Columbia ^Hnitot r^ftp mt^eCttpoflJmgork LIBRARY READINGS IN MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY A collection of extracts front the sources chosen with the purpose of illustrating some of the chief phases of the developmeftt of Europe diirifig the last two hundred years BY JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND CHARLES A. BEARD ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF POLITICS IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY VOLUME I THE EIGHTEENTh CENTURY:^ THE FKENCH REVOLUTION AND IHE NAPOLEONIC PERIOD GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICA(;0 • LONDON ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO ^7 , !^ 37 ^^^^ COPYRIGHT, : COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON AND CHARLES A. BEARD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 829.3 gfte fltftenaeum 3Preg< GINN AND COMPANY . PRO- PRIETORS • BOSTON . U.S.A. ro, f PREFACE However carefully and judiciously a historical manual may be prepared, it is impossible in its brief, compact statements of the fundamental facts to give a lively sense of the reality of the events, conditions, and motives with which it deals. The student is only too likely to learn and repeat the words of the book as mere formulas which fail to stimulate real thought and interest. In order to meet this difficulty and give the text-book its proper background and atmosphere the student must be brought here and there within reach of the living springs of our knowledge and see the very words of those who, writing when the past was present, can carry us back to themselves and make their times our own. These two volumes have, accordingly, been prepared to accompany chapter by chapter and section by section our Developmejit of Modern Europe. The task of selec- tion involved more complications and difficulties than one who has not attempted it would suspect. We can- not claim in every case to have discovered the most pertinent and illuminating extract to meet a particular need ; but we trust that all that we have included will prove to have some interest, and that a great deal is not only of first-rate importance but is also vivid and im- pressive. We have borrowed to some extent from the second volume of Robinson's Readings in European History^ since we could not afford to omit a number of iv Readings iii Modern European History the documents which it gives. Indeed we felt that we could hardly hope to improve appreciably the chapters relating to the French Revolution and Napoleon, and have embodied them in the present volume with but slight changes. The bibliographies in the appendix are merely intro- ductory and make no claim to do more than start the student on the path to a really thorough study of the field. If, however, he familiarizes himself with even the more important of the books mentioned, he will have no trouble in steadily widening, by his own efforts, his knowledge of the authorities and sources relating to modern history. ^ J. H. R. Columbia University C. A. B. CONTENTS AND LIST OF CITATIONS VOLUME I CHAPTER I — FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV Section i. France before Louis XIV 1. Richelieu's account of the condition of France in 1624 ... i Testament politique (Amsterdam, 1689), chap, i 2. Sir William Temple's account of France in 167 1 3 A Survey of the Constitution and Interests of the Empire, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Holland, France, and Flanders, with their relation to England in the year ibyi ; Works of Sir William Temple (London, 1757), II, 222 sqq. Section 2. Louis XIV (^1643-1^13) 3. Extracts from Bossuet's work on kingship 5 BossuET, Politique tiree des propres paroles de V Ecriture Sainte, Liv. iii, art. ii, prop, i, ii, iii (passim), and iv ; Liv. iv, art. i, prop, i ; Liv. V, art. iv, prop, i ; CEuvres (ed. Lachat, 1864), XXIII, 533 sqq., 558 sq., 642 sqq. 4. Saint-Simon's portrait of Louis XIV * 8 Par allele des trois premiers rois Bourbons [written in 1 746] ; Ecrits inedits de Saint-Simon, publics par Faugere, I, 85 sqq. 5. How Louis and his court were entertained at Chantilly . . . 11 Lettres de Madame de Sevigne (April 26, 1671) (ed. de Sacy, 1861 sqq), I, 414 sqq. Section j. Reforms of Colbert (^1661- 168 f) 6. Colbert's account of the financial disorders in France ... 12 Colbert, Memoires sur les affaires de finances de France pour servir h Phisioire, in Clement, Lettres, Instructions, ei Me- moires de Colbert, II, pt. i, 17 sqq. 7. Commercial policy of Colbert 13 Clement (as above, No. 6), II, pt. ii, 426 sqq. V vi Readings in Jlfodcrn European History CHAPTER II — EUROPE AND LOUIS XIV PAGH Section 4. Louis XIV' s Attempt to annex the Spanish Netherlands {1667-1668) 8. Preface to the " Treatise on the Rights of the most Christian Queen" 15 . Negociatioiis relatives h la succession d^ Espagne sous Louis XIV., ed. by Mignet in the Collection de Doctimejtts inedits (Paris, 1835), II, 62 sqq. 9. Sir William Temple on the condition of Spain 17 Works (as above, No. 2), II, 215 sq. Sectio7i^. Louis XIV' s War against the Dutch {1672-1678) 10. Sir William Temple on the opening of Louis's attack on the Dutch 19 Temple, Memoirs of what passed in Christendom from 1672 to ibjq, Works (as above. No. 2), II, 255 sqq. Sectiofi 6. Louis XIV' s Flan for encroaching by " Reunions " upon the Holy Roman Empire 11. Temple describes the conflict of interests in the Holy Roman Empire 22 Works (as above, No. 2), II, 207 sqq. 12. List of " reunions " made by Louis XIV's courts 25 A General Collection of Treaties (London, 1733), I, 347 sqq. 13. The French king demands the surrender of Strassburg, 1681 27 Recueil des lettrcs pour sen'ir d^eclaircissement h Vhistoire mili- taire du regne de Louis XIV (Paris, 1761), pp. 460 sqq. Section 7. The English Revolution 0/1688 and the War of the League of Augsburg {^idSS-idgy) 14. William of Orange states his reasons for invading England 28 A Compleate History of Europe., ibjb-i-joo (London, 1 701), pp. 236 sqq. 15. Saint-Simon's account of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes 31 Memoires (ed. by le marquis de Saint-Simon, 1829), XIII, 115 (under the year 1715) ; Eng. trans, by Bayle St. John, III, 3 sq. 16. The burning of Speyer by the French, 1689 33 Stats-Anzeigen (ed. by A. L. Schlozer, Gottingen, 1789), Heft 51, XIII, 352 sqq. 17. The motives of the English in the War of the League of Augsburg 2^ A Compleate History of Etirope (as above, No. 14), pp. 283 sqq. Contents and List of Citations vii CHAPTER III — RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE AT UTRECHT PAGE Section 8. The Question of the Spanish Succession i8. An Englishman's view of the danger of France's control of Spain 39 George Stepney, An Essay upon the present intet-est of England (3d ed., London, 1701), pp. 10 sqq. Section g. Will of Chai'les 11^ and the War of the Spanish Successiofi 19. Will of Charles II of Spain 42 DUMONT, Corps universel diplomatique du Droit des gens, VIII, pt. ii, 485 sqq. Trans, in A Compleate History of Europe (as above, No. 14), pp. 623 sqq. 20. Louis XIV's letter accepting the Spanish heritage .... 45 Trans, in A Compleate History of Europe (as above. No. 14), pp. 647 sqq. 21. Preamble to the Grand Alliance of 1701 47 A General Collection of Treaties (London, 1733), I, 4^5 ^11- 22. Letter of the duke of Marlborough on the battle of Blenheim 48 The Compleate History of Spain (London, 1707), pp. 280 sqq. Section 10. Peace of Utrecht {1713) 23. Queen Anne's account of the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht 51 A Compleate History of Eta-ope for the year 1712 (London, 17 13), pp. 293 sqq. 24. An Englishman's impressions of Italy about 1750 • • • • 53 John Campbell, The Present State of Europe (3d ed., London, 1752), PP- 376^?^. CHAPTER IV — RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA BECOME EUROPEAN POWERS Section ii. Peter the Great plans to make Russia a Euro- pean Power 25. Bishop Burnet's impressions of Peter the Great 57 Burnet, History of My Own Time (ed. of 1734), II, 221 sq. ■ 26. An Austrian's account of Peter's way of treating rebels . . 59 Diary of an Austrian Secretary of Legation at the Court of Czar Peter the Great, trans, from the original Latin by Count Mac- Donnell (2 vols., London, 1862), II, 85 sqq., 106 sq., iii. 27. General Gordon's impressions of Peter the Great .... 61 Alexander Gordon, The History of Peter the Great (1755), II, 266 sqq. viii Readings in Modern European History PAGE 28. How Peter the Great forced his people to wear Western dress 61 Memoires du rlgne de Pierre le Grand, par le B. Iwan Nestesuranoi [Jean Rousset de Missyj (^Amsterdam, 1728), II, 254 sqq. Section 12. Rise of Prussia 29. Cromwell presents his respects to the Great Elector ... 63 Schilling, Qucllenbuch ziir Geschichte der Neuzeit (2d ed., Berlin, 1890), p. 181. 30. The Pope protests against the assumption of the kingly title by the elector of Brandenburg 64 Ibid. pp. 208 sq. 31. Instructions of Frederick William I for the education of his son 65 Ibid. pp. 230 sqq. 32. Youthful letter of Frederick the Great and his father's reply 66 Ibid. pp. 241 sq, CHAPTER V — THE WARS OF FREDERICK THE GREAT Section ij. Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa 33. Secret instructions of Frederick to his envoy to France, 1740 68 Politische Korrespondenz Friederichsdes Grossen (1879 sqq\ 1, 3 sqq. 34. Secret instructions for Frederick's envoy to Hanover ... 69 Ibid. I, 8 sq. 35. A modern historian's picture of Maria Theresa 71 Alfred Ritter von Arneth, Maria Theresa''s ersie Regie- rtingsjahre (Vienna, 1863), I, 86 sq. 36. Frederick's manifesto upon seizing Silesia in 1740 .... 72 The History of Maurice Count Saxe (London, 1753), I> 222 sqq. 37. A Spanish colonial official's account of the English trade in the West Indies 74 Condensed by Professor William R. Shepherd from Alsedo y Herrera, Pirateras y Agresiones dc las Ingleses y de otros Pueblos de Eurofa en la America espaiiola, desde el Sigh XVI al XVIII (Madrid, 1883), pp. 202-210. Section 14. The Seven Years'* War {^1756-1763) 38. The origin of the Seven Years' W^ar from a French standpoint 77 A Collection of all the Treaties of Peace, Alliance^ and Commerce between Great Britain and other Powers from ibSSto 1772 (Lon- don, 17/2), II, 177 sqq. 39. Frederick's address to his officers before Leuthen .... 80 Schilling, Qnellenbuch (as above, No. 29), p. 274. CEiivres de Frederic le Grajid, XXVII, 283. Contents and List of Citations ix PACK 40. Frederick declares that he is growing old 81 Schilling, Quellenbuch (as above, No. 29), p. 286 sq. CEuvres (as above, No. 39), XIX, 353 Section ij. Three Partitions of Poland {1772, i7g3, and 17^3^ 41. Catharine II announces the first partition of Poland ... 82 Diflomatisches Handbuch (ed. by Ghillany, Nordlingen, 1855), I, 208 sq. 42. Letter of Maria Theresa on the partition of Poland .... 85 Arneth, Briefe der Kaiseriti Maria Theresa an ihre Kinder und Fretinde, I, 151. 43. Frederick William II's proclamation to annexed Polish dis- tricts, 1793 85 Trans, in Tooke, Life of Catharine II (London, 1 799), III, 478 sqq. 44. Declaration of the powers concerning the final partition of Poland, 1795 88 Diplomatisches Handbuch (as above, No. 41), I, 246 sq. CHAPTER VI — THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND FOR INDIA Section 16. How Europe began to extend its Commerce over the Whole World 45. An account of the overland route to India in the fifteenth century 90 " The travels of Nicolo Conti in the East in the Early Part of the Fifteenth Century as related by Poggio Bracciolini," trans, in India in the Fifteoith Century (ed. Major, Hakluyt Society Publications, London, 1857), pp. i sqq. 46. King Manuel's letter announcing the voyage of Vasco da Gama 92 "Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499" (Hakluyt Society Publications, 1898), pp. 113-114. 47. How the Portuguese speedily established themselves in India 94 " The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India " (ed. Birch, Hakluyt Society Publications, 1884), II, 204 sqq. Section ly. England gains a Foothold in India 48. Letter of the Great Mogul to James I, 1614 96 The Etnbassy of Sir Thomas Roe to India (ed. Foster, London, 1899), p. 557- X Readings in Modern European History PAGE 49. A Frenchman's account of the troubles between the Dutch and English traders 97 East India Company s Records (London, 1896-1902), VI, 206 sq. 50. Colbert's view of the situation in India in 1669 98 Clement, Lettres, Instructions et Memoires de Colbert (Paris, 1861-1873), 11,4565^. Section 18. India and the Struggle between England and France for its Possession 51. India under the later Moguls loi PiNKERTON, General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels (London, 1808), VIII, 60, 133, 135 sqq. 52. Aurangzeb forecasts the dissolution of the Mogul empire . 104 Elliot, History of India (London, 1867-1877), VII, 562. 53. A Dutch report of the conduct of Surajah Dowlah, 1756 . 105 India Records Series, Bengal in 1736-17^7 (ed. by S. C. Hill, London, 1905), I, 53 sqq. 54. The " Black Hole " of Calcutta 107 Orme, a History of the Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan (London, 1778), II, sec. i, 74 sqq. 55. Treaty concluded by the English with Surajah Dowlah's successor 109 Henry Vansittart, A Narrative of Transactions in Bengal, 1760 to 1764 (London, 1766), I, 19. 56. Burke's summary of the case against Warren Hastings . , no Edmund Burke, Works (Boston, 1827), VII, 17 sqq. CHAPTER VII — THE RIVALRY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA Sectiofi ig. Now the European Nations established them- selves in the New World 57. How Colbert came to the aid of the French settlers in Canada 114 Father Christian Le Clercq, First Establishment of the Faith in New France (New York, 1881), II, 52-61 passim. 58. How Marquette descended the Mississippi River in 1673 . 116 The Jesuit Relations, edited by Thwaites, LIX, 89 sqq. passim. 59. Captain John Smith's description of the landing in Virginia, 1607 121 John Smith, A True Relation^ etc. (London, 1608), pp. i sqq. Contents and List of Citations xi PAGE 60. Landing at Plymouth, 1620 123 Bradford, History of Plimoth Plantation^ from the original manuscript (Boston, 1901), pp. 93 sqq. 61. How Penn received his grant from Charles II 125 Passages from the Life and Writings of William Penn (ed. Cope), p. 234. Section 20. Struggle between Fra^ice and England for North America 62. A Frenchman's account of the defeat of Braddock . . . . 126 O'Callaghan, Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York (Albany, 1858), X, 303 sq. 63. A Letter of General Wolfe to his mother 127 Robert Wright, The Life of Major-General James Wolfe (London, 1864), p. 553. 64. The battle of Quebec, September 13, 1759 128 Captain John Knox, An Historical Journal of the Campaigns in North America^ jy^j-iybo (London, 1769), II, 6z,-'j() passim. Section 21. Revolt of the American Colonies from England 65. The Boston Tea Party 130 Letters of Joh7i Andrews, Esq., of Bostojt, 1772-1776 (ed. by Win- throp Sargent), Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1 864-1 865 (Boston, 1866), pp. 324 sqq. 66. Pitt on the American colonists' opposition to the taxation . 132 Anecdotes of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (Dublin, 1792), II, 124 sq. 67. Letter of George III on necessity of holding the colonies . 134 The Correspondence of George HI ivith Lord North, II, 252. 68. Cornwallis's own report of his surrender at Yorktown, 1 781 , 135 Charles, First Marquis of Cornwallis, Correspondence (ed. by Ross, London, 1859), I, z^\o-^\2. passim. CHAPTER VIII — THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE Section 22. Condition of the Coti7itry People : Serfdom 69. Arthur Young's conversation with a French peasant woman . 138 Arthur Young, Travels in France during the Years 1787, 1788, i78g (ed. Betham-Edwards, Bohn Library), pp. 197 sq. 70. Feudal dues in France in the eighteenth century 139 Alexis de Tocqueville, The State of Society in France before the Revolution of i78g, Note Ixxvii, pp. 295 sqq. 71. The hunting rights in France 140 Arthur Young, Travels (as above, No. 69), pp. 316 sq. xii Readings in Moderfi Eui^opean History PAGE Section 2J. The Towns a fid the Guilds 72. Condition of the streets of Paris in 1787 141 Arthur Young, Travels (as above, No. 69), p. 103. 73. Adam Smith on the guilds of his day 142 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Bk. I, chap, x, pt. 2. 74. Preamble to Turgot's edict abolishing the French guilds in 1776 145 CEuvres de Turgot (ed. Daire, 1844), II, 302 sgg. Section 24. The Nobility 75. Voltaire contrasts the position of the English and French nobility 146 Voltaire, Letters on the English, No. ix (London, 1733), pp. 66 sq. Section 2^. The Catholic Church 76. The Roman Catholic conception of the Church 148 The Catechism of the Council of Trent, trans, by J. Donavan (New York, 1829), pp. 70 sqq. Section 26. The Jesuits afid Ultramontanism 77. Macaulay's description of the Jesuits 152 T. B. Macaulay, History of England, chap, vi, 78. Sufferings endured by the Jesuit missionaries 154 The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (Cleveland, 1895- 1901), XXXIX, 55 sqq. passim. 79. Bull of Pope Clement XIV suppressing the Jesuit Order . 158 NicoLiNi, History of the Jesuits (London, 1854), pp. 387 sqq. Secfiofi 27. The English Established Church arid the Protestant Sects 80. Voltaire's impressions of the English sects in the time of Walpole 161 Voltaire, Letters on the English, No. v, pp. 34 sqq. 81. Blackstone on religious toleration in England 162 Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of Engla7id, Bk. IV. 82. Extracts from '^ esAey^s Journal 168 The Heart of John Wesley s Journal (New York, no date), pp. 35, 43. 69, i39> 459- CHAPTER IX — THE SPIRIT OF REFORM Section 28. The Develop7?ient oj Modern Science 83. Contrast between the mediaeval and the modern attitude toward natural science . . 172 Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences from the Earliest to the Present Time, Bk. IV, Introd., and chap. i. Contents and List of Citations xiii PAGE 84. Francis Bacon proclaims the principles of modern scientific progress I74 Bacon, The Advancement of Learning (ed. Wright, Oxford, Clarendon Press), Bk. I, iv, 5 ; v, 6, 8 (pp. 31-32, 40-41); also Novum Organum (ed. Spedding, Boston, 1863, Vol. VIII), Bk. I, xvi, xix, Ixxxix, xc, xcvii. 85. The scientific advance in the eighteenth century 178 Taine, Ancieftt Regime, pp. 171 sgq. Sec tie ft 2g. How the Scientific Discoveries produced a Spirit of Reforni 86. Voltaire on Francis Bacon and Newton 179 Voltaire, Letters 071 the English, No. xii, pp. 83 sqq. 87. Voltaire on grace 182 Voltaire, Dictionnaire philosophiqite portatif (1765) — in its original brief form, sub verb. " Grace." 88. Voltaire's views of the relation of Church and State . . . 184 Ibid, sub verb. " Lois civiles et ecclesiastiques." 89. Diderot's preface to last installment of the Encyclopcedia . 185 Diderot, CEuvres completes (Paris, 1876), XIII, 171 sqq. 90. Rousseau's summons to turn back to nature 188 Entile etc VEdtication, par J. J. Rousseau, Citoyen de Geneve (1780), Liv. I (opening). 91. Rousseau's deistic religion 189 Rousseau, Contrat social, Liv. IV, c. 8 ; trans, by Rose Harring- ton (New York, 1893). 92. Montesquieu's theory of the three powers of government . 191 Montesquieu, Esprit des Ids, Liv. XI, c. vi. 93. Extracts from Beccaria's Cri?nes and Ftinishfuents .... 193 Beccaria, An Essay o?t Crimes and Punishments (Edinburgh, 1788), pp. 49 sqq.^ 70 sq., in sqq., 169. 94. The development of political economy in the eighteenth century 196 Morellet, Melanges de litterature et de philosophie du 18^ silcle (Paris, 1818), III, 4 sqq. CHAPTER X — THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY Section 30. Refo7'7ns of Frederick II, Catharine 11, Joseph II, and Charles III 95. How the duke of Wiirtemberg determined to become a benevolent despot 200 RiESBECK, Travels through Germany (in Pinkerton, Voy- ages and Travels, London, 1808), VI, 7. xiv Readings i?i Moder7i Enropea?i History PAGB 96. Frederick the Great's description of a king's duties . . . 202 PostJmmo7is Works of Frederick II, Ki7ig of Prussia (London, 1789), V, 10 sqq. 97. Marginal notes of Frederick on reports of his ministers . 205 Mahon, History of England (London, 1858), IV, Appendix, p. viii. 98. Manifesto of Catherine II promising reforms, 1762 . . . 208 Annual Register, 1762, p. 227. 99. Catherine II urges d'Alembert to instruct her son . . . 209 Ibid. 1763, p. 41. 100. An Englishman's impressions of Catherine II and her court 210 " Letters of Mr. Harris to English friends," in Malmesbury, Diaries and Correspondence (London, 1844), I, 161 sqq. loi. Joseph II gives his ideas of government, 1765 213 " Denkschrift des Kaisers Joseph iiber den Zustand des oster- reichischen Monarchie (Ende 1765)," in Maria Theresa und Joseph II, ihre Correspondenz, heraiisgegeben von Arneth (Vienna, 1868), III, 335 sqq., 344 sq., 2,4^^,-2,60 passim. 102. A German traveler's impressions of Joseph II and Maria Theresa 217 RiESBECK, Travels (as above. No. 95), VI, 78 sq., 81 sq. Section 31. Peadiarities of the English Govermfient in the Eightee7ith Century 103. Blackstone on the English Parliament 220 Blackstone, Commentaries (as above, No. 81), Bk. I. CHAPTER XI — THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Section 32. The Ancien Regime in France 104. Uncertainty and confusion of the Ancien Regime .... 225 Madame la Baronne de Stael, Considkrations sur les principaux evenemens de la revolution franqaise (1818), I, 129 sqq. 105. Protest of a French court against the lettres de cachet . . 227 Memoires sur Lamoignon de Malesherbes, par Eugene de Vig- naux (1876), pp. 61, 69 sqq., 81 sqq. 106. Extracts from Arthur Young's Travels 229 Arthur Young, T'raw/^ (as above. No. 69), pp. 102 sqq., 60 sq., 123, 125, 193, 197 sq. 107. Jefferson finds less misery in France than he had expected 234 Works of Thomas Jefferson (ed. Ford), II, 135 sq. Contents aiid List of Citations xv Section 33. How Louis XVL tried to play the Benevolent Despot PAGE 108. Marie Antoinette reports to her mother that she is now a queen 235 Maria Theresa und Maria Antoinette^ ihr Briefuechsel (ed. Arneth, 1866), pp. 105 sqq. 109. Turgot's letter to Louis XVI on assuming office .... 237 Q£tivres de Turgot (ed. Daire, 1844), II, 165 sqq.; trans, by W. W. Stephens, The Life and Works of Turgot (1895), pp. 85 sqq. 1 10. Maria Theresa warns her daughter of the dangers of dis- sipation 239 Briefwechsel (as above, No. 108), pp. 174 sq. 111. Maria Theresa on the European situation in 1777 .... 240 Ibid. pp. 201 sqq. 112. How France became interested in the American Revolu- tion 242 M'emoires du comte de S'egiir (ed, Barriere, 1859), I, 68 sqq. 113. Necker reviews his own administration 244 Necker, De Vadministratio7i des fi fiances de la France, Introd. 114. Necker on the sway of public opinion in France .... 245 Ibid. CHAPTER XII — THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Section 34. LLow the Estates General were summoned in ijSg 115. CVz/izVr of the third estate of Carcassonne 248 Archives parlementaires, II, 532 sqq. 116. The opening of the Estates General 251 Madame -d^. C A-i,\.v Ati, Memoires sur la vie de Marie-Antoinette (ed. Barriere, 1855), pp. 227 sqq. 117. Arthur Young visits the National Assembly 252 Arthur Young (as above, No. 69), 152 sg., 155 sq., 163 sqq. Section 35. First Refor?ns of the National Assembly, {fuly to October, lySg) 118. Decree abolishing the feudal system 256 Buchez et Roux, Histoire parlementaire, II, 2^g sqq. 119. Declaration of the rights of man 260 Ibid. XI, 404 sqq. xvi Readings i7i Modei'u European History Section j6. The National Asseinbly at Paris {October, lySg, to Septeinber, ^79^) page 120. Mirabeau's advice to the king in October, 1789 263 Correspondance entre Mirabeaii et le conite dc la Marck, I, 364 sgq. 121. The Assembly reviews its great work 26S ^■' Histoire par lenient aire (as above, No. ii8), IV, 329 sqq. /1 22. The civil constitution of the clergy, July, 1790 273 Proces-verbal de V Assemblee tiationale (in 75 vols.), No. 346. Also in Sloane, The French Revolution and Religious Reform, Appendix, pp. 295 sqq. CHAPTER XIII — THE FIRST FRENCH REPUBLIC Section jy. The Abolitiofi of the Monarchy (^lygi-iygs) 123. How the Parisians viewed the flight of the king .... 278 Prudhomme, " Revolutions de Paris," No. CII, Histoire par- lemeniaire, X, 241 sqq. 124. Marat attacks Lafayette and the royalists 281 Qn^yKRMOtiT, Jean-Paul Marat, I, 490 sqq. 125. The Declaration of Pillnitz 282 Martens, Recueil des principaux iraites, V, 260. 126. Opinion of a royalist on the work of the Assembly . . . 283 Le Mercure de France (October, 1791), quoted in Memoires et Correspondafice de Mallet du Pan (ed. Sayous), I, 240 sqq. 127. How the Jacobin Club originated in 1789 285 Alexandre de Lameth, L Histoire de V Assemblee constitu- ante, I, 422. 128. Letter of Louis XVI to the king of Prussia 288 Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette et Madajue Elisabeth, lettres et docttments inedits, publics par Feuillet de Conches, IV, 269 sqq. 129. Count of Provence summoned back to France 289 Histoire parlemefitaire, XII, 231 sqq. 130. The French Assembly declares war on Austria 289 Duvergier, Collection compile des lois, decrets, etc. (ed. of 1824), IV, 140 sq. 131. Decree against the nonjuring priests 291 Ibid. IV, 209 sq. 132. The proclamation of the duke of Brunswick 292 Histoire parlementaire, XVI, 762 sqq. Section 38. The Reign of Terror 133. The debate during the first session of the Convention . . 295 Histoire parlementaire, XIX, 9 sqq. Conte?its and List of Citations xvii PAGE 134. Proclamation of the Convention to the nations, Decem- ber, 1792 298 DuvERGiER (as above, No. 130), V, 105 sq. 135. Announcement of the death of Louis XVI to the Emigres 299 Le Moniteur (February 26, 1793). 136. Selections from the Republican Institutions of Saint-Just . 301 CEuvres de Saint-Just (1834), pp. 361 sqq., 391 sq., 395 sqq., 406 sqq. 137. Desmoulins seeks to extenuate the Reign of Terror . . . 303 " Le Vieux Cordelier," No. Ill (opening), CEuvres de Caniille Desmoulins (1872), III, 3 sqq. 138. Desmoulins pleads for clemency 307 Ibid. No. IV (opening), III, 27 sqq. CHAPTER XIV — NAPOLEON BONAPARTE Section 3g. Bofiaparte^s First Italian Ca?npaign 139. How Napoleon and Joseph learned French ...... 309 Jung, Bonaparte et son Tetups, ijbg-iygg, I, 70 sq. 140. Napoleon's early insight into character 310 Ibid. pp. 97 sqq. 141. Circumstances under which Bonaparte undertook the cam- paign 312 Count de las Cases, Memorial de Sainte-Hel>ne, Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of Emperor Napoleon (New York, 1823), I, 108 sqq. 1142. Bonaparte's proclamation to his soldiers 315 Correspondance de Napoleon /, I, 187 sq. 143. How Bonaparte signed the Treaty of Campo-Formio . . 316 BouRRlENNE, Memoirs of Napoleo^i Bonaparte (Boston), I, 117 sqq. Section 40. How Bonaparte made himself Master of France 144. Bonaparte's proclamation to his Egyptian army, Septem- ber, 1798 318 Correspondance, V, i. 145. Bonaparte informs the Mohammedans that he is their friend 319 Original Journals of the Eighteen Campaigns of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (London), II, 20 sq. 146. Bonaparte's attitude toward his Egyptian adventure . . . 320 Madame de R^:musat, Memoirs (English trans.), pp. 99 sq. xviii Readings in Modern E^tropean History PAGE 147. Bonaparte's own account of Brumaire 322 Corrcspondance, VI, 5 sq. 148. Bonaparte's manners when First Consul 324 Madame de Remusat, Memoirs, pp. 48 sq., note 149. How Bonaparte made others uncomfortable 325 Ibid. pp. 70 sq. 150. How Bonaparte won the hearts of his soldiers 326 Ibid. pp. 86 sq. Sectiofi 41. The Secofid Coalitio7i against Frafice 151. The campaign of Marengo 327 BouRRiENNE, Me7iioirs, II, i sqq. passim 152. Chief articles of the Treaty of Luneville 329 Meyer, Corpus juris confoederationis Gertnanicae (2d ed.), I, 2 sqq. CHAPTER XV — EUROPE AND NAPOLEON Section 42. Bonaparte restores Order and Prosperity in France 153. Why the French people submitted to Bonaparte's rule . . t^^t^ Madame de Remusat, Memoirs, pp. 160 sq. 154. Napoleon's account of the internal condition of France in 1804 334 " Expose de la situation de 1' empire, 10 nivose, an XIII," Ar- chives parlementaires, 2d series, VIII, pt. i, 398 sqq. 155. Impatience of the French soldiers to invade England . . 337 Wairy Louis Constant, Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon, trans, by Walter Clark (1902), I, 250 sqq. 156. Napoleon's proclamation to his soldiers after Austerlitz . 339 Annual Register 1805, pp. 665 sq. Section 4J. Napoleon destroys the Holy Ro??ia?t Efnpire and reorganizes Germany 157. Napoleon announces the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine 341 Meyer, Corpus juris confoederationis Germanicae (2d ed.), I, 101 sq. 158. Abdication of the last Roman emperor 344 Ibid. I, 107. Section 44. The Continental Blockade 159. The Berlin Decree 00.. 346 Correspondance de Napoleon I, XIII, 551 sqq. Co7itents a7id List of Citations xix PAGE 1 60. The Milan Decree 348 Correspondance, XVI, 192 sq. 161. A contemporary's criticism of Napoleon's policy .... 349 Pasquier, History of My Owti Time, I, 313 sgq. Section 4^. Napoleon at the Zenith of his Power (1808-18 12) 162. Extracts from the imperial catechism 351 Larousse, Dictionnaire universclle, sub verb. " Catechisme de I'empire frangais." 163. Napoleon's proclamation to the Spaniards 352 Correspondance, XVIII, 103 sq. 164. Decrees abolishing the feudal dues in Spain 354 Ibid. No. 14,526, Vol. XVIII. 165. Decree abolishing the Inquisition 354 Ibid. No. 14,527. 166. Decree abolishing monastic orders 354 Ibid. No. 14,528. 167. Decree abolishing the interior customs lines 354 Ibid. No. 14,529. 168. Decree " reuniting " the papal states to France 355 Ibid. No. 15,219, Vol. XIX. 169. Napoleon's view of his destiny 355 "Declaration to representatives of Holland (August 18, 1810)," Archives parlementaires, 2d series, Vol. XI. Section 46. The Fall of Napoleon 170. Napoleon's proclamation at the opening of the Russian campaign 356 Correspondance, XXVIII, 528 sq. 171. The crossing of the Beresina 357 Constant (as above, No. 155), III, iii sqq. passitn. 172. Napoleon's conduct after Jena 360 Pasquier (as above, No. 161), I, 311 sq. 173. The Prussian reform edict of October, 1807 361 Geseiz-Sammlung fUr konigUchen preussischen Staaien, i8ob- 1810, Anhang, pp. 170 sqq. 174. The king of Prussia "y^« ;;z^m Volk^^ 363 Schilling, Quellenbuch (as above, No. 29), pp. -^^-j-j sq. 175. Stein's account of the battle of Leipzig 365 Pertz, Das Leben des Ministers Freiherrn vom Stein, III, 433; Schilling, pp. 390 sq. 176. Treaty of Fontainebleau 366 Correspondance, XXVII, 361. XX Readings in Moderii Enropea^i History PAGE 177. Declaration of the allies, March 13, 181 5 367 British and Foreign State Papers^ II, 665. 178. Napoleon's exile on St. Helena 369 Las Cases (as above. No. 141), I, 52 sq., 61 sq.^ 170 sq. CHAPTER XVI — THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA Section 4^. The Co7igress of Vie?ma and its Work 179. Talleyrand's discouragement on starting for the congress . 372 Pasquier, History of My Orvn Time, Memoirs, III, 73 sq. 180. Talleyrand describes his success 373 Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and Kiftg Loitis XVIII during the Congress of Vientia, pp. 240 sqq. iSi. The rivalry of the various European rulers at Vienna . . 375 Memoirs of Prince Metternich (New York, 1880-1889), II, 554 sqq- 182. Chief provisions of the Act of Vienna 381 Hertslet, The Map of Europe by Treaty (London, 1875), I, 211 sqq. Section 48. The Holy AUiance : Metterfiich becomes the Chief Opponent of Revolution 183. The Holy Alliance 384 Hertslet (as above, No. 182), I, 317 sq. 184. Views of Metternich on the proper policy of the European governments 386 Metnoirs of Pritice Metternich, III, 474 sqq. BIBLIOGRAPHY 389 READINGS IN MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY VOLUME I THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE NAPOLEONIC PERIOD READINGS IN MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY CHAPTER I FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV Section I. France before Louis XIV Richelieu was evidently very desirous to leave to pos- terity a full account of his deeds and a complete justi- fication of his poHcy. He undertook to collect material for an elaborate history of the reign of Louis XHI, but fearing that his frail constitution would never permit him to complete the work, he conceived it to be his duty to leave a brief statement, at least, of the most needed re- forms, as a guide for the king when his minister should be dead. In this way Richelieu's famous '' Pohtical Tes- tament " originated. It opens as follows : At the time when your Majesty resolved to admit me to i. Riche- your council and to an important place in your confidence and ^^®"'® ^^^^^^ in the direction of your affairs, I may say that the Huguenots tionof Frana shared the State with you ; that the nobles conducted them- when he selves as if they were not your subjects, and the most powerful jg^^™^ ^^ governors of the provinces as if they were sovereign in their offices. . . . I may say that every one measured his own merit by his audacity ; that in place of estimating the benefits which they 2 Readings in Modern European History received from your Majesty at their proper worth, all valued them only in so far as they satisfied the extravagant demands of their imagination ; that the most unscrupulous were held to be the wisest, and found themselves the most prosperous. I may also say that the foreign alliances were unfortunate, individual interests being preferred to those of the public ; in a word, the dignity of the royal majesty was so disparaged, and so different from what it should be, owing to the malfeasance of those who conducted your affairs, that it was almost impossible to perceive its existence. . . . Thoughtful observers did not think that it would be possible to escape all the rocks in so tempestuous a period ; the court was full of people who censured the temerity of those who wished to undertake a reform ; all well knew that princes are quick to impute to those who are near them the bad outcome of the undertakings upon which they have been well advised ; few people consequently expected good results from, the change which it was announced that I wished to make, and many believed my fall assured even before your Majesty had ele- vated me. Notwithstanding these difficulties, which I represented to your Majesty, knowing how much kings may do when they make good use of their power, I ventured to promise you, with confidence, that you would soon get control of your State, and that in a short time your prudence, your courage, and the benediction of God would give a new aspect to the realm. I promised your Majesty to employ all my industry and all the authority which it should please you to give me to ruin the Huguenot party, to abase the pride of the nobles, to bring back all your subjects to their duty, and to elevate your name among foreign nations to the point where it belongs. Sir William Temple, an able English diplomat and man of letters, gives a striking picture of the flourishing condition of France during the first half of Louis XIV's reign. This he attributes largely to the wise policy of Richelieu and Mazarin. France under Loins XIV 3 The crowTi of France, considered in the extent of country, 2. Sir in the number of people, in the riches of commodities, in the William revenues of the king, the greatness of the land forces now on account of foot, and the growth of those at sea (within these two years France past), the number and bravery of its officers, the conduct of ^JLl^^ ,. ^ . . 1 1 • n • 1 • r • , . (The English Its mmisters, and chiefly m the genius of its present king, a is slightly prince of great aspiring thoughts, unwearied application to modernized) whatever is in pursuit, severe in the establishment and preser- vation of order and discipline; in the main a manager of his treasure and yet naturally bountiful whenever he intends to bestow the marks of favor or discerns particular merit; in the flower of his age, at the head of all his armies, and hitherto unfoiled in any of his attempts either at home or abroad — I say, considered in all these circumstances, France appears to be designed for greater achievements and empires than have been seen in Christendom since that of Charlemagne. The present greatness of this crown may be chiefly attributed important to the fortune it has had in two 2;reat ministers FRichelieu services of ,-,^•-1 1- 11 1- Richelieu and Mazarm] succeeding one another, between two great kings, ^nd Mazarin Henry IV and this present prince ; so that during the course of one inactive life and of a long minority that crown gained a great deal of ground both at home and abroad, instead of losing it, which is the common fate of kingdoms upon those occasions. The later greatness of this crown began in the time of Louis XI, who proposed to bring the government into his own hands. ... 'T is not here necessary to observe by what diffi- culties and dangers to the crown this design of Louis was pursued by many succeeding kings, — like a great stone forced up a hill, and, upon every slacking of either strength or care, rolling a great way back, often to the very bottom of the hill, and sometimes with the destruction of those that forced it on, — till the time of Cardinal Richelieu. It was this great minister most to be admired that, finding the regency shaken by the factions of so many great ones within, and awed by the terror of the Spanish greatness without, durst resolve to look them both in the face, and begin a war by the course of which for so many years (being continued by Mazarin till the 4 Readings m Modern European History year 1 660) the crown of France grew to be powerfully armed ; the peasants were accustomed to payments (which could have seemed necessary only in time of war, and which none but a successful one could have helped to make tolerable) and grew stolid as they grew poor. The princes were sometimes placated by commands in the army, sometimes mortified and suppressed by the absoluteness or adroitness of the ministry. The most boiling blood of the nobility and gentry was let out in so long a war, or wasted away with age and exercise ; at last the war ended in a peace at the Pyrenees and the match so advantageous to France, and the glory of both of these contributed much to the au- thority of the young king, who was bred up in the councils and served by the tried instruments of the former ministry ; but most of all, advantaged by his own personal qualities, fit to make him obeyed, he grew absolute master of the factions of the great men, as well as the purses of his people. . . . Section 2. Lords XIV {1643-17 13) It is especially difiQcult with our modern democratic notions to understand the views and sentiments of those who have regarded obedience to the king, however per- verse and licentious he might be, as a sacred obligation. Nowhere is the divine nature of the kingly power set forth with more eloquence and ardor than in the work of the distinguished prelate, orator, and theologian, Bossuet, whom Louis XIV chose as the preceptor of his son, the dauphin (1670-168 1). His treatise on Politics drazvn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture was prepared with a view of giving the heir to the French throne a proper idea both of his lofty position and of his heavy responsibilities. No one can read this work without being profoundly impressed with the irresistible appeal which kingship, as Bossuet represents it, must make to France imder Loins XIV 5 a mind that looked to the Scriptures for its theories of government. The essential characteristics of royalty, Bossuet ex- plains, are, first, that it is sacred ; second, paternal ; third, absolute ; and fourth, subject to reason. He then continues as follows : We have already seen that all power is of God.-^ The 3. Extracts ruler, adds St. Paul, '' is the minister of God to thee for *^°™ good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he ^oj-^ on beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, kingship a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." ^ Rulers then act as the ministers of God and as his lieutenants on earth. It is through them that God exercises his empire. Think ye " to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David "?^ Consequently, as we have seen, the royal throne is not the throne of a man, but the throne of God himself. . . . Moreover, that no one may assume that the Israelites were Kingship peculiar in having kings over them who were established by f ^i^'"^ ^ r . f . „ , . . 42 Readi7igs in Modern Eiiropemi History Section g. Will of Charles II, and War of tJie Spanish Succession The opening paragraph of the will of Charles II (dated October 2, 1700) and the chief clauses relating to the succession to the Spanish possessions are given below. 19. Will of In the name of the most Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Charles II Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, but one only and true God ; (1700) and in the name of the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eternal Word, our Protectress ; and in the name of all the Saints of the Celestial Court. I, Don Carlos, by the Grace of God King of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, of the two Sicilies, Jerusalem, Navarre, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Majorca, Seville, Sardinia, Cordova, Corsegua, Murcia, Ja^n, Algarve, Algeciras, Gibraltar, of the Canary Islands, East and West Indies, of the Islands and Terra Firma of the Ocean, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Milan, Athens, etc.. Count of Hapsburg, Flanders, Tyrol, and Barcelona, Lord of Biscay and Molina ; knowing that as a mortal man I cannot avoid death, a punishment which we have all of us incurred by the sin of our first parent ; and being sick abed of a long distemper, with which it hath pleased God to afflict me, I declare my last will by this present testament ; which, by an effect of the Divine Bounty, I make with an under- standing as sound and as free as ever I had in my life.^ . . . 1 The correspondence of the English ambassador, Alexander Stan- hope, who was in Spain during the last years of Charles II, gives some hints of that unhappy monarch's condition. Madrid^ September i6, i6g6. His Catholic Majesty has been ex- tremely ill these seven days, which has stopped all couriers and expresses ; but, thanks be to God, is now much better by taking of quinine, yet not so safe as his good subjects wish him. Madrid, September ig, ibgb. The King's danger is over for this time, but his constitution is so very weak, and broken much beyond his age, that it is generally feared what may be the success of such another attack. They cut his hair off in this sickness, which the decay of nature had almost done before, all his crown being bald. He has a ravenous stomach, and swallows all he eats whole, for his nether jaw stands so Reconstruction of Eii?'ope at Utrecht 43 If God out of his infinite mercy give me lawful issue, I declare as universal heir of all my kingdoms, dominions, and seigniories, my eldest son, and other sons, according to the order of their birth, and failing male issue, my daughters, according to the laws of our kingdoms. But since God hath not as yet granted me that favor, at the time I make this will ; and since my chief obligation is to take care of the welfare of my subjects, so ordering it that all my kingdoms may continue united, and maintain that loyalty which they owe to their natural king and lord, as they have always been accustomed to do, and which, indeed, makes me to believe that they will will- ingly acquiesce in what is most just, when they see the same authorized and fortified by my sovereign will : Having then understood by several conferences which I Charles 11 have had with my ministers of State and Justice, that the leaves the reason which led the Infantas Anna and Maria Theresa, queens realms to the of France, my aunt and sister, to renounce their claims to the Duke of succession to these kingdoms, was to avoid the inconvenience ^"J°" of their being united to the crown of France ; and that that fundamental motive having disappeared, the right of succession still continued to subsist in the person of him that is next a kin, according to the laws of those kingdoms, who, it happens at present, is the second son of the Dauphin of France, in case I die without issue ; and accommodating myself to the said laws, I declare the Duke of Anjou my successor, and as such much out, that his two rows of teeth cannot meet ; to compensate which, he has a prodigious wide throat, so that a gizzard or liver of a hen passes down whole. . . . This king's life being of such importance in this conjecture as to all the affairs of Europe, I thought might excuse these particulars, which otherwise would seem impertinent. Mad7-id, March 14, i6g8. The King is so very weak, he can scarcely lift his hand to his head to feed himself ; and so extremely melancholy that neither his buffoons, dwarfs, nor puppet shows — all which have showed their abilities before him — can in the least divert him from fancying everything that is said or done to be a temptation of the devil, and never thinking himself safe but with his confessor and two friars by his side, whom he makes lie in his chamber every night. Spain imder Charles the Second^ Extracts from the Correspond- ence of the Honorable Alexander Stanhope (edited by Lord Mahon). London, 1844. 44 Readings in Modern Eit-ropea7i History Provision for preventing the union of Spain and France I call him to the succession of all my kingdoms, without any exception ; and command all my subjects and vassals that, in case God call me without lawful succession, they should own and acknowledge him as their king and natural lord, and that they give him without delay the actual possession of the said kingdoms, after his taking the oath that he ought to take, to observe their laws, privileges, and customs. And as it is my intention, — since this much imports the repose of Christendom and Europe, and the peace of my said kingdoms, — that this monarchy should always be separate from the crown of France, I accordingly declare, that if the Duke of Anjou happen to die, or fall heir to that crown, and prefer it to this of Spain, the succession of Spain shall go to the Duke of Berry, his brother, the Dauphin's third son, in that same manner : and in case that duke also die, or happen to succeed to the crown of France, in that case I call to the suc- cession of Spain the Archduke, second son of the Emperor, my uncle, excluding for that same reason of the peace of Europe, and of my subjects, the Emperor's eldest son ; and if the said Archduke happen also to die, in that case I call to the succession the Duke of Savoy, and his children. And it is my will that this be executed by all my vassals, as I order them, so that a monarchy founded by my fathers with so much glory shall not be dismembered or diminished in any manner. On November i, 1700, the Spanish ministers con- veyed the news to Louis XIV that "This day, about three of the clock in the afternoon, God called (no doubt to partake of his glory) the soul of King Don Carlos II our lord." Upon opening the king's will they had dis- covered that the duke of Anjou was appointed his heir, and so felt it their duty to give the king of France first notice of its contents. Louis replied to the Spanish council of ministers in the following letter. Most High, most Mighty, and most Excellent Princess, our much beloved good Sister and Cousin, most Dear and Reconstruction of Europe at Utrecht 45 Well-beloved Cousins and Chief Counselors, established for the 20. Louis universal governments of the States depending on the crown of XlV's letter Spain. We have received the letter signed by Your Majesty and heritage of yourselves written the first of this month, delivered to us by the the Spanich Marquis De Castel dos Rios, ambassador of the most High and f^ the^^ame Mighty, and most Excellent Prince, our most dear and most be- of his grand- loved good Brother and Cousin, Charles the Second, king of Spain, son (Novem- r 1 ^ .u X. A •.. J . ! ber 12, 1700) of glorious memory ; and the same ambassador remitted to us at the same time the copy of the Will made by the deceased king his master, containing the order of the heirs which he calls to the succession of his kingdoms and States, and the prudent provision he has made for the administration of the government of the king- dom till the arrival, and during the minority, of his successor. The sensible grief which we feel for the loss of a prince, whom his excellent qualities and the strict ties of blood rendered most dear to us, is infinitely increased by the proofs which he gave us at his death, of his justice and love for his faithful subjects, and the desire he showed to maintain, after his death, the general quiet of all Europe, and the happiness of his kingdoms. We will on our part contribute to the one and the other, answering the entire confidence he always reposed in us, conforming ourselves entirely to his intentions expressed in the articles of the Will which Your Majesty and you have sent us. All our care henceforth will be to raise, by an invio- lable and most strict correspondence, the Spanish Monarchy to the highest pitch of grandeur it has ever arrived at. We accept, in favor of our Grandson, the Duke of Anjou, the W^ill of the deceased Catholic king; our only son the Dauphin accepts it also, quitting, without any reluctance, the just rights of the deceased queen, his Mother, and our dear spouse, as well as those of the deceased queen, our most honored lady and mother, indisputably acknowledged by the opinion of the several min- isters of State and Justice, consulted by the deceased king of Spain. Far from reserving to himself any part of the monarchy, he sacrifices his own interest to the desire of reestablishing the ancient luster of a crown, which the Will of the deceased Catholic king and the voice of his people have unanimously given to our Grandson. 46 Readings in Modern European History Instructions We will cause the Duke of Anjou immediately to depart, in given by order that he may the sooner give his subjects the satisfaction Louis XIV ^ . . ... , , , 11,^,1 to the new of receivmg a king, smce they are so well persuadea that God king of Spain has called him to your throne. His first duty ought to be, to cause Virtue, Justice, and Religion to reign with him, and wholly to apply himself to the happiness of his people, to raise and maintain the grandeur of so mighty a monarchy, to choose always, and reward those whom he shall find in a nation so strong and wise, capable of serving him in his councils, in his armies, and in the different employments of the Church and State. We will instruct him farther in what he owes to his subjects so inviolably devoted to their king, and what to his own proper glory. We shall exhort him to remem- ber his birth, to preserve the love of his country, but, above all, to maintain forever that peace and perfect good under- standing so necessary to the common happiness of our subjects and his own, which has always been the principal object of our wishes : and if the misfortunes of past conjunctures have hindered us from making it appear, we are persuaded that this great event will alter the state of things in such a way, that each day will produce hereafter new occasions to show our great esteem and particular good will to the whole Spanish nation. In the meantime, most High and Mighty, and most Excel- lent Princess, our dear and entirely beloved good Sister and Cousin, We pray God, the Author of all Consolation, to give Your Majesty needful Comfort in Your just Affliction. And we assure You, most Dear and Well-beloved Cousins and prime Counselors, appointed for the Regency of Spain, of the particular Regard and Affection We have for You. FoNTAiNEBLEAU, November 12, 1700 The reasons for forming the grand alliance of Euro- pean powers against Louis XIV in 1701 are clearly set forth in the preamble to the document. Whereas Charles II King of Spain, of most glorious memory, being not long since dead without issue, his sacred Imperial Majesty has claimed the succession in the kingdoms and Reconstnictioji of Europe at UU'ccJit 4y provinces of the deceased king as lawfully belonging to his 21. Preamble august family, but the Most Christian King, aiming at the same *° ''i^® Grand . r , . 1 , T^ 1 r T ■ ^ ^^ Alliance con- succession for his grandson, the Duke ot Anjou, and pretendmg eluded by the that a right did accrue to him by a certain Will of the deceased Emperor, king, has usurped the possession of the entire inheritance or anrthe"^^*^' Spanish monarchy for the aforesaid Duke of Anjou and invaded Dutch by his arms the provinces of the Spanish Low Countries and the duchy of Milan, has a fleet ready fitted in the port of Cadiz, has sent several ships of war to the Spanish West Indies, and by this and many other ways the kingdoms of France and Spain are so closely united and cemented that they may seem henceforward not to be otherwise considered than as one and the same kingdom. So that it sufficiently appears, unless timely care be taken, that his Imperial Majesty will be destitute of all hopes of ever receiving satisfaction in his pretension ; the Holy Roman Em- pire will lose its rights in the fiefs belonging to it in Italy and the Spanish Netherlands ; the free intercourse or Navigation and Commerce which the English and Dutch have in the Mediterranean, the Indies, and other places will be utterly destroyed ; and the United Provinces will be deprived of the security which they enjoyed in the provinces of Spanish Nether- lands lying between them and the French, which is commonly called a Barrier ; lastly, that the French and Spaniards, being thus united, will within a short time become so formidable to all that they may easily assume to themselves the dominion over all Europe. And therefore by this way of proceeding of the Most Chris- tian King, his Imperial Majesty was brought under a necessity of sending an army for the preservation as well of his own private interests as the fiefs of the empire ; the king of Great Britain has thought it requisite to send his forces to the assist- ance of the States General, whose affairs are in the same condition as if they were actually invaded ; and the said States, whose frontiers lie in a manner exposed on all sides by the breaking and taking away of that fence commonly called a Barrier, which screened them from the neighborhood of the French, are forced to do all those things for the safety 48 Readings 1)1 Modern European History and defense of their commonwealth which they should and could do if they were in a war. And whereas so dubious a posture of their affairs is more dangerous than a war itself, and that France and Spain take advantage of this state of their affairs to make a stronger and firmer union between them- selves for oppressing the liberty of Europe and taking away freedom of commerce : These reasons inducing his sacred Imperial Majesty, his sa- cred Royal Majesty of Great Britain, and the High and Mighty Lords of the States General of the United Provinces to obviate so great evils as might arise from thence, and, desiring so much as lies within their power to apply remedies thereto, have thought a strict conjunction and alliance between themselves necessary for repelling the greatness of the common danger. The stern realities of the long and terrible War of the Spanish Succession are shown in this letter of the duke of Marlborough in which he reports to the English ministry his victory over the allied French and Bava- rians at Hochstadt and Blenheim on the Danube below Ulm, August 13, 1704. 22. Letter of Sir : I gave you an Account on Sunday last of the Situation the duke of ^yg were then in, and that we expected to hear the Enemy Marlborough , , , -r^ , t • • ^ i -r> • describing would pass the Danube at Lawmgen, m order to attack Prmce the battle of Eugene [the Emperor's general] at eleven of the Clock that Blenhefm'' ^'ight. We had an Express from him, that the Enemy were (August 13, come, and desiring he might be reinforced as soon as possible. 1704) Whereupon I order'd my Brother Churchil to advance at one of the Clock in the morning with his two Battalions, and by three the whole Army was in motion ; For the greater Expe- dition, I order'd part of the Troops to pass over the Danube, and follow the March of the twenty Battalions ; And with most of the Horse and the Foot of the First Line, I passed the Lech at Rain, and came over the Danube at Donawert. So that we all join'd the prince that night, intending to advance and take this Camp at Hochstet : In order whereto we went out early on Tuesday with forty Squadrons to view Reconst7'uctioii of Europe at Utrecht 49 the Ground, but found the Enemy had already possessed themselves of it. Whereupon we resolved to attack them, and accordingly we marched between three and four yesterday morning from the Camp at Munster, leaving all our Tents standing. About six we came in view of the Enemy, who, we found, did not expect so early an Onset. The Cannon began to play about half an Hour after eight ; They formed themselves in two Bodies, the Elector with Monsieur Marsin and their Troops on our Right, and Monsieur de Tallard with all his on our Left; Which last fell to my Share; They had two Rivulets, besides a Morass before them ; Which we were obliged to pass over in their View, and Prince Eugene was forced to take a great Compass to come to the Enemy : So that it was one of the Clock before the Battle began. It lasted with great Vigour till Sun-set, when the Enemy were obliged to retire, and by the Blessing of God we obtained a Compleat Victory. We have cut off great Numbers of them, as well in the Many French Action, as in the Retreat ; Besides, upwards of twenty Squad- ^^*^^?^°"^ rons of the French, which I push'd into the Danube, where Danube we saw the greatest part of them perish ; Monsieur Tallard, with several of his General Officers, being taken Prisoners at the same time. And in the Village of Blenheim, which the Enemy had intrenched and fortified, and where they made the greatest Opposition, I obliged twenty-six entire Battalions, and twelve Squadrons of Dragoons, to surrender themselves Prisoners at Discretion. We took likewise all their Tents stand- ing, with their Cannon and Ammunition, as also a great number of Standards, Kettle-Drums, and Colors in the Action ; So that I reckon the greatest part of Monsieur Tallard 's Army is taken or destroyed. The Bravery of all our Troops on this occasion cannot be expressed, the Generals, as well as the Officers and Soldiers, behaving themselves with the greatest Courage and Resolution. The Horse and Dragoons were obliged to charge four or five several times. The Elector and Monsieur de Marsin were so advantageously posted, that Prince Eugene could make no Impression on them, till the third Attack, near seven at night. 50 Rcadifigs in Modern European History when he made a great Slaughter of them. But being near a Wood-side, a great Body of Bavarians retired into it, and the rest of that Army retreated towards Lawingen, it being too late, and the Troops too much tired to pursue them far. Praise of his I cannot Say too much in praise of that Prince's good Con- ally, Prince (j^ct, and the Bravery of his Troops on this Occasion. You EufifGnG of Savoy ^vill please to lay this before her Majesty and his Royal High- ness, to whom I send my Lord Tunbridge with the good News. I pray you likewise inform yourself, and let me know her Majesty's Pleasure, as well relating to Monsieur Tallard and the other General Officers, as for the Disposal of near one thousand two hundred other Officers, and between eight and nine thousand Common Soldiers, who being all made Prisoners by her Majesty's Troops, are entirely at her Disposal : But as the Charge of subsisting these Officers and Men must be very great, I presume her Majesty will be inclined that they be exchanged for any other Prisoners that offer. I should likevWse be glad to receive her Majesty's Directions for the Disposal of the Standards and Colors, whereof I have not yet the Number, but guess there cannot be less than one hundred, which is more than has been taken in any Battle these many Years. You will easily believe that, in so long and vigorous an Action, the English, who had so great a Share in it, must have suffered as well in Officers as Men ; But I have not the particulars. I am g-^. Your most obedient, From the Camp at Hochstet Humble Servant, August the 4th [old style dating], 1704 MARLBOROUGH Section 10. Peace of Utrec/it, 17^3 In a message to Parliament in the year 17 12 Queen Anne reported the progress that had been made toward fixing the terms of peace. My Lords and Gentloiicn : The making Peace and War is the undoubted Prerogative of the Crown ; yet such is the just Confidence I place in you, Recotistrnction of Europe at Utrecht 5 i that at the Opening of this Session I acquainted 3^ou, That a 23. Queen Negotiation for a General Peace was begun : and afterwards, ^^^^'^ ac- ° , T • 1 • 1 rr. r couut of the by Messages, I promised to communicate to you the Terms of terms of the Peace, before the same should be concluded. Treaty of In pursuance of that Promise, I now come to let you know ^*^®^'^* upon what Terms a General Peace may be made. I need not mention the Difficulties which arise from the very Nature of this Affair ; and it is but too apparent that these Difficulties have been increased by other Obstructions, artfully contrived to hinder this great and good Work. Nothing, however, has moved me from steadily pursuing, in the first Place, the true Interest of my own Kingdoms ; and I have not omitted anything which might procure to our Allies what is due to them by Treaties, and what is necessary for their Security. The Assuring of the Protestant Succession, as by Law estab- Assuring of lished, in the House of Hanover, to these Kingdoms, being ^}^ Protestant ' ^-r . , „ " ' Succession what I have nearest at Heart, particular Care is taken, not only to have that acknowledged in the strongest Terms, but to have an additional Security, by the Removal of that Person out of the Dominions of France, who has pretended to disturb this Settlement. The Apprehension that Spain and the West Indies might be Danger of united to France was the chief Inducement to begin this War ; ""^°" ^' ^ tween France dominions and the effectual Preventing of such an Union was the Princi- and the pie I laid down at the Commencement of this Treaty. Spanish Former Examples, and the Late Negotiations, sufficiently show how difficult it is to find Means to accomplish this Work. I would not content myself with such as are speculative, or depend on Treaties only ; I insisted on what is solid, and to have at Hand the Power of executing what should be agreed. I can, therefore, now tell you. That France at last is brought to offer, that the Duke of Anjou shall, for himself and his Descendants, renounce forever all Claim to the Crown of France. And that this important Article may be exposed to no Hazard, the Performance is to accompany the Promise. . . . France and Spain are now more effectually divided than ever. And thus, by the Blessing of God, w^ill a real Balance of 52 Rcadijigs in Modern European History Power be fixed in Europe, and remain liable to as few Acci- dents as Human Affairs can be exempted from. . . . Cessions in Our Interest is so deeply concerned in the Trade of North North America, that I have used my utmost Endeavours to adjust England that x'\rticle in the most beneficial Manner. France consents to restore to us the whole Bay and Streights of Hudson ; to deliver up the Island of Newfoundland, with Placentia, and to make an absolute Cession of Annapolis, with the rest of Nova Scotia or Acadia. The Safety of our Home Trade will be better provided for by the Demolition of Dunkirk. Gibraltar Our Mediterranean Trade, and the British Interest and Influence in those Parts, will be secured by the Possession of Gibraltar and Port Mahon, with the whole Island of Minorca, which are offered to remain in my Hands. Trading The Trade to Spain and to the West-Indies may in general privileges ^^ settled, as it was in the Time of the late King of Spain, Charles II, and a particular Provision be made. That all Advan- tages, Rights, or Privileges, which have been granted, or which may hereafter be granted, by Spain to any other Nation, shall be in like manner granted to the Subjects of Great Britain. Slave trade But the Part which we have born in the Prosecution of this War, intitling us to some Distinction in the Terms of Peace, I have insisted and obtained, That the Asiento,^ or Contract for furnishing the Spanish West-Indies with Negroes, shall be made with us for the Term of. Thirty Years, in the same Manner as it has been enjoyed by the French for these Ten Years past. Interests of I have not taken upon me to determine the Interest of our England's Confederates; these must be adjusted in the Congress at Utrecht, where my best Endeavours shall be employed, as they have hitherto been, to procure to every one of them all just and reasonable Satisfaction. In the mean time, I think it proper to acquaint you, that France offers to make the Rhine the Barrier of the Empire ; to yield Brisac, the Fort of Kehl and Landau ; and to raze all Fortresses, both on the other side of the Rhine, and in that River. . . . 1 See below, p. 75. Recojistniction of Europe at Utrecht 53 As to the Protestant Interest in Germany, there will be, on the Part of France, no Objection to the Resettling thereof on the Foot of the Treaty of Westphalia. The Spanish Low Countries may go to His Imperial Majesty ; the Kingdoms of Naples and Sardinia, the Dutchy of Milan, and the Places belonging to Spain on the Coast of Tuscany, may likewise be yielded by the Treaty of Peace to the Emperor. As to the Kingdom of Sicily, tho' there remains no Dispute concerning the Cession of it by the Duke of Anjou, yet the Disposition thereof is not yet determined. The Interests of the States General, with respect to Com- merce, are agreed to, as they have been demanded by their own Ministers, with the Exception only of some very few Species of Merchandize. . . . Those of the king of Prussia are such as, I hope, will admit of little difficulty on the part of France ; and my endeavours shall not be wanting to procure all I am able to so good an ally. . . . France has consented that the Elector Palatine shall con- tinue his present rank among the Electors, and remain in pos- session of the Upper Palatinate. The Electoral dignity is likewise acknowledged in the House of Hanover, according to the articles inserted, at that prince's desire and my demands. And as to the rest of the allies, I make no doubt of being able to secure their several interests. The general situation in Italy in the middle of the eighteenth century is well described by an English trav- eler and man of letters, John Campbell (1708- 177 5). There are few Countries in the World better watered than 24. An Eng- this [i.e. Italy], in respect to Springs, Rivulets, small and great lishman's Lakes, as well as large Rivers. Thus bountifully dealt with by oTltaly^^^"^ nature, it has also, from the Ingenuity and Application of its about 1750 Inhabitants, been esteemed the Mother of Arts and Commerce, in respect to the rest of Europe ; its Reputation is still so high with regard to the first, that the Tour of Italy is considered 54 Readings in Modern European History as the necessary Conclusion of a polite Education ; and in refer- ence to the latter, though the Trade of Italy is nothing to what it was, yet the Ports of Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, and Venice, to say nothing of those in Sicily, make still a very great Figure, and derive vast Advantages to the Sovereigns in whose Domin- ions they are situated. Besides all this, the several Countries of Italy have such Funds of natural Riches, and the People are so happy at improving as well as inventing Manufactures, that they stand in need only of some favourable Juncture to revive their ancient Spirit, and to make as great a Figure as their Ancestors did in comparison with other Nations. Various There is no kind of Government subsisting in any Part of Italian states Europe, of which something of the like Kind is not to be found in Italy. As to the Sovereignty of the Pope, it is peculiar to this Country, as it is vested in a spiritual Person, and yet it is altogether a temporal Power exercised as absolutely, and, as is generally supposed, with more Policy than in any other Mon- archy. The Dominions of those two crowned Heads (for as yet there are no more) that lie within its Limits, are those of his Sardinian Majesty at one End, and of the King of the two Sicilies at the other. The Dutchy of Milan, once the largest and richest in this Part of the World, together with the Dutchy of Mantua and its Dependencies, belong to the august House of Austria. His Imperial Majesty is considered as one of the Italian Powers, not only in that Capacity by which he claims a Title, paramount to the greatest Part, if not the whole, but particularly also as Grand Duke of Tuscany. Don Carlos The Infant Duke of Parma is at length in Possession of a Settlement, composed not only of that Dutchy, and of Pla- centia, which was the Patrimony of his Ancestors by the Mother's Side, but likewise of Guastalla. The republics His Serene Highness the Duke of Modena holds that Dutchy and Reggio, together also with the Dutchy of Mirandola ; and besides these, there are some other lesser Princes who would take it ill if they were not stiled Sovereigns. The Repub- lick of Venice is an unmixed Aristocracy, still venerable for the Wisdom of its Government, as heretofore formidable by the Extent of its Dominions as well as a great naval Force. The of Venice and Genoa Reconstruction of Europe at Utrecht 5 5 Republick of Genoa is an Aristocracy also, but not quite so pure as that of Venice. The Swiss Cantons, the Grisons, their Allies, and the City of Geneva, are so many different Republicks, each having its particular Form of Government, but owing their Strength to their Confederacy, which renders them truly great and for- midable. There are, besides these, two free States, the Domin- ions of which are surrounded by those of Sovereign Princes, to whom, notwithstanding, they owe no Obedience, or even Hom- age ; the first of which is the Commonwealth of Lucca in the Neighbourhood of Tuscany, and the latter the Republick of St. Marino in the Midst of the Pope's Territories. Such is the Distribution of Power in Italy ; and in the sup- porting this Distribution, and maintaining each of these Princes and States in their respective Rights, so as to prevent their encroaching upon each other, or being overborn by a foreign Force, consists the Preservation of the Ballance in Italy, a Term very significant in Policy, and originally invented here, where it is perfectly well understood, though not always prac- ticed ; for if it were, the Powers in Italy need not the Assist- ance of Foreigners to keep it steady, since how small or weak soever some of them may appear when considered separately, yet the Conjunction of their Forces would be at all Times found sufficient to defend this Country from Invasions. . . . But after all, notwithstanding that the Ballance of Power is Foreign inter the common Interest of all these Princes and States, notwith- mention in standing that they know this better than Strangers possibly can ^ ^ do, and are as well satisfied of it as can be wished, yet so it is, that with all their Penetration and Prudence, some or other of them are continually deluded by specious Views and flattering Promises, to act against what they are convinced is their true and great Interest, which would certainly appear a Thing mon- strous and absurd, if it happened nowhere but in Italy, and must on the contrary appear very natural and probable to any impartial Politician who is well acquainted with the Nature of Mankind, and who is sensible that, notwithstanding all their Circumspection and Gravity, the Inhabitants of Italy are Men like their Neighbours, Men having the same or perhaps stronger 56 Readings m Modern European History Passions, and consequently very capable of being wrought upon when the Hopes of gratifying those Passions are placed in a full, though at the same Time in a fallacious, Light. In their Writings and in their Discourses, you see the Benefits of the Ballance perfectly explained, and the Errors of their Ancestors in calling now the French, then the Spaniards, often the Ger- mans, into Italy, very judiciously exploded, while the same thing is practised by themselves to this very Day. Nor can the strongest Foresight Discern when this Infatuation will cease. Predominat- The Truth of the Mattar is, that the Influence of the two ing influence gj-^^t Houses of Austria and Bourbon have in our Days chiefly and Spain contributed to keep the Scale in almost constant Motion, and whenever there has been any little Recess, it has lasted no longer than till the silent Intrigues of the Partisans of one or other of these Houses have been able to pave the Way for new Disputes. Sometimes it has been thought for the Interest of Italy to rid themselves entirely of one House by the Assistance of the other, and when this has been in a good Measure ef- fected at the Expence of much Bloodshed and Confusion, Experience has shewn them their Mistake, in consequence of which they have entered into a new War to set Things right again. Other Nations, more at a Distance, find themselves strongly interested in the Preservation of the Ballance from a Variety of Motives, but principally from these two ; first, be- cause their trade in the Mediterranean must suffer exceedingly if the Ballance in Italy be destroyed ; and secondly, this Bal- lance is attended to, because a Diversion on the Side of Italy proves often a Thing of the last Consequence in the Case of a general War, the very Apprehension of which keeps a very considerable Part of the Forces of each of the contending Houses from being employed where they might be of most Prej- udice to those Powers, who for this Reason make the Ballance of Italy so much their Concern. CHAPTER IV RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA BECOME EUROPEAN POWERS Section II. Peter the Great plans to make Russia a European Power Peter the Great, in his anxiety to reform Russia and make it a great power, visited the western regions him- self, imported miUtary leaders, artisans, and scientists, and did much to remodel Russian customs. One of the most satisfactory accounts of the Tsar's visit to England is given by the sagacious historian. Bishop Burnet. Imentioned in therelationof the former year [1698] the Tsar's 25. Bishop coming out of his own country ; on which I will now enlarge. Burnet's He came this winter over to England and stayed some months oTpeter the among us. I waited often on him, and was ordered both by Great in the king and the archbishop and bishops to attend upon him ^^ and to offer him such informations of our religion and constitu- tion as he was willing to receive. I had good interpreters, so I had much free discourse with him. He is a man of a very hot temper, soon inflamed and very brutal in his passion. He raises his natural heat by drinking much brandy, which he recti- fies himself with great application. He is subject to convulsive motions all over his body, and his head seems to be affected with these. He wants not capacity, and has a larger measure of knowledge than might be expected from his education, which was very indifferent. A want of judgment, with an instability of temper, appear in him too often and too evidently. He is mechanically turned, and seems designed by nature The Tsar's rather to be a ship carpenter than a great prince. This was interest m 1 • 1 • r 1 1 • 1-11 11 TT 1 shipbuilding his chief study and exercise while he stayed here. He wrought 57 58 Readings i7i Modern European History autocracy much with his own hands and made all about him work at the models of ships. He told me he designed a great fleet at Azuph [i.e. Azov] and with it to attack the Turkish empire. But he did not seem capable of conducting so great a design, though his conduct in his wars since this has discovered a greater genius in him than appeared at this time. He was desirous to understand our doctrine, but he did not seem disposed to mend matters in Moscovy. He was, indeed, resolved to encourage learning and to polish his people by sending some of them to travel in other countries and to draw strangers to come and live among them. He seemed apprehen- sive still [i.e. ever] of his sister's [i.e. the Princess Sophia's] intrigues. There was a mixture both of passion and severity in his temper. He is resolute, but understands little of war, and seemed not at all inquisitive that way. Burnet's re- After I had secn him often, and had conversed much with ^ctions upon y^:^ j ^^^j^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^j.