the country; that it was absolutely necessary to act, to extirpate by force that mania for military revolutions ; that the army was well aCFected, and would become, in a campaign, de- voted to the Bourbons, but that it was extremely danger- ous to leave it at rest on the frontier. " Nothing," he added, " is so easy of corruption as a body of troops in a state of inaction : when they advance, they become ani- mated with one spirit, and are incapable of treachery." On the other hand, M. de Villfele, M. de Lauriston, and M. de Corbiere argued in favour of the pacific note, as likely to conciliate matters, and avoid the serious risks of a war of opinion, which might involve all Europe in con- ' Cap. viii. flagration.^ The matter was still in suspense, and the vii'. los.""' issue doubtful, when Louis cut the matter short by de- clarii^ that the note of M. de Villele appeared to him to express with more prudence than that of M. de Mont- morency the opinion of his Cabinet. The consequence Russia have deemed it necessary to add to that act of the Alliance a manifes- tation of their own sentiments. Diplomatic notes have in consequence been addressed to the representatives of these povrers at Madrid, who will follow the instructions of their respective courts. As for you, M. le Comte, you will sSy that the government of the king is intimately united with his allies in the firm determination to repd by every means the revolutionary principle ; and that it participates equally strongly with them in the desire which they feel that the noble Spanish nation may find a remedy of itself for the evils which afBict it — evils which are of a kind to disquiet the governments of Europe, and impose upon them precautions always painful. You will assure them that the people of the Peninsula, restored to tranquillity, will always find in their neighbours sincere and loyal friends. The succour of all kinds which France can dispose of in favour of Spain will always be offered to insure its happiness and increase its prosperity; but you will declare at the same time, that France will relax in none of its protective measures so long as Spain shall be torn by factions. His Majesty's government will not hesitate to re- call you from Madrid, and to seek for guarantees in more effective dispositions, if his essential interests continue to be compromised, and if he loses all hope of an amelioration, which he still hopes from the sentiments which have so long united the French and Spaniards iti the love of their kings and of a wise liberty."— X« President dv, Conseil du, Ministres ait M. le Comte De la Qaedb, Ambassadeiir it Madrid, Paris, 26th Dec. 1822 ; Laoretbllb, Eistoire de la Sestauration, iii. 477-479. Pieces Justificatifs. HISTOKT OF EUROPE. 641 ■was, that M. de Montmorency tendered his resignation, chap. which was accepted ; and M. de Chateaubriand, whom ■^"' public opinion rather than the private favour of the ^*^^" monarch had abeady designed for his successor, was appointed in his stead. Although, however, M. de Chateaubriand was borne forward to the portfolio of foreign affairs by a movement The Var- in the Cabinet which implied an entire change of national paraE of policy on the vital question now at issue between France tinu°e? ™'" and Spain, yet no such alteration in effect took place ; and he was compelled, nothing loth, to fall into the sys- tem of his predecessor. The pacific note drawn up by M, de Villele, and approved of by Louis XVIII., was sent to M. de Lagarde, at Madrid, on the 25th December, soon after the more decided notes of the other Conti- nental powers had been presented; but the warlike pre- parations were not for a moment suspended, and the march of troops to the foot of the Pyrenees continued without intermission. In truth, the current of public opinion in France ran so strongly in favour of war, that, like similar transports which have prevailed in other countries on similar occasions, it was irresistible, and, for good or for evil, must work out its destined effects. The war party in the legislature, always strong, had been greatly augmented by the result of the annual election of a fifth in the preceding autumn, and it now compre- hended five-sixths of the entire Chamber of Deputies. On this occasion, too, for the first time since the Resto- ration, it carried a vast majority of the French nation with it. All classes concurred in demanding hostiUties. The Royalists felt their blood roused at the prospect of strife, as the war-horse does at the sound of the trum- pet. The army rejoiced at the prospect of a contest, and joyfully wended their way to the Pyrenees, hoping to efface the disgrace of Baylen and Vittoria ; the pea- sants trusted that the days of the Empire and of glory were about to return, and the fields of Spain to be laid open to their ambition or their plunder ; the mercantile VOL. 11. ^ ^ XII. 1823. 642 HISTORY OP EUROPE. chap; classes and shopkeepers apprehended, indeed, a diminutioir of their profits from a rupture of peace, and approved the cautious policy of M. de Villele, but they were not in sufficient strength to withstand the general current. The revolutionists and democrats in secret were not dis- . inclined to hostilities : they hoped that the troops, when 23,25;Lam. brought into coUisiou with the tricolor standard, would 112. ' desert their colours, and that, in an attempt to restore the throne of another monarch, Louis would lose his own.^ The British government, however, aware of the divi- Faiiure of siou ou the subjcct which prevailed in the French cabinet, tion"TMt- and of the aversion of the king to war, did all that dejfartureof'^as possiblo to avcrt hostiUtics. Sir William A'Court, amb^ssa-"'' *^^ ambassador at Madrid, received instructions to exert dor. himself to the utmost to procure such a modification of the Constitution from the Cortes itself as might take away all pretext for French interference ; and Lord Fitzroy Somerset was, in the first week of January, despatched from Paris by the Duke of Wellington, in order to co-operate in the same object. All their efforts, however, were in vain. The Spanish government, with that confidence in itself, and insensibility to external dan- ger, which is so characteristic of the nation, obstinately refused to make any concession, or modify the Consti- a Duke of tutiou iu the smallest particular. The consequence was, to hoii "" that the ambassadors of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, Somerset, ^^^1' haviug delivered their respective notes as agreed isasf Ann. °^ ^* *^® Cougross, withdrew from Madrid ; and al- ^s-'lL ^^o^g'i *^® French minister remained behind, and with lu'^c' ^''^ ^' "'^'^o^^^'' continued his good offices, yet they viii.'36,l9. came to nothing; and ere long M. de Chateaubriand despatched a note to M. de Lagarde,^* recapitulating * " Le Gouvernement Espagnol rejetait toute mesure de conciliation ; non- seulement il ne montrait aucun espoir de ramglioration que Ton pourrait at- tendre des sentiments qui avaient, pendant si longtempa, uni les Espagnols et les Franyais ; mais il allait juaqu'a exiger que la France retir&t son annte d'observation, et expulsAt les Strangers qui lui avaient demand^ asile. La France n'est pas aoooutumde & entendre un pareil langage, et elle ne le par- HISTORY OF EUROPE. 643 all the grounds of complaint which France had against chap. Spain, and directing him forthwith to demand his pass- ^"- port. This was accordingly done, and the rapid concen- ^''■^^• tration of forces on the Pyrenees left no doubt that war in good earnest was approaching. The French Chambers met on the 28th January, and the speech of the king, delivered with great solemnity spee^of to a crowded assembly, resounded like a clap of thun- the Opening der throughout Europe. "France owed to Europe achi^,,^^. prosperity which no nation can ever obtain but by a-'™-^^- return to religion, legitimacy, order, and true liberty. It is now giving that salutary example; but the Divine justice permits that, after having made other nations long feel the terrible effects of our discord, we should ourselves be exposed to the dangers arising from simi- lar calamities in a neighbouring kingdom. I have tried," said the king, in a firm accent, " everything to secure the peace of my people, and to preserve Spain herself from the last misfortunes ; but all in vain. The infatua- tion with which my efforts have been rejected at Madrid leaves little hope of the possibility of maintaining peace. I have ordered the recall of my minister, A hundred thousand men, commanded by a prince of my family donne ^ son auteur qu'en eonsid&ation de I'exaspSration qui regue en Eepagne. Qulconque met le pied Bur le territoire franjais est libre, et jouit des droits d'une hospitality inviolable. Les viotimes des commotions qui agitaient I'Espagne s'y gtaient rdfugi^es, et etaient traitees aveo tous les Sgards dus au malheur. L'Espagne s'est-elle conduite d'une plus mauvaise maniere envers la France % ITonseulement elle a donne asile ^ des hommes coupables, condamn€s par les tri- bunaux, mais encore eUe leur a promis des emplois dans ses arm&s. La confu- sion qui regne en Espagne actuellement est prgjudiciable 4 quelques-uns de nos plus grands interSts. Sa Majeste avait dgsirg que son ministre p« ffis- -torigue, vi. 168. ilfomiteiw, 27th Feb. ^ HISTORY OF EUROPE. 669 nounced such infamous expressions, seeing no rules of chap. procedure could condemn an assembly to the punishment ^"" of hearing a man whose maxims and speech recommended '^^''• or justified regicide." M. Manuel attempted to justify himself ; but he was again interrupted by the cries of the Royalists, and the president, hoping to gain time for the passions to cool, adjourned the sitting to the following day. But in this hope he was disappointed, as is gene- rally the case when consideration succeeds after the feel- ings have been thoroughly roused. What is called reflec- tion is then only listening to the re-echo of passion ; one only Toice is heard, one only key is touched, one only sentiment felt. A lover, who is contending with himself, rises from his sleepless couch confirmed, not shaken, in his prepossessions. During the night, a formal motion for the expulsion of the supposed delinquent, for the re- mainder of the session, was prepared by M. de la Bour- donnaye, the acknowledged leader of the extreme Royal- ists ; and although the justice or shame of the Chamber permitted M. Manuel to be heard in his defence, and the debate was more than once adjourned, to enable the numerous speakers, who inscribed their names on the tribune, to be heard on the question, the torrent was irresistible. The determination of the Royalists only increased with the efiervescence of the public mind ; and, amidst agitated crowds which surrounded the Assembly on all sides, and under the protection of squadrons of caralry, the expulsion of M. Manuel, during the remain- March 4. der of the session, was voted, on the evening of 4th '^^"go, m'i March, by a majority of fully two to one, the whole ^™j^™^' Centre coalescing with the Right. The agitation which lf%'^"'- prevailed rendered it impossible to take the vote other- isi. wise than by acclamation.^ The exclusion of a single member, during the remain- der of a single session, was no very serious injury to a party, or blow levelled at the public liberties ; but the passions on both sides were so strongly excited by this 670 HISTORY OP EUROPE, CHAP; imprudent abuse of power by the Royalist majority, that XII, 108, the Liberals resolved to resist it to the very uttermost, ^g^^" It was determined to compel the majority to use force for Dramatic his expulsion ; and the recollection of the risk which en- expulsion, sucd to the thronc from the dragging of M. d'Espremenil from the Parliament of Paris, at the commencement of iHiat. of the first Revolution,^ was of sinister augury as to the iii?