v\ l\:(7:iv^."^f^i.u-.- \-- ^.">^ ••sftir c^(r:':) ^^m il ,cl f'' " * / i's' \% ^^rvNJ^:^^^:.^/ "^•■v""^^. hr't (^L/ ^.- ^^ 1^' a^t^/:^ .«M«U'i:. .-''•!^«~:>S-:;.d^il^ ^^* '■'^.r{^^"T , ^i:^ ^ :i A '■T'v :.<-'^ ¥-^ \s\ v-^/ .Vl.>v-. x./*^. -C- NtW YORK. N. Y. LIBRARY S,. NtW YUHK, N. y. VN i/fifiARY »!**»- :^' :^p'' ^ '^ NtW YUBK. N. Y, LIBRARY v^'SSJ^^-*^ o>-^^ THE MOMRCHS AND THB PEOPLE OF EUROPE: €linr CnnMtinn, EnnurtBS; nn^ Ittitnh mitji OOMPfilSINO A REVIEW OF THE RECENT REVOLUTIONS AND THE PRESENT STATE OF EACH COUNTRY. By JOHN frost, LL.D. AUTHOR OF "PICTORIAL BISTORT OF THE UNITED STATES," " MVKS OF THE AMERICAN GENERALS,' " HISTORIC." ,L COLLECTIONS OF ALL NATIONS," ETC. WITH NUMEROUS EMBELLISHMENTS. HARTFORD. PUBLISHED BY O. D. CASE & CO. 1853. £90( Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1852, by 0. D. CASE & CO. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Connecticut. STEREOTTPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO. PHILADELPHIA. 1 396N 2cJUL 1953 NEW YORK, N. Y, LIBRARY CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE The State of Europe at the Commenx'ement of 1848 9 CHAPTER II. The French Retolution- of 1848 23 CHAPTER III. The Italian Revolutions 93 CHAPTER IV. Revolutions in Germany and Poland 131 CHAPTER V. Popular Outbreaks in Vienna and Bohemia 166 CHAPTER VI. The Revolution in Hungary 185 CHAPTER VII. Liberal Movements in Great Britain 294 CHAPTER VIII. French Movements — From the Siege of Rome to President Bo- naparte's Coup D'Etat 300 CHAPTER IX. Affairs in Spain — Attempt to Assassinate the Queen 318 CHAPTER X. The Present Attitude of the Kings and People of Europe 322 7 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. PAGE TuE People of Europe — Their Countries, Classes, Customs, and Institutions: — Russia 350 Sweden and Norway 376 Denmark 381 The Austrian Empire 382 Turkey 417 Greece 438 The Ionian Islands 445 Italy 447 San Marino 473 The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 473 Tuscany 486 The Kingdom of Sardinia 490 The Duchy of Parma 498 The Duchy of Modena 499 Switzerland 500 Prussia .*. 520 Germany 536 The Kingdom of the Netherlands 557 Belgium 561 Spain 563 Portugal 568 France 573 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 584 Louis Philippe. THE MOMRCHS AND PEOPLE OF EUROPE. CHAPTER I. THE STATE OF EUROPE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1848. The year 1848 was probably the most eventful and exciting since the period of Borodino and Moscow. The number and importance of its political changes, the violent shock which it gave to the framework of European society, and the singular ebb and flow of opinion and success among the two great parties of the continent, press it upon the mind for attentive study. Never was there a year so pregnant with instruc- tion and with warning — so rich in all the materials of wisdom both for sovereigns and for people — so crowded with wrecks and ruins, with the ruins of ancient grandeur, and the wrecks of glo- rious anticipations — so filled with splendid promises and paltry 9 10 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF -EUROPE. realizations, with hopes brilliant and fantastic as fairy-land, with disappointments dismal and bitter as the grave. Thrones, which but yesterday had seemed based upon the everlasting hills, shattered in a day ; sovereigns whose wisdom had become a proverb, and sovereigns whose imbecility had been notorious, alike flying from their capitals, and abdicat- ing without a natural murmur or a gallant struggle ; rulers, who had long been the embodiment of obstinate resistance to all popular demands, vying with each other in the prompti- tude and the extent of their concessions ; statesmen of the longest experience, the deepest insight, the acutest talent — statesmen like Metternich and Guizot— baffled, beaten, and chased away, and reaching their foreign banishment only to turn and gaze with a melancholy and bewildered air on the over- throw of schemes and systems of policy, the construction of which had been the labour of a lifetime ; eminent men sinking into obscurity, and going out like snuif ; obscure men rising at one bound into eminence and power ; ambitious men find- ing the objects of their wildest hopes suddenly placed Avithin their grasp ; Utopian dreamers staggered and intoxicated by seeing their most gorgeous visions on the point of realization ; patriots beholding the sudden and miraculous advent of that liberty which they had prayed for, fought for, sufiered for, through years of imprisonment, poverty, and exile ; nations, which had long pined in darkness, dazzled and bewildered .by the blaze of instantaneous light ; the powerful smitten with impotence; the peasant and the bondsman endowed with freedom and unresisted might; the first last and the last first ; — such were the strange phenomena of that marvellous era, which took away the breath of the beholder, which the journalist was unable to keep pace with, and " which panting Time toiled after in vain." The year opened with apparent tranquillity. In two quar- ters only of Europe had there been any indications of the coming earthquake ; and to both of these the eyes of all friends of freedom were turned with hopeful interest and earnest sympathy. The first dawn of a new day had THE STATE OF EUROPE. 11 arisen in a country where least of all it could have been looked for — in Rome. There, in a state long renowned for the most corrupt, imbecile, mischievous administration of the western world, a new Pope, in the prime of life, full of re- spect for his sacred office, and deeply impressed with the solemn responsibilities of his high position, set himself with se- rious purpose and a single mind, though with limited views and inadequate capacities, to the task of cleansing those Augean stables from the accumulated filth of centuries. He com- menced reform — where reform, though most rare, is always the most safe — from above; he purified the grosser parts of the old administrative system; he showed an active deter- mination to put down all abuse, and to give his people the benefit of a really honest government ; he ventured on the bold innovation, in itself a mighty boon and a strange pro- gress, of appointing laymen to offices of state ; and, finally, he convoked a representative assembly, and gave the Romans a constitution — the first they had seen since the days of Rienzi. His people were, as might have been anticipated, warmly grateful for the gifts, and enthusiastically attached to the person of their excellent pontifi"; all Europe looked on with delight ; Pio Nono was the hero of the day ; and every thing seemed so safe, so wise, so happy, that we felt justified in hoping that a new day had really dawned upon the ancient capital of the world. Sicily, too, had about the same time entered upon a struggle to recover some portion of her promised freedom and her stolen rights. Her Avrongs had been so flagrant, so manifold, so monstrous ; the despotism under which she groaned was at once so incapable, so mean, so low, so brutal ; her condi- tion was so Avretched, and her capabilities so vast, that the sympathies of the world went with her in her struggle with her false and bad oppressor. All ranks of her citizens were unanimous in their resolution of resistance ; even the priests, elsewhere the ready tools of tyranny, here fought on the side of the people, and blessed the arms and banners of the re- formers ; and, what was still more remarkable, and of more 12 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE. hopeful augury, all classes seemed to put ^mutual jealousies aside, and to be actuated by the same spirit of sincere, self- denying, self-sacrificing patriotism. Their demands were moderate but firm, and so reasonable, that the mere fact of such demands having to be made was an indelible disgrace to Naples. So far, too, their course had been singularly cau- tious ; they had committed no blunder, they' had displayed no sanguinary passion, and no violent excitement, and it was impossible not to hope every thing from a contest so wisely conducted, and so unimpeachably just. At length, on the 8th of February, the Sicilians having been everywhere vic- torious, the preliminaries of an arrangement with the King of Naples were agreed to, on the basis of the constitution of 1812.* Meanwhile, spurred or warned by the example of the pope and the enthusiasm of the Romans, other Italian princes bowed to the feeling of the time, and took some steps in the path of reform. The King of Sardinia, the Grand-duke of Tuscany, and the King of Naples, promised constitutions, written and precise, to their subjects, and actually adopted measures for making their promises efiective. The popular enthusiasm reached Lombardy. Movements took place at Milan, but they were crushed by the Austrian government with even more than wonted promptitude and severity. Bayonets and discipline proved too much for unguided zeal. For some years, Hungary had been making great strides toward national reform, under the influence of the eloquent statesmen, Wesselenyi and Kossuth. The Hungarians claimed to have a constitution nine centuries of age, and upon it sought to found their national independence. They also strove to free themselves from the weight of feudal privileges. In the emancipation of the peasantry, the no- bility generally evinced a liberal and patriotic spirit. Their conduct is unparalleled in the history of feudal countries. Austria exerted herself to silence all expression of the liberal * North British Review. THE STATE OF EUROPE. 13 independent opinions of the Hungarians. It was evident that open rupture was at hand. The condition of things in Germany and Italy, as well as in France and England, when the great shock occurred, may be thus delineated : — In all four countries there was much suffering and much discontent ; but the malecontents and the sufferers belonged to different classes in society. In England and in France the lower orders were the chief malecontents ; and unquestionably, especially in the latter country, they had much to complain of, and much to endure. Difficulty of ob- taining subsistence, actual and severe privation in the present, and no more hopeful prospects for the future, darkened the lot and soured the temper of hundreds of thousands of the people. The more fortunate saw little before them beyond strenuous and' ceaseless toil, from early morning till late evening, from precocious childhood to premature decrepitude. The less fortunate often sought toil in vain, dug for it as for hidden treasm-e, and found it, when obtained, uncertain and unremunerative. A class — often a very numerous class — had grown up among them, whom defective social arrangements had left without any means of subsistence, beyond habitual crime and the godsend of occasional insurrection. Nearly all of these were more or less uneducated, with passions unsoftened by culture, and appetites sharpened by privation — excitable, undisciplined, and brutal. Such were always ready for any social or political convulsion — prompt to aid and aggravate it, certain to complicate and disgrace it. It is a fearful addition to the perplexities and horrors of a revolution when the mass of the nation are destitute and wretched. Germany and Italy were in a singular measure free from this element of confusion ; and in so far their path was wonderfully clear and easy. In Germany, the orderly, industrious, and simple habits of the peasantry ; the general possession of land by the rm-al portion of them, especially in the Prussian provinces ; the relics of the old distribution of artisans into guilds ; the watchful care of the numberless bureaucratic governments to prevent the too rapid increase 14 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. of this, or indeed of any class ; the systematic care of Aus- tria, especially to keep the lower classes in a state of mate- rial comfort ; the habit in some states, as Bavaria, of re- quiring a certificate of property as a preliminary to mar- riage — had combined to prevent poverty, except in rare cases, from degenerating into destitution, so that there was, gene- rally speaking, little physical distress or suffering among the mass. The diffusion of elementary education too, (such as it was, for we are no amateurs of the continental system in such matters,) prevented the existence of such utterly savage and ignorant masses as were to be met with in France, and unhappily in England also. The same exemption from squalid misery which in Germany was due to care, system, and cul- ture, was bestowed upon the Italians by their genial climate, their fertile soil, and their temperate and frugal habits, so that though there was often poverty — though poverty, and, as we in America should regard it, poverty of the extremest kind, was frequent, and in Rome and Naples almost universal — still, that actual want of the bread of to-day, and that anxiety for the bread of to-morrow, which make men ready for any violence or commotion, were in the greater part of Italy comparatively rare. In Tuscany and Lombardy, more especially, . the utterly destitute and starving were a class quite unknown. In both countries, therefore, the discontented and aspiring class — the makers of revolutions — were the educated and the well to-do ; men whose moral, not whose material, wants were starved and denied by the existing system ; men of the middle ranks, who found their free action impeded at every step, whose noblest instincts were relentlessly crushed, whose in- tellectual cravings were famished by the censorship, and whose hungry and avid minds were compelled daily to sit down to a meal of miserable and unrelished pottage ; men of the upper classes, whose ambition was cramped into the pettiest sphere, and forced into the narrowest channels, to whom every career worthy of their energies and their patriot- ism was despotically closed, who were compelled to waste THE STATE OF EUROPE. 15 their life and fritter away their powers in the insipid plea- sures of a spiritless society, in metaphysical speculation, or antiquarian research. Hence, with all its faults, the revolu- tion in Germany and in Italy had a far nobler origin, and a loftier character than that of France ; it was the revolt not of starved stomachs, but of famished souls ; it was the pro- test of human beings against a tyranny by which the noblest attributes of humanity were affronted and suppressed ; it was the recoil from a listless and unsatisfying life by men who felt that they were made for, and competent to, a worthier existence ; it was a rebellion of hearts who loved their coun- try, against a system by which that country was dishonoured, and its development impeded; it was not the work of pas- sionate, personal, and party aims, but of men who, however wild their enthusiasm, however deplorable their blunders, still set before them a lofty purpose, and worshipped a high ideal. The mouvement party (to borrow an expressive phrase from the French) is composed in different countries of character- istically different materials. The busy ex-parliamentary re- formers; the radicals, who take one grievance or anomaly after another, and agitate and grumble till they have pro- cured its abolition ; who have either originated or been the means of carrying each successive measure of reform, are in England almost exclusively composed of the active and prac- tical men of the middle classes — merchants and manufactu- rers, educated enough to be able to comprehend the whole bearings of the case, but distrusting theory, eschewing ab- stractions, and too well trained in the actual business of life to be in much danger from disproportionate enthusiasm ; shopkeepers and tradesmen, not perhaps masters of the po- litical importance or full scope of the question at issue, but quick to detect its bearing on their personal interests, bring- ing to its examination a strong, if a somewhat narrow, com- mon sense, observing a due proportion between their means and their ends, and never, in the heat of contest, losing sight of the main chance : — these constitute the centre and the 16 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. leaders of the movement party in England, and have im- parted to all their innovations that character for distinctness of purpose, sobriety of aim, and practicality of result, which has always marked them. In France the mouvement party has been composed of the politicians by profession or by taste ; of the amateurs and adventurers of public life ; of journalists, who had each their pet crotchet and their special watchword, and who attained in that country a degree of personal influence which is without parallel elsewhere; of men to whom the Republic was a passion ; of men to whom it was a dream ; of men to whom it opened a vista rich in visions of pillage and of pleasure. It was a vast heteroge- neous congeries of all the impatient suffering, of all the fer- menting discontent, of all the unchained and disreputd-ble passions, of all the low, and of all the lofty ambition of the community. In Germany, again, the mouvement party was composed, in overwhelming proportion, of the BurschenscTiaft — of students and professors, of young dreamers and their dreaming guides — men qualified beyond all others to conceive and describe a glorious Utopia, but disqualified beyond all others to embody it in actual life. It is curious to observe how everywhere throughout the German revolutions, the col- legians were prominent. The students led the struggle at Berlin ; the Academic Legion was for some time the ruling body at Vienna ; the Frankfort Assembly was, as has been characterized, " an anarchy of professors." We do not mean to say, that the revolutionary movement was not joined and sympathized with by numbers in all ranks and classes — though it is important to observe, that, from the peculiar system of educational training in Germany, all these had gone through the same discipline, and been subject to the same influences ; but the tone of the movement was given, its course directed, and its limit decided, by learned men, whom a life of university seclusion and theoretic studies had precluded from the possession of all practical experience, and by young men fresh from the scenes and the heroes of classic times, and glowing with that wild enthusiasm, that passionate THE STATE OF EUROPE. 17 but unchastcnefl patriotism, those visions of an earthly Eden and a golden age, and that unreasoning devotion to every thing that bears the name or usurps the semblance of liberty, which at their age it would be grievous not to find. Finally, in Italy, the leaders of the new Reformation were men of as pure and lofty enthusiasm, but of far finer capacities, and of a sterner and firmer make of mind, but equally imtrained in political administration, and with a task beyond their means ; — men, not indeed finished statesmen or accurate philoso- phers, because debarred from that education of action which alone can complete the training of the statesman and test the principles of the thinker — but of the materials out of which the noblest statesmen and the profoundest philosophers are made ; — many of them Of the canras vrliich men use To make storm stay-sails ; many of them exhibiting powers for government and war which need only a fairer field to obtain their full apprecia- tion. It is natural that political changes, emanating from bodies so variously constituted as these, should be widely different in their nature and objects, and be crowned with very various degrees of success. In Italy and Germany the patriots had one almost insuperable difficulty to contend with. In both countries the fatal system of bureaucracy had paralyzed the energies and dwarfed the political capacities of the people. In Germany they had been ruled like children — in Italy like victims or like vanquished slaves. But in both countries the whole province of administration, even in its lowest branches, had been confided to a separate class, set apart and trained to that profession, and directed and controlled from head- quarters. The people could do nothing except by official permission and under official supervision ; long disuse pro- duced inevitable disqualification ; long inaction inevitable in- capacity ; — till, when the crisis arrived, it appeared that the old established functionaries were the only men capable of 18 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. practical action. When the power v,'as suddenly thrown into the hands of the inexperienced classes, none could be found among them — in Germany at least — competent to use it. In the south of Italy the old functionaries had always been so abominably bad, that even the most incompetent and fresh of the new aspirants could not possibly make worse adminis- trators. But in Germany the fact was as unquestionable as humiliating; and one of the most important lessons incul- cated by the time was the utter inadequacy of the best con- trived system of national or college education for supplying political training. The lower portion of the middle classes in Germany receive a far more complete and careful educa- tion in literary and scientific matters than the same portion in England, and in the instruction of the working-classes there is (or was lately) no comparison ; yet the municipal ")0uncils, vestry meetings, boards of guardians, numberless voluntary associations, form normal schools for statesmen and administrators to which the continent presents no analo- gies, and for which unhappily it can furnish no substitutes, and the want of which was most deeply felt in 1848. Prior to the "year of revolutions," but one State in Ger- many possessed a free constitution, and that was Hesse Cassel. This written instrument was granted by the elector Frederick William, in January 1831, and it remained to the people in spite of the arts of that ruler, even through the struggles of despotism throughout Europe prior to 1847. The supremacy of law, and taxation by representatives of the people, alone were secured by this constitution. It was like a free breath of air in a close room. The condition of the people of France and the British isles before 1848, is better known and understood than the q,ffairs of the people of the rest of Europe. Louis Philippe had proved recreant to the principles of 1830. The press of France was gagged. The law of libel was executed with such severity as to prevent that freedom of speech for which the nation had so often striven. Public instruction was a monopoly secured to the University, that is, to the govern- THE STATE OF FA'l^OPE. 19 ment, by one of the. earliest enactments of ministerial des- potism ; and the spirit in which the laAv Avas devised and ad- ministered was soon tested in the case of the Count de Mont- alcmbcrt, M, de Coux, and the Abbe Lacordaire, who were indicted and fined 100 francs for opening a free school in 1831. Are those who sound M. Guizot's praises, and boast of Avhat he has done for the cause of education — are they aware that in 1844 one-half the inhabitants of France were unable to read or write ; that 7,000,000 could read imper- fectly, and could not write; that 7,000,000 couhl do both, but imperfectly; and that only 3,000,000 were fully educated ? This was no very grand result to be obtained by an annual expenditure of about ,£380,000. But another purpose was served by the system; if it kept the poor in ignorance, it enabled the government to mingle a large portion of error with the education given in the superior schools, and to keep in pay an army of placemen. Russia, the most backward in education of all quasi-civilized nations, has a very showy, extensive, and costly system of public instruction. The army of France was large, and under the control of the government. Bayonets maintained silence and crushed all attempts at insurrection. The working-classes groaned under the load of taxation. In spite of their hard and wear- ing toil, they were threatened with starvation. To people in such a condition, death, the worst thing to be feared from attempts at insurrection, ceased to be terrible. They eagerly listened to socialist and communist theories, which were enthusiastically advocated by Prudhomme and others, and secretly formed clubs for the discussion of the means of obtaining their rights. They even ventured to hold "reform banquets," at Avhich the republican leaders of 1789 were toasted, eulogized, and held up as examples worthy of imita- tion. The measures of the firm and keen Guizot, the real head of the government, proved ineffectual ; these demon- strations could not be repressed. The opposition in the Deputies daily grew in numbers and boldness of speech. Thiers, Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Odillon Barrot, and others, 20 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. leading liberals, denounced the measures of the government and demanded reform. Guizot remained firm. A fierce struggle, but not a complete revolution, was anticipated by the ministry, and it was thought the government could brave the storm with ease. The revolution of February found France already on the verge of bankruptcy. The public debt (deducting the sink- ing fund), which in January, 1841, was 4,267,315,402 francs, had risen on the 1st of January 1848, to 5,179,644,730 francs. The budget, which in 1830 was 1,014,914,000 francs, was set- tled for 1847 at 1,712,979,639 francs. And, notwithstanding a successive increase of receipts, the budget showed a con- siderable annual deficit. From 1840 to 1847, the expense outstripped the receipts by 604,525,000 francs ; in other words, an addition of 24,000,000 sterling was made to the national debt in the space of seven years. During the last 268 days of its existence, the fallen government expended beyond its ordinary resources ,£44,000 per diem. Such a financial system absorbed all the resources of the people, and abstracted from them all the means of bettering their condition, improving in industrial, agricultural, and com- mercial pursuits, and advancing in instruction and morality. "Let it not be said that the greater proportions of the taxes bore upon the rich ; it was quite the contrary. Most of them were almost exclusively paid by the poorer classes and the tradespeople. The 750,000,000 francs produced by the excise, the tax on salt, the customs, and the stamp duty, fell entirely upon these classes ; which, besides, participated in a due pro- portion in the payment of the other taxes. The fact cannot be controverted, and official returns, carefully collated, prove that the total amount of taxes paid by the ruling or govern- mental class, the 240,000 electors and jurymen, never ex- ceeded 54,000,000 francs ; that is [less than] the twentieth part of the whole amount of the contributions levied upon the people. In England, the rich man pays in some degree for the gratification of his pride, of his tastes, for the enjoy- ment of his pleasure, and for his . luxui'ies : he pays for hiS' THE STATE OF ELI! OPE. 21 Fergus O'Comior. servants, for his carriage, for his horses, for his hounds, for sporting a coronet, a helmet, a buck's head, or any other family devices. In France, such taxes were not known ; but then the beverage of the artisans, the spade of the labourer, the axe of the woodman, paid 100 per cent, of their value. In the British isles, a strong radical party existed, which increased in strength and clamour with the increase of distress among the working-classes. In all the cities and towns this party was numerous, while it could command a respectable vote in parliament. Universal suffrage, vote by ballot, an- nual parliaments, and the separation of church and state were its principal demands. Joseph Hume, Richard Cobden, and Fergus O'Connor, were its leaders in parliament. The party 22 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. assumed the name of Chartists. Meetina^s were held in &*■ nearly all the towns in England, violent speeches made, and a formidable organization eflected. The state of things in Ireland was deplorable. The failure of crops, famine, and pestilence, and all the evils resulting from absenteeism and taxation, caused in 1847 the very ex- tremity of national misery. The Repeal Association reor- ganized, and set its engine to work to procure a separate government for Ireland. Monster meetings were held in various parts of the island. Smith O'Brien, Thomas Mea- gher, John Mitchell, and others renewed the mighty toil to which Robert Emmet had fallen a sacrifice. These men went so far as to cause military companies to be formed, and the mass of the people were drilled for a deadly struggle. The result of all this unwise and dreadful preparation shall be hereafter narrated. Most of the other countries of Europe which we have not noticed were not affected by the shock of revolution in 1848. Russia, under the energetic rule of Nicholas, remained firm and quiet. Her peasantry suffered from the tyranny of the nobles, but had not the spirit and intelligence to attempt to throw off the oppressive yoke. Sweden, Norway, and Den- mark, were not affected by the convulsion. Perhaps, Russian diplomacy prevailed in those three countries ; but the bur- dens of the masses were not sufficiently grievous to cause them to rise against their masters- The Turks love their government and institutions too well to think of change. The Swiss were and are free. The Greeks were passive under the paw of Russia. Holland and Belgium were thrown into the turbulent waves of revolution, soon after the French movement, ^nd came out healthier and sounder. In each of these kingdoms a liberal party existed, consisting of intelli- gent and determined men. Yet before the February revolu- tion in France, the monarchs were all-powerful, placing chains upon speech as well as action. Spain and Portugal were passive under the dark tyranny of church and state. Thus Stood Europe waiting for the thunder-clap- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 23 Guizot CHAPTER II. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY, 1848. At the commencement of 1848, M. Guizot could command a majority of seventy-eiglit in the Chamber of France. Nearly two-thirds of his supporters were office-holders — persons fed from the government granary; and, therefore, not likely to do any thing in opposition to the minister's will. Is it wonderful that the country should have insisted upon a reform of this mockery of legislative freedom? A very moderate conces- sion would have satisfied the opposition ; they only asked for a reduction of the two hundred officials forming the ministerial majority, and the paltry addition of 20,000 electors to the 240,000 already on the lists. The king and his ministers, in the royal speech, attributed these very modest demands to "blind and hostile passions." The peers almost unanimous- ly, and the deputies by a large majority, re-echoed the royal 24 THE KINGS AN© THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. insult ; but eight days had hardly elapsed before king, peers, deputies, disappeared from the government stage. The refusal of such slight concessions as the opposition requested, was given at a moment when all France was filled with disgust and indignation at disclosures of venality and corruption existing in high places. Several cases had been brought to the decision of courts, which threw a foul stigma upon the royal family and the aristocracy. That the govern- ment should persevere in its despotic course, in full view of the distress and disgust of the people, is sufficient proof that the obstinacy of Guizot outweighs his wisdom. After holding sixty-two reform banquets in various parts of France, and omitting to toast the king at each one, the opposition deputies determined to hold a monster banquet at Paris. Louis Philippe and his ministers forthwith resolved to put down these insolent contemners of royalty — these "everlasting foes of order." Military preparations were made on the most extensive scale; guns Avere mounted on all the fortresses round Paris. Large stores of ammunition were provided, and nothing seemed wanting to enable the govern- ment to crush any attempt at insurrection on the part of the people of Paris. These arrangements being made, the king prepared to meet the chambers with a bold front, in the full assurance that he was once more about to signalize the tri- umph of might over right. However, his address upon the 1st of January, 1848, was coldly and silently received. The debate on the address, in reply to the royal speech, was protracted through no fewer than nineteen sittings. The ministers declared theu' intention to prohibit the Reform Banquet. The opposition members announced their deter- mination to attend it, notwithstanding ; and both parties ap- pealed to the law in justification of their respective views. The 291st article of the Penal Code enacts, that — « No association of more than twenty persons, the object of which is to meet every day, or on certain fixed days, to occupy itself with religious, literary, political objects, or others, can be formed without the assent of the government, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 25 and under the conditions which the public authority may im- pose on the society." This enactment was reconsidered and extended subsequent- ly to the Revolution of July, in the year 1834, when another law was passed providing that this article of the Penal Code might be applied though such associations were divided into sections of less than twenty members, and although they should not meet at fixed times. At the same time the penal- ties for violating this law were augmented. The question, therefore, between the government and the opposition was, in the first place, one of law. Was, or was not, this legal pro- hibition applicable to the political meetings which had been held last autumn in various parts of the kingdom, at irregu- lar intervals, by the agents of a political party avowedly actinji under the direction of a central electoral committee sitting in Paris ? Did the term association, which alone oc- curs in the law, include political meetings of a more uncer- tain and occasional character ? These questions did not escape the notice of the legislature in 1834, when the law itself was under discussion. On that occasion M. Martin, the reporter of the bill, who afterward himself filled the office of Minister of Justice, expressly stated that " every one knew the difference between an asso- ciation and a meeting, [reunionA Meetings are caused by unforseen, temporary occurrences, and cease when the motive ceases. Associations have a determined and permanent ob- ject. There exists a tie between the members of an associa- tion. JVohody has yet supposed that meetings (reunions) are affected hy Article 291 of the Penal Code. Bo not fear that they loill he so affected hy the law under discussion.'' In the same debate, the then Minister of Justice himself declared that this law was proposed " against associations, and not against those accidental and temporary meetings which have for their object the exercise of a constitutional right." These declarations, which are recorded in the " Moniteur" of the 22d of March, 1834, are certainly at variance with the con- struction put upon the law by the government ; and it was 26 THE KINGS AND TUB PEOPLE OF EUROPE. evident that only by a trial in a court of law could this dis- puted point of jurisprudence be settled. The government seemed at last to admit this, and they even condescended to a sort of compromise with the opposi- tion : they gave it to be understood that they would allow the banquet to take place, but under protest. A single commis- sary of police was to be stationed at the door of the ban- queting-hall, to warn those attending of the illegality of their proceedings, and then withdraw. Furthermore, in order in some degree to disarm the opposition, the ministry declared by their official organ, the "Debats," that the question about reform was merely one of time, for that principle was al- ready agreed on by the Cabinet. "The question of Parlia- mentary Reform will be discussed in all its bearings during the present parliament. Not only will it be solved, but the solution will be what is already known," &c. The reform- ists treated with contempt this delusive promise, which was to be fulfilled some time or other in the course of a parlia- ment that had five years to run. On Saturday, February 12th, the several paragraphs of the address having been voted, a division took place on the whole collectively. The opposition in a body abstained from voting, and of 244 votes given there were 241 for Ministers. The opposition deputies assembled next day, and resolved unanimously that they would all attend the proposed banquet, and that no member of their party, even if drawn by lot to present the address to the king, should participate in that ceremony. Subsequently the banquet was fixed to take place on Tuesday the 22d of February. It was not until a Jate hour on Monday that the determi- nation of the government not to allow the banquet was made known in the chamber. The debate, which was on the Bor- deaux Bank Bill, had attracted but few members, Avhen sud- denly, at a little before five o'clock, the doors were thrown open, and two hundred and fifty deputies rushed to their places. In five minutes the chamber, almost empty befoi^e, was filled in every part. Odillon Barrot then rose and said, " The chamber THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 27 Odillon Barrot. must remember that, -when the Address was under considera- tion here, a discussion took place relative to the right in- sisted on hy us, and denied by the government, of meeting together, on condition of previously informing the authori- ties, and of assembling without tumult and without arms. That question was not decided. My opinion is, that it ought to have been settled by the Chambers ; for when a constitu- tional question of such great importance is brought forward, the duty of parliament is not to leave it in doubt — for to it belongs the task of regulating the political rights of citizens. This question ought therefore to have been decided; but it was not so. However, an imperative duty remained for those who maintain that the right of meeting is one of those liber- ties which a citizen cannot allow himself to be despoiled of without compromising all the others ; and that was, to set forth, in presence of the pretensions of the government, a solemn protest, — in fact, to exercise that right in such a manner, as that on their part, at least, there should be no 28 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. concession ; that is, with the firm resolution not to stop short, except before some invincible obstacle. That arrangement had been accepted. We thought that the government, be- lieving itself armed with sufficient laws, intended to carry- before the tribunals such persons as should persist in claim- ing the right of meeting, and of having the legality of that right in that manner decided ; matters would so have passed over with calm, and without disturbance. The public, no doubt, was exceedingly occupied with the matter, as it could not remain indifferent to a dispute, on the issue of which de- pended the most precious of its rights, since from it flowed all the rest. Yet, notwithstanding this profound and most natural emotion of the public, I do not hesitate to declare that the contest would have been in every respect according to law, and exempt from all trouble and disturbance. (De- nial from the centres.) I am convinced that, however severe a blow the policy of the government might have received from the manifestation, public order would never have been a moment troubled. But it now appears, that to counsels of wisdom and prudence have succeeded other suggestions ; that acts of authority relative to a disturbance which may be called into existence, appear to establish that force is to be opposed to the peaceful exercise of an evident right. It does not belong to me at present to remark on the opportune- ness of the measures taken by the authorities. I fear that these measures, though said to be dictated by a care for order, may, on the contrary, become the cause of disturbance. The manifestation, peaceably effected, would have calmed down men's minds ; but now the very opposite effect will be produced, and an indefinite germ of perturbation and disorder will be left behind. If my voice could exercise any influence on the country, I would say to it, — ' The first necessity, the first duty of all, is to employ every possible means to pre- vent the evils which imprudent measures may produce.' It is that thought, gentlemen, which I have considered it neces- sary to express before this grave assembly — if it depended on me to appease the agitation which I foresee, I should do THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 29 80 with all tho energy of my patriotism. (Hear, hear.) But there my powers cease, — I cannot say any thing further. It is to the Ministry that belongs the care of watching over public order, and it is to it that belongs the responsibility of what may happen." (Loud approbation from the left: great agitation.) The Minister of the Interior (Duchatel) replied. — "The responsibility of which the honourable deputy speaks does not fall on the government alone, — it applies to every one (hear, hear) ; and we have a manifest proof of the fact in the highly creditable care which M. 0. Barrot himself has exhibited, in expressing the sentiments which the Chamber has just heard. I shall very frankly and very clearly declare what is the present attitude of the government, and on what ground it has taken up its stand. (Hear, hear.) M. 0. Bar- rot has told you that the question of an unlimited right of meeting has been discussed in this Chamber, but not decided — that he had been anxious for a solution, and that it was in order that such a result might be come to that a banquet was announced and prepared ; he added, that the government it- self had appeared disposed, as much as it depended on it, within the limit of its opinion, which is opposed to that of M. 0. Barrot, to lead to the judicial solution which could settle the dispute. All that is true : we could, reckoning on the right which we consider as incontestible, and on the prac- tice which has never been called in question — we could, I say, have prevented, by the employment of force, the banquet announced for several days, and which has disturbed and agitated the capital. We were struck, like the honourable gentleman, with the advantage which would accrue to every one from obtaining a decision in a court of law; and while we maintained the principles expressed in this tribune by the government, we were ready to permit matters to arrive at the point when, a contravention having evidently taken place, a case for decision in a court of law could follow. (Hear, hear.) But, gentlemen, the matter has changed. I believe that there is not a single person in this Chamber who has not 80 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE. this morning read a manifesto, published by a committee, (the members of which are not mentioned,) and inserted in all the opposition journals. What is the purport of that manifesto? It does not confine itself to speaking of the banquet, and preparing the judicial solution of the question — no, it makes an appeal to all those "who profess opposition principles, and invites them to a manifestation Avhich I have no hesitation in declaring would compromise the tranquillity of the capital. Nor is that all: the manifesto, in contempt of every law — in contempt, in particular, of that of 1831 — calls on the Na- tional Guards to assemble ; and not only that, but invites the students of the schools, young men under age, to join the cortege., which is to be defended, as it were, by the National Guards of the 12th Legion ; it announces that the National Guards are to be placed in the order of their legions, and under the conduct of their officers. Such a manifesto vio- lates all the laws of the country, on which tranquillity and public order depend. (Hear, hear.) The law relative to mob assemblages is clearly violated by it, as is that relative to the National Guard. (Hear, hear.) I appeal to the im- partiality of this Chamber, and I ask, what else is this mani- festo but the proclamation of a government wishing to place itself by the side of the regular one of the country? A government emanating from a committee, of which I know nothing, taking the place of the constitutional government founded by the charter, and supported by the majority of the two Chambers, takes on itself to speak to the citizens, to call out the National Guard, to provoke assemblages of the people in the public streets. That cannot be permitted; it is our duty not to allow such things to exist ! (Hear, hear.) We are responsible for the maintenance of public order. I hope, like M. 0. Barrot, that it will not be troubled ; but I should not answer for its not being so if the government did not take all the precautions that it deems necessary, since I have not the same faith as the honourable deputy in those who might take part in the manifestation. (Hear, hear, from the centres ; disapprobation from the left.) I now sum up what THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 31 I meant to say, — we have on tins occasion acted a just part by every one. Until the manifesto of this morning, we main- tained the situation which the government had taken on the discussion of the Address: we were inclined to allow the question to be decided judicially, but cannot permit a govern- ment suddenly got up to exist in the face of the legal and constitutional government of the country." (Loud approba- tion from the centre.) M. 0. Barrot. — "I fear that the honourable minister is de- signedly exaggerating matters. (Murmurs, and cries of yes, yes, from the left.) If the honourable minister had merely declared that a solemn manifestation, in which a great part of the population was to take part, could disquiet the govern- ment, and disquiet it the more that all would be regular and peaceful, (no, no!) I think that he would be nearer the truth. But, I may ask, while leaving aside some expressions in the document, and which I neither avow nor disavow (great in- terruption) — I avow most loudly the intention of the docu- ment, but I disavow the language used — when men summon a great concourse of citizens together, would they not fail in their duty if they did not adopt every possible means to pre- serve order ? If, in our country, great meetings cannot take place unless when regulated by the official authorities, why, I suppose, they must even submit to such regulations ; but, in free countries, it is usual for such meetings to lay down their own rules for preserving order: and, on the occasion of the present manifestation, the men who took part in the matter were anxious that as great a number as possible of respect- able citizens — of the National Guards — should be present, to impose on those who could have any idea of disorder, and hence they were invited. You say that the National Guards were invited to join with arms, (denial from the "Centres,) but that was not the case : you are fighting against a mere chi- merical supposition, (denial from the centres.) Thanks to the progress of our political habits, thanks to the intelligence of the country, I can give you the utmost assurance that order would not have been troubled. You, by an unexpected com- 32 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. pression, by a state of siege which you do not even pretend to dissemble, you add to the difficulties of a position already too much strained. Now, on you, and on you alone, be the responsibility of such conduct. (Exclamations from the centre.) You are not willing to have order with and by means of liberty: undergo, then, the consequences of what you have done." (Great agitation.) The Minister of the Interior. — " Had I any occasion for proofs to justify the determination come to by the govern- ment, I should find them in the very words of the honourable gentleman. This manifesto, which he accuses us of having grossly exaggerated, he neither avows nor disavows. (Move- ment.) When the manifesto is neither avowed nor disavowed, can it be considered a subject of security by us who are charged to maintain public order ? Is it a subject of security to see a manifesto published which provokes a violation of the law, and which M. 0. Barrot dares not venture to say he avows ? (Agitation.) But the honourable gentleman declares that what is complained of are mere matters of police regu- lations, adopted spontaneously to prevent any disturbances that might take place : consequently, there existed the ele- ments of disturbance, or else why adopt such regulations? (Denial on the left.) Disorder was therefore nearer than was supposed. (Hear, hear.) I ask, when were self-consti- tuted committees admitted to have the mission of calling out the National Guards in order to maintain order ?" (Loud de- nial on the left, and disapprobation.) M. de Courtais. — " Will you dare to call out the National Guard? Only try it!" (Exclamations from the centre.) The Minister of the Interior. — "I listened toM. 0. Barrot with great attention, and I declare to him that I regard most seriously the* responsibility which weighs on us. The Cham- ber will do me this justice, that I have not, in this discussion, employed any irritating expression. (Hear, hear.) I might have deemed myself authorized to make use of recriminatory language, for it appeared to me that it was intimated that we wanted to conceal behind a question of public order the ques- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 33 tion of ministerial existence, and that we were anxious to exaggerate the proportions of an incident exceedingly gi -^ ve in itself, in order to advance our own interest; but I ha\v, not considered it fit to employ any recrimination: being, above all, the guardian of public order and of the law, I shall content myself with merely saying that we cannot admit the system which the honourable deputy has advocated in this tribune, nor can we admit either that there is any just cause to complain of that pretended compression which is really destined only to prevent acts evidently contrary to the law. I maintain what I said just now. We are willing to allow matters to reach a point at which the judicial question may intervene. That situation we had taken up, and we still maintain it. Call that, if you please, violence and compres- sion, but it is not so : it is the only thing that can be reason- ably called for by every one — it is the performance of the duties of the government, the maintenance of order, and the respect for the laws, on which the tranquillity of the country and safety of our institutions depend." (Approbation; great agitation.) Here the matter dropped, and the Chamber adjourned at six o'clock, in a perfect tumult. Immediately after, the opposition deputies held a meeting and drew up a manifesto, declaring their intention to aban- don the banquet, and advising the citizens to pursue the same course; but expressing their determination to struggle with renewed energy for the recognition of the right of meeting. The deputies thus sought to throw the entire re- sponsibility of disorder upon the government. The Pari- sians, were greatly dissatisfied at the want of firmness dis- played by M. Odillon Barrot, and many abused him in the most unmeasured terms, declaring that he was "too timid, and too rich," to be a popular leader at such a crisis. On Tuesday, the people were greatly excited, and vast crowds collected in the streets. But the garrison of Paris had been increased to 100,000 men, with supplies, and disci- plined ; and no great movement was made during the day. 3 ■% THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 35 As early as ten o'clock, however, a crowd collected at the Chamber of Deputies, and compelled to retire before the troops did so, crying, <' Vive la Reforme /" "^ has Guizot !" and singing the stirring "Marsellaise." In the vicinity of the Church of Madclaine the crowd was dense and formidable, but the dragoons at length succeeded in causing the people to disperse. At one o'clock, the main thoroughfares were clear. But in the neighbourhood of the Hotel of Foreign Affairs, the residence of Guizot, the crowd remained in spite of the Municipal Guard. The charges of the guard did very little damage, and they were laughed at by the people. The Chamber presented a gloomy aspect. Few deputies were in attendance ; the benches of the opposition were completely vacant. M. Guizot arrived at an early hour ; he looked pale but confident ; he was shortly afterAvard followed by the Ministers of Finance, Public Instruction, and Commerce. Marshal Bu- geaud, who was believed to have accepted the military command of Paris in the event of a revolt, took his seat close to the minis- terial bench. The Chamber then resumed the adjoui-ned dis- cussion on the bill relative to the renewal of the privilege of the Bank of Bordeaux. At three o'clock Odillon Barrot entered the hall, accompanied by Messrs. Duvergier, de Hauranne, Marie, Thiers, Garnier Pages, &c. Their appearance pro- duced some sensation. Shortly afterward M. de Haui-anne went up to the President and handed him a paper, supposed to be a proposition for the impeachment of ministers. This paper having been communicated by the President to M. Guizot, the latter, after perusing it, laughed immoderately. MM. Thiers, Dupin, Lamartine, Billault, Cr^mieux, and the Minister of the Interior and Justice, next made their appear- ance ; but the discussion on the bank bill continued until five o'clock, and no incident of interest occurred. When the discussion terminated, M. Odillon Barrot ascended the tribune, and deposited on the table a formal proposition, to the effect of impeaching ministers, signed by fifty-three deputies. The President, however, adjourned the Chambers without reading it, to the great disappointment of the opposition, but an- 36 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE. Marshal Bugeaud. nounced that it should be submitted to the approbation of the bureaux on Thursday. The Chamber adjourned soon after five o'clock. Up to this time no very serious apprehensions appear to have been entertained as to the result of the day's proceedings. It was a troublesome riot, and that was all. The people were unarmed, and their attempts to cope with one hundred thou- sand soldiers was a melancholy absurdity ! The funds even rose ten centimes, and maintained that advance until the close of the Bourse. Late in the afternoon the government took heart of grace and ventured to call out the National Guard. The rappel was beaten at five o'clock, and the man- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 37 ner in which this was done was curious and significant. The drummers, who were preceded and followed by two sections of National Guards, were accompanied by some hundreds of young fellows in blouses, armed with long sticks, and roaring out the favourite cries and songs of the day. The skirmishing continued until a late hour in the Fau- bourg St. Antoine ; but by midnight all the barricades, erected in the course of the day, had been thrown down, and Paris was throughout the night in the entire possession of the troops, who bivouacked in the streets and market-places. On Wednesday morning all hackney-coaches, cabs, omni- buses, and every description of public carriage, had disap- peared from the streets and the public stands, their owners being warned by the fate of the vehicles which were seized by the populace on Tuesday evening to form barricades, and some of which were burned. The iron railings in several parts of the town were torn down to supply weapons to the populace. This took place at the hotel of the Minister of Marine, in the Place de la Concorde, at the churches of the Assumption and of St. Roque, in the Rue St. Honor^, and elsewhere. By nine o'clock, the people assembled in considerable numbers in the quarters St. Denis and St. Martin ; and at ten o'clock they had succeeded in erecting barricades at the Porte St. Denis, in the Rue de Clery, in the Rue Neuve St^ Eustache, the Rue du Cadran, and the Rue du Petit-Carreau. Conflicts took place at some of these barricades between the populace and the Municipal Guards, and two young men were killed. Several Municipal Guards were pursued to the Place du Caire, by young men armed Avith sticks. The guards fired and wounded several persons. A woman was killed on the' spot. The officer of a platoon of the National Guard, who- was on the place, was so indignant, that he cried, — "To' arms!" whereupon the Municipal Guard beat a retreat. Two- hours later, the Place du Caire was perfectly calm ; in fact, not a soul was to be seen except three National Guards in the Passage du Caire. 