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 LIBRARY 
 
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 H 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE SUBVERSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CONGRESS OF YIENNA. 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE FRENCH OF CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM KOCH. 
 
 WITH A 
 
 CONTINUATION TO THE YEAR 1815, 
 BY M. SCHCELL. 
 
 REVISED AND CORRECTED BY J. G. COGSWELL. 
 
 WITH A 
 
 SKETCH OF THE LATE REVOLUTIONS IN FRANCE, 
 BELGIUM, POLAND, AND GREECE. 
 
 3BmbeUisi)e"0 tofti) ISnjjrabinflS. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. L 
 
 N E W - Y O R K : 
 PUBLISHED BY N. B. PRATT. 
 
 1836. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1832, bj D. F. Robinson & Co., In 
 the Clerk's office of the District Court of Connecticut 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Publisher's Notice, 5 
 
 Author's Preface, 7 
 
 Life of Koch, 13 
 
 Chapter I. 
 Introdaction, 17 
 
 Chapter II. — Period I. 
 
 From the Invasion of the Roman Empire in the West, by 
 the Barbarians, to the time of Charlemagne, A. D. 
 406—800, 41 
 
 Chapter III. — Period II. 
 From Charlemagne to Otto the Great, A. D. 800—962, . . 63 
 
 Chapter IV. — Period III. 
 From Otto the Great to Gregory the Great, A. D. 962—1074, 79 
 
 Chapter V. — Period IV. 
 From Pqw Gregory VIII. to Boniface VIII. A. D. 1074—1300, 101 
 
 Chapter VI. — Period V. 
 
 From Pope Boniface VIII. to the taking of Constantinople 
 
 by the Turks, A. D. 1300—1453, 165 
 
 Chapter VII. — Period VI. '' 
 
 From the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, to the peace 
 
 ofWestphalia, A. D. 1453— 1648, 207 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 
 
 Chapter VIII.— Period VII. 
 
 From the Peace of Westphalia to that of Utrecht, A. D. 
 
 1648—1713, 3 
 
 Chapter IX. — Period VIII. 
 
 From the Peace of Utrecht to the French Revolution, A. D. 
 
 1713—1789, . 57 
 
 Chapter X. — Period IX. 
 
 From the commencement of the French Revolution, to the 
 
 downfall of Buonaparte, A. D. 1789— 1815, .... 140 
 
 Chapter XL 
 
 The Military Predominance of France, under the sway of 
 
 Napoleon Buonaparte, A. D. 1802—1810, 198 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 The Decline and Downfall of the Empire of Buonaparte, 
 
 A. D. 1810— 1815, 258 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 From the second Restoration of the Bourbons, A. D 1815, 
 
 to the French Revolution in July, 1830, 303 
 
 Revolution in Belgium, A. D. 1830, 328 
 
 Revolution in Poland, A. D. 1830, 329 
 
 Revolution in Greece, A. D. 1821—1827, 341 
 
 War between Russia and Turkey, A. D. 1828 and 1829, . 361 
 England, from A. D. 1816, till the passing of the Reform 
 
 Bill in 1832, 365 
 
 Notes , 377 
 
PUBLISHER'S NOTICE. 
 
 The Publisher of the present edition of Koch's Revolutions, 
 has been induced to prepare this work for publication on account 
 of the very high reputation which it has in Europe, and its general 
 adoption there in Literary Institutions, as the outline of instruc- 
 tion in the portion of History which it embraces. Its high merit 
 would no doubt have obtained for it an earlier reprint from the 
 American press, but for the errors with which the English trans- 
 lation abounds. These defects, it is hoped, will not be found in 
 the present edition, which has been revised by a gentleman who 
 has endeavored not only to correct the faults of language, but also 
 to strike from its pages all expressions of principles inconsistent 
 with the liberal spirit of philosophical history. 
 
 A practical acquaintance with the work as a Manual of History^ 
 has convinced this gentleman of its admirable adaptation to this 
 purpose, and enabled him to recommend it for its fidelity, impar- 
 tiality, conciseness, clear argument, enlightened spirit, and learned 
 research. Omitting no important event, and dwelling very fully 
 upon those which have had great influence in producing the per- 
 manent changes which the civilized world has undergone in the 
 last fifteen centuries, it may almost claim, he thinks, the united 
 advantages of a compendious and an elaborate History. 
 
 In order perfectly to adapt the work to the present time, a sketch 
 of the late Revolutions in France, Belgium, Poland, and Greece, 
 has been prepared with much labor and care, and added to the 
 
VI PUBLISHER'S NOTICE. 
 
 present edition, making it the most complete historical work on 
 Modern Europe, yet oJBfered to the public. 
 
 In full confidence that it will be found deserving of the high 
 character it has sustained abroad, as a valuable and faithful 
 guide to a knowledge of the History of Modern Europe, it is now 
 oflfered to the patronage of the friends of Useful Knowledge, by 
 
 THE AMERICAN PUBLISHER. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The work here presented to the public, is a summary of the Revolutions, 
 both general and particular, which have happened in Europe since the 
 extinction of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. As an elementary 
 book, it will be found useful to those who wish to have a concise and ge- 
 neral view of the successive revolutions that have changed the aspect of 
 states and kingdoms, and given birth to the existing policy and establish- 
 ed order of society in modern times. 
 
 Without some preliminary acquaintance with the annals of these revo- 
 lutions, we can neither study the history of our own country to advantage, 
 nor appreciate the influence which the different states, formed from the 
 wreck of the ancient Roman Empire, reciprocally exercised on each other. 
 Allied as it were by the geographical position of their territories, by a 
 conformity in their religion, language, and manners, these states contract- 
 ed new attachments in the ties of mutual interests, which the progress of 
 civilization, commerce, and industry, tended more and more to cement 
 and confirm. Many of them whom fortune had elevated to the summit 
 of power and prosperity, carried their laws, their arts and institutions, 
 both civil and military, far beyond the limits of their own dominions. 
 The extensive sway which the Romish hierarchy held for nearly a thou- 
 sand years over the greater part of the European kingdoms, is well known 
 to every reader of history. 
 
 This continuity of intercourse and relationship among the powers of 
 Europe, became the means of forming them into a kind of republican sys- 
 tem ; it gave birth to a national law and conventional rights, founded on 
 the agreement of treaties, and the usages of common practice. A lauda- 
 ble emulation sprung up among contemporary states. Their jealousies, 
 and even their competitions and divisions, contributed to the progress of 
 civilization, and the attainment of that high state of perfection to which 
 all human sciences and institutions have been carried by the nations of 
 modern Europe. 
 
 It is these political connexions, this reciprocal influence of kingdoms 
 and their revolutions, and especially the varieties of system which Europe 
 has experienced in the lapse of so many ages, that require to be developed 
 
VUl PREFACE. 
 
 in a general view, such as that which professes to be the object of the pre- 
 sent work. 
 
 The author has here remoddled his " Views of the Revolutions of the 
 Middle Ages," (published in 1790,) and extended or abridged the different 
 periods according to circumstances. In continuing this work down to 
 the present time, he has deemed necessary to conclude at the French 
 Revolution, as the numerous results of that great event are too much in- 
 volved in uncertainty to be clearly or impartially exhibited by contempo- 
 rary writers.* 
 
 The work is divided into eight periods of time,t according with the 
 principal revolutions which have changed, in succession, the political 
 state of Europe. At the head of each period, is placed either the desig- 
 nation of its particular revolution, or that of the power or empire which 
 held the ascendancy at the time. In limiting his treatise solely to the 
 Revolutions of Europe, the writer has not touched upon those of Asia and 
 the East, except in so far as they have had immediate influence on the 
 destinies of Europe. Conscious also that the distinguishing characteristic 
 of an historian is veracity, and that the testimony of a writer who has 
 not himself been an eye-witness of the events he records, cannot be relied 
 on with implicit confidence, the author has imposed on himself the inva- 
 riable rule of citing, with scrupulous care, the principal authorities and 
 vouchers of each period and country that have guided him during his 
 researches, in selecting and examining his materials by the torch of pa- 
 tient criticism. Without this labour and precaution, the work would 
 have been of no avail as an elementary help to those who were desirous 
 of acquiring a more minute and solid knowledge of history. 
 , As a useful and subsidiary accompaniment, an Introduction has been 
 prefixed, in which are given some general remarks on history and geogra- 
 phy, as also on genealogy and chronology, which may be regarded as 
 auxiliary sciences. These preliminary notices are followed by a short 
 ontline of ancient history, down to the time of the Barbarian invasion in 
 the fifth century. With this grand era the present work properly com- 
 mences, when a new series of kingdoms and governments sprung up in 
 Europe. 
 
 * In the edition of 1823, from which the present translation is made, the Tableau has 
 been continued by the Editor, M. Schoell, down to the 20th of November, 1815. 
 t Nine in the last editions, including the continuation. 
 
LIFE OF KOCH. 
 
 Christopher William Koch, equally distinguished as a 
 lawyer and a learned historian, was born on the 9th of May 1737 
 at Bouxwiller, a small town in the seigniory of Lichtenberg- in 
 Alsace, v/hich then belonged to the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. 
 His father, who was a member of the Chamber of Finance 
 under that prince, sent him to an excellent school in his native 
 place, where he received the rudiments of his education. At 
 the age of thirteen, he went to the Protestant Unive'''=;ity of 
 Strasbourg, w^herehe prosecuted his studies under the celebrated 
 Schoepflin. Law was the profession to which he was de'^tined; 
 but he showed an early predilection for the study of history^ 
 and the sciences connected with it, such as Diplovzatics, or the 
 art of deciphering and verifying ancient writs and chartularies^ 
 Genealogij, Chronology^ &c. Schcepflin was not slow to appre- 
 ciate the rising merit of his pupil, and wished to make him the 
 companion of his labours. He admitted him to his friendship, 
 and became the means of establishing him as his successor in 
 that famous political academy, which his reputation had formed 
 at Strasbourg, by attracting to that city the youth of the first 
 families, and from all parts of Europe. Koch devoted much of 
 his time to the Canon Law, and soon gave a prooi of the pro- 
 gress he had made in that branch of study, by the Academical 
 Dissertation which he published in 1761, under the title of 
 Commentatio de Collatione dignitatum, et heneficiorum ecclesi- 
 asticorum iii impei'io Romano- Germanico. This treatise was 
 a prelude to his Commentary on the Pragmatic Sanction, 
 which he published in 1789 — a work which excited an extra- 
 ordinary sensation in Catholic Germany, and procured the 
 author the favourable notice of such prelates as were most 
 eminent for learning and piety. 
 
 After taking his academic degree, Koch repaired to Paris in 
 1762, where he staid a year ; honoured with the society of the 
 most distinguished literati in the capital, and frequenting the 
 Ro3^al Library, wholly occupied in those researches which pre- 
 pared him for the learned labours in which he afterwards en 
 gaged. On his return to Strasbourg, he wrote the continua- 
 tion of the Historia Zaringo-Badensis, of which the first volume 
 only was drawn up by Schoepflin. All the others are entirely 
 the work of Koch, though they bear the name of the master 
 who had charged him wich the execution of this task. Schoepflin 
 bequeathed to the city cf Strasbourg, in 1766, his valuable 
 
 VOL. L 2 
 
14 LIFE OF KOCH. 
 
 library and his cabiret of antiques, on condition that Koch 
 should be appointed keeper; which he was, in effect, on the 
 death of the testator in 1771. He obtained, at the same time, 
 the title of Professor, which authorized him to deliver lectures; 
 for the chair of Schcepflin passed, according to the statutes of 
 the University, to another professor, — a man of merit but inca- 
 pable of supplying his place as an instructor of youth in the 
 study of the political sciences. The pupils of Schcepflin were 
 thus transferred to Koch, who became the head of that diplo- 
 matic school, which, for sixty years, gnve to the public so great 
 a number of ministers and statesmen. 
 
 In 1779 the Government of Hanover offered him the chair of 
 public German Law in the University of Gottingen, which he 
 declined. Next year the Emperor Josepeh II., who knew well 
 how to distinguish merit, complimented him with the dignity 
 of Knight of the Empire, an intermediate title between that o 
 baron and the simple rank of noblesse. About the same perioa 
 he obtained the chair of Public Law at Strasbourg, which he 
 held until that University was suppressed at the French Revolu- 
 tion. Towards the end of 17S9, the Protestants of Alsace sent 
 him as their envoy to Paris, to solicit from the King and the 
 Constitutional Assembly, the maintenance of their civil and re- 
 ligious rights, according to the faith of former treaties. He 
 succeeded in obtaining for them the decree of the 17th of 
 August 1790, which sanctioned these rights, and declared that 
 the ecclesiastical benefices of the Protestants were not included 
 among those which the decree of the 1st of November prece- 
 ding, had placed at the disposal of the nation. The former 
 decree was moreover extended and explained by an act, bearing 
 date December 1st 1790. Both of these were approved and 
 ratified by the King. 
 
 Meantime, the terrors and turbulence of the Revolution had 
 dispersed from Strasbourg that brilliant assemblage of youth, 
 which the reputation of the professors, and the natural beauties 
 of the place, had attracted from all quarters. These disastrous 
 events interrupted the career of Koch, at a time when he was 
 capable of rendering the most imp'^^'tant services to his country. 
 From that moment he devoted L self to public affair;'. Being 
 appointed a Member of the first xjegislative Assembly, he op- 
 posed the faction which convulsed the nation, and ultimately 
 subverted the throne. When President of the Committee of 
 that Assembly, he exerted himself for the maintenance of peace ; 
 and, in a Report which he made in 1792, he foretold the cala 
 mities which would over ^Im France, if war should be 
 declared against Austria i'h'^ republican faction, by their 
 
LIFE OF KOCH. 
 
 15 
 
 clamours, silenced the remonstrances of Koch, when, on the 
 20th of April, he spoke in opposition to a measure which proved 
 so f^ial to France. An official letter which he addressed, 10th 
 of August, to the constituted authorities of the Lower Rhine, 
 sufficiently expressed the horror with which that day's proceed- 
 ino-s had inspired him. He procured, moreover, the concurrence 
 of his fellow-citizens in a resistance, which he had then some 
 reason to hope would be made a common cause by the other 
 provinces. This letter drew down upon him the persecution 
 of the ruling party. He was immured in a prison, where he 
 languished for eleven months, and from which he had no pros- 
 pect of escape, except to mount the scaffold. The revolution 
 of the 9th Thermidor restored him to liberty, when he was ap- 
 pointed, by the voice of his fellow-citizens, to the Directory of 
 their provincial department. He endeavoured by all means in 
 his power to defeat the measures that were taken to injure his 
 constituents ; and had influence enough, it is said, to prevent 
 the sale of the funds belonging to manufactories and hospitals. 
 He then resumed with pleasure those functions which he had 
 unwillingly accepted; in 1795, he recommenced his professorship 
 of public law, and returned with new zeal to his literary labours, 
 which had been too long interrupted. Six years he spent in 
 these useful occupations ; from which, however, he was once 
 more detached by a decree of the Senate, which nominated him 
 a member of the Tribunal. This nomination Koch accepted, 
 in the hope of being useful to his Protestant countrymen, and 
 to the city of Strasbourg, in obtaining the re-establishment of 
 the reformed religion, and its restoration in the University. 
 He did, in effect, exert himself much in behalf of religion, ac- 
 cording to the confession of Augsburg, as well as of the Pro- 
 testant Academy at Strasbourg, which was suppressed at this 
 period. 
 
 The Tribunal having been suppressed, Koch declined all places 
 of trust or honour which were offered him ; and only requested 
 permission to retire, that he might have a short interval for him- 
 self between business and the grave. A pension of 3000 francs 
 was granted him, without any solicitation on his part. In 1808, 
 he returned to Strasbourg, where he continued to devote him- 
 self to letters, and in administering to the public good. About 
 the end of 1810, the Grand-master of the University of France 
 conferred on him the title of Honorary Rector of the Academy 
 of Strasbourg. His health, which had been prolonged by a life 
 of great temperance and regularity and the peace which results 
 from a good conscience, became disordered in 1812, when he 
 fell into a state of languor, which terminated his life on the 25tb 
 
16 LIFE OF KOCH. 
 
 of October 1813. His colleagues, the professors of Strasbourg, 
 ei'ected to his memory a monument of white marble in the 
 churcn of St. Thomas, near those of Schoepflin and Oberlin ; 
 which was executed by M. Ohnmacht, an eminent eculptor in 
 Strasbourg. One of his biographers has pronounced the fol- 
 lowing eulogium on Koch : — "A noble regard for justice and 
 truth, a penetration beyond common, a diligence unrivalled in 
 historical researches, a remarkable talent in arranging and illus- 
 trating his subject, an incorruptible integrit}'^ of principle, and 
 unclouded serenity of mind, with a zealous desire of rendering 
 his researches, his information and activity, useful to his species 
 — these were the prominent features of the mind and character 
 of this amiable man." In addition to this, it has been remarked, 
 that although Professor Koch had not the art of a graceful or 
 even a fluent elocution, no man ever possessed in a higher de- 
 gree the talents and qualifications of a public instructor. Like 
 Socrates, he had a manner peculiar to himself He was no*' so 
 much a teacher of sciences, as of the means of acquirng them. 
 He could inspire his scholars with a taste for labour, and knew 
 how to call forth their several powers and dispositions. Though 
 a man of the most domestic habits, and a lover of children, Koch 
 never married. 
 
 Two lives of this celebrated professor have been written by 
 foreigners. The one is by M. SchweighsBuser junior, a profes- 
 sor at Strasbourg; and the other is prefixed to the new edition 
 of the Histoire des Traites de Paix, by M. Schoell, the editor 
 and continuator of several of our author's works. This latter 
 biographer has accompanied his sketch with a descriptive cata- 
 logue of all Koch's works, the principal of which are the fol- 
 lowing : — 1. Tables Genealogiques des Maisons Soiweraines du 
 Midi et de V Quest de V Europe. 2. Sanctio Pragmatica Gev' 
 manorum illustrata. 3. Abrege de VHistoire des Traites d) 
 Paix entre les Puissances de VEurope. A new edition of this 
 work appeared in 1818, enlarged and continued by M. Schoell 
 down to the Congress of Vienna and the Treaty of Paris, 1815. 
 4. Table des Traites entre la France et les Puissances Etran- 
 geres, depuis la Paix de Westpkalie, <^c. 5. Tableau des Revo- 
 lutions de VEurope, <^c. 6. Tables Genealogiques des Maisons 
 Soicveraiiies de VEst et du Nord de r Europe. This work was 
 published, after the author's death, by M. Schoell. Besides 
 these, Koch left various manuscripts, containing memoirs of hi« 
 own life ; and several valuable papers on the ancient ecclesias 
 deal history and literature of his native province. 
 
 A. C. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 JNTTlonUCTTOrvT 
 
 History has very properly been considered as that particulai 
 branch of philosophy, which teaches, by examples, how men 
 ought to conduct themselves in all situations of life, both pub- 
 lic and private. Such is the infirmity and incapacity of the 
 human mind, that abstract or general ideas make no lasting 
 impression on it ; and often appear to us doubtful or obscure, — 
 at least if they be not illustrated and confirmed by experience 
 and observation. 
 
 It is from history alone, which superadds to our own expe- 
 rience that of other men and of other times, that we learn to 
 conquer the prejudices which we have imbibed from education, 
 and which our own experience, often as contracted as our edu- 
 cation, tends in general rather to strengthen than to subdue or 
 destroy. " Not to know," says Cicero, " what happened before 
 we were born, is to remain always a child : for what were the 
 life of man, did we not combine present events with the recol- 
 lections of past ages ?" 
 
 There are certain principles or rules of conduct that hold 
 true in all cases ; because they accord and consist with the in- 
 variable nature of things. To collect and digest these, belongs 
 to the student of history, who may, in this wa}^, easily form to 
 himself a system, both of morals and politics, founded on the 
 combined judgment of all ages, and confirmed by universal ex- 
 perience. Moreover, the advantages that we reap from the 
 study of history are preferable to those we acquire b}^ our own 
 experience ; for not only does the knowledge we derive from 
 this kind of study embrace a greater number of objects, but it 
 is purchased at the expense of others, while the attainments we 
 make from personal experience often cost us extremely dear. 
 
 " We may learn wisdom," says Polybius, " either from our 
 own misfortunes, or the misfortunes of others. The knowledge," 
 adds that celebrated historian, " which we acquire at our own 
 expense, is undoubtedly the most efficacious ; but that which we 
 learn from the misfortunes of others is the safest, in as much 
 as we receive instruction without pain, or danger to ourselves." 
 This knowledge has also the advant"= '" of being in general 
 more accurate, and more complete thu. i which we derive 
 from individual experience. To history ctlone it belongs to 
 judge with impartiality of public characters and political mea 
 
 2=^ 
 
1^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 sures, which ave often either misunderstood or not properly ap- 
 preciated by ih'-ir contemporaries ; and while men individually, 
 und from their own observation, can see great events as it were 
 but in part, his\ory embraces the whole in all its various details. 
 Thus, for example, we can see but imperfectly all the bearings 
 of that mighty revolution which is now 1793, passing before 
 our eyes ; and it will remain for posterity to perceive all its 
 influence and eifects, and to judge of its different actors with- 
 out feelings of irritation or party spirit. 
 
 It is a fact universally admitted, that all ranks and profes- 
 sions of men, hnd in history appropriate instruction, and rules 
 of conduct suited to their respective conditions. In occupying 
 the mmd agreeably with such a vast diversity of subjects, it 
 serves to form the judg^ment, to inspire us with the ambition of 
 glory, and the love of virtue. Those especially who devote 
 themselves to the study of politics, or who are destined to the 
 management of public affairs, will discover in history the struc- 
 ture and constitution of governments, their faults, and their 
 advantages, their strength and their weakness; they will find 
 there the origin and progress of empires, the principles that 
 have raised them to greatness, and the causes which have pre- 
 pared their fall. The philosopher, and the man of letters, will 
 there trace the progress of the human mind, the errors and il- 
 lusions that have led it astray ; the connexion of causes and 
 effects ; the origin of arts and sciences, their changes, and their 
 influence on society ; as well as the innumerable evils that 
 have sprung from ignorance, superstition and tyranny. 
 
 History, in short, avails more than all precepts to cure us of 
 those mistakes originating in self-love, and national partiality. 
 He who knows no other country than his own, easily persuades 
 himself, that the government, manners, and opinions of the lit- 
 tle corner of the earth which he inhabits, are the only ones con- 
 sistent with reason and propriet3\ Self-love, so natural to man, 
 cherishes this prejudice, and makes him disdain all other na- 
 tions. It is only by an extensive acquaintance with history, 
 and by familiarizing ourselves with the institutions, customs, 
 and habits of different ages, and of different countries, that we 
 learn to esteem wisdom and virtue, and to acknowledge ta- 
 lents wherever they exist. Besides, when we observe, that 
 though revolutions are continually changing the face of king- 
 doms, nothing essentially new ever happens in the world, we 
 cease to be longer the slaves of that extravagant admiration, 
 and that credulous astonishment which is generally the charac- 
 teristic of ignorance, or the mark of a feeble mind. 
 
 The most important attribute of history is truth, and in order 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 to find this out, it is necessary to examine the materials which 
 serve as the elements and evidences of history, by the test of 
 sound criticism. These materials are of two kinds : I. Public 
 Acts and Records^ such as medals, inscriptions, treaties, char- 
 ters, official papers ; and in general, all w^ritings drawn up or 
 published by the established authorities. II. Private writers, 
 viz. authors of histories, of chronicles, memoirs, letters, &c. 
 These writers are either contemporary, or such as live remote 
 from the times of which they write. 
 
 Public acts and official records, are the strongest evidences 
 we can possibly have of historical truth ; but as, in different 
 ages, there have been fabricators of pretended acts and wri- 
 tings, it becomes necessary, before making use of any public 
 document, to be assured that it is neither spurious nor falsified. 
 The art of judging of ancient charters or diplomas, and discri- 
 minating the true from the false, is called Diplomatics ; ' in 
 the same way as we give the name o{ Numismatics to the art of 
 distinguishing real medals from counterfeit. Both of these 
 sciences are necessary in the criticism of histor\^ 
 
 It will not be out of place to subjoin here some rules that 
 may serve as guides in the proper selection of historical docu- 
 ments. 
 
 1. The authority of any chartulary or public act is preferable 
 to that of a private writer, even though he were contemporary. 
 These public registers it is always necessary to consult, if pos- 
 sible, before having recourse to the authority of private writers ; 
 and a history that is not supported by such public vouchers must 
 in consequence be very imperfect. 
 
 2. When public acts are found to accord with the testimony 
 of contemporary authors, there results a complete and decisive 
 proof, the most satisfactory that can be desired, for establishing 
 the truth of historical facts. 
 
 3. The testimony of a contemporary author ought generally 
 to be preferred to that of an historian, who has written long 
 after the period in which the events have happened. 
 
 4. Whenever contemporary writers are defective, great cau- 
 tion must be used with regard to the statements of more mo- 
 dern historians, whose narratives are often very inaccurate, or 
 altogether fabulous. 
 
 5. The unanimous silence of contemporary authors on any 
 memorable event, is of itself a strong presumption for suspect- 
 ing, or even for entirely rejecting, the testimony of very recent 
 Writers. 
 
 6. Historians who narrate events that have happened ante- 
 rior to the times in which they lived, do not, properly speaking 
 
20 CHAPTER I. 
 
 deserve credit, except in so far as they make us acquainted with 
 the sources whence they have drawn their information. 
 
 7. In order to judge of the respective merits of historians, 
 and the preference we ought to give some beyond others, it is 
 necessary to examine the spirit and character of each, as well 
 as the circumstances in which they are placed at the time of 
 writing. 
 
 Hence it follows : — That we ought to distrust an historian 
 who is deficient in critical discernment, who is fond of fables, 
 or who scruples not, in order to please and amuse his readers, 
 to alter or disguise the truth : That as impartiality is an essen- 
 tial quality in a historian, we must always be on our guard 
 against writers who allow their minds to be warped aside by 
 the prejudices of their nation, their party, or their profession ; 
 for, in order to be impartial, the historian must form his judg- 
 ment on actions themselves, without regard to the actors : That 
 historians who have had a personal concern in the transactions, 
 or been eyewitnesses of the events they describe, or who, wri- 
 ting by the permission or authority of government, have had 
 free access to national archives and public libraries, ought al- 
 ways to be preferred to those who have not enjoyed the same 
 advantages : That among modern historians, he who has writ- 
 ten last often deserves more confidence than those who have 
 handled the same subject before him ; inasmuch as he has had 
 it in his power to obtain more exact information, to avoid all 
 party spirit, and rectify the errors of his predecessors. 
 
 There are several auxiliary sciences which may be said to 
 constitute the very foundation of history ; and among these, geo- 
 graphy, genealogy, and chronology, hold the first rank. In 
 truth, no fact can be fully established, nor can any narrative 
 possess interest, unless the circumstances relating to the times 
 and places in which the events have happened, as well as to 
 the persons who have been concerned in them, be previously 
 made known, and distinctly explained. It is obvious, therefore, 
 that geography, genealogy, and chronology, are the faithful in- 
 terpreters and inseparable companions of history. 
 
 Geography may be divided into mathematical, physical, and 
 political ; according to the different objects which it embraces. 
 Mathematical geography regards the earth, considered as a 
 measurable body. Physical geography has for its object to 
 examine the natural or physical structure of the earth ; while 
 political geography illustrates the different divisions of the earth 
 which men have invented, such as kingdoms, states, and pro- 
 vinces. This science is also divided, relatively to the times of 
 which it treats, into ancient middle-age, and modern geography. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 Ancient geography is that which explains the primitive state of 
 the world, and its political divisions prior to the subversion of 
 the Roman Empire in the west. By the geography of the middle 
 ages, is understood tliat which acquaints us with the political 
 state of the nations who figured in history from the nfth century 
 to the end of the fifteenth, or the beginning of the sixteenth. 
 Modern geography represents to us the state of the world and 
 its political divi-sions, from the sixteenth century to the present 
 time. 
 
 Antiquity has handed down to us the works of several very 
 eminent geographers, the most celebrated of whom are Strabo, 
 Ptolemy, Pomponius Mela, Pausanias, and Stephanus of Byzan- 
 tium. Among the moderns who have laboured in this depart- 
 ment of geography, those more particularly deserving of notice, 
 are CluveriuSjCellariuSjBrietjD'Anville, Gosselin, Mannert, and 
 Ukert. 
 
 The geography of the middle ages is but little known ; and 
 remains yet a sort of desert which demands cultivation. There 
 does not exist a single geographical work which gives a correct 
 representation of that new order of things, which the German 
 nations introduced into Europe after the downfall of the Roman 
 Empire in the fifth century. The literati of France and Ger- 
 many have thrown some rays of light on certain parts of these 
 obscure regions ; but no nation in Europe can yet boast of having 
 thoroughly explored them. 
 
 Of modern authors, the most conspicuous as the restorer of 
 geographical science, is Sebastian Munster, a German, who 
 published a voluminous work on cosmography, towards the 
 middle of the sixteenth century. The Flemings and the Dutch 
 have been among the earliest cultivators of geography since 
 the revival of letters. Ortelius, Gerard Mercator, Varenius, 
 Janson, Bleau, and Fischer, are well known by the maps and 
 learned works which they have produced. 
 
 Among the number of celebrated French geographers are to 
 be reckoned Sanson, Delisle, Cassini, D'Anville ; and more 
 recently Zannoni, Bauche, Mentelle, Barbie du Bocage, Malte- 
 Brun, &;c. Delisle is the first who submitted geography to the 
 touchstone of astronomical observation. Biisching, a German, 
 wrote a work on geography, which has been translated ?nto 
 several languages, and has received various additions and 
 improvements, especially in the hands of the French transla- 
 tors. M. Ritter, a professor at Berlin, published a work in 
 which he gives anew and scientific form to geograph3^ 
 
 It was during the latter half of the eighteenth century, that 
 the attention of the learned was turned more particularly towards 
 
22 CHAPTER 5. 
 
 geography, when a series of the most elegant maps appeared in 
 all the principal states of Europe. The wars that sprun-^ from 
 the revolution encouraged several engineers and geographers, 
 both foreigners and Frenchmen, to publish those masterpieces 
 of their art, the charts and plans of the countries that had served 
 as the theatre of hostilities. 
 
 Connected with geography is the science of Statistics, or the 
 study of the constitution and political economj;- of states. Two 
 Italians, Sansovino and Botero, about the end of the sixteenth 
 century, were the first that attempted to treat this as a particular 
 science, separate and distinct from geography. The Germans 
 followed nearly in the footsteps of the Italian writers ; they 
 introduced statistics into their Universities as a branch of study, 
 and gave it also the name by which it is still known. ^ It was 
 chiefly, however, during the course of the eighteenth century 
 that the governments of Europe encouraged the study of this 
 new science, which borrow^s its illustrations from history, and 
 constitutes at present an essential branch of national polity. 
 
 Genealogy, or the science which treats of the origin and 
 descent of illustrious families, is not less important to the 
 knowledge of history, than geography. It teaches us to know 
 and distinguish the principal characters that have acted a con- 
 spicuous part on the theatre of the world; and by giving us 
 clear and explicit ideas of the ties of relationship that subsist 
 among sovereigns, it enables us to investigate the rights of 
 succession, and the respective claims of rival princes. 
 
 The study of Genealogy is full of difficulties, on account of 
 the uncertainty and fabulous obscurity in which the origin of 
 almost every great family is enveloped. Vanity, aided by flattery 
 has given birth to a thousand legendary wonders, that fall to 
 pieces at the touch of sound criticism. It is by the light of this 
 science that we learn to distinguish certainties from probabilities, 
 and probabilities from fables and conjectures. Few families 
 who have occupied the thrones of former dynasties, or who now 
 hold pre-eminent rank in Europe, can trace their genealogy 
 beyond the twelfth century. The House of Capet is the only 
 one that can boast of a pedigree that reaches back to the middle 
 of the ninth century. The origin of the royal families of 
 Savoy, Lorrain, Brunswick, England, and Baden, belongs to the 
 eleventh century ; all the others are of a date posterior to these. 
 
 A single fact in diplomatics has proved sufficient to discredit 
 a multitude of errors and fables, that tradition had engrafted 
 on the legends of the dark ages. From the examinations that 
 have been made of ancient charters and records, there is abun- 
 dant evidence that, prior to the twelfth century, among families 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 even the most illustrious, the distinction of surnames was un- 
 known. The greatest noblemen, and the presumption is much 
 stronger that common gentlemen, never used any other signa- 
 ture than their baptismal name ; to which they sometimes an- 
 nexed that of the dignity or order with which they were invested. 
 There was therefore little chance of distinguishing families 
 from each other, and still less of distinguishing individuals of 
 one and the same family. It was only towards the end of the 
 eleventh century, and during the era of the crusades, that the use 
 of family names was gradually introduced; and that they began, 
 in their public transactions, to superadd to their baptismal and 
 honorary names, that of the country or territory they possessed, 
 or the castle where they had their residence ; and it must have 
 required nearly two hundred years before this practice became 
 general in Europe. 
 
 The Germans were the first, after the Reformation, who 
 combined the study of genealogy with that of history. Among 
 their most distinguished genealogists may be mentioned Rein- 
 erus Reineccius, Jerome Henninges, Elias Reusner, Nicolas 
 Rittershusius, James- William Imhof, and the two Gebhards of 
 Luneburg, father and son. The work of Henninges is much 
 sought after, on account of its rarity ; but the genealogical 
 labours of the two Gebhards are particularly remarkable for the 
 profound and accurate criticism they display. The principal 
 writers on this subject among the French are, D'Hozier, Gode- 
 froy, Andrew Duchesne, St. Marthe, Father Anselme, Chazot de 
 Nantigny, and M. de St. Allais. 
 
 Chronology, or the science of computing time, represents 
 facts or events in the order in which they have occurred. The 
 historian ought by no means to negle-ct to ascertain, as nearly 
 as possible, the exact and precise date of events ; since, without 
 this knovvledge. he will be perpetually liable to commit anachro- 
 nisms, to confound things with persons, and often to mistake 
 effects for causes, or causes for effects. 
 
 This study is not without its difficulties, which are as perplex- 
 ing as they are singularly various, both in kind and degree. 
 These embarrassments relate chiefly, 1. To the age of the 
 world ; 2. The different forms of the year ; 3. The number of 
 years that elapsed from the creation to the birth of Christ ; 4. 
 The variety of epochs or periods of reckoning time. 
 
 Many of the ancient philosophers maintained that the world 
 was eternal. Ocellus Lucanus, a Greek philosopher of the Py- 
 thagorean sect, attempted to prove this hypothesis, in a treatise 
 entitled De U?iive?'so, which the Marquis D'Argens and the 
 Abbe Batteux have translated into French. Aristotle followed 
 
24 CHAPTER I. 
 
 in the footsteps of Ocellus. His opinion as to tht. eternity of 
 the upjverse, is deta*iled at length in his commentaries on Physics. 
 
 Some modern philosophers, as Buffon, Hamilton, Dolomieu, 
 Saussure, Faujas de St. Fond, &c. have assigned to our globe 
 an existence long anterior to the ages when history commences. 
 Their reasoning they support by the conformation of the globe 
 itself, as well as the time that must have necessarily elapsed 
 before the earth, in the progressive operations of nature, could 
 be rendered a suitable habitation for man. 
 
 The most ancient account that we have of the origin of the 
 world, and of the human race, is derived from Moses. This 
 leader and lawgiver of the Jewish nation, lived about 1500 years 
 before Christ ; and nearly 1000 before Herodotus, the most an- 
 cient profane author whose works have been handed down to 
 our times. According to Moses and the Jewish annals, the 
 history of the human race does not yet comprehend a period of 
 six thousand years. This account seems to be in opposition to 
 that of several ancient nations, such as the Egyptians, Indians, 
 Chaldeans, Thibetians, and Chinese, who carry back their chro- 
 nology to a very remote date, and far beyond what Moses has 
 assigned to the human race. But it is sufficient at present to 
 remark, that this high antiquity, which vanity has led these na- 
 tions to adopt as a reality, is either altogether imaginary, or 
 purely mythological, founded on a symbolical theology, whose 
 mysteries and allegories have been but little understood. This 
 primeval epoch is usually filled with gods and demigods, who 
 are alleged to have reigned over these nations for so many my- 
 riads of years. 
 
 Traditions so fabulous and chimerical will never destroy the 
 authenticity of Moses, w^ho independently of his nativity, and 
 the remote age in which he lived, merits implicit credit from 
 the simplicity of his narrative, and from the circumstance, that 
 there has never yet been discovered on the surface, or in the 
 internal structure of the earth, any organic evidence or work of 
 human art, that can lead us to believe that the history of the 
 world, or more properly speaking, of the human race, is ante- 
 cedent to the age which the Jewish legislator has assigned it. 
 
 With regard to the division of time, a considerable period 
 must, no doubt, have elapsed before men began to reckon by 
 years, calculated according to astronomical observations. Two 
 sorts or forms of computation have been successively in use 
 among different nations. Some have employed solar years, cal- 
 culated by ihe annual course of the sun ; others have made use 
 of lunar year's, calculated by the periodical revolutions of the 
 moon, AH Christian nations of the present day adopt the solar 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 year; while the lunar calculation is that followed by the Ma- 
 hometans. The solar year consists of 365 days, 5 hours, 48', 
 45", SO'": the lunar year, of 354 days, 3 hours, 48', 3S", 12"'. 
 
 The invention, or more properly speaking, the calculation of 
 the solar year, is due to the ancient Egyptians, who, by the 
 position of the'r country, as well as by the periodical overflow- 
 ings and ebbings of the Nile, had early and obvious induce- 
 ments for making astronomical observations. The solar year 
 has undergone, in process of time, various corrections and de- 
 nominations. The most remarkable of these are indicated by 
 the distinctions, still in use, of the Julian, the Gregorian, and 
 the Reformed year. 
 
 Julius Caesar introduced into the Roman empire, the solar or 
 Egyptian year, which took from him the name of the Julian 
 3'ear. This he substituted instead of the lunar year, which the 
 Romans had used before his time. It was distinguished, on ac- 
 count of a slight variation in the reckoning, into the common 
 and bissextile or leap year. The common Julian year consist- 
 ed of 365 days ; and the bissextile, which returned e\'ery four 
 years, of 366 days. This computation was faulty, inasmuch 
 as it allowed 365 days, and 6 entire hours, for the annual re- 
 volution of the sun ; being an excess every year, of IT, 14", 
 30"', beyond the true time. This, in a long course of ages, 
 had amounted to several days ; and began, at length, to derange 
 the order of the seasons. 
 
 Pope Gregory XIII.,'' wishing to correct this error, employed 
 an able mathematician, named Louis Lilio, to reform the Julian 
 year, according to the true annual course of the sun. A new 
 calendar was drawn up, which was called after the name 
 of that pontiff, the Gregorian calendar; and as, in consequence 
 of the incorrectness of the Julian era, the civil year had gained 
 ten days, the same Pope ordered, by a bull published in 1581, 
 that these should be expunged from the calendar ; so that, in- 
 stead of the 5th of October 1582, they should reckon it the loth. 
 
 The Catholic States adopted this new calendar without the 
 least difficulty; but the Protestants in the Empire, and the 
 rest of Europe, as also the Russians and the Greeks, adhered 
 to the Julian year ; and hence the distinction between the old 
 and new style, to which it is necessary to pay attention in all 
 public acts and writings since the year 1582 of the Christian 
 era. The difference between the old and new style, which, 
 until 1699, was only ten days, and eleven from the commence- 
 ment of 1700, must be reckoned twelve days during the pre- 
 sent century of 1800; so that the 1st of January of the old 
 year, answers to the 13th of the new. 
 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
26 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Reformed Year or Calendar, as it is called, is distinct 
 from the Greoorjan, and applies to the calculation of the year, 
 which was made by a professor at Jena, named Weigel. It 
 differs from the Gregorian year, as to the method of calculating 
 ihe time of Easter, and the other moveable feasts of the Chris- 
 tian churches. The Protestants of Germany, Holland, Den- 
 mark and Switzerland, adopted this new calendar in 1700 
 Their example was followed in 1752, by Great Britain ; and in 
 1753, by Sweden ; but since the year 1776, the Protestants of 
 Germany, Switzerland and Holland, abandoned the reformed 
 calendar, and adopted the Gregorian ; and there is, properly 
 speaking, no nation in Europe at this day, except the Russians 
 and the Greeks, which makes use of the Julian calendar, or 
 old style.^ 
 
 But it is not merely the variations that have prevailed as to 
 the form and computation of the year, that have perplexed the 
 science of chronology ; the different methods of commencing 
 it, have also been the source of much confusion. The Romans, 
 from the time of Julius Caesar, began the year on the first of 
 January. The ancient Greeks at first reckoned from the win- 
 ter solstice, and afterwards from midsummer; the Syro-Mace- 
 donians or Seleucidse, commenced from the autumnal equinox. 
 The sacred year of the Jews, began with the first new moon 
 after the vernal equinox, that is, in the month of March ; and 
 their civil j^ear began with the new moon immediately follow- 
 ing the autumnal equinox, that is, in the month of September. 
 
 The same diversity of practice v/hich we observe among the 
 ancients, existed also in the middle ages. The Franks, under 
 the Merovingian kings, began the year with the month of March. 
 The Popes began it sometimes at Christmas, or the 25lh of De- 
 cember; sometimes on the 1st of January; and sometimes on 
 the 25lh of March, called indiscriminately the day of the Annun- 
 ciation or Incarnation. Under the Carlovingian princes, two 
 methods of beginning the year were generally prevalent in 
 France, — the one fixed its commencement at Christmas, or the 
 25lh of December, and the other at Easter ; that is, at the day 
 on which that moveable feast happened to fall. This latter 
 custom prevailed also under the Capetian kings, and it was not 
 suppressed until near the middle of the sixteenth century. 
 Charles IX., by an edict published in 1564, ordered, that in 
 France the year should henceforth commence on the 1st of Ja- 
 nuary. Previously to this edict, it sometimes happened, from 
 the variable date of Easter, that the same month was found to 
 occur twice in one and the same year. For example, the year 
 1358 having begun on the 1st of April, on which Easter day 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 happened to fall, did not terminate until the 20th of April fol- 
 lowing, that is, on the eve preceding Easter. There were con- 
 sequently in this year, nearly two complete months of April. 
 Since the reign of Charles IX., it has continued the invariable 
 practice in France to begin the year on the 1st of January. 
 
 In England, the year used to commence on the 2oth of March, 
 and the old style was there observed until 1753 ; when, by vir- 
 tue of an act of Parliament, passed in 1752, the beginning of 
 the year was transferred to the 1st of January. It was decreed 
 also, at the same time, that, in order to accommodate the En- 
 glish chronology to the new style, the 3d of September 1752, 
 should be reckoned the 14th of the same month. ' 
 
 It is easy to conceive the perplexity and confusion that must 
 have been introduced into chronology, as much by the differ- 
 ence of styles as by the different methods of commencing the 
 year. Nothing is more probable, than that we should here 
 find mistakes and contradictions which, in reality, have no ex- 
 istence ; and the more so, as the writers or recorders of public 
 -icts, who employ these different styles, or date the beginning of 
 ■Jie year variously, never give us any intimation on the sub- 
 ject ; and all reckon promiscuously from the year of Christ's 
 nativity, without informing us whether they follow the old or 
 the new style — whether they commence the year in the month 
 of January or March, at Easter or at Christmas. 
 
 Modern chronologists have found much embarrassment in 
 calculating the number of years that elapsed between the crea- 
 tion and the birth of Christ. Father Petau, one of the most 
 learned men in this science, admits, that this point of chrono- 
 logy is to be established rather by probable conjectures than so- 
 lid arguments. There have even been reckoned, according to 
 Fabricius, about a hundred and forty different opinions respect- 
 ing the epoch of Christ's nativity. Some fix this era in the 
 year of the world 3616, while others carry it back to the year 
 6484. This great discordance of opinions arises from the con- 
 tradictions found to exist between the three principal texts of the 
 Old Testament. The Hebrew text, for instance, to which most 
 chronologists gives the preference, fixes the deluge in the year 
 of the world 1656 ; while, according to the Samaritan text, it 
 happened in 1307; and, according to the Septuagint, in 2242. 
 The system at present most accredited, is that of Archbishop 
 Usher, an Irish prelate, who, founding his calculation on the 
 Hebrew text, fixes ihe date of Christ's nativity in the year of 
 the world 4000. 
 
 A variety of epochs prevailed at different times ; as most na- 
 tions, both ancient and modern, who had governments and laws 
 
2S 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 of their own, adopted chronological eras that were peculiar to 
 themselves. The ancient Greeks had their Olympiads, and 
 the Syro-Macedonians the era of the Seleucidae. The Romans 
 calculated by consulships, which became the era of their public 
 acts ; and besides these, their historians used to reckon from 
 the foundation of the city, which goes back 752 years before 
 Christ, or 3249 after the creation. The era of Dioclesian, in- 
 troduced in honour of that emperor, and sometimes also called 
 the era of the martyrs, began in the year 2S4 after Christ, and 
 was for a long time used in the West. But, without stopping 
 here to enumerate the different eras of antiquity, we shall rather 
 restrict ourselves at present to the pointing out of those that 
 belong more properly to modern history, viz. 1. The era of 
 the modern Greeks. 2. Of the modern Jews. 3. Of the Spa- 
 niards. 4. The Hegira, or Mahometan era. 5. The Diony- 
 sian, or Christian era. 
 
 The era of the modern Greeks is known by the name of the 
 Mundane era of Constantinople. It begins 5508 years before 
 the birth of Christ. The first year of the Incarnation thus falls 
 in the year of the world 5509 ; and, consequently, the year 
 1823 of the Christian era answers to the year 7331 of the Mun- 
 dane era of Constantinople. Under this system, two kinds of 
 years are in use, the civil and the ecclesiastical. The former 
 commences with the month of September, the other has begun 
 sometimes on the 21st of March, and sometimes on the 1st of 
 April. This era is followed, even at this day, by the Greek 
 church. The Russians, who adopted it from the Greeks, along 
 with the Christian religion, made use of it even in their civil 
 acts, until the reign of Peter the Great. That emperor, in 
 1700, abolished the Mundane era of Constantinople, and sub- 
 stituted in its place, the Christian era, and the Julian calendar 
 or old style. 
 
 The modern Jews have likewise a mundane era ; as they 
 reckon from the creation of the world. It commences on the 
 7th of October of the Julian year, and reckons 3761 years be- 
 fore Christ. The year 3762 of the world, is the first of the 
 Christian era, according to the Jews ; and the current year 
 (1823) answers to the year 5583 of their mundane era. 
 
 In Spain, the era began with the year of Rome 714, thirty- 
 eight years before the birth of Christ; being the time when the 
 triumvirate was renewed between Coesar Octavianus, Mark An- 
 tony, and Lepidus. The Spaniards, wishing to give Octavia- 
 nus some testimony of their satisfaction on being comprehended 
 within his province, began a new era w^ith this event,^ which 
 prevailed not only in Spain and Portugal, but also in Africa, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 and those parts of France which were subject to the dominion 
 of the Visigoths. It is of great importance to know, that the 
 Spaniards and Portuguese constantly employed this era in their 
 annals and public acts, so late as the 14th and 15th centuries, 
 when they substituted the Christian era in its place. 
 
 The era which the Mussulman nations follow is that of Ma- 
 homet, called ihe Hegira, or the Flight of the Prophet. It be- 
 gan on the 16th of July 622 A. C, and is composed of lunar 
 years. In order to find out in what year of the vulgar era any 
 given year of the Hegira falls, it is necessary first to reduce 
 the lunar into solar years, and then add the number 622. For 
 example, the year 1238 of the Hegira, answers to the year 1823 
 of the vulgar, or Christian era. It began on the 18th of Sep- 
 tember 1822, and ended on the 7th of the following September 
 
 Dionysius or Denys the Little, a Roman Abbe, who lived in 
 the time of the Emperor Justinian, about the year of Christ 530, 
 was the author of the vulgar era, which afterwards received a 
 more perfect form from the hands of the venerable Bede, an 
 English monk, about the year 720. Before that time, the Latins, 
 or Christians of the West, employed the era of the Consuls, or 
 that of Dioclesian. Denys the Little, imagining it would be 
 more convenient for the Christians to reckon their time from the 
 birth of Christ, applied himself with great industry to calculate 
 the number of years that had elapsed from the Incarnation to 
 his own times. Modern chronologists have remarked, that 
 both Denys and Bede were mistaken in their calculations ; but 
 a difference of opinion prevails on this subject, as may be 
 seen in the learned work of Fabricius. There are some of 
 these chronologists who date the birth of Christ thirty-four years 
 earlier, while others find a difference of but one year, or at most 
 four, between the true epoch of the nativity, and that adopted 
 by Denys. This disagreement of the modern chronologists has 
 given rise to the distinction between the true era of the birth 
 of Christ, and the Vulgar or Dlonysiaii era, which the general 
 usage has now consecrated and established. 
 
 In France, this era was not introduced until the eighth century. 
 We find it employed, for the first time, in the acts of the Coun- 
 cils of Germany, Liptines, and Soissons, held in the years 
 742-3-4, under Pepin, surnamed the Short. The Kings of 
 France never used it in their public acts, until the end of the 
 ninth century ; and the Popes only since the eleventh. 
 
 In order to compare the difl^erent eras, and to focilitate the 
 process of reducing the years of one into those of another, a 
 scheme has beeen proposed called the Julian period. The in- 
 vention of this is due to Joseph Scaliger, a professor at Leyden, 
 
30 CHAPTER I. 
 
 and well known by his chronological works. He gave it the 
 name of Julian, because the Julian year served as the basis of 
 it. It is composed of the several products of the cycles of the 
 sun, the moon, and the indictions multiplied by each other. 
 
 The cycle of the sun is a period, or revolution of twenty- 
 eight solar years ; at the end of which the same order of years 
 returns, by a kind of circle or cycle. Its use is to indicate the 
 days on which each year commences, and the Dominical Let- 
 ters. These are the first seven letters of the alphabet, a, b, c, 
 D, E, F, G, which are employed to indicate the seven days of the 
 week, more particularly the Sabbath [dies Dominica.) At the 
 end of twenty-eight years, of which this cycle is composed, 
 there returns a new order or series of years, so similar to the 
 preceding, that the dominical letters again answer exactly to the 
 same days. 
 
 The cijcle of the moon comprises nineteen lunar years, twelve 
 of which are called common, and the remaining seven interca- 
 lary ; these yield a product of 6939 days 18 hours, according 
 to the calculation of the ancients f and are equal to nineteen 
 Julian or solar years. By means of this cycle always re- 
 curring, the new moons fall again on the same days and the 
 same hours on which they had happened nineteen years before ; 
 so that, for all the new moons, the cycle which is to come is 
 entirely similar to the preceding. The cipher which indicates 
 the year of the cycle, is called i\\Q golden 7iu??ibe?; because they 
 used to write it in characters of gold in the ancient calendars, 
 where it was employed to mark the times of the new moons. 
 
 The cycle of indictions is a cycle which recurs every fifteen 
 years ; and which, like those already mentioned, was frequent- 
 ly employed in charters and public records. The origin of 
 these indictions is generally referred to a contribution or cess 
 appointed, for fifteen years, by the Romans, and afterwards re- 
 newed for the same period. They began in the reign of Con- 
 stantino the Great, that is, about the year of Christ 313, and are 
 distinguished into three kinds ; 1. That of Constantinople, 
 which was employed by the Greek Emperors, and began on 
 the 1st of September; 2. That which v.^as termed the Imperial. 
 or CsBsarean indiction, the use of which was limited to the 
 West, and which began on the 2oth of September ; and, 3. 
 The Roman or Pontifical indiction, which the Popes employed 
 in their bulls. This last began on the 25th of December, or 
 the 1st of January, according as the one or the other of these 
 days was reckoned by the Romans the first of the new year. 
 
 'The cycle of the sun. comprising twenty-eight years, and 
 tliat of the moon nineteen, when multiplied together, give a 
 
INTEODUCTION. 8} 
 
 product of 532, which is called the Paschal cycle, because it 
 serves to ascertain the feast of Easter. The product of 532, 
 multiplied by 15, the cycle of indictions, amounts to the num- 
 ber 7980, which constitutes the Julian period. Within the com- 
 pass of this period may be placed, as it were, under one view, 
 these different eras and epochs, in order to compare and recon- 
 cile them with each other; adopting, as their comm.on term, the 
 nativity of Christ, fixed to the year 4714 of the Julian period. 
 
 History has been divided, according to the different subjects 
 of which it treats, into Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Literary. 
 Civil and political history is occupied entirely with events 
 that relate to mankind, as distributed into societies, and united 
 tog-ether by governments, laws, and manners. Ecclesiastical 
 history is confined to those events that properly belong to reli- 
 gion. Literary history treats more particularly of the origin, 
 progress, and vicissitudes of the arts and sciences. The His- 
 tory of Philosophy, which is a subdivision of Literary History, 
 illustrates the different systems of philosophy that have flou- 
 rished in the world, both in ancient and modern times. 
 
 Another division of history, according to its extent, is ,nat ot 
 Universal, General, and Particular History. Universal history 
 gives a kind of outline or summary of the events of all the na- 
 tions that have figured on the earth, from the remotest ages to 
 the present time. 
 
 By general history, is understood that which treats of the 
 revolutions that have happened in the world, whether of great 
 states or confederate powers, or of several nations combined to- 
 gether, by various and complicated interests. Thus, there may 
 be a general history of France, or of Great Britain, a general 
 history of the United Provinces, a general history of Europe, 
 &c. Particular history embraces, in detail, the events of a par- 
 ticular people, or province, or city, or illustrious individual. 
 
 Finally, in regard to the time of which it treats, history is 
 distinguished into Ancient and Modern, and that of the Middle 
 Ages. Ancient history is that of the nations who flourished 
 from the time of the creation to the fifth century; while the 
 history of the middle ages has, for its object, the revolutions 
 that took place from the fifth to the end of the fifteenth century. 
 What is now termed modern history, is that which retraces the 
 events of the last three centuries. 
 
 This division, which applies more particularly to the history 
 of Europe, is founded on the great revolutions which this part 
 of the world experienced in the fifth and fifteenth centuries. 
 The revolution of the fifth century ended in the subversion of 
 the Roman empire in the West, and gave birth to the principal 
 
32 CHAPTER I. 
 
 states in modern Europe ; while that of the fifteenth century, 
 which dates its commencement from the destruction of the 
 Eastern empire, brought along- with it the revival of literature 
 and the fine arts, and the renovation of civil society in Europe. 
 Although ancient history does not enter into the plan of the 
 following work, nevertheless it appeared necessary to give here 
 a brief sketch of it to the reader, with the view of connecting 
 the order of time, and the chain of the great events that have 
 occurred from the remotest ages to the present day. We have 
 divided it into three periods, the first of which embraces 3000, 
 the second 1000, and the third 500 years. 
 
 The first period, which comprises thirty centuries, is almost 
 wholly fabulous. The notices of it that have been transmitted 
 to us are very imperfect. The order of time cannot be estab- 
 lished on any solid foundation. Even the authenticity of the 
 famous Parian marbles, has been called in question as spurious ; 
 and there is no other chronology that can guide our steps 
 through this dark labyrinth of profane history. The only lite- 
 rary monuments that are left us of these remote and obscure 
 ages, are the books of Moses and the Jews. Herodotus, the 
 earliest profane historian, wrote more than a thousand years 
 after Moses, and about 450 before Christ. He had been prece- 
 ded several centuries by Sanchoniathon the Phoenician ; but 
 the work of this latter historian is lost, and there exists only a 
 few scattered fragments of it in Porphyry and Eusebius. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that of the 4500 years that fall within 
 the compass of ancient history, the first thirty centuries may, 
 without inconvenience, be retrenched. Amidst the darkness of 
 those ages, we discover nothing but the germs of societies, gov- 
 ernments, sciences and arts. The Egyptians, the Israelites, the 
 PhcEnicians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, or Chaldeanb% 
 made then the most conspicuous figure among the nations of 
 Asia and Africa. 
 
 The Egyptians and Chaldeans were the first who cultivated 
 astronomy. Egypt was long the nursery of arts and sciences. 
 The Phoenicians, without any other guide than the stars, boldly 
 traversed unknown seas, and gave a vast extent of intercourse 
 to their commerce and navigation. They founded many 
 celebrated colonies, such as Carthage in Africa, and Malaga and 
 Cadiz on the shores of Spain. 
 
 The history of Europe, which is utterly unknown during the 
 first two thousand years, begins to exhibit in the third millenary, 
 a few slight notices of ancient Greece. A multitude of petty 
 stales had then taken root ; most of which, as Argos, Athens 
 and Thebes, had been founded by colonies from Egypt. The 
 
INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 Greeks, in imitation of the Phcenicians, applied themselves to 
 arts, navigation, and commerce. They established numerous 
 colonies, not only on the coast of Asia Minor, but on those of 
 Italy and Sicily. That in lower Italy or Calabria, was knowr 
 by the name of Magna Groecia. 
 
 It was during the second period of ancient history, or in the 
 fourth millenary, that great and powerful monarchies arose ; 
 which contributed to the progress of arts and civilization, and 
 the perfection of society. These are commonly reckoned five, 
 viz. the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, 
 and the Roman ; all of which successively established ther>' 
 selves on the ruins of each other. 
 
 The history of the two first monarchies is enveloped in 
 mystery and doubt. Of the ancient Egyptians, nothing now 
 remains but their pyramids, their temples, and obelisks, — monu- 
 ments which can only attest the power and grandeur of the 
 ancient sovereigns of Egypt. 
 
 As to the Assyrian antiquities, the contradictions that we find 
 between the narratives of Herodotus and Ctesias, cannot fail to 
 make us reject, as fabulous, the details of the latter, respecting 
 the magnificence of Ninus, Semiramus, and Sardanapalus, the 
 supposed monarchs of Assyria and Babylon. Nothing certain 
 is known of this empire, or the conquests of these kings, 
 beyond what we find recorded in the annals of the Jews. 
 Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, subdued the kingdom of Sama- 
 ria or Israel, about the year of the world 3270 ; and Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, one of his successors, conquered that of Judah and 
 Jerusalem, about the year 3403. 
 
 The Persian monarchy was founded by Cyrus, who put an 
 end to the dominion of the Assyrians and Babylonians, by taking 
 the city of Babylon, about the year of the world 3463. The 
 empire, when at its greatest height, under Darius Hystaspes, 
 comprehended all that part of Asia which stretches from the 
 Indus to the Caspian Sea, and from the Euxine to the shores of 
 the Mediterranean. Egypt in Africa, and Thrace in Europe, were 
 subject to its law^s. After a duration of nearly two centuries, 
 it was finally destroyed by the Macedonians in the year 3672. 
 
 Greece, which was at first divided, into several petty king- 
 doms, changed its condition towards the commencement of the 
 fourth millenary; when its principal cities, till then governed 
 by kings, formed themselves into detached republics. An en- 
 thusiasm for liberty spread over all Greece, and inspired every 
 bosom vvith the love of glory. Military bravery, as well as arts, 
 and talents of all kinds, were fostered and encouraged by public 
 games, the principal of which were the Olympic. Two cities. 
 
34 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Athens and Lacedemon, fixed upon themselves for a time jt 
 eyes of all Greece. Solon was the legislator of the former, i^d 
 Lycurgns of the latter. To these two republics ail the rest suc- 
 cumbed, either as allies, or by right of conquest. Athens has 
 rendered herself immortal by the victories which she gained 
 over the Persians, at the famous battles of Marathon, Salamis, 
 and Platffia; fought a. m. 3512, 3522, and 3523. 
 
 The ascendency which these victories procured the Atheni- 
 ans over the rest of the Greek states, excited the jealousy of 
 the Lacedemonians, and became the principal cause of the 
 famous civil war which arose in 3572, between these two repub- 
 lics, and which is known by the name of the Peloponnesian war. 
 This was followed by various other civil wars ; and these dis- 
 asters contributed to greatly exhaust the Greeks, and to break 
 that union which had been the true source of their prosperity 
 and their glory. Philip, King of Macedon, had the address to 
 turn these unhappy divisions to his own advantage, and soon 
 made himself master of all Greece. The battle of Chasronea, 
 which he gained over the Athenians about the year of the 
 world 3664, completed the conquest of that country. 
 
 Alexander the Great, son of Philip, afterwards attacked the 
 Persian empire, which he utterly overthrew, in consequence of 
 the three victories which he gained over Darius Codomannus, 
 the last of the Persian kings, at the passage of the Granicus in 
 366S, at Issus in 3669, and near Arbela in 3672. 
 
 The monarchy founded by Alexander fell to pieces after his 
 death. From its wreck were formed, among others, by three 
 of his generals, the three kingdoms of Macedon, Syria and 
 Egypt; all of which were conquered in succession by the Ro- 
 mans, A. M. 3835, 3936, and 3972. Greece itself had been 
 reduced to a Roman province, after the famous sack of Corinth, 
 and the destruction of the Achcean league, a. m. 3856, or 144 
 years before Christ. 
 
 The empire of the Greeks was succeeded by that of the 
 Romans, which is distinguished from all its predecessors, not 
 more by its extent and duration, than by the wisdom with 
 which it was administered, and the fine monuments of all kinds 
 which it has transmitted to posterity. The greatness of this em- 
 pire was not, however, the achievement of a single conqueror, 
 but the work of ages. Its prosperity must be chiefly ascribed 
 to the primitive constitution of the Republic, which inspired the 
 Romans with the love of liberty, and the spirit of patriotism — 
 which animated them to glory and perseverance, and taught 
 them to despise dangers and death. Their religion, likewise, 
 served as a powerful engine to restrain and direct the multitude, 
 according to the views and designs of the government. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 35 
 
 The earlier part of the Roman history may be divided into 
 three periods. The first of these represents Rome under the 
 government of kings ; from the time of its foundation, about 
 the year of the world 3249, to the expulsion of Tarquin the 
 Pioud, and the establishment of the Republic, in 3193. The 
 second extends from the establishment of the Republic, in the 
 year of Rome 245, to the first Punic war, in the year of the 
 City 490, and of the world 3738. The third commences with 
 the first Punic war, and terminates at the battle of Actium, 
 which put an end to the Republican government, and re-estab- 
 lished monarchy under Augustus, in the year of Rome 723. 
 
 During the first of these periods, the Romans had to sustain 
 incessant wars with their neighbours, the petty states of Italy. 
 They subdued the whole of that peninsula in course of the 
 second period; and it was not till the third, that they carried 
 their arms beyond their own country, to conquer the greater 
 portion of the then known world. The first two periods of the 
 Roman history, are full of obscure and uncertain traditions. In 
 those remote ages, the Romans paid no attention to the study of 
 letters. Immersed entirely in the business of war, they had no 
 other historical records than the annals of their pontiflTs, which 
 perished in the sack of Rome, at the time of its invasion by the 
 Gauls, in the year of the City 365. 
 
 The most ancient of their historians was Fabius Pictor, who 
 wrote his Annals in the sixth century after the foundation of 
 Rome, or about the time of the second Punic war. These 
 Annals, in which Fabius had consulted both tradition and 
 foreign authors, are lost; and we possess no information on 
 these two periods of Roman history, except what has been left 
 us by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Titus Livius, who both 
 wrote in the reign of Augustus, and whose narratives often re- 
 semble a romance rather than a true history. 
 
 The cultivation of letters and arts among the Romans, did 
 not, properly speaking, commence until the third period;, and 
 after they had had intercourse with civilized nations, as the 
 Carthaginians and Greeks. It was not until 4S4 years after the 
 building of the city, that they struck their first silver coinage ; 
 and ten years afterwards, they equipped their first fleet against 
 the Carthaginians. It is at this period, also, that truth begins 
 to dawn upon their history, and to occupy the place of fable 
 and tradition. Besides their native historians, Titus Livius, 
 Florus, and Velleius Paterculus, several Greek authors, as Po- 
 Lybius, Plutarch, Appian of Alexandria, Dion Cassius, &c. have 
 furnished useful memorials- on this period. The history of 
 Polybius, especially, is a work of the highest merit. The 
 
36 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Statesman will there find lessons on politics and governnient» 
 and the soldier instructions in the art of war. 
 
 A long series of foreign wars put the Eomans in possession 
 of the Isles of the Mediterranean, Spain, Northern Africa, 
 Egypt, Gaul, Ill3^ria, Macedonia, Greece, Thrace, and all Asia, 
 as far as the Euphrates. The destruction of the powerful re- 
 public of Carthage was the grand cast of the die that decided 
 the empire of the world in favour of the Romans. 
 
 Carthage was a colony which the ancient Phenicians had 
 founded on the coast of Africa, near the modern city of Tunis, 
 in the year of the v/orld 3119, and 130 before the foundmg of 
 Rome.^ In imitation of their mother country, the Carthaginians 
 rendered themselves famous by their merchandise and their 
 marine. The extent to which they carried their commerce, and 
 the force necessary for its protection, rendered their arms every 
 where victorious. They gradually extended their conquests 
 along the shores of Africa, in Spain, and the islands of the 
 Mediterranean. 
 
 The attempts which they had made to get possession of 
 Sicily, was the occasion of embroiling them in a war with the 
 Romans. For nearly two hundred years, Rome and Carthage 
 disputed between them the empire of the world; and it wa^ 
 not until these two mighty rivals had, more than once, made 
 each other tremble for their independence, that the Carthaginians 
 yielded to the yoke of the conqueror. Their capital, after a 
 siege which lasted nearly three years, was completely laid iu 
 ruins by the famous Scipio ^milianus, the scholar of Polybius. 
 No monument of the Carthaginians now remains to point out 
 the ancient splendour of that republic. Their national archives, 
 and all the literary treasures they contained, perished with the 
 city, or were destroyed by the Romans. The destruction of 
 Carthage happened in the year of Rome 608, and of the world 
 3356, the same year that witnessed the sack of Corinth. 
 
 The fall of Carthage, and more especially the conquest of 
 Greece, Egypt, and the Asiatic kingdoms, occasioned a wonder- 
 ful revolution in the manners and government of the Romans 
 The riches of the East, the arts and institutions of the van* 
 (juished nations, brought them acquainted with luxuries they 
 had never known, which soon proved the fatal harbingers of 
 vice. Their patriotism and love of liberty insensibly declined, 
 and became extinct : powerful and ambitious citizens fomented 
 insurrections and civil wars, which ended in the subversion of 
 the republican government, and the establishment of monarchy. 
 Two triumvirates appeared in succession. The first consisted 
 of Pompey, Ccesar, and Crass us, and was dissolved in conse- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 quence of the civil war that arose among the triumvirs. Caesar, 
 having- conquered Pompey at the battle of Pharsalia, in the 
 year of Kome 706, became master of the empire, under the title 
 of perpetual dictator. This new elevation of fortune he did 
 not long enjoy ; he was assassinated in the senate by a band of 
 conspirators, at the head of whom was Brutus, in the year of 
 Home 710, and 42 before the birth of Christ. 
 
 A second triumvirate was formed between Mark Antony, 
 Caesar Octavianus, and Lepidus. Many thousands of illustri- 
 ous Romans, and among others Cicero, were at this time pro- 
 scribed, and put to death b}" order of the triumvirs. Jealousy 
 having at length disunited these new tyrants, Octavianus stripped 
 Lepidus of his power, and defeated Mark Antony in the famous 
 naval battle which took place near the promontory of Actium, 
 in the year of Rome 723. Antony having been assassinated in 
 Egypt, immediately after his defeat, Caesar Octavianus became 
 sole master of the empire, which he afterwards ruled with 
 sovereign authority under the name of Augustus. 
 
 At this time the Roman empire comprehended the finest 
 countries of Europe and Asia ; with Egypt and all the northern 
 part of Africa. It was bounded on the west by the Rhine and 
 the Danube, and on the east by the Euphrates. The successors 
 af Augustus added the greater part of Britian to the empire. 
 Trajan carried his victorioas.»rms bej'ond '■:he Danube ; he con- 
 quered the Ducians, who inhabited those countries known at 
 present under the name of Hungary, Transylvania, Moldavia, 
 Walachia, and Besfarabia. In the East this prince extended the 
 limits of the empire beyond the Euphrates, having subdued 
 Mesopotamia, Assyria, Armenia, Colchis and Iberia, (or Geor- 
 gia;) but the conquests of Trajan were abandoned by his suc- 
 cessors, and the empire again shrunk within the bounds pro- 
 scribed by Augustus. 
 
 This empire, which extended from north to south nearly six 
 hundred leagues, and more than a thousand from east to west, 
 viz. from the 24*^ to the 56*^ of latitude, comprised a total of 
 180,000 square leagues. The population, during its mjst 
 flourishing state, may be estimated at about 120,000,000, — a 
 population which equals that of modern Europe, vv'ith the ex- 
 ception of Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Turkey, 
 
 The government which had been introduced, was an absolute 
 monarchy, only clothed with the form_ of the ancient republic. 
 Under the popular titles of consul, tribune of the people, gene- 
 ral, grand pontiff, censor, &c. the prince united in himself all 
 the various attributes of supreme power. The senate indeed 
 enjoyed extensive prerogatives ; the legislative power, which 
 
 VOL. [. 4 
 
38 CHAPTER I. 
 
 had been reserved at first for the people, was afterwards trans- 
 ferred to this body ; but as the military were wholly subordinate 
 to the prince, and as he had also at his command a numerous 
 guard, it is easy to perceive that the authority of the senate was 
 but precarious, and by no means a counterpoise to that of the 
 prince. 
 
 A government so constructed could not insure the welfarp 
 and happiness of the people, except under princes as humane as 
 Titus, as just and enlightened as Trajan and the Anlonines ; or 
 so long as the forms introduced by Augustus should be respect- 
 ed. It could not fa»il to degenerate into arbitrary power, under 
 tyrants such as Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian ; and 
 the senate must then have been but a servile instrument in the 
 hands of the prince, employed by him to facilitate the means of 
 satiating his passions and his tyranny. 
 
 The maxims of absolute power soon became the fashionable 
 and favourite doctrine. Civilians began to teach publicly, that 
 all the authority of the senate and the people was transferred to 
 the prince ; that he was superior to the laws ; that his power 
 extended to the lives and fortunes of the citizens ; and that he 
 might dispose of the state as his own patrimony. These en- 
 croachments of despotism, joined to the instability of the imperial 
 throne, the decay of military discipline, the unbridled license of 
 the troops, the employing whole corps of barbarians in their 
 wars, must all be reckoned among the number of causes that 
 hastened the dovrnfall of the Roman empire. 
 
 Con'-'-anline the Great, was the first of the emperors that em- 
 braced Christianity, and made it the established religion of the 
 state in 324. He quitted the city of Rome, the ancient residence 
 of the Coesars, and fixed his capital at Byzantium, in 330, which 
 took from him the name of Constantinople. Anxious to provide 
 for the security of his new capital, he stationed the flower of his 
 legions in the East, dismantled the frontiers on the Rhine and 
 the Danube, and dispersed into the provinces and towns, the 
 troops who had heretofore encamped on the borders of these 
 great rivers. In this way he secured the peace and tranquillity 
 of the interior, and infused, for a time, a new vigour into the 
 government ; but lie committed a great mistake in giving the 
 first example of making a formal division of the state between 
 his sons, without regard to the principle of unity and indivisi- 
 bility which his predecessors had held sacred. It is true, this 
 separation was not of long continuance ; but it was renewed 
 afterwards by Theodosius the Great, who finally divided the 
 empire between his two sons in the year 395 ; Arcadius had the 
 eastern, and Honorius the western part of the empire. This 
 
INTEODUCTION. 39 
 
 atter comprehended Italy, Gaul, Britain, Spain, Northern Afri- 
 ca, Rhetia, Vindelicia, Noricum, Pannonia, and Illyria. It was 
 during the reign of Honurius, and under the administration of 
 his minister Stilicho, that the memorable invasion of the barba- 
 rians happened, which was followed shortly after, by the de- 
 struction of the Western Empire. 
 
 It is with this great event, which gave birth to a variety of 
 new states and kingdoms, that the following History of the Revo- 
 lutions of Europe commences. It is divided into nine sections 
 or periods of time, according to the successive changes which the 
 political system of Europe experienced from the fifth to the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 In the first, which extends to the year SOO, the barbarians, 
 who invaded the Western Empire, formed new states in Spain, 
 Gaul, and Italy; and produced a complete revolution in the 
 governments, laws, manners, letters, and arts of Europe. It was 
 during this period that the Franks gained the ascendency over 
 the other European nations ; that the Popes laid the ground- 
 work of their secular power ; that Mahomet founded a new re- 
 ligion in Asia, and an empire which extended through Africa 
 into Spain. 
 
 In the second period, which extends from SOO to 962, a vast 
 empire was erected, and again dismembered, after enjoying a 
 short-lived splendour. From its wreck were formed new king- 
 doms, which have served as the basis for several states of mo- 
 dern times. Others were established by the Normans, Russians, 
 and Hungarians. 
 
 In the third period, which terminates with the year 1072, 
 Germany became the preponderating power, and began to de- 
 cline, through the abuse of the feudal system. The House of 
 Capet mounted the throne of France ; and the Normans achiev- 
 ed the conquest of England. The Northern nations, converted 
 to Christianity, began to make some figure in history : the mo- 
 narchy of Russia became great and powerful ; while the Greek 
 empire, and that of the Romans, fell into decay. 
 
 During the fourth period, which ends Vv'ith the year 1300, the 
 Roman Pontiffs acquired an immense sway. This is also the 
 epoch of the Crusades, which had a powerful influence on the 
 yocial and political state of the European nations : The dark- 
 ness of the middle ages began gradually to disappear ; the esta- 
 blishment of communities, and the enfranchisement of the serfs, 
 gave birth to new ideas of liberty. The Roman jurisprudence 
 was restored from the neglect and oblivion into which it had 
 fallen, and taught in the universities : Italy was covered with a 
 multitude of republics, and the kingdom of the two Sicilies, and 
 
40 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 of Portugal were founded : The inquisition was established m 
 France, and Magna Charta in England : The Moguls in the east 
 raised, by their conquests, a powerful and extensive empire. 
 
 The fifth period, which ends at the taking of Constantinople 
 by the Turks in 1453, witnessed the decline of the Pontifical 
 jurisdiction : Learning and science made some progress, and 
 various important discoveries prepared the way for still greater 
 improvements : Commerce began to flourish, and extend its in- 
 tercourse more widely: The European states assumed their 
 present form ; while the Turks, an Asiatic race, established their 
 dominion in Europe. 
 
 The sixth period, from 1453 to 1648, is the epoch of the re- 
 vival of the belles lettres, and the fine arts ; and of the discovery 
 Ameiica: It is also that of the Reformation of religion accom- 
 j 'ished in Germany; the influence of which has extended over 
 ail the countries in the world. It was likewise during this 
 period that Europe was desolated by religious wars, which 
 eventually must have plunged it again into a state of barbarism. 
 The peace of Westphalia became the basis of the political sys- 
 tem of Europe. 
 
 In the seventh period, from 1648 to 1713, this federal system 
 was turned against France, whose power threatened to overturn 
 the political balance of Europe. The peace of Utrecht set 
 bounds to the ambition of its aspiring monarchs, while that of 
 Oliva adjusted the contending claims of the North. 
 
 The European states, delivered from the terror of universal 
 dominion, began to think the establishment of it an impossibility ; 
 and losing conceit of the system of political equipoise, they sub- 
 stituted in its place maxims of injustice and violence. 
 
 The eighth period, which comes down to 1789, is an epoch 
 of weakness and corruption, during which the doctrines of a 
 libertine and impious philosophy led the way to the downfall of 
 thrones and the subversion of social order. 
 
 [The consequences of this new philosophy bring us to the 
 ni/ith period, during w^hich, Europe was almost entirely revolu- 
 tionized. The present history terminates with the year 1815, 
 which forms a natural division in this revolutionary epoch ; the 
 final results of which can be known only to posterity ] 
 
VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTIONS OF EUROPE. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 PERIOD L 
 
 From the Invasion of the Roman Empire in the West by the 
 Barbarians, to the time of Charlemagne, a. d. 406 — 800. 
 
 The Roman empire had, for many years, been gradually 
 tending towards its downfall. Its energies were exhausted ; 
 and it required no great efforts to lay prostrate that gigantic 
 power which had almost lost its strength and activity. The 
 vices of the government, the relaxation of discipline, the ani- 
 mosities of faction, and the miseries of the people, all announced 
 the approaching ruin of the empire. Divided by mutual jea- 
 lousies, enervated by luxury, and oppressed by despotism, the 
 Romans were in no condition to withstand the numerous swarms 
 of barbarians from the North, who, unacquainted with luxury, 
 and despising danger and death, had learned to conquer in the 
 ranks of the Imperial armies. 
 
 Several of the Emperors, guided by a short-sighted policy, 
 had received into their pay entire battalions of foreigners ; and 
 to recompense their servicies, had assigned them settlements in 
 the frontier provinces of the empire. Thus the Franks obtained, 
 by way of compensation, territories in Belgic Gaul; while smni- 
 lar grants were made in Pannonia and in Thrace, to the Vandals, 
 Alans, Goths, and other barbarians. This liberality of the Ro- 
 mans, which was a true mark of weakness, together with the 
 vast numbers of these troops which they employed in their wars, 
 at length accustomed the barbarians to regard the empire as their 
 prey. Towards the close of the year 406, the Vandals, the 
 Suevi, and the Alans, sounded the tocsin of that famous inva- 
 sion which accelerated the downfall of the Western empire. 
 The example of these nations was soon followed by the Visi- 
 goths, the Burgundians, the Alemanns,' the Franks, the Huns, 
 the Angles, the Saxons, the Heruls, the Ostrogoths, and the 
 Lombards. All these nations, with the exception of the Huns 
 were of German origin. 
 
 4# 
 
42 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Vandals, it appears, were originally settled in that part 
 of northern Germany which lies between the Elbe and the Vis- 
 tula. They formed a branch of the ancient Suevi, as did also 
 the Burgundians and the Lombards. After the third century, 
 and under the reign of the Emperor Probus, we find them, with 
 the Burgundians, engaged in warring against the Romans on 
 the Rhine. In the time of Aurelian, (272) they established them- 
 selves in the western part of Dacia, that is, in Transylvania, and 
 a part of modern Hungary. Oppressed in these districts by the 
 Goths, they obtained from Constantino the Great, settlements in 
 Pannonia, on condition of rendering military service to the 
 Romans. They remained in Pannonia, until the commencement 
 of the fifth century, when they set out on their emigration to- 
 wards Gaul. It was on this occasion that they associated them- 
 selves with the Alans, a people originally from Mount Caucasus, 
 and ancient Scythia; a branch of which, settled in Sarmatia 
 near the source of the Borysthenes or Dnieper, had advanced 
 as far as the Danube, and there made a formidable stand against 
 the Romans. In their passage through Germany, the Vandals 
 and the Alans joined a body of the Suevi, who also inhabited 
 the banks of the Danube, eastward of the powerful nation of the 
 Alemanns. United in this rude confederacy, they entered Gaul, 
 plundering and destroying wherever they went. Mayence, 
 Worms, Spire, Strasbourg, and many flourishing cities of Gaul, 
 were pillaged by these barbarians. 
 
 The Goths,^ the most powerful of these destructive nations, 
 began to rise into notice in the third century, after the time of 
 the Emperor Caracalla. They then inhabited the country be- 
 tween the Vistula, the Dniester, the Borysthenes, and the Tanais 
 Oi Don. It is not certain whether they were originally from 
 those regions, or whether, in more remote times, they inhabited 
 Scandinavia, from which, according to Jornandes, a Gothic au- 
 t\:?y, they emigrated at an early period. It is however certain, 
 thai they were of German extraction ; and that, in the third and 
 fourth centuries, they made the Caesars tremble on their thrones. 
 The Emperor Aurelian was compelled (274) to abandon the pro- 
 vince of Dacia to their dominion. 
 
 This nation, the first of the German tribes that embraced the 
 Christian religion,^ was divided, in their ancient settlements 
 beyond the Danube, into two principal branches. They who 
 inhabited the districts towards the east and the Euxine Sea, 
 between the Dniester, the Borysthenes, and the Tanais, were 
 called Ostrogoths ; the Visigoths were the branch which extend- 
 ed westward, and occupied ancient Dacia, and the regions situ- 
 ated between the Dniester, the Danube and the Vistula. At- 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 43 
 
 lacked in these vast countries by the Huns, (375) some were 
 •subjugated, and others compelled to abandon their habitations. 
 A part of the Visigoths then fixed their abode in Thrace, in 
 Msesia, and the frontiers of Dacia, with consent of the emperors ; 
 who granted also to the Ostrogoths settlements in Pannonia. 
 At length the Visigoths, after having twice ravaged Italy, sacked 
 and plundered Rome, ended their conquests by establishing 
 themselves in Gaul and in Spain. One branch of these Goths 
 appears to have been the Thuringians, whom we find in the 
 fifth century established in the heart of Germany, where they 
 erected a very powerful kingdom. 
 
 The Fkanks were probably a confederacy which the German 
 tribes, situated between the Rhine, the Maine, the Weser, and 
 the Elbe, had formed among themselves, in order to maintain 
 their liberty and independence against the Romans. Tacitus, 
 who wrote about the commencement of the second century, did 
 not know them under this new name, which occurs for the first 
 time in the historians of the third century. Among the German 
 tribes who composed this association, we find the Chauci, the 
 Sicambri, the Chamavi, the Cherusci, the Bructeri, the Catti, 
 the Ampsivarii, the Ripuarii, the Salii, &c.* These tribes, 
 though combined for the purposes of common defence, under 
 the general name of Franks, preserved, nevertheless, each their 
 laws and form of government, as well as their particular chiefs, 
 and the names of their aboriginal tribes. In the fourth, and 
 towards the beginning of the fifth century, the whole country 
 lying within the Rhine, the Weser, the Maine, and the Elbe, 
 was called Francia. 
 
 Another confederation of the German tribes, was that of the 
 Alemanns ; unknown also to Tacitus. It took its origin about 
 the commencement of the third century. Their territories ex- 
 tended between the Danube, the Rhine, the Necker, the Main, 
 and the Lahn. On the east, in a part of Franconia and modern 
 Suabia, they had for their neighbours and allies the Suevi, 
 who, after having long formed a distinct nation, were at length 
 blended with the Alemanns, and gave their country the name 
 of Suabia. The Alemanns rendered themselves formidable to 
 the Romans, by their frequent inroads into Gaul and Italy, in the 
 third and fourth centuries. 
 
 The Saxons, unknown also to Tacitus, began to make a 
 figure in history about the second century, when we find them 
 settled beyond the Elbe, in modern Holstein, having for their 
 neighbours the Angles, or English, inhabiting Sleswick Proper. 
 These nations were early distinguished as pirates and free- 
 booters ; and, while the Franks and the Alemanns spread them- 
 
44 
 
 CHAPTER ir. 
 
 selves over the interior of Gaul, the Saxons infested the coasts, 
 and even extended their incursions into Britain. The Franks 
 having- penetrated into Gaul with their main forces, the Saxons 
 passed the Elbe, and in course of time, occupied, or united in 
 alliance with them, the greater part of ancient Francia, which 
 took from them the name of Saxony. There they subdivided 
 themselves into three principal branches ; the Ostyhalians to 
 the east, the Westphalians to the west, and the Angrians or 
 Angrivarians, whose territories lay between the other two, 
 along the Weser, and as far as the confines of Hesse. 
 
 The Huns, the most fierce and sanguinary of all the nations 
 which overran the Eoman Empire in the fifth century, came 
 from the remote districts of northern Asia, which were altogether 
 unknown to the ancient Greeks and Eomans. From the de- 
 scriptions which the historians of the fifth and sixth centuries 
 have given us of them, we are led to believe, that they were 
 Kalmucks or Monguls originally. The fame of their arms had 
 begun to spread over Europe so early as the year 375 of the 
 Christian era. Having subdued the Alans, and crossed the 
 Tanais, they subverted the powerful monarchy of the Goths, and 
 gave the first impulse to the great revolution of the fifth cen- 
 tury, which changed the face of all Europe. The Eastern empire 
 first felt the fury of these barbarians, who carried fire and sword 
 wherever they went, rendered the Emperors their tributaries, 
 and then precipitated themselves on the West under the conduct 
 of the famous Attila.^ 
 
 Several of the nations we have now enumerated, divided 
 among themselves the territories of Gaul. This province, one 
 of the richest and most important in the Western empire, was 
 repeatedly overrun and devastated by the barbarous hordes of the 
 fifth century. The Visigoths were the first that formed settle- 
 ments in it. On their arrival under the command of King Atulf 
 or Adolphus, (412,) they took possession of the whole country 
 lying within the Loire, the Rhine, the Durance, the Mediter- 
 ranean, and the Alps. Toulouse became their capital, and the 
 residence of their kings. 
 
 The Burgundians, a people, it would appear, originally from 
 the countries situated between the Oder and the Vistula, fol- 
 lowed nearly in the track of the Visigoths ; as we find them, 
 about the year 413, established on the Upper Rhine and in 
 Switzerland. After the dissolution of the empire, they suc- 
 ceeded in establishing themselves in those parts of Gaul, known 
 by the names of the Sequanois, Lyonnois, Viennois and Nar- 
 bonnois, viz. in those districts which formed, in course of time, 
 the two Burgundies, the provinces of Lyonnois, Dauphiny and 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406 — 800. 45 
 
 Provence on this side of the Durance, Savoy, the Pays de Vaud^ 
 
 the Valais and Switzerland.'^ These couiitries then assumed 
 the name of the Kingdom of the Burgundians. 
 
 The Alemanni and the Suevi became flourishing nations on 
 the banks of the Upper Rhine and the Danube. They invaded 
 those countries in Gaul, or the Germania Prima of the Romans, 
 known since under the names of Alsace, the Palatinate, May- 
 ence, &c, ; and extended their conquests also over a considerable 
 part of Rhetia and Vindelicia. 
 
 At length the Franks, having been repulsed in different ren- 
 counters by the Romans, again passed the Rhine (430,) under 
 the conduct of Clodion their chief; made themselves masters 
 of the greater part of Belgic Gaul, took possession of Tournay, 
 Cambray and Amiens ; and thus laid the foundation of the new 
 kingdom of France in Gaul. The Romans, however, still main- 
 tained their authority in the interior of that province, and the 
 brave jEtius their general made head against all those hordes 
 of barbarians who disputed with him the dominion of Gaul. 
 
 It was at this crisis that the Hu]ns made their appearance on 
 the theatre of war. The fierce Attila, a man of great military 
 talents, after having overthrown various states, conquered Pan- 
 nonia, and different provinces of the Eastern empire on the right 
 bank of the Danube, undertook his famous expedition into Gaul. 
 Marching along the Danube from Pannonia, at the head of an 
 innumerable army,^ he passed the Rhine near the Lake of Con- 
 stance, pillaged and ravaged several places, and spread the terror 
 of his arms over all Gaul. The Franks and the Visigoths united 
 their forces with those of the Roman General, to arrest the 
 progress of the barbarian. A bloody and obstinate encounter 
 took place (451,) on the plains of Chalons-sur-Marne, or Mery- 
 sur-Seine, according to others. Thierry, King of the Visigoths, 
 and more than a hundred and sixty thousand men, perished on 
 the field of battle. Night separated the combatants ; and Attila, 
 who found his troops too much exhausted to renew the combat, 
 resolved to retreat. The following year he made a descent 
 on Italy, and committed great devastations. This proved \\\i 
 last expedition ; for he died suddenly on his return, and the 
 monarchy of the Huns expired with him. 
 
 The defeat of the Huns did not re-establish the shattered and 
 ruinous affairs of the Romans in Gaul. The Salian Franks,® 
 under their kings, Meroveus and Ghilderic I., the successors of 
 Clodion, extended their conquests more and more ; till at length 
 Clovis, son of Childeric I., put an end to the dominion of the 
 Romans in that country, by the victory which he gained in 486; 
 at Soissons, over Syagrius, the last of the Roman generals, who 
 
46 CHAPTER II. 
 
 died of a broken heart in consequence of this defeat. The Ale- 
 manns afterwards having- disputed with him the empire of the 
 Gauls, he routed them completely (496,) at the famous battle of 
 Tolbiac or Zulpich f seized their estates, and soon after em- 
 braced Christianity. Emboldened by his new creed, and backed 
 by the orthodox bishops, he attacked the Visigoths, who were 
 of the heretical sect of Arius, defeated and killed their king, 
 Alaric II., in the plains of Vougle, near Poitiers, (507,) and 
 stripped them of all their possessions between the Loire and the 
 Pyrenees.'" Gaul became thus, by degrees, the undisputed 
 possession of the Franks. The descendants of Clovis added to 
 their conquests the kingdom of the Burgundians (534,) which 
 they totally overthrew. 
 
 'I'hese same princes increased their possessions in the interior 
 of Germany, by the destruction of the powerful kingdom of the 
 Thuringians (531,) comprising those vast countries between the 
 Werra, the Aller, the Elbe, the Saal, the Mulda, and the Danube ; 
 and which are now known under the names of Saxony, Thu 
 ringia, Franconia, the Upper Palatinate," &:c. This kingdom 
 they divided with their allies the Saxons, w^ho obtained the nor 
 thern part of it, situated between the Unstrat and the Saal. 
 
 While the Visigoths, the Burgundians, the Franks and the 
 Alemanns, were disputing with each other the conquest of Gaul, 
 the Vandals, the Suevi, and the Alans, turned their ambitious 
 views towards Spain. After having settled some years in Gaul, 
 these tribes passed the Pyrenees (409,) to establish themselves 
 in the most fertile regions of Spain. The Vandals seized Bce- 
 tica, and a part of Gallicia ; the Suevi seized the rest of Gal- 
 licia ; while the Alans took possession of Lusitania, and the 
 province of Carthagena. The Alans afterwards submitted to 
 the sway of Gonderic, King of the Vandals (420,) while the 
 Suevi preserved their native princes, who reigned in Gallicia 
 and Lusitania ; this latter province having been abandoned by 
 the Vandals, (427,) when they passed into Africa. 
 
 Meanwhile new conquerors began to make their appearance 
 in Spain. The Visigoths, pressed by the Romans in Gaul, 
 took the resolution of carrying their arras beyond the Pyrenees. 
 Under the conduct of their King, Adolphus, they made them- 
 selves masters of the city of Barcelona (in 415.) Euric, one of 
 the successors of this prince, took from the Romans (472) all 
 that yet remained of their possessions in Spain ; and Leovigild, 
 another of their kings, completed the conquest of all that coun- 
 try (584,) by reducing the kingdom of the Suevi. The mo- 
 narchy of the Visigoths, w^hich in its flourishing state comprised, 
 besides the continent of Spain, Septimania or Languedoc in 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 47 
 
 Gaul, and Mauritania Tingitana in Africa, maintained its exist- 
 ence until the commencement of the eighth century; when, as 
 we shall afterwards see, it was finally overthrown by the Arabs. 
 
 Northern Africa, one of the finest possessions of the Romans, 
 was wrested from them by the Vandals. Count Boniface, who 
 had the government of that country, having been falsely accused 
 at the court of the Emperor Valentinian III., and believing him- 
 self ruined in the esteem of that prince, invited the Vandals over 
 to Africa; proposing to them the surrender of the provinces 
 intrusted to his command. Genseric was at that time king of 
 the Vandals. The preponderance which the Visigoths had ac- 
 quired in Spain, induced that prince to accept the ofl^er of the 
 Roman General; he embarked at the port of Andalusia, (427,) 
 and passed with the Vandals and the Alans into Africa. Mean- 
 time, Boniface having made up matters amicably with the Impe- 
 rial court, wished to retract the engagements which he had 
 made with the Vandals. Genseric nevertheless persisted in his 
 enterprise. He carried on a long and obstinate war with the 
 Romans ; the result of which turned to the advantage of the 
 barbarians. Genseric conquered in succession all that part of 
 Africa pertaining to the Western empire, from the Straits of 
 Cadiz as far as Cyrenaica, which was dependent on the empire 
 of the East. He subdued likewise the Balearic Isles, with 
 Sardinia, Corsica and a part of Sicily. 
 
 The writers of that age who speak of this invasion, agree in 
 painting, in the most lively colours, the horrors with which it 
 was accompanied. It appears that Genseric, whose whole sub- 
 jects, including old men and slaves, did not exceed eighty thou- 
 sand persons, being resolved to maintain his authority by terror, 
 caused, for this purpose, a general massacre to be made of the 
 ancient inhabitants of Africa. To these political severities were 
 added others on the score of religion ; being devoted with all 
 his subjects to the Arian heresy, he as well as his successors 
 became the constant and implacable persecutors of the orthodox 
 Christians. 
 
 This prince signalized himself by his maritime exploits, and 
 by the piracies which he committed on the coasts of Italy and 
 the whole Roman empire. Encouraged, as is supposed, by the 
 Empress Eudoxia, who wished to avenge the death of her hus- 
 band Valentinian III., he undertook an expedition into Italy, 
 (455,) in which he made himself master of Rome. The city 
 was pillaged during fifteen days by the Vandals, spoiled of all 
 its riches and its finest monuments. Innumerable statues, orna- 
 ments of temples, and the gilded cupola of the temple of Jupiter 
 Capitolinus, were removed in order to be transported to Africa; 
 
48 
 
 eilAPTER 11. 
 
 together witn many thousands of illustrious captives. A vessel 
 loaded with the most precious monuments of Kome, perished 
 in the passage. 
 
 The dominion of the Vandals in Africa lasted about a hundred 
 years. Their kingdom was destro^^ed by the Emperor Justinian, 
 who reunited Africa to the empire of the East. Gilimer, the 
 last king of the Vandals, was conquered by Belisarius^ (534,) 
 and conducted by him in triumph to Constantinople. 
 
 Britain, inaccessible by its situation to most of the invaders 
 that overran the Western empire, was infested, in the fifth cen- 
 tury, by the northern inhabitants of that island, — the free Britons, 
 known by the name of Caledonians or Picts, and Scots. The 
 Romans having withdrawn their legions from the island (446,) 
 to employ them in Gaul, the Britons, abandoned to their own 
 strength, thought proper to elect a king of their own nation, 
 named Vortigern ; but finding themselves still too weak to resist 
 the incursions of the Picts and Scots, who, breaking over the 
 wall of Severus, pillaged and laid waste the Roman province, 
 they took the imprudent resolution of calling in to their succour 
 the Angles, Saxons, and Jutlanders, who were already dis- 
 tinguished for their maritime incursions. A body of these An- 
 glo-Saxons arrived in Britain (450,) in the first year of the reign 
 of the Emperor Marcian, under the command of Hengist and 
 Horsa. From being friends and allies, they soon became ene- 
 mies of the Britons ; and ended by establishing their own do- 
 minion in the island. The native islanders, after a protracted 
 struggle, were driven into the province of Wales, where they 
 succeeded in maintaining their independence against their new 
 conquerors. A number of these fugitive Britons, to escape 
 from the yoke of the invaders, took refuge in Gaul. There 
 they were received by the Franks into Armorica and part of Ly- 
 onnois, to which they gave the name of Brittany. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxons founded successively seven petty king- 
 doms in Britain, viz. Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Northum- 
 berland, East Anglia, and Meixia. Each of these kingdoms 
 had severally their own kings ; but they were all united in a 
 political association, known by the name of the Heptarchy. 
 One of the seven kings was the common chief of the confede- 
 racy ; and there was a general convention of the whole, called 
 wittenagemot, or the assembly of the wise men. Each king- 
 dom was likewise governed by its own laws, and had its sepa- 
 rate assemblies, whose power limited the royal authority. 
 This federal system continued till the ninth century, when Eg- 
 bert the Great succeeded in abolishing the Heptarchy (827,) and 
 raised himself to be Kins: over all England 
 

 
 
 
 . — — ^ -1 
 
 |B 
 
 
 
 
 •^^^^S 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 lb 
 
 
 ^M 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 lljlinyiff^^- 
 
 3 
 
 Rome plundered by the Vandals. Vol. ],p.47. 
 
 Jinglo-Saxons landing in England. Vol. 1^ p. 48. 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 49 
 
 In the midst of this general overthrow, there were still to be 
 seen in Italy the phantoms of the Roman emperors, feebly sup- 
 porting a dignity which had long since lost its splendour. This 
 fine country had been desolated by the Visigoths, the Huns, 
 and the Vandals, in succession, without becoming the fixed re- 
 sidence of any one of these nations. The conquest of that an- 
 cient seat of the first empire in the world, was reserved for the 
 Heruls and the Rugians. For a long time, these German na- 
 tions, who are generally supposed to have emigrated from the 
 coasts of the Baltic Sea, had been approaching towards the 
 Danube. They served as auxiliaries to the Romans in Italy, 
 after the example of various other tribes of their countrymen. 
 Being resolved to usurp the dominion of that country, they 
 chose for their king Odoacer, under whose conduct they seized 
 Ravenna and Rome, dethroned Romulus Momyllus Augustu* 
 lus, the last of the Roman Emperors (476,) and put an entire 
 end to the empire of the West. 
 
 The Heruls did not enjoy these conquests more than seven- 
 teen years, when they were deprived of them in their turn by 
 the Ostrogoths. This nation then occupied those extensive 
 countries on the right bank of the Danube, in Pannonia, Illy- 
 ria, and Thrace, within the limits of the Eastern empire. They 
 had rendered thetnselves formidable to the Romans in that 
 quarter, by their frequent incursions into the very heart of the 
 empire. The Emperor Zeno, in order to withdraw these dan- 
 gerous neighbours from his frontiers, encouraged their king 
 Theodoric, as is alleged, to undertake the conquest of Italy 
 horn the Heruls. This prince immediately penetrated into the 
 country ; he defeated the Heruls in several actions ; and at 
 length forced Odoacer to shut himself up in the city of Ravenna 
 (489,) where, after a siege of three years, he fell into the hands of 
 the conqueror, who deprived him at once of his throne and his life. 
 
 Theodoric deserves not to be confounded with the other bar- 
 barous kings of the fifth century. Educated at the court of 
 Constantinople, where he passed the years of his youth, he had 
 learned to establish his authority by the equity of his laws, 
 and the wisdom of his administrations. He ruled an empire 
 which, besides Italy, embraced a great part of Pannonia, Rhetia, 
 Noricum, and Illyria. 
 
 This monarchy, formidable as it was, did not exist beyond 
 the space of sixty years : after a sanguinary warfare of eigh- 
 teen years, it was totally subverted by the Greeks. The Em- 
 peror Justinian employed his generals, Belisarius '^ and Nar 
 ses, in recovermg Italy and Sicily from the hands of the Goths 
 This nation defended their possessions with determined obsti 
 
 VOL. I. 5 
 
50 CHAPTER II. 
 
 nacy. Encouraged by Totila, one of their last kings, they 
 maintained a protracted struggle against the Greeks, and with 
 considerable success. It was during this war that the city of 
 Rome was pillaged afresh, and at length (517,) dismantled by 
 the Goths. Totila sustained a complete defeat at the foot of 
 the Apennines in Umbria (552,) and died of the wounds which 
 he had received in the action. His successor Teias was by no 
 means so fortunate in military affairs. In a bloody battle which 
 he fought with Narses, in Campania (553,) he was vanquished 
 and slain. His dominions passed into the hands of the Greeks, 
 with the exception of that part of Rhetia and Noricum which 
 the Alemanns occupied, and which, during the war between the 
 Greeks and the Goths, had become the possession of the Franks. '^ 
 
 A new revolution happened in Italy, (56S,) by the invasion 
 of the Lombards. This people, who originally inhabited the 
 northern part of Germany on the Elbe, and formed a branch 
 of the o-reat nation of the Suevi, had at lenolh fixed themselves 
 in Pannonia (527,) after several times changing their abode. 
 They then joined with the Avars, an Asiatic people, against the 
 Crepidas, who possessed a formidable dominion in ancient Dacia, 
 on the left bank of the Danube. This state was soon over- 
 turned by the combined forces of the two nations, and the whole 
 territories of the Gepidas passed (565) under the dominion of 
 the Avars. The Lombards also abandoned to them their pos- 
 sessions in Pannonia, and went in quest of new settlements 
 into Italy. It was in the spring of 563 that they began theii 
 route, under the conduct of their King Alloin, who, without 
 coming to regular combat with the Greeks, took from them, in 
 succession, a great number of cities and provinces. Pavia. 
 which the Goths had fortified with care, was the only town 
 that opposed him with vigorous resistance ; and it did not sur- 
 render till after a siege of three years, in 572. The Lombard 
 kings made this town the capital of their new dominions, which, 
 besides Upper Italy, known more especially by the name of 
 Lombardy, comprehended also a considerable part -of the middle 
 and lower districts, which the Lombards gradually wrested 
 from the Greeks. 
 
 The revolution of which we have just now given a summary 
 view, changed the face of all Europe ; but it had a more par- 
 ucuiar influence on the fate of ancient Germany. The Ger- 
 manic tribes, whose former boundaries were the Rhine and the 
 Danube, now extended their territories beyond these rivers. 
 The primitive names of those nations, recorded by Tacitus, fel! 
 mto oblivion, and were replaced by those of five or six grand 
 confederatious, viz. the Franks, Saxons, Frisians, Alemanns, 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 51 
 
 Suabians, and Bavarians,^"* which embraced all the regions af- 
 terwards comprehended under the name of Germany. 
 
 The Alemanns, and their neighbours the Suabians, occupied, 
 along with the Bavarians, the greater part of what is called 
 Upper Germany, on both sides of the Danube as far as the Alps. 
 The Franks, masters of a powerful monarchy in Gaul, preserved, 
 under their immediate dominion beyond the Rhine, a part of 
 ancient France, together with the territories of which they had 
 deprived the Alemanns'-' and the Thuringians. In short, in 
 all Lower Germany, no other names were to be found than 
 those of the Thuringians, Saxons, and Frisians ; and as to the 
 eastern part, situated beyond the Saal and the Elbe, as it had 
 been deserted of inhabitants by the frequent emigrations of the 
 German tribes, and by the total destruction of the kingdom of 
 the Thuringians, it was seized in turn by the Slavi, or Slavo- 
 nians, a race distinguished from the Germans by their language 
 and their manners. 
 
 This nation, different colonies of which still occupy a great 
 part of Europe, did not begin to figure in history until the 
 fourth century of the Christian era. Jornandes, a Gothic writer 
 of the sixth century, is the first author who mentions them. 
 He calls them Slavi, or Slavina ; and distinguishes them into 
 three principal branches, the Venedi, the Slavi, and the Antes, 
 whose numerous tribes occupied the vast countries on the north 
 of the Euxine Sea, between the Vistula, the Niester, the Nie- 
 per, &c. It was after the commencement of the sixth century 
 that these nations emigrated from their ancient habitations, and 
 spread themselves over the east and south of Europe. On the 
 one side, they extended their colonies as far as the Elbe and 
 the Saal ; on the other, they crossed the Danube, and penetra- 
 ted into Noricum, Pannonia, and Illyria; occupying all those 
 countries known at this day under the names of Hungary, 
 Sclavonia, Servia, Bosnia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Carniola, Carin- 
 thia, Stiria, and the march of the Venedi. The history of the 
 sixth century, presents nothing more memorable than the bloody 
 wars which the emperors of the East had to maintain against 
 the Slavians of the Danube. 
 
 Those colonies of them who first distinguished themselves 
 on the Elbe, the Hav^el, the Oder, and in the countries situated 
 to the north of the Danube, were the Czechi, or Slavi of Bo- 
 hemia ; the Sorabians inhabiting both sides of the Elbe, be- 
 tween the Saal and the Oder, in the countries now known under 
 the names of Misnia, Saxony, Anhalt and Lower Lusace ; the 
 Wilzians, or Welatabes, and the Abotrites, spread over Bran- 
 denburg, Pomerania, and Mecklenburg proper ; and, lastly, the 
 
S2 CHAPTER U. 
 
 Moravi, or Moravians, settled in Moravia, and in a part of mo- 
 dern Hungary. We find, in the seventh century, a chief named 
 Samo, who ruled over many of these nations. He fought suc- 
 cessfully against the armies of King Dagobert. It is supposed 
 that this man was a Frank merchant, whom several of the Sla- 
 vian tribes had elected as their chief. 
 
 There is one thing which, at this period, ought above all to 
 fix our attention, and that is the influence which the revolution 
 of the fifth century had on the governments, laws, manners, 
 sciences, and arts of Europe. The German tribes, in establish- 
 ing themselves in the provinces of the Western empire, intro- 
 duced along with them the political institutions by which they 
 had been governed in their native country. The governments 
 of ancient Germany were a kind of military democracies, under 
 generals or chiefs, with the prerogatives of kings. All matters 
 of importance were decided in their general assemblies, com- 
 posed of freemen, having the privilege of carrying arms, and 
 going to war.^*^ The succession to the throne was not heredi- 
 tary ; and though it became so in fact in most of the new German 
 states, still, on the accession of their princes, they were atten- 
 tive to preserve the ancient forms, which evinced the primitive 
 right of election that the nation had reserved to itself. 
 
 The political division into cantons (gaiv,) long used in ancient 
 Germany, was introduced into all the new conquests of the Ger- 
 man tribes, to facilitate the administration of justice. At the 
 head of every canton w^as a justiciary officer, called G7-av, in 
 Latin Comes, who held his court in the open air, assisted by a 
 certain number of assessors or sheriffs. This new division 
 caused a total change in the geography of Europe. The ancient 
 names of the countries were every where replaced by new ones ; 
 and the alterations which the nomenclature of these divisions 
 underwent in course of time, created no small embarrassment 
 in the study of the history and geography of the middle ages 
 
 Among the freemen who composed the armies of the German 
 nations, we find the grandees and nobles, who were distinguished 
 by the number of men-at-arms, or freemen, whom they carried 
 in their train. '^ They all followed the king, or common chief, 
 of the expedition, not as mercenaries or regular soldiers, but as 
 volunteers who had come, of their own accord, to accompany 
 him. The booty and the conquests which they made in war, 
 they regarded as a common property, to which they had all an 
 equal right. The kings, chiefs, and grandees, in the division 
 of their territories, received larger portions than the other mili- 
 tary and freemen, on account of the greater efforts they had 
 made, and the greater number of warriors who had followed 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 53 
 
 them to the field. These lands were given them as property 
 in every respect free ; and although an obligation was implied 
 of their concurring in defence of the common cause, yet it was 
 rather a sort of consequence of the territorial grant, and not im- 
 posed upon them as a clause, or essential condition of the tenure. 
 
 It is therefore wrong to regard this division of lands as having 
 given rise to fiefs. War was the favourite occupation, the only 
 honourable rank, and the inalienable prerogative of a German. 
 They were soldiers not of necessity or constraint, but of their 
 own free will, and because they despised every other employ- 
 ment, and every other mode of life. Despotism was, therefore, 
 never to be apprehended in a government like this, where the 
 'leat body of the nation were in arms, sat in their general as- 
 semblies, and marched to the field of war. Their kings, how- 
 ever, soon invented an expedient calculated to shackle the 
 national liberty, and to augment their own influence in the pub- 
 lic assemblies, by the number of retainers which they found 
 means to support. This expedient, founded on the primitive 
 manners of the Germans, was the institution of fiefs. 
 
 It was long a custom among the ancient Germans, that their 
 chiefs should have, in peace as well as in war, a numerous suite 
 of the bravest youths attached to their person. Besides provi- 
 sions, they supplied them with horses and arms, and shared with 
 them the spoil which they took in war. This practice subsisted 
 even after the Germans had established themselves in the pro- 
 vinces of the Western Empire. The kings, and, after their 
 example, the nobles, continued to entertain a vast number of 
 companions and followers ; and the better to secure their alle- 
 giance, they granted them, instead of horses and arms, the enjoy- 
 ment of certain portions of land, which they dismembered from 
 their own territories. 
 
 These grants, known at first by the name of benefices, and 
 afterwards q^ fiefs, subjected those who received them to personal 
 services, and allegiance to the superiors of whom they held 
 them. As they v/ere bestowed on the individual possessor, and 
 on the express condition of personal services, it is obvious that 
 originally fiefs or benefices were not hereditary ; and that they 
 returned to the superior, when the reason for which they had 
 been given no longer existed. 
 
 The laws and jurisprudence of the Romans were in full prac- 
 tice through all the provinces of the Western Empire, when the 
 German nations established themselves there. Far from super- 
 seding or abolishing them, the invaders permitted the ancient 
 inhabitants, and such of their new subjects as desired it, to live 
 conformably to these laws, and to retain them in their courts of 
 
 6# 
 
64 CHAPTER II. 
 
 justice. Nevertheless, without adopting this system of juris- 
 prudence, which accorded neither with the rudeness of their 
 manners, nor the imperfection of their ideas, they took great 
 care, after their settlement in the Roman provinces, to have their 
 ancient customs, to which they were so peculiarly attached, di- 
 gested and reduced to writing. 
 
 The Codes of the Salian and Ripuarian Franks, those of the 
 Visigoths, the Burgundians, the Bavarians, the Anglo-Saxons, 
 the Frisians, the Alemanns, and the Lombards, were collected 
 into one body, and liberty given to every citizen to be governed 
 according to that code of laws which he himself might choose. 
 All these laws wore the impress of the military spirit of the 
 Germans, as well as of their attachment to that personal liberty 
 and independence, which is the true characteristic of human 
 nature in its primitive state. According to these laws, every 
 person was judged by his peers; and the right of vengeance 
 was reserved to the individuals, or the whole family, of those 
 who had received injuries. Feuds, which thus became heredi- 
 tary, were not however irreconcilable. Compromise was allow- 
 ed for all private delinquencies, which could be expiated, by 
 paying to the injured party a specified sum, or a certain number 
 of cattle. Murder itself might be expiated in this manner ; and 
 every part of the body had a tax or equivalent, which was more 
 or less severe, according to the different rank or condition of 
 the offenders. 
 
 Every freeman was exempt from corporal punishment; and 
 in doubtful cases, the law obliged the judges to refer the parties 
 to single combat, enjoining them to decide their quarrel sword 
 in hand. Hence, we have the origin of the Judgments of God, 
 as well as of Challenges and Diiels}^ These customs of the 
 German nations, and their singular resolution in persisting in 
 them, could not but interrupt the good order of society, encou- 
 rage barbarism, and stamp the s-ame character of rudeness on all 
 their conquests. New wants sprung from new enjoyments 
 while opulence, and the contagion of example, taught them to 
 contract vices of which they had been ignorant, and which they 
 did not redeem by new virtues. Murders, oppressions, and rob- 
 beries, multiplied every day ; the sword was made the standard 
 of honour, the rule of justice and injustice ; cruelty and perfidy 
 became every where the reigning character of the court, the 
 nobility and the people. 
 
 Literature, with the arts and sciences, felt above all the bane- 
 ful effects of this revolution. In less than a century 3f;e- the 
 first invasion of the barbarians, there scarcely remained ct s.ugle 
 trace of the literature and fine arts of the Romans. Learninsf, 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 5^ 
 
 it is true, had for a long- time been gradually falling into decay, 
 and a corrupt taste had begun to appear among the Romans in 
 works of genius and imagination ; but no comparison can be 
 made between the state of literature, such as it was in the West 
 anterior to the revolution of the fifth century, and that which we 
 find there after the conquests of the German nations. 
 
 These barbarians, addicted solely to war and the chase, de- 
 spised the arts and sciences. Under their destructive hands, 
 the finest monuments of the Romans were levelled to the ground ; 
 their libraries were reduced to ashes ; their schools and semi- 
 naries of instruction annihilated. The feeble rays of learning 
 that remained to the vanquished, were unable to enlighten or 
 civilize those enemies to knowledge and mental cultivation. 
 The sciences, unpatronised and unprotected by those ferocious 
 conquerors,-soon fell into total contempt. 
 
 It is to the Christian religion alone, which was embraced, in 
 succession, by the barbarous destroyers of the empire, that we 
 owe the preservation of the mutilated and venerable remains 
 which we possess of Greek and Roman literature. ^^ The cler- 
 gy, being the authorized teachers of religion, and the only inter- 
 preters of the sacred writings, were obliged by their office to 
 have some tincture of letters. They thus became, over all the 
 East, the sole depositaries of learning ; and for a long series of 
 ages, there was nobody in any other rank or profession of life, 
 that occupied themselves with science, or had the slightest ac- 
 quaintance even with the art of writing. These advantages 
 which the clergy enjoyed, contributed in no small degree to 
 augment their credit and their influence. Every where they 
 were intrusted with the management of state affairs ; and the 
 offices of chancellor, ministers, public notaries, and in general, 
 all situations where knowledge or the art of writing was indis- 
 pensable, were reserved for them; and in this way their very 
 name {clericus) became as it were the synonyme for a man of 
 letters, or any person capable of handling the pen. The bish 
 ops, moreover, held the first rank in all political assemblies, and 
 in war marched to the field in person, at the head of their vassals. 
 
 Another circumstance that contributed to raise the credit and 
 the power of the clergy Avas, that the Latin language continued 
 to be employed in the Roman provinces which had been sub- 
 jected to the dominion of the German nations. Every thing 
 was written exclusively in the Roman tongue, which became the 
 language of the church, and of all public acts; and it was long 
 before the German dialects, which had become universally pre- 
 valent, could be reduced to writing. The corrupt pronunciation 
 of the Latin, and its mixtur'.; with foreign idioms and contsruc 
 
56 CHAPTER II. 
 
 tions, gave birth, in course of time, to new languages, which 
 still retain evidence of their Roman origiri, such as the Italian, 
 Spanish, Portuguese, French and English languages. In the 
 fifth and following centuries, the Teutonic language, or that 
 spoken by the conquerors of Gaul, was called lingua Francica; 
 this was distinguished from the lingua Romana, or the language 
 spoken by the people ; and which afterwards gave rise to the 
 modern French. It appears, therefore, from what we have just 
 stated, that the incursion of the German tribes into the provinces 
 of the West, was the true source of all the barbarity, ignorance 
 and superstition, in which that part of Europe was so long and 
 so universally buried. 
 
 There would have been, therefore, every reason to deplore a 
 revolution, not less sanguinary in itself than disastrous in its 
 consequences, if, on the one hand, it had not been the instru- 
 ment of delivering Europe from the terrible despotism of the 
 Romans ; and, on the other, if we did not find, in the rude in- 
 stitutions of the German conquerors, some germs of liberty, 
 which, sooner or later, were sure to lead the nations of Europe 
 to wiser laws, and better organized governments. 
 
 Among the states which rose on the ruins of the Roman em- 
 pire, that of the Franks acquired the preponderance ; and, for 
 several ages, it sustained the character of being the most pow- 
 erful kingdom in Europe. This monarchy, founded by Clovis, 
 and extended still more by his successors, embraced the whole 
 of Gaul except Languedoc, which belonged to the Visigoths.^" 
 The greater p^rt of Germany also was subject to it, with the 
 exception of Saxony, and the territories of the Slavi. After it 
 had fallen into decay, by the partitions and civil wars of the 
 descendants of Clovis, it rose again, solely however by the wis- 
 dom and ability of the mayors of the palace, who restored it once 
 more to its original splendour. 
 
 These mayors, from being originally merely grand-masters of 
 the court, rose by degrees to be prime ministers, governors of 
 the state, and ultimately to be kings. The founder of their 
 greatness, was Pepin d'Heristal, a cadet of the dynasty of the 
 Carlo vingians, which succeeded that of the Merovingians, to- 
 wards the middle of the eighth century. Under the Merovin- 
 gian princes, the sovereignty was divided between two principal 
 kingdoms, viz. that of Austrasia, which comprehended East- 
 ern France, being all that part of Gaul situated between the 
 Mouse, the Scheld, and the Rhine ; as well as the German pro- 
 vinces beyond the Rhine, which also made a part of that mo- 
 narchy. The whole of Western Gaul, lying between the Scheld, 
 the Meuse and the Loire, was called Neustria. Burgundy, 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. &t 
 
 Aquitain, and Provence, were considered as dependencies of this 
 latter kingdom. 
 
 Dagobert II., King of Austrasia, having been assassinated, in 
 678, the King of Neustria, Thierry III., would in all probability- 
 have reunited the two monarchies ; but the Austrasians, who 
 dreaded and detested Ebroin, Mayor of Neustria, elected a 
 mayor of their own, under the nominal authority of Thierry. 
 This gave rise to a sort of civil war between the Austrasians and 
 the Neustrians, headed by Pepin Heristal, Mayor of Austrasia, 
 and Bertaire, Mayor of Neustria, who succeeded Ebroin. The 
 battle which Pepin gained at Testry, near St. Quentin (687,) 
 decided the fate of the empire ; Bertaire was slain, and Thierry 
 III. fell under the power of the conqueror. Pepin afterwards 
 confirmed to Thierry the honours of royalty, and contented him- 
 self with the dignity of mayor, and the title of Duke and Prince 
 of the Franks ; but regarding the throne as his own by right of 
 conquest, he vested in himself the sovereign authority, and 
 granted to the Merovingian Prince, nothing more than the mere 
 externals of majesty, and the simple title of king. Such was 
 the revolution that transferred the supreme authority of the 
 Franks to a new dynasty, viz. that of the Carlovingians, who 
 with great moderation, still preserved, during a period of sixty- 
 five years, the royal dignity to the Merovingian princes, whom 
 they had stripped of all their power.^' 
 
 Pepin d'Heristal being dead (714,) the partizans of the ancient 
 dynasty made a last effort to liberate the Merovingian kings 
 from that dependence under which Pepin had held them so long. 
 This prince, in transferring the sovereign authority to his grand- 
 son Theodvvald, onlj'- six years of age, had devolved on his 
 widow, whose name was Plectrude, the regency and guardian- 
 ship of the young mayor. 
 
 A government so extraordinary emboldened the factious to 
 attempt a revolution. The regent, as well as her grandson, were 
 divested of the sovereignty, and the Neustrian grandees chose 
 a mayor of their own party named Eainfroy ; but their triumph 
 Avas only of short durat'on. Charles Martel, natural son of 
 Pepin as is supposed, having escaped from the prison where he 
 had been detained by the regent, passed into Austrasia, and then 
 caused himself to be proclaimed duke, after the example of his 
 father. He engaged in a war against Chilperic II, and his mayor 
 Rainfroy ; three successive victories which he gained, viz. at 
 Stavelo, Vinci near Cambray, and Soissons, in 716-17-18, made 
 him once more master of the throne and the sovereign authority. 
 The Duke of Aquitain having delivered up King Chilperic to 
 him, he confirmed anew the title of royalty to that prince ; and 
 
58 CHAPTER II. 
 
 shortly after raised his glory to its highest pitch, by the brilliant 
 victories which he gained over the Arabs (732-737,) in the plains 
 of Poitiers and Narbonne. 
 
 Pepin le Bref, (or the Short) son and successor of Charles 
 Martel, finding his authority established both within and with- 
 out his dominions, judged this a favourable opportunity for re- 
 uniting the title of royalty to the power of the sovereign. He 
 managed to have himself elected King in the General Assem- 
 bly of the Franks, which was convened in the Champ-dc-Mars, 
 in the neighbourhood of Soissons. Childeric III. the last ot 
 the Merovingian kings, was there deposed (752,) and shut up 
 in a convent. Pepin, with the intention of rendering his person 
 sacred and inviolable, had recourse to the ceremony of corona* 
 lion ; and he was the first King who caused himself to be 
 solemnly consecrated and crowned in the Cathedral of Sois- 
 sons, by St. Boniface, first archbishop of Mayence.-- Th« 
 example of Pepin was followed soon after by several princes and 
 sovereigns of Europe. The last conquest he added to his do- 
 minion was the province of Languedoc, which he took (759) 
 from the Arabs. 
 
 The origin of the secular power of the Roman pontiffs com- 
 mences with the reign of Pepin. This event, which had so 
 peculiar an influence on the religion and government of the Euro- 
 pean nations, requires to be detailed at some length. 
 
 At the period of which we write, there existed a violent con- 
 troversy between the churches in the East, and those in the 
 "West, respecting the worship of images. The Emperor Leo 
 the Isaurian had declared himself against this worship, and had 
 proscribed it by an imperial edict (726.) He and his successors 
 persisted in destroying these objects of idolatry, as well as in 
 persecuting those who avowed themselves devotees to this 
 heresy. This extravagant zeal, which the Roman pontifTs 
 blamed as excessive, excited the indignation of the people 
 against the Grecian Emperors.-^ In Italy, there were frequent 
 rebellions against the imperial officers that were charged with 
 the execution of their orders. The Romans especially, took 
 occasion, from this, to expel the duke or governor, who resided 
 in their city on the part of the emperor ; and they formally 
 erected themselves into a republic (730,) under the pontificate 
 of Gregory II., by usurping all the rights of sovereignty, and, 
 at the same time, reviving the ancient names of the senate and 
 the Roman people. The Pope was recognised as chief or head 
 of this new republic, and had the general direction of all affairs, 
 both at home and abroad. The territor}' of this republic, formed 
 of the dutchy of Rome, extended, from north to south, from 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 59 
 
 Viterbo as far as Terracina ; and from east to west, from NarnI 
 to the mouth of the Tiber. Such was the weakness of the 
 Eastern empire, that all the efforts of the emperors to reduce 
 the Komans to subjection proved unavailing. The Greek vice- 
 roy — the Duke of Naples, who had marched to besiege Rome, 
 was killed in battle, together with his son ; and the exarch him- 
 self was compelled to make peace with the republicans. 
 
 This state of distress to which the Grecian empire was re- 
 duced, afforded the Lombards an opportunity of extending their 
 possessions in Italy. Aistolphus their king attacked the city of 
 Ravenna (751,) where the exarchs or governors-general of the 
 Greeks had fixed their residence ; and soon made himself master 
 of it, as well as the province of the exarchate,-^ and the Pen- 
 tapolis. The exarch Eutychius was obliged to ^y, and took 
 shelter in Naples. 
 
 This surrender of the capital of Grecian Italy, emboldened 
 the Lombard King to extend his views still farther ; he demanded 
 the submission of the city and dutchy of Rome, which he con- 
 sidered as a dependency of the exarchate. Pope Stephen II. 
 became alarmed, and iDegan to solicit an alliance with the 
 Greek empire, whose distant power seemed to him less formi- 
 dable than that of the Lombards, his neighbours ; but being 
 cijsely pressed by Aistolphus, and finding that he had no suc- 
 co ir to expect from Constantinople, he determined to apply for 
 protection to the Franks and their King Pepin. 
 
 The Franks, at that time, held the first rank among the na- 
 tions of Europe ; their exploits against the Arabians had gained 
 them a high reputation for valour over all the West. Stephen 
 repaired in person to France, and in an interview which he had 
 with Pepin, he found means to interest that prince in his cause. 
 Pepin did not yet regard himself as securely established on a 
 throne which he had so recently usurped from the Merovingian 
 princes ; more especially as there still existed a son of Childeric 
 III., named Thierry, and a formidable rivalry in the puissant 
 dukes of Aquitain, who were cadets of the same family. He 
 had no other right to the crown than that of election ; and this 
 title, instead of descending to his sons, might perhaps serve as 
 a pretext for depriving them of the sovereignty. Anxious to 
 render the crown hereditary, he induced the Pope to renew the 
 ceremony of his coronation in the Church of St. Denis; and, 
 at the same time, to consecrate his two sons, Charles and Car- 
 loman. The Pope did more ; he disengaged the King from the 
 oath which he had taken to Childeric, and bound all the nobility 
 of the Franks, that were present on the occasion, in the name 
 of Jesus Christ and St. Peter, to preserve the royal dignity in 
 
60 CHAPTER n. 
 
 the right of Pepin and his descendants; and lastly, that be 
 might the more effectually secure the attachment of Pepin and 
 his sons, and procure for himself the title of being their pro- 
 tector, he publicly conferred on them the honour of being patri- 
 cians of Rome. 
 
 So great condescension on the part of the Pope could not but 
 excite the gratitude of Pepin, He not onl}^ promised him suc- 
 cour against the Lombards ; he engaged to recover the exarchate 
 from their hands, and make a present of it to the Holy See ; 
 he even made him a grant of it by anticipation, which he signed 
 at the Castle of Chiersi-sur-l'Oise, and which he likewise caused 
 to be signed by the princes his sons.'-^-^ It was in fulfilment of 
 these stipulations that Pepin undertook (755-56) two successive 
 expeditions into Italy. He compelled Aistolphus to acknowledge 
 himself his vassal, and deliver up to him the exarchate with 
 the Pentapolis, of which he immediately put his Holiness in 
 possession. This donation of Pepin served to confirm and to 
 extend the secular power of the Popes, which had already been 
 augmented by various grants of a similar kind. The original 
 document of this singular contract no longer exists; but the 
 names of the places are preserved which were ceded to the 
 pontifical hierarchy. ^^ 
 
 In the conclusion of this period, it may be proper to take some 
 notice of the Arabs, commonly called Saracens,^^ and of their 
 irruption into Europe. Mahomet, an Arab of noble birth, and 
 a native of Mecca, had constituted himself a prophet, a legisla- 
 tor, and a conqueror, about the beginning of the seventh century 
 of the Christian era. He had been expelled from Mecca (622) 
 on account of his predictions, but afterwards returned at the 
 head of an army; and having made himself master of the city, 
 he succeeded by degrees, in subjecting to his yoke the numerous 
 tribes of Arabia. His successors, known by the name of Ca- 
 liphs, or vicars spiritual and temporal of the prophet, followed 
 the same triumphant career. They propagated their religion 
 wherever they extended their empire, and overran with their 
 conquests the vast regions both of Asia and Africa. Syria, 
 Palestine, Egypt, Barca, Tripoli, and the whole northern coasts 
 of Africa, were won from the Greek empire by the Caliphs ; 
 who at the same time (651) overthrew the powerful monarchy 
 of the Persians; conquered Charasm, Transoxiana, and the In- 
 dies, and founded an empire more extensive than that of the 
 Romans had been. The capital of the Caliphs, which had ori- 
 ginally been at Medina, and afterwards at Cufa, was transferred 
 (661) by the Caliph Moavia I. to Damascus in Syria ; and by 
 the Caliph Almanzor, to Bagdad in Irak-Arabia, (766) whicfi 
 was founded bv that prince. 
 
Flight of Mahomet. Vol. 1 , p. 60. 
 
 Cruxn-n ng of Charlemagne. Vol. 1 , p. 65. 
 
PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 61 
 
 It was under the Caliphate of Walid (711,) that the Arabs 
 first invaded Europe, and attacked the monarchy of ihe Visigoths 
 in Spain. This monarchy had ah'eady sunk under the feeble- 
 ness of its kings, and the despotic prerogatives which the gran- 
 dees, and especially the bishops, had arrogated to themselves. 
 These latter disposed of the throne at their pleasure, having 
 declared it to be elective. They decided with supreme authority 
 in the councils of the nation, and in all affairs of state. Muza 
 at that time commanded in northern Africa, in name of the Ca- 
 liph Walid. By the authority of that sovereign, he sent into 
 Spain one of his generals, named Taric or Tarec-Abenzara, 
 who, having made a descent on the coasts of Andalusia, took 
 his station on the hill which the ancients called Calpe, and which 
 has since been known by the name of Gibraltar (Gibel-Taric,) 
 or the hill of Taric, in commemoration of the Arabian general. 
 
 It was in the neighbourhood of the city Xeres de la Frontera, 
 in Andalusia, that Taric encountered the army of the Visigoths, 
 commanded by their King Roderic. The battle was decisive, 
 as the Visigoths sustained a total defeat. Roderic perished in 
 the flight; and Muza, the Arabian governor, having arrived to 
 second the efforts of Taric, the conquest of all Spain followed 
 as a consequence of this victory.^ Septimania, or Languedoc, 
 which then made a part of the Visigothic monarch}^, passed ?,* 
 the same time under the dominion of the Arabs. 
 
 These fierce invaders did not limit their conquests in Europe 
 to Spain and Languedoc ; the Balearic Isles, Sardinia, Corsica, 
 part of Apulia and Calabria, fell likewise under their dominion : 
 they infested the sea with their fleets, and more than once car- 
 ried terror and desolation to the very gates of Rome. It is pro- 
 bable even that all Europe would have submitted to their yoke, 
 if Charles Martel had not arrested the career of their victories. 
 He defeated their numerous and warlike armies in the bloody- 
 battles which were fought near Poitiers and Narbonne (732- 
 737,) and at length compelled them to shut themselves up 
 within the province of Languedoc. 
 
 The unity of the empire and the religion of Mahomet, did 
 not long remain undivided. The first dynasty of the Caliphs, 
 that of the Ommiades, was subverted; and all the princes of 
 that family massacred by the Abassides (749,) who seized the 
 caliphate. '^^ A solitary descendant of the Ommiades, named Ab- 
 dalraham, grandson of the fifteenth Caliph Huscham, was 
 saved in Spain, and fixed his residence at Cordova; and being 
 acknowledged as Caliph by the Mussulmans there, he detached 
 that province from the great empire of the Arabians. (756.) 
 
 This revolution, and the confusion with which it was accom- 
 
 VOL. I. 6 
 
62 CHAPTER II. 
 
 panied, gave fresh courage to the small number oi Visigoths, 
 who, to escape the Mahometan yoke, had retired to the moun- 
 tains of Asturias. Issuing from their retreats, they retaliated 
 on the Infidels; and towards the middle of the eighth century, 
 they laid the foundation of a new Christian state, called after- 
 wards the kingdom of Oviedo or Leon. Alphonso I., sur- 
 named the Catholic, must be regarded as the first founder of 
 this new monarchy.^" 
 
 The Franks, likewise, took advantage of these events, to ex- 
 pel the Arabs from Languedoc. Pepin took possession of the 
 cities of Nismes, Maguelonne, Agde, and Beziers (752,) which 
 were delivered up to him by a noble Goth, named Osmond. 
 The reduction of Narbonne was by no means so easy a task. 
 For seven years he continued to blockade it; and it was not 
 until 759 that he became master of the city, and the whole of 
 Languedoc. 
 
 The loss of Spain, on the part of the Abassides, was soon 
 after followed by that of Northern Africa. Ibrahim Ben-Aglab, 
 having been sent thither as governor by the Caliph of Bagdad, 
 Haroun Alrashid (SOO,) he found means to constitute himself 
 sovereign prince over the countries, then properly termed Afri- 
 ca ; of which Tripoli, Cairoan, Tunis, and Algiers, formed a 
 part. He was the founder of the dynasty of the Aglabites ;^^ 
 while another usurper, named Edris, having conquered Numi- 
 dia and Mauritania, called by the Arabs Mogreb, founded that 
 of the Edrissites. These two dynasties were overturned (about 
 908) by Aboul Cassem Mohammed, son of Obeidallah, who 
 claimed to be descended from Ali, by Fatima, daughter of ihe 
 prophet; he subjected the whole of Northern Africa to his 
 yoke, and took the titles of Mahadi and Caliph. From him 
 were descended the Caliphs, called Fatimites, who extended 
 their conquests to Egypt, and laid there the foundation of Ka- 
 herah, or Grand Cairo (968,) Vv^here they established the seat 
 of their caliphate, which, in the twelfth century, was destroyed 
 by the Ayoubides. 
 
 The irruption of the Arabs into Spain, disastrous as it was, 
 did not fail to produce effects beneficial to Europe, which owes 
 its civilization partly to this circumstance. The Abassidian 
 Caliphs, aspiring to he the protectors of letters and arts, began 
 to found schools, and to encourage translations of the most 
 eminent Greek authors into the Arabic language. Their ex- 
 ample was followed by the Caliphs of Cordova, and even by 
 the Faiimiles, who held the sovereignty of Egypt and Northern 
 Africa. In this manner a taste for learning was communicated 
 to ail the Mahometan states. From Bagdad it passed to Cairo ; 
 
PERIOD II. A. D. 800—962. '63 
 
 and from the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile, it spread 
 itself as far as the Tagus. Mathematics, ^^ Astronomy, Che- 
 mistry, Medicine, Botany, and Materia Medica, were the sci- 
 ences which the Arabians affected chiefly to cuhivate. They 
 excelled also in poetry, and in the art of embodying the fictions 
 of imagination in the most agreeable narratives. Rhazes, Aver- 
 roes, Avicenna, are among the number of their celebrated phi- 
 losophers and physicians. Elmacin, Abuifeda, Abulpharagius, 
 and Bohadin, as historians, have become famous to all posterity. 
 Thus Spain, under the Mahometans, by cultivaiing many 
 sciences little known to the rest of Europe, became the semi- 
 nary of the Christians in the West, who resorted thither in 
 crowds, to prosecute in the schools of Cordova the study of 
 learning and the liberal arts.^^ The use of the numerical cha- 
 racters, the manufacture of paper, cotton, and gun-powder, 
 were derived to us from the Arabians, and especially from the 
 Arabians of Spain. Agriculture, manufactures, and naviga- 
 tion, are all equally indebted to the Arabians. They gave a 
 new impulse to the commerce of the Indies ; from the Persian 
 Gulf they extended their trade along the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean, and to the borders of the Black Sea. Their carpets, 
 and embroideries in gold and silver, their cloths of silk, and their 
 manufactures in steel and leather, maintained for years a ce- 
 lebrity and a perfection unknown to the other nations of Europe. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PERIOD II. 
 
 From Charlemagne to Otho the Great, a. d. SOO — 962. 
 
 The reign of Charles the Great forms a remarkable epoch in 
 the history of Europe. That prince, who succeeded his father 
 Pepin (76S,) eclipsed all his predecessors, by the superiority of 
 his genius, as well as by the wisdom and vigour of his admin- 
 istration. Under him the monarchy of the Franks was raised 
 to the highest pinnacle of glory. He would have been an ac- 
 complished prince, and worthy of being commemorated as the 
 benefactor of mankind, had he known how to restrain his im- 
 moderate thirst for conquest. 
 
 He carried his victorious arms into the centre of Germany; 
 and subdued the warlike nation of the Saxons, whose territories 
 extended from the Lower Rhine, to the Elbe and the Baltic 
 sea. After a bloody war of thirty-three years, he compelled 
 them to receive his yoke, and to embrace Christianity, by the 
 
64 CHAPTER III. f 
 
 peace which he concluded with them (803) at Sahz on the 
 Saal. The bishoprics of Munster, Osnaburg, Minden, Pader- 
 born, Verden, Bremen, Hildesheim, and Halberstadt, owe their 
 origin to this prince. Several of the Slavonian nations, the 
 Abotrites (789,) the Wilzians (805,) the Sorabians (806,) the 
 Bohemians (811,) &;c., acknowledged themselves his tributaries; 
 and by a treaty of peace which he concluded with Hemming, 
 King of Jutland, he fixed the river Eyder, as the northern 
 limit of his empire against the Danes. Besides these, the 
 powerful monarchy of the Avars,' which comprehended all the 
 countries known in modern times by the names of Austria, 
 Hungary, Transylvania, Sclavonia, Dalmatia and Croatia, was 
 completely subverted by him (791 ;) and he likewise despoiled 
 the Arabians of all that part of Spain which is situated between 
 the Pyrenees and the Ebro (796,) as also of Corsica, Sardinia, 
 and the Balearic Isles. In Spain he established military com- 
 manders under the title of Margraves. 
 
 Of these conquests, the one that deserves the most particu- 
 lar attention is that of Italy, and the kingdom of the Lombards. 
 At the solicitation of Pope Adrian I., Charles undertook an ex- 
 pedition against the last of the Lombard kings. He besieged 
 that prince in his capital at Pavia; and having made him pri- 
 soner, after a long siege, he shut him up in confinement for the 
 rest of his days, and incorporated his dominions with the mo- 
 narchy of the Franks. Tl.z Dukes of Benevento, who, as 
 vassals of the Lombard kings, then occupied the greater part of 
 Lower Italy, were at the same time compelled to acknowledge 
 the sovereignty of the conquerors, who allowed them to exer- 
 cise their hereditary rights, on condition of their paying an 
 annual tribute. The only places in this part of Italy that re 
 mained unsubdued, were the maritime towns, of which the 
 Greeks still found means to maintain the possession. 
 
 In order to secure the conquest of this country, as well as to 
 protect it against the incursions of the Arabians, Charles estab- 
 lished several marches and military stations, such as the 
 marches of Friuli, Tarento, Turin, Liguira, Teti, &c. The 
 dov/nfall of the Lombards, put an end to the republican govern- 
 ment of the Eomans. During the blockade of Pavia, Charles 
 having gone to Rome to be present at the feast of Easter (774,) 
 was received there with all the honours due to an Exarch 
 and a Patrician; and there is incontestable proof that he after- 
 wards received, under that title, the rights of sovereignty over 
 Kome and the Ecclesiastical States. 
 
 The Patrician dignity, instituted by Constantine the Great; 
 ranked; in the Greek empire, next after that of emperor. It was 
 
PERIOD II. A. D. 800 — 962. 65 
 
 of such consideration, that even barbarian kings, the destroyers 
 of the ancient Roman empire in the West, became candidates 
 for this honour at the Court of Constantinople. The exarchs 
 ^ of Ravenna were generally invested with it, and exercised under 
 this title, rather than that of exarch or governor, the authority 
 which they enjoyed at Rome. Pope Stephen II. had, twenty 
 years before, conferred the patriciate on Pepin and his sons ; 
 although these princes appear never to have exercised the right, 
 regarding it merely as an honorary title, so long at least as^'the 
 kingdom of the Lombards separated them from Rome and the 
 States of the Church. Charles no sooner saw himself master 
 of that kingdom, than he affected to add to his titles of King of 
 the Franks and Lombards that of' Patrician of the Romans ; and 
 oegan to exercise over Rome and the Ecclesiastical States those 
 rig-hts of supremacy which the Greek emperors and exarchs had 
 enjoyed before him. 
 
 This prince returned to Rome towards the end of the year 
 800?«in order to inquire into a conspiracy which some of the 
 Roman nobility had concerted against the life of Pope Leo III. 
 The whole affair having been discussed in his presence, and 
 the innocence of the Pope clearly established, Charles went to 
 assist at the solemn mass which was celebrated in St. Peter's 
 Church on Christmas day (SCO.) The Pope, anxious to show 
 him some public testimony of his gratitude, chose the moment 
 when the prince was on his knees at the foot of the grand altar, 
 to put the imperial crown on his head, and cause him to be pro- 
 claimed to the people Emperor of the Romans. 
 
 ^ From this affair must be dated the revival of the Roman Em- 
 pire in the West,— a title which had been extinct for three hun- 
 dred 3^ears. The emperors of the East who, during that inter- 
 val, had continued exclusively in the enjoyment of that title, 
 appeared to have some reason' for opposing an innovation which 
 might eventually become prejudicial to them. The contest 
 which arose on this subject between the two emperors, was at 
 length (803) terminated by treaty. The Greek emperors recog- 
 nised the new dignity of Charles (812 ;) and on these conditions 
 they were allowed to retain those possessions, which they still 
 held by a feeble tenure in Italy. 
 
 In thus maintaining the imperial dignity against the Greek 
 emperors, Charles added nothing to his real power ; he acquired 
 from it no new right over the dismembered provinces of the 
 Western empire, the state of which had, for a long time past, 
 been fixed by specific regulations. He did not even augment 
 his authority over Rome, where he continued to exercise the 
 
 6^ 
 
<•• 
 
 DO CHAPTER III. 
 
 same rights of superiority under the title of emperor, which he 
 had formerly done under that of patrician. 
 
 This prince, whose genius soared beyond his age, did not 
 figure merely as a warrior and a conqueror; he was also a le- . 
 gislator, and a zealous patron of letters. By the laws which he 
 published under the title of Capitularies, he reformed several 
 abuses, and introduced new ideas of order and justice. Com- 
 missioners nominated by himself, were charged to travel through 
 the provinces, to superintend the execution of the laws, listen 
 to the complaints of the people, and render justice to each 
 without distinction and without partiality. He conceived like- 
 wise the idea of establishing a uniformity of weights and mea- 
 sures throughout the empire. Some of the laws of that great 
 man, however, indicate a disposition tinctured with ^he barba- 
 rism and superstition of his age. The Judgments of God are 
 expressly held by him to be legal tests of right and wrong, and 
 the greater part of crimes expiable by money. By a general 
 law, which he passed in 779, introducing the payment of ^cle- 
 siastical tithes, and which he extended to the vanquished Saxons 
 (791,) he alienated the affections of that people; and the code 
 which he dictated on this occasion, is remarkable for its atrocity ; 
 which their repeated revolts, and frequent returns to paganism, 
 cannot justify. 
 
 As to his patronage and love of letters, this is attested by the 
 numerous schools which he founded, and the encouragements 
 he held out to them ; as well as the attention he showed in in- 
 vitmg to his court, the most celebrated learned men from every 
 country in Europe. He formed them into a kind of academy, 
 or literary society, of which he was himself a member. When 
 at an advanced age, he received instruction in rhetoric, logic 
 and astronomy, from the famous Alcuin, an Englishman, to 
 whom he was much attached. He endeavoured also to improve 
 his vernacular tongue, which was the Teutonic, or lingua 
 Francica, by drawing up a grammar of that language, giving 
 German names to the months and the winds, which had not yet 
 received them ; and in making a collection of the military songs 
 of the ancient Germans. He extended an equal protection to 
 the arts, more especially architecture, a taste for which he had 
 imbibed in Italy and Rome. Writers of those times speak 
 with admiration of the palaces and edifices constructed by his 
 orders, at Ingelheim, near Mentz, atNimeguen, on the left bank 
 of the Waal, and at Aix-la-Chapelle. These buildings were 
 adorned with numerous paintings, as well as marble and mosaic 
 work, which he had brought from Rome and Ravenna. 
 
 The empire of Charlemagne, which may bear a comparison 
 
• PERIOD II. A. D. 800—962. 67 
 
 as to its extent with the ancient empire of the West, embraced 
 the principal part of Europe. All Gaul, Germany, and Spain 
 as far as the Ebro, Italy to Benevento, several islands in the 
 Mediterranean, with a considerable part of Pannonia, composed 
 this vast empire, which, from west to east, extended from the 
 Ebro to the. Elbe and the Raab ; and from south to north, from 
 the dutchy of Benevento and the Adriatic Sea to the River Ey- 
 der, which formed the boundary between Germany and Denmark. 
 
 In defining the limits of the empire of Charlemagne, care 
 must be taken not to confound the provinces and states incor- 
 porated with the empire with those that were merely tributary. 
 The former were governed by officers who might be recalled at 
 the will of the prince ; while the latter were free states, whose 
 only tenure on the empire was by alliance, and the contributions 
 they engaged to pay. Such was the policy of this prince, that, 
 besides the marches or military stations which he had established 
 on the frontiers of Germany, Spain, and Italy, he chose to retain 
 on different points of his dominions, nations who, under the 
 name of tributaries, enjoyed the protection of the Franks, and 
 might act as a guard or barrier against the barbarous tribes of 
 the east and north, who had long been in the habit of making 
 incursions into the western and southern countries of Europe. 
 
 Thus the dukes of Benevento in Italy, who were simply vas- 
 sals and tributaries of the empire, supplied as it were a rampart 
 or bulwark against the Greeks and Arabians; while the Scla- 
 vonian nations of Germany, Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Croatia, 
 though feudatories or vassals of France, were governed, never- 
 'theless, by their own laws, and in general did not even profess 
 the Christian religion. 
 
 From this brief sketch of the reign of Charlemagne, it is easy 
 to perceive, that there was then no single power in Europe for- 
 midable enough to enter into competition with the empire of the 
 Franks. The monarchies of the north, Denmark, Norway, and 
 Sweden, and those of Poland and Russia, were not then in ex- 
 istence ; or had not emerged from the thick darkness that still 
 covered those parts of continental Europe, England then pre- 
 sented a heptarchy of seven confederate governments, the union 
 of which was far from being well consolidated. The kings of 
 this confederacy were incessantly engaged in war with each 
 other ; and it was not until several years after Charlemagne, 
 that Egbert the Great, king of Wessex, prevailing in the contest 
 constituted himself King of all England, in 827. 
 
 The Mahometan part of Spain, after it was separated from 
 the great empire of the Caliph's, was engaged in perpetual war- 
 fare with the East. The Ommiades, sovereigns of Cordova, 
 
bo CHAPTER III. 
 
 far from provoking- their western neighbours, whose valour they 
 had ah'eady experienced, showed themselves, on the contrary, 
 attentive to preserve peace and good understanding with ihem. 
 The Greek emperors, who were continually quarrelling with the 
 Arabs and Bulgarians, and agitated by factions and intestine 
 commotions, could no longer be an object of suspicion or rivalry 
 to the monarchy of the Franks. 
 
 Thus did the empire of Charlemagne enjoy the glory tDf being 
 the ascendant power in Europe ; but it did not long sustain its 
 original splendor. It would have required a man of extraordi- 
 nary talents, to manage the reins of a government so extensive 
 and so complicated. Louis-le-Debonnaire, or the Gentle, the 
 son and successor of Charles, did not possess a single qualifi- 
 cation proper to govern the vast dominions which his father had 
 bequeathed to him. As impolitic as he was weak and super- 
 stitious, he had not the art of making himself either loved or 
 feared by his subjects. By the imprudent partition of his domi- 
 nions between his sons, which he made even in his lifetime, he 
 planted with his own hand those seeds of discord in his family, 
 which accelerated the downfall of the empire. The civil wars 
 which had commenced in his reign continued after his death. 
 Louis, surnamed the German, and Charles the Bald, combined 
 against their elder brother Lothaire, and defeated him at the fa- 
 mous battle of Fontenay in Burgundy (841,) where all the flower 
 of the ancient nobility perished Louis and Charles, victorious in 
 this engagement, obliged their brother to take refuge in Italy. 
 They next marched to Strasbourg, wnere they renewed their alli- 
 ance (842,) and confirmed it by oath at the head of their troops.* 
 
 These princes were en the point of dividing the whole mo- 
 narchy between them, when, by the interference of the nobility, 
 they became reconciled to their elder brother, and concluded a 
 treaty with him at Verdun (843,) which finally completed the 
 division of the empire. By this formal distribution Lothaire 
 retained die imperial dignity, with the kingdom of Italy, and the 
 provinces situated between the Rhone, the Saone, the Meuse, 
 the ScLeld, the Rhine, and the Alps. Louis had all Germany 
 beyond the Rhine, and on this side of the river, the cantons of 
 May^nce, Spire, and Worms; and, lastly, all that part of Gau] 
 whicu extends from the Scheld, the Meuse, the Saone, and the 
 Rhone, to the Pyrenees, fell to the lot of Charles, whose division 
 also comprehended the March of Spain, consisting of the pro- 
 vince of Barcelona, and the territories which Charlemagne had 
 conquered, beyond the Pyrenees. 
 
 It is with this treaty, properly speaking, that modern France 
 commences, which is but a department of the ancient empire of 
 
PERIOD II. A. D. 800—962. 69 
 
 the Franks, or monarchy of Charlemagne. For a long time it 
 retained the boundaries which the conference at Verdun had 
 assigned it ; and whatever it now possesses beyond these limits, 
 was the acquisition of conquests which it has made since the four- 
 teenth century. Charles the Bald was in fact then the first King 
 of France, and it his from him that the series of her kings com- 
 mences. It was moreover under this prince that the govern- 
 ment of the Neustrians or Western Franks assumed a new 
 aspect. Before his time it was entirely of a Frankish or German 
 constitution; the manners and customs of the conquerors of 
 Gaul every where predominated ; their language (the lingua 
 Fromcica) was that of the court and the government. But after 
 the dismemberment of which we have spoken, the Gauls im- 
 ported it into Neustria or Western France ; the customs and 
 popular language were adopted by the court, and had no small 
 influence on the government. This language, which was then 
 known by the name of the Roman or Romance, polished by the 
 refinements of the court, assumed by degrees a new and purer 
 form, and in course of time became the parent of the modern 
 French. It was therefore at this period, viz. the reign of 
 Charles the Bald, that the Western Franks began, properly 
 speaking, to be a distinct nation, and exchanged their more 
 ancient appellation for that of French; the name by which they 
 are still known. 
 
 At this same period Germany was, for the first time, embo- 
 died into a monarchy, having its own particular kings. Louis 
 the German, was the first monarch of Germany, as Charles the 
 Bald was of France. The kingdom of Louis for a long time 
 was called Eastern France, to distinguish it from the Western 
 kingdom of that name, which henceforth exclusively retained 
 the name of France. 
 
 The empire of Charlemagne, which the treaty of Verdun had 
 divided, was for a short space reunited (884) under Charlea 
 surnamed the Fat, younger son of Louis the German, and King 
 of Germany ; but that prince, too feeble to support so great a 
 weight, was deposed by his German subjects (887,) and their 
 example was speedily followed by the French and the Italians 
 The vast empire of the Franks was thus dismembered for eve 
 (888,) and besides the kingdoms of France, Germany, and Italy, 
 it gave birth to three new States — the kingdoms of Lorraine, 
 Burgundy, and Navarre. 
 
 The kingdom of Lorraine took its name from Lothaire II., 
 younger son of the Emperor Lothaire I., who, in the division 
 which he made of his estates among his sons (8oo,) gave to this 
 Lothaire the provinces situated between the Rhine, the Meuse 
 
70 CHAPTER m. 
 
 and the Scheld, known since under the name of Lorraine, Al- 
 sace, Treves, Cologne, Juliers, Liege, and the Low Countries.. 
 At the death of Lothaire II., who left no male or legitimate 
 heirs, his kingdom was divided by the treaty of Procaspis (870,) 
 into two equal portions, one of which was assigned to Louis 
 the German, and the other to Charles the Bald.^ By a subse- 
 quent treaty, concluded (879) between the sons of Louis, &ur- 
 named the Stamnrierer, King of France, and Louis the Young, 
 King of Germany, the French division of Lorraine was ceded 
 to this latter prince, who thus reunited the whole of that king- 
 dom. It remained incorporated with Germany, at the time when 
 the last dismemberment of that monarchy took place, (895,) on 
 the deposition of Charles the Fat. Arnulph, King of Germany, 
 and successor of Charles, bestowed the kingdom of Lorraine on 
 Swentibald his natural son, who after a reign of five years, was 
 deposed by Louis, surnamed the Infant, son and successor of 
 Arnulph. Louis dying without issue, (912,) Charles the Sim- 
 ple, King of France, took advantage of the commotions in Ger- 
 many, to put himself in possession of that kingdom, which was 
 at length finally reunited to the Germanic crown by Henry, 
 surnamed the Fowler. 
 
 Two new kingdoms appeared under the name of Burgundy, 
 viz. Provence or Cisjurane Burgundy, and Transjurane Bur 
 gundy. The founder of the former was a nobleman named 
 Boson, whose sister Charles the Bald had espoused. Elevated 
 by the king, his brother-in-law, to the highest dignities in the 
 state, he was created, in succession. Count of Vienna, Duke of 
 Provence, Duke of Italy, and Prime Minister, and even obtained 
 in marriage the Princess Irmengarde, daughter of Louis II., 
 Emperor and King of Italy. Instigated by this princess, he did 
 not scruple to raise his ambitious views to the throne. The 
 death of Louis the Stammerer, and the troubles that ensued, 
 afforded him an opportunity of attaching to his interest most of 
 the bishops in those countries, intrusted to his government. In 
 an assembly which he held at Mantaille in Dauphin<?, (879,) he 
 engaged them by oath to confer on him the royal dignity. The 
 schedule of this election, with the signatures of the bishops affix- 
 ed, informs us distinctly of the extent of this new kingdom, 
 which comprehended Franche-Comte, Ma9on, Chalons-sur-Sa- 
 one, Lyons, Vienne and its dependencies, Agde, Viviers, Usez, 
 with their dependencies in Languedoc, Provence, and a part of 
 Savoy. Boson caused himself to be anointed king at Lyons, 
 by the archbishop of that city. He maintained possession of 
 his usurped dominions, in spite of the combined efforts which 
 were made by the kings of France and Germany to reduce him 
 to subjection. 
 
PERIOD II. A. D. 800—962. 71 
 
 The example of Boson was followed soon after by Rodolph, 
 governor of Transjurane Burgundy, and related by the female 
 side to the Carlo vingians. He was proclaimed king, and crown- 
 ed at St. Maurice in the Valais ; and his new kingdom, situa- 
 ted between Mount Jura and the Penine Alps, contained Swit- 
 zerland, as far as the River Reuss, the Valais, and a part of 
 Savoy. The death of Boson, happening about this time, fur- 
 nished Rodolph with a favourable opportunity of extending his 
 frontiers, and seizing a part of the country of Burgundy. 
 
 These two kingdoms were afterwards (930) united into one. 
 Hugo, king of Italy, exercised at that time the guardianship of 
 the young Constantine, his relation, the son of Louis, and grand- 
 son of Boson. The Italians, discontented under the government 
 of Hugo, and having devolved their crown on Rodolph II., king 
 of Transjurane Burgundy, Hugo, in order to maintain himself 
 on the throne of Italy, and exclude Rodolph, ceded to him the 
 district of Provence, and the kingdom of his royal ward. Thus 
 united in the person of Rodolph, these two kingdoms passed to 
 his descendants, viz. Conrad, his son, and Rodolph III., his 
 grandson. These princes are styled, in their titles, sometimes 
 Kings of Burgundy ; sometimes Kings of Vienne or Aries; 
 sometimes Kings of Provence and Allemania. They lost, in 
 course of time, their possessions beyond the Rhone and the 
 Saone; and in the time of Rodolph III., this kingdom had for 
 its boundaries the Rhine, the Rhone, the Saone, the Reuss, and 
 the Alps. 
 
 Navarre, the. kingdom next to be mentioned, known among 
 the ancients under the name of Vasconia, was one of the pro- 
 vinces beyond the Pyrenees, which Charlemagne had conquered 
 from the Arabs. Among the counts or wardens of the Marches, 
 called by the Germans Margraves, which he established, the 
 most remarkable were those of Barcelona in Catalonia, Jacca 
 in Arragon, and Pampeluna in Navarre. All these Spanish 
 Marches were comprised within Western France, and within 
 the division which fell to the share of Charles the Bald, on the 
 dismemberment of that monarchy among the sons of Louis the 
 Gentle. The extreme imbecility of that prince, and the calami- 
 ties of his reign, were the causes why the Navarrese revolted 
 from France, and erected themselves into a free and indepen- 
 dent state. It appears also, that they were implicated in the 
 defection of Aquitain (853,) when it threw off the yoke of 
 Charles the Bald. Don Garcias, son of the Count Don Gar- 
 cias, and grandson of Don Sancho, is generally reckoned the 
 first of their monarchs, that usurped the title of King of Pa?n- 
 peluna, (858.) He and his successors in the kingdom of Na 
 
7P- CHAPTER 111. 
 
 varre, possessed, at the same time, the province of Jacca in 
 Arragon. The Counts of Barcelona were the only Spanish 
 dependencies tha»t, for many centuries, continued to acknowledge 
 the sovereignty of the Kings of France. 
 
 On this part of our subject, it only remains for us to point out 
 the causes that conspired to accelerate the downfall of the em- 
 pire of the Franks. Among these we may reckon the inconve- 
 niences of the feudal system, — a system as unfitted for the pur- 
 poses of internal administration, as it was incompatible with the 
 maxims that ought to rule a great empire. The abuse of fiefs 
 was carried so far by the Franks, that almost all property had 
 become feudal ; and not only grants of land, and portions of 
 large estates, but governments, dukedoms, and counties, were 
 conferred and held under the title of fiefs. The consequence 
 of this was, that the great, by the allurement of fiefs or benefices, 
 became devoted followers of the kings, while the body of the 
 nation sold themselves as retainers of the great. Whoever re- 
 fused this vassalage was despised, and had neither favour nor 
 honour to expect.* By this practice, the liberty of the subject 
 was abridged without augmenting the royal authority. The 
 nobles soon became so powerful, by the liberality of their kings, 
 and the number of their vassals they found means to procure, 
 that they had at length the presumption to dictate laws to the 
 sovereign himself. By degrees, the obligations which they 
 owed to the state were forgotten, and those only recognised 
 which the feudal contract imposed. This new bond of alliance 
 was not long in opening a door to licentiousness, as by a natural 
 consequence, it was imagined, that the feudal superior might be 
 changed, whenever there was a possibility of charging him with 
 a violation of his engagements, or of that reciprocal fidelity which 
 he owed to his vassals. 
 
 A system like this, not only overturned public order, by plant- 
 ing the germs of corruption in every part of the internal admi- 
 nistration ; it was still more defective with regard to the external 
 operations of government, and directly at variance with all plans 
 of aggrandizement or of conquest. As war was carried on by 
 means of slaves or vassals only, it is easy to perceive that such 
 armies not being kept constantly on foot, were with difficulty put 
 in motion; that they could neither prevent intestine rebellion, 
 nor be a protection against hostile invasion ; and that conquests, 
 made by means of such trcops, must be lost with the same faci- 
 lity that they are won. A permanent military, fortresses and 
 garrisons, sue!) as we find ^n modern tactics, were altogether 
 unknown among the Franks. These politic institutions, indis- 
 pensable in great empires, were totally repugnant to the genius 
 
PERIOD II. A. D. 800—962. 73 
 
 of the German nations. They did not even know what is meant 
 by finances, or regular systems of taxation. Their kings had 
 no other pecuniary resource than the simple revenues of their 
 demesnes, which served for the maintenance of their court. 
 Gratuitous donations, the perquisites of bed and lodging, fines, 
 the third of which belonged to the king, rights of custom and 
 toll, added but little to their wealth, and could not be reckoned 
 among the number of state resources. None but tributaries, or 
 conquered nations, were subjected to the payment of certain im- 
 posts or assessments ; from these the Franks were exempted ; 
 they would have even regarded it as an insult and a blow struck 
 at their national liberty, had they been burdened with a single 
 imposition. 
 
 It is obvious, that a government like this, so disjointed and 
 incoherent in all its parts, in spite of the advantages which ac- 
 crued to it from nourishing a spirit of liberty, and opposing a 
 sort of barrier against despotism, was nevertheless far from being 
 suitable to an empire of such prodigious extent as that of the 
 Franks. Charlemagne had tried to infuse a new vigour into 
 the state by the wise laws which he published, and the military 
 stations which he planted on the frontiers of his empire. Eaised, 
 by the innate force of his genius above the prejudices of the age 
 in which he lived, that prince had formed a system capable of 
 giving unity and consistency to the state, had it been of longer 
 duration. But this system fell to pieces and vanished, when 
 no longer animated and put in execution by its author. Disorder 
 and anarchy speedily paralyzed every branch of the government 
 and ultimately brought on the dismemberment of the em.pire. 
 
 Another cause which accelerated the fall of this vast empire, 
 was the territorial divisions, practised by the kings, both of the 
 Merovingian, and the Carlo vingian race. Charlemagne and 
 Louis the Gentle, when they ordered the empire to be divided 
 among their sons, never imagined this partition would terminate 
 in a formal dismemberment of the monarchy. Their intention 
 was rather to preserve union and amity, by means of certain 
 rights of superiority, which they granted to their eldest sons, 
 whom they had invested with the Imperial dignity. But this 
 subordination of the younger to their elder brothers was not of 
 long continuance; and these di^visions, besides naturaily weak- 
 ening the state, became a source of perpetual discord; arid 
 reduced the Carlovingian princes to the necessity of courtrng- 
 the grandees, on every emergency , and gaining their interest 
 by new gifts, or by concessions which went to sap the founda- 
 tion of the throne. 
 
 This exorbitant power of the nobles, must also be reckoned 
 
 VOL. I. 7 
 
74 CHAPTER in. 
 
 among- the number of causes that hastened the decline of the 
 empire. Dukes and Counts, besides being intrusted with the 
 justice and police of their respective g-overnments, exercised, at 
 the same time, a military power, and collected the revenues of 
 the Exchequer. So many and so different jurisdictions, united 
 in one and the same power, could not but become dangerous to 
 the royal authority ; while it facilitated to the nobles the means 
 of fortifying themselves in their governments, and breaking, by 
 degrees, the unity of the state. Charlemagne had felt this in- 
 convenience ; and he thought to remedy the evil, by succes- 
 sively abolishing the great dutchies, and dividing them into 
 several counties. Unfortunately this policy was not followed 
 out by his successors, who returned to the ancient practice of 
 creating dukes ; and besides, being educate' and nurtured in 
 superstition by the priests, they put themselves wholly under 
 dependence to bishops and ecclesiastics, who thus disposed of 
 the state at their pleasure. The consequence was, that govern- 
 ments, at first alterable only by the Vv'ill of the King, passed 
 eventually to the children, or heirs, of those who were merely 
 administrators, or superintendents, of them. 
 
 Charles the Bald, first King of France, had the weakness to 
 constitute this dangerous principle into a standing law, in the 
 parliament which he held at Chiersi (877,) towards the close of 
 his reign. He even extended this principle generally to all 
 fiefs ; to those that held immediately of the crowii, as well as to 
 those which held of laic, or ecclesiastical superiors. 
 
 This new and exorbitant power of the nobles, joined to the 
 injudicious partitions already mentioned, tended to sow fresh 
 discord among the different members of the state, by exciting a 
 multitude of civil wars and domestic feuds, which, by a neces- 
 sary consequence, brought the whole body-politic into a state of 
 decay and dissolution. The history of the successors of Charle- 
 magne presents a sad picture, humiliating and distressing to 
 humanity. Every page of it is filled with insurrections, devas- 
 tations, and carnage : princes, sprung from the same blood, 
 armed against each other, breathing unnatural vengeance, and 
 bent on mutual destruction : the royal authority insulted and 
 despised by the nobles, who were perpetually at war with each 
 other, either to decide their private quarrels, or aggrandize them- 
 selves at the expense of their neighbours ; and, finally, the citi- 
 zens exposed to all kinds of oppression, reduced to misery and 
 servitude, without the hope or possibility of redress from the 
 government. Such was the melancholy situation of the States 
 that composed the Empire of Charlemagne, when the irruption 
 of new barbarians, the Normans from the extremities of the 
 
PERIOD 11. A. D. 800—962. 75 
 
 North, and the Hungarians from the back settlements of Asia, 
 exposed it afresh to the terrible scourge of foreign invasion. 
 
 The Normans, of German origin, and inhabiting ancient 
 Scandinavia, that is to say, Sweden, Denmark, and modern 
 Norway, began, towards the end of the eighth century, to cover 
 the sea with their ships, and to infest successively all the mari- 
 time coasts of Europe.^ During the space of two hundred years, 
 they continued their incursions and devastations, with a fierce- 
 ness and perseverance that surpasses all imagination. This phe- 
 nomenon, however, is easily explained, if we attend to the state 
 of barbarism in which the inhabitants of Scandinavia, in general, 
 were at that time plunged. Despising agriculture and the arts, 
 they found themselves unable to draw from fishing and the 
 chase, the necessary means even for their scanty subsistence. 
 The comfortable circumstances of their neighbours who culti- 
 vated their lands, excited their cupidity, and invited them U 
 acquire by force, piracy, or plunder, what they had not sufficient 
 skill to procure by their own industry. They were, moreover 
 animated by a sort of religious fmaticism, which inspired them 
 with courage for the most perilous enterprise. This reckless 
 superstition they drew from the doctrines of Odin, who was tha 
 god of their armies, the rewarder of valour and intrepidity in 
 war, receiving into his paradise of Valhalla^ the brave who feL 
 beneath the swords of the enemy ; while, on the other hand, 
 the abode of the wretched, called by them Helvete, was pre- 
 pared for those who, abandoned to ease and effeminacy, prefer- 
 red a life of tranquillity to the glory of arms, and the perils of 
 warlike adventure. 
 
 This doctrine, generally difflised over all the north, inspired 
 the Scandinavian youth with an intrepid and ferocious courage, 
 which made them brave all dangers, and consider the sangui- 
 nary death of warriors as the surest path to immortality. Often 
 did it happen that the sons of kings, even those who were 
 already destined as successors to their father's throne, volun- 
 teered as chiefs of pirates and brigands, under the name of Sea 
 Kings, solely for the purpose of obtaining a name, and signaliz- 
 ing themselves by their maritim? exploits. 
 
 These piracies of the Normans, which at first w^ere limited 
 to the seas and countries bordering on Scandinavia, soon ex- 
 tended over all the western and southern coasts of Europe. 
 Germany, the kingdoms of Lorraine, France, England, Scot- 
 land, Ireland, Spain, the Balearic Isles, Italy, Greece, and even 
 the shores of Africa, were exposed in their turn to the insults 
 and the ravages of these barbarians.*^ 
 
 France more es^oecially suffered f'^^m their incursions, under 
 
76 CHAPTER III. 
 
 the feeble reigns of Charles the Bald, and Charles the Fat. 
 Not content with the havoc which the}-^ made on the coasts, 
 they ascended the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and the Rhone, 
 carrying fire and sword to the very centre oi the kino-dom. 
 Nantes, Angers, Tours, Blois, Orleans, Mons, Poitiers, Bour- 
 deaux, Rouen, Paris, Sens, Laon, Soissons, and various other 
 cities, experienced the fury of these invaders. Paris was three 
 times sacked and pillaged by them. Robert the Strong, a scion 
 of the royal House of Capet, whom Charles the Bald had created 
 (S61,) Duke or Governor of Neustria, was killed in battle (866,) 
 while combating with success against the Normans. At length, 
 the terror which they had spread every where was such, that the 
 French, who trembled at the very name of the Normans, had 
 no longer courage to encounter them in arms ; and in order to 
 rid themselves of such formidable enemies, they consented to 
 purchase their retreat by a sum of money; a wretched and 
 feeble remedy, which only aggravated the evil, b}'- inciting the 
 invaders, by the hope of gain, to return to the charge. 
 
 It is not how^ever at all astonishing, that France should have 
 been exposed so long to these incursions, since, besides the in- 
 efficient state of that monarchy, she had no vessels of her own 
 to protect her coasts. The nobles, occupied solely with the 
 care of augmenting or confirming their growling power, offered 
 but a feeble opposition to the Normans, w^hose presence in the 
 kingdom caused a diversion favourable to their views. Some 
 of them even had no hesitation in joining the barbarians, when 
 they happened to be in disgrace, or when they thought they had 
 reason to complain of the government. 
 
 It was in consequence of these numerous expeditions overall 
 the seas of Europe, that the monarchies of the North were 
 formed, and that the Normans succeeded also in founding several 
 other states. It is to them that the powerful monarchy of the 
 Russians ow^es its origin ; Ruric the Norman is allowed to have 
 been its founder, towards the middle of the ninth century."^ He 
 and the grand dukes his successors, extended their conquests 
 from the Baltic and the White Sea, to the Euxine ; and during 
 the tenth century they made the emperors of the East to trem- 
 ble on their thrones. In their native style of piratical warfare, 
 they embarked on the Dnieper or Borysthenes, infested with 
 their fleets the coasts of the Black Sea, carried terror and dismay 
 to the gates of Constantinople, and obliged the Greek emperors 
 to pay them large sums to redeem their capital from pillage. 
 
 Ireland was more than once on the point of being subdued by 
 the Normans, during these piratical excursions. Their first in- 
 vasion of this island is stated to have been in the year 795 
 
PERIOD II. A. D. 800—962. 77 
 
 Great ravages were committed by the barbarians, who conquer- 
 ed or founded the cities of Waterford, Dublin, and Limerick, 
 which they formed into separate petty kingdoms. Christianity 
 was introduced among them towards the middle of the tenth 
 century ; and it was not till the twelfth, the time of its invasion 
 by the English, that they succeeded in expelling them from the 
 island, when they were dispossessed of the cities of Waterford 
 and Dublin (1170) by Henry 11. of England. 
 
 Orkney, the Hebrides, the Shetland and Faroe Islands, and 
 the Isle of Man, were also discovered and peopled by the Nor- 
 mans.^ Another colony of these Normans peopled Iceland, 
 where they founded a republic (S74,) which preserved its inde- 
 pendence till nearly the middle of the thirteenth century, when 
 that island was conquered by the Kings of Norway.^ Norman- 
 dy, in France, also received its name from this people. Charles 
 the Sim.ple, wishing to put a check on their continual incur- 
 sions, concluded, at St. Clair-sur-Epte (892,) a treaty with Rollo 
 or Rolf, chief of the Normans, by which he abandoned to them 
 all that part of Neustria which reaches froip the rivers Andelle 
 and Aure to the ocean. To this he added a part of Vexin, 
 liituated between the rivers Andelle and Epte ; as also the ter- 
 ritory of Bretagne. Rollo embraced Christianity, and received 
 the baptismal name of Robert. He submitted to become a vas- 
 sal of the crown of France, under the title of Duke of Norman- 
 dy ; and obtained in marriage the princess Gisele, daughter of 
 Charles the Simple. In the following century, we shall meet 
 with these Normans of France as the conquerors of England, 
 and the founders of the kingdom of the two Sicilies. 
 
 The Hungarians, a people of Turkish or Finnish origin, 
 emigrated, as is generally supposed, from Baschiria, a country 
 lying to the north of the. Caspian Sea, between the Wolga, the 
 Kama, and Mount Ural, near the source of the Tobol and the 
 Jaik, or modern Ural. The Orientals designate them by the 
 generic name of Turks, while they denominate themselves 
 Magiars, from the name of one of their tribes. After having 
 been long dependent on the Chazars,^*^ a Turkish tribe to the 
 north of the Palus Masolis^ they retired towards the Danube, to 
 avoid the oppressions of the Patzinacites ;^^ and established 
 themselves (887) in ancient Dacia, under the auspices of a chief 
 named Arpad, from whom the ancient sovereigns of Hungary 
 derive their origin. Arnulph, King of Germany, employed 
 these Hungarians (892) against the Slavo-Moravians, who pos- 
 sessed a flourishing state on the banks of the Danube, the 
 Morau, and the Elbe.^- While engaged in this expedition, they 
 were attacked again in their Dacian possessions byihe Patzina- 
 
78 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 cites, who succeeded at length in expelling them from these 
 territories.^^ Taking advantage afterwards of the death of 
 Swiatopolk, king of the Moravians, and the troubles conse- 
 quent on that event, they dissevered from Moravia all the coun- 
 try which extends from the frontiers of Moldavia, Wallachia 
 and Transylvania, to the Danube and the Morau. They con- 
 quered, about the same time, Pannor*", \vkh a part of Noricum, 
 which they had wrested from the Lrermans ; and thus laid the 
 foundation of a new state, known since by the name of Hungary. 
 
 No sooner had the Hungarians established themselves in 
 Pannonia, than they commenced their incursions into the prin- 
 cipal states of Europe. Germany, Italy, and Gaul, agitated by 
 faction and anarchy, and even the Grecian empire in the East, 
 became, all in their turn, the bloody scene of their ravages and 
 devastations. Germany, in particular, for a long time felt the 
 effects of their fury. All its provinces in succession were laid 
 waste by these barbarians, and compelled to pay them tribute. 
 Henry I., King of Germany, and his son Otho the Great, at 
 length succeeded in arresting their destructive career, and de- 
 livered Europe from this new yoke which threatened its in- 
 dependence. 
 
 It was in consequence of these incursions of the Hungarians 
 and Normans, to which may be added those of the Arabs and 
 Slavonians, that the kingdoms which sprang from the empire of 
 the Franks lost once more the advantages which the political 
 mstitutions of Charlemagne had procured them. Learning, 
 which that prince had encouraged, fell into a state of absolute 
 languor; an end was put both to civil and literary improvement, 
 by the destruction of convents, schools, and libraries ; the po- 
 lity and internal security of the states were destroyed, and 
 commerce reduced to nothing. England was the only excep- 
 tion, which then enjoyed a transient glory under the memora- 
 ble reign of Alfred the Great. That prince, grandson of Egbert 
 who was the first king of all England, succeeded in expelling 
 the Normans from the island (S87,) and restored peace and tran- 
 quillity to his kingdom. After the example of Charlemagne, 
 he cultivated and protected learning and the arts, by restoring 
 the convents and schools which the barbarians had destroyed; 
 inviting philosophers and artists to his court, and civilizing his 
 subjects by literary institutions and wise regulations.^^ It is 
 10 be regretted, that a reign so glorious was so soon followed 
 by new misfortunes. After the Normans, the Danes reappeared 
 w England, and overspread it once more with turbulence and 
 desolation. 
 
 During these unenlightened and calamitous times, we hnd 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 79 
 
 the art of navigation making considerable progress. The Nor- 
 mans, traversing the seas perpetually with their fleets, learned 
 to construct their vessels with greater perfection, to become 
 better skilled in wind and weather, and to use their oars and 
 sails with more address. It was, moreover, in consequence of 
 these invasions, that more correct information w^as obtained re- 
 garding Scandinavia, and the remote regions of the North. 
 Two Normans, Wolfstane and Other, the one from Jutland, 
 and the other from Norway, undertook separate voyages, in 
 course of the ninth century, principally with the view of mak- 
 ing maritime discoveries. Wolfstane proceeded to visit that 
 part of Prussia, or the Esthoiiia of the ancients, which was re- 
 nowned for its produce of yellow amber. Other did not con- 
 fine his adventures to the coasts of the Baltic ; setting out from 
 the port of Heligoland, his native country, he doubled Cape 
 North, and advanced as far as Biarmia, at the mouth of the 
 Dwina, in the province of Archangel. Both he and Wolfstane 
 communicated the details of their voyages to Alfred the Great, 
 who made use of them in his Anglo-Saxon translation of Orosius. 
 Besides Iceland and the Northern Isles, of which we have 
 already spoken, we find, in the tenth century, some of the fugi- 
 tive Normans peopling Greenland ; and others forming settle- 
 ments in Finland, w^hich some suppose to be the island of 
 Newfoundland, in North America.^^ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PERIOD III. 
 
 From Otho the Great to Gregory the Great, a. d. 962 — 1074. 
 
 While most of the states that sprang from the dismembered 
 empire of the Franks, continued to be the prey of disorder and 
 anarchy, the kingdom of Germany assumed a new form, and 
 for several ages maintained the character of being the ruling 
 power in Europe. It was erected into a monarchy at the 
 peace of Verdun (843,) and had for its first king Louis the 
 German, second son of Louis the Gentle. At that time it 
 comprised, besides the three cantons of Spire, Worms, and 
 Mayence, on this side the Rhine, all the countries and pro- 
 vinces beyond that river, which had belonged to the empire of 
 the Franks, from the Eyder and the Baltic, to the Alps and 
 the confines of Pannonia. Several of the Slavian tribes, also, 
 were its tributaries. 
 
 From the first formation of this kingdom, the royal authority 
 
80 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 was limited ; and Louis the German, in an assembly held at 
 Marsen (S51,)had formally engaged to maintain the states i7i their 
 rights and privileges ; to follow their counsel and advice ; and 
 to consider tliem as his true colleagues and coadjutors in all the 
 affairs of government. The states, however, soon found means 
 to vest in themselves ihe rig-ht of choosing their kings. The 
 first Carlovingian monarchs of Germany were hereditary. 
 Louis the German even divided his kingdom among his three 
 sons, viz. Carloman, Louis the Young, and Charles the Fat • 
 but Charles having been deposed in an assembly held at Frank- 
 fort (887,) the states of Germany elected in his place Arnulph, a 
 natural son of Carloman. This prince added to his crown both 
 Italy and the Imperial dignity. 
 
 The custom of election has continued in Germany down to 
 modern times. Louis I'Enfant, or the Infant, son of Arliulph, 
 succeeded to the throne by election ; and that prince having died 
 very young (911,) the states bestowed the crown on a French 
 nobleman, named Conrad, who was duke or governor of France 
 on the Rhine, and related by the female side to the Carlovin- 
 gian line. Conrad mounted the throne, to the exclusion o. 
 Charles the Simple, King of France, the only male and legiti- 
 mate heir of the Carlovingian line. This latter prince, how- 
 ever, found means to seize the kingdom of Lorrain, which 
 Louis the Young had annexed to the crown of Germany. On 
 the death of Conrad I. (919,) the choice of the states fell on 
 Henry I., surnamed the Fowler, a scion of the Saxon dynasty 
 of the kings and emperors of Germany. 
 
 It was to the valour and the wisdom of Henry L, and to his 
 institutions, civil and military, that Germany was indebted foi 
 its renewed grandeur. That monarch, taking advantage of the 
 iniestine troubles which had arisen in France under Charles the 
 Simple, recovered possession of the kingdom of Lorrain, the 
 nobility of w'hich made their submission to him in the years 
 923 and 925. By this union he extended the limits of Germa 
 ny tow^ards the west, as far as the Meuse and the Scheld. Th 
 kings of Germany afterwards divided the territory of Lorraii 
 into two governments or dutchies, called Upper and" Lower Loi' 
 rain. The former, situated on the Moselle, was called the 
 dutchy of the Moselle ; the other, bounded by the Rhine, the 
 Meuse, and the Scheld, w^as knowm by the name of Lothiers or 
 Brabant. These two dutchies comprised all the provinces of 
 the kingdom of Lorrain, except those which the emperors 
 judged proper to exempt from the authority and jurisdiction of 
 the dukes. The dutchy of the Moselle, alone, finally retained 
 the name of Lorrain; and passed (1048) to Gerard of Alsace, 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 81 
 
 from whom descended the dukes of that naiTie, who in the eigh. 
 teenth century, succeeded to the Imperial throne. As to the 
 dutchy of Lower Lonain, the Emperor Henry V. conferred it on 
 Godfrey, Count of Louvain (1106), whose male attendants kept 
 possession of it, under the title of Dukes of Brabant, till 1355, 
 when it passed by female succession to the Dukes of Burgun- 
 dy, who found means also to acquire, by degrees, the greater 
 part of Lower Lorrain, commonly called the Low Countries. 
 
 Henry L, a prince of extraordinary genius, proved himself 
 the true restorer of the German kingdom/ The Slavonian 
 tribes who inhabited the banks of the Saal, and the country be- 
 tween the Elbe and the Baltic, committed incessant ravages on 
 the frontier provinces of the kingdom. With these he waged 
 a successful war, and reduced them once miore to the condition 
 of tributaries. But his policy was turned chiefly against the 
 Hungarians, who, since the reign of Louis IL, had repeatedly 
 renewed their incursions, and threatened to subject all Germa- 
 ny to their yoke. Desirous to repress effectually that ferocious 
 nation, he took the opportunity of a nine 3'ears truce, which he 
 had obtained with them, to construct new towns, and fortify 
 places of strength. He instructed his troops in a new kind 
 of tactics, accustomed them to military evolutions, and above 
 all, he formed and equipped a cavalry sufficient to cope with 
 those of the Hungarians, who particularly excelled in the art 
 of managing horses. These depredators having returned with 
 fresh forces at the expiry of the truce, he completely defeated 
 them in two bloody battles, which he fought with them (933) 
 near Sondershausen and Merseburg; and thus exonerated Ger- 
 many from the tribute which it had formerly paid them.^ 
 
 This victorious prince extended his conquests beyond the 
 Eyder, the ancient frontier of Denmark. After a prosperous 
 war with the Danes (931,) he founded the margravate of Sles- 
 v^^ick, which the Emperor Conrad II. afterwards ceded back 
 (1033) to Canute the Great, King of Denmark. 
 
 Otho the Great, "on and successor of Henry I., added the 
 kingdom of Italy to ihe conquests of his father, and procured 
 also the Imperial dignity for himself, and his successors in Ger- 
 many. Ital) had become a distinct kingdom since the revolu- 
 tion, which happened (888) at the death of the Emperor Charles 
 the Fat. Ten princes in succession occupied the throne during 
 the space of seventy-three years. Several of these princes, such 
 as Guy, Lambert, Arnulf, Louis of Burgundy, and Berenger I., 
 were invested, at the same time, with the Imperial dignity. Be- 
 renger I. having been assassinated (924,) this latter dignity 
 ceased entirely, and the city of Rome was even dismembered 
 Irom the kingdom of Italy. 
 
82 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The sovereignty of that city was seized by the famous Maro- 
 zia, widow of a nobleman named Alberic. She raised her son 
 to the pontificate by the title of John XI. ; and the better to es- 
 tablish her dominion, she espoused Hugo King of Italy (932,) 
 who became, in consequence of this marriage, master of Rome. 
 But Alberic, another son of Marozia, soon stirred up the people 
 against this aspiring princess and her husband Hugo. Having 
 driven Hugo from the throne, and shut up his mother in prison, 
 he assumed to himself the sovereign authority, under the title 
 of Patrician of the Komans. At his death (954,) he transmit- 
 ted the sovereignty to his son Octavian, who, though only nine- 
 teen years of age, caused himself to be elected pope, by the title 
 of John XII. 
 
 This epoch was one most disastrous for Italy. The weak- 
 ness of the government excited factions among the nobility, 
 gave birth to anarchy, and fresh opportunity for the depredations 
 of the Hungarians and Arabs, who, at this period, were the 
 scourge of Italy, which they ravaged with impunity. Pavia, 
 the capital of the kingdom, was taken and burnt by the Hunga- 
 rians. These troubles increased on the accession of Berenger 
 II. (950,) grandson of Berenger I. That prince associated his 
 son Adelbert with him in the royal dignity; and the public 
 voice accused them of having caused the death of King Lothaire, 
 son and successor of Hugo. 
 
 Lothaire left a young widow, named Adelaide, daughter of 
 Rodolph II., King of Burgundy and Italy. To avoid the impor- 
 tunities of Berenger II., who wished to compel her to marry his 
 son Adelbert, this princess called in the King of Germany to 
 her aid. Oiho complied with the solicitations of the distressed 
 queen ; and, on this occasion, undertook his first expedition into 
 Italy (941.) The cityof Pa\ia, and several other places, having 
 fallen into his hands, he caused himself to be proclaimed King 
 of Italy, and married the young queen, his protegee. Berenger 
 and his son, being driven for shelter to their strongholds, had 
 recourse to negotiation. They succeeded in obtaining for them- 
 selves a confirmation of the royal title of Italy, on condition of 
 doing homage for it to the King of Germany ; and for this pur- 
 pose, they repaired in person to the diet assembled at Augsburg 
 (952,) where they took the oath of vassalage under the hands 
 of Otho, who solemnly invested them with the royalty of Italy : 
 reserving to himself the towns and marches of Aquileia and 
 Verona, the command of which he bestowed on his brother the 
 Duke of Bavaria. 
 
 In examining more nearly all that passed in this affair, it ap- 
 pears that it was not without the regret, and even contrarv to 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 83 
 
 the wish of Adelaide, that Otho agreed to enter into terms of 
 accommodation with Berenger, and to ratify the compact which 
 Conrad, Duke of Lorrain, and son-in-law of the Emperor, had 
 made with that prince. Afterwards, however, he lent a favour- 
 able ear to the complaints which Pope John XII., and some 
 Italian noblemen had addressed to him against Berenger and 
 his son ; and took occasion, on their account, to conduct a new 
 army into Italy (961.) Berenger, too feeble to oppose him, re- 
 tired a second time within his fortifications. Olho marched 
 from Pavia to Milan, and there caused himself to be crowned 
 King of Italy ; from thence he passed to Rome, about the com- 
 mencement of the following year. Pope John XII., who had 
 himself invited him, and again implored his protection against 
 Berenger, gave him, at first, a very brilliant reception ; and re- 
 vived ihe Imperial dignity in his favour, which had been dor- 
 mant for thirty-eight years. 
 
 It was on the 2d of February 962, that the Pope consecrated 
 and crowned him Emperor ; but he had soon cause to repent of 
 this proceeding. Otho, immediately after his coronation at 
 Rome, undertook the siege of St. Leon, a fortress in Umbria, 
 where Berenger and his Queen had taken refuge. While en- 
 gaged in the siege, he received frequent intimations from Rome 
 of the misconduct and immoralities of the Pope. The remon- 
 strances which he thought it his duty to make on this subject, 
 oflfended the young Pontiff, who resolved, in consequence, to 
 break off union with the Emperor. Hurried on by the impe- 
 tuosity of his character, he entered into a negotiation with Adel- 
 bert; and even persuaded him to come to Rome, in order to 
 concert with him measures of defence. On the first news of 
 this event, Otho put himself at the head of a large detachment, 
 with which he marched directlj^to Rome. The Pope, however, 
 did not think it advisable to wait his approach, but fled with the 
 King, his new ally. Otho, on arriving at the capital, exacted a 
 solemn oath from the clergy and the people, that henceforth 
 they would elect no pope without his counsel, and that of the 
 Emperor and his successors.- Having then assembled a coun- 
 cil, he caused Pope John XII. to be deposed ; and Leo VIII. 
 was elected in his place. This latter Pontiff was maintained 
 in the papacy, in spite of all the efforts which his adversary 
 made to regain it. Berenger II., after having sustained a long 
 siege at St. Leon, fell at length (964) into the hands of the con- 
 queror, who sent him into exile at Bamberg, and compelled his 
 son, iVdelbert, to take refuge in the court of Constantinople. 
 
 All Italy, to the extent of the ancient kingdom of the Lom- 
 bards, fell under the dominion of the Germans ; only a few 
 
84 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 maritime towns in Lower Italy, with the greater part of Apulia 
 and Calabria, still remained in the power of the Greeks. This 
 kingdom, together with the Imperial dignity, Olho transniiltod. 
 to his successors on the throne of Germany. From this time 
 the Germans held it to be an inviolable principle, that as the im- 
 perial dignity was strictly united with the royalty of Italy, kings 
 elected by the German nation should, at the same time, in virtue 
 of that election, become kings of Italy and Emperors. The 
 practice of this triple coronation, viz, of Germany, Italy, and 
 Eome, continued for many centuries ; and from Otho the Great, 
 till Maximilian I. (1503,) no king of Germany took the title of 
 Emperor, until after he had been formally crowned by the Pope. 
 
 The kings and emperors of the house of Saxony, did not 
 terminate their conquests with the dominions of Lorrain and 
 Italy. Towards the east and the north, they extended them be- 
 yond the Saal and the Elbe. AH the Slavonian tribes between 
 the Havel and the Oder ; the Abotrites, the Rhedarians, the 
 Wilzians, the Slavonians on the Havel, ihe Sorabians, the Dale- 
 mlncians, the Lusitzians, the Milzians, and various others ; the 
 dukes also of Bohemia and Poland, although they often took up 
 arms in defence of their liberty and independence, were all re- 
 duced to subjection, and again compelled to pay tribute. In order 
 to secure their submission, the Saxon kings introduced German 
 colonies into the conquered countries; and founded there several 
 margravates, such as that of the North, on this side of the Elbe, 
 afterwards called Brandenburg ; and in the East, those of Misnia 
 and Lusatia. Otho the Great adopted m.easures for promulga- 
 ting Christianity among them. The bishopric of Oldenburg 
 in Wagria, of Havelberg, Brandenburg, Meissen, Mer^eburg, 
 Zeitz; those of Posnania or Posen, in Poland, oT Prague in Bo- 
 hemia; and lastly, the metropolis of Magdeburg, all owe their 
 origin to this monarch. His grandson, the Emperor Otho III., 
 founded (in 1000) the Archbi.shopric of Gnesna, in Poland, to 
 which he subjected the bishoprics of Colberg, Cracow, and 
 Breslau, reserving Posen to the metropolitan See of Magdeburg. 
 
 The Saxon dynasty became extinct (1024) with th© Emperor 
 Henry II. Tt was succeeded by that of Franconia, commonly 
 called the Salic. Conrad II.. the first emperor of this house, 
 united to the German crown, the kingdom of Burgundy; or, as 
 it is sometimes called, the kingdom of Aries. This monarchy, 
 situate between the Rhine, the Reuss, Mount Jura, the Soane, 
 the R-hone, and the Alps, had been divided among a certain 
 number of counts, or governors of provinces, who, in conse- 
 quence of the weakness of their last kings, Conrad and Rodolph 
 III., had converted their temporary jurisdictions into hereditary 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 85 
 
 and patrimonial offices, after the example of the French nobility, 
 who had already usurped the same power. The principal and 
 most puissant of these Burgundian nobles, were the Counts of 
 Provence, Vienne, (afterwards called Dauphins of Vienne,) Sa- 
 voy, Burgundy, and Montbelliard ; the Archbishop of Lyons, 
 Besancon, and Aries, and the Bishop of Basle, &c. The con- 
 tempt in which these powerful vassals held the royal authority, 
 induced Rodolph to apply for protection to his kinsmen the 
 Emperors Henry 11. and Conrad II., and to acknowledge them, 
 by several treaties, his heirs and successors to the crown. It 
 was in virtue of these treaties, that Conrad II. took possession 
 of the kingdom of Burgundy (1032) on the death of Rodolph III. 
 He maintained his rights by force of arms against Eudes, 
 Count of Champagne, who claimed to be the legitimate suc- 
 cessor, as being nephew to the last king. 
 
 This reunion was but a feeble addition to the power of the 
 German emperors. The bishops, counts, and great vassals of 
 the kingdom they had newly acquired, still retained the au- 
 thority which they had usurped in their several departments ; 
 and nothing was left to the emperors, but the exercise of their 
 feudal and proprietory rights, together with the slender remains 
 of the demesne lands belonging to the last kings. It is even 
 probable, that the high rank which the Burgundian nobles en- 
 joyed, excited the ambition of those in Germany, and emboldened 
 them to usurp the same prerogatives. 
 
 The emperors Conrad II. (i033) and Henry III. (1038,) were 
 both crowned Kings of Burgundy. The Emperor Lothaire 
 conferred the viceroyalty or regency on Conrad Duke of Zah- 
 ringen, Vv^ho then took the title of Governor or Regent of Bur- 
 gundy. Berihold IV., son of Conrad, resigned (1156,) in favour 
 of the Emperor Frederic I., his rights of viceroyalty over that part 
 of the kingdom situate beyond Mount Jura. Switzerland, at 
 that time, was subject to the Dukes of Zahringen, who, in order 
 to retain it in vassalage to their government, fortified Morges, 
 Mouden, Yverdun, and Berthoud ; and built the cities of Fri- 
 bourg and Berne. On the extinction of the Zahringian dukes. 
 (1191,) Switzerland became an immediate province of the empire. 
 It was afterwards (1218) formed into a republic; and the other 
 parts of the kingdom of Burgundy or Aries were gradually 
 united to France, as we shall see in course of our narrative. 
 
 The Hungarians, since their first invasion under Louis I'En- 
 fant, had wTested from the German crown all its possessions in 
 Pannonia, with a part of ancient Noricum ; and the boundaries 
 of Germany had been contracted within the river Ens in Bava- 
 ria. Their growing preponderance afterwards enabled the Ger- 
 VOL. I. 8 
 
86 CHAPTER fV. 
 
 mans to recover from the Hungarians a part of their conquests. 
 They succeeded in expelling them, not only from Noricum, but 
 even from that part of Upper Pannonia which lies between 
 Mount Cetius, or Kahlenberg as it is called, and the river Leita, 
 Henry III. secured the possession of these territories by the 
 treaty of peace which he concluded (1043) with Samuel, sur- 
 riamed Aba, King of Hungary. This part of Hungary was 
 annexed to the eastern Margravate, or Austria, which then be- 
 gan to assume nearly its present form. 
 
 Such then was the progressive aggrandizement of the German 
 empire, from the reign of Henry I. to the year 1043. Under 
 its most flourishing state, that is, under the Emperor Henry III., 
 it embraced nearly two-thirds of the monarchy of Charlemagne. 
 All Germany between the Rhine, the Eyder, the.Oder, the Leita, 
 and the Alps ; all Italy, as far as the confines of the Greeks in 
 Apulia and Calabria; Gaul, from the Rhine to the Scheldt, the 
 Meuse, and the Rhone, acknowledged the supremacy of the 
 emperors. The Dukes of Bohemia and Poland, were their tri- 
 butaries ; a dependence which continued until the commotions 
 which agitated Germany put nn end to it in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Germany, at this period, ranked as the ruling power in Europe ; 
 and this preponderance was not owing aj much to the extent of 
 her possessions, as to the vigour of h r government, which still 
 maintained a kind of system of political unity. The emperors 
 may be regarded as true monarchs, dispensing, at their pleasure, 
 all dignities, civil and ecclesiastical — possessing very large do- 
 mains in all pai. ? of the empire — and exercising, individually, 
 various branches of the sovereign power ; — only, in affairs of 
 great importance, asking the advice or consent of the grandees. 
 This greatness of the German emperors gave rise to a system 
 of polity which the Popes took great care to support with all 
 their credit and authority. According to this system, the whole 
 of Christendom composed, as it were, a single and individual 
 republic, of which the Pope was the spiritual head, and the 
 Emperor the secular. The duty of the latter, as head and patron 
 of the Church, was to take cognizance that nothing should be 
 done contrary to the general welfare of Christianity. It was 
 his part to protect the Catholic Church, to be the guardian of its 
 preservation, to convocate its general councils, and exercise such 
 rights as the nature of his ofiice and the interests of Christianity 
 s<^emed to demand. 
 
 It was in virtue of this ideal system that the emperors enjoyed a 
 precedency over other monarchs, with the exclusive right of elect- 
 ing kings ;" and that they had bestowed on them the title of mas- 
 ters of the world, and sovereign of sovereigns. A more irapor- 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. S7 
 
 tant prerogative was that which they possessed in the election of 
 the Popes. From Olho the Great to Henry IV., all the Roman 
 pontiffs were chosen, or at least confirmed, by the emperors. 
 Henry III. deposed three schismatical popes (1046,) and sub- 
 stituted in their place a German, who took the name of Clement 
 II. The same emperor afterwards nominated various other popes 
 of his own nation. 
 
 However vast and formidable the power of these monarchs 
 seemed to be, it was nevertheless far from being a solid and 
 durable fabric ; and it was easy to foresee that, in a short time, 
 it would crumble and disappear. Various causes conspired to 
 accelerate its downfall ; the first and principal of which necessa- 
 rily sprang from the constitution of the empire, which was faulty 
 in itself, and incompatible with any scheme of aggrandizement 
 or conquest. A great em.pire, to prolong its durability, requires 
 a perfect unity of power, which can act with despatch, and com- 
 municate with facility from one extremity to the other ; an 
 armed force constantly on foot, and capable of maintaining the 
 public tranquillity; frontiers well defended against hostile inva- 
 sion; and revenues proportioned to the exigencies of the state. 
 All these characteristics of political greatness were wanting in 
 the Geman empire. 
 
 That empire was elective; the states co-operated jointly with 
 the emperors in the exercise of the legislative power. There 
 were neither permanent armiies, nor fortresses, nor taxation, nor 
 any regular system of finance. The government was without 
 vigour, incapable of protecting or punishing, or even keeping 
 m subjection, its remote provinces, consisting of nations who 
 differed in language, manners, and legislation. One insurrec- 
 tion, though quelled, was only the forerunner of others ; and 
 the conquered nations shook off the 3'oke with the same facility 
 as they received it. The perpetual wars of the emperors in 
 Italy, from the first conquest of that country by Otho the Great, 
 prove, in a manner most evident, the strange imbecility of the 
 government. At every change of reign, and every little revo- 
 lution which happened in Germany, the Italians rose in arms, 
 and put the emperors again to the necessity of reconquering 
 that kingdom ; which undoubtedly it was their interest to have 
 abandoned entirely, rather than to lavish for so many centuries 
 their treasures and the blood of their people to no purpose. The 
 climate of Italy was also disastrous to the Imperial armies; 
 and many successions of noble German families found there a 
 foreign grave. 
 
 An inevitable consequence of this vitiated constitution, was 
 he decline of the royal authority, and the gradual increase of 
 
88 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 the power of the nobility. It is important, however, to remark 
 that in Germany the progress of the feuck\l system had been 
 much less rapid than in France. The dukes, counts, and mar- 
 graves, that is, the governors of provinces, and wardens of the 
 marches, continued for long to be regarded merely as imperial 
 officers, without any pretensions to consider their governments 
 as hereditary, or exercise the rights of sovereignty. Even fiefs 
 remained for many ages in their primitive state, without being 
 perpetuated in the families of those to whom they had been 
 originally granted. 
 
 A total change, however, took place towards the end of the 
 eleventh century. The dukes and counts, become formidable 
 by the extent of their power and their vast possessions, by de- 
 grees, constituted themselves hereditary officers; and not content 
 with the appropriation of their dutchies and counties, they took 
 idvantage of the weakness of the emperors, and their quarrels 
 with the popes, to extort from them new privileges, or usurp the 
 orerogatives of royalty, formerly reserved for the emperors 
 alone. The aristocracy, or landed proprietors, foUov/ed ika 
 example of the dukes and counts, and after the eleventh century, 
 they all began to play the part of sovereigns, styling them- 
 selves, in their public acts. By the Grace of God. At length fiefs 
 became also hereditary. Conrad II. was the first emperor that 
 permitted the transmission of fiefs to sons and grandsons ; the 
 succession of collateral branches was subsequently introduced. 
 The system of hereditary feudalism became thus firmly esta- 
 blished in Germany, and bj^ a natural consequence, it brought 
 on the destruction of the imperial authority, and the ruin of 
 the empire. 
 
 Nothing, however, was more injurious to this authority than 
 the extravagant power of the clergy, whom the emperors of the 
 Saxon line had loaded with honours and benefactions, either 
 from a zeal {pv religion, or with the intention of using them as 
 a counterpoise to the ambition of the dukes and secular nobility. 
 It was chiefly to Otho the Great that the bishops of Germany 
 were indebted for their temporal power. That prince bestowed 
 on them large grants of land from the imperial domains ; he 
 gave ihem towns, counties, and entire dukedoms, with the pre- 
 rogatives of royalty, such as justiciary powers, the right of coin- 
 ing money, of levying tolls and other public revenues, &c. 
 These rights and privileges he granted them under the feudal 
 law, and on condition of rendering him military servitude. 
 Nevertheless, as the disposal of ecclesiastical dignities belonged 
 then to the crown, and fiefs had not, in general, become heredi- 
 tary, the Emperor still retained possession of those which he 
 
PERIOD 111. A. D. 962—1074. 89 
 
 conferred on the clergy ; these he bestowed on whomsoever he 
 judged proper ; using them, however, always in conformity with 
 his own views and interests. 
 
 The same policy that induced Otho to transfer to the bishops 
 a large portion of his domains, led him also to intrust them with 
 the government of cities. At that time, there was a distinction 
 of towns into royal and prefectorlal. The latter were dependent 
 on the dukes, while the former, subject immediately to the king, 
 gave rise to what has since been called imperial cities. It was 
 in these royal cities that the German kings were in the practice 
 of establishing counts and burgomasters or magistrates, to ex- 
 'NTcise in their name the rights of justice, civil and criminal, the 
 .evying of money, customs, &c. as well as other prerogatives 
 usually reserved to the King. Otho conferred the counties, or 
 governorships of cities where a bishop resided, on th 3 bishops 
 themselves, who, in process of time, made use' of this d bw power 
 to subject these cities to their own authority, and render them 
 mediate and episcopal, instead of being immediate and royal as 
 they were originally. 
 
 The successors of Otho, as impolitic as himself, imitated his 
 example. In consequence of this, the possessions of the crown 
 were, by degrees, reduced to nothing, and the authority of the 
 emperors declined with the diminution of their wealth. The 
 bishops, at first devoted to the emperor.^ , both from necessity 
 and gratitude, no sooner perceived their own strength, than they 
 were tempted to make use of it, and to join the secular princes, 
 in order to sap the imperial authority, as well as to consolidate 
 their own power. To these several causes of the downfall of 
 the empire must be added the new power of the Roman pontiffs, 
 the origin of which is ascribed to Pope Gregory VII. In the 
 following Period, this matter will be treated more in detail ; 
 meantime, we shall proceed to give a succinct view of the other 
 states that figured during this epoch on the theatre of Europe. 
 
 The dynasty of the Ommiades in Spain, founded about the 
 middle of the eighth century, was overturned in the eleventh. 
 An insurrection having happened at Cordova against the Ca- 
 liph Hescham, that prince was dethroned (1030,) and the caliph- 
 ate ended with him. The governors of cities and provinces, 
 and the principal nobility of the Arabs, formed themseh^es into 
 independent sovereigns, under the title of kings ; and as many 
 petty Mahometan States rose in Spain as there had been prin- 
 cipal cities. The most considerable of these, were the king- 
 doms of Cordova, Seville, Toledo, Lisbon, Saragossa, Tortosa, 
 Valencia, Murcia, &:c. This partition of the caliphate of Cor- 
 dovc;, enabled the princes of Christendom to aggrandize their 
 
 8^ 
 
90 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 power at the expense of the Mahometans. Besides the king- 
 doms of Leon and Navarre, there existed in Spain at the com- 
 mencement of the eleventh century, the county of Castille, which 
 had been dismembered from the kingdom of Leon, and the 
 county of Barcelona, which- acknowledged the sovereignty of 
 the Kings of France. 
 
 Sancho the Great, King of Navarre, had the fortune to unite 
 in his own family all these different sovereignties, with the ex- 
 ception of Barcelona ; and as this occurred nearly at the same 
 lime with the destruction of the caliphate of Cordova, it would 
 have been easy for the Christians to obtain a complete ascen- 
 dency over the Mahometans, if they had kept their forces united. 
 But the King of Navarre fell into the same mistake that had 
 been so fatal to the Mahometans ; he divided his dominions 
 among h s sons (1035.) Don Garcias, the eldest, had Navarre, 
 and was the ancestor of a long line of'Navarrese kings ; the 
 last of whom, John d'Albert was deposed (1512) by Ferdinand 
 the Catholic. From Ferdinand, the younger son. King of Leon 
 and Castille, were descended all the sovereigns of Castille and 
 Leon down to Queen Isabella, who transferred these kingdoms 
 (1474,) by marriage, to Ferdinand the Catholic. Lastly, Don 
 Ramira, natural son of Sancho, was the stem from whom sprung 
 all the kings of Arra^'on, down to Ferdinand, who by his mar- 
 riage with Isabella, he ppened to unite all the different Christian 
 States in Spain ; and put an end also to the dominion of the 
 Arabs and Moors in 'hat peninsula. 
 
 In France the royal authority declined more and more, from 
 the rapid progress which the feudal system made in that king- 
 dom, after the feeble reign of Charles the Bald. The Dukes 
 and the Counts, usurping the rights of royalty, made war on 
 each other, and raised on every occasion the standard of revolt. 
 The kings, in order to gain over some, and maintain others in 
 their allegiance, were obliged to give up to them in succession 
 every branch of the royal revenue ; so that the last Carlovin- 
 gian princes were reduced to such a state of distress, that, far 
 from being able to counterbalance the power of the nobility, they 
 had hardly left wherewithal to furnish a scanty subsistence for 
 their court. A change of dynasty became then indispensable ; 
 and the throne, it was evident, must fall to the share of the most 
 powerful and daring of its vassals. This event, which had long 
 been foreseen, happened on the death of Louis V., surnamed the 
 Slothful (9S7,) the last of the Carlovingians, who died childless 
 at the age of twenty. 
 
 Hugh Capet, great-grandson of Robert the Strong, possessed 
 at that time the central parts of the kingdom. He was Count 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 91 
 
 of Paris, Duke of France and Neustria; and his brother Henry 
 wasjnaster of the datchy of Burgundy. It was not difficult for 
 Hugh to form a party ; and under their auspices he got himselt 
 proclaimed king at Noyon, and crowned at Rheims. Charles 
 Duke of Lorrain, paternal uncle of the last king, and sole legiti- 
 mate heir to the Carlovingian line,-^ advanced his claims to Uic 
 crown; he seized, by force of arms, on Laon and Rheims ; but 
 being betrayed by the Bishop of Laon, and delivered up to his 
 rival, he was confined in a prison at Orleans, where he ended 
 his days (991.) 
 
 Hugh, on mounting the throne, restored to the possession of 
 <he crown, the lands and dominions which had belonged to it 
 between the Loire, the Seine, and the Meuse. His power gave 
 a new lustre to the royal dignity, which he found means to ren- 
 der hereditary in his family ; while at the same time he per- 
 mitted the grandees to transmit to their descendants, male and 
 female, the dutchies and counties which they held of the crovv^n, 
 reserving to it merely the feudal superiority. Thus the feudal 
 government was firmly established in France, by the hereditary 
 tenure of the great fiefs ; and that kingdom was in consequence 
 divided among a certain number of powerful vassals, who ren- 
 dered fealty and homage to their kings, and marched at their 
 command on military expeditions ; but who nevertheless were 
 nearly absolute masters in their own dominions, and often dic- 
 tated the law to the sovereign himself. Hugh was the progeni- 
 tor of the Capetian dynasty of French kings, so called from his 
 own surname of Capet. 
 
 England, during the feeble reigns of the Anglo-Saxon princes, 
 successors to Alfred the Great, had sunk under the dominion of 
 priests and monks. The consequence was, the utter ruin of its 
 finances, and its naval and military power. This exposed the 
 kingdom afresh to the attacks of the Danes (991,) who imposed 
 on the English a tribute or tax, known by the name of Danegelt. 
 Under the command of their kings Sueno or Sweyn I., and Ca- 
 nute the Great, they at length drove the Anglo-Saxon kings from 
 their thrones, and made themselves masters of all England 
 (1017.) But the domitjion of the Danes was only of short con- 
 tinuance. The English shook offtheir yoke, and conferred their 
 crown on Edward the Confessor (1042) a prince of the royal 
 blood of tiheir ancient kings. On the death of Edward, .Harold, 
 Earl of Kent, was acknowledged King of England (1066 ;) but 
 he met with a formidable competitor in the person of William 
 Duke of Normandy. 
 
 This prince had no other right to the crown, than that founded 
 on a verbal promise of Edward the Confessor, and confirmed by an 
 
92 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 oath which Harold had given him while Earl of Kent, s "William 
 landed in England (October 14th 1066,) at the head of a conside- 
 rable army, and having offered battle to Harold, near Hastings in 
 Sussex, he gained a complete victory. Harold was killed in 
 the action, and the conquest of all England was the reward of 
 the victor. To secure himself in his new dominions, William 
 constructed a vast number of castles and fortresses throughout 
 all parts of the kingdom, which he took care to fill with Nor- 
 man garrisons. The lands and places of trust of which he had 
 deprived the English, were distributed among the Normans, and 
 other foreigners who were attached to his fortunes. He intro- 
 duced the feudal law, and rendered fiefs hereditary ; he ordered 
 the English to be disarmed, and forbade them to hav^e light in 
 their houses after eight o'clock in the evening. He even at- 
 tempted to abolish the language of the country, by establishing 
 numerous schools for teaching the Norman-French; by pub- 
 lishing the laws, and ordering the pleadings in the courts of 
 justice to be made in that language ; hence it happened that the 
 ancient British, combined with the Norman, formed a new sort 
 of language, which still exists in the modern English. William 
 thus became the common ancestor of the kings of England, 
 whose right to the crown is derived from him, and founded on 
 the Conquest. 
 
 About the time that William conquered England, another co- 
 lony of the same Normans founded the kingdom of the two 
 Sicilies. The several provinces of which this kingdom was 
 composed, vvere, about the beginning of the eleventh century, 
 divided among the Germans, Greeks, and Arabians,^ who were 
 incessantly waging war with each other. A band of nearly a 
 hundred Normans, equally desirous of war and glory, landed in 
 that country (1016,) and tendered their services to the Lombard 
 princes, vassals of the German empire. The bravery which 
 • hey displayed on various occasions, made these princes desirous 
 of retaining them in their pay, to serv^e as guardians of their 
 frontiers against the Greeks and Arabians. The Greek princes 
 very .loon were no less eager to gain their services ; and the 
 Duke of Naples, with the view of attaching them to his interest, 
 ceded to them a large territory, where they built the city of 
 Aversa, three leagues from Capua. The emperor Conrad II. 
 erected it into a county (1038,) the investiture of which he 
 granted to Eainulph, one of their chiefs. 
 
 At this same period the sons of Tancred conducted a new 
 colony from Normandy into Low^er Italy. Their arrival is gen- 
 erally referred to the year 1033 ; and tradition has assigned to 
 Tancred a descent from Rollo or Robert I. Duke of Normandy 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 93 
 
 These new adventurers undertook the conquest of Apulia (1041,) 
 which they formed into a county, the investiture of which they 
 obtained from Henry III. Kobert Guiscard, one of the sons of 
 Tancred, afterwards (1047) completed the conquest of that pro- 
 vince ; he added to it that of Calabria, of which he had also 
 deprived the Greeks (1059,) and assumed the title of Duke of 
 Apulia and Calabria. 
 
 To secure himself in his new conquests, as well as in those 
 which he yet meditated from the two empires, Eobert concluded 
 a treaty the same year with Pope Nicholas II., by which that 
 Pontiff confirmed him in the possession of the dutchies of Apulia 
 and Calabria ; granting him not only the investiture of these, but 
 promising him also that of Sicily, whenever he should expel 
 the Greeks and Arabians from it. Robert, in his turn, acknow- 
 ledged himself a vassal of the Pope, and engaged to pay him 
 an annual tribute of twelve pence, money of Pavia, for every 
 pair of oxen in the two dutchies.^ Immediately after this treaty, 
 Robert called in the assistance of his brother Roger, to rescue 
 Sicily from the hands of the Greeks and Arabs.^ No sooner had 
 he accomplished this object, than he conquered in succession 
 the principalities of Bari, Salerno, Amalfi, Sorrento, and Bene- 
 vento; this latter city he surrendered to the Pope. 
 
 Such is the origin of the dutchies of Apulia and Calabria ; 
 which, after a lapse of some years, were formed into a kingdom 
 under the name of the Two Sicilies. 
 
 As to the kingdoms of the North, the light of history scarcely 
 began to dawn there until the introduction of Christianity, which 
 happened about the end of the tenth or beginning of the eleventh 
 century.^ The promulgation of the Gospel opened a way into 
 the North for the diffusion of arts and letters. The Scandina- 
 vian states, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, which before that 
 time were parcelled out among independent chiefs, began then 
 to form plans of civil government, and to combine into settled 
 monarchies. Their new religion, however, did not inspire these 
 nations with its meek and peaceable virtues, nor overcome their 
 invincible propensity to wars and rapine. Their heroism was 
 a wild and savage bravery, which emboldened them to face all 
 dangers, to undertake desperate adventures, and to achieve sud- 
 den conquests, which were lost and won with the same rapidity. 
 