§§'io7, effects of enforcing the present decree by similar means. The Government, however, was firm, and resolved, at all hazards, to carry the decree of the Chamber into execution. Every preparation was accordingly made to overawe, and, if necessary, to subdue resistance. The Liberal leaders, however, were determined to have a scene, and, instead of yielding obedience to the de- cree of the Chamber, M. Manuel appeared next morn- ing in the Hall, and took his seat. When invited by the president to retire without disturbance, he rephed; " I told you yesterday I would only yield to force ; I come to make good my word," and resumed his seat. The president then desired the Assembly to evacuate the hall, and retire into their respective apartments, which was immediately done by the whole Right and Centre, but the entire Left remained in their places, grouped around Manuel. Presently the folding-doors opened, and the chief of the bar-officers, followed by a numerous staff of his colleagues, advanced, and read to Manuel the decree of the Chamber. " Your order is illegal," replied he ; "I will not obey it." The peace-officers then re- tired, and the anxiety in the galleries, and the crowd around the Chamber, arose to the highest point, for the "measured step of marching men" was heard in the lobby. Presently the folding-doors again opened, and a detachment of national guards and troops of the line, with fixed bayonets, slowly entered, and drew up in front of the refractory deputy. The civil officer then ordered the sergeant of the national guard, M. Morrier, to execute HISTORY OP EUROPE. 671 the warrant ; but, overcome by the violence of the crisis, chap. and the cries of the deputies around Manuel, he refused ^"" to obey. " Vive la Garde Nationale ! " instantly burst ^^^^• in redoubled shouts from the opposition benches ; " Hon- neur S, la Garde Nationale ! " was heard above all the din in the voice of Lafayette. But the difficulty had been foreseen and provided for by the Government. The national guard and troops of the line were instantly withdrawn, and thirty gendarmes, under M. de Foucault, an officer of tried fidelity and courage, were introduced, igYTsa"' who, after in vain inviting Manuel to retire, seized him A'^j'^^j'Jj. by the collar, and dragged him out, amidst vehement MonitJur, ' gesticulations and cries from the Left, which were heard i823. across the Seine.^ These dramatic scenes, so well calculated to excite the ^^ feelings of a people so warm in temperament as the General French, might, under different circumstances, have over- eLiteTby turned the monarchy, and induced in 1823 the Revolu- ^ar. ''*"" tion of 1830. They were followed next day by a solemn protest, signed by sixty deputies who had adhered to M. Manuel in the struggle, among which the signatures of General Lafayette, General Foy, and M. Casimir Perier appeared conspicuous. But no other result took place. The public mind is incapable of being violently excited by two passions at the same time ; if the national feel- ings have been roused, the social ones are little f^lt. It was a perception of this truth which caused the Empress Catherine to say, at the commencement of the French Revolution, that the only way to combat its passions was to go to war.2 The din, great as it was, caused by the » Hist, of dragging M. Manuel out of the Chamber of Deputies, fTsg-Ysis, was lost in the louder sound of marching men pressing J; ""'• § on to the Pyrenees. The civic strife was heard of no more after it had terminated ; nothing was thought of but the approaching conflict on the fields of Spain. In- cessant was the march of troops towards B^yonne and 672 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. Perpignan, the two points from -which the invasion was XII, 1823. to be made. The roads were covered by columns of in- fantry, cavab-y, and artillery, moving forward towards the Spanish frontier, in the finest order, and in the high- „ ^.^ est spirits: and the warlike enthusiasm of the French, March IS. r ' ■ i i 1 Lam. vii. always strong, was roused to the very highest pitch, by Ann. ntst. the prospect of vindicating the tarnished honour of their MoiiteuV^' arms on the fields of Castile, and re-entering Madrid as ^23-^ ca' conquerors. The Duke of Angouleme set out from Paris, Mi. 120, to take the command of the army, on the 15th March : 126, 145, lie 11 146. and as war was no longer doubtiul, the anxiety on both sides arose to the very highest pitch.^ On their side, the Liberals, both in France and 62 Prepark- Spain, Were not idle. Their chief reliance was on the LiberaiVto presumcd or hoped-for disaffection of the French army ; tioltnlaT fo'" t^^J "^^^^ '^^^^ aware that if they remained united, ^™y- the forces of Spain, debased by misgovernment, and torn by civil war, would be unable to oppose any effectual resistance to their incursion. The most active measures, however, were taken to sow the seeds of disaffection in the French army. Several secret meet- ings of the Liberal chiefs in Paris took place, in order to concert the most effectual means of carrying this design into execution ; and it was at first determined to send M. Benjamin Constant to Madrid to superintend the preparations on the revolutionary side, it being with reason supposed that his great reputation and acknow- ledged abilities would have much influence with the revolutionists in Spain, and be not without its effect on the feelings of the French soldiery. But this design, like many others formed by persons who are more liberal of their breath than their fortunes, failed from want of funds. Benjamin Constant, whose habits of expense were great, and liis income from literary effort considerable, refused to undertake the mission unless not only his expenses were provided for, but an indemnity secured to him, in the event of failure, for the loss of his fortune and fe mSTORT OP EUROPE. 673 the means of repairing it, which his position in Paris chap attorded. This, however, the Liberals, though many of ^"- them were bankers or merchants, possessed of great ^"^s. wealth, declined to undertake ; the Duke of Orleans was equally inexorable; and the consequence was, that Constant refused to go, and the plan, so far as he was concerned, broke down. All that was done was to send a few hundred political fanatics and refugees, who were to be under the command of Colonel Fabvier, and who, though of no importance as a military reinforcement^ might, it was hoped, when clothed in the uniform of the Old Guard, and grouped round the tricolor standard, shake the fidelity of the French soldiers on the banks of the Bidassoa. Their first step was to issue a proclamation Ig^^gfj''- in the name of Napoleon II. to the French soldiers, ?'!*Vc' calling on them to desert their colours, and join the revo- v^^ ^f ^^ lutionary host, a proceeding which amply demonstrated, sisT/cap. ' if it had been required, the necessity of the French inter- us.^^^' vention.i * While hostilities were thus evidently and rapidly approaching on the Continent, and the dogs of war were Feeirngaof held only in the leash, ready to be let loose at a moment's and tho"'"^ warning, to desolate the world, England, indignant and pe°opie''at agitated, but still inactive, remained an anxious spectator of the strife. Never were the feelings of the nation more strongly roused, and never would a war have been entered into by the Government with more cordial and enthu- * " Vdnqueurus de Fleurus, de Igua, d'Austerlitz, de Wagram, vous laisserez- vous aller k leurs insinuations perfides ? Scellerez-vous de voire sang, I'infamie dont on veut vous couvrir, et la servitude de I'Europe enti^re 1 ObSirez-vous i la voix des tyrans, pour oombattre oontre vos droits, au lieu de les d^feudre ; et ne vieudrez-vous dans nos rangs que pour y apporter la destruction et la mort, lorsqu'ils vous sont ouverts pour la liberty sainte qui vous appella du haut de I'enseigne tricolore qui flotte sur les monts Pyrenees, et dont elle brlile d'ombrager encore una fois vos nobles fronts converts de tant d'honora- bles cicatrices ? Braves de toute arme de I'armge franpaise, qui conservez encore dans votre sein I'^tincelle du feu sacre ! o'est i vous que nous faisons un genSreux appel ; embrassez avec nous la cause majestueuse du peuple, contre celle d'une poign^e d'oppresseurs ; la Patrie, I'honneur, votre propre intSr^t le commandent ; venez, vous trouverez dans nos rangs tout ce qui oon- VOL. II. 2 U . this crisis. 674 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, siastic support on the part of the people. This is always ^"" the case, and it arises from the strength of the feelings '^^'' of liberty which are indelibly engraven on the minds of the Anglo-Saxon race. Their sympathy is invariably with those whom they suppose to be oppressed; their impulse to assist the insurgents against the ruling power. They would support the colonies of all countries, except their own, in throwing off their allegiance to the parent state : those who attempt the same system in regard to their own, they regard as worse than pirates. They con- sider revolution a blessing to all other countries except England : there the whole classes possessed of property are resolute to oppose to it the most determined resist- ance. They think, with reason, they have already gone through the ordeal of revolution, and do not need to do so a second time ; other nations have not yet passed through it, and they cannot obtain felicity until they have. Mr Canning, whose temperament was warm, his sym- viewa of pathy with freedom sincere, and his ambition for his coun- ^thuT^£ try and himself powerful, shared to the very full in all *""• these sentiments. No firmer friend to the cause of liberty existed in the British dominions at that eventful crisis, and none whose talents, eloquence, as well as political position, enabled him to give it such effectual support. In truth, at that period it may be said that he held the keys of the cavern of ^olus in his hands, and that Btitue la force, et des compatriotes, dea compagnons d'armes, qui jurent de d^fendre jusqu'a la dernifere goutte de leur sang, leurs droits, la liberty, I'indS- pendauoe nationale. Vive la libert6 ! Vive NapoUon II. 1 Vivent lea braves !" — Chateaubriand, Congrh de V4rone, i. 254, 2S5. In the Observateur Espagnol of 1st Got. 1822, before the Congress of Verona was opened, it was said — " L'6p6e de Damocles qui est suspendue sur la t§te des Bourbons, va bient6t les atteindre. Nos moyeus de vengeance sent de toute Evidence. Outre la vaillante arm^e espagnole, n'avons-nous pas dans cette arm^e sanitaire dix mille chevaliers de la liberty, prfits A se joindre A leurs aneiens officiers, et k tourner leurs armes centre les oppresseurs de la France ! N'avons-nous pas cent mille de ces chevaliers dans I'int^rieur de ce royaume, dont viugt cinq mille au moins dans I'armge, et plus de mille dans la garde royale? N'avons-nous pas pour nous,- cette haine excusable, que lesneuf dixiSmea de la France out vouSe k d'exgerables tyrans?" — L'Obser- i-ateur Espagnol, Ist Oct. 1822. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 675 it rested with him to unlock the doors and let the chap> yinds sweep round the globe. But though abundantly ^"- impelled (as his priyate conversations and correspond- ^''^^■ ence at this period demonstrate) by his ardent dispo- sition to step forward as the foremost in this great conflict, yet his experience and wisdom as a statesman, joined to the influence of Mr Peel, who threatened to resign if an active intervention was attempted, restrained him from taking the irrecoverable step, and preserved the peace of the world when it appeared to be most seriously menaced.* Resolutely determined to abstain from all intervention in the affairs of Spain, and to do his utmost to prevent France from taking that step, he PdUiqu""'' was not the less determined to abstain from actual hos- f^ ''' ?^°" tiiities, and to keep aloof from the conflict so long as it J^'' l^^;- was confined to continental Europe.^ He had too vivid Life, 334; a recollection of what the last Peninsular war had been, i. Se!'^'"'' to engage without absolute necessity in a second; and * " Leave the Spanisli revolution to burn itself out within its own crater. You have nothing to apprehend from the eruption, if you do not open a channel for the lava through the Pyrenees. It is not too late to save the world from a flood of calamities. The key to the flood-gate is yet in your hands ; unlock it, and who shall answer for the extent of devastation 1 ' The beginning of strife is as the letting out of waters.' So says inspired wisdom. Genius is akin to inspiration ; and I pray that it may be able on this occasion to profit by the warning of the parable, and pause." — Mr Canhinq to M. de Chateaubriand (confidential), 27th January 1823; Congris de V^rone, i, 47s. " Well, then, to begin at once with what is most unpleasant to utter : You have united the opinions of this wJwle nation as one man against France. You have excited against the present sovereign of that kingdom the feelings which were imited against the usurper of France and Spain in 1808. Nay, the consent, I grieve to say, is more perfect now than on that occasion ; for then the Jacobins were loath to inculpate their idol: now they and the Whigs and Tories, from one end of the country to the other, are all one way. Surely such a spontaneous and imiversal burst of national sentiment must lead any man, or any set of men, who are acting in opposition to it, to reflect whether they are acting quite right. The Government has not on this occasion led the public— quite otherwise. The language of the Government has been pecu- liarly measured and temperate ; so much so, that the mass of the nation was in suspense as to the opinion of Government tiU it was actually declared; and that portion of the press usually devoted to them was (for reasons perhaps better known on your side of the water than on ours) turned in a directly opposite course."— Mr Canning to Viscount Chateaubkiand, 7th February 182Z; Con<)rpde.Verone,i.i75. 676 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, if he had been otherwise inclined, the majority of the ^^^' Cabinet would not have supported him.* ^^■2^- The peculiar position of Mr Canning at this period Portrfitof has never been so well described as by one who knew ^ng?by"M. him intimately, and had become, as it were, the deposi- MarMUiis. ^^^j ^f jjjg inmost thoughts. " Let us not deceive our- selves," said M. Marcellus, " in regard to Mr Canning. Still undecided, he as yet is in suspense between the monarchical opinions, which have made his former re- nown, and the popular favour which has recently borne him forward to power; but as he attends, above all, to the echo of public opinion, and spreads his sails before the wind which blows, it is easy to foresee to which side he will incline. An 4Idve of Pitt, Tory down to J ji ji^^ this time, he will become half a Whig, and will adopt de chate^' *^® dcmocratic principles if they appear to be in the briand,Lon- asceudaut. His secret inclinations lead him to the aristo- don, Jan. ii*i •• ■ -i^r, volutionary government had caused them all to be for- i823;^c'ap. gotten, and hereditary foes to be hailed as present de- m. liverers.^ The main body of the French army, encouraged by ^^ this flattering reception, advanced with vigour, and that Advan^e^of celerity which in all wars of invasion, but especially d'lngou- those which partake of the nature of civil conflict, is so J^^^y. important an element in success. Resistance was no- where attempted, so that the march of the troops was as rapid as it would have been through their own territory. 1823. May 9. 686 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. The guards and first corps entered Burgos on the 9th May, where they were received with the utmost enthu- siasm, and thence proceeded in two columns towards Madrid, — the first, under the generalissimo in person, by Aranda and Buytrago ; the latter by Valladolid, where the reception oif the troops was if possible still more -flattering. At the latter place, where headquarters May 17. arrived on the 17th May, a flag of truce arrived from the Conde d'Abisbal, who had been left in command at Madrid by the Cortes, they having retired towards Seville, taking the king a prisoner with them. In vain had the monarch declared he would not abandon his capital ; the imperious Cortes forced him away, and he set out accord- May i5. ingly under an escort or guard of 6000 men, leaving Madrid to make the best terms it could with the con- queror. Saragossa, Tolosa, and all the towns occu- pied by the French in the course of their advance, in- stantly, on their approach, overturned the pillar of the Constitution, reinstated the Royalist authorities, and re- ceived the invaders as deliverers. Literally speaking, the Duke d'Angoulgme advanced from Irun to Madrid amidst the acclamations of the people, and under trium- phal arches. Nor was the success of the French less decisive in Upper Catalonia, where the retreat of Mina and the Constitutional troops was so rapid that Moncey in vain attempted to bring them to action ; and within a 1 Ann Hist ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ t^^ fronticrs had been crossed, nearly all the 5^^384,387; fortified places in the province, except Barcelona and 225, '226.' Lerida, had opened their gates and received the French with transports.^ ^^ Nothing could be more agreeable to the Duke d'An- Advance of goul^mc than the ofier on the part of the Conde d'Abisbal to Madrid, and the municipality of Madrid to capitulate on favour- "^ ■ able terms, and accordingly he at once agreed to every- thing requested by them. It was agreed that General Zayas should remain with a few squadrons to preserve order in the capital till it was occupied by the French HISTORY OF BUROPB. 687 troops, wliich was arranged to take place on the 24th chap. May. The guard left, however, proved inadequate to the ^"" task ; the revolutionists, who were much stronger in Madrid ^^■^^• than in any other town the French had yet entered, rose in insurrection, and d'Abisbal only saved his life by flying in disguise, and taking refuge with Marshal Oudinot. The moment was critical, for Madrid was in a state of great excitement, and a spark might have lighted a flame which, by rousing the national feelings of the Spaniards, might, as in 1808, have involved the whole Peninsula in conflagration. But at this decisive moment the wisdom of the Duke d'Angouleme and his military counsellors solved the difficulty, and at once detached the extreme ^^389^92- revolutionary from the patriotic party. M. de Maeti- Iw'm'- GNAC, a young advocate of Bordeaux, destined to cele- Moniteur, brity in future times, drew up a proclamation,^ '' which I823. the prince signed, which soothed the pride of the Cas- * " Espagnols ! Avaut que I'armee fran9aise francMt lea PyrSngea, j'ai dSclarg & voire g^nereuse nation que noua n'^tiona pas en guerre aveo elle. Je lui ai annouc6 que nous venions oomme amis et auxiliaires I'aider i, relever sea autels, k dfilivrer son roi, ^ retablir dans son sein la justice, I'ordre, et la paix. J'ai promis respect aux propri^tga, afiret^ aux peraonnes, protection aux hommes paiaibles. L'Eepagpe a ajoute foi h, mea parolea. Lea provincea que j'ai parcouruea ont re9u lea soldats franjais comme dea frSrea, et la vois publique vous aura appria s'ila ont justifig cet aocueil, et si j'aitenu mea en- gagements. Eapagnols ! si votre roi 6tait encore dans la capitale, la noble mission que le roi mou oncle m'a confine, et que voua connaiasez tout entifire, aerait dfeja, prfete tL s'accomplir. Je n'aurais plus, aprfe avoir rendu le mouarque i, la libertS, qu'3,'appeler sa paternelle soUicitude sur lea maux qu'a aoufferts Bon peuple, sur le besoin qu'il a de repoa pour le prfeent, et de s^ouritg pour I'avenir. L'abaence du roi m'impoae d'autres devoirs. Dans ces con- jonctures difficilea, et pour leaquelles le pasag n'offre pas d'exemple a suivre, j'ai pens6 que le moyen le plus convenable et le plus agrgable au roi, aerait de convoquer I'antique conaeil supreme de la Castille, et le conseil supreme dea Indea, dont lea hautea et diversea attributions embrasaent le royaume et aes possessions d'outre-mer, et de oonfier aux granda corps ind^pendants par leur a^vation, et par la position politique de ceux qui les composent, le soin de dMgner, eux-m^mes, lea membres de la regence." And on the day after his entrance, as the two councils did not conceive themselves authorised by the lavirs to appoint aregen cy, but only to recommend one to the French commander- in-chief, to act during the captivity of Ferdinand VII., he nominated, on their re- commendation, as members of the regency, the Duke del Infantado, the Duke de Montemart, the Baron d'EroUes, the Bishop of Orma, and Don Antonip Gomez Calderon, who on 4th June issued p, proclamation as the Council of Re- gency to the Spanish nation.— ^Mnwaire Bistorique, vi. 721, 722, Appendix. 688 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP. XII. 1823. 76. Entry of the Duke d'Angou- ISme into Madrid. 1 Ann. Hist, vi. 392,393; Moniteur, June 2, 1823. tilians, gratified the feelings of the Rojalists, and disarmed . the wrath of the revolutionists. Everything was accord- ingly arranged in concord for the entry of the prince generalissimo and his army on the morning of the 24th. - Early on the morning of that day an immense crowd issued from the gate by which it was understood the prince was to make his entry, with boughs of trees and garlands of flowers in their hands, and every preparation as for a day of festivity and rejoicing. The windows were all hung with tapestry or rich carpeting ; the hand- somest women in their gala-dresses \vere there, and beautiful forms adorned with chaplets.of flowers graced the spectacle. Precisely at nine, the Duke d'Angoul^me,- surrounded by a brilliant staff, made his appearance at the gate of Recolletts, where a triumphal arch had been erected, at the head of the guards and reserve ; while Marshal Oudinot at the same time entered by the gate of Segovia, from which side he had approached at the head of his corps. Both were received with the loudest demonstrations of joy, amidst the acclamations of the people, the ringing of bells, and the heart-stirring strains of military music. The general enthusiasm was increased by the splendid appearance of the troops, their martial air, the exact discipline and perfect order they every- where maintained. They were saluted with loud ac- clamations in all the streets through which they passed, and in the evening a general illumination gave vent to the universal joy. Never was seen so clear a proof that revolutions are brought about by bold and turbulent minorities overriding supine and timorous majorities. The universal joy equalled that of the Parisians, when their Revolution was closed by the entrance of the Emperor Alexander and allied sovereigns on 31st March 1814.1 Well aware of the importance of following up with all possible rapidity the important advantages thus gained, the Duke d'Angouleme did not repose on his laurels. Two CHAP. XII. HISTORY OP EUROPE. 