^ ^j^g depth of the providence of X\.ussi3.n God that had raised up such a furious man to so absolute an authority over so great a part of the world. David, consider- ing the great things God had made for the use of man, broke out into the meditation, " What is man, that thou art so mind- ful of him? " But here there is an occasion for reversing these words, since man seems a very contemptible thing in the sight of God, while such a person as the Tsar has such multitudes put, as it were, under his feet, exposed to his restless jealousy and savage temper. He went from hence to the court of Vienna, where he. pur- posed to have stayed some time, but he was called home sooner than he had intended upon a discovery, or a suspicion, of intrigues managed by his sister. The strangers, to whom he trusted most, were so true to him that those designs were crushed before he came back. But on this occasion he let loose his fury on all whom he suspected. Some hundreds of them were hanged all around Moscow, and it was said that he cut off many heads with his own hand ; and so far was he from relenting or showing any sort of tenderness that he seemed delighted with it. How long he is to be the scourge of that nation God only knows. Peter's venge ance upon tiie rebels Russia and Pjiissia become Europe a7i Poivers 59 As Burnet mentions, the old and mutinous Musco- vite guard — the Streltsi (or Strelitz, as it is sometimes less accurately written) — took occasion during Peter's absence to rebel. Peter's sister Sophia was implicated, and the Tsar hurried home to make a cruel investigation and take horrible vengeance upon the seditious. An Austrian secretary of legation, named Von Korb, who was in Moscow on the Tsar's return, has left in his diary a painful but probably very accurate account of Peter's savage conduct. How sharp was the pain, how great the indignation, to which 26. An Aus- the Tsar's Majesty was mightily moved, when he knew of the ^^^^'^ ac- rebellion of the Streltsi, betraying openly a mind panting for peter's way vengeance ! He was still tarrying at Vienna, quite full of the of dealing desire of setting out for Italy ; but, fervid as was his curiosity J^^^j^f of rambling abroad, it was, nevertheless, speedily extinguished on the announcement of the troubles that had broken out in the bowels of his realm. Going immediately to Lefort (almost the only person that he condescended to treat with intimate familiarity), he thus indignantly broke out : '' Tell me, Francis, son of James, how I can reach Moscow by the shortest way, in a brief space, so that I may wreak vengeance on this great perfidy of my people, with punishments worthy of their abom- inable crime. Not one of them shall escape with impunity. Around my royal city, which, with their impious eiforts, they planned to destroy, I will have gibbets and gallows set upon the walls and ramparts, and each and every one of them will I put to a direful death." Nor did he long delay the plan for his justly excited wrath ; he took the quick post, as his ambas- sador suggested, and in four weeks' time he had got over about three hundred miles without accident, and arrived the 4th of September, 1698, — a monarch for the well disposed, but an avenger for the wicked. His first anxiety after his arrival was about the rebellion, — in what it consisted, what the insurgents meant, who dared to 6o Readings in Modern Eiiropeaii History instigate such a crime. And as nobody could answer accurately upon all points, and some pleaded their own ignorance, others the obstinacy of the Streltsi, he began to have suspicions of everybody's loyalty. ... No day, holy or profane, were the inquisitors idle ; every day was deemed fit and lawful for tor- turing. There were as many scourges as there were accused, and every inquisitor was a butcher. . . . The whole month of October was spent in lacerating the backs of culprits with the knout and with flames ; no day were those that were left alive exempt from scourging or scorching ; or else they were broken upon the w^heel, or driven to the gibbet, or slain with the ax. . . . Moscow To prove to all people how holy and inviolable are those adorned with ^^,^||g qJ ^]^g ^^j^-y ^yhich the Streltsi rashly meditated scaling in rebels ^ sudden assault, beams were run out from all the embrasures in the walls near the gates, in each of which two rebels were hanged. This day beheld about two hundred and fifty die that death. There are few cities fortified with as many palisades as Moscow has given gibbets to her guardian Streltsi. [In front of the nunnery where Sophia was confined] there were thirty gibbets erected in a quadrangle shape, from which there hung two hundred and thirty Streltsi. The three princi- pal ringleaders, who had tendered a petition to Sophia touch- ing the administration of the realm, w^ere hanged close to the windows of that princess, presenting, as it were, the petitions that were placed in their hands, so near that Sophia might with ease touch them. Peter had a great number of foreign oflficers about him, German, French, Dutch, English, Scotch, in whom he placed great reliance. Alexander Gordon, a Scot, had, after serving for a short time under Louis XIV, drifted to Russia about 1694. He was appointed major general by the Tsar, of whom he gives his impressions as follows : This great emperor came in a few years to know to a farthing the amount of all his revenues, as also how they were laid out. Rzissia and Prussia become Eti7'opean Pozvers 6 1 He was at little or no expense about his person, and by living 27. General rather like a private gentleman than a prince he saved wholly Gordon's that great expense which other monarchs are at in supporting of Peter the grandeur of their courts. It was uneasy for him to appear the Great in majesty, which he seldom or never did, but when absolutely necessary, on such occasions as giving audience to ambassadors or the like ; so that he had all the pleasure of a great emperor and at the same time that of a private gentleman. He was a lover of company, and a man of much humor and pleasantry, exceedingly facetious and of vast natural parts. He had no letters ; he could only read and write, but had a great regard for learning and was at much pains to introduce it into the country. He rose early ; the morning he gave to business till ten or eleven o'clock at the farthest ; all the rest of the day, and a great part of the night, to diversion and pleasure. He took his bottle heartily, so must all the company ; for when he was merry himself he loved to see everybody so ; though at the same time he could not endure habitual drinkers, for such he thought unfit for business. When he paid a visit to a friend he would pass almost the whole night, not caring to part with good company till past two o'clock in the morning. He never kept guards about his person. . . . He never could abide ceremony, but loved to be spoke to frankly and without reserve. A French historical writer of the first half of the eighteenth century, Jean Rousset de Missy, wrote a life of Peter the Great. Although the author never visited Russia, his volumes have some value, since he appears to have taken pains to get reliable information. He thus describes the reform in dress enforced by Peter. The Tsar labored at the reform of fashions, or, more properly 28. How- speaking, of dress. Until that time the Russians had always Peter the 1 1 J 1 • 1 , 1 • , 1 ^ J -1 Great forced worn long beards, which they cherished and preserved with j^jg people much care, allowing them to hang down on their bosoms, to wear without even cutting the moustache. With these long beards ®® ^™ they wore the hair very short, except the ecclesiastics, who. 62 Readings i?i Modern European History to distinguish themselves, wore it very long. The Tsar, in order to reform that custom, ordered that gentlemen, merchants, and other subjects, except priests and peasants, should each pay a tax of one hundred rubles a year if they wished to keep their beards ; the commoners had to pay one kopeck each. Officials were stationed at the gates of the towns to collect that tax, which the Russians regarded as an enormous sin on the part of the Tsar and as a thing which tended to the abolition of their religion. These insinuations, which came from the priests, occasioned the publication of many pamphlets in Moscow, where for that reason alone the Tsar was regarded as a tyrant and a pagan ; and there were many old Russians who, after having their beards shaved off, saved them preciously, in order to have them placed in their coffins, fearing that they would not be allowed to enter heaven without their beards. As for the young men, they followed the new custom with the more readiness, as it made them appear more agreeable to the fair sex. From the reform in beards we may pass to that of clothes. Their garments, like those of the Orientals, were very long, reaching to the heel. The Tsar issued an ordinance abolishing that costume, commanding all the boyars (nobles) and all those who had positions at the court to dress after the French fashion, and likewise to adorn their clothes with gold or silver according to their means. As for the rest of the people, the following method was employed. A suit of clothes cut according to the new fashion was hung at the gate of the city, with a decree enjoining upon all except peasants to have their clothes made on this model, under penalty of being forced to kneel and have all that part of their garments which fell below the knee cut off, or pay two grives every time they entered the town with clothes in the old style. Since the guards at the gates executed their duty in curtailing the garments in a sportive spirit, the people were amused and readily abandoned their old dress, espe- cially in Moscow and its environs, and in the towns which the Tsar often est visited. The dress of the women was changed, too. English hairdressing was substituted for the caps and Riissia and Prussia become European Pozvers 63 bonnets hitherto worn ; bodices, stays, and skirts, for the former uncergarments. . . . The same ordinance also provided that in the future women, as well as men, should be invited to entertainments, such as wed- dings, banquets, and the like, where both sexes should mingle in the same hall, as in Holland and England. It was likewise added that these entertainments should conclude with concerts and dances, but that only those should be admitted who were dressed in English costumes. His Majesty set the example in all these changes. Section 12. Rise of Prussia The Great Elector was very anxious to withdraw his province of Prussia from Poland, which still claimed sovereignty over it. He first allied himself with Sweden, and defeated the Poles in the battle of Warsaw (1650). He then deserted Sweden, and allied himself with the Poles, on condition that they should acknowledge his sovereignty over Prussia. Cromwell found time to ask his secretary, John Milton, the poet, to felicitate the Great Elector on his successes. Alost Illiisti'ious Prince ; dearest friend and attv : Whereas your Highness's exceptional ability in both peace 29. Crom- and war is already famous throughout the world, and your ^®^^ ^^ greatness of spirit and constancy are such as to make all neigh- respects to boring rulers zealously seek your friendship, since none of them *^® Great could desire a truer or more faithful friend and ally ; so we, (16^7)°'^ in order to prove that we too are among those w^ho hold the highest possible opinion of you and your distinguished services to the Christian Church, have sent to you the noble lord, William Jepson, a colonel, and a member of our upper house, in order that he may convey to you, in our name, our most cordial greetings, our best wishes for a happy termination of all your undertakings, and our especial good will and inclination toward you in all things. We beg, therefore, that in all his 64 Readings in Modern European History dealings with you you will bestow on him the same faith and confidence as though everything were authorized and approved by us by word of mouth. In a letter addressed to Louis XIV, the Pope pro- tests against the arrogance of the successor of the Great Elector in assuming the kingly crown. 30. The We, Clement XI, send to our beloved son in Christ our Pope pro- good wishes and apostolic blessing. the assump- Although it is well known to us that your Majesty in no tion of king- way approves the bad example which has been given to all ship by the Christendom by the behavior of Frederick, margrave of Bran- elector of - , . , . ■, , • 1 7 1 . Brandenburg denburg, m darmg to openly assume the title of kmg ; never- (1701) theless, lest we seem to fail in upholding our office, we cannot pass over this matter in silence ; for a non-Catholic person cannot, without affront to the Church, assume the sacred title of King, and the said margrave has not hesitated to call him- self king of a part of Prussia which has from of old belonged to the German knights. Wherefore, in view of this our admonition, we require your Majesty (whose magnanimity is well known to us) to refrain from according to the said margrave the kingly dignity which he has so rashly ventured to assume. Such as he are con- demned and cast out by the word of God, which says, "Ye have ruled, but not through me ; ye have become princes and I have not known ye." Our reverend brother, Philip Anthony, archbishop of Athens, will further communicate our views on this matter to your Majesty, to whom, in God's name, we wish all happiness and graciously send our apostolic blessing. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, under the seal of the fisher- man's ring, the i6th of April, 1701. One can form some idea of the character of Frederick William I from the instructions which he gave for the education of his son, who was later destined to win for himself the proud title of Frederick the Great. Russia and Prussia become European Pozvers 65 . . . Above all else, it is important that his character — 31. Instruc- and it is character which governs all human action — should ^°^® °f be, from earliest youth, so formed that he will love and delight William I in virtue and feel horror and disgust for vice. Nothing can so for the greatly contribute to this end as to implant the true fear of God hi^son^^ ° so early in the young heart that it shall take root and bear fruit (condensed) in the time when there is no longer any guidance or oversight. For other men are guided toward virtue and away from evil by the rewards and punishments dealt out by those who are set above them, but the prince must rely on the fear of God alone, since he is subject to no human law, punishment, or reward. My son and all his attendants shall say their prayers on their knees both morning and evening, and after prayers shall read a chapter from the Bible. He shall be kept away from operas, comedies, and other worldly amusements and, as far as possible, be given a distaste for them. He must be taught to pay proper respect and sub- mission to his parents, but without slavishness. His tutors must use every means they can devise to restrain him from puffed-up pride and insolence and to train him in good management, economy, and modesty. And since nothing is so harmful as flattery, all those who are about the person of my son are forbidden to indulge in it on pain of my extreme displeasure. As to the further studies that become a prince, his progress must depend upon his years and growth, but it must be looked to that he is taught the most important things first, and all without inspiring distaste or disgust. As this will depend largely on the adroitness of his preceptor, Duhan, the latter must con- sult from time to time with the head tutor as to the course to be pursued, which must then be presented to me for my approval. As for the Latin language, he is not to learn it, and I desire that no one shall even speak to me on this subject ; but his tutors shall see to it that he acquires a terse and elegant style in writing French as well as German. Arithmetic, mathematics, artillery, and agriculture he must be taught thoroughly, ancient history only superficially, but that of our own time and of the 66 Readings in Modern Europeaji History last one hundred and fifty years as accurately as possible. He must have a thorough knowledge of law, of international law, of geography, and of what is most remarkable in each country ; and, above all, my son must be carefully taught the history of his own House. His tutors must take the greatest pains to imbue my son with a sincere love for the soldier's profession and to impress upon him that nothing else in the world can confer upon a prince such fame and honor as the sword, and that he will be despised by all the world if he does not only love it but seek in it his only glory ; and his chief tutor shall provide for his being taught the practice of arms as play in his recreation hours. Nothing is more becoming or more necessary in a prince than the ability to speak well under all circumstances; there- fore my son's tutors must look to it that he accustom himself betimes to this art by practice. . . . The following is a suggestive letter of the crown prince, Frederick, written at the age of sixteen, to his father, Frederick William I. WusTERHAUSEN, September ii, 1728 32. A youth- I have not ventured for a long time to present myself before ful letter of j^y ^jg^j- papa, partly because I was advised against it, but the Great chiefly because I anticipated an even worse reception than to his father usual and feared to vex my dear papa still further by the favor I have now to ask ; so I have preferred to put it in writing. I beg my dear papa that he will be kindly disposed toward me. I do assure him that after long examination of my con- science I do not find the slightest thing with which to reproach myself ; but if, against my wish and will, I have vexed my dear papa, I hereby beg most humbly for forgiveness, and hope that my dear papa will give over the fearful hate which has appeared so plainly in his whole behavior and to which I cannot accus- tom myself. I have always thought hitherto that I had a kind father, but now I see the contrary. However, I will take cour- age and hope that my dear papa will think this all over and Russia and Prussia become European Poivers 6/ take me again into his favor. Meantime I assure him that I will never, my life long, willingly fail him, and in spite of his disfavor I am still, with most dutiful and childlike respect, my dear papa's Most obedient and faithful servant and son, Frederick Frederick William replied : A bad, obstinate boy, who does not love his father ; for when Frederick one does one's best, and especially when one loves one's father, "^^^ijiiam's one does what he wishes not only when he is standing by but when he is not there to see. Moreover you know very well that I cannot stand an effeminate fellow who has no manly tastes, who cannot ride or shoot (to his shame be it said !), is untidy about his person, and wears his hair curled like a fool's instead of cutting it ; and that I have condemned all these things a thousand times, and yet there is no sign of improvement. For the rest, haughty, offish as a country lout, conversing with none but a favored few instead of being affable and popular, grimac- ing like a fool, and never following my wishes out of love for me but only when forced into it, caring for nothing but to have his own way, and thinking nothing else is of any importance. This is my answer. ^ Frederick William CHAPTER V THE WARS OF FREDERICK THE GREAT Section I J. Frederick the Great and Maria TJieresa Immediately upon his father's death Frederick threw himself eagerly into the business of government and opened negotiations with the chief European powers with a hope of securing their support, or at least pre- venting their opposition, when he should begin to realize his plans. The secret instructions which he personally prepared for Camas whom he sent to France, and Truch- sess whom he dispatched to Hanover, clearly reveal the spirit of his whole reign. To his envoy to France he says : 33. Secret The pretext for your journey to the court of France is to instructions present your compliments to the kiner as an ally of my deceased of Frederick f , ^ , -r , • r x .1 , j .1 • 1 • to his envoy father and to notify him of my father s death, assuring him to France that I am much inclined to maintain the same attitude toward (June, 1740) ]^jj^^ ^g j^y father, provided that this is reconcilable with my best interests. I am sending Truchsess to Hanover. He is to exercise a check there on the policy of the Cardinal [i.e. Fleury, the French chief minister], and you must talk about Truchsess as a man for whom I have the highest esteem and who is in the secret of things. Emphasize this so that the French wont wish to let me escape them and will make me better terms than they did the late king, my father. England wants me, that is sure, and it is certain that she will make me some advantageous propositions. . . . The increase of my forces which will take place during your stay at Versailles will furnish you an excuse for talking of my 68 TJie Wars of Frederick the Great 69 lively and impetuous habits of mind. You can say that it is to be feared that this strengthening of my army may produce a fire which will sweep all Europe ; that it is the nature of young people to be rash, and you may recall the fact that the ambition to be a hero has caused, and may still cause, infinite disturbance to the repose of the nations. You may say that quite naturally I love France, but that if she neglects me now, that may settle the business once and forever; if, on the contrary, she con- ciliates me now, that I shall be in a position to render the French monarchy more important services than Gustavus Adolphus ever rendered it. Be as civil as possible to the Cardinal ; give him smooth words for smooth words and facts for facts. Find out the ministers' plans, for I am convinced that all their schemes are directed toward gaining some advantage when the Emperor shall die. Try to determine whether the question of the [Aus- trian] succession could induce them to undertake a war, or do you infer that they will merely temporize. Stir up so far as you can their dislike for England. Sound Maurepas and those whom you suspect may succeed the Cardinal and do your best to learn them by heart. These, my dear Camas, are my instructions. I could not have found a more honest or worthy man for the most impor- tant commission possible at the present juncture. I rely upon your fidelity and skill in the execution of my orders, and remain your very faithful king, Frederick RuppiN, June 11, 1740 To Truchsess, the representative he sent to Hanover, Frederick gave the following instructions : I resolved to send you to Hanover to pay the usual compli- 34. Secret ments to the king of England on the occasion of the death of instructions the late king, my father. You will pour out infinite assurances erick's envoy of my personal attachment, for you must exhibit in the presence to Hanover of the ministers and the French minions the most hearty cor- ^J"°®' ^740) diality toward the English ministers, even if there is really very little, for you must pull the wool over the ministers' eyes in 70 Readings in Modern European History order to learn their real intentions. If they talk to you about the welfare of Europe and alliances, say that no one has the welfare of Europe more at heart than I ; that I ask nothing better than to share in it, but that 1 must have favorable terms and solid advantages which will assure the alliance of the two royal houses. You will make much of my sending Camas to France, and will say, with some signs of jealousy, that he is one of my most intimate companions, that he has my full confidence, and that he is not going to France to waste his time. If they want to talk business, tell them that you are not entirely hopeless of the success of your mission if they will only make me as good conditions as the French. ... If they speak of the increase of my forces, say that I shall not on that account live on less happy terms with my neighbors, and that I am looking rather to my safety than to dispoiling them, — in a word, surprise their secrets, proclaim my partiality for them, but do not say any- thing positive. Let them both hope and fear anything and everything. . . . Your reports should be made directly to me. In order to be quite sure of my position I have selected you as an honest man in whom I could place confidence ; I rely accordingly upon your fidelity and skill, and assure you, in return, that I am your very affectionate king, Frederick Charlottenburg, June i8, 1740 Maria Theresa, the young and inexperienced ruler of the vast Hapsburg dominions, was no match for the inde- fatigable and alert king of Prussia, the character of whose intrigues is so well shown in the preceding letters to his envoys. A modern historian gives the following im- pressions of the young Maria Theresa, which he derived from the reports of the foreign diplomats who frequented her court. At the time of her father's death Maria Theresa had not yet completed her twenty-fourth year. Although for a long time there had been no reasonable doubt that she was to be The Wars of Frederick the Great y i heir to the thrones of Austria, still up to this time nothing 35. A modern whatever had been done to introduce her to the cares of State, historian's She was therefore wholly untrained when she became head of Maria The- her kingdom, and there was no way of judging how far she resa would become capable of carrying such an enormous burden. All, however, who knew her had confidence in her ability, since every one who came into contact with her gained the most favor- able impression of her. She possessed in the highest degree all the qualities most likely to win admiration and respect. Her physical beauty had since her marriage developed to its full glory ; she united exceptional charm and majesty of bearing in an unusual degree. The clear beam of her deep- blue eyes, vivacious but at the same time full of tenderness, the high forehead, the rich fair hair, the softly curved mouth, the gleaming white teeth, the fine oval and the gay expression of her face, the clear complexion, the wonderful form of her neck, her arms and hands, her figure, — of more than middle height, — radiant with health, at once strong and graceful, her light and at the same time dignified carriage all combined to prove Maria Theresa one of the few women designed by nature as a perfect model of womanhood. In addition to these advantages she possessed an admirable alertness of mind, a keen judgment, an excellent memory, the fortunate gift of being able either in private conversation or on public occasions to express her thoughts with ease, certainty, and a convincingness as to the correctness of her views, a warm feeling for the reputation of her House and the welfare of her subjects, a deep-rooted regard for law and justice, a sincere piety, and an unshakable trust in God. Such was the princess in whose inexperienced but strong hand lay the fate of the Austrian House and of its wide possessions, — the fate, as well, of many millions of men wholly different in customs, race, and language, who recognized in their common ruler the strongest tie which held them together. Frederick the Great sought to justify in the eyes of the world his occupation of Silesia by issuing the following declaration : 72 Readings in Modern Enropean History 36. Fred- We Frederick, etc. As it has pleased the Ahuighty to take erick's mam- fj-Qjj^ ^-j^jg world the Emperor Charles VI, and consequently the seizing Si- Empire and the most august House of Austria remain without lesiaini74o a head; so that the latter, considering the extinction of the male line, finds itself likewise, in the matter of the succession to its dominions, much exposed to dangerous troubles of which a part have manifested themselves already, and others still are ready to break out : Frederick As we have, moreover, always taken part in what tended claims to act ^^ ^j^^ good and preservation of the duchy of Silesia, for the in self-defense ,. ^ . ,.. iii- reason that it serves for a barrier to our dominions, and that this province in particular might be exposed to the same troubles, and be invaded, to our very great prejudice, as well as to that of our frontiers, by those who entertain pretensions to the hereditary dominions of the House of Austria ; from whence the flame of war might extend itself to our own territories, and expose them to evident danger : Wherefore, in order to prevent consequences so dangerous, upon the outbreak of a general war with which Europe is threatened ; and to provide for the defense of the dominions which God has given us, as well as for that of our subjects, conformably to the principles of natural right, which permits all and every one to be watchful of their own preservation ; and also to prevent divers plans, which are partly kept con- cealed, but of which some have already manifested themselves, and may prove prejudicial to us ; and, in fine, for very important reasons on our part, which we shall not fail to make public in due time, we have thought proper to cause our troops to enter the duchy of Silesia, in order to cover it from being invaded or attacked. Frederick's And as by SO doing we have no intention to prejudice in friendship for <^^ least her Majesty the queen of Hungary, with whom we are resolved to keep a strict friendship, as well as with the whole Austrian House, and to do her and them all manner of good offices, in imitation of our ancestors ; and as it will sufficiently appear in proper time that such only is our view, and that we are besides actually busied in explaining ourselves upon this occasion to her Majesty the queen of Hungary : TJie Wars of Frederick the Great 73 For this reason the inhabitants of the duchy of Silesia and The Silesians of the incorporated provinces, of whatever rehgion or condition ^''^ *° ^^^^ , 1 1111 1 •!• their formei they are, may be assured that they have no hostihty to appre- rights and hend on our part, nor on that of our troops; but that, on the liberties contrary, they shall be maintained in their rights, liberties, and privileges, as well public and private as ecclesiastical and civil ; that they shall have the benefit of our royal protection in its full extent; that we shall give strict orders that our troops observe the most exact discipline ; and that no persons be molested nor troubled in the peaceable possession of what belongs to them. On the other hand, as we enter Silesia without any design of committing the least hostility, but only to support its inhab- itants, preserve their properties, and provide for the tranquillity of that duchy, which is equally necessary to us, we are in great hopes that they will undertake nothing that may be contrary to these gracious offers and marks of friendship, or that can oblige us, contrary to our inclination, to take other measures ; in which case they can impute only to themselves the bad consequences which may result from them. Signed -r^ , Frederick Berlin, December i, 1740 The year before Frederick occupied Silesia war had broken out between England and Spain as a result of the efforts of the former to increase her Spanish-Amer- ican commerce. The methods employed by the English merchants to advance their trade in the Spanish West Indies are described by a Spanish official, Alsedo y Her- rera, who spent years in South America and Panama, of which he was governor, 1 741-1749. The particular inci- dents he relates occurred some eight years after the con- clusion of the Peace of Utrev:ht, but they are typical of the conditions which prevailed during the following years and led finally to the outbreak of hostilities between England and Spain known as the war of Jenkins's ear. 74 Readings in Modern European History 37. A Span- On June 21 of the same year (1721) the Southern Fleet of ish colonial galleons left Cadiz under the command of Lieutenant General count of the Baltasar de Guevara. Upon its arrival at Porto Bello in time English trade for the annual Fair it encountered the Royal George^ the in the West ^^^^ ^^ ^^ English license ships. Though allowed no more than 650 tons of cargo by the treaty of 1 7 16, the vessel actually HowtheEng- Carried 975. General de Guevara forthwith intrusted to three lish evaded license masters of the fleet the duty of measuring the hold of of^the°c om°^^ ^^ English ship, but they could not prove the excess. Their mercial treaty failure was due in part to a confusion of the measurement in geo- with Spain metric feet, by which the dimensions of vessels are gauged, with the cubic handbreadths by which the tonnage is determined. In part, also, another circumstance is responsible for the failure of the Spanish officers to detect any evidence of fraud, assuming, of course, the absence of collusion on their side. Apparently the vessel had no greater carrying capacity than 650 tons, but persons who are expert in the rules of naval con- struction know very well that the steerage, commonly called " between-decks," equals in capacity a third of the hold, and the cabin a sixth of it ; so when all three have been filled, — hold, steerage, and cabin, — the gross tonnage will be 975 . The English ship always carried a cargo of this size. Indeed it was laden so heavily that its very gunwales were awash. Bundles and packages filled the hold, the steerage space was crowded with huge chests, and the cabin bulged with boxes and bales. The English claimed that the materials stored in the steer- age and cabin were furniture for the use of their trading houses, cloth goods for their agents and employees, and medicines and drugs for accidents and cures, but all of it was salable merchandise. Some things they could not conceal from the commander and the commercial representatives of the galleons. For example, many of the bales and bundles had not been pressed, the stitches in their seams were recent, and the ink of their lettering was still fresh. Hundreds of items, also, were lacking in the order of enumeration, which, if they had not been thrown overboard to lighten the ship dur- ing the course of the voyage, must have been put ashore some- where. The proof soon appeared when the Spanish commissioner TJie Wars of Frederick the Gt'eat 75 of trade asked to see the original bill of lading so that he might know by this means whether the cargo was in excess of the amount permitted. On the ground that the treaty had authorized no such procedure, the request was denied. During the course of the Fair the agents of the Royal George sold their goods to the colonial tradesmen thirty per cent cheaper than the Spanish merchants of the galleons could do. This advantage came from the fact that they had been able to bring the commodities directly from the place of manufacture, exempt from Spanish customs duties, convoy charges, transportation expenses, commissions, and the like. Even after the original contents of the ship had been disposed of, the supply was kept up by secret consignments of goods of English and European manufacture received from the packet boats and sloops engaged ostensibly in the slave trade. Instead of bringing the negroes in the slave hulks directly The slave from Africa to the ports specified in the Asiento,^ the English ^^"^^^ cunningly devised the plan of landing them first at their colony of Jamaica. Here the slaves were packed, along with divers kinds of merchandise, into small boats that made frequent sailings. Not only was the cargo of the Royal George thus replenished as rapidly as it was exhausted, but trade could be surreptitiously carried on at times when the Fair was not in progress, and the treasure of the Spanish colonies duly gath- ered into English hands. Nor was this all of their duplicity. On the pretext that a number of bales and boxes stored in the warehouse at Porto Bello were an unsold residue of the cargo, the governor of Panama was asked for the privilege of bringing them to that city. In this fashion the English could legitimize goods that had already been smuggled into the warehouses at Panama and then proceed to sell them to the merchants of New Granada and to the traders on the vessels that plied along the Pacific coast. On one occasion in 1723, at the instance of the Span- ish commissary, ten loads of twenty bales each of the supposed residue of the cargo of the Royal George were opened on the 1 The treaty between Spain and England granting the English the privilege of supplying the Spanish colonies with slaves. 'j6 Readings in JSIodern Enropean History way from Porto Bello to Panama and found to contain nothing but stones, sticks, and straw. A knavish A knavish trick connected with the slave trade should now trick per- -^g described. Having brought the negroes in a number of the EngUsh small boats to out-of-the-way places not authorized for the slave traders purpose in the Asiento, the English traders sold them for a third less than the prices at the regular trading stations. But since the treaty empowered them to seize, as smuggled goods, slaves brought in by individuals of other nations, they posted guards and sentinels in the outskirts of the spot where the sale had just taken place, and had the purchasers arrested. Many a thrifty-minded Spaniard who relished the thought of buying slaves at cheap rates fell into a snare from which he could not escape until he had paid the regular price in addition to what he had already given. The EngUsh In Order to obscure the facts of these fraudulent transactions bribe Span- ^g thoroughly as possible, the Enerlish contrived a scheme ish officials , . ° ^ ,^ , ' , ° , , . . craftier than any hitherto related. It seems that the Asiento had allowed them to appoint ^'judges-conservators" whose business it should be to defend their privileges against unlaw- ful interference. In the exercise of this right they appointed to the office the local governors of the ports where the traffic was carried on, and gave them a salary of two thousand dol- lars a year, supplemented by special gratifications in the shape of European furniture, jewels, and delicacies. Thus were the officials pledged to connivance and silence. If any of the governors should decline to be bribed, he was threatened with political destruction by the letters and complaints which the English minister at the Spanish court would surely present to the home authorities. Few there were under such circum- stances who were able to resist the frauds, preserve their honor, and uphold their good name. Sectio7i 14. The Seven Years' War {1756-1763) Some time after the contest between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa and the rivalry of France, Spain, and England over trade and colonies had involved TJie Wars of Frederick the Great y/ Europe in a world-wide war, Louis XV announced to his subjects, in the following proclamation, his view of the conduct of England and Prussia in precipitating the Seven Years' War, and at the same time sought to justify his own policy, including the Austrian alliance which was unpopular with many of his people. In order to form a clear and just opinion with regard to the 38. Louis negotiation which has lately broken off between France and ^^'® ^^®^ England, it is necessary to recollect the motives which occa- years' War sioned the rupture between the two crowns, and the particular circumstances which have involved a considerable part of Europe in a war, which had at first America only for its object. The limits of Acadia and Canada, which, by the Treaty of The violence Aix-la-Chapelle, were left to the discussion of commissaries to °^ *^^ English be named by the two potentates, have served England as a for the war pretense for commencing hostilities, and for taking two French ships, the Alcide and the Lys^ while, in the midst of peace, and under the sanction of the law of nations, the duke of Mirepoix, the French ambassador, was treating at London in order to prevent a rupture. . . . The unexpected violence offered on the part of the English necessarily brought on the war. His Majesty found himself obliged, though with regret, to repel by force the indignity offered to France, and to prefer the honor of the nation to the tranquillity it enjoyed. If the Court of London had no other design than to estab- England stirs lish the respective possessions of the two crowns in North ^P Europe ., -.. , ,,, , . against France America upon a firm footmg, she would have endeavored to obviate, as France had done, every incident which might en- gage the powers of the Continent of Europe to take part in a war which was absolutely foreign to them, and which in fact, having no other object but what related to the limits of Acadia and Canada, could not last long, and did not require the inter- position of any other power. But England had more extensive views : she endeavored to raise a general war against France, and hoped to renew the famous league which was formed against Louis XIV upon the accession of Philip V to the throne of Spain ; and to persuade all the courts of Europe 78 Readmgs in Modern European History The pacific policy of Louis XV Maria The- resa resists the overtures of England French and Austrian alli- ance of 1756 The conflict consists of two distinct wars that they were as much interested in the Hmits of Acadia as in the succession of Charles II. The conduct of France, in consequence of the first hostihties in 1755, was very different from that of England : his Majesty pacified his neighbors, restrained his allies, refused the advan- tageous prospect of a war, which was proposed to him on the Continent, and gave all the powers to understand that his sole ambition was to restrain his enemies, the English, within due limits, and to maintain peace and justice among the powers, who ought to regard the differences respecting America with the most impartial neutrality. The Court of London, to accomplish their ends, took advan- tage of his Majesty's equitable and pacific conduct. They knew that one of the allies of France might prove a lively obstacle to the establishment of peace and tranquillity, and made no doubt but, in securing that ally, they should be able to make that House, which was considered as the ancient rival of France, enter into all her views ; but the empress-queen of Hungary and Bohemia, animated by the same principles of equity of which his Majesty gave such laudable proofs, refused the pro- posals of England, and rather chose to run the risk of an unjust war, which was the natural and foreseen consequence of the treaty signed at Whitehall between the kings of England and Prussia, than to engage in one contrary to the good faith of her Imperial Majesty. His Majesty and the empress-queen, previous to the king of Prussia's invasion of Saxony, entered into an alliance on the first of May, 1756, which was purely defensive. Their Majesties hoped that their alliance would check the fire which was ready to kindle in Germany, and that it would prevent a war on the Continent of Europe. They were deceived in their expecta- tions : the Court of London had armed the king of Prussia : nothing could restrain a prince whose passion for war was un- happily violent : and he began hostilities at the end of the year 1756, by the invasion of Saxony and the attack of Bohemia. From that time two distinct wars subsisted : one of France with England, which at the beginning had nothing in com- mon with the war in Germany ; and the other which the king The Wars of Frederick the Great 79 of Prussia waged against the empress-queen, and in which the king of England was interested as an ally of the king of Prus- sia, and his Majesty, as guarantor of the Treaty of Westphalia, and, after his defensive treaty of the first of May, as an ally of the Court of Vienna. We must conclude from what has been said with regard to France and the state of the two belligerent crowns, that the war of France Austria bound . , X- 1 1 • • r 1 • • • • T • I- to stand by With England is in tact, and m its origin, very distinct from g^ch other that of the empress against the king of Prussia : nevertheless to the end there is a connection between the two wars, which consists in the common engagement between the king and the empress- queen, not to make a separate peace with the common enemy but by mutual consent. This engagement, which is so con- formable to the sentiments of friendship and confidence by which their Majesties are united, was necessary for their recip- rocal security. As it would be dangerous for the forces of the king of Prussia to join against France with those of England, commanded by Prince Ferdinand, it would be equally preju- dicial and contrary to the faith of his Majesty's engagements with the Court of Vienna, that the British army should join the king of Prussia against the empress-queen, and against the princes of the Empire who are in alliance with France. Although the year 1758 produced no political event which might give room to a negotiation for the reestablishment of peace, yet France, ever zealous to promote it with the same sincerity, made use of the mediation of Denmark to inform England of her perseverance in the same pacific dispositions ; the answer from the Court of London was as haughty as it was negative, and destroyed all hopes of a negotiation. The Seven Years' War opened disastrously for Fred- erick the Great. His only ally against all Europe was England. In spite of a victory over the French at Rossbach (November 5, 1757), his situation, which he describes in the following address to his generals, was a very critical one. But so great was his military skill and the valor of the soldiers, whom he inspired with his 80 Readings in Modern European History 39. Fred- erick's ad- dress to his generals and staff officers December 3, 1757, before his victory at Leuthen own fiery confidence, that on December 5 he won the battle of Leuthen against tremendous odds, — a victory which Napoleon declared would alone have entitled him to rank among the greatest generals. You are aware, gentlemen, that Prince Karl of Lorraine has succeeded in taking Schweidnitz, defeating the duke of Bevern and making himself master of Breslau, while I was engaged in checking the advance of the French and imperial forces. A part of Schleswig, my capital, and all the military stores it contained, are lost, and I should feel myself in dire straits indeed if it were not for my unbounded confidence in your courage, your con- stancy, and your love for the fatherland, which you have proved to me on so many occasions in the past. These services to me and to the fatherland have touched the deepest fibers of my heart. There is hardly one among you who has not distin- guished himself by some conspicuous deed of valor, wherefore I flatter myself that in the approaching opportunity also you will not fail in any sacrifice that your country may demand of you. And this opportunity is close at hand. I should feel that I had accomplished nothing if Austria were left in possession of Schleswig. Let me tell you then that I propose, in defiance of all the rules of the art of war, to attack the army of Prince Karl, three times as large as ours, wherever I find it. It is here no question of the numbers of the enemy nor of the importance of the positions they have occupied ; all this I hope to over- come by the devotion of my troops and the careful carrying out of my plans. I must take this step or all will be lost ; we must defeat the enemy, else we shall all lie buried under his batteries. So I believe — so I shall act. Communicate my decision to all the officers of the army ; prepare the common soldier for the exertions that are to come, and tell him that I feel justified in expecting unquestioning obedience from him. Remember that you are Prussians and you cannot show yourselves unworthy of that distinction. But if there be one or other among you who fears to share with me any and all danger, he shall at once be given his discharge without reproach from me. The Wars of Frederick the Great 8 1 (The solemn silence with which this speech was received and the glow of enthusiasm reflected in the faces of his hearers convinced Frederick that he had produced the effect he desired. With a gentle smile he continued :) I was convinced that no one of you would wish to leave me ; I count then, absolutely, on your faithful help and on certain victory. Should I not return to reward you for your devotion, the fatherland itself must do it. Return now to camp and repeat to your troops what you have heard from me. The regiment of cavalry that does not immediately on the receipt of orders throw itself upon the enemy I will have unmounted immediately after the battle and make it a garrison regiment. The battalion of infantry that even begins to hesitate, no matter what the danger may be, shall lose its flags and its swords and have the gold lace stripped from its uniforms. And now, gentlemen, farewell ; erelong we shall either have defeated the enemy or we shall see each other no more. Before the end of the long and exhausting war Fred- erick had met with several crushing reverses, and his resources had dwindled to almost nothing. He writes the following letter, September 27, 1762, not long be- fore peace was finally concluded, to his trusted French friend, d'Argens. I am so accustomed to reverses and mishaps and I am be- 40. Fred- coming so indifferent to the events of this world, that things ^^^^ *l^J ^ which would formerly have made the most profound impression he is grow- upon me now glide but lightly over my spirit. I can assure ing old you, my dear marquis, that I have really made some progress in the practice of philosophy. I am growing old, the end of my days draws near, and my spirit is gradually detaching itself from the fleeting spectacle of this world, which I shall leave so soon. The circumstances of the past winter, the revolution in Russia, the perfidy of the English, — what subjects for cultivating one's reason if one but reflects on them ! And who would wish to keep low company all one's life in this worst of all possible worlds? I mention only a few of my causes for 82 Readings in Modem European History disgust, but I have had so many during this war that my • capacity for feeling is exhausted, and a callus of insensibility and indifference has formed that makes me good for nothing. I write you naturally, just as I feel. It will pain you a little, but believe me that it is a great relief to unburden one's heart, and consider the situation in which I am placed. Farewell, my dear marquis ; I will write no more this time, and I close with assurances of my sincere friendship. Section I^. Three Partitions of Poland {1772, 1793, and 1795) The following is the declaration which the minister plenipotentiary of Russia communicated in the name of her Imperial Majesty Catharine II, to the king and republic of Poland on September 18, 1772, announcing the first partition of that country. 41. Catharine The States bordering upon Poland have so often been in- II announces ygived in the disorders which have arisen during interregnums the first . , , . , , , . , . ° , , ? partition of in that kmgdom, that the experience of the past would m any Poland (1772) case have led the neighboring powers to occupy themselves seriously with the affairs of that State the moment that the throne became vacant by the death of King Augustus III. This consideration and the obvious necessity of preventing the fatal effects of dissensions which threatened to arise with this last vacancy of the throne, led the Court of St. Petersburg to endeavor to bring about a union in favor of a candidate who should be at once the most worthy of the throne, and the most suitable to the interests of his fellow-citizens and of the neigh- boring States. It endeavored at the same time to rectify certain abuses in the constitution of the Polish State. The Court of Berlin seconded the measures of its ally, while the Court of Vienna, although anxious to cooperate in assuring the success of these praiseworthy measures, believed it best on account of the embarrassments which might arise from increas- ing the number of those interfering directly in the domestic The Wars of Frederick the Great 83 affairs of Poland, to remain neutral in this matter as well as in the war which sprang from it between Russia and the Ottoman Port. As a result of these measures, the powers had the satisfac- tion of seeing the free and legal election of King Stanislas, who is now reigning, as well as other useful results. Every- thing seemed to promise a firm peace for both Poland and her neighbors, but unhappily the spirit of discord took possession of a portion of the nation, and destroyed in an instant all these hopes. Citizens armed themselves against one another, factions usurped the legitimate authority, which they abused in utter contempt of law, good order, and public security. Justice, the police, commerce, yes, agriculture itself, all were destroyed. The natural connection between Poland and her neighbors The tran- led them to feel most keenly the sad effects of these disorders. q^iHity of They have been forced for a long time to take the most costly neighbors measures in order to assure the tranquillity of their own fron- disturbed tiers, and they are exposed, owing to uncertainty of what may result from the destruction of this kingdom, to the danger of the decline of the friendship and harmony which now exists among them. Nothing is consequently more urgent than a prompt remedy for these ills, which are producing the most vexatious effects in the neighboring states, and which, if no measures of prevention are taken, will probably entail modifi- cations of the political system of this part of Europe. Reasons of such weight forbid his Majesty the King of Prus- sia, her Majesty the Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias longer to defer taking a decisive stand in so critical a situation. These powers have agreed accordingly to attempt to reach without loss of time a common understanding, in order to restore peace and good order in Poland, and establish the ancient constitution of this State and the liberties of the nation upon a sound basis. But while they have been able to prevent for the moment Ancient the ruin and the arbitrary destruction of this kine^dom, owing to claims to r . ^ ^ . 1 , . „. , . , . PoHsh terri- the friendship and good intelligence which now exists among ^Qj-y are them, they have had no assurance that they would meet with advanced equal success in the future. They all had considerable claims 84 Readifigs in Modern European History upon various possessions of the republic. They could not allow these to be abandoned to the course of events ; they conse- quently determined to enforce their ancient rights and legiti- mate claims on the possessions of the republic, — claims which each is ready to justify in due time and in the proper place. Consequently his Majesty the King of Prussia, her Majesty the Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and her Im- perial Majesty of all the Russias, having mutually set forth their rights and claims, and having come to an agreement, will each take an equivalent of the district to which they lay claim, and will put themselves in effective possession of those portions of Poland which are calculated to serve hereafter as the most natural and secure boundary between them. Each of the three powers reserves the privilege of issuing a statement in due time, by which their Majesties will renounce hereafter all rights, claims, and pretensions for damages or interest which they may have upon the possessions and subjects of the Republic. His Majesty the King of Prussia, her Majesty the Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and her Majesty the Empress of all the Russias believe it their duty to announce their inten- tions to the whole Polish nation, requesting them to banish, or at least suppress, the spirit of disorder, so that the nation, coming together legally, can concert in the diet with the three courts in regard to the means for reestablishing order and tranquillity, as well as to confirm by formal acts the exchange of titles and claims of each of the powers to those regions of which they have just taken possession. Maria Theresa was heartily ashamed of her part in the First Partition of Poland. She v^rites as follows to Archduke Ferdinand, her son, explaining and excusing her course. Laxenburg, September 17, [1772] . . . Firmian will receive a lengthy document with in- structions in regard to our present situation, our engagements toward Russia, Prussia, and the Turks, but particularly in regard to this unfortunate partition of Poland, which is costing The Wars of Frederick the Great 85 me ten years of my life. It will make plain the whole unhappy 42. Letter of his:ory of that affair. How many times have I refused to agree ^^"^ ^he- . ■ -r. 1 • r 1 • 1 1 1 1 rr- 1 rssa on the to It ! But disaster after disaster heaped upon us by the 1 urks ; partition of misery, famine, and pestilence at home ; no hope of assistance Poland either from France or England, and the prospect of being left isolated and threatened with a war both with Russia and Prus- sia, — it was all these considerations that finally forced me to accede to that unhappy proposal, which will remain a blot on my whole reign. God grant that I be not held responsible for it in the other world ! I confess that I cannot keep from talk- ing about this affair. I have taken it so to heart that it poisons and imbitters all my days, which even without that are sad enough. I must stop writing about it at once, or I shall worry myself into the blackest melancholy. . . . The king of Prussia in his proclamation to the people of the Polish districts seized in the Second Partition makes many dark allusions to the doctrines of the French Revolution, the effects of which he pretends to dread since the new ideas are being widely accepted, as he alleges, in Poland. We Frederick William, by the grace of God, king of Prussia, 43. Fred- etc, make known to the respective states, bishops, abbots, voi- enckWiiham 1 ^^ , , , , • 1 -1 Il'sprocla- vodes, castellans, stahrosts, chamberlains, and country judges ; mation to the the knighthood, vassals, and nobles, the magistrates and inhab- Polish dis- itants of the cities, the countrymen, and all the remainder to^p^ussiain of the spiritual and secular inhabitants of the voivodeships the Second of Posen, Gnesen, Kalish, Siradia, the city and monastery of Partition Chentochova, the province of Wielun ; the voivodeship of Lentschitz, the province of Cujavia, the province of Doorzyn, the voivodeships of Rava and Plotsk, etc., in the circle of the boundaries, as likewise the cities of Dantzic and Thorn, hitherto in the possession of the cro^^^l of Poland, our gracious will, royal grace, and all sorts of good, and give them the following most gracious notice : It is universally kno\vn that the Polish nation never ceased to afford to the neighboring powers, and chiefly to the Prussian 86 Readings in Modern European History The spirit of State, frequent reasons of just discontent. Not satisfied (con- rebellion in- ^j-^j-y ^Q ^ \\A^% of good neighborhood) with injuring the Poland Prussian territory by frequent invasions, with molesting and ill using the subjects on this side the frontiers, and with almost continually refusing them justice and lawful satisfaction ; this nation has, besides, always busied itself with pernicious plans, which must needs attract the attention of the neighboring powers. These are matters of fact which could not escape the eye of an attentive observer of the late occurrences in Poland : but what chiefly excited the serious consideration of the neighboring powers is the spirit of rebellion continually increasing in Poland, and the visible influence which was obtained by those abominable factions, through which all civil, political, and religious ties would have been dissolved, and the inhabitants of Poland exposed to all the tremendous conse- quences of anarchy, and plunged into miseries, the end of w^hich could not be foreseen. If in every country the adoption and spreading of such destructive principles be always attended with the loss of the tranquillity and happiness of its inhabitants, its destructive consequences are the more to be dreaded in a country like Poland ; since this nation has always distinguished itself by disturbances and party spirit, and is powerful enough of itself to become dangerous to its neighbors by these disturbances. To await an It would certainly militate against the first rules of sound actual out- policy, as well as the duties incumbent on us for the preserva- break IS dan- . . , . . ... , . gerous tio^ oi tranquillity in our dominions, if, m such a state of things in a neighboring great kingdom, we should remain inac- tive spectators, and wait for the period when the factions feel themselves strong enough to appear in public, thus exposing our own neighboring provinces to several dangers from the consequences of anarchy on our frontiers. We have, therefore, in conjunction with her Majesty the Empress of Russia, and with the assent of his Majesty the Roman Emperor, acknowledged that the safety of our states did require to set to the republic of Poland such boundaries as are more compatible with her interior strength and situation, and may the more readily afford to her the means of procuring, TJie Wars of Frederick tJie Great 87 without prejudice to her liberty, a well-ordered, solid, and active form of government ; of maintaining herself in the undis- turbed enjoyment of the same ; and of preventing, by these means, the disturbances which have so often shaken her own tranquillity and endangered the safety of her neighbors. In order to attain this end, and to preserve the republic of Frederick Poland from the dreadful consequences which must be the Wilham seeks result of her internal divisions, and to rescue her from her poig^ f^om utter ruin but chiefly to withdraw her inhabitants from the pernicious horrors of the destructive doctrines which they are bent to ^o^*"'^^^ follow ; there is, acccording to our thorough persuasion (to which also her Majesty the Empress of all the Russian ac- cedes), no other means except to incorporate her frontier provinces into our states, and for this purpose immediately to take possession of the same, and to prevent, in time, all misfortunes which might arise from the continuance of the reciprocal disturbances. Wherefore we have resolved, with the assent of her Russian majesty, to take possession of the above-mentioned districts of Poland, and also of the cities of Dantzic and Thorn, in order to incorporate them into our dominions. We herewith publicly announce our firm and unshaken reso- The Polish lution, and expect that the Polish nation will soon assemble in ^^^'^ advised ' ^ 1 J r ^° accept the the diet, and adopt the necessary measures to the end of set- partition tling things in an amicable manner, and of obtaining the salu- peacefully tary end of securing to the republic of Poland an undisturbed peace, and preserving her inhabitants from the terrible conse- quences of anarchy. At the same time, we exhort the states and inhabitants of the districts and towns which we have taken possession of, as already mentioned, both in a gracious and serious manner, not to oppose our commanders and troops ordered for that purpose, but rather tractably to submit to our government, and acknowledge us, from this day forward, as their lawful king and sovereign, to behave like loyal and obedient subjects, and to renounce all connection with the crown of Poland. We doubt not that all whom this may concern will attend to it with obedience ; but in case, and contrary to all expectation, 88 Readings i)i Modern European History some one or other state and inhabitants of the said districts and towns should refuse to obey the contents of this, and not take the oath of allegiance or submit to our government, or should even attempt to oppose our commanders and troops, such person or persons have unavoidably to expect that the punishment usual in such cases shall be inflicted upon them without any distinction. In witness whereof we have subscribed this proclamation with our own hand, and caused our royal seal to be set to it, to be published in due place, and to be publicly printed. Done at Berlin the 25th of March, 1793. Frederick William In the agreement between Russia and Austria for the final division of Poland, dated January 3, 1795, the fol- lowing reasons are given for the action of the powers. 44. Declara- The efforts which her Imperial Majesty has been obliged tion of the to take in order to repress and stifle the revolt and insurrec- powers con- ^-^^^ which broke out in Poland through the spread of the most cerning the final partition pernicious doctrines, so dangerous for the tranquillity of the of Poland neighboring powers, have been crowned with the most happy U795) ^^^ complete success, and Poland has been entirely pacified and conquered by the arms of the Empress. Her Majesty, with a confidence founded upon the justice of her cause, and the means which she resorted to, to assure its triumph, had pre- viously hastened to come to an agreement with her two allies, his Majesty the Emperor of the Romans and his Majesty the King of Prussia, upon the most efficient measures to be taken in order to prevent a revival of such disorders as those which had so justly alarmed them, and of which the germs, continu- ally fermenting in the minds of those who were profoundly imbued with the most perverse principles, could hardly fail to develop sooner or later unless they were prevented by a firm and vigorous government. These two sovereigns, convinced by past experience of the absolute incapacity of the republic of Poland to give itself such The Wars of Frederick the Great 89 a government, or to live peacefully under its laws so long as it A solution of maintained any degree of independence, have in their wisdom the Pohsh and in their love for peace and the happiness of their subjects, Anally reached reached the conclusion that it was indispensably necessary to have recourse and proceed to a complete partition of this republic among the three neighboring powers. Having learned their views and finding these perfectly in harmony with her own, her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias determined to negotiate first with each of the two high allies above mentioned, separately, and then with the two together, in regard to a defi- nite agreement as to the respective portions which should fall to each as a result of their common resolution. CHAPTER VI THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND FOR INDIA Section l6. Hozu Europe begmi to extend its Com- merce over the Whole World One of the noted Italian scholars of the first half of the fifteenth century, Poggio Bracciolini, thus narrates a conversation he had with a Venetian merchant who had visited India and returned to Italy about 1440. This gives us some idea of the overland journey before Vasco da Gama had opened the way by water around Africa. 45. An ac- A certain Venetian named Nicolo, who had penetrated to count of the ^^ interior of India, came to Pope Eugenius IV (he being overland ,ri i- -r-i \ri r route to India then for the second time at r lorence) for the purpose of crav- in the ing absolution, inasmuch as, when, on his return from India, centu^*^ he had arrived at the confines of Eg>-pt on the Red Sea, he was compelled to renounce his faith, not so much from fear of death to himself as from the danger which threatened his wife and children who accompanied him. I, being very desirous of his conversation (for I had heard of many things related by him which were well worth knowing), questioned him diligently, both in the meetings of learned men and at my own house, upon many matters which seemed to dese'rve committing to memory and to writing. He discoursed learnedly and gravely concerning his journey to such remote nations, of the situation and different manners and customs of the Indians, also of their animals and trees and spices, and in what place each thing is produced. His accounts bore all the appearance of being true and not fabrications. He 90 Struggle betzveeft France and England for India 9 1 went farther than any former traveler ever penetrated, so far as our records inform us. For he crossed the Ganges and traveled far beyond the island of Taprobana [i.e. Ceylon], a point which there is no evidence that any European had pre- viously reached, with the exception of the commander of a fleet of Alexander the Great, and a Roman citizen in the time of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, both of whom were driven there by tempests. Nicolo, being a young man, resided as a merchant in the How trade city of Damascus in Syria. Having: learned the Arabic language, ^^'^*^ *^^^ ^^^^ , 1 1 , .... , T . • , • was formerly he departed thence with his merchandise m company with six carried on hundred other merchants (who formed what is commonly called a caravan), with whom he passed over the deserts of Arabia Petrsea, and thence through Chaldaea until he arrived at the Euphrates. ... On the river Euphrates there is a noble city, a part of the ancient city of Babylon, the circumference of which is fourteen miles, and which is called by the inhabitants thereof by the new name of Baldochia (Bagdad). The river Euphrates flows through the center of the city, the two parts of which are connected by a single bridge of fourteen arches, with strong towers at both ends. Many monuments and foundations of buildings of the ancient city are still to be seen. In the upper part of the city there is a very strong fortress and also the royal palace. Sailing hence for the space of twenty days down the river, in which he saw many noble and cultivated islands, and then traveling for eight days through the country, he arrived at a city called Balsera (Bassorah), and in four days' journey beyond, at the Persian Gulf where the sea rises and falls in the manner of the Atlantic Ocean. Sailing through this gulf for the space of five days he came to the port of Colcus and afterward to Ormuz (which is a small island in the said gulf), distant from the mainland twelve miles. Leaving this island and turning towards India for the space of one hundred miles he arrived at the city of Calacatia, a very noble emporium of the Persians. Here having remained for some time, he learned the Persian language, of which he afterwards made great use, and also adopted the dress of the country, which he continued to wear 92 Readings m Modern Eitropeajt History 46. King Manuel's letter to the king and queen of Cas- tile, announc- ing Vasco da Gama's voy- age to India A rich trade in spices and precious stones is promised during the whole period of his travels. Subsequently he and some Persian merchants freighted a ship and, having first taken a solemn oath to be faithful and loyal companions one to another, [sailed for India]. The king of Portugal had the satisfaction of an- nouncing to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in July, 1499, that his mariners had made a discovery almost equal in importance to that of Columbus, who had set sail under the auspices of the queen of Castile seven years before. Most high and excellent Prince and Princess^ most potent Lo7'd and Lady : Your Highnesses already know that we had ordered Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of our household, and his brother Paulo da Gama with four vessels to make discoveries by sea, and that two years have now elapsed since their departure. And since the principal motive of this enterprise has been, as with our predecessors, the service of God our Lord and our own advan- tage, it pleased him in his mercy to speed them on their route. From a message which has now been brought to this city by one of the captains, we learn that they did reach and discover India and other kingdoms and lordships bordering upon it ; that they entered and navigated its seas, finding large cities, large edifices and rivers, and great populations, among whom is carried on all the trade in spices and precious stones which are forwarded in ships (which these same explorers saw and met with in good numbers and of great size) to Mecca and thence to Cairo, whence they are dispersed throughout the world. Of these spices they have brought a quantity, including cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper, as well as other kinds, together with the boughs and leaves of the same ; also many fine stones of all sorts, such as rubies and others. And they also came to a country in which there are mines of gold, of which, as of the spices and precious stones, they did not bring as much as they could have done, for they took no merchandise with them. Struggle between France and England for India 9 3 As we are aware that your Highnesses will hear of these things with much pleasure and satisfaction, we thought it well to give this information. And your Highnesses may believe, in accordance with what we have learnt concerning the Chris- tian people whom these explorers reached, that it will be pos- sible (notwithstanding that they are not as yet strong in the faith or possessed of a thorough knowledge of it) to do much in the service of God and the exaltation of the Holy Faith, once they shall have been converted and fully fortified in it. And when they shall have thus been fortified in the faith there will be an opportunity for destroying the Moors [i.e. Moham- medans] of those parts. Moreover, we hope, with the help of God, that the great An opportu- trade, which now enriches the Moors of those parts through J"ty afforded whose hands it passes without the intervention of other persons ing Moham- or peoples, shall be diverted, in consequence of our regulations, to medans the natives and ships of our own kingdom, so that thenceforth all Christendom in this part of Europe shall be able in a large measure to provide itself with these spices and precious stones. This, with the help of God, who in his mercy thus ordained it, will cause our designs and intentions to be pushed with more ardor especially as respects the war upon the Moors of the terri- tories conquered by us in these parts, which your Highnesses are so firmly resolved upon and in which we are equally zealous. And we pray your Highnesses, in consideration of this great favor, which with much gratitude we received from our Lord, to cause to be addressed to him those praises which are his due. Most high and excellent Prince and Princess, most potent Lord and Lady, may the Lord our God ever hold your persons and kingdoms in his holy keeping. Written at Lisbon, July, 1499 The rapid extension of the Portuguese commerce in India under the leadership of Albuquerque, who died in 15 15, is enthusiastically summed up in the follov^ing account of his achievements. 94 Readings in Modem European History 47. How the The great Affonso de Albuquerque, perceiving the desires of Portuguese King Manuel for universal peace in India, . . . labored ear- tablished nestly SO long as he lived to preserve harmony with all the themselves kings and Hindoo lords of those parts, maintaining with them in India ^ constant intercourse, sending his messengers to them and. offering to place at their disposal the fleets of the king of Portugal for the destruction of the Moors, and the casting them out of the country. . . . The Portu- At the time of Affonso de Albuquerque's death, peace was guese pacify universal from Ormuz to Ceylon, . . . and all the kings, lords, the East , . , i •, • • i i , 1 r and marme merchants, and the interior lands he left so quiet and well ordered that there never was a nation left so com- pletely conquered and subdued by force of arms as this was. And the land had by this time become so pacified that the Portuguese used to carry on their merchant business in every place, without being robbed of anything or being taken cap- tive ; and they used to navigate the whole of the Indian sea in their ships, vessels, small and large zambucos, and used to cross the sea in safety from one part to another; and the natives on their part used to visit Goa with their wares without any molestation being offered to them. . . . And when the Moors beheld the apparently slight power of fleets and fighting men belonging to the king of Portugal in India, they looked upon these conquests and successes as nothing less than miracles. Affonso de Albuquerque, with that greatness of spirit which always characterized him, frequently used to say that he trusted in our Lord for taking Aden and establishing the Portuguese therein, so as to be thereby en- abled to close the straits with a powerful fortress, thus com- pelling the Grand Sultan finally to abandon his hope of becoming chief lord of India ; and when this had been suc- cessfully carried out, then to return again to Portugal for a short rest, to lean a little while on the handle of the hoe. But our Lord in his divine providence cut all this short when he took him to himself. Portuguese At the time of Affonso de Albuquerque's death he left in strongholds Malacca — twice captured by his arms from the Moors — a very in the East 1 r -^ 1 r • , , , r -n 1 strongly fortified fortress, with ample supplies of artillery and Struggle betzvcen France and England for India 95 plenty of men to keep it. He left another in Ormuz, com- pleted and furnished with a large body of soldiers and a great quantity of guns, and all that kingdom under the obedience of the king of Portugal — this too he had captured on two occa- sions from the Moors. He left a fortress in Calicut, of great defensive strength, provided with men and guns. He left the fortress of Cochin finished and in the same condition as it now stands, — he had commenced to build it on the occasion of his first visit to India, — furnished with seven very large elephants employed in the shipyard on the beach. He rebuilt the for- tress of Cananore with stone and mortar, for up to that time it was built with mud. He left fleets attached to all these for- tresses for their protection and maintenance. He left the city of Goa fortified with many castles set around The Portu- the island for its safety — this too had been taken twice under ^'^^^^ "^^^^ °^ his assault from the Moors. He left therein many Portuguese families, many Hindoos converted to Christianity, and a large body of mounted men. He left many armorers, and officers employed in the setting of jewels and precious stones, saddle makers, buckler makers, blacksmiths, stone masons, gun found- ers, master workmen skilled in the making of matchlocks, ships' carpenters, caulkers ; and the greater part of these were Por- tuguese, the rest native Christians, as true vassals and subjects of the king of Portugal as though they were natives of Portugal. He left the magazines of Goa supplied with large quantities of weapons, many caparisons for horses, many saddles, much store of gunpowder, cannon balls, and all other kinds of neces- sary munitions of war. . . . He ordered money to be struck at Goa and Malacca in the name of the king of Portugal ; and this was current throughout the whole of India. He was the first captain of the king of Portugal who penetrated the Straits of the Red Sea. Section ly. England gai7is a FootJiold iii India The English East India Company was chartered in 1 60 1. In 1 6 14 Sir Thomas Roe was instructed by James I to visit the court of Jehangir, the Mongol emperor of 96 Readings in Modern EiLropean History Hindustan. Sir Thomas was to make a commercial agreement and to secure for the East India Company sites for commercial agencies, — ''factories," as they were called. Sir Thomas was successful, and Jehangir sent the following remarkably poUte letter to James I. 48. Letter of the Great Mogul to James I welcoming English traders When your Majesty shall open this letter let your royal heart be as fresh as a sweet garden. Let all people make reverence at your gate ; let your throne be advanced higher ; amongst the greatness of the kings of the prophet Jesus, let your Majesty be the greatest, and all monarchies derive their counsel and wisdom from your breast as from a fountain, that the law of the majesty of Jesus may revive and flourish under your protection. The letter of love and friendship which you sent and the presents, tokens of your good affection toward me, I have received by the hands of your ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe (who well deserveth to be your trusted servant), delivered to me in an acceptable and happy hour ; upon which mine eyes were so fixed that I could not easily remove them to any other object, and have accepted them with great joy and delight. Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my domin- ions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend ; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have reception and residence to their own content and safety ; and what goods soever they desire to sell or buy, they may have free liberty without any restraint ; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet ; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure. For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace ; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every Struggle between France and England for India 97 opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health' and prosperous affairs ; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal. Your Majesty is learned and quick-sighted as a prophet, and can conceive so much by few words that I need write no more. The God of heaven give you and us increase of honor. The English naturally got into trouble immediately with the Dutch traders in the East Indies. A irlation of the Frenchmen which lately arrived into France in a ship of Dieppe out of the East Indies concerning the wrongs and abuses which the Hollanders had lately done to the English there {^16 if) Two English ships coming to Banda, in course of trade and 49. A French- traffic, the Hollanders assaulted with certain of their ships, ^^"^'^ ^^- which English ships in their resistance and defense the said hostility of Hollanders took, slew seven or eight of their men (whereof the Dutch to one was a chief factor), chained the captain, merchants, and ^ader'^^ 6 -7) mariners, and put the mariners into their galleys. All the muni- tion and victuals in the said English ships did the Hollanders take out and carried the same ashore, challenging all to be theirs as their proper inheritance, and therefore will be lords of the same. The Hollanders likewise took an English bark going from Bantam ^ to Jacatra, slew some of her men, wounded many more, chained the captain and mariners, and carried away the said bark at the stern of one of their ships into Bantam Road, and there anchored close by the admiral of the English in most despiteful and daring manner, making their vaunts that they were the chief people of all Europe ; and to make a show of the same they advanced their own arms and colors, and under them placed the colors of England and France, and then shot at the said English and French colors in most contemptuous and disdainful manner. 