 Harold, surnamed Blaatand, or Blue teeth, was the first sole 
 monarch of the Danes, who with his son Sweyn received bap- 
 tism, after being vanquished by Otho the Great (965.) Sweyn 
 relapsed to paganism ; but his son Canute the Great, on his 
 accession to the throne (1014,) made Christianity the established 
 religion of his kingdom. He sent for monks from other coan- 
 
94 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 tries, founded churches, and divided the kingdom into diocesses. 
 Ambitious to distinguish himself as a conqueror, he afterwards 
 subdued England and Norway (1028.) To these he added a 
 part of Scotland and Sweden ; and conferred in his own life- 
 time on one of his sons, named Sweyn, the kingdom of Nor- 
 way, and on another, named Hardicanute, that of Denmark. 
 These acquisitions, however, were merely temporary. Sweyn 
 was driven from Norway {1035;) while England and Scotland 
 also shook off the Danish yoke (1042,) on the death of Hardi- 
 canute ; and Magnus King of Norway, even made himself mas- 
 ter of Denmark, which did not recover its entire independence 
 until the death of that prince (1047.) 
 
 The ancient dynasty of Kings who occupied the throne of 
 Denmark from the most remote ages, is known by the name of 
 Skioldungs, because, according to a fabulous tradition, they 
 were descended from Skiold, a pretended son of the famous 
 Odin who, from being the conqueror, was exalted into the deity 
 of the North. The kings who reigned after Sweyn II. were 
 called EstrithJdes, from that monarch, who was the son of Ulf 
 a Danish nobleman, and Esti^itk, sister to Canute the Great. It 
 was this Sweyn that raised the standard of revolt against Mag- 
 nus King of Norway (1044,) and kept possession of the throne 
 until his death. 
 
 In Sweden, the kings of the reigning family, descended, as is 
 alleged, from Eegner Lodbrok, took the title of Kings of Upsal, 
 the place of their residence. Olaus Skotkonung changed this 
 title into that of King of Sweden. He was the first monarch of 
 his nation that embraced Christianity, and exerted himself to 
 propagate it in his kingdom. Sigefroy, Archbishop of York, 
 who was sent into Sweden by Ethelred King of England, bap- 
 tized Olaus and his whole family (1001.) The conversion cf 
 the Swedes would have been more expeditious, had not the zeal 
 of Olaus been restrained by the Swedish Diet who decided for 
 full liberty of conscience. Hence the strange mixture, both of 
 doctrine and worship, that long prevailed in Sweden, where Je- 
 sus Christ was profanely associated with Odin, and the Pagan 
 goddess Freya confounded with the Virgin. Anund Jacques, 
 son of Olaus, contributed much to the progress of Christianity; 
 and his zeal procured him the title o( Most Christian King. 
 
 In Norway, Olaus I., surnamed Tryggueson, towards the end 
 of the tenth century, constituted himself the apostle and mis- 
 sionary of his people, and undertook to convert them to Chris- 
 tianity by torture and punishment. Iceland and Greenland ^ 
 were likewise converted by his efforts, and afterwards became 
 nis tributaries (1029.) One of his successors, Olaus II., called 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 95 
 
 tte Fat, and also the Saint, succeeded in extirpating paganism 
 trorn Norway (1020 ;) but he used the cloak of religion to «?- 
 lyblish his own authority, by destroying several petty kings 
 wUo before this time possessed each their own dominions. 
 
 Christianity was likewise instrumental in throAving some ray^ 
 of light on the history of the Sclavonian nations, by imparting: 
 to them the knowledge of letters, and raising them in the scule 
 of importance among the civilized nations of Europe. The 
 Sclavonians who were settled north of the Elbe, had been sub- 
 dued by the Germans, and compelled to embrace Christianity. 
 The haughtiness and rigour of Thierry, Margrave of the North, 
 induced them to shake off the yoke, and to concert a general 
 insurrection, which broke out in the reign of Otho II. (982., 
 The episcopal palaces, churches and convents, were destroyed; 
 and the people returned onco more to the superstitions of pagan- 
 ism. Those tribes that inhabited Brandenburg, part of Pome- 
 rania and Mecklenburg, known formerly under the name of 
 Wilzians and Welatabes, formed themselves into a republican 
 or federal body, and took the name of Luitizians. The Abo- 
 trites, on the contrary, the Polabes, and the Wagrians,^ were 
 decidedly for a monarchical government, the capital of which 
 was fixed at Mecklenburg. Some of the princes or sovereigns 
 of these latter people were styled Kings of the Venedi. The 
 result of this general revolt was a series of long and bloody wars 
 between the Germans and Sclavonians. The latter defended 
 their civil and religious liberties with a remarkable courage and 
 perseverance ; and it was not till after the twelfth century, that 
 they were subdued and reduced to Christianity by the continued 
 efforts of the Dukes of Saxony, and the Margraves of the North, 
 and by means of the crusades and colonies which the Germans 
 despatched into their country. ^^ 
 
 The first duke of Bohemia that received baptism from the 
 hands, as is supposed, of Methodius, bishop of Moravia (S94,) 
 was Borzivoy. His successors, how^ever, returned to idolatry ; 
 and it was not till near the end of the tenth century, properly 
 speaking, and in the reign of Boleslaus II., surnamed the Pious, 
 that Christianity became the established religion of Bohemia 
 (999.) These dukes were vassals and tributaries of the German 
 empire ; and their tribute consisted of 500 silver marks, and 120 
 oxen. They exercised, however, all the rights of sovereignty 
 over the people ; their reign was a system of terror, and thej^ 
 seldom took the opinion or advice of their nobles and grandees. 
 The succession was hereditary in the reigning dynasty ; and 
 the system of partition was in use, otherwise the order of suc- 
 cession would have been fixed and permanent. Over a number 
 
96 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 of these partitionary princes, one was vested with certain rights 
 of superiority, under the title of Grand Prince, according to a 
 cut;toni found very prevalent among the lialf civilized nations 
 of the nortli and east of Europe. ^^ The greater proportion at 
 the inhabitants, the labouring classes, artisans, and domestics, 
 were serfs, and oppressed by the tyrannical yoke of their mas- 
 ters. The public sale of men was even practised in Bohemia; 
 the tithe, or tenth part of which, belonged to the sovereign. The 
 descendants of Borzivoy possessed the throne of Bohemia until 
 1306, when the male line became extinct. 
 
 The Poles were a nation whose name does not occur in his- 
 tory before the middle of the tenth century ; and we owe to 
 Christianity the first intimations that we have regarding this 
 people. Mieczislaus I., the first duke or prince of the Poles of 
 whom we posse«« any authentic accounts, embraced Christianity 
 (966,) at the solicitation of his spouse Dambrowka, sister ot 
 Boleslaus II., duke of Bohemia. Shortly after, the first bish- 
 opric in Poland, that of Posen, was founded by Otho the Great. 
 Christianity did not, hovvever, tame the ferocious habits of the 
 Poles, who remained for a long lime without the least progress 
 in mental cultivation.^- Their government, as wretched as that 
 of Bohemia, subjected the great body of the nation to the most 
 debasing servitude. The ancient sovereigns of Poland were 
 hereditary. They ruled most despotically, and with a rod ot 
 iron; and, although they acknowledged themselves vassals and 
 tributaries of the German emperors, they repeatedly broke out 
 into open rebellion, asserted their absolute independence, and 
 waged a successful war against their masters. Boleslaus, son 
 of Mieczislaus I., took advantage of the troubles which rose in 
 Germany on the death of Otho III., to possess himself of the 
 Marches of Lusatia and Budissin, or Bautzen, which the Em- 
 peror Henry II. afterwards granted him as fiefs. This same 
 prince, in despite of the Germans, on the death of Henry II. 
 (1025,) assumed the royal dignity. Mieczislaus II., son of Bo- 
 leslaus, after having cruelly ravaged the country situate between 
 the Oder, the Elbe, and the Saal, was compelled to abdicate the 
 throne, and also to restore those provinces which his father had 
 wrested from the Empire. The male descendants of Mieczis- 
 laus I. reigned in Poland until the death of Casimir the Great 
 (1370.) This dynasty of kings is known by the name of the 
 Piasis, or Piasses, so called from one Piast, alleged to have 
 been its founder. 
 
 Silesia, which was then a province of Poland, received the 
 light of the Gospel when it first visited that kingdom ; and had 
 for its apostle, as is supposed, a ,Romish priest named GeofTry, 
 who is reckoned the first bishop of Smogra (966.) 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 97 
 
 In Russia, Vladimir the Great, great-grandson of Ruric, was 
 the first grand duke that embraced Christianity, (9SS.) He was 
 baptized at Cherson in Taurida, on the occasion of his marriage 
 with Anna Romanowna, sister of Basil II. and Constantino VIII., 
 Emperors of Constantinople. It was this prince that introduced 
 the Greek ritual into Russia, and founded several schools and 
 convents. The alphabet of the Greeks was imported into Rus- 
 sia along with their religion ; and from the reign of Vladimir, 
 that nation, more powerful and united than most of the other 
 European states, carried on a lucrative commerce with the Greek 
 empire, of which it became at length a formidable rival. 
 
 At the death of that prince (1015,) Russia comprehended 
 those vast regions which, from east to west, extend from the Icy- 
 Sea and the mouth of the Dwina, to the Niernen, the Dniester, 
 and the Bug ; and southwp<-d of this last river, to the Carpathian 
 Mountains, and the connnes of Hungary and Moldavia. The 
 city of Kiow on the Dnieper, was the capital of the empire, and 
 the residence of the Grand Dukes. This period also gave rise 
 to those unfortunate territorial partitions which, by dividing the 
 Russian monarchy, exposed it to the insults and ravages of ihe 
 neighbouring nations. Jaroslaus, one of the sons of Vladimir, 
 made himself famous as a legislator, and supplied the Novogo- 
 rodians with laws to regulate their courts of justice. No less 
 the friend and protector of letters, he employed himself in trans- 
 lating Greek books into the Sclavonian language. He founded 
 a public school at Novogorod, in which three hundred children 
 were educated at his sole expense. His daughter Anna married 
 Henry I., King of France ; and this princess was the common 
 mother of all the kings and princes of the Capetian dynasty. 
 
 Hungary was divided, in the tenth century, among several 
 petty princes, .who acknowledged a common chief, styled the 
 Grand Prince, whose limited authority was reduced to a simple 
 pre-eminence in rank and dignity. Each of these princes as* 
 sembled armies, and made predatory excursions, plundering and 
 ravaging the neighbouring countries at their pleasure. The 
 East and the West suffered long under the scourge of these atro- 
 cious pillagers. Christianity, which was introduced among them 
 about the end of the tenth century, was alone capable of soft- 
 ening the manners, and tempering the ferocity of this nation 
 Peregrine, bishop of Passau, encouraged by Otho the Grea?., 
 and patronized by the Grand Prince Geisa, sent the first mis- 
 sionaries into Hungary (973.) St. Adelbert, bishop of Praguo, 
 had the honour to baptize the son of Geisa, called Waic (994,) 
 but who received then the baptismal name of Stephen. 
 
 This latter prince, having succeeded his father (997,) changea 
 
 VOL. I. 9 
 
98 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 entirely the aspect of Hungary. He assumed the royal dignity, 
 with the consent of Pope Sylvester II., who sent him on this 
 occasion the Angelic Crown,^'-^ as it is called; the same, accord- 
 ing to tradition, which the Hungarians use to this day in the 
 coronation of their kings. At once the apostle and the law- 
 giver of his country, Stephen I. combined politics with justice, 
 and employed both severity and clemency in reforming his sub- 
 jects. He founded several bishoprics, extirpated idolatry, banish- 
 ed anarchy, and gave to the authority of the sovereign, a vigour 
 and efficiency which it never before possessed. To him like- 
 wise is generally ascribed the political division of Hungary into 
 counties, as also the institution of palatines, and great officers 
 of the crown. He conquered Transylvania, about 1002-3, ac- 
 cording to the opinion of most modern Hungarian authors, and 
 formed it into a distinct government, the chiefs of which, called 
 Vaivodes, held immediately of his crown. 
 
 The history of the Greek empire presents, at this time, nothing 
 but a tissue of corruption, fanaticism and perfidy. The throne, 
 as insecure as that of the Western empire had been, was filled 
 alternately by a succession of usurpers ; most of whom rose 
 from the lowest conditions of life, and owed their elevation 
 solely to the perpetration of crime and parricide. A supersti- 
 tion gross in its nature, bound as with a spell the minds of the 
 Greeks, and paralyzed their courage. It was carefully cherished 
 by the monks, who had found means to possess themselves of 
 the government, by procuring the exclusion of the secular clergy 
 from the episcopate ; and directing the attention of princes to 
 those theological controversies, often exceedingly frivolous, 
 which were produced and re-produced almost without inter- 
 mission.^^ Hence originated those internal commotions and 
 distractions, those schisms and sects, which more than once 
 divided the empire, and shook the throne itself. 
 
 These theological disputes, the rivalry between the two pa- 
 triarchs of Rome and Constantinople,^-^ and the contests respect- 
 ing the Bulgarian converts, kd to an irreparable schism between 
 the churches of the East and the West. This controversy w^as 
 most keenly agitated under the pontificate of John VIII., and 
 when the celebrated Photius was patriarch of Constantinople; 
 and in spite of the efforts which several of the Greek emperors 
 and patriarchs afterwards made to effect a union with the Romish 
 See, the animosity of both only grew more implacable, and 
 ended at last in a final rupture between the two churches. A 
 government so weak and so capricious as that of Constantinople 
 could not but be perpetually exposed to the inroads of foreign 
 enemies. The Huns, Ostrogoths, Avars, Bulgarians, Russians? 
 
PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. 99 
 
 Hungarians, Chazars, and Patzinacites, harassed the empire on 
 the side of the Danube ; while the Persians^'' were incessantly 
 exhausting its strength in the East, and on the side of the Eu- 
 phrates. All these nations, however, were content with merely- 
 desolating the frontiers of the empire, and imposing frequent 
 contributions on the Greeks. It was a task reserved for the 
 Lombards, the Arabs, the Normans, and the Turks, to detach 
 from it whole provinces, and by degrees to hasten its downfall. 
 
 The Lombards were the first that conquered from the Greeks 
 the greater part of Italy. Palestine, Syria, and the whole pos- 
 sessions of the Empire in Greater Asia, as well as Egypt, Nor- 
 thern Africa, and the Isle of Cyprus, were seized in the seventh 
 century by the Arabs, who made themselves masters of Sicily, 
 and three times laid siege to Constantinople (669, 717, 719.) 
 They would have even succeeded in taking this Eastern capital, 
 and annihilating the Greek empire, had not the courage of Leo 
 the Isaurian, and the surprising effects of the Gregeois, or Greek 
 Fire,^~ rendered their efforts useless. At length, in the eleventh 
 century, the Normans conquered all that rem^ained to the Greeks 
 in Italy ; while the Seljuk Turks, who must not be confounded 
 with the Ottoman Turks, deprived them of the greater part of 
 Asia Minor. 
 
 Turk is the generic appellation for all the Tartar nations, ^^ 
 mentioned by the ancients under the name of Scythians. Their 
 original country was in those vast regions situate to the north 
 of Mount Caucasus, and eastward of the Caspian Sea, beyond 
 the.Tihon, or Oxus of the ancients, especially in Charasm, Tran- 
 soxiana, Turkestan, &c. About the eighth century, the Arabs 
 had passed the Oxus, ami rendered the Turks of Charasm and 
 Transoxiana their tributaries. They instructed ihem in the re- 
 ligion and laws of Mahomet ; but, by a transition rather extra- 
 ordinary, it afterwards happened, that the vanquished imposed 
 the yoke on their new masters. 
 
 The empire of the Arabs, already enfeebled by the territorial 
 losses which have been mentioned, declined more and more, 
 from about the middle of the ninth century. The Caliphs of 
 Bagdad had committed the mistake of trusting their persons to 
 a military guard of foreigners, ^^ viz. the Turks, who, taking ad- 
 vantage of the effeminacy of these princes, soon arrogated to 
 themselves the whole authority, and abused it so far, as to leave 
 the Caliphs entirely dependent on their will, and to vest in them- 
 selves the hereditary succession of the government. Thus, in 
 the very centre of the caliphate of Bagdad, there rose a multi- 
 tude of new sovereignties or dynasties, the heads of which, 
 under the title of E?mr or Commander, exercised the supreme 
 
100 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 power ; leaving- nothing more to the Caliph than a pre-eminence 
 of dignity, and that rather of a spiritual than a temporal nature. 
 Besides the external marks of homage and respect which were 
 paid him, his name continued to be proclaimed in the mosques, 
 and inscribed on the coined money. By him were granted all 
 letters-patent of investiture, robes, swords, and standards, accom- 
 panied with high-sounding titles ; which did not, however, pre- 
 vent these usurpers from maltreating their ancient masters, 
 insulting their person, or even atttinpting their lives, whenever 
 it might serve to promote their interest. 
 
 A general revolutioii broke out under the caliph Rahdi. That 
 prince, wishing to arrest the progress of usurpation, thought ot 
 creating a new minister, whom he invested with the title of 
 Emir-al-Omra, or Commander of Commanders ; and conferred 
 on him powers much more ample than those of his vizier. This 
 minister, whom he selected fromi the Emirs, officiated even in 
 the gi'and mosque of Bagdad, instead of the caliph ; and his 
 name was pronounced with equal honours in the divine service 
 throughout the enipire. This device, which the caliph employ- 
 ed to re-establish his authority, only tended to accelerate its 
 destruction. The Bowides, the most powerful dynasty among" 
 the Emirs, arrogated to themselves the dignity of Chief Com- 
 tnander (945,) and seized both the city and the sovereignty of 
 Bagdad. The Caliph, stripped of all temporal power, was then 
 only grand Iman, or sovereign-pontifTof the Mussulman religion, 
 under the protection of the Bowidian prince, who kept him as 
 his prisoner at Bagdad. 
 
 Such was the sad situation of the Arabian empire, fallen 
 from its ancient glory, when a numerous Turkish tribe, from 
 the centre of Turkestan, appeared on the stage, overthrew the 
 dominions of the Bowides ; and, after imposing new fetters on 
 the caliphs, laid the foundation of a powerful empire, known by 
 the name of the Seljukides. This roving tribe, which took its 
 name from Seljuk a Mussulman Turk, after having wandered 
 for some time with their flocks in Transoxiana, passed the 
 Jihon to seek pasturage in the province of Chorasan. Rein- 
 forced by new Turkish colonies from Transoxiana, this coali- 
 tion became in a little time so powerful, that Togrul Beg, 
 grandson of Seljuk, had the boldness to cause himself to be 
 proclaimed Sultan in the city of Niesabur,-^ the capital of Cho- 
 rasan, and formally announced himself as a conqueror (1038.) 
 This prince, and the sultans his successors, subdued by de- 
 grees most of the provinces in Asia, which formed the caliphate 
 of Bagdad.^^ They annihilated the power of the Bowides 
 reduced the Caliphs to the condition of dependents, and at 
 •length attacked also the possessions of the Greek empire. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 101 
 
 Alp-Arslan, the nephew and immediate successor of Togrul 
 Beg, gained a signal victory in Armenia, over the Emperor 
 Romanus Diogenes (1071) who was there taken prisoner. 
 The confusion which this event caused in the Greek empire, 
 was favourable to the Turks, who seized not only what re- 
 mained to the Greeks in Syria, but also several provinces in 
 Asia Minor, such as Cilicia, Isauria, Pamphylia, Lycia, Pisidia, 
 Lycaonia, Cappadocia, Galatia, Pontus, and Bythinia. 
 
 The empire of the Seljukides was in its most flourishing 
 state under the sultan Mal^k Shah, the son and successor of 
 Alp-Arslan. The caliph Cayem, in confirming to this prince 
 the title of Sultan and Chief Commander, added also that of 
 Commander of the Faithful, which before that time had never 
 been conferred but on the caliphs alone. On the death of Ma- 
 lek (1092,) the disputes that rose among his sons occasioned a 
 civil war, and the partition of the empire. These vast territories 
 were divided among three principal dynasties descended from 
 Seljuk, those of Iran, Kerman, and Roum, or Rome. This 
 latter branch, which ascribes its origin to Soliman, great-grand- 
 son of Seljuk, obtained the provinces of Asia Minor, which 
 the Seljukides had conquered from the Greeks. The princes 
 of this dynasty are known in the history of the Crusades by 
 the name of Sultans of Iconium or Cogni, a city of Lycaonia, 
 where the sultans established their residence after being de- 
 prived by the crusaders of the city of Nice in Bythinia. The 
 most powerful of the three dynasties was that of the Seljukides 
 of Iran, whose sway extended over the greater part of Upper 
 Asia. It soon, however, fell from its grandeur, and its states 
 were divided into a number of petty sovereignties, over which 
 the Emirs or governors of cities and provinces usurped the 
 supreme power. ^"^ These divisions prepared the way for the 
 conquests of the crusaders in Syria and Palestine ; and fur- 
 nished also to the Caliphs of Bagdad the means of shaking off 
 the yoke of the Seljukides (1152,) and recovering the sove- 
 reignty of Irak- Arabia, or Bagdad. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PEKIOD IV. 
 
 From Pope Gregory VII. to Boniface VIII a. d. 1074—1300. 
 A NEW and powerful monarchy rose on the ruins of the Ger- 
 man empire, that of the Roman Pontiffs ; which monopolized 
 both spiritual and temporal dominion, and extended its influ- 
 
 9 ^ 
 
102 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ence over all the kingdoms of Christendom. This supremacy, 
 whose artful and complicated mechanism is still an object of 
 astonishment to the most subtle politicians, was the work of 
 Pope Gregory VII., a man born for great undertakings, as re- 
 markable for his genius, which raised him above his times, as 
 for the austerity of his manners and the boundless reach of his 
 ambition. Indignant at the depravity of the age, which was 
 immersed in ignorance and vice, and at the gross immorality 
 which pervaded all classes of society, both laymen and ecclesi- 
 astics, Gregory resolved to become the reformer of morals, and 
 the restorer of religion. To succeed in this project, it was ne- 
 cessary to replace the government of kings, which had totally 
 lost its power and efficiency, by a new authority, whose salutary 
 restraints, imposed alike on the high and the low, might restore 
 vigour to the laws, put a stop to licentiousness, and impose a 
 reverence on all by the sanctity of its origin. This authority 
 was the spiritual supremacy of the Pope, of which Gregory was 
 at once the creator and inventor. 
 
 This extraordinary person, who was the son of a carpenter 
 at Saona in Tuscany, named Bonisone, or according to others, 
 descended of a Roman family, had paved the way to his future 
 greatness under the preceding pontiffs, whose counsels he had 
 directed under the title of Cardinal Hildebrand. While Cardi- 
 nal, he engaged Pope Nicolas II. to enter into a treaty with 
 Robert Guiscard (1059,) for procuring that brave Norman as an 
 ally and a vassal of the Holy See. Taking advantage, like- 
 wise of the minority of Henry IV., he caused, this same year, 
 in a council held at Rome, the famous decree to be passed, 
 which, by reserving the election of the pontiffs principally to 
 the cardinals, converted the elective privileges which the em- 
 perors formerly enjoyed in virtue of their crown rights, into a 
 personal favour granted by the Pope, and emanating from the 
 court of Rome. 
 
 On the death of Pope Nicolas II., Cardinal Hildebrand pro- 
 cured the election of Alexander II., without waiting for the or- 
 der or concurrence of the Imperial court ; and he succeeded in 
 maintaining him in the apostolical chair against Pope Honorius 
 II., whom the reigning empress had destined for that honour. 
 At length, being raised himself to the pontifical throne, scarce- 
 ly had he obtained the Imperial confirmation, when he put in 
 execution the project which he had so long been concerting and 
 preparing, viz. the erecting of a spiritual despotism,^ extend- 
 ing to priests as well as kings ; making the supreme pontiff the 
 arbiter in all affairs, both civil and ecclesiastical — the bestower 
 of favours, and the dispenser of crowns. The basis of this 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 103 
 
 dominion was, that the Vicar of Jesus Christ ought to oe su- 
 perior to all human power. The better to attain his object, he 
 began by withdrawing himself and his clergy from the autho- 
 rity of the secular princes. 
 
 At that time the city of Rome, and the whole ecclesiastical 
 states, as well as the greater part of Italy, were subject to the 
 kings of Germany, who, in virtue of their being kings of Italy 
 and Roman emperors, nominated or confirmed the popes, and 
 installed the prefects of Rome, who there received the power of 
 the sword in their name. They sent also every year commis- 
 sioners to Rome, to levy the money due to the royal treasury. 
 The popes used to date their acts from the years of the empe- 
 ror's reign, and to stamp their coin with his name; and all the 
 higher clergy were virtually bound and subject to the secular 
 power, by the solemn investiture of the ring and the crosier. 
 This investiture gave to the emperors and the other sovereigns 
 the right of nominating and confirming bishops, and even of de- 
 posing them if they saw cause. It gave them, more'over, the 
 right of conferring, at their pleasure, those fiefs and royal pre- 
 rogatives which the munificence of princes had vested in the 
 Church. The emperors, in putting bishops and prelates in 
 possession of these fiefs, used the symbols of the ring and the 
 crosier, which were badges of honour belonging to bishops and 
 abbots. They made them, at the same time, take the oath of 
 fidelity and allegiance ; and this was the origin of their depen- 
 dence, and their obligation to furnish their princes with troops, 
 and to perform military service. 
 
 Gregory VII. prohibited, under pain of excommunication, all 
 sovereigns to exercise the rights of investiture, by a formal de- 
 cree which he published in a council assembled at Rome in 1074. 
 There was more than the simple ceremony of the ring and the 
 crosier implied in this interdict. He aimed at depriving princes of 
 the right of nominating, confirming, or deposing prelates, as well 
 as of receiving their fealty and homage, and exacting military 
 service. He thus broke all those ties by which the bishops 
 were held in allegiance and subordination to princes ; making 
 them, in this respect, entirely independent. In suppressing in- 
 vestitures, the pontiff had yet a more important object in view. 
 It was his policy to withdraw both himself and his successors, 
 as well as the whole ecclesiastical state, from the power of the 
 German kings ; especially by abolishing the right which these 
 princes had so long exercised of nominating and confirming the 
 Popes. He saw, in fact, that if he could succeed in rendering 
 ihe clergy independent of the secular power, it would follow, by 
 a natural consequence, that the Pope, as being supreme head of 
 
104 CHAPTER V. 
 
 the clergy, would no longer be dependent on the emperors, 
 while the emperor, excluded from the nomination and investi- 
 ture of bishops, would have still less right to interfere in the 
 election of pontiffs. 
 
 This affair, equally interestmg to all sovereigns, was of the 
 utmost importance to the kings of Germany, who had committed 
 the unfortunate error of putting the greater part of their domains 
 into the hands of ecclesiastics ; so that to divest those princes 
 of the right to dispose of ecclesiastical fiefs, was in fact to de- 
 prive them of nearly the half of their empire. The bishops, 
 vainly flattering themselves with the prospect of an imaginary 
 liberty, forgot the valuable gifts with which the emperors had 
 loaded them, and enlisted under the banners of the Pope. They 
 turned against the secular princes those arms which the latter 
 had imprudently trusted in their hands. 
 
 There yet subsisted another bond of union which connected 
 the clergy with the civil and political orders of society, and 
 gave them an interest in the protection of the secular authority, 
 and that was, the marriages of the-priests ; a custom in use at 
 that time over a great part of the West, as it still is in the Greek 
 and Eastern Churches. It is true, that the law of celibacy, al- 
 ready recommended strongly by St. Augustine, had been adopted 
 by the Romish Church, which neglected no means of introducing 
 it by degrees into all the churches of the Catholic communion. 
 It had met with better success in Italy and the south of Europe 
 than in the northern countries ; and the priests continued to 
 marry, not only in Germany, England, and the kingdoms of the 
 North, but even in France, Spain, and Italy, notwithstanding 
 the law of celibacy, which had been sanctioned in vain by a 
 multitude of councils. 
 
 Gregory VII., perceiving that, to render the clergy completely 
 dependent on the Pope, it would be necessary to break this 
 powerful connexion, renewed the law of celibacy, in a council 
 held at Rome (1074;) enjoining the married priests either to 
 quit their wives, or renounce the sacerdotal order. The whole 
 clergy murmured against the unfeeling rigour of this decree, 
 which even excited tumult and insurrection in several countries 
 of Germany ; and it required all the firmness of Gregory and 
 his successors to abolish clerical marriages, and establish the 
 law of celibacy throughout the Western churches.^ In thus 
 dissolving the secular ties of the clergy, it was far from the in- 
 tention of Gregory VII. to render them independent. His designs 
 were more politic, and more suitable to his ambition. He wished 
 to make the clergy entirely subservient to his own elevation, and 
 even to employ them as an instrument to humble and subdue 
 the power of the princes. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 105 
 
 The path had abeady been opened up to him by the False 
 Decretals, as they were called, forged about the beginifing- of the 
 ninth century, by the famous impostor Isidore, who, with the 
 view of diminishing the authority of the metropolitans, advanced 
 in these letters, which he attributed to the early bishops of 
 Eome, a principle whose main object was to extend the rights 
 of the Romish See, and to vest in the popes a jurisdiction till 
 then unknown in the church. Several Popes before Gregory 
 VII. had already availed themselves of these False Decretals ; '^ 
 and they had even been admitted as true into different collec- 
 tions of canons. Gregory did not content himself with rigidly 
 enforcing the principles of the impostor Isidore. He went even 
 farther ; he pretended to unite, in himself, the plenary exercise 
 both of the ecclesiastical and episcopal power ; leaving nothing 
 to the archbishops and bishops but the simple title of his lieu- 
 tenants or vicars. He completely undermined the jurisdiction 
 of the metropolitans and bishops, by authorizing in all cases an 
 appeal to the Court of Rome ; reserving to himself exclusively 
 the cognizance of all causes termed major — including more es- 
 pecially the privilege of judging and deposing of bishops. This 
 latter privilege had always been vested in the provincial councils, 
 who exercised it under the authority, and with the consent of 
 the secular powers. Gregory abolished this usage ; and claimed 
 for himself the power of judging the bishops, either in person 
 or by his legates, to the exclusion of the Synodal Assemblies. 
 He made himself master of these assemblies, and even arroga- 
 ted the exclusive right of convocating Genera/ Councils. 
 
 This pontiff, in a council which he held at Rome (1079,) at 
 length prescribed a new oath, which the bishops were obliged 
 to take ; the main object of which was not merely canonical 
 obedience, but even fealty and homage, such as the prelates, as 
 lieges, vowed to their sovereigns; and which the pontiff claimed 
 for himself alone, bearing that they should aid and defend, 
 against the whole world, his new supremacy, and what he called 
 the roijal rights of St. Peter. Although various sovereigns 
 maintained possession of the homage they received from their 
 bishops, the oath imposed by Gregory nevertheless retained its 
 full force; it was even augmented by his successors, and ex- 
 tended to all bishops without distinction, in spite of its incon- 
 sistency with that which the bishops swore to their princes. 
 
 Another very effectual moans which Gregory VII. made use 
 of to confirm his new authority, was to send, more frequently 
 than his predecessors had done, legates into the different states 
 and kingdoms of Christendom. He made them a kind of gov- 
 ernors of provinces, and invested them with the most ample 
 
106 CHAPTFR V. 
 
 powers These legates soon obtained a knowledge of all the 
 affairs of* the provinces delegated to their care; which greatly 
 impaired the authority of the metropolitans and provincial coun- 
 cils, as well as the jurisdiction of the bishops. A clause was 
 also inserted, in the form of the oath imposed on the bishops, 
 which obliged them to furnish maintenance and support for 
 these legates ; a practice which subsequently gave place to fre- 
 quent exactions and impositions on their part. 
 
 While occupied with the means of extending his power over 
 the clerg}^ Gregory did not let slip any opportunity of making 
 encroachments on the authority of princes and sovereigns, which 
 he represented as subordinate to that of the Church and the 
 Pope. As supreme head of the Church, he claimed a right of 
 inspection over all kings and their governments. He deemed 
 himself authorized to address admonitions to them, as to the 
 method of ruling their kingdoms; and to demand of them an 
 account of their conduct. By and by, he presumed to listen to 
 the complaints of subjects against their princes, and claimed the 
 right of being a judge or arbiter between them. In this capacity 
 he acted towards Henry IV., emperor of Germany, who en- 
 jo3"ed the rights of sovereignty over Rome and the Pope. He 
 summoned him to Rome (1076,) for the purpose of answering 
 before the synod to the principal accusations which the nobles 
 of Saxony, engaged in disputes with that prince, had referred to 
 the Pope. The emperor, burning with indignation, and hurried 
 on by the impetuosity of youth, instantly convoked an assembly 
 of bishops at Worms, and there caused the pontiff to be deposed. 
 No sooner was this sentence conveyed to Rome, and read in 
 presence of the Pope in a council which he had assembled, than 
 Gregory ventured on a step till then quite unheard of. He im- 
 mediately thundered a sentence of excommunication and depo- 
 sition against the Emperor, which was addressed to St. Peter, 
 and couched in the following terms : — 
 
 " In the name of Almighty God, I suspend and interdict from 
 governing the kingdom of Germany and Italy, Henry, son of 
 the emperor Henry, who, with a haughtiness unexampled, has 
 dared to rebel against thy church. I absolve all Christians 
 whatever from the oath which they have taken, or shall here- 
 after take, to him; and henceforth none shall be permitted to do 
 him homage or service as king ; for he who would disobey the 
 authority of thy Church, deserves to lose the dignity with which' 
 he is invested. And seeing this prince has refused to submit 
 as a Christian, and has not returned to the Lord whom he hath 
 forsaken, holding communion with the excommunicated, and 
 despising the advice which I tendered him for the safety of bis 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 107 
 
 sou], I load him with curses in thy name, to the end that peo- 
 ple may know, even by experience, that thou art Peter, and that 
 on this rock the Son of the living God has built his church; 
 and that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it." 
 
 This measure, which seemed at first to have been merely the 
 effect of the pontiff's impetuosit}'-, soon discovered of what im- 
 portance it was for him to persevere, and what advantage he 
 might derive from it. In humbling the emperor, the most pow- 
 erful monarch in Europe, he might hope that all the other 
 sovereigns would bend before him. He omitted nothing, there- 
 fore, that might serve to justify his conduct, and endeavoured 
 to prove, by sophistries, that if he had authority to excommuni- 
 cate the emperor, he might likewise deprive him of his dignity; 
 and that the right to release subjects from their oath of allegi- 
 ance was an emanation and a natural consequence of the power 
 of the Keys. The same equivocal interpretation he afterwards 
 made use of in a sentence which he published against the same 
 prince (lOSO,) and which he addressed to the Apostles St. Peter 
 and St. Paul, in these terms : " You, fathers and princes of the 
 apostles, hereby make known to the whole world, that if you 
 can bind and unbind in heaven, you can much more, on earth, 
 take from all men empires, kingdoms, principalities, dutchies, 
 marquisates, counties, and possessions, of whatsoever nature 
 they may be. You have often deprived the unworthy of patri- 
 archates, primacies, archbishoprics, and bishoprics, to give them 
 to persons truly religious. Hence, if you preside over spiritual 
 affairs, does not your jurisdiction extend a fortiori to temporal 
 and secular dignities? and if you judge the angels who rule 
 over princes and potentates, even the haughtiest, will you not 
 also judge their slaves ? Let then the kings and princes of the 
 earth learn how great and irresistible is your power ! Let them 
 tremble to contemn the commands of your church ! And do you, 
 blessed Peter, and blessed Paul, exercise, from this time forward, 
 your judgment on Henry, that the whole earth majr know that 
 he has been humbled, not by any human contingencies, but solely 
 by your power." Until that time, the emperors had exercised 
 the right of confirming the Popes, and even of deposing them, 
 should there be occasion ; but, by a strange reverse of preroga- 
 tives, the popes now arrogated to themselves the confirmation of 
 the emperors, and even usurped the right of dethroning them. 
 
 However irregular this step of the pontiff might be, it did not 
 fail to produce the intended effect. In an assembly of the Im- 
 perial States, held at Tribur (1076,) the emperor could only 
 obtain their consent to postpone their proceeding to a new 
 election, and that on the express condition of his submitting 
 
108 CHAPTER V. 
 
 himself to the judgment of the Pope, and being absolved imme 
 diate'ly from the excommunication he had incurred. In conse 
 quence of this decision of the States, Henry crossed the Alps 
 in the middle of winter, to obtain reconciliation with, the Pope, 
 who then resided with the famous Countess Matilda, at her 
 Castle of Canossa, in the Modenese territory. Absolution was 
 not granted him, however, except under conditions the most hu- 
 miliating. He was compelled to do penance in an outer court 
 of the castle, in a woollen shirt and barefooted, for three suc- 
 cessive days, and afterwards to sign whatever terms the pontiflf 
 chose to prescribe. This extraordinary spectacle must have 
 spread consternation among the sovereigns of Europe, and 
 made them tremble at the censures of the Church. 
 
 After this, Gregory VII. exerted his utmost influence to en- 
 gage all sovereigns, without distinction, to acknowledge them- 
 selves his vassals and tributaries. " Let not the emperor 
 imagine," says he, in a letter which he wrote to the German 
 nation, " that the church is subject to him as a slave, but let him 
 know that she is set over him as a sovereign." From that time 
 the pontiff regarded the empire as a fief of his church ; and 
 afterwards when setting up a rival emperor to Henry IV., in 
 the person of Hermann of Luxemburg, he exacted from him a 
 formal oath of vassalage. Gregory pursued the same conduct 
 in regard to the other sovereigns of Europe. Boleslaus II., 
 King of Poland, having killed Stanislaus Bislaop of Cracow, 
 who had ventured to excommunicate him, the pontiff took oc- 
 casion from this to depose that prince; releasing all his sub- 
 jects from their oath of fidelity, and even prohibiting the Polish 
 bishops hencefortli to crown any king without the express con- 
 sent of the Pope. 
 
 This aspiring pontiff stuck at nothing ; he regarded nothing, 
 provided he could obtain his object. However contrary the 
 customs of former times were to his pretensions, he quoted 
 them as examples of authority, and with a boldness capable of 
 imposing any thing on weak and ignorant minds. It was thus 
 that, in order to oblige the French nation to pay him the tax of 
 one penny each house, he alleged the example of Charlemagne, 
 and pretended that that prince had not merely paid this tribute, 
 but even granted Saxony as a fief to St. Peter ; as he had con- 
 quered it with the assistance of that apostle. In writing to 
 Philip I. of France, he expressed himself in these terms : 
 " Strive to please St. Peter, who has thy kingdom as well as 
 thy soul in his power ; and who can bind thee, and absolve in 
 heaven as well as on earth." And in a letter which he addressed 
 to the Princes of Spain, he attempted to persuade them, that the 
 
Henry IV. Emperor of Germany^ submitting to 
 Pope Gregory VIL Vol. 1, p. 108. 
 
 Peter the Hermit preaching to the Crusaders. 
 Vol. l,p. 116. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300 109. 
 
 kins^dom of Spain, being originally the property of the Holy 
 See, they could not exonerate themselves from paying him a 
 tax on all the lands they had conquered fro-m the Infidels. 
 
 He affirmed to Solomon, King of Hungary, that Stephen I., 
 on receiving his crown at the hands of Pope Silvester II., had 
 surrendered his kingdom as free property to the Holy See ; and 
 that, in virtue of this donation, his kingdom was to be considered 
 as a part of the domain of the church. He wrote in exactly the 
 same style to Geysa his immediate successor. In one of his 
 letters to Sueno, King of Denmark, he enjoins him to deliver 
 up his kingdom to the power of the Romish See. He refused 
 (1076,) to grant the royal dignity to Demetrius Swinimir, Duke 
 of Croatia and Dalmatia, except on the express condition, that 
 he should do him homage for his kingdom, and engage to pay 
 the Pope an annual tribute of two hundred golden pieces of By- 
 zantium. This poniiftliad the art of disguising his ambition so 
 dexterously, under the mask of justice and piety, that he pre- 
 vailed with various other sovereigns to acknowledge themselves 
 his vassals. Bertrand, Count of Provence, transferred to him 
 his fealty and homage, to the prejudice of those feudal obliga- 
 tions he owed to the Empire. Several princes of Italy and Ger- 
 many, influenced by artifice or intimidation, abandoned the 
 emperor, and put themselves under submission to the Pope. 
 His efforts were not equally successful with William the Con- 
 queror, King of England, whom he had politely invited by letter, 
 to do him homage for his kingdom, after the manner of his royal 
 predecessors. That prince, too wise to be duped by papal im- 
 position, replied, that he vvas not in a humour to perform homage 
 which he had never promised, and which he was not aware naa 
 ever been perform^ed by any of his predecessors. 
 
 The successors of Gregory VII., follower! in the path he had 
 opened up ; giving their utmost support to all his maxims and pre- 
 tensions. In consequence, a very great number of the princes 
 of Christendom, some intimidated by the thunders of ecclesias- 
 tical anathemas, others with a view to secure for themselves 
 the protection of the Holy See, acknowledged these Usurped 
 powers of the Popes. The Kings of Portugal, Arragon, England, 
 Scotland, Sardinia, the two Sicilies, and several others, became, 
 in course of time, vassals and tributaries to the Papal See; and 
 there is not a doubt, that the universal monarchy, the scheme 
 of which Gregory VII. had conceived, would have been com- 
 pletely established, if some of his successors had been endowed 
 with his vast ambition, and his superior genius. 
 
 In every other respect, circumstances v/ere such as to hasten 
 8.nd facilitate the progress of this new pontifical supremacy. It 
 
 VOL. I. 1^^ 
 
110 en AFTER V. 
 
 had commenced in a barbarous age, when the whole of the 
 Western world was covered with the darkness of ignorance, 
 and when mankind knew neither the just rights of sovereignty, 
 nor the bounds which reason and equity should have set to the 
 authority of the priesthood. The court of Rome was then the 
 only school where politics were studied, and the Popes the only 
 monarchs that put them in practice. An extravagant supersti- 
 tion, the inseparable companion of ignorance, held all Europe 
 in subjection ; the Popes were reverenced with a veneration 
 resembling that which belongs only to the Deity; and the whole 
 world trembled at the utterance of the single word Exconimu- 
 nication. Kings were not sufficiently powerful to oppose any 
 successful resistance to the encroachments of Rome ; their au- 
 thority was curtailed and counteracted by that of their vassals, 
 who seized with eagerness every occasion which the Popes 
 offered them, to aggrandize their own prerogatives at the expense 
 of the sovereign authorit5^ 
 
 The Emperor of Germany, who was alone able to countervail 
 this new spiritual tyranny, was at open war with his grand vas- 
 sals, whose usurpations he was anxious to repress; while they, 
 disrespecting the majesty of the throne, and consulting only 
 their own animosity against the emperor, blindly seconded the 
 pretensions of the pontiff. The emperor, however, did all in 
 his power to oppose a barrier to this torrent of ecclesiastical 
 despotism ; but the insolence of Gregory became so extrava- 
 gant, that, not content to attack him with spiritual weapons, he 
 set up rival emperors, and excited intestine wars against him ; 
 and his successors even went so far as to arm the sons against 
 their own father. Such was the origin of the contests which 
 arose between the Empire and the Papacy, under the reign of 
 Henry IV., and which agitated both Germany and Italy for a 
 period of several centuries. They gave birth, also, to the two 
 factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the former Imperial, 
 ^nd the other Papal, who for a long course of time tore each 
 other to pieces with inconceivable fury. 
 
 Henry V., son and successor of Henry IV., terminated the 
 grand dispute about the investitures of the ring and the crosier. 
 By the Concordat which he concluded at Worms (1122) with 
 Pope Calixtus II., he renounced the ceremony of the ring and 
 the cross ; and granting to the churches free liberty of election, 
 he reserved nothing to himself, except the privilege of sending 
 commissioners to the elections, and giving to the newly elected 
 prelates, after consecration, the investiture of the regalian rights, 
 by means of the sceptre, instead of the ring and crosier. The 
 ties of vassalage which connected the bishops with the empe- 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. Ill 
 
 rors, were still preserved by this transaction, contrary to the in- 
 tentions of Gregory VII. ; but the emperors being obliged to 
 approve of the persons whom the Church should hereafter pre- 
 sent, lost their chief influence in the elections, and were no 
 longer entitled, as formerly, to grant or refuse investiture. 
 
 These broils with the court of Rome, the check which they 
 gave to the Imperial authority, joined to the increasing abuses 
 of the feudal system, afforded the princes and states of the Em- 
 pire the means of usurping the heritable succession of their 
 dutchies, counties, and fiefs ; and of laying the foundations of a 
 new power, which they afterwards exercised under the name of 
 territorial superiority. Frederic II., compelled by the pressure 
 of events, Avas the first emperor that sanctioned the territorial 
 rights of the states by charters, which he delivered to several 
 princes, secular and ecclesiastic, in the years 1220 and 1232. 
 The Imperial dignity thus lost its splendour with the power of 
 the emperors ; and the constitution of the Empire was totally 
 changed. That vast monarchy degenerated by degrees into a 
 kind of federal system ; and the Emperor, in course of time, 
 became only the common chief, and superior over the numerous 
 vassals of which that association was composed. The extra- 
 ordinary efforts made by the Emperors Frederic I. and II. of the 
 house of Hohenstaufen,"* to re-establish the tottering throne of 
 the empire, ended in nothing; and that House, one of the most 
 powerful in Europe, was deprived of all its crowns, and perse- 
 cuted even to the scaffold. 
 
 The empire thus fell into gradual decay, Avhile the pontifical 
 power, rising on its ruins, gained, day by day, new accessions 
 of strength. The successors of Gregory VII. omitted nothing 
 that policy could suggest to them, in order to humble more and 
 more the dignity of the Emperors, and to bring them into a state 
 of absolute dependence, by arrogating to themselves the express 
 right of confirming, and even of deposing them ;^ and com- 
 pelling them to acknowledge their feudal superiority. Being 
 thus no longer obliged to submit their election to the arbitration 
 of the Imperial court, the ambitious pontiffs soon aspired to 
 absolute sovereignty. 
 
 The custom of dating their acts, and coining their money 
 with the stamp and name of the emperor, disappeared after 
 the time of Gregory VII. ; and the authority which the empe- 
 rors had exercised at Rome, ceased entirely with the loss of the 
 prefecture or government of that city ; which Pope Innocent III. 
 took into his own hands (1198,) obliging the prefect of Rome 
 to swear the usual oath of homage to the Apostolic See, which 
 that magistrate owed to the emperor, from whom he received 
 
112 CHAPTER V. 
 
 the prefecture. Hence it happened, that the chiefs of the Em- 
 pire, obliged to compromise with a power which they had learned 
 to dread, had no longer any difficulty in recognising the entire 
 mdependence of the Popes ; even formally renouncing the 
 rights of high sovereignty which their predecessors had enjoyed, 
 not only over Rome, but over the Ecclesiastical States. The 
 domains of th*8 church were likewise considerably increased 
 by the acquisitions Avhich Innocent III. made of the March 
 of Ancona, and the dutchy of Spoleio ; as v/ell as by the per- 
 sonal property or Patrimony of the Countess Matilda,^ which 
 the Emperor Frederic II. ceded to Honorius III. (1220,) and 
 which his successors in the Apostolic chair formed into the pro- 
 vince known by the name of the Patrimony of St. Peter. 
 
 One of the grand means which the Popes employed for the 
 advancement of their new authority, was the multiplication of 
 Religious Orders, and the way in which they took care to man- 
 age these corporations. Before the time of Gregory VII., the 
 only order known in the West was that of the Benedictines, 
 divided into several families or congregations. The rule of St, 
 Benedict, prescribed at the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle (S17) to 
 all monks within the en^.pire of the Franks, was the only one 
 allowed by the Romish Church; just as that of St. Basil was, 
 and still is, the only one practised in the East by the Greek 
 Church. The first of these newly invented orders was that of 
 Grammont in Limosin (1073,) authorized by Pope Gregory VII. 
 This was followed, in the same century, by the order of Char- 
 treux, and that of St. Antony.^ The Mendicant orders took 
 their rise under Innocent III., near the end of the twelfth, and 
 beginning of the thirteenth century. Their number increased 
 in a short time so prodigiously, that, in 3274, they could reckon 
 twenty-three orders. The complaints which were raised on this 
 subject from all parts of Christendom, obliged Pope Gregory to 
 reduce them, at the Council of Lyons, to four orders, viz. the 
 Hermits of St. William or Augustines, Carmelites, the Minor 
 or Franciscan friars, and the Preaching or Dominican friars. 
 The Popes, perceiving that they might convert the monastic 
 orders, and more particularly the mendicants, into a powerful 
 engine for strengthening their own authority, and keeping the 
 secular clergy in subjection, granted by degrees to these frater- 
 nities, immunities and exemptions tending to withdraw them 
 from the jurisdiction of the bishops, and to emancipate them 
 from every other authority, except that of their Heads, and the 
 Popes. They even conferred on them various privileges, such 
 as those of preaching, confession, and instructing the young; 
 as being the most likely means to augment their credit and their 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 113 
 
 influence. The consequence was, that the monks were fre- 
 quently emplo3'ed by the Popes in quality of legates and mis- 
 sionaries ; they were feared and respected by sovereigns, sin- 
 gularly revered by the people, and let slip no occasion of exalting 
 a power to which alone they owed their promotion, their re- 
 spectability, and all the advantages they enjoyed. 
 
 Of all the successors of Gregory VII., he who resembled him 
 most in the superiority of his genius, and the extent of his 
 knowledge, was Innocent III., who was of the family of the 
 Counts of Segni, and elevated to the pontificate at the age of 
 37. He was as ambitious as that pontiff, and equally fertile 
 in resources ; and he even surpassed him in the boldness of 
 his plans, and the success of his enterprises. Innocent an- 
 nounced himself as the successor of St. Peter, set up by God 
 to govern not only the Church, hut the whole world. It was 
 this Pope who first made use of the famous comparison about 
 the sun and the moon : As God, says he, has placed two great 
 luminaries in the firmament, the one to rule the day, and the 
 other to give light by night, so has he established tico grand 
 powers, the pontifical and the royal ; and as the moon receives 
 her light from the sun, so does royalty horroio its splendour 
 from the Papal authority. 
 
 Not content to exercise the legislative power as he pleased, 
 by means of the numerous decretals which he dispersed over 
 all Christendom, this pontiff was the first that arrogated to him- 
 self the prerogative of dispensing with the laws themselves, 
 in virtue of what he termed the plenitude of his poiver. It is 
 to hmi also that the origin of the Inquisition is ascribed, that 
 terrible tribunal which afterwards became the firmest prop of 
 sacerdotal despotism ; but what is of more importance to re- 
 mark, is, that he laid the foundations of that exorbitant power, 
 which his successors have since exercised in collating or pre- 
 senting to ecclesiastical dignities and benefices. 
 
 The secular princes having been deprived of their rights of 
 nomination and confirmation, by the decrees of Gregory VII. 
 and his successors, the privilege of electing bishops was re- 
 stored to the clergy and congregation of each church, and to 
 the chapters of convents ; the confirmati-on of the elected pre- 
 lates belonged to their immediate superiors ; and collation to 
 the other ecclesiastical benefices was reserved for the bishops 
 and ordinaries. All these regulations were changed towards 
 the end of the twelfth century. The canons of cathedral 
 churches, authorized by the Court of Rome, claimed to them- 
 selves the right of election, to the exclusion of the clergy and 
 the people ; while the Popes, gradually interfering with elec- 
 
 10^ 
 
114 CHAPTER V. 
 
 tions and collations, found means to usurp the nomination and 
 collation to almost all ecclesiastical benefices. The principle of 
 these usurpations was founded on the false decretals ; accord- 
 ing to which all ecclesiastical jurisdiction emanates from the 
 court of Rome, as a river flows from its source. It is from the 
 Pope that archbishops and bishops hold that portion of authori- 
 ty with which they are endowed ; and of which he does not 
 divest himself, by the act of communicating- it to them; but is 
 rather the more entitled to co-operate with them in the exercise 
 of that jurisdiction as often as he may judge proper. 
 
 This principle of a conjunct authority, furnished a very plau- 
 sible pretext for the Popes to interfere in collation to benefices. 
 This collation, according to the canon law, being essential to 
 the jurisdiction of bishops, it seemed natural that the Pope, 
 who concurred in the jurisdiction, should also concur in the 
 privileges derived from it, namely, induction or collation to be- 
 nefices. From the right of concurrence, therefore. Innocent III. 
 proceeded to that o( preve7itio?i, he'mg the first pontiff that mad» 
 use of it. He exercised that right, especially with regarii cO 
 benefices which had newly become vacant by the death of their 
 incumbents, when at the Court of Rome; in which cases it 
 was easy to anticipate or get the start of the bishops. In the 
 same manner, this right was exercised in remote dioceses, by 
 means of legates a latere, which he dispersed over the diflerept 
 provinces of Christendom. 
 
 From the right of prevention were derived the provisioiial 
 mandates, and the Graces Exjjectaiives, (reversionary grants or 
 Bulls) letters granting promise of church livings before they 
 became vacant. The Popes not having legates every where, 
 and wishing, besides, to treat the bishops with some respect, 
 began by addressing to them letters of recommendation in fa- 
 vour of those persons for whom they were anxious to procure 
 benefices. These letters becoming too frequent and importu- 
 nate, the bishops ventured to refuse their compliance ; on Vv^hich 
 the Popes began to change their recommendations into orders 
 or mandates ; and appointed commissioners to enforce their 
 execution by means of ecclesiastical censures. These man- 
 dates were succeeded b}?- the Graces Expectatives, which, pro- 
 perly speaking, were nothing else than mandates issued for be- 
 nefices, whose titulars or incumbents were yet alive. Lastly 
 appeared the Reservations, which were distinguished into ge- 
 neral and special. The first general reservation was that of 
 benefices becoming vacant by the incumbents dying at the Court 
 of Rome. This was introduced by Pope Clement IV. in 
 1265, in order to exclude for ever the bishops from the right of 
 concurrence and prevention in benefices of that kind. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 11.5 
 
 This first reservation was the forerunner of several others, 
 such as the reservation of all cathedral churches, abbeys, and 
 priories ; as also of the highest dignities in cathedral and colle- 
 giate churches ; and of all collective benefices, becoming vacant 
 during eight months in the year, called the Pope's months, so 
 that only four months remained for the ordinary collators ; and 
 these too, encroached upon by mandates, expectatives, and re- 
 servations. The Popes having thus seized the nomination to 
 episcopal dignities, it followed, by a simple and natural process, 
 that the confirmation of all prelates, without distinction, was in 
 like manner reserved for them. It would have even been reck- 
 oned a breach of decorum to address an archbishop, demanding 
 from him the confirmation of a bishop nominated by the Pope ; 
 so that this point of common right, which vested the confirma- 
 tion of every prelate in his immediate superior, was also anni- 
 hilated ; and the Romish See was at length acknowledged over 
 the whole Western world, as the only source of all jurisdiction, 
 and all ecclesiastical power. 
 
 An extraordinary event, the offspring of that superstitious age 
 served still more to increase the power of the Popes ; and that 
 was the Crusades, which the nations of Europe undertook, at 
 their request and by their orders, for the conquest of Palestine 
 or the Holy Land. These expeditions, known by the name of 
 Holy Wars, because religion was made the pretext or occasion 
 of them, require a somewhat particular detail, not merely of the 
 circumstances that accompanied them, but also of the changes 
 which they introduced into the moral and political condition of 
 society. Pilgrimages to Jerusalem, which were in use from 
 the earliest ages of Christianity, had become very frequent about 
 the beginning of the eleventh century. The opinion which then 
 very generally prevailed, that the end of the world was at hand, 
 induced vast numbers of Christians to sell their possessions in 
 Europe, in order that they might set out for the Holy Land, 
 there to await the coming of the Lord. So long as the Arabs 
 were masters of Palestine, they protected these pilgrimages, 
 from which they derived no small emoluments. But when the 
 Seljukian Turks, a barbarous and ferocious people, had con- 
 quered that country (1075) under the Caliphs of Egypt, the pil- 
 grims saw themselves exposed to every kind of insult and op- 
 pression.^ The lamentable accounts which they gave of these 
 outrages on their return to Europe, excited the general indigna- 
 tion, and gave birth to the romantic notion of expelling these 
 Infidels from the Holy Land. 
 
 Gregory VII. was the projector of this grand scheme. He 
 addressed circular letters to all the sovereigns of Europe, and 
 
116 CHAPTER V. 
 
 invited them to make a general crusade against the Turks. 
 Meantime, however, more pressing interests, and his quarrels 
 with the Emperor Henry IV., obliged him to defer the projected 
 enterprise ; but his attention was soon recalled to it by the re- 
 presentation of a pilgrim, called Peter the Hermit, a native of 
 Amiens in Picardy. Furnished with letters from the Patriarch 
 of Jerusalem to the Pope and the princes of the West, this 
 ardent fanatic traversed the whole of Italy, France, and Germa- 
 ny ; preaching every where, and representing, in the liveliest 
 colours, the profanation of the sacred places, and the miserable 
 condition of the Christians and poor pilgrims in the Holy Land. 
 It proved no difficult task for him to impart to others the fanati- 
 cism with which he was himself animated. His zeal was pow- 
 erfully seconded by Pope Urban II., who repaired in person to 
 France, where he convoked the council of Clermont (1095,) and 
 pronounced, in full assembly, a pathetic harangue, at the close 
 of which they unanimously resolved on the Holy War. It was 
 decreed, that all who should enrol their names in this sacred 
 militia, should wear a red cross on their right shoulder : that 
 they should enjoy plenary indulgence, and obtain remission of 
 all their sins. 
 
 From that time the pulpits of Europe resounded with exhor- 
 tations to the crusades. People of every rank and condition 
 were seen flocking in crowds to assume the signal of the cross ; 
 and, in the following year, innumerable bands of crusaders, from 
 the different countries of Europe, set out, one after another, on 
 this expedition to the East.^ The only exception was the Ger- 
 mans, who partook but feebly of this universal enthusiasm, on 
 account of the disputes which then subsisted between the Em- 
 peror and the court of Rome.^° The three or four first divisions 
 of the crusaders, under the conduct of chiefs, who had neither 
 name nor experience, marched without order and without disci- 
 pline; pillaging, burning, and wasting the countries through 
 which they passed. Most of them perished from fatigue, hun- 
 ger, or sickness, or by the sv/ord of the exasperated nations, 
 whose territories they had laid desolate. ^^ 
 
 To these unw^arlike and undisciplined troops succeeded regu- 
 lar armies, commanded by experienced officers, and powerful 
 princes. Godfrey of Bouillon (1096,) Duke of Lorrain, accom- 
 panied by his brother Baldwin, and his cousin Baldwin of Bourg, 
 with a vast retinue of noblemen, put himself at the head of the 
 first body of crusaders. He directed his march through Ger- 
 many, Hungary, and Bulgaria, towards Constantinople, and 
 was soon followed by several French princes, such as Hugh the 
 Great, brother of Philip I. King of France ; Robert Duke of 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074— 1300. 117 
 
 Normandy, son of William the Conqueror ; Stephen VI., Count 
 of Blois ; Eustace of Boulogne, brother to Godfrey de Bouillon. 
 and Robert Count of Flanders, who all preferred the route by 
 Italy. They passed the v/inter in the environs of Bari, Brin- 
 disi, and Otranto ; and did not embark for Greece until the fol- 
 lowing spring-. Boemond, Prince of Tarentum, son to Roger, 
 Earl of Sicily, at the instigation of the French grandees, took 
 the cross, after their example, and carried with him into the 
 East the flower of the Normans, and the noblesse of Sicily, 
 Apulia, and Calabria. Lastly, Raymond IV., Count of Tou- 
 louse, accompanied by the Bishop of Puy, traversed Lombardy, 
 Friuli, and Dalmatia, on his passage to the Holy Land. 
 
 The general rendezvous of the crusaders was at Chalcedon 
 in Bythinia. It is supposed that their forces united, amounted 
 to six hundred thousand combatants. They commenced their 
 exploits with the siege of Nice, capital of the empire of Roum, 
 of which they made themselves master, after having repulsed the 
 Turks who had advanced under the command of the Sultan 
 Kili-Arslan, the son of Soliman, premier sultan of Roum. Ano- 
 ther victory gained over the same sultan U097) in the Gorgo- 
 nian valley in Bythinia, opened for the crusaders a passage into 
 Syria. There they undertook the siege of the strong city of 
 Antioch, which they carried after an immense loss of lives (109S.) 
 Having at length arrived in Palestine, they planned the attack 
 of Jerusalem, which the Caliph of Egypt had just recovered 
 from the Turks ; and v/hich the crusaders, in their turn, carried 
 by assault from the Egyptians (1099.) This city was declared 
 the capital of a new kingdom, the sovereignty of which was be- 
 stowed on Godfrey of Bouillon, though he refused to take the 
 title of king. This famous prince extended his conquests by a 
 splendid victory, which he gained that same year near Ascalon, 
 over the Caliph of Eg3^pt. On his death, his brother Baldwin 
 succeeded him, and transmitted the throne to his cousin Bald- 
 win of Bourg, whose posterity reigned in Jerusalem until the 
 destruction of that kingdom by Saladin (1187.) 
 
 Besides the kingdom of Jerusalem, which comprehended Pa- 
 lestine, with the cities of Sidon, Tyre, and Ptolemais, the cru- 
 saders founded several other states in the East. The earldom 
 of Edessa, first conquered by Baldwin, brother of Godfrey, 
 passed to several French princes in succession until the year 
 1144, when it was subdued by Atabek-Zenghi commonly called 
 Sanguin. The principality of Antioch fell to the share of Boe- 
 mond, prince of Tarentum, whose heirs and descendants added 
 to it, in 1188, the County of Tripoli, which had been founded 
 (1110) by Raymond, Count of Toulouse, one of the crusaders 
 
118 CHAPTER V. 
 
 But they were deprived both of the one and the other of these 
 sovereignties by the Mamelukes in 1268, uho afterwards (12S9) 
 conquered Antioch and Tripoli. Lastly, the kingdom of Cyprus 
 which Richard Coeur-de-Lion, King of England, took from the 
 Greeks (1191,) was surrendered by that prince to Guy de Lu- 
 signan, whose posterity reigned in Cyprus till the year 1487, 
 when that island was taken possession of by the republic of 
 Venice. 
 
 The transient duration of these different states, presents no- 
 thing suprising. The Christians of the East, disunited among 
 themselves, surrounded on all hands, and incessantly attacked 
 by powerful nations, found themselves too remote from Europe 
 to obtain from that quarter any prompt or effective succour. It 
 was, therefore, impossible for them long to withstand the efforts 
 of the Mahometans, who were animated as well as the Chris- 
 tians by a sectarian zeal, which led them to combine their forces 
 against the enemies of their religion and their prophet. The 
 enthusiasm of religious wars did not however become extinct 
 until nearly two centuries. It was encouraged and supported 
 by the numerous privileges which popes and sovereigns con- 
 ferred on the invaders, and by the rich endowments that were 
 made in their favour. All Europe continued to be in motion, 
 and all its principal sovereigns marched in their turn to the 
 East, either to attempt new conquests, or maintain those which 
 the first crusaders had achieved. 
 
 Six grand crusades succeeded to the first ; all of which were 
 either fruitless, or at least without any important and durable 
 success. Conrad III., Emperor of Germany, and Louis VII., 
 King of France, undertook the second (1147,) on account of the 
 conquests of Atabek-Zenghi, who, three years before, had made 
 himself master of Edessa. The third (1189) was headed by 
 the Emperor Frederic I., surnamed Barbarossa ; Philip Augus- 
 tus King of France ; and Richard Cceur-de-Lion of England; 
 and the occasion of it, was the taking of Jerusalem by the fa- 
 mous Saladin (1187.) The fourth was undertaken (1202,) at 
 the pressing instigation of Innocent III. Several of the French 
 and German nobility uniting with the Venetians, assumed the 
 cross under the command of Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat ; 
 but instead of marching to Palestine, they ended their expedi- 
 tion by taking Constantinople from the Greeks. The fifth cru- 
 sade (1217) was conducted by Andrew, King of Hungary, at- 
 tended by many of the princes and nobility of Germany, who 
 had enlisted under the banner of the Cross in consequence of 
 the decrees of the council of Lateran (1215.) The Emperor 
 Frederic II. undertook the sixth (1228.) By a treaty which he 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 119 
 
 concluded with the Sultan of Egypt, he obtained the restoration 
 of Jerusalem and several other cities of Palestine ; although 
 they did not long continue in his possession. The Carizmian 
 Turks, oppressed by the Moguls, seized on the Holy Land 
 (1244,) and pillaged and burnt Jerusalem. That famous city, 
 together with the greater part of Palestine, fell afterwards under 
 the dominion of the Sultans of Egypt. 
 
 The seventh and last grand crusade, was undertaken by Louis 
 IX. King of France (124S.) He conceived it necessary to be- 
 gin his conquests by that of Egypt; but his design completely 
 miscarried. Being made prisoner with his army after the action 
 at Mansoura (1250,) he only obtained his liberty by restoring 
 Damietta, and paying a large ransom to the Sultan of Egypt. 
 The unfortunate issue of this last expedition, slackened the zeal 
 of the Europeans for crusading. Still, however, they retained 
 two important places on the coast of Syria, the cities of Tyre 
 and Piolemais. But these places having been conquered by the 
 Mamelukes (1291,) there was no longer any talk about crusades 
 to the East ; and all the attempts of the Court of Kome to revive 
 them proved ineffectual. 
 
 It now remains for us briefly to notice the efTects which re- 
 sulted from the crusades, with regard to the social and political 
 state of the nations in Western Europe. One consequence of 
 these, was the aggrandizement of the Eoman Pontiffs, who, 
 during the whole period of the crusades, played the part of su- 
 preme chiefs and sovereign masters of Christendom. It was at 
 their request, as we have seen, that those religious wars were 
 undertaken ; it was they who directed them by means of their 
 legates, — who compelled emperors and kings, by the terror of 
 their spiritual arms, to march under the banner of the Cross — 
 who taxed the clergy at their pleasure, to defray the expenses 
 of these distant expeditions, — who took under their immediate 
 protection the persons and effects of the Crusaders, and eman- 
 cipated them, by means of special privileges, from all depend- 
 ence on any power, civil or judiciary. The wealth of the clergy 
 was considerably increased during the time of which we speak, 
 both by the numerous endowments which took place, and by 
 the acquisition which the Church made of the immense landed 
 property which the pious owners sold them on assuming the 
 badge of the Cross. 
 
 These advantages which the See of Rome drew from the 
 crusades in the East, were inducements to undertake similar 
 expeditions in the West and North of Europe. In these quar- 
 ters we find that the wars of the cross were carried on, 1. 
 Against the Mahometans of Spain and Africa. 2. Against the 
 
120 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Emperors and Kings who refused obedience to the orders of the 
 Popes. 12 3. Against heretical or schismatic princes, sach as the 
 Greeks and Russians. 4. Against the Slavonians and other 
 Pagan natimis, on the coasts of the Baltic. 5. Against the 
 Waldenses, Albigenses, and Hussites, who were regarded as 
 heretics. 6. Against the Turks. 
 
 If the result of the crusades was advantageous to the hier- 
 archy, if it served to aggrandize the power of the Roman Pop 
 tiffs, it must, on the contrary, have proved obviously prejudicial 
 ro the authority of the secular princes. It was in fact during 
 this period that the power of the emperors, both in Germany 
 and Italy, was sapped to the very foundation ; that the royal 
 nouse of Hohenstanfen sunk under the determined efforts of tbe 
 Court of Rome ; and that the federal system of the Empire gained 
 gradual accessions of strength. In England and Hungary, we 
 observe how the grandees seized on the opportunity to increase 
 their own power. The former took advantage of their sove- 
 reign's absence in the Holy Land, and the latter of the protec- 
 tion which they received from the Popes, to claim new privi- 
 leges and extort charters, such as they did from John of England, 
 and Andrew II. of Hungary, tending to cripple and circumscribe 
 the royal authority. 
 
 In France, however, the result was different. There, the 
 kings being freed, by means of the crusades, from a crowd of 
 resiJess and turbulent vassals who often threw the kingdom into 
 a slate of faction and discord, were left at liberty to extend their 
 prerogatives, and turn the scale of power in their ow^n favour. 
 They even considerably augmented their royal and territorial 
 revenues, either by purchasing lands and fiefs from the proprie- 
 tors v,ho had armed in the cause of the cross ; or by annexing 
 to the crown the estates of those who died in the Holy Land, 
 without leaving feudal heirs ; or by seizing the forfeitures ol 
 others who were persecuted by religious fanaticism, as heretics 
 or abettors of heresy. Finally, the Christian kings of Spain, 
 the sovereigns of the North, the Ivnights of the Teutonic order, 
 and of Livonia, joined the crusades recommended by the Popes, 
 iiom the desire of conquest ; the former, to subdue the Ma- 
 hometans in Spain, and the others to vanquish the Pagan 
 nations of the North, the Slavonians, Finns, Livonians, Prus- 
 sians, Lithuanians, and Courlanders. 
 
 It is to the crusades, in like manner, that Europe owes the 
 use of surnames, as well as of armorial bearings, and heraldry. ^^ 
 It is easy to perceive, that among these innumerable armies of 
 crusaders, composed of different nations and languages, somo 
 mark or symbol was necessary, in order to distinguish particular 
 
Venice in the l6th Century. Vol. 1, p. 138, 
 
 Zenghis Khan, the Mogul Prince. Vol. 1, p. 155. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 121 
 
 nations, or signalize their commanders. Surnames and coats 
 of arms were employed as these distinctive badges ; the latter 
 especially were invented to serve as rallying points, for the vas- 
 sals and troops of the crusading chiefs. Necessity first intro- 
 duced them, and vanity afterwards caused them to be retained. 
 These coats of arms were hoisted on their standards, the knights 
 got them emblazoned on their shields, and appeared with them 
 at tournaments. Even those who had never been at the cru- 
 sades, became ambitious of these distinctions; which maybe 
 considered as permanently established in families, from about 
 the middle of the thirteenth century. 
 
 The same enthusiasm that inspired the Europeans for the 
 crusades, contributed in like manner to bring tournaments into 
 vogue. In these solemn and military sports, the young noblesse 
 were trained to violent exercises, and to the management of 
 heavy arms ; so as to gain them some reputation for valour, and 
 to insure their superiority in war. In order to be admitted to 
 these tournaments it was necessary to be of noble blood, and to 
 show proofs of their nobility. The origin of these feats is ge- 
 nerally traced back to the end of the tenth, or beginning of 
 the eleventh century. Geoffrey of Preuilly, whom the writers 
 of the middle ages cite as being the inventor of them, did no 
 more, properly speaking, than draw up their code of regula- 
 tions. France was the country from which the practice of 
 tournaments diffused itself over all other nations of Europe. 
 They were very frequent, during all the time that the crusading 
 mania lasted. 
 
 To this same epoch belongs the institution of Religious and 
 Military Orders. These were originally established for the 
 purpose of defending the new Christian States in the East, for 
 protecting pilgrims on their journey, taking care of them when 
 sick, &c.; and the vast wealth which they acquired in most of the 
 kingdoms of Europe, preserved their existence long after the 
 loss of the Holy Land ; and some of these orders even made 
 a conspicuous figure in the political history of the Western 
 nations. 
 
 Of all these, the first and most distinguished was the Order 
 of St. John of Jerusalem, called afterwards the Order of Mal- 
 ta. Prior to the first crusade, there had existed at Jerusalem a 
 church of the Latin or Romish liturgy, dedicated to St. Mary, 
 and founded by some merchants of Amalfi in the kingdom of 
 Naples. There was also a monastery of the Order of St. Be- 
 nedict, and a hospital for the relief of the poor or afflicted pil- 
 grims. This hospital, the directors of which were appointed 
 by the Abbot of St. Mary's, having in a very short time become 
 
 VOL. I. 11 
 
122 CHAPTER V. 
 
 immensely rich by numerous donations of lands and seignories 
 both in Europe and Palestine, one of its gfovernors named Ge- 
 rard, a native of Martigues in Provence, as is alleged, took the 
 regular habit (1100,) and formed with his brethren a distinct 
 congregation, under the name and protection of St. John the 
 Baptist. Pope Pascal II., by a bull issued in 1114, approved 
 of this new establishment, and ordained, that after the death of 
 Gerard, the Hospitallers alone should have the election of their 
 superintendent. Raymond dn Piiy, a gentleman from Dau- 
 phine, and successor to Gerard, was the first that took the tide 
 of Grand Master. He prescribed a rule for the Hospitallers ; 
 and Pope Calixtus II., in approving of this rule (1120,) divided 
 the members of the order into three classes. The nobles, called 
 Knights of Justice, were destined for the profession of arms, 
 making war on the Infidels, and protecting pilgrims. The 
 priests and chaplains, selected from the respectable citizens, 
 were intrusted w^ith functions purely ecclesiastical ; while the 
 serving brethren, who formed the third class, were charged with 
 the care of sick pilgrims, and likewise to act in the capacity of 
 soldiers. These new knights w^ere known by the name of 
 K/iights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and were dis- 
 tinguished by wearing a white octagon cross on a black habit. 
 
 After the final loss of the Holy Land, this order established 
 themselves in the Isle of Cyprus. From this they passed into 
 Rhodes, which they had conquered from the Infidels (1310.) 
 This latter island they kept possession of till 1522; and being 
 then expelled by Soliman the Great, they obtained (1530) from 
 Charles y., the munificent grant of the Isle of Malta, under the 
 express terms of making w^ar against the Infidels. Of this place 
 they were at length deprived by Buonaparte in 1793. 
 
 The order of Templars followed neai y that of St. John. Its 
 first founders (1119) were some French gentlemen; the chief 
 of whom were Hugo de Payens, and Geoffrey de St. Omer. 
 Having made a declaration of their vows before the Patriarch 
 of Jerusalem, they took upon themselves the special charge of 
 maintaining free passage and safe conduct for the pilgrims to 
 the Holy Land. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, assigned them 
 an apartment in his palace, near the temple, whence they took 
 the name of Knights of the Temple, and Templars. They ob- 
 tained from Pope Honorius II. (1120) a rule, with a white habit; 
 to which Eugene III. added a red cross octagon. This order, 
 after accumulating vast w^ealth and riches, especially in France, 
 and distinguishing themselves by their military exploits for 
 nearly two centuries, were at length suppressed by the Council 
 of Vienna (1312.) 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 123 
 
 The Teutonic order, according to the most probable opinion, 
 took its origin in the camp before Acre, or Ptolemais. The 
 honour of it is ascribed to some charitable citizens of Bremen 
 and Lubec, who erected a hospital or tent with the sails of their 
 vessels, for the relief of the numerous sick and wounded of their 
 nation. Several German gentlemen having joined in this esta- 
 blishment, they devoted themselves by a vow to the service of 
 the sick; as also to the defence of the Holy Land against the 
 Infidels. This order, known by the name o[ the Teutonic 
 Knights of St. Mary of Jerusalem, received confirmation from 
 Pope Celestin III. (1192,) who prescribed for them the rule of 
 the Hospital of St. John, with regard to their attendance on the 
 sick; and with regard to chivalry or knighthood, that of the 
 order of Templars. Henry Walpott de Passenheim was the 
 first grand master of the order; and the new knights assumed 
 the white habit, with ablack cross, to distinguish them from the' 
 other orders. It was under their fourth grand master, Hermann 
 de Saltza (1230,) that they passed into Prussia, which they 
 conquered (1309.) Tliey fixed their chief residence at Marien- 
 burg; but having lost Prussia in consequence of a change in 
 the religious sentiments of their grand master, Albert de Bran- 
 denburg (152S,) they transferred their capital to Mergentheim. 
 in Franconia. 
 
 A fourth order of Hospitallers founded in the Holy Land, was 
 that of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, who had for their principal 
 object the treatment of lepers ;^'^ and who, in process of time, 
 from a medical, became a military order. After having long 
 resided in the East, where they distinguished themselves in the 
 Holy wars, they followed St. Louis into France (1254,) and 
 fixed their chief seat at Boigny, near Orleans. Pope Gregory 
 XIII. united them with the order of St. Maurice, in Savoy; 
 and Henry IV. with that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in 
 France. On the model, and after the example of these four 
 military orders, several others were founded in succession, in 
 various kingdoms of Europe. ^^ All these institutions contri- 
 buted greatly to the renown of chivalry, so famous in the Middle 
 Ages. The origin of this latter institution is earlier than the 
 times of which we now speak, and seems to belong to the tenth, 
 or the beginning of the eleventh century. The anarchy of feu- 
 dalism being then at its height, and robberies and private quar- 
 rels every where prevailing, several noble and distinguished 
 individuals, devoted themselves, by a solemn vow, according to 
 the genius of the times, to the defence of religion and its minis- 
 ters ; as also of the fair sex, and of every person suffering from 
 distress or oppression From the end of the eleventh century, 
 
124 CHAPTER V. 
 
 to the time when the crusades began, we find chivalry, with its 
 pomp and its ceremonies, established in all the principal states 
 of Europe. This salutary institution, by inspiring the minds 
 of men with new energy, gave birth to many illustrious cha- 
 racters. It tended to repress the disorders of anarchy, to revive 
 order and law, and establish a new relationship among the na- 
 tions of Europe. 
 
 In general, it may be said, that these ultra-marine expeditions 
 prosecuted with obstinacy for nearly two hundred years, hasten- 
 ed the progress of arts and civilization in Europe. The cru- 
 saders, journeying through kingdoms better organized than 
 their own, and observing greater refinement in their laws and 
 manners, were necessarily led to form new ideas, and acquire 
 new information with regard to science and politics. Some 
 vestiges of learning and good taste had been preserved in Greece, 
 and even in the extremities of Asia, where letters had been 
 encouraged by the patronage of the Caliphs. The city of Con- 
 stantinople, which had not yet suffered from the ravages of the 
 barbarians, abounded in the finest monuments of art. It pre- 
 sented to the eyes of the crusaders, a spectacle of grandeur and 
 magnificence that could not but excite their admiration, and call 
 forth a strong desire to imitate those models, the sight of which 
 at once pleased and astonished them. To the Italians especially, 
 it must have proved of great advantage. The continued inter- 
 course which they maintained with the East and the city of 
 Constantinople, afforded them the means of becoming familiar 
 with the language and literature of the Greeks, of communica- 
 ting the same taste to their own countrymen, and in this way 
 advancing the glorious epoch of the revival of letters. 
 
 About the same time, commerce and navigation were making 
 considerable progress. The cities of Italy, such as Venice, 
 Genoa, Pisa, and others, in assisting the Crusaders in their ope- 
 rations, by means of the transports, provisions, and warlike stores 
 with which they furnished them, continued to secure for them- 
 selves important privileges and establishments in the seaports 
 of the Levant, and other ports in the Greek empire. Their 
 example excited the industry of several maritime towns in 
 France, and taught them the advantage of applying their atten- 
 tion to Eastern commerce. In the North, the cities of Ham- 
 burgh and Lubec, formed, about the year 1241, as is generally 
 supposed, their first commercial association, which afterwards 
 became so formidable under the name of the Hanseatic Leagice.^^ 
 The staple articles of these latter cities, consisted in marine 
 stores,andotherproductJons of the North, which they exchanged 
 for the spiceries of the Eabt, and the manufactures of Italy and 
 the Low Countries. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074 — 1300. 125 
 
 The progress of industry, the protection which sovereio-ns 
 extended to it, and the pains they took to check the disorders of 
 feudalism, contributed to the prosperity of towns, by daily aug- 
 menting their population and their wealth. This produced, 
 about the times we are speaking of, an advantageous change in 
 the civil and social condition of the people. Throughout the 
 principal states of Europe, cities began, after the twelfth centu- 
 ry, to erect themselves into political bodies, and to form, by de 
 grees, a third order, distinct from that of the clergy and nobility 
 Before this period, the inhabitants of towns enjoyed neither civil 
 nor political liberty. Their condition was very little better than 
 that of the peasantry, who were all serfs, attached to the soil. 
 The rights of citizenship, and the privileges derived from it, 
 were reserved for the clergy and the noblesse. The Counts, oi 
 governors of cities, by rendering their power hereditary, had 
 appropriated to themselv^es the rights that were originally at- 
 tached to their functions. They used them in the most arbi 
 trary way, and loaded the inhabitants with every kind of opprcs 
 sion that avarice or caprice could suggest. 
 
 At length, the cities which were either the most oppressed, 
 or the most powerful, rose in rebellion against this intolerable 
 yoke. The inhabitantsNformed themselves into confederations, 
 to which they gave the name of Communes or Free Coiyora- 
 tions. Either of their own accord, or by charters, obtained very 
 often on burdensome terms, they procured for themselves a free 
 government, which, by relieving them from servitude, and all 
 impositions and arbitrary exactions, secured them personal liberty 
 and the possession of their effects, under the protection of their 
 own magistrates, and the institution of a militia, or city guard. 
 This revolution, one of the most important in Europe, first took 
 place in Italy, where it was occasioned by the frequent inter- 
 regnums that occurred in Germany, as well as by the distur- 
 bances that rose between the Empire and the priesthood, in the 
 eleventh century. The anathemas thundered against Henry 
 IV., by absolving the subjects from the obedience they owed 
 their sovereign, served as a pretext to the cities of Italy for 
 shaking off the authority of the Imperial viceroys, or bailiffs, 
 who had become tyrants instead of rulers, and for establishing 
 free and republican governments. In this, they were encoura- 
 ged and supported by the protection of the Roman pontiffs, 
 whose sole aim and policy was the abasement of the Imperial 
 authority. 
 
 Before this period, several maritime cities of Italy, such as 
 Naples, Amalfi, Venice, Pisa, and Genoa, emboldened by the 
 advantages of their situation, by the increase of their pojDulation 
 
 11 # 
 
126 CHAPTER v. 
 
 and their commerce, had already emancipated themselves from 
 the Imperial yoke, and erected themselves into republics. Their 
 example was followed by the cities of Lombardy and the Vene- 
 tian territory, especially Milan, Pavia, Asti, Cremona, Lodi, 
 Como, Parma, Placentia, Verona, Padua, &c. All these cities, 
 animated with the enthusiasm of liberty, adopted, about the be- 
 ginning of the twelfth century, consuls and popular forms of 
 government. They formed a kind of military force, or city 
 guard, and vested in themselves the rights of royalty, and the. 
 power of making, in their own name and authority, alliances, 
 wars, and treaties of peace. From Italy, this revolution ex- 
 tended to France and Germany, the Low Countries, and Eng- 
 land. In all these different states, the use of Communes, or 
 boroughs, was established, and protected by the sovereigns, who 
 employed these new institutions as a powerful check against 
 the encroachments and tyranny of the feudal lords. 
 
 In France, Louis the Fat, who began his reign in llOS, was 
 the first king that granted rights, or constitutional charters, to 
 certain cities within his domain, either from political motives, 
 or the allurement of money. The nobility, after his example, 
 eagerly sold liberty to their subjects. The revolution became 
 general; the cry for liberty was raised every where, and inte- 
 rested every mind. Throughout all the provinces, the mhabi- 
 bants of cities solicited charters, and sometimes without waiting 
 for them, they formed themseh^es voluntarily into communities, 
 electing magistrates of their own choice, establishing companies 
 of militia, and taking charge themselves of the fortifications and 
 wardenship of their cities. The magistrates of free cities in 
 northern France, were usually called mayors, sheriffs, and liv- 
 erymen ; while, in the south of France, they were called syndics 
 and consuls. It soon became an established principle, that kings 
 alone had the power to authorize the erection of corporate towns. 
 Louis VIII. declared that he regarded all cities in which these 
 corporations were established, as belonging to his domain. They 
 owed military service directly and personall}^ to the king ; while 
 such cities as had not these rights or charters, were obliged to 
 follow their chiefs to the war. 
 
 In Germany, we find the emperors adopting the same policy 
 as the kings of France. The resources which the progress of 
 commerce and manufactures opened to the industry of the in- 
 habitants of cities, and the important succours which the empe- 
 rors, Henry IV. and V., had received from them in their quar- 
 rels wiih the Pope and the princes of the Empire, induced them 
 to take these cities under their protection, to augment their num- 
 ber, and multiply iheir priv'^eges. Henry V. was the first em- 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 127 
 
 peror that adopted this line of policy. He granted freeaom to 
 the inhabitants of several cities, even to artisans and tradesman ; 
 whose condition, at that time, was as degraded and debased as 
 that of serfs. He extended to them the rank and privileges of 
 citizens, and thus gave rise to the division of cities into classes 
 and corporations of trades. This same prince set about repair- 
 ing the fault which the emperors of the house of Saxony had 
 committed, of giving up to the bishops the temporal jurisdiction 
 in all the cities wherein they resided. He gradually superse- 
 ded these rights, by the new privileges which he granted to the 
 inhabitants of cities. The emperors, his successors, followed 
 his example ; in a little time, several of these cities threw off 
 the yoke of their bishops, while others extricated themselves 
 from the jurisdiction of their superiors, or provosts, whether 
 imperial or feudal, and adopted, in imitation of the cities in Italy 
 and France, magistrates of their own choosing, a republican 
 form of government, and a municipal polity. 
 
 This liberty in cities, gave new vigour to industry, multiplied 
 the sources of labour, and created means of opulence and power, 
 till then unknown in Europe. The population of these cities 
 increased with their v/ealth. Communities rose into political 
 consequence ; and we find them successively admitted to the 
 diets avid national assemblies, in all the principal states of Eu- 
 rope. England set an exam.ple of this ; and though English 
 authors are not agreed as to the precise time when the Commons 
 of that kingdom Avere called into Parliament, it is at least cer- 
 tain that their first admission belongs to the reign of Henry III. 
 (about 126-5 or 1266,) and that the formal division of the Par- 
 liament into two houses, is as late as the reign of Edward III.^'' 
 France followed the example of England; the convocation of 
 the states, by Philip the Fair (1303,) on the subject of his dis- 
 putes with Pope Boniface Vlll., is considered as the first assem- 
 bly of the States-general, composed of the three orders of the 
 kingdom. As to Germany, the first diet in which the cities of 
 the Empire appeared in the form of a third order, was that of 
 Spire (1309,) convoked by the Emperor Henry VII., of the 
 house of Luxembourg. Afterwards, we find these cities exer- 
 cising a decisive or deliberative voice at the diet of Frankfort 
 (1344,) under Louis the Bavarian. 
 
 In all these states, we find the sovereigns protecting more es- 
 pecially those free cities which aided them in checking the de- 
 vastations, and putting a stop to the fury of private or intestine 
 wars. The most powerful of the feudal chiefs, finding every 
 where cities in a capacity lo defend themselves, became less en- 
 terprising in their ambition ; and even the nobles of inferior 
 
128 CHAPTER V. 
 
 rank learned to respect the ponder of these communities. The 
 royal authority was thereby strengthened ; and the cities, natu- 
 rally inclining- to the sovereigns that protected them, served as 
 a counterpoise in the general assemblies, to the power of the 
 clergy and the noblesse, and were the means of obtaining those 
 subsidiary supplies necessary for the exigencies of the state. 
 
 The liberty which the inhabitants of cities had thus procured 
 by the establishment of these communities, or corporate bodies, 
 extended itself to the inhabitants of the country, by way of en- 
 franchisements. Various circumstances concurred to render 
 the use of these more frequent, after the twelfth century. The 
 sovereigns, guided by the maxims of sound policy, set the first 
 example of this within their own demesnes; and they were 
 speedily imitated by the feudal lords and nobles, who, either out 
 of courtesy to their sovereigns, or to prevent the desertion of 
 their vassals, or acquire new dependents, were compelled to 
 grant liberty to the one, and mitigate the servitude of the other. 
 The communities, or chartered cities, likewise seconded and 
 promoted these enfranchisements, by the protection which they 
 granted to the serfs against their feudal superiors. 
 
 In Italy, we perceive these enfranchisements following as 
 an immediate consequence of the institution of communities. 
 The continual feuds that arose among the numerous republics 
 whicli had lately thrown ofT the yoke of authority, made the 
 liberty of the serfs a measure absolutely necessary, in order to 
 augment the numberofcitizensqualified to bear arms, and hold 
 places of trust. Bonacurso, Captain of Bologna (1256,) pro- 
 posed to his fellow-citizens, and carried the law of enfranchise- 
 ment. All those who had serfs were obliged to present them 
 before the Podesta, or Captain of the people, who affranchised 
 them for a certain sum or lax, v.'hich the republic paid to the 
 owner. The feudal superiors, finding that these enfranchise- 
 ments had a powerful support in the liberty of the free cities, 
 were obliged either to meliorate the condition of their serfs, or 
 grant them liberty. 
 
 In France, afier the twelfth century, and the reign of Louis 
 the Fat, these enfranchisements began to be frequent. The son 
 and successor of that prince, Louis VII., by royal letter (1180,) 
 affranchised all the serfs which the crown possessed at Orleans, 
 and within five leagues of it. Louis X. passed a general law 
 (1315,) for the enfranchisement of all serfs belonging to the 
 crown. He there made a positive declaration, that slavery loas 
 contrary to nature ^loliicli intended that all men hy hlrth should 
 he free and equal; that, since his A-i;i^'-f/o;;^ was deii'jminated 
 the kingdom of the Franks, or Freemen, it appeared just and 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 129 
 
 right that the fact should correspond with the naine. He invited, 
 at the same time, all the nobility to imitate his example, by 
 granting- liberty to their serfs. That prince would have en- 
 nobled the homage he paid to nature, if the gift of liberty had 
 been gratuitous on his part ; but he made it a mere object of 
 finance, and to gratify those only who could afford to pay for it ; 
 whence it happened, that enfranchisements advanced but very 
 slowly ; and examples of it are to be found in history, so late as 
 the reign of Francis I. 
 
 In Germany, the number of serfs diminished in like manner, 
 after the twelfth century. The crusades, and the destructive 
 wars which the Dukes of Saxony and the Margraves of the 
 North carried on with the Slavian tribes on the Elbe and the 
 Baltic, having depopulated the northern and eastern parts of 
 Germany, numerous colonies from Brabant, the Netherlands, 
 Holland and Friesland, were introduced into these countries, 
 where they formed themselves into establishments or associa- 
 tions of free cultivators of the soil. From Lower Germany the 
 custom of enfranchisements extended to the Upper provinces, 
 pmd along the banks of the Rhine. This was encouraged by 
 the free cities, which not only gave a welcome reception to the 
 serfs who had fled to shelter themselves from oppression within 
 their walls, but they even granted protection, and the rights of 
 citizenship, to those who had settled within the precincts or 
 liberties of the town ;^^ or who continued, without changing 
 their habitation, to reside on the lands of their feudal superiors. 
 This spirited conduct of the free cities put the nobles of Ger- 
 many to the necessity of aiding and abetting, by degrees, either 
 the suppression or the mitigation of slavery. They reimbursed 
 themselves for the loss of the fine or tax which they had been 
 in the habit of levying, on the death of their serfs, by an aug- 
 mentation of the quit-rent, or annual cess which they exacted 
 from them on their being affranchised. 
 
 In the Low Countries, Henry II., duke of Brabant (3218,) 
 in his last will, granted liberty to all cultivators of the soil ; — 
 he affranchised them on the right of mortmain, and ordained, 
 that, like the inhabitants of free cities, they should be judged by 
 no other than their own magistrates. In this manner, liberty 
 by degrees recovered its proper rights. It assisted in dispelling 
 the clouds of ignorance and superstition, and spread a new 
 lustre over Europe. One event which contributed essentially 
 to give men more exact notions on government and jurispru- 
 dence, was the revival of the Roman law, which happened 
 about the time we now speak of. The German tribes that de- 
 stroyed the Western Empire in the fifth century, would natu- 
 
130 CHAPTER V. 
 
 rally despise a system of legislation, such as that of the Romans, 
 which neither accordpd with the ferocity of their manners, nor 
 the rudeness of their ideas. In consequence, the revolution 
 which occasioned the downfall of that empire, brought at the 
 same time the Roman jurisprudence into desuetude over all 
 the Western world. *^ 
 
 A lapse of several centuries, however, was required, to rec- 
 tify men's ideas on the nature of society, and to prepare them 
 for receiving the laws and institutions of a civilized and re- 
 fined government. Such was the general state and condition 
 of political knowledge, when the fame of a celebrated civilian, 
 called Irnerius, who taught the law of Justinian publicly at 
 Bologna, about the commencement of the twelfth century, at- 
 tracted to that academy the youth of the greater part of Europe. 
 There they devoted themselves with ardour to the study of this 
 new science. The pupils, instructed by Irnerius and his suc- 
 cessors, on returning hom.e, and being employed in the tribunals 
 and public offices of their native countr\^ gradually carried into 
 practice the principles which they had imbibed in the school ot 
 Bologna. Hence, in a short time, and without the direct inter- 
 ference of the legislative authority, the law of Justinian was 
 adopted by degrees, as a subsidiary law in all the principal 
 states of Europe. Various circumstances contributed to acce- 
 lerate the progress of this revolution. People had felt for a 
 long time the necessity of a new legislature, and the insuffi- 
 ciency of their national laws. The novelty of the Roman 
 laws, as well as their equity and precision, arrested the atten- 
 tion of all Europe ; and sovereigns found it their interest to 
 protect a jurisprudence, whose maxims were so favourable to 
 royalty and monarchical power, and which served at once lo 
 strengthen and extend their authority*. 
 
 The introduction of the Roman jurisprudence was soon fol- 
 lowed by that of the Canon law. The Popes, perceiving the 
 rapid propagation of this new science, and eager to arrest its 
 progress, immediately set themselves to the work of raising that 
 vast and astonishing edifice the Canon law, as an engine to pro- 
 mote the accomplishment of their own greatness. Gratian, a 
 monk of Bologna, encouraged by Pope Eugenius III., compiled 
 a collection of Canons, under the title of the Decret, which he 
 arranged in systematic order, to serve as an introduction to the 
 study of that law. This compilation, extracted from different 
 authors who had preceded him, recommended itself to the world 
 by its popular method, which was adapted to the genius of the 
 times. Pope Eugenius III. gave it his approval in 1152, 
 and ordained that it should be read and explained in the schools. 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074— 1300. 131 
 
 This collection of Gratian soon obtained a wide and most suc- 
 cessful reception ; from the schools it passed to the public tri- 
 bunals, both civil and ecclesiastical. At length, Pope Gregory 
 IX., in imitation of the Emperor Justinian, who had caused a 
 collection of his own statutes, and those of his predecessors, to 
 be made by Tribonian, ordered his chaplain Raymond de Pen- 
 nafort to compile and digest, in their proper order, all the deci- 
 sions of his predecessors, as well as his own; thus extending to 
 common practice, what had been originally established but for 
 one place, and for particular cases. He published his collection 
 (1235) under the name of Decretals, with an injunction, that it 
 should be employed both in the tribunals and in the schools. 
 
 If this new system of jurisprudence served to extend the juris- 
 diction, and strengthen the temporal power of the Popes, it did 
 not fail at the same time to produce salutary effects on the 
 governments and manners of Europe. The peace, or tricce of 
 God, which some bishops of France, in the eleventh century, 
 had instituted as a check on the unbridled fury of private quar- 
 rels and civil discord, was established, by the Decretals, into a 
 general law of the church.-^ The judgments of God, till then 
 used in the tribttfals of justice, trial by single combat, by hot 
 iron, hot and coid water, the cross, &c. were gradually abolished. 
 The restraints of the Canon law, added to the new information 
 which had diffused its light over the human mind, were instru- 
 mental in rooting out practices which served only to cherish 
 and protract the ancient ferocity of manners. The spirit of 
 order and method v/hich prevailed in the new jurisprudence, 
 soon communicated itself to every branch of legiskition among 
 the nations of Europe. The feudal law was reduced to syste- 
 matic order: and the usages and customs of the provinces, till 
 then local and uncertain, were collected and organized into a 
 regular form.-^ 
 
 Jurisprudence, having now become a complicated science, 
 demanded a long and laborious course of study, which could no 
 onger be associated with the profession of arms. The sword 
 was then obliged by degrees to abandon the courts of justice, 
 and give place to the gown. A new class of men thus arose, 
 that of the law, who contributed by their influence to repress 
 the overgrown power of the nobility. 
 
 The rapid progress which the new jurisprudence made, must 
 be ascribed to the recent foundation of universities, and the en- 
 couragements which sovereigns granted these literary corpora- 
 tions. Before their establishment, the principal public schools 
 were those which were attached either to monasteries, or cathe- 
 dral and collegiate churches. There were, however, only a few 
 
132 CHAPTER V. 
 
 colleges instituted ; and these in large cities, such as Rome, 
 Pari.^, Angers, Oxford, Salamanca, &c. The sciences there 
 tauglit were comprised under the seven liberal arts, viz. Gran;- 
 mar, Rhetoric, Dialectics or Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, 
 and Astronom)^ The first three were known by the name of 
 Trivium ; and the other four, which make part of mathematics, 
 by that of Quadrhnum. As for Theology and Jurisprudence 
 they did not as yet figure among the academic sciences ; and 
 there was no school of medicine prior to that of Salerno — the 
 only one of which any traces are discovered, towards the end of 
 the eleventh century.- 
 
 These schools and academies cannot, by any means, be put 
 in comparison with modern universities ; w^hich differ from thenr. 
 essentially, both as to the variety of sciences which are pro- 
 fessed, and by their institutions as privileged bodies, enjoying a 
 system of government and jurisdiction peculiarly their own. 
 The origin of these Universities is coeval with the revival of 
 the Roman law in Italy, and the invention of academic degrees. 
 The same Irnerius who is generally acknowledged as the re- 
 storer of the Roman law at Bologna, was also the first that 
 conceived the idea of conferring, with certain solemnities, doc- 
 torial degrees ; and granting license or diplomas to those who 
 excelled in the study of jurisprudence. Pope Eugenius III. 
 (1153,) when he introduced the code of Gratian into the aca- 
 demy of Bologna, gave permission to confer the same degrees 
 in the Canon law, as had been customary in the Civil law. 
 These degrees were much coveted and esteemed on account of 
 the honours, immunities, and prerogatives which the sovereign 
 had attached to them. Nothing however contributed more to 
 bring universities into favour, than the privileges and immuni- 
 ties which the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa conferred on them 
 (lloS,) by his Authentic, (or rescript, called Hahita.) The ex- 
 ample of this prince was speedily followed by the other so- 
 vereigns of Europe. 
 
 The teaching of jurisprudence passed from the school of 
 Bologna to the different academies of Europe. Theology also 
 was soon admitted, as well as medicine; and these completed 
 the four faculties, as they were called, of which the univer- 
 sities were composed. That of Paris was the first which com- 
 bined all the faculties. It was completed under the reign of 
 Philip Augustus, from whom it obtained its earliest charter, 
 about the year 1200. Except itself there are only the univer- 
 sities of Bologna, Padua, Naples, Toulouse, Salamanca, Coimbra, 
 Cambridge, and Oxford, that date their origin in the thirteenth 
 century. ^^ 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 1J13 
 
 The downfall of the Imperial authority, and of the house of 
 Hohenslaufen, and the new power usurped by the princes and 
 States of the Empire, occasioned a long series of troubles in 
 Germany, and that frightful state of anarchy, known by the 
 name of the Gra?id Interregnum. Strength then triumphed 
 over law and right; the government was altered from its basis; 
 and no other means were found to remedy this want of public 
 security, than by forming alliancies and confederations, such as 
 that of the Rhine,^-^ and the Hanseatic League, which began 
 to appear about this time (1253.) The election of the Empe- 
 rors, in which all the princes and states of the empire had for- 
 merly concurred, became then the privilege solely of the great 
 officers of the crown, who, towards the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, claimed for themselves exclusively the right of elect- 
 ing, and the title of Electors.'^"* The princes and states of the 
 Empire, anxious to confirm their growing power, sought to pro- 
 mote only the feeblest emperors, who were incapable of sup- 
 porthig the rights and prerogatives of the crown. The electors, 
 in particular, had no other object in view, than to derive a lucra- 
 tive traffic from elections ; bargaining every time with the can- 
 didates for large sums, and obtaining grants or mortgages c^ 
 such portions of the Imperial demesnes as suited their con- 
 venience. One only of these weak emperors, Kodolph, Count 
 of Hapsburg in Switzerland, (1273) disappointed the expecta- 
 tions of his electors. He repressed by force of arms, the dis- 
 orders of anarchy, restored the laws and tribunals to their 
 pristine vigour, and reconquered several of the Imperial domains 
 from the usurpers who had seized them. 
 
 In consequence of the revolutions which we have now detailed, 
 we find veiy important and memorable changes accom.plished in 
 the different provinces of the Einpire. The princes and States 
 of the Germanic body, regarding as their own patrimony the 
 provinces and fiefs with which they were invested, thought 
 themselves further authorized to portion them out among their 
 sons. The usage of these partitions became general after the 
 thirteenth century ; and this wrought the downfall of some of 
 the most powerful families, and tended to multiply almost to 
 infinity the dutchies, principalities, and earldoms of the Em.pire. 
 The Emperoi^s, far from condemning this practice, which by no 
 means accorded with the maxims of the feudal law, on the con- 
 trary gave it their countenance, as appearing to them a proper 
 mstrument for humbling the power of the grandees, and acqui- 
 jjng for themselves a preponderating authority in the Empire. 
 
 The ancient dutchies of Bavaria and Saxony experienced a 
 new revolution on the fall of the powerful house of the 
 VOL. I. 12 
 
134 CHAPTER V 
 
 Guelphs, which was deprived of both these diitchies by the sen- 
 tence of proscription which the Einperor Frederic I. pronounced 
 against Henry the Lion (IISO,) Duke of Bavaria and Saxony 
 The first of these dutchies, which had formerly been dismembered 
 from the Margravate of Austria l)y Frederic I. (1156,) and 
 erected into a dutchy and fief holding immediately of the Em- 
 pire, was exposed to new partitions at the time of which we 
 now speak. The bishoprics of Bavaria, Stiria, Carinthia, Car- 
 niola, and the Tyrol, broke their alliance with Bavaria; and the 
 city of Ratisbonne, which had been the residence of the ancient 
 dukes, was declared immediate, or holding of the crown. It 
 was when contracted within these new limits that Bavaria was 
 conferred, by Frederic I. (IISO,) on Otho, Count of Wittelsbach, 
 a scion of the original house of Bavaria. This house afterwards 
 acquired by marriage (1215) the Palatinate of the Rhine, it 
 was subsequently divided into various branches, of which the 
 two principal were the Palatine and the Bavarian. 
 
 As to the dutchy of Saxony, which embraced, under the 
 Guelphs, the greater part of Lower Germany, it completely 
 changed its circumstances on the decline of that house. Ber- 
 nard of Aschersleben, younger son of Albert named the Bear, 
 first ]\Iargrave of Brandenburg, a descendant of the Ascanian 
 line, had been invested in the dutchy of Saxony by Frederic I. 
 (IISO,) but was found much too feeble to support the high rank 
 to which he had been elevated. In consequence, the title, or 
 qualification to the dutchy of Saxony and the Electorate, was 
 restricted, under the successors and descendants of that prince, 
 to an inconsiderable district, situated on both sides of the Elbe ; 
 called since the Electoral Circle, of which Wittenberg was the 
 capital. The princes of Pomerania and Mecklenburg, the Counts 
 of Holstein and Westphalia, and the city of Lubeck, took advan- 
 tage of this circumstance to revolt from the authority of the Duke 
 of Saxony, and render themselves immediate. A part of West- 
 phalia was erected into a distinct dutchy, in favour of the Arcl 
 bishop of Cologne, v/ho had seconded the Emperor in his^schemes 
 of vengeance against the Guelphic princes. This latter house, 
 whos''' vast possessions had extended from the Adriatic Sea to the 
 Baltic and ui? Northern Ocean, retained nothing more of its 
 ancient splendour than the free lands which it possessed in Lower 
 Saxony, and which the emperor Frederic II. (1235) converted 
 into a dutchy, and immediate fief of the empire, in favour of 
 Otho the Infant, grandson of Henry the Lion, and the new 
 founder of the House of Brunswick. 
 
 The extinction of the House of Hohenstaufen having occa- 
 sioned a vacancy in the dutchies of Suabia and Franconia the 
 
r-iiRioD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 135 
 
 different states of these provinces, both secular and ecclesiasti- 
 cal, found means to render themselves also immediate, (1268.) 
 A number of cities which had belonged to the domains of the 
 ancient dukes, were raised to the rank of free and imperial 
 cities; and the Houses of Baden, Wurtemberg, Hohen-ZoUern, 
 and Furstenberg, date their celebrity from this period. The 
 death of the anti-emperor, Henry le Raspon (1247,) last land- 
 grave of Thuringia, gave rise to a long war between the Mar- 
 graves of Misnia and the Dukes of Brabant, who mutuallys 
 contested that succession. The former advanced an Expecta- 
 tive, or deed of Reversion of the Emperor Frederic II., as well 
 as the claims of Jutta, sister of the last landgrave ; and the others 
 maintained those of Sophia, daughter of the langrave Louis, 
 elder brother and predecessor of Henry le Raspon. At length, 
 by a partition which took place (1264,) Thuringia, properly so 
 called, was made over to the house of Misnia; and Henry of 
 Brabant, surnamed the Infant, son of Henry II. Duke of Bra- 
 bant, and Sophia of Thuringia, was secured in the possession of 
 Hesse, and became the founder of a new dynasty of landgraves — 
 those of thaHouse of Hesse. 
 
 The ancient dukes of Austria, of the House of Bamberg, hav- 
 ing become extinct v/ith Frederic the Valiant (1246,) the suc- 
 cession of that dutchy was keenly contested between the niece 
 and the sisters of the last duke; who, though females, could lay 
 claim to it, in virtue of the privilege granted by the emperor 
 Frederic Barbarossa. Ottocar II., son of Wenceslaus, king of 
 Bohemia, took advantage of these troubles in Austria, to possess 
 himself of that province (1251.) He obtained the investiture of 
 it (1262) from Richard, son of John king of England, who had 
 purchased the title of Emperor at a vast expense ; but Rodolph 
 of Hapsbourg, treating him as a usurper, made war upon him, 
 defeated and slew him in a battle which was fought (1278) at 
 Marchfeld, in the neighbourhood of Vienna. The dutchies of 
 Austria, Sliria, Carinthia, and Carniola, being then detached 
 from the kingdom of Bohemia, were declared vacant, and de- 
 volved to the Empire. The investiture of these the Emperor 
 conferred '( 1282) on Albert and Rodolph, his own sons. Al- 
 bert, the eldest of these princes, who was afterwards Emperor, 
 became the founder of the Hapsbourg dynasty of Austria. 
 
 In Italy, a great number of republics arose about the end of 
 the eleventh, or beginning of the twelfth century. These re- 
 publics, though they had cast off the Imperial authority, and 
 claimed to themselves the rights of sovereignty, protested, never- 
 theless, their fealty to the Emperor, whom they agreed to recog- 
 nise as their supreme head. The Emperors, Henry V., Lo 
 
136 CHAPTER V. 
 
 thaire the Saxon, and Conrad III., saw llien.seivea comperied to 
 tolerate ^n usurpation which they were too feeble to repress. 
 But Frederic Barbarossa being determined to restore the royalty 
 of Italy to its ancient splendour, led a powerful army into that 
 kingdom (115S ;) and in a diet which he assembled on the plains 
 of Roncjiglia, in the territory of Placentia, he caused a strict in- 
 vestigation to be made by the lawyers of Bologna, into the rights 
 on which he founded his pretensions to the title of King of Italy. 
 The opposition which the execution of the decrees of that diet 
 met with on the part of the Milanese, induced the Emperor to 
 undertake the siege of their city. He made himself master of it 
 in 1162, razed it to the foundation, and dispersed the inhabitants. 
 
 This chastisement of the Milanese astonished the Italia'ns, 
 but without abating their courage. They afterwards took ad- 
 vantage of the reverses of the Emperor, and the schism which 
 had arisen in the Romish Church, to form a league with the 
 principal cities of Lombardy (1167,) into wdiich they drew the 
 King of the Two Sicilies, as well as Pope Alexander III., whom 
 the Emperor treated as a schismatic. The city of Milan was 
 rebuilt in consequence of this league ; as also that of Alexan- 
 dria, called della Paglia. The war was long protracted ; but 
 the Emperor being abandoned by Henry the Lion, Duke of Ba- 
 varia and Saxony, the most powerful of his vassals, received a 
 defeat at Lignano, which obliged him to make an accommoda- 
 tion with Pope Alexander III., and to sign, at Venice, a treaty 
 of six years with the confederate cities (1177.) This treaty was 
 afterwards converted, at Constance, into a definitive peace 
 (1183;) by virtue of which, the cities of Ital\^ were guaranteed 
 in the forms of government they had adopted, as well as in the 
 exercise of the regalian rights w^hich they had acquired, whether 
 by usage or prescription. The Emperor reserved for himself 
 the investiture of the consuls, the oath of allegiance, which was 
 to be renewed every ten years, and all appeals, in civil cases, 
 where the sum exceeded the value of twenty-five imperial livres, 
 (about 1500 francs.) 
 
 The Emperor Frederic II., grandson of Frederic I., and heir, 
 in right of his mother, to the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, made 
 new efforts to restore the prerogatives of the Empire in Italy. 
 But the cities of Lombardy renewed their league, into which 
 they drew Pope Gregory IX. (1226,) whose dignity and power 
 would be endangered if the Emperor, being possessor of the 
 Two Sicilies, should succeed in conquering the cities of Lom- 
 bardy. The war Avhich ensued (1236,) Avas long and bloody. 
 The Popes Gregory IX. and Innocent IV., went so far as to 
 preach up a crusade against the Emperor, as if he had been an 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074 — 1300. 127 
 
 infidel ; while that unfortunate prince, after the most courageous 
 and indefatig-able efforts, had the mortification to see his troops 
 once more discomfited by the forces of the League. 
 
 The cities of Italy were no sooner delivered from the terror 
 of the Emperors, than tiiey let loose their fury against each 
 other ; impelled by the rage of conquest, and torn by the inter- 
 nal factions of the GueJphs and the Ghibellines, as well as by 
 the contests which had arisen between the noblesse and the free 
 cities. The partisans of the nobles in these cities, were strength- 
 ened by the very measures which had been taken to humble 
 them. The chartered towns by destroying that multitude of 
 seignories, earldoms, and marquisates wiin which Lombardy 
 swarmed before the twelfth century, and by incorporating them* 
 with their own territories, obliged the deserted nobles and gran- 
 dees to seek an establishment within their walls. These latter, 
 finding their partisans united and powerful, soon attempted to 
 seize the government; and hence arose an interminable source 
 of civil discord, which ended with the loss of liberty in the greater 
 part of these communities. 
 
 To arrest these evils, and put a check to the ambition of the 
 powerful citizens, they adopted the plan of intrusting the gov- 
 ernment to a single magistrate, to be called the Podesta, who 
 should be chosen in the neighbouring cities. This scheme was 
 but a palliative rather than a remedy ; and in order to guarantee 
 themselves from the oppression of the nobles, the corporations 
 of several cities gradually adopted the plan of conferring a sort 
 of dictatorship on one of the powerful citizens, or on some prince 
 or nobleman, even though he were a stranger, under the title of 
 Captain ; hoping, in this way, to succeed in re-establishing 
 peace and order. These chiefs or captains contrived, in process 
 of time, to render absolute and perpetual, an authority which at 
 first was temporary,' and only granted on certain conditions. 
 Hence the origin of several new^ independent sovereignties which 
 were formed in Italy during the course of the fourteenth century 
 
 Venice and Genoa at that time eclipsed all the republics of 
 Italy, by the flourishing state of their navigation and commerce. 
 The origin of the former of these cities is generally dated as fai 
 back as the invasion of the Huns under Attila (4-52.) The cru- 
 elty of these barbarians having spread terror and flight over the 
 whole country, many of the inhabitants of ancient Venetia, took 
 refuge in the isles and lagoons on the borders of the Adriatic 
 Gulf; and there laid the foundation of the city of Venice, which, 
 v^hether we regard the singularity of its construction, cr the 
 splendour to which it rose, deserves to be numbered among the 
 wonders of the world. At first its government was popular, and 
 
 12=^ 
 
138 CHAPTER V. 
 
 administered by a bench of tribunes whose power was annual. 
 The divisions which arose among these yearly administrators, 
 occasioned the election of a chief (697,) who took the title of 
 Duke or Doge. This dignity was for life, and depended on the 
 suffrages of the community ; but he exercised nevertheless the 
 rights of sovereignty, and it was not till after a long course ot 
 time that his authority was gradually abridged ; and the govern- 
 ment, which had been monarchical, became again democratical. 
 
 Venice, which from its birth was a commercial city, enjoyed 
 in the middle ages nearly the same renown which Tyre had 
 among the trading cities of antiquity. The commencement of 
 its grandeur may be dated from the end of the tenth century, 
 and under the magistracy of the Doge Peter Urseolo II., whom 
 the Venetians regard as the true founder of their state (992.) 
 From the Greek emperors he obtained for them an entire liberty 
 and immunity of commerce, in all the ports of that empire ; and 
 he procured them at the same time several very important ad- 
 vantages, by the treaties which he concluded with the emperor 
 Otho III. and with the Caliphs of Egypt. The vast increase of 
 their commerce, inspired these republicans with a desire to ex- 
 tend the contracted bounds of their territory. One of their first 
 conquests was the maritime cities of Istria, as well as those of 
 Dalmatia ; both of which occurred under the magistracy of Peter 
 Urseolo II., and in the year 997. They were obliged to make 
 a surrender of the cities of Dalmatia, by the emperors of the 
 East, who regarded these cities as dependencies of their empire ; 
 while the kings of Croatia and Dalmatia also laid claim to them. 
 Croatia having passed into the hands of the Kings of Hungary, 
 about the end of the eleventh century, these same cities became 
 a perpetual source of troubles and wars between the Kings of 
 Hungary and the Republic of Venice ; and it was not till the 
 fifteenth century that the Republic found means to confirm its 
 authority in Dalmatia. 
 
 The Venetians having become parties in the famous League 
 of Lombardy, in the eleventh century, contributed by their ef- 
 forts, to render abortive the vast projects of the Emperor Frede- 
 ric i. Pope Alexander III., as a testimony of his gratitude, 
 granted them the sovereignty of the Hadriatic (1177,)-^ and this 
 circumstance gave rise to the singular ceremony of annually 
 marrying this sea to the Doge of Venice. The aggrandizement 
 of this republic was greatly accelerated by the crusades, espe- 
 cially the fourth (1204,) which was followed by the dismem- 
 berment of the Greek empire. The Venetians, who had joined 
 this crusade, obtained for their portion several cities and ports 
 in Dalmatia, Albania, Greece and the Morea • as also the Islands 
 
PERIOD ir. A. D. 1074 — 1300. 139 
 
 of Corfu, Cephalonia, and Candia or Crete. At length, towards 
 the end of the thirteenth centuiy, this republic assumed the pe- 
 culiar form of government which it retained till the day of its 
 destruction. In the earlier ages its constitution was democratic, 
 and the power of the Doge limited by a grand council, which 
 was chosen annually from among the different classes of the 
 citizens, by electors named by the people. As these forms gave 
 occasion to troubles and intestine commotions, the Doge Pietro 
 Gradenigo, to remove all cause of discontent in future, passed 
 a law (1298,) which abrogated the custom of annual elections, 
 and fixed irrevojably in their office all those who then sat in 
 the grand council, and this to descend to their posterity for 
 ever. The hereditary aristocracy thus introduced at Venice, 
 did not fail to excite the disv^ontent of those whose families this 
 new law had excluded from the government ; and it was this 
 which afterwards occasioned various insurrections, of which 
 that of Tiepolo (1310) is the most remarkable. The partisans 
 of the ancient government, and those of the new, attempted to 
 decide the matter by a battle in the city of Venice. Tiepolo 
 and his party were defeated, and Querini, one of the chiefs, 
 ^vas killed in the action. A commission of ten members was 
 nominated to inform against the accomplices of this secret con- 
 spiracy. This commission, which was meant to be but tem- 
 porary, was afterwards declared perpetual ; and, under the 
 name of the Coiaicil of Ten, became one of the most formida- 
 ble supports of the aristocracy. 
 
 The city of Genoa, like that of Venice, owed her prosperity 
 to the progress of her commerce, vrhich she extended to the 
 Levant, Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt. Governed at first 
 by Consuls, like the rest of the Italian states, she afterwards 
 1190) chose a foreign Podesta or governor, to repress the vio- 
 lence of faction, and put a check on the ambition of the nobles. 
 This governor was afterwards made subordinate to a Captain of 
 the people, whom the Genoese chose for the first time in 1257, 
 without being able yet to fix their government, which ex- 
 perienced frequent variations before assuming a settled and 
 permanent form. These internal divisions of the Genoese did 
 not impede the progress of their commerce and their marine. 
 The crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries, the powerful suc- 
 cours which these republicans gave to the crusaders, and to the 
 Greeks, as well as the treaties which they concluded with the 
 Moorish and African princes, procured them considerable esta- 
 blishments in the Levant, and also in Asia and Africa. CafFa, 
 a famous seaport on the Black Sea, and the port of Azoph, the 
 ancient Tanais, at the mouth of the Don, belonged to them • 
 
140 CHAPTER V. 
 
 and served as entrepots for their commerce with China and the 
 Indies. Smyrna in Asia Minor, as also the suburbs of Pera 
 and Galata at Constantinople, and the isles of Scio, Metelin 
 and Tenedos, in the Archipelago, were ceded to them by the 
 Greek emperors. The kings of Cyprus were their tributaries. 
 The Greek and German emperors, the kings of Sicily, Cas- 
 tille and Arragon, and the Sultans of Egypt, jealously sought 
 their alliance, and the protection of their marine. Encouraged 
 by these successes, they formed a considerable territory on ^he 
 continent of Italy, after the 12th century, of which nothing but 
 a fragment now remains to them. 
 
 Genoa had at that time, in its immediate neighbourhood, a 
 dangerous rival of its power and greatness. This rival was 
 Pisa, a flourishing republic on the coast •of Tuscany, which 
 owed its prosperity entirely to the increase of its commerce and 
 marine. The proximity of these two states — the similarity of 
 their views and their interests — the desire of conquest — and 
 the command of the sea, which both of them desired, created a 
 marked jealousy between them, and made them the natural and 
 implacable enemies of each other. One of the principal sub- 
 jects of dispute was the possession of Corsica and Sardinia,^^ 
 which the two republics contested at the point of the sword, 
 after having, by means of their combined force, expelled the 
 Moors, toward the middle of the eleventh century. Pisa, ori- 
 ginally superior to Genoa in maritime strength, disputed with 
 her the empire of the Mediterranean, and haughtily forbade the 
 Genoese to appear within those seas with their ships of war. 
 This rivalry nourished the animosity of the two republics, and 
 rendered it im.placable. Hence a continual source of mutual 
 hostilities, which were renewed incessantly for the space of 200 
 years, and only terminated in 1290 ; when, by the conquest of 
 Elba, and the destruction of the ports of Pisa and Leghorn, 
 the Genoese effected the ruin of the shipping and commerce of 
 the Pisan republic. 
 
 Lower Italy, possessed by the Norman princes, under the title 
 of Dutchy and Comte, became the seat of a new kingdom in the 
 eleventh century — that of the two Sicilies. On the extinction 
 of the Dukes of Apulia and Calabria, descendants of Eobert 
 Guiscard, Roger, son of Roger, Count of Sicily, and sovereign 
 of that island, united the dominions of the two branches of the 
 Norman dynasty (1127 ;) and being desirous of procuring for 
 himself the royal dignity, he attached to his interest the Anti- 
 pope Anacletus II., who invested him with royalty by a bull 
 (1130,) in which, however, he took care to reserve the territorial 
 right and an annual tribute to the Church of Rome. This 
 
i-ii;RioD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 141 
 
 prince received the crown of Palermo from the hands of a car- 
 dinal, whom the pope had deputed for the express purpose. On 
 ihe death of the Emperor Lothaire, he succeeded in dispossess- 
 ing- the Prince of Capua, and subduing the dutchy of Naples 
 (1139;) thus completing the conquest of all that is now deno- 
 minated the kingdom of Naples. William II., grandson of 
 Roger, was the principal support of Pope Alexander III. ; and 
 of the famous League of Lombard y formed against the Empe- 
 ror Frederic Barbarossa. The male line of the Norman princes 
 having become extinct in William II., the kingdom of the Two 
 Sicilies passed (1189) to the House of Hohenstaufen, by the 
 marriage which the Emperor Henry IV., son of Frederic Bar- 
 barossa, contracted with the Princess Constance, aunt and here- 
 trix of the last king. Henry maintained the rights of his wife 
 against the usurper Tancred, and transmitted this kingdom to 
 his son Frederic II., who acquired by his marriage with Jolande, 
 daughther of John de Brienne, titular King of Jerusalem, the 
 titles and arms of this latter kingdom. The efforts which Fre- 
 deric made to' annihilate the League of Lombardy, and confirm 
 his own authority in Italy, drew down upon him the persecution 
 of the court of Rome, who taking advantage of the minority of 
 the young Conradin, grandson of Frederic II., wrested the 
 crown of the two Sicilies from this rival house, w^hich alone 
 was able to check its ambitious projects. Mainfroi, natural son 
 of Frederic II., disgusted with playing the part of tutor to the 
 young Conradin, in which capacity he at first acted, caused him- 
 self to be proclaimed and crowned, at Palermo, King of the Two 
 Sicilies, (125S.) The Popes Urban IV., and Clem.ent IV., dread- 
 ing the genius and talents of this prince, made an offer of that 
 kingdom to Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence, and brother of 
 St. Louis. Clement IV. granted the investiture of it (1265) to 
 him and his descendants, male and female, on condition of his 
 doing fealty and homage to the Holy See, and presenting him 
 annually with a white riding horse, and a tribute of eight million 
 ounces of gold. Charles, after being crowned at Rome, marched 
 against Mainfroi, with an army chiefly composed of crusaders. 
 He defeated that prince, who was slain at the battle of Bene- 
 vento (1268,) v.^hich was soon after followed by the reduction of 
 the two kingdoms. One rival to Charles still survived,-- the 
 young Conradin, the lawful heir to the throne of his ancestors. 
 Charles vanquished him also, two years afterwards, in the plains 
 of Tagliacozzo ; and having made him prisoner, together with 
 his young friend Frederic of Austria, he caused both of these 
 princes to be beheaded at Naples (29th October 126S.) 
 
 Charles did not long enjoy his new dignity. While he was 
 
142 CHAPTER V. 
 
 preparing to undertake a crusade against Michael Paleologus, 
 a schismatic prince who had expelled the Latins from Constan- 
 tinople, he had the mortification to see himself dispossessed of 
 Sicily, on the occasion of the famous Sicilian Vespers (12S2.) 
 This event, which is generally regarded as the result of a con- 
 spiracy, planned with great address by a gentleman of Salerno, 
 named John de Procida, appears to have been but the sudden 
 effect of an insurrection, occasioned by the aversion of the Sici- 
 lians to the French yoke. During the hour of vespers, on the 
 second day of Easter (30th March,) when the inhabitants of 
 Palermo were on their way to the Church of the Holy Ghost, 
 situated at some distance from the town, it happened that a 
 Frenchman, named Drouette, had offered a private insult to a 
 Sicilian woman : hence a quarrel arose, which drew on a gene- 
 ral insurrection at Palermo. All -the French who were in the 
 city or the neighbourhood were massacred, v/ith the exception 
 of one gentleman from Provence, called William Porcellet, who 
 had conciliated all hearts by his virtues. This revolt gradually 
 extended to the other Sicilian cities. Every where the French 
 were put to death on the spot. Messina was the last that caught 
 the infection ; but there the revolution did not take place till 
 thirty days after the same event at Palermo, (29th April 12S2.) 
 It is therefore not true, that this massacre of the French hap- 
 pened at the same hour, and at the sound of the vesper bells, 
 over all parts of the island. Nor is it more probable, that the 
 plot had been contrived by Peter III., King of Arragon ; since 
 the Palermitans displayed at first the banner of the church, 
 having resolved to surrender to the Pope ; but being driven from 
 this resolution, and dreading the vengeance of Charles, they 
 despatched deputies to the King of Arragon, who was then 
 cruising with a fleet off the African coast, and made him an ofTer 
 of their crown. This prince yielded to the invitation of the 
 Palermitans ; he landed at Trapani, and thence passed to Pa- 
 lermo, where he was crowned King of Sicily. The whole 
 island submitted to him; and Charles of Anjou was obliged to 
 raise the siege of Messina, which he had undertaken. Peter 
 entered and took possession of the place, and from that time 
 Sicily remained under the power of the Kings of Arragon; it 
 became the inheritance of a particular branch of the Arragonese 
 princes ; and the House of Anjou were reduced to the single 
 kingdom of Naples. 
 
 Spain, which was divided into several sovereignties, both Chris- 
 tian and Mahometan, presented a continual spectacle of commo- 
 tion and carnage. The Christian States of Castille and Arragon, 
 were gradually increased by the conquests made over the Maho« 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 143 
 
 metans ; while the king-dom of Navarre, less exposed to con- 
 quest by its local situation, remained nearly in its original state 
 of mediocrity. This latter king-dom passed in succession to 
 female heirs of different houses. Blanche of Navarre, daughter 
 of Sancho VI., transferred it to the Counts of Champagne (1234.) 
 On the extinction of the male line of that house, in Henry I. of 
 Navarre (1274,) Joan I., his daughter and heiress, conveyed that 
 kingdom, tog-ether with the Comtes of Champagne and Brie, 
 to the crown of France. Philip the Fair, husband of that prni- 
 cess, and his three sons, Louis le Hutin, Philip the Long, and 
 Charles the Fair, were, at the same time, kings both of France 
 and Navarre. Finally, it was Queen Joan II., daughter of 
 Louis le Hutin, and heretrix of Navarre, who transferred that 
 kingdom to the family of the Counts d'Evreux, and relinquished 
 the Comtes of Champagne and Brie to Philip of Valois, suc- 
 cessor of Charles the Fair to the throne of France (1336.) 
 
 The family of the Counts of Barcelona ascended the throne 
 of Arragon (1131,) by the marriage of Count Raymond-Beren- 
 guier V. w^ith Donna Petronilla, daughter and heiress of Ramira 
 II., King of Arragon. Don Pedro II., grandson of Raymond- 
 Berenguier, happening to be at Rome (1204,) was there crowned 
 king of Arragon by Pope Innocent IIL On this occasion he 
 did homage for his kingdom to that pontiff, and engaged, for 
 himself and successors, to pay an annual tribute to the Holy 
 See. Don James I., surnamed the Conqueror, son of Don Pedro 
 11., gained some important victories over the Mahometans, from 
 whom he took the Balearic Isles (1230,) and the kinsjdom of 
 Valentia,~7 (1238.) Don Pedro III. eldest son of Don James I., 
 had dispossessed Charles I. of Anjou and Sicily, which drew 
 down upon him a violent persecution on the part of Pope Martin 
 IV,, who w^as on the eve of publishing a crusade against him, 
 and assigning over his estates to Charles of Valois, a younger 
 brother of Philip called the Hardy, king of France. Don James 
 II., younger son of Don Pedro III., succeeded in making his 
 peace with the Court of Rome, and even obtained from Pope 
 Boniface VIII. (1297) the investiture of the Island of Sardinia, 
 on condition of acknowledging himself the vassal and tributary 
 of the Holy See for that kingdom, which he afterwards obtained 
 by conquest from the republic of Pisa. 
 
 The principal victories of the Christians over the Mahome- 
 tans in Spain, were reserved for the kings of Castillo, whose 
 history is extremely fertile in great events. Alphonso VI., 
 whom some call Alphonso I., after having taken Madrid and 
 Toledo (1085,) and subdued the whole kingdom of Toledo, was 
 on the point of altogether expelling the Mahometans from Spain 
 
144 CHAPTER V. 
 
 when a revolution which happened in Africa augmented their 
 forces by fresh numbers, and thus arrested the progress of the 
 Castilian prince. 
 
 The Zeirides, an Arab dynasty, descended from Zeiri, son of 
 Mounad, reigned then over that part of Africa which compre- 
 hends Africa properly so called (viz. Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers,) 
 and the Mogreb (comprehending Fez and Morocco,) which they 
 had conquered from the Fatimite caliphs of Egypt. It hap- 
 pened that a new apostle and conqueror, named Aboubeker, son 
 of Omer, collected some tribes of Arabs in the vicinity of Sugul- 
 messa, a city in the kingdom of Fez, and got himself proclaimed 
 Commander of the Faithful. His adherents took the name of 
 MorahefJiin, a term which signifies zealously devoted to religion ; 
 and whence the Spaniards have formed the w^m.Q's, Ahnoravidrs 
 and Marahouths. Having made himself master of the city of 
 Sngulmessa, this warlike Emir extended his conquests in the 
 Mogreb, as well as in Africa Proper, whence he expelled the 
 Zeirides. His successor, YousufF, or Joseph, the son of Tas- 
 chefin, completed the conquest of these countries ; and built the 
 city of Morocco (1069,) which he made the capital of the Mogreb, 
 and the seat of his new empire. This prince joined the Ma- 
 hometans of Seville, to whose aid he marched with his victorious 
 troops, defeated the king of Castille at the battle of Badajos 
 (1090,) and subdued the principal Mahometan states of Spain, 
 such as Grenada and Seville, &c. 
 
 The empire of the Almoravides was subverted in 'the tv;elfth 
 century by another Mahometan sect, called the Moahedins, or 
 Almohades, a word signifying Unitarians. An upstart fanatic, 
 named Ahdalmoum.en^ was the founder of this sect. He was 
 educated among the mountains of Sous, in Mauritania, and 
 assumed the quality of F^mir (1120,) and the surname of Mo- 
 hadi, that is, the Chief — the leader and director of the faithful. 
 Having subdued Morocco, Africa, and the whole of the Mogreb, 
 he annihilated the d^masty of the Almoravides (1146,) and at 
 the same tim.e vanquished the Mahometan states in Spain. He 
 took also (1160) from the Normans Tunis, Mohadie, and Tripoli, 
 of which they had taken possession. One of his successors, 
 named Naser-Moharnmed, formed the project of re-conquering 
 the whole continent of Spain. The immense preparations which 
 he made for this purpose, alarmed Alphonso VIII. , king of Cas- 
 tille, who immediately formed an alliance with the kings of Ar- 
 ragon and Navarre, and even engaged Pope Innocent III. to 
 proclaim a crusade against the Mahometans. The armJes of 
 Europe and Africa met on the confines of Castile and Andalusia 
 (1£12;) and in the environs of the city Ubeda was fought a 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 146 
 
 bloody battle, which so crippled the power of the Almohades, as 
 to occasion in a short time the downfall and dismemberment of 
 their empire.-^ 
 
 About this period (1269,) the Mahometans of Spain revolted 
 afresh from Africa, and divided themselves into several petty 
 states, of which the principal and the only one that existed for 
 several centuries, was that of the descendants of Naser, King's 
 of Grenada. Ferdinand III., King of Castille and Leon, took 
 advantage of this event to renew his conquests over the Ma- 
 hometans. He took from them the kingdoms of Cordova, Mur- 
 cia, and Seville (1238, et seq.,) and left them only the single 
 kingdom of Grenada. 
 
 These wars against the Mahometans were the occasion of 
 several religious and military orders being founded in Spain. 
 Of these, the most ancient was that founded and fixed at Alcan- 
 tara (1156,) whence it took its name; having for its badge or 
 decoration a green cross, in form of the lily, ov Jleur-de-lis. The 
 order of Calatrava was instituted in 115S ; it was confirmed by 
 Pope Alexander III. (1164,) and assumed as its distinctive mark 
 the red cross, also in form of the lily. The order of St. James 
 of Campostella, founded in 1161, and confirmed by the same 
 Pope (1175,) was distinguished by a red cross, in form of a 
 sword' Finally, the order of Montesa (1317,) supplanted that 
 of the Templars in the kingdom of Arragon. 
 
 The Kings of Castille and Arragon having conquered from 
 the Arabs a part of what is properly called Portugal, formed it 
 into a distinct government, under the name of Portocalo, or Por- 
 tugal. Henry of Burgundy, a French prince, grandson of Ro- 
 bert, called the Old, Duke of Burgundy, and great-grandson of 
 Robert II., King of France, having distinguished himself by his 
 bravery in the wars between the Castillians and the Mahome- 
 tans, Alphonso VI., King of Castille, wished to attach the young 
 prince to him by the ties of blood ; and, for this purpose, gave 
 him in marriage \iis daughter the Infant Donna Theresa; and 
 created him Count of Portugal (1090.) This State, including 
 at first merely the cities of Oporto, Braga, Miranda, Lamego, 
 Viseo, and Coimbra, began to assume its present form, in the 
 reign of Alphonso I., son of Count Henry. The Mahometans, 
 alarmed at the warlike propensities of the young Alphonso, had 
 marched with a superior force to attack him by surprise. Far 
 from being intimidated by the danger, this prince, to animate 
 the courage of his troops, pretended that an apparition from hea- 
 ven had authorized him to proclaim himself King in the face ot 
 the army, in virtue of an express order which he said he had 
 received from Christ. ^^ He then marched against the enemy, 
 
 VOL. I. 13 
 
146 CHAPTER V. 
 
 and totally routed them in the plams of Ourique (1139.) Thif? 
 
 victory, famous in the annals of Portugal, paved the way for the 
 conquest of the cities Leiria, Santarem, Lisbon, Cintra, Alcazar 
 do Sal, Evora, and Elvas, situated on the banks of the TagnS: 
 Moreover, to secure the protection of the Court of Rome against 
 the Kings of Leon, who disputed with him the independence of 
 his new state, Alphonso took the resolution of acknowledging 
 himself vassal and tributary to the Holy See (1142.) He after- 
 wards convoked the estates of his kingdom at Lamego, and 
 there declared his independence by a fundamental law, which 
 also regulated the order of succession to the throne. Sancho I., 
 son and successor of Alphonso, took from the Mahometans, .he 
 town of Silves in Algarve ; and Alphonso III., soon aftt 
 (1249,) completed the conquest of that province. 
 
 The first Kings of Portugal, in order to gain the protection of 
 the Court of Rome, were obliged to grant extensive benefices to 
 the ecclesiastics, Avith regalian rights, and the exemption of the 
 clergy from the secular jurisdiction. Their successors, how- 
 ever, finding themselves firmly established on the throne, soon 
 changed their policy, and manifested as much of indifference for 
 the clergy as Alphonso I. had testified of kindness and attach- 
 ment to them. Hence originated a long series of broils and 
 quarrels Vv'ith the Court of Rome. Pope Innocent IV. deposed 
 Sancho II. (1245,) and appointed Alphonso III. in his place. 
 Denys, son and successor of this latter prince, was excommuni- 
 cated for ^he same reason, and compelled to sign a treaty (1289,) 
 by which the clergy were re-established in all their former rights. 
 
 In France, the whole policy of the Kings was directed against 
 their powerful vassals, who shared among them the finest pro- 
 vinces of that kingdom. The Dukes of Burgundy, Normandy, 
 and Aquitaine ; the Counts of Flanders, Champagne, and Tou- 
 louse ; the Dukes of Bretagne, the Counts of Poitiers, Bar, 
 Blois, Anjou and Maine, Alenc^on, Auvergne, Angouleme, Pe- 
 rigord, Carcassonne, ^^ &;c. formed so many petty sovereigns, 
 equal in some respects to the electors and princes of the Ger- 
 manic empire. Several circumstances, however, contributed to 
 maintain the balance in favour of royalty. The crown was he- 
 reditary, and the demesne lands belonging to the king, which, 
 being very extensive, gave him a power which far outweighed 
 that of any individual vassal. Besides, these same demesnes 
 being situate in the centre of the kingdom, enabled the sovereign 
 to observe the conduct of his vassals, to divide their forces, and 
 prevent any one from preponderating over another. The per- 
 petual wars which they waged with each other, the tyranny 
 which they exercised over their dependants, and the enlighten- 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 147 
 
 ed policy of several of the French kings, by degrees re-estab- 
 lished the royal authority, which had been almost annihilated 
 under the last princes of the Carlovingian dynasty. 
 
 It was at this period that the rivalry between France and Eng- 
 land had its origin. The fault that Philip I. committed, in 
 making no opposition to the conquest of England, by William 
 Duke of Normandy, hio vassal, served to kindle the flame of war 
 between these princes. The war which took place in 1087, was 
 the first that happened between the two nations ; it was renewed 
 under the subsequent reigns, and this rivalry was still more in- 
 creased, on occasion of the unfortunate divorce between Louis 
 
 VII. and Eleanor of Poitou, heiress of Guienne, Poitou, and 
 Gascogne. This divorced Princess married (1152) Henrj^, sur- 
 named Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and 
 Maine, and afterwards King of England ; and brought him, in 
 dowry, the whole of her vast possessiouL. But it was reserved 
 for Philip Augustus to repair the faults of his predecessors. 
 This great monarch, whose courage was equal to his prudence 
 and his policy, recovered his superiority over England ; he 
 strengthened his power and authority by the numerous acces- 
 sions which he made to the crown-lands, ^^ (llSO-1220.) Be- 
 sides Artois, Vermandois, the earldoms of Evreux, Auvergne, 
 and Alen9on, which he annexed under different titles, he took 
 advantage of the civil commotions which had arisen in England 
 against King John, to dispossess the English of Normandy, An- 
 jou, Maine, Lorraine, and Poitou (1203;) and he maintain.ed 
 these conquests by the brilliant victory which he gained at Bou- 
 vines (1214,) over the combined forces of England, the Empe- 
 ror Otho, and the Count of Flanders. ^^ 
 
 Several of the French kings were exclusively occupied with 
 the crusades in the East. Louis VII., Philip Augustus, and 
 Louis IX. took the cross, and marched in person to the Holy 
 Land. These ultra-marine expeditions (1147, 1248,) which re- 
 quired great and powerful resources, could not but exhaust 
 France ; while, on the contrary, the crusades which Louis VIII. 
 undertook against the Albigenses and their protectors, the Counts 
 of Toulouse and Carcassonne, considerably augmented the royal 
 power. Pope Innocent III,, by proclaiming this crusade (1208,) 
 raised a tedious and bloody war, which desolated Languedoc ; 
 and during which, fanaticism perpetrated atrocities which make 
 humanity shudder, Simon, Count Monfort, the chief or genera] 
 of these crusaders, had the whole estates of the counts of Tou- 
 louse adjudged him by the Pope. Amauri, the son and heir ot 
 Simon, surrendered his claims over these forfeitures to Louis 
 
 VIII, King of France (1226 ;) and it was this circumstance that 
 
14S CHAPTER V. 
 
 induced Louis to march in person at the head of the crusaders, 
 against the Count of Toulouse, his vassal and cousin. He died 
 at the close of this expedition, leaving to his son and successor, 
 Louis IX., the task of finishing this disastrous war. By the 
 peace which was concluded at Paris (1229,) between the King 
 and the Count, the greater part of Languedoc was allowed to re- 
 main in the possession of Louis. One arrangement of this 
 treaty was the marriage of the Count's daughter with Al- 
 phonso, brother to the King ; with this express clause, that 
 failing heirs of this marriage, the whole territory of Toulouse 
 should revert to the crown. The same treaty adjudged to the 
 Pope the county of Venaissin, as an escheat of the Counts of 
 Toulouse ; and the Count of Carcassonne, implicated also in 
 the cause of the Albigenses, was compelled to cede to the King 
 all right over the viscounties of Beziers, Carcassonne, Agde, 
 Rodez, Albi, and Nismes. One consequence of this bloody 
 war was the establishment of the terrible tribunal of the In- 
 quisition,^-^ and the founding of the order of Dominicans.^^ 
 
 Henry II., a descendant of the house of Plantagenet, having 
 mounted the throne of England, in right of his mother Ma- 
 tilda, annexed to that crown the dutchy of Normandy, the coun- 
 tries of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine, together with Guienne, 
 Gascogne and Poitou. He afterwards added Ireland, which he 
 subdued in 1172. This island, which had never been con- 
 quered, either by the Romans, or the barbarians who had deso- 
 lated Europe, was, at that time, divided into five principal 
 sovereignties, viz. Munster, Ulster, Connaught, Leinster, and 
 Meath, whose several chiefs all assumed the title of Kings. 
 One of these princes enjoyed the dignity of monarch of the 
 island; but he had neither authority sufficient to secure inter- 
 nal tranquillity, nor power enough to repel with success the 
 attacks of enemies from without. It was this state of weakness 
 that induced Henry to attempt the conquest of the island. He 
 obtained the sanction of Pope Adrian IV., by a bull in 1155, and 
 undertook, in a formal engagement, to subject the Irish to the 
 jurisdiction of the Holy See, and the payment oi Peter^s pence ?^ 
 The expulsion of Dermot, king of Leinster, who had rendered 
 himself odious by his pride and his tyranny, furnished Henry 
 with a pretext for sending troops into that island, to assist the 
 dethroned prince in recovering his dominions. The success of 
 the English, and the victories which they gained over Roderic, 
 King of Connaught, who at that time was chief monarch of the 
 island, determined Henry to undertake, in person, an expedition 
 into Ireland (in October 1172.) He soon reduced the provinces 
 of Leinster and Munster to submission ; and after having con- 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 149 
 
 siructed several forts, and nommatea a viceroy and other crown 
 officers, he took his departure without completing the conquest 
 of the island. Eoderic, Kingof Connaught, submitted in 1175 ; 
 but it was not till the reign of Queen Elizabeth that the entire 
 reduction of Ireland was accomplished. 
 
 In England, the rashness and rapacity of John, son of Henry 
 II. occasioned a mighty revolution in the government. The 
 discontented nobles, with the Archbishop of Canterbury at their 
 head, joined in a league against the King. Pope Innocent III. 
 formally deposed him, made over his kingdom to the Crown of 
 France, and proclaimed a crusade against him in every coun- 
 try of Europe. John obtained an accommodation with the 
 Pope; and in order to secure his protection, he consented to be- 
 come a vassal of the Church, both for England and Ireland ; 
 engaging to pay his Holiness, besides Peter's pence, an annual 
 tribute of a thousand marks. But all in vain ; the nobles per- 
 sisted in their revolt, and forced the King to grant them the 
 grand charter of Magna Charta, by which he and his succes- 
 sors were for ever deprived of the power of exacting subsidies 
 without the counsel and advice of Parliament ; which did not 
 then include the Commons. He granted to the city of London, 
 and to all cities and burghs in the kingdom, a renewal of 
 their ancient liberties and privileges, and the right of not being 
 taxed except with the advice and consent of the common coun- 
 cil. Moreover, the lives and properties 'of the citizens were 
 secured by this charter; one clause of which expressly pro- 
 vided, that no subject could be either arrested, imprisoned, dis- 
 possessed of his fortune, or deprived of his life, except by a 
 legal sentence of his peers, conform to the ancient law of the 
 country. This charter, which was renewed in various subse- 
 quent reigns, forms, at this day, the basis of the English 
 Constitution. 
 
 King John, meantime, rebelled against this charter, and 
 caused it to be rescinded by Pope Innocent' III., who even is- 
 sued a bull of excommunication against the barons ; but they, 
 far from being disconcerted or intimidated, made an ofier of 
 their crown to Louis, son of Philip Augustus King of France. 
 This prince repaired to England, and there received the fealty 
 and homage of the grandees and the nation. John, abandoned 
 by all his subjects, attempted to take refuge in Scotland ; but 
 he died in his flight at the castle of Newark. His death made 
 a sudden change in the minds and sentiments of the English. 
 The barons forsook the standard of the French prince, and 
 rallied round that of young Henry, son of King John, whose 
 long and unfortunate reign was a succession of troubles and 
 
 13 # 
 
150 CHAPTER V. 
 
 intestine wars. Edward I., son and successor of Henry III., as 
 determined and courageous as his father had been weak and 
 indolent, restored tranquillity to England, and made his name 
 illustrious by the conquest which he made of the principality of 
 W ales. 
 
 This district, from the most remote antiquity, was ruled by 
 its own native princes, descended from the ancient British kings. 
 Although they had been vassals and tributaries of the kings of 
 England, they exercised, nevertheless, the rights of sovereignty 
 in their own country. Lewellyn, prince of Wales, having es- 
 poused the cause of the insurgents in the reign of Henry III., 
 and made some attempts to withdraw from the vassalage of the 
 English crown, Edward I. declared war against hirn (1282;) 
 and in a battle fought near the Menau, Lewellyn was defeated 
 and slain, with two thousand of his followers. David, his bro- 
 ther and successor, met with a fate still more melancholy. Hav- 
 ing been taken prisoner by Edward, he was condemned to death, 
 and executed like a traitor (1283.) The territory of Wales was 
 annexed to the crown; the king created his eldest son Edward, 
 Prince of Wales ; a title which has since been borne by the 
 eldest sons of the kings of England. 
 
 At this period, the kingdoms of the North presented, in gen- 
 eral, little else than a spectacle of horror and carnage. The 
 warlike and ferocious temper of the Northern nations, the want 
 of fixed and specific laws in the succession of their kings,-^*^ gave 
 rise to innumerable factions, encouraged insolence, and foment- 
 ed troubles and intestine wars. An extravagant and supersti- 
 tious devotion, by loading the church with wealth, aggravated 
 still more the evils with which these kingdoms were distracted. 
 The bishops and the new metropolitans,^" enriched at the ex- 
 pense of the crown-lands, and rendered bold by their power, 
 and the strength of their castles, domineered in the senate and 
 the assemblies of the states, and neglected no opportunity of 
 encroaching on the sovereigTi's authority. They obtained, by 
 compulsion, the introduction of tithes, and the immunity of the 
 ecclesiastics ; and thus more and more increased and cemented 
 the sacerdotal power. -^^ This state of trouble and internal com- 
 motion tended to abate that ardour for maritime incursions 
 which had so long agitated the Scandinavian nations. It did 
 not, however, prevent the kings of Denmark and Sweden from 
 undertaking, from time- to time, expeditions by sea, under the 
 name of Crusades, for the conversion of the Pagan nations of 
 he North, whose territories they were ambitious to conquer. 
 
 The Siavians, who inhabited the coasts of the Baltic, were 
 then constantly committing piracies, in imitation of the ancient 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 16'1 
 
 Normans, plundering- and ravaging the provinces and islands 
 of Denmark. Valdemar I., wishing to put an end to these de- 
 vastations, and thirsting moreover for the glory of converting to 
 Christianity those nations against whom all the efforts of the 
 Germans had failed, attacked them at different times with his 
 numerous flotillas. He took and pillaged several of their towns, 
 such as Arcona and Carentz or Gariz, in the isle of Rugen 
 (1168,) Julin, now called Wollin, and Stettin, two seaports in 
 Pomerania (1175-6.) He m.ade the princes of Rugen his vas- 
 sals and tributaries, and is generally regarded as the founder of 
 Dantzic (1165,) which originally was merely a fort constructed 
 by the Danes. Canute VL, son and successor of Valdemar I., 
 followed the example of his father ; he reduced the princes of 
 Pomerania (1183) and Mecklenburg (1186,) and the Counts of 
 Schwerin (1201,) to a state of dependence; he made himself 
 master of Hamburg and Lubec, and subdued the whole of Hol- 
 stein. Valdemar II. assumed the title of King of the Slavians, 
 and Lord of Nordalbingia. He added Lauenburg, a part of 
 Prussia, Esthonia, and the Isle of Oesel, to the conquests of his 
 predecessors, and became the founder of the cities of Stralsund 
 and Revel (1209 and 1222.) 
 
 This prince, master of nearly the whole southern coast of the 
 Baltic, and raised to the summit of prosperity by the superiority 
 of his commercial and maritime power, commanded for a time 
 the attention of all Europe ; but an unforeseen event eclipsed 
 his glory, and deprived him of all the advantages of his victories 
 and his conquests. Henry, Count of Schwerin, one of the vas- 
 sals of Valdemar, wishing to avenge an outrage which he pre- 
 tended to have received from him, seized that prince by surprise 
 (1223,) and detained him for three years prisoner in the castle 
 of Schwerin. This circumstance aroa'sed the courage of the 
 Other vanquished nations, who instantly took to arms. Adol- 
 phus. Count of Schauenburg, penetrated into Holstein, and 
 subdued the princes of Mecklenburg and Pomerania, with the 
 cities of Hamburg and Lubec. Valdemar, restored to liberty, 
 made several efforts to reconquer his revolted provinces ; but a 
 powerful confederacy being formed against him, he was defeat- 
 ed in a battle fought (1227,) at Bornhoevet, near Segeberg, in 
 Holstein. Of all his conquests, he retained only the Isle of 
 Rugen, Esthonia, and the town of Revel, which, in course of 
 time, were lost or abandoned by his successors. 
 
 Sweden, which had been governed in succession by the dy- 
 nasties of Ste7ikil, Swerkar, and St. Eric, was long a prey co 
 internal dissensions, which arose principally from the two dif- 
 ferent forms of worship professed and authorized by the state. 
 
152 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The whole nation, divided in their religious sentiments, saw 
 themselves arranged into two factions, and under two reigning 
 families, mutually hating and exasperated against each other, 
 for nearly half a century. Two, and sometimes more, princes 
 were seen reigning at once from lOSO till 1133, when the throne 
 began to be occupied ultimately by the descendants of Sweyn 
 and St. Eric. During all this time, violence usurped the place 
 of right, and the crown of Sweden was more than once the 
 prize of assassination and treason. 
 
 In the mid§t of these intestine disorders, we find the Swedes 
 even attempting foreign conquests. To these they were insti- 
 gated both by the genius of the age, which encouraged crusades 
 and military missions, as well as by the desire of avenging the 
 piracies which the Finlanders, and other Pagan tribes of the 
 North, committed from time to time on the coasts of Sweden. 
 St. Eric became at once the apostle and the conqueror of Fin- 
 land (1157;) he established also a Swedish colony in Nyland, 
 and subdued the provinces of Helsingland and Jamptland. 
 Charles I., son of Swerkar, united the kingdom of Gothland to 
 Sweden, and was the first that took the title of these two king- 
 doms. Eric, surnamed Laspe, or the Lisper, resumed the cru- 
 sading system of warfare ; and, in the character of a missionary, 
 conquered Tavastland and the eastern part of Bothnia. Birger, 
 a prince of the Folkungian dynasty, wl\p ascended the throne 
 of Sweden in 1250, conquered, under the same pretext, Carelia 
 and Savolax, and fortified Viburg. He compelled the inhabit- 
 ants of these countries to em.brace the Christian religion (1293,) 
 and annexed them to Finland. We find, also, several of the 
 Swedish kings undertaking missionary expeditions against their 
 Pagan neighbours the Esthonians, who, from time to time, com- 
 mitted dreadful ravages on the coasts of Sweden. These ex- 
 peditions, which were always esteemed sacred, served as an 
 excuse for the sovereigns of the North in avoiding the crusades 
 to the Holy Land, in which they took no part.^^ 
 
 Prussia and the Prussians are totally unknown in history be- 
 fore the end of the tenth century. "^^ The author of the Life of 
 St. Adelbert of Prague, who suffered martyrdom in Prussia in 
 the reign of Olho IIL, is the first that mentions them under this 
 new name (997.) Two hundred years after, the Abbe of Oliva, 
 surnamed the Christian, became the apostle of the Prussians, 
 and was appointed by Pope Innocent HI. the first bishop ol 
 Prussia (1215.) This idolatrous nation, haughty and indepen- 
 dent, and attached to the reigning superstition, having repulsed 
 all the efforts that were repeatedly made to convert them to 
 Christianity, Pope Honorius III., in the true spirit of his age, 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 152 
 
 published a Crusade against them (1218,) to proselytize thein 
 by force. Armies of crusaders were poured into Prussia, and 
 overran the whole country with fire and sword. The Prussians 
 took cruel vengeance on the Polonese of Masovia, who had 
 made common cause against them with the crusaders of the 
 East. At length, Conrad, duke of Masovia, finding himself too 
 weak to withstand the fury of the Prussians, called in the Teu- 
 tonic knights to his aid ; and, anxious to secure for ever the as- 
 sistance and protection of that order, he made them a grant of 
 the territory of Culm ; and moreover, promised them whatever 
 lands he might conquer from the common enemy (1226.) This 
 contract having been sanctioned by the Emperor Frederic IT., 
 the knights speedily came into possession of their new domin- 
 ions (1230.) They extended themselves by degrees over all 
 Prussia, after a long and murderous war, which they had car- 
 ried on against the idolatrous natives. That country, which 
 had been peopled by numerous German colonies in succession, 
 did not submit to the yoke of the Teutonic order, until the 
 greater part of its ancient inhabitants had been destroyed. The 
 Knights took care to confirm their authority and their religion 
 in Prussia, by constructing cities and forts, and founding 
 bishoprics and convents. The city of Koninsberg ^^ on the 
 Pregel, was built in 1255; and that of Marienburg on the No- 
 gat, which became the capital of the Order, is supposed to have 
 been founded in 1280. 
 
 The Teutonic knights completed the conquest of that coun- 
 try (1283,) by the reduction of Sudavia, the last of the eleven 
 provinces which composed ancient Prussia. We can scarcely 
 conceive how a handful of these knights should have been able, 
 in so short a time, to vanquish a warlike and powerful nation, 
 inspired with the love of liberty, and emboldened by fanaticism 
 to make the most intrepid and obstinate defence. But we ought 
 to take into consideration, that the indulgences of the court of 
 Rome allured continually into Prussia a multitude of crusaders 
 from all the provinces of the Empire; and that the knights 
 gained these over to their ranks, by distributing among them 
 the lands which they had won by conquest. In this way, their 
 numbers were incessantly recruited by new colonies of crusa- 
 ders, and the nobles fi^ocked in crowds to their standard, to seek 
 territorial acquisitions in Prussia. 
 
 The increase of commerce on the Baltic, in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, led the Germans to discover the coasts of Livonia. Some 
 merchants from Bremen, on their way to Wisby, in the island 
 of Gothland, a seaport on the Baltic very much frequented at 
 that time, were thrown by a tempest on the coast near the mouth 
 
154 CHAPTER V. 
 
 of the Dwina (1158.) The desire of gain induced them to enter 
 into a correspondence with the natives of the country ; and, 
 from a wish to give stability to a branch of commerce which 
 might become very lucrative, they attempted to introduce the 
 Christian religion into Livonia. A monk of Segeberg in Hol- 
 stein, named Mainard, undertook this mission. He was the first 
 bishop of Livonia (1192,) and fixed his residence at the castle of 
 UxkuU, which he strengthened by fortifications. Berthold, his 
 successor, wishing to accelerate the progress of Christianity, as 
 well as to avoid the dangers to which his mission exposed him, 
 caused the Pope to publish a crusade against the Livonians. 
 This zealous prelate perished sword in hand, fighting against 
 the people whom he intended to convert. The priests, after 
 this, were either massacred or expelled from Livonia ; but, in a 
 short time, a new army of crusaders marched into the country, 
 under the banner of Albert, the third bishop, who built the city 
 of Riga, (1200) which became the seat of his bishopric, and after- 
 wards the metropolitan see of all Prussia and Livonia. The 
 same prelate founded the military order of the Knighls of CJwist 
 or Sword-hearers, to whom he ceded the third of all the coun- 
 tries he had conquered. This order, confirmed by Pope Inno- 
 cent in. (1204,) finding themselves too weak to oppose the 
 Pagans of Livonia, agreed to unite Avith the Teutonic order 
 (1237,) who, at that time, nominated the generals or provincial 
 masters in Livonia, knov/n by the names of Heermeister and 
 Landvieister. Pope Gregory IX., in confirming the union of 
 these two orders, exacted the surrender of the districts of Revel, 
 Wesemberg, Weisenstein, and Hapsal, to Valdemar II., which the 
 knights, with consent of the Bishop of Dorpat, had taken from him 
 during his captivity. This retrocession was made by an act pass- 
 ed at Strensby, (1238.) Several documents which still exist in 
 the private archives of the Teutonic order at Koningsberg, and 
 especially two, dated 1249 and 1254, prove that, at this period, 
 the bishops of Riga still exercised superiority, both temporal and 
 spiritual, over these Knights Sword-bearers, although they were 
 united with the Teutonic order, which was independent of these 
 bishops. The combination of these two orders rendered them so 
 powerful, that they gradually extended their conquests over all 
 Prussia, Livonia, Courland, and Semigallia; but they could 
 never succeed farther than to subject these nations to a rigorous 
 servitude, under pretence of conversion. 
 
 Before we speak of Russia and the other Eastern countries of 
 Europe, it will be necessary to turn our attention for a little to 
 the Moguls, whose conquests and depredations extended, in the 
 thirteenth century, from the extremity of northern Asia, ovei 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 155' 
 
 Russia and the greater part of Europe. The native country of 
 this people is found to be those same regions which they still 
 inhabit in our day, and which are situated to the north of the 
 great wall of China, between Eastern Tartary and modern Buk- 
 haria. They are generally confounded with the Tartars, from 
 whom they differ essentially, both in their appearance and man- 
 ners, as well as in their religion and political institutions. This 
 nation is divided into two principal branches, the Eluths or 
 Oelots, better known by the name of Calmucs, and the Mogids, 
 properly so called. These latter, separated from the Calmucs 
 by the mountains of Altai, are now subject to the dominion of 
 China. 
 
 The Moguls, scarcely known at present in the history of Eu- 
 rope, owe their greatness to the genius of one man — the famous 
 Zinghis Khan. This extraordinary person, whose real name 
 was Tevuidgin, or, according to Pallas, DcBinutschin, was born 
 in the year 1163, and originally nothing more than the chief of 
 a particular horde of Moguls, who had settled on the banks of 
 the rivers Onon and Kerlon, and were tributary to the empire of 
 Kin. His first exploits were against the other hordes of Mo- 
 guls, whom he compelled to acknowledge his authority. Em- 
 boldened by success, he conceived the romantic idea of aspiring 
 to be the conqueror of the world. For this purpose, he assem- 
 bled near the source of the river Onon, in 1206, all the chiefs 
 of the Mogul hordes, and the generals of his armies. A certain, 
 pretender to inspiration, whom the people regarded as a holy 
 man, appeared in the assembly, and declared that it was the will 
 of God that Temudgin should rule over the whole earth, — that 
 all nations should submit to him, — and that henceforth he should 
 bear the title of Tschinghis-Khaii, or Most Great EmperorJ^ 
 
 In a short time, this new conqueror subdued the two great 
 empires of the Tartars ; one of which, called also the empire of 
 Kin, embraced the whole of Eastern Tartary, and the northern 
 part of China ; the other, that of Kara-Kitai, or the Khitans, ex- 
 tended over Western Tartary, and had its capital at Kaschgar 
 in Bukharia.^"^ He afterwards attacked the Carismian Sultans 
 who ruled over Turkestan, Transoxiana, Charasm, Chora- 
 san, and all Persia, from Derbent to Irak- Arabia and the Indies. 
 This powerful monarchy was overturned by Zinghis-Khan, in 
 the course of six campaigns ; and it was during this war that 
 the Moguls, while marching under the conduct of Toushi, the 
 eldest son of Zinghis-Khan, against the Kipzacs or Capchacs, 
 to the north of the Caspian Sea, made their first inroad into 
 the Russian empire. Zinghis, after having subdued the whole 
 of Tangout, died in the sixty-fifth year of his age (1227.) His» 
 
156 CHAPTER V. 
 
 torians have remarked in him the traits of a great man, born 
 to command others, but whose noble qualities were tarnished by 
 the ferocity of his nature, which took delight in carnage, plun- 
 der, and devastation. Humanity shudders at the recital of the 
 inexpressible horrors exercised by this barbarian, whose maxim 
 was to exterminate, without mercy, all v/ho offered the least re- 
 sistance to his victorious arms. 
 
 The successors of this Mogul conqueror followed him in his 
 career of victory. They achieved the conquest of all China, 
 overturned the caliphate of Bagdat, and rendered the sultans of 
 iconiam their tributaries.'^'* Octai-Khan, the immediate succes- 
 sor of Zinghis, despatched from the centre of China two pow- 
 erful armies, the one against Corea, and the other against the 
 nations that lie to the north and north-west of the Caspian Sea. 
 This latter expedition, which had for its chiefs Gayouk, son of 
 Octal, and Batou, eldest son of Toushi, and grandson of Zinghis- 
 Khan, after having subdued all Kipzak, penetrated into Eussia, 
 which they conquered in 1237. Hence they spread over Poland, 
 Silesia, Moravia, Hungary, and the countries bordering on the 
 Adriatic Sea; they plundered cities, laid waste the country, 
 and carried terror and destruction wherever they went.'*^ All 
 Europe trembled at the sight of these barbarians, who seemed 
 as if they wished to make the whole earth one vast empire of 
 desolation. The empire of the Moguls attained its highest point 
 of elevation under Cublai, grandson of Zinghis, towards the end 
 of the 13th century. From south to north, it extended from 
 the Chinese Sea and the Indies, to the extremity of Siberia ; 
 and from east to west, from Japan to Asia Minor, and the fron- 
 tiers of Poland in Europe. China, and Chinese Tartary formed 
 the seat of the empire, and the residence of the Great Khan ; 
 while the other parts of the dominions were governed by princes 
 of the family of Zinghis Khan, who either acknowledged the 
 Great Khan as their supreme master, or had their own particular 
 kings and chiefs that paid him tribute. The principal subordi- 
 nate Khans of the race of Zinghis, were those of Persia, Zagatai, 
 and Kipzac. Their dependence on the Great Khan or emperor 
 of China, ceased entirely on the death of Cublai (1294,) and the 
 power of the Moguls soon became extinct in China. "^^ 
 
 As for the Moguls of Kipzac, their dominion extended over 
 all the Tartar countries situated to the north of the Caspian and 
 the Euxine, as also over Russia and the Crimea. Batou-Khan, 
 eldest son of Toushi, was the founder of this dynasty. Being 
 addicted to a wandering life, the Khans of Kipzac encamped on 
 the banks of the Wolga, passing from one place to another with 
 their tents and flocks, according to the custom of the Mogul and 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 157 
 
 Tartar nations.^''' The principal sect of these Khans was called 
 the Grand or Golden Horde or the Horde of Kipzac, which was 
 long- an object of the greatest terror to the Russians, Poles, 
 Lithuanians and Hungarians. Its glory declined towards the 
 end of the fourteenth century, and entirely disappeared under 
 the last Khan Achmet, in 1481. A few separate hordes were 
 all that remained, detached from the grand horde, such as those 
 of Cassan, Astracan, Siberia and the Crimea ; — all of which were 
 m their turn subdued or extirpated by the Russians. "^^ 
 
 A crowd of princes, descendants of Vlademir the Great, had 
 shared among them the vast dominions of Russia. One of these 
 princes invested with the dignity of Grand Duke, exercised cer- 
 tain rights of superiority over the rest, who nevertheless acted 
 the part of petty sovereigns, and made war on each other. The 
 capital of these Grand Dukes was Kiow, which was also regard- 
 ed as the metropolis of the empire. Andrew I. prince of Suzdal, 
 having assumed the title of Grand Duke (1157,) lixed his resi- 
 dence at Vlademir on the river Kliazma, and thus gave rise to a 
 kind of political schism, the consequences of which were most 
 fatal to the Russians. The Grand Dutchy of Kiow, with its 
 dependent principalities, detached themselves by degrees from 
 the rest of the empire, and finally became a prey to the Lithu- 
 anians and Poles. 
 
 In the midst of these divisions and intestine broils, and when 
 Russia was struggling with difficulty against the Bulgarians, 
 Polowzians,'*^ and other barbarous tribes in the neighbourhood, 
 she had the misfortune to be attacked by the Moguls under 
 Zinghis Khan. Toushi, eldest son of that conqueror, having 
 marched round the Caspian, in order to attack the Polowzians, 
 encountered on his passage the Princes of Kiow, who were 
 allies of that people. The battle which he fought (1223,) on 
 the banks of the river Kalka, was one of the most sanguinary 
 lecorded in history. The Russians were totally defeated; six 
 of their princes perished on the field of battle ; and the whole 
 of Western Russia was laid open to the conqueror. The Mo- 
 guls penetrated as far as Novogorod, wasting the whole country 
 on their march with fire and sword. They returned by the same 
 route, but without extending their ravages farther. In 1237 
 they made a second invasion, under the conduct of Batou, son 
 of Toushi, and governor of the northern parts of the Mogul 
 empire. This prince, after having vanquished the Polow- 
 zians and Bulgarians, that is, the whole country of Kipzac. 
 entered the north of Russia, where he took Rugen and Moscow, 
 and cut to pieces an army of the Russians near Kolomna. 
 Several other towns in this part of Russi-' were sac* 5d by :he 
 
 VOL. ;. 14 
 
158 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Moguls, in the commencement of the following year. The 
 family of the Grand Duke, Juri II., perished in the sack of Vla- 
 demir; and he himself fell in the battle which he fought with 
 the Moguls near the river Sita. Batou extended his conquests 
 in Northern Russia as far as the city Torshok, in the territory of 
 Novogorod. For some years he continued his ravages over the 
 whole of Western Russia ; where, among others, he took Kiow, 
 Kaminiec in Podolia, Vlademir and Halitsch. From this we 
 may date the fall of the Grand Dutchy of Kiow, or Western 
 Russia, which, with its dependent principalities in the following 
 century, came into the possession of the Lithuanians and Poles. 
 As for the Grand Dutchy of Vlademir, which comprehended 
 Eastern and Northern Russia, it was subdued by the Moguls 
 or Tartars, whose terrible yoke it wore for more than tvvc 
 hundred years. ^'^ 
 
 An extraordinary person who appeared at this disastrous 
 crisis, preserved that part of Russia from sinking into total 
 ruin. This was Prince Alexander, son of the Grand Duke, 
 Jaroslaus II., who obtained the epithet or surname of Newski, 
 from a victory which he gained over the Knights of Livonia 
 near the Neva, (1241.) Elevated by the Khan Batou, to the 
 dignity of Grand Duke (1245,) he secured, by his prudent con- 
 duct, his punctuality in paying tribute, and preserving his al- 
 legiance to the Mogul emperors, the good will of these new 
 masters of Russia, during his whole reign. When this great 
 prince died in 1261, his name was enrolled in their calendar of 
 saints. Peter the Great built, in honour of his memory, a con- 
 vent on the banks of the Neva, to which he gave the name of 
 Alexander Newski ; and the Empress Catherine I., instituted 
 an order of knighthood that was also called after the name of 
 that prince. 
 
 Poland, which was divided among several princes of the 
 Piast dynasty, had become, at the time of which we speak, a 
 prey to intestine factions, and exposed to the incursions of the 
 neighbouring barbarians. These divisions, the principal source 
 of all the evils that afflicted Poland, continued down to the 
 death of Boleslaus II. (1138,) who, having portioned his es- 
 tates among his sons, ordered that the eldest should retain the 
 district of Cracow, under the title of Monarch, and that he 
 should exercise the rights of superiority over the provincial 
 dukes and princes, his brothers. This clause, which might 
 have prevented the dismemberment of the state, served only lo 
 kindle the flame of discord among these collegatory princes. 
 T'ladislaus, who is generally considered as the eldest of these 
 :50ns, having attempted to dispossess his brothers (1146,) they 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 159 
 
 rose in arms, expelled him from Poland, and obliged his de- 
 scendants to content themselves u'ith Silesia. His sons founded, 
 in that country, numerous families of dukes and princes, who 
 introduced German colonies into Silesia ; all of which, in course 
 of time, became subject to the kings of Bohemia. Conrad, son 
 of Casimir the Just, and grandson of Boleslaus III., was the 
 ancestor of ihe Dukes of Cujavia and Masovia. It was this 
 prince who called in the assistance of the Teutonic Knights 
 against the Pagans of Prussia, and established that order in 
 the territory of Culm (1230.) 
 
 The Moguls, after having vanquished Russia, took posses- 
 sion of Poland (1240.) Having gained the victory at the battle 
 of Schiedlow, they set fire to Cracow, and then marched to 
 Lig'nilz in Silesia, where a numerous army of crusaders were 
 assembled under the command of Henry, duke of Breslau. 
 This prince was defeated, and slain in the action. The whole 
 of Silesia, as well as Moravia, was cruelly pillaged and deso- 
 lated by the Moguls. 
 
 Hungary, at this period, presented the spectacle of a warlike 
 and barbarous nation, the ferocity of whose manners cannot be 
 better attested than by the laws passed in the reigns of Ladis- 
 laus and Coloman, about the end of the eleventh and beginning 
 of the twelfth century. Crimes were then punished either with 
 the loss of liberty, or of some member of the body, such as the 
 eye, the nose, the tongue, &;c. These laws were published in 
 their general assemblies, which were composed of the king, 
 the great officers of the crown, and the representatives of the 
 clergy and the free men. All the other branches of the execu- 
 tive power pertained to the kings, who made war and peace at 
 their pleasure ; while the counts or governors of provinces 
 claimed no power either personal or hereditary.^^ 
 
 Under a government so despotic, it was easy for the kings 
 of Hungary to enlarge the boundaries of their states. Ladis- 
 laus took from the Greeks the dutchy of Sirmium (lOSO,) com- 
 prising the lower part of Sclavonia. This same prince extend- 
 ed his conquests into Croatia, a country which was governed 
 for several ages by the Slavian princes, who possessed Upper 
 Sclavonia, and ruled over a great part of ancient Illyria and 
 Dalmatia, to which they gave the name of Croatia. Dircislaus 
 was the first of these princes that took the title of king (in 9S4.) 
 Demetrius Swinimir, one of his successors, did homage to the 
 Pope, in order to obtain the protection of the Holy See (1076.) 
 The line of these kings having become extinct some time after, 
 Ladislaus, whose sister had been married to Demetrius Swini- 
 mir, took advantaire of the commotion that had arisen in Croatia. 
 
160 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 and conquered a great part of that kingdom (1091,) and es- 
 pecially Upper Sclavonia, which was one of its dependencies. 
 Coloman completed their conquest in 1102, and the same year 
 he was crowned at Belgrade king of Croatia and Dalmatia. In 
 course of a few years, he subdued the maritime cities of Dal- 
 matia, such as Spalatro, Trau, and Zara, which he took from 
 the republic of Venice.^- The kingdom of Rama or Bosnia, 
 fell at the same time under his power. He took the title of 
 King of Rama (1103;) and Bela II., his successor, made over 
 the dutchy of Bosnia to Ladislaus, his younger son. The so- 
 vereignty of the Kings of Hungary was also occasionally ac- 
 knowledged by the princes and kings of Bulgaria and Servia, 
 and even by the Russian princes of Halitsch' and Wolodimir. 
 
 These conquests gave rise to an abuse which soon proved 
 fatal to Hungary. The kings claimed for themselves the right 
 of disposing of the newly conquered provinces in favour of their 
 j'-ounger sons, to whom they granted them under the title of 
 dutchies, and with the rights of sovereignty. These latter made 
 use of their supreme power to excite factions and stir up civil wars. 
 
 The reign of King Andrew II. was rendered remarkable by a 
 revolution which happened in the government (1217.) This 
 prince having undertaken an expedition to the Holy Land, which 
 he equipped at an extravagant and ruinous expense, the nobles 
 availed themselves of his absence to augment their own power, 
 and usurp the estates and revenues of the crown. Corruption 
 had pervaded every branch of the administration ; and the king, 
 after his return, made several ineffectual efforts to remedy the 
 disorders of the government, and recruit his exhausted finances. 
 At length he adopted the plan of assembling a general Diet 
 (1222,) in which was passed the famous decree or Golden Bull 
 which forms the basis of that defective constitution which pre- 
 vails in Hungary at this day. The property of the clergy and 
 the noblesse were there declared exempt from taxes and military 
 cess; the nobles acquired hereditary possession ot the royal 
 grants which they had received in recompense for thejr services ; 
 they were freed from the obligation of marching at their own 
 expense on any expedition out of the kingdom ; and even the 
 right of resistance was allowed them, in case the king should 
 infringe any article of the decree. It was this king also (An- 
 drew II.) that conferred several important privileges and immu- 
 nities on the Saxons, or Germans of Transylvania, who had been 
 invited thither by Geisa II. about the year 1142. 
 
 Under the reign of Bela IV. (1241,) Hungary was suddenly 
 inundated with an army of Moguls, commanded by several chiefs, 
 the principal of whom were Baton, the son of Toushi, and Ga- 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074-1300. 161 
 
 youk, son of the great Khan Octai. The Hungarians, sunk in 
 effeminac}'' and living in perfect security, had neglected to pro- 
 vide in time for their defence. Having at length rallied round 
 the banner of their king, they pitched their camp very negli- 
 gently on the banks of the Sajo, where they were surprised by 
 the Moguls, who made terrible havoc of them. Coloman, the 
 king's brother, was slain in the action ; and the king himself 
 succeeded with difficulty in saving himself among the isles of 
 Dalmatia. The whole of Hungary was now at the mercy of 
 the conqueror, w^ho penetrated with his victorious troops into 
 Sclavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Servia, and Bulgaria; 
 ev<;ry where glutting his fury with the blood of the people, 
 i/nich he shed in torrents. These barbarians seemed determin- 
 ed to fix their residence in Hungary, when the news of the death 
 of the Khan Octai, and the accession of his son Gayouk to the 
 throne of China, induced them to abandon their conquest in less 
 than three years, and return to the East loaded with immense 
 booty. On hearing this intelligence, Bela ventured from his 
 place of retreat and repaired to Hungary, where he assembled 
 the remains of his subjects, w4io were wandering in the forests, 
 or concealed among the mountains. He rebuilt the cities that 
 were laid in ashes, imported new colonies from Croatia, Bohe- 
 mia, Moravia, and Saxony; and, by degrees, restored life and 
 vigour to the state, which had been almost annihilated by the 
 Moguls. 
 
 The Empire of the Greeks, at this time, was gradually verg- 
 ing towards its downfall. Harassed on the east by the Selju- 
 kian Turks, infested on the side of the Danube by the Hunga- 
 rians, the Patzinacites, the Uzes and the Cumans ; ^^ and torn 
 to pieces by factious and intestine w^ars, that Empire was making 
 but a feeble resistance to the incessant attacks of its enemies, 
 when it was suddenly threatened wiih entire destruction by the 
 efTects of the fourth crusade. The Emperor Isaac Angelus had 
 been dethroned by his brother, Alexius III. (1195,) who had 
 cruell}^ caused his eyes to be put out. The son of Isaac, called 
 also Alexius, found means to save his life ; he repaired to Zara, 
 in Dalmatia (1203,) to implore the aid of the Crusaders, who, 
 after having assisted the Venetians to recover that rebellious 
 city, were on the point of setting sail for Palestine. The young 
 Alexius offered to indemnify the Crusaders for the expenses of 
 any expedition which they might undertake in his favour ; he 
 gave them reason to expect a reunion of the two churches, and 
 considerable supplies, both in men and money, to assist them in 
 reconquering the Holy Land. Yielding to these solicitations, 
 the allied chiefs, instead of passing directly to Syria, set sail for 
 
 14 ^ 
 
162 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Constantinople. They immediately laid siege to the city, ex- 
 pelled the usurper, and restored Isaac to the throne, in conjunc- 
 tion with his son Alexius. 
 
 Scarcely had the Crusaders quitted Constantinople, when a 
 new revolution happened there. Another Alexius, surnamed 
 Moiirzoujie^ excited an insurrection among the Greeks ; and 
 having procured the death of the Emperors Isaac and Alexius, 
 he made himself master of the throne. The Crusaders imme- 
 diately returned, again laid siege to Constantinople, which they 
 took by assault ; and after having slain the usurper, they elected 
 a new Emperor in the person of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, and 
 one of the noble Crusaders. ^^ This event transferred the Greek 
 Empire to the Latins (1204.) It was followed by a union of 
 the two churches, which, however, was neither general nor per- 
 manent, as it terminated with the reign of the Latins at Con 
 stantinople. 
 
 Meantime, the Crusaders divided among themselves the pro- 
 vinces of the Greek Empire, — both those which they had al- 
 ready seized, and those which yet remained to be conquered. 
 The greater part of the maritime coasts of the Adriatic, Greece, 
 the Archipelago, the Propontis, and the Euxine; the islands of 
 the Cyclades and Sporades, and those of the Adriatic, were ad- 
 judged to the republic of Venice. Boniface, Marquis of Mont- 
 ferrat, and commander-in.-chief of the crusade, obtained for his 
 share the island of Crete or Candia, and all that belonged to the 
 Empire beyond the Bosphorus. He afterwards sold Candia to 
 the Venetians, who took possession of it in 1207. The other 
 chiefs of the Crusaders had alt^o their portions of the dismem- 
 bered provinces. None of them, however, were to possess the 
 countries that were assigned them, except under the title of vas- 
 sals to the Empire, and by acknowledging the sovereignty of 
 Baldwin. 
 
 In the midst of this general overthrow, several of the Greek 
 princes attempted to preserve the feeble remains of their Em- 
 pire. Theodore Lascaris, son-in-law of the Emperor Alexius 
 III., resolved on the conquest of the Greek provinces in Asia. 
 He had made himself master of Bithynia, Lydia, part of the 
 coasts of the Archipelago, and Phrygia, and was crov/ned Em- 
 peror at Nice in 1206. About the same period, Alexius and 
 David Commenus, grandsons of the Emperor Andronicus I., 
 having taken shelter in Pontus, laid there the foundation of a 
 new Empire, which had for its capital the city of Trebizond. 
 
 At length Michael Angelus Commenus took possession of 
 Durazzo, which he erected into a considerable state, extending 
 from Durazzo to the Gulf of Lepanto, and comprehending Epi 
 
PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 163 
 
 rus. Acarnania, Etolia, and part of Thessaly. All these princes 
 assumed the rank and dignity of Emperors. The most power- 
 ful among them was Theodore Lascaris, Emperor of Nice. His 
 successors found little difHcuUy in resuming, by degrees, their 
 superiority over the Latin Emperors. They reduced them at 
 last to the single city of Constantinople, of which Michael Pa- 
 leologus, Emperor of Nice, undertook the siege ; and, with the 
 assistance of the Genoese vessels, he made himself master of it 
 in 1261. Baldwin II., the last of the Latin Emperors, fled to 
 the Isle of Negropont, whence he passed into Italy ; and his 
 conqueror became the ancestor of all the Emperors of the House 
 of Paleologus, that reigned at Constantinople until the taking ot 
 ^lat capital by the Turks in 1453. 
 
 It now remains for us to cast a glance at the revolutions of 
 Asia, closely connected with those of Europe, on account of the 
 crusades and expeditions to the Holy Land. The Empire of 
 the Seljukian Turks had been divided into several dynasties or 
 distinct sovereignties ; the Atabeks of Irak, and a number of 
 petty princes, reigned in Syria and the neighbouring countries ; 
 the Fatimite Caliphs of Eg3qDt were masters of Jerusalem, and 
 part of Palestine, when the mania of the crusades converted that 
 region of the East into a theatre of carnage and devastation. 
 For two hundred years Asia was seen contending with Europe, 
 and the Christian nations making the most extraordinary efforts 
 to maintain the conquest of Palestine and the neighbouring 
 states, against the arms of the Mahometans. 
 
 At length there arose among the Mussulmans a man of su- 
 perior genius, who rendered himself formidable by his warlike 
 prowess to the Christians in the East, and deprived them of the 
 fruits of their numerous victories. This conqueror was the 
 famous Saladin, or Salaheddin, the son of Ayoub or Job, and 
 founder of the dynasty of the Ayoubites. The Atabek Noured- 
 din, son of Amadoddin Zenghi,had sent him into Egypt (1168) 
 to assist the Fatimite Caliph against the Franks, or Crusaders 
 of the West. While there, he was declared vizier and general 
 of the armies of the Caliph ; and so well had he established his 
 power in that country, that he effected the substitution of the 
 Abassidian Caliphs in place of the Fatimites ; and ultimately 
 caused himself to be proclaimed Sultan on the death of Noured- 
 din (1171,) under whom he had served in the quality of lieu- 
 tenant. Having vanquished Egypt, he next subdued the 
 dominions of Noureddin in Syria; and, after having extended 
 his victories over this province, as well as Mesopotamia, Assyria, 
 Armenia and Arabia, he turned his arms against the Christians 
 in Palestine, whom he had hemmed in, as it were, with his 
 
164 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 conquests. These princes, separated into petty sovereignties, 
 divided by mutual jealousy, and a prey to the distractions of 
 anarchy, soon yielded to the valour of the heroic Mussulman. 
 The battle which they fought (1187,) at Hittin, near Tiberias 
 (or Tabaria,) was decisive. The Christians sustained a total 
 defeat ; and Guy of Lusignan, a weak prince without talents, 
 and the last King of Jerusalem, fell into the hands of the con- 
 queror. All the cities of Palestine opened their gates to Saladin, 
 either voluntarily or at the point of the sword. Jerusalem sur- 
 rendered after a siege of fourteen days. This defeat rekindled 
 the zeal of the Christians in the West ; and the most powerful 
 sovereigns in Europe were again seen conducting innumerable 
 armies to the relief of the Holy Land. But the talents and 
 bravery of Saladin rendered all their efforts unavailing ; and it 
 was not till after a murderous siege for three years, that they 
 succeeded in retaking the city of Ptolemais or Acre ; and thus 
 arresting for a short space the total extermination of the Chris- 
 tians in the East. 
 
 On the death of Saladin, whose heroism is extolled by Chris 
 tian as well as Mahometan authors, his Empire was divided 
 among his sons. Several princes, his dependants, and known 
 by the name of Ayoubites, reigned afterwards in Egypt, Syria^ 
 Armenia, and Yemen or Arabia the Happy. These princes 
 quarrelling and making war with each other, their territories 
 fell, in the thirteenth century, under the dominion of the Mamc 
 lukes. These Mamelukes (an Arabic word which signifies a 
 slave) were Turkish or Tartar captives, whom the Syrian mer- 
 chants purchased from the Moguls, and sent into Egypt under 
 the reign of the Sultan Saleh, of the Ayoubite dynasty. That 
 prince bought them in vast numbers, and ordered them to be 
 trained to the exercise of arms in one of the maritime cities of 
 Egypt. •''•^ From this school he raised them to the highest offices 
 of trust in the state, and even selected from them his own body 
 guard. In a very short time, these slaves became so numerous 
 and so powerful, that, in the end, they seized the government, 
 after having assassinated the Sultan Touran Shah, (son and 
 successor of Saleh,) who had in vain attem.pted to disentangle 
 himself of their chains, and recover the authority which they 
 had usurped over him. This revolution (1250) happened in the 
 very presence of St. Louis, who, having been taken prisoner at 
 the battle of Mansoura, had just concluded a truce often years 
 with the Sultan of Egypt. The Mameluke Ibeg, who was at 
 first appointed regent or Atabek, was soon after proclaimed Sul- 
 tan of Egypt. 
 
 The dominion of the Mamelukes existed in Egypt for the 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 165 
 
 space of 263 years. Their numbers being- constantly recruited 
 by Turkish or Circassian slaves, they disposed of the throne of 
 Egypt at their pleasure ; and the crown generally fell to the 
 share of the most audacious of the gang, provided he was b na- 
 tive of Turkistan. These Mamelukes had even the courage lo 
 'ittack the Moguls, and look from them the kingdoms of Damas- 
 cus and Aleppo in Syria (1210,) of which the latter had dispos- 
 sessed the Ayoubite princes. All the princes of this latter 
 dynasty, with those of Syria and Yemen, adopted the expedient 
 of submitting to the Mamelukes ; who, in order to become mas- 
 ters of all Syria, had only to reduce the cities and territories 
 which the Franks, or Christians of the West, still retained in 
 their possession. They first attacked the principality of Antioch, 
 which they soon conquered (1268.) They next turned their 
 ariiiS against the county of Tripoli, the capital of which they 
 took by assault (12S9,) The city of Plolemais shared the same 
 fate ; after an obstinate and murderous siege, it was carried 
 sword in hand. Tyre surrendered on capitulation ; and the 
 Franks were entirely expelled from Syria and the East in the 
 year 1291. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PERIOD V. 
 
 From Pope Boniface VIII. to the taking -of Const anti^iople by 
 the Turks, a. d. 1300—1453. 
 At the commencement of this period, the Pontifical power 
 was in the zenith of its grandeur. The Popes proudly assumed 
 the title of Masters of the World ; and asserted that their author- 
 ity, by divine right, comprehended every other, both spiritual 
 and temporal. Boniface VIII. went even farther than his pre- 
 decessors had done. According to him, the secular power was 
 nothing else than a mere emanation from the ecclesiastical ; 
 and this double power of the Pope was even m.ade an article of 
 belief, and founded on the sacred scriptures. " God has in- 
 trusted," said he, " to St. Peter and his successors, two swords, 
 the one spiritual, and the other temporal. The former can be 
 exercised by the church alone; the other, by the secular princes, 
 for the service of the church, and in subihission to the will of 
 the Pope. This latter, that is, the temporal sword, is subordi- 
 nate to the former; and all temporal authority necessarily de- 
 pends on the spiritual, which judges it ; whereas God alone can 
 judge, the spiritual power. Finally," added he, " it is absolutely 
 
166 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 indispensable to salvation, that every human creature be subject 
 to the Pope of Rome." This same Pope published the first 
 Jubilee (1300,) vviih plenary indulgence for all who should visit 
 the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome. An immense 
 crowd from all parts of Christendom flocked to this capital of 
 the Western world, and filled its treasury with their pious 
 contributions.^ 
 
 The spiritual power of the Popes, and their jurisdiction over 
 the clergy, was moreover increased every day, by means of 
 dispensations and appeals^ which had multiplied exceedingly 
 since the introduction of the Decretals of Gregory IX. They 
 disposed, in the most absolute manner, of the dignities and be- 
 nefices of the Church, and imposed taxes at their pleasure on 
 dU the clergy in Christendom. Collectors or treasurers were 
 established by them, w^ho superintended the levying of the 
 dues they had found means to exact, under a multitude of dif- 
 ferent denominations. These collectors were empowered, by 
 means of ecclesiastical censure, to proceed against those who 
 should refuse to pay. They were supported by the authority 
 of the legates who resided in the ecclesiastical provinces, and 
 seized with avidity every occasion to extend the usurpation of 
 the Pope. Moreover, in support of these legates appeared a 
 vast number of Religious and Mendicant Orders, founded in 
 those ages of ignorance ; besides legions of monks dispersed 
 over all the states of Christendom. 
 
 Nothing is more remarkable than the influence of the papal 
 authority over the temporalities of princes. We find them in- 
 terfering in all their quarrels — addressing their commands to 
 all without distinction — enjoining some to lay down their 
 arms— receiving others under their protection — rescinding and 
 annulling their acts and proceedings — summoning them to their 
 court, and acting as arbiters in their disputes. The history of 
 the Popes is the history of all Europe. They assumed the 
 privilege of legitimating the sons of kings, in order to quafify 
 them for the succession ; they forbade sovereigns to tax the 
 clergy ; they claimed a feudal superiority over all, and exer- 
 cised it over a very great number ; they conferred royalty on 
 those who were ambitious of power ; they released subjects 
 from their oath of allegiance ; dethroned sovereigns at their 
 pleasure ; and laid kingdoms and empires under interdict, to 
 avenge their own quarrels. We find them disposing of the 
 states of excommunicated princes, as w^ell as those of heretics 
 and their followers ; of islands and kingdoms newly discovered ; 
 of the property of infidels or schismatics ; and even of Catholics 
 who refused to bow before the insolent tyranny of the Popes.* 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 167 
 
 Thus, it is obvious that the Court of Rome, at the time of which 
 we speak, enjoyed a conspicuous preponderance in the political 
 svstem of Europe. But in the ordinary course of human af- 
 fairs, this power, vast and formidable as it was, began, from the 
 fourteenth century, gradually to diminish. The mightiest em- 
 pires have their appointed term ; and the highest stage of their 
 elevation is often the first step of their decline. Kings, be- 
 coming more and more enlightened as to their true interests, 
 learned to support the rights and the majesty of their crowns, 
 against the encroachments of the Popes. Those who were 
 vassals and tributaries of the Holy See, gradually shook off the 
 yoke ; even the clergy, Avho groaned under the weight of this 
 spiritual despotism, joined the secular princes in repressing 
 these abuses, and restraining within proper bounds a power which 
 was making incessant encroachments on their just prerogatives. 
 
 Among the causes which operated the downfall of the Pon- 
 tifical power, may be ranked, the excess of the power itself, 
 and the abuses of it made by the Popes. By issuing too often 
 their anathemas and interdicts, they rendered them useless and 
 contemptible ; and by their haughty treatment of the greatest 
 princes, they learned to become inflexible and boundless in their 
 own pretensions. An instance of this may be recorded, in the 
 famous dispute which arose between Boniface VIII, and Philip 
 the Fair, King of France. Not content with constituting him- 
 self judge between the King and his vassal the Count of Flan- 
 ders, that Pontiff maintained, that the King could not exact 
 subsidies from the clergy without his permission ; and that the 
 right of Regale (or the revenues of vacant bishoprics) which 
 the Crown enjoyed, was an abuse which should not be tolera- 
 ted.*^ He treated as a piece of insanity the prohibition of 
 Philip against exporting either gold or silver out of the king- 
 dom ; and sent an order to all the prelates in France to repair 
 in person to Rome on the 1st of November, there to advise 
 measures for correcting the King and reforming the State. He 
 declared, formally, that the King was subject to the Pope, as 
 well in temporal as spiritual matters ; and that it was a fool- 
 ish persuasion to suppose that the King had no superior on 
 earth, and was not dependent on the supreme Pontiff^. 
 
 Philip ordered the papal bull which contained these ex- 
 travagant assertions to be burnt , he forbade his ecclesiastics to 
 leave the realm ; and having twice assembled the States-Ge- 
 neral of the kingdom (1302 — 3,) he adopted, with their advice 
 and approbation, measures against these dangerous pretensions 
 of the Court of Rome. The Three Estates, who appeared for 
 the first time in these Assemblies, declared themselves strongly 
 
16S CHAPTER VI. 
 
 in favour of the King, and the independence of the crown. In 
 consequence, the excommunication which the Pope had threat- 
 ened against the King proved ineffectual. Philip made his 
 appeal to a future assembly, to v»diich the three orders of the 
 State adhered."* 
 
 The Emperor Louis of Bavaria, a prince of superior merit, 
 having incurred the censures of the Church for defending the 
 rights and prerogatives of his crown, could not obtain absolu- 
 tion, notwithstanding the most humiliating condescensions, and 
 the offer which he made to resign the Imperial dignity, and 
 surrender himself, his crown and his property, to the discretion 
 of the Pope. He was loaded with curses and anathemas, after 
 a series of various proceedings which had been instituted 
 against him. The bull of Pope Clement VI., on this occasion, 
 far surpassed all those of his predecessors. "May God (said 
 he, in speaking of the Emperor) smite him with madness and 
 disease ; may heaven crush hin^ with its thunderbolts ; may 
 the wrath of God, and that of St. Peter and St. Paul, fall on 
 him in this world and the next; may the whole universe com- 
 bine against him ; may the earth swallow him up alive ; may 
 his name perish in the first generation, and his memory disap- 
 pear from the earth ; may all the elements conspire against 
 him ; may his children, delivered into the hands of his enemies, 
 be massacred before the eyes of their father." The indignity 
 of such proceedings roused the attention of the princes and 
 states of the Empire ; and on the representation of the Electo- 
 ral College, they thought proper to check these boundless pre- 
 tensions of the Popes, by a decree which was passed at the Diet 
 of Frankfort in 1338. This decree, regarded as the fundamen- 
 tal law of the Empire, declared, in substance, that the Imperial 
 dignity held only of God ; that he whom the Electors had 
 chosen emperor by a plurality of suffrages, was, in virtue of that 
 election, a true king and emperor, and needed neither confirma- 
 tion nor coronation from the hands of the Pope ; and that all 
 persons who should maintain the contrary, should be treated as 
 guilty of high treason. 
 
 Among other events prejudicial to the authority of the Popes, 
 one was, the translation of the Pontilical See from Rome to 
 Avignon. Clement V., archbishop of Bordeaux, having been 
 advanced to the papacy (1305,) instead of repairing to Rome, 
 had his coronation celebrated at Lyons ; and thence he trans- 
 ferred his residence to Avignon (1309,) out of complaisance 
 to Philip the Fair, to whom he owed his elevation. The suc- 
 cessors of this Pope continued their court at Avignon until 
 1367, when Gregory XI. again removed the See to Rome. 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 169 
 
 This sojourn at Avignon tended to weaken the authority of the 
 Popes, and diminish the respect and veneration which till ther. 
 had been paid them. The prevailing opinion beyond the Alps 
 admitted no other city than that of Rome for the true capital o 
 St. Peter ; and they despised the Popes of Avignon as aliens 
 who, besides, w^ere there surrounded with powerful princes, t« 
 whose caprice they were often obliged to yield, and to make 
 condescensions prejudicial to the authority they had usurped 
 This circumstance, joined to the lapse of nearly seventj^ years 
 caused the residence at Avignon to be stigmatized by the Italians 
 under the name of the Babylonish Captivity. It occasioned alsa 
 the diminution of the papal authority at Rome, and in the Ec 
 clesiastical States. The Italians, no longer restrained by the 
 presence of the sovereign pontiffs, yielded but a reluctant obe- 
 dience to their representatives ; while the remembrance of their 
 ancient republicanism induced them to lend a docile ear to those 
 who preached up insurrection and revolt. The historian Rienzi 
 informs us, that one Nicolas Gabrini, a man of great eloquence, 
 and whose audacity was equal to his ambition, took advantage 
 of these republican propensities of the Romans, to constitute 
 himself master of the city, under the popular title of Tribune 
 (1347.) He projected the scheme of a new government, called 
 the Good Estate, which he pretended would obtain the accepta- 
 tion of all the princes and republics of Italy ; but the despotic 
 power which he exercised over the citizens, whose liberator and 
 lawgiver he affected to be, soon reduced him to his original in- 
 significance ; and the city of Rome again assumed its ancient 
 form of government. Meantime the Popes did not recover their 
 former authority ; most of the cities and states of the Ecclesi- 
 astical dominions, after having been long a prey to faction and 
 discord, fell under the power of the nobles, who made an easy 
 conquest of them; scarcely leaving to the Pope a vestige of the 
 sovereign authority. It required all the insidious policy of 
 Alexander VI., and the vigilant activity of Julius II., to repair 
 the injury which the territorial influence of the Pontiffs had suf- 
 fered from their residence at Avignon. 
 
 Another circumstance that contributed to humble the papal 
 authority, was the schisms which rent the Church, towards the 
 end of the fourteenth, and beginning of the fifteenth century. 
 Gregory XL, who had abandoned Avignon for Rome, being dead 
 (1378,) the Italians elected a Pope of their own nation, who 
 took the name of Urban VI., and fixed his residence at Rome. 
 The French cardinals, on the other hand, declared in favour ot 
 the Cardinal Robert of Geneva, known by the name of Clemen 
 VIL, who hxed his capital at Avignon. The whole of Chris 
 
 VOL, T. 15 
 
170 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 terdom was divided between these two Popes ; and this grand 
 schism continued from 1378 till 1417. At Rome, Urban VI. 
 was succeeded by Boniface IX., Innocent VII., and Gregory 
 XII. -} while Clement VII. had Benedict XIII. for his successor 
 at Avignon. In order to terminate this schism, every expedient 
 was tried to induce the rival Popes to give in their abdication ; 
 but both having refused, several of the Cardinals withdrew their 
 allegiance, and assembled a council at Pisa (1409,) where the 
 two refractory Popes were deposed, and the pontifical dignity 
 conferred on Alexander V., who was afterwards succeeded by 
 John XXIII. This election of the council only tended to in- 
 crease the schism. Instead of two Popes, there arose three ; 
 and if his Pisan Holiness gained partisans, the Popes of Rome 
 and Avignon contrived also to maintain each a number of sup- 
 :)orters. All these Popes, wishing to maintain their rank and 
 dignity with that splendour and magnificence which their pre- 
 decessors had displayed before the schism, set themselves to 
 invent new means of oppressing the people ; hence the immense 
 number of abuses and exactions, which subverted the discipline 
 of the church, and roused the exasperated nations against the 
 court of Rome. 
 
 A new General Council was convoked at Constance (1414) 
 by order of the Emperor Sigismund ; and it was there that the 
 maxim of the unity and permanency of Councils was established, 
 as well as of its superiority over the Pope, in all that pertains 
 to matters of faith, to the extirpation of schism, and the refor- 
 mation of the church both in its supreme head, and in its subor- 
 dinate members. The grand schism was here terminated by 
 the abdication of the Roman pontiff, and the deposition of those 
 of Pisa and Avignon. It was this famous council that gave 
 their decision against John Huss, the Reformer of Bohemia, 
 and a follower of the celebrated Wickliff. His doctrines were 
 condemned, and he himself burnt at Constance; as was Jerome 
 of Prague, one of his most zealous partisans. As to the mea- 
 sures that were taken at Constance for effecting the reformation 
 of the Church, they practically ended in nothing. As their 
 main object was to reform the court of Rome, by suppressing 
 or limiting the new prerogatives which the Popes for several 
 centuries had usurped, and which referred, among other things, 
 to the subject of benefices and pecuniary exactions, all those 
 who had an interest in maintaining these abuses, instantly set 
 themselves to defeat the proposed amendments, and elude re- 
 dress. The Council had formed a committee, composed of the 
 deputies of different nations, to advise means for accomplishing 
 this reformation, which the whole world so ardently desn-ed. 
 
x£iitoDv. A. D. 1300— 1453. 171 
 
 This committee, known by the name of the College of Reformers. 
 had already made considerable progress in their task, when a 
 question was started. Whether it was proper to proceed to any 
 reformation without the consent and co-operation of the visible 
 Head of the Church ? It was carried in the negative, through the 
 intrigues of the cardinals; and, before they could accomplish 
 this salutary work of reformation, the election of a new Pope 
 had taken place (1417.) The choice fell on Otho de Colonna, 
 who assumed the name of Martin V., and in conformity with a 
 previous decision of the council, he then laid before them a 
 scheme of reform. This proceeding having been disapproved 
 by the different nations of Europe, the whole matter was 
 remitted to the next council ; and in the meanvv'hile, they did 
 nothing more than pass some concordats, with the new Pope, 
 as to what steps they should take until the decision of the ap- 
 proaching council. 
 
 This new council, which was assembled at Basle (1431) by 
 Martin V., resumed the suspended work of reformation. The 
 former decrees, that a General Council was superior to the Pope, 
 and could not be dissolved or prorogued except by their own 
 free consent, were here renewed ; and the greater part of the 
 reserves, reversions, annats, and other exactions of the Popes, 
 were regularly abolished. The liberty of appeals to the Court 
 of Rome, was also circumscribed. Eugenius IV., successor to 
 Martin V., alarmed at the destruction thus aimed at his author- 
 ity, twice proclaimed the dissolution of the Council. The first 
 dissolution, which occurred on the 17th of December 1431, was 
 revoked, at the urgent application of the Emperor Sigismund, 
 by a bull of the same Pope, issued on the loth of December 
 1433. In this he acknowledged the validity of the Council, 
 and annulled all that he had formerly done to invalidate its au- 
 thority. The second dissolution took place on the 1st of Octo- 
 ber 1437. Eugenius then transferred the Council to Ferrara, 
 and from Ferrara to Florence, on pretext of his negotiating a 
 union with the Greek church. This conduct of the Pope oc- 
 casioned a new schism. The prelates who remained at Basle, 
 instituted a procedure against him ; they first suspended him 
 for contumacy, and finally deposed him. Amadeus VIII., Ex- 
 duke of Saxony, was elected in his place, under the name ot 
 Felix v., and recognised by all the partisans of the Council as 
 the legitimate Pope. This latter schism lasted ten years. Fe- 
 lix V. at length gave in his demission ; and the Council, which 
 had v.'ithdrawn from Basle to Lausanne, terminated its sittings 
 in 1449. 
 
 The French nation adopted several of the decrees of the 
 
172 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Council of Basle in the famous Pragmatic Sanction, which 
 Charles VII. caused to be drawn up at Bourges (1438;) and 
 whose stipulations served as the basis of what is called the 
 Liberties of the Gallican Church. The example of the French 
 was speedily followed by the Germans, who acceded to these 
 decrees, at the Diet of Mayence in 1439. The Court of Eome 
 at length regained a part of those honourable and lucrative rights 
 of which the Council of Basle had deprived them, by the con- 
 cordats which the Germans concluded (1448) with Nicholas V., 
 and the French (1516) with Leo X. The Councils of which 
 we have now spoken, tended materially to limit the exorbitant 
 power of the Roman pontiffs, by giving sanction to the princi- 
 ple which established the superiority of General Councils over 
 the Popes. This maxim put a check to the enterprising ambi- 
 tion of the Court of Rome ; and kings availed themselves of it 
 to recover by degrees the prerogatives of their crowns. The 
 Popes, moreover, sensible of their weakness, and of the need 
 they had for the protection of the sovereigns, learned to treat 
 them with more attention and respect. 
 
 At length the new light which began to dawn about the four- 
 teenth century, hastened on the progress of this revolution, by 
 gradually dissipating the darkness of superstition into which 
 the nations of Europe were almost universally sunk. In the 
 midst of the distractions which agitated the Empire and the 
 Church, and during the papal schism, several learned and in- 
 trepid men made their appearance, who, Avhile investigating the 
 origin and abuse of the new power of the Popes, had the courage 
 to revive the doctrine of the ancient canons, to enlighten the 
 minds of sovereigns as to their true rights, and to examine with 
 care into the justs limits of the sacerdotal authority. Among 
 the first of these reformers was John of Paris, a famous Do- 
 minican, who undertook the defence of Philip the Fair, King of 
 France, against Pope Boniface VIII. His example was follow- 
 ed by the celebrated poet Dante Alighieri, who took the part of 
 the Emperor Louis of Bavaria against the Court of Rome. Mar- 
 silo de Padua, John de Janduno, William Ockam, Leopold de 
 Babenberg, &c. marched in the track of the Italian poet ; and 
 among the crowd of writers that signalized themselves after the 
 grand schism, three French authors particularly distinguished 
 themselves, Peter d'Ailly, Nicholas de Clemange, and John 
 Gerson, whose writings met with general applause. Most of 
 these literary productions, however, were characterized by bad 
 taste. The philosophy of Aristotle, studied in Arabic transla- 
 tions, and disfigured by scholastic subtletie:^, reigned in all the 
 schools, imposed its fetters on the human mind, and nearly ex- 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 173 
 
 tinguished every vestige of useful knowledge. The belles let- 
 tres were quite neglected, and as yet had shed no lustre on the 
 sciences. Sometimes, however, genius broke with a transient 
 splendour through the darkness of this moral horizon ; and 
 several extraordinary persons, despising the vain cavils of the 
 schools, began to study truth in the volume of nature, and to 
 copy after the beautiful models of antiquity. Such was Eoger 
 Bacon (1294,) an Englishman, and a Franciscan friar, who has 
 become so famous by his discoveries in chemistry and mechani- 
 cal philosophy. Dante (1321,) nurtured in the spirit of the an- 
 cients, was the first that undertook to refine the Italian language 
 into poetry, and gave it the polish of elegance and grace in 
 his compositions. He was succeeded by two other celebrated 
 authors, Petrarca and Boccacio (1374-5.) 
 
 The period of which we speak gave birth to several new in- 
 ventions, which proved useful auxiliaries to men of genius, and 
 tended to accelerate the progress of knowledge, letters, and arts. 
 Among the principal of these may be mentioned the invention 
 of writing paper, oil-painting, printing, gunpowder, and the ma- 
 riner's compass; to the effects of which, Europe, in a great 
 measure, owes its civilization, and the new order of things 
 which appeared in the fifteenth century. 
 
 Before the invention of paper from linen, parchment was gen- 
 erally used in Europe for the transcribing of books, or the draw- 
 ing out of public deeds. Cotton paper, which the Arabs brought 
 from the East, was but a poor remedy for the scarceness and 
 dearth of parchment. It would appear, that the invention of 
 paper from linen, and the custom of using it in Europe, is not 
 of older date than the thirteenth century. The famous Mont- 
 faucon acknowledges, that, in spite of all his researches, both in 
 France and Italy, he could never find any manuscript or char- 
 ter, written on our ordinary paper, older than the year 1270, 
 the time when St. Louis died. The truth is, we know neither 
 the exact date of the invention of this sort of paper, nor the name 
 of the inventor.^ It is certain, however, that the manufacture 
 of paper from cotton must have introduced that of paper from 
 linen; and the only question is, to determine at what time the 
 use of linen became so common in Europe, as to lead us to sup- 
 pose they might convert its rags into paper. The cultivation 
 of hemp and flax being originally peculiar to the northern coun- 
 tries, it is probable that the first attempts at making paper of 
 linen rags were made in Germany, and the countries abounding 
 in flax and hemp, rather than in the southern provinces of Eu- 
 rope. The most ancient manufactory of paper from linen to be 
 met with in Germany, was established at Nuremberg (1390.) 
 
 15=^ 
 
174 CHAPTEll VI. 
 
 The invention of oil-painting is generally ascribed to the two 
 TJTothers Van-Eick, the younger of whom, known by the name 
 of John of Bruges, had gained considerable celebrity about the 
 end of the fourteenth century. There is, however, reason to 
 believe that this invention is of an older date. There are two 
 authors who have carried it back to the eleventh cq^ntury, viz. 
 Theophilus and Eraclius, whose works in manuscript have been 
 preserved in the library at Wolffenbiittel, and in that of Trinity 
 College, Cambridge ; and who speak of this art as already known 
 in their times. According to them, all sorts of colours could be 
 mixed up with linseed oil, and employed in painting; but they 
 agree as to the inconvenience of applying this kind of painting 
 to images or portraits, on account of the difficulty in drying 
 colours mixed with oil. Admitting the credibility of these two 
 authors, and the high antiquity of their works, it would appear, 
 nevertheless, that they made no great use of this invention ; 
 whether it may be that painters preferred to retain their for- 
 mer mode, or that the difficulty of drying oil colours had dis- 
 couraged them. It is, however, too true, that the finest inven- 
 tions have often languished in unmerited neglect, long before 
 men had learned to reap any adequate advantage from them. 
 Were the Van-Eicks the first that practised this style of paint- 
 ing ? Or did John of Bruges, the younger of the brothers, and 
 who carried it to the highest degree of perfection, invent some 
 mixture or composition for increasing the exsiccative qualities 
 of linseed or nut oil ; especially with regard to colours not easily 
 dried ? It belongs to connoisseurs and artists to examine these 
 questions, as well as to decide whether the pictures, alleged to 
 have been painted in oil-colours before the time of the Van- 
 Eicks, were executed with any degree of perfection in that style 
 of painting.^ This invention totally changed the system and 
 the principles of the art of painting. It gave birth to rules as 
 to light and shade, and procured modern painters one advantage 
 ;Over the ancients, that of rendering their works much more 
 durable. 
 
 One of the most important inventions is that of printing; 
 which was borrowed, it would appear, from the art of engraving 
 on wood ; while this latter owes its origin to the moulding or 
 imprinting of common cards, which seems to have suggested the 
 first idea of it. The use of cards was borrowed from Italy ; 
 though we find this custom established in Germany soon after 
 the commencement of the fourteenth century, where card- 
 makers formed a distinct trade, about four and twenty years be- 
 fore the invention of printing. It is probable that the "Germans 
 were the first who designed models and proper casts for the im- 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 175 
 
 pression of cardsJ The desire of gain, suggested to these 
 card-makers the idea of engraving on wood, after the same 
 manner, all kinds of figures or scenes from Sacred History, 
 accompanied with legends, or narratives, intended to explain 
 their meaning. It was from these legends, printed in single 
 folios, and published also in the form of books, or rather of im- 
 pressions from engravings on solid blocks of wood, that the art 
 of typography took its origin.^ This wonderful art, to which 
 Europe owes its astonishing progress in the sciences, consists 
 of two distinct inventions, — that of the moveable types, and that 
 of the font. The former belongs to John Gutenberg, a gentle- 
 man of Mayence, who made his first attempt in moveable types 
 at Strasburg, in 1436 ; the other, which is generally attributed 
 to Peter SchcsfFer of Gernsheim, took place at Mayence in 1452. 
 Gutenberg resided at Strasburg, from 1424 till 1445. Being a 
 noble senator of that city, he married a lady of rank ; and during 
 the twenty years of his residence there, he cultivated all sorts 
 of occult arts, especially that of printing. It was chiefly in re- 
 ference to this latter art that he contracted an acquaintance with 
 several of his wealthy fellow-citizens, one of whom, named 
 Andrew Drizehn, having died, his heirs brought an action against 
 Gutenberg on account of some claims v/hich they laid to his 
 charge. The magistrate ordered an inquiry to be instituted, the 
 original copy of which, drawn up in 1439, was discovered by 
 Schoepflin (1745) in the archives of the city, and is still preserv- 
 ed in the public library at Strasburg. According to this au- 
 thentic document, it appears, that from the year 1436, there 
 existed a printing-press at Strasburg, under the direction of 
 Gutenburg, and in the house of Andrew Drizehn, his associate; 
 that this press consisted of forms, that were fastened or locked 
 by means of screws ; and that the types, either cut or engraved, 
 which were enclosed within these forms, were moveable.'-^ . 
 
 Gutenburg, after his return to Mayence, still continued his 
 typographical labours. While there, he contracted an acquaint- 
 ance with a new associate in the exercise of his art (1445) — the 
 famous John Faust, a citizen of Mayence. This second alliance 
 continued only five years ; and it is within this interval, as is 
 generally supposed, that the invention of the font, or casting of 
 types, should be placed ; as well as that of the die and the mould 
 or matrix, by the help of which the art of typography was brought 
 nearly to its present state of perfection. ^^ Some disputes, which 
 had arisen between these new associates, having dissolved their 
 partnership, Faust obtained the press of Gutenberg, with all its 
 printing apparatus, which had fallen to him by sequestration. 
 Gutenberg, however fitted up another press, and continued to 
 
176 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 print till the time of his death, in 1468. Not one of the books 
 ■which issued from the press of this celebrated man, either 
 at Strasburg or Mayence, bears the name of the inventor, or the 
 date of the impression ; whether it was that Gutenberg made a 
 secret of his invention, or that the prejudices at the cast to which 
 he belonged prevented him from boasting of his discovery. ^^ 
 Faust, on the contrary, no sooner saw himself master of Guten- 
 berg's presses, than he became ambitious of notoriety, an ex- 
 ample of which he gave by prefixing his name and that of Peter 
 SchosfTer to the famous Psalter, which they published in 1457. 
 