38 THE FKENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. At the Porte St. Denis the troops charged the people, and the barricade in the Rue Cadran, at the entrance to the Rue Montmartre, was attacked by the Municipal Guards, who fired on the mob, killing a child, and seriously wounding two men and three women. At twelve o'clock, all the quarter of the markets was fully occupied. There was a battalion of the 21st regiment on the Marche des Innocens, besides detachments of the Muni- cipal Guard, horse and foot, and two detachments of Cuiras- siers. Two pieces of cannon were on the spot, one of which was directed towards the Rue Montmartre, the other toward the Rue de la Ferronnerie. They were ready to be employed at a moment's notice. The fish-market was occupied by a battalion of the 1st regiment. On the Place du Carrousel, the Horse Municipal Guard made repeated charges ; but the people, after dispersing on one spot, immediately reassembled on another. At the bar- ricade in the Rue de Clery, which was half-destroyed, the Municipal Guard fired, and several persons were wounded. The National Guards of the Second Legion began to as- semble at an early hour in the Rue Lepelletier, in front of the Opera House. At half-past eleven there were about one hundred and fifty of them collected, and they formed in two lines across the street, one division at each extremity of the theatre. In the centre were the officers ; outside, the people frantic with joy. A National Guard being asked what had happened, — "We have declared for Reform," said he : "that is, some of us difi"er about reform, but we are all agreed about Guizot. Down with Guizot!" Vive la JReforme! Vive la Cfarde Nationale ! cried the people incessantly. An hour afterward the National Guards proceeded, with their sap- peurs at their head, in full uniform, to the Tuileries, to de- clare their sentiments. They returned about one o'clock, and occupied the Rue Lepelletier again. A platoon closed the street on the Boule- vard, and was hailed with shouts of Vive la Gfarde Ratio- nale ! A squadron of Cuirassiers, supported by half a squad- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 39 ron of Chasseurs d cheval, arrived. The chef d'escadron gave orders to draw swords. The ranks of the National Guards closed. The shouts of the people redoubled, although not a man of them was armed. The squadron made a half- movement on the Rue Lepelletier, when the oflBcer in com- mand of the National Guards drew his SAVord, advanced, and saluted him. A few words Avere exchanged. They separated. The one placed himself at the head of his soldiers, and gave the word to "wheel and forward," and they resumed their march, accompanied by the cheers and the clapping of hands of the multitude. The officer of the National Guards re- turned very quietly to his post, and sheathed his sword. It is said the words exchanged between the officers were these, — "Who are these men?" " They are the people." "And those in uniform?" "They are the Second Legion of the National Guard of Paris." " The people must dis- perse." "They will not." "I shall use force." " Sir, the National Guards sympathize with the people, the people who demand reform." "They must disperse." " They will not." " I must use force." " Sir, we, the National Guards, sym- pathize in the desire for reform, and will defend them." By half-past two o'clock three more scenes of the same kind had occurred. The Municipal Guards, who occupied the unpopular position of the gendarmes of 1830, were now, by order of the government, mixed up with the troops of the line, on whom the people were lavish of their compliments and caresses. A column of ^cavalry and infantry. Municipal Guards, and infantry of the line, arrived by the Boulevard at the end of the Rue Lepelletier. They made a move like the others as if to wheel into that street, but the attitude of the National Guard made them pause, and immediately the word was given to continue their march, the people rending the air with cries for reform, for the infantry, and the Na- tional Guards. Again a precisely similar occurrence took place, but this time it ended with the absolute retreat of the troops, for they turned around and retired up the Boulevard. Such was the conduct of the Second Legion of the Na- 40 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. tional Guard. The initiative, however, appears to have been taken by the Third Legion, who this morning, at the mairie of the third arrondissement — Place des Petits P^res, declared for reform. The Municipal Guards, whose barracks adjoin the church of the Petits Peres, were ordered to disarm them, and advanced to the charge with the bayonets levelled ; but the movement was imitated by the National Guard, the bayo- nets crossed; blood was about to flow, when the colonel of the National Guard, M. Textorix, cried out, "Hold, soldiers! these are the people ; respect the people." The effect was electric. The Municipal Guards raised their bayonets, shoul- dered arms, and marched off. This incident had a powerful influence on the rest of the National Guards of that legion. They almost to a man joined their comrades, and attained the number of three thousand by one o'clock. Their officers having then held a council, agreed to depute their colonel to the king, to ac- quaint his majesty with the wishes of the National Guard, — in other words, reform and the dismissal of the cabinet. That officer immediately proceeded to the palace, but was not admitted into the royal presence ; he only saw General Jacqueminot, the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, who promised that he would that instant carry himself the memorial to the king. The National Guards remained as- sembled on the square awaiting the return of the colonel, their determination being to march upon the Tuileries if the reply was negative. Occasionally strong patrols were sent out to interpose, if necessary, between the combatants ; but no hostilities took place in the neighbourhood, the troops quietly remaining on the adjoining Place des Victories, with- out giving the least provocation. The Nationals filed by them shouting for reform and the dismissal of ministers, sur- rounded and followed by an immense mass of people uttering the same cries, and the soldiers of the line by their counte- nances testified that they concurred in the popular feeling. In one of the by-streets a detachment of troops, stationed there to intercept the passage, were helped to bread and wine THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 41 hj the people, and their officers looked on, nay, encouraged them to accept the provisions offered to them. The Fourth Legion also took arms, and stationed detachments in different directions to maintain order and prevent the effusion of blood. The members of the left mustered strong in the Chamber of Deputies this day. M. Vavin, one of the deputies for Paris, rose amidst profound silence, and said that he had a solemn duty to accomplish, which was to call the Minister of the Interior to account for the scenes then passing in the capital. During twenty-four hours serious disturbances had taken place in Paris, and the population remarked with as- tonishment the absence of the National Guard. On Monday, orders had been given for its attendance. Why had they been countermanded ? Why was it only after a first collision that the drummers were permitted to beat to arms ? If from the beginning the National Guard had been called out, fatal misfortunes would have been avoided. M. Guizot, who had shortly before entered the Chamber, immediately rose and said, — "I have nothing to say at the present moment to the questions of the honourable member. The king has sent for Count Mol^, who is empowered to form a ministry." (Loud cries of bravo! and cheers followed the announcement, Avhich appeared to annoy M. Guizot. He then continued.) " We are not to be prevented by such mani- festations as those I now hear, as long as we remain in office, which will be till our successors are appointed, from doing our duty. We shall consider ourselves answerable for all that may happen. We shall act in every thing we do, ac- cording to our best judgment and our consciences, and ac- cording to what we consider the interests of the country." Thus fell Guizot, a man of indomitable will, extensive in- formation, and great mental capacity, but most intensely and unscrupulously selfish. His soul was too full of pride to leave room for any other sentiment. He might have been thrust head-foremost into the ocean, and he would not have admitted that he was drowning. He believed in his own infallibility, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 43 with a violejit and desperate faith.* He bears the fame of a great statesman. A great politician he may have been. He aimed at power and obtained it. But a great statesman should aim at, and reach, something more. National pros- perity and influence abroad should be the result of his mea- sures. And such were not the results of Guizot's adminis- tration. The announcement of the resignation of M. Guizot was received with cheers, illuminations, and rejoicings by the people of Paris. All hostile movements ceased, and it was expected that complete tranquillity would be restored. But it occurred to the victors that M. Guizot's hotel ought to be illuminated as well as the houses of his neighbours. A, proposition to that effect was made to the soldiers on guard. While the parley was going on, some of the troops were* in- sulted by the more violent of the insurgents. Lagrange, the Lyons conspirator, fired and broke the leg of a lieutenant- colonel's horse. Instantly, without warning, the whole line fired along the Boulevards, making frightful carnage among the inoffensive throng. Fifty-two persons fell, dead or wounded. The people fled in consternation. But fear soon gave way to indignation and the thirst for vengeance. The cry then burst forth from every lip, " To arms ! Down with the assassins ! Down with Louis Philippe ! Down with all his race! Barricades*! Barricades !" and these dread sounds were echoed in all the streets of the capital. Another volley was discharged on the crowd in the Rue de la Paix, which still further excited the fury of the people. They returned to the barricades, at which they worked without interruption all night, and next morning there was not a single leading street in the capital which was not a fortress. The drums of the National Guard Avere beating all night. All the posts of the Municipal Guard were attacked, taken, and their contents burned by the people. Arms were taken wherever they could be found. * De Cormenin. 44 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. M. Thiers. The attempt to form a Mol^ administration failed. The king sent, late at night, to M. Thiers, and asked him to form a ministry. Marshal Bugeaud was appointed commander-in- chief of the National Guard, but finding he was not to have a carte hlanche, he resigned, and was replaced by General Lamoriciere. Such was the state of Paris on Thursday morning at day- break : and with every successive hour the situation of the government grew more critical. From all sides accounts ar- rived of the union of the National Guard with the people, and (what was still more alarming) of the regiments of the line with the National Guard. The National Guard would not fire on the people ; the line would not fire on the National Guard. The force of the government was paralysed. About nine o'clock, the 45th regiment of the line bodily fraternised with the National Guurd. The 30th regiment gave up their arms to the people at the first summons. At eleven, the quarters of the five companies of Pompiers of Paris were as- sailed ; the whole of their arms and ammunition were given up to the insurgents. Reports of similar defalcations were THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 45 every moment brought to the Tuilerics ; and at length it be- came evident that if something were not done, and that speedily, the whole body of the troops would desert the sovereign. At length the following proclamation was issued, and posted at the Bourse and in every street : — First Proclamation, at Eleven o'clock. " Citizens of Paris ! — Orders have been given to suspend the firing. We have just been charged by the king to com- pose a ministry. The Chamber will be dissolved immediately. General Lamoriciere has been nominated commander-in-chief of the National Guard of Paris. "MM. 0. Barrot, Thiers, Lamoriciere, and Duvergier de Hauranne are Ministers. "Liberty! Order! Union! Reform! (Signed) " Odillon "Carrot and Thiers." This proclamation came too late, and was torn down as fast as it was posted ! By the time it Avas issued the people felt that they were the victors, for not only had the whole of the National Guard of Paris taken their part, but a large portion of the soldiers of the line had openly joined them, while many more had refused to fire upon them. A piece of du- plicity on the part of the authorities, which was discovered, had also an exasperating efi"ect. On the orders being given to suspend the firing at the barricades, the troops were with- drawn, and the people were informed that they had been ordered back to their barracks ; but they soon learned that they had been drawn around the Tuileries, for its defence. There was an immediate cry of Aux Tuileries ! and from all parts of the capital immense bodies of the insurgents, now well armed, and marching along with the National Guards, were to be seen directing their way toward the Palais Royal and the Palace of the Tuileries. By twelve o'clock the whole of that quarter of the town was invested. The new ministers had in vain gone among the people, and exerted all their personal influence to allay the popular fury. 46 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. They were coldly received. "We have been too often de- luded. This time we will make all sure," was the universal cry. The alarm in the palace may be guessed at by the fact, that before one o'clock the following proclamation was to be seen at the Bourse and in several of the streets : — Second Proclamation, One o'clock. " Citizens of Paris ! — The king has abdicated in favour of the Count de Paris, with the Duchess of Orleans as Regent. " A general amnesty. Dissolution of the Chamber. Ap- peal to the country." But it was again too late. The tardy concession could not save the dynasty, or even its palace. It was about this time that red flags began to appear, with the word "Republic !" rudely traced upon them, and the terrible cry became fre- quent, — "^ la potence Louis Philippe!''' — "To the gallows with Louis Philippe !" At half-past twelve the attack on the Palais Royal commenced, and from that moment till half- past one the firing was incessant. The Palais Royal was taken by storm after a battle which lasted nearly an hour. The Palace of the Tuileries made no resistance. At half- past one it surrendered, and the people entered at one side, just as the king and his family were escaping at the other. As the people arrived at the Place du Palais Royal they wpre received by a discharge of musketry from a post called the Chateau d'Eu. The coolest act of this day was the manner in which these men in blouses dislodged the troops and set fire to their barracks. 'They were headed by the National Guard ; all at once the guard opened its ranks, and out stepped some five hundred to a thousand of the people, who coolly walked without flinching (their comrades falling at their sides) till they arrived directly under the walls of the barracks. They then laid hold of some citadines, filled them with straw, set fire to them, and thus smoked them out. Some of the soldiers escaped by the back way ; the captain and a few others attempted to cut their way out, but were 48 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. immediately shot or bayoneted. The remains of twenty burned bodies were found in the ruins. The Palais Royal and the Tuileries were completely sacked. The splendid furniture was broken and burned. The throne of Louis Philippe was cast into the fire amid thunders of applause. All attempts at theft, however, were rigorously punished. The people desired that no petty act of selfish- ness should stain their patriotic vengeance. It was but justice to destroy the magnificent dresses of corrupt mo- narchy. It would have been criminal to have stolen even their spangles. The valuable treasures of art in the two palaces were suffered to remain uninjured. Throughout their work, the people evinced that they were much more capable of noble self-government than their royal rulers had ever admitted. The scene in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, was one of the most extraordinary ever beheld. It was, in, fact, a combined repetition of what occurred in the Constituent Assembly on the 10th of August, 1792, and of the decisive blow struck by Bonaparte on the 18th Brumaire, when he turned the legislative body out of doors with his grenadiers. The dynasty and the legislature were alike deposed by the armed people on the memorable 24th of February, 1848. At one o'clock the President took the chair ; upward of three hundred members were present. In half an hour after- wards the Duchess of Orleans entered with her two sons' and the Duke de Nemours and Montpensier. The young Comte de Paris came first, led by one of the deputies. It was with great difficulty that way could be made for him amidst the crowd of officers and soldiers of the National Guard. His presence at the door caused a strong sensation, which broke forth in murmurs that soon rose to loud exclamations of, "You cannot enter ! You have no right here!" Several of the people, however, rushed into the chamber with the young Count, and placed him under the tribune. A moment after- ward the Duchess of Orleans entered, and seated herself in a chair, with her two sons beside her. Immediately the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 49 Cremieux. passages, and every vacant space, was filled with such of the populace as had succeeded in squeezing themselves in with the National Guards. The Princess soon after quitted the semicircle, and retired to one of the upper benches of the centre, and opposite to the President's bureau. The Chamber was agitated in every part. The first to speak was M. Dupin, who said, "that in the present situation of the capital it had been found necessary to reassemble the Chamber without loss of time. The king had abdicated the crown in favour of his grandson, and devolved the regency on the Duchess of Or- leans." At this announcement cries of bravo! resounded from the centre, and from some of the public galleries. Dis- 4 60 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. Ledru Rollin. approbation was expressed on the benches of the left, and one voice was heard above the rest, exclaiming, "It is too late !" A scene of confusion it is impossible to describe ensued. The Duchess and her children now appeared in the midst of a group of deputies. The National Guards hastened to sur- round the royal family. The Dukes of Nemours and Mont- pensier were seated behind the two young princes and their mother. MM, Marie, Crdmieux, Genoude, Barrot, Chevalier, La- rochejaquelin, Ledru Rollin, and Lamartine, severally ad- dressed the deputies, th-ough very often interrupted by the crowd, which filled the Chamber, threatened the Duchess of Orleans and the Count of Paris, and demanded a Republic. Lamartine proposed a Provisional government, and the pro- position was received with shouts of approbation. The names of the members of the government were written upon slips and carried around the chamber on the points of bayonets. The sitting broke up amid the confusion. About four o'clock the crowd moved to the Hotel de Ville. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 51 M. Marie. At the Hotel de Yille a very exciting scene was presented. The Provisional government sat to decide upon the course to be adopted. The people fiercely demanded a simple and free democracy. The socialist leaders clamoured for the protection of labour. The aged Dupont de I'Eure tried in vain to be heard in defence of a moderate republic. M. Marie met with no better success. At length, the Provi- sional government issued the following proclamation : — " To the French People. " A retrograde and oligarchic government has been over- turned by the heroism of the people of Paris. This govern- ment has fled, leaving behind it traces of blood, which will 52 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. for ever forbid its return. The blood of the people has flowed as in July, but happily it will not have been shed in vain. It has secured a national and popular government, in accordance with the rights, the progress, and the will of this great and generous people. A Provisional government, chosen by the acclamation and at the call of the people, and some of the deputies of the departments in the sitting of the 24th of February, is for the moment invested with the care of organizing and securing the national victory. It is com- posed of MM. Dupont (de I'Eure), Lamartine, Crdmieux, Arago (de I'lnstitut), Ledru Rollin, and Garnier Pag^s. The secretaries to this government are MM. Armand Marrast, editor of the 'National;" Louis Blanc, Ferdinand Flocon, editor of the 'R^forme,' and Albert. These citizens have not hesitated for an instant to accept the patriotic mission which has been imposed on them by the urgency of the oc- casion. When the capital of France is under fire, the mis- sion of the Provisional government is that of public safety. All France will understand this, and will give the assistance of its patriotism. Under the popular government now pro- claimed by the Provisional government, every citizen is a magistrate. Frenchmen, give to the world the example which Paris has given to France. Prepare yourselves, by order and confidence in yourselves, for those strong institutions which you are about to be called upon to give yourselves. The Provisional government desires a Republic, subject to the ratification of the French people, who are to be imme- diately consulted. Neither the people of Paris nor the Pro- visional government desire to substitute their opinion for the opinions of the citizens at large, upon the definite form of government which the national sovereignty shall proclaim. The unity of the nation, formed henceforth of all classes of the people which compose it. The government of the nation by itself. Liberty, equality, and fraternity for its principles. The national device and pass-word to be 'The People.' Such is the democratic government which France owes to herself, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 53 Bethmont. and wliich our efforts will assure to her. Such are the first acts of the Provisional government. (Signed), "Dupont (de I'Eure), Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Bedeau, Michael Goudechaux, Arago, Bethmont, Marie, Carnot, Cavaignac, Garnier Pages. "The Municipal Guard is disbanded. The protection of the city of Paris is confided to the National Guard, under the orders of M. Courtais." This proclamation was followed by another, appointing a Provisional Ministry, as follows: — M. Dupont (de I'Eure), President of the Council, without portfolio; M. De Lamar- tine, Minister of Foreign Affairs ; M. Cr^mieux, Minister of 54 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. Justice; M. Ledru Rollin, Ministir of the Interior; M. Michel Goudechaux, Minister of Finance ; M. Frangois Arago, Minister of Marine ; General Bedean, Minister of War ; M. Carnot, Minister of Public Instruction and Worship ; M. Bethmont, Minister of Commerce; M. Marie, Minister of Public Works; General Cavaignac^ Governor of Algeria. To these decrees succeeded : — " The Municipal Guard is dissolved. M. Garnier Pag^s is named Mayor of Paris, and to him are given as adjoints, MM. Guinard and Recurt. M, Flotard is named Secretary- general. All the other Mayors of Paris are provisionally maintained. The Prefecture of Police is luider the depen- dence of the Mayor of Paris. In the name of France, the Provisional government decides that the Chamber of Depu- ties is dissolved. The ex-Chamber of Peers is forbidden to meet. A National Assembly will be convoked as soon as the Provisional government shall have regulated the necessary measures of order and police." Further appointments followed in rapid succession. Ge- neral Subervie was substituted for General Bedeau, as Minis- ter of War, General Bedeau taking the command of the first military division ; Admiral Baudin was appointed Com- mander of the Fleet ; the Police department was intrusted to the citizens Caussidiere and Sobrier ; and citizen Et. Arago was appointed to the Direction-General of the Post- office. A notice also advised the bakers, or furnishers 6f provisions of Paris, to keep their shops open to all those who might have occasion for them. The people were expressly recommended not to quit their arms, their positions, or their revolutionary attitude. It was further announced that the liberation of all who had been imprisoned on political grounds had been effected ; but, at the same time, all who had been convicted of crimes against persons and property were de- tained. Meanwhile, where was Louis Philippe ? M. Maurice, an eyewitness, thus describes his flight : — « About one o'clock in the afternoon, while in conversation THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 55 with the colonel of the 21st Regiment of the Line, who ap- peared well-disposed, and of which he gave proof in ordering his men to sheath their bayonets, a young man in plain clothes, who turned out to be the son of Admiral Baudin, on horseback, trotted past us at a quick pace, crying out that Louis Philippe had abdicated, and requesting that the news might be circulated. A few instants after, at the Pont Tour- nant, we saw approach from the Tuileries a troop of cavalry of the National Guards, at a walking pace, forming the head of a procession, and by gestures and cries inviting the citi- zens to abstain from every unfavourable demonstration. At this moment the expression, ' a great misfortune !' {une grande infortune), was heard, and the King, Louis Philippe, his right arm passed under the left arm of the queen, on whom he appeared to lean for support, was seen approaching from the gate of the Tuileries, in the midst of the horsemen, and fol- lowed by about thirty persons in diflFerent uniforms. The queen walked with a firm step, and cast around looks of as- surance and anger intermingled. The king wore a black coat, with a common round hat, but wore no orders. The queen was in full mourning. A report was circulated that they were going to the Chamber of Deputies to deliver the act of abdi- cation. Cries of Vive la Reforme ! Vive la France ! and even, by two or three persons, Vive la Roi! were heard. The procession had scarcely passed the Pont Tournant, and arrived at the pavement surrounding the obelisk, when the king, the queen, and the whole party made a sudden halt, apparently without any necessity. In a moment they were surrounded by a crowd on foot and horseback, and so pressed on that they could no longer move freely. Louis Philippe appeared alarmed at this sudden approach. Indeed, the spot, chosen by an unhappy chance, produced a strange feeling. A few paces off a Bourbon king, an innocent and resigned victim, would have been happy to have experienced no other treatment. Louis Philippe turned quickly round, let go the queen's arm, took off his hat, raised it in the air, and cried out something which the noise prevented me hearing ; in fact, \ 56 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. the cries and pele-mele were general. The queen became alarmed at no longer feeling the king's arm, and turned around with extreme haste, saying something which I could not catch. At this moment I said, Madame, ne craignez rien ; continuez, les rangs vont s'ouvrir devant vous — 'Have no fear, madame; go on, the crowd will open and make way for you.' Whether her. anxiety gave a false interpretation to my intention or not I am ignorant," but pushing back my hand she exclaimed, Laissez moi! in a tone of extreme irritation. She seized hold of the king's arm, and they both turned their steps toward two small black carriages with one horse each. In the first were two young children. The king took the left and the queen the right, and the children with their faces close to the windows of the vehicle, looking at the crowd with the utmost curiosity ; the coachman whipped his horse vio- lently, in fact with so much rapidity did it take place that the coach appeared rather carried than driven aAvay ; it passed before me, surrounded by the cavalry and National Guards present, and cuirassiers, and dragoons. The second carriage, in which were two females, followed the other at the same pace, and the escort, which amounted to about two hundred men, set ofi" at a full gallop, taking the water side, toward St. Cloud." " The flight of Louis Philippe," says the ' Paris National,' "was marked by an incident which does so much honour to the feelings of our population, that we hasten to mention it. At the moment the ex-king was escaping by the little low doorway nearly opposite the bridge, and going into the little voiture that waited for him, he found himself surrounded by the people. Two cuirassiers stationed in the Place de la Concorde rushed to his protection, and this brave regiment, without however, using their arms, opened a passage. An officer seeing the danger, cried out, 'Messieurs, spare the king !' To which a stentorian voice replied, ' We are not assassins — let him go.' 'Yes, yes; let him. go-^qu" il parte,' became the general cry. ' The people have been too brave during the combat not to be generous after the victory.' " THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 67 The family were strangely scattered in their flight. The Duchess de Montpensier, the innocent cause of all the up- roar, scared from the palace by the inroads of the mob, wan- dered about the streets of Paris until five o'clock that day, accompanied by an old Spanish servant, who knew not a word of French. She was met in the Rue du Havre, close to the railway station, by a gentleman who, knowing her by sight, took upon himself to protect her and conduct her to his house, where she remained for some days. How she managed to stray unmolested and unrecognised so far from home, is a mystery to this hour. She says that, seeking to avoid the crowd, she turned down the streets which seemed most free, without caring whither they might- lead. She arrived in England on the 29th of February, accompanied by her hus- band's aid-de-camp. The Duchess of Orleans, after leaving the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, proceeded with her children to the Invalides, where they passed the night. At five o'clock next morning they left in a hackney-coach, ac- companied by an aide-de-camp of the Governor of the In- valides, Marshal Molitor. She did not leave Paris until the following Wednesday, and was accompanied to the frontier by a distinguished member of the Provisional government, M. Marrast. The Provisional government sent the Duchess her jewels and a large sum of money. The Duke de Ne- mours and the Duke de Montpensier were both separated from their wives in the flight. Nemours arrived in London on Sunday the 27th of February, accompanied by his sister, her- husband the Duke of Saxe Coburg, and four children. So sudden had been the escape of the whole party, that no one of them came provided with a change of raiment. The Duchess de Nemours arrived at Portsmouth, on the 4th of March, under the escort of the Duke de Montpensier. On the evening of Friday, the 25th, order was, to a great extent, restored. The bank of France reopened. To the admirable conduct of the National Guard, and to the intre- pidity, energy, and good sense of the Provisional govern- 58 THE PRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. Lamartine. merit, and especially to the determination and eloquence of M. Lamartine, belongs the credit of restoring tranquillity. The abolition of the punishment of death for political of- fences, and the readoption of the tricolour, which had for a while been supplanted by the ill-omened red flag, were pro- posed by Lamartine, and owed their success to his extraor- dinary eloquence and courage. Five times on Friday he addressed the people, still fierce with excitement, assembled under the windows of 'the Hotel de Ville. The "Presse" has reported one of these addresses:— " It is thus that you are led from calumny to calumny against the men who have devoted themselves, head, heart, and breast, to give you a real republic — the republic of all rights, all interests, and all the legitimate rights of the people. Yesterday you asked us to usurp, in the name of the people of Paris, the rights of 35,000,000 of men — to vote them an absolute republic, instead of a republic in- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 59 vested with the strength of their consent ; that is to say, to make of that republic, imposed and not consented, the -will of a part of the people, instead of the will of the whole na- tion. To-day you demand from us the red flag instead of the tricolour one. Citizens ! for my part, I will never adopt the red flag ; and I will explain in a word why I will oppose it with all the strength of my patriotism. It is, citizens, be- cause the tricolour flag has made the tour of the world, under the republic and the empire, with our liberties and our glo- ries, and that the red flag has only made the tour of the Champ de Mars, trailed through torrents of the blood of the people." The effect of this oratory was all powerful. At this part of the speech of M. de Lamartine, in that astonishing sitting of sixty hours, in the midst of an irritated crowd, every one was suddenly affected by his words : hands were clapped and tears shed, and they finished by embracing him, shaking his hands, and bearing him in triumph. In a moment after, fresh masses of people arrived, armed with sabres and bayo- nets. They knocked at the doors ; they filled the salles. The cry was, that all was lost; that the people were about to fire on or stifle the members of the Provisional government. M. de Lamartine was called for. He was supplicated to go once more, for the last time, to address the people. He was raised on a step of the staircase ; the crowd remained for half-an-hour without consenting to listen to him, vociferating, brandishing arms of all kinds over his head. M. de Lamar- tine folded his arms, recommenced his address, and finished by softening, appeasing, and caressing the intelligent and sensible people, and determining them either to withdraw, or to become themselves the safeguard of the Provisional go- vernment. On Saturday, the restoration of order was completed. The public Departments resumed their duties, and among them the department of Finance. It was only on the pre- vious Monday that the notice to pay the city taxes had been issued. The whole of the coming year's taxes derived from 60 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. per-centage on rents of apartments and shopkeepers' licenses would thus fall into the hands of the new government — an enormous fund with which to begin. The million a month to the civil list had already been confiscated, or, as the or- donnance has it, "restored to the people" — a handsome ad- dition to the fund applicable to the relief of distress. The streets were partially cleared of the obstructions caused by the barricades, under the scientific direction of the students of the Ecole Polytechnique, in such a way as not to compro- mise the security against a surprise afi'orded by these popula-r fortifications. This enabled the country people to bring in provisions, of which there was an abundant supply ; and it allowed the vast number of coachmen and cabmen to resume their occupation. The law courts resumed their sittings ; the shops were opened ; every thing was done to calm apprehen- sion. On this day, the indefatigable Lamartine declared the Republic : he presented himself, with the other members of the government, on the steps of the H6tel de Ville, and thus addressed the multitude : — " Citizens ! The Provisional government of the Republic has called upon the people to witness its gratitude for the magnificent national co-operation which has just accepted these new institutions. (Prolonged acclamations from the crowd and National Guard.) " The Provisional government of the Republic has only joyful intelligence to announce to the people here assembled. Royalty is abolished. The Republic is proclaimed. The people will exercise their political rights. National work- shops are open for those who are without work. (Immense acclamations.) " The army is being reorganized. The National Guard indissolubly unites itself with the people, so as to promptly restore order with the same hand that had only the preceding moment conquered our liberty. (Renewed acclamations.) "Finally, gentlemen, the Provisional government was anxious to be itself the bearer to you of the last decree it THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 61 has resolved on and signed in this memorable sitting — that is, the abolition of the penalty of death for political matters. (Unanimous bravos.) This is the noblest decree, gentlemen, that has ever issued from the mouths of a people the day after their victory. (Yes, yes !) It is the character of the French nation which escapes in one spontaneous cry from the soul of its government. (Yes, yes ! Bravo !) We have brought it with us, and I will now read it to you. There is not a more becoming homage to a people than the spectacle of its own magnanimity." Here the orator read the following noble proclamation: — "The Provisional government, convinced that greatness of soul is the highest degree of policy, and that each revolu- tion effected by the French people owes to the world the con- secration of an additional philosophical truth; considering that there is no more sublime principle than the inviolability of human life ; considering that in the memorable days in which we live, the Provisional government has remarked with pride that not a single cry for vengeance or for death has dropped from the mouths of the people ; declares — That in its opinion the punishment of death for political offences is abolished, and that it will present that wish to the definitive ratification of the National Assembly. The Provisional go- vernment has so firm a conviction of the truth that it pro- claims, in the name of the French people, that if the guilty men who have just caused the blood of France to be spilt, were in the hands of the people, it would, in their opinion, be a more exemplary chastisement to degrade them than to put them to death." The Provisional government were duly rewarded for this great act of clemency, by the confidence which it immediately inspired in the justness and moderation of their views. It was indeed " the noblest act that ever issued from the mouths of a people the day after their victory;" and it did undoubt- edly express the genuine, spontaneous sentiments of the vic- torious Parisians, and of Frenchmen generally. It is well- known that M. Guizot remained in a friend's house in Paris 62 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. for six days after the 24th of February, and that the Provi- sional government were fully aware of his place of conceal- ment, and that it was not till he was safe across the frontiers that they took formal steps for prosecuting him and his col- leagues. Now the populace, who so often intruded into the H6tel de Ville with clamorous importunities of all sorts, never once thought of urging the government to vindictive measures against the fallen Ministers. On the night of the 24th, when the people were still flushed with the victory they had gained, an individual posted up at the corner of the Rue Richelieu a written paper, containing the name and address of the persons with whom MM. Guizot, Duchatel, and Hubert, had taken refuge. That indication was followed by an appeal to vengeance. Already the crowd was gathering round the . spot full of emotion, when a patrol of workmen advanced, with a corporal of the National Guard at its head. The latter approached, read the placard, and cried out, "My friends, they who make such dastardly denunciations have not fought in our ranks !" and he tore .down the paper amid the applause of all. We are inclined to think with a writer in the "Westmin- ster Review," that the abolition of the punishment of death for political offences probably contributed, more than any other act of the Provisional government, to cause the entire nation to accept the new men, as the indispensable necessity of the time, with an unanimity to which there is hardly a parallel in history. On the part of the army. Marshal Bu- geaud ; on the part of the clergy, the Archbishop of Paris ; gave in their adhesion to the new Republic. On the part of the middle classes, whether in Paris or in the provinces, and of the whole press, without a solitary exception, there does not appear to have been the hesitation of a moment. All seem to have felt by instinct, that whether or not the people were prepared for republican institutions, the time was come when a trial of them must be made ; for after the fall of a government which but a few days before had enjoyed the reputation of being one of the strongest in Europe, and THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 63 Frangois Arago. then suddenly vanished like a mist, there could be no further hope of security for person or property under the protection of royalty. This feeling was put to the test by a feeble at- tempt on the part of the few remaining friends of the elder branch of the Bourbons, which ended in ridiculous failure. On Sunday the members of the Provisional government reviewed the National Guards, before the Column of July. From the steps of this column, Arago, the astronomer and statesman, proclaimed the Republic. In the evening there was a grand illumination. Beyond the walls of the capital, there was much wanton destruction of property during the revolution. Louis Phi- lippe's beautiful chateau of Neuilly was burned down ; but most of its contents were sent to the public treasury before the work of conflagration began. The wine-cellars having been broken open, many of the crowd drank to excess, and 64 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. being unable to leave the building were burned to death. The splendid mansion of Baron Rothschild, at Surrennes was destroyed, under the impression that it was the king's property. On the Northern Railway the damage done amounted to not less than $2,000,000. The close of the revolutionary week witnessed the return of order, as we have already stated ; the gradual restoration of confidence — too soon, alas ! to be again impaired — was the work of the succeeding week. The streets still presented a very bustling appearance, but one of a most satisfactory cha- racter, being chiefly occasioned by the active steps taken to repair the mischief done in the three days. The Provisional government freely took all unemployed workmen into their pay, and as an additional means of securing the tranquillity of the capital, there was created a Garde National Mobile of twenty-four battalions, to be clothed by the State, and paid at the rate of thirty sous daily per man. Twenty thousand of the most indigent and daring youth of Paris were quickly enrolled and marched off toward the frontiers. However objectionable these measures might be in the abstract, the strictest political economist can hardly deny their expediency under the special circumstances. Hunger is the most dan- gerous counsellor that ever infested a revolutionised city. Another wise act of largesse on the part of the government was the redemption, at the cost of the State, of all articles pledged subsequently to the 4th of February for sum^ not exceeding ten francs. The number of articles thus released amounted to one hundred thousand, at an averaged cost of seven francs each. Saturday, March 4th, was devoted to the obsequies of the victims who had fallen on the side of the people. Their re- mains were wrapped in tf^icoloured winding-sheets, and laid on fifteen open biers, each containing five or six bodies. Several corpses had been placed in the vaults beneath the Column of July on the preceding night, and those claimed by their families or friends had of course been given up for pri- vate interment. The public funeral, therefore, afforded no THE FKENCH KEVOLUTION OF 1848. 