689 columns, one commanded by General Bordesoult, the other by General Bourmont, set out immediately in pur- _ suit of the revolutionary forces, which, taking the king ^^^^ a prisoner along with them, were hastening by forced Advice of marches towards Seville. So rapid was their flight, that K™^^. the French troops endeavoured in vain to come up with '""'*• them. Bordesoult, who with eight thousand men fol- lowed the direct road from Madrid by Aranjuez to Seville, never got sight of their retiring columns; and although a show of resistance was made to Bourmont, who with an equal force took the road to Badajoz, at Talavera de la Reyna, yet it was but a show. The enemy retreated as soon as the French troops, aided by the Spanish Royalists, appeared in sight. A corps of fif- teen hundred men was attacked and routed near Santa June 9. Cruz by General Dino ; another of equal size dispersed near the mountains of Villiers the next day by the same June 10. general, and three hundred prisoners taken ; the bridge of Arzobisbo was seized two days after : and on the same June 11. day General Bordesoult, who had never fired a shot, arrived at Cordova, beyond the Sierra-Morena, where, the moment the revolutionary troops withdrew, a vehement ^ **<"'"«""■• demonstration, accompanied with the most enthusiastic 1823; am. ebullition of joy, took place in support of the Royalist 396, '398. cause.^ Meanwhile the Cortes, whose sole power consisted, as often was the case in the days of feudal anarchy, in the Proceedings possession of the person of the sovereign, had established tes, and de- themselves at Seville, where a show of respectability was g-erdlnan"/ still thrown over their proceedings by the presence of the ■^"■ English ambassador, who followed the captive monarch in his forced peregrinations. This circumstance, joined to the presence of a considerable English squadron in the bay of Cadiz, led for some time to the belief that the English government, which had evinced so warm a sympathy for the cause of the revolution, would at length give it some more effectual support than by eloquent declamations in VOL. II. ^ ^ 690 HISTOKT OP EUROPE. CHAP. Parliament). But these hopes soon proved illusory. It was ^"' no part of the policy of the English Cabinet to go beyond ^^'^^' the bounds of a strict n eutrality ; and even the liberal ardour of Mr Canning had been sensibly cooled by the sight of the unresisted march of the French troops to Madrid, and the decisive demonstrations afforded that the cause of the revolution was hateful to nine-tenths of the Span- ish people. Even if he had been otherwise inclined, the violence of the Cortes themselves, which increased rather than diminished with the disasters which were accumu- lating round them, ere long rendered any further alliance impossible. On hearing of the approach of the French forces, they proposed to the king to move with them June 10. to Cadiz, so as to be beyond the reach of the French troops and the Royalist reaction. The king, however, who foresaw the approaching downfall of the revolutionary government, and had heard of the rapid approach of his deliverers, positively refused, after repeated summonses, to leave Seville.* Upon this the Cortes held an extra- June u. ordinary meeting, in which, on the motion of M, Galli- ano, they declared the king deposed, appointed a provi- sional regency to act in his stead, and, now no longer attempting to disguise his captivity, forced him and the royal family into carriages, which set out attended by lAnn Hist, ^ight thousaud men for Cadiz, where they arrived three vi.4io,4Ji;days afterwards.^! Only six members of the Cortes had Lam. VII. •' ■' . • f T • 298, 299. courage enough to vote against the motion for deposing the king : Senor Arguelles, and all the influential mem- * " La deputation des CortSs a reprdsentfi de nouveau h sa Majestg, que sa conscience ne pouvait toe compromise ou blessle en oette matiire ; que s'il pouvait error en quality d'homme, il n'gtait comme roi constitutionnel sujet S, aucune responsabilitS ; qu'il ne fallait que se ranger t I'avis de ses conseillers et des repr&entants du peuple, sur qui reposait le fardeau de la responsabilit^ pour le salut du pays. Le roi ayant BignifiS h la deputation qu'il avait sa rSponse, et la mission donnee k celle-ci 6tant remplie, il ne lui restait qu'S. declarer aux CortSs qu'il ne jugeait pas la translation convenable."— ProcJs . Verbal des Oortia, lOth June 1823 ; Annuavre Historiqne, vi. 409, 410. + " Je prie les Cortes, qu'en consequence du refua de sa Majeste de mettre sa personne royale et sa famille en stirete & I'approche de I'invasion de I'ennemi, il Boit declare que le cas est arrive de regarder sa Majegtd comme etant dans HISTORY .OP EUROPE. 691 bers, were found in the majority. The English ambaa- chap. sador, Sir W. A'Court, refused to accompany the deposed ^^^' monarch, and remained at Seville, from whence he went ^*^^' to Gibraltar to await the orders of'his Government. This violent act completed the ruin of the Cortes and the cause of the revolution in Europe, and immediately violent re- subverted it in Spain. No sooner had the last of the se'vmefand revolutionary troops taken their departure on the even- gpSn!' ing of the 12th for Cadiz, than a violent reaction took"^""*'^- place in Seville, which soon extended to all the towns in Spain that still adhered to the cause of the rev.olution. Vast crowds assembled in the streets, shouting " Viva el Rey Assoluto ! Viva Ferdinand ! Viva el Inquisition ! " Disorders speedily, ensued. Several of the Liberal clubs were broken open and pillaged, and the pillars of the Con- stitution were broken amidst frantic demonstrations of joy. Two days after, a corps of the revolutionists under Lopez- Banos entered the city, engaged in a frightful contest in the streets with the Royalists, in the course of which two hundred of the latter perished ; and having gained June is. temporary possession of its principal quarters, he pro- ceeded to plunder the churches of their plate, with which he set out for Cadiz; but finding the road in that direction occupied by General Bordesoult, he made for the con- fines of Portugal with his booty, where he joined a corps of revolutionists under Villa Campa. Two days after. General Bourmont entered Seville, where he permanently re-established the royal authority ; and the forces of the Cortes, abandoning Andalusia on all sides, took refuge within the walls of Cadiz, where twenty thousand men, the last stay of the revolution, were now assembled. Everywhere else the cause of the revolution crumbled into dust. General Murillo, who commanded at Valencia, un Mat d'empScJiement moral prevu par I'artiole 187 de la constitution, et qu'il soit nomrn^ une rlgence provisoire qui eera investie seulement pour le caa de, ou pendant la translation de la plenitude du pouvoir ex^cutif."— Proposi- tio'n de M. Galliano, Uth June 1823; Annuaire Historigue, vi. 410. 692 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, passed over with half his forces to the Royalists ; Ballas- teros, after sustaining a severe defeat at Carabil, was ^^^*' obliged to capitulate, with seven thousand men, to the del G^n"rai French. Carthagena, Tarragona, and all the other for- mnaTn' tresscs, with the exception of Barcelona, Corunna, and ilm^vil' Ferrol, soon after opened their gates, and ere long there 228, 2M;^ remained only to the Liberal leaders the forces shut up vi.4i3,4is; within the walls of Cadiz and Barcelona, and a few 20^' 203. guerillas, who, under Mina, still prolonged the war in the mountains of Catalonia.^ Still the position of the revolutionists in Cadiz was State of strong, for tlie fortress itself had been proved in the late CadS.'" war to be impregnable; the inhabitants were zealous in their support; and the principal leaders and officers of the garrison of twenty thousand men were so deeply im- plicated in the cause, that they had no chance of safety but in the most determined resistance. Above all, the command of the person of the king and the royal family, for whose lives the most serious apprehensions were entertained, gave them the means of negotiating with advantage, and in a manner imposing their own terms on the conquerors. Ferdinand, though nominally restored to his functions, in order to give a colour to their proceedings, was in reality detained a close prisoner in the palace, or rather prison, in which he was lodged, and not allowed to walk out even on the terrace of his abode, except under a strong guard, and within very narrow precincts. Meanwhile Riego issued from the Isle of Leon, as he had done during the revolt in 1820, to endeavour to rouse the inha- bitants of the mountains in the rear of the French armies ; and every preparation was made within the walls for the most vigorous defence. But all felt that the cause was hopeless. The more moderate members of the Cortes jLam.vu. ^^^^ withdrawu and taken refuge in Gibraltar; and 229, 230j ■ even the violent party of Exaltados, who still inculcated Ann. Hist. . „ , . vi. 436, 437. the necessity of prolonging the contest,^ did so rather from the hope of securing favourable terms of capitulation for HISTORY OF EUROPE. 693 themselves, than from any real belief that it could much chap. longer be maintained. ^^^' Encouraged by the favourable reports which he received ^®'^^* on all sides of the defeat or dispersion of the Revolutionists, Advance of and the general submission to the royal authority, the Ta^- Duke d'Angoul^me resolved to proceed in person with A^Ma, the great bulk of his forces to Andalusia, in order to bring *" ^^^^-^/^ the war at once to a close by the reduction of Cadiz. He set out, accordingly, on the 18th July, from Madrid, July is. taking with him the guards and reserve, and leaving only four thousand men to garrison the capital. The Regency had issued a decree annulling all the acts of the revolu- June is. tionary government since the Constitution had been forced upon the king on 7th March 1820, contracted a consi- derable loan, and made some progress in the formation of a Royalist corps, to be the foundation of a guard ; but the extreme penury of the exchequer, the inevitable result of the political convulsions of the last three years, rendered its equipment very tardy. Meanwhile, disorders of ihe most serious kind were accumulating in the provinces ; the Royalist reaction threatened to be as serious as the revolutionary action had been. In Saragossa fifteen hun- dred persons had been arrested and thrown into prison by the Royalists, and great part of their houses pillaged; and similar disorders, in many instances attended with bloodshed, had taken place in Valencia, Alicante, Car- thagena, and other places which had declared for the royal cause. Struck with the accounts of these atroci- ties, which went to defeat the whole objects of the French intervention, and threatened to rouse a national war in Spain, the Duke d'Angouleme published, at Andujar, on ^^^ ^ the 8th August, the memorable proclamation bearing the^^fp ^ name of that place, one of the most glorious acts of the 202, 203, Restoration, and a model for all future times mt^ose |3i; a„„. unhappy wars which originate in difference of political or 437,438. religious opinion.^ • By this ordonnance it was declared, " that the Spanish 694 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP. XII. 1823. 