 The arts of which we have just spoken, in all probability, 
 suggested the idea of engraving on copper, of which we can 
 discover certain traces towards the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. The honour of this invention -is generally ascribed to a 
 goldsmith of Florence, named Maso Finiguerra, who is supposed 
 to have made this discovery about the year 1460, while engrav- 
 ing figures on silver plate. Baccio Baldini, another Florentine, 
 Andrew Montegna, and Mark Antony Raimondi, both Italians, 
 followed in the steps of Finiguerra, and brought this art to a 
 high degree of perfection. There is, however, some cause to 
 doubt whether Finiguerra was exactly the first to whom^ the 
 idea of this sort of engraving occurred ; since, in difl^erent cabi- 
 nets in Europe, we find specimens of engraving on copper, of a 
 date earlier than what has been assigned to Finiguerra. If, 
 however, the glory of this invention belongs in reality to the 
 Italians, it is quite certain that the art of engraving on copper, 
 as well as on wood, was cultivated from its infancy, and brought 
 to perfection, in Germany. The first native engravers in that 
 country who are known, either by their names or their signa- 
 tures, in the fifteenth century, were Martin Schcen, a painter and 
 engraver at Colmar, where he died in 1486 ; the two Israels 
 Von Mecheln, father and son, who resided at Bockholt, in West- 
 phalia ; and Michael Wolgemuth of Nuremberg, the master of 
 the celebrated Albert Durer, who made so conspicuous a figure 
 about the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
 Next to the invention of printing, there is no other that so 
 much arrests our attention as that of gunpowder, which, by in- 
 troducing artillery, and a new method of fortifying, attacking, 
 and defending cities, wrought a complete change in the whole 
 art and tactics of war. This invention comprises several disco- 
 veries which it is necessary to distinguish from each other. 1 
 The discovery of nitre, the principal ingredient in gunpowder, 
 and the cause of its detonation. 2. The mixture of nitre with 
 sulphur and charcoal, which, properly speaking, forms the in- 
 
riiitioD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 177 
 
 vention of gunpowder. 3, The application of powder to fire- 
 works. 4. Its employment as an agent or propelling power 
 for throwing stones, bullets, or other heavy and combustible 
 bodies. 5. Its employment in springing mines, and destroying- 
 fortifications. 
 
 All these discoveries belong to different epochs. The know 
 ledge of saltpetre or nitre, and its explosive properties, called 
 detonation, is very ancient. Most probably it was brought to 
 us from the East (India or China,) where saltpetre is found in a 
 natural state of preparation. It is not less probable that the 
 nations of the East were acquainted with the composition of 
 gunpowder before the Europeans, and that it was the Arabs who 
 first introduced the use of it into Europe. The celebrated Koger 
 Bacon, an English monk or friar of the thirteenth century, was 
 acquainted with the composition of powder, and its emplovment 
 in fire-works and public festivities ; and according to all appear- 
 ances, he obtained this information from the Arabic authors, 
 who excelled in their skill of the chemical sciences. The em- 
 ployment of gunpowder in Europe as an agent for throwing balls 
 and stones, is ascertained to have been about the commencement 
 of the fourteenth century ; and it was the Arabs who first avail- 
 ed themselves of its advantages in their wars against the Span- 
 iards. From Spain the use of gunpowder and artillery passed 
 to France, and thence it gradually extended over the other 
 States of Europe. As to the application of powder to mines, 
 and the destruction of fortified works, it does not appear to 
 have been in practice before the end of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. ^^ The introduction of bombs and mortars seems to have 
 been of an earlier date (1467.) The invention of these in 
 Europe, is attributed to Sigismund Pandolph Malatesta, Prince 
 of Rimini ; but in France they were not in use till about the 
 reign of Louis XIII. Muskets and matchlocks began to be in- 
 troduced early in the fifteenth century. They were without 
 spring-locks till 1517, when for the first time muskets and pis- 
 tols v/ith spring-locks were manufactured at Nuremberg. 
 
 Several circumstances tended to check the progress of fire- 
 arms and the improvement of artillery. Custom made most 
 people prefer their ancient engines of war ; the construction of 
 cannons was but imperfect ;^^ the manufacture of gunpowder 
 bad ; and there was a very general aversion to the newly in- 
 vented arms, as contrary to humanity, and calculated to extin- 
 guish military bravery. Above all, the knights, whose science 
 was rendered completely useless by the introduction of fire- 
 arms, set themselves with all their might to oppose this invention. 
 
 From what we have just said it is obvious, that the common 
 
178 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 tradition which ascribes the invention of gunpowder to a certain 
 monk, named Berthold Schwartz, merits no credit whatever. 
 This tradition is founded on mere hearsay ; and no writers 
 agree as to the name, the country, or the circumstances of this 
 pretended inventor ; nor as to the time and place when he made 
 this extraordinary discovery. Lastly, the mariner's compass, 
 so essential to the art of navigation, was likewise the produc- 
 tion of the barbarous ages to which we now refer. The ancients 
 were aware of the property of the magnet to attract iron ; but 
 its direction towards the pole, and the manner of communica- 
 ting its magnetic virtues to iron and steel, were unknown even 
 to all those nations of antiquity who were renowned for their 
 navigation and commerce. This discovery is usually attributed 
 to a citizen of Amalfi, named Flavio Gioia, who is said to have 
 lived about the beginning of the fourteenth century. This tra 
 dition, ancient though it be, cannot be admitted, because we 
 have incontestable evidence that, before this period, the polarity 
 of the loadstone and the magnetic needle were known in Europe ; 
 and that, from the commencement of the thirteenth century, the 
 Proven9al mariners made use of the compass in navigation. ^'^ 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that we can neither point out 
 the original author of this valuable discovery, nor the true time 
 when it was made. All that can be well ascertained is, that 
 the mariner's compass was rectified by degrees ; and that the 
 English had no small share in these corrections. It is to this 
 polar virtue or quality of the loadstone, and the magnetic 
 needle, that we owe the astonishing progress of commerce and 
 navigation in Europe, from the end of the fifteenth century. 
 These were already very considerable at the time of which we 
 speak, although navigation was as yet confined to the Mediter- 
 ranean, the Baltic, and the shores of the Indian ocean. 
 
 The cities of Italy, the Hanseatic towns, and those of the 
 Low Countries, engrossed, at that time, the principal commerce 
 of Europe. The Venetians, the Genoese, and the Florentines, 
 were masters of the Levant. The Genoese had more espe- 
 cially the command of the Black Sea, while the Venetians laid 
 claim exclusively to the commerce of India and the East, which 
 they carried on through the ports of Egypt and Syria. This 
 rivalry in trade embroiled these two republics in frequent dis- 
 putes, and involved them in long and sanguinary wars. The 
 result turned in favour of the Venetians, who found means to 
 maintain the empire of the Mediterranean against the Genoese. 
 The manufactories of silk, after having passed from Greece 
 into Sicily, and from Sicily into the other parts of Italy, at 
 length fixed their principal residence at Venice. This city 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300--1453. 179 
 
 came at length to furnish the greater part of Europe with silk 
 mercery, and the productions of Arabia and India. The Italian 
 merchants, commonly known by the name of Lombards, ex- 
 tended their traffic through all the different states of Europe. 
 Favoured by the privileges and immunities which various 
 sovereigns had granted them, they soon became masters of the 
 commerce and the current money of every country where they 
 established themselves ; and, in all probability, they were the 
 first that adopted the practice of Letters or Bills of Exchange, 
 ofwhichwemay discover traces towards the middle of the 
 thirteenth century. 
 
 The Hanseatic League, which the maritime cities on the 
 Baltic had formed in the thirteenth century, for the proteciion 
 of their commerce against pirates and brigands, gained very 
 considerable accessions of strength in the following century, 
 and even became a very formidable maritime power. A great 
 number of the commercial cities of the Empire, from the Scheld 
 and the isles of Zealand, to the confines of Livonia, entered 
 successively into this League ; and many towns in the interior, 
 in order to enjoy their protection, solicited the favour of being 
 admitted under its flag. The first public act of a general con- 
 federation among these cities, was drawn up at the assembly of 
 their deputies, held at Cologne, in 1364. The whole of the 
 allied towns were subdivided into quarters ox circles; the most 
 ancient of which were the Venedian quarter, containing the 
 southern and eastern coasts of the Baltic ; the Westphalian, 
 for the towns on the western side ; and the Saxon, compre- 
 hending the inland and intermediate towns. A fourth circle or 
 quarter was afterwards added, that of the cities of Prussia and 
 Livonia. The boundaries of these different circles and their 
 capital towns varied from time to time. The general assem- 
 blies of the League were held regularly every three years, in 
 the city of Lubec, which was considered as the capital of the 
 whole League ; while each of the three or four circles had also 
 their particular or provincial assemblies. 
 
 The most flourishing e])och of tbis League was about the 
 end of the fourteenth and the early part of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. At that time, the deputies of more than fourscore cities 
 appeared at its assemblies ; and even some towns who had not 
 the privilege of sending deputies v/ere, nevertheless, regarded 
 as allies of the League. Having the command of the whole 
 commerce of the Baltic, their cities exercised at their pleasure 
 the rights of peace and war, and even of forming alliances. 
 They equipped numerous and powerful fleets, and offered bat- 
 tle to the sovereigns of the North, whenever they presumed to 
 
180 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 interfere with their monopoly, or to restrict the privileges and 
 exemptions which they had the weakness to grant them. The 
 productions of the North, such as hemp, flax, timber, potash, 
 tar, corn, hides, furs, and copper, with the produce of the 
 large and small fisheries on the coast of Schonen, Norway, 
 Lapland, and Iceland, ^^ formed the staple of the Hanseatic 
 connnerce. They exchanged these commodities, in the west- 
 ern parts of Europe, for wines, fruits, drugs, and all sorts of 
 cloths, which they carried back to the North in return. Their 
 principal factories and warehouses, were at Bruges for Flan- 
 ders, at London for England, at Novogorod for Russia, and at 
 Bergen for Norway. The merchandise of Italy and the East 
 vvas imported into Flanders, in Genoese or Venetian bottoms, 
 which, at that time, carried on most of the commerce of the 
 Levant and the Mediterranean. 
 
 Extensive as the trade of the Hanseatic cities was, it proved 
 neither solid nor durable. As they were themselves deficient 
 in the articles of raw materials and large manufactories, and 
 entirely dependent on foreign traffic, the industry of other na- 
 tions, especially of those skilled in the arts, had a ruinous effect 
 on their commerce; and, in course of time, turned the current 
 of merchandise into other channels. Besides, the want of 
 union among these cities, their factions and intestine divisions, 
 and their distance from each other, prevented them from ever 
 forming a territorial or colonial power, or obtaining possession 
 of the Sound, which alone was able to secure them the exclu- 
 sive commierce of the Baltic. The sovereigns of Europe, per- 
 ceiving at length more clearly their true interests, and sensible 
 of the mistake they had committed in surrendering the whole 
 commerce of their kingdom to the Hanseatic merchants, used 
 every means to limit and abridge their privileges more and 
 more. This, in consequence, involved the confederate towns in 
 several destructive wars with the Kings of the North, which 
 exhausted their finances, and induced one city after another to 
 abandon the League. The English and the Dutch, encouraged 
 by the Danish l<^ings, took advantage of this favourable oppor- 
 tunity to send their vessels to the Baltic; and by degrees they 
 appropriated to themselves the greater part of the trade that 
 had been engro£-:ed by the Hanseatic Union. But what is of 
 more importance to remark, is, that this League, as well as that 
 of Lombardy, having been formed in consequence of the state 
 of anarchy into which the Empire had fallen in the middle 
 ages, the natural result was, that it should lose its credit and its 
 influence in proportion as the feudal anarchy declined, and when 
 the administration of the Empire had assumed a new form, and 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 181 
 
 the landed nobility, emboldened by the accessions which the 
 seventeenth century had made to their power, had found means 
 to compel their dependent cities to return to their allegiance, 
 after having made repeated efforts to throw off their authority, 
 encouraged as they were by the protection which the League 
 held out to them. 
 
 In this manner did the famous Hanseatic League, so formi- 
 dable at the tmae of which we now speak, decline by degrees 
 during the course of the seventeenth century, and in the early 
 part of the eighteenth ; and during the Thirty Years War it be- 
 came entirely extinct. The cities of Lubec, Hamburg and Bre- 
 men, abandoned by all their confederates, entered into a new 
 union for the interests of their commerce, and preserved the an- 
 cient custom of treating in common with foreign powers, under 
 the name of the Hanse Towns. 
 
 The cities of Italy and the North were not the only ones that 
 made commerce their pursuit in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, and other towns in the 
 Netherlands, contributed greatly to the prosperity of trade by 
 their manufactures of cloth, cotton, camlets, and tapestry; arti- 
 cles with which they supplied the gi'eater part of Europe. The 
 English exchanged their raw wool with the Belgians, for the 
 finished manufactures of their looms, while the Italians furnish- 
 ed them with the productions of the Levant, and the silk stuffs 
 of India. Nothing is more surprising than the immense popu- 
 lation of these cities, whose wealth and affluence raised their 
 rulers to the rank of the most powerful princes in Europe. The 
 city of Bruges was, as it were, the centre and principal reposi- 
 tory for the merchandise of the North and the South. Such an 
 entrepot was necessary, at a time when navigation was yet in 
 its infancy. For this purpose, Flanders and Brabant were ex- 
 tremely proper, as these provinces had an easy communication 
 with all the principal nations of the Continent ; and as the great 
 number of their manufactories, together with the abundance of 
 fish which their rivers afforded, naturall}^ attracted a vast con- 
 course of foreign traders. This superiority, as the commercial 
 capital of the Low Countries, Bruges retained till nearly the 
 end of the fifteenth century, when it lost this preponderance, 
 which was then transferred to the city of Antwerp. 
 
 The intestine dissensions with which the cities of Flanders 
 rind Brabant were agitated, the restraints which were incessant- 
 ly imposed on their commerce, and the frequent wars which 
 desolated the Low Countries, induced, from time to time, a great 
 many Flemish operatives about the fourteenth century, and the 
 reign of Edward III., to take refuge in England, where they 
 
 VOL. r. 16 
 
182 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 established their cloth manufactories under the immediate pro- 
 tection of the crown. One circumstance which more particu- 
 larly contributed to the prosperity of the Dutch commerce, was 
 the new method of salting and barrelling- herring, which was 
 discovered about the end of the fourteenth century (or 1400) b}' 
 a man named William Beukelszoon, a native of Biervliet, near 
 Sluys. The new passage of the Texel, which the sea opened 
 up about the same time, proved a most favourable accident for 
 the city of Amsterdam, which immediately monopolized the 
 principal commerce of the fisheries, and began to be frequented 
 by the Hanseatic traders. 
 
 We now return to the history of Germany. The Imperial 
 throne, always elective, was conferred, in 130S, on the princes 
 of the House of Luxembourg, who occupied it till 1438, when 
 the House of Hapsburg obtained the Imperial dignity. It was 
 under the re^gn of these two dynasties that the government of 
 the Empire, which till then had been vacillating and uncertain, 
 began to assume a constitutional form, and a new and settled 
 code of laws. That which was published at the Diet of Frank- 
 fort in 1338, secured the independence of the Empire against 
 the Popes. It was preceded by a League, ratified at Reuse by 
 the Electors, and known b}?- the name of the General Union of 
 the Electors. The Golden Bull, drawn up by the Emperor 
 Charles IV. (1356,) in the Diets of Nuremberg and Metz, fixed 
 the order and the form of electing the Emperors, and the cere- 
 monial of their coronation. It ordained that this election should 
 be determined by a majority of the suffrages of the seven Elec- 
 tors — and that the vote of die Elector, who might happen to be 
 chosen, should also be included. Moreover, to prevent those 
 electoral divisions, which had more than once excited factions 
 and civil w^ars in the Empire, this law fixed irrevocably the 
 right of suffrage in the Principalities, then entitled Electorates. 
 It forbade any division of these principalities, and for this end 
 it introduced the principal of birthright, and the order of suc- 
 cession, called agnate, or direct male line from the same father. 
 Finally, the Golden Bull determined more particularly the rights 
 and privileges of the electors, and confirmed to the electors of 
 the Palatinate and Saxony the viceroyalty or government of the 
 Empire during any interregnum. 
 
 The efforts w^hich the Council of Basle made for the reforma- 
 tion of the church excited the attention of the Estates of the em- 
 pire. In a diet held at i\Iayence (1439,) they adopted several 
 decrees of that council, by a solemn act drawn up in presence 
 of the ambassadors of the council, and of the kings of France; 
 Castillo, Arragon, and Portugal. Among these adopted decrees, 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. laS 
 
 which were not afterwards altered, we observe those which 
 establish the superiority of councils above the Popes, which 
 prohibited those appeals called omisso medio, or immediate, and 
 enjoined the Pope to settle all appeals referred to his court, by 
 commissioners appointed by him upon the spot. Two concor- 
 dats, concluded at Rome and Vienna (1447-4S,) between the 
 Papal court and the German nation, confirmed these stipulations. 
 The latter of these concordats, however, restored to the Pope 
 several of the reserves, of which the Pragmatic Sanction had 
 deprived him. He was also allowed to retain the right of con- 
 JSrraing the prelates, and enjoying the annats and the alternate 
 months. 
 
 The ties which united the numerous states of the German 
 empire having been relaxed by the introduction of hereditary 
 feudalism, and the downfall of Imperial authority, the conse- 
 quence Avas, that those states, which were more remote from 
 the seat of authority, by degrees asserted their independence, or 
 were reduced to subjection by their more powerful neighbours. 
 [t was in this manner that several provinces of the ancient 
 kingdom of Burgundy, or Aries, passed in succession to the 
 crown of France. Philip the Fair, taking advantage of the dis- 
 putes which had arisen between the Archbishop and the citizens 
 of Lyons, obliged the Archbishop, Peter de Savoy, to surrender 
 to him by treaty (1312) the sovereignty of the city and its de- 
 pendencies. The same kingdom acquired the province of Dau- 
 phiny, in virtue of the grant which the last Dauphin, Humbert 
 II., made (1349) of his estates to Charles, grandson of Philip de 
 Valois, and first Dauphin of France. Provence was likewise 
 added (1481) to the dominions of that crown, by the testament 
 of Charles, last Count of Provence, of the House of Anjou. 
 As to the city of Avignon, it was sold (1348) by Joan I., Queen 
 of Naples, and Countess of Provence, to Pope Clement VI., 
 who at the same time obtained letters-patent from the Emperor 
 Charles IV., renouncing the claims of the Empire to the sove- 
 reignty of that city, as well as to all lands belonging to the Church. 
 
 A most important revolution happened about this time in 
 Switzerland. That country, formerly dependent upon the king- 
 dom of Burgundy, had become an immediate province of the 
 Empire (1218,) on the extinction of the Dukes of Zahringen, 
 who had governed it under the title of Regents. About the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century, Switzerland was divided 
 into a number of petty states, both secular and ecclesiastical. 
 Among these we find the Bishop of Basle, the Abbe of St. Gall, 
 the Counts of Hapsburg, Toggenburg, Savoy, Gruyeres, Neuf- 
 chatel, Werdenberg, Bucheck, «Scc. The towns of Zurich, So- 
 
1&4 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 leure, Basle, Berne, and others, had the rank of free and imperia) 
 cities. A part of the inhabitants of Uri, Schweitz, and Under- 
 walden, who held immediatel}' of the Empire, were governed 
 by their own magistrates, under the title of Cantons. They 
 were placed by the Emperor under the jurisdiction of governors, 
 who exercised, in his name and that of the Empire, the power 
 of the sword in all these cantons. Such was the constitution 
 of Switzerland, when the Emperor Albert I. of Austria, son of 
 Rodolph of Hapsburg, conceived the project of extending hif 
 dominion in that country, where he already had considerable 
 possessions, in his capacity of Count of Hapsburg, Kyburg, 
 Baden, and Lentzburg. Being desirous of forming Switzerland 
 into a principality, in favour of one of his sons, he made, in 
 course of time, several new acqrisitions of territory, with the 
 view of enlarging his estates. Ihe Abbeys of Murbach, Ein- 
 siedel, Interlaken, and Disentis, and the Canons of Lucerne, sold 
 him their rights and possessions in Glaris, Lucerne, Schweitz, 
 and Underwalden. He next directed his policy against the 
 three immediate cantons of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden ; 
 and endeavoured to make them acknowledge the superiority of 
 Austria, by tolerating the oppressions which the governors exer- 
 cised, whom he had appointed to rule them in the name of the 
 Empire. It was under these circumstances that three intrepid in- 
 dividuals, Werner de Stauffach,a native of the canton of Schweitz, 
 Walter Fih'st, of Uri, and Arnold de Melchlhal of Underwalden, 
 took the resolution of delivering their country from the tyranny of 
 a foreign yoke.^^ The conspiracy which they formed for this»pur- 
 pose, broke out on the 1st of January 130S. The governors, 
 surprised in their castles by the conspirators, were banished the 
 country, and their castles razed to the ground. The deputies 
 of the three cantons assembled, and entered into a league of ten 
 years for the maintenance of their liberties and their privileges; 
 reserving however to the Empire its proper rights, as also those 
 claimed by the superiors, whether lay or ecclesiastical. Thus 
 a conspiracy, which was originally turned only against Austria, 
 terminated in withdrawing Switzerland from the sovereignty of 
 the German empire. The victory which the confederates gained 
 over the Austrians at Ivlorgarten, on the borders of the canton of 
 Schweitz, encouraged them to renew their league at Brunnen 
 (1315;) and to render it perpetual. Asit was-confirmed by oath, the 
 confederates, from this circumstance, got the name o{ Eidge tiossen^ 
 which means, bound bij oath. This league became henceforth 
 the basis 0/ the federal system of the Swiss, who were not long 
 in strengthening their cause by the accession of other cantons. 
 The city of Lucerne, having shaken off the yoke of Hapsburg, 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453, 185 
 
 joined the League of Brunnen in 1332, Zurich in 1351, Glaris 
 and Zug 1353, and Berne in 1355. These formed the eight 
 ancient cantons. 
 
 The situation of the confederates, however, could not fail to 
 be very embarrassing, so long as the Austrians retained the vast 
 possessions which they had in the very centre of Switzerland. 
 The proscription which the Emperor Sigismund and the Coun- 
 cil of Constance, issued against Frederic, Duke of Austria (1415,) 
 as an adherent and protector of John XXIII., at length fur- 
 nished the Swiss with a favourable occasion for depriving the 
 house of Austria of their possessions. The Bernese were the 
 first to set the example; they took from the Austrian Dukes, 
 the towns of ZofRngen, Aran, and Bruck, with the counties of 
 Hapsburg and Lentzburg, and the greater part of A argovia. Ky- 
 burg fell into the hands of the Zurichers ; the Lucernese made 
 themselves masters of Sursee ; and the free bailiwicks, with the 
 county of Baden, the towns of Mellingen and Bremgarten, were 
 subdued by the comibined forces of the ancient cantons, who, 
 since then, have possessed them in common. 
 
 In the kingdom of Lorraine a new power rose about this time 
 (1363,) that of the Dukes of Burgundy. Philip the Hardy, 
 younger son of John the Good, King of France, having been 
 created Duke of Burgundy by the King his father, married 
 Margaret, daughter and heiress of Louis III., last Count of 
 Flanders. By this marriage he obtained Flanders, Artois, 
 Franche-Comte, Nevers, Rethel, Malines, and Antwerp, and 
 transmitted these estates to his son John the Fearless, and his 
 grandson Philip the Good. This latter prince increased them 
 still more by several new acquisitions. The Count of Namur 
 sold hitn his whole patrimony, (1428.) He inherited from his 
 cousin Philip of Burgundy, the dutchies of Brabant and Lim- 
 bourg, (1430.) Another cousin, the famous Jaqueline de Ba- 
 varia, made over to him by treaty (1433) the counties of Hainault, 
 Holland, Zealand, and Friesland. Finally, he acquired also the 
 dutchy of Luxembourg and the county of Chiny, by a compact 
 which he made with the Princess Elizabeth (1443,) niece of the 
 Emperor Sigismund. These different accessions were so much 
 the more important, as the Low Countries, especially Flanders 
 and Brabant, were at that time the seat of the most flourishing 
 manufactories, and the principal mart of European commerce. 
 Hence it happened, that the Dukes of Burgundy began to com- 
 pete with the first powers in Europe, and even to rival the Kings 
 of France. 
 
 Among the principal reigning families of the Empire, several 
 revolutions took place. The ancient Slavonic dynasty of the 
 
 16^ 
 
186 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Dukes and Kings of Bohemia became extinct with Wenceslaus 
 v., who was assassinated in 1306. The Emperor Henry VII., 
 of the house of Luxembourg-, seized this opportunity of trans- 
 ferring to his own family the kingdom of Bohemia, in which he 
 invested his son John (1309,) who had married the Princess 
 Elizabeth, sister to the last King of Bohemia. John, having 
 made considerable acquisitions in Bohemia, was induced to cede, 
 by treaty with Poland, the sovereignty of that province. The 
 Emperor Charles IV., son of John, incorporated Silesia, as also 
 Lusatia, with the kingdom of Bohemia, by the Pragmatics 
 which he published in 1355 and 1370. The war with the Hus- 
 sites broke out on the death of the Emperor Wenceslaus, King 
 of Bohemia (141S;) because the followers of John Huss, and 
 Jerome of Prague, had refused to acknowledge, as successor of 
 that prince, the Emperor Sigismund, his brother and heir, whom 
 they blamed for the martyrdom of their leaders. This war 
 one of the most sanguinary which the spirit of intolerance and 
 fanaticism ever excited, continued for a long series of years 
 John de Trocznova, surnamed Ziska, general-in-chief of the 
 Hussites, defeated several times those numerous armies of cru- 
 saders, which were sent against him into Bohemia ; and it was 
 not till long, after the death of that extraordinary man, that Si- 
 gismund succeeded in allaying the tempest, and re-establishing 
 his own authority in that kingdom. 
 
 The house of Wittelsbach, which possessed at the same time 
 the Palatinate and Bavaria, v/as divided into two principal 
 branches, viz. that of the Electors Palatine, and the Dukes of 
 Bavaria. By the treaty of division, which was entered into at 
 Pavia (1329,) they agreed on a reciprocal succession of the two 
 branches, in case the one or the other should happen to fail of 
 heirs-male. The direct line of the Electors of Saxony of the 
 Ascanian House happening to become extinct, the Emperor 
 Sigismund, without paying any regard to the claims of the 
 younger branches of Saxony, conferred that Electorate (1423,) 
 as a vacant fief of the Empire, on Frederic the Warlike, Mar- 
 grave of Misnia, who had rendered him signal assistance in the 
 war against the Hussites. This Prince had two grandsons, 
 Ernest and Albert, from whom are descended the two principal 
 branches, which still divide the House of Saxony. 
 
 The Ascanian dynasty did not lose merely the Electorate of 
 Saxony, as we have just stated; it was also deprived, in the 
 preceding century, of the Electorate of Brandenburg. Albert, 
 surnamed the Bear, a scion of this house, had transmitted this 
 latter Electorate, of which he was the founder, to his descend- 
 ants in direct line, the male heirs of which failed about the be- 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 187 
 
 ginning of the fourteenth century. The Emperor Louis of 
 Bavaria then bestowed it on his eldest son Louis (1324,) to the 
 exclusion of the collateral branches of Saxony and Anhalt. The 
 Bavarian Princes, however, did not long preserve this Electo- 
 rate ; they surrendered it (1373) to the Emperor Charles IV., 
 whose son Sigismund ceded it to Frederic, Burgrave of Nu- 
 remberg, of the House of Hohenzollern, who had advanced him 
 considerable sums to defray his expeditions into Hungar3\ This 
 Prince was solemnly invested with the electoral dignity by the 
 Emperor, at the Council of Constance (1417,) and became the 
 ancestor of all the Electors and Margraves of Brandenburg, as 
 well as of the Kings of Prussia. 
 
 The numerous republics which had sprung up in Italy, in thp 
 twelfth and thirteenth centuries, were torn to pieces by contend- 
 ing factions, and a prey to mutual and incessant hostilities. 
 What contributed to augment the trouble and confusion in that 
 unhappy country was, that, during a long series of years, no 
 Emperor had repaired thither in person, or made the smallest 
 attempt to restore the Imperial authority in those states. The 
 feeble efforts of Henry VII., Louis of Bavaria, an,d Charles IV., 
 only served to prove, that in Italy the royal prerogative was 
 without vigour or effect. Anarchy every where prevailed ; and 
 that spirit of liberty and republicanism w^hich had once anima- 
 ted the Italians gradually disappeared. Disgusted at length 
 with privileges which had become so fatal to them, some of these 
 republics adopted the plan of choosing new masters ; while 
 others w^ere subjected, against their inclinations, by the more 
 powerful of the nobles. The Marquises of Este seized Modena 
 and Reggio (1336,) and obtained the ducal dignity (1452) from 
 the Emperor Frederic III. Mantua fell to the house of Gonza- 
 ga, wdio possessed that sovereignty first under the title of Mar- 
 graves, and afterwards under that of Dukes, which was confer- 
 red on them by the Emperor Charles V. in 1530. But the 
 greater part of these Italian republics fell to the share of the 
 Visconti of Milan. The person who founded the prosperity of 
 their house was Matthew Visconti, nephew of Otho Visconti, 
 Archbishop of Milan. Invested with the titles of Captain and 
 Imperial Viceroy in Lombardy, he continued to make himself 
 acknowledged as sovereign of Milan (1315,) and conquered in 
 succession all the principal towns and republics of Lombardy. 
 His successors followed his example : they enlarged their terri- 
 tories by several new conquests, till at length John Galeas, great 
 grandson of Matthew Visconti, obtained, from the Emperor Wen- 
 ceslaus (1395,) for a sum of a hundred thon.sand florins of gold 
 which he paid him, the title of Duke of l\Iilan for himself and 
 
188 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 all his descendants. The Visconti famil\ reigned at Milan till 
 1447, when they were replaced by that of Sforza. 
 
 Among- the republics of Italy who escaped the catastrophe of 
 the fourteenth century, the most conspicuous were those of 
 Florence, Genoa and Venice. The city of Florence, like all 
 the others in Tuscany, formed itself into a republic about the 
 end of the twelfth century. Its government underwent frequent 
 changes, after the introduction of a democracy about the middle 
 of the thirteenth century. The various factions which had agi- 
 tated the republic, induced the Florentines to elect a magistrate 
 (1292,) called Gonfaloniere de Justice, or Captain of Justice; 
 invested with power to assemble the inhabitants under hi's stand- 
 ard, whenever the means for conciliation were insufficient to 
 suppress faction and restore peace. These internal agitations, 
 however, did not prevent the Florentines from enriching them- 
 selves by means of their commerce and manufactures. They 
 succeeded, in course of time, in subjecting the greater part of 
 the free cities of Tuscany, and especially that of Pisa, which 
 they conquered in 1406. The republic of Lucca was the only 
 one that maintained its independence, in spite of all the efforts 
 which the Florentines made to subdue it. The republican form 
 of government continued in Florence till the year 1530, when 
 the family of the Medici usurped the sovereignty, under the 
 protection of the Emperor Charles V. 
 
 The same rivalry which had set the Genoese to quarrel with 
 the Pisans, excited their jealousy against the Venetians. The 
 interests of these two Republics thwarted each other, both in the 
 Levant and the Mediterranean. This gave rise to a long and 
 disastrous series of wars, the last and most memorable of which 
 was that of Chioggia (1376-82.) The Genoese, after a signal 
 victory which they obtained over the Venetians, before Pola in 
 the Adriatic Gulf, penetrated to the very midst of the lagoons 
 of Venice, and attacked the port of Chioggia. Peter Doria made 
 himself master of this port ; he would have even surprised Ve- 
 nice, had he taken advantage of the first consternation of the 
 Venetians, who vv^ere already deliberating whether they should 
 abandon their city and take refuge in the isle of Candia. The 
 tardiness of the Genoese admiral gave them time to recover 
 themselves. Impelled by a noble despair, they made extraordi- 
 nary efforts to equip a new fleet, with which they attacked the 
 Genoese near Chioggia. This place was retaken (24th June 
 1380,) and the severe check which the Genoese there received, 
 may be said to have decided the command of the sea in favour 
 of the Venetians. But what contributed still more to the down- 
 fall of the Genoese, was the instability of their government, and 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 189 
 
 the internal commotions of the republic. Agitated by continual 
 divisions between the nobles and the common citizens, and in- 
 capable of managing their own affairs, they at length surrender- 
 ed themselves to the power of strangers. Volatile and incon- 
 stant, and equally impatient of liberty as of servitude, these 
 fickle republicans underwent a frequent change of masters. 
 Twice (1396-1458) they put themselves under the protection of 
 the Kings of France. At length they discarded the French, 
 and chose for their protector either the Marquis of Montferrat 
 or the Dulfe of Milan, Finally, from the year 1464, the city of 
 Genoa was constantly regarded as a dependency of the dutchy 
 of Milan, until 152S, when it recovered once more its ancient 
 state of independence. 
 
 While the Republic of Genoa was gradually declining, that 
 of Venice was every day acquirfng new accessions of power. 
 The numerous establishments which they had formed in the 
 Adriatic Gulf and the Eastern Seas, together with the additional 
 vigour which they derived from the introduction of the heredi- 
 tary aristocracy, were highly advantageous to the progress of 
 their commerce and marine. The treaty which they concluded 
 with the Sultan of Egypt (1343,) by guaranteeing to their re- 
 public an entire liberty of commerce in the ports of Syria and 
 Er-ypt, as also the privilege of having consuls at Alexandria and 
 Db^mascus, put it in their povv^er gradually to appropriate to 
 themselves the whole trade of India, and to maintain it against 
 the Genoese, who had disputed with them the commerce of the 
 East, as well as the command of the sea. These successes en- 
 couraged the Venetians to make new acquisitions ; the turbu- 
 lent state of Lombardy having afforded them an opportunity of 
 enlarging their dominions on the continent of Italy, where at 
 first they had possessed only the single dogeship of Venice, and 
 the small province of Isiria. They seized on Treviso, and the 
 whole Trevisan March (13SS,) which they took from the pow- 
 erful house of Carrara. In 1420 they again got possession of 
 Dalmatia, which they conquered from Sigismund, King of Hun- 
 gary. This conquest paved the way for that of Friuli, which 
 they took about the same time from the Patriarch of Aquileia, 
 an ally of the King of Hungary. At length, by a succession of 
 good fortune, they detached from the dutchy of Milan (1404) 
 the cities and territories of Vicenza, Belluno, Verona, Padua, 
 Brescia, Bergamo, and Cremona (1454,) and thus formed a con- 
 siderable estate on the mainland. 
 
 Naples, during the course of this period, was governed by a 
 descendant of Charles, of the first House of Anjou, and younger 
 brother of St. Louis. Queen Joan I., daughter of Robert, King 
 
190 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 of Naples, having no children of her own, adoptea a younger 
 prince of the Angevine family, Charles of Durazzo, whom she 
 destined as her successor, after having given him her niece in 
 marriage. This ungrateful prince, in his eagerness to possess 
 the crown, took arms against, the Queen his benefactress, and 
 compelled her to solicit the aid of foreign powers. It was on this 
 occasion that Joan, after rescinding and annulling her former 
 deed of adoption, made another in favour of Louis I., younger 
 brother of Charles V., King of France, and founder of the second 
 House of Anjou. But the succours of that prince came too late 
 to save the Queen from the hands of her cruel enemy. Charles 
 having made himself master of Naples and of the Queen's per- 
 son (13S2,) immediately put her to death, and maintained him- 
 self on the throne, in spite of his adversary Louis of Anjou, who 
 obtained nothing more of the Queen's estates than the single 
 county of Provence, which he transmitted to his descendants, 
 together with his claim on the kingdom of Naples. Joan IL, 
 daughter and heiress of Charles of Durazzo, having been at- 
 tacked by Louis IIL of Anjou, who wished to enforce the rights 
 of adoption which had descended to him from his grandfather 
 Louis L, she implored the protection of Alphonso V., King of 
 Arragon, whom she adopted and declared her heir (1421 ;) but 
 afterwards, having quarrelled with that prince, she changed her 
 resolution, and passed a new act of adoption (1423) in favour of 
 that same Louis of Anjou who had just made war against her 
 Rene of Anjou. the brother and successor of that prince, took 
 possession of the kingdom of Naples on the death of Joan II. 
 (1435;) but he was expelled by the King of Arragon (1445,) 
 who had procured from Pope Eugenius IV. the investiture of 
 that kingdom, which he transmitted to his natural son Ferdi- 
 nand, descended from a particular branch of the Kings of Na- 
 ples. The rights of the second race of Angevine princes, were 
 transferred to the Kings of France, along with the county of 
 Provence (14S1.) 
 
 Spain, which was divided into a variety of sovereignties both 
 Christian and Mahometan, presented at this time a kind of sepa- 
 rate or distinct continent, whose interests had almost nothing in 
 common with the rest of Europe. The Kings of Navarre, Cas- 
 tillo, and Arragon, disagreeing among themselves, and occupied 
 with the internal affairs of their own kingdoms, had but little 
 leisure to attempt or accomplish any foreign enterprise. Of ail 
 the Kings of Castille at this period, the most famous, in the 
 wars against the Moors, was Alphonso XL The Mahometan 
 kings of Morocco and Grenada having united their forces, laid 
 siege to the city of TarifTa in Andalusia, where Alphonso, as- 
 
PERIOD V, A. D. 1300—1453. 191 
 
 sistedby the King- of Portugal, ventured to attack them in the 
 neighbourhood of that place. He gained a complete victory over 
 the Moors (1340 ;) and this was followed by the conquest of 
 various other cities and districts ; among others, Alcala-Real, 
 and Algeziras. 
 
 While the Kings of Castille were extending- their conquests 
 in the interior of Spain, those of Arragon, hemmed in by the 
 Castillians, were obliged to look for aggrandizement abroad. 
 They possessed the country of Barcelona or Catalonia, in virtue 
 t)f the marriage of Count Raymond Berenger IV. with Donna 
 Petronilla, heiress of the kingdom of Arragon. To this they 
 added the county of Rousillon, and the seignory or lordship of 
 Montpelier, both of which, as well as Catalonia, belonged to the 
 sovereignty of France. Don James I., who conquered the king- 
 dom of Valencia and the Balearic Isles, gave these, with Rou- 
 sillon and Montpelier, to Don James his younger son, and from 
 whom were descended the Kings of Majorca, the last of whom, 
 Don James III., sold Montpelier to France (1349.) Don Pedro 
 III., King of Arragon, and eldest son of Don James I., took 
 Sicily, as we have already seen, from Charles I. of Anjou. 
 Ferdinand II., a younger son of Don Pedro, formed a separate 
 branch of the kings of Sicily, on the extinction of which (1409,) 
 that kingdom rev^erted to the crown of Arragon. Sardinia was 
 incorporated wath the kingdom of Arragon by Don James II., 
 who had conquered it from the Pisans. Finally, Alphonso V., 
 King of Arragon, having deprived the Angevines of the king- 
 dom of Naples, established a distinct line of Neapolitan kings. 
 This kingdom was at length united with the monarchy of Arra- 
 gon by Ferdinand the Catholic. 
 
 In Portugal, the legitimate line of kings, descendants of 
 Henry of Burgundy, had failed in Don Ferdinand, son and suc- 
 cessor of Don Pedro III. This prince had an only daughter 
 tiamed Beatrix, born in criminal intercourse with Eleanora 
 Tellez de Meneses, whom he had taken from her lawful hus- 
 band. Being desirous to make this princess his successor, he 
 married her, at the age of eleven, to John I., King of Castille : 
 securing the throne to the son who should be born of this union, 
 and failing him, to the King of Castille, his son-in-law. Fer- 
 dinand dying soon after this marriage, Don Juan, his natural 
 brother, and grand-master of the order of Aviez, knowing the 
 aversion of the Portuguese for the Castillian sway, turned this 
 to his own advantage, by seizing the regency, of which he had 
 deprived the Queen-dowager. The King of Castille imme- 
 diately laid siege to Lisbon; but having miscarried in this en- 
 terprise, the States of Portugal assembled at Coimbra, and 
 
192 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 conferred the crown on Don Juan, known in history hy the 
 name of Jo/m the Bastard. This prince, aided with troops from 
 England, engaged the Castillians and their allies the French, 
 at the famous battle fought on the plains of Aljuharota (14th 
 August 13S5.) The Portuguese remained masters of the field, 
 and John the Bastard succeeded in maintaining himself on the 
 throne of Portugal. The war, however, continued several 
 years between the Portuguese and the Castillians, and did not 
 terminate till 1411. By the peace which was then concluded, 
 Henry III., son of John I., King of Castille, agreed never to 
 urge the claims of Queen Beatrix, his mother-in-law, who had 
 no children. John the Bastard founded a new dynasty of kings, 
 who occupied the throne of Portugal from 13S5 to 15S0. 
 
 In France, the direct line of kings, descendants of Hugh 
 Capet, having become extinct in the sons of Philip the Fair, 
 the crown passed to the collateral branch of Valois (1328,) 
 which furnished a series of thirteen kings, during a period of 
 two hundred and sixty-one years. 
 
 The_rivalry between France and England, which had sprung 
 up during the preceding period, assumed a more hostile charac- 
 ter on the accession of the family of Valois. Till then, the 
 quarrels of the two nations had, been limited to some particular 
 ten'itory, or province; but now they disputed even the succes- 
 sion to the throne of France, which the kings of England claimed 
 as their right. Edward III., by his mother, Isabella of France, 
 was nephew to Charles IV., the last of the Capelian kings in a 
 direct line. He claimed the succession in opposition to Philip 
 VI., surnamed de Valois, who being cousin-germ an to Charles, 
 was one degree more remote than the King of England. The 
 claim of Edward w^as opposed by the Salic law, which excluded 
 females from the succession to the throne ; but, according to the 
 mterpretation of that prince, the law admitted his right, and 
 must be understood as referring to females personally, who, 
 were excluded on account of the weakness of their sex, and 
 not to their male descendants. Granting that his mother, Isa- 
 bella, could not herself aspire to the crown, he maintained that 
 she gave him the right of proximity, which qualified him for 
 the succession. The States of France, however, having de- 
 cided in favour of Philip, the King of England did fealty and 
 homage to that prince for the dutchy of Guienne ; but he laid 
 no claim to the crown until 1337, when he assumed the title 
 and arms of the King of France. The war which began in 
 1338, was renewed during several reigns, for the space of a 
 hundred years, and ended with the entire expulsion of the Eng-- 
 lish from France. 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 193 
 
 Nothing- could be more wretched than the situation of this 
 kingdom during the reign of Charles VI That prince having 
 lallen into a state of insanity in the flower of his age, two par- 
 ries, those of Burgundy and Orleans, who had disputed with 
 each other about the regency, divided the Court into factions, 
 and kindled the flames of civil war in the four corners of the 
 kingdom. John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and uncle 
 to the king, caused Louis, Duke of Orleans, the King's own 
 brother, to be assassinated at Paris (1407.) He himself was 
 assassinated in his turn (1419) on the bridge of Montereau, 
 in the very presence of the Dauphin, who was afterwards king, 
 inder the name of Charles Vll. These dissensions gave the 
 Linglish an opportunity for renewing tlie war. Henry the V. 
 of England gained the famous battle of Agincourt, which was 
 followed by the conquest of all Normandy. Isabella of Ba- 
 varia then abandoned the faction of Orleans, and the party of 
 her son the Dauphin, and joined that of Burgundy. Philip 
 the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and son of John the Fearless, 
 being determined to revenge the death of his father, which he 
 laid to the charge of the Dauphin, entered into a negotiation 
 with England, into which he contrived to draw Queen Isabella, 
 and the imbecile Charles the VI. By the treaty of peace con- 
 cluded at Troves in Champagne (1420,) it was agreed that 
 Catharine of France, daughter of Charles VI. and Isabella of 
 Bavaria, should espouse Henry V., and that, on the death of 
 the King, the crown should pass to Henry, and the children of 
 his marriage with the Princess of France ; to the exclusion of 
 the Dauphin, who, as an accomplice in the murder of the Duke 
 of Burgundy, was declared to have lost his rights to the crown, 
 and was banished from the kingdom. Henry V. died in the 
 flower of his age, and his death was followed soon after by that 
 of Charles VI. Henry VI., son of Henry V. and Catharine of 
 France, being then proclaimed King of England and France, 
 fixed his residence at Paris, and had for his regents his two 
 uncles, the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. 
 
 Such was the preponderance of the English and Burgundian 
 party in Fiance at this period, that Charles VII., commonly 
 called the Dauphin, more than once saw himself upon the 
 point of being expelled the kingdom. He owed his safety en- 
 tirely to the appearance of the famous Joan of Arc, called the 
 Maid of Orleans. This extraordinary woman revived the 
 drooping courage of the French. She compelled the English 
 to raise the siege of Orleans, and brought the King to be 
 crowned at Rheims (1429.) But what contributed still more to 
 retrieve the party of Charles VII., was the reconciliation of that 
 
 VOL. I. ' 17 
 
«>4- 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 prince with the Duke of Burgundy, which took place at the 
 peace of Arras (1435.) The Duke having then united hia 
 forces with those of the King, the English were in their tnrr 
 expelled from France (14-53,) the single city of Calais being ull 
 that remained to them of their former conquests. 
 
 An important revolution happened in the government of 
 France under the reign of Charles VII. The royal authority 
 gained fresh vigour by the expulsion of the English, and the 
 reconciliation of various parties that took place in consequence. 
 The feudal system, which till then had prevailed in France, fell 
 by degrees into disuse. Charles Vv'as the first king who estab- 
 lished a permanent militia, and taught his successors to abandon 
 the feudal mode of warfare. This prince also instituted Co?n- 
 panies of ordonance (1445;) and, to defray the expense of their 
 maintenance, he ordered, of his own authority, a certain impost 
 o be levied, called the Tax of the Gens- dC amies. This stand- 
 mg army, which at first amounted only to six thousand men, 
 was augmented in course of time, while the royal finances 
 increased in proportion. By means of these establishments, 
 the kings obtained such an ascendancy over their vassals that 
 they soon found themselves in a condition to prescribe laws to 
 them, and thus gradually to abolish the feudal system. The 
 most powerful of the nobles could make little resistance against 
 a sovereign who was always armed ; while the kings, imposing 
 taxes at their pleasure, by degrees dispensed with the necessity 
 of assembling the states-general. The same prince secured the 
 liberties of the Galilean church against the encroachments of 
 the Court of Rome, by solemnly adopting several of the decrees 
 of the Council of Basle, which he caused to be passed in the 
 National Council held at Bourges, and published under the title 
 of the Pragmatic Sanction (143S.) 
 
 In England, two branches of the reigning family of the Plan- 
 tagenets, those of Lancaster and York, contested for a long 
 time the right to the crown. Henry IV., the first king of the 
 House of Lancaster, was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of 
 Lancaster, and grandson of Edward III. King of England. He 
 usurped the crown from Richard II., whom he deposed by act 
 of Parliament (1399.) But instead of enforcing the rights 
 which he inherited from his father and grandfather, he rested 
 his claims entirely upon those which he alleged had devolved 
 to him in right of his mother, Blanch of Lancaster, great grand- 
 daughter of Edward, surnamed Hunchback, Earl of Lancaster. 
 This prince, according to a popular tradition, was the eldest son 
 of Henry III., who, it was said, had been excluded from the 
 throne by his young^er brother Edward I., on account of his de 
 
PEKioD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 195 
 
 formity. This tradition proved useful to Henry IV. in excluding 
 the rights of the House of Clarence, who preceded him in the 
 order of succession. This latter family was descended from 
 Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and elder brother of John of Gaunt. 
 Philippine, daughter of Lionel, was married to Edward Morti- 
 mer, by whom she had a son, Roger, whom the Parliament, by 
 an act passed in 13S6, declared presumptive heir to the crown. 
 Ann Mortimer, the daughter of Roger, married Richard, Duke of 
 York, son of Edward Langley, who was the younger broihei 
 of John of Gaunt, and thus transferred the right of Lionel to 
 the Royal House of York. 
 
 The Princes of the House of Lancaster are known in Eng- 
 lish history by the name of the Red Rose, while those of York 
 were designated by that of the White Rose. The former of 
 these Houses occupied the throne for a period of sixtv^-three 
 years, during the reigns of Henry IV., V., VI. It was under 
 the feeble reign of Henry VI. that the House of York began to 
 advance their right to the crown, and that the civil war broke 
 out between the two Roses. Richard, Duke of York, and hen* 
 to the claims of Lionel and Mortimer, was the first to raise the 
 standard in this war of competition (1452,) which continued 
 more than thirty years, and was one of the most cruel and san- 
 guinary recorded in history. Twelve pitched battles were 
 foughi between the two Roses, eighty princes of the blood pe- 
 rislied in the contest, and England, during the whole time, pre- 
 sented a tragical spectacle of horror and carnage. Edward IV., 
 son of Richard, Duke of York, and grandson of Ann Mortimer, 
 ascended the throne (1461,) which he had stained with the blood 
 of Henry IV,, and, of several other Princes of the House of 
 Lancaster. 
 
 In Scotland, the male line of the ancient kings having become 
 extinct in Alexander III., a crowd of claimants appeared on the 
 field, who disputed with each other the succession of the throne. 
 The chief of these competitors were the two Scottish families 
 of Baliol and Bruce, both descended by the mother's side from 
 the Royal Family. Four princes of these contending families 
 reigned in Scotland until the year 1371, when the crown passed 
 from the House of Bruce to that of Stuart. Robert II., son of 
 Walter Stuart and Marjory Bruce, succeeded his uncle David 
 II., and in his family the throne remained until the Union, when 
 Scotland was united to England about the beginning of the 
 seventeenth century. Under the government of the Stuarts, 
 the royal authority acquired fresh energy after being long re- 
 strained and circumscribed by a turbulent nobility. Towards 
 the middle of the fifteenth century, James 1., a very accomplished 
 
196 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 prince, gave the first blow to the feudal system and the exorbi- 
 tant power of the grandees. He deprived them of several of 
 the crown-lands which they had usurped, and confiscated the 
 property of some of the most audacious whom he had con- 
 demned to execution. James II. followed the example of his 
 father. He strengthened the royal authority, by humbling the 
 powerful family of Douglas, as well as by the wise laws which 
 he prevailed with his Parliament to adopt. 
 
 The three kingdoms of the North, after having been long 
 agitated by internal dissensions, were at length united into a 
 single monarchy by Margaret, called the Semiramis of the North. 
 This princess was daughter of Valdemar III., the last King of 
 Denmark of the ancient reigning family, and widow of Haco 
 VII., King of Norway. She was first elected Queen of Den- 
 mark, and then of Norway, after the death of her son, Olaus 
 v., whom she had by her marriage with Haco, and who died 
 without leaving any posterity (13S7.) The Swedes, discon- 
 tented with their King, Albert of Mecklenburg, likewise be- 
 stowed their crown upon this princess. Albert was vanquished 
 and made prisoner at the battle of Fahlekoeping (1389.) The 
 whole of Sweden, from that time, acknowledged the authority 
 of Queen Margaret. Being desirous of uniting the three king- 
 doms into one single body-politic, she assembled their respective 
 Estates at Calmar (1397,) and there caused her grand-nephew 
 Eric, son of Wratislaus, Duke of Pomerania, and Mary of 
 Mecklenburg, daughter of Ingeburg, her own sister, to be re- 
 ceived and crowned as her successor. The act which ratified 
 the perpetual and irrevocable union of the three kingdoms, was 
 approved in that assembly. It provided, that the united slates 
 should, in future, have but one and the same king, who should 
 be chosen with the common consent of the Senators and Depu- 
 ties of the three kingdoms ; that tiiey should always give the 
 preference to the descendants of Eric, if there were any ; that 
 the three kmgdoms should assist each other with their combined 
 forces against all foreign enemies ; that each kingdom should 
 preserve its own constitution, its senate, and national legisla- 
 ture, and be governed conformably to its own laws. 
 
 This union, how formidable soever it might appear at first 
 sight, was by no means firmly consolidated. A federal system 
 of three monarchies, divided by mutual jealousies, and by dis- 
 similarity in their laws, manners, and institutions, could present 
 nothing either solid or durable. The predilection, besides, 
 which the kings of the union who succeeded Margaret showed 
 for the Danes ; the preference which they gave them in the 
 distribution of favours and places of trust, and the tone of su 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 197 
 
 periority which they affected towards their allies, tended natu- 
 rally to foster animosity and hatred, and, above all, to exasperate 
 the Swedes against the union. Eric, after a very turbulent 
 reign, was deposed, and his nephew, Christopher the Bavarian, 
 was elected King of the union in his place. This latter prince 
 having died without issue, the Swedes took this opportunity oi 
 breaking the union, and choosing a king of their own, Charles 
 Canutson Bonde, known by the title of Charles VIII. It was 
 he who induced the Danes to venture likewise on a new elec- 
 tion ; and this same year they transferred their crown to Chris- 
 tian, son of Thierry, and Count of Oldenburg, descended by 
 the female side from the race of their ancient kings. This 
 prince had the good fortune to renew the union with Norway 
 (1450;) he likewise governed Sweden from the year 1437, 
 when Charles VIII. v/as expelled by his subjects, till 1464^ 
 when he was recalled. But what deserves more particularly 
 to be remarked, is the acquisition which Christian made of the 
 provinces of Sleswick and Holstein, to which he succeeded 
 (1459,) by a disposition of the States of these provinces, after 
 the death of Duke Adolphus, the maternal uncle of the new 
 King of Denmark, and last male heir of the Counts of Hol- 
 stein, of the ancient House of Schauenburg. Christian I. was 
 the progenitor of all the Kings who have since reigned in Den- 
 mark and Norway. His grandson lost Sweden ; but, in the 
 last century, the thrones both of Russia and Sweden were 
 occupied by princes of his family. 
 
 Russia, during the whole of this period, groaned under the 
 degrading yoke of the Moguls and the Tartars. The Grand 
 Dukes, as well as the other Russian princes, were obliged to 
 solicit the confirmation of their dignity from the Khan of Kip- 
 zack, who granted or refused it at his pleasure. The dissen- 
 sions which arose among these northern princes, were in like 
 manner submitted to his decision. When summoned to appear at 
 his horde, they were obliged to repair thither without delay, and 
 often suffered the punishment of ignominy and death. ^^ The 
 contributions which the Khans at first exacted from the Rus- 
 sians in the shape of gratuitous donations, were converted, in 
 course of time, into regular tribute. Bereke Khan, the suc- 
 cessor of Baton, was the first who levied this tribute by officers 
 of his own nation. His successors increased still more the 
 load of these taxes ; they even subjected the Russian princes 
 to the performance of military service. 
 
 The Grand Ducal dignity, which for a long time belonged 
 exclusively to the chiefs of the principalities of Vladimir and 
 Kiaso, became common, about the end of the fourteenth cen- 
 
 17=^ 
 
198 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 tury, to several of the other principalities, who shared among 
 them the dominion of Russia. The princes of Rezan, Twer, 
 Smolensko, and several others, took the title of Grand Dukes, 
 10 distinguish themselves from the petty princes who were es- 
 tablished within their principalities. These divisions, together 
 with the internal broils to which they gave rise, emboldened 
 the Lithuanians and Poles to carry their victorious arms into 
 Russia ; and by degrees they dismembered the whole western 
 part of the ancient empire. 
 
 The Lithuanians,^^ who are supposed to have been of the 
 same race with the ancient Prussians, Lethonians, Livonians, 
 and Esthonians, inhabited originally the banks of the rivers 
 Niemen and Wilia ; an inconsiderable state, comprehending 
 Samogitia and a part of the ancient Palatinates of Troki and 
 Wilna. After having been tributaries to the Russians for a 
 long time, the princes of Lithuania shook off their yoke, and 
 began to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the Grand 
 Dukes, their former masters. Towards the middle of the 
 eleventh century, they passed the Wilia, founded the town ofKier- 
 now, and took from the Russians Braclaw, Novgorodek, Grodno, 
 Borzesc, Bidsk, Pinsk, Mozyr, Polotsk, Minsk, Witepsk, Orza, 
 and Mscislaw% with their extensive dependencies. Ringold 
 was the first of these princes that assumed the dignity of Grand 
 Duke, about the middle of the thirteenth century. His succes- 
 sor Mendog or Mindow, harassed by the Teutonic Knights, em- 
 braced Christianity about the year 1252, and was declared King 
 of Lithuania by the Pope ; though he afterwards returned to 
 Paganism, and became one of the most cruel enemies of the 
 Christian name. Gedimin, who ascended the throne of the 
 Grand Duke (1315,) rendered himself famous by his new con- 
 quests. After a series of victories w'hich he gained over the 
 Russian Princes, who were supported by the Tartars, he took 
 possession of the city and Principality of Kiow (1320.) The 
 whole of the Grand Dutchy of Kiow, and its dependent princi- 
 palities on this side the Dnieper, were conquered in succession. 
 The Grand Dukes of Lithuania, who had become formidable to 
 all their neighbours, weakened their powder by partitioning their 
 estates among their sons ; reserving to one, under the title of 
 Grand Duke, the right of superiority over the rest. The civil 
 dissensions w^hich resulted from these divisions, gave the Poles 
 an opportunity of seizing the principalities of Leopold, Przemysl, 
 and Halilsch (1340,) and of taking from the Lithuanians and 
 their Grand Duke Olgerd, the whole of Volhynia and Podolia, 
 of which they had deprived the Russians (1349.) 
 
 Nothing more then remained of the ancient Russian Empire 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 19^ 
 
 except the Grand Dutchy of Wolodimir, so called from the towrn 
 of that name on the river Kliazma, where the Grand Dukes- o. 
 Eastern and Northern Russia had their residence, before they 
 had fixed their capital at Moscow ; which happened about the 
 end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth century. 
 This Grand Dutchy, which had several dependent and subor 
 dinate principalities, was conferred by the Khan of Kipzacli 
 (1320) on Iwan or John Danilovitsh, Prince of Moscow, who 
 transmitted it to his descendants. Demetrius Iwanovitsh, grand- 
 son of Iwan, took advantage of the turbulence which distracted 
 the grand horde, and turned his arms against the Tartars. As- 
 sisted by several of the Russian princes his vassals, he gained 
 a signal victory near the Don (13S0,) over the Khan Temnic- 
 Mamai, the first which gained the Russians any celebrity, and 
 which procured Demetrius the proud epithet of Donski, or con- 
 queror of the Don. This prince, however, gained little advan- 
 tage by his victory ; and for a long time after, the Tartars gave 
 law to the Russians and made them their tributaries. Tottamish 
 Khan, after having vanquished and humbled Mamai, penetrated 
 as far as Moscow, sacked the city, and massacred a great num- 
 ber of the inhabitants. Demetrius was forced to implore the 
 mercy of'the conqueror, and to send his son a hostage to the 
 horde in security for his allegiance. 
 
 The chief residence of the Teutonic Order, which had for- 
 merly been at Verden, was fixed at Marienburg, a city newly 
 built, which from that time became the capital of all Prussia. 
 The Teutonic Knights did not limit their conquests to Prussia; 
 they took from the Poles Dantzic or Eastern Pomerania (1311,) 
 situated between the Netze, the Vistula, and the Baltic Sea, and 
 known since by the name of Pomerelia. This province was 
 definitively ceded to them, with the territory of Culm, and 
 Michelau, by a treaty of peace which was signed at Kalitz 
 n343.) The city of Dantzic, which was their capital, increased 
 considerably under the dominion of the Order, and became one 
 of the principal entrepots for the commerce of the Baltic. 01 
 all the exploits of these Knights, the most enterprising was that 
 which had for its object the conquest of Lithuania. Religion, 
 and a pretended gift of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, served 
 them as a pretext for attacking the Lithuanians, who were Pa- 
 gans, in a murderous war, which continued almost without in- 
 terruption for the space of a century. The Grand Dukes of 
 Lithuania, always more formidable after their defeat, defended 
 their liberties and independence with a courage and perseverance 
 almost miraculous; and it was only by taking advantage of the 
 dissensions which had arisen in the family of the Grand Duke 
 
200 CHAPTER V'l. 
 
 diat they succeeded in obtaining- possession of Samog-itia. by 
 the treaty of peace which was concluded at Racianz (1404.) 
 
 The Knights of Livonia, united to the Teutonic Order under 
 the authority of one and the same Grand Master, added to their 
 former conquests the province of Esthonia, which was sold to 
 them by Vaidemar IV., King of Denmark. ^^ The Teutonic 
 Knights were at the zenith of their greatness, about the begin- 
 ning of the fifteenth century. At that time they were become 
 a formidable power in the North, having under their dominion 
 the whole of Prussia, comprehending Pomerania and the New 
 March, as also Samogilia, Courland, Livonia and Esthonia. "^ 
 A population proportioned to the extent of their dominions, a 
 well regulated treasury, and a flourishing commerce, seemed to 
 guarantee them a solid and durable empire. Nevertheless, the 
 jealousy of their neighbours, the union of Lithuania with Po- 
 land, and the conversion of the Lithuanians to Christianity, 
 which deprived the Knights of the assistance of the Crusaders, 
 soon became fatal to their Order, and accelerated their down- 
 fall. The Lithuanians again obtained possession of Samogitia, 
 which, with Sudavia, was ceded to them by the various treaties 
 which they concluded with that Order, between 1411-1436. 
 
 The oppressive government of the Teutonic Knights — their 
 own private dissensions, and the intolerable burden of taxation — 
 the fatal consequence of incessant war — induced the nobles and 
 cities of Prussia and Pomerania to form a confederacy against 
 the Order, and to solicit the protection of the Kings of Poland. 
 This was granted to ihem, on their signing a deed of submission 
 to that kingdom (1454.) The result was a long and bloody 
 war with Poland, which did not terminate till the peace of Thorn 
 (1466.) Poland then obtained the cession of Culm, Michelau 
 and Dantzic ; that is to say, all the countries now comprehended 
 under the name of Polish Prussia. The rest of Prussia was 
 retained by the Teutonic Order, who promised, by means of 
 their Grand Master, to do feaity and homage for it to the Kings 
 of Poland. The chief residence of the Order was then trans- 
 ferred to Koningsberg, where it continued until the time when the 
 Knights were deprived of Prussia by the House of Brandenburg. 
 
 At length, however, Poland recovered from this state of weak- 
 ness into which the unfortunate divisions of Boleslaus III. and 
 his descendants had plunged it. Uladislaus IV. surnamed the 
 Dwarf, having combined several of these principalities, was 
 crowned King of Poland at Cracow (1320.) From that time 
 the Royal dignity became permanent in Poland, and was trans- 
 mitted to all the successors of Uladislaus. -^ The immediate 
 successor of that Prince was his son Casimir the Great, who 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 201 
 
 renounced his rights of sovereignty over Silesia in favour of the 
 King of Bohemia, and afterwards compensated this loss by the 
 acquisition of several of the provinces of ancient Russia. He 
 likewise took possession of Red Russia (1340,) as also of the 
 provinces of Volhynia, Podolia, Chelm and Belz, which he con- 
 quered from the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (1349,) who had 
 formerly dismembered them from the Russian Empire. 
 
 Under Casimir the C4reat, another revolution happened in the 
 government of Poland. That Prince, having no children of his 
 own, and wishing to bequeath the crown to his nephew Louis, 
 his sister's son, by Charles Robert King of Hunoary, convoked 
 a general assembly of the nation at Cracow (1339.) and there 
 got the succession of the Hungarian Prince ratified, in opposi- 
 tion to the legitimate rights of the Piast Dynasty, who reigned 
 in Masovia and Silesia. This subversion of the hereditary 
 right of the different branches of the Piasts, gave the Polish 
 Nobles a pretext for interfering in the election of their Kings, 
 until at last the throne became completely elective. It also 
 afforded them an opportunity for limiting the power of their 
 Kings, and laying the foundation of a republican and aristocratic 
 government. Deputies were sent into Hungary (135o,) even 
 during the life of Casimir, who obliged King Louis, his intended 
 successor, to subscribe an act which provided that, on his ac- 
 cession to the crown, he should bind himself, and his successors, 
 to disburden the Polish nobility of all taxes and contributions ; 
 that he should never, under any pretext, exact subsidies from 
 them ; and that, in travelling, he should claim nothing for the 
 support of his court, in any place during his journey. The an- 
 cient race of the Piast sovereigns of Poland ended with Casimir 
 (1370,) after having occupied the throne of that kingdom for 
 several centuries. 
 
 His successor in Poland and Hungary was Louis, surnamed 
 the Great. In a Diet assembled in 13S2, he obtained the con- 
 currence of the Poles, in the choice which he had made of Sigis- 
 mund of Luxembourg, as his son-in-law and successor in both 
 kingdoms. But on the death of Louis, which happened imme- 
 diately after, the Poles broke their engagement, and confeired 
 their crown on Hedwiga, a younger daughter of that Prince. It 
 was stipulated, that she should marry Jagellon, Grand Dnke of 
 Lithuania, who agreed to incorporate Lithuania with Poland, 
 to renounce Paganism, and embrace Christianity, himself and 
 all his subjects. Jagellon was baptized, when he received the 
 name of Uladislaus, and was crowned King of Poland at Cracow 
 (1386.) 2~ It was on the accession of Jagellon,that Poland and 
 Lithuania, long opposed in their interests, and implacable enemies 
 
202 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 of each other, were united into one body politic under the au- 
 thority of one and the same King-. Nevertheless, for nearly 
 two centuries, Lithuania still preserved its own Grand Dukes, 
 who acknowledged the sovereignty of Poland ; and it was not, 
 properly speaking, till the reign of Sigismand Augustus, that 
 the union of the two states was finally accomplished (1569.) 
 This important union rendered Poland the preponderating power 
 of the North. It became fatal to the influence of the Teutonic 
 Order, who soon yielded to the united efforts of the Poles and 
 Lithuanians. 
 
 Uladislaus Jagellon did not obtain the assent of the Polish 
 nobility to the succession of his son, except by adding new pri- 
 vileges to those which they had obtained from his predecessor. 
 He was the first of the Polish kings who, for the purpose of im- 
 posing an exiraordinary taxation, called in the Nuncios or De- 
 puties of the Nobility to ihe General Diet (1404,) and established 
 the use of Dietines or provincial diets. His descendants enjoyed 
 the crown until they became extinct, in the sixteenth century. 
 The succession, however, was mixed; and although the princes 
 of the Houseof Jagellon might regard themselves as hereditary 
 possessors of the kingdom, nevertheless, on every change of 
 reign, it was necessary that the crown should be conferred by 
 the choice and consent of the nobility. 
 
 In Hungary, the male race of the ancient kings, descendants 
 of Duke Arpad, had become extinct in Andrew III. (1301.) The 
 Crov/n was then contested by several competitors, and at length 
 fell into the hands of the House of Anjou, the reigning family 
 of Naples. Charles Robert, grandson of Charles II. King of 
 Naples, by Mary of Hungary, outstripped his rivals, and trans- 
 mitted the Crown to his son Louis, surnatned the Great (130S.) 
 This Prmce, characterized by his eminent qualities, made a dis- 
 tinguished figure among the Kings of Hungary. He conquered 
 from the Venetians the whole of Dalmatia, from the frontiers of 
 Istria, as far as Durazzo ; he reduced the Princes of Moldavia, 
 Walachia, Bosnia and Bulgaria, to a state of dependence ; and 
 at length mounted the throne of Poland on the de.ith of his uncle 
 Casirnir the Great. ^^ Mary, his eldest daughter, succeeded 
 him in the kingdom of Hungary (1382.) This Princess mar- 
 ried Sigismund of Luxembourg, who thus united the monarchy 
 of Hungary to the Imperial crown. 
 
 The reign of Sigismund in Hungary was most unfortunate, 
 and a prey to continual disturbances. He had to sustain the 
 first war against the Ottoman Turks ; and with the Emperor of 
 Constantinople, as his ally, he assembled a formidable army, 
 with which he undertook the siege of Nicopolis in Bulgaria. 
 
PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 203 
 
 Here he sustained a complete defeat by the Turks. In his re- 
 tr<^.at he was compelled to embark on the Danube, and directed 
 his flight towards Constantinople, This disaster was followed 
 by new misfortunes. The malcontents of Hungary offered then- 
 Crown to Ladislaus, called the Magnanimous, King of Napies, 
 who took possession of Dalmatia, which he afterwards surren- 
 dered to the Venetians. Desirous to provide for the defence 
 and security of his kingdom, Sigismund acquired, by treaty with 
 the Prince of Servia, the fortress of Belgrade (1425.) which, by 
 its situation at the confluence of the Danube and the Save, 
 seemed to him a proper bulwark to protect Hungary against th« 
 Turks. He transmitted the crown of Hungary to his son-in-law, 
 Albert of Austria, who reigned only two years. The war with 
 the Turks was renewed under Uladislaus of Poland, son of 
 Jagellon, andsuccessor to Albert. That Prince fought a bloody 
 battle with them near Varna in Bulgaria (1444.) The Hungari- 
 ans again sustained a total defeat, and the King himself lost his 
 life in the action. ^"* The safety of Hungary then depended en- 
 tirely on the bravery of the celebrated John Hunniades, governor 
 of the kingdom, during the minority of Ladislaus, the posthu- 
 mous son of Albert of Austria. That general signalized himselt 
 in various actions against the Turks, and obliged Mahomet II. 
 to raise the siege of Belgrade (1456,) where he lost above twenty- 
 five thousand men, and was himself severely Avounded. 
 
 The Greek Empire was gradually approaching its downfall, 
 under the feeble administration of the House of Paleologus, who 
 had occupied the throne of Constantinople since the year 1261. 
 The same vices of which we have already spoken, the great 
 power of the patriarchs and the monks, the rancour of theological 
 disputes, the fury of sectaries and schismatics, and the internal 
 dissension to which they gave rise, aggravated the misfortunes 
 and disorders of the state, and v.'ere instrumental in hastening 
 on its final destruction. John I. and his successors, the last 
 Emperors of Constantinople, being reduced to the sad necessity 
 of paying tribute to the Turks, and marching on military expe- 
 ditions, at the command of the Sultans, owed the preservation 
 of their shattered and declining Empire, for some time, entirely 
 to the reverses of fortune which had befallen the Ottomans ; and 
 to the difliculties which the siege of their capital presented to a 
 barbarous nation unacquainted with the arts of blockade. 
 
 The power of the Ottoman Turks took its rise about the end 
 of the thirteenth century. A Turkish Emir, called Ottoman, 
 or Osman, was its original founder in Asia Minor. He was 
 one of the number of those Emirs, who, after the subversion of 
 the Seljukians of Roum or Iconium, by the Moguls, shared 
 
204 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 amono^ them the spoils of their ancient masters. A part of 
 Bithynia, and the whole country lying- round Mount Olympus. 
 U'l'i to the share of Ottoman, who afterwards formed an alliance 
 with the other Emirs, and invaded the possessions of the Greek 
 Empire, under the feeble reign of the Emperor Andronicus TI. 
 Prasa, or Bursa, the ])rincipal city of Bithynia, was conquered 
 by Ottoman (1327.) He and his successors made it the capital 
 of their new state, which, in course of time, gained the ascen- 
 dency over all the other Turkish sovereignties, formed, like thai 
 of Ottoman, from the ruins of Iconium and the Greek Empire. 
 
 Orchan, the son and successor of Ottoman, instituted the 
 famous Order of the Janissaries, to which in a great measure 
 the Turks owed their success. He took from the Greeks the 
 cities of Nice and Nicomedia in Bithynia ; and, after having 
 subdued most of the Turkish Emirs in Asia Minor, he took the 
 title of Sultan or King, as well as that of Pacha, which is equi- 
 valent to the title of Emperor. His son Soliman crossed the Hel- 
 lespont, by his orders, near the ruins of ancient Troy, and took 
 the city of Gallipoli, in the Thracian Chersonesus (1358.) The 
 conquest of this place opened a passage for the Turks into Eu- 
 rope, when Thrace and the whole of Greece was soon inundate^ 
 by these new invaders. Amurath I., the son and successor oi 
 Orchan, made himself master of Adrianople and the whole 
 of Thrace (1360;) he next attacked Macedonia, Servia and 
 Bulgaria, and appointed the first Beglerbeg, or Governor-genera. 
 i)f Romelia. Several Turkish princes of Asia Minor were 
 obliged to acknowledge his authority ; he made himself master 
 of Kmtaja, the metropolis of Phrygia, which afterwards became 
 the capital of Anatolia, and the residence of the governor of thai, 
 province (13S9.) Amuratli was slain at the battle of Cassova, 
 which he fought with the Despot of Servia, assisted by his nume- 
 rous allies. In this bloody battle the Despot himself was slain, 
 and both sides equally claimed the victory. Bajazet I., the suc- 
 cessor of Amurath, put an end to all the Turkish sovereignties 
 w^hich still subsisted in Asia Minor. He completed the reduc- 
 tion of Bulgaria, and maintained the possession of it by the 
 signal victory which he gained at Nicopolis (1396) over Sigis- 
 mund, King of Hungary. The Greek Empire would have yield- 
 ed to the persevering efforts of that prince, who had maintained, 
 for ten years, the siege of Constantinople, had he not been at- 
 tacked, in the midst of these enterprises, by the famous Timour. 
 the new conqueror of Asia. 
 
 Timour, commonly called Tamerlane, was one of those Moga 
 Emirs who had divided amongst them the sovereignty of Trans- 
 oxiana, after the extinction of the Mogul dynasty of Zagatai. 
 
Death of Joan of Arc. Vol. 1, p. 193. Thi 
 
 English inhumanly burned this Heroine as a 
 
 Sorceress. 
 
 Dmth of Constantine XV. in defending ConHan^ 
 iinople. Vol. 1.. p. 206,. 
 
PERIOD V. A.D. 1300—1453. 205 
 
 Transoxiana was the theatre of his first exploits ; there he 
 usurped the whole power of the Khans, or Emperors of Zagatai, 
 and fixed the capital of his new dominions at the city of 
 Samarcand (1369.) Persia, the whole of Upper Asia, Kipzach, 
 and Hindostan, were vanquished by him in succession ; where- 
 ver he marched, he renewed the same scenes of horror, blood- 
 shed, and carnage, which had marked the footsteps of the 
 first Mogul conqueror."^ Tim our at length attacked the do- 
 minions of Bajazet in Anatolia (1400.) He fought a bloody 
 and decisive battle near Angora, in the ancient Gallogrecia, 
 which proved fatal to the Ottoman Empire. Bajazet sustained 
 an entire defeat, and fell himself into the hands of the con- 
 queror. All Anatolia was then conquered and pillaged by the 
 Moguls, and there Timour fixed his winter quarters. Meantime 
 he treated his captive Bajazet with kindness and generosity; 
 and the anecdote of the iron cage, in which he is said to have 
 confined his prisoner, merits no credit. Sherefeddin Ali, who 
 accompanied Timour in his expedition against Bajazet, makes no 
 mention of it; on the contrary, he avers that Timour consented 
 to leave him the Empire, and that he granted the investiture of 
 it to him and two of his sons. Bajazet did not long survive his 
 misfortune ; he died of an attack of apoplexy (1403,) with which 
 he was struck in the camp of Timour in Caramania. 
 
 Timour, a short time after, formed the project of an expedi- 
 tion into China; but he died on the route in 1405, at the age 
 of sixty-nine. His vast dominions were dismembered after his 
 death. One of his descendants, named Babour, founded a pow- 
 erful Empire in India, the remains of which are still preserved 
 under the name of the Empire of the Great Mogul. The inva- 
 sion of Timour retarded for some time the progress of the Turk- 
 ish Empire. The fatal dissensions, which arose among the sons 
 of Bajazet, set them at open war with each other. At length 
 Amurath II., the son of Mahomet I., and grandson of Bajazet, 
 succeeded in putting a stop to these divisions, and restored the 
 Empire to its primitive splendour. He deprived the Greeks of 
 all the places which still remained in their hands on the Black 
 Sea, along the coast of Thrace, in Macedonia and Thessaly. 
 He even took, by assault, the wall and forts which they had 
 constructed at the entrance of the isthmus of Corinth, and car- 
 ried his ravages to the very centre of the Peloponnesus. 
 
 The two heroes of the Christians, John Hunniades and Scan- 
 derbeg, arrested the progress of the Ottoman Sultan. The 
 former, who was General of the Hungarians, boldly repulsed 
 the Sultan of Servia, whom he was ambitious to conquer. The 
 other, a Greek Prince, who possessed one of the petty states of 
 
 VOL. T. 18 
 
206 
 
 CHAPTER VJ. 
 
 Albania of which Croja was the capital, resisted with succe^ta 
 the repeated attacks of the Turks. Supported by a small bui 
 well disciplined army, and favoured by the mountains with whi.-.h 
 his territory was surrounded, he twice compelled Amurath to 
 raise the siege of Croja. At length appeared Mahomet II., the 
 son and successor of Amurath, {1451.) This Prince, who was 
 raised to the Ottoman throne in the twentieth year of his age, 
 conceived the design of achieving the conquest of the Greek 
 Empire, by the taking of Constantinople. He succeeded in 
 overcoming all the difficulties which obstructed this enterprise, 
 in which several of his predecessors had failed. At the head 
 of an army of three hundred thousand combatants, supported 
 by a fleet of 300 sail, he appeared before that capital, and com- 
 menced the siege on the 6th April 1453. The besieged having 
 only from SOOO to 10,000 men to oppose the superior force of 
 the enemy, yielded to the powerful and redoubled efforts of the 
 Turks, after a vigorous defence of fifty-three days. The city 
 was carried by assault, 29ih May, and delivered up to the un- 
 restrained pillage of the soldiers. Constantine, surnamed 
 Dragases, the last of the Greek Emperors, perished in the first 
 onset ; and all the inhabitants of that great and opulent city 
 were carried into slavery.^*^ Mahomet, on entering the very 
 day of the sack, saw nothing but one vast and dismal solitude. 
 Wishing afterwards to attract new inhabitants to this city, which 
 he proposed to make the seat of his Empire, he guaranteed an 
 entire liberty of conscience to the Greeks who might come 
 to settle there ; and authorized them to proceed to the elec- 
 tion of a new patriarch, whose dignity he enhanced by the 
 honours and privileges which he attached to it. He restored 
 also the fortifications of the city, and, by way of precaution 
 against the armaments of the Venetians and other w^estern 
 nations, which he had some reason to dread, he constructed 
 the. famous castle of the Dardanelles, at the entrance of the 
 Hellespont. 
 
 This conquest was followed by that of Servia, Bosnia, Alba- 
 nia, Greece, and the whole Peloponnesus or Morea, as well as 
 most of the islands of the Archipelago. The Greek Empire of 
 Trebizond, on the coast of Asia Minor, submitted in like man- 
 ner to the law of the conqueror (1466.) David Commenus, the 
 last Emperor, fell by the swords of the Mahometans, and with 
 him perished many of his children and relations. Such a rapid 
 succession of conquests created an alarm among the powers of 
 Christendom. In an assembly, w^iich Pope Pius II. held at 
 Mantua (1459,) he proposed a general association among the 
 powers of the West against the Turks. A crusade was pub- 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 207 
 
 lished by his orders, and he was' on the point of setting out in 
 person at the head of this expedition, when he was suddenly cut 
 off by dealn at Ancona (1464,) where he had appointed the 
 general rendezvous of the confederate troops. This event, add- 
 ed to the terror which the arms of Mahomet had created among 
 the nations of the West, disconcerted the plans of the Crusa- 
 ders, and was the means of dissolving their confederacy. The 
 Turkish Empire thus became firmly established in Europe, and 
 the Tartars of the Crimea put themselves at the same time 
 under the protection of the Porte. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PERIOD VI. 
 
 From the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, to the Peace 
 of Westphalia.^A. d. 1453— 164S. 
 
 The revolution which happened in the fifteenth century en- 
 tirely changed the face of Europe, and introduced a new system 
 of politics. This revolution was not achieved by any combina- 
 tions of profound policy, nor by the operation of that physical 
 force which generally subverts thrones and governments. It 
 was the result of those progressive changes which had been 
 produced in the ideas and understandings of the nations of Eu- 
 rope, by the improvements and institutions of preceding times ; 
 as well as by the invention of paper and printing, of gunpowder, 
 and the mariner's compass. By means of these, the empire of 
 letters and arts was greatly extended, and various salutary im- 
 provements made in the religion, manners, and governments of 
 Europe. The people by degrees shook off the yoke of barba- 
 rism, superstition, and fanaticism, which the revolution of the 
 fifth century had imposed on them ; and from that time the 
 principal States of Europe began to acquire the strength, and 
 gradually to assume the form, which they have since maintained. 
 
 Several extraordinary events, hoAvever, conspired to accelerate 
 these happy changes. The Belles Lettres and the Fine Arts 
 shone out with new splendour, after the downfall of the Greek 
 Empire. The celebrated Petrarch, and his disciples Boccacio 
 and John of Ravenna, were the first that made the Italians ac- 
 quainted with ancient literature, as the true source and standard 
 of good taste. They prepared the way for a vast number of the 
 Grecian literati, who, to escape the barbarity of the Turks, had 
 fled into Italy, where they opened schools, and brought the study 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 of Greek literature into considerable repute. The most celebrated 
 of these Greek refugees were, Manuel Chrysoloras, Cardinal 
 Bessarion, Theodore Gaza, George of Ti'ebizond, John Arg)To- 
 philus, and Demetrius Chalcondyles. Protected by the family 
 of the Medicis at Florence, they assisted in forming those fine 
 geniuses which arose in Italy during the fifteenth century, such 
 as Leonard Aretin, the two Guarini, Poggio of Florence, Ange- 
 lo Politian, and many others. Academies, or Free Societies, 
 were founded at Rome Naples, Venice, Milan, Ferrara and 
 Florence, for the encouragement of ancient literature. 
 
 From Italy the study of the ancient arts passed to the other 
 states of Europe. They soon diffused their influence over every 
 department of literature and science, which by degrees assumed 
 an aspect totally new. The scholastic system, Avhich till then 
 had been in vogue in the pulpits and universities, lost its credit, 
 and gave place to a more refined philosophy. Men learned to 
 discriminate the vices of the feudal system, and sought out the 
 means of correcting them. The sources of disorder and anarchy 
 were gradually dried up, and gave place to better organized 
 governments. Painting, sculpture, and the arts in general, 
 cleared from the Gothic rust which they had contracted during 
 the barbarous ages, and finished after the models of the ancients, 
 shone forth with renewed lustre. Navigation, under the direc- 
 tion of the compass, reached a degree of perfection which at- 
 tracted universal attention ; and v/hile the ancients merely coasted 
 along their own shores in the pursuit of commerce or maritime 
 exploits, we find the modern Europeans extending their naviga- 
 tion over the whole globe, and bringing both hemispheres under 
 their dominion. 
 
 America, unknown to the ancients, was discovered during 
 this period ; as well as the route to India and the East, round 
 the Continent of Africa. The notion of a fourth quarter of the 
 world had long been prevalent among the ancients. We all 
 recollect the Atlantis of Plato, which, according to the assertion 
 of that philosopher, was larger than Asia and Africa ; and we 
 know that ^lian the historian, who lived in the reign of Adrian, 
 affirmed in like manner the existence of a fourth continent of 
 immense extent. This opinion had got so much into fashion, 
 during the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era, that 
 Lactantius and St. Augustine thought themselves bound in duty 
 to combat it in their writings ; inveighing against the antipodes 
 by reasons and arguments, the frivolousness of which is now 
 very generally admitted ; but, whatever were the notions which 
 the ancients might have entertained as to a fourth (quarter of the 
 globe, it is very certain that they knev/ it only from conjecture, 
 and that their navigation never extended so far. 
 
PERIOD VI. 1453—1648. 209 
 
 The honour of this important discovery belongs to modem 
 navigators, more especiaHy to Christopher Cokimbus, a native 
 of Genoa. From the knowledge which this celebrated man had 
 r.cquired in the sciences of Navigation, Astronomy, and Geo- 
 graphy, he was persuaded that there must be another hemisphere 
 lying to the westward, and unknown to Europeans, but neces- 
 sary to the equilibrium of the globe. These conjectures he 
 communicated to several of the courts of Europe, who all re- 
 garded him as a visionary ; and it was not till after many soli- 
 citations, that Isabella, Queen of Castile, granted him three 
 vessels, with which he set sail in quest of the new continent, 
 3d August 1492. After a perilous navigation of some months, 
 he reached the Island Guanahani or Cat Island, one of the Lu- 
 cayos or Bahamas, to which he gave the name of St. Salvador, 
 This discovery was followed soon after by that of the Inlands of 
 St. Domingo and Cuba ; and in the second and third voyages 
 which that navigator undertook to America (149.3-1498,) he dis- 
 covered the mainland or continent of the New World, especially 
 the coast of Paria, as far as the point of Araya, making part of 
 the province known at present by the npane of Cumana. 
 
 The track of the Genoese navigator was followed by a Flo- 
 rentine merchant, named Amerigo Vesputio. Under the con- 
 duct of a Spanish captain, called Alphonso de Ojeda, he made 
 several voyages to the New Yf orld after the year 1497. Diffe- 
 rent coasts of. the continent of Soutii America were visited by 
 liim ; and in the maps of his discoveries which he drew up, he 
 usurped a glory which did not belong to him, by applying his 
 own name to the new continent ; which it has since retained. 
 
 The Spaniards conquered the islands and a great part of the 
 continent of America ; extending their victories along v/ith their 
 discoveries. Stimulated 03/ the thirst of gold, which the New 
 World offered to them in abundance, they committed crimes and 
 barbarities which make humanity shudder. Millions of the 
 unfortunate natives were either massacred or buried in the sea, 
 in spite of the efforts which the Spanish Bishop, Bartholomew 
 de Las Casas, vainly made to arrest the fury of his country- 
 men. ^ In the year after the first discovery of Columbus, Fer- 
 dinand the Catholic, King of Spain, obtained a bull from Pope 
 Alexander VI., by which that Pontiff made him a gift of all the 
 countries discovered, or to be discovered, towards the west and 
 the south ; drawing an imaginary line from one pole to the other, 
 at the distance of a hundred leagues westward of Cape Verd 
 and the Azores. This decision having given ofience to the King 
 of Portugal, who deemed it prejudicial to his discoveries in the 
 East, an accommodation was contriv^ed between the two courts, 
 
 18^^ 
 
210 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 in virtue of which the same Pope, by another Bull (1494,) re- 
 moved the line in question farther west, to the distance of four 
 hundred and seventy leagues ; so that all the countries lying to 
 ihe westward of this line should belong to the King of Spain, 
 while those which might be discovered to the eastward, should 
 fall to the possession of the King of Portugal. ^ It was on this 
 pretended title that the Spaniards founded their right to deniand 
 the submission of the American nations to the Spanish CroAvn. 
 Their principal conquests in the New World commence from 
 the reign of the Emperor Charles V. It was in his name that 
 Ferdinand Cortes, with a mere handful of troops, overthrew the 
 vast Empire of Mexico (1521 ;) the last Emperors of which, 
 Montezuma and Gatimozin, were slain, and a prodigious num- 
 ber of the Mexicans put to the sword. The conqueror of Peru 
 was Francis Pizarro (1533.) He entered the country, at the 
 head of 300 men, at the very time when Atabalipa or Atahualpa 
 was commencing his reign as Incas, or Sovereign of Peru. That 
 prince was slain, and the whole of Peru subdued by the Spaniards. 
 
 [The Spaniards founded various colonies and establishments 
 in that part of America which they had subjected to their do- 
 minion. The character of these colonies diliered from that of 
 the establishments which the Portuguese had founded in India, 
 and -he Dutch, the English, and the French, in different parts 
 of the world. As the Spaniards were by no means a commer- 
 cial nation, the precious metals alone were the object of their 
 cupidity. They applied themselves, Vn consequence, to the 
 working of mines ; they imported negroes to labour in them, 
 and made slaves of the natives. In process of time, when the 
 number of Europeans had increased in these countries, and the 
 precious metals became less abundant, the Spanish colonists 
 were obliged to employ themselves in agriculture, and in raising 
 what is commonly called colonial produce. What we have now 
 said, accounts for the limitations and restrictions v/hich were 
 imposed on the trade of these colonies by the Spanish govern- 
 ment ; they wished to reserve to themselves exclusively the pro- 
 fits of the mines. Commerce, which at first had been confined 
 to the single entrepot of Seville, fell into the hands of a small 
 number of merchants, to the entire exclusion of foreigners. As 
 for the Spanish possessions in America, the}^ were planted with 
 Episcopal and Metropolitan Sees, Missions, Convents, and Uni- 
 versities. The Inquisition was also introduced ; but the hierar- 
 chy which was founded there, instead of augmenting the power 
 of the Popes, remained in a state of complete dependence upon 
 the Sovereigns.] 
 
 The discovery of Brazil belongs to the Portuguese. Alvares 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 21 . 
 
 Cabral, the commander of their fleet, while on his route to India; 
 vvas driven, by contrary winds, on the coast of Brazil (1500,) and 
 took possession of the country in name of the King of Por- 
 tu2;al. This colony, in the course of time, became highly im- 
 portant, from the rich mines of diamonds and gold which were 
 discovered there. 
 
 The Spaniards and Portuguese were at first the only mast^r^ 
 of America ; but in a short time, establishments were formed 
 there by some of the other maritime nations of Europe. The 
 first English colony was that of Virginia, which was conducted 
 to North America by Sir Walter Raleigh (15S4,) but it did not 
 gain a permanent settlement till the reign of James I. This was 
 afterwards followed by several other colonies which had settled 
 in that part of the American continent, on account of the perse- 
 cution carried on by the Stuart Kings against the non-conform- 
 ists. The first settlements of the English in the Antilles, were 
 those which they formed in the Islands of Barbadoes and St. 
 Christopher (1629 ;) to these they added the Island of Jamaica, 
 which they took from the Spa^niards (1655.) The date of the 
 French establishments in Canada, is as old as the reigns of 
 Francis I. and Henrj^IV., in the years 1534 and 1604. The 
 city of Quebec was founded in 1608. It Vv^as at a later period 
 when the French established themselves in the Antilles. The 
 origin of their colonies in Martinique and Gaudaloupe, is gene- 
 rally referred to the year 1635. They gained a footing in St. 
 Domingo as early as 1630, but the flourishing state of that re- 
 markable colony did not begin, properly speaking, til] 1722. All 
 the establishments Vv^hich the English and French had formed in 
 Am.erica, were purely agricultural ; and in this- respect they Avere 
 distinguished from the Spanish colonies. 
 
 The discovery of a passage by sea to the East Indies round 
 Africa, belongs also to the Portuguese. It forms one of those 
 great events v/hich often take their first impulse from very slen- 
 der causes. John I. surnamed the Bastard, the new founder of 
 the kingdom of Portugal, being desirous of affording to his sons 
 an opportunity of signalizing themselves, and earning the honour 
 of knighthood, planned an expedition against the Moors in Africa; 
 he equipped a fleet, with which he landed in the neighbourhood 
 of Ceuta (1415,) of which he soon made himself master, and 
 created his sons knights in the grand mosque of that city. After 
 this event, the Portuguese began to have a taste for navigation 
 and maritime discoveries. In this they were encouraged by the 
 Infant Don Henry, Duke of Viseu, and one oi the sons of King 
 John, who had particularly distinguished himself in the expedi- 
 tion of which we have just spoken. That prince, who was Avell 
 
212 CHAPTER VU. 
 
 skilled in mathematics and the art of navigation, established his 
 residence at Gape St. Vincent, on the western extremity of Al- 
 garva. There he ordered vessels to be constructed at his own 
 expense, and sent them to reconnoitre the coasts of Africa. From 
 that time the Portuguese discovered, in succession, the Islands of 
 Madeira (1420,) the Canaries (1424,) the Azores (1431,) and 
 Cape Verd (1460.) There they founded colonies; and, ad- 
 vancing by degrees along the southern shores of Africa, they 
 extended their navigation as far as the coasts of Guinea and Ni- 
 gritia. The islands which they had newly discovered, were 
 confirmed to the Kings of Portugal by several of the Popes. The 
 Canaries, however, having been claimed by the Spaniards, a 
 treaty was negotiated between the two kingdoms, in virtue of 
 which these islands were abandoned to Spain (1481.) 
 
 It was under the reign of John 11. that the Portuguese ex- 
 tended their navigation as far as the most southerly point of 
 Africa. Bartholomew Diaz, their admiral, Avas the first who 
 doubled the Cape, which he called the Storm}" Cape ; a name 
 which King John changed into that of Good Hope. At length, 
 after twelve years of toils, Vasco di Gama, another Portuguese 
 admiral, had the glory of carr3dng his national flag as far as 
 India. He landed' at the Port of Calicut (149S,) on the Ma- ' 
 labar coast, in the third year of the reign of Emmanuel, Several 
 other celebrated Portuguese navigators, such as Almeida, Albu- 
 querque, Acunga, Silveira, and de Castro, follovv^ing the tract of 
 Vasco di Gama, laid the foundation of the power of the Portu- 
 guese in India. Francis Almeida defeated the fleet of the 
 Mameluke Sultan of Egypt, in conjunction with that of the 
 Kings of India (1509.) Alfonzo Albuquerque conquered Goa 
 (1511,) and made it the capital of all the Portuguese settlements 
 in that part of the world. About the same time, the Portuguese 
 established themselves in the Molucca Islands, with some oppo- 
 sition on the part of the Spaniards. Anthony Silveira signalized 
 himself by his able defence of Diu (1535.) He repulsed the 
 Turks, and ruined the fleet which Soliman the Great had sent 
 to the siege of that place (1547.) The King of Cam.bay having 
 resumed the siege, he e,xperienced likewise a total defeat from 
 John de Castro, who then conquered the whole kingdom of Diu. 
 
 The Portuguese found powerful kingdoms in India, and 
 nations rich and civilized. There, nature and the industry of 
 the natives, produced or fabricated those articles of commerce 
 and merchandise which have since become -an object of luxury 
 to Europeans; at least until the activity of the Venetians had 
 furnished the inhabitants of this part of the world with them in 
 such abundance, as to make them regarded as articles of abso- 
 
1 ERioD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 213 
 
 lute necessity. This circumstance was the reason why the Por- 
 tuguese never formed any other than mercantile establishments 
 in India, which they erected on the coasts, Avithout extenamg 
 them into the interior. The working of the mines, and the cares 
 of agricuhure, Avere abandoned entirely to the natives. 
 
 This era produced a total change in the commerce of the East. 
 Formerly the Venetians were the people that carried on the 
 principal traffic to India. The JeAvish or Mahometan merchants 
 purchased at Goa, Calicut, and Cochin, those spiceries and other 
 productions of the East, which they imported into Syria by the 
 Persian Gulf, and into Egypt by the Eed Sea. The}^ were then 
 conveyed by a laborious and expensive land-carriage, either to 
 the port of Alexandria, or that of Bairout in Syria. Thither 
 the Venetians repaired in quest of the luxuries of India ; they 
 fixed their price, and distributed them over all Europe. This 
 commerce proved a source of vast wealth to these republicans : 
 it furnished them Avith the means of maintaining a formida- 
 ble marine, and of very often dictating the laAv to the other 
 European poAA^ers ; but after the discoA^ery of the noAv passage 
 round the Cape, and the conquests of the Portuguese in India; 
 the Venetians saAV themselves compelled to abandon a traffic in 
 which they could not compete AAdth the Portuguese. This was 
 a terrible bloAv to that republic, and the principal cause of its 
 doAAmfall. The Portuguese, hoAvever, did not profit by this ex- 
 clusive commerce as they might haA'^e done. They did not, like 
 other nations, constitute Companies, AAdth exclusive commercial 
 privileges ; they carried it on by means of fleets, AA'hich the go- 
 vernment regularly despatched at fixed periods. In this manner, 
 the commodities of the East AA^ere imported to Lisbon ; but the 
 indolence of the native merchants left to other nations the care 
 of distributing them through the markets of Europe. The Dutch 
 Avere the people that profited most by this branch of industry ; 
 they cultiA^ated it AAuth so much success, and under such favour- 
 able circumstances, that they at length succeeded in excluding 
 the Portuguese themseh'es from this lucrative traffic, by dis- 
 possessing them of their colonies in the East. 
 
 If the oA^ents AA'hich aA' e have noAV briefly detailed proved fatal 
 to the Venetians, and afflicting to humanity, by the AA^ars and 
 misfortunes AA'hich they occasioned, it is neA^ertheless certain, 
 that commerce and navigation gained prodigiously by these new 
 discoveries. The Portuguese, after haA-ing maintained for some 
 time the exclusive possession of the navigation and trade of ihe 
 East, found afterAA'ards poAverful competitors in the Spaniards, 
 the Dutch, English, French, and Danes, aa'Iio all established 
 mercantile connexions both in India and America. Hence in- 
 
214 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 numerable sources of wealth were opened to the industry of the 
 Europeans ; and their commerce, formerly limited to the Medi- 
 terranean, the Baltic, and the Northern Seas, and confined to a 
 few cities in Italy, Flanders, and Germany, was now% by means 
 of their colonies in Africa, and the East and West Indies, ex- 
 tended to all parts of the globe. * The intercourse of the Por- 
 tuguese with China was as early as the year 1517, and with 
 Japan it began in 1542. Ferdinand Magellan undertook the 
 first voyage round the world (1519,) and his example found 
 afterwards a number of imitators. ^ By degrees the maritime 
 power of Europe assumed a formidable aspect ; arts and manu- 
 factures were multiplied ; and states, formerly poor, became rich 
 and flourishing. Kingdoms at length found in their commerce, 
 resources for augmenting their strength and their influence, and 
 carrying into execution their projects of aggrandizement and 
 conquest. 
 
 [Among the causes of this revolution which took place in 
 commerce, it is necessary to take into account a discovery ap- 
 parently of trivial importance, but Avhich exercised a most ex- 
 traordinary influence over the civilization of Europe, viz. that 
 of horse-posts for the conveyance of letters. Before the sixteenth 
 century, the communications between distant countries were 
 few and difficult. Messengers, travelling on short journeys, on 
 foot or on horseback, were their only couriers. About the be- 
 ginning of the seventeenth century, and during the reign of 
 Maximilian I., an Italian gentleman of the name of Francis de 
 la Tour et Taxis, established the first posts in the Low Coun- 
 tries. Their object at first was merel}?- for the conveyance of 
 letters by posts or post, for which he provided regular relays. 
 By and by, for the sake of despatch, the use of horses was in- 
 troduced, placed at certain distances. From the Low Countries 
 this system found its way into Germany, where its profits 
 were secured to the family of Taxis by imperial grants ; and 
 from thence it spread over every civilized country in the world.] 
 
 A revolution not less important, is that which took place in re- 
 ligion about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The abuses 
 which disgraced the court of Rome, the excess of the power, and 
 the depravity of the morals of the clergy, had excited a very ge- 
 neral discontent. A reformation had for a long time been deemed 
 necessary, but there was a diflference of opinion as to the me- 
 thod of effecting it. The common notion was, that this task 
 could be legally accomplished only by General Councils, con- 
 voked under the authority of the Popes. It was easy, however, 
 to perceive the inefficacy of any remedy left at the disposal of 
 those very persons from whom the evil proceeded ; and the un- 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 216 
 
 successful results of the Councils of Constance and Basle, had 
 taught the people, that, in order to obtain redress for the abuses 
 of which they complained, it was necessary to have recourse ro 
 some other scheme than that of General Councils. This scheme 
 was attempted by the Eeformers of the sixteenth century, who 
 were persuaded, that, in order to restrain the exorbitant power 
 of the clergy, they ought to reject the infallibility of the Pope, 
 as well as that of General Councils ; admitting no other autho- 
 rity in ecclesiastical matters, than that of the sacred scriptures, 
 interpreted by the lights of reason and sound criticism. 
 
 The immediate and incidental cause of this change in reli- 
 gion, Avas the enormous abuse of indulgences. Pope Leo X., 
 who was of the family of the Medicis, and well known for his 
 extensive patronage of literature and the fine arts, having ex- 
 hausted the treasury of the church by his luxury and his mu- 
 nificence, had recourse to the expedient of indulgences, which 
 several of his predecessors had already adopted as a means of 
 recruiting their finances. The ostensible reason was, the ba- 
 silica of St. Peter's at Rome, the completion of which was 
 equally interesting to the whole of Christendom. Offices for 
 the sale of indulgences were established in all the different 
 states of Europe. The purchasers of these indulgences ob- 
 tained absolution of their sins, and exemption from the pains of 
 purgatory after death. The excesses committed by the emis- 
 saries who had the charge of those indulgences, and the scan- 
 dalous means which they practised to extort money, brought on 
 the schism to which we are about to advert. 
 
 Two theologians, Martin Luther, and Ulric Zuingle, opposed 
 these indulgences, and inveighed against them in their sermons 
 and their writings ; the former at Wittemberg in Saxony ; the 
 other, first at Einsiedeln, and afterwards at Zurich, in Switzer- 
 land. Leo X. at first held these adversaries in contempt. He 
 did not attempt to allay the storm, until the minds of men, ex- 
 asperated hj the heat of dispute, were no longer disposed to 
 listen to the voice of calmness and conciliation. The means 
 which he subsequently tried to induce Luther to retract having 
 proved abortive, he issued a thundering Bull against him (1520,) 
 which, so far from abating the courage of the Reformer, tended, 
 on the contrary, to embolden him still more. He publicly burnt 
 the Pope's Bull, together with the Canon Law, at Wittemberg 
 (10th December,) in presence of a vast concourse of doctors 
 and students from different nations, whom he had assembled for 
 the purpose. From that moment Luther and Zuingle never 
 ceased to preach against the abuses of the indulgences. They 
 completely undermined this system of abomination, and even 
 
216 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 attacked various other dogmas and institutions of the Romish 
 church, such as monastic vows, the ceHbacy of the priests, the 
 f^upremacy of the Pope and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. These 
 t»vo celebrated men, who agreed in the greater part of their 
 opinions, soon attracted a number of followers. The people, 
 long ago prepared to shake off a yoke which had been so op- 
 pressive, applauded the zeal of the Reformers ; and the new 
 opinions, promptly and easily diffused by means of the press, 
 were received with enthusiasm throughout a great part of 
 Europe, 
 
 John Calvin, another Reformer, trod nearly in the footsteps 
 of Zuingle. He was a native of Noyon in Picardy, and began to 
 distinguish himself at Paris in 1532. Being compelled to leave 
 that city on account of his opinions, he withdrew to Switzerland 
 (1538;) thence he passed to Strasbourg, where he Vv^as nomi- 
 nated to the office of French preacher. His erudition and his 
 pulpit talents gained him disciples, and gave the name of Cal- 
 vinists to those who had at first been called Zuinglians. The 
 Lutherans, as well as the Zuinglians or Calvinists in Germany, 
 were comprehended under the common appellation of Protest- 
 ants, ,on account of the Protest which they took against the 
 decrees of the Diet of Spire (1529,) w^hich forbade them to 
 make any innovations in religion, or to abolish the mass, until 
 the meeting of a General Council. The name of Lutherans 
 was applied more particularly to those who adhered to the 
 Confession of Augsburg, that is, the Confession of Faith which 
 they presented to the Emperor Charles V., at the famous Diet 
 of Augsburg, held in 1580. 
 
 In this manner a great part of Europe revolted from the 
 Pope and the Romish Church, and embraced either the doc- 
 trines of Luther, or those of Zuingle and Calvin. The half oi 
 Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Prussia, and Livonia, 
 adopted the Confession of Augsburg ; wdiile England, Scotland, 
 the United Provinces, and the principal part of Switzerland, 
 declared themselves in favour of the opinions of Zuingle and 
 Calvin. The new doctrines made likewis(3 great progress in 
 France, Hungary, Transylvania, Bohemia, Silesia, and Poland. 
 
 This revolution did not convulse merely the Church; it in- 
 fluenced the politics, and changed the form of government, in 
 many of the States of Europe. The same men who believed 
 themselves authorized to correct abuses and imperfections in re- 
 ligion, undertook to reform political abuses with the same free- 
 dom. New States sprung up ; and princes took advantage of 
 these commotions to augment their own power and authority. 
 Constituting themselves heads of the Church and of the religion 
 
Landing of Columhus. Vol. 1, p. 209. 
 
 LiUthsr burning the Pope's Bull. Vol. 1, p. 215; 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 217 
 
 of their country, they shook off the fetters of priestly influence ; 
 while the clergy ceased to form a counteracting or control I inir 
 power in the State. The freedom of opinion which characterized 
 the Protestant faith, awoke the human mind from its intellectual 
 lethargy, infused new energy into it, and thus contributed to the 
 progress of civilization and science in Europe. Even the systems 
 of public instruction underwent a considerable change. The 
 schools were reformed, and rendered more perfect. A multitude 
 of nev/ seminaries of education, academies, and universities 
 were founded in all the Protestant States. This revolution, 
 however, w^as not accomplished without great and various calami- 
 ties. A hierarchy, such as that of the Church of Rome, sup- 
 ported by all that was dignified and venerable, could not be 
 attacked, or shaken to its foundation, without involving Europe 
 in the convulsion. Hence we find that wars and factions arose 
 in Germany, France, the Low Countries, Switzerland, Hungary, 
 and Poland. The march of reformation w^as every where stain- 
 ed with blood. 
 
 The means that were employed to bring the quarrels of the 
 Church to an amicable conclusion, tended rather to exasperate 
 than allay the mischief ; and if the conferences among the clergy 
 of different persuasions failed, it was not to be expected that a 
 better agreement, or a union of parties, could be founded on the 
 basis of a General Council. The Protestants demanded an un- 
 controlled liberty for the Council. They wished it to be assem- 
 bled by order of the Emperor, in one of the cities of the Empire ; 
 and that their divines should have a voice and a seat in its meet- 
 ings. The Pope was to submit to its authority, and all matters 
 should there be decided according to the rule of the sacred "Scrip-' 
 tures. These terms were by no means agreeable to the' Catho- 
 lics. Paul III. summoned a Council at Jylantua (1537,) and 
 another at Vicenza (1538;) but both of these convocations were 
 ineffectual, as was also the proposed reform, in the Court of Rome, 
 made by the same Pontiff. It was resolved at last, at the instance ' 
 of the Catholic princes (1542,) to convoke the Council of Trent, 
 though the opening of it was deferred till 1545. 
 
 This famous Council met with two interruptions ; the first 
 took place in 1547, when the Pope, who had become alarmed at 
 the success of the Imperial arms, transferred the Council to Bo- 
 logna, on pretence that an epidemic distemper had broken out at 
 Trent. All the prelates of the Emperor's party rem.ained at 
 Trent, in obedience to the command of their master, who pro- 
 tested loudly against the assembly at Bologna, which neverthe- 
 less held its ninth and tenth Sessions at that city. This latter 
 Jouncil having been dissolved by Pau. ^U, fl548,) its affairs 
 
 VOL. I. 19 "^ 
 
218 
 
 CHAPTER VII, 
 
 continued in a languid state for the next two years, wnen Pope 
 Julius III., the successor of Paul, revived it, and transferred it 
 once more to Trent (1551.) Another interruption took place ai 
 the time when Maurice, Elector of Saxony, had made himseU 
 master of Augsburg, and was marching against the Emperor 
 towards Inspruck. It was then agreed to prorogue the Council, 
 now in its sixteenth Session, for two years ; and to assemble 
 again at the end of that period, if peace should happen in the 
 mean time to be established. At length, in 1560, Pius IV., 
 summoned the Council, for the third and last time, to meet at 
 Trent. The session, however, did not commence till 1562 ; and 
 next year its sittings were finally terminated. 
 
 In this Council, matters were not treated in the same way as 
 they had been at Constance and Basle, where each nation delibe- 
 rated separately, and then gave their suffrage in common, so that 
 the general decision was taken according to the votes of the dif- 
 ferent nations. This form of deliberation was not at all palatable 
 to the Court of Rome, who, in order to gain a preponderance in 
 thfe assembly, thought proper to decide, by a majority of the votes 
 of every individual member of the Council. The Protestaiil 
 princes rejected entirely the authority of this Council; which, 
 far from terminating the dispute, made the schism v/ider than 
 ever. Its decisions were even condemmed by several of the Ca- 
 tholic sovereigns. In France, more especially, it was never 
 formally published, and they expressly excluded such of its acts 
 of discipline as they considered contrary to the laws of the king- 
 dom, to the authority of the sovereign, and the maxims of the 
 Galilean Church. 
 
 It is nevertheless certain that this Council was instrumental in 
 restoring the tottering power of the Roman pontiffs ; v.'hich receiv- 
 ed at the same time a new support by the institution of the Order 
 of the Jesuits. The founder of this order w^as Ignatius Loyola, 
 who v/as born at the Castle of Loyola in Guipuscoa. He made 
 the declaration of his vows in the church of Montmartre at Paris 
 (1534,) and obtained from Paul III. the confirmation of his new 
 Society, This order was bound, by a particular vow of obedi- 
 ence, more intimately to the Court of Rome ; and became one of 
 the main instruments of its enormous power. From Spain the 
 Society was speedil}^ propagated in all the other Catholic States ; 
 they filled cities and courts with their emissaries ; undertook 
 missions to China, Japan, and the Indies ; and underihe special 
 protection of the See of Rome, they soon surpassed in credit 
 and wealth every other religious order. 
 
 In the midst of these changes which took place in civil and 
 ecclesiastical matters, we find a new system arising in the poll- 
 
PERIOD. VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 219 
 
 tical government of Europe ; the consequence of those new ties 
 and relations which had been established amongst the different 
 powers since the close of the fifteenth century. Prior to this 
 date, most of the European States were feeble, because insulated 
 and detached. Occupied with their own particular interests and 
 quarrels, the nations were little acquainted with each other, and 
 seldom had any influence on their mutual destinies. The faults 
 and imperfections inherent in the feudal system had pervaded all 
 Europe, and crippled the power and the energies of government. 
 The sovereigns, continually at war with their factious and power- 
 ful vassals, could neither form plans of foreigii conquest, nor carry 
 them into execution; and their military operations were in ge- 
 neral without unity or effect. [Hence it happened, that in the 
 middle ages, changes were produced in the different States, 
 which so little alarmed their n&ighbours, that it may be said 
 they were scarcely conscious of their existence. Such were the 
 conquests of the English in France, which might certainly have 
 compromised the independence of Europe.] 
 
 A combination of causes and circumstances, both physical 
 and moral, produced a revolution in the manners and govern- 
 ments of most of the Continental States. The disorders of 
 feudal anarchy gradually disappeared ; constitutions better or- 
 ganized were introduced ; the temporary levies of vassals were 
 succeeded by regular and permanent armies ; which contributed 
 to humble the exorbitant povv^er of the nobles and feudal barons. 
 The consequence was, that States formerly weak and exhausted, 
 acquired strength ; while their sovereigns, freed from the tur- 
 bulence and intimidation of their vassals, began to extend their 
 political views, and to form projects of aggrandizement and 
 conquest. 
 
 From this period the reciprocal influence of the European 
 States on each other began to be manifest. Those who were 
 afraid for their independence, would naturally conceive the idea 
 of a balance of power capable of protecting them against the in 
 roads of ambitious and warlike princes. Hence those frequent 
 embassies and negotiations ; those treaties of alliance, subsidies, 
 and guarantees ; those wars carried on by a general combina- 
 tion of powers, who deemed themselves obliged to bear a part 
 in the common cause ; and hence too those projects for establish- 
 ing checks and barriers on each other, which occupied the dif- 
 ferent courts of Europe. 
 
 [The system of equilibrium or the balance of power, originated 
 in Italy. That peninsula, separated from the rest of the continent 
 by the sea and the Alps, had outstripped the other countries in 
 the career of civilization. There a multitude of independent 
 
220 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 States had been formed, unequal in point of power and extent ; 
 but none of them had sufficient strength to resist the united 
 power of the rest, or usurp dominion over them ; while at the same 
 time, none of them were so contemptible in point of weakness, 
 as not to be of some weight in the scale. Hence that rivalry and 
 jealousy among them, Avhich was incessantly watching over the 
 progress of their neighbours ; and hence, too, a series of wars 
 and confederacies, whose object was to maintain some degree of 
 equality among them ; or at least a relative proportion, which 
 might inspire the weaker with courage and confidence. The 
 Popes who were exceedingly active in these transactions, em- 
 ployed all their policy to prevent any foreign power from inter- 
 fering, or establishing itself in Italy. The doctrine of political 
 equilibrium passed the Alps about the end of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. The House of Austria; which had suddenly risen to a 
 high pitch of grandeur, was the first against which its efibrts 
 were directed.] 
 
 This House, which derived its origin from Rodolph of Haps- 
 burg, who was elected Emperor of Germany towards the end of 
 the thirteenth century, owed its greatness and elevation chiefly 
 to the Imperial dignity, and the different family alliances which 
 this same dignity procured it. Maximilian of Austria, son of 
 the Emperor Frederic III., married Mary of Eursnndy (1477,) 
 daughter and heiress of Charles the Rash, last Duke of Bur- 
 gundy. This alliance secured to Austria the whole of the Low 
 Countries, including Franche-Comte, Flanders, and Artois. 
 Philip the Fair, the son of this marriage, espoused the Infanta 
 of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castille. They 
 had two sons, Charles and Ferdinand, the former of v/hom, 
 known in history by the name of Charles V., inherited the Low 
 Countries in right of his father Philip (1506.) On the death of 
 Ferdinand, his maternal grandfather (1516,) he became heir to 
 the whole Spanish succession, which comprehended the king- 
 doms of Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, together with 
 Spanish America. To these vast possessions were added his 
 partimonial dominions in Austria, which were transmitted to 
 him by his paternal grandfather the Emperor Maximilian I. 
 About the same time (1519,) the Imperial dignity was conferred 
 on this prince b}' the electors ; so that Europe had not seen, 
 since the time of Charlemagne, a monarchy so powerful as that 
 of Charles V. 
 
 This Emperor concluded a treaty with his brother Ferdinand, 
 by whi.'h he ceded to him all his hereditary possessions in Ger- 
 many. The two brothers thus became the founders of the two 
 principal branches of the House of Austria, viz. that of Spain, 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 221 
 
 which began with Charles V., (called Charles I. of Spain,) and 
 erided with Charles II. (1700;) and that of Germany, of which 
 Ferdinand I. was the ancestor, and which became extinct in the 
 male line in the Emperor Charles VI. (1740.) These two 
 branches, closely allied to each other, acted in concert for the 
 advancement of their reciprocal interests ; moreover they gained 
 each their own separate advantages by the marriage connexions 
 which they formed. Ferdinand I. of the German line, married 
 Anne (1521,) sister of Louis King of Hungary and Bohemia, 
 who having been slain by the Turks at the battle of Mohacs 
 (1526,) these two kingdoms devolved to Ferdinand of the House 
 of Austria. Finally, the marriage which Charles V. contracted 
 with the Infant Isabella, daughter of Emmanuel, King of Por- 
 tugal, procured Philip II. of Spain, the son of that marriage, 
 the whole Portug-uese monarchy," to which he succeeded on the 
 death of Henry, called the Cardinal (1580.) So vast an ag- 
 grandizement of power alarmed the sovereigns of Europe, who 
 began to suspect that the Austrian Princes, of the Spanish and 
 (lerman line, aimed at universal monarchy. The unbounded 
 ambition of Charles V., and his son Philip II., as well as that 
 of Ferdinand II., grandson of Ferdinand I., tended to confirm 
 these suspicions ; and all felt the necessity of uniting to oppose 
 a barrier to this overwhelming power. For a long time the 
 whole policy of Europe, its wars and alliances, had no other 
 object than to humble the ambition of one nation, whose pre- 
 ponderance seemed to threaten the liberty and independence of 
 the rest. 
 
 [The system of political equilibrium, which from this period 
 became the leading object of every European cabinet, until it 
 was undermined by unjust and arbitrary interferences, and 
 threatened to bury the independence of Europe in its ruins, did 
 not aim at maintaining among the different states an equality 
 of power or territorial possession. This would have been chi- 
 merical. The object of this system was to maintain a perfect 
 equality of rights, in virtue of which the weaker might enjoy 
 hi security all that they held by a just claim. It was purely a 
 defensive and preservative system ; nor did it affect to put an 
 end to all wars ; it was directed solely against the ambition and 
 usurpation of conquerors. Its fundamental principle was lo 
 prevent any one state from acquiring sufficient power to resist 
 the united efforts of the others.] 
 
 France was the leading power that undertook the task of re- 
 gulating the balance against the House of Austria. Francis I. 
 and Henry II. used every effort to excite combinations against 
 Charles V. Francis was the first sovereign in Europe that 
 
 19 # 
 
222 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 entered into treaties of alliance with the Turks against Austria : 
 and in this way the Porte was, to a certain extent, am-algamated 
 with the political system of Europe. So long as their object 
 was to subvert the feudal aristocracy, and the Protestant reli- 
 gion in France, Francis and Henry were strenuous defenders 
 of the Germanic system, and extended their protection to tiie 
 sovereigns of the Protestant States of the Empire, under the 
 persuasion that all Europe would bend to the Austrian yoke, if 
 the Emperors of that House should succeed in rendering theii 
 power absolute and hereditary in the Empire. Henry IV. 
 Louis XIII., and the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, adopted 
 the same line of policy.^ They joined in league with the 
 Protestant Princes, and armed by turns the greater part of Eu- 
 rope against Austria, and the Emperor Ferdinand II., whose 
 ambitious designs threatened to subvert the constitution of the 
 Empire. This was the grand motive for the famous Thirty 
 Years' War, which was put an end to by the treaties of West- 
 phaHa (1648,) and of the Pyrenees (1659.) France succeeded, 
 not however without prodigious efforts, in supporting the ba- 
 lance against Austria ; while the federative system of the 
 Empire, consolidated by the former of these treaties, and gua- 
 ranteed by France and Sweden, became a sort of artificial bar- 
 rier, for preserving the equilibrium and the general tranquillity 
 of Europe. 
 
 It was during this period that almost every kingdom in Eu- 
 rope changed their condition, and assumed, by degrees, the form 
 which they have still retained. The German Empire continued 
 to experience those calamities to which every government is 
 exposed, when its internal springs have lost their vigour and 
 activity. Private wars and feuds, which the laws authorized, 
 were then regarded as the chief bulwark of the national liberty ; 
 the noblesse and the petty states in general, knew no other jus- 
 tice than what the- sword dispensed. Oppression, rapine and 
 violence, were become universal; comm.erce languished; and 
 the different provinces of the Empire presented one melan- 
 choly scene of ruin and desolation. The expedients that were 
 tried to remedy these disorders, the truces, the treaties (called 
 the Peace of God,) and the different confederacies of the Im- 
 perial states, served only to palliate, but not to cure the evil. 
 The eflbrts which some of the Emperors made to establish the 
 public tranquillity on some solid basis, proved equally abortive. 
 
 It was not until near the end of the fifteenth century that the 
 states of the Empire, impressed with juster notions of govern- 
 ment and civil subordination, consented to the total and entire 
 ;ibolit:!on of fends and intestine wars This wa« accomplished 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 14.53—1648. 223 
 
 upder the reign of Maximilian I., by the Perpetual TiMic 
 Peace, drawn up at the Diet of Worms in 1495. All violent 
 means of redress among the members of ihe Germanic Bcdi- 
 were rigorously interdicted ; and all who had any complaint!- m 
 make against each other, were enjoined to apply to the regulr-r 
 courts of justice. This ordinance of the Public Peace, whi;*^ 
 was afterwards renewed and enlarged in several diets, has beeii 
 regarded, smce that tim.e, as one of the principal and funda- 
 mental laws of the Empire. 
 
 The establishment of the Public Peace rendered a reforma- 
 tion necessary in the administration of justice, which had long 
 been in a languid and disordered state. For this purpose, the 
 Imperial Chamber, which sat at first at Spire, and was after- 
 wards transferred to Wetzlar, was instituted at the Diet of 
 Worms (1495.) Its object was to judge of any differences that 
 might arise among the immediate mxembers of the Germanic 
 body; as also to receive any appeals that might be referred to 
 them from the subordinate tribunals. It was composed of a 
 chief or head, called the Judge of the Chamber, and of a cer- 
 tain number of Assessors chosen from among the jurists and 
 independent nobility. The institution of the Aulic Council, 
 another sovereign court of the Empire, followed soon after that 
 of the Imperial Chamber. Its origin is generally referred to 
 the Diet of Cologne (1512.) Of the same date also is the plan 
 which they adopted of dividing the Empire into ten Circles, as 
 a proper expedient for maintaining the public peace, and faci- 
 litating the execution of the sentences of the two Imperial 
 Courts. Over each of these circles ^\•e•re placed princes, direc- 
 tors, and colonels, whose duty it was to superintend and com- 
 mand the troops of their respective districts. 
 
 The custom of Imperial Capitulations was introduced at the 
 time of the accession of Charles V. to the Imperial throne (1519.'> 
 The Electors, apprehensive of the formidable powder of that 
 prince, thought proper to limit it by a capitulation, which the}^ 
 made him sign and solemnly swear to observe. This compact 
 between the new Emperor and the Electors, renewed under every 
 subsequent reign, has been always considered as the grand char- 
 ter of the liberties of the Germanic body. 
 
 The dissensions on the score of religion that happened about 
 the beginning of the sixteenth century, gave rise to a long series 
 of troubles and civil wars, which proved of advantage to the 
 House of Austria, by the confirmation of their power in the Em- 
 pire. The first of these is known by the name of the war of 
 Smalcalden, of which the following is a brief sketch. The Em- 
 peror Charles V.. in the first diet which he held at Worms (1521,) 
 
224 Cn AFTER VII. 
 
 hpd issued an edict of proscription against Luther and his adhe- 
 rents, ordaining that they should be treated as enemies of the 
 Empire, and prosecuted to the utmost rigour of the law. The 
 execution of this edict was incessantly urged by the Emperor 
 and the Pope's legates, until the whole Empire was in a state of 
 combustion. The Catholic princes, at the instigation of Cardi' 
 nal Campcggio, assembled at Ratisbonne (1524,) and there 
 adopted measures of extreme rigour, for putting the edict into 
 execution within their respective states. The case was by no 
 means the same with the princes and states who adhered to the 
 Reformation, or who gave it their protection. To apply the con- 
 ditions of the edict to them, it would have been necessary to 
 come to a ci\'il Avar, which the more prudent members of the 
 Germanic body sought to avoid. This religious schism was still 
 more aggravated at the Diet of Augsburg, where the Emperor 
 issued a decree, condemning the Confession of Faith which the 
 Protestant princes had presented to him. This decree limited a 
 time within which they were commanded, in so far as regarded 
 the articles in dispute, to conform to the doctrines of the Catholit 
 Church. Thus urged to extremities, the Protestant leaders de- 
 termined to assemble at Smalcalden before the end of this very 
 year (1530,) where they laid the foundation of a TJjiion^ ox de- 
 fensive alliance, which was afterwards renewed at different times. 
 John Frederic, Elector of Saxony, and Philip, Landgrave of 
 Hesse, declared themselves chiefs of this Union. In opposition 
 to this confederacy, the Catholic princes instituted the Holy 
 League; so called because its object was the defence of the 
 Catholic religion. 
 
 Every thing seemed to announce a civil war, when a new 
 irruption of the Turks into Hungary and Austria, induced the 
 Catholics to sign, at Nuremberg (1530,) a truce, or accommoda- 
 tion, with the princes of the Union ; in virtue of which, a peace 
 between the states of the two religions was concluded, and ap- 
 proved by the Emperor ; to continue till a General Counci}, or 
 some new assembly should decide otherwise. This peace was 
 renewed in various subequent assemblies. The Protestant 
 princes, however, still persisted in their refusal to acknowledge 
 the authority of Councils convoked by the Popes; and their 
 confederacy daily receiving new accessions, the Emperor, after 
 having made peace with France, at Crepy (1544,) and concluded 
 an armistice of five years with the Turks, resolved to declare 
 war against these schismatics, who, presuming on their union 
 and their amicable relations with foreign powers, thought them- 
 selves capable of dictating laws to the Empire. He issued an 
 edict of proscription (1546) against the Elector of Saxony and 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453— 164S. 22-5, 
 
 the Landgrave of Hesse, the two chiefs of the Union ; and 
 having- entered into a secret aUiance with Duke Maurice, a 
 younger branch of the family of Saxony, and a near relation of 
 the Elector, he succeeded in transferring the theatre of war from 
 the Danube to the Elbe. The Elector being defeated by the 
 Emperor, in an action which took place at Mecklenburg (1547,) 
 fell into the hands of the conqueror ; and the Landgrave of Hesse 
 met with the same fate two months after. The Union of Smiai- 
 calden was then dissolved, and the Emperor, who now sav/ him- 
 self master of Germany, assembled a Diet at Augsburg, in which 
 he acted the part of a dictator. A large detachment of his troops, 
 billeted on the city, served as his body guard, while the rest ot 
 his arm}'- was encamped in the neighbourhood. At this diet, he 
 conferred on Duke Maurice the Electorate of Saxony, of which 
 he had deprived his prisoner, John Frederick. The investiture 
 of the new Elector took place at Augsburg (1548;) and what 
 deserves to be particularly remarked in this diet is, that the Em- 
 peror entered into a scheme for the entire ruin and extirpation 
 of Protestantism, by compelling the princes and states of the 
 Eeformation to rejoin the Catholic Church, by means of a formula 
 which he made them adopt, known by the name of the Interim ; 
 and which, by its preliminary arranrgement, allowed them only 
 the use of the communion in both kinds, and the marriage ot 
 their priests, until the whole matter should be decided by a 
 Council. 
 
 The victories of Charles V., which seemed to have made him 
 absolute master of the Empire, were soon followed by reverses, 
 which eclipsed all the former glory of his reign. The Elector 
 Maurice, though indebted to him for his new dignity, thought 
 he might take advantage of the distressed condition to which 
 that prince was reduced by the low state of his finances, to make 
 a new attempt to limit his authority, and restore the Protestant 
 religion. With this view, having inlisted some of the princes 
 of the Empire in his cause, and concluded a secret treaty with 
 Henry IL of France, at Chambord, he marched wdth such rapi- 
 dity against the Emperor, that he nearly surprised him at Ins- 
 pruck, and obliged him to have recourse to the mediation of his 
 brother Ferdinand, when a treaty was concluded with Maurice, 
 which was signed at Passau (1552.) There the liberty of the 
 Protestant worship was sanctioned ; and it was agreed that a 
 General Council should be summoned to draw up the articles of 
 a solid and permanent peace between the states of both religions. 
 
 This diet, which was long retarded by political events, did not 
 assemble at Augsburg till the year 1555. There a definitive 
 peace was concluded on the subject of religion, and it was or 
 
*226 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 daincd that both Protestant and Catholic states should enjoy a 
 perfect liberty of worship ; and that no reunion should ever be 
 attempted by any other than amicable means. The seculari- 
 zing- of the ecclesiastical revenues, which the Protestant princes 
 had introduced into their states, was ratified ; but there was 
 one of the articles of the treaty which expressly provided, that 
 every prelate or churchman, who renounced his ancient faith to 
 embrace the Confession of Augsburg, should lose his benefice. 
 This latter clause, known by the name of Ecclesiastical Reserve, 
 did not pass but with the most determined opposition. 
 
 Differences of more kinds than one sprung from this treaty of 
 peace,^ — the articles of Avliich each party interpreted to their own 
 advantage. Hence those stratagems which at length occasioned 
 a new war — that of the Thirty Years. The Protestant Princes 
 and States, wishing to provide for their own security, and to put 
 an end to those arbitrary measures, of which they thought they 
 had reason to complain, assembled at Heilbrunn (1594,) and 
 there laid the foundation of a new union, which was confirmed 
 in the assemblies held at Halle, in Suabia, in the years 1608 
 and 1610. The chief promoter of this union was Henry IV. of 
 f^rance, who designed to use it as a check on the ambition of the 
 House of Austria ; and as a means for carrying into execution 
 the grand project Vvdiich he meditated with regard to the pacifi- 
 cation of Europe. He concluded an alliance with the Princes 
 of the Union, and determined the number of troops to be furnish- 
 ed by each of the contracting parties. The Catholic princes and 
 States, afraid of being taken unawares^ renewed their League, 
 which they signed at Wurtzburg (1609.) The rich dutchy of 
 Juliers, wMch had become vacant this same year, was contested 
 by several claimants ; and as Austria was equally desirous of 
 possessing it, this was made the occasion of raising powerful 
 armies in France, Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries. A 
 considerable number of troops had already taken the field, about 
 the beginning of the year 1610, when the unexpected death of 
 Henry IV. disconcerted all their measures. This changed the 
 politics of the French court, and also induced the Princes of the 
 Union to conclude a treaty with the League, — the articles of 
 which were signed at Munich and Wildstett (1610.) 
 
 In this manner the resentment of both parties was suspended 
 for the moment ; but the cause of their disunion still remained, 
 which at length (1618^ kindled a war that extended from Bohe- 
 mia over, all Germany, and involved, in course of tim.e, a great 
 part of Europe. The history of this tedious war, in which poli- 
 tics had as great a share as zeal for religion, may be divided into 
 four principal periods, namely, the Palatine, the Danish, the 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 227 
 
 Swedish, and the French war. Frederick V., Elector Palatine, 
 and head of the Protestant Union, having been raised to the 
 throne by the Bohemian States (1619,) which had rebelled 
 against the Emperor Ferdinand II., engaged in a war with that 
 prince ; but being deserted by his allies, and defeated at the bat- 
 tle of Prague (1620,) he was driven from Bohemia, and stripped 
 of all his dominions. The victorious arms of Austria soon ex- 
 tended their conquests over a great part of the Empire. 
 
 Christian IV., King of Denmark, who was in alliance with 
 most of the Protestant princes, next undertook the defence of the 
 federal system ; but he was not more fortunate than the Elector 
 Palatine had been. Being defeated by Tilly, at the famous bat- 
 tle of Lutter (1626,) he was compelled to abandon the cause of 
 his allies, and to sign a separate peace with the Emperor at 
 Lubeck (1629.) Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, pursued 
 the career of the Danish monarch. Encouraged by France, he 
 put himself at the head of the Protestant princes, with the view 
 of checking the ambitious projects of Ferdinand 11. , v/ho, by 
 means of his general, Wallenstein, whom he had created Duke 
 of Friedland, and invested in the Dutchy of I\Iecklenburg, was 
 dictating the law to the whole Empire, and even threatening 
 the kingdoms of the North. Nothing cauld be more splendid 
 than the campaigns of the Sv/edish hero in Germany, and the 
 victories which he obtained at Leipsic (1631,) -and LuLzen(1632 ;) 
 but having been slain in the latter action, the affairs of the 
 Swedes began to decline ; and they were totally ruined by the 
 defeat v/hich they sustained at Nordlingen (1634.) From that 
 time the Elector of Saxony, John George I., renounced the al- 
 liance of Sweden; and in ^aelding up Lusace to the Emperor, 
 he consented to a separate treaty of peace, which was signed at 
 Prague (1635.) 
 
 It was at this period that France, which till then had but fee- 
 bly supported the Swedes and the Protestant Princes, thought 
 it of advantage to her interests to undertake their defence against 
 Austria. Having declared war against Spain, she marched 
 numerous armies at once into Italy, Spain, Germany, and the 
 Low Countries. Bernard, Prince of Saxe Weimar, and the three 
 French Generals, Guebriant, Turenne, and the Duke d'Enghien, 
 signalized themselves by their exploits in the Imperial war ; 
 while the disciples of Gustavus Adolphus, Banier, Torstenston, 
 and Wrangel, distinguished themselves at the head of the Swe- 
 dish armies, in the various campaigns which took place, from 
 the year 1635 till the conclusion of the peace. Never were ne- 
 gotiations more tedious or more complicated than those which 
 preceded the treaty of Westphalia. The preliminaries were 
 
228 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 s:gned at Hambiivoh in 1641 ; but the opening of the CongTRSS 
 ac Munster and Osnahurg, did not take place till 1644. The 
 Counts D'Avaux and Servien, the plenipotentiaries of France, 
 shared with Oxenstiern and Salvius, the Swedish Envoys, the 
 principal glory of this negotiation, which was protracted on pur- 
 pose, as the belligerent powers were daily expecting to see the 
 events of the w^ar change in their favour. It was not until the 
 24th of October 1648, that the peace was finally signed at Mun- 
 ster and Osnaburg. 
 
 This peace, which was renewed in every subsequent treaty, 
 and made a fundamental law of the Empire, fixed definiiively 
 the constitution of the Germanic Body. The territorial rights 
 of the states, known by the name of siqieriority — the privilege 
 of making alliances with each other, and with foreign powers — 
 and advising with the Emperor at the Diets, in every thing that 
 concerned the general administration of the Empire, were con- 
 firmed to them in the most authentic manner, and guaranteed 
 by the consent of foreign powers. As to ecclesiastical affairs, 
 the Religious Peace of 1555 was confirmed anew,- and extended 
 to those who were known b}^ the name of the Reformed, or Cal- 
 vinists. The state of religion, the forms of public worship, and 
 the enjoyment of ecclesiastical benefices, throughout the whole 
 Emxpire, were regulated according to the decree, called TJti 
 possidetis of the 1st of January 1624, which was termed the 
 normal, or decretory year. In this treaty, France obtained, by 
 way of indemnity, the sovereignty of the three bishoprics, Metz, 
 Toul, and Verdun, as well as that of Alsace. The compensa- 
 tion of the other parties interested, was settled in a great mea- 
 sure at the expense of the Church, and by means of secularizing 
 several bishoprics and ecclesisastical benefices. 
 ^ Besides Pomerania and the city of Wismar, Sweden got the 
 archbishopric of Bremen, and the bishopric of Verden. To the 
 House of Brandeburg, they assigned Upper Pomerania, the 
 ftrchbishopric of Magdeburg, the bishoprics of Halberstadt, Min- 
 den, and Camin. The House of Mecldenburg received, in lieu 
 of the city of Wismar, the bishoprics of Schwerin and Ratzeburg. 
 The princely abbey of Hirschfeld was adjudged to the Land- 
 grave of Hesse-Cas'^el, and the choice of the bishopric of Osna- 
 burg, to the House of Brunswick-Luneburg. An eighth Elec- 
 torate was instituted in favour of the Elector Palatine, whom 
 the Emperor, during the war, had divested of his dignity, v/hich, 
 with the Upper Palatinate, he had conferred on the Duke of 
 Bavaria. 
 
 The greater part of the provinces kno\^^i by the name of the 
 Low Countries, made part of the ancient kingdom of Lorraine 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453— 164S. 229 
 
 which had been united to the German Empire snicc the tentli 
 century. The principal of these had been acquired by the Dukes 
 of Burgundy, who made them over, with other estates, to the 
 liouse of Austria (1477.) Charles V. added the provinces of 
 Friesland, Groningen, and Gueldres, to the states to which he 
 n-^d succeeded in Burgundy. He united the seventeen pro- 
 VI. CCS of the Low Countries into one and the same government: 
 p.:] ordered, by the Pragmatic decree which he published ( 1549,) 
 t'vit they should never henceforth be disunited. This same 
 prince, at the diet of Augsburg (1548,) entered into a negotia- 
 tion with the Germanic Bod}'", in virtue of which he consented 
 to put these provinces under their protection ; under condition 
 of their observing the public peace, and paying into the exche- 
 quer of the Empire double the contribution of an Electorate. 
 He guaranteed to the princes of the Low Countries a vote and 
 a seat at the Diet, as chiefs of the circle of Burgundy. These 
 pro /inces, m.oreover, were to be considered as free and indepen- 
 dei.t sovereignties, without being subject to the jurisdiction either 
 of ! he Empire or of the Imperial Chamber, who were not au- 
 thorized to proceed against them, except when they were found 
 in arrears with the payment of their contingent, or when they 
 infringed the law of the public peace. 
 
 Charles V. having transferred these countries to his son, 
 Philip IL of Spain, they were then incorporated with the Span- 
 ish monarchy ; and it was under the reign of this latter prince 
 that those troubles began which gave rise to the Republic of the 
 United Pro^dnces of the Low Countries. The true origin of 
 these troubles is to be found in the despotism of Philip IL, and 
 in his extravagant and fanatical zeal for the Catholic religion. 
 This prince, the declared enemy of the rights and liberties of 
 the Belgic Provinces, was mortified to witness the religious pri- 
 vileges which they enjoyed ; under favour of which the doc- 
 trines of the Reformation were daily making new progress. 
 Being resolved to extirpate this new faith, together with the 
 political liberties which served to protect it, he introduced the 
 tribunal of the Inquisition (1559,) as the most sure and infalli- 
 ble support of despotism. With the consent and authorit}'- of 
 Pope Paul IV., he suppressed, for tliis purpose, the metropolitan 
 and diocesan rights which thr archbishops and bishops of the 
 Empire and of France had exercised in the Lov/ Countries ; he 
 instituted three new bishoprics at Utrecht, Cambray, and Mech- 
 lin ; and under their jurisdiction he put thirteen new bishoprics 
 which he had erected, besides those of Arras and Tournay. 
 Having in this way augmented the number of his satellites in 
 the assembly of the States-General, he suppressed a great mui- 
 
 voL. I. 20 
 
230 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 litude of abbeys and monasteries, ihe revenues of which he ap 
 plied to the endo^^^nent of his newly made bishoprics. 
 
 These innovations, added to the pubHcation of the decree? oi 
 the Council of Trent, according to |^s orders, excited a verv 
 general discontent. The repeated remonstrances on the pan 
 of the States, having produced no effect on the inflexible mind 
 of Philip, the nobility took the resolution of formmg a confe- 
 deracy at Breda, known by the name of the Compromise. The 
 confederates drew up a request, which was addressed t Mar- 
 garet of Austria, the natural daughter of Charles V., and Re- 
 gent of the Low Countries, under the King of Spain. Four 
 hundred gentlemen, headed by Henry de Brederode, a descen- 
 dant of the ancient Counts of Holland, and Louis of Nassau, 
 brother to the Prince of Orange, repaired to Brussels (1566,) 
 and there presented this request, which may be considered as 
 the commencement of the troubles in the Low Countries. It 
 was on this account that the name of Gv.eux or Beggars was 
 given to the Confederates, which ha? become so famous in the 
 history of these wars. 
 
 About this same time,. the populace collected in mobs in seve- 
 ral towns of the Low Countries, and fell upon the churcnes and 
 niunasteries ; and having broken down their altars and images, 
 they introduced the exercise of the Protestant religion by force. 
 The storm, however, was calmed ; the Catholic worship was 
 re-esiablished ever\^ where ; and the confederacy of the nobles 
 dissolved, several of whom, distrustful of this apparent tran- 
 quillity, retired to foreign countries. William Prince of Orange, 
 Louis of Nassau, the Counts de Culemburg and Berg, and the 
 Count de Brederode, were in the number of these emigrants. 
 Philip IL, instead of adopting measures of moderation and 
 clemency, according to the advice of the Regent, was deter- 
 mined to avenge, in the most signal manner, this outrage against 
 his religion and the majesty of his throne. He sent the fiimous 
 Duke of Alba or Alva into the Low Countries, at the head of an 
 army of 20,000 men (1567.) The Regent then gave in her re- 
 signation. A general terror overspread the country. Vast 
 numbers of manufacturers and merchants took refuge in Eng- 
 land, carrying along with them their arts and their indi>stry. 
 Hence the commerce and manufactures of the Low Countries, 
 which had formerly been the most flourishing in Europe, fell 
 entirely into decay. 
 
 The Duke of Alva, immediately on his arrival, established a 
 tribunal or court, for investigating the excesses that had been 
 committed during these commotions. This council, which the 
 Flemings called the " Council of Blood," informed against all 
 
TERioD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 231 
 
 those who had been in any way concerned with the Gueux or 
 Beggars, who had frequented their preachings, contributed tc 
 the support of their ministers or the building of their cliurches ; 
 or harboured and protected these heretics, either directly, or in- 
 directly. Before this council, whose only judges were the 
 Duke of Alva and his confidant John de Vargas, were cited 
 high and low, without distinction ; and ail those whose wealth 
 excited their cupidity. There they instituted proceedings against 
 the absent and the present, the dead and the living, and con- 
 fiscated their goods. Eighteen thousand persons perished by 
 the hands of the executioner, and more than 30,000 others were 
 entirely ruined. Among the number of those illustrious vic- 
 tims of Alva's cruelly, were the Counts Egmont and Horn, who 
 were both beheaded. Their execution excited a general in- 
 dignation, and was the signal of revolt iind civil war throughout 
 the Low Countries. 
 
 The Beggars, who scemied almost forgotten, began to revive ; 
 and were afterwards distinguished' into three kinds. All the 
 malcontents, as well as the adherents of Luther and Calvin, 
 were called simply by this name. Those were called Beggars 
 of the Woods, who concealed them^selves in the forests and 
 marshes ; never sallying forth but in the night, to commit all 
 sorts of excesses. Lastly, the Maritime or Marine Beggars, 
 were those who employed themselves in piracy ; infesting the 
 coasts, and making descents on the country. 
 
 It was in this situation of affairs that the Prince of Orange, 
 one of the richest proprietors in the Low Countries, assisted by 
 his brother the Counts of Nassau, assembled different bodies of 
 troops in the Empire, with which he attacked the Low Coun- 
 tries in several places at once (1668.) Failing in these first 
 attempts, he soon changed his plan ; and associating the Marine 
 Beggars in the cause, he ventured to attack the Spaniards by 
 sea. The Beggars, encouraged by that Prince, and William 
 Count de la INIark, surnamed the Boar of Axdeiines, took the 
 city of Brille by surprise (1572,) situated in the Isle of Voorn, 
 and regarded as the stronghold of the noAV republic of the Bel- 
 gic Provinces. The capture of the port of Brille caused a re- 
 volution in Zealand. All the cities of that province, except 
 Middleburg, opened their gates to the Beggars ; and their ex- 
 ample was followed by most of the towns in Holland. An as- 
 sembly of the States of this latter province met this same year 
 at Dort, where they laid the foundation of their new republic. 
 The Prince of Orange was there v.i?clared Stadtholder or Go- 
 vernor of the provinces of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and 
 Utrecht ; and they agreed never to treat with the Spaniards, ex- 
 
232 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 cept by common consent. The public exercise of the reformed 
 religion was introduced, according to the form of Geneva. 
 
 This rising republic became more firmly established in con- 
 sequence of several advantages which the Confederates had 
 gained over the Spaniards, whose troops being badly paid, at 
 length mutinied ; and breaking out into the greatest disorders, 
 they pillaged several cities, among others Antwerp, and laid 
 waste the whole of the Low Countries. The States-General, 
 then assembled at Brussels, implored the assistance of the Prince 
 of Orange and the Confederates. A negotiation was then 
 opened at Ghent (1576,) between the States of Brussels, and 
 those of Holland and Zealand ; where a general union, known 
 by the name of the Pacification of Ghent, was signed. They 
 engaged mutually to assist each other, with the view of expelling 
 the Spanish troops, and never more permitting them to ent»^-r '}^fi 
 Low Countries. The Confederates, who were in alliance witli 
 Queen Elizabeth of England, pursued the Spaniards every 
 where, who soon saw themselves reduced to the single provinces 
 of Luxemburg, Limburg, and Namur. 
 
 They were on the point of being expelled from these also, 
 when the government of the Low Countries was intrusted to 
 Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma. Equally distinguished as 
 a politician and a warrior, this Prince revived the Spanish inte- 
 rests. Taking advantage of the dissensions which had arisen 
 among the Confederates from the diversity of their religious 
 opinions, he again reduced the provinces of Flanders, Artois, 
 and Hainanlt, under the Spanish dominion. He took the city 
 of Maestricht by assault, and entered into a negotiation Avith 
 the States-General of the Lov/ Countries at Cologne, under the 
 mediation of the Emperor Rodolph IL, the Pope, and some of 
 the princes of the Empire. This negotiation proved unsuccess- 
 ful ; but the Prince of Orange, foreseeing that the general con- 
 federacy could not last, conceived the plan of a more intimate 
 union among the Provinces ; which he regarded as the most fit 
 to make head against the Spaniards. He fixed on the maritime 
 provinces, such as Holland, Zealand, and Friesland ; and above 
 all, on those whom the same religious creed, viz. the Calvinistic, 
 had attached to the same interests. The comxmerce of Hol- 
 land, and Zealand, and Friesland, began to make new progress 
 daily. Amsterdam was rising on the ruins of Antwerp. The 
 flourishing state of their marine rendered these provinces for- 
 midable by sea ; and gave them the means not only of repelling 
 the efforts of the Spaniards, but even of protecting the neigh- 
 bouring provinces which might join this Union. Such were the 
 motives which induced the Prince of Orano-e to form the special 
 
PERIOD. VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 233 
 
 confederacy of the Seven Provinces, the basis of which he laid 
 by the famous treaty of Union concluded at Utrecht (1579.) 
 That Union was there declared perpetual and indissoluble ; and 
 It was agreed that the Seven Provinces, viz. those of Gueldres, 
 Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Overyssel, Friesland, and Groningen, 
 should henceforth be considered as one and the same Province. 
 Each of these, nevertheless, ^vas guaranteed in the possession of 
 their rights and privileges-^that is, their absolute superiority m 
 every thing regarding their own internal administration. 
 
 [We may remark, however, that these insurrectionary pro- 
 vinces had not originally the design of forming a republic. 
 Their intention, at first, was only to maintain their political pri- 
 vileges ; and they did not absolutely shake off the Spanish 
 authority until they despaired of reconciliation. Moreover, they 
 repeatedly offered the sovereignty of their States to different 
 foreign princes ; and it was not till the Union of Utrecht that 
 the Seven Provinces became a federal republic. Consequently 
 every thing remained on its ancient footing; and some ofnhe 
 provinces even retained their Stadtholders or governors, at the 
 head of their administration. Hence that mixture of monarchy, 
 aristocracy, and democracy, which prevailed in these countries ; 
 and hence, too, the feeble tie which united them with each other, 
 and which would probably have speedily broken, if Holland had 
 not, by its riches and its power, obtained an influence and pre- 
 ponderance which maintained the Union.] 
 
 The declaration of the independence of the United Provinces 
 did not take place till 1581 ; when the Prince of Orange induced 
 the States-General to make a formal proclamation of it, out of 
 revenge for the furious edicts of proscription which the Court of 
 Spain had issued against him. The Prince, however, was assas- 
 sinated at Delft in 1584;''' and the Spaniards took advantage of 
 the consternation which this event had spread among the Con- 
 federates, to reconquer most of the provinces of the Low Coun- 
 tries. The general Confederacy languished away by degi'ees ; 
 and the Union of Utrecht was the only one maintained among 
 the Seven Provinces. This new republic, which was in strict 
 alliance with England, not only made head against the Spaniards, 
 but gained a considerable increase of strength by the vast num- 
 bers of refugees from the different Belgic provinces, who took 
 shelter there ; as well as from France, where the persecution 
 still raged violently against the Protestants. It is calculated 
 that after the taking of Antwerp by the Prince of Parm.a in 
 1585, above a hundred thousand of these fugitives transported 
 themselves to Holland and Amsterdam, carrying .vith them their 
 wealth and their industry. 
 
 90* 
 
2d4 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 From this dale the commerce of the Confederate States in- 
 creased every da}^ ; and in 1595 they extended it as far as India 
 and the Eastern Seas. The Dutch India Company was estab- 
 lished in 1602. Besides the exckisive commerce of India, which 
 was guaranteed to them by their charter, they became likewise 
 a political body, imder the sovereignty of the States-General of 
 the United Provinces. Supported by a formidable marine, they 
 acquired vast influence in the East by their conquests over the 
 Portuguese, whom they dispossessed by degrees of all their 
 principal establishments in India. The Spaniards, finding their 
 efforts to reduce the Confederates by force of arms ineffectual, 
 set on foot a negotiation at Antwerp (1609.) under the media- 
 tion of France and England ; in consequence of which, a truce 
 of twelve years was concluded between Spain and the United 
 Provinces. It was chiefly during this time that the Confede- 
 rates extended their commerce over all parts of the globe, while 
 their marine daily increased in strength and importance ; which 
 soon raised them to the rank of being the second maritime power, 
 and gave them a decisive influence over the political affairs of 
 Europe. 
 
 At the expiration of this truce, hostilities were renewed with 
 Spain. The Dutch carried on the war for twenty-five years 
 v/ith great glory, under the auspices of their StadtholderSr 
 Maurice and Henry Frederic, Princes of Orange, who discovered 
 great military talents. One event, which proved favourable for 
 the Republicans, was the war that broke out between France 
 and Spain, and which was followed by a strict alliance betvv'een 
 France and the States-General. The partition of the Spanish 
 Netherlands was settled by this treaty ; and the allied powers 
 entered into an engagement never to make peace or truce with 
 Spain, except by common consent. This latter clause, however, 
 did not prevent the States-General from concluding at Munster 
 a separate peace with Spain, to the exclusion of France (1648.) 
 By this peace the King of Spain acknowledged the United Pro- 
 vinces as free and independent States ; he gave up to them all 
 the places which they had seized in Brabant, Flanders and Lim- 
 burg, viz. Bois-le-Duc, Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda, and Maestricht *. 
 as also their possessions in the East and West Indies, in Asia 
 Africa, and A^nerica. The closing of the Scheld, which was 
 granted in favour of the United Provinces, entirely ruined the 
 city of Antwerp, and shut out the Spanish Netherlands from all 
 maritime commerce. 
 
 The feudal system of the Swiss, which had originated in the 
 fourteenth century, acquired a new importance towards the end 
 cf the fifteenth, by reason . the success of the confederates m 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 235 
 
 their war with Charles Duke of Biir^ndy. This prince, who 
 was of a hot and turbulent spirit, was constantly occupied with 
 projects of conquest. Taking advantage of the ruinous state of 
 the finances of the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, he induced 
 him to sell him the territories of Brisgau and Alsace, with rhe 
 right of repurchase (1469.) Peter de Hagenbach, a gentieroaa 
 of Alsace, who had been appointed governor of these countrie?^ 
 by the Duke, had oppressed the Austrian subjects, and harassed 
 the whole neighbouring states ; especially the Swiss. The 
 complaints which were made on this score to the Duke, having 
 only rendered Hagenbach still more insolent, the Swiss, with 
 the concurrence of several states of the Empire, paid do\\Ti, at 
 Basle, the sums stipulated in the contract for repurchasing the 
 two provinces ; and, by force of arms, they re-established the 
 Austrian prince in the possession of Alsace and Brisgau. They 
 even went so far as to institute legal proceedings against Hagen- 
 bach, who was in consequence beheaded at Brigach in 1474. 
 
 The Duke, determined to avenge this insult, assembled an 
 army of a hundred thousand men, with which he penetrated 
 through Franche-Comte into Switzerland. He was defeated in 
 the first action, which took place at Granson (1476;) after 
 which he reinforced his troops, and laid siege to Morat. Here 
 he was again attacked by the Swiss, who killed eighteen thou- 
 sand of his men, and seized the whole of his camp and baggage. 
 The Duke of Lorraine, an ally of the Swiss, was then restored 
 to those states of which the Duke of Burgundy had deprived 
 him. This latter prince, in a gi'eat fury, came and laid siege to 
 Nancy. The Swiss marched to the relief of this place, where 
 they fought a third and last battle with the Duke, who v/as here 
 defeated and slain (1477.) 
 
 These victories of the Swiss over the Dake of Burgundy, one 
 of the most powerful princes of his time, raised the fame of their 
 arms ; and made their friendship and alliance courted by the 
 first sovereigns in Europe, especially by France. Their con- 
 federacy, which had formeady been composed of only eight can- 
 tons, was augmented by the accession of two new states, Friburg 
 and Soleure, which were enrolled in the number of cantons. 
 
 From this time the Swiss were no longer afraid to break the 
 ties that bound them to the Germanic Body, as members of the 
 ancient kingdom of Aries. The Diet of Worms, in 1495, having 
 granted the Emperor Maximilian succours against the French 
 and the Turks, the Swiss alleged their immunities, and their 
 alliance with France, as a pretext for refusing their contingent 
 of supplies. This demand, however, was renewed at the Diet 
 of Lindau, in 1496, which required them to renounce their alii- 
 
236 CHAPTER Vll. 
 
 ance with France, and accede to the League of Swahia ; as also 
 to suhmit themselves to the Imperial Chamber, and the law of 
 the public peace ; and to furnish their quota for the support of 
 that Chamber, and the other contributions of the Empire. All 
 these demands were resisted by the Helvetic Body, who regard- 
 ed them as contrary to their rights and privileges. Meantime 
 the Grisons had allied themselves with the Swiss, in order to 
 obtain their protection under the existing differences between 
 them and the Tyrolese. 
 
 The Emperor Maximilian seized this pretext for making war 
 against the Cantons. Being desirous of vindicating the dignity 
 of the Empire, which had been outraged by the Swiss, and of 
 avenging the insults offered to his own family, he stirred up the 
 League of Swabia to oppose them ; and attacked them in difTe- 
 rent points at once. Eight battles were fought in succession, in 
 course of that campaign ; all of which, with one solitary excep- 
 tion, were in favour of the Swiss, while the Imperialists lost more 
 than twenty thousand men. Maximilian and his allies, the Swa- 
 bian League, then came to the resolution of making their peace 
 with the Cantons, wbich was concluded at Basle (1499.) Both 
 parties made a mutual restitution of what they had wrested from 
 each other ; and it was agreed, that the differences between the 
 Emperor, as Count of Tyrol, and the Grisons, should be brought 
 to an amicable termination. This peace forms a memorable era 
 in the history of the Helvetic Confederacy, whose independence, 
 with regard to the German Emjperor, Avas from that time con- 
 sidered as decided; although no mention of this was made in the 
 treaty, and although the Swiss still continued for some time to 
 request from the Emperors the confirmation of their immunities. 
 Two immediate cities of the Empire, those of Basle and SchaufT- 
 hausen, took occasion, from these latter events, to solicit their 
 admission into the Confederacy. They were received as allies, 
 under the title of Cantons (1501 ;) and the territory of Appenzel, 
 which was admitted in like manner (1513,) formed the thirteenth 
 and last Canton. 
 
 The alliance which the Swiss had kept up with France, since 
 the reigns of Charles VII. and Louis XL, tended greatly to se- 
 cure the independence of the Helvetic Body.^ This alliance, 
 which Louis XI. had made an instrument for humbling the 
 power of the Duke of Burgundy, was never but once broken, in 
 the reign of Louis XII., on account of the Holy League, into 
 which the Swiss were drawn by the intrigues of the Bishop of 
 Sion (1512.) The French were then expelled from the Milan- 
 ese terr.itory by the Swiss, who placed there the Duke Maximi- 
 lian Sforza. It was in gratitude for this service, that the duke 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 164S. 237 
 
 ceded to tlie Swiss, by a treaty which was concluded at Basle, 
 the four bailiwicks of Lugano, Locarno, Mendrisio, and Val- 
 Maggio, which he dismembered from the Milanois, Thouo-h 
 conc^uerors at the battle of Novara, the Swiss experienced a san- 
 guinary defeat at Marignano ; when they judged it for their in- 
 terest to renew their alliance Vvdth France (1513.) A treaty of 
 perpetual peace was signed at Friburg between these two States 
 (1516,) which was soon after followed by a new treaty of alli- 
 ance, concluded with Francis L at Lucerne (1521,) and regularly 
 renewed under the subsequent reigns. 
 
 The change which took place in religion, at the beginning of 
 the sixteenth century, extended its influence to Switzerland, 
 where it kindled the llame of civil discord. Four cantons, those 
 of Zurich, Berne, Schauff hausen, and Basle, renouncing entirely 
 the Romish faith, had embraced the doctrines of Zuingle and 
 Calvin ; while two others, viz. Glaris and ApT)enzel, were divi- 
 ded between the old and the new opinions. The Reformation 
 having likewise found its way into the common bailivvdcks, the 
 Catholic Cantons rose in opposition to it (1531 ;) den^^ing liber- 
 ty of conscience to the inhabitants. Hence, a war arose be- 
 tween the Cantons of the tv/o religions ; v/hich, however, was 
 terminated the same year by a treaty of peace, guaranteeing to 
 such parishes within the bailiwicks as had embraced the new 
 doctrines, the liberty of still adhering to them. The same revo- 
 lution extended to Geneva, whose inhabitants had declared so- 
 lemnly in favour of the reformed worship, and erected themselves 
 into a free and independent republic (15IJ4.) The church of 
 Geneva, under the direction of Calvin, became the centre and 
 citadel of the Reformation; while the academy founded in that 
 city, produced a vast number of theologians and celebrated scho 
 iars. It was at this time that the duke of Savoy planned the 
 b!r>ckade of Geneva, to enforce certain ancient rights which he 
 c^.imed over that city; but the Bernese espoused the cause of 
 the Genevans, in virtue of the treaties of common citizenship 
 which subsisted between them. This Canton having entered 
 into alliance with Francis I., declared war against the duke of 
 Savoy (1538 ;) and in less than three months took from him the 
 Pay? de Vaud. Being desirous of interesting their neighbours 
 the Friburgers in their cause, they invited them to take posses- 
 sion of all those places that might suit their convenience ; and 
 it was on this occasion that the city of Friburg acquired the prin- 
 cipal part of its territory. These acquisitions were confirmed to 
 i.he two Cantons, by the treaty which the Bernese concluded at 
 Liausanne with the duke of Savoy (1564.) 
 
 The German Empire from time to time renewed its preten- 
 
238 
 
 sions on Switzerland, and the Imperial Chamber usurped an 
 occasional jurisdiction over one or other of the Cantons. Ne- 
 gotiations for a general peace having commenced at Munster 
 and Osnaburg, the thirteen Cantons sent their minister or envoy 
 to watch over the interests of the Helvetic Body at that congress ; 
 and they obtained, through the intervention of France and Swe- 
 den, that in one of the articles of the treaty it should be decla- 
 red, that the city of B:isle, and the other Swiss Cantons, were in 
 possession of full liberty, and independent of the Empire, and 
 in no respect subject to its tribunals. 
 
 In Italy, the authority of the Emperor of Germany, which had 
 silently dsclined during the preceding centuries, languished 
 more and more under the long and feeble reign of Frederic III. 
 At length it was reduced to the mere ceremony of coronation, 
 and the simple exercise of some honorary and feudal rights, such 
 as the investitures which the Imperial Court continued to grant 
 to the vassals of Lombardy. Although the Imperial dignity im- 
 plied the royalty of Italy, which was considered as indissolubly 
 united to it, nevertheless it was the custom thai the Kings of 
 Germany should have themselves crowned separately, Kings of 
 Italy at Milan, and Emperors at Rome. Frederic III., having 
 had certain reasons for avoiding his coronation at Milan, received 
 from the hands of Pope Nicholas V., in his own capital, the two 
 crowns of Italy and Rome. Maximilian L, being prevented by 
 the Venetians from repairing to Italy for his coronation (1508,) 
 was content to take the title of Emperor Elect, Avhich his succes- 
 sors in the Empire have retained till the present time. Charles 
 V. was the last Emperor to whom the Pope, Clement VII., ad- 
 ministered this double coronation of King of Italy and Emperor, 
 at Bologna, in 1530. 
 
 The Popes, the Kings of Naples, the Dukes of Milan, and the 
 Republics of Venice and Florence, were the principal powers 
 that shared among them the dominion of Italy towards the end 
 of the fifteenth century. The continual wars which these states 
 waged with each other, added to the weakness of the German 
 Emperors, encouraged foreign powers to form plans of aggran- 
 dizement ^nd conquest over these countries. The Kings of 
 France, Charles VIIL, Louis XII., and Francis L, led away by 
 a mania for conquest, undertook several expeditions into Italy, 
 for enforcing their claims either on the kingdom of Naples, or 
 the dutchy of Milan. They were thwarted in their schemes by 
 the Kings of Spain, who, being already masters of Sicily and 
 Sardinia, thought it behoved them also to extend their views to 
 the Continent of Italy. Ferdinand the Catholic deprived the 
 French of the kingdom of Naples (1500.) His successor, Charles 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 239 
 
 v., expelled them from the Milanois, and obliged Francis L, by 
 ihe treaties of Madrid (1528,) Cambray (1529,) and Crepy 
 '^154^1,) to give up his pretensions on the kingdom of Naples, 
 and the dutchy of Milan. From this time the Spaniards were 
 the predominating power in Italy for more than a hundred years. 
 
 In the midst of these revolutions there arose three new prin- 
 cipalities within that kingdom ; those of Florence, Parma, and 
 Malta. The Republic of Florence held a distinguished rank in 
 Italy during the fifteenth century, both on account of the flour- 
 ishing state of its commerce, and the large extent of its territory, 
 which comprehended the greater part of Tuscany, and gave to 
 this Republic the means of holding the balance between the 
 other powers of Italy. The opulent family of the Medici here 
 exercised a high degree of influence ; they ruled not by force 
 but by their munificence, and the judicious use which they made 
 of their great riches. The credit and popularity of the Medici, 
 excited envy and persecution against them, and caused them to 
 be several times banished from Florence. They were expelled 
 from this latter place at the same time that Pope Clement VII., 
 who was of this family, was besieged by the Imperialists in Rome 
 (1527.) That Pontiff, in making his peace with Charles V., ob- 
 tained his consent that the Medici should be re-established at 
 Florence, in the state in which they were before their last ban- 
 ishment. The Emperor even promised the Pope to give Alex- 
 der de Medici his natural daughter in marriage, with a consid- 
 erable dowry. The Florentines, however, having shown some 
 reluctance to receive the Medici, their city was besieged by the 
 Imperial arm)'-, and compelled to surrender by capitulation (1530.) 
 
 The Emperor, by a charter dated at Augsburg on the 28th of 
 August following, preserved to the city of Florence its ancient 
 republican forms. Alexander de Medici was declared governor- 
 in-chief of the state ; but this dignity was vested in himself and 
 his male descendants, who could only enjoy it according to the 
 order of primogeniture. He was authorized, moreover, to con- 
 struct a citadel at Florence, by means of which he afterwards 
 exercised an absolute poAver over his fellow-citizens. As for 
 the ducal dignity with which the new Prince of Florence was 
 vested, it properly belonged to the dutchy of Parma, in the king- 
 dom of Naples, which the Emperor had conferred on him. 
 
 Alexander de Medici did not long enjoy his new honours. 
 He was universally abhorred for his cruelties, and assassinated 
 by Lorenzo de Medici, one of his own near relations (1537.) 
 His successor in the dutchy was Cosmo de Medici, who annexed 
 to the territory of Florence that of the ancient republic of 
 Sienna, which the Emperor Charles V. had conquered, and 
 
240 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 conferred on his son Philip II. in name of the Empire (1554.) 
 This latter prince being desirous of seducing Cosmo from his 
 alliance with the Pope and the King of France, with whom the 
 Spaniards were at war, granted him the investiture of the ter- 
 ritory of Sienna, as a mesne-tenure holding of the crown of 
 Spain, by way of equivalent for the considerable sums which 
 he had advanced to Charles V. while he was carrying^ on the 
 siege^^ of Sienna. In transferring the Siennois to the Duke, 
 Philip reserved for himself the ports of Tuscany, such as 
 Porto Ercole, Orbitello, Telemone, Monte-Argentaro, St. Ste- 
 fano, Longone, Piombino, and the whole island of Elba, with 
 the exception of Porto Ferrajo. By the same treaty, Cosmo 
 engaged to furnish supplies to the Spaniards, for the defence of 
 Milan and the kingdom of Naples. 
 
 At length the Medici obtained the dignity of Grand Dukes, 
 on occasion of the difference that had risen between them and 
 the Dukes of Ferrara, on the subject of precedency. The Pope 
 terminated this dispute, by granting to Cosmo the title of Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany, with the royal honours (1569.) The Em- 
 peror, however, took it amiss that the Pope should undertake to 
 confer secular dignities in Italy ; thus encroaching on a right 
 which he alleged belonged only to himself, in virtue of his 
 being King of Italy. The quarrels which this affair had oc- 
 casioned between the Court of Rome and the Empire, w^ere 
 adjusted in 1576, when the Emperor Maximilian II. granted to 
 Francis de Medici, the brother and successor of Cosmo, the dig- 
 nit)^ of Grand Duke, on condition that he should acknowledge 
 it as a tenure of the Empire, and not of the Pope. 
 
 Among the number of those republics which the Visconti of 
 Milan had subdued and overthrown in the fourteenth century, 
 were those of Parma and Placentia. They had formed a de- 
 pendency of the dutchy of Milan until 1512, when Louis XII., 
 having been expelled from the Milanois by the Allies of the 
 Holy League, these cities w^ere surrendered by the Swiss to 
 Pope Julius II., who laid some claim to them, as making part 
 of the dowry of the famous Countess Matilda. The Emperor 
 Maximilian ceded them to the Pope by the treaty of peace which 
 he made with him in 1512. Francis I. took these cities again 
 from the court of Rome, when he reconquered the dutchy of 
 Milan (1515 ;) but this prince having also been expelled from 
 the Milanois (1521,) the Pope again got possession of Parma 
 and Placentia, in virtue of the treaty which he had concluded 
 with Charles V., for the re-establi£;hment of Francis Sforza in 
 the dutchy of Milan. These cities contiiiued to form part of 
 the Ecclesiastical States until 1545. when they were dismem- 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453— J 648. 241 
 
 bered from it by Paul III., who erected them into dutchies, and 
 conferred them on his son Peter Louis Farnese, and his heirs- 
 male in the order of primogeniture ; to be held under the title 
 of fiefs of the Holy See, and on condition of paying an annual 
 tribute of nine thousand ducats. 
 
 This elevation of a man whose very birth seemed a disgrace 
 to the pontiff, gave universal offence. The new Duke of Parma 
 soon rendered himself so odious by his dissolute life, his crimes 
 and scandalous excesses, that a conspiracy was formed against 
 him ; and he was assassinated in the citadel of Placentia in 
 1547. Ferdinand Gonzaga, who was implicated, as is alleged in 
 this assassination, then took possession of Placentia in name of 
 the Emperor ; and it was not till 1557 that Philip II. of Spain re- 
 stored that city, with its dependencies, to Octavius Farnese, son 
 and successor of the murdered prince. The house of Farnese 
 held the dutchy of Parma as a fief of the Ecclesiastical States, 
 until the extinction of the male line in 1731. 
 
 The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, after their expulsion 
 from the Holy Land, had retired to the Isle of Cyprus, and from 
 thence to Ehodes, in 1310, of which they had dispossessed the 
 Greeks. They did not maintain possession of this place longer 
 than 1523, when Soliman the Great undertook the siege of 
 Rhodes, with an army of two hundred thousand men, and a 
 fleet of four hundred sail. The Knights boldly repulsed the 
 different attacks of the Turks ; but being entirely dependent 
 on then' own forces, and receiving no succour from the powers 
 of Christendom, they were compelled to capitulate, after an ob- 
 stinate defence of six months. Leaving Rhodes, these Knights 
 took shelter in Viterbo, belonging to the States of the Church, 
 where they were cordially received by Pope Clement VII. 
 There they remained until the Emperor Charles V. granted 
 them the Isle of Malta, which became their principal residence 
 (1530.) That prince- ceded to them the islands of Malta and 
 Gozzo, with the city of Tripoli in Africa, on condition of hold- 
 ing them from him and his successors in the kingdom of Sicily, 
 as noble fiefs, frank and free, without any other obligation than 
 the annual gift of a falcon, in acknowledgment of their hold-, 
 ing under the crown, and presenting to the King of Sicily three 
 of their subjects, of whom he was to choose one, on each va- 
 cancy of the bishopric of Malta. Charles V. added another 
 clause, that if ever the Order shouhi leave Malta and fix their 
 residence elsewhere, that island should revert to the King of 
 Sicily. The Knights of St. John continued in the sovereignty 
 of Malta and Gozzo till 1798; but they lost TripoK, in 1551, 
 which was taken from them by the Turks. 
 
 VOL. I. 21 
 
242 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A memorable revolution happened at Genoa, about the begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century. That republic, after having for a 
 long time formed part of the dutchy of Milan, recovered its an- 
 cient independence about the time when the French and Span* 
 ards disputed the sovereignty of Italy, and the conquest of the 
 Milan ois. Expelled by the Imperialists from the city of Genoa 
 in 1522, the French had found means to repossess it (1527,) with 
 the assistance of the celebrated Andrew Doria, a noble Genoese, 
 who had been in the service of Francis I. This distinguished 
 admiral, supplanted by favourites, and maltreated by the court, 
 abandoned the cause of France in the following year, and es 
 poused that of the Emperor Charles V. 
 
 The French then laid siege to the city of Naples, which was 
 reduced to the last extremity, and on the point of surrendering, 
 when Doria, having hoisted the Imperial flag, set sail for Naple:-, 
 with the galleys under his command, and threw abundance of 
 provisions into the besieged city. The French army, now cut 
 off from all communication by sea, soon began to experience 
 those calamities from which the Imperialists had just been de- 
 livered. Their whole troops being destroyed by famine and con- 
 tagious disease, the expedition to Naples fell to the ground, and the 
 affairs of the French in Italy were totally ruined. It is alleged 
 that Charles V., to recompense Doria for this important service, 
 offered him the sovereignty of Genoa ; and that, instead of ac- 
 cepting this honour, that great man stipulated for the liberty of 
 his country, whenever it should be delivered from tlie yoke of 
 France. Courting the glory of being the liberator of his native 
 city, he sailed directly for Genoa, of which he made himself 
 master, in a single night, without shedding one drop of blood 
 (1528.) The French garrison retired to the citadel, and were 
 obliged to capitulate for want of provisions. 
 
 This expedition procured Doria the title of Father of his 
 Country, which was conferred on him by a decree of the Senate. 
 It was by his advice that a committee of twelve persons was 
 chosen to organize a new scheme of government for the republic. 
 A register was drawn up of all those families who were to com- 
 pose the Grand Council, which was destined to exercise the 
 supreme powder. The Doge was to continue in office ten years , 
 and great care was taken to remove those causes which had pre- 
 viously excited factions and intestine disorders. Hence the 
 establishment of the Genoese aristocracy, whose forms have 
 since been preserved, with some few modifications which were 
 introduced afterwards, in consequence of certain dissensions 
 which had arisen between the ancient and the new nobility. 
 
 Venice, the eldest of the European republics, had reached the 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 243 
 
 zenith of its greatness about tlie end of the fifteenth century. 
 The vast extent of its commerce, supported by a powerful ma- 
 rine, the multiplied sources of its industry, and the monopoly 
 of the trade in the East, had made it one of the richest and 
 most formidable States in Europe. Besides several ports on 
 the Adriatic, and numerous settlements which they had in the 
 Archipelago, and the trading towns on the Levant, they gained 
 ground more and more on the continent of Italy, where they 
 formed a considerable territory. Guided by an artful and en- 
 terprising policy, this Republic seized with marvellous avidity 
 every circumstance which favoured its views of aggrandizement. 
 On the occasion of their quarrels with the Duke of Ferrara, they 
 obtained possession of the province of Polesino de Rovigo, by a 
 treaty which they concluded with that prince in 1484. 
 
 Afterwards, having joined the League which the powers of 
 Italy had opposed to Charles VIII. and his projects of conquest, 
 they refused to grant supplies to the King of Naples for the re- 
 covery of his kingdom, except by his consenting to yield up 
 the cities of Trani, Otranto, Brindisi, and Gallipoli. Louis XIL, 
 being resolved to enforce his claims on the dutchy of Milan, and 
 wishing to gain over this Republic to his interest, gave up to 
 them, by the treaty of Blois (1499,) the town of Cremona, and 
 the whole country lying between the Oglio, the Adda, and the 
 Po. On the death of Pope Alexander VI. (1503,) they took 
 that favourable opportunity of wresting from the Ecclesiastical 
 States several towns of Romagna ; among others, Rimini and 
 Faenza. 
 
 Of all the acquisitions wdiich the Venetians made, the most 
 important was that of Cyprus. That island, one of the most 
 considerable in the Mediterranean, had been conquered from the 
 Greeks by Richard Coeur de Lion, King of England, who sur- 
 rendered it to Guy of Lusignan (1192,) the last king of Jeru- 
 salem, in compensation for the loss of his kingdom. From Guy 
 of Lusignan descended a long line of Cypriot kings ; the last of 
 whom, John III., left an only daughter, named Charlotte, w^ho 
 succeeded him in that kingdom, and caused her husband, Louis 
 of Savoy, to be also crowned king. There still remained a Das- 
 tard son of John III., called James, who was protected by the 
 Sultan of Egypt, to whom the kings of Cyprus were tributaries, 
 and who succeeded in expelling Charlotte and her husband, the 
 Prince of Savoy, from the throne (1460.) James, who was de- 
 sirous of putting himself under the protection of the Venetians, 
 married Catherine Cornaro, daughter of Marco Corneille, a pa- 
 trician of Venice. The Senate, in honour of this marriage, 
 adopted Catherine, and declared her daughter of St. Mark, or 
 
244 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 the Republic. James died in 1473, leaving a posthumous son, 
 who died also in the second year of his age. The Republic 
 then considering the kingdom of Cyprus as their own inherit- 
 ance, took possession of the natural children of James, and 
 induced Queen Catherine, by various means, to retire to Venice, 
 and there to resign her crown into the hands of the Senate, who 
 assigned her a pension, with the Castle of Azolo, in Trevisano, 
 for her residence ; and obtained for them&eh'es the investiture 
 of that island from the Sultan of Egypt (1490.) 
 
 A career so prosperous was eventually followed by a reverse 
 of fortune ; and several circumstances concurred to accelerate 
 the decline of this flourishing republic. They received a ter- 
 rible blow by the discovery of the new passage to India round 
 the Cape, which deprived them of the commerce of the East ; 
 thus drying up the principal source of their wealth, as well as 
 of their revenue and their marine. In vain did they put in 
 practice all the arts of their policy to defeat the commercial en- 
 terprises of the Portuguese in India ; exciting against them, first 
 the Sultans of Egypt, and afterwards the Turkish Em.perors, 
 and furnishing these Mahometan powers with supplies. The 
 acti^qty of the Portuguese surmounted all these obstacles. They 
 obtained a firm settlement in the East, where in course of time 
 they became a very formidable power. Lisbon, in place of 
 Venice, became the emporium for the productions of India ; and 
 the Venetians could no longer compete with them in this field of 
 Eastern commerce. Besides, the good fortune which so long 
 attended the undertakings of the republic, had inspired them 
 with a passion for conquest. They took ever}^ opportunity of 
 making encroachments on their neighbours ; and sometimes for- 
 getting the counsels of prudence, they drew down upon them- 
 selves the jealousy and resentment of the principal States of Italy. 
 
 To this jealousy must be attributed the famous League, which 
 Pope Julius II., the Emperor Maximilian, Louis XII., Ferdinand 
 of Spain, and several of the Italian States, concluded at Cam- 
 bray (1508,) for the partition of the Venetian territory on Terra 
 Firma. Louis XII. gained a signal victory over the republi- 
 cans near Agnadello, which Avas followed by such a rapid suc- 
 cession of conquests, that the Senate of Venice were struck with 
 consternation ; and the Republic must have been infallibly lost, 
 had Louis been supported by his allies. But the Pope and the 
 King of Spain, who dreaded the preponderance of the French 
 in Italy, suddenly abandoned the League, and concluded sepa- 
 rate treaties of peace with the republicans ; nor was the Emperor 
 Maximilian long in following their example. In consequence of 
 this, the Venetians, after having been menaced with a total 
 
FERioD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 245 
 
 overthrov/, lost only, in course of the war, the territory of Cre- 
 mona and Ghiera d'Adda, with the cities and ports of Eomagna 
 and Apulia. But this loss was far surpassed by that which they 
 experienced in their finances, their commerce and manufactures, 
 on account of the expensive efforts which they were obliged to 
 make in resisting their numerous enemies. 
 
 The ruin of this Republic was at length completed by the 
 prodigious increase of the power of the Ottomans, who took from 
 them, by degrees, their best possessions in the Archipelago and 
 the Mediterranean. Dragged as it were in spite of themselves, 
 into the war of Charles V. against the Turks, they lost four- 
 teen islands in the Archipelago ; among others Chios, Patmos, 
 JEgina, Nio, Stampalia, and Paros ; and were obliged, by the 
 peace of Constantinople (1540,) to surrender to the Turks Mal- 
 vasia and Napoli di Romagna, the only two places which re- 
 mained to them in the Morea. 
 
 The Turks also took from them the isle of Cyprus, the finest 
 of their possessions in the Mediterranean. The Sultan Selim 
 II., being determined to conquer that place, attacked it with a 
 superior force (1570,) although the Venetians had given him no 
 gi'ound for hostilities. He made himself master of the cities of 
 Nicosia and Famagasta ; and completed the conquest of the 
 whole island, before the succours which the King of Spain and 
 the Pope had granted to the Venetians, could join their fleet. 
 On the approach of the Christian army, the Turkish fleet re- 
 tired within the Gulf of Lepanto, where they were attacked by 
 the allies under the command of Don John of Austria, a natural 
 son of Charles V. The Christians gained a complete victory 
 (1571.) The whole Turkish fleet was destroyed, and the Con- 
 federates took immense booty. The news of this defeat struck 
 terror into the city of Constantinople, and made the Grand Sig- 
 nior transfer his court to Adrianople. The Christians, however, 
 reaped no advantage from iheir victory. A misunderstanding 
 arose among the Confederates, and their fleets dispersed without 
 accomplishing any thing. The Venetians did not return to the 
 isle of Cyprus ; and knowing well that they could not reckon on 
 any effectual aid on the part of their allies, they determined to 
 make peace with the Turks (1573.) By this treaty they left 
 the Porte in possession of Cj^rus, and consented to pay it a sum 
 of 300,000 ducats, to obtain the restitution of their ancient 
 boundaries in Dalmatia. From this epoch, the republic of 
 Venice dates its entire decay. It was evident, that it must 
 thenceforth resign its pretensions as a leading power, and adopt 
 a system of neutrality which might put it in condition to main- 
 tain peace with its neighbours. 
 
 21 # 
 
246 CHAPTER vn. 
 
 England, as we have mentioned above, had been the rival of 
 France, while the latter now became the rival of Austria. This 
 rivalry commenced with the marriage of Maximilian of Austria, 
 to Mary, daughter anu heiress of Charles, last Duke of Burgun- 
 dy ; by which the house of Austria succeeded to the whole do- 
 minions of that Prince. The Low Countries, which at that 
 time were the principal emporium for the manufactures and com- 
 merce of Europe, formed a part of that opulent succession. 
 Louis XL, King of France, was unable to prevent the marriage 
 of the Austrian Prince with the heiress of Burgundy ; but he 
 took advantage of that event to detach from the territories of 
 that princess whatever he found convenient. He seized on the 
 dutchy of Burgundy as a vacant fief of his crown, as well as the 
 seigniories of Auxerrois, Maconnois, Bar-sur-Seine, and the 
 towns on the Somme ; and these different countries were pre- 
 served to France by the treaties of peace concluded at Arras 
 (1482) and Senlis (1493.) Such was the origin of the rivaliy 
 and bloody wars between France and Austria. The theatre of 
 hostilities, Avhich, under Louis XL had been in the Low Coun- 
 tries, was transferred to Italy, under Charles VIII., Louis XII., 
 and Francis I. From thence it was changed to Germany, in 
 the reign of Henry II. 
 
 In Italy, besides this rivalry between the two powers, there 
 was another motive, or pretext, for vvar, viz. the claims of France 
 on the kingdom of Naples and the dutchy of Milan. The claim 
 of Louis XI. on the kingdom of Naples, had devolved to him 
 with the county of Provence, which he inherited in virtue of the 
 will of Charles, Count of Provence, and the last male descen- 
 dant of the house of Anjou (1431.) Charles VIII., the son and 
 successor of Louis XL, urged on by youthful ambition, was de- 
 termined to enforce this claim, He undertook an expedition 
 into Italy (1494,) and took possession of the kingdom of Naples 
 without striking a blow. But being opposed by a formidable 
 confederacy of the Italian princes, with Maximilian at their head, 
 he was obliged to abandon his conquests with the same facility 
 he had made them ; and he was fortunate in being able to effect 
 his retreat, by the famous victory which he gained over the al- 
 lies near Foronuovo, in the dutchj^ of Parma. 
 
 The claim to the dutchy of Milan, was founded on the con- 
 tract of marriage between Louis, Duke of Orleans, the grandfa- 
 ther of Louis XII., and Valentine of Milan. That contract pro- 
 vided, that failing heirs-male of John Galeas, Duke of Milan, 
 the dutchy should fall to Valentine, and the children of her 
 marriage with the Duke of Orleans. Louis XII. claimed the 
 rights of Valentine, his grandmother, in opposition to the princes 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 247 
 
 of the family of Sforza, who had taken possession of the 
 dutchy of Milan, on the extinction of the male-heirs of the 
 Visconti, ^vhich happened in 1447. The different expeditions' 
 v/hich he undertook into Italy, both for the conquest of Milan 
 and the kingdom of Naples, met with no better success than 
 that of his predecessor had done ; in consequence of a nevv 
 League, called the Holy League^ which Pope Julius II. raised 
 against him, and into v/hich he drew the Emperor Maximilia7\» 
 the Kings of Arragon and England, with the Venetians and the 
 Swiss. Louis XII. lost all the advantages of his conquests. 
 The kingdom of Naples fell under the power of Ferdinand thiA 
 Catholic, and the family of Sforza were reinstated in the dutchy 
 of IMilan. 
 
 These Italian wars, which were renewed at different times 
 under the reign of Francis I., cost France much blood and im- 
 mense sums. In this struggle she was forced to succum.b, and 
 Francis I. bound himself, by the treaty of Crepy, to abandon his 
 claims on Italy in favour of Charles V. The kingdom of Na- 
 ples and the dutchy of Milan remained incorporated with the 
 Spanish monarchies. Francis I., nevertheless, had the glory of 
 arresting the progress of his rival, and effectually counterbalan- 
 cing a power which, at that time, made all Europe tremble. 
 
 Henry II., the son and successor of Francis I., adopted a ne^v 
 line of policy. He attacked the House of Austria, in Germany ; 
 having entered into a league with Maurice, Elec*^or of Saxony, 
 and the Protestant princes of the Empire, to oppose Charles V. 
 That league, Avhich was ratified at Chambord (1552,) procured 
 for Henry IL possession of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and 
 Verdun ; and he even succeeded in forcing the Emperor to raise 
 the siege of Metz, vv-hich that prince had undertaken about the 
 end of the year 1552. A truce of five years was agreed on be- 
 tween these two sovereigns at Vaucelles ; but, in the course of 
 a few months, the war was renewed, and Philip II., who had 
 succeeded his father, Charles V., induced his queen, Mary' of 
 England, to join in it. Among the events of this war, the most 
 remarkable are the victory of St. Quentin, gained by the Span- 
 iards (1557,) and the conquest of the city of Calais,' by Francis, 
 Dake of Guise ; the last possession of the English in France 
 (155S.) The death of Queen Mary prepared the way for a 
 peace, which was signed at Chateau-Cambresis (1559,) between 
 France, England, and Spain. The Duke of Savoy obtained 
 there the restitution of his estates, of which Francis I. had de- 
 prived him in 1536. Calais remained annexed to France. 
 
 A series of wars, both civil and religious, broke out under the 
 feeble reigns of the three sons and successors of Henry II. The 
 
248 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 great influence of the Guises, and the factions whicli distracted 
 the court and the state, were the true source of hostilities, though 
 religion was made the pretext. Francis II. having espoused 
 Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, the whole power and authority 
 of the government passed into the hands of Francis, Duke of 
 Guise, and the Cardinal de Lorraine, his brother, who were the 
 queen's maternal uncles. The power which these noblemen en- 
 joyed excited the jealousy of Anthony, King of Navarre, and 
 his brother Louis, Prince of Conde, who imagined that the pre- 
 cedency in this respect was due to them as princes of the blood, 
 in preference to the Lorraine family, who might be considered 
 as strangers in France. The former being Calvinists, and 
 having enlisted all the leaders of that party in their cause, it was 
 not difficult for the Lorraine princes to secure the interest of all 
 the most zealous Catholics. 
 
 The first spark that kindled these civil wars, was the conspi- 
 racy of Amboise. The intention of the conspirators was to 
 seize the Guises, to bring them to trial, and throw the manage- 
 ment of affairs into the hands of the princes of the blood. The 
 conspiracy having been discovered, the prince of Conde, who 
 "was suspected of being at its head, was arrested ; and he would 
 have been executed, had not the premature death of Francis II. 
 happened in the meantime. The queen-mother, Catherine de 
 Medici, who was intrusted with the regency during the m^inority 
 of Charles IX., and desirous 'of holding the balance between the 
 two parties, set Conde at liberty, and granted the Calvinists the 
 free exercise of their religion, in the suburbs and parts lying 
 out of the to\vns. This famous edict (January 1-562) occasion- 
 ed the first civil war, the signal of which was the massacre of 
 Vassy in Champagne. 
 
 Of these wars, there have been commonly reckoned eight 
 under the family of Valois, viz. four in the reign of Charles IX., 
 and four in that of Henry III. The fourth, under Charles IX., 
 began with the famous massacre of St. Bartholomew, authorized 
 and directed by the King (1572.) 
 
 It is of some importance to notice here the Edict of Pacifica- 
 tion of Henry III., of the month of May 1576. The new pri- 
 vileges whicli this edict granted to the Calvinists, encouraged 
 the Guises to form a league this same year, ostensibly for the 
 maintenance of the Catholic religion, but whose real object was 
 the dethronement of the reigning dynasty, and the elevation of 
 the Guises. The Duke of Alen9on, only brother of Henry III., 
 being dead, and the King of Navarre, who professed the Cal- 
 vinistic faith, having become presumptive heir to the crown, the 
 chiefs of the Catholic League no longer made a secret of their 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 249 
 
 measures. They concluded a formal alliance ( 15S4,) with Philip 
 II. of Spain, for excluding the Bourbons from the throne of 
 France. Henry III. was obliged, by the Leaguers, to recom- 
 mence the war against the Calvinists ; but perceiving that the 
 Duke of Guise, and the Cardinal his brother, took every occa- 
 sion to render his government odious, he caused them both to be 
 assassinated at Blois (15SS,) and threw himself on the protec- 
 tion of the King of Navarre. In ccajunction with that Prince, 
 he undertook the siege of Paris, dur ng which he was himself 
 assassinated at St. Cloud, by a Jaco jin of the name of James 
 Clement (15S9.) 
 
 The d^masty of Valois ended vv'ith Henry III., after having 
 occupied the throne for two hundred and sixty-one years. Under 
 this dynasty the royal authority had gained considerably, both 
 by the annexation of the great tiefs to the crown-lands, and by 
 the introduction of regular armies, which put an end to the feu- 
 dal power. Louis XI. was chiefly instrumental in bringing the 
 gi-andees under subjection, and putting an end to the cruelties 
 and oppressions of anarchy. If these changes, however, contri- 
 buted to public order, it is nevertheless true that the national 
 liberty suffered by them ; that the royal authority daily received 
 new augmentations ; and that, so early as the reign of Louis XII., 
 it was considered as high treason to speak of the necessity of 
 assemblmg the States-General. The practice of these assemblies, 
 however, was renewed under the successors of that prince ; they 
 even became frequent under the last kings of the house of Valois, 
 who convoked them chiefly with the view of demanding supplies. 
 Francis I. augmented his influence over the clergy by the con- 
 cordat w^hich he concluded with Leo X. (1516,) in virtue of 
 which he obtained the nomination to all vacant prelatures ; leav- 
 ing to the Pope the confirmation of the prelates, and the liberty 
 of receiving the annats. 
 
 The race of Valois was succeeded by that of the Bourbons, who 
 were descended from Robert Count of Clermont, younger son of 
 St. Louis. Henry IV., the first king of this dynasty, Avas related 
 in the twenty-first degree to Henry III., his immediate predeces- 
 sor. That prince, who was a Calvinist, the more easily reduced 
 the party of the League, by publicly abjuring his religion at St. 
 Denis. He concluded a peace with the Spaniards, who were 
 allies of the League, at Vervins ; and completely tranquillized 
 the kingdom by the famous edict of Nantes, which he published 
 in ftivour of the reformed religion. By that edict he guaranteed 
 to the Protestants perfect liberty of conscience, and the public 
 exercise of their worship, with the privilege of filling all offices 
 of trust : but he rendered them, at the sam^e time, a pieoe of dis- 
 
260 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 service, by granting them forfeited places, under the name of places 
 of security. By thus fostering a spirit of party and intestine 
 faction, he furnished a plausible pretext to their adversaries for 
 gradually undermining the edict, and finally proscribing the ex- 
 ercise of the reformed religion in France. 
 
 That great prince, after having established the tranquillity of 
 his kingdom at home and abroad, encouraged arts and manufac- 
 tures, and put the administration of his finances into admirable 
 order, was assassinated b\'' Ravaillac (1610,) at the very moment 
 when he was employed in executing the grand scheme which he 
 had projected for the pacification of Europe. Cardinal Richelieu, 
 when he assumed the reins of government under Louis XIII. , 
 had nothing so much at heart as the expulsion of the Calvinists 
 from their strongholds. This he accomplished by means of the 
 three wars which he waged against them, and by the famous 
 siege of Rochelle, which he reduced in 1628. That great states- 
 man next employed his policy against the house of Austria, whose 
 preponderance gave umbrage to all Europe. He took the op- 
 portunity of the vacant succession of Mantua to espouse the cause 
 of the Duke of Nevers against the Courts of Vienna and Mad- 
 rid, who supported the Duke of Guastalla ; and maintained his 
 protege in the dutchy of Mantua, by the treaties of peace which 
 were concluded at Ratisbon and Querasque (1631.) Having 
 afterwards joined Sweden, he made war against the two branches 
 of Austria, and on this occasion got possession of the places which 
 the Swedes had seized in Alsace. ' 
 
 Louis XIV. was only four years and seven months old when 
 he succeeded his father (1643.) The queen-mother, Anne of 
 Austria, assumed the regency. She appointed Cardinal Ma- 
 zarin her prime minister, whose administration, during the 
 minority of the King, was a scene of turbulence and distrac- 
 tion. The same external policy which had directed the minis- 
 try of RicheHeu, was followed by his successor. He prose- 
 cuted the war against Austria with vigour, in conjunction with 
 Sweden, and their confederates in Germany. By the peace 
 which was concluded w4th the Emperor at Munster, besides 
 the three bishoprics of Lorraine, France obtained the Land- 
 graviate of Lower and Upper Alsace, Sungaw, and the pre- 
 fecture of the ten Imperial cities of Alsace. Spain was ex- 
 cluded from this treaty ; and the war continued between that 
 kingdom and France until the peace of the Pyrenees, by which 
 the counties of Roussillon and Conflans were ceded to France, 
 as well as several cities in Flanders, Hainault, and Luxembourg. 
 Spain, which had long been divided into several States, and 
 1 stranger as it were to the rest of Europe, became all of a sud- 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 251 
 
 den a formidable power, turning the political balance in her owu 
 favour. This elevation was the work of Ferdinand the Catholic, 
 a prince born for great exploits ; of a profound and fertile genius , 
 but tarnishing his bright qualities by perfidy and unbounded 
 ambition. He was heir to the throne of Arragon, and laid 
 the foundation of his greatness by his marriage with Isabella 
 (1469,) sister to Henry VI. last King of Castillo. That match 
 united the kingdoms of Castillo and Arragon, which were the 
 two principal Christian States in Spain. Henry of Castillo had 
 left a daughter, named Jane, but she being considered as illegi- 
 timate by the Castillians, the throne was conferred on Isabella 
 and her husband Ferdinand (1474.) The Infanta Jane, in order 
 to -enforce her claims, betrothed herself to Alphonso V. King of 
 Portugal ; but that prince being defeated by Ferdinand at the 
 battle of Toro (1476,) was obhged to renounce Castillo and his 
 marriage with the Infanta. 
 
 At the accession of Isabella to the throne of Castille, that 
 kingdom was a prey to all the miseries of anarchy. The abuses 
 of the feudal system were there maintained by violence and in- 
 justice. Ferdinand demolished the fortresses of the nobles who 
 infested the country ; he gave new vigour to the laws ; liberated 
 the people from the oppression of the great ; and, under pretence 
 of extirpating the Jews and Mahometans, he established the 
 tribunal of the Inquisition (1478,) which spread universal terror 
 by its unheard of cruelties. Torquemada, a Dominican, who 
 was appointed grand Inquisitor (1483,) burnt in the space of four 
 years near 6000 individuals. 
 
 The Moors still retained the kingdom of Grenada. Ferdinand 
 took advantage of their dissensions to attempt the conquest of it, 
 in which he succeeded, after a vigorous war of eighteen years. 
 Abo Abdeli, the last King of Grenada, fled to Africa. An edict, 
 which was published immediately after, ordered the expul- 
 sion of all the Jews ; about an hundred thousand of whom fled 
 from Spain, and took shelter, some in Portugal, and others in 
 Africa. Ferdinand did not include the Moors in this proscrip- 
 tion, whom he thought to gain over to Christianity by means of 
 persecution ; but having revolted in the year 1500, he then al- 
 lowed them to emigrate. It was this blind and headlong zeal 
 that procured Ferdinand the title of the Catholic King, which 
 Pope Alexander III. conferred on bim and his successors (1493.) 
 That prince also augmented his power by annexing to his crown 
 the Grand Mastership of the Military Orders of Calatrava, Al- 
 cantara, and St. James of Compostella. 
 
 Every thing conspired to aggrandize Ferdinand ; and as if the 
 Old World had not been sufficient, a New one was opened to 
 
252 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 mm by the discovery of America. He was heir, by the father's 
 side, to the kingdoms of Arragon, Sicily, and Sardinia. He 
 got possession of Castillo by his marriage, and of Grenada by 
 force of arms ; so that nothing was wanting except Navarre to 
 unite all Spain under his dominion. The H0I3' League, which 
 Pope Julias 11. had organized against Louis XIL (1511,) fur- 
 nished him with a pretext for seizing that kingdom. Entering 
 into an alliance with the Pope, he concerted with the King of 
 England to invade Guienne, on which the English had some 
 ancient claims. They demanded of the King of Navarre that 
 he should make common cause with the allies of the Holy 
 League against Louis XII. That prince, hovv'ever, wishing to 
 preserve neutrality, they prescribed conditions so severe, that he 
 had no other alternative left than to seek protection in France. 
 Ferdinand then obtained possession of all that part of Navarre 
 which lay beyond the Pj^renees. Twelve years before that time 
 Ferdinand had, by the treaty of Grenada, planned with Louis 
 XII. the conquest of the kingdom of Naples. Frederic of Ar- 
 ragon was then deprived of that kingdom, and his States Avere 
 divided between the two allied kings ; but Ferdinand having 
 soon quarrelled with Louis XII. as to their respective boundaries, 
 this was made a pretext for expelling the French from Naples, 
 which v/as again united to the Spanish monarchy, in the years 
 1503 and 1505. 
 
 Charles I. of Austria, grandson of Ferdinand, and his succes- 
 sor in the Spanish monarchy, added to that crown the Low 
 Countries and Franche-Comte, which he inherited in right of 
 his father Philip of Austria, and his grandmother Mary of Bur- 
 gundy. He added likewise the kingdoms of Mexico and Peru, 
 on the continent of America, and the dutchy of Milan in Italy, 
 in which he invested his son Philip, after having repeatedly ex- 
 pelled the French in the years 1522 and 1525. 
 
 These were all the advantages he derived from his wars 
 against Francis I., which occupied the greater part of his 
 reign. Blinded by his animosit)^ against that Prince, and by his 
 ruling passion for war, he only exhausted his kingdom, and im- 
 paired his true greatness. Charles resigned the Spanish mo- 
 narchy to his son Philip II., which then comprehended the Low 
 Countries, the kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, the 
 dutchy of Milan, and the Spanish possessions in America. The 
 peace of Chateau Cambresis, which Philip II. signed in 1559, 
 after a long war against France, may be regarded as the era of 
 Spanish greatness. To the states which were left him by his 
 father, Philip added the kingdom of Portugal, with the Portu- 
 guese possessions in Africa, Asia, and America ; but this vas the 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 253 
 
 termination of his prosperity. His reign after that was only a 
 succession of misfortunes. His revolting- despotism excited the 
 Belgians to insurrection, and gave birth to the republic of the 
 United Provinces. Elizabeth of England having joined with 
 the Confederates of the Low Countries, Philip, out of revenge, 
 equipped a formidable fleet, known by the name of the Imnnci' 
 hie Armada^ which was composed of ISO vessels of enormous 
 size, manned with 20,000 soldiers, exclusive of sailors, and arm- 
 ed with 1330 pieces of cannon. On entering the Channel they 
 were defeated by the English (21st of July 1588,) and the greater 
 part of them destroyed by a storm. 
 
 From this calamity may be dated the decline of the Spair'sh 
 monarch}^, which was exhausted liy its expensive wars. Phi.ip, 
 at his death, left an enormous debt, and the whole glory of the 
 Spanish nation perished with him. The reigns of his feeble 
 successors are only remarkable for their disasters. Philip III. 
 did irreparable injury to his crown by the expulsion of the Moors 
 or Morescoes (1610,) which lost Spain nearly a million of her 
 industrious subjects. Nothing can equal the misfortunes which 
 she experienced under the reign of Philip IV. During the war 
 which he had to support against France, the Catalans revolted, 
 and put themselves under the protection of that Crown (1640.) 
 Encouraged by their example, the Portuguese likewise shook 
 olf the yoke, and replaced the House of Braganza on their 
 throne. Lastly, the IVeapolitans, harassed by the Duke d'Oli- 
 varez, prime minister of Philip IV. revolted, and attempted to 
 form themselves into a republic (1647.) These reverses on the 
 part of Spain added to the number of her enemies. The famous 
 Cromwell having entered into an alliance with France (1655,) 
 dispossessed the Spaniards of Jamaica, one of their richest set- 
 tlements in America. 
 
 Towards the end of the fifteenth century, Portugal had reach- 
 ed a high pitch of elevation, which she ow^ed to the astonishing 
 progress of her navigation and her commerce. John II., whose 
 fleets first doubled the Cape of Good Hope, augmented the royal 
 authority, by humbling the exorbitant and tyrannical power of 
 the grandees. In the diet which was assembled at Evora, he 
 retracted the concessions which his predecessors had made to 
 the nobles, to the prejudice of the Crown. He abolished the 
 power of life and death, which the lords exercised over their 
 vassals, and subjected their towns and their territories to the 
 jurisdiction of officers appointed by the King. The nobles, who 
 were displeased at these innovations, having combined in de- 
 fence of their privileges, and chosen the Duke of Braganza for 
 their leader, John, without being disconcerted by this opnosition 
 
 VOL. I. 22 
 
254 • CHAPTER VII. 
 
 had the Duke brought to a trial, and his head cut off, while his 
 brother Avas hanged in effigy. This example of severity intirai- 
 dated the grandees, and made them submit to his authority. 
 The most brilliant era of Portugal was that of Emmanuel and 
 John III., who reigned between the years 1495 and 1557. It 
 was under these two Princes that the Portuguese formed their 
 powerful empire in India, of which nothing now remains but 
 the ruins. 
 
 The glory of Portugal suffered an eclipse under the feeble 
 reign of SelDastian, grandson and immediate successor of John. 
 That Prince, who came to the throne at the age of three ^^ears, 
 had been brought up by the Jesuits, who instead of instructing 
 him in the important arts of government, had given him the 
 education of a monk. They had inspired him with a dislike 
 for matrimony, but with a decided attachment for the crusades. 
 Muley Mahomet, King of Morocco, having requested his assist- 
 ance against his uncle Moluc, who had dethroned him, Sebas- 
 tian undertook an expedition into Africa in person, carrying with 
 him the flower of his nobility. A bloody battle was fought near 
 Alcacar, in the kingdom of Fez (1578,) where the Portuguese 
 sustained a complete defeat. Sebastian was slain ; and, what is 
 sufficiently remarkable, his enemy Moluc died a natural death 
 during the action, while Muley Mahomet was drowned in the 
 flight. 
 
 [During the reign of this king, every thing had fallen into 
 decay : even the character of the nation had begun to degenerate. 
 The spirit of chivalry which had distinguished them, was ex- 
 changed for mercantile adventures, which even infected the 
 higher classes ; while avarice, luxury, and effeminacy, brought 
 on a universal corruption. The governors of their colonies in- 
 dulged in all sorts of violence and injustice. They seized the 
 more lucrative branches of commerce. The military force, 
 which Emmanuel and John III. had kept up in India, vvas 
 neglected. The clergy usurped the whole wealth of the colo- 
 nies, and exercised an absolute power by means of the Inquisition, 
 which was no where more terrible than at Goa.] 
 
 As Sebastian had never been married, the throne passed at 
 his death to Henry the Cardinal, his grand uncle by the lather's 
 side, who was already far advanced in life. Perceiving his end 
 approach, and that his death would involve the kingdom in con- 
 fusion, he summoned an assembly of the States at Lisbon (1579,) 
 in order to fix the succession. The States appointed eleven 
 commissioners, v^dlo were to investigate the claims of the diffe- 
 rent candidates for the crown. Philip II. of Spain, who was one 
 of this number, did not pay the least regard to the decisioa of 
 
TERioD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 255 
 
 the Slates. IN o sooner had he learned the death of Henry ( 1580,) 
 than he sent the Duke of Alva, at the head of an army, to take 
 possession of Portugal. The Duke defeated the troops of his 
 opponent, Anthony prior of Crato, one of the claimants, who 
 had proclaimed himself king ; pretending that he was the legiti- 
 mate son of the Infant Don Louis, son of Emmanuel. Anthony 
 had no other alternative left than to take shelter in France, and 
 the whole of Portugal yielded to the yoke of the Spaniards. 
 
 An inveterate antipathy, however, subsisted between the two 
 nations, which made the Portuguese detest their Spanish mas- 
 ters. This hatred was still more increased, on account of the 
 losses which the Portuguese sustained, in the meantime, in their 
 commerce and possessions in the East Indies. The lucrative 
 traffic which the Confederates in the Low Countries, called the 
 Dutch, carried on by importing the merchandise of the East 
 from Portugal, and hawking them over the north of Europe, 
 having enabled them to support the war against Spain, Philip II. 
 thought to strike a fatal blow at their prosperity, by forbidding 
 them all commerce with Portugal. 
 
 That Prince, however, was deceived in his expectation. The 
 Confederates, deprived of this lucrative branch of their industry, 
 and after having made some unsuccessful attempts to find a 
 north-west passage to India, took the resolution of sailing directly 
 thither (1595,) under the conduct of Cornelius Houtman and 
 Molinaar, in order to seek, at the fountain-head, those commodi- 
 ties which were refused them in Portugal. No sooner had they 
 attempted to form settlements in India than the Portuguese de- 
 termined to prevent them, and fought with them, near Bantam, 
 a town in Java, a naval battle, which ended in favour of the 
 Confederates. 
 
 Encouraged by this first success, the Dutch undertook to de- 
 prive the Portuguese of their principal possessions in India. 
 The conquest which they made of the Moluccas, procured them 
 the spice trade. They likewise formed settlements in the island 
 of Java, where they founded the city of Batavia, which became 
 the capital and emporium of their settlements in India. At 
 length Goa and Diu were the only places that remained to the 
 Portuguese of their numerous possessions in India. These im- 
 portant losses greatly exasperated the Portuguese against the 
 Spaniards. What added still more to their resentment was, 
 that in the court of Madrid they saw a premeditated design to 
 make vassals of the Portuguese ; and to cut off the most likely 
 means of enabling them, sooner or later, to recover their ancient 
 independence. It was with this view that their army and their 
 marine were disorganized, their crown revenues dissipated, their 
 
256 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 nobility prerluded from the management of affairs, and th<^ na- 
 tion exliaa-sied by exorbitant assessments. 
 
 The revolt of the Catalans, which happened in 1640, at length 
 determined the Portuguese to shake off the Spanish yoke. A 
 conspiracy was entered into b}^ some of the grandees, in concert 
 with the Duke of Braganza, which broke out on the 1st Decem- 
 ber that same year. On that day, at eight o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, the conspirators, to the number of about four hundred, re- 
 paired by different routes to the palace of Lisbon, where the 
 vice-queen, Margaret of Savoy, and dowager of Mantua, resided, 
 with Vasconcellos the Secretary of State, who exercised the 
 functions of Prime Minister of the kingdom. Part of them dis- 
 armed the guard bf the palace, while others seized Vasconcel- 
 los, Avho was the only victim that fell a sacrifice to the public 
 vengeance. They secured the pe?son of the vice-queen, and 
 took measures to protect her from insult or violence. The con- 
 spirators then proclaimed the Duke of Braganza King, under 
 the title of John IV. That prince arrived at Lisbon on the 6th 
 of December, and his inauguration took place on the 15tli. It 
 is not a little surprising that this revolution became general in 
 eight days time, and that it was not confined merely to Portugal, 
 but extended even to India and Africa. Every where the Por- 
 tuguese expelled the Spaniards, and proclaimed the Duke of 
 Braganza, The city of Geuta in Africa, was the only town of 
 which the Spaniards found means to retain possession. 
 
 John IV. was descended in a direct line from Alphonso, na- 
 tural son of John the Bastard, who v/as created Duke of Bra- 
 ganza. The first care of this new King of Portugal, on his ac- 
 cession to the throne, was to convene an assembly of the States 
 at Lisbon, in order to make them acknowledge his right to *he 
 crown. The States, conformably to the fundamental laws of the 
 kingdom, dedared that Catherine, daughter of the infant Dun 
 Edward, and grandmother of King John, having become the 
 true and legitimate heiress to the throne on the death of Henry 
 the Cardinal, her grandson John IV. was entitled to the repos- 
 session of those rights of which that princess had been unjustly 
 deprived by the Spaniards. The better to establish himself on 
 the throne, John concluded treaties of peace with France, the 
 United Provinces, the Netherlands, and Sweden ; but confming 
 his whole ambition to maintaining the ancient limits of the king- 
 dom, he remained completely inactive with regard to Snain, 
 which, being overpowered by numerous enemies, was quite in- 
 capable of carrying on the war with vigour against Portugal 
 The truce and alliance \vhich that Prince had entered into with 
 the Dutch, did not prevent these republicans from continuing 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. ]f453"-1648. 257 
 
 their conquests in India ; where, in process of time, they strip- 
 ped the Portuguese of their finest settlements. 
 
 England, long before this time, had emerged from the state of 
 turbulence and desolation into which she had been plunged by 
 the destructive wars of the two Roses. A new family, that of 
 the Tudors, had mounted the throne; Henry VII., who was its 
 founder, claimed the crown in right of his mother Margaret 
 Beaufort, alleged heiress of the house of Lancaster, or the Red 
 Rose ; and raised an insurrection against Richard III., the last 
 King of the House of York. This prince being defeated and 
 slain at the battle of Bosworth (1485,) Henry, who was then 
 proclaimed King of England, united the titles or claims of the 
 two Roses, by his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward 
 IV., and heiress of York, or the White Rose. The country be- 
 ing thus restored to tranquillity after thirty years of civil war, 
 every thing assumed a more prosperous appearance. AgTicul- 
 ture and commerce began to flourish anew. Henry applied 
 himself to the restoration of order and industry. He humbled 
 the factious nobles, and raised the royal authority almost to a 
 state of absolute despotism. 
 
 The reformatiom of rehgion in England began in the reign of 
 his son Henry VIII. That Prince, who was of a very capricious 
 character, vacillating continually between virtue and vice, ap- 
 peared at first as the champion of Popery, and published a treatise 
 against Luther, which procured him, from the Court of Rome, 
 the title of Defender of the Faith. But a violent passion, which 
 he had conceived for Anne Boleyn, having induced him to attempt 
 a divorce from Catherine of Arragon, daughter of Ferdinand tha 
 Catholic, he addressed himself for this purpose to Pope Clement 
 VII., alleging certain scruples of conscience which he felt on ac- 
 count of his marriage with Catherine, who was within the de- 
 grees of affinity, prohibited in the sacred Scriptures. The Pope 
 iDeing afraid to displease the Emperor Charles V., who was the 
 nephew of Catherine, thought proper to defer judgment in this 
 matter ; but the King, impatient of delay, caused his divorce to 
 be pronounced by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury 
 (1532,) and immediately married Anne Boleyn, 
 
 The sentence of the Archbishop was annulled b}^ the Pope, 
 who published a threatening bull against Henry. This incensed 
 the King, who caused the Papal authority in England to be abro- 
 gated by the Parliament, and installed himself in the capacity of 
 supreme head of the English Church (1534 ;) a title which was 
 conferred on him by the clergy, and confirmed by the Parliament. 
 He also introduced the oath of supremacy, in virtue of which all 
 who were employed in offices of trust, were obliged to acknow- 
 
 22^ 
 
253 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ledge him as head of the Church. A court of High Commission 
 was established, to judge ecclesiastical causes in name of the 
 king, and from whose sentence there was iio appeal. The con- 
 vents or monasteries w^ere suppressed, and their revenues confis- 
 cated to the crown (1536-1539.) Hemy*even became a dogma- 
 list in theolog}^ ; and discarding the principles of Luther, as well 
 as those of Calvin and Rome, he framed a religion according to 
 his own fancy. Rejecting the worship of im.ages, relics, purga- 
 tory, monastic vows, and the supremacy of the Pope, he gave his 
 sanction, by the law of the Six Articles, to the doctrine of the 
 real presence, the communion in one kind, the vow of chastity, 
 the celibacy of the priests, the mass, and auricular confession : 
 inflicting very severe penalties on all who should deny or disobey 
 one or other of these articles. 
 