65 opportunity for ascertaining the exact number of the slain, nor are we aware that this has been determined in any authentic manner. At first it was supposed that between five and six hundred had been killed on both sides ; a later estimate make the number less than two hundred : whereas a correspondent of one of the London daily papers states, that he was assured by a sergeant of the 14th regiment of the line (a detachment of which fired the fatal volley at the Foreign Office) that the killed in that regiment alone were more than two hundred. The burial solemnity consisted of a procession from the H6tel de Yille to the Madeleine ; a performance of funereal rites at that church; a procession to the Place de laBastile; and an interment of the dead in the vaults beneath the Column of July. The procession reached the Church of the Madeleine about noon. The church was hung with black drapery, tricoloured flags, and wreaths of immortelles; and inscribed over its entrance was, — Aux Citoyens morts pour la Liberie. A service was performed within. The route from the church to the Column of July, in the Place de la Bastile, was festooned continuously for the whole distance (nearly three miles) by tricoloured and black draperies.. These were supported by posts, on which were hung shields' of black cloth, inscribed with the words, — Respect aux mane» des vietimes des 22, 23, et 24 Fevrier. Flags waved from; the windows of every house on the route. The people as- sembled to view the spectacle by myriads, and as portions of the mass waved to and fro, the movement was like that of currents on the ocean. The day was beautiful, and a bril- liant sun shining on the sharp clear outlines of the white' Grecian church, on the lofty old-fashioned houses around it,, so picturesque in their complete contrast with it, and glancing from the forest of bayonets bristling among hundreds of tri- coloured flags, above the surface of the motley and closely packed crowd, of which no end was to be seen as far as the eye could reach, formed a spectacle that no city save Paris could furnish, and Paris only on such an occasion. Q6 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. The work of demolition was finished ; that of construction was scarcely begun. The fetters had been removed from the press, and the great reign of the people secured by the esta- blishment of universal suffrage. But this was not government sufficient for the protection and security of society. A Na- tional Assembly was to be organized, and then a written constitution — liberty's favourite fortress — was to be framed and adopted. In the mean time, M. de Lamartine sent a circular to the diplomatic agents of the French Republic, giving them an account of the change in the political system of their country, and instructing them to use their best efforts for the preservation of peace. To the request of the Poles and others, that France should aid the oppressed of other na- tions, the wise and firm minister replied, that while wishing success to the efforts of patriots, the French would best serve all interests by remaining neutral. The following decree prescribed the manner of electing the Constituent Assembly which was to shape the new republican constitution. The time of holding the elections, which was at first appointed for the 9th of April, was* afterward fixed for the 23d and 24th:— "The Provisional Government of the Republic, wishing to hand over as soon as possible into the hands of a definitive government the powers which it exercises for the interest and by command of the people, decrees : — "Art. 1. The electoral cantonal assemblies are convoked for the 9th April next, to elect the representatives of the peo- ple at the National Assembly which is to decree the constitu- tion. " Art. 2. The election will be based on the number of the population. "Art. 3. The total number of representatives will be nine hundred, including Algeria and the French colonies. "Art. 4. They shall be divided among the departments, agreeably to the subjoined list. "Art. 5. The suffrage shall be direct and universal. "Art. 6. Every Frenchman twenty-one years of age is an THE FRENCn REVOLUTION OP 1848. 67 elector, if he has resided in the commune for six months, and not judicially deprived or suspended from the exercise of his civil rights. "Art. 7. All Frenchmen Tvho have attained the age of twenty-five years, and not deprived or suspended of their civil rights, are eligible to be elected. "Art. 8. The ballot shall be secret. "Art. 9. All electors shall vote at the principal town of their canton by ballot. Each bulletin shall contain as many names as there shall be representatives to be elected in the department. No one can be elected representative who has not received two thousand votes. "Art. 10. Each representative shall receive an indemnity of twenty-five francs per day during the session. "Art. 11. An order from the Provisional Government will regulate the details of the execution of the present decree. "Art. 12. The National Constituent Assembly shall open on the 20th April. "Art. 18. The present decree shall be immediately sent into the departnfents, and published and posted up in all the communes of the Republic. "Done at Paris, by the Government in Council, this 5th March, 1848." On several occasions before the election, the government was in danger of being overthrown, and the capital drenched with blood, through the violence of the Socialists, and the imprudence of Ledru Rollin, the Minister of the Interior. Lamartine maintained his dignified position, refused to make any concession to the small factions, and being supported by the National Guard, triumphed. Attempts at insurrection were crushed. The elections passed ofi" quietly. The moderate republican party obtained a large majority of the deputies to the Assem- bly. Of thirty-four members returned for Paris and its de- partment, seven only were ultras, and among these the only Socialists were Louis Blanc and Albert. Lamartine was re- 68 IHE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. Louis Blanc. turned for ten departments by an aggregate of two millions votes. When the result of the election was known, the anarchical faction flew to arms in Nantes, Amiens, Marseilles, Rouen, and in one or two other towns ; but in all except the last named, they were put down with more or less facility. The insurrection of Rouen was not subdued without much blood- shed and two days' hard fighting, (April 26 and 27,) in which grape and cannon-shot were copiously used by the troops. The clubs of Paris took fire at this news, and issued inflam- matory placards, denoulicing the National Guards of Rouen as assassins, the government as hostile to the people, and the elections as reactionary. In the council-room of the govern- ment, Louis Blanc moved that the two generals in command at Rouen should be arrested. The ferment continued to in- crease daily, and it was feared that the meeting of the repre- sentatives would be the signal for civil war. Nevertheless, on the 4th of May, the National Constituent Assembly was installed under the most flattering auspices ; THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 69 Albert and the Provisional government, in resigning its dictatorship, was enabled to declare, by the mouth of Lamartine : — "We have passed forty-five days without any other execu- tive force than that wholly unarmed moral authority which the nation was pleased to acknowledge in us. . . . We have traversed more than two months of crisis, of suspended employment, of distress, of elements of political agitation and social anguish, accumulated immeasurably in a capital of a million and a half of inhabitants ; we have traversed all this without having to grieve our property violated, or one life sacrificed to passion, or one proscription, one political im- prisonment, one drop of blood shed in our name in Paris ! 70 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. Descending from this long dictatorship, we can go out and mingle with the people in the public streets, without fearing that any one shall call us to account in the name of a single citizen, and say to us, 'What have you done with him?' "* The general voice, and the wishes of a majority of the Assembly, designated Lamartine as the chief to whose hands should be committed the executive power of the republic. But he refused to accept that lofty station, and from that moment his popularity declined. The vilest slanders were hurled against this pure and noble statesman, but he main- tained his principles without faltering. His declaration that he would not become a member of any executive commission from which Ledru Rollin was excluded, though sprijiging from the best motives, alienated a large number of the moderate republicans, who despised Rollin. On the 10th of May, an executive committee of five mem- bers was elected by ballot in the Assembly, the number of voters being 794. Arago, 725 ; Garnier Pagfes, 715 ; Marie, 782 ; Lamartine, 645 ; Ledru Rollin, 458. These votes marked the dissatis- faction with which the Assembly assented to a coalition be- tween the party of the majority and the red republicans. On the 15th of May, the socialists, headed by Blanqui, Barbes, Raspail, and Louis Blanc, endeavoured to force the Assembly into an adoption of their measures and into ex- tending aid to Poland. The chamber was invaded by the mob and a terrific scene ensued. But the National Guard and the Garde Mobile remained true to the friends of order. Arago and Duclerc, by* their exertions and personal exposure gave the troops confidence. The insurgents were dispersed, and their chiefs arrested. "It was not long before fresh commotions were occasioned in Paris by the election of eleven representatives in lieu of those who had resigned, or who, having been doubly returned, had chosen to sit for some other department. The ballot * "Revolutions of 184S>" by W. S. Cliase. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 184b. 71 ^ Barbes. took place on Sunday, the 4th of June, without much excite- ment, and the result was made known on the 8th. The names of the successful candidates made up a list of the most mot- ley complexion, betokening the confusion into which public opinion had fallen. First stood Caussidi^re; then came Moreau, Goudechaux, and Changarnier, moderate repub- licans ; Thiers, dreaded as the ablest representative of the old system, was fifth. The next two were Pierre Leroux, the dreamy founder of the Humanitarian school, and Victor Hugo, an ultra democrat and socialist orator. Louis ^ Napo- leon Bonaparte was the eighth, and the list ended with La- grange, who had provoked the massacre of the Boulevard des Capucines; Boissel, the projector of the February banquet; 72 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. Goudechauz. and Proudhiomme, a subtle propounder of social paradoxus, one of whose maxims is, « that property is robbery." "Among the names that had been put forward was that of the Prince de Joinville ; and it was known that a large number of votes would be recorded in his favour. To prevent this unpleasant contingency, the Executive Commission took care to have a law passed, on the 26th of May, banishing the whole Orleans branch of the House of Bourbon, and rendering its members incapable of serving France in any capacity. "Louis Napoleon occasioned the government much more serious uneasiness. The law of banishment against the Bo- naparte family had been repealed; three of its members already held seats in the National Assembly ; and the empe- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 73 ^ Proudhomme. ror's heir, elected by four different departments, including that of the capital, could only be excluded by a special act of ostracism. On the 12th, Lamartine gave notice of a mo- tion to that effect, and the whole Assembly rose and testified their approval in a shout of ' Vive la Bepuhlique F This ■was done under a false impression that shots had been fired at the National Guard by persons who cried, < Vive VEm- pereur !' It was true that riots were committed, seditious cries uttered, and incendiary proclamations put forth by the prince's partisans ; but the only blood drawn was that of an awkward civic soldier, who wounded himself by the accidental discharge of his own pistol. The real facts being known, the Assembly voted on the 13th, by a vast majority, for the ad- 74 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. mission of the citizen, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. On the 15th, they showed every disposition to rescind that vote, in their indignation at a letter from the Prince, received that day by the President. The passage which gave so much offence was the following, If the people impose duties on me, I shall kiiow how to fulfil them ; but I disavow all those who have made use of my name to excite disturbance.' But all was made good again by another letter, dated London, June 15th, in which Bonaparte tendered his resignation rather than be the involuntary cause of disorder."* On the 12th of May, the first step toward the closing of the national workshops was taken. These had been insti- tuted to satisfy the demon of faction, and to supply the poor with bread. But their expense was a clog to the go- vernment. However, they were allowed to exist for some time longer, much diminished in extent. The Executive Commission, and especially Lamartine, have been most unjustly accused of not foreseeing and pro- viding against the outbreak of June. Lamartine distinctly foretold what was coming, and was indefatigable in his ef- forts to prevent the impending calamity. The means he proposed were twofold : — to concentrate a large military force in and round Paris, and to disperse the workmen through the provinces in small bodies, provided with steady employment of a useful kind. His anxiety to accomplish this last object appears to have blinded him to the iniquity of the scheme* for the appropriation of all the railways by the state. He was most earnest in recommending that measure as the only hopeful means of avoiding a bloody conflict, not considering that it wanted two conditions, without which it could only be an act of arbitrary spoliation. The price at which the rail- ways were to be taken out of the hands of their proprietors was to be fixed, not by an impartial jury, but by the govern- ment itself, and the shareholders were not to be paid in cash, but to be forced to sell on credit to an almost bankrupt state. * "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. THE FKENCH KEVOLUTION OF 1848. 75 On the 20th of May, the government decreed that the garrison of Paris should consist of 20,000 men of the line, 15,000 of the Garde Mobile, 2600 Kepublican Guards, and 2850 Gardiens de Paris, besides 15,000 of the line in the various posts within a few hours' march of the capital : in all, 54,650 bayonets. It was further ordered, that in case of serious danger, the Minister of War, General Cavaignac, should take command of the forces of every kind in Paris. Again, on the 8th of June, Lamartine used these remarkable words in council, — "We are approaching a crisis. It will not be a a riot, or a battle, but a campaign of several days, and of several factions combined. The National Assembly may, perhaps, be forced for a while to quit Paris. We must pro- vide for these contingencies with the energy of a republican power. The 55,000 men sufficient for Paris would not suffice to bring back the national representation into the capital. I demand besides a series of decrees of public security, that the Minister of War immediately order up to Paris 20,000 men more." This proposal was unanimously adopted : and thus, a fortnight before the insurrection broke out, the government had made arrangements to bring 75,000 bayonets to the support of the National Guard of 190,000 men. General Cavaignac carried the orders of the government into effect as fast as quarters could be provided. Lamartine every day inquired as to the arrival of the troops, and was told, " The orders have been given, and the troops are in movement." Taking into account the effective strength of the Garde Mobile, the Garde Republicaine, and the Gardiens de Paris, the effective number of the garrison in and around the capital at the end of June was 45,000 men. Meanwhile, the thunder-clouds were visibly gathering, but it was not expected that the storm would burst before the 14th of July. On that day, the anniversary of the taking of the Bastile, the red republicans had arranged to hold a banquet, tickets for which were to be issued at the price of five sous each. By this means it was calculated that at least 150,000 men would be brought together; and that, whether 76 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. they dined or not, they would not separate without fighting. Disconcerted, however, by the active measures taken by the government to break up the Ateliers nationaux, certain of the conspirators resolved, suddenly and prematurely, on the 22d of June, to begin the action on the following day. <■<■ On Thursday, the eve of the insurrection, at ten o'clock in the morning, M. Marie instructed M. Recurt, Minister of the Interior, to arrest fifty-six delegates of the Ateliers natio- naux, who were then in the Jardin des Plantes. These men, and the chiefs of the Society of the Rights of Man, were the actual leaders of the insurrection. The delegates were al- lowed to walk about openly all day, and the writs against them were not put into the hands of the Prefect of Police until noon on the 23d, when they were already behind the bar- ricades. That functionary has formally deposed, that had he been authorized to arrest the delegates and the chiefs of the club, ' he would undoubtedly have prevented the insurrection.' "Two plans for putting down the expected outbreak were severally proposed. The Executive Committee was for spreading the troops over the capital, and preventing the erection of barricades. General Cavaignac's system was the reverse of this, and consisted in concentrating his forces at certain points, and bringing them into action in large masses. The insurrections of July, 1830, and February, 1848, had been treated by the existing governments as a sort of larger street riots, to be quelled in a police fashion. He treated that of June as an outbreak of civil war, and met it in true order of battle. Those two examples proved to him, he said, -, 86 departments of France. / ' ' Sixty-seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven votes were cast in Algeria. Bonaparte had a majority of votes in 84 out of 86 departments. Among the votes disallowed were 1200 given at Brest for the Prince de Joinville. " It is probable that more than three-fourths of the whole adult male population of France voted on this occasion ; and never in history was so enormous a mass of people put at once in motion with such perfect order. Seven millions and a-half of men going to the poll at the same moment, without the least disturbance, was assuredly a grand sight and a great fact. The result, too, very strikingly illustrated one advan- tage of universal suffrage, for it showed beyond cavil that the newly-elected president was the choice of the people. He had a majority of nearly four to one over his nearest rival, and of more than two to one over all his rivals together. " The ceremony of proclaiming the President of the Republic was suddenly and unexpectedly accomplished on the evening of the 20th December. It appears that government had re- ceived tidings of a Bona-partist plot to seize the president on Ms way from the Assembly, and to convey him to the Tuile- ries with shouts of <■ Vive V Empereur !' In order to defeat all such projects, the report was industriously spread that the installation would not take place until after the lapse of some days ; and Paris, on the evening of the 20th, knew only by the cannon of the Invalides that the ceremony had been ac- tually completed. " The members of the National Assembly having taken their THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 89 General Changarnier. places, and the report of the Electoral Committee having been read, General Cavaignac rose, and in a brief address, delivered with remarkable dignity, resigned, in his own name and that of his colleagues, the civil authority with which the Assembly had invested them. M. Marrast, the president, put the question of adopting the report, whereupon the whole Assembly, with the exception of a few on the extreme left, 90 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. rose and affirmed it by acclamation. M. Marrast then for- mally proclaimed Citizen Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte President of the French Republic from that day until the second Sunday of May, 1852, and called upon him to take the oath required by the constitution. M. Bonaparte then ascended the tribune ; and the President of the Assembly read the form of the oath, as follows : — " ' In the presence of God, and before the French people, represented by the National Assembly, I swear to remain faithful to the Democratic Republic, and to fulfil all the duties which are imposed upon me by the constitution.' " M. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, raising his hand, said with a loud voice, ' I swear it.' " At this moment, a salvo of artillery from the Invalides proclaimed the administration of the oath. ^^ President Marrast. — 'We call God and men to witness the oath which has been taken. The National Assembly re- cords it, and orders that it shall be transcribed in the pro- ceedings, inserted in the Moniteur, published and promul- gated in the form of legislative acts.' " The President of the Republic, remaining in the tribune, then delivered the following address : — " 'The suffrages of the people, and the oath which I have taken, prescribe my future conduct : my duty is traced out, and I shall fulfil it 'as a man of honour. I shall see enemies of the country in all those who shall attempt to change by illegal means that which the whole of France has established. Between you and me, citizen representatives, there cannot be any real difference ; oifr wishes, our desires are the same. I, like you, wish to replace society on its basis, to confirm its democratic institutions, and seek all proper means for alle- viating the sufferings of that generous and intelligent people which has given me so shining a testimony of its confidence. « ' The majority which I have obtained not only fills me with gratitude, but also gives to the new government the moral force without which there is no authority. With peace and order, our country can raise itself again, can heal its wounds. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 91 bring back those men Avho have been led astray, and calm their passions. " ' Animated by this spirit of conciliation, I shall call around me men honourable, capable, and devoted to their country; assured that, maugre the diversities of political origin, they will agree in emulating your endeavours for the fulfilment of the constitution, the perfecting of the laws, and the glory of the Republic. " ' The new administration, in entering upon the conduct of affairs, must thank that which preceded it for the efforts which it made to transmit intact the power of maintaining the public tranquillity. The conduct of the honourable General Cavaignac has been worthy of the loyalty of his character, and of that sense of duty which is the first quality in the chief of a state. " 'AYe have, citizen representatives, a great mission to ful- fil — it is to found a Republic in the interest of all, and a go- vernment just and firm, which shall be animated by a sincere love of progress, without being either reactionary or Utopian. Let us be men of our country, not men of a party; and, by the help of God, we shall be able at least to do some good, if we are not able to do great things.' " The speech was received with general marks of approba- tion, the Avhole Assembly rising with cries of ' Vive la He- pubUque!' M. Louis Bonaparte having come down from the tribune, went up to General Cavaignac and shook him cor- dially by the hand. The new president was then met by M. Odillon Barrot and his friends of the Right, who escorted him from the hall to the Palace of the Elysee National [ci- devant Bourbon,) where he took possession of his oflScial re- sidence, held a sort of lev^e, and slept in the bed-chamber last occupied by his uncle, the Emperor, in Paris. " The following is the ministry that evening gazetted : — Odillon Barrot, President of the Council and Minister of Justice ; Drouyn de Lhuys, Foreign Affairs ; Leon de Male- ville, Interior ; Hippolyte Passy, Finance ; Leon Faucher, Public Works ; Bixio, Commerce ; General Rulhi^res, War ; 92 THE FRENCH EEVOLUTION OF 1848. De Tracy, Marine. By a decree in the same Gazette, Gene- ral Changarnier was appointed Commander-in-chief of the National Guard and Garde Mobile of the Seine, and of all the regular troops of the first military division. Another decree named Marshal Bugeaud Commander-in-chief of the Army of the Alps. Among other appointments which fol- lowed were those of the ex-King of Westphalia, < the Gene- ral of Division, Jerome Bonaparte,' to be Governor of the Invalides ; and of the president's cousin, M. Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, to be Ambassador to England. " The bourgeoisie now sang jubilee : Redeunt Saturnia regna.^ The revolutionary cycle was closed, and things had come round to the point from which they started ten months before. On the 24th of February, M. Odillon Barrot was sent for by the king ; on the 24th of December, the same M. Barrot was sent for by the President of the Republic. "f There existed a Constitution and an Assembly. But the re- turn to despotism was resolved ; and it was not long before the freedom for which so much blood had been shed became a shadow — a name, bright, but without substance. Rights, oaths, and solemn limits all crumbled beneath the wheels of the red Juggernaut of selfish ambition. * The Golden Age returns, f "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. NtW YORK, N. Y, LIBRARY THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 93 Garibaldi. CHAPTER III. THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. For many years previous to 1848, a strong party existed throughout the Italian states, anxious to secure for Italy, union, independence, and constitutional freedom. This party had active, eloquent, and determined leaders, who waited but the shock of revolution in France or Austria to strike an open and vigorous blow for the establishment of their fa- vourite government. From the outset, the year 1848 was marked by important events in Italy. On the 12th of January, the fSte-day of King Ferdinand of Naples, the people of Palermo and all the great towns of Sicily, rose simultaneously, and drove out the Neapolitan troops. On the 28th, the Neapolitans re- ceived a constitution modelled on the French charter of 1830, but in some respects more liberal. The Sicilians were 94 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. offered their share of this constitution, but they refused to accept it. All the royal troops sent against them were de- feated. They elected their own parliament, which was opened at Palermo on the 25th of March by Ruggiero Settimo, President of the Provisional government ; and on the 13th of the following month, the deposition of King Ferdinand and the independence of Sicily were formally decreed. In Tuscany, a series of liberal measures were crowned, on the 1st of February, by the issue of a constitution better than any of the others granted by the former native princes of Italy to their subjects, and in one item superior to that framed by the Sicilians for themselves. The Tuscan constitution secures freedom of commerce and toleration of all religions; whereas, under the other four Italian constitutions the only religion recognised and permitted is the " Christian Catholic Apostolical Roman." The Sardinian kingdom was the next to obtain a constitution, which was published on the 5th of March, and Count Cesare Balbo, a well-known writer and statesman, was appointed to form a responsible cabinet. The Piedmontese constitution is like the Neapolitans in its promi- nent features ; but the king reserved to himself more power. The cardinal point in the qualification of electors was the payment of taxes of an amount to be determined by an elec- toral law. The king, at the same time reduced the price of salt, a state monopoly. Warned by the direction of the popular current, the pppe gave the Romans a constitution, which was proclaimed on the 15th of March. The most notable provisions of this consti- tution were as follows :-^The College of Cardinals was retain- ed ; and there was also a Senate and a Council of Deputies. The senators were appointed for life by the pope, and they were chosen from among lawyers and ecclesiastical officials, and persons possessing an income of 4,000 scudi (about $5,000) per annum. The Council of Deputies was elected in the ratio of one deputy to every 30,000 souls. A small pro- perty qualification was imposed upon electors and candidates. The Roman Catholic faith was indispensable in all. The two Admiral Ruggiero. THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. coiincils had the control of secular matters, but they were precluded from interfering in ecclesiastical affairs. The taxes were under the control of the deputies. The College of Cardinals and the Privy Council administered affairs during an interregnum. On the day of the proclamation of this constitution, the Jesuits were ordered to withdraw from the papal dominions. Toward the close of 184T, it occurred to the people of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, that while they were unable to cope in arms with Austria, they might damage her finances by abstinence from tobacco, snuff, and the lottery, which she monopolized. Accordingly, on the 1st of January, 1848, no one was to be seen smoking in the streets except the Austrian soldiers and their friends. The populace, of course, was not slow to manifest its displeasure against those who refused to take the national pledge ; crowds gathered around the smokers, insisting tliat they should lay aside their cigars, sometimes civilly, sometimes Avith cries and hisses. Quarrels arose, and the soldiers began to act with their usual brutality. Count Casati, the Podesta of Milan, remonstrated with the police and soldiery on their violence. Pretending not to re- cognise him, they arrested him and kept him a prisoner, until the municipal council demanded his release. The Austrian authorities then determined to act upon the theory of Marshal Radetsky, that " three days of bloodshed yield thirty years of peace." To give the soldiers the 'ne- cessary fury, a report was spread that a great conspiracy had been discovered in the city against the military ; and a handbill, full of insults- and threats, purporting to be clan- destinely published by the Milanese, was circulated. No efforts were made to discover the authors of this offence. This was a blunder of the police. To be consistent, they should have maintained their rigorous press laws. On the morning of the 3d of January, the soldiers Tvere amply supplied with brandy. As the day advanced, they appeared in the streets, drunk and furious, and strove to provoke the Milanese to breaches of the peace. Being un- THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 97 successful in this, thej, Avhen evening came, drew their swords and struck all who crossed their paths. Sixty-one persons were carried to the hospital, all more or less wounded, some mortally. Among the latter, was the Councillor Manganim, an old man and a sworn friend of Austria. All Italians were exasperated at this deliberate enormity, and the clergy of Milan boldly denounced the dreadful crime. Five days after the massacre of Milan, another outrage was committed in Pavia. The students of the University were following the corpse of one of their companions to the grave, when they were met and grossly insulted by two Aus- trian ofiBcers. The patience of the young men gave way and they attacked the oflScers. Soldiers came to the aid of the dastardly commanders. The students suffered severely in the affray, but one of the officers was killed upon the spot and the other mortally wounded. Many other outrages of the same nature were perpetrated in the other Austrian gar- risons, but those we have mentioned will suffice to show the savage spirit of the rulers of northern Italy. To quell the boiling indignation excited by their misdeeds, the Austrian authorities had recourse to their usual nostrums — brute force, diabolical lies, and pettifogging tyranny. Martial law was proclaimed, and multitudes were visited with fines, imprison- ment, or exile. When the Milanese received the news of a revolution in .Vienna, they flocked to the government-house and demanded the release of all political prisoners, and the formation of a National Guard. The soldiers on duty at the palace, fired a volley over the heads of the crowd as it is said ; at all events, no one was wounded. The crowd began to waver, when a boy of sixteen drew out a pistol and fired at the soldiery, shouting, "Vive I'ltalia!" The cry kindled a blaze of en- thusiasm which was irresistible. The crowd rushed forward. The guard was overpowered. O'Donnel, the vice-governor, was made prisoner ; and the tri-colour banner, was planted on the palace. Some Croats afterward fired- on the people, and this was the signal for a general rising. Instead of 98 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. sending all his force to clear the streets, Radetsky drew his men within their barracks. By the time he had made up his mind for actioij, the streets were barricaded, and it was im- possible to retake the city without a bombardment. The marshal's hesitation was caused by his want of information concerning the state of things at Vienna. He was afraid that a constitutional government at home might call him to an account for a second massacre of the Milanese. The people were poorly supplied with arms, yet they dis- played no hesitation in encountering a disciplined army of twelve thousand men. The conflict was kept up day and night until the 23d. The great object of the Milanese was to get possession of one of the gates, in order to communi- cate with their friends of the neighbouring country. On the evening of the 23d, they succeeded at the Porta Tosa. A set of brave young fellows made up bundles of fascines, which they rolled before them, firing from the shelter thus afforded, while a flanking fire from the houses, covered their advance. In this way, after long efforts, the artillery-men were picked off one by one, until at length, a dash was made, and the gate and the houses covering it were set on fire. Ra- detsky's position was no longer tenable. He therefore began his retreat towards Verona. Most of the other cities of Lombardy followed the example of Milan, and Venice not only revolted, but declared itself a republic. Mantua and Verona remained to the Austrians. As soon as Radetsky was established within the walls of Verona, he was safe, and the cause of independence was vir- tually lost ; for that city was the military centre of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. On the day that Radetsky began his retreat, the Piedmon- tese army, under Charles Albert, crossed the frontier, and on the 27th its vanguard arrived under the walls of Milan. The king, however, declined to enter the city, "until he ehould have become worthy of so brave a people by gaining a victory over the Austrians." The Provisional government of Lombardy included Casati, Attack upon the Porta Cosa at Milan. 100 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. Borromeo, Litta, and other men of worth and talent, wlio had assumed authority while the fight was pending in the streets of Milan. Often afterward did they take credit to themselves for the civic heroism they displayed in thus exposing themselves to the superior danger of such a position ; for, said they, had the Austrians been successful, our lives would have been the first forfeited. But they were not so brave as they wished themselves to be thought ; in fact, their official conduct war- rants the belief that their chief care was to make themselves safe in any contingency. During the whole struggle they abstained from every kind of measure that could be regarded as seriously imperilling the Austrian interest ; and when the war was over, they might fairly represent themselves to the victor as loyal subjects, who, by appearing to fall in with the popular humour, had been enabled to control it and render its outbreaks harmless. Some of the members of the Provisional government were Monarchists, others were Kepublicans ; for their mutual convenience they agreed upon a perfectly neu- tral policy — the bane of all popular enthusiasm. Their ad- ministration was a series of enormous blunders in matters of police, finance, military affairs, &c. The direction of the police was committed to a triumvirate that really swayed the whole political power of the state, and the ablest member of which was Baron Sopransi, a zealous partisan of Austria, and the brother-in-law of General Welden, by whose orders, and under whose own eyes, seven-and-twenty Lombard volunteers were first mutilated and then shot in the town ditch of Trent. The parishes of Lombardy are grouped together in dis- tricts, over each of which there is a commissary of police, who exercises a dictatorial power like that of the Turkish cadis. The first act of the revolutionary government should have been to remove these men, yet they were all allowed to re- main and plot for the return of their old masters. The coun- try was overrun with vagabonds whom the Austrians let loose from the bagnio of Mantua, and with pretended deserters from the Austrian troops. In many a district chief town the THE rrALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 101 commissary had a little prjetorian guard, composed of these and other bad characters ; and by this means the Austrians were regularly informed of all the movements of the Lom- bards, while the latter remained in ignorance of Avhat it most imported them to know. It was also in consequence of this permanent conspiracy, tolerated by the government, that the provender and other things intended for the Piedmontese army fell several times into the hands of the enemy ; many villages were burned, and the lives of land owners were threatened by revolted peasants. There is a powder manufactory at Lembrate, a few leagues from Milan. One morning in the beginning of May, when no one dreamed of the possible approach of the Austrians, it became known in the capital that the Lembrate magazine had been attacked during the night by a party of Austrians in disguise. Who then had guided them ? How had they advanced almost to the gates of Milan without any notice being taken of their m^rch ? The mystery remained unsolved ; and the director of the police maintained a disdainful silence. Another day the generale was suddenly beaten, and the National Guard hurried to the city jail, from which five hun- dred thieves and robbers were in the act of making their escape. These fellows were all armed with muskets, and had their pockets filled with ammunition ; they had seized the keepers of the prison and locked them up. After promptly quelling the revolt, and securing all the prisoners, the Na- tional Guard handed the keepers over to justice, as guilty of having armed the culprits, and connived at their escape. There was the more ground for such a suspicion, because the prison keepers had not been changed after the revolution ; and a considerable amount of Austrian coin was found in the pockets of both prisoners and keepers. The matter was nevertheless allowed to drop. The finances were not better administered than the police : they were managed on a bad system, and by knavish hands. The most shameful embezzlements were practised in the ministry of war. The able and earnest Count Litta, who at 102 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. first held that office, having been forced to resign, he was succeeded by Collegno, an honest but weak man, whose passive character was more acceptable to the Provisional government. The paymaster-general was a merchant notorious for having committed four fraudulent bankruptcies. The Lombard army and the free corps wanted shoes, coats, great-coats, and almost every object of prime necessity. The arming of the people was stopped for want of money, and yet the incomes of all the affluent families were poured into the public treasury. No- thing was talked of in the town but the audacious robberies committed by one or another member of the administration. The whole population of Lombardy were eager to take up arms in the cause of independence. In twenty-four hours an army of partisans might have been set on foot that would have been a most useful auxiliary to the regular forces. But every ' man who offered himself in the capacity of a volunteer was treated with indignity by the Piedmontese officers, and by the Lombard ministry of war, which was entirely subservient to the King of Sardinia. Those volunteers who had been accepted in the first days of the revolution were left without pay or provisions, exposed to needless and profitless dangers, and persecuted in every way that low cunning could con- trive. "When the Piedmontese army reached Milan on the 27th of March, Radetsky was still within a distance of five and twenty miles of the city. Had Charles Albert made tw6 or three forced marches, he might easily have prevented the concentration of the Austrian forces, and extinguished the war. Instead of this he allowed Radetsky to pursue his march without molestation for a week, and shut himself up securely in Verona. On the 8th of April, Charles Albert forced the Austrian lines on the Mincio in three places between Mantua and Verona. He then crossed the Adige at Pontone to the north of Verona, cutting off Radetsky from the valley of the Trent, and from a junction with Nugent, who was advancing to his aid form the north-east. After some manoeuvring in this direction, the Piedmontese army was obliged to fall back THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 103 on its former position, and on the 22d, Nugent brought Ra- detsky a reinforcement of 15,000 men. " Durando, the commander of the 14,000 Roman auxiliaries, might have prevented this calamity, but evidently would not. Durando was a brave officer, of unblemished reputation, who had served with distinction in the civil wars of Spain ; but the hopes excited by his name were in all respects miserably disappointed. His headquarters were at Ferrara, from which no entreaties of the Milanese could induce him to move, until his troops themselves forced him to cross the Po, and march against- the enemy. Immediately there appeared a manifesto from Pius IX., announcing that the sole mission of his army was to defend the integrity of the Roman territory, and re- iterating the injunction laid upon the general never to assume the offensive against Austria. This manifesto, which was said to have been followed by secret orders to General Du- rando to fall back upon Ferrara, excited a formidable com- motion in Rome and the provinces, and an insurrection seemed imminent. Charles Albert sent word to Durando that, having actually entered upon the theatre of the war, he had thereby become bound to obey no other orders than those of the com- mander-in-chief, namely, himself, Charles Albert, and must therefore march, without regard to any injunction to the con- trary which he might receive from other quarters. The Roman army supported the protest of Charles Albert, and the population of Rome insisted that the pope should retract his manifesto. Durando resolved to march, and was some days afterward authorized to do so by Pius IX. himself. There is reason to fear, however, that the pope's secret orders remained still in force. No other supposition can afford a plausible explanation for his general's subsequent conduct. We cannot acquit them both ; we must condemn the one or the other. Either the pope was guilty of duplicity, or Du- rando of base perfidy. "After crossing the Po, the Roman general regulated his movements with great exactness by those of Nugent, advanc- ing as the latter retired, retrograding as he advanced, and 104 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. always studiously shunning an engagement ; while the Aus- trians devastated every thing in their way, and seized town after town. At length, having seen Nugent make his unop- posed entry into Verona, Durando wheeled round and took up his quarters in Vicenza, which had sustained a bomhard- ment of several hours by Nugent, and, with the help of some corps of volunteers under General Antonini, had compelled him to raise the siege. "Meanwhile Charles Albert had laid siege to Peschiera on the 18th of May. The Austrians attempted a diversion for its relief, but were foiled and beaten at Goito. Peschiera was taken on the 30th, after two days' fighting, and Charles Albert established his headquarters there. While he was busy pushing his conquest farther north along the banks of the Lago di Garda, Radetsky made an unexpected sortie from Verona, and appeared before Vicenza with 30,000 men. The King of Sardinia, who had just taken Rivoli after a sangui- nary battle, sent a courier to Durando to know how long he could hold out; ' Six or eight days, at least,' was the reply; and Charles Albert took his measures accordingly to succour the town. No attempt was made to prevent the Austrians from getting possession of the heights that commanded the town. This was a misfortune, but it was not irreparable. General Durando seemed to think otherwise, for the bom- bardment was no sooner begun than he hoisted the white flag. The citizens instantly compelled him to withdraw it and con- tinue the fight ; but, in the very midst of the engagement, the unlucky white flag again appeared on another side of the town. The enraged inhabitants fired upon it and brought it down; but though the sign of surrender fell, the thing it represented was realized; the town capitulated after eight hours' fighting, with an army within its walls for its defence, and another army at the distance of a few hours march to succour it. Durando had stipulated that he should be allowed to quit the city with his soldiers and such of the citizens as chose to accompany him, with arms and baggage, and he engaged for himself and his troops not to take up arms against Austria for three months. THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 105 " Thinking that the Austrians were still before Vicenza, Charles Albert marched against Verona on the 12th of June ; but already Radetsky had returned thither, and the Piedmon- tese were compelled to retire within their lines. In the sub- sequent part of the month Radetsky captured Padua and Palma Nuova, and made prize of a large quantity of artillery and warlike stores. The road to Vienna and Innspriick now lay open to him, and he was master of the whole Venetian territory, with the exception of the capital. Thither Gene- ral Pepe, the commander of the Neapolitan contingent, re- tired. The regular soldiers under his command left him, obeying the order for their recall issued by the King of Naples. A few legions of volunteers alone remained with him ; a third at least of those that had entered Lombardy had returned home in disgust, and told their countrymen who were prepraing to march for the seat of war, ' They do not wish for us there. "Why should we thrust our services upon them against their will ?' " "In the beginning of July we find the Piedmontese army occupying a line of about thirty miles in length, — from near Mantua on its right, to Rivoli on its left. The headquarters, which had been at Peschiera, were removed to Vallegio, and afterward to Riverbella, and the strength of the army was gradually accumidated on the right wing in order to invest Mantua, while the left wing was most imprudently weakened. The lines of Rivoli were not defended by more than three thousand troops, and those of Somma Campagna, extending from Bussolongo on the Upper Adige, to Vallegio on the Mincio, by not more than five thousand. ^^ If the siege of an impregnable place like Mantua served no other purpose, it at least enabled Charles Albert to rid him- self of most of his remaining auxiliaries."