1 Bantam was originally the chief settlement of the Dutch in Java, near the Strait of Sunda, somewhat to the west of the present important port of Batavia. gS Readings in Modern European Hiswry At Bantam the English and Hollanders had great disputes, insomuch as it was verily thought they would have fought to- gether in the road ; for the general of the Hollanders had brought thither fourteen great ships, ready to fight, where the English had nine, which they fitted for defense ; but they fought not, for the governor of Bantam forbade them to fight in his road, and threatened them that if they did fight contrary to his com- mand he would cut the throats of all their men that he should find upon the land. The 27th of November the Hollanders proclaimed war against all the English at the Moluccas, Banda, and Amboyna, threatening to make one and all prizes and to put them to the edge of the sword; which proclamation of theirs they fixed upon the doors of their lodgings at Bantam, challenging all to be theirs as their proper inheritance. Colbert was well aware of the successful manner in which the Dutch were supplanting the Portuguese in India in his time, and he consequently instructed the French ambassador to Portugal, Saint-Romain, to per- suade the Portuguese to unite with the French East India Company for the purpose of defending them- selves against the Dutch. It is clear that he hardly regarded the English as serious competitors in 1669 when he drew up the following summary of the situation. Paris, March 16, 1669 50. Colbert's His lordship of Saint-Romain is well informed of the pains view of the ^yj-^j^h his Majesty has taken to create the East India Company, situation in r , • i • i i • • i r i India in 1669 of the powerful protection which he gives it, and of the great sums of money which he has had furnished from the royal treasury for its establishment and for the support of the great losses which it has already sustained and which it will continue to sustain until the directors who are at present in the Indies have firmly secured the commerce, and surmounted the diffi- culties that all enterprises of this kind meet in their com- mencement. . . . Struggle between France and England for India 99 It is certain that of the four important nations of Europe How the which traffic in the Indies, namely, the French, the English, Dutch sup- the Portuguese, and the Dutch, the Portuguese have been for Portuguese a long time alone in possession of this commerce after having brought under their domination all the isles of Asia and estab- lished divers places and important posts on all the coasts of Africa, of Persia, of the Indies, of China, and of Japan ; but it is certain also that this great power has notably diminished since the Dutch began their commerce in these same countries, and that this power finds itself reduced at present to the single places of Goa, Diu, and some others less important on the Coromandel coast. The Dutch are at present masters of all the isles and even Conduct of of all the countries which produce the spices ; and in their *)^^ Dutch in ^ . ^ the bpice effort to preserve for themselves this commerce, they destroy islands and depopulate in all the spice countries, either on account of the difficulty of rendering themselves absolute masters there, or because they think that it is to the advantage of their com- merce that there should not be so great an abundance. And not only does their effort carry them to this point — it passes indeed even beyond it and leads them to drive away, whenever they can, all the other nations and make themselves masters of everything. The bad treatment they gave the English, which drew upon them the last war, the expenses and risk of which are of no consideration to them, seeing that they have suc- ceeded in driving the English from their establishment in the island of Poulo-Ron ; all the measures which have served them in winning from the Portuguese the island of Ceylon and all the other isles, even in taking, in violation of treaties, the vil- lages of Cochin and of Cananore ; and in general all that the Dutch have done in these countries since they have brought their avarice and tyranny there, of which the Portuguese are only too well informed, are conclusive proofs that nothing can be expected of them except the entire destruction of the Por- tuguese, so soon as the Dutch can hope to compass this by force or by other means still more dangerous. And if one considers the state in which the Dutch are and the advantages which the public and private individuals of their country draw mous value of the Dutch trade 100 Readmgs m Modern European History from this commerce, together with the condition of the Portu- guese, one will easily decide that the time of complete expulsion of the latter from all these countries perhaps approaches, unless prompt and sufficient remedy is employed. The enor- It is certain that the fleets which arrive every year in Holland carry merchandise to the value of ten to twelve million livres, which they then distribute in all the realms of Europe and draw from it the money which causes their power; that the company which produces this advantage to the public of the country maintained at its own expense as many as 30 vessels during the last war with England ; that this same company has more than 150 vessels in the Indies, that it made and sustained the war against the Portuguese with the advantages already noticed, that it has continued it against divers kings of the same country and always with advantage ; that it puts on foot in the same Indies an infantry of from 10 to 12 thousand men and a navy of from 40 to 50 vessels ; that it is mistress of all the isles and has alone established its commerce in China and Japan, — it might even be said in all the Indies, seeing that the mer- chandise which is carried by the English is not important. And on the contrary, the Portuguese have neither vessels nor troops, and there remain to them only the single places of Goa, Diu, and certain others of less consideration. This prodigious difference in the two nations, and the effort of the Dutch to preserve themselves and their strength, make clear to the Portuguese the necessity of a powerful and effica- cious remedy in order to escape entire ruin. The Portu- The Only remedy for the Portuguese consists in forming a gueseneed partnership and perhaps even partitioning the districts and the^Dutch^ places which they still control, with some one of the other nations which, having the same interests, may join its power to theirs, to render them by this means more formidable to the Dutch, and to place them even in a condition, by their efforts, not only to restrain the Dutch within their present limits, but even to seize a portion of the commerce and the places that the Dutch have usurped by force. The French alone are capable of procuring this great advan- tage for the Portuguese, in giving them, by firm treaties which Struggle betiveen Frmice and England for India i o i could be made between their kings, a share in the settlements and the commerce which remain to them, seeing that the religion of the English does not permit the Portuguese to call them into this partnership. For this result, his Majesty desires that his said lordship of Saint-Romain, instructed in all the arguments contained in this paper, together with all those that his capacity, his experience, and the knowledge that he may be able to get from the Portu- guese will furnish him, should suggest them on every occasion to the mind of the prince, of the queen, and of all their min- isters, and work incessantly to bring them to treat with his Majesty about some one of their places in the Indies, and also to effect a commercial union between the French and the Portuguese, on conditions of common advantage to the two nations. Section l8. India and the Struggle between England and France for its Possession In 1655 a Frenchman, Francois Bernier, made a jour- ney to Hindustan, and there became the court physician of the Great Mogul. He wrote an account of his jour- ney and a number of letters. A letter addressed to Col- bert, which gives an admirable description of the state of India and the relations of the Great Mogul to the subject princes and peoples, is included in the following extract. He who reigned there was called Shah Jehan, — that is 51. India to say, king of the world; who, according to the history under the c ^u ! . r T u • ^.'\. • -a y. later Moguls or that country, was son of Jehangir, which signmeth con- (ixora^ queror of the world ; grandchild to Akbar, meaning great ; Bernier) and thus ascending by Houmayons, or the fortunate, father of Akbar, and his other predecessors, he was the tenth of those that were descended from that Timur-Lengue, which signifieth the lame prince, commonly and corruptly called Tamerlane, so renowned for his conquests ; who married his near kinswoman, I02 Readings in Modern Ei trope an History The Moguls the Only daughter of the prince of the nations of Great Tartary, claim to be called Moguls, who have left and communicated their name from Timur ^^ ^he Strangers that now govern Indostan^ the country of the Indians ; though those that are employed in public charges and offices, and even those that are listed in the militia, be not all of the race of the Moguls, but strangers and nations gathered out of all countries, most of them Persians, some Arabians, and some Turks. For, to be esteemed a Mogul it is enough to be a stranger, white of face, and a Mohammedan ; in distinction as well to the Indians, who are brown and pagans, as to the Christians of Europe, who are called Franguis. . . . From a letter My lord, you may have seen before this, by the maps of of Bernier's ^sia, how great every way is the extent of the empire of the Great Mogul, which is commonly called India or Indostan. Extent of I have not measured it mathematically ; but to speak of it Hindustan according to the ordinary journeys of the country, after the rate of three whole months' march, traversing from the fron- tiers of the kingdom of Golconda as far as beyond Kazni near Kandahar, which is the first town of Persia, I cannot per- suade myself otherwise but that it is at least five times as far as from Paris to Lyons, — that is, about five hundred common leagues. . . . Tributary In this same extent of country there are sundry nations peoples which the Mogul is not full master of, most of them still retaining their particular sovereigns and lords that neither obey him nor pay him tribute but from constraint ; many that do little, some that do nothing at all, and some also that receive tribute from him. . . . The haughty Such are the Pathans, a Mohammedan people issued from Moham- ^^ gj^^g ^f ^^ j-j^.gj. Ganges toward Bengal, who before the Pathans invasion of the Moguls in India had taken their time to make themselves potent in many places, and chiefly at Delhi, and to render many rajahs thereabout their tributaries. These Pathans are fierce and warlike, and even the meanest of them, though they be but waiting men and porters, are still of a very high spirit, being often heard to say, by way of swearing, " Let me never be king of Delhi, if it be not so " ; a people that despise Stniggle betzveen France ajid E7igland for India 103 the Indians, heathens, and Moguls, and mortally hate the last, still remembering what they were formerly, before they were by them driven away from their large principalities, and con- strained to retire hither and thither. . . . Of the like sort are more than an hundred rajahs, or con- The rajahs siderable heathen sovereigns, dispersed through the whole . empire, some near to, others remote from, Agra and Delhi; amongst whom there are about fifteen or sixteen that are very rich and puissant; such are Rana (who formerly was, as it were, emperor of the rajahs, and who is said to be of the prog- eny of King Porus), Jesseigne, and Jessomseigne, who are so great and powerful that if they three alone should combine they would hold him [i.e. the Great Mogul] back ; each of them being able in a very short time to raise and bring into the field twenty-five thousand horse, better troops than the Mogul's. These cavaliers are called rajiputs, or children of the rajahs. These are men who, as I have said elsewhere, carry swords from father to son, and to whom the rajahs allot land on condition that they be always ready to appear on horseback when the rajah commands. They can endure much hardship, and they want nothing but good order and discipline to make them good soldiers. It is evident from Bernier's account that only a power- ful ruler could keep India from falling apart into many principalities, and it so happened that just when the French entered upon their contest with the English over the Eastern trade, a vigorous emperor, Aurangzeb (1 660-1 707), occupied the throne. He was, however, the last Great Mogul of importance, and he saw in his old age that anarchy was likely to come when he was gone. His farewell to this vain world is sad indeed. He thus writes to a friend : Health to thee ! My heart is near thee. Old age is arrived : weakness subdues me, and strength has forsaken all my mem- bers. I came a stranger into this world and a stranger I depart. empire 104 Readmgs in Modern Eiiy-opean History 52. Au- I know nothing of myself, what I am, or for what I am destined, rangzeb 'pj^g instant which has passed in power hath left only sorrow the dissoiu- behind it. I have not been the guardian and protector of the tionofthe empire. My valuable time has been passed vainly. I had a emDixe^ guide in my own dwelling (conscience), but his glorious light was unseen by my dim sight. Life is not lasting ; there is no vestige of departed breath, and all hopes for the future are lost. The fever has left me ; but nothing remains of me but skin and bone. . . . The camp and followers, helpless and fright- ened, are, like myself, full of alarms, restless as quicksilver. Separated from their lord, they know not if they have a master or not. I brought nothing into this world, and, except the infirmities of man, carry nothing out. I have a dread for my salvation, and with what torments I may be punished. Though I have strong reliance on the mercies and bounties of God, yet, regard- ing my actions, fear will not quit me ; but when I am gone reflection will not remain. Come then what may, I have launched my vessel in the waves. Though Providence will protect the camp, yet, regarding appearances, the endeavors of my sons are indispensable. Give my last prayers to my grandson, whom I cannot see, but the desire affects me. The Began [his daughter] appears afflicted ; but God is the only judge of hearts. The foolish thoughts of women produce nothing but disappointment. Farewell, farewell, farewell. As Aurangzeb had foreseen, the Indian empire began to go to pieces shortly after his death, and accordingly the nawabs, or governors, in the various provinces as- serted practical independence of his successors. In 1742 the governorship of Bengal passed into the hands of a very capable ruler, Aliverdi Khan, who kept the natives and foreigners in order, but on his death, four- teen years later, the authority fell to a headstrong young man, Surajah Dowlah, whose conduct precipitated a serious conflict in his provinces. A report of the Dutch Struggle betiveen Frajice and England for India 105 in Bengal to the home government narrates how the trouble began that ended in the establishment of Eng- lish rule in northeastern India. The Nawab Aliverdi Khan having died in April of this year, 53. a Dutch and his adopted son, Surajah Dowlah, having been called to report of the the helm of affairs, the English at Calcutta caused ramparts of sura^ah^ a certain kind of stone to be erected. With the knowledge of Dowlah (1756) the under-nawab of Dacca, and without paying any attention to the prohibitions and notices issued by the young prince concerning these matters, they gave protection to one Kissen- das, who thought he could escape from the nawab. His Excellency, being thus defied, occupied the English fort of Cossimbazar [Kasimbazar] not before the beginning of June. This being surrendered by the chief and his council without any fighting or resistance, his Excellency, taking our English friends of Cossimbazar as prisoners with him, marched by forced marches straight on Calcutta, at the head of an army of sixty or seventy thousand men. The whole world thought and expected that he would have Surajah Dow knocked his head against such a strong place, but, as it turned '^^ ^^}'^^^ *^^ out, the English defended themselves for three days only. A in"cakuttr*^ part of them fled in their ships down the river, and the rest, who did not perish by the sword, have fallen into the nawab's hands, and are bound in irons. Such now is the condition of that beautiful place, whose blooming and flourishing state caused every one to admire it, and from which the English company drew a great and princely income. The fort and all the other costly buildings have been pulled down, the shops erected before this disaster have been plundered, and the tim- ber wharfs destroyed, the place renamed Alinagar, and put under the government of a Faiijdar. The officers of the up- country factories are also prisoners in consequence of the self- willed behavior which is peculiar to this [English] nation. Had it even remained at this, which was bad enough God The Dutch knows, we should have had to share in the trouble which the ^">' °^ ^"''' above-mentioned nation had drawn upon its own head, since, having been repeatedly written to by Surajah Dowlah for io6 Readings in Modern European Histo7y assistance in soldiers, ammunition, and boats, he, on our abso- lute refusal, immediately after the taking of Calcutta, surrounded us with an immensely superior force, and demanded a contri- bution of ^20 laks or 2,000,000 rupees, a claim which we could not satisfy, and would sooner have trusted ourselves to die fighting. In the meantime Heaven showed us a way out of the difficulty, so that we, by the expenditure of certain money, brought influence to bear upon that mad prince, so as to incline him in our favor. By this means we obtained a reduction to one fifth of the whole, or four laks of rupees. Having gained ground thus far, we imagined that some more might be abated, or that in the matter of the gratuity, which one is ordinarily obliged to pay to all new viceroys, we might get off with about half a lak instead of one or two laks ; but the prince, seeing our secret joy and flattering himself that he had a right to chastise us, commanded the people with him to forcibly take away our artillery and trample our flag under foot. Now there was no further time for delay ; we had either to pay or take the consequences. On the one hand it was hard that the Company should have to pay such an immense sum of money, which, including that spent upon the cost of inter- cession and some bribes spent upon persuading the nawab and his army to retire from Calcutta, was to be estimated at 400,000 rupees, and on the other hand there was no chance in the world to hold out against the immense force of the nawab, who was provided with a considerable force of artillery and a good Euro- pean constabulary, nor was it possible in the present difficulty to flee on our ships. . . . Although, by God's blessing, our un- pardonable stupidity might possibly have been made good, still it appeared an inconsiderate bravery to risk our lives, our lib- erty, the reputation of our nationality and our colony, by hold- ing out for a day or two, or possibly less, considering the weakness of our fort and the bad condition of our artillery as compared with that of the English. Consequently, fiolens volens we decided to concede the demands of the nawab. . . . The French have had to pay a contribution proportionate to ours, to the amount of 3 laks of rupees besides another half lak for mediation money. One does not yet know whether the Struggle betzveen France ajid England for India 10/ other nations will get out of this difficulty now without tearing The French their clothes, but it is known that the Empdeners had about '^^'^^^ ^^ ^^'^' two and a half laks of rupees outstanding amongst the English, surajah Dow- and that to all appearances they will never see a doit of this lah money again, so that this Company may very possibly be ruined, especially if any disasters take place, such as, alas ! are hitting our Company more than too frequently, seeing that in the beginning of this month the ship Voorbiirg, whilst sailing up the Ganges, got aground on the shallow of the so-called Janne- gat (John's or Jack's Hole) and was lost with all its cargo except the silver, which according to custom had been carried in the sloop. Possibly we might have been able to save a considerable quantity of the cargo if we had been able to get there in time, but we could do nothing towards this, owing to the passage being closed by the departure of the nawab three days ago. The English as well as the nawab have sought our alliance, and on our persevering in an absolute neutrality, the English Council has protested against us in the name of his Britannic Majesty, as your Excellencies will come to see by the letters to be dispatched by the first ship next September. ... The hasty actions of Surajah Dov^lah, described in the above report, culminated in the imprisonment of a large number of English residents in a room so small that many of them perished during the night. An account of this episode of the "Black Hole" of Cal- cutta is given by an officer who was at the time in the service of the East India Service. The principal officer [of the nawab] commanded the pris- 54. The oners to go into one of the rooms which stood behind them !1^^^,*:^^ ^ , 11 1 rr., . Hole" of Cal- along the veranda. 1 his was the common dungeon of the cutta (June garrison, who used to call it the " Black Hole." Many of 20, 1756) the prisoners, knowing the place, began to expostulate ; upon which the officer ordered his men to cut down those who hes- itated, on which the prisoners obeyed. But before all were within, the room was so thronged that the last entered with io8 Readiiigs in Modern European History difficulty. The guard immediately closed and locked the door, confining one hundred and forty-six persons in a room not twenty feet square, with only two small windows, and these obstructed by the veranda. It was the hottest season of the year, and the night uncom- monly sultry even at this season. The excessive pressure of their bodies against one another and the intolerable heat which prevailed as soon as the door was shut, convinced the prisoners that it was impossible to live through the night in this horrible confinement ; and violent attempts were immediately made to force the door, but without effect, for it opened inward ; on which many began to give a loose to rage. . . . The first effect of their confinement was a profuse and con- tinued sweat, which soon produced intolerable thirst, succeeded by excruciating pains in the breast, with difficulty of breathing little short of suffocation. Various means were tried to obtain more room and more air. Every one stripped off his clothes ; every hat was put in motion ; and these methods affording no relief, it was proposed that they should all sit down on their hams at the same time, and after remaining a little while in this posture rise all together. This fatal expedient was thrice repeated before they had been confined an hour ; and every time several, unable to rear themselves up again, fell and were trampled to death by their companions. Attempts were again made to force the door, which, failing as before, redoubled their rage ; but the thirst increasing, noth- ing but "Water ! water ! " became soon after the general cry. The goodi Jenianf da r immediately ordered some skins of water to be brought to the windows ; but instead of relief, his benevo- lence became a more dreadful cause of destruction ; for the sight of the water threw every one into such excessive agitations and ravings that, unable to resist this violent impulse of nature, none could wait to be regularly served, but each with the utmost ferocity battled against those who were likely to get it before him ; and in these conflicts many were either pressed to death by the efforts of others or suffocated by their own. . . . Before midnight all who were alive and had not partaken of the air at the windows were either in a lethargic stupefaction Struggle betiveen Fy-ance and England f 07' hidia 1 09 or "aving with delirium. Every kind of invective and abuse was uttered in hopes of provoking the guard to put an end to their miseries by firing into the dungeon ; and whilst some were blaspheming the Creator with the frantic execrations of torment and despair, Heaven was implored by others with wikl and in- coherent prayers ; until the weaker, exhausted by these agita- tions, at length laid down quietly and expired on the bodies of their dead or agonizing friends. ... At two o'clock not more than fifty remained alive. But even this number were too many to partake of the saving air, the contest for which and for life continued until the morn, long implored, began to break. . . . An officer, sent by the nawab, came and inquired if the Eng- lish chief still survived ; and soon after the same man returnee^ with an order to open the prison. The dead were so thronged, and the survivors had so little strength remaining, that they were employed near half an hour in removing the bodies which lay against the door before they could clear a passage to go out one at a time ; when of one hundred and forty-six who went in no more than twenty-three came out alive, — the ghastliest forms that were ever seen alive. On the overthrow of Surajah Dowlah in the famous bat- tle of Plassey, the English set up an adventurer by the name of Meer Jafir as nawab of Bengal, and a short time afterward extracted from him the following treaty, prac- tically recognizing English dominion in that province. First, Whatever articles were agreed upon in the time of 55. Treaty peace with the Nawab Surajah Dowlah, I agree to comply with, fj^^i"*^^,^ ?^ Second, The enemies of the English are my enemies, whether with Surajah they be Indians or Europeans. Dowlah's Third, All the effects and factories belonging to the French ^"^^^^^0^ in the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, shall remain in Exclusion of possession of the English, nor will I ever allow them any more the French . ,,1 • iU ^u • in favor of the to settle m the three provmces. English Fourth, In consideration of the losses which the English Com- pany have sustained by the plunder and capture of Calcutta by 1 10 Readings in Modern European History the Nawab, and the charges occasioned by the maintenance of their officers, I will give them a crore of rupees. Fifth, For the effects plundered from the English inhabitants of Calcutta, I agree to give fifty laks of rupees. [In articles 6-9, here omitted, Meer Jafir promised further indemnities and recognized an extension of Brit- ish control in and around Calcutta.] Tenth, Whenever I demand the English assistance, I will be at the charge of the maintenance of their troops. Eleventh, I will not erect any new fortifications below Hoogly near the river Ganges. Twelfth, As soon as I am established in the government of the three provinces, the aforesaid sums shall be faithfully paid. Dated 15th Ramezan, in the fourth year of the king's reign. Some time after their success in Bengal, the English instituted the new ofifice of governor general, which was held by Warren Hastings from 1774 to 1785. During his administration Hastings was continually involved in conflicts with the natives and did many things which seemed reprehensible to Englishmen at home. Accord- ingly he was tried by Parliament and the charges against him were presented by Edmund Burke in a long and overwrought speech from which the following extract is taken. ^ 56. Edmund With very few intermissions, the affairs of India have con- Burke's sum- gtantly engaged the attention of the Commons for more than case against fourteen years. We may safely affirm, we have tried every mode Warren of legislative provision, before we had recourse to anything of astings penal process. It was in the year 1774 we framed an act of Parliament for remedy to the then existing disorders in India, such as the then information before us enabled us to enact. Finding that the act of Parliament did not answer all the ends 1 See Development cf Modern Ein-ope., Vol. I, p. 99 and note i. Struggle between France ajid England for India 1 1 1 that were expected from it, we had, in the year 1782, recourse to a body of monitory resolutions. Neither had we the expected fruit from them. When, therefore, we found that our inquiries and our reports, English our laws and our admonitions, were alike despised ; that enor- ^8^"*^ i" mities increased in proportion as they were forbidden, detected, parliament and exposed ; when we found that guilt stalked with an erect and upright front, and that legal authority seemed to skulk and hide its head like outlawed guilt; when we found that some of those very persons, who were appointed by Parliament to assert the authority of the laws of this kingdom, were the most forward, the most bold, and the most active in the conspiracy for their destruction ; then it was time for the justice of the nation to recollect itself. . . . We found it was impossible to evade painful duty without betraying a sacred trust. Having, therefore, resolved upon the last and only resource, a penal prosecution, it was our next business to act in a manner worthy of our long deliberation. . . . First, to speak of the process : we are to inform your lord- ships, that, besides that long previous deliberation of fourteen years, we examined, as a preliminary to this proceeding, every circumstance which could prove favorable to parties apparently delinquent, before we finally resolved to prosecute. There was no precedent to be found, in the journals, favorable to persons in Mr. Hastings's circumstances, that was not applied to. . . . As to the crime, which we chose, we first considered well Burke charges what it was in its nature, under all the circumstances which Hastings with 1 1 • tTT • 1 1 • • 1 11 • • 1-1 avarice, attended it. We weighed it with all its extenuations, and with treachery, all its aggravations. On that review we are warranted to assert blackness of that the crimes, with which we charge the prisoner at the bar, xT^^jf" > are substantial crimes ; that they are no errors or mistakes, such as wise and good men might possibly fall into ; which may even produce very pernicious effects, without being in fact great offenses. . . . We know, as we are to be served by men, that the persons, who serve us, must be tried as men, and with a very large allowance indeed to human infirmity and human error. This my lords, we knew, and we weighed before we came before you. But the crimes, which we charge in these willful criminal 112 Readings in Modem European History articles, are not lapses, defects, errors, of common human frailty, which, as we know and feel, we can allow for. We charge this offender with no crimes that have not arisen from passions which it is criminal to harbor ; with no offenses that have not their root in avarice, rapacity, pride, insolence, feroc- ity, treachery, cruelty, malignity of temper ; in short, in nothing, that does not argue a total extinction of all moral principle ; that does not manifest an inveterate blackness of heart, dyed in grain with malice, vitiated, corrupted, gangrened to the very core. Hastings a If we do not plant his crimes in those vices which the breast of man is made to abhor, and the spirit of all laws, human and divine, to interdict, we desire no longer to be heard upon this occasion. Let everything that can be pleaded on the ground of surprise or error, upon those grounds be pleaded with success : we give up the whole of those predica- ments. We urge no crimes that were not crimes of forethought. We charge him with nothing that he did not commit upon deliberation ; that he did not commit against advice, supplica- tion, and remonstrance ; that he did not commit against the direct command of lawful authority ; that he did not commit after reproof and reprimand, the reproof and reprimand of those who are authorized by the laws to reprove and reprimand him. The crimes of Mr. Hastings are crimes, not only in them- selves, but aggravated by being crimes of contumacy. They were crimes, not against forms, but against those eternal laws of justice, which are our rule and our birthright. His offenses are not, in formal, technical language, but in reality, in sub- stance and effect, high crimes and high misdemeanors. Hastings the So far as to the crimes. As to the criminal, we have chosen captain j^j^-^-^ qj^ ^^ Same principle, on which we selected the crimes. fniq^ui^ty ^^ ^ave uot chosen to bring before you a poor, puny, trem- bling delinquent, misled, perhaps, by those who ought to have taught him better, but who have afterwards oppressed him by their power, as they had first corrupted him by their example. . . . We have brought before you the first man of India in rank, authority, and station. We have brought before you the chief of the tribe, the head of the whole body of Eastern offenders ; Struggle bctiveen France and England for India 1 1 3 a captain general of iniquity, under whom all the fraud, all the peculation, all the tyranny, in India, are embodied, disciplined, arrayed, and paid. This is the person, my lords, that we bring before you. We have brought before you such a person, that, if you strike at him with the firm and decided arm of justice, you will not have need of a great many more examples. You strike at the whole corps, if you strike at the head. . . » CHAPTER VII THE RIVALRY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA Section /p. Hozv the European Nations established tJiemselves in the New World A Jesuit missionary, Father Christian Le Clercq, gives a sad picture of the condition to which New France was reduced in 1663 on account of the indifference of the Company to which the French king had granted the region. At that date, under the influence of Colbert, the French government began to take active measures to protect the colonists and restore prosperity. 57. How Col- The Church of New France, far from making any progress, bert came to could not have subsisted long unless a more powerful arm than the aid of the , ^ , , r 1 ^ ,1 French set- that of the gentlemen of the Company had come to her assist- tlers in ance in the extremity to which Canada was reduced in 1663. The Iroquois, after having defeated and almost entirely destroyed our allies, desolated our habitations. The people were not in security even at Quebec, being unable to resist the enemy, who threatened us with total destruction. . . . The col- ony, far from increasing, began to diminish. Some returned to France, others were taken and killed by the Indians. Many died of misery ; the clearing and cultivation of lands advanced but lit- tle, as the colonists were obliged to await all from France. . . . Hitherto the king reserved only the sovereign authority, having yielded the domain, ownership, and commerce of New France to the gentlemen of the Company, on condition that they should pay all charges. These gentlemen had doubtless good intentions, and we knew that most had joined only from 114 Canada Rivalry of France and England in North America 1 1 5 a zeal for religion. They had made great efforts in the first years, but, being finally weary of so many useless outlays, which produced no return, they had for the last years abandoned the commerce to the inhabitants of the country under certain conditions. . . . Worthy object of the piety of the king (Louis XIV) ! — who, Louis xiv after having given peace to Europe by the Treaty of the Pyre- ^^'f^'^^j^j'J* nees, reestablished order and felicity in the kingdom, begun to f^^ the admin- destroy heresy, which is now entirely annihilated, obtained from istration of God a successor to the crown in the person of the Dauphin, ^^"^ ^ wished to turn his zeal towards New France, which accordingly his Majesty (a true father and savior of Canada) united to his domain, assuming the debts of the country, undertaking to provide all the expenses of the Church, justice, and war, and establishing a company for the sole direction of commerce in a single hand, which has since been so advantageous to the inhabitants. This great prince, as a principle of religion, re- served to himself and his council every care, more with a view of forming a Christian empire than of extending the limits of a temporal kingdom. Of all the effects of protection which his bounty occasioned during the present epoch, the most advantageous was the powerful assistance he sent, namely, intel- ligent and enlightened ministers and officers capable of giving a form to this rising country, with considerable sums drawn from his treasury, and sparing nothing to establish this colony. He sent also experienced troops to repel "the enemy and sustain the inhabitants. . . . Whilst God gave these blessings to the arms of the king, the intendant gave his attention to the establishment and general good of the country, which soon changed its appearance by the wisdom of so penetrating, so experienced a minister, so zealous for the service of God and the king, as Monsieur Talon has always been, as were, too, his brothers in the intendancies and other employments of distinction. The colony, which was as yet only a handful of settlers scat- tered here and there in different cantons, was notably increased by the number of officers and soldiers who chose to settle when the troops were disbanded, and who formed more than three 1 1 6 Ri'ddings in Modem European History hundred new families. . . . The young women sent over in great numbers by the king in the following years found regular settlements, and were advantageously married according to their rank. . . . The intendant endeavored to give a form of administration everywhere similar to that in France, establishing the manu- facture of linen, leather, shoes, hats, lace, etc. Potash works and breweries, public edifices in many parts of the country were the result of his attention, as well as the construction of ships and barks; the reestablishment of treaties with Indian tribes, free trade for the colonists, the regulation and perfect order of the royal income attracted merchants from France. With Canada as a basis, the French explorers pene- trated the interior in every direction, and in 1673 Father Marquette pressed on to the Mississippi, down which he made a long journey. Fortunately he has left an account of this famous expedition. 58. How The feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Marquette Virgin — whom I have always invoked since I have been in descended the ,. r •, ^ i-r /-.i,i r Mississippi this country of the Outaouacs to obtam from God the grace of River in 1673 being able to visit the nations who dwell along the Mississippi River — was precisely the day on which Monsieur Joliet arrived with orders to accomplish this discovery wdth me. . . . We were not long in preparing all our equipment, although we were about to begin a voyage the duration of which we could not foresee. Indian corn, with some smoked meat, constituted all our provisions. With these we embarked — Monsieur Joliet and myself with five men — in two bark canoes, fully resolved to do and suffer everything for so glorious an undertaking. Accordingly, on the seventeenth day of May, 1673, we started from the mission of St. Ignace at Michilimakinac, where I then was. The joy that we felt at being selected for this expedition animated our courage and rendered the labor of paddling from morning to night agreeable to us. . . . W^ith all these precautions, we joyfully plied our paddles on a portion of Lake Huron and on that of the Illinois [i.e. Lake Rivalry of France and England in North America 117 Michigan] and on the Bay des Puants [i.e. Green Bay]. The first nation that we came to was that of the " Wild Oats." I entered their river to go and visit these peoples, to whom we have preached the gospel for several years, — in consequence of which there are several good Christians among them. . . . We left this bay to enter the river that discharges into it and continued to advance toward the Maskoutens, where we arrived on the 7th of June. This word may, in Algonquin, mean the '' Fire Nation," — which, indeed, is the name given to this tribe. Here is the limit of the discoveries which the French have made, for they have not yet gone any farther. ... I was greatly consoled at seeing a handsome cross erected in the middle of the village and adorned with many white skins, red belts, bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the great Manitou (this is the name which they give to God). They did this to thank him for having pity on them during the winter by giv- ing them an abundance of game when they most dreaded famine. ... On the following day, the loth of June, two Miamis, who were given us as guides, embarked with us in the sight of a great crowd, who could not sufficiently express their astonishment at the sight of seven Frenchmen alone in two canoes daring to undertake so extraordinary and so haz- ardous an expedition. We knew that at three leagues from Maskoutens was a river They leave which discharged into the Mississippi. We knew also that the ^^^^" ^^^ J- .• r 11 . 1 , • , for the Wis- direction we were to follow m order to reach it was west-south- consin River westerly. But the road is broken by so many swamps and small lakes that it is easy to lose one's way, especially as the river leading thither is so full of wild oats that it is difficult to find the channel. For this reason we greatly needed our two guides, who safely conducted us to a portage of twenty-seven hundred paces and helped us to transport our canoes to enter that river. After which they returned home, leaving us alone in this un- known country in the hands of Providence. Thus we left the waters flowing to Quebec, four hundred or five hundred leagues from here, to float on those that would henceforth take us through strange lands. . . . 1 1 8 Readings in Modern European History They reach The rivcr on which we embarked is called the Meskousing the Missis- ^ ^^ Wisconsiii]. . . . After proceeding forty leagues on this same route we arrived at the mouth of our river, and at 42^^ degrees of latitude we safely entered the Mississippi on the 17th of June with a joy that I cannot express. Here we are, then, on this renowned river, all of whose peculiar features I have endeavored to note carefully. The Mississippi River takes its rise in various lakes in the country of the northern nations. . . . We gently followed its course, which runs toward the south and southeast, as far as the 4 2d degree of latitude. . . . From time to time we came upon monstrous fish, one of which struck our canoe with such violence that I thought that it was a great tree about to break the canoe in pieces. On another occasion we saw on the water a monster with the head of a tiger, a sharp nose like that of a wildcat, with whiskers and straight, erect ears. The head was gray and the neck quite black. But we saw no more creatures of this sort. . . . When we reached the parallel of 41 degrees 28 minutes, following the same direction, w^e found that turkeys had taken the place of game and the pisikious or wild cattle [i.e. buffaloes] that of the other animals. We call them " wild cattle " because they are very similar to our domestic cattle. They are not longer, but are nearly as large again and more corpulent. When our people killed one, three persons had much difficulty in moving it. . . . Their heavy coat falls off in summer and the skin becomes as soft as velvet. At that season the savages use the hides for making fine robes, which they paint in various colors. . . . Marquette Finally, on the 25th of June, we perceived on the water's edge soft tracks of men and a narrow and somewhat beaten path leading to a fine prairie. We stopped to examine it, and thinking that it was a road which led to some village of savages, we resolved to go and reconnoiter it. We therefore left our two canoes under the guard of our people, strictly charging them not to allow themselves to be surprised, after which Monsieur Joliet and I undertook this investigation, — a rather hazardous one for two men who exposed themselves alone to the mercy of a barbarous and unknown people. [The savages visits the Illinois Rivalry of France and Engla7id in North America 1 1 9 received us kindly, having probably recognized us as Frenchmen, especially when they saw our black gowns.] I spoke to them and asked them who they were. They replied that they were Illinois, and as a token of peace they offered us their pipes to smoke. They afterward invited us to enter their village, where all the people impatiently awaited us. These pipes for smoking are called in this country '' calumets." This word has come so much into use that in order to be understood I shall be obliged to use it, as I shall often have to mention these pipes. . . . When one speaks the w^ord "Illinois," it is as if one said in their language "the men," — as if the other savages were looked upon by them merely as animals. It must also be admitted that they have an air of humanity which we have not observed in the other nations that we have seen upon our route. . . . We take leave of our Illinois at the end of June about three o'clock in the afternoon. We embark in the sight of all the people, who admire our little canoes, for they have never seen any like them. . . . While skirting some rocks which by their height and length strange inspired awe, we saw^ upon one of them two painted monsters pictures on which at first made us afraid, and upon which the boldest sav- Alton ages dare not long rest their eyes. They are as large as a calf ; they have horns on their heads like those of deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face somewhat like a man's, a body covered with scales. . . . While w^e were conversing about these monsters, sailing They reach quietly in clear and calm water, we heard the noise of a rapid ^^^ mouth of , . , , -r 1 1 • the Missouri mto which we were about to run. I have seen nothmg more dreadful. An accumulation of large and entire trees, branches, and floating islands was issuing from the mouth of the river Pekitanoui [i.e. Missouri] with such impetuosity that we could not without great danger risk passing through it. So great was the agitation that the water was very muddy and could not become clear. The Pekitanoui is a river of considerable size coming from the northwest, from a great distance, and it dis- charges into the Mississippi. There are many villages of sav- ages along this river, and I hope by its means to discover the Vermilion or California Sea. . . . I20 Readijigs in Modem European Histo?y (Condensed) After escaping as best we could the dangerous rapid we proceeded south. After a long journey we reached the large village of Akamsea [Arkansas]. In the evening the elders held a secret council in regard to the design entertained by some to break our heads and rob us ; but the chief put a stop to all these plots. After sending for us he danced the calumet before us as a token of our entire safety, and to relieve us of all fear he made me a present of it. Reasons for Monsieur Joliet and I held another council to deliberate discontinuing ^^q^^ what we should do, — whether we should push on, or of the remain content with the discovery which we had made. After Mississippi attentively considering that we were not far from the Gulf of Mexico, the basin of which is at the latitude of 31 degrees and 60 minutes, while we were at 33 degrees 40 minutes we judged that we could not be more than two or three days' journey from it, and that beyond a doubt the Mississippi River discharges into the Florida or Mexican gulf, and not to the east in Vir- ginia, whose seacoast is at 34 degrees of latitude, — which we had passed without, however, having as yet reached the sea, — or to the west in California, because in that case our route, would have been to the west or the west-southwest, whereas we had always continued it toward the south. We further con- sidered that we exposed ourselves to the risk of losing the results of this voyage, of which we could give no information if we proceeded to fling ourselves into the hands of the Span- iards, who, without doubt, would at least have detained us as captives. Moreover, we saw very plainly that we were not in a condition to resist savages allied to the Europeans, who were numerous and expert in firing guns, and who continually in- fested the lower part of the river. Finally, we had obtained all the information that could be desired in regard to this dis- covery. All these reasons induced us to decide upon returning ; this we announced to the savages, and after a day's rest made our preparations for it. . . . We therefore reascend the Mississippi, which gives us much trouble in breasting its currents. ... It is true that we leave it at about the 38th degree, which greatly shortens our road and takes us with but little effort to the lake of the Illinois. . . . Rivalry of France and England in NortJi America 1 2 1 One of the chiefs of this nation, with his young men, escorted us to the lake of the lUinois, whence at last, at the end of September, we reached the Bay des Puants, from which we had started the beginning of June. The arrival (in 1607) of the settlers who were to plant the colony of Virginia is described by Captain John Smith. You shall understand that after many crosses in the downs 59. Captain by tempests we arrived safely upon the southwest part of the J°^^ Smith's A • ITT. 1 • r \- 1 r ■■, r dcscription of great Canaries. vVithm four or five days after, we set sail for the landing in Dominica, the 26th of April. The first land we made, we fell Virginia with Cape Henry, the very mouth of the Bay of Chissiapiacke, ^^^^^ which at that present we little expected, having by a cruel storm been put to the northward. Anchoring in this bay, twenty or thirty went ashore with the captain, and in coming aboard, they were assaulted with certain Indians, which charged them within pistol shot : in which conflict, Captain Archer and Mathew Morton were shot : whereupon Captain Newport, seconding them, made a shot at them, which the Indians little respected, but having spent their arrows retired with- out harm. And in that place was the box opened, wherein the Council The govem- for Virginia was nominated : and arriving at the place where ^^^^ ^^ ^^* "P we are now seated, the council was sworn, and the president elected, which for that year was Maister Edm. Maria Wingfield, where was made choice for our situation, a very fit place for the erecting of a great city, about which some contention passed betwixt Captain Wingfield and Captain Gosnold, not- withstanding all our provision was brought ashore, and with as much speed as might be we went about our fortification. The two and twenty day of April, Captain Newport and my- Smith and self with divers others, to the number of twenty-two persons, ^°"^^ ^^^' r 1 T ,. --.., panions ex- set forward to discover the river, some fifty or sixty miles, pi^re inland finding it in some places broader, and in some narrower, the country (for the most part) on each side plain high ground, with many fresh springs, the people in places kindly entreating emperor of Powhatan 122 Readings in Modem Eiiropemi History us, dancing, and feasting us with strawberries, mulberries, bread, fish, and other their country provisions whereof we had plenty : for which Captain Newport kindly requited their least favors with bells, pins, needles, beads, or glasses, which so contented them that his liberality made them follow us from place to place, and ever kindly to respect us. They visit the In the midway, staying to refresh ourselves in a little isle, four or five savages came unto us, which described unto us the course of the river, and after in our journey they often met us, trading with us for such provision as we had ; and arriving at Arsatecke, he whom we supposed to be the chief king of all the rest, most kindly entertained us, giving us in a guide to go with us up the river to Powhatan, of which place their great emperor taketh his name, where he that they honored for king used us kindly. But to finish this discovery, we passed on further, where within an isle we were intercepted with great craggy stones in the midst of the river, where the water falleth so rudely, and with such a violence, as not any boat can pos- sibly pass, and so broad disperseth the stream, as there is not past five or six foot at a low water, and to the shore scarce passage with a barge, the water floweth four foot, and the freshes by reason of the rocks have left marks of the inunda- tions 8 or 9 foot. The south side is plain low ground, and the north side high mountains, the rocks being of a gravelly nature, interlaced with many veins of glistering spangles. That night we returned to Powhatan : the next day (being Whitsunday, after dinner) we returned to the falls, leaving a mariner in pawn with the Indians for a guide of theirs ; he that they honored for king followed us by the river. That afternoon we trifled in looking upon the rocks and river (further he would not go), so there we erected a cross, and that night taking our man at Powhatans, Captain Newport congratulated his kind- ness with a gown and a hatchet : returning to Arsetecke, and stayed there the next day to observe the height thereof, and so with many signs of love we departed. The story of the landing of the Pilgrims is told by William Bradford, one of the original band, in his Rivalry of Fr mice and England in North America 123 History of the Plymouth Plantatio7i^ from which the fol- lowing is taken : But to omite other things, (that I may be breefe,) after longe 60. Landing beating at sea they fell with that land which is called Cape at Plymouth Cod ; the which being made & certainly knowne to be it, they foj.^) were not a little joyfull. After some deliberation had amongst them selves & with y^ m''. of y^ ship, they tacked aboute and resolved to stande for y^ southward (y^ wind & weather being faire) to finde some place aboute Hudsons river for their hab- itation. But after they had sailed yt course aboute halfe y^ day, they fell amongst deangerous shoulds and roring breakers, and they were so farr intangled ther with as they conceived them selves in great danger ; & y® wind shrinking upon them with- all, they resolved to bear up againe for the Cape, and thought them selves hapy to gett out of those dangers before night overtooke them, as by Gods providence they did. And y^ next day they gott into y^ Cape-harbor wher they ridd in saftie. A word or too by y® way of this cape ; it was thus first named by Capten Gosnole & his company, An° : 1602, and after by Capten Smith was caled Cape James ; but it retains y^ former name amongst seamen. Also y^ pointe which first shewed those dangerous shoulds unto them, they called Pointe Care, & Tuckers Terrour ; but y^ French & Dutch to this day call it Malabarr, by reason of those perilous shoulds, and y^ losses they have suffered their. Being thus arived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees & blessed y^ God of heaven, who had brought them over y^ vast & furious ocean, and delivered them from all y^ periles & miseries thereof, againe to set their feete on y^ firme and stable earth, their proper elemente. And no marvell if they were thus joyefull, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on y^ coast of his owne Italy ; as he affirmed, that he had rather remaine twentie years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time ; so tedious & dreadfull was y^ same unto him. But hear I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amased at this poore peoples presente condition ; and so I 124 Readings in Modern E2iropea7i History The hardships thiiike will the reader too, when he well considers y^ same, endured by Being thus passed y^ vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before the Pilgrims .,. ^ . . . ^ ^ ^ ,., in their preparation (as may be remembred by yt which wente before), they had now no friends to wellcome them, nor inns to entertaine or refresh their weatherbeaten bodys, no houses or much less townes to repaire too, to seeke for succoure. It is recorded in scripture as a mercie to y« apostle & his ship- wraked company, yt the barbarians shew^ed them no smale kindnes in refreshing them, but these savage barbarians, when they mette with them (as after wdll appeare) were readier to fill their sids full of arrows then otherwise. And for y^ season it was winter, and they that know y^ winters of yt countrie know them to be sharp & violent, & subjecte to cruell & feirce stormes, deangerous to travill to known places, much more to serch an unknown coast. Besids, w^hat could they see but a hidious & desolate wildernes, full of wild beasts & willd men? and what multituds ther might be of them they knew not. Nether could they, as it were, goe up to y^ tope of Pisgah, to vew from this willdernes a more goodly cuntrie to feed their hops ; for which way soever they turnd their eys (save upward to y^ heavens) they could have little solace or content in re- specte of any outward objects. For suiiier being done, all things stand upon them with a wetherbeaten face; and y^ whole countrie, full of woods & thickets, represented a wild & savage heiw. If they looked behind them, ther was y^ mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now as a maine barr & goulfe to seperate them from all y^ civill parts of y^ world. . . . What could now sustaine them but y^ spirite of God & his grace? May not & ought not the children of these fathers rightly say : Our faithers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were 7'eady to perish in this willdernes ; but they cried unto y^ Lord, and he heard their voyce, and looked on their adversitie, dr^c. Let thetn therfore praise y' Lord, because he is good, 6^ his mercies endure for ever. Yea^ let them which have been redeejned of y^ Lord, shew how he hath delivered them from y" hand of y^ oppressour. When they wandered in y^ deserte willdernes out of y' way, and found no citie to dwell in, both hungrie, & thirstie, their soivle was Rivaby of France and Eyigland in North Ameiica 125 overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before y^ Lord his lov- ing kindnes, and his wonderfull works defo?-e y^ so?is of men. Here follows William Penn's letter to Robert Turner concerning the grant of the province of Pennsylvania from Charles II (1681). Dear Friend : My true love in the Lord salutes thee and dear Friends that 6i. HowPenn love the Lord's precious Truth in those parts. Thine I have ; received his and for my business here, know that after many waitings, watch- ^^^g Charies ings, solicitings, and disputes in council, this day my country II (1681) was confirmed to me under the great seal of England, with large powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania ; a name the king would give it in honor of my father. I chose New Wales, being, as this, a pretty hilly country ; but Penn being Welsh for a head, as Penmanmoire in Wales, and Penrith in Cumberland, and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land in England, [the king] called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or head woodlands ; for I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it ; and though I much opposed it, and went to the king to have it struck out and altered, he said it was past, and would take it upon him ; nor could twenty guineas move the undersecretary to vary the name ; for I feared lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as a respect in the king, as it truly was, to my father, whom he often mentions with praise. Thou mayest communicate my grant to Friends, and expect shortly my proposals. It is a clear and just thing, and my God that has given it me through many difficulties will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall have a tender care to the govern- ment, that it be well laid at first. No more now, but dear love in the Truth. Thy true Friend, William Penn 126 Readings in Modem European Histo?y Section 20. Struggle between France and Ejiglarid for North America A Frenchman, whose name is not known, gives us a good brief account of General Braddock's defeat (1755). 62. AFrench- M. de Contrecoeur, Captain of Infantry, Commandant of man's ac- YoxX. Duquesne, on the Ohio, having been informed that the count of ^ ,. , ^ , . . ^^. . . , . Braddock's Lnghsh were takmg up arms m Virgmia tor the purpose of defeat coming to attack him, was advised, shortly afterwards, that they were on the march. He dispatched scouts, who reported to him faithfully their progress. On the 17th instant he was advised that their army, consisting of 3000 regulars from Old England, were within six leagues of this fort. That officer em- ployed the next day in making his arrangements ; and on the ninth detached M. de Beaujeu, seconded by Messrs. Dumas and de Lignery, all three Captains, together with four Lieu- tenants, 6 Ensigns, 20 Cadets, 100 Soldiers, 100 Canadians, and 600 Indians, with orders to lie in ambush at a favorable spot, which he had reconnoitered the previous evening. " The detachment, before it could reach its place of destina- tion, found itself in presence of the enemy within three leagues of that fort. M. de Beaujeu, finding his ambush had failed, decided on an attack. This he made with so much vigor as to astonish the enemy, who were waiting for us in the best possible order ; but their artillery, loaded with grape, having opened its fire, our men gave way in turn. The Indians, also, frightened by the report of the cannon rather than by any damage it could inflict, began to yield, when M. de Beaujeu was killed. M. Dumas began to encourage his detachment. He ordered the officers in command of the Indians to spread themselves along the wings so as to take the enemy in flank, whilst he, M. de Lignery, and the other officers who led the French were attacking them in front. This order was exe- cuted so promptly that the enemy, who were already shouting their " Long live the King," thought now only of defending themselves. Rivalry of France and England in North America 127 The fight was obstmate on both sides and success long doubt- ful ; but the enemy at last gave way. Efforts were made, in vain, to introduce some sort of order in their retreat. The whoop of the Indians, which echoed through the forest, struck terror into the hearts of the entire enemy. The rout was complete. We remained in possession of the field with six brass twelves and sixes, four howitz-carriages of 50, 11 small royal grenade mortars, all their ammunition, and, generally, their entire baggage. . . . The enemy have left more than 1000 men on the field of battle. They have lost a great portion of the artillery, ammu- nition and provisions, as also their General, whose name was Mr. Braddock, and almost all their officers. We have had 3 officers killed ; 2 officers and 2 cadets wounded. Such a victory, so entirely unexpected, seeing the inequality of the forces, is the fruit of M. Dumas's experience, and of the activity and valor of the officers under his command. General Wolfe wrote the following letter to his mother a fortnight before he was killed in his memorable attack upon the French at Quebec. Banks of the St. Lawrence, 31st August, 1759 Dear Madam : My writing to you will convince you that no personal evils, 63. A letter worse than defeats and disappointments, have fallen upon me. ^* General , . ^^ . , IT,- • Wolfe's to ine enemy puts nothmg to risk, and I cant, m conscience, his mother put the whole army to risk. My antagonist has wisely shut him- self up in inaccessible entrenchments, so that I can't get at him without spilling a torrent of blood, and that perhaps to little purpose. The Marquis de Montcalm is at the head of a great number of bad soldiers, and I am at the head of a small number of good ones, that wish for nothing so much as to fight him ; but the wary old fellow avoids an action, doubtful of the behavior of his army. People must be of the profession to understand the disadvantages and difficulties we labor under, arising from the uncommon natural strength of the country. I approve entirely of my father's disposition of his affairs, though it may interfere a little matter with my plan of quitting 128 Readings in Moderjt European History the service, which I am determined to do the first opportunity, — I mean so as not to be absokitely distressed in circumstances, nor burdensome to you or anybody else. I wish you much health, and am, dear Madam, Your obedient and affectionate Son, Jam. Wolfe Captain John Knox, in a letter written immediately after the English victory at Quebec, gave an account of the battle and the death of Wolfe and Montcalm. After describing the landing of sixteen hundred English troops at the foot of the heights upon which the town is situ- ated, he continues : 64. The bat- We lost no time here, but clambered up one of the steepest tie of Quebec precipices that can be conceived, being almost a perpendicular, (September ^ , ^, . jm 1 , • ,. * • j A 13. 1759) ^'^^ ^^ ^^ mcredible height. As soon as we gamed the summit, all was quiet, and not a shot was heard, owing to the excellent conduct of the light infantry under Colonel Howe ; it was by this time clear daylight. Here we formed again, the river and the south country in our rear, our right extending to the town, our left to Sillery, and halted a few minutes. The General then detached the light troops to our left to rout the enemy from their battery, and to disable their guns, except they could be rendered serviceable to the party who were to remain there ; and this service was soon performed. We then faced to the right, and marched towards the town by files, till we came to the plains of Abraham, — an even piece of ground which Mr. Wolfe had made choice of while we stood forming upon the hill. Weather showery : about six o'clock the enemy first made their appearance upon the heights, between us and the town ; whereupon we halted, and wheeled to the right, thereby form- ing the line of battle. . . . The enemy had now likewise formed the line of battle, and got some cannon to play on us, with round and canister shot ; but what galled us most was a body of Indians and other marksmen they had concealed in the corn opposite to the front of our right wing, and a coppice that stood opposite to our center, inclining towards our left; Rivalry of France and England in North America 1 29 but the Colonel Hale, by Brigadier Monckton's orders, advanced some platoons, alternately, from the forty-seventh regiment, which, after a few rounds, obliged these skulkers to retire ; we were now ordered to lie down, and remained some time in this position. About ten o'clock the enemy began to advance briskly in three columns, with loud shouts and recovered arms, two of them inclining to the left of our army, and the third towards our right, firing obliquely at the two extremities of our line, from the distance of one hundred and thirty yards, until they came within forty yards ; which our troops withstood with the greatest intrepidity and firmness, still reserving their fire, and paying the strictest obedience to their officers : this un- common steadiness, together with the havoc which the grape- shot from our fieldpieces made among them, threw them into some disorder, and was most critically maintained by a well- timed, regular, and heavy discharge of our small arms, such as they could no longer oppose ; hereupon they gave way, and fled with precipitation, so that, by the time the cloud of smoke was vanished, our men were again loaded, and, profiting by the advantage we had over them, pursued them almost to the gates of the town. . . . A body of the enemy made a stand, as if willing to renew Wolfe the action ; but a few platoons from these corps completed receives a our victory. Then it was that Brigadier Townshend came up, wound called off the pursuers, ordered the whole line to dress, and recover their former ground. Our joy at this success is inex- pressibly damped by the loss we sustained of one of the great- est heroes which this or any other age can boast of, — General James Wolfe, who received his mortal wound as he was exert- ing himself at the head of the grenadiers of Louisburg. . . . . . . The Sieur de Montcalm died late last night ; when his The death of wound was dressed, and he settled in bed, the surgeons who Montcalm attended him were desired to acquaint him ingenuously with their sentiments of him, and, being answered that his wound was mortal, he calmly replied that he was glad of it : his Excel- lency then demanded, whether he could survive it long, and how long. He was told, "about a dozen hours, perhaps more, peradventure less." " So much the better," rejoined this 130 Readings in Modern European History eminent warrior : " I am happy I shall not live to see the sur- render of Quebec." . . . Wolfe dies After our late worthy General, of renowned memory, was after learning carried off wounded, to the rear of the front line, he desired 01 his victory those who were about him to lay him down ; being asked if he would have a surgeon, he replied, " It is needless ; it is all over with me." One of them cried out, " They run ! see how they run ! " " Who runs ? " demanded our hero, with great earnestness, like a person roused from sleep. The officer answered, " The enemy, Sir ; Egad ! they give way everywhere." Whereupon the General rejoined, " Go one of you, my lads, to Colonel Bur- ton ; tell him to march Webb's regiment with all speed down to Charles's river, to cut off the retreat of the fugitives from the bridge." Then, turning on his side, he added, " Now, God be praised, I will die in peace " ; and thus expired. Section 21. Revolt of the American Colonies from England John Andrew^s, Esq., of Boston, writes to a friend about the Boston Tea Party, which occurred the evening before last : December i8th [1773] 65. John However precarious our situation may be, yet such is the Andrews on present calm composure of the people that a stranger would the Boston ,,,,.,, , j j t r 1 t- Tea Party hardly thmk that ten thousand pounds sterlmg of the Last India Company's tea was destroyed the night, or rather evening, before last, yet it's a serious truth ; and if yours, together with the other Southern provinces, should rest satisfied with their quota being stored, poor Boston will feel the whole weight of ministerial vengeance. However, it 's the opinion of most people that we stand an equal chance now, whether troops are sent in consequence of it or not ; whereas, had it been stored, we should inevitably have had them, to enforce the sale of it. The attempt The affair was transacted with the greatest regularity and to send the despatch. ... A general muster was assembled, from this away faUs ^^^ ^^ the neighboring towns, to the number of five or six thousand, at 10 o'clock Thursday morning in the Old South Rivalry of France and England in NortJi America 131 Meeting House, where they passed a unanimous vote that the Tea should go out of the harbor that afternoon, and sent a committee with Mr. Rotch ^ to the Customhouse to demand a clearance, which the collector told them it was not in his power to give, without the duties being first paid. They then sent Mr. Rotch to Milton, to ask a pass from the Governor, who sent for answer, that '' consistent with the rules of govern- ment and his duty to the King he could not grant one without they produced a previous clearance from the office." By the time he returned with this message the candles were light in the house, and upon reading it, such prodigious shouts were made, that induced me, while drinking tea at home, to go out and know the cause of it. The house was so crowded I could get no farther than the porch, when I found the moderator was just declaring the meeting to be dissolved, which caused another general shout, out doors and in, and three cheers. What with that, and the consequent noise of breaking up the meeting, you 'd thought that the inhabitants of the infernal regions had broke loose. For my part, I went contentedly home and finished my tea. The "Tea but was soon informed what was going forward ; but still not Party "is crediting it without ocular demonstration, I went and was sat- isfied. They mustered, I 'm told, upon Fort Hill to the number of about two hundred, and proceeded, two by two, to Griffin's wharf, where Hall^ Bj'ttce, and Coffin lay, each with 114 chests of the ill-fated article on board ; the two former with only that article, but the latter, arrived at the wharf only the day before, was freighted with a large quantity of other goods, which they took the greatest care not to injure in the least, and before nine o'clock in the evening every chest from on board the three vessels was knocked to pieces and flung over the sides. They say the actors were Indians from Narragansett. Whether The rioters they were or not, to a transient observer they appeared as such, disguised as being clothed in blankets with the heads mufiled, and cop- per-colored countenances, being each armed with a hatchet or ax, and pair pistols, nor was their dialect different from what I conceive these geniuses to speak, as their jargon was ^ Owner of one of the tea ships. 132 Readings in Modern European History unintelligible to all but themselves. Nor the least insult was offered to any person, save one Captain Connor, a letter of horses in this place, not many years since removed from dear Ireland, who had ript up the lining of his coat and waistcoat under the arms, and watching his opportunity had nearly filled them with tea, but being detected, was handled pretty roughly. They not only stripped him of his clothes, but gave him a coat of mud, with a severe bruising into the bargain ; and nothing but their utter aversion to make any disturbance prevented his being tarred and feathered. Should not have troubled you with this, by this post, hadn't I thought you would be glad of a more particular account of so important a transaction than you could have obtained by common report ; and if it affords my brother but a temporary amusement, I shall be more than repaid for the trouble of writing it. The elder Pitt thus spoke in the House of Commons, January 20, 1775, on the growing difficulties betv^een the king and his American colonies. 