82. Its provi- sions. 1 Cap. vii. 204,205; Ann. Hist, vi. 437; Or- donnaEce d'Andujar, Aug. 8, 1823; Mo- niteur, Aug, 24; Ann. Hist, vi. 724. authorities should not be at liberty to arrest any person without the authority of the French officers ; the com- manders-in-chief of the corps under the orders of his royal highness were instantly to set at liberty all persons who had been arbitrarily imprisoned from political causes, and especially those in the militia, who were hereby authorised to return to their homes, with the exception of such as after their enlargement might have given just cause of complaint. The commanders-in-chief of the corps were authorised to arrest every person who should contravene this decree ; and the editors of periodical publications were put under the direction of the com- manders of corps." Though this ordonnance was dictated by the highest wisdom as well as humanity, seeing it put' a stop at once to the Royalist reaction which had become so violent, and threatened such dangerous conse- quences, yet as it took the government in a manner out of the hands of the Spanish authorities, and seemed to presage a prolonged military occupation of the country, it excited the most profound feelings of indignation at Madrid, and among the ardent Royalists over the whole country. With them, loyalty to their sovereign was identical with thirst for the blood of his enemies. The whole members of the Regency sent in their resignations, and were only prevailed on to withdraw them by explana- tions offered of the real object of the ordonnance; and the diplomatic body made remonstrances, which were only appeased in the same manner.^ * The condition of Spain at this time was such as to * "Jamais I'intention do S. A. E. ne fut d'arr^ter, lecours de la justice dans les poursuites pour des dglits ordiuaires sur lesquels le magistrat doit con- Berver toute la pl6nitude de son autoritfi; les mesures presorites dans I'ordre du 8 Aoiii-iii Buenos Ayres and Potosi, "'"'""" £15,200,000 —Humboldt, NouteUe Espagne, ir. 153, 154. 720 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, entire plan — ■which was to hreah through or modify the 1_ treaties of Vienna, and to establish Bourbon monarchies ^^^^" in South America. Had he discerned this, and lifted icongrfeB the veil, he would have exposed France to great dan- i. 358.°^' ger, for already the alarm had seized the cabinets of Europe."^ The great danger which there was at that period of speech'of Europe being involved in a general war, and the ardent at piy""""^ feelings which Mr Canning had on the subject, cannot s°ftii. be better illustrated than by a speech which he made at Plymouth in the autumn of this year, memorable alike from the sentiments it conveyed and the beauty of the language in which they were couched. " Our ulti^ mate object," said he, " is the peace of the world; but let it not be said we cultivate peace, either because we fear, or because we are not prepared for war : on the contrary, if, eight months ago, the Government did not hesitate to proclaim that the country was prepared for war, if war should unfortunately be necessary, every month of peace that has since passed has made us so much the more capable of exertion. The resources created by peace are the means of war. In cherishing these resources, we but accumulate those means. Our present repose is no more a proof of inability to act than the state of inertness and inactivity in which I have seen those mighty masses that float in the waters above your town, is a proof they are devoid of strength, and incap- able of being fitted for action. You well know, gentlemen, how soon one of those stupendous masses, now reposing on their shadows in perfect stillness — how soon, upon any call of patriotism or necessity, it would assume the likeness of an animated thing, instinct with life and motion — how soon it would ruffle, as it were, its swell- ing plumage — how quickly it would put forth all its ^ Ann. Reg. bcauty and its bravery, collect its scattered elements of 147. ' ' strength, and awake its dormant thunders ! ^ Such as is one of those magnificent machines when springing from inac- 1823. 108. HISTORY OF EUROPE. 721 tion into a display of its strength — such is England chap. herself: -while apparently passive and motionless, she •^"' silently caused the power to be put forth on an adequate occasion." The usual effects of success appeared in the result of the elections which took place for the renewal of the fifth xhedection of the Chamber in the autumn of 1823. Nearly all S|thT/ were in favour of the Royalists, who had now acquired Lfe.^"^"'' a decisive preponderance in the Chamber, sufficient to set at defiance the united strength of the Liberals and Centre. Several appointments were made at this time, all of extreme Royalists, indicating the acknowledged supremacy of that party in the legislature. M. de Villele skilfully availed himself of this favourable state of affairs to contract a loan of 413,980,981 francs (£16,400,000) with the house of Rothschild & Co., which, in exchange for it, received an inscription on the Grand Livre for 23,114,000 francs yearly (£920,000); in other words, they took the stock created at 89.55 per cent. This advantageous loan — by far the most favourable for Go- vernment which had been made since the Restoration — put the treasury entirely at ease, and enabled Government to clear off all the outstanding debts connected with the Spanish war. Encouraged by this eminently favourable state of the public mind, ,M. de Villele resolved on a dissolution of the Chamber, which was done by an ordonnance on 24th December. The colleges of arron^ Dec. 24. dissements were by the ordonnance appointed to meet on the 25th February, those of the departments on the 6th March. They met accordingly, and the result was entirely favourable to the Royalists. In Paris, the centre of the Liberal party, and where they had hitherto in general obtained all the twelve seats, they succeeded in returning only General Toy, M. Casimir Perier, and Benjamin Constant. So entire was the defeat of the Opposition, that over all France they suc- ceeded, out of 434 elections, in gaining only fifteen seats yoL.' 11. ^ ^ 722 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, in the colleges of arrondissements, and two in those of departments — in all, seventeen ; — an astonishing result in 1824. a country so recently torn by popular passions, and indi- cating at once the great change in the composition of the legislature which the institution of the colleges of depart-" ments had made, and the overwhelming influence of mili- tary success on a people so essentially warlike in their M^rch*!"' disposition as the JFrenchi Such was the efi^ect of these H^t.'vii."°' circumstances on the public funds, that notwithstanding viH 2?6^' ^^^ S''®^* ^°^" contracted for by Rothschild, and which 222; Lai. -^vas uot yct fuUy paid into the treasury, the Five per Cents 274. ' rose in the beginning of March to 104.80, an elevation which they had never even approached for half a century.^ To all appearance the Government of the Restoration Great effect was HOW established on the most solid of all bases on haron thl which a constitutional throne can rest, for an overwhelm- tinteaot^' ing majority in its favour had at last been obtained even Prance, jjj ^.jjg popular brauch of the legislature. Yet so closely are the seeds of evil interwoven with those of good in the complicated maze of human afi'airs, that out of this very favourable state of afi'airs arose the principal causes which in the end occasioned its fall. It induced a result — fatal in a free state — that of making Government consider themselves safe if they could command a majo- rity in the Chamber of Deputies; a very natural opinion in men accustomed to look to its votes as determining the fate of administrations, and even of dynasties, but of 2 Lam. vii. ^^1 others the most dangerous, if the period arrives, as it Gap. v": ™^^* ^0 ^^ *^^ course of time, when the public mind is aLd alst ^*''0"g^y excited, and the popular representatives do not vii. 8, 9. ■ respond to its mutations. This tendency revealed itself in the very first measures of the new legislature. ^ The Chambers met on the 23d March, and the king's speech congratulated the country with reason on the eminently auspicious circumstances under which they were assembled. " The triumph of our arms," said the monarch, " which has secured so many guarantees for order, is due HISTORY OP EUROPE. 723 to the discipline and bravery of the French army, con- chap. ducted by my son with as much wisdom as valour." At ■^"' these words, loud cries of " Vive le Roi ! Vive le Due ^'^'^*- d'Angoulgme!" arose on all sides; but subjects moreMeitlngof likely to elicit difference of opinion were next intro- tersfanT" duced. After stating the inconveniences which expe-^„i;^^a rience had proved resulted from the annual election of a '" *4'°y*^ fifth of the Chamber, it announced an intention of intro- Ma^ch 23. ducing a hill for extending the duration of the legislature to seven years, subject to the king's right of dissolution ; and another for the purpose of " providing the means of repaying the holders of Government annuities, or convert- ing their rights into a claim for sums annually, more in accordance with the present state of other transactions ; an operation which cannot fail to have a beneficial in- fluence on commerce and agriculture, and will enable ^djic?™^ Government, when it is carried into effect, to diminish f^^^}'f^^ the public burdens, and close the last wounds of the Hist.'vii. s. Revolution." ^ These words announced the two important measures ^^^ of the session, which were immediately brought forward Lawof sep- by Government. So obvious were the advantages, at considers-' first sight at least, of the first, that the Cabinet were fovourof unanimous on the subject. The sagacious and practical '*• M. de Vill^le, and the ardent and enthusiastic M. de Chateaubriand, alike gave it their cordial support. It was argued in support of this measure, " that the time had now arrived when it had become practicable to remove the great difficulty with which the Bourbons had had to contend since the Restoration. That difficulty was the want of a fixed majority in the Chamber of Deputies, upon which Government could rely for the support of their measures. The inevitable consequence of this was, that anything like a consistent system of government was impossible. The king was obliged to take his ministers at one time from the Liberal, at another from the Royalist side; a single vote might compel an 724 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, entire change in the system of administration, both ex- '— ternal and internal ; one session might undo everything, ^^'^' ho.w beneficial soever, which the preceding session had done. The effect of this was not only to deprive Govern- ment of anything like a fixed or consistent character, but to keep alive party ambition and the spirit of faction in the legislature, from the near prospect which was con- stantly afibrded to either party of dispossessing their antagonists, and seating themselves in power. Add to this, that the annual renewal of a fifth of the Chamber kept the people in a continual ferment, and aggravated the evils of corruption and undue influence, by concen- trating the whole efforts of parties annually on a fifth only of the entire electors. And as to the danger of the i^'^njjigj legislature ceasing to represent public opinion, that was Lam^vH*' gi'^^'^cr iu appcaraucB than reality, because, as the king 276,277; had the power of dissolution, he could at any time give Cap. viii. f . ' , . ,. •' °, . 