* The students of the University of Pavia, the Tuscan volun- teers, and about one hundred Swiss, were barbarously sacri- ficed by this miserable commander. * «'Kevolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 106 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. Attack upon the heights between Bussolongo and Vallegio. Radetsky seized the game thrown within his reach. He succeeded by well-contrived feints in keeping Charles Albert's attention fixed upon the south, while the Austrians quietly passed the Upper Adige, at the foot of the mountain that overlooked Rivoli, and had already descended on La Corona before the main body of the Piedmontese became aware of the movements. All the lines of Rivoli were soon carried. General Aspre, with 25,000 Austrians, assaulted the lines of Somma Campagna, which were defended by only five thou- sand Piedmontese. After a gallant struggle, the Piedmon- tese gave way. The Austrians regained the whole terrritory between the Upper Adige and the Lago di Garda and the Mincio, from the foot of Montebaldo, and from Bussolongo to Vallegio, Peschiera being placed in a state of complete isolation. Charles Albert at' the head of 30,000 men attacked the heights between Bussolongo and Vallegio on the morning of the 26th of July. The battle lasted from five in the morning THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 107 until five in the evening, the Piedmontese fighting with despe- rate courage until Radetsky came up with a reserve of nearly 20,000 men from Verona, when they were compelled to give way. The Austrians obtained a decisive victory. Charles Albert retreated to Milan. His army was reduced to 20,000 men. But the Milanese prepared for a vigorous defence, and with the aid of the king, hoped to maintain their city against the Austrians. They were doomed to disappoint- ment. Charles Albert entered .into a capitulation with Ra- detsky, and set out for his own dominions. On the 7th of August, the Austrian marshal again ruled in Milan. Two or three days afterward, an armistice of forty days, between the Sardinians and the Austrians, was published. It restored the status quo ante helium. But although the Piedmontese evacuated Venice, the city maintained its republicanism as well as its independence. Parma and Modena again adopted the Austrian system, and General Welden even made an incursion into the Lega- tions and occupied Bologna. The inhabitants, however, ex- pelled him. The pope remonstrated, and Welden was cen- sured and recalled. About two-thirds of the inhabitants of Milan evacuated the city as the Austrians entered it. The convicts of Porta Nuova were set at liberty and joined the soldiers in the work of plun- dering the deserted houses, the churches, and the national museums. Generals Rivaira and Roger, detained in Milan by illness, were condemned to death. The process of confisca- tion being inconvenient to the authorities, recourse was had to a more profitable system of forced contributions, the man- agement of which was intrusted to a committee, headed by that very Baron Sopransi, who was the director of the Milanese police under the Provisional government. On the 11th of November, Radetsky issued a decree, in which he called upon some two hundred families to supply him with 200,000 livres. Such was the order reigning in Milan. "The revolt of Venice, like that of Milan, immediately followed the news of the revolution in Vienna, which was THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 109 published by Count Palfy, the governor, in the theatre on the evening of the 17th of March. Next morning the people congregated in St. Mark's Place, and effected by force the deliverance of their venerated leaders, Manini and Tom- maseo, whose civic virtue had been rewarded by Austria ac- cording to her wont. As public functionaries they had dared, in December, 1847, to address memorials to the Austrian government, praying that it would perform its own promises and observe its own laws. For this offence they were thrown into prison, from which they were released by their country- men to become, one of them president and the other minister of the resuscitated Republic. The expulsion of the Aus- trians was effected at Venice with even more sm-prising facility than at Milan. Marinowich, the commander of the arsenal, was slain in the first outbreak, and Count Zichy, the military commander, whom seven-and-twenty years' residence in Venice had made more than half Italian in feeling, withdrew his troops without a blow. The Republic of St. Mark was unanimously proclaimed ; but the Venetians were censured as schismatics by the predominant party, which at that time ad- vocated the scheme for one united kingdom of Upper Italy ; Manini was induced to surrender the government to a Sar- dinian commissary ; Charles Albert lent the city a small sum of money and a garrison of two thousand men, and for the first time in the history of Italy the cross of Savoy super- seded the winged lion of the Republic. Upon the defeat of the Sardinian army, however, the people withdrew the con- ditional allegiance they had plighted to a sovereign who merited neither their respect nor their gratitude, and once more they proclaimed the independent government of their own worthy political chief, Manini. "To meet the increased demand on her impoverished ex- chequer, Venice began by applying to all the Italian towns, and to some foreign ones, for a loan ; subscriptions were everywhere opened, but they remained almost blank. It was then proposed to pawn some of the magnificent objects of art with which Venice abounds, but the administration sternly 110 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. withstood every proposal of the kind. Meanwhile the abso- lute cessation of all trade and employment demanded the most strenuous efforts to succour the poorer classes. The Venetian capitalists promptly responded to the call. The government issued bills for four millions of florins, the pay- ment of which was guaranteed by the personal liability of twenty of the wealthiest men in Venice ; and such was the confidence placed in the honour of those generous men, that whilst Venice was attacked by sea and land, her paper money passed current at par throughout all Italy. According to a recent calculation, the citizens of Venice contributed to the republic in the course of the year, either in cash or in liabili- ties, a sum of thirty millions of florins."* The land army defending Venice consisted of nearly twen- ty thousand men, almost all of them volunteers. Many of the legions were commanded by French ofiicers. Not one case of desertion occurred within six months. In December, the blockade upon the side of the sea was rendered imprac- ticable by the presence of six French, sixteen Sardinian, and thirteen Venetian vessels. Several encounters took place between the Austrians and Venetians, in which the latter were very successful. On the 22d of October, the fort of the Cavallino, occupied by about two hundred and fifty Austrians, with three pieces of cannon, was taken, and the Austrians were pursued until they passed the Drave. On the 27th of October, General Pepe led a sortie of fifteen hundred volun- teers against the fortified position of the Austrians at Mestro and Fusino, whom they defeated, killing or wounding two hundred, and capturing five hundred men. The Venetians displayed the greatest fortitude and spirit during the siege. They suffered for the want of supplies of all kinds, but no murmurs escaped them and no traitors raised their foul hands to aid the enemy. But the struggle was vain. No ally came to the aid of the brave patriots. They looked for the inter- vention of the great powers ; but were wofully disappointed. * "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 112 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. Venice was at length compelled to surrender unconditionally, her forts, arsenals, arms, &c. In the mean time, the armistice between Austria and Sar- dinia was renewed, and Charles Albert employed the interval in recruiting and reorganizing his forces ; whether he seriously contemplated another campaign or desired to secure a favour- able peace, remained for the time unsettled. Federation and independence had become darling ideas of the Italian mind, and the governments were forced to bow before them. De- mocratic ministries were established, and the ordinary heading of their proclamations was, "FVye la Constttuente Italiana." This state of things did not foreshadow the peace for which the King of Sardinia probably longed. The Grand Duke of Tuscany approved of the design of an Italian Confederation. But the base, cruel, and cowardly King of Naples was bent upon thwarting it by every means in his power. To the infamous Ferdinand of Naples, belongs the black distinction of having committed the most appalling crime that stains the revolutionary records of 1848. " On the 14th of May, the deputies assembled to deliberate on the formula of the oath which was to be taken by the king and the members of the Chambers, in the church of San Lo- renzo Maggiore. The deputies were resolved to swear fidelity to the king and to the constitution of the 29th of January, 'without prejudice to the changes which the Chamber might think proper to introduce into it.' This latitude was posi- tively given to the Chambers by the decree which promul- gated the constitution. Ferdinand demanded that the oath should be taken without restrictions, and several deputations, which waited on him to entreat that he would consent to the formula adopted by the deputies, received for answer that his resolution could not be shaken. " The intentions of the king were then clearly apparent, and were well in accordance with the presence at the palace of the infamous Del Carretto. Cambosso, his sinister lieu- tenant,, and his associates, for some days past had been going through the popular quarters of the city to prepare almost THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 113 openly the horrible reaction which was to fill the city with ruin and blood. The Deputies and National Guards then resolved on resistance, and for the first time Naples beheld barricades erected. At ten o'clock in the morning of the 15th, all the principal streets were completely blocked up, and the city presented the most extraordinary appearance. The Royal Swiss troops, the body-guard, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, with lighted matches, thronged around the palace, and established themselves on different points. <■<■ The bold demeanor of the liberal party intimidated Ferdinand ; and, as usual with him in all critical moments, the subject of his thoughts was how he might take back by stratagem the concessions which he was ready to make. At eleven o'clock he made known that he was ready to yield to the wishes of the Deputies ; he announced that the troops were about to withdraw, and begged the National Guard to remove the barricades and retire. The character of the king, however, was too well known, and the trap too appa- rent. The National Guard replied, that it would not quit the barricades until the decree had been issued, and the De- puties exhorted them to maintain this resolution. Things were in this state when an accident brought on the conflict. A National Guard having fallen down, his musket, which was probably cocked, went off. The National Guards placed be- hind the barricade considered it was an act of aggression on- the part of the Swiss, and fired. The latter returned it, and the engagement, once begun, could not be put a stop to. "The National Guard of Naples amounted to about ten* thousand men ; among them were nearly two thousand nobles and six thousand employes.^ These took no part in the- affair, so that the force of the National Guard was reduced to about two thousand men; to which number may be added about five hundred Calabrians, who were at Naples at the time. This little band performed prodigies of valour. At Sainte Brigitte, the Swiss mounted five times to the assault, * Persons who held places, of different grades, under government. 8 114 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. and five times they were repulsed. But the small quantity of ammunition possessed by the National Guards was soon exhausted, and the defenders of the barricades retired into the houses, whence a shower of projectiles was hurled on the heads of the troops. The artillery then entered the Largo del Castello, and a heavy fire of grape was poured on the barricades, which still held out. The Swiss, who had been joined by the Royal Guard, pursued the National Guard. The houses to which they had retired were entered, the doors broken open, and women, old men, and children, were slaugh- tered, and in many instances their bodies thrown from the windows. Where a door could not be broken open, the cannon were brought to bear upon it, and the inhabitants fell victims to their involuntary hospitality. Robbery and plunder were added to these indescribable scenes of desolation. The Swiss, who were the first to arrive, laid their hands on the money and all such valuables as they thought worth taking. Then came the Royal Guards, who carried ofi" furniture, linen, and other similar movables; lastly, the lazzaroni, to whom the refuse was acceptable. Murder was committed under the slightest pretext, such as a simple political impu- tation, and frequently from no other incitement than the pillage of a richly-furnished house. " In the beginning of the affray the lower orders seemed disposed to side with the National Guard, but being offered by the king and the troops the privilege of pillage, they "^ent over to their side. Unheard-of atrocities were perpetrated by the lazzaroni and the troops. In one house were shot a father, mother, and 'four children. Other victims were dragged alive through the streets to be butchered, struck as they went along and insulted by the police and the soldiers, who compelled them to cry, ' Viva il Re I'^ "When they re- fused they were pricked with the points of bayonets. The Royal Guard murdered two sons of the Marquis Vassatori in his own palace : the father went stark mad. The emis- * "Long live the King." THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 115 sarles of Del Carretto, and, according to some accounts, Del Carretto himself, were employed in goading on the rabble to these acts of atrocity. "The massacre lasted eight hours, and might have con- tinued longer but for the indignant interference of the French Admiral Baudin. The law of nations having been violated by the Neapolitan government, the admiral informed the king, that if the disorder was not stopped within one hour, he would bring up his fleet from Castel-a-Mare, and land nine thousand men to defend the rights of humanity and of na- tions. When all was over the National Guard was sup-, pressed, the Chamber of Deputies was dissolved, martial law was proclaimed, and the white Bourbon flag was substituted for the tricolour. Who shall blame the Sicilians if they abhor the yoke of such a king as Ferdinand, and yearn to be quit for ever of his incorrigible race?"* Ferdinand refused to recognise the independence of the Island of Sicily, and determined to regain control of the people by force of arms. The Neapolitan expedition set sail on the 29th of August. It consisted of two frigates and twenty steamers, carrying altogether fourteen thousand men. On the 31st it anchored off Beggio, south of Messina, and the news of its arrival reached Palermo the same day, and would seem to have taken the Sicilian government by surprise ; not that the prepara- tions in which the King of Naples had been engaged for some months had been a secret for any one ; but the Sicilians had rested secure in the belief that the French and English ad- mirals would in no case allow the Neapolitan vessels to pass out of the bay of Naples. They did allow them, however ; and, in the plentitude of their courtesy, they even permitted the king's fleet to bombard Messina ; but when that ruthless deed of vengeance had been executed, and not until then, the French and English admirals did interfere, and put a stop to all further hostilities. * ''Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 116 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. The unexpected arrival of the Neapolitan armament be- fore Messina, instead of striking terror into the Sicilians, stirred all their energies into convulsive activity, and excited to the highest degree their hatred of Naples, and all that belonged to it. The Minister for Foreign Affairs said to the assembled parliament, on laying before it his despatches from Messina, " Gentlemen, we bring you good news." The whole house, members, strangers and all, instantly responded with shouts of joy; and then the Chamber, with a dignity worthy of the Roman senate, passed disdainfully to the order of the day. At night Palermo was brilliantly illuminated, and the people went about hurrahing for the good 7iews, singing war- like and patriotic songs, and heaping curses and abuses on King Bomba, (one of their countless nicknames for Ferdinand.) The government instantly put in vigorous operation the mea- sures most necessary for the defence of the country. The National Guard had been organized and partially armed in the course of the summer; it was now woS'/Zz'sec^, that is, made . liable to serve in any part of the island ; and it was decreed that lists should be opened for the enrolment of volunteers, and that seven camps should be formed at Milazzo, Taormina, Catania, Syracuse, Girgenti, Trapani, and Palermo. The Minister of War was appointed commander-in-chief; an ex- traordinary commission was nominated to go into the pro- vinces and summon the people to arms ; all the horses and mules were put in requisition ; and, as temporary expedient for defraying the first expenses, a loan was to be raised on the plate of the churches and convents. Meanwhile the telegraph announced the bombardment of Messina. Having been repulsed with considerable loss in a first attempt to land at Mare Grosso, the Neapolitans kept up a steady fire for four days, not on the forts occiipied by the Messinese, but on the town itself; and bombs and rockets were discharged upon it from the citadel, the only point which had remained in the power of the King of Naples. Messina is open towards the sea ; the citizens fought with great bravery, but they were ill-armed and ill-commanded, THE ITALIAN KEVOLUTIONS. 117 and the regular garrison was weak; so that, as the Neapoli- tan army was four times more numerous, it might have taken the city at the point of the bayonet without any very extra- ordinary effort. The four days' bombardment, therefore, was an act of wilful, brutal cruelty, opposed to all the laws of civilized warfare. When the Neapolitans landed on the beach of La Contessa, the suburb of that name, all the houses along the road from the sea to the gates of Messina, and a large portion of the beautiful city itself, had ceased to exist. A few Messinese sold their lives dearly behind the smoking ruins of their homes ; five thousand families had fled to the mountains, and thousands of women, children, and wounded, sought protection in the three French and English vessels in the roads. It is not surprising that after such in- human and disloyal treatment, the Messinese should have cruelly retaliated upon the prisoners who fell into their hands : it is not true, however, that they roasted and ate them, as the Neapolitan journals alleged. At any rate, the conquerors were not backward in making reprisals upon the defenceless inhabitants of the sacked city. A victory so dearly won was enough to make General Filangieri think seriously of the resistance he was likely to encounter in the prosecution of his expedition; he there- fore, issued a proclamation offering a general amnesty, sus- pension of the tax on grist, and the erection of Messina into a free port. These concessions were intended as prelimina- ries to his march on Catania and Syracuse ; but throughout all Sicily an explosion of rage had ensued upon the news of the catastrophe that had befallen Messina. Lanzerotte, the commandant of Syracuse, being suspected of cowardice or treachery, was seized by the populace and torn to pieces ; and the same fate would infallibly have happened to any man who talked of submission. In Palermo, the government durst not, if it would, have shown the least hesitation ; the word treachery, once uttered among the people, would have been a death sentence for the most popular leaders. There was no alternative but to proclaim war to the death, and to push for- 11.8 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. ward with the utmost energy the preparations for a desperate resistance. The government being short of funds, provision- ally suspended the payment of the notes called hank policies, a measure which painfully affected a great number of the humbler classes, and which would, on any other occasion, have produced the worst effects. Vito d'Ondes Reggio, the Minis- ter of the Interior, left Palermo to arrange a line of defence in the eastern part of the island; and twenty thousand pikes were prepared to supply the want of muskets. The peasants flocked from all parts of the country to Palermo ; and from the mountains of Alcamo and Corleone came eight thousand swarthy-visaged descendants of the Moors, in their pictur- esque garbs, each man with a carbine slung over his stout shoulder. "But beneath this bold and martial bearing lurked many serious anxieties. The government, even while it declared that the Sicilian nation would perish to the last man rather than submit or enter into any compromise with Naples, clearly foresaw that the ruin of all the ports in the island was in- evitable, and that the only hope of resisting oppression lay in abandoning the whole seaboard, and retiring into the mountains. The people loudly vented their indignation against the inertness of their two allies, and the whole press echoed the popular cry ; but a favourable change was pro- duced in the public mind by the arrival of the French packet Hellespont, and the English corvette Sidon, the former freighted with two thousand muskets and four hundred bar- rels of powder, consigned to the Sicilian government, and the latter bringing news of an agreement for an armistice provisionally concluded on the 11th of September, between Captain Nonay of the French ship Hercule and Captain Robb of her Majesty's ship Gf-ladiator, on the one part, and General Filangieri on the other. Protected by the English and French fleets, the armistice was respected by both bel- ligerents, and the island enjoyed perfect tranquillity during the remainder of the year. MeauAvhile the Sicilians were prevailed on by their friends to abate something of their THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 119 pretensions, and consent to treat with Naples for a settle- ment of their quarrel on the basis of the constitution of 1812. The rights of his crown being no longer contested, King Ferdinand accepted, but with undisguised repugnance the mediation of France and England."* The changes of ministry in Sardinia and Tuscany were effected by force, but cost no bloodshed. In Rome, the new policy was initiated by the murder of Count Rossi, the able but haughty and tyrannical premier. On the 15th of No- vember, the Chamber of Deputies was to open at one o'clock, and a large crowd was consequently assembled around the gateway of the Palazzo della Cancellaria. When Rossi ap- peared they hissed and hooted. The haughty count con- fronted them with an expression of scorn, whereupon a man rushed forward and plunged a dagger into his neck. The dying man was taken up to the rooms occupied by Cardinal Guzzoli, and in five minutes expired. This deed appears to have been unpremeditated. But many of the Romans ap- proved it and applauded the murderer. Groups of mingled soldiers and citizens, Avith lighted torches, were heard sing- ing in chorus along the streets, " Benedetto quella mano Che il tiranus pugnato." *' Blessed be the hand which smote the tyrant." The death of Rossi was the signal for an insurrection for which Rome was already predisposed. At half-ten A. M. on the 16th, a gathering began in the great Piazza del Popolo, and symptoms of a menacing character were perceptible in the leading streets. The Civic Guards and troops of the line, in fragmentary sections, mingled with the people ; and the carbineers, whose uniform had hitherto been invariably arrayed against the populace, were now for the first time seen to fraternize with the mob. From the terrace of the Pincian Hill the spectator could count nearly 20,000 Romans,. * "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 120 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. Pope Pius IX. in threatening groups, and mostly armed. Printed papers were handed eagerly about, all having the same purport, and containing the following ' Fundamental Points: 1. Promul- gation and full adoption of Italian nationality. 2. Convoca- tion of a Constituent Assembly and realization of the Federal Pact. 3. Realization of the vote for the war of independence given in the Chamber of Deputies. 4. Adoption, in its inte- grity, of the Programme Mamiani, 5th June. 5. Ministers THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 121 who have public confidence — Mamiani, Sterbini, Cambello, Saliceti, Fusconi, Lunati, Sereni, Galletti." " Their ostensible object was to proceed to the Chamber of Deputies and present these five points in a constitutional manner. But the chiefs, finding themselves in such unlooked- for force of numbers, and many of the deputies being found mixed up with the crowd, the cry was raised to march to the pope's palace. It was now one o'clock. The members of the Chamber presented themselves as the mouthpiece of the multitude, and transmitted the five points to the sovereign. In about ten minutes, the President of the late Ministerial Council, Cardinal Soglia, came forth from the private apart- ment, and informed the deputation that his Holiness would reflect on the subject and take it into his best consideration. This message was deemed unsatisfactory, and a personal audience was insisted on for the deputation. An audience was granted ; Galletti, the former Police Minister, (and strange to say for such a functionary, the most popular man in Rome,) appeared on the balcony, and stated, that the pope ' would not brook dictation.' Matters grew critical. The Swiss Guard was resolute, but it numbered no more than two dozen men : escape or defence was equally difficult. Suddenly, one of the advanced sentinels was seized by the mob, and dis- armed. The Guard instantly flung back, closed, and barred the palace-gates, and presented their arms at the mass of the besiegers. The die was now cast. From the back streets men emerged, bearing aloft long ladders wherewith to scale the pontifical abode ; carts and wagons were dragged up and ranged within musket-shot of the windows, to protect the as- sailants in their determined attack on the palace ; the cry was, ' To arms ! To arms !' and musketry began to bristle in the approaches from every direction. Fagots were produced and piled up against one of the condemned gates of the building, to which the mob was in the act of setting fire, when a brisk discharge of firelocks scattered the besiegers in that quarter."* * " Revolutions of 1848," Iby W. S. Chase. 122 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. The drums were now beating throughout the city, and groups of regular troops and carabineers reinforced the as- sailants. Random shots were aimed a,t the windows and re- sponded to. The outposts, one after another, were taken by the people, the garrison within being too scanty to man the outworks. The belfry of St. Carlino, which commands the palace, was occupied. From behind the equestrian statues of Castor and Pollux a group of sharpshooters plied their rifles ; and at about four o'clock, Monsignor Palma, private secretary to his Holiness, was killed by a bullet. Two six- pounders were drawn up and pointed at the gates ; but a truce was demanded, and a deputation again entered the palace bear- ing "the people's ultimatum," which was a simple repetition of the "fundamental points" cited above. If those terms were not granted, the palace was to be stormed, and every soul in it put to the sword, " with the sole exception of his Holiness himself." Pius no longer hesitated, but sent for Galletti, with whom he remained in conference from six till nearly seven, when the following new ministry was formally pro- claimed to the people: — Foreign Affairs, Mamiani; Home and Police, Galletti ; Finance, Lunati ; Commerce and Public Works, Sterbini; War Minister, Cambello ; Public Instruc- tion and President of the Council, Rosmini. The last name is the only one which the pope had selected himself: the others were all named by the people. Sterbini was the lead- ing writer in the " Contemporaneo." The Abbe Count Ros- mini declined the task proposed to him by the pope's selection, and was replaced by Monsignor Carlo Muzzarelli, a popular and enlightened prelato: On receiving intelligence of these events, the English admiral sent a steamer to Civita Vecchia to receive the pope, should he be a fugitive ; and the French government hastily despatched three steam-frigates, with a force of 8500 men, to protect the pontiff. He does not appear, however, to have been exposed to any personal danger ; but being resolved not to give even the implied sanction of his presence to the min- istry imposed upon him by the populace, he committed the THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS.. 123 fatal imprudence of quitting his dominions as a fugitive. His flight was the signal for the dispersion of his cardinals. The veteran, Lambruschini, escaped in the uniform of a dragoon ; while Pius fled in the less appropriate guise of a servant to the Bavarian ambassador, and, crossing the frontier, ar- rived at Gaeta, where the King of Naples received him with worshipful homage. Deputations were sent bj the Roman ministry to solicit the pope's return ; but they were not even allowed to cross the Neapolitan frontier. As the pontiff" persisted in declar- ing the ministry to be illegal, and all its acts null and void, an act was passed by both Chambers, provisionally depriving the pope of temporal power, and decreeing the election of a <' Provisional Supreme Junta," for the purpose of carrying on the government. The act states, that " The commission shall discontinue its functions on the return of the sovereign pon- tiff", or when he shall himself appoint, according to consti- tutional forms, a substitute of his own selection." Neither of these conditions being fulfilled, an act was passed, at the instance of the Junta, and in compliance with the demands of the people, convoking a Constituent Assembly for the Ro- man States. The Chambers were then dissolved on the 29th of December. At sunset that evening, the Castle of St. Angelo, by the consecutive discharge of 101 great guns, announced to this metropolis and the world in general, that the dynasty which had reigned over Rome for 1048 years had come to a close, and a new government was to be called into being by the mandate of the whole population assembled in a constituent representative body by universal suff"rage. The great bell of the capitol, which only tolls for the death of a pope, pealed solemnly. It was exactly on the 24th November, (the fatal night of the flight of Pio Nono,) that, in the year of our Lord 800, Charlemagne arrived in Rome to be crowned on Christ- mas day of that year by Leo III., and to institute and for- mally corroborate the donation of Pepin by the erection of the papal sovereignty. 124 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS; Mazzini. The Constituent Assembly comprised many able members, and its proceedings were dignified and consistently liberal. As soon as it was ascertained that the pope not only would not return, but denounced the movement of the people, the Assembly proceeded to elect an executive Triumvirate. The wise and eloquent Joseph Mazzini was the most active and influential of the three men who exercised the executive power. THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 125 General Avezzana. The brave and patriotic General Avezzana was his valuable aid. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, treacherous to the principles of the French Republic, resolved to send an expedition to crush the Roman patriots and restore the pope's temporal authority. On the 22d of April, 1849, a considerable French force, under General Oudinot, sailed for Italj, and after landing at Civita Vecchia, marched toward Rome. The troops had hitherto been kept in ignorance of .the object of the expedition. The general now issued a proclamation to them, stating "that the government, being resolved to main- i 126 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. tain in all quarters of the globe their old and legitimate in- fluence, would not allow the destinies of the Italian people to be at the mercy of a foreign power, or a party which is but a minority." The Romans knew that the statement of the French gene- ral was entirely unfounded. They acted with a resolution worthy of their ancestors. On the 24th of April, the Con- stituent Assembly declared itself permanent — passed a reso- lution denouncing as a traitor any deputy who should desert his post — despatched a protest to General Oudinot, and issued an address to the people. The members then declared that, while willing to receive the pope as head of the church, they had discarded his temporal sway. At the same time, they called upon the lately constituted Triumvirate to assist them in supporting the declaration. The people responded to the sentiments of their leaders. Men of all classes armed them- selves, private houses Avere fortified, barricades thrown up, and every means taken to inspire a spirit of patriotic enthusiasm. "On the first sound of the alarm-bell," says one of the placards, <'the holy sacrament will be exposed in the princi- pal churches, to implore the safety of Rome and the triumph of the good cause." On the 30th of April, the French arrived before the city. They found the citizen soldiery, under General Garibaldi and other leaders, ready to receive them. While the French were planting their batteries and preparing for an assault, shots were fired from the wall and adjacent houses. At half-past ten, the attack commenced at the Porta Cavalleggieri ; but so spirited was the resistance, that in less than two hours Oudi- not's vanguard was driven back. At that moment, a body of Roman troops was thrown toward St. Paul's Church; while another body of armed citizens, carrying a red flag, hurried to defend the Porta Cavalleggieri. By noon, the French had posted their artillery upon a bastion ; but Garibaldi attacked them at difierent points. A conflict with cannon, musketry, and rockets took place. At one o'clock, the assailants were silenced. The Triumvirate immediately published the follow- TJIE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 127 ing proclamation: << Romans, our honour is safe; God and our muskets will do the rest — energy and order. Be worthy of your fathers. Let no voice spread alarming news. Let no shot be fired in the direction of the city. Let every shot be for the enemy; and let every one cry, Viva la Mepublica !" At two o'clock, the attack was renewed; but after a spirited contest of two hours, the French were compelled to retreat. In the mean time, M. Frapold, the Roman envoy at Paris, protested in the name of his government ' against the inter- ference of the French in Italian affairs, declaring at the same time that his government was willing to accept the mediation of France. He received answer, that as far as France was concerned, Rome was the pope ; and that France interposed to prevent too violent a revolution. The news of Oudinot's repulse threw Paris into an uproar, and gave great strength to the republican opposition to Bonaparte's government. But the President declared that, since the Romans would not re- ceive the French as friends, they should receive them as foes ; and said he would send reinforcements to General Oudinot. On the 13th of May, the French army attempted to cross into Rome by a bridge ; but the bridge was blown up, and the assailants desisted. General Oudinot then commenced a blockade, which was maintained until early in June, at which time the French succeeded, after hard fighting, in taking pos- session of Villa Pamfila, the church of St. Pancras, and other points. We condense from General Oudinot's official report the account of his subsequent operations up to the 6th of June. "On the 4th," says the general, "at half-past eight in the evening, the trenches were opened at a distance of three hundred metres from the Avail. At this part the ground is very uneven, and covered with vines and hedges. The tracing of the parallel, and the distribution of the workmen, were very difiicult; on some points the work could not be un- dertqiken before midnight. At this moment I ordered a feigned attack on the side of Villa Pamfila. The result of this diversion surpassed my hopes ; all the efforts of the Ro- mans were turned toward the gate of St. Pancras, which they 128 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. might suppose to be seriously menaced. The works of the parallel were not for an instant disturbed, and there was not a man wounded on this point during the night. The artillery- was engaged during the whole night of the 4th in construct- ing two batteries — the left to reply to the fire of the bastion, the right to silence the fire of Mount Testacio, where the enemy had made preparations of defence. The battery on the left opened its fire at six in the morning, and silenced the bastion. The battery on the left did not commence its fire till toward noon : its action was shown by the interruption of the fire of Mount Testacio. The night of the 5th was employed in perfecting the trench, and in the construction of a battery in the centre of the parallel. The Villas Corsina and Valentina, occupied by our troops, were the constant objects of the fire of musketry, and even artillery of the city. Our batteries have also replied to the enemy. Our establishment at Ponte Molle was consolidated without serious opposition ; the broken arch has been repaired, so as to permit with ease the passage of columns." The disposition of the Roman soldiery and inhabitants are thus set forth by a gentleman writing from that city. " The government and the inhabitants, from all the indications of public feeling I can gather, seem bent on resisting to the utmost, though after six weeks of harassing suspense and un- certainty, interruption of business, and almost total depriva- tion of pleasure, their spirits are no longer so buoyant a;s in the first days of May. Proclamations, issued yesterday and to-day, state that families disturbed by the enemy's shot will be accommodated with- lodgings in the public establishments of the capitol or the palaces of the nobility, and require the immediate surrender of all muskets or carbines in the possession of individuals, with a view to their being employed in the de- fence of the town. Various irregular bodies of men, squadrons of the Seven Hills, &c., are being formed." On the 8th, the same writer says : "The internal state of the city, as regards public quiet, is all that could be wished. There are no symp- toms of movement by any other than the republican party." THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 129 The French continued their approaches with slow but sure success, until the 12th, when General Oudinot announced to the Triumvirate his intention to take the city by storm. He was answered that the Vatican, St. Peter's, and the palaces of the nobility were mined and charged with powder ; and that before the assailants should obtain entrance, the besieged would fire those works, and die amid their ruins. The attack was made on the 4th, and during that day and the next, the fire of cannon and musketry was incessant; on the 15th, Gari- baldi made a sortie with fourteen hundred men, but was driven back with loss; yet after a continuous cannonade of twenty- four hours, the French effected no available breach. General Oudinot continued his advances upon Rome until the close of June. Some spirited attempts were made upon separate points of the defences ; shells and other missiles were thrown into the city ; and the garrison was repeatedly sum- moned to surrender. But notwithstanding the loss of their property, the destruction of many monuments of art, and their personal sufi"erings, the soldiery and inhabitants still persisted in their resistance. Early in July the Constituent Assembly unanimously voted the constitution of the repub- lic, and ordered it to be deposited in the capitol. They also ordered funeral services to be celebrated in St. Stephen's for those who had fallen in defence of the republic. But it had now become evident that further resistance was useless. The French had surrounded the city; their cannon pointed toward its most populated quarters; the garrison, though determined, was small ; and an assault, besides causing great slaughter, would in all probability terminate in the cap- ture of the city and the ruin of some of its finest monuments of art. To prevent such a calamity, negotiations were opened with the French ; terms of capitulation were signed ; and Rome opened her gates to a French army. At the same time Garibaldi passed through the city with ten ^thousand men, and succeeded in effecting his escape. The Assembly an- nounced by proclamation the arrival of the French troops, and recommended abstinence from all vengeance, denouncing 9 130 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. it as useless, and unworthy the dignity of Roman citizens. The French army entered, July 3, in the evening ; the sol- diers cleared the streets of barricades, and by dark the troops were consigned to their various quarters. A new government was formed; the troops were stationed in places favourable for suppressing disturbances ; some companies were despatched in pursuit of Garibaldi ; and in order that the Romans might not mistake as to the nature of the protection to be afforded them by their new deliverers, the arms of the pope were run up in a conspicuous place. Such was the end of the Roman republic of 1848. Never did any people show more capacity for self-government, or more firmness and dignity in the maintenance of their rights, than the Romans, subsequent to the flight of the pope. Their statesmen evinced extraordinary powers for administration, and there was every reason to believe that the golden dreams of Rienzi were about to be realized — that Rome was again to be free, prosperous, and powerful — and that the Italians were to be raised from that dark pit of ignorance and slavery into which the oppressions of centuries had plunged them. But a foreign hand, stretched, too, from a government calling itself republican, crushed Rome's free institutions, and led back the ruler who had but few voices among his people. The crime was worthy of the Bonaparte who has since violated a solemn oath taken to support the French constitution, and it will stand in the same catalogue with the division of Poland. - The ghost of the Roman republic will ever rise to prevent foreign sympathy for the people who permitted its government to commit such an outrage. REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 131 Mierolawski. CHAPTER lY. REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND, The overthrow of Louis Philippe, of France, was the signal gun for a liberal movement throughout Germany. The peo- ple insisted upon the following concessions from their sove- reigns : — " A new civil and criminal code for all Grermany, ratifying, among other things, freedom of the press, trial by jury and publicity in all judicial proceedings ; representative government in the several states, with the right of voting taxes vested in the people alone ; civil equality, without dis- tinction of creed ; and lastly, that the people, as well as the princes, should be represented in the council of the German Confederation." These demands had been made by the Libe- 132 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. ral party for thirty-three years, and the princes had not only rejected them, but punished those who prefered them. They "were now extorted in the space of three weeks from every ruler in Germany. The King of Wurtemburg made the first act of submission on the 3d of March. The sovereigns of Bavaria and Hesse Darmstadt complied with the demands of their subjects and then abdicated. On the 13th, the old system perished in its metropolis, Vienna, after a street tumult (for it was not a fight) of three or four hours ; and on the 18th, the new order of things was established in Berlin, and consecrated by a lavish outpouring of blood. " The King of Saxony insisted on retaining the censorship of the press, and would not hear of any ' insensate projects' for the security of his subjects' rights. His subjects, how- ever, persisted in their demands ; the king was ' moved to tears,' but not to compliance ; on the contrary, he called out his troops, but they refused to act against the people, and the king was constrained to grant every thing. « King Ernest of Hanover, of course, began by refusing all concessions. When further pressed, he talked of abdicating; but finding his beloved Hanoverians quite unmoved by that threat, he resigned himself to his fate» and even submitted to the mortification of receiving Stiibe as one of his ministers, — a man who had spent many years in prison for his resistance to King Ernest's illegal and tyrannical acts. "A dramatic scene, recorded in a letter from Oldenburg, is curious and significant. A deputation^ headed by Baron von Thanne, one of the wealthiest landed proprietors in the duchy, waited on the grand duke on the 10th of March, with a petition for a representative government,, and other consti- tutional grants. The baron made a speech, in which he ex- pounded the object of the petition in very forcible terms. The duke, unaccustomed to such language, interrupted the speaker, saying, « Sir, do you mean to threaten m.e V ' Such is not my intention, prince I' replied Von Thanne, 'we merely express wishes^ but they are the unanimous wishes of REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 133 the people.' LIBRARl REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 159 the beginning of April to the middle of May, the supreme council that governed Germany. Besides drawing up a pro- ject of a constitution for the collective German states, another important part of its labours consisted in directing military operations against the armed republican party. The lake district of Baden was the only part of Germany where that party was not decidedly in the minority, and there only the republican flag was raised. It was hoisted in Constanz and Freiburg, under the protection of a free corps led by Hecker and Struve ; but its defenders were met within a week, (April 20,) and totally routed by the forces of the Confederation. General Von Gagern, the commander of the latter, was treacherously murdered in a parley before the battle began. Hecker escaped ; Struve was taken prisoner, but soon after rescued. Freiburg was stormed on the 24th; Constanz was occupied on the same day, and the republic was brought to an end in both places. Herwegh, the poet and communist, arrived with his free corps from France too late to prevent the catas- trophe that had befallen his brethren. His own nine hundred men were totally routed on the 27th by a single company of Wurtemburg troops, with a loss of twenty-three killed, and two hundred taken prisoners. Hei'wegh, with his wife, who was armed and present in the fight, escaped to Switzerland. The German Parliament held its first sitting in Frankfort on the 18th of May, and elected as its president Heinrich Yon Gagern, an able and judicious man, and almost the only con- tinental statesman who passed through the ordeal of the last eight months of '48 with a steadily rising reputation. On the 28th of June, the parliament enacted a law creating a pro- visional central power for the administration of all afiairs, civil and military, foreign and domestic, which afiect the whole of the German nation, that power to be confided to a Regent, (reicJisverweser,) elected by the National Assembly, and him- self irresponsible, but acting through responsible ministers. On the following day the Archduke John of Austria was elected Regent, by a very large majority. He arrived soon after in Frankfort, where he was received with great demon- 160 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. Archduke Jolin of Austria. strations of joy, and was solemnly installed in office on the 12tli of July ; on which day also the High German Diet, born in 1815, held its s evenly- j&rst and last sitting, its power pass- ing into the hands of the Provisional Central Government. But the " German Empire" had more of form than sub- stance. An act of insubordination committed by the monarch who had professed to take the lead in constructing an impe- rial authority, led to an exposure of the weakness of the Frankfort government, and gave occasion to an open assault upon it, accompanied by circumstances of hideous atrocity. REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 161 "War between Prussia and Denmark had arisen concerning the possession of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, and after many fluctuations of success, an armistice was concluded for seven months, the King of Prussia acting without consulting the central government. This excited a violent commotion in Frankfort. The Assembly, by a large majority, resolved to suspend the measures necessary for carrying into effect the armistice. Its sitting was attended with furious discus- sion. "The resolution of the Assembly was immediately followed by the resignation of the imperial ministry. Professor Dahl- man, the leader of the majority, having failed to form a ministry, the Assembly was compelled to retrace its steps, which it did by resolving on the 16th, by a majority of 257 to 236, that the armistice should be allowed with the modifi- cations which Denmark herself had declared to be admissible. The populace assembled around St. Paul's and threatened an attack on the majority as they retired, but did not execute their threats. " Next day large out-door meetings assembled, and were addressed by Blum, Simon, and other republican leaders. Resolutions were passed denouncing the majority who ratified the armistice as guilty of ' high treason against the majesty, liberty, and honour of the German people.' The Senate of Frankfort sent word to the Regent that they would no longer guarantee order. The Regent induced part of his late min- istry to resume office provisionally: Schmerling took the combined Home, Foreign, and War Departments, and made prompt provisions against an outbreak ; bringing Austrian, Prussian, and Bavarian troops into Frankfort. "On Monday these measures were violently condemned in the Assembly by the left, but it was evident that the revolu- tionists were awed. Outside the populace began to pelt the soldiery with stones and to raise barricades. Schmerling declared the city in a state of siege. The defenders of the barricades were summoned to surrender, and on their refusing to comply they were attacked by the military. A sharp fight 11 162 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. ensued, but the rioters were soon overcome, being ill-armed and not having the burghers on their side. By midnight every point was in the hands of the troops. "But before order was restored the horrible murder of Prince LichnoAvski and Major Auerswald had branded the republican party with indelible disgrace. After leaving the Assembly, of which they were members, they rode out of the town,' with the intention, it is supposed, of meeting the artillery, which was to arrive about five o'clock. Several shots being fired at them, they attempted to ride back to the town, but found that they were surrounded on all sides. They then endeavoured to escape across the fields, but Major Auerswald was quickly stopped and dragged from his horse. The assassins, having thrown him on the ground, coolly de- liberated where wounds would cause the greatest pain, and then fired into different parts of his body. Observing that life was not quite extinct they left him, saying it was all the better, because he would have the more to suffer; but an old woman put an end to the unfortunate gentleman's agony by battering his brains out with a stone. Prince Lichnowski, after galloping about a field from which he could find no out- let, returned to the public promenade, where he was seized by a number of men, who, having literally slashed, slit, and scraped the flesh from his arms and part of his legs, left him with the remark that this was enough for the present, and that he might afford them more sport when he had recovered a little. The prince, with the utmost difficulty, crawled to a neighbouring cottage, where he was kindly received. He had scarcely been there an hour when the same men, with many others, armed with guns, made their appearance and de- manded his immediate surrender, which the hospitable people of the cottage refused. The wretches then made prepara- tions to set fire to the house, and on hearing this the prince boldly stepped out to meet his fate. He was received with shouts of derision, and one of the leaders, dressed as a com- mon labourer, declared that as the prince had always been a kind of Don Quixote he ought to die so : accordingly, they KEVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 163 pulled off his clothes and decked him with some sort of gro- tesque drapery ; then forming a circle around him and prick- ing him with their knives and bayonets, they compelled him to keep constantly in motion : at last, tired of this sport, they fastened him to a wall, and, at a distance of only ten yards, fired more than twenty balls, most of them intention- ally avoiding the vital parts ; but after he had received three mortal wounds they went away laughing, and left him to suffer a little longer. In this state he was found by a patrol of Hessian cavalry, and carried, by his own desire, to the hospital, where the rest of those wounded in the riot had been received. He expired about an hour past midnight, after dictating a minute relation of these horrid scenes. " The outbreak in Frankfort was soon followed by a second republican invasion of Baden. A column of two thousand men, consisting of Italians, Poles, French, and Germans, and headed by Struve, crossed the frontier from Switzerland on the 23d of September, but were speedily defeated by troops sent against them by the central government. Some hundred prisoners were taken, including Struve himself. He and eighty of his immediate followers were forthwith tried by court-martial, condemned, and shot. " The end of the year arrived before the new German con- stitution had come out of the makers' hands. There seemed at that period, an increasing probability that, if the Frank- fort proceedings did not end in utter failure, the King of Prussia, or his heir-presumptive, would be elected by the As- sembly as Emperor of Germany ; that is to say, of a German empire in which Austria is not to be included. The Regent's prime minister, (Schmerling,) and Wuth, the under-Secretary of State, both of them Austrian deputies, resigned office on the 16th of December, and Baron Von Gagern, who was known to be strongly in favour of the claims of Prussia, be- came the head of the cabinet. His first care was to lay be- fore the Assembly his views with regard to Austria, which were, in substance, that Austria, in conformity with her own declaration to that effect, should be considered as not forming 164 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. part of the new Federal State ; but that as she was a mem- ber of the German Confederation, and therefore ' in indisso- luble alliance with Germany as represented by the Provisional Central,' she should be treated with by way of diplomatic negotiation on all topics of common interest, save only the constitution of the Federal State, as to which she was not to be consulted."