66. Pitt on This resistance to your arbitrary system of taxation might the question j^g^yg been foreseen ; it was obvious from the nature of things ingThe Eng^' ^^^ ^'^ mankind, and, above all, from the Whiggish spirit lish troops flourishing in that country. The spirit which now resists your from Boston taxation in America is the same which formerly opposed loans, 1775) ' benevolences, and ship money in England ; the same spirit which called all England on its legs, and by the Bill of Rights vindicated the English constitution ; the same spirit which established the great, fundamental, essential maxim of your liberties, that no subject of England shall be taxed but by his own consent. This glorious spirit of Whiggism animates three millions in America, who prefer poverty with liberty to gilded chains and sordid affluence, and who will die in the defense of their rights as men, as free men. What shall oppose this spirit, aided by the congenial flame glowing in the breast of every Whig in England, to the amount, I hope, of double the American Rivalry of F?'ancc and England in North America 133 numbers? Ireland they have to a man. In that country, joined as it is with the cause of the colonies, and placed at their head, the distinction I contend for is and must be observed. This country superintends and controls their trade and navigation, but they tax themselves. And this distinction between external and internal control is sacred and insur- mountable ; it is involved in the abstract nature of things. Property is private, individual, absolute. Trade is an ex- Trade reguia tended and complicated consideration ; it reaches as far as ^^^'^ distm- , . -1 • 1 11 • • 1 • guished from ships can sail or winds can blow ; it is a great and various taxation machine. To regulate the numberless movements of the several parts and combine them into effect for the good of the whole, requires the superintending wisdom and energy of the supreme power in the empire. But this supreme power has no effect towards internal taxation, for it does not exist in that relation ; there is no such thing, no such idea in this constitution, as a supreme power operating upon property. Let this distinction then remain forever ascertained : taxation is theirs, commer- cial regulation is ours. As an American, I would recognize to England her supreme right of regulating commerce and navigation; as an English- man by birth and principle, I recognize to the Americans their supreme unalienable right in their property, — a right which they are justified in the defense of to the last extremity. To maintain this principle is the common cause of the Whigs on the other side of the Atlantic and on this. " 'T is liberty to liberty engaged," that they will defend themselves, their fami- hes, and their country. In this great cause they are immovably allied : it is the alliance of God and nature, — immovable, eternal, fixed as the firmament of heaven. Four years later, however, George III still saw no reason for not stubbornly continuing the attempt to hold the rebellious colonies at any cost. I should think it the greatest instance among the many I have met with of ingratitude and injustice, if it could be supposed that any man in my dominions more ardently desired 134 Readings in Modern European History 67. Letter of George III to Lord North on the neces- sity of sub- duing the American colonies (June II, X779) Dire conse- quences liable to follow American independence the restoration of peace and solid happiness in every part of this empire than I do ; there is no personal sacrifice I could not readily yield for so desirable an object ; but at the same time no inclination to get out of the present difficulties, which certainly keep my mind very far from a state of ease, can incline me to enter into what I look upon as the destruction of the empire. I have heard Lord North frequently drop that the advantages to be gained by this contest could never repay the expense ; I own that, let any war be ever so successful, if persons will sit down and weigh the expenses, they will find, as in the last, that it has impoverished the state, enriched individuals, and perhaps raised the name only of the con- querors. But this is only weighing such events in the scale of a tradesman behind his counter : it is necessary for those in the station it has pleased Divine Providence to place me to weigh whether expenses, though very great, are not sometimes necessary to prevent what might be more ruinous to a country than the loss of money. The present contest with America I cannot help seeing as the most serious in which any country was ever engaged. It contains such a train of consequences that they must be exam- ined to feel its real weight. Whether the laying a tax was deserving all the evils that have arisen from it, I should suppose no man could allege that, without being thought more fit for Bedlam than a seat in the senate ; but step by step the demands of America have risen. Independence is their object ; that certainly is one which every man, not willing to sacrifice every object to a momentary and inglorious peace, must concur with me in thinking that this country can never submit to. Should America succeed in that, the West Indies must fol- low them, — not independence, but must for its own interest be dependent upon North America. Ireland would soon follow the same plan and be a separate state ; then this island would be reduced to itself, and soon would be a poor island indeed, for, reduced in her trade, merchants would retire with their wealth to climates more to their advantage, and shoals of manufacturers would leave this country for the new empire. Rivalry of France and Engla?td in North America 1 3 5 These self-evident consequences are not worse than what can arise should the Ahnighty permit every event to turn out to our disadvantage ; consequently this country has but one sensible, one great line to follow, — the being ever ready to make peace when to be obtained without submitting to terms that in their consequence must annihilate this empire, and with firmness to make every effort to deserve success. General Cornwallis thus narrates the circumstances of his capitulation at Yorktown in 1781. YoRKTowN, Virginia, Oct. 20, 1781 I have the mortification to inform your Excellency that I 68. Corn- have been forced to give up the posts of York and Gloucester, wallis's own and to surrender the troops under my command, by capitula- surrender at tion, on the 19th instant, as prisoners of war to the combined Yorktown forces of America and France. (1781) I never saw this post in a very favorable light, but when I found I was to be attacked in it in so unprepared a state, by so powerful an army and artillery, nothing but the hopes of relief would have induced me to attempt its defense, for I would either have endeavored to escape to New York by rapid marches from the Gloucester side, immediately on the arrival of General Washington's troops at Williamsburg, or I would, notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, have attacked them in the open field, where it might have been just possible that fortune would have favored the gallantry of the handful of troops under my command ; but being assured by your Excel- lency's letters that every possible means would be tried by the navy and army to relieve us, I could not think myself at liberty to venture upon either of those desperate attempts ; therefore, after remaining for two days in a strong position in front of this place in hopes of being attacked, upon observing that the enemy were taking measures which could not fail of turning my left flank in a short time, and receiving on the second Delay in evening your letter of the 24th of September, informing me relief for that the relief would sail about the 5 th of October, I withdrew within the works on the night of the 29th of September, hoping 136 Readijigs in Modern European History by the labor and firmness of the soldiers to protract the defense until you could arrive. Everything was to be expected from the spirit of the troops, but every disadvantage attended their labor, as the works were to be continued under the enemy's fire, and our stock of intrenching tools, which did not much exceed 400 when we began to work iit the latter end of August, was now much diminished. . . . Frail char- Our works, in the meantime, were going to ruin, and not acter of Eng- having been able to strengthen them by an abattis, nor in any hsh defenses , ° ^ , ,.,... , • , , , ., Other manner but by a slight fraizmg, which the enemy s artil- lery were demolishing wherever they fired, my opinion entirely coincided with that of the engineer and principal officers of the army, that they were in many places assailable in the fore- noon, and that by the continuance of the same fire for a few hours longer they would be in such a state as to render it desperate, with our numbers, to attempt to maintain them. We at that time could not fire a single gun ; only one eight- inch and little more than one hundred Cohorn shells remained. A diversion by the French ships of war that lay at the mouth of York River was to be expected. Capitulation Our numbers had been diminished by the enemy's fire, but to save wan- particularly by sickness, and the strength and spirits of those of soldiers ^^ ^^^ works were much exhausted by the fatigue of constant watching and unremitting duty. Under all these circumstances, I thought it would have been wanton and inhuman to the last degree to sacrifice the lives of this small body of gallant sol- diers, who had ever behaved with so much fidelity and courage, by exposing them to an assault which, from the numbers and precautions of the enemy, could not fail to succeed. I there- fore proposed to capitulate ; and I have the honor to inclose to your Excellency the copy of the correspondence between General Washington and me on that subject, and the terms of capitulation agreed upon. I sincerely lament that better could not be obtained, but I have neglected nothing in my power to alleviate the misfortune and distress of both officers and sol- diers. The men are well clothed and provided with necessaries, and I trust will be regularly supplied by the means of the officers that are permitted to remain with them. Rivalry of FrafKe and England hi North America 1 37 The treatment, in general, that we have received from the A tribute to enemy since our surrender has been perfectly good and proper, *^'- generous but the kindness and attention that has been shown to us by officers the French officers in particular — their delicate sensibility of our situation, their generous and pressing offer of money, both public and private, to any amount — has really gone beyond what I can possibly describe, and will, I hope, make an impression on the breast of every British officer, whenever the fortune of war should put any of them into our power. CHAPTER VIII THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE Sectioji 22. Co7idition of the Country People : Serfdom An English traveler, Arthur Young, as he was mak- ing his way across France in 1789, carefully observed the peasants with whom he often talked. He reports the following interview with a poor woman he met. 69. Arthur Walking up a long hill to ease my mare, I was joined by a Young's poor woman, who complained of the times, and that it was a conversation ^, '^ 1., , -1,111 with a sad country. Demandmg her reasons, she said her husband French peas- had but a morsel of land, one cow, and a poor little horse, woman ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^ franchar (forty-two pounds) of wheat and three chickens to pay as a quitrent to one seigneur ; and four fran- char of oats, one chicken, and one franc to pay to another, besides very heavy tailles and other taxes. She had seven children, and the cow's milk helped to make the soup. " But why, instead of a horse, do not you keep another cow ? " Oh, her husband could not carry his produce so well without a horse; and asses are little used in the country. It was said, at present, that something was to be done by some great folks for such poor ones, but she did not know who nor how, but God send us better, ear les tailles et les droits nous eerasent (for the taxes and feudal rights are crushing us). This woman, at no great distance, might have been taken for sixty or seventy, her figure was so bent and her face so furrowed and hardened by labor, but she said she was only twenty-eight. An Englishman who has not traveled cannot imagine the figure made by infinitely the greater part of the country women in France ; it speaks, at the first sight, hard and severe labor. I am inclined to think that they work 138 TJie Old Regime in Europe 1 39 harder than the men, and this, united with the more miser- able labor of bringing a new race of slaves into the world, destroys absolutely all symmetry of person and every femi- nine appearance. The feudal dues formed an important and complicated branch of the law in France in the eighteenth century. Consequently treatises were drawn up to serve as guides for those lawyers who devoted themselves to this branch of their profession. The following Hst describes a very few of the most important of the dues which prevailed in various parts of the country. The Cens. This was a perpetual due, paid either in money 70. A few of or kind, which the holders of certain lands were forced, accord- ^^^ "^o^t ing to feudal law, to pay the lord. The entire amount could feudal dues be demanded from any one of those who held any part of the in France in land originally subject to the cens. The due was irredeemable, the eight- that is to say, there was no possibility of commuting it or get- century ting rid of it by any arrangement with the lord. Lods et Vefifes. It was a general rule in those parts of France where the customary law prevailed that any one holding land subject to the ce7is must, should he sell his property, pay his lord a portion of the price he received. The amount varied, but frequently was fixed at one sixth. Terrage or Cha7npa7't. This consisted of a certain portion of the produce of the land which the lord could demand from those subject to the cens. Lands subject to terrage could not be mortgaged without the permission of the lord. Carpet. A fourth part of the vintage, exacted by the lords in the Bourbonnais. Corvee. This right of the lord to require the tenants to work for him certain days in the week or put their horses and carts at his disposal had almost disappeared in France in the eight- eenth century, although common in some other parts of Europe. The French government, however, required the peasants to work on the roads, and this duty was known as the corvee. 140 Readings i7i Modern European History Banalites. Rights possessed by the lord on many manors to require those residing within the bounds of the manor to grind their flour in his mill, bake their bread in his oven, or press their grapes in his wine press and pay him well for the service. Banvin. The right of certain lords to sell their wine a month or forty days before any one else on the manor. Peages. According to the feudal lawyers there were origi- nally a vast number of manorial tolls exacted upon bridges, rivers, and roads. Louis XIV did away with a great many of them, and in 1724 no less than twelve hundred more of them were suppressed. Bacs. The right to exact dues on merchandise ferried across streams within a manor. Dr-oit de Leyde. A tax levied upon merchandise brought to fairs and markets.-^ The hunting rights so irritating to the peasants are described in the following passage from Arthur Young's Travels. He speaks particularly of the royal hunting preserves of the king, the so-called capitaiiieries. 71. The The capitaineries were a dreadful scourge on all the occupiers hunting gf land. By this term is to be understood the paramountship FranTe^^^ ^^ ^^ certain districts granted by the king to princes of the blood, (from by which they were put in possession of the property of all Arthur game, even on lands not belonging to them ; and what is very Travels) singular, on manors granted long before to individuals ; so that the erecting of a district into a capitaifierie was an annihilation of all manorial rights to game within it. This was a trifling business in comparison to other circumstances ; for in speak- ing of the preservation of the game in these capitaineries it must be observed that by game must be understood whole droves of wild boars, and herds of deer not confined by any 1 This list is based upon that which de Tocqueville gives in his Ancien Regime, p. 452. He derived his information from two standard treatises by the feudal lawyers Freminville and Renauldon, who wrote about the middle of the eighteenth century. TJie Old Regime in Europe 141 wall or pale, but wandering at pleasure over the whole country, to the destruction of crops, and to the peopling of the galleys by wretched peasants who presumed to kill them in order to save that food which was to support their helpless children. The game in the capitainei-ie of Montceau, in four parishes only, did mischief to the amount of 184,263 livres per annum. No wonder then that we should find the people asking, " We loudly demand the destruction of all the capitainei'ies and of all the various kinds of game." And what are we to think of demanding as a favor the permission " to thresh their grain, mow their fields, and take away the stubble without regard to the partridge or other game"?^ Now an English reader will scarcely understand without being told that there were numerous edicts for preserving the game, which prohibited weeding and hoeing lest the young partridges should be dis- turbed, steeping seed lest it should injure the game, . . . mowing hay, etc., before a certain time so late as to spoil many crops ; and taking away the stubble which would de- prive the birds of shelter. Sectio7i 2^. The Tozuns ajid the Guilds Arthur Young, the EngHsh traveler just quoted, gives us his impressions of Paris, which he visited in 1787. This great city [Paris] appears to be in many respects the 72. Condition most ineligible and inconvenient for the residence of a person °^ ^® streets of small fortune of any that I have seen, and vastly inferior to 1,787 London. The streets are very narrow, and many of them crowded, nine tenths dirty, and all without foot pavements. Walking, which in London is so pleasant and so clean that ladies do it every day, is here a toil and a fatigue to a man, and an impossibility to a well-dressed woman. The coaches are numerous, and, what is much worse, there are an infinity 1 These complaints are from the cahiers, drawn up for the Estates General in 1789. See Development of Moderti Europe (Vol. I, p. 230). For the abolition of the hunting rights see below, p. 256. 142 Readings in Modern European History of one-horse cabriolets, which are driven by young men of fashion and their imitators, alike fools, with such rapidity as to be real nuisances, and render the streets exceedingly dan- gerous, without an incessant caution. I saw a poor child run over and probably killed, and have been myself many times blackened with the mud of the kennels. This beggarly practice, of driving a one-horse booby hutch about the streets of a great capital, flows either from poverty or wretched and despicable economy ; nor is it possible to speak of it with too much severity. If young noblemen at London were to drive their chaises in streets without footways, as their brethren do at Paris, they would speedily and justly get very well threshed or rolled in the kennel. This circumstance renders Paris an ineligible residence for persons, particularly families that can- not afford to keep a coach, — a convenience which is as dear as at London. The fiacres — hackney coaches — are much worse than at that city ; and chairs there are none, for they would be driven down in the streets. To this circumstance also it is owing that all persons of small or moderate fortune are forced to dress in black, with black stockings. Adam Smith, the Scotch economist, thus describes in his famous treatise, The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, the guilds and trade regulations of his day. 73. Adam In Sheffield no master cutler can have more than one Smith on the apprentice at a time by a by-law of the corporation. In h^a^aJ^ Norfolk and Norwich no master weaver can have more than two apprentices under pain of forfeiting five pounds a month to the king. No master hatter can have more than two appren- tices anywhere in England or in the English plantations, under pain of forfeiting five pounds a month, half to the king and half to him who shall sue in any court of record. Both these regulations, though they have been confirmed by a public law of the kingdom, are evidently dictated by the same corporation spirit which enacted the by-law of Sheffield. The silk weavers in London had scarce been incorporated a year when they enacted a by-law restraining any master from having more his day The Old Regime in Europe 143 than two apprentices at a time. It required a particular act of Parliament to rescind this by-law. . . . By the 5 th of Elizabeth, commonly called the Statute of The Statute Apprenticeship, it was enacted that no persons should for the of Apprentice- future exercise any trade, craft, or mystery at the time exer- cised in England, unless he had previously served to it an apprenticeship of seven years at least; and what before had been the by-law of many particular corporations became in England the general public law of all the trades carried on in market towns. For, though the words of the statute are very general and plainly seem to include the whole kingdom, by interpretation its operation has been limited to market towns, it having been held that in country villages a person may exercise several different trades, though he has not served a seven years' apprenticeship to each, they being necessary for the conveniency of the inhabitants, and the number of people frequently not being sufficient to supply each with a particular set of hands. By a strict interpretation of the words, too, the operation of Trades this statute has been limited to those trades which were estab- ^^'^^"^^ ^^^ lished in England before the 5th of Elizabeth and has never si'nJe^Eliza- been extended to such as have been introduced since that beth'stime time. This limitation has given occasion to several distinc- "o* included 1-1 -11 1 r 1 • ^" the appren tions which, considered as rules of police, appear as foolish as tke system can well be imagined. It has been adjudged, for example, that a coach maker can neither himself make nor employ journey- men to make his coach wheels, but must buy them of a master wheelwright, this latter trade having been exercised in England before the 5th of Elizabeth. But a wheelwright, though he has never served an apprenticeship to a coach maker, may either make them himself or employ journeymen to make coaches, the trade of a coach maker not being within the statute because not exercised in England at the time when it was made. The manufactures of Manchester, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton are, many of them, upon this account not within the statute, not having been exercised in England before the 5th of Elizabeth. In France the duration of apprenticeships is different in Situation in different towns and in different trades. In Paris five years is France 144 Readings in Modern European History the term required in a great number ; but before any person can be qualified to exercise the trade as a master he must in many of them serve five years more as a journeyman. During this latter term he is called the companion of his master and the term itself is called his companionship. . . . Adam Smith's The property which every man has in his own labor, as it is th'^'^'^M^^ the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most system sacred and inviolable. The patrimony of a poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands; and to hinder him from employing this strength and dexterity in vi^hat manner he thinks proper without injury to his neighbor is a plain violation of this most sacred property. It is a manifest encroachment upon the just liberty both of the workman and of those who might be disposed to employ him. As it hinders the one from working at what he thinks proper, so it hinders the others from employing whom they think proper. To judge whether he is fit to be employed may surely be trusted to the discretion of the employers whose interest it so much concerns. The affected anxiety of the lawgiver lest they should employ an improper person is evidently as impertinent as it is oppressive. Long appren- Long apprenticeships are altogether unnecessary. The arts !.^^!!!iLL.,,, which are much superior to common trades, such as those of making clocks and watches, contain no such mystery as to require a long course of instruction. The first invention of such beautiful machines, indeed, and even that of some of the instruments employed in making them, have been the work of deep thought and long time, and may justly be considered as among the happiest efforts of human ingenuity. But when both have been fairly invented and are well understood, to explain to any young man in the completest manner how to apply the instruments and how to construct the machines can- not well require more than the lessons of a few weeks — per- haps those of a few days might be sufficient. In the common mechanic trade those of a few days might certainly be sufficient. The dexterity of hands indeed even in common trades cannot be acquired without much practice and experience. But a young man would practice with much more diligence and attention if from the beginning he wrought as a journeyman, unnecessary TJie Old Regime in Europe 145 being paid in proportion to the little work which he could execute and paying in his turn for the materials which he might sometimes spoil through awkwardness and inexperience. His education would generally in this way be more effectual and always less tedious and expensive. The master indeed would be a loser. He would lose all the Smith's wasres of the apprentice which he now saves for seven years J^t^'^^st m , Til -i , •,• -ir 111 lo^^ prices to together. In the end perhaps the apprentice hnnself would be the consumer the loser. In a trade so easily learnt he would have more com- petitors and his wages when he came to be a complete work- man would be much less than at present. The same increase in competition would reduce the profits of the masters as well as the wages of the workmen. The trades, the crafts, the mysteries would all be losers. But the public would be a gainer, the work of all artificers coming in this w^ay much cheaper to the market. In 1776 the French economist, Turgot, was able as controller general to induce the king to sign an edict abolishing the guilds. In the preamble to the edict Turgot clearly states his attitude toward the guilds. In almost all the towns the exercise of the different arts 74- Pre- and trades is concentrated in the hands of a small number of ^ *° Turgot's masters, united in corporations, who alone can, to the exclusion edict abol- of all other citizens, make or sell the articles belonging to ishing the their particular industry. Any person who, by inclination or pjance^^ necessity, intends following an art or trade can only do so by acquiring the mastership [i.e. freedom of the corporation] after a probation as long and vexatious as it is superfluous. By having to satisfy repeated exactions, the money he had so much need of in order to start his trade or open his work- shop has been consumed in mere waste. . . . Citizens of all classes are deprived both of the right to choose the workmen they would employ, and of the advan- tages they would enjoy from competition operating toward improvements in manufacture and reduction in price. Often one cannot get the simplest work done without its having to 146 Readings in Moderii European History go through the hands of several workmen of different corpo- rations, and without enduring the delays, tricks, and exactions which the pretensions of the different corporations, and the caprices of their arbitrary and mercenary directors, demand and encourage. Thus the effects of these establishments are, first, as regards the state, a vast tyranny over trade and industrial work ; second, as regards the great body of the people, a loss of wages and the means of subsistence ; third, in respect to the inhabitants of towns in general, a slavery to exclusive privileges equivalent to a real monopoly, — a monopoly of which those who exercise it against the public are themselves the victims whenever, in their turn, they have need of the articles or the work of any other corporation. . . . Among the infinite number of unreasonable regulations, we find in some corporations that all are excluded from them except the sons of masters, or those who marry the widows of masters. Others reject all those whom they call " strangers," — that is, those born in another town. In many of them for a young man to be married is enough to exclude him from the apprenticeship, and consequently from the mastership. The spirit of monopoly which has dictated the making of these statutes has been carried out to the excluding of women even from the trades the most suitable to their sex, such as embroidery, which they are forbidden to exercise on their own account. . . . Section 24. The Nobility Voltaire spent some time in England, from 1726 10 1729, when still a young man, and he was struck by the interesting contrast between the position of the English and the French nobility. 75. Voltaire Since only peers are, properly speaking, noble in England, position of there would be no such thing, in strictness of law, as nobility the English in that island, had not the kings created new barons from time that^Tth"^**^ to time, and preserved the body of peers, once a terror to them, French to oppose them to the Commons, since become so formidable. The Old Regime iji Europe i^'j Moreover, these new peers who compose the upper House receive nothing but their titles from the king, and very few of them have estates in those places whence they take their titles. One is duke of D , though he has not a foot of land in Dorsetshire ; and another is earl of a village, though he scarce knows where it is Situated. The peers have power, but it is only in the Parliament House. There is no such thing here in England as the power enjoyed No hunting by the French lords to judge in all matters, civil and criminal ; "ghts in or their right or privilege of hunting in the grounds of a citi- zen, who at the same time is not permitted to fire a gun in his own field. No one is exempted in this country from paying certain taxes, because he is a nobleman or a priest. All imposts and taxes are fixed by the House of Commons, whose power is greater than that of the peers, though inferior to it in dignity. The spiritual as well as temporal lords have the right to reject a money bill brought in by the Commons, but they are not allowed to alter anything in it, and must either pass or throw it out without amendment. When the bill has passed the lords and is signed by the king, then the whole nation pays, every man in proportion to his revenue or estate, not according to his title, which would be absurd. There is no such thing as an arbitrary subsidy or poll tax, but a real tax on the lands, the value of which was determined in the reign of the famous King William in. The land tax continues still upon the same footing, though the revenue of the lands is increased. Thus no one is tyrannized over, and every one is in comfortable circumstances. The feet of the peasants are not bruised by wooden shoes ; they eat white bread, are well clothed, and are not afraid of increasing their stock of cattle, nor of tiling their houses, from any appre- hensions that their taxes will be raised the year following. The annual income of the estates of a great many commoners in England amounts to no less than two hundred thousand livres ; and yet these do not think it beneath them to plow the lands to which they owe their wealth, and on which they enjoy their liberty. 148 Readings in Modern European History 76. The Roman Catholic con- ception of the church (from the Tridentine Catechism) Nature of heresy Sectio7i 2^. The Catholic Church The Council of Trent, before it broke up in 1564, ordered a catechism to be drawn up which should set forth, under the auspices of the head of the Church, the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church as they should be taught to the faithful. The following passage from this catechism deals with the article of the creed, " I believe in the Holy CathoUc Church." It will not be difficult to appreciate the care with which the pastor should explain this ninth article to the faithful, if we but note the following important considerations : first, that, as St. Augustine observes, the prophets spoke more plainly and ex- plicitly of the Church than of Christ, foreseeing that on this point a much greater number may err and be deceived, than in regard to the mystery of the incarnation. The ages were to behold wicked men, who — imitative as the ape, that would fain pass for one of the human species — arrogate to them- selves exclusively the name of '' Catholic," and, with effront- ery as unblushing as it is impious, assert that with them alone is to be found the Catholic Church. Secondly, that he whose mind is once deeply impressed with this truth will experience little difficulty in avoiding the awful danger of heresy ; for a person is not to be called a heretic so soon as he errs in matters of faith : then only is he to be so called, when, in defiance of the authority of the Church, he maintains impious opinions with unyielding obstinacy. . . . Under the word " Church " are comprehended no unim- portant mysteries, for, in this "calling forth," which the word *' Ecclesia " (church) signifies, we at once recognize the benignity and splendor of divine grace, and understand that the Church is very unlike all other commonwealths : they rest on human reason and human prudence ; this, on the wisdom and councils of God ; for he called us by the interior inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who, through the ministry and labor of his pastors and preachers, penetrates into the hearts of men. . . . The Old Regime in Europe 1 49 It is essential to enumerate the several component parts of the Church, and point out their difference, in order that the faithful may the better comprehend the nature, properties, gifts, and graces of the Church, the object of God's special predilection; and unceasingly offer to the divine majesty the homage of their grateful praise. The Church consists principally of two parts, the one called Distinction the Church triumphant, the other the Church militant. The ^t^^^cTtH-^ Church triumphant is that most glorious and happy assemblage umphant and of blessed spirits, and of those souls who have triumphed over the Church the world, the flesh, and the devil, and now, exempt from the "^^ ^ ^" troubles of this life, are blessed with the fruition of everlasting bliss. The Church militant is the society of all the faithful still dwelling on earth, and is called militant because it wages eternal war with those implacable enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are not, however, to infer that there are two Churches : they are two constituent parts of one Church ; one part gone before, and now in possession of its heavenly country ; the other, following every day, until, at length, united to its invisible head, it shall repose in the fruition of endless felicity. The Church militant is composed of two classes of persons. The Church the good and the bad, both professing the same faith and par- militant taking of the same sacraments ; yet differing in their manner the good and of life and morality. The good are those who are linked to- the evil gether not only by the profession of the same faith and the participation in the same sacraments, but also by the spirit of grace, and the bond of charity : of whom St. Paul says, ''The Lord knoweth who are his." Who they are that com- pose this class we, also, may remotely conjecture ; pronounce with certainty we cannot. . . . But, although the Catholic faith uniformly and truly teaches that the good and the bad belong to the Church, yet the same faith declares that the condition of both is very different : the wicked are contained in the Church, as the chaff is mingled with the grain on the threshing floor, or as dead members, sometimes, remain attached to a living body. There are but three classes of persons excluded from the pale of the Church, — infidels, heretics and schismatics, and 150 Readings in Modern European History Three classes excommunicated persons ; infidels, because they never belonged excluded from ^^ ^^^ never knew the Church, and were never made par- the Church , . . , , , i 1 • • takers of any or her sacraments ; heretics and schismatics, because they have separated themselves from the Church, and belong to her only as deserters belong to the army from which they have deserted. It is not, however, to be denied, that they are still subject to the jurisdiction of the Church, inasmuch as they are liable to have judgment passed on their opinions, to be visited with spiritual punishments and denounced with anathema. Finally, excommunicated persons, because excluded by her sentence from the number of her children, belong not to her communion until restored by repentance. But with regard to the rest ; however wicked and flagitious, it is certain that they still belong to the Church ; and of this the faithful are frequently to be reminded, in order to be convinced that, were the lives even of her ministers debased by crime, they are still within her pale, and, there- fore, lose no part of the power with which her ministry invests them. . . . The unity of The distinctive marks of this Church are also to be made the Church ^nown to the faithful, that thus they may be enabled to esti- under Peter's , riii- rii^^i ^ successor the ^late the extent 01 the blessing conferred by God on those Pope who have had the happiness to be born and educated within her pale. The first mark of the true Church is described in the Creed of the Fathers, and consists in unity : " My dove is one, my beautiful one is one." So vast a multitude, scattered far and wide, is called one, for the reasons mentioned by St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians : " One Lord, one faith, one baptism." This Church has, also, but one ruler and one governor, the invisible one, Christ, whom the Eternal Father " hath made head over all the Church, which is his body " ; the visible one, him, who, as legitimate successor of Peter the prince of Apostles, fills the apostolic chair. Early testi- That this visible head is necessary to establish and preserve mony support- unity in the Church is the unanimous accord of the Fathers; ing the Pope's claim to su- ^i^d on this, the sentiments of St. Jerome, in his work against premacy Jovinian, are as clearly conceived as they are happily expressed : " One," says he, " is chosen, so that, by the appointment of a TJie Old Regime in Ein'ope 1 5 i head, all occasion of schism may be removed " ; and to Da- masus : " Let envy cease, let the pride of Roman ambition be humbled : I speak to the successor of the fisherman, and to the disciple of the cross. Following no chief but Christ, I am united in communion with your Holiness, that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that on that rock is built the Church. Whoever will eat the lamb outside this house is profane : who- ever is not in the ark of Noah shall perish in the flood." The same doctrine was, long before, established by Saints Irenaeus and Cyprian : the latter, speaking of the unity of the Church, observes : " The Lord said to Peter, ' I say to thee, Peter, thou art Peter ; and upon this rock I will build my Church ' : he builds his Church on one ; and although, after his resurrection, he gave equal power to all his Apostles, saying, ' As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost ' ; yet, to display unity, he disposed, by his own authority, the origin of this unity, which had its beginning with one, etc." Again, Optatus of Milevis says : '' It cannot be ascribed to ignorance on your part, knowing, as you do, that the episcopal chair, in which Peter, as head of all the Apostles, sat, was, originally fixed by him in the city of Rome, that in him alone may be preserved the unity of the Church ; and that the other Apostles may not claim each a chair for himself ; so that, now, he who erects another, in opposition to this single chair, is a schismatic and a liar." In the next place, St. Basil has these words : '' Peter is made the foundation, because he says, ' Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God,' and hears in reply that he is a rock ; but although a rock, he is not such a rock as Christ, for in himself Christ is, truly, an immovable rock, but Peter, only by virtue of that rock ; for God bestows his dignities on others : he is a priest, and he makes priests ; a rock, and he makes a rock : what belongs to himself, he bestows on his servants." Lastly, St. Ambrose says : " Should any one object, that the Church is content with one head and one spouse, Jesus Christ, and requires no other, the answer is obvious ; for, as we deem Christ not only the author of all the Sacraments, but also their invisible minister (he it is who baptizes, he it is who 152 Readings in Modern Eiii^opean History absolves, although men are appointed by him the external ministers of the sacraments), so has he placed over his Church, which he governs by his invisible spirit, a man to be his vicar, and the minister of his power : a visible Church requires a visible head, and, therefore, does the Savior appoint Peter head and pastor of all the faithful, when, in the most ample terms, he commits to his care the feeding of all his sheep; desiring that he who was to succeed him should be invested with the very same power of ruling and governing the entire Church.". . . Section 26. The Jesnits and Ultramontanism Macaulay gives the following estimate of the work of the Jesuit Order in his well-known History of Englattd. 77 Macau- Jesuits When the Jesuits came to the rescue, they found the Papacy lay's descrip- -j^ extreme peril : but from that moment the tide of battle tion of the . , • 1 1 i i • turned. Protestantism, which had, durmg a whole generation, carried all before it, was stopped in its progress and rapidly beaten back from the foot of the Alps to the shores of the Baltic. Before the Order had existed a hundred years, it had filled the whole world with memorials of great things done and suffered for the faith. No religious community could produce a list of men so variously distinguished : none had extended its operations over so vast a space : yet in none had there been such perfect unity of feeling and action. There was no region of the globe, no walk of speculative or of active life in which Jesuits were not to be found. They guided the counsels of kings. They deciphered Latin inscriptions. They observed the motion of Jupiter's satellites. They published whole libraries, — controversy, casuistry, history, treatises on optics, Alcaic codes, editions of the fathers, mad- rigals, catechisms, and lampoons. The liberal education of youth passed almost entirely into their hands and was con- ducted by them with conspicuous ability. They appear to have discovered the precise point to which intellectual culture can be carried without risk of intellectual emancipation. Enmity itself was compelled to own that in the art of managing and The varied character of Jesuit labors The Old Regime in Europe 153 forming the tender mind they had no equals. Meanwhile they assiduously and successfully cultivated the eloquence of the pulpit. With still greater assiduity and still greater success they applied themselves to the ministry of the confessional. Throughout Roman Catholic Europe the secrets of every gov- ernment and of almost every family of note were in their keep- ing. They glided from one Protestant country to another under innumerable guises, as gay cavaliers, as simple rustics, as Puritan preachers. They wandered to countries which neither mercantile avidity nor liberal curiosity had ever im- pelled any stranger to explore. They were to be found in the garb o:*^ mandarins, superintending the observatory at Pekin. They were to be found, spade in hand, teaching the rudiments of agriculture to the savages of Paraguay. Yet, whatever might be their residence, whatever might be their employment, their spirit was the same, — entire devotion to the common cause, unreasoning obedience to the central authority. None of them had chosen his dwelling place or his vocation The Jesuit's for himself. Whether a Jesuit should live under the Arctic cir- Jfy^lty *» ^"s cle or under the equator, whether he should pass his life in arranging gems and collating manuscripts at the Vatican or in persuading naked barbarians under the Southern Cross not to eat each other, were matters which he left with profound sub- mission to the decision of others. If he was wanted at Lima, he was on the Atlantic in the next fleet. If he was wanted at Bagdad, he was toiling through the desert with the next cara- van. If his ministry was needed in some country where his life was more insecure than that of a wolf, where the heads and quarters of his brethren, fixed in public places, showed him what he had to expect, he went without remonstrance or hesitation to his doom. Nor is this heroic spirit yet extinct. When in our own time, a new and terrible pestilence passed around the globe, when, in some great cities, fear had dissolved all the ties which hold society together, when the secular clergy had forsaken their flocks, when medical succor was not to be purchased by gold, when the strongest natural affections had yielded to the love of life, even then the Jesuit was found by the pallet which bishop and curate, physician and nurse, father and 154 Readings in Modern European History mother had deserted, bending over infected lips to catch the faint accents of confession and holding up to the last before the expiring penitent the image of the expiring Redeemer. Dark side But with the admirable energy, disinterestedness, and self- of the picture ^evotion which were characteristic of the society, great vices were mingled. It was alleged, and not without foundation, that the ardent public spirit which made the Jesuit regardless of his ease, of his liberty, and of his life, made him also regardless of truth and mercy ; that no means which could promote the interest of his religion seemed to him unlawful ; and that by the interest of his religion he too often meant the interest of his Society. It was alleged that in the most atrocious plots recorded in history his agency could be distinctly traced ; that, constant only in attachment to the fraternity to which he belonged, he was in some countries the most dangerous enemy of freedom, and in others the most dangerous enemy of order. The mighty victories which he boasted that he had achieved in the cause of the Church were, in the judgment of many of the illustrious members of that Church, rather apparent than real. . . . So strangely were good and evil intermixed in the character of these celebrated brethren ; and the intermixture was the secret of their gigantic power. That power could never have belonged to mere hypocrites. It never could have belonged to rigid moralists. It was to be attained only by men sincerely enthusiastic in the pursuit of a great end, and at the same time unscrupulous as to the choice of means. A French Jesuit, who fell into the hands of the Iro- quois Indians in 1644, sends the following terrible account of his sufferings to the head of his Order in Europe. Our Reverend Father in Christ. Pax Christi : 78. Suffer- I know not whether your paternity will recognize the letter ings endured ^f ^ p^Qj. cripple, who formerly, when in perfect health, was missionary in ^^^^ known to you. The letter is badly written and quite soiled Canada because, in addition to other inconveniences, he who writes it (1644) j^^g Qj^ly Qj^g whole finger on his right hand ; and it is difficult TJie Old Regime hi Europe 1 5 5 to avoid staining the paper with the blood which flows from his wounds, not yet healed : he uses arquebus powder for ink and the earth for a table. He writes it from the country of the Iroquois where at present he happens to be a captive, and desires herewith to give you a brief report of that which the Divine Providence has at last ordained for him. I started from Three Rivers by order of the Superior on the 27 th of last April, — in company with six Christian barbarians and a young Frenchman, with three canoes, — to go to the country of the Hurons. . . . The third day, when not distant more than twenty or twenty- Captured by four miles from Three Rivers, and seven or eight from the *^^ Iroquois fortress of Richelieu, we were taken captive by twenty-seven Iroquois who, having killed one of our barbarians, captured the others and me with them. We might have fled or indeed killed some Iroquois ; but I, for my part, on seeing my com- panions taken, judged it better to remain with them — accept- ing as a sign of the will of God the inclination and almost resolution of those who conducted me, who chose rather to surrender than to escape by flight. Those who had captured us made horrible cries, Siciit exultant victores capta praeda ; and gave many thanks to the Sun for having in their hands, among the others, a "black robe," — as they call the Jesuits. I will not write here what I suffered on that journey; enough Terrible to know that we marched, carrying burdens, in the woods, f^^^j^^^"^,^}^ °^ where there is no road at all, but only stones, or young shoots, or ditches, or water, or snow, — which was not yet everywhere melted. We traveled without shoes ; fasting sometimes till three and four o'clock in the afternoon, and often whole days ; exposed to the rain, and soaked in the water of the torrents and rivers which we had to cross. At evening my office was to gather the wood, carry the water, and do the cooking, when there was any ; and if I came short in anything, or did not understand well, the blows were not lacking, — and much less did these fail when we happened to meet people who were going either fishing or hunting ; besides, I was hardly able to rest at night for being bound to a tree and exposed to the severity of the air, which was still quite cold. We finally reached 156 Readings in Modern European History their lake, on which — when they had made other canoes, at which it was necessary for me to assist them — we sailed five or six days, after which we landed, and there we made three days' journey on foot. Cruel treat- On the fourth day, which was the 15th of May, about the menton twentieth hour, being still fasting, we arrived at a river where arrival at the . Indian village about four hundred Barbarians were assembled for fishing ; being already apprised of our arrival, they then came to meet us. At about two hundred paces from their cabins, they stripped me naked, and made me go first ; on either side, the young men of the country stood in line, every one with his stick in hand, but the first of them had, instead of the stick, a knife. Then, as I began to proceed, this one suddenly stopped me ; and, having taken my left hand, with the knife which he held he made in it an incision between the little finger and the ring finger, with so much force and violence that I believed he would split my whole hand ; and the others began to load me with blows as far as the stage prepared for our torment. Then they made me mount upon some great pieces of bark, about nine palms above the ground, in order that we might be seen and mocked by the people. I was now bruised all over, and covered with blood, which was flowing from all parts of my body, and exposed to a very cold wind, which made it sud- denly congeal over the skin ; but I greatly consoled myself to see that God granted me the favor of suffering in this world some little pain in place of that which I was under obligation, because of my sins, to pay in the other with torments incom- parably greater. Meanwhile the warriors arrived, and were magnificently received by the people of this village ; and, when they were refreshed with the best that they had from their fishing, they commanded us to sing ; it may be imagined how we could do so, fasting, weak from the journey, overwhelmed with blows, and trembling with cold from head to foot. . . . They made me walk around the fire, w^here they had fixed in the earth sharp sticks between the burning ashes ; some tore out my hair, others my beard ; and every night, after having made me sing, and tormented me as above, they would The Old Regime hi Emvpe 157 burn one of my nails or fingers for the space of eight or ten minutes ; of ten that I had, I have now only one whole one left, — and even from this one they have torn out the nail with their teeth. One evening they burned one of my nails; on another, the first joint or section of a finger ; on the next, the second. In six times they burned nearly six of my fingers — and more than eighteen times they applied the fire and iron to my hands alone ; and meanwhile it was necessary to sing. Thus they treated us till one or two hours after midnight, and then they left me on the bare ground, usually tied to the spot, and exposed to the rain, without other bed or cover than a small skin, which covered not the half of my body, — even at times without anything. . . . We finally arrived at the first village of that nation, where our entrance was similar to the former, and still more cruel, be- cause — in addition to the blows with their fists, and other blows which they gave me on the most sensitive parts of the body — they split, for the second time, my left hand between the middle finger and the forefinger ; and I received beatings in so great number that they made me fall to the ground, half dead. . . . Surfeited with tormenting us here, they sent us to another village, nine or ten miles distant, where, besides the other torments, already mentioned, they suspended me by the feet, sometimes with cords, again with chains, which they had taken from the Dutch ; with these, at night, they left me bound — hands, feet, and neck — to several stakes, as usual, upon the bare ground. . . . I live here among the shadows of death, not hearing any- Hopes for thing spoken of but murders and assassinations. They have freedom recently slain in a cabin one of their own nation, as being use- less, and as one who did not deserve to live. Of course, I suffer somewhat here ; my wounds are not yet healed over, and many do not regard me with a favorable eye. One cannot live without crosses, and this one is of sugar in comparison with the past one. The Dutch cause me to hope for my ransom, and that of the lad who was taken with me ; the will of God be done, in time and in Eternity. I shall hope for it with greater reason if you will make me a partaker of your Holy 158 Readings iii Modern European History 79. Bull of Clement XFV for the effectual abolition of the Order of Jesus (1773) Origin and purpose of the Order sacrifices and prayers, and of those of our Fathers and brethren, — especially of those who were formerly acquainted with me. From the Iroquois, the 15th of July, 1644. In 1773 Pope Clement XIV reluctantly determined to issue a bull suppressing the Jesuit Order. After speak- ing of the great good that the various religious orders had accomplished, and then citing a number of instances in which preceding Popes had reformed or even abolished orders that had degenerated, he proceeds : We, therefore, having before our eyes these and other such examples of great weight and high authority, and animated moreover by a lively desire of walking with a safe conscience and a firm step in the deliberations of which we shall speak hereafter, have omitted no care, no pains, in order to arrive at a thorough knowledge of the origin, the progress, and the actual state of that regular order commonly called '* the Company of Jesus." In the course of these investigations we have seen that the holy founder of the Order did institute it for the sal- vation of souls, the conversion of heretics and infidels, and, in short, for the greater advancement of piety and religion. xA.nd, in order to attain more surely and happily so laudable a design, he consecrated himself rigorously to God by an absolute vow of evangelical poverty, with which to bind the Society in gen- eral, and each individual in particular, except only the colleges in which polite literature and other branches of knowledge were to be taught, and which were allowed to possess property, but so that no part of their revenues could ever be applied to the use of the said Society in general. It was under these and other holy restrictions that the Company of Jesus was approved by the Pope Paul III, our predecessor of blessed memory, by his letter sub plumbo, dated 27th September, 1540. [Here Clement enumerates the other Popes who had either confirmed or increased the privileges already granted to the Society.] Notwithstanding so many and so great favors, it appears from the apostolic constitutions that, almost at the very moment TJie Old Regime i7i Europe 159 of its institution, there arose in the bosom of this Society Dissensions divers seeds of discord and dissension, not only among the caused by the companions themselves, but with other regular orders, the secular clergy, the academies, the universities, the public schools, and, lastly, even with the princes of the states in which the Society was received. ... In short, accusations of the gravest nature, and very detrimental to the peace and tran- quillity of the Christian republic, have been continually received against the said Order. Hence the origin of that infinity of appeals and protests against the Society, which so many sov- ereigns have laid at the foot of the throne of our predecessors Paul IV, Pius V, and Sixtus V. . . . The dissensions among themselves, and with others, grew The Society every day more animated ; the accusations against the Society ^^^Jg^d with were multiplied without number, and especially that of insatiable securing avidity of temporal possessions with which it was reproached, temporal Hence the rise not only of those well-known troubles which Possessions brought so much care and solicitude upon the Holy See, but also of the resolutions which certain sovereigns took against the said Order. ... After so many storms, troubles, and divisions, every good Dissensions man looked forward with impatience to the happy day which ^^^^ J° .,,. _, 11 • f expulsion of was to restore peace and tranquillity. But under the reign 01 Jesuits in this same Clement XIII the times became more difficult and France, Spain tempestuous ; complaints and quarrels were multiplied on every P*!*"^^ ' ^" side ; in some places dangerous seditions arose, tumults, dis- cords, dissensions, scandals, which, weakening or entirely breaking the bonds of Christian charity, excited the faithful to all the rage of party hatreds and enmities. Desolation and danger grew to such a height that the very sovereigns whose piety and liberality towards the Company were so well known as to be looked upon as hereditary in their families — we mean our dearly beloved sons in Christ, the kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and Sicily — found themselves reduced to the neces- sity of expelling and driving from their states, kingdoms, and provinces these very Companions of Jesus, because they were persuaded that there remained no other remedy for so great evils, and that this stej:) was necessary in order to prevent the i6o Readings in Modern European History Christians from rising one against another, and from massa- cring one another in the very bosom of our common mother, the Holy Church. The said our dear sons in Jesus Christ, having since considered that even this remedy would not be sufficient towards reconciling the whole Christian world unless the said Society was absolutely abolished and suppressed, made known their demands and wills in this matter to our said predecessor Clement XIII. . . . Actuated by so many and important considerations, and, as we hope, aided by the presence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit; compelled by the necessity of our ministry, which strictly obliges us to conciliate, maintain, and confirm the peace and tranquillity of the Christian republic, and remove every obstacle which may tend to trouble it ; having further- more considered that the said Company of Jesus can no longer produce those abundant fruits, and those great advantages, with a view to which it was instituted, approved by so many of our predecessors, and endowed with so many and extensive privileges ; that, on the contrary, it would be very difficult, not to say impossible, for the Church to recover a firm and durable peace so long as the said Society subsisted; . . . therefore. Complete after a mature deliberation, we do, out of our certain knowl- destruction of edge, and fullness of our apostolic power, suppress and abolish the Order , -j ^ i . • r n • •. i . r the said Company : we deprive it of all activity whatever, or its houses, schools, colleges, hospitals, lands, and, in short, every other place whatsoever, in whatever kingdom or province they may be situated ; we abrogate and annul its statutes, rules, customs, decrees, and constitutions, even though con- firmed by oath, and approved by the Holy See or otherwise ; in like manner we annul all and every, its privileges, grants, general or particular. . . . Section 2J. The EnglisJi Established Chnrch and the Protesta7it Sects Voltaire gives the following lively account of his im- pressions of the various religious sects in England. He is speaking of Walpole's time. TJie Old Regime in Europe 1 6 1 England is properly the country of religious sects. Muliae 80. Voltaire's stmt mansiones in do mo patris met (in my father's house are impression of X A T- 1- 1 1 ,-1 • the English many mansions). An Jh^nglishman, as one to whom liberty is sects in the natural, may go to heaven his own way. time of Nevertheless, although every one is permitted to serve God "^^^Po^® in whatever mode or fashion he thinks proper, their true reli- gion, that in which a man makes his fortune, is the sect of Episcopalians or Churchmen, called the Church of England, or simply the Church, by way of eminence. No person can possess an employment either in England or Ireland unless he be ranked among the faithful, that is, professes himself a member of the Church of England. This reason (which carries mathe- matical evidence with it) has converted such numbers of Dis- senters of all persuasions, that not a twentieth part of the nation is out of the pale of the Established Church. The English clergy have retained a great number of the Roman Catholic ceremonies, and especially that of receiving, with a most scrupu- lous attention, their tithes. They also have the pious ambition to be masters, for what village parson would not be Pope ! Moreover, they very religiously inspire their flock with a Decline of holy zeal against Dissenters of all denominations. This zeal religious • 1 1 1 rx-i • • 1 r 1 ,• controversy was pretty violent under the 1 ones, m the four last years of j„ England Queen Anne; but was productive of no greater mischief than the breaking the windows of some meetinghouses and the demolishing of a few of them. For religious rage ceased in England with the civil wars, and was no more under Queen Anne than the hollow noise of a sea whose billows still heaved so long after that storm during which Whigs and Tories had laid waste their native country, in the same manner as the Gueiphs and Ghibellines formerly did theirs. It was absolutely necessary for both parties to call in religion on this occasion ; the Tories declared for episcopacy, and the Whigs, as some imagined, were for abolishing it : however, after these had got the upper hand, they contented themselves with only abridg- ing it. At the time when the earl of Oxford and Lord Bolingbroke used to drink healths to the Tories, the Church of England con- sidered those noblemen as the defenders of its holy privileges. 1 62 Readings in Modern European History English clergy more moral than the French The lower house of Convocation (a kind of House of Com- mons) , composed wholly of the clergy, was in some credit at that time ; at least the members of it had the liberty to meet, to dispute on ecclesiastical matters, to sentence impious books from time to time to the flames, — that is, books written against themselves. Now, the ministry, which is composed of Whigs, does not so much as allow those gentlemen to assemble, so that they are at this time reduced (in the obscurity of their respective parishes) to the melancholy occupation of praying for the prosperity of the government, whose tranquillity they would willingly disturb. With regard to the bishops, who are twenty-six in all, they still have seats in the House of Lords in spite of the Whigs, because the ancient abuse of considering them as barons sub- sists to this day. . . With regard to the morals of the English clerg}% they are more regular than those of the French, and for this reason. All the clergy (a very few excepted) are educated in the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, far from the depravity and corruption which reign at the capital. They are not called to digiiities till very late, at a time of life when men are sensible of no other passion but avarice, that is, when their ambition begins to fail. Employments are here bestowed both in the Church and army, as a reward for long services; and we never see youngsters made bishops or colonels immediately upon their laying aside the academical gown ; and besides, most of the clergy are married. . . . Blackstone in his famous Commentaries 07i the Laws of England^ published 1765-1 768, gives an authorita- tive statement of the legal status of the Dissenters and Roman Catholics in England in the eighteenth century. Nonconformists are of two sorts : first, such as absent them- selves from divine worship in the Established Church through total irreligion and attend the service of no other persua- and Catholics sion. . . . The second species of nonconformists are those m England ^j^^ offend through a mistaken or perverse zeal. Such were 81. Black- stone on the status of Dissenters The Old Regime in Europe 163 esteemed by our laws, enacted since the time of the Reforma- tion, to be Papists and Protestant Dissenters : both of which were supposed to be equally schismatics in not communicating with the national Church ; with this difference, that the Papists divided from it upon material, though erroneous, reasons ; but many of the Dissenters, upon matters of indifference, or, in other words, upon no reason at all. Yet, certainly our ancestors were mistaken in their plans of Blackstone compulsion and intolerance. The sin of schism, as such, is by disapproves , , . . . 1-1 of religious no means the object of temporal coercion and punishment, persecution If through weakness of intellect, through misdirected piety, through perverseness and acerbity of temper, or (which is often the case) through a prospect of secular advantage in herding with a party, men quarrel with the ecclesiastical establishment, the civil magistrate has nothing to do with it ; unless their tenets and practice are such as threaten ruin or disturbance to the State. He is bound indeed to protect the Established Church, and if this can be better effected by admitting none but its genuine members to offices of trust and emolument, he is certainly at liberty to do so ; the disposal of offices being matter of favor and discretion. But, this point being once secured, all persecution for diversity of opinions, however ridiculous or absurd they may be, is contrary to every prin- ciple of sound policy and civil freedom. . . . With regard therefore to Protestant Dissenters^ although the Protestant experience of their turbulent disposition in former times occa- Dissenters sioned several disabilities and restrictions (which I shall not undertake to justify) to be laid upon them by abundance of statutes, yet at length the legislature, with a spirit of true mag- nanimity, extended that indulgence to these sectaries w^hich they themselves, when in power, had held to be countenancing schism, and denied to the Church of England. ' The penalties are conditionally suspended by the statute The Tolera- I W. & M. St. I, c. 18. '' For exempting their Majesties' Prot- *'°g" ^^*°^ estant subjects, dissenting from the Church of England, from the penalties of certain laws," commonly called the Toleration Act; which declares, that neither the laws above mentioned, nor any penal laws made against popish recusants (except the 164 Readings in Modern European History Catholics and Test Acts) shall extend to any Dissenters other than Papists Unitarians ^^^ hour when he was accustomed to expound a portion of Scripture to young gentlemen under his care. He desired me to take his place. It may be the seed was not altogether sown in vain. Thurs., 12. I came to Leeds, preached at five, and at eight met the society ; after which the mob pelted us with dirt and stones great part of the way home. The congregation was much larger next evening ; and so was the mob at our return, and likewise in higher spirits, being ready to knock out all our brains for joy that the duke of Tuscany was Emperor. What a melancholy consideration is this, that the bulk of the English nation will not suffer God to give them the blessings he would, because they would turn them into curses! He cannot, for instance, give them success against their enemies, for they would tear their ow^n countrymen in pieces ; he cannot trust them with victory, lest they should thank him by murdering those that are quiet in the land. . . . Thurs., March 24 (Worcester) [i 785 ]. I was now considering Wesley how strangely the grain of mustard seed, planted about fifty reviews the years ago, has grown up. It has spread through all Great Brit- ]\iethodism ain and Ireland, the Isle of Wight, and the Isle of Man ; during fifty then to America from the Leeward Islands, through the whole ^^^^^ continent, into Canada and Newfoundland. And the societies, in all these parts, walk by one rule, knowing religion is holy tempers ; and striving to worship God, not in form only, but likewise " in spirit and in truth." Tues., June 28. By the good providence of God, I finished the eighty-second year of my age. Is anything too hard for God ? It is now eleven years since I have felt any such thing as weari- ness : many times I speak till my voice fails, and I can speak no longer ; frequently I walk till my strength fails, and I can walk no farther ; yet even then I feel no sensation of weari- ness, but am perfectly easy from head to foot. I dare not impute this to natural causes : it is the will of God. CHAPTER IX THE SPIRIT OF REFORM Section 28. The Development of Modern Science Whewell, in his History of the hidiictive Sciences, thus characterizes the attitude of a great part of the mediaeval thinkers towards science. 83. Contrast We have akeady stated that real scientific progress requires between the (distinct general ideas applied to many special and certain facts, mediaeval ^,°.-.,., , 1 i, and the Ii^ the period of which we now have to speak, namely, the modern atti- mediaeval, men's ideas were obscured ; their disposition to bring tude toward ^j^^j^. general views into accordance with facts was enfeebled, science They were thus led to employ themselves unprofitably among indistinct and unreal notions ; and the evil of these tendencies was further inflamed by moral peculiarities in the character of those times, — by an abjectness of thought, on the one hand, which could not help looking towards some intellectual supe- rior; and by an impatience of dissent, on the other. . . . The fact that mere collections of the opinions of physical philosophers came to hold a prominent place in literature already indicated a tendency to an indistinct and wandering apprehension of such opinions. . . . Even Aristotle himself is much in the habit of enumerating the opinions of those who have preceded him. To present such statements as an impor- tant part of physical philosophy shows an erroneous and loose apprehension of its nature. . . . Such diversities of opinion convey no truth ; such a multiplicity of statements of what has been said in no degree teaches us what is ; such accumulations of indistinct notions, however vast and varied, do not make up one distinct idea. . . . But the indistinctness of thought which is so fatal a feature in the intellect of the stationary period may be traced 172 The Spirit of Reform 173 mere directly in the works even of the best authors of those Pliny's story times. . . . Thus, if men had any distinct idea of mechanical o^ ^^e power- action, they could not have accepted for a moment the fable of the Echeneis, or Remora, a little fish which was said to be able to stop a large ship by merely sticking to it. . . . Pliny relates the tale gravely and moralizes upon it after his manner.^ '' What," he cries, " is more violent than the sea and the winds? What greater work of art than a ship? Yet one little fish (the Echeneis) can hold back all these when they all strain the same way. The winds may blow, the waves may rage ; but this small creature controls their fury, and stops a vessel, when chains and anchors would not hold it : and this it does not by hard labor but by merely adhering to it. Alas for human vanity, when the turreted ships, which man has built that he may fight from castle walls at sea as well as on land, are held captive and motionless by a fish a foot and a half long ! Such a fish is said to have stopped the admiral's ship at the battle of Actium, and compelled Antony to go into another. And in our own memory one of these animals held fast the ship of Caius, the emperor, when he was sailing from Astura to Antium. The stopping of this ship when all the rest of the fleet went on caused surprise ; but this did not last long, for some of the men jumped into the water to look for the fish, and found it sticking to the rudder. They showed it to Caius, who was indignant that this animal should interpose its prohibi- tion to his progress, when impelled by four hundred rowers. It was like a slug, and had no power after it was taken into the ship." A very little advance in the power of thinking clearly on the force which it exerted in pulling would have enabled the Romans to see that the ship and its rowers must pull the adher- ing fish by the hold of the oars upon the water ; and that, except the fish had a hold equally strong on some external body, it could not resist this force.^ 1 Pliny's Natural History, Bk. xxxii, chap. v. 2 Lactantius, a Christian writer of Constantine's time, like Pliny, much read in the Middle Ages, well illustrates the confusion of thought of which Whewell speaks. He is discussing the idea advanced by the 174 Readings in Modern European History 84. Francis While Roger Bacon had, in the thirteenth century, daims «^ forecast the methods of modern science, it remained for principles Francis Bacon, some three centuries later, clearly to of modern . . . . , ...,., , ^/-z a i scientific enunciate its principles in his little volume Of the Ad- progress vanccment of Learning, and in his more extensive and famous N'oviun Otgajinm, which he dedicated to James I. In these works, from which the following extracts are taken, he harshly criticises the mediaeval attitude toward natural science. Weakness Surely, like as many substances in nature which are solid do ° h f ti putrefy and corrupt into worms, so it is the property of good philosophers and sound knowledge to putrefy and dissolve into a number of subtle, idle, unwholesome, and (as I may term them) vermicu- late questions, which have indeed a kind of quickness and life of spirit, but no soundness of matter and goodness of quality. This kind of degenerate learning did chiefly reign among the schoolmen [i.e. scholastic philosophers] : who, having sharp and strong wits, and abundance of leisure, and small variety philosophers that there may be men hving on the opposite side of the globe. "How can there be any one so absurd as to think that men can have their feet higher than their heads ; or that in those parts of the earth instead of resting on the ground things hang down ; crops and trees grow downward ; rain, snow% and hail fall upward on to the earth ? Who indeed can wonder at the hanging gardens which are reckoned as one of the seven wonders when the philosophers would have us believe in hanging fields and cities, seas and mountains ? . . . " If you ask those who maintain these monstrous notions why every- thing does not fall off into the heavens on that side, they reply that it is of the nature of things that all objects having weight are borne toward the center, and that everything is connected with the center, like the spokes of a wheel ; while light things, like clouds, smoke, and fire, are borne away from the center and seek the heavens. I scarce know what to say of such fellows, who when once they have wandered from truth persevere in their foolishness and defend their absurdities by new ab- surdities. Sometimes I imagine that their philosophizing is all a joke, or that they know the truth well enough and only defend these Ues in a perverse attempt to exhibit and exercise their wit." — Divinae InstiH<.- Hones, Lib. iii, sect. 24 ; Corp. Scrip. Eccl. Lat., XIX, pp. 254 sq. The spirit of Reform 175 of reading, but their wits being shut up in the cells of a few authors (chiefly Aristotle, their dictator) as their persons were shut up in the cells of monasteries and colleges, and knowing little history, either of nature or time, did out of no great quantity of matter and infinite agitation of wit spin out unto us those laborious webs of learning which are extant in their books. For the wit and mind of man, if it work upon matter, w^hich is the contemplation of the creatures of God, worketh according to the stuff and is limited thereby ; but if it work upon itself, as the spider worketh his web, then it is endless, and brings forth indeed cobwebs of learning, admirable for fineness of thread and work, but of no substance or profit. . . . Another error hath proceeded from too great a reverence, and a kind of adoration of the mind and understanding of man ; by means whereof, men have withdrawn themselves too much from the contemplation of nature, and the observations of experience, and have tumbled up and down in their own reason and conceits. Upon these intellectualists, which are notwithstanding commonly taken for the most sublime and divine philosophers, Heraclitus gave a just censure, saying, " Men sought truth in their own little w^orlds, and not in the great common world " ; for they disdain to spell, and so by degrees to read in the volume of God's works. . . . Another error is an impatience of doubt, and haste to asser- tion without due and mature suspension of judgment. For the two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients : the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impossible ; the other "ough and troublesome in the entrance, and after a while fair and even : so it is in contemplation ; if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts ; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. There is no soundness in our notions, whether logical or physical. Substance, quality, action, passion, essence itself are not sound notions ; much less are heavy, light, dense, rare, moist, dry, generation, corruption, attraction, repulsion, ele- ment, matter, form, and the like ; but all are fantastical and ill-defined. ... 176 Readings in Modern Europe mi History No conflict between science and religion Religious It is not to be forgotten that in every age natural philoso- opposition to pj^y j^^g had a troublesome adversary and hard to deal with, — namely, superstition and the blind and immoderate zeal of religion. For we see among the Greeks that those who first proposed to man's uninitiated ears the natural causes for thun- der and for storms were thereupon found guilty of impiety. Nor was much more forbearance shown by some of the ancient fathers of the Christian Church to those who, on most convinc- ing grounds (such as no one in his senses would now think of contradicting), maintained that the earth was round and, of consequence, asserted the existence of the antipodes.^ Lastly, some are weakly afraid lest a deeper search into nature should transgress the permitted limits of sober-minded- ness, wrongfully wresting and transferring what is said in Holy Writ against those who pry into sacred mysteries to the hidden things of nature, which are barred by no prohibition. Others, with more subtlety, surmise and reflect that if secondary causes are unknown everything can be more readily referred to the divine hand and rod, — a point in which they think religion greatly concerned ; which is, in fact, nothing else but to seek to gratify God with a lie. Others fear from past example that movements and changes in philosophy wdll end in assaults on religion ; and others again appear apprehensive that in the investigation of nature something may be found to subvert, or at least shake, the authority of religion, especially with the unlearned. But these two last fears seem to me to savor utterly of carnal wisdom ; as if men in the recesses and secret thoughts of their hearts doubted and distrusted the strength of religion, and the empire of faith over the senses, and therefore feared that the investigation of truth in nature might be dangerous to them. But if the matter be truly considered, natural philosophy is, after the word of God, at once the surest medicine against superstition and the most approved nourishment for faith ; and therefore she is rightly given to religion as her most faithful handmaid, since the one displays the will of God, the other his power. . . . 1 See extract from Lactantius given above, p. 173, note. The spirit of Reform 177 . . . Again, in the customs and institutions of schools, Universities academies, colleges, and similar bodies destined for the abode opposed to of learned men and the cultivation of learning, everything is advance found adverse to the progress of science. For the lectures and exercises there are so ordered that to think or speculate on anything out of the common way can hardly occur to any man. And if one or two have the boldness to use any liberty of judg- ment, they must undertake the task all by themselves ; they can have no advantage from the company of others. And if they can endure this also, they will find their industry and largeness of mind no slight hindrance to their fortune. For the studies of men in these places are confined and, as it were, imprisoned in the writings of certain authors, from whom, if any man dissent, he is straightway arraigned as a turbulent person and an innovator. ... In matters of state, change even for the better is distrusted, because it unsettles what is estabhshed ; these things resting on authority, consent, fame, and opinion, not on demonstration ; but arts and sciences should be like mines where the noise of new works and further advances is heard on every side. ... No one has yet been found so firm of mind and purpose as resolutely to compel himself to sweep away all theories and common notions and to apply the understanding, thus made fair and even, to a fresh examination of particulars. Thus it happens that human knowl- edge, as we have it, is a mere medley and ill-digested mass, made up of much credulity and much accident, and also of the childish notions which we at first imbibed. Now if any one of ripe age, unimpaired senses, and well- Great hopes of purged mind apply himself anew to experience and particulars, experimental better hopes may be entertained of that man. In which point I promised to myself a like fortune to that of Alexander the Great, who, according to Titus Livius, " had done no more than take courage to despise vain apprehensions." And a like judgment I suppose may be passed on myself in future ages : that I did no great things, but simply made less account of things that were counted great. In the meanwhile, as I have already said, there is no hope except in a new birth of science ; that is, in raising it regularly up from experience, and building 1/8 Readings in Modern European History it afresh ; which no one, I think, will say has yet been done or thought of. The truly astonishing advances in natural science which antedate the French Revolution, and upon which the discoveries of the nineteenth century were based, are thus summed up by a brilliant French writer. 