265,271. the people an opportunity or making any change on this which they might desire."^ Strong as these arguments ' were, and powerfully as Argument thcy spokc to a Govcmment now, for the first time for on the other , . . « i-ii ••■•ji side. ten years, in possession oi a decided majority m the popular branch of the legislature, there were considera- tions on the other side, less pressing at the moment, but perhaps stiU more important in the end. " The change," it was answered, " proposes to repeal a vital part of the Charter, which expressly provides for the annual renewal of a fifth of the Chamber, and, contrary to the whole principles of representative government, goes to introduce an entire change into the constitution. The great, the lasting danger to be apprehended from the alteration is, that it tends to make the king independent of the popular voice, and may bring his legislature into such discredit with the nation as, in troubled times, may induce the most terrible convulsions, in pacific, totally de- stroying its utility. What is the use, where is the moral influence, of a legislature which is at variance with the HISTORY OF EUROPE. 725 great body of the nation 1 A senate which is merely to chap. record the decrees of an emperor, in order to take from ^"' him their responsibility, may be a convenient appendage ^^^' of despotism, but it is no part of the institutions of a free people. But the legislature, if elected for seven years certain, without any means of infusing into it, during that long period, any new blood, any fresh ideas, runs the most imminent hazard of degenerating into such an instrument of despotism. In vain are we told that the monarch may dissolve it, and thus bring in another more in harmony with the general opinion at the moment. What security have we that he will adopt this wise and temperate course 1 Is it not next to certain that he will do just the reverse 1 If the crown is at issue with the people upon some question which strongly interests both, is it probable that the Government will adopt the course of dissolving a legislature which is favourable to its views, and introducing one which is adverse to them 1 As well may you expect a general to disband his faithful guards, and raise a new body of defenders from the ranks of his enemies. And what is to be expected from such a blind reliance of the Crown on an immovable legisla- ture, but such an accumulation of discontent and ill- '^.f °°^H!st. humour in the nation, as cannot fail, on the first occa- 203; mo- sion when the passions of the people are strongly excited, so, 1823. to overturn the monarchy V^ Notwithstanding the strength of these arguments, the justice of which was so fatally verified by the event, the proposed bill, which fixed the duration of the Chamber at seven years, passed both branches of the legislature ^^^^^^^.^^ by large majorities, the numbers in the Deputies being vi. 104,203. 292 to 87, in the Peers 117 to 64.2 The next great measure of the session encountered a ^^^ more serious opposition, and was ultimately unsuccessful, ^aw for a^e The project of Government, which was brought forward interest of by the Finance Minister on 5th April, was to take ad- debt? '""^ vantage of the present high rate of interest, to convert 726 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, the 5 per cents into 3 per cents, taking the latter at *75. ■'^"" They had made arrangements with the leading bankers 1823. jj^ Paris to advance the requisite funds to pay off such of the public creditors as should decline to submit to the reduction, the lenders of the money receiving the new 3 per cents stock at the same rate. This measure, it was calculated, would effect a reduction in the annual charge of the debt of 30,000,000 francs (£1,200,000), and at the same time would establish the credit of Government and the nation on the most solid foundation, by demon- vit'°36^7'' strating the trust of the leading capitalists in the inte- Monite'ur, ' grity of Its administration, and the magnitude of its re- il23;Cap.' sources ; while, by effecting so great a diminution of the 285. ' public burdens, it might pave the way for ulterior measures, which would close the last wounds of the Revolution.-^ It was ascertained at this time that there were 250,000 114. ^ • . • Which "is persons in France holders of Government annuities, of thfoepu- whom more than a half held right to only 500 francs thrown'out (^^O) a-ycar or under. The public funds were thus the by the great savings-bank of the nation ; and it might easily have been foreseen, what the event soon proved, that the proposal to reduce their incomes would excite the most violent commotions. Nothing, accordingly, could exceed the Tiolence with which it was assailed, both in the legislature and in the public journals ; and every day that the discussion lasted, the public excitement became greater. Such, however, was the influence of Government in the Royalist Chamber, that, after a prolonged discus- sion, and having encountered the most violent opposition, it passed the Deputies, on the 3d May, by a majority of 238 to 145. But the result was different in the Peers, where, on the 31st July, it was thrown out by a majority "Moniteur °^ ^^' ^^^ numbcrs being 128 to 94. It was particularly May 4 and' obscrved, that M. de Chateaubriand, though holding the 1823; Aim. situatiou of Forcigu Secretary, did not speak in favour 85, les"' of the ministerial project, and that several of his partyi both in the Peers and Commons, voted against it.^ HISTORY OP EUROPE. 727 In forming an opinion on this decision, it is necessary chap. to diBtinguisL. between the situation of the holders of stock :_ in the English and French funds. In the former, where '^^^" lis. the whole debt has been contracted by money advanced Reflections at different times to Government, it is impossible to dis- crsion? mi- pute that, if a succeeding administration are in a situation the^ngi/sh to repay the capital sum borrowed, the holder of the stock funa^."™"^ has no reason to complain. In this country, accordingly, various parts of the public debt have at different times undergone a reduction of interest, without the slightest complaint, or imputation of injustice to Government. But the case is widely different in France. There the public debt consisted almost entirely of perpetual annui- ties, or " rentes," as they are called, which were contracted by Government for no principal sum advanced at any one time, but as a compensation for the bankruptcies, spolia- tions, and confiscations of the Revolution, when two- thirds of the national debt were swept away, or in consi- deration of sums advanced to extricate Government from its embarrassments, or to effect the liberation of the ter- ritory in 1818. It was an essential condition of all such advances and arrangements, that the annuity was to be perpetual, and it was the understanding that it was to be such which constituted its principal marketable value. To transfer to these holders of rents the principles rightly applied to the English loans of capital was obviously UQ- ^ Lam. vi!. just, and therefore there seems to be no doubt that the 277,728; decision of the House of Peers on this momentous ques- soiim. tion was consonant to justice.^ The rejection of this law gave the utmost satisfaction ^^^ in Paris, and was celebrated by bonfires in the streets spiendid^^ and all the noisy ebullitions of popular rejoicing. It led M^^e^cha- to one result, however, of a very important character, and '^^'^ ™° ■ which, in its ultimate results, was eminently prejudicial to the Government of the Restoration. M. de Chateau- briand was not personally agreeable to Louis XVIII., and he was the object of undisguised jealousy to the whole 728 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, administration. This is noways surprising; genius al- •^^^' ways is so. Power hates intellectual influence, medio- ^^^^' crity. envies renown, ambition dreads rivalry. Obsequious talent, useful ability, is what they all desire, for they aid without endangering them. In truth, since the successful issue of the Spanish war, the position of Chateaubriand had become so commanding that it overbalanced that of the Prime Minister himself. He united in his own person the political influence of Mr Canning, and the literary fame of Sir Walter Scott. This was more than human nature could bear ; a similar combination of political and military power had roused the jealousy which proved fatal to Marlborough. The conduct of Chateaubriand and his friends, on the ques- tion of reduction of the rentes, had indicated a desire to court popularity, which was suspected, not without reason, to spring from a secret design to supplant the Prime Minister. < M. de Villele saw his danger, and resolved to antici- His dismiss- pate the blow. The day after the vote in the Peers on of'Marshi the ventes, M. de Chateaubriand received a notificatioti, Victor. -jj ^j^g coldest terms, from M. de Villele, that his services were no longer required at the Foreign Ofiice ; and, to make the dismissal the more galling, it was sent by a common menial. The portfolio of Foreign Affairs was bestowed on M. de Damas ; and at the same time the office of Minister at War was given to M. Clermont- Tonnerre, in room of Marshal Victor, who received his briandr" dismissal. Chateaubriand, who was very ambitious, and, d^outre ^i^-^i ^^1 ^is great qualities, inordinately vain, felt his fall Th"457, ^66^1y > lie had not manliness enough to act a noble part ^?.'^!,'f"'- on the occaision ; he avenged the minister on the throne ; vii. 287, , , 1 • 1 1 1 . 1 292; Cap. and the pen which had mainly contributed to the restora- sia ' tion of the Bourbons, became one of the most powerful agents in bringing about their fall.^ The remainder of the session presented nothing worthy HISTORY OF EUROPE. 729 of notice in general history but the budget, which exhi- chap. bited the most flattering appearances. From the papers 1— laid before the Chamber, it appeared that the total ^®^^' revenue of the state in 1823 was 1,123,456,000 francs statistics of (£40,120,000), including 100,000,000 (£4,000,000) rh^yeal! borrowed for the Spanish war, and for 1824, only 905,306,633 francs (£36,800,000), in consequence of the cessation of hostilities. The expenditure in the first year was 1,118,025,169 francs (£40,020,000), and in the second 904,734,000 (£36,240,000), leaving in each year a trifling balance of income over expenditure. The public debt in 1823 was 2,700,726,000 francs i^Ann.Hist. (£115,000,000); the army mustered 230,000 combat- 594, elf.' ants, the navy 49 ships of the line and 31 frigates.^ During this year Louis XVIII. lived, but did not ^^^ reign. His mission was accomplished; his work wasRei^o't done. The reception of the Duke d'Angoullme and his xviii. triumphant host at the Tuileries was the last real act of fXsef his eventful career ; thenceforward the royal functions, nominally his own, were in reality performed by others. It must be confessed he could not have terminated his reign with a brighter ray of glory. The magnitude of the services he rendered to France can only be appre- ciated by recollecting in what state he found, and in what he left it. He found it divided, he left it united ; he found it overrun by conquerors, he left it returning from conquest ; he found it in slavery, he left it in free- dom ; he found it bankrupt, he left it affluent ; he found it drained of its heart's blood, he left it teeming with life ; he found it overspread with mourning, he left it radiant with happiness. An old man had vanquished the Revolution ; he had done that which Robespierre and Napoleon had left undone. He had ruled France, and showed it could be ruled without either foreign con- quest or domestic blood. Foreign bayonets had placed him on the throne, but his own wisdom raamtamed 1823. 