* * «' Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 166 OUTBEEAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. Metternich. CHAPTER y. POPULAR OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. Vienna felt the shock of the French Revolution. On the 13th of March, the people arose, and after a short struggle obtained their demands. The Metternich ministry was dis- missed, and Ferdinand made several liberal grants, the chief of which, was the Assembly. For two months afterward, Vienna remained, as it were, "in a simmer." There was no violent commotion, but there was much dissatisfaction. The OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 167 constitution of the Assembly was too aristocratic to please the liberal party. On the 13th of May, an order was issued for the dissolution of the central committee of the National Guard, consisting of about two hundred individuals, organized for political ob- jects, and which, backed as it was, by such a large array of physical force, threatened to overawe the constituted authori- ties. The students of the University took the lead in resist- ing this unpopular measure of the government, and on the morning of the 15th they preferred the following demands to the ministry : 1st, That the military, who, during the preced- ing night, had bivouacked in large numbers on the glacis, should be withdrawn. 2d, That the central committee of the National Guard should not be dissolved. 3d, That the law for the elections should be declared null and void. The ministers withstood the demands for a whole day. But they had no force to back them. About midnight, Pillersdorff, Minister of the Interior, issued a proclamation, conceding all asked for. A new revolution was thus ratified, for the constitution of April 25 was superceded, and it was settled that the Diet should consist of but one chamber. The next day the emperor and his family left the capital and fled to Innsprlick in the Tyrol. "The ministers and the whole population of Vienna were thrown into consternation, and messengers were despatched with the most pressing entreaties to recall the fugitives, who obstinately rejected all such overtures. Meanwhile the agents of the camarilla, and the aristocratic party who had counselled the emperor's flight, were taking pains to make that event subservient to their reactionary projects. They caused reports to be spread in the provincial towns that the Viennese had stormed the imperial palace, dragging the monarch from his bed, and ill-treated his sacred person. Having produced a strong feeling of pious horror in the pro- vinces by such stories as these, the reactionists prepared to make a coup de main in the capital. "On the 25th of May it was reported in Vienna, that three 168 OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. regiments were to enter the city at night, and the announce- ment spread universal alarm. On the following morning the Academical Legion received orders to disband within twenty- four houfs. On their refusal to lay down their arms, the gates of the town were shut and guarded by soldiers ; but the workmen from the suburbs stormed them, and one of the assailants, a workman, was killed in the conflict. This became the signal for a general insurrection, and once more barricades arose in every street. This state of things lasted until the night without further hostilities, and ended in the complete victory of the people, whose conditions were again, as on the 15th, accepted and ratified by the ministers. These conditions stipulated the continuance of the Academical Le- gion; the removal of the military to a distance of four leagues from Vienna ; and the return of the emperor within eight days, or the appointment of one of the princes to repre- sent him. "Peace was now restored; the barricades were taken down, and business was resumed. The Viennese were still, indeed, deprived of the presence of their emperor, who remained ill at Innspriick ; but he appointed his uncle, the Archduke John, to represent him in the capital, and open the Assembly in his name. This was accordingly done on the 22d of July, in a speech breathing amity and peace toward all the States of the Empire, and all foreign countries. Even of Italy the Archduke said, — " The war in Italy is not directed against the liberties of the people of that country: its real object is to maintain the honour of the Austrian arms in presence of the Italian powers, at the same time recognising their nation- ality, and to support the most important interests of the state. The emperor at last relented, and returned to his capital on the 12th of August ; and thus ended the second phase of the Viennese Revolution." The Bohemians took up the general hymn to freedom, and bore their part in the swelling chorus. Two days before the first movement in Vienna, a meeting was held in Prague, to draw up an address to the government. The demands agreed OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 169 on were as follows : — Equality of tlie Tchech and German races; every public officer to be required to speak both languages ; union of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, gua- ranteed by a common Diet, which should meet alternately at Prayere overthrown ; precious commodities, libraries, works of art, were destroyed in vast numbers. From this fatal blow Messina has only Imperfectly recovered. Southward from Messina, the coast begins to display the remains of great ancient cities, which were built chiefly on the eastern and southern coasts. Taormitta, the ancient Tau- romenum, now a small place, contains, among other ruins, a theatre, considered one of the most perfect monuments of an- tiquity, and in a most commanding site, between the moun- tains and the sea. Catania, at the foot of Etna, is the finest city in the island. It is filled with Grreek, Saracenic, and modern structures, all handsome. Yet it has passed through fearful vicissitudes. Overwhelmed by the volcano of 1669, almost destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, it has risen from these disasters with undiminished beauty. Proceeding southward along the coast of the Val de Norte, we reach Siragusa, (Syracuse.) This ancient capital, so cele- brated for power, learning, and splendour, presents now a striking example of the changeful character of human things. Of its vast ruins only some imperfect fragments can with difficulty be traced, scattered amid vineyards, orchards, and cornfields. The present town, which contains nothing re- markable, occupies only a very small portion of the ancient site. Near the south-eastern cape of Passaro are Nota and Modica, two large towns, one well built, the other very indif- ferently. On the southern coast, Girgenti, now a large, poor village, presents monuments worthy of the ancient Agrigentum,'"when it was the greatest city of Sicily, and fit to contend with Car- thage. The temple of Jupiter Olympus, an immense struc- ture, 368 feet long, by 188 broad, is almdst quite in ruins. It has been called the Temple of Giants, from huge forms of this description that are lying either entire or in fragments. The Temple of Concord, with its thirty-four columns, is con- sidered one of the most perfect specimens extant of the Doric 484 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE order. Farther to the east at Selinunti, the ruins of Selinus present a scene still more striking and awful. Here may be distinctly traced three noble temples, of which the materials still remain, but only a few solitary columns are standing ; all the rest lie on the ground, in huge and shapeless blocks, forming the most stupendous mass of ruin to be found in Europe. Trapani, the ancient Drepanum, poetically distinguished as the place where Anchises died, and where ^neas celebrated his obsequies, is still a considerable town, near the western promontory of Sicily, the ancient Lilybseum. It is well for- tified, and has a good harbour, where there is considerable trade in the export of salt made in its vicinity,, and of barilla. It carries on briskly the fisheries of tunny and of coral, which last is obtained both from the coast of the island and that of Africa. Not far from Trapani is Segeste, a simple, grand, and almost entire edifice, standing on a solitary hill. Mar- sala, almost on the very site of Lilybseum, is a considerable town, exporting wine that is much esteemed. Near it the quarries of Mazzara appear to have furnished the stone of which the edifices in this part of Sicily have been constructed. The ascent of Etna is a general object with Sicilian travel- lers. In proceeding from Catania, they pass through three successive zones : first, that of rich cultivated fields, then that of plants and aromatic shrubs, and lastly, the region of scoriae, ashes, and perpetual snow. On reaching the summit, they view the crater filled with vast volumes of smoke, and obtain a fine panoramic view over all Sicily and the adjoining shores of Italy. The Lipari Islands, twelve in number, and situated from twelve to thirty-five miles northward from the Sicilian coast, are entirely volcanic, and appear to have been thrown up from the sea by the action of fire. Lipari itself contains a hill of white pumice, which forms an article of trade, and its crater displays various specimens of beautifully crystallized sulphur. Stromboli has a volcano, remarkable for being in perpetual activity. Every day, at short intervals, the eruptions issue THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 485 forth like great discliarges of artillery, and the sides of the mountain are covered with the red-hot stones that are ejected, and rush down into the sea. The inhabitants of these islands are a bold, active, and industrious race. The activity of sub- marine fires has been manifested on another side of Sicily, by the rise of Graham's Island ; only, indeed, a volcanic rock, which again sunk under water. The Sicilians displayed admirable spirit and heroism in 1848. So much exertion and so many sacrifices were not anticipated by those whowere acquainted with the degrading system of government under which they long had groaned. The present state of affairs is not much better than things were before the revolution. There is no true liberty of speech or action in Sicily. The government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is ab- solute, as it was before the struggle of the liberals in 1848. Even the power of a numerous nobility cannot check the will of the monarch — and all know the character of the present sovereign's will. The. army, on the peace footing, numbers 60,000 men, besides several regiments of Swiss. The navy consists of one ship-of-the-line, three frigates, four sloops-of- war, and four smaller vessels.* The great body of the inhabitants of the kingdom are catholics. In 1842, the number of priests, monks, and nuns reached 65,000 persons, and since then, the number has in- creased. There are about eight thousand Greek Christians ■ and a few Jews. With regard to the means of education, we may note that there are four universities, five lyceums, at least one gymnasium in each province, seven hundred and eighty Latin schools, and two thousand eight hundred com- mon schools. Still the mass of the people are ignorant. * Ungewitter. NEW YORK, N. Y, LIBRARY 486 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: ^usscang. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany comprises the north-western part of middle Italy, having an area of 8,844 square miles, and 1,750,000 inhabitants. Tuscany ranks next to the Roman states as the theatre of great historical events, and has surpassed Rome itself as the seat of modern learning. Its first glories even preceded those of the metropolis. The Etruscans, the earliest masters of Italy, were found by the Romans divided into ten powerful, brave, and, in some respects, civilized commonwealths. They were vanquished, however, and so completely destroyed, that the antiquary seeks in vain to fix the site of Veii, Fidense, and of the other large and strong cities, on which flocks have now fed for more than two thousand years. Under Rome, Etruria, though held in some veneration as a seat of early religion and learning, never reached any political importance. Amid the tumult of the Middle Ages, however, there arose in it a cluster of proud republics. Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Pistoia, ac- quired distinction for their wealth, their valour, their lofty spirit of independence, and their zealous cultivation of the arts and sciences. Under the influence of freedom, they per- formed achievements and erected monuments on a scale much beyond their narrow territory and limited population. By a series of revolutions, internal and external, these states have b^een stripped of all their greatness and glory, and united, notwithstanding their deadly hatred of each other, under the sway of a prince of the house of Austria. Little remains of the commerce and industry by which Florence was formerly so distinguished ; but the vale of the Arno, the plain of Pisa, and the environs of Sienna, are still as highly cultivated and productive as any part of Europe. The arts of painting and architecture are fallen from their ancient eminence, but the monuments of them remain, and are rendered more interest- ing by the tints which time has thrown over them. The THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 487 principal towns are Florence, 105,000 inhabitants ; Leghorn, 88,000; Pisa, 22,000; Sienna, 24,000 ; Prato, 11,000; Pis- toia, 12,000 ; Arezzo, 7000 ; Lucca, 25,000. Florence, which attained so great a name under the humane and enlightened sway of the Medici, is still a delightful city. Its situation is peculiarly happy, in the vale of the Arno, which forms one continued interchange of garden and grove, enclosed by hills and distant mountains. Its public buildings are fine, though all modern. Being surpassed by those of Rome, they no longer excite any peculiar interest. The great cathedral, however, while St. Peters's was not yet constructed, ranked as the most majestic edifice in Italy; and the form of its dome is supposed to have at least sug- gested that of the other more majestic one. The palaces, also, with the same character, have a similar uniformity ; and many of them, erected during the ages of dire and deadly feud, exhibit, in their approaches at least, an attention to strength rather than to beauty. The Gallery is the chief pride of Florence, both as to its structure and contents. It has twenty apartments branching ofl" from it, in each of which the productions of a particular school or class of art are ex- hibited. In ancient sculpture this collection has perhaps no rival, since it contains the Venus brought from the Medici palace, the group of Niobe, the Faun, and many other mas- terpieces. The paintings are so arranged as to form a com- plete history of Italian art, from the era in which it was a mere object of curiosity to that when it was displayed in its full splendour. It comprises also some of the greatest mas- terpieces of Raphael, Titian, Andre del Sarto ; and is adorned with some of those belonging to the principal schools beyond the Alps. The French, having selected and carried ofi* sixty- three, left it completely shorn of its ornaments ; but those have now all resumed their places. There are few paintings, but pretty numerous sculptures by Michael Angelo, especially those which adorn the tomb of the Medici. The environs of Florence are nearly as romantic as those of Rome, and not separated by any intervening desert, but 488 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: rising in its close vicinity. Vallombrosa, a grand and solemn scene, "where "Etrurian shades high over-arched embower," has been rendered classical by the immortal verse of Milton, who is supposed to have drawn from it his picture of Para- dise, when he describes it — " shade above shade, A woody theatre of stateliest view." Fiesole, on an eminence, commands a^n enchanting view of Florence and the vale of Arno. Once the rival of that city, it is now a lonely and delightful village, and was the favourite spot to which the greatest men of Florence retired for the enjoyment of rural contemplation. Milton refers to the top of Fiesole as a happy point for observing the phenomena of the heavenly bodies. Pisa, situated in a fertile and beautiful plain, was long one of the proudest and most prosperous of the commercial re- publics of Italy. Subjected by Florence, after a long con- test, and now involved in the same common slavery, her wealth has disappeared, and her population has been reduced from 100,000 to 22,000. A solemn character of fallen gran- deur still invests her. Her four edifices, the cathedral, the baptistery, the leaning tower, and the Campo Santo, form one of the grandest existing ranges of architecture, all built of the finest marble. The style is not altogether pure, being usually termed the Moresco Gothic ; but Mr. Forsyth is rather of opinion that it is a mere corruption of the Greek model, retaining, however, much beauty. The cathedral is the most spacious and splendid of these edifices ; but the campanile, or belfry, is the most remarkable. It is a ^ower of six. successive stories of arches, supported by pillars. But its grand peculiarity is, that it has actually deviated fourteen feet from the perpendicular, yet has thus stood for three hundred years, without the slightest tendency toward a fall. The deviation appears to have been in consequence of the softness of the ground, but it is a striking proof of skilful and solid construction, that this lofty edifice has not only re- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 489 mained firm for so long a period, but does not even now give the least menace of ruin. Sienna, after acquiring a great name among the Italian re- publics, sustained a fate similar to that of Pisa. It is situ- ated in a hillj and even mountainous country ; which, how- ever, yields abundantly the olive, the vine, and in many places grain. The Monte Polciano and Chianti grapes give a wine superior to what is usually found in Italy. The southern district, however, consists of maremma, connected with the great Roman one. The nobles reside chifly in the city, in the usual effeminate manner, and still retaining a rem- nant of those deadly feuds by which their order was formerly rent. It has some remains of the once extensive silk manu- factory. Sienna had a respectable secondary school of paint- ing, of which Vanni and Peruzzi were the heads ; but its most remarkable monument is the pavement of its cathedral, the work of Micarino and other artists, who, by the mere combination of white and gray marble, hatched with mastic, produced the effect of the finest mosaic. Leghorn is almost the only modern and prosperous town in the compass of the Tuscan territory. When ceded by Genoa in 1421, it was only a petty village ; but the able ar- rangements of the Medici raised it to the rank it has since held as the first commercial city of Italy, and the great cen- tre of Mediterranean commerce. It is airy and well built, with broad streets, fourteen churches, one Armenian, and two Greek chapels, and even a magnificent synagogue ; the ne- cessary toleration of commerce overcoming even Italian bigotry. There are, however, no edifices which excite any recollections of antiquity, or can compare with those which adorn the other cities of Italy. In the rest of Tuscany we may remark Cortona, the an- cient capital of Etruria, supposed to be the most ancient city of Italy. The antique walll still remain as the substruction of the modern ones ; and their vast uncemented blocks, which have subsisted for ages, mark the solidity of Etruscan ma- sonry. Cortona is now reduced to five thousand inhabitants ; •# 490 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE! but it is distinguished by the Tuscan Society, wbieb has done much to illustrate the antiquities of Etruria. Perugia, also an ancient Etrurian state, is still a clean pretty town, de- lightfully situated on the lake of that name. Arezzo is a name rendered classic by the birth of Petrarch, of Redi, and of Pignotti. Bibbiena is a thriving little town, in the centre of the Casertine, inhabited by an industrious peasantry, who are reckoned to have the best hogs and the best chestnuts of all Italy. Since 1847, the small duchy of Lucca has formed part of Tuscany. Though for the most part composed of mountain defiles, this territory is more densely populated than any other portion of Italy. The nobles of Lucca have always been distinguished for a superior education and deportment, and the people for an industry and enterprise unusual among Italians. In consequence of these things, the country is happy and prosperous. Before the revolutions of 1848, the Tuscan government was absolute. It was then made constitutional, but the diike has since restored the old state of afiairs. The Roman Catholic religious system prevails among the people, there being upward of two hundred monasteries and convents, and about 5,500 monks and nuns. There are three universities in Tuscany, at Pisa, Sienna, and Florence. Besides these, there are four colleges, sixteen seminaries, and sixteen gym- nasiums, and numerous common schools. The Tuscan army, on the peace footing, numbers six thousand men. The state has a few small vessels of war. The Sardinian States are of very dissimilar character, but united by political circumstances under one government. The dukes of Savoy, founders of the Sardinian family, made a conspicuous figure in European history, especially during the war of the Spanish succession. In return for their ser- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 491 vices to the cause of the allies, they were recompensed with the island of Sicily. That island was afterward, in conse- quence, it should seem, of a very bad bargain, exchanged for Sardinia, from which the house assumed the royal title. Under the domination of Napoleon, the king was expelled from all his Italian territories, and owed to British protection alone the preservation of Sardinia. After the triumph of the allies, he was not only replaced in all his former posses- sions in Italy, but the state of Genoa, instead of being re- stored to its lost independence, was subjected to his sway. The kingdom of Sardinia consists, therefore, of four distinct parts, — Piedmont, Genoa, Savoy, Sardinia. The total area of the kingdom is 29,245 square miles, and the population amounts to 5,292,000 inhabitants. Piedmont, or "the foot of the mountains," is the most valuable possession of this crown. It forms a continuation of the plain of Lombardy, somewhat narrowed, and more closely bounded by the mightiest ranges of the Alps and Apennines; the former on the north and west, the latter on the south. The Po, running through its centre, divides it into two nearly eqiial parts, and receives here all its early tributaries ; which, being so near their mountain sources, are liable to sudden and terrible inundations, distressing to the agriculturist and dangerous to the traveller. The chief pro- duce is silk, which is reckoned superior to any other in Italy, and consequently in Europe; and in Turin and some other cities remains exist of very extensive silk manufactures ; but_ the greater part of the produce is exported raw. The go- vernment is constitutional, in many respects a model for Italians. Turin maintains its place among the beautiful cities of Italy. Its situation is as fine as possible, amid the rich val- ley of the Po, surrounded by an amphitheatre of vine-covered hills ; while lofty mountains, with their summits clad in per- petual snow, tower in the distance. The streets are long and regular, ornamented with lines of porticos, and opening at their termination to fine views over the surrounding country : 492 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE : it is a little city of palaces. The churches and mansions are spacious, and of rich materials ; but few display that classic taste in which real beauty consists, and which ennobles the Roman and Venetian structures : the vases of pure gold, the silver images, and the crosses of ruby, were all converted by French avidity into current coin. The most striking edifice is the church of the Superga, built on the steepest hill which crowns the city. The ancient palace of the dukes of Savoy is a huge brick edifice, resembling a fortress rather than a palace. Turin has a considerable number of paintings, not marking any particular school, as none ever arose in this part of Italy, but chiefly composed of Flemish and other ultra- montane productions. The university is very extensive, and contains important collections, among which those of natural history, natural philosophy, medals, and antiques, are par- ticularly noticed. The library is also rich in curious works and valuable manuscripts. The citadel of Turin forms a very strong fortress. The population of Turin amounts to one hundred and thirty-five thousand inhabitants. The other cities of Piedmont are chiefly remarkable for their strength, having been erected when this country was a seat of almost perpetual war. The strongest is Alessandria, built in the twelfth century, at the junction of the Bormida and the Tanaro. It is large and very strong ; besides which, the town is the seat of extensive fairs. Near it is the cele- brated field of Marengo. The once strong fortifications of Tortona have been demolished. Vercelli, the former capital of this part of Italy, and distinguished by some fine struc- tures, is now thinly inhabited and dreary. Novara is a gloomy antique frontier town toward Lombardyr Coni, among the Alps, is considered the bulwark of the kingdom on the side of France. Susa, once the capital of Piedmont under its marquises, is a retired pleasant little town, on the immediate frontier of France. Nice is the capital of a little country scarcely Italian, beyond the Alps. Though it cannot be said to be well built, it is agreeable ; and, as the environs are beautiful, and the air mild, it is a frequent resort of THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 493 English invalids. The inhabitants number thirty-seven thousand. The territory of Genoa is situated on the sloping steeps of the Apennine, where it separates from the Maritime Alps, and stretches eastward ; not separated from the sea by a broad plain, as in the rest of its line, but presenting to it narrow valleys and mountain declivities facing the south. These steep barriers are passable only at a few points; and the Bochetta, a very steep and lofty defile, forms the only practicable approach to Genoa from the interior. This dis- trict, the country of the ancient Ligurians, is not favourable for the operations of the plough ; but olives in abundance, silk, and tolerable wine, are advantageously produced from it. Genoa, surnamed the Superb, the great naval republic which, in the annals of Italian wealth, commerce, and splen- dour, ranked only and scarcely second to Venice, presents but a shadow of her former greatness. Her navigators were of a peculiarly bold and adventurous character ; and she was the native city of Christopher Columbus. Her settlements in the remote peninsula of the Crimea enabled her to bring into Europe, by a peculiar and circuitous route, the com- modities of India. Depressed by a once haughty and now indolent aristocracy, and eclipsed by the rivalry of the northern nations, Genoa had lost all her principles of pros- perity, before her independence was crushed by the revolu- tionary arms of France. Yet it seems impossible to applaud the conduct of the Allies, in annexing her to Sardinia, though with permission to preserve her senate and outward forms of administration. The wealth of the great days of Genoa was, as usual, embodied in palaces. These are arranged in one continuous line of street, extending, under three different names, through the city, all the rest of which is a mere chaos of dark and dirty lanes. These palaces are boasted as being, for richness of materials and profuse ornament, the most splendid in Italy, and many of them are every way fit to be the residence of the greatest monarchs. They have one ornament peculiar to themselves, which consists in fresco 494 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE.' paintings on the exterior of the walls, many by masters of some eminence ; and, in this fine climate, these remain unim- paired for centm-ies. The design, however, both here and in the churches, wants that elegance and purity of taste by which the structures of Venice have been rendered so ad- mirable. Ornament and glare seem to have been the ruling passion of the Genoese. Her nobles, though all sunk, and many reduced to poverty, would spend their last farthing in supporting the pomp of their ancient mansions. Hence these have now a silent and desolate aspect, and have been compared to the ruined monuments of an excavated city. They are filled with pictures, gilding, arabesque, frescos, dust, moths, and dirt; exhibiting a combination of ancient splendour and present decay. Genoa has not altogether the magical efi"ect produced by the long lines of canal which in- tersect Venice ; but her position, occupying one side of the spacious amphitheatre which forms the harbour, and spread- ing her streets and churches, and then her suburbs and villas, over a vast semicircular tract of crags, rocks, and declivi- ties, gives her, toward the sea, a highly magnificent and imposing aspect. The city has also the disadvantage of being so closely bounded by rocks, that no level spot is left on which a carriage can drive ; and the neighbouring villas can be reached only in chairs carried by porters, who are endowed with singular agility and alertness. Genoa, though fallen from her ancient greatness, is still considerable, and has of late even somewhat increased. She manufactures rich velvets, damasks, and satins, to the value of two million of dollars ; and she carries on the trade of the Sardinia.n dominions in Italy, and partly that of Switzerland. She exports her OM'n manufactures, olive oil in abundance, rice, cheese, thrown silk, and Swiss printed cojttons. The produc- tions of the Levant and of Southern Italy are found in her warehouses. She imports salt fish, British cottons and wool- lens, grain, wool, cotton, and colonial produce. Among the . chief articles imported in 1832, were salt fish, hides, cochi- neal, cotton, sugar, pigs of lead. The population now 496 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: number 120,000 persons. Savana, Chiavara, and Voltri, which carry on considerable trade, are the other chief towns in the duchy. Savoy is a province of considerable extent, which in its surface and aspect is much more analogous to Switzerland than to Italy: it consists of rugged rocks, and mountains rising into the regions of perpetual snow ; interspersed, how- ever, with a number of fertile and agreeable valleys. Some of the principal passes over the Alps into Italy are through Savoy, which till lately was the only one from France or Switzerland that was passable for carriages. The Little St. Bernard, by which Hannibal is now supposed to have passed, is situated in Savoy. It was much improved by Napoleon. Many of these rocks, composed of loose limestone strata, are perpetually crumbling. In 1248, a great part of Mont Grenier, near Chamberry, fell, burying a village and church, and overspreading the surface of five parishes, which are still covered with the fragments, piled in small conical hillocks. Mont Blanc, the loftiest mountain in Europe, is within the limits of Savoy. The Savoyards are brave, industrious, poor, more social than the Swiss, though less noted for clean- liness. The towns in this elevated district are agreeable and rural, situated in its most fertile and open plains, but do not attain to much magnitude or importance. Chamberry, on the high road into Italy, is an old town, somewhat gloomy, but not ugly, and in the midst of a variegated and beautiful country. Population fifteen thousand. Moutiers, capital of the high district of Tarentaise, and Annecy, at the extremity of a picturesque lake of the same name, are pleasantly situ- ated, though not well-built places. The island of Sardinia is one of the least valuable por- tions of the kingdom, though possessed of advantages which should render it very much the reverse : few regions exceed it in natural fertility ; the surface is finely variegated with gentle hills, which only along the western coast assume the character of mountains. Grain, notwithstanding the most wretched cultivation, affords a surplus for export. The wines THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 497 are reckoned equal to those of Spain, and the olives to those of Genoa and Provence. The salt-works and the tunny fish- ery are very important objects ; and the situation of Sardinia, in the heart of the Mediterranean, and with a number of fine harbours, might afibrd the opportunity of an extensive commerce. Yet the population is in the most uncultivated and savage state, perhaps, of any in Europe. The peasantry in the interior are clothed, in a great measure, in shaggy goat or sheepskins ; they subsist chiefly by the produce of their flocks, and by hunting ; and go constantly armed, for their own defence, against the numerous and desperate ban- ditti, by whom the mountains are infested. The Sardinian government appears really to have made very extraordinary exertions for this rude appanage. The want of roads, and the extensive commons, were considered the two chief causes which perpetuated its evils. A plan was therefore traced to form one great road across the kingdom from north to south, between the two leading points of Cagliari and Sassari, from which eight cross roads might branch ofi" so as to embrace the most important points in the east and west. The principal road was begun in November, 1822. Laws were also passed to authorize and encourage the division of commons. The good efiects of these measures, are apparent. At pre- sent, Sardinia has the tunny fishery, the produce of which varies much with the state of the wind, and other circum- stances. Sea salt, evaporated by the heat of the sun in the shallow bays near Cagliari, Palmas, and Oristano, is em- ployed in salting both meat and fish, and as an object of di- rect exportation. Grain, produced to the amount of nearly three millions of bushels, was formerly the principal object of export ; but its value has been greatly reduced by the com- petition of Odessa. The horses are of a good breed : ac- cording to M. Cibraria, thirty-two thousand only are tame, and twenty thousand wild. He gives a still more striking picture of the rude state of the country when he adds, that of the cattle, one hundred and twenty thousand are tame^ and three hundred and fifty thousand wild; and that, of 32 498 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: eight hundred and forty thousand sheep, the whole belong to the latter class. There is, however, a considerable export of salted meat and cheese. About a third of the surface con- sists of forest, a considerable portion of which is oak, and well adapted for shipbuilding. Cagliari and Sassari are both considerable cities ; the former having a considerable trade, and thirty thousand population, both being crowded, ill built, and ill paved ; the latter smaller, but more elegant : both have universities, with tolerable libraries. Oristano has a fine harbour, and flourishes by the tunny fishery, and by the culture of wine in its neighbourhood. With the exception of about twenty-two thousand Wal- denses, and eight thousand Jews, all the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Sardinia are catholics, under the church au- thority of seven archbishops and thirty-four bishops. There are three hundred and thirty-four monasteries and ninety-five nunneries in the kingdom. There are four universities, eighty-five colleges, thirty-nine seminaries, and a number of common schools. But general education is in a very back- ward state. The mass of the people lack intelligence, but they, especially the Piedmontese, are brave, hardy, industri- ous, and anxious to enjoy the blessings of free institutions. In no part of Italy can be found a better appreciation of the rights of the people, and the duties of the government. Still there is much to reform in Sardinia — much that is common to all Italy. Parma is situated between the continental part of Sardinia and the Duchy of Modena, and on the, north is separated from Lombardy by the Po, having an area of two thousand two hundred and seventy-nine square miles, and 479,000 in- habitants.* The country is level, the soil fertile, and agri- culture highly improved. Commerce and manufactures are * Ungewitter. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 499 neglected. The government is absolute, the duke belonging to the house of Austria. The body of the people belong to the Catholic church. There are twenty-one convents in the duchy and the schools are under the care of the monks and nuns. The government has instituted an order of nobility, and the military numbers eight hundred men. The duchy is historically divided into Parma, Piacenza, and Gnastalla. Parma, the capital, is a very handsome city, and contains 41,000 inhabitants, and numerous splendid edifices. Pia- cenza contains 30,000 inhabitants, and is finely situated on the Po. Austria has a garrison in the citadel of this town. Gnastalla is also situated on the Po, and contains about six thousand inhabitants. MoDENA is a fine, but small domain, situated at the foot of the Apennines, between Parma and the popedom, and con- tains an area of two thousand one hundred and nine square miles, 490,000 inhabitants. The soil is fertile and well cul- tivated. Carrara marble is the most noted of its natural features. Modena is held as a fief of Austria, and its duke be- longs to the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine. Education is well administered. The religion of the people is catholic, and there are fourteen monasteries and nine nunneries in the duchy. Modena is the chief city. It is extremely beautiful, though without any object particularly striking, except the high steeple of the cathedral. The inhabitants number 28,000. The other important towns in the duchy are Carrara, with eight thousand five hundred inhabitants, its famous marble and academy of sculptors ; Mirandola, with five thousand five hundred inhabitants, Corregio, Novellara, and Reggio — which has nineteen thousand inhabitants, and numerous convents. 500 THE PEOPLE OP EUEOPE : Switzerland forms a mountainous territory in the centre of Europe, occupying the west of the great range of the Alps, ■which divides France and Germany from Italy. It is re- markable for the grandeur of its natural features and scenery, and for the freedom of its political institutions. Switzerland is bounded by the great kingdoms of France, Germany, and Italy, whose frontiers enclose it on all sides ; France on the east ; Germany, and more particularly Swabia and the Tyrol, on the south and west ; the Italian states, Milan, Piedmont, and Savoy, on the south. In general, Switzerland terminates where its mighty mountain heights slope down to the vast plains which extend over the surround- ing regions ; but on the side of the Tyrol on the west, and of Savoy on the south-west, the line is drawn across the crest of the Alps themselves, which stretch away with almost un- diminished grandeur toward opposite seas. Its position is nearly between 46° and 48° north latitude; and 6° and 11° east longitude. It may be about two hundred miles in length, and one hundred and forty in breadth, and comprises an area of nineteen thousand square miles. The surface of Switzerland, bounded and traversed as it is by the highest ranges in Europe, consists almost wholly of mountains and lakes. The Alpine chains, however, do not swell, like those of America and Asia, into mighty and con- tinuous table-lands ; they are separated by deep valleys or , narrow plains, which form the basin of large rivers, or the bed of extensive lakes ; hence arises a singular variety of climate and aspect ; for while the valleys beneath are scorched by the intensest rays of the sun, perpetual winter reigns in the heights above, and the vegetation of the arctic circle passes into the snows of the polar world. The great rivers which water the surrounding regions either take their rise in Switzerland, or are swelled by tributaries THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 501 from that country. The Rhine and the Rhone have both a long course, and have risen to streams of the first magnitude before thej pass its frontier. These, with the Aar, the Reuss, and the Tesino, rise from the vicinity of each other, wh^re the two great chains nearly unite, and where the Shreckhorn, the Finster-Aar-horn, and St. Gothard tower above the wild valleys of Urseren and the Upper Valais. Lakes form a conspicuous feature in the physical structure and scenery of Switzerland. Its rivers, after rolling for a considerable space through mighty mountain valleys, accumu- late a mass of waters which, when they reach the plains, no longer find a channel capable of containing them, but spread into wide watery expanses. The lakes of Switzerland are large, though none of them have that vast extent which could entitle them to be classed as inland seas. The smiling val- leys and cultivated hills which form their immediate border, with the mighty mountains which tower behind in successive ranges, till they terminate in icy pinnacles rising above the clouds, produce a union of the sublime and beautiful which no other part of Europe, or perhaps of the world, can rival. The Lake of Geneva, or Leman Lake, is the most exten- sive, being about fifty miles in length, and twelve in its greatest breadth. The varied beauties of its northern bank, the opposite heights of Meillerie, and Mont Blanc rising be- hind in the distance, render it perhaps the most beautiful lake in the world. The Lake of Lucerne, or of the Four Forest Cantons, has, from its winding form, and the great variety of its scenery, sometimes been considered as superior. The Lake of Zurich does not ofier the same sublime beauties ; but the gentle elevations by which it is diversified form many scenes of extreme beauty. That of Constance has none of the mountain grandeur of interior Switzerland, but its ex- tended banks present many pleasing, cultivated and pastoral scenes. The southern lakes, Maggiore, Como, Lugano, which half belong to Italy, exhibit many magical scenes, combining the gay splendour of the Italian plain with the grandeur of its mountain boundary ; yet they do not possess that deep 502 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: stillness and solemnity which gives a peculiar charm to the lakes that are entirely enclosed within the Alpine barrier. On the downfall of Napoleon's power, the free constitution which formed the boast of the cantons, was, in Berne, Fri- burg, and some others, modified by a large and somewhat se- vere mixture of aristocracy. Admission to public offices was limited to a few privileged families ; and the sway over the Pays de Vaud, the Grisons, and other subject states, was somewhat rigorous. This distinction of sovereign and subject territo- ries has now been happily obliterated, and even the interior predominance of aristocratic principles is much broken up ; but each of the twenty-two states has a particular constitution of its own, though all are united by the common tie of the federal government. The Helvetic diet consists of two deputies from each can- ton, which meet once a year. Extraordinary meetings may also be called, on the requisition of any five cantons. This assembly takes cognisance of every thing that concerns the foreign relations and the general defence of the country. The diet has been much occupied by the unwelcome remon- strances made by the great sovereigns respecting the liberties taken by the press in regard to the conduct of foreign powers, and the refuge allowed to individuals who have become ob- noxious through their support of liberal opinions. On these points, the diet, conscious of their own inferior power, have been generally obliged to yield. When the diet is not in session, the vorort, or directory, vested in the cantons of Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne, alternately for two years, manage the affairs of the confederacy. The religion of Switzerland is divided between the protes- tant and the catholic. Schweitz, Uri, TJnterwalden, Lucerne, Zug, Friburg, Soleure, Valais, and Tesino are catholic: St. Gall, Appenzell, Aargau, and Grisons are mixed. The others may be ranked as protestant ; though even in Geneva there are 15,000 catholics. The protestant churches were at first strictly Calvinistic, both as to doctrine and discipline; but THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 503 Swiss Peasants. the Genevan church has in a great measure renounced the tenets of this school of theology, and those who continue to profess them are even exposed to some degree of persecution. The presbyterian form of church government, however, still prevails throughout protestant Switzerland. The catholic religion exhibits this peculiar feature, that, instead of being, as usual, combined with high monarchical principles, it is es- tablished among the most purely democratic of the Swiss republics. The protestant cantons, however, are observed to fee decidedly the most flourishing and industrious. Learning, though not very generally difiused throughout Switzerland, has been cultivated with great ardour at Geneva and Zurich, both of which have a character more decidedly intellectual than most European cities. The names of Haller, 504 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Lavater, Rousseau, Gessner, Zimmermann, and Sismondi throw lustre on Swiss literature. The printing and bookselling trade which Geneva enjoyed while the French press laboured under severe restrictions, has been diminished. Elementary knowledge is general throughout the protestant population; and the systems of education established by Pestalozzi at Yverdun, and Fellenberg at Hofwyl, have drawn general at- tention. The habits and general forms of life are substan- tially German, modified in the western cantons, and especially in Geneva, by a somewhat intimate communication with France. As to national character, the Swiss enjoy the reputation of being a plain, honest, brave and simple people, among whom linger the last remnants of antique and primitive man- ners. Their fond attachment to their native country is con- spicuous, even amid the necessity which compels them to abandon it, and to enter the service of the neighbouring powers. It is observed that no sooner is the Ranz des Vaches, a simple mountain air, played in their hearing, than the hardy soldiers melt into tears. An ardent love of liberty, ever since the grand epoch of their liberation, has distin- guished the Swiss people. Now, indeed, the influx of strangers, and the general mixture of nations, is said to have broken down much of what was antique and peculiar in Swiss manners; and travellers have complained that every mode of turning to account their temporary passage is as well un- derstood as in the most frequented routes of France and Italy. The manufacturing districts also have undergone a great change ; but in the higher pastoral valleys there may still be traced much «f the original Swiss simplicity. - To an area of 15,315 square miles, Switzerland has a popu- lation of about 2,400,000 inhabitants. For persons who have never seen these states, it is difficult to form any accurate idea of the general equality and indis- tinction that prevails among the' inhabitants. The houses are built of wood, large, solid, and compact, with great pent- house roofs that hang very low, and extend beyond the area THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 505 of the foundation. This peculiar structure is to keep off the snow; and from its singularity, accords with the beautiful wildness of the country. The houses of the richer inhabi- tants in the principal burghs are of the same materials; the only difference consists in their being larger. The houses of Basle are adorned on the outside with figures, of the sun, a bear, a hog, &c., which are generally accom- panied with mottos ; the following is an instance : — "En Dieu je met tout mon espoir, Et je demcure au cochon noir." "All my hope is in God: and my house is known by the sign of the black pig." Switzerland being a mountainous country, the frosts are long and severe in winter ; and the hills are sometimes covered with snow all the year long. In summer the inequality of the soil renders the same province very unequal in its seasons : on one side of these mountains the inhabitants are often reap- ing, while they are sowing on the other. The valleys, are, however, warm, fruitful, and well cultivated; and nothing can be more delightful than the summer months in this charm- ing country. It is subject to rains and tempests, on which account public granaries are everywhere erected, to supply the failure of their crops. The feet of the mountains, and sometimes the very summits, are covered with vineyards, corn- fields, meadows, and pasture-grounds. In some parts there is a regular gradation from extreme wildness to high culti- vation ; in others, the transitions are very abrupt and very striking. The fertility of the Grison country is such, that a field, ploughed by a single ox, produces first a crop of corn, then another of Indian wheat, afterward of radishes, and lastly, of fruits and vintage. In most parts of Switzerland sumptuary laws are in force, as well to preserve the greatest plainness and simplicity of manners, as to banish every thing that has the appearance of superfluity and excess. No dancing is allowed, except on 506 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Grisons. particular occasions : silk, lace, and several other articles of luxury, are totally prohibited in some of the cantons ; and even the head-dress of the ladies are subject to regulations. The citizens at the head of their government, in all .public assemblies, appear in black cloaks and bands; while the peasants are usually clothed in a coarse cloth manufactured in their own country: their holiday dresses, which descend from father to son, being seldom worn out before the second or third generation. The apparel of the women is extremely plain, the head-dresses of those of the first quality generally consisting only of furs, the produce of the country. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 507 The police is ■well regulated throughout Switzerland; liberty rarely degenerates into licentiousness, except, per- haps, on the day of their general assemblies, when it is im- possible to prevent some degree of confusion in a meeting where there is scarcely any distinction of persons, and where every peasant considers himself as equal to the first magis- trate. The punishment of death is almost fallen into disuse ; the people talk of an execution ten years after it has taken place. In Switzerland they are economical of human blood. The magistrates appear to be actuated by the maxim which incul- cates, "that society ought not to cut off one of its members for a slight offence." Instead of being subjected to capital punishments, felons are imprisoned in the house of correction. In these houses the regulations are so excellent and so mild — criminals are so well fed, and so well attended, that if it were not for the iron ring about the leg, the hook at the neck, and the chain by which they are linked together, many worthy people who are in poverty would be very happy in their situation. If the atrocity of the crime should oblige the judges to pronounce sentence of death, the cord is the only instrument of punishment. "So humane are they," says the Marquis de Langle, "that the culprit is first made drunk, then is hanged, as it were, without perceiving it; he has no more idea of the death he is to suffer, than an oak about to be cut down has of its destruction." Such is the simplicity that still prevails in some of the remote parts of Switzerland, that neither attorney nor notary is to be found there ; that contracts are inscribed on pieces of wood, instead of parchment ; and there are neither locks, nor thieves, nor pilferers. The valley of Praborgne, in the dixain of Visp is cited as one of those. On each side of the road that runs through the valley of Muotta, in the canton of Schweitz, are several ranges of shops uninhabited, yet filled with various goods, of which the prices are marked ; any passengers who wish to become purchasers 508 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE enter the shops, take away the merchandise, and deposit the price, which the owners call for in the evening. At Ormont as soon as the return of the fair weather per- mits the shepherds to reascend, with their flocks and herds, those mountains which supply their summer feed, they pro- ceed to the election of a king. Neither intrigues, factions, nor wealth, determine their suffrages. They calculate only the services done to their community. If any one of them by his intrepidity or skill has delivered them from the ravages of a bear, or has slain a voracious wolf, or has enabled them to get rid of some other nuisance, he is forced on a throne, which neither ceremony nor care surrounds. On these oc- casions, when appeal is made to his authority, a silent, solemn ring is formed about him, under the oldest tree of the moun- tain ; his audience-hall is the circle of shade. Instead of a sceptre, he grasps a knotty staff; and perhaps some trophy of his prowess, as the skin of a wild beast, is the ornament of his person. If any shepherd has been convicted of pro- fane swearing, or quarrelsome provocation, or has been guilty of any acts of intemperance, or of cruelty toward the cattle intrusted to his care, he is made to stand up in this circle: the accusation and defence are heard : the king dooms him to some adequate punishment; and the sentence is religiously executed. This despotic authority over the shepherds is ex- ercised with great wisdom and equity. The inhabitants of that part of Switzerland called Valais are very much subject to goitres, or large excrescences of flesh, that grow from the throat, and often increase to an enormous size ; but what is more extraordinary, idiocy also remarkably abounds among them. Instances of both- kinds perpetually attract the attention of travellers: some idiots may be seen basking in the sun with their tongues out, and their heads hanging down, exhibiting the most affecting spec- tacle of intellectual imbecility that can possibly be conceived. It is not altogether certain what are the causes which pro- duce these strange phenomena. Although the idiots are frequently the children of goitrous THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC, 609 parents, and have usually those swellings themselves, yet they are sometimes the offspring even of healthy parents, whose other children are properly organized, and are themselves free from guttural excrescences. These tumors, when they increase to a considerable magnitude, check perspiration, and render those who are afflicted with them exceedingly indolent and languid. It is to be presumed that a people accustomed to these ex- crescences will not be shocked at their deformity ; but they are not considered as beauties, as some writers have asserted. To judge from the accounts of many travellers, it might be supposed that the natives, without exception, were either idiots or goitrous; whereas, in fact, the Valaisans in gene- ral are a robust race ; and all that which with truth can be affirmed is, that goitrous persons and idiots abound more in the districts of the Valais than perhaps in any other part of the globe. Geneva, though a small canton, is the most interesting of any, from the activity and intellectual culture of its citizens, and the influence they have exercised over Europe. It is situated at the western extremity of the beautiful lake bear- ing the same name. The inhabitants speak the French lan- guage, and are chiefly professors of the Reformed religion. Geneva, the fortified capital, is the most populous and indus- trious city in Switzerland. It is distinguished for the intel- ligence of its society, its literary institutions, and its manu- factures of watches and jewelry. The number of inhabitants reaches about thirty-one thousand.* The neighbouring ter- ritory contains, among others, the towns of Yersoix and Caronge. Many of the country seats are romantically situ- ated and distinguished for their elegance. The canton of Vaud formed originally part of the duchy of Savoy, from which, about the time of the Reformation, it was conquered by Berne ; but that state, imbued with aris- tocratic ideas, communicated to its new acquisition few of the privileges which it had acquired for itself. It ruled the Pays * Ungewitter. 510 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: de Vaud as a subject state, and with some degree of severity. In the shock occasioned by the French invasion this territory obtained its emancipation, and exists now as a separate and independent canton. It occupies the whole northern border of the Lake of Geneva, which does not, like the southern, consist of Alps piled on Alps, but of gentle hills and smiling valleys, gradually sloping upward to the moderate elevation of the Jura. The vines of this region are considered equal to any in Europe ; and the wine made from them has a very considerable reputation. Lausanne, the capital, enjoys per- haps the finest site of any city in the world. Placed in the very centre of the Leman Lake, it commands a full view over that noble expanse, and those ranges of mightiest Alps, on the opposite shore, which are terminated by the awful and snow-clad pinnacles of Mont Blanc. These attractions, heightened by those derived from the adventures of Rosseau, and his celebrated romance, have drawn a multitude of visit- ers and residents from all parts of Europe, who seek there an agreeable and beautiful retirement. The town, however, is neither large nor well-built, though it has a fine Gothic cathedral. The house of Gibbon, and the cabinet where he wrote the last lines of his history, are visited by travellers. Vevay, farther up the lake, is a somewhat thriving little vil- lage, almost equal in beauty to Lausanne, and commanding singularly fine views toward the head of the lake. The canton of the Valais extends from the head of the Lake of Geneva along the upper valley of the Rhone, which almost wholly composes it. The Valais is one of the most singular, picturesque, and romantic regions that are to be found on the globe. It consists of a deep valley, one- hun- dred miles long, and from two to twelve in breadth, shut in on both sides by the most enormous mountains that a,re to be found in Europe ; on the south by the Italian chain, St. Ber- nard, Monte Rosa, the Simplon, and St. Gothard ; on the north by the Schreckhorn, the Wetterhorn, the Grimsel, the Gemmi. The lower districts, extending along the Rhone, are sheltered from every wind, and sometimes exposed to a THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 511 scorctimg heat, like that of the centre of Africa. Their plains produce grain, rich pastures, and even luxuriant vines ; but these gifts of nature are not improved with the same dili- gence as in the neighbouring cantons of Berne and Vaud. The canton of Berne, separated from the Valais by the great chain of the central horns or peaks, though shorn of its subject territories, holds still somewhat the most promi- nent place among the Swiss republics. Berne is divided into two parts, of which the northern, comprising a great part of the plain of Switzerland, is well cultivated by a laborious peasantry. The southern consists of the Oberland, or the declivity of the mouiitain range, a tract entirely employed in pasturage, where $1500 to $2500 is esteemed a fortune, and tiled dwellings and glass windows give to their owners a reputation of wealth. The pressure, however, of a redundant population has occasionally reduced them to severe distress. The city of Berne, generally considered the capital of Switzerland, is situated in the centre of the plain, in a com- manding position above the Aar, which nearly encircles it on all sides. Fine and ancient woods reach almost to the gates of the city, bearing a noble and even majestic aspect. It suggests the idea of a Roman town; yet its handsomest houses and most sumptuous edifices date all since 1T60. The Gothic cathedral of the fifteenth century, the church of St. Esprit, the mint, and the hospital, are among its principal public buildings ; while the private mansions are handsome, and solid rather than showy. But the magnificence of Berne is mainly derived from its wide and lofty terraces, command- ing the most superb views over the plain beneath, and the entire range of the Alps ; from the spacious fountains by which its streets are supplied and refreshed, and from the fine avenues of trees which penetrate through the city. The constitution of Berne is the most aristocratic in Switzerland; and notwithstanding the diminished power of the state, this spirit is still in full operation. The scramble and contest for office, even among the nearest relations, is said in this small sphere to be as eager as in the greatest capitals. Berne is 512 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: not, nor ever was, a literar j town ; yet it has a public libra- ry, to wbicb some valuable collections are attached. Popu- lation, twenty-four thousand. The Four Forest Cantons, Schweitz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Lucerne, the cradle of Swiss liberty, form a territory situated to the east of Berne, and south of the Valais. Here nature begins to lay aside that awful and rugged character which she wears in the southern chains, and in those enclos- ing the Rhone. The mountains are not so continuous, or so lofty ; their upper regions are not covered with eternal snow, nor do fields of ice, descending from their sides, cover the surrounding plains. The two chief heights, those of Pilate and the Righi, rise solitary, like columns, to the height of six or seven thousand feet, above ranges which do not exceed half that elevation. This country is crossed in all directions by the Lake of Lucerne, or of the Four Forest Cantons, of great extent, and shooting branches in every direction, which form each as it were a separate lake. Although the objects are not so grand as in the valleys of Chamouni or of the Rhone, yet the great variety of aspects, the interchange of rural and Alpine scenery, the numerous villages and farm- houses perched on the cliffs, render the banks of this lake, in the opinion of many, the most pleasing portion of Swiss landscape. Some of the mountains, from their solitary ele- vation, and the crumbling materials of which they are com- posed, inspire a constant apprehension of their breaking down. The cities in this pastoral region do not attain to any im- portant magnitude. Schweitz, the cradle of the Helvetic confederacy, to which it has given its name, is little" more than a handsome village, situated amid the finest mountain pastoral scenery, rich meadows, and verdant knolls, em- bosomed amid rugged clifis and Alpine peaks, tinkling with the sound of innumerable cow-bells, and echoing with the tune of the Ranz des Vaches. Lucerne, on the west, is con- siderably larger, and may be considered the capital of the Forest Cantons. It is nobly situated on an arm of the lake THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 513 enclosed by Mount Pilate, and others of the loftiest heights in this part of Switzerland. The city itself is adorned by some ancient and venerable structures, and its different parts, separated by branches of the lake, are connected by wooden bridges of remarkable length and peculiar structure. The cabinets of Lucerne contain some interesting Swiss anti- quities. The canton of Unterwalden is likewise entirely mountain- ous and pastoral, enclosed by the high chain of the Surren Alps, which surround it with an almost inaccessible rampart. They form a decided contrast to the soft pastoral valleys of the interior, particularly that which surrounds the little lake of Sarnen. Here all that is gloomy and rugged in Alpine scenery, its peaks of naked rock, its glaciers, its snowy moun- tains, and roaring torrents disappear, and are succeeded by rounded hills of the most graceful form, covered with woods and the freshest verdure, and interspersed with rural abodes, which soften without impairing that character of stillness and solitude which reigns through every part of this romantic valley. Sarnen is the capital of what is called the Obwald ; but Stantz, in the Nedwald, is the chief city of the canton. Uri, which only touches the lake at the south-east point by its little capital of Altorf, composes the fourth democratic can- ton. It extends to the south over a wild and awful range of the loftiest Alps, including that mass named Mont St. Goth- ard, which was supposed, till within this half century, to contain the most elevated peaks in Europe. Zug is a little lake, with an encircling canton, the smallest and least populous in Switzerland. The lake, whose waters are the deepest of any except Constance, is surrounded by pleasing, pastoral hills, of but moderate elevation ; on the south, however, the colossal heights of E.ighi and Pilate are reflected in its waters, and the dim forms of the glaciers appear in the distance. The town is seated on a hill so im- mediately above the lake, that in 1435, a whole street fell in, with its walls and towers, and sixty persons perished. The place is ancient, and has produced many warriors, who 33 514 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: distinguished themselves both in the native and foreign service. Zurich, to the south-east of Zug, and approaching to the German border, is one of the most interesting of all the cantons, by its intelligence, industry, and prosperity. The long lake on which it is situated partakes not of the grand and awful character which marks the scenery of the High Alps. Its hills, green to the summit, are covered with vil- lages, culture, and habitations ; nature appears only under a soft and pleasing aspect ; though still, to the south, a dim view is obtained of the snowy ranges of the High Alps. The city of Zurich is situated on the Linmat, where it issues out of the northern extremity of the lake. Zurich is the literary capital of German Switzerland. Even in the middle ages it was called " the learned;" and the exertions of Zuin- glius at that era to restore the lost rights of religion, reason, and humanity, threw a lustre on its name. In modern times its fame has been chiefly poetical and imaginative ; and the works of Bodmer, Gessner, • Zimmerman, and Lavater have excited interest throughout Europe. Painting and music have also been cultivated with greater ardour and success than in any other part of Switzerland. Zurich possesses a library of forty thousand volumes, with some manuscripts of importance : it has also valuable collections in the different branches of natural history. Population, fifteen thousand. The three cantons of Glarus, St. Gall, and Appenzell, which extend along the eastern frontier toward Germany, present a somewhat different aspect from those of the west and centre. They are covered to a great extent with moun- tain ranges, which, rising to the height of seven or eight thousand feet, do not reach the regions of perpetual snow, or pour down avalanches or glaciers into the plains beneath ; but rise in varied shapes, dark, rugged, and awful. One of the leading features is the Lake of Wallenstadt, twelve miles long and three broad, where the naked cliffs rise in pictur- esque grandeur to an amazing height, and dip so perpendicu-. larly into the water, as to leave very few points at which a THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 515 boat can approach. These mountain walls elsewhere enclose luxuriant valleys, which open as they proceed north toward the Lake of Constance ; and a great part of St. Gall and Appenzell presents a level surface. Into these cantons the cotton manufacture has been introduced on a great scale, and has converted the hardy huntsmen and husbandmen of the Alps into weavers and embroiderers. At the same time, the original simplicity and honesty of the Swiss is supposed to have been greatly impaired by this change of habit. Among the small capitals of those three cantons, St. Gall is the most important and the most ancient. During the ninth and tenth centuries, it was considered as the greatest seat of learning in Europe. Appenzell has adopted the ma- nufacturing system in its fullest extent ; and on its limited territory maintains the most dense population of any part of Switzerland. Though removed beyond the domain of the Higher Alps, it has several steep summits, which command extensive views over the neighbouring territories of Tyrol and Swabia. The population of Appenzell is divided into two quite distinct portions : the rural, which is almost all catholic ; the manufacturing and commercial, almost wholly protestant. Glarus is situated among the most rugged and rocky tracts of this part of Switzerland. The town lies deep in a valley, overhung by ramparts of rock so elevated, that the sun in winter is seen only for four hours of the day. This buried situation, narrow, crooked streets, its diminutive and antiquated houses, with low entrances, heavy doors, and walls painted in fresco, the silence and stillness which pre- vails, unite in suggesting the idea of a city dug out of the earth, like Pompeii or Herculaneum. Thurgovia, or Thurgau, which stands on the Lake of Con- stance, and on the Swabian border, is a tract in which Swit- zerland loses almost entirely its peculiar character. Only to the south, on the side of the Tockenburg, rise hills of two or three thousand feet high, covered with rich meadows and Alpine pastures. The rest consists of valleys and plains of extreme fertility, covered with vines and rich harvests. Two 516 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE : crops of flax are raised in the year, and an extent of several leagues is covered with plantations of pears and apples, from which excellent cider is made. There are manufactures of very fine linen, which are still carried on, though the trade is injured by the general use of cotton stuffs. This territory is now erected into separate and independent canton, of which the little city of Frakenfeld, the ancient residence of the bailifis, is the capital. The city of Constance, though now belonging to the Grand Duchy of Baden, is locally attached to Thurgau and to Swit- aerland. Constance, during the Middle Ages, was one of the great imperial cities, possessing a population of thirty^ix thousand souls, extensive linen manufactures, and a great inland trade. Its population is now reduced to two thousand souls : the grass grows in the streets; the iron doors turn on plated hinges, and have the figures of warriors carved on them ; and the great hall, 153 feet long and 60 broad, in which the council met, is now employed as a yarn market. Constance is, however, beautifully situated on the lake of that name, called by the Germans the Boden See. This wide ex- panse appears divested of all the awful grandeur which marks the interior regions ; but the wide circuit of its cultivated shores, swelling into gentle hills, bears an aspect peculiarly soft and pleasing. Although this lake be everywhere sur- rounded with level country, it has the deepest water of any in Switzerland. Schaffhuasen is a small canton, which, situated entirely on the north or German side of the Rhine, scarcely belongs to Switzerland, unless through political ties arising out of pecu- liar circumstances. The capital was originally an imperial town ; its burghers extended their possessions till, with a view to security, they sought and found admittance into the Hel- vetic League. The territory of Schaifhausen is diversified by hills of moderate elevation, thickly planted with vines, the produce of which is held in high estimation. The town of Schaff'hausen was distinguished by a magnificent wooden bridge over the Rhine, constructed in 1758 by an artist of the can- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 517 ton of Appenzell ; but this celebrated erection was burned down by the French in April, 1799, when the Austrians ob- tained possession of Schaffhausen. It is still, however, dis- tinguished and visited on account of one of the grandest phenomena of nature, the great fall of the Rhine. Basle forms another frontier canton, and has also cha- racters which make it only imperfectly Swiss. A steep mountain chain shuts it completely in from the rest of Swit- zerland, no part of which can be reached without crossing it. The slopes of this chain, in looking toward Basle, and de- scending to the fertile plain on the Rhine, are covered with rich pastures. Basle, though it has lost much of its former importance, is still the seat of a great transit trade ; and forms an important military position, from its command of the first stone bridge over the Rhine. In the fine arts, this city could boast of Holbein, an eminent painter, many of whose best works still adorn its edifices. Population, twenty- three thousand. The three cantons of Argovia, Soleure, and Friburg stretch from Basle in a south-westerly direction along the course of the Aar, They compose, along with part of Berne, the great plain of Switzerland, enclosed on one side by the ridge of the Jura, and on the other by the great range of the central glaciers. This plain presents not the same dead level as those of France and Italy, but is diversified by detached hills and branches of the Jura, some of which rise even to the height of five or six thousand feet ; but these hills are green to the summit, generate no glaciers, and in summer throw off altogether their covering of snow. This district, accordingly, contains the richest pastures in Switzerland, where are pro- duced the Gruyere and other cheeses, which enjoy so high a reputation throughout Europe. The cities of this district are among the most important in the confederacy. Friburg, pic- turesquely situated, partly on an irregular ridge of rocks, surrounded with walls and towers, partly on the plain beneath, forms a sort of capital of catholic Switzerland. The aristo- cratic spirit was carried in Friburg to an extraordinary 518 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPEt height; the magistrates had even, as at Venice, a secret council, by whose invisible machinery all affairs of state were conducted. An eminently exclusive spirit still prevails, which shuts the door against new men and new ideas, and opposes those modern improvements which have found a place in the neighbouring cantons. Some steps, however, though on a contracted scale, have been taken toward the instruction of the lower orders. Soleure is a small town and canton, go- verned by the same aristocratic spirit as Friburg. The can- ton includes some part of the range of the Jura ; and the Weissenstein, a summit immediately behind the city, com- mands, according to Ebel, the finest view of the whole range of Swiss mountains that can any where be obtained. Aar- burg, in the same canton, deserves notice, as the only forti- fied town in Switzerland. The canton of Neufchatel, including Vallengin, covers a long line of the summits and valleys of the Jura. The poli- tical constitution of Neufchatel presents several anomalies : it has long been subject to the King of Prussia, a sovereign absolute elsewhere, but here strictly limited, exercising the executive power by his governor, but leaving the legislative functions in the hands of the people. Neufchatel has an- other relation, by which it forms one of the confederated cantons of Switzerland. On the whole, the people of this district have long enjoyed civil and political rights more ample than in most other parts even of Switzerland; and they accordingly drew numerous emigrants from the aristo- cratic cantons. Thus encouraged, and stimulated by the difficulties with which they had to contend, they have dis- played an industry and ingenuity worthy of admiration. Not only the ground is carefully cultivated, but manufactures, especially watchmaking, have been carried to great per- fection. Neufchatel is a small, well-built town, finely situated, above the lake near its northern extremity, and commanding delightful views over a great part of Switzerland. Yverdun, at the opposite end of the lake, is also an ancient and agree- able town. The inhabitants are distinguished by intellectual THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 519 culture, and their city by the residence of Pestalozzi, and by the schools formed according to his ingenious system. The high valleys of Locle and Chaux de Fond consist almost en- tirely of rocks scattered with the wildest and rudest irregu- larity ; yet they are covered with a thriving and industrious population, employed in the making of lace and watches. The natives of these valleys have distinguished themselves by many important inventions in the latter art. The Orisons form an extensive canton in the south-east, bordering on Italy and the Tyrol. The district is altogether mountainous and pastoral, though nowhere rising to that ex- traordinary elevation which is attained by the more westerly chains. Mount Splugen, however, almost rivals the rugged horrors of the valley of Schellenen. The people are rather a peculiar race, composed in a great measure of the descendants of the ancient Rhsetians, who speak singular dialects, called Roman and Latin ; being compounded of the Latin with that of the original native tribes. The Grisons have an interior government entirely popular, divided into twenty-six jurisdic- tions, each of which is a little republic in itself: the towns are small, situated along the course of the Rhine. Coire or Chur, the capital of the canton, and the original seat of the League of God's House, is an ancient episcopal city, still containing some Roman monuments, and a cathedral of the eighth century. Dissentis and Truns, at which latter the Grey League was signed, are only agreeable and picturesque villages. The new canton of Tesino, extending along the Italian border, includes the southern slope of that loftiest range of the Alps by which Italy is separated from Switzerland. It is composed of a succession of about thirty Alpine valleys, among which the chief are Levantin, Riviera, Brenna, and Bellinzone, which, though of great elevation, enjoy, in conse- quence of their fine southern exposure, a much milder climate, and produce grain on sites more elevated, than can be done on the northern side of the mountains. Their pastures, in- deed, are less rich, not being fed by those numerous streams, 520 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE : which descend from the snow and glaciers of the higher Alps. The whole country, however, and particularly the shores of the great lakes of Maggoire and Lugano, with their orna- mented islands, present almost an Elysian aspect. Yet this, the most favoured by nature of all the cantons, is debased by a poverty, an indolence, and a neglect of culture unknown in any other part of Switzerland. The meanest races in Ger- man Switzerland are superior to those of this district ; it has even been said that not a hog exists there which would con-, tent itself with the habitations in which the peasantry reside. The people are in fact of Italian origin, and never enjoyed that independence which is the genuine birthright of the Swiss peasant. Lugano, on the lake of the same name, is the largest town in the canton, and has a considerable num- ber of churches and convents. The Lake of Lugano is broken into several gulfs, all of which display the most pic- turesque and enchanting scenes. It abounds remarkably in fish, of which twenty to thirty thousand quintals are sent weekly to Milan. This territory has given birth to many eminent architects. The northern head of the Lake of Como is enclosed by some of the rudest mountains of the Grisons, where the scene passes gradually into the rich and orna- mented plain of Lombardy. Meantime the dignity of capital of the canton is given to Bellinzone ; a pleasant small town, commanding the Val d'Airolo, and consequently the passage over the St. Gothard. The kingdom of Prussia, which at the beginning of the last century had neither name nor place among the states of Europe, has by rapid advances become one of the most power- ful monarchies. The basis was formed by the territory of Brandenburg, the ruler of which ranked as elector, and was one of the chief of the second-rate princes of the empire. About the beginning of the seventeenth century, the elector THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 521 acquired the Grand Duchy of Prussia, a territory held for some time by the knights of the Teutonic order, who being unsuccessful against the Turks in Palestine, turned their efforts to the conversion and conquest of the northern bor- ders of Europe. The united state, however, did not make any great figure till the middle of the seventeenth century, when Frederick I. not only assumed the title of king, but spent his life in forming an army, and raising its discipline to the highest pitch. This army devolved on his son, the great Frederick, whose daring and enterprising spirit was not long of employing it in the extension of the monarchy. From the house of Austria he wrested Silesia, one of the finest of its provinces. By the partition of Poland, an ini- quitous proceeding, in which he seconded Catherine, he not only extended, but connected together, many of his scattered possessions. In 1806, the battle of Jena seemed to have for ever prostrated the monarchy; but the disastrous cam- paign of the French in Russia, and subsequently the patriotic and universal rising of the people, completely expelled the usurping power, and not only re-established the kingdom in its ancient rights and possessions, but acquired several new provinces. The parts of the Prussian monarchy are so various and de- tached, that it is difficult to connect them under any general view. In Germany, she has the entire territory of Branden- burg, by far the greatest part of Silesia, and Pomerania, of which Sweden is now entirely stripped. Her Saxon posses- sions consist of Magdeburg, Merseburg, and Erfurt. In Westphalia, she has Minden, Miinster, and Arensberg; on the Rhine, Diisseldorf, Cologne, Cleves, Coblentz, and Triers. East of Germany, she has the duchies of East and West • Prussia, fi'om which she takes her name. In Switzerland, she has the principality of Neufchatel ; and in Poland that of Posen. The two Prussias, with Posen and the eastern Ger- man provinces, form nearly a connected territory, which com- prises the main body of the monarchy. The Westphalia and 522 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Rhenish provinces form a detached western portion, separated from the rest by Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony. The total area of Prussia is 108,214 square miles, and its population 16,100,000 persons. The surface of the eastern portion of the country is generally level, while that of the western is mountainous. The chief mountain range is the Reisengbirge ; the others are the Hartz, with the Brocken, the Thuringerwald, the Westerwald Hunsriiken, Eifel, and Seven Hills. The soil is highly diversified. Corn, wine, timber, and cattle are raised in quantities more than sufficient for home consumption. The manufactures are both numerous and important, especially those of cloth, cotton goods, linens, silks, velvets, and articles of iron and steel. The inland trade is extensive, but the foreign commerce is quite limited. Two-thirds of the population are Evangelicals, the re- mainder being made up of Jews, Catholics, Moravians, and members of the Greek church. No country in the world has superior means for education. The universities, academies, and literary institutions in general are famous, while every child of a certain age is compelled to attend a school for a fixed period. Few persons can be found Avho cannot read and write. In 1843, the primary schools were frequented by 2,328,146 children, and the higher schools were attended in proportion. The government, since the revolutionary period of 1848, has been a limited constitutional monarchy. But the power of the king is sufficient to control the domestic and foreign policy at all times. The assembly has the shadow rather than the substance of independent deliberation. Office- holders, under the king, rule all legislation. The destruction of the extensive executive patronage can alone secure free legislation to Prussia. The regular army of Prussia, on a plain footing, comprises 122,897 men. But this can be increased by the militia to about 553,000 men. The large military force is the principal cause of the very heavy taxation under which Prussia groans. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 523 Polish Jews of Posen. This great state has quite an extensive line of coast upon the Baltic, but has never sought to equip a navy. Prussia is divided into eight provinces, each of which is subdivided into governmental districts, and the latter are again divided into circles. The provinces are Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia, Saxony, Westphalia, the Rhenish Province, the Province of Prussia, and Posen. Brandenburg forms a great mass of territory in the eastern part of the north of Germany, bordering on Poland. It is usually called the Mark of Brandenburg, and comprises the cities of Berlin, Frankfort, and Potsdam: it is neither the most fertile nor the most beautiful part of this great country. It consists of a vast plain of sand, in some places presenting a dead level, in others blown into hills of little elevation. The grain, though carefully cultivated, is not sufficient for internal 524 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: supply, but is of excellent quality. Tobacco and flax are cultivated with success. The breed of horses and oxen has been improved; but the pastures are not sufficiently rich for them. Sheep are bred in great numbers on the sand-hills; and their wool, improved by the mixture of the merino, ranks next to that of Silesia. The woods cover a fourth part of the surface, but are chiefly furs and pines, afibrding excellent masts, with some good oak forests. The manufactures, few of which originally belonged to the district, having been patronized with great zeal by the government, have consider- ably increased. That of woollens is the most extensive ; the next in importance are linens and silk : porcelain and other ornamental fabrics are carried on at Berlin. The inland trade is very considerable, being favoured by the great rivers which pass through the province. The Elbe, indeed, only touches its western border ; but its great tributaries, the Elster and the Spree, cross all Brandenburg ; and the Oder runs through it from the north. The navigation of these rivers is greatly aided by the canals that unite them. Berlin, the capital of Brandenburg, and of the Prussian monarchy, is one of the finest cities in Europe ; being the studied creation of an absolute monarch, it has been formed upon a regular plan, and on a liberal scale of expenditure. The Brandenburg gate is considered the most simple and majestic portal in Europe. The streets and squares are broad, spacious, and regular. The Spree, which divides Berlin, has only the appearance of a broad ditch, navigated by flat-bottomed boats. On the opposite side is the old town, a scene of traffic, with little pretension to beauty. The population, which, in March, 1848, numbered 420,000,, has since decreased, it is calculated, about 100,000, in conse- quence of emigration. Out of every hundred, fifteen were military. Berlin is a busy city, carrying on various manu- factures of woollen, linen, and particularly silk, with a royal manufactory of porcelain, the products of which have been preferred by some to those of Dresden. There are numerous makers of surgical and mathematical instruments. The trade 626 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: of Berlin is also extensive, as it communicates by the Spree, and its canals, both with the Elbe and the Oder. An uni- versity has been founded, and ranks as one of the first in Germany. This capital has also royal academies of science and the fine arts ; a splendid public library ; cabinets of natural history; a botanic garden, containing twelve thou- sand exotic plants; and a royal museum, containing many fine works of art. The revolutions of 1848 were disastrous for Berlin, seriously afiecting its prosperity. The other towns of Brandenburg are not of first-rate im- portance. Potsdam, designed by Frederick the Great as a military residence, is regularly and very handsomely built ; containing forty thousand inhabitants. On every side are seen stiff figures of recruits moving slowly to the marching step, under smart and severe instructors. Frederick's palace of Sans Souci is remarkable for the extreme simplicity of those apartments which were occupied by himself: it con- tains one of the finest picture-galleries in Germany. Frank- fort on the Oder cannot challenge a comparison with its namesake on the Mayn ; it is still a considerable town of thirty thousand inhabitants, with a strong bridge over the Oder, which is here a broad and spacious stream. It has some manufactures, and a considerable trade, holding five yearly markets, much frequented by the Russians and Poles. Brandenburg, the old capital, is still a city of 16,600 inhab- itants. Kustrin and Spandau are fortified towns, the former of great strength. Pomerania is a long line of narrow, sandy coast, lying along the Baltic. The Oder here enters that sea, forming at its mouth a large and winding haff, or bay, on the opposite side of which are the large islands of Usedom and Wollin. It is divided into the governments of Stettin, Stralsund, and Koslin. The soil is in many parts far from productive ; yet in others, especially that which formerly belonged to Sweden, it is made by industry to yield harvests of grain more than sufficient for the interior supply. There are few manufac- tures ; but the commodities of Brandenburg and Silesia are 528 THE PEOfLE OE EUROPE brought down the Oder, and exported from Stettin, Stralsund, and other ports. Stettin, the capital, is not only one of the strongest fortresses, but one of the most flourishing commer- cial cities in the monarchy, containing a population of forty- five thousand, including the military. Stralsund, the former capital of Swedish Pomerania, lies in a wide, flat territory, separated by a narrow channel from the great island of Kugen, and so enclosed by bays and lakes that it can com- municate with the continent only by bridges. It ranked as one of the most celebrated fortresses in Europe, and bade defiance to the utmost efi'orts of Wallenstein ; but the walls are now suffered to go to ruin, and the ramparts are used only as a promenade. Population, eighteen thousand. An- klam, Stolpe, Wollin, Stargard, and Koslin, are also ports and towns deserving of mention. Silesia is an extensive, oblong tract between Bohemia and Poland. It was originally a Polish province ; but German settlers have now occupied the greater part of it, and intro- duced industry and prosperity. From its fertility, and the industry of its inhabitants, it is considered the brightest jewel in the Prussian crown. The first exploit of Frederick the Great was to seize possession of Silesia : the main object of all the wars waged against him by Maria Theresa was to recover this territory ; the final annexation of which to Prus- sia raised her to the rank of one of the great powers. The Oder, rising on its southern border, divides it into two nearly equal parts, of which the western is mountainous or hilly : its population is altogether German, and it is the seat of the principal manufactures ; while the eastern consists, in a great measure, of flat and sandy plains, and is partly occupied by Sclavonic races. Silesia contains 15,600 square miles, and is divided into the governments of Breslau, Oppeln, and Lig- nitz. So great is the population, that it is only in favourable years that the produce of grain sufiices for the consumption of the people. Flax is cultivated in a very great quantity ; yet still not sufiicient for the immense manufacture of which it is the material. Hops, tobacco, and madder are also con- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITtJTiONS, ETC. 529 Silesians. siderable productions. The live stock that is reared is not adequate to the wants of the country, with the exception of sheep ; wool has been brought to such perfection as to be an extensive object of export, in a great measure superseding the Spanish in the market of Britain. Silesia is, perhaps, the most manufacturing country in all Germany ; its linens in particular, are considered the best in the world for pliancy, brilliant whiteness, and durability. About half of the in- habitants are employed in spinning. Yarn is exported ; and a great quantity of Bohemian cloth is brought hither to be bleached. The seat of the manufacture is chiefly in the mountainous district, where the numerous streams and the purity of the water are highly favourable to its various pro- cesses. The trade of Silesia consists in the exportation of its manufactures, chiefly by the ports of Hamburgh and Stettin, and in the importation of grain and cattle from Po- land and Moldavia; of wine from Austria; and of India goods, silk, and cotton, by way of Hamburgh. The towns of Silesia are large, close-built and well forti- 34 530 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: fied. Breslau, the capital, on the Oder, had in 1847, 112,800 inhabitants. It has extensive trade and manufactures, and numerous literary institutions of note. The people are as busy, intelligent, and prosperous as any in Prussia. Prussian Saxony forms a large extent of straggling terri- tory, consisting of portions severed at various times and in various ways from all the neighbouring states, great and small, sometimes having fragments enclosed within them, and sometimes enclosing within itself fragments of them. Gene- rally speaking, it may be viewed as nearly a square territory extending on both sides of the Elbe, between Royal Saxony, Brandenburg, and Hanover. It is divided into the govern- ments of Magdeburg, Merseburg, and Erfurt. It belongs generally to the vast, wide, flat plain of northern Germany, though on its western side it borders on the Hartz and the forest of Thuringia. There are considerable sandy and marshy tracts, but upon the whole it is abundantly productive of grain, which is cultivated with particular skill and dili- gence. Flax and tobacco, with rape and linseed, are also in great plenty. Horses, and horned cattle are kept up merely for the purposes of cultivation, but sheep are in number about 1,500,000, and the Saxon wool ranks with the very best in Europe. The mineral wealth is considerable, espe- cially salt, of which a great vein traverses nearly the whole of this territory. The common manufactures of linen and woollen are generally diffused, without being carried to any remarkable extent. The Elbe, which divides the province into two parts, affords the opportunity of a very active trade. The territory is rated at 9,818 square miles, and its popula- tion in 1847 amounted to 1,742,500. The inhabitants are almost entirely German and Protestants, this having been at an early period the grand seat of Luther's reformation. The towns are not generally very large, but numerous, an- cient, well fortified, and celebrated in the history of German warfare. Magdeburg, which may rank as the capital, has always been considered one of the strongest places in Eu- rope; and, for its noble defence against Charles V. and THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 531 Tilly, was regarded as the bulwark of the protestant cause. Its works are. of immense extent, bounded on most of its circuit by the Elbe, and in the rest by a ditch, not wet, but very broad, and carefully undermined. The horrible sacking of Magdeburg by the imperialists, in 1631, is still vividly re- membered there, with execrations on the memory of Count Tilly, by whom it was sanctioned. It is a fine old city ; the houses large and massive ; it has a spacious market-place, adorned with the statue of Otho the Great, and an irregular but very broad principal street. Once a powerful free city, it now contains 68,500 inhabitants, a number of manufactures, and enjoys a considerable trade up and down in the Elbe. Erfurt, formerly one of the principal cities, and a central mart, in the north of Germany, has now completely yielded the palm to Leipzig ; and, instead of sixty thousand, contains only about thirty-two thousand inhabitants. It is still a strong fortress, forming the key between Saxony and Fran- conia. Wittenberg, formerly a distinguished Saxon capital, where the standard of the Reformation was first reared, is now only a small but strong town. Halle is a large city of thirty-two thousand inhabitants, with one of the most flourishing and crowded universities of Germany, and en- riched by extensive salt-works in its neighbourhood. Halber- stadt is also a large open old town, of eighteen thousand in- habitants. Quedlinburg was once distinguished for the un- bounded wealth of its nunnery, the abbess of which had the principal seat and vote on the bench of prelates ; but since 1696 its wealth and privileges have been vastly curtailed. Mul- hausen, Merseburg, Weissenfels, Naumburg, Torgau, Sten- dhal, Salzwedel, are also considerable towns. Lutzen is only a village, but its site is distinguished by the victory and fall of Gustavus Adolphus, the great protestant hero. Prussian Westphalia is also an aggregate of a number of small detached parts ; but by cessions and arrondissements it has been formed into a pretty compact territory, situated between Hanover and Holland, and extending from the Weser nearly to the Rhine. It extends to 8272 square miles. The 532 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Lippe divides it into two parts ; the northern belongs to the great plain, which is sandy and marshy, but affords some good corn land ; the southern is covered with ranges of little rocky hills branching from the Hartz, which render the soil often unfit for the plough, but it is always covered with fine wood. The staple to which Westphalia owes its celebrity consists in its hogs, which surpass those of all the other provinces, pro- ducing the hams so much, famed throughout Europe. The valuable minerals of iron, coal, and salt, are also very abun- dant. There are extensive manufactures of coarse linen, and a few which produce that of finer quality. Upward of twenty thousand looms were at work in 1816. The trade of the province consists in sending these productions down the rivers to Bremen and Holland ; but Prussian Westphalia at no point reaches the sea, or even extends to the Rhine. The chief towns of Prussian Westphalia are the capitals of its three districts, Munster, Minden, and Arensberg. Munster, once the seat of a sovereign bishop, and too well known from the excesses committed by the Anabaptists, du- ring their temporary possession of it, is still a flourishing place, which, between 1802 and 1817, increased its population from 12,797 to 18,218. The peace of Munster, in 1648, forms one of the great eras of European history. Minden, celebrated for the signal victory achieved by the British arms in 1759, lies on the Weser, and carries on a considerable trade. A beautiful landscape is here formed by the river, its numerous little tributaries, and a range of wooded moun- tains, between which the Weser opens the passage called Porta Westphalica. Arensberg, once the seat of a count of that name, and Paderborn, the see of a bishop, were distin- guished places in the Middle Ages, but have greatly declined. There is also a surprising number of little towns : Ruckling- hausen, Kosfeld, Steinfurt, Herforden, Brakel, Wasburg, Lippstadt, Sost, Hamm, Dortmund, Hagen, Iserlon, Altona, and Siegen. The Rhenish provinces of Prussia consist of two parts ; one bearing the compound appellation of Julich-Cleve-Berg, and THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 633 the other that of the Lower Rhme. Julich-Cleve-Berg con- sists of the three grand duchies of those names, incor- porated with the city and part of the bishopric of Co- logne, the Prussian part of Guelderland, the abbacies of Essen and Werden, and a few other small places. It occu- pies almost ninety miles of the course of the Rhine, ex- tending on both sides of that river. Of all the Prussian territories it is the least favoured by nature. On the eastern bank extends a continuous range of mountains, including the remarkable group called the Siebengebirge, or Seven Hills ; not, indeed, exceeding the height of two thousand feet, but naked and rugged. The opposite bank is, indeed, level, but consists almost entirely of sandy plains and wide morasses : the country, therefore, does not produce corn sufficient for its own consumption, nor any thing in abundance except flax. Under these natural disadvantages, however, the inhabitants exert a manufacturing industry beyond what is found in any other part of Prussia, or even of Germany. The grand duchy of Berg has been called England in miniature, such is the variety of fabrics carried on there. Cloth, metals, and tobacco are worked up in almost every shape. The conse- quence is, that this district, so little favoured by nature, is the most populous, in relation to its extent, of any that be- longs to Prussia. It carries on a considerable trade along the Rhine and its navigable tributaries, the Ruhr and the Lippe ; the Mouse also runs along its western border. The hills, particularly the Siebengebirge, present many peculiarly bold and picturesque sites, as they rear their heads above the river, crowned with ancient castles. Some fine cities adorn the territory. Cologne is one of the most ancient in Ger- many, and till 1797, was an imperial city, and the seat of a bishop, who was once an elector. It contains above ninety- five thousand inhabitants, and is the seat of a great trade, being the chief medium of intercourse between Germany and Holland. There is a great exchange of wine and other pro- ductions brought down the Rhine for colonial and manufac- tured goods. The liquor called Cologne water is celebrated. 534 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: Dusseldorf, long an electoral residence, is one of tlie pret- tiest cities in Germany, though its walls serve only for a promenade, and its splendid collection of pictures has been conveyed to Munich. Its spacious squares, its handsome houses, arranged in regular streets, and the fine gardens which surround the city, constitute its attractions. It has also a good deal of trade. Population, twenty-eight thou- sand. Cleves, a much smaller town, is situated two miles from the Rhine, with which it communicates by canal. The late palace of the grand duke is still surrounded by extensive gardens, which are open to the public. Bonn, a well-built imperial city, of eighteen thousand inhabitants, has a strong castle, now in a great measure neglected. Elberfeld and Krefeld are large and flourishing places. Its chief seats of manufacture, Rees, Solingen, Muhlheim, Reuss, Lennep, are also deserving of mention. The province of the Lower Rhine occupies a considerably greater extent of the course of the river higher up, than that last described. The principal part of it belonged formerly to the archbishopric of Treves, which, with various little states and cities, has now merged into the Prussian dominion. The Rhine flows through the middle of this tract, receiving on one side the Moselle, and on the other the Lahn and the Leig. The province is almost wholly mountainous, the principal chains in the west being the Hundsruck, a rocky calcareous group, widely extended, but not more than fifteen hundred feet high, and from whose sides vast woods overhang the Moselle. The tract of Ardennes also touches the extreme frontier ; and on the east, the principal chains belong to the Wasgau. The banks of the rivers are generally planted with vines, and present the most beautiful and pleasing sites that are to be found in any part of Germany. The soil and cli- mate are very various; but though many tracts are doomed to inevitable sterility, a very great part is under careful cul- tivation. Rye and oats are the chief grains ; but the most characteristic objects are the wines of the Rhine, particularly those of Hockheim, (denominated Old Hock,) and those of THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 535 the Moselle and Ahr : they are celebrated over Europe, and from twenty to thirty thousand acres are occupied in produc- ing them. As a manufacturing district, the present by no means rivals that above described ; yet there is in Aachen a very extensive fabric of cloths, some of which are exported. These cloths, with wine and wood, form the basis of a con- siderable trade, independent of the passage of vessels up and down the Rhine. Coblentz, at the junction of the Rhine and the Moselle, is the capital of the Prussian province of Lower Rhine, situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle. It is a very ancient city, once the frequent residence of the emperors of the Carlo vingi an dynasty, and afterward of the princes of Treves. It contains, therefore, many fine old edi- fices, both public and private. During the French revolution it was for some time the residence of the exiled court, and the asylum of the emigrant nobility. The situation is de- lightful, and it is a considerable depot for the Rhenish and Moselle wines brought down for embarkation. On the oppo- site side of the river is Ehrenbreitstein, a small town, on a rock above which stood one of the strongest fortresses in Eu- rope : it was demolished in 1801. Of the other towns, Treves is considered one of the most ancient either in France or Germany, being noticed by the Romans under the appellation Trevirorum Civitas. The in- habitants have even a boastful proverb, that " before Rome was, Treveri stood." It was a great city in the Middle Ages, and contains many superb churches and convents as monu- ments of its former grandeur ; but many of them are now empty, and going to ruin. The place has twenty thousand inhabitants, and a considerable trade with France, and in the wine and wood of the Moselle. Aachen, better known as Aix la Chapelle, is the largest town of the territory, contain- ing a population of forty-nine thousand, chiefly employed in manufactures. The city is also very ancient, having been a residence of the emperors, and the place of their coronation. Being built, however, on an irregular spot of ground, its streets are extremely uneven, narrow, and dirty. Kreuze- 536 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: nach and Saarbruck are also considerable towns, and Saar- Louis is a strong fortress. St. Goar and Bacharacb are only villages ; but a great quantity of the finest Rhenish wine is brought down to them. Germany comprises that vast tract of country situated in the centre of Europe, between 55° and 45° north latitude, and between 5° 45' and 19° 45' east from Greenwich; bounded on the north by the North and Baltic seas and Den- mark. The total area of Germany is 244,375 square miles. The surface is divided into two plains and two mountainous re- gions. The low plain of northern Germany is naturally ste- rile, but abundant rains and the industry of its inhabitants make it sufficiently productive to support a dense population. The country is intersected with sixty navigable rivers. Canals are not numerous. Communication by railroad and river is very common throughout Germany. The chief of the natural productions of Germany are the following: corn, which is raised in quantities sufficient for home consumption and for exportation ; wine, which is pro- duced chiefly in the Rhenish counties; timber, fruits, flax, hops, hemp, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, fowls, bees, silver, iron, copper, quicksilver, lead, and salt. The manufactures are various and important, including linen, cotton, and woollen goods ; silks, velvet, hardware, cutlery, fire-arms, porcelain, glass, musical instruments, watches, and jewelry, and innu- merable articles of inferior importance. In commercefGer- many engages extensively. The chief ports are Hamburg, Bremen, Trieste, Altona, Lubeck, Stetlin, Stralsund, Ros- tock, Wismar, Riel, and Cur den. The inland^ trade is very active and valuable. Vienna, Leipsic, Cologne, Olberfeld, Magdeburg, Berlin, Breslau, Prague, Augsburg, Frankfort on the Mayn, Frankfort on the Oder, Labode and Botzen are the chief cities engaged in carrying it on. 538 THE PEOPLE OP EUEOPE : Germans. The population of Germany is calculated to be 42,000,000 inhabitants. The majority belong to the great Germanic tribe, while about six or seven millions to the Sclavonic tribe. There is a general national character, which may be drawn as follows : — The peculiar turn of the Germans seems to be for philosophy ; they are distinguished from all the nations of Europe for cool and generally a just judgment, united with extreme industry. The character of men depends much on the government under which they live. That of the Germans has in general as little brilliancy in it as the constitution of the empire : THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 539 they have none of the national pride and patriotism by which Britons and Span^iards are distinguished. Their pride and patriotic sentiments only extend to that part of Germany in which they are born ; to the rest of their countrymen they are as strange as to any foreigners. Though the character of the Germans be not so brilliant as that of other nations, still it is not destitute of its peculiar excellencies. The German is the man of the world ; he lives under every sky, and conquers every natural obstacle to his happiness ; his industry is inexhaustible. Poland, Hungary, and Russia, are indebted to German emigrants. Rectitude is an almost universal characteristic of the people of this country ; nor are the manners of the peasants, and those of the inhabitants of the lesser cities, by any means so corrupt as those of several neighbouring counties ; it is owing to this, that, notwithstanding the great emigrations, the country is still so well peopled. Frugality on the side of the protest- ants, and frankness and good heartedness on the side of the catholics, are true national characteristics. The Germans are tall and well made ; the women are, in general, well looking, and many of them will rival the beau- ties of other countries. Both sexes affect to dress in rich clothes, according to the fashions of England or France. Many of the principal people wear a great deal of gold and silver lace ; the ladies at court do not differ much in their dress from those of the same rank in England. In some of the courts they appear in furs, richly covered with as many diamonds as they can procure. The inhabitants of several cities in Germany dress extremely odd, though their appear- ance has much improved within these twenty or thirty years ; but the artizans and labourers, as in other parts of Europe, wear those sort of clothes that are best adapted to their seve- ral employments, convenience, or circumstances. Industry and application are the most considerable traits of the German character. The works which they produce, in watch and clock-making, in the arts of turning, sculpture, painting, and architecture, are very wonderful. No nation 540 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE; makes greater festivals in honour of marriages, funerals, and births. The amusements of the Germans very much resem- ble those of the French and English ; to these, however, they add the chase of the wild boar, which they prefer to all other sports ; they have also bull and bear-baiting. In the winter, when the different branches of the Danube are frozen, and the earth is covered with snow, the ladies amuse themselves in sledges of different forms, resembling tigers, swans, shells, &c. The lady is seated, in a habit of velvet, lined with rich furs, and ornamented with lace and diamonds, having also a bonnet of the same sort. The sledge is fastened to a horse, stag, or other animal, which is ornamented with feathers, ribbons, and a multitude of little bells. "O'er crackling ice, o'er gulphs profound, With nimble glide the skaters play ; O'er treach'rous pleasure's flow'ry ground Thus lightly skim, and haste away." As this diversion generally takes place at night, servants go before the sledges on horseback, with lighted torches ; an- other guides the horse in the sledge from behind. The most liberal hospitality and disinterestedness mark the character of the Germans. They make an immoderate use of coffee, but they drink it very weak. Their diet consists chiefly of ham, smoked meats, black bread, potatoes, red cabbage, beer, and cheese. They endure, with patience and fortitude, hunger and cold, but they cannot support thirst and heat ; brandy and beer are more important to them than solid food. They almost all chew tobacco. The condition of the lower classes of women is very mise- rable; it differs but little from slavery; the most laborious parts of sowing and gathering in the harvest, and of the other departments of rural economy, fall to their share. Habit, the example of their mothers, the knowledge . of all their de- pendence, so far restrain them that they never murmur under the heavy tyranny of the stronger sex. Knowledge is more generally diffused in Germany than in any other country. The children of the poor enjoy the bene- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 541 fits of instruction, free of expense ; while there is a regular system of education from the primary school to the univer- sity. The literary institutions of Germany are numerous and celebrated. There are twenty-three universities, all of which bear so high a reputation that they attract many students from other countries. The public libraries are numerous, large, and very valuable. Munich, Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, and Gbttingen may be considered as central points of the arts and sciences. In religion, Catholicism has the most numerous adherents in southern Germany, and protestantism in the northern. There are about four millions more catholics than protestants. The latter generally belong to the evangelical denomination. There are about 50,000 Jews in Germany. Germany is still a confederacy, though the great powers pay but little regard to the wishes of the majority of the smaller states. The Germanic confederacy was established by an act of the Congress of Vienna on the 8th of June, 1815, thirty-eight independent states being recognised as its component parts, and the Diet of Frankfort on the Mayn being regarded as its organ. Bavaria ranks as the most important and powerful of the smaller states of Germany. She was once the successful rival of Austria, and beheld her princes seated on the impe- rial throne. Napoleon invested her sovereign with the title of king, and augmented his dominions. The king afterward joined the allies against the emperor, and though he lost some of his territories he received others in compensation. Bavaria now forms the middle part of southern Germany, separated from Italy by the Tyrol, and consists of two dis- tinct territories, situated about forty miles apart, the smallest being on the left bank of the Rhine. The total area of the kingdom is 29,703 square miles. The inhabitants of Bavaria number 4,450,000, more than three millions of whom are Roman Catholics; the remainder are chiefly protestants and Jews. Agriculture is the chief oc- cupation. But numerous breweries, which produce the famous 542 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Bavarians. Bavarian beer, and factories, mines, and an extensive inland trade, give employment to a great body of people. The Bavarian, in general, is stout-bodied, muscular, and fleshy ; with a round head, a little peaked chin, a larger belly, and a pale complexion. Many of them look like caricatures of men ; they are heavy and awkward in their carriage, and their small eyes are said to betray a great deal of ro- guery. The women are very handsome, their skin surpasses all the carnation ever used by painters ; the purest lily white is softly tinged with purple, as if by the hands of the Graces. The complexions of some of the peasant women appear to be quite transparent. They are well shaped, and more lively and graceful in their gestures than the men. The country people are extremely dirty ; their hovels have no appearance of habitable dwellings for human beings. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 643 Cheap as nails are in this country, and although half the roofs are frequently torn away by strong winds, yet the rich farmers cannot be persuaded to nail their shingles properly together. In short, from the court to the smallest cottage, indolence is the most predominant part of the Bavarian cha- racter. This great indolence is contrasted in an extraordinary manner with a still higher degree of bigotry. " I happened," says the Baron Reisback, "to stroll into a dark, black, coun- try beer-house, filled with clouds of tobacco, and on entering I was almost stunned with the noise of the drinkers. By de- grees, however, my eyes penetrated through the thick vapours, when I discovered the priest of the place in the midst of fif- teen or twenty drunken fellows. His black coat was as bad as the frocks of his flock, and like the rest of them he had cards in his left hand, which he struck so forcibly on the. dirty tables, that the whole chamber trembled. At first, I was shocked at the violent abuse they gave each other, and thought they had been quarrelling, but soon found that the appellations which shocked me were only modes of friendly salutation among them. Every one had drunk his six or eight pots of beer, and they desired the landlord to give each a dram of brandy, by way, they said, of locking the stomach. But now their good humour departed, and preparations were made for a fray which at length broke out. At first the priest took pains to suppress it ; he swore, he roared as much as the rest. Now one seized a pot and threw it at his adversa- ry's head ; another clenched his fist ; a third pulled the legs from a stool to knock his enemy on the head ; every thing seemed to threaten blood and death, when on the ringing of a bell for evening prayer, ' Ave Maria ye !' cried the priest, and down dropped their arms, they pulled off their bonnets, folded their hands, and repeated their Ave Marias. As soon, however, as their prayers were over, their former fury re- turned with renewed violence ; pots and glasses began to fly. I observed the curate creep under the table for security, and I withdrew into the landlord's bedchamber." 544 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: The three universities, at Munich, at Warsburg, and at Erlangen, twenty-six gymnasia, nine lycea, nine seminaries, nine Latin schools, and five thousand four hundred and two common schools, make ample provision for the education of the people. The government is a limited monarchy, the power of the king being checked by two legislative chambers. The court patronage, however, is so extensive that the deliberations of the legislature can scarcely be considered as independent. The liberal use of eight orders of honour secures the king a very extensive authority. Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is considered one of the finest cities in Germany. It contains numerous splendid public buildings. The manners of the in- habitants of Munich are such as might be expected from the great number of people who depend upon the court, and for the most part go idle at its expense. There is much spirit and intelligence, as well as much looseness of conduct, among the upper circles, while the lower are poor, indolent, and de- graded. The kingdom of Wurtemberg occupies the greater part of the circle of Swabia, being bounded on the east by Bavaria, and on the, west by Baden, and having an area of 7551 square miles. Its territory is traversed by a range of moun- tains, two rivers — the Neckar and the Upper Danube — and partly by the Black Porest. There are within its limits, 1,840,392 acres of arable land, 620,480 pasture land, 79,200 of vineyard, and 1,735,466 of woodland. Agriculture, manu- factures, and trade are all extensively and very profitably pursued. Grain is the chief export. Cotton and woollen stuffs, and cutlery are the chief manufactures. The government is a limited monarchy, the sovereign power being vested in a king and two legislative chambers. Wurtemberg has always been noted for its liberal institutions. The sovereign has frequently opposed the arl)itrary designs of Austria. Still, the government has many objectionable features in common with the other German states. Wurtemberg has one university ; and its schools and semi- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 545 Inhabitants of Baden. naries are said, bj Hassel, to be more numerous tban in any other country of the same dimensions. The population numbers 1,750,000 persons. The majority of them are Lutherans. But there are over 500,000 Catholics and 12,000 Jews. The people, generally, are industrious and mtelhgent. Those engaged in agriculture are well provided, and contented. Those engaged in manufactures in the towns are not so happy or prosperous. On a war footing, the regu- lar army of Wurtemberg consists of over twenty thousand men. The kingdom is divided into four circles marked by natural boundaries. Stutgard, the capital, contains some handsome edifices, and 46,000 thousand inhabitants. The grand duchy of Baden consists of the long valley of the Rhine, from Basle to Manheim, sloping on all sides fromf the Black Forest, having a surface of nearly six thousand square miles. The soil in the lower and smaller valleys i^ 546 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: very fertile, and the richest pasture covers the sides of the hills. Grain is produced in abundance, and is exported. The vineyards are extensive and enjoy a high reputation. The Black Forest is filled with the noblest game. The manufac- tures of this teeming country are not very extensive, but they are important, and employ about thirty thousand people. The transit trade is very valuable. Baden enjoys besides a steady, regular trade, Manheim being the chief emporium. The duchy is divided into four provinces, or circles. The population amounts to 1,390,000 persons. The majority of the people are of the catholic persuasion, but the protestants form a very strong and influential body. The Jews number about twenty-two thousand. Knowledge is generally diffused, there being two universities, six lycea, five gymnasia, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five common schools, and sixty-five schools of various distinctions. The government is a limited monarchy, like that of Wur- temberg — the only difference being in the title of the sovereign, which in Baden is " the grand duke." On a war footing, the regular army consists of ten thousand four hundred and twenty-three men. Carlsruhe, the capital of Baden, has twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The once extensive kingdom of Saxony is now reduced to an insignificant state, having a territory five thousand seven hundred and ninety-three square miles in area, and a popula- tion of 1,800,000 inhabitants. The territory consists of the plain of the Elbe, extending along its course for a hundred miles from the rocky Erzgebirge. The central plain, being well watered, and highly cultivated, is, perhaps the most pro- ductive portion of Germany; yet it cannot supply the dense mining and manufacturing population with the necessaries of life. The forests are extensive. The numerous mines are worked with a skill and diligence unequalled in any other portion of Europe. But three-fifths of the people are em- ployed in manufactures. The staples of linen and woollen are considerable, but it is in cottons that this district excels all the rest of Germany. The commerce of Saxony is very THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 547 extensive, not only in its own productions, but, as it contains the great mart, Leipsic, in the productions of all Germany. Lutlieranism is general in Saxony, Avhere it was first estab- lished. It is computed that the catholics number only thirty thousand, though the king himself is of that persuasion, and has obtained complete equality for those of his own creed. The means of education are not equal to those common in Germany. There is a university at Leipsic. But, though numerous, the schools are said to be poorly managed. How- ever, the people are generally intelligent. The government is a limited monarchy, like that of Wir- temberg. The kingdom is divided into circles or provinces, for the sake of a more complete administration. Dresden is generally considered one of the most elegant of the German cities. Its situation is romantic and beautiful. Its public buildings and institutions are on an extensive scale. Popu- lation, eighty-six thousand. The kingdom of Hanover comprises, with some intervals, the whole north-western angle of Germany, from the Elbe to the frontier of Holland. The Hartz mountains, extending about one hundred miles along its southern border, are rich in forests and mines. The rest of the kingdom is generally level, but only fertile along the banks of the rivers, and on the flat coast of the sea, where artificial mounds protect some rich meadows. The country has the Elbe upon the eastern boundary, and is traversed by the navigable streams, the Ems, the Uleser and its tributaries : so that it has great fa- cilities for trade. Agriculture is not pursued with the same diligence as in other parts of Germany. It is true, that in Gottingen, Hildersheim, Grabenhagen, and some of the marshy tracts redeemed from the rivers and the sea, con- siderable skill is exerted in cultivation. But Luneburg, Hoya, Osnaburg, and other districts, which might be greatly improved, are dreary wastes, the inhabitants preferring to hire themselves to the Dutch. However, grain is raised in sufficient quantities to supply the home demand. "With re- spect to live stock, Hanover is distinguished only for its 548 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: hogs, and Westphalia hams are famous all over the globe. The supply of timber is large, and the mines of the Hartz are very valuable. Commerce is chiefly engrossed by the Hanse towns. Emden, in East Friesland, is almost the only part of Hanover which has any foreign trade. The linen manufacture is the only important branch of manufacturing industry. Since the accession of Victoria to the throne of Great Britain, Hanover has been an independent kingdom. The government is a limited monarchy, the sovereign power being vested in a king and two legislative chambers, from which, however, the mass of the people are excluded. The policy of the government is substantially the same as that of the other German sovereignties. Each of the districts into whichf Hanover is divided has a distinct local administration. The facilities for education are numerous and well managed. There is a famous university at Gottingen, and the number of common schools reaches 3570. With such means at command, the people must be possessed of considerable in- telligence. To an area of 14,803 square miles, Hanover has a popula- tion of 1,790,000 inhabitants. The people are mostly of the Lutheran persuasion, though there are many Calvinists, about twenty-five thousand Catholics, and a few thousand Jews. Hanover, the capital, has forty thousand inhabitants. Hesse Cassel, or Electoral Hesse, is a small state situated between the Weser and Mayn rivers, surrounded by West- phalia, Hanover, the Saxon duchies, and Hesse Darmstadt. The area is 4752 square miles. The surface is generally mountainous, and in some places sterile. The chief natural productions are timber, flax, iron, and freestone. The manu- factures consist of linen, hardware, woollen goods, etc. The inland trade is considerable. The people enjoy the usual German facilities for education. The government is a limited monarchy, power being vested in the elector and one legislative chamber. Before the reactionary period of 1848, this was the most liberal government in Germany. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 549 The overwlielming power of absolutism struck down this bud of promise. The population numbers seventj-five thousand persons. The majority are Lutherans; but the Calvinists and Catholics are numerous. Cassel, on the Fulda, is the capital, and, with a population of thirty-three thousand, has considerable trade and important manufactures. Honan, Marburg, and Fulda, are the only other towns of importance, though there are many thriving villages. The grand duchy of Hesse, or Hesse Darmstadt, is com- posed of two portions, reaching along the Rhine from the Prussian to the Bavarian frontier. It is entirely enclosed by mountains, but includes a plain of remarkable fertility. Wine is the chief production. But tobacco, flax, cattle, cop- per, iron, and salt are important objects to which the atten- tion of the people are directed. The manufactures consist chiefly of linen and woollen goods. Mentz carries on con- siderable trade. The means of education are ample. The government is similar to that of the grand duchy of Baden. To an area of 3259 square miles, the duchy of Hesse has 845,000 inhabitants. The great mass of these are engaged in agriculture, and live much in the condition of the German peasantry throughout the confederacy. The majority of the people profess the reformed religion. Darmstadt, the capital, has thirty-one thousand inhabitants. The landgraviate of Hesse, or Hesse Homburg has an area of 128 square miles with about twenty-six thousand inhabitants. It consists of two distinct territories, separated from each other by Nassau and Hesse Darmstadt. The majority of the population con- sists of Lutherans, and the remainder of six- thousand Cal- vinists and three thousand Catholics. The soil is fertile and well cultivated. Manufactures are not extensively pursued. The government is a limited monarchy. Meisenheim is the principal town. The grand duchy of Saxe Weimer takes the lead among the smaller states. Its area is 1427 square miles, and its population 254,000 inhabitants. The peasantry are miserably 550 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: poor. Weimar, the capital has only twelve thousand inhabit- ants. It is a place of much literary renown. Mecklenburg Schwerin is a grand duchy, situated on the Baltic sea, between Pomerania and Holstein, and separated from Hanover by the Elbe. The surface is generally level, and the soil is fertile. All branches of husbandry are, in Mecklenburg, managed with consummate skill. The manu- factures are rather limited, but the trade and commerce are extensive. Grain, butter, cattle, horses, timber, and wool are the chief exports. The government is a ^ limited mo- narchy. The facilities of education are unsurpassed. The area of Mecklenburg Schwerin is 4856 square miles, and its population numbers 515,000 inhabitants. The people are chiefly of the Lutheran persuasion. Schwerin, the capital, on the lake of the same name, has many handsome public edifices, and 17,500 inhabitants. Rostork, on the Warnow, ab.out ten miles from the Baltic, has 20,500 inhabitants, and considerable commerce. Wismar, on the Baltic, sixty-two miles south-west of Roetrop, has about twelve thousand in- habitants and a constantly increasing commerce. The grand duchy of Mecklenburg Strelitz, situated between Mecklenburg Schwerin and Prussia, has an area of 1107 square miles and ninety-six thousand inhabitants. In soil, productions, government, and institutions, it agrees with Mecklenburg Schwerin. The duchy of Holstein is the most northern state of Ger- many, on the west side washed by the North Sea, and on the east by the Baltic. It has an area of 3333 square miles, and about 477,000 inhabitants. A large majority of the people are Lutherans. The surface and soil of the country is much the same as the neighbouring Mecklenburg. Pre- vious to the war with Denmark, in 1848, the duchy was un- rivalled in wealth and prosperity. Agricultjire was on a high scale of improvement. A beggar was rarely to be found. The Danish administration was able, liberal, and beneficial.. But the people were instigated to take up a,rms ; and in the struggle between the forces of Generals Wrangel and Wit- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 551 Greneral AVranarel. tengen, the beautiful plains of the duchy were wasted, and a once wealthy people were reduced to beggary. It will be a considerable time before Holstein recovers from the devasta- tions of this unhappy war. The fisheries, the commerce, and the manufactures, all formerly important, have been greatly reduced. The government remains a limited monarchy, the sovereign power being vested in the King of Denmark, as Duke of Holstein, and in a provincial assembly. Holstein has a fine university and a large number of common schools. The chief towns are Gluckstadt, a commercial town on the 552 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Elbe, thirty miles below Hamburg, with considerable com- merce and a whale fishery, and over six thousand inhabitants ; Rendsburg, on the Eider, with ten thousand five hundred in- habitants ; Riel, on the bay of the same name, with thirteen thousand inhabitants ; and, largest of all, the city of Altona, on the Elbe, noted for "its commerce and manufactures, and having thirty-two thousand inhabitants. The duchy of Lauenburg, which borders on Holstein on the north-west, and on the south is separated from Hanover by the Elbe, has an area of four hundred four and a half square miles, and forty-seven thousand inhabitants. In soil, natural productions, agriculture, &c., it resembles Holstein. Until 1849, Lauenburg recognised the King of Denmark as sovereign, but it now has its separate monarch. Ratzeburg is the capital. The towns are small. The grand duchy of Oldenburg comprises Oldenburg pro- per, the principality of Lubec, and the principality of Bir- kenfeldt — three distinct territories, which, together, have an area of two thousand four hundred and seventy-one square miles, and two hundred and seventy-four thousand and fifty inhabitants. Oldenburg proper lies on the North Sea, and is surrounded by the kingdom of Hanover. The surface is generally level, and the coast, as well as the banks of the Weser are sheltered with dikes, to preserve them from inun- dation. The soil is, in general, poor, but there are fertile tracts. Cattle, grain, flax, hemp, rape seed, and bees are raised in considerable quantities. The inland trade is actively carried on. The principality of Lubec is situated in the neighbourhood of the city of Lubec, and surrounded by the territories of Holstein. It consists of a well-watered, undu- lated plain, the inhabitants subsisting almost entirely by the various branches of husbandry.* Birkenfeldt is situated upon the Rhine, in the vicinity of Treves. Its surface is mountainous. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in min- ing, manufacturing, and cultivating the vine. Most of the people of the grand duchy are Lutherans. But the Catholics * Ungewitter. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 553 are numerous in Birkenfeldt. The schools and seminaries are numerous. Until the revolutionary period of 1848, the go- vernment was an absolute monarchy. It was then limited, but, we believe, the states have not been allowed to operate against the will of the grand duke. Oldenburg, Jeuer, Eutin, and Birkenfeldt are the chief towns. The duchy of Brunswick lies half-way between the cities of Hanover and Magdeburg, the southern section being en- closed by the territory of Hanover, having an area of one thousand five hundred and thirty-three square miles, with two hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants. The soil is fer- tile. The chief productions are corn, flax, hops, timber, black cattle, horses, sheep, game, silver, copper, iron, lead, and peat. Trade and manufactures are actively and exten- sively carried on. The means of education are ample. The government is a limited monarchy. The duchy is divided into the districts of Brunswick, Wolfenbiittel, Helmstedt, Gandersbein, Holzminden, and Blankenburg. Brunswick, the capital, is situated on the Ocker river, and has forty thousand inhabitants, considerable trade, and very important manufac- tures. Wolfenbiittel was formerly the ducal residence, and is now noted for its large and splendid library, and its manu- factures. Population, nine thousand. Blankenburg, at the Lower Hartz, has three thousand five hundred inhabitants. Holzminden is noted for its manufactures. The grand duchy of Luxemburg forms the southern ex- tremity of Germany, being bounded by the Rhenish pro- vince of Prussia and by France and Belgium. It has an area of one thousand and twelve square miles, and one hun- dred and eighty-eight thousand inhabitants. The soil is fer- tile and well cultivated. Manufactures are chiefly confined to linen, leather, and paper. The grand duke belongs to the house of Orange Nassau. The people differ very little from the other Germans. Luxemburg, the capital, on the Elbe, has twelve thousand inhabitants. The duchy of Limburg has an area of eight hundred and fifty-two square miles, with one hundred and ninety-eight 554 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: thousand inhabitants. The duchy is usually considered as a Netherlandish province. The inhabitants are for the most part Roman Catholics. Rolrmonde, on the Mouse, has five thousand inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in the manu- facture of cloth. Branches of the house of Saxony, once the ruling family in northern Germany, hold a cluster of small principalities to the west of Saxony royal. Saxe Coburg Gotha has been formed by the union of these two branches, on the extinction of that of Gotha. It comprehends a great part of the terri- tory of Thuringia, and is rather productive. The city, con- taining about fourteen thousand inhabitants, is the channel of a considerable trade connected with the fair of Leipsic. It is a somewhat learned city, containing a library of sixty thousand volumes, with valuable manuscripts. Saxe Coburg is a mountainous territory, comprising part of the Thuringian forest. It contains good pasturage, and some valuable mines. This territory has been raised to distinction by the good for- tune of one of its younger members, now King of the Bel- gians. Saxe Meiningen Hildburghausen, on the Werra, is a little tract, enriched by mines of salt at Salzungen, and by some of coal, iron, and cobalt. Its principal towns are Mei- ningen and Hildburghausen, with about six thousand inhabit- ants each. The little duchy of Saxe Altenburg consists of two detached portions, separated from each other by the ter- ritories of Saxe Weimar and the Reuss princes. The capital, Altenburg, is a considerable town, with about sixteen thou- sand inhabitants. Nassau is a dukedom, which, by the union of the territo- ries held by several branches of the same family" has attained to some tolerable magnitude. Situated in the southern part of Franconia, forming a hilly country on the banks of the Rhine and the Mayn, it produces .those valuable wines, Old Hock and Bleschert, which distinguish this part of Germany : it does not contain, however, any towns of import- ance. Weisbaden, the capital, much visited on account of its fifteen warm springs, has a population of thirteen thousand. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 555 At Neiderselters, two million bottles are annually filled mth the celebrated Seltzer water. Langenschwalbach and Scblan- genbad are equally noted for their mineral springs ; and Hockheim, Rudesheim, Johannisberg, and Asmannshausen for their fine wine. The other principalities are all very small. Anhalt, on the Elbe, between Saxony and Brandenburg, has its population of one hundred and fifty-eight thousand, divided between the three branches of Dessau, Bernburg, and Cothen. The family is ancient, and has produced some men of eminence. Schwartzenburg, a district of Franconia, has one hundred and twenty-eight thousand people, divided between the two branches of Sondershausen and Rudolstadt, both of great antiquity, and deriving more importance from their great estates in Bohemia and other parts of the Austrian territory. Ruess, in Upper Saxony, has one hundred and nine thousand inhabitants, divided between the elder and younger branches. Lij)pe Detmold and Lippe Schauenburg are situated on the south of Hanover ; the one hilly and wooded, the other flat and fertile. A former prince of Lippe Schauenburg made a distinguished figure in the service of Portugal. There are two princes of Hohenzollern, Sigmaringen, and Hechingen, having between them fifty-four thousand five hundred people. They form the only petty states in the south of Germany, being situated in Swabia, between Baden and Wurtemburg. Waldeck Pyrmont, composed of two hilly counties between Hesse and Hanover, derives almost its sole importance from the mineral baths of Pyrmont, which are among the most celebrated in Europe. Though, by the favour of the house of Austria, its possessions have been tripled, they do not ex- ceed those of a rich English squire. Homburg, the capital, is a small town, in a very picturesque situation. The little principality of Leichtenstein, a district in the Saxon Erzge- birge, has only seven thousand inhabitants ; but the prince, as an Austrian nobleman, is one of the most opulent indivi- duals in Europe, and his family is distinguished by informa- tion and intelligence. The Lilliputian lordship of Kniphau- 556 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: sen was recognised as an independent stsete by an act of the diet, in 1826. It is situated within the territories of the duke of Oldenburg. The four free cities of Germany, Hamburg, Lubec, Bre- men, and Frankfort, form still an interesting feature, neces- sary to close the picture of this great country. They are the sole remnant of the Hanse towns and imperial cities ; illustrious confederacies, which, during the Middle Ages, acted a most conspicuous part in the improvement of the Eu- ropean system. The members of the Congress of Vienna, though little friendly to any thing republican, considered these so fully established, and so venerable by antiquity, that they sanctioned them as a part of the Germanic body. Hamburg is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, about eighty-four miles from the sea, and its territory partly in the immediate vicinity and partly at the mouth of the Elbe. In- cluding the bailiwick of Bergedorf, of which Hamburg and Lubec are possessed in common, the total area is one hundred and fifty square miles. The population is one hundred and sixty-eight thousand. The government is a republic, the sovereign power being vested in a senate of twenty-eight members, and the council of wealthy citizens. The city con- tains one hundred and thirty-seven thousand inhabitants. The great body of these are Lutherans. The city is gene- rally known to be the chief port of Germany. It has more than two hundred vessels engaged in commerce ; and is, be- sides, noted for its manufactures and literary institutions. The public library is very large ; and the schools are nume- rous. Hamburg contains many splendid edifices. In the territory are several busy villages. Lubec has a territory of one hundred and sixty square miles, but only 53,800 inhabitants. The city is situated on the Trave, nine miles from the Baltic Sea, and contains a population of 25,500, chiefly Lutherans. The government is similar to that of Hamburg. The Supreme Tribunal of the Four Free Cities sits at Lubec. The commerce is consider- able, but it has greatly diminished in consequence of the THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 557 shallowness of the Trave. The city is well built of stone, has some handsome edifices, and presents a better appearance than Hamburg. The people are industrious and intelligent. Bremen, on the Weser, has a territory of one hundred and six and a half square miles, and seventy-seven thousand in- habitants. The people are chiefly Calvinists and Lutherans. Jews are excluded from the city. The government resembles that of Hamburg. The city lies on both sides of the Weser, about forty-six miles from the sea, and has fifty-four thou- sand inhabitants. Steamships connect it with New York, and it has, besides, about two hundred and thirty trading vessels. The inland trade is very important, and manufac- tures are extensively carried on. The city is well built, and is rapidly increasing in size and wealth. The people are bustling, enterprising, and generally prosperous. Frankfort on the Mayn, about eighteen miles from its junction with the Rhine, has forty-two and a half square miles of territory, and sixty-eight thousand inhabitants. The city has about fifty-eight thousand inhabitants, and carries on considerable trade, though its annual fairs have lost their importance. Its manufactures and its book trade are very valuable. The city is well built, and its population is distin- guished for extraordinary enterprise and intelligence. The public libraries, various literary institutions, and numerous common schools pour out the riches of learning. The govern- ment is republican, the sovereign power being vested in a senate and legislative body. A majority of the people are protestants. The kingdom of the Netherlands is commonly, but erro- neously, called Holland. The latter name, strictly, includes but a province of the state.* The term Netherlands, or * Ungewitter. 