85. The In pure mathematics we have infinitesimal calculus, dis- scientific covered simultaneously by Leibnitz and Newton ; in astronomy, in the ^he series of calculations and observations which, from Newton eighteenth to Laplace, transforms science into a problem of mechanics, century explains and predicts the movements of the planets and of from Taine) their satellites, indicates the origin and formation of our solar system, and, extending beyond this through the discoveries of Herschel, affords an insight into the distribution of the stellar archipelagoes and of the grand outlines of celestial architecture. Inorganic In physics we have the decomposition of light and the prin- sciences ciples of optics discovered by Newton, the velocity of sound, the form of its undulations, the primary laws of the radiation of heat, the experiments by which Du Fay, Franklin, and especially Coulomb explain, manipulate, and for the first time utilize, electricity. In chemistry the chief foundations of the science were laid : isolation of oxygen, nitrogen, and hydro- gen, the composition of water, the theory of combustion, chem- ical nomenclature, quantitative analysis, the indestructibility of matter, — in short, the discoveries of vScheele, Priestley, Cavendish, Lavoisier. In geology we have the verification and results of Newton's theory, the exact form of the earth, the laws of the tides, the primitive fluidity of the planet, the aqueous and igneous origin of rocks, the structure of the beds of fossils, the repeated and prolonged submersion of continents, the slow growth of animal and vegetable deposits, the vast antiquity of life, the gradual transformation of the earth's surface, and, finally, the grand picture in which Buffon describes approximately the entire history of our globe from the time it formed a mass of glowing TJie Spirit of Reform 1 79 lava down to the time when our own species, after so many lost or surviving ones, was able to inhabit it. Upon this science of inorganic matter we see arising at the Organic same time the science of organic matter. Linnaeus invents sciences botanical nomenclature and the first satisfactory classifications of plants. Digestion is explained by Reaumur and Spallanzani, respiration by Lavoisier. Scientists penetrate to the lowest stages of animal life. Lyonnet devotes twenty years to por- traying a species of caterpillar. Needham reveals his infusoria. Buffon and, above all, Lamarck, in their great but incomplete sketches, outline with penetrating divination the leading fea- tures of modern physiology and zoology. Organic molecules everywhere diffused, which multiply and combine with one another through blind and spontaneous development, without either foreign direction or any preconceived end, solely through the effects of their structure and surroundings, unite together and form those masterly organisms which we call plants and animals. In the beginning we have the simplest forms, followed by slowly developing, complex, and perfected organisms, — all indicated, by conjecture and approximation, the cellular theory of later physiologists and the conclusions of Darwin. In the picture of nature which the human mind now portrays, the science of the eighteenth century has drawn the general out- line, and indicated the perspective and the general masses so correctly that at the present day all its main features remain intact. Except a few partial changes, there is nothing to efface. Section 2g. Hozv the Scieiitific Discoveries produced a Spirit of Reform Voltaire in his Letters on the EnglisJi, which he pub- lished shortly after his return from England, thus speaks of the development of science under the influence of Bacon and Newton. Not long since the following trite and frivolous question was 86. Voltaire debated in a very polite and learned company, namely, Who was °° Francis the greatest man, Caesar, Alexander, Tamerlane, Cromwell, etc.? i8o Readings in Modern European History A test of true Somebody answered, that Sir Isaac Newton excelled them greatness ^\\^ jhg gentleman's assertion was very just ; for if true great- ness consists in having received from heaven a mighty genius, and in having employed it to enlighten our own minds and that of others, a man like Sir Isaac Newton, whose equal is hardly found in a thousand years, is the truly great man. And those politicians and conquerors (and all ages produce some) have generally been so many illustrious wicked men. That man claims our respect who commands the minds of the rest of the world by the force of truth — not those who enslave their fellow-creatures; he who is acquainted with the universe — not they who deface it. Since, therefore, you desire me to give you an account of the famous personages whom England has given birth to, I shall begin with Lord Bacon, Mr. Locke, Sir Isaac Newton, etc. Afterwards the warriors and ministers of state shall come in their order. The extent of I must begin with the celebrated viscount Verulam, known Bacon's labors j^^ Europe by the name of Bacon, which was that of his family. His father had been Lord Keeper, and he himself was a great many years Lord Chancellor under King James the First. Nevertheless, amidst the intrigues of a court, and the affairs of his exalted employment, which alone were enough to engross his whole time, he yet found so much leisure for study as to make himself a great philosopher, a good historian, and an elegant writer ; and a still more surprising circumstance is that he lived in an age in which the art of writing justly and elegantly was little known, much less true philosophy. Lord Bacon, as is the fate of man, was more esteemed after his death than in his lifetime. His enemies were in the British court, and his admirers were foreigners. . . . The Novum The most singular and the best of all his pieces is that which, Orgaimtti ^^ ^j^jg ^jj^^g^ jg ^]^g j^Qg^- useless and the least read, I mean his Novum Scie7itiaru7n Orgamnn. This is the scaffold with which the new philosophy was raised ; and when the edifice was built, — part of it at least, — the scaffold was no longer of service. Lord Bacon was not yet acquainted with Nature, but then he knew, and pointed out, the several paths that lead to it. TJie Spirit of Reform 1 8 1 He had despised in his younger years the thing called phi- Bacon's con- losophy in the Universities : and did all that lay in his power *^"^P* ^°'' , . . r • ■ 1- 1 philosophy to prevent those societies of men, instituted to improve human reason, from depraving it by their quiddities, their horror of the vacuum, their "substantial forms," and all those imperti- nent terms which not only ignorance had rendered venerable, but which had been made sacred by their being ridiculously blended with religion. He is the father of experimental philosophy. It must be Bacon, the confessed that very surprising secrets had been found out father of J >- '^ _ _ _ experimental before his time. The marine compass, printing, engraving on philosophy copper plates, oil painting, looking-glasses ; the art of restor- ing, in some measure, old men to their sight by spectacles; gunpowder, etc., had been discovered. A new world had been sought for, found, and conquered. Would not one suppose that these sublime discoveries had been made by the greatest philos- ophers, and in ages much more enlightened than the present? But it was far otherwise ; all these great changes happened in the most stupid and barbarous times. Chance only gave birth to most of these inventions ; and it is very probable that what is called chance contributed very much to the discovery of America ; at least it has been always thought that Christopher Columbus undertook his voyage merely on the story of a cap- tain of a ship, which a storm had drove as far w^estward as the Caribbean Islands. Be this as it will, men had sailed round the world, and could destroy cities by an artificial thunder more dreadful thaff the real one : but then they were not acquainted with the circulation of the blood, the weight of the air, the laws of motion, light, the number of our planets, etc. And a man who maintained a thesis from Aristotle's Categories, on the uni- versals a parte rei or such like nonsense, was looked upon as a prodigy. . . . In a word, no one, before Lord Bacon, was acquainted with experimental philosophy, nor with the several physical experiments which have been made since his time. Scarce one of them but is hinted at in his work, and he himself had made several. He made a kind of pneumatic engine, by which he guessed the elasticity of the air. He approached, on all 1 82 Readifigs in Modem European History sides as it were, to the discovery of its weight, and had very near attained it, but it was somewhat later that Torricelli ^ seized upon this truth. In a little time experimental philos- ophy began to be cultivated on a sudden in most parts of Europe. It was a hidden treasure which Lord Bacon had some notion of, and which all the philosophers, encouraged by his promises, endeavored to dig up. Bacon But that which surprised me most was to read in his work, anticipates -^^ express terms, the new attraction, the discovery of which Newton tr •> ■> j is ascribed to Sir Isaac Newton. We must search, says Lord Bacon, whether there may not be a kind of magnetic power, which operates between the earth and heavy bodies, between the moon and the ocean, between the planets, etc. In another place he says that either hea\7 bodies must be carried towards the center of the earth or must be reciprocally attracted by it; and in the latter case it is evident that the nearer falling bodies draw towards the earth, the stronger they will attract one another. Voltaire's mingling of jest and earnest is generally apparent in his discussion of theological matters. He felt that the fine distinctions made by the divines often obscured the main issue. Under "grace" he writes as follows : 87. Voltaire Ye sacred counselors of modern Rome, ye illustrious and on grace infallible theologians, no one has more respect than I for your opinions. But were Paulus ^milius, Scipio, Cato, Cicero, Caesar, Titus, Trajan, or Marcus Aurelius to return to that Rome upon which they formerly cast some little glory, you will admit that they would be somewhat startled at your deci- sions respecting grace. What would they say if they should hear of St. Thomas's grace of health and of Cajetan's medic- inal grace ; of external and internal, free, sanctifying, actual, habitual, and cooperating grace ; of effectual grace which is sometimes without effect ; of sufficing grace which is often 1 A friend of Galileo's who discovered the principle of the barometer in 1643. The Spirit of Reform 1 8 3 insufficient : of versatile and congruous grace ? Would they, in good faith, understand these any better than you and I do? How completely at a loss would these poor people be with- out your exalted instruction. I seem to hear them say : " Rev- erend fathers, what stupendous genius is yours ! We have been accustomed to think — absurdly enough, as it appears — that the Eternal Being never follows special laws as we lowly human creatures must, but his own general laws, eternal like himself. It never occurred to any of us that God was like a craz}^ master who gave a fortune to one slave and refused another his necessary food. . . . " Everything from God is grace ; he has conferred his grace on the globe we dwell upon by forming it ; upon the trees the grace to grow ; upon the beasts that of finding food. But if one wolf finds a lamb in his way to make a good meal of, and another wolf is famishing, shall we say that God has shown his special grace to the first wolf ? Has he by ' preventing ' grace been busied in causing one oak to grow preferably to another? . . . *' You miserable creatures 1 Lift up your eyes to the heavens : see the Eternal Artificer creating millions of worlds all gravitat- ing toward one another by general and eternal laws I Behold the same hght reflected from the sun to Saturn and from Saturn to us : and amidst this harmony of so many luminous bodies in a course as amazing as swift, amidst this general obedience of all nature, I defy you to believe that God is occupied with con- ferring versatile grace on Sister Theresa and concomitant grace on Sister Agnes." . . . These, it must be remembered, are Marcus Aurelius's words, not mine ; for God, who inspires you, has given me grace to believe all that you say, or have said, or shall say. In his famous Handy PJiilosopJiic Dictionary, a little volume of essays on a variety of themes, published anonymously in 1764, Voltaire gives under the word " law " his ideas of the reform demanded in Church and State. It will be noted that he seems here to have no 184 Readings in Modern Eit,ropea7i History 88. Vol- taire's views of the rela- tion of Church and State Civil marriage The Church's regulations regarding usury Payment of annates to the Pope All should pay taxes Uniformity quarrel with religion, but only with what he regards as the encroachments of the clergy on the rights of the State. No law made by the Church should ever have the least force unless expressly sanctioned by the government. It was owing to this precaution that Athens and Rome escaped all religious quarrels. Such religious quarrels are the trait of barbarous nations or such as have become barbarous. The civil magistrate alone may permit or prohibit labor on religious festivals, since it is not the function of the priest to forbid men to cultivate their fields. Everything relating to marriage should depend entirely upon the civil magistrate. The priests should confine themselves to the august function of blessing the union. Lending money at interest should be regulated entirely by the civil law, since trade is governed by civil law. All ecclesiastics should be subject in every case to the gov- ernment, since they are subjects of the state. Never should the ridiculous and shameful custom be main- tained of paying to a foreign priest the first year's revenue of land given to a priest by his fellow-citizens. No priest can deprive a citizen of the least of his rights on the ground that the citizen is a sinner, since the priest — who is himself a sinner — should pray for other sinners, not judge them. Officials, laborers, and priests should all alike pay the taxes of the state, since they all alike belong to the state. There should be but one standard of weights and measures and one system of law. Let the punishment of criminals be useful. A man when hanged is good for nothing : a man condemned to hard labor continues to serve his country and furnish a living lesson. Every law should be clear, uniform, and precise. To inter- pret law is almost always to corrupt it. Nothing should be regarded as infamous except vice. The taxes should never be otherwise than proportional to the resources of him who pays. TJie Spirit of Reform 1 8 5 Diderot and his collaborators succeeded in finishing and publishing seven volumes of their Ericyclopcedia dur- ing the years 1751-1757. Then came renewed troubles and the retirement of the discouraged D'Alembert. In 1765 Diderot finally completed the remaining ten vol- umes and issued them all together with the following preface, in which he sums up the aims of his work and the obstacles which he and his fellow-workers had had to overcome. When we began this enterprise we looked forward only to 89. Diderot's those difficulties to which its extent and the variety of the sub- Preface to , , . . , , . " , , the last jects to be treated would give rise; but this proved to be a installment momentary illusion and we soon beheld the multitude of mate- of the rial obstacles which we had foreseen reenforced by an infinite ■^"^"<'" number of intellectual hindrances for which we were in no way prepared. The world grows old, but in vain, for it does not change. Perhaps the individual may become better, but the mass of our species grows neither better nor worse. The sum of noxious passions remains the same, and the enemies of every good and useful thing are innumerable, as they always have been. Among all the various forms of persecution inflicted, in all Persecution times and among all peoples, upon those who have yielded to ^JJ^^^^ Jj^^ the dangerous temptation of endeavoring to inscribe their pEedists names on the list of benefactors of the human race, there are almost none which have not been directed against us. We have ourselves experienced every species of aspersion springing from envy, falsehood, ignorance, and bigotry of which history fur- nishes us any example. During twenty consecutive years we can look back to hardly a moment of rest. After days devoted to continuous and ungrateful labor, how many nights have we passed in apprehension of the evils with which malice threat- ened us ! How often have we risen uncertain whether, yielding to the cries of slander, we should not tear ourselves away from our relatives, friends, and fellow-citizens to seek the necessary peace and protection tendered us beneath a foreign sky. But our country was dear to us and we continued to hope that 1 86 Readings in Modern European History prejudice would give way to justice. Such, moreover, is the character of the man intent on good, and who is fully conscious of the righteousness of his purpose, that his courage is only increased by obstacles which he meets, while his innocence hides from him or leads him to despise the dangers which menace him. One with a high purpose experiences an enthu- siasm of which the evil-minded can form no conception. We have, moreover, met in a few others the same generous sentiments which have sustained us. All our colleagues have hastened to support us. When our enemies felicitated them- selves upon having finally overwhelmed us, we found men of letters and men of affairs, w^ho had previously contented them- selves with encouraging or pitying us, coming to our aid and associating themselves with our work. Would that we might publish the names of all these capable and courageous allies, who well merit public recognition. . . . Shortcomings The public has already passed judgment on the first seven of the work yolumcs ; we ask only a similar indulgence for these. If they refuse to regard this Encyclopcedia as a great and finished work, they wall only be in agreement with ourselves, provided, how- ever, that they do not go so far as to question our achievement in having at least prepared a mass of materials for such a work. . . . Thanks to what we have done, those who came after us will be able to go farther. Without attempting to determine what still remains to be done, we at least hand on to them the finest collection of apparatus for their purposes that has ever been brought together, — the plates dealing with the mechan- ical arts, the hitherto unexcelled descriptions accompanying them, and the vast mass of valuable information relating to all branches of science. Compatriots and contemporaries, however harshly you may judge this work, remember that it was undertaken, continued, and completed by a little band of isolated men, thwarted in their designs, exhibited in the most odious light, slandered, and outraged in the most atrocious manner, without other encour- agement than their devotion to the good, with the support of a very few sympathizers and the assistance which they owed to three or four men of business. . . . The Spirit of Reform 187 No one will deny, I believe, that our work is on the level of Service of the our century, and that is something. The most enlightened per- EncydopcBdia son will find ideas there that are new to him and facts of which he was ignorant. May general education advance with such rapidity during the coming twenty years that there will be in a thousand of our pages scarce a line that will not then be known to everybody ! It is the duty of the masters of the world to hasten this happy consummation. It is they who extend or contract the horizon of knowledge. Happy the time when they come to understand that their safety lies in ruling over educated men ! Attacks on the lives of sovereigns have always been made by blind fanatics. How can we complain of our difficulties and regret our years of labor if we can flatter ourselves that we have done even a little to weaken this mad spirit which is so hostile to social peace, and have encouraged our fellow-beings to love one another, tolerate one another, and recognize the superiority of universal reason over all individual systems which can only inspire hate, animosity, and disorder, and which always sever or weaken the common bonds which hold mankind together? Such has been our aim. The enterprise is at last finished, which our enemies have had the distinguished honor of bitterly hampering and opposing in every way in their power. If it has any merits they are not due to them ; indeed, they may some day be held accountable for its defects. However this may be, we in- vite them to turn the pages of these last volumes ; let them heap their most bitter criticisms on our work, and pour out upon us the vials of their wrath ; we are ready to forgive them anything for a single good and valuable observation. If they will but acknowl- edge that we have exhibited a consistent respect and veneration for two things which make for social happiness, and are alone truly worthy to be extolled, — namely Virtue and Truth, — they will find us quite indifferent to their unkind imputations. . . . Among Rousseau's writings the most permanently influential is his Entile, or Education} This opens with 1 There is an abridged translation by W. H. Payne of this interesting work, issued, in the International Educational Series (Appleton, 1893), in one volume. 1 88 Readings in Modern EiLropean History his protest against the artificiahty of the civiHzation which he saw about him, and his oft-repeated exhortation to return to nature as the safest guide. 90. Rous- All things are good as their Author made them, but every- seau's sum- thj^g degenerates in the hands of man. By man our native turnback soil is forced to nourish plants brought from foreign regions, to nature and one tree is made to bear the fruit of another. Man brings about a general confusion of elements, climates, and seasons ; he mutilates his dogs, his horses, and his slaves ; he defaces and confounds everything, and seems to delight only in monsters and deformity. He is not content with anything as Nature left it, not even with man, whom he must train for his service like a saddle horse, and twist in his own particular way like a tree in his garden. Yet without this interference matters would be still worse than they are, for our species cannot remain half made over. As things now are, a man left to himself from his birth would, in his association with others, prove the most preposterous creature possible. The prejudices, authority, necessity, and example, and, in short, the vicious social institutions in which we find ourselves submerged, would stifle everything natural in him and yet give him nothing in return. He would be like a shrub which has sprung up by accident in the middle of the highway to perish by being thrust this way and that and trampled upon by passers-by. . . . To form this rare creature, man, what have we to do ? Much, doubtless, but chiefly to prevent anything being done. ... In the natural order of things, all men being equal, their common vocation is manhood, and whoever is well trained for that cannot fulfill any vocation badly which demands manhood. Whether my pupil be destined for the army, the Church, or the bar, concerns me but little. Before he is called to the career chosen by his parents. Nature summons him to the duties of human life. To live is the trade I wish to teach him. ... All our wisdom consists in servile prejudices; all our customs are but suggestion, anxiety, and constraint. Civ- ilized man is born, lives, dies in a state of slavery. At his birth TJie Spirit of Reform 1 89 he is sewed in swaddling clothes ; at his death he is nailed in a coffin ; and as long as he preserves the human form he is fettered by our institutions. It is said that nurses sometimes claim to give the infant's head a better form by kneading it, and we permit them to do this ! It would appear that our heads were badly fashioned by the Author of Nature, and that they need to be made over outwardly by the midwife and inwardly by philosophers ! The Caribbeans are more fortunate than we by half. . . . Observe Nature and follow the path she traces for you ! Rousseau closes his Social Contract with a chapter on "civil religion." Roman Catholic Christianity he regarded as very noxious to the State : even the Chris- tianity that he discovered in the Gospels, which he pro- fesses to admire, did not, he believed, help to make good citizens, but rather, on the contrary, led them meekly to suffer tyranny. Christianity is a purely spiritual religion, occupied solely 91- Rous- with heavenly things ; the country of a Christian is not of ®®f^.® this world. He does his duty, it is true, but he does it with religion a profound indifference as to the good or ill success of his efforts. Provided he has nothing to reproach himself with, it matters little to him whether things go well or ill here below. If the state is flourishing, he scarcely dares enjoy the public felicity ; he fears to become proud of the glory of his country. If the state degenerates, he blesses the hand of God which lies heavy upon his people. . . . Should the depository of political power abuse it, the Chris- tian regards this abuse as the rod with which God punishes his children. People would have scruples about driving out the usurper : it would be necessary to disturb the public repose, to use violence, to shed blood ; all this accords ill with the gentleness of the Christian, and, after all, what matters it whether one is a slave or free in this vale of misery? The essential thing is to go to paradise, and resignation is but one more means to accomplish it. 190 Readings in Modern Europeaii History Should some foreign war supervene, the citizens march to combat without difficulty. None among them think of flying ; they do their duty, but without passion for victory ; they know better how to die than to win. Whether they are victors or vanquished, what matters it? Does not Providence know better than they what they need? . . . But I am in error in speaking of a Christian republic ; each of these words excludes the other. Christianity preaches only servitude and dependence. Its spirit is too favorable to tyranny not to be taken advantage of by it. Christians are made to be slaves : they know it and do not care ; this short life has too little value in their eyes. . . . A civil There is, however, a profession of faith purely civil, of which religion -^ -g ^^ sovereign's [i.e. the people's] duty to decide upon the articles, not precisely as dogmas of religion, but as sentiments of sociality without which it is impossible to be a good citizen or a faithful subject. Without being able to oblige any one to believe them, the sovereign can banish from the State whoever does not believe them ; the sovereign should banish him, not as impious, but as unsocial, as incapable of loving law and jus- tice sincerely, and of sacrificing at need his life to his duty. If any one, having publicly acknowledged these dogmas, con- ducts himself as if he did not acknowledge them, he should be punished with death ; he has committed the greatest of crimes, — he has lied before the law. The dogmas The dogmas of civil religion should be simple, few in number, of Rousseau's announced with precision, without explanation or commentary. The existence of a powerful, intelligent, benevolent, prescient, and provident divinity, the life to come, the happiness of the just, the punishment of the wicked, the sacredness of the social contract and the law, — these are the positive dogmas. Danger of As to the negative dogmas, I limit them to one, — intoler- intolerance ance : it enters into the religions which we have excluded. Those who make a distinction between civil intolerance and theological intolerance deceive themselves, to my mind. These two intolerances are inseparable. It is impossible to live in peace with people whom one believes to be damned ; to love them is to hate God, who punishes them ; they must be The spirit of Reform 191 redeemed or else tortured. Wherever theological intolerance is admitted, it must have some civil effects ; and as soon as it has them the sovereign is no more a sovereign, even in tempo- ral matters. From that time priests are the true masters ; kings are but their officers. Montesquieu believed that the English owed their liberty to the fact that the three powers of government, namely the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary, were not in the same hands, as in some of the European States. This theory of the three powers, and of the necessity of keeping them separate, exercised a great influence upon those who drew up the Constitution of the United States. In every government there are three sorts of powers. ... 92. Montes- By virtue of the first, the prince, or magistrate, enacts tem- qu^^u's 1 1 f 1 1 11 theory of the porary or perpetual laws, and amends or abrogates those that x\ix^Q powers have been already enacted. By the second, he makes peace (from The or war, sends or receives embassies, establishes the public Spirit of security, and provides against invasions. By the third, he ^"'^^ punishes criminals, or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. . . . The political liberty of the subject is a tranquillity of mind due to the assurance each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite that the government be so constituted that no man need be afraid of another. When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, and then execute them in a tyramiical manner. Again, there is no liberty if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression. 192 Readings in Modem Eii^vpcan History There would be an end of everything, were the same man, or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, — that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and that of trying the suits of individuals. Most kingdoms in Europe enjoy a moderate government, because the prince who is invested with the two first powers leaves the third to his subjects. In Turkey, where these three powers are united in the sultan's person, the subjects groan under the most dreadful oppression. In the republics of Italy, where these three powers are united, there is less liberty than in our monarchies. Hence their government is obhged to have recourse to as violent methods for its support as even that of the Turks ; witness the state inquisitors, and the lion's mouth into which every informer may at all hours throw his written accusations. In what a situation must the poor subject be, under those republics ! The same body of magistrates are possessed, as executors of the laws, of the whole power they have given themselves in the quality of legislators. They may plunder the State by their general determinations ; and, as they have like- wise the judiciary power in their hands, every private citizen may be ruined by their particular decisions. The whole power is here united in one body ; and though there is no external pomp that indicates a despotic sway, yet the people feel the effects of it every moment. Hence it is that many of the princes of Europe, whose aim has been arbitrary power, have constantly set out with uniting in their own persons all the branches of magistracy and all the great offices of State. The following extracts from Beccaria's Treatise upon Crimes ajid Pimishments give an admirable idea of the clearness and cogency of his reasoning and the simplicity and directness of his style. What are in general the proper punishments for crimes? Is the punishment of death really useful or necessary for the safety The spirit of Reform 193 or good order of society? Are tortures and torments consistent 93. Extracts with justice, or do they answer the end proposed by the laws? ^roni Becca- Which is the best method of preventing crimes ? Are the same J^ ^ punishments equally useful at all times? What influence have Crimes and they on morals? These problems should be solved with that Punishments geometrical precision which the mist of sophistry, the seduction of eloquence, and the timidity of doubt are unable to resist. If I have no other merit than that of having first presented to my country with a greater degree of evidence what other nations have written and are beginning to practice, I shall account myself fortunate ; but if, by supporting the rights of mankind and of invincible truth, I shall contribute to save from the agonies of death one unfortunate victim of tyranny or of ignorance, equally fatal, his blessing and tears of trans- port will be a sufficient consolation to me for the contempt of mankind. . . . It is evident that the intent of punishments is not to torment a sensitive being nor to undo a crime already committed. Is it possible that torments and useless cruelty, the instruments of furious fanaticism or of the impotency of tyrants, can be author- ized by a political body which, so far from being influenced by passion, should be the cool moderator of the passions of indi- viduals? Can the groans of a tortured wretch recall the time past or reverse the crime he has committed? The end of punishment therefore is no other than to prevent others from committing the like offense. Such punishments, therefore, and such a mode of inflicting them ought to be chosen as will make strongest and most lasting impressions on the minds of others with the least torment to the body of the criminal. . . . The torture of a criminal during the course of his trial is a Use of torture cruelty consecrated by custom in most nations. It is used with an intent either to make him confess his crime or explain some contradictions into which he has been led during his examina- tion ; or discover his accomplices ; or for some kind of meta- physical and incomprehensible purgation of infamy ; or finally, in order to discover other crimes of which he is not accused, but of which he may be guilty. 194 Readings in Modern European History No man can be judged a criminal until he be found guilty; nor can society take from him the public protection until it has been proved that he has violated the conditions on which it was granted. What right, then, but that of mere power can authorize the punishment of a citizen so long as there remains any doubt of his guilt? The following dilemma is a frequent one ! Either he is guilty or not guilty. If guilty, he should only suffer the punishment ordained by the laws, and torture becomes useless, as his confession is unnecessary. If he be not guilty, you torture the innocent ; for in the eye of the law every man is innocent whose crime has not been proved. . . . A very strange but necessary consequence of the use of tor- ture is that the plight of the innocent is worse than that of the guilty. With regard to the first, either he confesses the crime which he has not committed and is condemned, or he is acquitted and has suffered a punishment he did not deserve. On the contrary, the person who is really guilty has the most favorable side of the question ; for if he supports the torture with firmness and resolution, he is acquitted and is the gainer, having exchanged a greater punishment for a less. . . . Arguments The punishment of death is pernicious to society from the against examples of barbarity it affords. If the passions or the neces- pun^Siment ^^^7 ^^ ^^'^^ ^^^^ taught men to shed the blood of their fellow- creatures, the laws, which are intended to moderate the ferocity of mankind, should not increase it by examples of barbarity, — the more horrible since this punishment is usually attended with formal pageantry. Is it not absurd that the laws which detect and punish homicide should, in order to prevent murder, publicly commit murder themselves? What are the true and most useful laws? Those compacts and conditions which all would propose and observe in those moments when private interest is silent or combined with that of the public. What are the natural sentiments of every person concerning the punishment of death? We may read them in the contempt and indignation with which every one looks on the executioner, who is nevertheless an innocent executor of the public will, a good citizen who contributes to the advantage of society, the instrument of the general security within as good The Spirit of Reform 195 soldiers are without. What, then, is the origin of this contra- diction ? Why is this sentiment of mankind indelible, however one may reason? It is because in a secret comer of the mind, in which the original impressions of nature are still preserved, men discover a sentiment which tells them that their lives are not lawfully in the power of any one, but of that necessity only which with its iron scepter rules the universe. . . . If it be objected that almost all nations in all ages have punished certain crimes with death, I answer that the force of these examples vanishes when opposed to truth against which prescription is urged in vain. The history of mankind is an immense sea of errors in which a few obscure truths may here and there be found. . . . That some societies only, either few The past full in number or for a very short time, have abstained from the °^ mistakes punishment of death is rather favorable to my argument, for such is the fate of great truths that their duration is only as a flash of lightning in the long dark night of error. The happy time has not yet arrived when truth, as falsehood has been hitherto, shall be the portion of the greatest number. I am sensible that the voice of one philosopher is too weak to be heard amidst the clamors of a multitude blindly influenced by custom ; but there is a small number of sages scattered on the face of the earth who will echo me from the bottom of their hearts ; and if these truths should happily force their way to the thrones of princes, be it known to them that they come attended with the secret wishes of all mankind ; and tell the sovereign that deigns them a gracious reception that his fame shall outshine the glory of conquerors, and that equitable posterity will exalt his peaceful trophies above those of a Titus, an Antoninus, or a Trajan. How happy were mankind if laws were now to be first formed, The benev- now that we see on the thrones of Europe benevolent monarchs, °^^"* despots friends to the virtues of peace, to the arts and sciences, fathers of their people, though crowned, yet citizens ; the increase of whose authority augments the happiness of their subjects by destroying that intermediate despotism which intercepts the prayers of the people to the throne. If these humane princes have suffered the old laws to subsist, it is doubtless because 196 Readings in Modern Enropeaii History they are disturbed by the numberless obstacles which oppose the subversion of errors by the sanction of many ages ; and therefore every wise citizen will wish for the increase of their authority. . . . Would you prevent crimes ? Let the laws be clear and simple ; let the entire force of the nation be united in their defense ; let them be intended rather to favor every individual than any particular classes of men ; let the laws be feared and the laws only. . . . From what I have written, results the following general theo- rem of considerable utility, though not conformable to Custom, the common legislator of nations : That a punishment may not be an act of violence^ of one or of ma7iy\ against a p7'ivate 7?iem- ber of society ; it should be public^ immediate^ and necessajy ; the least possible in the case given ; proportioned to the crime ^ and determined by the laws. The development of political economy in the latter part of the eighteenth century and the reasons that led men to study it are described by the Abbe Morellet, a man of letters who wrote a pamphlet in 1764 to defend the liberty of writing, against a declaration of the French government issued in that year, forbidding any one to print or sell anything dealing with or criticising the financial policy of the king's ministers. 94. The Do we know everything? Are we as well off as we can be? development These are the questions that should have been asked before economy in issuing a decree of silence against all discussions relating to the the eight- administration. If we were quite sure that we had discovered the true principles of that very important science called politi- cal economy, we ought still to permit people to write, if for no other reason than to defend these principles against their obscuration by a taste for mere novelty, the natural restlessness of the human mind, and the passing whims of the government officials. Nevertheless, if all the principles of political econ- omy were well established, the government might justify, in a tolerably plausible way, their law of silence by urging that eenth century TJie spirit of Reform 197 since the State and the people are in a good condition, it is useless to look for better things, which mankind may perhaps never attain to. But there are no States which are not as yet infinitely remote from this happy condition ; and we may safely say that the chief obstacle which stands in the way of their reaching it is the very ignorance of the true principles of government, and the bad laws that this same ignorance has begotten. The proof that this ignorance exists is to be sought, I believe, in the obscurity which still envelops a great part of the terms of which the sci- ence of political economy is continually obliged to make use. So far as I can see, we attach in our language no definite and precise ideas to the words ''commerce," "wealth," "traffic," " credit," " luxury," " liberty," " property," etc. A few persons, I am quite willing to concede, may have a right notion of the meaning of these abstract terms ; it must, however, be admitted that their meaning is not familiar to all or generally accepted ; and how can the principles of a science be well understood and established so long as its terms are neither clear nor fixed? . . . If we look for the reasons for our ignorance, we shall readily discover two very important ones which well justify what we are saying of the necessity of writing on these vital questions. The first of these is the extreme difficulty of the problems raised by political economy ; the second is the newness of this study not only in France but among all the most enlight- ened nations. We venture to say at the very start that the search for the Difficulty of true principles of political economy is one of the most difficult ^^^ subject of J 1- 11- r 1 • rr-, . political and complicated objects of human pursuit. Ihere is no eco- economy nomic question that does not present a vast number of aspects at the same moment, and no measure can be adopted in this field without its consequences affecting the whole body politic. A law relating to finance or commerce influences agriculture, navigation, population, industry, etc. This multi- tude of relations may well cause a law that appears expedient for such and such an object to be very prejudicial in other respects. Surrounded by these difficulties, how can the mind reach the truth unless it is assisted in its investigations, and econom\- a new study 198 Readings in Modern European History aided in every possible way in clearing up its uncertainties. But where is such aid to be sought so abundantly as in printed books, in the education which these serve to disseminate, and in the men who form their opinions from reading them? Political I have already called attention to the fact that this branch of knowledge has only been cultivated for a very short period. It is well known that before the last century commerce, in the widest sense of that word, was not regarded as in any way an affair of the State. The ancient authors scarcely advert to it at all. Xenophon, who touches upon the matter, doubts whether it has any advantage for the State, and Plato excludes it from his ideal republic. Even the Italians of past centuries have not discussed the subject, and as we descend the centuries and reach those nearest us it becomes clear how recent are the first works dealing with political economy. Very few antedate John de Witt, who wrote in the middle of the last century. The first English economic works belong to the same period. In France, one of the first where one finds sound conclusions is the Detail de la Fraiice of Boisguillebert, published in 1695. From that time to the middle of our cen- tury there were only a few works in this field, and these remained unknown, if we except Melon's Essay on Covifnerce in 1730. Finally, about 1750, the publication of Cantillon's excellent Essay on Comme?re in General^ some translations from the English, such as Child's book edited by the late M. de Gournay (as well as a few other works composed or published at the instigation of that worthy official), served as a signal for the development of the subject in France. Our knowledge in this field is thus so recent that it is quite impossible to conclude that enough has already been written. Of course it will be pointed out that a great number of eco- nomic works have been published during the past ten years in which many important truths have been set forth. While I am far from grudging the writers of these works the tribute of esteem and gratitude which they deserve for applying them- selves to the study of those truths which it is especially impor- tant for men to know, I still venture to ask whether in spite of all these useful books enough has already been said. . . . The Spirit of Reform 1 99 I am aware that according to some writers of repute our The doctrine century has taken a great step forward in raising commercial 0/ economic liberty to the rank of a principle and condemning accordingly all economic laws which interfere with the rights of property and freedom in industrial enterprises. It is maintained that this truth alone, when properly developed, with all its necessary consequences, would almost suffice by itself as a guide for the government. I, too, believe that this principle of economic liberty is a faithful guide which will never mislead, but it can- not, nevertheless, by itself, serve sufficiently to illuminate the path which the government should follow. It is a long way from a recognition of this one principle, true as it may be, to a complete system of political economy. . . . The determination of the best basis for the taxes and the best Political way to collect them, the discovery of the laws best adapted to economy and 1 -1111^11 1 • 1 social reform lessen gradually and finally prevent those monstrous mequal- ities in wealth, that destructive vice of all States, — the solution of these and many other problems not less important do not depend upon this principle of commercial freedom, but upon an analytical knowledge of the whole organization of society and a complete theory of political economy. Now, so long as such a theory has not yet been formulated, the science will not have attained such a degree of perfection as it demands. The system upon which the social world is constructed must be discovered and set forth as Copernicus and Newton have dis- covered that of the physical universe. This problem must be solved ere the science of political economy can be said to have been completed, and we do not hesitate to repeat that it still remains unsolved. CHAPTER X THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY Section JO. Reforms of Frederick II, Catherine II, Joseph II, and Charles III Riesbeck (i 750-1 786), a German writer of some note, has left an interesting and amusing account of Germany in his time. He thus describes the manner in which the duke of Wiirtemberg, after a hfe of self-indulgence, announced at the age of fifty that he proposed to mend his ways and become a typical benevolent despot. In 1778 this worthy prince took the opportunity of his birth- day to publish a manifesto of which the following is the sub- stance : '' Being a man, and, from the condition of my nature, far removed from the standard of perfection, and likely to remain so, it could not but fall out that, partly from the weak- ness incidental to human nature, and partly from the want of sufficient sagacity, and other causes, many events should have taken place, which, had they not happened, things would have been very different from what they now are, or are likely to be hereafter. This I acknowledge freely, as it is the duty of every upright-thinking mind to do, and the consideration of it re- minds me of duties obligatory for every man, but still more so for the anointed of the Lord upon earth. " I consider this day, in which I have entered into my fiftieth year, as beginning the second period of my existence. I assure my loving subjects that every successive year of life which it shall please Divine Providence to bestow, shall be dedicated to the promotion of their happiness. Henceforward shall the Enlightened Despots of the Eighteenth Century 201 prcsperity of Wiirtemberg be established on the joint and firm basis of the sovereign's love for his people and of the people's confidence in the affection of their sovereign. A subject who thinks as he ought to do, will see that many circumstances must arise in which the good of the individual must give way to the good of the whole, and will not murmur if things do not always take the turn which he would have wished them to do. We trust that every man will, for the future, live in the confi- dence that he has a provident and anxious father in his prince — yes, may the contest who shall do most to make his native country happy, be from this day forth the only contest that ever arises between us." The duke is now quite a philosopher ; he founds schools, he farms, cultivates arts and sciences, and establishes manufac- tures ; in short, he endeavors in every way possible to make up for what has been wrong. Many causes had contributed to lead this prince astray in the earlier parts of life, and to give his mind, which was nat- urally a lively and impetuous one, a false direction. Amongst the foremost we may reckon the fashion of the times, the bad examples set him by the courts of Mannheim and Dresden, the taste for false magnificence, which he had acquired in Italy, and the corruption of those who surrounded him, many of whom, I am ashamed to say it, were French. These were the causes of that dissipation of which Europe has heard so much. The consequences were such as might naturally have been foreseen, — debt, oppressive taxes, resistance on the part of the estates of the country, and finally a commission of inquiry is- sued by the imperial court. The debts, upon examination, were found to amount to 1,200,000 livres. The evil counselors, you may think, were removed ; but this would have done little but for the change which about this time took place in most of the lesser courts of the empire, the princes of which, from being oppressive and expensive tyrants, suddenly contracted a taste for political economy and philosophical pursuits. Into these the duke ran with as much ardor as he had formerly done into juvenile dissipation. 202 Readi?igs i7i Modern European History duties and responsi- bilities Frederick the Great has left a very clear and excel- lent statement of his conception of a monarch's duties and responsibilities. 96. Frederick With respect to the true monarchical government, it is the the Great's ^^^^ ^^ ^^ worst of all others, according as it is administered. description of ,,, , , , , , , .. . a king's ^Ve have remarked that men have granted preemmence to one of their equals, in expectation that he should do them cer- tain services. These services consist in the maintenance of the laws, a strict execution of justice, an employment of his whole powers to prevent any corruption of manners, and defending the State against its enemies. It is the duty of this magistrate to pay attention to agriculture ; it should be his care that pro- visions for the nation should be in abundance, and that com- merce and industry should be encouraged. He is a perpetual sentinel, who must watch the acts and the conduct of the ene- mies of the State. His foresight and prudence should form timely alliances, which should be made with those who might most conduce to the interest of the realm. By this short abstract the various branches of knowledge which each article in particular requires will be perceived. To this must be added a profound study of the local situation of that country which it is the magistrate's duty to govern, and a perfect knowledge of the genius of the nation ; for the sover- eign who sins through ignorance is as culpable as he who sins through malice : the first is the guilt of idleness, the latter of a vicious heart ; but the evil that results to society is the same. Princes and monarchs, therefore, are not invested with supreme authority that they may, with impunity, riot in de- bauchery and voluptuousness. They are not raised by their fellow-citizens in order that their pride may pompously display itself and contemptuously insult simplicity of manners, poverty, and wretchedness. Government is not intrusted to them that they may be surrounded by a crowd of useless people whose idleness engenders every vice. . . . The sovereign is attached by indissoluble ties to the body of the State ; hence it follows that he, by repercussion, is affected by all the ills which afflict his subjects ; and the people, in like Enlightened Despots of tJie EighteentJi Century 203 manner, suffer from the misfortunes which affect their sover- The interest eign. There is but one general good, which is that of the State. °^ *^^ "^°"' Tr 1 11 !-• • 1 • 1 11 f arch and of If the monarch lose his provmces, he is no longer able, as for- his state merly, to assist his subjects. If misfortune has obliged him to identical contract debts, they must be liquidated by the poor citizens ; and, in return, if the people are not numerous, and if they are oppressed by poverty, the sovereign is destitute of all resource. These are truths so incontestable that there is no need to insist on them further. I once more repeat, the sovereign represents the State ; he and his people form but one body, which can only be happy as far as united by concord. The prince is to the nation he governs what the head is to the man ; it is his duty to see, think, and act for the whole community, that he may procure it every advantage of which it is capable. If it be intended that a monarchical should excel a republican government, sen- tence is pronounced on the sovereign. He must be active, possess integrity, and collect his w^hole powers, that he may be able to run the career he has commenced. Here follow my ideas concerning his duties. He ought to procure exact and circumstantial information Frederick's of the strength and weakness of his country, as well relative to "otioi^ o^^ ° /> 1 1 1 prince's duties pecuniary resources as to population, finance, trade, laws, and the genius of the nation which he is appointed to govern. If the laws are good, they will be clear in their definitions ; other- wise chicanery will seek to elude their spirit to its advan- tage, and arbitrarily and irregularly determine the fortunes of individuals. Lawsuits ought to be as short as possible, to prevent the ruin of the litigants, who consume in useless expenses w^hat is justly and duly their right. This branch of government cannot be too carefully watched, that every possible barrier may be opposed to the avidity of judges and counselors. All persons should be kept within the limits of their duty by occasional visits into the provinces. Whoever imagines himself to be injured will venture to make his com- plaints to the commission, and those who are found to be guilty of corruption ought to be severely punished. It is perhaps superfluous to add that the penalty ought never to exceed the 204 Readiiigs hi Modern European History crime ; that violence ought never to supersede law ; and that it were better the sovereign should be too merciful than too severe. . . . Importance of But neither politics nor the army can prosper if the finances public finance ^^.g ^^^ \^^\, in the greatest order, and if the prince himself be not a prudent economist. Money is like the wand of the necromancer, for by its aid miracles are performed. Grand political views, the maintenance of the military, and the best conceived plans for the ease of the people will all remain in a lethargic state if not animated by money. . . . Taxes must No government can exist without taxation, which is equally be laid to pay necessary to the republic and to the monarchy. The sovereign public 1 •, 1 . 1 IT 1 -111 11- 1M servants who labors in the public cause must be paid by the public ; like- wise the judge, that he may have no need to be corrupt. The soldier must be supported that he may commit no violence for want of having whereon to subsist. In like manner, it is necessary that those persons who are employed in collecting the revenues should receive such salaries as may not lay them under any temptation to rob the public. These various ex- penses demand very considerable sums, and to these must still be added money that should be laid apart to serve solely for extraordinary exigencies. Taxes should This money must all necessarily be levied on the people, '^^"^^ and the grand art consists in levying so as not to oppress. That taxes may be equally and not arbitrarily laid on, surveys and registers should be made by which, if the people are properly classed, the money will be proportionate to the income of the persons paying. This is a thing so necessary that it would be an unpardonable fault in finance if ill-imposed taxes should disgust the husbandman with his labors. Having performed his duties it is necessary that he and his family should afterward live in a certain degree of ease. . . . The monarch is only the first servant of the State, who is obliged to act with probity and prudence, and to remain as totally disinterested as if he were each moment liable to render an account of his administration to his fellow-citizens. Thus he is culpable if he be prodigal of the money of the people, dispers- ing the produce of the taxes in luxury, pomp, or licentiousness. E7ilighte7ied Despots of tJie EigJitccntJi Century 205 It is for him to watch over morals, which are the guardians of the laws, and to improve the national education and not pervert it by ill examples. As the sovereign is properly the head of a family of citizens. The king the father of his people, he ought on all occasions to be the ^J^^uid aid last refuge of the unfortunate ; to be the parent of the orphan tunate and the husband of the widow ; to have as much pity for the lowest wretch as for the greatest courtier ; and to shed his benefactions over those w^ho, deprived of all other aid, can only find succor in his benevolence. Such, according to the principles which we established at the beginning of this essay, is the most accurate conception we can form of the duties of a sovereign, and the only manner which can render monarchical government good and advantageous. Frederick the Great was accustomed to examine per- sonally, and briefly suggest the reply to, many of the petitions sent in to his ministers. The spirit of his government is apparent in the marginal notes he made on the following : [/;/ the king' s ow7i writing~\ Petition from Simon, mer- Forty thousand thalers in- 97. Com- chant and commercial coun- vested in commerce will bring ^®^J^® P* II r. • 1 11 1 -111 Fredenckthe seloratStettm, to be allowed to m 8 percent, m landed prop- Great on purchase the estate of Kraat- erty only 4. So this man various zen for 40,000 thalers. does not understand his own ^^ ^ ^°^® business. A cobbler should continue a cobbler ; a mer- chant should think of his trade, and not of buying estates. , Petition from the town of Why, it cannot be otherwise. Frankfort-on-Oder, against Do they think that I can put the quartering of troops upon the regiment into my pocket? them. The barracks shall be rebuilt. Petition from the bakers at They have had above 500 Potsdam, that corn from the measures already. Ce sont eles public magazines may be al- Canailles. Have them up be- lowed them. fore the magistrate ! 206 Readings in Modern European History Petition from the stocking weaver Esche for the sum of 3200 thalers, due to him on Saxon revenue bonds. Petition from Colonel I 1 that he may be stationed in Silesia, as he intends to pur- chase estates in that province. Petition from the inhabit- ants of Potsdam, to assist them in paying a contribution of 32,000 thalers levied by the Austrians. Petition from the Kammer- herr Baron von Miiller for leave to visit the baths at Aix- la-Chapelle. Renewed petition from Baron von Miiller for leave to visit the baths. Petition for the expenses of receiving and entertaining their Highnesses of Brunswick on their visit in Prussia, 700 thalers. Petition from the creditors of the Count Giannini that the dtXQgdite^ Judiciu7?i which had been granted at their request may be suspended. Petition from the sickly son of the deceased Colonel von Platho, entreating some pen- sion or provision. Complaint of the Privy Councilor von Brandt that several of the colonists whom he sent from Ulm have Paciencia ! That is the very reason why he must not be stationed in Si- lesia. He would improve the estates and neglect the service. Let them look to paying their own debts. I shall not give that rascally rabble a single groschen. What would he do there? He would gamble away the little money he has left, and come back like a beggar. Let him go to the devil ! Pay it this once, but it is a scandalous robbery. Another time I shall send a person to keep the accounts. The administration of jus- tice in my dominions shall in no way be infringed upon, be- cause the laws must govern all. Why, how can I provide for all the halt and the blind ? He sent me people who had been actors and hairdressers. Such persons are of no use in tilling land. Enlightened Despots of the Eighteenth Century 207 returned much dissatisfied with their treatment. Petition from Forstmeister von Poser that his son may not be forcibly carried off to the military profession. Petition from Countess Par- adis that her son, now in the "Bavarian army, may receive a commission in the Prussian army, with the view that the stricter discipline may wean him from his drunken habits. Petition from the merchant Hintze for permission to im- port io,ooQ cwt. of copper, duty free. Petition from the appren- tice mason Eichel for admis- sion to the rights of master mason at Berlin. Petition from the Jew, Meyer Benjamin, at Magdeburg, for admission to equal privileges with Christian tradesmen. Petition from Du Moulin (lately major in the army) for the place of the deceased Kriegesrath Tschirner at the Pomeranian Chamber. Petition from General von Dierecke that his brother-in- law, von Graven itz, may have leave to marry the daughter of Ober-Inspector Glaser. Petition from Privy Coun- cilor von Brandt for the pay- ment of his account — postage He will be better educated in a regiment than in a village. I look out for good officers, but the debauched ones I send packing. Such people of what- ever rank I think no acquisi- tion to my service. Give him a round refusal. He may be admitted if there are not master masons enough already, and if he be not as idle as the Berlin ones. Let the Jew immediately take himself away from Mag- deburg, or the commandant shall kick him out. That would be appointing a goat for gardener ! Fie ! How can he propose such a thing? I shall send him no money to help his writing. He already writes his fingers off. Let him 208 Readings in Modern European History of letters amounting to 113 thalers. Petition from Cornet von Ortzen that he may be per- mitted to visit the baths of Carlsbad for the recovery of his hearing. Petition from the Pastor Pels at Bernau for a yearly pension of 150 thalers, as he finds that he cannot subsist on his stipend of 186. Petition from Landrath von Wobeser for compensation on account of the burning of his house and other losses he suf- fered at the bombardment of Custrin. Petition from the Ober- Auditor G. at Berlin, com- plaining of the appointment of Ober-Auditor Reinecke as general auditor, and stating his own claims as the senior of all the ober-auditors, and as having served the State for thirty years. 98. Extract A few days after the assassination of her husband, ma^i^estoof ^^^^^ I^I' Catherine II, who now had the power in her Catherine II own hands, issued the following pious and reassuring promising , . , , reforms proclamation to her people. (July, 1762) Humbly adoring the degrees of Divine Providence, we assure our faithful subjects that we will not fail by night and by day write me what is really need- ful, and not so much useless stuff that gives me no infor- mation. Carlsbad can do nothing for one's ears. The Apostles did not thirst after lucre. They have preached in vain ; Herr Pels has no apostolic soul, and does not hold the things of this world as things of nought. At the Day of Judgment every man will receive again whatever he has lost in this life. I have in my stable a par- cel of old mules, who have served me a long while, but I have not yet found any of them apply to be made Superintend- ents of the Stable. Enlightened Despots of the Eighteenth Century 209 to invoke the Most High to bless our scepter and enable us to wield it for the maintenance of our orthodox religion, the security and defense of our dear native country, and the support of justice ; as well as to put an end to all miseries, iniquities, and violences by strengthening and fortifying our heart for the public good. And as we ardently wish to prove effectually how far we merit the mutual love of our people, for whose happiness we acknowledge our throne to be appointed, we solemnly promise on our imperial word to make such arrangements in the empire that the government may be endued with an intrinsic force to support itself within limited and proper bounds ; and each department of the State be provided with wholesome laws and regulations sufficient to maintain good order therein at all times and under all circumstances. By which means we hope to establish hereafter the empire and our sovereign power (however they may have been formerly weakened) in such a manner as to comfort the discouraged hearts of all true patriots. We do not in the least doubt that our loving subjects will, as well for the salvation of their own souls as for the good of religion, inviolably observe the oath which they have sworn to us in the presence of Almighty God ; we thereupon pledge them our imperial favor. Catherine's anxiety to induce d'Alembert, the French scientist and an editor of the Encyclopcedia^ to come to Russia, to act as her son's tutor is shown in the following letter : I have just received the answer you wrote to M. Odar, in 99. Catherine which you refuse to transplant yourself in order to assist in the ^^ ^^S®^ ^ , . , ^ ^ .. ■' ... , ., d'Alembert education of my son. 1 easily conceive that it costs a philoso- ^^ become pher like you nothing to despise what the world calls grandeur tutor of her and honor : these are, in your eyes, very little ; and I can ®°° ^^"^ ^^ readily agree that they are so. Considering things in this light, there would be nothing great in the behavior of Queen Christina (of Sweden), which has been so highly extolled, and often censured with more justice. 210 Readings in Modern European History But to be born and called to contribute to the happiness, and even the instruction of a whole nation, and yet decline it, is, in my opinion, refusing to do that good which you wish to do. Your philosophy is founded in a love to mankind : permit me then to tell you, that to refuse to serve mankind, whilst it is in your power, is to miss your aim. I know too well that you are a good man, to ascribe your refusal to vanity. I know that the sole motive of it is the love of ease, and leisure to cultivate letters and the friendship of those you esteem. But what is there in this objection? Come with all your friends ; I promise both them and you every convenience and advantage that depends upon me ; and perhaps you will find more liberty and ease here than in your native country. You refused the invitation of the king of Prussia, notwith- standing your obligations to him ; but that prince has no son. I own to you that I have the education of my son so much at heart, and I think you so necessary to it, that perhaps I press you with too much earnestness. Excuse my indiscretion, for the sake of the occasion of it; and be assured that it is my esteem for you that makes me so urgent. _ ^ Catherine Moscow, Nov. 3, 1762 In this whole letter I have argued only from what I have found in your writings : you would not contradict yourself. A letter from the English ambassador, Harris, writ- ten in 1778, gives his impressions of Catherine II and her court : Petersburg, i6th January, 1778 My dear Sir: 100. An Eng- . . . Prepared even as I was for the magnificence and parade iishman|s Qf ^his court, yet it exceeds in everything my ideas : to this is oTcattferine joined the most perfect order and decorum. The empress her- II and her self unites, in the most wonderful manner, the talents of putting court (1778) ti^Qsg she honors with her conversation at their ease, and of keeping up her own dignity. Her character extends throughout her whole administration ; and although she is rigidly obeyed, yet she has introduced a lenity in the mode of government to EnligJitcncd Despots of the Eighteenth Cejttury 2 1 1 which, till her reign, this country was a stranger. ... I have Asiatic not been here long enough to write with any degree of precision character of on the several characters which compose the court and first soder*^ society here. Great luxury and little morality seem to run through every rank. Flattery and servility characterize the inferior class, presumption and pride the higher one. A slight though brilliant varnish covers in both the most illiterate and uninformed minds. Their entertainments, their apartments, and the number of their domestics are quite Asiatic ; and what is very odd, though perhaps very natural, although they imitate the foreigners in everything, and have (I speak of the higher class) neither customs nor character of their ovm, yet, generally speaking, a stranger is ill received when he comes among them. I, however, am very far from laying myself this imputation at their door, since I have experienced, as well as Mrs. Harris and my sister, every possible civility from them. . . . The immense extent of the Russian empire and the security of its frontiers doubtless render it a desirable ally and almost an inaccessible enemy. The various articles of commerce the rest of Europe must necessarily fetch from hence, and the very few which this country need receive from them, insures its independence and wealth. Russia, therefore, incontestably stands very high among the European powers, but it may be controverted whether it can come up to the high reputation it enjoys,* or to the superiority it assumes. The advantages just mentioned are merely the effects of situation ; they existed before this people were civilized, and will remain with them if they ever should return to that state of barbarity from which they have so recently emerged. To give an empire preeminence abroad, its political system Character ol should be uniform, wise, and steady. To make it respectable ^^^ Russian at home, fixed rules of interior policy should be established, ^^^^''""^^'^ and their administration should be secure and uncorrupted. I must confess, my lord, since my residence here, my researches after such a system and such rules have been fruitless ; and it is in vain that I have attempted to discover on what those high- flown encomiums of this government, which everywhere met my ear, were founded. 