730 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, him on it. Other sovereigns of France may have left ■^"' more durable records of their reign, for they have written them in blood, and engraven them in characters of fire upon the minds of men ; but none have left so really glorious a monument of their rule, for it was written in the hearts, and might be read in the eyes of his subjects. This arduous and memorable reign, however, so beset His dec'iin- with difficulties, so crossed by obstacles, so opposed by iDg ays. fg^g^iQjj^ ^a.s now drawing to a close. His constitution, long oppressed by a complication of disorders, the result in part of the constitutional disorders of his family, was now worn out. Unable to carry on the affairs of state, sinking under the load of government, he silently re- linquished the direction to M. de Villele and the Count d'Artois, who really conducted the administration of affairs. Madame Du Cayla was the organ by whose influence they directed the royal mind. The pomp of the court was kept up, but Louis was a stranger to it ; he sat at the sumptuous table of the Tuileries, but his fare was that of the hermit in his cell. He presided at the councils of his Ministers, but took little part in their deliberations. His only excitement consisted in frequent excursions in his carriage, which was driven with the utmost speed ; the rapidity of the motion restored for a brief season his languid circulation. He felt, says Lamartine, .the same pleasure in these exercises that a captive does in the pre- sence of the sun. During the summer of 1824 he was manifestly sinking, and he knew it ; but no symptoms of apprehension appeared in his conversation or manner. " Let us put a good face upon it," said he to M. de Villfele, " and meet death as becomes a king." The Minister, however, was more aware than he was how much the public tranquillity depended on his life ; and to prevent alarm on the subject being prematurely ex- cited, the liberty of the press was by royal edict provision- Aug. 1.5. ally suspended, by re-establishing the censure. The people felt the motive, and had delicacy enough to ac- HISTORY OP EUROPE. 731 quiesce in silence in the temporary restraint. Soon after, chap. the influence -which now gained possession of the Go- ^^^' vernment appeared in another ordonnance, which created ^^f^" a new ministry, that of " Ecclesiastical Affairs," which "^" was bestowed on Count Frayssenous, Bishop of Hermo- polis. Grand-master of the University. As he was a'Ann.Hist, man oi ability, and the acknowledged representative or 301 ; Lam. vii. 308, the Parti FrSire, this appointment was of sinister augury 312, for the tranquillity of the succeeding reign.^ The declining days of this monarch were chiefly spent in conversation, an exercise of the mind in which he took His great the greatest delight, as is generally the case with those mmerst whose intellectual faculties in advanced years remain *"""• entire, but who are debarred by increasing infirmities from continuing the active duties of life. " His natural talent," says Lamartine, " cultivated, reflective, and quick, full of recollections, rich in anecdotes, nourished by philo- sophy, enriched by quotations, never deformed by pe- dantry, rendered him equal in conversation to the most renowned literary characters of his age. M. de Chateau- briand had not more elegance, M. de Talleyrand more wit, Madame de Stael more brilliancy. Never inferior, always equal, often superior to those with whom he con^ versed on every subject, yet with more tact and address than they, he changed his tone and the subject of con- versation with those he addressed, and yet was never exhausted by any one. History, contemporary events, things, men, theatres, books, poetry, the arts, the incidents of the day, formed the varied text of his conversations. Since the suppers of Potsdam, where the genius of Vol- taire met the capacity of Frederick the Great, never had ^^^^^ ^.. the cabinet of a prince been the sanctuary of more philo- 310, 311. ' sophy, literature, talent, and taste." ^ Though abundantly sensible of the necessity of the support of religion to the maintenance of his throne, and at once careful and respectful in its outward observances, Louis was far from being a bigot, and in no way the 732 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, slave of the Jesuits, -who in his declining days had got !_ possession of his palace. In secret, his opinions on j^^^- religious subjects, though far from sceptical, were still His rei'i- farther from devout : he had never surmounted the influ- pieslioSl ence of the philosophers who, when he began life, ruled m bs last ggQgj.a,l opinion in Paris. He listened to the suggestions of the priests, when they were presented to him from the charming lips of Madame Du Cayla ; but he never per- mitted themselves any nearer approach to his person. As his end was visibly approaching, this circumstance gave great distress to the Count d'Artois and Duchess d'AngouMme, and the other members of the royal family, who were deeply impressed with religious feelings, and dreaded the king's departing this life without having received the last benediction of the church. They could not, however, for long induce him to send for his confes- sor ; and to attain the object, ' they were at last obliged to recall to court Madame Du Cayla, who had found her situation so uncomfortable, from the cold reception she experienced from the royal family, that she had retired from the palace. She came back accordingly, and by her influence Louis was persuaded to send for the priest, and after confessing received supreme unction. " You alone," said he, taking her hand and addressing Madame Du Cayla, " could venture to address me on this subject. 314, 394."' I will do as you desire : Adieu ! We will meet in another world. I have now no longer any concern with this." ^ At length the last hour approached. The extre- 123. His death, mitics of tho king became cold, and symptoms of mor- "^ ' ■ tification began to appear ; but his mind continued as distinct, his courage as great as ever. He was careful to conceal his most dangerous symptoms from his attend- ants. " A king of France," said he, " may die, but he is never ill ;" and around his deathbed h'e received the foreign diplomatists and officers of the national guard, with whom he cheerfully conversed upon the aflFairs of the day. "Love each other," said the dying monarch HISTORY OP EUROPE. 733 to his family, " and console yourselves by ttat affection chap, for tlie disasters of our house. Providence has replaced ^"' us upon the throne ; and I have succeeded in maintain- ^^^^' ing you on it by concessions which, without weakening the real strength of the Crown, have secured for it the support of the people. The Charter is your best inherit- ance ; preserve it entire, my brothers, for me, for our subjects, for yourselves ; " then stretching out his hand to the Duke de Bordeaux, who was brought to his bed- side, he added, " and also for this dear child, to whom you should transmit the throne after my children are gone. May you be more wise than your parents." He then received supreme unction, thanked the priests and his attendants, and bade adieu to all, and especially M. Decazes, who stood at a little distance, but whose sobs attracted his notice. He then composed himself to sleep, and rested peaceably during the night. At daybreak g^^^^g™- on the following morning the chief physician opened the A?°- ^ist. curtains to feel his pulse ; it was just ceasing to beat, sos; ca'p. " The king is dead," said he, bowing to the Count d' Ar- 383. ' tois, — " Long live the king !" ^ Louis XVIIL, who thus paid the debt of nature, after 124. having sat for ten years on the throne of France, during character the most difficult and stormy period in its whole annals, xviTi'.^ was undoubtedly a very remarkable man. Alone of all the sovereigns who have ruled its destinies since the Re- volution, he succeeded in conducting the Government without either serious foreign war or domestic overthrow. In this respect he was more fortunate, or rather more wise, than either Napoleon, Charles X., or Louis Phi- lippe ; for the first kept his seat on the throne only by keeping the nation constantly in a state of hostility, and the two last lost their crowns mainly by having attempt- ed to do without it. He was no common man who at such a time, and with such a people, could succeed in effecting such a prodigy. Louis Philippe aimed at being the Napoleon of peace ; but Louis XVIIL really was so. 734 HISTORY OP EUROPE. CHAP, and succeeded so far that he died king of France. The XII . '— secret of his success was, that he entirely accommodated ^^^^' himself to the temper of the times. He was the man of the age — neither before it, like great, nor behind it, like little men. Thus he succeeded in steering the vessel of the state successfully through shoals which would have in all probability stranded a man of greater or less capa- city. The career of Napoleon illustrated the danger of the first, that of Charles X. the peril of the last. In addition to this tact and judgment which enabled His pri'vate him to scan with so much correctness the signs of the ^dUak- times, and choose his ministers and shape his measures accordingly, he had many qualities of fessential value in a constitutional monarch, who must always be more or less guided by others. His intellect was clear, his me- mory great, his observation piercing. Though he formed strong opinions from his own judgment, he was ready to listen to considerations on the opposite side ; often yielded to superior weight in argument, and even, when uncon- vinced, knew how to yield when circumstances rendered it expedient to do so. He was humane and benevolent ; few monarchs surmounted so many rebellions with so little effusion of blood ; and the rare deeds of severity which did occur during his reign were forced upon him, much against his will, by the strength of the public voice, or the violence of an overwhelming parliamentary majority. He had his weaknesses, but they were of a harmless kind, and did not interfere with his public conduct. Though oppressed in later years with the corpulence hereditary in his family, and the victim of gout and other painful diseases, he was abstemious in the pleasures of the table, and generally dined amidst the sumptuous repasts of the Tuileries on two eggs and a few glasses of wine. A constitutional coldness, and the infirmities to which he was latterly a victim, preserved him from the well-known weaknesses to which his ancestors had so often been the slaves ; but he yielded to none of them HISTORY OP EUROPE. 735 iu appreciation of the society of elegant and cultivated chap. women, and devoted all his leisure hours, perhaps to a ^"' blaraable extent, to their society, or the daily corre- ^^■^^• spondence he kept up with them. But he did not permit their influence to warp his judgment in affairs of state, and never yielded to it so readily as when employed in pleading on behalf of the unfortunate. The final issue of the Spanish revolution affords the clearest illustration of the extreme danger and" inevitable Political tendency of the military treachery and revolt in which from X^^ it took its rise. No one can doubt that the cause of spaiLh f^! freedom in the Peninsula, and in Europe, was essentially ■">!'''