 This monarch, w^ho was the first of the English kings that 
 took the title of King of Ireland (1542,) w^as involved in the dis- 
 putes which then embroiled the Continental powers ; but instead 
 of holding the balance between France and Austria, he adhered 
 in general to his friend and ally Charles V. against France. 
 This conduct was regulated less by politics than by passion, and 
 the personal interest of his minister Cardinal Wolsey, whom the 
 Emperor had attached to his cause, by the hope of the papal tiara. 
 
 The religi'^n w^hich Henry had planted in England, did not 
 continue after his death. Edv/ard VI., his son and immediate 
 successor, introduced pure Calvinism or Presbyterianism. 
 Mary, daughter of Henry VIII., by Catherine of Arragon, on 
 her accession to the throne, restored the Catholic religion (1553,) 
 and likewise received the new legate of the Pope into England. 
 She iiPiflicted great cruelties on the Protestants, many of whom, 
 were burnt at the stake ; among others, Cranmer, Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, and the Bishops of London and Worcester. 
 With the view of more firmly establishing the Catholic religion 
 in her dominions, she espoused Philip, presumptive heir to the 
 Spanish monarchy (1554.) The restrictions with which the Eng- 
 lish Parliament fettered his contract of marriage with the Queen, 
 so displeased that prince, that, finding himself without power or 
 authority, he speedily w^ithdrew from England. Mary's reign 
 lasted only five years : she was succeeded by her sister Eliza- 
 beth (1558,) daughter of Henry VIII., by Anne Boleyn. This 
 princess once more abrogated the authority of the iPope, and 
 claimed to herself the supreme administration, both spiritual 
 and temporal, within her kingdom. Though she adopted the 
 Calvmistic principles in every thing regarding the doctrines of 
 the Church, she retained many of the Romish ceremonies, and 
 the government of Bishops. It was this that gave rise to the 
 
PEPioD VI, A. D. 1453 — 1643. 259 
 
 distinction between the English or High Church, and the Cal- 
 vanistic or Presbyterian. 
 
 About the time when the High Church par'y rose in England, 
 a change of religion took place in Scotland, protected by Queen 
 Elizabeth. The regency of that kingdom was then vested in 
 the Queen-dowager, Mary of Lorraine, the widow of James V,, 
 and mother of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland and France. 
 That princess, who v/as guided solely by the councils of her 
 brothers of Lorraine, had introduced a body of French troops U-> 
 repress the follov/ers of the new doctrines, who had formed a 
 new league, under the name of the Congregatio7i. These, re- 
 inforced by the Catholic malecontents, who were apprehensive 
 of falling under a foreign yoke, took the resolution of applying 
 for assistance to the English Queen, which it was by no means 
 difficult to obtain. Elizabeth readily foresaw, that so soon as 
 Francis became master of Scotland, he would attempt to enforce 
 Mary's claims to the throne of England, grounded partly on the 
 assumption of her being illegitimate. A considerable number of 
 English troops were then marched to Scotland, and having 
 formed a junction with the Scottish malecontents, they besieged 
 the French in the town of Leith, near Edinburgh. The latter 
 were soon obliged to capitulate. By the articles signed at Leith 
 (1560,) the French and English troops were to evacuate Scot- 
 land ; Francis IL King of France, and his wife Mary Stuart, 
 were to renounce the titles and arms of the sovereigns of Eng- 
 land, which they had assumed ; while a Parliament was to be 
 assembled at Edinburgh for the pacification of the kingdom. 
 
 The parliament which met soon after, ratified the Confession 
 of Faith, drawn up and presented by the Presbyterian ministers. 
 The Presbyterian worship was introduced into Scotland ; and 
 the parliament even went so far as to prohibit the exercise 
 of the Catholic religion. Mary Stuart, on her return to Scot- 
 land (1561,) after the death of her husband Francis, was obliged 
 to acquiesce in all these changes ; and it was with difficulty she 
 was allowed the liberty of having a Catholic chapel attached to 
 her court. This unfortunate princess was afterwards accused 
 of having caused the assassination of Henry Darnley, her se- 
 cond husband ; and being obliged to fly the country, she took 
 shelter in England (156S,) where she was arrested and impri- 
 soned by order of Queen Elizabeth. After a captivity of nine- 
 teen years she was sentenced to death, and beheaded (ISth Feb. 
 15S7,) as an accomplice in the different plots which had been 
 formed against the life of her royal relative. 
 
 The troubles which the reformation of religion had excited in 
 Scotland, extended also to Ireland. A kind of corrupt feudal 
 
260 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 system had prevailed originally in that island, which Henry II. 
 had not been able to extirpate. The English proprietors, who 
 were vassals of the cro\\Ti, and governed by the laws of Eng- 
 land, possessed nearly one-third of the whole country ; while 
 :he rest of the island was in the hands of the Irish proprietors, 
 who, although they acknowledged the sovereignty of the Eng- 
 lish kings, preserved nevertheless the language and manners of 
 iheir native land ; and were inclined to seize every opportunity 
 of shaking off the English yoke, which they detested. Hence, 
 a continued series of wars and feuds, both among the Irish 
 them-selves, and against the English, who on their part had no 
 other object than to extend their possessions at the expense of 
 the natives. The kings of England, guided by an injudicious 
 policy, for several centuries exhausted their resources in perpetual 
 wars^ sometimes against France, sometimes against Scotland, 
 and sometimes against their own subjects, without paying the 
 least attention to Ireland, of which they appear to have kno^\^l 
 neither the importance nor the effectual advantages which they 
 might have reaped from it by means of a wise administration. 
 Th°e progress of agriculture and industry became thus completely 
 impracticable; a deep-rooted hatred was established between 
 the islanders and the English, who in fact seemed two distinct 
 nations, enemies of each other, and forming no alliances either 
 by marriage or reciprocal intercourse. 
 
 The resentment of the Irish against the English government 
 was aggravated still more, at the time of the Reformation, by 
 the vigorous measures that were taken, subsequently to the reign 
 of Henry VIII. , to extend to Ireland the laws framed in Eng- 
 land against the court of Rome and the Catholic clergy. A 
 general insurrection broke out in the reign of Elizabeth (1596,) 
 the chief instigator of which was Hugh O'Neal, head of a clan 
 in the province of Ulster, and Earl of Tyrone. Having gained 
 over the whole Irish Catholics to his cause, he planned an ex-' 
 tensive conspiracy, with the design of effecting the entire expul- 
 sion of the English from the island. Philip II., King of Spain, 
 supplied the insurgents with troops and ammunition ; and Pope 
 Clement VIII. held out ample indulgences in favour of those 
 who should enlist under the banners of O'Neal, to combat the 
 English heretics. This insurgent chief met at first with con- 
 siderable success ; he defeated the English in a pitched battle, 
 and maintained his ground against the Earl of Essex, whom 
 Elizabeth had despatched to the island with a formidable army. 
 The rebels, however, ultimately failed in their enterprise, after 
 a sanguinary war which lasted seven years. Charles, Lord 
 Mountjoy, governor of Ireland, drove the insurgents to their las* 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 261 
 
 recesses, and had the glory of achieving the entire reduction oi 
 the island. ^ 
 
 The maritime greatness of England began in the reign of 
 Elizabeth. That Princess gave new vigour to industry and 
 commerce ; and her efforts were seconded by the persecuting 
 zeal of the French and Spanish governm.ents. The numerous 
 refugees from France and the Netherlands, found a ready asy- 
 lum in England, under the protection of Elizabeth ; and her 
 kingdom became, as it were, the retreat and principal residence 
 of their arts and manufactures. She encouraged and protected 
 navigation, which the English, by degrees, extended to all parts 
 of the globe. An Englishman, named Richard Chancellor, 
 having discovered the route to Archangel in the Icy Sea (1555,) 
 the Czar, John Basilowitz II., granted to an English company 
 the exclusive privilege of trading with Russia (1569.) The 
 commerce of the English with Turkey and the Levant, which 
 began in 1579, was likewise monopolized by a Company of mer- 
 chants. Francis Drake, a distinguished navigator, and the rival 
 of Magellan, was the first Englishman that performed a voyage 
 round the world, between 1577 and 15S0. The intercourse be- 
 tween England and the East Indies began in 1591 ; and the 
 East India Company was instituted in 1600. Attempts were 
 also made, about the same time, to form settlements in North 
 America ; and Walter Raleigh, who had obtained a charter from 
 the Queen (15S4,) endeavoured to found a colony in that part 
 of the American Continent, now called Virginia, in compliment 
 to Elizabeth. That colony, however, did not, properly speak- 
 ing, take root or flourish till the reign of James I. The compe- 
 tition with Spain, and the destruction of the In\'incible Armada 
 of Philip II., by the combined fleets of England and Holland, 
 gave a new energj" to the English marine, the value of Avhich 
 they had learned to appreciate, not merely in guarding the in- 
 dependence of the kingdom, but 4n securing the prosperity of 
 their commerce and navigation. 
 
 The House of Tudor ended in Queen Elizabeth (1603,) after 
 having occupied the throne of England about a hundred and 
 eighteen years. It was replaced by that of the Stuarts. James 
 VI., King of Scotland, son of Mary Stuart, and Henry Darnley, 
 succeeded to the throne of England, and took the title of King of 
 Great Britain, which his successors still retain. This prince de- 
 rived his right to the crown, from the marriage of his gi'eat grand- 
 mother, Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII., with James 
 IV. of Scotland. Vain of his new elevation, and fond of pre- 
 rogative, James constantly occupied himself with projects for 
 augmenting his royal power and authority in England ; and by 
 
262 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 instilling these principles into his son, he became the true archi- 
 tect of all the subsequent misfortunes of his house. 
 
 Charles I., the son and successor of James, seldom convened 
 the Parliament ; and when they did assemble, he provoked them 
 by the measures he proposed, and was then obliged to dissolve 
 them. Being entirely guided by his ministers Laud, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, the Earl-s of Strafford and Hamilton, and 
 his Queen, Henrietta of France, he ventured to levy taxes and 
 impositions without the advice of Parliament. This conduct 
 on the part of the King produced a general discontent. The 
 flames of civil war began to kindle in Scotland, where Charles 
 had introduced Episcopacy, as more favourable than Presbyte- 
 rianism to royalty. But the Scottish nobility, having formed a 
 confederac^r, known by the name of the Covenant, for the main- 
 tenance of their ecclesiastical liberties, abolished Episcopacy 
 (1638,) and subsequently took up arms against the King. The 
 Parliament of England, under such circumstances, rose also 
 against Charles (1641,) and passed an act that they should not 
 be dissolved without previously obtaining redress for the com- 
 plaints of the nation. This act, which deprived the King of his 
 principal prerogative, proved fatal to the royal dignity. A trial 
 was instituted by the Parliament against the King's ministers. 
 The Earl of Strafford and the Archbishop of Canterbury were 
 beheaded ; and Charles had the weakness to sign the death-war- 
 rant of his faithful servants. 
 
 The Presbyterians soon became the prevailing party, and ex- 
 cluded the Bishops from the Upper House. The management 
 of affairs fell then into the hands of the House of Commons ; 
 Episcopacy was abolished ; and the Parliament of England ac- 
 ceded to the Scottish Covenant. War now broke out between 
 the King and the Parliament ; a battle was fought near York, 
 m which the latter was victorious (1644.) Charles, seeing his 
 affairs ruined, took the determination to throw himself into the 
 arms of the Scots (1646,) who, he supposed, might still retain 
 an affection for the race of their ancient Kings. He soon found 
 reason, however, to repent of this step ; the Scots did not hesi- 
 tate to sell him to the English Parliament for a sum of £400,000, 
 Sterling, which they found necessary for the payment of their 
 troops. 
 
 A new revolution, w^hich soon after happened in the Parlia- 
 ment, completed the ruin of the King. The Presbyterians, or 
 Puritans, who had suppressed the Episcopalians, were crushed, 
 in their turn, by the Independents. These latter were a sort of 
 fanatics, who admitted no subordination whatever in the Church, 
 entertained a perfect horror for royalty, and were inclined for a 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 263 
 
 republican or democratic form of government. The head and 
 soul of this faction was the famous Oliver Cromwell, who, with 
 great dexterity, made it an engine for raising himself to the 
 sovereign authority. The whole power of the Legislature fell 
 entirely into the hands of the Independent party ; who, by one 
 act, expelled sixty members from the House of Commons. The 
 Parlian^ent, now completely under their dominion, appointed a 
 commission of a hundred and fifty persons, whom they vested 
 with power to try the King. In vain did the Upper House 
 oppose this resolution; in vain did the King object to the Judges 
 named by the House ; the commission proceeded, and pronounced 
 the famous sentence, by virtue of which Charles was beheaded 
 on the 30th of January 1649. His family were dispersed, and 
 saved themselves by flight. 
 
 The revolutions in the North of Europe, about the period of 
 which we now speak, were nol, less important than those which 
 agitated the West and the South. These arose chiefly from 
 the dissolution of the Union of Calmar, and the reformation in. 
 religion ; both of which happened about the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century. The Union of Calmar, between the three 
 kingdoms of the North, had been renewed several times ; but, 
 being badly cemented from the first, it was at length irreparably 
 broken by Sweden. This latter kingdom had been distracted 
 by intestine feuds, occasioned by the ambition and jealousy of 
 the nobles, which continued during the whole reign of CiiHr^es 
 VIII., of the House of Bonde. After the death of that Prii:u:e 
 (1470,) the Swedes, without renouncing the Union, had regu- 
 larly appointed as administrators of the kingdom, from the year 
 1471 till 1520, three individuals of the family of Sture, viz. 
 Steno Sture, called the Old, Suante Sture and Steno Sture, 
 called the Young. 
 
 Meantime, John, King of Denmark, and son of Christian I., 
 had governed the three kingdoms since 1497, when Steno Sture 
 the elder had resigned, until 1501, when he resumed the admin- 
 istration. At length, however. Christian II., son of John, made 
 war on Steno Sture, surnamed the Young, with a view to 
 enforce the claims which he derived from the act of union. 
 Being victorious at the battle of Bogesund, where Sture lost 
 his life, he succeeded in making himself acknowledged by the 
 Swedes as king, and was crowned at Stockholm (1520.) Within 
 a short time after this ceremony, he violated the amnesty which 
 he had publicly announced ; and to gratify the revenge of Gusta- 
 vus TroUe, Archbishop of Upsal, whom the Swedes had deposed, 
 he caused ninety-four of the most distinguished personages in the 
 kingdom to be arrested, and publicly l>eheaded at Stockholm. 
 
264 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 This massacre caused a revolution, by which Sweden recover- 
 ed its ancient state of independence. Gustavus Vasa put him- 
 self at the head of the Dalecarlians, ambiiious to become the 
 liberator of his country (1521.) He was declared Eegent, and 
 two years after, King- of Sweden. The example of the Swedes 
 was soon followed by the Danes, who, indigriant at the excest:es 
 and cruelties of Christian II., deposed him, and conferred their 
 crown on Frederic, Duke of Holstein, and paternal uncle to that 
 prince. Christian, after having long wandered about the Low 
 Countries, was made prisoner by the Danes, and remained in 
 captivity the res-t of his days. The Kings of Denmark having 
 renewed, from time to time, their pretensions to the Swedish 
 throne, and still continued t'le three crowns on their escutcheon, 
 several wars broke out on this subject between the two nations ; 
 and it was not till the peace of Stettin (1570,) that the Danes 
 acknowledged the entire independence of Sweden. 
 
 Denmark then lost the ascendency which she had so long 
 maintained in the North. The government of the kingdom un- 
 derwent a radical change. A corrupt aristocracy rose on the 
 ruins of the national liberty. The senate, composed wholly of 
 the nobles, usurped all authority ; they overruled the election of 
 the kings, and appropriated to themselves the powers of the 
 States-General, which they had not convoked since 1536 ; they 
 encroached even on the royal authority, w^hich was curtailed 
 more and more every day ; while the prerogatives of the nobility 
 were extended by the conditions which the Senate prescribed to 
 the kings on their accession to the crown. The reformation of 
 religion took place in Denmark, in the reign of Frederic I., the 
 successor of Christian 11. That prince employed an eloquent 
 preacher, named John Tausen, and several other disciples of 
 Luther, to promulgate the Protestant doctrines in his kingdom. 
 In a diet held at Odensee (1527,) the King made a public pro- 
 fession of the new faith ; and, in spite of the remonstrances of 
 the bishops, he passed a decree, in virtue of which, liberty of 
 conscience was established, and permission granted to the priests 
 and monks to marry. These articles were renev*'ed in another 
 diet, assembled at Copenhagen (1530;) where the King ratified 
 the Confession of Faith presented to him hj the Protestant min- 
 iate.- s, similar to what had taken place the same year at the diet 
 of Augsburg. 
 
 At length Christian III. who was elected in 1534, brought 
 these changes in religion to a close. The bishops, during the 
 last interregnum, had done every thing to stop the progress of 
 the Reformation. The King, desirous of annihilating their 
 temporal power, colluded with the principal nobility to have all 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 265 
 
 the bishops in the kingdom arrested ; and having then assem- 
 bled a meeting of the States at Copenhagen, he abolished Epis- 
 copacy, and suppressed the public exercise of the Catholic reli- 
 gion. The castles, fortresses, and vast domains of the prelates 
 were annexed to the crown ; and the other benefices and reve- 
 nues of the clergy were appropriated to the support of the minis- 
 ters of religion, public schools, and the poor. The monks and 
 nuns were left at liberty, either to quit their convents, or remain 
 there during their lives. The bishops were replaced by super- 
 intendents, the nomination of whom was vested in the King ; 
 while each congregation retained the privilege of choosing its 
 own pastors. From Denmark this revolution passed to Norway, 
 which at that time, on account of having joined the party of 
 Christian II., who was deposed by the Danes, lost its indepen- 
 dence, and was declared a province of the kingdom of Denmark. 
 
 The House of Oldenburg, which had occupied the throne of 
 Denmark since 1448, was separated in the reign of Christian 
 III. into two pov/erful branches, viz. the Royal, descended from 
 that prince ; and the family of Holstein-Gottorp, descended from 
 his brother the Duke Adolphus. This latter branch was after- 
 wards divided into three others, viz. those of Russia, Sweden 
 and Holstein-Oldenburg. As the law of primogeniture was not 
 established in the dutchies of Sleswick and Holstein, which had 
 fallen into the succession of the House of Oldenburg, the Kings 
 of Denmark soon found themselves under the necessity of divi- 
 ding these dutchies among the younger princes of their family. 
 The treaty of partition, which was entered into (1544) between 
 Christian III. and his brother, had been preceded by a treaty of 
 perpetual union, annexing these dutchies to the kingdom, and 
 intended to preserv^e the throne, which was elective, in the House 
 of Oldenburg ; as well as to prevent any portion of these two 
 dutchies from falling into the possession of strangers. The 
 union was to endure as long as the descendants of Frederic I. 
 reigned in Denmark. They promised to settle, by arbitration, 
 whatever differences might arise betw^een the states of the union , 
 to afford each other mutual succour against every external ene- 
 my ; and to undertake no war but by common consent. 
 
 The treaty of 1544 which regulated this partition, made seve- 
 ral exceptions of matters that were to be managed and adminis- 
 tered in common; such as, the customs, jurisdiction over the 
 nobles, the bishops, and certain cities. This gave rise to a sort 
 of copartnership of power, common to all the princes of the union. 
 Every thing regarding either the general safety as stipulated in 
 the treaty, or the exercise of these privileges included in the ex- 
 ceptions, was to be discussed and settled by unanimous consent , 
 
 VOL. I. 23 
 
266 CHAPTER VIl. 
 
 and for this purpose a council of regency, an exchequer, anJ 
 common courts were established. This union and community 
 of rights were followed, as a natural consequence, by long and 
 destructive feuds betAveen the Kings of Denmark and the Dukes 
 of Holstein-Gottorp, in which the other powers of the North 
 were also im.plicated. 
 
 Christian IV., grandson of Christian III., was distinguished 
 not more by the superiority of his talents, than by the indefati- 
 gable zeal with which he applied himself to every department of 
 the administration. It was in his reign that the Danes extend- 
 ed their commerce as far as India. He founded the first Danish 
 East India Company (1616.) who formed a settlement in Tran- 
 quebar on the Coromandel coast, which had been ceded to them 
 by the Rajah of Tanjore. Various manufactories of silk stuffs, 
 paper, and arms, were constructed, and, several towns built un- 
 der the auspices of Christian IV. The sciences were also much 
 indebted to him ; he gave a new lustre to the University of Co- 
 penhagen, and founded the Academy of Soroe in Zealand, be- 
 sides a number of colleges. If he was unsuccessful in his wars 
 against Sweden and Austria, it must be ascribed to the narrow 
 limits of his power, to the influence of the aristocratic spirit, and 
 of the feudal regime which still prevailed in Denmark. He 
 succeeded, however, in excluding the Svv'edes from access to the 
 Icy Sea, which opened them a way to the coasts of Lapland, by 
 obtaining possession, at the peace of Siorod (1613,) of that part 
 of Lapland which extends along the Northern and Icy Seas, 
 from Titisfiord to Waranger and Ward buys. The disputes con- 
 cerning the three crowns was settled by the same treaty, in such 
 a way that both sovereigns v^^ere permitted to use them, withoul 
 authorizing the King of Denmark to la}'' any claim to the Swe- 
 dish crown. 
 
 Sweden, which had long maintained a struggle against Den- 
 mark, at length acquired such a preponderance over her as to 
 threaten, more than once, the entire subversion of the throne. 
 This preponderance was the achievement of two great men, who 
 rose in the period we now speak of, viz. Gustavus Vasa, and his 
 grandson Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Vasa was not merely 
 the liberator, but the restorer of his country. Elevated to the 
 throne b}^ the free choice of the nation, he gave Sweden a power 
 and an influence which it never had before. Every thing 
 under him assumed a new aspect, the government, the religion, 
 the finances, the commerce, the agriculture, the sciences and the 
 morals of the Swedes. Instead of the assemblies of the nobles, 
 formerly in use, and destructive of the national libertj% he sub- 
 stituted Diets composed of the different orders of the State, the 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 267 
 
 nobility, the clergy, the citizens, and the peasantry. By this 
 means he acquired a new influence, of which he took advantage 
 to humble the power of the church and the nobles, which had 
 long- been a source of oppression to Sweden. 
 
 The reformation of religion, which then occupied every mind, 
 appeared to Gustavus a very proper expedient to second his 
 views, and introduce a better order of things. On his accession 
 to the throne, he authorized the two brothers Olaus and Lau- 
 rentius Petri, to preach publicly at Stockholm the doctrines of 
 Luther, and did every thing in his power to accelerate the pro- 
 gress of the Reformation in his kingdom. The bishops, who 
 were apprehensive for their benefices and their authority, having 
 drawn the greater part of the nobility over to their interest, the 
 king, in the presence of a Diet of the four orders assembled at 
 Westeras, took the determination of formally abdicating the 
 crown. This step threw the Diet into a state of consternation, 
 and encouraged the two lower orders, the citizens and peasants, 
 to declare themselves loudly for the King. The bishops and 
 nobles were obliged to comply ; and the King, resuming the 
 reins of government, succeeded in overruling the deliberations 
 of the Diet. By the authority of a decree, he annexed the strong 
 castles of the bishops to the demesnes of the crov/n, and retrench- 
 ed from their vast possessions whatever he judged convenient. 
 The prelates at the same time were excluded from the senate ; 
 the ties that bound them to the Court of Rome were broken ; 
 and they were enjoined henceforth to demand confirmation from 
 the King, and not from the Pope. The revenues of the clergy 
 in general, and those of the convents, were left at the free dis- 
 posal of the king, and the nobles were permitted to bring forward 
 whatever claims they could adduce over lands granted to these 
 convents by their ancestors. There was nothing now to retard 
 the march of reformation. The Lutheran religion was introdu- 
 ced universally into Sweden, and that event contributed not a 
 little to exalt the royal authority. 
 
 Gustavus secured the hereditary succession of the crown in 
 favour of his male descendants. The States, anxious to obvi- 
 ate the troubles and disorders which the demise of their kings 
 had often produced, regulated the succession by an act known 
 by the name of the Hereditary Union. It was passed at Ore- 
 bro (1540,) and ratified anew by the States assembled at Wes- 
 teras. The Union Act was renewed at the Diet of Nordkoping, 
 in the reign of Charles IX. (1604,) when the succession was 
 extended to females. 
 
 The reign of Gustavus Adolphus, the son of Charles IJC., 
 raised the glory of Sweden to its height. The virtues and 
 
268 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 energies of that prince, the sagacity of his views, the admirable 
 order which he introduced into every branch of the administra- 
 tion, endeared him to his subjects ; while his mihtary exploits, 
 and his superiority in the art of war, fixed upon him the admi- 
 ration of all Europe. 
 
 Gustavus brought the wars, which he had to sustain against 
 the different powers of the North, to a most triumphant conclu- 
 sion. By the peace which he concluded at Stolbova with Rus- 
 sia (1617,) he obtained possession of all Ingria, Kexholm, and 
 Russian Carelia ; and even cut that Empire off from all com- 
 munication with Europe by the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic 
 Sea. His success was not less brilliant in his campaigns against 
 Sigismund III., King of Poland, who persisted in contesting 
 with him his right to the crown of Sweden. He took from the 
 Poles the whole of Livonia, with a part of Prussia ; and kept 
 possession of these conquests by the six years truce which he 
 concluded with the latter at Altmark (1629.) 
 
 It was about this time that Sweden began to occupy a distin- 
 guished place among the powers of Europe ; and that she was 
 .called on to take the lead in the League which was to protect 
 the Princess and States of the Empire against the ambition of 
 Austria. Gustavus, who was in alliance with France, under- 
 took a task as difficult as it was glorious. In the short space of 
 two years and a half, he overran two-thirds of Germany with 
 his victorious arms. He vanquished Tilly at the famous battle 
 of Leipsic (1631,) and extended his conquests from the shores 
 of the Baltic to the Rhine and the Danube. Every thing yield- 
 ed before him, and every place opened its gates to him. This 
 great prince, who had made war a new art, and accustomed his 
 army to order, and a system of tactics never before known, per- 
 ished at the memorable battle of Lutzen (1632,) which the 
 Swedes gained after his death, in consequence of the skilful dis- 
 positions he had formed. 
 
 This war was continued under the minority of Queen Chris- 
 tina, his daughter and heir. It was still carried on, although 
 the Swedes had undertaken a new war against Denmark, with 
 the view of disengaging themselves from the mediation which 
 Christian IV. had undertaken between the Emperor and Swe- 
 den, al the congress which was to meet at Munster and Osna- 
 burg. The result of that war was completely to the advantage 
 of Sweden, which gained by the peace of Bromsbro (1645) the 
 freedom of the Sound, as also the possession of the provinces 
 and islands of Jamptland, Herjedalen, Gothland, Oesel, and Hal- 
 land. Lastly, the peace of Westphalia secured to Sweden con- 
 siderable possessions on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, 
 such as Wismar. Bremen and Verden. and nart of Pomerauia. 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. ^69 
 
 The power of the Teutonic Knights, which had been greatly 
 reduced during the preceding period, by the defection of a part 
 of Prussia, was completely annihilated in the North, in conse- 
 quence of the changes introduced by the reformation of religion. 
 Albert of Brandenburg, grandson of the Elector Albert Achilles> 
 on his elevation to the dignity of Grand Master of the Order, 
 thought himself obliged to withdra.w from Poland that fealty and 
 homage to which the Knights had bound themselves by the 
 treaty of Thorn in 1466. This refusal furnished matter for a 
 war between them ; which began in 1519, and ended in 1521, 
 by a truce of four years ; at the expiration of which the Grand 
 Master, who saw the doctrines of Luther disseminated in Prus- 
 sia, and who had himself imbibed these principles in Germany, 
 found means to settle all differences with the King of Poland, 
 by a treaty which he concluded with him at Cracow (1521.) 
 He there engaged to do homage and fealty to the crown of Po- 
 land, which he had refused ; and Sigismund I., who was his 
 maternal uncle, granted him Teutonic Prussia, with the title of 
 Dutchy. as a hereditary fief, both for himself and his male-heirs, 
 and for his brothers of the House of Brandenburg and Franconia, 
 and their feudal heirs ; reserving the right of reversion in favour 
 of Poland, failing the male-descendants of these princes. 
 
 The Teutonic Knights thus lost Prussia, after having possess- 
 ed it for nearly three hundred years. Retiring to their pos- 
 sessions in Germany, they established their principal residence 
 at Mergentheim in Franconia, where they proceeded to the elec- 
 tion of a new Grand Master, in the person of Walter de Cron- 
 berg. The Poles, in getting rid of the Teutonic Knights, whom 
 they had regarded with jealousy, and substituting the House of 
 Brandenburg in their place, never dreamed of adopting an enemy 
 still more dangerous, who would one day concert the ruin and 
 annihilation of their country. 
 
 Immediately after the treaty of Cracow, the new Duke of 
 Prussia made a public profession of the Lutheran religion, and 
 married a daughter of the King of Denmark. This princess 
 dying without male issue, he married for his second wife a prin- 
 cess of the Brunswick family, by whom he had a son, Albert 
 Frederic, v/ho succeeded him in the dutchy of Prussia. The 
 race of these new dukes of Prussia (1568,) as well as that of 
 Franconia, which should have succeeded them, appearing to be 
 nearly extinct, Joachim II., Elector of Brandenburg, obtained 
 from the King of Poland the investiture of Prussia, in fief, con- 
 junctly with the reigning dukes. This investiture, which was 
 renewed in favour of several of his successors, secured the suc- 
 ctssion of that dutchy in the electoral family of Brandenburg; to 
 
 23=^ 
 
270 
 
 CHAPTER VU. 
 
 whom it devolved on the death of Albert Frederic (1618,) who 
 left no male descendants. He was succeeded by the Elector 
 John Sigismiind, who had been coinvested with him in the 
 dutchy. That prince, who had married Anne, eldest daughter 
 of Albert Frederic, obtained likewise, in right of that princess, 
 part of the succession of Juliers, viz. the dutchy of Cleves, the 
 counties of Marck and Raven sberg, which had been adjudged 
 to the house of Brandenburg, by the provisional act of partition 
 concluded at Santern (1614,) and converted into a definiiive 
 treaty at Cleves. The grandson of John Sigismund, the Elector 
 Frederic William, was a prince of superior genius, and the true 
 founder of the greatness of his family. Illustrious in war as in 
 peace, and respected by all Europe, he acquired by the treaty of 
 Westphalia, a part of Pomerania, the archbishopric of Magde- 
 burg under the title of a dutchy, with the bishoprics of Halber- 
 stadt, Minden, and Camin, under the title of principalities. His 
 son Frederic was the first King of Prussia. 
 
 [The Teutonic Knights had nearly lost Livonia at the begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century ; but that province was saved by 
 the courage and talents of the Provincial Master, Walter de 
 Plattenberg. The Grand Duke Iwan, or John III., having 
 threatened Livonia with an invasion, Plattenberg concluded a 
 defensive alliance at Walik (1501,) with Alexander II., Grand 
 Duke of Lithuania, and the bishops of that country. After having 
 assembled troops to the number of 14,000 men, he defeated the 
 Russian army, which was 40,000 strong, at Maholm ; a second 
 victory, which he gained with the same number of troops over 
 100,000 Russians at Pleskow (1-502,) is one of the most famous 
 exploits in the history of the North. Next 3^ear he concluded a 
 truce of six years with the Livonian Order, which was afterwards 
 renewed for fifty years. 
 
 It is commonly said that Walter, the Provincial Master, taking 
 advantage of the distresses of the Teutonic Knights, and urging 
 the repeated succours which he had furnished them against the 
 Poles, purchased from them his own independence, and that of 
 his Order ; but a recent author (Le Comte de Bray) has shown 
 that this was not exactly the case. By a first agreement signed 
 at Koningsberg (1520,) Albert of Brandenburg, who was then 
 only Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, confirmed to the 
 Knights of Livonia the free right of electing a chief of their ovati 
 number, promising to sustain the individual whom they should 
 nominate. He secured them the possession of the whole sove- 
 reignty of Reval and Narva; the countries of x4.1tentirken, Jer- 
 wen, and Wierland ; as also the town and castle of Wesenberg, 
 with their dependencies. This agreement was revived and 
 ratified by a second, signed at Grobin (1525,) when it was for- 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. ^71 
 
 mally stipulated, that the relations between the Knights of Li- 
 vonia and the Teutonic Order should be maintained as they were. 
 and that the Livonians should continue to regard the Graiid 
 Master as their true head, and render him homage and obe- 
 dience. They were forbidden to solicit from the Emperor oi 
 the Pope any privilege inconsistent with their allegiance. It ap- 
 pears, consequently, that Walter de Plattenberg did not purcha^^e 
 the independence of his Order, but that he regarded those ti'=!5 
 which existed between it and the Teutonic Order as broken, 
 when Albert of Brandenburg was declared Duke of Prussia. IJe 
 next renewed those connexions with the German Empire, whicli 
 had existed since the thirteenth century ; and was declared by 
 Charles V. (1527) a prince of the Empire, having a vote and a 
 seat in the Diet. 
 
 It was during the mastership of Plattenberg that the Lutheran 
 doctrines penetrated into Livonia, where they made rapid pro- 
 gress, especially in the cities. Walter dexterously turned the 
 disturbances caused by the opposition of the clergy to the new 
 tenets, into an occasion for establishing his authority over all 
 Livonia and Esthonia, which the Order had formerly shared 
 with the bishops. The citizens of Riga acknowledged him as 
 their only sovereign, and expelled the archbishop. The bur- 
 gesses of Revel followed their example. The clergy were so 
 frightened at these movements, that the archbishop of Riga, and 
 the bishops of Dorpat, Oesel, Courland and Revel, formally sub- 
 mitted to the Order. The clergy themselves soon after embraced 
 the reformed religion.] 
 
 The dominion of the Knights Sword-bearers, had continued 
 in Livonia until the time of the famous invasion of that country 
 by the Czar, John Basilovitz IV. That prince, Avho had laid 
 open the Caspian Sea by his conquest of the Tartar kingdoms of 
 Casan and Astrachan, meditated also that of Livonia, to obtain 
 a communication with Europe by the Baltic. Gotthard Kettler, 
 who was then Grand Master, finding himself unable to cope 
 with an enemy so powerful, implored first the assistance of the 
 Germanic Body, of which he was a member ; but having got 
 nothing but vague promises, he next addressed himself to Sigis- 
 mund Augustus, King of Poland, and, in concert Avith the arch- 
 bishop of Riga, he concluded with that prince a treaty of sub- 
 mission at Wilna (1561;) in virtue of which, the whole of 
 Livonia, with Esthonia, Courland and Semigallia, comprising 
 not only what was still in the possession of the Order, but those 
 parts which had b?en seized by the enemy, were ceded to the 
 crown of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, on condi- 
 tion that the use of the Confession of Augsburg should be pre- 
 served on the same footing as it then was, and that all orders of 
 
272 CHAPTER vn. 
 
 the State should be maintained in their goods, properties, rights, 
 privileges and immunities. 
 
 By this same treaty, Courland and Semigallia were reserved 
 to Gotthard Kettler, the last Grand Master of Livonia, to be 
 enjoyed by himself and his heirs-male, with the title of datchy, 
 and as a fief of the king and crown of Poland. The new Duke, 
 on taking the oath of fidelity to the King of Poland, solemnly 
 }aid aside all the badges of his former dignity. He married 
 Anne, daughter to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schewerin, and 
 transmitted the dutchy of Courland to his male-descendants, 
 who did not become extinct until the eighteenth century. Ihe 
 Order of Livonia was entirely suppressed, as were also the 
 archbishoprics of Riga, and the bishoprics under its jurisdiction. 
 
 The revolution in Livonia caused a violent commotion among 
 the powers of the North, who were all eager to share in the 
 plunder. While the Grand Master of the Order was in treaty 
 with Poland, the city of Revel, and the nobles of Esthonia, left 
 without aid, and oppressed by the Russians, put themselves under 
 the protection of Eric XIV., King of Sweden, who obtained 
 possession of that province. The Isle of Oesel, on the contrary, 
 and the district of Wyck in Esthonia, were sold to Frederic II., 
 King of Denmark, by the last bishop of the island, who also 
 ceded to him the bishopric and district of Pilten in Courland. 
 Poland at first held the balance, and maintained Livonia against 
 the Russians, by the peace which she concluded with that power 
 at Kievorova-Horca (15S2.) A struggle afterwards ensued be- 
 tween Poland and Sweden for the same object, which was not 
 finally terminated until the peace of Oliva (1660.) 
 
 Russia, during the period of which we now treat, assumed 
 an aspect entirely new. She succeeded in throwing ofl^ the 
 yoke of the Moguls, and began to act a conspicuous part on the 
 theatre of Europe. The Horde of Kipzach, called also the 
 Grand, or the Golde?i Horde, had been greatly exhausted by its 
 territorial losses, and the intestine wars which followed ; while 
 the Grand Dukes of Moscow gained powerful accessions by the 
 union of several of these petty principalities, which had for a 
 long time divided among them the soA'ereignty of Northern Rus- 
 sia. John Basilovitz III., who filled the grand ducal throne 
 about the end of the fifteenth century, knew well how to profit 
 by these circumstances to strengthen his authority at home, and 
 make it respected abroad. In course of severai expeditions, he 
 subdued the powerful republic of Novogorod, an ancient ally of 
 the Hanseatic towns, and which had for a long time affected an 
 entire independence. He was also the first sovereign of Russia 
 that dared to refuse a humiliating ceremony, according to which 
 the Grand Dukes were obliged to walk on foot before the envoys 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 273 
 
 that came from the Khan of Kipzach. He even suppressed the 
 residence of Tartar envoys at his court ; and at length shook 
 off their yoke entirely, refusing- to pay the tribute which the 
 Grand Dukes had owed to the Khans for several centuries. 
 Achmet, Khan of Kipzach, having despatched certain deputies 
 with an order, under the great seal, to demand paymenl of this 
 tribute, the Grand Duke trampled the order under his feet, spit 
 upon it, and then put all the deputies to death except one, whom 
 he sent back to his master. 
 
 The Khan, with the view of revenging that insult, invaded 
 Russia several times, but the Grand Duke vigorously repulsed 
 all his attacks ; and w^hile he was arresting the progress of his 
 arms on the borders of the Ugra, he despatched a body of troops 
 to the centre of the Grand Horde, who laid every thing desolate 
 (1481.) The Nogai Tartars joined the Russians to finish the 
 destruction of the Grand Horde, whose different settlements on 
 the Wolga they laid completely in ruins ; so that nothing more 
 remained of the powerful empire of Kipzach than a few de- 
 tached hordes, such as those of Casan, Astracan, Siberia, and 
 the Crimea. Iwan rendered himself formidable to the Tartars ; 
 he subdued the Khans of Casan, and several times disposed of 
 *.heir throne. The entire reduction of that Tartar state was ac- 
 complished by his grandson, John Basil ovitz IV., who twice 
 undertook the siege of Casan, and seized and made prisoner 
 of the last Khan (1552.) The fall of Casan was followed bv that 
 of Astracan. But John was by no means so fortunate in his en- 
 terprises against Livonia, which, as we have already said, he was 
 obliged to abandon to Poland by the peace of Kievorova-Horca. 
 
 John IV. was inspired wdth noble views of policy. Being 
 anxious to civilize his subjects, he sent for workmen and artists 
 from England. He requested Charles V. to send him men of 
 talents, well versed in the different trades and manufactures. 
 He introduced the art of printing at Moscow, and established 
 the first permanent army in the country, that of the Streliizes, 
 Avhich he employed in keeping the nobles in check. The dis* 
 covery of Siberia is one of the events that belong to his reign. 
 A certain chief of the Don Cossacks, named Jermak, who em- 
 ployed himself in robberies on the borders of the Wolga and the 
 Caspian Sea, being pursued by a detachment of Russian troops, 
 retired to the confines of Siberia. He soon entered these re- 
 gions at the head of seven thousand Cossacks, and having gained 
 several victories over the Tartars of Siberia, and their Khan 
 Kutschem, he got possession of the city of Sibir, which was their 
 principal fortress (15S1.) Jermak, in order to obtain his pardon 
 of the Czar, made him an offer of all he had conquered ; which 
 was agreed to by that Prince, and the troops of the Ru.^sians 
 
274 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 then took possession of Siberia (1583.) The total reduction of 
 the country, however, did not take place until the reign of the 
 Czar Theodore or Fedor Iwanovitz, the son and successor of 
 John, who built the city of Tobolsk (1587,) wdiich has since be- 
 come the capital of Siberia. 
 
 Fedor Iwanovitz, a prince weak both in mind and body, was 
 entirely under the counsels of his brother-in-law Boris Godunow, 
 who, with the view of opening a way for himself to the throne, 
 caused the young Demetrius, Fedor's only brother, to be assas- 
 sinated (1591.) This crime gave rise to a long series of trou- 
 bles, which ended in the death of Fedor (1598.) AVith him, as 
 he left no children, the reigning family of the ancient sovereigns 
 of Russia, the descendants of Ruric, became extinct ; after having 
 occupied the throne for more than eight hundred years. 
 
 After this, the Russian Cro^vn was worn by persons of diffe- 
 rent houses. Their reigns were disturbed by various preten- 
 ders, who assumed the name of Demetrius, and were supported 
 by the Poles. During fifteen years Russia presented a shock- 
 ing spectacle of confusion and carnage. At length, as a remedy 
 for these disasters, they thought of bestowing the crown on a 
 foreign prince. Some chose Charles Philip, the brother of Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus of Sweden ; and others voted for Uladislaus, the 
 son of Sigismund IV., King of Poland. These resolutions tended 
 only to increase the disorders of the state. The Swedes took ad- 
 vantage of them to seize Ingria and the city of Novogorod ; while 
 the Poles took possession of Smolensko and its dependencies. 
 
 The Russians, now seeing their monarchy on the edge of a 
 precipice, adopted the plan of electing a new^ Czar of their own 
 nation. Their choice fell on Michael Fedrovitz, who became 
 the founder of the new dynasty, that of Romanow (1613,) under 
 whom Russia attained to the zenith of her greatness. That 
 prince, guided by the sage councils of his father, Fedor Roma- 
 now, Archbishop of Rostow, soon rectified all the disorders of 
 the state ; he purchased peace of the Swedes, by surrendering 
 to them Ingria and Russian Carelia. The sacrifices which he 
 made to Poland, were not less considerable. By the truce of 
 Divilina (1618,) and the peace of Wiasma (1634,) he ceded to 
 them the vast territories of Smolensko, Tschernigou, and Novo- 
 gorod, with their dependencies. 
 
 Poland, at this time, presented a corrupt aristocracy, Avhich 
 had insensibly degenerated into complete anarchy. The nobles 
 were the only persons that enjoyed the rights of citizenship ; 
 they alone were represented in the Diets, by the nuncios or de- 
 puties which they elected at the Dietines ; the honours and dig- 
 nities both in church and state, and in general all prerogatives 
 wha.tever, w^ere reserved for them ; while the burgesses and 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 276 
 
 peasantry alone supported the whole burden of expenses. This 
 constitution, at the same time, was under the control of a sort of de- 
 mocracy, in as far as the nobles, without exception, were held to 
 be perfectly equal in their rights and dignities. Imperfect as a 
 government must have been, established on such a basis, it still 
 continued, nevertheless, to preserve some degree of vigour ; and 
 Poland supported, though feebly, the character of being the ru- 
 ling power of the North, so long as the House of Jagellon occu- 
 pied the throne. Besides Prussia, of which she had disposses- 
 sed the Teutonic Knights, she acquired Livonia, and maintained 
 it in spite of Russia. 
 
 The reformation of religion was likewise promulgated in Po- 
 land, where it was particularly patronized by Sigismund II. A 
 great part of the senate, and more than half of the nobility 
 made, with their King, a profession of the new opinions ; and if 
 the reformation did not take deeper root in that kingdom, or if it 
 had not a more conspicuous influence on the civilization of the 
 people, it was from ths want of a middle class in the kingdom, 
 by Avhich it could be supported. 
 
 The male line of Jagellon, having become extinct with Sigis- 
 mund II. (1572,) the throne became purely elective ; and it was 
 ordained that, during the King's life, no successor could be ap- 
 pointed ; but that the States, on his demise, should enjoy for 
 ever a perfect freedom of election on every vacancy of the throne. 
 Such was the, origin of the Diets of Election, which, from their 
 very constitution, could not fail to be always tum.ultuous in their 
 proceedings. The nobles in a body appeared at these Diets ; 
 thither they repaired in arms and on horseback, ranked accord- 
 ing to the order of the Palatinates, in a Camp prepared for the 
 purpose near Warsaw. The custom of the Pacta Conventa, 
 took its rise about the same time. Henr}^ de Valois, who was 
 elected King on the death of Sigismund II., was the first that 
 swore to these conventional agreements, [by which he engaged, 
 that no foreigner should be introduced either in a civil or mili- 
 tary department.] These Pacta, which had all the force of a 
 fundamental law, specified those conditions under which the 
 throne was conferred on the new monarch. The royal authori- 
 ty was thus curtailed more and more, and the prerogatives of 
 the nobility exalted in proportion. 
 
 Polnnd, in consequence, soon lost its influence ; the govern- 
 ment was altered in its fundamental principles, and the kingdom 
 plunged into an abyss of calamities. Among the elective Kings 
 who succeeded Henry de Valois, the last that supported the dig- 
 nity of the crown against Russia, v/as Uladislaus IV., the son of 
 Sigismund III., of the House of Vasa. In an expedition which 
 he undertook into the interior of Russia (1618,) he penetrated 
 
276 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 as far as Moscow ; and in a second which he made (1634,) he 
 compelled the Russians to raise the siege of Smolensko ; and 
 shut them up so closely in their camp, that they were obliged to 
 capitulate for want of provisions. He then made a new attack 
 on the capital of Russia ; and at the peace of Wiasma, he ob- 
 tained conditions most advantageous to Poland. 
 
 In the history of Hungary, the most splendid era was the 
 reign of Matthias Corvin, who, at the age of scarcely sixteen, 
 had been raised to the throne by the free choice of the nation 
 (145S.) Like his father the valorous John Hunniades, he was 
 the terror of the Turks during his Avhole reign ; he took Bosnia 
 from them, and kept Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, Scla- 
 vonia, and Servia in dependence on his crown, in spite of the 
 incessant efforts which the Turks made to rescue these provinces. 
 He likewise conquered Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia ; he even 
 took Austria from the Emperor Frederic III., and came to fix 
 his residence at Vienna (1485.) It was in that city that he ter- 
 minated his brilliant career, at the early age of forty-seven (1490.) 
 That great prince added to his military talents, a love for elegant 
 literature, of which, from the first revival of letters, he showed 
 himself a zealous protector. 
 
 The glory of Hungary suffered an eclipse in the loss of Mat- 
 thias. His successors, Uladislaus II., the son of Casimir IV. 
 King of Poland, and Louis the son of Uladislaus, who held at 
 the same time the crown of Bohemia, were weak and indolent 
 princes, who saw Hungary torn bj^ factions, and ravaged with 
 impunity by the Turks. Soliman the Great taking advantage 
 of the youth of Louis, and the distressed state in which Hungary 
 was, concerted his plans for conquering the kingdom. He at- 
 tacked the fortress of Belgrade (1521,) and made himself master 
 of that important place, before the Hungarians could march to 
 its relief. His first success encouraged him to return to the 
 charge. Having crossed the Danube and the Drave without 
 meeting with any resistance, he engaged the Hungarians near 
 Mohacz (J526,) in that famous battle which cost them, the life 
 of their king and their principal nobility. Twenty-two thousand 
 Hungarians were left on the field of battle, and the whole king- 
 dom lay at l»he mercy of the conqueror. Soliman now proceeded 
 as far as the Raab ; but instead of completing the conquest of 
 Hungary as he miglit have done, he contented himself with the 
 laying waste all that part of the country with fire and sword ; 
 and carrying several hundred thousand prisoners into slavery. 
 
 The premature death of the young King who left no progeny, 
 occasioned a vacancy in the throne of Hungary and Bohemia. 
 Ferdinand of Austria who married Anne, sister to Louis, claimed 
 the succession in virtue of the different treaties signed in the 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453— 164S. 277 
 
 years 1463, 1468, 1491, and 1515, between the Austrian princes 
 and the last kings of Hung-ary. But though the Bohemian 
 States were disposed to listen to the pretensions of Ferdinand, 
 it was not so with those of Hungary, who transferred the crown 
 to John de Zapolya, Count of Zips, and Palatine of Transylvania. 
 That prince being hardly pressed by Ferdinand, at length de- 
 termined to throw himself under the protection of the Turks. 
 Soliman marched in person to his assistance, and laid siege to 
 the city of Vienna (1529.) In this enterprise, however, he failed, 
 after sacrificing the lives of nearly eighty thousand men. 
 
 In 1538, a treaty was agreed on between the two competitors, 
 in virtue of which the whole kingdom of Hungary, on the death 
 of John Zapolya, w^as to devolve on Ferdinand. This treaty 
 was never carried into execution. John at his death having 
 left a son named John Sigismund, then an infant in his cradle, 
 Bishop George Martinuzzi, prime minister of the deceased king, 
 proclaimed the young prince, and secured for him the protec- 
 tion of the Turks. Soliman undertook a new expedition into 
 Hungary in his favour (1541 ;) but by a piece of signal perfidy, 
 he took this occasion to seize the city of Buda, the capital of the 
 kingdom, and several other places ; and banished the prince 
 with his mother the queen-dowager, to Transylvania, which he 
 gave up to him, with several other districts in Hungary. The 
 city of Buda with the greater part of Hungary and Sclavonia 
 remained in the power of the Turks ; and Ferdinand was obliged 
 to pay an annual tribute for the protection of that kingdom, the 
 possession of which ^vas guaranteed to him by the truce which 
 he concluded with them in 1562. 
 
 In the midst of these unfortunate events, the Austrian princes 
 had again the imprudence to alienate the affections of the Hun- 
 garians, by the intolerant spirit they displayed, and the efforts 
 which they incessantly made to extirpate the Protestant religion 
 from that kingdom. The opinions of Luther and Calvin had 
 already been propagated in Hungary during the reign of Louis, 
 the predecessor of Ferdinand. They had even made great pro- 
 gress ; especially in Transylvania, where the German language 
 and literature were generally cultivated. The oppressions which 
 the partisans of the new^ doctrines experienced, added to the at- 
 ttjnipts which the Austrian princes made, from time to time, to 
 subvert the ancient constitution of the kingdom, excited fresh 
 troubles, and favoured the designs of the discontented and am- 
 bitious, who were watching their opportunity to agitate the 
 state, and make encroachments on the government. Stephen 
 Botschkai, Bethlem Gabor, and George Ragoczi, princes of 
 Transylvania, were successively the chiefs or leaders of these 
 
 VOL. I. 24 
 
278 CHAPTER VU. 
 
 malecontents, in the reigns of Rodolph II., Ferdinand II., and 
 Ferdinand III., Emperors of Germany. According to the Paci- 
 fication of Vienna (1606,) and that of Lintz (1645,) as well as 
 by the decrees of the Diet of Odenburg (1622,) and of Presburg 
 (1647,) these princes were compelled to tolerate the public exer- 
 cise of the reformed religion ; and to redress the political com- 
 plaints of the Hungarian malecontents. 
 
 The same troubles on the score of religion, which infested 
 Hungary, extended likewise to Bohemia, where the new doc- 
 trines met with a much better reception, as they were in unison 
 with the religious system of the Hussites, who had already nu- 
 merous partisans in that kingdom. It was chiefly under the 
 reign of the mild and tolerant Maximilian II. that Protestantism 
 made its way in Bohemia. All those who were formerly called 
 Utraquists, from their professing the Communion in both kinds, 
 joined the followers either of Luther or Calvin. Rodolph II., 
 the son and successor of Maximilian, was obliged, at the Diet of 
 Prague (1609,) to grant them the free exercise of their worship, 
 without distinction of place ; and even to extend this indulgence to 
 the Protestants of Silesia and Lusatia by letters-patent, known 
 by the name of Letters of Majesty ; copies of which were made 
 at Prague on the 11th of July and 20th of August 1609. These 
 letters were confirmed by King Matthias, on his accession to the 
 throne of Bohemia; as also by Ferdinand III., when he was 
 acknowledged by the Bohemian States, as the adopted son and 
 successor of Matthias. 
 
 The different interpretations which were put on these letters 
 occasioned ihe war, known in history by the name of the Thirty 
 Years' War. The Emperor Matthias happening to die in the 
 midst of these disturbances, the Bohemian States, regarding 
 their crown as elective, annulled the election of Ferdinand II. 
 (1619,) and conferred the crown on Frederic, the Elector Pala- 
 tine. Being in strict alliance with the States of Silesia, Mora- 
 via, and Lusatia, they declared war against Ferdinand, who was 
 supported, on the other hand, by Spain, the Catholic princes of 
 the Empire, and the Elector of Saxony. 
 
 The famous battle of Prague (1620,) and the fall of the Elec- 
 tor Palatine, brought about a revolution in Bohemia. The ring- 
 leaders of the insurrection were executed at Prague, and their 
 goods confiscated. Ferdinand, who treated that kingdom as a 
 conquered country, declared that the States had forfeited their 
 rights and privileges ; and, in the new constitution which he 
 gave them, he consented to restore these, only on condition of 
 expressly excepting the rights which they had claimed in the 
 election of their kings, as well as the Letters of Majesty which 
 
PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 279 
 
 granted to the Protestants the free exercise of their Avorship 
 But this prince did not stop with the suppression of their reli- 
 gious liberties, he deprived them also of their rights of citizen- 
 ship. Laws the most atrocious were published against them, 
 and he even went so far as to d»8ny them the liberty of making 
 testaments, or contracting legal marriages. All their ministers, 
 without exception, were banished the kingdom ; and the most 
 iniquitous means were employed to bring back the Protestants 
 to the pale of the Catholic Church. At length it was enjoined, 
 by an edict in 1627, that all Protestants who persisted in their 
 opinions should quit the kingdom Avithin six months. Thirty 
 thousand of the best families in the kingdom, of whom a hun- 
 dred and eighty-five were nobility, abandoned Bohemia, trans- 
 porting their talents and their industry to the neighbouring 
 States, such as Saxony, Brandenburg, Prussia, &c. 
 
 Ferdinand judged it for his interest to detach the Elector of 
 Saxony from the alliance with Sweden, which he had joined. 
 He concluded a special peace with him at Prague, in virtue ol 
 which he made over to him the two Lusatias, which he had dis- 
 membered from the kingdom of Bohemia, to reimburse the Elec- 
 tor for those sums which he claimed, as having been the ally of 
 Austria against the Elector Palatine, then King of Bohemia. 
 That province was ceded to the Elector John George, for him- 
 self and his successors, as a fief of the Bohemian crown, under 
 the express condition, that failing the male line of the Electoral 
 branch, it should pass to the female heirs ; but that it should 
 then be at the option of the King of Bohemia to use the right of 
 redemption, by repaying to the female heirs the sum' for which 
 Lusatia had been mortgaged to Saxony. This sum amounted 
 to seventy-two tons of gold, valued at seven millions two hundred 
 thousand florins. 
 
 The Turkish empire received new accessions of territory, both 
 in Asia and Europe, under the successors of Mahomet II., who 
 had fixed their capital at Constantinople. The conquest of Bes- 
 sarabia belongs to the reign of Bajazet II., about the year 1484. 
 That prince had a brother named Jem or Zizim, who had been 
 his competitor for the throne ; and having fled to Rome, he was 
 imprisoned by order of Pope Alexander VI., at the instance of 
 Bajazet, who had engaged to pay the Pope a large pension for 
 him. Charles VIII. of France, when he made his expedition 
 into Italy for the conquest of Naples, compelled the Pope to sur- 
 render up the unfortunate Zizim, whom he designed to employ 
 in the expedition which he meditated against the Turks, but 
 which never took place. Selim I. the son and successor of Ba- 
 jazet, taking advantage of a revolution which happened in Persia, 
 and of the victory which he gained near Taurus over the S havj 
 
280 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ismail Sophi I. (1514,) conquered the provinces of DiarbetiT 
 and Algezira, beyond the Euphrates. 
 
 The same prince overturned the powerful Empire of the Ma- 
 melukes, who reigned over Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and part of. 
 Arabia. He defeated the last Sultans, Cansoul-Algouri, and 
 Toumanbey (l'5l6,) and totally annihilated that d^masty. Cairo, 
 the capital of the Empire of Egypt, was taken by assault (1517,) 
 and the whole of the Mameluke States incorporated with the 
 Ottoman Empire. The Scheriff of Mecca likewise submitted 
 to the Porte, with several tribes of the Arabs. 
 
 Soliman the Great, Avho succeeded his father Selim, raised 
 the Turkish Empire to the highest pitch of glory. Besides the 
 island of Ehodes, which he took from the Knights of St. John, 
 and the greater part of Hungary, he reduced the provinces of 
 Moldavia and Wallachia to a state of dependence, and made 
 their princes vassals and tributaries of his Empire. He likewise 
 conquered Bagdad and Irak-Arabia, which happened, according 
 to the Turkish authors, about the year 1534. 
 
 That prince distinguished his reign, by the efforts which he 
 made to increase the maritime strength of the Empire, which 
 his predecessors had neglected. He took into his service the 
 famous pirate Barbarossa, King of Algiers, whom he created 
 Capitan Pacha, or Grand Admiral. Barbarossa equipped a fleet 
 of more than a hundred sail, with which he chased the Imperi- 
 alists from the Archipelago ; and infested the coasts of Spain, 
 Italy and Sicily (1565.) Soliman miscarried, however, in his 
 enterprise against Malta. The courageous defence made by the 
 Knights, together with the arrival of the fleet from Sicily, obliged 
 the Ottomans to retreat. 
 
 The decline of the Ottoman Empire began with the death of 
 Soliman the Great (1566.) The sultans, his successors, sur- 
 rendering themselves to luxury and effeminacy, and shut up in 
 their seraglios and harems, left to their Grand Viziers the gov- 
 ernment of the Empire, and the management of the army. The 
 sons of these Sultans, educated by women and eunuchs, and se- 
 cluded from all civil and military affairs, contracted from their 
 earliest infancy all the vices of their fathers, and no longer 
 brought to the throne that vigorous and enterprising spirit, 
 which had been the soul of the Ottoman government, and the 
 basis of all their institutions. Selim II., the son of Soliman, 
 was the first who set this fatal example to his successors. In 
 his time, the Turks took the Isle of Cyprus from the Venetians 
 (1570,) which they maintained in spite of the terrible defeat 
 Avhich they received at Lepanto (1571,) and which was followed 
 by tlie ruin of their marine. 
 
 END OF THE FIKST VOLUME. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE SUBVERSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 
 
 FROM 
 ' THE FRENCH OF CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM KOCH. 
 
 WITH A 
 
 CONTINUATION TO THE YEAR 1815, 
 BY M. SCHCELL. 
 
 REVISED AND CORRECTED BY J. G. COGSWELL. 
 
 WITH A 
 
 SKETCH OF THE LATE REVOLUTIONS IN FRANCE, 
 BELGIUM, POLAND, AND GREECE. 
 
 3Sm6elUst)e"0 toitl) SnflrabmsK. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 N E W - Y O R K : 
 PUBLISHED BY N. B. PRATT. 
 
 1836.. 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF EUROPE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PERIOD VII. 
 
 From the Peace of Westphalia, to that of Utrecht. — a. d. 1648 — 
 
 1713. 
 
 The politieal system of Europe underwent a great cnange at 
 the commencement of this period. France, after having long 
 struggled for her own independence against Austria, at length 
 turned the balance, and became so formidable as to combine 
 against herself the whole policy and military power of Europe. 
 The origin of this extraordinary influence of France, belongs to 
 the reigns of Charles VII., and Louis XL Several important 
 accessions which she made at this epoch, together with the 
 change which happened in her government, gave her a power 
 and energy, which might have secured her a decided preponde- 
 rance among the Continental States, had not her influence been 
 overbalanced by Austria, which, by a concurrence of fortunate 
 events, and several wealthy marriages, had suddenly risen to a 
 degree of power that excited the jealousy of all Europe. Hence, 
 for nearly two hundred years, it required all the political re- 
 sources of France to make head against her rival ; and what 
 added to her misfortunes was, that, though freed from the dis- 
 traction of the Italian war, she was still agitated by civil wars, 
 which employed her whole military force. 
 
 It was not till near the middle of the seventeenth century that 
 she extricated herself from this long struggle ; and that, disen- 
 gaged from the shackles of her own factions and internal dis- 
 sensions, her power assumed a new vigour. The well regulated 
 condition of her finances, the prosperity of her commerce and 
 manufactures, and the respectable state of her marine, all con- 
 curred to diffuse wealth and abundance over the kingdom. 
 The abasement of the House of Austria, effected at once by the 
 treaties of Westphalia and the PjTenees, together with the 
 consolidation of the Germanic body, and the federal system of 
 the Provinces in the Netherlands, put the last climax on her 
 glory, and secured to her the preponderance in the political scale 
 of Europe. This change in her political system was achieved 
 
4 CHAPTER VIU. 
 
 principally by the two great statesmen, Cardinals Richelieu and 
 Mazarin, who, by drying up the fountains of civil dissensions, 
 and concentrating the reins of authority in the hands of the go- 
 vernment, raised that monarchy to the rank which its position, 
 its population, and its internal resources, had assigned it among 
 the powers of the Continent. 
 
 Mazarin left the kingdom in a flourishing state to Louis XIV., 
 who, aided by the counsels and assistance of the famous Col- 
 bert, became the patron of letters and the fine arts, and finished 
 the work which was begun by his prime minister. Nothing 
 could equal the ardour which inspired that prince for military 
 fame. France would have been prosperous under his reign, 
 and respected even by all Europe, had he kept nothing else in 
 view than the true interests and happiness of his people ; but 
 he was ambitious of that sort of glory which is the scourge of 
 mankind, the gloiy of heroes and conquerors. Hence there re- 
 sulted a long series of wars, which exhausted the strength and 
 resources of the state, and introduced a new change in its po- 
 litical system. The same States which had formerly made 
 common cause with France against Austria, now combined 
 against the former, to humble that gigantic power which seemed 
 to threaten their liberty and independence. 
 
 [In these alliances the maritime powers voluntarily took part ; 
 and, having less fear than the others of falling under the yoke 
 of a universal monarchy, they joined the Confederates merely 
 for the protection of their commerce — the true source of their 
 influence and their wealth. They undertook the defence of the 
 equilibrium system, because they perceived, that a State which 
 could command the greater part of the continental coasts, might 
 in many ways embarrass their commerce, and perhaps become 
 dangerous to their marine. They soon acquired a very great 
 influence in the affairs of this system, by the subsidies with 
 which from time to time they furnished the States of the Con- 
 tinent. From this period the principal aim of European policy 
 was their finances and their commercial interests, in place ot 
 religion, which had been the grand motive or pretext for the 
 preceding wars. With this new system began those abuses oi 
 commercial privileges and monopolies, prohibitions, imposts, 
 and many other regulations, which acted as restraints on natural 
 liberty, and became the scourge of future generations. It was 
 then that treaties of commerce first appeared, by which every 
 trading nation endeavoured to procure advantages to itself, at 
 the expense of its rivals ; and it was then that the belligerent 
 powers began to lay restraints and interdicts on the commerce 
 of neutral States. 
 
PERIOD VII. A. t). 164S — 1713. 5 
 
 But the political system of Europe experienced other changes 
 at this period. Standing armies were introduced, and augment- 
 ed to a degree that proved ruinous both to the agriculture of the 
 inhabitants, and the finances of the government, which, by this? 
 means, was rendered more and more dependent on those States. 
 whose principal object was commerce. The frequent commu- 
 nication between foreign courts, wdiich the policy of Richelieu 
 had rendered necessary, gave occasion for envoys and resident 
 ministers ; whereas formerly scarcely any other intercourse was 
 known, except by extraordinary embassies.] 
 
 The first war that roused the European pow'ers, was thai 
 which Louis XIV. undertook against Spain, to enforce the 
 claims which he advanced, in name of his Queen Maria The- 
 resa, over several provinces of the Spanish Netherlands, espe- 
 cially the dutchies of Brabant and Limburg, the seigniories of 
 Mechlin, the marquisate of Antwerp, Upper Gueldres, the 
 counties of Namur, Hainault and Artois, Cambray and Cam- 
 bresis, which he alleged belonged to him, in virtue of the jus 
 devolutionis, according to the usage of that country. According 
 to that right, the property of goods passed to the children of the 
 first marriage, when their parents contracted another. Maria 
 Theresa, Queen of France, was the daughter, by the first mar- 
 riage of Philip IV. King of Spain; whereas Charles 11. , his 
 successor in that monarchy, was descended of the second mar- 
 riage. Louis XIV. contended, that from the moment of Philip's 
 second marriage, the property of all the countries, which were 
 affected by the 7'ight of devolution^ belonged to his Queen ; and 
 that, after the death of her father, that Princess should enjoy 
 the succession. In opposition to these claims cff France, the 
 Spaniards alleged, that the right of aemlution, being founded 
 merely on custom, and applicable only to particular successions, 
 could not be opposed to the fundamental laws of Spain, which 
 maintained the indivisibility of that monarchy, and transferred the 
 whole succession to Charles II. without any partition whatever. 
 
 In course of the carmpaign of 1667, the French made them- 
 selves masters of several cities in the Low Countries, such as 
 Bruges, Furnes, Armentieres, Charleroi, Binch, Ath, Tournay, 
 Douay, Courtray, Oudenarde, and Lille ; and in course of the 
 following winter, they got possession of Franche-Comte. The 
 Pope and several princes having volunteered their good offices 
 for the restoration of peace, they proposed a congress at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle ; but the principal scene of the negotiation was at the 
 Hague, where Louis sent the Count d'Estrades, to treat sepa- 
 rately with the States-General. This negotiation was greatly 
 accelerated by the famous Triple Alliance, concluded at the 
 
6 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Ha^e 1668, between Great Britain, Sweden, and the States- 
 General. By the terms of this treaty, the Allied Powers re- 
 quired Louis to offer Spain the option, either to leave him in 
 possession of the places which he had conquered, during the 
 campaign of 1667, or to cede to him either the dutchy of Lux- 
 emburg, or Franche-Comte with the cities of Cambray, Douay 
 Aire, St. Omer, and Fumes, with their dependencies. The 
 Spaniards having accepted the former of these alternatives, the 
 draught of a treaty of peace was agreed on, and signed by the 
 ministers of France, England, and the States-General ; and this 
 scheme served as the basis of the treaty, which was concluded 
 at Aix-la-Chapelle, between France and Spain (May 2d 1668.) 
 In consideration of the restitutions which she had made to Spain, 
 France retained, in terms of this treaty, the to\^Tis of Charleroi, 
 Binch, Ath, Douay, Tournay, Oudenarde, Lille, Armentieres, 
 Courtray, Bergues, and Furnes, with their bailiwicks and de- 
 pendencies. 
 
 This peace was soon followed by a new war, which Louis 
 XIV. undertook against the Republic of the Seven United Pro- 
 vinces. Wishing to be avenged on the Dutch, whom he knew 
 to be the principal authors of the Triple Alliance, and consult- 
 ing only his own propensity for war, he alleged, as a pretext, 
 certain insulting medals which had been struck in Holland, on 
 the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the Triple Alliance.^ In vain 
 did the States-General offer him every satisfaction ; he persist- 
 ed in his purpose of declaring war ; and the better to succeed in 
 his design, he endeavoured first to dissolve the Triple Alliance. 
 Colbert de Croissy, whom he sent to England, found means to 
 detach Charles 11. from the alliance, and to draw him over to 
 side with Louis against the Republic. The same success at- 
 tended the negotiation which he set on foot with the Court of 
 Stockholm. Following the example of England, the Swedes 
 renounced the Triple Alliance, and joined with France. Seve- 
 ral princes of the Empire, such as the Elector of Cologne and 
 the Bishop of Munster, adopted the same line of conduct. The 
 war broke out in 1672; and so rapid were the conquests of 
 Louis, that he subdued in one single campaign the provinces of 
 Gueldres, Utrecht, Overyssel, and part of Holland. He would 
 have carried the city of Amsterdam, if the Dutch had not cut 
 their dikes and inundated the country. 
 
 Alarmed at these extraordinary successes, and apprehending 
 the entire subversion of the Republic, the Emperor Leopold I. 
 the King of Spain, the Elector of Brandenburg, and the Impe- 
 rial States, leagued in their favour, and marched to their relief. 
 The Parliament of England obliged Charles II. to make peace 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 7 
 
 with the Republic, by refusing to grant him supplies (1674.) 
 The Elector of Cologne and the Bishop of Munster did the 
 bame thing. Louis XIV. then thought proper to abandon his 
 conquests in Holland ; and directed his principal strength against 
 Spain and the Germanic Stages. He subdued Franche-Com'e 
 in the spring of 1674 ; and in course of the same year, the 
 Prince of Conde gained the battle of Senef. In the followiui^ 
 winter Turenne attacked the quarters of the Imperialists in 
 Alsace, and chased them from that province, in spite of their 
 superior numbers. That great general was slain at Saspach in 
 Ortenau when he was on the point of fighting the famous battie 
 with Montecuculi (11th Aug. 1674.) Next year Admiral du 
 Quesne gained two naval victories, near the islands of Lipari 
 and Messina, over De Ruyter, who died of the wounds he had 
 received. 
 
 The Swedes, according to the secret articles of their alliance 
 with France, had penetrated, in the month of December 1674, 
 inio the Electorate of Brandenburg, to cause a diversion against 
 the Elector Frederic AVilliam, who commanded the Imperial 
 army on the^ Rhine ; but the Elector surprised then^jDy forced 
 inarches at Rathenow, and completely routed their army near 
 Fehrbellin (1675.) The Emperor then declared war against 
 Sweden ; and the Elector, in concert with the princes of Bruns- 
 wick, the Bishop of Munster, and the King of Denmark, strip- 
 ped the Swedes of the greater part of their possessions in the 
 Empire. 
 
 At length, in the years 1678-79, a peace was concluded at 
 INimeguen, under the mediation of England. Louis XIV. con- 
 trived to divide the allies, and to make a separate treaty with 
 the Dutch, by which he restored to them the city of Maestricht, 
 which he had again seized. The example of the Dutch v/as fol- 
 lowed by the Spaniards, who in like manner signed a special 
 treaty with France ; in virtue of which, they gave up to her 
 Franche-Comte, with several cities in Flanders and Hainault, 
 such as Valenciennes, Bouchain, Conde, Cambray, Aire, St. 
 Omer, Ypres, Warwick, Warneton, Poperingen, Eailleul, Cas- 
 sel, Bavay, and Maubeuge, with their dependencies. The peace 
 of Munster (1648) was renewed by that which was concluded 
 at Nimeguen, between France, the Empire, and the Emperor. 
 France, on renouncing her right to a garrison in Philipsbiirg, 
 got possession of the city of Friburg in Brisgaw, but refused to 
 restore what s'.-e had wrested from the Duke of Lorraine, except 
 on conditions so burdensome, that the Duke would hot accept 
 them and preferred to abandon the repossession of his dutchy. 
 As to the peace which France and Sweden had negotiated vriih 
 
8 CHAPTER Vlli. 
 
 Denmark and her allies the Princes of the Empire, it was re- 
 newed by diiTerent special treaties, concluded in course of the 
 year 1679. 
 
 No sooner was the peace of Nimeguen concluded, than there 
 sprung- up new troubles, known by the name of the Troubles oj 
 rhe Reiniiojis. Louis XIV., whose ambition was without bounds, 
 had instituted a Chamher of Reunion, in the parliament of Metz-. 
 for the purpose of examining the nature and extent of the terri- 
 tories ceded to him by the treaties of Westphalia, the Pyrenees, 
 Aix-xa-Chapelle, and Nimeguen. This Chan:iber, as well as the 
 Parliament of Besan9on, and the Sovereign Council of Alsace, 
 adjudged to the King, by their decree, several towns and seignio- 
 ries, as being fiefs or dependencies of Alsace ; as also the three 
 bishoprics, Franche-Comte, and the territories which had been 
 ceded to him in the Netherlands. 
 
 The King's views were principally directed to Alsace. He 
 had already tendered his claims on this province, shortly after 
 the peace of the Pyrenees, when the matter had been referred 
 to the decision of arbiters chosen by the Emperor himself. The 
 work of arbitration was not far advanced, when, it was inter- 
 rupted by the Dutch war, in which the Emperor and the Em- 
 pire were both implicated. The peace of Nimeguen havmg 
 confirmed the treaty of Munster, he preferred the method of re- 
 •miion to that of arbitration, for reclaiming his alleged rights. 
 Taking advantage of the general terms in which the cession of 
 Alsace was announced in the seventy-third and seventy-fourth 
 articles of the said treaty, he claimed the absolute sovereignty 
 of the whole province, and obliged the immediate states, inclu- 
 ded in it, to acknowledge his sovereignty, and to do him fealty 
 and homage, notwithstanding the reservations which the eighty- 
 seventh article of the same treaty had stipulated in favour of 
 these very States. M. de Louvois appeared before Strasburg 
 at the head of the French army, and summoned that city tt) sub- 
 mit to the King. Accordingly, it surrendered by capitulation 
 on the 30th September 1681. These reunions extended also to 
 the Netherlands, where the French seized, among others, the 
 cities of Courtray, Dixmude and Luxemburg. 
 
 Louis XIV., in thus taking upon himself alone the interpre- 
 tation of these treaties of peace, could not but offend the powers 
 interested in maintaining them. A new general league was 
 jM'ojected against France, and at the Diet of Ratisbon they de- 
 liberated on the means of setting on foot an Imperial army ; but 
 the want of unanimity among the members of the Germanic bo- 
 d; 'he troubles in Hungary, which were immediately succeed- 
 ei , a war with the Porte, and the march of a Turkish army 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 9 
 
 on Vienna, threw them into a stale of consternation, and pre- 
 vented the Imperial Diet from adopti'ng any vigorous resolution. 
 Spain, exhausted by protracted wars, and abandoned hj Eno-- 
 land and Holland, was quite incapacitated from taking arms. 
 Nothing else, therefore, remained for the parties concerned, than 
 to have recourse to negotiation. Conferences were opened at 
 Frankfort, which, after having languished for fifteen months in 
 that city, were transferred to Ratisbon, where a truce of twenty 
 years was signed (15th August 1684) between France and Spain; 
 as also between France, the Emperor and the Empire. By the 
 former of these treaties, Louis retained Luxemburg, Bo vines, 
 and Chimay, with their dependencies ; restoring all the places 
 which he had occupied in the Netherlands prior to the 20th Au- 
 gust 1683. As to the treaty between France and the Emperor, 
 the former retained, during the truce, the city of Strasburg, and 
 the fort of Kehl, besides all the places and seigniories which 
 they had taken possession of, since the commencement of the 
 troubles till the 1st of August 1681. In all the places that were 
 surrendered to him, Louis preserved the exercise of his sover- 
 eign rights, leaving to the proprietors or seigniors the entire en- 
 joyment of the fruits and revenues belonging to their territorial 
 rights. 
 
 It was nearly about this same time that Louis XIV. under- 
 took to extirpate Calvinism from France. Incensed against the 
 Protestants by the old chancellor Letellier, and his minister Lou- 
 vois, the chancellor's son, he circumscribed, by repeated declara- 
 tions, the privileges which they enjoyed in virtue of former 
 edicts. The holding of general synods was forbidden ; the two 
 Chambers were suppressed ; and they were all, without excep- 
 tion, debarred from exercising any public function. At last, 
 Louis went so far as to send, immediately after the truce of Ra- 
 tisbon (1634,) dragoons over all France, to endeavour, as was 
 said, to convert the Protestants by gentle compulsion. This 
 measure was next followed by the famous Edict of 1685, which 
 revoked that of Nantes, published in 1593, and that of Nismes 
 in 1629. All exercise of their religion — all assemblies for wor- 
 ship, even in the house, were forbidden to the Protestants, under 
 pain of imprisonment and confiscation of goods. Their churches 
 were ordered to be demolished. Parents were enjoined to have 
 their children baptized by the Catholic clergy, and to bring them 
 up in the religion of the state. The ministers were banished, 
 and the other Protestants were forbidden to depart the country, 
 imder pain of the galleys for men, and imprisonment and confis- 
 cation for women. The rigour of these prohibitions, however, 
 did not prevent a vast multitude of the French Protestants from 
 
10 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 removing to foreign countries, and transferring the seat of their 
 
 industry to Germany, England, and Holland. 
 
 This blindfold zeal for religion, however, did not hinder Louis 
 from vigorously supporting the rights of his crown against the 
 encroachments of the court of Kome. Among the different dis- 
 putes that arose between him and the Popes, that which regard- 
 ed the prerogative of Regale deserves to be particularly remark- 
 ed. The King, by declarations issued in 1673 and 1675, having 
 extended that right to all the archbishoprics and bishoprics within 
 the kingdom, the bishops of Aleth and Pamiers, who pretended 
 to be exempt from it, applied to the Pope, claiming his protection. 
 Innocent XI. interposed, by vehement briefs which he addressed 
 to the King in favour of the bishops. This induced Louis to 
 convoke an assembly of the French clergy, in which, besides 
 the extension of the Regale, he caused them to draw up the four 
 famous propositions, which are regarded as the basis of the li- 
 berties of the Galilean Church. These propositions were, (1.) 
 That the power of the Pope extends only to things spiritual, and 
 has no concern with temporal matters. (2.) That the authority 
 of the Pope in spiritual affairs is subordinate to a general coun- 
 cil. (3.) That it is even limited by the canons, the customs, 
 and constitution of the kingdom and the Galilean Church. (4.) 
 That in matters of faith the Pope's authority is not infallible. 
 
 The truce which had been concluded for twenty years at Ra- 
 tisbon, continued only four ; at the end of which Louis again 
 took up arms. He pretended to have got information, that the 
 Emperor Leopold only waited till the conclusion of the peace 
 with the Turks, to make war upon him ; and he thence inferred, 
 that prudence required him rather to anticipate his enemy, than 
 allow himself to be circumvented. In proof of this assertion, 
 he cited the treaty concluded at Augsburg in 1686, between the 
 Emperor, the King of Spain, the States-General, Sweden, the 
 Duke of Savoy, and the principal States of the Empire, for the 
 maintenance of the treaties concluded with France. Louis 
 wished moreover to enforce the claims which the Dutchess of 
 Orleans, his sister-in-law, alleged to the succession of the Pala- 
 tinate. That princess was the sister of Charles, the last Elector 
 Palatine, of the family of Simmern, who died in 1685. She 
 did not dispute the fiefs with her brother's successor in the 
 Electorate ; she claimed the freeholds, which comprehended a 
 considerable part of the Palatinate ; while the new Elector, 
 Philip William, of the family of Neuburg, maintained that, ac- 
 cording to the laws and usages of Germany, the entire succes- 
 sion belonged to him, without any partition whatever. 
 
 Besides these motives which Louis XIV. set forth in a long 
 
PERIOD vir. A. D. 1648—1713. 11 
 
 manifesto, there was another which he kept concealed, the ob- 
 ject of which was, to prevent the expedition which the Prince 
 of Orange. Stadtholder of the United Provinces, was preparing 
 to send to England, against James II. his brother-in-law, who 
 had become odious to the whole English nation. It was of great 
 importance for France to maintain, on the throne of Great Bri- 
 tain, a prince whom she protected, and who would always es- 
 pouse her interests ; while it was easy to foresee, that if the 
 Prince of Orange, the declared enemy of Louis, and the author 
 of the league of Augsburg, should succeed in uniting the cro^vn 
 of England to the stadtholdership, he would not fail to employ 
 this new influence, and turn the combined force of both states 
 against France. The only method of preventing an event so 
 prejudicial to the true interests of that kingdom would have been, 
 doubtless, to equip an expedition, and pitch his camp on the 
 frontiers of Holland. The Court of France knew this well, and 
 vet they contented themselves with sending an army to the 
 !Rhine, which took possession of Philipsburg, Mayence, and the 
 whole Palatinate, as well as a part of the Electorate of Treves 
 (Sept. and Oct. 1688.) Louvois, the French minister who di- 
 rected these operations, had flattered himself that the Dutch, 
 when they beheld the war breaking out in their vicinity, would 
 not dare to take any part in the troubles of England. In this 
 opinion he was deceived ; the Prince of Orange, supported by the 
 Dutch fleet, effected a landing in England (16th November 1688.) 
 The revolution there was soon completed, by the dethronement 
 of James II. ; and Louis XIV., ending where he should have 
 begun, then declared war against the States-General. This 
 mistaken policy of the French minister became the true source of 
 all the subsequent reverses that eclipsed the reign of Louis XIV. 
 A powerful league was nov/ formed against France, which 
 was joined successively by the Emperor, the Empire, England, 
 Holland, Spain and Savoy (1689.) Louis XIV., in order to 
 make head against these formidable enemies, recalled his troops 
 from those places which they occupied in the Palatinate, and on 
 the banks of the Rhine ; but in withdrawing them, he ordered 
 a great number of the towns to be burnt to ashes, and laid waste 
 the whole country. By this barbarity, which circumstances by 
 no means called for, he only aggravated the hatred and increased 
 the ardour of his enemies. War was commenced by sea and 
 land; in Italy, Spain, Ireland, the Low Countries, and on the 
 Rhine. Louis supported it nobly against a great part of Europe, 
 now combined against him. His armies were victorious every 
 where. Marshal Luxembourg signalized himself in the cam- 
 '^aigns of Flanders, by the victories which he gained over the 
 
12 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 allies at Fleurus (1st July 1690,) Steinkirk (3d Aug. 1692,) and 
 Landen or Nerwinden (29th July 1693.) In Italy. Marshal Ca- 
 tinat gained the battle of Stafarda (18th Aug. 1690,) and Mar- 
 sagha (4th Oct. 1693) over the Duke of Savoy. The naval 
 glory of France was well supported by the Count de Tourville 
 at the battles of Beachy-head (10th July 1690,) and La Hogue 
 (29th May 1692.) 
 
 However brilliant the success of her arms might be, the pro- * 
 digious efforts which the war required could not but exhaust 
 France, and make her anxious for the return of peace. Besides, 
 Louis XIV. foresaw the approaching death of Charles II. of 
 Spain ; and it was of importance for him to break the grand 
 alliance as soon as possible ; as one of its articles secured the 
 succession of the Spanish monarchy to the Emperor and his' 
 descendants, to the exclusion of the King of France. In this 
 case, he wished, for his own interest, to give every facility for 
 the restoration of peace ; and by the treaty which he concluded 
 separately with the Duke of Savoy, he granted that Prince, be- 
 sides the fortress of Pignerol, and the marriage of his daughter 
 wilh the Duke of Burgundy, the privilege of royal honours for 
 his ambassadors. This treaty, concluded at Turin (29th Aug. 
 1696,) was a preliminary to the general peace, signed at Rys- 
 wick, between France, Spain, England, and Holland (20th Sept. 
 1697.) Each of the contracting parties consented to make 
 mutual restitutions. France even restored to Spain all the towns 
 and territories which she had occupied in the Low Countries, 
 by means of the reunions ; with the exception of eighty-two 
 places, mentioned in a particular list, as being dependencies of 
 Charlemont, Maubeuge, and other places ceded by the preceding 
 treaties. Peace between France, the Emperor, and the Empire 
 was also signed at Kyswick. The treaties of Westphalia and 
 Nimeguen were there renewed ; and the decrees of the Cham- 
 ber of Reunion at Metz, and of the Sovereign Courts at Besan- 
 ^on and Brisach, were rescinded and annulled. Louis XIV. 
 engaged to restore to the Empire all that he had appropriated to 
 himself, by means of the reunions, either before or during the 
 v.'ar ; that is to say, all places situated or acquired beyond the 
 bounds of Alsace. The city of Strasburg was ceded to France, 
 by a particular article of the treaty ; but the fortress of Kehl, the 
 cities' cfFriburg, Brisach, and Philipsburg, were surrendered to 
 the Emperor. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and son of Charles 
 v., v/as reinstated in his dutchy, without any other reservation 
 ihan that of Saar-Louis, and the city and prefecture of Longwy. 
 As to the claims of the Dutchess of Orleans' on the Palatinate, 
 they were submitted to the arbitration of the Emperor and the 
 
Execution of Charles L 1649. V^ol. 1, p. 263. 
 
 Cromwell dissolving the Long Farliament. 
 Vol. 2, p. 28. 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 164&— 1713. 13 
 
 Kimg of France ; to be referred to the decision of the Pope, 
 should these two Sovereigns happen to differ in opinion. 
 
 The peace of Ryswick was followed by the war of the Spanish 
 Succession, which embroiled Europe afresh, and occasioned 
 considerable changes in its political state. Charles II. King of 
 Spain, son of Philip IV., and last male descendant of the Spanish 
 branch of the House of Austria, having neither son, nor daughter, 
 nor brother, the Spanish monarchy, according to a fundamental 
 law of the kingdom, which fixed the succession in the cognate 
 lijie, appeared to belong to Maria Theresa, Queen of France 
 eldest sister of Charles, and to the children of her marriage with 
 Louis XIV. To this title of Maria Theresa, was opposed her 
 express renunciation, inserted in her marriage-contract, and con- 
 firmed by the peace of the Pyrenees ; but the French maintained, 
 that that renunciation was null, and that it could not prejudice 
 the children of the Queen, who held their right, not from their 
 mother, but by the fundamental law of Spain. 
 
 Admitting the validity of the Queen's renunciation, the lineal 
 order fixed the Spanish succession on her younger sister, Mar- 
 garet Theresa, who had married the Emperor Leopold I., and 
 left an only daughter, Maria Antoinette, spouse to the Elector 
 of Bavaria, and mother of Joseph Ferdinand, the Electoral 
 Prince of Bavaria. 
 
 The Emperor, who wished to prese-rve the Spanish monarchy 
 in his own family, availed himself of the renunciation which he 
 had exacted from his daughter, the Archdutchess Maria Antoi- 
 nette, when she married Maximilian, the Elector of Bavaria, to 
 appear as a candidate himself, and advance the claims of his 
 mother, Maria Anne, daughter of Philip III. King of Spain, and 
 aunt of Charles II. He alleged, that the Spanish succession 
 had been secure^ to this latter Princess, both by her marriage- 
 contract, and by the testaments of the Kings of Spain ; and as 
 he had two sons, the Archdukes Joseph and Charles, by his 
 marriage with the Princess Palatine of Neuburg, he destined 
 the elder for the Imperial throne and the States of Austria, and 
 the younger for the Spanish monarchy. 
 
 These different claims having excited apprehensions of a ge- 
 neral war, England and Holland, from a desire to prevent it, 
 drew up a treaty of partition, in concert with 'Louis XIV. (11th 
 Oct. 1698,) in virtue of which the Spanish monarchy was se- 
 cured to Joseph Ferdinand, in case of the death of Charles II. ; 
 while the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the ports of Tusca- 
 ny, the marquisate of Finale, and the province of Guipuscoa, 
 were reserved to the Dauphin of France. The Archduke 
 Charles, son to the Emperor, was to have the dutchy of Milan. 
 
 VOL. ii. 2 
 
14 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Although the King of Spain disapproved of the treaty, so far as 
 it admitted a partition, nevertheless, in his will, he recognised 
 the Prince of Bavaria as his successor in the Spanish monarchy. 
 
 A premature death having frustrated all the high expectations 
 of that prince, the powers who had concluded the first treaty of 
 partition drew up a second, which Avas signed at London (March 
 13, 1700.) According to this, the Archduke Charles, youngest 
 son of the Emperor Leopold, was destined the presumptive heir 
 to the Spanish monarchy. They awarded to the Dauphin the 
 dutchy of Lorraine, with the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and 
 the province of Guipuscoa ; assigning to the Duke of Lorraine 
 the dutchy of Milan in exchange. Louis XIV. used every effort" 
 to have this new treaty of partition approved by the Court of 
 Vienna. He sent thither the Marquis Villars, who, after having 
 been long amused with vague promises, failed entirely in his 
 negotiation ; and the Emperor, whose main object was to con- 
 ciliate the Court of Madrid, lost the only favourable moment 
 which might have fixed the succession of the Spanish monarchy 
 in his family, with the consent of Louis XIV. and the principal 
 Courts of Europe. 
 
 At Madrid, this affair took a turn diametrically opposite to 
 the views and interests of the Court of Vienna. Charles II., 
 following the counsels of his prime minister. Cardinal Porto- 
 carrero, and after having taken the advice of the Pope, and of 
 the most eminent theologians and laAvyers in his kingdom, de- 
 termined to make a second will, in which he recognised the 
 rights of Maria Theresa, his eldest sister ; and declared, that as 
 the renunciation of that princess had been made solely to pre- 
 vent the union of Spain with the kingdom of France, that mo- 
 tive ceased on transferring the Spanish monarchy to one of the 
 younger sons of the Dauphin. Accordingly, he nominated Phi- 
 lip of Anjou, the Dauphin's second son, heir to his whole do- 
 minions ; in case of his death, the Duke of Berri, his younger 
 brother ; next, the Archduke Charles ; and lastly, the Duke of 
 Savoy ; expressly forbidding all partition of the monarchy. 
 
 Charles II. having died on the 1st of November following, 
 the Junta, or Council of Regency, which he had appointed by 
 his will, sent to Louis XIV., praying him to accede to the set- 
 tlement of their late King, and give up his grandson to the 
 wishes of the Spanish nation. The same courier had orders to 
 pass on to Vienna, in case of a refusal on his part, and make 
 the same offer to the Archduke. The Court of France then 
 assembled a Grand Council, in which they held a deliberation 
 as to what step it was best to adopt, in an affair which so nearly 
 concerned the general repose of Europe. The result of this 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. 15 
 
 Council was, that they ought to accede to the will of Charles 
 II., and renounce the advantages which the second treaty of 
 partition held out to France. It was alleged, as the reason of 
 this resolution, that by refusing to accept the will, Louis must 
 ■either abandon altogether his pretensions to the Spanish mo- 
 oarchy, or undertake an expensive war to obtain by conquest 
 what the treaty of partition assigned him ; without being able, 
 in this latter case, to reckon on the effectual co-operation of the 
 two maritime courts. 
 
 Louis XIV. having therefore resolved to accede to the will, 
 Philip of Anjou was proclaimed King by the Spaniards, and 
 made his solemn entry into Madrid on the 14th of April 1701. 
 Most of the European powers, such as the States of Italy, Swe- 
 den, England, Holland, and the kingdoms of the North, ac- 
 knowledged Philip V. ; the King of Portugal, and the Duke of 
 Savoy even concluded treaties of alliance with him. More- 
 over, the situation of political affairs in Germany, Hungary, and 
 the North was such, that it would have been easy for Louis 
 XIV., with prudent management, fo preserve the Spanish crown 
 on the head of his grandson ; but he seemed, as if on purpose, 
 to do every thing to raise all Europe against him. It was al- 
 leged, that he aimed at the chimerical project of universal mo- 
 narchy, and the union of France with Spain. Instead of trying 
 to do away this supposition, he gave it additional force, by 
 issuing letters-patent in favour of Philip, at the moment when 
 he was departing for Spain, to the effect of preserving his rights 
 to the throne of France. The Dutch dreaded nothing so much 
 as to see the French making encroachments on the Spanish 
 Netherlands, which they regarded as their natural barrier a- 
 gainst France Tthe preservation of which appeared to be equally 
 interesting to England. 
 
 It would have been prudent in Louis XIV. to give these ma- 
 ritime powers some security on this point, who, since the eleva- 
 tion of William Prince of Orange to the crown of Great Britain, 
 held as it were in their hands the balance of Europe. Without 
 being swayed by this consideration, he obtained authority from 
 the Council of Madrid, to introduce a French army into the Spa- 
 nish Netherlands ; and on this occasion the Dutch troops, who 
 were quartered in various places of the Netherlands, according 
 to a stipulation with the late King of Spain, were disarmed. This 
 circumstance became a powerful motive for King William to 
 rouse the States-General against France. He found some diffi- 
 culty, however, in drawing over the British Parliament to his 
 views, as a great majority in that House were averse to mingle 
 in the quarrels of the Continent; but the death of James II. aj 
 
16 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 tered the minds and inclinations of the English. Louis XIV. 
 having formerly acknowledged the son of that prince as King of 
 Great Britain, the English Parliament had no longer any hesi- 
 tation in joining the Dutch, and the other enemies of France. 
 A new and powerful league w^as formed against Louis. The 
 Emperor, England, the United Provinces, the Empire, the 
 Kings of Portugal and Prussia, and the Duke of Savoy, all 
 joined it in succession. The allies engaged to restore to Aus- 
 tria, the Spanish Netherlands, the dutchy of Milan, the king- 
 dom of the Two Sicilies, with the ports of Tuscany ; and nevei 
 to permit the union of France wdth Spain. 
 
 At the commencement of the war, Louis for some time main- 
 tained the glory and superiority of his arms, notwithstanding 
 the vast number of adversaries he had to oppose. It w^as not 
 until the campaign of 1704 that fortune abandoned him ; when 
 one reverse was only succeeded by another. The Duke of 
 Marlborough and Prince Eugene defeated Marshal de Tallard at 
 Hochstett or Blenheim, (Aug. 13,) where he lost thirty thousand 
 men, and w^as himself carried prisoner to England. This disas- 
 ter was followed by the loss of Bavaria, and all the French pos- 
 sessions beyond the Rhine. The battle which Marlborough 
 gained (May 23, 1706) at Ramillies in Brabant was not less dis- 
 astrous ; it secured to the allies the conquest of the greater 
 part of the Netherlands ; and to increase these misfortunes, 
 Marshal de Marsin lost the famous battle of Turin against 
 Prince Eugene (Sept. 7,) wdiich obliged the French troops to 
 evacuate Italy. The battle which was fought at Oudenarde in 
 Flanders (July 11, 1708) was not so decisive. Both sides 
 fought with equal advantage ; but the duke of Burgundy, who 
 was commander-in-chief of the French army, having quitted 
 the field of battle during the night, contrary to the advice of 
 Vendome, Marlborough made this an occasion for claiming the 
 victory. 
 
 At "'length the dreadful winter of 1709, and the battle of 
 Malplaquet, which Marlborough gained over Villars (Sept. 11,) 
 reduced France to the greatest distress, and brought Louis un- 
 der the necessity of suing for peace, and even descending to 
 the most humiliating conditions. M. de Torcy, his minister for 
 foreign affairs, was despatched to the Hague ; and, among a 
 number of preliminary articles, he agreed to make restitution of 
 all the conquests which the French had made since the peace of 
 Munster. He consented to surrender the city of Strasburg, and 
 henceforth to possess Alsace according to the literal terms of 
 the treaty of Munster ; the throne of Spain was reserved for 
 the archduke ; and Louis consented to abandon the interests of 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 19 
 
 Hudson's Bay, and Straits, the Island of St. Christopher, Nova 
 Scotia, and Newfoundland in America. Spain gave up Gib- 
 raltar and Minorca, both of which had been conquered by the 
 English during the Avar; they secured to her, besides, for thirty 
 years, the privilege of furnishing negroes for the Spanish Ameri- 
 can colonies. 
 
 The King of Prussia obtained the Spanish part of Gueldres, 
 wdth the city of that name, and the district of Kessel, in lieu of 
 the principality of Orange, which w^as given to France ; though 
 he had claims to it as the heir of William III. King of England. 
 The kingdom of Sicily w^as adjudged to the Duke of Savoy, to 
 be possessed by him and his male descendants ; and they con- 
 firmed to him the grants which the Emperor had made him, of 
 that part of the dutchy of Milan Avhich had belonged to the Duke 
 of Mantua, as also Alexandria, Valencia, the Lumelline, and the 
 Valley of Sessia. Finally, Sardinia was reserved for the Elec- 
 tor of Bavaria, the ally of France in that war. 
 
 As the Emperor had not acceded to the treaty of Utrecht, the 
 war was continued between him and France. Marshal Villars 
 took Landau and Friburg in Brisgaw ; afterwards a conference 
 took place between him and Prince Eugene at Rastadt. New 
 preliminaries were there drawn up ; and a congress was opened 
 at Baden in Switzerland, Avhere a definitive peace was signed 
 (Sept. 7th 1714.) The former treaties, since the peace of West- 
 phalia, were there renewed. The Electors of Cologne and Ba- 
 varia, who had been put to the ban of the Empire, and deprived 
 of their estates, were there fully re-established. Sardinia, which 
 had been assigned to the Elector of Bavaria, by the treaty of 
 Utrecht, remained in possession of the Emperor, w^ho likewise 
 recovered Brisach and Friburg in Brisgaw^, instead of Landau 
 which had been ceded to France. 
 
 Louis XIV. did not long survive this latter treaty. Never 
 did any sovereign patronize literature and the fine arts like him. 
 Many celebrated academies for the promotion of the arts and 
 sciences owe their origin to his auspices, such as the Academy 
 of Inscriptions, Belles-Lettres, Sciences, Painting, and Archi- 
 tecture. His reign was illustrious for eminent men, and talents 
 of every description, which were honoured and encouraged by 
 him. He even extended his favour to the philosophers and lit- 
 erati of foreign countries. This prince has been reproached for 
 his two great partiality to the Jesuits, his confessors, and for 
 the high importance which he attached to the dispute betw^een 
 the Jansenists and the Molinists, which gave rise to the famous 
 Bull TJiiigenitus^ ^ approved by the clergy, and published by the 
 King as a law of the state over all France. This illustrious 
 
20 CHAPTER vm. 
 
 Prince ended his days after a reign of seventy-two years, fertile 
 in great events ; he transmitted the crown to his great grand- 
 son, Louis XV., who was only five years of age when he mount- 
 ed the throne (Sept. 1, 1714.) . 
 
 In the course of this period, several memorable events hap- 
 pened in Germany. The Emperor, Leopold I., having assem- 
 bled a Diet at Ratisbon, to demand subsidies against the Turks, 
 and 10 settle certain matters which the preceding Diet had left 
 undecided, the sittings of that assembly w^ere continued to the 
 present time, without ever having been declared permanent by 
 any formal law of the Empire. The peace of Westphaha, had 
 instituted an eighth Electorate for the Palatine branch of Wit- 
 tlesbach ; the Emperor, Leopold I., erected a ninth, in favour of 
 the younger branch of the House of Brunswick. The first Elec- 
 tor of this family, known by the name of Brunswick-Luneburg, 
 or Hanover, was the Duke Ernest Augustus, w^hom the Em- 
 peror invested in his new dignity, to descend to his heirs-male, 
 on account of his engaging to furnish Austria with supplies in 
 money and troops, for carrying on the war against the Turks. 
 This "^innovation met with decided opposition in the Empire. 
 Several of the Electors were hostile to it ; and the whole body 
 of Princes declared, that the new Electorate was prejudicial to 
 their dignity, and tended to introduce an Electoral Oligarchy. 
 The Duke of Brunswick- WolfFenbuttel especially protested 
 against the preference which was given to the younger branch 
 of his House over the elder, in spite of family compacts, and the 
 right of primogeniture established in the House of Brunswick. 
 
 °A confederacy was thus formed against the ninth Electorate. 
 The allied Princes resolved, in an assembly held at Nuremberg, 
 to raise an army, and apply to the powers that had guaranteed 
 the treaty of Westphalia. France espoused the quarrel of these 
 Princes ; she concluded with the King of Denmark, a treaty of 
 allipdice and subsidy against the ninth Electorate, and declared, 
 before the Diet of the Empire, that she regarded this innovation 
 as a blow aimed at the treaty of Westphalia. In course of time, 
 however, these animosities were allayed. Tlie Princes recog- 
 nised the ninth . Electorate, and the mtroduction of the new 
 Elector took place in 1708. A decree was passed at the Diet^ 
 which annexed a clause to his admission, that the CathoHc Elec- 
 tors should have the privilege of a casting vote, in cases where 
 tlie number of Protestant Electors should happen to equal that 
 of the Catholics. By the same decree, the King of Bohemia, 
 who had formerly never been admitted but at the election of the 
 Emperors, obtained a voice in all the deliberations of the EmpirG 
 and the Electoral College, on condition of his paying, in time, 
 '•omiag, an Electoral quota for the kingdom of Bohemia, 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 17 
 
 Philip. But the allies, rendered haughty by their success, de* 
 manded of the King that he should oblige his gi'andson volun- 
 tarily to surrender his crown, otherwise they would compel him 
 by force of arms, and that within the short space of two months. 
 The conferences, which had been transferred from the Hague 
 to Gertruydenberg, were consequently broken off, and the war 
 continued. 
 
 In this critical state of things, two unexpected events happened, 
 which changed the face of affairs; and Louis XIV., far from 
 being constrained to submit to the articles of the preliminaries 
 at Gertruydenberg, saw himself even courted by England, and 
 in a condition to dictate the law to several of the powers that 
 were leagued against him. The Emperor Joseph I. died (April 
 11th 1711) without leaving any male offspring. His brother the 
 Archduke Charles, who took the title of King of Spain, now 
 obtained the Imperial dignity, and became heir of all the States 
 belonging to the German branch of the House of Austria. It 
 appeared, therefore, that the system of equilibrium could not 
 possibly admit the same prince to engross likewise the whole 
 Spanish monarchy. This event was coupled with another, rela- 
 tive to the change which had taken place in the ministr}'- and 
 Parliament of Great Britain. The Whigs, who had been the 
 ruling party since the Revolution of 16S9, were suddenly sup- 
 planted by the Tories. This overthrow brought the Duke of 
 Marlborough into disgrace, v/ho had long stood at the head of 
 affairs in England, as chief of the Whig faction. Queen Anne, 
 who stood in awe of him, found no other expedient for deprivino- 
 him of his influence, than to make peace with France. L'Abbe 
 Gualtier, who resided at London in quality of almoner to the 
 ambassador of Charles of Austria, was despatched by her Ma- 
 jesty to France, to make the first overtures of peace to Louis. A 
 secret negotiation was set on foot between the two Courts, the 
 result of which was a preliminary treaty signed at London 
 (October Sth 1711.) 
 
 A congress was opened at Utrecht, with the view of a general 
 pacification. The conferences which took place there, after the 
 month of February 1712, met with long interruptions; both on 
 account of the disinclination of several of the allied powers for 
 peace, and because of the matters to be separately treated be- 
 tween France and England, which retarded the progress of the 
 general negotiation. The battle of Denain, which Marshal Vil- 
 lars gained over the Earl of Albemarle (July 24,) helped to ren- 
 der the allies more tractable. Peace was signed at Utrecht in 
 the month of April 1713, between France and the chief bellige- 
 rent powers. The Emperor alone refused to take part in it, as 
 
 2# 
 
18 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 he could not resolve to abandon his claims to the Spanish 
 monarchy. 
 
 The grand aim of England in that transaction, was to limit 
 the overwhelming power of France ; for this purpose she took 
 care, in that treaty, to establish as a fundamental and inviolable 
 law, the clause which ordained that the kingdoms of France and 
 Spain never should be united. To effect this, it was necessary 
 that Philip of Anjou should formally renounce his right to the 
 crown of France ; while his brother the Duke de Berri, as well 
 as the Duke of Orleans, should do the same in regard to the 
 claims which they might advance to the Spanish monarchy. 
 The deeds of these renunciations, drawn up and signed in 
 France and in Spain, in presence of the English ambassadors, 
 were inserted, in the treaty of Utrecht ; as were also the letters- 
 patent which revoked and annulled those that Louis had given, 
 for preserving the right of the Duke of Anjou to the succession 
 of the French crown. Louis XIV. promised for himself, his 
 heirs and successors, never to attempt either to prevent or elude 
 the effect of these renunciations ; and failing the descendants 
 of Philip, the Spanish succession was secured to the Duke 
 of Savoy, his male descendants, and the other princes of his 
 family, to the exclusion of the French princes. 
 
 Another fundamental clause of the treaty of Utrecht declared, 
 that no province, city, fortress or place, in the Spanish Nether- 
 lands, should ever be ceded, transferred, or granted to the crown 
 of France ; nor to any prince or princess of French extraction, 
 under any title whatever. These provinces, designed to serve 
 as a barrier for the Low Countries against France, were ad- 
 judged to the Emperor and the House of Austria, together with 
 the kingdom of Naples, the ports of Tuscany, and the dutch}?- of 
 Milan ; and as the Emperor was not a party to the treaty, it was 
 agreed that the Spanish Netherlands should remain as a deposit 
 in the hands of the States-General, until that prince should ar- 
 range with them respecting the barrier-towns. The same stipu- 
 lation was made in regard to that part of the French Nether- 
 lands which Louis had ceded in favour of the Emperor ; such 
 as Menin, Tournay, Furnes, and Furnes-Ambacht, the fortress 
 of Kenock, Ypres, and their dependencies. 
 
 England, in particular, obtained by this treaty various and 
 considerable advantages. Louis XIV. withdrew his protection 
 from the Pretender, and engaged never to give him harbour in 
 France. The succession to the throne of Great Britain, was 
 guaranteed to the House of Hanover. They agreed to raze the 
 fortifications of the port of Dunkirk, which had so much excited 
 the jealousy of England ; while France likewise ceded to hei 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 21 
 
 The Imperial capitulations assumed a form entirely new, about 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century. A difference had for- 
 merly existed among the members of the Germanic body on this 
 important article of public law. They regarded it as a thing 
 illegal, that the Electors alone should claim the right of drawing 
 up the capitulations ; and they maintained, with much reason, 
 that before these compacts should have the force of a fundamen- 
 tal law of the Empire, it was necessary that they should have 
 the deliberation and consent of the whole Diet. The Princes, 
 therefore, demanded, that there should be laid before the Diet a 
 scheme of perpetual capitulation, to serve as a rule for the Elec- 
 tors on every new election. That question had already been 
 debated at the Congress of Westphalia, and sent back by it for 
 the decision of the Diet. There it became the subject of long 
 discussion ; and it was not till the interregnum, which followed 
 the death of the Emperor Joseph I., that the principal points of 
 the perpetual capitulation were finally settled. The plan then 
 agreed to was adopted as the basis of the capitulation, which they 
 prescribed to Charles VI. and his successors. Among other 
 articles, a clause was inserted regarding the election of a king of 
 the Romans. This, it v/as agreed, should never take place 
 during the Emperor's life, except in a case of urgent necessity ; 
 and that the proscription of an elector, prince, or state of the 
 Empire, should never take place, without the consent of the 
 Oiet, and observing the formalities enjoined by the new capi- 
 ilation. 
 
 Three Electoral families of the Empire were raised to the 
 oyal dignity ; viz. those of Saxony, Brandenburg, and Bruns- 
 Ack-Luneburg. Augustus II., Elector of Saxony, after hav- 
 n.g made a profession of the Catholic religion, was elected to 
 he throne of Poland ; a dignity which was afterwards conf^ii-ed, 
 ilso by election, on his son Augustus III. That chang? of re- 
 'igion did not prevent the Electors of Saxony from remaining 
 it the head of the Protestant interest in the Diet of the Em- 
 pire, as they had given them assurance that they would make 
 no innovations in the religion of their country, and that they 
 would appoint a council entirely composed of Protestant mem- 
 bers, for administering the affairs of the Empire. These prin- 
 ces, however, lost part of their influence ; and so far was the 
 crown of Poland, which was purely elective, from augmenting 
 the greatness and real power of their house, that, on the con- 
 trary, it served to exhaust and enfeeble Saxony, by involving it 
 in ruinous wars, which ended in the desolation of that fine 
 country, the alienation of the Electoral domains, and the increase 
 i)f the debts and burdens of the state. 
 
22 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 If the royal dignity of Poland was prejudicial to the House 
 of Saxony, it was by no means so with that of Prussia, which 
 vhe House of Brandenburg acquired soon after. The Elector, 
 John Sigismund, on succeeding to the dutchy of Prussia, had 
 acknowledged himself a vassal and tributary of the crown of 
 Poland. His grandson, Frederic William, took advantage of 
 the turbulent situation in w^hich Poland was placed at the time 
 of the invasion of Charles X. of Sweden, to obtain a grant of 
 the sovereignty of Prussia, by a treaty which he concluded with 
 that Republic at Welau (19th September 1657.) Poland, in re- 
 nouncing the territorial rights which she exercised over Ducal 
 Prussia, stipulated for the reversion of these same rights, on the 
 extinction of the male line of the Electoral House of Brandenburg. 
 
 Frederic I., the son and successor of Frederic William, having 
 become sovereign of Ducal Prussia, thought himself authorized 
 to assume the royal dignity. The elevation of his cousin-ger- 
 man, the Prince of Orange, to the throne of Britain, and of his 
 next neighbour, the Elector of Saxony, to the sovereignty ol 
 Poland, tempted his ambition, and induced him to enter into a 
 negotiation on the subject w4th the Court of Vienna. The Em- 
 peror Leopold promised to acknowledge him as King of Prussia, 
 on account of a supply of ten thousand men vrhich Frederic pro- 
 mised to furnish him in the war of the Spanish Succession, 
 which was then commencing. To remove all apprehensions on 
 the part of Poland, who might perhaps offer some opposition, 
 the Elector signed a compact, bearing, that the royal dignity of 
 Prussia should in no way prejudice the rights and possession of 
 the King and States of Poland over Polish Prussia ; that neither 
 he nor his successors should attempt to found claims on that part 
 of Prussia ; and that the clause in the treaty of Welau, which 
 secured the reversion of the territorial right of Ducal Prussia, 
 on the extinction of the heirs-male of Frederic William, should 
 remain in full force and vigour, never to be infringed by the new 
 King or any of his successors. After these different conventions, 
 the Elector repaired to Koningsberg, where he was proclaimed 
 King of Prussia (18th January 1701.) It is worthy of remark, 
 that on the ceremony of his coronation, he put the crown on his 
 owTi head. 
 
 All the European powers acknowledged the new King, with 
 the exception of France and Spain, with whom he soon engaged 
 in wa:r. The Teutonic Knights, bearing in mind their ancient 
 claims over Prussia, deemed it their duty to support them by a 
 protest, and their example was followed by the Court of Rome. 
 The opinion which the author of the Memoirs of Brandenburg 
 delivers on this event is very remarkable. " Frederic," says he 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. 23 
 
 ** was flattered with nothing so much, as the externals of royalty, 
 the pomp of ostentation, and a certain whimsical self-conceit, 
 which was pleased, with making others feel their inferiority. 
 What at first was the mere offspring of vanity, turned out in the 
 end to be a masterpiece of policy. The royal dignity liberated 
 the House of Brandenburg from that yoke of servitude under 
 which Austria had, till then, held all the Princes of Germany. 
 It was a kind of bait which Frederic held out to all his posterity, 
 and by which he seemed to say, I have acquired for you a title, 
 render yourselves worthy of it; I have laid the foundation of 
 your greatness, yours is the task of completing the structure." 
 In fact Austria, by promoting the House of Brandenburg, seemed 
 to have injured her own greatness. In the very bosom of the 
 Empire, she raised up a new power, which afterwards became 
 her rival, and seized every opportunity of aggrandizement at her 
 expense. 
 
 As for the Electoral House of Brunswick-Luneburg, it suc- 
 ceeded, as we have observed, to the throne of Great Britain, in 
 virtue of a fundamental law of that monarchy, which admitted 
 females to the succession of the crown. Ernest Augustus, the 
 first Elector of the Hanoverian line, had married Sophia, 
 daughter of the Elector Palatine Frederic V., by the Princess 
 Elizabeth of England, daughter of James I., King of Great 
 Britain. An act of the British Parliament in 1701, extended 
 the succession to that Princess, then Electress-Dowager of Han- 
 over, and to her descendants, as being nearest heirs to the throne, 
 according to the order established by former acts of Parliament,^ 
 limiting the succession to Princes and Princesses of the Protes- 
 tant line only. The Electress Sophia, by that act, was called to 
 the succession, in case William III., and Anne, the youngest 
 daughter of James II., left no issue ; an event which took place 
 in 1714, on the death of Anne, who had succeeded William in 
 the kingdom of Great Britain. The Electress Sophia was not 
 alive at that time, having died two months before that princess. 
 George, Elector of Hanover, and son of Sophia by Ernest Au- 
 g-ustus, then ascended the British throne (Aug. 12, 1714,) to the 
 exclusion of all the other descendants of Elizabeth, who, though 
 they had the right of precedence, were excluded by being Catho- 
 lics', in virtue of the Acts of Parliament 16S9, 1701, 170-5. 
 
 The war of the Spanish Succession had occasioned great 
 changes in Italy. Spain, after having been long the leading 
 power in that country, gave place to Austria, to whojn the trea- 
 ties of Utrecht and Baden had adjudged the dutchy of Milan, 
 the kingdoms of Naples and Sardinia, and the ports of Tuscany. 
 To these she added the dutchy of Mantua, of which the Empe- 
 
24 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ror Joseph I. had dispossessed Duke Charles IV. of the House 
 
 of Gonzaga, for having espoused the cause of France in the 
 War of the Succession. The Duke of Mirandola met with a 
 similar fate, as the ally of the French in that war. His dutchy 
 Avas confiscated by the Ipmperor, and sold to the Duke of Modena. 
 This new aggrandizement of Austria in Italy excited the jea- 
 lousy of England, lest the princes of that house should take oc- 
 casion to revive their obsolete claims to the royalty of Italy and 
 the Imperial dignity; and it was this which induced the Court 
 of London to favour the elevation of the Dukes of Savoy, in 
 order to counterbalance the power of Austria in Italy. 
 
 The origin of the House of Savoy is as old as the beginning 
 of the eleventh century, v/hen Ave find a person named Berthold 
 in possession of Savoy, at that time a province of the kingdom 
 of Burgundy or Aries. The grandson of Berthold married 
 Adelaide de Suza, daughter and heiress of Mainfroi, Marquis 
 of Italy and Lord of Suza. This marriage brought the House 
 of Savoy considerable possessions in Italy, such as the Marcjui- 
 Kate of Suza, the Dutchy of Turin, Piedmont, and Val d'Aoste 
 Humbert II. Count of Savoy, conquered the province of Taren- 
 tum. Thomas, one of his successors, acquired by marriage the 
 barony of Faucigny. Amadeus V. was invested by the Empe- 
 ror Henry VII. in the city and county of Asti. Amadeus \'II. 
 received the voluntary submission of the inhabitants of Nice, 
 which he had dismembered from Provence, together with the 
 counties of Tenda and Boglio ; having taken advantage of the 
 intestine dissensions in that country, and the conflict between 
 the factions of Duras and Anjou, v/ho disputed the succession 
 of Naples and the county of Provence. Amadeus VIII. pur- 
 chased from Otho de Villars the county of Geneva, and was 
 created, by the Emperor Sigismund, first Duke of Savoy (Feb. 
 19, 1416.) 
 
 The rivalry which had subsisted between France and Austria 
 since the end of the fifteenth century, placed the House of Savoy 
 in a situation extremely difficult. Involved in the wars which 
 had arisen between these two powers in Italy, it became of ne- 
 cessity more than once the victim of political circumstances. 
 Duke Charles III. having allied himself with Charles V., was 
 deprived of his estates by France ; and his son Philibert, noted 
 for his exploits in the campaigns of Flanders, did not obtain re- 
 stitution of them until the peace of Chateau Cambresis. The 
 Dukes Charles Emanuel II., and Victor Amadeus II., experi- 
 enced similar indignities, in the wars which agitated France 
 and Spain during the seventeeth century, and which were ter- 
 minated by the treaties of the Pyrenees and Turin in the years 
 
Death of Charles AIL of Siveden. Vol. 2, p. 41 
 
 Encampment of a Brif^ade of Imperial Body 
 Guards. Vol. 2, p. 52. 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. 2o 
 
 1659, 1696. In the war of the Spanish Succession, A^ictor 
 Amadeus II. declared at first for his son-in-law, Philip King of 
 Spain, even taking upon himself the chief command of the 
 French army in Italy ; but afterwards, perceiving the danger of 
 his situation, and seduced by the advantageous offers which the 
 Emperor made him, he thought proper to alter his plan, and 
 joined the grand alliance against France. Savoy and Piedmont 
 again became the theatre of the war between France and Italy. 
 The French having undertaken the siege of Turin, the Duke 
 and Prince Eugene forced their army in its entrenchments be- 
 fore the place, and obliged them to abandon Italy. The Empe- 
 ror granted the Duke the investiture of the different estates 
 which he had secured to him, on his accession to the grand 
 alliance ; such as Montferrat, the provinces of Alexandria and 
 Valencia, the country between the Tanaro and the Po, the Lu- 
 melhne, Val Sessia, and the Vigevanesco ; to be possessed by 
 him and his male descendants, as fiefs holding of the Emperor 
 and the Empire. 
 
 The peace of Utrecht confirmed these possessions to the Duke ; 
 and England, the better to secure the equilibrium of Italy and 
 Europe, granted him, by that treaty, the royal dignity, with the 
 island of Sicily, which she had taken from Spain. That island 
 was ceded to him under the express clause, that, on the extinc- 
 tion of the male line of Savoy, that kingdom should revert to 
 Spain. By the same treaty they secured to the male descen- 
 dants of that house, the right of succession to the Spanish mon- 
 archy; and that clause was confirmed by a solemn law passed 
 in the Cortes of Spain, and by subsequent treaties concluded be- 
 tween these powers and Europe. The duke was crowned King 
 of Sicily at Palermo (Dec. 21, 1713,) by the archbishop of that 
 city ; and the only persons who refused to acknowledge him in 
 that new capacity were the Emperor and the Pope. 
 
 In proportion as France increased, Spain had declined m 
 power, in consequence of the vices of her government, the fee- 
 bleness of her princes, and the want of qualifications in their 
 ministers and favourites. At length, under the reign of Charles 
 II., the weakness of that monarchy was such, that France de- 
 spoiled her with impunity, as appears by those cessions she was 
 obliged to make by the treaties of Aix-la-Chapelle, Nimeguen, 
 and Ryswick. Charles II. was the last prince of the Spanish 
 line of the house of Austria. At his death (Nov. 1700,) a long 
 and bloody war ensued about the succession, as we have already 
 related. Two competitors appeared for the crown. Philip of 
 Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., had on his side the will of 
 Charles II., the efforts of his grandfather, and the wishes of the 
 
 VOL. II. 3 
 
26 ' CHAPTER Vllt. 
 
 Spanish nation. Charles of Austria, younger son of the Empe- 
 ror Leopold I., was supported by a formidable league, which 
 political considerations and a jealousy of the other powers had 
 raised against France. 
 
 Philip, v/ho had been placed on the throne by the Spaniards, 
 had already resided at Madrid for several years, when the Aus- 
 trian prince, his rival, assisted by the allied fleet, took possession 
 of Barcelona (Oct. 9, 1705,) where he established his capital. 
 The incessant defeats which France experienced at this period, 
 obliged Philip twice to abandon his capital, and seek his safety 
 in flight. He owed his restoration for the first time to Marshal 
 Berwick, and the victory which that general gained over the 
 allies near Almanza, in New Castillo (April 25, 1707.) The 
 ^"chduke having afterwards advanced as far as Madrid", the 
 Uuke de Vendome undertook to repulse him. That General, 
 in conjunction with Philip V., defeated the allies, who were 
 commanded hj General Stahremberg, near Villa Viciosa (Dec. 
 10, 1710.) These two victories contributed to establish Philip 
 on his throne. The death of Joseph I., which happened soon 
 after, and the elevation of his brother, the Archduke Charles, to 
 the Imperial throne and the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, 
 accelerated the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht, by v/hich the 
 Spanish monarchy was preserved to Philip V. and his descen- 
 dants. They deprived him, how^ever, in virtue of that treaty, of 
 the Netherlands and the Spanish possessions in Italy, such as 
 the Milanois, the ports of Tuscany, and the kingdoms of Naples, 
 Sicily, and Sardinia. 
 
 The conditions which England had exacted at the treaty of 
 Utrecht, to render effectual the renunciation of Philip V. to the 
 crown of France, as well as that of the French princes to the 
 monarchy of Spain, having made h necessary to assemble the 
 Cortes or States-General, Philip took advantage of that circum- 
 stance to change the order of succession which till then had sub- 
 sisted in Spain, and which was known by the name of the Cas- 
 tilian Succession. A lav.' was passed at the Cortes (1713,) by 
 which it was ordained that females should never be admitted to 
 the crown, except in default of the male line of Philip ; that the 
 male heirs should succeed according to the order of primogeni- 
 ture ; that, failing the male line of that prince, the crown should 
 fall to the eldest daughter of the last reigning king, and her de- 
 scendants ; and, failing these, to the sister or nearest relation of 
 the last king ; always keeping in force the right of primogeniture, 
 and the preference of the male heirs in the order of succession. 
 
 France, by the sixtieth article of the treaty of the Pyrenees, 
 having renounced the protection of Portugal, the war between 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. Si7 
 
 Spain and this latter power was resumed with new vig-our. 
 Alphonso VI., King of Portugal, finding himself abandoned hv 
 his allies, resolved to thro^.v himself on the favour of England. 
 The English granted him supplies, in virtue of a treaty which 
 he concluded with them (June 23d 1661,) and by which he 
 ceded to them the city of Tangiers in Africa, and the isle of 
 Bombay in India. France, who well knew that it was her inte- 
 rest not to abandon Portugal entirely, rendered her likewise all 
 the secret assistance in her power. The Count Schomberg 
 passed over to that kingdom with a good number of officers, and 
 several companies of French troops. The Portuguese, under 
 the command of that General, gained two victories over the 
 Spaniards at Almexial, near Estremos (1663,) and at Monies 
 Claros, or Villa Viciosa (1665,) which re-established their afiairs, 
 and contributed to secure the independence of PortugaL WHien 
 the war took place about the Right of DcvoIuHgii, the Couitof 
 Lisbon formed a new alliance with France. Spain then learned 
 that it would be more for her interest to abandon her projects of 
 conquering Portugal, and accept the proposals of accommodation 
 tendered to her by the mediation of England. 
 
 It happened, in the meantime, that Alphonso VI., a prince of 
 vicious habits, and of a ferocious and brutal temper, was de- 
 throned (Nov. 23d 1667,) and the Infant Don Pedro, his brother, 
 was declared Regent of the kingdom. The Queen of Alphonso, 
 Mary of Savoy, who had managed the whole intrigue, obtained, 
 from the Court of Rome, a dissolution of her marriage with Al- 
 phonso, and espoused the Regent, her brother-in-law (April 2d 
 166S.) That prince would willingly have fulfilled the engage- 
 ments which his predecessor had contracted with France, but 
 the English Ambassador having drawn over the Cortes of Por- 
 tugal to his interests, the Regent was obliged to make peace with 
 Spain, which was signed at Lisbon, February 13th 1668. The 
 Spaniards there treated with the Portuguese as a sovereign and 
 independent nation. They agreed to make mutual restitution 
 of all they had taken possession of during the war, with the 
 exception of the city of Ceuta in Africa, which remained in the 
 power of Spain. The subjects of both states obtained the resto- 
 ration of all property alienated or confiscated during the war. 
 That peace was followed by another, which Portugal concluded 
 at the Hague, with the United Provinces of the Netherlands 
 (July 3-lst 1669,) who were permitted to retain the conquests 
 they had made from the Portuguese in the East Indies. 
 
 The Court of Lisbon was soon after involved in the war of 
 the Spanish Succession which divided all Europe. Don Pedro 
 II. had at first acknowledged Philip V., and even contracted an 
 
29 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 alliance with him ; but yielding afterwards to the influence of 
 the British minister, as well as of the Court of Vienna, he joined 
 the Grand Alliance against France.^ The Portuguese made a 
 distinguished figure in that war, chiefly during the campaign of 
 1706, when, with the assistance of the English, they penetrated 
 as far as Madrid, and there proclaimed Charles of Austria. 
 
 The Portuguese, by one of the articles of their treaty of 
 accession to the grand alliance, had been given to expect, that 
 certain important places in Spanish Estremadura and Gallicia 
 would be ceded to them at the general peace. That engage- 
 ment Avas never fulfilled. The treaty of peace, concluded at 
 Utrecht (6th February 1715,) between Spain and Portugal, had 
 ordered the mutual restitution of all conquests made during the 
 war. The treaty of Lisbon, of 1668, was then renewed, and 
 especially the articles which stipulated for the restitution of all 
 confiscated property. The only point which they yielded to the 
 Portuguese, was that which referred to the colony of St. Sacra- 
 ment, which the Portuguese governor of Rio Janeiro had estab- 
 lished (1680) on the northern bank of the river La Plata, in South 
 America, which was opposed by Spain. By the- sixth article of 
 her treaty with Portugal, she renounced all her former claims 
 and pretensions over the above colony. 
 
 A. similar dispute had arisen between France and Portugal, 
 relative to the northern bank of the Amazons river, and the terri- 
 tories about Cape North, in America, which the French main- 
 tained belonged to them, as making part of French Guiana. 
 The Portuguese naving constructed there the fort of Macapa, it 
 was taken by the French gove^nrr of Cayenne. By the treaty 
 of Utrecht, it was agreed between France and Portugal that 
 both banks of the river Amazons should belong entirely to Por- 
 tugal ; and that France should renounce all right and preten- 
 sions whatever to the territories of Cape North, lying between 
 the rivers Amazons and Japoc, or Vincent Pinson, in South 
 America. 
 
 In England, an interregnum of eleven years followed the death 
 of Charles I. Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Independent 
 party, passed two Acts of Parliament, one of which abolished 
 the House of Lords, and the other the royal dignity. The 
 kingly ofRce was suppressed, as useless to the nation, oppressive 
 and dangerous to the interests and liberties of the people ; and it 
 was decided, that whoever should speak of the restoration of the 
 Stuarts, should be regarded as a traitor to his country. The king- 
 dom being thus changed into a republic, Cromwell took on him 5 elf 
 the chief direction of affairs. This ambitious man was not long 
 in monopolizing the sovereign authority (1653.) He abolished 
 
PERIOD vfi. A. D. 1648—1713. 29 
 
 the Parliament called the PMjnp, which had conferred on him his 
 power and military commission. He next assembled a new 
 Parliament of the three kingdoms, to the number of one hun- 
 dred and forty-four members ; and he took care to have it com- 
 posed of individuals whom he knew to be devoted to his inte- 
 rests. Accordingly, they resigned the whole authority into his 
 hands. An act, called the Act of Government, conferred on 
 him the supreme authority, under the title of Protector of 
 the three kingdoms ; with the privilege of making w^ar and 
 peace, and assembling every three years a Parliament, which 
 should exercise the legislative power conjunctly with himself. 
 
 Cromwell governed England with a m.ore uncontrolled power 
 than that of her kings had been. In 1651, he passed the fa- 
 mous Navigation Act, which contributed to increase the com- 
 merce of Great Britain, and gave her marine a preponderance 
 over that of all other nations. That extraordinary man raised 
 England in the estimation of foreigners, a-nd made his Protec- 
 torate respected by all Europe. After a war which he had car- 
 ried on against the Dutch, he obliged them, by the treaty of 
 Westminster (1654,) to lower their flag to British vessels, and 
 to abandon the cause of the Stuarts. Entering into alliance 
 with France against Spain, he took from the latter the island 
 of Jamaica (1655) and the port of Dunkirk (1658.) 
 
 After his death, the Generals of the army combined to restore 
 the old Parliament, called the Rump. Richard Cromweli, who 
 succeeded his father, soon resigned the Protectorate (April 22, 
 1659.) Dissensions having arisen between the Parliament and 
 the Generals, Monk, who was governor of Scotland", marched 
 to the assistance of the Parliament ; and after having defeated 
 the Independent Generals, he proceeded to assemble a new Par- 
 liament composed of both Houses. No sooner w^as this Par- 
 liament assembled, than they decided for the restoration of the 
 Stuarts, in the person of Charles II. (ISth May 1660.) 
 
 That Prince made his public entry into London, May 29, 
 1660. His first care was to take vengeance on those vvlio had 
 been chiefly instrumental in the death of his father. He re- 
 scinded all Acts of Parliament passed since the year 1633 ; and 
 re-established Episcopacy both in England and Scotland. In- 
 stigated by his propensity for absolute power, and following the 
 maxims which he had imbibed from his predecessors, he adopt- 
 ed measures which were opposed by the Parliament ; and even 
 went so far as more than once to pronounce their dissolution. 
 His reign, in consequence, was a scene of faction and agitation, 
 which proved the forerunners of a new revolution."* The api 
 pellation of Whigs and Tories, so famous in English history, 
 
 3=^ 
 
30 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 took its rise in his reign. We could almost, however, pardon 
 Charles for his faults and irregularities, in consideration of the 
 benevolence and amiableness of his character. But it was 
 otherwise with James II., who succeeded his brother on the 
 British throne (16th Feb. 1685.) That Prince alienated the 
 minds of his subjects by his haughty demeanour, and his extra- 
 vagant zeal for the church of Rome, and the Jesuits his confes- 
 sors. Scarcely was he raised to the throne, when he undertook 
 to change the religion of his country, and to govern still more 
 despotically than his brother had done. Encouraged by Louis 
 XIV., who offered him money and troops, he was the first King 
 of England that had kept on foot an army in time of peace, 
 and caused the legislature to decide, that the King can dispense 
 with the laws. Availing himself of this decision, he dispensed 
 with the several statutes issued against the Catholics ; he per- 
 mitted them the public exercise of their religion within the 
 three kingdoms, and gradually gave them a preference in all 
 places of trust. At length, he even solicited the Pope to send 
 a nuncio to reside at his Court ; and on the arrival of Ferdi- 
 nand Dada, to whom Innocent XI. had confided this mission, 
 he gave him a public and solemn entry to Windsor (1687.) 
 Seven bishops, who had refused to publish the declaration re- 
 specting Catholics, were treated as guilty of sedition, and im- 
 prisoned by his order in the Tower. 
 
 During these transactions, the Queen, Mary of Modena, hap- 
 pened to be delivered of a Prince (20th June, 1688,) known in 
 history by the name of the Pretender. As her Majesty had 
 had no children for more than six years, it was not difficult to 
 gain credit to a report, that the young Prince was a suppositi- 
 tious child. James II., by his first marriage with Anne Hyde, 
 daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, had two daughters, both Pro- 
 testants ; and regarded, till then, as heirs to the crown. Mary, 
 the eldest, was married to William, Prince of Orange, and Anne, 
 the youngest, to George, younger son of Frederic III., King 
 of Denmark. The English Protestants had flattered themselves 
 that all their wrongs and misfortunes would terminate with the 
 death of James II. and the accession of the Princess of Orange 
 to the throne. Being disappointed in these expectations by the 
 birth of the Prince of Wales, their only plan was to dethrone 
 the King. The Tories even joined with the Whigs in offering 
 the crown to the Prince of Orange. William III., supported by 
 the Dutch fleet, made a descent on England, and landed fifteen 
 thousand men at Torbay (5th November, 1688,) without ex- 
 periencing the smallest resistance on the part of James, who, 
 seeing himself abandoned by the military, took the resolution 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. 31 
 
 of withdrawing to France, where he had already sent his Queen 
 and his son, the young Prince of Wales. He afterwards re- 
 turned to Ireland, where he had a strong party ; but being con- 
 quered by William at the battle of the Bpyne*'(llth July 1690,) 
 he was obliged to return to France, where he ended his days. 
 
 Immediately after the flight of James, the Parliament of Eng- 
 land declared, by an act, that as he had violated the funda- 
 mental law of the constitution, and abandoned the kingdom, the 
 throne was become vacant. They, therefore, unanimously con- 
 ferred the crown on William III., Prince of Orange, and Mary 
 his spouse (Feb. 22, 16S9 ;) intrusting the administration of af- 
 fairs to the Prince alone. In redressing the grievances of the 
 nation, they set new limits to the royal authority. By an Act, 
 called the Declaration of Rights, they decreed, that the King 
 could neither suspend, nor dispense with the laws ; that he 
 could institute no new courts, nor levy money under any pre- 
 tence whatever, nor maintain an army in time of peace, without 
 the consent of Parliament. Episcopacy was abolished in Scot- 
 land (1694,) and the liberty of the press sanctioned. The suc- 
 cession of the crown was regulated by different Acts of Parlia- 
 ment, one of which fixed it in the Protestant line, to the exclu- 
 sion of Catholics. Next after William and Mary and their 
 descendants, was the Princess Anne and her descendants. A 
 subsequent Act conferred the sucpession on the House of 
 Hanover (1701,) under the following conditions: — That the 
 King or Queen of that family, on their accession to the throne, 
 should be obliged to conform to the High Church, and the laws 
 of 16S9 ; that v/ithout the consent of Parliament, they should 
 never engage the nation in any war for the defence of their he- 
 reditary dominions, nor go out of the kingdom ; and that they 
 should never appoint foreigners to offices of trust. 
 
 The rivalry between France and England assumed a higher 
 tone under the reign of William III. ; and was increased by the 
 powerful efforts which France was making to improve her ma- 
 rine, and extend her navigation and her commerce. The colo- 
 nies which she founded in America and the Indies, by bringing 
 the two nations more into contact, tended to foment their jea- 
 lousies, and multiply subjects of discord and division between 
 them. From that time England eagerly seized every occasion 
 for occupying France on the Continent of Europe ; and the 
 whole policy of William, as we have seen, had no other aim 
 than to thwart the ambitious views of Louis XIV. If this 
 rivalry excited and prolonged wars which inflicted many cala- 
 mities on the world, it became likewise a powerful stimulus for 
 the contending nations to develope their whole faculties ; to 
 
8Sf CHAPTER VIll. 
 
 make the highest attainments in the sciences, of which they were 
 susceptible ; and to carry arts and civilization to the remotest 
 countries in the world. 
 
 William III. was succeeded by Anne (1702.) It was in ner 
 reign that the grand union between England and Scotland was 
 accomplished, which incorporated them into one kingdom, by 
 means of the same order of succession, and only one Parliament. 
 That Princess had the honour of maintaining the balance oi 
 Europe against France, by the clauses w^hich she got inserted 
 into the treaty of Utrecht. At her death (1st August 1714,) 
 the throne of Great Britain passed to George I., the Elector of 
 Hanover, whose mother, Sophia, derived her right to the British 
 throne from James I., her maternal grandfather. 
 
 The power and political influence of the United Provinces of 
 the Netherlands had increased every day, since Spain acknowl- 
 edged their independence by the treaty of Munster (1648.) 
 Their extensive commerce to all parts of the globe, and theii 
 flourishing marine, attracted the admiration of all Europe. 
 Sovereigns courted their alliance ; and the Hague, the capital 
 of the States-General, became, in course of time, the centre of 
 European politics. That Eepublic was the rival of England in 
 all her commercial relations ; and she ventured also to dispute 
 with her the empire of the sea, by refusing to lower her flag to 
 British vessels. These disputes gave rise to bloody wars be- 
 tween the two States, in which the famous Dutch Admirals, 
 Trornp and De Euyter, distinguished themselves b}'- their mari- 
 time exploits. De Ruyter entered the Thames with the Dutch 
 fleet (1667,) advanced to Chatham, burnt the vessels in the roads 
 there, and threw the city of London into great consternation. 
 Nevertheless, by the treaties of Breda (1667) and Westminster 
 (1654,) they agreed that their vessels and fleets should lower 
 their flag when they met either one or more ships carrying the 
 British flag, and that over all the sea, from Cape Finisterre in 
 Gallicia, to the centre of Statt in Norway ; but the States-Gen- 
 eral preserved Surinam, which they had conquered during the 
 war ; and at the treaty of commerce which was signed at Breda, 
 the navigation act was modified in their favour, in so far that 
 the produce and merchandise of Germany w^ere to be considered 
 as productions of the soil of the Republic. 
 
 It was during these wars that a change took place with regard 
 to the Stadtholdership of the United Provinces. William II,, 
 Prince of Orange, had alienated the hearts of his subjects by his 
 attempts against their liberties; and having, at his death, left 
 his wife, the daughter of Charles I. of England, pregnant of a 
 son (1650,) the States-General took the opportunity of leaving 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 164S— 17^3. 33 
 
 that office vacant, and taking- upon themselves the direction of 
 affairs. The suspicions which the House of Orange had excited 
 in Cromwell by their alliance with the Stuarts, and the resent- 
 ment of John de Witt, Pensionary of Holland, against the Stadt- 
 holder, caused a secret article to be added to the treaty of West- 
 minster, by which the States of Holland and West Friesland 
 engaged never to elect William, the posthumous son of William 
 II., to be Stadtholder ; and never to allow that the office of 
 Captain-General of the Republic should be conferred on him. 
 John de Witt likewise framed a regulation known by the name 
 of the Perpetual Edict, which separated the Stadtholdership 
 from the office of Captain and Admiral-General, and which 
 enacted, that these functions should never be discharged by the 
 same individual. Having failed, however, in his efforts to make 
 the States-General adopt this regulation, which they considered 
 as contrary to the union, John de Witt contented himself with 
 obtaining the approbation of the Stales of Holland, who even 
 went so far as to sanction the entire suppression of the Stadt- 
 holdership. 
 
 Matters continued in this situation until the time when Louis 
 XIV. invaded Holland. His alarming progress caused a revo- 
 lution in favour of the Prince of Orange. The ruling faction, at 
 the head of which was John de Witt, then lost the good opinion 
 of the people. He was accused of having neglected military 
 affairs, and left the State without defence, and a prey to the en- 
 emy. The first signal of ^evolution was given by the small 
 town of Veere in Zealand. William was there proclaimed 
 Stadtholder (June 1672,) and the example of Veere was soon 
 followed by all the cities of Holland and Zealand. Every where 
 the people compelled the magistrates to confer the Stadtholder- 
 ship on the young Prince. The Perpetual Edict was abolished, 
 and the Stadtholdership confirmed to William III. by the As- 
 sembly of States. They even rendered this dignity, as well as 
 the office of Captain-General, hereditary to all the male and 
 legitimate descendants of the Prince. It was on this occasion 
 that the two brothers, John and Cornelius de Witt, were massa- 
 cred by the people assembled at the Hague. 
 
 After William was raised to the throne of Great Britain, he 
 still retained the Stadtholdership, with the offices of Captain 
 and Admiral-General of the Republic. England and Holland, 
 united under the jurisdiction of the same prince, acted thence- 
 forth in concert to ihwart the ambitious designs of Louis XIV. ; 
 and he felt the effects of their power chiefly in the war of the 
 Spanish Succession, when England and the States-General made 
 extraordinary efforts to maintain the balance of th? Continent 
 
34 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 which they thougiit in danger. It was in consideration of these 
 efforts that they guaranteed to the Dutch, by the treaty of the 
 Grand Alliance, as well as by that of Utrecht, a barrier against 
 France, which was more amply defined by the Bari'ier Treaty, 
 signed at Antwerp (15th November 1715,) under the mediation, 
 and guaranty of Great Britain. The provinces and towns of 
 the Netherlands, both those that had been possessed by Charles 
 11. , and those that France had surrendered by the treaty of 
 Utrecht, were transferred to the Emperor and the House of 
 Austria, on condition that they should never be ceded under any 
 title Vv^hatever ; neither to France, nor to any other prince except 
 the heirs and successors of the House of Austria in Germany. 
 It was agreed that there should always be kept in the Low 
 Countries a body of Austrian troops, from thirty to thirty-five 
 thousand men, of which the Emperor was to furnish three-fifths, 
 and the States-General the remainder. Finally, the Slates- 
 General were allowed a garrison, entirely composed of their own 
 troops, in the cities and castles of Namur, Tournay, Menin, 
 Fumes, Warneton, and the fortress of Kenock ; while the Em- 
 peror engaged to contribute a certain sum annually for the main- 
 tenance of these troops. 
 
 Switzerland, since the confirmation of her liberty and inde- 
 pendence by the peace of Westphalia, had constantly adhered 
 to the system of neutrality which she had adopted ; and taken 
 no part in the broils of her neighbours, except by furnishing 
 troops to those powers with whom she was in alliance. The 
 fortunate inability which was the natural consequence of her 
 union, pointed out this line of conduct, and even induced the 
 European States to respect the Helvetic neutrality. 
 
 This profound peace, which Switzerland enjoyed by means of 
 that neutrality, was never interrupted, except by occasional do- 
 mestic quarrels, which arose from the difference of their religious 
 opinions. Certain families, from the canton of Schweitz, had 
 fled to Zurich on account of their religious tenets, and had been 
 protected by that repubhc. This stirred up a war (1656) be- 
 tween the Catholic cantons and the Zurichers, with their allies 
 the Bernese ; but it was soon terminated by the peace of Baden, 
 which renewed the clauses of the treaty of 1531, relative to these 
 verv subjects of dispute. Some attempts having afterwards been 
 made against liberty of conscience, in the county of Toggenburg, 
 by the Abbe of St. Gall, a new war broke ooit (1712,) between 
 five of the Catholic cantons, and the two Protestant cantons of 
 Zurich and Berne. These latter expelled the Abbe of St. Gall 
 from, his estates, and dispossessed the Catholics of the county of 
 Baden, with a considerable part of the free bailiwicks, which 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. 35 
 
 were granted to them by the treaty concluded at Araw. The 
 Abbe then saw himself abandoned by the Catholic cantons; and 
 it was only in virtue of a treaty, which he concluded with Zu- 
 rich and Berne (1718,) that his successor obtained his restor.'ition. 
 
 Sweden, during the greater part of this period, supported the 
 first rank among the powers of the North. The vigour of her 
 government, added to the weakness of her neighbours, and the 
 important advantages which the treaties of Stolbova, Stumsdori, 
 Bromsbro, and Westphalia had procured her, secured this supe- 
 riority ; and gave her the same influence in the North thaf 
 France held in the South. Christina, the daughter of Gustavus 
 Adolpnus, held the reins of government in Sweden about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century ; but to gratify her propensity 
 for the fine arts, she resolved to abdicate the crown (1654.) 
 Charles Gustavus, Count Palatine of Deux-Pon";;s, her cousin- 
 german, succeeded her, under the title of Charles X. Being 
 nurtured in the midst of arms, and ambitious only of wars and 
 battles, he was anxious to distinguish himself on the throne. 
 John Casimir, King of Poland, having provoked him, by protest- 
 ing against his accession to the crov/n of Sweden, Charles made 
 this an occasion of breaking the treaty of Stumsdorf, which was 
 still in force, and invaded Poland. Assisted by Frederic Wil- 
 liam, the Elector of Brandenburg, whom he had attached to his 
 interests, he gained a splendid victory over the Poles near War- 
 saw (July 1656.) At that crisis, the fate of Poland would have 
 been decided, if the Czar, Alexis Michaelovitz, who was also at 
 war with the Poles, had chosen to make common cause with 
 her new enemies ; but Alexis thought it more for his advantage 
 to conclude a truce with the Poles, and attack the Swedes in Li- 
 vonia, Ingria, and Carelia. The Emperor Leopold and the King 
 of Denmark followed the example of the Czar; and the Elector 
 of Brandenburg, after obtaining the sovereignty of the dutchy of 
 Prussia, by the treaty which he concluded with Poland at We- 
 lau, acceded in like manner to this league, — the object of which 
 was to secure the preservation of Poland, and maintain the equi- 
 librium of the North. 
 
 Attacked by so many and such powerful enemies, the King 
 of Sweden determined to withdraw his troops from Poland, and 
 direct his principal force against Denmark. Having made him- 
 self master of Holstein, Sleswick, and Jutland, he passed the 
 Belts on the ice (January 1658) with his army and artillery, and 
 advanced towards the capital of the kingdom. This bold step 
 intimidated the Danes so mucli, that they submitted to those ex- 
 ceedingly severe conditions which Charles made them sign at 
 Roschild (February 3 658.) Scarcely was this treaty concluded. 
 
36 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 when the King- of Sweden broke it anew ; and under different 
 pretexts, laid siege to Copenhagen. His intention was, if he had 
 carried that place, to raze it to the ground, to annihilate the 
 kingdom of Denmark, and fix his residence in the province of 
 Schonen, where he could maintain his dominion over the North 
 and the Baltic. The besieged Danes, however, made a vigor- 
 ous defence, and they were encouraged by the example of Fred- 
 eric III., who superintended in person the whole operations of 
 the siege ; nevertheless, they must certainh^ have yielded, had 
 not the Dutch, who were alarmed for their commerce in the Bal- 
 tic, sent a fleet to the assistance of Denmark. These republi- 
 cans fought an obstinate naval battle with the Swedes in the 
 Sound (29th October 1653.) The Swedish fleet was repulsed, 
 and the Dutch succeeded in relieving Copenhagen, by throwing 
 in a supply of provisions and ammunition. 
 
 The King of Sweden persisted, nevertheless, in his determi- 
 nation to reduce that capital. He was not even intimidated by 
 the treaties which France, England, and Holland, had conclu- 
 ded at the Hague, for maintaining the equilibrium of the North ; 
 but a premature death, at the age of thirty-eight, put an end to 
 his ambitious projects (23d February 1660.) The regents who 
 governed the kingdom during the minority of his son Charles 
 XL, immediately set on foot negotiations with all the powers 
 that were in league against Sweden. By the peace which they 
 concluded at Copenhagen with Denmark (July 3, 1660,) they 
 surrendered to that crown several of their late conquests ; re- 
 serving to themselves only the provinces of Schonen, Bleckin- 
 gen, Halland, and Bohus. The Duke of HolsteiPx-Gottorp, the 
 protege of Charles X., was secured by that treaty in the sove- 
 reign t)- of that part of Sleswick, which had been guaranteed to 
 him by a former treaty concluded at Copenhagen. The war 
 with Poland, and her allies the Elector of Brandenburg and the 
 Emperor, v/as terminated by the peace of Oliva (May 3d 1660.) 
 The King of Poland gaA^e up his pretensions to the crown of 
 Sweden; while the former ceded to the latter the provinces of 
 Livonia and Esthonia, and the islands belonging to them ; to be 
 possessed on the same terms that had been agreed on at the 
 treaty of Stumsdorf in 1635. The Duke of Courland was re-es- 
 tablished in his dutchy, and the sovereignty of ducal Prussia 
 confirmed to the House of Brandenburg. Peace between Swe- 
 den and Russia was concluded at Kardis in Esthonia ; while 
 the latter power surrendered to Sweden all the places which 
 she had conquered in Livonia. 
 
 Sweden Vv'as afterwards drawn into the war against the Dutch 
 by Louis XIV., when she experienced nothing but disasters. 
 
PERIOD ni. A. D. 1648—1718. 37 
 
 She was deprived of all her provinces in the Empire, and only- 
 regained possession of them in virtue of the treaties of Zell, 
 Nimeg-uenj St. Germain-en-Laye, Fountainbleau, and Lunden 
 (1679,) which she concluded successively with the powers in 
 league against France. Immediately after that peace, a revolu- 
 tion happened in the government of Sweden. The abuse which 
 the nobles made of their privileges, the extravagant authority 
 claimed by the senate, and the different methods which the 
 grandees employed for gradually usurping the domains of the 
 crown,, had excited the jealousy of the other orders of the state. 
 It is alleged, that John Baron Gillenstiern, had suggested to 
 Charles XI. the idea of taking advantage of this discontent to 
 augment the royal authority, and humble the arrogance of the 
 senate and the nobility. In compliance with his advice, the 
 King assembled the Estates of the kingdom at Stockholm (16S0 ;) 
 and having quartered some regiments of his own guards in the 
 city, he took care to remove such of the nobles as might give 
 the greatest cause of apprehension. An accusation was lodged 
 at the Diet against those ministers who had conducted the ad- 
 ministration during the King's minority. To them were attri- 
 buted the calamities and losses of the state, and for these they 
 were made responsible. The Senate was also implicated. They 
 were charged with abusing their authority ; and it was proposed 
 that the States should make investigation, whether the powers 
 which the Senate had assumed were conformable to the laws of 
 the kingdom. The States declared that the King was not bound 
 by any other form of government than that which the constitu- 
 tion prescribed ; that the Senate formed neither a fifth order, nor 
 an intermediate power between the King and the States ; and 
 that it ought to be held simply as a Council, with whom the 
 King might consult and advise. 
 
 A College of Reunion, so called, was also established at this 
 Diet, for the purpose of making inquiry as to the lands granted, 
 sold, mortgaged, or exchanged by preceding Kings, either in 
 Sweden or Livonia; with an offer on the part of the crown to 
 reimburse the proprietors for such sums as they had originally 
 paid for them. This proceeding made a considerable augmen- 
 tation to the revenues of the crown ; but a vast number of pro- 
 prietors v/ere completely ruined by it. A subsequent diet went 
 even further than that of 16S0. They declared, by statute, that 
 though the King was enjoined to govern his dominions accord- 
 JTig to the laws, this did not take from him the power of altering 
 these laws. At length the act of 1693 decreed that the King 
 wa.s absolute master, and sole depository of the sovereign power ; 
 without being responsible for his actions to any power on earth ; 
 
 VOL. TI. 4 
 
JiS CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 and that he was entitled to govern the king-dom according to his 
 will and pleasure. 
 
 It was in virtue of these different enactments and concessions, 
 that the absolute power which had been conferred on Charles 
 XL, was transmitted to the hands of his son Charles XIL, who 
 was only fifteen years of age when he succeeded his father 
 (April 1, 1697.) By the abuse which this Prince made of these 
 dangerous prerogatives, he plunged Sweden into an abyss of 
 troubles ; and brought her down from that high rank which she 
 had occupied in the political system of Europe, since the reign 
 o^ Gustavus Adolphus. The youth of Charles appeared to his 
 n ;ighbours to afford tbeni a favourable opportunity for recover- 
 ing what they had lost by the conquests of his predecessors. 
 Augustus II., King of Poland, being desirous to regain Livoni:i, 
 and listening to the suggestions of a Livonian gentleman, namt'd 
 John Patkul, who had been proscribed in Sweden, he set on foot 
 a negotiation with the courts of Russia and Copenhagen ; the 
 result of which was, a secret and offensive alliance concluded 
 between these three powers against Sweeden (1699.) Peter the 
 Great, who had just conquered Azoff at the mouth of the Don, 
 and equipped his first fleet, was desirous also to open up the coasts 
 of the Baltic, of which his predecessors had been dispossessed by 
 Sweden. War accordingly broke out in the course of the year 
 1700. The King of Poland invaded Livonia ; the Danes fell 
 upon Sleswick, where they attacked the Duke of Holstein-Got- 
 torp, the ally of Sweden ; while the Czar, at the head of an 
 army of eighty thousand men, laid siege to the city of Narva. 
 
 The King of Sweden, attacked by so many enemies at once, 
 directed his first efforts against Denmark, where the danger ap- 
 pear ^d most pressing. Assisted by the fleets of England and 
 Holland, who had guaranteed the last peace, he made a descent 
 on the Isle of Zealand, and advanced rapidly towards Copenha- 
 gen. This obliged Frederic IV. to conclude a special peace 
 with him at Travendahl (Aug. 18, 1700,) by v.-hich that prince 
 consented to abandon his allies, and restore the Duke of Holstein- 
 Gottorp to the same state in which he had been before the war. 
 Nexi directing his march against the Czar in Esthonia, the young 
 King forced the Russians from their entrenchments before Narva 
 (Nov. 30,) and made prisoners of all the general and principal 
 officers of the Russian army ; among others, Field-Marshal 
 General the Duke de Croi. 
 
 Having thus got clear of the Russians, the Swedish ]\Ionarch 
 then attacked King Augustus, who had introduced a Saxon army 
 into Poland, without being authorized by that Republic. Charles 
 vanquished that prince in the three famous battles of Riga (1701,) 
 
xiiKioD vn, A. D. 1648—1713. 39 
 
 Clissau (1702,) and Pultusk (1703;) and obliged the Poles to 
 depose him, and elect in his place Stanislaus Lecksinski, Pa- 
 latine of Posen, and a protege of his own. Two victories which 
 were gained over the Saxons, and their allies the Eussians, the 
 one at Punie (1704,) and the other at Fraustadt (1706,) caused 
 Stanislaus to be acknowledged by the whole Republic of Po- 
 land, and enabled the King of Sweden to transfer the seat of 
 war to Saxony. Having marched through Silesia, without the 
 previous authority of the Court of Vienna, he took Leipzic, 
 and compelled Augustus to sign a treaty of peace at Alt-Ran 
 stadt, by which that Prince renounced his alliance with the 
 Czar, and acknowledged Stanislaus legitimate King of Poland. 
 John Patkul being delivered up to the King of Sweden, ac- 
 cording to an article in that treaty, was broken on the wheel, 
 for having been the principal instigator of the war. 
 
 The prosperity of Charles XIL, had now come to an end 
 From this time he experienced only a series of reverses, which 
 were occasioned as much by his passion for war, as by his in- 
 discretions, and the unconquerable obstinacy of his character. 
 The Russians had taken advantage of his long sojourn in Po- 
 land and Saxony, and conquered the greater part of Ingria and 
 Livonia. The Czar had now advanced into Poland, where he 
 had demanded of the Poles to declare an interregnum, and elect 
 a nevv' King. In this state of matters, the King of Sweden left 
 Saxony to march against the Czar ; and compelled him to eva- 
 cuate Poland, and retire on Smolensko. Far from listenino-, 
 however, to the equitable terms of peace which Peter offered 
 him, l;ie persisted in his resolution to march on to Moscow, in 
 the hope of dethroning the Czar, as he had dethroned Augus- 
 tus, The discontent which the innovations of the Czar had ex- 
 cited in Russia, appeared to Charles a favo^arable opportunity 
 for effecting his object; but on reaching the neighbourhood ot 
 Mohilew, he suddenly changed his purpose, and, instead of di- 
 recting his route towards the capital of Russia, he turned to 
 the right, and penetrated into the interior of the Ukraine, in 
 order to meet Mazeppa, Hetman of the Cossacs, who had offered 
 to join him with all his troops. Nothing could have been 
 more imprudent than this determination. By thus marchino 
 into the Ukraine, he separated himself from General Levren- 
 haupt, who had brought him, according to orders, a powerful ra 
 inforcement fromLivonia ; and trusted himself among a fickle and 
 inconstant people, disposed to break faith on every opportunity. 
 
 This inconsiderate step of Charles did not escape the pene- 
 tration of the Czar, who knew well how to profit by it. Putting 
 himself at the head of a chosen body, he intercepted General 
 
40 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Lewenhaupt, and joined him at Desna, two tniles from Pro- 
 poisk, in the Palatinate of Mscislaw. The battle which he 
 fought with that general (October 9, 170S,) was most obstinate, 
 and, by the confession of the Czar, the first victory which the 
 Russians had gained over regular troops. The remains of 
 Lewenhaupt's army, having joined the King in the Ukraine, 
 Charles undertook the siege of Pultowa, situated on the banks 
 of the Vorsklaw, at the extremity of that province. It was 
 near this place, that the famous battle was fought (8th July, 
 1709,) which blasted all the laurels of the King of Sweden. 
 The Czar gained there a complete victory. Nine thousand 
 Swedes were left on the field of battle ; and fourteen thousand, 
 who had retired with General Lewenhaupt, towards Perevo- 
 latschna, between the Vorsklaw and the Nieper, were made pri- 
 soners of war, three days after the action. Charles, accompanied 
 by his ally Mazeppa, saved himself with difficulty at Bender in 
 Turkey. 
 
 This disastrous route revived the courage of the enemies ol 
 Sweden. The alliance was renewed between the Czar, Au- 
 gustus II., and FredericIV.jKing of Denmark. Stanislaus was 
 abandoned. All Poland again acknowledged Augustus' II. 
 The Danes made a descent on Schonen ; and the Czar achieved 
 the conquest of Ingria, Livonia, and Carelia. The States that 
 were leagued against France in the war of the Spanish Suc- 
 cession, wishing to prevent Germany from becoming the theatre 
 of hostilities, concluded a treaty at the Hague (31st March 
 1710,) by which they undertook, under certain conditions, to 
 guarantee the neutrality of the Swedish provinces in Germany, 
 as well as that of Sleswick and Jutland ; but the King of Swe- 
 den having constantly declined acceding to this neutrality, the 
 possessions of the Swedes in Germany were also seized and 
 conquered in succession. The Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, the 
 nephew of Charles XII., was involved in his disgrace, and 
 stripped of his estates by the king of Denmark (1714.) 
 
 In the midst of these disasters, the inflexible King of Swe- 
 den persisted in prolonging his sojourn at Bender, making re- 
 peated efforts to rouse the Turks against the Russians. He did 
 not return from Turkey till 1714, when his affairs were already 
 totally ruined. The attempts which he then made, either to 
 renev/ the war in Poland, or invade the provinces of the Em- 
 pire, excited the jealousy of the neighbouring powers. A for- 
 midable league was raised against him ; besides the Czar, the 
 Kings of Poland, Denmark, Prussia, and England, joined it. 
 Stralsund and Wismar, the only places which Sweden still re- 
 tained in Germany, fell into the hands of the allies ; while the 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 164S— 1713. 41 
 
 Czar added to these losses the conquest of Finland and Savolax. 
 In a situation so desperate, Charles, by the advice of his minis- 
 ter, Baron Gortz, set on foot a special and secret negotiation 
 with the Czar, which took place in the isle of Aland, in course 
 of the year 1718. There it was proposed to reinstate Stanis- 
 laus on the throne of Poland ; to restore to Sweden her pos- 
 sessions in the Empire ; and even to assist her in conquering 
 Norvv'ay ; by way of compensation for the loss of Ingria, Ca- 
 relia, Livonia, and Esthonia, which she was to cede to the Czar. 
 
 That negotiation Vv'-as on the point of being finally closed, 
 Vs^hen it was broken off by the u«nexpected death of Charles 
 }iLL That unfortunate prince was slain (December 11th, 171S,) 
 at the siege of Fredericshall in Norway, vv^iile visiting the 
 irenches ; being only thirty-seven years of age, and leaving the 
 affairs of his kingdom in a most deplorable state. 
 
 The new regency of Sweden, instead of remaining in friend- 
 ship with the Czar, changed their policy entirely. Baron de 
 Gortz, the friend of the late King, fell a sacrifice to the public 
 displeasure, and a negotiation was opened with the Court of 
 G.Britain. A treaty of peace and alliance was concluded at 
 Stockholm (Nov. 20, 1719,) between Great Britain and Svv-e- 
 den. George I., on obtaining the cession of the dutchies of 
 Bremen and Verden, as Elector of Hanover, engaged to send a 
 strong squadron to the Baltic, to prevent any further invasion 
 from the Czar, and procure for Sweden more equitable terms of 
 peace on the part of that Prince. The example of Great Bri- 
 tain was soon folloAved by the other allied powers, who were 
 anxious to accommodate matters with Sweden. By the treaty 
 concluded at Stockholm (21st January, 1729,) the King of 
 Prussia got the town of Stettin, and that part of Pomerania, 
 which lies between the Oder and the Peene. The King of 
 Denmark consented to restore to Sweden the towns of Stral- 
 sund and Wismar, with the isle of Rugen, and the part of Po- 
 merania, which extends from the sea to the river Peene. Swe- 
 den, on ner side, renounced in favour of Denmark, her exemp- 
 tion from the duties of the Sound and the two Belts, which had 
 been guaranteed to her by former treaties. The Czar was the 
 only person who, far from being- intimidated by the menaces of 
 England, persisted in his resolution of not making peace with 
 Sweden, except on the conditions which he had dictated to her. 
 The war was, therefore, continued between Russia and Sweden, 
 during the- two campaigns of 1720 and 1721. Different parts 
 of the Swedish coast were laid desolate by the Czar, who put 
 all to fire and sword. To stop the progress of these devasta- 
 tions, the Swedes at length consented to accept the peace which 
 
 A ^ 
 
42 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 the Czar offered them, which was finally signed at Nystadt 
 (13th September 1721.) Finland was surrendered to Sweden 
 on condition of her formally ceding to the Czar the provinces of 
 Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, and Carelia ; their limits to be deter- 
 'mined according to the regulations of the treaty. 
 
 The ascendency which Sweden had gained in the North since 
 the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, had become so fatal to Den- 
 mark, that she v/as on the point of being utterly subverted, and 
 eitaced from the number of European powers. Nor did she 
 extricate herself from the disastrous w^ars which she had to sup- 
 port against Charles X., until she had sacrificed some of her 
 best provinces ; such as Schonen, Bleckingen, Halland, and the 
 government of Bohus, which Frederic III. ceded to Sweden by 
 the treaties of Roschildand Copenhagen. It was at the close of 
 this war that a revolution happened in the government of Denmark. 
 Until that time, it had been completely under the aristocracy of the 
 nobles ; the throne was elective ; and all power v.'as con-cenlrated 
 in the hands of the senate, and the principal members of the 
 nobility. The royal prerogative was limited to the command of 
 the army, and the presidency in the Senate. The King was 
 even obliged, by a special capitulation, in all affairs which did 
 not require the concurrence of the Senate, to take the advice of 
 four great officers of the crown, viz. the Grand Master, the 
 Chancellor, the Marshal, and the Admiral; who were considered 
 as so many channels or vehicles of the royal authority. 
 
 The state of exhaustion to which Denmark was reduced at 
 the time she made peace with Sweden, obliged Frederic III. to 
 convoke an assembly of the States-General of the kingdom. 
 These, which were composed of three orders, viz. the nobility, 
 the clerg}^ and the burgesses, had never been summoned to- 
 gether in that form since the year 1536. At their meeting at 
 Copenhagen, the two inferior orders reproached the nobles with 
 having been the cause of all the miseries and disorders of the 
 State, by the exorbitant and tyrannical power which they had 
 usurped ; and what tended still more to increase their animosity 
 against them., was the obstinacy with which they maintained 
 their privileges and exemptions from the public burdens, to the 
 prejudice of the lower orders. One subject of discussion was, 
 to find a tax, the proceeds of which should be applied to the most 
 pressing wants of the State. The nobles proposed a duty on 
 articles of consumption ; but under restrictions with regard to 
 themselves, that could not but exasperate the lower orders. The 
 latter proposed, in testimony of their discontent, to let out to the 
 highest bidder the fiefs of the crown, which the nobles held at 
 ^•ents extremely moderate. This proposal was highly resented 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648—1713. 4J> 
 
 by the nobility, who regarded it as a blow aimed at tneir rights 
 and properties ; and they persisted in urging a tax on articles of 
 consumption, such as they had proposed. Certain unguarded 
 expressions which escaped some of the m.embers of the nobility, 
 gave rise to a tumult of indignation, and suggested to the two 
 leaders of the clergy and the burgesses, viz. the bishop of Zea- 
 land and the burgomaster of Copenhagen, the. idea of framing 
 a declaration for the purpose of rendering the crown hereditary, 
 both in the male and female descendants of Frederic III. It 
 was not difficult for them to recommend this project to their 
 respective orders, who flattered themselves that, under a heredi- 
 tary monarchy, they would enjoy that equality which was denied 
 them under an aristocracy of the nobles. The act of this de- 
 claration having been approved and signed by the two orders, 
 was presented in their name to the Senate, who rejected it, on 
 the ground that the States-General then assembled, had no right 
 to deliberate on that proposition ; but the clergy and the burges- 
 ses, without being disconcerted, went in a body to the King, 
 carrying with them, the Act which offered to make the crown 
 hereditary in his family. The nobles having made a pretence 
 of wishing to quit the city in order to break up the Diet, care was 
 taken to shut the doors. The members of the Senate and the 
 nobility had then no other alternative left than to agree to the 
 resolution of the two inferior orders ; and the offer of the croAvn 
 was made to the King by the three orders conjunctly (13th October 
 1660.) , They then tendered him the capitulation, which was 
 annulled ; and at the same time they liberated him from the oath 
 which he had taken on the day of his coronation. A sort of 
 dictatorship was then conferred on him, to regulate the new con- 
 stitutional charter, according to his good pleasure. All the orders 
 of the State then took a new oath of fealty and homage to him, 
 while the King himself was subjected to no oath whatever. 
 Finally, the three orders separately remitted an Act to the King, 
 declaring the crown hereditary in all the descendants of Frederic 
 111., both male and female ; conferring on him and his succes- 
 sors an unlimited power; and granting him the privilege of 
 regulating the order both of the regency and the succession to 
 the throne. 
 
 Thus terminated that important revolution, without any dis- 
 order, and without shedding a single drop of blood. It was in 
 virtue of those powers which the States had conferr-^d on him, 
 that the King published what is called the Royal Law, regarded 
 as the only fundamental law of Denmark. The King was there 
 declared absolute sovereign, above all' human laws, acknowledg- 
 ing no superior but God, and "-"niting in his own person all the 
 
44 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 rights and prerogatives of royalty, without any exception whatever 
 He could exercise these prerogatives in virtue of his own author 
 ity ; but he was obliged to respect the Royal Law ; and he could 
 neither touch the Confession of Augsburg, which had been 
 adopted as the national religion, nor authorize any partition of 
 the kingdom, which was declared indivisible ; nor change the 
 order of succession as established by the Royal Law. That suc- 
 cession was lineal, according to the right of primogeniture and 
 descent. Females were only admitted, failing ail the male issue 
 of Frederic IIL ; and the order in which they were to succeed, 
 was defined with the most scrupulous exactness. The term of 
 majority was fixed at the age of thirteen ; and it was in the 
 power of the reigning monarch to regulate, by his will, the tutor- 
 age and the regency during such minority. 
 
 This constitutional law gave the Danish government a vigour 
 which it never had before ; the effects of which Avere manifested 
 in the war which Christian V. undertook against Sweden 
 (1675,) in consequence of his alliance with Frederic William, 
 Elector of Brandenburg. The Danes had the advantage of the 
 Swedes both by sea and land. Their fleet, under the command 
 of Niels Juel, gained two naval victories over them, the one 
 near the Isle of Oeland, and the other in the bay of Kioge, on 
 the coast of Zealand (1677.) That war was terminated by the 
 peace of Lunden (Oct. 6th 1679,) which restored matters be- 
 tween the two nations, to the same footing on which they had 
 been before the war. The severe check which Sweden re- 
 ceived by the defeat of Charles XIL, before Pultowa, tended to 
 extricate Denmark from the painful situation in which she had 
 been placed with respect to that power. The freedom of the 
 Sound, which Sweden had maintained during her prosperity, 
 was taken from her by the treaty of Stockholm, and by the ex- 
 planatory articles of Fredericsburg, concluded between Sweden 
 and Denmark, (14th June 1720.) That kingdom likewise re- 
 tained, in terms of the treaty, the possession of the whole dutchy 
 of Sleswick, with a claim to the part belonging to the duke oi 
 Holstein-Gottorp, whom Sweden was obhged to remove from 
 under her protection. 
 
 Poland, at the commencement of this period, presented an 
 afflicting spectacle, under the unfortunate reign of John Casimir, 
 the brother and. successor of Uladislaus VII. (1648.) Distracted 
 at once by foreign wars and intestine factions, she seemed every 
 moment on the brink of destruction ; and while the neighbour- 
 ing states were augmenting their forces, and strengthening the 
 hands of their governments, Poland grew gradually weaker and 
 weaker, and at length degeneratf^ into absolute anarchy. The 
 
PEHIOD vn. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 45 
 
 origin of the Uiberum Veto of the Poles, which allowed the op- 
 position of a single member to frustrate the deliberations of the 
 whole Diet, belongs to the reign of John Casimir. The first 
 that suspended the Diet, by the interposition of his veto, was 
 Schinski, member for Upita in Lithuania ; his example, though 
 at first disapproved, found imitators ; and this foolish practice, 
 which allowed one to usurp the prerogative of a majority, soon 
 passed into a law, and a maxim of state. 
 
 Towards the end of the reign of Uladislaus VII. a murderous 
 war had arisen in Poland, that of the Cossacs. This warlike 
 people, of Russian origin, as their language and their religion 
 prove, inhabited both banks of the Borysthenes, beyond Kiow ; 
 where ihey were subdivided into regiments, under the command 
 of a general, called Hetman ; and served as a military frontier 
 for Poland against the Tartars and Turks. Some infringements 
 that had been made on their privileges, added to the efforts vvdiich 
 the Poles had made to induce their clergy to separate from the 
 Greek Church, and acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, ex- 
 aspej-ated the Cossacs, and engendered among them a spirit of 
 revolt (1647.) Assisted by the Turks of the Crimea, they in- 
 vaded Poland, and committed terrible devastations. The Poles 
 succeeded from time to time in pacifying them, and even con- 
 cluded a treaty with them ; but the minds of both parties beino- 
 exasperated, hostilities always recommenced with every new 
 offence. At length, their Hetman, Chmielniski, being hardly 
 pressed by the Poles, took the resolution of soliciting the protec- 
 tion of Russia, and concluded a treaty with the Czar Alexis 
 Miehaelovitz (Jan. 16, 1654,) in virtue of which, Kiow and the 
 other towns of the Ukraine, under the pov/er of the Cossacs, 
 were planted with Russian garrisons. It was on this occasion 
 that the Czar retook the city of Smolensko from the Poles, as 
 vv^ell as most of the districts that had been ceded to Poland, by 
 the treaties of Dwilina and Viasma. That prince made also 
 several other conquests from the Poles; he took possession of 
 Wilna, and several places in Lithuania, at the very time when 
 Charles X. was invading Poland, and threatening that country 
 with entire destrjiction. The Czar, however, instead of fohow- 
 ing up his conquests, judged it more for his interest to conclude 
 a truce with the Poles \|1656,) that he might turn his arms 
 against Sweden. 
 
 The peace of Oliva put an end to the war between Poland and 
 Sweden ; but hostilities were renewed between the Russians 
 and the Poles, which did not terminate till the treaty of Andrus- 
 sov (Jan. 1667.) The Czar restored to the Poles a part of his 
 conquests ; but he retained Smolensko, Novogorod-Sieverskoe, 
 
46 CHAPTER vm. 
 
 Tchernigov, Kiow, and all the country of the Cossacs, beyond 
 the Borysthenes or Dnieper. The Cossacs on this side the 
 river were annexed to Poland, and as for those who dwelt near 
 the mouth of the Dnieper, called Zaporogs, it was agreed that 
 they should remain under the common jurisdiction of the two 
 states ; ready to serve against the Turks whenever circumstances 
 might require it. The wars of which we have just spoken, were 
 attended with troubles and dissensions, which reduced Poland 
 to the most deplorable condition during the reign of John Casi- 
 mir. That prince at length, disgusted with a crown which he 
 had found to be composed of thorns, resoh^ed to abdicate the 
 throne (16th Sept. 1668;) and retiring to France, he there ended 
 his days. 
 
 Michael Wiesnouiski, who succeeded John Casimir, after a 
 stormy interregnum of seven months, had no other merit than 
 that of being descended in a direct line from Coribut, the brother 
 of Jagellon, King of Poland. His reign was a scene of great 
 agitation, and of unbridled anarchy. Four diets were interrupted 
 in less than four years ; the war with the Cossacs was renewed ; 
 the Turks and the Tartars, the allies of the Cossacs, seized the 
 city of Kaminiec (1672,) the only bulwark of Poland against the 
 Ottomans. Michael, being thrown into a state of alarm, con- 
 cluded a disgraceful peace with the Turks ; he gave up to them 
 Kaminiec and Podolia, with their ancient limits ; and even 
 agreed to pay them an annual tribute of twenty-two thousand 
 ducats. The Ukraine, on this side the Borysthenes, was aban- 
 doned to the Cossacs, who were-to be placed under the protection 
 of the Turks. This treaty was not ratified by the Republic of 
 Poland, who preferred to continue the war. John Sobieski, 
 Grand General of the Crown, gained a brilliant victory over the 
 Turks near Choczim (Nov. 11th, 1673.) It took place the next 
 day after the death of Michael, and determined the Poles to con- 
 fer their crown on the victorious General. 
 
 Sobieski did ample justice to the choice of his fellow-citizens. 
 By the peace which he concluded at Zarowmo with the Turks 
 (26th Oct. 1676,) he relieved Poland from the tribiite lately pro 
 mised, and recovered some parts of the Ukraine ; but the city o' 
 Kaminiec was left in the power of the Ottomans, Avith a consid- 
 erable portion of the Ukraine and Podolia. Poland then entered 
 into an alliance with the House of Austria, against the Porte 
 Sobieski became the deliverer of Vienna ; he signalized himsell 
 in the campaigns of 1683 and 1684 ; and if he did not gain any 
 important advantages over the Turks, if he had not even the 
 satisfaction of recovering Kaminiec and Podolia, it must be as- 
 cribed to the incompetence of his means, and to the disunion and 
 
PERIOD 
 
 vn. A. D. 164S— 1713. 47 
 
 ihdifTerence of the Poles, who refused to make a single sacrifice 
 in the cause. Sobieski was even forced to have recourse to the 
 ])rotection of the Russians against the Turks ; and saw himself 
 T educed to the painful necessity of setting his hand tp the defi- 
 nitive peace which was concluded with Russia at Moscow (May 
 (tth, 16S6,) by which Poland, in order to obtain the alliance of 
 ihat power against the Ottomans, consented to give up Smolen- 
 sko, Belaia, Dorogobuz, Tchernigov, Starodub, and Novogorod- 
 Sieverskoe, with their dependencies ; as also the whole territory 
 known by the name of Little Russia, situated on the left bank of 
 the Borysthenes, between thaj; river and the frontier of Putivli, 
 as far as Perevoloczna. The city of Kiow, with its territory as 
 determined by the treaty, was also included in that cession. 
 Finally, the Cossacs, called Zaporogs and Kudak, who, accord- 
 ing to the treaty of Andrussov, ought to have been dependencies 
 of these two states, were reserved exclusively to Russia. Sobie- 
 ski shed tears when he was obliged to sign that treaty at Leopold 
 (or Lemberg,) in presence of the Russian ambassadors. 
 
 The war with the Turks did not terminate until the reign of 
 Augustus IL the successor of John Sobieski. The peace of 
 Carlowitz, which that prince concluded with the Porte (1699,) 
 procured for Poland the restitution of Kaminiec, as well as that 
 part of the Ukraine, which the peace of Zarowno had ceded to 
 the Turks. 
 
 Russia became every day more prosperous under the princes 
 of the House of Romanow. She gained a decided superiority 
 over Poland, wdio had formerly dictated the law to her. Alexis 
 Michaelovitz not only recovered from the Poles what they had 
 conquered from Russia during the disturbances occasioned by 
 the two pretenders of the name of Demetrius ; we have already 
 observed, that he dispossessed them of Kiow, and all that part 
 of the Ukraine, or Little Russia, which lies on the left bank of 
 the B^ysthenes. 
 
 Theodore Alexievitz, the son and successor of Alexis Mi- 
 chaelovitz, rendered his reign illustrious by the wisdom of his 
 administration. Guided by the advice of his enlightened mi- 
 nister. Prince Galitzin, he conceived the bold project of abolish- 
 ing the hereditary orders of the nobility, and the prerogatives 
 that were attached to them. These orders were destructive of 
 all subordination in civil as well as in military affairs, and gave 
 rise to a multitude of disputes and litigations, of which a court, 
 named Rozrad, took cognizance. The Czar, in a grand assem- 
 bly which he convoked al; Moscow (1682,) abolished the here- 
 ditary rank of the nobles. He burnt the deeds and registers 
 by which they were attested, and obliged every noble family to 
 
48 CHAPTER Vill. 
 
 produce the extracts of these registers, which they had in their 
 possession, that they might be committed to the flames. That 
 prince having no children of his own, had destined his younger 
 brother Peter Alexievitz to be his successor, to the exckision of 
 John, his elder brcther, on account of his incapacity. But, on 
 the death of Theodore, both princes were proclaimed at once by 
 the military, and the government was intrusted to the Princess 
 Sophia, their elder sister, who assumed the title of Autocratix 
 and Sovereign of all the Russias. Peter, who was the son of 
 the second marriage of the Czar, was at that time only ten 
 years of age. It was during the administration of the Princess 
 Sophia that the peace of Moscow was concluded (May 6, 1686 ;) 
 one clause of w^hich contained an alliance, offensive and defen- 
 sive, between Russia and Poland against the Porte. 
 
 Peter had no sooner attained the age of seventeen than he 
 seized the reins of government, and deposed his sister Sophia, 
 whom he sent to a convent. Endowed with an extraordinary 
 genius, this Prince became the reformer of his Empire, which, 
 under his reign, assumed an aspect totally new. By the advice 
 of Le Fort, a native of Geneva, who bad entered the Russian 
 service, and whom he had received into his friendship and con- 
 fidence, he turned his attention to every branch of the public 
 administration. The military system was changed, and mo- 
 delled after that of the civilized nations of Europe. He found- 
 ed- the maritime power of Russia, improved her finances, en- 
 couraged commerce and manufactures, introduced letters and 
 arts into his dominions, and applied himself to reform the lav.'-s, 
 to polish and refine the manners of the people. 
 
 Peter, being in alliance with Poland, engaged in the war 
 against the Porte, and laid open the Black Sea by his conquest 
 of the city and port of Azoff; and it was on this occasion that 
 he equipped his first fleet at Woronitz. Azoff remained in his 
 possession, by an article of the peace which was concluded with 
 the Porte at Constantinople (13th July, 1700.) About the same 
 time, Peter abolished the patriarchal dignity, which ranked the 
 head of the Russian Church next to the Czar, and gave him a 
 dangerous influence in the affairs of government. He trans- 
 ferred the authority of the patriarch to a college of fifteen per- 
 sons, called the Most Holy Synod, whose duty it Avas to take 
 cognizance of ecclesiastical affairs, and in ge^ieral, of all matters 
 which had fallen within the jurisdiction of the patriarch. 'i.p,.5 
 members of this college were obliged to take the oath at '<'z?. 
 hands of the Sovereign, and to be appointed by him on the pX'- 
 sentation of the Synod. 
 
 Being desirous of seeing and examining in person the ir^.M^ 
 
PERIOD VII. A. B 1648 — 1713. 49 
 
 Gers and customs of other nations, he undertook two different 
 iTcyages into foreign countries, divested of that pomp which is 
 the usual accompaniment of princes. During these travels, he 
 cultivated the arts and sciences, especially those connected with 
 commerce and navigation; he engaged men of talents in his 
 seivices, such as naval officers, engineers, surgeons, artists, and 
 mechanics of all kinds, whom he dispersed over his vast^ do- 
 minions, to instruct and improve the Russians. During his first 
 voyage to Holland and England, the Strelitzes, the only per- 
 manent troops known in Russia before his time, revolted ; they 
 were first instituted by the .Czar, John Basilovitz IV. They 
 fought after the manner of the Janissaries, and enjoyed nearly 
 the same privileges. Peter, with the intention of disbanding 
 these seditious and undisciplined troops, had stationed them on the 
 frontiers of Lithuania ; he had also removed them from being his 
 own body-guard, a service which he entrusted to the regiments 
 raised by himself. This sort of degradation incensed the Sti'e- 
 luzes, who took the opportunity of the Czar's absence to revolt. 
 They directed their march to the city of Moscow, with the design 
 of deposing the Czar, and replacing Sophia on the throne ; but 
 they were defeated by the Generals Schein and Gordon, who had 
 marched to oppose them. Peter, on his return, caused two 
 thousand of them to be executed, and incorporated the rest among 
 his troops. He afterwards employed foreign officers, either Ger- 
 mans or Swedes, to instruct the Russians in the military art. 
 
 It was chiefly during the war with Sweden that the Russian 
 army was organized according to the European system. The 
 Czar took advantage of the check he had sustained before Narva 
 (Nov. 30, 1700,) to accomplish this important change in levying, 
 equipping, and training all his troops after the German manner. 
 He taught the Russians the art of combating and conquering the 
 Swedes ; and while the King of Sweden was bent on the ruin 
 of Augustus II., and made but feeble efforts against the Czar, 
 the latter succeeded in conquering Ingria from the Swedes, and 
 laid open the navigation of the Baltic. He took the fortress of 
 Noteburg (1702^) which he afterwards called Schlisselburg ; he 
 next made himself master of Nyenschantz, Kopori, and Jamp 
 (now Jamburg) in Ingria. The port of Nyenchantz was entirely 
 razed ; and the Czar laid the foundation of St. Petersburg in 
 one of the neighbouring islands of the Neva (May 27, 1703.) In 
 the middle of winter he constructed the fort of Cronschlot to 
 serve as a defence for the new city, wdiich he intended to make 
 the capital of his Empire, and the principal depOt for the con> 
 merce and marine of Russia. The fortune of this ne^v ^ap'ia'j 
 
 voL.n. 5 
 
50 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 was decided by the famous battle of Pultowa (July 8, 1709,) 
 t\^hich likewise secured the preponderance of Russia in the Norrh. 
 
 Charles XII., who had taken refuge in Turkey, used everv 
 effort to instigate the Turks against the Russians ; and he suc- 
 ceeded by dint of intrigue. The Porte declared war against the 
 Czar towards the end of the year 1710 ; the latter opened the 
 campaign of 1711 by an expedition which he undertook inro 
 Moldavia ; but having rashly penetrated into the interior of that 
 province, he was surrounded by the Grand Vizier near Falczi 
 on the Pruth. Besieged in his camp by an army vastly supe- 
 rior to his own, and reduced to the last necessity, he found no 
 other means of extricating himself from this critical situation, 
 than by agreeing to a treaty, which he signed in the camp of 
 Falczi (21st July 1711 ;) in virtue of which, he consented to re- 
 store to the Turks the fortress of Azoff, with its territory and 
 its dependencies. This loss was am^ply compensated by the im- 
 portant advantages which the peace with Sweden, signed at Ny- 
 stadt (Sept. 10, 1721,) procured the Czar. It was on this occa- 
 sion that the Senate conferred on him the epithet of Great, the 
 Father of his Country, and Em2)eror of all the Riissias. His 
 inauguration to the Imperial dignity took place, October 22d 
 1721, the very day of the rejoicing that had been appointed for 
 the celebration of the peace. Peter himself put the Imperial 
 crown on his own head. 
 
 That great prince had the vexation to see Alexis Czarowitz 
 his son, and presumptive heir to the Empire, thwarting all his 
 improv^ements, and caballing in secret with his enemies. Being 
 at length compelled to declare that he had forfeited his right to 
 the throne, he had him condemned to death as a traitor (1718.) 
 In consequence of this tragical event, he published an Ukase, 
 which vested in the reigning prince the privilege of nominating 
 his successor, and even of changing the appointment whenever 
 he might judge it necessary. This arrangement became fatal to 
 Russia ; the want of a fixed and permanent order of succession 
 occasioned troubles and revolutions which frequently distracted 
 the whole Empire. This law, moreover, made no provision in 
 cases where the reigning prince might neglect to settle the suc- 
 cession during his life ; as happened with Peter himself, who 
 died without making or appointing any successor (Feb. 1725.) 
 Catherine I., his spouse, ascended the throne, which, after a 
 reign of two years, she transmitted to Peter, son of the unfortu- 
 nate Alexis. 
 
 In Hungary, the precautions that had been taken by the States 
 of Presburg to establish civil and religious liberty on a solid ba- 
 sis, did not prevent disturbances from springing up in that king- 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 171J?. 51 
 
 dom. The Court of Vienna, perceiving the necessity of consoli- 
 dating its vast monarchy, whose incoherent parts were suffering 
 from the want of unity, eagerly seized these occasions for ex- 
 tending its power in Hungary, where it was greatly circumscri- 
 bed by the laws and constitution of the country". Hence those 
 perpetual infringements of which the Hungarians had to com- 
 plain ; and those ever-recurring disturbances in which the Otto- 
 man Turks, who shared with Austria the dominion of Hungary, 
 v.'ere also frequently implicated. 
 
 Transylvania, as well as a great part of Hungary, was then 
 dependent on the Turks. The Emperor Leopold I. having 
 granted his protection to John Kemeny, Prince of Transylvania, 
 against Michael Abaffi, a protege of the Turks, a war between 
 the two Empires seemed to be inevitable. The Diet of Hunga- 
 ry, which the Emperor had assembled at Presburg on this sub- 
 ject (1662,) was most outrageous. The States, before they 
 would give any opinion as to the war against the Turks, de- 
 manded that their own grievances should be redressed ; and the 
 assembly separated without coming to any conclusion. The 
 Turks took advantage of this dissension, and seized the fortress 
 of Neuheusel, and several other places. The Emperor, incapa- 
 ble of opposing them, and distrustful of the Hungarian malecon^ 
 tents, had recourse to foreign aid. This he obtained at the Diet 
 of the Empire; 'and Louis XIV. sent him a body of six thou- 
 sand men, under command of the Count de Cohgni. An action 
 took place (1664) near St. Gothard, in which the French signal- 
 ized their bravery. The Turks sustained a total defeat ; but 
 Montecuculi, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial army, fail- 
 ed to take advantage of his victory. A truce of twenty years 
 was soon after concluded at Temeswar, in virtue of which the 
 Turks retained Neuheusel, Waradin, and Novigrad. Michael 
 Abaffi, their tributary and protege, Avas continued in Transyl- 
 vania ; and both parties engaged to withdraw their troops from 
 that province. 
 
 This treaty highly displeased the Hungarians, as it had been 
 concluded without their concurrence. Their complaints against 
 ihe Court of Vienna became louder than ever. They complain- 
 ed, especially, that the Emperor should entertain German troops 
 in the kingdom ; that he should intrust the principal fortresses 
 to foreigners ; and impose shackles on their religious liberties. 
 The Court of Vienna having paid no regard to these grievances, 
 several of the nobles entered into a league for the preservation 
 of their rights ; but they were accused of holding correspondence 
 with the Turks, and conspiring against the person of the Empe- 
 ror. The Counts Zrini, Nadaschdi, Frangepan, and Tattenbach 
 
52 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 were condemned as guilty of high treason (1671,) and had their 
 heads cut off on the scaffold. A vast number of the Protestant 
 clergy were either banished or condemned to the galleys, as 
 implicated in the conspiracy ; but this severity, far from abating 
 these disturbances, tended rather to augment them. The sup- 
 pression of the dignity of Palatine of Hungary, which took place 
 about the same time, added to the cruelties and extortions of all 
 kinds practised by the German troops, at length raised a general 
 insurrection, which ended in a civil war (1677.) The insur- 
 gents at first chose the Count Francis Wesselini as their leader, 
 who was afterwards replaced by Count Emeric Tekeli. These 
 noblemen were encourafjed in their enterprise, and secretly abet- 
 ted by France and the Porte. 
 
 The Emperor then found it necessary to comply ; and, in a 
 Diet which he assembled at Odenburg, he granted redress to 
 most of the grievances of which the Ilungarians had to com- 
 plain ; but Count^Tekeli having disapproved of the resolutions 
 of this Diet, the civil war was continued, and the Count soon 
 found means to interest the Turks and the prince of Transylva- 
 nia in his quarrel. The Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, at the 
 head of the Ottoman forces, came and laid siege to Vienna (July 
 14, 1CS3.) A Polish army marched to the relief of that place 
 under their King, John Sobieski, v/ho was joined by Charles 
 IV., Duke of Lorraine, General of the Imperial troops; they 
 attacked the Turks in their entrenchments before Vienna, and 
 com.pelied them to raise the siege (September 12, 1683.) Every 
 thing then succeeded to the Emperor's wish. Besides Poland, 
 the Russians and the Republic of Venice took part in this war 
 in favour of Austria. A succession of splendid victories, gained 
 by the Imperial generals, Charles Duke of Lorraine, Prince 
 Louis of Baden, and Prince Eugene, procured for Leopold the 
 conquest of all that part of Hungary, which had continued since 
 the reign of Ferdinand I. in the power of the Ottomans. The 
 fortress of Neuheusel was taken, in consequence of the battle 
 which the Duke of Lorraine gained over the Turks at Strigova 
 (1685.) The same General took by assault the city of Buda, 
 the capital of Hungary, which had been in possession of the 
 Turks since 1541, The memorable victory of Mohacz, gained 
 by the Imperialists (1687,) again reduced Transylvania and 
 Sclavonia under the dominion of Austria. These continued 
 reverses cost the Grand Vizier his life ; he was strangled by 
 order of the Sultan, Mahomet IV., who was himself deposed 
 by his rebellious Janissaries. 
 
 Encouraged by these brilliant victories, the Emperor Leopold 
 assembled the States of Hungary at Presburg. He there de- 
 
PERIOD VII A. D. 1648 — 1713. 63 
 
 mandecl, that, in consideration of tne extraordinary efforts he 
 had been obliged to make against the Ottomans, the kingdom 
 should be declared hereditary in his family. The States at 
 first appeared inclined to maintain their own right of election ; 
 but yielding soon to the influence of authority, they agreed to 
 make the succession hereditary in favour of the males of the two 
 Austrian branches ; on the extinction of which they were to be 
 restored to their ancient rights. As for the privileges of the 
 States, founded on the decree of King Andrew II,, they were 
 renewed at that Diet ; with the exception of that clause in the 
 thirty-first article of the decree, which authorized the States to 
 oppose, by open force, any prince that should attempt to infringe 
 the rights and liberties of the country. The Jesuits, who were 
 formerly proscribed, were restored, and their authority estabhsh- 
 ed throughout all the provinces of the kingdom. The Protes- 
 tants of both confessions obtained the confirmation of the churches 
 and prerogatives that had been secured to them by the articles 
 of the Diet of Odenburg ; but it was stipulated, that only Catho- 
 lics were entitled to possess property within the kingdoms of 
 Dalmatia, Croatia and Sclavonia. The Archduke Joseph, son 
 of Leopold I., was crowned at this Diet (December 19, 1687,) 
 cis the first hereditary King of Hungary. 
 
 The arm^ of Austria were crowned with new victories during 
 the continuation of the war against the Turks. Albe-Eoyale', 
 Belgrade, Semendria, and Gradisca, fell into the hands of the 
 Emperor. The two splendid victories at Nissa and Widdin, 
 which Louis prince of Baden. gained (1689,) secured to the Aus 
 trians the conquest of Servia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria. The de- 
 jected courage of the Ottomans was for a time revived by their 
 new Grand Vizier Mustapha Kiupruli, a man of considerable 
 genius. After gaining several advantages over the Imperialists, 
 he took from them Nissa, Widdin, Semendria, and Belgrade ; 
 and likewise reconquered Bulgaria, Servia, and Bosnia. The 
 extraordinary efforts that the Porte made for the campaign of 
 the following year, inspired them with hopes of better success ; 
 but their expectations were quite disappointed by the unfortu- 
 nate issue of the famous battle of Salankemen, which the Prince 
 of Baden gained over the Turks, (Aug. 19, 1691.) The brave 
 Kiupruli was slain, and his death decided the victory in favour 
 of the Imperialists. The war with France, however, which then 
 occupied the principal forces of Austria, did not permit the Em- 
 peror to reap any advantage from this victory ; he was even 
 obliged, in the following campaigns, to act on the defensive m 
 Hungary ; and it was not until the conclusion of peace wuh 
 France, that he was able to resume the war against the Turk!^ 
 
64 CHAFTER Vlll. 
 
 n^ith fresh vigour. Prince Eugene, who was then commander- 
 in-chief of the Imperial army, attacked the Suhan Mustapha 
 .'I. in person, near Zenta on the river Teiss (Sept. 11, 16970 
 .vhere he gained a decisive victory. The grand Vizier, seven- 
 ujen Pachas, and two thirds of the Ottoman army, were left 
 «Jead on txhe field of hattle ; and the grand Seignior was com- 
 p'^lled to fall back in disorder on Belgrade. 
 
 This terrible blow made the Porte exceedingly anxious for 
 peace ; and he had recourse to the mediation of England and 
 Holland. A negotiation, which proved as tedious as it was in- 
 tricate, was set on foot at Constantinople, and thence transfer- 
 red to Carlo witz, a town of Sclavonia lying between the two 
 camps, one of which was at Peterwaradin, and the other at 
 Belfjrade. Peace was there concluded with the Emperor 
 and his allies (Jan. 26, 1699.) The Emperor, by that treaty, 
 retained Hungary, Transylvania and Sclavonia, with the ex- 
 ception of the Banat of Temeswar, which was reserved to the 
 Porle. The rivers Marosch, Teiss, Save, and Unna, were 
 fixed as the limits between the two Empires. The Count Te- 
 keli^ who during the whole of this war had constantly espoused 
 the cause of the Porte, was allowed to remain in the Ottoman 
 territory ; with such of the Hungarians and Transylvanians as 
 adhered to him. 
 
 The peace of Carlowitz had secured to the Emperor nearly 
 the whole of Hungary ; but, glorious though it was, it did not 
 restore the internal tranquillity of the kingdom, which very 
 soon experienced fresh troubles. The same complaints that 
 had arisen after the peace of Temeswar, Avere renewed after 
 that of Carlowitz ; to these were even added several others, oc- 
 .•,asioned by the introduction of the hereditary succession, at 
 he Diet of 1687, by the suppression of the clause in the thirty- 
 first article of the decree of Andrew II., by the restoration of 
 ihe Jesuits and the banishment of Tekeli and his adherents. 
 Nothing Avas wanted but a ringleader for the malecontents to 
 fekindle the flames of civil war, and this leader was soon found 
 in the person of the fam.ous Prince Ragoczi, who appeared on 
 the scene about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and 
 v/hen the greater part of Europe were involved in the war oi 
 the Spanish Succession. 
 
 Francis Ragoczi was the grandson of George Ragoczi II., 
 who had been prince of Transylvania ; and held a distinguish- 
 ed rank in the States of Hungary, not more by his illustrious 
 birth than by the great possessions which belonged to his fa- 
 mily. The Court of Vienna, which entertained suspicions of 
 liiin on account of his near relationship with Tekeli, had kept 
 
PERIOD VII. A. D. 1648 — 1713. 55 
 
 him in a sort of captivity from his earliest infancy ; and he 
 was not set at large, nor restored to the possession of his estates, 
 until 1694, when he married a princess of Hesse-Rheinfels. 
 From that time he resided quietly on his estates, holding bis 
 Court at Sarosch, in the district of the same name. Being sus- 
 pected of having concerted a conspiracy with the malecontents, 
 he was arrested by order of the Court of Vienna (1701.) and 
 carried to Neustadt in Austria, whence he escaped and retired 
 to Poland. Being condemned as guilty of high treason, and 
 his estates declared forfeited, he took the resolution of placing 
 hnnself at the head of the rebels, and instigating Hungary 
 against the Emperor. France, who had just joined in the war 
 with Austria, encouraged him in that enterprise, Vv^hich she 
 regarded as a favourable event for creating a diversion on the 
 part of her enemy. Having arrived in Hungary, Ragoczi pub- 
 lished a manifesto (1703,) in which he detailed the motives of 
 his conduct, and exhorted the Hungarians to join him, for vin- 
 dicating their ancient liberties which had been oppressed by the 
 House of Austria. He soon attracted a crowd of partisans, and 
 made himself master of a great part of the kingdom. The 
 Transylvanians chose him for their prince (1704 ;) r nd the States 
 of Hungary, who had united for. the re-establishment of their 
 laws and immunities, declared him their chief, with the title of 
 Duke, and a senate of twenty-five persons. Louis XIV. sent 
 his envoy, the Marquis Dessalleurs, to congratulate him on 
 his elevation ; and the Czar, Peter the Great, offered him the 
 throne of Poland (1707,) in opposition to Stanislaus, who was 
 protected by Charles XII. 
 
 The House of Austria being engaged in the Spanish war, 
 was unable for a long time to re.duce the Hungarian malecon- 
 tents. The repeated attempts which she had made to come to an 
 accommodation with them having failed, the war was continued 
 till 1711, when the Austrians, who had been victorious, com- 
 pelled Ragoczi to evacuate Hungary, and retire to the frontiers 
 of Poland. A treaty of pacification was then drawn up. The 
 Emperor promised to grant an amnesty, and a general restitu- 
 tion of goods in favour of all those who had been implicated in 
 the insurrection. He came under an engagement to preserve 
 inviolable the rights, liberties, and immunities of Hungary, and 
 the principality of Transylvania ; to reserve all civil and mili- 
 tary offices to the Hungarians ; to maintain the laws of the 
 kingdom respecting religion ; and as for their other grievances, 
 whether political or ecclesiastical, he consen ed to have them 
 discussed in the approaching Diet. These articles were ap- 
 proved and signed by the greater part of the malecontents, who 
 
5(5 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 tlien took a new oath of allegiance to the Emperor. Ragoczi 
 and his principal adherents were the only persons that remain- 
 ed proscribed and attainted, having refused to accede to these 
 articles. 
 
 The Turkish Empire, once so formidable, had gradually fallen 
 from the summit of its grandeur ; its resources were exhausted, 
 and its history marked by nothing but misfortunes. The effe- 
 minacy and incapacity of the Sultans, their contempt for the 
 arts cultivated by the Europeans, and the evils of a gov^ern- 
 ment purely military and despotic, by degrees undermined its 
 strength, and eclipsed its glory as a conquering and presiding 
 power. We find the Janissaries, a lawless and undisciplined 
 militia, usurping over the sovereign and the throne the same 
 rights which the Prsetorian guards had arrogated over the an- 
 cient Roman Emperors. 
 
 The last conquest of any importance which the Turks made 
 was that of Candia, which they took from the Republic of Venice. 
 The war which obtained them the possession of that island, 
 lasted for twenty years. It began under the Sultan Ibrahim 
 (1645,) and was continued under his successor, Mahomet IV. 
 The Venetians defended the island with exemplary courage and 
 intrepidity. They destroyed several of the Turkish fleets; 
 and, on different occasions, they kept the passage of the Darda- 
 nelles shut against the Ottomans. At length the famous Vizier 
 Achmet Kiupruli undertook the siege of the city of Candia 
 (1687,) at the head of a formidable army. This siege was one 
 of the most sanguinary recorded in history. The Turks lost 
 above a hundred thousand men ; and it was not till after a siege 
 of two years and four months that the place surrendered to 
 them by a capitulation (Sept. 5, 1669,) which at the same time 
 regulated the conditions of peace between the Turks and the 
 Venetians. These latter, on surrendering Candia, reserved, in 
 the islands and islets adjoining, three places, viz. Suda, Spina- 
 longa, and Garabusa. They also retained Clissa, and some 
 other places in Dalmatia and Albania, which they had seizea 
 during the war. The reign of Mahom'et from that time, pre- 
 sented nothing but a succession of wars, of which that against 
 Hungary was the most fatal to the Ottoman Empire. The 
 Turks were overwhelmed by the powerful league formed 
 between Austria, Poland, Russia, and the Republic of Venice. 
 They experienced, as we have already noticed, a series of fatal 
 disasters during that war ; and imputing these misfortunes to 
 the effeminacy of their Sultan, they resolved to depose him. 
 Mustapha II., the third in succession from Mahomet IV., ter- 
 ininatcd this destructive war by the peace of Carlowitz, when 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713—1789. 57 
 
 the Turks lost all their possessions in Hungary, except Teiiieswar 
 and Belgrade. They gave up to Poland the fortress of Kanii- 
 niec, with Podolia, and the part of the Ukraine on this ride the 
 Nieper, which had been ceded to them by former trea.ties. The 
 Venetians, by their treaty with the Porte, obtained possession 
 of the Morea, which they had conquered during the war ; in- 
 cluding the islands of St. Maura and Leucadia, as also the for- 
 tresses of Dalmatia, Knin, Sing, Ciclut, Gabella, Castlenuovo, 
 and Risano. Finally, the Porte renounced the tribute which 
 Venice had formerly paid for the isle- of Zante ; and the Repub- 
 lic of Ragusa was guaranteed in its independence, with respect 
 to the Venetians. 
 
 CHAPTEH IX. 
 
 PERIOD VIII. 
 
 From the Peace of Utrecht to the French Revolution, a. d. 
 1713—1789. 
 
 [During the wars of the preceding period, arts and letters 
 had made extraordinary progress ; especially in France, where 
 they seemed to have reached the highest degree of perfection 
 to which the limited genius of man can carry them. The age 
 of Louis XIV. revived, and almost equalled those master-pieces 
 which Greece had produced under Pericles, Rome under Au- 
 gustus, and Italy under the patronage of the Medici. This 
 was the classical era of French literature. The grandeur 
 which reigned at the court of that monarch, and the glory which 
 his vast exploits had reflected on the nation, inspired authors 
 with a noble enthusiasm ; the public taste was refined by imi- 
 tating the models of antiquity ; and this preserved the French 
 writers from those extravagancies which some other nations 
 have mistaken for the standard of genius. Their language, 
 polished by the Academy according to fixed rules, the first and 
 most fundamental of which condemns every thing that does 
 not tend to unite elegance with perspicuity, became the general 
 medium of communication among the different nations in the 
 civilized world ; and this literary conquest which France made 
 over the minds of other nations, is more glorious, and has 
 proved more advantageous to her, than that universal dominion 
 to which Louis XIV. is said to have aspired. 
 
 In the period^on which we are now enteriiig, men of genius 
 and talents, though they did not neglect tlie Belles-Lettres, 
 devoted themselves chiefly to those sciences, and that kind of 
 
iS CHAPTER IX. 
 
 learning, the study of which has heen diffused over all classes 
 of society. Several branches of mathematics and natural philo- 
 sophy, assumed a form entirely new; the knowledge of the 
 ancient classics, which, till then, had been studied chiefly for the 
 formation of taste, became a branch of common education, and 
 gave birth to a variety of profound and useful researches. Geo- 
 metry, astronomy, mechanics, and navigation, were brought to 
 great perfection, by the rivalry among the diflferent scientific 
 academies in Europe. Natural Philosophy discovered many of 
 the laws and phenomena of nature. Chemistry rose from the 
 rank of an obscure art, and put on the garb of an attractive 
 science. Natural History, enriched by the discoveries of learned 
 travellers, was divested of those fables and chimeras which 
 ignorance had attributed to her. History, supported by the 
 auxiliary sciences of Geography and Chronology, became a 
 branch of general philosophy. 
 
 The equilibrium among the different States, disturbed by the am- 
 bition of Louis XI v., had been confirmed by the peace of Utrecht, 
 which lasted during twenty-four years without any great altera- 
 tion. Nevertheless, in the political transactions which took place 
 at this time, England enjoyed a preponderance which had been 
 growing gradually since she had ceased to be the theatre of civil 
 discord. The glory which she had acquired by the success of 
 her arms in the Spanish wars, and the important advantages 
 which the treaty of Utrecht had procured her, both in Europe 
 and America, augmented her political power, and gave her an 
 influence in general affairs which she never had enjoyed before. 
 That nation carried their commerce and their marine to an extent 
 which could not fail to alarm the other commercial and maritime 
 states, and make them perceive that, if the care of their own trade 
 and independence made it necessary to maintain a system of 
 equilibrium on the Continent, it was equally important for their 
 prosperity that bounds should be set to the monopolizing power 
 of England. This gave rise at first to a new kind of rivalry be- 
 tween France and England — a rivalry whose effects were more 
 particularly manifested after the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, and which occasioned an intimate alliance among the 
 branches of the House of Bourbon. At a later date, and in con- 
 sequence of the principles which the English professed as to the 
 com.merce of neutral states, the powers of the North leagued 
 them.selves against that universal dominion which they were 
 accused of wishing to usurp over the sea. In the Ninth Period, 
 we shall even see the whole Continent for a short time turned 
 against that nation — the only one that has been able to preserve 
 her commerce and her independence. 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 5^ 
 
 This preponderance of England is the first change which the 
 poiincal system of Europe experienced in the eighteenth ceuniry. 
 The second took place in the North. Till that time, the nonhem . 
 countries of Europe had never, except transiently, had any poli- 
 tical, connexions with the South. Russia, separated by the 
 pospessions of Sweden on the coasts of the Baltic, had belonged 
 rather to Asia than to our quarter of the world. Poland; fallen 
 from her ancient greatness, had sunk into a state of anarchy and 
 exhaustion. Denmark and Sweden were disputing the command 
 of the Baltic, and had no other influence on the politics of the 
 South than that which Sweden had acquired by the personal 
 qualities of some of her kings. The great war of the North, 
 which broke out at the commencement of the eighteenth century, 
 and the conquests of Peter the Great, which extended the limits 
 of his Empire as far as the Gulf of Finland, and reduced Sweden 
 to a state of debility from which she has not yet recovered, 
 enabled Russia not only to take a distinguished lead in the 
 North, but to become an important member in the system of 
 Europe. 
 
 Meantime, the foundation of the Prussian monarchy gave rise 
 to a new and intermediate power between the North and the 
 South; but that state remained within the bounds of mediocrity 
 until the middle of the eighteenth century. At that time the 
 genius of Frederic II. alone raised it to a pitch of greatness which 
 enabled it to struggle against the superior force of its neighbours, 
 but without menacing the independence of other states. This 
 growing power of Prussia, however, occasioned a rivalry between 
 it and Austria, which for seventy years had an influence on the 
 politics of Europe. It produced the extraordinary spectacle of 
 an intimate alliance between two ancient rivals, the Houses of 
 Austria and Bourbon ; and, by dividing Germany between two 
 opposite systems, it paved the way for the dissolution of that 
 Empire. Such was the third change which the polity of Europe 
 experienced in course of the eighteenth century. 
 
 The fourth change was less felt than the three others ; its 
 fatal consequences did not develope themselves until the Ninth 
 Period. For the first time within the last three centuries, the 
 sovereigns of Europe ventured to break treaties and to violate 
 engagements, to declare war and undertake conquests, without 
 alleging any other motives than reasons of convenience, and the 
 ambition of aggrandizement. Thus the basis of the equilibrium 
 system, the inviolability of possessions honourably acquired, was 
 sapped, and the downfall of the whole system prepared. The 
 events of the wars for the succession of Austria, furnished the 
 first examples of this contempt for treaties ; they were renewed 
 
60 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 .11 a.rt alarming manner on the partition of Poland, and by the 
 aivrimpts which the Emperor Joseph made to seize Bavaria. The 
 act of iniquity committed against Poland was often cited, durmg 
 ihe period of the French Revohition, to justify all sorts of vio- 
 It-ncc and usurpation ; and it was followed Ly a long train of 
 calamities. 
 
 Commerce continued, in the eighteenth century, to be one of 
 ihe principal objects that occupied the Cabinets of Europe. The 
 mercantile system was brought to great perfection, and became, 
 with most nations, the basis of their administration. The mari- 
 time povv'ers turned all their attention, and bestowed the greatest 
 care, on their colonies, the number and wealth of which were 
 augmented by new establishments and better regulations. In 
 iiTxitation of Louis XIV., most of the states kept up numerous 
 standing armies ; a practice which they even carried to excess. 
 The influence of England in Continental affairs was increased ; 
 as she had no occasion to augment her own army in proportion 
 to that of other kingdoms, she was able to furnish them wdth 
 those supplies which were necessary to carry on their wars. 
 Besides, since the time of Frederic II., or about the year 1740, 
 tactics, and the military art in general, had reached a degree of 
 -perfection which seem.ed scarcely to admit of further improve- 
 ment. Finally, the financial system of several states experienced 
 a revolution, by the invention of public funds for the payment of 
 n5.tional debts ; especially that instituted by Mr. Pitt, called the 
 Sinking Fund.] 
 
 The extraordinary efforts which the powers of Europe had 
 made during the last century, for maintaining the equilibrium 
 of the Continent against the ambitious designs of France and 
 Sweden, brought on a long period of tranquillity, which gave 
 these nations an opportunity of encouraging arts, industry and 
 commerce, and thereby repairing the evils which the long and 
 disastrous Avars had occasioned. Cabinets were attentive to 
 maintain the stipulations of the treaties of Utrecht and Stock- 
 holm ; and, by means of negotiations, to guard against every 
 hing that might rekindle a new general war. The good under- 
 standing that subsisted between France and Great Britain during 
 lie reign of George I. and the beginning of that of George II. — 
 or, in other words, under the administration of Walpole, was the 
 •3 fleet of those temporary interests that engrossed the attention 
 of the two Courts — the one being under terror of the Pretender, 
 and the other alarmed at the ambitious projects of Spain. 
 
 The Duke of Orleans, Regent of France during the minority 
 of Louis XV., was anxious to maintain that peace and political 
 order which the late treaties had introduced : having it in view 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713—1789. 61 
 
 to remedy those disorders in the finance, which Louis XIV. had 
 left in so deplorable a state. ^ The King of Spain, on the other 
 hand, who was desirous of reviving his rights to the crown of 
 France, went into the rash schemes of Cardinal Alberoni,- his 
 prime minister, purporting to renew the war ; to reconquer those 
 territories which the peace of Utrecht had dismembered from 
 the Spanish monarchy ; to deprive the Duke of Orleans of the 
 regency, and vest it in the King of Spain ; and to place the Pre- 
 tender, son of James II., on the throne of Great Britain. 
 
 The treaty of Utrecht, although it had tranquillized a great 
 part of Europe, was nevertheless defective, in as far as it had 
 not reconciled the Emperor and the King of Spain, the two prin- 
 cipal claimants to the Spanish succession. The Emperor 
 Charles VI. did not recognise Philip V. in his quality of King 
 of Spain; and Philip, in his turn, refused to acquiesce in those 
 partitions of the Spanish monarchy, \vhich the treat}'- of Utrecht 
 had stipulated in favour of the Emperor. To defeat the projects 
 and secret intrigues of the Spanish minister, the Duke of Or- 
 leans thought of courting an alliance with England, as being 
 the power most particularly interested in maintaining the treaty 
 of Utrecht, the fundamental articles of which had been dictated 
 by herself. That alliance, into which the United Provinces also 
 entered, was concluded at the Hague (Jan. 4, 1717.) The arti- 
 cles of the treaty of Utrecht, those especially which related to 
 the succession of the two crowns, were there renewed ; and the 
 Regent, in complaisance to the King of England, agreed to 
 banish the Pretender from France, and to admit British com- 
 missaries into Dunkirk to superintend that port. 
 
 Cardinal Alberoni, without being in the least disconcerted by 
 the Triple Alliance, persisted in his design of recommencing the 
 war. No sooner had he recruited the Spanish forces, and 
 equipped an expedition, than he attacked Sardinia, which he 
 took from the Emperor. This conquest was followed by that 
 of Sicily, which the Spaniards took from the Duke of Savoy 
 (171S.) 
 