212 Readings in Modem Europeaji History Character of In an absolute monarchy everything depends on the dispo- Catherine II gition and character of the sovereign : my principal object, therefore, has been to investigate that of the empress, and, as well from my own observations as from the relations of unprej- udiced and well-informed men, it appears to me that she has a masculine force of mind, obstinacy in adhering to a plan and intrepidity in the execution of it ; but she wants the more manly virtues of deliberation, forbearance in prosperity, and accuracy of judgment, while she possesses, in a high degree, the weak- nesses vulgarly attributed to her sex, — love of flattery and its inseparable companion, vanity, an inattention to unpleasant but salutary advice, and a propensity to voluptuousness, which leads her to excesses that would debase a female character in any sphere of life. Review of If we recapitulate the events of the sixteen years which have Catherine il's gi^psed since her accession, they will, I believe, on a fair and candid inquiry, appear to be in great measure the effects of such a character. On tracing her operations in Poland we shall find that, after having given a king to that country, on no very laudable motive, she, by sometimes supporting his measures too violently, and at others by not supporting them at all, reduced that republic to a state of despair and anarchy, which, in the first instance, brought on herself the Turkish war, and, in its consequences, forced her into a connection that induced her to make a most unjustifiable treaty, which, besides leaving an indelible blot on her reign, has added force to the only two powers from whom she had anything to apprehend, and left them in future an influence in the Polish affairs equal to her own. What other evils the Turkish war may produce it is difficult to foresee; the events are still depending, and that peace, which at first appeared as glorious as it was unexpected, has only proved an armed truce, and given time to the sinews of this country to relax and be enervated. . . . Revolt of the If we tum our reflections to the interior administration of government, I fear the result of them will not be more advan- tageous. A mistaken lenity, arising either from fear or indolence, has subverted the great purposes of law and justice. The great men oppress their inferiors wantonly ; the inferiors pilfer and Cossacks and serfs (1774) EnligJitencd Despots of the Eighteenth Centitry 2 1 3 steal in security. From a conviction of this remissness, and from the special pretext of the cruelty of their lords, we have seen a rebellion break out in the heart of the empire, which, had it been led by men of judgment or courage, would have shaken it to its foundations. No troops were ready to make head against it ; a panic had seized half the country ; and the same spirit of sedition which animated Pugatscheff had infected the rest. He was within a few days' march of Moscow, and the court was near retreating to Riga, when, from want of resolu- tion and conduct, he was defeated and tranquillity restored to the empire. The sparks of discontent, however, are not yet extinguished, and it is much to be apprehended that, in case of any national calamity, they w^ould blow out afresh. Joseph II, immediately after he became, in 1765, emperor and co-regent, with his mother, Maria Theresa, of the Austrian dominions, drew up a statement of his ideas of government from which a few extracts are given below. Men, even when their aim is identical and their motives of loi. Joseph the hierhest, see the same things from very different points of ^^ ^ives his o 1 11 ,•,• 1^, i faubou)-g. These were not the "active" citizens and the royal bluecoats, that were enjoying the honors of the celebration. The woolen caps reappeared and eclipsed the bearskins. The women contested with the men the duty of guarding the city gates, saying, " It was the women who brought the king to Paris and the men who let him escape." But do not boast too loudly, ladies ; it was not much of a present, after all. The prevailing spirit was apathy in regard to kings in gen- eral and contempt for Louis XVI in particular. This showed itself in the least details. On the Place de Greve the people broke up a bust of Louis XVI, which was illuminated by that celebrated lantern which had been a source of terror to the enemies of the Revolution. When will the people execute jus- tice upon all these bronze kings, monuments of our idolatry ? In the Rue St. Honors they forced a dealer to sacrifice a plaster head which somewhat resembled Louis XVI. In another shop they contented themselves with putting a paper band over his eyes. The words "king," "queen," "royal," "Bourbon," "Louis," "court," "Monsieur," "the king's brother," were effaced wherever they were found on pictures or on the signs over shops and stores. While the National Assembly naturally tried to shield the king after his unmistakable attempt to escape be- yond the boundaries of France, many leaders in the clubs denounced him as a traitor and demanded his deposition. A petition was drafted in which the National Assembly was requested to regard the flight of Louis XVI as tantamount to his abdication. This was submitted on July 17 to the crowds which collected on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Some disorder having arisen, the crowd treated the National Guard with disrespect, and The First French Republic 281 the command was finally given to fire upon the people. Lafayette, then head of the guard, and others tried later to justify the harsh command, and were furiously attacked by Marat in his famous newspaper, The People' s Friend. The following extract from it furnishes a good illustration of the attitude of the violent republicans at this time : O credulous Parisians ! can you be duped by these shameful 124. Marat deceits and cowardly impostures? See if their aim in massa- ^^t^cks cring the patriots was not to annihilate your clubs ! Even while and^the the massacre was going on, the emissaries of Mottier [i.e. Lafa- royalists yette] were running about the streets mixing with the groups of people and loudly accusing the fraternal societies and the club of the Cordeliers of causing the misfortunes. The same evening the club of the Cordeliers, wishing to come together, found the doors of their place of meeting nailed up. Two pieces of artil- lery barred the entrance to the Fraternal Society, and only those conscript fathers who were sold to the court were permitted to enter the Jacobin Club, by means of their deputy's cards. Not satisfied with annihilating the patriotic associations, these scoundrels violate the liberty of the press, annihilate the Decla- ration of Rights — the rights of nature. Cowardly citizens, can you hear this without trembling? They declare the oppressed, who, in order to escape their tyranny, would make a weapon of his despair and counsel the massacre of his oppressors, a disturber of the public peace. They declare every citizen a disturber of the public peace who cries, in an uprising, to the ferocious satellites to lower or lay down their arms, thus meta- morphosing into crimes the very humanity of peaceful citizens, the cries of terror and natural self-defense. Infamous legislators, vile scoundrels, monsters satiated with gold and blood, privileged brigands who traffic with the mon- arch, with our fortunes, our rights, our liberty, and our lives ! You thought to strike terror into the hearts of patriotic writers and paralyze them with fright at the sight of the punishments you inflict. I flatter myself that they will not soften. As for The Friend of the People^ you know that for a long time your 282 Readifigs in Modern Euivpean History decrees directed against the Declaration of Rights have been waste paper to him. Could he but rally at his call two thousand determined men to save the country, he would proceed at their head to tear out the heart of the infernal Mottier in the midst of his battalions of slaves. He would burn the monarch and his minions in his palace, and impale you on your seats and bury you in the burning ruins of your lair. The flight of the king, his arrest at Varennes, and the agitation which accompanied and followed the affair led the queen's brother, the Emperor Leopold, to issue, in concert with the king of Prussia, the Declaration of Pillnitz. This was regarded by the French as an expres- sion of sympathy for the Emigres and as a promise to form a European alliance for the purpose of undoing the Revolution in France. To those who signed the decla- ration it was, however, scarcely more than an empty threat, which they had little idea of carrying out. 125. The His Majesty the Emperor and his Majesty the king of Prus- Declaration g-g^^ having given attention to the wishes and representations (August 27, of Monsieur [the brother of the king of France], and of Mon- 1791) sieur le Comte d'Artois, jointly declare that they regard the present situation of his Majesty the king of France as a matter of common interest to all the sovereigns of Europe. They trust that this interest will not fail to be recognized by the powers, whose aid is solicited ; and that in consequence they will not refuse to employ, in conjunction with their said majesties, the most efficient means, in proportion to their resources, to place the king of France in a position to estab- lish, with the most absolute freedom, the foundations of a monarchical form of government, which shall at once be in harmony with the rights of sovereigns and promote the welfare of the French nation. In that case^ their said majesties the 1 Namely, in case the other powers agreed to join them in checking the Revolution. The signers of the declaration well knew that England would not associate itself with them for such a purpose and that conse- quently their threat would not be executed. The First Fre?ich Republic 283 emperor and the king of Prussia are resolved to act promptly and in common accord with the forces necessary to obtain the desired common end. In the meantime they will give such orders to their troops as are necessary in order that these may be ready to be called into active service. Leopold Frederick William PiLLNITZ, August 27, 179I The views of the more conservative royalists in re- gard to the work of the National Assembly are expressed in the following editorial in the well-known periodical, Le Mercure de France. This article was written by Mal- let du Pan, the editor, who, although he clearly realized the vices of the Aitcien Regime and did not wish it restored, nevertheless held, like many thoughtful men of the time, that the Assembly had been very unwise in its methods. The Constitutional Assembly cannot fail, without denying 126. Opinion positive and accepted facts, to recognize that, as a result of of a con- its doctrines and action, it leaves every religious principle royalist on destroyed, morals in the last stage of degradation, free sway the work of to every vice, the rights of property violated and undermined, Ag^sembly" our forces, both land and naval, in a worse state than at the opening of its reign ; that it has shaken, if not destroyed, the foundation of all military organization ; that it leaves our finances in chaos, the public debt considerably augmented, the annual deficit, according to the most favorable calculators, increased by half, the taxes in arrears, their payment sus- pended, having struck at their very roots by the recklessness of an absolutely new system of which the immediate effects have been to make the people regard themselves as freed from taxation. It cannot disguise from itself that our influence and repu- tation in Europe are eclipsed ; that our commerce is less flourishing, our industry less productive, our population less 284 Readings in Modern Eiiropeayi History numerous ; that our labor has decreased as well as the national wealth ; that it has caused the disappearance of the specie and dissipated an enormous amount of the public capital ; that, finally, our internal police, in spite of numerous guards, is more oppressive and less effective than it was before the Revolution. We w^ill add, what no one can deny, that the number of unfortunates of all classes has increased to a most frightful extent ; that misery and despair cast a funeral pall over the songs of triumph, the illuminations, the Te Deums and con- gratulatory speeches. I do not speak of the clergy and nobil- ity; their condition and birth having rendered them criminal in the eyes of the dominant party, their misfortunes are un- doubtedly well-merited punishments, and four or five hundred private individuals, having declared themselves inviolable, have assumed the right to determine their fate as the judge determines that of criminals ; but I ask that a single class of Frenchmen, except the stockbrokers, be pointed out to me whose fortunes have not diminished and w^hose resources and prosperity have not been painfully affected ! In order justly to appreciate the conduct of our first law- makers, we must avoid the sophism by which they have con- stantly fascinated the common people, — that of comparing the present situation of France with the disastrous results of the most horrible despotism. That is a false standpoint to which knaves and fools are always careful to revert. A vast number of citizens do not desire the old any more than the new regime, and the reproaches heaped upon the latter have no bearing on the reform of the older system. In order to overcome the disapprobation of the citizens it must be proved that, without the action of the Assembly and the public and private calamities which this has involved, France would never have gained freedom, the security of person and prop- erty, safety (which is the first condition of a good govern- ment), peace (which is its sign), political equality, plenty, strength, order, and general consideration. It would, more- over, have to be proved that the Assembly had not the power to choose other institutions ; that no middle course presented The First French Republic 285 itself, and that the only government adapted to the existing exigencies was that which the Assembly proclaimed, since no other offered such obvious advantages or a more evidently propitious future. The spontaneous origin of the Jacobin Club, which was to play such a conspicuous role in the Revolution, is here described by one of its prominent early members, Alexandre de Lameth. The society grew with astonish- ing rapidity. By December, 1 790, there were eleven hun- dred names enrolled upon the list of Paris members, and by June, 1 791, the affiliated clubs throughout the prov- inces numbered four hundred and six. It must not be supposed that the Jacobins represented a well-defined policy or defended a single set of political opinions. Nor were they by any means always in agreement among themselves. For example, in the winter of 1 791-1792 a strong party among them opposed the growing tendency to involve France in a war with Europe. Lameth makes clear the way in which the society supplemented the National Assembly. After the transfer of the Assembly to Paris [October, 1789], 127. How the deputies from provinces which were distant from the cap- *^® Jacobin ital, and who, for the most part, had never visited Paris (for nated in traveling was not so easy then as it is now), experienced a 1789 sort of terror at the idea of being alone and, so to speak, lost in the midst of this huge city. They almost all, consequently, endeavored to lodge as near as possible to the Assembly, which then sat near the Feuillants (at the point where the Rue de Rivoli and the Rue Castiglione now intersect), in order that they might be easily found in case of necessity. But they were desirous that there should also be a place where they might meet to agree upon the direction of public matters. They applied to residents of the capital in whom they had con- fidence ; a search was made in the neighborhood of the 286 Readings in Modern European History Assembly, and the refectory of the convent of the Jacobins was leased for two hundred francs a year. The necessary furniture, which consisted of chairs and tables for the committee, was procured for a like sum. At the first session about one hundred deputies were present, the next day double that number. The Baron de Menou was elected president, and Target, Barnave, Alexandre de Lameth, Le Chapelier, and Adrien du Port were elected secretaries, as well as three others whose names have escaped me. A com- mittee was chosen to draw up a list of regulations, of which Barnave was the chairman. The society decided on the name Friends of the Constitution. It was determined that all mem- bers of the x'\ssembly should be admitted, but only such other persons should be received as had published useful works. The first to be thus received were Condorcet, the Marquis de Casotte, a distinguished economist, the Abbe Lecamus, a math- ematician, and a small number of other savants or publicists. The aim of the Society of the Friends of the Constitution was to discuss questions which were already, or were about to be placed, upon the calendar of the National Assembly. It cannot be denied that, inasmuch as the nondeputies present exercised no restraint upon these discussions, they often had more force and brilliancy than in the Assembly itself, where one found himself hindered by the violent contradictions of the right wing, and often intimidated by a crowd of spectators. The preliminary consideration shed a great deal of light upon the discussions in the Assembly. The resolve to select within the society itself, by preliminary ballots, the nominees for president, secretaries, and the committees of the Assem- bly, proved a great advantage to the popular party ; for from that time the elections were almost always carried by the left, although up to that time they had been almost entirely con- trolled by the right. Camus, an ecclesiastical lawyer, then president and since become a republican, had been elected by the aristocracy. The number of the deputies who customarily frequented the Society of the Friends of the Constitution quickly rose to nearly four hundred. The number of writers also increased The First French Republic 287 in a marked ratio. But it was not long before the condition of having published a useful book was no longer required for ad- mission to the society, and it was decided that it was sufficient to have been recommended by six members. The organization then grew larger, and no longer possessed the same solidity in its composition. Very soon the place of meeting became in- sufficient, and permission was obtained from the monks of the convent to meet in their library, and later, in their church. Along in December, 1789, many of the leading inhabitants of the provinces, having come to Paris either on private business or to follow more closely the course of public affairs, had them- selves introduced at the society and expressed a desire to estab- lish similar ones in the chief cities of France ; for they felt that these associations of citizens intent upon defending the cause of public interest would form an efficient means of counter- acting the violent opposition of the aristocracy, a class which had not yet lost the power which it had so long exercised. The early months of the Legislative Assembly were mainly occupied with the policy to be pursued toward three classes of opponents to the Revolution, — the run- away nobles, the foreign powers, who seemed ready to aid them, and, at home, the members of the clergy, who refused to support the new constitution. The king was also regarded with the greatest suspicion. Since the flight to Varennes and the Declaration of Pillnitz it seemed clear to both the Assembly and the people at large that the king was in all probability relying upon help from foreign powers. That they were quite right in this assumption has since been proved by the discov- ery of letters like the following which Louis was at the time secretly dispatching to his fellow-monarchs. Paris, December 3, 1791 My Brother : I have learned through M. du Moustier of the interest which your Majesty has expressed not only in my person but also in 288 Readings in Modem European Histoiy 128. Letter the welfare of my kingdom. In giving me these proofs, the of Louis XVI attitude of your Majesty has, in all cases where your interest to the king . , j . ^ 1 /a ^■ 1 of Prussia might prove advantageous to my people, excited my lively suggesting appreciation. I confidently take advantage of it at this time foreign inter- ^^'^^^ j^ spite of the fact that I have accepted the new con- vention m ' , . . ,1 1 1 -1 • • 1 • French stitution, seditious leaders are openly exhibiting their purpose affairs of entirely destroying the remnants of the monarchy. I have just addressed myself to the emperor, the empress of Russia, and to the kings of Spain and Sweden ; I am suggesting to them the idea of a congress of the chief powers of Europe, supported by an armed force, as the best means of checking seditious parties, of establishing a more desirable order of things, and of preventing the evil which afflicts us from reach- ing the other states of Europe. I trust that your Majesty will approve my ideas, and that you will maintain the most absolute secrecy about the proposi- tion I am making to you. You will easily understand that the circumstances in which I find myself force me to observe the greatest caution. That is why no one but the baron of Breteui) is informed of my plans, and your Majesty may therefore com- municate to him anything you wish. . . . Your good brother, Louis The king not unnaturally refused to sanction the edicts which the Assembly directed against the emigrant no- bles, but he wrote to his brothers expostulating with them for increasing his unpopularity by their impolitic language and their intrigues with foreign powers. On October 31, on motion of the Girondist, Isnard, the Assembly bluntly ordered the king's older brother, the count of Provence, to return to France on pain of losing all rights to the regency. Louis Stanislas Xazner, P?-i?ice of France : The National Assembly requires you in virtue of the French constitution, title III, chapter ii, section 3, article 2, to return The First French Republic 289 to the kingdom within a period of two months from to-day, 129. The faihng which you will, after the expiration of the said period, count of 1 :• '• u. . .u ^ ' Provence lose your contingent right to the regency. summoned back to On December 6 the count published the above order France; and in Coblenz (the Emigres' center of activity), with the fol- fepiyTo^liT lowing counter-proclamation of his own. Assembly Members of the French Assembly^ calli^ig itself National : Sanity requires you, in virtue of title I, chapter i, section I, article i, of the imprescriptible laws of common sense, to return to yourselves within a period of two months from to- day, failing which you will, after the expiration of the said period, be regarded as having lost your right to be considered reasonable beings, and will be regarded as madmen, fit for the insane asylum. Since the opening of the Legislative Assembly most of the Girondists had been advocating war, which they believed would force the king to take a definite stand either with or against the nation. When war was finally declared against Austria, April 20, the Assembly assigned the following reasons for its action : The National Assembly, deliberating upon the formal propo- 130. The sition of the king, in view of the fact that the court of Vienna, ^^^"^\, ^ . , , , Assembly m contempt of treaties, has not ceased to extend open protec- declares war tion to French rebels ; on Austria That it has instigated and formed a concert with several of the powers of Europe directed against the independence and safety of the French nation ; That Francis I, king of Hungary and Bohemia, has, by his Reasons diplomatic notes of the i8th of March and the 7th of April for war last, refused to renounce this concert ; That, in spite of the proposition made to him by the note of March 11, 1792, to reduce to a peace basis the troops upon the frontiers, he has continued, and hastened, hostile preparations ; 290 Readmgs in Modern European History That he has formally attacked the sovereignty of the French nation by declaring his intention of maintaining the claims of the German princes who hold territory in France, whom the French nation has repeatedly offered to indemnify ; That he has endeavored to divide the citizens of France, and arm them against one another by holding out to the mal- contents the hope of assistance from a concert of the powers ; And that, finally, by his refusal to reply to the last dispatches of the king of France, he leaves no hope of obtaining, by way of friendly negotiation, the redress of these several grievances, — which is equivalent to a declaration of war ; — the Assembly decrees that immediate action is urgent. Firm pur- The National Assembly proclaims that the French nation, pose of the faithful to the principles consecrated by its constitution, "not French to , , ^ ^ . , . ^ make no to undertake any war with a view to conquest nor ever to conquests employ its forces against the liberty of any people," only takes up arms for the maintenance of its liberty and independence ; That the war which it is forced to prosecute is not a war of nation against nation, but the just defense of a free people against the unjust aggression of a king ; That the French nation never confuses its brethren with its real enemies ; That it will neglect nothing which may reduce the curse of war, spare and preserve property, and cause all the unhappi- ness inseparable from war to fall alone upon those who have conspired against its liberty ; That it adopts in advance all foreigners who, abjuring the cause of its enemies, shall range themselves under its banners and consecrate their efforts to the defense of liberty ; and that it will promote by all means in its power their settling in France. Deliberating upon the formal proposition of the king and after having decreed the matter one of urgent importance, the Assembly decrees war against the king of Hungary and of Bohemia. The victories of the Austrians which followed the declaration of war called forth harsh measures against The First FrencJi Repitblic 291 enemies at home, namely, such of the clergy as had been roused to opposition by the radical ecclesiastical reforms of the Assembly. The decree of May 27, 1792, ordered the expulsion from the realm of those clergymen who refused to take the oath to the constitution. The king increased his unpopularity by refusing to sanction this measure of the Assembly. . . . The National Assembly, considering that the efforts 131. Decree which the nonjuring clergymen are constantly making to over- ^S^pst the throw the constitution preclude the supposition that these said clergy ecclesiastics desire to unite in the social compact ; considering that it would compromise the public safety longer to regard as members of society men who are evidently seeking to dissolve it ; and in view of the fact that the laws are without force against men such as these who, operating upon the conscience in order to seduce the people, nearly always conceal their criminal maneuvers from those who might repress and punish them, decrees as follows : 1. The deportation of nonjuring ecclesiastics shall take place Definition of as a measure of public security and of the general police power, "0"J""i^g in the cases and according to the forms hereinafter set forth. 2. x'Ml those shall be considered as nonjuring ecclesiastics who, being subject to the oath prescribed by the law of December 26, 1790, shall not have taken it; those also, not included in the said law, who have not taken the civic oath since September 3, last, the day when the French constitu- tion was declared completed; finally, those who shall have retracted either oath. 3. When twenty active citizens of the same canton shall unite in a demand for the deportation of a nonjuring eccle- siastic, the directory of the department shall be required to pronounce the deportation if the opinion of the district directory is in conformity with the petition. 15. When an ecclesiastic against whom deportation has been pronounced is enjoying no pension or revenue, he shall 292 Readings m Modern Enropeaji History Accusations against those who have " usurped" the power in France receive three livres for each day's journey of ten leagues, as far as the frontiers, in order to support him on the way. These charges shall be borne by the public treasury and advanced by the treasury of the district in which the said ecclesiastic resides. 16. Those ecclesiastics against whom deportation has been pronounced who shall remain in the kingdom after announc- ing their retirement, or who shall return again after crossing the boundary, shall be condemned to imprisonment for ten years. The demands for the suspension of Louis XVI, who was generally believed to be in traitorous correspondence with the Austrians and Prussians, became numerous in the summer of 1792; but it remained for the duke of Brunswick to assure the downfall of the monarchy by his proclamation, which became known in Paris, July 28, and seemed to furnish the agitators with a complete justification for the revolt which they were already plan- ning and which they carried out on August 10. Their Majesties the emperor and the king of Prussia having intrusted to me the command of the united armies which they have collected on the frontiers of France, I desire to announce to the inhabitants of that kingdom the motives which have determined the policy and aims of the two sovereigns. After arbitrarily violating the rights of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine, disturbing and overthrowing good order and legitimate government in the interior of the realm, com- mitting against the sacred person of the king and his august family outrages and brutalities which continue to be renewed daily, those who have usurped the reins of government have at last completed their work by declaring an unjust war on his Majesty the emperor and attacking his provinces situated in the Low Countries. Some of the territories of the Germanic empire have been effected by this oppression, and others have only escaped the same fate by yielding to the threats of the dominant party and its emissaries. The First Fjrtich Republic 293 His Majesty the king of Prussia, united with his Imperial Majesty by the bonds of a strict defensive alliance and him- self a preponderant member of the Germanic body, would have felt it inexcusable to refuse to march to the help of his ally and fellow-member of the empire. . . . To these important interests should be added another aim Aims of equally important and very close to the hearts of the two sov- *^^ ^^1^^^ ereigns, — namely, to put an end to the anarchy in the interior of France, to check the attacks upon the throne and the altar, to reestablish the legal power, to restore to the king the security and the liberty of which he is now deprived and to place him in a position to exercise once more the legitimate authority which belongs to him. Convinced that the sane portion of the French nation abhors the excesses of the faction which dominates it, and that the majority of the people look forward with impatience to the time when they may declare themselves openly against the odious enterprises of their oppressors, his Majesty the emperor and his Majesty the king of Prussia call upon them and invite them to return without delay to the path of reason, justice, order, and peace. In accordance with these views, I, the undersigned, the commander in chief of the two armies, declare : 1 . That, drawn into this war by irresistible circumstances, The allied the two allied courts aim only at the welfare of France, and ^o^''^^ medi- , . ...,., , , tate no have no mtention of enrichmg themselves by conquests.*! conquests 2. That they do not propose to meddle in the internal gov- ernment of France, and that they merely wish to deliver the They purpose king, the queen, and the royal family from their captivity, and ^ ^""^^ **^^ c 1 • -KT I~^^ • ■ -K^ ■ , • French king procure for his Most Christian Majesty the necessary security to enable him, without danger or hindrance, to make such engagements as he shall see fit, and to work for the welfare of his subjects, according to his pledges. 3. That the allied armies will protect the to^\^ls and villages. Forgiveness and the persons and goods of those who shall submit to the ^^^ *^°^^ ^^'^° 1 • J 1 1 11 •• • 1 • T •■ i_T 1 cooperate king and who shall cooperate m the immediate reestablish- ^^.j^^ the ment of order and the police power throughout France. allies 4. . . . That, on the contrary, the members of the National Guard who shall fight against the troops of the two allied courts. 294 Readings in Modern European History Threats and who shall be taken with arms in their hands, shall be against those treated as enemies and punished as rebels to their king and as who oppose , , , - , , , . the invaders disturbers of the public peace. . . . 7. That the inhabitants of the towns and villages who may dare to defend themselves against the troops of their Imperial and Royal Majesties and fire on them, either in the open country or through windows, doors, and openings in their houses, shall be punished immediately according to the most stringent laws of war, and their houses shall be burned or destroyed. . . . Fate of Paris 8. The city of Paris and all its inhabitants without distinc- if it permits ^^^^^ ^\i2^ be required to submit at once and without delay to comeTo^ ° the king, to place that prince in full and complete liberty, and harm to assure to him, as well as to the other royal personages, the inviolability and respect which the law of nature and of nations demands of subjects toward sovereigns. . . . Their said Maj- esties declare, on their word of honor as emperor and king, that if the chateau of the Tuileries is entered by force or attacked, if the least violence be offered to their Majesties the king, queen, and royal family, and if their safety and their liberty be not immediately assured, they will inflict an ever memorable vengeance by delivering over the city of Paris to military execu- tion and complete destruction, and the rebels guilty of the said outrages to the punishment that they merit. . . . Finally, I pledge myself, in my own name and in my said capacity, to cause the troops intrusted to my command to observe good and strict discipline, promising to treat with kind- ness and moderation all well-intentioned subjects who show themselves peaceful and submissive, and to use force only against those who shall be guilty of resistance and ill will. It is for these reasons that I call upon and exhort in the most urgent manner all the inhabitants of the kingdom not to oppose the movements and operations of the troops which I command, but rather, on the contrary, to grant them every- where a free passage and to assist and aid them with all good will as circumstances shall demand. Given at the headquarters at Coblenz, July 25, 1792. Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg The First French Republic 295 Section j8. The Reign of Terror Louis XVI had been suspended August 10 on account of the misgivings which his conduct inspired. The de- bate carried on six weeks later, during the opening session of the Convention, September 21, 1792, well illustrates the attitude of the new Assembly toward the ancient monarchy and serves to introduce some of the men who were soon to be most active during the Reign of Terror. The citizens chosen by the French people to form the 133. The National Convention having assembled to the number of three ^^^^^^ ^T'^ 111 11- -11 1 ^^S the first hundred and seventy-one, and havmg exammed the creden- session of the tials of the members, declare that the National Convention Convention is organized. . . . M. Manuel. Representatives of the sovereign people : the task which devolves upon you demands the power and wisdom of gods themselves. When Cineas entered the Roman senate he thought he beheld an assembly of kings. Such a comparison would be an insult to you. Here we see an assembly of phi- losophers occupied in preparing the way for the happiness of the world. I move that the president of France have his residence in the national palace, that the symbols of law and power be always at his side, and that every time that he opens a session all the citizens shall rise. This act of homage to the sovereignty of the people will constantly recall to us our rights and duties. *M. Simon. I move that the Assembly declare that they will never deliberate except in the presence of the people. The President. Your motion, having no relation to the previous motion, I cannot give the floor to those who wish to support or oppose your proposition until the Assembly has passed upon the motion of Monsieur Manuel. M. Mathieu. I am doubtful whether the discussion sug- gested by Monsieur Manuel should take precedence in our de- liberations. Our predecessors lost much time in determining 296 Readings hi Modern European History the exact dimensions of the chair of the former king. We do not wish to commit the same error. . . . M. Chabot. Representatives of the people : I oppose the motion made by Citizen Manuel. I am astonished that Citizen Manuel, after having repudiated every idea of any comparison with kings, should propose to make one of our members like a king. The French nation, by sending to the Convention two hundred members of the legislative body who have individually taken an oath to combat both kings and royalty, has made itself quite clear as to its desire to establish a popular government. It is not only the fiafne of king that it would abolish but every- thing which suggests preeminence, so that there will be no president of France. You cannot look for any other kind of dignity than associating with the sans-culottes who compose the majority of the nation. Only by making yourselves like your fellow-citizens will you acquire the necessary dignity to cause your decrees to be respected. . . . M. Tallien. I am much astonished to hear this discussion about ceremonials. . . . Outside of this hall the president of the Convention is a simple citizen. If you want to speak to him, you can go and look for him on the third or the fifth floor. There is where virtue has its lodging. . . . The Assembly unanimously rejected the motion of Mon- sieur Manuel. M. Tallien. I move that before everything else the Assem- bly take a solemn pledge not to separate till it has given the French people a government established on the foundations of liberty and equality. I move that the members take an oath to make no laws which depart from this standard, and that this oath shall constantly guide the representatives of the people in their work. Those who shall perjure themselves shall be immo- lated to the just vengeance of the people. . . . \^AppIause.'\ M. Merlin. I move that we do not take any oaths. Let us promise the people to save them. Let us go to work. M. Couthon. ... I am not afraid that in the discussion which is about to take place, any one will dare to speak of royalty again ; it is fit only for slaves, and the French would be unworthy of the liberty which they have acquired should The First French Republic 297 they dream of retaining a form of government branded by fourteen centuries of crime. But it is not royalty alone that must be eliminated from our constitution, but every kind of individual power which tends to restrict the rights of the people and violate the principles of equality. . . . M. Fhilippeaux. There is a still more pressing subject; that is, to furnish the organs of the law the necessary power to maintain public tranquillity. I move that you maintain pro- visionally in power all the authorities now in existence. . . . M. Ca77ius. The most essential thing is to order that the taxes continue to be collected, for you know that they have to be voted at the opening of every new legislature. The motions of Messieurs Philippeaux and Camus were unanimously passed. . . . M. Collot d'Herbois. You have just taken a wise resolution, but there is one which you cannot postpone until the morrow, or even until this evening, or indeed for a single instant, with- out being faithless to the wish of the nation, — that is the abolition of royalty. \^Unanimous applause. '\ M. Qid7iette. We are not the judges of royalty ; that be- longs to the people. Our business is to make a concrete gov- ernment, and the people will then choose between the old form where there was royalty and that which we shall submit to them. . . . M. Gregoire. Assuredly no one of us would ever propose to retain in France the fatal race of kings ; we all know but too well that dynasties have never been anything else than rapacious tribes who lived on nothing but human flesh. It is necessary completely to reassure the friends of liberty. We must destroy this talisman, whose magic power is still sufficient to stupefy many a man. I move accordingly that you sanction by a solemn law the abolition of royalty. The entire Assembly rose by a spontaneous movement and passed the motion of Monsieur Gregoire by acclamation. M. Bazire. I rise to a point of order. ... It would be a frightful example for the people to see an Assembly com- missioned with its dearest interests voting in a moment of enthusiasm. I move that the question be discussed. 298 Readings in Modtrn European History M. Gregoire. Surely it is quite unnecessary to discuss what everybody agrees on. Kings are in the moral order what mon- sters are in the physical. Courts are the workshops of crimes, the lair of tyrants. The history of kings is the martyrology of nations. Since we are all convinced of the truth of this, why discuss it? I demand that my motion be put to vote, and that later it be supplied with a formal justification worthy of the solemnity of the decree. M. Duces, The form of your decree would be only the history of the crimes of Louis XVI, a history already but too well knowTi to the French people. I demand that it be drawn up in the simplest terms. There is no need of explanation after the knowledge which has been spread abroad by the events of August 10. The discussion was closed. There was a profound silence. The motion of Monsieur Gregoire, put to vote, w^as adopted amidst the liveliest applause : " The National Convention decrees that royalty is abolished in France." The Convention, after ridding France of the institu- tion of monarchy, proposed to make its armies a means of propagating liberty and reform throughout Europe. It accordingly prepared a proclamation to be published in those countries which already were, or should be, occu- pied by the armies of the new French republic. The French people to the people of ; brothers a7id friends : 134. Procla- We have conquered our liberty and we shall maintain it. mationto ^y^ ^^^^ ^q bring this inestimable blessing to you, for it has whose always been rightly ours, and only by a crime have our oppress- tyrants ors robbed us of it. We have driven out your tyrants. Show have been yourselves free men, and we will protect you from their venge- by the ance, their machinations, or their return. French From this moment the French nation proclaims the sov- armies^'^^^ ereignty of the people, the suppression of all civil and military (December authorities which have hitherto governed you and of all the 15. 1792) taxes which you bear, under whatever form ; the abolition of The First French Republic 299 the tithe, of feudalism, of seigniorial rights and monopolies of every kind, of serfdom, whether real or personal, of hunting and tishing privileges, of the corvee^ the salt tax, the tolls and local imposts, and, in general, of all the various kinds of taxes with which you have been loaded by your usurpers ; it also pro- claims the abohtion among you of all noble and ecclesiastical corporations and of all prerogatives and privileges opposed to equality. You are, from this moment, brothers and friends ; all are citizens, equal in rights, and all are alike called to govern, to serve, and to defend your country.^ Upon the execution of Louis XVI, his brother, the count of Provence, formally announced to his fellow- Efnigres the tragedy which their conduct had done so much to consummate. Hamm, Westphalia, January 28, 1793 Gentlemen : It is with sentiments of the deepest grief that I impart to 135- The you the new loss which we have just experienced in the king, my p°j""g °^g brother, whom the tyrants, who for so long a time have been announces desolating France, have sacrificed to their sacrilegious rage, the death of This horrible event brings with it new duties for me which I ^othe propose to fulfill. I have taken the title of regent of the king- Emigres dom, which the right of birth gives me during the minority of King Louis XVII, my nephew, and I have delegated to the count of Artois that of lieutenant general of the kingdom. Your sentiments are too well proved by your constancy and the numerous sacrifices that you have made, in your attachment to the religion of your fathers and to the sovereign whom we mourn to-day, to make it necessary to exhort you 1 In the decree of the Convention to which the above proclamation was appended, we find (Article 11): The French nation declares that it will treat as enemies every people who, refusing liberty and equality or renouncing them, may wish to maintain, recall, or treat with the prince and the privileged classes ; on the other hand, it engages not to subscribe to any treaty and not to lay down its arms until the sovereignty and independence of the people whose territory the troops of the republic shall have entered shall be established, and until the people shall have adopted the principles of equality and founded a free and democratic government. 300 Readings in Modern Enropeaii History to redouble your zeal and fidelity toward our young and unfor- tunate monarch and your ardor in avenging the blood of his august father. We cannot fail to enjoy the support of the sov- ereigns who have already so generously embraced our cause ; and if it is possible for us to find any consolation, it lies in the opportunity offered us to avenge our king, to place his son upon the throne, and to restore to our country that ancient constitu- tion which can alone serve as a basis for its happiness and glory. This is the sole object of my solicitude and of that of my brother. Our titles have been changed, but our union is and will always remain the same, and we shall endeavor with more ardor than ever to fulfill our duty towards God, our honor, the king, and you. Louis Stanislas Xavier Among the terrorists none was more ardent and in- defatigable than Saint-Just, a young fanatic of unim- peachable probity, who, as member of the Committee of Public Safety and as agent of the Convention in the provinces, urged on the war against all the enemies of the Revolution, whether within or without France. He was a firm friend and admirer of Robespierre and suf- fered death with him on the lOth Thermidor (July 28, 1794). He left behind him some unpublished notes on republican institutions written during his last months, when he foresaw that, among so many opponents of his exalted ideas, he was likely to lose his life. The few selections which are given below serve to show how Saint-Just, Robespierre, and their sympathizers pro- posed to elaborate and carry out, at the cost of no matter how much bloodshed, the ideas of Rousseau, whose ardent disciples they were. I challenge you to establish liberty so long as it remains possible to arouse the unfortunate classes against the new order of things, and I defy you to do away with poverty altogether The First French Republic 301 unless each one has his own land. . . . Where you find large 136. Selec- landowners you find many poor people. Nothing can be done *^°°^ ^^°"^ in a country where agriculture is carried on on a large scale. uLublican Man was not made for the workshop, the hospital, or the poor- institutions house. All that is horrible. Men must live in independence, of Saint-Jusi each with his own wife and his robust and healthy children. We must have neither rich nor poor. The poor man is superior to government and the powers of the world ; he should address them as a master. We must have a system which puts all these principles in practice and assures comfort to the entire people. Opulence is a crime : it consists in supporting fewer children, whether one's own or adopted, than one has thousands of francs of income. . . . Children shall belong to their mother, provided she has suckled them herself, until they are five years old ; after that they shall belong to the republic until death. The mother who does not suckle her children ceases to be a mother in the eyes of the country. Child and citizen belong to the country, and a common instruction is essential. Children shall be brought up in the love of silence and scorn for fine talkers. They shall be trained in laconic speech. Games shall be pro- hibited in which they declaim, and they shall be habituated to simple truth. The boys shall be educated, from the age of five to sixteen, by the country ; from five to ten they shall learn to read, write, and swim. No one shall strike or caress a child. They shall be taught what is good and left to nature. He who strikes a child shall be banished. The children shall eat together and shall live on roots, fruit, vegetables, milk, cheese, bread, and water. The teachers of children from five to ten years old shall not be less than sixty years of age. . . . The education of children from ten to sixteen shall be military and agricultural. Every man twenty-one years of age shall publicly state in the temples who are his friends. This declaration shall be renewed each year during the month Ventose. If a man deserts his friend, he is bound to explain his motives before the people in the temples ; if he refuses, he shall be banished. Friends shall not put their contracts into writing, nor shall 302 Readings in Modern European History they oppose one another at law. If a man commits a crime, his friends shall be banished. Friends shall dig the grave of a deceased friend and prepare for the obsequies, and with the children of the deceased they shall scatter flowers on the grave. He who says that he does not believe in friendship, or who has no friends, shall be banished. A man convicted of ingrati- tude shall be banished. The French people recognize the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul. The first day of every month is consecrated to the Eternal. Incense shall burn day and night in the temples and shall be tended in turn for twenty-four hours by the men who have reached the age of sixty. The temples shall never be closed. The French people devote their fortunes and their children to the Eternal. The immortal souls of all those who have died for the fatherland, who have been good citizens, who have cherished their father and mother and never abandoned them, are in the bosom of the Eternal. The first day of the month Germinal the republic shall celebrate the festival of the Divinity, of Nature, and of the People ; the first day of the month Floreal, the festival of the Divinity, of love, and of husband and wife, etc.^ Every year on the first day of Floreal the people of each com- mune shall select, from among the inhabitants of the commune, and in the temple, a young man rich and virtuous and without deformity, at least twenty-one years of age and not over thirty, who shall in turn select and marry a poor maiden, in everlast- ing memory of human equality. 1 Robespierre, in a remarkable report made to the Convention, May 7, 1794, on the relations of religious ideas to republican principles, ex- hibits the same confidence in festivals. Among the sentiments which he would celebrate are liberty, equality, glory, immortality, frugality, disinterestedness, stoicism, old age, and misfortune {Histoire Parle- mentaire, Vol. XXXII, pp. 353 sqq.). See also another similar report submitted on February 5, 1794 {Histoire Parlementaire, Vol. XXXI, pp. 268 sqq^. Compare in this connection an address of Billaud-Varennes on the theory of democratic government {Histoi7-e Parlenientaire, Vol. XXXII, pp. 335 sqq) and Fabre d'Eglantine's report on the new cal- endar {Histoire Parletnentaire, Vol. XXXI, pp. 415 sqq.). TJie First French Republic 303 The most amiable and humorous of the terrorists was Camille Desmouhns. While he was one of the very first to preach republican ideas and to propagate them through his writings, he had httle of the relentless and stern fanaticism which blinded Robespierre and Saint- Just to the cruelty of the work in which they were engaged. In the autumn of 1793 Desmouhns, who was a journalist by profession, began to issue a new news- paper, which he called The Old Cordelier} The charm of his style, his wit and learning, assured his editorials — and his newspaper was really nothing more than a periodical editorial — great popularity in Paris, and they still delight the historical student. In the third issue (December 15, 1793) he seeks to extenuate the severities of the Reign of Terror by showing, by skillfully adapted quotations from Tacitus, that the harsh measures of the new French republic were as nothing compared with the atrocities by which the early Roman emperors estab- lished their sway. One difference between monarchy and a republic, which 137. Camille would alone serve to make every right-hearted man reject men- l>esmoulms archy with horror and give preference to a republic, whatever extenuate it may cost to establish it, is that although the people may, the Reign of in a democracy, be misled, they always esteem virtue and try gyQ^ations to place only the upright in office, while rogues constitute from the very essence of monarchy. Vice, pillage, and crime are Tacitus diseases in republics, but health itself is a disease in mon- archies. Cardinal Richelieu admits this in his Political Testa- ment,^ where he makes it a principle that the king should avoid employing upright men. And before him Sallust said, "^ Desmoulins had been from the first a very active member of the club of the Cordeliers, which had been more radical and republican in sentiment than the Jacobins, 2 See above, pp. i sqq. 304 Readings in Modern European History " Kings cannot do without scoundrels and, on the contrary, they must be on their guard against probity." Only in a re- public, then, can the good citizen ever hope to see an end to the supremacy of intrigue and crime, for in order that these may disappear it is only necessary that the people should be enlightened. . . . And there is another difference between monarchy and a re- public: the reigns of the worst of emperors — Tiberius, Claud- ius, Nero, Caligula, Domitian — all had happy beginnings. It is by reflections such as these that the patriot should first answer the royalist who is laughing in his sleeve over the present state of France, as if this violent and terrible condi- tion was to last. I can hear you, my dear royalists, slyly making sport of the founders of the republic and comparing the present with the old days of the Bastile. You count on the frankness of my pen, and you think that you will follow with pleasure my faithful account of the past half year. But I know how to moderate your satisfaction, and at the same time animate the citizens to new courage. Before summoning my readers to the Place de la Revolution and showing it to them flooded with the blood that has flowed during the past six months for the eternal emancipation of a nation of twenty-five millions and not yet cleansed by liberty and the public welfare, I will begin by fixing the eyes of my fellow- citizens upon the reigns of the Caesars, — upon that river of blood, that sewer of corruption and filth, which flows per- petually under a monarchy. For a long time, Tacitus tells us, there had been at Rome a law which defined the crimes of state and of leze majesty which were to be punished with death. . . . The emperors had only to add a few articles to this law in order to involve both individual citizens and entire cities in a fatal proscription. Augustus was the first to extend this law of leze majesty in which he included the writings which he called counter-revo- lutionary. Under his successors the comprehensiveness of the law soon knew no bounds. When simple remarks had become crimes of state, it was only a step to view as criminal mere glances, sadness, compassion, sighs, — silence itself. TJie First French Republic 305 Soon it became a crime of leze majesty, or of counter-revo- lution, for the town of Nursia to raise a monument to those of its people who had fallen at the siege of Modena, fighting under Augustus himself — Augustus was at that time in alli- ance with Brutus, and so Nursia suffered the fate of Perugia ; a crime of counter-revolution for Libo Drusus to have asked the soothsayers if he would not one day be very rich ; a crime of counter-revolution for the journalist, Cremutius Cordus, to have called Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans ; a crime of counter-revolution for one of the descendants of Cassius to possess a portrait of his great-grandfather ; a crime of counter- revolution for Mamercus Scaurus to have composed a tragedy in which was a line that might have two meanings ; a crime of counter-revolution for Torquatus Silanus to spend his money ; a crime of counter-revolution to complain of the disasters of the time, for this was to criticise the government. . . . Everything offended the tyrant. Was a citizen popular? He was a rival of the prince, who might stir up civil war. Stadia civium in se verteret et si imiiti idem audeajit, bellum esse. Suspect. Did a citizen, on the contrary, avoid popularity and hug his own fireside? This retired life caused you to gain a certain respect. Qiianto metii oecultior, tanto famae adeptiis. Suspect. Were you rich? There was danger that the populace might be corrupted by your largesses. Aiiri vim atque opes Flauti priiicipi infensas. Suspect. Were you poor? Ha, in- vincible emperor ! that man must be closely watched. No one is so enterprising as he who has nothing. Sy/laiJt inopem^ tmde praecipuam audaciam. Suspect. Were you of a somber and melancholy temperament, or careless in your dress ? You were disgusted that public affairs were going so w^ll. Suspect. If, on the other hand, a citizen indulged himself in good times and indigestion, he was but rejoicing that the emperor had had an attack of gout, which was really nothing. It was necessary to let that man know that the emperor was still in the prime of life. Reddendam pro inteinpestiva liceniia moestam et funebrejn noctem qua seiitiat vivei'e ViteUiurti et imperare. Suspect. Was he virtu- ous and austere in his habits ? Good ! a new Brutus, who durst, 3o6 Readings in Modern European History by his pallid face and Jacobin peruke, to censure the curled and giddy courtier. Suspect.^ Now the royalists need not take the trouble to inform me that this description settles nothing, and that the reign of Louis XVI resembled in no way the sway of the Caesars. If it did not resemble it, it is because with us despotism has long been lulled in the lap of its luxuries and has placed such con- fidence in the strength of the chains which our fathers have borne for fifteen centuries that it deemed terror no longer necessary. . . . But now that the people have awakened and the sword of the republic has been drawn, let royalty once more set foot in France, and then we shall see that these pictures of tyranny so well drawn by Tacitus will prove the living image of what we shall have to suffer for half a century. Indeed, need we seek examples at such a distance? The massacres of the Champ de Mars ^ and at Nancy ; the horrors committed by the Austrians on the frontiers, which Robespierre recounted to us the other night at the Jacobin Club ; the con- duct of the English at Genoa, of the royalists at Fougeres and in the Vendee, — the violence of the factions alone shows well enough that despotism, if allowed to reenter its demolished habitation in a passion, could only establish itself again by reigning as did Augustus and Nero. In this duel between liberty and slavery and in the cruel alternative of a defeat a thousand times more bloody than our victory, it is wiser and less hazardous to carry the Revolution too far than to stop short of the goal, as Dan ton has said ; it has been essential, above everything else, that the republic should remain in possession of the field of battle. In the succeeding number of his newspaper (issued Decadi, 30th Frimaire, second year of the republic, one and indivisible) Desmoulins no longer extenuates the work of the guillotine but pleads for clemency. 1 As Michelet has pointed out, this is rather a satire upon than a justification of the Reign of Terror. 2 See above, pp. 280 sqq. TJie First French Republic 307 Some persons have expressed their disapproval of my third 138. Ca- issue, where, as they allege, I have been pleased to suggest cer- "^^^® ^®^" t • , 1 . c 1 , T , , moulins tarn comparisons which tend to cast an unfavorable light on the makes a Revolution and the patriots, — they should say the excess of plea for revolution and the professional patriots. My critics think the ^J^™®°cy whole number refuted and everybody justified by the single 20, 1793) reflection, " We all know that the present situation is not one of freedom, — but patience ! you will be free one of these days." Such people think apparently that liberty, like infancy, must of necessity pass through a stage of wailing and tears before it reaches maturity. On the contrary, it is of the nature of liberty that, in order to enjoy it, we need only desire it. A people is free the moment that it wishes to be so, — you will recollect that this was one of Lafayette's sayings, — and the people has entered upon its full rights since the 14th of July. Liberty has neither infancy nor old age, but is always in the prime of strength and vigor. . . . Is this liberty that we desire a mere empty name? Is it only an opera actress carried about with a red cap on, or even that statue, forty-six feet high, which David proposes to make? If by liberty you do not understand, as I do, great principles, but only a bit of stone, there never was idolatry more stupid and expensive than ours. Oh, my dear fellow-citizens, have we sunk so low as to prostrate ourselves before such divinities? No, heaven-born liberty is no nymph of the opera, nor a red liberty cap, nor a dirty shirt and rags. Liberty is happiness, reason, equality, justice, the Declaration of Rights, your sub- lime constitution. Would you have me recognize this liberty, have me fall at her feet, and shed all my blood for her ? Then open the prison doors to the two hundred thousand citizens whom you call sus- pects, for in the Declaration of Rights no prisons for suspicion are provided for, only places of detention. Suspicion has no prison, but only the public accuser ; there are no suspects, but only those accused of offenses established by law. Do not think that such a measure would be fatal to the republic. It would, on the contrary, be the most revolution- ary that you have adopted. You would exterminate all your 308 Readings in Modern Europeait History enemies by the guillotine ! But was there ever greater mad- ness? Can you possibly destroy one enemy on the scaffold with- out making ten others among his family and friends? Do you believe that those whom you have imprisoned — these women and old men, these self-indulgent valetudinarians, these strag- glers of the Revolution — are really dangerous ? Only those among your enemies have remained among you who are cow- ardly or sick. The strong and courageous have emigrated. They have perished at Lyons or in the Vendee. The remnant which still lingers does not deserve your anger. . . . Moreover it has not been love of the republic, but curiosity, which has every day attracted multitudes to the Place de la Revolution ; it was the new drama which was to be enacted but once. I am sure that the majority of those who frequented this spectacle felt a deep contempt in their hearts for those who subscribed for the theater or opera, where they could only see pasteboard daggers and comedians who merely pretended to die. According to Tacitus, a similar insensibility prevailed in Rome, a similar feeling of security and indifference to all issues. . . . I am of a very different opinion from those who claim that it is necessary to leave Terror on the order of the day. I am confident, on the contrary, that liberty will be assured and Europe conquered so soon as you have a Committee of Clemency. This committee will complete the Revolution, for clemency is itself a Revolutionary measure, the most effi- cient of all when it is wisely dealt out.^ 1 In spite of Desmoulins's eloquent and wise plea for clemency, his friend Robespierre refused to support him, and he was brought to the scaffold, along with Danton, by the party which held that moderation was synonymous with treason to the cause of republican liberty. CHAPTER XIV NAPOLEON BONAPARTE Section jg. Bonaparte s First Italian Campaign When nine years old Napoleon Bonaparte and his brother Joseph accompanied their father to France, where the boys were to go to school and learn French. One of their teachers in Autun thus writes of them : Napoleon brought with him to Autun a somber and pensive 139. How- character. He never played with any one and ordinarily walked Napoleon by himself. . . . He had much ability ; understood and learned brother readily. When I was teaching him his lesson he would fix his Joseph eyes upon me with his mouth open. If I tried to recapitulate p^"^\ what I had just said, he would not listen to me. If I blamed him for this, he would reply with a cold, not to say imperious, air, " I know that, sir." I only had him under me for three months. . . . He had by that time learned French so as to make use of it freely in conversation, and could write little themes and make little translations. ... At the end of three months I sent him off with a certain Monsieur de Champeaux to the military school at Brienne. Joseph also had much ability : although he took but little Joseph's interest in study, and knew no French at all when he arrived, <^^^''^^*^'' he learned it very promptly, as well as the beginnings of Latin. . . . He was as decent and agreeable in his manner as his brother was imperious. His nature was sweet, engaging, and appreciative. He was fond of his companions and pro- tected those whom others annoyed. I never saw in him the least indications of ambition. 309 3IO Readings in Modern Eitropean History Napoleon early developed the ability to judge men and assign them to their appropriate spheres. Before he left Brienne his father visited him, bringing his younger brother Lucien, together with the news that his brother Joseph was planning to give up the clerical career he had chosen and become a soldier. Although not yet fifteen years old, Napoleon writes of the matter to his uncle as follows : My dear Uncle : 140. Napo- I am writing to inform you that my dear father has just Icon's early passed through Brienne on his way to place Marianne [i.e. character Napoleon's sister, filise] in the convent at St. Cyr, after which he will take measures to regain his health. He arrived here on the 2 1 St instant with Lucien. The latter he left here. He is nine years old and three feet eleven inches and six lines tall. He is in the sixth form so far as his Latin goes, and he is about to take up the various other branches. He knows French very well, but he has forgotten Italian altogether. I hope that he will now write you more frequently than when he was at Autun. I am convinced that my brother Joseph has not written to you ; and how could you expect him to when he only writes a few lines to my dear father, when he writes at all? As to the career which he proposes to embrace, the eccle- siastical was, as you know, the first that he chose. He per- sisted in that resolution until now, when he proposes to go into the king's service. He is wrong in this for several reasons. First, as my dear father observes, he has not the courage necessary to face the dangers of an action, and his feeble health would not permit him to bear the fatigues of a cam- paign. My brother only looks at military life from the stand- point of a garrison. Yes, my dear brother would be a good garrison officer ; he is well made and has that light spirit which adapts him to frivolous compliments. He would always shine in society, but in battle — that is what my father is doubtful about. . . . Napoleon Bonaparte 3 1 1 Second, he has been educated for the ecclesiastical estate, and it is much too late to give this up. The bishop of Autun would have given him a fine benefice, and he would have been sure to have become bishop. What an advantage for his family ! The bishop has done all he could to induce him to persist in his original purpose, promising him that he would not be sorry. However, he has made up his mind. I would praise him if only he had a decided taste for this profession, which is the finest of all professions. If only the great Director of human affairs, in forming him, had given him, as he has me, a decided inclination for military life ! He wants to go into the army ; that is well enough, but in what department? The marine? But, in the first place, he knows no mathematics, and it will take him two years to master the subject. In the second place, his health is incompatible with a life on the sea. Shall it be the engineers' division? He would require four or five years to learn what is necessary, and at the end of that time he would only be a beginner. Moreover I believe that the necessity of working all day is not compatible with the lightness of his character. The same reason which holds for the engineers holds for the artillery. . . . That certainly is not to his taste. Let us see, then. Doubtless he would like to go into the infantry. Good ; I can comprehend that. He would like to have nothing to do all day except to walk about the streets. And what is a little infantry officer anyway — except a hard case three fourths of the time? This is just what my dear father, and you, and my mother, and my uncle the arch- deacon would not wish, for he has already shown some little indications of light-headedness and prodigality. Consequently a last effort will be made to induce him to pursue a clerical career. Otherwise my dear father will carry him back to Corsica with him, so that he may keep an eye on him, and they will try to have him enter the law. I close with the hope that you will continue to retain me in your good graces : to render myself worthy of them will be my most cherished ambition. I am, with most profound respect, 312 Readings m Modern Europemi History my dear uncle, your very humble and very obedient servant and nephew, Napoleone di Buonaparte P.S. Destroy this letter. A writer, Las Cases, who accompanied Napoleon to St. Helena, gathered the following information from the exiled emperor in regard to the circumstances of his first campaign. During the period of his command at Paris subsequent to the 1 8th Vendemiaire, Napoleon had to deal with a great dearth of food, which occasioned several popular commotions. One day, when the usual distribution of bread had not taken place, crowds of people collected around the bakers' shops. Napo- leon was patrolling the city with a party of his staff to preserve public order. A crowd of persons, chiefly women, assembled around him, loudly calling for bread. The crowd grew, the out- cries increased, and the situation of Napoleon and his officers became critical. A woman of monstrously robust appearance was particularly conspicuous by her gestures and exclamations. "Those fine epauleted fellows," said she, pointing to the officers, " laugh at our distress ; so long as they can eat and grow fat, they do not care if the poor people die of hunger." Napoleon turned to her and said, '' My good woman, look at me ; which is the fatter, you or I? " Napoleon was at that time extremely thin. " I was merely a slip of parchment," said he. A general burst of laughter disarmed the fury of the populace, and the staff officers continued their round. Napoleon's memoirs of the campaign in Italy show how he became acquainted with Madame de Beauharnais, and how he contracted the marriage which has been so greatly misrepre- sented in the accounts of the time. As soon as he got himself introduced to Madame de Beauharnais he spent almost every evening at her house, which was frequented by the most agree- able company in Paris. When the majority of the party retired, there usually remained Monsieur de Montesquiou, the father of the grand chamberlain, the duke of Nivernais, so celebrated Napoleo7i Bonapa7'te 3 1 3 for the graces of his wit, and a few others. They used to look Bonaparte around to see that the doors were all shut, and then they would ^^.^'^ ^" ^°^'® say, " Now let us sit down and chat about the old court ; let former us revisit Versailles once more." aristocracy The poverty of the treasury and the scarcity of specie were so great during the republic that on the departure of General Bonaparte to join the army of Italy all his efforts, and those of the Directory, only resulted in raising two thousand louis, which he carried with him in his carriage. With this sum he set out to conquer Italy, and to advance toward the empire of the world. The following is a curious fact. An order of the day was issued, signed by Berthier, directing the general in chief, on his arrival at the headquarters at Nice, to distribute to the different generals the sum of four louis in specie to enable them to enter on the campaign. For a considerable time no such thing as specie had been seen. This order of the day displays the circumstances of the time more truly and faithfully than whole volumes written on the subject. As soon as Napoleon joined the army he proved himself to be a man born to command. From that moment he filled the theater of the world ; he occupied all Europe ; he was a meteor blazing in the firmament ; he centered all eyes on himself, riv- eted all thoughts, and formed the subject of all conversation. From that time every gazette, every publication, every monu- ment became the record of his deeds. His name was inscribed on every page and in every line, and echoed from every mouth. His entrance upon the command produced a revolution in Bonaparte his manners, conduct, and language. Decres has often told alters his me that he was at Toulon when he first heard of Napoleon's manner appointment to the command of the army of Italy. He had known him well in Paris and thought himself on terms of per- fect intimacy with him. "So," said he, "when we learned that the new general was about to pass through the city, I im- mediately proposed to introduce my comrades to him, and to turn my former connection with him to the best account. I hastened to meet him full of eagerness and joy. The door of the apartment was thrown open, and I was on the point of rushing toward him with my wonted familiarity; but his 314 Readings in Modern European History attitude, his look, the tone of his voice suddenly deterred me. There was nothing offensive either in his appearance or man- ner, but the impression he produced was sufficient to prevent me from ever again attempting to encroach upon the distance that separated us." Bonaparte's Napoleon's generalship was characterized by the skill, en- freedom from ergy, and purity of his military administration ; his constant ^ ^ dislike of peculation of any kind, and his total disregard of his own private interest. '' I returned from the campaign in Italy," said he, " with but three hundred thousand francs in my pos- session. I might easily have carried off ten or twelve millions and have kept it for my own. I never made out any accounts, nor was I ever asked for any. I expected, on my return, to receive some great national reward. It was publicly reported that Chambord was to be given to me, and I should have been very glad to have had the chateau ; but the idea was set aside by the Directory. I had, however, sent back to France at least fifty millions for the service of the state. This, I imagine, was the first instance in modern history of an army contributing to maintain the country to which it belonged, instead of being a burden to it." The young and rather inexperienced General Bona- parte had to lead his ill-equipped troops against the combined armies of Austria and the king of Sardinia. His success was, nevertheless, immediate ; and after the opening victories in the mountains separating France from Piedmont, he found himself in a position to cheer his troops by the following proclamation : . Headquarters at Cherasco 7th Floreal, Year IV [April 26, 1796] Soldiers : You have in a fortnight won six victories, taken twenty-one standards, fifty-five pieces of artillery, several strong places, and conquered the richest part of Piedmont ; you have made fifteen thousand prisoners and killed or wounded more than ten thousand men. Previously you had fought for sterile crags, Napoleo7i Bojiaparte 3 1 5 which, although you made them famous by your prowess, were 142. Bona- useless to your country ; to-day your services put you on a Porte's proc- footing with the army of Holland or of the Rhine. his soldiers Without any resources you have supplied all that was neces- on their sary. You have won battles without cannons, passed rivers j^Jy^ "^ without bridges, made forced marches without shoes, camped without brandy and often without bread. Only republican phalanxes, soldiers of liberty, would have been able to bear what you have born. Thanks be to you, soldiers, for this. Your grateful country will owe its prosperity to you. As con- querors at Toulon you but foreshadowed the immortal campaign of 1794 ; even so your present victories are but harbingers of still greater. The two armies which but recently attacked you with con- fidence are fleeing in consternation before you. Those mis- guided men who laughed at your misery and rejoiced in the thought of the triumph of your enemies have been confounded. But, soldiers, you have done nothing as yet compared with what there still remains to do. Neither Turin nor Milan yet belongs to you. . . . You were destitute of everything at the opening of the campaign ; to-day you are provided abundantly. Numerous stores have been taken from your enemies and siege and field guns have arrived. Soldiers, your country is justified in expecting great things of you. Will you fulfill its hopes? The greatest obstacles un- doubtedly have been overcome, but you have still battles to fight, cities to take, rivers to cross. Is there any one among you whose courage is slackening? Is there any one who would prefer to return across the summits of the Apennines and the Alps and bear patiently the insults of a slavish soldiery? No, there is none such among the conquerors of Montenotte, of Dego, of Mondovi. All of you are burning to extend the glory of the French people. All long to humiliate those haughty kings who dare to contemplate placing us in fetters. All desire to dictate a glorious peace and one which will indemnify our country for the immense sacrifices which it has made ; all would wish, as they return to their native villages, to be able to say proudly, " I was with the victorious army of Italy ! " 3i6 Readings in Modern European History Stern prohi- bition of pillage 143. How Bonaparte was led to sign the Treaty of Campo- Formio Friends, I can promise you this conquest, but there is one condition which you must swear to fulfill. That is to respect the peoples whom you deliver, and repress the horrible pillage which certain rascals, incited by our enemies, commit. Other- wise, you will not be the deliverers of the people but their scourge ; you will not do honor to the French people, but will thereby disavow your country. Your victories, your bravery, your success, the blood of our brothers who have died in battle, — all will be lost, even honor and glory. As for me and the generals who have your confidence, we should blush to com- mand an army without discipline and restraint, which recognizes ho law but force. . . . Any one who engages in pillage will be shot without mercy. Peoples of Italy, the French army comes to break your chains; the French people is the friend of all peoples. You may receive them with confidence. Your property, your reli- gion, and your customs will be respected. We are carrying on war as generous enemies, and we have no grudge except against the tyrants who oppress you. Bourrienne, one of Napoleon's early companions and later his secretary, gives us an account in his memoirs of the motives which led General Bonaparte to sign the Treaty of Campo-Formio. The early appearance of bad weather hastened Napoleon's determination. On the 13th of October, at daybreak, on open- ing my window I perceived the mountains covered with snow. The previous night had been superb, and the autumn, till then, had promised to be fine and late. I proceeded, as I always did at seven o'clock in the morning, to the general's chamber. I awoke him and told him what I had seen. He feigned at first to disbelieve me, then leaped from his bed, ran to the window, and, convinced of the sudden change, he calmly said, " What ! before the middle of October? What a country ! Well, we must make peace." While he hastily put on his clothes I read the journals to him, as is my daily custom. He paid but little attention to them. Napoleo7i Bo7iaparte 317 Shutting himself up with me in his closet, he reviewed with the greatest care all the returns from the different corps of his army. "Here are," said he, "nearly eighty thousand effective men. I feed, I pay them ; but I can bring but sixty thousand into the field on the day of battle. I shall gain it, but after- wards my force will be reduced by twenty thousand men, — by killed, wounded, and prisoners. How, then, shall I oppose all the Austrian forces that will march to the protection of Vienna? It would be a month before the armies could support me, if they should be able to do it at all ; and in a fortnight all the roads and passes will be covered deep with snow. It is settled — I will make peace. Venice shall pay for the expense of the war and the boundary of the Rhine ; let the Directory and the lawyers say what they like." He wrote to the Directory in the following words : "The sum- mits of the hills are covered with snow; I cannot, on account of the stipulations agreed to in regard to the recommencement of hostilities, open them again for twenty-five days, and by that time we shall be overwhelmed with snow." ... It is well known that by the Treaty of Campo-Formio Provisions the two belligerent powers made peace at the expense of the °^ *^^ Treaty republic of Venice, which had nothing to do with the quarrel Formio^° in the first instance, and which only interfered at a late period, probably against her own inclination, and impelled by the force of inevitable circumstances. But what has been the result of this great political spoliation? A portion of the Venetian territory was adjudged to the Cisalpine republic ; it is now Destruction in the possession of Austria. Another considerable portion, of the including the capital itself, fell to the lot of Austria, in com- republic pensation for the Belgian provinces and Lombardy, which she ceded to France. . . . The Directory was far from being satisfied with the Bonaparte Treaty of Campo-Formio, and with difficulty resisted the temp- J^^nsTruc tation not to ratify it. A fortnight before the signature of the tions of the treaty the directors wrote to General Bonaparte that they Directory would not consent to give the emperor Venice, Friuli, Padua, and the Venetian terra firma^ with the Adige as a boundary. "That," they said, "would not be to make peace, but to 3^8 Readings in Modern European History postpone the war. We shall be regarded as the beaten party, independently of the disgrace of abandoning Venice, which Bonaparte himself thought so worthy of freedom. France ought not, and never will wish, to see Italy delivered up to Austria." ... All this was, however, said in vain. Bonaparte made no scruple of disregarding his instructions. Section 40. How Napoleoji made himself Master of Frafice After the first disasters in Egypt, Bonaparte thus en- couraged his troops : Headquarters, Cairo, ist Vendemiaire, Year VII Soldiers : 144. Bona- We are celebrating the first day of the seventh year of the parte's proc- republic. Five years ago the independence of the French lamation to ^ , , i ? i rr^ 1 1 • 1 his Egyptian people was threatened, but you took 1 oulon ; this was a har- army (Sep- binger of the ruin of our enemies. A year later you defeated nS)^'^ ^^' ^^ Austrians at Dego ; the following year you were on the summit of the Alps. Two years ago you were fighting for Mantua, and you gained the famous victory of St. George. Last year you were at the sources of the Drave and the Isonzo, and had returned from Germany. Who would have said, then, that you would to-day be upon the banks of the Nile in the midst of an ancient continent? The eyes of the world are centered upon you, from those of the English, famed in arts and trade, to the wild and hideous Bedouin. Soldiers, your destiny is a glorious one, because you are worthy of all that you have accomplished and of the fame which you enjoy. You will die with honor like the brave men whose names are inscribed upon this pyramid,^ or you will return to your country covered with laurels and a source of wonder to all. During the five months which we have been absent from Europe we have been the object of constant solicitude on the 1 A wooden pyramid on which were inscribed the names of the offi- cers and soldiers who had already fallen in Egypt. Napoleon Bonaparte 3 1 9 part of our compatriots. To-day forty millions of citizens cele- brate the advent of representative government ; these forty mil- lions are thinking of you, and are saying, '' It is to their labors and to their blood that we shall owe a general peace, tranquillity, flourishing commerce, and the advantages of civil liberty." One of Bonaparte's companions in Egypt reports the following conference between the general and the muftis, or expounders of the Mohammedan laws. Whilst at Cairo, Bonaparte, on a visit to the pyramids, 145- Bona- seated himself on the Soros and held a long conversation P*^® "J" wath the muftis. " Glory to Allah ! " said he ; " there is no Moham- other God but God. Mohammed is his prophet and I am his medans that friend. Muftis ! the divine Koran is the delight of my soul fj-^gj^^ and the object of my contemplation. I love the Prophet, and I hope erelong to see and honor his tomb in the Holy City. " But my mission is first to exterminate the Mamelukes. If Egypt be their portion, let them show me the lease that God has given them. But the angel of death has breathed upon them : we are come and they have disappeared. The days of regeneration are come. He that hath ears, let him hear. The hour of political resurrection has struck for all w^ho groan under oppression. Muftis, imams, mollahs, dervishes, and kalenders : instruct the people of Egypt ; encourage them to join in our labors to complete the destruction of the Beys and the Mamelukes. Favor the commerce of the Franks in your country and their endeavors to arrive at the ancient land of Brahma. Let them have storehouses in your ports, and drive far from you the English, accursed among the children of Jesus ! Such is the will of Mohammed. The treasures, in- dustry, and friendship of the Franks shall be your lot till you ascend to the seventh heaven and are seated by the side of the black-eyed houris who are endowed with perpetual youth and maidenhood." The Mohammedan muftis in return called him an envoy of God, the favorite of Mohammed, the successor of Iskander [i.e. Alexander the Great] most valiant among the children of 320 Readings in Modern European History hammedan muftis Felicitations Jesus. " May the Prophet," said one of them, "cause thee to of the Mo- sit at his left hand on the day of resurrection, after the third sound of the trumpet." " At length," said another, '' the dawn of happiness breaks upon us ; the time destined by God has arrived ; an atmosphere of felicity surrounds us. The resplen- dent star of victory, which guides the French warriors, has shed upon us its dazzling light ; fame and honor go before them ; good fortune and honor accompany them. The chief who marches at their head is impetuous and terrible ; his name terrifies kings. Princes bow their haughty heads before this invincible Bonaparte." ^ 146. Bona- parte's attitude toward his Egyptian adventure Madame de Remusat, whose husband was one of Napoleon's secretaries, gives, in her delightful and im- portant memoirs, a good account of Bonaparte's atti- tude toward the Egyptian adventure and his return to France. In a conversation with her in 1803 he boasted of his first Italian campaign and told her how he then cast about for new worlds to conquer. When I returned to France I found public opinion in a lethargic condition. In Paris — and Paris is France — people can never interest themselves in things if they do not care about the persons connected with them. The customs of an old monarchy had taught them to personify everything. This habit of mind is bad for a people who desire liberty seriously ; but Frenchmen can no longer desire anything seriously, except perhaps it be equality, and even that they would renounce will- ingly if every one could flatter himself that he was the first. To be equals, with everybody uppermost, is the secret of the vanity of all of you ; every man among you must, there- fore, be given the hope of rising. The great difficulty that the Directory labored under was that no one cared about them, and that people had begun to care a great deal about me. 1 Similar sentiments are expressed in some of Bonaparte's proclama- tions printed in his correspondence and in the extract from the memoirs of Madame de Remusat, given in Number 146. Napoleon Bonaparte 321 I do not know what would have happened to me had I not conceived the happy thought of going to Egypt. When I embarked I did not know but that I might be bidding an eternal farewell to France ; but I had little doubt that she would recall me. The charm of Oriental conquest drew my thoughts away from Europe more than I should have believed possible. My imagination interfered again this time with my actions ; but I think it died out at St. Jean d'Acre. However that may be, I shall never allow it to interfere with me again. In Egypt I found myself free from the wearisome restraints Bonaparte's of civilization. I dreamed all sorts of things, and I saw how ^'^^.^"1°^ all that I dreamed might be realized. I created a religion. I conquest pictured myself on the road to Asia mounted on an elephant, with a turban on my head, and in my hand a new Koran, which I should compose according to my own ideas. I would have the combined experience of two worlds to set about my enter- prise ; I was to have ransacked, for my own advantage, the whole domain of history ; I was to have attacked the English power in India, and renewed my relations with old Europe by my conquest. The time which I passed in Egypt was the most delightful Bonaparte's part of my life, for it was the most ideal. Fate decided against P^^^^^^^ ^J'^Jjj^ my dreams ; I received letters from France ; I saw that there Egypt was not a moment to lose. I reverted to the realities of life and I returned to Paris — to Paris, where the gravest interests of the country are discussed during the entf^acte of the opera. The Directory trembled at my return. I was very cautious ; that is one of the epochs of my life in which I have acted with the soundest judgment. I saw Abb^ Sieyes, and promised him that his verbose constitution should be put into effect; I re- ceived the chiefs of the Jacobins and the agents of the Bour- bons ; I listened to advice from everybody, but gave it only in the interest of my own plans. I hid myself from the people, because I knew that when the time came curiosity to see me would make them run after me. Every one was taken in my toils ; and when I became head of the state, there was not a party in France which did not build some special hope upon my success. 322 Readings in Moderji Eiiropean History General Bonaparte thus described for the benefit of the pubhc his coup d'etat : 147. Bona- parte's own account of his coup d'etat of Brumaire 19th Brumaire, 11 o'clock p.m. To the People : Frenchmen, on my return to France I found division reign- ing among all the authorities. They agreed only on this single point, that the constitution was half destroyed and was unable to protect liberty. Each party in turn came to me, confided to me their designs, imparted their secrets, and requested my support. But I refused to be the man of a party. The Council of Elders appealed to me. I answered their appeal. A plan of general restoration had been concerted by men whom the nation has been accustomed to regard as the defenders of liberty, equality, and property. This plan required calm deliberation, free from all influence and all fear. The Elders therefore resolved upon the removal of the legislative bodies to St. Cloud. They placed at my disposal the force necessary to secure their independence. I was bound, in duty to my fellow-citizens, to the soldiers perishing in our armies, and to the national glory acquired at the cost of so much blood, to accept the command. The Council assembled at St. Cloud. Republican troops guar- anteed their safety from without, but assassins created terror within. Many deputies in the Council of Five Hundred, armed with stilettos and pistols, spread the menace of death around them. The plans which ought to have been developed were with- held. The majority of the Council was disorganized, the boldest orators were disconcerted, and the futility of submitting any salutary proposition was quite evident. I proceeded, filled with indignation and chagrin, to the Council of the Elders. I besought them to carry their noble designs into execution. I directed their attention to the evils of the nation, which were their motives for conceiving those designs. They concurred in giving me new proofs of their unanimous good will. Napoleon Bonapai'te 323 I presented myself before the Council of the Five Hun- Bonaparte dred alone, unarmed, my head uncovered, just as the Elders claims that had received and applauded me. My object was to restore murderously to the majority the expression of its will and to secure to assailed in . ., the Council It Its power. ^^ t^^ p.^^ The stilettos which had menaced the deputies were instantly Hundred raised against their deliverer. Twenty assassins rushed upon me and aimed at my breast. The grenadiers of the legislative body, w^hom I had left at the door of the hall, ran forward and placed themselves between me and the assassins. One of these brave grenadiers [Thome] had his clothes pierced by a stiletto.^ They bore me out. At the same moment cries of "Outlaw him ! " were raised against the defender of the law. It was the horrid cry of assassins against the power destined to repress them. They crowded around the president [Lucien Bonaparte], uttering threats. With arms in their hands, they commanded him to declare me outlawed. I was informed of this. I ordered him to be rescued from their fury, and six grenadiers of the legislative body brought him out. Immediately afterwards som.e grenadiers of the legislative body charged the hall and cleared it. The seditious, thus intimidated, dispersed and fled. The majority, freed from their assailants, returned freely and peaceably into the hall, listened to the propositions for the public safety, deliberated, and drew up the salutary resolu- tion which will become the new and provisional law of the republic. Frenchmen, you will doubtless recognize in this conduct the zeal of a soldier of liberty, of a citizen devoted to the republic. Conservative, judicial, and liberal ideas resumed their sway upon the dispersion of those seditious persons who had dom- ineered in the councils and who proved themselves the most odious and contemptible of men. _, ^ Bonaparte 1 Thom^ had a small part of his coat torn by a deputy who took him by the collar. This constituted, according to Bourrienne, the whole of the attempted assassination of the 19th Brumaire. 324 Readings in Modern Europe art History The son of Madame de Remusat thus recalls how, when a Httle boy, he caught a ghmpse of the First Consul : 148. Bona- One day my mother came for me (I think she had accom- parte's man- panied Madame Bonaparte into the court of the Tuileries) and First Consul ^ook me up a staircase full of soldiers, at whom I stared hard. One of them who was coming down spoke to her ; he wore an infantry uniform. "Who was that?" I asked, when he had passed. It was Louis Bonaparte. Then I saw a young man going upstairs in the well-known uniform of the [corps known as the] guides. His name I did not need to ask. Children in those days knew the insignia of every rank and corps in the army, and who did not know that Eugene Beauharnais was colonel of the guides? At last we reached Madame Bonaparte's drawing-room. At first there was no one there but herself, one or two ladies, and my father, wearing his red coat embroidered in silver. I was probably kissed — or perhaps they thought me grown ; then no one noticed me any further. Soon an officer of the consul's guard entered. He was short, thin, and carried himself badly, or at least carelessly. I w^as sufficiently drilled in etiquette to observe that he moved about a great deal and made rather free. Among other things I was surprised to see him sit on the arm of a chair. From thence he spoke across a considerable distance to my mother. We were in front of him, and I re- marked his thin, almost wan face, with its brown and yellowish tints. We drew near to him while he spoke. When I was within his reach he noticed me ; he took me by my two ears and pulled them rather roughly. He hurt me, and had I not been in a palace I should have cried. Then, turning to my father, he said, " Is he learning mathematics ? " Soon I was taken away. "Who is that soldier?" I asked my mother. "That soldier is the First Consul." Careless de- portment of Bonaparte Bonaparte's disregard of others and his insolent atti- tude toward those who served him are seen in the follow- ing incident reported by Madame de Remusat. Napoleon Bonaparte 325 Bonaparte dictated with great ease. He never wrote any- 149. How thing with his own hand. His handwriting w^as bad and as ^o^^P^*® .„ T, , , . ,. , 1 , • ,,. made others illegible to himself as to others; and his spelling was very uncom- defective. He utterly lacked patience to do anything what- Portable ever with his own hands. The extreme activity of his mind and the habitual prompt obedience rendered to him prevented him from practicing any occupation in which the mind must necessarily wait for the action of the body. Those who wrote from his dictation — first Monsieur Bourrienne, then Monsieur Maret, and Meneval, his private secretary — had made a short- hand for themselves in order that their pens might travel as fast as his thoughts. He dictated while walking to and fro in his cabinet. When he grew angry he would use violent imprecations, which were suppressed in writing and which had, at least, the advantage of giving the writer time to catch up with him. He never repeated anything that he had once said, even if it had not been heard ; and this was very hard on the poor secretary, for Bonaparte remembered accurately what he had said and detected every omission. One day he read a tragedy in manuscript, and it interested him sufficiently to inspire him with a fancy to make some alterations in it. " Take a pen and paper," said he to Monsieur de Remusat, "and write for me." Hardly giving my husband time to seat himself at a table, he began to dictate so quickly that Monsieur de Remusat, although accustomed to write w^ith great rapidity, was bathed in perspiration while trying to follow him. Bonaparte perceived his difficulty, and would stop now and then to say, " Come, try to understand me, for I will not repeat what I say." He always derived amusement from causing any one un- Bonaparte's easiness and distress. His great general principle, which he conviction applied to everything, both great and small, was that there depends upon could be no zeal where there was no disquietude. Fortu- disquietude nately he forgot to ask for the sheet of observations he had dictated. Monsieur de Remusat and I have often tried to read it since, but we have never been able to make out a word of it. 326 Readings in Moderji European History Bonaparte might freely tease his attendants and secre- taries, but, in his early days at least, he took great pains to win the hearts of his soldiers. Bonaparte's reception by the troops was nothing short of rapturous. It was well worth seeing how he talked to the his soldiers, — how he questioned them one after the other respect- ing their campaigns or their wounds, taking particular interest in the men who had accompanied him to Egypt. I have heard Madame Bonaparte say that her husband was in the constant habit of poring over the list of what are called the cadres of the army at night before he slept. He would go to sleep repeating the names of the corps, and even those of some of the indi- viduals who composed them; he kept these names in a corner of his memory, and this habit came to his aid when he wanted to recognize a soldier and to give him a cheering word from his general. He spoke to the subalterns in a tone of good fellowship, which delighted them all, as he reminded them of their common feats of arms. Afterwards, when his armies became so numerous and his battles so deadly, he disdained to exercise this kind of fascina- tion. Besides, death had extinguished so many remembrances that in a few years it became difficult for him to find any great number of the companions of his early exploits ; and when he addressed the soldiers before leading them into battle, it was a perpetually renewed posterity to which the preceding and destroyed army had bequeathed its glory. But even this som- ber style of encouragement availed for a long time with a nation which believed itself to be fulfilling its destiny while sending its sons year after year to die for Bonaparte. Section 41. The Second Coalition against France Bourrienne^ thus sketches the campaign of Marengo: It cannot be denied that if, from the i8th Brumaire to the epoch when Bonaparte began the campaign, innumerable im- provements had been made in the internal affairs of France, 1 See above, p. 316. Napoleon Bonaparte 327 foreign affairs could not be viewed with the same satisfaction. 151- The Italy had been lost, and the Austrian camp fires might be seen ^^g^^^^^s from the frontiers of Provence. Bonaparte was not ignorant described by of the difficulties of his position, and it was even on account of Bourrienne these very difficulties that, whatever might be the result of his situation of hazardous enterprise, he wished to have it over as quickly as Bonaparte possible. He cherished no illusions and often said all must be Brumaire staked to gain all. The army which the First Consul was preparing to attack was numerous, well disciplined, and victorious. His own, with the exception of a very small number of troops, was composed of conscripts ; but these conscripts were commanded by officers whose ardor was unparalleled. Bonaparte's fortune was now to depend on the winning or losing of a single battle. A battle lost would have dispelled all the dreams of his imagination, and with them would have vanished all his immense schemes for the future of France. . . . The grand idea of the invasion of Italy by way of the Crossing of St. Bernard pass emanated exclusively from the First Consul, the St. Ber- • 1 • 1 1 J • • nard pass This miraculous achievement justly excited the admiration (May, 1800) of the world. The incredible difficulties it presented did not daunt the courage of Bonaparte's -troops, and his gen- erals, accustomed as they had been to brave fatigue and danger, regarded without concern the gigantic enterprise of the modern Hannibal. A convent, or hospice, which has been established on the mountain for the purpose of affording assistance to solitary travelers, sufficiently attests the dangers of these stormy regions. But the St. Bernard was now to be crossed not by solitary trav- elers but by an army. Cavalry, baggage, timbers, and artillery were now to wend their way along those narrow paths where the goatherd cautiously picks his footsteps. On the one hand, masses of snow suspended above our heads threatened every moment to break in avalanches and sweep us away in their descent ; on the other, a false step was death. We all passed, men and horses, one by one along the goat paths. The artillery was dismounted, and the guns, put into hollowed trunks of trees, were drawn by ropes. . . . 328 Readings in Modern European History (Condensed) We arrived at Milan on the 2d of June. But little resist- ance was offered to our entrance into the capital of Lombardy. The First Consul passed six days in the city, and the time ap- proached when all was to be lost or won. On the 13th the First Consul slept at Torre di Galifolo. On the morning of the 14th General Desaix was sent toward Novi to observe the road to Genoa, which city had fallen several days before, in spite of the efforts of its illustrious defender, Massena. The battle of That memorable battle of Marengo, of which the results Marengo were incalculable, has been described in various ways. For my part, not having had the honor to bear a sword, I cannot say that I saw any particular movements executed this way or that; but I may mention here what I heard on the evening of the battle concerning the hazards of the day. As to the part which the First Consul took in it, the reader is perhaps sufficiently Bonaparte acquainted with his character to account for it. He did not claims all the choose that a result so decisive should be attributed to any himself Other cause than the combinations of his genius ; and if I had not known his insatiable thirst for glory, I should have been surprised at the half satisfaction evinced at the cause of the success amidst the joy manifested for the success itself. It must be confessed that in this he is very unlike Jourdan, Hoche, Kleber, and Moreau, who were ever ready to acknowledge the services of those who had fought under their orders. Within two hours of the time when the divisions commanded by Desaix left San Giuliano I was joyfully surprised by the triumphant return of the army whose fate, since the morning, had caused me so much anxiety. Never did fortune within so short a time show herself under two such various faces. At two o'clock everything indicated the misery of a defeat with all its fatal consequences ; at five, victory was again faithful to the flag of Areola. Italy was reconquered at a single blow, and the crown of France appeared in the distance [to the victorious general]. The Treaty of Campo-Formio^ was the fruit of Bona- parte's first campaign in Italy (1796- 1797). After the 1 vSee above, pp. 316 sqq. Napoleon Bonaparte 329 temporary reverses suffered by France during Bona- parte's absence in Egypt, his victory over the Austrians at Marengo, and another victory of the French at Hohen- linden in December, 1800, put the First Consul in a position to exact at Luneville all the concessions which Austria had made at Campo-Formio and somewhat more. The chief provisions of this important treaty are here given. They well illustrate the unscrupulous manner in which Austria and France disposed of the lesser coun- tries and the system of reckless territorial changes which are so conspicuous during the whole Napoleonic period. His Majesty the emperor, king of Hungary and of Bohemia, 152. Chief and the First Consul of the French republic, in the name of articles of the French people, induced by a common desire to put an end Luneville to the evils of war, have resolved to proceed to the conclusion (February, of a definitive treaty of peace and amity. Moreover his said ^^°^^ Imperial and Royal Majesty, since he desires no less sincerely to extend the benefits of peace to the German empire, and since the existing conditions do not afford the necessary time to consult the empire, or to permit its representatives to take part in the negotiations, has resolved, in view of the concessions made by the deputation of the empire at the recent Congress of Rastadt, to treat in the name of the German confederation, as has happened before under similar circumstances. Hence the contracting parties have named the following as their plenipotentiaries : His Imperial and Royal Majesty, the Sieur Louis, count of Cobenzl, minister of conferences and vice chancellor of the court and of state, etc. The First Consul of the French republic, in the name of the French people, Citizen Joseph Bonaparte, councilor of state. These having exchanged their credentials, have agreed upon the following articles : I. Peace, amity, and a good understanding shall here- after exist forever between his Majesty the emperor, king of 330 Readings in Modcr7i European History Austrian Netherlands ceded to France Venice and most of its territory- ceded to Austria Duke of Modena in- demnified in Germany Tuscany given to duke of Parma, who belonged to the Spanish royal family Hungary and Bohemia, acting both in his own name and in that of the German empire, and the French repubhc ; . . . II. The cession of the former Belgian provinces to the French republic, stipulated in Article III of the Treaty of Campo-Formio, is renewed here in the most solemn manner. His Majesty the emperor and king therefore renounces for himself and his successors, as well on his own part as on that of the German empire, all right and title to the above specified provinces, which shall be held in perpetuity by the French re- public in full sovereignty and proprietary right. . . . III. Moreover, in confirmation of Article VI of the Treaty of Campo-Formio, his Majesty the emperor and king shall possess in full sovereignty and proprietary right the countries enu- merated below, to wit : Istria, Dalmatia, and the islands of the Adriatic, formerly belonging to Venice, dependent upon them ; the mouths of the Cattaro, the city of Venice, the Lagunes, and the territory included between the hereditary states of his Majesty the emperor and king, the Adriatic Sea, and the Adige from the point where it leaves Tyrol to that where it flows into the Adriatic, the channel of the Adige forming the boundary line. . . . IV. Article XVIII of the Treaty of Campo-Formio is like- wise renewed, inasmuch as his Majesty the emperor and king agrees to cede to the duke of Modena, as an indemnity for the territory which this prince and his heirs possessed in Italy, the Breisgau, which he shall hold upon the same conditions as those upon which he held Modena. V. It is further agreed that his Royal Highness the grand duke of Tuscany shall renounce for himself, his successors, or possible claimants, the grand duchy of Tuscany and that part of the island of Elba belonging to it, as well as all rights and titles resulting from the possession of the said states, which shall hereafter be held in full sovereignty and proprie- tary right by his Royal Highness the infante duke of Parma. The grand duke shall receive a complete and full indemnity in Germany for the loss of his states in Italy. . . . VI. His Majesty the emperor and king consents not only on his part but upon the part of the German empire that the Napoleo7i Bonaparte 331 French republic shall hereafter possess in full sovereignty and Cession of proprietary right the territories and domains lying on the left ^^® ^^^* ^^"^ 1 1 r 1 ifi • 1 r • r 1 ,- • of the Rhine bank of the Rhine and formmg a part of the German empire, ^^ France so that, in conformity with the concessions granted by the deputation of the empire at the Congress of Rastadt and approved by the emperor, the channel of the Rhine shall here- after form the boundary between the French republic and the German empire, from that point where the Rhine leaves Helve- tian territory to the point where it reaches Batavian territory. In view of this the French republic formally renounces all possessions whatsoever upon the right bank of the Rhine and agrees to restore to their owners the following places : Diissel- dorf, Ehrenbreitstein, Phillipsburg, the fortress of Cassel and other fortifications across from Mayence on the right bank of the stream, and the fortress of Kiel and Alt-Breisach, under the express provision that these places and forts shall con- tinue to exist in the state in which they are left at the time of the evacuation. VII. Since, in consequence of this cession made by the Dispossessed empire to the French republic, various princes and states of German . - , , 1 • 1- -1 11 1- 1 • rulers to be the empire find themselves individually dispossessed in part or indemnified wholly of their territory, and since the German empire should within the collectively support the losses resulting from the stipulations ^"^P^"^ of the present treaty, it is agreed between his Majesty the emperor and king, — both on his part and upon the part of the German empire, — and the French republic, that, in accord- ance with the principles laid down at the Congress of Rastadt, the empire shall be bound to furnish the hereditary princes who have lost possessions upon the left bank of the Rhine an indemnity within the empire according to such arrangements as shall be determined later in accordance with the stipulations here made. . . . XI. The present treaty of peace ... is declared to be New states common to the Batavian, Helvetian, Cisalpine, and Ligurian [° J5^g J^'ll^fy ** republics. The contracting parties mutually guarantee the independence of the said republics and the freedom of the inhabitants of the said countries to adopt such form of govern- ment as they shall see fit. 332 Readings hi Modern Eiiropeaii History Cisalpine XII. His Majesty the emperor and king renounces for him- republic ggjf ^j^^j for his successors in favor of the Cisalpine republic all rights and titles depending upon such rights, which his Majesty might assert over the territories in Italy which he possessed before the war and which, according to the terms of Article VIII of the Treaty of Campo-Formio, now form a part of the Cisalpine republic. . . . XIX. The present treaty shall be ratified by his Majesty the emperor and king, the empire, and the French republic within a period of thirty days, or sooner, if possible, and it is further understood that the armies of the two powers shall remain in their present positions, both in Germany and Italy, until the said ratifications of the emperor and king, of the empire, and of the French republic shall have been simultaneously ex- changed at Luneville between the respective plenipotentiaries. It is also agreed that within ten days after the exchange of the said ratifications the armies of his imperial and royal majesty shall be withdrawn into his hereditary possessions, which shall be evacuated within the same space of time by the French armies ; and within thirty days after the said exchange the French armies shall have completely evacuated the territory of the said empire. Done and signed at Luneville, February 9, 1801 (the 20th Pluviose of the year nine of the French republic). (Signed) Louis, Count of Cobenzl Joseph Bonaparte CHAPTER XV EUROPE AND NAPOLEON Section ^. Bonapa7'te restores Order and Prosperity in France Madame de Remusat suggests the following reasons why the French people so readily subjected themselves to the despotism of Napoleon. I can understand how it was that men worn out by the tur- 153. Why moil of the Revolution, and afraid of that liberty which had *^® French people sub- long been associated with death, looked for repose under the mitted to dominion of an able ruler on whom Fortune was seemingly Bonaparte's resolved to smile. I can conceive that they regarded his eleva- ^^ ® tion as a decree of destiny and fondly believed that in the irrev- ocable they should find peace. I may confidently assert that those persons believed quite sincerely that Bonaparte, whether as Consul or Emperor, would exert his authority to oppose the intrigues of faction and would save us from the perils of anarchy. None dared to utter the word " republic," so deeply had the Terror stained that name ; and the government of the Direc- tory had perished in the contempt with which its chiefs w^ere regarded. The return of the Bourbons could only be brought about by the aid of a revolution ; and the slightest disturbance terrified the French people, in whom enthusiasm of every kind seemed dead. Besides, the men in whom they had trusted had one after the other deceived them ; and as, this time, they were yielding to force, they were at least certain that they were not deceiving themselves. The belief, or rather the error, that only despotism could at that epoch maintain order in France was very widespread. It became the mainstay of Bonaparte; and it is due to him to 334 Readifigs in Modern European History say that he also believed it. The factions played into his hands by imprudent attempts which he turned to his own advantage. He had some grounds for his belief that he was necessary ; France believed it, too ; and he even succeeded in persuading foreign sovereigns that he constituted a barrier against repub- lican influences, which, but for him, might spread widely. At the moment when Bonaparte placed the imperial crown upon his head there was not a king in Europe who did not believe that he wore his own crown more securely because of that event. Had the new emperor granted a liberal constitution, the peace of nations and of kings might really have been for- ever secured. Five years after Bonaparte had become the head of the French government he sums up the general situa- tion in France in a statement which he laid before the legislative body, December 31, 1804. 154. Napo- The internal situation of France is to-day as calm as it has Icon's ac- g^.^j. h^^r^. in the most peaceful periods. There is no agita- internal tion to disturb the public tranquillity, no suggestion of those situation of crimes which recall the Revolution. Everywhere useful enter- i8o4*^(Much prises are in progress, and the general improvements, both condensed) public and private, attest the universal confidence and sense of security. . . . Reasons for A plot conceived by an implacable government was about to establishing replunge France into the abyss of civil war and anarchy. The place of the discovery of this horrible crime stirred all France profoundly, consulate and anxieties that had scarcely been calmed again awoke. Ex- perience has taught that a divided power in the state is impotent and at odds with itself. It was generally felt that if power was delegated for short periods only, it was so uncertain as to dis- courage any prolonged undertakings or wide-reaching plans. If vested in an individual for life, it would lapse with him, and after him would prove a source of anarchy and discord. It was clearly seen that for a great nation the only salvation lies in hereditary power, which can alone assure a continuous political life w^hich may endure for generations, even for centuries. Europe and Napoleon 335 The Senate, as was proper, served as the organ through which this general apprehension found expression. The necessity of hereditary power in a state as vast as France had long been perceived by the First Consul. He had endeavored in vain to avoid this conclusion ; but the public solicitude and the hopes of our enemies emphasized the importance of his task, and he realized that his death might ruin his whole work. Under such circumstances, and with such a pressure of public opinion, there was no alternative left to the First Consul. He resolved, there- fore, to accept for himself, and two of his brothers after him, the burden imposed by the exigencies of the situation. After prolonged consideration, repeated conferences with the members of the Senate, discussion in the councils, and the suggestions of the most prudent advisers, a series of provisions was drawn up which regulate the succession to the imperial throne. These provisions were decreed by a senatus consultus of the 28th Floreal last. The French people, by a free and inde- pendent expression, then manifested its desire that the imperial dignity should pass down in a direct line through the legitimate or adopted descendants of Napoleon Bonaparte, or through the legitimate descendants of Joseph Bonaparte, or of Louis Bonaparte. From this moment Napoleon was, by the most unquestion- Coronation of able of titles, emperor of the French. No other act was neces- Napoleon by • 1 • • , 1 , • , • -n. 1 the Pope sary to sanction his right and consecrate his authority. But he wished to restore in France the ancient forms and recall those institutions which divinity itself seems to have inspired. He wished to impress the seal of religion itself upon the opening of his reign. The head of the Church, in order to give the French a striking proof of his paternal affection, consented to officiate at this august ceremony. What deep and enduring impressions did this leave on the mind of Napoleon and in the memory of the nation ! What thoughts for future races ! What a subject of wonder for all Europe ! In the midst of this pomp, and under the eye of the Eternal, Napoleon pronounced the inviolable oath which assures the integrity of the empire, the security of property, the perpetuity of institutions, the respect for law, and the happiness of the 336 Readings in Modern Eitropean History The new codes New schools nation. The oath of Napoleon shall be forever the terror of the enemies of France. If our borders are attacked, it will be repeated at the head of our armies, and our frontiers shall never more fear foreign invasion. The principles safeguarded by the coronation oath are those of our legislation. Hereafter there will be fewer laws to submit to the legislative body. The civil code has fulfilled the expec- tations of the public ; all citizens are acquainted with it ; it serves as their guide in their various transactions, and is every- where lauded as a benefaction. A draft of a criminal code has been completed for two years and has been subjected to the criticism of the courts ; at this moment it is being discussed for the last time by the Council of State. The code of proced- ure and the commercial code are still where they were a year ago, for pressing cares have diverted the emperor's attention elsewhere. New schools are being opened, and inspectors have been appointed to see that the instruction does not degenerate into vain and sterile examinations. The lycees and the secondary schools are filling with youth eager for instruction. The poly- technic school is peopling our arsenals, ports, and factories with useful citizens. Prizes have been established in various branches of science, letters, and arts, and in the period of ten years fixed by his Majesty for the award of these prizes there can be no doubt that French genius will produce works of distinction. Manufactures The emperor's decrees have reestablished commerce on the left bank of the Rhine. Our manufacturers are improving, although the mercenaries subsidized by the British govern- ment vaunt, in their empty declamations, her foreign trade and her precarious resources scattered about the seas and in the Indies, while they describe our shops as deserted and our arti- sans as dying of hunger. In spite of this, our industries are striking root in our own soil and are driving English commerce far from our shores. Our products now equal theirs and will soon compete with them in all the markets of the world. Religion has resumed its sway, but exhibits itself only in acts of humanity. Adhering to a wise policy of toleration, Europe and Napoleon 337 the ministers of different sects who worship the same God do themselves honor by their mutual respect ; and their rivalry- confines itself to emulation in virtue. Such is our situation at home. After the rupture of the Peace of Amiens, Napoleon collected an army at Boulogne with the declared pur- pose of making a descent upon England. After some months of preparation and waiting, the soldiers became very impatient to attempt the undertaking, in spite of the many difficulties which had become apparent. Soldiers and sailors were burning with impatience to embark 155. impa- for England, but the moment so ardently desired was still tience of the delayed. Every evening they said to themselves, "To-morrow invade Eng- there will be a good wind, there will also be a fog, and we shall land in start." They lay down with that hope, but arose each day to "^"^"®^' c A -.x. y A A ^ • '^°5- (From find either an uncloudea sky or ram. Constant's One evening, however, when a favorable wind was blowing. Memoirs) I heard two sailors conversing together on the wharf and mak- ing conjectures as to the future. " The emperor would do well to start to-morrow morning," said one. " He will never have better weather and there will surely be a fog." "Yes," said the other, " only he does not think so. We have now waited more than fifteen days, and the fleet has not budged. How- ever, all the ammunition is on board, and with one blast of the whistle we can put to sea." The night sentinels came on, and the conversation of the old sea wolves stopped there. But I soon had to acknowledge that their nautical experience had not deceived them. In fact, by three o'clock in the morning a light fog was spread over the sea, which was somewhat stormy ; the wind of the evening before began to blow again, and at daylight the fog was so thick as to conceal the fleet from the English, while the most profound silence reigned everywhere. No hostile sails had been signaled through the night, and, as the sailors had pre- dicted, everything favored the descent. At five o'clock in the morning signals were made from the semaphore, and in the 338 Readings in Modern European History twinkling of an eye all the sailors were in motion and the ports resounded with cries of joy, for the order to depart had just been received. While the sails were being hoisted the long roll was beaten in the four camps, and the order was given for the entire army to take arms. They marched rapidly into the town, hardly believing what they had just heard. " We are really going to start," said all the soldiers ; " we are actually going to say a few words to those Englishmen"; and the joy which animated them burst forth in acclamations which were silenced by a roll of the drums. The embarkation then took place amid pro- found silence, and in such perfect order that I can scarcely give an idea of it. At seven o'clock two hundred thousand sol- diers were on board the fleet ; and when, a little after midday, this fine army was on the point of starting, amidst the adieus and good wishes of the whole city, assembled upon the walls and upon the surrounding cliffs, and at the very moment when all the soldiers, standing with uncovered heads, were about to bid farewell to the soil of France, crying, " Vive I'empereur ! " a message arrived from the imperial barracks ordering the troops to disembark and return to camp. A telegraphic dis- patch just received by his Majesty announced that it was neces- sary that he should move his troops in another direction ; and the soldiers returned sadly to their quarters, some expressing in loud tones and in a very energetic manner the disappoint- ment which this species of mystification caused them. They had always regarded the success of the enterprise against Eng- land as assured, and to find themselves stopped on the eve of departure was, in their eyes, the greatest misfortune which could happen to them. When order had again been restored the emperor repaired to the camp of the right wing and made a proclamation to the troops, which was sent into the other camps, and posted every- where. This was approximately the tenor of it : " Brave sol- diers of the camp of Boulogne, you will not go to England. English gold has seduced the emperor of Austria, who has just declared war against France. His army has just passed the Rhine, which he should have respected, and Bavaria is invaded. Europe and Napoleon 339 Soldiers, new victories await you beyond the Rhine. Let us hasten to defeat once more the enemies whom you have already conquered." This proclamation called forth unanimous accla- mations of joy, and every face brightened, for it mattered little to these intrepid men whether they were led against Austria or England ; they simply thirsted for the fray, and now that war had been declared every desire was gratified. Thus vanished all those grand projects of descent upon Eng- land which had been so long matured, so wisely planned. After breaking camp at Boulogne, Napoleon hurried into Germany. He surrounded and captured the Aus- trian army at Ulm in October. Six weeks later he defeated the combined forces of the Austrians and Rus- sians in the memorable battle of Austerlitz. After this victory he issued the following proclamation. Soldiers, I am satisfied with you. In the battle of Austerlitz 156. Napo- you have justified what I expected from your intrepidity. You |^°^-Q/J°^iis have covered yourselves with eternal glory. An army of one soldiers after hundred thousand men which was commanded by the emperors Austerlitz of Russia and Austria has been, in less than four hours, either cut off or dispersed. Those that escaped your swords have thrown themselves into the lakes. Forty stands of colors, the stands of the Russian imperial guard, one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, and above thirty thousand prisoners are the fruits of this ever-memorable battle. Their infantry, so celebrated and so superior to you in numbers, has proved unable to resist your charge, and henceforth you have no rivals to fear. Thus in less than two months the third coalition is conquered and dissolved. Peace cannot be far off ; but, as I promised my people before crossing the Rhine, I will conclude it only upon terms consistent with my pledge, which shall secure not only the indemnification, but the reward, of my allies. Soldiers, when the French people placed the imperial crown upon my head I trusted to you to enable me to maintain it in that splendor of glory which could alone give it value in my 340 Readings m Modern Enropea7i History estimation. But at that moment our enemies entertained the design of tarnishing and degrading it ; and the iron crown, which was gained by the blood of so many Frenchmen, they would have compelled me to place on the head of my bitterest foe, — an extravagant and foolish proposal, which you have brought to naught on the anniversary of your emperor's coro- nation. You have taught them that it is easier for them to defy and to threaten than to subdue us. Soldiers, when everything necessary to the security, the hap- piness, and the prosperity of our country has been achieved, I will return you my thanks in France. Then will you be the objects of my tenderest care. My people will receive you with rapture and joy. To say to me, " I was in the battle of Austerlitz," will be enough to authorize the reply, "That is a brave man." t.. Napoleon Headquarters at Austerlitz December 3, 1805 Section 4J. Napoleon destroys the Holy Roma7i Empi^^e and reorganizes Germajiy Napoleon's In HO country of Europe were the effects of Napo- German"y ^^on's poHcy more striking and permanent than in Ger- many. The cession of the left bank of the Rhine to France by the Treaty of Luneville (1801) brought with it a complete reconstruction of the remainder of Ger- many, since the dispossessed princes were to be indem- nified with lands within the empire. Accordingly the ecclesiastical states and the free imperial towns, once so important among the German states, were, with a few exceptions, incorporated into the territories of neighbor- ing secular princes by the great Imperial Recess of 1803. The little holdings of the knights were quietly absorbed by the new "sovereigns" within whose terri- tories they happened to lie. The map of Germany was Europe and Napoleon 341 thus much simpHfied, and the ancient and hopeless sub- division of Germany greatly diminished. Napoleon had no desire to unify Germany, but wished to have several independent states, or groups of states, which he could conveniently bring under his control. Consequently, when it came to arranging the Treaty of Pressburg after his great victory at Austerlitz, Napoleon forced the defeated emperor to recognize the rulers of Wiirtemberg and Bavaria as "kings" and the elector of Baden as enjoying "the plenitude of sovereignty." In short, he proposed that the three most important princes of southern Germany should be as independent as the king of Prussia or the emperor himself, and that, moreover, they should owe their elevation to him. He then formed a union of these new sovereigns and of other German rulers, which was called the Confedera- tion of the Rhine. In the rather insolent message given below he informs the diet of the empire that the new union, of which he is to be the protector, will be incom- patible with the continued existence of the venerable Holy Roman Empire. The undersigned, charge d'affaires of his Majesty the em- 157. Napo- peror of the French and king of Italy, at the general diet of leon informs -1 • 1 1 r ? • TV /r • the German the German empire, has received orders from his Majesty to diet of the make the following declarations to the diet : formation of Their Majesties the kings of Bavaria and of \\ urtemberg, the ^^^^^^^l^^^' sovereign princes of Ratisbon, Baden, Burg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Rhine and Nassau, as well as the other leading princes ^ of the south (August i, and west of Germany, have resolved to form a confederation between themselves which shall secure them against future contingencies, and have thus ceased to be states of the empire. 1 The confederation was joined from time to time by many more German states. 342 Readings in Modern European History The position in which the Treaty of Pressburg has expHcitly placed the courts alHed to France, and indirectly those princes whose territory they border or surround, being incompatible with the existence of an empire, it becomes a necessity for those rulers to reorganize their relations upon a new system and to remove a contradiction which could not fail to be a permanent source of agitation, disquiet, and danger. France, on the other hand, is directly interested in the main- tenance of peace in southern Germany and yet must apprehend that the moment she shall cause her troops to recross the Rhine discord, the inevitable consequence of contradictory, uncertain, and ill-defined conditions, will again disturb the peace of the people and reopen, possibly, the war on the Continent. Feeling it incumbent upon her to advance the welfare of her allies and to assure them the enjoyment of all the advantages which the Treaty of Pressburg secures to them, and to w^hich she is pledged, France cannot but regard the confederation which they have formed as a natural result and a necessary sequel to that treaty. Sad decline For a long period successive changes have, from century to of the Holy century, reduced the German constitution to a shadow of its E^^ir" former self. Time has altered all the relations, in respect to size and importance, which originally existed among the various members of the confederation, both as regards each other and the whole of which they have formed a part. The diet has no longer a will of its own ; the sentences of the superior courts can no longer be executed ; everything indicates such serious weakness that the federal bond no longer offers any protection w^hatever and only constitutes a source of dissension and discord between the powers. The results of three coalitions have increased this w^eakness to the last degree. . . . The Treaty of Pressburg assures complete sovereignty to their Majesties the kings of Bavaria and of Wiirtemberg and to his Highness the elector of Baden. This is a prerogative which the other electors will doubtless demand, and which they are justified in demanding ; but this is in harmony neither with the letter nor the spirit of the constitution of the empire. His Majesty the emperor and king is, therefore, compelled to declare that he can no longer acknowledge the existence of Europe and Napoleo7i 343 the German constitution, recognizing, however, the entire and absolute sovereignty of each of the princes whose states com- pose Germany to-day, maintaining with them the same relations as with the other independent powers of Europe. His Majesty the emperor and king has accepted the title of Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. He has done this only with a view to peace and in order that by his constant mediation between the weak and the powerful he may obviate every species of dissension and disorder. Having thus provided for the dearest interests of his people and of his neighbors, and having assured, so far as in him lay, the future peace of Europe, and that of Germany in particular, heretofore constantly the theater of war, by removing a contra- diction which placed people and princes alike under the delu- sive protection of a system contrary both to their political interests and to their treaties, his Majesty the emperor and king trusts that the nations of Europe will at last close their ears to the insinuations of those who would maintain an eternal war upon the Continent. He trusts that the French armies w^hich have crossed the Rhine have done so for the last time, and that the people of Germany will no longer witness, except in the annals of the past, the horrible pictures of disorder, devasta- tion, and slaughter which war invariably brings with it. His Majesty declared that he would never extend the limits of France beyond the Rhine and he has been faithful to his promise. At present his sole desire is so to employ the means which Providence has confided to him as to free the seas, restore the liberty of commerce, and thus assure the peace and happi- ness of the world. g^^^^^ Ratisbon, August I, 1806 After the Treaty of Pressburg and the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine there was really nothing for the Emperor to do except to lay down — which he did with some relief — the imperial crown which had belonged to his House with few intermissions since the times of Rudolf of Hapsburg. 344 Readings in Modern European History 158. The We^ Francis the SecoJid, by the grace of God Roman emperor abdication elect, ever august, hereditary e7nperor of Austria, etc., king Roman ^f Gerf?tany, Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Sla- emperor 7'0?iia, Galicia, LodoDieria, afid ferusalem ; archduke of (August 6, Austria, etc. 1806) ' Since the Peace of Pressburg all our care and attention have been directed towards the scrupulous fulfillment of all engage- ments contracted by the said treaty, as well as the preservation of peace, so essential to the happiness of our subjects, and the strengthening in every way of the friendly relations which have been happily reestablished. We could but await the outcome of events in order to determine whether the important changes in the German Empire resulting from the terms of the peace would allow us to fulfill the weighty duties which, in view of the conditions of our election, devolve upon us as the head of the Empire. But the results of certain articles of the Treaty of Pressburg, which showed themselves immediately after its publication and since that time, as well as the events which, as is generally known, have taken place in the German Empire, have convinced us that it would be impossible under these circumstances further to fulfill the duties which we assumed by the conditions of our election. Even if the prompt readjust- ment of existing political complications might produce an alter- ation in the existing conditions, the convention signed at Paris, July 12, and approved later by the contracting parties, provid- ing for the complete separation of several important states of the empire and their union into a separate confederation, would utterly destroy any such hope. Thus convinced of the utter impossibility of longer fulfilling the duties of our imperial office, we owe it to our principles and to our honor to renounce a crown which could only retain any value in our eyes so long as we were in a position to justify the confidence reposed in us by the electors, princes, estates, and other members of the German Empire, and to fulfill the duties devolving upon us. We proclaim, accordingly, that we consider the ties which have hitherto united us to the body politic of the German Em- pire as hereby dissolved ; that we regard the office and dignity Europe and Napoleo7i 345 of the imperial headship as extinguished by the formation of a separate union of the Rhenish states, and regard ourselves as thereby freed from all our obhgations toward the German Empire; herewith laying down the imperial crown which is associated with these obligations, and relinquishing the imperial government which we have hitherto conducted. We free at the same time the electors, princes, and estates, and all others belonging to the Empire, particularly the mem- bers of the supreme imperial courts and other magistrates of the Empire, from the duties constitutionally due to us as the lawful head of the Empire. Conversely, we free all our German provinces and imperial lands from all their obligations of what- ever kind toward the German Empire. In uniting these, as emperor of Austria, with the whole body of the Austrian state we shall strive, with the restored and existing peaceful relations with all the powers and neighboring states, to raise them to the height of prosperity and happiness which is our keenest desire and the aim of our constant and sincerest efforts. Done at our capital and royal residence, Vienna, August 6, 1806, in the fifteenth year of our reign as emperor and hereditary ruler of the Austrian lands. " Francis Section 44. The Continental Blockade At least as early as 1796 the French government conceived the idea of forcing its English enemy to cry for peace by ruining her commerce. This became a cherished policy of Napoleon after he had given up the idea of invading England. After his great victory over Prussia at Jena he felt that the time had come to put into execution his project of excluding England from the Continent. England had given him an excuse for the Berlin Decree given below by declaring the coast from the river Elbe to Brest in a state of blockade (May, 1806). 34^ Readings i7i Moderji Eiiropea7i History From our Imperial Camp at Berlin November 21, 1806 159. The Ber- lin Decree (November 21, 1806) (Extracts) Napoleon, emperor of the French and king of Italy, in con- sideration of the facts : 1 . That England does not recognize the system of interna- tional law universally observed by all civilized nations. 2. That she regards as an enemy every individual belonging to the enemy's state, and consequently makes prisoners of war not only of the crews of armed ships of war but of the crews of ships of commerce and merchantmen, and even of commercial agents and of merchants traveling on business. 3. That she extends to the vessels and commercial wares, and to the property of individuals, the right of conquest which is applicable only to the possessions of the belligerent power. 4. That she extends to unfortified towns and commercial ports, to harbors and the mouths of rivers, the right of blockade, which, in accordance with reason and the customs of all civilized nations, is applicable only to strong places. . . . That she has declared districts in a state of blockade which all her united forces would be unable to blockade, such as entire coasts and the whole of an empire. 5. That this monstrous abuse of the right of blockade has no other aim than to prevent communication among the nations and to raise the commerce and the industry of England upon the ruins of that of the Continent. . . . 8. That it is a natural right to employ such arms against an enemy as he himself makes use of, and to combat in the same way as he combats. Since England has disregarded all ideas of justice and every high sentiment implied by civilization among mankind, we have resolved to apply to her the usages which she has ratified in her maritime legislation. The provisions of the present decree shall continue to be looked upon as embodying the fundamental principles of the empire until England shall recognize that the law of war is one and the same on land and on sea, and that the rights of war cannot be extended so as to include private property of any kind or the persons of individuals unconnected with the profession Eiirope a?td Napoleon 347 of arms, and that the right of blockade shall be restricted to fortified places actually invested by sufficient forces. We have consequently decreed and do decree that which follows. Article I. The British Isles are declared to be in a state of blockade. II. All commerce and all correspondence with the British Isles is forbidden. Consequently, letters or packages directed to England, or to an Englishman, or written in the English language, shall not pass through the mails and shall be seized. III. Every individual who is an English subject, of whatever state or condition he may be, who shall be discovered in any country occupied by our troops or by those of our allies, shall be made a prisoner of war. IV. All warehouses, merchandise, or property of whatever kind belonging to a subject of England shall be regarded as a lawful prize. V. Trade in English goods is prohibited, and all goods be- longing to England or coming from her factories or her colonies are declared a lawful prize. . . . VII. No vessel coming directly from England or from the English colonies, or which shall have visited these since the pub- lication of the present decree, shall be received in any port. VIII. Any vessel contravening the above provision by a false declaration shall be seized, and the vessel and cargo shall be confiscated as if it were English property. . . . X. The present decree shall be communicated by our min- ister of foreign affairs to the kings of Spain, of Naples, of Holland, and of Etruria, and to our other allies whose subjects, like ours, are the victims of the unjust and barbarous maritime legislation of England. (Signed) Napoleon On November 11, 1807, after news of the Treaty of Tilsit had reached the English government, it replied by an order in council establishing an undisguised "paper" blockade. This, in spite of some alleged merciful excep- tions, vv^as almost a prohibition of neutral trading such 348 Readings in Modern European History as that carried on by the United States, and President Jefferson ordered the first embargo, December 22, 1807, as a retahatory measure. Napoleon repHed to England's measures by issuing his brief and cogent Milan Decree. At our Royal Palace at Milan, December 17, 1807 160. The Napoleon, emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector Milan Decree q£ ^j^^ Confederation of the Rhine. In view of the measures (December 17, 1807) adopted by the British government on the nth of November last, by which vessels belonging to powers which are neutral, or are friendly to, and even allied with, England, are rendered liable to be searched by British cruisers, detained at certain sta- tions in England, and subject to an arbitrary tax of a certain per cent upon their cargo, to be regulated by English legislation : ^ Considering that by these acts the English government has denationalized the vessels of all the nations of Europe, and that no government may compromise in any degree its independ- ence or its rights by submitting to such demands, — all the rulers of Europe being jointly responsible for the sovereignty and independence of their flags, — and that, if through un- pardonable weakness, which would be regarded by posterity as an indelible stain, such tyranny should be admitted and become consecrated by custom, the English would take steps to give it the force of law, as they have already taken advantage of the 1 The tax imposed by England upon the cargoes of neutral ships, which is referred to in the Milan Decree, is not found in the orders of November ii, as Napoleon implies. The tax was, however, a stern reality, whatever may have been its formal origin. Professor McMaster gives an account of the practical workings of the system, so far as American ships were concerned, which he takes from the Baltimore Evening Post of September 2 and 27, 1808. The newspaper estimates that on her outward voyage, let us say to Holland, with four hundred hogsheads of tobacco, an American ship would pay England one and one-half pence per pound on the tobacco and twelve shillings for each ton of the ship. With $100 for the license and sundry other dues, the total amounted to toward ^13,000. On the home voyage, with a cargo, let us say, of Holland gin, the American trader paid perhaps |i6,5oo, making the total charges paid to Great Britain for a single voyage ^31,000 {History of the People of the United States, Vol. HI, pp. 308-309). Europe and Napoleo7i 349 toleration of the governments to establish the infamous prin- ciple that the flag does not cover the goods, and to give the right of blockade an arbitrary extension which threatens the sovereignty of every state : We have decreed and do decree as follows : Article I. Every vessel, of whatever nationality, which shall submit to be searched by an English vessel, or shall consent to a voyage to England, or shall pay any tax whatever to the Eng- . lish government, is ipso facto declared denationalized, loses the protection afforded by its flag, and becomes English property. II. Should these vessels which are thus denationalized through the arbitrary measures of the English government enter our ports or those of our allies, or fall into the hands of our ships of war or of our privateers, they shall be regarded as good and law- ful prizes. III. The British Isles are proclaimed to be in a state of blockade both by land and by sea. Every vessel, of whatever nation or whatever may be its cargo, that sails from the ports of England, or from those of the English colonies, or of coun- tries occupied by English troops, or is destined for England, or for any of the English colonies, or any country occupied by English troops, becomes, by violating the present decree, a law- ful prize, and may be captured by our ships of war and adjudged to the captor. . . . Pasquier, in his Memoirs^ makes the following admi- rable criticism of Napoleon's continental system. [Napoleon's unwise severity after the battle of Jena] was 161. A con- nothing compared to a measure adopted in the hour of intoxi- temporary's cation of victory, and which, by erecting an insurmountable Napoleon's barrier, so to speak, between France and England, condemned continental each of these two powers to entertain no hopes of peace and ^^^ ®°^ rest until its rival was completely destroyed. . . . Napoleon flattered himself with the idea of having found the means to deal a blow at his most deadly opponent in the matter nearest his heart. Seeing himself master of the greater part of the European coast, or at least enjoying a domination 350 Readings iji Moder?i European History over the mouths of the principal rivers of Germany, he per- suaded himself that it depended on him to close all Europe's markets to England and thus compel her to accept peace from him at his own terms. The conception was no doubt a grand one, and the measure was no more iniquitous than that of England, but the difference lay in the fact that the latter, in her pretensions to a blockade, was not undertaking anything beyond her strength, and did not stand in need of any other nation's cooperation to carry it out. France, on the contrary, was entering upon an undertaking which could not be put into execution without the voluntary or enforced cooperation of all the European powers. It was there- fore sufficient, in order to render it fruitless, — and the future went to prove this, — that a single one of these powers, unable to submit to the privations imposed upon it, should either an- nounce its firm determination not to lend a hand in the matter, or should be content with finding ways of eluding it. . . . Not only was England in a position to supply the continent with the numerous products of her industry, but she also con- trolled almost the entirety of all colonial wares and provisions. Hence it would become necessary, in the first place, to have r^ourse to all possible means calculated to make continental industry supply that which English industry would no longer furnish. In the second place, with regard to colonial products, some of which, such as sugar and coffee, were almost indis- pensable necessaries of life, and others of which were the actual raw material on which depended the manufactures which it was proposed to create, it was necessary to devise a means for allowing them the right of entry, but in a proportion calcu- lated on the strictest necessity, and, if possible, by means of an exchange favorable to the natural products of the continent. So it happened that through the most persevering and at times the most ingenious efforts, by the aid of a succession of decrees, and with the help of that strange invention of licenses which were nothing but organized smuggling, continental indus- try, or rather French industry, backed up with a million bayonets and with an auxiliary force of coast guards, succeeded in meet- ing a tremendous competition and in deriving large profits. Eu7'ope and A^apoleon 351 Section 4.^. Napoleon at the Zenith of his Power {1808-1812) Napoleon found no difficulty in discovering divine sanction for his power. A catechism drawn up during the reign of Louis XIV by the distinguished French prelate, Bossuet, was hunted up and certain modifica- tions made to adapt it to the times. The following questions and answers deal with the duties of French citizens towards their ruler. Questio7i. What are the duties of Christians toward those 162. Extracts who govern them, and what in particular are our duties towards ^^°™ *^® XT 1 T t. imperial Napoleon I, our emperor? catechism Answer. Christians owe to the princes who govern them, (April, 1806) and we in particular owe to Napoleon I, our emperor, love, respect, obedience, fidelity, military service, and the taxes levied for the preservation and defense of the empire and of his throne. We also owe him fervent prayers for his safety and for the spir- itual and temporal prosperity of the state. Question. Why are we subject to all these duties toward our emperor? Answer. First, because God, who has created empires and distributes them according to his will, has, by loading our emperor with gifts both in peace and in war, established him as our sovereign and made him the agent of his power and his image upon earth. To honor and serve our emperor is therefore to honor and serve God himself. Secondly, be- cause our Lord Jesus Christ himself, both by his teaching and his example, has taught us what we owe to our sovereign. Even at his very birth he obeyed the edict of Caesar Augus- tus ; he paid the established tax ; and while he commanded us to render to God those things w^hich belong to God, he also commanded us to render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's. Question. Are there not special motives which should attach us more closely to Napoleon I, our emperor? 352 Readings in Modern European History Afiswer. Yes, for it is he whom God has raised up in trying times to reestablish the public worship of the holy religion of our fathers and to be its protector ; he has reestablished and preserved public order by his profound and active wisdom ; he defends the state by his mighty arm; he has become the anointed of the Lord by the consecration which he has received from the sovereign pontiff, head of the Church universal. Question. What must we think of those who are wanting in their duties toward our emperor? Answer. According to the apostle Paul, they are resisting the order established by God himself, and render themselves worthy of eternal damnation.^ The following extracts will illustrate the attitude of Napoleon toward his vast empire, and the way in which he undertook to shape the destinies of all western Europe. Enraged by the refusal of the Spanish nation to accept his brother as their king, he invaded the peninsula with a large army, occupied Madrid, and in December, 1808, he issued the following proclamations. Imperial Camp at Madrid, December 7, 1808 163. Napo- Spaniards, you have been seduced by perfidious men. They Icon's proc- \^2iwe involved you in a mad conflict and induced you to rush lamation to ^ / , t , , r. the Spaniards to arms, is there one among you who, if he but reflect a moment upon all that has taken place, will not be convinced that you have been the playthings of the inveterate enemy of the continent, who rejoices as she beholds the shedding of Spanish and French blood ? What could be the result of your success even in several campaigns? What but a war without end and prolonged uncertainty in regard to your possessions and your very existence ? In a few months you have been sub- jected to all the horrors of popular faction. The defeat of your armies was the affair of a few marches. I have entered Madrid. The right of war authorizes me to make a terrible example and ^ Compare Bossuet's views of the kingship (see above, pp. 5 sqq). Europe and Napoleon 353 to wash out with blood the outrages committed against me and my nation. But my only thought is of clemency. A few men only, the authors of your misery, shall suffer. I will speedily expel from the peninsula that English army which has been dispatched to Spain, not to aid you, but to inspire in you a false confidence and to deceive you. I informed you in my proclamation of June 2 that I wished to be your regenerator. But you have chosen that I should add to the rights ceded to me by your previous dynasty also the right of conquest. But this has not in any way altered my attitude toward you. Indeed, I must praise all that has been generous in your efforts. I would recognize that your true in- terests have been obscured and that you have been deceived as to the real condition of affairs. Spaniards, your destiny is in my hands. Refuse the poison which the English have spread abroad among you ; let your king be assured of your love and confidence and you will be more powerful, more happy than you have ever been. I have destroyed everything which stands in the way of your prosperity and greatness. I have broken the fetters which hampered the people. I have given you a liberal constitution, and, in the place of an absolute, I have given you a limited and constitu- tional, monarchy. It depends upon you whether this constitution shall continue to govern you. But if all my efforts should prove useless, and if you do not respond to my confidence, nothing will remain for me except to treat you as conquered provinces and to place my brother upon another throne. I shall then put the crown of Spain upon my own head and I shall be able to make the wicked respect it, since God has given me the power and the will necessary to surmount all obstacles. Napoleon The reforms which Napoleon alludes to had been issued three days before upon his arrival in Madrid. They furnish an admirable illustration of the way in which the ideas of the French Revolution followed his armies into the conservative countries of western Europe. 354 Readings ift Modern Europeaii History 164. Decrees abolishing feudal dues in Spain 165. Decree abolishing the Inquisition 166. Decree abolishing monastic orders Imperial Camp at Madrid, December 4, 1808 To date from the publication of the present decree, feudal rights are abolished in Spain. All personal obligations, all exclusive fishing rights and other rights of similar nature on the coast or on rivers and streams, all feudal monopolies {banalites') of ovens, mills, and inns are suppressed. It shall be free to every one who shall conform to the laws to develop his industry without restraint. The tribunal of the Inquisition is abolished, as inconsistent with the civil sovereignty and authority. The property of the Inquisition shall be sequestered and fall to the Spanish state, to serve as security for the bonded debt. Considering that the members of the various monastic orders have increased to an undue degree, and that, although a certain number of them are useful in assisting the ministers of the altar in the administration of the sacraments, the existence of too great a number interferes with the prosperity of the state, we have decreed and do decree as follows : The number of convents now in existence in Spain shall be reduced to a third of their present number. This reduction shall be accomplished by uniting the members of several con- vents of the same order into one. From the publication of the present decree, no one shall be admitted to the novitiate or permitted to take the monastic vow until the number of the religious of both sexes has been reduced to one third of that now in existence. . . . All regular ecclesiastics who desire to renounce the monastic life and live as secular ecclesiastics are at liberty to leave their monasteries. . . . 167. Decree In view of the fact that the institution which stands most in abolishing ^^ ^^y Qf ^^ internal prosperity of Spain is that of the cus- the interior ,. ... , , 111 customs lines ^^^^^ \m^'s, separating the provmces, we have decreed and do decree what follows : To date from January i next, the barriers existing between the provinces shall be suppressed. The customhouses shall be removed to the frontiers and there established. Europe and Napoleon 355 In May, 1809, Napoleon proclaimed that the papal possessions and the city of Rome were "reunited" to the French empire. He attempts in the following decree to justify his conduct upan historical grounds. Napoleon, emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector of 168. Opening the Confederation of the Rhine, etc., in consideration of the °/ *^^ !l^*^^^f, fact that when Charlemagne, emperor of the French and our the papal august predecessor, granted several counties to the bishops of states to the Rome he ceded these only as fiefs and for the good of his g^!J|Jg lealm, and Rome did not, by reason of this cession, cease to (May 17, form a part of his empire ; further, that since this association ^^09) of spiritual and temporal authority has been, and still is, a source of dissensions, and has but too often led the pontiffs to employ the influence of the former to maintain the pretensions of the latter, and thus the spiritual concerns and heavenly inter- ests, which are unchanging, have been confused with terrestrial affairs, which by their nature alter according to circumstances and the policy of the time ; and since all our proposals for reconciling the security of our armies, the tranquillity and the welfare of our people, and the dignity and integrity of our em- pire, wath the temporal pretensions of the popes have failed, we have decreed and do decree what follows : Article I. The papal states are reunited to the French empire. II. The city of Rome, so famous by reason of the great mem- ories which cluster about it and as the first seat of Christianity, is proclaimed a free imperial city. . . . In August, 18 10, when Napoleon was arranging to annex Holland and the Hanseatic towns to France, he addressed the Dutch representatives, who had been induced to lay their troubles before him, in the follow- ing words : . . . When Providence elevated me to the first throne in 169. Napo- the world it became my duty, while establishing forever the ^^^/^'^Z^^^"^ destinies of France, to determine the fate of all those people 356 Readmgs in Modern European History who formed a part of the empire, to insure for all the benefits of stability and order, and to put an end everywhere to the woes of anarchy. I have done away with the uncertainty in Italy by placing upon my head the crown of iron. I have sup- pressed the government which was ruling in Piedmont. I have traced out the constitution of Switzerland in my Act of Media- tion, and I have harmonized the local conditions of these countries and their historical traditions with the security and rights of the imperial crown. I gave you a prince of my own blood to govern you. It was a natural bond, which should have served to unite the interests of your administration and the rights of the empire. My hopes have been disappointed. Under these circumstances I have displayed a degree of moderation and long-suffering which comported but ill with my character and my rights. Finally, I have but just put an end to the painful uncertainty in which you found yourselves, and to the death struggle which had ended by destroying your strength and resources. I have opened the continent to your industry, and the day wdll come when you shall bear my eagles upon the seas which your ancestors have rendered illustrious. You will then show yourself worthy of them and of me. . . . Section 46. The Fall of Napoleon Before crossing the Russian boundary in June, 18 12, Napoleon issued the following proclamation to the Grand Army. Soldiers, the second war of Poland has commenced. The first was brought to a close at Friedland and Tilsit. At Tilsit, the opening of Russia swore eternal alliance with France and war with Eng- the Russian land. She now violates her oaths, she refuses to give any ex- planation of her strange conduct, except on condition that the eagles of France shall repass the Rhine, leaving, by such a movement, our allies at her mercy. Russia is dragged along by a fate. Her destinies must be accomplished. Shall she then consider us degenerate? Are we no longer to be looked upon Etirope and Napoleoii 357 as the soldiers of Austerlitz? She offers us the alternative of dishonor or war. The choice does not admit of hesitation. Let us march forward. Let us pass the Niemen. Let us carry war into her territory. The second war of Poland will be as glorious to the French arms as was the first ; but the peace which we shall conclude will be its own guaranty and will put an end to that proud and haughty influence which Russia has for fifty years exercised in the affairs of Europe. At our Headquarters at Wilkowiszki June 22, 1812 Five months later Napoleon was frantically endeav- oring to regain Poland. An eyewitness thus describes the crossing of the Beresina, one of the most tragic episodes in all military history. On the 25 th of November there had been thrown across the 171. The river temporary bridges made of beams taken from the cabins crossing of . , „ 1 . ,. , . - . , - , the Beresina of the Poles. ... At a little after five m the afternoon the (prom beams gave way, not being sufficiently strong; and as it was Constant's necessary to wait until the next day, the army again abandoned ^^^^^^^) itself to gloomy forebodings. It was evident that they would have to endure the fire of the enemy all the next day. But there was no longer any choice ; for it was only at the end of this night of agony and suffering of every description that the first beams were secured in the river. It is hard to comprehend how men could submit to stand, up to their mouths in water filled with ice, rallying all the strength which nature had given them, added to all that the energy of devotion furnished, and drive piles several feet deep into a miry bed, struggling against the most horrible fatigue, pushing back with their hands enormous blocks of ice which threatened to submerge and sink them. . . . The emperor awaited daylight in a poor hut, and in the Napole morning said to Prince Berthier, " Well, Berthier, how can we o^^rcoi get out of this? " He was seated in his room, great tears flow- ^nd de: ing down his cheeks, which were paler than usual ; and the 35^ Readings i7i Modern Europe a 71 History prince was seated near him. They exchanged few words, and the emperor appeared overcome by his grief. I leave to the imagination what was passing in his soul. . . . When the artillery and baggage wagons passed, the bridge was so overweighted that it fell in. Instantly a backward movement took place, which crowded together all the multi- tude of stragglers who were advancing in the rear of the artil- lery, like a flock being herded. Another bridge had been constructed, as if the sad thought had occurred that the first might give way, but the second was narrow and without a rail- ing ; nevertheless it seemed at first a very valuable makeshift in such a calamity. But how disasters follow one upon another ! The stragglers rushed to the second bridge in crowds. But the artillery, the baggage wagons, — in a word, all the army sup- plies, — had been in front on the first bridge when it broke down. . . . Now, since it was urgent that the artillery should pass first, it rushed impetuously toward the only road to safety which remained. No pen can describe the scene of horror which ensued ; for it was literally over a road of trampled human bodies that conveyances of all sorts reached the bridge. On this occasion one could see how much brutality and cold- blooded ferocity can be produced in human minds by the instinct of self-preservation. ... As I have said, the bridge had no railing, and crowds of those who forced their way across fell into the river and were engulfed beneath the ice. Others, in their fall, tried to stop themselves by grasping the planks of the bridge, and remained suspended over the abyss until, their hands crushed by the wheels of the vehicles, they lost their grasp and went to join their comrades as the waves closed over them. Entire caissons with drivers and horses were precipitated into the water. . . . Officers harnessed themselves to sleds to carry some of their companions who were rendered helpless by their wounds. They wrapped these unfortunates as warmly as possible, cheered them from time to time with a glass of brandy when they could pro- cure it, and lavished upon them the most touching attention. There were many who behaved in this unselfish manner, of whose names we are ignorant ; and how few returned to enjoy Europe mid Napoleon 359 in their own country the remembrance of the most heroic deeds of their hves! On the 29th the emperor quitted the banks of the Beresina and we slept at Kamen, where his Majesty occupied a poor wooden building which the icy air penetrated from all sides through the windows, for nearly all the glass was broken. We closed the openings as well as we could with bundles of hay. A short distance from us, in a large lot, were penned up the wretched Russian prisoners whom the army drove before it. I had much difficulty in comprehending the delusion of victory which our poor soldiers still kept up by dragging after them this wretched luxury of prisoners, who could only be an added burden, as they required constant surveillance. When the con- querors are dying of famine, what becomes of the conquered? These poor Russians, exhausted by marches and hunger, nearly all perished that night. . . . On the 3d of December we arrived at Malodeczno. During the whole day the emperor appeared thoughtful and anxious. He had frequent confidential conversations with the grand equerry. Monsieur de Coulaincourt, and I expected some extra- ordinary measure. I was not mistaken in my conjectures. At two leagues from Smorghoni the duke of Vicenza summoned me and told me to go on in front and give orders to have the six best horses harnessed to my carriage, which was the lightest of all, and keep them in constant readiness. I reached Smorg- honi before the emperor, who did not arrive until the fol- lowing night. . . . After supper the emperor ordered Prince Eugene to read the twenty-ninth bulletin and spoke freely of his plans, saying that his departure was essential in order to send help to the army. . . . The emperor left in the night. By daybreak the army had learned the news, and the impression it made cannot be de- picted. Discouragement was at its height, and many soldiers cursed the emperor and reproached him for abandoning them. This night, the 6th, the cold increased greatly. Its severity may be imagined, as birds were found on the ground frozen stiff. Soldiers seated themselves with their heads in their hands and bodies bent forward in order thus to feel less the emptiness 360 Readings in Modern European History of their stomachs. . . . Everything had failed us. Long before reaching Wilna, the horses being dead, we received orders to burn our carriages and all their contents. The German people, divided as they were into a mul- titude of little states, had borne apathetically Napoleon's dominion for some years. But his insolent conduct after the victory of Jena began to arouse the national feeling which was later to drive him from German soil and lay the foundation of a united fatherland. The judicious Chancellor Pasquier, in his Memoirs^ thus describes Napoleon's unwarranted treatment of the Prussians. 172. Napo- Prussia, which for about half a century had advanced step leon'scon- j^y g^gp ^q ^^ ^^^^ \2iVik among military powers, was laid low Jena. (From ^t the first clash of arms. Such of the old generals of Freder- Pasquier's ick the Great as still survived — the duke of Brunswick, Gen- Memoirs) g^-^j Mollendorf, and many others — either lost their lives on the battlefield of Jena or, as a result of the rout, the remnants of their former military reputation. Seventeen days sufficed to place the French army in possession of the Prussian capital, and the end of November saw it on the opposite side of the Vis- tula, after taking Ciistrin, Spandau, Liibeck, and Magdeburg, — the last named reputed to be the most strongly fortified town in the Prussian kingdom, — and occupying all the states belong- ing to Prussia, with the exception of Silesia and the fortress of Colberg in Pomerania. . . . France was no doubt proud of all these victories, and she wished to reap the fruits of them, the first of which, in her eyes, was peace, — a glorious, but also a lasting one. Modera- tion in the hour of triumph could alone insure such a result, and the French character, which is naturally generous, indulged in thoughts of a magnanimous use of victory. So it was that people nourished the illusory idea that the man who had risen so high could not be deficient in the only quality which could make his conquests secure. . . . But no sooner was Napoleon in Berlin than he not only acted and spoke as an angry conqueror, but affected the speech Europe ajid Napoleon 361 and the attitude of a sovereign giving commands to his subjects. Loyalty to the prince who had fled at his approach was treated as an act of rebelHon, and, in his indignation against the oppo- sition of a portion of the nobihty which still held communica- tion with the unfortunate king, he exclaimed, in the very halls of the palace of the great Frederick, " I will so humble this court nobility that it shall be reduced to begging its bread." In his proclamations and bulletins he constantly coupled threats with insults. Misfortune, which should be sacred, was not even respected in the person of the queen of Prussia. This con- duct was far from affording any reassuring preliminaries for the peace so ardently desired. The disaster of Jena and the humiliation of Tilsit forced Prussia to try to regain strength and prosperity through the radical reform of her whole social organiza- tion. The first step was taken in October, 1807, when serfdom and certain ancient restrictions on landhold- ing were abolished. A few paragraphs of this cautious measure are given below. They are in singular con- trast to the generous and thoroughgoing, not to say reckless, provisions of the decree abolishing the feudal system in France given above. ^ We, Frederick William, by the grace of God king of Prussia, 173. The etc., etc., hereby make known and proclaim that : Since peace P^^ussian , ^ ^■ ^ ^ , i • 1 1 r , • Teform edict has been established we have been occupied beiore everything of October 9. else with the care for the depressed condition of our faithful 1807 subjects and the speediest revival and greatest possible improve- ment in this respect. We have considered that, in face of the prevailing want, the means at our disposal would be insufficient to aid each individual, and even if they were sufficient, we could not hope to accomplish our object ; and that, moreover, in accordance with the imperative demands of justice and with the principles of a judicious economic policy, it behooves us to remove every obstacle which has hitherto prevented the 1 See above, pp. 256 s(/q. 362 Readiiigs in Modern Eutvpean History individual from attaining such a state of prosperity as he was capable of reaching. We have further considered that the existing restrictions, both on the possession and enjoyment of landed property and on the personal condition of the agricul- tural laborer, especially interfere with our benevolent purpose and disable a great force which might be applied to the restora- tion of agriculture : the former, by their prejudicial influence upon the value of landed property and the credit of the pro- prietor ; the latter, by diminishing the value of labor. We desire, therefore, to reduce both kinds of restrictions so far as the common well-being demands, and we accordingly ordain the following : 1 . Every inhabitant of our states is competent, without any limitation on the part of the state, to own or mortgage landed property of every kind. The noble may therefore own not only noble but also non-noble, citizen, and peasant lands of every kind, and the citizen and peasant may possess not only citizen, peasant, and other non-noble, but also noble tracts of land without in any case needing special permission for any acquisi- tion whatever, although henceforth, as before, every change of ownership must be announced to the authorities. All privileges which are possessed by noble over citizen inheritances are en- tirely abolished. . . . 2. Every noble is henceforth permitted, without any dero- gation from his station, to engage in citizen occupation, and every citizen or peasant is allowed to pass from the citizen into the peasant class or from the peasant into the citizen class.^ . . . 10. From the date of this ordinance no new relation of serf- dom, whether by birth or marriage, or by assuming the position of a serf, or by contract, can be created. 11. With the publication of the present ordinance the exist- ing relations of serfdom of those serfs, with their wives and children, who possess their peasant holdings by inheritance, or in their own right, or by perpetual leases, or of copyhold, shall cease entirely, together with all mutual rights and duties. 1 The articles here omitted relate to leases, mortgages, etc., and are technical and obscure. Einvpe and Napoleon 363 12. From Martinmas, one thousand eight hundred and ten (18 10), all serfdom shall cease throughout our whole realm. From Martinmas, 18 10, there shall be only free persons, as is already the case upon the royal domains in all our provinces, — free persons, however, still subject, as a matter of course, to all obligations which bind them, as free persons, by reason of the possession of an estate or by virtue of a special contract.^ To this declaration of our supreme will every one whom it may concern, and in particular our provincial authorities and other officials, are exactly and dutifully to conform, and the present ordinance is to be universally made known. Given authentically, under our own royal signature, at Memel, October 9, 1807. Frederick William Schrotter, Stein, Schrotter II By the middle of March, 18 13, the timid king of Prussia, encouraged by Napoleon's defeat in Russia, finally decided to throw off the French yoke and lead his country into a war of liberation. He explained his reasons to his people in one of the most famous docu- ments {An mein Volk) in modern German history. There is no need of explaining to my loyal subjects, or to 174. The any German, the reasons for the war which is about to begin. ^^°S 0* They lie plainly before the eyes of awakened Europe. We rouses his succumbed to the superior force of France. The peace which people followed deprived me of my people and, far from bringing us Jj^p^QjgQ^ blessings, it inflicted upon us deeper wounds than the war itself, sucking out the very marrow of the country. Our principal 1 These general provisions abolishing serfdom were so vague as to be misunderstood. The king therefore issued an official explanation later (April 8, 1809 ; Gesetz-Sanunlung, 1806-18 10, pp. 557 sqq.), which serv^es to enlighten us upon the exact nature of the personal dependence of the serf. This consisted, for example, in the right of the lord to demand three years' service from children of his serfs, and to control them in later life in the matter of occupation and marriage. The former serf is permitted by the new law to engage in any industry he may choose and to leave the manor if he wishes without demanding the consent of the lord. 364 Readings in Modern European History fortresses remained in the hand of the enemy, and agriculture, as well as the highly developed industries of our towns, were crippled. The freedom of trade was hampered and thereby the sources of commerce and prosperity cut off. The country was left a prey to the ravages of destitution. I hoped, by the punctilious fulfillment of the engagements I had entered into, to lighten the burdens of my people, and even to convince the French emperor that it would be to his own advantage to leave Prussia her independence. But the purest and best of intentions on my part were of no avail against insolence and faithlessness, and it became only too plain that the emperor's treaties would gradually ruin us even more surely than his wars. The moment is come when we can no longer harbor the slightest illusion as to our situation. Brandenburgers, Prussians, Silesians, Pomeranians, Lithu- anians ! You know what you have borne for the past seven years ; you know the sad fate that awaits you if we do not bring this war to an honorable end. Think of the times gone by, — of the Great Elector, the great Frederick ! Remember the blessings for which your forefathers fought under their leadership and which they paid for with their blood, — freedom of conscience, national honor, independence, commerce, in- dustry, learning. Look at the great example of our powerful allies, the Russians ; look at the Spaniards, the Portuguese. For such objects as these even weaker peoples have gone forth against mightier enemies and returned in triumph. Witness the heroic Swiss and the people of the Netherlands. Great sacrifices will be demanded from every class of the people, for our undertaking is a great one, and the number and resources of our enemies far from insignificant. But would you not rather make these sacrifices for the fatherland and for your own rightful king than for a foreign ruler, who, as he has shown by many examples, will use you and your sons and your uttermost farthing for ends which are nothing to you ? Faith in God, perseverance, and the powerful aid of our allies will bring us victory as the reward of our honest efforts. Whatever sacrifices may be required of us as individuals, they will be outweighed by the sacred rights for which we make Europe and Napoleon 365 them, and for which we must fight to a victorious end unless we are wilHng to cease to be Prussians or Germans. This is the final, the decisive struggle ; upon it depends our inde- pendence, our prosperity, our existence. There are no other alternatives but an honorable peace or a heroic end. You would willingly face even the latter for honor's sake, for with- out honor no Prussian or German could live. However, we may confidently await the outcome. God and our own firm purpose will bring victory to our cause and with it an assured and glorious peace and the return of happier times. Breslau, March 17, 1813 FREDERICK William Immediately after the great battle of the nations at Leipzig the distinguished Prussian statesman, Stein, writes as follows to his wife : Leipzig, October 21, 1813 At last, my dear one, we may venture to indulge in a feeling 175- Stein of happiness. Napoleon is beaten and put to flight in disorder. ^^^Jj^^J^® They are driving him over to the left bank of the Rhine and Leipzig to the Austro-Bavarian army will catch up with him before he his wife crosses the river. This is the result of the bloody but glorious battle of the 14th, i6th, i8th, and 19th of October. And so that monstrous structure built up by the maddest and most perverse tyranny and cemented by the blood and tears of so many millions now lies in ruins. From one end of Germany to the other men now dare to say that Napoleon is a scoundrel and an enemy of the human race ; that the shame- ful bonds in which he has held our fatherland are broken, and the humiliation he has heaped upon us is washed out in streams of French blood. This great event is due to the persistence and noble spirit developed by Emperor Alexander in the important and deci- sive events of last year, the heroic devotion of his people, and the spirit of justice and moderation which he has shown in all his negotiations with the powers whom he has invited to associate their efforts with his ; to the sacrifices and strength 366 Readings in Modern Ejiropeajt History 176. Treaty of Fontaine- bleau, in which Napo- leon abdi- cates (April II, 1814) which Prussia has brought to the struggle since she entered it ; to the spirit of opposition and hate toward the oppressor which has shown itself on all sides. The workings of Providence are at least justified by the terrible judgment which has been meted out to the monster whose obstinacy has led him into political and military follies which have hastened his fall and made him an object of con- tempt among the people. . . . These results have been won by two bloody, glorious, and tragic campaigns, and through many costly battles. At Liitzen, Bautzen, Teltow, Dresden, Katzbach, Kulm, Dennewitz, Bledin, Leipzig, the seed was sown for this harvest which now awaits us, the fruits of which we should enjoy with a devout and thankful recognition of the hand of Providence, and in all moderation. The allies have vested in me the whole administration of the territory which they have occupied. Repnin has been made governor of Saxony. I leave in a fortnight, as soon as the army has reached Frankfort. Six months after the battle of Leipzig Napoleon finally renounced, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy (April 11, 18 14), and on the same day concluded the Treaty of Fontainebleau with his enemies. His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, on the one part, and, on the other, their Majesties the emperor of Austria, the king of Prussia, and the emperor of all the Russias, both in their own names and those of their allies. . . . 1. His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon renounces for him- self, his successors, and descendants, as well as for all the members of his family, all right of sovereignty and dominion as well in the French empire as in the kingdom of Italy and in every other country. 2. Their Majesties the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Maria Louisa shall retain their titles and rank, to be enjoyed during their lifetime. The mother, brothers, sisters, nephews. Etirope and Napoleon 367 and nieces of the emperor shall retain, wherever they may be, the titles of princes of his family. 3. The island of Elba, adopted by his Majesty the Emperor Napoleon as the place of his residence, shall form during his life a separate principality, which shall be possessed by him in full sovereignty and proprietorship. There shall be given to the Emperor Napoleon, besides full proprietorship of the island of Elba, an annual revenue of two million francs. . . . 5. The duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla shall be given in full proprietorship and sovereignty to her Majesty the Empress Maria Louisa. They shall pass to her son and to his descendants in the direct line. The prince, her son, shall assume from this moment the title of Prince of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla. . . . Eleven months later Napoleon returned from Elba, but was met by the following declaration of the allies, who were in conference at Vienna. The powers who signed the Treaty of Paris, reassembled in 177. Decla- the congress at Vienna, having been informed of the escape ^^^^^^ 0^ t^® of Napoleon Bonaparte and of his entrance into France with Napoleon's an armed force, owe to their dignity and the interest of social return from order the solemn declaration of the sentiments which that Elba (March event has inspired in them. In thus violating the convention which established him in the island of Elba, Bonaparte has destroyed the only legal title to his existence. By reappearing in France with projects of disorder and destruction, he has cut himself off from the protection of the law, and has shown in the face of all the world that there can be neither peace nor truce with him. Accordingly the powers declare that Napoleon Bonaparte is excluded from civil and social relations, and as an enemy and disturber of the tranquillity of the world he has incurred public vengeance. At the same time, being firmly resolved to preserve intact the Treaty of Paris of May 30, 18 14, and the arrangements 368 Readings in Modern European History sanctioned by that treaty, as well as those which have been or shall be arranged hereafter in order to complete and consoli- date it, they declare that they will employ all their resources and unite all their efforts in order that the general peace, the object of the desires of Europe and the constant aim of their labors, may not be again disturbed, and in order to secure themselves from all attempts which may threaten to plunge the world once more into the disorders and misfortunes of revolutions. And although fully persuaded that all France, rallying around its legitimate sovereign, will strive unceasingly to bring to naught this last attempt of a criminal and impotent madman, all the sovereigns of Europe, animated by the same feeling and guided by the same principles, declare that if, contrary to all expectation, there shall result from that event any real danger, they will be ready to give to the king of France and the French nation, or to any government which shall be attacked, as soon as shall be required, all the assistance necessary to reestablish the public tranquillity, and to make common cause against all who may attempt to compromise it. The present declaration, inserted in the protocol of the congress assembled at Vienna, March 13, 18 15, shall be made public. The allies completely carried out the programme announced in the declaration above. In less than two months after the battle of Waterloo, the ship bearing Napoleon to St. Helena was well on its way. One of the few companions who were permitted to accompany him, the Comte de Las Cases, kept an interesting jour- nal of his experiences, especially of his conversations with Napoleon (see above, p. 312). He makes the fol- lowing entries in his diary. August 10. This day we cleared the Channel. We had now entered upon the dreary unknown course to which fate had doomed us. Again my agonies were renewed ; again the dear Europe and Napoleon 369 connections I had abandoned resumed their sway over my 178. Napo- heart. . . . Meanwhile we advanced in our course and were ^®o°'s exile soon to be out of Europe. Thus, in less than six weeks, had (Prom Las the emperor abdicated his throne and placed himself in the Cases's hands of the English, who were now hurrying him to a barren ^^^^y) rock in the midst of a vast ocean. This is certainly no ordi- nary instance of the chances of fortune, and no common trial of firmness of mind. . . . As to the reproach of suffering himself to be transported to St. Helena, it would be a disgrace to answer such a charge. To contend with an adversary in the cabin of a ship, to kill some one with his own hand, or attempt to set fire to the powder magazine would have been at best the act of a bucca- neer. Dignity in misfortune, submission to necessity have also their glory, and it is that which becomes great men over- whelmed by adversity. . . . August 11-14. Our course was shaped to cross the Bay of Biscay and to double Cape Finisterre. The wind was fair though light, and the heat excessive. Nothing could be more monotonous than the time we now passed. ... It is well known that Napoleon was wont to be scarcely more than fif- teen minutes at his dinner. Here the two courses alone occu- pied from an hour to an hour and a half. This was to him a most serious annoyance, though he never mentioned it ; his features, gestures, and manner always evinced perfect indiffer- ence. Neither the new system of cookery, the difference, or the quality of the dishes ever met with his censure or approba- tion. . . . I need scarcely observe that the English are accustomed to remain a long time at table after the dessert, drinking and con- versing. The emperor, already wearied by the tedious dinner, could never have endured this custom ; he rose, therefore, from the first day, immediately after coffee had been handed around, and went out on deck, followed by the grand marshal and myself. This disconcerted the admiral, who took occasion to express his surprise to his officers ; but Madame Bertrand, whose maternal language was English, warmly replied, " Do not forget. Admiral, that your guest is a man who has governed 370 Readings in Modern Ejiropeaii History a large portion of the world, and that kings once contended for the honor of being admitted to his table." " Very true," rejoined the admiral ; and this officer, who possessed good sense, a becoming pliability of manners, and sometimes much elegance, did his utmost from that moment to accommodate the emperor in his habits. He shortened the time of sitting at the table, ordering coffee for Napoleon and those who accom- panied him even before the rest of the company had finished their dinner. . . . October 2J-24. The Emperor Napoleon, who but lately pos- sessed such boundless power and disposed of so many crowns, now occupies a wretched hovel, a few feet square, which is perched upon a rock, unprovided with furniture, and without either shutters or curtains to the windows. This place must serve him for bedchamber, dressing room, dining room, study, and sitting room ; and he is obliged to go out when it is neces- sary to have this one apartment cleaned. His meals, consisting of a few wretched dishes, are brought to him from a distance, as though he were a criminal in a dungeon. He is absolutely in want of the necessaries of life : the bread and wine are not only not such as he has been accustomed to, but are so bad that we loathe to touch them ; water, coffee, butter, oil, and other articles are either not to be procured or are scarcely fit for use. . . . We were all assembled around the emperor, and he was reca- pitulating these facts with warmth : "For what infamous treat- ment are we reserved ! " he exclaimed. "This is the anguish of death ! To injustice and violence they now add insult and protracted torment. If I were so hateful to them, why did they not get rid of me? A few musket balls in my heart or my head would have done the business, and there would at least have been some energy in the crime. Were it not for you, and above all for your wives, I would receive nothing from them but the pay of a private soldier. How can the monarchs of Europe permit the sacred character of sovereignty to be violated in my person? Do they not see that they are, with their own hands, working their own destruction at St. Helena? I entered their capitals victorious and, had I cherished such Euf'ope and Napoleon 371 senciments, what would have become of them ? They styled me their brother, and I had become so by the choice of the peo- ple, the sanction of victory, the character of religion, and the alliance of their policy and their blood. Do they imagine that the good sense of nations is blind to their conduct? And what do they expect from it? At all events, make your complaints, gentlemen ; let indignant Europe hear them. Complaints from me would be beneath my dignity and character ; I must either command or be silent." CHAPTER XVI THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA France at first viewed as a black sheep at the Congress of Vienna 179. Talley- rand's dis- couragement upon start- ing for the Congress of Vienna (From Pas- quier's Memoirs) Section /fj. The Cong7'ess of Vienna and its Work When the long and bloody struggle of the European powers against Napoleon was finally brought to a suc- cessful issue in the spring of 18 14, France, who was looked upon as the chief promoter of discord during the previous twenty years, was naturally viewed as the black sheep by the allies. But Louis XVIII was represented at the Congress of Vienna by a well-tried diplomat, Talleyrand, who skillfully took advantage of the diver- gent interests of the allies and soon restored France to her natural position of importance in the concert of the powers. Nevertheless, when Talleyrand left Paris for Vienna the outlook was gloomy enough. He said to Pasquier on the eve of his departure : I am probably going to play a very sorry part. In the first place, what kind of a welcome shall I receive? Shall I ever get a hearing ? Following upon the convention of the 30th of May, the allied sovereigns made the king of France bind himself not to interfere in the partition they should see fit to make of the territories wrested from Bonaparte. If it is their intention that that engagement shall be strictly adhered to, I shall be present there only as what is altogether wrongly styled ad Jio- nores. I may occasionally open my lips for form's sake, but no heed will be paid to the words issuing from them. On the other hand, I shall be blamed at home for everything that does 372 Rccofistnictioji of Europe at the Congress of Vienna 373 not turn out as one would have wished. I do not enjoy the conndence of these people ; for the past five months they have taken no pains to conceal this fact from me. Under such cir- cumstances the best thing for a man to do, were it only possible, would be to stay at home. But Talleyrand had underrated his wonderful diplo- matic skill, and had failed to reckon with the assistance which he would receive from the conflicting interests and dissensions among the allies. Early in January he was able to write the following complacent letter to Louis XVIII. Vienna, January 4, 1815 Sire : I have received the letter of the 23d of last month with 180. Talley- which your Majesty deigned to honor me. On the 21st of the rand writes 11- r 1 r , 1 to Louis present month, the anniversary of a day of horror and eternal XVIII de- mourning,^ a solemn expiatory service will be celebrated in one scribing his of the principal churches of Vienna. . . . Everything in this ^hSiomacy sad ceremony must be proportioned to the grandeur of its at Vienna object, the splendor of the crown of France, and the quality of those who are to be present. All the members of the con- gress will be invited, and I am sure that they will come. . . . The news of the signature of peace between England and Treaty of the United States of America w^as announced to me on New Ghent (De- Year's day by a note from Lord Castlereagh. I hastened to i8T4)^'^ ^^' offer him my congratulations, and I also congratulated myself on the event, feeling that it may influence both the disposition of the minister and the resolution of those with whose pretensions we have had to contend hitherto. Lord Castlereagh showed me the treaty. It does not touch the honor of either of the two parties concerned and consequently it will satisfy both. This happy intelligence was only the precursor of a still more fortunate event. The spirit of the coalition, and the coalition itself, had survived the Peace of Paris. My correspondence up 1 The anniversary of the execution of Louis XVL 374 Readings iji Modei-Ji European History Hostility of to the present time has supplied your Majesty with repeated the allies proofs of this. If the plans which, on arriving here, I found France ^^*^ been formed, had been carried into execution, France might have stood alone in Europe without being in good rela- tions with any one single power for half a century to come. All my efforts were directed to the prevention of so great a misfortune, but my most ardent hopes did not reach the height of a complete success. Talleyrand But now, sire, the coalition is dissolved, and forever. Not forms an ^^^ does France no longer stand alone in Europe, but your between Majesty is already in an alliance such as it seemed that France, fifty years of negotiation could not have procured for her. ngan , France is now in concert with two of the greatest powers and Austria, and ° ^ lesser powers three States of the second order, and will soon be in concert with all the states which are guided by other than revolutionary principles and maxims. Your Majesty will be, in reality, the head and soul of that union, formed for the defense of the prin- ciples which your Majesty has been the first to proclaim. So great and happy a change is only to be attributed to that special favor of Providence which was so clearly indicated by the restoration of your Majesty to the throne. Under God, the efficient causes of this change have been : My letters to Monsieur de Metternich and Lord Castlereagh and the impressions which they have produced ; The suggestions which I gave Lord Castlereagh relative to a union with France, and of which I gave your Majesty an account in my last letter ; The pains I have taken to lull his distrust by exhibiting per- fect disinterestedness in the name of France ; The peace with America, which, by releasing him from diffi- culty on that side, has left him more liberty of action and given him greater courage ; ^/^astly, the pretensions of Russia and Prussia, as set forth in the Russian project of which I have the honor to subjoin a copy; and especially the manner in which those pretensions were advanced and argued in a conference between their pleni- potentiaries and those of Austria. The arrogant tone of that insolent and nonsensical document so deeply offended Lord Reconstructiofi of Europe at the Congress of Viemia 375 Castlereagh that, departing from his habitual cah-nness, he de- clared that the Russians were claiming to lay down the law and that England was not disposed to accept that from anybody. In a brief paper, Frederick von Gentz, the Austrian statesman and secretary to the Congress of Vienna, summed up his opinion of the principal participants in the congress and described the maneuvers of the diplomats for points of vantage. The emperor of Russia has come to Vienna, in the first 181. The place to be admired (which is always the principal thinsj in his "^^1^^ °* , , N 1 1. 1, , • the European thoughts), and next to direct personally the important arrange- rulers at the ments which should fix the boundaries and the future position Congress of of the many states which claim their share of the immense ^^^°* spoil which is placed at the disposal of the allies by their success against the common enemy. The three principal ob- jects of the Emperor Alexander were : first, to take possession forever of the whole, or almost the whole, of the duchy of Warsaw, with the exception of some small portions, which he would give to the two neighboring powers ; second, to prevent Austria from profiting too much by the advantages of her new position ; third, to enrich Prussia as much as possible, not only to compensate her for her ancient Polish provinces, which he had carried away from her by surprise, and which he retained because it pleased him to do so, but also to make her a useful and powerful ally, the only one on whom he could rely in the future. Such were the r Levasseur, LListoire des classes ouvrieres, 2d ed. ; Recueil des instructio7is donnees aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France depuis les traites de Westphalie Jusqu^a la revolution franfaise, 16 vols., 1884 sqq. This collection is edited by various hands and contains the text of the more important documents and analyses of other sources for the foreign policy of France. For the Huguenots : Benoit (d. 1728), LListoire de Vedit de Nantes, 5 vols.. Delft, 1693-1695. A celebrated work completed not long after the revocation of the edict, Recueil des edits, declarations et arrets con- cernans la religion pretendue reformee, new edition, 1885. The brothers Haag have given a very complete history of French Protestantism in their France protestante, 2d ed., 10 vols., 1877-1895. The Societe de I'histoire du Protestantisme fran9ais has, since 1853, published a vast amount of important material in its Bulletin, of which some sixty vol- umes have appeared. LListoire de la langue et de la litterature franfaise, edited by PETIT DE JULLEVILLE, Vol. V, fumishes an introduction to the literature of the period. For England at this time the most famous work is, of course, Macaulay, Llistory of England, published in many editions. It closes with the death of William III ; it is a splendid apology for the Revo- lution. It may be helpfully supplemented by the dryer work of Hallam, Constitutional LListory of England, also issued in many editions. The reign of Anne is fully treated in Burton, LListory of the Reign of Queen Anne, 3 vols., 1880. A shorter but more interesting account is Paul, Life of Queeji Anjie, 1906. Bibliography 393 There is, o£ course, an enormous mass of material available on all Sources for of the English aspects of the period ; for valuable classified lists, con- the history suit the bibhographies appended to Vol. V of The Camh-idge Modern ^^ England History, The Works of Sir William Temple., 4 vols., 1755, will be found especially useful for English and foreign affairs during the latter part of the seventeenth century, for the author was extremely well versed in continental diplomatic affairs. Burnet (1643-17 15), History of My 07i'H Time, edited by Airy, 2 vols., with a supplementary volume, 1897, is especially valuable for its character sketches, and, in spite of its warm "Whig sympathies, is an honest piece of work. CoBBETT, Parlia7}ie7itary History, 1808-1S09, contains, in addition to a record of the transactions in Parliament, a large number of important state papers and documents. Indispensable for any advanced work in political histor}\ There are two great collections of tracts and pamphlets belonging in part to this period: Harleian Miscellany, edited by Park, 10 vols., 1808-1813; zxvdSofners Tracts, edited by Scott, 13 vols., 1809-1815. The lives and works of the leading statesmen, diplomats, and polit- ical w^riters like Danby, Algernon Sidney, Shrewsbury, the duke of Buckinghamshire, Hobbes, Locke, Defoe, Steele, and Addison are described in the Dictionary of N^ational Biography, now appearing in a new edition, somewhat less expensive than the first. For the War of the Spanish Succession, consult Stanhope, History War of the of the War of Succession in Spain, 1832, a dry but valuable account; Spanish Gerard, The Peace of Utrecht, 1885, which is really a history of the war ; and the lives of Marlborough, by Coxe (in three volumes, 1818-1819), and by Alison, 2d ed., 1852. On the English interests involved, Seeley, Growth of B7-itish Policy, 2 vols., 1895, is very suggestive. For the maritime operations see Corbett, England ift the Mediterra^iean, iddo-iyij, 1904 ; and Mahan, The Influence of Sea Pozver upofi History ^ 1660-178 J, 1889. The leading authority on the War of the Spanish Succession is LiEGRELLE, La Diplo?natie franfaise et la succession d'Espagne, 4 vols., Paris, 1 888-1 892. For the early phases of the diplomatic negotiations, Mignet, Nego- ciations relatives h la succession d^Espagne sous Louis XIV, 4 vols., Paris, 1835-1842. For the documents relative to the settlement at Utrecht, Dumont, Corps universel diplo??iatique. There is an exhaustive collection of papers : Actes, Memoires, et autres Pieces authentiques concernant la paix d'' Utrecht, 6 vols., Utrecht, 17 14-17 15. 394 Readings in Modern European History The papers, works, and memoirs of Torcy, Villars, Catinat, Tallard, Marlborough, Villeroy, Bolingbroke, Dean Swift, and other writers and men of action are enumerated in the bibliographies of The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. V. CHAPTERS IV-V The Political History of Europe from the Peace OF Utrecht to the French Revolution General Hassall, European History, iji^-iySg, is the best brief history of treatments the period. General accounts from the English standpoint are to be in English fQ^J^J ^j^ SxANHOPE, History of England from lyij to lySj, 7 vols., 5th ed., 1858; and in Lecky, History of England in the Eighteeiith Century, 7 vols., cabinet edition. On the French side of the European struggle : KiTCHiN, History of France, Vol. Ill ; Perkins, France under the Regency, and, France under Lojiis XV (2 vols). Vol. VI of The Cambridge Moder7i History doubtless will be the most useful work in English w'hen it appears. Prussia Chaps, xx and xxi in Vol. V of The Cambj-idge Moder?i Histojy are excellent for the rise of Prussia. Tuttle, Histnry of Prussia, 4 vols., will be found valuable for the Great Elector and the early years of Frederick the Great. The most famous work in English on Frederick the Great is Carlyle, Frederick the Great, published in numerous editions ; it contains many extracts from Frederick's letters and other sources. Brief accounts of Frederick's period: Longman, Frederick the Great ; and (more recent) Reddaway, Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia, 1904 (Heroes of the Nations Series). Russia Chaps, xvi and xvii of Vol. V of The Cambridge Modern History are good introductory surveys of the rise of Russia and the reign of Peter the Great. Rambaud, History of Russia, Vols, I and II, is the best general account. Schuyler, Peter the Great, 1884, is the standard life of the Tsar in English. Waliszewski, Life of Peter the Great, translated from the French, is excellent and recent. Turkey Lane-Poole, Stanley, Turkey (Story of the Nations). By a well- known authority. Creasy, History of the Ottoman Turks, is based on the great German work of Von Hammer which is in ten volumes. Austria There is no satisfactory extended treatment of Austria in English. The old work, Coxe, House of Aust?-ia, is still useful, though some« what antiquated. The political aspects of the life of Maria Theresa are Bibliography 395 briefly reviewed in Bright, Maria Theresa, 1897, a little volume in the Foreign Statesmen Series. The bibliographies appended to the volumes of The Cambridge Materials for Modern History and the Histoire gaterale are invaluable guides ; also advanced the great German bibliography, Dahlmann-Waitz, Quelle7ikunde der dentschen Geschichte, yth ed., 1 905-1907. Bruckner, Peter der Grosse, 1879 (Oncken Series). Droysen, Geschichte der preussischen Politik, 14 vols., ending with the year 1756. The most elaborate history of Prussia, by an excellent historian. Erdmansdorfer, Deutsche Geschichte vom Westphdlischen Friede^i bis Z2im RegiernJigsantritt Friedrichs des Grossen, 2 vols., 1892-1893 (Oncken Series). Well illustrated. Von Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst, Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitraum der Grihidufig des preussischen Konigthums, 2 vols., 1 890-1 894. Berner, Geschichte des preussischen Staats, 1891. Elaborately illustrated. Waddington, n Acquisitioti de la couronne royale de Prusse par les Hohenzollern, 1888. Forster, F., Friedrich Wilhelm der Erste, 3 vols., 1834-1835. An excellent old life of Frederick's father, with much illustrative material. There are naturally a good many books about Frederick the Great. Frederick The chief sources for his reign are his own works, especially his let- the Great ters : CEuvres de Frederic le Grand, 30 vols., Berlin, 2d ed., 1846-1857 ; Politische Korrespondenz Friedrichs des Grossen, 25 vols., 1879 ^1i-> edited by Koser and other scholars. Reinhold Koser is perhaps the greatest living authority on Frederick. Besides many articles, he has published Friedrich der Grosse als Kronprinz, 1886, and an account of his reign in Konig Friedrich der Grosse, 2 vols., 4to, 2d ed., 1901-1903. Lavisse has dealt with the earlier years of Frederick : La Jeunesse du Grand Frederic, 1891, and Le Grand Frederic avatit Vavenement. See, also, Paul-Dubois, Frederic le Grand d''apres sa correspondance politique. There are two careful histories of the Seven Years' War: Schaefer, The Seven Der Siebenjdhj-ige Krieg, 3 vols., 1867-1874; and Waddington, La Years' War Guerre de Sept Ans, 1899 sqq. Four volumes of this French work have appeared, completing the year 1761. To these may be added Krones, Handbuch der Geschichte Oesterreichs,Y o\s. III-IV; Arneth, Geschichte Maria Theresas, 10 vols., 1863-1879, the standard biography; and sev- eral monographs by the Due de Broglie, Frederic LL et Maria Theresa, 1883, etc. Corbett, England in the Seven Years' War, 1908, lays special emphasis on the maritime aspects of the conflict. A German view of 396 Readings in Modern European History Pitt and the war is to be found in the monumental work (translated into English) by Ruville, William Fiit, Earl of Chathatn, 3 vols., 1907. European colonization in general Materials for advanced study- Expansion of England The French in India CHAPTERS VI-VII The Expansion of Europe Payne, E. J., History of European Colonies ; also, by the same author, The Cambridge Modern Histofy, Vol. I, chaps, i-ii ; Cheyney, The Euro- peaji Background of American History {K.xvL&rvc2iX\. Nation Series), 1904; Morris, History of Colonizatiofi, 2 vols., 1900. A useful account of colonization from the earliest times (the second volume deals largely with English colonization; good bibliographies). Mahan, The Influ- ence of Sea Power upon History, iddo-iySj, 1 889. ZiMMERMANN, Die europdische Kolojiieu, 5 vols., 1 896-1 903: Vol. I on Spain and Portugal; Vols. II-III, Great Britain; Vol. IV, France; Vol. V, The Netherlands. Leroy-Beaulieu, La Colo7iisation chez les peuples moderjies, new ed., 1906. The best general work in French. De Lannoy and Vander Linden, Histoire de P expansion des peuples europeens : Portugal et Espagne, 1907, brings the account of these two colonizing nations down to the opening of the nineteenth century, lay- ing stress on administrative policies and social conditions. Woodward, A Short History of the Expansion of the British Empire, 2d ed., 1902. Seeley, Expansion of Efzglajid, 1883 (a brilliant series of lectures) ; and, by the same writer, The Growth of British Policy, 2 vols., 1905; not a consecutive narrative but general consideration of the intimate relations of European history with the struggle for world com- merce and empire. Edgerton, A Short History of British Colonial Policy, 1897. Best work for review of British policy. LucAS, A His- torical Geography of the British Colonies, 6 vols., 1888-1907. The introductory volume (revised ed., 1906) gives an excellent outline and bibliographies. The sources for the beginnings of English expansion are to be sought principally in the Calendars of State Papers, Colonial Series, and in the extensive publications of the Hakluyt Society, old series, 94 vols., 1847- 1896; new series, 15 vols., 1899-1907. (For works on the English and French in India, see below.) Weber, La Cojnpagnie fran^aise des Indes, 1604-18^^, 1904. For the earlier adventures which led to Portuguese supremacy on the seas, consult Major, Life of Prince Henry of Portugal, the jVavigator, Bibliography 397 1868. Danvers, The Portuguese in India, 2 vols., 1894, the standard The Portu- work on the subject, is based on a careful examination of the archives, guese It may be helpfully supplemented by Stephens, Albnqiierque and the Portuguese Settlements in India (Rulers of India Series), 1892. BuRNELL and TiELE, The Voyage of Jan Huyghen van Linschoten to The Dutch the East Indies, 2 vols., 1885 (Hakluyt Society Publications). This work serves as an excellent introduction to Dutch operations. The great source for the Dutch trading expeditions is the old Recueil des voyages de la Compagnie des Indes orientates des Hollandois, 10 vols., 1730. The best work on the foundation of Spanish dominion in America is The Spanish Bou?iNE, Spain in America (American Nation Series), with excellent bibliography. Farrand, Basis of American History, 1904. A critical account of The English the American world into which the settlers came. Lodge, A Short His- ^" America iory of the English Colonies in America, 1 88 1. A useful single-volume work. Thwaites, The Colo7ties, 14^2-1^^0, 1894, in Epochs of Ameri- can History. A remarkably compact work, with bibliographies. Will- son, Beckles, The Great Company, an account of the Hudson Bay- Company. Edgar, The Struggle for a Continent, 1902. The best con- cise history of the Anglo-French contest in America. Doyle, The English in America, 5 vols., 1882-1903, and Osgood, The A?nerican Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 3 vols., 1904- 1 907, are the authorities for the colonial period. Channing, A History of the United States, to be completed in 8 vols. Vols. I-II, covering the period 1000-1760 have appeared. An insight into the character of the colonial age is afforded by Bradford, History of the Plymouth Colony ; Cotton Mather, Magnalta ; Smith, Histo7y of Virginia ; Johnson, Wonder- Working Providence ; and Budd, Good Order established in Pennsyl- vania and N'eiv Jersey, 1685. For the French in America, the voluminous writings of Parkman are indispensable. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, edited by Thwaites, 73 vols., 1896 sqq. A vast collection of the accounts of Jesuit explora- tions and activities in America. Beer, British Colonial Policy, ly ^4-1^6^, 1907, should be studied by any one seeking the causes of the Revolution. Trevelyan, The American Revolution, 3 vols., 1899- 1907, a useful corrective for the bias displayed by many American historians. For a full bibliography the student will turn to Channing and Hart, Guide to the Study of American History. 39^ Readings in Modern Europea7i History British India Lyall, The Rise of British Dojninion in India, 1893. The best short account. Willson, Beckles, Ledger and Sword. An account of the policy of the English East India Company. Hunter, Brief History of the Indian Peoples (especially valuable for native affairs) ; also, by the same author, A Histoiy of British India, 2 vols., 1899-1900. This excel- lent, fuller history breaks off unfortunately at the opening of the eighteenth century. There are also useful books by Malleson : The Founders of the Indian E??tpire, 1882 ; History of the French in India, 1868 ; and Final French Struggles in India, 1878. India under Elphinstone, History of India ; the Hindu and Mohametan Periods, Mohammedan ^^j^ ^^^ j^^^ ^^^ ^j^ ^^^ g^-jj valuable work. The accounts of two French travelers (translated into English) are both interesting and useful: Bernier, Travels in the Mughul Empire, 16^6-1668, 1891 ; and Tavernier (1605-1689), Travels in India, 1889. Manucci, Storia do Mogor, or Mogul India, ib^j-i'joS, is a work by an Italian traveler, giving a vivid picture of India in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Elliott, History of India, as told by its own Historians, 8 vols., 1867-1877. Contains selections from about one hundred and fifty works by Arabian, Persian, and native Indian annalists and chroniclers. Sources for In the Hakluyt Society publications the following should be specially rise and noted : The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe, 2 vols., and The Diary of Hedges, r ., p The East India Company : Dawn of British Trade to the East Indies, lish Company London, 1886. Based on the records of the court minutes of the Com- pany, 1 599-1603. The East India Compafiy : Letters received by the East India Com- pany from its Servants in the East, 1602-161J, 6 vols., 1896-1902. Foster, The English Factories in India, 16 18-162 1, 1907. A calen- dar of documents forming an invaluable supplement to the above. Works on the For the French side, Hamont, Dupleix, 1 881, and Lally-Tollendalf establishment J887, are indispensable. o^r^^r^o^,. The biographies of Clive, Colonel Stringer Lawrence, and Captain Dalton, and the bibliographical notes attached, should be consulted in the Dictionary of Auitional Biography. Military affairs are fully treated in the work by Orme, History of the Military Transactiotis of the British Nation in India from 174S to Ij6i, 3 parts, 1763-1778. A laborious work by an old Indian servant who had access to the Company's records and possessed large collections of documents of his own. supremacy Bib liogi'aphy 399 The best brief account of Warren Hastings is Lyall, Warren Warren Hastings (English Men of Action Series). Strachey, Hastings and the Hastings Rohilla War, removes many misconceptions of Hastings's work in India. CHAPTERS VIII-XI The Old Regime in Europe, the RefoRxMers, and the Enlightened Despots The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VII. This volume, now in The general preparation, will doubtless give a better account than has yet appeared social and in English of the general condition of Europe previous to the French ,. . Revolution. It will also contain elaborate bibliographies. The social conditions in England are described in Sydney, W. G., England England and the English in the Eighteenth Century, 2 vols., 1891 ; Besant, Sir W., London in the Eighteenth Century, 1903 (very read- able but not wholly reliable) ; Cunningham, W., Grorvth of English Industry and Commerce iti Modern Times, 2 vols., 1903 (the latest and most authoritative treatment) ; Traill, H, D., Social England, 1904 (a topical history by various hands. See Vol. V, especially chap. xix). These may be enlivened by Madame d'Arblay, Diary and Letters ; Lord Chesterfield, Letters and Sketches ; Lady Montague, Letters ; and Walpole, Horace, Letters. Also, Moritz, K. P., Travels, chiefly on Foot, through Several Parts of England in 1^82, in PiNKERTON, Voyages and Travels, Vol. II, 1 808-1 81 4. For France the best introduction in English is Lowell, E. J., The France Eve of the Freiich Revohition, 1892. A more popular account, with illustrations, may be found in MacLehose, Sophia H., The Last Days of the French Monarchy. De Tocqueville, State of Society in France before the Revolution. A very remarkable philosophical treatise on the character and policy of the French government. This should be studied with the utmost care by all students of the period. A new edition of the French original, with introduction and notes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1904. Taine, The Ancient Regime. A brilliant w^ork. The chapters on the society, literature, and philosophy of the period are the best ; those on the economic conditions are disappointing. Translations and Reprints (Univ. of Pennsylvania), Vol. V, No. 2, Protest of the Cour des Aides of lyy^. A very extraordinary indictment of the Ancien Regime presented to the king by his magistrates during 400 Readings in Modern European History Turgot's administration. No single document on the Ancien Regitne is better worth careful study. Young, Arthur, Travels i?i France, 1787, 1788, and i78g, Bohn edition (somewhat abridged). This oft-quoted work should be familiar to every student of the French Revolution. In order to make a thorough study of the conditions in France and the other European countries it is necessary to turn to French and German works ; among these the following are of great importance. SoREL, Albert, L' Europe et la Revolution franfaise. Vol. I of this monumental work is a brilliant account of the spirit of the Ancien Regime in France and Europe at large. Histoire generale, edited by Lavisse and Rambaud, Vol. VII. Ex- cellent chapters with bibliographies by various French writers. Babeau's Babeau, A., Le Village sous P ancien regi?ne, 1878; La Ville sous monographs r ancien regime, 1880; La Province sous ranciefz regime, 2 vols., 1894; La Vie rurale dans V ancienne Fra7ice, 1883 ; Les Artisans et les Domes- tiques d^autrefois, 1886; Les Bourgeois d^autrefois, 1886; Les Voyageurs en France depuis la renaissance jusqu' a la revolution, 1885; etc. Careful studies of important phases of French life before the Revolution. CoGNEL, F., La Vie parisienne soiis Louis XVL, 1882. Levasseur, LListoire des classes ouvrieres avant i78g (2d ed., 1900- 1901), Vol. II, and excellent chapter at opening of his Histoire des classes ouvrieres depuis i78g. St. Leon, Martin, Histoire des corporations des metiers, 1897. Kareiew, Les Pay sans et la Question pay sanne en France (French translation, 1899). The older conditions, many of which con- tinued to the Revolution, are described by See, H., Les Classes rurales et le Regime domanial en France au m,oyen age, 1901. Avenel, Vicomte DE, Histoire economique de la prop7-iete, des salaires, etc., 1894-1898, Vol. IV. The Cahiers, prepared to be presented to the Estates General (see below, p. 407), are unrivaled in importance as a source for the conditions in France in the eighteenth century. See Champion, La France d^apres les cahiers de 178^, 1897. Germany and For Germany : Biedermann, Karl, Deutschlandim i8ten JaJirhun- Spain ^/^;Y, 4 vols., 1 880-1884. Treats of the intellectual, social, and moral life. The articles in Conrad, Hajidwoj-terbuch der Staatswissenschaftefi, often give good short sketches of the former economic conditions in Germany. For Spain : Du Dezert, L '' Espag7ie de Vancien regime, 2 vols., 1897. (The works mentioned below, dealing with the various enlightened despots, will serve to supplement those cited above.) Bibliography 40 1 Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, translated by Water- The Church WORTH, 1896. Ranke, History of the Popes, book Lx. Stoughton, J., Religion tmder Queen Anne and the Georges, 2 vols., 1878. Overton, The English Church in the Eighteenth Century. Snell, Wesley and Methodism, 1900. Wakeman, H. O., Introduction to the History of the Church of England, 1898. Perkins, France under Louis XV, Vol. II, contains a short account of the dissolution of the Jesuits. Crousaz- Cretet, p., L ''Eglise et PEtat, ou les Deux Puissances au XVIIP siecle, 1893. Mention, L., Doacme?tts relatifs aux rapports die clerge avec la royaute de 1682 a ijSg, 2 vols., 1893-1903 (in "Collection de textes pour servir a I'etude de I'histoire"). Contains many important docu- ments. Histoire generale, Vol. VII, chap, xvii, on the Catholic Church (with bibliographies). Lecky, Histojy of England iti the Eighteenth Century, Vol. I, chap. The English iii (on Walpole and the cabinet system) ; Vol. II, chap, iv (on Parlia- constitution ment). May, Constitutional History of England since the Accessioti ^ • u^^ 4^u George the Third, especially chaps, v-viii. Morley, Walpole. Blau- century VELT, The Developnient of Cabinet Govertiment in England. HoFFDiNG, Harald, A History of Mod er 71 Philosophy, 2 vols., Mac- Thinkers millan, 1900. Vol. I gives excellent short accounts of the important of the seven- teenth a.nd thinkers from the time of Machiavelli to the French Revolution. ■ u*.gp„*i Stephen, Leslie, History of English Thought in the Eighteenth centuries Century, 2 vols., 3d ed., 1902. This is an admirable account of the English Deists. In the second volume the writer discusses the political theorists and the economists. Dunning, William A., A History of Political Theories from Licther to Montesquieu, Macmillan, 1905. Best compact account. Janet, Paul, Histoire de la science politiqtie dans ses rapports avec la morale, 2 vols., 3d ed., 1887. Vol. II deals with great clearness with the various European writers on political science from Luther to the French Revolution. Robertson, J. M., Short History of Free Thought, 2 vols., 2d ed., 1906 Williams, Henry S., A History of Science, 5 vols., 1904. Vol. II History of gives a very interesting popular account of the progress of scientific natural scisncG discovery from the thirteenth century to the middle of the eighteenth. Histoire generale. Vol. IV, chap, viii ; Vol. V, chap, ix ; Vol. VI, chap, X ; Vol. VII, chap, xv, by P. Tannery, furnishes a more scholarly sketch of scientific advance in Europe from 1500 to the French Revolution. 402 Readings in Modern European History The French RocQUAIN, The Revolutionary Spirit before the Revolution, 1894. A Philosophers condensation, omitting the valuable notes of the original French edition. A suggestive account of the various disturbances preceding the disorders of the Revolution itself. Aubertin, L'' Esprit publique au iSieme siecle, 1872. MoRLEY, John, Voltaire, a brilliant essay ; Rousseau, 2 vols. ; Diderot and the Encyclopcedists, 2 vols. ; Critical Miscellanies, 3 vols., containing essays on Turgot and other important persons of the period. Mr. Mor- ley's writings are noteworthy not only for their scholarship and distin- guished style but also for the fundamental sympathy between his views and many of those of the eighteenth-century philosophers. See also Collins, J. C, Voltaire in England, 1886. SoREL, Montesquieu. A useful little biography. HiGGS, H., The Physiocrats, 1897. Say, Lieon, Turgot. Very valuable review of Tur- got's work. Ingram, J. K., History of Political Econo77iy, 1907. Sources in Voltaire's writings (e.g. The Philosophical Dictioftary), MoNTES- English QuiEu's Spirit of Lazvs (in the Bohn Library), Rousseau's Social Con- tract and E?fiile are readily procured in English. Stephens, W. W., Life and Writings of Turgot. Contains extracts from the preambles to Turgot's decrees. The The works relating to Frederick the Great have been mentioned Enlightened above (p. 395). Rambaud, History of Russia, gives a short account of espo s Catherine's reforms, which should be supplemented by Bruckner, Katharina die Zzveite. CoXE, House of Austria, Vol. Ill, contains an excellent account of Joseph II. See also Ritter, K., Kaiser foseph II und seine kirchlichen Reformen, 1869. For Charles III of Spain, Addison, Charles III of Spain (the Stanhope Essay for 1900); also Hume, Spaiti, its Greatness and Decay. Above all, Rousseau, Regne de Charles III, 2 vols., 1907. France under For the reign of Louis XVI and the events leading up to the French Louis XVI Revolution : The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, chaps, i-v ; see also MacLehose, Last Days of the French Monarchy ; and Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution. The more satisfactory works are naturally in French. Oomk\., Les Causes financieres de la revolution frangaise, 2 vols. In spite of the title of this work, it is really the best general account of the antecedents of the Revolution ; clear, fair-minded, and accurate. JoBEZ, La France sous Louis XVI, 3 vols., 1885. An excellent general history of events of the reign. Histoire de France, edited by Lavisse : Vol. VIII, Part II {Louis XV) by Carre ; and Vol. IX {Louis XVI, Bibliography 403 1 774-1 789) by Carre. These volumes are annoimced. Also, by same wrker, La France sons Louis XV, 1 89 1. Mercy-Argenteau, Correspondance secrete avec Vimperatrice Marie- Therese, avec les lettres de Marie- Therese et de Marie- Antoinette, 3 vols., 1875 ; and Correspondance secrete avec Petnperetir Joseph LI et le pritice de Kaunitz, 2 vols., 1 889-1 891. An extraordinary collection of informa- tion, which the sagacious Comte de Mercy transmitted to Vienna from 1766 to 1790. CHAPTERS XII-XIII The French Revolution Mathews, The French Revolution, perhaps the best general short General account. The Cambridge Moder)i History, Vol. VIII. Deals not only with the general movement but contains admirable chapters on special phases of the reform. Fyffe, History of Modern Europe. Begins with the open- ing of the war in 1792 ; clear and concise. Stephens, H. Morse, A History of the French Revolution, 2 vols., 1886-1891 (the third volume, which should bring down the story to the close of the Reign of Terror, has unfortunately never appeared). This is by far the best account to be had in English, perhaps in any language. It is free from both partisanship and sentimentality, and is based on the results of modem French scholarship. Its inaccuracies in detail do not impair its essential value. The same author in his Europe, iy8g-i8i^, 1893, furnishes a good summary of the political history of the revolu- tionary period. Taine, The French Revohttion (from the French), 3 vols. Covers the period 1789-1794. A brilliant arraignment of many of the leaders of the Revolution, which the author treats in an unsympathetic spirit. His style, insight, and research, however, serve to give his w^ork both marked originality and value in spite of its many errors and faults. Carlyle, The French Revolution, originally published in 1837 ; new edition with notes by Fletcher and another edition edited by Rose. This famous bit of literature can scarcely be termed a history ; it is a bril- liant and erratic commentary on the men and ideas of the times, full of profound observation, not unmixed with highly colored trivialities and inconsequential reflections. Profitable and amusing for one familiar with the actual course of events. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century ; chaps, xviii-xx on the French Revolution. These have been published in a separate volume (Appleton). treatments in English 404 Readings in Modern Eiiropean History Special Sloane, The French Revolution and Religions Reform. An account phases q{ ^^g ecclesiastical legislation and its influence on affairs in France from 17S9 to 1804 {1901). Mallet, B., Mallet du Pan and the French Revolution^ 1902. A sym- pathetic account of a well-known journalist. Belloc, Danton, and by the same writer, Robespierre. Two read- able biographies. MoRLEY, Critical Miscellanies. Some of these essays are concerned with the revolutionary leaders and thinkers. Mahan, Influence of the Sea Power upoti the French Revolutio7t and Empire, 2 vols. The author aims to explain the successes of Great Britain by her control of the seas. The sources Very few of the sources are to be had in English. The following may in English be noted. The Amiual Register for the period contains some documents. Anderson, Cottstitntions atid Other Select Docnmefits illustrative of the History of France, lySg-igoi. Gives important state papers. Young, Arthur, Travels (see above, p. 400). For the opening of the Estates General. Morris, Gouverneur, Diary a fid Letters, 2 vols., 1888. Observations of an American. The Correspondence of William Augustus Miles on the French Revo- lution, lySg-iSij, 2 vols., 1890. 'Pasq}jI'ER, ffistojy of my Time, Memoirs, 1893-1894, Vol. I. Marked by a rather keen insight into the significance of contemporary events. RiGBY, E., Letters from France in lySg, 1880. Mallet du Pan, I\Iemoirs atid Correspojidence, ed. Sayous, 2 vols., 1852. Fersen, Diary and Correspondence relating to the Court of France, 1892. Most of the memoirs mentioned below (p. 409), relating mainly to the Napoleonic period, have something to say of the Revolution. Burke and Thomas Paine Some notion of the attitude of certain conservative Englishmen toward the Revolution may be found in Burke's famous Reflections on the French Revolution, — a wild and indiscriminate attack upon the whole movement. It was answered by Thomas Paine in his celebrated tract. The Rights of Man, a defense of the cause of the people. The American Historical Review, Vol. XI, pp. 529 sqq., contains an article by J. H. Robinson on " Recent Tendencies in the Study of the French Revolution," with references to the newer books. Bib liography 40 5 AULARD, UHistoire politiqtie de la 7-evolution fra7i^aise, iySg-/So4, Material for 190 1. Recent, and by one who has devoted years to a sympathetic advanced study of the revolutionary movement. study SOREL, Albert, L'' Europe et la Revolution fraii^aise, 8 vols, (coming Sorel's great down to 1815), 1885-1904, Vols. II-IV. This extraordinary work super- "^^^^r^ sedes all others on the subject. While it is a history of the effects of the Revolution throughout Europe, it contains excellent chapters on the course of events in Paris and France. The later volumes cover the Napoleonic period. Jaures, Histoire socialiste, lySg-igoo. Vols. I-IV by Jaures on Constittcante, Legislative et Conventioji jusquau g Thermidor ; and Vol. V by Deville, Du g Thej-mido?- au 18 Brumaire. Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la revolution et de r empire^ i'/8g-i8i^, 2 vols., 1899. Useful work of reference. Cherest, La Chute de Pancien regime, 3 vols., 1 884-1 886 (uncom- Special works pleted). A very detailed study of the years 1 786-1 789. Champion, La France d^apres les cahiers de lySg. Admirable. Chassin, Le Genie de la revolution, 2 vols., 1 863-1 865. A study of the cahiers. Stern, Das Leben Mirabeaus, 2 vols., 1889. Gomel, LListoire jinanciere de V Assemblee constituante, 2 vols., 1896- 1897. Excellent, See also for this and the later period, Stourm, Les Finances de Pancien regime et de la revolution, 2 vols., 1885. Sagnac, La Legislation civile de la revolution fran^aise, lySg-iSo^, 1898. Very important. SciOUT, Histoire de la cojistitution civile du clerge, lygo-iSoi, 4 vols., 1872-1881. Champion, La separatioti de Peglise et de Petal en ijg4. A remark- able little volume. Aulard, La Revolution et les Congregations, 1903. Gives documents in convenient form. Campardan, Le Tribunal revolution7iaire de Paris, 2 vols., 1886. RoBiNET, Le ALouve?nent religieux pendant la revolution, ijSg-iSor, 1896. Mortimer-Terwaux, Llistoire de la Terreur, 8 vols., 1S62 (uncom- pleted). Contains many interesting documents. Wallon, La Terreur, 2 vols., 1881. This author has also issued two other important and elaborate contributions to the history of the Reign of Terror : LListoire du tribunal revolutionnaire de Paris, and Les Representants du peuple en mission. 406 Readings iti Modern European History Vatel, Vergniaud, 2 vols., 1873; ^'^^ Charlotte Cor day et les Giron- dins : pieces classics et annotees, 3 vols., 1864-1872. BiRE, La Legende des girondins. Refutes some common errors. Hericault, La Revolution dc Thermidor, 1876. Chuquet, Les Guerrcs de la revolution, 1 886-1 896, 11 vols, (coming down only to September, 1793). VCEuvre sociale de la revolution franfaise. A series of excellent essays by Faguet and others. Biographies Of the biographies, some of the best are : of the revo- Claretie, J., Camille Desmoulins, Lucille Des7noulins : Etude siir , , les dantonistes, 1875. Charming. To be had in an English translation. Chevremont, Marat, 2 vols., 1880. Dauban, Etude sicr Madame Roland et son temps, 2 vols., 1864. Ham el, Histoire de Robespierre, 3 vols. Excessively laudatory. Mallet, Mallet dii Pan ajtd the French Revolution, 1902. Robinet, Dantoti, 1889. AULARD, Les Orateurs de P Assemblee constituante, 1882, and Les Orateurs de la Legislative et de la Convention. La Revohitioji franfaise. A periodical edited by Aulard, 1881 sqq., and dedicated to a study of the Revolution. The sources The advanced student should be on his guard against losing himself in the bewildering number of secondary works on the Revolution, and should early acquaint himself with the scope and character of the chief collections of sources, of which the most important are : BucHEZ et Roux, Llistoire parlementaire de la revolution franfaise, 40 vols., 1834-1838. This contains extracts from the debates in the Assembly, with the text of some of the important decrees. It gives quotations from the newspapers and from the speeches in the Jacobin and other political clubs, etc. Notwithstanding very defective tables of contents, this has been the mainstay of many writers, and is still very valuable, by reason of its comprehensiveness and cheapness ; the forty volumes are procurable in Paris for from fifteen to twenty dollars. The news- Rei77ipression de Vaticien Moniteur (several editions), 32 vols. This papers is a reprint of one of the most important newspapers of the revolution- ary period. It can be bought for about twenty dollars. Copies of other important newspapers may be found in our best libraries. Archives parlemcjitaires de lySy-iSbo, first series, 1 787-1 799, of which some 66 volumes have appeared, reaching the middle of the year 1793. This is an official but not very critical collection of the debates in the successive French legislative bodies, and occasionally includes Bibliography 40 7 other useful material. Vol. I contains an excellent account of the events preceding the opening of the Estates General. Vols. II-VI of the Archives parletnentaires contain the most com- Collections plete collection as yet in existence of the cahiers ; but a commission, o^ *^^ of which Jaures is chairman, was established in 1903 to publish the ^""^^^ sources for the economic history of the French Revolution. This is issuing as complete an edition as is feasible of the local cahiers, several volumes of which have already appeared. Much attention has been given in the past twenty years to the pub- Great collec- lication of documents, especially in Paris. The following collections *^°"^ ^^ are important : Brette, Recueil des documents relatifs a la convocation des etats generaux, 2 vols., 1894-1896; AuLARD, La Societe des jacobins, 6 vols., 1 889- 1 897 ; Recueil des actes du Coniite de salut publique, 16 vols., 1 889-1 904. MiRABEAU, Correspondance avec le comte de la March, 3 vols., 1851. Very important. Stephens, H. Morse, The Principal Speeches of the Statesmen and Orators of the French Revolution, ijSg-iyg^, 2 vols., Clarendon Press. Very useful. Legg, Select Doctttnents Illustrative of the History of the French Rev- olution, The Constituent Assembly, 2 vols.. Clarendon Press, 1905. An admirable " source book." The comments are in English ; the extracts are reproduced in the original French. Of the many memoirs, perhaps the most important are those of Memoirs Bailly, Ferrieres, Mallet du Pan, Malouet, the Comte de Fersen, etc.i CHAPTERS XIV-XVI The Napoleonic Period and the Reconstruction of Europe at the Congress of Vienna Johnston, Napoleon. A most excellent short account. The Cambridge General Modern History, end of Vol. VIII and Vol. IX. Fyffe, History of treatments Modern Europe, Vol. I. ^" English Fournier, August, N'apoleon the First, A Biography, 1903 ; English translation from the German, edited by Professor E. G. Bourne. The best treatment in one volume ; scholarly, well written, gives much atten- tion to the general European situation, and is supplied with an extensive and admirable bibliography. 1 See bibliographies in The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, and in the Histoire generate, Vol. VIII. 408 Readings in Modern Enropean History Rose, J. H., The Life of A'apoleon /, 2 vols., 1902 (second cheaper edition in one volume). A careful, up-to-date account, mainly political ; fuller than Fournier's and perhaps more interesting. Sloane, William M., Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, 4 vols., 4to, magnificently illustrated. A new and cheaper library edition is to be issued. One of the great standard biographies, based upon a long and careful study of the sources. The author confines himself mainly to the personal history of Napoleon, giving much attention to his early years, and makes no attempt to write the history of Europe during the Napoleonic period. Lanfrey, Pierre, IListory of Napoleon, 4 vols. Translated from the French. This work was interrupted by the author's death, and reaches only to the close of 181 1. While the writer makes constant use of the best of sources. Napoleon's own letters, his attitude is unfair, and the motives ascribed for Napoleon's policy are always the lowest. The work forms an excellent antidote to that of Thiers (see below). Thiers, History of the Consulate and Empire. Several editions of the English translation are available. Thiers shows an unmistakable tendency, especially in the earlier half of his work, unduly to glorify the Napoleonic regime. The sources relied upon are, moreover, very rarely cited. The work is, nevertheless, important and is probably the most interesting history in twenty volumes ever written. Taine, The Freiich Revolution, Vol. Ill (on the Directory). By the same writer, The Modern Regime, 2 vols., 1894; especially Vol. I, Book I, in which the author gives in a short space the most brilliant, fascinat- ing, and suggestive analysis of Napoleon's genius ever written. The remainder of the work is a critical estimate of the influence of the insti- tutions established by Napoleon upon the later history of France. Seeley, Life and Times of Stein, or Germany and Prussia in the Napoleonic Age, 3 vols., 1878. Mahan, Lnfluefice of the Sea Power tipon the French Revolution and Empire, 2 vols. Fisher, H. A. L., Studies in Napoleo7iic Statestna7iship, Ger7nany, 1903. Dorman, a History of the British Empire in the Alneteenth Century, Vol. I (1793-1805), 1902. Oman, History of the Peninsular War, Vols. I-II, 1903. BiGELOW, P., History of the German Struggle for Liberty. Some sources BiNGHAM, A Selection from the Letters a?td Despatches of the First Napoleon, 3 vols., 1884. Anderson, Constitutions and Doctnnents illustrative of the Llistory of France, ij8g-igoi. Contains translations of many important documents. available in English Bibliography 409 New Letters of XapcIeo7i /edited by Lecestre (Appleton) (omitted from the great collection of his correspondence). The Memoirs of Napoleon dictated on the island of St. Helena are by no means wholly reliable, but are, nevertheless, very interesting and important. Among the memoirs of his companions on St. Helena to be had in English are Las Cases, The Journal of St. Helena (see above, pp. Tftdsqq.) ; MoNTHOLON, History of the Captivity of Napoleon^ 1846; A Diary of St. Helena (containing conversations of Napoleon with Sir Malcolm), 1899; Qo\^ViGK\5T), Journal, Chicago, 1903. A considerable number of the innumerable memoirs relating to the Memoirr Napoleonic period have been translated. Among these the most con- spicuous are those by Madame de Remusat, relating to the early years of the empire (excellent) ; Bourrienne, very well known and especially valuable for Napoleon's earlier life ; MiOT de Melito, one of King Joseph's companions (excellent) ; Pasquier, Segur, Talleyrand, 5 vols. ; Meneval, 3 vols. ; Marbot, 2 vols., etc. A^arrative of Captain Coigfiet, translated by Mrs. Carey. A striking account of the life of a simple-minded soldier. study Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire generale, Vol. IX. Excellent. Materialfor SciOUT, Le Directoire, 2 vols., 1895. advanced SoRYA., L^ Europe et la Revolution fran^aise, Vols. V-VIII, 1795-1815 (see above, p. 405). Sybel, Geschichte der Revolutionszeit, Vols. IV-V (on the Directory). Chuquet, La Jeunesse de Napoleon, 3 vols. Lefebvre, Histoire des cabinets de PEjirope, 2d ed., 5 vols., 1 866-1 869. Perhaps the best diplomatic history. Haussonville, L^Eglise romaine et le Pre7nier Etnpire, 5 vols. Vandal, Napoleon et Alexandre, 3 vols., 1891 sqq. Welschinger, La Censure sous le premier empire, 1882. Hausser, Deutsche Geschichte, 4 vols. A readable and scholarly treatment of the period between the death of Frederick the Great and the close of the Napoleonic period. More recent accounts may be found in Denis, E., L'Allemagjte, ijSg-iSio, 1896: H?zigel, Deutsche Ge- schichte; and Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst, Deutsfhe Geschichte, Vol. I, 1806-1815. Baumgarten, Geschichte Spaniens, Vol. I.> The various monographs nnci special hiscories of this period are enumerated in Fournier, Napoleon, pp. 745-788. See also Kircheisen, Bibliographie Napoleons, 1903; LuMBROso also has an elaborate bibli- ography of Napoleonic literature In course of publication, 1894 j^^. 410 Readi7igs in Modern Europea^i History Sources Chief of all the sources is Napoleon's correspondence in 32 volumes. While some important letters have been suppressed (see La Grande Encyclopedie, Vol, XXIV, p. 792), this vast collection throws light upon almost every act of Napoleon's public life. It may be had for some twenty dollars, and should be in every good historical library. Napoleon, Mhnoh-es, 8 vols., 1823. (New edition in the Cor7-espon- dance. Vols. XXIX-XXXII.) Dictated by Napoleon to his companions on the island of St. Helena, and naturally giving a more favorable idea of his policy than is derived from the correspondence. Besides the various memoirs mentioned above, we have those of Napoleon's brothers, Lucien, Joseph, and Louis, and of his ministers and generals, Marmont, Rapp, Davout, etc. To these may be added MoLLiEN, Souvenirs d''un ministre du Tresor, new edition by Gomel, 1898 ; Thibaudeau, Menioires stir le consulat ; Veron, Mhnoires d^un bourgeois de Paris ; Chaptal, Mes Souvenirs sur N'apoleon, 1893. Settlement at The Cai7ibridge Modern Histo7y, Vol. IX, chaps, xix and xxi. Histoire the Congress generale. Vol. X, chaps, i-ii. Both of these give excellent bibliographies. Hertslet, Map of Europe by Treaty, Vol. I (for documents). SoREL, L'' Europe et la Revohition fran^aise, Vol. VIII. Correspondattce itiedite de Talleyrand et du roi Louis XVIII pendan^ le congres de Vientte^ ed. PoLLAiR. Also in English translation. Debidour, Histoire diplo7natique de V Europe, 1814-18^1, Vol. I. DATE DUE 3" 201-6503 Printed in USA Si s < ^^^= f i -J (S o PO m >- ^^^CDu, J3 H (XI ii (/) ru oc ■ . 1 w r-^ ^^^S)§ a 1 <-^ = m — r-=1 < , , i 3 -J -^ — * S40.5 I Oti 2 7 1939 ■ iiiiiii !!in iii mm ■ I iiiliilliilii m