558 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE Dutch. Lowlands, was in the Middle Ages applied to the country now forming the states of the "Netherlands" and Belgium. The kingdom of the Netherlands, proper, lies upon the north-western frontier of Germany, being bounded on the north by the North Sea. Exclusive of the provinces of Luxenburg and Limburg, which, politically, belong to Ger- many, the kingdom has an area of 11,832 square miles, and about 2,927,000 inhabitants. The climate is moderate", but frequently moist. The surface is level, and in general there is no variety of scenery. Grass and corn, canals and wind- mills, and cleanly towns and villages constantly.meet the eye. The more or less marshy soil is fertile to an extraordinary degree. In the northern portion of the kingdom, the rearing of cattle engages more attention than agriculture. The butter and cheese here produced are world-renowned. Be- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 559 sides husbandry, the chief means of sustenance is commerce, which extends to every part of the earth. The manufactures are not extensive, but in some provinces, linen and paper are made in considerable quantities. The government is a limited monarchy, the power being vested in a king and two legislative chambers, called General States. The facilities for the diffusion of knowledge are great and widely ramified. There are three universities — at Leyden, Groningen, and Utrecht — three athengea, or smaller universities, and about two thousand three hundred seminaries and schools. In time of war, the kingdom can call to the field about seventy-six thousand regulars and eighty thousand schutters, or militia. The standing army consists of about forty thou- sand men. The navy consists of nine ships of the line, nine- teen frigates, thirty-seven sloops-of-war, brigs, &c., fourteen, steamers, and eighty-four gun-boats. The people of the Netherlands are usually called Dutch. The great body of them originally belonged to the great Ger- manic tribe, but the Walloons or Flemings, Frisons, and Jews are numerous. Calvinism is the prevailing religious creed, but all religions are tolerated, and more than one- third of the people are catholics. In stature, the Dutch are much the same as the English : the women are comparatively taller than the men : they are decidedly handsome, and, when young, have naturally good complexions, which they might preserve to a later period, did they take more exercise in the open air, and abandon some injurious customs, such as the incessant use of the chauffepied, a box of burning peat, which accompanies them everywhere. "Nothing," says Mr. Nicholls, "can exceed the cleanliness, the personal propriety, and the apparent comfort of the people of Holland. I did not see a house or fence out of repair, or a garden that was not carefully cultivated. We met no ragged or dirty per- sons, nor any drunken man ; neither did I see any indication that drunkenness is the vice of any portion of the people. I was assured that bastardy was almost unknown ; and although 560 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: we were, during all hours of the day, much in the public thoroughfares, we saw only two beggars, and they, in manner and appearance, scarcely came within the designation. The Dutch people appear to be strongly attached to their govern- ment, and few countries possess a population in which the domestic and social duties are discharged with such con- stancy. A scrupulous economy, and cautious foresight seem to be the characteristic virtues of every class. To spend their full annual income is accounted a species of crime. The same systematic prudence pervades every part of the community, agricultural and commercial ; and thus the Dutch people are enabled to bear up against the most formidable physical difficulties, and to secure a larger amount of indi- vidual comfort than probably exists in any other country." The kingdom of the Netherlands is divided into ten pro- vinces, two of which comprise the ancient province of Hol- land. Amsterdam, on the Amstel River, has 225,000 inha- bitants, and is the chief city and emporium of the kingdom. The city is intersected by numerous canals, over which there are two hundred and ninety bridges. The royal palace is the most magnificent of the public edifices. The trade is very extensive. The Hague, or Gravenhaag, is the capital of the kingdom, and contains sixty-six thousand inhabitants. It is a regular and handsome city, situated near the North Sea. Leyden, between the Hague and Haarlem, has thirty- six thousand inhabitants. Rotterdam, on the Merwe or Mouse, is the second city in the kingdom, and contains eighty-three thousand inhabitants. Dort, Schredam, Middle- burg, Flushing, Utrecht, Amersfort, Arnheim, Nimeguen, Zutphen, Zwoll, Campen, Leeuwarden, Groningen, Hertogen- bosch, or Bois-le-Duc, Breda, Berg-op-Zoom, Tilbury, and Maestricht, are all large and busy cities. THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 561 The kingdom of Belgium is situated between France and the kingdom of the Netherlands. The total area is about 2,945,574 hectares, or eleven thousand four hundred and seventeen square miles. The kingdom is divided into seven provinces : — Antwerp, in the north ; East and West Flanders and Hainault, in the west ; Liege, in the east ; and Namur, in the south. The northern part of Belgium is low and level; the southern part is mountainous. Agriculture, manufactures, and trade are all actively and successfully pursued by the Belgians, while the working of the iron, copper, and coal mines prove very profitable. All kinds of grain, potatoes, and live stock are raised with suc- cess. But as Belgium is the most densely peopled country in Europe, the means of sustenance are extensively imported. Flemish husbandry has been famous for six hundred years. Flanders is very thickly peopled, and as the farms are small, they are carefully and skilfully cultivated. The soil was originally poor. Industry has made it rich. The manufac- tures consist chiefly of woollens and cottons, carpets, linen, silk, lace, and paper ; though all kinds of manufacture receive attention. Wool, in Belgium, is the object of immense in- dustry. Woollen stufis are manufactured in every province in the kingdom, and great quantities of the raw material are imported. The principal ports are Ostend and Antwerp. The commerce is still extensive, but not equal to its value before the revolution of 1830. All kinds of inland commu- nication are found in perfection in Belgium, and the trade is therefore considerable. The government is a constitutional monarchy, under a dy- nasty freely elected by the constituents of the nation. The' broadest principles of civil freedom are established by the constitution. The press is free. Universal toleration, liberty of public religious worship, and the liberty of publishing 36 662 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: opinions upon all subjects, is guaranteed. No one can be prosecuted, nor have liis house entered, but by authority and form of law. The sovereign power is vested in a king and two legislative chambers. The members of the chambers re- present the nation, not districts nor provinces. The nobility, enjoy only a personal title, without constituting a social order. The number of voting citizens in Belgium is about fifty thou- The kingdom has four universities, a number of athensea, two industrial schools, and a considerable number of primary schools ; but the voluntary system of instruction is a check upon the progress of the people in intelligence. The number of workhouses and charitable institutions is very large. The great body of the people belong to the Roman Catholic church. The army of Belgium is fixed at one hundred and ten thousand men — a very expensive establishment. The navy is insignificant. The population of Belgium numbers 4,350,000 persons, chiefly descended from the Walloon and Flemish tribes. The Belgians have been successfully subjected to the influence of so many different governments — French, Austrian, Spanish, Dutch — that they consequently possess no distinctive and peculiar national character. The apathy and persevering in- dustry of the Dutch is blended with the vivacity and self- assurance of the French, without producing an agreeable compound. The different provinces exhibit some variety of character and manners. On the borders of Holland the people are generally similar to the Dutch, and adopt their customs, amusements, and dress ; but in the southern districts they differ but little from the French in appearance, habits, costume, and language. The Belgians have always displayed a passionate fondness for social liberty — an impatience of control that embroiled them with all their different rulers, and involved them in ruinous disasters during many succes- sive centuries. Writers of all ages agree in describing the Belgians as the most restless, unruly, tumult-loving mortals THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 563 in existence ; always treating their best rulers worst, while the bad overawed them. Brussels, the metropolis of the kingdom, is situated on the Seine, and exclusive of the suburbs, has a population of one hundred and twenty-six thousand inhabitants. It is noted for its manufactures, and is one of the first cities of Europe. Antwerp, on the Scheldt, has a beautiful harbour, is strongly fortified, has a very extensive foreign trade, and eighty thou- sand inhabitants. Ghent, on the Scheldt, thirty-four miles west of Antwerp, is noted for its remarkable and ancient edi- fices, and its manufactures, and has ninety-thousand inhabit- ants. Bruges, twenty-eight miles from Ghent, has extensive manufactures and forty-five thousand inhabitants. Liege, at the junction of the Ourtho and Meuse, has seventy-four thou- sand inhabitants, and is famed for its cutlery, fire-arms, iron works, and coal mines. Mons, Tournay, Roulers, St. Nicho- las, Alost, Dendermonde, Namur, Ypern, and Ostend are large and important towns. Belgium is thickly sown with towns. Spain. The kingdom of Spain comprises nearly four-fifths of the Pyrenean peninsula, at the south-west extremity of Europe, and is separated from France by the Pyrenees. The total area is 179,921 square miles. The surface is thoroughly mountainous. The Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Morena are the chief ranges. The soil exhibits great diversity. The central region consists for the most part of arid, unsheltered plains, either of sand or gypsum, intersected with lofty moun- tains, which reflect with intolerable fierceness the scorching heat of summer, and sharpen into more intense keenness the intense cold of winter. The lower region of the coast, sloping gradually toward the sea, is broken into an alterna- tion of mountains and valleys, producing the most agreeable variety, and presenting a pleasant contrast to the bleak and 564 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE : barren sameness which characterizes the central region. It is everywhere fertile, or may he rendered so hy irrigation. . The mineral and metallic productions of Spain are rich and various. Coal, silver, quicksilver, and lead are the chief. The soil is not so generally fertile as has heen represented, and agriculture is in a very backward state. Wheat, oats, barley, maize, rice, oil, sugar, hemp, flax, sedge, cotton, saf- fron, vanilla, silk, wine, grapes, and a great variety of fruits are the principal productions. Timber is scarce. Horses and sheep are raised in great numbers. Though wool and silk are abundant in Spain, manufactures are in a backward state. Taxes, monopolies, and the indo- lence of the people operate against all attempts at improve- ment. But in Catalonia, Biscay, and Valencia, the most in- dustrious provinces, several branches of the woollen manu- facture are carried on. The anti-commercial policy of the government has had a disastrous effect upon the trade of Spain, and has driven a large portion of the population into the business of smuggling. The contraband trade is quite extensive. The government is a limited monarchy, the sovereign power being vested in a king, or queen, and a cortes consisting of a senate and a chamber of deputies. The senators are ap- pointed by the sovereign from a triple list, prepared by the electors of each province. Each province appoints one de- puty for every fifty thousand persons, for the general con- gress, and besides, has its cortes for local administration. Each town has its corporation, or ayuntamiento. The alcaldes, who are annually chosen in the different towns, are wretched excuses for judges, and both life and property are very inse- cure throughout the country. There is no freedom of speech or of the press in Spain. The Roman Catholic is the established church, and the sovereign is addressed as "his, or her, most Catholic ma- jesty." All other religions are tolerated by law. The re- cent endeavours of protestant ministers to propagate their doctrines, and to circulate the Bible, have met with less ob- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 565 struction than might have been expected. The clergy is wealthy, numeious, and all-powerful. Although a portion of the estates belonging to the church have been confiscated, their value is still very great. The immense number of reli- gious festivals has an injurious effect upon all branches of industry. The means of education are entirely under the control of the clergy, and the great body of the people are consequently ignorant. The chief lesson of the schools is submission to whatever the government or the church authori- ties see proper to direct. In spite of the poverty of the finances, Spain keeps an army of nearly one hundred thousand men, ready for emer- gencies. The navy is insignificant. The nation is burdened with taxes, at the rate of one hundred and twenty reals per head, the amount of which goes to the support of the govern- ment, the army, the nobility, and the clergy. The population numbers about twelve millions inhabitants. The wages of farm labourers average about fifteen cents per diem, when they board themselves. It is believed that over one hundred thousand Spaniards are constantly engaged in the contraband trade, making good profits, defying the laws, and resisting the revenue oflficers. This adventurous life has peculiar attractions for the Span- iards. The manufacturing population is in a still worse con- dition than the tillers of the soil. The number of producers compared with the number of consumers is very small. A vast body of pampered idlers lie like an incubus upon the nation. Spain is divided into twelve provinces, viz,: — New Castile, Old Castile, Galicia, Estremadura, Andalusia, Granada, Va- lencia, Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, Guipuscoa, and the Balearic isles. Madrid, the capital and chief city, is situ- ated on the Manzares, a branch of the Tagus, and contains, besides the royal palace, Buen Retire, seventy-seven churches, many magnificent buildings and beautiful gardens, and about 208,000 inhabitants. Seville, the chief city of Andalusia, is situated on the Guadalquivir, abounds in beautiful and 566 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Spaniards. magnificent edifices, and contains ninetj-one thousand in- habitants. Cadiz, on the Isle of Leon, contains seventy thousand inhabitants, and is the chief port of Spain. Gra- nada, the capital of the province of the same name, is situated on the Xenil river, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, and contains eighty thousand inhabitants, and many highly re- markable edifices built by the Moors. Malaga, a maritime town, in the same province, famous for its grapes and wine, contains fifty-two thousand inhabitants. Saragossa, the strongly fortified capital of Aragon, on the Ebro, has a thriving commerce, and fifty thousand inhabitants. Barce- lona, the fortified capital of Catalonia, and the principal manufacturing town in Spain, on the coast of the Mediter- 568 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: ranean, contains one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Valencia, the capital of the province of the same name, is situated near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and contains sixty-six thousand inhabitants, and important factories. Pal- ma, the fortified capital of the Balearic Isles, has thirty-four thousand inhabitants. Santander, Corunna, St. Jago de Com- postello, San Lucas, Ecija, and Jaen, are large towns. Cor- dova and Xeres de la Frontera, have each sixty thousand in- habitants, and are situated in the fertile and populous province of Andalusia. Portugal Portugal is the most western state of Europe, and occu- pies that portion of the peninsula which lies between the 37th and 42d degrees of north latitude, and the 6th and 10th of west longitude, having Spain upon the east and north, and the Atlantic ocean on the south and west. The total area is 36,108 square miles. In natural features, it resembles Spain. Wine, olive oil, wheat, barley, oats, hemp, and flax, are the chief productions. Agriculture is in a very backward state. Indeed, all branches of industry are in the same condition as we find them in Spain. Silk, calicos, gold and silver ware, and linen, are the chief manufactured articles. The com- merce is quite limited, the exports far exceeding the imports. Since the days of Cromwell, the English have almost mono- polized the trade of the country. Indeed, Portugal may be regarded as a province of Great Britain. The population numbers 3,500,000 persons, 250,000 of whom live in the Azore Isles. The Roman Catholic is the established religion, though all others are tolerated. The means of education are rather imposing than beneficial. The lower orders of the people are generally ignorant, in spite of the existence of universities and common schools. The government is a limited hereditary monarchy, the sovereign power being vested in a king or a queen, and a legislative body. The army numbers about eighteen thou- 570 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: Priest and Peasants. sand men ; the navy, once so mighty, is reduced to nothing. Still the taxes of the people are heavy, and there is but little prospect of their diminution. The Spaniards and Portuguese regard each other with a deep-rooted national antipathy. "Well dotli the Spanish hind the difference know, Twixt him and Lusian slave, the lowest of the low." " Strip a Spaniard of all his virtues, and J^oumake a good Portuguese of him," says the Spanish proverb. "I have heard it more truly said," says Dr. Southey, " add hypocrisy to a Spaniard's vices, and you have the Portuguese character." The two nations differ, perhaps purposely, in many of their habits. Almost every man in Spain smokes ; the Portuguese never smoke, but most of them take snuff. None of the Spaniards will use a wheelbarrow : none of the Portuguese will carry a burden : the one says, ' It is fit only for beasts to draw carriages ;' the other, that < it is fit only for beasts to carry burdens.' " In one respect, however, their tastes are identical, bull-fights being quite as popular among the Portu- guese as among the Spaniards. Semple's statements, as to 572 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: the Portuguese character, coincide with those of Du Chatelet. " The Portuguese are generally dark-complexioned and thin, with black hair, irascible and revengeful in their tempers, and eager in their gestures on trivial occasions. Thej are also said to be indolent, deceitful, and cowardly; but they are temperate in diet, and that may be classed at the head of their virtues, if, indeed, they have many more. They have no public spirit, and consequently, no national character. An Englishman, or a Frenchman, may be distinguished in foreign countries by an air and manners peculiar to his na- tion ; but any meagre swarthy man may pass for a Portu- guese." All classes seem to despise cleanliness ; and Lisbon, and the Portuguese towns generally, are certainly entitled to the not very enviable distinction, of being about the filthiest in Europe. The morals of both sexes are lax in the extreme ; and, as it is averred, assassination is a common offence. On the whole, we incline to think, that owing to vicious in- stitutions, the Portuguese rank about as low in the social scale as any people of Christendom. But the fair presump- tion is, that under the beneficial influence of the new consti- tutional arrangements, the abuses that have depressed and degraded the nation will be extirpated ; and that the Portu- guese will once more recover their ancient place among Eu- ropean nations. Portugal is divided into the provinces of Estremadura, Beira, Entre Minho e Douro, Traz os Montes, Alemtejo, and Algarve. Lisbon, the capital, is in the first of these provinces, on the right bank of the Tagus, contains 280,000 inhabitants, a remarkable cathedral, a large number of fine public and pri- vate buildings, and has a fine harbour and considerable -com- merce. But the city is generally ill-built, and the streets are very dirty. There are several small towns in the same province. Setubathas fifteen thousand inhabitants. Coimbra, the capital of Beira, on the Mondega, has considerable inland commerce, and fifteen thousand inhabitants. Oporto, the capital of Entre Minho e Douro, is situated on the right bank of the Douro, and contains eighty thousand inhabitants. Its commerce and manu- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 573 factures are extensive. The famous "port wine," is the chief export. The city contains numerous and handsome public buildings. France, one of the most powerful of the states of Europe, enjoys a commanding situation, between latitude 42° 20' and 51° 5' north, and longitude 4° 50' west, and 8° 20' east, having the English Channel, the Straits of Dover, and the North Sea, on the north and north-west ; Belgium, Luxem- burg, and the Rhenish provinces of Prussia and Bavaria on the north-east ; Baden, Switzerland, and Sardinia, on the east ; the Mediterranean and Spain on the south ; and the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic, on the west. Its natural lines of separation from other states are the Rhine, the Juras, Alps, and Pyrenees. France holds a position to command three seas. Inclusive of Corsica, the total area of this state is 203,736 square miles. The chief rivers are the Seine, Loire, Garonne, and Rhone. The country is well watered. Canals and railroads are numerous. The soil of France is, in general, very fertile. There are large tracts of mountainous, unproductive land ; but the pro- ductive soil bears a larger proportion to the extent of country than in most other European states. The greatest extent of mountainous surface is found in the departments of the Alps and Pyrenees, and those of Ari^ge, Cote d'Or, DrOme, Doubs, Haute Loire, and Haute Marne. The rich lands are chiefly found in Gers, Aisne, Eure-et-Loire, Eure, Marne, Nord, Tarn, and Yonne. France has considerable mineral and metallic wealth. Coal, salt, plaster of Paris, iron, silver, copper, lead, mercury, zinc, tin, and manganese, are the principal products of the mines. The forests are extensive, and chiefly found in the mountainous districts. The climate of France is not excelled by that of any other part of Eu- rope. The air is generally pure, and the temperature is seldom found in extremes. Around the Gulf of Lyons, the 574 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: people, and strangers in a greater degree, are exposed to a very disagreeable north Avind, called the hise, or circius, which creates a feeling of suffocation. A great quantity of grain is raised in France, but it is not sufficient to supply the home demand. Agriculture is gene- rally in a backward state. The vine culture is of the first importance. It is estimated that 720,000,000 gallons of wine are produced annually, a greater quantity than is pro- duced in any other country. The chief of the other vege- table productions are madder, fruits, sugar-beets, olives, to- bacco, capers, almonds, and truffles. The rearing of live stock is in a backward state. The manufactures of France are various and very valuable. Cotton and woollen goods, silk, fancy articles, hardware, jewelry, perfumes, paper, etc., are annually manufactured to the amount of at least four hundred thousand dollars. The shawls, paper, and cloth, are unrivalled. France ranks next to Great Britain as a commercial state. The imports ex- ceed the exports by many millions. The commerce extends, like that of Great Britain and the United States, to all parts of the world. The government of France is a military despotism, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte being, to all intents and purposes, "the state." There is a constitution, which extends the office of president over the term of ten years, and creates two legisla- tive bodies — a senate, in which the members hold their seats for life, and a legislative chamber of five hundred members; but the president selects the members of both bodies from lists prepared in the departments, and by an extensive system of patronage and an overawing army, he holds the entire power of the state. There is great room for improving and extending the means of education in France. All schools, with the excep- tion of military, mining, and industrial academies, are under the special direction of a Supreme Board, at Paris, called the University, which has nothing to do, in itself, with in- struction. Just as the twenty-seven tribunals are subjected THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 575 to the control of tlie Court of Cassation, the twenty-seven academies are subjected to the orders of the University, while all common schools are under the control of these academies. France has no universities like those of Germany. There are faculties of science and literature at Paris, Cren, Dijon, Grenoble, Montpellier, Strasburg, and pCoulouse. There are three hundred and fifty-nine colleges, eleven hundred private schools, and one hundred and twenty clerical schools. Out of every one thousand French, four hundred can neither read nor write. France must be educated before she can appre- ciate the blessings of a liberal government. There is no established religion in France, all creeds and practices being tolerated. The mass of the people are Ro- man Catholics. There are about four thousand convents in the country. The Protestants number about four millions. It should be observed, however, that many of the Catholics do not regard the authority of the pope, though they hold the Roman creed. The population of France is estimated to amount to thirty- five millions five hundred thousand. The great mass belong to the family of the Romanians. The number of Germans is about 1,500,000, who are chiefly found in Alsace and Lor- raine. In French Flanders, we find about 180,000 Flemings. In Brittany, are about 1,200,000 Breyzards, or descendants of the ancient Bretons. In Gascogne, we find 150,000 Bas- ques. Near the Pyrenees, the gipsies reach the number of 9000.* In general the French are inferior in size and strength to the English and Germans. Five feet two inches is the mini- mum size for regimental recruits. The national character- istics are vivacity, impetuosity, politeness, and sociability. Cool, patient perseverance is the general want. The revolu- tions have swept away the titles of nobility, and rendered the distribution of property more equal. Before the great revo- lution of 1789, the property of persons dying intestate was subject, in different parts of the kingdom, to different rpgula- * Ungewitter. 576 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: tions ; but everywhere, estates could be disposed of by will and settled by entail. At the revolution, a law was passed, so regulating the distribution of property as to divide the land into very insignificant portions. At present, of the en- tire population of France, about half belong to the class of small proprietors, and about two-thirds are actually engaged in the business of agriculture, or depend directly upon it for support. The greater number of these agriculturalists are miserably poor ; nor do the small proprietors live as well as the common labourers in England. They are destitute of capital, intelligence, and enterprise. In some departments, the process of division and subdivision has not been carried so far as in others; but generally, if a property exceed one hundred or two hundred acres, and in many instances, if it exceed eighty, it is divided, and a portion let to a tenant. Leases are usually very short ; and this is another drawback to success in agriculture. The mining population, which numbers about 155,000, is subject to the supervision of officers appointed for the service by the government. The hands employed are but poorly remunerated. From Dunkirk to St. Valery, the inhabitants of the coast derive a considerable part of their subsistence from the fisheries for sole, ray, turbot, mackerel, herring, &c. The pilchard fishery of Brittany employs a large num- ber of fishermen, besides a number of hands in curing and barrelling the fish. The manufacturing population of France may be estimated at between 900,000 and 1,000,000. In 1827, M. Dupin esti- mated the average gains of an artisan and his wife, in a town, at seven hundred and eighty-three francs a year; and in 1832, M. de Morogues estimated their united wages at eight hundred francs. Since that time the condition of the artisan has considerably improved. Rye flour, after supplanting buckwheat and oatmeal, has, in its turn, been superseded, in many parts, by wheat, as an article of consumption. Meat is seldom obtained by the workman. The dress of all classes has been much improved by the more general use of woollens, General Lamoriciere. 37 578 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: cottons, &c., and in most large towns, except those of the south, there is now little externally to distinguish the artisans and their families from the hourgeoise, or lesser trading families. There are considerahle differences in the condition and habits of the workpeople in the different manufacturing towns ; hut, on the whole they are, physically and morally, vastly improved. The instructions of numerous socialist leaders and political theorists, and the formation of clubs for discussing the measures of government, have tended to en- lighten the workmen, though they may cherish impracticable notions. The artisans of the Parisian faubourgs lately evinced their progress in knowledge and judgment by refusing to par- ticipate in, or even to witness, the deluding shows gotten up by the despot. President Bonaparte. The French are the teachers of the civilized world in fashion, manners, and, in a degree, in customs. The Pari- sian plates of fashions for costume are eagerly sought by the heau monde. But there are few cities in the world, where there is so much "polite licentiousness," and "rose-hued corruption," as in the French capital. Other cities copy the politeness, and leave the licentiousness to the Parisians. The people generally are passionately fond of amusements of all kinds. The theatres, opera-houses, circuses, race-grounds, and ball-rooms are on an extensive scale, and very liberally patronized. Music is not so commonly studied as in Ger- many, but there are few Frenchmen who have not a love for the "concord of sweet sounds." France has always been a military power. In 1846, the army consisted of 340,000 men and 81,669 horses. Besides this, there is a regularly organized national guard of immense strength. In 1845, the navy consisted of twenty-three ships- of-the-line, thirty frigates, twenty-two sloops-of-war, one hundred and fifty-four other vessels, four steam* frigates, and forty-one other steam vessels, all in active service, while twenty-three ships-of-the-line, twenty frigates, three sloops- of-war, and two schooners were in the navy yards, and four THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 579 steam frigates, and eighteen other steam-vessels still on the stocks.* France is divided into eighty-six departments, which are subdivided into three hundred and sixty-three districts. The districts are divided into cantons, which are subdivided into communities. The latter number 37,295. Each department is governed by a prefect, each district by an under-prefect, and each canton and community by a mayor. Paris, the capital of France, on the Seine, has a popula- tion of over a million persons. In 1846, the number of in- habitants was 1,053,097. Subsequent events have consi- derably diminished the amount. Paris, besides fourteen sub- urbs, has three sections, called ville, cite, and university. The ville is situated on the north side of the Seine, the cite on the islands of the river, and the university on the south side of the Seine. Paris contains about thirty thousand houses, many of which are eighty feet in height ; 1150 streets, the greater number of which are narrow and dirty; seventy- five public palaces, many of which are very highly adorned; twenty-two bridges, of which the Pont Neuf is famous for its size; forty-one churches, Notre Dame being the most cele- brated; twenty-five hospitals, eighty-four barracks, twenty- four theatres, and eight palaces, the Tuileries and Palais Royal being the chief. The public buildings generally are on a magnificent scale. The public gardens are numerous, large, and highly adorned. The Jardin des Plantes is the most remarkable. There are forty-three public libraries, and the principal one contains seven hundred thousand volumes and seventy thousand manuscripts. The picture galleries, particularly that of the Louvre, are renowned for their ex- cellence, as are the literary and scientific institutions. The manufactures and the inland trade are very important. "Paris," observes Mr. H. Lytton Bulwer, "is divided into quarters as well by its manners as its laws, and these difier- ent districts difi"er as widely one from the other in the ideas, habits, and appearance of their inhabitants, as in the height * Ungewitter. 680 • THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: and size of their buildings, or the width and cleanliness of their streets. The Chaussee d'Antin breathes the atmo- sphere of the Bourse ; and the Palais Royal is the district of bankers, stockbrokers, generals of the empire, and rich tradespeople; and it is the quarter fullest of life, most ani- mated, most rife with the spirit of progress, change, luxury, and elegance. Here are all the new buildings, arcades, and shops, and here are given the richest and most splendid balls. How different is the quartier St. Germain, the district of the long and silent street, of the meagre repast, and the large, well-trimmed garden, of the great courtyard, of the broad and dark staircase, inhabited by the administrations and the old nobility, manifesting no signs of change, no widening of streets, no piercing of arcades or passages: it hardly pos- sesses a restaurant of note, and has but one unfrequented theatre. Farther east, on the same side of the Seine, is the quartier of the students, at once poor and popular, inhabited by those eloquent and illustrious professors who give to France its literary glory. Then there is the Marais, the retreat of old-fashioned judges and merchants, where the manners have been changed almost as little as the houses by the philosophy of the eighteenth century: here are no carriages, no equi- pages : all is still and silent ; you are carried back to the cus- toms of the grand hotels in the time of Louis XIII. Then there is the Faubourg St. Antoine, the residence of those immense masses that reigned under Robespierre, and which Bonaparte, after Waterloo, refused to summon to his assist- ance. And behold the ancient city of Paris surrounded by the Seine, and filled by a vast and wretched population; there, proud amid the sordid roofs around them, rise the splendid towers of Notre Dame, that temple of the twelfth century, which, in spite of the Madeleine, has not been sur- passed in the nineteenth ; there is the Hotel Dieu, the an- tique hospital as old as the time of Philip Augustus, and there is the Palais de Justice, where sat the parliament of Broussel, remarkable in the chronicle of De Retz!" The hotels and restaurants of Paris are numerous ; many THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 681 of them being splendidly furnished, and having the best ac- commodations. The most densely peopled arrondissements of Paris are the Second, Eighth, and Twelfth. Of the en- tire population of the city, it is supposed that nearly one- half are working people, the rest being composed of trades- men, professional men, and persons of independent property. There are about eighty thousand servants, and nearly the same number of paupers. The quantity of crime, profligacy, and suicide in this great city is astonishing. The suicides in Paris during the last twenty years have averaged two hun- dred and thirty. Lyons, at the confluence of the Saone and Rhone, in the Rhone department, is the second French city in population and manufactures, and, including its subm-bs, it has two hundred and ten thousand inhabitants. Its forty thousand silk looms employ eighty thousand persons, and annually pro- duce silks of the value of one hundred million of francs. The weaving population is ill lodged, but abundantly supplied with food. The wages are very low. The hours of work vary from twelve to sixteen. The numerous insurrections of the working men evidence their poor condition. The upper and middle classes of Lyons are eminently rich and comfort- able. The public buildings are numerous and handsome. But the greater portion of the city is irregularly built, and consists of narrow, winding, and dirty streets, rendered dark by the extreme height of the houses. The neighbouring country is thickly inhabited. Marseilles, the capital of the Rhone-mouths' department, is, in some respects, the first commercial city of France. The city is on the Mediterranean, between the mouths of the Rhone and Toulon. Its inhabitants number one hundred and sixty thousand. The city is built around its port, somewhat in the shape of a horse-shoe, and is divided into two parts. The first, or old town, occupies a rising ground, on the north side of the harbour, and is confined and ill-built, with narrow streets, dark lanes, and dirty-looking houses. The second, or new town, is constructed in the modern style, with regular 582 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: Havre. streets and handsome squares and houses, and stands on the south and east side of the port. A magnificent avenue sepa- rates the two divisions of the city. Marseilles has numerous and handsome public edifices, but none which merit particu- lar notice. The commerce is very extensive, and constantly increasing. Nine-tenths of the trade of France with the countries bordering on the Mediterranean centres in this city. The manufactures are numerous and important. The arti- sans form a large and active class. There are few capital- ists in Marseilles. As soon as men realize a competence they retire, as is the custom in Paris. The houses and modes of living resemble those of the capital. Rouen, the ancient capital of Normandy, is situated on the Seine, sixty-nine miles from Paris. It has some hand- some public buildings, considerable commerce, numerous and valuable manufactures of cotton, woollen, silk, etc., and con- tains one hundred thousand inhabitants. Nantes is the chief town on the Loire, and carries on a very considerable foreign THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 583 and inland trade. The inhabitants number ninety thousand. Toulouse, on the Garonne, has many remarkable ancient buildings, numerous manufactures, and eighty thousand in- habitants. Bordeaux, on the left bank of the Garonne, is the emporium of the south-west provinces, and the chief seat of the wine trade. The city is handsomely built, and con- tains one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. About twenty-five thousand tuns of wine are now exported from Bordeaux. The citizens of Bordeaux have always been dis- tinguished for their attachment to royalty, and have made many sacrifices to benefit the French monarchs. Lille and Strasbourg are large, busy, and handsome cities. France has a number of provincial capitals, each with over thirty thousand inhabitants. Havre, the port of Paris, has an ex;- tensive commerce, and thirty thousand inhabitants. Ajaccio, the chief town of Corsica, has ten thousand inhabitants. The people of Corsica resemble the Italians in appearance, manners, customs, and traditions. ^f)e ^nitetr l^ingtrom of Q^xmt ISritain antr Srelantr. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland com- prises two large islands, with several groups of smaller ones, lying at the north-western end of Europe, and separated from the continent by the Straits of Dover. The total area is 117,921 square miles, with a population of 28,500,000 per- sons. The largest of the two islands embraces England, Scotland, and Wales. The smaller island is Ireland. The government is a limited monarchy, — the power being vested in a Sovereign, a House of Lords, and a House of Commons. The Protestant Episcopal Church is established in England, but all creeds are tolerated. In Scotland the Presbyterian church is established. In Ireland four-fifths of the people are Roman Catholics. The nation is divided into three classes — the nobility, 584 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: English Students. gentry, and commonalty. The first comprises dukes, mar- quises, earls, viscounts, and barons ; the second, all who are distinguished for wealth, education, talents, or office; and the third, tradesmen, artificers, and labourers. The surface of Great Britain is diversified. Wales is mountainous; England beautifully undulated; Scotland is divided into highlands and lowlands ; Ireland is generally level and boggy, but has mountains in the south-west. The soil is in general fertile. The climate is healthful, though moist in England and Ireland, and cold in Scotland. The chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, oats, hops, flax, and potatoes. The latter furnish the chief food of the poor. Great quantities of cattle are reared throughout th'e islands. The mines of Cornwall, Wales, and Anglesea, yield coal, iron, lead, tin, and silver. England is the first manufac- turing country in the world. The cotton, woollen, hardware, THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. ' 585 earthenware, silk, and leather manufactures give employ- ment to about two million persons. Scotland and Ireland are also important manufacturing countries. The commerce is superior to that of any other nation and extends to all quarters of the world. Numerous rivers, canals, and rail- roads afford ample means for inland communication. The facilities for the diffusion of knowledge are eight uni- versities — three in England, one in Ireland, and four in Scot- land — numerous seminaries, and an extensive system of com- mon schools. But the schools of Scotland alone can be compared, in management and eflBciency, with those of Ger- many. The army consists of about one hundred and twenty-two thousand men, thirty thousand being kept in India. In 1845, the navy numbered six hundred and eighty vessels, one hun- dred and twenty-five of which were steamers, and ninety-nine ships-of-the-line. Since that time many large steamers have been constructed. England and Wales have a population of 17,000,000, the principality having but 1,000,000 of that number. England proper contains forty counties, or shires ; Middlesex, which contains London, being the most populous. The agricultural population is, in general, better conditioned than in most of the continental states. It is true, the nobility have immense estates, and they are more anxious to make money out of them than to reward the labourer or improve the circumstances of their tenantry; but the system of letting land and the methods of cultivating it, are so much superior to those pre- valent on the continent, that the agriculturists may be said to be, comparatively, well provided. The manufacturing population may be said to be poorly paid, and, in general, badly conditioned. In all the manufacturing towns, there is a vast amount of pauperism and degradation. Men, women, and children are condemned to toil from early morn till night in the factories, for sums which barely furnish them with de- cent lodging and good food. The miners are still more badly conditioned. No portion of the continent can furnish such 686 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE ■x •< r,, English Soldiers and Peasants. a jaded and miserable class of beings. The trading popula- tion is thriving, well provided, and contented. The clergy, nobility, and gentry are highly educated and polished in their manners. The characteristics of the English people are steadiness, perseverance, heartiness, cool observation, and a considerable amount of pride. There are few ways in which national character and habits are more truthfully displayed than in popular sports and amusements. Eox-hunting is the chief of the out-door sports of the country gentlemen of England. Hare-hunting, fishing, and steeple-chases are also much practised. Boat-racing, horse-racing, boxing, wrestling, and cricket are favourite sports with all. London, the metropolis of Great Britain, is situated on both sides of the Thames, about forty-five miles above the river's mouth. The site on the north side is high and dry, but, on the south, it is so low as to be under the level of the highest tides, though by a system of drainage, it is kept free THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 587 from the water. The inhabitants number about 2,500,000. The number of houses is estimated at three hundred thousand, covering about seventeen square miles. The West End of London is the centre of fashion, and besides being adorned by many magnificent residences, has four large parks, which are well styled the "lungs" of the city. The centre of the city is the seat of an extensive commerce, and is full of bus- tle. Westminster contains the royal palaces, the houses of parliament, the law .courts, most of the public offices, and the town residences of nearly all the nobility and aristocracy. There are seven handsome bridges across the Thames. The tunnel under the river is one of the most remarkable works of the age. The churches, the palaces, and the public edi- fices of all kinds, are remarkable for grandeur and beauty. St. Paul's Cathedral is considered as second to St. Peter's at Rome alone. The theatres and opera houses, the chief of which are Covent Garden and Drury Lane, are large and elegant. The hotels, cofiee-houses, and club-rooms are nume- rous and generally well supplied and sustained ; but they are not equal to those of Paris. In spite of the provision of poorhouses and of the exertion of numerous societies, beg- gars swarm in London. The tradespeople are generally better fed, clothed, and lodged than the same class in conti- nental cities. Many of the business men of London reside in the adjacent country. Liverpool, a city with about three hundred thousand inha- bitants, and twenty-five thousand houses, on the Mersey, is next to London in commerce, the great depot of the trade with America and Ireland, and noted for the most costly docks in the world. There are many splendid public edifices in this city, and its population is very active and enterprising. Manchester, on the Irwell, is the great centre of the cotton manufacture, and has three hundred and ten thousand inha- bitants. Birmingham, between Liverpool and London, is the great centre of the manufacture of hardware, including fire- arms, steam-engines, locks, screws, buttons, and such a va- riety of small articles that it has been styled the " toy-shop" 588 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: of Europe. Bristol, on the Severn, has one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, and is the third commercial town in England. Ashton-under-Lyne has one hundred and thirty thousand five hundred inhabitants, and is noted for its cotton manufactures. Sheffield, noted for its cutlery, has eighty-five thousand inhabitants. Stockport, with numerous manufactures, has eighty-six thousand inhabitants. Ports- mouth and Plymouth are great naval stations, and large and handsome cities. Leeds, famous for its manufactures of cloth and other woollen goods, has one hundred and seventy thou- sand inhabitants. Bolton, with cotton manufactures, has ninety-eight thousand inhabitants. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is famous for its coal-pits, various manufactures, and the whale- fishery, and has seventy-two thousand inhabitants. England contains a number of cities, each having a population of over thirty thousand inhabitants, and a great number of small towns. The principality of Wales has an area of seven thousand two hundred and sixty-three square miles, and one million of inhabitants. The Welsh are the descendants of the ancient Britons. They have a language different from the English, and excel in manufacturing flannel. Iron, lead, copper, and coal abound. Wales is divided into twelve counties. Swan- sea, at the mouth of the Tawey, is the most important com- mercial town and watering-place, and has forty thousand in- habitants. There are a number of other considerable towns. The Welsh are generally hardy, industrious, brave, and per- severing. Scotland comprises the northern half of the great eastern island, having an area of thirty-one thousand two hundred and sixty-eight square miles, and a population of two million eight hundred and forty thousand inhabitants. The Gram- pian Hills divide the country into the Highlands and the Lowlands. Politically, Scotland is divided into thirty-two shires, or counties, inclusive of numerous islands. Of the 19,000,000 acres of land in the country, not more than 6,000,000 are arable. The general characteristics of the THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 589 Highlanders. surface are sterility and ruggedness. The Highlands consist chiefly of mountains, moors, and morasses. The Lowlands are rugged, but embrace a considerable quantity of fertile land. The valleys are well cultivated. The loclis, or lakes, are numerous and distinguished for picturesque scenery. Grazing receives more attention in Scotland than agriculture. The cod and herring fishery upon the coast is very valuable, and employs a great number of persons. The manufactures of Scotland are second only to those of England. The com- merce is extensive and important. The inhabitants of the Lowlands are principally of Saxon, while those of the High- 590 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: lands are almost entirely of Celtic origin. The national characteristics are strength and steadiness of purpose, in- dustry, a very great respect for self, shrewdness, and hospi- tality. Landed property in Scotland is in fewer hands than in England, there being only about eight thousand proprie- tors in the country. The greater proportion of the land is distributed into large estates, which are held in entail. Rents are higher than in England. But the comfort and well-being of the agricultural labourers, and the wealth of the farmers, has increased with the rents of the landlords. The common school system renders the body of the people very intelligent. They are generally Presbyterians. Edinburgh, the metropolis of Scotland, is situated near the Frith of Forth, in Mid Lothian. It contains thirteen thousand houses and one hundred and ninety thousand inha- bitants. The new town, on the north, is finely laid out, and beautifully built. Edinburgh has but few manufactures, but it has long been famous for its literary and scientific in- stitutions. Glasgow, on the Clyde, has two hundred and eighty thousand inhabitants, and is the largest and most bustling city in Scotland. Its commerce and manufactures are both very extensive. The cotton manufactures are par- ticularly distinguished. The city is generally well built and contains some fine public edifices. Aberdeen, at the mouth of the Dee, has seventy thousand inhabitants, and is noted for its university, and for its ship building. Dundee has sixty-four thousand inhabitants, and is noted for its manufac- tures. The Hebrides, or Western Islands, are between two and three hundred in number, with a total population of ninety thousand inhabitants, who are mostly Roman Catholics. Ireland has an area of 28,095 square miles, and a popula- tion of 8,600,000 inhabitants. The island is divided into four provinces — Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, and Munsterj which are subdivided into thirty-two counties. The bulk of the nation is of Celtic origin. It may be said of the Irish, that they are ardent in their afiection, credulous, vain, fond to excess of flattery, irascible, impulsive, and usually in ex- THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 591 tremes. Though their bravery is unquestionable, they lack the steady determination of the English and Scotch. They are eminently witty, humorous, sociable, and hospitable. Their light-hearted and cheerful disposition may be regarded as one cause of their lack of progress. Contentment of mind is the enemy of improvement. Four-fifths of the nation are Roman Catholics, and the clergy have great influence over the people. The majority of the other fifth are Presbyte- rians. In the north-east division of the island, the people are generally better lodged, clothed, and fed than in the others ; the wages of labour are higher, and the land is better cultivated. In the southern districts there is a great amount of want and misery. The dense population suifers constantly from high rents, low wages, and the evils of ab- senteeism. Potatoes are the chief food of the agricultural population ; when these fail, as is frequently the case, the horrors of famine visit the country. At present, many pro- prietors are making determined and persevering eff"orts to substitute other kinds of food, and to improve the condition of the country people. Education is much neglected in Ireland. There is a university at Dublin, and there are numerous schools throughout the island; but the system does not reach the mass of the labouring people, and they are generally ignorant. Such has been the amount of emigra- tion from this beautiful, but unfortunate island, that whole districts have been depopulated; and in spite of the recent laudable exertions of proprietors, it is probable that this tide of emigration will continue to flow on. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is situated on both sides and at the mouth of the Lifiey, in the province of Leinster. The inhabitants number 310,000. The city contains nume- rous and beautiful public edifices, a university, six monas- teries, seven nunneries, important manufactures, and an exten- sive commerce. Though in general a handsome city, Dublin contains several ill-built and dingy sections, and beggars are exceedingly numerous in its streets. Perhaps no other city, except London, presents so many scenes of misery. Cork, 692 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. Irish Beggars. tte second city in Ireland in population, is situated upon tlie coast of Munster. It has 130,000 inhabitants, a fine harbour, and is the chief emporium of the south of Ireland. The cove is strongly fortified. Limerick has 70,000 inha- bitants. THE END. SXEBEOIYPED BT L. JOHNSON i CO. PHIIJJ)ElPHIi. NEW YORK, N. Y. 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