 France and England, indignant at the infraction of a treaty 
 which they regarded as their o\vn work, immediately concluded 
 with the Emperor, at London (Aug. 2, 1718,) the famous Quad- 
 ruple Alliance, which contained the plan of a treaty of peace, to 
 be made between the Emperor, the King of Spain, and the Duke 
 of Savo)^ The allied powers engaged to obtain the consent of 
 the parties interested in this proposal, and in case of refusal, to 
 compel them by force of arms. The Emperor was to renounce 
 his right to the Spanish crown, and to acknoAvledge Philip V. 
 as the legitimate King of Spain, in consideration of his renoun- 
 
 VOL. II. 6 
 
62 CHAPTBR IX. 
 
 cing the pro\inces of Italy and the Netherlands, which the treaty 
 cf Utrecht and the quadruple alliance adjudged to the Emperor. 
 The Duke of Savoy was to cede Sicily to Austria, receivjno 
 Sardinia in exchange, which the King of Spain was to give up. 
 The right of reversion to the crown of Spain was transferred 
 from Sicily to Sardinia. That treaty likewise granted to Don 
 Carlos, eldest son of Philip V., by his second marriage, the even- 
 tual reversion and investiture of the dutchies of Parma and Pla- 
 centia, as well as the grand dutchy of Tuscany, on condition ot 
 holding them as fiefs-male of the Emperor and the Empire, after 
 the decease of the last male issue of the families of Farnese and 
 Medici, who were then in possession ; and the better to secure 
 this double succession to the Infante, they agreed to introduce a 
 body of six thousand Swiss into the two dutchies, to be quartered 
 in Leghorn, Porto-Ferrajo, Parma, and Placentia. The con- 
 tracting powers ur^dertook to guarantee the payment of these 
 troops. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy did not hesitate to subscribe to the condi- 
 tions of the quadruple alliance ; but it was otherwise with the 
 King of Spain, who persisted in his refusal ; when France and 
 England declared war against him. The French invaded the 
 provinces of Guipuscoa and Catalonia, while the English seized 
 Gallicia and the port of Vigo. These vigorous proceedings 
 shook the resolutions of the King of Spain. He signed the 
 quadruple alliance, and banished the Cardinal Alberoni from his 
 court, the adviser of those measures of which the allies com- 
 plained. The Spanish troops then evacuated Sicily and Sardi- 
 nia, when the Emperor took possession of the former, and Victor 
 Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, of the latter. 
 
 The war to all appearance was at an end ; peace, however, 
 was far from being concluded, and there still remained many 
 difficulties to settle between the Emperor, the King of Spain, 
 and the Duke of Savoy. To accomplish this, and conclude a 
 definitive treaty between these three powers, a Congress was 
 summoned at Cambray, which was to open in 1721, under the 
 mediation of France and England; but some disputes which 
 arose regarding certain preliminary articles, retarded their meet- 
 ing for several years. Their first and principal object was to 
 ellect an exchange of the acts of mutual renunciation between 
 the Emperor and the King of Spain, as stipulated by the treaty 
 of the quadruple alliance. The Emperor, who was reluctant to 
 abandon his claims to the Spanish monarchy, started difficulties 
 as to the form of these renunciations. He demanded that Phi- 
 lip's renunciation of the provinces of Italy and the Netherlands, 
 should be confirmed by the Spanish Cortes. Philip demanded, 
 
PERIOD VIII. A D. 1713 — 1789. 63 
 
 in his turn, that the renunciation of the Emperor with regard to 
 Spain, should be ratified by the States of the Empire. To get 
 clear of this difficulty, France and England agreed, by a special 
 compact, signed at Paris (Sept. 27, 1721,) that the renunciations 
 of both princes, however defective they might be, should be held 
 valid under the guaranty of the two mediating powers. 
 
 Scarcely was this difficulty settled, when another presented 
 itself, much more embarrassing. This related to the Company 
 of Ostend, which the Emperor had instituted, and to which, by 
 charter signed at Vienna (Dec. 19, 1722,) he had granted, for 
 thirty years, the exclusive privilege of trading to the East and 
 West Indies, and the coasts of Africa. That establishment set 
 the maritime powers at variance with the Emperor ; especially 
 the Dutch, who regarded it as prejudicial to their Indian com- 
 merce. They maintained, that according to the treaty of Mun- 
 ster, confirmed by the tv/enty-sixtli article of the Barrier Treaty 
 (1715,) the trade of the Spaniards with the East Indies was to 
 remain as it was at that time. 
 
 Nothing in these preliminary discussions met with so much 
 opposition as the grant of the eventual reversion and investiture 
 of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, which the Emperor had en- 
 gaged, by the Quadruple Alliance, to give to Don Carlos, the 
 Infante of Spain. The Duke of Parma, the Pope, and the Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany joined in opposition to it. Anthony, the last 
 Duke of Parma and Placentia, of the House of Farnese, de- 
 manded that the Emperor should never, during his life, exercise 
 over the dutch}' of Parma, the territorial rights established by 
 the treaty of the Quadruple Alliance. The Pope also protested 
 loudly against that clause of the treaty which deprived him of 
 the rights of superiority over Parma and Placentia, which his 
 predecessors had enjoyed for several centuries. As for the 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany, John Gaston, the last of the Medici, he 
 maintained, that as his dutchy neld of God only, he could never 
 permit that it should be declared a fief of the Empire . nor recog- 
 nise the Infante of Spain as heir of his estates, to the prejudice 
 of his sister's rights, the widow of the Elector Palatine. 
 
 Charles VI. without stopping at these objections, laid the 
 business of these investitures before the Diet of Ratisbon ; and, 
 after having obtained their consent, he caused copies to be made 
 of the letters of reversion and investiture in favour of Don Carlos 
 and his heirs-male. These havin? been presented to the Con- 
 gress, the King of Spain refused to receive ihcm ; alleging the 
 protests of the Pope, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany; nor 
 would he agree to them, except on condition of an act of guaranty 
 on the part of the mediating powers. All these difficulties being 
 
64 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 settled, and the preliminaries closed, they at length proceeded 
 ■with the conferences at Cambray (April 1724,) for the conclu- 
 sion of a definitive peace between the Emperor, the King of 
 Spain, and the Duke of Savoy. Every thing seemed arrived 
 at an amicable termination, when some differences arose between 
 the commissioners of the Emperor and those of the mediating 
 powers, which occasioned new interruptions. 
 
 ?,Ieantime, the Duke of Bourbon, w^ho had succeeded the Duke 
 of Orleans in the ministry, sent back to Spain the Infanta Maria, 
 daughter of Philip V., who had been educated at the court of 
 France, as the intended spouse of Louis XV. This event broke 
 up the Congress. Philip V., greatly offended, recalled his 
 ministers from Cambray. Baron Ripperda, ^ whom he had sent 
 as envoy to the Imperial Court put an end to the differences be- 
 tween these two powers, in despite of the mediation of France. 
 In consequence, a special treaty was concluded at Vienna be- 
 tween the Emperor and the King of Spain (April 30, 1725.) 
 This treaty renev/ed the renunciation of Philip V. to the pro- 
 vinces of Italy and the Netherlands, as well as that of the Em- 
 peror to Spain and the Indies. The eventual investiture of the 
 dutchies of Parma and Placentia, and that of the grand dutchy 
 of Tuscany, were also confirmed. The only new clause con- 
 tained in the treaty, was that by which the King of Spain under- 
 took to guarantee the famous Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI., 
 which secured to the daughter of that prince the succession of 
 all his estates. It was chiefly on this account that Philip V. 
 became reconciled to the Court of Vienna. 
 
 The peace of Vienna was accompanied by a defensive alliance 
 between the Emperor and the King of Spain. Among other 
 clauses, one was that the Emperor should interpose to obtain 
 for the King of Spain the restitution of Gibraltar and the island 
 of Minorca; while Philip, on his side, granted to the shipping 
 of the Emperor and his subjects free entrance into his ports, and 
 all immunities and prerogatives which were enjoyed by the 
 nations in the strictest commercial connexions with Spain. 
 These clauses alarmed England and Holland; and the intimacy 
 which had been established between the Courts of Vienna and 
 Madrid attracted more particularly the attention of the Duke of 
 Bourbon, who dreaded the resentment of the King of Spain, as 
 he had advised the return of the Infanta. To prevent any such 
 consequences, he set on foot a league with England and Prus- 
 sia, capable of counteracting that of Vienna, which was concluded 
 at Herrenhausen, near Hanover (Sept. 3, 1725,) and is known 
 by the name of the Alliance of Hanover, 
 
 All Europe was divided betv/een these two alliances. Hoi- 
 
PERIOD vui. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 65 
 
 land, Sweden, and Denmark acceded to the alliance of Hanover. 
 Catherine I. of Russia, and the principal Catholic States of the 
 Empire joined that of Vienna. The Emperor even succeeded 
 in detaching the King of Prussia from the alliance of Hanover 
 to join his own. Europe seemed then on the eve of a general 
 war; the ambassadors to the different courts were recalled. The 
 English sent a numerous and pov/erful fleet to America, the 
 Mediterranean, and the Baltic ; while the Spaniards commenced 
 hostilities, by laying siege to Gibraltar. The death of the Em- 
 press of Russia (May 17, 1727,) however, caused a change in 
 the disposition of the Northern powers. The Emperor, seeing 
 he could no longer reckon on the assistance of Russia, showed 
 no anxiety to second the efforts of the Spaniards ; but what 
 chiefly contributed to the maintenance of peace was, that neither 
 France nor England was desirous of war. 
 
 In this situation of affairs, the Pope interposed his mediation ; 
 and a new preliminary treaty was signed at Paris, which or- 
 dained that there should be an armistice for seven years ; that 
 the Company of Ostend should be suspended for the same time ; 
 and that a new General Congress should be held at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. 
 
 This congress was first transferred to Cambray, and thence to 
 Soissons, where it was opened in 1728. Ambassadors from 
 almost all the Courts of Europe appeared there; and they ex- 
 pected, with some reason, a happy conclusion of the business ; 
 as most of the difficulties which had embarrassed the Congress 
 of Cambray were settled by the peace of Vienna, and as the only 
 subject for deliberation was to settle the succession of Parma and 
 Tuscany. But the Emperor having dem.anded that the Austrian 
 Pragmatic Sanction should be adopted as the basis of the arrange- 
 ments for establishing the peace of Soissons, that incident be- 
 came the subject of new disputes. Cardinal Fleury, then prime 
 minister of France, having strongly opposed this claim of the 
 Court of Vienna, the Emperor, in his turn, threw obstacles in 
 the way of the negotiation at Soissons. This inclined the Car- 
 dinal to make overtures to the Court of Madrid, with whom he 
 concerted a secret negotiation, in which he also found means to 
 associate England. 
 
 This gave rise to a treaty of peace, union, and offensive al- 
 liance, which was signed at Seville between France, Spain, and 
 England (November 9, 1729.) These powers engaged to gua- 
 rantee the succession of Parma and Tuscany in favour of the 
 Infante Don Carlos ; and to effect this, they resolved to substitute 
 six thousand Spanish troops in the Swiss garrisons, named by 
 the Quadruple Alliance. The Dutch acceded to that treaty, in 
 
 6# 
 
66 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 consideration of the engagement which the contracting powers 
 came under to give them entire satisfaction with respect to the 
 Company of Ostend. 
 
 The Emperor, finding the treaty of Seville concluded »vith- 
 out his co-operation, w^as apprehensive of having failed m his 
 prmcipal aim, viz. the adoption of the Austrian Pragmatic Sanc- 
 tion. He was indignant that the aUies at Seville should pre- 
 tend to lay down the law to him touching the abolition of the 
 Ostend Company, and the introduction of Spanish troops into 
 Italy. Accordingly, being determined not to comply, he imme- 
 diately broke off all relationship with the Court of Spain ; he 
 recalled his ambassador, and took measures to prevent the Spa- 
 nish troops from taking possession of Italy. The last Duke of 
 Parma, Anthony Farnese, being dead (1731,) he took posses- 
 sion of his dutchy by force of arms. 
 
 At length, to terminate all these differences, the King of Eng- 
 land, in concert with the States-General, opened a negotiation 
 with the Emperor ; the result of which was a treaty of alliance, 
 signed at Vienna, between him, England and Holland (March 
 16, 1731.) In virtue of that treaty, the three contracting pow- 
 ers mutually guaranteed their estates, rights and possessions ; 
 England and "Holland, more especially, engaged to guarantee 
 the Austrian Pragmatic Sanction ; and the Emperor, on his 
 side, consented to the introduction of Spanish troops into Italy, 
 and to the suppression of the Company of Ostend ; he even 
 agreed that the Netherlands should never carry on trade with 
 the Indies, either by the Ostend Company, or any other. 
 
 In consequence of this treaty, Avhich was approved by the 
 States-General, Don Carlos took possession of Parma and Pla- 
 centia ; and the Grand Duke of Tuscany also recognised him 
 as his successor. Thus terminated these long disputes about 
 the Spanish Succession, after having agitated the greater part 
 of Europe for upwards of thirty years. 
 
 In the midst of these contentions, a war had arisen between 
 the Porte and the Eepublic of Venice ; in which the Emperor 
 Charles VI. was also implicated. The Turks were desirous of 
 recovering the IMorea, which they had been obliged to abandon 
 to the Venetians at the peace of Carlowitz ; but instead of at- 
 tacking that Republic, while the Emperor was engaged with the 
 French war, and unable to render it assistance, they Avaited till 
 the conclusion of the treaties of Utrecht, Rastadt, and Baden, 
 before they declared hostilities. The pretexts which the Turks 
 made to justify this rupture were extremely frivolous ; but they 
 knew well that the Venetians, who had lived in the most com- 
 plete security since the pence of Carlowitz, had nf>glected to re- 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 67 
 
 pair the fortifications which had been destroyed in the war; and 
 that it Avould be easy for them to reconquer them. 
 
 In fact, during the campaign of 1715, the Grand Vizier noi 
 only recovered the Morea, he even dispossessed the Venetian^-. 
 of the places which they still retained in the Isle of Candia . 
 and, at the commencement of the following campaign, they laid 
 fciege to the town of Corfu. Charles VI. thought he was bound, 
 us the guarantee of the peace of Carlowitz, to espouse the 
 cause of the Venetians ; he declared war against the Porte, and 
 his example was followed by the Pope and the King of Spain, 
 who united their fleets to those of the Eepublic. The Turks 
 were defeated in several engagements, and obliged to raise the- 
 siege of Corfu, after sacrificing a great many lives. 
 
 The campaigns of 1716 and 1717 in Hungary, Avere trium- 
 phant for the armies of the Emperor ; Prince Eugene gained a 
 brilliant victory over the Grand Vizier, near Peterwaradin (Au- 
 gust 5th,) which enabled him to invest Temeswar, which he 
 carried after a siege of six m^onths, and thus completed the 
 conquest of Hungary. To crown his glory, that great captain 
 next undertook the siege of Belgrade, regarded by the Turks 
 as the principal bulwark of their Empire. The Grand Vizier 
 marched to the relief of the place, at the head of a formidable 
 army. He encamped before Belgrade, and enclosed the Impe- 
 rial army within a semicircle, reaching from the Danube to the 
 Save. Prince Eugene had then no other alternative than to 
 leave his camp, and attack the Turks in their intrenchments. 
 He took his measures Avhich such address, that, in spite of the 
 great superiority of the Turks, he forced them back to their 
 camp, and put them completely to rout (Aug. 10, 1717.) 
 
 This victory was followed by the reduction of Belgrade, and 
 several other places on the Save and the Danube. The Porte 
 began to wish for peace ; and as the Emperor, who had just been 
 attacked in Italy by the Spaniards, was equally desirous to put 
 an end to the war, both parties agreed to accept the mediation 
 of England and Holland. A congress was opened at Passaro- 
 witz, a small town in Servia, near the mouth of the Morau. A 
 peace was there concluded between the three belligerent powers 
 (July 21, 1718,) on the basis of the Uti possidetis. The Empe- 
 ror retained Temeswar, Orsova, Belgrade, and the part of Wal- 
 lachia lying on this side of the river Aluta ; as also Servia, ac- 
 cording to the limits determined by the treaty, and both -banks 
 of the Save, from the Drino to the Unna. The Venetians lost 
 the Morea, but they retained several places in Herzegovina, 
 Dalmatia, and Albania, which they had conquered during the 
 war. The Porte restored to them the Island of Cerigo in the 
 Archipelago, 
 
DO CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The success of Charles VI. in this war procured some new 
 advantages to his house, on the part of the States of Hungary. 
 The Diet of 1687, in vesting the hereditary right of that king- 
 acm in the Emperor Leopold I., had restricted that right, solely 
 to the male descendants of the House of Austria ; and Charles 
 VI., on his accession to the throne, had acknowledged the elec- 
 tive right of the States, in case he should happen to die without 
 leaving any male offspring. This prince, finding afterwards 
 that he had no other children left than the two daughters by his 
 marriage with Elizabeth princess of Brunswick, and being desi- 
 rous of securing to them the succession of Hungary as well as 
 his other estates, assembled a Diet at Presburg (1722,) and there 
 engaged the States of the kingdom to extend the right of suc- 
 cession to females, according to the order which he had estab- 
 lished in the Austrian Pragmatic Sanction, and published some 
 years before. 
 
 A revolution happened in the government of Sweden imme- 
 diatel}^ after the death of Charles XII., and before the. great war 
 of the North was quite ended. Reduced to a state of great dis- 
 tress by the folly, ambition, and inflexible obstinacy of that prince, 
 Sweden saw her finest provinces occupied by the enemy, her 
 commerce annihilated, her armies and her fleets destroyed. 
 They attributed these disasters chiefly to the absolute power of 
 Charles XII., and the abuse he had made of it. The only reme- 
 dy for so many evils, they conceived, was to abolish a power 
 which had become so pernicious to the State. As Charles had 
 never been married, the throne, according to the hereditary law 
 established in Sweden, passed to the son of the dutchess of Hol- 
 stein-Gottorp, eldest sister of Charles ; but the Senate of Sweden 
 preferred to him the princess Ulrica Eleonora, younger sister of 
 the late king; because of the declaration she had made, renoun- 
 cing all absolute power, and consenting to hold the crown only 
 by the free election of the States of the kingdom. The States, 
 in an assembly held at Stockholm, in the beginning of 1719, de- 
 clared the throne vacant, and then proceeded to the election of 
 the princess. With their act of election, they presented her with 
 a new form of government, and an act known by the name of 
 the Royal Assurance, which imposed new limitations on the 
 Toyal authority. The princess signed these acts (February 21,) 
 and the States declared that whoever should attempt to restore 
 absolute power, should be considered as a traitor to his country. 
 
 The government was intrusted to the queen conjunctly with 
 the Senate ; while the legislative poAver was reserved to the 
 Slates, to meet regularly every three years. The queen had 
 the right of proposing bills or ordinances ; but before these 
 
PERIOD viu. A. D. 1713—1789. 69 
 
 could have the force of law, they were to be submitted to the 
 examination of the States, without whose consent war was never 
 to be proclaimed. As for the deliberations of the Senate, it was 
 resolved, that they should be decided by a plurality of suffrages, 
 that the queen should have two votes, and a casting vote be- 
 sides. Thus, the chief power was vested in the hands of the 
 Senate, the members of which resumed their ancient title of 
 Senators of the kingdom, instead of that of Counsellors to the 
 King, which had been bestowed on them at the revolution of 
 16S0. Ulrica Eleonora afterwards resigned the crown to her 
 husband prince Frederic of Hesse-Cassel. The States, in their 
 election of that prince (May 22, 1720,) ordained that the Queen, 
 in case she should survive her husband, should be reinstated in 
 her rights, and resume the crown, without the necessity of a new 
 deliberation of the States. Frederic, by the Royal Assurance, 
 and the form of government which he signed, agreed to certain 
 new modifications of the yojq\ power, especially concerning ap- 
 pointments to places of trust. By these different stipulations, 
 and the changes which took place in consequence, the power of 
 the Swedish kings was gradually reduced to very narrow limits. 
 It was so much the more easy to make encroachments on the 
 royal power, as the King, by a radical defect in the new form 
 of government, had no constitutional means of preserving the 
 little authority that was left him. 
 
 The death of Augustus II. of Poland, occasioned new dis- 
 turbances, which passed from the North to the South of Europe 
 and brought about great changes in Italy. Louis XV. took the 
 opportunity of that event to replace Stanislaus on the throne of 
 Poland, who was his father-in-law, and the former protege of 
 Charles XII. The Primate, and the greater part of the Polish 
 nobility being in the interest of that prince, he was consequently 
 elected (Sept. 12, 1733.) 
 
 Anne Iwanowna, dutchess-dowager of Courland, and niece of 
 Peter the Great, had just ascended the throne of Russia ; having 
 succeeded Peter II. (June 20, 1730,) who was cut off in the 
 flower of his age without leaving any progeny. The grandees, 
 in conferring the croA\Ti on Anne, had limited her power by a 
 capitulation which they made her sign at Mittau, but which she 
 cancelled immediately on her arrival at Moscow. That princess, 
 dreading the influence of France in Poland, in case of a war 
 between Russia and the Porte, espoused the interests of Augus- 
 tus III., Elector of Saxony, and son of the late King, whom she 
 wished to place on the Polish throne. Part of the Polish nobility, 
 withdrawing from the field of election, and supported by a Rus- 
 sian army, proclaimed that prince, in opposition to Stanislaus, 
 the protege of France. 
 
70 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Russians, reinforced by the Saxon troops, seized Warsaw 
 and compelled Stanislaus to retire to Dantzic, where he was be- 
 sieged by a Russian army, under command of Field-Marshal 
 Munich, and obliged to seek safety in flight. Louis XV. wish- 
 ing to avenge this injury offered to his father-in-law, and not 
 being in a condition to attack Russia, resolved to declare war 
 against the Emperor; on the ground that he had marched an 
 army to the frontiers of Poland, for supporting the election of 
 the Saxon prince. 
 
 Spain and Sardinia espoused the cause of Stanislaus, which 
 seemed to them to be the cause of Kings in general ; while the 
 Emperor saw himself abandoned by England and Holland, 
 whose assistance he thought he might claim, in virtue of the 
 guarantee which the treaty of Vienna had stipulated in his fa- 
 vour. But these powers judged it more for their interests to 
 preserve strict neutralit}^ in this war, on the assurance which 
 France had given the States-General, not to make the Austrian 
 Netherlands the theatre of hostilities. The French commenced 
 operations by directing the Count de Belleisle to seize Lorraine, 
 the sovereign of which, Francis Stephen, son of Duke Leopold, 
 was to have married Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of the Em- 
 peror Charles VL About the same time, Marshal Berwick 
 passed the Rhine at the head of the French army, and reduced 
 the fortress of Kehl. By thus attacking a fortress of the Em- 
 pire, France gave the Emperor a pretext for engaging the Ger- 
 manic Body in his quarrel. In fact, he declared war against 
 France and her allies ; which induced the French to seize seve- 
 ral places on the Moselle, and to reduce the fortress of Philips- 
 burg, at the siege of which, Marshal Berwick was slain (June 
 I2,l734.) 
 
 The principal scene of the war then lay in Italy ; where the 
 campaigns of 1734 and 173-5 were most glorious for the allies. 
 After the two victories which they had gained over the Impe- 
 rialists near Parma (June 29,) and Guastalla (Sept. 17,) they 
 made themselves master of all Austrian Lombardy, with the 
 single exception of Mantua, which they laid under blockade. 
 A Spanish army, commanded by the Duke of Montemar, ac- 
 companied by the Infante Don Carlos, directed their march on 
 Naples, which threw open its gates to the Spaniards. The 
 victory which they gained over the Imperialists at Bitonto 
 (May 25,) decided the fate of the kingdom of Naples. After 
 this conquest, the Infante passed to Sicily. He soon reduced 
 that island, and was crowned King of the Two Sicihes at Pa- 
 lermo (July 3, 1735.) 
 
 The Emperor, overwhelmed by so many reverses, and unablo 
 
PERIOD VIU. A. D. 1713—1789. 7) 
 
 ^0 wnhstand the powers leagued against him, eagerly solicited 
 assistance from Eussia. The Empress Anne, who saw the war 
 leiminated in Poland, and Augustus in quiet possession of the 
 tn^one, despatched a body of ten thousand auxiliaries, under 
 :he command of General Count de Lacy, into Germany, m the 
 spring of the year 1735. These troops, the first Eussians who 
 had appeared in that country, joined the Imperial army on the 
 Ehine, which was commanded by Prince Eugene. That Gene- 
 ral, however, did not succeed in his design of transferring the 
 seat of war to Lorraine. 
 
 Matters were in this situation, when the maritime powers in- 
 terposed their good offices for restoring peace between the Em- 
 peror and the States leagued against him. Cardinal Fleury, 
 perceiving that their mediation was not agreeable to the Impe- 
 rial Court, took the resolution of concerting a secret negotia- 
 tion with the Emperor, the result of which was a treaty of pre- 
 liminaries; although much deliberation was necessary before 
 coming to the conclusion of a definitive peace. This was at 
 length signed at Vienna, between France, the Emperor, and the 
 Empire, on the 8th of November 1738. The former treaties of 
 Westphalia, Nimeguen, Eyswick, Utrecht, and the Quadruple 
 Alliance, were admitted as the basis of this treaty. Stanislaus 
 renounced the throne of Poland, and retained the title only 
 during his life. They gave him, by way of compensation, the 
 dutchies of Lorraine and Bar, on condition that, at his death, 
 the}'- should revert with full right to France. The single coun- 
 ty of Falkenstein, with its appurtenances and dependencies, 
 was reserved for Francis, Duke of Lorraine. In exchange for 
 the dutchy which he abdicated, that prince received the grand 
 dutchy of Tuscany, whose last possessor, John Gaston, of the 
 House of Medici, had just died without leaving any posterity 
 (1737.) The kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the ports of 
 Tuscany, were secured to Don Carlos and his descendants, 
 male and female ; and, in failure of them, to the younger bro- 
 thers of that prince, and their descendants. On his part, Don 
 Carlos ceded to the Emperor the dutchies of Parma and Pla- 
 centia, and even renounced the rights which former treaties had 
 given him over the grand dutchy of Tuscany. They restored 
 to the Emperor all that had been taken from him in the pro- 
 vinces of Milan and Mantua; with the reservation of the dis- 
 tricts of Novara and Tortona, which he was obliged to cede to 
 Charles Emanuel III., King of Sardinia, together with San- 
 Fidele, Torre di Forti, Gravedo, and Campo-Maggiore ; as also 
 the territorial superiority of the fiefs commonly called Langhes, 
 to be held entirely as Imperial fiefs. Finally, France under- 
 
'? CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1.00k, in the most authentic form, to guarantee the Pragmatic 
 Sanct.'on of the Emperor. 
 
 , The Kings of Spain and Sardinia were not satisfied with die 
 conditions of this treat3^ The former wished to preserve the 
 j;'VMiid dutchy of Tuscany, with the dutcliies of Parma and 
 Placentia ; and the other had expected to obtain a larger portion 
 of Lombardy. Thus, these princes long hesitated to admit the 
 articles agreed to between the courts of France and Vienna ; 
 nor did they give their consent until the year 1739. 
 
 While these disputes about the succession of Poland occupied 
 a great part of Europe, a war broke out between the Turks and 
 the Russians, in vvhich Austria was also implicated. The Em- 
 press Anne of Russia, wishing to recover AzofT, and repair the 
 loss which Peter the Great had sustained in his unfortunate 
 campaign on the Pruth, took advantage of the war between the 
 Turks and the Persians, to form an alliance with Khouli Khan, 
 the famous conqueror of the East, who had just subverted 
 the ancient dynasty of the Sophis of Persia. The incursions 
 which the Tartars had made at difierent times into the Russian 
 provinces, without the Porte thinking proper to check them, 
 served as a motive for the Empress to order an expedition 
 against the Turks (1735,) and to declare war against the Porte 
 soon after. It was during the campaign of 1736 that Count 
 Lacy made himself master of AzofT, and that Marshal Munich, 
 after having forced the lines at Perekop, penetrated into the in- 
 terior of the Crimea ; but having in that expedition lost many 
 of his men by famine and disease, he found it impossible to 
 maintain himself in that peninsula. 
 
 The Em.peror offered himself at first as a mediator between 
 the belligerent powers. A conference was opened at Niemerow 
 in Poland, which proved fruitless. The Russians who had jus<- 
 taken Oczakoff, emboldened by their success, were desirous tc 
 continue the war ; while the Emperor, without reflecting on the 
 bad condition of his military strength, and the loss which he 
 had sustained b}^ the death of the celebrated prince Eugene 
 (April 21, 1736,) thought only of sharing the conquest with the 
 Russians. He then laid aside the character of mediator, to 
 act on the defensive -against the Turks ; but he had soon rea- 
 son to repent of this measure. The Turks, encouraged by the 
 famous Count de Bonneval, gained considerable advantages 
 over the Austrians ; and in course of the campaigns of 1737 
 and 1738, they dislodged them from Wallachia and Servia, re- 
 took Orsova, and laid siege to the city of Belgrade in 1739. 
 
 The Court of Vienna, in a state of great consternation, had 
 recourse to the mediation of M. de Villeneuve, the French am- 
 
PERIOD viu. A. D. 1713—1789. 73 
 
 hassador at Constantinople, to sue for peace with the Porte ; 
 Count Neipperg, who was sent by the Emperor to the Turkish 
 camp before Belgrade, signed there, Avith too much precipita- 
 tion, a treaty, under very disadvantageous terms for Austria : 
 and the Empress Anne, who had intrusted the French ambas- 
 sador with her full powers, consented also to a peace very ur- 
 favourable for Russia, notwithstanding the brilliant victory 
 vvhich Marshal Munich had gained over the Turks in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Choczim (Oct. 28, 1739,) which was followed by 
 the capture of that place, and the conquest of Moldavia by the 
 Russians. 
 
 The Emperor, by that peace, ceded to the Porte, Belgrade, 
 Sabatz, and Orsova, with Austrian Servia and Wallachia. The 
 Danube, the Save, and the Unna, were again settled as the 
 boundary between the two Empires ; and Austria preserved 
 nothing but the Banat of Temeswar, of all that had been ceded 
 to her by the peace of Passarowitz. The Austrian merchants, 
 however, were granted free passage into and out of the king- 
 doms and provinces of the Ottoman Empire, both by sea and 
 land, in their own vessels, with the flag and letters-patent of the 
 Emperor, on condition of their paying the accustomed dues. 
 
 Russia surrendered all her conquests, and among others 
 Choczim and Moldavia. The boundaries between the two Em- 
 pires were regulated by different special agreements. The for- 
 tress of AzolT w'as demolished ; and it was stipulated that Russia 
 should not construct any new fortress within thirty versts of that 
 place, on the one side ; nor the Porte within thirty versts, on the 
 side of the Cuban. Russia was even interdicted from having 
 and constructing fleets or other naval stores, either on the Sea 
 of Azoff or the Black Sea. The Zaporog Cossacs continued 
 under the dominion of Russia, which obtained also from the 
 Porte the acknowledgment of the Imperial title. The peace be- 
 tween Russia and the Porte was declared perpetual ; but they 
 limited that between Austria and the Porte to twenty-seven 
 years. The latter was renewed under the Empress Maria 
 Theresa ; and rendered also perpetual, by an agreement which 
 that princess concluded with the Porte, May 25, 1747. 
 
 The succession to Charles VI., the last male descendant of the 
 House of Hapsburg, who died October 20th 1740, kindled a new 
 general war in Europe. That prince, in the year 1713, had 
 published an order of succession, known by the name of the 
 Pragmatic Sanction, Vv'hich decreed, that failing his lineal heirs- 
 male, his own daughters should succeed in preference to those 
 of his brother the Emperor Joseph I. ; and that the succession 
 of his daughters should be regulated according to the order of 
 
 vo^. u. 7 
 
74 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 primogeniture, so that the elder should he preferred to the 
 younger, and that she alone should inherit his whole estates. 
 He took great pains to get this order approved hy the different 
 hereditary States of Austria, as well as by the daughters of his 
 brother Joseph L, and by the husbands of these princesses, the 
 Electors of Saxony and Bavaria. He even obtained, by degrees, 
 the sanction of all the principal powers of Europe. But though 
 his external policy had been very active in securing the rights 
 of his eldest daughter Maria Theresa, he neglected those mea- 
 sures to which he ought rather to have directed his attention. 
 The wretched state in which he left his finances and his army, 
 encouraged a number of pretenders, who disputed the succession 
 with that princess. 
 
 Of these claimants, the principal was the Elector of Bavaria, 
 who, as being descended from Anne of Austria, daughter of Fer- 
 dinand I., advanced the claims of the females of the elder line, 
 against those of the younger ; grounded on the contract of mar- 
 riage betw^een that princess and Albert V. Duke of Bavaria, as 
 well as on the will of Ferdinand I. ' The Elector of Saxony, 
 then King of Poland, although he had approved of the Prag- 
 matic Sanction, claimed the succession, as being husband of the 
 elder of the daughters of Joseph I., and in virtue of a compact be- 
 tween the two brothers, Joseph I. and Charles VI., which provided, 
 that the daughters of Joseph should, under all circumstances, be 
 preferred to those of Charles. 
 
 Philip v., King of Spain, laid claim to the kingdoms of Bo- 
 hemia and Hungary. He grounded his rights on an agreement 
 (1617) between Philip III. of Spain and Ferdinand of Austria, 
 afterwards the Emperor Ferdinand II. ; according to which 
 these kingdoms were to pass to the descendants of Philip III., 
 failing the male line of Ferdinand. A war had arisen between 
 Spain and England on account of the clandestine traffic which 
 the English carried on in Spanish America, under favour of the 
 contract called the Assiento. Philip V. thought of turning these 
 differences relative to the Austrian succession to his own advan- 
 tage, either for drawing France into an alliance with him against 
 England, or to procure for his son Don Philip a settlement in 
 Italy, at the expense of the daughter of Charles VI. 
 
 Frederic II., King of Prussia, wdio had just succeeded his 
 father Frederic William I., judged this a favourable time for 
 turning his attention to the affairs of his own kingdom, and pro- 
 fitting by the troops and treasures which his father had left. 
 With -this view, he revived certain claims of his family to 
 several dutchies and principalities in Silesia, of which his an- 
 cestors, he maintained, had been unjustly deprived by Austria, 
 
PERIOD vni. A. D. 1713—1789. 75 
 
 Finally, the King of Sardinia^ laid claim to the whole dutchy of 
 Milan ; orrounded on the contract of marriage between his an- 
 cestor, Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy, and the daughter of 
 Philip IT. of Spain. The Court of France, wishing to avail 
 herself of these circumstances for humbling Austria, her ancient 
 rival, set on foot a negotiation with the Elector of Bavaria, and 
 engaged to procure him the Imperial crown, with a part of the 
 territories, of which he had deprived Austria. 
 
 An alJiance Avas concluded between France, Spain, and the 
 Elector of Bavaria, which was joined also by the Kings of Prus- 
 sia, Poland, Sardinia, and the two Sicilies ; ajid to prevent 
 Russia from affording assistance to Maria Thei-esa, they pre- 
 vailed on Sweden to declare war against that power. The 
 Court of Vienna having complained of these resolutions of the 
 French Cabinet, which were directly opposed to the conditions 
 of the last treaty of Vienna, Cardinal Fleury, who had been 
 drawn into that war by the intrigues of M. De Belleisle, alleged 
 in his own justification, that the guarantee of the Pragmatic 
 Sanction, which France had undertaken by that treaty, pre- 
 supposed the clause Sine prejiidicio tertii ; that is to say, that 
 France never intended, by that guarantee, to prejudice the just 
 claims of the Elector of Bavaria. 
 
 The most active of the enemies of Maria Theresa was the 
 King of Prussia, who entered Silesia in the month of December 
 174Q. While he was occupied in making that conquest, the 
 Elector of Bavaria, reinforced by an army of French auxiliaries, 
 took possession of Upper Austria ; but, instead of marching di- 
 rectly upon Vienna, he turned towards Bohemia, with the inten- 
 tion of conquering it. Meantime, the Electoral Diet, which was 
 assembled at Frankfort, conferred the Imperial dignity on that 
 prince, (Jan. 24, 1742,) who took the name of Charles VII. 
 Nothing appeared then to prevent the dismemberment of the 
 Austrian monarchy, according to the plan of the allied powers. 
 The Elector of Bavaria was to have Bohemia, the Tyrol, and 
 the provinces of Upper Austria ; the Elector of Saxony was to 
 have Moravia and Upper Silesia ; and the King of Prussia the 
 remainder of Silesia. As for Austrian Lombardy, it was des- 
 tined for Don Philip, the Infante of Spain. Nothing was left to 
 the Queen, except the kingdom of Hungary, with Lower Aus- 
 tria, the Dutchies of Carinthia, Stiria and Carniola, and the 
 Belgic Provinces. In the midst of these imminent dangers, 
 Maria Theresa displayed a courage beyond her age and sex. 
 Aided by the supplies of money which England and Holland 
 furnished her, and by the generous efforts which the Hungarian 
 nation made in her favour, she succeeded in calming the storm, 
 
76 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 repulsing- the enemy with vigour, and dissolving the grand 
 league which had been formed against her. 
 
 The King of Prussia, in consequence of the two victories 
 which he gained at Molwitz (April 10, 1741,) and Czaslau (May 
 17, 1742,) had succeeded in conquering Silesia, Moravia, and 
 part of Bohemia. It was of importance for the Queen to get rid 
 of so formidable an enemy. The King of Great Britain having 
 interposed, certain preliminaries were signed at Breslau, which 
 were followed by a definitive peace, concluded at Berlin (July 
 2S, 1742.) The Queen, by this treaty, gave up to the King of 
 Prussia Silesia and the Comte of Glatz, excepting the princi- 
 pality of Teschen, and part of the principalities of Trappau, 
 Jagerndorf, and Neisse. The example of Prussia was soon fol- 
 lowed by the King of Poland. This Prince, alarmed at the sud- 
 den increase of the Prussian power, not only acceded to the 
 treaty of Berlin, but even formed an alliance with the Queen 
 against Prussia. 
 
 The King of Sardinia, who dreaded the preponderance of the 
 Bourbons in Italy, likewise abandoned the grand alliance, and 
 attached himself to the Queen's interests, by a compact which 
 was signed at Turin. The French and Spaniards then turned 
 their arms against that Prince ; and while the King of the two 
 Sicilies joined his forces with the Spaniards, an English squad- 
 ron appeared before Naples, threatened to bombard the city, and 
 compelled the King to recall his troops from Lombardy, and re- 
 main neutral. This was not the only piece of service which 
 George II. rende^'ed the young Queen. Being one of the 
 powers that guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction, he sent to her 
 aid an army composed of English, Hanoverians, and Hessians. 
 This, known by the name of the Pragmatic Army, fought and 
 defeated tlie French at Dettingen (June 27, 1743.) They were 
 afterwards reinforced by a body of troops which the States- 
 General sent, in fulfilment of the engagement which they had 
 contracted with the Court of Vienna. Lastly, that prince, in order 
 to attach the King of Sardinia more closely to the interests of 
 Austria, set on foot a treaty at Worms, by which the Queen 
 ceded to the King of Sardinia the territory of Pavia, between 
 the Po and the Tesino, part of the dutchy of Placentia, and the 
 district of Anghiera, with the rights which they claimed to the 
 marquisate of Finale. The King, on his part, abandoned all 
 claims to the Milanois ; and engaged to support an army of 
 40,000 men for the service of the Queen, in consideration of the 
 supplies which England promised to pay him. 
 
 This soon changed the aspect of affairs. The Queen recon- 
 quered Austria and Bohemia. She expelled the French from 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 77 
 
 Bavaria, and drove them even beyond the Rhine. The Emperor 
 Charles VII. vas obliged to transfer his residence from Munich 
 to Frankfort on the Maine. France, Avho had never acted til] 
 then but as the ally of the Elector of Bavaria, resolved, rn con- 
 sequence of these events, formally to declare war against the 
 Queen and the King of Great Britain (March 15, 1744.) The 
 King of the Two Sicilies broke his neutrality, and again joined 
 his troops with the Spanish army, who were acting against the 
 Queen and her ally the King of Sardinia. The war was now 
 carried on with fresh vigour. Louis XV. attacked the Austrian 
 Netherlands in person, and negotiated a treaty of Union, at 
 Frankfort, between the Emperor, and several principal States 
 of the Empire. By this treaty it was stipulated, that the allied 
 princes should unite their forces, and constrain the Queen to 
 acknowledge the Emperor Charles VII., and reinstate him in 
 his hereditary dominions. 
 
 It was in consequence of this treat}^, that the King of Prussia 
 again commenced the war, and made an attack on Bohemia. 
 Prince Charles of Lorraine, who had invaded Alsace, at the 
 head of an Austrian army, was obliged to repass the Rhine, and 
 march to the relief of that kingdom. The French penetrated 
 into Germany, and w^hile Louis XV. laid siege to Friburg in 
 Brisgaw, General Seckendorf, who commanded the Imperial 
 army, reconquered Bavaria. Charles VII., who was then re- 
 stored to his estates, returned to Munich. 
 
 During these transactions, an unforeseen event happened, 
 which changed the state of affairs. The Emperor died at the 
 early age of forty-seven (Jan. 20, 1745,) and his son Maximilian 
 Joseph 11. , used all expedition to make up matters with the 
 Queen. By the special treaty, which he concluded with her at 
 Fuessen (April 22, 1745,) he renounced the claims which his 
 father had made to the succession of Charles VI. He again 
 signed the Pragmatic Sanction, satisfied with being maintained 
 in the possession of his patrimonial estates. The French had 
 in vain endeavoured to prevent the election of the Grand Duke 
 of Tuscany to the Imperial throne, who had been associated 
 with his wife, Maria Theresa, in the government of her heredi- 
 tar}^ dominions. That prince, however, was elected at Frank- 
 fort, under the protection of the Austrian and Pragmatic armies. 
 An alliance had been concluded at Warsaw between Maria 
 Theresa, Poland, England, and Holland (Jan. 8, 1745.) Au- 
 gustus III. had engaged, as Elector of Saxony, to despatch an 
 army of thirty thousand men to the Queen's assistance, in con- 
 sideration of the subsidies which England and Holland had pro- 
 mised to pay him. That army being joined by the Austrians, 
 
 7 # 
 
78 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 had advanced into Silesia, where they sustained a total defeat 
 near Hohenfriedberg (June 4.) The victorious King of Prussia 
 returned to Bohemia, and there defeated the allies a second 
 time, near Sorr, in the Circle of Konigratz (Sept. 30.) He then 
 attacked Saxony, in order to compel the Queen to make peace, 
 by harassing the Elector her ally. The victory, which he gain- 
 ed over the Saxons at Kesselsdorf (Dec. 15,) made him master 
 of Dresden, and the whole Electorate, which he laid under con- 
 tribution. These victories accelerated the peace between the 
 King of Prussia, the Queen, and the Elector of Saxony, which 
 was signed at Dresden, under the mediation of Great Britain. 
 The Kmg of Prussia restored to the Elector all his estates, the 
 Ktter promising to pay him a million of Imperial crowns. The 
 Queen gave up Silesia and the Comte of Glatz ; while the King, 
 as the Elector of Brandenburg, acquiesced in the election of 
 Francis I. to the Imperi?! throne. The King of England, the 
 Dutch, and the States of the Empire, undertook to guarantee 
 these stipulations. 
 
 The treaties of Fuessen and Dresden restored tranquillity to 
 the Empire ; but the war was continued in the Netherlands, 
 Italy, and in the East and West Indies. The French, under 
 the conduct of Marshal Saxe, distinguished themselves in the 
 Netherlands. The victories which they gained over the allies 
 at Fontenoy (May 11, 1745,) andatRocoux (Oct. 11, 1746,) pro- 
 cured them the conquest of all the Austrian Netherlands, except 
 the towns and fortresses of Luxemburg, Limburg, and Gueldres. 
 
 Charles Edward, son of the Pretender, encouraged and assist- 
 ed by the Court of France, landed in Scotland in August 1745. 
 Beirig joined by a number of partisans, v/hom he found in that 
 kingdom, he caused his father to be proclaimed at Perth and 
 Edinburgh, assuming to himself the title of Prince of Wales, 
 and Regent of the three kingdoms. The victory which he gain- 
 ed near Prestonpans over the English troops, rendered him mas- 
 ter of all Scotland. He next invaded England, took Carlisle, 
 and advanced as far as Derby, spreading terror and consternation 
 in London. George II. was obliged to recall the Duke of Cum- 
 berland, with his troops, from the Netherlands. That Prince 
 drove back the Pretender, retook Carlisle, and restored tranquil- 
 lity in Scotland, by defeating the Rebels near Culloden in the 
 Hio-hlunds. Charles Edward was then reduced to the necessity 
 of concealing himself among the mountains, until the month of 
 October following, when he found means to transport himself to 
 France. 
 
 The campaign of 1745 in Italy was glorious for the French, 
 and their allies the Spaniards. Tne Republic of Genoa, being 
 
PERIOD vin. A. D. 1713—1789. 79 
 
 offenaed at the clause in the treaty of Worms, which took from 
 them the marquisate of Finale, espoused the cause of the two 
 crowns, and facilitated the junction of the French army of the 
 Alps with that of Lombardy. One effect of this junction was 
 ttie conquest of Piedmont, as also of Austrian Lombardy, except- 
 ing the cities of Turin and Mantua, which the allies had laid 
 under blockade. 
 
 The fate of the war, however, experienced a new change in 
 Italy, at the opening of the following campaign. Maria The- 
 resa, disengaged from the war Avith Prussia, sent considerable 
 reinforcements into Lombardy, which gave her arms a superi- 
 ority over those of the allies. The French and Spaniards were 
 stripped of all their conquests, and sustained a grand defeat at 
 Placentia (June 16, 1746,) which obliged them to beat a retreat. 
 To add to their misfortunes, the new King of Spain, Ferdinand 
 VI., v/ho had just succeeded his father, Philip V., being dis- 
 pleased with the Court of France, and unfavourably inclined 
 towards his brother Don Philip, recalled all his troops from Ita- 
 ly. The French had then no other alternative left than to fol- 
 low the Spaniards in their retreat. Italy was abandoned to the 
 Austrians, and the French troops again returned to Provence. 
 The whole Republic of Genoa, with its capital, fell into the 
 hands of the Austrians. The King of Sardinia took possession of 
 Finale, Savona, and the western part of the Republican terri- 
 ritory. The Austrians, joined by the Piedmontese, made a 
 descent on Provence, and undertook the siege of Antibes. 
 
 An extraordinary event produced a diversion favourable for 
 France, and obliged the Austrians and Piedmontese to repass 
 the Alps. The Genoese being maltreated by the Austrians, 
 who had burdened them with contributions and discretionary 
 exactions, suddenly rose against their new masters. The in- 
 surgents, with Prince Doria at their head, succeeded in expel- 
 ling them from Genoa (Dec. 1746.) General Botta, who com- 
 manded at Genoa, was obliged to abandon his stores and equip- 
 age, that he might the more quickly escape from the territory 
 of the Republic. The siege of Antibes was raised ; the allies 
 repassed the Alps, and blockaded Genoa. But the French hav- 
 ing sent powerful supplies by sea to that city, and at the same 
 time made a vigorous attack on the side of Piedmont, relieved 
 the Genoese, and obliged the enemy to retreat. 
 
 In 1747, the French, who were already masters of the Aus- 
 trian Netherlands, attacked and conquered Dutch Flanders. 
 They blamed the Dutch for having sent constant supplies ,.0 
 Maria Theresa, for having invaded the French territory,- arKi 
 granted a retreat through their own to ihe enemy's iroopb, .tiei 
 
80 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 the battle of Fontenoy. This invasion spread terror in the 
 pro\nnce of Zealand, who thus saw themselves deprived of their 
 barrier, and exposed to the inroads of the French. The parti- 
 sans of the Prince of Orange took advantage of that circum- 
 stance to restore the Stadtholdership. This dignity, as well as 
 that of Captain and Admiral-Genera] of the Republic, had re- 
 mained vacant since the death of William III. 
 
 William IV., Prince of Nassau-Dietz, though he was testa- 
 mentary heir to that prince, had only obtained the Stadtholder- 
 ship of Friesland, to which was afterwards added that of Gro- 
 nino-en and Gueldres ; but the efforts which he made to obtain 
 the other offices and dignities of the ancient Princes of Orange, 
 proved inefTectual. The four provinces of Holland, Zealand, 
 Utrecht, and Overyssel, persisted in their free government, and 
 even refused the Prince the office of General of Infantry, which he 
 had requested. France, by attacking Dutch Flanders, contribu- 
 ted to the elevation of William. There was a general feeling in 
 his favour in those provinces which had no Stadtholder ; the peo- 
 ple of the different towns and districts rose in succession, and 
 oblio-ed the magistrates to proclaim William IV. as Stadtholder 
 and Captain-General. This revolution was achieved without 
 disturbance ; and without any obstacle on the part of those who 
 had an interest in opposing it, but who were obliged to yield to 
 the wishes of the people. They even went so far as to declare 
 the Stadtholdership, as well as the offices of Captain and Admi- 
 ral-General, hereditary in all the Prince's descendants, male 
 and female — a circumstance unprecedented since the foundation 
 of the Republic. 
 
 This change which happened in the Stadtholdership did not, 
 however, prevent the French from making new conquests. 
 They had no sooner got possession of Dutch Flanders, than 
 they attacked the town of Maestricht. The Duke of Cumber- 
 land having advanced with the allied army to cover the town, a 
 bloody battle took place near Laveld (July 2, 1747,) which was 
 gained by the French, under the command of Marshal Saxe. 
 The fortress of Bergen-op-Zoom, which was deemed impregna- 
 ble by its situation and the marshes which surrounded it, was 
 carried by assault by Count Lewendal, two months after he had 
 opened his trenches. 
 
 However briUiant the success of the French arms was on the 
 Continent, they failed in almost all their maritime expeditions. 
 The English took from them Louisburg and Cape Breton in 
 America; and completely destroyed the French marine, which 
 had been much neglected, under the ministry of Cardinal Fleu- 
 Ty. All the belligerent powers at length felt the necessity of 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 81 
 
 peace ; and there were two events which tended to accelerate 
 it. The Empress of Russia, conformable to the engagements 
 into which she had entered with the Courts of Vienna and 
 London, by the treaties of 1746 and 1747, had despatched 
 Prince Repnin to the Rhine, at the head of 30,000 men. Mar- 
 shal Saxe, at the same time, had laid siege to Maestricht, in 
 presence of the enemy, who were 80,000 strong. The taking 
 of that city would have laid open all Holland to the French, and 
 threatened the Republic vv^ith the most disastrous consequences. 
 
 A preliminary treaty was then signed at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 which was followed by a definitive peace (Oct. 18, 1748.) There 
 all former treaties since that of Westphalia were renewed ; a 
 mutual restitution w^as made on both sides, of all conquests 
 made during the war, both in Europe, and in the East and West 
 Indies ; and in consideration of the important restitutions which 
 France had made on the Continent, they ceded to Don Philip, 
 the son-in-law of Louis XV., and brother of Don Carlos, the 
 dutchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla ; to be possessed 
 by him and his lawful heirs male. The treaty of preliminaries 
 contained two conditions upon which the dutchies of Parma and 
 Guastalla should revert to the Queen, and that of Placentia to 
 the King of Sardinia ; viz. (1.) Failing the male descendants of 
 Don Philip. (2.) If Don Carlos, King of the Two Sicilies, should 
 be called to the throne of Spain. In this latter case, it was pre- 
 sumed that the kingdom of the Tw^o Sicilies should pass to Don 
 Philip, the younger brother of that prince ; but they did not 
 seem to recollect that the peace of Vienna (1738) had secured 
 this latter kingdom to Don Carlos, and all his descendants male 
 and female ; and consequently, nothing prevented that prince, 
 should the case so happen, from transferring the Two Sicilies to 
 one of his own younger sons ; supposing even that he were not per- 
 mitted to unite that kingdom with the Spanish monarchy. The 
 plenipotentiaries having perceived this oversight after the con- 
 clusion of the preliminaries, took care to rectify it in the defini- 
 tive treaty, by thus wording the second clause of the reversion, 
 " Should Do7i Philij)., or any of his descendants^ be either called 
 to the throne of Spai7i, or to that of the Two Sicilies.'''' 
 
 The Empress agreed to this change, but the King of Sardinia 
 was not so complaisant. In respect to him, it was necessary to 
 make the definitive treaty entirely conformable to the prelimi- 
 naries. It was this circumstance which prevented the King of 
 the Two Sicilies, from acceding to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 By that treaty the King of Sardinia was confirmed in those dif- 
 ferent possessions in the Milanois Avhich the treaty of Worms 
 had adjudged him. These, however, did not include that part of 
 
82 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Placentia which had just been ceded to Don Philip ; nor the 
 marquisate of Finale, which the Genoese retained. That Re- 
 public, and the Duke of Modena, who had always been the ally 
 of France, were restored to the- same state in which they were 
 before the war. Silesia was guaranteed to the King of Prussia 
 by the whole of the contracting po-wers. As for England, be- 
 sides the guarantee of the British succession in favour of the 
 House of Hanover, she obtained a renewal of the expulsion of 
 the Pretender from the soil of France ; while this latter power, 
 victorious on the continent, consented to revive the humiliating 
 clause in the treaty of Utrecht, which ordered the demolition of 
 the Port of Dunkirk. The only modification which was made 
 to this clause was, that the fortifications of the place on the 
 land side should be preserved. Lastly, by the sixteenth article 
 of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the contract of the Assieiito re- 
 specting the slave trade granted to England by the treaty of 
 Utrecht, was renewed in favour of the English Company of the 
 Assiento, for the four years in which that trade had been inter- 
 rupted during the war. * 
 
 This peace produced no considerable change on the political 
 state of Europe ; but by maintaining the King of Prussia in his 
 conquest of Silesia, it raised a rival to Austria in the very centre 
 of the Empire. The unity of the Germanic body-v/as thus 
 broken, and that body divided between the two leading powers, 
 Austria and Prussia. The system of aggrandizement and con- 
 venience which Frederic the Great had put in practice for de- 
 priving Austria of Silesia came afterwards into vogue ; and by 
 gradually undermining the system of equilibrium, which former 
 treaties had introduced, it occasioned new revolutions in Europe. 
 
 The dispute about the Austrian succession, extended its in- 
 fluence to the North, where it kindled a war between Russia and 
 Sweden. The Empress Anne, a little before her death (Oct. 17, 
 1740,) had destined as her successor on the throne of Russia, the 
 young prince Iwan or John, the son of her niece Anne of Meck- 
 lenburg, by Prince Anthony Ulric of Brunswick. The Regency 
 during the minority of Iwan, was conferred on her favourite 
 Biron, whom she had raised to the first offices of the state, and 
 created Duke of Courland. The mother of the young Emperor, 
 indignant at seeing the management of affairs in the hands of a 
 favourite, gained over to her interests Field-Marshal Munich, 
 by whose assistance the Duke of Courland ^vas arrested and 
 banished to Siberia, whilst she herself was proclaimed Grand 
 Dutchess and Regent of the Empire. 
 
 The ministry of this princess were divided in their opinions, 
 on the subject of the war about the Austrian succession. Some 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 83 
 
 supported the cause of Prussia, with which Russia had just re- 
 newed her treaties of alliance ; while others were inclined for 
 Austria, the ancient ally of Russia. This latter party havinjj 
 prevailed, France, in order to prevent Russia from assisting 
 Maria Theresa, thought proper to give her some occupation m 
 the North. It was by no means difficult to raise Sweden 
 against her ; where the faction of the Hats, then the ruling 
 party, was entirely devoted to the French interest. This fac- 
 tion, which was opposed by that of the Bo?inets, or Caps, re- 
 newed the treaty of^ subsidy with France, and also concluded a 
 treaty of perpetual alliance against Russia (Dec. 22, 1739.) 
 Encouraged by the 3^oung nobles, they flattered themselves that 
 the time was come, when Sweden would repair the losses which 
 she had sustained by the foolish expeditions of Charles XIL 
 
 A Diet extraordinary was assembled at Stockholm (Aug. 
 1741,) which declared war jigainst Russia. They alleged, 
 among other motives, the exckision of the Princess Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Peter the Great, and the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, 
 from the throne of Russia ; the assassination of Major Sinclair, 
 who had been murdered, as the Swedes affirmed, by the emis- 
 saries of Russia, while bearing despatches from Constantinople 
 for the Sv/edish Court, and when he was passing through Silesia 
 on his way to Stockholm. This declaration of war had been 
 made, before the Swedes could take those measures which pru- 
 dence should have dictated. They had neither an army fit for 
 action, nor stores prepared in Finland ; and their General, Count 
 Lewenhaupt, had nothing to recommend him but his devotion 
 to the ruling party. Sweden had flattered herself that the Turks 
 would recommence the war with Russia, and that she Avould 
 thus find resources in the alliance and subsidies of France. The 
 first action, which took place near Wilmanstrand (Sept. 3, 1741) 
 was quite in favour of the Russians ; a great number of Swedes 
 were there either killed or made prisoners, and the town of Wil- 
 m^anstrand was carried sword in hand. 
 
 Meantime a revolution happened at St. Petersburg, which 
 seemed to have brought about a favourable change for the Swe- 
 dish government. The Princess Elizabeth, supported by the 
 Marquis de la Chetardie, minister of France, and by a company 
 of the guards whom she had drawn over to her interest, seized 
 the Regent Anne, her husband the Prince of Brunswick, and the 
 young Emperor ; all of whom she sent into exile, and caused 
 herself to be proclaimed Empress. The Swedes, who had flat- 
 tered themselves with having aided in placing that princess on 
 the throne, immediately entered into negotiations with her ; but 
 as they carried their pretensions too high, the conference was 
 broken off, and the war continued- 
 
84 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The campaign of 1742, proved also unfortunate for Sweden. 
 I'heir arniy in Finland, though equal in point of strength to thai 
 of Eussia, durst not keep the field. They abandoned all then- 
 best posts one after another, and retired towards Helsingfors. 
 beyond the ri.er Kymen. Shut up in this position, and besieg- 
 ed b}?- sea and land, they were obliged to capitulate. The Swe- 
 dish troops returned home, the Finnish regiments laid down 
 tneir arms, and the whole of Finland surrendered to the Russians. 
 
 The States of Sweden having assembled under these circum- 
 stances, and bemg desirous of an accommodation w^th Russia, 
 offered the throne of Sweden to Charles Ulric, Duke of Holstein- 
 Gottorp, and nephew of the Empress Elizabeth. That prince, 
 however, declined the offer of the Diet. He had just been de- 
 clared Grand Duke, and presumptive heir to the Russian Em- 
 pire, and had embraced the Greek religion. This intelligence 
 astounded the Diet, who then placed on the list of candidates for 
 th«^ throne, the Prince Royal of Denmark, the Duke of Deux- 
 Ponts, and the Bishop of Lubec, uncle to the new Grand Duke 
 of Russia. A considerable party were inclined for the Prince of 
 Denmark ; and they were on the point of renewing the ancient 
 union of the three kingdoms of the North in his favour. To 
 prevent an election so prejudicial to the interests of Prussia, the 
 Empress abated from the rigour of her first propositions, and 
 offered to restore to the Swedes a great part of their conquests, 
 on condition of bestowing their throne on Prince Adolphus Fre- 
 deric, Bishop of Lubec. This condition having been acceded 
 to, Prince Frederic was elected (July 3, 1743 ;) the succession to 
 descend to his male heirs. A definitive peace was then conclu- 
 ded between Russia and Sweden, at Abo in Finland. 
 
 Sweden, by thus renouncing her alliance with the Porte, rati- 
 fied anew all that she had surrendered to Russia by the peace of 
 Nystadt. Moreover, she ceded to that Crown the province of 
 Kymenegard in Finland, with the towns and fortresses of Frie- 
 dricsham and Wilmanstrand ; as also the parish of Pyttis, lying 
 to the east of the Kymen, and the ports, places, and districts, 
 situated at the mouth of that river. The islands lying on the 
 south and west of the Kymen were likewise included in this 
 cession ; as were also the town and fortress of Nyslott, with its 
 territory. All the rest of Finland was restored to Sweden, to- 
 gether with the other conquests which Russia had made during 
 the war. The Swedes were permitted to purchase annually in 
 the Russian Ports of the Baltic, and the Gulf of Finland, grain 
 to the value of 50,000 rubles, v/ithout paying any export duty. 
 
 Portugal, about the middle of the eighteenth century, became 
 the scene of various memorable events, which attracted ireneral 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. So 
 
 attention. John V., who had governed that kingdom from 1706 
 till 1750, had fallen into a state of weakness and dotage, and 
 abandoned the reins of government to Don Gaspard, his confes- 
 sor, under whose administration numerous abuses had crept into 
 tbe state. Joseph I., the son and successor of John V., on 
 ascending the throne (July 31, 1750,) undertook to reform these 
 abuses. By the advice of his minister, Sebastian De Carvalho, 
 afterwards created Count D'Oeyras, and Marquis De Pombal, 
 he turned his attention to every branch of the administration. 
 He patronized the arts and sciences, encouraged agriculture, 
 nanufactures, and commerce ; regulated the finances ; and used 
 every effort to raise the army and navy of Portugal from that 
 state of languor into which they had fallen. These innovations 
 could not be accomplished without exciting discontent in the 
 different orders of the state. The minister increased this by his 
 inflexible severity, and the despotism which he displayed in the 
 exercise of his ministerial functions ; as well as by the antipathy 
 which he showed against the nobility and the ministers of reli- 
 gion. The Companies which he instituted for exclusive com- 
 merce to the Indies, Africa, and China, raised against him the 
 whole body of merchants in the kingdom. He irritated the no- 
 bility by the contempt which he testified towards them, and by 
 annexing to the Crown those immense domains in Africa and 
 America, which the nobles enjoyed by the munificence of former 
 kings. The most powerful and the most dangerous enemies of 
 this minister were the Jesuits, whom he had ventured to attack 
 openly, and ha'd even ordered to be expelled from Portugal. 
 This event, which was attended with remarkable consequences, 
 must be described more fully. 
 
 During the life of John V.,a treaty had been signed between 
 the Courts of Madrid and Lisbon (1750,) in virtue of which the 
 Portuguese colony of St. Sacrament and the northern bank of 
 the river La Plata in America, were ceded to Spain, in exchange 
 for a part of Paraguay, lying on the eastern bank of the Uru- 
 guay. This treaty was on the point of being carried into exe- 
 cution ; the commissioners appointed for this purpose had com- 
 menced their labours ; but the inhabitants of the ceded territories 
 opposed the exchange, as did several individuals in both Courts. 
 The Jesuits were suspected of being the authors and instigators 
 of that opposition. In the territories which Vv'ere to be ceded to 
 Portugal, they had instituted a republic of the natives, which 
 they governed as absolute masters ; and which they were afraid 
 would be subverted, if the exchange in question should take 
 place. They used every means, therefore, to thwart the arrange- 
 aients of the two courts ; and it is alleged they even went so far 
 
 vor. IT 8 
 
86 CHAPTER IX. " 
 
 as to excite a rebellion among the inhabitants of the countries to 
 be exchanged. The consequence was, a long and expensive 
 war between the two crowns, which occasioned much bloodshed, 
 and cost Portugal alone nearly twenty millions of cruzados. 
 
 In the midst of these events, there occurred a terrible earth- 
 quake, which, in the twinkling of an eye, demolished the greater 
 part of Lisbon, and destroyed between twenty and thirty thou- 
 sand of its inhabitants (Nov. 1, 1755.) Fire consumed what- 
 ever had escaped from the earthquake ; while the overflowing 
 of the sea, cold and famine, added to the horrors of these ca- 
 lamities, which extended even over a great part of the kingdom. 
 The Jesuits were reproached for having, at the time of this distres- 
 sing event, announced new disasters, which were to overwhelm 
 Portugal, as a punishment for the sins of which the inhabitants 
 had been guilty. These predictions, added to the commotions 
 which still continued in Brazil, served as a pretext for depriving 
 the Jesuits of their office of Court-confessors, shutting them out 
 from, the palace, and even interdicting them from hearing con 
 fessions over the whole kingdom. 
 
 The outrage which was committed against the King's person 
 immediately after, furnished the minister with another pretext 
 against that religious order. The King, when going by night 
 to Belem, (Sept. 3, 175S,) was attacked by assassins, who mis- 
 took him for another, and flred several shots at him, by which 
 he was severely wounded. Several of the first nobles in the 
 kingdom were accused, among others the Duke d'Aveiro, the 
 Marquis and Marchioness de Tavora, the Count d'Atougia, &c. 
 as being the ringleaders in this plot against the King's life, who 
 were sentenced to execution accordingly, [but their innocence 
 was afterwards fully established.] 
 
 The Jesuits were also implicated in this affair, and publicly 
 declared accomplices in the King's assassination. They were 
 proscribed as traitors and disturbers of the public peace ; theii 
 goods were confiscated; and every individual belonging to the 
 order was embarked at once at the several ports of the king 
 dom, without any regard to age or infirmities, and transported 
 to Civita \^ecchia within the Pope's dominions. The Portu 
 guese minister, apprehensive that this religious order,- if pre- 
 served in the other states of Europe, ,would find means, sooner 
 or later, to return to Portugal, used every endeavour to have 
 their Society entirely suppressed. He succeeded in this at- 
 tempt by means of the negotiations which he set on. foot with 
 several of the Catholic courts. In France the Society was 
 dissolved, in virtue of the decrees issued by the parliament 
 (1762.) Paris set the first example of this. Louis XV. declared, 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 87 
 
 Jiat the Society should no longer exist within tha kingdom. 
 The Court of Madrid, where they had two powerful enemies 
 in the ministry, Counts d'Aranda and de Campomanes, com- 
 manded all the Jesuits to depart from the territory and jurisdic- 
 tion of Spain ; and, at the same time, declared their goods con- 
 fiscated. They were likewise expelled from the kingdom of 
 Naples ; and the order was at length entirely suppressed, by a 
 brief of Pope Clement XIV. (July 21, 1773.)5 
 
 The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle had by no means restored a 
 good understanding between France and England. A jealous 
 rivalry divided the two nations, which served to nourish and 
 muUiply subjects of discord between them. Besides, the ac- 
 tivity of the French in repairing their marine, which had been 
 destroyed in the last war, w^as view^ed with jealousy by Great 
 Britain, then aspiring to the absolute command of the sea, and 
 conscious that France alone v/as able to counteract her ambi- 
 tious projects. Several matters of dispute, which the peace of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle had left undecided, still subsisted betweeen the 
 tvro nations, relative to their possessions in America. The prin- 
 cipal of these, regarded the boundaries of Nova Scotia and Cana- 
 da, and the claims to the neutral islands. Nova Scotia had been 
 ceded to England, by the twelfth article of the treaty of Utrecht, 
 according to its ancient limits. These limits the French had 
 circumscribed within the bounds of the peninsula w^hich forms 
 that province ; while the English insisted on extending them to 
 the southern bank of the .river St. Lawrence, of which the ex- 
 clusive navigation belonged to the French. 
 
 The limits of Canada were not better defined than those of 
 Nova Scotia. The French, with the view of opening a com- 
 munication betweeen Canada and Louisiana, had constructed se- 
 veral forts along the river Ohio, on the confines of the English 
 colonies in America. This w^as opposed by England, who was 
 afraid that these establishments w^ould endanger the safety of 
 her colonies, especially that of Virginia. The neutral islands, 
 namely the Caribees, which comprehended St. Lucia, Domini- 
 ca, St. Vincent, and Tobago, still remained in a contested state, 
 according to the ninth article of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 The French, however, alleged certain acts of possession, by 
 Avhich they claimed the property of these islands, as well as of 
 the Caicos and Turkish islands. Commissioners were appoint- 
 ed on both sides to bring these disputes to an amicable termi- 
 nation. A conference was opened at Paris, wdiich began about 
 the end of September 1750, and continued for several years ; 
 but as neither party w^as disposed to act wdth sincerity, these 
 conferences ended in nothing. The English, who saw that the 
 
8S CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Frcncli only sought to gain time for augmenting their marine 
 hastened the rupture by committing a-cts of hostility in America. 
 
 The first breach of the peace was committed on the banks of 
 the Ohio, where the French, to avenge the murder of one of their 
 officers, seized on Fort Necessity, belonging to the English 
 (July 17'54,) The English, on their side, captured two French 
 vessels off the Bank of Newfoundland, which had refused to 
 salute the English flag. They even attacked all the French 
 merchantmen which they met, and captured about three hun- 
 dred of them. Thus, a long and bloody war was waged for the 
 deserts and uncultivated wilds of America, which extended its 
 ravages over all parts of the globe, involving more especially 
 the countries of Europe. 
 
 England, according to a well known political stratagem, 
 sought to occupy the French arms on the Continent ; in order 
 to prevent the increase of her maritime strength. France, in- 
 stead of avoiding that snare, and confining herself solely to 
 naval operations, committed the mistake of falling in with the 
 views of the British minister. While repelling the hostilities 
 of England by sea, she adopted at the same time measures for 
 invading the Electorate of Hanover. The Court of London, 
 wishing to guard against this danger, began by forming a 
 closer alliance with Russia (Sept. 30, 1755 ;) they demanded of 
 the Empress those supplies which they thought they might 
 claim in virtue of former treaties ; and on the refusal of that 
 princess, who was afraid to disoblige France, and to find her- 
 self attacked by Prussia, they applied to this latter power, with 
 which they concluded a treaty at Westminster (Jan. 16, 1756;) 
 the chief object of which w^as to prevent foreign troops from 
 entering into the Empire during the war between France and 
 England. To this treaty France opposed the alliance which 
 she had concluded with Austria at Versailles, by which the two 
 powers guaranteed their respective possessions in Europe, and 
 promised each other a mutual supply of twenty-four thousand 
 men in case of attack. The differences then subsisting between 
 France and Great Britain were not reckoned among the Casus 
 Federis. 
 
 [The alliance of 1756 has given rise to different opinions 
 among statesmen ; the greater part have condemned it. Its ob- 
 ject was, on the part of France, to guard herself against all at- 
 •tacks on the Continent, that she might direct her whole force 
 against her maritime rival; but experience proved, that without 
 attaining this object, she was henceforth obliged to take part in 
 all the disputes of the Continent, however foreign they might 
 be to her own policy. It was even contrary to her interests to 
 
TERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 89 
 
 have Austria extricated from the embarrassments wliich the op- 
 position of Prussia had occasioned her. If that project had suc- 
 ceeded, Austria would have become the preponderating power 
 in Germany, to a degree which w^ould have compelled the French 
 to turn their arms against her.] 
 
 While the French were still hesitating as to the part which 
 they ought to take relative to the Electorate of Hanover, the 
 King of Prussia invaded Saxony (Aug. 1756.) On taking this 
 step, he published a manifesto, the object of which was to prove 
 by the despatches of the three Courts of Vienna, Dresden, and 
 Petersburg, that they had concerted a plan am.ong them for at- 
 tacking him ; and that common prudence required him to pre- 
 vent it. He declared at the same time, that his entrance into 
 Saxony had no other aim than that of opening a communication 
 with Bohemia ; and that he would only retain that countr^r as a 
 depot until the conclusion of the peace. This invasion, however, 
 stirred up a powerful league against Prussia (1757.) Besides 
 France and the Empress, it was joined by the Germanic body, 
 Russia and Sweden. France, which had at first restricted her- 
 self to furnishing the Empress with the supplies stipulated b}'' 
 the alliance, agreed, by a subsequent treaty, to despatch an army 
 of more than 100,000 men into Germany, against the King of 
 Prussia, and his ally the King of England ; and, moreover, to 
 pay to that Princess an annual subsidy of twelve millions of 
 florins. 
 
 In this war the French arms were attended at first with the 
 most brilliant success. They conquered the island of Minorca, 
 and seized the Electorate of Hesse, and the whole States of 
 Brunswick and Hanover ; but fortune soon turned her back on 
 them, when they experienced nothing but defeats and disasters. ^ 
 The extraordinary efforts which they were making on the Con- 
 tinent naturally tended to relax their maritime operations, and 
 thus afforded England the means of invading their possessions 
 in other parts of the world. In the years 1757 and 1761, Chan- 
 dernagore, Pondicherry, and Mahe, in the East Indies, fell into 
 the hands of the English; and in 1758, they seized on all the 
 French settlements on the river Senegal and the coasts of Africa. 
 The Islands of Cape Breton and St. John in America ; the forts 
 and settlements on the Ohio ; Quebec (v/here General Wolfe 
 fell,) and the whole of Canada, were all conquered in like man- 
 ner, between the years 1756 and 1760. Finally, the Islands of 
 Guadaloupe, Mariagalante, Dominica, Martinique, Grenada, St. 
 Vincent, St. Lucia, and Tobago, were also taken from France. 
 
 The King of Prussia, though overwhelmed by the number of 
 his enemies, and finding no great assistance from his alliance 
 
90 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 with England, nevertheless did not lose courage. He distin- 
 guished himself by the number of victories which he gained 
 over the powers leagued against him, during the campaigns of 
 the Seven Years' War.''' This war was already far advanced, 
 when the Duke de Choiseul, who was then at the head of the 
 French ministry, observing the great superiority of the English 
 by sea, conceived the plan of the famous Family Compact, which 
 he negotiated with the Court of Madrid, and w^hich was conclu- 
 ded at Paris (August 15, 1761.) The object of this treaty was 
 to cement an alliance and a perpetual union among the differ- 
 ent branches of the House of Bourbon, for the purpose of coun- 
 terbalancing the maritime power of England. 
 
 The King of Spain had come under no engagment to join in 
 the war which subsisted between France and England ; but the 
 haughty manner in which the Court of London demanded of 
 him an account of the principles of the Family Compact, gave 
 rise to a declaration of war between these two courts. Spain 
 and France required the King of Portugal to accede to their 
 alliance against England. That prince in vain alleged the 
 treaties which connected him with the English nation, and which 
 would not permit him to take part against them. A declaration, 
 published by the two allied courts, set forth, that the Spanish 
 troops should enter Portugal to secure the ports of that kingdom , 
 and that it should be left at the King's option to receive them as 
 friends or as enemies ; and it was this which laid him under the 
 necessity of declaring himself in favour of England (May 18, 
 1762.) An English fleet, with a supply of troops, was then, sent 
 to the relief of Portugal; while a body of French troops joined 
 the Spanish army which Avas destined to act against that king- 
 dom. The city of Almeida was the only conquest which the 
 Spaniards made in Portugal. The English, on the contrary, 
 took from the Spaniards the Havana, and a great part of the 
 Island of Cuba in America ; as also Manilla and the Philip 
 pines in the Indian Ocean. The war thus became more general, 
 and seemed about to assume a new vigour, when an unforeseen 
 event changed entirely the face of affairs, and disposed the bel- 
 ligerents for peace. 
 
 Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, died about this time ; and 
 Peter III., nephew to that princess, ascended the throne. Peter, 
 who was a great admirer of the King of Prussia, took an early 
 opportunity of making j eace with that prince. A suspension of 
 arms was signed between the two crowns, which was followrd 
 by a treat}^ of peace concluded at St. Petersburg (May 5, 1762.) 
 By that treaty, Russia surrendered all the conquests which she 
 liad made in Prussia and Pomerania during the war. Peter 
 
PERIOD vin. A. D. 1713— 17S9. 91 
 
 renounced the alliances which he had formerly contracted 
 aiJ:anist the King of Prussia ; while he, in his turn, refused to 
 form alliances or engagements contrary to the interests of Rus- 
 sia, or to the hereditary possessions of Peter in Germany. But 
 the new Emperor was not content with testifying this mark of 
 affection for the King of Prussia. Jie agreed to send a body of 
 troops into Silesia to his assistance. A revolution, however, 
 happened in Russia, which occasioned new changes. Peter III. 
 v/as dethroned (July 9,) after a reign of six months. The Em- 
 ])ress Catherine II., his widow, on ascending the throne, pre- 
 served the treaty of peace with the King of Prussia ; but she 
 recalled her troops from Silesia, and declared that she would 
 maintain neutrality between the King and the Empress. 
 
 Sweden, who had experienced nothiHg but defeats in course 
 of that war, followed the example of Russia. She agreed to a 
 suspension of arms with the King of Prussia, and soon after con- 
 cluded a treaty of peace with him at Hamburg (May 22, 1762.) 
 These two treaties paved the way for a general peace, the pre- 
 liminaries of which were signed at Fountainbleau, between 
 France, England, Spain and Portugal. The definitive peace 
 was concluded at Paris (Feb. 10, 1763.) This treaty was fol- 
 lowed by that of Hubertsburg, Vvdiich reconciled Prussia with 
 the Empress and the Elector of Saxony. 
 
 By this latter treaty, the Empress surrendered to the King of 
 Prussia the province of Glatz, as also the fortresses of Wesel 
 and Gueldres. The Elector of Saxony again took possession 
 of those States which the King of Prussia had taken from him ; 
 and the treaties of Breslau, Berlin and Dresden, were renewed. 
 Thus, after seven campaigns, as sanguinary as they were ex- 
 pensive, the peace of Hubertsburg restored the affairs of Ger- 
 mian}^ to the same state in which they had been before the war. 
 
 France, by the treaty of Paris, ceded to England Canada and 
 the island of Cape Breton, with the islands and coasts of the Gulf 
 and River of St. Lawrence. The boundaries between the two 
 nations in North America were fixed by a line drawn along the 
 middle of the Mississippi, from its source to its mouth. Ail on 
 the left or eastern bank of that riv^^r was given up to England, 
 except the city of New Orleans, wliich was reserved to France ; 
 as was also the liberty of the fisheries on a part of the coasts of 
 Newfoundland, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The islands of 
 St. Peter and Miquelon were given them as a shelter for their 
 fishermen, but without permission to raise fortifications. The 
 islands of Martinico, Gaudaloupe, Mariagalante, Desirada, and 
 St. Lucia, were surrendered to France ; while Grenada, the 
 Grenadines, St. Vincent, Dominica, and Tobago, were ceded 4o 
 
91^ CHAPTER IX. 
 
 England. The latter power retained her conquests on the Sen- 
 egal, and restored to France the island of Gorea on the coast ot 
 Africa. FraLce was put in possession of the forts and factories 
 which belonged to her in the East Indies, on the coasts of Coro- 
 mandel, Orissa, Malabar, and Bengal, under the restriction oi 
 keeping up no military force in Bengal. 
 
 In Europe, France restored all the conquests she had made 
 in Germany; as also the island of Minorca. England gave up 
 to her Belleisle on the coast of Brittany ; while Dunkirk was 
 kept in the same condition as had been determined by the peace 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle. The island of Cuba, with the Havana, was 
 restored to the King of Spain, who, on his part, ceded to Eng- 
 land Florida, Avith Fort Aug-ustine and the Bay of Pensacola. 
 The King of Portugal was restored to the same state in which 
 he had been before the war. The colony of St. Sacrament in 
 America, which, the Spaniards had conquered, was given back 
 to him.^ 
 
 The peace of Paris, of which we have just now spoken, was 
 the era of England's greatest prosperity. Her commerce and 
 navigation extended over all parts of the globe, and Avere sup- 
 ported by a naval force, so much the more imposing, as it was 
 no longer counterbalanced by the maritime power of France, 
 which had been almost annihilated in the preceding war. The 
 immense territories which that peace had secured her, both in 
 Africa and America, opened new channels for her industry ; 
 and, what deserves especially to be remarked, is, that she ac- 
 quired at the same time vast and important possessions in the 
 East Indies. 
 
 The Empire of the Great Mogul in India had fallen into decay 
 about the beginning of the eighteenth century. The viceroys 
 and petty governors of the Empire, called Soubahs and Nabobs, 
 had become independent, and usurped the prerogatives of roj^alty 
 in the districts under their authority ; while the Mogul Empe- 
 lor, reduced almost to the single cit^^ of Delhi, his capital, pre- 
 served nothing but the shadow of sovereign power, by means of 
 ihe investitures which he granted to these ambitious princes, 
 and the coinage that was struck in his name. Whenever any 
 differences arose among these princes, they usually had recourse 
 to the European nations, who had settlements in India, and had 
 erected forts with the consent of the Great Mogul, where they 
 kept an armed force for the protection of their commerce. If 
 the French took the part of one nabob, it was sufficient to induce 
 the English to espouse the quarrel of his adversary; and while 
 the two nations were mutually cultivating peace in Europe 
 they ware ofton at the same time making war in India, by fur 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713— 17.S9. 95 
 
 nishing supplies to their respective allies. Success was for a 
 long time equal on both sides ; and it was not until the war of 
 1755, and by the victories and conquests of the famous Lord 
 Clive, that England obtained a decided ascendency over the 
 French in that quarter of the world. 
 
 Sourajah Dowlah, the Soubah of Bengal, instigated, as is sup- 
 posed, by the French, had taken possession of Calcutta (1756,) 
 the principal settlement of the English on the Ganges. His 
 cruel treatment of the English garrison, which he had made 
 prisoners of war, excited the resentment of that nation. To 
 avenge this outrage, Colonel Clive, supported by Admiral "vYat- 
 son, retook Calcutta (Jan. 1757;) and after having dispossessed 
 the French of Chandernagore, their principal establishment on 
 the Ganges, he vanquished the Soubah in several actions, de- 
 posed him, and put in his place Jaffier Ali Khan, his general 
 and prime minister, who was entirely devoted to England. 
 
 With this era commences the foundation of the British Empire 
 in India. It happened a short time after, that the Mogul Empe- 
 ror, Shah Allum, being driven from his capital by the Fatans, 
 an Indian tribe, solicited the protection of the English, who 
 availed themselves of this occasion, as well as of the death of 
 Jaflier Ali, which happened at this time, to get themselves vested 
 by treaty (1765,) and by means of an Imperial charter, in the 
 sovereignty of all Bengal. In virtue of this title, which legiti- 
 mated their power in the eyes of the people, they seized on the 
 public revenues of the kingdoms of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; 
 with the reservation of an annual tribute, v;hich they promised 
 to pay to the Mogul Emperor, and certain pensions which they 
 assigned to the Soubahs, whose phantom power they disposed 
 of at their pleasure. The dominion of the English in India, was 
 increased still more by subsequent conquests ; the most impor- 
 tant of which was the powerful state of ]\Iysore, which they 
 utterly overthrew, after a series of wars which they carried on 
 with Hyder Ali, and his successor Tippoo Saib.^ 
 
 [The death of Ferdinand VI., King of Spain, was an event of 
 some importance. He was succeeded bjr his brother Don Carlos, 
 King of the Two Sicilies, and eldest son of Philip V. by his 
 second marriage, who assumed the title of Charles III. Under 
 this prince the philosophy of the eighteenth century penetrated 
 into Spain, where it displayed an energy, and gave rise to con- 
 sequences, which had not yet attended it in France. It occa- 
 sioned the downfall of the Jesuits, which was accompanied by 
 deeds repugnant to justice and humanity. The ministers and 
 counsellors of that monarch, the Counts Arranda, Florida Blanca, 
 and Campomanes, introduced into the internal administration 
 
94 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 of Spain, especially its finances and tactics, an order and regu- 
 larity which had been long unknown in that country. Agricul- 
 ture, commerce, and industry were beginning to recover from 
 their langour, when the American war again threw them into 
 a state of fatal depression.] 
 
 Before quitting Naples to take possession of the throne of 
 Spain, Don Carlos, who, as King of the Two Sicilies, had the 
 title of Charles VII., published a fundamental law, bearing, that 
 agreeably to former treaties which did not admit the union of 
 the Italian States with the Spanish monarchy, he transferred 
 the kingdom of the Two Sicilies to his third son Don Ferdinand ; 
 as his eldest son, Don Philip, was incapable of reigning, and his 
 second, Don Carlos, was destined for the throne of Spain. He 
 intrusted the administration to a regency, during the nonage of 
 the young prince, whose majority was fixed at the age of seven- 
 teen. By ihis law he regulated the order of succession which 
 was to take place in the kingdom of the Tvv'o Sicilies, and which 
 was the same as that which Philip V. had established in Spain 
 at the Cortes of 1713. After the descendants male and female 
 of his own body, Charles substituted his brothers Don Philip, 
 Duke of Parma, and Don Louis ; adding, that the kingdom of 
 the Two Sicilies should never in any case be united with the 
 Spanish monarchy. This regulation of the new King of Spain 
 accorded perfectly with the terms of the seventh article of the 
 treaty of Vienna (173S,) which secured the kingdom of the Two 
 Sicilies to that prince and his descendants, male and female ; 
 and failing these, to his ^^ounger brothers and their descendants, 
 of both sexes. 
 
 The King of Sardinia continued, however, to enforce his right 
 of reversion to that part of Placentia, which the fourth article of 
 the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle had secured to him, in case Don 
 Carlos should remove from the kingdom of the Two Sicilies to 
 the crown of Spain. The Court of France, wishing to retain that 
 possession for Don Philip, and to prevent the tranquillity of Italy 
 from being disturbed by the pretensions of the King of Sardinia, 
 engaged to procure that prince an equivalent with which he 
 should have reason to be satisfied. This equivalent was settled 
 (June 10, 1763) by a convention concluded at Paris, between 
 France, Spain, and the King of Sardinia. The latter consented 
 to restrict his right of reversion in the two cases specified in the 
 seventh article of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ; viz. (1.) Fail- 
 ing the male descendants of Don Philip ; (2.) Should that prince, 
 or one of his descendants, be called either to the throne of Spain 
 or to that of the Two Sicilies ; and should one or other of these 
 two case.i happen in the meantime, the crowns of France and 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 95 
 
 Spain engaged that the King of Sardinia should enjoy the same 
 amount of annual revenue, which might accrue to him (after 
 aeducting the expenses of administration,) from that part of Pla- 
 centia on the Nura, should he ever come into actual possession. 
 Foi this purpose, France undertook, by a special agreement, 
 which was signed at Paris the same day with the preceding, to 
 pay the King of Sardinia, by twelve instalments, the sum of 
 eight millions two hundred livres ; on condition of reverting to 
 France, should one or other of these alternatives happen. 
 
 The sudden aggrandizement of Russia, since the time of Peter 
 the Great, had changed the political system of the North. That 
 power had raised herself to the first rank. She dictated the law 
 to Poland and Sw^eden, her ancient rivals; disposed of the 
 throne of Poland on every change of reign ; and at the same 
 time decided the fate of Courland. That dutchy, which had 
 long been possessed by the family of Kettler who held it as a 
 fief of the crown of Poland, had become vacant on the death of the 
 Duke Ferdinand, the last male descendant of that House. Ann, 
 Empress of Russia, being then only Dutchess of Courland, had a 
 favourite, named Ernest John Biron, a man raised by fortune, 
 whose grandfather had been groom to James III., Duke of Cour- 
 land. When that princess mounted the throne of Russia, she 
 raised Biron to the rank of Count, and to the office of Great 
 Chamberlain and Prime Minister. The haughty favourite as- 
 sumed the name and arms of the fam.ily of Biron, in France ; 
 and prevailed with the Empress to grant him the dutchy of 
 Courland. At the death of the last Duke, he even succeeded in 
 getting himself elected by the States of that country (1737;) 
 with the aid of a body of Russian troops, which the Empress 
 had sent to Mittau, to support his election. He was invested 
 in the dutchy by the Republic of Poland, to be possessed by him- 
 self and his heirs-male ; but he did not long enjoy this new dig- 
 nity. He was deprived of it on the death of the Empress (1740;) 
 and banished to Siberia by the Grand Dutchess Ann, mother of 
 the 3'oung Emperor. This princess caused a new election to 
 be made by the nobility of Courland. The dutchy was then 
 conferred on Louis Ernest, Prince of Brunswick, who was to 
 marry Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. But the young 
 Emperor, Iwan, having been dethroned immediately after, the 
 Prince of Brunswick never obtained possession of the dutchy. 
 The Empress Elizabeth having decla^-ed to tlie Republic of 
 Poland that the Duke de Biron shoula never be liberated from 
 his exile, Augustus III., King of Poland, declared the dutchy o|. 
 Courland vacant. He then prevailed on the States of that coun- 
 try to elect his own son. Prince Charles, whom he solemnly 
 invested in the dutchy (1759.) 
 
96 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A new change happened at the death of the Empress Eliza- 
 beth, in 1762. Peter III., on his accession to the throne of Rus- 
 sia, recalled the Duke de Biron from his exile. The Empress, 
 Catherine II., who succeeded her husband that same year, went 
 even forther than this ; she demanded the restoration of do 
 Biron to the dutchy of Courland, and obliged Prince Charles of 
 Saxony to give it up to him (1769.) The Duke de Biron then 
 resigned the dutchy to his son Peter, who, after a reign of twen- 
 ty-five years, surrendered it to the Empress; the States of 
 Courland and Semigallia made a formal submission to Russia 
 (March 2S, 1795.) 
 
 The dethronement of Peter III., which we have just men 
 tioned, was an event very favourable to Denmark, as it relieved 
 that kingdom from a ruinous war with which it v/as threatened 
 on the part of the Emperor. Peter III. was the head of the 
 House of Holstein-Gottorp, whom Denm-ark had deprived of 
 their possessions in Sleswick, by taking advantage of the dis- 
 asters that befell Sweden, which had protected that family 
 against the Danish kings. The Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp ex- 
 claimed against that usurpation ; to which the Court of Denmark 
 had nothing to oppose, except their right of conquest, and the 
 guarantee which the Kings of France and England, as media- 
 tors in the treaty of Stockholm, had given to Denmark with 
 respect to Sleswick. 
 
 Peter III. was scarcely seated on the throne of Russia, when 
 he began to concert means for recovering his ancient patrimo- 
 nial domains, and avenging the wrongs which the Dukes of 
 Holstein-Gottorp, his ancestors, had received at the hands of 
 Denmark. Being determined to make war against that power, 
 he attached the King of Prussia to his cause, and marched a 
 Ru-sian army of 60,000 men towards the frontiers of Denmark 
 Si:\ thousand Prussians were to join this army, which was sup- 
 ported by a Russian fleet to be stationed on the coasts of Po- 
 me rania. The King of Denmark made every effort to repel the 
 invasion with which he was threatened. He set on foot an army 
 of 70,000 meii, the command of which he intrusted to M. de 
 St. Germain, a distinguished French officer. 
 
 The Danish army advanced towards Mecklenburg, and esta- 
 b!!:shed their head-quarters in the town of that name, one 
 league from Wismar. The Danish fleet, consisting of twenty 
 sail of the line and el^-T'en frigates, appeared at the same time 
 off Ro-stock. The flames of war were about to kindle in the 
 North, and Peter III. was on the point of joining his army in 
 person at IMecklenburg, when he was dethroned, after a short 
 reign of six months (July 9, 1762.) The Empress Catherir'2 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 17i:>"-17S9. 97 
 
 il., who succeeded him, did not think fit to espouse the quarrel 
 of her husband. She immediately recalled the Russian army 
 from Mecklenburg; and being desirous of establishing the tran- 
 quillity of the North on a solid basis, and connrming a good un- 
 derstanding between the two principal branches of the House 
 of Holstein, she agreed, by a treaty of alliance with the King 
 of Denmark (176-5,) to terminate all these differences by a 
 provisional arrangement, which was not to take effect until the 
 majority of the Grand Duke Paul, the son of Peter III. 
 
 This accommodation between the two Courts was signed at 
 Copenhagen (April 22, 1762.) The Empress, in the name of 
 her son, gave up her claim to the ducal part of Sleswick, oc- 
 cupied by the King of Denmark. She ceded, moreover, to 
 that sovereign a portion of Holstein, possessed by the family of 
 Gottorp, in exchange for the counties of Oldenburg and Del- 
 menhorst. It was agreed, that these counties should be erect- 
 ed into dutchies, and that the ancient suffrage of Holstein-Got- 
 torp, at the Imperial Diet, should be transferred to them. This 
 provisional treaty was ratified when the Grand Duke came of 
 age ; and the transference of the ceded territories took place in 
 177(i. At the same time that prince declared, that he designed 
 the counties of Oldenburg and Deimenhorst to form an esta- 
 blishment for a 3^ounger branch of his family, that of Eutin ; 
 to which the contracting powers also secured the bishopric of 
 Lubec, to be held in perpetual possession. The bishop of Lubec, 
 the head of the younger branch of the Gottorp family, was that 
 same year put in possession of the counties of Oldenburg and 
 Deimenhorst ; and the Emperor Joseph II. erected these coun- 
 ties into a dutchy and fief-male of the Empire, under the title 
 of the Dutchy of Hoistein-Oldenburg. 
 
 Here it will be necessary to advert to the revolutions that took 
 place in the Island of Corsica, which, after a long series of troubles 
 and distractions, passed from the dominion of G-enoa to that of 
 France. The oppressions which the Corsicans had suffered 
 under the government of the Genoese, who treated them with 
 extreme rigour, had rendered their yoke odious and insupporta- 
 ble. They rose several times in rebellion against the Republi- 
 cans ; but from the want of union among themselves, they failed 
 in the different attempts Avhich they made for effecting their 
 liberty and independence. 
 
 One of the last insurrections of the Corsicans was that of 
 1729. They chose for their leader Andrew Ceccaldi of a noble 
 family in the Island, and Luigi Giafferi, a man of courage and 
 an enthusiast for liberty. The Genoese, after trying in vain to 
 subdue the insurgents, were obliged to have recourse to the pro* 
 
 9 
 
9S CHAPTER 11. 
 
 tection of foreigners. They applied to the Emperor Chanes 
 VL, who sent them several detachments of troops under tne 
 command of General Wachtendonk, and Prince Frederic Louis 
 of Wurtemherg-. The Corsicans, too feeble to oppose an enemy 
 so superior in strength, were glad to lay down their arms. But 
 the war about the Polish Succession having obliged the Empe- 
 ror to v/ithdraw his troops, the Islanders raised a new insurrec- 
 tion. A general assembly was then convened, which declared 
 Corsica to be a free and independent republic (1734.) Giaiferi 
 was re-elected General, and had for his colleague Hyacinthus 
 Paoli, father to the famous general of that name. Thus the Ge- 
 noese, after lavishing much expense on auxiliary troops, had the 
 mortification to find themselves still in the same condition in 
 which they were, before receiving the Imperial succours. They 
 then took into their pay bodies of Swiss and Grison troops ; and 
 even enlisted outlaws and vagabonds, and ,placed them in their 
 ranks to oppose the Corsicans. 
 
 It happened, during these transactions, that an adventurer ap- 
 peared in Corsica, the celebrated Theodore Baron Neuhof. He 
 was descended of a noble family in the county of Mark, in West- 
 phalia ; and having procured arms and ammunition at Tunis, 
 he repaired to Corsica (1736,) where he was determined to try 
 his fortune. His engaging manners, added to the prospects 
 wh'ch he held out of a powerful foreign assistance, induced the 
 Corsicans to confer on him the royal dignity. He was proclaim- 
 ed King of Corsica, and immediately assumed the external 
 badges of royalt}^. He appointed guards and officers of state, 
 corned money in his own name, and created an order of knight- 
 hood, called the Redemptioii. Taking advantage of the enthu- 
 siasm with which he had inspired the Corsicans, he boldly made 
 war on the Genoese, and laid several of their places under 
 blockade. But his money being exhausted, and the people be- 
 ginning to cool in their attachment towards him, he took the 
 determination of applying for assistance to foreigners. He em- 
 barked for Holland, where he found means to engage a society 
 of m^srchants, by the allurements of a lucrative commerce with 
 Corsica, to furnish him with artillery, ammunition, and other 
 supplies, with which he returned to the Island. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the Genoese, threatened with 
 loosing for ever their sovereignty over Corsica, entered into an 
 as'^ociation with the Court of Versailles. This Court, fearing 
 that England would take advantage of these disturbances to gel 
 possession of the Island, concerted measures with the Court oi 
 Vienna, for obliging the Corsicans to return to their allegiance 
 lo the Genoese. For this purpose, a plan of pacification was 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 99 
 
 drawn up at Versailles, and Count de Boissieux was charg-ed to 
 carry it into execution. This General landed in the Island 
 (17.38,) at the head of a body of French auxiliaries ; and his ar- 
 rival determined King Theodore to abandon Corsica, and seek 
 his safety in flight. He retired to London, where he was im- 
 prisoned for debt. After a long capTTvity he was set at liberty, 
 and died in a state of misery (1756.) Boissieux harassed the 
 Corsicans exceedingly, but he failed in his efforts to reduce them 
 eo submission. His successor, the Marquis de Maillebois, was 
 more fortunate ; he took his measures with such precision and 
 vigour, that he obliged the Islanders to lay down their arms, and 
 receive the law from the conqueror. Their Generals, Giafferi 
 and Paoli, retired to Naples. 
 
 The war of the Austrian Succession, having obliged the 
 French Court to recall their troops from Corsica, that island be- 
 came the scene of new disturbances. Gafforioand Matra then 
 took upon them the functions of generalship, and the direction 
 of affairs. They had a colleague and coadjutor in the person 
 of Count Rivarola, a native of Corsica, who, with the assistance 
 of some English vessels succeeded in expelling the Genoese 
 from Bastia and San Fiorenzo. The Corsicans might have 
 pushed their advantages much farther, if they could have sub- 
 dued their own feuds and private animosities, and employed 
 themselves solely in promoting the public interest; but their 
 internal divisions retarded their success, and allowed their ene- 
 mies to recover the places they had conquered. Rivarola and 
 Matra having resigned the command, the sole charge devolved 
 on Gafforio, who was a man of rare merit and of tried valour. 
 He was beginning to civilize his countrymen, and to give some 
 stability to the government of the island, when he was assassi- 
 nated, as is supposed, by the emissaries of the Genoese (1753.) 
 His death plunged Corsica once more into the state of disorder 
 and anarchy, from which he had laboured to deliver it. 
 
 At length appeared the celebrated Pascal Paoli, whom his 
 aged father had brought from Naples to Corsica. Being elected 
 General-in-chief by his countrymen (1755,) he inspired then 
 with fresh courage ; and while he carried on the war with sue 
 cess against the Genoese, he made efforts to reform abuses in the 
 State, and to encourage agriculture, letters and arts. Nothing 
 was wanting to accomplish this object, and to confirm the liberty 
 and independence of his country, but the expulsion of the Geno- 
 ese from the maritime towns of Bastia, San Fiorenzo, Calvi, Al- 
 gagliola and Ajaccio; the only places which still remained in 
 their power. In this he would probably have succeeded, had he 
 not met with new interruptions from France, who had underta- 
 
100 
 
 OHAPTER IX- 
 
 ken, by the several treaties which she had concluded with ihe 
 Genoese in the years 1752, 1755, 1756 and 1764, to defend their 
 ports and fortifications in that island. 
 
 The original intention of the French, in taking possession of 
 these places, was not to carry on hostilities with Paoli and the 
 natives, but simply to retain them for a limited time, in discharge 
 of a debt which the French government had contracted with the 
 Eejablic of Genoa. The Genoese had flattered themselves, 
 that if exonerated from the duty of guarding the fortified places, 
 they would be able, with their own forces, to reconquer all tiiv- 
 rest of the island ; but it was not long before they found them- 
 selves deceived in their expectations. The Corsicans drove the 
 Genoese from the island of Capraja (1767.) They even took 
 possession of Ajaccio, and some other parts which the French 
 had thought fit to abandon. At the same time the shipping of 
 the Corsicans made incessant incursions on the Genoese, and 
 annoyed their commerce. 
 
 The Senate of Genoa, convinced at last that it was impossible 
 for them to subdue the island, and seeing the time approach 
 when the French troops were to take their departure, took the 
 resolution of surrendering their rights over Corsica to the crown 
 of France, by a treaty which was signed at Versailles (May 15, 
 176S.) The King promised to restore the island of Capraja to 
 to the Republic, He guaranteed to them all their possessions 
 on terra Jirma ; and engaged to pay them annually for ten 
 years, the sum of 200,000 livres. The Genoese reserved to 
 themselves the right of reclaiming the sovereignty of Corsica, 
 on reimbursing the King for the expenses of the expedition he 
 was aboui lo undertake, as well as for the maintenance of his 
 troops. This treaty occasioned strong remonstrances on the part 
 of the Corsicans, who prepared themselves for a vigorous de- 
 fence. The first campaign turned to their advantage. It cost 
 France several thousand men, and about thirty millions of livres. 
 The Duke de Choiseul, far from being discouraged by these dis- 
 asters, transported a strong force into the island. He put the 
 Count de Vaux in the place of the Marquis de Chauvehn, who, 
 by the skilful dispositions which he made, found himself master 
 of all Corsica, in less than two months. The Islanders not hav- 
 ing received from England the supplies which they had request- 
 ed, the prospect of which had kept up their courage, considered 
 it rash and hopeless to make longer resistance. The difTerent 
 provinces, in their turn, gave in their submission ; and the prin- 
 cipal leaders of the Corsicans dispersed themselves among the 
 neighbouring States. Pascal Paoli took refuge in England. 
 
 The throne of Poland having become vacant by the death of 
 
PERif D vin. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 101 
 
 Augustus TIL (Oct. 5, 1763,) the Empress Catherine II. des- 
 tined that crown for Stanislaus Poniatowski, a Polish nobleman, 
 who had gained her favour when he resided at St. Petersburgh 
 as plenipotentiary of Poland. That princess having gained over 
 the Court of Berlin to her interests, sent several detachments of 
 troops into Poland ; and in this manner succeeded in carrying 
 the election of her favourite, Avho was proclaimed King at the 
 Diet of Warsaw (Sept. 7, 1764.) It w^as at this diet of election 
 that the Empress formally interceded with the Republic in 
 favour of the Dissidents (or dissenters) of Poland and Lithuania, 
 with the view of having them reinstated in those civil and ec- 
 clesiastical rights, of which they had been deprived by the in- 
 tolerance of the Catholics. The name of Dissidents w^as then 
 given in Poland to the Greek non-conformists and to the Pro- 
 testants, both Lutherans and Calvinists. That kingdom, as well 
 as Lithuania, had contained from the earliest ages a vast num- 
 ber of Greeks, who persisted in their schism, in spite of the 
 efforts which were incessantly made l^y the Polish clergy for 
 bringing them back to the pale of the Romish church. The 
 Protestant doctrines had been introduced into Poland, and had 
 made considerable progress in course of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury ; more especially under the reign of Sigismund Augustus. 
 The nobles who were attached to that form of worship, had ob- 
 tained, at the Diet of Wilna (1563,) the right of enjoying, along 
 with the Greeks, all the prerogatives of their rank, and of being 
 admitted without distinction, both to the assemblies of the Diet, 
 and the offices and dignities of the Republic. Moreover, their 
 religious and political liberties had been guaranteed in the most 
 solemn manner, not only by treaties of alliance, and the Pacta 
 Conventa of the kings, but also by the laws and constitution of 
 their kingdom. The Catholics having afterwards become the 
 stronger party, their zeal, animated by their clergy and the Jesuits, 
 led them to persecute those whom they regarded as heretics. 
 They had in various ways circumscribed their religious liberties, 
 especially at the Diet of 1717; and in those of 1733 and 1736, 
 they went so far as to exclude them from the diets and tribunals, 
 and in general from all places of trust ; only preserving the peace 
 with them according to the ancient laws of the Republic. 
 
 The Dissidents availed themselves of the influence which 
 the Empress of Russia had secured in the affairs of Poland, to 
 obtain by her means the redress of their grievances. Thut prin- 
 cess interposed more especially in favour of the Greeks, accord- 
 ing to the ninth article of the peace of Movscow between Russia 
 and Poland (1686;) while the Courts of Berlin, Stockholm, 
 London, and Copenhagen, as guarantees of the peace of Oliva, 
 
 9* 
 
.02 CHAPTER lit 
 
 urged the second article of that treaty in support of the Pro- 
 testant dissenters. Far from yielding to an intercession so 
 powerful, the Diet of Warsaw, instigated by the clergy and the 
 Court of Rome, in the year 1766 confirmed all the former laws 
 against the Protestants which the foreign courts had desired to 
 be altered and amended. They merely introduced some few 
 modifications in the lav/ of 1717, relative to the exercise of their 
 worship. 
 
 This palliative did not satisfy the Court of St. Petersburg, 
 which persisted in demanding an entire equality of rights in 
 favour of those under its protection. The Dissidents had the 
 courage to resist, and entered into a confederacy at the assem- 
 blies vrhich were held at Sluckz (1767) and Thorn. Such ot 
 the Catholic nobility as were discontented with the government, 
 allied themselves with the Dissidents, and formed several dis- 
 tinct confederacies, which afterwerds combined into a general 
 confederation under Marshal Prince Radzivih An extraordi- 
 nary Diet was then assembled at Warsaw. Their deliberations, 
 which began October 5, 1767, Avere very tumuhuous. Without 
 being intimidated by the presence of a Russian army, the 
 Bishop of Cracow and his adherents gave way to the full torre»t 
 of their zeal, in the discourses which they pronounced before 
 the Diet. The Empress caused them to be arrested and con- 
 ducted into the interior of Russia, whence they weje not per- 
 mitted to return till after an exile of several years. They agreed 
 at length, at that Diet, to appoint a committee, composed of the 
 different orders of the Republic, to regulate all matters regard- 
 ing the Dissidents, in concert with the ministers of the protect- 
 ing courts, A separate act was drawn up (February 24, 1768) 
 in the form of a convention between Russia and Poland. 
 
 By that act, the Dissidents were reinstated in all their former 
 rights. The regulations which had been passed to their pre- 
 judice in the years 1717, 1733, 1736, and 1766, were annulled; 
 and a superior court, composed equally of both parties, was 
 granted to them, for terminating all disputes which might arise 
 between persons of diflferent religions. This act was confirmed 
 by the treaty of peace and alliance concluded at Warsaw be- 
 tv/een Russia and Poland (Feb. 24, 176S,) by which these two 
 powers guaranteed to each other the whole of their possessions 
 in Europe. The Empress of Russia guaranteed, more especially, 
 the liberty, constitution, and indivisibility of the Polish Republic. 
 
 The act we have just now mentioned, as well as another 
 which modified what were called the cardinal or fundamental 
 aws of the Republic, having displeased a great majority of the 
 Poles, they used every effort t.> have these acts recalled. The 
 
PERIOD nil. A. D. 1713—1789 103 
 
 Diet of 1768 was no sooner terminated, tlian they formed them- 
 selves into a confederacy at Bar in Podolia, for the defence of 
 their religion and liberties. By degrees, these extended to 
 several Palatinates, and were at length combined into a general 
 confederation, under the Marshal Count De Pac. The standards 
 of these confederates bore representations of the Virgin Mary 
 and the Infant Jesus. Like the Crusaders of the middle ages, 
 they wore embroidered crosses on their garments, with the motto 
 Conquer or Die. The Russians despatched troops to disperse 
 the confederates as fest as they combined : but at length, with 
 the assistance of France, and M. De Vergennes, the French 
 Ambassador at the Porte, they succeeded in stirring up the 
 Turks against the Russians. The war between these two Em- 
 pires broke out towards the end of 1768, v/hich proved disas- 
 trous for the Turks, and suppressed also the confederates in 
 Poland. The manifesto of the Grand Signior against Russia 
 was published October 30th, and his declaration of war Decem- 
 ber 4th, 1768. 
 
 The Empress despatched several armies against the Turks, 
 and attacked them at once from the banks of the Dniester to 
 Mount Caucasus. Prince Alexander Galitzin, who commanded 
 the principal army, vras to cover Poland, and penetrate into 
 Moldavia. He passed the Dniester different times, but was al- 
 ways repulsed by the Turks, who were not more fortunate in 
 their attempts to force the passage of that river. On their last 
 attempt (September 1769,) twelve thousand men had succeeded 
 in crossing it, when there happened a sudden flood which broke 
 down the bridge, and cut off the retreat of the Turks. This body 
 was cut to pieces by the Russians, when a panic seized the Ot- 
 toman army, who abandoned their camp and the fortress of 
 Choczim. The Russians took possession of both without cost- 
 ing them a single drop of blood, and soon after penetrated into 
 the interior of Moldavia and Walkchia. 
 
 The campaign of 1770 was most splendid for the Russians. 
 General Romanzow, Vv^ho succeeded Prince Galitzin in the com- 
 mand of the army of Moldavia, gained two brilliant victories 
 over the Turks near the Pruth (July 18,) and the Kukuli 
 (August 1,) which made him m.aster of the Danube, and the 
 tov/ns of Ismael, Kilia, and Akerman, situated in Bessarabia, 
 near the mouth of that river. Another Russian army, under 
 the command of General Count Panin, attacked the fortress of 
 Bender, defended by a strong Turkish garrison. It was carried 
 by assault (Sept. 26,) and the greater part of the garrison put to 
 the sword. 
 
 The Empress did not confine herself to repulsing the Turks 
 
104 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 on the banks of the Dniester and the Danube, and harassing 
 their commerce in the Black Sea. She formed the bokl pro- 
 ject of attacking them at the same time in the islands of the Ar- 
 chipelago, and on the coasts of Greece and the Morea. A Rus- 
 sian fleet, under the command of Alexis Orloff and Admiral 
 Spiritoff, sailed from the Baltic, and passed the Northern Seas 
 and the Straits of Gibraltar, on their way to the Archipelago. 
 Being joined b}^ the squadron of Rear-Admiral Elphinstone, they 
 fought an obstinate battle with the fleet of the Capitan Pacha 
 (July 5, 1770,) between Scio and Anatolia. The ships of the 
 two commanders, Spiritoff* and the Capitan Pacha, having met 
 in the engagement, one of them caught fire, when both were 
 blown into the air. Darkness separated the combatants ; but the 
 Turks having imprudently retired to the narrow bay of Chisme, 
 the Russians pursued them, and burnt their whole fleet during 
 the night. This disaster threw the city of Constantinople into 
 great consternation ; and the bad state of defence in which the 
 Dardanelles were, gave them reason to fear, that if the Rus- 
 sians had known to take advantage of this panic, it would have 
 been easy for them to have carried the Turkish capital. Rear- 
 Admiral Elphinstone, who commanded one of the Russian squad- 
 rons, had suggested that advice ; but the Russian Admirals 
 did not think proper to follow it. 
 
 The Avar on the Danube was continued next ^^ear, though 
 feebly ; but the second Russian army, under the command of 
 Prince Dolgoruki, succeeded in forcing the lines at Perekop, de- 
 fended by an army of 60,000 Turks and Tartars, commanded 
 by the Khan of the Crimea in person. Dolgoruki, after hav- 
 ing surmounted the formidable barrier, made himself master of 
 the Crimea, as also of the Island of Taman ; and received from 
 the Empress, as the reward of his exploits, the surname of 
 Krbnski. An act was signed by certain pretended deputies 
 from the Tartars, by which tlmt nation renounced the dominion 
 of the Ottomans, and put themselves under the protection of 
 Russia (1772.) 
 
 These conquests, however splendid they might be, could not 
 fail to exhaust Russia. Obliged frequently to recruit her ar- 
 mies, v.diich were constantly thinned by battles, fatigues, and 
 diseases, she soon saw the necessity of making peace. The 
 plague, that terrible ally of the Ottomans, passed from the army 
 into the interior of the Empire, and penetrated as far as Mos- 
 cow, where it cut off* nearly 100,000 men in the course of a 
 single year (1771.) What added still more to the embarrass- 
 ments of Catherine II. was, that the Court of Vienna, which, 
 in conjunction with that of Berlin, had undertaken to mediate 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713— 17S9. 105 
 
 between Russia and the Porte, rejected with disdain the condi- 
 tions of peace proposed by the Empress. Moreover, they 
 strongly opposed the independence of Moldavia and Wallachia, 
 as well as of the Tartars ; and would not even permit that the 
 Russians should transfer the seat of war to the right bf nk of 
 the Danube. 
 
 The Court of Vienna went even farther : it threatened to 
 make common cause with the Turks, to compel the Empress to 
 restore all her conquests, and to place matters between the Rus- 
 sians and the Turks on the footing of the treaty of Belgrade. 
 An agreement to this effect was negotiated with the Porte, and 
 signed at Constantinople (July 6, 1771.) This convention, 
 however, was not ratified, the Court of Vienna having changed 
 its mind on account of the famous dismemberment of Poland, 
 concerted between it and the Courts of Berlin and St. Peters- 
 burg. The Empress then consented to restore to the Turks 
 the provinces of Moldavia and "Wallachia, on the conclusion of 
 the peace ; and the Court of Vienna again engaged to exert its 
 friendly interference in negotiating peace betvv'een Russia and 
 the Porte. 
 
 In consequence of these events, the year 1772 was passed 
 entirely in negotiations. A suspension of arms was agreed to 
 between the two belligerent powers. A Congress was opened a^ 
 Foczani in Moldavia, under the mediation of the Courts of Ber- 
 lin and St. Petersburg. This Congress was followed by another, 
 which was held at Bucharest in Wallachia. Both of these 
 meetings proved ineffectual, the Turks having considered the 
 conditions proposed by Russia as inadmissible ; and what dis- 
 pleased them still more was, the article relative to the indepen- 
 dence of the Tartars in the Crimea. This they rejected as con- 
 trar}^ to the principles of their religion, and as tending to esta- 
 blish a rivalry between the two Caliphs. They succeeded, 
 however, in settling the nature of the religious dependence 
 under which the Khans of the Crimea were to remain v/ith re- 
 gard to the Porte ; but they could not ])ossibly agree as to the 
 surrender of the ports of Jenikaleh and Kerch ; nor as to the 
 unrestrained liberty of navigation in the Turkish seas, which 
 the Russians demanded. After these conferences had been re- 
 peatedly broken off, hostilities com^menced anew (1773.) The 
 Russians tv/ice attempted to establish themselves on the right 
 bank of the Danube, but Vvdthout being able to accompli.sh it ; 
 they even lost a great number of men in the different actions 
 which they fought with the Turks. 
 
 The last campaign, that of 1774, was at length decisive. 
 Abdul Hammed, who had just succeeded his brother Mustapha 
 
106 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 III. on the throne of Constantinople, being eager to raise the 
 glory of the Ottoman arm's, made extraordinary preparations 
 for this campaign. His troops, reckoned about 300,000 men, 
 greatly surpassed the Russians in point of number ; but they 
 were not equal in point of discipline and military skill. Aboui 
 the end of June, Marshal Romanzow passed the Danube, 
 without meeting any obstacle from the Ottoman army. That 
 General took advantage of a mistake which the Grand Vizier 
 had committed, in pitching his camp near Schumla at too great 
 a distance from his detachments, and cut otf his communication 
 with these troops, and even with his military stores. The de- 
 feat of 28,000 Turks, who were bringing a convoy of four or 
 five thousand wagons to the arm)'-, by General Kamenski, 
 struck terror into the camp of the Grand Vizier, who, seeing his 
 army on the point of disbanding, agreed to treat with Marshal 
 Romanzow on such terms as that general thought fit to prescribe. 
 
 Peace was signed in the Russian camp at Kainargi, four leagues 
 from Silistria. By that treaty, the Tartars of the Crimea, Boud- 
 ziac, and Cuban, were declared entirely independent of the Porte, 
 to be governed henceforth by their own sovereign. Russia ob- 
 tained for her merchant vessels free and unrestrained naviga- 
 tion in all the Turkish seas. She restored to the Turks Bes- 
 sarabia, Moldavia, and Wallachia ; as well as the islands in the 
 Archipelago which were still in her possession. But she re- 
 served the city and territory of AzofT, the two Kabartas, the for- 
 tresses of Jenikaleh and Kerch in the Crimea, and the Castle of 
 Kinburn, at the mouth of the Dnieper, opposite OczakofT, with 
 the neck of laud between the Bog and the Dnieper, on which 
 the Empress afterwards built a new city, called Cherson, to serve 
 as an entrepot for her commerce with the Levant. The foun- 
 dation of this city was laid by General Hannibal (Oct. 19, 
 1778,) on the western bank of the Dnieper, fifteen versts from 
 the confluence of the Inguletz with that river. 
 
 The House of Austria also reaped advantages from that war, 
 by the occupation of Bukowina, which she obtained from Rus- 
 sia, who had conquered it from the Turks. This part of Mol- 
 davia, comprehending the districts of Suczawa and Czernowitz, 
 was claimed by the Court of Vienna as one of its ancient ter- 
 ritories in Transylvania, which has been usurped by the princes 
 of Moldavia. The Porte, who was indebted to Austria for 
 the restitution of this latter province, had no alternative but to 
 abandon the districts claimed by Austria. Prince Ghikas of 
 Moldavia, having opposed the cession of these provinces, was 
 put to death by order of the Porte ; and Bukowina was confirm- 
 ed to Austria by subsequent conventions (1776, and 1777,) 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713—1789. 107 
 
 which at the same time regulated the limits between the two 
 States. The peace of Kainargi, though glorious for Kussia, 
 proved most calamitous for the Ottoman Porte. By establishing 
 the independence of the Tartars, it lost the Turks one ot 
 their principal bulwarks against Russia; and they were indig- 
 nant at seeing the Russians established on the Black Sea, and 
 permitted unrestrained navigation in all the Turkish seas. 
 ITenceforth they had reason to tremble for the safety of their 
 capital, which might be assailed with impunity, and its supplies 
 intercepted, on the least disturbance that might arise between the 
 two Empires. 
 
 The many disasters which the Turks had experienced in the 
 war we have now mentioned, had a direct influence on the fate 
 of Poland, w^hich ended in the dismemberment of that kingdom. 
 This event, which had been predicted by John Casimir in the 
 seventeenth century, was brought about by the mediation of the 
 Courts of Berlin and Vienna for the restoration of peace between 
 Russia and Turkey. The conditions of that treaty, which were 
 dictated by the Empress Catherine II., having displeased the 
 Court of Vienna, w^hich had moreover displayed hostile inten- 
 tions against Russia, by despatching troops into Hungary, and 
 taking possession of a part of Poland, which Austria claimed as 
 anciently belonging to Hungary, the Empress took this occasion 
 of observing to Prince Henry of Prussia, who then sojourned at 
 her Court, that if Austria seemed inclined to dismember Poland, 
 the other neighbouring powers w^ere entitled to do the same. 
 This overture was comrrunicatedby Prince Henry to his brother 
 the King of Prussia, who resolved to act on this new idea. He 
 foresaw it w^ould be a proper means for indemnifying Russia, 
 contenting Austria, and augmenting his own territories, by 
 establishing a communication between the kingdom of Prussia, 
 and his dutchy of Brandenburg. These considerations induced 
 him to set on foot a negotiation wdth the courts of Vienna and 
 St. Petersburg. He gave the former to understand, that if war 
 should break out between Austria and Russia, he could not but 
 take part in it as the ally of the latter power ; while he repre- 
 sented to the Empress of Russia, that if she would consent to 
 restore Moldavia and Wallachia to the Turks, and indemnify her- 
 self by a part of Poland, she would avoid a new^ war, and fiicili- 
 tate an accommodation with the Porte. In this manner did be 
 succeed, after a long and difficult negotiation, in recommeiiaing 
 to the two Imperial courts, a project which was to give Europe ^ 
 the example of a kingdom dismembered on mere reasons of con- 
 venience. A preliminary agreement was drawn up, in which 
 the equality of the respective portions of the three courts was 
 
108 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 assumed as the basis of the intended partition. A negotiation 
 was afterwards entered into at St. Petersburg, for regulating the 
 portion to be given to the Court of Vienna; as the Empress and 
 the King of Prussia, had ah'eady agreed about the divisions to 
 which they thought they might lay claim. ^^^ 
 
 At length the formal conventions were signed at St, Peters- 
 burg, between the ministers of the three Courts (Aug. 5, 1772.) 
 The boundaries of the territories and districts, which were to 
 fall to the share of iho three powers respectively, were there 
 definitively settled and guaranteed to each other. They agreed 
 to defer taking possession till the month of September following, 
 and to act in concert for obtaining a final arrangement with the 
 Republic of Poland. The Empress engaged by the same treaty 
 to surrender Moldavia and Wallachia to the Turks, in order to 
 expedite the restoration of p'eace between her and the Porte. In 
 terms of that agreement, the declarations and letters-patent of 
 the three Courts, were presented at Warsaw, in September 
 1772 ; and on taking possession of the territories and districts 
 which had been assigned them, they published memorials for 
 establishing the legitimacy of their rights over the countries 
 which they claimed. The King of Poland and his ministry, in 
 vain claimed the assistance and protection of the powers that 
 guaranteed the treaties. They had no other alternative left, 
 than to condescend to every thing which the three courts de- 
 manded. A Diet which was summoned at Warsaw, appointed 
 a delegation, taken from the Senate and the Equestrian order, 
 to transact with the plbnipotentiaries of the three powers, as to 
 the arrangements of the difTerent treaties by which the provinces 
 already occupied were to be formally ceded to them on the part 
 of the Republic. These arrangements were signed at Warsaw, 
 September IS, 1773, and afterwards ratified by the Diet of Poland. 
 
 To Austria was assigned, in terms of her treaty with the Re- 
 public, the thirteen towns in the county of Zips, which Sigis- 
 mund, King of Hungary, had mortgaged to Poland in 1412 ; 
 besides nearly the half of the Palatinate of Cracow, part of Sando- 
 mire, Red Russia, the greater part of Belz, Pocutia, and part of 
 Podolia. The tovrns in the county of Zips were again incor- 
 porated with Hungary, from which they had been dismembered ; 
 and all the rest were erected into a particular State, under the 
 name of the kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. One very 
 important advantage in the Austrian division Avas, the rich salt 
 mines in Wieliczka, and Bochnia, and Sambor, which furnished 
 salt to the gi'eater part of Poland. ^^ 
 
 Russia obtained for her share, Polish Livonia, the greater 
 part of Witepsk and Polotsk, the whole Palatinate of Mscislaw, 
 
PERIOD vni. A. D, 17] 3—1789. 109 
 
 and the two extremities of the Palatinate of Minsk.^^ These 
 the Empress formed into two grand governments, those of Polotsk 
 and Mochilew. The King of Prussia had the states of Great 
 Poland, situated beyond the Netze, as well as the whole of 
 Polish Prussia, except the cities of Dantzic and Thorn, which 
 were reserved to Poland. ^-^ That republic, in virtue of a treaty 
 with the King of Prussia, renounced also her rights of domaine, 
 and the reversion which the treaties of Welau and Bidgost had 
 secured to her with regard to Electoral Prussia, as well as the 
 districts of Lauenburg, Butow, and Draheim. The portion of 
 the King of Prussia was so much the more important in a poli- 
 tical point of view, as it united the kingdom of Prussia with his 
 possessions in Germany ; and, by giving him the command of 
 the Vistula, it made him master of the commerce of Poland ; 
 especially of the corn-trade, so valuable to the rest of Europe. 
 
 The three courts, in thus dismembering Poland, renounced, 
 in the most formal manner, all farther pretensions on the re- 
 public ; and, lastly, to consummate their work, they passed an 
 act at Warsaw, by which they sanctioned the liherimi veto, and 
 the unanimity in their decisions formerly used at the Diet in 
 state matters ; the crown was declared elective, and foreign 
 princes were to be excluded. The prerogative of the King, al- 
 ready very limited, was circumscribed still more by the establish- 
 ment of a permanent council ; and it was statuted, that no one 
 could ever change this constitution, of which the three powers 
 had become the guarantees. 
 
 [This partition of Poland must be regarded as the harbinger of 
 the total overthrow of the political system w^hich for three hun- 
 dred years had prevailed in Europe. After so many alliances 
 had been formed, and so many wars undertaken, to preserve the 
 weaker states against the ambition of the greater, we here find 
 three powers of the first rank combining to dismember a state 
 which had never given them the slightest umbrage. The bar- 
 riers between legitimate right and arbitrary power were thus 
 overthrown, and henceforth the destiny of inferior states was no 
 longer secure. The system of political equilibrium became the 
 jest of innovators, and many well disposed men began to regard 
 it as a chimera. Though the chief blame of this transaction 
 must fall on the courts of St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Vienna, 
 those of London and Paris were accomplices to the crime, by 
 allowing this spoliation to be consummated without any mark of 
 their reprobation.] 
 
 In vSweden, the aristocratic system had prevailed since the 
 changes which had been introduced into the form of government 
 by the revolution of 1720. The chief power resided in the body 
 
 VOL. IT. 10 
 
110 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 of the Senate, and the royal authority was reduced to a mere 
 shadow. The same factions, the Hats and the Bonnets, of which 
 we have spoken above, continued to agitate and distract the state. 
 The Hats were of opinion, that to raise the glory of Sweden, 
 and to recover the provinces of Livonia and Finland, it was' ne- 
 cessary to cultivate friendship with France and the Porte, in 
 order to secure their support in case of a rupture with Russia. 
 The Bonnets, on the other hand, maintained that Sweden, ex- 
 hausted by the preceding wars, ought to engage in no under- 
 taking against Russia. In preferring a sj^stem of pacification, 
 they had no other object in view than to maintain peace and 
 good understanding with all states, without distinction. These 
 two factions, instigated by foreign gold, acquired a new impor- 
 tance when the war broke out between Russia and the Porte. 
 It was in the Diet of 1769 that the Hats found means to got 
 possession of the government, by depriving the members of the 
 opposite party of their principal employments. There was some 
 reason to believe that France, in consequence of her connexions 
 with the Porte, had used every effort to stir up Sweden against 
 Russia, and that the mission of Vergennes, who passed from 
 Constantinople to Stockholm, had no other object than this. 
 Russia had then to make every exertion to raise the credit and 
 influence of the Bonnets, in order to maintain peace with Swe- 
 den. In these endeavours, she was assisted by the Court of 
 London, who were not only willing to support the interests of 
 Russia, but glad of the opportunity to thwart France in her po- 
 litical career. 
 
 The death of Adolphus Frederic, which happened in the 
 meantime, opened a new field for intrigue in the Diet, which 
 was summoned on account of the accession of his son and suc- 
 cessor Gustavus III. (Feb. 12, 1771.) This young prince at 
 first interposed between the two parties, with a view to conciliate 
 them ; but with so little success, that it rather increased their 
 animosity, until the Bonnets, who were supported by Russia and 
 England, went so far as to resolve on the total expulsion of the 
 Hats, not only from the senate, but from all other places and 
 dignities in the kingdom. Licentiousness then became extreme ; 
 and circumscribed as the ro3^al power alread}^ was in the time of 
 Adolphus Frederic, they demanded new restrictions to be imposed 
 on his successor. The treaties that were projected with Russia 
 and England, were evidently the result of the system adopted by 
 that faction who had now seized the reins of government. 
 
 In this state of affairs, the young king saw the necessity of 
 attempting some change in the system of administration. His 
 gentleness and eloquence, and his affable and popular manners, 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. Ill 
 
 had gained him a number of partisans. He possessed in an 
 eminent degree the art of dissimulation ; and while he was 
 making every arrangement for a revolution, and concerting mea- 
 sures in secret with the French ambassador, he seemied to have 
 nothing so much at heart as to convince the world of his sincere 
 attachment to the established constitution. It is alleged, that he 
 had sent emissaries over the whole kingdom to stir up the people 
 against their governors ; and that he might have some pretext 
 for calling out his troops, he induced Captain Hellichius, the 
 commandant of Christianstadt in Blekingen, to raise the standard 
 of revolt against the states w^ho still continued their sittings at 
 Stockholm. 
 
 That officer, known afterwards by the name of Gustafsckeld, 
 or the Shield of Gustavvs, published at first a kind of manifesto, 
 in which he reproached the States for their misconduct ; which 
 he showed to have been diametrically opposite to the public in- 
 terest and the laws of the kingdom. Prince Charles, the King's 
 brother, who was at that time at Landscrona in Schonen, being 
 informed of the proceedings of the commandant of Christianstadt, 
 immediately assembled the troops in the provinces, and marched 
 to that place, with the intention, as is said, of stifling the revolt 
 in its birth. The news of this insurrection spread consternation 
 in the capital. The States were suspicious of the King, and took 
 measures to prevent the ambitious designs which they supposed 
 him to entertain. Hellichius was proclaimed a rebel by the 
 Senate, and guilty of high treason. They advised the King not 
 to quit Stockholm, the command of which w^as intrusted to a 
 senator, the Count of Kalling, with the most ample powers. At 
 length the regiment of Upland, whose officers were devoted to 
 the Senate, were ordered to the capital, with the intention, as is 
 supposed, of arresting the King. That prince then saw that he 
 had no longer time to delay, and that he must finish the execu- 
 tion of the plan which he had proposed. 
 
 On the morning of the 19th of August, the King presented 
 himself to the troops who mounted guard at the palace ; and 
 having assembled the officers, he detailed to them the unfortu- 
 nate state of the kingdom, as being the consequence of those 
 dissensions which had distracted the Diet for more than fourteen 
 months. He pointed out to them the necessity of abolishing that 
 haughty aristocracy who had ruined the state, and to restore the 
 constitution to what it was before the revolution of 1680 ; ex- 
 pressing at the same time his decided aversion for absolute and 
 despotic power. Being assured of the fidelity of the guards, 
 who were eager to take the oath of allegiance to him, he ordered 
 a detachment to surround the Council Chamber w^here the Se- 
 
112 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 nators were assembled, and put the leaders of the ruling party 
 under arrest. The artillery and other regiments of guards hav- 
 ing also acknowledged his authority, their example was soon 
 followed by all the colleges (or public offices,) both civil and 
 military. The arrest against Hellichius was revoked, and the 
 regiment of Upland received orders to march back. These mea- 
 sures and some others were executed with so much skill and 
 punctuality, that the public tranquillity was never disturbed ; 
 and by five o'clock in the evening of the same day, the revolu- 
 tion seemed to be accomplished without shedding a single drop 
 of blood. Next day, the magistrates of the city took the oath to* 
 the King, and the assembly of the States was summoned to meet 
 on the 21st. On that day the King caused the palace to be sur- 
 rounded by troops, and cannons to be pointed into the court op- 
 posite the Chamber of the States. Seated on his throne, and 
 surrounded by his guards, the King opened the assembly by an 
 energetic discourse which he addressed to the members, in which 
 he painted, in lively colours, the deplorable state of the kingdom, 
 and the indispensable necessity of applying some prompt remed3^ 
 The new form of government which he had prepared was read 
 by his orders, and adopted without opposition by the whole four 
 orders of the kingdom. The king then drew a psalm-book from 
 his pocket, and taking off his crown, began to sing Te Dcu?n, in 
 which he was joined by the whole assembly. Matters passed 
 in the interior of the provinces with as little tumult and opposi- 
 tion as in the capital and principal cities. The King's brothers 
 received, in his name, the oath of fidelity on the part of the in- 
 habitants and the military. 
 
 In virtue of this new form of government, all the fundamen- 
 tal laws introduced since 1680 were cancelled and abolished. 
 The succession to the throne was restricted to males only. 
 The lineal order, and the right of primogeniture, as settled by 
 the convention of 1743, and by the decree of the Diet of 1750, 
 were confirmed. The King was to govern alone, according to 
 the laws ; and the Senate were to be considered as his counsel- 
 lors. All the senators were to be nominated by the King, and 
 matters were no longer to be decided by a plurality of votes. 
 The senators were simply to give their advice, and the decision 
 belonged to the King. Courts of justice, however, were ex- 
 cepted. The chief command of all the forces in the kingdom, 
 both by sea and land, and the supreme direction of the Exche- 
 quer, were conferred on the King. On the report of the senate, 
 he filled up all the high offices in the state, both military, civil, 
 and ecclesiastical. He alone had the right of pardoning, and 
 of summoning the States, who could never assemble on their 
 
PERIOD vin. A. D. 1713—1789. 113 
 
 o^vn authority, except in a case where the throne became vacant, 
 by the total extinction of the roj-al family in the male line. The 
 duration of the Diets was fixed for three months, and the King 
 had the privilege of dissolving them at the end of that time. 
 He could make no new laws, nor interpret the old ones, nor im- 
 pose subsidies or assessments, nor declare war, without the ad- 
 rice and consent of the States. He was allowed, however, to 
 levy an extraordinary tax, in cases where the kingdom might 
 be attacked by sudden invasion ; but on the term.ination of the 
 war, the States were to be assembled, and the new tax discon- 
 tinued. All negotiations for peace, truces, and alliances, whe- 
 ther offensive or defensive, were reserved to the King, by whom 
 they were to be referred to the Senate. If, in these cases, the 
 unanimous voice of the Senate was opposed to that of the 
 King, it became his duty to acquiesce in their opinion. Every 
 Swedish citizen was to be judged by his natural judge. The 
 King could attaint neither the life, honour, nor fortune of any 
 citizen, otherwise than by the legal form.s. All extraordinary 
 commissions or tribunals were to be suppressed, as tending to 
 establish tyranny and despotism. 
 
 The revolution of Stockholm, of which v^'e have just now 
 spoken, had nothing in common with that which happened at Co- 
 penhagen the same year ; and which, without in any way af- 
 fecting the constitution of the kingdom, merely transferred the 
 reins of government from the hands of the reigning Queen to 
 those of the Queen-dowager. ^•*- 
 
 In a remote corner of Europe, there existed an association of 
 warriors, of a kind quite peculiar, namely, that of the Zaparog 
 Cossacs ; so called because they dwelt near the cataracts of the 
 Dnieper, where they served as a military frontier, first to the 
 Poles, and afterwards to the Russians. The chief residence of 
 these Cossacs was called Setscha. It contained a considerable 
 mass of houses, scattered and badly constructed, and had a 
 small fort occupied by a Russian garrison. The position of 
 Setscha had not ab.vays been the same ; but it was ultim.ately 
 fixed, on the western bank of the Borysthenes, opposite Kame- 
 noi-Saton, an ancient fortress of the Russians, and was called 
 New Setscha. These Cossacs, known in Poland by the name 
 of Haydamacs, and formidable by their incursions and their de- 
 vastations, had adopted a republican form of government. Their 
 capital was divided into thirty Kureiies, or quarters. Every 
 Cossac belonged to one of these Kurenes. There he lodged 
 when he stayed at Setscha, and was obliged to conform to its 
 laws. All those who belonged to the same Kurene, formed as it 
 were one and the same family. Like the ancient Spartans, 
 
 voir* u. iO** 
 
114 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 they were nourished with the same food, and ate at the same 
 table. The overseer of each separate Kurene was called Ata- 
 man, and the chief of all the Kurenes Kosckeiuoi-Atamaji. All 
 the chiefs, without distinction, were elected by common consent; 
 the Ataman by his own Kurene, and the Koschewoi by the 
 whole Kurenes united. They were deposed whenever they be- 
 came unpopular. The assemblies of Setscha were either ordi- 
 nary or extraordinary. In that which Avas regularly held every 
 year on the 1st of January, they made a formal division of the 
 fields, rivers, and lakes, among the Kurenes. They made use 
 of lots in order to avoid disputes ; and they renewed them every 
 year, that a favourable chance might be given to all the Kurenes 
 in succession. At that assembly they elected new chiefs, if they 
 happened to be discontented with the old ones. As for the ex- 
 traordinary assemblies, they were held when it was in agitation 
 to undertake a campaign, or to make an excursion ; and gene- 
 rally on all occasions when the common interest seemed to re- 
 quire it. They had a judge and some other officers in Setscha. 
 The judge never pronounced sentence except in affairs of little 
 importance. Those which appeared more v/eighty required the 
 intervention of all the chiefs. They would suffer no woman to 
 remain in Setscha. Those who were inclined to marry were 
 obliged to remove elsewhere. To keep up their numbers the 
 Zaparogs received deserters and fugitives from all nations. 
 They were particularly careful to recruit their ranks with young 
 boys, whom they kidnapped in their excursions ; and brought 
 them up according to their customs and manner of living. 
 
 The treaty of Andrussov between Russia and Poland had 
 left these Cossacs under the common protection of those two 
 States. They preferred that of Russia, and were continued 
 under the dominion of that power b}^ the peace of Moscow. 
 Being afterwards implicated in the revolt of Mazeppa, they put 
 themselves under the protection of the Tartars of the Crimea af- 
 ter the battle of Pultowa, and transferred their capital of Setscha 
 to the eastern bank of the Dnieper, nearer its mouth. Being 
 discontented under the Tartars, who repressed their incursions, 
 and often imposed exactions on Setscha, they took the resolution 
 of putting themselves once more under the dominion of Rus- 
 sia (1733.) The Empress Anne confirmed them in their pri- 
 vileges, and furnished money to assist them in rebuilding their 
 capital on the western bank of the Dnieper. 
 
 As they continued, however, to commit robbery and plunder 
 on the frontiers without intermission, and having neither friends 
 nor allies, Catherine II. resolved to annihilate this fantastic as- 
 sociation. Besides their depredations, the Zaparogs were ac- 
 
PERIOD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 115 
 
 cused of having usurped possession of several countries between 
 the Dnieper and the Bog; as well as of several districts which 
 had at all times belonged to the Cossacs of the Don. What 
 more particularly exasperated the Empress against them, was, 
 that being so obstinately attached to their absurd form of go- 
 vernment, they opposed every scheme of reform, the object of 
 Avhich was to make them live in regular society, and in the 
 bonds of matrimony ; or to induce them to form themselves into 
 regiments, after the manner of the other Cossacs. They had 
 also refused to send their deputies to Moscow, at the time when 
 Catherine had sent for them from all parts of the Empire, for 
 the formation of a new code of laws ; and there was some rea- 
 son to fear they might attempt to revolt, on account of the 
 changes which the Empress proposed to m.ake in the adminis- 
 tration of the government. These and other considerations in- 
 duced that princess to despatch a body of troops against Setscha 
 (1775.) The Zaparogs, attacked unawares, and inclosed on all 
 hands, sav/ themselves without the means of making the least 
 resistance. Their capital was destroyed, and their w^hole tribe 
 dispersed. Those who were not inclined to embrace another 
 kind of life, were sent back to their native towns and their re- 
 spective countries. 
 
 The succession of Bavaria reverted of right to the Elector 
 Palatine, Charles Theodore, as head of the elder branch of Wit- 
 telsbach. That prince had on his side, the Feudal Law of Ger- 
 many, the Golden Bull, the peace of Westphalia, and family 
 compacts frequentl)'" renewed between the two branches of that 
 house ; all Europe was persuaded that, should the case so turn 
 out, the rights of the Elector Palatine would be beyond all con- 
 troversy. Meantime, the Elector Maximilian had scarcely 
 closed his eyes, when several pretenders appeared on the field, to 
 dispute the succession as his presumptive heirs. The Emperor 
 Joseph II. claimed all the fiefs of the Empire, which his pre- 
 decessors had conferred on the house of Bavaria, without ex- 
 pressly including the princes of the Palatine branch in these 
 investitures. The Empress, Maria Theresa, besides the fiefs of 
 the Upper Palatinate holding of the crown of Bohemia, demand- 
 ed all the countries and districts of Lower and Upper Bavaria, 
 as well as of the Upper Palatinate, which had been possessed by 
 the Princes of Bavaria-Straubingen, who had become extinct in 
 1425. She also alleged a pretended investiture, which the Em- 
 peror Sigismund had granted, in 1426, to his son-in-law Duke 
 Albert of Austria. The Electress-Dowager of Saxony, sister to 
 the last Elector of Bavaria, thought herself entitled to claim the 
 allodial succession, which she made out to be very extensive, 
 
116 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Lastly, the Dukes of Mecklenburg brought forward an ancienC 
 deed of reversion, which their ancestors had obtained from th«^ 
 Emperors, over the landgraviate of Leuchtenbejg. 
 
 Before these different claims could be made known, the Aus- 
 trian troops had entered Bavaria, immediately after the death of 
 the late Elector, and taken possession of all the countries and 
 districts claimed by the Emperor and the Empress-Queen. The 
 Elector Palatine, intimidated by the Cabinet of Vienna, ac- 
 knowledged the lawfulness of all the claims of that court, by a 
 convention which was signed at Vienna (Jan. 3, 1778,) but which 
 the Duke of Deux-Ponts, his successor and heir presumptive, 
 refused to ratify. That prince was supported in his opposition 
 by the King of Prussia, who treated the pretensions of Austria 
 as chimerical, and as being incompatible with the security of the 
 constitution of the Germanic body. The King interposed in this 
 affair, as being a guarantee for the peace of V/estphalia, and a 
 friend and ally of the parties concerned, who all claimed his pro- 
 tection. He demanded of the Court of Vienna, that they should 
 withdraw their troops from Bavaria, and restore to the Elector 
 the territories of which they had deprived him. A negotiation 
 on this subject was opened between the two courts, and numerous 
 controversial writings were published ; but the proposals of the 
 King of Prussia not proving agreeable to the court of Vienna, 
 the conferences were broken off about the end of June 1778, and 
 both parties began to make preparations for war. 
 
 It was about the beginning of July when the King of Prussia 
 entered Bohemia, through the county of Glatz, and pitched his 
 camp between Jaromitz and Konigratz, opposite that of the Em- 
 peror and Marshal Daun, from which he was only separated by 
 the Elbe, Another army, composed of Prussians and Saxons, 
 and commanded by Prince Henry of Prussia, penetrated into 
 Bohemia through Lusatia ; but they were stopped in their march 
 by Marshal Laudohn, who had taken up a ver}/" advantageous 
 position, and defeated all the measures of the Prince of Prussia. 
 At length a third Prussian army marched into Austria and Sile- 
 sia, and occupied the greater part of that province. Europe had 
 never seen armies more numerous and better disciplined, and 
 commanded by such experienced generals, approach each other 
 so nearly without some memorable action taking place. The 
 Emperor and his generals had the good sense to act on the de- 
 fensive ; while the efforts of the King of Prussia, to bring him to 
 a general engagement, proved altogether unavailing. This 
 prince, who had lost a great many men by sickness and deser- 
 tion, was compelled to evacuate Bohemia about the end of Oc- 
 tober, and his example was soon followed by his brother Prince 
 
.:ekioD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 117 
 
 Henry. At tli^ beginning of this first campaign, the Empress- 
 Queen being desirous of peace, had sent Baron Thugut to the 
 King of Prussia, to offer him new proposals. A conference was 
 agreed to take place at the convent of Braunau (Aug. 1778,) 
 Avhich had no better success than the preceding, on account of 
 the belligerous disposition of the Emperor, who was for continu- 
 ing the war. At length the return of peace was brought about 
 by the powerful intervention of the courts of Versailles and St. 
 Petersburg. 
 
 France, who was obliged, by the terms of her alliance with 
 Austria, to furnish supplies for the Empress-Queen, could not in 
 the present case reconcile this engagement w4th the interests of 
 her crown, nor with the obligations which the treaty of West- 
 phalia had imposed upon her, v.'ith respect to the Germanic body. 
 Besides, the war which had broken out between her and England, 
 on account of her alliance with the United States of x4.merica, 
 made her anxious for the restoration of peace on the Continent, 
 for avoiding every thing which might occasion a diversion of her 
 maritime forces. The Empress of Russia, who thought her 
 glory interested, could not remain a quiet spectator of a struggle 
 which, if prolonged, might set all Europe in a flame. She'de- 
 clared to the Court of Vienna, that in consequence of the ties of 
 friendship and alliance which subsisted between her and the 
 Court of Berlin, she would find herself called on to join her 
 troops to those of Prussia, if the vrar was to be continued. But, 
 before coming to that extremity, she would interpose her good 
 offices, conjointly with France, to bring existing differences to an 
 amicable conclusion. 
 
 The mediation of these two courts having been accepted by 
 the belligerent powers, a congress was summoned at Teschen,in 
 Silesia, which was opened in the month of March 1779. The 
 Empress of Russia, to give the greater weight to her interfer- 
 ence, despatched a body of troops to the frontiers, destined to act 
 as auxiliaries under the King of Prussia, in case the war should 
 happen to be renewed. Prince Repnin, who commanded that 
 body, appeared, at the same time, in the capacity of ambassador- 
 extraordinary at the Congress. France sent, on her part. Baron 
 de Breteuil, her ambassador at the Court of Vienna. All things 
 being already prepared, and the principal difficulties removed, 
 the peace wtis concluded in less than two months. By this treaty, 
 the convention of the 3d of January, made between the Court 
 of Vienna and the Elector Palatine, was annulled. Austria was 
 required to give up all her possessions in Bavaria, except the 
 places and districts situated between the Danube, the Inn, and 
 the Salza, which were ceded to her as all- she could claim of the 
 
A8 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 succession of Bavaria, which she had renounced in the most for- 
 mal manner. The fiefs of the Empire, which had been confer- 
 red on the House of Bavaria, were secured by that treaty to the 
 Elector Palatine and his whole family ; as well as those situated 
 in the Upper Palatinate, and holding of the Crown of Bohemia. 
 
 The Elector Palatine engaged to pay the Elector of Saxony, 
 for his allodial rights, the sum of six millions of florins, money 
 of the Empire ; while the Empress-Queen gave up to the said 
 prince the rights which the crown of Bohemia had over certain 
 seigniories lying within Saxony, and possessed by the Counts of 
 Schonburg. The Palatine branch of Birkenfeldt, whose right of 
 succession to the Palatine estates had been disputed, on the 
 giound of their being the issue of an unequal marriage, were 
 now deckred capable of succeeding to all the estates and pos- 
 sessions of the House of Wittlesbach, as comprehended in the 
 family compacts of that house. 
 
 The existing treaties between the Court of Vienna and the 
 K.mg of Prussia, and also those of Westphalia, Breslau, Berlin, 
 and Dresden, were renewed and confirmed ; and a formal ac- 
 knowledgment made to the royal line of Prussia, of their right 
 to unite the margraviates of Baireuth and Anspach, failing the 
 present possessors, to the hereditary succession of the Electorate 
 of Brandenburg ; which right the House of Austria had called 
 in question during the dispute which we have already mention- 
 ed. As for the House of Mecklenburg, the}^ granted to it the 
 privilege of the 7iu?i appeIla?ido, in virtue of which, no one could 
 carry an appeal from the tribunals of that country to the sove- 
 reign courts of the Empire. The two mediating powers under- 
 took to guarantee this treaty. Thus the war for the succession 
 of Bavaria was checked at its commencement. The following 
 peculiarities are worthy of remark, viz. that the Palatine family, 
 who were the party chiefly interested, took no share in it ; while 
 Bavaria, the sole cause of the war, was no way engaged in it , 
 and the Elector Palatine, who had even refused the assistance 
 of the King of Prussia, was, nevertheless, the party chiefly ben- 
 efited by the peace, by means of the protection of that prince. 
 
 The House of Austria having failed, as we have just seen, in 
 her project of conquering Bavaria, tried, in the next place, to 
 get possession of that country by way of exchange for the Ne- 
 therlands. The Elector Palatine appeared willing to meet the 
 views of the Court of Vienna ; but it was not so with the Duke 
 of Deux-Ponts, who haughtily opposed the exchange; while the 
 King of Prussia, who supported it, was obliged to acknowledge 
 that such an exchange was inadmissible, and in opposition both 
 to former treaties, and to the best interests of the Germanic body 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 119 
 
 The Court of Vienna then abandoned this project, at least in 
 appearance ; but the alarm which it had caused throughout the 
 Empire, gave rise to an association, known by the name of the 
 Germanic Confederation. It was concluded at Berlin (July 
 23, 1785,) between the three Electors of Saxony, Brandenburg-, 
 and Brunswick-Luneburg ; besides several provinces of the Im- 
 perial State who adhered to it. This association, purely de- 
 fensive, had no other object than the preservation of the Ger- 
 manic System, with the rights and possessions of all its members. 
 
 The JRevolution in North America, deserves to be placed 
 among the number of those great events which belong to the 
 general history of Europe. Besides the sanguinary war which 
 it kindled between France and England, and in which Spain 
 and Holland were also implicated, it may be regarded as the 
 harbinger of those revolutions which took place soon after in 
 several of the Continental States of Europe. The English 
 colonies in North America were no otherwise connected with 
 the mother country, than by a government purely civil, by a 
 similarity of manners, and by customs, which long usage had 
 rendered sacred. They were divided into provinces, each of 
 which had its particular constitution more or less analogous to 
 that of England, but imperfectly united with the mother coun 
 try, because the inhabitants of these provinces were not repre- 
 sented in the national Parliament. If they had been so. Great 
 Britain would certainly never have enjoyed that monopoly which 
 she had reserved to herself, agreeably to the colonial system of 
 all modern nations. The exclusive privilege of sending her 
 commodities to the Americans, by fettering their industry, alien- 
 ated their affections from England, and made them naturally de- 
 sirous of shaking off her yoke ; and this propensity could not 
 fail to increase, in proportion as these colonies increased in 
 strength, population, and wealth. 
 
 One consideration, however, likely to secure their allegiance, 
 was the protection which England granted them against their 
 powerful neighbours the French in Canada, the Spaniards in 
 Florida, and the Barbarians in the West. The Canadians, es- 
 pecially, proved daring and troublesome neighbours to New Eng- 
 land, which rendered the assistance and protection of the mother 
 country indispensable. The aspect of affairs changed at the 
 time of the peace of Paris (1763.) England, by getting pos- 
 session of Canada and Florida, broke the main tie which at- 
 tached the colonies to her government. Delivered then from 
 the terror of the French, and having no more need of foreign 
 succour to protect them from their attacks, the Americans began 
 to concert measures for extricating themselves from the domin- 
 ion of Britain. 
 
120 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The first disturbances that broke out were occasioned by the 
 attempts which the British Parliament had made to impose 
 taxes on the Americans. The national debt of England having 
 increased considerably during the preceding war, the Parlia- 
 ment thought they had a right to oblige the colonies to furnish 
 their quota for the liquidation of that debt, which had been con- 
 tracted, in part, for the interests of America. The Parliament- 
 passed an act, according to which all contracts in the American 
 colonies were to be drawn upon stamped paper ; and the tax on 
 the stamp was regulated according to the different objects of the 
 coQtract. When this act had passed into a law, and was about 
 to be carried into effect in America, it caused a general insur- 
 rection. The people committed all sorts of excesses and abuses 
 against the King's officers. The Courts of Justice were shiit 
 up, and the colonies began to form associations among them- 
 selves. They disputed the right of the British Parliament to 
 impose taxes on them. ; alleging that they were not represented 
 there, and that it was the constitutional privilege of every Eng- 
 lishman, not to be taxed except by means of his own represen- 
 tatives. The colonies having thus attacked the sovereignty and 
 legislative power of the Parliament, laid an interdict on all 
 commerce with the mother country, and forbade the purchase 
 of coinmodities imported from Great Britain. 
 
 The Parliament rescinded the Stamp act. They published, 
 however, a declaratory act which set forth, that the colonies 
 were subordinate to, and dependent on, the Crown and Parlia- 
 ment of Great Britain, in wdiom resided full power and au- 
 thority to make laws and statutes binding on the colonies, in all 
 possible cases. The provincial assemblies of the colonists were 
 enjoined, by that act, to receive into their towns whatever num- 
 ber of British troops the mother country might think proper to 
 send, and to furnish them with wood and beer. Far from al- 
 laying these disturbances, this new act tended, on the contrary, 
 to exasperate them still more. The Americans considered it as 
 tyrannical, and as having no other design than to destroy the 
 foundation of their liberty, and to establish an absolute and 
 despotic^ power. 
 
 The British ministry made still farther concessions. They 
 abandoned altogether the idea of a tax to be levied in the in- 
 terior of the country, and limited themselves entirely to taxes 
 or duties on imported goods. The Stamp act was replaced by 
 another (1767,) which imposed certain duties on tea, paper, 
 lead, and paint-colours, &c. &c. exported from England into the 
 colonies. This act was no better received than its predecessor. 
 The Assembly of Massachusetts, which was formed at Boston, 
 
Earthquake at Lisbon. Vol. 2, p. 86. 
 
 Engagement of the Russia7i and Turkish Fleets 
 offScio. Vol. 2, p. 104. 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 121 
 
 addressed circular letters to all the colonies, exhorting them to 
 act in concert for the support of their rights against the mother 
 country. The resolutions which some of the colonies had al- 
 ready adopted, of prohibiting tho use of commodities manufac- 
 tured in Great Britain, became common to all the colonies ; and 
 the American merchants in general, countermanded the goods 
 which they had ordered from England, Scotland, and Ireland. 
 The spirit of revolt thus extending wider and wider, the British 
 government determined to employ troops for the restoration of 
 order and tranquillity in the colonies, and making them respect 
 the sovereignty of Great Britain (1769.) 
 
 Affairs were in this situation when Lord North, who had been 
 placed at the head of the administration, succeeded in calming 
 the minds of the colonists, by passing an act which abolished 
 the obnoxious taxes, with the single exception of that on tea. 
 The view of the minister in retaining this tax, was not of reap- 
 ing any advantage from it ; but he hoped by this trilling duty 
 to accustom the colonies to support greater taxes. The Ameri- 
 cans v/ere very sensible of this ; however, as they imported very 
 little tea from England, and as the Dutch furnished them with 
 this article by way of contraband, they showed no symptoms of 
 resentment until the year 1773. At that time, the Parliament 
 having given permission to the East India Company to export 
 tea to America, of which they had large supplies in their ware- 
 houses, the Americans, indignant to see this Company made the 
 organ of a law which was odious to them, resolved to oppose the 
 landing of these tea cargoes. Three of the Company's vessels, 
 freighted with this article, having arrived at Boston, and prepa- 
 ring to unload, the inhabitants boarded them during the night 
 of the 21st of December, and threw all the chests into the sea, 
 to the number of 342. In the other provinces, they only sent 
 back the ships loaded v/ith this obnoxious commodity.* 
 
 On the news of this outrage, the British Parliament thought 
 it necessary to adopt rigorous measures. Three acts were passed 
 in succession (1774,) the first to lay the port of Boston under in- 
 terdict ; the second to abolish the constitution and democratic 
 government of IVlassachusetts, and substitute a royal govern- 
 ment ; and the third to authorize the colonial governors to trans- 
 port to England the Americans who were accused of rebellion, 
 to be tried at the Court of King's Bench. General Gage was sent 
 to Boston with a body of troops and several vessels to carry these 
 coercive measures into effect. By thus adopting decisive mea- 
 sures, the British Parliament in vain flattered themselves, that 
 they could reduce, by force, a continent so vast, and so remote 
 from the mother country, as that of America. Supposing even 
 
 VOL. n. 11 
 
x22 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ?hat ihey could have succeeded, the spirit and nature of the 
 English government would never have permitted them to main- 
 tain their conques-ts by force. The colonies, however, far from 
 being intimidated by these acts, Avarmly espoused the cause of 
 the province which had been singled out for punishment. 
 
 A general Congress, composed of the representatives of all the 
 colonies, was opened at Philadelphia (Sept. 5, 1774.) They 
 declared the acts of the British Parliament against Massachu- 
 setts, to be unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional. They 
 agreed never more to import articles of commerce from Great 
 Britain ; and to present an address to the King, and a petition 
 to the House of Commons, for the redress of those grievances of 
 which the colonies had to complam. This latter step having 
 produced no effect, and the Parliament having still persisted in 
 their rigorous measures, hostilities commenced in the month of 
 April 1775. The American Congress then conferred the com- 
 mand of their army on George Washington, a rich planter in 
 Virginia, who had acquired considerable military reputation by 
 his success in opposing the French in Canada ; and at the same 
 time, to raise the immediate supplies of which the colonies stood 
 in need, the Congress agreed to issue paper money, suflicient to 
 meet the unavoidable expenses of the war. A declaration, pub- 
 lished in the month of July, 1775, explained the reasons which 
 had compelled the Americans to take up arms ; and announced 
 their intention not to separate from Great Britain, nor adopt a 
 system of absolute independence. But as the British Ministry 
 had made extraordinary efforts for the campaign of 1776, and 
 .'aken a body of German troops into their pay, the Americans 
 thought proper to break off all alliance with England, that they 
 might have recourse in their turn to the protection of foreigners. 
 
 The independence of the Colonies was therefore formally de- 
 clared by an Act of Congress (July 4, 1776.) They then drew 
 up articles of confederation and perpetual union among the States 
 of America, to the number of thirteen provinces, under the title 
 of the United States of America. In virtue of this union, each 
 of the States remained master of its own legislative and inter- 
 nal administration, while the Congress, which was composed ot 
 deputies from all the colonies, had the power of regulating all 
 political affairs ; that is to say, every thing concerning war or 
 peace, alliances, money matl.^rs, w^eights and measures, posts, 
 &c. ; as well as the settlement of any differences Avhich might 
 arise between two or more of the confederate States. The first 
 favourable action for the Americans, in their war against Eng- 
 land, was that at Trenton on the Delav/are, (Dec. 25, 1776,) 
 where General Washington surprised a body of Hessians and 
 
PERIOD vm. A D. 1713—1789. 123 
 
 English, and made them prisoners. But the event which in 
 some degree set the seal to the independence of America, was 
 the important check which General Burgoyne met with near 
 Saratoga. Having advanced from Canada to support the opera- 
 tions of General Howe, who was marching on Philadelphia, he 
 was compelled by the American troops under General Gates to 
 lay down his arms, by a capitulation which was signed in the 
 camp at Saratoga (Oct. 16, 1777.) The news of this disaster 
 was no sooner received in Europe, than France, who, during 
 the time that England was occupied with the disturbances in 
 America, had put her marine on a respectable footing, took the 
 resolution of acknowledging the New Kepublic, and entered into 
 a formal alliance with it. Treaties of friendship, alliance, and 
 commerce, were concluded at Paris between them and the Uni- 
 ted States of America (Feb. 6, 1778.) France demanded as a 
 primary condition, that the United States should not lay down 
 their arms, until England had acknowledged their independence. 
 The notification which the Court of France made to that of Lon- 
 don of this treaty with the United States, became the signal of 
 war between these two nations. 
 
 This war which France had undertaken against England for 
 the free navigation of the seas, was the first which did not in- 
 volve the continent of Europe, as it was confined entirely to 
 maritime operations. The European powers, far from thwart- 
 ing France in this enterprise, applauded her success ; and while 
 Great Britain depended on her own strength, and had not a sin- 
 gle ally on the Continent, France contrived to interest Spain 
 and Holland in her cause. 
 
 Spain, after having for some time held the rank of a m.edia- 
 ting power, entered into the war in fulfilment of those engage- 
 ments which she had contracted, by the Family Compact ; an(\ 
 as respected Holland, England had determined to break with 
 her. The British ministry Vv^ere offended at that Republic, which, 
 instead of granting England the supplies that she was entitled 
 to claim in virtue of former treaties, had lent itself an accomplice 
 to the interests of her enemies. The Dutch, on their side, com- 
 plained of the multiplied vexations with which they were inces- 
 santly harassed by the British privateers. They had sought 
 to protect themselves against these, under the shield of that 
 armed neutrality which the Empress of Russia had just negoti- 
 ated for protecting the commerce of neutral States ; and it was 
 in order to prevent their accession to that neutrality, that Eng- 
 land made such haste to declare war against the Republic (Dec. 
 20, 17S0.) 
 
 Without entering here into the details of that war, the prin- 
 
124 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 cipal scene of which was in America, though it extended lo 
 Africa and the Indies, we shall con<ine ourselves to a few gen- 
 eral observations. 
 
 AVhen hosiiKties commenced between France and England, 
 the latter had a very great superiority in maritime strength. She 
 had armies at the two extremities of the globe. The number of 
 her vessels was prodigious. Her arsenals were overloaded with 
 stores. Her dock-yards were in the greatest activity ; but after 
 France and Spain had united their naval force, it was no longer 
 possible for Great Britain, obliged as she was to divide her 
 strength, to defend her distant possessions against the numerous 
 attacks of the French and their allies. Not fewer than twenty- 
 one engagements took place between the belligerent powers ; in 
 all of which England, from the experience of her Admirals, and" 
 the ability of her naval officers, did not lose a single ship of the 
 line. The first naval action was fought near Usliant (July 27, 
 1778,) between D'Orvilliers and Admiral Keppel. This action, 
 the glory of which was claimed equally by both nations, was as 
 indecisive as most of those which followed it. The only decisive 
 actior, properly speaking, was that which Admiral Rodney fought 
 with Count de Grasse (April 12, 1782,) betv.'een the islands of 
 Dominica and Saintes. The English Admiral having broken 
 the French line, succeeded in taking five ships of the line, inclu- 
 ding the Admiral's, and had the honour to carry him prisoner 
 to London. 
 
 At the beginning of the war, the English stripped the French 
 of their possessions in the East Indies, such as Pondicherry, 
 Chandernagore, and Mahe. They took from them the islands 
 of St. Peter and Miquelon, as well as that of St. Lucia, and 
 Gorea on the coast of Africa. The French afterwards repaid 
 themselves for these losses, by conquering the islands of Domin- 
 ica, St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, St. Christophers, Nevis and 
 Monteserrat. All the forts and establishments of the English 
 on the Senegal in Africa, as well as Gondelore in the East In- 
 dies, fell into their possession. 
 
 The Spaniards made themselves masters of the forts which 
 the English occupied on the Mississippi. They took fort Mo- 
 bile or Conde, in ancient French Louisiana, and subdued the 
 whole of Western Florida, with the town of Pensacola. In 
 Europe they recovered, with the assistance of the French, the 
 island of Minorca, Avith port Mahon and fort St. Philip ; but the 
 combined forces of the two nations failed in their enterprise 
 against Gibraltar. This place, which was bravely defended by 
 General Elliot, was twice relieved with supplies by the English 
 fleet — first by Admiral Rodney (1780,) and afterwards by Lord 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713—1789. 125 
 
 Howe (1782.) The floating batteries invented by M. D'Ar^on, 
 which were directed against the garrison, were destroyed by the 
 red-hot bullets which the English commander showered upon 
 them in great profusion. It was chiefly this obstinate determi- 
 nation of the Spaniards to recover the rock of Gibraltar, that for 
 a long time deprived France and Spain of the advantages which 
 ought to have accrued to them from the combination of their 
 naval strength against Great Britain. As for the Dutch, they 
 experienced heavy losses in this war; their islands of St. Eu- 
 statia, Saba, and St. Martin in the Antilles, Avere seized by the 
 English, who carried off' immense booty. Besides their esta- 
 blishments of Demarara and Essequibo in Guiana, those which 
 they had on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, especially Ne- 
 gapatam and Trincomalee, on the coasts of Ceylon, were reduced 
 in succession. The French succeeded, however, in reconquer- 
 ing the Dvitch Antilles, and the fortress of Trincomalee. 
 
 In North America, the success of the war was for a long time 
 equally balanced between the English and the Americans. At 
 length Lord Cornwallis, after having conquered the two Caroliuas, 
 advanced into Virginia. He took York Town and Gloucester ; 
 but having penetrated into the interior of that province, Generals 
 Washington, Rochambaud, and La Fayette, turned their forces 
 against him, and were supporred in this attack by a French fleet, 
 which the Count de Grasse had brought to their aid. Lord 
 Cornwallis, surrounded on all sides, and shut up in York Town, 
 was obliged to capitulate (Oct. 19, 1781,) and surrendered him- 
 self and his whole army prisoners of war. This event decided 
 the fate of America. The news of it no sooner arrived in 
 England, than a change took place in the British ministry. 
 Lord North and his colleagues resigned, and were replaced 
 by the members of the opposite party. The new ministry 
 attempted to negotiate a special peace, either with the Ameri 
 cans or with the Dutch ; but their efTorts having proved unsuc 
 cessful, they adopted the alternative of recognising the inde 
 pendence of America, and then entered into a negotiation with 
 France. A conference was opened at Paris, under the media- 
 tion of Joseph II. and the Empress of Russia. It continued from 
 the month of October 1782, till September 1783, when definitive 
 treaties of peace were signed at Paris and Versailles between 
 Great Britain, France, Spain, and the United States of America. 
 The conclusion of the treaty between England and Holland did 
 not take place till the 20th May 1784. 
 
 In virtue of these treaties, the independence of the Thirteen 
 United States of America was acknowledged by England ; and 
 the boundaries of the respective possessions of the two powers 
 
 roi«tr. U'^ 
 
108 CHAPTER rx. 
 
 assumed as the basis of the intended partition. A negctiation 
 was afterwards entered into at St. Petei-sburg, for regulating- the 
 portion to be given to the Court of Vienna; as the Empress and 
 the King of Prussia, had ah-eady agreed about the divisions to 
 which they thought they might lay claim. ^'^ 
 
 At length the formal conventions were signed at St. Peters- 
 burg, between the ministers of the three Courts (Aug. 5, 1772.) 
 The boundaries of the territories and districts, which were to 
 fall to the share of ilie three powers respectively, were there 
 definitively settled and guaranteed to each other. They agreed 
 to defer taking possession till the month of September folloAving, 
 and to act in concert for obtaining a final arrangement with the 
 Republic of Poland. The Empress engaged by the same treaty 
 to surrender Moldavia and Wallachia to the Turks, in order to 
 expedite the restoration of peace between her and the Porte. In 
 terms of that agreement, the declarations and letters-patent of 
 the three Courts, were presented at Warsaw, in September 
 1772 ; and on taking possession of the territories and districts 
 which had been assigned them, they published memorials for 
 establishing the legitimacy of their right?* over the countries 
 which they claimed. The King of Poland and his ministry, in 
 vain claimed the assistance and protection of the powers that 
 guaranteed the treaties. They had no other alternative left, 
 than to condescend to every thing which the three courts de- 
 manded. A Diet which was summoned at Warsaw, appointed 
 a delegation, taken from the Senate and the Equestrian order, 
 to transact with the plenipotentiaries of the three powers, as to 
 the arrangements of the different treaties by which the provinces 
 already occupied were to be formally ceded to them on the part 
 of the Republic. These arrangements were signed at Warsaw, 
 September 18, 1773, and afterwards ratified by the Diet of Poland. 
 
 To Austria was assigned, in terms of her treaty with the Re- 
 public, the thirteen towns in the county of Zips, which Sigis- 
 mund. King of Hungary, had mortgaged to Poland in 1412 ; 
 besides nearly the half of the Palatinate of Cracow, part of Sando- 
 mire, Red Russia, the greater part of Belz, Pocutia, and part of 
 Podolia. The towns in the count}^ of Zips v,'ere again incor- 
 porated with Hungary, from which they had been dismembered ; 
 and alltlie rest were erected into a particular State, under the 
 name of the kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. One very 
 important advantage in the Austrian division was, the rich salt 
 mines in Wieljczka, and Bochnia, and Sambor, which furnished 
 salt to the greater part of Poland, ^^ 
 
 Russia obtained for her share, Polish Livonia, the greater 
 part of Witepsk and Polotsk, the whole Palatinate of Mscislaw, 
 
PERIOD vin. A. D. 1713*-1789. 87- 
 
 II., who succeeded him, did not think fit to espouse the quarrel 
 of her husband. She immediately recalled the Russian army 
 from Mecklenburg; and being desirous of establishing the tran- 
 quillity of the North on a solid basis, and confirming a good un- 
 derstanding between the two principal branches of the House 
 of Holstein, she agreed, by a treaty of alliance with the King 
 of D-enmark (1765,) to terminate all these differences by a 
 provisional arrangement, which was not to take effect until the 
 majority of the Grand Duke Paul, the son of Peter III. 
 
 This accommodation between the two Courts was signed at 
 Copenhagen (x\pril 22, 1762.) The Empress, in the name of 
 her son, gave up her claim to the ducal part of Sleswick, oc- 
 cupied by the King of Denmark. She ceded, moreover, to 
 that sovereign a portion of Holstein, possessed by the famil^^ of 
 Gottorp, in exchange for the counties of Oldenburg and Del- 
 menhorst. It was agreed, that these counties should be erect- 
 ed into dutchies, and that the ancient suffrage of Holstein-Got- 
 torp, at the Imperial Diet, should be transferred to them. This 
 provisional treaty was ratified when the Grand Duke came of 
 age ; and the transference of the ceded territories took place in 
 1773. At the same time that prince declared, that he designed 
 the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst to form an esta- 
 bhshment for a ^^ounger branch of his family, that of Eutin ; 
 to which the contracting powers also secured the bishopric of 
 Lubec, to be held in perpetual possession. The bishop of Lubec, 
 the head of the younger branch of the Gottorp family, was that 
 same yeD.Y put in possession of the counties of Oldenburg and 
 Delmenhorst ; and the Em.peror Joseph 11. erected these coun- 
 ties into a dutchy and fief-male of the Empire, under the title 
 of the Dutchy of Holstein-Oldenburg. 
 
 Here it will be necessary to advert to the revolutions that took 
 place in the Island of Corsica, which, after a long series of troubles 
 and distractions, passed from the dominion of Genoa to that of 
 France. The oppressions which the Corsicans had suffered 
 under the government of the Genoese, who treated them with 
 extreme rigour, had rendered their j^oke odious and insupporta- 
 ble. They rose several times in rebellion against the Republi- 
 cans ; but from the want of union among themselves, they failed 
 in the different attempts v/hich they made for effecting thatr 
 libert}' and independence. 
 
 One of the last insurrections of the Corsicans was that of 
 1729. They chose for their leader Andrew Ceccaldi of a noble 
 family in the Island, and Luigi Giafferi, a man of courage and 
 an enthusiast for liberty. The Genoese, after trying in \^ain to 
 subdue the insurgents, were obliged to have recourse to tlie pro- 
 
 9 
 
128 CHAPTER EX. 
 
 tion. Russia, on her part, who regarded the independence of 
 the Crimea as a step towards the execution of her ambitious pro- 
 jects, expelled the Khan Dowlat Gueray, who was favourably 
 inclmed towards the Porte, and put Sahin Gueray in his place, 
 who was devoted to the interests of Russia. This latter having 
 been dispossessed by Selim Gueray, with the assistance of the 
 Porte, the Empress marched a body of troops into the Crimea, 
 under the command of Suwarow (1778,) and restored her pro- 
 tege to the throne by force of arms. 
 
 The Turks made great preparations for war, and a new rup- 
 ture between the two empires was expected, when, by the inter- 
 position of M. de St. Priest, the French ambassador to the Turk- 
 ish Court, the Divan consented to an accommodation which was 
 concluded at Constantinople (March 21, 1779,) under the name 
 of the Explicative Convention. The independence of the Cri- 
 mea, and the sovereignty of Sahin Gueray, were thereby acknoAV- 
 ledged, and confirmed anew. Russia and the Porte engaged to 
 withdraw their troops from that peninsula, as well as from the 
 island of Taman. The Porte promised especially never to al- 
 lege any pretexts of spiritual alliance, for interfering with the 
 civil or political power of the Khans. The free intercourse be- 
 tween the Black Sea and the White Sea, was secured in the most 
 express manner to all Russian vessels that were of the form, size, 
 and capacity, of the ships of other nations who carried on trade 
 in the ports of Turkey. 
 
 This convention did not restore any permanent good under- 
 standing between the two Empires ; new troubles were not long 
 in springing up again in the Crimea. The Khan Sahin Gueray 
 was once more expelled by the party adhering to the Turks 
 (17S2.) A Russian army immediately entered that peninsula, 
 and restored the fugitive Khan ; while a Russian fleet sailing 
 from the port of AzofT, cut off the malecontents from all commu- 
 nication with Constantinople. Under these circumstances, the 
 Empress Catherine II. thought the moment had arrived for pla- 
 cing the Crimea among the number of her own provinces. She 
 caused her troops to occupy that peninsula, as well as the whole 
 of Cuban ; and expelled the Turks from Taman, of which they 
 had made themselves masters, with the view of opening a com- 
 munication with the Tartars. Finally, she explained, in a man- 
 ifesto, the motives which induced her to unite the Crimea to her 
 Empire, together with the isle of Taman, and the Cuban, and 
 required Sahin Gueray formally to resign the sovereignty which 
 he had enjoyed for so short a time (June 28, 1783.) 
 
 That event was a terrible blow to the Ottoman Porte. The 
 inhabitants of Constantinople loudly demanded war; but the 
 
i^iiRioD vm. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 129 
 
 Divan, ^vho were sensible of their weakne?^, used every endea- 
 vour to avoid it. Tlie preparations of the Russians both by sea 
 and land, were immense ; and there subsisted a co-operation and 
 a perfect intimacy between the Courts of Vienna and St. Peters- 
 burg. England tried in vain to engage the Turks to take up 
 arms,' but they were withheld by France and Austria. Instead 
 of fighting, they were resolved to negotiate ; and a new treatv 
 was signed at Constantinople (Jan: 8, 1784.) The sovereignty 
 of the Crimea, the island of Taman, and all the part of Cuban 
 which lay on the right bank of the river of that name, and form- 
 ed, as it were, a frontier betvv^een the tv/o Empires, were aban- 
 doned to Russia. The fortress of Oczakoif, to which the Tar- 
 tars of the Crimea had some claims, was ceded to the Porte, 
 with its whole territory. Thus ended the dominion of the Tar- 
 tars in the Crimea, once so terrible to Russia. The Enipress 
 formed the whole of that vast country into tvro new govern- 
 ments, Taurida and the Caucasus. 
 
 There had existed for a long time certain disputes between 
 the Dutch and the government of the Austrian Netherlands, as 
 to the execution of the Barrier Treaty (1715,) and that of the 
 Hague (1718.) They had neglected to define precisely the 
 limits of Dutch Flanders, which these treaties had pointed out 
 rather than determined ; and for a long time the Imperial Court 
 had ceased to pay the Dutch the subsidies which the Barrier 
 Treaty had stipulated in their favour. That court would not 
 consent to agree to a definitive settlement of these limits, or the 
 payment of the subsidies, until England and Holland should co- 
 operate with her in repairing the Barrier towns, whose fortifica- 
 tions had been ruined during the war of the Austrian Succes- 
 sion. She demanded, also, that these powers should unite for 
 concluding a treaty of commerce, and a tariff favourable for the 
 Low Countries, as they had engaged to do by former treaties. 
 At length the Emperor Joseph II. thought he might avail him- 
 self of the war which had arisen between England and Holland, 
 to free the Austrian Netherlands entirely from the claims which 
 the B?a'rier Treaty had imposed on them. The order for de- 
 molishing all the fortified places in the Netherlands compre- 
 hended the Barrier towns ; and the Dutch were summoned to 
 Vv'ithdraw their troops from them. These republicans, not be- 
 ing able to solicit the protection of England, with which they 
 were at war, found themselves obliged to comply with the sum- 
 mons of the Emperor. Their troops then evacuted all the Bar- 
 rier towns in succession. 
 
 This compliance on the part of the Dutch, encouraged the 
 Emperor to extend his pretensions still farther. Not content 
 
130 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 with annulling the treaties of 1715 — 18, he required that th« 
 boundaries of Flanders should be re-established on the footing 
 of the contract of 1664, between Spain and the States-General ; " 
 and instead of making his new demand a subject of negotiation, 
 he took possession of the forts, as well as of the towns and dis- 
 tricts included within the limits which had been fixed by this 
 latter agreement. The Dutch having addressed their com- 
 plaints to the Court of Vienna against these violent proceedings 
 the Emperor consented to open a conference at Brussels (1784,) 
 for bringing all these disputes to an amicable termination. He 
 declared, at the opening of the meeting, that he would desist from 
 all the claims which he had against the Republic, provided they 
 would grant the Belgic provinces the free passage and naviga- 
 tion of the Scheldt ; with the privilege of direct commerce with 
 India, from all the ports in the Netherlands. But while proposing 
 this state of things as the subject of negotiation, he announced, 
 that from that momiont he was firmly resolved to consider the 
 Scheldt as free ; and that the least opposition, on the part of the 
 States-General, would be, in his eyes, as the signal of hostili- 
 ties, and a declaration of war. The Dutch, without being in- 
 timidated by these threats, declared the demand of the Emperor 
 to be contrary to their treaties, and subversive of the safety 
 and prosperity of their Repubhc. Vice-Admiral Reynst was 
 ordered to station himself, with a squadron, at the mouth of the 
 Scheldt, and to prevent all Imperial or Flemish ships from pass- 
 ing. Tv/o merchantmen having attempted to force the passage, 
 the Dutch gave them a broadside, and obliged them to strike. 
 
 The Emperor then regarded the war as declared, and broke 
 off the conference at Brussels ; he had, however, made no pre- 
 parations ; and the Low Countries were entirely divested of their 
 troops, magazines, and warlike stores. The prince had flatter- 
 ed himself, that the Court of France would espouse his quarrel, 
 and that he would obtain from them the supplies stipulated by 
 the treaty of Versailles. But France, who was then negotiating 
 a treaty of alliance with the Republic, easily foresaw, that if she 
 abandoned them at that particular time, they would be- obliged 
 to throw themselves into the arms of England. M. de Maille- 
 bois then got orders to pass to Holland, while France set on foot 
 two armies of observation, one in Flanders, and the other on the 
 Rhine. The King wrote to the Emperor very pressing letters, 
 wishing him to adopt pacific measures. 
 
 These proceedings and the numerous difficulties which the 
 war of the Netherlands presented to the Emperor, induced him 
 to accept the mediation of the Court of Fiance ; a negotiation 
 on this subject was entered into at Versailles. The Emperor 
 
PERIOD VITI. A. D. 1713—1789. 131 
 
 there persisted at first in maintaining the liberty of the Scheldt, 
 but afterwards became less rigid on this point. He was con- 
 tent to enforce his other claims. This negotiation was as tedi- 
 ous as it was intricate. It occupied the French ministry dur- 
 ing the greater part of the year 17S5. The Emperor insisted 
 much on the cession of Maestricht, and the territory of Outre- 
 Meuse. From this demand he would not recede, except on the 
 payment of a large sum of money by way of indemnity, and 
 another in reparation of the damage ^^'hich the inundation of 
 Flanders, ordered by the States-General, had occasioned to his 
 Austrian subjects. By the peace which was signed at Fontain- 
 bleau, the treaty of Munster (1648) was renewed ; but nothing 
 was said of the Barrier treaty, nor of that of Vienna (1731.) 
 They agreed on shutting the Scheldt from Saftingen, as far as 
 the sea ; as well as the Canals of Saas, Swin, and other com- 
 munications with the sea in the neighbourhood. The States- 
 General engaged to pay the Emperor, in lieu of his claims on 
 Maestricht and the Outre-Meuse, the sum of 9,500,000 Dutch 
 florins ; and another of 500,000 florins for repairing the damages 
 done by the inundations. That Prince got ample satisfaction 
 on the subject of most of his other claims ; and France under- 
 took to guarantee the treaty. Immediately after it was signed, 
 they renewed the negotiation respecting the treaty of alliance 
 projected between France and the Republic. This treaty was 
 also signed at Fontainbleau (Nov. 10, 1785) two days after the 
 treaty of peace. 
 
 Various intestine disturbances at that time agitated the Repub- 
 lic of the United Provinces. The animosity of the Republican 
 party against the Stadtholder and his partisans, had been re* 
 Tived more keenl^r than ever, on account of the war in Ame- 
 rica between France and England. The Republicans reproach- 
 ed the Stadtholder for his devotedness to the interests of Eng- 
 land, which had made him neglect their marine, and fail in the 
 protection which he owed the Dutch commerce, in his capacity 
 of Admiral-General of the forces of the Republic. The dif- 
 ferent magistrates of the municipal tovvms, in order to discredit 
 the Stadtholder in the opinion of the public, encouraged peri- 
 odical writers to inveigh against the person of AVilliam V. and 
 nis administration. They blamed his counsellors, and especially 
 Louis Duke of Brunswick, who, as governor to the Stadtholder 
 during his minority, had had the principal direction of aftairs, 
 and who still continued to aid him with his councils. 
 
 The city of Amsterdam, which had always been distinguish- 
 ed for its opposition to the Stadtholder, was the first that de- 
 manded the removal of the Duke, whom they blamed as the 
 
132 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 cause of the languid state of their maritime power. That 
 jirince was compelled to resign, (17S4,) and even to withdraw 
 from the territories of the Republic. The retirement of the Duke 
 emboldened the opponents of the Stadtholder, who soon wentbe- 
 vond all bounds. That party, purely aristocratic in its origin, had 
 been afterwards reinforced hy a multitude of democrats, who, 
 not contented with humbling the Stadtholder, attacked even 
 the power of the magistrates ; and tried to change ;he constitu- 
 tion, by rendering the government more popular and dcmocra''.... 
 In. the principaF towns, associations were formed under the 
 name of Free Bodies, for exercising the citizens in the manage- 
 ment of arms. The party opposed to the Stadtholder took the 
 name of Patriots. They were secretly supported by France, 
 who wished to employ them as an instrument for destroying the 
 influence of England, and attaching the Republic to her own 
 interests. A popular insurrection, which happened at the Hague 
 (17So,) furnished the States of Holland with a pretext for re- 
 moving the Stadtholder from the command of that place, which 
 was intrusted to a Council. This blow, stnick at a prerogative 
 which Vv'-as regarded as inherent in the Stadtholdership, induced 
 the Prince of Orange to quit the Hague, and fix his residence 
 in the province of Guelders, the States which v\'ere most par- 
 ticularly devoted to him. An attack which the prince made 
 against the towns of Elburg and Hattem, for refusing to ex- 
 ec Lite the orders which he had intimated to them in the name 
 of the States of Guelders, exasperated the minds of the Dutch. 
 It added to the strength of the Patriotic party, and encouraged 
 the Slates of Holland to make a renev.'ed attack on the Stad- 
 tholdership ; and even to go so far as to suspend the prmce from 
 the functions of Captain-General of that province. 
 
 The Court of Berlin had taken measures, both with the 
 Slates-General and the province of Holland, to facilitate an ac- 
 commodation between the two parties. Frederic William II. 
 who succeeded his uncle Frederic the Great, (17S6,) sent to the 
 Hague, with this vievv% the Count de Gortz, his minister of state ; 
 while M. Gerard de Rayneval was ordered to repair thither on 
 the part of France. A negotiation was opened between these 
 two ministers and the principal leaders of the Patriotic party, 
 but Avithout effect. Their animosities rather increased, and the 
 Patriots broke out into every kind of violence. They dismis- 
 sed the magistrates of the chief towns by force, and replaced 
 t'aem by their own adherents ; a step which obliged the aristo- 
 crats to coalesce with the Stadtholder's party, in order to with- 
 stand the fury of the republicans. A civil war seemed to all 
 .appearance inevitable. In this state of matters, the Princess of 
 
Destruction of the Bastile at Paris by the People 
 Vol. 2, p. 145. 
 
 Execution of Louis XVI. of France. Vol . 2, p. 1 5 1 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 133 
 
 Orangfe took the resolution of repairing in person to the Hague, 
 with the design, as she alleged, of endeavouring to restore 
 peace. She was arrested on her route by a detachment of the 
 republican corps of Gouda (June 28, 1787,) and conducted to 
 Schcenhoven, whence she was obliged to return to Nimeguen, 
 without being able to accomplish the object of her journey. 
 
 The King of Prussia demanded satisfaction for this outrage 
 offered to his sister. The States of Holland, not feeling dis- 
 posed to give it in the terms which the King demanded, he sent 
 a body of 20,000 men to Holland, under the command of the 
 Duke of Brunswick, Avho, in the space of a month, made him- 
 self master of the whole country, and even obliged the city ot 
 Amsterdam to submit. All the former resolutions which had 
 been taken for limiting the power of the Stadtholder, were then 
 annulled, and the prince was re-established in the plenitude of 
 his rights. 
 
 Although the subsistence of the alliance between France and 
 the Republic was obviously connected with the cause of the 
 Patriots, the former took no steps to support that party, or to 
 oppose the invasion of the Prussians. France had even the 
 weakness to negotiate with the Court of London, for disarming 
 their respective troops ; declaring, that she entertained no hos- 
 tile intentions relative to what had passed in Holland. The po- 
 litics of the States-General from that time, underwent a com- 
 plete revolution. Renouncing their alliance with France, they 
 embraced that of Prussia and Great Britain. By the treaties 
 which were signed at Berlin and the Hague (April 15, 1788,) 
 these two powers undertook to guarantee the resolutions of 
 1747 and 1748, which made the Stadtholdership hereditary 
 in the House of Orange. France thus shamefully lost the 
 fruits of all the measures which she had taken, and the sums 
 which she had lavished for attaching Holland to her federative 
 system, in opposition to England. 
 
 The troubles v/hich we have just now mentioned were soon 
 followed by others, which the innovations of the Emperor Jo- 
 seph II. had excited in the Austrian Netherlands. The differ- 
 ent edicts which that Prince had published since the first of 
 January 1787, for introducing a new order of adminisU'ation in 
 the Government, both civil and ecclesiastical, of the Belgic pro- 
 vinces, were regarded by the States of that country as contra/^y 
 to the established constitution, and incompatible with the en- 
 gagements contracted by the sovereign on his accession. The 
 great excitement which these innovations caused, induced the 
 Emperor to recall his edicts, and to restore things to their an- 
 cient footing. Nevertheless, as the public mind had been exas- 
 
 VOL. IT. 12 
 
134 CHAPTEB IX. 
 
 perated on both sides, disturbances were speedily renewed. The 
 Emperor having demanded a subsidy, which was refused by tlie 
 States of Brabant and Hainault, this circumstance induced him 
 to revoke the amnesty which he had granted ; to suppress the 
 States and Sovereign Council of Brabant ; and to declare, that 
 he no longer considered himself bound by his Inaugural Con- 
 tract. A great number of individuals, and several members of 
 the States, were arrested by his orders. The Archbishop of 
 Mechlin, and the Bishop of Antwei-p, were suspected of having 
 fomented these disturbances, and saved themselves by flight. 
 
 Two factions at that time agitated the Belgic Provinces, Vvdiere 
 they fanned the flame of civil discord. The one, headed by Vonk, 
 an advocate, and supported by the Dukes of Ursel and Arem- 
 berg, inclined to the side of Austria. These limited their de- 
 mands to the reformation of abuses, and a better system of re- 
 presentation in the States of the Netherlands. The other, under 
 the direction of Vandenioot, and the Pensionary Vaneupen, 
 while adhering to the support of the ancient forms, pretended to 
 vest in the States, that sovereignty and independence of which 
 they wished to deprive the House of Austria. The partisans of 
 Vonk hoped to effect, by their own means, the reforms which 
 they had' in view; while the adherents of Vandernoot founded 
 their hopes on the assistance of foreigners — especially of Prussia, 
 who would not fail, they supposed, to seize this occasion of weak- 
 ening the power of Austria. This latter party had undertaken 
 to open an asylum for the discontented emigrants of Brabant, in 
 the territory of the United Provinces in the neighbourhood of 
 Breda. The two parties acted at first in concert. Vandermerscb, 
 a native of Menin in Flanders, and formerly a Colonel in tha 
 Austrian service, was proposed by Vonk, and received as Gen- 
 eral by both parties. A body of the insurgents, under the com- 
 mand of Vand'^rmersch, marched to Turnhout in Brabant, and 
 repulsed the Austrians, who had come to attack them under the 
 orders of General Schroeder. This first success gave-a stimu- 
 iu.s to the insurrection, which spread from Brabant over the other 
 Belgic provinces. The Austrians abandoned by degrees all the 
 principal towns and places, and retired to the fortress of Luxem- 
 burg. Vandernoot made his triumphant entry into Brussels. 
 The States of Brabant assembled in that city, and proclaimed 
 their independence (Dec. 29, 1789.) The Emperor Joseph II. 
 was declared to have forfeited the sovereignty, by having viola- 
 ted the engagements which he had come under by his Inaugural 
 Compact. 
 
 _ The example of Brabant was soon followed by the other pro- 
 vinces. An assembly of Deputies, from all the Belgic provinces 
 
PERIOD viii. A. D. 1713—1789. 135 
 
 was formed at Brussels (Jan. 11, 1790.) They signed an Act, 
 by which these provinces joined in a confederacy, under the title 
 of the United Belgic States. The rights of sovereignty, in as 
 far as regarded their common defence, vv'ere vested in a Con 
 gress, composed of deputies from the different provinces, under 
 the name oi the Sovei'eigii Congress of tlte Belgic States. Each 
 province preserved its independence, and the exercise of the 
 legislative power. Their union was declared permanent and 
 irrevocable. They meddled neither with religion nor the con- 
 stitution, and they admitted no other representatives than those 
 who had been already nominated. This latter determination 
 highly displeased General Vandermersch, and all those of Vonk's 
 party, who had as much horror for an oligarchy in the States as 
 for the despotism of the Court of Vienna, The party of the 
 States prevailed nevertheless by the influence of Vandernoot, 
 and the instigations of the priests and monks. Vandermersch, 
 and all the zealous partisans of reform, were removed from the 
 management of affairs. The former was even arrested, and 
 General Schonfield put in his place. Ruinous impeachments 
 and imprisonments were the consequences of this triumph of the 
 aristocratic faction. 
 
 These divisions, added to the death of Joseph II., which hap- 
 pened in the meantime, produced a change favourable for the 
 interests of the Court of Vienna.. Leopold II., who succeeded 
 his brother on the throne of Austria, seemed disposed to termi- 
 nate all these differences ; and the Belgic Congress, seeing they 
 could not reckon on the assistance of foreign powers, were also 
 desirous of coming to an accommodation. The Court of Berlin 
 had refused its protection to the Belgians, and that of London 
 was decidedly opposed to their independence. These two courts, 
 conjunctly with the U-nited Provinces of the Netherlands, inter- 
 posed their mediation for allaying those disturbances. The 
 Emperor Leopold solemnly engaged, under the guarantee of the 
 three mediating powers, to govern the Netherlands agreeably to 
 the constitution, laws, and privileges which had been in force 
 under the Empress Maria Theresa ; never to do any thing to 
 their prejudice ; and to annul whatever had been done to the 
 contrary under the reign of Joseph II. A declaration published 
 by Leopold (Nov. 1790,) enjoined all his Belgic subjects to take 
 anew the oath of allegiance. That Prince gi'anted a general 
 and unconditional pardon to all those who should lay down their 
 arms within a given time. All the provinces in succession ac- 
 knowledged their allegiance. Brussels opened her gates to the 
 Austrian troops (Dec. 2, 1790,) and the patriots Vaneupen and 
 Vandernoot took refuge in Holland. 
 
136 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The animosity which had for a long time subsisted between 
 Russia and the Porte, occasioned a new war between these two 
 powers in 1787. The Turks could not endure the humiliating 
 conditions which the late treaties with Russia had imposed on 
 them. The high tone which the Court of St. Petersburg used 
 in their communications with the Porte, wounded the pride of 
 the Ottomans ; and the extraordinary journey of the Empress 
 to Cherson and the Crimea (May 1787,) in which she was ac- 
 companied by the Emperor Joseph II., created alarm even in 
 the city of Constantinople. The inhabitants of that capital 
 thought they could perceive, in that journey, a premeditated de- 
 sign in the Courts of St. Petersburg and Vienna to annihilate 
 the Ottoman Empire, and divide the spoil between them. The 
 Court of London, supported by that of Berlin, dexterously fanned 
 the spark which lay concealed under these ashes. They wish- 
 ed to be avenged on the Court of St. Petersburg for the difficul- 
 ties which she had thrown in the way of renewing their treaty 
 of commerce ; as well as the advantageous conditions which she 
 had granted to France by the commercial treaty concluded with 
 that power. The great activity with which Russia had carried 
 on her commerce in the Black Sea, since she had obtained en- 
 tire libert}^ by her treaties with the Pone, excited likewise the 
 jealousy of England, who was afraid that the commercial con- 
 nexions which she maintained with that power, through the 
 Black Sea, might thereby be destroyed. The Turks, moreover, 
 had to complain of the Russian Consul in Moldavia, who, as 
 they alleged, sought every means to interrupt the peace and good 
 understanding between the two Empires. They demanded that 
 he should be recalled, and moreo\'er, that the Empress should 
 renounce the protection of Prince Heraclius, and withdraw her 
 troops from Georgia. Finally, they wished that all Russian 
 vessels that passed the Straits should be subjected to an exami- 
 nation, in order to prevent contraband trade. 
 
 These demands were no sooner made, than the Divan, with- 
 out waiting for an answer from the Court of St. Petersburg, 
 determined to proclaim war (Aug. 18, 1787,) by sending the 
 Russian minister, M. de Boulgakoff, to the Castle of the Seven 
 Towers. On the news of this rupture, the Empress despatched 
 a considerable force against the Turks ; her troops extended 
 from Kaminiec in Podolia, to Balta, a Tartar village on the 
 frontiers of Poland, between the Dniester and the Bog. Prince 
 Potemkin, the commander-in-chief of the arm}^ had under him 
 Suwarow, Repnin, Kamenskoi, and others. The Emperor Jo- 
 seph II., after having for some time supported the character of 
 mediator between the Turks and Russians, engaged in the war 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713— 17S9. 13? 
 
 as the ally of Kussia (Feb. 9, 1788.) He attacked the Turks 
 in Moldavia, and on several points of Hungary. Marshal Lau- 
 don undertook the siege of Belgrade, of which he made himself 
 master (Oct. S, 1789.) It was obvious, however, that the pro- 
 gress of the Austrians did not correspond either to the ability of 
 their generals or the superiorily of their arms. 
 
 Another enemy of Russia appeared on the stage. Gustavus 
 III., King of Sweden, listened to the insinuations of the Cabi- 
 nets of London and Berlin, and made a diversion in favour of 
 the Porte. That prince, after renewing his alliance with the 
 Porte, commenced the war against Russia, at the very instant 
 when the whole of her forces were turned against the Turks. 
 A land army was formed by his orders in Finland, while a 
 Swedish fleet, consisting of twenty ships of the line and ten 
 frigates, advanced on Cronstadt, and threw the city of St. Pe- 
 tersburg into a state of great terror. An engagement between 
 the two fleets took place near the Isle of Hoogland (May 30, 
 17S9.) Both sides fought with equal advantage ; but an un- 
 foreseen event disconcerted the measures of the Swedish mo- 
 narch. After he had made his dispositions for attacking the 
 city of Fredricksheim in Finland, several officers of his- army 
 refused to march, alleging as a reason, that the constitution of 
 the kingdom would not permit them to be accessary to an offen- 
 sive war, which the Swedish nation had not sanctioned. The 
 example of these officers occasioned the defection of a great 
 part of the troops. The expedition to Finland failed, and the 
 Russians thus gained time to put themselves in a state of defence. 
 
 The Empress, thus attacked by the King of Sweden, claimed 
 the supplies v/hich Denmark owed her, in virtue of the alliance 
 which subsisted between the tw^o States. The Danes fitted out 
 a squadron, and marched a body of auxinary troops into tne go- 
 vernment of Bohus, which they soon conquered (1788.) From 
 Bohus they marched to West Gothland, and laid siege to Got- 
 tenburg. The King of Sweden hastened in person to the de- 
 fence of that place, one of the most important in his kingdom. 
 It would certainly have fallen, however, but for the powerful 
 intervention of the Cabinets of London and Berlin, wdio oblig- 
 ed the Court of Copenhagen to conclude the different truces 
 with Sweden (1789,). and to adopt a perfect neutrality, evfen 
 with the consent of the court of St. Petersburg. 
 
 The war between the Swedes and the Russians v/as then con- 
 fined to naval operations, the success of which, in the campaigns 
 of 1789 and 1790, was nearly equal on both sides. The defeat 
 which the Swedish fleet sustained in the Gulf of Viburg f July 
 3, 1790,) was compensated by the victory which the King of Swe- 
 
 VOL. II. 12 ^' 
 
138 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 den gained in person (July 9, 10,) at Swenkasund over the 
 Russian fleet, commanded by the Prince of Nassciu-Siegen. 
 This action, which cost the Russians many men, and a great 
 number of their ships, tended to accelerate the peace between 
 the two powers. The King of Sweden being deserted by the 
 Courts of London and Berlin, who had drawn him into the war, 
 was terrified lest the Russians should take advantage of the dis- 
 contents that prevailed among the Swedish Nobles, to penetrate 
 into the interior of his kingdom. He willingly accepted the 
 equitable conditions which the Empress of Russia proposed to 
 him. Peace was concluded in the Plain of Werela, near the 
 river Kymen (Aug. 14, 1790,) between the advanced posts of 
 the two camps : and the limits of both States were re-estab- 
 lished on the footing of former treaties. 
 
 As to the events of the war between Russia and the Porte, 
 they were entirely in favour of the former power. A body of 
 Russian troops, in conjunction with the Austrian army, made 
 themselves masters of Choczim (Sept. 1788.) Prince Potem- 
 Kin undertook the siege of the important fortress of Oczakofl 
 (Dec. 17,) and carried the piace by assault, in spite of the cou- 
 rageous defence made by the Turks. The whole garrison was 
 put to the sword, and a great part of the inhabitants met with 
 the same fate. Suwarow and the Prince of Coburg beat the 
 Turks near Focksani in Moldavia (July 21, 1789.) The same 
 General, with the assistance of that Prince, gained a brilliant 
 victory over the Turks near Martinesti, on the banks of the 
 Rymna (Sept. 22,) which gained him the epithet of RymnisM. 
 The taking of the fortress of Bender, was an immediate conse- 
 quence of that victory. Besides the province of OczakofT, the 
 whole of Moldavia and Bessarabia, with Tulcza, Isakzi, Kilia, and 
 Ismael, and the fortress of Sudjoukkale, in Turkish Cuban, fell 
 successivelv into the hands of the Russians. The taking of 
 Ismael by Suwarow, occasioned prodigious slaughter. It cost 
 the lives of 30,000 Ottomans ; without reckonmg the prisoners, 
 who amounted to the number of 10,000. 
 
 These victories stirred up the jealousy of the British minis- 
 try, who fitted out an expedition to make a new diversion in fa- 
 vour of the Porte, and engaged their ally, the King of Prussia, 
 to despatch a body of troops to the frontiers of Silesia and 
 Poland. Not confining himself to these operations, that Prince 
 concluded a formal alliance with the Porte, in which he agreed 
 to declare war against the Austrians, as well as the Russians, in 
 the course of next spring. The Emperor Leopold II., yielding 
 to these menaces, and being desirous of restoring peace to his 
 subjects, concluded an agreement at Reichenbach (July 27. 
 
PERIOD VIII. A. D. 1713 — 1789. 139 
 
 1790,) with the Court of Berlin, by which he granted an armis- 
 tice, and consented to make a special peace with the Porte on 
 the basis of the status ante helium. This peace was signed 
 at Szistowa, in Bulgaria (Aug. 4, 1791,) under the mediation 
 of Holland and Prussia. The Emperor restored Belgrade, and 
 in general, all that he had taken from the Turks during the 
 war. He agreed to retain Choczim no longer than the conclu- 
 sion of the peace between the Russians and the Turks ; only 
 they promised him a more advantageous frontier on the left 
 bank of the XJnna ; and on the side of Wallachia, the river 
 Tzerna was adopted as the boundary between the two Empires. 
 
 The Empress of Russia having resolved not to receive the 
 proposals which the two allied courts offered her, then continued 
 the war alone against the Porte, and her generals signalized 
 themselves by new exploits. At length the British ministry be- 
 ing convinced that this Princess would never yield, thought fit 
 to abandon the terms v.diich, in concert with the Court of Ber- 
 lin, they had demanded, as the basis of the peace to be conclud- 
 ed between Russia and the Porte. Besides, they were desirous 
 of making up matters with Russia, at the time when she de- 
 tached herself from France, by renouncing the engagements 
 which she had contracted with that power by the treaty of com- 
 merce of 17S7, with the Court of Berlin. The British minis- 
 try agi'eed never to assist the Turks, should they persist in re- 
 fusing the equitable conditions of peace which the Empress had 
 offered them. 
 
 A negotiation was opened at Galatz on the Danube. The 
 preliminaries between Russia and the Porte were signed there; 
 and the definitive peace concluded at Jassy in Moldavia (Jan. 
 9, 1792.) This treaty renewed the stipulations of all former 
 treaties since that of Kainargi. The Dniester was establishea 
 as a perpetual frontier between the two Empires. The Turks 
 ceded to Russia the fortress of Oczakotf, with all the country 
 lying between the Bog and the Dniester. The cession of the 
 Crimea, the isle of Taman, and part of the Cuban, lying on the 
 right bank of the river of that name, was confirmed to Russia. 
 The Porte likewise engaged to put a stop to the piracies of the 
 Barbary Corsairs, and even to indemnify the subjects of Russia 
 for their losses, should they not obtain reparation within a lim- 
 ited time. Russia likewise restored all her other conquests ; 
 only stipulating, for certain advantages, in favour of Moldavia 
 and Wallachia. 
 
 It had been agreed between the plenipotentiaries of the two 
 Empires, that the Porte should pay a sum of 12,000,000 of 
 piasters, to indemnify Russia for the expenses of the war. But 
 
140 CHAPTER X. 
 
 immediately after the conclusion of the treaty, the Empress gave 
 intimation that she would renounce this payment in favour of 
 the Porte ; a piece of generosity which excited the admiration 
 of the Ottoman plenipotentiaries. The peace of Jassy gave 
 new energy to the commerce of the Russians on the Black 
 Sea ; and the Empress founded the town and port of Odessa, 
 which is situated on a bay of the Black Sea, between the Bog 
 and the Dniester, about nine leagues distant from Oczakoff. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PERIOD IX. 
 
 From the commencement of the French Pvevolutioii to the down- 
 fall of Buo7iaparie. a. d. 1789—1815. 
 
 " The period of the French Revolution, on which we are en- 
 tering, does not comprehend more than twenty-five years ; but 
 that short space contains more lessons of important instruction 
 than the two centuries which preceded it. In course of that 
 time, the condition of Europe was entirely changed. The po- 
 litical system, which it had cost the combined labour of three 
 hundred years to rear, was overturned from its basis, burying 
 kingdoms and whole nations in the ruins. 
 
 It was an era fertile in examples both of virtues and vices. 
 It displayed the extremes of suffering and violence, of meanness 
 and magnanimity. Kingdoms rose and disappeared by turns. 
 New principles in morals and politics flourished for a day, and 
 were quickly superseded by others. Europe was subdued and 
 enslaved, first in the name of liberty and equality, and after- 
 wards to gratify the ambition of a conqueror. At length an 
 end was put to this reign of despotism ; and the nations of the 
 Continent were delivered from a usurpation which they had too 
 long supported with patience. 
 
 The system of political equilibrium invented in the fifteenth 
 century, and established by the treaties of Westphalia and 
 Utrecht, was totally overthrown by France, during the period of 
 which we speak. Two causes accelerated its downfall. The 
 first was the violation of its fundamental principles, by the three 
 powers who dismembered Poland, — an act which made justice' 
 and equity yield to convenience, and set an example that might 
 prove dangerous to their own security. The other was the 
 general belief which prevailed in the Cabinets of Europe, that 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789 — 1815. 141 
 
 the project of founding an universal monarchy was for ever 
 hopeless and visionary — a persuasion which had lulled them 
 into a state of fatal repose. This project, however, which they 
 thought impracticable, was actually carried into execution ; 
 though it appeared under a new form. The daring individual 
 who conceiv^ed the design, gave it the name of the Federative 
 System. By his plan, the different States on the Continent were 
 to preserve an apparent independence, .vhenever this did not 
 thwart his own views ; but their policy was to be entirely sub- 
 servient to his interest, and to be regulated according to his di- 
 rection. In this manner he undertook to conquer the whole 
 world, with the aid of the Federal States, who were obliged to 
 espouse his quarrels, and to make common cause with him 
 against every power that refused to submit voluntarily to his 
 sway, or to that of his family, whom he placed as his vassals op 
 some of the most ancient thrones of Europe. 
 
 To this was added another, which he called the Continental 
 System. Its main object was to exclude Great Britain from all 
 commerce with the other European states. By this means he 
 hoped to deprive her of the command of the sea, of which she 
 was now undisputed mistress ; to annihilate her commerce ; cut 
 off the sources of her wealth ; ruin her marine ; and even to 
 overthrow the constitution, which had so long been the boast and 
 happiness of the English nation. Had it been possible to carry 
 this project into execution, the Continent must necessarily have 
 been impoverished and ruined. 
 
 The twenty-five years of which we are now to give a brief 
 outline, are so crowded Avith events, that, for the sake of perspi- 
 cuity, it will be necessary to divide them into separate periods. 
 In the history of France, the natural divisions are the five fol- 
 lowing, viz. (1.) From the opening of the States-General, May 
 5, 1789, till the abolition of Monarchy and the Constitutional 
 Government, Aug. 10, 1792. (2.) The Reign of Terror ; from 
 Aug. 10, 1792, till Oct. 26, 1795, when the Convention ceased 
 to govern France. (3.) The Republican Government; from 
 Oct. 26, 1795 till May 18, 1804, when Buonaparte was declared 
 Emperor. (4.) The Reign of Napoleon Buonaparte ; from May 
 18, 1804, till March 30, 1814, when the Allies entered Paris. 
 (5.) The Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, after an exile of 
 more than twenty years. 
 
 These divisions point oufe- the most remarkable changes that 
 occurred in France during this period. Nevertheless, as we 
 must notice the events which took place in the rest of Europe, a 
 more convenient division will be as follows. (1.) From the 
 commencement of the French Revolution till the Peace of 
 
142 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Amiens, March 27, 1802. (2.) From the Peace of Amiens till 
 the year 1810, when the power of France was at its greatest 
 height. (3.) From the end of the year ISIO, till the Treaty of 
 Paris in November 1815, which includes the decline and fall ot 
 the French Empire under Buonaparte, and the restoration of a 
 new political system in Europe. After giving a sketch of the 
 various events which happened in France, we shall shortly ad- 
 vert to the revolution which the different states of Europe un 
 derwent during the same time. The affairs of other parts of 
 the world can only be taken notice of, as they may happen to be 
 connected or interwoven with those of Europe. 
 
 We now return to the first of these periods, commencing with 
 the origin of the French Revolution (May 1789,) and ending 
 with the Peace of Amiens. 
 
 The primary and elementary causes of the Revolution in 
 France must be traced back to the disordered state of her finan- 
 ces, which began under Louis XIV. ; to the general immorality 
 which prevailed under the Regent Orleans ; to the mal-admin- 
 istration of the government in the reign of Louis XV. ; and, 
 finally, to the new doctrines, both religious and political, which 
 had become fashionable after the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 It is not to be denied, that there were many abuses in the ex- 
 isting government of France that required to be corrected. The 
 royal prerogative at that time, may be called arbitrary rather 
 than despotic, for the Monarch had, in reality, greater power 
 than he exercised. The persons and properties of the subject 
 were at the disposal of the crown, by means of imposts, confis- 
 cations, letters of exile, &c. ; and this dangerous authority was 
 resisted only by the feeblest barriers. Certain bodies, it is true, 
 possessed means of defence, but these privileges were seldom 
 respected. The noblesse were exempted from contributions to 
 the state, and totally separated from the commons, by the prohi- 
 bition of intermarriages. The clergy were also exempted from 
 taxation, for which they substituted voluntary grants. Besides 
 these oppressive imposts, the internal administration was badly 
 organized. The nation, divided into three orders, which were 
 again subdivided into several classes, was abandoned to all the 
 evils of despotism, and all the miseries of partial representation. 
 The noblesse were divided into courtiers, who lived on the fa- 
 vour of the prince, and who had no common sympathies with 
 the people. They held stations in the army for which they 
 were not qualified, and made a trade of all appointments and 
 offices of trust. The clergy were divided into two classes, one 
 of which was destined for the bishoprics and abbacies with their 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9— 1815. 143 
 
 rich revenues, while the other was destined to poverty and la- 
 bour. The commons scarcely possessed a third part of the 
 soil, for which they were compelled to pay feudal services to the 
 territorial barons, tithes to the priests, and taxes to the King. 
 Tn compensation for so many sacrifices, they enjoyed no rights, 
 had no share in the administration, and were admitted to no pub- 
 lic employments. 
 
 Such was the condition of France when Louis XVI. ascended 
 the throne. This order of things could not continue for ever; 
 but with proper caution and skilful management, many salutary 
 improvements might have been introduced, without plunging 
 the nation into rebellion and anarchy. Louis XVL had just 
 views and amiable dispositions ; but he was without decision of 
 character, and had no perseverance in his measures. His pro- 
 jects for regenerating the State encountered obstacles which he 
 had not foreseen, and which he found it impossible to overcome. 
 He was continually vacillating in the choice of his ministers ; 
 and his reign, up to the assembling of the States-General, was 
 a complication of attempted reforms, which produced no benefi- 
 cial result. Maurepas, Turgot, and Malesherbes, had been succes- 
 sively intrusted with the management of affairs ; but tliey found 
 it impossible to give satisfaction to any party. Their efiorts for 
 retrenchment displeased the courtiers, while the people v.^ere dis- 
 contented at the continuation of existing abuses. The exhaust- 
 ed state in which the American war had left the finances of the 
 kingdom, and the unskilfulness of the ministers : one of whom, 
 the celebrated Necker, could contrive no other method of repair- 
 ing these losses, than by means of forced loans, which augment- 
 ed the national debt, and added to the other embarrassments of 
 the government. The plan of M. de Calonne, another of the 
 ministers, v/as to assemble the Notables, or respectable and dis- 
 tinguished persons of the kingdom (Feb. 23, 1787,) with the 
 view of obtaining through their means those new imposts which 
 he could not expect to be sanctioned by the Parliament of Paris. 
 But this assembly seemed little disposed to second his designs. 
 They discovered, with astonishment, that within a few years 
 loans had been raised to the amount of one thousand six hun- 
 dred and forty-six millions of francs : and that there was an an- 
 nual deficit in the revenue of one hundred and forty miUions. 
 This discovery was the signal for the retirement of Calonno. 
 
 His successor. Cardinal Brienne, the Archbishop of Toulouse, 
 tried in vain to overcome the resistance of the Parliament, who 
 declared, by a solemn protestation (May 3, 17SS,) that the right 
 of granting supplies belonged to the States-General alone. Louis 
 XVL, yielding to this expression of the public opinion, promised 
 
144 CHAPTER X. 
 
 to assemble the deputies of the nation. A second meeting of 
 the Notables, held at Versailles (Nov. 6,) deliberated as to the 
 form and constitution of the States-General. M. Necker, who 
 was recalled to the ministry, counselled the King to prefer the 
 advice of the minority, who had espoused the popular side ; and 
 proposed to grant to the Ticrs-Etat, or Third Order, a double 
 number of Representatives in the States-General ; which advice 
 was followed. 
 
 The States-General were summoned to meet at Versailles on 
 the 27th of April 1789. The number of deputies was twelve 
 hundred ; six hundred of whom were of the Tiers-Etat, three 
 hundred of the noblesse, and three hundred of the clergy. The ' 
 King opened the assembly in person (May 5, 1789.) It was 
 accompanied with great solemnity and magnificence. The clergy 
 occupied the first place ; next came the noblesse. The Tiers- 
 Etat followed last. These individuals comprehended the choice 
 of the nation ; but the greater part of them were entirely inex- 
 perienced in state affairs, and not a few of them were imbued 
 with the principles of the new philosophy. The majority pro- 
 posed to regenerate the government according to their own specu- 
 lative notions ; while others secretly entertained the hope of 
 overturning it, to gratify their own antipathies ; or to satiate 
 their avarice and ambition. 
 
 A difTerence immediately arose on the question, whether they 
 should sit according to their orders. Conciliatory measures 
 having been tried in vain, the deputies of the Tiers-Etat resolved 
 to declare themselves a Natioyial Assembhj. The King having 
 ordered them to suspend their sittings, they changed their place 
 of assembly to a Tennis Court, where, in opposition to the Royal 
 authority, they took an oath never to separate until they had 
 achieved the regeneration of France. The majority of the 
 clergy, and some of the nobles, joined this tumultuous assembly. 
 Louis XVI., by a Royal Sessioji (June 23,) condemned the con- 
 duct of this meeting ; abrogated its decisions ; and published a 
 declaration containing the basis of a free constitution. But the 
 authority of the King had now ceased to be respected. The 
 National Assembly refused to accept from him as a boon, what 
 they were preparing to seize by force. Alarmed at this opposi- 
 tion, Louis commanded the nobles and the clergy to join the 
 popular party, or Tiers-Etat, as a measure for conciliating the 
 public mind. 
 
 The prime agent in this revolution was Mirabeau, a man of 
 an ambitious and turbulent spirit, who inflamed the Assembly 
 by his violent harangues. A demagogue from interest, and of 
 good abilities, though immoral in his character, he was resolved 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789 — 1815. 145 
 
 to build his fortune on the pubUc troubles, and to prevent, by all 
 means in his power, the first symptoms of a return to subordina- 
 tion and tranquillity. The Duke of Orleans supplied money 
 to corrupt the troops, and excite insurrections over all parts of 
 France. 
 
 In the mean time, the King assembled an army at Versailles, 
 under the command of Marshal Broglio ; and banished Necker 
 (July 11,) with whom he had some just reasons to be displeased. 
 This was the signal for a popular commotion. Paris was in a 
 state of the greatest fermentation. The press inflamed the pub- 
 lic mind. The people discussed in the open air those questions 
 which v/ere agitated in the Assembly. A table served the pur- 
 pose of a rostrum ; and every citizen became an orator, who 
 harangued on the dangers of his country, and the necessity of 
 resistance. The mob forced the Bastille (July 14,) seized on the 
 depots of arms, mounted the tri-coloured cockade, which was the 
 distinctive banner of the city of Paris, and became that of the 
 apostles of the revolution. Bailly, the academician, was appoint- 
 ed mayor ; the citizens formed themselves into a National Guards 
 under the command of the Marquis La Fayette. The King, 
 placed in so critical a situation, and surrouuded with danger, 
 consented to withdraw the troops collected in the capital and 
 the neighbourhood. He recalled M. Necker, (July 17,) and re- 
 paired to Paris to intimate his good intentions to the Assembly ; 
 declaring, that he identified himself with the nation, and relied 
 on the affection and allegiance of his subjects. 
 
 The National Assembly had usurped the whole legislative 
 power, and undertaken to draw up a new constitution. Their 
 charter commenced with a Declaration of the Rights of Man. 
 Such was the ardour of their revolutionary enthusiasm, that they 
 abolished, without discussion, and at one nocturnal sitting, the 
 feudal regime, the rights and privileges of provinces and corpo- 
 rations, the tithes, and the greater part of the seignorial preroga- 
 tives. It was decreed (Aug. 4,) that the legislative power should 
 be exercised by a single chamlDer ; and that the King could not 
 refuse his sanction to these decrees longer than four years. 
 
 As the Revolution did not proceed with a rapidity equal to the 
 wishes of the Orleans faction, they took care to stir up ne\v insur- 
 rections. The mob of Paris attacked Versailles (Oct. 6,) in- 
 vested the Chateau, committed the most horrible excesses, and 
 conducted the King and his family prisoners to Paris, where 
 they were followed by the National Assembly. These legisla- 
 tors decreed the spoliation of the clergy, by placing their benefices 
 at the disposal of the nation. They ordered the division of 
 France into eighty-three departments ; the sale of the crown- 
 
 VOL. II. 13 
 
43 CHAPTER X. 
 
 iands, and ecclesiastical property ; the proceeds of which to he 
 pledged for the redemption of the paper money, which was or- 
 dered to be issued, under the name of assi gnats ; the admission 
 of Jews to the rights of citizens; the prohibition of monastic 
 vows ; the right of the National Assembly to declare war, in 
 consequence of a proposition from the King ; a secular constitu- 
 tion, which rendered the clergy independent of the head of the 
 church, and gave the people a right to nominate their bishops ; 
 the abolition of the noblesse ; and the establishment of a tribunal 
 at Orleans, for judging crimes of high treason against the nation. 
 
 Occupied with these decrees (1790-91,) the National Assem- 
 bly left the King no authority to repress the crimes and excesses 
 which were multiplying every day within the kingdom ; nor did 
 they adopt themselves any measures for putting a stop to them. 
 The King, indeed, according to the plan of their constitution, 
 was, to be the depository and supreme head of the executive 
 power ; but he had been stripped of the means necessary to the 
 effective exercise of any authority whatever. He had neither 
 places to grant, nor favours to bestow. He was left without any 
 control over the inferior parts of the administration, since the 
 men who filled these posts were elected by the people. He was 
 not even allowed the pomp of a throne, or the splendour of a 
 crown. The Assembly seemed to think it a part of their glory 
 to divest their monarch of his most valuable prerogatives. They 
 imagined that a monarchy could subsist when its authority was 
 reduced to a phantom ; that the throne could stand secure amidst 
 the ruin of ranks ; exposed to all the waves of faction, and when 
 every sentiment of respect and affection was destroyed. Such 
 was the idea of royalty entertained by the French legislators. 
 By abolishing the gradations of society, they sapped the very 
 foundations of that frail and imaginary majesty which they had 
 modelled and fashioned according to their own ideas. Thousands 
 of noble families, finding their lives insecure, resolved to abandon 
 the country. The King himself made an attempt to escape from 
 the captivity in which he was held. He did escape in disguise, 
 but was recognised, and arrested at Varcnnes by the National 
 Guard (June 25,) reconducted to Paris, and suspended from his 
 functions. Monsieur, the King's brother, was more fortunate. 
 He arrived at Brussels. The Count D'Artois, the younger 
 brother, had quitted -France the year before. 
 
 The Orleans party undertook to compel the National Assem- 
 bly to pronounce the deposition of the King. A large assemblage, 
 which had met in the Champs^de-Mars (July 17, 1791,) was dis- 
 persed by an armed force, by order of Bailly, and commanded 
 by La Fayette. The moderate party in the National Assembly 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 147 
 
 had gained the ascendancy. The constitutional articles were 
 revised in some points, and digested into a systematic form. 
 The King accepted this new code (Sept. 13;) and there was 
 every reason to believe that he was resolved to carry it into exe- 
 cution. The Constituent Assembly, aftei having declared Avig- 
 non and Venaissin annexed to France, separated (Sept. 30,) to 
 make way for a Legislative Assembly. 
 
 The Royal brothers and most of the emigrants, having fixed 
 their residence at Coblentz, published addresses to all the Courts 
 of Europe, to solicit their assistance in restoring the King, and 
 checking the revolutionary torrent which threatened to inundate 
 Germany. The Princes of the Empire,' who had possessions in 
 Alsace, found themselves aggrieved by the decrees of the Con- 
 stituent Assembly, in respect to those rights which had been 
 guaranteed to them on the faith of existing treaties. They ac- 
 cordingly claimed the intervention of the Emperor and the 
 Empire. The Electors of Mayence and Treves had permitted 
 the French noblesse to organize bodies of armed troops within 
 their estates. After the arrest of the King at Varennes, the 
 Emperor Leopold had addressed a circular to all his brother 
 Sovereigns, dated from Padua (July 6,) in which he invited them 
 to form an alliance for restoring the King's legitimate author- 
 ity in France. Accordingly, an alliance was concluded at 
 Vienna a few days after between Austria and Prussia^ the object 
 of which was to compel France to maintain her treaties with the 
 neighbouring States. The two monarchs, who met at Pilnitz 
 (Aug. 27,) declared that they would employ the most efficacious 
 means for leaving the King of France at perfect liberty to lay 
 the foundation of monarchical government. But after Louis 
 had accepted the constitution of the Assembly, the Emperor 
 formally announced (Nov. 12,) that the co-operation of the con- 
 tracting powers was in consequence suspended. 
 
 In a moment of unreflecting liberality, the Constituent Assem- 
 bly had formerly declared, that none of its members could be 
 elected for the first Legislative Assembly. This new Assembly, 
 which met Oct. 1, 1791, was composed of men altogether defi- 
 cient in experience, and hurried on by the headlong fanaticism 
 of revolution. It was divided into two parties. On the right 
 hand were those who hoped to preserve monarchy, by maintain- 
 ing the constitution with certain improvements and modifications ; 
 and on the left, those who proposed that they should proceed in 
 their revolutionary career. This latter party, in which the depu- 
 ties of the Girondists had the ascendancy, had conceived two 
 methods for overturning the constitution, viz. 1, to bring the 
 King into disrepute, by obliging him to make use of his suspen- 
 
148 CHAP PER X. 
 
 sive veto against those decrees which appeared most popular ; 
 and 2, to involve the nation in war, that they might find employ- 
 ment for the army, who seemed pleased with the new order of 
 things. The party on the right, who formed the majority, had 
 not the courage to oppose the execution of this plan. The As- 
 sembly issued severe decrees against the King's brothers, as 
 well as against the emigrants and the priests, who had taken no 
 share in these levelling projects. They deprived the King of 
 his body-guard, and subjected him to every species of annoyance 
 and humiliation. 
 
 This Assembly, however, was by no means in the enjoyment 
 of entire liberty. It was under the influence of those popular 
 societies, known by the name of Jacobins, so called from their 
 meetmg m a convent in Paris, formerly belonging to that reli- 
 gious order. These societies, who had overspread all France, 
 were affiliated with each other, and all under the control and 
 direction of the parent society in the metropolis. It Avas there 
 that they prepared those laws which they compelled the National 
 Assembly to pass, and concocted their plots against the Royal 
 authority. They had an immense number of emissaries in 
 every country, who propagated their doctrines, and prepared the 
 way for the triumph of their principles. 
 
 In order to provoke a declaration of war, and thereby get rid 
 of the army, the deputies on the left never ceased to inveigh from 
 the public tribunals against the conduct of foreign powers ; and 
 to represent the King as secretly leagued with them in their de- 
 signs. His most faithful servants had been the object of their 
 calumnies. The ministry resigned their office, and the King re- 
 constructed a cabinet composed of Jacobins (March 17, 1792,) 
 the most conspicuous of whom were Dumouriez, who became 
 Minister for the Foreign department, Clavieres and Duranthon, 
 who were intrusted with the Finance, and Roland, who was 
 promoted to the administration of the Interior. 
 
 The Emperor Leopold, with whom they were on terms of 
 negotiation, demanded redress for the grievances of those princes 
 who had possessions in Alsace. Instead of giving him satisfac- 
 tion, the new French Cabinet induced the King to propose to 
 the Assembly (April 20,) that they could answer his demands 
 in no other way than by a declaration of war. This proposi- 
 tion passed with little deliberation, and was hailed with en- 
 thusiasm. Seven members only had the courage to oppose it. 
 The Assembly continued to issue their revolutionary decrees, 
 which were both repugnant to the conscience of the King, and 
 dangerous to the security of the throne. Louis, who had been 
 recently offended by the dismissal of his guards, declared he 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 149 
 
 could no longer submit to the insolence of these new ministers, 
 three of whom he discarded with indignation. Their accom- 
 plices, the Jacobins, and Pethion the mayor of Paris, then or- 
 ganized an insurrection of the armed populace of the Fauxhourgs 
 or suburbs. The mob then repaired to the Tuileries (June 20,^ 
 to force the King to sanction the decrees of the Assembly, and 
 recall the patriot ministers. The King saved his own life, and 
 that of his Queen, by repelling those factious demagogues with 
 lirmness and courage. He constantly refused to grant what 
 they demanded of him by violence ; while the National Assem- 
 bly displayed the most shameful pusillanimity. They even car- 
 ried their cowardice so far^ as to replace Pethion and Manuel in 
 their functions, whom the King had suspended for having failed 
 to perform their duty. 
 
 Pethion, and those who ruled ^.t their pleasure the Sections 
 of Paris, where no royalist dared to appear, then demanded the 
 dethronement of the King; and in order to compel the Assem- 
 bly to pronounce sentence against him, the conspirators publicly 
 organized a new insurrection. The populace rose in arms, and 
 attacked the Castle of the Tuileries (Aug. 10.) The King re- 
 fused the assistance of those faithful citizens who had flocked 
 round his person. Misled by unwise or perfidious counsels, he 
 repaired with his family to Paris ; and entering the National 
 Assembly, addressed them in these words : " Gentlemen, I am 
 come here to avoid the commission of a great crime. I shall 
 always consider myself and my family in safety when I am 
 among the representatives of the nation." The populace having 
 assailed the Castle, the faithful Swiss Guards defended it with 
 courage, and perished in the performance of their duty. The 
 greater part of those found in the Tuileries were massacred 
 by the rabble. The representatives of the nation, who were, 
 during this time, in a state of the greatest alarm, decreed, in 
 presence of the Sovereign, and on the proposal of Vergniaud, 
 that the King should be suspended, and a National Convention 
 assembled. 
 
 Some days after, Louis, with his Queen, the Dauphin, Ma- 
 dame Royale, and Madame Elizabeth, the King's sister, were 
 imprisoned in the Temple, under a guard of the municipality of 
 Paris, composed of partisans of the Revolution. This munici- 
 pality, and the ministers appointed by the Assembly, exercised 
 a most tyrannical authority. The prisons were crowded with 
 priests and nobles. Danton, the Minister of Justice, and a most 
 violent revolutionist, entered into arrangements with the Com- 
 mune for the massacre of these innocent men. The cruel work 
 of butchery continued for three days without remorse (Sept. 2, 
 
 VOL. II. 13^ 
 
160 CHAPTER X. 
 
 3,) and \vithout the Legislative Assembly daring to interpose. 
 A few days after, the prisoners who had been sent to the Tribu- 
 nal at Orleans, were conducted to Versailles, and put to death 
 by the hands of relentless murderers. At length the Legislative 
 Assembly dissolved, (Sept. 21,) to make way for the National 
 Convention. 
 
 The war had commenced in the month of April 179L Luck- 
 ner, Eochambaud, and La Fayette, commanded the French 
 armies, but their operations were without success. The Aus- 
 trians had merely acted on the defensive. In virtue of an alliance 
 concluded at Berlin (Feb. 7,) between the Emperor and the 
 King of Prussia, an army of fifty thousand Prussians, to which 
 were added six thousand Hessians and a body of emigrants, all 
 under the command of the Duke of Brunswick, and an Austrian 
 army, commanded by Clairfait, entered France by way of the 
 Ardennes. Longwy and Verdun opened their gates to the 
 Prussians (Aug. 13 ;) but their progress was arrested by the 
 manoeuvres of Dumouriez, who had succeeded La Fayette in 
 the command of the army ; as well as by sickness and the want 
 of provisions. After cannonading Valmy (Sept. 20,), which was 
 commanded by General Kellerman, the combined army retired 
 towards the Rhine, and into the dutchy of Luxemburg. 
 
 The Girondists, reinforced by all the enthusiasts in France, 
 formed the National Assembly (Sept. 21, 1792.) The very day 
 of their meeting, they voted the abolition of royalty, on the pro- 
 position of the comedian Collot D'Herbois, and proclaimed the 
 Republic. Like the Assemblies which had preceded it, this was 
 divided into two parties ; the one- composed of the Girondists 
 and their friends, who wished for the restoration of order ; the 
 other called the Mountain^ had an interest in continuing the 
 revolution. Political dominion was the object of contest which 
 from the beginning engaged these two parties ; but they assumed 
 the pretext of honest design, to conceal their main purpose from 
 the eyes of the vulgar. The deputies of the Mountainists, as 
 they could not charge their adversaries with the reproach of 
 Royalism, exhibited them to the people as Federalists, ^re^Yo^ich. 
 which was afterwards fatal to the party ; and in order to have a 
 rallying word, Tallien decreed (Sept. 5,) that the Republic was 
 one and indivisible. 
 
 To detail all the laws and acts which the Convention publish- 
 ed during the three years which it oppressed France, would be 
 to unfold a disgusting catalogue of crimes and extravagances ; 
 we must be content with merely adverting to such of its opera- 
 tions as were distinguished by their enormity, or produced any 
 durable effect. One of its first decrees was, to banish all emi- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9— 1S15. 151 
 
 grants for ever ; and to order those to be- put to death who should 
 return to their native country. Soon after, they made a tender 
 of their assistance to all subjects who might be inclined to revoll 
 against their legitimate sovereigns; and in the countries which 
 were occupied by their own armies, they proclaimed the sover- 
 eignty of the people, and the abolition of the established authori- 
 ties. The moderate party, or, more properly speaking, the less 
 furious party of the Convention, were willing to spare the King's 
 life. This, however, w^as one reason for the Mountainists to 
 put him to death. The Convention accordingly decreed (Dec. 
 3, 1792,) that a trial should be instituted against Louis Capet, 
 as they called him ; and combining, in the most absurd manner, 
 the functions of accusers, judges, and legislators, they assumed 
 the right of pronouncing as to his culpability. Twice they com- 
 pelled hiin to appear at their bar (Dec. 11, 26,) where de Seze, 
 ^lalesherbes, and Tronchet undertook his defence. The de- 
 meanour of the King was full of candour and dignity. Of seven 
 hundred and twenty voters, six hundred and eighty-three de- 
 clared him guilty (Jan. 15, 1793.) Thirty-seven refused to vote 
 on different grounds, some of which were honourable ; but the 
 Assembly did not contain a single man who dared positively to 
 pronounce the innocence of their victim. Two only of those who 
 refused to vote, declared they did not think themselves entitled 
 to sit as judges of the King. 
 
 The minority in vain had flattered themselves that they might 
 rescue the King from death, provided they referred the punish- 
 ment to the nation itself. But in this they were disappointed. 
 Of seven hundred and eighteen voters, four hundred and twenty- 
 four objected to the appeal to the people. Two hundred and 
 eighty-three admitted it ; and eleven had voted from interested 
 motives, which could not be sustained. Nothing now remained 
 but to pronounce the punishment to be inflicted on the King. 
 Of seven hundred and twenty-one voters, three hundred and 
 sixty-one were for an unconditional sentence of immediate death, 
 and among these the Duke of Orleans, (Jan. 17.) The partisans 
 of Louis interposed, and appealed from this sentence to the na- 
 tion. In vain did the Girondists support this petition. Of six 
 hundred and ninety voters, three hundred and eighty decided 
 that his execution should take place within twenty-four hours. 
 
 Louis heard his sentence of death with composure and Chris- 
 tian resignation. He had already made his will, a m.onument 
 at once of his piety and the purity of his heart. He died the 
 death of a martyr (Jan. 21, 1793.) At the moment when the 
 executioner's axe was ready to strike, the Abbe Edgeworth, his 
 confessor, addressed him in these sublime words : — " Son of St, 
 
152 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Louis, ascend to Heaven !" The whole inhabitants of Paris, who 
 viewed this foul deed with horror, were under arms. A mourn- 
 fai silence reigned in the city. 
 
 All o-overmnents agreed in condemning the conduct of the 
 reo'icides ; but the voice of general detestation did not check the 
 career of the sanguinary faction. The crime with which the 
 Convention had stained themselves presaged the ruin of the 
 Girondists, though they retarded their downfall by a struggle of 
 four months. An insurrection of the sections of Paris (June 2,) 
 organized by Hebert, procureur of the commune, and by the 
 deputies Marat, Danton, and Robespierre, decided the victory. 
 The Girondists were proscribed for the crime of federalism. The 
 victorious party honoured themselves with the title of Sans-cu- 
 lottes, and commenced what has been called the Reign of Ter- 
 ror. The Convention was now nothing more than an assembly 
 of executioners, and a den of brigands. To hoodwink and de- 
 ceive the people, they submitted for their approbation the plan 
 of a constitution, drawn up by Herault de Sechelles (June 24 ;) 
 according to which the Primary Assemblies were to exercise the 
 sovereignty, and deliberate on all legislative measures. After 
 the 2d of June, the whole power was in the hands of the Com- 
 mittee of Public Safety, which was formed in the Convention. 
 Danton, the chief of the Cordeliers, a popular assembly more 
 extravagant than the Jacobins themselves, had the most influ- 
 ence for a time ; but he was soon supplanted by Robespierre. 
 The Constitution of the 24th of June had been adopted in the 
 Primary Assemblies ; but Robespierre decreed that it should be 
 suspended (Aug. 28 ;) and that the Republic was in a state of 
 revolution, until its independence was acknowledged. 
 
 Under this title they organized a government, the most tyran- 
 nical and the most sanguinary which history ever recorded. 
 Robespierre was at the head of it. All France swarmed with 
 revolutionary committees. Revolutionary armies were dispers- 
 ed every where, dragging the wealthy and well-affected to pun- 
 ishment. A law with regard to suspected persons changed all 
 the public edifices into prisons, and filled all the prisons wuth 
 victims devoted to destruction. To remedy the fall of the as- 
 signats, the Convention fixed an assessment, called the maxi- 
 mum, on all articles of consumption ; a measure which reduced 
 the country to a state of famine. The Queen, Maria Antoinette, 
 was accused before this revolutionary tribunal, and brought to 
 the scaffold (Oct. 16.) Many of the Girondist deputies were 
 arrested on the 2d of June, and met with the same fate. The 
 Duke of Orleans, who was become an object of execration to 
 all parties, perished there in his turn (Nov. 7.) Nobody pitied 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9— 1815. 153 
 
 his fate. Over all the provinces of the kingdom the blood of 
 the innocent flowed in torrents. 
 
 The revolutionists did not stop liere. To their political 
 crimes they added acts of impiety. They began by abolishing 
 the Gregorian calendar and the Christian era, and substituted 
 in its place the era of the Republic ; to commence on the 22d 
 September 1793. In a short time, Hebert and Chaumette, two 
 chiefs of the commune, got the Convention to decree the abo- 
 lition of the Christian religion (Nov. 10.) The worship of 
 Reason was substituted in its place ; and the church of Notre 
 Dame at Paris was profaned, by being converted into a temple 
 of atheism. Gobel, the Constitutional Bishop of Paris, and se- 
 veral other ecclesiastics, publicly apostatized from their faith. 
 Plunder and sacrilege of all kinds were committed in the Catho- 
 lic churches. 
 
 The departments in the west of France had remained faithful 
 to the King. In Poitou, Maine, Brittanj^ and Normandy, a 
 civil war arose, knovrn by the name of the Vendean War, which 
 was on the point of overturning the Republic. The Vendean 
 insurgents took the title of the Catholic army, which was com- 
 manded in the name of Louis XVII., (who still remained a pri- 
 soner in the Temple after his father's death,) by a Council which 
 sat at Chatillon. M. d'Elbee was Commander-in-chief. He 
 had under him. Artus de Bonchamp, the Marquis de Lescure, 
 de Larochejacquelin, Cathelineau, Charette, and Stofflet. This 
 insurrection had broken out on account of a le\^^ of troops which 
 the Republic had ordered. 
 
 The war was carried on with violence and cruelty. Among 
 the most remarkable of its events that happened in the year 
 1793, were the battle of Saumur (June 9,) after which all the 
 towns on the Loire, except Nantes, declared for the King ; the 
 battle of Chatillon, Vv^here the Royalists were repeatedly defeated 
 by the army of Mayence, which the Convention had sent against 
 them ; the passage of the Loire (Oct. 17, 19,) by a hundred 
 thousand of the Vendeans, including old men, women and chil- 
 dren, who were eager to approach the coast, where they expect- 
 ed the supplies promised by England to arrive ; the defeat of the 
 army of Mayence at Chateau Gontier ; the taking of Mans by 
 the Repubhcans, and their victory at Savenay ; the taking of 
 Noirmoutier, where the brave d'Elbee fell into the hands of the 
 enemy (Jan. 2, 1794;) and, in the last place, the defeat of Cha- 
 rette at Machecoult. The troops of the Convention were com- 
 manded in succession by Biron, Canclaux, Westerraann, Kleber, 
 Beysser, I'Echelle, Marceau, and Rossignol. The deputy Car- 
 rier de Nantes covered the whole country v.^ith slaughter, and 
 «vo-+ori i^^c -v,^^..,,^t^r to invent new methods of massacre. 
 
154 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Other insurrections arose in the south of France, after the re- 
 volution of the 2d of June. Bourdeaux, Lyons, Marseilles, and 
 Toulon, declared themselves against the Convention. Bordeaiij 
 was speedily subdued (Aug. 25, 1793.) General Carteaux took 
 possession of Marseilles, with the assistance of the populace. 
 Toulon proclaimed Louis XVIL (Aug. 29,) and threw them^ 
 selves under the protection of Admirals Hood and Langara, who 
 were cruising off their coast with the English and Spanish fleets 
 Kellerman had orders to besiege Lyons ; a task which was 
 afterwards intrusted to Doppet. This city surrendered after a 
 vigorous resistance (Oct. 9.) It became the scene of the most 
 atrocious actions. Its finest buildings were entirely ruined and 
 demolished by order of the Convention. Carteaux took Toulon 
 by assault (Dec. 24.) It was during the siege of this place, that 
 a young officer distinguished himself by his courage, and after- 
 wards by his enthusiasm for the Revolution. This youth was 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, a native of Ajaccio in Corsica. 
 
 The very same day on which the Convention met, the Duke 
 of Saxe-Teschen at the head of the Austrian army, had com- 
 menced the siege of Lille ; but he was obliged to raise it in about 
 twenty days. The Legislative Assembly had declared war 
 against the King of Sardinia (Sept. 10, 1792.) General Mon- 
 tesquieu took possession of Savoy, and Anselm made himself 
 master of Nice. Some months after, the Convention declared 
 these provinces to be annexed to France. While the allies were 
 retiring from Champagne, Custine took Mayence by a cowp de 
 main (Oct. 21,) assisted, as it afterwards appeared, by treachery. 
 Damouriez, with a superior force, beat the Duke of Saxe-Teschen 
 at Gemappe (Nov. 6,) and soon achieved the conquest of the 
 Belgic provinces. The Convention having declared war against 
 England and the Stadtholder of the Netherlands (Feb. 1, 1793,) 
 as well as against Spain, a powerful coalition was formed against 
 them, of which England and Russia were the prime supporters ; 
 the one by her ammunitions, and the other by the subsidies which 
 she furnished. They were joined by all the Christian Sover- 
 eigns in Europe, with the exception of Denmark. 
 
 Dumouriez undertook the conquest of Holland, and penetra- 
 ted as far as Moerdyk : but he was obliged to abandon his ob- 
 ject in consequence of the defeat of Miranda who had laid siege 
 to Maestricht, by the Austrian army under the command of the 
 Duke of Saxe-Coburg. Dumouriez was himself defeated at 
 Nerwinden (March 18,) after which he retired towards the fron- 
 tier of France. Being determined to put an end to the tyranny 
 o! the Convention, and to re-establish the constitution of 1791, 
 he concluded an armistice with the Austrians, and delivered up 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 156 
 
 to them the commissioners which the Convention had sent to 
 deprive him of his office ; but his army having refused to obey 
 him, he escaped to Tournay, where General Clairfait then was. 
 The young Duke of Chartres accompanied him in his flight. 
 
 During the rest of the campaign, success was divided between 
 the two parties. The Austrians, who were conquerors at Fa- 
 mars (May 24,) took Conde, Valenciennes, and Quesnoy (July.) 
 The Duke of York, who commanded the English army, was 
 oeat by Houchard at Hondscote (Sept. 8.) Jourdan compelled 
 General Clairfait, by means of the battle of Wattignies, to raise 
 the siege of Maubeuge. On the side of the Pyrenees, the Span- 
 ish generals, Eicardos and Ventura-Caro, gained several advan- 
 tages ; the former having taken Bellegarde, Collioure, and Port 
 Vendre. On the Rhine, the allies had the best of the campaign. 
 After an obstinate siege, Mayence surrendered to the Prussians 
 (July 22,) who beat Moreau at Pirmasens (Sept. 14,) though 
 they failed in the siege of Landau. An army of the allies, 
 80,000 strong, commanded by Wurmser and the Duke of Bruns- 
 wick, forced the lines at Wissemburg (Oct. 13,) and penetrated 
 nearly as far as Strasburg ; but General Pichegru, who had 
 taken the command of the French army, obliged Wurmser to 
 repass the Rhine (Dec. 30.) The Prussians maintained them- 
 selves on the left bank of that river, between Oppenheim and 
 Bergen. 
 
 In France, the revolutionists were divided into three parties. 
 The Committee of Public Safety^ at the head of which was 
 Robespierre, supported by the club of Jacobins, governed with 
 an absolute power. Hebert, Chaumette, Anacharsis Clootz, a 
 native of Prussia, and the other members of the Commune of 
 Paris, formed a second party ; more violent than the first, but 
 contemptible from the character of the individuals who composed 
 it. .The third, comprehended Danton, Desmoulins, Herault de 
 Sechelles, and others, who stood in awe of Robespierre, and 
 were terrified by the extravagant fury of these bandits. The 
 faction of the Commune was the first that was annihilated by 
 the temporary union of the other two parties (March 24, 1794.) 
 After that, Robespierre found little difficulty in sending Danton 
 and his friends to the scaffold (April 5 ;) but in a short time some 
 of the members of the Committee of Public Safety, and the re- 
 mains of the Girondist party, conspired against him. In order 
 to please the people, he abolished the worship of Reason (May 
 7,) and caused the Convention to proclaim the existence of a 
 Supreme Being (June 8 ;) he introduced a new religion, that of 
 Deism, of which he created himself high-priest. 
 
 The power of Robespierre was now in its apogee, and his 
 
]5<5 CHAPTER X. 
 
 lownfall approached. As the revolutionary tribunal was not 
 sufhciently expeditious m despatching those whom he had mark- 
 ed out for destruction, he passed a decree (June 10,) by which 
 eji unlimited authority was vested in that tribunal. This open- 
 ed the eyes of his enemies in the Convention ; and, not doubt- 
 ing rhat they were doomed to death, they conspired the ruin of 
 the tyrant. TalUen and Billaud Varennes were the first that 
 attacked him before the tribunal. Having repeatedly attempted 
 to defend himseif, he was prevented by the voice of the Assem- 
 bly, crying, " Down with the tyrant !" At length, repulsed and 
 dispirited, he allowed himself to be arrested. Having found 
 means, however, to escape from the guard, he saved himself in 
 the midst of the Commune, which was composed of those who 
 had adhered to him after the fall of Hebert. Both sides took to 
 arms; Robespierre and his faction were outlawed, but they 
 showed little courage. Finding themselves undone, they en- 
 deavoured to escape the swords of the enemy, by despatching 
 themselves. Robespierre attempted self-destruction, but he only 
 broke his jaw-bone with a pistol shot. He was executed, with 
 twenty-one of his accomplices (July 28, 1794.) Eighty-three 
 others met the same fate in course of the two following days ; 
 from that time the reign of terror was at an end, and thousands 
 of innocent persons were liberated from the prisons. His do- 
 minion, however, was not yet discontinued ; and the career of 
 this Convention, from its beginnmg to its dissolution, was mark- 
 ed by a series of cruelties and oppressions. 
 
 The campaign of 1794 was triumphant for the French arms. 
 Pichegru commanded the army of the North, and Jourdan that 
 of the Sambre and the Meuse. The Duke of Coburg had at 
 first the command of the Austrian arm}?^ ; but towards the end 
 of the campaign, he transferred it to Clairfait. The King of 
 Prussia, become disgusted with the war, had threatened to with- 
 draw his grand army from the Rhine, and to leave only his con- 
 tingent as a prince of the Empire, and the 20,000 men which 
 he was bound to furnish Austria, in virtue of the alliance of 
 1792. But England and Holland being engaged, by a conven- 
 tion signed at the Hague, to furnish him with supplies, he pro- 
 mised to retain 62,400 men under arms against France. They 
 were under the command of Field-Marshal MellendorfT. The 
 taking of Charleroi by Jourdan, and the battle of Fleurus, which 
 he gained over the Duke of Coburg (June 26,) decided the fate 
 of the Netherlands. After some movements in conjunction with 
 the army of the Upper Rhine, under the command of the Duke 
 of Saxe-Teschen, — movements which had but little success, from 
 the want of agreement among the generals. — Clairfait, at the 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9— 1815. 157 
 
 ^.ad ofthe Austrian ai-my, retired, about the end of the year on 
 the n^ht bank of the Ehme, followed by MellendorfT, whom'the 
 French had never been able to brinp- imo action. 
 
 Tne army ot the Pyrenees, under the command of Dugom- 
 in rlf^f a splend,d vetory at Ceret over General La xfnZ 
 vApnl 30,) and retook Bellegarde. The two ffenerals of he 
 army were slatn at Monte-Nero, where, after a^attle of th ee 
 days, the Spaniards were repulsed hy Perignon (Not. 27.) The 
 F ench took F.guteres (Feb. 4,) and Eosel about two month' 
 
 (W 1 ilTbp f ,. P^'"' !""> f ™'«rabia and St. Sebastian 
 (Aug 1, 11,) beat the Spaniards at Pampeluna (IVor. 8 ) and 
 spread terror to the very gates of Madrid. After tlie red c'ion 
 Toulon, the English fleet, under Admiral How , bein" i "i "d 
 into Corsica by Paoh, took possession of that island (June 18 ) 
 which submitted to Britain as an independent kingdom The 
 French fleet under Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, was°defTated off 
 Ushant by Admmxl Howe (June 1.) Most of the French colo- 
 nies had already fallen into the power of the English 
 
 intiiguesof the party opposed to the House of Oranoe, had 
 made himself master, almost without striking a blow of the 
 United Provinces of the Netherlands (Jan. !795,) where the 
 Patriots had re-estabh^hed the ancient constitution, such as ft had 
 been before the year 17S8; the office of Stadtholder beii" a.ain 
 abolished, as he Prince of Orange, after being deprived of all 
 his functions, had fled to England. France conclu le, a trea^v 
 with this Republic at the Hague (May 16,) where ttindepen^ 
 dence of the latter was formally acknowledged. She entered 
 itnVoT/" '"""? against En'gland; paid%ne hundred ml- 
 ions of florins ; and ceded a part of hei- territory It waTat 
 this time (June 8 179.5,) that the royal Infant Louil XVII onlv 
 son 01 Louis XVI., died in the Temple, in consequence of "he 
 bad treatment which he had endur'ed' incessantly oi n ariy 
 ^ir,Vu ■"" ""t' ''■'^° ^'-"l «^^"™«<' 'he title of Eegen^ 
 throne Th?;"p'-^ °' '?^' T^^^'^'^'l '^^ "^ his right toX' 
 SL of Louis kvnr* "'° *^" "^''^^^ at Verona,^ook the 
 After the battles of Mans and Savenay, and th,. taking of Noir- 
 moutier the Vendeans had found thenrselves greatl y evhausted 
 But at the time of which we now speak, they formed themselves 
 name o"f ri". '^Tr' ■".^"^'''"y and N^-mandy, un"e he 
 
 rette nnd^ '^'T ^, '^""* °^ Larochejacquelin, Cha- 
 
 ^' tsn^ie (FeriT"]79^^ "r"* ''' P«.^<=\«'"h the'co'nvention al 
 VOL n. ^* Cormartm, the leader of the Chouan.?, 
 
1.5S CHAPTER X. 
 
 did the sfvme at Mabilais ; but, a few weeks after, the Conven- 
 tion caused him to be arrested and shot, with seve-n other chiefs. 
 This was the signal for a new insurrection. The English gc- 
 vernment at length resolved to send assistance to the Royalists 
 A body of emigrants and French prisoners of war were landed 
 m the Bay of Quiberon (June 18.) Butth^ whole of the expe- 
 dition was badly managed, and had a most disastrous result. 
 General Hoche attacked the troops on their debarkation. The 
 greater part might have saved themselves on board the vessel* j 
 but the Marquis de Sombreuil, and five hundred and sixty younv> 
 men of the best families, were taken and shot by order of Ta^- 
 lien (June 21,) in spite of the opposition of General Hoche, who 
 declared that he had promised to spare their lives. 
 
 In the National Convention, two parties were contending for 
 the superiority ; the Thermidorians or Moderates, and the Ter- 
 rorists. The inhabitants of Paris, reduced to despair by the 
 dearth which the inaximum had caused, and instigated by the 
 Jacobins, had several times revolted, especially on the days of 
 the 12th Germinal (April 1,) and the 1st Prairial (May 20.) 
 The moderate party, strengthened by the accession of many of 
 the deputies proscribed since the 2d June 1793, gained the vic- 
 tory ; and purged the Convention, by banishing or putting to 
 death the most execrable of the Terrorists. They even concili- 
 ated, in some respects, the opinion of the public, by drawing up 
 a new constitution (June 23,) which might appear wise and ju- 
 dicious compared with the maxims which had been disseminated 
 for several years. Its fundamental elements were a Legislative 
 Body, composed of two elective chambers ; one of which was 
 to have the originating of the laws, and the other, composed of 
 men of judgment and experience, was to be invested with a 
 veto. The executive power was to be lodged in the hands of a 
 Council of five persons, clothed with an authority greater than 
 that which the Constitution of 1791 had given to the King. 
 The Convention passed several other laws, Vv'hich indicated a 
 desire 4;o return to the principles of morality. They also resolved 
 to exchange Madame Royale, the only remains of the family of 
 Louis XVI., for the deputies delivered up by Dumouriez. But 
 they lost again the affections of the people, by their laws of the 
 5th and 13th Fructidor of the year Three, (Aug. 22, & 30,^ 
 1795.) Premoriished by the fault which the Constituent As-* 
 sembly had committed, in prohibiting its members from entering 
 into the Legislative Body, and wishing, at the same time, to es- 
 cape punishment for the many crimes they had committed, they 
 ord lined that two-thirds of the members then composing the 
 Convention, should, of necessity, become a part of the new Le- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789 — 1815. 159 
 
 gislation ; arid that if the Primary Assemblies did not re-appoint 
 live hundred of the ex-conventional deputies, the newly elected 
 members should themselves complete the quota, by addino- a 
 sufficient number of their ancient colleagues. 
 
 The New Constitution had been submitted for the approba- 
 tion of the people, which they doubted not it would receive, as it 
 w^as to deliver France from the revolutionary faction. The Con- 
 vention took advantage of this disposition of the people, to com- 
 pel the Sections likewise to accept the two decrees, by declar- 
 ing them an integral part of the Constitution. But this attempt 
 was the occasion of new troubles. The Sections of Paris wished 
 to vote separately on the Constitution, and on the decrees w^hich, 
 in that case, would have beer rejected over all France; the 
 moderate party of the Convention, if we can honour them with 
 that name, joined wdth the Terrorists. Perceiving the storm to 
 be gathering, they now sought assistance and support from the 
 troops whose camp w^as pitched under the walls of Paris. They 
 armed a large body of men, at the head of which w^as Bona- 
 parte, who gained a sanguinary victory over the Parisians, on 
 the 13th Vendemiaire, in the year Three (October 5th, 1795.) 
 The desire to restore the Bourbons had been the secret motive 
 w^ith the chiefs of the insurrection. 
 
 A new Legislative Body assembled, which might be regarded 
 as a continuation of the Convention ; so long at least as the five 
 hundred deputies of the Convention w^ere not excluded, wdio sat 
 in consequence of the annual renewals of one-third of its mem- 
 bers. The Executive Directory, appointed by the Council of 
 the Ancients from a list presented by the Council of Five Hun- 
 dred, consisted of Lareveillere-Lepeaux, Rewbel, Barras, Le 
 Tourneur, and Carn6t, who had replaced Sieyes, — this member 
 having declined to make one of the Directory — the whole five 
 being Regicides. The forms of Terrorism were mitigated in 
 some respects, but the morals of the administration gained no- 
 thing by the change. The reign of the Directory w^as an era of 
 corruption and dissoluteness, v/hose effects w^ere long felt. An 
 unbounded avarice seized the nation, and the Directory encour- 
 aged and fed that shameful passion, by lending itself to the 
 most infamous traffic. Men coveted the nobility of riches, 
 rather than that of honour and birth. 
 
 The Directory had to struggle against two inconveniences ; 
 the^one w^as the spirit of rebellion, which induced the Terrorists 
 to form a conspiracy among themselves, — such as that of Druet 
 and Babeuf (May 10, 1796,) and that wdiich is known by the 
 name of the Conspiracy of the Camp at Grenoble (Sept. 9.) 
 The other inconvenience was still more serious, namely, the 
 
160 CHAPTER X. 
 
 embarrassed state of the finances. The quantity of assignats 
 thrown into circulation, amounted to 18,933,500,000 francs. To 
 reduce this sum, they decreed a loan of 600,000,000 in specie. 
 This measure proving ineffectual, the assignats were replaced 
 by another sort of paper-money, viz. rescriptioiis ; and finally by 
 nnandates. But both of these Avere discredited ; the former after 
 being issued, and the latter even before they were put into effec- 
 tive circulation, on the ground that it would be found necessary 
 to withdraw them altogether from circulation. The Slate thus 
 became bankrupt for thirty-nine thousand millions of francs. It 
 then became necessary to have recourse to a system of regular 
 imposts, which the people had not been accustomed to pay. 
 
 The Executive Directory had succeeded in putting an end to 
 the war in La Vendee. This success was owing to the firmness 
 and moderation of Geiieral Hoche. Stofiiet was betrayed, and 
 shot at Angers (Feb. 2-5, 1796.) Charette v.'ho had fallen into 
 the hands of the Republicans, met with the same fate at Nantes 
 soon after. His death put an end to the war (March 29.) The 
 Count d'Autichamp, and the other Vendean Generals, signed a 
 treaty of peace with Hoche. George Cadoudal, the leader of 
 the'Chouans, fled to England. 
 
 At first, from the accession of a third of the members of the 
 two legislative councils, the moderate party gained the ascend- 
 ancy. On M. Berthelemy's being appointed to the Directory, 
 there arose a schism between L^reveillere-Lepeaux, Revv'bel, and 
 Barras, who were called the Triumvirs, and Carnot and Ber- 
 thelemy, Avho were inclined for peace, and for putting an end to 
 the measures of the Revolution. The triumvirate lost the ma- 
 jority in the Council, where Pichegru had put himself at the 
 head of the moderate party, who hoped to restore the monarchy, 
 Royalism, assisted by the liberty of the press which France then 
 enjoyed, had made such progress as frightened the triumvirs. 
 They thought themselves sure of the array, so easy to be sedu- 
 ced when they are allowed to deliberate ; and especially of Bo- 
 naparte. They then performed the exploit, which is known by 
 the name of the Revolution of the ISth Fructidor (Sept. 4.) 
 Sixty-five deputies, and the two Directors, Berthelemy and Car- 
 not, were condemned to transportation ; and such of them as 
 were apprehended, were banished to the deserts of Sinamari in 
 Guiana. The last named deputies of the two Councils were 
 expelled ; and the moderate laws, issued three months before, 
 were superseded by revolutionary measures. The authors, ed- 
 itors, and printers of royalist or moderate Journals, were also 
 transported; the liberty of the press was abolished, and contin- 
 ued so in France from that time till 1814. Merlin, a lawyer of 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 161 
 
 Douay, was appointed to the place of one of the exiled Direc- 
 tors, and the poet Francois, a native of Neuchateaii in Lorrain, to 
 that of another. 
 
 Here, it will be proper to take a retrospect of the events of the 
 war. The Grand Duke of Tuscany was the first that set the 
 example of a reconciliation w^th France, which was si^ed at 
 Paris, (Feb. 9, 1795.) The King of Prussia, whose finances 
 were exhausted, entered into a negotiation Avith Berthelemey, 
 the Republican ambassador, which was concluded at Basle by 
 Baron Hardenberg, (April 5.) Prussia not only abandoned the 
 coalition ; she even guaranteed the neutrality of the North of 
 Germany, according to a line of demarcation which was fixed 
 by a special convention, (May 17.) The Landgrave of Hesse- 
 Cassel likewise made peace at Basle, (Aug. 28th.) 
 
 The retreat of the Prussians on the one hand, and the scar- 
 city which prevailed in France on the other, had retarded the 
 Qpening of the campaign of 1795. Field Marshal Bender hav- 
 ing reduced Luxemburg, after a siege of eight months, and a 
 plentiful harvest having once more restored abundance, the 
 army of the Sambre and Meuse, commanded by Jourdan, and 
 :hatof the Rhine and Moselle, under Pichegru, passed the Rhine. 
 The former, being beat at Hochst by Clairfait, (Oct. 11,) repas- 
 sed that river in disorder ; and Mayence, then under siege, was 
 relieved. Pichegru, who had taken Manheim, (Sept. 22,) re- 
 treated in like manner, and General Wurmser retook that city. 
 An armistice was concluded on the last daj^ of the year. 
 
 In Italy the French were expelled from Piedmont and the 
 States of Genoa, which they had invaded ; but the victory which 
 Scherer gained over de Vins at Lovano (Nov. 23,) was a pre- 
 lude to greater advantages, which they gained in course of next 
 year. 
 
 In Spain, Moncey gained the battle of Ormea, and occupied 
 Bilboa. But the peace which the Chevalier Yriarte signed at 
 Basle, (July 6,) put an end to his conquests. The King of Spain 
 ceded to the Republic his part of the Island of St. Domingo. 
 Lord Bridport defeated the French fleet off L'Orient, (June 23, 
 1795,) which intended to oppose the debarkation of the emi- 
 grants at Quiberon. The coalition, which the retirement of 
 Prussia and Spain had threatened to dissolve, gained fresh 
 strength by several new alliances, such as that of Vienna, be- 
 tween Austria and Great Britain, (May 20,) and the Triple Al- 
 liance of St. Petersburg, (Sept. 28.) 
 
 The campaign of 1796, was glorious for the French arms in 
 Italy. Na^leon Bonaparte was there, at the head of an army 
 destitute of every thing except courage. By a series of vic- 
 
 VOL. II. 14^ 
 
162 CHAPTER X. 
 
 taries which he gamed at Montenotte, Dego, Millesimo, Ceva, 
 and Mondovi, over the x\ustrian General Beaulieux, and the 
 Sardinian General Colli, he obliged the King of Sardinia to 
 sign a truce at Cherasco, (April 28,) by which he surrendered 
 UD three fortresses. Bonaparte passed the Po at Placentia ; 
 granted a truce on very disadvantageous terms to the Duke of 
 Parma; and forced the passage of the Bridge of Lodi, (May 
 9.) The fate of Lombardy was decided. Cremona and Piz- 
 zighitone opened their gates to the conqueror, (May 14,) who 
 soon made his entry into Milan. The Duke of Modena obtain- 
 ed a suspension of arms. The King of Sardinia agreed to sign 
 a peace at Paris, by which he surrendered Savoy and the dis- 
 trict of Nice. The terror of the French arms was so great, 
 that the King of Naples promised to remain neutral, by a con- 
 vention which he concluded at Brescia (June 5.) The Pope 
 also obtained neutrality, by the armistice of Bologna, (June 28,) 
 but on conditions exceedingly severe. Though the war had 
 ceased in Tuscany, a body of French troops occupied Leghorn, 
 (June 2S,) to seize the English merchandise in that port. 
 
 The Court of Vienna was resolved to make every effort to 
 save Mantua, the only place which remained to them in Italy. 
 At the head of 50,000 fresh troops, Wurmser marched from the 
 Tyrol, broke the French lines on the Adige, (July 31,) and com- 
 pelled Bonaparte to raise the siege of Mantua. The latter 
 General encountered the Austrians, and beat them at Castig- 
 lione : without however, being able to prevent Wurmser from 
 throwing fresh supplies into Mantua. This place was invested 
 a second time ; and a second time the Austrian army marched 
 to its relief. While Bonaparte was engaged with Davidovitch 
 at Roveredo, (Sept. 4,) and Massena pushing on as far as Trent, 
 Wurmser marched in all haste towards Mantua. Bonaparte 
 suddenly directed his course against him, vanquished him in 
 several battles, and compelled him to throw himself, with the 
 wreck of his army into the fortress (Sept. 15.) After this 
 event, the King of the Two Sicilies, and the Duke of Parma, 
 signed a definitive peace at Paris ; and the Republic of Genoa 
 concluded a treaty, (Oct. 9,) by which it retained at least the 
 appearance of independence. Austria tried a third time to 
 relieve Mantua. Two armies under the command of Alvinzi 
 and Davidovitch marched, the one from Friuli, and the other 
 from the Tyrol. The former was encountered by Bonaparte, 
 who defeated them in a sanguinary action at Arcole, (Nov. 17.) 
 Immediately he directed his march against the other, and beat 
 them at Rivoli, (Nov. 21.) 
 
 While matters were thus passing in Italy, the anray of the 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 163 
 
 Sambre and Meuse, commanded by Jourdan, had several en- 
 gagements with the Archduke-Charles, brother of the Emperor, 
 on the Sieg and the Lahn. Moreau, at the head of the army of 
 the Rhine and Moselle, passed the Rhine at Strasburg, and gained 
 several advantages over the army which Wurmser had com- 
 manded at the beginning of the campaign ; he concluded truces 
 with the Duke of Wurtemberg, the Margrave of Baden, and the 
 Circle of Swabia, who supplied him with money and provisions, 
 (July,) and penetrated into Bavaria, the Elector of which w-as also 
 obliged to submit to very rigorous conditions, (Sept. 7,) to obtain 
 a suspension of arms. Jourdan, on his side, having also passed 
 the Rhine, marched through Franconia, as far as the Upper 
 Palatinate. The Archduke-Charles, who, since the departure of 
 Wurmser for Italy, had been at the head of all the Austrian 
 armies in Germany, retired before so great a superiority of num- 
 bers, and drew near to the quarter whence he expected the ar- 
 rival of reinforcements. He immediately fell on the undis- 
 ciplined army of Jourdan, defeated them at Amberg, (Aug. 24,) 
 and Wurtsburg, (Sept. 3;) and put them so completely to the 
 rout, that they were obliged to repass the Rhine (Sept. 19.) This 
 disaster compelled Moreau to make his retreat ; in eifecting 
 which, he displayed the talents of a great general. After a 
 number of engagements, in which he was more frequently the 
 conqueror than conquered, he brought back his army to liunin- 
 gen, (Oct. 26,) where they passed the Rhine. That fortress and 
 Kehl were the only points on the right bank of the Rhine Avhich 
 remained in the possession of the French. 
 
 The Cabinet of London, finding that Spain had declared war 
 against her (Aug. 19,) according to the treaty of St. Ilclefonso 
 which allied her strictly with France ; and moreover, seeing 
 Ireland threatened with an invasion, ordered the British troops 
 to evacuate the island of Corsica, (Oct. 21,) of which the French 
 took possession. Lord Malmesbury was sent to Lille to nego- 
 tiate a peace (Oct. 24,) which he was not able to obtain, because 
 the conditions were not agreeable to the three Directors who 
 formed the majority. The attempts which the French made to 
 land in Ireland (Dec. 22,) under Admiral Morard de Galles, and 
 General Hoche, proved unsuccessful. 
 
 In 1797, the Austrians made a fourth attempt to save Man- 
 tua. Alvinzi arrived with 80,000 men ; but after several bloody 
 engagements, this army was dispersed, and old Wurmser w^as 
 compelled to surrender Mantua by capitulation (Feb. 2.) Bo- 
 naparte, w^ho had broken his truce Avith the Pope, invaded the 
 Ecclesiastical States ; but being menaced in the rear by a nevy 
 Austrian army, he again made peace with his Holiness at To- 
 
.6-1 CHAPTER X. 
 
 lentino (Feb. 19.) The Pope, besides renouncing Avignon and 
 the Venaissin, ceded also Ferrara, Bologna and Komagiia. The 
 new Austrian army in Italy was commanded by the Archduke- 
 Charles ; but not being able to cope with that of Bonaparte in 
 pitched battle, the Archduke retired through the Tyrol and Carin- 
 thia into Stiria, where he was followed by the French General. 
 This precipitate march threw the French army into a situation 
 highly perilous ; since, besides the want of provisions, they were 
 menaced in the rear by an insurrection of the Tyrol, and the 
 arms of the Venetian Eepublic. Bonaparte then offered peace, 
 which was accepted by the Cabinet of Vienna, and signed at 
 Leoben (April 18, 1797,) the same day that Hoche passed the 
 Rhine at Neuwied ; and two days after Moreau had passed that 
 river at Strasburg. 
 
 The preliminaries at Leoben were honourable for Austria. 
 She renounced, it is true, Belgium and all her possessions in 
 Italy, as far as the Oglio ; but she was indemnified by a con- 
 siderable part of the Venetian territory, as well as by Istria and 
 Dalmatia ; for which the Republic were to receive Bologna, 
 Ferrara and Romagna ; Peschiera and Mantua were to be sur- 
 rendered to the Emperor. France recognised the principle, thai 
 the integrality of the Empire was to be the basis of a pacifica- 
 tion with the Germanic Body. Immediately after the peace ol 
 Leoben, Bonaparte, without having received orders, overturned 
 the Venetian Republic, and caused his troops to occupy that 
 city (May 16.) He united the provinces of Lombardy which 
 Austria had ceded, into a Republic, on the model of that ot 
 France (June 29 ;) and this new State was called the Cisalpine 
 Republic. He obliged the Genoese to change their government, 
 and to constitute themselves into the Ligurian Republic (June 6.) 
 
 The negotiations for a definitive peace w^ere long in coming 
 to a conclusion. Bonaparte regretted having promised the 
 restitution of Mantua ; and the three Jacobin members of the 
 Directory, who were displeased with the terms on which the 
 peace with Germany was to be founded, began to intrigue for 
 the cession of the left bank of the Rhine ; and with this view, 
 to protract the conclusion of the peace, until the Revolution of 
 the 18th Fructidor should gain their party the assendancy. The 
 negotiations with Lord Malmesbury were immediately broken 
 off; and Bonaparte threatened to resume hostilities, unless 
 Austria would accept the conditions dictated by the New Di- 
 rectory. Peace was at length concluded at Campo Formio near 
 Udina, (Oct. 17,) by Buonaparte, and Count Louis de Cobenzl. 
 The two parties divided between them, it is said, the whole ter- 
 ritory of the Republic of Venice ; so that the Adige should be 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9 — 1S15. 165 
 
 the frontier on the Continent of Italy, while the Venetian Is- 
 lands, on th-e coast of Albania and Turkey, should belong to 
 France. Austrian Lombardy, v/ith Peschiera and Maniua, the 
 Modenois, and the Venetian territory to the west of the Adige. 
 and tlie three Legatines of Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna, 
 were to form the Cisalpine Republic. A Congress for a treaty 
 of peace with the Empire was to be opened at Eastadt. By 
 certain secret articles, the Emperor consented eventually to the 
 'perpetual and complete cession of the left bank of the Ehine ; 
 and stipulated for himself the possession of Salzburg, in case of 
 a partial cession ; and greater advantages, provided the v/hole 
 left bank of the Rhine were abandoned to France. The States 
 of Germany, who might suffer loss by the partial or total cession 
 of the left bank of the Rhine, were to receive indemnification 
 in Germany, as was expressed in the treaty. A compensation 
 was to be allowed to the Prince of Orange ; but this Avas not 
 to take place in the neighbourhood of the Batavian Republic, 
 nor in that of the Austrian possessions. Prussia was to pre- 
 serve hei provinces on the left bank of the Plhine ; but she was 
 to claim no new acquisitions in Germ.an3^ 
 
 J?he Directory were not equally satisfied vrith all the articles 
 of this treaty; but they dur:tl not disavow the negotiator, who 
 had assisted in accomplishing the Revolution of the ISth Fruc- 
 tidor. The French government were displeased v^^ith the in- 
 crease of power granted to Austria, and especially with the 
 dismemberment of Bavaria, which Rewbel, who piqued himself 
 on his political abilities, regarded with reason as contrary to the 
 interests of France. Moreover, the articles relative to Prussia 
 and the Prince of Orange v/ere in direct opposition to the Con- 
 vention of Berlin, (1794,) which was the basis of the existing 
 unanimity between Prussia and France. By that Convention 
 the Bishopric of Munster was made over to the King, by way of 
 reimbursement for his possessions be^rond the Rhine ; v/hile the 
 House of Orange was to have Wurtzburg and Bamberg. These 
 circumstances obliged the Directory to conceal from the Court of 
 Berlin the secret articles of the treaty of Campo Formio ; and 
 this constraint greatly embarrasied them, by the mistrust which 
 it excited on the part of Prussia. 
 
 General Bonaparte, with Trielhard and Bonnier, members 
 of the Convention, were appointed to negotiate at Rastadt with 
 the deputation of the Empire. Bonaparte made only a short stay 
 there, to sign a secret convention with Count Louis de Cobenzl, 
 (Dec, 1 ;) according to which Mayence was to be restored to the 
 troops of the French Republic, in fulfilment of what had been 
 resolved on at Campo Formio. The object which the French 
 
166 CHAPTER X. 
 
 negotiators proposed, was to obtain the entire cession of the 
 left bank of the Rhine, free from all charges ; and to obtain it 
 without being obliged to purchase it at the price Avhich Bona- 
 parte had promised to Austria. The means for attaining the 
 object were, to secure the consent of the majority of the deputa- 
 tion, and the agreement of Prussia, and then to prevail with 
 the latter to object to the dismemberment of Bavaria — a measure 
 which would compel France to reveal the secret negotiations 
 at Campo Formio. The first proposition on which these min- 
 isters demanded the cession of the whole left bank of the 
 Ehine, became the subject of a tedious negotiation, alternately- 
 promoted and thwarted by a thousand intrigues. At length 
 the deputation admitted it (March 179S,) but under restrictions 
 which the ministers were determined to reject. The latter then 
 proposed as a second basis, the idemnification of the princes in 
 possession of the left bank of the Rhine ; which was adopted 
 without much difliculty (^March 15.) The third demand re- 
 ferred to the manner of carrying ihe fundamental articles into 
 execution. On this ground the French advanced a multitud-e 
 of pretensions, each more unjust and more ridiculous than the 
 other. 
 
 Until then the negotiations, in all probability, were serious 
 on the part of Austria and France ; as the former, supported by 
 Russia, hoped to obtain the consent of Prussia to the dismem- 
 berment of Bavaria ; while France, on her side, vainly antici- 
 pated a strict alliance with the Cabinet of Berlin, which would 
 nave enabled the Directory to have dictated its own conditions 
 of peace. But, towards the middle of the year, war had be- 
 come inevitable, in consequence of the numerous aggressions 
 Avhich the Executive Directory had committed in different coun- 
 tries. To them war had become necessary to occupy their ar- 
 mies. The continuation of the Congress at Rastadt, therefore, 
 served merely to gain time to prepare for hostilities. If the 
 Court of Vienna had flattered themselves, that the Cisalpine 
 Republic would form an independent State,they were undeceived 
 by the treaty of alliance with France which that Republic was 
 obliged to accept, in spite of the determined refusal of the Coun- 
 cil of Ancients. It was, in reality, a treaty of subjection, by 
 which, among other articles, it was stipulated that there should 
 always be 25,000 French troops in the Cisalpine States, for the 
 support of which they should pay eighteen millions per annum. 
 
 A tumult having happened at Rome, in which one of the 
 French generals was killed, the Directory made this a pretext 
 for invading the Ecclesiastical States. General Berthier pro- 
 claimed the Roman Republic (Feb. 15, 179S;) and Pope Pius 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 167 
 
 VI. was carried captive to France where he died, (Aug. 29, 1799.1 
 
 The Directory, from no just motive, excited a revolution m 
 Switzerland ; and under pretence of being invited by one of th?*. 
 parties, they sent troops into that country (Jan. 26 ;) overturned, 
 the existing order of things ; and under the title of the Helvetic 
 Republic, they established a government entirely subject on 
 ih':^ii authority (April 11.) A piece of imprudence, committed 
 or the French ambassador at Vienna, was the cause of a popular 
 '.•ornmotion there ; in consequence of which he quitted his situn- 
 non. This event made a great noise. It gave rise to the cor- 
 ferences which took place at Seltz in Alsace (April 13,) between 
 the Ex-Director Francois and Count De Cobenzl ; in which. 
 France and Austria tried, for the last time, if it were possible to 
 come to a proper understanding regarding their mutual interests. 
 These conferences had no other effect than to convince the Court 
 of Vienna, that they must turn the current of their politics into 
 a new channel. 
 
 A French fleet, commanded by Admiral Breueix, sailed from 
 Toulon (May 19,) with General Bonaparte and 40,000 men. 
 When they arrived off Malta, Bonaparte got possession of that 
 island by means of a capitulation, signed in name of the order of 
 St. John (June 12,) by some of the knights who had disclaimed 
 all submission to the Grand Master a.nd the Assembly of the 
 States. From Malta the French fleet sailed with a fair wind 
 for Egypt, and landed at Alexandria (July 2,) to undertake the 
 conquest of that country ; although France was then at peace 
 with the Porte. The English fleet, however, under Admiral 
 Nelson, which had gone in quest of the French, joined them off 
 Alexandria, and defeated them in an action which was fought in 
 the bay of Aboukir (Aug. 1,) and which lasted thirty-six hours. 
 
 Charles Emanuel IV., King of Sardinia, insulted in every 
 kind of way by the French generals, and by his neighbours the 
 Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics, resolved to shelter himself 
 from these annoyances under the protection of the Directory* 
 He had concluded an alliance, offensive and defensive, with 
 France (April 5, 1797 ;) but the latter having demanded a new 
 pledge of his friendship, he concluded a convention at Milan, by 
 which the French government granted him their protection ; on 
 condition that he would surrender to them the citadel of his capital. 
 
 The events which we have now detailed gave rise to a second 
 coalition against France, which was entered into by Great Britain, 
 Russia, Austria, the Porte, and the Two Sicilies. The two first 
 of these powers promised to support the rest ; Britain furnishing 
 supplies, and Russia auxiliary troops. Before taking up arms, 
 the Cabinet of Vienna attempted to conciliate that of Berlin, 
 
J6S CHAPTER X. 
 
 With the view of compelling France to moderate some of her claims 
 Nep:oti.ations were accordingly entered into at Berlin, at fin^t he 
 :Meon the two powers alone, and afterwards under the mediation 
 ot the Emperor Paul of Russia. But in order to obtain a mutual 
 ••^v-operation, it was necessary to begin by establishing mutual 
 ct-nfidence. This was impossible, as each of the Cabinets had its 
 «.\Tn secret, which it would not communicate to the other. Prus* 
 v-a had her own treaty of the 1st of August 1796; and Austria 
 jier secret articles of Campo Formio. The circumstance which 
 'letermined the Emperor Paul to take a part in the war agamst 
 France, was the indignation which he felt at the spoliation of 
 the Knights of Malta, whom he had taken under his protection, 
 and afterwards accepted the office of Grand Master of the Orde:^ 
 
 This coalition was formed by treaties of alliance between the 
 several parties respectively. Russia agTeed to send an army cf 
 60,000 men, under Suwarow, to the Danube, and to furnish Prus- 
 sia with 45,000, to be paid by Great Britain. 
 
 After the revolution of the ISth Fructidor, the Executive Di- 
 rectory of the French Republic had to struggle against the gene- 
 ral discontent, as vfeW as against the disordered state of the 
 finances, and the intrigues of the Jacobins, whose influence they 
 had imprudently augmented, hoping, by their means, to annihi- 
 late the party of the opposition. That faction v,rould infallibly 
 have affected a counter-revolution in France, had not the Direc- 
 tory, by a stretch of arbitrary power, annulled the elections of 
 1798. The want of funds, which was always growing worse, 
 had retarded the renewal of the war ; but v/hen it broke out, the 
 Directory adopted a measure which we ought not to pass in si- 
 lence, as it has exercised a lasting influence on ail the States oi 
 Europe, who were obliged to follow the example. V/e allude to 
 the law which introduced the military conscription (Sept. 5, 1798,) 
 and which was the work of General Jourdan. 
 
 The Coalition was not yet consolidated, and Austria had not 
 yet finished her preparations for war, when the King of the Two 
 "Sicilies, instigated by a party who wished to urge the Cabinet of 
 Vienna to greater despatch, commenced hostilities, by expelling 
 ihe French from Rome (Nov. 24.) That enterprise failed of 
 success. The Neapolitan troops, who were commanded by a 
 foreigner, General Baron de Mack, showed neither discipline 
 nor courage. After this first repulse, the King took shelter in 
 Sicily. His capital became a prey to the most frightful anarchy. 
 Mack, to save his life, deserted to the enemy. The Lazzaroni 
 defended Naples against the French army, and it was not till 
 after a battle of three days, that Championnet, vvho was at their 
 head, succeeded in getting possession of the city ; after which h-j 
 
Bonaparle crossing the Alps. Vol. 2, p. 174. 
 
 Fall of Koiciuszko. Vo). 2, p. 194 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 16^ 
 
 proclaimed the Farthennpean B-cpithlic (Jan. 25.) General Jou- 
 bert took possession of Turin ; and when the new campaign 
 opened, the whole of Italy was in the hands of the French. 
 
 The Executive Directory made these hostile preparations of 
 the King of the Two Sicilies a pretext for declaring war against 
 the King of Sardinia (Dec. 6, 179S,) who was in oUiance with 
 France. General Joubert having already advanced into Pied- 
 mont, Charles Einanuel IV. signed an act, drawn up by General 
 Clauzel, by which he renounced the exercise of all power, and 
 commanded his subjects to obey the provisional governmeni 
 which the French were about to establish. He afterwards re- 
 tired into Sardinia, where he protested against the violence which 
 he had experienced. 
 
 The Congress of Rastadt had continued their sittings. On 
 the 6th December 1798, the French plenipotentiaries gave in 
 their ultimatum on the third proposition relative to the mode of 
 carrying into execution the two fundamental articles agreed to ; 
 with a threat to quit Rastadt unless it was accepted within six 
 days. The majority of the deputation, who were not initiated 
 into the secrets of great cabinets, and who were importuned by 
 a crowd of princes, nobles, and deputies under the influence 
 either of interest or terror, accepted this ultimatum.; against 
 which Austria, Saxony, and Hanover voted. The plenipoten- 
 tiary of the Empire ratified it ; probably because the Court of 
 Vienna, who were on the point of abrogating every thing that 
 had passed at Rastadt, did not think it necessary to enter into 
 any discussion on that subject. This finished the operations of 
 the Congress. From that moment, the French plenipotentiaries 
 did nothing but complain of the march of the Russian troops, 
 who in effect had penetrated inio Galicia, and were approaching 
 the Danube. The deputation, whose distinctive character was 
 pusillanimity, confirmed these complaints in presence of the 
 Emperor (Jan. 4, 1799,) vrho, however, eluded giving any posi- 
 tive answer, until the whole of his measures were organized. 
 A French army, commanded by Jourdan, passed the Rhine, be- 
 tween Strasburg and Basle. The Congress, nevertheless, con- 
 tinued to sit until the 7th April, when it was dissolved by Count 
 Metternich, who annulled all its decisions. 
 
 The 28th of April was a day memorable in the annars oi 
 modern history. Some of the Austrian Hussars, within a quar- 
 'or of a league of Rastadt, assassinated the French ministers 
 /(lonnier, Debry, and Roberjot, who were on their return to Paris. 
 i'hat deed was not authorized by the Executive Directory, al- 
 i.hough it was attributed to them because they had artfully turned 
 it to their advantage, by exciting the public mind which had 
 
 VOL. II. 15 
 
170 CHAPTER X. 
 
 already declared itself against the war ; neither was it author 
 ized by any cabinet, or commander of the army. Its real au- 
 thor has never been officially made known. 
 
 The French Republic had already declared war against the 
 Emperor and the Grand Duke of Tuscany (March 12, 1799,) 
 without any apparent motive. But, before this declaration was 
 made, the campaign had already opened in Switzerland, where 
 General Massena had dislodged the Austrians from the country 
 of the Grisons, which they had occupied in consequence of a 
 treaty with the Republicans, concluded at Coire (Oct. 7, 179S.) 
 The Archduke Charles, at the head of the main Austrian army, 
 acquitted himself gloriously. He defeated Jourdan in several 
 pitched battles at Pullendorf and Stockach (March 20, 25,) and 
 compelled the army of the Danube, as it was called, to repass 
 the Rhine. The remains ©f Jourdan 's army were then united 
 to that of Massena. 
 
 In Italy, while General Macdonald, who had succeeded Cham- 
 pionnet in the command, was covering Rome and Naples, Gen- 
 eral Gauthier occupied Florence. Sherer, at the head of the 
 army of Italy, was defeated by Kray at Legnago (March 25,) 
 Roco (30,) and Verona (April 5.) It was at this time that Su- 
 warow arrived in Italy with the Russians, and took the chief 
 command of the combined army. Moreau, who with a noble 
 resignation had taken on himself the interim command of the 
 French army in its present discouraging circumstances, was de- 
 feated at Cassano (April 27,) and retired to Alessandria. It was 
 of great importance for Suwarow to prevent Macdonald, who 
 had arrived at Naples, from joining Moreau. But the two 
 French generals manoeuvred so dexterously, that this junction 
 took place ; although Macdonald had been attacked by Suwa- 
 row near the Trebia (June 17,) where he sustained a considera- 
 ble loss. The whole of Lombardy fell into the hands of the 
 Allies. Mantua likewise capitulated. Joubert, who had been 
 appointed General of the armj^ of Italy, had scarcely arrived 
 when he offered battle to Suwarow near Novi (Aug. 15 ;) but 
 he was slain near the commencement of the action. Moreau, 
 who had continued with the army as a volunteer, could not pre- 
 vent the general rout. Championnet, who succeeded Joubert, 
 was not more fortunate. Coni, the last place in their possession, 
 having been taken (Dec. 3,) the French retired within the Ap- 
 penines. 
 
 The Archduke Charles having marched into Switzerland, 
 IMassena took up a strong position on the Aar and the Reuss. 
 The hopes which they had entertained of bringing over Prussia 
 to the coalition having entirely failed, it was agreed between 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 17\ 
 
 Great Britain and Russia (June 29.) that the army of 45,000 
 men which the latter had eventually promised to place at the dis- 
 posal of the King of Prussia if he became a party in the war, 
 should henceforth be employed against France in Switzerland. 
 Accordingly these troops, who were commanded uy Prince Kor- 
 sakoff, having arrived on the Limmat, the Archduke joined to 
 them 30,000 Austrians ; while with the rest of his troops he 
 marched towards the Rhine, where a new French army had 
 occupied Heidelberg and Manheim. The Archduke compelled 
 them to repass the river, and took Manheim b}^ assault (Sept. 18.) 
 
 After the battle of Novi, Suwarow quitted Italy with the 
 Russians whose number Vv'as novv' reduced to 24,000 men, to 
 march on the Limmat, and take the command of the allied army 
 in Switzerland. Massena, who was anxious to prevent this 
 junction, attacked Korsakoff, and defeated him near Zurich (Sept. 
 24;) which obliged him to evacuate Switzerland. Suwarow, 
 whose march across the Alps had now become very dangerous, 
 accomplished it nevei*theless with boldness and celerity; and 
 although he had to encounter Leci arbe who wished to intercept 
 him, and afterwards Massena who was in pursuit of him, he 
 crossed the small cantons of the Grisons, and effected a union 
 with the remains of Korsakoff 's army. 
 
 The Roman and Parthenopean Republics had fallen to pieces 
 after the departure of Macdonald. Ancona, where he had left 
 a body of troops, did not surrender until the 29th of November. 
 The combined fleets of the Turks and Russians, about the end 
 of the year 1793, had taken possession of the French islands 
 that had formerly belonged to the Venetians. Corfu held out till 
 the 1st of March 1799. The Archduke Charles having advanced 
 on Switzerland after the defeat of Korsakoff, Lecourbe, who had 
 been called to the command of the army of Alsace, passed the 
 Rhine; but he was soon after compelled to return to the 'left 
 bank of that river. 
 
 In virtue of a convention which was concluded at St. Peters- 
 burg (June 22,) the Emperor Paul, in addition to the 105,000 
 men which he had already despatched, engaged to furnish 17,500 
 more. These with 12,000 English, under the command of the 
 Duke of York, attempted to make a descent on Holland, and 
 landed at Helder. This expedition proved a total failure. The 
 Duke of York, after having been worsted in several engage- 
 ments with General Brune, evacuated the country, in conse- 
 quence of a capitulation signed at Alkmaar (Oct. 18, 1799.) 
 These disasters were but feebly compensated by the taking of 
 Surinam (Aug. 16,) the last of the Dutch colonies v/hich fell 
 into the hands of the English. 
 
172 CHAPTER X. 
 
 While these events were transacting- in Europe, Bonaparte 
 had subdued the greater part of Egypt ; but he was less suc- 
 cessful in the expedition which he undertook against Syria. 
 Being obliged to raise the siege of Acre (May 19,) after sus- 
 tahiing considerable losses, he returned to Egypi with the feeble 
 remains of his army. Shortly after (July 15,) a Turkish fleet 
 appeared off Aboukir, and landed a body of troops, who took 
 possession of that fort. Bonaparte directed his march against 
 them, beat them, and almost totally annihilated them (July 25;) 
 but being displeased at the Directory, who had left him without 
 support, and having heard of their disorganization, he resolved 
 to return to Europe. He embarked secretly (Aug. 23,) and 
 landed at Frejus on the coast of Provence (Oct. 9, 1799.) 
 
 At the time of his arrival, France was in a state of the most 
 violent commotion. The Council of Five Hundred was become 
 more and more Jacobinical, in consequence of new elections. 
 Sieyes, Gohier, Roger Duces, and Moulins, with Barras, Direc- 
 tor of the Ancients, formed the government. The revolutionary 
 measures which were adopted by the Council, seemed a pre- 
 lude to the return of Terror. Such was the law which author- 
 ized the Directory to take hostages among the relations of the 
 emigrants (July 12 ;) and the loan of a hundred millions, which 
 was decreed (Aug. 6.) 
 
 In the west, the Chouans had organized a new insurrection 
 under the conduct of George Cadoudal and the Counts de Frot- 
 te, D'Autichamp, and de Bourmont. Disturbances had broken 
 out in other provinces ; the government had fallen into contempt ; 
 a general restlessness had taken possession of the public mind. 
 Barras and Sieyes were perfectly conscious that this state of 
 things could not continue. Each of them, separately, had con- 
 trived the plan of a new revolution ; and each of them endeav- 
 oured to make a partisan of General Bonaparte, who had just 
 arrived in Paris, and on Avhom the hopes of France seemed at 
 that time to depend. The General deceived Barras, and entered 
 into a conspiracy with Sieyes and the more powerful mem- 
 bers of the Council of Ancients. On the ISth Brumaire (Nov. 
 9, 1799,) the Council nominated Bonaparte commandant of the 
 troops ; abolished the Directory ; and ordered the Legislative 
 Assembly to be transferred to St. Cloud. The meeting which 
 took place next day was a scene of great turbulence. Bonaparte 
 ineffectually attempted to defend himself in the Council of Five 
 Hundred, when the firmness of his brother Lucien and the gren- 
 adiers of the guard alone secured his safety. The Council was 
 dissolved, and the constitution of the year Three abolished (Nov. 
 11.) A provisional government was established, consisting of 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 173 
 
 Sieyes, Roger Ducos, and Bonaparte. A legislative commission 
 of twenty-five members were charged to draw up the plan of a 
 new constitution. 
 
 The new constitution was announced on the 22d of Frimaire, 
 of the year Eight (13th Dec. 1799.) The republican forms were 
 preserved ; and the government, in appearance, was intrusted to 
 a Council of three persons, appointed for ten years, and decorated 
 with the title of Consuls, viz. Bonaparte, Cambaceres, and Le 
 Brun ; but in reality to the first only, on Vvhom they conferred a 
 power truly monarchical. The other constituted bodies were a 
 Conservative Senate, contrived by Sieyes, to be the guardian of 
 the public liberties ; a Tribunal of one hundred members, whose 
 business it was to discuss such forms of law as the government 
 laid before them ; and a Legislative Body of three hundred 
 members, who gave their vote without any previous debate. 
 Bonaparte seized the reins of government with a firm hand. He 
 abrogated several of the revolutionary laws, amalgamated its 
 different parts into a system, and by degrees organized the most 
 complete despotism. He consolidated his power by quashing 
 the insurrection in the West. By his orders, Generals Brune 
 and Hedouville concluded a peace (Jan. IS, ISOO.) first with the 
 Vendeans at Montfaugon, and afterwards with the Chouans. He 
 gave a most striking example of perfidy, by causing the brave 
 Frotte to be shot a few da^'s after. But he conciliated the af- 
 fection of his subjects by the restoration of religion, which he 
 established by means of a Concordat with the Court of Rome, 
 (July 15, 1801.) 
 
 Bonaparte was no sooner placed at the head of the govern- 
 ment, than he proposed to make peace with England, by means 
 of a letter (Dec. 26, 1799,) not written, according to etiquette, by 
 one of his ministers to the Secretary of State for Foreign Af- 
 fairs, but in his own hand, and addressed to King George III., 
 whom he complimented for his patriotic virtues. He stated the 
 necessity for peace ; and trusted, that two nations so enlightened 
 as France and Great Britain, Avould no longer be actuated by 
 false ideas of glory and greatness. This step, made in so un- 
 usual a form, could not possibly have a successful result, espe- 
 cially as Mr. Pitt was determined to employ all the resources of 
 England to overthrow the revolutionary despotism which the 
 First Consul was endeavouring to establish in France. That 
 great statesman endeavoured, by the treaties of subsidy which 
 we have already mentioned, to repair the loss which the coalition 
 had just suffered by the retirement of Paul I., who being morti- 
 fied with the bad success of the Russian arms, which he ascribed 
 
 VOL. II. 15^ 
 
174 CHAPTER X. 
 
 10 the allies themselves, had recalled his troops at the beg-inning 
 of the year ISOO. 
 
 General Melas, who commanded the Austrians in Italy, open- 
 ed the campaign of 1800 in the most splendid manner. In con- 
 sequence of the victory which he gained over Massena at Voltri 
 (April 10,) the latter was obliged to throw himself into Genoa, 
 where he sustained a siege of six weeks with gTeat courage. 
 Melas made himself master of Nice (May 11,) and Souchet 
 passed the Var on his march to Provence. But, in a short time, 
 Bonaparte, at the head of a new army which collected at Dijon, 
 passed the Alps, and took possession of Milan (June 2;) while 
 Melas was not yet aware that his army was in existence. For- 
 tunately for the latter, Massena was obliged to surrender Genoa 
 at that very time, (June 5,) which placed the corps of General 
 Ott at his" disposal. He had found it difficult, with his small 
 garrison, to preserve order among the inhabitants, of whom 
 15,000 are said to have perished by famine or disease during 
 the blockade. General Ott was defeated by Berthier at j\Ionte- 
 bello (June 9.) Melas himself engaged General Bonaparte at 
 Marengo (June 14.) Victory was already within his grasp, 
 when the arrival of the brave Desaix with his division, disap- 
 pointed him of the triumph. The defeat had a most discourag- 
 ing effect on General Melas, and cost Austria the whole of 
 Lom hardy. A truce which was concluded at Alessandria (June 
 16,) put Bonaparte in possession of that town ; as well as of 
 Tortona, Turin, Placentia, Coni, Genoa, &c. The Austrians 
 retired beyond the Mincio. 
 
 Moreau, at the head of a French army, had passed the Rhine 
 (April 25,) and defeated Kray in several engagements. The 
 Austrians then retired within the Upper Palatinate. Moreau 
 had already made himself master of Munich, when he received 
 the news of the truce at Alessandria. He then concluded an 
 armistice at Parsdorf (July 15.) The Count St. Julien, who 
 had been sent by the Emperor Francis II. to Paris, having 
 signed the preliminaries of peace vrithout sufficient authority, 
 the Court of Vienna refused to ratify them, as they had engaged 
 not to make peace without the consent of England. Hostilities 
 were to recommence in Germany in the month of September ; 
 but the Archduke John, who commanded the Austrian army in 
 Bavaria, having requested that the armistice should be prolonged, 
 General Moreau consented, on condition that Philipsburg, Ulm, 
 and Ingolstadt, should be given up to him. This arrangement 
 was signed at Hohenlinden (Sept. 20,) and France immediately 
 demolished the fortificc.tions of these two places. Hostilities 
 having recommeuced about the end of November, General 'Mo- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 175 
 
 reau defeated the army of the Archduke John, at the rncmorahle 
 battle of Hohenlinden (Dec. 3 ;) after which he marched in all 
 haste on Vienna, Austria being released from her engagements 
 by the Cabinet of London, then declared that she was determined 
 to make peace, whatever might be the resolutions of England ; 
 on which a new armistice was concluded at Steyr (Dec. 25.) 
 Braunau and Wurtzburg were delivered up to the French. 
 
 General Brune, who commanded in Italy, renewed the truce 
 of Alessandria by the convention of Castiglione (Sept. 29,) and 
 thus gained time to take possession of Tuscany, which they had 
 forgot to include in the truce. Being reinforced by the army of 
 Macdonald, who had arrived in Lombardy, he passed the Brenta; 
 after traversing, by a perilous march, the lofty mountain of Splu- 
 gen. In virtue of a new truce, signed at Treviso, the French 
 obtained the recovery of Peschiera, the forts of Verona, Legnago, 
 Fermo, and Ancona. 
 
 Meantime, negotiations for peace had been entered into at 
 Luneville, between Joseph Bonaparte and Count Loais de 
 Cobenzl. The First Consul having refused to ratify the armis- 
 tice of Treviso, because it had left Mantua in the hands of the 
 Austrians, the Imperial plenipotentiary at Luneville signed an 
 additional convention, by which that place was delivered over to 
 the French. Peace between Austria and France was signed a 
 few days after (Feb. 9 ;) and Francis II., at the same time, made 
 stipulations for the Empire. He ceded the Belgic provinces, 
 the county of Falkenstein and Frickthal. In Italy, the frontier 
 line between Austria and the Cisalpine Republic was traced, so 
 that the Adige should separate the two States, and the cities of 
 Verona and Porto Legnago should be divided between them. 
 The other conditions were, that the Grand Duke of Modena 
 should have Brisgau in exchange for his dutcliy ; that the Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany should renounce his grand dutchy, and receive 
 a free and competent indemnity in Germany ; that the Empire 
 should give up all the left bank of the Rhine ; that the hereditary 
 princes, who lost their territories in consequence of these ces- 
 sions, should receive compensation from the Empire ; and lastly, 
 that the Germanic Body should ratify the peace within the space 
 of thirty days. By a secret article, Saltzburg, Berchtolsgaden, 
 Passau, the bishopric and city of Augsburg, Kempten, and twelve 
 other immediate abbeys, besides nineteen Imperial cities in 
 Swabia, including Ulm and Augsburg, were secured to the 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Empire showed great anxiety 
 to ratify this peace, which was the precursor of its annihilation 
 
 The English had compelled General Vaubois to surrender the 
 Isle of Malta. After the flight of Bonaparte from Egypt, Kleber 
 
\7Ci CnAFTER X. ♦ 
 
 had taken the command of the French army, which was then 
 reduced to 12,000 men. A convention was conckided at El 
 Arisch with the Grand Vizier who had arrived from Syria at 
 the head of a formidable army, by which the French General 
 engaged to evacuate the country. The English government 
 having refused to ratify this treaty, unless Kleber would surren- 
 der himself prisoner of war, that General immediately attacked 
 the Grand Vizier, and defeated him at El Hanka (March 20 ;) 
 after which he again subdued Cairo, which had raised the stand- 
 ard of revolt. The English Government were willing to ratify 
 the convention of the 24th January ; but General Menou having 
 succeeded Kleber who had fallen by the dagger of a Turkish 
 fanatic, was determined to maintain himself in Egypt, in spite 
 of an evident impossibility. Sir Ralph Abercromby, the Eng- 
 lish commander, who arrived with a British force, effected his 
 landing at Aboukir (March 8, 1801.) Menou was defeated in 
 the battle of Rahmanieh, near Alexandria (March 21,) which 
 cost General Abercromby his life. But the French soon saw 
 themselves assailed on all hands by the Turks and the English, 
 who had been recalled from the East Indies, and had disem- 
 barked on the shores of the Red Sea. General Belliard, who 
 had the command at Cairo, concluded a capitulation (June 27,) 
 in virtue of which he was sent back to France with the troops 
 under his orders. Menou found himself obliged to follow his 
 example, and capitulated at Alexandria to General Hutchinson 
 (Aug. 30,) who consented to the safe conveyance of the French 
 troops to their native country. Thus ended an expedition, 
 which, had it proved successful, must have become fatal to the 
 British Empire in India, and given a new direction to the com- 
 merce of the world. 
 
 Various treaties were concluded between the peace of Lune- 
 ville and that of Amiens, which put an entire end to the war. 
 (1.) General Murat, who commanded the army in Italy, having 
 shown some disposition to carry the war into the kingdom of 
 Naples, Ferdinand IV. concluded an armistice at Foligno (Feb. 
 18,) which he afterwards converted into a treaty of peace at Flo- 
 rence. He gave up the State of Presidii, and his share of the 
 island of Elba and of the principality of Pioijibino. By a secret 
 article, he agreed that 16,000 French troops should occupy the 
 peninsula of Otranto and part of Abruzzo, until the conclusion 
 of peace with England and the Porte. (2.) Portugal, since the 
 year 1797, had wished to withdraw from the first coalition, and 
 even concluded a peace with the Executive Directory at Paris 
 (Aug. 10 ;) but the English squadron of Admiral St. Vincent 
 having entered the Tagus, the Queen refused to ratify that 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789— 1S15. 177 
 
 treaty. Portugal thus continued at war with France until 1801. 
 The French army, which was already in Spain, having shown 
 some disposition to enter Portugal, peace was concluded at Ma- 
 drid between Lucien Bonaparte and M. Freire (Sept. 29,) the 
 ministers of the two States at the Court of Spain. Portugal 
 shut her ports against the English, and regulated the frontiers 
 of Guiana, so as to prove advantageous to France. (3.) In Rus- 
 sia Bonaparte had succeeded to a certain extent in conciliating 
 the good will of the Emperor Paul. Nevertheless, at the death 
 of that prince (Oct. 8, 1801,) there existed no treaty of peace 
 between Russia and France. A treaty, howeVer, was signed 
 at Paris in the reign of Alexander, by Count MarkoiTand Tal- 
 leyrand (Oct. 11,) and followed by a very important special con- 
 vention by which, among other things, it was agreed : That the 
 two governments should form a mutual agreement, as to the 
 principles to be followed with respect to indemnifications in 
 Germany ; as well as to determine respecting those in Italy, 
 and to maintain a just equilibrium between the Houses of Aus- 
 tria and Brandeburg : That France should accepi the mediation 
 of Prussia, for the pacification with the Porte : That the inte- 
 grality of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies should be maintained, 
 according to the treaty of the 2Sth March, 1801 ; and that the 
 French troops should evacuate the country as soon as the fate 
 of Egypt was decided : That a friendly disposition should be 
 shown to the interests of the King of Sardinia ; and that the 
 Elector of Bavaria and the Duke of Wurtemberg should be com- 
 pensated for their losses, by a full indemnity in Germany. (4.) 
 Immediatel}^- after General Menon had signed the capitulation 
 of Alexandria, the preliminaries of peace betw^een France and 
 the Porte were concluded at Paris (Oct. 9 ;) but they were not 
 confirmed into a definitive peace, until after the preliminaries 
 were signed at London (June 25, 1802.) The free navigation 
 of the Black Saa was secured to the French flag. 
 
 When Mr. Pitt had quitted the English ministry, France and 
 England came to terms of better accommodation. The first ad- 
 vances were made on the side of the latter power. The preli- 
 minaries were signed at London, between Lord Hawkesbury 
 and M. Otio ; including their respective allies (Oct. 1, 1801.) 
 Of all her conquests, Great Britain was to retain only the Island 
 of Trinidad, and the Dutch possessions in Ceylon. Malta was 
 to be restored to the Knights of St. John, under the protection 
 of a third power ; and Egypt Avas to belong to the Porte. The 
 French troops were to abandon the kingdom of Naples, and the 
 English to quit Porto Ferrajo. France was to acknowledge 
 the Repubh'c of the Seven Islands, which was composed of Corfu 
 and the sLk other islands formerly belonging to the Venetians. 
 
178 CHAPTER X. 
 
 For carrying these preliminaries into execution, a Congress 
 was opened at Amiens, where Joseph Bonaparte appeared for 
 France, Lord Cornwallis for England, the Chevalier Azara for 
 Spain, and M. Schimmelpenninck for the Batavian Republic. 
 Some unexpected difficulties arose with regard to Malta, as Great 
 Britain had repented of having given it up in the preliminary- 
 treaty. They found means, however, to remove these obstacles ; 
 and the peace of Amiens was finally signed after a negotiation 
 of six months (March 27, 1S02.) 
 
 We shall only take notice here in what respects these articles 
 differed from the preliminaries. With regard to the stipulation 
 respecting the surrender of Malta to the Knights of St. John, 
 several modifications were added, viz. as to the election of a new 
 Grand ]\Iaster ; the suppression of the French and English 
 Langues, or class of Knights ; the institution of a Maltese Langue; 
 the time for its evacuation ; and the future appointment of the 
 garrison. Finally, it was said in the treaty, that the indepen- 
 dence of that island and its present arrangement, were placed 
 under the guaranty of France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, 
 Russia and Prussia. It may be mentioned, that Russia and 
 Prussia declined to undertake that guaranty, unless certain 
 modifications were added. This refusal furnished England with 
 a pretext for refusing to part with that island ; and the war, as 
 we shall soon find, was recommenced rather than give up that 
 important possession. 
 
 One article of the treaty of Amiens having promised the Prince 
 of Orange a compensation for the losses he had sustained in the 
 late Republic of the United Provinces, both in private property 
 and expenses, another convention was signed at i\.miens between 
 France and the Batavian States, importing that that compensa- 
 tion should in no case fall to the charge of the latter. 
 
 There is one essential observation which we must make on 
 the peace of Amiens. Contrary to the general jpractice, the for- 
 mer treaties between France and Great Britain were not renewed 
 by that of Amiens. It is not difficult to perceive the cause of 
 this silence. At the time when the peace of Utrecht was con- 
 cluded. Great Britain had an interest in having the principle of 
 free commerce for neutral States held sacred ; and she had con- 
 sequently announced it in the treaty of navigation and commerce, 
 which was concluded in 1713. All the following treaties, until 
 that of 1783 inclusive, having renewed the articles of Utrecht, 
 the silence on this subject at Amiens placed Great Britain, in 
 this respect, on the footing of a common right, which, according 
 to the system of the English, would not have been favourable to 
 the principle of a free trade, — a doctrine which it was for their 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9— 1815. 179 
 
 interest to suppress, since they had then the command of the sea. 
 We have now brought down the history of the French Revo- 
 lution, from its commencement to the year 1S02, when the 
 French power began to preponderate in Europe. The influ- 
 ence of the Republic was enormously great. The Netherlands 
 and a flourishing portion of Germany, as well as Geneva, Sa- 
 voy, and Piedmont, were incorporated with the territories which 
 had been governed by Louis XVI. The Dutch and the Cisal- 
 pine States, including the Milanois, a considerable part of the 
 Venetian territories, the dutchies of Mantua, Modena and Par- 
 ma, besides some of the Ecclesiastical provinces, had bov/ed their 
 neck to the yoke of the First Consul. The Swiss, enslaved by 
 the Directory, had not been able to recover their ancient inde- 
 pendence. Tuscany and the Ligurian Republic durst not pre- 
 sume to dispute the will of the conqueror ; wdiiie Spain, forget- 
 ful of her ancient dignity, was reduced to a state of subservient 
 and degraded alliance. It will be now necessary, according to 
 the plan of this work, that we take a survey of the more remark- 
 able events which happened in the course of the preceding thir- 
 teen years, in the other States of Europe. 
 
 Portugal had been a co-partner in the first coalition against 
 France, and had furnished a body of 6000 troops to Spain, and 
 some ships of war to England. We have already related how 
 Mary I. was prevented from disengaging herself from the treaty 
 of 1797. The Prince of Brazil, who had assumed the regency 
 (July 15, 1799) in consequence of the infirm state of his mother's 
 health, took a more decided part in the second coalition, by sign- 
 ing an alliance with Russia (Sept. 28.) This alliance drew him 
 into a war with Spain. The Duke of Alcudia, usually st3ded 
 the Prince of Peace, seized several cities in Portugal without 
 much difficulty ; as her army was in as bad condition as her fi- 
 nances. A peace was speedily concluded at Badajos (.June 6, 
 1801.) Portugal agreed to shut her ports against English ves- 
 sels ; and ceded to Spain Olivenga, and the places situated on 
 the Guadiana. The engagement respectino" English vessels was 
 renewed by the peace of Madrid (Sept. 29,) which reconciled 
 Portugal with France. 
 
 In Spain, Charles IV. had succeeded his father Charles III. 
 (Dec. 13, 1788;) Philip, the eldest son, having been declared 
 incapable of reigning, on account of his deficiency of intellect. 
 That prince, who had no pleasure but in the chase," gave himself 
 up entirely to that amusement. He was the jest of the Queen 
 and her favourites, to whom he abandoned the cares of govern- 
 ment. In 1790 a difference which had arisen with England 
 respecting the right of property to Nootka Sound in North A^neri- 
 
180 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ca, was on the point of interrupting the repose of this indolent 
 monarch. But matters were adjusted by a convention signed 
 at the Escuriai (Oct. 28, 1790,) by which Spain renounced her 
 rights over that distant possession. The chief favourite since 
 1790, had been Don Manuel Godoy, created Duke of Alcudia ; 
 a weak minister, under whom every thing became venal, and 
 the Avhole nation corrupt. The revolutionary principles which 
 had taken root there after the expulsion of the Jesuits, as sufH- 
 cient care had not been taken to supplj^ the place of these fathers 
 with other public instructors of youth, were readily propagated 
 under so vicious an administration ; especially after the publica- 
 tion of the famous Memoir of Jovellanos (1795,) on the improve- 
 ments of agriculture and the Agrarian Law ; a work which was 
 composed by order of the Council of Castille, and written with 
 clearness and simplicity. The author, no doubt, deserved credit 
 for the purity of his sentiments ; but in his enthusiasm for the 
 objects which he recommended, he overlooked all existing laws ; 
 encouraged the spoliation of the church, the crown, and the com- 
 munity ; as well as the suppression of corporations, and condi- 
 tional legacies, or liferents ; in short, a total and radical subver- 
 sion of the institutions of the country. This work may be said 
 to have produced a revolution in Spain ; for the Cortes of Cadiz 
 did no more than carry into execution the schemes of Jovellanos. 
 
 If the Prince of Peace failed in conducting the administration 
 of the interior, he v/as not more successful in making the crown 
 of Spain respected abroad. By the peace of Basle (July 22, 
 1795,) Charles IV. renounced the Spanish part of St. Domingo. 
 By the alliance offensive and defensive of St. Idlefonso (Aug. 
 19, 1796,) Spain identified herself with the French system. 
 The war with Great Britain ruined her marine. Admiral Jer- 
 vis defeated the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent (Feb. 14, 
 1797,) commanded by Admiral Cordova. It was in this engage- 
 ment that Captain Nelson, afterwards so famous, established his 
 feme, by the courage and conduct which he displayed. Admiral 
 Hervey conquered the important island of Trinidad (Feb. 18.) 
 General Stewart without much difficulty took possession of Mi- 
 norca (Nov. 7, 1798.) The alliance of Spain with France was 
 also the reason v/hy the Emperor Paul declared war against 
 her, after his accession to the coalition (July 27,-1799.) The 
 Porte followed the example of Russia (Oct. 1, 1801.) After the 
 peace of Luneville, a reconciliation with the former power was 
 signed at Paris (October 4.) The war which Spain was obliged 
 to wage with Portugal, procured her the city of Olivenga, which 
 was ceded by the peace of Badajos (June 9.) 
 
 By the treaty signed at St. Ildefonso, Spain surrendered Lou- 
 
Death of Prince Powniatuirski in passing^ the 
 Elster. Vol. 2, p 273 
 
 Polytechnic Scholars joining the iJio.ue. 
 Vol. 2, p. 324. 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 181 
 
 isiana to Bonaparte ; and eventually the State of Parma (Octo- 
 ber 1, 1800.) She also surrendered to him five ships of the line, 
 besides a considerable sum of money which she paid him ; and 
 all this on the faith of his promising to procure the Grand Dutchy 
 of Tuscany, with the title of Royalty, to the King's son-in-law, 
 the Infant of Parma. These stipulations w^ere more clearly 
 established by the treaty v/hich Lucien Bonaparte and the Prince 
 of Peace afterwards signed at Madrid (March 21, ISOl.) The 
 peace of Amiens cost Spain no ether sacrifice than the Island of 
 Trinidad, which she was obliged to abandon to England ; en- 
 tirely on the decision of Bonaparte, who did not even ask the 
 consent of Charles IV. Spain had lost all sort of respect or 
 consideration, both from the universal and contemptible w^eak- 
 ness of her government, and because she had voluntarily placed 
 herseif under dependence to France. 
 
 From the very commencement of this period. Great Britain 
 had been preserved from the influence of the revolutionary prin- 
 ciples, which had a great many partisans in that kingdom, by 
 the firmness of her Prime Minister, William Pitt, and the splen- 
 did eloquence of Edmund Burke, a member of the House of 
 Commons. Pitt consolidated the system of finance, by extend- 
 ing the sinking fund, which he had created in 17S6. He gave 
 vigour to the government, by obtaining the suspension of the Ha- 
 heus Corpus Act ; and by means of the Alien Bill (Jan. 4, 1793,) 
 which allowed the magistrate an extensive authority in the sur- 
 veillance of foreigners. The greatest number of malcontents 
 appeared in Ireland, and these consisted chiefly of Catholics ; 
 although an act, passed in 1793, had rendered the Catholics 
 eligible to almost all official employments. That island never- 
 theless was the theatre of several conspiracies, the design of 
 which was to render it independent. Their leaders acted in 
 unison with the French, who made attempts at difl^erent times 
 to effect a landing in that country. Fifteen thousand troops, ac- 
 companied by eighteen sail of the line, embarked for that pur- 
 pose from Brest harbour in the month of December. But this 
 formidable armament had scarcely put ^.o sea, when they wert; 
 overtaken by a storm. Eight of these vessels reached the Irish 
 coast, and appeared off' Bantray Bay ; but they were forced from 
 that station by another tempest, when they returned to France 
 with the loss of two ships of the line, some frigates having nar- 
 rowly escaped falling in with two squadrons of the English 
 navy. 
 
 At length, as a remedy for this political mischief, the union of 
 Ireland with Great Britain was effected, so that both kingdoms ^ 
 should have one and the same Parliament ; and George III. as- 
 
 VOL. u. 16 
 
192 CHAPTER X. 
 
 sumecl the title of King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
 and Ireland (July 2, 1800.) 
 
 Great Britain was the moving principle of the two first coali* 
 tions against France, although she fought rather with money 
 than with troops. She succeeded in ruining the marine and 
 the commerce of both France and Spain ; and obtained the com- 
 plete command of the sea. A short time before the death of 
 Paul I., she was involved in a war with the powers of the North. 
 The resentment of that Prince against the Cabinet of London, 
 for refusing to put him in possession of Malta, which the English 
 troops had seized, was the true cause of hostilities ; although a 
 litigated question of public right was made the pretext. The 
 point at issue was, whether the convoy granted to the merchant 
 ships of neutral states by their sovereign, protected them from 
 being searched by those of the belligerent powers, or not. Den- 
 mark, with whom the discussion first arose, maintained the affir- 
 mative, and England the negative ; although it was not till the 
 end of the year 1799 that she maintained this doctrine. At 
 that time there had been some misunderstanding between Ad- 
 miral Keith, the commander of the British forces in the Medi- 
 terranean, and Captain Van Dockum, who was convoying a fleet 
 of Danish merchantmen. In the month of July following, the 
 Danish frigate La Freya, which had attempted to defend her 
 convoy against a search of the English cruisers, was taken and 
 carried into the Downs. 
 
 These acts of violence gave rise to a very warm discussion 
 between the Courts of London and Copenhagen. The former 
 having sent a fleet to the Sound, commanded by Admiral Dick- 
 son, Denmark was obliged to yield to the tempest, but in a man- 
 ner very honourable. By a convention which was signed at 
 Copenhagen (Aug. 29, ISOO,) the decision of the question was 
 remitted for further discussion. The English Government re- 
 leased the Freya, and the King of Denmark promised to suspend 
 the convoj's. 
 
 This accommodation did not meet with the approval of the 
 Emperor Paul. That prince, who entertained lofty ideas, but 
 who yielded too often to his passions, had determined to revive 
 the principles of the Armed Neutrality, according to the treaty 
 of 1780, and to compel England to acknowledge them. He in- 
 vited Denmark and Sweden, in so very peremptory a manner, to 
 join with him for this purpose, that these States could not refuse 
 their consent without coming to an open rupture with him. This 
 agreement with the courts of Copenhagen, Sweden and Berlin, 
 was finally settled by the conventions signed at St. Petersburg 
 (Dec. 16, and 18.) As Great Britain could not find a more con- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 17S9— 1815. 183 
 
 venient occasion than that of her maritime preponderance, foi 
 deciding- those questions on which she had maintained silence 
 in 17S0, war was declared ; and hostilities commenced in course 
 of a few months. A body of Danish troops occupied Hamburg 
 and Lubec. The Prussians took possession of Bremen and 
 Hanover (April 3.) An English fleet, consisting of seventeen 
 sail of the line, commanded by Admirals Sir Hyde Parker and 
 Lord Nelson, forced the passage of the Sound without sustain- 
 ing- much injury (March 30.) A squadron under Lord Nelson 
 engaged the Danish fleet before Copenhagen (April 3,) which 
 was commanded by Admiral Olfart Fischer. The action was 
 spirited on both sides, and added a new wreath to tbe fame of 
 Nelson ; and although the Danes were obliged to yield to the 
 superiority of British valour, they acquitted themselves bravely 
 and honourably. Within seven days after, an armistice was 
 concluded. 
 
 Admiral Parker continued his route by the Baltic and arrived 
 before Carlscrona (April 19,) where he was on the eve of com- 
 mencing hostilities against Sweden, w^hen he was apprised of 
 the death of the Emperor Paul. That event dissolved the League 
 of the North, and put an end to the war. By a convention 
 which the Emperor Alexander concluded at St. Petersburg 
 (June 17,) the principles of maritime law which the English had 
 professed were recognised. The other powers of the North ac- 
 ceded to this convention. The Danes evacuated Hamburg and 
 Lubec ; but Prussia continued in possession of Hanover until 
 the conclusion of the peace between France and England. 
 
 With regard to Holland, the twenty years which elapsed be- 
 tween 1795 and 1814 formed an era of calamities and disasters. 
 The Patriots, who comprehended the middle class of the Dutch 
 community, had gained the ascendancy on the entrance of the 
 French army ; one consequence of which was, the abolition of 
 the Stadtholdership. But that party became sensible of their 
 error, when they saw the ruin of their country. The indepen- 
 dence of their Republic was acknowledged by the treaty of the 
 Hague (May 16, 1795,) which, by giving it France for an ally, 
 subjected it in effect to that power; and reduced it to the con- 
 dition of a province, — the more neglected, as it was not entirely 
 united. The constitution which the Batavian Republic (the 
 title which it assumed) had adopted, vacillated between two op- 
 posite systems, the adherents of which could come to no agree- 
 ment ; — namely, that of a United and that of a Federal republic. 
 While these matters were under debate, the English, who had 
 joined the Stadtholder's party, stripped the Republic of its colo- 
 nies ; destroyed its marine, particularly in the action which Ad- 
 
184 CHAPTER X. 
 
 miral Duncan fought with De Winter near Caiiiperdown (Oct, 
 11, 1797 ;) and annihilated her commerce and her navigation 
 by blockading her coasts, — not excepting even her fisheries. 
 
 The overthrow of the ancient Helvetic Confederacy, is un- 
 doubtedly one of the high crimes with which history has to re- 
 proach the Executive Directory of France. The constitution 
 drawn up by MM. Ochs and La Harpe after the model of that 
 of France, which excluded the federative system, was published 
 by the French party (May 30, 179S,) in spite of the modifica- 
 tions which the more judicious patriots had attempted to intro- 
 duce ; and supported by the French army under General Schau- 
 enburg. To compel the smaller cantons to submit to this yoke, 
 it was necessary to have recourse to fire and sword. The 
 Grisons found means, however, to evade it by receiving an Aus- 
 trian army among them, in virtue of a convention which was 
 concluded at Coire (Oct. 17 ;) and it was not till after the unfor- 
 tunate campaign of 1799, that they were compelled to renounce 
 their independence. France appropriated to herself the Swiss 
 part of the bishopric of Basle, and the cities of Mulhouse and 
 Geneva. The terms of subjection on which the Helvetic Re- 
 public was to stand in future with France, were determined by 
 an alliance, offensive and defensive, concluded at Paris (Aug. 
 19.) Switzerland henceforth renounced that neutrality which 
 for centuries she had regarded as the pledge and safeguard of 
 her liberties. 
 
 The animosity which reigned between the Unionists and the 
 Federalists, caused several revolutions in the government of 
 that Republic. But as these intrigues were carried on, on a 
 small scale, and have left few traces behind, it is unnecessary 
 here to enter into any detail. If the Revolution in Switzerland 
 did not produce a single man remarkable for great talents, or of 
 a commanding character, the religious spirit of the country, the 
 instruction of the people, and the diffusion of knowledge, at 
 least preserved them from those crimes and excesses which 
 stained the Revolutionists in France. 
 
 At the peace of Amiens all Italy, with the exception of a part 
 of the Venetian territory which was united to Austria, had 
 yielded to the dominion of France. The King of the Two Si- 
 cilies alone had still maintained a sort of independence. In 
 no country had the revolutionary principles of the eighteenth 
 century found more abettors among the higher classes than in 
 Piedmont. The King of Sardinia was the first sovereign whose 
 throne was undermined by their influence. Scarcely had Vic- 
 lor Amadeus III., who ascended the throne in 1773, joined the 
 league against France (July 25, 1792,) when the Republicaa 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. \/1S9 1815. IS5 
 
 armies attacked, and made an easy conquest of Savoy and Nice. 
 Great Britain granted liim, by the treaty of London (April 25, 
 1793,) subsidies for carrying on the war with vigour. We 
 have related above the disasters whicl .le met with in the war 
 against France. The peace of Paris cost him the sacritice of 
 two provinces. In vain did his son Charles Emanuel IV. hope 
 to save the remainder of his estates, by becoming an r\W of the 
 French Directory at the treaty of Turin, (April 5, 1797.) His 
 political influence was lost ; they knew they could command any 
 thing from that ally. Their first request was the surrender of 
 the city of Turin, by the convention of Milan (June 28, 1798.) 
 The Directory afterwards declared war against that prince with- 
 out any grounds; and he could not obtain permission to retire 
 to Sardinia, except by sig-ning a kind of abdication (Dec, 9 ;) 
 against which he afterwards protested. Piedmont was thus 
 governed entirely according to the pleasure of France ; and 
 immediately after the peace of Amiens, it was definitively an- 
 nexed to her territories. 
 
 Austrian Lombardy (with the exception of Mantua,) the 
 dutchy of Modena, the three Legatines ceded by Pius VI., and 
 a part of the Venetian territory, formed the Cisalpine Republic, 
 which Bonaparte declared independent, by the preliminaries of 
 Leoben (June 29, 1797.) He soon after "(Oct. 22,) added to it 
 the Valteline, Chiavenna, and Bormio, which he had taken from 
 the Grisons; and at a later period (Sept. 7, ISOO,) he added a 
 part of Piedmont, viz. the Novarese, and the country beyond the 
 Sesia. Mantua was likewise annexed to this Republic at the 
 peace of Luneville. Its connexions with France had been de- 
 termined by the alliance of 1798, which were more servile than 
 those in which the Batavian Republic, and afterwards that of 
 Switzerland, were placed. In this pretended Republic, France 
 exercised an absolute power; she changed its constitution at 
 pleasure, appointed and deposed its highest functionaries as suit- 
 ed her convenience. The victories of Suwarow put an end for 
 some time to the existence of that State ; but after the battle of 
 Marengo, matters were replaced on their ancient footing. 
 
 The Republic of Genoa, distracted by innovations at home, 
 and threatened from abroad by England and France, hesitated 
 for some time as to the system v/hich they should adopt. But 
 after the French had become masters of the Bocchetla, the 
 Senate consented, by a treaty conj:luded at Paris (Oct. 9, 1796,) 
 to give them a sum o( money, and shut their ports against the 
 English. After the preliminaries of Leoben, this Repubhc ac- 
 cepted a democratic constitution from the hand of Bonaparte, 
 according to the treaty of Montebello (June 6, 1797.) It paid 
 
 VOL. n. 16^ 
 
186 CHAPTER X. 
 
 large sums of money, and was gratified by the Imperial fiefs 
 which Bonaparte added to its territory. It then took the name 
 of the Ligurian Republic (June 14.) We have already men- 
 tioned how the Grand Dake of Tuscany was unjustly deprived 
 of his estates, which Bonaparte made over by the treaty of St. 
 Ildefonso to the hereditary Prince of Parma, son-in-law to 
 Charles IV. of Spain. This young prince was proclaimed King 
 of Etruria, (Aug. 2, 1801,) and acknowledged by all the Euro- 
 pean powers ; but during his brief reign, he was more a vassal 
 of Bonaparte than an independent sovereign. 
 
 Pius VI. had protested against the spoliation of the Church, 
 which the Constituent Assembly of France had committed, by 
 the union of Avignon and the County of Venaissin to the Re- 
 public, (Nov. 3, 1791 ;) and from that time he was treated as an 
 enemy. The truce of Bologna, (June 23, 1796,) cost him twenty- 
 one millions of francs, and many of the finest specimens of art. 
 He consented that such statues and pictures as might be selected 
 by commissioners appointed for that purpose, should be conveyed 
 to the French capital. Finding it impossible to obtain an equi- 
 table peace, he set on foot an army of 4-5,000 men, which he 
 placed under the command of General Colli, a native of Austria ; 
 but Bonaparte, notwithstanding, compelled his Holiness to con- 
 clude a peace at Tolentino, (Feb. 19, 1797,) which cost him fif- 
 teen millions more, and the three Legatines of Bologna, Fer- 
 rara, and Romagna. He renounced at the same time Avignon 
 and the County of Venaissin. In consequence of a tumult 
 which took place at Rome, in which the French General Duphot 
 was killed, a French army under General Berthier, entered that 
 city (Feb. 11, 1798,) and proclaimed the Roman Republic ; which, 
 as we have noticed, enjoyed but an ephemeral existence. The 
 government was vested in five con suls^- thirty-two senators, and 
 seventy-two tribunes, called the Representatives of the people. 
 Pius VI. was carried captive to France, and died at Valence 
 (Aug. 29, 1799.) The Conclave assembled at Venice, and 
 elected Cardinal Chiaramonte in his place, (March 13, 1800,) 
 who assumed the title of Pius VIL, and within a short time 
 after made his public entry into Rome. Bonaparte, then elected 
 First Consul, allowed him to enjoy the rest of his estates in 
 peace. 
 
 Towards the end of 1792, a French fleet, commanded by Ad- 
 miral La Touche, appeared off the port of Naples, and obliged 
 the King to acknowledge that first of all sovereigns, the French 
 Republic. This did not prevent him from entering into the coa- 
 lition, (July 12, 1793,) by a treat}'' of alliance with England, 
 which was concluded at Naples. After the success of Bona- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789 — 1S15. is? 
 
 parte in Lombardy, Ferdinand IV. averted the storm \^.-hich 
 threatened him, by signing first a suspension of arms at Brescia 
 (June 5 179S,) and the peace of Paris a few months after, 
 which he obtained on honourable conditions. We have already 
 mentioned, that he was one of the first sovereigns who entered 
 into the second coalition against France ; and that the precip- 
 itancy w^th which he then commenced hostilities, proved pre- 
 judicial to the success of the war, as well as disastrous to him- 
 self. He did not regain possession of the kingdom of Naples 
 till after the retreat of Macdonald in 1799 ; and he purchased 
 peace (March 28, 1800) at the expense of receiving into his 
 Liiigdom 16,000 French troops, who remained there until the 
 conclusion of the treaty between Alexander and Bonaparte. 
 
 The combined fleets of Turkey and Russia had subdued the 
 islands that formerly belonged to the Venetians, viz. Corfu, 
 Zante, Cephalonia, St. Maura, Ithaca, Paxo, and Cerigo. Ac- 
 cording to a convention concluded at Constantinople between 
 Kussia and the Porte (March 21, ISOO.) these islands were to 
 form an independent State, although subject to the Ottoman Em- 
 pire, under the name of the Republic of the Seven Islands 
 This Republic, was acknowledged in subsequent treaties by 
 France and Great Britain. 
 
 By the peace of Basle, Germany had been divided into two 
 parts ; the North, at the head of which was Prussia ; and the 
 South, where Austria had the predominancy, in consequence ot 
 her armies, and by the favour of the ecclesiastical Princes ; for 
 the secular States abandoned her as often as they could do so with 
 impunity. By a convention which Prussia concluded at Basle 
 with France (May 17, 179-5,) the neutralit}^ of the North of 
 Germany was recognised, on conditions which the Princes situ- 
 ated beyond the line of demarcation were anxious to fulfil. 
 Prussia afterwards concluded arrangements with these States 
 for establishing an army of observation. This defection created 
 no small animosity between the Courts of Berlin and Vienna, 
 which the French dexterously turned to their own advantage ; 
 especially during the sitting of the Congress at Rastadt. In 
 vain did the Emperor Paul, Avho had determined to make war 
 against the Republic, attempt to restore harmony between these 
 two leading States. He was equally unsuccessful in his pro- 
 ject of drawing Prussia into the coalilion. Although Frederic 
 II. had been ^deceived by France, who, after having promised 
 him, in a secret convention concluded at Berlin (August 5, 
 1796,) a compensation proportioned to the loss which he had 
 sustained by ceding the left bank of the Rhine, entered into en- 
 gagements directly opposite, by the secret articles in the treaty 
 
188 CHAPTER X. 
 
 of Campo Formio. Nevertheless Frederic William III., who 
 succeeded his father (Nov. 16, 1797,) remained faithful to a 
 neutrality which the state of the Prussian finances appeared to 
 render necessary. 
 
 The revolutionary doctrines which were transplanted into 
 Germany by the French emissaries, had fallen on a soil well 
 prepared, and in which they speedily struck root. By the peace 
 of Luneville, all the provinces situated on the left bank of the 
 Rhine, were incorporated with France ; and the moment was 
 approaching- which was to witness the downfall of the German 
 Empire. While the French nation, seized with a strange ma- 
 nia, were overturning law and order from their very founda- 
 tions, and abandoning themselves to excesses which appear 
 almost incredible in a civilized country, in the North another 
 nation, sunk into anarchy and oppressed by their neighbours, 
 were making a noble effort to restore the authority of the laws, 
 and to extricate themselves from the bondage of a foreign yoke. 
 
 The Poles had flattered themselves, that while the forces of 
 Kussia were occupied against the Swedes and the Turks, as we 
 have already mentioned, they would be left at liberty to alter 
 their constitution, and give a new vigour to the government of 
 their Republic. An extraordinary Diet was assembled at War- 
 saw (17SS,) which formed itself into a Confederation, in order 
 to avoid the inconveniences of the Liherum Veto, and of the 
 unanimity required in ordinary diets. The Empress of Russia 
 having made some attempts at that Diet to engage the Poles to 
 enter into an alliance against the Porte, she was thwarted in hor 
 intentions by the King of Prussia, who, in consequence of his 
 engagements with England, used every effort to instigate the 
 Poles against Russia. He encouraged them, by offering them 
 his alliance, to attempt a reform in their government, which 
 Russia had recently guaranteed. A Committee of Legisla- 
 tion, appointed by the Diet was commissioned to draw up the 
 plan of a constitution, which would give new energy to the Re- 
 public. 
 
 This resolution of the Diet could not but displease the Em- 
 press of Russia, who remonstrated against it as a direct infrac- 
 tion of the articles agreed between her and the Republic in 
 1775. The Poles, who thus foresaw that the changes which 
 they had in view would embroil them with that princess, ought 
 to have considered, in the first place, hoAV to put themselves into 
 a good state of defence. But instead of providing for the melio- 
 ration of their finances, and putting the army of the Republic on 
 a respectable footing, the Diet spent a considerable time in dis- 
 cussing the new pJan of the constitution which had been submit 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789— 1S15. 189 
 
 ted to them. The assurance of protection from Prussia, which 
 had been officially ratified to them, rendered the Poles too con- 
 fident ; and the treaty of alliance which the King of Prussia had 
 in effect concluded with the Republic (March 29, 1790,) began 
 to lull them into a profound security. Stanislaus Augustus, 
 after having long hesitated as to the party he ought to espouse, 
 at length voluntarily joined that party in the Diet who wished 
 to extricate Poland from that state of degradation into which she 
 had fallen. The new constitution was accordingly decreed by 
 acclamation (May 3, 1791.) 
 
 However imperfect that constitution might appear, it was in 
 unison with the state of civilization to which Poland had arriv 
 ed. It corrected several of the errors and defects of former ]av/s ; 
 and though truly republican, it was free from those extravagant 
 notions which the French Revolution had brought into fashion. 
 The throne was rendered hereditary in favour of the Electoral 
 House of Saxony ; they abolished the law of unanimity, and the 
 absurdity of the Liherum Veto ; the Diet was declared perma- 
 nent, and the Legislative body divided into two Chambers. One 
 of these Chambers, composed of Deputies whose functions were 
 to continue for two years, was charged with discussing and 
 framing the laws ; and the other, consisting of a Senate in which 
 the King presided, were to sanction them, and to exercise the 
 Veto ; the executive power was intrusted to the King, and a 
 Council of Superintendence consisting of seven members or re- 
 sponsible ministers. The inhabitants of the towns were allow- 
 ed the privilege of electing their own Deputies and Judges, and 
 the burgesses had the way laid open to them for attaining the 
 honours of nobility. The latter were maintained in all the 
 plenitude of their rights and prerogatives ; the peasantry, who 
 had been in a state of servitude, were placed under the imme- 
 diate protection of the laws and the government ; the constitu- 
 tion sanctioned before-hand the compacts which the landed pro- 
 prietors might enter into with their tenantry for meliorating 
 their condition. 
 
 The efforts which the Poles had made to secure their inde- 
 pendence, excited the resentment of Russia. The Empress had 
 no sooner made peace with the Porte, than she engaged her par- 
 tisans in Poland to form a confederacy for. the purpose of over- 
 turning the innovations of the Diet at Warsaw, and restoring 
 the ancient constitution of the Republic. This confederation, 
 which was signed at Targowica (May 14, 1792,)was headed by 
 the Counts Felix Potochi, Rzewuski, and Branicki. In support 
 of this confederacy, the Empress sent an army into Poland, to 
 wage war against the partisans of the new^ order of things. The 
 
190 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Poles had never till then thought seriously oi adoptn"ig' vigorous 
 measures. The Diet decreed, that an army of the line should 
 immediately take the field ; and that a levy should be made of 
 several corps of light troops. A loan of thirty-three millions of 
 florins passed without the least opposition ; but the Prussian 
 minister having been called upon to give some explanation as to 
 the subsidies which the King his master had promised to the 
 Republic by the treaty of alliance of 1790, he made an evasive 
 answer, which discouraged the whole patriotic party. 
 
 The refusal of the Polish Diet to accede to a mercantile 
 scheme, by which Dantzic and Thorn were to be abandoned to 
 the King of Prussia, had disaffected that monarch towards Po- 
 land. It was not difficult, therefore, for the Empress of Russia 
 to obtain his consent to a dismemberment of that kingdom. 
 The aversion which the sovereigns of Europe entertained for 
 every thing that resembled the French Revolution, with which, 
 however, the events of Poland where the King and the nation 
 were acting in concert had nothing in common except appear- 
 ances, had a powerful effect upon the Court of Berlin ; and 
 proved the cause of their breaking those engagements which 
 they had contracted with that Republic. It was then that the 
 Poles fully comprehended the danger of their situation. Their 
 first ardour cooled, and the whole Diet were thrown into a state 
 of the utmost consternation. 
 
 Abandoned to her own resources, and convulsed by intestine 
 divisions, Poland then saw her utter inability to oppose an ene- 
 my so powerful as the Russians. The campaign of 1792 turned 
 out entirely to the disadvantage of the Patriotic party. After 
 a successful career, the Russians advanced on Warsaw ; when 
 Stanislaus, who was easily intimidated, acceded to the confede- 
 racy of Targowica, by renouncing the constitution of the 3d May, 
 and the acts of the revolutionary Diet of Warsaw. That prince 
 even subscribed (Aug, 25, 1792) to all the conditions which the 
 Empress thought proper to dictate to him. A suspension of 
 arms was agreed to, which stipulated for the reduction of the 
 Polish army. In consequence of the arrangements entered into 
 Detween Russia and Prussia, by the convention of St. Peters- 
 burg (Jan. 23, 1793,) the Prussian troops entered Poland, and 
 spread over the country after the example of the Russians. 
 Proclamations were issued by the Courts of Berlin and St. Pe- 
 tersburg, by which they declared the districts of Poland which 
 their troops had occupied, incorporated with their own domin- 
 ions. The adoption of the constitution of 1791, and the propa- 
 gation of the democratic principles of the French, were the 
 causes ol trns new dismemberment of Poland. 
 
prR:<i.^ IX. A. D. 1789— ISlo. 191 
 
 Prussia took possession of the larger part of Great Poland, in- 
 cluding the cities of l>antzic and Thorn ; the town of Czensto- 
 chowa in Little Poland was also adjudged to her, with its fron- 
 tier extending to the rivers Pilica, Sterniewka, Jezowka, and 
 Bzura. The left bank of these rivers was assigned to Prussia, 
 and the right reserved to Poland. The portion awarded to the 
 former, contained one thousand and sixty-one German square 
 miles, and one million two hundred thousand inhabitants. Rus- 
 sia got nearly the half of Lithuania, including the Palatinates of 
 Podolia, Polotsk, and Minsk, a part of the Palatinate of Wilna, 
 with the half of Novogrodek, Brzesc, and Volh}' nia ; in all, four 
 thousand five hundred and fifty-three German square miles and 
 containing three millions of inhabitants. 
 
 The Poles were obliged to yield up, by treaties, those pro- 
 vinces which the two powers had seized. The treaty between 
 Poland and Russia was signed at the Diet of Grodno (July 13, 
 1793.) But that with the King of Prussia met with the most 
 decided opposition ; and it was necessary to use threats of com- 
 pulsion before it w^as consummated. On this occasion, these 
 SViQ powers rencvnced anew the rights and pretensions which 
 *hey might stiK h;ive against the Republic under any denomina- 
 tion whatsoever. They agreed to acknovvdedge, and if it should 
 t)e required, also to guarantee the constitution which should be 
 "established by ^he Diet with the free consent of the Polish nation. 
 
 After these treaties, came a treaty of alliance and union be- 
 tween Russia and Poland (October 16, 1793,) the third article 
 of which guaranteed their mutual assistance in case of attack; 
 the direction of the war was reserved to Russia, as well as the 
 privilege of 5 ending her troops into Poland, and forming maga- 
 zines there, -vhen she might judge it necessary ; while Poland 
 agreed to cr ter into no connexion with foreign pov/ers, and to 
 make no c^ inge in her constitution, except with the approbation 
 of Russia The portion that was left to the Republic, either 
 in Poland or Lithuania, contained three thousand eight hundred 
 and thrrf square miles, with somewhat more than three mil- 
 lions cf inhabitants. This State was divided into eighteen 
 palat.ir.^i'Les, ten of which were in Poland, and eight in Lithua- 
 nia. To each of these palatinates Avere assigned two senators, 
 1 palatine, a castellain, and six deputies to sit in the Diet. 
 
 These diflferent treaties, and the grievances of which the 
 Poles had just cause to complain, threw the public mind into a 
 state of agitation, which in the following year broke out into a 
 general insurrection. A secret association was formed at War- 
 saw ; it found numerous partisans in the army, which was to 
 nave been disbanded according to the aiTangements with Rus- 
 
192 CHAPTER X. 
 
 sia. The conspirators chose Thaddeus Kosciuszko for theii 
 chief, in this projected insurrection against Russia. That gen- 
 eral had distinguished himself in the American war under 
 Washington ; he had very recently signalized his bravery in the 
 campaign of 1792 ; and after the unfortunate issue of that war, 
 he had retired into Saxony with a few other patriots, who were 
 ready to exert their energy in the cause of freedom. The in- 
 surgents reckoned with confidence on the assistance of Austria, 
 who had taken no part in the last dismemberment of Poland , 
 they flattered themselves that Turkey and Sweden would not 
 remain mere spectators of the efforts w^hich they were making 
 to regain their liberty and their independence. 
 
 Kosciuszko had washed that they should postpone the execu- 
 tion of their plan, in order to gain more time for preparation ; 
 especially as a suspicion was excited among the Russians. He 
 even retired into Italy, where he remained until one of his ac- 
 complices, who had been ordered, as a propagator of sedition, to 
 banish himself from the Polish territories, informed him that 
 his countrymen wished him to appear among them without de- 
 lay, as a better opportunity might not soon arise. Madalinski, 
 who commanded a brigade of cavalry under the new govern- 
 ment, when summoned to disband them, refused ; and throwing 
 olT the mask, gave the signal for insurrection. He suddenly 
 quitted his station, crossed the Vistula, and after having dis- 
 persed some detachments of Prussians, whom he encountered 
 in his route, he marched directly to Cracow, Avhere he erected 
 the standard of revolt. The inhabitants took arms, expelled 
 the Russian troops wdio were quartered in that city, and pro- 
 claimed Kosciuszko their General. A sort of dictatorship was 
 conferred upon him (March 24, 1794,) which was to continue so 
 long as their country was in danger. He took an oath of fidel- 
 ity to the nation, and of adherence to the principles stated in 
 the act of insurrection, by which war was declared against the 
 invaders of their rights and liberties. 
 
 The Russians and Prussians immediately despatched their 
 troops to arrest the progress of the insurrection. The defeat of 
 a body of Russians near Raslavice, by Kosciuszko, inspired the 
 insurgents with new courage. The inhabitants of Warsaw 
 rose in like manner against the Russians, who had a garrison 
 there of 10,000 men, under the command of General Igelstrom. 
 It was on the night of the 17th April that the tocsin of revolt 
 was sounded in the capital ; the insurgents seizeft the arsenal, 
 and distributed arms and ammunition among the people. A 
 brisk cannonade took place between the Russians and the Poles. 
 The combat continued for two successive days, in which several 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1816. 193 
 
 thousands of the Russians perished, while 4500 were made pri- 
 soners. Igelslroin escaped from the city with about 3000 men. 
 The same insurrection broke out at AVilna, from whence it ex- 
 tended ever all Lithuania. Several Polish regiments who had 
 entered into the service of Russia, changed sides, and enlisted 
 under the banners of the insurgents. 
 
 In spite of their first success, it was soon perceived that 
 Poland was deficient in the necessary resources for an enter- 
 prise of such a nature as that in which they were engaged. 
 The great body of the citizens were neither sufficiently numer- 
 ous nor sufficiently wealthy, to serve as a centre for the revolu- 
 tion which they had undertaken; and the servitude in which 
 the peasantry were kept, was but ill calculated to inspire them 
 with enthusiasm for a cause in which their masters only were 
 to be the gainers. Besides, the patriots were divided in opin- 
 ion ; and the King, although he appeared to approve their ef- 
 forts, inspired so much mistrust by his weakness and timidity, 
 that he was even accused of secretly abetting the interests of 
 Russia. Lastly, the nobles who alone ought to have shown 
 courage and energy, were found but little disposed to give any 
 effectual support to the cause of liberty. Every contribution 
 appeared to them an encroachment on their prerogatives ; and 
 they were as much averse to a levy e?i masse as to the raising 
 of recruits, which deprived them of their tenantry. They were, 
 moreover, afraid of losing those rights and privileges which they 
 exclusively enjoyed. 
 
 Under these considerations, Kosciuszko was convinced that it 
 was impossible for him to organize an armed force equal to that 
 of the Russians and the Prussians, who were acting in concert 
 to defeat the measures of the insurgents. After some inferior 
 operations, an important engagement took place on the confines 
 of the Palatinates of Siradia and Cujavia (June 8, ]794,) where 
 he sustained a defeat ; in consequence of which the King of 
 Prussia made himself master of Cracow. That prince, supported 
 by a body of Russian troops, undertook, in person, the siege of 
 Warsaw. The main forces of the insurgents were assembled 
 under the walls of that city. They amounted to about 22,000 
 combatants, while the enemy had more than 50,000. The siege 
 of Warsaw continued nearly two months, when a general msur 
 rection, which had spread from Great Poland into Western Prus 
 sia, obliged the King to retire, that he might arrest the progress 
 of the insurrection in his own dominions. 
 
 The joy of the insurgents, on account of this incident, was 
 but of short duration. The Court of Vienna, which till then 
 had maintained a strict neutrality, resolved also to despatch an 
 
 VOL. n 17 
 
194 CHAPTER X. 
 
 army into Poland. This army was divided into two columns, 
 one of which marched on Brzesci, and the other on Dowbno. 
 On the other hand, the Russians under the command of Suw-a- 
 row, advanced into Lithuania, and pursued a body of the msur- 
 gents, who were commanded by Sirakowski. Kosciuszko. who 
 now saw the great superiority of the enemy, made a last effort 
 to prevent the junction of the army of Suwarow with that of 
 Baron de Fersen, the Russian General. Directing his march 
 towards the latter, he fought a bloody battle with him near 
 Matchevjtz (Oct. 10, 1794.) The action continued from sunrise- 
 till beyond mid-day. Six thousand of the Polish army perished 
 on the field, and the rest were made prisoners. Kosciuszko was 
 himself dangerously wounded, and fell into the hands of the 
 conqueror. He had endeavoured to escape by the swiftness of 
 his horse, but was overtaken b}' some of the Cossacs ; one of 
 v/hom, without knowing him, run him through the back with 
 his lance. Falling senseless from his horse, he was carried to 
 a monastery ; when it was intimated, by one of his officers, that 
 he was the Commander-in-cbief. Surgical aid was immediately 
 administered to him, and he was soon after conveyed to St. 
 Petersburg. 
 
 This di.^aster quite dejected the courage of the Poles. Their 
 Generals, Dombrowski and Madalinski, who were carrjdng on 
 the war in Prussia and Great Poland, abandoned these provinces, 
 and marched with their troops to the relief of Warsaw. Suwa- 
 row likewise directed his march towards that capital, and was 
 there joined by a considerable body of Prussians, under Dorfel- 
 den and Fersen, in conjunction with whom he commenced the 
 blockade of that city (Nov. 4.) The Russians, who amounted 
 to 22,000 men, prepared for an attack of the entrenchments of 
 Praga, one of the suburbs of Warsaw. The Poles, who had a 
 body of between eight and ten thousand men, made a courage- 
 ous defence ; but nothing could withstand the ardour and im- 
 petuosity of the Russians, who were burning with rage to avenge 
 the blood of their countrymen who were massacred at Warsaw. 
 
 Three batteries had been erected in the night ; and the two 
 first divisions, though harassed by a vigorous fire in every direc- 
 tion except the rear, bravely surmounted every obstacle. In the 
 apace of four hours, they carried the triple entrenchment of Pra- 
 ga by main force. Rushing into the place, they pursued their 
 adversaries through the streets, put the greater part of them to 
 the sword, and drove one thousand into the Vistula. In this 
 scene of action, a regiment of Jews made an obstinate defence, 
 and at length were totally extirpated. Thirteen thousand of the 
 Poles, it IS said, were left deg-d on the spot ; two thousand were 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789 — .815, 195 
 
 drowned in the Vistula, and between fourteen and fifteen thou 
 sand were made prisoners. Tiie suburb of Praga was pillaged 
 and razed to the foundation. Terror seized the inhabitants of 
 Warsaw, and they determined to capitulate. Suwarow made 
 his triumphant entry into that capital, and was prp?ented with 
 the keys of the city (Nov. 9.) The Polish trorps laid down 
 their arms ; the insurrection was quelled; and the greater part 
 of those who had distinguished themselves in it, were ari'csted 
 by the Russians. The King of Poland retired to Grodno ; and 
 the final dismemberment of that country was agreed upon by the 
 three allied powers. 
 
 The Court of Berlin having signified their intention of retain- 
 ing Cracow and the neighbouring country, of which their troops 
 had just taken possession, Austria, who was also desirous of pro- 
 curing that part of Poland, took advantage of the discontent 
 which the conduct of Prussia during the campaign of 1794, and 
 her retreat from the ensuing coalition, had excited in the Em- 
 press of Russia, and entered intq^ a separate negotiation with the 
 Court of St. Petersburg. They arranged privately between 
 themselves, as to the shares which were to fall to each. An act, 
 in form of a declaration, Vv^as signed at St. Petersburg, between 
 these two courts (Jan. 3, 1795,) purporting, that the Cabinet of 
 Berlin should be invited to accede to the stipulations therein 
 contained; in consideration of the offer which the two courts 
 made to acquiesce in the reunion of the remainder of Poland 
 with the Prussian monarchy, and the engagement which they 
 entered into to guarantee that acquisition. 
 
 A negotiation was afterwards set on foot with the Court of 
 Berlin, which was protracted to a great length ; as that Court, 
 who were ignorant of the engagement which Catherine had come 
 under to secure Cracow to Austria, had always entertained the 
 hope of being able to retain it themselves. It was only when 
 the act of the 3d January was communicated to them, that th&y 
 agreed to a special convention with the Court of Vienna, which 
 was signed at St. Petersburg (Oct. 24, 1795.) The city of Cra 
 cow was abandoned to Austria, who, on her side, resigned in 
 favour of the King of Prussia a portion of the territory which the 
 declaration of the 3d January preceding had secured to her. It 
 was settled, that the limits of the Palatinate of Cracow should 
 be regulated between these two powers, under the mediation of 
 the Court of St. Petersburg. Stanislaus had then no other al- 
 ternative left, than to resign his crown into the hands of the Em- 
 press of Russia. The act of his abdication was dated at Grodno 
 (Nov. 25, 1795.) 
 
 It was by these difilieut conventions, that Russia obtained all 
 
196 CHAPTER X. 
 
 that remained of Poland and Lithuania, as far as the Niemen 
 and the confines of Brzesci and Novogrodek. She likewise 
 obtained the greater part of Samogitia, with the whole of Cour- 
 land and Semigallia. She had besides, in Little Poland, that 
 part of the territory of Chelm situated on the right bank of the 
 Bug, and the remainder of Volhynia; in all, containing about 
 two" thousand square miles, with one million two hundred 
 thousand inhabitants. 
 
 To Austria were assigned, in addition to the principal part of 
 Cracow, the whole Palatinates of Sendomir and Lublin, with 
 part of the district of Chehn, and the Palatinates of Brzesci, 
 Podolachia, and Masovia, which lay on the left bank of the Bug ; 
 comprising in all, about eight hundred and thirty-four thousand 
 German square miles, with about one million of inhabitants. 
 
 To Prussia, was assigned part of the Palatinates of Masovia 
 and Podolachia, lying on the right bank of the Bug ; in Lithu- 
 ania, she had part of the Palatinate of Troki and of Samogitia 
 which lies on this side of the Niemen, as well as the small dis- 
 trict in Little Poland, making part of the Palatinate of Cracow; 
 the whole consisting of about one thousand German square 
 miles, with a population of one million. Finally, by a subse- 
 quent convention which was concluded at St. Petersburg (Jan. 
 26, 1797,) the three co-participant Courts arranged among them- 
 selves as to the manner of discharging the debts of the Ki-ng 
 and the Republic of Poland. They agreed by this same con- 
 vention to allow the dethroned monarch an annuity of 200,000 
 ducats. 
 
 At the commencem.ent of this period, it was not yet perceived 
 of what importance it was for Russia to get possession of the 
 Crimea ; and it was not until the agriculture and industry of 
 that country had begun to prosper under a wise administration, 
 that they began to apprehend it might one day have a powerful 
 influence on the balance of trade. The Empress Catherine, 
 who had been flattered in her youth by the eulogies of the phi- 
 losophers, so as to become a disciple of their new doctrines, 
 was the first to perceive this danger. She then declared her- 
 self a most implacable enemy to the French Revolution, and 
 would gladly have armed all Europe to exterminate the Repub- 
 lic. Nevertheless, she did not take up arms herself, and only 
 joined the first coalition in an indirect manner, and by conclud- 
 ing treaties purely defensive, such as that of Drontningholm 
 wiUi Sweden (Oct. 19, 1791,) and that of St. Petersburg with 
 the King of Hungary and Bohemia (July 12, 1782,) and that 
 which was concluded (Aug. 7,) in the same city with Prussia. 
 Nevertheless, when Frederic had retired from the list, she re- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789— 1815. 197 
 
 solved to send into the field the sixty thousand men which Eng- 
 land was to take into pay. The treaty was on the eve of being 
 signed, when the Empress was suddenly cut ofTbj^ death 
 (Nov. 17, 1796.) 
 
 Paul, her successor, refused to sanction that treaty. We have 
 already noticed the active hand which that monarch took in the 
 war of 1799 against France ; and we have already mentioned 
 liie unsuccessful attempt which he made to revive the principles 
 of the armed neutrality. This Emperor, who wanted stead- 
 iness and consistency, published at hi« coronation (April 5, 1797,) 
 a fundamental law regarding the order of succession to the 
 throne. This law, intended to prevent those revolutions v/hich 
 the unsettled state of the throne had produced in Russia, es- 
 tablished a mixed lineal succession, agreeably to the order of 
 primogeniture ; admitting females only in case of the total 
 extinction of the male descendants of the male line of Paul ; 
 and defining with the most scrupulous exactness, the order in 
 which females and their descendants should succeed to the 
 throne. But being weak and narrow-minded, and incapable of 
 discharging his imperial functions, he entailed upon himself the 
 hatred of both the nobility and the people. He met with a 
 violent death, having been mxUrdered by a party of daring con- 
 spirators (March 24, 1801.) 
 
 Alexander, who succeeded his unfortunate father, lost no time 
 in restoring peace to his dominions, by entering into an arrange- ' 
 ment with Great Britain (June 17,) by which he abandoned the 
 principles of free trade for neutral vessels ; admitting that even 
 a convoy should not protect these from being subjected to a 
 search or visitation, when ordered by the Captain of a vessel 
 belonging to the public navy of a belligerent state. He like- 
 wise concluded peace with France and Spain (Oct. 4, 8.) 
 
 Sweden had extricated herself without loss from the war 
 which Gustavus III. had imprudently commenced. That 
 Prince had succeeded in extending the royal prerogative, and 
 making the Diet adopt the fundamental act of union and secu- 
 rity (March 29, 1792,) vesting in himself the right of making 
 war and peace, which according to the former order of things, 
 he could only exercise with the concurrence of the States. Be- 
 ing endowed with an ardent and heroic character, he had pro- 
 posed to march at the head of the armies vvhich Louis XVI. 
 had set on foot ; but he fell the victim of a conspiracy formed 
 by the discontented nobles, leaving his son a minor. 
 
 The Regency of the Duke of Sudermania, during the minor- 
 ity of Gustavus IV., was infested by jealousies and intrigues ; 
 while the finances, which were under bad management, fell 
 
 VOL. n. 17 =^ 
 
19S CHAPTER XI. 
 
 graiJuall}" into a state of disorder. The policy of the Regent 
 was decidedly for the maintenance of peace. The young King 
 himself assumed the reins of government (November 1, 1796.^ 
 Although he had e itered into the league of the North, formed 
 by Paul I., for the maintenance of the maritime rights of neu- 
 tral States, he acceded shortly after to the opposite system, to 
 which Alexander I. had declared himself favourable. 
 
 Christian VII. had reigned in Denmark since 1766 ; but for 
 the last twenty years, the Prince Royal and Count Bernstorff 
 bad been at the head of his councils. Under their administra- 
 tion, the kingdom flourished in profound peace which had not 
 for an instant been interrupted, except in 1800, by the vexatious 
 treatment which the Danish ships had met with on the part of 
 England. Denmark was the first of the European powers that 
 abolished the African slave trade (May 16, 1796.) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PERIOD IX. 
 
 The Military Preponderance of France under the sioay of Na 
 poleon Bonaparte, a. d. 1802 — 1810. 
 
 In the period on which we are now entering, and which com- 
 prehends eight years, we shall find Napoleon Bonaparte devot- 
 ing his unremitting efforts to a threefold project, the object of 
 which was to secure for himself the empire of the world. The 
 first of these was to render the monarchical government heredi- 
 tary in his family, preparatory to the introduction of a universal 
 dominion ; the next was to extend the boundaries of France ; 
 and the last to surround that country, not with a multitude of 
 Republics as the Directory had done, but with a number of 
 petty monarchies, the existence of which should be so am.alga- 
 mated with his own dynasty, that they must stand or fall with 
 it. We shall find him keeping these projects incessantly in 
 view, so that every step which he took towards the accomplish- 
 ment of the one, was calculated at the same time to advance the 
 other two. 
 
 Before the end of the year 1801, a council, composed of 450 
 deputies of the Cisalpine Republic, was assembled at Lyons, in 
 order to deliberate as to the changes to be made in the constitu- 
 tion, which was assimilated more and more to the monarchical 
 form. In the mean time, the Presidency of the Republic was 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 199 
 
 conferred on Bonaparte (Januar}^ 26, 1802,) under the title i)f 
 the Italian Republic. 
 
 INotwiihstanding the easy triumph which the constitution ot 
 the 3^ear Eight had gained, by dissolving the Legislative Body 
 of France, dissension was not long in breaking out among its 
 members-; and an opposition was formed which, condemned to 
 silence, had no other means of manifesting itself, than by secret- 
 ly thwarting the views of the government. There was, however, 
 another opposition which appeared among the members of the 
 tribunate, and which greatl}^ irritated Bonaparte, by openl;/ at- 
 tacking his projects of legislation. The period had now arrived, 
 wnen one-fifth part of the members of these two bodies were to 
 retire. But the new convention, in settling this partial altera- 
 tion, were divided as to the mode of proceeding; or rather it 
 was the general opinion, that ihe ex-members should be deter- 
 mined by lot. This temporary vacancy furnished Bonaparte 
 v/ith a pretext for getting rid of all those whose presence had 
 laid him under any sort of restraint. A decree of the Conser- 
 vative Senate, of the 22d Ventose, in the year Ten (March 13, 
 1802,) turned out twenty of the tribunes, and sixty of the le- 
 gislators ; and supplied their places with memibers taken from 
 the lists formed by the Electoral Colleges of the Departments. 
 Having thus discovered what advantages might accrue to him 
 from an institution which Sieyes had contrived for balancing 
 the authority of the government, from that moment he convert- 
 ed the Senate into an instrument for sanctioning his own mea- 
 sures. 
 
 A notification from the French ambassador in Switzerland 
 announced that the Valais j^hould henceforth form an Independ- 
 ent Republic (April 3.) The inhabitants had not requested this 
 favour; it was granted to them because Bonaparte wished to 
 get possession of the Simplon, preparatory to the union of that 
 country with France. The second decree of the New Consti- 
 tution of the 6th Floreal (April 26,) granted a general am.nesty 
 to all emigrants who should return within the space of three 
 months, and take the oath of allegiance. All their property that 
 rem.ained unsold was restored to them., except the forests. About 
 a thousand individuals were excepted from this act of justice, 
 which strengthened the authority of Bonaparte by conciliating 
 the public opinion in his favour. 
 
 Immediately after this, Bonaparte submitted to the Tribunate 
 and the Legislative Body a plan for the institution of a Legion 
 of Honour (May 10.) This Legion was to be composed of fif- 
 teen cohorts of Dignitaries for life. The First Consul was the 
 Chief of the Legion ; each cohort was to be composed of seven 
 
200 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Ovan J Oificers, twenty Commandants, thirty Officers, and three 
 hunired Legionaries. The object of Bonaparte evidently was 
 10 estabh"sli a new aristocracy. But the minds of the Council 
 were ^o little prepared for this proposition, and so contrary was 
 il 10 the republican ideas with which they were still imbued, thai 
 it passed but by a ver}^ small majority, and the First Consul 
 liiOLio-lit proper to delay carrying it into execut]on. 
 
 For some time the First Consul had been in negotiation with 
 Pope Pius VII. on the affairs of religion. He had adjusted a 
 Concordat with his Holiness, subjecting public worship to the 
 superintendence of ten prelates of the highest rank, and fifty 
 bishops. This famous Concordat was signed at Paris (July 15,'! 
 and ratified at Rome (Aug. 15,) 1801. It was afterwards sub- 
 mitted for the acceptance of the French nation, and adopted by 
 a very great majority. The Sabbath and the four grand festi- 
 vals were restored ; and from this date the government ceased 
 to follow the decennary system. This was the first abandon- 
 ment of the Republican calendar. Bonaparte hoped to attach 
 to himself the sacerdotal party, the order most disposed for pas- 
 sive obedience ; and in this manner to balance the clergy against 
 the Royalists, and the Pope against the interests of the Coali- 
 tion. The Concordat was ratified with great pomp in the church 
 of Notre Dame by the Senate, the Legislative Body, the Tri- 
 bune, and the public functionaries. The First Consul appeared 
 in the ancient court carriage, with all the circumstances and eti- 
 quette of royalty. 
 
 Another law of the Constitution of the 30th of Floreal (May 
 20,) sanctioned the Slave Trade in the colonies restored to 
 France by the treaty of Amiens, and in the French colonies sit- 
 uated beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By this law, however, 
 slavery was not restored in St. Domingo. That colony was un- 
 der the dominion of the Negroes, who, after having massacred 
 the Whites, and committed barbarities which surpass even those 
 of the French Revolution, had succeeded in establishing their 
 independence. After the preliminaries signed at London, Bo- 
 naparte had sent an expedition to that Island, having on board 
 40,000 men, commanded by his brother-in-law General Le Clerc. 
 On their arrival at St. Domingo, the French took possession of 
 the town of Cape Francois, which was the seat of government, 
 as well as of several other places. Toussaint L'Ouverture, ori- 
 ginally a slave, and raised to be the Chief of the Blacks, sub- 
 mitted to the French : but General Le Clerc, having afterwards 
 arrested him, had him conveyed to France where he died. This 
 circumstance excited the Blacks to a new revolt under the com- 
 mand of Christophe, the relative and friend of Toussaint ; and 
 
°ERIOD IX. A. D. 1S02— ISIO. 201 
 
 after a bloody war, France lost this valuable colony, togethei 
 with a numerous army and many commercial advantages. 
 
 After the conclusion of the peace of Amiens, the Tribunate, 
 purged of its Republican members, signified a wish that some 
 pledge of national gratitude should be offered to General Bona- 
 parte. The Conservative Senate then nominated him First 
 Consul for ten years. When this decree of the Senate was an- 
 nounced to him, he could not conceal his chagrin ; and that he 
 might not be compelled to accept a favour which he disdained, 
 he demanded that the decision of the Senate should be submitted 
 for the sanction of the people. The two other Consuls Vv'ere re- 
 solved to consult the nation (and this was the only occasion in 
 which they ever acted on their own authorit}^) not as to the de- 
 cree of the Senate, but on the question whether Bonaparte 
 should be elected Consul for life. Out of 3,577,379, of which 
 the primary Assembly was composed, 3,568,885 voted in the 
 affirmative, and only 8,494 in the negative. Agreeable to this 
 expression of the public voice, the Senate proclaimed Bonaparte 
 First Consul for life (August 2, 1SC2.) 
 
 Two days after, the third decree of the Senate of the 16tb 
 Thermidor, brought the government still nearer the monarchical 
 form, by granting to the First Consul great influence over th*^ 
 Electoral Assemblies, with the power of ratifying treaties, grant 
 ing pardons, nominating senators without presentation, appoint 
 ing the Presidents of the Electoral Assemblies, adding to th^'* 
 number of their members, and even proclaiming his own sue 
 cessor. The Tribunate, which still appeared somew^hat formi 
 dable, was reduced to fifty members. 
 
 Such, in the space of two years, was the progress of arbitrary 
 power. In the course of 1802, the union of three difTerent 
 countries to France was either accomplished, or in a state of 
 preparation. The first was that of the Island of Elba, of which 
 the Kings of Naples and Sardinia had resigned their rights ; 
 the second was that of Piedmont, which France had occupied 
 since 9th December 1798 ; and lastly, on the death of Ferdinand, 
 Duke of Parma, his estates were taken possession of by France, 
 as having devolved to her in virtue of the treat}- of Madrid (Mar. 
 21, 1801,) although they w^ere not annexed to that country till 
 1808. These acquisitions w^ere made, on the political principle 
 avowed by Bonaparte, which allowed every thing lo be done 
 that treaties did not expressly forbid. 
 
 The Peace of Campo Formic and Luneville had recognised the 
 right of Switzerland to form a constitution for herself; and Aloys 
 Reding happening to be in Paris about the end of 1801, had ob- 
 tainec} the consent of the First Consul for the re-establishment 
 
202 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 of democracy in the petty cantons. From that time two parties 
 rose who had long been kept down by force ; and Switzerland 
 experienced a series of revolutions, in which the Unionists or 
 aristocratic party, and the Federalists or democratic, alternatel} 
 had the ascendancy. At length a new Constitution, more aris- 
 Xocratic in its principles, was submitted for the approbation of the 
 people. It was accepted by 72,453 citizens, and rejected by 
 92,423; but as 167,172 individuals, who had a right to vote, 
 had disdained to exercise that privilege, the Helvetic Senate 
 thought proper to reckon all the absentees among the acceptors ; 
 and the new constitution was introduced (July 3,) as having 
 been sanctioned by a majority of the people. Bonaparte had 
 given the Swiss to understand, that he relied on their willing- 
 ness to be united to France ; but, as the Helvetic government 
 made a pretence of not comprehending that invitation, he with- 
 drew his troops from Sv/itzerland (July 20.) This was the sig- 
 nal for a civil war. The democratic cantons, who Vv^ere assem- 
 bled at Schweitz, restored the ancient confederation, to which 
 most of the old cantons acceded. The central government, 
 having no other support than the new cantons, and seeing them- 
 selves attacked even in their own territories, importuned the 
 assistance of the First Consul. A French army, under the com- 
 mand of Ney, entered Smtzerland, and re-established the gov- 
 ernment which was recommended by the First Consul. Bona- 
 parte constituted himself an arbiter between the two parties, and 
 summoned a Helvetic Council at Paris (Feb. 19, 1S03,) and 
 proclaimed the constitution of Switzerland, known by the name 
 of the Act of Mediation. Switzerland thus became a federative 
 Kepublic, composed of nineteen sovereign cantons. The con- 
 stitution of each was more or less democratic; but the equality 
 of the citizens formed the basis of them all. Once a year, a 
 Diet was to assemble in one of the six principal cities in Swit- 
 zerland in rotation. In these the Landamman, or chief magis- 
 trate of the district, was to preside, The first Landamman, M. 
 Louis d'Affry, was nominated by Bonaparte. 
 
 Bonaparte played a conspicuous part in the negotiations for 
 indemnifying those princes who had lost a part or the whole of 
 their possessions, by the cession of the left bank of the Rhine. 
 He, in concert with the Emperor Alexander, was the principal 
 arbiter in this important affair. 
 
 Without here entering into the details of these negotiations, 
 we shall merely observe, that the main obstacle which had im- 
 peded the negotiations of Ratisbon being removed by the treaties 
 which France concluded on this occasion, the deputation came 
 to a final conclusion, known by the name of the Recess (or Re- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 203 
 
 solutions) of the 'Deputation (Feb. 25, 1803,) by which the .ir 
 rangomer.t regarding- indemnities and territorial exchanges was 
 brought to a determination. 
 
 The war between France and Great Britain was renewed i\\ 
 1803 Public opinion in England had declared agains-t the 
 peace of Amiens, v/hich was by no means favourable to her, 
 considering the sacrifices which she had made. The British 
 ministry repented having agreed to the surrender of Malta and 
 the Cape of Good Hope. They delayed the restoration of Malta 
 under pretext that the guarantees had not been granted without 
 restriction. The arbitrary and violent acts which Bonaparte 
 had committed since the peace ; and above all, the annexation 
 of Piedmont to France, furnished a second motive for not evacu- 
 ating an island so important from its position. After a very 
 spirited negotiation, Great Britain offered to restore Malta to 
 its own inhabitants, and to acknowledge it as an independent 
 State ; only for the term of ten years, however, and on condition 
 that the King of Naples would cede Lampedosa. The French 
 troops were to evacuate the Batavian and Swiss Republics. On 
 these terms England would recognise the Italian and LigTirian 
 Republics, and the King of Etruria. His Majesty of Sardinia 
 was to receive an adequate territorial provision in Italy. The 
 first Consul having rejected this ultimatum, war was declared 
 (May 18, 1803,) and all the English who were travelling or re- 
 siding in France, arrested and detained as hostages. 
 
 Charles IV. King of Spain, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, had 
 ceded Louisiana to France. When this news arrived in Amer- 
 ica, it spread consternation in the Republic of the United States. 
 President Jefferson felt great reluctance in consenting to oppose, 
 by a military force, the entry of the French into a country which 
 would give them the command of the Mississippi. To prevent 
 this, and from other motives, he directed the American minister 
 in Paris to enter into a negotiation with the French government 
 for the purchase of Louisiana, which was effected at Paris (Sept. 
 30, 1803.) 
 
 A French army, which was assembled in the Batavian Re- 
 public under the command of General Mortier, was despatched 
 immediately after the declaration of war, to occupy the Electo- 
 rate of Hanover, the patrimonial dominions of the King of Great 
 Britain. The Government of that country concluded a capitu- 
 lation at Suhlingen (June 3,) in virtue of which the native troops 
 retired beyond the Elbe, while the French army were to occupy 
 the country and its fortresses, and be maintained by the inhabi- 
 tants. They likewise took possession of Cuxhaven and Retze- 
 bulel, belonging to the city of Hamburg. The German Empire, 
 
204 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 x^hich had the mortification of seeing its interests regulated hy 
 two foreign powers, did not even protest against this violation of 
 ifs Ten^ciy. Bonaparte, deceived in his expectation of rendering 
 the Cabinet of London compliant, annulled the capitulation oi 
 duhlingen, and ordered Mortier to attack Count VValmoden, who 
 comipxinded the Hanoverian army. The latter, however, laid 
 acwn their arms, in consequence of a convention which was 
 signed at Artlenberg (July 5.) After these proceedings, the 
 mouth** of the Elbe and Weser were immediately blockaded by 
 an English squadron, which prevented the invaders from bene- 
 fiting by the naviga.ion of those rivers. 
 
 England had generously offered to acknowledge the neutrality 
 of HoTiand, provided she could get the French troops to evacu- 
 ate her territory. This measure, however, proved disastrous in 
 its result for the Republic. Bonaparte laid them under obliga- 
 tion to maintain a body of 34,000 men, both French and Bala- 
 vians ; and to faraish five ships of war and five frigates, with a 
 number of transports and sloops of war, for conveying to Eng- 
 land 61,000 men and 4000 horses. After the conclusion of peace 
 v\'ilh the Emperor of Russia (Oct. 8, 1801,) Bonaparte had 
 Vv'ithdrav/n his troops from the kingdom of Naples ; but, by a 
 forced interpretation of the treaty of Florence, he pretended that 
 he had a right to send them back whenever he should happen 
 to be at war Vv^ith England. Ferdinand IV. was obliged to suc- 
 cumb ; and in consequence of an arrangement with General St. 
 Cyr (June 25, 1803,) the French again took possession of 
 Abruzzi. 
 
 The loss of Trinidad, and the selling of Louisiana to the 
 United States of America, had created no small coolness between 
 the Court of Madrid and Bonaparte. Already had he brought 
 an armv near to Bayonne, which, under the command of Gen- 
 eral Augereau, threatened Spain. She, however, succeeded in 
 evading the ttorm. As it was of much importance for her to 
 avoid war with England, and on the other hand, as Bonaparte 
 had more need of money than of ships, especially considering 
 the nature of the attack w^hich he meditated upon England, it 
 was agreed by a secret treaty signed at Madrid (Oct. 30,) that 
 Charles IV. should substitute money, instead of the succours 
 which the nature of his former engagement bound him to fur- 
 nish. The amount of this subsidy is not officially known. The 
 hopes which this Monarch had entertained of escaping from the 
 war w^ere sadly disappointed. He was dragged into it towards 
 the end of the following year. 
 
 Portugal likewise purchased her neutrality, by a convention 
 which was signed between General Lannes, JSonaparte's minis 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1S02— 1810. 206 
 
 ter at Lisbon, and Don Manuel Pinto ; the contents of which 
 are not known with certainty. 
 
 From the breaking of the peace of Amiens to the second war 
 with Austria, Bonaparte had employed himself about a project 
 for effecting- a landing in England, for which he had made im- 
 mense preparations. All the ship-carpenters throughout France 
 were put in requisition for the equipment of a flotilla intended 
 to convey the armies of the Republic to the English shores. A 
 multitudinous army, called the Arviy of England, w^as assem- 
 bled on the coasts, extensive camps were formed, and convoys 
 prepared for protecting the transportation of these invaders. In 
 England, under the ministry of Mr. Pitt, vigorous measures of 
 defence were adopted, by setting on foot a regular army of 
 180,000 men. The English Admirals frequently harassed the 
 French shipping, and bombarded the towns situated upon the 
 coasts. Bat from this there did not happen any result of im- 
 portance. 
 
 St. Lucia, St. Peter, Miquelon, and Tobago, as also the 
 Dutch colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, fell into 
 the hands of the English in the beginning of the year 1803. 
 General Rqchambeau, who had succeeded Le Clerc, concluded 
 a capitulation at St. Domingo, with Dessalines the Black Chief, 
 for the evacuation of Cape Francois ; but as the English Ad- 
 miral Duckworth blockaded it by sea, he was obliged to sur- 
 render with his whole army, which was transported to Eng- 
 land. Dessalines, thus relieved from the French, proclaimed 
 the independence of St. Domingo, or the island of Hayti, of 
 which he assumed the government, under the title of Governor- 
 General, for life. 
 
 Meantime, the plan of Bonaparte for disengaging himself 
 from those political restraints which fettered his ambition, was 
 growing to maturity. Three parties divided France — the Roy- 
 alists, the Systematic Republicans, and the Jacobins. Of the 
 two first, the one had always entertained hopes that Bonaparte 
 would recall the Bourbons ; and the other, that the moment was 
 approaching when true liberty would take the place of despotism. 
 General ]\Ioreau was regarded as the head of this party, if his 
 character had at all made him a proper person to play an active 
 game in public affairs. Bonaparte, who desired neither King 
 nor Republic, was convinced that he could only arrive at his pur- 
 pose by attaching to himself the Jacobin party. In order to in- 
 spire them with confidence, he felt that it was necessary to give 
 them a pledge ; this was, to be continually at variance with the 
 other two parties, which they equally detested. 
 
 Bonaparte resolved to ruin Moreau, whom he mistrusted. 
 
 VOL. n. IS 
 
206 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Pichegru, Georges, Cadoudal, and other Eoyalist Chiefs, se- 
 cretly entered France, believing that the time was now come 
 for re-establishing royalty, and that Moreau would place him- 
 self at the head of the enterprise. Pichegru twice saw his old 
 friend Moreau, who refused to take any part in a plot against 
 the Government ; but he was reluctant to betray this excellent 
 man, whom Bonaparte hated, and who had been excepted by 
 name from the general amnesty. His silence was sufficient to 
 entangle him in a pretended conspiracy, with which the tribu- 
 nals resounded. 
 
 Pichegru kept himself secreted in Paris for some days, but 
 through the treachery of a friend lie was at length discovered 
 arrested, and committed to prison, where he was found dead, on 
 the morning of April 7th., a black handkerchief being twisted 
 around his neck, and tightened by the twisting of a stick. No 
 proof appeared against Moreau of taking any -part in the con- 
 spiracy ; but his own confession, that he had seen Pichegru 
 twice, was deemed sufficient by his judges to justify his con- 
 demnation, for a high, although not capital crime ; he was sen- 
 tenced to two years imprisonment, which, by the intercession of 
 his friends was commuted for the same period of exile. This 
 distinguished General made choice of America, as his place of 
 exile. 
 
 At this time another occurrence took place, Avhich must ever 
 form the darkest chapter in the history of Bonaparte — the arrest, 
 condemnation, and execution of the Duke d'Enghien. This 
 prince was living in retirement in the castle of Ettenheim, in 
 the Datchy of Baden, a neutral territory. On the evening of 
 the 14th of March, a troop of French soldiers passed the fron- 
 tier, surrounded the castle, and seized the prince, and all his at- 
 tendants. He was immediately conveyed to Strasburgh, and 
 from thence after a confinement of three days to Paris, where he 
 was kept for a few hours in the Temple, and then removed to 
 die neighbouring castle of Vincennes. On the night of the 
 20lh he was charged by a military court, of which General Hul- 
 lin was president, with having fought against France, being in 
 the pay of England, plotting against the internal and external 
 safety of the Republic, and ha^dng conspired against the life of 
 the chief Consul. The court pronounced him guilt}'- ; the de- 
 cision was immediately despatched to Bonaparte, and the sen- 
 *ence " condemned to death," which was written on the back of 
 it. carried into execution at six o'clock the following morning. 
 The charges alleged against him were unsupported by any 
 evidence; but he persevered in declaring, that he would ever 
 .sustain the rights of his family, and that as a Conde, he could 
 i«ver enter France, but with arms in his hand. 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 207 
 
 This last act paved the way for Bonaparte to ascend the 
 throne. France had scarcely recovered from the stupor in which 
 she had been plunged by the judicial murder of a Bourbon, 
 when the Conservative Senate, who had perceived that the best 
 way to please Bonaparte was not to wait till he should make his 
 wishes known to them, presented an address, inviting him to 
 complete the institutions necessary for tranquilHzing the State 
 (March 27.) At this signal of flattery, many of the Orders of 
 the State were eager to express their desire that the power 
 which was vested in Bonaparte, should be conferred on him by 
 a hereditary title. One month was allowed to elapse, for pre- 
 paring the public mind for the result. It was then that the First 
 Consul, in replying to the address of the Senate, desired these 
 Orders to explain themselves more clearly. The Tribunate 
 took the merit of anticipating this explanation, by voting the re- 
 establishment of hereditary monarchy in favour of Bonaparte 
 and his family (April 80.) The Senate, not wishing to be be- 
 hind in complaisance, acceded to the desire ; and a decree of 
 that Body declared Bonaparte Emperor of the French (May 
 18;) conferring on him the Imperial dignitjr, to be hereditary 
 in himself, and his lawful or adopted sons, to the exclusion of 
 his daughters ; and failing the males, to his brothers Joseph and 
 Louis, and their male descendants. 
 
 The same decree of the Senate made several important 
 changes in the constitution, with the view of rendering it per- 
 fectly monarchical. Bonaparte accepted the dignity which 
 had been conferred on him. He only asked, that the nation 
 should be consulted upon the question of hereditary right. 
 Wishing to legalize this attempt in the eyes of the people ; he 
 invited the sovereign Pontiff to Paris to crown him. This ce- 
 remony took place in the Church of Notre-Dame (Dec. 2, 1804 ;) 
 and contrary to the general custom, Bonaparte put the crown 
 on 'his own head, after which he placed it upon that of his 
 spouse. Some weeks afterwards, in opening the Session ol 
 the Legislative Body, he solemnly declared, that, as he was satis- 
 fied with his grandeur, he would make no more additions to 
 the Empire. 
 
 The base transaction of 21st March was followed up by an 
 exchange of very violent letters, between the Russian ambassador 
 at Paris, and the minister of Bonaparte. In addition to the indig- 
 nation which that event had excited in Alexander, and which 
 the prevailing tone of the notes of the French minister were not 
 calculated to diminish ; there was a dissatisfaction, on account 
 of the non-execution of many of the conditions agreed to in the 
 treaty of 10th October 1801. Alexander demanded, that tho 
 
*20S CHAPTER XI. 
 
 French troops should be withdrawn from the kingdom of Naples ; 
 that Bonaparte should concert with him as to the principles upon 
 which the affairs of Italy were to be regulated ; that without de- 
 lay he should indemnify the King of Sardinia, and evacuate 
 Hanover (July 27, 1804.) To these, Bonaparte only replied by 
 recriminations, when the two Courts recalled their respective 
 ambassadors. The Emperor had not waited for this opportunity 
 to employ means for setting bounds to the ambition of Bona- 
 parte. By the declarations interchanged betwixt the Courts of 
 St. Petersburg and Berlin (May 3, and 24,) it was agreed, that 
 they should not allow the French troops in Germany to go be- 
 yond the frontier of Hanover ; and that should this happen, each 
 of these two Courts should employ 40,000 men to repel such an 
 attempt. The Prussian declaration added, moreover, that there 
 should be no dispute as to the countries situated to the west of 
 the Weser. Not content with having thus provided for the se- 
 curity of the North of Germany, the Emperor Alexander imme- 
 diately concerted measures with Austria, with the view of 
 opposing a barrier to the usurpations of Fran2e. Declarations, 
 in the shape of a convention, were exchanged between these two 
 Courts before the end of the year ; and they agreed to set on foot 
 an army of 350,000 men. 
 
 . The maritime war, like that of 1S03, was limited to threats, 
 and immense preparations on the part of Bonaparte, and on the 
 part of Sir Sidney Smith, to attempt preventing the union of 
 the French fleet, or for burning their shipping in their own ports. 
 The English took possession of the Dutch colony of Surinam 
 (May 4;) and towards the end of the year commenced hostilities 
 .against Spain. 
 
 The first six months of the year 1805 were marked by new ag- 
 grandizements on the part of Bonaparte in Italy. 1. A decree of 
 the Estates of the Italian Republic assembled at Paris (Mar. 18,) 
 proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte King of Italy ; and it was stipu- 
 lated that he should remit that crown to one of his legitimate or 
 adopted sons, so soon as the foreign troops should have evacuated 
 the kingdom of Naples (where there were no foreigners except 
 the French troops,) the Seven Islands and Malta; and that 
 henceforth the crowns of France and Italy should never be united 
 in the same person. Bonaparte repaired to Milan (May 26,) 
 where he was crowned with the iron crown of the Emperors of 
 Germany, whew were kings of Italy. Eugene Beauharnais, the 
 son of the Empress Josephine, w^as appointed his viceroy. 2. He 
 conferred the principality of Piombino, under the title of a here- 
 ditary fief of the French empire, on Eliza Bacciochi his sister, 
 and her male descendants (May 25.) This completed the spolia- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802— ISIO. 20» 
 
 lion of the House of Buoncompagni, to whom that title and es- 
 tate belonged, together with the greater pan of the Isle of Elba. 
 3. The Senate and people of the Ligurian Republic demanded 
 Yoluntarily, as is said, to be united to the French Empire. Their 
 request was agreed to (June 5;) and the territor^^ of that Repub- 
 lic was divided into three departments. 4. The Republic of 
 Lucca demanded from Bonaparte a new constitution, and a prince 
 of his f&mily. By a constitutional statute (June 23,) that Repub- 
 lic was erected into a principality, under the protection of France ; 
 and conferred as a hereditary right on Felix Bacciochi, and his 
 wife Eliza Bonaparte. 5. The States of Parma seemed destined 
 to be given up by way of compensation to the King of Sardinia; 
 together with the territory of Genoa ; but Bonaparte, finding 
 himself involved Avith the Emperor Alexander, caused them to 
 be organized according to the system of France. ' 
 
 It was impossible for the sovereigns of Europe not to unite 
 against a conqueror who seemed to apply to politics that maxim 
 of the civil law, which makes every thing allowable that the 
 laws do not forbid. We have already seen that Russia and 
 Austria had concerted measures for setting bounds to these usur- 
 pations. But it was William Pitt, who was restored to the 
 British ministry in the month of May 1804, that conceived the 
 plan of the third coalition. Disdaining the petty resources which 
 the preceding ministry had employed for harassing France, he 
 conceived the idea of a grand European League, for the pur- 
 pose of rescuing from the dominion of Bonaparte the countries 
 which France had subdued since 1792, and for reducing that 
 kingdom within its ancient limits. With regard to the territories 
 which vrere to be taken from. France, he proposed arrangements, 
 by means of which they might form a barrier against her future 
 projects of aggrandizement ; and finally, to introduce into Europe 
 a general system of public right. In fact, the plan of Mr. Pitt, 
 which was communicated to the Russian government (June 19, 
 1805,) was the same as that which, ten years afterwards, was 
 executed by the Grand Alliance. If this plan failed in 1805, it 
 was only because they calculated on the participation of Prussia, 
 as an indispensable condition; which they did not give up v/hen 
 that power had declared her resolution to preserve her neutrality. 
 
 By the treaty of April 11th, between Russia and Great Britain, 
 it was agreed that the Emperor Alexander should make another 
 attempt for arranging matters with Bonaparte, so as to prevent 
 the war. M. de Novosilzoff, one of the Russian ministers, was 
 sent to Paris. On his arrival at Berlin, he received the pass- 
 ports which the cabinet of Prussia had procured for him at t-cris ; 
 but at the same time, he received an order from St. Pettx-^bur^ 
 
 VOL. II 18^ 
 
210 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 noi to continue his journey. The annexation of the Ligurian 
 Republic to France, at the moment when they were making cu;.-:- 
 ciliatory overtures lo Bonaparte, appeared too serious an outrage 
 for the Emperor to prosecute farther negotiations. War was 
 consequently resolved on. 
 
 The preparations for the invasion of England had been car- 
 ried on for some time with extraordinary vigour. Every thing 
 seemed to announce, that Bonaparte meant lo attempt that peril- 
 ous enterprise. Pan of his troops had already embarked (Aug 
 27,; when all of a sudden the camp at Boulogne was broken up. 
 and the army directed to move towards the Rhine, which it pass- 
 ed within a month after. Austria had set on foot three armies. 
 The Archduke Charles commanded that of Italy, where it was 
 expected a decisive blow was to be struck ; the second army, 
 under the command of the Archduke John, was stationed in the 
 Tyrol, to maintain a communication with the third army on the 
 Inn, which was commanded nominally by the Archduke Fer- 
 dinand the Emperor's cousin, but in reality by General Mack. 
 The first Russian army under the command of General Kutusoff 
 had arrived in Gallicia, and was continuing its march in aF 
 haste. It was followed by another under Michelson. The Rus 
 sian troops in Dalmatia were to attempt a landing in Italy. 
 
 The army of Mack passed the Inn (Sept. 8.) They had 
 reckoned on the co-operation of the Elector of Bavaria ; but that 
 prince, who was always distrustful of Austria, abandoned the 
 cause of the allies, and retired with his troops into Franconia. 
 The Electors of Wurtemberg and Baden were desirous of con- 
 cluding treaties of alliance with Bonaparte, after he had passed 
 the Rhine ; these treaties were signed at Ludwigsburg and Et- 
 tingen (Oct. 4, and 10.) The plan of Bonaparte was to cut off 
 the army of Mack who had entered into Swabia, from that of 
 Kutusoff which was marching through Austria. In this he suc- 
 ceeded, by presuming to violate the Prussian territory. Mar- 
 mont who had come by way of Mayence, and Bernadotte who 
 had conducted the army into Franconia, where they were joined 
 by the Bavarians, traversed the country of Anspac-h, and came 
 thus on the rear of the Austrian army (Oct. 6.) From that date 
 s.carcely a day passed without a battle favourable to the French. 
 Several divisions of the Austrians were obliged to lay down 
 their arms. Mack, who had thrown himself into Ulm, lost all 
 resolution, and signed a capitulation (Oct. 17,) by which he pro- 
 mised to surrender if assistance did not arrive within eight days. 
 He did not, however, wait for this delay. By a second capitulation 
 two days after, he surrendered on the spot with 25,000 men. 
 
 The army of Mack was totally destroyed, except 6000 caval- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1S02— ISIO. 211 
 
 ry, ^'iiii wliicli the Archduke Ferdinand had opened himself j^ 
 pass-age througti Franconia ; and 20;000 others with which Kien- 
 mayer had retired to Braunau, where he was met by the van- 
 guard of Kutusoff. These two generals continued their retreat 
 The Russian army repassed the DanuLe near Grein (Nov. 9;.' 
 and directed their march .towards ihe Morau- A few days aftr^ 
 {i\ov. 13,) Vienna, the capital of Austria, fell into the hands of 
 ihe French. They passed the Danube near that city, and par- 
 sued the Russians. In the meantime General Buxhowden with 
 ihe second Russian army, having joined Kutusotf at Ohnutz, on 
 the same day that the Emperor Alexander arrived in the camp, 
 they conceived themselves strong enough to encounter the ene- 
 my, and immediately discontinued their retreat. The battle of" 
 A.usterlitz, which Bonaparte fought (Dec. 2,) with the combi- 
 ned army of the Austrians and Russians, decided the campaign 
 in his favour. 
 
 Meantime Bonaparte found himself in a position which might 
 become dangerous. When the Archduke Charles had perceived 
 that the French had concentrated their forces on the Danube, he 
 sent supplies to General Mack, and commenced his retreat from 
 Italy, that he m.ight be nearer the centre of hostilities. This 
 retreat he could not effect, except by hazarding several engage- 
 ments with Massena, who continued the pursuit. When near 
 Cilley he formed a junction with the Archduke John, who had 
 retreated from the Tyrol (Nov. 27.) The united armies of these 
 two princes amounted to S0,000 men, with whom they marched 
 towards Vienna; while the Hungarians rose en masse to defend 
 their sovereign. The next day after the battle of Austerlitz, the 
 Russian army received a reinforcement of 12,000 men. An 
 army composed of Prussians, Saxons, and Hessians were on the 
 point of penetrating into Franconia ; and some corps oT Prus- 
 sians, Russians, Svredes, Hanoverians, and English, had joined 
 a second army in the north of Germany, ready to invade Bel- 
 gium. Moreover, the English and the Russians were preparing 
 to effect a landing in the kingdom of Naples. 
 
 It was in this critical moment that the Cabinet of Vienna 
 signed an armistice at Austerlitz, by which they engaged to send 
 back the Russian army, and to quell the insurrection in Hun- 
 gary. Within twenty days after, peace was signed at Presburg 
 between Austria and France (Dec. 26.) The former acknow- 
 ledged all the claims of Bonaparte, and ceded to him, to form a 
 part of the kingdom of Italy, the ancient states of Venice, with 
 Dalmatia and Albania ; and to liis allies, the Elector of Baden 
 and the new Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, the Tyrol and 
 all her hereditary possessions in Sv/abia. 
 
*il2 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The violation of the Prussian territory in Fran'^or^ia, had ex 
 cited the most lively indignation at Berlin. The King resolved, 
 sword in hand, to avenge this outrage against his royal dig^nity. 
 The Prussian troops occupied Hanover, which the French had 
 yust evacuated ; and that country was restored to its legitimate 
 fcYe^eign. A Lo'dy of Russians, for whom they had till then 
 •vainly demanded a passage through Silesia, obtained permission 
 to traverse that province to join the army of Kutusoff. The 
 Emperor Alexander had himself arrived at Berlin (Oct. 25,) as 
 well as the Archduke Anthony, Grand-Master of the Teutonic 
 Knights. A convention was concluded at Potsdam (Nov. 3,) 
 between Alexander and Frederic III. of Prussia. This latter 
 prince joined the coalition, with the reservation of a preliminaiy 
 attempt to obtain the assent of Bonaparte to conditions extremely 
 equitable. In case these were rejected, Frederic promised to 
 take the field v/ith 180,000 men, who in fact, were put in a con- 
 dition to march at the earliest notice. Count Haugwitz, who 
 had been sent to Vienna as the bearer of overtures of peace to 
 Bonaparte, accompanied with an energetic declaration, took it 
 into his head that it would be prejudicial to the interests of Prus- 
 sia were he to press the object of his commission; he resolved, 
 therefore, to wait the course of events. After the truce of Aus- 
 terlitz, he took it upon him to change the system of his govern- 
 ment. Without having any sort of authority, he concluded an 
 alliance with Bonaparte at Vienna (Dec. 15,) for the guarantee 
 of their respective states, and for those of Bavaria and the Porte. 
 Prussia was to cede the principality of Anspach to Bavaria ; 
 that of Neufchatel to France ; and that of Cleves to a prince of 
 the Empire, whom Bonaparte might name. In return Prussia 
 was to get possession of the Electorate of Hanover. 
 
 When Count Haugwitz arrived at Berlin with the treaty, 
 Frederic at first was inclined to reject it ; but the minister having 
 represented to him the danger to which this w^ould expose him 
 in the present state of affairs, the King rc'^jctantly consented to 
 ratify the treaty ; provided a clause was ad '^d, that the occupa- 
 tion of the provinces mutually ceded should only be announced 
 as provisional, until the King of England should give his assent, 
 by a future treat}^ to the cession of Hanover. It was in this 
 manner that Prussia, in effect, got possession of that Electorate 
 (Jan, 27, 1806.) Meantime, Count Haugwitz, who had repaired 
 to Paris, found it impossible to obtain the acceptance of Bona- 
 parte to the ratification of the treaty so modified. He then 
 signed a second convention (Feb. 15,) by which Prussia enga- 
 ged to declare the occupation of Hanover definitive ; and to shut 
 the rivers in the North of Germany against the English. The 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. ]802 -1810. 213 
 
 King of Prussia, who had already disbanded his army^ found 
 himself in a situation that obliged him to ratify that arrangement. 
 Bonaparte had made prodigious efforts to revive the French 
 marine. The fleet at Rochefort, commanded by Admiral Mis- 
 siessi, had taken the opportunity of sailing from that port (Jan. 
 11, 1805.) They had set out with the intention of levying conr 
 tributions in the Little Antilles, belonging to the English ; and 
 after throwing in supplies to General Ferrand who still kept 
 possession of St. Domingo, they had returned without accident 
 to Rochefort. The fleet at Toulon, consisting of fourteen ves- 
 sels of the line, commanded by Admiral Villeneuve, and hav- 
 ing on board troops under the command of General Lauriston, 
 probably destined for Ireland, had repaired to Cadiz (April 9,) 
 where they were joined by th(^ Spanish fleet under Admiral 
 Gravina. Next day the two combined fleets sailed from that 
 port, but afterwards separated. That under Villeneuve had 
 proceeded to Martinico ; but being apprised of the arrival of 
 Lord Nelson at Barbadoes. Villeneuve again joined the Span- 
 ish Admiral, when the fleet returned to Europe. An engage- 
 ment took place near Cape Finistcrre (July 22,) which was 
 honourable to Sir Robert Calder, the English Admiral, who 
 captured two ships of the line. Being soon after considerably 
 reinforced, and amounting to thirty-five ships of the line, they 
 set sail for Cadiz, where a partial blockade was m.aintained for 
 some time by Calder and Collingwood. But Nelson, who had 
 been invested with the command of the English fleet, induced 
 the enemy, by means of a pretended retreat, to leave their sta- 
 tion. An engagement took place off Cape Trafalgar (Oct. 21,) 
 which cost the English Admiral his life, hut which ruined the 
 combined fleet. Villeneuve was made prisoner, and Gravina 
 fled towards Cadiz with ten ships. This glorious victory se- 
 cured to England the command of the sea. 
 
 When Bonaparte had made preparations for marching against 
 Austria, he resolved to reinforce his army in Italy by the troops 
 which occupied a part of the kingdom of Naples. To ingrati- 
 ate himself with Ferdinand IV., he concluded a treaty with that 
 prince 'Sept. 21,) by which the latter, on obtaining the evacua- 
 tion 01 his own states, promised to remain neutral. He did not 
 depend, however, on that monarch's fulfilling his promise. It 
 was a part of the plan of the allies, that the Russian and Eng- 
 lish armies should land in the kingdom of Naples- ; the one by 
 the way of Corfu, and the other from Malta. The plan was 
 carried into execution, and the foreign troops were received as 
 friends. A decree of Napoleon, dated from Schoenbrun (Dec. 
 27,) had declared that the dynasty of the Bourbons had ceased 
 
214 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 to reign at Naples. After the battle of Austerlitz, the Russians 
 and Enirlish abandoned Italy ; and Ferdinand IV. found him- 
 self without defence, exposed to a French army, who were ap- 
 proaching his capital. He embarked for Sicily, when the French 
 entered Naples (Jan. 1S06,) and Joseph Bonaparte, the brother 
 of Napoleon, was created King of the Two Sicilies (March 30,) 
 although his sway never extended farther than the kingdom of 
 Naples. 
 
 Those are probably in a mistake, who imagine they find in 
 the conduct of Bonaparte, the gradual development of a great 
 plan, conceived before-hand ; and springing from his head, so 
 to speak, like the fabled Minerva from the brain of Jupiter. 
 The circumstances in which he was placed, the success of his 
 arms, and the weakness of foreign Cabinets, suggested to him 
 one idea after another. It was when he was on his march 
 against the Russians, that he received the news of the battle of 
 Trafalgar, which had completely destroyed the labour of three 
 years, and annihilated his liopes of reducing England by plant- 
 ing his standard on her soil. His imagination then conceived 
 the plan of opposing one combination of strength to another, 
 and surrounding France with a number of states, independent 
 in appearance, but subject to the direction of the head of the 
 Empire. 
 
 After the peace of Presburg, he had repaired to Munich, 
 where he adopted his stepson, Eugene Beauharnais, and de- 
 clared him his successor in the kingdom of Italy. In announ- 
 cing this elevation to the Senate, (Jan. 12, 180(5,) he declared 
 that he reserved to himself the right of determining the common 
 tie which was to unite all the States com.posing the Federative 
 System of the French Empire. This was the first time that 
 this system was spoken of. In a short time after, he declared, 
 that the whole peninsula of Italy made part of the Grand Em- 
 pire. Finally, a constitutional statute of the Imperial family, 
 which he published at that time (March 30,) may be regarded 
 as the fundamental law of the Federative System he had lately 
 announced. That statute granted to the Emperor of the French 
 an absolute supremacy over all the sovereigns of his family ; and 
 he no doubt had great hopes, that the time would arrive when 
 no others would be found in any of the adjacent states. 
 
 In annexing the Venetian provinces to the kingdom of Italy, 
 Bonaparte detached from them Massa-Carrara and Carfagnana, 
 which he bestowed on the Prince of Lucca. At the same time, 
 he created within these provinces twelve dutchies, as hereditary 
 liefs of the Empire, and three within the states of Parma ; ali 
 of which he disposed of in favour of his generals and ministers. 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1789—1815. 215 
 
 The dutchy of Cleves, ceded by Prussia, as well as that of 
 Berg- which had been ceded to him by the King of Bavaria, 
 were conferred, together with the hereditary dignity of Admiral 
 of France, on his brother-in-law Joachim Mtirat (March 30.) 
 Alexander Berthier was created Prince of Neufchatel (June 5.) 
 At a later period, he granted the dutchy of Benevento to M. 
 Talleyrand Perigord, under the title of Sovereign Principality ; 
 and the principality of Pontecorvo to Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, 
 the brother-in-law of Joseph Bonaparte. He took these two ter- 
 ritories from the States of the Church, under the pretext that 
 their sovereignty was an object of litigation between the Courts 
 of Eome and Naples ; an allegation which was not true. 
 
 The continuation of the History of Bonaparte presents us 
 with a series of new usurpations and aggressions. Towards 
 the end of January, the French troops entered into the free city 
 of Frankfort, where they levied four millions, to punish the in- 
 habitants for their connexion with the English. Bonaparte was 
 living at that time in the most perfect peace with the German 
 Empire to which that city belonged, and which could not protect 
 it. By the treaty of Presburg, the Bocca di Cattaro, in Dalma- 
 tia, was to be restored to the French ; but the Russians, whose 
 fleet was cruising off these coasts, immediately took possession 
 of that place (Feb. 4,) at the moment when the Austrians were 
 about to surrender it to the French. Bonaparte made this a 
 pretext for refusing to give up to the Court of Vienna the for- 
 tress of Braunau, which he was to evacuate according to the 
 stipulations of that same treaty, and for leaving a part of his 
 army in Germany. He did more ; he ordered General Lauris- 
 ton, who commanded the French army in Dalmatia, to occupy 
 Ragusa (May 27,) a Republic placed under the protection of the 
 Porte, with whom there subsisted a treaty of peace. It was not, 
 however, until the 13th August 1807, that Ragusa was formally 
 united to the kingdom of Italy. 
 
 The Elector of Baden and the Princes of Nassau were oblig- 
 ed to make cessions to France. The former surrendered Kehl, 
 and the latter Cassel and Kostheim, opposite Mayence. Wesel, 
 a fortress in the dutchy of Cleves was likewise occupied by the 
 French troops. All these were so many violations of the peace 
 of Luneville, and the treaty of Vienna in 180-5. 
 
 In order to promote this federative system, the States-General 
 of the Batavian Republic received a hint to petition Bonaparte 
 for a King. A treaty was in consequence concluded at Paris 
 (March 24,) by which Louis, the brother of Napoleon, was cre- 
 ated Hereditary and Constitutional King of Holland; the title 
 to descend to his male issue. That young man accepted with 
 
lJ16 chapter xr. 
 
 reluctance a crown which he had never coveted, and which ho 
 Vv^ore with niuch dignit}^ 
 
 William Pitt, whom history would have been proud to call the 
 Great Pitt, had she not already given that title to his father, had 
 died about the beginning of the year (Jan. 23.) Charles Fox, 
 his former antagonist, succeeded him in the ministry. He im- 
 mediately entered into negotiations for peace between France 
 and England. This commission, on the part of the latter, was 
 intrusted first to Lord Yarmouth and afterwards to Lord Lau- 
 derdale. After the death of Fox (Sept. 13,) the negotiations 
 ended without having produced any change in the relations be- 
 tween France and England ; nevertheless they deserve to be 
 placed among the important events of that year, as they were 
 the immediate cause of the Vv^ar with Prussia, as we shall have 
 occasion to mention. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander likewise made an attempt for a re- 
 conciliation with Bonaparte. He sent M. D'Oubril to Paris, 
 who, after a negotiation of ten days, concluded a treaty with 
 General Clarke, the French plenipotentiary, (July 20, 1806,) by 
 which it was agreed that the Eussian troops shouU evacuate 
 the Bocca di Cattaro, and the French troops quit Ragusa ; that 
 the independence of the Republic of the Seven Islands should be 
 acknowledged, as well as the independence and integrity of the 
 Porte ; that in three months the French troops should evacuate 
 Germany; that the two parties should use their joint influence 
 to procure a cessation of the war between Prussia and Sweden; 
 that Bonaparte should accept the mediation of Russia, in nego- 
 tiating a maritime peace. A secret article secured to Ferdi- 
 nand IV. the Balearic Isles, in compensation for the kingdom of 
 Naples. It thus appeared that the King of Sardinia was the 
 greatest sufferer. The Emperor Alexander refused to ratify 
 this treaty, whether it was that he considered the terms not alto- 
 gether honourable, or that he was displeased with the conclu- 
 sion of the Confederation of the Rhine, which took place at this 
 time. 
 
 The Confederation of the Rhine was undoubtedly the most 
 important consequence of the peace of Presburg. That event 
 which entirely changed the state of Germany, and placed so 
 large a portion of that Empire under obedience to Bonaparte, 
 was prepared by the article of the peace which recognised the 
 sovereignty of the Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and the 
 Electar of Baden ; as well as by several other irregular transac- 
 tions which took place after that time. Such vras the conduct 
 of the Elector Arch-Chancellor, in arrogating to himself the 
 right of appointing his own successor ; and nominating Cardmal 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. iS02— ISIO. 217 
 
 Fesch as such, who was Bonaparte's uncle. The Confedera- 
 tion of the Rhine was concluded at Paris (July 12, 1806,) be- 
 tween Bonaparte and sixteen of the German princes, including 
 the Duke of Cleves, who separated from the Germanic Em- 
 pire, and formed a particular union among- themselves, under 
 the protection of Bonaparte. 
 
 The declarations which the minister of France and those of 
 the Confederated Estates, remitted on the same day to the Diet 
 of Ratisbon, intimated to that assembly, that the German Em- 
 pire had ceased to exist. The Chief of the Germanic body, who 
 had been kept ignorant of all these measures, then published a 
 spirited declaration (Aug. 6,) by which he resigned a crown 
 which could only appear valuable in his eyes so long as he was 
 able to fulfil the duties, and exercise the prerogatives which 
 were attached to it. 
 
 This transaction, v/hich put an end to the German Empire, 
 had been kept a secret from Prussia. Bonaparte, in announcing 
 to Frederic William the result which it had produced, invited 
 him to form a similar confederation in the North of Germany ; 
 but at the same time, he negotiated privately with the Electors 
 of Hesse and Saxony, to prevent them from entering into that 
 union ; and declared, that he could never permit the cities of 
 Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubec, to become parties to it. In his 
 negotiations with England, he proposed to make over these ci- 
 ties to Ferdinand IV. King of the Two Sicilies. He carried 
 nis stratagems e^'^n farther. He several times offered to the 
 English plenipotentiaries the same Electorate of Hanover which, 
 a few months before, he had almost compelled Prussia to claim 
 as her owni ; and he offered to the Elector of Hesse the princi- 
 pality of Fulda, which had been granted to the House of Orange, 
 then in strict alliance with that of Brandeburg. All these un- 
 derhand manoeuvres opened the eyes of the Cabinet of Berlin, 
 which immediately resolved to declare war. Unfortunately for 
 Prussia, she commenced hostilities without waiting the arrival 
 of the supplies v/hich Russia owed her, in virtue of the alliance 
 between the two States by the treaty of Peterhoff (July 28, 
 ISOO;) and she had to take the field against an active enemy, 
 whose warlike troops were already in the heart of Germany. 
 
 General Knobelsdorff, whom the King of Prussia had sent to 
 Paris, gave in the demands which were to be considered as his 
 ultimatum :-^Bonaparte treated his propositions as extravagant 
 and insulting, and accordingly commenced hostilities. The 
 campaign was decided by the battle of Jena, or rather by two 
 battles which were fought on the same day (Oct. 14, 1806.) 
 Bonaparte in person gained the one near Jena over Prince Ho- 
 
 voT,. n. U) 
 
218 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 henlohe ; Marshal Davoust gained the other near Auerstadt 
 over the Duke of Brunswick, Commander-in-chief of the Prus- 
 sian army. The rout was complete. For a short time the 
 troops retired without confusion. The approach of the enemy's 
 cavalry, however, extinguished all remains of order, and the 
 most precipitate dispersion of the vanquished army ensued. 
 About 20,000 w^ere killed and wounded in the battle and pur- 
 suit ; and the prisoners formed at least an equal number. The 
 scattered remains of the troops who united after the action, were 
 either defeated or obliged to surrender as prisoners of war. The 
 King, with the wTeck of his army, marched back to Prussia. 
 Berlin, his capital, fell into the hands of the conqueror. The 
 carelessness, the unskilfulness, or the treachery of their com- 
 
 anders, and the want of means of defence, were the causes 
 ivhy several fortresses, and whole battalions of troops, surreii- 
 dered after a slight resistance. There were some who were 
 even obliged to capitulate in spite of their bravery. At Erfurt, 
 Field-Marshal Mellendorff capitulated with 14,000 men (Oct. 
 16.) Spandau fell on the same day that the enemy entered into 
 Berlin (Oct. 25.) Prince Hohenlohe, after a brave defence, ca- 
 pitulated at Prentzlau (Oct. 29,) with a corps originally consist- 
 ing of 16,000 infantry, and sixteen regiments of cavalry. Stettin 
 and Custrin opened their gates after a slight resistance (Nov. 1.) 
 At Lubec, 21,000 men, with General Blucher, laid down their 
 arms (Nov. 7.) Magdeburg capitulated next day with 22,000 
 men. 
 
 Immediately after the battle of Jena, Bonaparte took posses- 
 sion of the principality of Fulda. He also sent a message to the 
 old Duke of Brunswick, that none of his family should ever reign 
 after him. That prince died of the wounds he had received at 
 Auerstadt ; and his lifeless body was not permitted to be deposi- 
 ted among the ashes of his ancestors. The Elector of Hesse, 
 who had remained neutral, was declared an enemy to France, 
 and his territories seized. Bonaparte, in return, granted neu- 
 trality to the Elector of Saxony, whose troops had fought against 
 him at Jena. 
 
 The King of Prussia had tried to allay the storm which threat- 
 ened his monarchy. The Marquis de Lucchesini and General 
 Zastrow entered into a negotiation with Marshal Duroc at Char- 
 lottenburg (Oct. 30.) Bonaparte refused to ratify the prelimi- 
 naries which were signed there, because the idea had occurred 
 to him in the meantime of exciting the Poles to insurrection. 
 An armistice was then signed (Nov. 16,) on conditions extremely 
 rigorous, by which Breslau, Glogau, Colberg, Graudentz and 
 Dantzic, were delivered' up to the French. Frederic, who had 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 219 
 
 resolved to throw him self on Russia, whose forces were approach- 
 ing in all haste, rejected that armistice. From Berlin Bona- 
 ])arte repaired to Posnania, where he concluded a treaty with 
 the Elector of Saxony (Dec. 11.) That prince then assumed 
 the title of King, joined the Confederation of the Rhine, and got 
 possession of the Circle of Cotbus, belonging to Prussia. By a 
 treaty signed at the same place (Dec. 15,) the Dukes of Sax- 
 ony, of the race of Ernest, were likewise received into the Con- 
 federation of the Rhine. 
 
 A Russian army of 90,000 men had arrived in Prussia in the 
 month of November. Frederic William, on his side, formed a 
 new army of 40,000 men. Several actions took place without 
 any decisive result; but after the battle of Pultusk (Dec. 26,) 
 where the victory was claimed both by the French and Rus- 
 sians, each party retired to winter quarters. 
 
 During Bonaparte's stay at Berlin, he conceived the idea of 
 the Continental System ; or at least reduced its elements into 
 shape. The purport of this system was to ruin the commerce, 
 and by consequence, the prosperity of England, by excluding 
 from the Continent of Europe the importation not only of her 
 own m.anufactures, but the productions of her colonies ; the use 
 of which had become, through long habit, one of the necessaries 
 of life to all the nations of Europe ; and for which, moreover, 
 no substitute could be found in home manufactures. This chi- 
 merical scheme, and the Federative System, which we have 
 already mentioned, were the two scourges which Bonaparte in- 
 flicted on the Continent of Europe. The abuse, it was alleged, 
 which the English made of their superiority by sea, had provo- 
 ked Bonaparte to this measure. The right of blockade, that is, 
 the right of a belligerent power to station a force before a hostile 
 port sufficient to prevent any neutral vessel from entering, is 
 founded in principle. But England pretended, that if a port 
 were declared to be under blockade, it must be considered as 
 actually blockaded ; and accordingly, she had declared all the 
 ports between Brest and the Elbe under blockade (May 16.) 
 An order issued by Bonaparte, known by the name of the De- 
 cree of Berlin, declared the whole British Islands in a state of 
 blockade, by way of reprisals (Nov. 21.) He commanded all 
 British subjects to be arrested, who might be found in the coun- 
 tries occupied by his troops, or those of his allies. He ordered 
 their property, and every article of British or colonial produce 
 on the Continent to be confiscated ; and excluded from his ports 
 all vessels which should come directly from Britain, or any of 
 its dependencies. The development of this system we shall 
 notice afterwards. 
 
220 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The repose of the armies did not continue longer than a month. 
 General Bennigsen, who had the cJiief command of the Russians 
 and Prussians, undertook to relieve the cities of Graudentz 
 Dantzic, and Colberg. After a number of petty engagements, 
 which claim no particular notice, thf> campaign was terminated 
 by the battle of Eylau in Prussia (I'eb. 8, 1S07.) Bonaparte, 
 or rather Davoust, was successful against the left wing and the 
 centre of the allies ; but Lestocq, the Prussian General, having 
 arrived on the field of battle, near the right wing of the Prus- 
 sians which had never been engaged, marched instantly to sup- 
 port the left wing which was giving way, and snatched the vic- 
 tory from the hands of Davoust. Bennigsen, who was in want 
 of ammunition, retired towards Koningsberg, leaving Bonaparte 
 on the field of battle, which was covered with 30,000 of the 
 French slain, and 12,000 wounded. The Russians had lost 
 17,000 men. After this carnage, Bonaparte announced that he 
 had defeated the Russians, and retired behind the Passarge. 
 Hostilities were then suspended for some months. 
 
 In the month of February, negotiations for peace were re- 
 newed. Bonaparte, who was at Osterode, sent General Bertrand 
 to the King of Prussia at Memel, to try to detach him from 
 Russia. \Vlien the King had declined this proposal, some de- 
 liberation took place as to the terms of an armistice ; but the 
 Emperor Alexander, who had also arrived at Memel, saw that 
 this was only a manoeuvre of Bonaparte, who merely wished 
 to gain time to repair his losses. The negotiations, accordingly, 
 were broken oft'. Baron Hardenberg, who had been placed by 
 the King of Prussia at the helm of foreign aftairs, then resumed 
 the project of Mr. Pitt, which had failed in 1S05, because Count 
 Haugwitz, the former minister, had dissuaded Frederic William 
 from entering into the alliance. The basis of a new coalition 
 was laid by the convention of Bartenstein, between Russia and 
 Prussia (April 21,) in w^hich Austria, Great Britain, Sweden 
 and Denmark, were invited to join. The same day a conven- 
 tion with the King of Sweden Avas likewise signed at Barten- 
 stein, in consequence of which Prussia promised to send a body 
 of troops into Pomerania. Austria was disposed to enter into 
 this project, but before coming to a decision, she tried the 
 scheme of mediation ; and in the month of March, new pro- 
 posals for peace were made, which proved unsuccessful. Sup- 
 plies were promised to Prussia by a convention signed at Lon- 
 don (June 27,) but which a change of circumstances prevented 
 from being ratified. 
 
 While the armies continued in a kirid. of inaction. Marshal 
 Lefebvre pressed the siege of Dantzic. After several attempts 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 221 
 
 to blockade the place, General Kalk]:eiitli obtained a capitulation 
 on very honcarable terms (May 24.) Neisse, Kozel and Glatz, 
 likewise capitulated in course of the following month. These two 
 latter places were not to be restored by the French. Hostilities 
 recommenced in the month of June. Skirmishes were daily 
 taking place, until the battle of Friedland decided the campaign 
 (June 14.) General Bennigsen defeated the divisions of Lan- 
 iies and Mortier, when the Russians, thinking the battle was 
 gained as they no longer saw^ the enemy, slackened their exer- 
 tions ; but towards the evening Bonaparte xarrived on the field 
 of battle W'ith guides, and the corps of Marshals Ney and Vic- 
 tor ; and taking advantage of the confusion which appeared in 
 the Russian army, he put them completel}^ to the rout. In 
 consequence of this defeat, Koningsberg opened her gates to the 
 conqueror. The Russian and Prussian armies passed the Nie- 
 men (June 18 ;) and next day Bonaparte entered Tilsit. 
 
 Meantime the Cabinet of Vienna, with whom negotiations 
 were still carrying on to obtain their accession to the convention 
 of Bartenstein, had sent General Stutterheim to the head-quar- 
 ters of the two monarchs, with power to sign a defensive al- 
 liance ; but the war had then recommenced with new vigour. 
 There was a part}^ in both Cabinets, and even among the allied 
 Generals, who wished to prevent this alliance ; and ihis party 
 succeeded in their designs. A Russian General appeared at 
 Tilsit on the part of Bennigsen to negotiate an armistice, which 
 was concluded on the spot (June 21,) without including the 
 Prussian army. Four days after, an interview took place be- 
 tween Alexander and Napoleon, on the invitation of the latter, 
 w^ho wished to exert all his address to seduce the Northern Au- 
 tocrat from the alliance into Avhich he had entered. This me- 
 morable interview took place on a raft in the middle of the river 
 Niemen. Each prince, accompanied by five generals and cour- 
 tiers, reached the raft from the opposite bank at the same mo- 
 ment, and embraced each other with all the appearance of per- 
 fect cordiality. They conversed for two hours in a pavilion, 
 and the ambitious ruler of France displa3^ed in such glowing 
 colours the joys of arbitrary power and unlimited dominion, and 
 held out such an attractive prospect of the advantages which he 
 might derive from a union of councils and co-operation, that 
 Alexander listened with pleasure to his new adviser, and was 
 ready to rush into a new alliance. On the same day, Field- 
 Marshal Kalkreuth signed an armistice on the part of Prussia. 
 The next day he had a second interview, -at which the King 
 of Prussia assisted, who, when he objected to some parts of the 
 proposed treaty, was insulted with a hint of his not being enti- 
 
 VOL. TI. 19"^ 
 
222 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 tied to tlie honour of consultation, as he had been so completely 
 conquered. It was on this occasion that Bonaparte demanded 
 that the Emperor Alexander should dismiss his minister Baron 
 Budberg, and the king of Prussia Baron Hardenberg. The Prince 
 Kourakin, and Count de Goltz were substituted in their place. 
 
 The treaty with Kussia was first signed (July 7.) The Em- 
 peror Alexander obtained from Bonaparte the spoliation of his 
 former ally, or according to the form which was given to it in 
 that transaction, That the King of Prussia should recover one 
 half of his estates. The provinces which Prussia had obtained 
 by the second and third division of Poland were ceded to the 
 King of Saxony, under the title of the Dutchy of Warsaw, 
 with the exception of the fortress of Graudentz, Avhich remained 
 in the possession of Prussia, and the city of Dantzic, which was 
 to regain its independence, with the exception of the department 
 of Bialystock which was annexed to the Eussian Empire. Alex- 
 ander acknowledged the Kings created by Bonaparte, including 
 the King of Westphalia. He likewise acknowledged the Con- 
 federation of the Khine, and ceded to Bonaparte the Seignory of 
 Jever, which he inherited from his mother. He promised to 
 withdraw his troops from Moldavia and Wallachia ; and to make 
 common cause with Bonaparte against England, should the lat- 
 ter refuse to make peace by submitting to' the principles of free 
 commerce by sea. It appears, moreover, by certain secret arti- 
 cles, that Alexander promised to surrender to Bonaparte the 
 Bocca di Cattaro, and the isles of the Ionian Republic ; which 
 took place in the month of August following. The peace which 
 was signed between Russia and Bonaparte two days after (July 
 9,) included nearly the same stipulations. 
 
 A special convention was required for executing the articles 
 of the treaty, which related to the evacuation of the States of the 
 King of Prussia. This was negotiated and signed at Konings- 
 berg (July 12,) with unpardonable precipitancy, by Field-Marshal 
 Kalkreuth, who forgot to insert certain stipulations so essential 
 and so obvious, that it must have appeared to him superfluous 
 to mention them. Bonaparte took advantage of these om.issions 
 to ruin the provinces which were left in possession of Prussia. 
 It may be justly said, that the convention of Koningsberg did 
 nearl)^ as much miscliief to Prussia as the peace of Tilsit itself. 
 It occasioned the necessity of signing a series of subsequent con- 
 ventions, by each of which Prussia had to submit to some new 
 sacrifice. Some of the more important of these we shall after- 
 wards have occasion to mention. 
 
 The King of Sweden, who was attacked in Poraerania by 
 Marshal Mortier, had concluded an armistice at Schlalkorv 
 
rEFJOD IX. A. D. ISnS— 1810. 223 
 
 (April 18.) GustavTis Adolphus IV. projected an attack on Mar- 
 shal Briine, while a body of 10,000 Prussians were to make a 
 descent for blockading- Colberg. To carry this project into exe- 
 cution, he was so eager to declare against the armistice, that, on 
 the signature of the peace of Tilsit, he found himself alone under 
 arms, and exposing his troops to great danger. This unseason- 
 able zeal obliged him to evacuate Stralsund and the whole of 
 Pomerania (Sept. 7.) 
 
 In erecting the Dutchy of Warsaw, Bonaparte had given it a 
 constitution modelled after that of France, without paying atten- 
 tion to the difference of manners, customs, and localities of the 
 i.i habitants. The King of Saxony was put in possession of that 
 State ; but the new dutchy was nothing else than a province ®f 
 the French Empire. The city of Dantzic was again plunged 
 into a state of the most abject dependence ; and until the year 
 1S14, it remained under the orders of a Governor-general ap- 
 pointed by the French. The throne of Westphalia was destined 
 by Bonaparte for his younger brother Jerom^e. That monarchy 
 was composed of the greater part of those provinces ceded by 
 the King of Prussia ; of nearly all the estates of the Elector of 
 Hesse and the Duke of Brunswick ; of a district belonging to the 
 Electorate of Hanover ; of the principalit}^ of Corvey, and the 
 county of Rittberg — containing in all about two millions of in- 
 habitants. Only a small part of this kingdom was situated in 
 Westphalia; and it is not known by what chance the name of 
 that country was selected for the new monarchy. Deputies from 
 that kingdom were summoned to Paris, where they received 
 from the hands of Bonaparte a constitutional charter (Nov. 15,) 
 in the construction of which they had never once been consulted. 
 As to the other districts which Bonaparte had taken possession 
 of in Germany, or of which he had deprived their rightful sove- 
 reigns, viz. the Electorate of Hanover, the principalities of Erfurt, 
 Fulda, Baireuth, and Munster, with the counties of Catzeneln- 
 bogen and Hanau, they were governed entirely to his ov/n inter- 
 est, and disposed of at his convenience. 
 
 While the girmies of Bonaparte were occupied in Prussia, 
 Spain formed the resolution of shaking ofT the yoke which the 
 Emperor of France had imposed upon her, Charles lY. soli- 
 cited privately the mediation of the Emperor Alexander, to bring 
 about a peace wath England. By a proclamation of October 
 80th 1806, a levy of 40,000 men was ordered for the defence ot 
 the country, without mentioning against what enemy. This 
 imprudent step, which they had not courage to prosecute, ruined 
 Spain. At the commencement of 1807, a French army was as- 
 sembled in the vicinity of Bayonne. A trap was laid for Charles 
 
224 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IV. ; and he had the misfortune to fall into it. According^ to a 
 convention signed at Fountainbleau (Oct. 27,) between his pleni- 
 potentiary and that of Bonaparte, for the partition of Portugal, 
 that kingdom was to be divided into three lots. The most north- 
 erly part was destined for the King of Etruria, (who was to sur- 
 render up Tuscany to Bonaparte,) and to be called the kingdom 
 of Northern Lusitania. The southern part, comprising Algarves, 
 was to form a principality for Don Manuel Godoy. The pro- 
 vinces in the middle part were to be disposed of at the general 
 peace, when the King of Spain was to assume the title of Em- 
 peror of the two Americas. 
 
 Immediately after the signing of this treaty, Bonaparte an- 
 nounced to the Queen-Dowager of Etruria, who was Regent for 
 her son Louis II., that the kingdom no longer belonged to him; 
 and that a new destiny awaited him in Spain. In course of a 
 few days, the French troops occupied Tuscany. Maria Louisa 
 resigned the government, and retired to Madrid. All this took 
 place after Bonaparte had obtained orders that the 15,000 Span- 
 iards, who were in Etruria, should be sent to the islands of 
 Denmark. 
 
 A decree of the French Senate, of August 18th 1807, though 
 not published till a month after, suppressed the Tribunate, and 
 introduced other changes, intended to extinguish all traces of the 
 Republic. By a treaty signed at Fountainbleau, Bonaparte made 
 over to his brother Louis, the principalit}^ of East Friesland and 
 the territory of Jever, in lieu of the city and port of Flushing. 
 
 In terms of the treaty of the 27th October, 30,000 French 
 troops, under the command of Junot, crossed the Pyrenees in 
 two divisions ; and took possession of Pampeluna, St. Sebastians, 
 Figueras, and Barcelona. The two divisions united again at 
 Salamanca, and being reinforced by 13,000 Spaniards, they 
 marched upon Lisbon ; while 40,000 others assembled at Bay- 
 onne, under the pretence of supporting their companions if it 
 were necessary. The Prince Regent of Portugal embarked with 
 all his treasures (Nov. 29,) and departed for Brazil. The whole 
 of Portugal w^as taken possession of; and General Junot pro- 
 claimed that the Hou^e of Braganza had ceased to reign in Eu- 
 rope ; but the French never executed their scheme of partition. 
 
 We have already observed, what progress the Federative 
 system of the French Empire had made in 1807, by the founda- 
 tion of the kingdom of Westphalia and the dutchy of Warsaw, 
 and by the occupation of Portugal ; and we shall next advert to 
 the measures adopted during the same year by Bonaparte, for 
 consolidating the Continental system, and by Great Britain for 
 counteracting its effects. An order was issued by the British 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 226 
 
 Cabinet (Jan. 7,) declaring that no neutral vesse. would be per- 
 mitted to trade with any port belonging to France or her allies, 
 or occupied by their troops, or under their dependence. A de- 
 cree, published at Warsaw (Jan. 25,) ordered the confiscation 
 of all English merchandise in the Hanseatic towns, which had 
 been occupied by the order of Bonaparte. An order of the Brit- 
 ish Cabinet {.March 11.) again prescribed a rigorous blockade of 
 the mouths of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Ems. A declara- 
 tion was made by Bonaparte (Oct. 14,) in presence of the foreign 
 ambassadors at Fountainbleau, purporting that he would permit 
 no connexion, either commercial or diplomatic, between the 
 Continental powers and England. An order of the British 
 Cabinet (Nov. 11,) declared, that all the ports and places in 
 France, and the countries in alliance with them, or any other 
 Gauntry at war with England, as well as all other ports and 
 places in Europe where the British flag was excluded, though 
 not actually at war with Great Britain ; and all other ports and 
 places of the colonies belonging to her enemies, should hence- 
 forth be subjected to the same restrictions as if they were really 
 under blockade : and, consequently, that the vessels destined 
 for these ports should be subjected to examination by the British 
 cruisers ; and required to stop at a British station, and pay a 
 duty proportioned to the value of the cargo. Another order of 
 the British Cabinet (Nov. 25,) modified the preceding declara- 
 tion in favour of neutral vessels, which should come to discharge 
 either English merchandise or Colonial produce in the British 
 ports. A decree of the 17th December, called the decree of 
 Milan, because it was issued at that place, declared, that all 
 ships which should be searched by a British vessel, or pay any 
 tax whatever at the requisition of the English Government, 
 should be denationalized, and regarded as English property ; and 
 having thus forfeited their original and national rights, they 
 might be lawfully captured wherever found. The same decree 
 declared the British Isles to be in a state of blockade both by sea 
 and land. 
 
 Having thus established the Continental sj^stem, Bonaparte 
 used every endeavour to make all the Continental Powers ac- 
 cede to it. Prussia and Russia adhered to it, after the peace of 
 Tilsit. Denmark soon entered into this French system. Spain 
 acceded to it (Jan. 8,) Austria (Feb. 18, 1808,) and Sweden 
 (Jan. 6, 1810 ;) so that, for some years, the Continent of Eu- 
 rope had no other medium of communication with England than 
 by way of Constantinople. There was one prince in Christen- 
 dom, who refused his accession to the Continental system, and 
 that was Pius VII. This sovereiofn PontiflT declared, that an 
 
226 CHAPTER -kl. 
 
 alliance which prohibited all intercourse with a nation from 
 whom they had suffered no grievance, was contrary to religion. 
 In order to punish his Holiness for this resistance, General Miol- 
 lis had orders to occupy Eome (Feb. 2, 1S08.) This was the 
 commencement of a series of aggressions and attacks, by which 
 Bonaparte vainly hoped to bend that great personage. To 
 gratify his resentment, he stripped the States of the Church, by 
 a decree issued at St. Cloud (April 2,) of the provinces of Urbino, 
 Ancona, Macerata and Camerino, which were annexed to the 
 kingdom of Italy. 
 
 In order to add lustre to his crown, and to attach his servants 
 to him by the ties of interest, Bonaparte resolved, not to re- 
 store the noblesse — though there was no reason known why he 
 should not — but to create titles of nobility which should pas? 
 m hereditary succession to their descendants. These title? 
 were those of Princes, Dukes, Counts, Barons, and Chevaliers 
 or Knights. They were constituted by an Imperial statute 
 which he transmitted to the Senate ; for the decrees of the Se 
 nate were seldom used, except in declaring the union of territo 
 Ties, or*brdering levies of conscripts. 
 
 The spoliation of the Church appeared but a trivial violence 
 compared with that masterpiece of intrigue and cunning bj 
 which the House of Bourbon was deprived of the throne o1 
 Spain. The second French army formed at Bayonne, passed 
 the Pyrenees about the beginning of the year, under the com 
 mand of Joachim Murat, and advanced slowly as if it only 
 waited an order to seize the capital. A popular insurrection 
 broke out at Madrid, directed against Godoy, the Prince ol 
 Peace ; and Charles IV., who, from the commencement of hi? 
 reign, had been disgusted with state affairs, abdicated the crown 
 in favour of his son, the Prince of Asturias (March 19, 1808,) 
 who assumed the title of Ferdinand VII. The intrigues of the 
 Queen-mother, who was unwilling to quit the throne, and the 
 plots concerted by Murat, soon embroiled the Royal family in 
 disputes. The French troops entered Madrid (Mar. 23.) Ta- 
 king advantage of the inexperience of the young monarch, they 
 inveigled him into an interview with Bonaparte at Bayonne, 
 where Charles IV. and his Queen, allured by promises of fa- 
 vour and friendship, likewise presented themselves. This weak 
 prince there retracted his abdication, and ceded his dominions 
 over to Bonaparte by a formal treaty (May 5.) By threatening 
 Ferdinand VII. with death, they extorted from him a similar de- 
 claration (May 10.) Charles IV. his Queen, and the Prince of 
 Peace were conveyed to Compeigne, and afterwards to Mar- 
 seilles. 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1S02- 1810. 227 
 
 Ferdinand VII. and his brothers were imprisoned in the cas- 
 tle of Valencay. Bonaparte, conferred the throne of Spain on 
 his brother Joseph (June 6,) who was then King of Naples. A 
 Spanish Junta, assembled at Bayonne, received a constitution 
 from the hands of Napoleon. On obtaining the crown of Spain, 
 Joseph made over the kingdom of Naples to his brother, who in 
 his turn resigned it to Murat, by a treaty concluded at Bayonne. 
 Murat then gave up the dutchies of Cleves and Berg. 
 
 Bonaparte found himself deceived as to the character of the 
 Spanish nation, when he supposed they would tolerate this out- 
 rage with impunity. A tumult of the inhabitants of Madrid 
 was quelled by Murat, who ordered his troops to fire upon the 
 crowd (May 2,) when upwards of 1000 people lost their lives. 
 Towards the end of the same month, a general insurrection 
 broke out in all those parts of Spain not occupied by the enemy. 
 This was a great annoyance to Bonaparte during the rest of his 
 reign, and prevented him from subduing that peninsula. It 
 served as an example and encouragement to other nations to 
 shake off his yoke. The Portuguese rose, in imitation of their 
 neighbours. The English sent supplies to both nations ; and 
 it was beyond the Pyrenees that Bonaparte experienced those 
 first disasters which were the harbingers of his downfall. 
 
 One event, more remarkable for the pomp with which it was 
 accompanied, than for the consequences which it produced, 
 was the interview which took place at Erfurt (Sept. 27,) be- 
 tween the Emperor Alexander and Bonaparte. What negotia- 
 tions might have been agitated there, are not known with cer- 
 tainty ; but publicity has been given to the measures concerted 
 in common between Bonaparte and Alexander for making over- 
 tures of peace to England, although they must have foreseen 
 that the attempt would prove fruitless. From that time an in- 
 timate friendship subsisted for two years between the Courts of 
 Russia and France. 
 
 The inconsiderate haste v/ith which Field-Marshal Kalkreuth 
 had concluded the convention of Koningsberg, and the defects 
 or omissions of that act, furnished the agents of Bonaparte with 
 numerous pretexts for oppressing the Prussian States by per- 
 petual aggressions ; and for continuing not only to occupy the 
 country, but to impose taxes for the service of France, without 
 deducting their amount from the usual contribution which that 
 kingdom had to pay. To extricate themselves from so harassing 
 a situation. Prince William, the King's brother, who had been 
 sent to Paris to negotiate for the evacuation of Prussia, signed 
 a convention there (Sept. 8,) by which the King engaged to 
 pay, at stated terms, the sum of 140 000,000 francs. The Em- 
 
22S CHAPTER XI. 
 
 peror Alexander, during the interview of Erfurt, got this sum 
 reduced to one hundred and twenty millions. In consequence 
 nt this, a new convention was signed at Berlin (Nov. 3,) ac- 
 cording to which, Stettin, Custrin, and Glogau, were to remain 
 in the hands of the French, as security for payment of the sti- 
 pulated sum ; the rest of the Prut^sian states were evacuated. 
 
 Austria was on the point of entering into the fourth coalition, 
 when the peace of Tilsit was concluded. From that moment 
 the Cabinet of Vienna resolved to prepare for war by slow and 
 successive operations, which might appear to be merely mea- 
 sures of precaution ; more especially by organizing her armies 
 on better principles, and training all the citizens to arms, by the 
 institution of a militia called Lanchvehr, that they might be in 
 condition to act on the spur of the moment. The ArchduVe 
 Charles, who was appointed Generalissimo, superintended all 
 diese preparations, and succeeded in reviving the courage of the 
 nation. Although these armaments could not escape the notice 
 of the French agents, and although in the course of the year 
 1808, and especially in the beginning of the year 1S09, they 
 had several times asked for explanations on this subject, never- 
 theless. Count Stadion who was at the head of the department 
 for foreign affairs, and Count Metternich the Austrian minister 
 at Paris, dissembled so well, that Bonaparte never dreamt of 
 war till it was on the very point of breaking out. The time 
 chosen for this was wdien the French armies were occupied in 
 Spain and Portugal. 
 
 Reasons — or it may be rather said pretexts — were not want- 
 ing to Austria ; for undoubtedly her true motive was, to raise 
 herself from that state of abasement into which she had sunk. 
 Violations innumerable of the peace of Presburg, the organiz- 
 ing of the Confederation of the Rhine, the compelling her to 
 accede to the Continental System, and the spoliation of the 
 Bourbons in Spain, were causes more than sufhcient to justify 
 her having recourse to arms. The war which Austria under- 
 took in 1809, has been called the war of the fifth coalition. It 
 is true that Great Britain,, Portugal, Spain, and the King of 
 Sicily, were her allies ; but, with the exception of the descent 
 which the English made on Zealand, she had to support alone 
 \he whole burden of the war. On opening the campaign, she 
 made an appeal to the German nation, which was answered by 
 the Kings of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Saxony, by a declara- 
 tion of war. 
 
 The Austrians had divided their forces into three armies ; 
 two hundred and tv/enty thousand men, under the Archduke 
 Charles, were destined to act in Germany ; the Archduke Per- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1S02— 1810. 229 
 
 dinand of Este, willi thirty-six thousand men, was to penetrate 
 tiirough the dutchy of Warsaw into Prussia, where he expectf^d 
 to be joined by the troops of that country. The Archduke 
 John, with eighty thousand men, was to enter Italy. The 
 campaign was opened, on the part of the Austrians, by the in- 
 vasion of Bavaria (April 10, 1809.) Bonaparte at first beat the 
 Archduke Louis and General Hiller, who commanded two divi- 
 sions, at Abensberg (April 20,) and thus cut them off from the 
 grand army under the Archduke Charles. The latter was hira- 
 self defeated at Eckmuhl and Ratisbon, three days after, and 
 effected his retreat along the left bank of the Danube.. Bona- 
 parte then pursued Hiller, Avho was defeated at Ebersberg (May 
 3,) and retired to Krems, on the left bank of the Danube. Vi- 
 enna in consequence was left defenceless, and surrendered by 
 capitulation (May 13.) It was there that Bonaparte passed the 
 Danube, and fought with the Archduke at Eberdsorff, Ar-pern 
 and Essling, two most sanguinary engagements (IMay 21 — 22,) 
 in which the French lost 30,000 men. He then retired to the 
 Isle of Lobau, where his army, cut off from provisions and 
 supplies, passed forty-eight hours in great distress, until they 
 had succeeded in reconstructing the bridges which the floods of 
 the Danube had carried away. In Italy the Archduke John 
 had defeated Eugene Beauharnais, who commanded the French ■ 
 army, at Sa^ile ; but being informed of the defeat at Ratisbon, 
 he commenced his retreat, and was defeated near the Piave 
 (May 8;) after which he retired on the Raab, where he was 
 again defeated (June 14.) Beauharnais then joined the army 
 of Napoleon. The Archduke Ferdinand took possession of 
 Warsaw, and marched as far as Thorn, Vv^here he took from the 
 Prussians one hundred pieces of cannon. But an insurrection 
 which happened in the rear of his army, obliged him to retreat, 
 when the Polish troops took possession of Cracow (July 14.) 
 
 About the beginning of July, Bonaparte passed over to the 
 left bank of the Rhine. The battle of Enzersdorff, where Ber- 
 nadotte and the Saxons distinguished themselves, was bloody, 
 but not decisive : next day (July 6,) the Archduke Charles was 
 defeated at Wagram, and retreated in good order into Moravia. 
 An armistice was then concluded near Znaym (July 12,) on 
 conditions very oppressive for Austria. But the negotiations 
 for peace were long protracted ; as both parties were waiting the 
 result of an expedition which the English had made to Zealand ; 
 and as Austria hoped that Prussia, and perhaps even Russia, 
 would declare in her favour. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Tyrol ; who were very much attached 
 to the House of Austria, from whom they had been separated at 
 
 VOL. II. 20 
 
230 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ihe peace of Presburg, had taken up arms under the conduct ot 
 an innkeeper, named Hoffer. By the armistice of Znaym. Aus- 
 tria was compelled to abandon this brave people, whom the Ba- 
 varians and the French together had great difficulty in reducing 
 (o submission. 
 
 We cannot pass in silence the bold expedition made by the 
 Duke of Brunswick, the son and heir of him who had command- 
 ed at Jena. At the head of a body of volunteers which he had 
 formed in Bohemia, he had entered Saxony when the armistice 
 was concluded. Not being disposed to accede to it, he traversed 
 the dutchy of Brunswick and the whole of Lower Saxony ; beat 
 the Westphalian General Rewbel, who had attempted to stop 
 his march ; and reached the mouth of the Elbe in safety, where 
 he found transports which took him and his army on board, and 
 conveyed them to England. 
 
 An English fleet, commanded by Sir Richard Strachan, with 
 thirty-eight thousand troops, under the command of the Earl of 
 Chatham, the brother of Mr. Pitt, was despatched to Zealand, 
 with the intent of destroying the shipping, dockyards, and arse- 
 nals at Antwerp and Flushing, and for occupying the Island of 
 Walcheren. They landed in that Island (July 30,) of which 
 they took possession, and made themselves masters of Flushing, 
 after a siege of fifteen days. But Lord Chatham found it im- 
 possible to execute his commission with regard to Antwerp, on 
 account of the activity of Marshal Bernadotte, who had formed 
 there an army of 35,000 men. The whole expedition was badly 
 conducted, and in about four months Lord Chatham returned to 
 England. The English destroyed the fortifications of Flushing, 
 which they were unable to retain. 
 
 Russia, as the ally of France, likewise took part in this war. 
 A body of troops, commanded by Prince Galitzin, had entered 
 into Galicia ; but it was merely a display, by which Alexander 
 meant to fulfil an engagement that he had contracted with re- 
 luctance. The peace betv/een Austria and France was signed 
 at Schoenbrunn (Oct. 14, 1S09,) which regulated the territorial 
 cessions made by the former to Bonaparte, the King of Saxony 
 and the Emperor of Russia. The very day on which the peace 
 was signed, Bonaparte united the territories which had been 
 ceded to him directly into a single State, under the name of the 
 lllyrian ProviJices, which he governed on his own separate ac- 
 count, without annexing them to France. 
 
 A decree of the Senate, of the 2d March 1809, erected the 
 government general of the Tuscan departments into a grand 
 Jignity of the Empire, to be conferred on a Princess of the Im- 
 perial blood, under the title of Grand Dutchess. This lady was 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 231 
 
 Madam Eliza Bacciochi, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, who 
 was next day decorated with the Arch-ducal title. On the same 
 day, Napoleon ceded the Grand Dutchy of Berg to his nephew, 
 the son of the King of Holland ; taking the government on him- 
 self during the minority of that child. 
 
 No outrage had been able to overcome the perseverance cf 
 Pius VII. Bonaparte published a decree at Schoenbrunn (May 
 17,) by which the States of the Pope were annexed to the French 
 Empire, and the city of Rome declared a free Imperial city. 
 The union of the States did take place ; but Rome had no ap- 
 pearance of a free city. When the decree was put in execution 
 (June 11,) the Pope published a Bull of excommunication against 
 Bonaparte and his adherents, counsellors, and coadjutors. From 
 that moment the venerable captive was more closely imprisoned. 
 On the night of the 5th of July, he was forcibly removed from 
 Rome by order of Napoleon, and transferred to Grenoble, and 
 thence to Savona, u'here he was detained three years under 
 rigorous supervision. 
 
 The year 1809 proved disastrous for the French arms by sea. 
 The captain of an English vessel, and Marques, a Portuguese 
 colonel, took possession of the Island of Cayenne and French 
 Guiana (Jan. 12.) Lieutenant-General Beckwith and Rear-Ad- 
 miral Cochrane took Martinico by capitulation (Feb. 12.) Ad- 
 miral Gambler and Lord Cochrane^ destroyed a French fleet, 
 commanded by the Vice-Admirals Villaumez and L'Allemand 
 (April 11,) in Basque Roads, by means of Congreve rockets. 
 The French fort of Senegal fell into the hands of the English in 
 the m^onth of June following. General Carmichael, and a body 
 of Spaniards who had arrived from Portorico, expelled the French 
 from St. Domingo (July 7.) Admiral Collingwood and General 
 Oswald took possession of the Ionian Islands (Oct. 8.) 
 
 Bonaparte had now arrived at the summit of his grandeur, 
 but Providence had denied him a family by his wife Josephine 
 Tascher de la Pagerie. With the consent of both parties, a de- 
 cree of the Senate pronounced the dissolution of that marriage 
 (Dec. 16 ;) which the ecclesiastical court of Paris confirmed. 
 Another decree of the Senate (Feb. 17, 1810,) conferred on the 
 eldest son of the French Emperor the title of King of Rome ; 
 and ordained, that the Emperor of the French should be crowned 
 a second time at Rome within the ten first years of his reign. 
 Bonaparte soon after (April 1.) espoused the Arch-dutchess Ma- 
 ria Louisa, eldest daughter of the Emperor of Austria. 
 
 By a treaty of peace concluded at Paris, between Bonaparte 
 and Charles XIII. of Sweden, this latter prince regained posses- 
 sion of Swedish Pomerania on condition of acceding to the Con- 
 
232 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 tinental system, though under certain modifications. Had Charles 
 executed this engagement, his kingdom would have been rained 
 beyond resource. The part of the Hanoverian States belonging 
 to the King of England which Bonaparte had still reserved in 
 his own possession, was ceded by a treaty concluded at Paris 
 (Jan. 14,) to his brother Jerome, to be incorporated with the 
 kingdom of Westphalia. Besides the dutchy of Lauenberg, 
 Bonaparte reserved to himself a landed revenue of four millions 
 five hundred and fifty-nine thousand francs, for bestowing in 
 legacies and endowments. 
 
 Louis Bonaparte had reluctantly accepted the crown of Hol- 
 land ; but from the moment he had placed it on his head, he de- 
 voted himself to the interests of the country ; and resisted, as 
 far as prudence would allow, the arbitrary orders of his brother, 
 when he judged them prejudicial to the welfare of HoUmd. 
 This gave rise to frequent broils, accompanied sometimes with 
 threats. Bonaparte reproached the Dutch Government, more 
 especially for not earnestly and rigorously enforcing the Con- 
 tinental system, so pernicious to their commerce. At the be- 
 ginning of the year ISIO, things had come to such a state, that 
 it was expected Napoleon would cancel the kingdom of Holland 
 from the list of European States. To avert this calamity, Louis 
 signed a treaty at Paris (March 16,) by which a body of 12.000 
 Dutch and 6000 French were to be stationed at the mouths ot 
 all the rivers, to protect the French revenue-officers who were 
 superintending the execution of Bonaparte's orders. Louis 
 ceded to him Dutch Brabant, Zealand, and a part of Gueldres. 
 of which the Waal was henceforth tc form the frontier. In vain 
 did that excellent man hope, by so Treat a sacrifice, to repur- 
 chase the independence of his kingdoiD. Under pretext of cer- 
 tain insults which the French agents had received at the hands 
 of this exasperated people, Bonaparte sent a French army to 
 occupy the whole country. Then Louis resigned a crown 
 which he could no longer wear with honour ; he abdicated in 
 favour of his son (July 3.) But Napoleon, indignant at a mea- 
 sure on which he had not been consulted, annexed the kingdom 
 of Holland to the French Empire, by a decree dated at Ram- 
 bouillet (July 9.) 
 
 Some months afterwards, the Republic of Valais, which, since 
 the year 1S02, had formed an independent State, was united to 
 the French Empire by a decree of Bonaparte (Nov. 12.) But 
 the most important of his usurpations in 1810, and that which 
 was instrumental in working his downfall, wus the union of the 
 Hanseatic countries situated on the coasts of the North Sea, viz. 
 certain districts of Westphali-",, and the Grand Dutchy of Berg 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802— 18 JO. 233 
 
 some possessions of the princes of Salm-Salm, and Salm-Kyr- 
 burg; part of the dutchy of Oldenburg, the free cities of Bremen 
 U'^d Hamburg, as well as the city of Lubec and the dutchy of 
 Lauenburg. By a decree of the Senate (Dec. 13,) these places 
 were declared united to France ; the necessity of which Bona- 
 ptiite had stated in a message addressed to these pliant and sub- 
 tniss^ve bodies. 
 
 France still retained possession of Guadaloupe, the Isle of 
 Bourbon, and the Mauritius. The year 1810, in which the 
 greatness of Bonaparte in Europe reached its summit, deprived 
 him of these possessions. General Beckwith and Admiral 
 Cochrane, attacked and seized Guadaloupe. An expedition 
 sent by Lord Minto, the English Governor-General in India, 
 and a thousand men from the Cape, reduced the Isle of Bour- 
 bon (July 7,) and that of the Mauritius some months after. 
 
 It will now be necessary to point out some of the modifica- 
 tions which the Continental system underwent. The English 
 had shown some disposition to put an end to that unnatural state 
 of commerce which preceding measures had established. They 
 first modified the Orders of 1807 regarding America; so that 
 the Americans were permitted, under certain conditions, to carry 
 on trade in all ports subject to French influence, which were 
 not actually under blockade ; and the law of blockade was even 
 restricted to the ports of Holland and France, and those of the 
 northern part of Italy, between Pesaro and Orbitello. The 
 clause in the decree of 11th November, relative to the payment 
 of a compulsory duty in England, was abolished. 
 
 A now era in the Continental system began with a decree of 
 Bonaparte (Aug. 7,) known by the name of The Decree or Tarif 
 of Trianon. A second, by way of supplement, was issued 
 from St. Cloud (Sept. 12.) Making a distinction between the 
 trade and the produce of the colonies ; and availing himself oj 
 the universal custom which had rendered the latter among the 
 necessaries of life, he resolved to take advantage of this cir- 
 cumstance to replenish his treasury, by permitting their impor- 
 tation on paying an ad valorem duty of 50 per cent. A third 
 decree, signed at Fontainbleau, ordered all English merchandise, 
 found in France or her dependencies, to be seized and burnt. 
 At that time, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, were 
 covered with bonfires, which destroyed the property of native 
 merchants, and opened a new prospect for English manufactures 
 one da,y to replace the articles that were thus wantonly consumed. 
 
 We shall now give a short outlitie of the most remarkable 
 events that took place in the rest of Europe, during this period 
 of French preponderance. 
 
 VOL. 11. 20^ 
 
234 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 For more than six years Portugal, by means of the pecuniary 
 sacrifices which she had made to the French crown, had main- 
 tamed her noutrahty between France and England. But as she 
 had betrayed her predilection for England during the Prussian 
 war, her ruin was determined on ; and as she could no longe-: 
 conceal from herself the danger of her position, the Prince Re- 
 gent entered inco a strict alliance with Great Britain, by a con- 
 vention signed at London (Oct. 22, 1807.) General Junot had 
 taken possession of the country after the Royal family had em- 
 barked for Brazil ; and solemnly declared, that the House of 
 Braganza had ceased to reign in Europe (Feb. 1, 1808.) Fol- 
 lowing the example of the Spaniards, the Portuguese soon shook 
 off the yoke of the oppressor. The city of Oporto gave the first 
 signal of insurrection (June 6;) an English army, commanded 
 by Sir Arthur Wellesley, landed in Mondego Bay (July 31,) and 
 defeated Junot at Vimeiro (Aug. 21.) The French General, 
 whose army Vv^as reduced to a most distressing state, obtained 
 from General Dalrymple, who had taken the command of the 
 English troops, a capitulation on very honourable terms, which 
 was concluded at Cintra (Aug. 30.) Junot, and his troops, were 
 conveyed to France in English vessels. 
 
 The Russian Admiral Siniawin was not so fortunate. He 
 was then lying in the Tagus with a fleet of nine ships of the 
 line, and a frigate, which had been employed in the war against 
 the Turks in the Archipelago, and found himself under the ne- 
 cessity of surrendering his fleet to Sir Charles Cotton the Eng- 
 lish Admiral (Sept. 3,) which was not to be restored to the Em.- 
 peror until the conclusion of a pacific treaty between Russia and 
 Great Britain. The convention of Cintra, of which the true 
 circumstances are not well known, excited so great a discontent 
 in England, that Sir Heu Dalrymple and Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 were called home, that an investigation might be made into this 
 unpopular measure. 
 
 During their absence, and after the affair of Corunna, Soult 
 received orders to attempt the conquest of Portugal, where there 
 were not more than 8000 English troops, under the command of 
 General Craddock, and an army of the natives. At the head of 
 23,000 men he marched towards Chaves, and took possession of 
 that place (March 7,) which is one of the frontier fortresses of 
 the kingdom. But on his arrival at Oporto he encountered the 
 Portuguese army, who for three days disputed with him the 
 possession of the place. Here he remamed a full month before 
 he durst proceed on his march. Meantime General Wellesley 
 had landed at Lisbon with a new English army. He manosu- 
 vred so well that by the end of May, Soult was obliged to retire 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 235 
 
 into Galicia, with the loss of his artillery and baggage. Nex« 
 year the French sent a third expedition to Portugal, but as this 
 belongs more properly to the war in Spain, we shall take of'ca- 
 sien to notice it afterwards. After the retreat of Souk, the Por- 
 tuguese acted a considerable part in the liberation of Europe 
 Gereral Wellesley, who was intrusted with very extensive 
 powers, organized their army, and augmented it to 40,000 m^^n, 
 with the assistance of 600,600Z. Sterling, which England lur- 
 nished for that purpose. 
 
 The connexion between Great Britain and Portugal, became 
 stiH more intimate by the treaty of alliance which was conclu- 
 ded at Rio Janeiro (Feb. 19, 1811.) George III. there promised 
 never to recognise any King of Portugal but the heir and legiti- 
 mate representative of the House of Braganza. The Regerxt 
 granted Britain the right of building ships of war in Brazil, and 
 of supplying themselves with timber for the purpose from the 
 forests of that country ; and by abrogatmg certain former stipu- 
 lations, he agreed to receive into his ports as many British ves- 
 sels as chose to enter. The Regent likewise promised to co- 
 operate with England for the abolition of the Slave Trade ; and 
 this is the first example of a stipulation of the kind. Together 
 with this treaty there was also concluded a treaty of commerce. 
 Towards the end of 1810 Portugal became the theatre of war, 
 as we shall observe when we come to speak of Spain. 
 
 Charles IV. King of Spain, had flattered himself that by sub- 
 mitting to the payment of subsidies to France, according to the 
 treaty of October 30, 1803, he would be exempted from the ne- 
 cessity of taking part in the war which had broken out between 
 Bonaparte and England ; and it was on the faith of this that 
 the latter power had commenced hostilities. Four Spanish 
 ships returning to Europe, loaded with treasures and valuable 
 merchandise from South America, were seized off Cape St. 
 Mary (Oct. 5, 1804,) by an Enghsh squadron. After that act 
 of hostility, which, but for the negotiation that had preceded it, 
 might have been regarded as a violation of the law of nations, 
 Charles IV. declared war against England (Dec. 12 ;) and the 
 following year he had the mortification to see his marine totally 
 destroyed by the battle of Trafalgar, which Admiral Nelson 
 gained over the combined fleets of Gravina and Villeneuve. 
 
 In 1806 the English made an attempt to get possession of the 
 Spanish colony of Buenos Ayres. The expedition sailed from 
 St. Helena under the command of Admiral Sir Home Popham. 
 The troops were commanded by General Beresford. Buenos 
 Ayres capitulated on the 2d July; there the English found nu- 
 merous treasures which were transported to Europe ; but an 
 
236 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 :nsunection of the inhabitants, headed by a Spaniard named 
 Peeridon, and Liniers a native of France, obliged General Beres- 
 ^ord to surrender himself and his troops prisoners of war (Aug-. 
 12. \ Admiral Popham took possession of Maldonado (Oct. 29,) 
 wfiere he remained in expectation of the supplies which he ex- 
 pected to come from England. General Auchmuty landed ai 
 Maldonado in the beginning of the following year, and took che 
 town of Monte Video by assauU (Feb. 2.) New reinforcements 
 having arrived from England, General Whitelocke again attack- 
 ed Buenos Ayres, and penetrated into the town (July 5 ;) but 
 Liniers, at the head of the Spaniards, made so able a defence, 
 that the English General signed a capitulation, by which he ob- 
 tained the restitution of all British prisoners ; and the English 
 promised to evacuate Monte Video within the space of two 
 months. 
 
 Charles IV. and his minister, during the war with Prussia, 
 had shown a desire to shake off the yoke of Bonaparte. By 
 signing at Fontainbleau the partition of Portugal, they opened 
 a way for the French armies into Spain, who took possession of 
 St. Sebastian, Pampeluna, Figueras, and Barcelona ; and were 
 even masters of Madrid while one part of the Spanish army 
 were occupied in Portugal, and the other in Denmark. The con- 
 sequences of these imprudences were, the overturning of Spain, 
 and the dethronement of the House of Bourbon, as we have 
 noticed above. 
 
 When the Spaniards rose in rebellion against the royal intru- 
 der, they formed themselves into Juntas, or directorial commit- 
 tees, in every province. That of Seville, which was composed 
 of enterprising men, took the lead in the insurrection, declared 
 war against Bonaparte in the name of Ferdinand VII., and con- 
 cluded an armistice with England. Their authority was not 
 acknowledged by the Provincial Juntas, each of which had set 
 on foot an army of their own. All these armies engaged the 
 French troops wherever they met them, and were very often 
 vanquished. The insurrection did not come to a head till after 
 the battle of Baylen (July 20, 1808,) where 14,000 French 
 troops, under Generals Dupont and Vidal, laid down their arms. 
 Castanos, to whom this success was ov/ing, was then appointed 
 Generalissimo ; and the Junta organized a Regency, at the head 
 of which they placed the old Cardinal de Bourbon. There were 
 two other events which greatly encouraged the Spaniards; the 
 one was the expulsion of Le Febvre from Saragossa by General 
 Palafox, and the other the arrival of the Marquis de la Romana 
 at Corunna with 7000 men, who had been conveyed to the is- 
 land of Funen for invading Sweden, but had embarked, m spite 
 of the French, to come to the assistance of their country 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 237 
 
 Joseph Bonaparte having abandoned Madrid and retired to 
 Burgos (Aug. 1,) a Central Junta was established at Aranjuez. 
 This Junta raised three armies : that of the North, under Blake 
 and Komana ; that of the Centre, under Castanos ; and tliat of 
 Arragon, under Palafox. Immediately after the interview at 
 Erfurt, Bonaparte placed himself at the head of his army, which 
 had been increased to 180,000 men ; and after gaining several 
 advantages over the enemy, he sent back his brother Joseph to 
 Madrid. Meantime, two divisions of the English army having 
 arrived, the one from Lisbon, and the other from Corunna, they 
 formed a junction in the province of Leon, under the command 
 of Sir John Moore. Bonaparte marched against them, but they 
 thought it prudent to retire. Having arrived at Astorga,he re- 
 ceived intelligence of the preparations of the Austrians, when 
 he set out for Paris, leaving the command of the army to Soult, 
 who obliged the English to embark at Corunna, after a severe 
 engagement in which Sir John Moore lost his life. A treat}^ of 
 peace and alliance was signed at London between England and 
 the Supreme Junta, acting in the name of Ferdinand VII. (Jan. 
 14, 1809.) England sent into Portugal a new army, under the 
 command of Sir A. Wellesley. The second siege of Saragossa, 
 which was undertaken first by Junot, and continued by Lannes, 
 was one of the most extraordinary events in modern war. The 
 garrison, commanded b}^ Palafox, and the inhabitants of the place 
 who were completely devoted to him, perform-od prodigies of 
 valour. When the French took the city (Feb. 21,) it presented 
 nothing but a mass of ruins. It was calculated that above 100,000 
 men perished in that siege. 
 
 Marshal Victor defeated Cuesta at Medellin (March 28,) and 
 Suchet defeated General Blake at Belchite (June 16 :) but Soult, 
 who had penetrated into Portugal, was repulsed by Wellesley^ 
 who fought the bloody battle of Talavera with Marshals Jourdan 
 and Victor, which turned to the disadvantage of the French. 
 The misconduct of the army of Cuesta, which had been con- 
 joined with that of Wellesley in this battle, determined the latter 
 henceforth to carry on a defensive war with the English and 
 Portuguese alone ; and to leave to the Spaniards the care of 
 occupying the French, by harassing their troops incessantly, 
 destroying their convoys and magazines, and surprising their 
 entrenchments. The battle of Ocana (Nov. 19,) which Cuesta 
 fought with General Mortier and lost, was the last pitched bat- 
 tle which the Spaniards fought. From that time they confined 
 themselves to a Guerilla warfare, by which they did infinite 
 damage to the enemy. 
 
 In 1809, the Central Junta retired to Seville. Towards the 
 
238 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 end of the year, they were replaced by an Executive Directory 
 of nine members ; and next year these were superseded in their 
 turn by a Regency of five members, which was established at 
 Cadiz. An assembly of the Cortes was summoned to meet 
 there, the members of which were nominated, not by the clergy, 
 the nobility, and the cities, which composed the legitimate States 
 of Spain, but by the great body of the inhabitants. That assem- 
 bly, who could do no more for the defence of their country, em- 
 ployed themselves in establishing a democratic constitution in 
 Spain, destroying by degrees all the institutions of the monarchy. 
 
 Soult, who was commander-in-chief of the army of the South, 
 conquered the Vv^iole of Andalusia in 1810, with the exception 
 of Cadiz, which Victor had in vain attempted to besiege. The 
 principal efforts of the French were then turned towards Portu- 
 gal ; and on this occasion Massena was ordered to undertake 
 the reduction of that country, at the head of 70,000 men. Junot 
 laid siege to Ciudad Rodrigo, which surrendered after a vigorous 
 defence (July 10.) Almeida was likewise obliged to capitulate 
 a few weeks after (August 27.) These conquests were made, 
 without any apparent wish on the part of the English commander, 
 recently created Lord Wellington, to prevent them. He had 
 then begun to carry into execution the plan of defensive warfare 
 which he had conceived after the battle of Talavera. In the 
 spring he was stationed on the Coa, and began to retreat after 
 the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo ; nor did he stop till he had reached 
 Torres Vedras. Four months were employed in effecting this 
 slow retrograde march. Massena followed him every step, suf- 
 fering from continual fatigue and daily skirmishes ; and strug- 
 gling against famine, as the English army had destroyed every 
 thing that lay in their way. Towards the end of October, Lord 
 Wellington took up an impregnable position, where for four 
 months the French General found all his manoeuvres unsuccess- 
 ful. Lord Wellington took advantage of this interval to secure 
 considerable reinforcements which arrived from Lisbon. He was 
 thus prepared to fall upon his adversary, when the impossibility 
 of subsisting longer in an exhausted country should at length 
 compel him to retreat. 
 
 When giving a summary of the history of France, we spoke 
 of the renewal of hostilities between Bonaparte and Great Britain 
 in 1803, as well as of the part which the latter took in the Con- 
 tinental wars of 1805, 1807, and 1809. The efforts which she 
 had made to support these expenses, added a frightful increase 
 to her national debt ; but the constantly increasing progress of 
 her commerce furnished her with the means of meeting this 
 ©noimous expenditure. In vain had Bonanarte expected to ruin 
 
TERior IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 239 
 
 .^he mdustry of England by the Continental system. In the 
 Fiench, Spanish, and Dutch colonies which she conquered, she 
 fo^ind new channels to supply the place of those which were 
 shut ago.inst her on the Continent of Europe. The Empire of 
 the sea still remained in the possession of the British ; and. in 
 1807, they annihilated the marine of Denmark, the only king- 
 dom which then retained any maritime power. But of ihis cir- 
 cumstance we shall speak hereafter. 
 
 The year 1806 is remarkable for the abolition of the slave 
 trade in the English colonies. Since 1785, the Blacks had found 
 zealous advocates in the British Parliament, amongst whom Fox, 
 Wiiberforce, and Pitt, were the most distinguished. But the 
 British Government, too sagacious to enter precipitately into a 
 measure which might endanger the fortune of the planters, and 
 even the tranquillity of the colonies, wished first to consult ex- 
 perience on the subject, and to leave the proprietors time to pre- 
 pare themselves for a different order of things. For twenty 
 years they had refused to adopt the bill which Mr. Wiiberforce 
 regularly laid before the Parliament, to demand restrictive laws 
 against the trade. It was not until Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville 
 entered into the ministry, that this question occupied their serious 
 deliberations. An Act of Parliament, ratified by the King (May 
 16, 1806,) forbade the exportation of slaves from the English 
 colonies, and conveying them into foreign colonies. A Bill of 
 the 6th February 1807, which was ratified by the King on the 
 17th March following, enacted, that the slave trade should ac- 
 tually cease from the date of May 1st ensuing ; providing, how- 
 ever, that vessels already departed on the trade should be allowed 
 to import slaves into the West Indies until the 1st January 1808. 
 
 Of all the countries which were brought under the yoke of 
 Napoleon, the most unfortunate without dispute was Holland. 
 Her commerce, the only resource of her numerous inhabitants, 
 was annihilated by the Continental system ; her finances were 
 in such a state of disorder, that, in spite of all their economy, 
 the annual deficit was regularly about twenty millions of flo- 
 rins : her inhabitants were harassed as much by the soldiers of 
 Bonaparte as by his revenue officers ; and as if nature, in con- 
 cert with political oppression, had conspired her ruin, her soil 
 was laid waste, and her industry destroyed by periodical inun 
 dations, fires, and other calamities. Such is the picture which 
 that wretched country presented up to the moment when Bona- 
 parte extinguished the feeble remains of independence which it 
 enjoyed. After various alterations, that Republic obtained a 
 constitution similar to that which had existed in France since 
 1804. M. Schimmelpennink was placed at the head of the go 
 
240 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 veinment (April 1S05,) under the title of Grand Pensionary. 
 and vested with such powers as the last Stadtholders had never 
 exercised, even after the revolution of 1788. We have already 
 observed how this power, together with the Royal title, were 
 rendered hereditary in favour of Louis Bonaparte ; and how 
 the Dutch monarchy vanished at the fiat of Napoleon. 
 
 Switzerland, with the exception of some partial commotions 
 which are scarcely worthy of remark, had remained tranquil 
 under the system of government which Bonaparte had pre- 
 scribed in the act of mediation (Feb. 19, 1803.) The Conti- 
 nental System, and the prohibition laid on the greater part ot 
 Swiss commodities in France, paralyzed their industry and 
 their commerce ; and caused many of the inhabitants to emi- 
 grate, who for the most part directed their course towards North 
 America. A treaty which General Ney had signed at Friburg 
 (Sept. 27,) regulated the connections between France and the 
 Helvetic Confederation, in a manner more advantageous for that 
 country than in the time of the Director3\ Bonaparte was sa- 
 tisfied with a defensive alliance ; but the Swiss agreed to im- 
 port from the mines of France their stock of salt, vvdiich they 
 had till then been in the habit of receiving partl}^ from Bavaria. 
 This stock amounted to two hundred thousand quintals per an- 
 num ; apd the revenue which France derived from furnishing 
 this article, was sufficient to support more than 20,000 troops. 
 At the same time a military capitulation was signed, by which 
 Bonaparte took into his service sixteen thousand Swiss volun- 
 teers. It must appear astonishing, that in this nation of war- 
 riors, a sufficient number could not be found to make up the 
 complement of 16,000 men. The incomplete state of the Swiss 
 regiments was a subject of perpetual complaint with Bonaparte. 
 
 Tlie number of the Italian States had been perpetually di- 
 minishing ; and about the time of which we now speak, that 
 peninsula was entirety subjected to the influence of Bonaparte, 
 and divided nominally between France, Naples, and the kingdom 
 of Italy ; excepting the smiall Republic of St. Marino, which 
 preserved its independence in the midst of the general convulsion. 
 The Italian Republic, which since the year 1805 had borne the 
 title of the kingdom of Italy, was oppressed by the enormous 
 load of contributions which were exacted for the support of the 
 French troops, as well as by payments for the civil list of the 
 King and his viceroy. That country submitted with great im- 
 patience to the law of ihe military conscription, which was con- 
 •irary to the feelings and customs of the inhabitants. It obtained 
 considerable aggrandizements after the peace of Presburg by 
 .he union of the Venetian provinces in 1807, and by that of the 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 24a 
 
 four provinces of the Ecclesiastical States ; but these accessions 
 made no addition to its happiness. Eugene Beauharnais, dig- 
 nified with the title of Prince of Venice, was proclaimed heir 
 to the throne of Italy, failing the male descendants of Bonaparte. 
 
 The kingdom of Naples was overthrown about the beginning 
 of 1806. Ferdinand IV., had retired to Sicily, and Joseph Bo- 
 naparte was put in his place ; but he had occupied that unstable 
 throne only two years, when he exchanged it for another still 
 more insecure. Bat before surrendering the kingdom of Naples 
 to Joachim Murat who was appointed his successor (June 28, 
 1808,) he wished to immortalize his nam -, by giving a new con- 
 stitution to that kingdom, which was guaranteed by Bonaparte. 
 The attempts which Murat made to conquer Sicily proved 
 abortive. 
 
 Germany had experienced two complete revolutions in course 
 of the nine years of which we have given a short summary 
 The constitution of the Germanic Empire was changed in se- 
 veral essential respects by the Resolutions of the Deputation of 
 Ratisbon. Of all the ecclesiastical princes that belonged to the 
 Germanic body, one only was retained, viz. the Elector, Arch- 
 Chancellor, who took the place of the ancient Elector of May- 
 ence ; the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, was secu- 
 larized. The territories of the rest, as well as the revenues of 
 all ecclesiastical endowments, mediate or immediate, were em- 
 ployed either to indemnify the hereditary princes who had lost 
 the whole or a part of their estates on the left bank of the Rhine, 
 or to aggrandize those whom the policy of Bonaparte chose 
 to favour. In place of the two Ecclesiastical Electors who 
 were suppressed, four lay Electors were appointed, one of w^hom 
 only was a Catholic, that of Saltzburg, who had formerly been 
 the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and three were Protestants, those 
 of Wurtemberg; Baden, and Hesse-Cassel. 
 
 The House of Orange obtained the bishopric of Fulda and 
 other territories ; Brisgau and Ortenau were ceded to the Duke of 
 Modena, who left them at his death to hi.s son-in-law the Arch- 
 duke Ferdinand. The relation between the two religions was 
 still more unequal in the College of Princes, where the Pro- 
 testants had acquired so great a superiority that the head of the 
 Empire refused to ratify that article of the Resolutions. The 
 free cities were reduced to six, viz. Augsburg, Lubec, Nurem- 
 berg^ Frankfort, Bremen, and Hamburg. The immediate nobi- 
 lity were retained ; but those of them wdio were entitled to 
 indemnity were disappointed, as nothing remained to be distri- 
 buted. In place of the existing duties payable on the Rhine, 
 a rate of navigation was established, the proceeds of which 
 
 VOL. II. 21 
 
242 - CHAPTER XL 
 
 were to be divided between France and Germany ; a part of the 
 endowment of the Arch-Chancellor v/as founded on that revenue. 
 
 The execution of the Kesoliitions of the Deputation, gave rise 
 to several conventions among the States of the Empire, as well 
 as to a great variety of claims. So many difficulties had arisen 
 on this occasion, especially from the refusal of the Emperor to 
 sanction the Resolution, without certain modifications, that the 
 Empire was abolished before this new fundamental law could 
 be carried into practice in all its bearings. The peace of Pres- 
 burg had created two new Kings in the centre of Germany, 
 namel)", the Electors of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, who had as- 
 sumed that dignity. These two princes, with the Elector of 
 Baden, were declared sovereigns, and obtained territorial addi- 
 tions at the expense of Austria, the Knights of St. John of Jeru- 
 salem, and the city of Augsburg. The King of Bavaria annex- 
 ed that free city to his Estates. The Elector of Saltzburg ex- 
 changed all that the Resolutions of the Imperial Deputation had 
 given him for the principality of Wurtzburg which was taken 
 from the King of Bavaria, to which the Electoral title was 
 transferred. The Grand Mastership of the Teutonic Knights 
 was secularized in favour of a prince of the House of Austria. 
 The heir of the Duke of Modena lost Brisgau, and Ortenau, 
 which fell to the Elector of Baden. 
 
 The annihilation of the German Empire, the germ of which 
 is to be found in that treaty, was effected by the Confederation 
 of the Rhine, which the Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, the 
 Arch-Chancellor, the Elector of Baden, the Dukes of Cleves and 
 Berg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Princes of Hohen- 
 zollern, Salm, Isemburg, Lichtenstein and Aremberg, and Count 
 Leyen, concluded with Bonaparte (July 6, 1806,) who was 
 named Protector of the League, as they announced in their de- 
 clarations to the Diet. The act by which the Emperor Francis 
 II. abdicated the crown of Germany (Aug. 6,) completed the dis- 
 solution of the Germanic body. The princes who had joined 
 that confederation usurped the sovereignty, instead of the mere 
 superiority which they had formerly enjoyed under the authori- 
 ty of the Empire. By overthrowing the barriers which the laws 
 and institutions of the country, the most ancient customs, and 
 conventions, had opposed to the encroachments of absolute 
 power, they set a fatal example of trampling under foot the well 
 acquired rights of their people. They carried their injustice 
 still farther. They usurped dominion over the princes, pro- 
 vinces, and cities, their associates and coequals, who were un- 
 fortunately placed in their neighbourhood; and who had not 
 been apprized in time that they might repair to Paris, in order 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802— ISIO. 24? 
 
 to co-operate in that transaction, or counteract the intrigues by 
 which it was accomplished. 
 
 The Elector Arch-Chancellor then assumed the dignity of 
 Prince Primate ; the Elector of Baden, the Dukes of Berg and 
 Cleves, and the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt took the title of 
 Grand Dukes ; to which the act of the 12th July attached the 
 prerogatives of the royal dignity. The head of the house of 
 Nassau took the dignity of Duke, and Count Leyen that of 
 Prince. A federal Diet, divided into two chambers, was to de- 
 liberate on the general interests of the union ; but that assembly 
 never met. Of the six free cities which the Deputation had 
 preserved, the King of Bavaria had Augsburg adjudged to him 
 by the peace of Presburg ; he afterwards obtained Nuremberg 
 by an act of the Confederation. Frankfort fell to the share of 
 the Prince Primate ; so that there remained only three of the 
 Hanseatic towns. 
 
 Several other princes entered successively into the Confedera- 
 tion of the Rhine ; but none of these accessions were voluntary. 
 They all took place in consequence of the w^ar with Prussia, 
 which broke out in October 1806. These princes, taken accord- 
 ing to the order of accession, were the following : — The Elector 
 of Wurtzburg, the old Elector of Saltzburg, who took the grand 
 ducal title, the King of Saxony, the Dakes of Saxony, the Houses 
 of Anhalt and Schwartzburg, the Prince of Waldeck, the Houses 
 of Lippe and Reuss, the King of Westphalia, the House of 
 Mecklenburg, and the Duke of Oldenburg. Thus all Germany, 
 with a few exceptions, entered in succession into that Confede- 
 ration. 
 
 Several other changes occurred in the Rhenish Confedera- 
 tion, especially after the peace of Schoenbrunn. The grand 
 dutchy of Berg received considerable accessions. The kingdom 
 of Westphalia was augmented in 1810, by the union of the States 
 of the King of England in Germany, with the exception of the 
 dutchy of Lunenburg, as has been already mentioned. Within 
 a short time after he had disposed of the territory of Hanover, 
 Bonaparte formed the grand dutdiy of Frankfort, by adding the 
 district of Fuida, and the greater part of the county of Hanau, 
 to the possessions of the Prince Primate ; with the deduction of 
 the principality of Ratisbon, on condition that after the death of 
 the Prince Primate, vv'ho had assumed the title of the Grand 
 Duke of Frankfort, these territories should pass to Eugene Beau- 
 harnais and his male descendants ; and failing these, they should 
 revert lo the Crown of France. The Grand Duke ceded to 
 Napoleon the principality of Ratisbon, and his moiety of the 
 navigation-dues on the Rhine. 
 
244 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The F ' ctor of Bavaria had lost by the peace of Luneville 
 that pare J the Palatinate situated on the left bank of the Rhine, 
 with the dutchy of Deux-ponts. The Deputation of 1S03 de- 
 prived him of the rest of the Palatinate ; but that act amply 
 compensated him, by making- over to him the bishoprics of 
 Bamberg, Wurtzburg, Freisingen, Passau, and Augsburg, witli 
 several abbeys and free citie?. By the peace of Presburg, Bo- 
 naparte took Wurtzburg from him ; but he gave him in lieu of 
 it a considerable part of the spoils of Austria, especially the 
 county of Tyrol, which contained more than 700,000 inhabitants. 
 To recompense that monarch for the zeal which he had displayed 
 1809, Bonaparte put him in possession of the principalities of 
 Baireuth and Ratisbon, the dutchy of Saltzburg, with Berch- 
 tolsgaden, and the part of Lower Austria which the Emperor 
 had renounced by the peace of Schoenbrunn. In return, the 
 King of Bavaria ceded back a part of the Tyrol, containing about 
 305,000 souls, which was annexed either to the kingdom of 
 Italy or the Illyrian provinces. 
 
 By the peace of Luneville, the Austrian monarchy had lost, 
 in point of extent and population ; but she had gained an addi- 
 tion of six millions of francs to her revenue. The government 
 had to struggle incessantly against the ruinous state of the ex- 
 chequer, and the over-circulation of paper money. Neither loans 
 nor economy could recover them. The embarrassed state of his 
 finances was still more increased by the disastrous war of 1805. 
 The peace of Presburg cost the Emperor the States that formerly 
 belonged to the Venetians, the Tyrol, and all the possessions of 
 his House in Swabia. He acquired nothing by that treaty, ex- 
 cept the dutchy of Saltzburg and Berchtolsgaden. His losses 
 amounted to more than a thousand German square miles of ter- 
 ritor}'-, and nearly three millions of subjects. The following 
 year (Aug. 6, 1806,) he voluntarily laid aside the Imperial crown 
 of Germany, adopting instead, the hereditary Imperial crown of 
 Austria, with the name of Francis I. Besides Saltsburg and 
 Berchtolsgaden, the ci-devant Grand Duke of Tuscany lost also 
 Passau and Eichstett ; but he ob'.ained the principality of Wurtz- 
 burg. The Archduke Ferdinand was deprived of Brisgau and 
 Ortenau. 
 
 At the commencement of the year 1807, Austria had made 
 warlike preparations which indicated that, but for the precipi- 
 tancy with which the peace of Tilsit had been concluded, she 
 would have made a powerful diversion on the rear of the French 
 army. It was not till the convention of Fontainbleau that she 
 obtained the restitution of Braunau, which, had remained in the 
 possession of the French, and which she purchased by new ter- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1S02— 1810. 245 
 
 ritorial losses on the side of Italy ; from that moment the Arch- 
 duke Charles made great exertions for re-organizing the army, 
 introducing a new order and a better discipline, forming bodies 
 of militia, and repairing fortresses. He continued to inspire the 
 nation with an enthusiasm which it had never before displayed. 
 Many wealthy individuals made large pecuniary sacrifices for 
 the service of their country. 
 
 The peace of Schoenbrunn, which terminated the war of 1S09, 
 brought Austria down to the rank of the third Continental 
 power. That monarch}^ comprehended a surface of 9471 Ger- 
 man square miles, and a population of twenty-one millions ; but 
 her commerce was annihilated by the loss of Trieste and Fiume, 
 which separated her from the sea. The immense quantity of 
 paper money in the ceded provinces, flowed back into the interior 
 of the kingdom, and reduced the currency of these bills to one- 
 tifth of their nominal value. 
 
 Prussia, by the Resolutions of the Deputation of 1S03, gained 
 426,000 subjects, and more than four millions of francs to her 
 revenue ; and the provinces which she acquired, established, to 
 a certain extent, the continuity of her Westphalian possessions 
 with the centre of the kingdom. A convention with the Elector 
 of Bavaria respecting an exchange of territory, made consider- 
 able additions to the Principalities in Franconia. The King, 
 from that time, occupied himself in applying the remedy of a 
 wise administration to repair the calamities which wars and 
 levies had inflicted on the country. In vain had. they tried every 
 means of persuasion to make him join the third coalition ; and 
 it was only the violation of his territory by the French troops, 
 that at last prevailed with him to take that step. We have al- 
 ready spoken of the convention at Potsdam, by which he engag- 
 ed eventually to become a party to that confederacy, and of the 
 attempt which he made to restore peace by means of negotiation. 
 We have already mentioned how he became involuntarily, and 
 by the turn which his minister gave to the affair with which he 
 was intrusted, the ally of him whom he wished to engage in 
 war. Prussia obtained, by the treaty of Vienna, the precarious 
 possession of the Electorate of Hanover, in lieu of which she 
 ceded Anspach, Cleves, and Neufchatel. The superficial extent 
 of the whole monarchy amounted then to 5746 German square 
 miles, with a population of 10,658,000 souls. 
 
 The occupation of Hanover dragged Prussia into a war with 
 England; and the course pursued towards her by Bonaparte 
 soon compelled her to declare war against France. He had 
 offered the Electorate of Hanover to the King of England, and 
 opposed Prussia in the project of as.-iociating Saxony, Hesse 
 
 VOL. II. 21 ^ 
 
546 CHAPTER XI. , 
 
 and the Hanseatic towns, in the confederation which Frederic 
 wished to oppose to that of the Rhine. The convention of Vienna 
 thus became the occasion of inflicting new calamities on Prussia. 
 Frederic William renounced the territory of Hanover, by the 
 peace which he concluded with George III. at Memel (Jan. 28, 
 1807 ;) but the treaty of Tilsit cost the former the half of his 
 German estates, viz. an extent of 2657 German square miles, 
 and a population of 4,670,000 souls. This sacrifice was not 
 sufficient to appease the resentment of Bonaparte. By misin- 
 terpreting the equivocal terms of the convention of Koningsberg, 
 he restored to the King only a part of his provinces on the east 
 of the Vistula, which were desolated by the war, and reduced 
 almost to a desert. After sixteen months of peace, he could not 
 obtain repossession of his other provinces, until he engaged lo 
 pay 120,000,000 of francs, to leave three fortresses in the hands 
 of Bonaparte by way of pledge, and to promise never to keep 
 more than 40,000 men in the field. 
 
 Prussia was in a state of the greatest destitution, at the time 
 when Frederic William turned his attention to the administra- 
 tion of the country. The army had devoured ihe substance of 
 the inhabitants ; the population had suffered a great diminution ; 
 while sickness and a complication of miseries, were continually 
 cutting them off in considerable numbers. The King submitted 
 to many privations, to fulfil the obligations he had contracted 
 towards France, and thereby to obtain the final evacuation of the 
 kingdom, as vv^ell as to relieve those provinces which had suf- 
 fered more severely than others by the sojourn of the French 
 army. He did every thing in his power to revive agriculture 
 and industry among his subjects, and restore the resources of 
 the army; and thus prepare the way for recovering the rank 
 which the Prussian monarchy had formerly held. 
 
 Independently of the hardships which Bonaparte inflicted on 
 Prussia, by protracting the stay of his army, and by the contri- 
 butions Avhich he imposed on her, this country was made the vic- 
 tim of a rapacity Avhich is, perhaps, unprecedented in history. 
 By a convention which the King of Saxony, as Duke of War- 
 saw, concluded with Bonaparte (May 10, 1808,) while occupied 
 at Bayonne in overturning the Spanish monarchy, the latter 
 ceded to him, for a sum of twenty millions of francs, not only 
 the pecuniary claims of the King of Prussia over his Polish 
 subjects, (for these he had abandoned by the peace of Tilsit,) 
 but also those of certain public establishments in Prussia, such 
 as the Bank, the Society for Maritime Commerce, the Endow- 
 ment for Widows, Hospitals, Pious Foundations, Universities 
 and Schools ; and what may seem incredible, those of private 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802— ISIO. 247 
 
 individuals in Prussia over Polish subjects. The pecuniary 
 claims were so much the more considerable, as the capitalists of 
 the ancient provinces, since the introduction of the system of 
 mortgage into Prussia, had advanced large sums to Polish pro- 
 prietors for the improvement of their patrimonies. The sums 
 thus taken from those who had furnished them, and transferred 
 to the King of Saxony, were estimated at first at forty-three 
 millions and a half of francs, and four millions of interest ; but 
 the financial authorities of the dutchy of Warsaw, discovered 
 that they amounted to sixty-eight millions. In. vain did Fre- 
 deric William offer to repurchase this pretended right of the 
 King of Saxony, by reimbursing the twenty millions of francs 
 which the latter had been obliged, it was said, to give to Bona- 
 parte. The Revolution of 1S14 rectified this piece of injustice, 
 as it did many others. 
 
 During this period the north of Europe was agitated by three 
 different wars, that of England against Denmark, which occa- 
 sioned a rupture between the Cabinets of St. Petersburg and 
 London ; that of Russia against Sweden, in which Denmark 
 was involved ; and lastly, the w^ar between Russia and the 
 Porte, in which England took an active part. 
 
 The expedition of the English against the Isle of Zealand in 
 1S07, was an event which Vv'as censured at the time with great 
 severity ; and which cannot be justified, since it is the nature 
 of all preventive war to destroy the very arguments and evi- 
 dences of its necessity. Nevertheless, if on the one hand, we 
 consider what was requisite to support the interests of Bona- 
 parte after the peace of Tilsit, or more properly speaking, to 
 2arry into execution the system he had organized ; and if on 
 the other, we examine into his conduct a short time after, to- 
 wards Spain and Portugal, we shall find England not wholly 
 without excuse. The peace of Tilsit had excluded British com- 
 merce from all the southern ports of the Baltic, and she na- 
 turally wished that Sweden, and especially Denmark, who had 
 a communication with the Continent by way of Jutland, should 
 open their ports to her. Several appearances indicated that it 
 was the intention of Bonaparte to seize Denmark also after the 
 peace of Tilsit ; and the British minister declared that he was 
 in possession of proofs of a plan to that effect. 
 
 The British Government accordingly fitted out an expedition 
 for the purpose of preventing his designs, with an activity and 
 a celerity such as the}^ had never displayed in sending aid to 
 their allies; and that difference in their conduct tended not a 
 little to create an unfavourable opinion as to the enterprise 
 I'hich they undertook against Denmark in 1S07. An English 
 
248 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 fleet, having an army on board, to which a Hanoverian legion 
 of 7000 men then in the Isle of Eugen, was afterwards added, 
 sailed from England aboutthe endof July or beginningof August. 
 It was divided into two squadrons, one of which, under Commo- 
 dore Keats, took up their station in the Great Belt, which till then 
 had been thought inaccessible to ships of war, and thus cut o!f 
 the Isle of Zealand from the main land, where the Prince Royal 
 with the Danish army then was. The second division, under 
 the command of Admiral Gambler, with troops on board com- 
 manded by Lord Cathcart, arrived off Copenhagen. Mr. Jack- 
 son Avas sent to Kiel to demand from the Prince Royal the 
 surrender of the Danish fleet, which they alleged it was the in- 
 tention of Bonaparte to seize. 
 
 After a fruitless negotiation, Copenhagen, after being invested 
 by the army of Lord Cathcart on the land side, was bombarded 
 for three days (Sept. 2, 3, 4,) and a great part of the city de- 
 stroyed. At length General Peymann, the Commander-in-chief 
 of the Danish forces, demanded an armistice to treat for a ca- 
 pitulation. Sir Arthur Wellesley, the same officer who soon 
 after so distinguished himself in Portugal, signed that capitula- 
 tion on the part of Great Britain. The citadel was given up 
 to the English. The Danes surrendered their fleet, with all 
 the naval stores in their arsenals and dock-yards. The Eng- 
 lish stipulated for a delay of six weeks to prepare for departure, 
 after which they promised to surrender the citadel, and evacuate 
 the Isle of Zealand. 
 
 In this manner the Danish marine, consisting of eighteen 
 ships of the line, fifteen frigates, six brigs, and twenty-five sloops 
 of war, fell into the hands of the English. During the six 
 weeks stipulated for, the Court of London offered Denmark the 
 alternative either of returning lo a state of neutrality, or of form- 
 ing an alliance with England. The Prince Regent having re- 
 fused both of these, England declared war against him (Nov. 
 4 ;) but she did not violate the capitulation of Copenhagen, as 
 the evacuation of that city and the island of Zealand took place 
 at the term specified. This event added Denmark to the French 
 system. Her minister concluded a treaty of alliance at Fon- 
 tainbleau, the tenor of which has not been made public ; but if 
 we may judge by the events which followed, it was agreed that 
 the Danish islands should be occupied by French troops des- 
 tined to act against Sweden. In the month of March 180S, 
 32,000 French, Dutch, and Spanish troops (the last brought 
 from the kingdom of Etruria,) under the command of Marshal 
 Bernadotte, arrived in Zealand, Funen, and the other islands of 
 the Baltic ; but the defection of the Spanish troops, and the 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 249 
 
 war with Austria, prevented the projected invasion of Sweden 
 The English took possession of the colonies of Denmark, and 
 ruined the commerce of her subjects. Frederic VI., who had 
 succeeded his father Christian VII., (March 13, 1808,) after 
 having been at the head of the government as regent since 1784, 
 strictly executed the Continental system ; especially after the 
 commencement of the year 1810, when the two Counts Bern- 
 storff had retired from the ministry. He even went so far as to 
 arrest all the English subjects found in Denmark. 
 
 The expedition of the English against Copenhagen, induced 
 the Emperor Alexander to declare war against them (Nov. 7.) 
 That monarch entered decidedly into the Continental system, 
 and demanded of the King of S^veden, that agreeably to the 
 conventions as to the armed neutrality of the North, he should 
 enforce the principle by which the Baltic was declared a shut 
 sea. The King of Sweden replied, that the principles establish- 
 ed by the conventions of 1780 and 1800 had been abandoned by 
 that of June 17, 1801 ; that circumstances were entirely changed 
 since Denmark, on whose co-operations he had formerly reck- 
 oned, had lost her fleet ; and since, independently of the Sound, 
 the English had effected another entrance into the Baltic, through 
 the Great Belt ; these objections, however, did not prevent him 
 from incurring a ruinous war. 
 
 A Russian army entered Finland (Feb. 21, 1808.) Genera] 
 Buxhowden, who had the command, announced to the inhabi- 
 tants of that province that the Emperor Alexander had thought 
 it necessary to occupy that country, in order to have a pledge 
 that the King of Sweden would accept the proposals of peace 
 which France had made to him. Although the Swedish troops 
 in Finland were but few in number, and defended it bravely, 
 they were compelled to yield to the superior force of the Rus- 
 sians, and to retire into East Bothnia. Sueaborg, the bulwark 
 of Finland, and deemed impregnable, surrendered (April 6,) 
 after a siege of a few days by Vice-Admiral Kronstadt. A mani- 
 festo of the Emperor Alexander (March 28,) had already decla- 
 red the grand dutchy of Finland to be incorporated with his Em- 
 pire. This unexpected attack excited the most lively indignation 
 in Gustavus IV., who so far forgot himself, as to cause M. d'Alo- 
 peus, the Russian minister at his court, to be arrested. Den- 
 mark having also declared war against him (Feb. 29,) a Swedish 
 army of 20,000 men, under the command of Gen. Armfield, un- 
 dertook the conquest of Norway. But this expedition was repuls- 
 ed with loss ; and the Danes even made incursions into Sweden. 
 
 Field-Marshal Count Klinspor being placed at the head of the 
 Swedish army, then at Uleaburg, began to act on the offensive 
 
250 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 in the north of Finland ; while a second army, under the com 
 mand of General Vegesack, disembarked at Abo (June S.) The 
 war was carried on with variable success, but with equal bra- 
 very on both sides. At the end of the campaign, the Russians 
 were again masters of Finland. A body of 10,000 English 
 troops, commanded by the same General Moore who, a few 
 months after, fell at Corunna in Spain, had arrived in the roads 
 at Gottenburg (May 17 ;) bat as the Swedish King could not 
 come to an agreement as to the employment of these auxiliaries, 
 nor even as to the command, he refused to permit the troops to 
 disembark. He even ordered General Moore, w^ho had repaired 
 to Stockholm, to be arrested. But having soon found means to 
 escape, Moore returned to England with his troops. Mr. Thorn- 
 ton, the British envoy, who had remonstrated against this arbi- 
 trary conduct of the King, was recalled. 
 
 Admiral Chanikoff, with, a Russian fleet of twenty-four ships 
 of war, made an attempt to burn the Swedish fleet, commanded 
 by Admiral Nauckhoff, in Virgin Bay (Aug. 18 ;) but the ar- 
 rival of an English fleet under Sir James Saumarez in Baltic 
 Port where Nauckhoff was, with a reinforcement of some Eng- 
 ish ships under the command of Admiral Hood, kept them in 
 olockade for nearly two months. In Finland an armistice had 
 been concluded, (Sept. ISOS,) on the footing of the Uti Posside- 
 tis; but the Emperor Alexander refused to ratify it. Another 
 was then concluded at Olkioki (Nov. 19,) by w^hich the Swedish 
 army engaged to evacuate Uleaburg, and to retire behind the 
 Kemi. Towards the end of the year, the English Cabinet ad- 
 vised the King of Sweden to make peace, which he obstinately 
 refused, and even demanded additional supplies to continue the 
 war with vigoui The British Cabinet having declined to grant 
 them unconditionally, Gustavus was on the point of coming to 
 an open rupture with that Court. But his indignation having 
 abated, he agreed, soon after, to conclude a new convention at 
 Stockholm (March 1, 1S09,) when Great Britain engaged to pay 
 in advance 300,000Z. sterling by quarterly instalments. 
 
 Meantime a revolution was fermenting in Sweden, which was 
 to change the aspect of affairs. The haughtiness and obstinacy 
 of the King, had created him many enemies. The people were 
 oppressed in a most extraordinary manner by burdens and im- 
 posts, which Gustavus increased arbitrarily, and without regard 
 to constitutional forms. The severity with which he punished 
 the troops, not only when they had committed faults, but even 
 when they were unsuccessful, had alienated the minds of the 
 soldiers from him, and especially the guards. A conspiracy 
 was formed, at the head of which was Lieutenant-Colonel Adler- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 261 
 
 sparre, and Colonel Skioldebrand, and which was joined by the 
 army of the West, or of Norway, and the troops that were sta- 
 tioned in the Islands of Aland. Adlersparre and the army of 
 the West marched on Stockholm. They had arrived at Orebro, 
 when Field-Marshal Klinspor, who had been disgraced, advised 
 the King to avert the storm by changing his conduct. On his 
 refusal, General Adlercreutz arrested him in the name of the 
 people (March 13.) The Duke of Sudermania, the King's un- 
 cle, was proclaimed Regent. Gustavus was conveyed to Drott- 
 ninghohn, and thence to Gripsholm, where he signed a deed of 
 abdication, which he afterwards declared on various occasions to 
 have been voluntary. The revolution was terminated without 
 commotion and without bloodshed. 
 
 The Regent immediately assembled the Diet at Stockholm. 
 Not content with accepting the abdication of Gustavus, such as 
 he had given it, they excluded all his descendants from the 
 throne of Sweden. They offered the crown to the Regent, who 
 declared his willingness to accept it when they had revised the 
 constitution. This revision, by which the royal authority v/as 
 limited without reducing it to a state of humiliation and depen- 
 dence, having been adopted by the Diet, the Duke of Suderma- 
 nia was proclaimed King (June 5, 1509,) under the title of 
 Charles XIII. according to the common but erroneous method 
 of reckoning the Kings of Sweden. As the new monarch had 
 no family, they elected as his successor to the throne. Prince 
 Christian Augustus of Holstein-Augustenburg, who commanded 
 the Danish army in Norway, and who had procured the esteem 
 even of his enemies. Gustavus and his family were permitted 
 to leave the kingdom ; and towards the end of the year a new 
 fundamental law was published, regulating the order of succes- 
 sion to the throne. 
 
 At Stockholm the people flattered themselves that the de- 
 thronement of Gustavus would speedily bring peace to Sweden ; 
 bnt it was not so. Alexander I. refused to treat with a govern- 
 ment so insecure as a regency, and hostilities accordingly con- 
 tinued. General Knorring who had passed the Gulf of Bothijia 
 on the ice with 25,000 Russians, took possession of the Islands 
 of Aland (March 17,) wdien the Swedish troops stationed there 
 retired to the continent of Sweden. Knorring granted the 
 Swedes a cessation of hostilities, to allow them time to make 
 overtures of peace. Apprized of this arrangement. Count Bar- 
 clay de Tolly, who had crossed the Gulf with another body of 
 Russians on the side of Vasa, and taken possession of Umea, 
 evacuated West Bothnia, and returned to Finland. A third 
 body of Russians, under the command of SchouvalofT, penetrated 
 
252 CHAPTER x:. 
 
 into West Bothnia by the route of Tornea, and compelled the 
 Swedish army of the North, which was commanded by Gripon- 
 berg, to lay down their arms at Seiwis (March 25.) This san- 
 guinary affair occurred entirely through ignorance ; because in 
 that country, lying under the 6'6th degree of north latitude, they 
 were not aware of the armistice granted by Knorring. On the 
 expiration of the truce, hostilities recommenced in the month of 
 May, and the Russians took possession of the part of West 
 Bothnia lying to the north of Umea. 
 
 The peace between Russia and Sweden was signed at Fre- 
 dericsham (Sept. 17.) The latter power adhered to the Con- 
 tinental system, reserving to herself the importation of salt and 
 such colonial produce as she could not do without. She sur- 
 rendered Finland with the whole of East Bothnia, and a part of 
 West Bothnia lying to the eastward of the river Tornea. The 
 cession of these provinces which formed the granary of Sweden, 
 and contained a population of 900,000 souls, was an irreparable 
 loss to that kingdom, which had only 2,344,000 inhabitants left. 
 The peace of Fredericsham was speedily followed by that of 
 Jonkoping with Denmark (Dec. 10,) and that at Paris with France 
 (Jan.. 6, 1810.) By the first, every thing was re-established on 
 lis ancient footing between these two States. But by the peace 
 of Paris, Svv^eden renounced the importation of colonial produce, 
 and onl}' reserved the privilege of importing salt as an article 
 of absolute necessity. It was on this condition alone that she 
 could obtain repossession of Pomerania. 
 
 The Prince Royal of Sweden having died suddenly, a Diet 
 assembled at Orebro, and elected John Baptiste Julius Berna- 
 dotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo, his successor to the throne (May 
 28.) The election was unanimous ; but out of more than one 
 thousand of the nobility who had a right to appear at the Diet, 
 only one hundred and forty were present. Bernadotte accepted 
 an offer so honourable. On his arrival at Elsinore, he professed, 
 as his ancestors had done before him in France, his adherence 
 to the Confession of Augsburg, which was then the established 
 religion in Sweden. King Charles XIII. having adopted him 
 as his son, he was proclaimed at Stockholm (Nov. 5,) eventual 
 successor to the throne, under the name of Charles John. 
 Twelve days afterwards, Sweden declared war against Great 
 Britain. 
 
 In Russia, the Emperor Alexander, since his accession to the 
 throne, had occupied himself incessantly in improving every 
 oranch of the administration. The restrictive regulations which 
 had been published under the last reign were abrogated; by 
 gradual concessions, the peasantry were prepared for a liberty 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 253 
 
 which they had not yet enjoyed. The number of universities, 
 and what is still more essential to civilization, the number of 
 schools was augmented. The senate, the ministry, and the 
 civil authorities were reorganized, and new improvements 
 adopted, tending to abolish arbitrary power, to accelerate the 
 despatch of business, and to promote the distribution of fair 
 and impartial justice to all classes of society. Canals were 
 dug, new avenues were opened for industry, and commerce 
 flourished, especially the trade of the Black Sea. The only 
 point in which the Government failed, was in its attempts to re- 
 store the finances ; but the four wars of the preceding seven 
 years in which Russia had been engaged, rendered these at- 
 tempts unavailing. 
 
 We have already related the origin, events, and termination 
 of two of these wars, viz. that of 1806, which ended with the 
 peace of Tilsit, and procured Russia the province of Bialystock ; 
 and that of Sweden, which annexed the province of Finland to 
 that Empire. The war against England continued after the 
 peace of Fredericsham, but without furnishing any events of 
 great importance. The two other wars were those against Per- 
 sia and the Porte. At the begii.ning of his reign, Alexander 
 had annexed Georgia to his Empire, which had till then been 
 the prey of continual disturbances. This accession drew him 
 into a war with Persia, which did not terminate till 1813. The 
 principal events of that war were the defeat of the Persians at 
 Etschmiazin, by Prince Zizian off (.Tune 20, 1804;) the conquest 
 of the province of Shirvan by the same Prince (Jan. 1806 ;) 
 the taking of Derbent by the Russians (July 3 ;) and the defeat 
 of the Persians by Paulucci, at Alkolwalaki, (Sept. 1, 1810.) 
 
 Before speaking of the war between Russia and the Porte, it 
 will be necessary to take a brief retrospect of the Ottoman Em- 
 pire. The condition of that Empire, badly organized and worse 
 governed, was such, that every thing then presaged its ap- 
 proaching dissolution ; or in other words, the expulsion of the 
 Turks from Europe. Every where the authority of the Grand 
 Seignor was disregarded. Paswan Oglou, the Pacha of Wid- 
 din, was in open revolt. Ali Pacha of Janina was obedient 
 only when it suited his convenience. The Servians had taken 
 up arms under their leader Czerni George, and threatened to 
 possess themselves of Sabacz and Belgrade. Djezzar, the 
 Pacha of Syria, without declaring himself an enemy to the 
 Porte, enjoyed an absolute independence. The sect of the Wa- 
 habites was in possession of Arabia. Egypt was distracted by 
 civil wars. Selim III., who had reigned there since 1789, con- 
 vinced that the Porte could never re-establish its authority ex- 
 
 voL. II. 22 
 
254 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 cept by better organizing the army, had endeavoured to model 
 it on the European system. This attempt afterwards cost him 
 his throne. 
 
 Such was the situation of the Ottoman Empire, when Bona- 
 parte, in order to prevent Alexander from sending supplies to 
 Prussia, resolved to embroil him in a quarrel with the Porte. 
 General Sebastiani, the French Envoy at Constantinople, con- 
 trived to obtain so great an influence over the minds of the 
 Divan, that for some time it was entirely under his direction. 
 Subjects of dissension were not wanting between Russia and 
 the Porte ; and these were of such a nature, as to furnish each 
 party with plausible reasons for complaining of the infraction oi 
 treaties. The French minister was not slow to fan the spark of 
 discord. He even induced the Divan to refuse to renew their 
 treaty of alliance with England, which was then on the point of 
 .expiring. The Emperor Alexander, foreseeing that there would 
 be no redress to his complaints, gave orders to General Michel- 
 son to enter Moldavia and Wallachia. The Porte then declared 
 war against Russia (Dec. 30 ;) but deviating for the first time 
 from a barbarous custom, he allowed M. d'ltalinski, the Russian 
 minister, to depart unmolested. 
 
 A few days after, Mr. Arbuthnot, the English minister, quit- 
 ted Constantinople, after having repeatedly demanded the re- 
 newal of the alliance, and the expulsion of M. Sebastiani. 
 Within a few weeks an English fleet of nine ships of the line, 
 three frigates, and several fire-ships, commanded by Vice-Admi- 
 ral Duckworth, forced the passage of the Dardanelles, and ap- 
 peared before Constantinople. Duckworth demanded of the 
 Divan, that the forts of the Dardanelles and the Turkish fleet 
 should be surrendered to him ; that the Porte should cede Mol- 
 davia and Wallachia to Russia, and break off alliance with Bo- 
 naparte. But instead of profiting by the sudden panic which 
 his appearance had created, he allowed the Turks time to put 
 themselves in a posture of defence. Encouraged and instructed 
 by Sebastiani, they made their preparations with such energy 
 and success, that in the course of eight days the English Vice- 
 admiral found that he could do nothing better than weigh an- 
 chor and repass the Dardanelles. On his arrival at Malta, he 
 took on board 5000 troops, under the command of General Era- 
 ser, and conve^^ed them to Egypt. The English took posses- 
 sion of Alexandria (Mar. 20;) but in the course of six months, 
 they found themselves obliged to surrender that city by capitu- 
 lation to the Governor of Egypt. 
 
 The campaign of 1807 was not productive of any very deci- 
 sive result, as General Michelson had received orders to detach 
 
TERIOD IX. A. D. 1802—1810. 255 
 
 80,000 men to oppose the French in Poland. Czerni George, 
 the leader of the revolted Servians, took Belgrade, Sabacz, and 
 Nissa, penetrated into Bulgaria, where he was reinforced by some 
 Russian troops, and gained divers signal advantages. General 
 Michelson himself v/as victorious near Guirdesov (March 17,) 
 without, however, being able to get possession of that place. The 
 war was conducted with more success on the frontiers of the two 
 Empires in Asia. The Seraskier of Erzerum was entirely de- 
 feated by General Gudovitch (June 18;) and that victory was 
 an event so much the more fortunate, as it prevented the Persians 
 from making a bold diversion in favour of the Turks. The most 
 important event in the campaign was the naval battle of Lemnos, 
 where the Russian fleet, under the command of Vice-admiral 
 Siniawin, defeated the Capitan Pacha, who had sailed from the 
 Dardanelles after the retreat of Duckworth. 
 
 When the Ottoman navy sustained this defeat, Selim III. had 
 ceased to reign. That prince had rendered hhnself odious to 
 the troops, by the introduction of the European discipline and 
 dress, known by the name of Nizami gedid, and by his connexion 
 with the French Emperor. One circumstance, regarded as a fun- 
 damental law, and according to which a Sultan who had reigned 
 seven years without having any children was regarded as un- 
 worthy of the thron-e, served as a pretext for the military to have 
 him deposed. Selim, finding it impossible to quell or allay the 
 revolt, abdicated voluntarily (May 29,) and placed his cousin, 
 Mustapha IV., on the throne. In the amnesty which that prince 
 published, he recognised the right of the Janissaries to withdraw 
 their allegiance from the Grand Seignor who should depart from 
 the established customs, and that of appointing his successor. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander had promised, by the peace of Tilsit, 
 to evacuate Moldavia and Wallachia, on condition, however, that 
 the Turks should not occupy these two provinces till after the 
 conclusion of a definitive peace. The French General Guille- 
 minot was sent to the Turkish camp to negotiate an armistice 
 on these terms, which in effect was signed at Slobozia (Aug. 24.) 
 The evacuation of the two provinces stipulated by that arrange- 
 ment never took place, as the Emperor of Russia refused to ratify 
 the treaty, as it contained certain articles which he judged in- 
 compatible with his dignity; so that matters remained on their 
 former footing. That circumstance was one of the pretexts 
 which Bonaparte alleged for continuing to occupy Prussia. 
 
 In the midst of these political quibblings, the time arrived 
 when a new system of things took place. The Cabinets of St. 
 Petersburg and Paris were making mutual advances ; and it is 
 probable that the fate of the Porte, and especially of the pro- 
 
256 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 vinces beyond the Danube, was one of \he subjects which were 
 discussed during the interview at Erfurt. France lost her influ- 
 ence at Constantinople, when they saw her enter into an alliance 
 with Russia ; and from that time England directed the politics 
 of the Divan. 
 
 Mustapha IV. had in the mean time been hurled from the 
 throne. Mustapha, styled Bairactar or the Standardbearer, 
 the Pacha of Rudschuk, a man of extraordinary courage, and 
 one of the most zealous abettors of the changes introduced by 
 Selim, which he regarded as the sole means of preserving the 
 State, had marched with 35,000 men to Constantinople, with 
 the view of reforming or seizing the government, and announced 
 to Mustapha IV. (July 28, 1808,) that he must resign, and make 
 way for the ancient and legitimate Sultan. Mustapha thought 
 to save his crown by putting Selim to death ; but Bairactar 
 proclaimed Mahmoud, the younger brother of Mustapha, Avho 
 was then shut up in the Seraglio. Bairactar, invested with abso- 
 lute power, re-established the corps of the Seimens, or disciplined 
 troops on the footing of the Europeans, and took vigorous mea- 
 sures for putting the Empire in a condition to resist the Russians. 
 These patriotic efforts cost him his life. After the departure of 
 a part of the Seimens for the army, the Janissaries and the in- 
 habitants of Constantinople revolted. At the head of a body of 
 newly organized troops, Mustapha defended himself with cou- 
 rage ; but seeing the moment approach when he must yield to 
 the superior number of his assailants, he put to death the old 
 Sultan and his mother, whose intrigues had instigated the insur- 
 rection. He retired to a fortress or strong place, where he had 
 deposited a quantity of gunpowder. The Janissaries having 
 pursued him thither, he set fire to the magazine, and blew him- 
 self and his persecutors into the air. The young Sultan Mahmoud 
 had the courage to declare that he would retain the European 
 discipline and dress ; but after being attacked in his place, and 
 learning that the city was filled with carnage and conflagration, 
 he yielded to necessity, and restored the privileges of the Janis- 
 saries. It is probable they would not have spared his life, but for 
 the circumstance that he was the last scion of the race of Osman. 
 
 The ministers of the Divan, whom General Sebastiani had 
 gained over to the interests of France, finding themselves entirely 
 discarded by the last revolution, Mr. Adair, the new English 
 minister at Constantinople, concluded a treaty of peace (Jan. 5, 
 1809,) by which the Porte confirmed to England the commercial 
 advantages which the treaty of 1675 had granted them, ns well 
 as the navigation of the Black Sea, which Mr. Spencer Smith 
 had obtained (August 3, 1799.) 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1802— 1810. 257 
 
 Immediately after the return of the Emperor Alexander from 
 £rfurt, an order was given to open negotiations with the Turks. 
 The conference took place at Jassy ; but it was immediately 
 broken off, after the Russian plenipotentiaries had demanded, as 
 preliminary conditions, the cession of Moldavia and Wallachia, 
 and the expulsion of the British minister from Constantinople. 
 Hostilities then recommenced. The Russians were commanded 
 by Prince Prosoroffski, and after his death, by Prince Bagration. 
 Having passed the Danube, they took possession of Ismael, and 
 fought abloody battle at Tartaritza,near Silistria (Sept. 26,) which 
 compelled them to raise the siege of that place. The Grand 
 Vizier, without taking advantage of his good fortune, retired to 
 winter-quarters. 
 
 The campaign of 1810 was more decisive. General Kamen- 
 skoi, the second of that name, had taken the chief command of 
 the Russian army ; his brother of the same name, and General 
 Markoff, opened it by the taking of Bazardjik (June 4;) the cap- 
 ture of Silistria (June 11,) by the Commander-in-chief and Coimt 
 Langeron, opened the way to Shumla, where the Grand Vizier, 
 Yussuff Pacha, occupied a strong position ; while General Sa- 
 banieff defeated a body of Turkish troops near Rasgard (June 
 14,) the remains of which were obliged to surrender. The Grand 
 Vizier then demanded an armistice for negotiating a peace. The 
 reply was, that it would be concluded immediately on his recog- 
 nising the Danube as the limit of the two Empires, and promising 
 to pay a sum of twenty millions of piastres ; the Russians re- 
 maining in possession of Bessarabia until it was paid. The 
 Grand Vizier, at the instigation of the British minister, rejected 
 these conditions. Yussuff Pacha still occupied his camp near 
 Shumla, the rear of which was protected by the Hemus. Ka- 
 menskoi the elder, attacked him in his entrenchments, but was 
 repulsed with loss (June 23 ;) he left his brother at Kargali Dere 
 (about five leagues from Shumla) at the head of a corps of ob- 
 servation, while he attempted himself to take Rudschuk by main 
 force, but was again repulsed. The younger brother then found 
 himself obliged, by the approach of a superior force, to abandon 
 his position at Kargali Dere (Aug. 15.) Yussuff being deter- 
 mined to save Rudschuk, detached Mouhtar Pacha with a body 
 of 40,000 troops, who took up a formidable position at the place 
 where the Jantra runs into the Danube. Kamenskoi leaving to 
 Count Langeron the care of the siege of Rudschuk, and ordering 
 Sass to invest Guirdesov, which is situated on the other side of 
 the Danube opposite Rudschuk, immediately directed his march 
 against Mouhtar, and attacked him in his entrenchments at 
 Batine. After a terrible carnage, the Russians took possession 
 
 VOL. II. 22=^ 
 
258 CHAPTER xn. 
 
 Df the Turkish camp by main force (Sept. 7,) ivhen ]\.ouh(ar 
 escaped with a small detachment. Within a few days after, 
 Count St. Priest took Sczistov, with the whole Turkish fleet. 
 Rudschuk and Guirdesov surrendered on the same day (Sept. 
 27,) and Nicopoli and Widdin in a short time after ; so that by 
 the end of the campaign the Russians were masters of the whole 
 ri'ght bank of the Danube. The Grand Vizier had contmued 
 all this time in his strong camp at Shumla. The Servians, as- 
 sisted by a body of Russians, had taken possession of the last 
 fortresses in their country which the Turks had still maintained, 
 such as Cladova, Oreava, and Praova. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PERIOD IX. 
 
 The decline and doivnfall of the Empire of Bonaparte.— a. c 
 1810—1815. 
 
 The power of Napoleon had now attained its greatest height. 
 The birth of a son, an event, which happened March 20, 1811, 
 might have given stability to this power, had he known how to 
 set bounds to his am.bition. The heir to the Imperial throne 
 received the title of King of Rome, a dignity which had been 
 decreed in anticipation. 
 
 The differences that had arisen between Bonaparte and the 
 Head of the Church, became this year a subject of public dis- 
 cussion. The will of a despot whom no power could resist, was 
 made to recoil more than once before the inflexible firmness of 
 an old man, disarmed and in captivity. Ever since Bonaparte 
 had deprived the Church of her patrimony, and had been laid 
 under the ban of excommunication, Pius VII., faithful to his 
 principles, had refused confirmation to every bishop nominated 
 by a man who was excluded from the Catholic communion. 
 Bonaparte thought it might be possible to dispense with the 
 confirmation of the Pope. With this view, he assembled a na- 
 tional council at Paris (June 17, 1811,) composed of French and 
 Italian bishops, and in which Cardinal Fesch, the Archbishop 
 of Lyons, presided. He soon found, however, that despotic au- 
 thority was of little avail against religious opinions. The pre- 
 lates, on whose compliance he had calculated with too much 
 confidence, declared that the Council had no power to grant that 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810^1815. 259 
 
 confirmation which was refused by the Pope ; but the arrest of 
 three of the most refractory prelates, who were imprisoned at 
 Vincennes (July 12,) having given rise to a negotiation, the rest 
 adopted a modified scheme which the government had commu- 
 nicated to them ; on condition, however, that it should be sub- 
 mitted for the approbation of the Pope. But his Holiness, who 
 had still remained at Savona, refused to treat with the Council, 
 which he declared null and void, as having been convened with- 
 out his authority. The project of Bonaparte thus completely 
 failed ; the Council was dismissed ; and twenty of the Sees of 
 France and Ital}^ were left Avithout bishops. 
 
 Before proceeding to detail the grand events which overturned 
 the dominion of Bonaparte, it will be necessary to advert to what 
 took place in Spain and Portugal in 1811 and 1812. Sickness, 
 and the want of provisions, had at length compelled Massena to 
 effect his retreat (March 1,) during which he sustained con- 
 siderable loss by the pursuit of Lord Wellington. Thus, for 
 the third time, was Portugal released from the invasion of the 
 French army. It would be impossible, within the narrow limits 
 to which we are here confined, to detail the various marches and 
 counter-marches of the Generals, or the operations in which they 
 were engaged. We can only point out the principal actions in 
 a detached and cursory manner. 
 
 Marshal Soult retook Badajos (March 10,) while Lord Wel- 
 lington still retained his position at Torres Vedras, which he had 
 quitted with reluctance to go in pursuit of Massena. As the 
 possession of that place was of importance for the English, Lord 
 Wellington determined to besiege it ; but Marshal Marmont 
 who had replaced Massena in the command of the army of the 
 North, and Marshal Soult who had formed a junction with him, 
 obliged him to discontinue the siege. He retired to Portugal, 
 where he remained on the defensive during the rest of the cam- 
 paign. The advantages of the campaign of 1811 belonged to 
 General Suchet. After a destructive siege, he took Tortosa by 
 capitulation (Jan. 1,) and Tarragona by main force (June 28.) 
 He made him.self master of Monteserrat in the same manner. 
 (Aug. 19.) By a signal victory which he gained over General 
 Blake (Oct. 25,) at Murviedro, the ancient Saguntum, he pre- 
 pared the way for the conquest of Valencia, which surrendered 
 by capitulation (Jan. 9, 1812.) 
 
 At the commencement of 1812, the French forces in Spain 
 amounted to 150,000 men. The allies consisted of 52,000 Eng- 
 lish troops, 24,000 Portug-uese, and 100,000 Spaniards, mcluding 
 20,000 guerillas. Lord Wellington reduced Ciudad Rodrigo 
 (Jan. 19,) and then retired once more mto Portugal, where ha 
 
260 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 kept on the defensive for nearly five months. He then attacked 
 Salamanca, took that city (June 28,) and defeated Marmont in 
 the famous battle of Areopiles, near Salamanca (July 21,) where 
 Clausel saved the French army from a complete rout. Joseph 
 Bonaparte quitted Madrid. Soult gave orders to raise the siege 
 of Cadiz, which had continued for two years. He evacuated 
 Andalusia, and joined King Joseph in Murcia. Wellington, 
 now master of Burgos, was desirous to get possession also of 
 the citadel of that place, the acquisition of which was necessary 
 for his safety. But Souham, who had succeeded Marmont, and 
 Soult having approached on both sides to save the town, the 
 British General retired again into Portugal, and Joseph Bona- 
 parte returned to Madrid (Nov. 1.) 
 
 At this time the North of Europe had been the theatre ot 
 great events. For some time, the friendship between the Courts 
 of St. Petersburg and St. Cloud had been growing cool. The 
 last usurpations of Bonaparte, during the course of 1810, brought 
 about a complete rupture. The extension of the French Empire 
 towards the Baltic, was becoming a subject of suspicion and 
 anxiety to Alexander. The manner in which Bonaparte had 
 taken possession of the dutchy of Oldenburg, the patrimony of 
 his family, was an outrage against his person. The first symp- 
 tom of discontent which he exhibited, was by abandoning the 
 Continental system, although indirectly, by an Ukase (Dec. 13, 
 1810,) which permitted the importation of colonial produce, 
 while it interdicted that of France, w^ine only excepted. Under 
 pretext of organizing a force for the maintenance of these regu- 
 lations, he raised an army of 90,000 men. A rupture with Bo- 
 naparte appeared then unavoidable. 
 
 In Sweden also there arose new subjects of quarrel. Bona- 
 parte complained, that in that country the Continental system had 
 not been put in execution with sufficient rigour. He demanded, 
 that Charles XIII. should put two thousand sailors into his pay ; 
 that he should introduce the Tariff of Trianon, and admit French 
 revenue-officers at Gottenburg. In short, Sweden, Denmark, 
 and the dutchy of Warsaw, were to form a confederation, under 
 the protection of France. During these discussions. Marshal 
 Davoust, who commanded in the north of Germany, took pos- 
 session of Swedish Pomerania and the Isle of Rugen (Jan. 27, 
 1812.) Bonaparte offered, however, to surrender that province 
 to Sweden, and to compel Alexander to restore Finland to her, 
 if Charles XIII. would agree to furnish 30,000 troops against 
 Russia. 
 
 Sweden, on the contrary, w^as on terms of conciliation with 
 that power. By an alliance, which was signed at St. Petersburg 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. ISIO— 1815. 261 
 
 (April 5,) Alexander promised to procure her Norway. A body 
 of between twenty-five and thirty thousand Swedes, and be- 
 tween fifteen and twenty thousand Russians, were then to make a 
 diversion against France on the coasts of Germany. This 
 arrangement was afterwards changed; in a conference which 
 the Emperor had at Abo (Aug. 30,) the latter consented that the 
 Russian troops, destined to act in Norway, should be transported 
 to Riga for the defence of Russia ; and that they should not, till 
 a later period, undertake the conquest of Norway. Charles XIII. 
 was also reconciled to England, while he had always pretended 
 to be ignorant of the declaration of war of November 17, 1810. 
 A treaty of peace was signed at Orebro (July 12.) where they 
 agreed, though in general terms, on a defensive alliance. 
 
 Bonaparte, seeing the moment approach when a rupture with 
 Russia w^ould take place, hesitated for some time as to the part 
 he should take with regard to Prussia, in the very centre of 
 w^hich he still possessed three fortresses. He determined at last 
 to preserve that State, and to make an ally of it, on which the 
 principal burden of the war should fall. Four conventions w^ere 
 concluded at Paris, on the same day (Feb. 24,) between these 
 two powers. By the principal treaty, an alliance purely defen- 
 sive was established ; but according to certain secret articles, 
 that alliance was declared offensive ; on such terms, however, 
 that Prussia was not to furnish any contingent beyond the Py- 
 renees in Ital)^ or against the Turks. By the first convention, 
 which was likewise to be kept secret, the alliance was expressly 
 directed against Russia ; and the King of Prussia promised to 
 furnish a body of 20,000 auxiliary troops. Glogau, Stettin, and 
 Custrin, were to be ^till occupied by the French. The two other 
 conventions related to the sums still due by Prussia, and the sup- 
 plies which she had to furnish. 
 
 A few days after, there was also signed at Paris a defensive 
 alliance against Russia, between Austria and France. The recip- 
 rocal supplies to be furnished by each, was 30,000 men; and the 
 Court of Vienna was given to hope, that she might again be re- 
 stored to the possession of the Illyrian Provinces. From that mo- 
 ment, Bonaparte began to make the most active preparations. By 
 a decree of the Senate, the whole male population of France, be- 
 tween the ages of twenty and sixty years, was divided into three 
 Bans, or bodies summoned by proclamation ; the first of these 
 contained 100,000 men, to be placed at the disposal of the govern- 
 ment. The princes of the confederation were to furnish their con- 
 tingent as follows : — Bavaria 30,000 troops, Westphalia and 
 Saxony each 20,000, Wurtemberg 14,000, and the kingdom of 
 Italy 40,000. Negotiations were at that time in progress between 
 
262 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Bonaparte and Alexander, apparently with a view of adjusting 
 their mutual complaints. I3ut matters had recently taken a 
 turn, which left little reason to hope that they would come to 
 any satisfactory result. These conferences were continued at 
 Dresden where Bonaparte had gone, and where he met the Em- 
 peror and Empress of Austria, the King of Prussia, and a great 
 number of the princes of the Rhenish Confederation. This 
 was the last moment of Bonaparte's greatness. He waited the 
 return of Count Narbonne, whom he had sent to Wilna with 
 his last proposals to the Emperor Alexander. Immediately af- 
 ter the arrival of the Count, war was declared (June 12, 1812.) 
 
 The army of Bonaparte amounted to 587,000 men, of which 
 73,000 were cavalry. It was separated into three grand divi- 
 sions ; the main army was composed of the divisions of Da- 
 voust, Oudinot, and Ney. It contained also the troops of Wur- 
 temberg, at the head of whom was the Prince Royal. The 
 second army, commanded by Eugene Beauharnais, consisted of 
 the divisions of Junot and St. Cyr ; the Bavarians, under the 
 command of Deroy and Wrede, made a part of it. The third 
 army, commanded by Jerome Bonaparte, consisted of the Poles, 
 under Prince Poniatowski, the Saxons, under Regnier, and the 
 Westphalians under Vandamme. The Austrian auxiliaries, at 
 the head of whom was Prince Schwartzenberg, formed the ex- 
 treme right wing. The corps of Marshal Macdonald and the 
 Prussians, were placed on the extreme left. To oppose this 
 immense mass, Alexander had only 260,000 men, divided into 
 two armies, which were called the first and second armies of 
 the West. The former, under the command of Count Barclay 
 de Tolly, extended as far as Grodno, and communicated on the 
 north side with Count d'Essen, Governor of Riga ; and on the 
 south, with the second army of the West, at the head of which 
 was Prince Bagratioh. But independently of these forces, 
 there were bodies of reserve, and armies of observation, formed 
 with all expedition, and ultimately joined with the main armies. 
 
 Of. the great number of battles fought during this memorable 
 campaign, we must content ourselves with selecting the more 
 important ; without entering into a detail of the various move- 
 ments of either party. The inferiority of numbers which Alex- 
 ander had to oppose to Bonaparte, seemed to render a defensive 
 plan advisable, according to which, by destro3dng all the means 
 of subsistence in the districts which they abandoned, they might 
 allure the enemy into countries desolated and destitute of every 
 resource. Bonaparte allowed himself to be duped by feint re- 
 treats ; his scheme was to place himself between the two Rus- 
 sian armies, and after having destroyed both, to penetrate into 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 263 
 
 the interior of the Empire, where he reckoned on finding im- 
 mense riches, and to dictate the terms of peace, as he had twice 
 done at Vienna. 
 
 The passage of the Niemen, by the French army, was the 
 commencement of hostilities (June 22 ;) the Russians immedi- 
 ately began their system of retreat. Bonaparte, at first, suc- 
 ceeded in penetrating between the two armies ; but after several 
 battles fought by Prince Bagration, more especially th-at at 
 Mohiloff (July 23,) the two armies effected a junction at Smo- 
 lensko. Jerome Bonaparte and Vandamme, to whom B.onaparte 
 attributed that check, were ordered to quit the French army, 
 while he himself advanced as far as Witepsk. 
 
 Bonaparte engaged Barclay de Tolly, and fought a bloody 
 battle with him at Smolensko (Aug. 17.) He took possession 
 of that city by force, after it had been set on fire by the inhabit- 
 ants. He found no provisions in it, and scarcely a shelter to 
 cover his sick and wounded. On the news of the progress 
 which the French were making, a general enthu'siasm seized 
 the Russian nation. Alexander had encouraged and excited 
 this patriotic spirit by repairing to Moscow. The nobles armed 
 their peasantry, and prepared to fight with desperation to the 
 last. The two armies of the West were combined into one, 
 of which Prince KutusofT took the command. He engaged 
 Bonaparte, and fought the famous battle of Moskwa, about 
 twenty-five leagues from Moscow (Sept. 7.) Although 65,000 
 men, including Russians, French, and allies, were left dead on 
 the field of battle, that action was by no means .decisive; but 
 KutusofT, whose army was reduced to 70,000 men, while Bona- 
 parte, out of 150,000^, had still 120,000 left, resolved to continue 
 his retreat, and to leave Moscow at the mercy of the enemy. 
 The French entered that place seven days after the battle (Sept. 
 14.) They found that ancient capital entirely abandoned, but 
 still containing immense wealth which the inhabitants had not 
 been able to carry with them. AVithin two days, a conflagra- 
 tion which broke out in five hundred places at once, reduced 
 that immense city to a heap of ashes. The precautions of the 
 incendiaries had been so well taken, that all the efforts of the 
 French to arrest the progTess of the flames proved inefTectual; 
 and out of 9158 houses, they could only save 2041. Thus 
 perished irrevocably the means of subsistence, which had for a 
 moment revived the courage of the invaders. 
 
 In a short time famine began to make its appearance in the 
 army of Bonaparte. Dissembling the real state of his affairs, 
 he twice offered peace. Alexander refused to treat at a time 
 when the war was only on the eve of commencing; and told 
 
264 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 the Russian generals, that he was still resolved to continue his 
 retreat, which commenced accordingly on the 15th October. 
 Marshal Mortier, who commanded the rear-guard, had orders to 
 set fire to the Kremlin, the palace of the ancient Czars of Rus- 
 sia. Bonaparte directed his march towards Smolensko, through 
 a country reduced to an entire desert. He was incessantly 
 harassed by the Russians, whose troops, marching at a conve- 
 nient distance, attacked both his flanks. On arriving at Smo- 
 lensko (Nov. 9,) after having lost 40,000 men, the arm^^ was 
 assailed by the rigours of winter, which added to "their other 
 misfortunes. Kutusoff having advanced before them, and tak- 
 ing post at Krasnoi, they were obliged to force a passage with 
 the loss of 13,000 men", and 70 pieces of cannon. Two days 
 after, 11,000 men of Ney's division, laid down their arms ; 
 35,000 men, and twenty-five cannons without horses, were all 
 that remained to the conqueror of Moscow. 
 
 This exhausted and dispirited army had 50 leagues to march, 
 before they could reach the Beresina, where other dangers 
 awaited them. The passage of that river was occupied by the 
 army of TchichagoiT, amounting to 50,000 men, who had arrived 
 from Moldavia. Another Russian army, under Count Witgen- 
 stein, was marching from the north to join the former ; but 
 Marshal Victor's body of reserve, which had arrived from Prus- 
 sia, intercepted them for a while, without having been able to 
 prevent their final junction. Victor, Oudinot, and Dombrowski, 
 brought a reinforcement to Bonaparte of 35,000 men, exhaust- 
 ed with cold and famine. The passage of the Beresina was 
 forced with admirable bravery (Nov. 27-2S ;) but it cost France 
 or the allies, the lives or the liberty of more than 30,000 men. 
 
 At this point, the main body of the Russians ceased to pursue 
 the unfortunate wreck of Bonaparte's army ; nevertheless, as 
 far as Wilna, they were continually harassed by the Cossacs. 
 There was besides a frightful deficiency of provisions and 
 clothing, so that upwards of 25,000 men fell a sa,crifice to these 
 privations in their route to Wilna. This was the first city or 
 town that fell in their way ; all the others had been completely 
 destroyed; the miserable remnant Avho reached that place (Dec. 
 9,) were at length supplied with provisions ; but the Cossacs 
 did not leave them long in the enjoyment of repose. On the 
 following day they were obliged to commence their retreat to 
 Kowno, from which they directed their march towards the Vis- 
 tula. Independently of the corps of Macdonald, who had the 
 Prussians under his command, and of the auxiliary body of 
 Austrians and Saxons, none of which took any part in that 
 route, only 13,800 French and Italians, and about 23,000 Poles 
 an'' CJprmans, found their way back from Russia. 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 265 
 
 Bonaparte himself had taken his departure privately on the 
 5th December, leaving the command of the army to Miirat. 
 With such despatch had he consulted his safety, that on the ISth 
 of the same month he arrived at Paris. 
 
 Prince Schwartzenberg, being joined by General Reynier who 
 commanded the Saxons, had fought several engagements with 
 the army of Tchichagoff, none of which had proved decisive ; 
 and after the affair of the Beresina he had retired towards War- 
 saw and Pultusk. Several most sanguinary engagements, 
 although not more decisive than the form.er, had taken place 
 between Count Witgenstein and the left wing of the French 
 army ; especially towards the commencement of the campaign, 
 when Marshals Oudinot and St. Cyr had joined Macdonald. 
 On these occasions, the Prussians had rendered very important 
 services ; but the moment General Yorke, w^ho commanded 
 these auxiliaries, had been inform.ed of the retreat of Bonaparte, 
 he thought himself authorized, not from any political motiv^es 
 which he would never have avowed, but from the destitute con- 
 dition in which he had been left, to conclude a capitulation with 
 the Russians, by which he withdrew his whole forces from the 
 French army (Dec. 29.) 
 
 That event was of little importance in itself, although it pro- 
 duced a very great sensation in Prussia, and served as a pretext 
 for Bonaparte to demand new levies, without being obliged to 
 acknowledge the whole extent of the losses he had sustained. 
 One of his ministers, Regnault d'Angely, spoke of the event, in 
 his official report, as the Glorious Retreat of Moscow ! More- 
 over, a decree of the Senate, issued at the commencement of the 
 follovv^ing year (Jan. 11,) placed a new conscription of 350,000 
 men at the disposal of the government. In order to raise the 
 necessary funds for this new armament, Bonaparte seized ihe 
 revenues of all the communes in France ; their properties were 
 sold to promote his schemes ; and he promised to make them 
 ample reimbursements, by assigning to themi annuities on the 
 civil list. 
 
 Nothing annoyed Bonaparte so much as the incessant resis- 
 tance and opposition of Pope Pius VII. In the hope of gaining 
 a more easy victory, by bringing that respectable old man nearer 
 his person, he had ordered him to be conveyed to the Palace of 
 Fontainbleau, about the middle of the year 1812. After his re- 
 turn from Moscow, he repaired thither himself, and succeeded 
 in extorting the Pope's consent to a new Concordat ; on condi- 
 tion, however, that the stipulations should be kept secret, until 
 they were examined by a Consistory of Cardinals. But Bona- 
 parte took an early opportunity of publishing this new Concor- 
 
 voL. II. 23 
 
266 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 dat, as a fundamental law of the State — a circumstance which 
 induced Pius VII. to disavow it, and to declare it null and of 
 none effect. 
 
 Meantime, a new and formidable league was preparing against 
 Bonaparte. After the campaign of 1S12, the King of Prussia 
 had demanded, agreeably to the convention of February 24th, 
 that Bonaparte should reimburse him for the ninety-three mil- 
 lions which he had advanced in furnishing supplies to the French 
 army, beyond the sum which he owed as his contingent for the 
 war. The refusal of Bonaparte to pay that debt, served as a 
 pretext for Frederic William to shake off an alliance so contrary 
 to the true interests of his kingdom. An appeal which he made 
 to the nation excited a general enthusiasm ; and as every thing 
 had been for five years preparing in secret, in the twinkling of 
 an eye the Prussian army, which had been reduced to 42,000 
 men, was raised to 123,000. This defection of Prussia fur- 
 nished Bonaparte with a plea for demanding new levies. A de- 
 cree of the Senate (April 3, 1813,) ordered him 180,000 addi- 
 tional troops. 
 
 The treaty which was signed at Kalisch and Breslau (Feb. 
 27, 28,) laid the foundation of an intimate alliance between Rus- 
 sia and the King of Prussia. Alexander promised to furnish 
 150,000 men, and Prussia 80,000, exclusive of the troops in 
 garrisons and fortresses. Alexander moreover engaged never 
 to lay down arms until Prussia should be restored to her statis- 
 tical, financial, and geographical position, conformably to the 
 state of that monarchy, such as it had been before the war of 
 1806. Within a few days after, these two monarchs had an 
 interview at Breslau, where a more intimate friendship was con- 
 tracted, which subsisted between them for a long time. 
 
 Prince Kutusoff issued a proclamation, dated from Kalisch 
 (March 23, 1813,) which announced to the Germans that the 
 Confederation of the Rhine must henceforth be regarded as dis- 
 solved. The House of Mecklenburg, without waiting for that 
 annunciation, had already set the first example of abandoning 
 that league. The allies had flattered themselves that the King 
 of Saxony would make common cause with them ; but that 
 monarch declared that he would remain faithful to his system. 
 This perseverance of a respectable Prince whose country abound- 
 ed with resources, did much injury to the common cause. At 
 a later date, it cost the King of Saxony the half of his estates, 
 without taking into account the dutchy of Warsaw, which could 
 never be regarded but as a precarious possession. 
 
 The King of Sweden had engaged with Alexander to make 
 a diversion on the rear of Bonaparte ; on condition that he would 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 267 
 
 secure him the possession of Norway, or at least the proA^nce 
 of that kingdom called the Bishopric of Drontheim. Great Bri- 
 tain was desirous that that arrangement should be made with 
 the consent of the King of Denmark, who was offered a com- 
 pensation on the side of Holstein, as well as the whole of Swe- 
 dish Pomerania. Frederic VI. having given an absolute refu- 
 sal, a treaty between Great Britain and Sweden was concluded 
 at Stockholm (March 3, 1813,) by which the latter engaged to 
 employ a body of 30,000 troops on the Continent in active ser- 
 vice against France. It was agreed that this army should act 
 in concert with the Russian troops placed, in consequence of 
 other arrangements, under the command of the Prince Royal of 
 Sweden. Great Britain promised to employ every necessary 
 means for procuring Sweden the possession of Norway, without 
 having recourse to force ; unless the King of Denmark should 
 refuse to accede to the alliance of the North. She promised to 
 furnish supplies to Sweden, and ceded to her the island of 
 Guadaloupe. After this alliance with England, Sweden entered 
 likewise into a league offensive and defensive with Prussia, by 
 a treaty which was signed at Stockholm (April 22.) Frederic 
 William promised to despatch 27,000 troops to join the army 
 which the Prince Royal commanded in Germany. 
 
 Murat, to whom Bonaparte had intrusted the command of the 
 few troops which he had brought back from Moscow, abandoned 
 his commission, and retired to Naples. Eugene Beauharnais 
 then assumed the command, and arrived with 16,000 men on the 
 Elbe (March 10;) but after being joined by the French troops 
 from Pomerania, the Bavarians, the Saxons, and a corps which 
 General Grenier had formed, his army by the end of the 
 month amounted to 87,000 men ; extending along the left bank 
 of the river from Dresden to Hamburg. In a short time, the 
 whole disposable force of Bonaparte in Germany were again 
 augmented to 308,000 men. 
 
 The Prussian army consisted of 128,000 troops, including 
 garrisons and bodies of reserve; but the three battalions of 
 Blucher, Yorke, and Bulow, who had taken the field, did not 
 amount to more than 51,000 combatants. The main army of 
 the Russians, which, since the death of Kutusoff, had been com- 
 manded by Count Witgenstein, amounted to 38,000 men ; al- 
 though the whole of the Russian forces on the Vistula and the 
 Oder, and between the Oder and the Elbe, amounted to 166,000 
 men. The first action, v/hich took place in Germany, was the 
 battle of Luneburg (April 2,) where the Russian General Doren- 
 berg obliged General Morand's division, on their route from 
 Pomerania, to lay dowTi their arms. 
 
268 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 On the 5th of April, Bonaparte took the command of his ars ^ 
 in person ; and on the 2d of May with 115,000 men, he engag> d 
 169,000 Prussians and Russians, under the command of "NV it- 
 o-enstein. The advantage in that action was on the side of the 
 French. The loss on both sides was equal. The Prussians 
 took 1000 prisoners, Avith 10 pieces of cannon, without them- 
 selves losing one. The scene of this battle, so glorious for the 
 Prussians, was in the neighbourhood of Gross-G.erschen. to 
 which Bonaparte gave the name of Lutzen, in commemoration 
 of the famous Gustavus Adolphus. In his bulletins, he repre- 
 sented that battle, which was by no means decisive, as a com- 
 plete victory, because the allies did not renew the combat, and 
 next day commenced their retreat to the right bank of the Rhine, 
 to advance nearer to their reinforcements. 
 
 They took up a position at Bautzen. Their numbers there 
 amounted to 96,000 men, who engaged 148,000 French, under 
 the command of Bonaparte (May 21, 1813.) The Allies had 
 determined not to expose themselves to a defeat, but to terminate 
 every battle the moment they saw it could not turn to their ad- 
 vantage. Within five days after that engagement, to which the 
 French gave the name of the battle of Wurtchen,'Blucher gain- 
 ed a decided advantage at Haynau over the division of General 
 Maison, and captured the whole of their artillery. An armis- 
 tice was then concluded between the two parties at Poischwitz. 
 
 This measure was at the request of Bonaparte, as it was 
 necessary for him to await the arrival of his reinforcements ; 
 especially since he found himself menaced on the North by an 
 invasion of the Swedes. It is probable he would not have taken 
 this step had he penetrated the views of Austria ; but Count 
 Metternich had dexterously contrived to conceal these from him, 
 in the several interviews which he had with him at Dresden, so 
 that the sagacit}?- of that great commander was completely at 
 fault. The Allies had no wish for an armistice, which could 
 only make them lose time, as their armaments were in a state 
 of readiness ; but they consented to it at the request of Austria, 
 who had neied of some delay to complete her preparations, 
 although she was at first actuated by a different motive. She 
 had still hopes to avoid the war, by inducing Bonaparte to accept 
 those moderate conditions of peace to which the Allies had given 
 their consent by the treaty of June 27, of which we shall have 
 occasion to speak immediately. At the time when the armistice 
 was signed. Count Metternich, who had apprized Bonaparte of 
 these conditions, had already certain information that the two 
 monarchs were not deceived in predicting that they would be 
 refused. All hopes of peace had now vanished; but there still 
 
PEUioD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 269 
 
 Temained another moti^^e, which made the Court of Vienna 
 anxious for further delay. 
 
 By a convention signed at Dresden (June 30,) Bonaparte ac- 
 cepted the mediation of Austria for a peace, either general or 
 Continental ; and the armistice, which was to expire on the 20th 
 July, was prolonged to the 10th of August. At the request of 
 Francis I., a sort of congress was opened at Prague. Bonaparte 
 had no wish for peace, as he never supposed that Austria would 
 declare against him. The Allies had no wish for it, as they 
 knew well the disposition of that power ; while Austria, the only 
 Cabinet which had pacific views, had given up all hope of ever 
 bringing Bonaparte to any reasonable terms of accommodation. 
 Such were the auspices under which the Congress of Prague 
 was opened. They were discussing the form in which the ne- 
 gotiations were to proceed, when the 10th of August arrived. 
 The ministers of Russia and Prussia then declared that the 
 term of the armistice had expired, and consequently that their 
 diplomatic powers were at an end. 
 
 Within two days after, Austria declared war against Bona- 
 parte ; and the three monarchs who met at Prague, resolved to 
 accompany the main army, which v/as under the command of 
 Prince Schwartzenberg, during the whole campaign. 
 
 It will not be improper here to give a summary of the treaties 
 which constituted the sixth coalition, and procured the accession 
 of Austria so decisive for the cause of the allies. (1.) The 
 treaty of Reichenbach (June 14,) between Great Britain and 
 Prussia. The former bound herself to pay to the other, within 
 the six months, 666,666Z. sterling, for the maintenance of 80,000 
 troops ; and came under the same engagement with regard to 
 the augmentation of Prussia, that Russia had entered into by 
 the treat}^ of Kalisch. The King of Prussia promised to cede- 
 to the Electorate of Hanover a certain portion of territory, inclu- 
 ding the principality of Hildesheim, and containing a population 
 of between 3 and 400,000 souls. (2.) The treaty of Reichen- 
 bach between Great Britain and Russia (June 15,) by which the 
 former promised to pay to the other, before the expiration of the 
 year, 1,333,334Z. sterling, for the maintenance of 160,000 men. 
 (3.) The treaty of Reichenbach, between Austria, Prussia, and 
 Russia (June 27 ;) the first engaged to declare war against Bo- 
 naparte, if at the conclusion of the armistice he had not accepted 
 the conditions of peace which they offered him. The following 
 are the proposals to which we have already alluded. Austria 
 on her own behalf, demanded only the restitution of the lUyrian 
 provinces, and the territory which she had ceded to the dutchy 
 of Warsaw. Such were the pledges of her sincere desire for 
 VOL. II. 23 ^ 
 
270 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 restoring peace to Europe. Prussia was content to obtain the 
 restitution of her part of the same dutchy, and that of Dantzic, 
 and the evacuation of the fortresses occupied by the French ; 
 thus abandoning- all her possessions on the left bank of the Elbe. 
 Moreover, they allowed the kingdom of Westphalia still to re- 
 main, and they deprived Bonaparte only of his last usurpation* 
 in the north of Germany. By another article of the treaty, it 
 was stipulated, that if these conditions were rejected, and war 
 once begun, they should never make peace but on condition that 
 Austria and Prussia were to be again placed on the footing in 
 which they had been in 1805 ; that the Confederation of the 
 Rhine should be dissolved ; the independence of Holland and 
 Italy secured : and the House of Bourbon restored to the throne 
 of Spain. (4.) The treaty of Petersv\'aldau between Great Bri- 
 tain and Russia (July 6.) by which the former undertook to sup- 
 port a German legion of 10,000 men for the service of Russia. 
 (5.) A definitive alliance signed at Toplitz (Sept. 9,) between 
 Austria, Prussia, and Russia, by which these powers were to 
 assist each other with 60,000 men. It w^as agreed to reconstruct 
 the Austrian monarchy upon the plan approaching as near as 
 possible to that of 1805; to dissolve the Confederation of the 
 Rhine and the kingdom of Westphalia ; and to restore the House 
 of Brunswick-Luneburg. (6.) The treaty of alliance signed at 
 Toplitz between Austria and Great Britain. 
 
 Bonaparte, on his side, likewise acquired an ally at this im- 
 portant crisis. The Danes had already entered into Hamburg 
 with the French, when Marshal Davoust compelled General 
 Tettenborn to evacuate that city, (May 30,) which he had got 
 possession of in the month of March. An English fleet having 
 appeared off Copenhagen (May 31,) and demanded the cession 
 of Norway in favour of Sweden, the King of Denmark conclu- 
 ded a treaty with Bonaparte at Copenhagen, by which the former 
 engaged to declare war against Sweden, Russia and Prussia, 
 and the latter against Sweden. Immediately after, an army of 
 12,000 Danes, under the command of Frederic Prince of Hesse 
 was joined to that of Davoust. 
 
 The plan of the campaign for the allies had been settled in 
 the conference held at Trachenberg by the Emperor of Russia, 
 the King of Prussia, the Prince Royal of Sweden, and the pleni- 
 potentiaries of Austria and Great Britain. The forces of the 
 Coalition amounted to 264,000 Austrians, 249,000 Russians, 
 277,000 Prussians, and 24,000 Swedes; but not more than 
 700,000 men were engaged in the cam.paign ; of which 192,000 
 were occupied with the sieges of Dantzic, Zamoscz, Glogau, Cus- 
 trin, and Stettin. These 700,000 men were divided as follows : 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 271 
 
 The Army of Bohemia, composed of Austrians, Russians, and 
 Prussians, under the command of Prince SchAvartzenberg, 
 amounted to 237,700 men, with 698 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The Army of the No7-th, composed of Prussians, Russians, 
 and Swedes, under the command of the Prince Royal of Swe- 
 den, amounting to 154,000 men, with 887 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The Army of Silesia, composed of Prussians and Russians, 
 under the command of Blucher, 95,000 strong, with 356 pieces 
 of cannon. 
 
 The Austrian Army of Bavaria, commanded b}? Prince Reuss, 
 containing 42,700 men, with 42 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The Austrian Army in Italy, under Hiller, 50,000 strong, 
 with 120 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The Austrian Army of Reserve, stationed between Vienna 
 and Presburg, under the command of Duke Ferdinand of Wur- 
 temberg, 60,000 strong. 
 
 The Russia7i Army of Reserve in Poland, under the command 
 of Bennigsen, 57,000 strong, with 198 pieces of cannon. 
 
 To these forces Bonaparte opposed an army of 462,000 men, 
 including 80,000 who occupied thirteen fortresses ; besides the 
 army of Bavaria, which watched the movements of the Prince of 
 Reuss, and 40,000 men which Eugene Beauharnais had in Italy. 
 
 Hostilities recommenced immediately after the termination of 
 the armistice ; Silesia, Saxony, and sometimes the frontiers, be- 
 came the theatre of war. The Prince Royal of Sweden 
 covered Berlin, which was threatened by Marshal Oudinot. 
 The battle of Gross-Beeren (Aug. 23,) which was gained by 
 the Prussian General Bulow, saved the capital, in Silesia, 
 Blucher, pressed hard by Bonaparte, had retired as far as Jauer ; 
 but the latter having intelligence of the march of the allies on 
 Dresden, retraced his steps with a part of his army, while Blucher 
 attacked Marshal Macdonald at the river Katsbach, and gn ined 
 a signal victory (Aug. 26,) in which he took 10,000 prisoners, 
 and 103 pieces of cannon. General Puthod, who commanded a 
 detachment of 8000 men, was obliged to surrender at Plagwitz 
 to Count Langeron (Aug. 29.) The array of Bohemia attacked 
 Dresden a few hours after Bonaparte had arrived v/ith his rein- 
 forcements. The battle was bloody, and lasted two days (Aug. 
 26, 27.) Thirteen thousand Austrians being cut off on the left 
 wing, were obliged to lay down their arms ; the allies retired in 
 good order, leaving 6000 men killed and wounded on the field 
 of battle, and 26 pieces of cannon in the hands of the French, who 
 had lost 18,000 men by that victory. General Moreau, who had 
 come on the invitation of the Prince Royal of Sweden to take 
 a part in the struggle against Napoleon, was mortally wounded. 
 
272 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Before the battle, Vandamme had been detached with 30,000 
 men to cut off the retreat of the allies. He encountered Count 
 Ostermann Tolstoy, who was at the head of 8000 Austrians, and 
 repulsed him as far as the valley of Culm. The King of Prus- 
 sia, who was at Toplitz, apprized the Russian general, that un- 
 less he made haste to arrest the march of Vandamme, the latter 
 would succeed in cutting off the Emperor Alexander from his 
 army. The Russians fought the whole day (Aug. 29,) with the 
 most heroic determination ; Count Ostermann having had his 
 left arm carried off by a shot, the command was taken by 
 Marshal Milloradowich. At length they were reinforced by 
 several Austrian and Russian armies, which the King of Prussia 
 had sent to their assistance, and which enabled them to main- 
 tain their position. During the night, Barclay de Tolly had 
 arrived with new reinforcements, and next day (Aug. 30,) the 
 famous battle of Culm was fought, which was decided by the 
 arrrival of General Kleist on the heights of Nollendorf, lying 
 behind the position of Vandamme. The latter finding himself 
 thus intercepted, a part of his cavalry forced their passage, by 
 cutting their way through a regiment of recruits. Vandamme 
 then surrendered himself prisoner, with 10,000 men and 81 
 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The grand object of Bonaparte was to get possession of Ber- 
 lin. Ney, at the head of 80,000 men, was charged with the ex- 
 ecution of this enterprise. But he sustained a complete rout 
 at Denewitz (Sept. 6,) by the Prince Royal of Sweden ; and 
 another by BulowandTauenzien. The French there lost 20,000 
 prisoners, with 80 pieces of cannon, and all their baggage. 
 The plan of the allies to withdraw Bonaparte from Dresden, and 
 allure him into the plains of Saxony, where they could unite 
 all their forces against him, succeeded entirely to their wish. 
 He quitted Dresden (Oct. 7,) at the head of 125,000 men, \vith 
 the hope of defeating the enemy in separate armies. But the 
 latter had manoeuvred so skilfully, that the armies of Bohemia, 
 the North, Silesia, and the Russian army of reserve, were 
 ready to effect a junction on a given signal. The plains of 
 Leipsic decided the fate of Bonaparte. His army there amount- 
 ed to 171,000 combatants. The allies would have had 301,000, 
 namely, 78,000 Austrians, 69,500 Prussians, 136,000 Russians, 
 and 18,000 Swedes, if they had been able to form a union at 
 the commencement of the battle. 
 
 Several different engagements had preceded this great battle. 
 On the 16th October, the army of Bohemia alone fought three 
 several actions at Wachau, Connewitz, and Lindenau. None 
 of these were prod active of any decisive result; but Blucher 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. ISiO — 1815. 27^? 
 
 had encountered Marshal Marmoiit on the same day, and de- 
 feated him at Mockern. On the following day, there were f-ome 
 engagements, but without any decisive result ; they were fought 
 by the three armies of Sweden, Blucher, and Bennigsen, who 
 were on their march to the field of battle at Leipsic. Bona- 
 parte then began to be aware of the danger of his position. 
 For the first time he foresaw the possibility of a defeat, and 
 sent General Bertrand to V/eissenfels to secure the bridge over 
 the Saal. On the IStb, at day-break, he made proposals of an 
 armistice and peace, through the Austrian General Meerfeld, 
 who had fallen into his hands ; but both the one and the other 
 were disregarded. This was the first day of the battle of Leip- 
 sic ; the French army resisted with great heroism, and it \\ns 
 not till after the arrival of Blucher and the army of Sweden, 
 that they were compelled to abandon part of their position, and 
 to retire to the very gates of Leipsic. Several bodies of Saxons 
 and Wurtembergers passed over on that day to the ranks of the 
 allies. During the night, the French army effected their retreat 
 by Leipsic to Weissenfels. Macdonald and Poniatowski had 
 orders to defend the city. It was attacked by the allies next 
 day. The French made a vigorous resistance. At ten o'clock 
 in the morning, Bonaparte escaped among the fugitives, the 
 cannon, and the equipage which encumbered the gate of Altran- 
 stadt. The Elster, which runs by the city, had only one bridge, 
 which they caused to be blovvn up as soon as Bonaparte had 
 passed. Thus Macdonald and Poniatowski found themselves 
 fairly enclosed with their divisions. The latter was drowned 
 in attempting to swim across the Elster. Macdonald was made 
 prisoner, as well as the King of Saxony, who had remained at 
 Leipsic. Bonaparte, on these two days, lost in killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners, 70,000 men, and 800 pieces of cannon. The 
 allies purchased that victory by the death of 50,000 of their 
 troops. 
 
 Bonaparte directed his flight with all haste towards Mayence, 
 closely pursued by the Cossacs, wdio made a great many pri- 
 soners, besides a rich booty in cannon and baggage. When he 
 arrived at Hanau, he found his passage intercepted by an enemy 
 which he did not expect. Since the month of August, a nego- 
 tiation had been set on foot with the King of Bavaria, for in- 
 ducing him to abandon the cause of Bonaparte. To this mea- 
 sure he at length agreed, by a convention, which Avas signed at 
 Ried (Oct. 8,) which secured to Bavaria the possession of ab- 
 solute and independent sovereignty, and complete indemnity for 
 the restitutions which she was, in that case, to make to Austria. 
 
 Immediately after the signing the convention at Ried, the 
 
274 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Bavarian General Wrede, at the head of a body of between 
 45,000 and 50,000 Austrians and Bavarians, began their march 
 by Neuburg, Anspach, and Wurtsburg ; and after taking this 
 latter city, they proceeded to Hanan, of which he took possession 
 (Oct. 24,) with 36,000 or 40,000 men. He encountered the 
 French, who in their retreat had arrived at Gelnhausn ; there a 
 battle took place, which lasted for several successive days. Bo- 
 naparte lost 25,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners ; but 
 with the 35,000 that were left, he forced a passage, and retired 
 to the left bank of the Rhine. Marshal St. Cyr, whom Bonaparte 
 had left at Dresden, was obliged to capitulate with 27,000 men. 
 Dantzic surrendered with 20,000 men, and Torgau with 10,000. 
 
 In the month of May, Eugene Beauharnais had taken the 
 command of the army of Italy, which occupied the Illyrian pro- 
 vinces. But he was obliged to return beyond the Adige, before 
 General Hiller, who, having made himself master of the Tyrol, 
 was threatening to cut off his retreat. This campaign neverthe- 
 less did honour to the French general. 
 
 After the battle of Leipsic, the Prince Royal of Sweden 
 marched against Davoust and the Danes, the former of whom 
 was blocked up in Hamburg, and the Danes had retired into 
 Sleswick. An armistice was granted them, from which however 
 Gluckstadt and Fredericsort were excepted, as they had capitu- 
 lated during the cessation of hostilities. Frederic VI. concluded 
 a peace at Kiel in all haste (Jan. 14, 1814 ;) and Denmark en- 
 tered into the alliance against Bonaparte. We shall have occasion 
 to speak afterwards of the mutual cessions that were made by 
 this treaty. On the same day Denmark signed a peace with 
 Great Britain. She promised to furnish 10,000 men to take the 
 field against Bonaparte, and Great Britain engaged to pay them 
 33,333Z. per month. Peace was at the same time established be- 
 tween Denmark and Russia, by the treaty of Hanover (Feb. 8;) 
 and between Denmark and Prussia by that of Berlin (Aug. 25.) 
 
 Meantime Bonaparte had recalled Marshal Soult from Spain 
 wdth a part of his troops. Lord Wellington, the Generalissimo 
 of the Spanish armies, defeated Jourdan at Vittoria (June 21, 
 1813,) \vhere 15,000 French were left on the field of battle, and 
 3000 made prisoners. Jourdan lost the whole of his artillery. 
 Joseph Bonaparte then abandoned the throne of Spain for ever. 
 The activity of Marshal Suchet defeated an expedition by sea, 
 undertaken by Sir John Murray against Tarragona. Lord AVel- 
 lington took St. Sebastian and Pampeluna (Aug. 31,) and com- 
 pelled the French army to pass the Bidassoa, and to retire on 
 Baj^onne. Soult again took the command, and by means of 
 reinforcements increased the army to 40,000 men. 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 9:75 
 
 In Germany, the Confederation of the Rhine and the kingdom 
 of Westphalia had both been dissolved. The Electors of Han- 
 over and Hesse, the Dukes of Brunswick and Oldenburg-, were 
 restored to the possession of their patrimonies, and joined the 
 alliance. The King of Wurtemberg, and the Elector of Baden, 
 made their peace with the Allies, by means of special treaties. 
 All the princes of the Rhenish Confederation entered into the 
 Grand League, except the King of Saxony, the Grand Duke of 
 Frankfort, and the princes of Isemburg and Leyen, who were 
 excluded from it, and their territories treated as conquered 
 provinces. 
 
 On his return to Paris, Bonaparte announced his intention of 
 continuing the war, and caused the Senate to grant him a new 
 conscription of 300,000 men. Nevertheless he appeared willing 
 to bring to a conclusion the negotiations which the Allies on the 
 Continent had set on foot. According to the terms agreed on at 
 Toplitz, the Rhine was to form the frontier of France, and the 
 kingdom of Holland was to be given to a-brother of Bonaparte; 
 but the movements of Napoleon, and the warlike preparations 
 which he had ordered, gave England an opportunity of changing 
 the sentiments of these monarchs ; and they determined to adopt 
 the scheme which Mr. Pitt had contrived in 1805. 
 
 The decree of the Senate, of November 18, 1813, completed 
 the immense number of 1,260,000 men ; all of whom, indepen- 
 dently of the existing army, had been sacrificed to the restless 
 ambition of Bonaparte. The forces with which the Allies in- 
 vaded France, were divided into three armies. 
 
 The Army of Bohemia, commanded by Prince Schwartzenberg, 
 and composed of 261,000 men, Austrians, Russian?, Prussians, 
 and Germans, was destined to enter France by way of Switzer- 
 land. 
 
 The Army of Silesia, under the command of Blucher, consist- 
 ing of 137,000 men, Prussians, Russians, and Germans, were to 
 pass the Rhine near Mayence. 
 
 The Army of the North, composed of 174,000 Prussians, Rus- 
 sians, Germans, Swedes, Dutch and English, were to occupy 
 Holland and the Netherlands. They were to be commanded by 
 the Prince Royal of Sweden, and, in his absence, by the Duke 
 of Saxe-Weimar. 
 
 Independently of these three armies, the Allies had an army 
 of reserve of 235,000 men, and the Austrians had an army of 
 80,000 men in Italy. About the end of December 1813, and 
 the beginning of the year 1814, the two first armies entered 
 France. We can only advert to the principal events of that 
 short campaign. After some actions of minor importance 
 
276 CHAPTER 
 
 Blucher attacked Bonaparte at Rothiere with a superior force, 
 and. in spite of the vigorous resistance which he met with, he 
 gained a complete victory (Feb. 1.) Thirteen days afterwards, 
 Bonaparte returned him the compliment at Etoges or Vauchamp, 
 Being enclosed by Grouchy, Blucher had to cut his way at the 
 point of the bayonet, and lost 6000 men. 
 
 The Allies, after having received various checks, combined 
 their two armies at Troyes (Feb. 21 ;) but Prince Schwartzen- 
 berg, not wishing to give battle in that position, began to retreat. 
 Blucher then separated from him to continue on the defensive ; 
 after being reinforced, however, by the divisions of Bulow and 
 Winzingerode, which had arrived from Belgium ; their junction 
 took place at Soissons (March 3.) Blucher took up a position 
 behind the Aisne. Bonaparte having passed that river, defeated 
 two bodies of Russians under V/oronzoff and Saken at Craonc 
 (March 7,) and attacked Blucher at Laon (March 10.) He was 
 there totally defeated ; and that victory induced Schwartzenberg 
 to abandon the defensive, and march on Paris. He engaged 
 Bonaparte at Arcis-sur-Aube, where the battle, although bloody, 
 was not decisi^-e. They were in expectation of seeing the en- 
 gagement renevv'ed next day, when Bonaparte suddenly resolved 
 to march to St. Dizier, to cat off the allies from their communi- 
 cation with the Rhine, as well as to draw reinforcements from 
 the garrisons of Lorraine and Alsace, and thus transfer the the- 
 atre of war to Germany. 
 
 But before bringing the sketch of this campaign to a close, 
 it will be necessary to take notice of the Congress of Chatillon, 
 which was opened on the 5th February, and v/hich was a con- 
 tinuation of the negotiations that had taken place towards the 
 close of the year 1813. The allies consented to allow Bona- 
 parte to retain the crovvai of France, but the limits of that king- 
 dom to be reduced to v.'-hat they had been in 1792. Bonaparte 
 at first seemed willing to treat on these terms, but his real ob- 
 ject was to gain time. Whenever his troops had gained any 
 advantage he immediately heightened his tone ; and in the 
 course of six weeks the allies broke off the conference. During 
 the sitting of the Congress of Chatillon, Austria, Great Britain, 
 Prussia and Russia, signed the famous Quadruple Alliance at 
 Chaumont (March 1,) which became the basis of the new politi- 
 cal syst>em of Europe. Each of the allies engaged to maintain 
 an army of 150,000 men constantly in the field against the com- 
 mon enemy. Great Britain promised to furnish to the three 
 other powers a subsidy of 5,000,000Z. sterling foi the year 1814; 
 in such a way, however, that she was only to pay them propor- 
 tionally until the end of the month in which the peace should 
 
PERIOD .X. A. D. 1810—1815. 277 
 
 be concluded, adding to these two months for the return of the 
 Austrian and Prussian troops, and four for those of the Eussians. 
 The main object of this alliance was the re-establishment of an 
 equilibrium of power, based upon the following arrangements : — 
 German^ to be composed of Sovereign Princes united by a fed- 
 eral bond : The Confederation of Switzerland to be restored to 
 its ancient lim.its and its former independence : Italy to be divi- 
 ded into Independent States, lying between the Austrian pos- 
 sessions in that peninsula and France : Holland to be a free 
 and independent State, under the sovereignty of the Prince of 
 Orange, with an increase of territory. 
 
 Blucher had made hinriself master of Chalons and Chateau 
 Thierry, when the allies learned, by an intercepted letter, wdiat 
 were the plans of Bonaparte. In order to persuade him that 
 they had taken the alarm at his m.arch, and were resolved to 
 follow him, they sent Count Winzingerode after him at the head 
 of a body of 8000 cavalry, which he might easily m.istake for 
 the vanguard of the allies. By this manoeuvre he was deceived, 
 and continued his route eastwards while the allies directed their 
 march on Paris. Schwartzenberg attacked and beat the two 
 divisions of Marmont and Mortier, at Sonde St. Croix (March 
 25,) v/hile the army of Silesia compelled Puthod and Amey to 
 surrender near Lafere Champenoise. This double encounter 
 cost the French 5000 killed, 10,000 prisoners, and 80 pieces of 
 cannon. Marmont and Mortier retreated to Paris, but they 
 were defeated at Montmartre and Belleville (March 30.) The 
 heights, which on that side overlook Paris, were taken by the 
 allies, who purchased that victory bv the loss of 9000 men. A 
 capitulation for Paris was signed the same night. 
 
 The entrance of the allies into the capital of France took 
 place next day. The Emperor x'Vlexander immediately declared 
 in his own name, and in that of his allies, that they could treat 
 no more with Napoleon, or w4th any of his family. He invited 
 the Senate to establish a provisional government, — a measure 
 which was necessary, as the Count D'Artois, who was appoint- 
 ed the King's Lieutenant-General, had not yet arrived. He 
 likewise invited that body to prepare a constitution, that is to 
 say, to submit their counsel and advice to the King, as to the 
 modifications to be made in the government ; for the French 
 constitution which is based on the Salic law has been in exis- 
 tence for centuries. The Emperor Alexander made that propo- 
 sal to the Senate, as being the only order of the State then in 
 existence ; but that monarch did not know that the Senate was 
 the last authority to which the public opinion would have granted 
 any influence, as to the settlement of the condition of France 
 
 VOL. IT. L*-l 
 
!?78 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The General Council of the Department of the Seine, and the 
 Municipal Council of Paris, demanded the return of Louis 
 XVIIL, their legitimate sovereign (April 1.) In pronouncing 
 the deposition of Bonaparte next day, the Senate exercised a 
 right which did not belong to them. As that body owed its 
 existence to Napoleon, its functions should have ceased with his. 
 
 On the seventh day of his march the Emperor of the French 
 discovered his error. He then returned in all haste towards 
 Fontainbleau. After several unsuccessful attempts, either to 
 regain his power or to transmit it to his son, he was obliged to 
 sign his abdication (April 10.) Next day Austria, Prussia, and 
 Russia, drew up a convention with his delegates Ney, Macdon- 
 ald, and Caulincourt, by which, at the suggestion of the Empe- 
 ror of Russia, they secured him the possession of the Island of 
 Elba, with full sovereignty ; and the States of Parma for his 
 wife and son. Great Britain acceded to that arrangement, to 
 which the King of France yet remained a stranger. Bonaparte 
 soon after embarked at St. Rapheau, to repair to his place of 
 exile. 
 
 The narrow space to which we must confine our observations, 
 obliges us to pass in silence over the military events which took 
 place in Holland and Belgium, and on the side of Lyons. But 
 we must say a word or two on the war in the Pyrenees and in 
 Italy. Anticipating the resolutions of the Allied Sovereigns, 
 Lord Wellington, with whom the Duke D'Angouleme then v/as, 
 invited the French, by a proclamation dated January 27th, to 
 replace Louis on the throne. Within a month after, he defeated 
 the army of Soult at Orthes (Feb. 27.) and compelled that Gen- 
 eral to retire to Tarbes, To satisfy the wishes of the inhabi- 
 tants of Bourdeaux, Marshal Beresford conducted the Duke 
 D'Angouleme to that place, which was the first city in France 
 that proclaimed Louis XVIIL (March 13.) The allies had 
 already entered Paris, and Bonaparte had abdicated his crown, 
 when Lord Wellington, who was ignorant of these events, fought 
 his last battle with Soult at Toulouse (April 10.) In that san- 
 guinary but fruitless engagement, the French vrere totally de- 
 feated. 
 
 In Italy, an event not a little extraordinar}^ had happened. 
 Murat had turned his back on his benefactor, who had raised 
 nim from the dust to encircle his brow with a diadem. From 
 the commencement of the year 1813, he had endeavoured to 
 have his title acknowledged by the House of Austria. After 
 the battle of Leipsic, he abandoned the Continental system, from 
 a wish to please England, and throw open the ports of his king- 
 dom to all sorts of merchandise. He entered into a nesrotiation 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 279 
 
 with the Courts both of London and Vienna, with a view to be 
 admitted into the grand alliance ; at the same time, he set on 
 foot an army of 34,000 men, who entered Rome- and directed 
 their march towards Ancona. Austria concluded an alliance 
 with him (Jan. 11, 1814,) which guaranteed to him the posses- 
 sion of the kingdom of Naples, with the reservation of an in- 
 demnity for the King of Sicily. Immediately after, Murat an- 
 nounced the change in his political conduct. He blockaded the 
 citadel of Ancona, took possession of Florence, where his sister- 
 in-law, the Grand Dutchess, escaped to save her life, and pushed 
 on as far as Modena. Lord Bentinck, who commanded the 
 British forces in Sicily, then concluded an armistice with Murat. 
 Eugene Beauharnais, v/ho had supposed that the Neapolitan 
 armj'- would come to his succour, was at length undeceived, and 
 obliged to retreat on the Mincio ; but he fought a battle with 
 Field-Marshal Bellegarde who commanded the Austrians in the 
 room of Hiller (Feb. 8.) which cost the latter the loss of 8,500 
 men, in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Fouche, who was at 
 Lucca as Commissary-general of Bonaparte, concluded a con- 
 vention with the Neapolitans, in virtue of which Tuscany was 
 restored to them. The Viceroy, seeing himself pressed on the 
 one hand by the Austrians, and on the other by the Neapolitans ; 
 and having received intelligence of the entrance of the allies 
 into Paris, negotiated an armistice, which was signed at Schia- 
 rino Rizzino (April 16.) A feu^ days after, his friends made an 
 attempt to have him proclaimed King of Italy by the people of 
 Milan. But the hatred which the Italians had for the French 
 prevailed over their attachment to the Viceroy, who wisely adopt- 
 ed the resolution of surrendering all the places in the kingdom 
 of Italy to the Austrian troops, and retired with his family to 
 Germany. 
 
 The Senate of France had, with all expedition, completed and 
 published a pretended constitution (April 6,) in which two things 
 especially shocked the opinion of the public, viz. the care which 
 the q.uthors of that production had taken to secure the continu- 
 anc, of their own authority with the revenues thereto attached, 
 and the violation of the first principle of monarchy of which they 
 had been guilty, by arrogating to themselves the right of con- 
 fcr''ing the crown of France on him to whom it belonged by 
 birth-right, and wdio, far from renouncing it, had taken care to 
 se'^ure his riofhts by formal protestations. Within six days after, 
 th° Count D'Artois, the King's Lieutenant-general, arrived in 
 P'ris, and concluded a convention with the allies (April 23,) as 
 a »;)relude to a general peace. They engaged to evacuate the 
 I critory of France ; and they settled the terms on which the 
 
2S0 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 places possessed by the French troops not within their owti 
 territories, were to be delivered up. The King of France had 
 landed at Calais (April 25,) and was slo^vly approaching his 
 capital. A declaration, which he published at St. Ouen (May 
 2,) annulled the constitution of the Senate, and promised the 
 nation a charter, the principles of which were announced in that 
 same declaration. Next day Louis XVIII. made his solemn 
 entry into Paris. 
 
 The first care of Louis was to conclude peace with the Allies. 
 A military convention was signed (May 28,) regulating differ- 
 ent points regarding the maintenance and march of the troops, 
 hospitals, magazines, &c. ; and immediately treaties of peace 
 were concluded with the four grand powers (May 30,) to which 
 the others acceded. France was to return to her ancient limits 
 of January 1, 1792, with an augmentation of territory on the 
 north side". She likewise retained Avignon and the County of 
 Yenaissin. Louis XVIII. adhered to the principles of the al- 
 liance of Chaumont, as to the political system to be established 
 in Europe. England retained Malta, but gave up the French 
 colonies, with the exception of Tobago, St. Lucia, and the Isle 
 of France, with their dependencies. Guiana, which had been 
 taken from Portugal, was restored. Certain secret articles 
 pointed out the manner in which the Allied Powers were to dis- 
 l)0se of the territories surrendered by France ; and annulled the 
 endowments and donations made by Bonaparte in these territo- 
 ries. Certain special articles were added with regard to Prus- 
 sia, which annulled the peace of Tilsit, and all its consequences. 
 
 In the month of June, the Emperor Alexander, the King of 
 Prussia, and Prince Metternich, repaired to London, where they 
 concluded a new quadruple alliance, by which the contracting 
 powers engaged to keep on foot an army of 75,000 men each, 
 until the restoration of order in Europe. The sovereigns 
 agreed also, during their stay in London, that Belgium should 
 be united to Holland, with which it was to form one and the 
 same State. 
 
 Immediately after the conclusion of the peace, Louis XVIII. 
 published the charter or Constitution which he proposed to the 
 nation. This was not a constitution in the sense which had 
 been attached to that word since the year 1789 ; that is to say, a 
 body of laws or regulations, fully and finally settling the prero- 
 gative of the King, and the powers of the different authorities, 
 as well as the rights and privileges of the citizens. It was a 
 declaration by which the King, in conformity with the principles 
 which had prevailed for a century, modified the Royal poAver 
 in certain respects, and promised never to exercise it in future 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 281 
 
 pxcept according to the established forms. Thus the Ro3ral 
 authority, which Louis XVIII. derived from his ancestors, and 
 which was founded on the ancient order of succession, remained 
 inviolate and entire in all its branches. 
 
 The peace of Paris gave rise to a multitude of treaties be- 
 tween the different powers of Europe. Of these we can only- 
 notice a small number, which we shall do when we come to 
 speak of the history of these countries. Meantime, we must 
 confine our remarks to general affairs, and more particularly to 
 those in which France is concerned. 
 
 An article in the treaty of Paris, of May 30th, had stipulated 
 that within the space of two months, the plenipotentiaries of all 
 the powers who had taken part in the late events, France in- 
 I'luded, should meet in a general Congres-s at Vienna, to concert 
 the necessary arrangements for completing the conditions and 
 regulations of the treaty. The reconstruction of Germany into 
 a body politic ; the replacing of Prussia and Austria on a foot- 
 ing analogous to the power which they had enjoyed in 1806 
 and 1805 ; the fate of Poland ; the establishment of an inde- 
 pendent state between France and Germany ; the neutrality of 
 Switzerland ; the organization of Italy, which had been com- 
 pletely subverted by Bonaparte ; the regulating of the indem- 
 nities which might be claimed by the different States who had 
 taken a part in the war ; and the settling of th^ territorial ex- 
 changes to which these claims might give rise, were the im- 
 portant objects about which the plenipotentiaries were neces- 
 sarily to be employed. To these England added one subject 
 which might appear foreign to the business of that Congress, 
 viz. the question as to the abolition of Negro Slavery ; ano- 
 ther arose from the most unexpected event of Napoleon's return, 
 which compelled the sovereigns of Europe again to take arms, 
 and to conquer France a second time. 
 
 Owing to different causes, the opening of the Congress did 
 not take place till towards the end of the year. We ma}' men- 
 tion, with regard to the form of the Congress, that althoagh it 
 was composed of the plenipotentairies of all the allies, great and 
 small, they never held any general Session, The affairs of 
 Germany were kept distinct from those of the rest of Europe ; 
 theCongresSjConsisting of the plenipotentiaries of the five great 
 powers, namely, Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and 
 Russia ; and the other of the plenipotentiaries of these and 
 the remaining powers; Spain, Portugal, and Sweden, being* 
 added to the first five. The questions relating to Germany, 
 w^ere discussed at first by Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Hanover, 
 ar.d Wurtemberg ; although, afterwards, all the sovereigns of 
 
 VOL. II. 5>4 ^ 
 
232 ClIAPTKR XII. 
 
 Germany were called into these deliberations. There were 
 certain affairs which were prepared and discussed by special 
 commissions. 
 
 The subject which occasioned the gTeatest difficulty, and 
 which was even on the point of disturbing the unanimity of the 
 Cabinets, was the reconstruction of the Prussian monarchy. 
 Prussia was to be restored to all that she had possessed in 1S05, 
 except the principalities of Franconia, which were in the pos- 
 session of Bavaria ; the district of Bialystock which was an- 
 nexed to Russia ; and the grand dutchy of Posnania, which 
 Alexander had declared his intention of comprehending in the 
 kingdom of Poland which he proposed to restore. Frederic 
 William promised to cede to Flanover a territory inhabited by 
 between three and four hundred thousand souls. For these 
 losses he claimed an indemnity ; and as Saxony was the only 
 kingdom which could offer him compensation, Great Britain, 
 Russia, and Austria, had consented to an acquisition which 
 seemed to be justified by the conduct of the King of Saxony, 
 who in 1807 had shared the spoils of Prussia, and in 1813 had 
 made common cause with Bonaparte. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander thus put Prussia in possession of 
 Saxon}^ which her troops had till then occupied. The man- 
 ner, hov/ever, in which public opinion in England and in Eu- 
 rope generally had expressed itself against the designs of Prus- 
 sia, and the insinuations of the French minister at Vienna, 
 induced Austria and the Cabinet of London to oppose the exe- 
 cution of this plan, not only by interesting themselves for the 
 preservation of Saxony, but by disputing the claims advanced 
 by Prussia, and refusing to allow the dutchy of Warsaw to fall 
 entirely into the hands of Russia, The Emperor Alexander, 
 who concurred entirely with Prussia, supported it with all his 
 efforts. Being apprized, however, that Austria, France, and 
 Great Britain had just concluded an alliance or agreement which 
 appeared to have some reference to the fate of Saxony, anc! 
 wishing to remove every ground of misunderstanding, he offerea 
 to augment- the portion of Prussia on the side of Poland, and 
 rtd vised her to be content with the moiety of Saxony which was 
 offered her, and to accept the provinces beyond the Rhine, which 
 were also destined for her. 
 
 The five powers having come to an agreement on these points 
 (Feb. 12,) the king of Saxony was invited to come to the neigh- 
 bourhood of Vienna. Ever since the battle of Leipsic, that 
 Prince had remained in a kind of captivity at Fredericsfeldt near 
 Berlin, He accepted the invitation and repaired to Vienna, but 
 he refused to consent to the cessions Vv^hich they demanded of 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. ISIO— 1S15. 2S3 
 
 him. His refusal induced the five great powers to go to greater 
 excess ; "ihey ordained that, until the King should have come to 
 a determination, Prussia should remain in possession of the 
 whole of Saxony. Frederic Augustus was obliged to yield to 
 the course of events, and ratified a treaty whicJi was signed at 
 Vienna (May 18.) That part of his kingdom which was ceded 
 to Prussia was named the Dutchy of Saxony. 
 
 The organization of Germany into a Confederacy, to be com- 
 posed of sovereign States, was, next to the settlement of Prussia, 
 the object which occasioned the greatest embarrassment. But 
 as France and Russia took no direct part in it, and as for that 
 reason it can scarcely be said to belong to the class of general 
 affairs, we shall not now speak of it. The same must be done 
 with regard to all the negotiations concerning Switzerland and 
 Italy, of which we shall speak elsewhere. 
 
 Great Britain had introduced the question as to Negro Sla- 
 very, of which, in the name of humanity and religion, she de- 
 manded the entire abolition, by a decree of all Europe. Den- 
 mark had prohibited that traffic long before England. Neither 
 Austria, Russia, Prussia, nor Sweden, had any motive for 
 favouring it ; but it was not the case with Portugal, Spain, and 
 France, who referred, with reason, to the example of England 
 herself, for resisting the introduction of any sudden change 
 which would be pernicious to the state of their colonies, and 
 might ruin the fortune of their subjects. These powers readily 
 agreed to combine with England for the abolition of the trade ; 
 but they wished that it should be left to each of them to fix the 
 term on which they could do so to the most advantage. This 
 question was made the subject of discussion in the conferences 
 between the eight powers at Vienna. Lord Castlereagh de- 
 manded, in 'the name of the British government, that all the 
 powers should announce their support of the general principle 
 of the abolition of the slave trade, and their wish to carry that 
 measure into effect with the shortest possible delay. This pro- 
 position was unanimously adopted ; but the other proposal which 
 he made, to inquire into the possibility of an immediate aboli- 
 tion, or at least, into the period vv^ien each of the powers might 
 be able to fix its ultimate abolition ; and a third by which he 
 v/ished to obtain an immediate partial abolition of that traffic, met 
 with the most decided resistance on the part of the three States 
 who had foreign colonies. As the four other powers had no 
 right to interfere in the internal legislation of these States, the 
 Declaration which the Congress published (Feb. S,) proclaimed 
 the principle recognised by them all, viz. that the determination 
 of the period when the trade was to cease generally should be 
 left to the negotiations of the contracting powers. 
 
284 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Europe was in the enjo3^ment of apparent tranquillity, when 
 Bonaparte quitted Elba, landed with a thousand adA^enturers on 
 the shores of France (March 1,) invited his former friends to join 
 him, and deceiving the inhabitants by pretending to be supported 
 by Austria, marched towards Paris, which he entered within 
 twenty days after his landing. The King and the Royal Family 
 were again obliged to retire to Lille. When Louis arrived in 
 that city, he signed an order for disbanding the army ; but the 
 greater part of the troops had already sworn allegiance to Napo- 
 leon. Finding himself insecure at Lille, the King retired to 
 Ghent (March 30.) Bonaparte published a new constitution 
 (April 22,) under the title of The Additional Act to the Consti- 
 tution of the Emfpire. One of the articles which it contained, 
 pronounced the perpetual banishment of the Bourbons. In order 
 to flatter the partisans of the sovereign people, this act was sub- 
 mitted for their acceptance, and Bonaparte summoned an assem- 
 bly of extraordinary deputies, to meet in the Champ de Mai. He 
 likewise summoned a Chamber of the Representatives, or Legis- 
 lative Body. The meeting of the Champ de Mai was held ; and 
 two days after, a Chamber of Peers, created by Bonaparte, and 
 a Chamber of the Representatives of the Nation, opened their 
 sessions. 
 
 So soon as the news of the landing of Bonaparte in France 
 was received at Vienna, the eight contracting powers published 
 a declaration, importing, that as Bonaparte had thus broken the 
 convention which had placed him in the Island of Elba, he had 
 destroyed the only legal title on which his existence depended; 
 and had thus forfeited all relations, civil and social. The allied 
 sovereigns refused to receive the letters by which he announced 
 to them that he had again taken possession of the throne of 
 France. Being of opinion, that the time was come for executing 
 the engagements they had contracted at Chaumont, the four 
 powers who were parties to that treaty, renewed their engage- 
 ments by new treaties of alliance (March 25.) They proinised 
 to combine all their forces for maintaining the treaty of Paris of 
 May 30th 1814, and to set on foot, each of them, an army of 
 180,000 men. By an additional convention. Great Britain un- 
 dertook to pay to the three others, subsidies to the amount of 
 5,000,000Z. Sterling "per annum. All the princes of the Germanic 
 Confederation. — Portugal, Sardinia, the Netherlands, Switzer- 
 land, and Denmark, acceded to this alliance ; and Great Bri- 
 tain granted subsidies to them all, proportioned to the forces 
 which they might send into the field. Of all the powers having 
 plenipotentiaries at Vienna, Spain and Sweden only declined 
 entering into this alliance. The King of Spain refused his 3C- 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810— 1815. 285 
 
 cession, as being contrary to his dignity ; he would have had no 
 objections to have become a principal party, and he co-operated 
 as such in the war. Sweden was too much occupied with the 
 conquest of Norway to take any part in the deliverance of France. 
 
 There was still another monarch who had not joined the alli- 
 ance of Vienna, and that was Murat. The King of France had 
 refused to acknowledge him as King of TSiaples, and Lord Cas- 
 tlereagh had declared at Vienna, that Great Britain could not 
 treat with Murat, as he had not fuHilled his engagements ; and, 
 therefore, that it depended on the Congress to decide as to the 
 fate of the kingdom of Naples. These declarations induced 
 Murat to take arms ; nevertheless, he continued to dissemble, 
 until he learned that Bonaparte had arrived at Lyons. Then 
 it was that he threw off the mask. He marched at the head of 
 his army towards the Fo, and issued a proclamation (March 80,) 
 by which he proclaimed liberty to all the inhabitants of Italy. 
 The Austrian army in that peninsula, immediately put them- 
 selves in motion to oppose him. Being defeated at Tolentino by 
 General Bianchi (May 2,) he retreated first to Naples, and after 
 a short stay there, he took refuge in France. The government 
 of Ferdinand IV. was again restored. 
 
 Meantime, as the partisans of Bonaparte, and the revolution- 
 ists every where, were at great pains to propagate and cherish 
 doubts as to the determination of the allied sovereigns to follow 
 up the act of the 13th March, which had been adopted at a 
 time when it was hoped that France would have no more need 
 of foreign aid ; the allied sovereigns deemed it necessary to 
 make known the expression of their principles by a solemxU act ; 
 to which they gave the form of a vToces-verhal., or edict, signed 
 by the plenipotentiaries of the eight powers. The publication 
 of that act was equivalent to a declaration of war against Bona- 
 parte. It opened the eyes of those credulous followers who had 
 till then believed that Austria and Russia were on friendly 
 terms with him. 
 
 All the negotiations of the Congress of Vienna being termi- 
 nated by the signing of the Act of the Germanic Confederation, 
 which took place on June Sth, the plenipotentiaries of the eight 
 contracting powers next day signed the Act of Congress, which 
 was a recapitulation or abstract of all their preceding regula- 
 tions, either by particular treaties or by declarations and edicts, 
 (or protocols, as they are sometimes called at Vienna,) relative 
 to Poland, the territorial arrangements in Gernian}^ the Ger- 
 manic Confederation, the kingdom of the Netherlands, Switzer- 
 land, Italy, Portugal, the navigation of rivers, the rank of dip- 
 lomatic agents, and the form of accessions aiid ratifications of 
 
2S6 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 the act itself. Thus did this august assemhly terminate its 
 labours. 
 
 All army of 1,365,000 men were preparing to invade France, 
 but the struggle against Bonaparte was decided by about 
 200,000 ; and not more than 500,000 foreigners set foot on the 
 soil of France. The allies had formed four armies, viz. 
 
 The Army of the Netherlands, commanded by Lord Welling- 
 ton, consisting of 71,000 English, Hanoverians, and Bruns- 
 wickers, with the troops of the Netherlands and Nassau. 
 
 The Army of the Lower Rhine, consisting of 140,000 Prus- 
 sians, under the command of Blucher. 
 
 The Army of the Upper Rhi7ie, commanded by Schwartzen- 
 berg, and consisting of 130,000 Austrian, and 124,000 German 
 troops. 
 
 The Ar?ny of the Middle Rhine, 168,000 strong, under the 
 command of Barclay de Toll)^ They were to be stationed be- 
 tween the two preceding armies, but they were unable to arrive 
 in time at the scene of action, and the campaign was decided 
 by the first two armies alone. 
 
 The forces of Bonaparte amounted to 213,000 men, exclusive 
 of 147,000 of the national guard to be employed in garrison. 
 He had divided them into eight armies. That of the north, 
 which he commanded himself, consisted of 108,000 men. 
 
 Bonaparte opened the campaign on the 15ih June, by de- 
 taching a second corps across the Sambre, to attack the Prussian 
 General Zieten, who was obliged to yield to the superior 
 strength of the enemy, and retire towards Fleurus. Next day 
 the Duke of Brunswick, who had left Brussels at the head of 
 12,000 men to support the Prussians, was killed at Quatre Bras ; 
 Marshal Ney, who commanded the French, sustained a consi- 
 derable loss ; on the same day Marshal Blucher was defeated 
 at Ligny, but he retired in the greatest order to Brie. Bona- 
 parte from that moment resolved to attack Wellington, who 
 gave him battle at Waterloo, or Mont St. Jean. The combat 
 Vi^as continued, with various success, from morning till four 
 o'clock, when the Prussians, consisting of General Bulow's di- 
 vision, and commanded by Blucher in person, approached the 
 field of battle, and fell suddenly on the right wing of the French, 
 while Bonaparte supposed that the whole Prussian army was 
 engaged with Grouchy, whom he had sent against them with a 
 detachment of 40,000 men. On the fii-^t appearance of the 
 Prussians, Bonaparte supposed that it was General Grouchy, 
 who after having defeated the Prussians, was marching to the 
 support of his right wing. The fact is, that General Thiel- 
 mans, having been attacked by Grouchy near Wavre, Blucher 
 
, PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 287 
 
 had sent him word to defend himself the best way he could, 
 and did not allow himself to be diverted from his orig-inal plan 
 of falling upon the right wing of Bonaparte. When Bonaparte 
 at length discovered his error, he lost all resolution. His army- 
 were panic-struck, and fled in all directions. He was himself 
 nearly taken prisoner, having escaped with great difficulty. 
 The Germans have given this battle the name of Belle Alliance, 
 from the house where Blucher and "Wellington met after the 
 action. Of 120,000 French, 60,000 were either taken or killed 
 in the two days of the 16th and 18ih June 1815; 64,000 Eng- 
 lish, and 50,000 Prussians were engaged in the battle. The 
 English lost 14,000 men on the 18th, and the Prussians 33,000 
 in the two engagements of the 16th and 18th. 
 
 Bonaparte made his escape to Paris, but the Chamber of 
 Representatives, composed of the partisans of the Revolution of 
 1789, and of Republicans who had no wish to promote the in- 
 terest of Bonaparte, except as an instrument for the execution 
 of their own plans, determined to take advantage of the con- 
 tempt into which he had fallen to get rid of his presence. They 
 required him to abdicate, which he did June 22d, in favour of 
 his son. The Chambers appointed a government commission, 
 at the head of which they placed Fouche, who sent deputies to 
 Heidelberg, where the head-quarters of the Allied Sovereigns 
 then were, with a commission to treat with them on the basis 
 of the national independence, and the inviolability of the soil 
 of France. But as there was no mention made in the proposi- 
 tions about the restoration of the King, the allies refused to 
 treat until Bonaparte should first be delivered up to them, 
 
 Bonaparte had demanded of Wellington and Blucher, pass- 
 ports for quitting France ; and on being refused, the govern- 
 ment commission conveyed him to Rochefort, where he was to 
 embark on board a frigate and go to America. Bat Captain 
 Maitland, who was cruising off that port with an English ves- 
 sel, prevented him from leaving the place unless he would sur- 
 render to the English, on which condition he promised to 
 guarantee his life. The danger becoming every day more 
 pressing, he at length saw himself compelled to submit. The 
 Bellerophon, with Bonaparte on board, arrived in Torbay (July 
 24,) but the English government would not permit the General 
 to set foot on land. By a convention signed by the allies at 
 Paris (Aug. 2,) England took upon herself the charge of keep- 
 ing guard over him at St. Helena. He was accordingly trans- 
 ported to that island, where he remained till his death, which 
 happened May 5th, 1821. 
 
 After the battle of the 18th June, Wellington and Blucher 
 
28S • CHAPTER XII. 
 
 marched immediately to Paris, as did also the army of Schwart- 
 zenberg by way of Nancy. Davoust had joined the fugitives ; 
 and as Grouchy had had the good fortune to save his division, they 
 were enabled to form a new army of 60,000 men, which made 
 some attempts to defend Paris. Several engagements took place 
 at Sevres and Issy ; after which Marshal Davoust announced to 
 the two Field-Marshals that Paris w^as on the point of surren- 
 dering. A capitulation was signed at St. Cloud (July 3,) and 
 the French army retired behind the Loire. 
 
 The allies occupied Paris on the 7th July, and Louis XVIIL 
 entered on the following day. Within two days after, the Allied 
 Sovereigns arrived. A decree of 24th July declared twenty- 
 nine individuals, named in 1S14, unw'orthy of their countr}?', 
 as having sat in the Chamber of Bonaparte, and sworn the ban- 
 ishment of the Bourbons. Nineteen persons accused of having 
 betrayed the King before the 23d March, were remitted to the 
 tribunals ; thirty-eight other individuals were ordered to quit 
 Paris. These latter were in general relapsed regicides, that is. 
 persons who, after having obtained pardon in 1814, had, in 1815; 
 signed the banishment of the Bourbons ; for the King never 
 broke his word of honour given to the primar}'- regicides, to 
 leave them to the remonstrances of their own conscience. Some 
 months after (Jan. 12, 1816,) the decree of July 24th was 
 changed into a law ; with this modification, that the relapsed 
 regicides were to be exiled from the soil of France. Of the in- 
 dividuals arraigned before the tribunals, two only were executed, 
 Marshal Ney and Colonel Labedoyere ; a third (Lavalette,) was 
 saved by the courage of his wdfe. The clemency of the King 
 threw a veil over all other crimes. 
 
 The army of the Loire submitted to the King ; but the war 
 continued, nevertheless, for some time on the frontiers of France, 
 as it was a part of the plan of the allies to occupy all the for- 
 tresses ; and the greater part of the commandants refused to re- 
 ceive them. The allies were at length convinced, that in order 
 to secure the tranquillity of France, it was necessary to take 
 more vigorous measures than they had done in 1814 ; but it 
 was not until the month of September that their plan was suf- 
 ficiently matured to enable them to open negotiations with France. 
 They had many difficulties to encounter ; and the treaty be- 
 tween France and the Allies was not signed until the 20th No- 
 vember. According to that treaty, France made several terri- 
 torial cessions to the Netherlands, Prussia, Austria, Bavaria, 
 Switzerland, and the King of Sardinia. 
 
 It was agreed, that France should pay to the allies a pecuni- 
 ary indemnity of seven hundred millions of francs ; that 150,000 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. ISlO — 1815. 2S9 
 
 of the allied troops should occupy certain places in France foi 
 6ve years ; and that they should be paid and maintained by 
 France. By an additional article, they engaged reciprocally to 
 concert measures for obtaining the entire and final abolition of 
 the slave trade. 
 
 The same day, Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia, 
 concluded an alliance for the following purposes: — (1.) The 
 maintenance of the treaties and conventions which had just been 
 concluded: And, (2.) The perpetual exclusion of Napoleon Bo- 
 naparte and his family from the sovereignty of France ; the 
 maintenance of tranquillity in that country ; and the suppression 
 of revolutionary principles, so that they might never again dis- 
 tract France, or threaten the repose of Europe. For this two- 
 fold object, the allies agreed to furnish their contingents as de- 
 termined by the alliance of Chaumont ; finally, they agreed to 
 have another personal conference in the course of the year 1818. 
 
 Prior to this quadruple alliance which, by securing the main- 
 tenance of the Bourbon dynasty on the throne of France, forms 
 one of the bases of the new political system of Europe, the Em- 
 perors of Austria and Russia, and the King of Prussia, signed 
 at Paris (Sept. 26,) an Act, known by the name of the Holy 
 Alliance, \y\\\q\\ forms the second basis of the same system. The 
 real object of this alliance was doubtless a mutual guarantee 
 against any encroachments which might be made on their sov- 
 ereign power ; to disguise this, it set forth their firm determina- 
 tion to take no other rule for their conduct than the precepts of 
 the Christian religion. They promised to continue in the in- 
 dissoluble bonds of brotherly union, and to be ready on all occa- 
 sions, and in all places, to succour and assist each other — to 
 consider themselves but as members of the same Christian na- 
 tion, and as delegated by Providence to govern three branches 
 of the same family ; and finally, to receive into the same alliance 
 all other powers who were willing to profess the same principles 
 which had dictated that act. All the Christian powers in Eu- 
 rope acceded to the treaties and conventions of the 20th Novem- 
 ber 1815, except Sweden, who had taken no share in the war. 
 They all entered into the Holy Alliance, except the King of 
 Great Britain, who, while he fully sanctioned the principles set 
 forth in that Act, was prevented from signing it, because, accord- 
 ing to the constitutional custom of England, the Sovereign signs 
 nothing without the countersigning of a responsible minister. 
 
 Here it will be necessary briefly to point out the more impor 
 tant events w^hich happened since 1811 in the other European 
 States, and the changes which were produced by the Congress 
 of Vienna. 
 
 VOL. IT 25 
 
290 CHAPTER xir. 
 
 Portugal seemed destined to be nothing more in future than 
 a dependency of Brazil, in a political point of view, as she al- 
 ready was of England with respect to agriculture, industry, and 
 commerce. The latter power attached so great an importance 
 to the abolition of the slave trade, that by a treaty signed during 
 the conferences at Vienna, she had purchased the effective co- 
 operation of Portugal in this measure, by giving up all the ad- 
 vantages which she had reserved to herself by the treaty of Rio 
 Janeiro of February 19th 1810, which she consented to annul ; 
 nevertheless, Portugal only prohibited her subjects conditionally 
 from carrying on the slave trade in that part of Africa lying to 
 the north of the Equator. 
 
 In Spain, the Extraordinary Cortes then assembled at Cadiz, 
 after having published a decree, January 1, 1811, importing that 
 they could make no treaty with France until the King enjoyed 
 full liberty, and that he could not be regarded as at liberty until 
 he had taken the constitutional oath, finished the work which 
 they alleged had been intrusted to their hands. Their constitu- 
 tion, which was founded on the principle of the sovereignty of 
 the people, intrusted the legislative power to a popular assembly, 
 and the execution of the laws to a functionary with limited au- 
 thority, decorated with the title of a King, was published on the 
 18th of March 1812. In violation of historic truth, it was an- 
 nounced to the world as the genuine ancient constitution of Spain. 
 The Cortes terminated their session on the 20th September 
 1813. The nev/ or ordinary Cortes, convened in the constitu- 
 tional form at the rate of one deputy for every 70,000 inhabitants, 
 without distinction of fortune or estate, transferred their sitting 
 to Madrid towards the end of the year. It was this extraordi- 
 nary meeting of the Cortes that concluded a treaty of friendship 
 and alliance (July 28, 1813) with the Emperor of Russia at 
 Weliki-Louki, where he had then his head-quarters. Alexan- 
 der there acknowledged the Cortes and their constitution. That 
 acknowledgment was extremely simple. Alexander could no* 
 treat except with the government then established. That gov- 
 ernment acted in the name of Ferdinand VII., and their acts 
 were to be regarded as legitimate so long as that prince had not 
 disavowed them. The Emperor of Russia had neither the will 
 nor the power to lend his sanction to an order of things which 
 had not the approbation of a King, in the full enjoyment of lib- 
 erty It was in this same sense that the King of Prussia enter- 
 ed into an alliance with the Spanish government, by a treaty 
 which was signed at Basle (Jan. 20, 1814.) 
 
 After returning from the campaign of 1813, Bonaparte con- 
 sidering Spain as lost, resolved to set Ferdinand VII. at liberty , 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 291 
 
 but in the hope of turning that tardy act of justice to his advan- 
 tage by making that prince his friend, he represented Spain as 
 overrun with Jacobinism, which was labouring to overturn the 
 throne, and to substitute a republic in its place ; and he accused 
 England as having favoured that project. Ferdinand VII. de- 
 manded that a deputation of the Regency should be admitted to 
 a personal interview w^th him, who might inform him as to the 
 real state of matters. Bonaparte, who executed with despatch 
 whatever he had once resolved, found this mode of proceeding 
 too slow. He empowered M. de la Foret, whom he had sent to 
 Valencay to conclude a treaty with his captive, by which the 
 latter was acknowledged King of Spain ; and promised, on his 
 part, to cause the English troops to evacuate the whole of that 
 kingdom. 
 
 Ferdinand VII. sent his minister, the Duke of San Carlos, to 
 Madrid, for the ostensible purpose of communicating that treaty 
 to the Regency, but in reality to take cognizance of the state of 
 affairs. The Regency refused to acknowledge the treaty of 
 Valencay, because the King was not at liberty. Bonaparte being 
 apprized of this difficulty, immediately released Ferdinand (Mar. 
 7, 1814.) He set out on his return to his dominions, but per- 
 formed his journey slowly, that he might have leisure to obtain 
 personal information, as to the spirit which reigned among the 
 Spaniards. He was soon convinced, that the people, attached 
 to their religion, and to the family of their lawful prince, were 
 very indifferent about the constitution of the Cortes, and that 
 that assembly enjoyed very little influence or authority. Sixty 
 members of the Cortes had even protested against an Act which, 
 by degrading the Royal Dignity, was preparing the way for es- 
 tablishing a democracy. On his arrival at Valencia, Ferdinand 
 abrogated ihe constitution of 1812, and directed his course to- 
 wards Madrid, which he entered on the 17th May. The people 
 every where expressed their attachment to a prince, whose ar- 
 rival they hailed as the return of justice and order ; though it 
 is foreign to our purpose to narrate why that hope has not been 
 realized. 
 
 Great Britain was the power which acted the most conspicuous 
 part during the era of which we have given the preceding his- 
 torical sketch. The fortitude and perseverance with which she 
 had prosecuted her system of policy, after the breaking of the 
 peace of Amiens, was crowned with the most complete success ; 
 and the plan conceived by Mr. Pitt, but which that great states- 
 man had despaired ever to see carried into execution, became 
 the corner-stone of the future policy of Europe. Great Britain 
 was the mainspring of the alliance, which in 1813 undertook the 
 
292 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 deliverance of Europe. She made the most extraordinary efforts 
 in raising armies, and granting supplies for maintaining the 
 troops of the Continental nations. 
 
 A mental calamity, with which George III. had been afflicted 
 towards the end of the year 1810, obliged the Parliament to 
 establish a regency. That important charge belonged of right 
 to the presumptive heir to the crown ; but as the ministry were 
 apprehensive that the Prince of Wales might in some respects 
 change the system of the existing Government, the Parliament 
 passed an Act (Dec. 31,) which restricted the authority of the 
 Regent to one year. The Prince Regent submitted to these 
 modifications. He exercised the regency at first with a limited 
 power ; but, after the year 1812, wnen the prospects of his Ma- 
 jesty's recovery were considerably diminished, he continued to 
 exercise the Royal authority until his father's death, which hap- 
 pened January 29, 1820, when the Prince then assumed the 
 title of George IV. The Regent found the kingdom at war with 
 Russia and Sweden ; bat it was only in appearance, and without 
 effective hostilities. Lord Castlereagh, who, since the year 
 1812, had been at the head of foreign affairs, listened with eager- 
 ness to the first advances which these two powers made towards 
 a mutual accommodation. Peace was signed at Orebro (July 
 12,) first with Sweden, and a few days after with Russia. The 
 former, in indirect terms, abandoned the principles of the armed 
 neutrality of the North. We shall have occasion hereafter to 
 revert to the stipulations of the treaty signed with Russia. 
 
 She was now assailed by a new enemy. A misunderstand- 
 ing had existed for years, between Great Britain and the United 
 States of America, in consequence of the various restrictions 
 she had imposed upon the commerce of Neutrals, the humilia- 
 ting conditions to which she wished to subject it, and the im- 
 pressment of seamen. The Government of the United States 
 had sought by various retaliatory measures, to operate upon her 
 interests and induce her to abandon her system of arbitrary do- 
 minion over the great highway of nations. From 1806 to 1812 
 the pacific disposition of the American Government was mani- 
 fested by the several expedients of 'Non-Importation^ Embargo^ 
 and Non-Intercourse, to which they had resorted, to prevent an 
 open rupture, but as none of these resulted in an acknowledg- 
 ment of her rights on the part of Great Britain, an appeal was 
 made at last to the Ultima ratio Regum. On the 18th of June, 
 1812, an Act of Congress was passed, declaring War against 
 Great Britain ; the reasons for this measure, as stated in the 
 President's manifesto, were " The impressment of American 
 seamen by the British, the blockade of her enemies' ports sup 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 293 
 
 ported by no adequate force, in consequence of which the Ame- 
 rican commerce ha-d been plundered in every sea, and the 
 British Orders in Council." 
 
 The remoteness of the two contending nations from each 
 other, rendered it impossible for them to bring together great 
 armies to meet in a general conflict. On the one side, the Ca- 
 nadas were attacked by the Americans in many points with 
 various success, and on the other, the cities and settlements 
 along the coast of the Atlantic, were subjected to constant an- 
 .noyance and depredation from the British maritime forces. In 
 acts of hostility of this kind, and in naval combats, the war 
 was continued for nearly three years, during which abundant 
 proofs were given that the veteran forces of Great Britain could 
 claim no other superiority, than that of experience, either in 
 officers or soldiers, to her enemy. Many of the land, and all 
 the sea battles were fought with great skill and bravery, and 
 gallantry by the Americans. The last important occurrence of 
 the war, was the battle of New Orleans, where the American 
 forces, under the command of their heroic leader General Jack- 
 son, gained a brilliant victory. 
 
 The situation of Europe was now so entirely changed, that 
 die grievances of which America had complained, and for the 
 redress of which she had fought, must naturally cease, and as 
 neither party deemed it expedient to continue the Avar for ab- 
 stract rights, a peace was settled at Ghent, between the pleni- 
 potentiaries of the two nations, Dec. 24th, 1814, w^hich restored 
 friendship and amity, without settling an}^ of the great points in 
 dispute which had induced a resort to arms. 
 
 The financial system of Great Britain underwent an essen- 
 tial alteration, by the adoption of a plan presented by Mr. Van- 
 sittart. Chancellor of the Exchequer, introducing certain modi- 
 fications relative to the accumulation of the sinking fund. The 
 expenditure of the government in 1815, amounted to 77,337,475/. 
 sterling, of which Ireland cost 8,651,335/. sterling. The inter- 
 est of the national debt amounted to 36,607,128/. sterling, of 
 which 13,182,510/. were applied to the sinking fund. Great 
 Britain paid to the States of the Continent, in 1813, 11,400,000/. 
 sterling, under the name of subsidies ; 24,107 ships, and 
 105,030 seamen, were employed in commerce. In 1814, these 
 numbers were augmented one- seventh more. At this latter pe- 
 riod, their navy consisted of 1044 ships of war, 100,000 sailors, 
 and 32,600 marines ; the land forces amounted to 302,490 men, 
 including 63,000 militia. 
 
 Holland, and the other powers which had ancientlj^ formed 
 the Republic of the United Provinces, after having been for 
 
 VOL. 11. 25 "^ 
 
294 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 two years united to France, resumed once more their national 
 mdependence. After the battle of Leipsic, when the corps ot 
 Generals Bulow and Winzingerode approached that country, 
 ihe partisans of the Prince of Orange at the Hague, with M. de 
 Hogendorps at their head, mounted the ancient cockade, estab- 
 h'shed a provisional government (Nov. 17, 1813,) and invited the 
 heir of the last Stadtholder to return and place himself at the head 
 of the government. The French troops, finding themselves too 
 weak to defend the country at once against the allies and 
 against the inhabitants, quietly took their departure. The 
 Prince of Orange having arrived at Amsterdam (Dec. 1,) was 
 proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the Low Countries ; but he ac- 
 cepted that dignity, on the condition that his power should be 
 limited by a constitution ; a plan of which he caused to be 
 drawn up, which was adopted and sworn to in an assembly of 
 the Representatives. 
 
 During the sojourn of the allied sovereigns in England, it 
 was agreed, that in order to oppose a barrier to France on the 
 side of the North, Holland and Belgium should be united under 
 the same government. A treaty, concluded at the same time 
 ■]n London (Aug. 13, 1814,) restored to the Dutch all their an- 
 cient colonies, with the exception of the Cape of Good Hope, 
 Essequibo, Berbice, and Demarara. According to the regula- 
 tions of the treaty of Vienna, the bishopric of Liege, and the 
 dutchy of Luxemburg were ceded to the sovereign prince, on 
 condition that he should m.ake a part of the Germanic Con- 
 federation. It was at this time that he received the title of King 
 of the Netherlands. By the second treaty of Paris, this new 
 kingdom obtained a slight increase of territory, and a sum of 
 sixty millions of francs, for constructing a line of fortresses. 
 The superficial extent of that kingdom, with the dutchy of Lux- 
 emburg, amounted to 1164 German square miles, with a popu- 
 lation of 5,460,000 souls ; besides the population of its colonies, 
 amounting to 1,726,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Switzerland vainly flattered herself, when the allies approach- 
 ed the Rhine, about the end of 1813, that they would grant 
 her the privilege of neutrality. The allied troops had to tra- 
 verse the territory of the Confederacy, in order to enter France. 
 The public opinion then declared itself, by annulling the Act 
 of Mediation which united Switzerland to France ; but this 
 opinion was not unanimous as to the future constitution of the 
 country. Of the thirteen ancient cantons, eight concluded a 
 Confederation, on the principle which granted an equality of 
 rights to every component part of the union ; and to this the 
 new cantons gave in their adherence. Berne, Friburg, and 
 
PERIOD TX. A. D. 1810 — 1815. 296 
 
 Underwalden, refused to take a part in it. The Grisons re- 
 established their ancient form of government. The interven- 
 tion of foreign powers quashed the civil war with which that 
 country was threatened ; and, after many difficulties, a nev»' Con- 
 federaiion of the nineteen cantons was signed at Zurich (Sept- 
 8, 1814.) There still remained, however, several litigated 
 poinis to be decided, which w^re settled by the Congress of Vi- 
 enna, who declared that the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland 
 should be acknowledged by all the other powers ; and that the 
 Valais, the territory of Geneva, and the principality of Neuf- 
 chatel, should make a part of the Confederation, as three addi- 
 tional cantons. The Swiss States having acceded to this de- 
 claration (May 27, 1815,) it was renewed, confirmed, and 
 sanctioned by the Allied Powers, in a second declaration signed 
 at Paris (Nov. 20.) 
 
 In consequence of a convention concluded at Turin with 
 Prince Borghese, Governor-General of the French provinces 
 beyond the Alps, Field-Marshal Bellegarde had taken posses- 
 sion of Piedmont in the name of the King of Sardinia. Soon 
 after, Victor Emanuel took the reins of goverament into his 
 own hands. By the first peace of Paris, he recovered Nice, 
 and about two-thirds of Savoy. A secret article of that treaty 
 secured him the possession of the State of Genoa, which was 
 confirmed by the treaty of Vienna ; but he ceded to the canton 
 of Geneva, certain districts in Savoy. The second peace of 
 Paris restored him that part of the province which had been 
 given to France in 1814. The Sardinian monarchy thus com- 
 prehended an extent of 1277 German square miles, with 3,700,000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The convention of Fontainbleau had disposed of the dutchies 
 of Placentia, Parma and Guastalla, in favour of the Archdutchess 
 Maria Louisa, and her son Napoleon. This disposition was 
 keenly opposed at Vienna by the House of Bourbon, who es- 
 poused the interest of the young King of Etruria, the lawful 
 heir to these estates. Nevertheless the Congress of Vienna ad- 
 judged the States of Parma to the Archdutchess, without making 
 mention of her son, or deciding the question as to their rever- 
 sion ; a point w^hich was not determined till the treaty of Paris 
 of June 10, 1817, between Austria and Spain. After the death 
 of the Archdutchess, the States of Parma are to pass to the 
 Queen-Dowager of Etruria and her son. They contain about 
 102 German square miles, and 380,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The Archduke Francis, the heir of Hercules 111.^ the last 
 Duke of Modena of the House of Este, was restored to the 
 iutchy of Modena and its appurtenances, about the beginning 
 
296 CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 of 1814. The whole c-omprehends a surface of 96 German 
 square miles, with 388,000 inhabitants. 
 
 According to an article of the treaty of Vienna, Lucca, un- 
 der the title of a dutchy, was given up, not to the young King 
 of Etruria, the lawful heir of the States of Parma, but to his 
 mother, and her descendants in the male line. Besides, the 
 Emperor and the Grand Duke of Tuscany were bound to pay 
 her a supplementary annuity of 500,000 francs until the death 
 of the Archdutchess Maria Louisa, when the Dutchess of Lucca, 
 or her heirs, are to have the States of Parma ; and the dutchy 
 of Lucca is to devolve to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, on con- 
 dition of ceding to the Duke of Modena certain districts con- 
 tiguous to his estates. The dutchy of Lucca is the most popu- 
 lous country in Europe. It contains about 137,500 inhabitants 
 within 191 German square miles. 
 
 The grand dutchy of Tuscany, which Murat's troops had oc- 
 cupied about the beginning of the year 1814, was restored to 
 its lawful sovereign, the Archduke Ferdinand IIL (May 1,) 
 who then gave up the Principality of Wurtzburg to the King of 
 Bavaria. By the treaty of Vienna, that prince obtained the 
 State of Presidi, part of the island of Elba, and the Imperial 
 fiefs included in these States ; containing 395 German square 
 miles, with a population of 1,178,000 souls. The property of 
 Piombino was restored to the family of Buoncompagni, whom 
 Bonaparte had dispossessed. The Grand Duke is to succeed 
 to the dutchy of Lucca ; but he must then give up his territo- 
 ries in Bohemia to his brother the Emperor, which are very 
 considerable, and destined for the young Duke of Reichstadt, 
 son of the Archdutchess Maria Louisa. 
 
 Bonaparte having found it impossible to overcome the per- 
 severance of Pius VII., had set him at liberty about the begin- 
 ning of the year 1814. The Sovereign Pontiff returned to his 
 Estates amidst the general acclamations of the people, and re- 
 stored every thing to the footing in which they had been before 
 the usurpation of the French. Nobody was molested on the score 
 of his political conduct. The Order of the Jesuits, suppressed in 
 1772, was restored by a Bull, as a necessary barrier to oppose 
 the doctrines of the Revolution. The Congress of Vienna re- 
 stored to the Sovereign Pontiff the Marches and Legatines, 
 with the exception of a portion of territory situated to the north 
 of the Po, which was annexed to the kingdom of Venetian 
 Lombardy. The Ecclesiastical States at present contain a sur- 
 face of 714 German square miles, and a population of 2,424,150. 
 
 The extravagant conduct of Murat, promoted the restoration 
 of the Bourbons to the throne of Naples. This was effected 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 297 
 
 by the expedition which Austria had despatched in 1815 against 
 Murat, in consequence of the alliance offensive and defensive 
 which that Court had concluded at Vienna wi\h Ferdinand IV. 
 (April 29, 1815,) who made his entry into Naples on the 17th 
 June. A short time after, Murat, at the head of a small band 
 of adventurers, thought of imitating the example of his brother- 
 in-law. He landed at Pizzo, in Calabria (Oct. 9,) where he 
 hoped to be welcomed by his former adherents ; but the peasantry 
 combined against him ; he was arrested, tried by a court-martial, 
 and shot (Oct. 10.) The kingdom of the Two Sicilies has an ex- 
 tent of 2,034 German square miles, and 6,600,000 inhabitants. 
 
 After Ferdinand IV. had retired into Sicily, that Island was 
 put under the protection of the English, who had there an army 
 of 15,000 men, with a considerable fleet. General Lord Ben- 
 tinck, who commanded the English troops, used all his influence 
 to introduce the British constitution into that island. The Queen, 
 who was at the head of the opposite party, w^as obliged to leave 
 her family. From that moment the English remained masters 
 of Palermo. But after the first peace of Paris, Ferdinand IV. 
 resumed the reins of government; and before embarking for 
 Naples, he annulled the constitution of 1812. 
 
 Corfu, the only one of the Ionian islands which was not yet 
 in the power of the English, was given up to them by the Con- 
 vention of Paris (April 23, 1814.) The fate of these islands was 
 decided by a treaty concluded at the same place between Aus- 
 tria and Great Britain, Prussia and Eussia. They were com- 
 bined into a free and independent State (Nov. 5,) under the 
 name of the United States of the Ionian Islands, and placed 
 under the immediate and exclusive protection of Great Britain. 
 
 By the events of the years 1813 and 1814, the House of Aus- 
 tria gained possession of all that belonged to her in Italy, either 
 before or in consequence of the peace of Campo Formio. A 
 small portion of Ferrara to the north of the Po was ceded to her, 
 as were the Valteline, Bormio, Chiavenna, and the ancient re- 
 public of Ragusa. The Emperor constituted all these posses- 
 sions into a separate and particular State, under the title of the 
 Kingdom of Venetian Lombardy. Independently of these, Aus- 
 tria recovered the Illyrian provinces, of which she also formed a 
 distinct kingdom. By a treaty signed at Vienna with Russia, 
 she likewise gained possession of the part of eastern Galicia 
 which she had ceded to Alexander in 1809, and the exclusive 
 property of Wieliczka, which was then divided between her and 
 the dutchy of Warsaw. The Austrian monarchy, in its present 
 state, contains a surface of 12,000 German square miles, and a 
 population of twenty-nine millions. 
 
298 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 It was a more difficult matter to reorganize the monarchy t 
 Prussia. We have mentioned the negotiations, in consequence 
 of which she acquired about a half of the kingdom of Saxony, 
 The Congress of Vienna restored to her not only a part of an- 
 cient Prussia, now called the Grand Dutchy of Posnania, and 
 all the other possessions which she had lost by the convention 
 of Vienna, (Dec. 15, 1805,) and the peace of Tilsit (with the ex- 
 ception of Bialystock, Anspach, Baireuth, Westfriesland, and 
 Hildesheim,) but also a considerable territory on the left bank of 
 the Rhine, the Grand Dutchy of Berg, the Dutchy of Westpha 
 lia, Swedish Pomerania, and the sovereignty of several other 
 principalities and counties. These territorial arrangements 
 were not concluded till 1819. The Prussian monarchy contains 
 a surface of 4882 German square miles, and a population of 
 nearly 11 millions. 
 
 The sovereign princes and free cities of Germany were uni- 
 ted by an Act signed at Vienna, under the name of the Germanic 
 Confederation. All the members of the Confederacy enjoy 
 full sovereignty, and all take part in. the deliberations of the 
 Diet in matters relating to the general interests of the Union. 
 The thirty-nine members, however, in ordinary cases, have only 
 seventeen votes ; eleven of the States have each a vote, while 
 six collective votes belong to the other twenty-eight. Never- 
 theless, in constitutional questions, the thirty-nine members have 
 in all seventy votes ; each State having at least one, and several 
 of them two, three, and four votes. The members have the 
 right of concluding every kind of alliance, provided these are 
 not directed against the safety of the Union or of its constituent 
 members. The equality of civil and religious rights was secured 
 to all who professed the Christian religion. 
 
 Various States, forming the Germanic Confederation, under- 
 went certain changes in their territorial possessions ; but the 
 negotiations by which they were definitively settled did not take 
 place till 1819. The kingdom of Bavaria received indemnity 
 for the various restitutions which had been made to the Court 
 of Vienna. Its superficial extent amounts to 1505 square miles, 
 and 3,300,000 inhabitants. The grand dutchy of Hesse-Darm- 
 stadt obtained considerable augmentations on the left bank of 
 the Rhine, and has a surface of 214 German square miles, and 
 six hundred thousand inhabitants. The Grand Duke of Olden- 
 burg, the Duke of Saxe Cobourg, the Landgrave of Hesse- 
 Homberg, and the House of Orange-Nassau, obtained territorial 
 indemnities on the Rhine. The Elector of Hesse-Cassel obtained 
 the grand dutchy of Fulda ; his dominions consisted of 200 Ger- 
 man square miles, and 540,000 inhabitants. The King of 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. ISIO — 1815. 299 
 
 Hanover lost Lauenburg, and obtained Hildesheim and Wesj- 
 fresland. That kingdom contains 700 German square miles, 
 and one million three hundred thousand inhabitants. The grand 
 dutch y of Saxc- Weimar, with its additional districts, contains 66 
 German square miles, and one hundred and ninety-three thou- 
 sand inhabitants. 
 
 Such is the composition of the German Confederation, an 
 association which was formed, as we have mentioned, by th'- 
 act of June 8th 1815. In 1820, it was declared a fundamental 
 law of the Union. 
 
 As Russia and Austria were not likely to come to an agree- 
 ment, as to the possession of the city of Cracow, the former de- 
 manding it as an appurtenance of the ci-divant dutchy of Warsaw, 
 while the latter claimed it as having been deprived of it by the 
 peace of Schoenbrun ; it was agreed by the treaty of Vienna 
 (May 13, 1815,) that that city, with the territory which had been 
 assigned it, should form an independent and neutral Republic, 
 under the protection of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Besides 
 the city of Cracow, a district containing eight or nine thousand 
 inhabitants was dismembered from the dutchy of Warsaw, which 
 was conferred on Prussia, under the title of the Grand Dutchy 
 of Posnania. The remainder was united to the Empire of Rus- 
 sia as a distinct State, under the name of the Kingdom of Poland, 
 having its own constitution and a separate administration. That 
 State contained 2215 German square miles, with a population 
 of two millions and a half. 
 
 We have already observed, by what fatal mischance Denmark 
 had been dragged into the war of Napoleon against the allies. 
 The treaty of peace at Kiel, (Jan. 14, 1814,) deprived her of 
 Norway, in lieu of which she obtained the paltry compensation 
 of Swedish Pomerania ; and even that acquisition proved nuga- 
 tory. According to arrangements agreed on at Vienna with 
 Prussia, the King of Denmark accepted the dutchy of Lauen- 
 burg instead of Pomerania, which was abandoned to Prussia. 
 The Danish monarchy thus lost one-third of its subjects, and 
 was reduced to an extent, including Iceland, of 2420 German 
 square miles, and 1,700,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The Norwegians, who cherished a national hatred against the 
 Swedes, refused to submit to their destiny. They chose for their 
 King Prince Christian Frederic, who was their Governor-Gene- 
 ral a.;d heir to the throne of Denmark (May 17, 1814,) and they 
 published a representative constitution at Eidswold. The King, 
 and the Prince Royal of Sweden, marched at the head of an 
 army to reduce them to submission. After some hostile manceu- 
 vres, the Prince of Denmark resigned the sovereignty, by a con- 
 
3(jQ CHAPTER XII. 
 
 vention which was signed at Moss (Aug^ 16 ) The National 
 A.semblv convened at Christiana (Oct. 20, decreed the union 
 ot Norway to the crown of Sweden, as an independent kingdom, 
 .luder one monarchy, and with a ^^F^^^^^^^^^y^^^^^'^J^JX';- 
 •They adopted the order of succession as estabhshed m Swe^,len 
 :n 1809 Charles XIII. was proclaimed King of Norway (xNov 
 4;] and the relations between Sweden and ^^^^'Y%'11V^\'^: 
 by an act signed between the two kingdoms (July 31, 1W1£>.) ^} 
 the treaty of Vienna, Sweden ceded to Prussia her part oi To- 
 merania, and thus was separated from Germany of which she 
 had been a constituent member since the time of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus The Swedish monarchy contains an extent ot lb,lW 
 German square miles, with 3,330,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Russia acted so conspicuous a part during the period of which 
 we have spoken, that we can scarcely mention any event o 
 general interest in which she was not concerned. She was at 
 ?var with Great Britain, Turkey, and Persia when Bonaparte 
 commenced hostilities against her in 1811. Ihe Russians acted 
 on the defensive against the Turks ; Prmce Kutusoff, who had 
 the command, having been obhged to send five divisions of his 
 army into Poland, caused Silistria to be demolished, preservmg 
 only Rudschuk on the right bank of the Danube. The indolent 
 JusufF Pacha, who had never stirred from his camp at bchumla 
 was replaced by Achmet Aga, an active and enterprising Gene- 
 ral who sent for a reinforcement of 35,000 men, mostly composed 
 of excellent cavalry, and supported by a formidable artillery 
 served by French officers. Achmet marched against Kutu soil 
 and their first encounter took place two leagues from Rudschuk 
 (July 4.) Eight thousand Russians, who were opposed to the 
 vann-uard of the Ottomans, under the command of Ah Pacha, 
 werS driven back to their entrenchments. Two days after the 
 Grand Vizier attacked the Russian entrenchments and dislodged 
 the troops, who threw themselves into Rudschuk. It was chiefly 
 the infantry of the Russians who suffered in that battle, owing 
 to the superiority of the Turkish cavalry, who would have cut 
 them to pieces, but for a bold manoeuvre of Count Langeron, 
 who sallied from Rudschuk, at the head of the garrison, and pro- 
 tected the fugitives. The Grand Vizier advanced under the 
 very cannon of the fortress. He attempted three times m one 
 day to carry it by force, but was repulsed each time (July 9.) 
 Durino- the following night the Russians quitted Rudschuk and 
 passed" the Danube. But the Turks having got intelligence, 
 entered the town, and prevented them from carrying off all their 
 artillery and ammunition. 
 
 The army of Kutusoff, weakened by disease was unable to 
 
PERIOD IX. A. D. 1810—1815. 301 
 
 prevent the Grand Vizier from taking possession of the islands 
 <jf the Danube, where they constructed bridges, by means of 
 rrhich they made frequent incursions into Wallachia. A body 
 of lo,000 troops, commanded by Ismael Bey, took up the same 
 post on the right bank, so that the Grand Vizier passed the river 
 ot the head of the main body of the forces (Aug. 3.) But the 
 face of affairs soon changed. General OuwarofF having brought 
 a reinforcement of 50,000 men to Kutusoff, the latter detached 
 Markoff, with a consiilerable body, who passed to the right bank 
 of the Danube, marched in ail haste against the Turkish reserve 
 before Rudschuk, seized their camp, and thus cut off the retreat 
 of the Grand Vizier. The latter found means to enter Rudschuk 
 in a small bark, leaving his army in Wallachia, under the com- 
 mand of Seraskier Tchaban-Oglou, who was blockaded at Slo- 
 bosia by Kutusoff, and after being reduced to 25,000 men, they 
 were obliged to capitulate and lay down their arms (Dec. 8.) 
 
 The Grand Vizier then demanded a suspension of arms, 
 which was signed at Guirdesov. Negotiations w^ere opened at 
 Bucharest, but the Turks refused for a long time to make the 
 smallest cession of territory. At length the mediation of Eng- 
 land, Sweden, and Russia, overcame the obstinacy of the Divan, 
 and peace was signed (May 28, 1812.) The Porte ceded to 
 Russia about one-third of Moldavia, as far as the Pruth, the for- 
 tresses of Choczin and Bender, and the whole of Bessarabia, 
 with Ismael and Kilia ; an amnesty was granted to the Servians. 
 
 Although England had appeared at Bucharest as a mediating 
 power, nevertheless her treaty of peace with Russia was not de- 
 finitively signed, although actual hostilities had long ceased be- 
 tween the tv/o powers. The treaty was at length concluded at 
 Orebro (July 18,) the stipulations of which are not all known. 
 The peace with Persia was signed in the Russian camp, near 
 the river Seiwa, under the mediation of England, and confirmed 
 the following year at Teflis (Sept. 15, 1814.) Persia ceded to 
 Russia Daghistan, Shirvan, Derbent, and in general the whole 
 western coast of the Caspian Sea, renounced her pretensions on 
 Georgia, Imirete, Guriel, and Mingrelia, and recognised the ex- 
 clusive right of Russia to the navigation of the Caspian Sea. 
 
 At the Congress of Vienna the Emperor of Russia had ob- 
 tained the kingdom of Poland, as we have already noticed. In- 
 dependently of that acquisition, the Russian Empire had an 
 extent of 345,000 German square miles, 80,000 of which are in 
 Europe, the population of which amounts to thirty-eight mil- 
 lions. The population of the whole Empire is estimated at forty- 
 six millions. 
 
 A concurrence of fortunate circumstances has saved the Otto- 
 
 voL. ir. 28 
 
•502 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 man Empire from thfit niin with which it has more than once 
 been threatened, and for which the total dissolution of social 
 order in the provmces has a long time prepared the way. If u 
 «ull survives these evils, its preservation is perhaps to be ascri- 
 bed to that Holy Alliance which has sometimes been the obj'^c.i 
 of terror to the Porte, he having been persuaded that that Chris- 
 iiHO League was directed against Mahometanism. It is this 
 .saspicion. the oifspring of ignorance and weakness, which at a 
 recent date had nearly precipitated him into imprudent mea- 
 sures. If the wisdom of his powerful neighbour had known, m 
 these circumstances, to unite his own glory with the maintenance 
 nf public tranquillity, of which Europe stands so much in need, 
 the Porte, enlightened as to his true interest by Austria, Great 
 Britain, and his other allies, will feel that he cannot prolong his 
 own existence, except by substituting the reign of justice, and 
 ihe principles of humanity, to despotism and cruelty. 
 
A. D. 1815— 1830.— FRANCE. 303 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 From the Second Rest-yration of the Bourbons, A, D. 1815, to 
 the Revolution in Poland .^ A. I). 1830. 
 
 France had undergone a complete change since the Revolu- 
 tion, which the Bourbons, on their return could not understand. 
 Their unfitness to reign over this people, was immediately per- 
 ceived, and gave rise to a prevalent saying, that " the Bourbons, 
 in their misfortunes, had learned nothing, and had forgotten 
 nothing." 
 
 The open acknowledgment, made by Louis XVIII., that he 
 owed his throne to the Prince Regent of England, was a dis- 
 honor, and a source of deep mortification, to the pride of France ; 
 and the country was farther humiliated, by tlie presence of the 
 Allied troops, occupying two-thirds of its territory to enforce 
 tranquiUity. 
 
 By the treaty of Paris,* concluded November 20th, 1815, be- 
 tween Louis XVIII. and the three Allied powers, France was to 
 pay 700 million francs, give up seventeen citadels for a pe- 
 riod of three to five years, and support one hundred and fifly 
 thousand foreign troops, within her territories ; besides satisfy- 
 ing all public and private claims, to the countries belonging to 
 the Allied sovereigns, and restoring the productions in the arts, 
 and the treasures of literature, with which as spoils, Napoleon 
 had enriched the capital. This last requisition was enforced, 
 while the Allied troops were in possession of Paris. 
 
 Richlieu, the new minister, signed this treaty in September, 
 1815, which occasioned great dissatisfaction to the French na- 
 tion. The King opened the new chamber, November, 4, 1816, 
 with a speech which disclosed the unfavorable condition ot 
 France. 
 
 February 5, 1817. The lilierals and independents obtained 
 the law of election ; and, on March 6, 1818, the recruiting law ; 
 but were not successful in their attacks on the laws of excep- 
 tion, which prevented the complete operation of the charter. 
 The machinations of the ultras, led to troubles in Grenoble, in 
 
 * See pages 2b8 and 2b9, vol. u. 
 
G04 ciiA'."rp:R xiii. 
 
 181G, and in Lyous 1817. July, 1818, their intrigues were 
 discovered, which were nothing less than to engage the Allies 
 to assist them in abolishing the charter. The ministry tlien 
 inclined towards the liberals, and national party. A loan of 24 
 millions was required to eifect the evacuation of the Allied troops 
 stationed in France, in the autumn of 1818, wliich was deter- 
 mined upon by the congress of Aix-la-Chape!ie, October 9, 
 1818 ; and for the payment of foreign claims for tlic expenses 
 of the war, and claims of individuals. Here was a successful 
 cxliibition of French diplomacy : in these' settlements, in the 
 matter of liquidations, the payment of the debt acknowledged by 
 the treaty, of 1815, reduced from 1600 to 1390 millions was 
 postponed till the year 1818 — when, in payment of these 1390 
 miihons, a rent of 18,040,000 francs, equivalent to a capital of 
 275 million francs, was accepted. Tliis was about a seventh 
 part of the lawful claim ; and a rent of three millions was grant- 
 ed, in a separate 'article, to satisfy the claims of British subjects. 
 The remaining 280 millions wei-e fartlier reduced at Aix-la-Cha- 
 peile, to 2G5 million francs. 
 
 jNovember 12. France was admitted into the Quadruple alii 
 ance of the great European powers. The prime minister, Rich- 
 lieu, declared himself against the existing mode of election, and 
 against the operation of the constitutional system, which led to 
 a division in the ministry, when in December, Decazes was vie- 
 torious over the ultras, in the law of election, and liberal princi- 
 ples. A new ministry was named by Louis XVIII. the third 
 since 1815. 'I'he Marquis Dessoles was made president of the 
 ministerial council, which wa^ overthrown, Nov. 19, 1819 ; Des- 
 soles, St. Cyr and Louis, the defenders of the charter, resigned. 
 Decazes now became prime minister. In the controversy res- 
 pecting the construction of the charter and the censorship of the 
 press, Benjamin Constant, Comte, and Dunoyer, were writers 
 for the liberals ; Chateaubriand, Bonald, and Fievee for the 
 ultras. 
 
 The session from 1819 to 1820, was one of continued conflict 
 of. the most violent kind; the influence of the royalists succeed- 
 ed iir excluding Gregoire from the chamber : Decazes, presi- 
 dent of the ministry, attempted to follow a moderate course, by 
 sjveral judicious bills. In the midst of these agitations, Febru- 
 ary 13, 1820, the Duke Of Berry was assassinated. A new law 
 of election, and two of exception were lost, and Decazes resign- 
 ed. A fifth ministry, with Richlieu as president was formed, 
 Feb. 20, 1820. The royalists gradually increased their power 
 and influence, mainly indebted after 1822, to the talents of 
 Villele. 
 
A. D. 1815—1830. FRANCE. 305 
 
 Attempts were made for continuing restrictions of the press, 
 till the close of the session of 1826, and to in^ipose further res- 
 trictions, which met with decided opposition, and ended in the 
 resignation of the ministry, December 17, 1821, when a sixth 
 Ministry was formed in which ultra-royalism was triumphant. 
 The censorship of the press ceased February 5, 1822. 
 
 A conspiracy in favor of young Napoleon, was discovered in 
 1821, and the followmg year several revolts were projected in 
 different garrisons. Yillele, minister of finance, displayed 
 great adroitness in the management of affairs, and was appoint- 
 ed president of the ministry, having great influence over pubhc 
 opinion. The ultras were dissatisfied with his moderation ; he 
 is represented to have perfectly seen that France could no longer 
 be governed by an absolute monarchy. The most important 
 events of the session of 1822, were relative to the new tariff, 
 and the foreign policy in regard to Greece and Spain. The 
 liberal part}'^ were defeated on the great question, whether 
 France should by force suppress democratic principles in Spain 
 On the 28th January, 1823, the King announced in tiie opening 
 of the session, the march of an army of 100,000 French troops 
 for Spain. This expedition evinced the determination of the 
 fanatic party, to put down liberal principles, and restore Ferdi- 
 nand to despotic power. In this attempt, they v/ere but too suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 A Loan of 100 millions was required for the extraordinary 
 expenses of 1823. The Spanish campaign of six months 
 tended to strengthen legitimacy, and cost France 207,827,000 
 francs. 
 
 In 1824, the estimate of expenditure amounted to 900 mil- 
 lions. This was owing to the paym.ent by government of the 
 clergy, now become dependent upon the state. The greatest 
 efforts were now made by the ecclesiastics, to regain for the 
 church its former splendor, in spite of the feelings and habits of 
 the people. They wielded their immense power, in tiie most 
 arbitrary and bigoted manner ; but with all their zeal, were un- 
 able to check the diffusion of knowledge — and so far from re- 
 tarding the march of liberty, they hastened the overthrow of 
 despotism and bigotry, and eventually brought on their own 
 downfall. 
 
 Louis XYIII. died September 16, and was succeeded by his 
 brother, Charles X. We have now hastily sketched the events 
 during the reign of Louis XVIII., enough to show t!)e temper of 
 the French people, and the obnoxious measures which tended 
 to bring about a new revolution in France. 
 
 Charles X. commenced his reign by a declaration of his inten- 
 
 VOL. TI. 26* 
 
VAfO CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 tions Ox^ coiifirming the cliarter. He appointed as a member of 
 the ministerial council, the Duke d'Angouleme^ and suppressed 
 the censorsliip of the journals, Sept. 29. Appointed the Count 
 dc Clermont-Tonnere, minister of war. Yillele gained tlie con- 
 fidence of tlie King, by his prudent measures, while Chateau- 
 briand proved, in the Journal des Debats, (his paper,) a power- 
 ful and eloquent opponent. In the session of lb25, Yillele was 
 triumphant : a bill granting 1,000,0(K),000 francs in rents, as an 
 indemnification to the emigrants, proved a source of great dis- 
 satisfaction to the nation, which became opposed to the course 
 now pursued. The civil list of the King was established at 
 25,000,000 francs, annually, for life, and that of the royal fami- 
 ly at 7,000,000. On the 29th May, the splendid coronation of 
 Charles X. took place at Rheims, at which time he took the 
 oath to govern according to the charter. In the session of 1826, 
 thirty-one new peers were created to strengthen the ministr}'. 
 
 In August, 1824, General Lafayette landed in New York, 
 upon an invitation of James Monroe, President of the United 
 States, and was received with the warmest expressions of grati- 
 tude, a nation could bestov/ ; and passed through the twenty- 
 four states of the union, with more than the splendor of a tri- 
 umphal procession. He sailed hence, in the Brandywine, a 
 United States ship, Se^Jtember 7, 1825, and arrived at Havre, 
 where every demonstration of attachment and Tespect was shown 
 liim. The following particulars respecting the " Nation's Guest," 
 on his return to France, in 1825, cannot fail to be interesting, 
 it shows that the affectionate and enthusiastic Avelcome of him 
 by his countrymen, on his return to France, and portrays the 
 sidlen hatred of the Bourbons to every thing that partook of 
 liberty. At Rouen, the "Guest of the American people," the 
 veteran defender of liberty in the two hemispheres, was honor- 
 ed with a public dinner, accompanied by his family and friends. 
 In .the evening, a great concourse of citizens, among whom 
 \yere many females, repaired to tiie house of M. Cabanon, where 
 Lafayette appeared on the balcony, and the greatest tranquillity 
 reigned. Notwitlistanding the crowd, a serenade, given to the 
 General, was heard with perfect silence. At this juncture there 
 arrived, from two opposite directions, a detachment of the guard 
 royal, and a detachment of gendarmes. The former conduct- 
 ed itself with moderation ; the latter proceeded to disperse the 
 peaceable citizens, whose meeting had occasioned no distur- 
 bance, and made a charge upon the populace, treating them as 
 rioters ; when many were thrown down and murdered ; and the 
 whole assembly was put to flight, by the sabres and bayonets of 
 the gendarmes ; and by them many were arrested. To justify 
 
A. D. 1815— 1830.— FRANCE. 307 
 
 this proceeding, the Prefect at Rouen issued, in a public journal, 
 a note, in which he said, " That the citizens groaned to see the 
 tranquillity menaced by the presence of a man whose sad celeb- 
 rity connects itself with the most disastrous period of the Revo- 
 lution !" 
 
 On tlie return of Lafayette to La Grange, the villagers united 
 in a public festival on the occasion ; and addresses were pre- 
 sented although the government took every opportunity to pre- 
 vent any demonstration of respect being shown to him. Not 
 less than 0,000 persons assembled on this joyous occasion, to 
 commemorate the return of him, whom they designated the 
 "American Nation's (luest." 
 
 The Jesuits commenced prosecutions against tvvo of the libe- 
 ral papers. This led to much hostiiit}^ between the liberals and 
 the royalists ; and soon after, a law against the Jesuits was at- 
 tempted to be passed, and the liberty of the press was carried, 
 April 27, 1827. The national guards of Paris, 45,000 in num- 
 ber, were disbanded, a measure highly obnoxious to the people. 
 This was followed by a rigorous censorship of the press, (June 
 24, 1827,) which tended still more to irritate the state of public 
 feeling against the ministry. The papers of the opposition fre- 
 quently appeared with whole columns blank. 
 
 A war commenced this year with Algiers, said to have arisen 
 from a controversy res})ecting a debt for corn, purchased for the 
 French government in 1739. The ministry dissolved the cham- 
 ber which had still three years to run. In the new chamber, a 
 majority was gained by the hberals ; out of 8,000 votes in Paris, 
 only 1114 were on the ministerial side ; the same decided result 
 took place in the different departments. This occasioned great 
 joy in Paris, and led to some disasters : about fifty persons v;ere 
 killed by the gendarmes. By an ordinance of November 5, 
 1827, seventy-six new peers were created. Of these scarcely 
 any, Soult excepted, were entitled by services, to the honor. 
 Three others were added, Jan. 4, 1828 — these were ViJlele, 
 Peyronnet, and Corbiere. 
 
 (,)n opening the session, February 5, 1828, Charles X. con- 
 gratulated the nation on the occasion of the victory of Navari- 
 no. In 1828, the French troops returned from Spain ; and in 
 August, (shortly afterwards.) an expedition was fitted out for 
 the delivery of Greece from Turkish thraldom. The command 
 of the expedition was given to General Maison. The number 
 of troops amounted to 14,000. (See Revolution in Greece.) 
 
 The appx)intments announced, August 9, 1829, were the fol- 
 lowing : Prince Jules de Polignac, minister of foreign affiiirs : 
 M. Courvoisier, keeper of the seals, and minister of justice , 
 
308 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Count Bourmont, minister of war ; Admiral Rigny, minister of 
 marine ; Count de la Bourdonnaye, minister of the interior ; 
 Baron de Montbel, minister of ecclesiastical affairs and public 
 instruction ; Count Chabrol de Crousol, minister of finance. 
 Admiral Rigny declined the offered port folio, which was given 
 to M. d'Haussez, Prefect of the Gironde. This was an ultra- 
 royalist ministry. Bourmont had been a soldier under Napo- 
 leon, declared for Louis XVIII. — again took office under Napo- 
 leon, and deserted him at the battle of Waterloo, fled to the 
 Bourbons at Ghent, was elevated to the peerage, and entrusted 
 v.ith the command of the army of occupation in Spain, after the 
 return of the Duke d'Angouleme. 
 
 Prince Polignac was one of the old royalists, and was early 
 attached to Charles X. He, with his brothers Armand, was 
 imphcated in Pichegru's conspiracy, and received the pardon 
 of Napoleon. Since 1823, he had been ambassador at the British 
 court, and his elevation was said to have been through Eng- 
 hsh influence, more especially that of the Duke of Wellington. 
 He professed a great fondness for England ; but however this 
 may be, certain it is, he was no favorite with the French peo- 
 ple. The minister of the interior. La Bourdonnaye, had distin- 
 guished himself for his violence, and active measures for the ul- 
 tras. No sooner was the ministry formed, than La Bourdonnaye 
 was disposed to dissolve the chamber, as Villele had done to 
 secure a majority ; trusting for success, to the activity of the 
 royalists, and the aid of the clergy. When this hazardous 
 proposition was rejected, La Bourdonnaye resigned, and Polig- 
 nac was made president of the ministerial council. Baron Mont- 
 bel was transferred to the department of the interior, and Count 
 G. de Rainville was made minister of ecclesiastical affairs. An 
 ordinance to this effect was issued on the 17th November, 1829. 
 Such was the organization of the ministry at the end of that 
 year. 
 
 The efforts of the Bourbons to build up aristocracy and abso- 
 lute monarchy, had failed — their measures having had an oppo- 
 site effect ; and the poverty of the nobles having impaired their 
 former influence, they now followed instead of leading the nation. 
 The French were now too much enlightened to suffer them- 
 selves to be deprived of their privileges. The country was, at 
 this time, in a state of prosperity. The struggle that follovred, 
 was for the protection of their liberties, and not the result of 
 suffering and want. This noble regard for the cause of free- 
 dom, gave new glory to France, and to liberty, a fresh impulse 
 throughout the world. 
 
 1830, March 2. The speech from the throne announced that 
 
A. I,. 1815—1830. FRANCE. 3W9 
 
 Ur'ar had been couuirjiicoJ v.itli Algiers, and ended with thieae 
 words : " Peers of France, deputies of the departments, I do 
 not doubt your co-operation in the good I desire to do. You 
 will repel, with contempt, the perfidious insinuations which ma- 
 levolence is busy in propagating. If guilty intrigues sliouid 
 throw any obstacles in tlie way ot'my government, which I can- 
 not and will not anticipate, I should find force to overcome them, 
 in my resolution to preserve the public peace ; in the confidence 
 I have in the French nation, and in tlie love which they have 
 always evuiced for tlieir kings." 
 
 As soon as this speech was made public, tlie funds fell, and 
 the ministers had a decided majority opposed to them in the 
 chamber of deputies. Royer-Collard w^as re-elected president. 
 On the 18th, a deputation of the chamber presented an answer 
 to the King's speech. This address respectfully but frankly 
 informed him, " That a concurrence did ;iot exist between the 
 views of the government, and the wishes of the nation ; that the 
 administration was actuated by a distrust of the nation ; and that 
 the nation, on the other hand, was agitated with apprehensions, 
 which would become fatal to its prosperity and repose." "Sire, 
 (continued the address,) France does not wish for anarchy, any 
 more than you wish for despotism." 'i'his was a firm and pru- 
 dent w^arning here given to the King ; who, in reply expressed 
 his regret, that the concurrence which he had a right to expect 
 from the deputies, did not exist. He declared his resolutions 
 were fixed, and that the ministers would make known his inten- 
 tions. The answer of the peers to the King's speech, on the 
 10th, was a mere echo of the same. Chateaubriand made a bold 
 attack on the ministers. Both cham.bers were convoked for 
 the 19th, when they were declared to be prorogued to the 1st 
 of September of the same year — a measure that was immediately 
 productive of great public excitement throughout France. Roy- 
 alists and Jesuits blindly exulted in this measure ; w^hile the 
 liberal journals increased their activity, and boldly predicted 
 the course of events that speedily followed. Prince Polignac 
 and the ministry were contemned for their imbecility. In Paris, 
 a society furnished the printing of journals, where they were 
 destitute through the efforts of the government ; and in Brittany 
 an association was formed, determined to refuse the payment of 
 taxes, not regularly granted by the chamber of deputies. 
 
 But it is now time to turn to the war with Algiers, a city that 
 nad long been the seat of the most extensive piracy. The main 
 object, however, of the ministry in prosecuting this w^ar, was 
 evidently popularity. Knowing the inordinate fondness of the 
 nation for militaiy glory, it was anticipated that the subjugation 
 
310 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 of Algiers would establish Charles X. and his ministry in the 
 affections of the people, and secure a favorable majority in the 
 chamber. In this hope they were disappointed ; for though the 
 success of the army was announced during the election, it did 
 not silence the opposition : a strong majority being elected. 
 
 The army, commanded by Count Bourmont, consisting of 
 37,577 infantry, and 4,000 horse, embarked on the 10th of May, 
 at Toulon. The fleet consisted of 97 vessels, of which eleven 
 were ships of the line, and 24 frigates. On the 14th of June, 
 the army began to disembark at Sidi Ferrajh, on the African 
 coast ; and on the 5th of the following month, Algiers surren- 
 dered. This event was made known in Paris on the 9th of July, 
 by a telegraphic despatch. The treasure found in Algiers 
 amounted to 90,000,000* of francs in money, and 10,000,000 f 
 m gold and silver bullion and plate ; besides about 25,000,000:}: 
 not in the inventory, stated subsequently in the Journal du 
 Commerce, to be 43,000,000 francs. 
 
 Having given very briefly the successful issue of the French 
 arms, over barbarism in Africa, we now return to our narrative 
 of the events in France. 
 
 The success attendant on the French arms in Africa, occa- 
 sioned great exultation in France ; but it did not divert the pub- 
 lic from struggling for their liberty, against a detested ministry. 
 
 The chamber was dissolved on the 17th of May, by a royal 
 ordinance, and new elections ordered ; and the two chambers 
 convoked for August 3d. 
 
 The elections fc^- the new chamber took place in June and 
 July. The opposition displayed great activity and talents, in 
 this momentous struggle ; and it was soon seen, by men of intel- 
 ligence, that a change of ministry would be the result. Tney, 
 however, were determined not to jaeld, and had the infatuation, 
 rather to violate the charter, and expose France to civil war, 
 than to retire. The King appears to have been blinded by a 
 bigoted priesthood, and the ministers utterly regardless of the 
 sacred rights of the people, expressed by their representatives. 
 In the new chamber 270 were liberals, 145 for ministers, and 
 15 undecided. In consequence of this result, the ministry made 
 a report to the King, July 26, on the dangers of a free press. 
 In the chamber of deputies, convoked March 2d, there were 
 221 members hostile to government, on which account the King 
 had prorogued both chambers, and had appointed the 23d of June, 
 and third of July, for the election of new members, to assemble 
 on the third of August. The elections were not all finished, till 
 the 19th of July ; before which time, it was sufficiently appa- 
 
 * $16,655,000. t $1,874,100. i $8,058,630 
 
A. D. 1830. FRANCE. .311 
 
 rent, how the electrons would terminate. When the list waa 
 completed, the opposition, was found to have increased from 221. 
 to 270. It will now be seen, how affairs stood in France between 
 the crown and the people : the ministry represented the former, 
 and the chamber of deputies the latter. The ministers whos« 
 auty It was to have withdrawn, resolved upon the mad projp-ci 
 of setting the voice of the nation, and the constitutional chartei 
 at defiance ; in other words, of annulling the late elections. This 
 plan seems to have been arranged about the middle of July. It 
 was subsequently stated on the trial of ministers, that these 
 measures were concerted between the 10th and 15th of that 
 month. M. Montbel in a pamphlet which he has published, say» 
 the ordmances were presented to the King, in a council held on 
 the 21st. They were signed at the next council held on Sunday 
 the 25th, the day previous to their public appearance. 
 
 The report made to the King, signed by seven ministers and 
 published at the same time with the ordinances, was intended 
 to justify themselves for the couree they had resolved upon. In 
 this flimsy document they called for the suspension of the press, 
 remarking, " At all epochs, the periodical press has only been, 
 and from its nature must ever be, an instrument of disorder and 
 sedition." 
 
 By the first ordinance, the liberty of the press was suspended. 
 By the second ordinance the chamber of deputies was dissolved. 
 And a third ordinance abrogated the existing law of election 
 Itself, reducing the number of members from 480 to 258, and 
 sweeping off three-fourths of the former constituency, abolishing 
 the ballot and nearly extinguishing the representative system! 
 In defiance of these ordinances, the conductors of all the liberal 
 journals determined to publish their papers. 
 
 The only papers allowed by government to appear were the 
 Momteur Universal, Quotidienne, Gazette de France, and Dra- 
 peau blanc. The seizure of the liberal journals on the morning 
 of the 27th July, was the commencement of the revolutionary 
 drama. These ordinances were nothing less than a determi- 
 nation on the part of the crown to deprive the nation of its 
 liberty, and to establish despotism. The audacious attempt 
 however failed. Had the French ministry succeeded in silencing 
 the press, and bringing the representation to a state of subser- 
 viency, they might for a time perhaps have succeeded in their 
 mad projects. Nothing shows more strikingly the rashness and 
 entire want of discernment of the ministry, at the time of which 
 we are speaking, than the issuing of ordinances so obnoxious, 
 without even anticipatmg resistance of any kmd, much less a 
 revolution. 
 
312 CHAFfEK Xill. 
 
 li was on Sunday, the 25th of July, the fatal ordinances were 
 siiTiied by Charles the Tenth and his ministers, and at 11 P. M. 
 M. Sauvo, principal editor of the Moniteur, received froni 
 CLantelauze, and Montbel, at the house of the former, the 
 manuscript for publication on the following morning. As 
 Sauvo glanced over the contents, Montbel remarked, he seemed 
 agitated ; his reply was, " God save tlie King, God save 
 France." M. Montbel and Chantelauze answered, " we hope 
 he will." At an early hour on ^Monday morning the 26th, the 
 obnoxious ordinances appeared in the Moniteur, and Bulletin 
 des Lois. The prefect of the Seine was astounded at seeing 
 them, about 5 o'clock, not having apprehended any thing of 
 the kind, nor does Marshal Marmcnt, appear to have had any 
 knowledge of these measures : the first intimation he received 
 of the fatal ordinance was by Komierowski, one of his aids, 
 while he v/as breakfasting at St. Cloud. He exclaimed that it 
 was not possible the report could be true. At half past seven, 
 he set out for Paris, not having seen a newspa])er till his arrival 
 in the city. He then went to the Institute where he met his 
 friend M. Arago — " Well," said he to him, " you perceive that 
 things arc proceeding as 1 had foreseen ; the fools have driven 
 matters to extremities. You have only to mourn in your capa- 
 city of a citizen and a good French m.an ; but how much greater 
 cause have I to lament, who as a soldier shall perhaps be obliged 
 to throw away my life for acts which I abhor, and for people 
 who seem for a long time to have studied onl}' how to overwhelm 
 me with disgust." 
 
 The ordinances spread but slowly in Paris, among the pub- 
 lie : this however was owing to the Moniteur being principally 
 read by those connected with government. For several hours 
 no unusual excitement was manifested. That class who first 
 felt its effects were the journalists. It has been stated, that at 
 this period thirty thousand persons were engaged in pnnting 
 in Paris. The effect of the ordinances was to throw them out 
 of employment. The conductors of journals represented to 
 their vvorkmen, that they had no longer any employment for 
 them, they must go and ask it at their good King. The jour- 
 nalists, on this euiergency, displayed great courage : seeing the 
 ordinances would be ruinous to their business, and destroy their 
 rights, they fearlessly set them at defiance, by publishing second 
 editions of their papers, the same afleinoon, in order to make 
 them more generally known. At five o'clock, the prefect of 
 police, Mangin, issued injunctions to the printing offices, to 
 stop any further publications, except in conformity to the new 
 law ; and caused a printed proclamation to be circulated emd 
 
Street f gilt before the Church <f St. Rorh, 
 July 2S>h, 1830. 
 
 riace du Chatekt, July 2St/'j 1830. Vo'. 2, p. 318. 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, x^IONDAY, JULY 26, 1830. 813 
 
 j>asteci on the walls with the penalties to the keepers of reading 
 rooms, &;c. 
 
 The journalists assembled and drew up in great haste an 
 tiddress to their countrymen ; this was signed and published. 
 it was a noble display of courage and patriotism : they stated. 
 " as they were first called on to obey, so they ought to give the 
 first example of resistance to authority, now that it had strij;ped 
 itself of the character of law. This day, the government has 
 violated all law, we are set free from obedience ;" and declared 
 their determination to publish their journals, regardless of the 
 ordinances. " We will do our endeavors, that for one day 
 more, at least, they may be circulated over all France. It be- 
 longs not to us to point out its duties to the chamber, which has 
 been illegally dissolved. But we may supplicate it in the name 
 of France, to take its stand on its manifest rights, and resist, as 
 far as it shall have the power, the violation of the laws. Its 
 rights are equally certain, with those on which we ourselves 
 rest. The charter (article 50,) says the King may dissolve' the 
 chamber of deputies, but for that power to be exercised, the 
 chamber must have met and been constituted — nay, must surely 
 have done something to warrant its dissolution. Before the 
 chamber has met and been constituted, there is no chamber to 
 dissolve. There are only elections to annul : now no passage 
 in the charter gives the King the right of doing this. The ordi- 
 nances which have this day appeared, do only in fact annul the 
 elections, and are therefore illegal ; as doing that which the 
 charter does not authorize. 
 
 " We assume the attitude of resistance in so far as we are 
 ourselves concerned : it belongs to France to consider to what 
 extent she will adopt the same course." This address was signed 
 with the names of forty-four of the journalists. 
 
 In the mean time, the agitation had already begun in the 
 streets ; the crowd assembled at the Palais Royal, to hear the 
 papers and news discussed, was continually increasing, till their 
 increased numbers, and violence of language, alarmed the 
 authorities, who sent a party of gendarmes to watcii over them. 
 By 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the crowd spread from the square 
 of the palace, to the adjoining streets. They then began to 
 assail the gendarmes, who kept their stations, making as yet no 
 attempt to drive the people back. 
 
 About 8 o'clock, there was a great addition to tlic crowd 
 about the Palais from the printing and manufacturing establish- 
 ments. Their masters, in dismissing their hands, after their 
 day's work, had notified them they should have no further em- 
 ployment for them. Here then was a great addition of men 
 
 VOL. II. 27 
 
314 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 under high excitement, determined upon resistance, which was 
 now spoken of openly. 
 
 The fearless began to harangue the people, drawn together 
 by sympathy, and each speech was received with loud cries n£ 
 bravo, clapping of hands, and cries of " down with the mmis- 
 ters" — " The charter forever." The shops were now closed^ 
 and a sudden alarm spread through the throng. 
 
 The police and gendarmes advanced upon the crowd in the 
 Palais, and succeeded for a moment in clearing it, without 
 inflicting any wounds. The mob proceeded to the hotel of 
 Prince Polignac, on the Boulevard dcs Capuchins, who was 
 at this time at St. Cloud. On learning this fact, many went on 
 purpose to hitercept him ; but mistaking his carriage, he was 
 enabled to return without injury, under the escort of two gen- 
 darmes. The windows of his hotel were broken, and his 
 carriage assailed with stones. As he entered the court, the 
 mob threatened to return with reinforcements to set fire to his 
 hotel. During the night, the lamps in several of the streets 
 were demolished, and the lights extinguished, and the windows 
 of some public buildings broken. All these acts sufficiently 
 indicated the preparation for the morrow. This day the King 
 liad passed in tbie amusements of the chase at Rambouillet, and 
 did not return till late to St. Cloud. 
 
 The whole effective military force stationed at Paris, the Sun- 
 day previous to the publication of the ordinances, was 11,550 
 men, 8 cannon, and 4 howitzers ; 1850 men of this number, 
 includes the guards and gendarmes daily stationed at the posts 
 in the Capital, St. Cloud, and other places near. These were 
 all seized and disarmed in detail. The disposable force, there- 
 fore, did not at most exceed 9,700 men, and of this number, but 
 three regiments of guards, two of cavalry, and a few artillery, 
 4,200, were all that could be depended upon. There were 
 besides, 1000 cavalry, and 300 infantry, belonging to St. Cloud, 
 Versailles, and St. Germain, but these were never engaged. A 
 staff officer of the guards, who was engaged during the conflict, 
 stated if suitable precautions had been taken a fortnight previous, 
 that it would have been easy to have assembled from thirty to 
 forty thousand men, with fifty cannon, in Paris. 
 
 On the morning of the 27th (Tuesday) several of the jour- 
 hals were printed and distributed, so determined were the jour- 
 nalists to discharge their duty to the public. The Constiiiitionel 
 was prevented from the distribution o-f its papers by the police 
 having stationed a sentinel at the door of the office. The 
 National, the Tcmjts, and the Figaro, were printed at an early 
 liour and thrown from the windows among the people, and 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, TTTESDAY, JULY 27, 1830. 315 
 
 rapidly dispersed through the city. These papei-s contained 
 the ordinances, and the noble protests of the journaUsts. The 
 authorities commenced their operations against the printing 
 offices that had set the ordinances at defiance, and part of their 
 printing presses were taken away, so as to render them useless. 
 The National distributed to the crowd 7,000 copies in less than 
 an hour. Thus far the journalists had manlully discharged 
 their duty. This day a- considerable number of the newl}^ 
 elected members of the chamber of deputies assembled at 2 
 P. M. at the house of M. Casimir Perrier ; when a protest was 
 drawn up and signed. 
 
 The King this, morning appointed Marshal Marmont, com- 
 mander in chief of the forces in Paris. He immediately esta- 
 blished his head quarters at the Tuileries. At half past four, 
 an order was issued at the barracks for several regiments to 
 march to different stations. One battalion of guards, and two 
 pieces of artillery, were stationed on the Boulevard des Capu- 
 chins, in front of Polignac's hotel, the interior of which v/as 
 protected with soldiers of the 5th regiment of the line. A 
 squadron of lancers protected this part of the 'Boulevard. 
 Several battalions of the line occupied the portion of the Boule- 
 vards from the porte St. Martin towards the place de la Bastile, 
 and also the place Vendome. Three battalions of the guard 
 were placed in the Carrousel, and the place of the Palais Royal : 
 and two battalions of the guards, with two cannon, v/ere sta- 
 tioned in the place Louis XV. 
 
 While these dispositions of the troops were making, the streets 
 were filled with the multitude, as yet unarmed : they now began 
 to supply themselves with arms from the shops of gunsmiths ; 
 and were s^on in actual conflict with the military. 
 
 The battalions of the regiments of the line, stationed in front 
 of the Palais Royal, were received by the crowd with cries of, 
 "the line forever, the line does not fire, the line is on our side." 
 Both men and officers, were averse to firing upon the people. 
 But the guards considered themselves obliged to remain taithful 
 to the government. The mob had already begun in several 
 instances to attack the soldiers with stones, and every kind of 
 missile : these they carried to the upper stories, and roofs of 
 houses, and hurled them on the soldiers beneath. They now 
 began to barricade the streets, and thus sheltered, they were 
 enabled to oppose the patroles. 
 
 This night the remaining lamps were demolished, a judicious 
 precaution and not proceeding from mere wantonness ; as it 
 enabled them to erect barricades during the night, and rendered 
 their operations more secure from the vigilance of the mill- 
 
3 It) CHAPTER Xlll. 
 
 tijry. Marshal Marmont had written to the King, informing 
 him that pubhc tranquiUity was restored, and therefore made 
 no preparations during the night, nor sent dispatclies for more 
 troops. lie did not even guard the great depots of arms and 
 ammunition. 
 
 During the night, the greatest activity prevailed on the part 
 of the people. The inhabitants were enrolled into bands, and 
 arrangements made for supplying them with muskets, ammu- 
 nition, &c. Tlie telegraphs iiad been rendered useless in the 
 night ; — this was an effectual means of preventing signals for 
 further succors. Bands of men supplied themselves freely from 
 the gunsmiths shops, and the arms used at the different theatres, 
 and in fact, every kind of offensive weapon was seized and 
 pressed into service. 
 
 Wednesday, 2Sth. — At an early hour, the throng assembled 
 in the streets, and directed their march upon the Hotel de Ville, 
 soon filling the square in front of that building. This morning 
 the national guard appeared in their uniform, among the throng. 
 ^^easures were soon taken to organize this favorite corps ; a 
 commission was nominated to proceed to Gen. Lafayette, and 
 receive his orders. He did not however assume the command 
 of the guards, till the morning of the 29th. The re-organiza- 
 tion of the national guard went on promptly during the day ; 
 the number that appeared was considerable, mostly in uniform, 
 and witli them appeared the famous Tri-colored flag, so dear to 
 the hearts of all Frenchmen. By nine o'clock it waved on 
 the pinnacles of Notre Dame, and at eleven, it surmounted the 
 central tower of the Hotel de Ville, which was taken possession 
 of by the populace, and who immediately stationed themselves 
 at the windows with fire-arms. The tocsin had been ringing 
 from the bells of Notre Dame, and the church of St. Gervais, with 
 ail other means that could be devised, to give the greatest pub- 
 lic excitement; and to fill the populace with courage, vehement 
 speeches were made, and placards, with imprecations against 
 the ministr}^ were stuck up in all the public thoroughfares. 
 
 At eight o'clock this mornin^y, the different regiments left the 
 barracks, and at nine took their stations at the following places : 
 six battalions of French guards, about 1320 men, with three 
 squadrons of lancers, of 100 men each, and 8 guns, were drawn 
 up in the place du Carrousel. 500 cuirassiers were quartered 
 in the barracks, near the Bastile, and were in communication 
 with the 5th, 50th, and -53d regiments of the line, who occupied 
 nearly the whole extent of the northern Boulevards and place 
 Vendome. — The 15th light infantry, were ordered to the place 
 de Greve, Pantheon, and Palais de Justice. The place de Grevo 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1880. 817 
 
 had, from an early hour, been filled with the armed populace ; 
 a detachment of soldiers no sooner arrived there, than, accord, 
 ing to the testimony of Lieut. St. Germain, seven or eight hun- 
 dred persons, most of whom bore fire-arms, rushed upon them, 
 with a loud outcry, and fired a volley, by which two men were 
 killed, and most of the detachment wounded, with the officer in 
 command. The soldiers then fired, and several of the people 
 fell. They immediately retreated, pursued by the crowd. At 
 the place de Chatclet, which was also filled with people, a body 
 of soldiers were drawn up in the order of battle : here the liar- 
 rassed detachment of Lieut. St. Germain, found a reinforcement 
 in a platoon of grenadiers, a few shots from whom drove back the 
 assailants. A heavy fire was now commenced upon the batta- 
 lion, from the Pont au Change, from the adjoining quay, and 
 from all the windows near. Many of the soldiers were wound- 
 ed, and forced to retire to the other side of the river, and got 
 to the Tuileries at three-quarters past 10, where some addi- 
 tional troops had arrived from St. Dennis, Vir.cennes, and Ver- 
 sailles. 
 
 It does not appear, that Marshal Marmont had formed any 
 regular or, effective plan of proceeding : the troops were marched 
 and countermarched, about the streets and quays, assailed by 
 every kind of missile, thrown from windows and tlie tops of 
 houses : the time was lost, when any thing effective could be 
 accomplisiied. The warfare had now became general, and 
 the events are so confusedly related, that it is difficult to give 
 to them a systematic arrangement. We shall therefore endea- 
 vor to describe the most prominent facts, as related by the 
 different writers at this meniorable epoch. Wherever the mil- 
 itary took their stand, the increasing crowds that surrounded 
 them, and the constant accession of arms, rendered the situation 
 of the soldiers extremely galling ; barricades were also thrown 
 up on every side, which rendered their situation still more dis- 
 heartening. 
 
 A column consisting of a battalion of guards, half a squadron 
 of lancers, with two pieces of cannon, was sent to occupy the 
 Hotel de Ville. Their force was joined by one of the battalions 
 of the 15th regiment ; this column then crossed the bridge, Pont 
 Neuf, and advanced along the Quai de I'Horloge, &c., and pre- 
 pared to recross the river to march upon the Hotel de Vi'lle, by 
 the Pont Notre Dame, a few hundred paces west of the Greve. 
 The people now advanced in great force, and tolerable order, 
 with drums beating, on the opposite end of the bridge, to oppose 
 their passage. The two cannon were now planted on t]w. centre 
 of the bridge ; a field officer of the guards here advanced and 
 
 YOL. 11. 37* 
 
318 CHAPTER xni. 
 
 warned tiie people of their danger, by pointing to the guns, and 
 assured them they were marching to certain destruction. This 
 had the effect of causing the people to withdraw ; but while so 
 doing, some shots were tired, and an adjutant killed. The can- 
 non fire<:l one shot each, and the column passed over and occu- 
 pied the Quays de Greves and Pelletier on the north side of the 
 river. In the mean time, a smaller force attempted to pass the 
 new suspension bridge, directly opposite the Greve, where they 
 were received with a galling fire, from the house-tops, windows, 
 and quays along the Seine. The rest of the column coming up 
 to their assistance, the place was taken. The guards had no 
 sooner taken their position, than they learned with deep conster- 
 nation that a battalion of tlie 15th light infantry stationed along 
 *.he quays had revolted. The general in command of the guards 
 was soon apprised of this, by the falling of his men. The Quai 
 de Citi was filled with sharp shooters of the insurgents, who pro- 
 tected by the presence of the 15th regiment, kept up a continued 
 fire upon the guards in the place. 
 
 By this time the 50th regiment, stationed in the morning at 
 the Boulevards, and afterwards marched to the place de Greve, 
 determined to lay down their arms : they wished to return to 
 their barracks, but finding these were already in possession of 
 the people, they joined 40 cuirassiers, then departing from the 
 Bastiie, for the Flotel de Ville. The latter had many difficulties 
 to encounter, marching through back streets, and^at length 
 reached the Hotel, but the 50th regiment took no part in the 
 fighiing, by which the cuirassiers made their way. On their 
 arrival at the Hotel de Ville, the officer commanding the .guards 
 was apprised that he could not depend on receiving the reinforce- 
 ment from the Bastiie, as he fully expected ; and what rendered 
 his situation more trying, his cartridges were now about spent. 
 Two detachments were sent in quest of ammunition, but did not 
 return. A message succeeded in gaining the Tuileries ; this 
 was by a party of cuirassiers ; 200 Swiss were sent to the place 
 de Greve ; when they arrived there, the guards 220 strong, had 
 been engaged five hours, and had forty men liors de combat^ 
 (about 5 o'clock,) and had gained an entrance, with a part of 
 their forces, into the Hotel de Ville. The populace having now 
 returned, the cavalry and artillery sheltered themselves in the 
 stable yards from the severe fire, directed against them, from 
 the o})posite bank of the river. The 50th regiment was also 
 protected in the inner court of the Hotel. 
 
 The hardest fighting yet, had been at the entry of Rue du 
 Mouton, a street that opens into the place de Greve, from the 
 north. When the ti*oops had established themselves in the place 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1830. 33 9 
 
 de Greve, a severe fire was kept up against them from both 
 angles of the street, and from behind a barricade there thrown 
 up, but which was soon taken and retaken, on the arrival of 
 the Swiss, during a movement ill executed ; its loss led to the 
 severest conflict of the day, from the determination of the sol- 
 diers to regain this post, in which they finally succeeded, and 
 drove the popular forces away. The troops at length were 
 withdrawn into the Hotel de Ville, except a detachment of light 
 infantry, that held the barricade in the Rue du Mouton. The 
 sharp-shooters of tlie guards, kept up a destructive fire from 
 the windows of the Hotel, having now received a supply of 
 cartridges from the regiments of the line, which refused to fire 
 upon the people. 
 
 After the Hotel was taken possession of by the t;roops,* they 
 kept it during the day's fight. 
 
 Wednesday was the usual day on which the King held a 
 council ; but the state of atfairs in Paris, prevented the routine 
 of business, and the ministers for safety, had taken up their 
 quarters at the Tuileries. 
 
 The celebrated M. Arago, of the Academy of Sciences, who 
 was on terms of great intimacy with Marmont, sought an inter- 
 view : for this purpose, he exposed himself, in company with 
 his son, to all risks, to gain the palace of the Tuileries. It 
 was 2 o'clock, P. M. when he arrived, where he was ushered 
 into the presence of Marmont, in a saloon looking towards the 
 Carrousel. He found him with many ofiicers, and other per- 
 sons not ill uniform. ?vl. Arago, taking the Marshal aside, in 
 a conversation insisted on the rights of resistance on the part 
 of the people — that the ordinances should be immediately with- 
 drawn — and the dismissal of the ministers, &c. During this 
 discussion, an aid-de-camp brought intelligence that General 
 Quinsenas could no longer maintain his position, which put an 
 end to this interview. Immediately after, the arrival of several 
 members of the chamber of deputies was announced ; and 
 these were introduced to the presence of the Marshal. These 
 deputies were M. M. Lafitte, Casimir Perrier, General Gerard, 
 Lobau, and Mauguin. They represented the dangers which 
 threatened the throne ; the convulsed and frightfiil state of the 
 Capital ; and demanded that the ministers should be dismissed, 
 and the ordinances withdrawn, as the only means to stop the 
 effusion of blood. The Marshal communicated the substance 
 
 * There appears to be some discrepancy in the statements of diff'erent 
 writers about the taking and holding the Hotel ; but the fact, as stated 
 above, is established by the narration of the staff-officer and others, given, 
 during the trial of the ministers. 
 
320 CHAPTER xiir 
 
 of this message to the ministers. The reply of M. Polignae 
 was, It ^was useless for him to see them. They immediately 
 withdrew. Lafitte, the chief speaker, said, the question could 
 only be decided by the chance of arms ; and henceforward, the 
 deputies determined to exert themselves in the revolutionary 
 cause — seeing there was no hope of an accommodation. 
 
 In the conflict maintained this day, in the place de Greve, 
 the populace displayed the utmost perseverance, and the most 
 unshrinking courage. The rapidity and excellent judgment of 
 their movements, the readiness to seize on every advantage to 
 annoy the enemy, shows, they must have had leaders possessed 
 of much practical military knowledge. Nor did they shrink 
 from the sanguinary contest, where any thing could be gained 
 by the sacrifice of life. It should be borne in mind, that this 
 struggle was also carried on, under a most oppressive heat, 
 Fahrenheit's thermometer ranging at 95°. 
 
 The iron suspension-bridge was the theatre of many daring 
 feats of valor ; and has since been called, in commemoration, 
 the bridge of Arcole, {le Pont (V Arcole.) 
 
 The wounded, during the day, were carried in carts and lit- 
 ters, to the hospitals ; and the dead to the Morgue, amidst the 
 most respectful silence of the crowd. 
 
 The royal troops, though they were in possession of the 
 Hotel de Ville, without any hopes of receiving further reinforce- 
 ments, were now exceedingly anxious to quit it. They accord- 
 ingly effected a retreat, during the stillness of the night, to the 
 Tuileries. Of wounded men, they had between 50 and 60 — 
 though another statement makes the number much higher, 
 these they carried with them. The people had generally left 
 the streets and windows, during the night. The troops at 
 length reached the Tuileries, without any obstruction except 
 a barricade they had to take down, to get their cannon along : 
 this made some noise, and occasioned some shots to be fired 
 about them. 
 
 In the Boulevard St. Denis, a great crowd had assembled at 
 an early hour, and among these was seen the uniform of the 
 national guard. This crowd was not generally armed with 
 muskets. About 8 o'clock, a detachment of cuirassiers made 
 a charge upon the crowd, at full gallop. They were then en- 
 gaged in tearing up the pavement, and carrying the stones to 
 the top of the Port St. Denis. They stood firm, and with long 
 poles threw the cuirassiers from their saddles at the first encoun- 
 ter, and seized their arms, suffering none to escape. With these 
 new equipments, the offensive was now assumed by them. At 
 9, a guard of 20 soldiers of the line surrendered their arms ; 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1830. ^Zx 
 
 the guard-house was demoHshed, and of the materials, a barri- 
 cade was constructed across the Boulevard. A furious encoun- 
 ter took place with the guards, at the gate, where stones were 
 hurled, and a brisk fire kept up. 
 
 The people now commenced erecting barricades on a great 
 scale, along the Boulevard, at the suggestion of Ambrose Meno- 
 ret, a carpenter : for this purpose, the fine trees, planted by 
 Louis the Grand, were levelled by the axe. It ^vns done with 
 expedition and great science, under the direction of Menoret, 
 who suppHed them with tools from his shop. This was a most 
 fortunate idea. These barriers were so numerous, as to be 
 insurmountable, and cut otf all communication with the troops. 
 This line of barricades extended from the Rue du Temple, in the 
 east, to the Rue de Richelieu, west. An eminent arcliit.ect, Mr. 
 Crccy, had a large quantity of timber, scaffold poles, pick-axes, 
 crow-bars, &c. carried away ; all these were afterwards returned 
 with scrupulous exactness. 
 
 From a subsequent report, it appears that during the revo- 
 lutionary struggle, 4055 barricades were thrown up, consisting 
 of trees felled, carriages of every description overturned, and 
 the pavements taken up. The number of paving stones torn 
 up, for this purpose, were 3,125,000. The expense of paving 
 the streets again, was 250,000 francs. Paris is paved with 
 large square stones. The gutters are in the middle of the streets, 
 and they flowed with blood during these sanguinary conflicts. 
 
 The immense importance of these numerous barricades, 
 thrown up with such unparalleled rapidity, will be best illus- 
 trated by the following details. A strong column arrived at the 
 Bastile, and began to fire upon the people ; these discharges 
 were kept up without intermission, and returned by the people, 
 who were forced to retire ; and were pursued by tlie troops, as 
 far as the Rue de Reuilly, which meets the Rue du Faubourg, 
 St. Antoine. Here the troops were again assailed with a sharp 
 fire, and had several barricades to overcome. The column 
 remained m the Rue Faubourg St. Antoine, till half past three, 
 and when about to retire, were again assailed with firing, and 
 missiles from the houses. On the return of this body of troops 
 to the Bastile, the commander, M. St. Chamans, found he could 
 not return by the northern Boulevards,* from the numerous bar- 
 * The total number of streets in Paris, exclusive ofCuls de Sac, are 1142, 
 mostly narrow. The 18 Boulevards are broad streets, planted on both 
 sides with trees, and formin<^' beautiful promenades. Those outside of the 
 walls are called the exterior Boulevards. The interior Boulevards are 
 divided into the old, or northern, and the new, or southern, and are of great 
 
 length, with many streets running into them Enc. Am. Vol. IX. p. 524. 
 
 a work from which we have derived many important facts. 
 
822 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ricades, that had risen as if by magic. The attempt to force a 
 passage to the Hotel de Ville, by the Rue St. Antoine, also 
 failed, from the same cause ; while the troops were exposed to 
 a heavy fire from all the windows, and their ammunition was 
 now exhausted. Under all these dangers, M. St. Chamans 
 returned as well as he could, with his column, over the bridge 
 of Austerlitz, and by a circuitous way to tlie Tuileries, by the 
 southern Boulevards. The column arrived at the place Louis 
 XV. between 10 and 11 at night. After this, no more troops 
 were seen in the place de la Bastile or neighborhood. 
 
 The 23th closed with the retirement of the royal forces froir 
 every position in which they had attempted to establish them, 
 selves during the day. During the night, the citizens did not 
 cease from their exertions, but availed themselves of this respite, 
 to complete the erection of barricades, in every part of the 
 city. In this great work, all ranks of citizens, the aged and 
 tlie young, were alike ardently employed. These barriers were 
 erected at about forty or fifty paces asunder, breast high, and 
 four or five feet in thickness, the work was carried on by torch 
 light, the lamps having been broken. The dreadful tocsin con- 
 tinued ringing during the night. In the vicinity of the Louvre, 
 and the Tuileries, a patrol of guards, continued to walk during 
 the night, and fired upon all who came within reach of their 
 muskets. 
 
 Thursday, 29th, the drums beat the reveille, and the hurrying 
 crowds as they assembled, cried, " To arms, to armsV Several 
 distinguished military characters, were thi5 day to act as lead- 
 ers. Among them were Generals Gerard and Dubourg. The 
 entire failure of the plans of IMarmont had induced him to adopt 
 this day a different mode of warfare. Instead of marching his 
 troops through the streets to no purpose, he had sent for further 
 reinforcements, and no^v intended to concentrate all his strength 
 in the Tuileries, and keep up a communication with St. Cloud. 
 The following places were in possession of tlie royal troops, this 
 morning : the Tuileries, Carrousel and Garden, the Louvre, the 
 Bank, and Palais Royal, place Vendome, the Champs Elysees, 
 Rue St. Honore, and several streets. 
 
 There was an addition to the royal forces of 6,700 men, that 
 had arrived since yesterday, so that the total number of the 
 guards amounted to 11 battalions of infantry, and 13 squadrons 
 of cavalry, in all 4,300 men. The eight battalions of the line, 
 amounting to 2,400, were of no service to the royal cause — 
 one battalion of guards occupied the military school. It will 
 be seen that the military were this day to be put on the defen- 
 sive ; it remained therefore with the popular forces, to make the 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1830. 323 
 
 attack, ^vho were this day strengthened by the students of the 
 celebrated Polytechnic school, about 60 of whom scaled the 
 walls, and headed the civic columns by whom they were hailed 
 with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 The bands from the Faubourgs had poured into the Rue St. 
 Honore, by its eastern extremity, and a fiece and murderous 
 warfare was carried on, and here, the Polytechnic scholars led 
 the citizens to the charge. The battle began to rage fiercely 
 at several points near Rue St. Honore. 
 
 But before any important engagement had occurred, to 
 decide the fate of the day, the defection of troops occupying 
 important stations, led to important results. About half past 
 eleven, the troops of the line, at the place Vendome, and the 
 Palais Bourbon, negotiated with the leaders of the populace, 
 when new barriers rose in all directions round these stations. 
 The 5th and 53d regiments of the line, stationed in the place 
 Vendome, fraternized with the people : this ceremony was per- 
 formed by taking off their bayonets, and shouldering their 
 muskets, with the butts in the air. Marshal Marmont was 
 immediately apprized of the defection of the troops, and sent 
 a battalion of Swiss guards from the Louvre, to supply their 
 posts. By some strange oversight, the battalion was v/ithdrawn, 
 that defended the whole position, the Colonnade and gallery 
 of the Louvre. The populace soon found their way into the 
 garden, called L'Enfant, in front of the Louvre, and there meet- 
 ing with no obstacles, entered the lower windows, and glass 
 doors, and took immediate possession of the interior of this noble 
 pile. 
 
 From the windows of the inner court the Parisians fired upon 
 the battalion beneath, and soon every window in the great gal- 
 lery of paintings was filled, whence they fired on the troops in 
 the place du Carrousel, and soon drove the Swiss guards away 
 in great disorder. There were also two squadrons of lancers in 
 the inclosure of the Tuileries, exposed to the fury of the popu- 
 lace. The Swiss rushed to the Triumphal Arch, and getting 
 through it with great irregularity, threw themselves among the 
 lancers. The egress from this railed space was blocked up by 
 the latter, but through it the troops escaped as soon as possible. 
 It is said, two platoons of firm soldiers might have driven the 
 popular forces away, who were not numerous at this time. It 
 was at this spot (the Triumphal Arch) that Marshal Marmont 
 had established his head quarters ; and so unexpected was the 
 attack that he retreated precipitately, leaving behind him 120,000 
 francs (5,000/.) in bags. His retreat was by the Rue de Revoli, 
 and thence round into the garden of the Tuileries. From the 
 
^ H CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ''h\ race, two cannon shot were fired on the Parisians. The 
 r'^w.ss formed again, but only to retire immediately, by order of 
 \he Marshal, upon St. Cloud. Thus terminated the capture of 
 ;he Louvre and the Tuilcrics. 
 
 In this attack on the Louvre, the strongest column was com- 
 manded by General Gerard ; while the pupils of the Polytechnic 
 school served under him, advancing at the head of their respec- 
 itivc companies. It was one of these youths that led the attack 
 on one of its gates and drove it in, v/hen the forces rushed im- 
 petuously on the guards. Many interesting facts are related, 
 showing the courage and noble bearing of these youths, whose 
 services were so conspicuous during the revolution. It was 
 about 1 o'clock when the Tuileries were captured. In the 
 famous gallery of the Louvre, the splendid coronation picture 
 of Charles X. Vvith another painting, was instantly destroyed. 
 The rest of this precious collection of paintings was left un- 
 touched. This fact reflects the highest honor on the Parisiar* 
 multitude. No sooner was the palace of the Tuileries in pos- 
 session of the populace, than every thing relating to the Bour- 
 bons met with immediate destruction. A splendid painting of 
 the Duke of Pv-agusa, (Marmont,) was torn into a thousand 
 pieces, and every bust and painting of the royal family destroy ecf 
 with the exception of a bust of Louis XVllL, to whom France, 
 was indebted for the charter. Upon the whole, the populace, 
 even to the poorest of the working classes,' displayed a remark 
 able degree of forbearance from pillage when in possession of 
 the riches of the royal palace. ' 
 
 The Swiss barracks, in the Rue Babylone, had been taken 
 possession of before the capture of the Tuileries. Finding this 
 piace defended with great obstinacy^ it was set on fire with 
 straw and turpentine. Major Dufay, the commander of these 
 quarters, was killed ; when the flames and smoke forced the 
 soldiers to make a desperate sortie, when great numbers fell. 
 Major Dufay was an officer of great distinction, and had served 
 under Napoleon in his celebrated campaigns. 
 
 The archbisho])'s palace, in the He de la Cite, was assailed 
 under the command of several Polytechnic scholars. Finding 
 there, unexpectedly, ammunition and newly sharpened poinards, 
 the multitude were so exasperated that the work of destruction 
 immediately commenced. Costly articles of furniture and books 
 in gorgeous bindings were torn to pieces, scattered, and thrown 
 from the windows into the river. 
 
 A sanguinary combat was kept up in Rue St. Honore with 
 the Swiss, after the Louvre and Tuileries were taken. This 
 mcensed the p.\iple greatly — the soldiers almost to a man pe- 
 
Battle of IVatcrloo ; conies: of the Aid Rrgiment 
 for the French Eagles Vol. 2, p. 287- 
 
 lJa:i:e of /I '.A( r uo. \ ul 2, p. 'i\ 
 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1830. 325 
 
 rished — the carnage there was horrible, about nine hundred 
 dead bodies being found. About half past 3, P. M. the last of 
 ih^i military posts in the city of Paris surrendered. 
 
 The royal troops .retreated towards St. Cloud, not without 
 meeting with obstructions on the way, and being somewhat 
 harassed. The bridge at Neuilly had been blocked up with 
 heavy carts and wagons at the suggestion of Lafayette ; and 
 the people still continued to fire upon the exhausted and dispirited 
 soldiers. Thus ended the three days' hard conflict, in which 
 the citizens of Paris had fought and bled, and at last achieved 
 a glorious victory. 
 
 The number of citizens killed and wounded in these three 
 days' fight, has been variously stated. From the report of the 
 committee of national rewards, appointed to investigate the 
 claims of the wounded and of the relatives of the slain, it ap- 
 pears that the number of killed and those who died from wounds, 
 was 788 ; and of wounded about 4,500. 
 
 On the 31st of July, the deputies published a proclamation, 
 declaring that they had invited the Duke of Orleans to become 
 Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. At noon on the same day, 
 Louis Phillippe d'Orleans issued a proclamation declaring that 
 he hastened to Paris, wearing the " glorious colors" of France, 
 to accept the invitation of the assembled deputies — to become 
 Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. A proclamation of the 
 same date appointed provisional commissaries for the different 
 departments of government : these were, M. Dupont de I'Eure, 
 for ti^e department of justice ;' Baron Louis, of finance ; General 
 Gerard, of v/ar ; de Rigny, of marine ; M. Bignon, of foreign 
 affairs ; M. Guizot, of public instruction ; M. Casimir Perrier, 
 of the interior and public works. 
 
 The same day, (31st,) Charles X. and his household fled from 
 St. Cloud to Rambouillet. Three commissioners were sent to 
 treat with him : these were, Messrs. De Schonen, Marshal 
 Maison, and O'Dillon Barrett. The national guard advanced 
 towards Rambouillet, which brought about a speedy delivery 
 of the crown jewels from Charles X. and hastened his depar- 
 ture. August 2d, the abdication of Charles X. and the Dau- 
 phin, Louis Antoine, was put into the hands of the Duke of 
 Orleans ; and a letter from Charles, appointing the Duke regent, 
 and ordering him to proclaim the Duke of Bordeaux King, with 
 the title of Henry V. 
 
 The chamber of deputies met on the 3d of August. On the 
 6th, the throne of France was declared vacant by the chamber 
 of deputies (de jure et de facto.) On the 7th, some changes 
 in the charter were adopted, when by vote, the Duke of Orleans 
 
 VOL. II. 28 
 
326 CHAPTER Xlll. 
 
 was invited to become King of the French, on condition of 
 his accepting the changes made in the constitution. The votes 
 were 219 in favor, 33 against : the whole number of deputies 
 is 430. 
 
 On the 8th, the cliamber in a body went to the Duke of Or- 
 leans and otlered him the crown, which he accepted ; and on 
 the 9th, Louis Philhppe took the oath to supj)ort the new charter. 
 In these measures, a majority of the chamber of peers present, 
 concurred. On the 12th of August, the Moniteur announced 
 the names of the new ministry, from the moderate hberal party, 
 as toilows : Count de Mole, foreign affairs ; General Gerard, 
 war ; Baron Louis, finance ; Guizot, interior ; Gen. Sebastiam, 
 marine ; Dupont de I'Eure, keeper of the seals and minister of 
 justice ; Duke de Broglie, president of the ministry. Lafitio 
 and Casimir Perrier were also appointed ministers of state, 
 without any special departments. 
 
 Charles X. was permitted to retreat unmolested from France. 
 He, with his household, took passage in two American ships for 
 England, where he was received merely as a private individual, 
 and took up his residence at Holy rood- House, Edinburgh, where 
 he had formerly resided during the sway of Napoleon. 
 
 Many changes were made in the officers of the French 
 government, in accordance with the spirit of the times and for 
 the better establishment of harmony in the government. Out 
 of 86 prefects, 76 were removed ; and of sub-prefects, 196 out 
 of 277. In the army, 65 general officers out of 75 were 
 changed, 65 colonels removed, and almost all the governors of 
 fortresses. 74 procureurers were dismissed. Special missions 
 were sent to the different courts of Europe, which were well 
 received by all of them except Russia. The. greatest activity 
 was exerted in the army to put it on a footing to meet any inva- 
 sion, and the organization of the national guard was provided 
 for. Of the late ministry, Polignac, Chantelauze, and Guernon 
 de Ranville, undei:went a trial and were declared guilty of trea- 
 son and sentenced to imprisonment for life, with the penalty of 
 civil death to Polignac. He and his colleagues were transferred 
 to the prison at Ham. 
 
 Nov. 3d, the ministry was changed, and Lafitte advanced to 
 the presidency of the council and minister of finance. March 
 the 14th, Casimir Perrier succeeded him in office. On the 18th 
 of October, 1831, a bill passed the chamber of deputies for 
 abolishing the hereditary rights of the French peerage : to 
 ensure its passage in the chamber of peers, Louis Phillippe 
 ci'eated thirty-six new peers. 
 
REVOLUTION IN BELGIUJM. 327 
 
 Revolution in Belgium. 
 
 The Belgians soon followed the example of the French, in 
 the career of revolution, by rising and expelling a king that 
 had been forced upon them against their wishes. The congress 
 of Vienna, it will be recollected, in 1814 and 1815, severed the 
 Netherlands from France, with which it had been incorporated 
 since 1795, and constituted it with the United Provinces, into 
 one political body, under William, Prince of Orange, having the 
 title of King of the Netherlands. This was done with a view 
 of giving to Germany greater security against the power of 
 France. The consent of the Southern Netherlands was never 
 asked or given ; it was disposed of by the great powers as a 
 conquered province or district. William attenipted to unite two 
 million of Dutch Calvinists, engaged principally in commerce, 
 with four millions of Belgian Catholics, employed in agriculture 
 and manufactures — whose interests, language, and manners, were 
 widely opposed to the Dutch, and whose language was disagree- 
 able to the Belgians, who have much the habits and feelings of 
 Frenchmen, and who are also greatly influenced by a priesthood 
 decidedly hostile to all innovations, more especially when coming 
 from the Dutch ; so that the attempt to blend these discordant 
 feelings and conflicting interests entirely failed. And the policy 
 of William's government was by no means calculated to con- 
 ciliate the proud and rich Belgians, whom he treated more as 
 vassals than subjects. The Belgians had many just causes of 
 complaint against the arbitrary measures of William's govern- 
 ment ; they were burdened with heavy taxes, and the education 
 of their children was taken out of the hands of the natives. 
 This state of dissatisfaction led to several demands contained in 
 an address for this purpose ; the grievances ennumerated were 
 fifteen. They demanded an equitable division of public oflices 
 between the two countries, liberty of language, instruction, and 
 the press, and the responsibility of ministers. After various 
 struggles, an insurrection at Brussels broke out in August, 1830, 
 and the Belgians made a formal declaration of their indepen- 
 dence on the 4th October, 1830. 
 
 The representatives of the European powers, viz : Austria, 
 France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, assembled at Lon- 
 don, and there agreed to a protocol in favor of an armistice, 
 and directed that hostilities should cease between the Dutch and 
 Belgians. The acknowledgment of the independence of Bel- 
 gium was announced December 27th, 1830, to the national con 
 
328 CHArxER xiii. 
 
 gress at Brussels, the Belgians having decided upon a constitu 
 tional monarchy February 3d, 1831 — the Duke of Nemours, 
 the second son of Louis Phillippe, king of France, was elected 
 to fill the throne. On the 17th, the King of France declined 
 the proffered throne on behalf of his son. February 24th, M. 
 Sulet de Chokier was elected regent of Belgium. January 4th, 
 the Belgium congress elected Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg 
 for their king, by a vote of 152 to 34, which was sanctioned by 
 the five great powers. The new king made his entrance into 
 Brussels July 21st, and took the oath to support the constitution. 
 September 8th, Leopold, king of Belgium, opened his first par- 
 liament. November 1st, the chamber of representatives of 
 Belgium agreed to the terms of settlement between Belgium 
 and Holland, prescribed by the London conference, and on the 
 8d, the senate agreed to the same by a vote of 35 to 8. 
 
 Revolution in Poland, 
 
 The spirit of Poland has never been crushed. The sword 
 of SuvarofF and the snows of Siberia had diminished the num- 
 ber of her brave sons, but they who clung to the soil of their 
 country and they who devoted their lives to the service of for- 
 eigners alike breathed vengeance on their oppressors and ardent 
 aspirations for the restoration of Poland. They expected much 
 from Napoleon — they spent their best blood in his service, and 
 spent it in vain. Napoleon rejected the opportunity of creating 
 a barrier nation, a camp of devoted soldiers, which would for- 
 ever have secured his empire on its weakest side. Still the 
 Poles did not despair. The moderation of Alexander made 
 their servitude more endurable ; but no sooner had Nicholas 
 ascended the throne of Russia, and sanctioned the barbarities 
 of his brutal brother, Constantine, than the old spirit revived, 
 if indeed that spirit had ever slept. The successful example 
 of France, followed by Belgium and Brunswick, roused them to 
 action and inspired them with 1;he liveliest hopes. The day of 
 vengeance and liberation seemed to have arrived. France well 
 knew that Poland alone stood between her and the already ad- 
 vancing legions of Russia, and her emissaries offered every 
 encouragement to the patriot Poles. Lashed to fury by her own 
 wrongs, listening to the voice of hope, and encouraged by pro- 
 mises of support, Poland stood in the gap, encountered the first 
 onset, and bore up against it manfully and well. But every 
 
KKVOLUTION IN POLAND. 329 
 
 victory weakened her strength — the delusive hope of assistance 
 vanished, and Poland has sunk in iron-bound despair. How 
 will France, saved perhaps by the sacrifice of Poland, answei 
 to man and to God for her ingratitude and perfidy ! 
 
 It was on the 29th of November, 1830, that the insurrection 
 at Warsaw burst forth. Secret societies had existed in thai 
 city since 1818, for the express purpose of securing the liberty 
 and nationality of Poland. It was a noble design of her patri- 
 ots to unite again under one government those portions of their 
 unhappy country which had been torn assunder and despoiled 
 by the rapacity of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. 
 
 As early as 1821, Russia had commenced a S5^stem of pro- 
 scription against these secret societies ; and in 1825, a conspi- 
 racy was kindled into flame at Petersburg, which it was thought 
 could be traced to^ Warsaw. The societies had members 
 throughout Poland and Lithuania, Podolia and Volhynia, and 
 even the old provinces of the Ukraine, which it might be sup- 
 posed had long since lost all recollections of Polish glory. 
 These associations were formed during the reign of the Empe- 
 ror Alexander, to whom some of the patriots had vainly looked 
 for a better state of things. After the death of Alexander, his 
 successor, Nicholas, was crowned King of Poland at Warsaw, 
 May, 1829. 
 
 The diet assembled in 1830, and in spite of all the endeavors 
 of the Emperor, many patriots were elected. Nicholas opened 
 this assembly in person, but failed to overawe the liberals from 
 impeaching ministers for violating the charter. This liberal diet 
 was closed June 28th.* Such freedom of discussion could not 
 be endured by a despotic monarch, whose unvarying aim has 
 been to tread out every spark of liberty in the northern parts 
 of Europe. The Arch-Duke Constantine was made viceroy 
 of Poland, and by his monstrous atrocities became universally 
 detested by the brave and generous Poles. 
 
 The ardent hopes and wishes of the Polish patriots at length 
 burst forth into flame. At 7 in the evening, the hour agreed 
 upon, fifteen intrepid youths sallied forth determined to seize 
 on Constantine, whose residence was about two miles from 
 Warsaw, They rushed into the palace of the Belvider, where 
 the usual guard consists of sixty men, first wounding the director 
 of police, who fled. They next killed General Gendre, a Rus- 
 
 * The constitution of Poland, issued by Alexander, Emperor of Russia, 
 in 1815, contained many important provisions. The diet, composed of two 
 houses, was to be assembled once every tM^o years ; yet in violation of this 
 provision, none was convoked from 1820 to 1825, and only one under the 
 Emperor Nicholas. 
 
 YOL. II. 28* 
 
330 CHAPTER Xlll. 
 
 sian infamous for his crimes. The struggle alarmed Constau- 
 line, who instantly rose from his bed and escaped undressed by 
 a secret door, that was closed after him by his valet just as they 
 were on the point of reaching him, and had supposed themselves 
 secure of their victim. Constantino instantly fled to his guards. 
 Thus disappointed, this band retired to their companions in 
 arms, who awaited, at the bridge of Sobieski, the result of this 
 movement. In returning to the city they had to pass the bar- 
 racks where the guards, though already mounted, were unable 
 to attack them on account of a precautionary measure of 
 Constantino in surrounding the barracks with a deep and wide 
 ditch, passed only by narrow bridges. The guards fired upon 
 the insurgents ; but the Ja'tter were so advantageously situ- 
 ated, and returned the fire so well, that they killed three hun- 
 dred of the guards, and retreated with the loss of only one of 
 their number. 
 
 By this time the streets of Warsaw were filled, some houses 
 had been set on fire, and the cry resounded " To arms, to arms, 
 Poland is up, God for our country !" The inhabitants rushed 
 to arms. The state prisoners were liberated ; the students of 
 the university and the school of engineers joined the insurrec- 
 tion ; the arsenal was forced, and in an hour and a half from 
 the first cry of liberty, 40,000 men were in arms. Soon the 
 fourth Polish regiment joined the populace, and presently the 
 rest of the Polish soldiers. When Constantino heard of this, 
 he fell back with two Polish regiments of guards, and was per- 
 mitted to retire by the magnanimous Poles unmolested to the 
 frontier. Chlopicki was appointed general in chief, and four 
 days afterwards declared dictator by the provisional govern- 
 ment. Although a soldier of undisputed bravery, he has been 
 blamed for suffering the grand duke to escape when he might 
 have captured him, and for losing time in trying to negotiate 
 with the Emperor Nicholas. 
 
 The diet that assembled in twenty days after the breaking 
 out of the revolt, confirmed Chlopicki dictator ; but on his refus- 
 ing assent to the manifesto of January 9th, 1831, in which the 
 wrongs of Poland were so feelingly portrayed, he was deposed. 
 Instantly a supreme national council was formed, and Prince 
 Adam Czartoryski appointed president, when a spirited procla- 
 mation was issued, informing the Polish soldiers tiiat Chlopicki 
 had resigned the glorious task of conducting them to combat. 
 
 It was unfortunate for the cause of Poland that Chlopicki was 
 made dictator. He issued an order, " that whoever should cross 
 the frontiers of the kingdom, and attempt to raise the old pro- 
 vinces, should be punished with death." Such an order might 
 
REVOLUTION IN POLAND. SSI 
 
 have been issued in respect to Prussian and Austrian Poland ; 
 but not to those provinces that had risen to shake off the Rus- 
 sian yoke, and Lithuania, where the revolt had begun, and where 
 thousands impatiently waited the signal from old Poland, to rise 
 and join the struggle for liberty. This order of Chlopicki was 
 regarded by the patriots, not only as a severe check to the enlhu. 
 siasm of those provinces waiting to rise on the signal being given, 
 but as almost traitorous to their cause. That time was lost in 
 fruitless negotiation that should have been devoted to kindling, 
 far and wide, the spirit of revolt ; and in the most active prepa- 
 ration to meet the vast resources of Russia, which had refused 
 ail terms but absolute submission: and the preparations in the 
 army were strangely neglected. These proceedings at length 
 caused so much dissatisfaction against Chlopicki, as to lead to 
 his dismission. 
 
 After two months delay the inevitable conflict began ; when 
 the Poles marched into the field, " with half the force which 
 under an energetic administration it would have wielded." 
 They ought to have been ready ta have commenced offensive 
 operations with their enemy at a distance, instead of v/aiting 
 for him on their own soil, exposed to his insults and outrages. 
 Russia had now brought mto the field against Poland 200,000 
 men, while Poland had but about 50,000 equipped for the fight 
 — a fearful disparity in numbers. Through the influence of 
 the aristocracy, the command of the army vvas given to Prince 
 Radzvil. 
 
 The Russian invading army rendezvoused, on the 20th of 
 January, at various points of the western frontier of the empire. 
 It was composed, according to the report of Field x^Iarshal 
 Diebitsch, of 105 battalions of infantry, 135 squadrons of cav- 
 alry, with 396 pieces of artillery, and 11 regiments of Cos- 
 sacks. The army crossed the Polish frontiers on the 5tii of 
 February. The advance of the Polish army was at Biala, the 
 right near the high road to Warsaw, tlie left at Lomeza on the 
 Narew. On the advance of the Russians, the Polish corps 
 fell back, the right on Warsaw, and the left on IModlin and PuK 
 tusk. On the 18th of February, the Russian head-quarters v»'ere 
 established at Minsk, ten miles from Warsaw, and their advance 
 pushed to Melisna, within five miles of that city. The Russian 
 left rested on the Vistula above Warsaw, and the right on the 
 Bug near its junction with the Narew, its centre protected with 
 woods and artillery. 
 
 On the 18th, the Polish army of 50,000 men had its right on 
 Grokow, with Praga in the rear, and the left thrown back oppo- 
 site the right wing of the enemy. 
 
832 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The reconnoissances of the 19th and 20th, were resisted by 
 the Poles and led to a severe battle. According to the Russian 
 •tccount, the heat of the battle was during the early part of the- 
 day confined to the left, Count Pahlen's advanced guard, which 
 was attacked as soon as it had cleared the defile near Grokow, 
 and compelled to retreat two miles. The advanced guard, 
 under General Rosen, was attacked at the same time, advancing 
 from Okanief. On the arrival of Diebitsch, he sent a reinforce- 
 ment under General Toll, with several battalions and 20 cannon, 
 to the relief of Count Pahlen. A furious charge was now made 
 by the Russians, with Diebitsch in person, which changed the 
 fortune of the day, and at 4 o'clock the Russian wings united, 
 when the Poles were driven from the field of battle. For three 
 days after this action the Russians made no onward movement, 
 but asked an armistice for the burial of the dead, which was 
 granted. 
 
 Early on the 25th, the Russians having received a reinforce- 
 ment of 25,000 men, felt prepared for action. They drew 
 forth their whole army in front of the forest, and commenced 
 an attack on the Polish left wing, near Jublonna. General 
 Uminski received this attack with great bravery, and repulsed 
 the enemy, taking six cannon, which he spiked, and drove the 
 Russians to the forest. He then attacked the Russian centre 
 with dreaaful slaughter, and drove them from their position. 
 Diebitsch had calculated, with the great strength of his left 
 wing, to crush the Polish right, situated near Grokow, under 
 the command of Chlopicki and Skrzynecki. The Russians 
 made six tremendous charges, and were as often repulsed with 
 great loss ; a seventh charge made against a new regiment, 
 put it in disorder, and caused it partially to retreat. Two 
 regiments of cuirassiers were then sent against the faltering 
 regiments : the latter being aided with the Polish lancers, rallied, 
 rushed on the regiments of cuirassiers, and cut them to pieces, 
 of which only forty escaped, twenty prisoners only being taken, 
 mostly officers, and among them the commander of one of these 
 regiments. This affair decided the day, when the Russians were 
 obliged to withdraw from the field of battle into their strong 
 holds in the forest of Milosna. This battle was fought with 
 great fury. General Chlopicki, who was in the centre, had two 
 horses killed under him, and was wounded. Forty thousand 
 Poles here withstood the shock of one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand of their enemy ; and at the close of the battle, nearly 
 15,000 Russians lay weltering on the plain, and several thousand 
 prisoners were taken. 
 
 After the battle, Prince Radzvil gave up the command of the 
 
REVOLUTION IN POLAND. S33 
 
 army ; when Skrzynecki, who had displayed extraordinary 
 bravery and skill, was chosen commander in chief. But this 
 step led to the rankling enmity of Krukowiecki, the second in 
 command to Chlopicki, who thenceforward meditated revenge, 
 plotted, and afterwards proved a traitor to his country. 
 
 The first step of Skrzynecki was to attempt to negotiate with 
 Diebitsch. When he found his advances repelled, he prepared 
 for the unequal struggle. 
 
 The ice in the Vistula had now broken up, and the swamps 
 were filled from the melting of the snow, and the roads were 
 almost impassable for artillery and cavalry. Skrzynecki now 
 determined to act on the offensive. On learning that Diebitsch 
 had divided his forces, he led the Polish army of 25,000 men 
 to Praga, and on the 31st, favored by the darkness of the night, 
 approached the P.-ussian camp, and fell upon the advanced 
 guard of General Geismar, at Wawar, consisting of 8,000 men, 
 intrenched in a very strong position, which force he nearly 
 destroyed, capturing 4,000 prisoners, and taking a number of 
 cannon. General Uminski had previously been despatched 
 towards Ostrolenka, to keep in check the corps of General 
 Sacken and the guards who were advancing there. While the 
 Polish advanced guard was engaged in combat at Wawar, 
 General Rybinski, with his division, attacked the enemy's right, 
 and carried it by the point of the bayonet; destroyed one entire 
 regiment, and forced another to lay down their arms. The 
 combat lasted tvvo hours. Colonel Romarino's brigade here also 
 distinguished itself. Skrzynecki next fell upon the corps of 
 General Rosen, posted at Dembe Wlelski with 20,000 men, v/ho 
 were unable to withstand tlie impetuous attack of the Poles. 
 The Russians fled by way of Minsk, and made several elK.rts 
 to sustain their positions as they received reinforcements, but 
 were unable to sustain them. It was at 5 o'clock, P. M. when 
 they arrived at Dembe Wielski, a position strongly fortified, and 
 the resistance v/as obstinate. But the force of the artillery from 
 the centre, and the vigor of the assault, completely routed the 
 Russians, who fled with precipitation. 
 
 By this masterly movement of the Polish commander in chief, 
 20,000 Russians were thrown hors-de-combat, and many superior 
 officers were captured durhig this day, so glorious to the Polish 
 arms, besides taking two standards, fifteen wagons filled with 
 ammunition, some thousand muskets, and fifteen pieces of can- 
 non This victory occasioned but small loss to the Poles, owing 
 to the rapidity and surprise with which their movements were 
 executed. The regiment of scythemen (leucheurs) having 
 demanded arms, the nwskets left on the field of battle were 
 
334 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 assigned them. The combat lasted till 10 at night. The army 
 liad then been actively engaged, fighting and marching, twenty 
 hours. 
 
 On the 9th, the Polish army gained a considerable victory, 
 taking several cannon, and from 3,000 to 4,000 prisoners ; 
 among them were 300 officers of different ranks. The head- 
 quarters on the 10th were at Seidlec ; and on the same day, 
 at that place, Marshal Diebitsch succeeded in uniting all his 
 forces. From this time the Polish cause appears to have de- 
 clined. 
 
 General Dwernecki v/ith a valiant corps entered Volhynia, 
 surrounded by Russian corps under Generals De Witt, Keuts, 
 and Rudiger. Dwernecki passed the Bug on the 10th, and on 
 the 11th routed some Russian forces, took a number of prison- 
 ers, some transports, and baggage. The left wing of the Rus- 
 sian army, stationed at Kock, upon Veprez and Rudjew, fell 
 back, and Marshal Diebitsch, baffled in his attempts, retired 
 with the army across the river Bug, alarmed for his safety. 
 Insurrections spread in his rear, in the provinces of Lithuania 
 and Volhynia. A violent insurrection broke out at Wilna on 
 the 28th of March. 
 
 General Chrzanowski, with 8,000 men, cut his way through 
 the Russians, and penetrated as far as the fortress of Zamosc. 
 The greatest enthusiasm now spread through the Polish province 
 of Samogitia. This expedition of Chrzanowski, by forcing his 
 way through the enemy's detachments, was one of great daring. 
 In three days he defeated the Russia«ns three times, and took 
 800 prisoners. These movements in Volhynia occasioned 
 great uneasiness to the Russians, and obliged them to change 
 their plan — that of attempting Warsaw in front by Praga. On 
 the last days of April, Diebitsch retired with the Russian army 
 beyond the river Bug. The barbarities of the Russians during 
 this warfare against the patriots in Lithuania, were of the most 
 revolting kind. 
 
 April 26th, General Dwernecki surrendered his force, con- 
 sisting of 4,000 men and 17 pieces of cannon, to the Austrians. 
 He had been pursued by a superior force, and was under the 
 necessity of passing into the Austrian dominions. Diebitsch, 
 with the principal Russian army, retreated in the direction of the 
 Bug and Narew, to gain the Prussian frontier, to relieve the suf- 
 fering state of the army. At Thorn there was a great supply of 
 provisions, ammunition, &c., waiting his approach. 
 
 The Polish government issued a manifesto against Prussia 
 for her shameful violation of the principle of non-interference. 
 This conduct of Prussia destroyed all the advantages gained by 
 
REVOLUTION IN POLAND. 335 
 
 Polish valor. The Prussians furnished supplies of every kind 
 and constructed bridges over the Vistula for the passage of the 
 Russian army. In many instances when the Russian troops 
 were forced by the Polish soldiers into the Prussian dominions, 
 they were suffered to return with their arms, while the Poles in 
 ail similar cases were retained prisoners. 
 
 The conduct too of Austria was most outrageous. While the 
 brave Dwernecki, the " cannon provider," was withstanding a 
 greatly superior force on the Austrian frontier, the Russians 
 passed over neutral ground to outflank him. He was followed in 
 his retreat by the Russians who were allowed to retire, while 
 the brave, patriotic, and devoted champions of Poland were 
 obliged to surrender themselves prisoners of war to the Austrian 
 forces stationed on the frontier. 
 
 While a Polish corps was at Minsk, Skryznecki united all his 
 corps on the left, crossed the Bug, and forced his way to Ostro- 
 lenka, a flank movement of 80 miles, and defeated the Russian 
 guards at Tychosin. He then sent forward 300 Polish officers 
 to Lithuania, there to organize the patriot forces. 
 
 The sanguinary battle of Ostrolenka was fought on the 26th 
 May, in which 20,000 Poles were opposed to 60,000 Russians. 
 This battle was fought with an inveteracy unexampled— quarter 
 was out of the question. The Poles having succeeded in pass- 
 ing to the right bank of the Narew, they attempted to destroy 
 the bridge. This they were unable to eflbct, as the Russians 
 were protected by a numerous artillery placed on the opposite 
 bank. Several regiments of Poles, under a most galling fire, 
 attempted to arrest the progress of the Russians. The combat 
 was for a long time one of slaughter ; they fought man to man, 
 and thousands were killed by being thrown into the dyke which 
 passes along the marshy shore of the Narew. The battle did 
 not end till 12 o'clock at night, when the exhausted Russians 
 retrograded as far as the bridge, and the Polish army commenced 
 a^ retrograde movement unmolested, and fell back on Praga. 
 The loss of the Poles in this battle has been stated at 4,000 men. 
 The Russians suffered very severely and had three generals 
 killed. The Russian guards are said to have displayed great 
 bravery in the action. It was the object of Diebitsch to cut off" 
 the retreat of the Poles. The second Polish corps under Genera] 
 Lubienski displayed great gallantry on the 25th : it forced its 
 way, at the point of the bayonet in a retreat from Chirchnowiec, 
 through 40,000 Russians. 
 
 It was subsequently ascertained that a correspondence had 
 been kept up by traitors and Russian agents in Warsaw, through 
 whose means Diebitsch was informed of the plans of the Polish 
 
r^30 CHAPTER XIIl. 
 
 commander in chief, and led to the disastrous battle of Ostro- 
 ienka. On the same day that the battle of Ostrolenka wan 
 Ibught, General Chlapowski gained a victory over the Russians 
 av Mariampol, commanded by General Sacken. 
 
 The Russian commander in chief, Diebitsch, died suddenly ai 
 Klfechewo, June 19th, at that time the head-quarters of the Rus- 
 sian army. He had been superseded a short time previous to 
 his death by Paskewitch, who had greatly distinguished himself 
 in tiie war against the Persians. Shortly afterv/ards, the Arch 
 Duke Constantine died very suddenly. 
 
 The Russian arms under Diebitsch in the campaign against 
 enfeebled and distracted Turkey, acquired a fictitious celebrity ; 
 but Russia has been entirely shorn of tiiis fame by a handful of 
 Polish patriots. Had it not been for this untoward war agaii? ;t 
 Poland, Diebitsch's name might have descended to posterity as a 
 renowned warrior. Poor Diebitsch became the laughing stock 
 of all Europe ; and the boasted prowess of Russia has since been 
 viewed in a very different aspect. Russia, in the height of her 
 pride and in the full confidence of her strength, was about to 
 march her legions upon France ; when the breaking out of the 
 Polish revolution afforded her sufficient employment nearer 
 home. If Poland, at the commencement of the revolution, had 
 succeeded in establishing an energetic government, and possessed 
 a leader fully competent to direct her valiant soldiers, the over- 
 bearing power and haughty pride of Russia might have been 
 humbled to the dust. 
 
 General Gielgud was sent with a force of 8,000 men into 
 Samogitia, a district of Lithuania, and was for a time success- 
 ful ; but was defeated in an attack on Wilna, and forced _ to 
 retreat. On the 13th of July, the remains of th^ corps of Giel- 
 gud and. Chlapowski, reduced to 2,500 men, passed over into the 
 Prussian territory, when General Gielgud was shot by a Polish 
 officer. 
 
 General Dembinski had entered Lithuania at Olitta, about 
 55 miles west of Wilna, with corps to aid the insurgents. The 
 failure of Gielgud before Wilna obliged him to retreat— he forced 
 his way through the Russians, and arrived safely in Warsaw. 
 This retreat was a masterly display of generalship.^ 
 
 June 29th, a conspiracy was this day timely discovered in 
 Warsaw, which was to set the Russian prisoners, thirteen thou- 
 sand in number, at liberty. Several disaffected officers attempted 
 to bring about a counter-revolution to favor the Pv-ussians. It 
 was to be accomplished as follows: the prisoners having be?n 
 allowed to go at large, they were to be supplied with arms ; and 
 on a signal being given the powder mill was to be blown up, 
 
REVOLUTION IN POLAND. 337 
 
 when a general attack was to be made on the citizens and 
 national guard. General Janowski, one of the traitors, to save 
 himself, made the discovery of this horrid conspiracy just in 
 time to save Warsaw. 
 
 On the 14th July, General Chrzanski was attacked by Gene- 
 ral Rudiger's corps, on this side of Minsk, five miles from War- 
 saw ; when the Russians were defeated and forced to retreat, 
 having 3,000 men killed, 900 prisoners taken, and 1000 muskets. 
 On the 12th, the main army of Paske witch was encamped be- 
 tween Sisno and Kikal, and on the same day a great part of it 
 passed the A^'istula between Warsaw and the Prussian frontier, 
 having received from Thorn a great number of barges and 
 materials for bridges. The Prussians, to facilitate the passing 
 of the Russians, had constructed a bridge over the Vistula at 
 Drewenca. 
 
 On the 13th of August, General Skryznecki resigned the 
 command of the army to General Dembinski, compelled, by the 
 force of circumstances, to do so, in order that faction might 
 have no further pretext to injure his country. His letter of 
 resignation on this occasion, is full of generous devotion to the 
 cause of his country. The patriotic club, irritated with the 
 measures of government and dissatisfied at not seeing General 
 Janowski condemned, determined to take violent measures. To 
 these acts they were instigated by the base Krukowiecki. On 
 the 15th August, at 8 A. M. the club formally demanded that 
 Skryznecki should be- ordered to Warsaw. They then pro- 
 ceeded to the castle, that was protected by 200 of the national 
 guard, who made scarcely any resistance. On the same day, 
 the patriotic club demanded the death of Janowski ; and on 
 the 16th, the state prisoners concerned in the conspiracy for 
 a counter-revolution, were murdered in their rooms by the 
 clubists. Thirty. five persons were thus put to death witliout 
 ceremony ; among them were Generals Janowski, Bulkov/ski, 
 Plurtig, Salacki, and Benthouski, the Russian chamberlain, Fus- 
 tiane, &c. 
 
 During the night. General Krukowiecki was appomted 
 governor of the city. He sent for a reinforcement, and his 
 first measures were to put a stop to these horrors. August 
 17th, the government was dissolved, and Krukov.iecki was 
 placed at the head of the new government, with very extended 
 powers. He caused the arrest of the president and ten of the 
 club, and appointed General Prondzynski to the chief command 
 m the army. 
 
 From the time that Krukowiecki came into power, he took 
 measures to deliver Warsaw to the Russians, and made e-c-.y 
 
 VOL. II. 29 
 
338 CHAPTER Xlll. 
 
 attempt to induce the diet to demand an amnesty, and sent the 
 main part of the Polish army to the right side of the Vistula, 
 when the thunder of the Russian artillery was breaking over the 
 devoted city. The proposals of Krukowiecki were repelled by 
 the diet with indignation, who declared to the suspicious deputies, 
 " rather will we die here in our places than stain the honor of 
 our country." The traitor was deposed at midnight and a new 
 governor of the city named, which gave new vigor to the faint- 
 ing defenders of Warsaw. 
 
 On the 6th of September, at daybreak, the Russian army of 
 100,000 men and 300 pieces of cannon, advanced to storm War- 
 saw, which was defended with great heroism. On the 8th, aftei 
 two days hard fighting, it surrendered to Field Marshal Paske- 
 witch. The Russians had '20,000 slain in storming Warsaw. 
 The Poles lost about half that number in its defence. 
 
 The government and the most distinguished citizens retired 
 with the main body of the army, under the new commander in 
 chief, Rybinski, upon Modlin and Plozk. The army, however, 
 kept in three divisions instead of uniting, which could thus offer 
 but a feeble resistance to the Russian forces. As a last resource, 
 the Poles crossed the frontiers into the Austrian and Prussian 
 dominions. Upwards of 1500 of the most distinguished leaders 
 of the Polish revolution were arrested and imprisoned at War- 
 saw ; and to complete the measures of oppression and vengeance, 
 the Russian troops fired upon the prisoners confined in one of 
 the wings of the prison, under the pretence of a revolt among 
 the prisoners, though it was known that three-fourths of these 
 were imprisoned for political offences. 
 
 Of twenty-two Polish generals that became, in a manner, pri- 
 soners under the amnesty, the greater part were sent to distant 
 parts of the Russian empire, and but four returned to Poland. 
 The soldiers were marched by thousands to Siberian exile, linked 
 together by the wrists to bars of iron. The nobles were treated 
 in the same ignominious manner, with their heads shaved, and 
 consigned to the dungeons and mines of Siberia ; and the chil- 
 dren were torn from their mothers, and carried off to glut the 
 vengeance of the Autocrat of all the Russias. 
 
 Numbers of the patriots that escaped after the fall of Warsaw, 
 when the army passed the frontiers, have gone into voluntary 
 exile, and are now mourning over the calamities of their country, 
 the loss of their homes, their wives, and their children. 
 
 The Prussian government treated the Polish refugees that fled 
 into her territory with horrible brutality, in order to force these 
 now miserable and heart-broken outcasts into the iron fangs of 
 Russian despotism. 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 839 
 
 The recital of the barbarous deeds perpetrated by insatiate 
 and faithless Russia on completing the subjugation of Poland, 
 cannot fail to fill with sorrow the breast of every friend to hu- 
 manity : and it sickens the heart to think, that these wretched 
 and trodden-down Poles are now perhaps for ever beyond the 
 reach of all human aid. The French government, during the 
 Polish struggle, a period of intense interest to the fervent and 
 sympathizing Frenchmen, showed the blackest ingratitude and 
 perfidy towards the chivalrous Poles. It was in vain that the 
 good Lafayette lifted up his imploring voice in their behalf to 
 the 'citizen King. It would seem, indeed, as if the nationality 
 of Poland was now for ever blasted ; and the survivors of this 
 once noble race of warriors and patriots were destined, by seve- 
 ral of the arbitrary governments of Europe, to be hunted down 
 like beasts of prey. 
 
 Russia is at present erecting a citadel at Warsaw, intended 
 to overawe the Poles for the future. The cost of the building, 
 20,000,000 florins, is to be extorted from the oppressed citizens 
 of Warsaw. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Greek Revolution. War heticeen Russia and Turkey. England, 
 from A. D. 1816, to the passing of the Reform Bill, A. D. 1832. 
 
 Among the extraordinary events of the 19th century, there is 
 none that occasioned more thrilling interest at the time, than the 
 protracted and fearful struggle made by the modern Greeks to 
 gain their independence. 
 
 The classic soil of Athens and Sparta, Thebes and Corinth, 
 for the last four centuries had been profaned by Turkish despot- 
 ism. It was the same soil that, 2500 years ago, was the seat 
 of learning and the abode of free institutions. It was the land 
 of Homer and Demosthenes, Solon and Pericles, that, after the 
 slumber of ages, was awakened to new life. 
 
 The struggle, of which we are about to give a faint and rapid 
 sketch, is the one made by the modern Greeks to achieve their 
 country's independence, and elevate Greece to an equal rank 
 with civilized nations. And though this people had been so long 
 under the most debasing slavery, they nevertheless displayed, 
 during this momentous struggle, numerous deeds of valor worthy 
 their renowned ancestors. 
 
 Before entering on this eventful revolution, which began in 
 the Morea, March 23, 1821, it will be necessary, in order fully 
 to understand its origin, to state, that some years before th 
 
340 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 commencement of hostilities the patriots of Greece founded, in 
 1814, an association called the Hetaria. 'J 'here was a society 
 established at Vienna the same year, of whicli Count Capo 
 d'Istrias was one of the first members ; but it did not publicly 
 avow any political designs. The head-quarters of this society 
 were at St. Petersburg, whither many of the most distinguished 
 Greeks repaired under the pretext of having commercial busi- 
 ness to transact. 
 
 The Greeks it appears had, at difterent times, been called 
 upon by Russia to shake oft" the Turkish yoke, namely, in the 
 years 1769, 1786, and 1806 ; and a society, avowedly for the 
 liberation of Greece, was formed in Paris in 1809. It was found 
 that the beginning made in 1814, was too early to insure sue- 
 cess. A people who had long been kept in an abject state of 
 slavery, needed first a due preparation and a general diffusion 
 of knowledge ; and the plans for such a weighty undertaking 
 required to be well matured. 
 
 The intercourse kept up with France, was of great conse- 
 quence in forwarding the cause of liberty in Greece ; and the 
 revival of literature and the spread of science, brought with it 
 an ardent desire for their country's freedom. This was further 
 promoted by giving them the works of Goldsmith, Franklin's 
 Poor Richard, Fenelon, and Montesquieu, which were translated 
 into modern (xreek at Athens, Saloniki, Smyrna, &c. ; and 
 schools were established, that were subsequently swept away 
 by the war. 
 
 The Hetaria, or society of friends, kept up an active corres- 
 pondence with the Greeks in different parts of Europe, who 
 hastened to join it ; while some men of the highest standing 
 visited St. Petersburg to further their designs, and even looked 
 to Russia for aid. When this hope was found to be fallacious, 
 the Greeks resolved to begin themselves. The first movement 
 was made by Czerni George, in 1817, an exiled chief of Servia, 
 v/lio was suddenly to appear in Servia, his native province, 
 while Galati, and other Grecian chiefs, v/ere to raise the stan. 
 dard in the south of Greece, and the Morea. Czerni George, 
 the Servian, was treacherously betrayed and murdered on hia 
 wa5r by Milosh, a relative and former friend, and his head 
 sent to Constantinople. Count Galati retired to Bucharest, and 
 there shortly afterwards died. The next attempt was arranged 
 for 1825. 
 
 In the mean time some chiefs, burning with desire for the 
 glorious cause of freedom, began the revolution. These were 
 M. Suzzo, hospodar of Moldavia, one of the Hetarists ; Alexan- 
 der Ypsilanti, a major general in the Russian army, and Prince 
 
GK££K REVOLUnON. S41 
 
 Catacuzene. Ypsilanti was to begin hostilities beyond the 
 Danube, while all Greece was to be summoned with a procla- 
 mation ; and to render their measures more certain, an explosion 
 was to take place at Constantinople. 
 
 Ypsilanti began before Moldavia was prepared to co-operate. 
 His proclamation was energetic, and called on all Greece to 
 shake off the Turkish yoke. It roused the Moldavians, and 
 Ypsilanti took possession of Bucharest, the capital of Walachia, 
 containing 80,000 inhabitants. But Russia disclaimed all parti- 
 cipation in a manifesto which she published. Suzzo gave up 
 the command in Moldavia, and the plot at Constantinople was 
 frustrated. A chieftain who joined Ypsilanti, was suspected of 
 treachery. He was arrested and beheaded. This was Vladi- 
 miresco ; and the price of his correspondence with the Porte 
 was, that he was to be made hospodar. 
 
 Ypsilanti was now forced to retire from Bucharest before 
 10,000 men, who entered the city without firing a shot. The 
 Hetarists who fell into the hands of the Turks were impaled 
 alive, and numbers of children hung up by their feet along the 
 roads. The monasteries were entered, and the inmates butch- 
 ered. Prince Ypsilanti retreated to Tergovist, followed by the 
 Turks. A battle was fought at the monastery of Dragachan, 
 on the morning of June 17th. The Turkish infantry charged 
 with loud shouts, but were repulsed with the bayonet. A second 
 charge was repelled with equal firmness. At this juncture, the 
 cowardice and treason of Caravia, an officer of cavalry, 
 changed the fate of the patriot army. He turned round and 
 fled, and immediately the whole army was in confusion. Gior- 
 gaki, with his corps, displayed great firmness during the route. 
 The sacred band of about 400 or 500 young Greeks stood firm, 
 while the rest fled and crossed the Oltau ; these sustained the 
 shock of 1500 Turkish cavalry. They sold their lives nobly, 
 determined to fall rather than yield. The disparity in numbers 
 was too great for success, when about 400 fell. Such an exam- 
 ple of patriotism had a most salutary effect on the Greeks. The 
 army of Prince Ypsilanti being annihilated, he repaired to 
 Trieste, intending to rejoin his countrymen in the Morea. The 
 Austrian government seized him, and imprisoned him at the 
 castle of Montgatz, in Hungary. 
 
 When the intelligence of the insurrection in Moldavia reached 
 Constantinople, the Sultan issued immediate orders to disarm all 
 the Greeks in the empire, and a war of extermination at the 
 capital commenced. The Greek patriarch, Gregorius, was mur- 
 dered on the 22d April, the day of the greatest festival of the 
 Greek church, and his body dragged by Jews through the streets 
 
 VOL. 11. 29* 
 
342 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 of Constantinople. Several other ecclesiastics shared the same 
 fate, and a number of Greek churches were destroyed, which 
 exasperated the Greeks to a degree of desperation, who saw 
 that nothing short of extermination awaited them. The priests 
 in the islands of the Morea, from the atrocious acts at Constan- 
 tinople, saw themselves doomed to certain destruction. They 
 therefore exerted themselves strenuously, to inspire the people 
 to resistance and vengeance. 
 
 By the 1st of April, the excitement became general. The 
 mhabitants of Patras were disaffected by the exorbitant levies 
 of the Turks. Mutual distrust began between Greeks and 
 Turks— each prepared for the worst. Hostilities were first 
 opened by tjie inhabitants of Suda, a large village near Cala- 
 vrita, in llie northern part of Arcadia. At Patras, the Greeks 
 refused to give up their arms, when the Turks fired with cannon 
 upon the place from the fortress, and soon took possession of it. 
 Germanos, archbishop of Patras, assembled an army of 4,000 
 peasants, and took the city from the Turks. The scene that 
 followed ended in the destruction of three hundred houses and 
 pillage. 
 
 In the islands of Hydra, Spezzia, and Ipsara, the greatest 
 activity was displayed in fitting out ships of war, the united force 
 of which was eight}^ or ninety vessels of 10 or 12 guns each ; 
 and fifly or sixty smaller vessels were supplied by other islands. 
 The flag hoisted by the Greeks, consisted of eight blue and 
 white horizontal stripes. The superior activity of the Greek 
 navy was soon shown. 
 
 The first Turkish fleet left the Dardanelles on the 19th of 
 May, and was followed by the Greek fire-ships. On the 8th of 
 June, they burned a ship of the line, ashore near Tenedos — 
 compellhig the Turkish fleet to put back to the Dardanelles. 
 
 The Ipsariots landed on the coast of Asia Minor, and took 
 possession of Cydinia, which was soon after retaken by the 
 Turks, and the inhabitants murdered and driven away to the 
 number of 35,000. It must be kept in mind during this strug- 
 gle, that the islanders displayed higher traits of pairiotism atfd 
 valor than the Moreots ; in which the women took part in this 
 struggle for liberty. The Turks next disarmed Candia, and 
 executed the archbishop and several clergymen. The peasants 
 in the mountains and suburbs of Candia would not give up their 
 arms : thev united and succeeded in driving the Turks back into 
 the towns, though they were thousands strong. 
 
 In the month of November, the island of Cyprus was disarmed, 
 and nearly all the inhabitants of Larnica murdered. The pea. 
 santry for uniting in their defence, had, in the month of August, 
 
GKEEK REVOLUTION. 843 
 
 1822, their villages, sixty-two in number, burned. In the mean 
 time the great Turkish fleet supplied their garrisons in the Mo. 
 rea with arms, ammunition, &c. 
 
 The cause of Greece received a new impulse by the arrival 
 of Demetrius Ypsilanti, and Prince Alexander Cantacuzene. 
 After some difficulty, Ypsilanti was appointed commander in 
 chief, July 24, 1821, of the Peloponnesus, the Arcliipelago, and 
 all the liberated provinces. There was at this time dissensions 
 amongst the Greek leaders. Tripolizza, the chief fortress of the 
 Turks, was besieged by Demetrius Ypsilanti, and 8,000 Turks 
 perished. It was in this fortress the Greeks obtained their first 
 heavy cannon ; and it became the seat of government till it was» 
 transferred to Argos. In Thessaly, Ulysses with several other 
 leaders or capitani, defeated near Thermopylae, a Turkish army 
 which had advanced from Macedonia. Prince Mavrocordato 
 received the chief command of the Albanian forces ; when the 
 government began to acquire some form, after much difficulty 
 and dissention. Prince Mavrocordato succeeded, Jan. 13, (Jan. 
 1,) 1822, in establishing an approximation to a federative con- 
 stitution at Epidaurus, until the second national assembly in 
 Astro, March 14, 1823. At this convention more than 60 depu- 
 ties attended. 
 
 The western part of Greece, Arcania, /Etolia, and Epirus, 
 sent 30 deputies to Missilonghi, who, under the presidency of 
 Alexander Mavrocordato, formed a government consisting of ten 
 members. 
 
 The eastern part of the main land sent 33 deputies to Salona, 
 under the presidency of Theodore Negris, forming the Areopa- 
 gus of 14 members, November 16 ; and the Morea, or Pelopon- 
 nesus, with the islands of Hydra, Ipsara, Spezzia, &c. sent to 
 Argos 60 deputies, who assembled, December 1st, under the 
 presidency of Prince Demetrius, and established the Peloponne- 
 sian Gerousia of 20 members. 
 
 These three governments, Missilonghi, Salona, and Argos, 
 were to prepare a permanent constitution. With this view, 67 
 deputies from all the Greek provinces, formed the first national 
 assembly in Epidaurus, Jan. 10, 1822, under the presidency of 
 Mavrocordato ; and on the 13th, proclaimed the constitution, 
 (which was provisionary) and on the 27th, the congress of Epi- 
 daurus issued a manifesto, in which they pronounced the union 
 of the Greeks, under an independent federative government. 
 The central government was fixed at Corinth, and some time 
 afler at Argos. 
 
 We are obliged to pass over many of the movements, till 
 the arrival of the great Turkish fleet, April 11, when 15,000 
 
344 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 barbarian Asiatic troops were landed at Scio : and soon this 
 deliglitful and flourishing island was changed into a scene of 
 fire and blood. Down to May 25th, the Turks, according to 
 iheir own lists, sold into slavery, 41,000 Sciots, mostly women 
 and children. 
 
 Che Capudan Pacha was next prepared to desolate Ipsara. 
 'A^ine, and Samos ; but the Ipsariots, with 70 small vessels and 
 lire-ships, hovered I'ound the Turkish fleet, and in the night- 
 time, rowed among their ships, while yet they lay in the road 
 of Scio, and attached fire-ships to the Capudan Pacha's vessel, 
 which blew up with 2,286 men ; and the Pacha himself, mor- 
 tally wounded, was carried ashore, where he died. Another 
 ship of the line narrowly escaped. These daring acts of the 
 Ipsariots stupified the Turks ; from which, when they had reco- 
 vered, they destroyed the last traces of cultivation. 
 
 The savage fury of the Turks about this time may be judged 
 by the fact, that they bought the wretched Sciots at Constanti- 
 nople, merely for the pleasure of putting them to death. The 
 Pacha of Saloniki, (Abbolubut,) boasted that he had destroyed 
 1500 women and children in one day. 150 villages and 5,000 
 Christians experienced the fate of Scio. While all these horrors 
 were taking place, Mavrocordato, president of the executive 
 council, was organizing the government, which met with resist- 
 ance from the avariciousness of Coloctroni and others. 
 
 It had now become important to cover Missilonghi, the strong 
 hold of western Hellas, from the weakened state of the army. 
 Mavrocordato, with 300 men, and Marco Botzaris, with 22 Suli- 
 ots, on the 5th of November, threw themselves into Missilonghi ; 
 while 11,000 Turks advanced against it. Another force of 
 25,000 under Khurshid, principally cavalry, passed Thermopylae, 
 and as they advanced through Livadia, laid every thing waste, 
 and occupied Corinth. In attempting the passes of Larissa, 
 Khurshid was repelled three times by Ulysses. Khurshid died 
 Nov. 26. Most of this cavalry perished for its rashness in the 
 defiles of the Morea ; and the remainder formed a junction with 
 5000 men, of Jussaf Pacha's army, and sent reinforcements to 
 Napoli di Romania. The Greek fleet kept the great Turkish 
 fleet from affording relief to this place. Ulysses, Coloctroni, 
 and Ypsilanti, now prosecuted their operations with great zeal, 
 and drove the Turkish forces out of the Morea. Niketas fell 
 upon them in the defiles of Tretes, and only 2,000 escaped to 
 the Isthmus of Corinth, where Ypsilanti fell upon and destroyed 
 them. More than 20,000 Turkish soldiers perished in less than 
 four weeks. In Greece, there were yet some thousand Turks, 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 845 
 
 that held the Isthmus and the Acrocoruithus, that were soou 
 after dispersed and destroyed. 
 
 The Turkish fleet left the Gulf of Lepanto, where it had failed 
 against Missilonghi. It was unable to break the line of 57 Greek 
 ships blockading Romania, and at last came to anchor ofl' Tene- 
 dos. Nov. 10, a small number of Ipsariots carried fire-ship3 
 among the fleet, and fired tlie ships of the admiial and the capi- 
 tan Bey. The latter was blown up with 1800 men. Three 
 frigates were wrecked on the coast of Asia, and a vessel of 36 
 guns captured. Of 35 vessels, 18 only returned much injured 
 to the Dardanelles. The 17 Ipsariots who had done these 
 exploits, arrived in safety at Ipsara, and Kanaris and Mniauly 
 were rewarded, by the Euphori, with naval crowns. Again the 
 Greeks were masters of the sea : it enabled them to blockade 
 the Turkish forts, which was acknowledged by Great Britain. 
 The change of ministry in England was most fortunate for 
 Greece. With Canning as premier, and Maitland lord commis- 
 sioner of the Ionian Isles, they had less hostility directed against 
 them. Omar Vrione was repulsed by Mavrocordato and Bot- 
 zaris, before Missilonghi, where he lost his cannon. Napoli di 
 Romania was taken from the Turks Dec. 12, (new style.) 
 
 A proclamation to the European powers was issued April 15, 
 1822, which the Holy Alliance considered incompatible with 
 their views on legitimacy, though disposed to be lenient towards 
 the suflTering state of Greece. The dissensions among the Greek 
 leaders, had an unfavorable influence on their cause with the 
 European cabinets. Coloctroni nieditated a division of the Morea 
 into hereditary principalities. 
 
 The central government called a second national assembly at 
 Astro, Jan. 1823, which averted a civil war ; while the judicious 
 measures of Mavrocordato tended to bring about concord. When 
 the national assembly opened, March 14, at Astro, it consisted 
 of 100 members. Mavromichalis was elected president ; Theo- 
 dore Negris, secretary ; and the perfidious and avaricious Coioc- 
 troni submitted to the assembly. 
 
 Condurioti was chosen president of the legislative, and Petro 
 IMavromichalis, Bey of Maina, of the executive council. Both 
 legislative bodies resolved to raise about 50,000,000 piasters, to 
 levy and equip 50,000 men, and 100 large men of war. The 
 French military code was adopted. This assembly proclaimed 
 the new constitution of Astro, April 2od, 1823. Several changes 
 took place in the ministry. Mavrocordato Avas made president, 
 and Coloctroni, vice president. 
 
 This year the Sultan had determined upon exterminating the 
 suffering Greeks. Mavrocordato was placed at the head of 
 
346 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 the army, and Orlandi, a Hydriot, organized the navy, now 
 consisting of 403 sail, with cannon. The largest ship carried 26 
 guns, and Miaulis was admiral ; M. Tumbasis of Hydra, George 
 Demitracci, of Spezzia, and Nicholas Apostoles, of Ipsara, 
 vice admirals. The financial department met with much dif- 
 ficulty. In March, the fleet had gained a victory over the 
 Egyptian flotilla, destined for the invasion of Candia, though it 
 was unsuccessful in its attempt to prevent the landing of Turk- 
 ish troops. 
 
 M. Botzaris, the Suliot, now commanded the forces in western, 
 and Ulysses in eastern Greece. The battles fought during this 
 year, were not less fierce and sanguinary than those in 1822. 
 M. Botzaris surprised the Turkish camp at Carpinissi, at mid- 
 night, with 500 Suliots, and penetrated to the tent of the Pacha 
 of Delvino ; but in the moment of victory received a mortal 
 wound. The victory, however, was completed by his brother 
 Constantine. The noble Botzaris as he expired, exclaimed — 
 " How sweet it is to die for one's country." The defeat of the 
 Turks was complete, all their baggage and artillery being taken, 
 and the Pacha made prisoner. 
 
 The members of government were at Argos, in November, 
 1823. About this time the campaign was finished, though a 
 partizan warfare continued in Thessaly and Epirus. Societies 
 in England aided the Greek cause by means of loans, and by 
 supplies of arms. 
 
 The illustrious poet, Lord Byron, took a deep interest in the 
 struggle made by the Greeks to throw ofl* the Mohammedan 
 yoke. His zeal led him to offer his personal and pecuniary aid 
 in their cause. He embarked August, 1823, with five or six 
 English friends, in an English vessel he had purposely hired, 
 and arrived in Greece at the beginning of the third campaign, 
 where he was received with marked distinction. On his arrival 
 at Cephalonia, where he first established himself, he addressed 
 a letter to the Greek government, and was induced by the infor- 
 mation he received, to advance 12,000/. for the relief of Missi- 
 longhi, where he afterwards, with Col. Stanhope, took an active 
 part in organizing the artillery. Byron himself estabhshed 
 printing ofllces and schools in Missilonghi. He also took 500 
 Suliots into his pay ; but found them very refractory and unwil- 
 ling to march with him as he designed upon Lepanto. This preyed 
 greatly upon his spirits, and he soon after became dangerously 
 ill, and died at Missilonghi, April 19, 1824. His death was 
 solemnized by a general mourning of twenty-one days. 
 
 The Turks began the campaign of 1824 with much more vigor 
 than it had previously been carried on. Peace being concluded 
 
GREEK REvoLvrtoy. 347 
 
 with Persia, July 28th, 1823, and a rebellious Pacha of St. Jean 
 d'Acre, having yielded voluntary submission to the Porte, it was 
 enabled to send forces from Asia, and those that had been sta- 
 tioned in Moldavia and Walachia now evacuated. 
 
 The preceding campaign nad taught the Turks, that the de- 
 struction of the Greek navy was their only means of succeeding 
 in subduing Greece. The Capudan Pacha, Khosru, sailed from 
 Mitylene, July 3d, Mith two ships of the line, eight frigates, four 
 corvettes, forty brigs, and smaller vessels to the amount of 200. 
 Among the latter were a number of neutral transport ships, 
 belonging to the Russians, Austrians, and others, hired by the 
 Capudan Pacha, that sailed from the Dardanelles, April 28th. 
 The Russians were now on the most friendly terms with the 
 Grand Seignior, and aided the Turks with transport ships. 
 There were besides, Austrian, Italian, and Spanish vessels, en- 
 gaged against the liberties of Greece. 
 
 To oppose the armament of the Capudan Pacha, the Ipsa- 
 riots had 2,500 men, the entire male population, and a corps of 
 Albanians and fugitive Sciots, about 1,500 in number, divided 
 into four companies. Their forces were provided with batte- 
 ries, ammunition, &c. The Turks landed silently in the night, 
 in spite of the vigilance of the islanders, and advanced in three 
 columns. One advanced upon the town, and two proceeded to 
 the batteries, taking them in the rear, when the most horrible 
 butchery was perpetrated. Five hundred Albanians shut 
 themselves up in fort St. Nicholas, which defended the town. 
 Wretched and afflicted mothers first flung their children from 
 high precipices, and then cast themselves into the sea. The 
 Albanians in the fort barricaded the gates, and killed half of the 
 first assailants. 
 
 The Turks concentrated their forces to reduce the fort, and 
 during the night made a dreadful assault upon the Christians, 
 who in defence performed prodigies of valor ; but unable longer 
 to withstand the overwhelming force of the barbarians, they 
 threw open the gates, suffered 2,000 men to rush into the fort, 
 till it was entirely filled, and on a concerted signal, in an 
 instant all were blown up, and buried amidst its ruins. This 
 took place on the fourth of July. By the disasters of Ipsara, 
 4,000 Christians perished, besides the total destruction of all 
 property ; with 100 vessels of different sizes, belonging to the 
 islanders. 
 
 Admiral Miaulis, with the Greek fleet, arrived before Ipsara, 
 on the 8th of July, when the Turks immediately put to sea, and 
 numbers were captured. The Greeks, on landing at Ipsaira, 
 found nothing, but ruins and heaps of putrid corpses ; but the 
 
S4S CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 dreadful stench obliged them to retire from this scene of horror 
 The atrocities perpetrated at Ipsara by the barbarians, at ones 
 roused up all the energies of Greece with dire revenge. 
 
 The next attempt of the Capudan Pacha, was upon Samos. 
 Kanaris, the brave Ipsanot, with a fire-ship destroyed a 40 gun 
 frigate under sail ; and several transports shared a similar fate, 
 besides a Tunisian brig of war, and a large Tripolitan corvette. 
 On the 21st, another fleet of transports destined for Samos, 
 were dispersed and partly destroyed. The following day, the 
 'rurkish fleet attempted to make the passage from Cape Tro- 
 gilium to the opposite shore ; but the appearance of two or 
 three fire-ships caused such terror in the Ottoman fleet, as to 
 drive it in disgrace on the Asiatic coast. Some time after, 
 a junction took place between the Egyptian vessels and 
 those of the Capudan Pacha, intending to return to Samos. 
 The skill and boldness of the Greeks destroyed a number of 
 these with their fire-ships, and thus astounded the Turks with 
 their deeds of valor, who were glad to effect a retreat to the 
 DardEuielles. 
 
 In November, the Egyptians sustained severe damage from 
 their enemy on the northern coast of Candia. The forces of 
 the Greeks successfully repelled their barbarian invaders by 
 land, so that the campaign of 1824 was glorious for Greece, and 
 its prospects more cheering than had appeared at any time pre- 
 vious. This gladdening prospect continued up to the beginning 
 of February. 
 
 The government of Greece now began to assume harmony and 
 ■strength, and commerce revived. Their army was attempted to 
 De organized after the European tactics ; justice was regularly 
 idministered, and freedom of the press allowed. In Missilonghi 
 four newspapers were issued twice a week. In the midst of these 
 cheering prospects for Greece, an Egyptian fleet which had been 
 delayed some months, sailed on the I9th July, from Alexandria, 
 consisting of nine frigates, four corvettes, forty brigs and gal- 
 liots, with 18,000 troops in 240 transports. This armament, 
 under Ibrahim Pacha, was designed to subdue and desolate the 
 Morea. The Eiryptian and Turkish fleets united in the gulf 
 of Bodroun, Sept. 4th, where a naval action ensued. Kanaris 
 blew up a 44 gun Egyptian frigate and a brig. The fleets then 
 separated ; the Turkish fleet returned, to Constantinople, and 
 Ibrahim's fleet to the gulf of Bodroun. Soon after, Miaulis 
 attacked it off Candia, and destroyed a frigate, 10 small vessels, 
 and 15 transports ; when he retired to Rhodes, further weak- 
 ened by the plague on board his ships, and frustrated in his 
 plans of conquering the Morea. 
 
Storming of Warsaw. Vol. 2, p. 340. 
 
 Battle of Missolojighi, Vcl. 2, p. 35G. 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 849 
 
 Notwithstanding the critical situation in which Greece was 
 now placed by the power of Egypt being exerted against her, 
 we find the peninsula in the most distracted state by the dissen- 
 sions and broils of the capatani. Iri October, the election for the 
 third term commenced. The executive council at Napoli di 
 Romania, consisted of 63 members. The president, Mavrocor- 
 dato, resigned, and Panuzzo Notaras was chosen his successor. 
 Coloctroni was disappointed in his ambitious views. Some other 
 disaffected chiefs raised the standard at Tripolizza, under the 
 command of Panos Coloctroni. Troops were sent thither, by 
 the command of Condurioti, and after several battles, the rebels 
 were defeated and dispersed, and Panos Coloctroni killed. About 
 this time the famous Amazon Bobolina, a follower of Coloctroni, 
 was assassinated. Ulysses entered into a secret treaty with the 
 Turks, but was defeated and captured. In attempting to escape 
 from a tower he received a fall, and died in consequence thereof. 
 Coloctroni, the father, finding himself deserted, surrendered him- 
 self up in December, 1824. Several other leaders of this rebel- 
 lion fled, and the rest were seized. 
 
 The government now exerted itself to carry into effect the 
 provisions of the law, and keep up discipline in the army. The 
 annual revenue the Porte received, from the Peloponnesus alone, 
 amounted to 35,000,000 Turkish piastres. 
 
 In the campaign of 1825. Ibrahim Pacha landed his troops in 
 the Morea ,• and Missilonghi was besieged by Redschid Pacha, 
 aided by the fleet of the Capudan Pacha. This calamitous event 
 was owing to the treachery and dissensions of the Greek chiefs, 
 which permitted Ibrahim to land between Coron and Mordon, 
 February 22, 1825, an army of 4,500 men ; and the next 
 month his force was augmented to 12,000, drilled with French 
 officers, after the European tactics. He had besides, an excel- 
 lent body of cavalry. Ibrahim besieged Navarino, which soon 
 fell into his power. He next pressed on to Tripolizza. Old 
 Coloctroni was pardoned by the government, which received 
 his assurances of fidelity ; and in May, 1825, the command of 
 the Peloponnesus was entrusted to him. A third siege of Mis- 
 silonghi was commenced April 22d. The Pacha's fleet lost 
 several ships in an engagement with the Greek adtniral, Sac- 
 touri, near Cape d'Oro. Calamata and Tripolizza were taken 
 oy Ibrahim, who went on destroying every thing till he reached 
 ^rgos. He then received a severe check from Coloctroni'ji 
 army, which caused him to fall back to Tripolizza. When 
 lorahim found that the Greeks would not obey him or submit 
 to his authority, he put the men to death, carried the women 
 
 VOL. II. 30 
 
350 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 and children slaves to Egypt, and desolated every place within 
 his reach. 
 
 Missilonghi, defended by Noto Botzaris, the first among the 
 brave, was now closely besieged by the Turks, having before 
 it 35,000 land forces, and 4,000 by sea. After a severe contest 
 of several days they were totally defeated, August 2d, 1825. 
 The Turks lost 9,000 men. During this siege the brave and 
 active Miaulis arrived with his fleet, and burned several of the 
 enemy's ships, and forced the rest to retire. The siege of Mis- 
 silonghi was raised October 2d, 1825, four months and a half 
 from its commencement. 
 
 In the m.ean time, Ibrahim was carrying terror with his arn>s, 
 and desolating the Morea more widely ; and the government 
 was in great danger, having entirely lost the confidence of the 
 auxiliary societies in England, whose loans had been improperly 
 laid out. At last the Greeks sent deputies to England, resolved 
 to throvv^ themselves on the protection of Great Britain. Before 
 the arrival of their deputies, the English government had issued 
 (Sept. 30,) a declaration of neutrality. But the alliance of the 
 powers of Europe prevented the interference of any single power 
 in behalf of Greece. 
 
 Sir Stratford Canning, the English ambassador to Constanti- 
 nople, set out in January, 1826, and on his way had a long inter- 
 view at Hydra with Mavrocordato, and other Greek statesmen, 
 with a view to inform himself respecting the state of Greece. 
 He then proceeded to Constantinople, where he arrived the last 
 of February. About the same time, (March,) the affairs of 
 Greece were discussed at St. Petersburg, by Lord Strangford, 
 the British resident minister there, and who had formerly been 
 minister to Constantinople, and the Duke of Wellington, envoy 
 extraordinary, who had been sent thither by Cannmg. A hope 
 now began to be cherished, that the independence of Greece 
 would be acknowledged by the Christian powers of Europe. 
 
 The Pacha fully bent on reducing Missilonghi, had landed 
 more troops in the Morea, in order to carry on a winter cam- 
 paign. The affairs of Greece were, at this time, in the most 
 gloomy state, having scarcely 6,000 men under arms to with- 
 stand this rapacious foe ; while the money furnished by the 
 friends of (xreece for the equipment of the army, was squandered 
 by the capitani. The French, at this time, were busy intriguing 
 against the English agents, to the great injury of Greece. In 
 the midst of all these disasters, the Greeks succeeded, Novem. 
 ber 24th, in throwing into Missilonghi, besieged for the fourth 
 time, a sup])ly of ammunition and provisions for this garrison, 
 which had so gallantly repulsed an attack, both by sea and land- 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 851 
 
 A body of troops sent by Ibrahim against Corinth, was destroyed 
 by Niketas. 
 
 In December, the Greeks fitted out another naval equipment 
 at Hydra, for the safety of Missilonghi ; where Miauhs, January 
 8th, put to flight the Capudan Pacha's fleet ; which some time 
 after returned, when another attempt made to throw suppUes into 
 the place, failed. On the 28th, Missilonghi was summoned to 
 surrender, which was bravely set at defiance. The fleets had 
 an engagement in the gulf of Patras, when Canaris destroyed 
 with his fire-ships, a frigate and several smaller vessels. Ibra- 
 him, dissatisfied with the Capudan Pacha, caused his dismission. 
 The success of the battle enabled the Greeks to furnish Mis- 
 silonghi with some farther supplies ; but they failed m attem.pt- 
 ing it again, Feb. 12th, then blockaded by the Turco- Egyptian 
 fleet. 
 
 The siege of Missilonghi was carried on with vigor by Ibra- 
 him Pacha alone, who had before it 25,000 men, and of these, 
 9,000 were regular troops. He had before it forty-eight cannon, 
 that had been sold him by the French ; and he was aided by 
 Pierre Boyer, a general, (a Bonapartist,) notorious for his cru- 
 elties in Egypt, Spain, and St. Domingo. The frequent over- 
 tures made by Ibrahim to the garrison to surrender, during its 
 bombardment, were rejected. The assault continued from Feb. 
 28, till March 2d, when it was attacked by sea and land, with 
 a loss to the besiegers of 4,000 men. The valor of the garri- 
 son had sustained it for a fifth time, though it was nearly desti- 
 tute of provisions. In a short time, the sufferings of the garrison 
 became extreme, and the surrounding country was devastated 
 by the barbarian forces. Their sufferings and heroic defence 
 gained for Greece, many ardent and active friends in Europe ; 
 and funds were immediately raised for the heroic sufferers. Mr. 
 Eynard, of Geneva, made them a liberal donation, in addition 
 to 50,000 francs he had before given ; and it was on his repre- 
 sentation respecting the Greeks, that the committee of Paris 
 voted 60,000, and that of Amsterdam 30,000. With these 
 means supplies were sent, and the Greeks were successful in 
 throwing some of them into the place, in the face of great dif- 
 fioulties. From April 15th, Ibrahim directed all his attention 
 to prevent supplies being sent from Zante in small boats. The 
 situation of the besieged had now become truly deplorable. On 
 the 17th and 18th they began to die of hunger; the four follow- 
 ing days, their horrors hourly increased. Mines were now pre- 
 pared in various parts of the city to blow it up, as they were 
 determined not to surrender. 
 
 On the 21st and 22d, the Greek fleet under Miaul is, made an 
 
352 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 attempt to relieve the sufferers that proved unavailing. Hia 
 ships were too small to contend with the overwhelming fleet of 
 Ibrahim, consisting of 6 ships of the line, 8 or 10 frigates, and 
 90 vessels of different sizes. Missilonghi, at length reduced to a 
 heap of ruins, fell April 22d, 1826. At midnight, about 2,000 
 men, accompanied by women and children, rushed out on the 
 batteries of the enemy ; 500 Greeks fell on the spot, while the 
 rest, amounting to 1,800, under Noto Botzaris and Kitzos Isa- 
 vellas, reached Salona, and afterwards fought at Athens. Those 
 that remained in the city, about 1,000 in number, mostly women 
 and children, with old men, blew the;n;;elves up by the mines 
 that had been purposely prepared. At daybreak, the barbari- 
 ans entered the city. Thus fell Missilonghi, which had so long 
 been the strong hold of western Greece. The plain between 
 Missilonghi and the mountains was covered with the dead bodies 
 of the Suliots, who had been its most valiant defenders. Many 
 escaped to the mountains. JMore than 3,000 pair of ears were 
 cut off the dead, and sent as a precious trophy to Constantinople ; 
 and above 5,000 women and children were made slaves. 
 
 The annals of history can furnish but few instances of such 
 ardor, firmness, and perseverance, as was exhibited by the 
 Greeks, during this memorable siege. Mr. Meyer, a Swiss 
 editor, in a letter he wrote a short time before the fall of this 
 place, says — " A few days more, and these brave men will be 
 angelic spirits, who will accuse before God, the indifference of 
 Christendom for a cause which is that of religion. We are 
 drawing near our final hour ; history will render us justice ; 
 posterity will weep over our misfortunes. May the relation 
 of the siege of Missilonghi, which I have written, survive me. 
 I have made several copies of it." Lord Byron, who died at 
 Missilonghi in April, had resided in that place since the begin- 
 ning of January, of the same year. 
 
 Missilonghi was fortified in 1823, under the superintendance 
 of English officers ; and partly at the expense of a patriotic Eng- 
 lishman, whose name, (Murry,) deserves to be handed down to 
 posterity. It had been made the strongest hold in Greece. 
 
 Ibrahim was now in possession of Modon, Coron, Navarino, 
 and Patras ; and had already removed three pachas. It only 
 remained for him to gain possession of Napoli di Romania, to 
 be master of the islands of the Archipelago. This fact at once 
 opened the eyes of the European powers, who now looked with 
 distrust on Ibrahim. 
 
 Great exertions by societies in France, Germany, Switzer- 
 land, and England, were made in behalf of the suffering Greeks, 
 and many new societies were formed, when a change of mea- 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 368 
 
 siires in the English ministry had a most decided influence on 
 their destiny. By order of Canning, the Duke of WeUington, 
 at St. Petersburg, had signed the protocol for the interference of 
 the three great powei-s in behalf of Greece. It was the wish 
 of Canning to adjust the difficulties between Greece and Turkey, 
 without any reference to Russia ; but death, at this period, sealed 
 his noble designs. 
 
 While these measures were slowly advancing among the 
 diplomatic corps, Ibrahim was desolating the Morea ; and the 
 struggling Greeks, a prey to every kind of horror, were dying 
 of hunger. 
 
 June 17th, 1827, Athens capitulated to Redschid Pacha. Lord 
 Cochrane now arrived v/ith steam vessels from England, to aid 
 the Greeks ; and General Church had the command of the land 
 forces. New dissensions arose at Napoli di Romania, and Pal- 
 mades began to cannonade the city to force the payment of 
 arrears. The executive fled to ^Egina. In this state of des- 
 peration, the Greeks looked to Russia, and chose Count Capo 
 d'Istria as their president, who entered on his office January 
 22d, 1828. 
 
 In the mean time, a treaty for the settlement of Greece was 
 signed July 6th, 1827, at London, by the plenipotentiaries of 
 England, France, and Russia. This treaty was communicated 
 to the ambassadors of the three powers residing at Constantino- 
 ple ; and on the 16th August, their joint note was sent to the 
 Reis Effendi. The Porte refused to admit the interference of 
 the three powers, and further attempts to induce the Porte to 
 listen to the mediation of the allied powers, proved unavailing. 
 The Greek government proclaimed an armistice on the 25th, in 
 conformity with the treaty of London. 
 
 September 9th, the Turco-Egyptian fleet arrived at Navarino ; 
 and on the 13th, a British squadron under Admiral Codrington, 
 reached this bay. By the 22d, the French squadron, commanded 
 by Admiral Rigny, and that of Russia, under Count Heyden, 
 united. The admirals had an interview with Ibrahim Pacha on 
 the 25th, and informed him of their determination to establish 
 an armistice de fadu, between Greece and Turkey. On the 
 following day, Ibrahim attempted to sail from Navarino, but was 
 prevented. When he found he would not be suffered to remove 
 his fleet, he commenced the work of destruction by burning 
 houses, destroying vineyards, and the most wanton massacre of 
 women and children. In consequence of these atrocious deeds, 
 the combined fleet entered the port of Navarino, to compel Ibra- 
 him to desist from these brutal outrages. 
 
 October 20th, the combined fleet passed the batteries, and by 
 
 -'OL. IT. 30* 
 
354 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 2 p. M. were ready for action. The Turco-Egyptian fleet was 
 drawn up in the form of a crescent ; their large ships presented 
 a broadside, and between these small vessels intervened. The 
 Allied squadron was led by the Asia, the ship of Admiral Cod- 
 rington, and was followed by the Genoa and Albion, and an- 
 chored alongside a ship of the line, bearing the flag of Capitana 
 Bey, and a large double-banked frigate ; while Moharem Bey, 
 the" commander of the Egyptian fleet, was on the other side of 
 the Asia. The Turks brought on the action, by killing two 
 Englishmen ; and it soon became general, raging furiously for 
 four hours. It ended in the destruction of the Moorish fleet, 
 that, a short time before, had consisted of 3 ships of the line, 
 84 guns each ; a razee ; 16 frigates ; 27 large corvettes, from 
 
 18 to 24 guns ; am; the same number of brigs, with 6 fire-ships. 
 Of this armament there remained afloa.t, after the action, but 20 
 corvettes and brigs ; and these were abandoned. 
 
 The intelligence of the destruction of the Moorish fleet at 
 Navarino, v/as received with the liveliest joy by all the friends 
 of Greece, both in Europe and America. This arose from the 
 conviction that this blow had decided the freedom of the Greeks, 
 who, during six years of extreme suffering, had been a prey to 
 the most dreadful horrors. 
 
 There was now an involuntary suspension of hostilities. 
 Soon afterwards, the Greek pirates began to infest the seas, 
 which caused the admirals of the united squadron, to send a 
 warm remonstrance to the legislative council of the Greeks. 
 After some punishments had been inflicted upon the offenders, 
 safety was restored in those seas ; but not until the British had 
 destroyed the head-quarters of the pirates in Candia, February 
 28th, 1828. 
 
 The Porte was exasperated, in the highest degree, with the 
 annihilation of its fleet at Navarino; and forthwith seized and 
 detained all the vessels of the Franks at Constantinople, where 
 they were kept from November 2d, till November 19 ; and 
 even stopped all communication with the ministers of the Allied 
 powers, till indemnification should be made for the destruction 
 of the fleet. The Sultan, in the height of his rage, prepared 
 for war, and used all the means in his power to inflame the pas- 
 sions of the Moslems. In December, the ministers of the three 
 powers left Constantinople, when the Porte adopted conciliatory 
 measures. In the mean time, all the Moslems from the age of 
 
 19 to 50, had been called to arms. On the 80th, the Sultan 
 Mahmoud heard that Persian Armenia had fallen into the power 
 of Russia, where Paskewitch had achieved a series of splendid 
 victories. 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 355 
 
 By this time, Capo d'Istria, the president of Greece, had 
 appointed the able Tricoupi his secretary of state ; and had 
 estabhshed a high national council, called Panhellenion. Feb. 
 4th, at Napoli di Romania, he also established a bank, and re-or- 
 ganized the military. France and Russia each lent 6,000,000 
 francs to aid the new state. 
 
 In consequence of the death of Canning and a change of the 
 English ministr)^, the battle of Navarino was called an untoward 
 event. The Porte contmued to reject every proposal for settle- 
 ment with Greece, and during this time, Ibrahim was carrying 
 away the Greeks into slavery. A war broke out, March, 1828, 
 between Russia and Turkey, so that the Porte had, with this 
 power alone, quite business enough to attend to. 
 
 The French cabinet, in concert with England, now sent an 
 army to the Morea, under the command of General Maison, 
 which arrived August 29th, in the bay of Coron, near Petalidi ; 
 and Admiral Codrington concluded a treaty with the viceroy of 
 Egypt, Aug. 6th, for the evacuation of the JMorea by Ibrahim 
 Pacha, and for the liberation of the Greek prisoners, while those 
 who had been carried away, were to be freed or ransomed. 
 
 October 4th, Ibrahim sailed from Navarino with 21,000 men, 
 for Alexandria, with the wreck of his fleet, leaving 2,500 in the 
 Messinian fortresses. 
 
 The French took undisputed possession of Navarino, and 
 attacked and took the fortresses in Messma, so that Navarino, 
 Modon, and Coron, were soon in their possession. Patras, with 
 3,000 men, capitulated October 5th, and the flags of the three 
 Allied powers, with the national flag of Greece, waved undis- 
 puted over these cities. Admiral Rigny conveyed the Turks to 
 Smyrna. 
 
 To defend the Morea from any new attacks of the Turks, 
 a manifesto was issued by the ministers of the three powers, 
 Nov. 16, 1828, declaring — " That they should place the Morea 
 and the Cyclades under their protection, till the time when a 
 definitive arrangement should decide the fate of the provinces, 
 which the Allies had taken possession of; and that they should 
 consider the entrance of any military force into this country, as 
 an attack upon themselves." A French agent carried this note 
 to Constantinople, to which an immediate answer from the Porte 
 was required. But during this time, the Greeks continued active 
 hostilities. Demetrius Ypsilanti, having under him Coloctroni 
 and several leaders, and 5,000 men, marched into Livadia, and 
 defeated the Turks, Nov. 2d, at Lomotico, and Dec. 3d, took 
 Salona ; then in succession, Lepanto, Livadia, and Vonizza. 
 The Greeks commenced fitting out a great number of privateers. 
 
356 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Ill consequence of these measures, the Sultan banished 25,000 
 persons, Greeks and Armenians, not born there, from the city 
 of Constantinople ; and the Sultan still declined to recall his 
 barbarous edict of extermination. 
 
 Through the energetic measures of Capo d'Istria, Greece began 
 to recover herself after a long period of distraction. He divided 
 the states of Greece into 13 departments, seven of these formed 
 the Peloponnesus, with 280,000 inhabitants, and 8,543 square 
 miles ; the eighth, the Northern Sporades, 6,200 inhabitants, 
 106 square miles ; the ninth, the Eastern Sporades, 58,800 
 inhabitants, 318 square miles ; the tenth, the Western Sporades, 
 with 40,000 inhabitants, 169 square miles ; the eleventh, twelfth, 
 and thirteenth, the Cyclades, (north, central, and south,) 91,500 
 inhabitants, 1176 square miles. Total inhabitants, 476,500; 
 square miles, 10,312. 
 
 The Brititsh plenipotentiary presented his credentials to the 
 president of Greece, Nov. 19, 1828; and Colonel Fabier, after 
 his return from France, took upon him the organization of the 
 Greek army. On the delivery, at Constantinople, of the protocol 
 of the three powers, in January, 1829, a verbal answer was 
 given by the Reis Effendi, that the Porte wished for peace. In 
 July, Sir Robert Gordon, the British ambassador, and Count 
 Guillimont, from France, arrived at Constantinople. The sue- 
 cesses of Diebitsch, who had crossed the Balkan mountains, and 
 was on his way towards Constantinople, compelled the Turkish 
 plenipotentiaries to sign a treaty, which recognized formally, in 
 the sixth article, the treaty of July 6, 1827. Peace between 
 Russia and the Porte was signed at Adriancple, Sept. 14, 1829, 
 and was ratified by the latter, six days alterwards. 
 
 Having brought down the affairs of Greece to the cessation 
 of hostilities, it only remains to add a few particulars respecting 
 the death of Capo d'Istria. This individual became exceedingly 
 unpopular with the Greeks, from his supposed attachment to 
 Russian interests, and the jealousy and impatience of restraint 
 of the Greek chiefs. In the spring of 1831, the islands and 
 province of Maina were in open resistance to the government. 
 Miaulis, Mavrocordato, and Condurioti, demanded a convoca- 
 tion of the national assembly, the liberty of the press, and that 
 certain state prisoners should be liberated. The insurgents took 
 possession of Poros, and the Greek fleet lying in the harbor. la 
 August, the troops of the president attacked the town, while the 
 Russian fleet was standing in to attack the Greek fleet in the 
 harbor. Admiral Miaulis then blew up his ships, rather than 
 suffer them to fall into the hands of the Russians. The city of 
 Poros, deserted by its inhabitants, was reduced to ashes. In the 
 
GREEK REVOLUTION. 357 
 
 mean time, the Mainots were actively engaged by land against 
 the government. 
 
 The Russian fleet now appeared in the gulf of Coron ; when 
 Miaulis, who had been co-operating with the Mainots with a 
 small squadron, destroyed it for the same reasons he had done 
 with the ships at Poros. 
 
 October 9th, 1831, as the president was going to attend ser- 
 vice at the church, he was assassinated by two men, who had 
 repaired purposely to Napoli di Romania. One fired a pistol at 
 the head of Capo d'Istria, and the other stabbed him with a 
 Turkish dagger, when he fell dead on the spot. These persons 
 were George the son, and Constantino the brother of Mavromi- 
 chalis, who had been imprisoned since January. Constantino 
 was immediately killed by the guards of the president, and 
 George was detained in custody. 
 
 In 1832, the three powers obtained from the Grand Seignior 
 a much more advantageous northern boundary line for Greece, 
 than had been granted in 1830. The line is to run from the 
 gulf of Volo, in the ^gian Sea, along a range of mountains, 
 to the gulf of Arta, in the Adriatic. By this arrangement, 
 Acarnania and ^Etolia, chiefly inhabited by Greel^, are included 
 in the kingdom of Greece — an acquisition of great importance, 
 as it adds nearly 100,000, inhabitants, and almost 3,000 square 
 miles to the new state. Besides the frontier line is more strongly 
 marked, and will be easier of defence. 
 
 This accession to Greece was obtained from the Grand 
 Seignior for 50,000,000 of Turkish piasters ; which are to be 
 deducted from the sum he had undertaken to pay to Russia. 
 
 The present population of Greece is estimated at from 635,000 
 to 900,000 souls. Its territory, including Acarnania, TEtolia, 
 and the islands, is about 18,000 square miles, equal to about two- 
 fifths of the state of New York, and about equal to it in popula- 
 tion. The Morea, or Peloponnesus, comprises 7,227 square 
 miles, and nearly equivalent in extent to the state of Massachu- 
 setts. The same treaty which fixed the boundary line, raised 
 Otho, a Bavarian youth of seventeen years of age, to the throne 
 of Greece ; who carried with him 3,500 Bavarian soldiers, when, 
 as stipulated, the French troops were to be withdrawn. 
 
 In the maintenance and aid of the new government, England, 
 France, and Russia, have provided, and become responsible for, 
 a loan of $3,750,000 ; and have further agreed to furnish, at 
 two instalments, an equal amount, should it be required for the 
 good of the country. This loan is to be refunded in due time, 
 and the payment of the interest is provided for. 
 
 King Otho, the new monarch of Greece, arrived at Napoli 
 
858 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 di Romania, Feb. 6, 1 B33. There were, at this time, in the 
 port of Napoli di Romania, several ships of war belonging to 
 England, France, and Russia. On the following day, King 
 Otho issued a proclamation, declaring his good intentions and 
 well wishes for his adopted country, and engaging to protect tlie 
 religion of the Greeks. 
 
 War between Russia and Turkey. 
 
 Hostilities between Russia and Turkey commenced at a most 
 fortunate period for the safety of Greece. The Porte breathing 
 vengeance, and intent on exterminating the entire Greek popu- 
 lation, would listen to no terms of accommodation offered by the 
 Allied powers. 
 
 The battle of Navarino had, for the present, paralyzed the 
 operations of Ibrahim Pacha ; and after such a signal chastise- 
 ment of the infidels by the Allied powers, they could not honor- 
 ably withdraw their future protection to the Greeks, who had so 
 long been left to contend alone against their cruel oppressors 
 and murderers. 
 
 The Porte was led to consider that Russia secretly favored 
 the Greek cause, and therefore took possession of Moldavia and 
 Walachia, and put restrictions upon its maritime commerce. 
 This was an open violation of the peace of Bucharest, on which, 
 after an exchange of notes, the Russian minister left Constan- 
 tinople ; but through the exertions of the ministers of Austria 
 and England, and the desire of the Emperor Alexander to pre- 
 serve peace, the commencement of hostilities was avoided. Still 
 the Porte refused to give any satisfaction to the Russian court 
 Things remained in this state till the Emperor Nicholas issued 
 his ultimatum, May 14, 1826, when the Porte granted all the 
 demands of the court of Russia, and promised that Moldavia 
 and Walachia (where the Porte had derived, in three years, a 
 x'evenue of 37,000,000 of piasters, to aid the prosecution of the 
 war against Greece,) should be restored. October 6, 1826, at 
 Ackerman, the Russian ultimatum was accepted. The Porte 
 also surrendered all the fortresses in Asia to Russia. This 
 treaty was executed in 1827. 
 
 The Sultan Mahmoud had nownis hands full of other business. 
 Having determined to reform his army, he began by exterminat- 
 ing the corps of Janisarics, which he effected after a bloody 
 battle, in June, 1826 ; when he formed his army on the Euro- 
 
WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TVRKEY. 359 
 
 pean system. The Sultan himself wore the European dress, apJ 
 prohibited, throughout his empire, the calling of Christians, 
 " dogs." This new system of reform led to a violent insurrec- 
 tion, and the loss of 6,000 houses in Constantinople. 
 
 In June, 1827, the Porte refused the intervention of Russia, 
 France, and England, for the settlement of Greece ; and seemed 
 to bid defiance to the powers of Europe, by attempting to rally 
 together all his subjects for war. 
 
 Russia declared war against Turkey, April 26, 1828. In that 
 document the emperor declared, that he would not lay down his 
 arms till he had obtained the following results, namely : the 
 payment of all the expenses of the war ; the acknowledgment 
 of past treaties ; inviolable liberty of the commerce of the Black 
 Sea ; the free navigation of the Bosphorus ; and lastly, the 
 fulfilment of the convention of July 6th, for the pacification of 
 Greece. 
 
 The campaign opened May 7th, 1828, by the Russian army 
 of 115,000 men passing the Pruth, under Count Wittgenstein, 
 commander in chief. On the 19th, the Emperor's staff* arrived 
 before Brailow, of which Diebitsch was chief. June 15th, in 
 attempting to carry this place by storm, the Russians lost 640 
 men killed, two major generals, and 1340 men wounded. June 
 20, Brailow surrendered to the Russians, on condition of the 
 garrison being permitted to retire to Silistria. Two hundred 
 and seventy-three cannon, besides a great quantity of balls and 
 ammunition, were taken. Up to July 2d, the Russians had taken 
 seven fortresses — Brailow, Matschin, Toultscha, Hirsova, Kus- 
 tendji, Keuzgon, and I\Ianagalia. Toultscha was defended by 
 91 cannon, and 2,000 men. 
 
 August 7th, the Russian flotilla before Varna, attacked that 
 of the Turks, and captured 14 vessels. On the 20th August, 
 the Grand Vizier left Constantinople for the army. September 
 20th, the Seraskier of Widdin was defeated by General Geismar, 
 with great loss, and compelled to retreat. About the same time, 
 a Russian manifesto issued at St. Petersburg, ordered a new levy 
 of four men out of every 500 of the population. Varna was 
 carried by assault after a siege of two months, October llth. 
 Its garrison originally amounting to 22,000 men, was reduced 
 to 6,000. This was the most important fortress of the Turks ; 
 and gave the Russians the command of the western coast of the 
 Black Sea. On the 15th October, the blockade of the Darda- 
 nelles was announced officially by Admiral Heyden. In July, 
 the Turks retired into the strongly fortified mountain position of 
 Shumla, v.here they had more tlian 40,000 men, under the com- 
 mand of Hussein Pacha. 
 
260 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The principal Russian force, 45,000 men, under Field Marshal 
 Wittgenstein, with the Emperor, approached Shumla, while the 
 operations were going on before Varna. The Grand Vizier cau- 
 tiously avoided giving battle to the Russians before Shumla. 
 After the fall of Varna, the Russian army fell back from Shumla, 
 October 15. Silistria was besieged in September, and raised 
 November 10th. The heavy artillery of the Russians was 
 abandoned. While these operations were going forward. Gene- 
 ral Paskewitch, after signal success in Persia, was advancing 
 through Asiatic Turkey with a victorious army, and had gained 
 a series of brilliant victories. By the 21st of September, the 
 whole pachalic of Bajasid, as far as the banks of the Euphrates, 
 was conquered. The approach of winter put an end to this 
 campaign, in which the Russians lost many men by disease and 
 want of supplies. The loss of horses was great. The results 
 of the campaigns in Europe and Asia, were, two Turkish prin- 
 cipalities taken, three pachalics, fourteen fortresses, and three 
 castles. Notwithstanding these losses of the Turks, the Porte 
 refused the terms of accommodation offered, before and during 
 this campaign, by the Emperor Nicholas, through the British 
 ambassador. Lord Heytesbury, viz. indemnification for the ex- 
 pense of the war, and security against future injuries and viola- 
 tions of treaties. 
 
 The Sultan prepared for a new campaign. General Diebitsch 
 was appointed commander in chief of the Russian forces, Feb. 
 21, 1829. The siege of Silistria was renewed on the opening 
 of the campaign, under the direction of Diebitsch, May 17th. 
 The Twrkish army, commanded by the Grand Vizier, attacked 
 the Russians posted near the village of Eski Arnaoutlar, at 
 three in the morning. The battle lasted till 8 in the evening, 
 when the Turks retired with the loss of 2,000 killed. On the 
 17th of June, a great battle was fought at Koulevtcha, near 
 Shumla — the Turks commanded by the Grand Vizier, and 
 the Russians by Diebitsch. The battle was fought with great 
 obstinacy ; when European tactics prevailed over Turkish 
 courage. The Turks lost 5,900 killed, a great number of pri- 
 soners, 43 pieces of cannon, 6 standards,- all their ammunition 
 wagons, baggage, &c. 
 
 June 30th, Silistria surrendered to the Russians. The garri- 
 son consisted of 8,000 men, and the armed inhabitants that were 
 made prisoners of war ; 220 pieces of cannon, 80 stand of colors, 
 and 2 three-tailed pachas, were also taken, besides the whole of 
 the Turkish flotilla. 
 
 Immediately after the surrender of the fortress of Silistria, 
 Diebitsch commenced preparations to pass the river Kamtchick 
 
Massacre of the Greeks. Vol. 2, p. 356. 
 
 Battle of Nazariao. Vol. 2, p. 355. 
 
WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY. 361 
 
 and the Balkan mountains. On the 17th of July, the camp 
 before Shumla was left, and by the 22d, Diebitsch had attained 
 ihe summit of the Balkan. In descending these mountains, 
 the Russians encountered a Turkish force of about 7,000 men, 
 under the Seraskier Abduhl Rahman, and defeated him, taking 
 4U0 prisoners, 12 cannon, and 7 standards. On the 23d, Mesem- 
 bria was captured, with 20 standards, 15 cannon, and 2,000 pri- 
 soners ; and on the same day Achioli was captured, containing 
 14 pieces of cannon, am.munition, &c. 
 
 When the Russian army reached the shores of the Black Sea, 
 it \\'as able to co-operate with the fleet under Admiral Greig. 
 On the 24th of June, Bourgas was taken, with ten pieces of 
 cannon, and abundance of military stores. On the 25th, Aides 
 was captured, with the whole Turkish camp, 600 tents, 500 
 barrels of gunpowder, 4 standards, &c. 
 
 August 19th, the Russians approached Adrianople, and the 
 next day took unresisted possession of the place, where nego- 
 ciations commenced. Sept. 14, a treaty of peace was signed. 
 Russia agreed to the restoration of Moldavia and Walachia, and 
 all the towns occupied by them in Bulgaria and Rumelia. Mol- 
 davia was to have an independent administration and free trade ; 
 and the Russians freedom of commerce throughout the Ottoman 
 empire, agreeably to former treaties ; and free commerce and 
 navigation of the Black Sea, to all nations at peace with Tur- 
 key. The Porte stipulated to pay as an indemnification to 
 Russia, 1,500,000 ducats of Holland, for the losses of Russian 
 subjects : and a further sum, as should be agreed upon, as an 
 indemnity for the expenses incurred in the war. 'And the Porte 
 acceded to the terms of Russia, Great Britain, and France, for 
 the settlement of the affairs in Greece. 
 
 The indemnity for the expenses of the war, was arranged in 
 u subsequent act, to be paid in instalments. On the first pay- 
 ment, the Russian troops were to retire from Adrianople ; on the 
 second, to repass the Balkan ; and on the third, to repass the 
 Danube ; and on the fourth payment to evacuate the Turkish 
 territory. So far, the Emperor Nicholas fulfilled his declara- 
 tion and pledges to the Allies, on the commencement of the war 
 — after having gained the objects for which it was undertaken. 
 In this campaign, it has been stated, that the Russians lost 
 200,000 men and 20,000 horses. 
 
 It was stated in the papers at the time, that the Russian forces, 
 at the commencement of the present campaign, amounted to 
 541,731 regular troops, and 146,601 irregulars, making a total 
 of 688,332. 
 
 VOL. II. 31 
 
362 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 England, from A. D, 1816, to the passing of the Reform BilU 
 A. D. 1832. 
 
 The course of policy pursued by the British cabinet, mainly 
 brought about the restoration of Louis XVIII. to the throne of 
 France. Its accomplishment loaded England with an enor- 
 mous debt, as much in opposition to the wishes of the majority 
 of Englishmen, as the restoration of the Bourbons was con- 
 trary to the desire of the French nation. Since that event, 
 the French have expelled the Bourbons ; and the people of 
 England have succeeded, after an arduous struggle, in the 
 overthrow of toryism, or more properly speaking, of military 
 despotism. 
 
 The glaring corruptions in the representation, and the abuses 
 which existed in the " rotten-borough system," had long ago 
 been clearly shown, by writers of great political knowledge ; 
 and many of England's best and purest patriots had labored to 
 correct the abuses which existed in their representation. The 
 liberal journalists exerted themselves incessantly to effect this 
 object, and it was repeatedly urged in parliament with great force 
 of eloquence. 
 
 The accession of William IV. who soon became the most 
 popular monarch that had reigned in England, proved favorable 
 to the cause of liberty. After the overthrow of the Duke of 
 Wellington and his cabinet, William called a whig ministry, with 
 Earl Grey at its head ; and this eminent statesman, with his 
 colleague, Brougham, carried through the long and ardently 
 desired reform, which, eradicating the " rotten boroughs," pro- 
 vided for the free and equal representation of the people of Eng 
 land in parliament. 
 
 The measures of the English government having a mosi 
 important bearing on the general policy of Europe, it will be 
 requisite here to take a hasty glance at the public measures of 
 British statesmen, more especially of those who have so essen- 
 tially aided the new and more enlarged line of policy, in accord- 
 ance with the spirit of the age, and opposed to the " slavish and 
 despotic monarchies of Europe." 
 
 In the 1820, George III. died, January 29th, at the age of 
 82, after a reign of three-score years, the longest in the British 
 annals ; when (Tcorge IV. who had been regent since February 
 3, 1811, succeeded to the throne of Great Britam. Earl Liver- 
 pool was nominated by the prince regent, first lord of the 
 treasury, Jan. 9, 1812, and continued in office till 1827. His 
 
ENGLAND. 
 
 prudence and moderation at home, were strikingly contx'asted 
 with the course pursued by Castlereagh, minister of the foreign 
 department. This latter minister destroyed himself by sui- 
 cide, August 12, 1822. On his interment in Westminster 
 Abbey, popular indignation against his memory was strongly 
 exhibited. And that this was not without reason, v/ill appear 
 by a reference to his many unfeeling and tyrannical measures, 
 and his violations of the constitution. We are here constrained 
 to offer a passing remark, on the pubhc character of this minis- 
 ter, whose true reputation is not generally known in this coun- 
 try. Castlereagh was hated for his tyranny ; he was the dupe 
 of courts, and the betrayer of the people. The part he took 
 in the congress of Vienna, in parcelling out and trafficking 
 away the rights of weaker states, to build up a military despot- 
 ism throughout Europe, loaded him with the execrations of all 
 those people whom he had so basely sold. His death was con- 
 sidered in England as a happy event for the cause of liberty, 
 which his measures had for so many years crushed. It will be 
 seen, that the foreign policy of England underwent a complete 
 change after his death. 
 
 In 1816, the income tax was taken off from personal estate, 
 capital, and colonial possession. This was but shifting the bur- 
 den of taxation from landholders to the working classes, those 
 great consumers of the necessaries of life ; who were now 
 reduced to the greatest state of suffering. England for a time, 
 surmounted all these difficulties, and even greatly increased her 
 foreign trade. This kept the manufacturing districts quiet, as 
 long as they were well employed. 
 
 In the month of August, 1816, a British squadron of five sail 
 of the line and five frigates, under the command of Lord Ex- 
 mouth, bombarded Algiers, and destroyed the Algerine shipping, 
 batteries, and magazines : when the Dey agreed to the total 
 abolition of Christian slavery, and the release of all Christian 
 captives in his dominions. A few months after this defeat the 
 Dey was strangled, when piracy again flourished, till the French 
 afterwards conquered this piratical city. 
 
 The distresses in England led the populace to offer public 
 insult, and assail the prince regent, in 1817, on his return from 
 parliament to Carlton House. February 3, a royal message 
 and accompanying documents were communicated to parlia- 
 ment, giving information of the existence of societies, combi- 
 nations,, &c. in the metropolis, and throughout the kingdom, 
 dangerous to the constitution ; and that insurrections had been 
 planned. In consequence of this information, which was greatly 
 exaggerated, the ministry took a high-handed course. Lord 
 
364 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Sidmouth introduced a bill into the house of lords, for the sus- 
 pension of the habeas corpus act, which passed into a law ; and 
 Castlereagh was successful in carrying one to suppress debating 
 societies, and unlawful organizations ; and a third bill was 
 passed, for punishing, with severity, all attempts to corrupt the 
 army and navy. 
 
 Sir F. Burdett, May 20th, again brought forward the ques- 
 tion of parhamentary reform, in which he was aided by Sir 
 Samuel Romilly. It was, however, lost, the votes being 265 
 against 77. 
 
 1818. One of the first measures, after the opening of par- 
 liament, was the restoration of the liberties of the people, by 
 the repeal of the habeas corpus suspension act, accompanied 
 by a bill of indemnity to screen the ministers for such a high- 
 handed act. Sir Samuel Romilly declared, on the second 
 reading of the indemnity bill, " that it annihilated the rights 
 of individuals, and took all legal remedies from those who had 
 suffered by an irresponsible and unconstitutional exercise of 
 authority." 
 
 In August, 1819, there was a meeting at Manchester, to dis- 
 cuss the question of parliamentary reform. It should here be 
 stated that spies, in the employment of government, had gone 
 about the country, inflaming the minds of the people ; and these 
 same wretches, when detected, were shielded behind the power 
 of the ministry. This meeting at Manchester was of a peace- 
 able character, and was estimated at 50,000 souls, including 
 the wives and children of the petitioners. There w^as no ap- 
 pearance or intention of riot, nor were there any arms among 
 them. Mr. Hunt was the chairman, and during his speech, 
 the assembly was charged by the military, and many lives were 
 sacrificed in a most inhuman manner. This nefarious trans- 
 action roused the indignation of the British populace. The 
 distresses about this time, in the manufacturing districts, were 
 heavily felt. The national debt, by a continuance of twenty, 
 three years' war, had increased to about 900,000,000 pounds. 
 Strong measures were taken to prevent public discussions. 
 Ireland, at this time, presented nothing but a scene of conflict 
 and misery. 
 
 Earl Grey, in the house of lords, moved for an inquiry into 
 the conduct of the Manchester magistrates, but was defeated ; 
 and a similar attempt was made in the house of commons, and 
 this also was voted down. The subject was renewed before 
 the recess of parliament ; but these false guardians of public 
 liberty refused to inquire into this most flagrant outrage on the 
 rights of the people : instead of which, the niinisters intro- 
 
ENGLAND. 365 
 
 duced several bills that became laws, to be continued five 
 years. These have gone by the designation of the six acts. 
 They were : 1st, a bill to take away the right of traversing, 
 in cases of misdemeanors. 2d, for punishing any person found 
 guilty, on a second conviction of libel, by fine, imprisonment, 
 or banishment for life. 3d, for preventing seditious meetings. 
 4th. to prevent private military trainings. 5th, the application 
 of the severe stamp system to pamphlets under two sheets, and 
 a more rigorous punishment of libels and seditious writings. 
 6th, a bill giving magistrates the power of entering houses by 
 night, or by day, for the purpose of seizing arms believed to be 
 collected for unlawful purposes. 
 
 1820. The death of George III. this year, produced no dif- 
 ference in the public measures ; although the aspect of England 
 was quite changed by the great increase of trade, and the dimi- 
 nution of taxes, and by better harvests. The renewal of specie 
 payments, and the increasing value of paper currency, was 
 highly favorable to manufactures. The country was now reco- 
 vering from the heavy burden of war, in v/hich she had so long 
 been engaged. 
 
 A daring conspiracy to assassinate ministers, called the Cato 
 street conspiracy, was detected, for which Thistle wood and four 
 of his companions paid the forfeit of their lives, and four others 
 concerned were transported for life to Botany Bay. 
 
 July 19, 1821. The splendid coronation of George IV. took 
 place at Westminster Abbey. 
 
 On the death of the Marquis of Londonderry, better known 
 as Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Canning was called to the cabinet, as 
 secretary of foreign affairs, Sept. 16th, 1822. One of the first 
 measures of Canning, was to check, the fanatic influence of the 
 French in Spain. In 1823, England allowed her subjects to aid 
 the Greeks, and even acknowledged their right of blockade. 
 With the republics of South America, she formed treaties of 
 alliance ; and in 1825, formally acknowledged the independence 
 of the South American states. 
 
 In the years 1825 and 1826, the commercial difuculties were 
 great, occasioned by the speculation in foreign loans, and in 
 the most costly undertakings, which led to bankruptcies, and 
 gave an unusual shock to men of business. " Bankruptcies 
 spread like a vast fog over England, America, France, and 
 Germany, at the same moment. But the vigor of England is 
 incalculable."* Seventy. five banks broke in the same number 
 of days ; and 255 joint-stock companies, that, a week before, 
 
 * Croly's Life of George IV. 
 VOL. TI. 31* 
 
366 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 were in high credit, and ready for vast undertakings, were in 
 the Gazette. And yet after such sweeping desolation, in an- 
 other year confidence was re-estabhshed, commerce revived, 
 and public business went forward with renewed activity and 
 confidence. 
 
 The numerous failures of banks, threatened the laboring 
 classes with ruin, from the derangement of the currency. To 
 remedy this alarming state of things, government immediately 
 ordered the coinage of sovereigns with all possible despatch. 
 These were struck off at the rate of 100,000 a day, and sup- 
 plied to the country. Such was the activity of the mint on this 
 occasion, that for one week, 150,000 sovereigns per day were 
 coined. The bank of England issued temporarily, two pound 
 notes. Thus the distress of the country was in a great measure 
 relieved. 
 
 In 1826, April 4th, England united with the court of St. Peters, 
 burg to compel the Porte to cease hostilities with the Greeks. 
 Mr. Canning was appointed prime minister April 12th, 1827, 
 and died in the month of x\ugust of the same year. His policy 
 was crowned by the recognition of the South American states, 
 the maintenance of the independence of Portugal, and the treaty 
 signed at London, July 6th, for the settlement of the war in 
 Greece, which treaty led to the battle of Navarino.* 
 
 Lord Goderich succeeded as first lord of the treasury. He 
 retired from office January 8th, when the Duke of Wellington 
 was made premier, although the duke had declared in .pari lament, 
 the year before, his entire unfitness for high civil office. In April, 
 a Catholic relief bill was passed. 
 
 George IV. King of Great Britain, died June 26th, 1830, and 
 was succeeded by his second brother, the Duke of Clarence, 
 under the title of William IV. The administration of the Duke 
 of Wellington was overthrown, November 16th, and a few days 
 after, a new ministry was formed, with Earl Grey at its head, 
 and Brougham lord chancellor. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington's overthrow was ascribed to his 
 resistance of retrenchment, and his apprehension of popular 
 riots, and opposition to parliamentary reform. The political 
 obstinacy of the Duke arose out of his ignorance and contempt 
 of the people, and a blind confidence in his own supremacy and 
 power, and a thorough disregard of public opinion, while 
 
 * Mr. Brougham said of Mr. Canning, in the British house of commons, 
 January 29th, 1828, " That great man fell a premature sacrifice to his 
 struggles for the establishment of a noble system of policy ; and it was 
 to be hoped, that the efforts he made, crowned as they were with success, 
 might be followed up." 
 
ENGLAND. 367 
 
 events at home and abroad perplexed him. The continental 
 inonarchs of the Holy Alliance had looked to the tory ministry, 
 with Wellington at its head, for security and protection. What 
 must have been the sensation in the courts of those countries, 
 when intelligence was received of the Duke's overthrow and 
 resignation ? 
 
 The whig ministry, with Earl Grey at its head, was pledged 
 to support the reform bill.* This ministry took upon them a 
 great task — an arduous responsibility. That gross abuses 
 abounded in the British government, no one could deny ; and 
 reform was demanded by the united voice of the nation. Mr. 
 Brougham was pledged to parliamentary reform, the reduction 
 of expenses and sinecures, and against negro slavery. 
 
 The ministerial plan of reform, by Earl Grey and his cabinet, 
 was brought forward by Lord John Russell, on the 1st of March ; 
 and after a debate of seven days, leave was given to bring in 
 three bills for reforming the representation of England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland. The bill was carried, after a debate of two days, 
 to a second reading, March 22d, by a vote of 302 to 301 ; but 
 was lost on the third reading, the vote being 291 for the minis- 
 try, 299 against it. 
 
 The King dissolved the parliament in person, on the 22d of 
 A-pril. In the speech delivered on that occasion, William said, 
 " I have been induced to resort to this measure for the purpose 
 of ascertaining the sense of my people," &c. 
 
 The new parliament, of which a large number was pledged 
 to support reform, assembled June 14th, 1831, and was opened 
 by the King, who recommended the question of a reform in 
 the representation, to their earliest and most attentive considera- 
 tion. On the 24th, the reform bill was again brought forward 
 by Lord John Russell, in the house of commons, and passed its 
 second reading July 6th, by a vote of 367 to 235, and to a third 
 reading Sept. 22d, by a vote of 349 to 236. The bill was car- 
 ried up to the house of lords, and on October 8th, rejected by a 
 vote of 199 to 158. Parliament was prorogued on the 20th of 
 the same month. 
 
 The rejection of the reform bill in the house of lords, on the 
 8th, led to strong manifestations of popular fury against the 
 nobility, especially those who had voted against the bill. At 
 Nottingham and Derby, as well as other parts of the kingdom, 
 riots commenced soon as intelligence of the defeat of the bill 
 
 * In 1797, Lord Grey made a motion for reform. Its failure caused that 
 great statesman, Fox, to withdraw from parliament, which was by some 
 jvidged to be a dereliction of duty. 
 
368 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 was received. On the 29th, 30th, and 31st, dreadful riots took 
 place at Bristol — many of the public buildings and an immense 
 amount of property were destroyed ; ninety persons were k-lled 
 and wounded at that time ; afterwards five were executed, and 
 many were sentenced to transportation. The total damage 
 done, during this riot at Bristol, was estimated at 300,000 pounds 
 sterling. 
 
 Parliament was opened again, December 6th, by the King ; 
 and on the 12th, Lord John Russell, (a third time,) introduced 
 a new bill for reform, very similar to the former, and declared 
 to be " equally efficient. " It was read the second time, on the 
 18th, by a vote of 324 to 162. On March 23d, it was brought 
 up for a third reading, and passed by a vote of 355 to 239. 
 The bill passed to a second reading, in the house of lords, April 
 13th, by a vote of 184 to 175. An amendment to defeat the 
 bill was introduced by Lord Lyndhurst, which passed May 8th, 
 by a vote of 151 to 116 ; and on May 12th it was lost by a 
 majority of 40. Earl Grey advised the King to create a sufli- 
 cient number of new peers to secure the success of the bill, ten- 
 dering his resignation as the alternative, which was accepted. 
 On the resignation of ministers, great public excitement followed. 
 The political unions, organized throughout the country, deter, 
 mined to refuse the payment of taxes, and demanded tliat the 
 ministers should be reinstated. Earl Grey had stated, that he 
 would stand or fall by this bill ; and that nothing less efficient 
 should be supported by him. 
 
 The excitement was so great in Birmingham, that 100,000 
 persons assembled suddenly and spontaneously, and forwarded 
 an immediate express to London. There was a firm determina- 
 tion to have the reform bill carried, or pay no taxes ; and this 
 determination was echoed from every part of the kingdom. 
 There was no riot ; the people had risen in their collective 
 strength, to assert their just rights. Bursts of indignant feel- 
 ings were directed against the bishops and nobility. The 
 Duke of Wellington failed in his attempts to form a ministry ; 
 when Earl Grey and his colleagues were reinstated in office 
 May 18th, with the assurance from the King, of having a suffi- 
 cient number of peers created, to secure the passing of the bill. 
 When the lords were apprized of this fact, they resolved to let 
 it pass. 
 
 June 14th, the bill passed a third reading, by a vote of 106 
 to 22, and the royal assent was given by commission, on the ITtli 
 of the same month. It is worthy of remark, that not one of the 
 bishops was present on the final passage of the bill. In answer, 
 ing the forebodings and objections made to it by the lords, Earl 
 
ENGLAND. 369 
 
 Grey said — " That the peace, power, and prosperity of England 
 would all be increased by the reform." 
 
 By it, 22 new boroughs, in England, are to send two new 
 members each ; 19 new boroughs, one each ; 62 new members 
 are added to the English county members ; three to the county 
 members, and two to the borough members of Wales ; five to 
 the Scotch members ; and five to the Irish members. By this 
 reform bill, 56 of the old boroughs, called rotten or decayed 
 boroughs, have been wholly disfranchised ; and 30 boroughs, 
 that' before sent two members each, are to send but one. The 
 united borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, which before 
 sent four members, is to send but two. 
 
 County members under the reform act. — Formerly, each county 
 sent two members, except Yorkshire, which returned four — 
 total 82. The counties in Wales, one each — total 12. By the 
 reform act, the number of the county members of England is 
 raised to 144; those of Wales to 15. And 26 English counties 
 are divided, and return four members each ; 7 counties three 
 each ; the ridings of Yorkshire, two each ; and the six remain- 
 ing counties, two each ; and the Isle of Wight, one. Of the 12 
 Welch counties, three send two members each ; the remaining 
 nine, one each. 
 
 The reform act also extends to the right of voting, in the elec- 
 tion of members for cities and boroughs, to every male person 
 of full age, not subject to any legal incapacity, who occupies, as 
 owner or tenant, any house, warehouse, shop or building, of not 
 less than ten pounds yearly value : provided such person pays 
 assessed taxes and poor rates. And in the election of county 
 members, the elective franchise extends to every male person 
 who shall be in actual occupation of a freehold for life, or of 
 lands or tenements of copyhold, of the clear yearly value of not 
 less than ten pounds. In England, a county member of parlia- 
 ment must possess real property to the amount of 600 pounds 
 per annum ; and a borough member, 300 pounds. But in Scot- 
 land, no such qualification is requisite. 
 
 Lord John Russell, in his speech on introducing the first 
 reform bill, (March 1, 1831,) made the following statement 
 respecting the number of voters that would be added by that bill : 
 number added in towns and boroughs in England already sending 
 members, 110,000 ; electors of towns in England sending mem- 
 bers for the first time, 50,000 ; electors in London, who will 
 obtain the right of voting, 95,000 ; increase of electors in Scot- 
 land, 60,000 ; in Ireland, perhaps 40,000 ; increase in the coun- 
 ties of England, 100,000. " It is my opinion, therefore," said 
 liOrd Russell, " that the whole measure will add to the constitu- 
 
370 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ency of tlie commons house of parliament, about half a million 
 of persons, and these all connected with the property of the 
 country, having a valuable stake amongst us, and deeply mte- 
 rested in our institutions." 
 
 A sufficient number of booths are to be prepared, so that not 
 more than 600 electors are to poll at one compartment. The 
 polling to continue, if required, for two successive days only ; 
 for seven hours on the first day, and for eight hours on the 
 second : but the poll is not on any account, to be kept open later 
 than 4 o'clock, on the second day. 
 
 July 13. The Scotch reform bill passed to a third reading in 
 the English house of lords ; and on the 30th of the same month, 
 the Irish reform bill passed in the English house of lords. 
 August 13th, the Irish tythe composition bill was read a third 
 time and passed, in the English house of lords. On the 16th of 
 August, the parliament of England was prorogued to the 16th 
 of October. 
 
 The successful issue of a reform in parliament has been 
 achieved mainly through the perseverance, wisdom, and stern 
 consistency of Henry Brougham, who was, for many years, the 
 leader of the opposition in the house of commons, — a firm and 
 decided enemy to the measures of the aristocrats and leagued 
 despots. For more than twenty years, he has fostered and 
 guided the spirit of reform ; and we may here, with great pro- 
 priety, mention some of his labors in this great cause. 
 
 In 1811, he introduced a bill into the British parliament, 
 declaring all dealing in slaves, by British subjects, a felony, 
 and punishable as such. This bill became a law, and by it was 
 first recognized the principle, that the traffickers in human flesh 
 are pirates, and ought to be treated as such. And the subject 
 of slavery, as it exists in the British West Indies, has been re- 
 peatedly brought by him before the nation. 
 
 In 1816, he commenced his public efforts in favor of popular 
 p.ducation. He then introduced into parliament, a motion for 
 the appointment of a committee to inquire into the state of edu- 
 cation among the lower orders. This motion was carried, and 
 an education committee of forty members, with Mr. Brougham 
 at their head, was appointed. The labors of this committee, or 
 rather of its indefatigable chairman, were immense ; and for 
 three years they continued to spread facts before the British peo- 
 ple. The exposition of corruptions in the management of trust 
 funds for grammar schools, was no small part of their labor. 
 
 In 1819, he moved for instituting a committee of inquiry into 
 the condition of charitable endowments, to complete the work 
 which the education committee had begun — a measure which 
 
ENGLAND. 371 
 
 the ministers were unable successfully to withstand, and which, 
 notwithstanding their continued opposition, produced important 
 residts. 
 
 In 1820, he thought the time had arrived, in which to b^ing 
 forward the grand measure which he had at first contemplated. 
 He accordingly came out with a bill to extend the blessings ot 
 education to the poor, by the establishment of common schools,^ 
 But in this he did not accomplish his benevolent designs. He 
 published his " Practical Observations on Popular Education," 
 and to his sole suggestion, " the Society for the Diffusion of Use- 
 ful Knowledge," whose publications are now scattered far and 
 wide, owed its origin. 
 
 His next labor, greater than all the twelve labors of Hercules 
 himself, was directed to a reform of the English common law, 
 and cleansing the courts of justice of the rubbish which a bar- 
 barous age had left behind, and time had rendered intolerable. 
 His efforts here, as elsewhere, were powerful and irresistible. 
 In 1828, he introduced his celebrated motion, that an address be 
 presented to his majesty, praying that he would issue a comis- 
 sion for inquiring into the defects occasioned by time or other- 
 wise, in the laws of this realm, and into the measures necessary 
 for removing the same. Upon this motion, his speech, delivered 
 in the house of commons February 28, 1828, comprises, in the 
 printed report, 139 pages. He lays open the whole existing 
 condition of the common law in a masterly manner, equalled 
 only by the wisdom displayed in the remedies proposed. The 
 motion was carried, after an amendment agreed to by him 
 for the sake of conciliation, had limited its operations to the 
 courts of justice, and the law of real property. The commis- 
 sioners appointed, reported in 1829, and their reports were ela- 
 borate and valuable, and have already been in some measure 
 acted upon. 
 
 As lord chancellor of Great Britain, Brougham's labors have 
 been eminent. He has greatly expedited the administration of 
 justice in his court, and cleared the docket of cases which had, 
 for a great length of tuxie, been accumulating. 
 
 Thus it appears how much England, as well as the whole 
 civilized world, owes to the labors of this one individual in the 
 cause of freedom and of man. He has directed his exertions 
 to the right quarter. To education he looked, as the founda- 
 tion upon which the liberties of a nation rest. He has well said, 
 that " he feared not any unconstitutional attack on the liberties 
 of the people of England, from the Duke of Wellington. There 
 was another person abroad, more powerful than the Duke — tho 
 
S72 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 scnoolmaster was abroad."* And in conclusion, it is gratifying 
 io tiiink that Brougham still lives, and that his exertions in favoi 
 of liberty will cease only with his life. 
 
 From a list of the members of the new parliament, it appears 
 there were 514 reformers, and 144 conservatives — thus giving 
 to the ministry a majority of 370. 
 
 This list of the members, given in the broad pages of the 
 London Times, must have been a gladdening and a heart-cheer 
 ing sight to the reformers, and to the great body of the English 
 nation, whose hopes had so long been blasted by a profligate 
 ministry, aided by the most brilliant and seducing powers of elo- 
 quence. The oratory of Burke and Pitt had so fascinated and 
 bewildered many understandings, both at home and abroad, as 
 to prevent them from judging aright on the justice and feasibility 
 of a measure that had so long been urged by many of England's 
 wisest patriots. 
 
 • In a speech delivered in the British house of commons, Jan 29, 1828. 
 
NOTES 
 
 CHAPTER I.— Introduction. 
 
 1 Diplomatics ought not to be confounded with diplomacy, which means 
 a knowledge of the interests of diflerent states, and the policy of foreign 
 courts, &c,, by means of ambassadors, envoys, consuls, &c. 
 
 2 The first that undertook to teach this science in a university, was the 
 celebrated Corxixg, a professor at Helmstadt. His programme or pro- 
 spectus was published in 1660. Godfrey Aghenwall, a professor at 
 Gottingen, 1748, is regarded as the inventor of the name. 
 
 3 Before this time Pope Leo X. had paid some attention to the reforma- 
 tion of the calendar. A letter which he wrote on the subject to Henry 
 VIII. of England, may be seen in Rymer's Fcsdera, vol. vi. p. 119. 
 
 4 From the year 1793 to the end of 1805, the French, by a decree of the 
 national convention of the 5th of October, adopted a method of com. 
 puting by what they called the republican year. It began at midnight 
 of the autumnal equinox, viz. the 21st or 22d of September. It was 
 divided into twelve months of thirty days each, followed by five or six 
 supplementary days. This innovation, however, ceased on the 31st of 
 December, 1805. 
 
 5 It is to this circumstance that the term mnA owes its origin. It is not 
 a classical word, but was first used by the Spaniards ; and is merely 
 the initials or firot letters of Anno Erat Eeganante Augusta. T. 
 
 6 This calculation, however, was incorrect, inasmuch as nineteen exact 
 solar revolutions amount only to 6939 days, 14 hours, 26', 15" ; while 
 235 true lunations, contained in the cycle of 19 years, only give 6939 
 days, 16 hours, 31', 45". The lunar cycle consequently exceeded the 
 19 solar revolutions by 2 hours, 5', 30". This error was corrected at 
 the reformation of the calendar, by Gregory XIII. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER II.— Period I, 
 
 1 The name of Alemanni, erroneously applied afterwards to all the Ger- 
 man nations, was originally restricted to a particular tribe, which we 
 here designate by the name of the Alemanns, to distinguish them from 
 the modern Germans (Allemands.) 
 
 2 The Guttones of Pliny, the Gothones or Gotones of Tacitus, and the 
 Gyihones of Ptolemy, whom these authors place in the northeni part 
 of ancient Germany, near the Vistula, were most probably one and the 
 same nation with the Goths ; and ought not to be confounded whh the 
 Get(B, a people of ancient Dacia. 
 
 3 We find a Gothic bishop, named Theophilus, among the bishops who 
 signed the acts of the first Council of Nice. Ulfilas, a Gothic bishop 
 towards the middle of the fourth century, translated the Bible mto the 
 VOL. II. 32 
 
S74 ^ NOTEb. 
 
 language of his nation, making use of the Greek and Roman charac- 
 ters. His Four Gospels, preserved in the Codex Argenteus, in the 
 library at Upsal, is the most ancient specimen we liave of the German 
 language, of which the Gothic is one of the principal dialects. Vide 
 Fragments of TJlfdas, published by M. Zahn. 1805. 
 
 4 The identity of the Franks with these German tribes, may be shown 
 from a passage of St. Jerome, as well as by the Table Feutingerievne^ 
 ou Theodosienne, so called, because it is supposed to have been drawn 
 up under the Emperor Theodosius, about the beginning of the fifth 
 century ; though M. Mannert, in his Treatise De Tab. Feuting, cBtate, 
 has proved that it is as old as the third century ; and that the copy 
 preserved in the library at Vienna, and published by M. de Scheyl, is 
 but an incorrect copy, which he attributes to a monk of the thirteenth 
 century. From this Table, it appears that, in the third century, the 
 name Francia was given to that part of Germany which is situate in 
 the Lower Rhine in Westphalia ; and that the Bructeri, the Chauci, 
 Ghamavi, Cherusci, Ampsivarii, &c, were the same as the Franks. 
 The names of Salians and Ripuarians, evidently taken from the situa- 
 tion of some of these tribes on the Rhine, the Yssel, or Saal, appear to 
 have been given them by the Romans, and were afterwards retained 
 by them. 
 
 5 Ammianus Marcellinus, Lib. 31 c. 2. Jornandes De Rebus Geticis, 
 cap. 35. This latter historian gives the following portrait of Attila, 
 King of the Huns. "His stature was short, his chest broad, his head 
 rather large, his eyes small, his beard thin, his hair grey, his nose flat, 
 his complexion dark and hideous, bearing evidence of his origin. He 
 was a man of much cunning, who fought by stratagem before he en- 
 gaged in battles." 
 
 6 We may judge of the extent of the kingdom of the Burgimdians by 
 the signatures of twenty-five bishops, who were present at the Council 
 of Epao, held by Sigismond, King of Burgundy, in 517. These bish- 
 ops were the following : Besancon, Langres, Autun, Chalons, Lyon, 
 Valence, Orange, Vaison, Carpentras, Cavaillon, Sisteron, Apt. Gap, 
 Die, St. Faul-trois-Chetaux, Viviers, Vienne, Embrun, Grenoble, Ge- 
 neva, Tarantaise, Avenche, Windische, Martigny in the Bas-Valais, 
 Taurentum in Provence. Vide Labbei, Acta Concil. vol. iv. p. 1573, 
 1581. 
 
 7 Many kings and chiefs of different nations marched under his command. 
 Jornandes (cap. 38.) observes — " As for the rest, a rabble of kings, if 
 they may be so called, and leaders of divers nations ; they waited like 
 satellites the orders of Attila ; and if he gave but a wink or a nod, 
 every one attended with fear and trembling, and executed his com- 
 mands without a murmur. Attila alone, like a king of kings, had the 
 supreme charge and authority over them all." 
 
 8 The Salian Franks are distinct from the Ripuarian, who formed a sepa- 
 rate kingdom, the capital of which was Cologne. There were also, 
 about the end of the fifth century, particular kings of the Franks at 
 Terouane, Mams, and Cambray, all of whom were subdued by Clovis, 
 shortly before his death in 511. 
 
 9 Clovis took from the Alemanns a part of their territories, of which he 
 formed a distinct province, known afterwards by the name of France 
 on the Rhine. They retained, however, under their hereditary chiefs, 
 Alsace, with the districts situated beyond the Rhine, and bounded on 
 the north by tlie Oos, the Entz, the Necker, the Muhr, the Wernitz 
 and the Jagst. Vide Schoepfiin, Alsatia Illust. vol. i. p. 630. 
 
NOTES. 376 
 
 10 The Visigoths then retained no other possessions in Gaul than Septi- 
 mania, or Languedoc. Their territories between the Rhone, the Alps, 
 and the Mediterranean, passed to the Ostrogoths, as the reward for ser- 
 vices which the latter had rendered them in their wars with the Franks. 
 
 11 Scheidmgen, on the left bank of the Unstrut, about three leagues from 
 Naumburg on the Saal, is supposed to have been the residence of the 
 ancient kings of Thuringia. Venantius Fortunatus, the friend of queen 
 Radegonde, a pruicess of Thuringia, gives a poetical description of it 
 in his elegy De Excidis Thuringias. 
 
 12 Belisarius was recalled from Italy by the Emperor Justinian, in 549. 
 He afterwards incurred the displeasure of the court of Constantinople ; 
 but what modern writers have asserted, that he was blind, and reduced 
 to beg his bread, is destitute of foundation. Mascow, Geshichte der 
 Teutschen. 
 
 13 Agathias, lib. 1. p. 17, asserts, that the Goths abandoned the nation of 
 the Alemanns to the Franks, in order to interest the latter in their cause 
 against the Greeks. Tiie same was the case with that part of Gaul, 
 situate between the Alps, the Rhone, and the Mediterranean, which 
 pertamed to the Ostrogoths, and which they ceded to the Franks, on 
 condition that they would never furnish supplies to the Greeks. 
 
 14 The name of the Bavarians does not occur in history before the middle 
 of the sixth century, when Jornandes, De Eeb. Geticis, and Venantius 
 Fortunatus. in his poems, speak of them for the first time. Mannert, 
 Gesckichfe Bajoaricns, p. 108, reckons the Bavarians an association of 
 several German tribes ; the Heruls, Rugians, Turcilingians, and Scy- 
 rians, all orig'nally emigrating from the shores of the Baltic. The new 
 settlements which they formed in Upper Germany, comprehended that 
 part of ancient Rhetia, Vindelicia, and Noricum, which lies between 
 the Danube, the Lech, and the Noce in Pannonia, and the Tyrol. 
 They were governed by kings or chiefs, who, from the year 595, were 
 dependants on the Frankish crown. 
 
 15 Clovis left the Alemanns, after their defeat, a considerable part of their 
 territories under hereditary chiefs, who acknowledged the superiority 
 of the Frankish kings. Such of the Alemanns as Theodoric King of 
 Italy then received into a part of Rhetia and Noricum, continued de- 
 pendants on the kingdom of the Ostrogoths, till the decay of that mo- 
 narchy, near the middle of the sixth century, when they became subject 
 to thw dominion of the Franks. 
 
 16. Tacitus De Moribus German., cap. 2. It was the prerogative of free- 
 men to have the honor of bearing arms. Even bishops and ecclesias- 
 tics, when admitted into the national assemblies, and to the rights and 
 privileges of freemen, never failed to claim this military dignity ; and 
 occupied, like others, their ranks in the army. 
 
 17 We find among the German nations, from the remotest times, the dis- 
 tinction . into nobles, freemen, and serfs ; a distinction which they stili 
 preserved, in their new settlements in the Roman empire. 
 
 18 Called Ordeals. Besides the trial by single combat, there were others 
 by hot iron, boiling or cold water, the cross, cj-c. Vide Ducange Gloss. 
 
 19 The Goths, Vandals, Suevi, and Alans, were already Christians, when 
 they settled within the bounds of the Western Empire. They follow, 
 ed the doctrines of Arius, which they had imbibed in the east; and, 
 which the Suevi of Galicia abandoned for the orthodox creed under 
 their King Cariaric, about 551 ; and the Visigoths of Spain, under their 
 King Recarede, in 589. The Lombards of Italy were, at first, Arians, 
 but became Catholics, under their King Agilulphus, in 602. The Van- 
 
876 NOTES. 
 
 dais aiid Ostrogoths, on the contrary, having persisted in Arianism ; 
 this perseverance may be numbered among the causes that hastened 
 the destruction of their monarchy, both in Italy and Africa. As to the 
 Burgundians tliey did not embrace Christianity till after their establish- 
 ment in Gaul. Their example was soon followed by the Franks, who 
 likewise protected the dissemination of the orthodox faith among the 
 German nations, settled in their dominions beyond the Rhine. The 
 Christian religion was introduced, about the end of the sixth century. 
 among the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, by some Benedictine monks, 
 whom Pope Gregory I. had sent there. Ethelbert, King of Kent, was 
 the first of the Anglo-Saxon kings that embraced Christianity, by the 
 persuasion, it is said, of his queen. Bertha, daughter of Charibert I. 
 King of Paris. 
 
 20 The jjossessions of the Ostrogoths in Gaul, lying between the Rhine, 
 the Alps, and the Mediterranean, were ceded to the Franks about 536. 
 
 21 Eginhard, Vita Carol. Mog., cap. 11. It seems then an error in history, 
 to designate these princes as a race of kings, who had all degenerated 
 into a state of imbecility or idiocy. (Of this opinion was the Abbe 
 Venot, who endeavors to rescue these monarchs from this generally 
 received imputation. Vide Memoir de I'Acadeinie, vol. iv. T.) 
 
 22 This same St. Boniface, in 744, induced the archbishops of France to 
 receive, after his example, the pallium from Pope Zacharias, acknow. 
 ledging the jurisdiction and supremacy of the Roman See. This ac- 
 ];nowledgment of the Romish supremacy, had already taken place in 
 England, in 601 and 627, v/lien the archbishops of Canterbury and 
 York, received the pontificial pallium. Vide Bede. Eist. Eccles. 
 
 23 It is alleged that state politics had no small share in favoring this zeal. 
 ^Jot only did the emperors reckon, by abolishing images, to weaken 
 the excessive power of the monks who domineered over the Byzantine 
 court; but they regarded also the destruction of this heretical worship, 
 as the only means of arresting the persecutions which the Mahometans 
 then exercised agamst the Christians in the east, whom they treated as 
 idolators, on account of their veneration for images. 
 
 24 The name Exarchate was then given to the province of Ravenna, be- 
 cause it, as well as the Pentapolis, was immediately subject to the ex- 
 arch as governor-general ; while the other parts of Grecian Italy were 
 governed by delegates, who ruled in the name and authority of the 
 exarch. 
 
 2.5 It was during his sojourn at Chiersi that Pope Stephen II. gave the de- 
 cisions that we find in Sirmondi, Concil, Gall. vol. II. 16. Anastasius 
 (in Muratori, vol. III. p. 168, 186) mentions Chiersi as the place of this 
 donation, which he also says was signed by Pepin and his two sons. 
 This prospective grant is even attested by the letter which Stephen II. 
 addressed to Pepin and his sons, immediately on his return to Rome, 
 cxhortmg them to fulfil their engagements without delay. 
 
 26 The Pope, in his letters to Pepin, calls this donation an augmentation 
 of the Romish dominion ; an extension of the Romish territory, &.c. 
 Cenni, vol. I. p. 85, 124. Besides the city and duchy of Rome, Anas- 
 tasius mentions various former grants of territories to the Romish 
 Church. The same author mforms us, that the original of Pepin's do- 
 nation existed in his time in the arcliives of the Romish See, and he 
 has recorded the places gifted to the church. 
 
 27 Different interpretations have been given to the word Saracens, which 
 the Greeks, and after them the Latins, have applied to the Arabs. Some 
 explain it by robbers or brigands, and others by Orientals, or natives 
 
NOTES. 377 
 
 of the east. Casiri. Bibl. Arab. Hist. vol. II. p. 19. Some pretend to 
 derive this appellation from the Arabic word Sarrag, or its plural Sar- 
 'Togin, which means, men on horseback, or cavaliers. 
 2i' We may judge of the ferocity of the Arabs at this time, from a passage 
 vf Rasis, an Arabic author, in Casiri, (Bibl. Arab. Hist. vol. ii. p. 322.) 
 Muza, in a fit of jealousy, had caused Tarec to be bastinadoed at Tole- 
 do, and yet continued to employ him as a general. The caliph, to avenge 
 Tarec, caused Muza to be bastinadoed in his turn, when he came to 
 Damascus to lay at his royal feet the spoils of all Spain. His son, whom 
 he had left governor of Spain, was killed by order of the caliph. Such 
 was the fate of the Arabic conquerors of Spain. 
 
 29 The Abbassides took their name from Abbas, the paternal imcle of 
 Mahomet, of whom they were descended. The Ommiades were de 
 scended from Ommiah, a more distant relation of the prophet. 
 
 30 Don Pelago, the king whom the Spaniards regard as the founder of thisv 
 new state, is a personage no less equivocal than the Pharamond of the 
 Franks. Isidorus Pagensis, a Spanish author of that time, published 
 by Sandoval in his collection in 1634, knew nothing of him. He extols, 
 on the contrary, the exploits of Theodemir, whom the Visigoths, ac- 
 cording to the Arabic authors quoted by Casiri, had chosen as their 
 king after the unfortunate death of Roderic. The chronicle of Alphonso 
 III., and that of Albayda, which are commonly Cited in favor of Don 
 Pelago, are both as late as the beginning of the tenth century, and 
 relate things so marvellous of this pretended founder of the kingdom 
 of Leon, that it is impossible to give credit to them. 
 
 31 This dynasty, after the year 827, effected the conquest of the greater 
 part of Sicily from the Greeks ; but they were deprived of it, in 940, 
 by the Fatimites, who were succeeded in the following century by the 
 Zerides in Africa. (Vide Period IV. under Spain.) 
 
 32 The celebrated Gerbert, born in Auvergne, and afterwards Pope Sil- 
 vester II., was among the first that repaired to Spain, about the middle 
 of the tenth century, to study mathematics imder the Arabs. Numbers 
 afterwards imitated his example. 
 
 32 There is preserved in the library of the Escurial in Spain, 1851 Arabic 
 MSS. which escaped the conflagration of 1671, and which have been 
 amply described by Casiri in his Bibl. Arab. Hisp. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER III Period II. 
 
 1 The immense intrenchments or fortifications of the Avars, called RJiin. 
 gos by the Franks, were destroyed by Charlemagne, to the number of 
 nine. A part of Parmonia and the tenitory of the Avars he left in pos. 
 session of the native chiefs, and the Slavian princes, who acknow- 
 ledged themselves his vassals and tributaries. The Slavi, the Moravi- 
 ans, and Bulgarians, seem to have then seized on a part of the territo- 
 ries of the Avars lying beyond the Danube and the Theyss. It was 
 on account of this war, that Charlemagne established the Eastern 
 March (Austria) against the Avars, and that he conceived also the pro- 
 ject of joining the Danube and the Rhine, by a canal drawn from the 
 river Altmuhl to Rednitz. 
 
 2 Charles took the oath in the Teutonic language, Louis in the Romance 
 language ; the forms of which have been preserved by the Abbe Nith- 
 ard, a cousin of these prmces. "VVe may observe, that this is the most 
 ancient monument of the Romance language ; out of which has sprung 
 the modern French. 
 
 VOL. II. 32* 
 
373 ' NOTES 
 
 3 This treaty, which has been preserved by the author of the Annals of 
 Si. Bertin, mentions all the countries and principal places assigned to 
 each of the brothers. It forms a valuable document in the geography 
 of the middle ages. 
 
 4 As an example of this, it is said that a nobleman of Suabia, named Ets 
 chon, broiher to-the Empress Judith, quarrelled with his own son, and 
 refused to see him, because, in his estimation, he had debased himselt 
 by receiving as fiefs, from Louis the Gentle, a certain number of his 
 own lands, situated in Upper Bavaria. 
 
 5 The Danes and the Swedes dispute with each other the honor of these 
 pretended heroes, who signalized themselves in the Norman piracies. 
 It is without doubt, that all the tribes of ancient Scandinavia, in their 
 turn, took part in tliese expeditions. According to the Monk of St. 
 Gall, it was not till about the end of the war of Charlemagne with the 
 Avars, i. e. 796, that the Normans began to infest the coasts of the 
 Frankish empire. In order to stop their incursions, Charles construct- 
 ed a fleet, and stationed in the harbors and mouths of rivers, troops and 
 guard-ships ; precautions which were neglected by his successors. 
 
 6 The beautiful palaces which Charles had constructed at Nimeguen and 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, were burnt to the ground by the Normans in 881-2. 
 At the same time, they plundered Liege, Maestricht, Tongres, Cologne, 
 Bonn, Zulpich, Nuys, and Treves. 
 
 7 Nester, a monk of Kiovia, and the first annalist of Russia, about the 
 end of the eleventh century, says the Russians, whom he calls also 
 Waregues, came from Scandinavia, or the country of che Normans. 
 He assures us, that it was from them that the state of Novogorod took 
 the name of Russia. The author of the annals of St. Bertin, the first 
 that mentions the } -^'ans (lihos) a, d. 839, assigns Sweden as their 
 original coimtry. i iprand also, bishop of Cremona, in the court of 
 Constantinople by Otho the Great, attests, in his history, that the 
 Greeks gave the name o^ Russians to the people, who in the west are 
 called Normans, The Finns, Laplanders, and Estonians, at this day, 
 call the Swedes, Boots, Eoutzi, or Rootslane. It is likely that from 
 them, beLng nearest neighbors of the Swedes, this name passed to the 
 Slavonian tribes. Hence it would seem, that it is in Sweden that we 
 must look for Russia, prior to the times of Ruric ; in the same way. 
 as ancient Frtoice is to be found in Westphalia and Hesse, before the 
 days of Clodion, and the founding of the new monarchy of the Franks 
 in Gaul. 
 
 8 The Orkney Isles, the Hebrides, the Shetlands, and the Isles of Man, 
 passed, in course of time, from the dominion of the Norwegians to 
 that of the Scottish kings, while the Faroe Isles remained constantly 
 annexed to the kingdom of Norway. 
 
 9 Olaus II., King of Norway, had rendered the Icelanders tributaries, but 
 they soon renewed their independence ; and it was not till the time of 
 Habo V. and Magnus ^VIL, in 1261 and 1264, that they submitted to the 
 dominion of Norway, when the republican government of the island 
 was suppressed. Iceland, when a republic, furnished the annalists of 
 the north. The most distinguished of these is S^^orre Stltileso^n, 
 who wrote a history of the kings of Norway about the begirming of the 
 thirteenth century. This celebrated man died in 1241. 
 
 10 The Chazars, a Turkish tribe, ruled, at the time we now speak, over 
 the northern part of the Crimea ; as also the vast regions lying to the 
 north of the Euxine and Caspian seas. The Onogurs or Ugurs, sup- 
 posed to be the same as Hungarians, were subject to them. These 
 
NOTES. 379 
 
 Chazars having embraced Christianity in the ninth century, adopted a 
 nun of syncretism, which admitted all sorts indifferently. Hence th*-. 
 name of Chazars or Ketzers has been given, by the German divines, ut 
 every species of heretics. Their power vanished about the beginning 
 of the eleventh century. 
 . i The Patzinacites or Kanglians, also a Turkish and wandering trib«. 
 originally inhabited the borders of the Jaik and the Volga, between these 
 two rivers. Expelled from these countries by the Uzes or Cunians, 
 who combined with the Chazars against them, they attacked the Hungn- 
 rians, whom they stript of their possessions, lying between the Tanais-. 
 the Dnieper, and the Dniester, (a. d. 884.) 
 
 12 The Moravians were the first of the Slavian tribes that embraced Chris- 
 tianity. The Greek Emperor Michael, at their own request, sent them, 
 in 863, Cyril and Methodius, two learned Greeks of Thessalonica, who 
 invented the Slavonian alphabet, and translated into their language the 
 sacred books, which the Russians still use. 
 
 13 The Patzinacites possessed all the countries situated between the Aluta, 
 the Dnieper, and the Donez, which near its source, separated them 
 from the Chazars. They gradually disappeared from history about the 
 end o? the eleventh century, when they were dispossessed or subdued 
 by the Cumans. 
 
 14 Historians have commonly ascribed to this prince the division of Eng. 
 land into counties, hundreds, and tithes, as also the institution of juries. 
 
 15 From the occupation of Greenland and Finland by the Normans, we 
 may infer that North America was known to them several centuries 
 before it was discovered by the English. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER ^\^— Period HI. 
 
 1 The Hungarians having made a new invasion upon Otho the Great, 
 advanced as far as Augsburg, to which they laid siege ; but Otho, in a 
 battle which he fought with them in the vicinity of that city, (955,) 
 routed them with such slaughter that they never dared to return. 
 
 2 On this oath, which was taken in 963, the emperors of Germany founded 
 the title by which they claimed the right to confirm, or to nominate 
 and depose the popes. Lawyers generally allege the famous decree 
 of Leo VHL, published 964, as establishing the rights of the emperor? 
 over Rome and the popes. But ihe authenticity of this decree has 
 been attacked by the ablest critics, and defended by others. It would 
 appear that there is no necessity for this to justify these rights. Otho, 
 after having conquered Italy and received the submission of the Romans 
 and the Pope, could easily claim for himself and his successors the 
 same rights of superiority which the Greek and Frank emperors had 
 enjoyed before him. 
 
 3 He was the duke of Lov/er Lorrain, and had obtained that dukedom 
 from Otho II. in 977. He transmitted it to his son Otho, who was tlie 
 last prince of the Carlovingian Ihie, and died in 1006. 
 
 4 The principalities of Benevento, Salerno, and Capua, were governed 
 by Lombard princes, who held of the German emperors. The duke- 
 doms of Naples, Gaeta, Amalfi, and part of Apulia and Calabria, were 
 dependent on the eastern emperors ; while the Arabs, masters of the 
 greater part of Sicily possessed also Bari and Tarento in Apulia. 
 
 5 From this treaty is derived the right of vassalage, which the popes have 
 exercised till the present time, over the kingdom of Naples. 
 
 6 The first invasion of the Normans in Sicily was in lOGO. Palermo, the 
 
880 NOTES. 
 
 capital, fell under their power in 1072, and in 1090 they conquered the 
 whole island. 
 
 7 The first seeds of Christianity were planted in Denmark and Sweden. 
 by St. Ansgar, whom Louis the Gentle created, in 834, first archbishop 
 of Hamburg, and metropolitan of the North. But the progress ol 
 Christianity was extremely slow in those semi-barbarous countries- 
 The first amialist of the North was an Icelander named Are Frode. 
 who flourished about the beginning of the 11th century. The mosi 
 eminent historian of Denmark, was a monk named Swend Aageson. 
 who digested, about 1187, an abridgement of the history of that king- 
 dom. He was followed by Saxo the grammarian, whose history of 
 Denmark, written in beautiful Latin, is full of fables in the times preced- 
 ing the 12th century. Norway had for its first annalist a monk named 
 Theodoric, who wrote about 1160. As to Sweden, it has no national 
 historian anterior to the Chronicles in Verse, the first anonymous editor 
 of which lived in the time of King Magnus Smeck, about the middle 
 of the 14th century. 
 
 8 Olaus sent, in 996 and 1000, missionaries into Iceland, who succeeded 
 in making the whole country adopt Christianity. An Icelandic fugitive, 
 named Eric le Roux, discovered Greenland, and formed the first settle, 
 ments there, about the year, 982. His son. Lief, embraced Christianity 
 during his sojourn in Nor'.vay. With the aid of some ecclesiastics 
 whom King Olaus gave him, he returned in 1009 to Greenland, and 
 there converted his father and his fellow-countrymen. The knowledge 
 of the fir.^t Norwegian colonies of Greenland, was lost about the begin- 
 ning of the fifteenth century. The southern and western districts of 
 it were again discovered about 1576 ; but it was not till 1721 that the 
 Danes formed new settlements there. 
 
 9 The Polabes inhabited the duchy of Lauenburg, the principality of Rat. 
 zenburg, and the province of Schwerin. The Wagrians were settled 
 beyond the Bille m the Wagria, in the prmcipality of Eutui, and a part 
 of Holstein. 
 
 . Henry, Duke of Saxony, Conrad, Duke of Zahringen, and Albert, 
 Margrave of the North, headed an army of these crusaders against the 
 Slavi in 1147. 
 
 11 The right of hereditary succession in the eldest son of every ducal 
 family, was not introduced into Bohemia till 1055. This was the ancient 
 usage in Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Russia, and Hungary. 
 
 12 No writer of this nation is kno\\Ti anterior to the thirteenth century. 
 The most ancient is Vincent Kadlubeck. bishop of Cracow, who died 
 1223. He v/rote Hisioria PoJonia, first published in 1612. 
 
 13 This crovyn, singularly revered in Hungary, contains Greek ornaments 
 and inscriptions, which give us to understand that it was manufactured 
 at Constantinople. There is a probability that it was furnished by the 
 Empress Theophania, mother of Otho III., to Pope Sylvester II., whom 
 she had lately raised to the pontificate. 
 
 14 The Greeks upbraided the Latins with fasting on Saturdays — permission 
 to eat cheese, butter, and milk, during the first week of lent — the celi- 
 bacy of their priests — the repetition of the unction, of baptism in confir- 
 mation — the corrupting of the confession of faith — the use of imleavened 
 bread in the eucharist — permission to eat the blood of animals strangled 
 — and the prohibition against the priests wearing their beards. 
 
 15 The difference of rank and pre-eminence of these two patriarchs, be- 
 came one of the principal subjects of dispute between the two churches. 
 There was a warm debate as to the title of Ecumenical Patriarch, or 
 
NOTES. 381 
 
 universal bishop, which the patriarchs of Constantinople had assumed 
 since the time of the patriarch John H. in G18. The Roman pontiffs, 
 Pelagius II. and Gregory I., haughtily condemned that title as proud 
 and extravagant. They even went so far as to interdict all communion 
 with the patriarchs of Constantinople ; and Gregory I., wishing to give 
 these patriarchs an example of Christian humility, in opposition to this 
 lofty title of Universal Bishop, adopted that of Servant of the servants 
 of God. 
 
 16 The Bulgarians, newly converted to Christianity by Greek and Latin 
 missionaries, had priests and bishops of both churches; and each pon- 
 till" claimed the sole jurisdiction over that provmce. This affair having 
 been referred by the Bulgarians themselves to the judgment of the 
 Greek Emperor, he decided in favor of the See of Constantinople. In 
 consequence of this decision, the Latin bishops and priests were expelled 
 from Bulgaria, and replaced by the Greeks in 870. 
 
 17 This terrible fire, reckoned among their state secrets, was exploded 
 from tubes of copper, or thrown with cross-bows and machines for the 
 purpose. Fire-ships were likewise filled with them, which they des- 
 patched among the enemies' ships to burn them. These could not be 
 extinguished by water, or any other way than by the help of vinegar or 
 sand. 
 
 18 The name of Tartar, in the sense in which it is commonly taken, ap- 
 pears to be of a Chinese origin. The Chinese pronounce it Tha-tha ; 
 and designate, by this name, all the nations that dwell north of the 
 great wall. 
 
 19 The first that employed this military p-iiard was the Caliph Montassem, 
 who succeeded to the caliphate in 833 or 218 of the Hegira. 
 
 20 Sultan or Sollhan, is a common name in the Chaldean and Arabic lan- 
 guages, to designate a sovereign, ruler, king, or master. 
 
 21 Syria was conquered by the Seljukides, between 1074 and 1085. They 
 were masters of Palestine since 1075, which they Had conquered from 
 the Fatimite caliphs of Egypt. 
 
 22 The most powerful of these Emirs dared not assume the title of Sultan, 
 but were content with that of AtabcJc, which signifies in the Turkish 
 language, Father of the prince. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER V.— Period IV. 
 
 1 He was the first of the Roman Pontiffs that assumed the title of Pope, 
 (Papa,) to the exclusion of the other bishops and prelates who had for- 
 merly made use of that denomination. 
 
 2 Pope Urban 11., one of the immediate successors of Gregory VII., went 
 so far as to recommend to all secular princes, that they should make 
 slaves of such of the priest's wives as lived with their husbands after 
 they had received holy orders. In Denmark and Sweden, the celi. 
 bacy of the clergy was not introduced till near the middle of the 13th 
 century. 
 
 3 Pope Nicholas I. and Adrian II., in the 9th century, and John IV. and 
 Gregory V., about the end of the 10th, appealed to the False Decretab 
 in their disputes with the kings of France, on the subject of supremacy 
 and legislative power over the whole church. 
 
 4 This house which succeeded the Salic dynasty, occupied the throne of 
 the empire from 1138 to 1254. 
 
 5 Gregory VII. in 1080, confirmed the election of the Anti-Emperor Ro. 
 dolph. Innocent III., claimed the right to arbitrate in the disputes 
 
9S2 NOTES. 
 
 between Philip of Swabia and Otho of Brunswick (1198,) on the subject 
 of their election. The contested election of Richard de Cornwall and 
 Alphonso of Castille to the throne of Spain, was submitted to the judg- 
 ment of the Pope. 
 
 6 The Popes derived their claims to these estates, from a donation of 
 them, wiiich the Countess had made in 1077, to Pope Gregory VII. , 
 and which she renewed in 1102 to Pascal II. 
 
 7 The Order of St. Anthony was founded about 1095 ; and that of Char- 
 treux was founded in 1080— 86, by Bruno of Cologne • and that of 
 Grandmont, by Stephen de Thiers, a native of Auvergne. 
 
 8 The Arabs took possession of Palestine under the Caliph Omar, a. d. 
 657. It fell into the hands of the Fatimite Caliphs of Egypt, a. d. 968 
 
 9-10 There is an amusing description of the crusaders in the Chronicle 
 of Conradus Urspergensis, and the sensation which their first appear, 
 ance made in Germany. 
 
 11 One of these first divisions was conducted by Peter the Hermit in 
 person. A contemporary author gives the following description of 
 that ghostly general. " His appearance was rude in the extreme, of 
 a short stature but of a most fervid zeal. His face was meagre, his* 
 feet bare, and his dress of the meanest and the most squalid sort. On 
 his journey, and wherever he went, he used neither horse, mare, 
 nor mule ; but only a vehicle drawn by asses." Peter intrusted a part 
 of his army to a French gentleman named Walter the Pennyless, who 
 marched before him. A numerous body commanded by a German 
 priest follov/ed him. Nearly the whole of them perished to the amount 
 of 200,000 men. 
 
 12 The republic of Venice having refused, in spite of the thundering 
 bulls launched against them, to surrender up the city of Ferrara, Pope 
 Clemont IV. published a crusade against them 1309, and thus compelled 
 them to sue for peace. 
 
 13 There Vvcre properly no armorial bearings before the 12th century. We 
 do not meet with the Fleurs-de-lis on the crown or the robe of the French 
 kings, until the time of Louis VII., a. d. 1164. 
 
 14 The crusades were the means of spreading leprosy in Europe, as also 
 the plague, which in 1347 and the foUowmg years made dreadful havoc. 
 From Italy it spread over all Europe, and occasioned a violent perse- 
 cution against the Jews. 
 
 15 For these, see the accounts of Spain, Italy, Portugal. 
 
 16 This is the common opinion as to the origin of the Hanseatic League, 
 although Sartorius disputes it. The word Hanse, in Low German, 
 means aiiy association or corporation. We find this word used, for the 
 first time,' in a letter which Edward IL of England wrote in 1315, to 
 the King of France, in favor of the Germanic merchants. 
 
 17 The parliament of 1342 is generally cited as the first in which we find 
 the division into two houses, 
 
 18 Hence the names of Pfaghlburger and Ussburger, i. e. burgess within 
 the precincts, and without the city. 
 
 19 It should be observed, however, that the Roman Law, and especially 
 the Theodosian Code, still remained in Italy to a certain extent, even 
 in the midst of the darkness that covered Europe prior to the 12th 
 century. 
 
 20 In the Truce of God, challenges or duels were prohibited on Thurs- 
 days, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, under pain of excommunica- 
 tion. They were also forbidden between Septuagessima Sunday and 
 Easter Week, and between Advent Sunday and Epiphany. 
 
NOTES. 383 
 
 521 Hugolinus, a famous lawyer, under Frederic I. is generally regarded 
 as the first that digested the Two Books of Fiefs, at the end of the 
 Corpus Juris. 
 
 22 Several other universities were founded in the following century : — 
 such as that of Prague, in 1347 ; Vienna, in 1365 ; Heidelburg, in 1386 ; 
 Cologne, in 1389 ; Erfurt, in 1389, &c. 
 
 23 This Confederation of the Rhine was originally concluded between the 
 c'ties of Mayence, Cologne, Worms, Spire, Strasburg, and Berlin, fot 
 the protection of their commerce on the Rhin^.. 
 
 24 Those grand officers were seven in number, although formerly other 
 princes were admitted to these elections. 
 
 25 There appears some reason to doubt this statement of Dandolo, the 
 historian of Venice. 
 
 26 After the downfall of the Roman empire in ' he 5th century, Corsica 
 was conquered in turn by the Vandals, Gre< ks, Franks, and Arabs. 
 The latter settled there in the 9th century, a ad were expelled in the 
 11th. Sardinia experienced nearly the same revolution as Corsica. It 
 fell successively into the hands of the Vandals, Greeks, Arabs, Geno- 
 ese, and Pisans. Pope Boniface VIII. vested the King of Arragon in 
 Sardinia in 1297, as his vassal and tributary, who expelled the Pisans 
 in 1324—26. 
 
 27 The famous Castilian hero Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, surnamed the 
 Cid, had already seized the kingdom o( Valencia, about the end of the 
 11th century; but the Arabs took possession of it after his death 1099. 
 
 28 De Guignes fixes the entire destruction of the Almohades in the year 
 1296. 
 
 29 After the defeat of the Mahometans, Alfonso havmg assembled the 
 bishops, declared on his oath that Jesus Christ appeared to him on the 
 evening before the battle, promised him certain victory, and ordered 
 him to be proclaimed king of the field of battle, and to take for his 
 arms the five wounds inflicted on his body, and the thirty pieces of silver 
 for which he was sold to the .Tews. 
 
 30 The first six of these were the ancient lay peers of the crown. They 
 were established in the reigns of Louis VII. and IX., as well as six 
 ecclesiastical peers, 
 
 31 The states of Germ.any, m order to preserve the feudal system, passed 
 a law, which forbade the princes to leave the grand fiefs of the empire 
 vacant more than a year. 
 
 32 By the deiinitive peace concluded at Paris, in 1259, between Louis IX., 
 and Henry III., Normandy, Lorraine, Maine Anjou, and Poitou, were 
 ceded to France, who then surrendered to England Limousin, Peri, 
 gord, Quercy, &c., on condition of doing fealty and homage to the 
 kings of France, and to be held under the title of the Duke of Aqui- 
 taine and peer of France. 
 
 33 The first origin of the inquisition may be dated from a commission of 
 inquisitors in 1212, which Innocent III. established at Toulouce against 
 the Albigenses. Gregory IX. intrusted the inquisition to the Domini- 
 cans, who erected it into an ordinary tribunal, before which they cited 
 not only those suspected of heresy, but all who were accused of sor- 
 eery, magic, v/itchcraft, Judaism, &c. 
 
 34 Dominico, sub-prior of the church of Osma in Spain, conjointly with 
 Diego d'-A.zebez, the bishop of that church, undertook, in 1206, the mission 
 against the heretics in Languedoc. Innocent VIII. in 1208, established 
 a perpetual commission of preachers for that country, of which Dominico 
 was declared chief. Hence the origin of the order of Preaching Friar3> 
 
384 .\OTES. 
 
 r<5 The Irish \vere converted to Christianity in the 5th century. St. Patrick 
 was their first apostle ; he founded the archbishopric of Armagh in 472. 
 The supremacy of the Pope was not acluiowlcdged in that island till the 
 council of Drogheda, 115r2, when the Pope's pallium, and the celibacy 
 of the priests, were introduced. 
 
 3G In Denmark, the throne was elective in the reigning family. It was 
 equally so in Norsvay, where, by a strange custom, natural sons were 
 admitted to the crown, and allowed the privilege of attesting their 
 descent from the royal line by the ordeal of fire. 
 
 37 The power of the clergy in the North was considerably increased by 
 the introduction of Metropolitans. The archbishopric of Lunden was 
 erected in 1152, and- that of Upsal in 11G3. 
 
 38 The introduction of tithes met with great opposition in all the North ; 
 nor were they generally received till near the end of the 13th century. 
 Canute IV. was put to death in Denmark, principally for having attempt- 
 ed to introduce tithes. 
 
 39 Except Sigurd I., King of Norway, who undertook a crusade to the 
 Holy Land, 1107, at the head of an army of 10,000 men, and a fleet 
 of GO sail. 
 
 40 Tacitus, and the writers of the middle ages, before the 10th century, 
 seem to have included the Prussians, and the people inhabiting the 
 coasts of the 13altic eastward of the Vistula, under the name of Estho- 
 nians. 
 
 41 It is alleged this city took its name from Ottokar II., King of Bohe- 
 mia, who headed an army of crusaders, and encouraged the building 
 of it. 
 
 42 In the Mogul language, Zin or Tgin, signifies Great, and Kis, very : 
 so that the word means Most Great Khan or Emperor. According to 
 others who quote the constant tradition of the Moguls, this new name 
 was taken from the cry of an extraordinary and divine bird, which sat 
 on the tree during the assembly in question, and uttered the word 
 Tschingkis. This name was adopted as a special and favorable augury 
 from heaven, and applied to the new conqueror. 
 
 43 The Igours were dependent on this latter empire, a Turkish people to 
 the north-west of China. It is alleged that they cultivated the arts and 
 sciences ; and communicated letters and the alphabet to the other 
 Turkish and Mogul tribes. 
 
 44 tlie former of these events took place in 1279, and the latter in 1243. 
 The Caliphs of Bagdad were annihilated by the Moguls, under the reign 
 of Mangou Khan, a. d. 1258. 
 
 45 It is related that the Emperor Frederic II., when summoned by the 
 Great Khan to submit, and offered an oflice of high trust at his court, 
 replied to his singular message by way of pleasantry, that he knew 
 enough of fowling to qualify him for grand falconer. 
 
 46 The dynasty of the Moguls in Persia ended in 1410 ; that of the Zagatai 
 fell into the hands of the usurjjers in the 14th century. This dynasty 
 produced the famous Timour. 
 
 47 Baton Khan was in the habit of ascending the Wolga, with his whole 
 tribe, from January till August, when he began to descend that river 
 in his way to the south. 
 
 48 Hor-cle, in the Chinese or Tartar language, means a tent or dwelling- 
 place. 
 
 49 These tribes dwelt to the north of the Caspian Sea, between the Jaik, 
 the Wolga, and the Tanais. 
 
 3,) Tk , Moguls of Kipzac, who ruled over Russia, are known rather by 
 
NOTES. 
 
 385 
 
 the name of Tartars than Moguls, as they adopteJ by degrees, the Ian- 
 ffuacre and manners of the Tartars among whom they hved. 
 
 51 An author who wrote in the twelfth century, remarks, that the Hun- 
 earians «=till lived in tents, in summer and autumn ; the few bouses m 
 Siat kingdom were built of wood or of stone ; that the grandees, when 
 they went to court, brought their seats or chairs with them ; and that 
 the same thing was practised by those who went to visit their neigh- 
 bors in winter. r ,^ j v. 
 
 52 The invasion of Dalmatia became a source of troubles and wars be- 
 tween the kings of Hungary and the republic of Vienna ; and it was 
 not till the fifteenth century that the Venetians succeeded in gettmg 
 possession of the maritime towns of Dalmatia. 
 
 53 The Cumans established one of their colonies in a part of ancient 
 Dacia, now Moldavia and Wallachia, which took from them the name 
 of Cumania. , , • i ^ 
 
 54 Baldwin was succeeded by his brother Henry ; and he by his brother- 
 in-law, Pierre de Courtenay, grandson of Louis VI. of France. That 
 prince left two sons, Robert and Baldwui, who both reigned at Con- 
 stantinople, and were the last of the Latin emperors. 
 
 55 They took the name of Baharites, which in Arabic sigmfies mantimes 
 or dwellers near the sea. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER VL— Period V. 
 
 1 This jubilee, which, according to the bull of Boniface VHL, was to 
 be celebrated only once in a hundred years, was reduced to fifty by 
 Clement VL, to thirty by Urban VL, and twenty-five by Paul H., and 
 Sextus IV. 
 
 2 Martin V., Nicholas V., and Calixtus IL, gave to the Portuguese all the 
 territories which they might discover, from the Canaries to the Indies. 
 Adrian IV., who adjudged Ireland to Henry II. in 1155, had claimed 
 that all islands in which Christianity was introduced, should belong to 
 St. Peter. 
 
 ^ The kings of France mamtained the exercise of that right in spite of 
 the efforts which the court of Rome made to deprive them of it. 
 
 4 The King even sent to Italy the Chevalier William Nogart with a body 
 of troops, who surprised the Pope at Anagni, made him prisoner, and 
 pillaged his treasures, as well as those of the cardinals in his suit. 
 
 5 If we can believe an Arabic author from Mecca, of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, paper, of cotton most probably, was invented at Mecca by one 
 Joseph Amru, about the year 706. According to others, the Arabs 
 found an excellent paper manufactory at Samarcand, when they con- 
 quered that country in 704. The invention of paper among the Chinese 
 is very ancient. 
 
 6 M. de Mechel mentions three pictures in the gallery of Vienna, one 
 of the year 1297, and the other two of 1357, as having been painted in 
 oil colors on wood. 
 
 7 The first cards were painted and designed, which rendered them very 
 dear. Great variety of cards are found among different nations. Piquet 
 became the national game of the French, taroc of the Itahans ; the 
 Spaniards invented ombre and quadrille, and the Germans lansquenet. 
 
 8 One of the oldest of these folios is that found in the library of'Buxheim, 
 near Meningen. It represents the image of St. Christopher illumed, 
 with a legend, dated 1423. Printing, by blocks of wood, was practised 
 in China since the year 950. 
 
 VOL. II, 33 
 
S86 NOTES. 
 
 9 Gutenberg, who still kept his art a secret, on the deatli of Drizhen, 
 sent difierent persons into his house, and charged them to unscrew the 
 press, and take it to pieces, that no one might discover how or in what 
 he was employed. 
 
 10 Schoeflin dates the invention of the font about the year 1452. The 
 honor of it is conmionly ascribed to Peter Schoefter, the companion of 
 Faust. 
 
 n In a deed made by Gutenburg and his brother in 1459, he took a for- 
 mal engagement to give to the library of the convent of St. Claire, at 
 Mayence, the • books which he had already printed, or might print : 
 which proves that Gutenburg had printed books long before 1459, and 
 that he still intended to print. 
 
 12 According to Casiri, there can be no doubt as to the existence of can 
 non among the Moors in the years 1342 — 44. The first undoubted 
 proof of the employment of cannon in France, is of the year 1345. 
 The Genoese, it is alleged, employed mines for the first time at the 
 
 ■ siege of Seranessa, against the Florentines, in 1487 ; and the Spaniards 
 against the French at the siege of the castle of Oeuf, in 1503. 
 
 13 The first cannons were constructed of wood, iron, or lead. Gustavus 
 Adolphus used cannons made of leather. They could not support near 
 the quantity of powder of those in modem times. 
 
 14 Guiot de Frovins, who wrote a satirical poem called the Bible, about 
 the end of the 12th century, speaks most distmctly of the mariner's 
 compass, which was used in his time in navigation. 
 
 15 The herring fisheries on the coast of Scania, in the 14th and 15th cen- 
 turies, proved a mine of wealth for the Hanseatic trade ; so much the 
 more gainful, as all Europe then observed lent. 
 
 16 William Tell is commonly regarded as the first founder of the Swiss 
 liberty. 
 
 17 The Grand Duke Michael Joroslawitz was executed by the Horde in 
 1318. Demetrius Michaelovitz met with the same fate in 1326. — 
 The Russian princes, on going to an audience with the Khan, were 
 obliged to walk between two fires to purify themselves and the presents 
 which they brought. They were even compelled to do reverence to 
 an image which was placed at the entrance of the Khan's tent. 
 
 18 The first mention which the annals of Nestor make of the Livonians, 
 and their wars with the Russians, is about the year 1040. 
 
 19 Various contracts were made before that sale was accomplished. The 
 first was in 1341, and the price was 13,000 marks of silver. In 1346, 
 the Margrave Louis sold his rights over Esthonia to the Teutonic Order 
 for 6000 marks. 
 
 20 Livonia did not belong exclusively to the Teutonic Order at this time. 
 The archbishop of Riga was independent, and master of the city where 
 he resided. 
 
 21 Before Uladislaus, there were only some of the sovereigns of Poland 
 invested with the royal dignity ; and the tradition which carries back 
 the uninterrupted succession of the Polish kings to Bolislaus, in the' 
 ye,ar 1000, is. contrary to the evidence of history. 
 
 22 The conversion of the Lithuanians to Christianity was resol " ' on in a 
 general assembly of the nation held in 1387. It consisted simply of 
 the ceremony of baptism. The Polish priests who were employed on 
 this mission, being ignorant of the Lithuanian language, King Jagellon 
 because himself a preacher. One custom which he practised, succeeded 
 better than all the lorce of reasoning or argument. The ^Lithuanians, 
 till then, had used only clothes of skins or linen The Kin? caused 
 
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