■''"■ and deeply injured by the revolt of Riego and Quiroga in the Isle of Leon in 1820, which at the time was hailed with such enthusiasm by the whole friends of free- dom in the Old and New World. It was not merely from the strong and general reaction to which it of necessity gave rise that this effect took place ; the result was equally certain, and would have been still more swift, had the triumph of the revolutionists continued unin- terrupted. Military treason. Praetorian revolt, even when supported at the time by the voice of a vast majority of the people, can never in the end terminate in anything but destruction to the cause for which it is undertaken, for this plain reason, that, being carried into effect by the strongest, it leaves society without any safeguard against their excesses. This accordingly was what took place in Spain ; it was the triumph of the revolutionists which, by destroying liberty, rendered inevitable their fall. The Royalist reaction, and desolating civil war to which it gave rise, preceded, not followed, the invasion of the French. It arose from the oppressive measures of the Government appointed by the military chiefs, who had been the leaders of the revolt. It was Riego, not the Duke d'Angoul^me, who was the real murderer of liberty in Spain. It was the same iu England. No one sup- poses that either the Long Parliament or Cromwell were 736 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, the founders of British liberty ; what they induced was, ! — the military tyranny which made all sigh for the Resto- ^^' ration. No cause ever yet was advanced by treachery and treason, least of all in the armed defenders of law and order. So true are the words of Wieland, placed in an inscription on the hero's sword : — " Vermesa sich kerner untugendlich, Diess Bchwertes anzumiithen sich ; Treugeht uber alles Untrue schandet alles ! " * The French invasion of Spain in 1823 was a model of Great merit comblued cucrgy and moderation, and affords an apt French iUustratiou of observations made in another work as to fnto*Spl?n tlie consequences which might have resulted from a more m 1823. vigorous action on the part of the allied powers in their J Hist, of invasion of Champagne in 1792.^ Denied and passed x."§§'66,''' over in silence by the Liberal and Ifapoleonist historians, ''^' who had an object in keeping out of view its merits, it was in reality an expedition which reflected equal honour on the government which planned, and the generals and soldiers who executed it. Undertaken in support of Royalist principles, and to overcome a revolutionary con- vulsion, it partook of the dangerous character which more or less belongs to all wars of opinion ; and had it been conducted with less vigour and moderation, it would in- fallibly have lighted a flame which would have involved Europe in conflagration. Jealousy of France is inherent in the Spanish character : it burned as fiercely in the breasts of the Royalists as the Liberals ; a spark might have set the whole country on fire. A cruel massacre, such as that of Murat at Madrid, on 2d May 1808 — an act of perfidy, like that which has for ever disgraced the memory of Napoleon at Bayonne — would at once have caused the entire nation to run to arms. England, in * " Scatheless held by virtue's shield, Dare alone this sword to wield ; God shall bless the faithful hand — Kuin waits the faithless brand ! " HISTORY OF. EUROPE. 737 such an event, could never have remained a passive chap. spectator of the strife, and probably a new Peninsular ^"- ' war would have arisen, rivalling in blood and devastation ^^^s. that which Wellington had brought to a glorious termina- tion. But by advancing with vigour and celerity at once to the capital — by paying for everything, and avoiding the execrable system of making war maintain war — by dis- claiming all intention of territorial aggrandisement, and* generously proclaiming an entire amnesty for political offences, they succeeded in detaching the revolutionary party from the vast majority of the nation, and effecting that which Napoleon, during six campaigns, sought in vain to accomplish. Little blood was shed in Spain, because the wisdom of the measures adopted required little to be shed ; and never was eulogium more just than the generous one pronounced on it by Mr Canning, who said, " Never vi. "so, isi! was so much done at so little cost of human life."^ So great was the advantage gained by the government of the Restoration, in consequence of the glorious issue of it tad near- this campaign, that it went far to establish it on a lasting e'^^the '^ foundation. But for the blind infatuation which, under theXsto- the direction of the priests, guided the Government of '*'"""■ Charles X., it in all probability would have done so. The prophecy of Chateaubriand had been fulfilled to the letter. The Royalists and Republicans had forgot their animosities under the tent ; the reign of Louis XVIII. terminated in a state of peace and unanimity which could not possibly have been hoped for at its commencement. So strong is the military spirit in the French people, so ardent and inextinguishable their thirst for war, that when these passions are once roused, they obliterate for the time fevery other, and unite parties the most opposite, and feelings the most discordant, in the eager pursuit of the ruling national desire. Napoleon himself could not have preserved his throne but for the whirl in which his inces- sant -wars kept the minds of his people. Louis XIV. was, till he became involved in misfortune, the most YOL. II. ^ ■*■ 738 ^ HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, popular monarch who ever sat upon the throne of France ; •^"' and if circumstances had admitted of either Charles X. 1823. Qj, LoTjjg Philippe going to war, and emerging victorious from its dangers, it is not going too far to assert that the family of one or other of them would still have been in possession of it. No doubt can now remain that the French inyasion of 129 The Fr'ench Spain, agaiust which public feeling in this country was spllnwas so strougly excited at the time, was not only a wise justifiable, mgasure on the part of the Bourbon government, but fully justifiable on the best principles of international law. The strength of this case is to be found, not in the absurdity and peril of the Spanish constitution, or even the imminent hazard to which it exposed the royal family in that country, and the entire liberties and property of the country ;— it is to be found in the violent inroads which the Spanish revolutionists and their allies to the north of the Pyrenees were making on France itself, and the extreme hazard to which its in- stitutions were exposed in consequence of their machi- nations. Ever since the Spanish revolution broke out, France had been kept in a continual ferment: the second in succession to the throne had been murdered, and his consort, when enceinte of an heir to the monarchy, at- tempted, to be murdered, by political fanatics : military conspiracies in great numbers had been got up to imitate the example of the soldiers in the Isle of Leon, and over- turn the government ; Paris had been convulsed by an attempted revolution ; France was covered with secret societies, having Lafayette, Benjamin Constant, Manuel, and all the Liberal leaders in the Chamber of Deputies, at their head, the object of which was to overthrow the Government by means of murder, treason, and revolt ; and a band of desperadoes had been collected on the Pyrenees, under the tricolor flag, who openly invited the French soldiers to fraternise with them, throw off the yoke of the Bourbons, and rally round the standard of HISTORY OF EUROPE. ' 739 Napoleon 11. When such measures were in progress, it chap. was evident that the safety of France, and the preserva- ^"' tion of its institutions, were seriously menaced, and that ^^^^• its GoTernment was warranted in taking steps to extin- guish so perilous a volcano in the neighbouring state, by the strongest of all reasons — that of self-preservation. It is more difficult to find grounds to vindicate the in- tervention of England in favour of the insurgent colonies Was the in South America, which was done in so efficacious ate?vention" manner, and from the success of which consequences of south Ame- such incalculable importance have ensued to both hemi- aue?"^*'^" spheres. Nothing can be clearer, indeed, than that when the colonies of Spain had become de facto independent, and Spain was obviously unable to reassert her dominion over them, we were warranted in treating with them as independent powers, and sending consuls to their chief towns to guard British mercantile interests. If our in- tervention had been limited to this, the most scrupulous public morality could not have objected to the course pursued. But we not only did this — we did a great deal more, and of a much more questionable character. We repealed the laws against foreign enlistments ; permitted expeditions of eight and ten thousand men, many of them Wellington's veterans, to sail from the Thames under the very eye of Government ; and advanced immense sums by loan, to enable the insurgent states to prolong the con- test. It was by these means, and these alone, that the conflict was ultimately decided in favour of the colonies, ^ ^^^^ ^^ and against the mother country. The decisive battle of Europe c. Carabobo was gained entirely by British battalions and 69, 72. a charge of the British bayonet.^ What was the justification for this armed and power- ^^^ ful intervention ? Was the freedom of England menaced its ultimate by the re-establishment of Spanish authority in South effed;s'tr America 1 Confessedly it was not : the hope of commer- '^"si^"^- cial advantages, the vision of a vast trade with the in- surgent states, was the ruling motive. But commercial . 740 HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHAP, advantages will not constitute legal right, or vindicate acts •'^"' of injustice, any more than the acquisition of provinces 1823. y^j^Y justify an unprovoked invasion. It sounds well to say you will call a new world into existence to redress the balance of the old ; but if that new world is to be carved out of the dominions of an allied and friendly power, it is better to leave it to itself. England saw very clearly the iniquity of this insidious mode of proceeding when it was applied to herself, when Louis XVI. allowed covert succours to the American insurgents to sail from the French harbours, and the Americans sent some thou- sand sympathisers to aid the Canadian revolt in 1837. She loudly denounced it when the Americans allowed an expedition to sail from New Orleans, in 1852, to re- volutionise Cuba ; and she exclaimed against the Irish democrats, who petitioned the French revolutionary Government, in 1848, to recognise a Hibernian republic in the Emerald Isle. But what were the two last but following her example 1 She sees the mote in her neigh- bour's eye, but cannot discover the beam in her own. It will appear in the sequel of this history whether Eng- land in fact derived any benefit, even in a commercial point of view, from this great act of disguised aggression ; whether the cause of freedom and the interests of huma- nity were reaUy advanced by it ; and whether the great- est calamities, public and private, its inhabitants have ever undergone, may not be distinctly traced to its con- sequences. £KD OF TOL. II. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBUESH.