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PRESIDENT WHITE LIBRARY
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
D
His

win
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD
A HISTORY OF THE
MODERN WORLD

1815—I1g9I10

=- BY

OSCAR BROWNING

Senior Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, aad
Late University Lecturer in History

Poputar Epirion

NEW YORK

FUNK AND WAGNALLS COMPANY
LL
First Published rg9z2
Popular Edition 1916

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
To

EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
BY
HIS AFFECTIONATE FRIEND
THE AUTHOR
PREFACE

THE present book is designed to be a plain account of the political
events of ninety-five years, more than seventy of which have passed
during the writer’s lifetime and nearly seventy within his recol-
lection. During thirty years spent in teaching history at the
University, there are few of the occurrences here narrated about
which he has not lectured or written, or which he has not discussed
with students. These lectures, writings, and discussions, together
with the best authorities he could find, form the sources of this
book, and they are so intertwined that the author has felt himself
justified in abstaining from more particular reference. It has often
been said that the study of contemporary history, so important for
the education of a politically-minded nation, is neglected amongst
us. Perhaps the present volume may assist in supplying this
defect.

In preparing this work for the press, the writer has been
materially assisted by his first Eton pupil, Mr. Charles Edward
Buckland, C.I.E., sometime Secretary to the Government of

Bengal.
CONTENTS

BOOK I
CHAPTER PAGE
I. ENGLAND, 1815-20 : A . 5 : - ‘ I
2. FRANCE. ‘ : é : : ‘ » Ff
3. THE CONGRESS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE . : : - 23
4. GERMANY . : ‘i ‘ i ; ‘ F . 32

5. SPAIN AND PORTUGAL . : ; : : : . AI
6. ITALY AND NAPLES . : ; ; : ; - 53
7. CONGRESS OF TROPPAU ; ‘ ; : ‘ . 64
8. THE RISING OF GREECE : : é j ‘ » 75
g. SPAIN AND FRANCE. : ‘ ; j . 89
10. THE CONGRESS OF VERONA . ; ‘ : : . 98
II. FRENCH INTERVENTION IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL . . 105
12. THE CARNIVAL OF REACTION ON THE CONTINENT . . 118
13. GREECE, 1822-5 . : ; : ; ; : . 126
14. THE PHILHELLENES . : ‘ : : : . 134

15. THE ACCESSION OF NicHoLas I. AND THE TREATY OF
Lonpon ‘ ‘ ; : : é ‘ . 144
16. NAVARINO . i ; : : . 3 : . 153
17. THE Russo-TuRKISH War, 1828-9 : ; : . 166
18. THE INDEPENDENCE OF GREECE . 5 . : «398
19. THE TERROR IN PORTUGAL . : : : : . 185
20. CHARLES X ‘ ‘ : : . : . 197
21. THE REVOLUTION OF JULY . ; . : : « “212
22. THE CREATION OF BELGIUM. ‘ ‘ : : . 224

23.

THE REFORM ERA IN GREAT BRITAIN . : ; » 235
CONTENTS

BOOK II

CHAPTER

I. ENGLAND, 1832-41

Or on DO WwW ND

AH He HH HW HH HH WW
N Aw ff W DN H O

°

© ON ANA wW DH

. THE CITIZEN KING

. THE END oF POLAND .

. TROUBLE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

. Prus IX :

. PRESIDENT Lovis NAPOLEON

. THE REVOLUTION FEVER IN 1848

. THE First STRUGGLE FoR A New ITALy

. Huncary: THE EFFORT FOR INDEPENDENCE
. THE Coup D’ETAT

. ENGLAND, 1846-52

. THE SECOND EMPIRE .

. ALMA, BALAKLAVA, AND INKERMAN

. THE CRIMEAN WAR: THE CONDITIONS OF PEACE
. THE CAPTURE OF SEBASTOPOL

. THE PEACE oF Paris .

. THE INDIAN MuTINY .

BOOK III

. THE MAKING OF ITALY

. THE CrvIL War IN AMERICA ‘

. GERMANY: THE MAN oF BLOOD AND IRON .
. THE HEGEMONY OF PRUSSIA

. GLADSTONE AND His First MINISTRY .

. FRANCE: DECAY OF THE SECOND EMPIRE

THE BEGINNING OF THE END
SEDAN

. THE WAR WITH THE REPUBLIC
. THE COMMUNE

PAGE
249
266
285
290
300
309
318
326
334
342
350
364
379
393
403
413
424

- 449

475
509
535
569
589
615
639
665
688
CONTENTS

BOOK IV

CHAPTER

I. GLADSTONE’S MINISTRY, 1868-74 .

BH eH HR OH HR HH HH RH
OI ANB WN HO

OC OWaANR WD

RussiA AND THE EAST
THE Russo-TURKISH WAR .

. THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN .
. DisRAELI’s MINISTRY, 1874-80

THE ZuLu War.
THE PACIFICATION OF AFGHANISTAN

. THE TRAGEDY OF KHARTUM

. INDEPENDENCE OF THE TRANSVAAL
. Home RULE : ;

. OLD CHINA AND NEW JAPAN

. FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA .

. RECONQUEST OF THE SUDAN

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR OF 1808 .
. THE BOXERS IN CHINA

. THE BoER War.

. THE Russo-JAPANESE WAR
. EDWARD THE PEACEMAKER .

INDEX .

PAGE
699
714
729
744
755
77°
786
797
813
820
840
855
868
881
889
895
920
936
953
A HISTORY OF
THE MODERN WORLD

BOOK I

CHAPTER I
ENGLAND, 1815=20

Tue fall of Napoleon consequent upon his defeat at Waterloo
marks an epoch in the history of the world. Whatever moral
judgment we may pass upon the conquered Emperor, there can
be no doubt that he was one of the giants of the human race, com-
parable with Julius Cesar, Alexander and Hannibal in ancient
times, with Charles the Great in medieval, and with Louis XIV.,
Frederick and Peter the Great in modern annals. Dominated by
the spirit of order, with a passionate hatred of seeing things badly
done when they might be done well, gifted with untiring energy
of mind and body, he created an empire which covered a large
part of Europe, which was a model of administration, and which,
like the Empire of Rome, has left a signal mark on all the nations
which were subject to it.

His departure from the scene produced the following effects :
It removed a picturesque personality, which has not yet ceased
—and probably never will cease—to impress the imaginations of
men; it left a condition of exhaustion, due partly to the over-
activity which the stimulus of the great monarch had called into
existence, and partly to the obstinacy with which his efforts had
been combated; and it was followed by a desire to undo every-
thing that he had done, and to follow a line of action the exact
contrary to that which he had pursued. Therefore the early years
of the century which we have undertaken to describe are drab
and dull, flaccid and impotent, obscurantist and reactionary.
We cannot rightly estimate the value of Napoleon’s career with-
out considering what preceded and what followed. The French
Revolution had destroyed in France not only all government,
but all the materials from which a government could be con-

B 1
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

structed. The rank, the wealth, the genius of France had perished
under the guillotine; religion, justice and control had been vio-
lently overthrown, liberty had run wild, authority had ceased to
exist. That Bonaparte should have created a government at all
is wonderful; that he should have established it on these founda-
tions is a miracle of genius.

For fifteen short years,as Consul and Emperor, he swayed
continental Europe, and the misgovernment which succeeded him
is a testimony to the excellence of his rule. The fifteen years which
followed his fall are marked by the vices which produced the
Revolution in France and similar outbreaks in other countries.
Monarchy was again restored, the privileged classes resumed their
powers, a corrupt and selfish camarilla usurped the wisdom of the
throne, the people lost their power, the third estate became again
the nothing which it had been before 1789. The career of the
Corsican seemed to have passed like a thunderstorm, and its central
figure was slowly dying on the rock of St. Helena, forgotten for
ever, as the statesmen of Europe fondly believed. But the forces
which produced the French Revolution, which Napoleon so well
understood and so wisely controlled, were indestructible. The
advance of democratic principles could not be stayed. They had
their share in the overthrow of the government which had brought
them into existence. There could never have been a national
rising in Germany unless Napoleon had first broken the fetters
which made all national movements in that country impossible.
Spain learnt fitfully a similar lesson from the same source, and
Russia became conscious of her national strength in her efforts
to resist the invader. Fifteen years after Waterloo the storm
broke, and the eighty odd years which have succeeded the Re-
volution of 1830 are among the most remarkable that the world
has ever known.

England has played a large, even a dominant, part in the
developments of this period. She found herself in 1815 the mis-
tress of Europe, enjoying in great measure the inheritance of the
conqueror she had overthrown. She used her power, if not always
with enlightenment, at least with moderation. She refused to
take part in the Holy Alliance, she entered upon the path of demo-
cratic progress by the reform of the Constitution in 1832, she
suffered but little from the convulsions of 1848, her throne remained
unshaken while others were tottering. Professing a wise and
temperate regard for liberty, she gave assistance to other countries
who were ridding themselves of arbitrary governments; she took
a large share in the erection of a united Italy; her soil became

2
ENGLAND’S DARK DAYS

a sanctuary for exiles of all complexions, and for the remainder
of the century she bore an honoured name as the champion and
defender of the weak. In recent years the urgency of Imperial
problems has lessened her participation in the affairs of Europe,
but her whole career has been glorious, and whether she was right
or wrong in her resistance to Napoleon, history bears no finer
record than the long reign of the spotless Victoria and the short,
autumnal glory of Edward the Peacemaker.

The years which immediately succeeded the Peace of Vienna
are amongst the darkest in our history. Peace brought distress
rather than prosperity. The war, in many ways, had not been
unfavourable to the well-being of the country. Capital had been
invested in Britain as the only place in which it could be safely
stored, the carrying trade of the world had fallen of necessity
into the hands of the mistress of the seas, nearly all the profit on
the huge over-expenditure had found its way into our hands, and
the progress of. agriculture had been nearly as remarkable as
the development of our manufactures. But with the cessation
of war, expenditure due to war ceased; all countries practised
retrenchment, and our own expenditure fell in three years from
£106,000,000 to £53,000,000. There was no longer a Continental
demand for our manufactures; prices fell and, with prices, wages.
Our National Debt exceeded £800,000,000, spent in the struggle
against the Revolution and Napoleon. There was a deficit of
£10,000,000 in the revenue of the year. Farms were thrown
out of occupation, the ranks of the unemployed were swelled by
the reductions in the army and the navy. Bankruptcies increased
in number every day, landlords received no rents, and tenants
could sell no corn. Estates offered for occupation rent-free were
rejected. This distress was intensified by an entire failure of the
harvest of 1816. Distress led to riots, and riots led to cruel acts
of repression. If Napoleon had known of this at St. Helena he
might have felt that his ruin had been in some measure avenged.

Some of the more serious riots took the form of the destruction
of machinery, and the more notable of the machine destroyers
were known by the name of Luddites, Ned Ludd was a half-witted
fellow in a Leicestershire village, who was the butt of the village
lads. One day, pursuing his tormentors, and being unable to
catch them, in a passion he broke two stocking-frames, and from
this all breaking of stocking-frames was said to be the work of
Ludd and all destroyers of machinery were called Luddites. It
was natural that a political remedy should be sought for this evil,
and the party that charged themselves with the duty of finding

3
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a remedy took the name of Radicals. The name, now harmless,
was then a red rag to all moderate people, as the term Socialist
so often is at the present time. Radicals were regarded as the
enemies of the human race, and every effort was made to suppress
them. Even those who undoubtedly held Radical opinions were
afraid to use the odious appellation. Every rioter was a Radical,
and every Radical was supposed to be a rioter and a rebel. A
meeting of Radicals held in the Spa Fields, in December, 1816,
led to a riot, in which a mob, marching under a tricolour flag,
plundered a gunsmith’s shop and fired at respectable citizens.
They were, however, opposed by a determined Lord Mayor and
gradually dispersed.

So far as the Radicals had a definite programme it was embodied
in a demand for annual parliaments, universal suffrage, vote by
ballot, abolition of property qualification for candidates, and
payment of members. These five points, afterwards increased to
six, formed the People’s Charter, and the persons demanding them
were called Chartists. There was nothing very formidable in
these proposed reforms; three of them we have already, and the
others may possibly come. Unfortunately the task of dealing with
the disorders was entrusted to one of the worst Ministries ever
known in England. Liverpool and Castlereagh knew nothing of
conciliation, and met the natural consequences of discontent with
penal laws of increasing severity. At the beginning of 1817 the
Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, and special Acts were passed
by which the refusal of a seditious meeting to disperse was punish-
able by death; safeguards were provided for the security of the
person of the Prince Regent; and all attempts to tamper with the
allegiance of the army and navy were severely punished. This
was the last time that the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended
in England.

These violent measures to repress disorder naturally increased
it, and incendiary fires and riots, which soldiers had to be called
out to suppress, occurred in every quarter of the country. One
of the most picturesque demonstrations was the march of the
“ Blanketeers,’ which originated in Manchester. Some four or
five thousand men, each provided with a blanket, and some of
them with arms, set out to march to London with a petition for
the Prince Regent. They were met by the Life Guards at
Stockport ; about five hundred of them reached Macclesfield, and
not more than twenty crossed the borders of Staffordshire.

Later, signs of increasing prosperity appeared. There was
an abundant harvest, the price of wheat fell, and with it the

4
AN ANTI-PRESS CAMPAIGN

prices of other articles of food. National confidence increased.
Consols, which in January, 1817, were as low as 62, rose in August
to 81. Trade steadily improved.

The Ministry, however, pursued their policy of repression,
directing their efforts now against the liberty of the Press. Lord
Sidmouth considered the Press to be the worst enemy to the
Constitution, and this opinion was shared by many excellent
people. In all countries and in all ages an unrestricted Press has
done great mischief. Seasons of war and tumult bring grist to
the pressman’s mill; a great war produces a great fortune for a
newspaper, and it is natural that the Press should make slight
endeavours to instigate conditions so favourable to its prosperity.
Repression, however, causes more evils than license, and the healthy
atmosphere of freedom is by far the most efficient remedy for the
evils which it may in some cases help to produce.

In March, 1817, Lord Sidmouth, as Home Secretary, sent a
circular letter to the Lords Lieutenants of the counties, urging
them to prevent as far as possible the circulation of blasphemous
and seditious pamphlets and letters, and saying that the apprehen-
sion of persons charged with the publication of literature of this
nature would be in accordance with law. The legality of this action
was very doubtful, but the Ministry was so strong in Parliament
that questioners were silenced. These new batteries were first
directed against a contemptible rag entitled The Black Dwarf,
which had the hardihood to libel the Ministry. The printer and
publisher, named Wooler, received the honour of a State prosecu-
tion; but the jury were not unanimous in their condemnation of
him, and the Ministry suffered a defeat. The case of Wooler was
the forerunner of the more famous trial of William Hone, a little
bookseller in the Old Bailey, who had published parodies on the
Catechism, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and other parts
of the Prayer Book. At the first trial he was acquitted amidst
general applause; on a second trial, the jury only deliberated for
two hours; on a third, after half an hour, he was declared not
guilty. Popular enthusiasm was strongly in his favour, and a
subscription was raised for his family.

When Parliament met in January, 1818, the Habeas Corpus
Act was restored. The prosperity of the country gradually
increased, and the price of wheat fell. But a General Election was
at hand. The Parliament, returned in 1812, had run its natural
course, and it was hoped that in the new contest the Ministry
would lose and the Opposition gain. At a General Election in
our own day every seat is contested, but at that time more than

5
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

half the seats were at the disposal either of the Government or of
some individual, so that little more than a hundred seats were in
dispute. No great change took place, but the numbers of the
Opposition were raised from 140 to 173. The rising prosperity
of the country was shown by the resumption of cash payments by
the Bank of England. Theoretically, every bank-note represents
a corresponding amount of gold, and may be exchanged for that
amount at any moment. But in 1797, the darkest period of the
French War, this had been found impossible, and bank-notes were
given a compulsory circulation. It was now possible to return
to the former procedure, and in 1819 an Act was passed which
ordered the entire resumption of cash payments to any amount
after May ist, 1821. At the present day every note issued by
the Bank of England represents an equivalent amount of gold
stored in the Bank’s coffers, so that no promise to pay is made
unless there is sufficient money to meet the promise. This provi-
sion may not be necessary. In foreign countries, when notes are
at par, only a sufficient amount of gold is retained to secure this
result. But it is essential to the security of national trade that
there should be no fluctuation in the value of paper money, and
the certainty of the existence of this reserve in the Bank of England
produces a national confidence which nothing else could bring
into existence.

Notwithstanding these favourable symptoms, an event now
occurred which stirred the feeling of the nation to the depths.
On August 16th, 1819, a popular meeting was summoned at Man-
chester, for the purpose of electing what was called a Legislational
Attorney, that is to say, a person who could represent the town in
petitioning the Speaker, and so perform a duty which would have
belonged to the member for Manchester if such a person had
existed. The meeting was held in St. Peter’s Fields, a space of
open ground on the outskirts of the town, which had been used
before for Radical meetings and by the ‘“ Blanketeers” in 1817.
Hunt, the leader of the Radicals, was to speak. Pains had been
taken to conduct the meeting with some show of military order,
and the town authorities had taken steps on their side to prevent
disturbance by moving troops into the town, enrolling special
constables, and calling out the Yeomanry. Shortly after day-
break fifty or sixty thousand persons, male and female, marched
to St. Peter’s Fields, under banners bearing inscriptions such as
“Liberty or Death!” “ We will conquer our enemies,” “No
Corn Laws,” and ‘‘ Hunt and Liberty.” Wagons had been placed
in the centre of the field for the use of the speakers, and the

6
“MASSACRE OF PETERLOO”

county magistrates were assembled in a house close to the place
of meeting. Hunt began to speak, and the Chief Constable was
ordered to arrest him. This it was impossible for him to do, and
the Yeomanry and the Hussars were sent for. ,The Yeomanry
became scattered among the crowd, and the Hussars were ordered
to extricate them. The trumpet sounded the charge, the soldiers
swept the crowd before them till they were huddled up in a
confused mass at the other end of the field. The ground was
covered with hats, shoes, sticks, musical instruments, and other
relics of the confusion, and amongst them lay the bodies of those
who were too much injured to walk away, some women being
among the sufferers. Hunt quietly surrendered to the Chief
Constable and was removed in custody, and by six o’clock every-
thing was tranquil. Such was the “massacre of Peterloo,”’ a
name fashioned in jest, after the great national victory of
Waterloo.

It was difficult to decide whether this meeting at Manchester
was legal or illegal. Lords Eldon and Redesdale declared it to be
an act of open treason. The law officers of the Crown advised
the Premier that the meeting was of such a character as to justify
the magistrates in dispersing it by force; but, if these authorities
were correct, the old right of public meeting was destroyed and it
was treason for a thousand persons to meet together to demand
the reform of the House of Commons. The Prince Regent sent
his commands to the Ministry to convey his appreciation and high
commendation of the conduct of the magistrates and civil authori-
ties at Manchester, as well as of the officers and troops, both
regular and Yeomanry, whose firmness and effectual support of
the civil power had preserved the peace of the town on that critical
occasion. Such members of the Cabinet as were in town com-
mitted themselves to hasty approval of the magistrates and the
troops. It was found, however, that evidence against the rioters
did not warrant a prosecution for high treason; the charge had to
be withdrawn and to be changed into one of conspiring to alter
the law by force and threats. The prisoners were committed for
trial on this charge, and in the following year were sentenced to
various terms of imprisonment.

Great indignation at the conduct of the Ministry was shown
throughout the country. Meetings were held at Westminster,
York, Bristol, Liverpool, Nottingham, and other towns. The
Common Council of London passed a series of resolutions affirm-
ing the legality of the Manchester meeting, and their strong
indignation at the unprovoked and intemperate proceedings of

7
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the military, which they regarded as highly disgraceful to the
character of Englishmen and a daring violation of the British
Constitution. These opinions were embodied in an address which
was presented to the Prince Regent in person. He replied to it
in a tone of angry remonstrance.

The most important of the protesting meetings was held in
Yorkshire. The requisition asking the High Sheriff to call it was
signed by Lord Fitzwilliam, as Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding ;
the meeting was attended by 20,000 persons, and demanded an
inquiry into what happened at Peterloo. Lord Fitzwilliam was
present in person. Before a week had elapsed he received a letter
saying that the Prince Regent had no longer occasion for his
services as Lord Lieutenant. Parliament met on November 2oth,
and its meeting was signalised by the passing of the repressive
measures known as the “ Six Acts.” This policy, inaugurated by
the Tories, was unfortunately supported by a section of the Whigs,
notably by Lord Grenville and Lord Buckingham. The “ Six
Acts”? were very different in character: some of them noxious,
some of them harmless, or even salutary. The first two, pre-
venting delay in the administration of justice in case of misde-
meanour, and forbidding the training of persons in the use of arms
and the practice of military evolutions, were reasonable enough ;
the first, indeed, as altered by Lord Holland, removed a weapon
of persecution which had often been used against rioters. The
remaining four Acts were of an obnoxious character; the first
authorised the seizure of seditious and blasphemous libels, and
made banishment the punishment for a second conviction; the
second authorised Justices of the Peace in certain disturbed coun-
ties to seize and detain arms. The latter was only a temporary
measure, but an attempt to confine the right of search to the day-
time was rejected by a large majority. The former proved entirely
useless ; its provisions were never enforced, and ten years later
it was repealed. By the fifth of these “Six Acts” certain small
publications were subjected to the stamp duties enforced in the
case of newspapers, a restriction of the liberty of the Press which
the Opposition were powerless to prevent. The last Act was the
most stringent of all. It aimed at the prevention of seditious
assemblies. Excepted from its operations were certain meetings
summoned by Lords Lieutenants or Sheriffs, borough meetings
called by Mayors or corresponding officials, and meetings convened
by five or more Justices of the Peace. With these exceptions all
meetings for the consideration of grievances against Church or
State, or for the purpose of drawing up petitions, except in

8
DEATH OF GEORGE Il

the parishes where the individuals actually resided, were pro-
hibited,

No person who was not an actual resident. in the place was
allowed to attend such a meeting, nor could it be held unless
previous notice had been given to a neighbouring magistrate,
who might prevent the meeting if he pleased. No persons
carrying arms or banners were allowed to attend.

By these measures the power of meeting would be confined
to the privileged classes; ordinary persons could only attend
meetings in their own parishes, and professional orators would be
entirely excluded from them. In addition, a meeting could only
be convened by the mayor in a corporate town, and at this time
Manchester, Birmingham, and other large towns were not only
unrepresented in Parliament, but also were not corporate. Thus
persons residing in them were prevented, both outside and inside
Parliament, from expressing their opinions on political questions.
The Opposition were powerless to prevent these tyrannical measures
from being passed, and they could only succeed in limiting their
operation to five years.

The death of George III., which happened at this time, was an
event of no importance. Bereft of reason, sight, and hearing,
he had been seen occasionally, as a phantom with a long, white
beard, at the windows of Windsor Castle. But, owing to the
decease of the King, Parliament was prorogued and immediately
dissolved. The new reign opened in circumstances of darkness and
gloom. The Ministers were so unpopular that a conspiracy was
formed to murder them. The head of the conspirators was Arthur
Thistlewood, a well-known Radical, fifty years of age—a military-
looking man of fair height, with sallow complexion, dark hair, and
dark, hazel eyes. He had just come out of prison, and he now
proposed to assassinate the whole Cabinet, to take a few pieces of
artillery which happened to be in London unguarded, to set fire
to a large bank and some public buildings, to seize the Tower and
the Mansion House, and to establish a provisional government.
Thistlewood was joined by Ings (a butcher), Bush (a shoemaker),
Davidson (a man of colour), Adams (a retired soldier), Hiden (a
cowkeeper), and others. It was announced in the newspapers
that the Cabinet were to dine with Lord Harrowby on February
23rd, at his house in Grosvenor Square. The house was to be
attacked by fourteen men. One was to ring the bell on the pre-
tence of delivering a note, and the conspirators were to rush in.
Hand-grenades were to be thrown in at the windows, and the
Ministers who were not killed by them were to be assassinated.

B* 9
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Ministers had for some time past received full information about
the plot from one of the conspirators ; they knew that arms, bombs,
and hand-grenades were stored in a loft over a stable in Cato
Street, a small thoroughfare running parallel to the Edgware Road.
Warrants were now issued, and the place was attacked by the
police. Twenty-five conspirators were discovered, just preparing
to set out for Lord Harrowby’s house. As the police climbed
the ladder to the loft, the first of them was stabbed to the heart
as he entered, and many of the conspirators escaped, including
Thistlewood. He was, however, captured next day and was tried
for high treason, found guilty, and condemned to death. He was
hanged, with four other conspirators, in front of the debtors’
door, Newgate, on May 1st, 1820. The corpses were beheaded
after death, but the bodies were not quartered, as the sentence
had provided. Thistlewood died with spirit. At the news of
the plot, terror spread through the kingdom. It was compared
in atrocity with the famous Gunpowder Plot in the reign of
James I. It was laid to the charge of the Radical reformers,
and the name of Radical became more hateful than ever. The
plot was only the work of a few, but misery and discontent must
have risen to a high pitch before such remedies could be con-
templated.

10
CHAPTER II
FRANCE.

WHEN Louis XVIII. returned to Paris, after the Battle of Waterloo,
he found himself reigning over a new France. The old order of
things had been swept away by the Revolution; equality had
taken the place of privilege. Napoleon had founded an Imperial
democracy, in which a career was open to talent, in which pro-
motion even to the highest offices was independent of family, of
fortune, and of faith. The land was freed from burdens, and was
divided equally among the children after the death of its possessor.
Society rested on a basis in which all forms of aristocracies, spiritual
as well as temporal, had ceased to exist. This fabric was held
together by the most perfect machinery of centralised authority
which the world has ever seen—an authority which even now
endures, and which has held France together in the shock of
revolutions, in the vicissitudes of rulers, in disaster and in
prosperity. But for the institutions of Napoleon, France of
the present day could not exist. Louis followed the advice of
Fouché to rest in the bed of the great Emperor; the system of
centralised government received some modification, which did not
alter its character. Paul Louis Courier could with reason com-
plain that authority and not law was the dominant force in France.

It became necessary, however, as a concession to modern ideas,
to reconcile the two conflicting principles of authority and liberty.
Even Napoleon, on his return from Elba, had thought it wise to
grant a Constitution—‘‘ La Benjamine”’ of Benjamin Constant—
a step which he had much better have deferred till he was firmly
established on his throne. The Bourbons gave the nation La
Charte, a charter of liberties, which was due rather to the gener-
osity of the sovereign than to the triumph of the people. Although
it acknowledged all titles of nobility, both old and new, it made
all Frenchmen equal before the law. It did away with exemption
from taxes; it recognised all religions, but the Catholic religion
was declared to be the religion of the State; judges were made
irremovable, and while the executive remained in the hands of the
King, legislative power was divided between him and the Chambers.
A Constitutional Government had been established, but Article 14

II
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

still gave the sovereign power to issue such ordinances and regu-
lations as might be necessary for the execution of the laws and the
security of the State, and, fifteen years later, this proved to be the
ruin of the Bourbon monarchy.

Louis XVIII. was a clever and cultivated man, adroit and
subtle, who in the prime of life might have shown himself a com-
petent sovereign; but at the age of sixty he was confined to his
arm-chair by gout, and his predominant wish was to die King of
France. He had during his exile held with unshaken tenacity the
consciousness of his rank and his destiny, and had never in poverty
and abasement abated an iota of his kingly majesty. His heir,
the Comte d’Artois, was of a different stamp. In his absence from
France he had learnt nothing and forgotten nothing; a libertine
turned saint, he lived entirely under priestly influence; he was
benevolent but narrow, easy-going but obstinate, possessed by
the delusion that the nightmare of Liberalism would pass away, and
that the good old days of absolute government would return. He
accepted the Chavte with reluctance, and insisted on the white flag
of the Bourbons instead of the tricolour of the Empire being the
banner of the new monarchy. ‘‘ Monsieur,’’ as he was called, had
two sons, the Duc d’Angouléme, whose devotion to his father
prevented his sterling qualities from being appreciated, and the
Duc de Berri, whose turbulent and unstable character deprived
him of all political influence. Angouléme was married to Marie
Thérése, the only daughter of. Louis XVI., a woman of masculine
energy, but of hard and narrow mind, whose reddened’ eyes and
hollow cheeks were the result of her confinement in the Temple.
In the background stood Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, and
son of Philippe Egalité, who perished on the scaffold. He was a
remarkable man, gifted with an extraordinary memory ; his occu-
pation as a teacher in Switzerland had taught him much. He had
acted as doorkeeper to the Jacobin Club; he had lived through
the Terror; he had experienced the splendour of the old regime
and the tortures of exiled poverty. He knew how to bide his
time. Raised to the throne, he gave France eighteen years of
good government, until he was ruined by his lack of prestige and
the stubbornness of his temper.

After Waterloo the four Powers—England, Russia, Austria
and Prussia—who had brought about the fall of Napoleon, would
not relax their hold on the country which they had defeated ; they
supported the Bourbon king, but they had no confidence in France.
The ambassadors of these four countries met every week to regu-
late the affairs of the country, and they might have committed

12
THE “WHITE TERROR”

serious errors had they not been held in check by the solid
sense and manly moderation of the Duke of Wellington, who
commanded the army of occupation.

The most important members of the Ministry were Fouché
and Talleyrand, two enigmatical characters, whose riddle the indus-
try of a hundred years has as yet failed to solve. Fouché could not
have attained the position he held if he had not possessed some
good qualities to balance the contemptible vices which are indelibly
associated with his name. But he was a regicide; the King and
Artois would scarcely speak to him; the Duchesse d’Angouléme
would not admit him to her house. Talleyrand, one of the ablest
statesmen known to history, is extremely difficult to characterise.
The servant of every government in turn, alternately the friend and
the enemy of the priesthood to which he belonged, the Republic
which he represented, the Empire which he first obeyed and then
destroyed, the saviour of France at Vienna, her worthy ambassador
in London, he stands as a type of a versatile genius, without
principle or morality, ready and content to pluck the jewel of
personal safety from the fire of danger and disaster. Still, the
careful student of his career is tempted to believe that love of
France was his dominant motive, and that he served each master so
long as his conduct was compatible with security and common sense,
and left him when extravagance and exaggeration were likely to
incur disaster. The characters of most men are double; in those
whom destiny places in positions full of moment for the race, this
duplicity becomes as important as it is difficult to disentangle.

The other members of the Ministry need not, for the present,
concern us. Moderate in themselves, they were powerless to
prevent the outburst of royalist ferocity, known by the name of
the “ White Terror,” to distinguish it from the “ Red Terror” of
Robespierre. The friends of the restored monarchy, especially in
the south of France, were eager to execute their vengeance on the
defeated Bonapartists. The plunderings and massacres began in
Marseilles, and were continued in Autun, Carpentras, Nimes, Uzés,
and the neighbouring towns. The forces of the King were power-
less to put down the bandits marching under the white flag, who
were the instruments of these excesses. The fever spread to the
rest of France, but in a milder form; there were no murders in
the west, only robberies and imprisonments; in the east and north
the Bourbonists contented themselves with denunciations, and in
these parts order was preserved by the presence of foreign troops.

At the same time the King felt that he must pay some tribute
to the prevailing sentiment, and Fouché was deputed to draw up

13
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a list of the proscribed. It contained the names of Carnot, Maret,
Barére, Ney—who engaged to bring back Napoleon to Paris in
a cage—and Labédoyére, who joined the Emperor with his troops
at Vizille. Every effort was made to save Labédoyére, but he
was shot on the Plain of Grenelle on August roth, 1815. The
election resulted in the return of a strongly Royalist Chamber, and,
as a natural consequence, Fouché and Talleyrand lost their places.
Fouché had to content himself with the post of Minister at Dresden,
but Talleyrand was made Grand Chamberlain, with a large salary.

The new Prime Minister was the Duc de Richelieu, a much-
travelled and deeply-experienced man, who, in the enforced exile
of the emigration, had created Odessa and developed the province
of which he was governor. His friendship with the Emperor
Alexander enabled him to obtain favourable terms for his country
in the payment of the indemnity, and in this way he supplied the
loss of Talleyrand. The place of Fouché was taken by Decazes,
a young lawyer who had been President of the Paris Assizes under
the Empire. Affable, versatile, and courteous, with an agreeable
face and a sympathetic manner, he naturally became the favourite
of the Court. Louis loved him like a child and loaded him with
honours, while the aristocrats of the Faubourg St. Germain lost
no time in greeting the rising sun.

The new Ministry met the Chambers on October 7th. The new
House of Representatives was strongly Royalist, to the great joy of
the King, who called it the Chambre Introuvable: the priceless, the
unique—a word which cannot adequately be translated into our
tongue. The name adhered, as it was used quite as much for ridicule
as for praise. The Royalists were, however, of two complexions :
one division, of which Pasquier, de Serre, Royer-Collard and
Beugnot were the leaders, saw the necessity of reuniting the new
France with the old, and of moderating the zeal of the “ Ultras.”
These latter, stimulated by Monsieur, were enthusiastic supporters
of throne and altar. Coming from the provinces, they were at
first without discipline, but they soon found a leader in Villéle.
In the upper Chamber the old nobility of France sat side by side
with the offspring of Napoleon’s marshals, or with these marshals
themselves. Three measures of a reactionary character were
brought forward by Ministers. The first was directed against all
injurious expressions in word, writing, or picture against the
King and his family, attacks on the Charte, and other similar
offences. The second authorised the imprisonment, without a
trial, of anyone who had offended against the person or authority
of the King or his family, or against the security of the State;

14.
“ PURIFICATION ” OF FRANCE

such offences were to be denounced to the police by a number of
subordinate officials, but the law was to expire at the end of the
session, unless it was renewed. The third law provided for the
establishment of a provost marshal’s jurisdiction in every depart-
ment, to take cognisance of all attacks upon the Government,
and the law was to have a retrospective action.

These laws were not only passed by the second Chamber, but
were made more severe in their passage. In their zeal for the
Crown, the members of the Chamber went further than the Ministers
themselves. A discussion followed upon the exceptions to be
made to the general law of amnesty, which had been passed at
Cambray on the return of Louis. Labourdonnaye demanded the
death of all who had taken part in the restoration of the Hundred
Days. The regicides of the Convention, amnestied by the Charte,
were to lose their pardon if they had taken any share in the govern-
ment of Napoleon. Transportation and confiscation of property
were the natural penalties, but Labourdonnaye clamoured for the
guillotine ; the rebels must be frightened, their leaders must lose
their heads, the shedding of a little blood would stop streams of
gore. Richelieu felt that it would be very difficult to stem
the rising tide of fanaticism. Ney, who had escaped death in a
hundred battles, fell in a Paris street under the fire of twelve of
his countrymen. The law of amnesty was hotly debated; the
Ministry were saved, but only by the skin of their teeth. Europe
was full of poverty-stricken exiles, wandering miserably from place
to place; in the Netherlands, Republicans and Bonapartists
found a secure asylum. The purification of the army demanded
many victims; the prisons were crowded with general and inferior
officers awaiting their trial. The administration underwent a
similar process; from the prefect to the council clerk, all were
subjected to a searching examination ; the provost marshals found
plenty of occupation. Executions, indeed, had come to an end;
but fines, imprisonments, and hard labour took their place.

The propaganda of the Clericals became gradually stronger,
and they found an active leader in the Comte d’Artois. The
Pavillon Marsan, the part of the Tuileries in which he lived, was
opposed to the Pavillon de Flore, the residence of the King. The
two brothers were scarcely on speaking terms. ‘The policy of the
Ultras was shown more clearly in the debates about the franchise
and the budget, as the first of these questions had not been deter-
mined by the Charte, but had been left for future consideration
and legislation. In these discussions Villéle gradually assumed a
prominent place. Beginning life as a sailor, he had learned the

15
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

cautious avoidance of political storms. He was an enemy of un-
controlled fanaticism ; he possessed a plain and practical wisdom,
which gave its influence by clearness and acuteness, without any
gifts of oratory or presence. His hope of victory lay in indefatig-
able work and sane compromise. He drew up a scheme by which
the members of the Chamber were chosen by a double election and
were themselves to have a high qualification of age and property.
In the cantons, the voters must be twenty-five years old, and pay
direct taxes of at least fifty francs; in the departments they must
be thirty years old, and pay direct taxes of three hundred francs.
The candidates must be forty years old and pay taxes to the amount
of a thousand francs. These propositions did not receive the appro-
bation either of the Moderates or of the Ultras, and the plan finally
proposed by the Chamber was not likely to gain the favour of any
party. Similar questions of principle arose in the debates on the
budget, the recognition of obligations incurred during the Hundred
Days, the proportion between direct and indirect taxes—the first
of which would fall most heavily on the rich, the second on the
poor—the propriety of confiscating communal property, whether
land or woods, roused violent differences of opinion. An agree-
ment was at length arrived at, and the Ministry was able to present
to the Peers an almost unanimous proposal. The proposal made
by the Chambers for the conduct of elections was rejected by the
upper house, and a scheme drawn up by Villéle, by which matters
were left for the time being in their present condition, was accepted
by the Tories. The King was disgusted by the defeat of his
Ministry, but was forced to submit. The budget was passed by
the Peers and, after an attempt made by the Ultras to abolish
divorce and to place the Church in a position of independence of
taxation, the session closed.

These disputes were watched with deep interest by the great
Powers, whose armies still occupied the soil of France. They feared,
on the one hand, lest the violence of the Ultras should produce a
new Revolution, and, on the other, lest a weakness in the finances
should hinder the payment of the debt. Confidence, however, pre-
vailed ; and in January, 1816, the foreign garrison in Paris, which
had been reduced to two English brigades, was entirely withdrawn.
Wellington, with his usual gcod sense, warned Louis against the
pernicious influence of Monsieur, but his action gave offence to both
parties. Louis was not disposed to accept advice, and the Ultras
renewed the cry of “ Perfidious Albion.”

In May, 1816, a conspiracy took place in Grenoble, by which a
man of little importance, named Didier, attempted to upset the

16
ROYALIST FEROCITY

throne of the Bourbons and to establish either the Duc d’Orléans
or the King of Rome in its place. The plot ended in failure, and
Didier escaped to Savoy ; but General Donnadieu, a violent Royalist,
who commanded at Grenoble, exaggerated its importance. In his
heated imagination the number of rebels rose from four thousand
to seven thousand, from seven thousand to fifteen thousand, and
from fifteen thousand to the whole population of the province.
The Department of the Seine was declared in a state of siege, Don-
nadieu and the prefects were invested with discretionary powers,
the garrison of Grenoble was strengthened, and house-searchings
and imprisonments became the order of the day. Fourteen
wretched people were shot in one day, and seven more on another.
Didier, surrendered by the King of Sardinia, was executed. When
Donnadieu had been made a viscount, decorated with the Order
of St. Louis, and received a gift of £40,000, it was discovered that
the plot had never existed, and that the throne had never been in
danger. But Royalists were delighted to have such an oppor-
tunity of annoying their enemies, and wished for similar plots all
over the south of France. Military courts were roused into activity,
admirals and provost marshals vied with them in energy. The fire
spread to Paris; three conspirators were executed in the Place
-de la Gréve, in the guise of parricides, their heads covered with
black veils, robed in white sheets. A huge crowd saw their heads
chopped off, and threw their hats into the air with shouts of
“Vive le Roi!’ Similar scenes occurred in the departments,
and it is impossible to ascertain the number of victims who perished.
The true conspirators were those who sought to find conspirators
everywhere, and who, armed with authority, saw in their own
enemies the enemies of the King, and, if they could not find them,
created them by persecution.

The intemperance of the Ultras could only be met by the
dissolution of the Chamber. The proclamation ordering this was
prepared in secret, with the help of Decazes. It fell like a thunder-
bolt in the Pavillon Marsan; and Louis, to avoid disagreeable
argument, lay in bed. In the elections the Ultras were completely
defeated, except in the west and south. The new Chamber met
on November 4th, 1816. The King addressed them as a father to
a band of brothers, but the family to which he spoke was torn by
bitter hatred. It was a struggle for life and death, and the ordinary
forms of politeness were forgotten. Hatred of Decazes drove
Talleyrand to support the extreme party. Attempts were made
by Monsieur to attract the English Tories to his side, but without
success. Canning visited Paris to see things with his own eyes,

17
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

but he was not caught by flattery. On the other hand, Richelieu
endeavoured to obtain a diminution of the foreign garrison, but
it was strongly opposed by Wellington, and France had still to
maintain 150,000 unwelcome guests.

In the new Chamber the Ultra-royalists, whose leaders were
Villéle, Labourdonnaye, Corbiére, Bonald and Castelbajac, were
inferior in numbers to the combined majority of the Centre and
the Left. The Right Centre was led by Royer-Collard, the head
of the Doctrinaires, who was chosen Vice-President of the Chamber
and was supported by the majority of the Ministers and a number of
high officials, which included Guizot and Molé. The principal mem-
bers of the Ministry after the Duc de Richelieu were Decazes and
Lainé, to whom was shortly added Pasquier, as Minister of Justice.

The object of the Ministry was to pursue a middle course between
Liberalism and reaction. The franchise question was settled by
Lainé, in a proposal founded on the previous discussions. The
right of voting was confined to men of thirty years of age who paid
direct taxes to the amount of three hundred francs. The elections
were to be held at a single place in each department, by scrutin
de liste, and by a majority of votes. The returning officers were
nominated by the King; they were to choose their own scrutineers
from the oldest of the voters, and the secretary from the youngest.
These propositions naturally met with opposition. Some were”
devoted to the principle of a double election, and were adverse to
the meeting of all the electors in a single spot ; but the main resist-
ance to this plan came from the Ultras. Fiévée said: “‘ The King
names the returning officer, the returning officer appoints the
committee, the committee nominates the electors, and the con-
stituents are mere spectators.” By the stress of circumstances the
extreme Tories were driven to urge the claims of the working classes.
At length the measure was passed by a small majority, in January,
1817. It had yet to receive the approval of the Peers. The
President said that it was too democratical. Talleyrand, on
the other hand, denounced it as a product of oligarchy; Artois and
his son Angouléme presented a protest against the Bill, composed by
Chateaubriand. Polignac, Montmorency, the Duke of FitzJames,
and other aristocrats predicted that a revolution would arise from
the predominance of the middle classes. On the other hand, La
Rochefoucauld, Boissy d’Anglas, Macdonald, Marmont, Molé and
Broglie came to the rescue, and they were supported by the King,
so that the Bill passed and received the royal assent. Unfortun-
ately, exceptional coercive legislation and the censure of the Press
still remained. The session closed at the end of March, 1817.

18
THE HOPE OF FRANCE

The Ministry now turned their attention to tne number of
French exiles who in Belgium and other neighbouring countries
were designing schemes against the Bourbon house. Some looked
to the Prince of Orange, the eldest son of the King of Holland, as
a possible ruler of France. He was married to a sister of the
Tsar, and the assistance of his brother-in-law, Alexander, would
be of great service to him. Bonapartism was perhaps an even greater
danger. Thousands of discharged soldiers looked with enthusiasm
to the exile of St. Helena. The funeral of Masséna gave an occa-
sion for hostile demonstrations. The appearance of an impudent
forgery, entitled, ‘A Manuscript from St. Helena,” increased the
excitement. Villéle said to the Austrian Ambassador, ‘‘ Napoleon
never had so many adherents since his fall; the discontented,
the ambitious, the Liberals, the revolutionaries, all sects are his
creatures and march under his banner.” Threats and suspicion
resumed their sway, and the unfortunate exile on the rock had to
suffer for their delusions. It was feared that the exiles across the
Atlantic would found a kingdom for Joseph in South America,
whence he could sail for the liberation of his brother. Napoleon’s
mother, his sister Pauline, his brothers Lucien and Jerome, his
step-daughter Hortense, his sister Caroline Murat, were anxiously
watched. Lucien was not allowed to accompany his son Charles
on a visit to Joseph in America.+ Prince Eugéne was hardly pro-
tected by his connection with the Russian house and the affection
of the Tsar; the little King of Rome was made a scapegoat in
Vienna. It was seriously believed that Napoleon might escape.

France was doomed to suffer other calamities. A cold and wet
summer caused a famine. Bread rose to a franc a pound, and the
peasants had to live on roots. This gave rise to riots: corn-ships
were attacked, markets were plundered, granaries robbed. The
White Terror was not at an end; it broke out anew in Lyons, where
the military governor, Camuel, set himself to emulate the exploits
of Donnadieu. A riot caused by his severity broke out in June,
1817. The tocsin sounded in the villages; the king’s busts were
destroyed; the tricolour was displayed. The disturbance lasted
only a week, but now was the time for Camuel’s vengeance. He
sent his soldiers throughout the country, to arrest hundreds of
peasants. The provost marshal was in fullest activity. The guillo-
tine was carried about from village to village. Thousands of persons
sought safety in flight, and no one knew when the Terror would
come to an end. The Government profited by their experiences
of the villainies of Donnadieu; they sent Marshal Marmont to
inquire and, after some time, he discovered that the reports of

19
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Camuel were false. He went so far as to say that Camuel’s head
alone could atone for the murder of innocent victims and the
destruction of social order. Lyons breathed again and regarded
Marmont as her liberator, but the Pavillon Marsan grumbled and
vowed vengeance against him and his assistant, Fabvier.

This period saw the rise of the Doctrinaires, a small, but united,
party whose principles resembled in some respects those of the
English Whigs. Their leader, as we have said, was Royer-Collard,
who had been in his youth secretary of the Paris Commune and a
member of the Council of Five Hundred. He was expelled from
one on the roth of August and from the other on the 18th of Fruc-
tidor. He had been appointed by Napoleon Professor of the
History of Philosophy, a post which he used to familiarise French-
men with the doctrines of Kant. He was thoroughly unselfish ;
the strength of his classical style, the patriarchal simplicity of his
life, his powerful voice, impressed the Chamber with the idea of
his personality, but the dogmatic and sometimes sarcastic character
of his speeches lost him many friends. His most able supporters
were Camille Jourdan, de Serre, Rémusat and the Duc de Broglie.

The influence of the Doctrinaires showed itself in the discus-
sion of the law on the freedom of the Press. The Charte had
promised to secure the free expression of opinion; but the law of
November oth, 1815, had established a censure for periodical pub-
lications, and was to last till the beginning of the year 1821. The
Ministry proposed slight modifications, which did not satisfy either
of the parties. The Doctrinaires, forming the Left Centre, advo-
cated that all Press trials should be submitted to juries, freely
chosen. This was supported by Beugnot, Camille Jourdan and
Royer-Collard. Lainé reproached the Doctrinaires with an exag-
gerated respect for English methods; Decazes was inclined to
support them. It was eventually agreed that the censure of poli-
tical publications should continue only till the close of the following
session. The jury was given up, but the Doctrinaires violently
opposed the deposition of a copy of a forthcoming work in the office,
answering to our Stationers” Hall, which made it possible to suppress
a work before it was published. On this question they gained
their point, and the Ministry was defeated. But the Peers came
to their assistance. Chateaubriand, Polignac, Broglie and Boissy
d’Anglas thundered against the new law, and the censure was con-
tinued. The King was disgusted with the Doctrinaires, and his
feelings were shared by Richelieu and Lainé.

More important was the question of army reform, to which the
new Minister for War, the famous Marshal Saint-Cyr, now laid his

20
SAINT-CYR’S ARMY SCHEME

hand. The conscription of Napoleon had become such a terrible
burden that the Bourbons could not continue it, and it was con-
demned by the Charte, But free-recruiting proved inadequate to
the needs of the army. Saint-Cyr introduced a compromise. He
provided that if free recruiting did not produce an army of 150,000
men, the gaps were to be filled by ballot among men of twenty
years of age, who were to serve for six years, but might provide
substitutes. The number of these conscripts was not to exceed
40,000. The army was strengthened by a reserve of veterans, who
were to serve for another six years, but not outside the frontiers
of France. Promotion was to be by merit, and the influence of the
Crown in that matter was to be diminished.

Saint-Cyr’s Bill was well received, even by the Left, but was
violently opposed by the Ultras, who were afraid that the veterans
would consist mainly of Napoleon’s soldiers; they detested the
principle of promotion by merit. Villéle was more reasonable,
but still an opponent of the scheme. Saint-Cyr defended his Bill
with spirit, and repelled the attacks against the veterans of Napo-
leon. They had earned deathless glory on the field of battle ;
they had given their lives for the honour of France. Should their
country now reject their services? Should she, in her time of
need, cease to be proud of the men whom Europe had never ceased.
to admire? He could not believe it. The King could not allow
such devotion to be unemployed. Saint-Cyr’s noble words filled
and inspired the Chamber with enthusiasm, and resounded through
the whole of France. He was supported by the Doctrinaires—in-
deed, his speech had been composed by Guizot. The Bill was passed
by a large majority. It was bitterly opposed by the Peers on the
ground that it diminished the royal prerogative. Talleyrand said
that in future the President of the United States would have more
power than the King of France. Monsieur threw his whole strength
against it. He urged his brother to dismiss all the Ministers except
Richelieu and Lainé, and possibly Decazes. He threatened him-
self to go to Fontainebleau or Spain. He said: ‘I know that I
have duties towards the King, but I also have duties towards the
monarchy, and I will not suffer the Ministry to destroy it.”
Wellington used his moderating influence with success. The law
was passed, but an amusing incident occurred. The King, who
supported the Ministry, prolonged his. customary walk, in which
he was attended by the violent opponents of the Bill, in order that
they might not vote against it. But their friends, in their turn,
prolonged the debate, and these courtiers arrived at the Chamber,
breathless and dust-covered, in time to record their opposition.

21
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The measure remained for a long time the bulwark of the military
strength of France.

Another question of great importance was the settlement of
the relations between the Government and the Pope. In this the
Ultras were defeated, and the Liberals gained a signal victory.
There remained the question of the foreign occupation and of the
foreign creditors. A promise had been made at the Peace that
the foreign creditors should be satisfied, but it was not known
how much their claims amounted to. The sum of 180,000,000
francs, which was admitted, had been swollen to 1,390,000,000 francs,
a great part of which was composed of frivolous and groundless
claims. The Prince of Anhalt Bernburg demanded payment for
4,000 horsemen whom his ancestor had lent to Henry IV.
in the Huguenot wars. Richelieu offered a yearly payment of
10,000,000 francs, which was not nearly enough. England counselled
moderation. The Emperor Alexander came forward as a mediator.
He committed the conduct of the business to Wellington, and the
dispute was eventually arranged by a series of compromises, which
left much heart-burning and discontent behind them. The session
ended on May 18th, having placed the military forces of France
on a sane basis, and advanced the prospects of the liberation of
the territory.

The Ultras continued to grumble. They were especially opposed
to the policy of Saint-Cyr, who reformed the military schools, and
was too favourable to the veterans of Napoleon. The Pavillon
Marsan could not abide him; the salons of the Faubourg St.
Germain demanded his dismissal, and the Duchesse de Berri would
not receive him in her house. They were equally opposed, to the
educational reforms of Royer-Collard. The battle was conducted
in the Press, where Lamennais, Chateaubriand and Fiévée thun-
dered in the Debats or the Quotidienne, whilst Benjamin Constant
and the Liberals replied in the Minerva. Such was the condition
of France at the opening of the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. The
reconciliation of the old and the new France had not yet been
effected. The Ultras had not surrendered the hopes of retarding
the principles of the restoration ; the country at large was deter-
mined not to be deprived of the fruits of the Revolution. The
wounds of Leipzig and Waterloo had not been healed; English-
men and Germans were still regarded with suspicion. But the
time would arrive when the destinies of France should again be
committed to her own keeping.
CHAPTER III

THE CONGRESS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE

In the Treaty of November 20th, 1815, which was the foundation
of the superintendence of the four Powers over the affairs of Europe,
it was contemplated that meetings, either of princes or ministers,
should be held from time to time to discuss important common
interests. As early as 1817 Metternich had been asked to summon
such a Congress, and Aix-la-~Chapelle was mentioned as a suitable
place, because it was so well controlled by the Prussian police.
The place was agreed upon, but the Congress itself was postponed
till the autumn of 1818. As the evacuation of France was the
most important question to be discussed, it was necessary that
she should be represented, but all other Powers except the four
were excluded. The four Powers were not united, as there was
a strong difference of opinion between Austria and Russia. Met-
ternich wished to maintain the principle of the Treaty of Chaumont
and to place the public order of Europe under the governance of its
signatories. Great changes, he urged, were threatening the peace of
Europe: she must have a master. Before 1814 she had obeyed the
despotism of Napoleon ; unless she was to fall under the influence
of democracy she must be governed by an oligarchy, and such
an oligarchy was provided by the union of the Powers. Pozzo
di Borgo pointed out, on the other hand, that this would mean
the isolation of Russia and the tutelage of France; that the exist-
ence of the Four Powers League would call a counter league into
existence, and Europe would be divided into two warring camps.
It was better to accept the principles of the Holy Alliance as
the foundation of the political system of Europe. The common
enemy of all was the Revolution. Metternich was alarmed by the
mysticism and liberalism of Alexander, the one inspired by Frau
von Kriidener, the other by his tutor Laharpe. He saw the dis-
quieting influence of Russia on Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
Capodistrias, Alexander's Minister, whom Metternich met at
Carlsbad, to some extent relieved these apprehensions. He assured
him that the maintenance of a peaceful order was the main object
of the Emperor’s policy.

Aix-la-Chapelle began to fill. Although the Congress was

23
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

confined to the five Great Powers, which now included France,
other countries had agents and reporters at the scene of action.
The heads of the great banking houses, Rothschild, Bethmann,
Baring and Parish, were present, seeking for prospective business.
Journalists, artists, and adventurers of all kinds completed the
motley crowd. Austria was represented by Metternich, Prussia
by Hardenberg and Bernstorff, Russia by Capodistrias and Nessel-
rode, England by Castlereagh and Wellington, and France by
Richelieu. Gentz was secretary, and was in a heaven of delight.
He declared that this Congress was the culmination of his career.
The evacuation of France was determined upon in the first stage
of the proceedings. The army of occupation was to leave before
November 2oth, at latest ; of the 265,000,000 francs which remained
unpaid of the war contribution, 100,000,000 was to be paid im-
mediately and the remainder in the first six months of 1819. The
question of admitting France to an equal place with the other
Powers was more difficult. Russia worked for it; Austria and
England were against it. Eventually it was agreed that France
should be admitted to the alliance, as a sign of brotherly goodwill ;
but the four Powers should renew their league by a secret protocol
for the security and peace of Europe.

The army of occupation began its homeward march. The Tsar
and the King of Prussia held a parting review at Sedan, and then
made a visit to Paris. They went incognito, but were well received
and were invited to dinner by Louis. When they returned to Aix-
la-Chapelle the formality of admitting France to the alliance was
completed. A declaration drawn up by Gentz seemed to promise
the advent of a golden age:

“The Allies solemnly recognise that their duties to God and
to the peoples whom they govern make it an obligation for them,
as far as in them lies, to exhibit to the world an example of justice,
unity, and moderation, and they consider themselves happy in
being able to direct, for the future, all their powers to the protec-
tion of the arts of peace, the development of the internal pros-
perity of their dominions, and the revival of those religious and
moral sentiments whose influence has been, of late years, weakened
by the misfortunes of the age.”

These fine-sounding words prepared the way for the foundation
of a Holy Alliance which, if carried out, would have made the
epoch in which we live miserable. The five Great Powers bound
themselves to intervene for the maintenance of social order if,
in any European country, legitimate authority was threatened and
their assistance were asked for. On the other hand, the granting

24
THE CONGRESS AND NAPOLEON

of a Constitution by a sovereign would not justify intervention.
The Tsar was glad enough to accept a mutual guarantee for his
European possessions, and Austria saw in the proposed alliance a
defence against Russian conquest and Prussian militarism. But
England could not undertake these obligations without the authority
of Parliament, so the scheme was not carried out.

The dissensions in France between the Liberals and the Ultras
still continued. The Liberals proposed a reorganisation of the
National Guard, which provided for the admission of all tax-payers
and their sons who were in possession of civil rights. Masséna,
who commanded that body, prophesied that it would become a
hotbed of Jacobinism, threatened to resign his office, and was
with difficulty prevented from doing so by the King, Angouléme
and Metternich. He said, however, to Vincent that the Election
Law and the Recruiting Law were destroying the monarchy. The
Ultras sought to recover their ground, by founding a paper called
the Conservative as a counterpoise to the Minerva. It was written
by Chateaubriand, Lamennais and Bonald. It supported the
aristocracy and the Church. It, however, had little effect on the
elections. A number of Liberals were returned, and Lord Stewart
expressed a fear that the government would pass into the hands
of robbers. Matters were made worse by a financial crisis. The
Bank of France was obliged to restrain her discounts, and a panic
followed which caused many failures and interrupted trade. To
meet these threatening dangers the old Quadruple Alliance was
renewed on November 15th. The object was declared to be the
prevention of new revolutionary movements which were threaten-
ing France. To spare the feelings of France the existence of the
protocol was kept secret, but it was communicated privately to
Louis XVIII. A military convention was signed on the same
day to provide for martial action if it should be found to be
necessary. ,

Among the other questions discussed at the Congress were
some which affected Germany alone, and some of more general
significance, These comprised the quarrel between Spain and her
South American colonies, the dispute between Spain and Portugal,
the suppression of the Barbary pirates, and the suppression of the
slave trade. England was specially active in the last reform. In
1817 she had paid to Spain a sum of £40,000 to induce her to
suppress the slave trade in all her dominions from May 30th, 1820.
The fate of Napoleon also engaged the attention of the Congress.
His aged mother begged the Congress not to allow her son to perish
in exile. Las Cases said to them: “ Come to the assistance of the

25
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

unhappy victim ; a few days longer, and it will be too late.” To
these representations the Congress turned a deaf ear. It destroyed
all hopes of release, and supported all the measures of Sir Hudson
Lowe. It declared all communications with the prisoner to be
criminal. The Emperor of Russia, on whom the Bonapartists had
fixed their hopes, expressed himself more strongly against Napoleon
than any other sovereign. Even Castlereagh found the expres-
sions too severe. ie ;

The last days of the Congress were devoted to the affairs of
Prussia, a country in which Metternich seemed to discover traces
‘of coming Liberalism. He denounced the freedom of the German
Universities and the institution of students’ congresses. He looked
with suspicion on the athletic exercises introduced by Father Jahn.
He procured the prohibition of an athletic festival at Bonn, and
declared that the whole institution must be rooted out. He also
expressed his dread of a Prussian Constitution. At length the
Congress broke up; the Tsar and the Emperor travelled slowly
home. A few remained behind to finish various matters of busi-
ness, but by the end of November Aix-la-Chapelle had resumed her
old-world aspect. Metternich was able to announce to Europe
that the agreement between the Cabinets had never been more
complete. He seemed unaware that they were standing on the
crust of a volcano.

We must now return to the affairs of France. On his
return from Aix-la-Chapelle, Richelieu, although comforted by
the approaching liberation of the territory, was much troubled
by the internal condition of his country. He saw the flood of
Liberalism rising, and did not know how to meet it. He was
convinced that the partial renewal of the Chambers, which was the
occasion of an annual conflict, should be done away with, and
that a complete re-election after three or five years should take
its place, but he could not make up his mind on what principle
the franchise should be based. In these circumstances the
Chambers met on December roth, 1818. The relations between
Richelieu and Decazes became more and more strained. The
King strove in vain to reconcile them. At length Richelieu saw
that no conclusion was possible except his own retirement, and he
resigned office before the end of the year. He left it a poor man;
a national subscription was raised for his support, but he accepted
it only to give it to the hospitals of Bordeaux.

The new Prime Minister was General Dessolles, a worthy soldier
who had remained true to the monarchy during the Hundred Days.
He also undertook the department of Foreign Affairs. Decazes

26
RISE OF LIBERALISM IN FRANCE

became Home Secretary. Saint-Cyr, the creator of the new army,
remained Minister for War. Baron Louis, a friend of the banker
Laffitte, presided over the finances. But Decazes was the real
Prime Minister, the trusted confidant of the King, the man with
the strongest personality. He could not, however, prevent a
breach between the upper and lower Houses. The peers demanded
a revision of the electoral law, in the direction of a more aristo-
cratic government. A protest against such a measure arose
from the whole country, and Decazes shrank from taking so dan-
gerous a step. The only remedy was the creation of new peers.
Sixty members were added to the upper House, most of whom
represented the Bonapartist traditions. This coup d'état found
many to condemn it; Angouléme regarded it as the beginning of
the funeral of his family. The Great Powers disliked a step which
might again bring France as a factor in the affairs of Europe, and
even Wellington could not view with equanimity the promotion
of so many officers and soldiers of the fallen Emperor.

The breath of Liberalism began to stir. A new Press Law,
which modified the severity of the hateful law of November 9th,
1815, was drawn up with the help of Guizot, Royer-Collard and
Barante. It was an improvement upon the past, but was by no
means in accordance with modern ideas, but it was eventually
passed. An attempt of the Liberals to allow the return of those
who were suffering from a sentence of banishment, including the
regicides, was met by the Minister de Serre with a decided ‘“‘ Never.”
Their exclusion from the country was eternal and irrevocable. The
session ended on July 17th, 1819, the relations between the parties
being more uncomfortable than before. This was shown in the
partial election of a fifth of the Chamber, which took place in
November. Decazes had hoped to preserve a tone of modera-
tion, but he was disappointed. The Ultras, indeed, suffered a
serious check, losing eighteen seats; but there was a large addi-
tion to the ranks of the Liberals, consisting mainly of adherents
of Napoleon. But the greatest shock was the election of Grégoire
in the Department of the Isére. He had once been an abbé and
a constitutional bishop; but, as a member of the Constituante
and of the Convention, he had shown himself bitterly radical and
anti-clerical. He had once said that princes were in the moral
order of things what monsters were in the natural order, and this
had never been forgotten.. He had not been a regicide, as he was
absent from Paris at the time of the Revolution, but there is no
doubt that he would have been if he had been present at the
voting. His worthy career as Bishop of Blois, his pious and

27
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

benevolent character, his retired life at Auteuil under the Restor-
ation, had not modified the hatred of his enemies, but it is a
curious fact that he owed his election to the votes of the Ultras,
who preferred a Jacobin to a Ministerialist.

The Doctrinaires, under the leadership of de Serre, now devoted
themselves to the task of Constitutional reform. The Chambers
were to have the name of “ Parliament of France,” and were both
to have the power of initiative. The reading of speeches was for-
bidden ; the peers were given a more distinguished position, but
the age for their participation in public affairs was reduced by five
years. The debates were to be made public. The number of the
lower House was raised from 258 to 406, to be elected for seven
years, and renewed by a complete election. The age of candi-
dates was reduced from forty to thirty years, and the qualifica-
tion from 1,000 francs, paid in direct taxes, to 600. They were
to be chosen partly by departments and partly by arrondissements,
corresponding to the county and borough elections in England.
The electors had to be residents in their districts and thirty years of
age; the qualification for departmental electors was fixed at 400
francs, for arrondissements at 200. Electors who qualified for both
had a double vote—one, as we would say, for the county and one
for the borough. No one could be proposed as a candidate who
was not known to at least twenty electors. Other provisions were
intended to procure purity of election. The change in the numbers
of the lower House was provisionally accepted, but the new scheme
did not meet with approval. The Liberals disliked the double
franchise given to the wealthier electors, and the Ultras the viola-
tion of the Chavte. Further, the slavish imitation of English models
made the plan unpopular and exposed it to ridicule. Saint-Cyr
and Louis were not in favour of these proposals, and it was at first
thought that their opposition might be overcome by the creation
of a large coalition Cabinet, over which Richelieu should preside.
But the plan failed. They retired from office, and their places
were taken by Pasquier, Latour Maubourg and Roy. Pasquier
became Prime Minister. This change did not receive much favour
in France. The Doctrinaires did not like it, and they were not
appeased by the restitution of the peers who had been driven out
after the Hundred Days and the recall of all the exiles, except
the regicides. At the same time it gave satisfaction in London,
Vienna and Berlin. - The opening speech of the King on November
2gth, 1819, deplored the conflict of parties. A storm soon arose
on the question of Grégoire. It was doubtful whether he was
legally elected, as the law provided that out of three members

28
MURDER OF THE DUC DE BERRI

two at least must be residents in the district, and the Isére
had exhausted the right of electing strangers before they
had chosen Grégoire. But the Ultras would not hear of
arguments; they insisted on the rejection of the priest, and
this was eventually carried amid enthusiastic shouts of “ Vive
le Roi!”

The ministry had met the attacks made upon them very feebly.
Pasquier alone spoke powerfully in their defence. The Ultras
had such a detestation for Decazes that the most violent of them
joined the Left in their assault upon him. The Great Powers
began to be alarmed at the condition of the country, and feared
the death of the King and the accession of Charles. Decazes
attempted to save the situation by a change in the Reform Bill
proposed by de Serre. Instead of two categories of voters, he
proposed to establish three, the first consisting of electors for
departments who paid goo francs in taxes, half of this for land;
the second, who paid 500 francs; and the third, who paid 300.
This would give the great landowners a more powerful preponder-
ance. De Serre gave a reluctant consent to these alterations, but
his health compelled him to leave Paris, and Decazes was deprived
of a powerful ally. Baited on all sides, he surrendered his three
categories and came back to the original two. The members of
the Chamber were to be increased to 430, 258 being chosen
by the arrondissements and 172 by the departments. At
last the King gave his consent, and the scheme was to be
laid before the House. But an event occurred which over-
threw all calculations and tured men’s thoughts into a different
channel.

On February 13th, the Duc and Duchesse de Berri were leaving
the Opera House to meet their carriage, when a man rushed for-
ward and pierced the duke’s heart with a dagger. The unfor-
tunate man was carried into one of the rooms in the theatre, and
the doctors said that there was no hope. He lived through the
night, and in the morning was visited by the old King, his uncle.
With his dying breath he begged that his murderer might be for-
given, and entreated his wife to spare herself for the sake of the
child which was yet unborn. He died as day was fading. The
murderer, Louvel, was an artisan who had long cherished the idea
of freeing France from the Bourbons. A clamour arose for coercive
laws, and responsibility for the murder was cast upon the weak-
ness of Decazes. Two measures were proposed by the ministry :
the first, a provision for the military trial of suspects; the second,
an extension for five years of the censorship of the Press. This

29
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

was not thought sufficient, and the persecution of Decazes con-
tinued. He sought, in vain, the support of the Left. He was at
Jast deserted by Monsieur, who had, at first, promised to help him.
Artois and his sons and daughter-in-law threw themselves at the
king’s feet and besought him to dismiss Decazes. Long did he
hesitate, and only gave in when they threatened to leave Paris
and the kingdom. The Duc de Richelieu returned to power. The
Ultras were jubilant. They said: ‘‘ Decazes had to choose between
the scaffold and exile; he chose exile.’ Chateaubriand declared,
in conversation: ‘‘ Decazes is fallen; his feet slipped in the blood
which he has shed.”

Villéle and Corbiére, the more moderate members of the Right,
did not approve of this extravagant language. They wished to
secure a majority for Richelieu, by union with the Right Centre,
for he could not return in the support of the Doctrinaires. Of
the two coercive laws proposed by Decazes, that of the censorship
was brought before the Peers, and that of arbitrary imprisonment
before the Commons. They were debated with considerable heat.
An observer said: “ The Chamber is no longer a deliberative
assembly; it is a noisy pit, divided between two cabals who
endeavour to wrest from each other the support of a vacillating and
weak centre. A continuous hum of murmuring, constant calls to
order, sudden interruptions, were the lot of every speaker.”
Passions were still further stirred by the revolutionary outbreak
in Spain, which occurred at this time. These disturbances were
renewed when the Press Law had to pass the Commons and
the Suspect Law the Peers. By the end of March they both got
through, but public opinion was not in their favour. Several
Liberal papers—among them the Minerva—ceased publication, and
even the Conservative put an end to its existence.

The discussion of the Electoral Law still remained to be dealt
with. The scheme of Decazes was withdrawn, and a new Bill
was laid upon the table. There was a pitched battle between the
forces of old and new France. De Serre returned from the south,
and was able to take part in the debates. Lafayette defended the
tricolour flag, which the Ultras denounced as the oriflamme of dis-
order. Riots took place in Paris, first directed against the Liberals,
but continued with the danger of rousing the Bonapartists and
Republicans. From the 4th to the 7th of June the streets of Paris
were in confusion. Blood flowed on both sides. Cries of ‘“ Vive
la Charte!’’ were answered by cries of “ Vive lEmpereur.” At
length, when all parties were weary of the conflict, an Electoral
Law was passed which secured a double election and a certain

30
A REACTIONARY MOVEMENT

preponderance of the wealthier electors. This was finally passed
on June 29th, 1820. The victory was, on the whole, in favour of
the Ultras. De Serre expelled Royer-Collard, Camille Jourdan,
Bonald and Guizot from the Council of State. Villéle saw
the prospect of the ministry open before!him. A reactionary
movement had begun, the result of which no one could
foresee.
CHAPTER IV

GERMANY

THE wars of the Revolution and those of Napoleon had profoundly
modified the internal condition of Germany. Old institutions were
swept away, and the ground was prepared for a nation of the
modern type. This clearing, however, had not been complete ;
the Emperor and the Diet had disappeared, but the Emperor
and the Empire of Austria had taken their place. Germany was
now governed by thirty-eight sovereigns in place of three hundred,
and the ecclesiastical princes had entirely disappeared. Three
great states—Bavaria, Wiirtemberg and Baden—had been founded
in the south, but many small princes still remained in the north.
The left bank of the Rhine, which had been directly subject to
French rule, still possessed the benefit of the Code Napoléon, with
the blessings of a regular and uniform administration, while the
sovereigns of southern Germany had not altogether lost the inspira-
tion of the Power which created them. Nor were the thrones of
Germany entirely national: the King of Denmark reigned in
Holstein, the King of England in Hanover, and the King of Holland
in Luxemburg. Many Germans had ardently desired the unity
of the country, but how was it to be effected, and who was to
be the head of it? Two great Powers were striving for this
position, and the rivalry between them has only been settled in
our own day.

At the Congress of Vienna Germany felt the necessity of form-
ing a new state which should hold a distinguished and responsible
position in the councils of Europe, and should be able, if necessary,
to resist the attacks of France, formidable even under the restored
Bourbons. But the precise character which this state should
assume was a matter of long and serious debate. Baron Stein,
one of the principal liberators of Germany, was anxious to restore
the Empire, with a Directory of the chief princes to manage affairs
of common interest. But the Emperor of Austria did not desire to
establish a form of government in which the influence of the King
of Prussia would be superior to his own, while the smaller German
princes were averse to surrendering any portion of the independ-
ence which they had gained by the dissolution of the Empire in

32
THE GERMANIC CONFEDERATION

1806. After long discussion, on June 18th, 1815, the very day of
the Battle of Waterloo, an act of confederation was agreed between
the sovereign princes and the free towns, which united them in
a permanent alliance called the Germanic Confederation (Der
Deutsche Bund), the object of which was destined to be the safe-
guarding of external and internal security and the independence
and integrity of the states of which it was composed.

The constitutional organ of the Confederation was the Federal
Assembly, known in Germany as the Bundestag, which sat per-
manently at Frankfort, and was attended by representatives from
each state, under the presidency of Austria. In the discussion of
ordinary affairs the eleven largest states had a vote each, and the
rest six votes between them. Important matters were decided in
what was called a ‘‘ Plenum,” in which, out of sixty-nine votes,
Austria and the five kingdoms, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover
and Wiirtemberg, had four votes each, the five states next in import-
ance three each, the next three two, and all the rest one each. It
was the business of the assembly to draw up the fundamental
laws and organic institutions of the Confederation, with reference
to all its affairs—foreign, military and domestic—but each state
retained its own army, its own government, and its diplomatic
arrangements. There was no great Federal tribunal, such as,
under the old Empire, had existed at Wetzlar, and the Confedera-
tion sent no ambassadors to foreign Powers. The princes remained
practically sovereigns, and the Bundestag was only a congress of
their ambassadors.

The Federal Assembly ought to have met on September Ist, 1815 ;
but the first meeting did not take place till November 5th, 1816. It
was held in the palace of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis, in the
Eschenheimer Gasse at Frankfort, the home of the Austrian
Embassy, and met generally twice a week. As the Confederation
had no arms of its own it used those of Austria, and it had a
thoroughly Austrian complexion. It soon became a byword for
inertness and inefficiency, but it was too restive for Metternich, who
warned the members against over haste and the dangers of a
meddlesome disposition. Nothing could be done without the
unanimous consent of all the members. In order to veto it was
only necessary to abstain from voting, a method which was largely
followed by the smaller states. The slowness of its operations
was notorious. The officials of the Imperial Court of Justice
claimed the arrears due to them from the dissolution of the
German Empire in 1806 to the year 1816, but the claims were not
satisfied till the year 1831; the war debt contracted between 1792

Cc 33
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and r80r was not paid till 1843; the obligations incurred in the
Thirty Years’ War were not finally liquidated till 1850; the for-
tresses for which France had paid in 1815 were not built in 1825,
because the Bundestag had not made up its mind as to the
comparative merits of Ulm and Rastadt.

Each sovereign prince was master of the Government of his own
dominion, and could give his people what constitution he pleased.
The various Governments which prevailed may be divided into three
classes. In the first, which was pure absolutism, the prince reigned
alone with his functionaries, and without any control or any meet-
ing of Chambers. Such was the government of Austria and Prussia,
and of some of the northern princes, notably the Elector of Hesse,
who summoned his Chambers in 1816, but dismissed them imme-
diately afterwards and governed by himself. The greater part of
the northern princes adopted the principle of Landstande, or assem-
blies of estates, formed of the notables of the country, who met
for the purpose of voting supertaxes and guaranteeing loans, with
@ certain power of asking for the redress of grievances, but no
efficient power of redressing them. A few princes, especially in
the south, gave their countries a written constitution after the
model of France, but in these the prince always remained sovereign,
he chose whom he pleased for ministers, and reserved to himself
the power of violating laws. The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar,
the friend of Goethe, had taken the lead in this liberal move-
ment, had given his subjects a constitution and placed it under
the guarantee of the Confederation. His Chambers had some real
power, and he abolished the censorship of the Press. Efforts were
made to follow this example, but self-government did not come
to birth till after many struggles and long debates. Eventually
constitutions of a more or less liberal character were established
in Bavaria in May, 1818 ; in Baden in August, 1818; in Wiirtem-
berg in 1819; and in Hesse-Darmstadt in 1820.

The results of the Congress of Vienna were a bitter disappoint-
ment to all German Liberals. A system of reactionary govern-
ment was established in nearly all the members of the Confedera-
tion. This was owing to the predominant influence of Austria,
and Austria was controlled by Metternich. Germany had risen
against Napoleon with all the enthusiasm of youth. The period of
illumination, the risings of 1813 and 1814, are classical examples
of a nation striving to secure freedom of government. But as a
reward for its devotion to, and its sacrifices in, the cause of liberty
it found itself without a national existence, cut up into tiny states,
ground down by officials, by police, and by privileged classes, with-

34
GERMAN ASPIRATIONS

out political rights or equality before the law. The Holy Alliance
was not the kind of result which the War of Liberation had been
conducted to attain. It appeared to the German people as an
ill-omened conspiracy of princes against the rights and liberties of
their subjects. It did not receive the approval of the two sections
of German patriots, either those who desired a restoration of the
German Empire, with reformed institutions, or those who pre~
ferred a constitutional government upon the English model. The
throng of the disaffected was swelled by the mediatised princes
who had lost their sovereign power, and by the nobles who had lost
their privileges. Prussia had taken the lead in the national rising
against Napoleon, and the hopes of the patriots had been fixed on
her; but she betrayed their expectations and attached herself
to the cause of Metternich and reaction. Her unstable and impul-
sive king, Frederick William III., neglected and slighted the men
who had been most forward in the assertion of national liberty,
while statesmen of a reactionary complexion were decorated with
titles and honours. The time for framing a liberal constitution
was indefinitely postponed.

The love of liberty, which seemed to be merely smouldering or
even extinguished in the German people, still glowed in the hearts —
of a small body of enthusiastic youths, the students of the German
universities. They detested and despised the cowardly compro-
mises and the half-hearted humility with which political affairs
were conducted, and proclaimed themselves the hope of the Father-
land. Arndt, the maker of their songs, became their chosen leader.
With him they clamoured for a united Germany, for the freedom
which God had given them, for the bravery and piety of their
forefathers ; with him they detested coquetting with the foreigner.
Their other leader was Father Jahn, the inventor of Turnen, the
German gymnastics. He was a German of the old type, who
taught them by example and precept to steel their muscles, to run
long distances, to train their bodies as if for an Olympic victory.
With the motto “ Frisch, fret, fréhlich, fromm,’ dressed in un-
bleached tunics, hardened by moderation in food and drink, they
spread abroad the noble art of “‘ turning,” and sought to re-establish
the equality of human education. ~The first Turnplatz was estab-
lished in the neighbourhood of Berlin, but they soon sprang up
all over the country. The universities of Kiel and Jena gave Father
Jahn an honorary degree; but it would probably have been better
if he had never lectured: his example was better than his sermons.

An idea arose of giving to the whole body of German students
that unity which it was not yet possible to give to the German

35
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

nation. Thus took its rise the Burschenschaft, or Association of
Students, which was to include the youth of all the universities of
the Fatherland. A German student in his freshman’s year is
called a fuchs, or fox ; in his second a bursch, or man, as it may be
translated. The students used their political freedom to form a
community characterised by a scientific and progressive patriotism,
with a strict morality founded on religion.

The Jena Burschenschaft was founded on June 12th, 1815,
six days before the Battle of Waterloo. The night passed in
singing Arndt’s patriotic songs, and the banner which was waved
over them was the black, red and gold tricolour, now the flag of
united Germany, the colours having been those of Liitzow’s free
corps. Giessen caught the enthusiasm from Jena, and it soon
spread through the universities of the Fatherland. In 1817, the
three hundredth anniversary of the German Reformation was
celebrated with great enthusiasm. As a part of this celebration, a
festival was held on October 18th, the anniversary of the Battle of
Leipzig, at the castle of the Wartburg, near Eisenach, where Luther
was confined for safety, and where he was believed to have fought
with the devil. The Catholic universities were naturally excluded,
and in Prussia Berlin alone answered to the call; but the assembly
was numerously attended. Prayers and Luther’s hymn, “ Ein’
jeste Burg,’ opened the proceedings. Speeches were made, songs
were sung, and at the close of the festivities the books of Kotzebue,
Haller, and the other writers who had defended absolutism were
burned in a bonfire consisting of pigtails, corsets, corporals’ sticks,
and other emblems of the military regime. The students met
again on the following day, in the great hall which had witnessed
the shame of Tannhaduser. There were more speeches and more
songs, and, after determining to publish a students’ journal at Jena,
the young men separated with many embraces and tears, after the
German fashion. Those who took part in this festival remembered
it as the May Day of their youth. But their rulers thought other-
wise. Munich began the battle and Dresden followed. Metter-
nich and Gentz warned fathers not to entrust their sons to such
dangerous seminaries as Jena. The King of Prussia joined the
ranks of the opposition. But Karl August remained firm. The
only step he took was to forbid the appearance of the student
journal.

It is difficult to restrain enthusiasm within due limits, however
respectable may have been its origin. The hatred of the students
was directed against two so-called Russian spies, who had made
themselves conspicuous in denouncing the excesses of the Burschen-

36
ASSASSINATION OF KOTZEBUE

schaft. These were Stourdza, a Moldavian magnate, and Kotze-
bue, a well-known German writer, who supported the privileges of
princes and nobles. Kotzebue had been a violent opponent of
Napoleon. He was now being paid by the Tsar to send him
periodical reports on the literary condition of Germany. He
treated the new movement of the students with the most irritating
contempt, and a war arose between the journals on either side,
the details of which need not detain us. In the meantime, Karl
August invited the students to Weimar, to celebrate the birth of a
grandson by a torchlight procession, and a general German Bur-
schenschaft was founded, which was described as the free- union
into a whole of all the German youths who were receiving serious
education at the universities, based on the relations of the German
youth to the coming unity of the German people.

Karl Foller, one of the founders of the movement at Giessen,
became at this time Professor of Roman Law at Jena, and defended
assassination as a legitimate defence against tyranny. All this
worked in the mind of a student named Sand, the son of an official
in the law courts at Wunsiedel, who had made up for the enforced
idleness of a sickly childhood by overwork. A theological student
in Tiibingen, he had taken part in the campaign in France in 1815,
and then gone to Erlangen. He represented the Erlangen students
at the Wartburg, and then attended the university of Jena. Al-
ready, in May, 1818, he cherished the idea of killing Kotzebue and
some other traitors with the sword. The murder of the man who,
in his mind, was the embodiment of everything which he detested
became a fixed idea. He took a solemn leave of his friends at the
beginning of March and went to Mannheim, to which place Kotze-
bue had removed from Jena. On March 2gth, 1819, he approached
the unsuspecting victim with a letter and, crying out, ‘“‘ Traitor to
the Fatherland!’ stabbed him as he was reading it. He had
originally intended to. escape, but when the son of the murdered
man rushed upon him with a cry of horror, he turned the dagger
upon himself. He fell to the ground from loss of blood and, cry-
ing out to the assembled crowd, ‘‘ Long live the German Father-
land!” again attempted suicide. He survived, however, to be
executed on May 2oth, 1819, persisting in the nobleness of his
action.

Such was the political inexperience of the Burschenschaft that
this gruesome scene was glorified into an act of heroism. Sand
was compared with Brutus, Harmodius and Aristogiton. Even

grave professors shed a tear of pity over the murderer. But it
led to the persecution of the democrats, and attempts at consti-

37
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

tutional reform which had been made in Prussia, Bavaria, Baden,
and other German States were now indefinitely shelved.

Metternich heard of Kotzebue’s murder at Rome, where he was
staying with the Emperor Francis. It seemed to him more
dangerous than any number of revolutions in Italy. He dreaded
the education of a generation of revolutionists in Germany unless
strong measures were adopted. However, with characteristic cyni-
cism, he used the general horror which the deed excited to strike a
fatal blow at constitutional reform and the freedom of the Press.
Matters were made worse by the attempt, on July 1st, of Karl Loning,
a chemist at Schwalbach, to assassinate Ibell, Prime Minister of
Nassau. Frederick William III., King of Prussia, had long been
tempted by the signs of disorder which surrounded him. A meet-
ing took place at Teplitz, in which the aged Hardenberg, the
Minister of Prussia, bowed before the stronger will of Metternich.
What was called a “ Punctuation”? was drawn up on August Ist.
It was really a declaration of the principles on which the courts
of Austria and Prussia were determined to conduct themselves in
the internal affairs of the German League. It was determined to
hold a conference of the ten larger German Powers at Carlsbad,
which was not far from Teplitz, from August 6th to August 13th.
In this fatal week much harm was done.

The thirteenth article of the Act of Confederation had conceded
to all the German States the power of making provincial constitu-
tions. Metternich and Gentz could not abrogate this article, but
they proceeded to interpret it. They drew a distinction between a
Parliament of Estates and a Parliament of Deputies. The first
was ancient, historical, German, and divine; the second modern,
revolutionary, French, and inconsistent with the German Federa-
tion and the principle of monarchy. Besides this interpretation of
Article 13, resolutions were passed at Carlsbad to limit the free-
dom of the Press and to restrict the excesses in universities and
schools. A central committee was established at Mainz to hold in
check all demagogic and revolutionary movements. This ‘ Black
Commission,” as it was called, sat at Mainz for ten years, and
created more conspiracies than it discovered. The Carlsbad resolu-
tions were adopted by the Bundestag on September 20th. Metter-
nich had triumphed, and the German people bowed their necks to
the yoke of slavery ; but these short-sighted and unconstitutional
measures became in due time the parents of a more dangerous
revolution.

The announcement of these decrees caused consternation
throughout Germany. Niebuhr predicted that the establishment

38
GERMAN DISAPPOINTMENT

of these conditions between government and subjects could only
produce a life without love, without patriotism, without joy, and
full of misunderstanding and discontent. Stein declared that the
most important step for the peace of Germany was to put an
end to the reign of arbitrary government. Dahlmann and Rotteck
made powerful protests. Schlegel resigned his professorship at
Bonn, on the ground that it was better to jump out of the window
than to be thrown out. The decisions of Carlsbad began to be
put into effect. The Moderates lost all hope of a peaceful settle-
ment. Republican ideas began to make their appearance for the
first time. German princes, from whom so much had been expected,
had now come forward as the sworn enemies of popular freedom.
The noble, patriotic feeling of the War of Liberation had ended in
smoke ; the blood of Leipzig and Waterloo had been shed in vain.
Prussia led the van in reaction as she had before in liberty. The
Turnhallen—the gymnastic halls—were closed; the German tri-
colour was proscribed ; Father Jahn had to take refuge in Switzer-
land ; distinguished professors were deprived of their offices, and
were subjected to police supervision ; the sermons of Schleiermacher
were delivered in the presence of official censors, and the sale of a
new edition of Fichte’s Address to the German People was for-
bidden. Even Stein and Gneisenau did not escape rebuke. To
whisper “ German nation’ was a crime; to work for it was high
treason. Informers were highly rewarded. The Burschenschaft of
Jena met for the last time in the Rosensaal at Jena, and sang that
noble hymn, set to the most pathetic of melodies, which still lives
as the high-water mark of German students’ songs, and declares in
dignified verse, “‘ We had built a stately house ; our house is ruined,
but the spirit lives in all of us, and our fortress is God.”

After the Carlsbad Congress all the members of the Confedera-
tion were summoned to meet at Vienna, where the discussions lasted
from November, 1819, to May, 1820. Their results did not satisfy
Metternich, but the sovereign rights of princes were insisted upon ;
the latter were declared to be independent of Parliamentary
control, and the duty was impressed upon the central authority
of preserving internal order if it should be endangered. Freedom
of expression was not to be admitted in the Chambers nor in the
Press.

The years which we have described, full of sad experiences
and disappointed hopes, naturally produced a feeling of depres-
sion. Each member of the European family seems to have been
less prosperous and successful in achieving the results of progress
than its efforts deserved. But the outlook was more hopeful if

39
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

we regard the European family as a whole. Science, art and
literature made great advance in the early years of the restoration,
and we find signs of similar improvements and achievements in
the social and political spheres. Metternich, Castlereagh, and
those who agreed with them believed in the existence of a great
European conspiracy which would prove the ruin of the world.
Wellington saw, in the events of Peterloo, signs of coming danger,
and Metternich was filled with dismay at the murder of Kotzebue,
and at the obvious activity of the revolutionary spirit in Germany,
Italy, France and England. The morose and haunting terror
which inspired those who, for the time being, had the destinies of
Europe in their hands was the cause of coercion and persecution.
But, as a counterpoise, there was arising a real, though secret,
understanding between all liberally-minded people, without dis-
tinction of nationality. As early as 1818 Béranger had sung of
the ‘‘holy alliance of peoples’’ against their ungrateful sovereigns.
A year later Borne said :

“There is, in truth, a conspiracy, extending not only all over
Germany, but over the whole of Europe. The conspirators do not
know each other; they never see or speak with each other; they
have no signs, no common methods, no common objects to hold
them together, and yet they are brothers—brothers, I mean, in
sentiment. This league is not directed against the power of
princes, but against the holding of power in the hands of State
officials, It is directed against a condition of lawlessness, against
arbitrary government, and, notwithstanding all the police arrange-
ments of Europe, it will effect its end.”

The members of this secret league of spiritual sympathisers
were filled with pleasure at the unexpected revolutions in Spain,
Portugal and Italy, and by the rising of the Greeks. They, how-
ever, perhaps overrated the significance of these events, and
expected too much from them. Our narrative must now turn its
attention to these revolutionary movements, which were more
startling and more picturesque, if not intrinsically more important,
than those which we have so far described.
CHAPTER V
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

THE movement of the French Revolution in its progress over
Europe affected Spain last. She remained asleep in an awaken-
ing Europe. The reforms of Charles III., who attempted, in the
eighteenth century, to redress the crying evils of government,
education, agriculture and commerce, had disappeared without
leaving a trace of theirshort existence. Spain combined great
differences within herself with a common resistance to the external
world. The haughty Castilian was distinct from the excitable
Andalusian, the rough citizen of Aragon from the hardworking
Galician, but they all joined hands in their opposition to outside
influences. They bore in stolid silence the tyrannous rule of the
King, the camarilla, the nobles, and the clergy.

Napoleon was compelled by the force of circumstances to
inspire new life into this dying body, and to remedy the Mezentian
marriage of the family compact. But he was a foreigner and
the nation was against him. In Great Britain’s struggle against
Napoleon she took as her allies the worst characters in the Penin-
sula, associated herself with monks and robbers, and regarded
as enemies the most intelligent and most enlightened members of
the community. Wellington, with his never-failing insight, recog-
nised that he was fighting for a lost cause. In the midst of the
struggle an attempt was made at Cadiz to call into existence a
national democracy, which was equally opposed to the priest-
ridden tyranny of the old regime and the enlightened militarism
of French rule. The Cortes of Cadiz contained two parties—the
Tories, called Serviles by their opponents, and the Liberals. The
latter preponderated, and drew up the famous Constitution of
1812, which was a copy of the French Constitution of 1791. This
Constitution was the model towards which the Liberal spirits
of Europe looked for many years. The Cortes declared them-
selves sovereign and indissoluble, and abolished the censorship
of the Press, seignorial rights, and other privileges of the nobles,
The Constitution declared that the sovereignty resided in the
nation: the King was placed at the head of the executive, but
he was to act in all things by the advice of his ministers. Legisla-

c* 41
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

tion was the prerogative of the Cortes, and the King was given
a suspensive veto. Parliament consisted of a single Chamber,
elected at two stages by universal suffrage; the deputies were
chosen for two years, and were not re-eligible, and the ministers
did not form part of the assembly. While the Cortes were not
sitting their powers passed to a permanent deputation. No
member of the assembly was allowed to accept any office from
the King.

Some parts of the legislation of Cadiz were undoubtedly
beneficent. Exemption from taxes founded on privilege was
abolished, universal military service was introduced, a proper
system of education was established, and the burden of feudal
rights was also greatly alleviated. Yet there was little real
approach to toleration. The Catholic religion was recognised as
the one true religion of the Spanish people, and the exercise of
other religions was forbidden. Some effort was made to reduce
the number of monasteries, the Inquisition was done away with,
but heresy became a crime. These measures were opposed by the
clergy and the nobles, and the party of the Serviles grew more
powerful. Unfortunately, Wellington, in his hatred of Jacobinism,
played into the hands of the reactionaries. In the Cortes sum-
moned at Madrid in January, 1814, the Liberals were in a minority
and were opposed by Wellington.

Ferdinand VII.’s return to Spain was most disastrous. He
had been badly educated in a corrupt and quarrelsome Court, he
feared the strong and bullied the weak. During his confinement
at Valengay, Talleyrand’s object had been to amuse him: he
never read, and wearied even of picture-books. He spent much
time in embroidering with his own hand a robe of white silk for
the statue of the Virgin at Valencay. His confessor, Ostolaza,
announced this with pride to the Spanish people, and the news
aroused great enthusiasm. His subjects were never tired of
praising his innocence and virtue.

The Treaty of Valengay had provided that Ferdinand should
not be free until he had reached Madrid and taken the oath te
the Constitution. Up to that time the powers of the Regency
were to continue, but this provision became a dead letter. The
moment he crossed the frontier, on March 22nd, 1814, he was
received with acclamation, and San Carlos, the retrograde minister,
was always at his side. He was advised by Palafox, the defender
of Saragossa, not to swear to the Constitution ; and Count Montijo,
Palafox’s brother-in-law, wished for the unlimited power of the
Crown. The Serviles presented him with a document which

42
“SWEET, HOLY FERDINAND”

denounced the Constitution and the Cortes as the work of the
devil. As it happened, the Liberals were apathetic, and, at the
beginning of May, Ferdinand took the bold step of denouncing
the Constitution and the Cortes. He called himself the father
of his loyal nation, and promised security for freedom and safety
of person and property. He showed his sincerity by introducing
the censorship of the Press and by arresting at night some fifty
of the most prominent Liberals. The people of Madrid applauded
their ‘‘ sweet, holy Ferdinand,” and the prisoners were insulted
by the crowd. His journey from Aranjuez to Madrid was a
triumphal progress. Reaction set in apace. The Liberals and
the Josefinos were persecuted with much barbarity by guerilleros,
towns and villages were burned, the country was laid waste, and
bridges and fountains were destroyed. The Spanish people relapsed
into a state of semi-civilisation.

San Carlos and Macanaz were ministers, but the power was
in the hands of a camarilla, consisting of the King’s lackeys and
chamberlains, who delighted him with their jesting, the Duke
of Alagon, the captain of the guard, his physicians, his buffoon,
and his confessor. It was responsible for the decrees enforcing
domiciliary visits and arrests, and formed the fountain of honour.
Its members grew rich by exactions and extortions. One of their
first steps was to re-establish the monasteries, to free the clergy
from taxation, to renew the Inquisition. Besides the official
Gazette, only two newspapers were permitted to be published—the
Atalaya, edited by the sanguinary monk, Augustin da Castro, and
the Procuador, controlled by the head of the secret police. Then
the Jesuits were readmitted, and half their property was restored.
The Council of Castile was recalled with the Duke of Infantado at
its head, the municipalities were stripped of their independence,
and captains-general were placed at the head of the provinces.

Still worse was the persecution of the Liberals, whom Welling-
ton in vain endeavoured to protect. Tried and acquitted by the
regular courts, the King arbitrarily intervened, and with his own
hand wrote a decree of condemnation on December 17th, 1814,
by which they were banished, or imprisoned, or deported to the
unhealthy presidios of Africa. These sentences were immediately
carried out, and the prisoners were not allowed to providé éothes
or linen. Among them were some of the most distinguished
Spaniards, members of the Regency like Agar and Circar, members
of the Cortes like Argiielles, Martinez de la Rosa and Herreros,
poets like Quintana.

Some signs of discontent appeared in Cadiz in the autumn of

43
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

1814, but they were crushed by a revolutionary tribunal. The
disaffection in the army was not so easy to subdue. Some regi-
ments remained for months without pay; the men had no straw
to sleep upon; and soldiers of Liberal opinion, however distin-
guished, were persecuted. Generals Valdez and Porlier were
arrested, Villalba and O’Donoju were banished, Alava was attacked,
and Espoz y Mina was deprived of hiscommand. The latter tried
to seize Pamplona and to read the Constitution from its ramparts,
but he was forced to take refuge in France, where he was pro-
tected. Secret societies were formed, and Diaz Porlier, implicated
in one of them, was executed in October, 1815. General Lacy
also attempted an insurrection and was executed in Majorca.

Macanaz and San Carlos were overthrown by the camarilla.
San Carlos was succeeded by Cevallos, who had served Godoy
and Ferdinand, Joseph Bonaparte, and the Patriots. But the
ministers were continually changed, according to the whim of the
Sovereign, who lived in a fool’s paradise, caring about nothing
except the satisfaction of his humours, the tales of informers, and
the opening of private letters. The condition of the country was
terrible ; from Somosierra to Madrid the land was a desert, unre-
lieved by trees, gardens, or houses; here and there a ruined hut
or a few dirty villages served but to accentuate the solitude.
Except the great roads which led from Madrid to Bayonne, Lisbon,
Saragossa, Barcelona, Valencia, and Seville, only a few permanent
ways were practicable for carriages. There were no inns, and bands
of brigands, composed of guerilleros, starving soldiers, and unpaid
workmen from the royal docks, abounded.

The mass of the people had no education. Many believed in
miracles and amulets, ghosts and devils. According to the census
of 1791 there were, in the Province of Cordova, 10g monasteries,
but only forty-nine elementary schools; out of 10,500,000
inhabitants, with 3,700,000 children under sixteen, only 425,000
were receiving education. But matters had grown worse during
the next generation. Secondary education was entirely in the
hands of the clergy, the universities were occupied with barren
scholastic learning, students begged their bread as wandering
musicians or strolling players. Commerce was crushed by mono-
polies and holidays, and Church festivals undermined all energy.
At such a juncture it was almost inevitable that Spain should
begin to lose her colonies, which had been to her a source of wealth
and strength.

Napoleon’s conquest of the Mother Country inflamed the
desire for independence which had long existed in the Spanish

44
MADRID’S MUSHROOM MINISTRIES

colonies. Juntas had formed themselves in the Caracas, Buenos
Ayres, New Grenada and Chile, with the ostensible object of
recognising the right of Ferdinand VII., while in Mexico the
Indians were against the Government. The Cortes, with their
Liberal Constitution, had whetted the wish for separation; but
this movement was checked by the return of the rightful Sovereign,
For a time they were allowed to hope for reforms, but there suc-
ceeded a White Terror fiercer and more intolerant than that of
Spain itself. Military governors, sent by the King, surpassed
each other in merciless extortion, in fiendish tortures, in barbaric
executions. Outward obedience was established; but the fire of
rebellion smouldered, especially in La Plata; while San Martin,
Paez and Bolivar secured the independence of Chile and
Venezuela. These feelings were fostered by the Americans and
the Portuguese.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, one mushroom ministry followed another,
and the fruitless attempts at reform appeared actually to increase
bad government. The discontent which smouldered in the whole
nation was most strongly felt at the expedition which was being
collected at Cadiz for the purpose of reducing the northern colonies
in South America. The troops were fired by their proximity to
the birthplace of the Constitution of 1812; they knew that their
expedition might result in disaster and death. They had little
to eat, their pay was intercepted by the greed of officials, their
sense of grievance was fanned by their officers, Quiroga, Arco,
Aguero, and the brothers San Miguel, and the revolted colonies
corrupted them with gold. They chose for their leader Quiroga,
who was then undergoing a mild imprisonment. He was to escape
on New Year’s Day, 1820, and march to the island of Leon; but
he was prevented by rain, and only reached his destination on
January 3rd. He took the town of San Fernando and captured
the Minister of Marine, but refrained from laying siege to Cadiz,
and a rising in the town proved unsuccessful.

On the same day, Colonel Rafael del Riego, a young Asturian,
was more successful. On January Ist, 1820, he proclaimed the
Constitution of 1812, and was able to join Quiroga on January
6th. The national army which they commanded had no cavalry
or artillery ; many deserted, and there were few recruits. Cadiz
remained impregnable. On January 27th, Riego set out with 5,000
men to march through Andalusia, proclaiming everywhere the
Constitution of 1812, but finding few supporters. His expedition
was a failure; after fruitless marches he was compelled, on
March r1th, to disband his troops.

45
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

But collapse in the south was compensated for by a vigorous
rising in the north. On February 21st a revolt in Corunna
established a Junta and the Constitution of 1812, and other places
in Galicia, Ferrol, Vigo, Pontevedra and Tuy followed this
example. The commandant of Santiago, Count San Roman,
retired to Orense on March 5th. There was a rising in Saragossa,
the capital of Aragon. In Barcelona, Castafios, the conqueror
of Baylen, put himself at the head of the movement, and in
Pamplona the Viceroy, Ezpeleta, did likewise; but their aim
was to control the agitation and use it for democratic purposes.
The King was obliged to bow to the storm, and on March 7th issued
a decree promising the immediate calling of the Cortes. But
this concession was too late, and General Ballesteros informed
his Soveréign that the army was no longer to be relied upon. At
midnight of the same day the alarmed King, in order to avoid dis-
turbances, and to meet the universal will of the people, declared
his readiness to accept the Constitution of 1812.

Next morning the news was received in Madrid with general
rejoicing. The Constitution was exhibited in the great square,
and carried about the streets as a sacred relic for the adoration
of the people, while the constitutional King was hailed with
applause as he drove in the Prado and Don Carlos was greeted
with hisses. In the Café Lorenzini, which was their headquarters,
however, the agitators expressed their doubts as to the sincerity
of the Sovereign. It was true he had punished political offenders,
but he had done nothing else. Six men, chosen by the people,
undertook to demand the restoration of the Constitutional Council
of 1814, and also exacted from the King an oath of adherence
to the Constitution. The Inquisition was prohibited and its
victims were released from prison. Finally, a provisional Junta
was set up to assist the Government until the Cortes should meet.
The King’s uncle, the Cardinal de Bourbon, was made Presi-
dent, and Ballesteros was his representative. Since the King
had made an absolute surrender, the ninth of March was cele-
brated as the day of returning liberty.

Similar scenes took place in the provinces. The Radicals
triumphed at Saragossa; at Pamplona, Mina, who had come from
France, supplanted Ezpeleta; at Barcelona, Castafios was deposed
in favour.of General Villa Campo. Riego heard of the revolu-
tion in the solitudes of the Sierra Morena, returned to Cordova,
proclaimed the Constitution along with O’Donoju, and soon
afterwards entered Seville in triumph. The universal joy was
damped by a terrible event, which took place at Cadiz. On

46
TRIUMPH OF SPANISH DEMOCRACY

March 11th, the féte of the Constitution was to be celebrated in
the city square. Three deputies were sent by Quiroga to repre-
sent his army, and they joined the crowd in the plaza, where
every window was hung with tapestry and flags. Suddenly the
soldiers of the regiment ‘‘ del Lealdad”’ and of the Guides, issu-
ing from their barracks, fired upon the people. Many of them
were deserters from Quiroga and probably had been urged to
this infamy by General Campana. The mob dispersed and ran
away, the soldiers following and massacring without mercy,
treating the town exactly as if it had been taken by assault.
These diabolical scenes were repeated on the following day, and
eventually the killed amounted to 460 and the wounded to
upwards of a thousand.

A Liberal Ministry was established, many of its members
being taken from dungeons. Argiielles, from his eloquence in
the former Cortes called ‘‘ the Divine,’’ became Minister of the
Interior, and Garcia Herreros Minister of Justice. Those who
had been previously persecuted were now honoured with office.
The poet Quintana obtained a seat in the Junta which was to
direct the censure of the Press; Riego and three of his companions
were made field-marshals. The purification of the Government
was carried out in every branch of political and municipal adminis-
tration, the army at Cadiz was broken up, every Spaniard was
required to swear allegiance to the Constitution, and the
Afrancesados, to the number of 6,000, were allowed to return
to Spain.

When the Cortes met, on July oth, the party of the Moderates
greatly preponderated. To it belonged the President, the Arch-
bishop of Seville, and the Vice-President Quiroga. Not a single
grandee of Spain was elected; very few of the landed nobility
were returned, and only three bishops. Martinez de la Rosa
was the leader of the Moderates, and next to him were Calatrava,
an experienced statesman, and the Marquis Toreno, a man of
light and learning. Nevertheless, the new Government found
its efficiency much impeded by the character of the Constitution,
which, in the desire to secure the partition of powers, had
excluded the ministers from the assembly. The party of the
Exaltados, though not equal to the Moderates either in number
or talents, made up for this by activity and rhetoric. They were
led by Romero Aluente, from Aragon, and Moreno Guerro, who
had been secretary to Ballesteros.

At the end of August, Riego came to Madrid with the inten-
tion of telling the King and the ministers some unwelcome truths,

47
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and was received with enthusiasm by the clubs. On Sunday,
September 3rd, after a triumphal progress through the town, he
was honoured by a banquet in the Fontana d’Oro, the excitement
being increased by news of the revolution in Portugal. He then
proceeded to the theatre to see the play of “ Henry III. of Castile,”
which was full of political allusions. A Riego hymn, analogous
to the Garibaldi hymn of a later date, was greeted with applause,
as was also the “ Tvagala, perro” (“‘ Swallow it, you hound ’’)—
the “ca ira” of Spain—Riego standing up with his whole staff
and joining in the chorus. These excesses turned public opinion
against the Exaltados. The clubs were placed under strict sur-
veillance, and Riego was deprived of his command in Galicia and
sent to Oviedo. He left Madrid on September 6th.

The next great agitation was caused by the law against reli-
gious communities, brought forward at the beginning of October,
with regard to the brotherhoods of mendicant friars. It limited
their numbers, forbade their organisations under General
Superiors, and promised those who left them a yearly pension.
On the other hand, the houses of all other Orders, including the
military Orders of Calatrava and Alcantara, were suppressed,
and the foundation of new Orders was forbidden. Only eight
Orders of special historical interest were excepted from these
decrees. Their property was used for the liquidation of the
national debt, and their archives, books, and works of art were
given to public museums. Though convents of nuns were un-
touched, they were placed under the surveillance of bishops.
Shortly before this a law had been passed, directed against primo-
geniture in the transmission of great landed property and estates,
and the creation of trusts. These statutes, taken together, were
attempts to liberate the soil of Spain, to break up the large tracts
of country which were controlled either by non-resident magnates
or by the chilling influence of the dead hand.

Hitherto the King had posed as a friend of the Revolution,
although he hated it in his heart. By the Constitution he was
allowed an interval of thirty days for recording his acceptance
of a law, and was now urged to reject the proposed measure about
religious Orders by the papal nuncio—his confessor, Cirilo, who
threatened him with the pains of hell—by Don Carlos, and the
Queen. On the other hand, the ministers were supported by
the French Ambassador, and declared that the King was lost
if he vetoed the Bill. They offered, however, to add to the
number of eight Orders already exempted. At length, when
the ministers threatened to resign, and Ballesteros said that the

48
“THE CONSTITUTION OR DEATH!”

troops could not be depended upon, the King gave his consent,
but secretly determined upon revenge.

Ferdinand now retired to the Escurial, from which he refused
to move. He ought to have closed the Cortes in person, but
excused his absence on the ground of ill-health. The Cortes
ended their session on November gth, leaving a provisional com-
mittee to act during the recess. The King took a decisive step
on November 16th by removing Vigodet, Captain-General of
Madrid, from his post, and giving it to Carvajal, a bitter enemy of
the Constitution. In answer to this stroke the King was pressed
to dismiss his first Chamberlain, Count Miranda, and his con-
fessor, Saez, and to summon an extraordinary Cortes. Madrid
seemed ready for a revolution, or for a march on the Escurial to
bring the King back. The King yielded and recalled Vigodet, and
dismissed Miranda and Saez.

On returning to Madrid on November aist, the monarch was
received with coldness. When he appeared on the balcony of the
palace, cries were raised of ‘‘ The Constitution or Death!” ‘‘ Long
live Riego!’’ and the book of the Constitution was held aloft
and kissed. The Queen burst into tears, and the King was
beside himself with rage. The Exaltados lifted their heads again,
Riego being appointed Captain-General of Aragon and his inti-
mate friends, Galliano and Beltran de Lis, promoted to similar
posts. The Serviles were persecuted, and Father Cirilo, the
confessor, and the Duke of Infantado were banished. The Exal-
tados founded a new society of the Communeros, a name which
recalled memories of the great rising of the sixteenth century and
its leader Padilla. The ‘Sons of Padilla,’ as they were called, were
compelled to swear, on entering the club, to avenge themselves
on tyrants and to kill every traitor. The club possessed news-
papers and had branches in all the provinces. The whole coun-
try was in a terrible condition, full of beggars and brigands.
There was no money for mending roads or bridges; a few children
were taught the Constitution by heart, but hundreds of thousands
could neither read nor write; credit disappeared; a new era
might be at hand, but dark clouds heralded its dawn.

A similar course of events was taking place in Portugal. The
Peninsular War had brought disaster to that country. The
population had decreased by 200,000; the number of in-
habited houses had been reduced by thousands. Not only was
agriculture in a backward state, and the olive plantations and
vineyards neglected, but the tenants of lands belonging to the
Crown, the high nobility, the orders of knighthood and the

49
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

monasteries groaned beneath their heavy burdens. The roads
were bad, the rivers unregulated, and large tracts of country were
given up to sheep and goats, while as for commerce it could hardly
be said to exist.

When the French entered Portugal in 1807 the Prince Regent
and the Royal Family set sail for Rio de Janeiro, carrying with
them large sums of money. His first act in the new country was
to open all Brazilian ports to friendly and neutral vessels, and a
close alliance was entered into between Portugal and England.
Brazil was made a kingdom on December 16th, 1815, and in the
following year John VI., after the death of his mother, succeeded
to the Crown. All this was unfavourable to Portugal, which was
treated like a step-child instead of like a favoured son. Trade
between Portugal and Brazil was reduced by one half, and
instead of the 800 ships which entered the Port of Rio every
year under the Portuguese flag, there were now only 200. The
effects of the Methuen Treaty pressed heavily upon Portugal,
Great Britain took her wines, but Portugal obtained all her woollen,
cotton, and linen stuffs from the United Kingdom.

The intellectual condition of Portugal was as bad as the
economical. In 1812 there were only sixteen printing establish-
ments in the whole country, and only twelve bookshops. The
elementary schools, founded by the enlightened Pombal, numbered
873, but the average attendance of children was only ten. The
Regency had little power, because their hands were tied from Rio,
and the chief authority lay in the hands of the military com-
mander, Marshal Beresford, who was assisted by several English-
men. There was no navy to speak of, but the army amounted
to 59,000 men, a ruinous burden. Beresford’s letters to Wellington
depict the country in sombre colours. He said the soldiers had no
bread, and he feared an attack from Spain. Wellington did his
best to encourage him, asserting that without him Portugal would
be lost. But Beresford had all the stiffness of an Englishman of
the Regency, and his unpopularity was extended to his country-
men. The Portuguese hated the heretical meddlers who had come
to save the country and were now destroying it. The centre
of disaffection lay in the army, and in 1817 some regiments,
destined for Banda Oriental, mutinied.

A conspiracy was formed between certain Portuguese officers
and some civilians, who desired to liberate their country from
foreign rule, and took Lieutenant-General Gomez Freire de Andrade
as their leader. This was discovered by Beresford, who informed
the Regency, and a number of arrests were made. Freire and

50
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS IN PORTUGAL

several others were condemned and executed; Freire’s body
was burned and his ashes were thrown into the sea. After this
matters proceeded from bad to worse, and, in the spring of 1820
Beresford went to Rio to represent the state of affairs and to
procure money.

The leaders of the revolution took advantage of his absence,
and on August 24th, 1820, there was a rising in Oporto, under
Sepulveda. A provisional Junta was formed, and Count Antonio
Silveira was elected President. On September 15th, which was
always kept as a holiday to celebrate the departure of the French,
a rising took place in the garrison of Lisbon under Count Resenda.
Cries were raised of “‘ Long live the King and the Constitution !”’
and at night the whole of the city was illuminated. The Revo-
lutionary Government of Oporto and that of Lisbon now united.
When Beresford returned to the Tagus on October roth, he found
there was no place left for him. He alleged the orders of the
King, but was informed that the Portuguese nation had reclaimed
its independence. He was entreated not to land, even as a private
person, and sailed for England on the Arabella packet. The
departure of Beresford was followed by a coup d@’ état, caused by a
wish to introduce the Spanish Constitution. Then there arose
a party in favour of uniting Portugal and Spain under the same
constitutional King. This was headed by the Jurist, Manoel
Fernandez Thomaz, who was connected with the Spanish Chargé
d’Affaires, Pando, “the Apostle of Liberalism.’’ Texeira and
Cabreira, jealous of Sepulveda, on November 11th surrounded
the palace, where the Junta was sitting, with soldiers and cannon.
Accordingly the Junta determined to accept the Constitution of
Spain, and to give the command of the navy to Texeira, receiving
four of his supporters into the Junta.

This step was found to be in advance of public opinion. The
corporation and magistrates protested against it and were sup-
ported by a majority of the officers of the army, 150
officers and nearly all the civilians resigning their posts. On
November 17th its ancient form was restored to the Junta, and
it was agreed that the Cortes should be elected according to the
Spanish system, one member for every 30,000 inhabitants, but
that no other part of the Constitution should be adopted until
the Cortes had considered the matter. Silveira now withdrew
from motives of health.

The Cortes met on January 26th, 1821. It was by no means
Radical in character. The clergy were largely represented, and
the Archbishop of Bahia was made President. The Regency

51
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

took an oath to maintain the Catholic religion and to support the
throne and the name of Braganza. This, however, was on the
condition that John VI. should recognise the revolution and the
action of the Cortes. He received these proposals favourably,
and talked of returning to his country. The Cortes proceeding to
draw up the new Constitution without waiting for his consent,
the Liberals won a victory over the Corcundas—“ the Humpbacks,”
as the Portuguese Serviles were called from their habit of con-
tinually ‘‘ bowing and scraping.” The royal power was strictly
limited, and on March aoth the civil, military, and eccelesiastical
authorities swore allegiance to the Constitution.

Now, however, opposition to the Constitution arose on the
side of the clergy and nobility. The Patriarch of Lisbon refused
to take the oath to the Constitution. and was confined in the
monastery of Bussaco and afterwards banished. In the mean-
time the condition of the country continued deplorable. Brigand-
age was so rife that families did not dare to leave Lisbon to go
to their country seats; commerce was at a standstill; justice
was delayed, some criminals having been kept seven years in
prison without being brought to trial. The folk of Lisbon did not
conceal their opinions: they broke the windows of the Papal
Nuncio and attacked the house of the Austrian Ambassador,
because they would not illuminate in celebration of the King’s
consent to the Constitution. The Revolution now seized Brazil,
and it was fanned by the Crown Prince Pedro. Count Palmella,
perhaps the most experienced of Portuguese statesmen, advised
his sovereign to yield. The King sailed for Portugal, leaving Pedro
in Brazil as Regent, reached Lisbon on July 8th, 1821, and
swore obedience to the principles of the Constitution.

52
CHAPTER VI
ITALY AND NAPLES

Iraty had been called into life by Napoleon. An Italian by
origin, with strong Italian sympathies, he was the first statesman
to imagine the possibility of Italy’s governing herself, and the
country which he created still honours his memory. After his fall
and the triumph of Austria and the principles of Metternich, there
were still some who did not surrender the ideal which Napoleon
set up, but there were differences of opinion as to the manner in
which it should be realised. Some were in favour of a federa-
tion, some of a republic, but no one foresaw what actually came
to pass—a unitary State under the leadership of Piedmont.

Indeed, the government of Victor Emmanuel I. was not such
as to excite enthusiasm. He was penetrated with feudal ideas.
During the reign of Napoleon, he had retired to the island of
Sardinia, but at the court of Cagliari, where there were not enough
tables and chairs to go round, the laws of the greater and lesser
entrées were strictly observed. When he returned to Turin there
was no improvement. The ancien régime was ruthlessly restored.
All who were suspected of revolutionary tendencies were driven
from office, and twelve most distinguished professors were dis-
missed from Turin University as Jacobins. The army was
purified of Napoleonic elements, guilds were restored, the names
of streets were altered, Napoleon’s road over Mont Cénis was
blocked up, partly from association, partly lest revolutionary
ideas should be imported from France. The nobles and clergy
were replaced in something of their old position.

The first ministers of the Restoration were Cerruti and Musso,
narrow-minded men, devoted to the past. Musso gave way to
St. Marsan, and Cerruti to Vidua, who, however, soon made room
for Borgarelli, a follower of Cerruti. Discontent first began to
show itself in Genoa, which, having been a republic, was joined
to Piedmont by the Treaty of Vienna. The old families of Doria,
Durazzo and Serra withdrew to their villas, and flourishing fac-
tories had to make way for monks and nuns. But a better spirit
was shown by the summoning to the Home Office of Prospero
Balbo in September, 1819. Strivings towards a Constitution

53
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

made themselves felt, and were supported by the Duke Dalberg,
the French ambassador, whose wife, a Brignole of Genoa, gave
him influence over the best society of that city. His house,
whether at Turin or at Genoa, was the centre of Liberal thought.
His dispatches expressed the opinion that a Constitution would
be the most powerful influence for binding together the several
parts of the Piedmontese kingdom and securing independence
against Austria. In 1820 the Sardinian Government succeeded
in effecting his recall, but before he went he adjured Balbo to
follow in his footsteps.

The heir to Victor Emmanuel was his brother, Charles Felix,
but at the latter’s death the crown would pass to the House of
Carignan, the head of which was Prince Charles Albert. He was
supposed to be favourable to Liberal ideas; indeed, Metternich
endeavoured to prevent his accession by repealing the Salic Law
and promising the transference of the crown to the Duke of
Modena. But the rights of the House of Carignan had been
safeguarded by the Treaty of Vienna.

Charles Albert had lost his father at the age of two, and his
mother, a Princess of Courland, was called by Victor Emmanuel
the ‘‘ Jacobin Princess.”” He had been educated, first in France
and then in Geneva, and in this school had learnt to estimate
the ancien régime at its true value. He received his commission
as lieutenant at the hand of Napoleon, and this the King could
never forget. Accordingly, he was placed under strict surveil-
lance, and in revenge seemed to lose himself in frivolity, being
regarded rather as a Don Juan than as a Hamlet. Dalberg said
of him, ‘‘ His heart is corrupt, he despises mankind, and he does
no serious business.” At the age of nineteen he was married
to a Tuscan princess, and his Liberal sentiments became more
apparent. To Gino Capponi, who was attached to his suite in
Florence, he said that the Germans must be driven out of Italy,
and he adopted the motto of his ancestor, Amadeus VI., “ Je
atans mon astre.”’ Naturally, the young Liberals looked towards
him with hope, and even beyond the frontiers the patriots of
Lombardy and Tuscany marked him as their future leader, while
from distant lands of exile prophetic voices designated him as
the Marcellus of Italy.

No one was more jealous of him than Francis IV., Duke of
Modena, son of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and Beatrice
of Este. In the Congress of Vienna he had claimed the ancient
territories of the House of Este, the Legations, Genoa, and the
Duchy of Milan. He sought to overthrow the succession of the

54
ITALY’S RULERS

House of Carignan. Even Metternich was alarmed at his ambi-
tious views. Francis governed his territories as an unscrupulous
tyrant, recalled the pre-revolutionary laws, entrusted education
to the clergy, and built monasteries; but he did not restore the
confiscated property of the Church. He favoured the nobles,
but did not give back their possessions. He was a man of great
strength of will, stubborn and unscrupulous, and had inherited
Massa and Carrara at the death of his mother.

The Duchy of Parma was governed by the wife of Napoleon,
Marie Louise, who had resumed her rank as an Austrian arch-
duchess. She ruled with some enlightenment, and her legislation
is worthy of note. She maintained with the Church the Con-
cordat of 1801, her taxes and her censorship of the Press were
moderate, Parma could boast of its University and its library,
she encouraged schools and other beneficent institutions, and
she built the mighty bridge over the rebellious Taro. Neipperg,
a man of horrible character, assisted her in these enterprises.
Such advantages consoled her subjects for the presence of an
Austrian garrison in Piacenza.

The Duchy of Lucca, which had prospered under Napoleon’s
sister, Elisa Bacciochi, was now ruled by another Marie Louise,
the sister of Ferdinand of Spain. She built seventeen monas-
teries; on the days of Church festivals all commerce and traffic
in the streets of Lucca was stopped. She spent the revenues of
her territory on herself, and the only good features of the reign
were the improvement of the harbour of Via Reggio, the regula-
tion of the Serchio, and the foundation of a university. By
the Treaty of Vienna Lucca was eventually to pass to Tuscany
and the Duchess was to receive Parma by way of a compensa-
tion. But Napoleon’s Marie Louise did not die till 1847.

The Duke of Tuscany was Ferdinand III., the brother of the
Emperor of Austria. He did his best to appease Metternich,
and was assisted by his Secretary of State, Count Vittorio Fos-
sombroni, a distinguished minister, an engineer, economist, and
statesman. His motto was, “The world goes by itself.” He
had worthy colleagues in Prince Neri Corsini, who represented
Tuscany at the Congress of Vienna, and Leonardo Frullani, who
gave the finances a surplus of sixteen million lire.

Unfortunately, the French code was abrogated and a sus-
picious police was established. There was but little self-govern-
ment in the municipalities, and scarcely anything was done for
education. On the other hand, commerce and manufactures were
free ; roads were made; the marshes of the Chiana were drained ;

55
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the condition of the peasants, who were principally small farmers,
was good; manufactures of silk, glass, and leather reared their
heads ; the harbour of Leghorn was improved; the Universities
of Pisa and Siena were restored; the Academy of Della Crusca
resumed its labours. Rossini illuminated the operatic stage ;
little money was spent on the army; Giampietro Vieusseux
was allowed to establish his reading-room at Florence; the
Antologia was established on the model of the Edinburgh Review.
Foremost in this work was Gino Capponi, who, with the help of
Vieusseux, made Florence the home of Italian Liberals. Con-
falonieri, the friend of Capponi, not blind to the faults of the
Grand-Ducal government, found, in the valley of the Arno, his
favourite home in the midst of a courteous, kind and prosperous
community.

We hear, on good authority, that Rome was a city of material
and moral ruin. The Pope, Pius VII., was a good man, and his
chief secretary, Consalvi, a wise and respectable statesman ; and
the Pontiff had some sympathy with modern ideas. Unfortunately,
it was thought necessary at Rome, as elsewhere, to do away with
all traces of the Napoleonic government, which was in many
respects enlightened and instinct with the spirit of the age.
Pius VII. was quite ready to forgive and forget, but in the cir-
cumstances in which he was placed it was difficult to do so.
Consalvi had been ambassador at the Congress of Vienna, which
had assured the possession of the Marches and the Legations to
the Holy See. After his return the Pope issued a motu proprio
on July 6th, 1816, which gave a new constitution to the papal
dominions. It attempted to reconcile the old and the new, a
difficult, if not an impossible, problem.

But a fundamental error was made by placing the whole
machine of government in the hands of the priests. These
arrangements were strongly condemned by Niebuhr, who was at
that time Prussian Ambassador at Rome. He said that the place
of a brilliant aristocracy, endowed with fortune and not devoid
of education, was taken by an uneducated proletariat, paid for
their services, and that things became worse every day. The
populace soon became aware that the cassock had no magic to
turn those who wore it into honest and capable officials, and
Consalvi complained to Metternich that the government of the
priests caused great discontent. But the reforms of Consalvi,
however inadequate, met with the opposition of the older car-
dinals, who formed the party of the “ Zelanti,’ led by Mattei,
della Genga, Somaglia, and Severoli, and the great Roman families

56
THE EVIL CONDITION OF ROME

were opposed to him because he had destroyed their feudal
privileges.

Education and justice were in evil plight ; the one was in the
hands of priests, even of Jesuits, and the other consisted of
reminiscences of the Code Napoléon, modified by canonical law
and the apostolic constitutions. Crime was very rife; in the
beginning of 1820 there was one criminal in 220 of the popula-
tion, and more than 5,000 had been condemned to penal servi-
tude. Brigandage, which the French had not been able to put
down, now assumed larger proportions. The brigands of Italy
had a political complexion and answered to the gwerilleros of
Spain and the klephis of Greece. The division of Italy into
small states encouraged their development. It was not possible
to go from Rome to Albano or Frascati without an escort. The
neighbourhood of Velletri and Terracina was especially dangerous,
and the mountain village of Sonnino was reckoned the headquarters
of the brigands. When all other means failed a formal treaty was
made with them. All the brigands were to give themselves up
as prisoners to the Papal States for a year ; after that they should
be left alone. However, only three carriages full of men and
women found their way to Rome: amongst them was one who
prided himself on having killed sixty victims. Eventually Sonnino
was razed to the ground, not without the opposition of the Pope.
About agriculture the less said the better. The Campagna was
a desert, full of wild buffaloes, guarded by cowboys with long
spears. The population ,was decimated by fever. Commerce
was at a standstill, exaggerated import duties encouraged smug-
gling, and the harbours of Civita Vecchia and Ancona could not
vie with Leghorn. Rome, however, was the capital of art and the
resort of foreign painters. Cornelius and Overbeck came from
Germany, Thorwaldsen from Denmark, while Canova brought
to the Vatican the spoils rescued from Paris. They formed the
nucleus of the Vatican collection, of the Museo Chiaramonti, and
the Braccio Nuovo. The excavations begun by the French were
continued, and the Pincian Hill was laid out as a promenade.

But there was a dark side to the picture. Niebuhr tells us that
the Romans “ vegetated,’ that the nobles lived in idleness and
the satisfaction of the most degrading lusts, that the masses were
sunk in laziness, vacillating between self-indulgence and super-
stition, surrounded by police spies. Beggars, dishonest shop-
keepers, a priest-ridden populace complete the picture. Even
the bitter opponents of Napoleon admitted that his fall had
been the greatest misfortune for the Holy City. The finances

57
6

A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

were run by the banker Torlonia. To receive the Emperor of
Austria in 1819 it was necessary to borrow money from the
mother and sister of Napoleon, Madame Mére and Pauline
Borghese. It was time an equilibrium should at last be estab-
lished, but only a quarter of the Napoleonic debt was acknowledged.
The chief source of income was the demoralising lottery. The
taxes were let out to farmers, who made enormous profits.
Niebuhr says, “No part of Italy, perhaps no part of Europe,
except Turkey, is governed like the States of the Church.”

Such a condition naturally formed a hot-bed of secret
societies and conspiracies. If free countries have parties, unfree
countries have secret associations. They were not confined to
the Liberals. The Concistoriali and the Sanfedisti were ardent
supporters of the Church; their object was the annihilation of
the infamous Liberals. High officials of the Church supported
the Fratelli, who were bound by a terrible oath to suffer their
right hand to be cut off, their throats to be severed, and their
souls to be damned to everlasting hell before they would betray
their cause. A species of civil war broke out, in which the
dagger was often concealed beneath the crucifix and the rosary.

The great Liberal organisation was that of the Carbonart,
the ‘‘ Charcoal-burners,” founded, it is said, by Queen Caroline
on the occasion of the French invasion of Italy in 1808. They
were favoured by Murat, and, after the fall of Napoleon, repre-
sented anti-Austrian tendencies. Alison says the society “ had
comparatively few partisans in the rural districts where ancient
influences had retained their ascendancy, but in the towns, among
the incorporations, the universities, the scholars, the army and
the artists, it had spread almost universally, and it might with
truth be said that among the 642,000 persons who, in Italy, were
said to be enrolled in its ranks, was to be found nearly all the
genius in religion and politics of the land.” In the spring of 1817,
when the serious illness of the Pope seemed to forbid a change of
Government, there was a rising of the Carbonari in Macerata,
which was put down by Cardinal Pacca.

In Naples, the original home of the Carbonari, they were
opposed by the Calderari, the ‘‘ Kettlers,” who hated the ‘‘ Charcoal-
burners” as the kettle hates the charcoal. King Ferdinand IV.,
who had so long been confined to Sicily, when he came to Naples,
promised to forget the past, a policy suggested to him by his
ministers Medici and Tommasi, whose moderation caused them
to be hailed with the name of “ Jacobins.” By their influence
the Code Napoléon remained unaltered. Murat’s officers served in

58
UNION OF NAPLES AND SICILY

the army, and hopes were held out of a Constitution. In 1812 a
Constitution, on the English model, had been given to Sicily by
Lord William Bentinck, which was certainly not well suited to
the circumstances of that country. In December, 1816, the
Governments of Sicily and Naples were united, and the Constitu-
tion ultimately fell to the ground, to the joy of Metternich.

The King was proclaimed as Ferdinand I., King of the Empire
of both Sicilies, and the change was an ominous one for the island.
Vineyards were grubbed up, arable land was turned to waste,
to escape the grinding taxation; the system of irrigation intro-
duced by the Arabs was destroyed; roads were scarcely to be
found, and those that did exist were rendered impassable by
brigands ; the interior of the island was a waste, without wood,
water, or ways. The power of the feudal barons increased, and
the population were oppressed by poverty, ignorance, and crushing
taxes. The Latifundia, the secular pest of the peninsula, reigned
supreme. The indolent landlord spent his extorted rents in the
large towns, while the speculating factor, to whom he had leased
the land, sucked the blood out of the people. Things were some-
what better in the confined mountain valleys, and in the narrow
strip of country where, in the midst of oranges and lemons, there
was a growth of vines, locust-beans, and vegetables. Here the
peasant proprietor, or rather métayer, could flourish in peace. At
the same time the standard of comfort was not high. Father,
mother, brothers and sisters all slept in the same room, in com-
pany with the pig, the goat, and the mule. These circumstances
did not prevent them from giving birth to the most charming of
popular songs, and to the melodies which lend their beauty to
the Cavalleria Rusticana.

If such was the condition of Sicily, the hopes of Naples were
soon undeceived. Those who had been faithful to the monarchy
received all the posts. The conscription was restored with slight
differences. Political offenders were punished as murderers, and
murderers were acquitted, if their politics were right. The in-
famous Prince of Canosa was made head of the police; a liber-
tine and a drunkard under the shadow of piety, he favoured the
sect of the Calderari, and persecuted the ‘“‘ Charcoal-burners.” He
was dismissed with a rich pension in June, 1816. Other socie-
ties raised their heads. Amongst them were the Determinati,
in the Province of Otranto, led by a bloodthirsty priest, Ciro
Annichiarico. He was crushed by the English general, Church,
afterwards so prominent in Greece, who stormed Annichiarico’s
camp on February 27th, 1818, and shot the ringleaders in public.

59
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Those were the days of notable bandits, such as Gaetano Vardarelli,
and Fra Diavolo, who lives in opera.

It goes almost without saying that lack of justice, disorder
in the finances, economical misery, absence of trade, and degrada-
tion of education were rife on every hand. Settembrini describes
one of the best schools in the kingdom as a prison for some hun-
dreds of children, who spent the greater part of the day kneeling
or sitting, while they were instructed in the Catechism or in Latin,
A Concordat was signed on February 16th, 1818, which enhanced
the privileges of the Church, the number of bishoprics being
increased and richly endowed, and the monasteries being for the
most part restored. Colletta says of this measure that in a single
day it annihilated the progress of a century.

The first impulse towards a better state of things was given
by General William Pepe. He was born at Squillace in Calabria,
and with his elder brother Florestan had fought in 1799 for the
Parthenopolitan Republic, and afterwards in the Italian legion.
He had served Joseph Bonaparte, when the latter was King of
Naples, and, after fighting under the French flag in Corfu and Spain,
had distinguished himself in the army of Murat. Beginning as
a Republican, he had become a partisan of constitutional monarchy,
and did not hold aloof from conspiracies for this object. At the
close of 1818 he was sent to extinguish brigandage in the districts
of Foggia and Avellino. He possessed high military qualities,
but had a certain sympathy with the Carbonari. He hoped that
the King, when he recovered from his illness, would grant a Con-
stitution, but contented himself with cutting off his pigtail,
which at an earlier time would have been regarded as a sign of
Jacobinism.

In the spring of 1819 the Emperor Francis and Metternich
paid a visit to Naples. They had planned a visit to Avellino to
review the militia, and Pepe formed a scheme for arresting them
with the help of the Carbonari, a story which would be hard to
believe if it did not rest on his own testimony. But the contem-
plated visit was not paid. Still, the principles of the Carbonari
continued to make way amongst the officers and soldiers. Shop-
keepers, tradesmen, and advocates all looked with hope to the
red, black, and blue tricolour of the Charcoal-burners, and believed
that the happiness of their country lay in a Constitution. Only
a slight shock was needed to cause an explosion, and that was
found in the success of the Spanish Revolution. Many an officer
longed to play the part of a Quiroga or a Riego. The town of
Nola, which lies between Naples and Avellino, was occupied at

60
THE CARBONARI REBELLION

this time by the cavalry regiment called Bourbon. Two lieu-
tenants, named Morelli and Silvati, stimulated by a priest named
Menichini, one of the most active Carbonari in the place, deter-
mined to mutiny, and to hoist the tricolour. In the night of
July ist-and, 1820, about 140 soldiers followed them, together
with Menichini and a dozen townsmen. They marched to
Avellino, shouting as they marched “ For God, the King, and the
Constitution.” They halted at Mercogliano, not far from Avellino
and Morelli, and persuaded de’ Concili, who was commanding at
Avellino in Pepe’s absence, to join them. On July 3rd the Spanish
Constitution was proclaimed in Avellino and de’ Concili was
appointed Commander.

Pepe was then in Naples, and the first idea was to send him
to quell the insurrection. But the King did not agree to this,
and Carrascosa, an old Muratist, was despatched instead. Pepe,
resolving to side with the insurgents, who were collected at Monte-
forte, took with him two regiments of cavalry and one of infantry,
and marched towards the rebels. The King, frightened, promised
to grant a Constitution within eight days, and in the meantime
retired from the Government and nominated his son, the Duke of
Calabria, Viceroy in his stead. On July 1st the Viceroy proclaimed
the Spanish Constitution, with the consent of the King, but
reserved the right to make certain modifications. Pepe himself
would have preferred the French Charte to the Constitution of
Cadiz, but he had no choice. He was entrusted with the general
command of all Neapolitan troops, and a provisional Junta was
appointed. As a test of sincerity, all political offenders were
liberated from prison. On July 9th Pepe entered Naples with
20,000 troops, having de’ Concili on one hand and Napoletano on
the other. At the head of the Nola Carbonari rode the priest
Menichini, armed with sword and musket. They surged round the
palace, while the Duke of Calabria appeared on the balcony with
his family, wearing the tricolour. After the march past, Pepe was
graciously received by the Duke and the King, who lay quivering
in bed. In the evening the town was illuminated.

Metternich was horrified. Dreading the excesses of a half-
civilised people, hot-blooded as Africans, whose last word is the
dagger, he prophesied that blood would flow in streams, a prophecy
which was not fulfilled, for Pepe prevented excesses. The salt
tax was reduced by one half. The new Minister for Foreign Affairs,
the Duke of Campochiaro, had represented Murat at the Congress
of Vienna, while Zurlo and Ricciardi, Ministers of the Interior
and Justice, had occupied the same posts under King Joachim.

61
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The provisional Junta was also of a Liberal complexion. On
July 13th the King swore, in the palace chapel, fidelity to the
Constitution. Tears flowed from his eyes, and he declared that
he swore this time from the depth of his heart. All the soldiers
and the militia followed his example.

Pepe’s brother Florestan, who was of cautious temperament,
had his doubts as to the sincerity of this manifestation, and left
the Junta. Dissensions soon began to show themselves, and a
mutinous regiment had to be coerced by force. The leaders of
the Carbonari and of the Muratists did not agree. Pepe had to
hold the balance, but he disagreed with Carrascosa and was driven
more and more to the side of the Carbonari. The King played the
traitor: he told the French Ambassador that his illness was only
a pretence, addressed secret messages to Vienna and St. Peters-
burg, and sent Metternich a protest against the oath, which he
said he had taken with the knife at his throat.

In the meantime a far more terrible revolution broke out in
Sicily. The Spanish Constitution was proclaimed in Messina,
political prisoners were released, and order was preserved. But
things went differently in Palermo when the news of the accept-
ance of the Constitution arrived on July 14th. On that day, the
eve of the national festival of St. Rosalia, a ship arrived from
Naples, in which all the passengers and the crew wore the Car-
bonari tricolour. This was immediately adopted, with the addi-
tion of a strip of yellow, and next day an insurrection broke out.
General Church ordered the soldiers to barracks, but he was dis-
obeyed, his house being stormed and his furniture burned. On
the following morning the people armed themselves with muskets
and committed serious excesses. On July 17th there was fight-
ing in the streets, the Viceroy, Roselli, being compelled to fly for
his life, A reign of terror ensued. Princes Cattolica and Aci
were dragged from their hiding places and barbarously murdered,
and the latter’s villa was razed to the ground. Not till July 18th
was a provisional Government established, with the Prince of
Villafranca at its head. These risings were imitated throughout
the country. Messina and Caltasinetta refused to obey the orders
of Palermo, and the whole island fell a prey to civil strife.

The news of this outbreak caused dismay in Naples; Florestan
Pepe was sent with 9,000 men to restore order. He offered
reasonable terms, but they were rejected. Nothing was left for
him but to attack Palermo on September 26th. Not till October
5th did he come to an agreement with the insurgents on board
a British vessel, the venerable Prince of Palermo acting as repre-

62
THE REPRESSION OF SICILY

sentative of the Sicilian people. It was agreed that Pepe should
be put in possession of the fort, that the Neapolitan Constitution
should be proclaimed, and that the Prince of Palermo should be
President of a new Junta.

But the Parliament of Naples had met on October 1st. The
mainland alone was represented in it, not Sicily. It consisted of
seventy-two members, chiefly lawyers, doctors, priests, and offi-
cials, and only two nobles. Giuseppe Poerio was a member, as
was also Pasquale Borelli. Parties were well assorted; indeed,
the members changed their plans every day. The King left
Capodimonte to open the House, and solemnly renewed his oath
to the Constitution. William Pepe, with great solemnity, resigned
the command of the army. The first step was to recall Florestan
Pepe and to disown his action, saying that he had exceeded his
instructions. Pepe resigned his place to Colletta. The breach
between the two Sicilies became worse and worse. The Neapoli-
tan Parliament confiscated the property of the Sicilian barons
and gave it to the people, without any compensation ; abolished
the High Court of Justice in Palermo; made the Sicilians
realise that their claims to independence were disregarded, and

maintained a large force to garrison Palermo and to hold it in
check, ,

53
CHAPTER VII
CONGRESS OF TROPPAU

FERDINAND VII.’s submission to the revolution caused great
dismay in Paris, where public opinion had been already excited
by the murder of the Duc de Berri and the fall of Decazes.
Richelieu, his successor, was in favour of intervention, but this
was opposed by Great Britain, Wellington being in this matter
in full’ agreement with Castlereagh. The French Government
conceived the project of sending Latour du Pin to Madrid, to urge
the King to alter the Constitution so as to bring it into clear
harmony with the French Charie, but this idea was given up.
Alexander of Russia was less courteous. A Russian Note, dated
May 2nd, 1820, signed by Nesselrode, was circulated, lamenting
that the King had allowed himself to be drawn into revolutionary
courses. He referred to the conclusion of the Congress of Aix-
la-Chapelle, and threatened the interruption of friendly relations
between Spain and the allies. This note was not favourably
received, either by Great Britain or Austria. Metternich was
sufficiently frightened, but he seemed to prefer common action
with Prussia. His attitude, however, was altered by the out-
break of the Revolution in Naples. On July 23rd he sent a note
to the Courts of Turin, Modena, Lucca, Florence and Rome, say-
ing that, by the Treaty of Vienna, Austria had been appointed
guardian of the peace of Italy, and was prepared, if necessary, to
employ force.

Metternich, no doubt, feared the spread of the constitutional
and national spirit. He said that the Carbonari had no other
end in view than the complete unity and independence of Italy,
although these objects were at present very far from the domain
of practical politics. At the same time dangerous symptoms of
discontent were evident in Rome. Niebuhr writes of a union
between certain priests and Jacobins, based upon a common
hatred of Consalvi, supported by ambitious cardinals, who
dreamed of their college being changed into a senate, which might
exercise a firm control over a lower house. There were signs of
revolutionary excitement in Lombardy and Piedmont and Clubs
of Independence were formed in Turin, Alessandria and Coni.

64
THE CONGRESS OF TROPPAU

Metternich would willingly have intervened himself. He said at
a later period to the Duke of Modena, ‘‘ If we could have marched
20,000 men straight to the Po, we could have crushed the rebellion
in Naples at once, and the world would have blessed us.’”’ But
this was not done. Fossombroni was entirely opposed to an occu-
pation of Tuscany, and the Roman Chancery did not welcome an
Austrian intervention.

Prussia and Great Britain did not object to armed interven-
tion by Austria, but it was different with regard to France and
Russia. It would have been tempting for France to anticipate
Austria and to place herself at the head of the revolutionary move-
ment in Italy, had she not feared the stirring up of a revolution
in both countries. Following another direction, Louis XVIII.
issued a note saying that, as head of the Bourbon family, and as
the prince who was the first to give to his own subjects the liber-
ties which all others seemed to desire, he felt it his duty to call
the attention of his allies to the serious condition of Italy. He
was of opinion that there ought to be an intervention in Naples,
and he approved of Austria’s arming, but he felt that these steps
should be made legitimate by a common declaration of all five
Powers. Richelieu wrote to Capodistrias on August roth that
it was necessary to make it plain to the people that it was not a
question of making war against any particular principles, but of
suppressing a military revolt, whose monstrous tyranny would
throw Europe back into barbarism.

The Russian Emperor was only too glad to summon a con-
gress of princes and ministers, who could speak in the name of
Europe; but Metternich did not desire to have his hands tied.
He would have preferred to hold the meetings at Vienna; but
Troppau, in Austrian Silesia, was selected as being easily reached
from Warsaw and Berlin. The British Ministry, occupied by
the trial of Queen Caroline, refused to be bound by any
conclusions agreed to at Troppau. The Emperor of Austria
arrived at Troppau on October 18th, 1820, and the Tsar joined
him two days afterwards; but the King of Prussia could not
arrive till November 7th, though he sent the Crown Prince, his
son. Austria was represented by Metternich and Gentz, Russia
by Nesselrode and Capodistrias, Prussia by Hardenberg and
Bernstorff, France by Count Caraman, and Great Britain by Sir
Charles Stewart.

It was the first practical application of the principles of the
Holy Alliance. The British Government took no part in the
deliberations, but did not firmly oppose the measures decided

D 65
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

upon. The danger of an Austrian intervention caused great
excitement at Naples. Campochiaro, the Minister, informed
Consalvi that if he allowed the Austrians to pass through his
territory, the Neapolitans would reply by invading the Papal
States. There was some thought of altering the Constitution to
bring it more into harmony with the Charte; but the majority,
hardened by the interference of Austria and by the enthusiasm
of the Carbonari, resolved not to lay hands upon the “holy ”
document.

Just at this time the French dynasty was strengthened by the
birth of the Duc de Bordeaux on September 29th, 1820, “ the
child of the miracle.’ There was also a conspiracy in favour
of the tricolour flag. Both events strengthened the hands of
Metternich. His programme consisted of a march of Austrian
troops into Naples. This was opposed by Laferronnays, who
wrote to Paris, ‘‘ In the eyes of Metternich I am certainly regarded
as a Carbonaro.” The Russian Note, dated November 2nd, on
the other hand, aimed at suppressing all revolutionary move-
ments which might disturb the peace of Europe. At the same
time, Capodistrias expressed some degree of favour for a Con-
stitutional Government, and desired to gratify national wishes.
Metternich knew of no national desires, only those of Carbonari
and Muratists; the Powers must not become the instrument of
either party. They must say “the present condition of things
must cease and be replaced by one in which the free will of the
King and his wisdom must be fully acknowledged.’ Capodis-
trias did not contest the points further.

An agreement between Austria, Prussia and Russia was at
length brought about on November 7th, when the Russian Note of
November 2nd was accepted in spirit. Great Britain, however,
stood aloof and Stewart protested, and the attitude of France was
doubtful. Metternich having proposed to invite the King of Naples
to attend the Congress, the Tsar agreed, and a provisional protocol
was signed between the three Powers on November Igth. It laid
down some political principles of Russian origin. The first of
these ran, ‘‘ When in States which belong to the system of Euro-
pean Alliances a change of government is brought about by an
insurrection, and other States are threatened, this State is excluded
from the Alliance until it can give security for order and
stability.”” It was also the duty of the other allies to bring the
offender back, first by remonstrance, and failing that by force, so
that an Austrian occupation of Naples was legitimate. They also
agreed to invite Ferdinand to meet them at Laibach, which was

66
METTERNICH’S TRIUMPH

more convenient than Troppau. France refused to agree to this
protocol, and Great Britain protested.

The invitation to the King reached Naples on December 6th,
and caused great confusion. The King knew that he must have
the consent of Parliament to his departure, and he sought the
assistance of A’Court and Fontenay, the British and French
Ministers. The Crown Prince, who was appointed Viceroy, said
that the King would never be allowed by Parliament to travel
unless he gave an amnesty and promised to uphold the Constitu-
tion—conditions to which the King agreed.

A change of Government now took place, with the Duke of
Gallo as Prime Minister. The new Cabinet expressed its entire
confidence in the King’s intentions and gave leave for his
departure, naming his son as Viceroy. The King made a solemn
agreement, before the deliberative body and a deputation of
Parliament, not to be false to the Constitution, and left Naples
on a British vessel on December 13th. When he got out of sight of
land, he said, “‘ Here I am in Paradise.’”’ At Leghorn he entered
a Church of Pilgrimage to give thanks for his escape, writing to
Louis XVIII. that he had only yielded because he feared the
dagger of the assassin. In reality he had never been in danger.

Troppau was shut up in snow and frost, and the monarchs
were glad to leave it, spending two days in Vienna on their
way to Laibach. Metternich claimed to have scored 85 per cent.
over the Constitution-loving Capodistrias, and Alexander cooled
towards him. Nevertheless, Metternich declared for the prin-
ciple of the close union of monarchs, and the suppression of the
freedom of the Press, that scourge of society, which had been
unknown till the second half of the seventeenth century. He
detected great dangers in the rise of the middle class and of the
cultured classes who assisted it. If he did not altogether convert
Alexander, he at least succeeded in weakening the tie between
him and France. The Tsar said to Laferronnays, ‘‘ Every Govern-
ment is guilty or blind that does not co-operate to get rid of the
godless sect who desire to upset every throne and to destroy the
order of society.” Pozzo di Borgo said to Caraman, ‘‘ Do you
wish us to declare war against Austria in order to have the pleasure
of giving a Constitution to Naples ? ”’

The Congress of Laibach met in January, 1821, in a better
climate than the last. Count Ruffo-Scilla was present, represent-
ing the King of Naples, an enemy of the Constitution and a tool
in the hands of Metternich. All the Italian Governments were
invited to send representatives, and all accepted, with the excep-

67
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

tion of Lucca and Parma. Blacas represented France. Ferdinand
came late, but surpassed himself in denouncing everything to
which he had sworn allegiance. Two letters were prepared for
the King to sign—one public, in which he communicated to his
son the decision of the Powers; the other private, in which he
announced the approach of an Austrian army as a guarantee.
Corresponding instructions were sent to the Ambassadors of
Austria, Prussia and Russia in Naples. In the Conference
Metternich had his way, but not without difficulty. Capodistrias
would not consent and was, to use Metternich’s expression, “like
the devil in holy water.” The Tsar was completely overcome
by Metternich’s tea-parties, and became reconciled to Ferdinand’s
breaking his word. He talked about sending Russian and
Prussian troops in the wake of the Austrians.

Although the French Plenipotentiaries did not sympathise
with these views, they did not wish to break up the concert of
Europe, and agreed to sign the common Note. The fact was that
the Ultras had, in November, 1820, obtained a great victory in
France, and they consequently favoured the programme of the
Powers, and regarded intervention as a sacred duty. Great
Britain took a different line. However much the Tory Ministers
might desire the success of Metternich, parliamentary considera-
tions did not permit them to lend him their open support. Of
the Italian governments, Sardinia, Tuscany and Modena were in
favour of an Austrian intervention; but Consalvi, on behalf of
the Pope, was far more cautious. Gallo, the constitutional Prime
Minister of Naples, behaved in an extraordinary fashion. He
remained in Gérz till January 30th, when everything was com-
pleted. He was then admitted to the sittings, where he heard
the Government of which he was head denounced as an abomin-
able government, the work of delusion and crime. Ruffo watched
the scene through a hole in the door. Gallo made no objection ;
he agreed not only to take the letters to Naples, but to do what
he could to render them effective.

Sixty thousand Austrian troops, under the command of General
Frimont, set out to cross the Po. The occupation of Naples was
limited to three years. With the assistance of Gentz, Metter-
nich drew up “ Principles of a fundamental law for the kingdom
of the two Sicilies,” the document being secretly communicated
to Russia and Prussia. It divided the government of the two
countries and gave them a common Council of State, but
separate Consultas in Naples and Palermo, chosen by the King.
A certain amount of local government was conceded, much to

68
AUSTRIAN OCCUPATION OF NAPLES

the King’s disgust. This Constitution was finally accepted on
February 22nd, 1821. Metternich had thus gained a complete
victory.

Now arose the question whether a similar intervention should
be undertaken in Spain, but this was too much for the allies.
Pasquier wrote to Madrid: ‘‘ We consider that every interven-
tion of foreign Powers, so far from setting the King free from his
terrible position, will only have the effect of driving the revolu-
tionary party to the worst excesses. Only if Spain attacks us
will we defend ourselves.” The conference broke up on Feb-
ruary 26th without mentioning Spain. A new conference was
to be called to decide the direction of the Neapolitan occupation,
the two Emperors remaining in Laibach to await the result.
Ferdinand departed slowly, accompanied by Blacas and three
representatives of the great Powers. They intended to stay in
Florence by the way. A proclamation called upon all his sub-
jects to receive the army of his exalted allies with open arms, as
it was only intended to protect the true friends of God and the
Fatherland.

This was not the opinion at Naples. The Regent promised
to abide by his oath, but said that he feared he should be looked
upon in Europe as a rebel. In the meantime Gallo arrived and
brought the news from Laibach. The Regent said that he would
not separate himself from his people. Parliament met on Feb-
ruary 13th. The mob rose and murdered Giampietri, who was
said to have rejoiced over the coming of the Austrians, and war
seemed imminent. Rome was afraid of an invasion of the Nea-
politan Carbonari, and Niebuhr placed the plate, the archives,
and the pictures of the German Embassy in safe custody. The
feeling in Naples became more and more bellicose, and the
Regent asked Louis XVIII. to mediate. But the Neapolitan army
was very badly prepared. Of the whole force, a third, 12,000
men, was in Sicily; arms, provisions, and money were deficient,
and there were dissensions among the leaders. Still they made
ready for defence. An army corps, consisting of 10,000 regulars
and 20,000 militia, under William Pepe, was to defend the north ;
another of 18,000 regulars and 22,000 militia, under Carrascosa,
the south; and other defensive posts were occupied.

In the meantime the Austrian army marched through Tuscany
and the States of the Church, and approached the Abruzzi. Pepe
attacked the Austrians at Rieti on March 7th, 1821, but was
defeated and his army dissolved, he himself seeking refuge on a
Spanish ship. The combat of Rieti was the beginning and end

69
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of the campaign. The Austrians could hardly believe their suc-
cess and advanced and occupied Aquila. Carrascosa’s army lost
all discipline, and Capua was surrendered on March 2oth. Fon-
tenay wrote from Naples, ‘‘In Naples there is no army and no
government ; personal hatred is roused, all parties complain of
treachery.” The Austrians entered Naples, decorated with olive
branches, on March 24th, and the funds rose 8 per cent. At this
critical moment arrived the news of a revolution in Piedmont.
The Emperors at Laibach heard of the victory of Rieti on March
13th, and of the revolution on March 14th.

The foremost mover of the revolution was Santorre di Santa
Rosa, an intimate friend of Charles Albert of Carignan. He was
of an enthusiastic nature, devoted to his country, and a friend
of Cesare Balbo, the son of Prospero Balbo, the Liberal minister.
He was in communication with French ministers, his aim being
to give Italy a Constitution and unite it against the enemy. The
hopes of the Liberals turned to the Prince of Carignan. On
the evening of March 6th, 1821, Prince Charles Albert of Carignan
received Santa Rosa, Colonel St. Marsan, Major Collegno, and
Captain Count Lisio in strict secrecy. They told him that every-
thing was ready for fighting for freedom and against Austria, and
they begged him to place himself at their head. They knew, that
Victor Emmanuel was on the point of departure for Moncalieri,
and they proposed that the garrison should rise in his absence.
The Prince, a young man of twenty-two, dazzled by these
propositions, gave his consent. But on the following day he
changed his mind and withdrew his consent.

However, on March ioth, a rising took place in Alessandria.
The citadel was seized, the Italian tricolour floated from its walls,
and a provisional Giunta was formed, which took for its motto,
“Long live the King! Long live the Spanish Constitution! Long
live Italy!”” The reformers demanded a King of Italy, Italian
federation, and Italian independence. This gave hope to the
other conspirators in Turin, and Santa Rosa hastened to Ales-
sandria. The Giunta proclaimed,’ “‘ The nation is in a state of
war against Austria; the Italian army will be placed on a war
footing.” Victor Emmanuel returned to Turin in the evening of
March roth. He was in favour of moderate measures and inclined
to grant a Constitution, but could not bear to draw upon himself
the wrath of the Eastern Powers. But disturbances broke out
in Turin, and on March 12th the citadel hoisted the Italian tri-
colour. The people shouted, “Long live the Constitution!”
The King now abdicated in favour of his brother Charles Felix,

70
PIEDMONT’S NEW KING

the Duke of Genevois, who was staying in Modena, where he
had greeted his father-in-law, King Ferdinand, on his way back
to his dominions. Till his return the Regency was entrusted to
the Prince of Carignan.

On March 13th the King and his family set out for Nice.
Carignan was in great difficulty, for none of the previous Ministers
would serve under him. Still, he was forced by popular and
military pressure to proclaim the Spanish Constitution on March
2ist, 1821, which was regarded as the panacea for all evils, pro-
vided Charles Felix would consent to it. A provisional Giunta
was also formed. The Regent was, in fact, in the greatest pos-
sible embarrassment, having really no idea of declaring war against
Austria, and hoping, indeed, to recall the troops to their allegi-
ance. But Binder, the Austrian Ambassador, thought it safe to
leave Turin, and reached Milan by way of Geneva. Of course, the
Liberals were discontented with Charles Albert. They expected
thanks instead of amnesty, and disliked his proscription of the
Italian tricolour. The patriots sent from Milan—the young
Marchese Pallavicino and his friend, Gaetano de Castiglia—were
not well received, either by the General della Torre at Novara or
at Turin. Charles Albert gave them an audience, but begged them
to place their hopes rather on the future than on the present.

Charles Felix, the new King, took a strong line, and denounced
the Constitution. He summoned Carignan to Novara, but the
young man preferred to resign, and withdraw to Tuscany, reaching
Florence on April 3rd. Such was the news which was brought
to Laibach by successive posts. The Tsar was full of fury, and
eager to set 90,000 Russian soldiers on the march. He cried, “ Let
us save Europe: it is the will of God.” Metternich suspected
that France had a hand in the unrest. ‘‘ France,’ he said,
“stands at the head of all revolutionary movements in Europe.
It is hard to say which is the worse—the Government or the
Jacobins.” There were risings in Venice, and suspected Liberals,
like Maroncelli, Laderchi, Romagnosi and Silvio Pellico, were cast
into prison. Straffoldo wrote to Metternich from Milan, ‘‘ We have
no party for us, and are in a bad way till the troops arrive.’’

But the abdication of Carignan gave hope to Laibach. Many
of the Liberals, however, escaped to Switzerland, and Santa Rosa
did not lose courage. He said, on March 23rd, in an order of the
day, ‘‘ Place your banners on the Po and the Ticino, for Lombardy
awaits you.’ He declared that the King was not his own master,
being in the hands of the Austrians,’: Count Mocenigo, the Ambas-
sador of Russia in Turin, tried to mediate. He proposed submis-

71
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

sion to the King, with some hope of an amnesty and some kind of
Constitution, and the Giunta was ready to accept this. But
neither Santa Rosa nor Charles Felix would give consent, and the
attempt at mediation failed.

Austrian success in Piedmont was complete. Bubna sent to
his Emperor the keys of the citadel of Alessandria, and Austrian
garrisons occupied Casale and Tortona. There was no occasion
for Russian interference, the allies agreeing to a temporary occu-
pation of Piedmont by Austria. By treaty signed between the
Eastern Powers and Sardinia on July 24th, 1821, the army of
occupation was limited to 12,000 men. Metternich failing to
induce Victor Emmanuel to withdraw his abdication, Charles
Felix accepted the crown, but deferred his visit to his dominions
until his country had been purged by the punishment of the
Liberals. He committed this charge to Count Revel, who per-
formed his office with moderation, only two officers being
executed. The Universities of Turin and Genoa were closed
for a year, and the police superintendence was then sharpened,
while no reforms were inaugurated.

Metternich had his spies in the Sardinian capital. Charles
Albert remained in Florence with the reputation of a traitor, but
Charles Felix did not fare much better in the eyes of the other
party, because he refused to alter the Sardinian succession. The
utmost he would admit was the recognition of the child Victor
Emmanuel, born March 14th, 1820, as King, with the Duke of
Modena as Regent. Influences were used to prevent Carignan
from throwing himself into the Liberal gulf. He became con-
verted, and tried to expiate lust by penitence, but Charles Felix
still regarded him as a concealed Carbonaro.

The reaction in Naples was carried out in much rougher
fashion. A provisional Government was established to take
matters in hand till the King should return. All decrees issued
between July 5th, 1820, and March 23rd, 1821, were declared
null and void. Anyone found in possession of arms was shot;
the most distinguished officers, members of Parliament, and
officials were imprisoned; William Pepe and General Rossaroll
were condemned to death; a Carbonaro prisoner, handcuffed,
was placed on a donkey, and led through the streets of Naples,
with the emblems of his society, and was scourged as he went.
Even Metternich counselled moderation. The King returned to
his capital on May 15th, 1821, and spent his time in visiting the
churches, while he imprisoned, scourged, and executed his sub-
jects. An Act of Amnesty was published, which was a dead letter.

72
METTERNICH’S POWER

The best spirits in the country left it. It has been estimated
that half the books in the Neapolitan libraries were destroyed
as dangerous, and the introduction of suspected books was for-
bidden. Education was placed under the strictest surveillance.
No one was safe against the emissaries of Canosa, who used accusa-
tions of high treason to gratify private hatred and vengeance.
Metternich and the ambassadors could do little to check their
outrages. Happily the Austrian soldiers of occupation intro-
duced a better state of things, as they took the place of the
Neapolitan army. The conditions of their sojourn were even-
tually regulated by the Treaty of October 18th, 1821, between
Ferdinand and the Eastern Powers. AS aay

Before the two Emperors separated at Labath they issued a
declaration, dated May 12th, 1821, drawn up by Pozzo di Borgo.
In this instrument they claimed to have saved Europe from a
conspiracy of general overthrow, and praised their own firmness
and unselfishness. They said that ‘their forces, whose only
object was to fight against and to arrest the revolution, came to
subjected peoples to assist their freedom rather than thwart their
independence.” In these declarations Russia, Austria and Prussia
separated themselves entirely from their former allies, Great
Britain and France, and formed a group by themselves. In this
group Austria took the most prominent place. The black-and-
yellow banner with the double eagle ae from one end of the
peninsula to the other. Even the Papal Government received a
garrison of 2,000 into the citadel of Ancona. But, as the material
authority of Austria increased, so her moral authority declined.
The best children of Italy regarded the Emperor of Austria not
as a benevolent protector, but: as_a_ cruel jailer: Neapolitan
patriots, such as Poerio, Borelli Colletta, Arcovito, were carried .

off to Graz, Bruin, and Prague, and Silvio Pellicé and Maroncelli

languished in the dungeons of Spielberg. Even Metternich
scarcely. realised what a treasure of hatred he was laying up for
himself in Italian hearts, and claimed to have converted the Tsar
from black to white. When he returned to Vienna he received
the office of Chancellor on May 25th, 1821.

From this time he was the true ruler of Austria, and to a large
extent of Europe, till his fall in 1848. Devoted to the conduct
of foreign pclicy, he did not desire that his plans should be
obstructed by any movements of internal reform. He was good-
looking and had the manners of a finished courtier, combined
with a personal charm which fascinated those with whom he was
brought into contact. But he was essentially an opportunist,

pD* 73
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

endowed with a frivolous and superficial nature. He had no
settled scheme of action, no strong sense of duty, no fixed moral
principles, no fund of political knowledge, no statesmanlike instinct.
His rule of conduct was to set himself against everything which
tended either to exalt or improve the condition of humanity. He
was a spirit who always said “No,” or who acted it without
saying it. He had the dawdling way, the indifference, the shallow-
ness, the immorality, and the hardheartedness of a Talleyrand,
but he lacked those high qualities of courage, of insight, of sanity
in the conduct of great affairs which place his French rival almost
in the front rank of statesmen. Napoleon not only controlled
his age, formed a new France, and went far to form a new Europe,
but by his very superfluity of intellect he created an opposition
to himself which might suffice to clothe a characterless spirit
with the appearance of reality. Metternich found this shell and
occupied it. It was a sufficient programme for him to undo the
work of the great Emperor and to check every impulse which
might again awaken into activity.

At this time the man died, the guiding principles of whose life
were most opposed to the measures which have been described,
and the hatred of whose career had brought about the fatal re-
action of obscurantist tyranny. He who would estimate the work
of Napoleon at its true value must consider, first, the ruin of the
French Revolution, on which foundation he was able to build the
firm fabric of a well-ordered State; and, secondly, the reaction
which followed his fall, when the misery of Europe was caused by
the effort to undo what he had done and to act on the principles
which he had laboured to overthrow. Still, the news of his death
caused but little excitement. Manzoni wrote his famous ode,
“The Fifth of May.” The tutor of the Duke of Reichstadt won-
dered that his pupil should shed such bitter tears over the memory
of a father whom he had never known, and many hardened
veterans joined their tears to those of “ the Eaglet.’’ The Regent,
on being told that his “ greatest enemy ”’ was dead, imagined they
meant his wife, and exclaimed, ‘‘ When did she die?’ The time
for a revulsion of feeling had not yet come. But to-day there is
no more fascinating personality than Napoleon, no more difficult
riddle than his character.

The flame of revoltition was not quenched by the pedants of
Laibach, any more than they had extinguished the reputation of
the great Emperor. Far in the East, in the ancient home of
freedom, it burst again into life, and we must now relate the story
of the Independence of Greece.

74
CHAPTER VIII

THE RISING OF GREECE

MARKED impulse to the revolt of Greece against the Turkish
Government was given by the foundation of a society called
Hetairia ton philicin—‘ The League of Friends.” The Con-
gress of Vienna had done nothing to improve the rule of the
Rayahs, and this new society was founded by a merchant named
Shuphas, from Arta, a freemason named Xanthos, from Patmos,
and a Bulgarian named Tzakaloff. Their object was to unite
all Greek Christians resident in Turkey, in the hope of driving the
Crescent from Constantinople and erecting the Cross in its place.
They believed that they would have the support of Russia, but
in this they were disappointed. Their hope of gaining over Servia
was shattered by the murder of Kara Georg, and his successor,
Milos, was too cautious to encourage them. Still, they continued
to make proselytes in Roumelia, the Morea, and the islands on
both sides of Greece. They appointed committees, under the
title of Ephories, and established a Directory of eight persons at
their head. ‘Prince Alexander Ypsilanti joined them in Southern
Russia, and Gregory Sutsos in Wallachia.

In need of a supreme protector, they appointed Capodistrias,
the confidential adviser. of the Emperor Alexander, who was a
native of Corfu. But Capodistrias, an experienced statesman,
was too cautious to be led away, and he rejected the overtures
of Xanthos, the emissary of the Hetairia. They now turned to
Alexander Ypsilanti, whose father had been Hospodar of Wal-
lachia and Moldavia in the time of Napoleon. He was a special
favourite of the Tsar, and a good and brave soldier, but had
neither the knowledge nor the will to play the part of a states-
man. His brother had already joined the Hetairia, and when
asked by Xanthos, he consented to put himself at their head.
There is little doubt that he was encouraged by Capodistrias to
expect the support of Russia.

Ypsilanti, having been appointed “General Ephor” by the
Hetairia, left Kiev in July, 1820, and went to Odessa. It was
necessary to decide when the first rising should take place, whether
in the Morea or in the Danubian Provinces, Ypsilanti was in

75
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

favour of the latter course, as the flame of insurrection might
more easily spread to Servia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Montenegro.
But in a council of war, held in the churchyard of Ismail, on
October 13th, 1820, it was decided to begin the struggle in the
Morea. Ypsilanti was to sail thither from Trieste in a Grecian
ship. But for some reason he gave up this scheme and deter-
mined to raise the banner in the Provinces.

Mahmoud II., the reigning Sultan, was a powerful ruler, and
had determined to reduce to subjection his independent vassals,
Mehemet Ali of Egypt and Ali Pasha of Janina, so graphically
described in the verse and prose of Byron. Ali had raised him-
self to this position from being a wandering brigand, and now
ruled with an iron hand Epirus, Thessaly, and part of Macedonia
and Central Greece. He was in the habit of exhibiting in his
palace court the heads of the enemies he had executed. His
rise was not favourable to the independence of Greece, for he hated
the Klephts, and especially the Suliotes. During the Napoleonic
War he hoped to gain possession of Santa Maura and Corfu, and,
in 1819, acquired Parga, which was deserted by the British. Yet
his army was largely composed of Greek soldiers, and Janina was
a centre of Greek education and Greek commerce.. At this time
a quarrel broke out between the Sultan and himself. Ali was
deserted by his troops and his children, but received some assist-
ance from the Greeks and the Suliotes.

In the spring of 1821, Ypsilanti, with his brothers, Nicholas
and George, crossed the frozen Pruth, and entered Jassy in triumph
on March 7th. He issued a proclamation calling upon all Greeks
to assemble between Marathon and Thermopyle to fight against
the degenerate descendants of the Persians, promising the help,
not only of the Suliotes and the whole of Epirus, but also of the
Servians. He concluded with the words, “‘ Arise, my friends, and
you will see a great Power defending our rights.” This allusion
to Russia was unauthorised. The proclamation fell flat, the
inhabitants of the Provinces having no enthusiasm for the Grecian
cause. They had been badly treated by Greek officials, and looked
upon Ypsilanti as a stranger, a Byzantine who wished to raise
the resources of the Provinces to strike a blow against Turkey.
Ypsilanti had no great qualities as a military leader. Instead of
securing Braila, he marched slowly with his small army towards
Bucharest, which he entered on April gth. He was well received
there until he asked for a Constitution. ;From Jassy he addressed
a letter to the Tsar, who was at Laibach, begging him to assist in
the liberation of Greece. But the atmosphere of Laibach was not

76
RISING IN THE MOREA

favourable to revolution. Capodistrias was ordered to reply that
rebellion and civil war, agitations and secret plots would never
secure the freedom of a country or a people, and Ypsilanti was
ordered to return to Russia.

Now the Turkish army began to march into Moldavia. On
May 13th the Pasha of Braila captured the trenches in front of
Galacz, which were defended by a small body of Greeks under
Athanasios. On May 27th he took Bucharest, and on June roth
Ypsilanti was defeated by the Turks at Dragatshan and, after
a somewhat undignified flight, taken prisoner by the Austrians
It is said that Capodistrias was of opinion that he ought to be
tried by court-martial and shot. He was, however, imprisoned
in an unhealthy cell at Munkacz, until in 1823 the entreaties of his
mother secured him more tolerable confinement in Theriesien-
stadt. He was released at the entreaty of the Tsar Nicholas in
1827, but died in Vienna in the following year. The cause for
which he perished was victorious, but he left a name glorified in
poetry rather than in history. His followers were defeated, and
the rising in the Principalities came to an end; the inhabitants
were left to the vengeance of the Turks. The guilty and the
guiltless, the stranger and the native, were alike robbed and mur-
dered. The Pasha of Braila ordered that even women with child
should not be spared, that they might not bring little rebels into
the world.

Simultaneously with the unfortunate enterprise of Ypsilanti
came a rising in the Morea, a country formed by Nature for
guerilla warfare. Yet the attempt was a hazardous one. The
Greek population of the Morea in 1820 was 458,000, of whom
50,000 were Mussulmans, in possession of four-fifths of the cul-
tivated soil. The whole of the Greeks in the Turkish Empire
did not exceed 3,000,000, who were, for the most part, thinly
scattered and mixed up with other nationalities. It was impos-
sible they should succeed without extraneous help. The Pasha
of the Morea was named Churchit, and had succeeded Ali Pasha.
The soul of the rising had its place in the Greek clergy, but they
were reluctant to begin a hopeless struggle, and, at a meeting
held in February, 1821, in the monastery of Vostitza, decided
to postpone the movement until they could be sure of foreign
help.

Just at this time Churchit was removed in order to take the
field against Ali, the rebellious Pasha of Janina. His successor
summoned the heads of the Greek clergy to a meeting at Tri-
politza, with the view of arresting them and keeping them as

77
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

hostages. The most influential saw through the device and
refused to attend. This imprudent action of the Pasha hastened
insurrection. A Suliote attacked some Turkish troops at the end
of March. Zaimis, Primate of Kalavryta, gave the signal in his
district at the beginning of April. Petros Mavromichaelis, known
generally as Petrobey, the Lord of Mainotes, led his followers
from the mountains of Messenia. He joined Kolokotronis, the
famous Klepht leader, and together they stormed Kalamata, the
capital of Messenia, on April 4th. On the same day there was a
rising in Patras, which was taken by the insurgents on April 6th.
This revolt, which soon spread over the whole of the Morea, had a
terrible character. It aimed at the entire destruction of the
Mohammedan population and the seizure of their property.. The
chorus of a popular song said, ‘‘ Away with the Turks from the
Morea, away with them from the whole world!’ The Turks fled
for refuge either to Tripolitza or to the fortified places on the
coast. Nevertheless, they had the advantage of discipline. The
first terror over, they recovered themselves and recaptured Tri-
politza and Patras. Churchit sent from the camp before Janina
some thousands of seasoned Albanians, under Mustapha Bey, to
quell the rebellion. Mustapha, finding Patras already recovered,
relieved Acrocorinthus and Nauplia, marched from Argos to
Arcadia, and entered Tripolitza on May rath.

But Kolokotronis did not lose courage. He became the
national hero of Greece, with his mingled character of savagery
and cunning, of energy and eloquence, of ostentation and sim-
plicity. He was a huge, sinewy man, with a neck like a bull’s,
fiery eyes, wearing a great moustache under his eagle nose, a
gleaming helmet, a red fustanella, pistols and dagger in his girdle,
now cursing, now joking, the very ideal of a pirate king. He
practised all the arts of guerilla warfare, and on May 24th won
the Battle of Valtetsi. Mustapha determined to storm this place
with his Albanians, but met with unexpected resistance from
the Mainotes. Kolokotronis attacked him.in the flank, and, on
the following day, Mustapha was forced to retire behind the walls
of Tripolitza. A mound was made of 400 decapitated Moslem
heads. This success encouraged similar bands of Greeks to
similar triumphs, and Tripolitza was in danger. ~

Then the islands began to rise. First came the Albanian
islands of Psara, Hydra and Spezzia. Spezzia furnished a fleet
of fifty-two vessels, supplied by rich families, which blockaded
the Peloponnesus and took two Turkish men-of-war. On Easter
Monday a Spezziote vessel sailed into the harbour of Psara, bear-

78
THE STRUGGLE IN GREECE

ing the standard of freedom, a dark blue flag with the Cross above
the Crescent, and summoned it to independence. Hydra was
not long behind. The example of these islands was followed by
Samos, by the majority of the Sporades, and by the whole group
of the Cyclades, Roman Catholics excepted. In Crete the
Christians rose against their Turkish lords, and the Sphakiotes
broke out of their mountain-nests. Chios was more reluctant.
It was an earthly paradise, served as pin-money to a Turkish
princess, was favoured before all others, and enjoyed a consider-
able measure of self-government. The inhabitants, contented and
sluggish, had no wish to exchange the joys of security for the
perils of rebellion. The peasants were satisfied with their wine
and fruit gardens, and the self-governing villages were engaged
in producing mastic for the Sultan’s harem. The towns, flourish-
ing in commerce, desired only to be let alone. But the wealth
of Chios attracted the cupidity of the insurgent fleet. The call
to independence met with no response, and the fleet sailed home
again. Soon afterwards it gained a signal success by burning a
Turkish ship at Eresos, in Lesbos, on June 8th. The result was
that the Turkish fleet returned to the Dardanelles, and the Greeks
considered themselves to be masters of the sea.

In Eastern Hellas, on the slopes of Parnassus, the Klepht,
Panurias, raised the standard of rebellion and compelled Salona
to capitulate. On April 25th the youthful Diakos, with his Pali-
kars, captured the castle of Livadia, sent his troops to Thebes
and Talanti, and roused the Greeks as far as the waters of the
Spercheios. Diakos, driven back by the soldiers despatched by
Churchit, found himself at last, with fifty followers, in the neigh-
bourhood of Thermopyle, now altered in character from its ancient
condition by the floodings of the Spercheios. Diakos fought
with a heroism worthy of ancient times. When nearly all had
fallen, he was dragged, streaming with blood, before the Turkish
general, and was offered pardon if he would change his religion.
He preferred death by impalement, and suffered this torture with
firmness on May 6th.

His death was avenged by Odysseus of Ithaca, who had been
in the service of Ali Pasha at Janina, but had returned to his
island when the storm broke on his master disguised as a trader.
He heard of the fate of Diakos in Salona. He determined to
attack the Turks, although they offered him the command in
Eastern Greece if he would join them. They raised the siege of
Salona; but, marching eastwards through the valley of the
Cephissus, conquered Livadia on July 8th, and tried to reduce

79
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Eubcea and Attica, They succeeded in relieving the Acropolis
of Athens, which was blockaded by insurgents.

During the spring the west had remained quiet, but Hydriote
and Spezziote ships had carried the insurrection to Mesolonghi
and Anatoliko. On June 21st the capture of Brachori, the capital
of Aetolia and Acarnania, kindled revolt. Thessaly also had
begun to arm, as well as Chalchidice, in the south of Macedonia,
where the Klephts and the monks of Mount Athos united against
the bloodthirsty Bey of Saloniki. These efforts were crushed by
the failure of Ypsilanti.

The Turks met this rebellion in their usual fashion. They
imprisoned and executed prominent Greeks in Constantinople,
and proclaimed a religious war. Janizaries attacked the Giaours
in the villages on the Bosphorus, and rape and ruin raged in
Buyukdere under the eyes of foreign ambassadors. On April
zand the Greek Patriarch was hanged at the door of his own
cathedral, and other Greek Metropolitans suffered the same fate.
The Christian population of Asia Minor was murdered or sold
into slavery. In Smyrna the foreign consuls could not save the
Christian Greeks from destruction. Similar excesses were rife in
Cyprus, Cos and Rhodes.

Strogonov, the Russian Ambassador, protested against the enor-
mities, but gained no hearing. Indeed, the Russians found them-
selves taunted with such insults that on June 5th their ambassador
broke off his relations with the Divan and sent a complaint to St.
Petersburg. The Tsar, no longer under the immediate influence of
Metternich, felt a deep sympathy with the sufferings of the
Christians, and attended in person the funeral of the Patriarch
of Constantinople. Frau von Kriidener, the soul of the Holy
Alliance, persuaded him that he was the instrument destined by
Providence to achieve the victory of the Cross over the Crescent.
Her efforts were supported by Capodistrias. Russia declared that
the Greek cause was the cause of Europe, and that Turkey had
forfeited her rights to a common existence with the Christian
Powers. The Tsar demanded, by an ultimatum, dated June
28th, the restoration of Christian churches, security for the per-
formance of Christian worship, and for a peaceful future. The
refusal of the Porte would be regarded as an open defiance of the
Christian world. Russia would feel herself bound to defend her
brother Christians, in the name of their common Christianity,
and the Russian Ambassador would be ordered to leave Con-
stantinople immediately.

This note served as an ultimatum against Turkey and as a

80
GREECE ABANDONED BY THE POWERS

manifesto to the rest of Europe; but it did not meet with a very
warm response. Metternich regarded the matter with his usual
cynicism, viewing the Hetairists and the Carbonari as men of the
same kidney, hot-headed disturbers of the peace of the world.
That three or four hundred thousand persons, beyond the frontiers
of Austria, should be hanged, strangled, and impaled was a matter
of no importance to Austria. ‘‘ The Turks cut up the Greeks, the
Greeks chop the Turks’ heads off—that is the only news we. find
in the papers.” The views of Metternich were shared by the
British Ministry, and especially by Lord Strangford, the British
Ambassador. He was opposed to all success of the Greek pat-
riots, and regretted that Metternich could not keep a tighter hold
on the Ionian Islands. These islands, in fact, did their best to
support the insurrection. The brothers Metaxas, friends of Kolo-
kotronis, landed in the Morea, disguised in British uniforms, and
called their troops the Army of the Ionian Islands. Great Britain
was afraid lest Russia might obtain Constantinople. Castlereagh,
now Lord Londonderry, supported to the best of his power the
policy of Metternich.

Strogonov presented his ultimatum on July 18th, and received
the answer that the Sultan would rather be buried under the
ruins of his seraglio than be dependent on the favour of Russia.
He accordingly demanded his passport and left for Odessa on
August roth. Metternich was in despair. The Emperor Francis
expressed his agreement with Metternich. “ The evil we have to
fight lies rather in Europe than in Turkey. If the unity of the
other Powers is disturbed the insurrection will spread. You have
only to look at the people who are enthusiastic for so-called
Christian interests to have no doubt as to their real designs. In
Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, there are people who
believe in no God, and respect neither His laws nor those of man.
In the solidarity of the Courts lies the best force of resistance
against the evil which threatens us.” The Tsar began to waver,
and war with the Porte did not immediately follow the recall of
Strogonov. In France, Richelieu was reluctant to take a strong
line, and left the crusade against the Crescent to the favour of
the Ultras. In Prussia, Ancillon had at first favoured the insur-
rection of Greece, but he was opposed by Bernstorff, who, under
the influence of Metternich, took the other side. It was obvious
that no serious intervention against the Porte could be expected
from Russia.

In October, 1821, Metternich met George IV. and London-
derry at Hanover. The King overwhelmed him with flatteries,

81
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

declared his adhesion to the Austrian system, and used strong
language against the Tsar and Capodistrias. Metternich. and
Londonderry agreed upon common action at Constantinople.
Then Count Lieven appeared, who had just left Alexander. He
gave them to understand that Alexander had not altered the
opinions he had formed at Laibach, and Metternich left Hanover,
convinced that he had completely succeeded in the object of his
journey. But the attitude of Russia remained doubtful. In
St. Petersburg there were obvious preparations for war. Maps
and geographical instruments were prepared, tents and transports
got ready, Admiral Grieg and General Diebich were drawing up
schemes for the campaign. Even Nesselrode thought it possible
that Russia would draw the sword.

Austria and Great Britain agreed to press upon the Porte the
acceptance of four points, taken from the Russian ultimatum.
These were :—

t. Restoration of the churches.

2. Protection of the Christian religion.

3. Separation in punishment between the guilty and the
innocent.

4. Evacuation and reorganisation of the Danubian Princi-
palities.

The Turks at first showed some signs of concession, but soon
became conscious that their opponents were not in earnest. The
appointment of Sadik tothe post of Reis Effendi marked a recru-
descence of stubborn resistance. Liitzow, the Austrian Minister,
when he pressed the acceptance of the four points, received no
support from Strangford. Sadik said that he could not evacuate the
Danubian Principalities and establish a Hospodar until the rebel-
lious Greeks had given up their chimerical hopes of establishing
the kingdom of their ancestors. The other points he was ready
to carry out as far as possible. It grew more and more apparent
that a peaceful solution would be found impracticable.

On June 7th, 1821, a meeting was held in the monastery of
Kaltetsi, at which a committee of six was established, with Petro-
bey as president, which was given unlimited power in civil and
military affairs. On June 22nd there landed at Astros, in the Gulf
of Argolis, Demetrius Ypsilanti, brother of Alexander. His arrival
had been anxiously expected ; he was active and determined, but
had not a commanding presence. He was appointed Commander-
in-Chief, and General Thomas Gordon, who had fought in Russia
and Germany against the French, was associated with him.
Demetrius had, however, little authority, being opposed by the

82
DISUNION AMONG THE GREEKS

priests, while the defeat of his brother Alexander seriously affected
his position. In September he directed an expedition against
Kara Ali, the Turkish Kapudan-Bey, or High Admiral. Kara
Ali was expecting assistance from Mehmed and Omer Brionis,
who, however, were prevented from passing the Isthmus of
Corinth, and, despairing of saving Tripolitza, Kara Ali left the
Morea. This city was in a desperate position, and on September
a7th overtures were made for its surrender. On October 5th,
before the conditions of capitulation were settled, besiegers broke
into the walls and opened one of the gates. A scene of murder
and violence ensued, and Kolokotronis had great difficulty in
saving his Albanian friends. Women and children were thrown
from the windows, and when at last the citadel surrendered, 10,000
victims had perished. Two thousand unarmed persons who had
escaped from the city were murdered in the ravines of Mcenalus.
When Ypsilanti and Gordon returned, on October 14th, they found
a heap of smouldering ruins, and were quite unable to restrain
the wild indiscipline of their followers.

There were constant disputes between the clergy and the
military. The Primates and the chiefs of the citizens sided with
the clergy, and Petrobey, the Mainote, threw his weight into the
other scale. Kolokotronis could hardly hold his own against them.
The Primates would not pardon the rescue of the Albanians, and
Petrobey was jealous of all the plunder which the soldiers had
secured. Ypsilanti was forced to abandon an expedition which
he had planned against Patras, and his attacks upon Nauplia were
repulsed. Acrocorinthus was taken on January 26th, 1822, in
consequence of a mutiny of the Albanians, who formed part of the
garrison. Nor did he succeed better in his attempts to establish a
national government. He had summoned an assembly to meet
in Argos, for the plague-stricken Tripolitza was impossible for the
purpose ; but time slipped by and no one attended. In the mean-
while another effort towards national government had been made
beyond the Isthmus of Corinth, at the instigation of Alexander
Mavrocordatos and Theodore Negris.

Prince Mavrocordatos: sprang from a Phanariot family, and
was passionately devoted to the cause of Greece. He joined the
Hetairia in 1820 and published a pamphlet in which he predicted
the fall of Turkey. He compared that country to a sick man who
prefers death to the amputation of a withered limb. He advo-
cated the partition of Turkey, giving the Principalities and Servia
to Austria, the southern coast of the Black Sea to Russia, Cyprus
and Crete to Great Britain, and the rest to Greece. When he heard

83
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of the insurrection he sacrificed his fortune to the cause and
landed on September 3rd at Mesolonghi. Ypsilanti received him
with pleasure, but Kolokotronis laughed at his spectacles and
frock-coat. Theodore Negris had been attached as Secretary to
the Turkish Embassy at Paris. When he heard of the rising in
the Morea, he went thither instead of taking up his post in France.
Difficulties broke out between these two men and Ypsilanti, and
they determined to act for themselves. Negris went to Salona,
Mavrocordatos to Mesolonghi. There he collected a small con-
stituent assembly. The Constitution of Western Hellas was com-
pleted on November 16th, 1821. A provisional Government was
formed in the shape of a Gerusia of ten members. Its duty
was to preserve justice and to continue the War of Independence.
It was only to hold its power until a National Government
should be formed.

On the other hand, a Constitution for Eastern Hellas was
promulgated on November 28th, 1821, of a much more elaborate
character, based on French and American models. It established
a national senate and contemplated a constitutional king. The
supreme authority was given to an Areopagus of twelve members,
who were to hold only provisional authority. The Constitution
of the Morea dates from December rath, 1821. It was drawn up
under the influence of Ypsilanti and Kolokotronis, the first being
nominated President of the Peloponnesian Gerusia, the upper
House of Parliament, the second Commander-in-Chief. In its
modesty it resembled rather the Constitution of Mesolonghi than
that of the more ambitious Areopagus of Salona.

Soon afterwards Ypsilanti and Kolokotronis left the National
Assembly at Argos, to undertake the reduction of Acrocorinthus,
and the members feeling themselves oppressed by the presence
of the Turkish garrison at Nauplia, determined to remove to
Piadha, on the Gulf of Aégina.. They held their meetings in an
orange garden, close to the ruins of the ancient Epidaurus. Here,
on January 13th, 1822, fifty-nine representatives of Greece declared
the independence of the Hellenic nation. They then promul-
gated a law under the name of the “ Organic Law of Epidaurus.”
It is said that Gallina, an Italian refugee, brought with him a
printed collection of modern Constitutions, and that these had
considerable influence upon their work. The inhabitants of Hellas
were secured in equality before the law, in promotion by merit,
protection of property, freedom, equality of taxation, toleration of
other religions besides the Greek Catholic Church, abolition of tor-
ture and confiscation of property, and the promise of a legal code.

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GREECE’S APPEAL TO EUROPE

Considerable discussion arose as to whether Greece should be
recognised as a monarchy or as a federal republic. Korais, the
famous Greek scholar, declared himself for a monarchy. The
Constitution of Epidaurus left the matter undecided. It created
an executive and a deliberative body. The executive body con-
sisted of five members, who should eventually be elected by the
people. This Directory, with a President at its head, was to
nominate the ministers and other officers, to command the army and
navy, and to conduct diplomatic operations with other countries.
The number of the legislature was left for the present undefined.
This was all very well upon paper, but it was doubtful how far
it would be successful in practice. There was jealousy between
the Gerusia of the Morea and the Areopagus of Eastern Hellas,
while both gave up their connection with the original Hetairia.
The new Government adopted a fresh flag, an owl on a white-and-
blue field, instead of the phcenix of the Hetairia. Before it
separated, on January 27th, the National Assembly addressed an
appeal to Europe. It said, ‘‘ Our struggle, far from being founded
on the basis of a demagogy or a revolution, is a national and
holy war, and its only object is to revive the light of freedom, of
prosperity, and of honour, which all legally-governed peoples of
Europe enjoy.” It decided to meet in future at Corinth.

Some successes attended the Turks. Janina fell by treachery,
and the great Ali was murdered on February 5th, 1822. This put
an end to the alliance between the Albanians and the Greeks.
Churchit now set himself to subdue the insurrection. His plan
was to attack it on two sides, to overcome the Suliotes, to reduce
Acarnania and A#tolia to obedience, then to sail to Patras. In
the east another army was to reduce that region and then to make
its way to the Isthmus. Both armies were to unite in the con-
quest of the Morea. Kara Ali, now made Kapudan Pasha of
the fleet, was to destroy the Greek navy and to reduce the islands.

Upon the unhappy Chios fell the first blow. Here Lykurgus
of Samos had landed on March 22nd with a body of 2,500 men.
The Turkish garrison withdrew into the citadel, while the Samians
plundered the Custom House, burnt mosques, and murdered
Turkish prisoners. They raised the banner of independence and
compelled the towns to give their money to the cause. Lykurgus
set up a revolutionary Government and conducted himself as
master of the island: The Sultan avenged this insult by execut-
ing three of the hostages who had been recently sent from Chios,
and imprisoning Chian merchants who lived in Constantinople.
Kara Ali landed 7,000 Turkish soldiers on April 11th. Lykurgus

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

managed to escape, but those who were not equally fortunate
were ruthlessly butchered. Murder was only checked by the lust
of loot. The slave markets of Asia and northern Africa were full
of Chiotes sold into slavery. Girls were wrenched from their
mother’s arms, husband was separated from wife, brother from
sister. Of a population of 100,000, only a few thousands remained.
The massacre of Chios produced a powerful effect in Europe, and
sympathisers were relieved when they heard of the vengeance
exacted by Miaoulis, the Hydriot.

On the night of June 18th “a thousand lamps proclaimed the
feast of Bairam throughout the boundless East.” Kara Ali had
invited a number of officers to dinner, the ships were illuminated,
and music swelled over the waters. The Psariot, Kanaris, rammed
a fireship into the admiral’s vessel, and fled, crying, ‘“‘ Victory
to the Cross!’ The wind carried the fire over the flagship, with
its crew of 3,000. Kara Ali, scorched and wounded, was brought
to Chios, where he died on the scene of his crimes. His ship blew
up, and the rest of the fleet sailed away to the Dardanelles! The
Turks in Chios wreaked their véngeance on the mastic villages,
which had hitherto been spared, but Kanaris escaped to Psara.

It looked as if the cause of Greek independence would fail.
In Eastern Hellas everything went badly. Odysseus quarrelled
with the Areopagus, and Ypsilanti had to retire into the Morea.
Mehmed Dramali was named Viceroy of the Morea, and set out to
conquer it with an army of 30,000 men, numerous artillery, and
6,000 cavalry. In the first week of July he reached and overcame
Phocis, Locris, Boeotia, and Attica, but was too late to relieve
Athens. However, he found the Isthmus unprotected. The
Greek Government fled to Argos, leaving their archives and treasure
behind. On July 25th he entered Argos and expected soon to
have the Morea at his feet. The Suliotes under Marco Botsaris
were hard pressed by the Turks, and begged for assistance from
Mavrocordatos. A corps of Philhellenes had come to their assist-
ance, embracing officers of foreign countries, who, schooled in war,
were now regretting their days of inactivity. There were Germans,
French, Poles, and Italians, commanded by Doria of Genoa.
Reinforcements arrived from other quarters, so that on June 22nd
Mavrocordatos led an army of 3,000 men from the Gulf of Arta
to the Valley of Komboti. Still the little band was not free from
the canker of jealousy and treathery. Battle was given’at Peta
in the neighbourhood of Arta on July 17th, when the Turkish
governor of Arta-led 7,000 men to the storming of the Greek
position. Count Normann, a ‘Wiirtemburger, did his best in the

86
INTERVENTION OF THE POWERS

command, but was lamed by the treachery of Gogos Bakolas, an
Albanian of the school of Ali. The defeat of the Greeks was com-
plete, and the fronts o the Philhellene battalions lost their lines.
Suli was captured, and the independence of Western Hellas was
threatened. The cause of Greek independence trembled in the
balance.

At this critical moment the sentiments of the Tsar, Alexander,
underwent a change. He sent Tatischev to Vienna to consult
with Metternich. He was ready to modify the Four Points, pro-
vided that the Powers would declare that he was justified in the
withdrawal of his ambassador. Metternich was willing to agree
to this, but denied Russia’s right to intervene in Greek affairs,
and had no wish to weaken the sovereignty of the Sultan over
Greece. He proposed, in a memoir of April 19th, 1822, that the
Powers should confine themselves to securing the freedom of
religion, the safety of person and property, the establishment of
regular justice, and the proclamation of an amnesty. All this
must be arranged diplomatically with the Porte, preferably at
Vienna, He expected to obtain the concurrence of Great Britain,
France, and Prussia in these proposals. Metternich was, in
fact, engaged in a struggle with Capodistrias, in which he felt
confident of success.

Lord Strangford now threw himself into the breach. He
possessed exceptional authority with the Porte, and could say
many things which others could not utter. After many struggles
he, at the end of April, persuaded the Porte to assent to the evacua-
tion of the Principalities and the nomination of a Hospodar, and
two Hospodars were nominated in July—Gregory Ghika and John
Stourza. The Porte, however, refused to be checked in the sup-
pression of the Greek revolt. ‘‘ Leave us to our own business ; we
have the treaties, and have fulfilled every duty. We have no
need of foreign help, and our successes speak for us. The inhabi-
tants of the Morea are giving in; they are pardoned, and their
property is protected. What do you wish for more? We refuse
to walk in leading-strings like little children.” If Strangford
spoke of the massacre of Chios, the Turks retaliated with the
massacres of Tripolitza, Navarino, Corinth and Athens. Strang-
ford offered himself as plenipotentiary of the Turks in Vienna.
Their last word, on August 27th, was, “We are ready to
sacrifice everything to Great Britain except our honour and our
independence.”

It was believed that Russia would be represented at the
congress by Capodistrias, but Metternich declared that he was

87
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

not afraid. “ The man is dead, and I fear neither dead men nor
ghosts.” However, on July 25th, it was announced that the
Tsar would attend the congress without Capodistrias, who had
for motives of health requested leave of absence for an indefinite
period. The initiated knew that this implied his fall. The Tsar
was heard to say, ‘I had allowed myself to be carried away by
the general enthusiasm for the rescue of Greece, but I have not
lost sight of the impure origin of the Greek rebellion, nor the
danger which my intervention would bring to my allies. Egotism
is no longer the basis of policy. The fundamental principles of
our truly Holy Alliance are pure.” The attention of the Tsar
had been drawn from the East to the West, for the revolution in
Spain shed a new light over the revolt in Hellas.

88
CHAPTER IX

SPAIN AND FRANCE

AT the opening of the year 1821 the prospects of the Constitu-
tional Party in Spain were by no means favourable. The days of
Argiielles’ ministry were numbered. He regarded the Serviles
as more dangerous than the Exaltados. On January 2gth a Royal
chaplain, by name Vinuesa, was arrested, a plan for a coup d état
was discovered among his papers, and the town council of Madrid
demanded his punishment. The King was insulted when he
drove abroad, and quarrels broke out between the militia and
his bodyguard, which he was obliged to send away from the palace
and to promise to disband. The King turned angrily upon the
Ministers, accusing them, before the town council, of treachery, and
threatening to arrest them, crying, ‘‘ I see death before my eyes,
but I will not die until I have had my revenge.”” When the Cortes
met on March ist the King broke out into abuse of the Ministry
and dismissed them. However, he allowed the Cortes to appoint
their successors until assistance could arrive from abroad. The
heads of the new Ministry were Feliu and Bardaji, both Moderados,
but disliked alike by the Serviles and Exaltados, who were at this
time much exercised by the advance of the Austrians into Naples
and Piedmont. The party of reaction gained strength in the
mountains and on the plains, and 2,000 Basques marched from
their fortresses against the militia of Vittoria.

Rioting arose in Madrid when it was known that Vinuesa had
been condemned to ten years’ banishment instead of to death,
and the rioters broke into his prison on March 4th and murdered
him. The club, Fontana de Oro, declared that all Serviles should
perish like Vinuesa. The King agreed no better with his uew
Ministers than with their predecessors, and was pressed by the
extreme party to break with them.: For a time he hesitated, fear-
ing the violence of the mob ; but at the end of June he dissolved
the Cortes, having previously sent a message to Pasquier and
Pozzo di Borgo in Paris, begging them to come to his assistance.

The French Government was not disposed to assent to these
overtures. They recalled Laval from Madrid and sent in his place
the Comte de Lagarde, who was favourably regarded by the King.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

But he had instructions to hold out no hope of help. Pasquier
repeatedly said, ‘“‘ The best service we can do the King is to make
him understand that he must find safety in Spain itself. He
must endeavour to obtain the confidence of one of the parties
and base his authority on the wealthy section of the nation.”
The Serviles redoubled their activity. Some who had fled to
Paris preached a crusade against the Government of their country,
others settled in Bayonne and tried to stir up an insurrection
in the Basque provinces. The Ministers complained of this
conduct to the French Government.

On the other hand, Spain became the asylum of political
refugees from Naples, Piedmont and France. They were well
received by Riego in Aragon; indeed, his conduct was so indis-
creet that he was relieved of his command. The news of this
produced a riot in Madrid, so that military force had to be
employed. Busts of Riego were carried about the streets in
procession, as if he were a saint, while curses were uttered against
the ministry. The disorders spread to the provinces. A Servile,
General Venegas, had been sent as Governor to Cadiz, but the
people rose and insisted on his recall. Seville and the principal
towns of Andalusia joined in the demonstrations. Moreno
followed suit, and Corunna declared herself for Liberalism.

Ministers had expected support from the extraordinary Cortes
which met in the autumn, but they were defeated by a motion of
Calatrava on December 15th. This gave new confidence to the
Exaltados. Radical clubs were formed, called Descamisados—
“the Shirtless ’’—corresponding to the Sansculottes—“ the Trouser-
less ’—of the French Revolution. The King was not anxious to
get rid of his Ministry at the bidding of the Radicals, but
they fell on January roth, 1822. The extraordinary Cortes con-
cluded their sittings a month later. The King and his deputies
took leave of each other. with mutual compliments. Indeed,
national peace was restored, but under the ashes the fire still
smouldered. The general result was to give confidence to the
Serviles. Toreno cried, ‘‘ If the King would only mount his horse,
he could extinguish the Cortes with a single word.” Guerillero
parties came together in the Basque provinces, and bands of
Royalists appeared before Pamplona and Bilbao. But the Ser-
viles had no more strength or unity than their opponents.

We have already seen that the Ultras gained a victory in the
French parliamentary elections of the autumn of 1820. Richelieu
had met this by including Villéle and Corbiére in the Ministry,
hoping to satisfy the extreme party. But he soon found that

go
THE PAVILLON MARSAN

it was difficult to separate the wheat from the tares. This became
evident in dealing with two measures, which concerned the land
grants and the pension list of Napoleon and the pension fund of
the clergy. The Ultras could not bear to saddle the country with
grants to the murdérers of the Duc d’Enghien and the friends
of revolution, while General Foy defended the cause of his com-
rade in arms. But it was eventually determined that the grants
should only extend to the lives of the widows and children of
the recipients. A considerable sum was in hand as a surplus of
the money appropriated to clerical pensions, and it was pro-
posed to spend this in founding twelve new bishoprics and
increasing the incomes of existing priests. But the Ultras
demanded thirty new bishoprics, and, in the discussion which
followed, Bonald denounced civil marriage as favouring concu-
binage. Similar differences of opinion arose regarding the law
of the censorship of the Press.

As a result of all this, Villéle and Corbiére broke with
Richelieu. The Comte d’Artois was the head of the Ultra party,
which had its seat in his residence, the Pavillon Marsan, and was
known as “ the Cabinet Vert.’’ He had promised his support to
Richelieu, but the temptation of being a party leader was too
strong for him. He put forward Marshal Victor, Duc de Belluno,
as a candidate for the Ministry of War, and when the King and
Richelieu refused this, Villéle and Corbiére resigned their places
and Chateaubriand retired from the Embassy at Berlin. At
this time, also, the ‘‘ Congregation’ became a political force and
“ Congregationist ”’ a political expression. The name was first
given to those who frequented the teaching of a Jesuit father in
the seminary for foreign missions in Paris; but out of this there
arose a movement in the factories, workshops, prisons and schools
to protect the young from infidelity. Civil and military authori-
ties began to take a prominent part in religious processions, and
were compelled to go to confession. This was stimulated by
the Cabinet Vert, of which Montmorency and Polignac were :
members. The influence of the Congregation was greatly exag-
gerated by public opinion. It was regarded as a powerful secret
society for the uprooting of everything Liberal. It was really a
name for a political party of a reactionary character. The Pavil-
lon Marsan made use of Madame de Cayla, the King’s mistress,
for the purpose of influencing his opinion in an Ultra direction.

Richelieu was confident of the strength of his position; he
kept up a friendly correspondence with Villéle, and depended
on the increasing prosperity of the country, the increase of the

gi
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

revenue, the rise in the funds, and the solemn promise of assist-
ance which he had received from ‘‘ Monsieur,” the Comte d’Artois.
However, when the renewal of a fifth of the Chamber took place,
the Right, the Ultras, received a large accession of strength. So,
when Parliament met on November 5th, an alliance was formed
between the Ultras and the Liberals, based upon an agreement
with regard to the foreign policy of the country. The King, at
first, roused himself to support his Ministry, but he soon fell back
again into a condition of apathy, while Madame de Cayla exerted
herself to win his sympathies for the Pavillon Marsan. Eventu-
ally Richelieu resigned on December 12th, 1821, and when he
died, a few months later, though the courtiers did not attend his
funeral, he was mourned by the country as a worthy son of
France.

The new Ministry was entirely the work of the Pavillon
Marsan. Vincent, the Austrian Ambassador, wrote to Vienna,
“Monsieur stands to-day at the head of the Government.”
Villéle took the portfolio of Finance, Corbiére the Home Office,
and Peyronnet, a friend of Madame de Cayla, was made Minister
of Justice. Then followed aristocrats, who also belonged to the
Congregation. Montmorency was at the Foreign Office, Clermont-
Tonnerre at the Admiralty. Victor, who had a strange influence
over Monsieur, was made Minister of War. Montmorency had
been a comrade of Lafayette in America and elsewhere. The
Post Office, the Ministry of Police and the police prefectures
of Paris were all given to Congregationists. Chateaubriand was
sent to London in the place of Decazes.

The new Ministry proceeded to take strong measures with
regard to police supervision and the freedom of the periodical
Press. This brought to an end the alliance between the Liberals
and the Ultras, which had caused the overthrow of Richelieu.
Benjamin Constant cried, ‘“‘ The Charte is violated: the Ministry
has forgotten its oath and is endangering the throne.” Among
the peers, Barante, Broglie, Lanjuinais and Boissy d’Anglas
distinguished themselves by their defence of the freedom of the
Press, while Talleyrand and Molé sharpened their tongues, and
the dismissed Ministers supported the Opposition. This want of
moderation stirred the Radicals to action, and a branch of the
Carbonari was established in France, which found adherents in
the army and the capital. Leroux and Buchez were members,
and also Ary Scheffer, the painter. Lafayette became honorary
president of the French Vendite, and there was a recrudescence
of Republicanism after the death of Napoleon, but some still

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REVOLUTIONARY METHODS IN FRANCE

looked to the Duke of Reichstadt. Lafayette advised the
summoning of a constituent assembly.

In December, 1821, a rising took place in the military school
at Saumur, and this was repeated in February, 1822, while the
ist of January saw a mutiny in the garrison of Belfort. This
gave the Ultras an excuse for refusing concessions and for stronger
measures. Labourdonnaye said, “‘ Every day we hear of calls to
insurrection, which are only the echoes of our debates. Here
they proclaim Napoleon II., there a Republic. This is not the
time to demand a larger freedom, but to strengthen the hands
of Government.”

In the supplementary elections the Liberals won in Paris, but
the Ultras in the country generally. The summer session, which
lasted from June 4th to August 18th, was marked by stormy
debates. Four non-commissioned officers, of the garrison of La
Rochelle, were executed for being members of a Vente ; General
Berton, who was responsible for the second rising at Saumur, was
guillotined; an artisan of Thouars who harboured him, and
another who carried a tricolour before him, met with the same
fate. The Moderates were disgusted with this severity. What
made the matter worse was the suspicion that agents provocateurs
had been employed. The Ultras continued their course of
violence. Education was attacked. The Abbé Frayssinous,
Bishop of Hermopolis in partibus, was made Grand Master of
the University ; he was not a fanatic, but he demanded orthodoxy
in all teachers. Sylvestre de Sacy, a Jansenist, was driven from
his post on the Board of Education, and Guizot and Cousin were
suspended from their chairs. The Ecole Normale was closed, and
the medical faculty of Paris was suppressed. It was reopened
in 1823, with the loss of eleven of its most learned professors.
The Liberal Press was subjected to persecution.

It was natural that the attitude of the French Government to
foreign politics should undergo a change. Since the reaction in
1821, the yellow fever had made its appearance in Catalonia. In
order to prevent its spreading into France a military cordon was
established in the passes of the Pyrenees. This was regarded as
a threat by the Spanish Liberals. Although the fever disappeared
in the winter, the military cordon was still maintained and, indeed,
became an army of observation. ‘The Serviles began to look upon
the French generals as their best friends, and King Ferdinand
rejoiced at the victory of the Ultras. He expected the soldiers
of Louis XVIII. to liberate him from the yoke of the Jacobin
faction. He asked that his former Minister, Eguia, who was now

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

in Bayonne, might be supported by the French Government,
but Montmorency was not prepared to go so far.

The political position of Spain went from bad to worse. In
the new Cortes the Exaltados had a decided majority. Riego
was made President of the Chamber, but there was great diffi-
culty in finding a Prime Minister until at last Martinez de la Rosa,
a Moderado, was persuaded to accept the post. King Ferdinand,
however, detested all constitutional government, and aimed at
restoring his former absolute power. The peasants, stirred up
by the Serviles, declared themselves on the side of the monarchy,
and the Exaltados feared outbreaks. In these circumstances it
was almost impossible to pass reasonable laws, while the finances
of the country were in a terrible condition. A deficit was
announced of 200,000,000 reals. The army was a source of
enormous expense, chiefly caused by the inordinate number of
officers. A still worse blow was struck by the defection of the
colonies from the mother country. A republic had been estab-
lished in Buenos Ayres; New Grenada and Venezuela had joined
together to form the united free State of Colombia; Mexico,
Chile and Peru declared their independence.

All these miseries were contemplated by the King with satis-
faction, and the occasion seemed ripe for a coup d'état, which
was to take place on May 2oth, the King’s name-day. But the
preparation for it was insufficient. It had been intended that
the garrison of Madrid should march upon Aranjuez, but this
plan was given up because no officer of high rank could be found
to take part in it. The Serviles had more success in Valencia,
where, on the same day, a number of rebellious artillerymen took
possession of the citadel and chose the notorious Elio as their
leader. The common danger united for the time both Moderados
and Exaltados. They pressed the King to return to his capital,
which he entered in the early morning of June 27th.

Three days later, on June 30th, some soldiers of the Royal
Guards murdered one of the officers, Landaburus, who was
known to have Radical opinions. The Guards then prepared to
attack the infantry and the militia, and had the King placed
himself at their head he might have gained the day. But he
lacked the courage for such a step. In fact, he removed four
battalions of the Guards to the hunting palace of El Pardo, leaving
only two battalions in Madrid. :This juncture might also have
been utilised by the King for the restoration of his own authority.
Luiz Fernandez de Cordova advised him to go to the Pardo or
some such place in the neighbourhood of Madrid, and with his

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CRISIS IN MADRID

guard form a nucleus for the troops who were devoted to his
interests. But Cordova wished that the coup d’état should result,
not in an absolute monarchy, but in a moderate constitution.
The King, however, again refused to commit himself.

Relations were thus strained on both sides. Riego tried to
persuade the permanent Deputation of the Cortes to adopt rigor-
ous measures, and ordered the commandant of the artillery to
throw a few bombs into the palace. On the other hand, no one
knew what might be expected from the regiments at the Pardo.
Up to the present moment Martinez de la Rosa and his colleagues
had preserved an attitude of unshaken firmness. They had gone
every day to the palace to keep the King company, under the
protection of his two battalions of Guards, and were branded
as traitors by the Exaltados. At last, very early in the morning
of July 7th, the Royal Guards from the Pardo marched into
Madrid, where they were opposed by the militia under the com-
mand of San Miguel. One of the battalions ran away. The three
others pressed on into the Plaza Mayor and the Puerte del Sol,
but were received with murderous fire. They also bolted. A
few reached the Palace, where their comrades on guard had
received no orders to assist them. The palace was now the centre
to which every one moved—umilitia, soldiers, the mob, Morello,
Ballesteros and Riego. Cannon were placed at the ends of the
streets. The courtiers feared the palace would be stormed, but
at the request of the King firing ceased. A capitulation was
drawn up, by which the battalions which had marched in from
the Pardo were to be disbanded and the two others were to be
allowed to return to their barracks with arms and baggage.
These last hesitated to obey, but they were compelled to submit.

In this crisis the King behaved with characteristic meanness.
The night before the attack he had detained the ministers, with
the exception of the Minister for War, in the palace, giving them
nothing to eat, and exposing them to the insults of the servants.
If the Guards had conquered, their heads would have fallen. Now
that the attack had failed, the King entreated Martinez de la
Rosa to remain at his post. He thanked the garrison and the
militia for their patriotic conduct, and then betook himself to
bed. He said to Brunetti and Lagarde, the Austrian and French
Ambassadors, “ As our project has failed, you must do something
for me; you must make haste and send an army to Spain.” He
was not afraid of the guillotine, but trembled before the knife of
the assassin.

The conquerors used their victery with a moderation which

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

excited the admiration of the foreign ambassadors. Riego vied
with Morello in preserving order. The proposal for a regency put
forward by the Council of State and the Deputation of the Cortes
was finally rejected. Officers of high rank declared they would
rather be hewn in pieces than suffer any attack upon the throne.
The trial of the Guards exhibited the conduct of the King in a
shameful light, but no notice was taken of it, as he dismissed of
his own accord some of the worst of the palace officials. But one
thing was certain—the Ministry must be changed. Martinez de
la Rosa told the King that as a Spaniard he would defend him
with his musket in his hand, but that he would no longer serve
him as a minister. Still the King hesitated to commit the seals
to the Exaltados.

At last San Miguel accepted the portfolio of Foreign Affairs.
He had once been head of the staff to Riego, but commanded
the “holy” militia battalions on July 7th. He was an eloquent
political speaker and a poet, but unfit for his new office. His
colleagues included all the “ patriots.”” Lopez Barfios, the
hero of the Isla de Leon, became Minister of War; Navarro,
Minister of Justice, was called the Danton of the Cortes. They
began to press hardly both on the Moderados and the Serviles,
and the hated Elio was executed in Valencia. One of the first
duties of the new Ministry was to deal with the rising in the north.
The insurgents had gained possession of the fortress of Seo de
Urgel, at the foot of the Pyrenees, and had established a regency
there on August 15th. It consisted of three prominent Serviles—
Mata Florida, the notorious Minister of Justice of Ferdinand,
the fanatical Archbishop of Tarragona, and Baron d’Eroles, who
commanded the Army of Faith. After solemn high mass, they
proclaimed Ferdinand as an absolute king. They declared all
laws passed since the promulgation of the Constitution to be null
and void; proposed to summon a Cortes of the old kind; and
called upon Spaniards on both sides of the ocean to give their
consent and obedience. They also sought for assistance from
foreign countries. They described themselves to Louis XVIII,
the Comte d’Artois, and Montmorency as the defenders of the
sacred cause, and asked for 2,000,000 francs, the loan of two
Swiss regiments, a transport ship, and a frigate. They were
joined by peasants and artisans, who clamoured for the destruc-
tion of the “godless blacks,’ as the Liberals were called in
Spain, and General Quesada raised the standard of absolutism
in Navarre. All Catalonia, with the exception of Barcelona, was
in revolt. A junta of rebels was formed in Aragon. Mina was

96
THE POWERS AND SPAIN

summoned from Leon to undertake the command beyond the
Ebro against these intemperate Royalists and, in such circum-
stances, it was necessary to confine the King in the palace at
Madrid.

What was the attitude of the Powers in this juncture ?
Hervey, who had succeeded Wellesley in the summer of 1821
as British Minister, was favourable to the Liberals. He had
assisted the militia who were wounded on July 7th. He took
a different line from that of the rest of the Diplomatic Corps.
On the other hand, the Tsar was ready to send 40,000 men, as
the contingent of a European army, to march through Austria,
Italy, and the South of France, over the Pyrenees. Metternich
pursued a middle course. He told the Tsar that Great Britain
would never agree to his proposals, and that an armed interven-
tion would only make matters worse for Ferdinand. When he
heard of the failure of July 7th, he deeply lamented the cowardice
of the King, but he did not share the feelings of the Tsar. He
had no desire to see a renewal of the friendship between France
and Russia, which he thought might end in the introduction of
a Spanish Charte.

France was not indisposed to intervene, under certain condi-
tions. The King must sacrifice some of his authority, and then
approach the French frontier with a body of trustworthy soldiers.
Louis XVIII. warned him against too great stiffness and stubborn-
ness, and after July 7th Ferdinand was more ready to yield, and
on July 24th, to the surprise of Lagarde, he promised to restore
the “Cortes of Estates.’”’ But he demanded immediate assist-
ance to obtain his freedom.

Lagarde had promised him 15,000,000 reals ; the King demanded
2,000,000 more, and waited impatiently for the day when French
bayonets should gleam from the summit of the Pyrenees. The
French Ultra press urged the ministry to save the prisoner of
Madrid from the fate of Louis XVI., but Villéle put a curb on the
eagerness of Montmorency. He had indeed sent assistance to the
regency of Seo de Urgel, although he had denied the fact in the
Chambers, but Villéle insisted that this should cease in future.
France must maintain her position of armed neutrality, nor permit
the passage of foreign armies through her territories. Everyone
was now looking towards the coming congress, at which it was
generally known that Spanish affairs would form an important
part of its deliberations.
CHAPTER X

THE CONGRESS OF VERONA

AT the close of the Congress of Laibach it had been resolved to
hold another in the following year, and, since it seemed that the
affairs of Italy would be the most prominent subject of discus-
sion, it was intended to hold the congress in Florence. But the
risings in Spain and Greece altered the complexion of affairs, and
as Austria wished to remain at the head of the European concert,
the place of meeting was fixed at Verona in her territory. Metter-
nich prophesied that the Congress of Verona would make an
epoch. in the history of the world. The Tsar had promised to
attend the preliminary debates in person. Montmorency, Bern-
storff, and Londonderry were also expected, but news arrived
that on August 12th, 1822, Londonderry, better known as Castle-
reagh, had perished by his own hand. He was succeeded by
George Canning, who occupied an entirely different position in
foreign politics. Wellington was to go to Verona in place of
Londonderry, but he was bound by the instructions of the Cabinet.

Alexander was still embittered against the Liberals of Spain.
He said that Spain was the headquarters of Jacobinism, which
threatened destruction to every part of Europe. He held up the
Austrian intervention in Naples as an example to be imitated. In
these views he was supported by Pozzo di Borgo, whom he had
summoned from Paris. Chateaubriand was appointed French
plenipotentiary at Verona, and with him were Laferronays and
Caraman. Montmorency was only to be present in case of need.
Villéle was made a Count and placed at the head of the French
Ministry, a step which seemed to promise moderation. As
Wellington passed through Paris, and represented to him the
danger of a Spanish war, Villéle gave him unexpected assurances
of peace. He said that France would not act unless her frontiers
were attacked, or unless Ferdinand were either deposed or mur-
dered. He would not permit any congress to give orders to
France, or compel her to allow the transit of foreign troops. When
he approached the subject of a European Congress, Wellington
said that he would give no promises, as the British Government,
which was answerable to Parliament, would not undertake

98
THE CONGRESS OF VERONA

uncertain obligations. Wellington had used similar language at
Vienna. He assured the Tsar that there was not the same danger
of revolutionary infection in Spain as in Naples, and asserted that
intervention in the internal affairs of a country could only be
justified by the most pressing necessity. Montmorency was
restrained by the instructions of Villéle; however, he showed
that he regarded a war between France and Spain as inevitable,
and sought in this contingency the support of the other Powers.
Metternich found it difficult to satisfy the wishes both of
Great Britain and Russia. His plan was to restore a Cortes
of Estates, with some alterations. He dreaded an armed inter-
vention, and would not agree to a Russian army passing the
Pyrenees.

The Congress of Verona opened in the middle of October. It
was accompanied by the dances, dinners, and reviews which
seemed indispensable to the congresses of those days, and rivalled
in brilliancy the Congress of Vienna. The two Emperors were
there, accompanied by Metternich and Nesselrode, and Frederick
William III., with his sons William and Charles. Alexander von
Humboldt honoured it with his presence ; Hardenberg came for a
short time, but soon left his place to Bernstorff ; the Italian princes
had sent representatives; Montmorency arrived, but was subor-
dinate to Chateaubriand; Wellington and Strangford were the
observed of all observers. Countess Lieven was the Aspasia of
the assembly, for which Rossini composed some lovely melodies.
The old Roman amphitheatre was full of reigning princes and
their ministers.

The affairs of Spain first claimed attention, and the proceed-
ings were opened by a memoir of Metternich’s, in which he
explained his views. He had a difficulty in picking his way
through the conflicting interests of Europe, but came to the con-
clusion that the cabinets should agree upon a common line of
action. Montmorency now exceeded his powers by producing a
memoir, which ended with three questions :—

1. If France should be compelled to withdraw her
ambassador from Madrid, would the other Powers follow
her example ?

2. Would they give their armed support to France in her
efforts to check revolutionary movements elsewhere ?

3. Would they give France any measure of material
support if she should ask for it ?

The three Eastern Powers were naturally well disposed to these
proposals, but Wellington held himself aloof.

99
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

There followed a scene of confusion. Metternich did his best
to discover a compromise, but the task was extremely difficult.
Alexander would not hear of half-measures. He said, ‘‘I will
not leave Verona till I have ended this business. We have made
an alliance against the revolution, and must attack it where it
seems most dangerous.” He found fault with Villéle’s weakness,
and did not think Montmorency strong enough. On October 30th
a meeting was held to deliver the answer to Montmorency’s note.
The Tsar expressed his delight that France had recognised the
necessity of stifling the revolutionary outbreak in Spain, and he
would give the assistance which Montmorency asked for. Metter-
nich also answered Montmorency’s questions in the affirmative,
but proposed that the Allies should confer as to their extent,
character and direction. Bernstorff was more cautious. But
Wellington took an entirely different line. He said that, since
April, 1820, the British Government had neglected no opportunity
of recommending the Allies to refrain from every intervention in
the internal politics of Spain. The object of their policy was the
maintenance of peace. He hoped that peace would be preserved
between Spain and France; but, if this should not be the case,
he should take no responsibility on himself. Thus there came
about a deep breach between the Eastern Powers and Great
Britain, which had been concealed at Troppau and Laibach. This
was due to the death of Castlereagh and the influence of Canning
and, to some extent, of Wellington Himself.

The first formal meeting of the congress was held on October
31st. Metternich shadowed forth an alliance between Russia,
Austria and Prussia, and spoke of a peaceful intervention in
Spain, to encourage the several parties of the nation, and in this
he thought Great Britain might assist. Wellington, however,
protested against any action with regard to Spain that might
seem to be of the nature of a threat, and declined to mediate
between France and Spain. It was determined to adjourn the
conferences. In the meantime instructions for the ambassadors
of the other four Powers were to be drawn up and communicated
to Wellington.

The four Powers set to work. The protest of Wellington had
tended to unite them, but they still differed among themselves.
Metternich was ready to take some measures, but he saw that
the result of these would be the breach of diplomatic relations.
Bernstorff was agitated by similar difficulties. The Russians
denied that this breach might take place as preparatory to war.
Pozzo di Borgo declared that if France hesitated he would go to

100
WELLINGTON AGAINST THE POWERS

Paris and put himself at the head of the Spanish Royalists and
compel the Government to act. Chateaubriand and Laferronays
were disposed to a formal action, as was Montmorency, who,
however, hesitated to engage his Government. He told the
Eastern Powers that France could not promise to withdraw her
ambassador from Madrid, even if they should do so; that every-
thing he proposed was subject to reference to Paris.

The protocol of the four Powers was ready on November rgth.
It designated as casus foederis an attack of Spain upon France,
a rebellion against the Government, the deposition of King
Ferdinand, legal action against him or the princes of the Royal
house, any attempt to alter the succession. The following day,
November 20th, was described by Gentz as the hottest and most
important day in Verona. Wellington refused to place his signa-
ture to the protocol, urging that it would only serve to irritate the
Spanish Government. It was impossible for the British Sovereign
to hold the same language as his allies. All that Great Britain
could do would be to moderate the excitement which was sure
to arise in Madrid. These words from the mouth of Wellington,
an undoubted Tory, produced a very powerful effect, and marked
the separation of Great Britain from the Alliance. Montmorency
went to Paris to press his views, and Chateaubriand came into
the foreground. He had been regarded by his colleagues rather
as a man of letters than as a statesman, and wrote to a friend, “I
do but little, and regard myself rather as a poet by the grave of
Juliet than as plenipotentiary to a European congress.” He
held constant interviews with Alexander, with whom he took
long walks. These two enthusiastic natures had a sympathy for
each other, and both yearned to destroy the dragon of revolution
beyond the Pyrenees. At the same time Chateaubriand knew
quite well that the congress would never make war.

Villéle was much discontented at the turn which the congress
was taking. He did not look with satisfaction at a breach with
Spain. He knew that it would lead to the increase of British
influence in the Peninsula, which would be used to gain possession
of Cuba, or of the commerce of the New World. Lagarde informed
him that the new ambassador, William A’Court, was obtaining
strong influence with the Spanish Ministry, and was drafting a
treaty of commerce. At the same time the influence and power
of the Royalist regency at Seo de Urgel was declining. All this
disposed Villéle to caution and to the maintenance of “ peace with
honour.” The Ultras, however, repeated their violent language,
and, after the elections of November 2oth, they won consider-

tol
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ably in power. Out of eighty-six seats the Liberals only secured
eight, Benjamin Constant, their leader, being defeated. Mont-
morency was well received by the King, and was made a duke,
but he did not carry the Ministry with him. Villéle would not
agree to the recalling of the French Ambassador from Madrid. He
allowed that the delivery of the notes should be postponed ; but
on December 12th the Eastern Powers determined not to permit
a postponement of more than eight days.

Metternich was also in great embarrassment. He realised the
danger of an intervention in Spain, but was dragged in tow by
the fiery zeal of Alexander. He knew that France would never
permit the passage of Russian troops. At the same time, his
deepest feeling was that activity in Spain might excuse negligence
in the Levant. The affairs of the East had, at first, been neglected
in the Congress of Verona. Strangford and Gentz were secretly
well disposed to Turkey. Tatischev, one of the Russian pleni-
potentiaries, however, urged the acceptance of the terms pre-
viously proposed by Metternich, including the evacuation of the
Principalities and the nomination of Hospodar. He also asked
that the limitations, which prevented the navigation of the Black
Sea, should be removed. The Porte had attempted to injure the
trade of Southern Russia, by preventing Sardinian, Spanish,
Portuguese, and other vessels from entering the Black Sea, which
they had hitherto been able to do under the Russian flag; also
it became necessary to prevent Greek merchant ships from enter-
ing the Black Sea and being afterwards turned into warships.
The measures taken by the Porte had sensibly increased British
commerce in the Black Sea, and Canning was not anxious to lose
this advantage. The consequence of all these proposals was that
Alexander was more disposed to follow the lead of the other Powers
in his dealings with the Porte.

This change greatly disappointed the Greeks and their friends.
In the autumn the provisional Government of Greece had deter-
mined to bring their case before the congress. They sent Count
Andrea Metaxas and Jourdain, a French Philhellene, to present
their views, and to hand a note to the assembled plenipotentiaries.
It said: ‘‘ Streams of blood have been shed, but the cause of the
Cross is triumphant. The Greeks will never lay down their arms
until they have secured their independence. They will not listen
to any arrangement which has not been made with the concurrence
of their own representatives. If this declaration is not accepted
it must be regarded as a protest, which the whole of Greece lays
at the feet of the divine justice, trusting to Europe and the great

102
REPRESSION OF ITALY

family of Christians.’”’ Metaxas and Jourdain were detained at
Ancona in quarantine, and the note was forwarded to Verona,
where it was regarded as impertinent. It was left unanswered,
and the Papal Government was asked to inform the envoys that
it would be useless for them to continue their journey, as they
would be stopped at the Austrian frontier. Metternich also com-
plained that Greek refugees and Philhellene rebels were allowed
to remain at Leghorn. He treated the Greek patriots as if they
were Carbonari.

In Italy the course of bloodthirsty vengeance still continued.
Silvio Pellico and Maroncelli were exposed, laden with chains, in
the Piazetta of Saint Mark, in Venice, and publicly condemned
to a long imprisonment. In Modena nine patriots were sentenced
to death, and one, a priest, was executed. It was idle for Italian
Liberals to expect any satisfactory settlement from the congress.
However, it was determined that Piedmont should be gradually
evacuated, and the garrison of Naples was reduced. Metternich
threatened the further interference of the Powers, which the
Italian States themselves strongly objected to. He also spoke of
the establishment of a Central Commission of Enquiry, to keep a
constant watch over the Italian Governments, but this was not
brought into action. The-influence of Austria and Metternich
over the Italian peninsula remained practically undisturbed.
Charles Albert, Prince of Carignan, still remained a great difficulty.
Metternich thought, not of deposing him from succession, but of an
abdication in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel, who was then an
infant. Charles Albert was supported by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, his father-in-law, by the French Government, and by
the Tsar. Wellington and Bernsdorff gave their adhesion to the
same view. At last Metternich was brought to see that the
deposition of the Prince of Carignan would not only be a crime,
but a political mistake, as it would aim a serious blow at the
principles of legitimacy.

A declaration made by Wellington on November 24th, in
favour of the Spanish colonies, caused dismay among the Powers.
He said that Great Britain had determined to consider the de
facto Governments of the revolted Spanish colonies as belligerent,
and that she would have to go further and recognise one or more
of these Governments in order to protect her commerce from
piracy. Great Britain had been compelled to this step by the
previous message of President Monroe, dated March 8th, 1822, which
recognised the independence of the Spanish colonies, and laid the
foundation of the ‘‘ Monroe doctrine.” Canning could not allow

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Americans to usurp the whole of the South American trade.
The other four Powers protested. Metternich said, speaking in
the name of his Emperor, that His Majesty, true to the principles
on which the order of society and the preservation of legitimate
government repose, could not recognise the independence of the
Spanish-American provinces, and his Catholic Majesty had formally
renounced their sovereignty. Bernstorff did not conceal his dis-
like of ‘‘ governments whose existence depends only on revolt
and anarchy.” The Tsar recommended a reconciliation between
the mother country and the colonies, which did not prejudge
the question of their independence. Chateaubriand warned the
congress from recognising a form of government which evidently
differed from that prevailing in Europe. He asked for an arrange-
ment which might secure to everyone the advantage of commerce,
and reconcile the rights of legitimacy with the claims of policy.
Wellington only remarked that his Government had done its best
to reconcile Spain and her colonies, but did not retract a word of
the declaration. It was obvious that the independence of the
Spanish colonies would soon ‘be recognised by Great Britain.

The congress closed in the middle of December. The three
Powers sent a circular to their ambassadors, which may be
regarded as its testament. It spoke of a happy settlement of
affairs in Italy, of the unanimous rejection of the rebellion in the
East of Europe, of the miserable condition of the Peninsula, as an
example of revolutionary crime against the eternal laws of the
moral order of the world. It said that there was no doubt that
the system followed by the Sovereigns was in complete harmony
with the strength of ruling Powers and the well-understood
interests of peoples. All governments were warned to lend their
support and constant aid to suppress the disturbers of the. public
peace, who in more than one country were aiming at revolution,
destruction, and a condition of complete impotence. It was
obvious the Holy Alliance was at an end. Great Britain had
completely broken with it, if indeed she had ever belonged to it,
and France was only able to give it a half-hearted and divided
support.

104
CHAPTER XI

FRENCH INTERVENTION IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

In Paris parties were divided in opinion between peace and war.
Villéle, supported by the commercial classes, was at the head of
the peace party ; the Comte d’Artois and the party of the Pavillon
Marsan were at the head of the other. The latter hoped that
Montmorency would have his way at Verona, and on December
4th, Pozzo di Borgo was sent to support him. On December oth
Wellington appeared to be on the side of the Moderates. At
Verona he had declined to mediate between France and Spain,
but now, under the influence of Canning, he offered to mediate,
although there was not much chance of mediation being accepted.
When he left Paris, on December zoth, he was under the impres-
sion that peace could still be preserved. Four days later the
offer of British mediation was rejected.

The French Cabinet met on Christmas Day, 1822. The instruc-
tions of the three Powers had been sent two days before, and all
the Ministers, except Villéle, determined to support their views
and to recall the French Ambassador from Madrid. Unexpectedly,
however, Louis XVIII. took the side of Villéle. ‘ The relations,”
he said, “‘ between the other Powers and Spain are not so intimate
as ours. They can surrender Spain and her King to the Revolu-
tion and the influence of England without neglect of duty, but if
I recall my ambassador I must send an army of 100,000 men to
assist my nephew.” He procured the rejection of the dispatch
which Montmorency had drafted for Lagarde. Upon this Mont-
morency resigned, and Villéle appeared to have triumphed over
the Ultras. But the dispatch sent, although it did not actually
present an ultimatum or recall the ambassador, threatened a
step of this kind.

Chateaubriand was appointed to succeed Montmorency, as a
concession to the three Powers. He had for some time eagerly
desired the post. When in office he attempted to conciliate
Villéle, the King, and Canning, but he was really more eager
than Montmorency for a breach with Spain. He warned his
countrymen that they must choose between war or revolution,
and his ambition urged him to attempt where Napoleon had failed.

E* 105
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

His dream was to induce the King of Spain to accept something
like a constitutional government, and to establish two or three
Bourbon monarchies in Spanish America, as a counterpoise to the
United States and to Great Britain; to modify the Peace of
Vienna, by securing better frontiers for France in the East, with
the help of the Tsar, and to place the Restoration and the great-
ness of France on a firm basis.

We now come to the answer given by ao to the notes of
the four Powers. The French note was answered with modera-
tion. San Miguel complained that France protected Spanish
rebels, and declared the unalterable devotion of the country to
the Constitution of 1812. He demanded the disarmament of
the French Army of the Pyrenees and the driving out of the Serviles
refugees. The answer to the other three Powers was couched in
stronger tones. The note and the answer were communicated to
the Cortes on January gth, 1823. There was a great outburst of
indignation against foreign interference, but no distinction was
drawn between France and the other Powers. The diplomatic
commission was ordered to prepare a note expressive of the willing-
ness of the Cortes to protect the Constitution and the throne.
Galliano and Argiielles fell into each other’s arms with tears. On
January 11th the address was passed unanimously, and Madrid
was illuminated.

The ambassadors of the three Powers demanded their pass.
ports, the Austrian being the last to leave, on January 16th. The
French Ambassador remained at his post, but warned San Miguel
that he should depart unless a speedy and decisive change took
place in Spain. At last Chateaubriand declared that a longer
delay would be an insult to the Allies and an encouragement of
the revolution, and, on January 18th, Lagarde demanded his
passports. He, however, suggested that King Ferdinand and the
Duc d’Angouléme might meet on the banks of the Bidassoa, and
make a peace, two conditions of which should be the modification
of the Constitution and a political amnesty. If this were done,
not only would the French troops retire, but the French army and
navy would be placed at the disposal of Spain. This, however, was
a mere dream. A last attempt to prevent war was made by Great
Britain. Lord Fitzroy Somerset, afterwards Lord Raglan, was
sent to Alava to see what he could effect. On his arrival at Madrid
on January 21st he found that all hope of a change of the Constitu-
tion was in vain, and that no material help could be promised
from Great Britain. This failure encouraged the war party in
France. War was brought nearer by a raid of Bessiéres, who was

106
BRITAIN SIDES WITH SPAIN

at the head of some rebels in Aragon. He broke into Castile,
defeated the royal troops at Brihuega on January 2gth, and caused
terror in Madrid. Generals were sent against him independently
of their political opinions—Ballesteros, a supporter of the Com-
muneros ; Morello, who was suspected of complicity in the July
revolution of 1822; and Abisbal, who had often changed sides.
Bessiéres departed, but the evil impression of his raid was not
dissipated.

When Louis XVIII. opened the French Chambers on
January 28th, Chateaubriand had triumphed. The aged King
announced that 100,000 Frenchmen were ready to march to
preserve the Spanish throne for a descendant of Henry IV., and
to reconcile this splendid empire with Europe. The Duc
d’Angouléme, protected by the god of Saint Louis, would
command the army. The object of the expedition was to enable
Ferdinand VII. to deal with his people in absolute freedom.
The Ultras were delighted, but Canning said to Laferronays in
London, ‘‘ You wish them to undertake a crusade for political
theories. Do you not know that the British Constitution is the
fruit of numerous victories, which subjects have gained over
their rulers?’ The British Press repeated the same sentiments.
The assurance of British neutrality was expunged from the
King’s Speech at the opening of Parliament on February 4th,
and the Spanish Ambassador, expelled from Paris, was received
with acclamation in London.

In Parliament, Lansdowne, Ellenborough and Mackintosh
denounced the action of France, and even Lord Liverpool could
not defend her. Brougham was very bitter about the ‘ Three
Gentlemen of Verona.’ The same views were supported in the
French House of Peers by Talleyrand, Broglie, Dalberg and Molé—
and in the Lower House by Foy, Sebastiani, Duvergier de Hauranne.
Villéle let slip an expression which seemed to imply that he was
afraid of the Eastern Powers. A similar debate arose when credit
was asked for 100,000,000 francs. Chateaubriand’s avowal that he
wished to save Ferdinand from the fate of Charles I. and Louis
XVI. was answered by Manuel, which caused a riot. Manuel was
suspended from the Chamber on March 4th, and the whole of the
Left followed him. Chateaubriand laughed at the farcical conduct
of the Liberals, “ who could not get together four chimney-sweeps
to take part in a revolution.” Attempts were made, however, to
influence the French soldiers, notably by Paul Louis Courier and
Béranger.

Fabvier, a bitter enemy of the Bourbons, took a stronger line.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

He got together a corps of Italian refugees in London, strengthened
by English Radicals. He went to Madrid and made a compact
with the Ministers, receiving a promise of 4,000,000 reals. They
laid it down that the cause of freedom was common to all men,
and they would stand together in the conflict between the Cabinets
and the peoples of Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. From
Madrid, Fabvier went to Irun, and then to the corps of observa-
tion, where he tried to win some officers over to his side. Fabvier
got together, on April 6th, a small number of Piedmontese and
about 130 French, on the Spanish side of the Bidassoa. Here he
unfolded the tricolour and sang the Marseillaise. But a few well-
directed shots scattered his company, and next day the Duc
d’Angouléme crossed the Bidassoa and entered Irun. Metternich
was not pleased at the forward action of France ; he did not desire
to see the Cortes Constitution changed into a French Charte
and would have preferred to abolish it altogether. On the other
hand, Alexander was delighted, and began to form a corps of
observation in Poland.

Great Britain stood more decidedly aloof than ever. Canning
declared his neutrality, but he also said that Great Britain must
safeguard her own interests, and that she could not allow either
the extension of the French frontiers, or the renewal of the Family
Compact, or an intervention in Portugal. On April r4th he
declared in Parliament that the invasion by France was a crime,
and he wished with all his heart that the Spanish people might
win. In Spain the Government and the Cortes removed from
Madrid to Seville.

The French plan of campaign was to act rapidly, in order to
avoid the danger of a guerilla rising among the people. The chief
army, under the Duc d’Angouléme, was to press forward to
Vittoria and seize the line of the Ebro. It was then to march by
way of Burgos to Madrid, which was left in charge of the untrust-
worthy Abisbal. Marshal Moncey was to act in Catalonia against
Mina, General Molitor in Navarre against Ballesteros. General
Bourmont was to oppose Morello and Quiroga in Asturias and
Galicia, where there was also a body of volunteers under Robert
Wilson. Mina and Quiroga were the only two who were formid-
able. Angouléme took Vittoria and Burgos without any trouble,
Ballesteros surrendered Saragossa and retired to Valencia, Morello
waited for events, and Abisbal was corrupted by French gold.
There was no sign of a guerilla rising. The French were welcomed
by the nobles, the priests, and the monks, and other classes of the
population. They were regarded as liberators. They paid for

108
THE REGENCY IN SPAIN

everything they took, and in this respect were a great contrast to
the ‘ Army of Faith.”

On May 15th Abisbal declared his adhesion to the recall of the
King, the amendment of the Constitution, a change of ministry, and
an amnesty. He was, however, accused of treachery, and sought
safety in flight. The soldiers had to be withdrawn from the capital,
and a capitulation was signed with Angouléme, who entered Madrid
on May 24th. Before he crossed the frontier, Angouléme had issued
a proclamation, declaring that the country would be governed
by the Spanish authorities in the name of Ferdinand. A provi-
sional Junta had been established, with Eguia at its head. This
was now dissolved and a Regency put in its place. The Duc
d’Infantado was made President, but it contained a number of clerics.
Reaction took place; the religious Orders were restored as they
had been before March 7th, 1820, and the Jesuits were recalled.
This. was very unpleasant, both to Angouléme and Villéle, who
were in favour of moderate measures and opposed to the restora-
tion of absolute monarchy. At the same time, the policy found
favour with Chateaubriand, the Comte d’Artois, and the Ultras
generally, as well as probably the three Eastern Powers.

The King of Naples, stirred up by Metternich, now began to
press his claims as the next heir to the Spanish throne. He had
protested against the provisional Junta under Eguia; he now
protested against the Regency. Metternich was afraid the French
Government would capitulate to the Revolution. However, the
personality of the King of Naples was too contemptible to arouse
enthusiasm, and the Regency was recognised by the three Powers,
but new ambassadors were sent to Madrid, including Talaru
for France. The Regency continued the policy of a White Terror.
They allowed the eastern bandits, who bore the name of the
“ Royal Volunteers,” to plunder, steal and to imprison Liberals as
they pleased. San Miguel, on his retirement from the Ministry,
went to the camp of Mina, and his place was taken by Calatrava.
The Cortes, now at Seville, determined to retire behind the walls
of Cadiz, the birthplace of the Constitution and the revolution.
They persuaded the King, with great difficulty, to accompany
them, only prevailing by threats of revolution.

Immediately on their departure, on June 12th, the Serviles
broke out with cries of “‘ Long live the Absolute King! Long live
the Inquisition!’ However, their reign was short-lived, for on
June 21st the French entered the town. The White Terror still
raged in the provinces. In Cuenca, Bessiéres arrested the members
of the Cortes and the provisional Junta, and three hundred persons

109
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

were imprisoned in Valladolid. In Saragossa the houses of the
Blacks, or Liberals, were stripped of everything. Bandits and
fanatical monks wandered about as defenders of throne and altar.
Angouléme and the French garrison repressed these excesses at
Madrid, but they were encouraged by the Regency. On June 22nd
the Regency issued a decree which condemned, with confiscation of
property, all the members of the Cortes who had taken part in
the removal of the Court to Cadiz, and on July 29th they de-
prived all Spaniards who had served in the militia of their pay,
their pensions and their decorations,

Angouléme fixed his headquarters in Andalusia at the end of
July. Morello capitulated at Lugo on July roth, Ballesteros on
July 28th. They were promised freedom from persecution and
asafe return. These conditions were not observed, and Angouléme,
losing patience, issued an ordinance from Andujar on August 8th,
which forbade the Spanish authorities to imprison anyone with-
out the consent of the French commanders. All political prisoners
were to be liberated and a censorship of the Press was established.
The Regency was furious at this step and threatened to dismiss
Oudinot, the Commandant of Madrid, if he published the ordin-
ance. The ambassadors showed themselves very weak. Chateau-
briand wrote to Talaru: “ Before the world you must support
everything that is done by the French Government, but you must
secretly endeavour to smooth everything over.”

As a fact, the Ordinance of Andujar was never published in
Madrid, and produced little effect elsewhere. An address was
sent from Navarre to the Regency, saying that they would rather
turn Spain into a field of corpses than suffer the shame of a foreign
yoke. Angouléme came to the conclusion that it was impossible
to do any good in Spain, and modification of the Constitution of
1812 was not to be thought of. He wrote on August 3rd: ‘ What-
ever we may do, absolutism will always triumph. The bitterness
between parties is too great for it to be otherwise.” Talaru
wrote: ‘‘ We may stir the surface of Spain with the modern ideas
of Europe, but beneath are the people in whom it has been the
same ever since the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. We may
change old institutions, but the new will never take root.”

On August 17th Angouléme sent a despatch from his head-
quarters at Santa Maria, near Cadiz, recommending Ferdinand,
in the name of Louis XVIII., to grant an amnesty and to recall the
old Cortes, and at the same time to tell the Cortes that unless the
King were set free within five days he would attack the town.
Answer was returned that the freedom of the King was only limited

110
FERDINAND’S TREACHERY

by the pressure of the French army, and that the restoration of a
Cortes which had not met for three hundred years was compatible
neither with the honour of the Crown nor the welfare of the people,
The fort of Trocadero was stormed on the night of the 30th—31st
August, and the French became masters of the Island of Saint
Luis. On September 28th the King was set free and allowed to
go to the French headquarters, to make what terms he could.
Before he went he promised, with his free will and onthe pledge
of his kingly word, a general and complete amnesty, without excep-
tion, recognition of the debts of the constitutional governments,
maintenance of the rank of officers, protection of the militia against
persecution, and, further, if the present form of government should
be altered, a Constitution which should secure to Spaniards their
freedom and property. On October rst he sailed across the bay
to Puerto de Santa Maria. Here he was met by Angouléme and
Talaru, the Duc d’Infantado, Saez, a number of Royal Volun-
teers and monks, and a crowd of the populace, who cried out,
“ Long live the Absolute King!”

Ferdinand paid little attention to Angouléme, but devoted
himself to his confessor, Saez, who was made universal minister.
Decrees were issued which annulled all laws, treaties, and pro-
ceedings of the so-called constitutional government. Next day
Angouléme pressed him for moderate measures and a generous
amnesty, but he replied, ‘‘ We will see; the popular opinion is for
absolute government.” Ferdinand now went to Jeres. Here he
banished all Spaniards who had sat in the Cortes after the reception
of the Constitution, or had held an important office, or had been
officers in the militia. Never in their lives were they to come
within fifteen miles of Madrid or any other Royal residence. The
Liberals took to flight ex masse. Argiielles, Galliano, Isturiz,
Calatrava, Quiroga, Alava, and many others withdrew to England.
Even Chateaubriand was terrified and saw that Spain would
fall back into anarchy unless the reaction were checked. He
threatened to withdraw the French troops across the Ebro, and
reminded the King that he owed the French 30,000,000 francs.
Louis XVIII. wrote to Ferdinand solemn words of warning, and
even the ambassadors of the three Powers took fright. The war
was at an end and Angouléme returned to France.

Riego was executed on November 7th. The King and Queen
entered Madrid on November 13th, but there was no mention
either of reform or of amnesty. A slight improvement was effected
by the dismissal of Saez and the appointment of Casa Trujo as
Minister of Foreign Affairs on December 2nd. In the beginning

II!
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of 1824 treaties were signed with France which secured the presence
of a force of 45,000 men under General Bourmont ; but the country
was, as Chateaubriand confessed, given up to complete anarchy.

Such was the result of an armed intervention intended to
fight the anarchy of the revolution in the name of Legitimacy.
It had succeeded in overthrowing a weak and tottering form
of government, without establishing in the country the firm
foundations of prosperity, morality, or enlightenment. It had not
prevented the return of a wilful absolutism, which favoured the
stupidity and superstition of the masses. All hopes of reform on
ancient lines were idle; a thoroughly Bourbon throne was again
restored. Still, the Eastern Powers regarded the fall of the Cortes
as a triumph for the thrones of Europe, a triumph which was not
desecrated by any limitation of the authority of the King.

The fortunes of Portugal were profoundly influenced by those
of Spain. The Constitution, which dated from September 23rd,
1822, was incomplete, and did not serve to improve the moral
and physical conditions of the people. The number of mur-
ders continued to be very large. Desertions from the army
were frequent, and the budget of 1822 showed a large deficit.
The authors of the Constitution were bitterly disappointed at the
defection of Brazil; they had hoped it would serve to unite the
colonies with the mother country. The Regent Dom Pedro
became Emperor, his father having, on his departure from Brazil,
advised him to take the crown for himself if he could not succeed
in keeping it for him. His accession to the crown and the
independence of Brazil date from October 12th, 1822. In Portugal,
the nobles and the clergy were bitter enemies of the Constitution.
The clergy were enraged at the suppression of the Patriarchate
and the secularisation of the monasteries. In the army many of
the officers were jealous of Sepulveda, and disorders among the
soldiers took place in Lisbon amidst cries of ‘“‘ Down with the
Constitution ! ”’

The Corcundas, or “ Hump-backed,”’ the counterpart of the
Spanish Serviles, found their support in Ferdinand’s sister, Queen
Carlota, wife of King John VI. Her palace of Queluz was a centre
of discontent, and her hopes: were placed on Dom Miguel, her
second son. He, indeed, took the oath to the Constitution, but the
Queen refused to do so. She might have been expelled from the
country, but she was banished instead to the remote palace of
Ramalhao. There she lived in a state of penance, praying for
her misguided country and receiving secret visits from Dom Miguel.
The Liberals were most irritated by the conduct of the Eastern

112
THE REVOLUTION IN PORTUGAL

Powers. They disapproved of the intervention of Austria in
Naples, and of the attitude of France towards Spain. They even
conceived the idea of making an offensive and defensive alliance
with Spain against France, and only gave up the idea in conse-
quence of the opposition of Canning. They disagreed with the
resolutions of the Congress of Verona. When William Tell was
performed at the Opera, a lieutenant-colonel cried from his box,
“May all the tyrants of Europe be. brought to destruction!”
The army was mobilised, the Liberal journals denounced the Holy
Alliance, and the clubs clamoured for war to the knife against the
despots.

On the other side, Count Amarante carried the province Tras os
Montes against the constitutional government in February, 1823,
and he was joined by his uncle Silveira. A Regency was formed,
similar to that of Seo de Urgel, with the Archbishop of Burgos at its
head. The insurrection was put down by the Government, and
Amarante and Silveira took refuge in Spain, where they attached
themselves to Angouléme and the Royalists. The counter-revolu-
tion was strengthened by the success of the French arms in Spain.
A party of Moderates arose in the Cortes, who supported a change
in the Constitution, the establishment of the King’s veto and of
the bicameral system. But their leader, Fernandez Thomaz, died,
and there was no one to keep the Exaltados in check.

Pepe, who had fled from Naples, was now in Portugal, and
he promised the Portuguese that, if they could secure the assist-
ance of Spain, he would endeavour to bring about a rising in his
own country. The entry of the French troops into Madrid stirred
the reactionary party to more energetic measures. Amarante
returned to Lisbon, and Rego, who had conquered him, was deprived
of his command for negligence. Colonel Sampayo, who was dis-
trusted by the Liberals, was dismissed on May 27th, 1823. But
he was supported by the regiment which he commanded, and
declared for the absolute monarchy, with an amnesty and some-
thing of a constitution. He was soon joined by Dom Miguel, who
wrote to his father that he could no longer put up with the
degradation of the throne, and believed that he was serving
him by setting the nation free. The Cortes placed Sepulveda at
the head of the army ; but, fearing for his life, he left Lisbon on
May 29th and joined Dom Miguel. Almost the whole of the
garrison followed him, with bands playing and banners flying.

The last hope of the Cortes lay in the King, who issued a
proclamation threatening his rebellious son with condign punish-
ment. But the cavalry regiment which Sepulveda had left behind

113
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to guard the palace declared for the counter-revolution, crying,
“Down with the Constitution!” forced the terrified King to
enter his carriage, and carried him off to Dom Miguel’s head-
quarters in Villafranca de Xira. From this place the King was
forced to issue another proclamation, in which he denounced the
Constitution as the fountain of anarchy, civil war, and the dis-
solution of the Empire, and promised political arrangements of
a more salutary character. The government of the Cortes was
at an end, and ministers resigned their places. The prominent
Liberals sought refuge on board an English vessel, and Pepe fol-
lowed their example. The sittings of the Cortes were suspended
on June 2nd.

It is possible that the Corcundas originally wished to establish
a regency for Queen Carlota, but that was made impossible by
the King separating himself from the Cortes, which was probably
the action of Sepulveda. At the same time, John VI. was joined
by so many Moderates that he could not assume absolute power.
In a proclamation of June 3rd he promised a Constitution which
should be free from all principles incompatible with the peaceful
existence of the Government. He entered Lisbon on June 5th,
Dom Miguel riding proudly before him. The counter-revolution
had triumphed in Portugal even before it had succeeded in Spain.
This was due to the French intervention in that country. Hyde
de Neuville, French Ambassador at Lisbon, favoured the sending
of Portuguese ships to take part in the blockade of Cadiz, and
Portuguese troops to assist in the siege of Badajoz.

These plans were crushed by the appearance of a British
squadron in the Tagus. But the success of Angouléme was joy-
fully celebrated at Lisbon, and when the ambassador of Ferdinand
arrived there John VI. spoke to him of the power of the Divine
blessing which had rescued both countries from an evil influence.
The supporters of Legitimacy felt that they had triumphed over the
revolution, now for ever discredited. The victory of the reaction
in Portugal was not marked by the excesses which branded it in
Spain. At the same time the reactionary party was not idle.
All who during the last two years had been prominent on the
Liberal side were banished or imprisoned or deprived of their
offices. Even Sepulveda was attacked, whereas Silveira, Amarante
and Sampayo were richly rewarded. The freedom of the Press
was abolished, the Patriarchate was restored, and the monasteries
were re-endowed. All civil and military officials had to sign an
undertaking that they would not belong to any secret society,
such as the Freemasons or the Carbonari, but punishment in case

114
BRITISH INTERVENTION IN PORTUGAL

of infringement, instead of death, was banishment to Africa or a
heavy fine. %

On June 18th, 1823, shortly after the entry of John VI. into
Lisbon, a Junta had been appointed, under the presidency of
Palmella, Minister of Foreign Affairs, for the discussion of a con-
stitution which was to resemble the French Charte and reconcile
the exercise of royal power with the security of popular rights.
Nothing, however, was done, the movement being strongly opposed
by Dom Miguel and the Queen. Spain warned Portugal not to
set a bad example by renouncing the restoration of complete
monarchical authority. The Eastern Powers did not desire that
the French Charte should be imitated. They pointed out that
there was no similarity between the condition of France in 1814
and the present position of Portugal, Even Hyde de Neuville
was not in favour of transplanting to a southern soil the consti-
tution of his own country, and his opinion was supported by
Chateaubriand. Palmella lost confidence, and in 1824 it became
clear that the only reform would be the restoration of the old
Cortes of Estates.

The Queen and Dom Miguel were opposed even to this, and
in the Ministry itself there were two parties, one headed by
Palmella, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the other by Pamplona,
Minister of War, who had received the title of Count Subserra.
Palmella was devoted to Great Britain. In the summer of 1823
he had desired a landing of British troops in Portugal, and in the
autumn of the same year he had worked for a British guarantee
of the peace of Portugal, but both proved unattainable. How-
ever, a British fleet anchored in the Tagus, and Wellington advised
Palmella to place Marshal Beresford, who had returned to the
Tagus, at the head of the Portuguese army.

Subserra, on the other hand, took the side of France. He
had fought under Napoleon in Spain and Russia, and had lived
long in France. He detested the British, and declared that he
would resign his office if Beresford entered the Portuguese service.
He was regarded by the people as a traitor, but the King looked
upon him with favour. Apparently he had defended him at Villa-
franca against the intrigues of Dom Miguel and the Queen. Yet,
although they differed in these matters, Palmella and SubSerra
agreed as to the necessity of an amnesty and a policy of reconcilia-
tion. They were on the point of publishing an amnesty when
a deed of violence rendered it impossible. On February 29th,
1824, the Marquis Loulé, a devoted friend of Subserra, was found
murdered in the neighbourhood of the Palace of Salvaterra, where

115
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the King was keeping carnival. On the walls of Lisbon one might
have read, “‘ Loulé is dead; Subserra will follow in a week.’ It is
probable that the murder was instigated by Dom Miguel. The
King, fearing Subserra would be the next victim, concluded that
only Beresford was strong enough to command the army and to
save the State. Beresford sought an audience of the King and
accused Subserra of betraying the country to France.

This event was followed, on April 30th, 1824, by a rising of
Dom Miguel. He called upon the army and the people to annihi-
late the devilish sect of the Freemasons, and told his father that
he had resolved to summon the soldiers to arms. He placed his
headquarters in the Rocio Square, and ordered the soldiers to
assemble there. He arrested about two hundred persons, includ-
ing Palmella and most of the Ministers, and blockaded the road
to the King’s palace, Bemposta. He was supported by the
Patriarch, and the Queen arrived from Queluz. The plan was to
murder Subserra and force the King to abdicate. Subserra sought
refuge in the house of Hyde de Neuville, who contrived to reach
the King, who summoned Dom Miguel to his presence. Here he
told wonderful stories of a far-reaching conspiracy, but he was
persuaded to dismiss the troops and release Palmella. The King
appeared on the balcony of the palace and was received with
acclamation, and the city was illuminated. But it was easier to
arouse the storm than to allay it, and terror reigned in Lisbon.
The King issued a decree on May 3rd, in which he excused the
action of his son; but on May oth the latter sought refuge on an
English frigate, the Windsor Castle, where he met Beresford, the
ambassadors, Palmella and Subserra. Dom Miguel was deprived
of his’ command, and the prisoners who filled the jails were
liberated. Lisbon breathed once more. Dom Miguel threw him-
self at his father’s feet and asked for forgiveness, and on May 13th
went on his travels. It was not so easy to get rid of Queen Carlota,
the cause of all the mischief, even though her brother Ferdinand
advised her to submit. She went to bed and refused to stir.

Palmella and Subserra were now able to resume their work
of atonement. On July 5th they issued a decree of amnesty, and
another decree, dated the same day, established the old Cortes
of Estates. This was opposed by the ambassadors of the Powers,
who feared even the moderate instalment of self-government, and
the summoning of the Cortes was deferred to the Greek Kalends.
The struggle between France and Great Britain for the mastery
of Portugal continued. Beresford was found intolerable, and had
to leave the country. Wellington wished to protect the King with

116
BRAZIL DECLARED INDEPENDENT

a body of 2,000 Hanoverians, but this was prevented by the
jealousy of the French. Then followed a change in the British
representation. Thornton, who was thought to be too submissive
to French influence, was recalled, and the more energetic A’Court
established in his place. A’Court worked to upset Subserra, who
lost powerful support by the recall of Hyde de Neuville at the
beginning of 1825. Subserra was accused before the King of
having plundered the public treasury. A’Court promised to
protect John VI. against any movement of Dom Miguel, and on
January 15th, 1825, the Ministry of Subserra came to an end.

By this time Dom Pedro had established himself as Emperor
of Brazil. The independence of that country was warmly sup-
ported by Canning and strongly opposed by Subserra. This was,
indeed, the cause of the latter’s fall. A’Court said, ‘‘ We must
make up our minds whether Count Subserra is to prevail over the
interests of two worlds.” A treaty was eventually signed on
August 29th, 1825, by the offices of Sir Charles Stewart, who was
sent by Canning to Lisbon and Rio, which determined the inde-
pendence of Brazil. A treaty of commerce between Great Britain
and Brazil, which abolished the slave trade, was drawn up but
was not ratified till 1827. By this arrangement the financial
condition of Portugal was greatly improved, and Brazil took over
a portion of the Portuguese debt. Commerce began to revive ;
the troops received their pay and the civil servants their salaries ;
the Finance Minister was enabled to discover new sources of
income; and the game laws were subjected to a commission of
inquiry. All this tended to diminish the evil effects of the counter-
revolution, the course of which in Spain, Italy and France was
not so fortunate.

117
CHAPTER XII

THE CARNIVAL OF REACTION ON THE CONTINENT

In Spain the reaction went much farther than in Portugal. A
party called ‘‘ the Apostolical”” made its appearance, consisting of
extreme Ultras. Under their influence Calomarde was appointed
Minister of Justice, and they terrified the King by threatening to
raise his brother, Don Carlos, to the throne. The Eastern Powers
tried in vain to stop their excesses. Their work having been done,
they found themselves neglected and put aside. Chateaubriand’s
advice to Talaru to behave as if he were King of Spain was mere
idle talk. When Pozzo attempted to accentuate the influence of
Russia he roused the jealousy of Austria, and Metternich com-
plained of his childish vanity. Talaru quarrelled with Bourmont,
who commanded the French army of occupation and favoured the
Apostolicals. The general had to be recalled, and relations became
less strained. The act of amnesty, promised to the Powers, was
delayed, and Talaru was obliged to threaten the withdrawal of the
army of occupation before it was issued. When it appeared on
May 20th, 1824, it contained so many exceptions as to be almost
a nullity ; indeed, it afforded pretext for fresh persecutions. But
even the very name of amnesty excited the wrath of the Apos-
tolicals. In Aragon the guerillero Capapé called his associates
to arms, in order to liberate the King from the hands of the
Freemasons and the French.

Acting under the advice of Calomarde, the King continued the
system of terror. A certain number of Liberal refugees, setting
out from Gibraltar, had taken the town of Tarifa, which they held
for a fortnight, until it was captured by the French. About a
hundred of these insurgents were either shot or hanged. De la
Cruz, the Minister of War, who was hated by the Apostolicals, was
arrested one night and imprisoned, and was succeeded by the
bloodthirsty General Aimerich. A new Intendant of Police devoted
his energies to the extirpation of the Liberals. Every instrument
of terror was put into practice, including domiciliary visits. One
man, who was in possession of a portrait of Riego, was sentenced
to imprisonment for ten years in an African fortress. A man
who, when drunk, exclaimed “ Long live the Constitution!’ was

118
SPAIN’S DEPLORABLE CONDITION

condemned to death. Freemasons and Communeros paid the
penalty of their opinions with their lives. It is impossible to
estimate the total victims of the White Terror, but it is reckoned
that in Catalonia alone, up to the autumn of 1825, 1,800
officers and soldiers of the Constitutional army fell victims to
the fury of the populace. The allied Powers found themselves
again impotent. They talked of withdrawing the French army of
occupation. Some improvement was effected by the resignation
of Ugarte in March, 1825, who was appointed ambassador at
Turin, and Zea Bermudez, who had been ambassador in London,
and became Prime Minister in July, 1824, now began to do some
good.

It was not till June, 1825, that matters showed signs of
improvement. Aimerich was dismissed, and his place taken by
a more moderate successor. An attempt of the Apostolicals to
excite disturbances with the assistance of Bessiéres proved a
failure. The risings were put down, and Bessiéres himself was
shot. But Zea Bermudez could only maintain his position till
October, 1825, when he was succeeded by the Duc d’Infantado.
The financial condition of the country was deplorable. Public
security could scarcely be said to exist, and travellers were obliged
to bribe the brigands in order that they might journey in safety.
The education of bull-fighters was thought more important than
that of scholars. The possession and importation of books and
drawings without the permission of the authorities was forbidden,
corporal punishment being inflicted for any breach of this regula-
tion. Only two newspapers were allowed to publish political
news, and English and French newspapers were stopped on the
frontier. The army and navy could not be said to exist. A decree
of March 18th, 1825, fixed the peace establishment at 100,000
infantry and 18,000 cavalry ; but the men existed only on paper,
and if they had been mustered there would have been no money
to pay them. In their place was a body of “‘ Royal Volunteers,”
a horde of fanatics without discipline, whose number was estimated
at 200,000. The navy possessed 600 officers, for the most part
unfit for service. Of the three ships of the line, one dated from
1755 and another from 1771. A frigate was launched in 1826,
but her timbers were so rotten as to make her unseaworthy.

As to the South American colonies that had been entirely lost
to Spain, the allies of Verona had intended to plant the banner of
Legitimacy in the New World. Chateaubriand dreamed of estab-
lishing two monarchies in that continent, and the Eastern Powers
were not reluctant to assist him; but Canning, speaking with the

119
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

voice of England, positively refused. He had already supplied
the colonies with British consuls to protect British commerce,
and in October, 1823, had informed Polignac, the French
Ambassador, that any intervention in the quarrel between Spain
and her colonies would hasten the recognition of the latter by
Great Britain, and that it was a matter of indifference to his
cabinet whether they were governed as republics or as monarchies.
The famous message of the American President, Monroe, delivered
at the opening of Congress on December 2nd, 1823, declared that
any attempt of the Allies to extend their system to any part of
America would be regarded as a menace to France and to the
security of the United States.

Canning declined to take part in a conference of the Great
Powers, held at Paris on December 26th, 1823, to consider the
affairs of the revolted colonies, and pursued the same policy in
February, 1824. Chateaubriand asked, with reason, whether the
continental Powers would be willing to draw the sword if Great
Britain declared for the independence of the colonies and allied
herself for that object with the United States. Whilst an expedi-
tion was preparing in Madrid to sail from Cuba to reduce the so-
called rebels, an announcement was made by the British Cabinet,
on January Ist, 1825, which recognised the independence of Buenos
Ayres, Colombia and Mexico. It was the answer to the treaty
between France and Spain which extended the French occupa-
tion for an unlimited period. Canning said that he had called the
New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old. There
was nothing left for Spain and the Allies but to vent their
indignation in useless complaints.

In France there was but little sympathy for the Spanish
colonies, even amongst the Royalists. The public mind was so
fully occupied with the success of the military promenade from
Irun to Cadiz that it could think of nothing else. The throne of
the Bourbons seemed to be finally established by the triumph of
the army. The Ultras were naturally in high spirits. A mild
form of White Terror made its appearance, and some spoke of
sending the Charte to keep company with the Cortes. All this
increased the unpopularity of Villéle, who was made responsible
for the recall of the Duc de Belluno, the darling of the Ultras, who
were not appeased by the appointment of his successor, the Baron
de Damas, a returned émigré. The Chambers, which hitherto
had been subject to only partial renewal, were dissolved on
December 24th, 1823, and the new elections resulted in a whole-
sale defeat of the Liberals, They numbered, together with the

120
FALL OF CHATEAUBRIAND

Left Centre, only nineteen, Lafayette and Manuel being among
the victims. The Government had used every device to secure a
victory, recommendation, intimidation of officials, falsification of
electoral lists. The bishops had been no less active than the
ministers and prefects. The Chambre introuvable was at last
retrouvée. But the Quotidienne declared that the work of Royalists
was not complete; it was only beginning.

The Chambers were opened by the King in person on March
23rd, 1824. He spoke of the extension of. the life of the Parlia-
ment to seven years, and the reduction of the interest of the
public debt. The last measure met with unexpected opposition
from small investors, but was easily carried by the large majority
of the Government, only, however, to be rejected by the Peers.
Though this was a serious blow to Villéle, he had no thoughts of
retiring. One result of this was the dismissal of Chateaubriand
on June 6th, as he was suspected of treachery to his colleagues,
in the matter of the conversion of the Rentes. His own memoirs
show that he was no statesman. He was vainly proud of having
effected in Spain in six months what Napoleon had not been able
to accomplish in seven years. In revenge he now threw himself
into the Opposition and converted the Journal des Débats, which
had hitherto supported Villéle, into a powerful instrument of
attack. His fall was not altogether displeasing to Metternich,
but Alexander remembered with sympathy his service to the
Holy Alliance. The entire renewal of the Chambers every seven
years was carried, although some sharp-sighted Ultras perceived
that it was a weapon which was likely to be used against them.
The session was closed on August 4th.

General Damas was made Minister of Foreign Affairs, and
Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis, Minister of Religion and
Education. But Villéle had undoubtedly lost in prestige, if not
in power, by the withdrawal of Chateaubriand. The Duc de
Broglie said that the Ministry had, with the loss of its poet, lost
all its brilliancy. A still greater change was at hand. On Sep-
tember 16th, 1824, Louis XVIII. died. He had long suffered
from gout and with difficulty performed the necessary duties
of his position. The Comte d’Artois ascended the throne as
Charles X., and the government of the Pavillon Marsan became
the legitimate Government of the State.

French intervention in Spain had but little effect on the
fortunes of Italy. Reaction had preceded it, and the Austrians,
who were chiefly responsible for it, acted in a double capacity,
as representatives of the great European Powers and as lords of

121
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Lombard and Venetian kingdoms. The trial of Confalonieri
and his associates for participation in the revolt in Piedmont
lasted for two years and a quarter, during which time the accused
were detained in prison. At last Confalonieri and six others were
condemned to death. By the favour of the Emperor this was
commuted to imprisonment for life. On January 21st, 1824, in
the bitter cold of winter, they were publicly exposed with chains
on their hands and feet, and then conveyed to their prison in the
fortress of Spielberg. As théy passed through Vienna, Metternich
paid Confalonieri a visit, in which he endeavoured to ascertain
what were the relations between Lombardy and the Prince of
Carignan. Confalonieri was promised favourable treatment if he
would give the information which Metternich desired. The offer
was refused and the prisoners continued their route to Spielberg.
Here they were confined in grave-like cells, badly fed, kept for
months without light or books, occupied in knitting stockings or
in making lint, and attended by a confessor who played the part
of a spy. Silvio Pellico has left us a description of their tortures
in his book, ‘‘ Le Mie Prigione.” The published records of the
trial were falsified, and when the Emperor visited Milan in May,
1825, he was led to believe that he ruled over a satisfied and
contented population.

In Naples, Ferdinand I., King of the Two Sicilies, died on
January 4th, 1825, and was succeeded by Francis I., who, as Crown
Prince, had excited hopes of a better reign. As King, he con-
tinued the system of his father. The nobles were given up to
frivolous amusement, and the middle classes were kept under
by police supervision and monkish education. The deficit in the
public revenue could not be made good even by the most oppres-
sive taxes, and the interest of the public debt was increased more
than threefold. With the new reign the Austrian troops were, to
a great measure, withdrawn from Naples, but their place was
occupied by Swiss mercenaries, and the retiring troops were kept
as a menace in Lombardy and Venetia. The Emperor informed
the King that he would permit no change in the Constitution of
Naples.

Of the smaller Italian States Lucca was ruled over by Charles
Louis, who had succeeded his mother in 1824 and showed him-
self submissive to Austria. The Duchess of Parma was Marie
Louise, the widow of Napoleon; but the government was in the
hands of her husband, Count Neipperg, till his death in 1827. He
used his powers, on the whole, wisely and moderately. The Duke
of Modena, on the other hand, exhibited all the faults of a

122
ROME’S RETROGRESSION

tyrannous and ruthless reactionary. He made himself notori-
ous by a Press censorship which rivalled that of Naples, and by
a system of secret police directed against political agitators. He
was especially suspicious of Tuscany, where, after the failure of
the Neapolitan Revolution, Poerio, Colletta and Borelli had found
a refuge. Vieusseux’s famous, reading-room remained a meeting-
place for patriots, and his journal, the Antologia, gave hospitality
to their writings. The Grand Duke Leopold II., who succeeded
his father in 1824, tolerated this exhibition of Liberalism and
followed the traditions of his house in looking after the material
interests of his country. His budget actually showed a surplus of
3,000,000 lire in 1828, and he was able to begin the work of
draining the Maremma. He was seconded by his Prime Minister,
Fossombroni, who did his best to protect himself against Austrian
interference.

In Rome Pius VII. died on August 2oth, 1823. Against the
wish of Metternich, Cardinal Della Genga, one of the party of the
Zelanti and an adherent of Consalvi, was elected in his place and
took the name of Leo XII. Consalvi retired, and was succeeded
by Cardinal Somaglia, another of the Zelanti. The new Pope and
his minister exhibited reactionary tendencies, favouring the civil
power of the bishops and the nobles, The Jews were not allowed
to hold property, were subjected again to the Inquisition, and were
shut up in the Ghetto after dark. Compulsory vaccination was
abolished ; street lighting was done away with in the provinces
as a “‘ French invention,’ and only sanctioned in Rome. because
of the presence of foreigners ; education was placed under a con-
gregation of cardinals.

It is on record that the cardinals refused to receive a present
of astronomical and physical apparatus, saying, ‘“‘ The Psalms
inform us that the heavens are telling of the glory of God, and
not these miserable instruments.” Not less remarkable was their
zeal for the improvement of public morality. An army of spies and
informers watched over the life of the Romans. Taverns were
closed, women were ordered to wear a prescribed dress, and inn-
keepers were forbidden to serve more than a certain quantity of
wine. It was the desire of the Pope that the Jubilee of 1825
should be held in a city devoted to the practice of piety and
free from every kind of fleshly lust. But these ecclesiastical
regulations of civic life naturally produced the effect the Holy
Father was anxious to avoid. Bunsen, who had _ succeeded
Niebuhr as German Ambassador, reports that Rome was
one of the most immoral cities in Europe, and that the

123
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

students in a church procession sang filthy songs instead of
Litanies.

The Pope was well meaning, but pursued the wrong way to
attain his ends. He visited the hospitals and supervised the
attendance on the sick. He paid the debts of debtors out of his
own purse, and released them from prison ; he established a Board
to superintend the civil servants, but this merely led to the
increase of informers and the satisfaction of private vengeance.
He placed a protective duty on foreign manufactures with a view
to encouraging home industries, but this only had the effect of
making foreign products dearer than before. The laity were
discontented with the favours shown to clerical government and
to the great families such as the Borghese, the Barberini, and the
Rospigliosi, and declined to acknowledge their restored feudal
rights, as these placed them in a worse position than ever. At
the same time the finances were well administered.

But good intentions do not make wise laws. The Pope gradu-
ally became more and more unpopular, by the medizval character
of his government, the monkish regulation of everyday life, and
the increasing power of the priesthood. The Legations and the
Marches became hotbeds of political sects, where the Carbonari
and the Sanfedisti watched each other with jealous hatred, and
where the strife of parties sharpened the dagger of the assassin.
Cardinal Rivarola was sent to Ravenna in 1824 with the mission
of annihilating the Carbonari, and officials, shopkeepers, lawyers,
writers, artisans were arrested in large numbers and thrown into
prison. They were tried with closed doors, without witnesses or
defence. Only two were condemned to death, but the sentences
of imprisonment affected many families in the province. Monas-
teries were turned into prisons, and the sight of victims hanging
on gallows for three or four days shocked and edified the Raven-
nese. Yet, despite these atrocities and gruesome spectacles, the
Carbonari continued to flourish as vigorously as ever.

Charles Felix, King of Sardinia, although he belonged to the
party of reaction, was more successful. His country was free
from political agitation. He paid great attention to his navy,
spent most of his time in Genoa, and when the Emperor Francis
and Metternich visited him there in the spring of 1825, they could
congratulate him on his excellent government. This was perhaps
due to the hopes which were cherished of his successor, Prince
Charles Albert of Carignan, who was now reconciled to his cousin,
had taken part in the French expedition to Spain and borne him-
self bravely in the storming of the Trocadero. This went some

124
METTERNICH AND ITALY

way to alter the opinion of Metternich with respect to him. He
was present at the interview at Genoa, when the Emperor spoke to
the Prince like a father, and Metternich gave him plenty of good
advice. Metternich wrote to St. Petersburg that the young Prince
was preparing a happy future for himself and his people.

Indeed, Metternich had reason to regard the condition of Italy
as satisfactory. He saw the Revolution annihilated in the north,
and not likely to raise its head again in the south. Austria was
strong enough to deal with it in either place. She was allowed by
treaty to garrison Piacenza, to secure the surrender of deserters,
and to make arrangements about ports and smuggling. No foreign
Power, not even France, could cross her plains. The Italians seemed
to have forgotten their dreams of national unity and even of con-
stitutional freedom, and the champions of their dreams were
spending their lives in the misery of exile or in the darkness of
a prison.

125
CHAPTER XIII
GREECE, 1822-5

In the spring of 1822 the condition of Greece appeared to be
desperate, and after the Battle of Peta nearly the whole of western
Hellas lay open to the enemy. Mavrocordatos with difficulty
collected a few hundred armed men behind the lagoons and
entrenchments of Mesolonghi. Eastern Hellas was terrified at
the destructive march of Dramali into the Morea, and Odysseus in
Athens had difficulty in raising the courage of his countrymen.
When the Greek Government fled on shipboard and Dramali
advanced into Argolis everything seemed to be lost. There, how-
ever, disaster had brought concord into Grecian councils. Demetrius
Ypsilanti, Kolokotronis and Petrobey became friends. Ypsilanti,
made President of the legislative body, inspired the people with
something of his own courage. He fortified the citadel of Argos
and held it against Dramali till August. Kolokotronis summoned
old and young to the seashore south of Argos. The Turks, in the
burning and barren plain of the Inachos, had no provisions, and
the ships that were to relieve them did not appear.

Dramali thought of retreating to Corinth and opened negotia-
tions with Kolokotronis, who, however, was not to be deceived.
Eventually the former was forced to retire to Corinth with con-
siderable loss, and the Morea was preserved. In Corinth he was
besieged by Kolokotronis and his connections with Nauplia, Patras
and Megara were cut off. The Turkish fleet, commanded by a
new Kapudan Pasha, Kara Mehmed, did not appear till September,
and then it durst not approach the garrison of Nauplia from fear
of the Greek fireships. It retired to the Bay of Suda in Crete,
and by and by sailed to the Dardanelles. Kanaris followed it on
November roth and burned the vice-admiral’s ship, and Kara
Mehmed sought safety in the Sea of Marmora.

On land the Turks were not more successful. Mehmed Kiuse
was sent from Thessaly by Churchit with 12,000 men to force his
way to the Isthmus. He reached Salona on November 13th, and
dispersed the garrison of Odysseus, but he allowed himself to be
deceived by the offers of an armistice, which weakened the fidelity
of the Albanians, who were eager for plunder. At this moment

126
GREEK SUCCESSES

Churchit, the conqueror of Janina, died. Mehmed hastened back
to Larissa, and his troops took up their winter quarters at Zituni.
Shortly after this the Turks were compelled to raise the siege of
Mesolonghi. Ships from Hydra broke through the blockade ‘of
the Pasha of Patra and landed reinforcements. The Kleplits rose
in the rear of the Turks, cut off their supplies, and threatened
their communications. An assault which the Turks attempted
during the Christmas festivities was repulsed. At last, on January
iath, 1823, the commander, Omer Brionis, raised the siege. He
suffered considerable loss in the retreat to Epirus, four hundred
soldiers being drowned in the Aspropotamo. The defeat of Peta
was avenged, and Acarnania and Aetolia were again free.

On the side of Greece the garrison of Nauplia was’ compelled
to surrender on December 13th, 1822; but even before this
Dramali had died of fever at Corinth, and his army had been
almost annihilated. In this manner the great Turkish campaign
of 1822 came to an inglorious end. But success was not favour-
able to the Greeks. Disaster had healed their differences ; triumph
was soon to open them again.. The pride of the Greek generals
was aroused by their successes, and they looked with contempt
upon the Government which had disgraced itself by cowardice.
The National Assembly, repulsed from Nauplia by Plaputas, the
brother-in-law of Kolokotronis, met at Astros, in March, 1823,
about three hundred in number. It contained deputies from
Thessaly, Crete, and more distant islands, but many came on
their own authority, while others complied with the mandate of
1821. A profound discussion between the civil and the military
parties ensued, and the Assembly sat till May roth. Petrobey,
chosen President of the Executive Council, was supported by
Andreas Zaimis, Charalampis and Count Andrea Metaxas. Mavro-
cordatos was made first Minister of Foreign Affairs, but Ypsilanti
was neglected. The fifth place in the Government and the Vice-
Presidency was offered to Kolokotronis, but he refused to receive
it out of jealousy of Mavrocordatos. The executive quarrelled
with the legislative, town with town, and family with family. This
did not give great hopes for the campaign of 1823, but the Greeks
were saved by the inefficiency of their enemies. The Kapudan
Pasha, the lame Chosrev, at the head of a large fleet, contented
himself with landing a few thousand men in Euboea, provision-
ing some places on the coast of the Morea, and leaving a few
ships in Patras. At the approach of winter he sailed back to the
Dardanelles, having accomplished nothing to hasten the fall of
Mesolonghi.

127
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

This town was again attacked by Omer Brionis and the Pasha
of Skodra, and was defended by the Suliote hero, Markos Botsaris,
who fell at Karpenisi on August 21st, 1823. The Turks deter-
mined to lay siege to Anatoliko before they’ attacked Mesolonghi,
but this they were unable to do. The water was too shallow for
the Turkish ships, and the town was defended by the English
Philhellene, Martin, who was an accomplished gunner. A cistern,
discovered by the explosion of a bomb, supplied the garrison with
water. The marsh fever made its appearance, the besieging
leaders quarrelled among themselves, and the pashas retreated
after burying their guns. Thus Mavrocordatos, arriving from
Hydra in December, found the work of liberation nearly accom-
plished. The operations in the east under Odysseus were less
picturesque, but he succeeded in capturing Acrocorinthus from the
Turkish garrison in November. At the same time the quarrel
between the civil and military authorities continued, and Panos,
the son of Kolokotronis, drove the legislature out of Argos on
December roth. The members met again at Kranidhi, and chose
George Konduriottis, a rich merchant of Hydra, as head of the
executive ; but its most important member was Doctor Kolettis,
who had been educated in European universities. He had been
in the service of Ali Pasha- at Janina, and had there become
acquainted with the Armistice of Rumelia, which he designed to
make the nucleus of a new and more stable government.

The difference between the factions in Greece developed into
civil war. Kolokotronis would not recognise the Government of
Kranidhi. He established the old executive committee at Tri-
politza, and ordered elections for a new legislative assembly. But
Kranidhi depended on the islanders, the most powerful primates
of the Morea, and on the armed Rumeliots. ‘Panos Kolokotronis
was shut up in Nauplia, and Acrocorinthus was surrendered by
treachery. Then Kolokotronis, the father, lost a battle at
Tripolitza and was obliged to leave the town. A large sum of
money to assist the Greeks had been subscribed at the Mansion
House in London, and of this £800,000 had reached Zante. The
desire to obtain some of this money, which was intended for the
Kranidhi faction, hastened the fall of Kolokotronis. Panos sur-
rendered Nauplia on June roth for 25,000 piastres. The Govern-
ment took possession of it and proclaimed a general amnesty.
No sooner was this quarrel appeas d than a second civil war broke
out which, however, ended in the victory of the Government,
directed by the prudent Kolettis. His hands were strengthened
by a further instalment of £200,000 from England. Mavrocordatos,

128
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES IN GREECE

who had been engaged in Acarnania and /Ztolia, now accepted
the post of Prime Minister at Nauplia.

The end of Odysseus was very tragic. He had an enmity of
old standing with Kolettis, and always worked rather for his own
interests than for those of the cause. During the first civil war
he had played a waiting game. He summoned an Eastern Hellenic
Parliament to Salona, and secured the co-operation of Negris,
who joined him out of a common hatred of Kolettis. Negris,
however, died in December, 1824, and Odysseus, finding himself
neglected, became a traitor. He entered into negotiations with
a Turkish pasha in Euboea, and placed himself at the head of an
army of Klephts and Turks in Attica and Boeotia. Here he was
defeated and taken prisoner, and brought in chains to Athens,
where he was nearly stoned to death by the populace. He was
imprisoned in a tower in the Acropolis, and was found dead at the
foot of it on July 17th, 1825. Whether he had been strangled
and then thrown over or had perished in an attempt to escape
has never been determined.

Though the Government had thus been relieved of its enemies,
it had serious difficulties to encounter, the chief of which was
lack of money. No revenue could be expected from regular
sources. The English loans were granted on very hard conditions
—the security of national property, customs, and salt mines at
an interest of more than 50 per cent.; and the money was plun-
dered by sailors, Arnauts and Palikars before it reached the right-
ful authorities. Hydriotes sold worthless hulks at the price of
sound ships, and many a capitano received payment for a hundred
rations a day when he commanded only a handful of men. The
Government offices were beset by a crowd of expectant placemen
eager to share the spoil. The Rumeliot allies proved an intolerable
burden, stealing oxen from the plough and plundering houses
to the four bare walls. Prokesch, travelling in the Morea in the
spring of 1825, found everywhere misery and poverty. He
was met by crowds of blind beggars led by children. Nauplia,
half in ruins, was a nest of robbers; the fortifications were
nearly destroyed, and eveyone seemed to live from hand to
mouth.

The Turks now conceived a new plan of action. They deter-
mined, first, to seize the islands and ruin the naval pcsver of the
rebels, and then to lead an army into the Morea to co-operate
with another army in the north. For these purposes the Sultan
invited the assistance of his mighty vassal, Mehmed Ali, Pasha of
Egypt.

F 129
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Mehmed Ali, a native of Macedonia, began life as the pro-
prietor of a small tobacco shop, and had gone to Egypt in the
time of Napoleon as commander of a few hundred Albanian
mercenaries. By the murder of the Mamelukes he had paved
the way for the creation of an army on European lines, and had
amassed great riches by the establishment of monopolies and
exclusive rights, and the seizure of large territories. He used
his resources to model Egypt on a pattern of Western civilisation.
The natives, whether brown or black, were drilled in his regiments,
cultivated his fields, tilled his cotton plantations, dug his canals,
built his arsenals, barracks and magazines. European officers
placed their knowledge at the service of the despot, who had not
learned to read till he was forty-seven years of age.

The Sultan saw the growth of his vassal’s power with jealous
eyes, but his assistance was now indispensable. Mehmed promised
to fit out an expedition which was to be commanded by his adopted
son Ibrahim. The Egyptians had conquered the island of Crete
after a two years’ struggle in which every horror was committed.
Amongst other cruelties four hundred men, women and children
had been stifled to death by smoke in a cave otherwise impregnable.
Their next conquest was Kasos, a rocky island to the east of Crete,
the home of savage pirates. More important was the capture of
Psara by a Turkish armament under Chosrev, which was com-
pleted on July 8th. The mariners of Hydra and Spezzia set them-
selves to avenge this defeat. They collected a fleet, of which
Miaoulis was one of the commanders, Kanaris also being on board.
Chosrev having left the island to keep the feast of Bairam at
Mitylene, the garrison he had left behind was defeated on July
17th and the majority of his ships were destroyed. Chosrev
quickly reappeared, and the Greeks fled with their booty.

The Greek fleet prevented Chosrev’s attack on Samos, but in
September the Turkish-Egyptian squadron routed their enemy
in the Roads of Budrun opposite the island of Kos. Exclusive of
transports, they numbered 100 ships, armed with more than
2,000 guns, whereas the Greek ships had only 350 guns of very
various calibre. Chosrev and Ibrahim, however, unable to agree,
soon separated, Chosrev going to the Dardanelles and Ibrahim
to the Sea of Marmora. In December the latter proceeded to
Suda Bay,-in Crete, where he carefully prepared an army of 20,000
men. ‘ Reserves of equal strength were ready to support him
from Egypt. On February 23rd, 1825, the vanguard of Ibrahim,
4,500 strong, landed at Modon, on the south-west coast of the
Morea. Egyptian ships broke through the blockade of Patras

130
THE TURKISH-EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN

and Ibrahim marched against Old and New Navarino. The
Government of Nauplia sent as many Rumeliote and Suliote mer-
cenaries as they could collect into Messenia, and the President,
Konduriotti, took the command, accompanied by Mavrocordatos,
A more inefficient commander could not have been found than the
old Hydriote merchant, who could scarcely sit upon a horse, and
spent several weeks in reaching the frontiers of Messenia. He
then went back, and left Captain Scurtis in command. On April
19th the Greek army was defeated by the Turks, and the Rumeliote
Palikars went home in disgust to defend their own country against
Reshid Pasha.

Ibrahim continued his siege operations. Old Navarino, the
ancient Pylos, was defended by Bishop Gregory of Modon, New
Navarino by the Piedmontese Collegno. Their only means of
safety was from the sea; in order to secure this, the Greeks had
occupied the island of Sphakteria, so celebrated in the Pelopon-
nesian War. This was, however, captured by the Egyptians on
May 8th, Santa Rosa, the hero of the Piedmontese revolution, being
one of the victims. This was followed by the fall of Old and New
Navarino at the end of the month. The way seemed opened for the
conquest of the Morea. In their despair the Greeks had no other
resource than to set Kolokotronis free, recall him to Nauplia, and
invest him with full powers. Ibrahim pressed into the mountains
of Arcadia and defeated the Greeks at Achovo on June 19th. He
then advanced to Tripolitza—which offered no resistance—crossed
the passes of Argolis, and appeared with a body of cavairy
before the gates of Nauplia. This was bravely defended by the
Greek patriots, assisted by a British squadron under Commodore
Hamilton.

Ibrahim retreated to Tripolitza, from which centre he sent
plunderers and murderers in all directions. He had expected the
assistance of Chosrev, who was to attack Hydra and Spezzia,
assist in the siege of Nauplia and bring provisions to the Egyptian
army. But he did none of these things. The Greeks, however,
profited little by his inactivity. An attack on the Egyptian and
Turkish fleet in the Bay of Suda only resulted in the destruction of
a single corvette, and the attempt of Kanaris to destroy the
docks of Alexandria nearly cost him his life. The union between
Egypt, Crete and the Morea continued. Their ships being too
small to contend with the Egyptian navy, the Greeks endeavoured
to procure the assistance of a steamer, and Captain Frank Abney
Hastings, an ardent Philhellene, who had received his baptism of
fire when eleven years of age at Trafalgar, promised to give £1,000

131
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

towards the purchase of a vessel if he were placed in the command
of her. °

After some delay it was determined to build a steam corvette
in London and buy two more in New York. In the summer of
- 1825, Lord Cochrane, just returned with his laurels from South
America, offered to take command of the Greek fleet if he were
highly paid and five other steam vessels were provided. But the
Greeks were everywhere cheated and deceived. The steamship
from England did not arrive till the autumn of 1826, and two
others followed when too late to be of use; while three vessels
built for Greece rotted at the London wharves. Of the two
American ships, one was only saved from being sold by the action
of the Congress of Washington, and this did not make its appear-
ance in 1825 or 1826. So that the Greeks had to dispense with this
assistance in the time of their deepest need.

The eyes of the world were now turned to the siege of Meso-
longhi, where Byron had died in April, 1824. In the spring of
1825, while the Egyptians were besieging Navarino, Reshid Pasha,
the Sultan’s ablest general, had led 10,000 Albanians before its
walls. He had been told on his departure, ‘“‘ Mesolonghi or your
head,” and he did his utmost to save his head. The roads from
Epirus were blockaded, and the Klephts of Eastern Hellas were
detained beyond the #tolian frontiers by the siege of Salona.
He could procure a siege-train and ammunition from Patras;
European engineers were hired to conduct the siege, and the
peasants were compelled to execute their orders. The garrison,
consisting of 4,000 men, were not alarmed, for they were com-
manded by Notis Botsaris, the uncle of the hero Markos, while
the townsmen were prepared for every sacrifice. Ships from
Hydra brought supplies and sustained their hopes of relief. Their
condition became worse when, on July roth, Chosrev drove away
the Hydriote vessels and occupied the shallow lagoon with a flotilla
of flat-bottomed boats. The town was now invested on both sides,
but the garrison would not hear of surrender, repelling two violent
attacks on July 28th and August 2nd. Even Gentz, who eagerly
desired the success of Reshid, could not gainsay their heroic
conduct.

On August 3rd, Miaoulis led his Hydriotes against the fleet of
Chosrev, assisted by the Spezziote, Andrutsos, and the Psariote,
Apostolis. The Kapudan pasha retreated to Zante, and then
sailed to Alexandria. Mesolonghi received supplies of food and
ammunition, and the lagoon flotilla was captured. Miaoulis had
succeeded so fully that he thought it safe to leave Mesolonghi and

132
SIEGE OF MESOLONGHI

pursue Chosrev. The besieged defended themselves bravely during
the autumn. Two-thirds of Reshid’s army perished by fever,
hunger and fighting. An Albanian corps deserted bodily, the
rest were kept together with difficulty, and Reshid was reduced
entirely to defensive measures. But a change was to take place.
Miaoulis could not prevent Reshid from obtaining supplies and
reinforcements by way of Patras, especially as he had been
deserted by the Spezziotes. It must have been a bitter pill for
the Sultan to swallow to ask for the assistance of Ibrahim in
reducing the town, but Mehmed Ali responded with alacrity.

By the help of Chosrev, 10,000 fresh African troops had been
landed in the Morea, and Ibrahim was burning to employ them
and to effect in a short winter campaign what Reshid with his
Albanians had failed to accomplish. He sent a portion of his
troops by sea to Patras. With the main body he marched to the
Isthmus of Corinth, having left behind a small force to garrison
Tripolitza. The populace fled before him, offering no resistance.
The Egyptian navy reached the coast of /Etolia at the end of
December, and in January, 1826, Ibrahim placed his army by the
side of Reshid’s before the walls of Mesolonghi. Europe anxiously
watched the fortunes of the little town, and the destiny of Grecian
freedom hung upon the fate of the death-place of Byron.

133
CHAPTER XIV

THE PHILHELLENES

THE rise of the Philhellenes produced a profound effect on the
future and fortunes of Greece. The cause of Greek freedom was
of a nature to arouse enthusiasm in all parts of Europe, and to
identify the struggle for liberation from the Mohammedan yoke
with the cause of Liberty all over the world. Those who had
fought for this cause in their own country, even though they had
been ousted in the struggle, naturally fled to Greece, to lend their
assistance to a people who had better hopes of success and whose
oppressions were more generally obnoxious. So we find Fabvier,
Santa Rosa and Collegno fighting for the Greeks, as well as Count
Almeida, who had fled from Portugal; General Rossaroli, who
had been condemned to death as a Carbonari in Sicily; Poles
such as Mizewski, who fell at Peta; and Germans like Franz
Lieber. No doubt many of these were disillusionised and dis-
appointed. They found in the barbarous Klephts few representa-
tives of Aristides and Epaminondas, but they threw the blame
not so much on the nation as on its oppressors. What else could
be expected of a people that had been subjected for four hundred
years to every kind of barbarous misgovernment ?

The general enthusiasm for the Hellenic cause led to the
foundation of Philhellenic societies in different parts of Europe.
Germany was among the first to feel the impulse. Ipitis, the body
surgeon of Alexander Ypsilanti, appeared there in 1824, and secured
the support of Frederick Thiersch in Munich, who received the
title of Praceptor Bavarie. He proposed the formation of a
German legion in Greece. At Aschaffenburg, E. L. von Dalberg,
who had commanded a regiment of the Landwehr in the War of
Liberation, offered himself as the leader of a corps of volunteers
to Greece. A society for assisting the Grecian cause with money
was formed first in Stuttgart by Schott, the friend of the poet
Uhland, and _ similar associations were established in Tiibingen,
Freiburg, Heidelberg, Darmstadt, Frankfort and Munich. The
movement spread to Northern Germany, and Voss, the translator
of Homer, contributed a thousand gulden to the cause.

This agitation was strongly opposed by Metternich, who

134
PHILHELLENIC ENTHUSIASM

regarded it as toying with the revolution; and his disgust was
increased by the suspicion that Ludwig, Crown Prince of Bavaria,
and the King of Wurtemberg were favourable to the Philhellenes.
He urged the Court of Berlin to emulate his hostility. Thiersch
was given to understand that unless he desisted from the insur-
rectionary efforts he would be removed from his post. The move-
ment, however, spread. Money was collected for the Greeks,
and expeditions were dispatched to help them. William Miiller,
the popular poet, wrote a number of Greek songs, which had an
enormous circulation and were incorporated with the literature
of the people.

The next country to obey the impulse was Switzerland, whose
history had so much in common with the history of the Greeks.
Ziirich became the centre of an agitation, at the head of which
were Bremi, Orelli and Hirzel, and a union of the German and
Swiss Committees took place at Stuttgart in September, 1822.
The result was a loan of 150,000 gulden, and the formation of a
body of 200 volunteers, many of them of very doubtful character.
They were intended to assist the rising in Eastern Hellas, but
proved a dismal failure and returned home without having effected
anything.

The flame of Philhellenism now seized upon England, its
progress being largely due to the murderous outrages in Chios.
Attention was called to them by Thomas Stuart Hughes. Lord
Erskine, anticipating the action of Gladstone in the Bulgarian
massacres, wrote an open letter to Lord Liverpool, begging him
to renounce the alliance of the murderers in Constantinople and
to lead the movement for the liberation of Greece. When Canning
succeeded Castlereagh as Foreign Minister, the Tories became
better disposed to the Grecian cause, which had always been
supported by the Whigs and Radicals. A committee for assist-
ing the Greeks, formed in London at the beginning of 1823, was
joined by Erskine, Joseph Hume, Hobhouse and Bowring. The
Ziirich Philhellenes hailed the co-operation of England with joy.
Captain Edward Blaquiére, the secretary of the London society,
was sent to the Morea to make inquiries, and on his return, on
September 13th, 1823, published a favourable report. He said
that the National Assembly at Astros had introduced popular
education on the method of Bell and Lancaster,eand that schools
had been founded in Tripolitza, Gastuni and Mesolonghi. Blaquiére
also published a history of the Greek Revolution in 1824.

But undoubtedly the most important recruit of the Phil-
hellenes was Lord Byron. He had been passionately enthusiastic

135
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

for the cause of liberty in Italy, and through Count Gamba, of
Ravenna, the brother of Countess Guiccioli, had been closely con-
nected with the operations of the Carbonari. When the cause of
Italian liberty seemed hopeless, he turned to Greece. He heard
of the London Philhellenic Society from Blaquiére, and was
appointed its representative. He sailed from Genoa on July 15th,
1823, in a vessel provided with arms, munitions of war, medical
appliances and money, and was accompanied by Count Gamba
and Shelley’s friend, Trelawney, who afterwards married the
sister of Odysseus. On July 2oth, 1823, in Leghorn, he received
the last greetings of Goethe, and anchored in the harbour of
Argostoli, in the island of Cephalonia, then under the protection of
Great Britain, of which Charles Napier was the governor. Byron
found himself the object of competition between the factions at
that time dividing Greece. Petrobey was anxious to obtain the
loan of a few thousand pounds, and Kolokotronis was ready to
receive him in the Morea, on condition that the hated Mavro-
cordatos was placed on the back of a donkey and flogged out of
the country. Byron, however, felt drawn to Mavrocordatos,
whom he regarded as the Greek Washington or Kosciusko. He
entered into negotiations with him, and, when Mavrocordatos
established himself at Mesolonghi at the end of 1823, Byron
sailed thither and reached the town on January 5th, 1824.
He was received with royal honours, and was lodged with
the Primate, Tricoupis. Unfortunately, he caught a chill on
April 9th and died of fever ten days afterwards, on April roth,
1824.

The spirit of Philhellenism now infected France, receiving an
impulse from Fauriel’s Popular Songs of Modern Greece. The
cause was supported by .the painter Delacroix and the poet
Delavigne, and was stimulated by the news of the Egyptian inva-
sion of the Morea. A philanthropic society in favour of the Greeks
was formed at Paris in May, 1825, which numbered on its committee
men of such different views as Chateaubriand and Sebastiani,
Duke Fitzjames and the banker Laffitte. Louis Philippe, Duc
d’Orleans, was one of the first subscribers. Bazaars, exhibitions
and collections in favour of the Greeks were held in nearly every
French town. With France was closely connected Genoa, where
the historian Sismondi worked for the cause.:: Another prominent
Philhellene was Eynard, the diplomatist, who sent 50,000 francs
to the Paris Committee. Blaquiére complained that Paris was
more active than London. In fact, Louis Philippe had great
hopes of obtaining the crown of Greece for his second son, the Duc

136
GREECE APPEALS TO BRITAIN

de Nemours. Other adherents were Prince Leopold of Coburg,
the Prince of Wasa, and Jerome Bonaparte.

On the other hand, Mavrocordatos, his brother-in-law Spiridion
Tricoupis, and the principal inhabitants of the islands and the
Morea were in favour of the predominance of Great Britain.
Canning was known to be in favour of liberty on the Continent.
When in the summer a communication came from Russia, pro-
posing that peace should be made with Turkey on the basis of
a limited independence, the provisional Government begged for
the assistance of Great Britain. They were influenced in this
by the support already accorded to the Spanish colonies in
America. The feeling in favour of Great Britain was strengthened
by the conduct of Commodore Hamilton in the assault of Nauplia
by Ibrahim, and Mavrocordatos succeeded at the beginning of
August in persuading the executive council to place themselves
finally under British protection. The request was signed by
several thousand persons; four copies were made, of which two
were sent to the Commissioners of the Ionian Islands and two to
Canning. The French and the Americans protested in vain, but
Hamilton was the idol of the ruling party.

Mesolonghi still held out. In January, 1826, Miaoulis suc-
ceeded in forcing the lagoon and bringing assistance to the
besieged, but after his departure the town was invested by a
combined force of Turks and Egyptians. All suggestions of
surrender were rejected, house after house was bombarded and
destroyed, but the inhabitants vied in bravery with the Palikars.
Ibrahim had jested at Reshid’s not being able to take the place,
but Reshid could now return the compliment. Ibrahim was
determined to attack the lagoons first, and Fort Vasiladhi, which
covered them, was captured on March gth. Three days later the
island of Dolma was stormed, which led to the fall of Anatoliko.
The inhabitants fled with the remains of their provisions to Arta.
The Commissioners of the Ionian Islands attempted to mediate
with the Turks, but to no purpose, and the unequal contest still
went on. The island of Klisova resisted a force seven times as
large as its garrison, which made a sortie, in which Reshid Pasha
was wounded and many Albanians and Egyptians were killed. But
no help came to Mesolonghi from the outside. The Government in
Nauplia was helpless; Fabvier had suffered a severe check in
Euboea; Kolokotronis sulked in the Morea; Miaoulis tried his luck
again with a small squadron, but it was too weak to effect anything ;
hunger and sickness were helping the work of the besieger, and the
Swiss doctor, Meyer, wrote to a friend, “ Our hour is at hand.”

F* 137
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The brave defenders determined not to surrender without a
blow. They sent a message to Karaiskakis in the mountains to
attack the enemy in the rear, but he was ill with fever and his
lieutenant could only command a few hundred Klephts. In the
evening of April 22nd some musket-shots gave the signal of their
approach. But Ibrahim and Reshid were on the watch, and they
were driven back by a more numerous band of Albanians. The
garrison waited for a second signal, and when none came, and mid-
night approached, they determined to break out—old men, women,
children, sick and wounded, all indeed who could move. They
were received by a hail of musket-balls, a cry arose of ‘“ Back!”
and the unwieldy mass now began to retreat. The enemy pressed
with them into the town, and all males were slain. Constantine
Tricoupis and Kokinis, the engineer of the fortress, fell, and with
them Philhellenes like the Swiss Meyer and the Prussian Dittmar.
The Bishop of Rogon set fire to a powder magazine and was after-
wards beheaded, half burnt. The aged Primate, Kapsalis, shut
himself up in a windmill full of cartridges, with a number of men
unarmed like himself, and blew it up, singing a hymn as the
enemy were breaking in from the roof. Some thousands of women
and children, rescued from the burning city, were sold into slavery.
In the beginning of June a handful of 1,300 fugitives from
Mesolonghi reached Salona, among them only seven women and
a few children.

The heroic fate of Mesolonghi aroused enthusiasm for the
Hellenic cause throughout the whole of the West, and its siege
became the theme of poet and painter throughout Europe. The
new King of Bavaria, Ludwig, gave 20,000 gulden towards the
Greek cause. He brought Philhellenism to the throne, and after
the fall of Mesolonghi spent 100,000 francs on the Greeks. In
Berlin, Hufeland and Neander signed an appeal in favour of Greece,
the King himself subscribing 1,200 friedrichs d’or, and noble ladies
going about with collecting-boxes. A concert given by the famous
singer, Sonntag, produced a large sum. Stein subscribed {20 a
year for the unhappy victims of the savage Ottomans, and Niebuhr
saw, not without emotion, his son Marcus empty his money-box
for the Greeks. New life was thrown into the movement in
Switzerland, and the Genevese Eynard redoubled his efforts. He
held constant correspondence with the heads of the Greek Govern-
ment, and had representatives in Ancona, Corfu, Zante, Cerigo
and Nauplia, while he kept Europe fully informed of the course of
events. 7

Enthusiasm was just as strong in Paris. The Duchesse de

138
THE BLACK SEA QUESTION

Broglie made collections for the Greeks, and Rossini gave concerts
for them. French workmen contributed their sous in the cause
of freedom. Philhellenism became the fashion, and Marseilles,
Lyons and Nimes vied with Paris. Chateaubriand forbade cap-
tured Greeks to be carried to the slave-markets in French ships.
Noailles proposed that the Peers should contribute a sum of money
for their liberation, and was supported by Benjamin Constant,
while Perier, Sebastiani and Hyde de Neuville rebuked the lethargy
of Villéle. It is said that up to the end of 1826 the Paris Com-
mittee had contributed a million and a half of francs to the Greek
cause. But the moral support of the Greeks was even stronger
than the material. Hyde de Neuville said, ‘‘ The Greeks are no
revolutionists ; they are fighting for their God and their freedom ”’ ;
and all Europe was of the same opinion. Similar feeling
manifested itself in Stockholm, Edinburgh, The Hague and
Florence. High and low, Conservatives and Liberals, believers
and unbelievers, were at one with each other. For the first time
since 1815 there was a real European Concert.

After the Congress of Verona, the Tsar had committed all
negotiations with the Porte to the care of the Allies—that is, to
whatever the representatives of Austria and Great Britain might
persuade the Turks to grant at Constantinople. The question
of chief importance for Russia was the evacuation by the Turks
of Moldavia and Wallachia, and the appointment of a Hospodar.
There remained the questions of the navigation of the Black Sea
and the occupation of certain fortresses in Asia Minor to which
the Turks raised objections, Russia, therefore, declined to send
an ambassador to Constantinople until these matters were regu-
lated. Nor could the future condition of the Greeks be a matter
of indifference to either Russia or Turkey, although it did not
take the first place. The Turks showed some disposition to yield
in the navigation of the Black Sea, but resisted the complete
evacuation of the Principalities.

The Tsar and the Emperor of Austria met in October at
Czernowitz, the capital of Bukowina. Metternich was unwell
and had to remain behind in Lemberg. “ Any war,” said the
Tsar, ‘‘ except the one undertaken against revolution and revolu-
tionaries would at the present moment endanger the existence of
all Governments. I dread it, as I should consider it a misfortune
for the whole of Europe. If the general interest demanded that
the Turks should be driven from Europe I should be happy to
use all my efforts to that end, but I would never attack them by
myself.” The Tsar further proposed that the pacification of

139
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Greece should be discussed at St. Petersburg, with the co-operation
of the representatives of Austria, Prussia, Great Britain and
France.

The Russian plan for the pacification of the Greeks was as
follows, contained in a memoir dated January gth, 1824. It laid
down that the Turks would never consent to the independence of
Greece, and that the Greeks would never submit to resume their
former position. Accordingly, it was necessary to find a middle
course the results of which were to be placed under the guarantee
of the Great Powers. Three principalities were to be formed under
the suzerainty of the Sultan—Eastern Greece, from the northern
frontier of Thessaly to the sea; Western Greece, consisting of
Epirus, #Ztolia, and Acarnania; and thirdly, the Morea, with
the possible addition of Crete. The islands of the Archipelago
were to remain with Turkey, but their principal institutions were
to be secured. The Sultan was to receive a yearly tribute, with
permission to keep garrisons in certain places. The Greeks were
to be allowed full freedom of commerce, under their own flag,
and all officials were to be Greek. They were, further, to be repre-
sented at the Porte by the Patriarch of Constantinople, whose
independence was to be secured by international law.

This proposal was equally distasteful to Greece and Turkey.
The Greeks would accept nothing short of independence, and the
Turks objected to foreign interference in their affairs. The French
were well disposed towards it, but Berlin and Vienna gave it a
half-hearted reception. On the other hand, Canning was more
than suspected of being a Philhellene. Sir Thomas Maitland, who
died in 1824, was succeeded as Commissioner of the Ionian Islands
by Frederick Adam, well known to be a friend of the Greeks.

The St. Petersburg Conference, held in June and July, produced
little effect ; but matters were looking better in the land of the
Golden Horn, where the new Grand Vizir, Ghalib, was a man of
European culture. The Porte declared its willingness to reduce
its army in the provinces to what it was before Ypsilanti’s raid.
This paved the way for the resumption of diplomatic relations
with Russia. Lord Strangford, who did not share the views of
Canning, prepared to leave his post. But even before he left,
Ghalib had expressed his discontent at the Russian plan. The
differences between Metternich and Canning grew gradually wider,
but Metternich did his best to prevent Great Britain from leaving
the alliance. Canning had selected his cousin, Stratford Canning,
afterwards Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, as the successor of Lord
Strangford at Constantinople. On his way to his mission he was

140
SECOND ST. PETERSBURG CONFERENCE

to visit Vienna and St. Petersburg, with the double purpose of
excusing Great Britain from taking part in the St. Petersburg
Conferences and of settling some differences between Great Britain
and Russia with regard to the north Armenian frontier.

In Vienna Stratford Canning had long conferences with Metter-
nich and Gentz. Gentz describes him as “the other eye of his
cousin,’ and the discussions proved almost barren. His reception
in St. Petersburg by the Tsar and Nesselrode was chilling, and he
was told that it was no good saying anything so long as Great
Britain would take no part in the conference.

The second St. Petersburg Conference dated from February 24th
to April 7th, 1825. It began with a proposal from Russia that
Turkey should be compelled to grant an armistice to the Greeks by
threats of withdrawing all ambassadors from Constantinople, and
that negotiations between the Turks and the Greeks should take
place on a neutral ship in the Bosphorus, under the mediation of
the Great Powers. Metternich was afraid that a measure of this
kind might lead to a war between Russia and the Porte, which he
was most anxious to avoid, and he said, of the two alternatives—
withdrawal of ambassadors or Greek independence—he preferred
the latter. This master-stroke was intended to frighten the Porte
and force Russia to drop the mask. Nesselrode protested in
answer that Russia had no desire for Greek independence, that
she wished Greece should remain under Turkey, but with a more
peaceful existence and complete administrative independence.
The continuance of the conference only accentuated the differences
between Austria and Russia. At length, on April 7th, a protocol
was signed, by which the representatives of the Powers in
Constantinople were to put pressure upon the Reis Effendi to
admit the mediation of the Great Powers. But no sanction was
laid down in case of failure, although the Tsar would have desired,
to apply compulsion.

Metternich received the news of the conclusion of the confer-
ences at Paris with much satisfaction. He had gone there to
confer with Charles X., Villéle and Damas about the Eastern
question, in which France was now taking a more active interest.
General Guilleminot had been sent to Constantinople in the spring
of 1824 with magnificent presents. He established the new French
Embassy in the Golden Horn in stately splendour, while Admiral
de Rigny was sent with a fleet to the Levant. Metternich natur-
ally supported the policy of France, as diminishing the influence
of Russia. He was in high spirits, and thought that he had
achieved a brilliant success. George IV. invited him to England,

141
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and Metternich believed that if he could have accepted the invita-
tion he would soon have annihilated the influence of Canning.
But Canning opposed his coming so strongly that he thought it
advisable to decline. So he went from Paris to Milan, where he
was to meet the Emperor Francis and report his successes.

Meanwhile, the proposals of the St. Petersburg Conference were
emphatically rejected by the Porte. The Reis Effendi declared,
“The Greek question is purely a domestic one; we watch over
our Rayahs as jealously as we watch over our harems.” Metter-
nich was more delighted than ever over the humilation of Russia,
and still more jubilant at hearing that the Greek Government
at Nauplia had, on August 1st, 1825, placed itself under the
protection of Great Britain. He regarded this as a species
of Divine intervention which comes specially to help those who
follow what is right. He said, “ What line will Mr. Canning now
take? That is for him to decide; but, whatever he does, it is
quite certain that he will always stick in the mud.” However, in
the result Russia deserted the Alliance. On August 18th Nesselrode
announced that his master had resolved henceforth to act in the
Eastern question without reference to his allies, and with con-
sideration of his own dignity and the interests of his Empire.
Tatischev was ordered to hold no further communications with
Metternich. On the other hand, there was a rapprochement
between Russia and Great Britain which was marked by the
dispatch of Lord Strangford to St. Petersburg. «

Canning took pains not to offend the susceptibilities of Russia
by too much eagerness for the Greek cause. Being asked whether
there was any likelihood of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg accepting the
Greek crown, he said that this would be impossible without the
consent of the Sovereigns, and their consent would certainly not
be given. In sending this answer, he begged it might not be re-
garded as a proof of unfriendliness towards Greece if Great Britain
determined to adopt an attitude of “ unswerving neutrality.”
Next day, August 30th, a Royal Proclamation warned British
subjects of the danger of violating this neutrality; so, when the
document of August Ist arrived from Nauplia, Canning announced
his readiness to put an end to further bloodshed, but declined the
offered protectorate.

At this time Caninng also sought to unite Great Britain with
France in putting an end to the conflict in the East. He con-
templated a junction of the British, Russian and French fleets
for the purpose of enforcing peace between the combatants. Count
Lieven, the Russian Ambassador, became on more familiar terms

142
DEATH OF THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER

with Canning and agreed that the past should be forgotten and
that the two Governments should have confidence in each other.
This change of attitude was to be communicated to Lord Liverpool
and the Duke of Wellington, but not to the King, who was sure
to report it to Esterhazy.

In this manne, towards the end of 1825, an understanding
was completed between Russia and Great Britain. It only
required the seal of the Emperor Alexander to give it efficacy.
But his sudden and unexpected death at Taganrog, December
ist, 1825, produced an entire change in the course of Eastern
policy.

143
CHAPTER XV

THE ACCESSION OF NICHOLAS I. AND THE TREATY OF LONDON

THE Tsar Alexander had no children and, on August 28th, 1823,
had drawn up a paper assigning the throne to his younger brother
Nicholas instead of to the elder brother Constantine. Constantine
had also written a formal renunciation of the succession. He
felt that he was not fit to govern ; moreover, he had been separated
from his wife in 1820 and had no heir to the throne. He was
also anxious to marry the Polish Countess Grudzinska, whose
children would not be entitled to the succession. Alexander was
not willing to publish the document in his lifetime, but the original
was preserved in the Church of the Assumption at Moscow, and
copies were kept in the archives of the Council of State, the Senate
and the Synod. The seals of these documents were to be broken
after his death. These facts were told to the Empress Mother,
when assent had been obtained to the arrangement ; and Prince
William of Prussia, afterwards the Emperor William, heard of it
on a visit to St. Petersburg and informed his father. Nicholas, of
course, knew all about it. Before his departure for Taganrog,
Alexander was advised by Prince Alexander Galitzin to make
the document public, but refused, saying, ‘“‘ Let us depend upon
God: He will understand how to direct matters better than we
poor mortals.”

When Alexander felt himself dying he did not say a word about
the succession, and the two general-adjutants who were present
at his death-bed, Prince Volkonski and General Diebich, regarded
it as their duty to consider Constantine as Emperor. Diebich
directed the dispatch sent to Warsaw announcing Alexander’s
death, ‘‘To His Majesty, the Emperor Constantine,’ and asked
for his commands. When Constantine heard of the news he sur-
rendered himself to sorrow, but forbade those who surrounded
him to give him the title of Tsar. He read the renunciation to
Novolsitzov and a few others, and sent his brother Michael to
St. Petersburg with a letter affirming it. The authorities at
Warsaw were anxious to salute him as Tsar, but he shut himself
up in his palace under plea of illness and would see no one.
Nicholas was prepared to assume the sceptre, but Miloradovich,

144
AN IMPERIAL TANGLE

the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, had informed him, two
days before the news of the Tsar’s death arrived from Taganrog,
that he would not allow anyone but Constantine to succeed to the
throne, and when the news came he announced that everyone
must swear allegiance to Constantine. Nicholas did so, although
his mother told him that the sealed paper should be opened first,
and all authorities in the capital followed his example.

When the Council of State assembled in the afternoon Galitzin
demanded that the document of August 28th, 1823, should be
unsealed, and the copy preserved in their archives was accordingly
opened and read, Then Miloradovich appeared and stated that
Nicholas had already taken the oath of allegiance to Constantine.
Nicholas refused to attend the sitting, and induced all the members
of the Council of State to take the oath to Constantine. This was
done, and the document was sealed up again. The copies in the
archives of the Senate and of the Synod were not touched. The
original, which, according to Alexander’s orders, had to be un-
sealed by the Archbishop and the Governor-General of Moscow,
was also left unopened. Constantine received homage in Moscow
likewise. A decree of the Senate ordered that an oath of allegi-
ance should be taken to him throughout the Empire, passports
were prepared in his name, and his portrait was exhibited in all
the windows as that of the new Tsar.

These events produced considerable confusion. Prince Sachovski
said to Miloradovich, ‘‘ If Constantine holds to his resignation
your taking the oath will be regarded as an act of violence.”
Miloradovich answered, ‘“‘ When one has 100,000 bayonets in
one’s pocket, it is easy to speak with boldness.”. Nicholas had
immediately sent an adjutant to Warsaw to inform Constantine
of what had occurred, with a few lines in which he signed himself
“Your faithful subject.” This messenger was crossed by the
Grand Duke Michael, who brought Constantine’s renunciation to
St. Petersburg. The Imperial family were in great embarrassment.
They did their best to persuade Constantine to come himself to
St. Petersburg, or at any rate to make a public declaration of his
intentions, and the Empress Mother and Nicholas wrote to him to
this effect. The letter was answered on December 24th. Constan-
tine was deeply distressed that the provisions of Alexander had
not been followed, and rated the Council of State soundly for
neglect of duty. He refused either to abdicate or to issue a
proclamation, but gave Nicholas his blessing as Emperor and
referred everybody to Alexander’s declaration, which he said
would explain everything.

145
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Nicholas was determined to act, and a manifesto announcing
his succession was drawn up by Speranski. The Council of State
was summoned on December 25th to hear this from the mouth of
Nicholas. When he took leave of them he said, ‘‘ To-day I entreat,
to-morrow I shall command you.’ On the following day the
manifesto was published and an oath of allegiance was taken to
the Tsar Nicholas. This led to the rebellion of the Decabrists, as
they were called. With Prince Trubetzkoi as their leader, they
determined to assemble as many troops as possible in the Senate
Square and seize the Winter Palace, the ministerial offices, the post,
and the banks. They hoped for a provisional government, which
should grant a Constitution with representative government and
abolish serfdom. A Diet was then to be elected which would
determine upon the election of a new Tsar. There is no doubt
that the ends of the Decabrists were as pure as their methods
were ridiculous, but they acted with incredible frivolity.

The morning of December 26th broke cold and cheerless.
Nicholas said to Alexander von Bernstoff, “‘ This evening perhaps
we shall not be alive, but if we die we shall die in doing our duty.”
The commanding officers of the divisions, brigades, and regiments
of the Guards had been summoned. Nicholas appeared before
them and read to them his own manifesto, Constantine’s renuncia-
tion, and Alexander’s testament. He received from them an
assurance that they regarded him as their legitimate sovereign.
He made them answer with their lives for the safety of the capital,
and said, as he parted from them, “ For myself, if I am Emperor
only for an hour, I will show myself worthy of the post.”

The first sign.of disaffection came from the horse artillery of
the guard. Some officers said that the Grand Duke Michael had
been removed from St. Petersburg as a supporter of Constantine,
and demanded that he should appear and confirm the legality of
Nicholas’s accession.. Michael went into the barracks and removed
all doubts. In the meantime a part of the Moscow Guard regi-
ments refused the oath. The soldiers accepted what they were
told by Alexander Bestuchev and his companions, and refused to
take the oath to Nicholas, who they believed had violently seized
the throne and murdered his brother in prison. Two generals
who tried to appease the rebels were wounded. About a thousand
men, accompanied by a crowd, marched into the Senate Square
with cries of ‘‘ Hurrah, Constantine!”’ There they were joined
by a battalion of the Marine Guard, a battalion of the Finland
Guard, and three companies of bodyguards. This handful of rebels
stood round the monument of Peter the Great, in a temperature

146
NICHOLAS PROCLAIMED TSAR

of 10 degrees below zero, with an east wind blowing. The soldiers
had no idea of the purpose of the revolution. They were told
to shout, ‘‘ Long live the Constitution!” and they thought it
was the name of Constantine’s wife. A large crowd gazed at
the spectacle without moving a finger. Prince Trubetzkoi was
nowhere to be seen, and at length, when Prince Obolenski took the
command, there was complete anarchy, all shouting in confusion.

This disorderly body might have been dispersed by a single
cannon-shot, but half the day passed before the order was given.
Nicholas desired to avoid bloodshed, and he did not know how
far he could reckon on the support of the army. In the course
of the day he gave orders that if necessary the Imperial family
should leave St. Petersburg. Standing before the Winter Palace, he
read his manifesto and received the homage of the crowd. Those
nearest to him kissed him, and he returned their kisses. Then he
placed himself at the head of the Preobradzhensky Guard and sum-
moned the cavalry of the guard to his aid. Miloradovich, relying
on his popularity, went into the midst of the insurgents and
addressed them. They seemed to listen to him, but he was fatally
wounded by the pistol of Lieutenant Kutsovsky. Some others
were killed and stones were thrown, but as the cavalry advanced
all fled. The entrances to the square were occupied, new regi-
ments surrounded the insurgents, and, when cannon arrived, their
muzzles were pointed at the crowd. .

The Grand Duke Michael made an attempt, at the risk of his
life, to persuade the soldiers of the guard to return to their duty,
but with no success. Then the Metropolitans of St. Petersburg and
Kiev appeared in full canonicals, but their voices were drowned
by the beating of drums. It began to grow dark, and Generals
Toll and Vasiltzikov urged Nicholas to fire, and the guns were
loaded. A final attempt at pacification was made by General
Suchosanet, who promised a pardon if the ringleaders were given
up, but he was fired at. Then the first shot was fired over the
heads of the crowd, but others struck in their midst, and the
insurgents dispersed in wild confusion. Many were killed in the
side streets, and several were drowned in the Neva. At 7 in
the evening Nicholas returned to his family, and attended a solemn
Te Deum. The city soon resumed its normal appearance. The
Decabrists’ trials came to an end in the summer of 1826. Five of
the accused were condemned to be quartered, among them the
famous Pestel, and thirty-one were condemned to execution. But
the harshness of their sentences was mitigated by the Tsar, and
eventually only five were put to death.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Before Alexander’s death Russia had deserted the European
Concert, and effected an alliance with Great Britain, the conclusion
of which was only prevented by his demise. The events which
immediately followed aroused keen interest in Vienna. Metternich
naturally desired the accession of Constantine. He said: “‘ With
him a history would begin for Russia, in which romance would have
no place.” He believed that Constantine was devoted to Austria,
detested the British, despised the French, and regarded Prussia
as possessed with the revolutionary spirit. On the other hand,
Nicholas was rather opposed to the Austrian policy. He was aware
that Count Lebzeltern, the Ambassador of Austria to St. Peters-
burg and the brother-in-law of Trubetzkoi, had been connected
with the Decabrists. Certainly he had shown himself in favour of
Constantine, and had said that the accession of Nicholas would
be a misfortune for Russia. Lebzeltern, therefore, knew that his
position was untenable, and asked to be recalled. Metternich
dreaded a war between Russia and Turkey.

An opportunity now occurred of sounding the views of Nicholas
on the Greek question. The Archduke Ferdinand of Este was sent
by Austria to congratulate Nicholas on his accession, together
with the Duke of Wellington from Great Britain and Prince
William from Prussia. The Archduke brought a suggestion that
the five Powers should propose a mediation between Greece and
the Porte, which, however, neither country should be punished
for not accepting. If Turkey showed great stubbornness, Russia
might withdraw her ambassador from Constantinople. Canning
disliked this proposal, but Metternich approved of it, and recom-
mended it warmly to the Tsar.

The Archduke was well received, and Nicholas wished to be
joined with Austria and Prussia in securing the peace of Europe.
He expressed some dislike of Great Britain, and called the Greeks
“rebels,” but he also showed an intention of putting pressure on
Turkey. “I have the necessary means,” he said; “I will soon
settle the rascals.””’ He seemed, however, to lay more stress on
the points in dispute between Russia and Turkey than on the
fate of Greece. Metternich did his best to moderate the excite-
ment of the war party in St. Petersburg, and to counsel submission
at Constantinople. On April 5th, 1826, a Russian ultimatum was
presented to the Porte. It asked for the restoration of the Prin-
cipalities in every respect to the position in which they were before
the disturbances of 1821, for the granting of the demands of
Servia, the liberation of the ambassadors who were kept in prison
at Constantinople, and the carrying out of the Treaty of Bucharest.

148
TURKEY DECLINES BRITISH MEDIATION

These demands did not cause any great excitement, but the terms
in which they were couched were peremptory. An answer was to
be given in six weeks, and failing it, the Principalities, Moldavia
and Wallachia, would be occupied by a Russian army. Metternich
used all his influence to get these terms accepted, and on May 4th
the Porte agreed to them.

As he passed through the Archipelago on his way to Constan-
tinople, Stratford Canning had met Mavrocordatos and Zopalus, a
member of the Greek Parliament, on the coast of Hydra, on
January 9th. He proposed to mediate on the terms that Greece
should receive, not complete independence, but a certain amount
of self-government, pay a yearly tribute to the Porte, and com-
pensate the Turkish landed proprietors. That the Greeks should
contemplate the acceptance of such terms shows the low state
to which they were reduced. But at Constantinople itself Stratford
Canning had no success at all. The Turks were elated by their
victories, and would not hear of the mediation of Great Britain.
Ottenfels, the Austrian Ambassador, was delighted. He wrote to
Vienna, “ Never was the Porte less disposed to surrender itself to
England than now.” Metternich replied: ‘ Stratford Canning has
come to the end of his business. Instead of saving the Greeks, he
has isolated his own country.”

But Metternich was mistaken. Wellington was now in St. Peters-
burg and Count Lieven arrived there at the same time. On April
4th, 1826, a protocol was signed between Great Britain and Russia
in the following terms:—The two Powers were to propose to
the Porte the recognition of a position for Greece similar to that
which Stratford Canning had sketched at Hydra, and the Greeks
had practically accepted ; the Sultan was to retain his suzerainty ;
the Greeks were to pay a fixed yearly tribute, to have the right
of choosing their governors, subject to the approval of the Porte,
to have freedom of government, of commerce and of worship, and
to have permission to acquire land now held by Turks, so as to
effect a complete separation between the two nations. The limits
of the new Greece were to be defined later. There was no mention
of compulsion, but Russia and Great Britain bound themselves to
regard these points as the foundation of an arrangement between
the two parties. Both parties were to renounce for themselves any
increase of territory, predominating influence, and any special
commercial advantages.

This protocol was to be communicated confidentially to Vienna,
Paris and Berlin, with the offer of joining in it, but it became
known long before it was officially published. Nicholas protested

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to Lebzeltern that he thought he deserved the gratitude of his
allies by having compelled Great Britain to forgo any selfish advan-
tage, and he used similar language to Laferronays. But, as a fact,
the Alliance had received a fatal blow by Russia uniting herself
with Great Britain, which since the Congress of Verona had gone
her own way. Canning was quite aware of this, although the
Tsar attempted to conceal it. He laid stress on the fact that the
mediation was an independent act of the two Powers, made before
they had been requested by the belligerents to exercise mediation.
Metternich was beside himself. He called the protocol a ‘“ miser-
able work,” for which he would not be responsible. It could have
no practical results: should peace be kept between Russia and
Turkey, Canning would not interfere in favour of the Greeks, but
should war break out, the fate of Greece would depend upon its
issue. The protocol had been published by The Times, but it
seemed to produce no effect.

More attention was paid to the negotiations which were going
on in the Bessarabian town of Akkerman with regard to the execu-
tion of the Treaty of Bucharest. The main question in dispute
was the surrender of certain fortresses in Asia Minor, which had
been occupied by Russia. The feeling in Russia was in favour of
war, and nothing remained for the Turks but absolute submission.
Indeed, at the moment Turkey found herself unarmed. She had
depended for her defence on a body of janizaries, a Praetorian
Guard who enjoyed special privileges, but were unsuited to modern
warfare, and exercised a tyrannous control over the Government.
Mehmed conceived the plan of selecting 150 men from each batta-
lion who should form the nucleus of an army drilled and exercised
by Arabs on European methods. Hearing of this the janizaries
mutinied, expecting to be supported by the populace and the
Ulemas or priests. Both, however, withheld their countenance,
and on June 16th, 1826, thousands of the rebels were destroyed
by bullet, fire and sword. The janizaries throughout the Empire
were abolished and a beginning was made of a new model army.
But, as this required time, the Turks meanwhile were powerless,
and Mehmed had no other course but to submit to the Russian
demands, and the Treaty of Akkerman was signed on October 6th,
1826. It allowed Russia to occupy the fortresses in Asia Minor
and to acquire a rectification of frontiers in Bessarabia ; promised
Russian subjects full compensation for their losses and unlimited
freedom of navigation in all Turkish waters; and gave a firm
position to Servia in the Principalities. The Hospodars were to
be elected from the Boyars, and could not be deposed without

150
CANNING’S EFFORTS FOR GREECE

the consent of Russia. Indeed, by the Convention of Akkerman,
Russia became almost the sovereign of the two Principalities.

Canning formed the idea of keeping a strong British squadron
in the Archipelago, in order to intercept the Egyptian fleet on
its way to Greece, and thus render Ibrahim Pasha impotent. When
Lieven returned to England, after having been raised to the rank
of prince, the negotiations between him and Canning were resumed.
The latter desired to put every pressure upon the Porte short of
actual war. This was to be effected by sending consular agents
to Greece, by recognising the provisional government of Greece,
and, in the last resort, by threatening the recognition of the inde-
pendence of the Morea and the islands. He wrote to his cousin:
“Every means, except war, will be employed to break the Turkish
obstinacy. You need not fear that the Holy Alliance will fetter
you. It no longer marches in step.”

Canning now proceeded to constitute a triple alliance for the
liberation of Greece, between Russia, Great Britain and France,
and for this purpose he went to Paris, where the enthusiasm of
Philhellenism was very -strong. He desired to counteract the
influence which Metternich had exerted a year before, and found
Charles X., Villéle and Damas ready to fall in with his views.
They proposed to turn the St. Petersburg protocol into a formal
treaty, a scheme which entirely coincided with the views of Canning,
who returned to London full of confidence, and renewed his con-
versations with Lieven. Lieven went even farther than he did.
He was empowered to agree that the signatories of the protocol
should, even without the co-operation of the other Powers, break
off diplomatic relations with the Porte if the Turks did not accept its
terms. Canning was not prepared to go as far as this. As much of the
correspondence between them as was not confidential was, at the end
of the year, communicated to the Courts of Paris, Berlin and Vienna,
with a request that they would collaborate in carrying out the pro-
tocol. Their answers soon arrived. France was quite ready to ac-
cept the proposal and turn the protocol into a treaty, but Metternich
feared to use measures by which a sovereign might be compelled to
renounce his authority over his subjects, and Bernstorff demanded
absolute unanimity from the members of the great European alliance.

The Turks showed no disposition to yield. The Reis Effendi
remarked that the Turks had never attempted to mediate in the
quarrels between Great Britain and the Irish; why, then, should
Great Britain interfere in the rebellion of the Greeks? The
Russians were told that all their demands had been satisfied at
Akkerman. The Porte issued a manifesto on June gth, which was

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

communicated to the Great Powers and foiled all attempts in
future at foreign intervention. Stratford Canning, in despair,
advised that the cause of the Greeks should be given up, unless
the Powers were prepared to employ force, and the Russians and
French began to draw up schemes for a triple alliance.

At this juncture a change of government took place in England,
Lord Liverpool fell seriously ill and the Wellington party left the
Cabinet. Canning, with the assistance of the Whigs, formed a
new Government, more favourable to the dissemination of Liberal
opinion in Europe. One of the last official acts of Wellington was
to object to an interpretation of the St. Petersburg protocol which
might invest mediation between the Greeks and the Turks with
the character of compulsion. Canning did not entirely agree with
the attitude of Russia, but he was not unwilling to use the threat
of compulsion in certain contingencies. France endorsed the views
of Canning, but, as might be expected, Austria and Prussia held
different opinions, which they justified in various ways. But all
Metternich’s attempts to discredit Canning in the eyes of the
Russians and the French totally failed.

The Treaty of London was signed on July 6th, 1827. Great
Britain, Russia and France bound themselves to put an end to
further bloodshed in Greece and to crush piracy in the Archipelago
at its fountain-head. They determined to offer an armistice to
both the belligerents. If the Porte did not accept the mediation,
the contracting Powers would take steps to show their sympathy
with the Greeks, in the first instance by establishing commercial
relations with them. If the armistice were not concluded within
a month measures would be taken to compel them to it. This
was to be done without taking the side of either belligerent. Every-
thing else was left to the instructions which were to be given to
the admirals commanding the three squadrons in the Levant.
Further consultations would be held in London to meet emergencies.

A few days later the convention, together with the secret
articles, was published in The Times, and great was the joy of
the Philhellenes. If the treaty did not fulfil their expectations,
it at least warranted the belief that the sufferings of Greece
would soon be at an end. On the other hand, Metternich regarded
the convention as an unholy action. He did not fear so much
the political freedom of the Greeks, or the triumph of a new revo-
lution in Europe, as the outbreak of war in the East. He wrote
to Ottenfels: ‘‘ The treaty may lead to anything except to that
which is its object. .What it certainly leads to is a war between
Russia and the Porte.’”’ As the event showed, his inference was sound.

152
CHAPTER XVI

NAVARINO

AFTER the fall of Mesolonghi, the condition of Greece was most
serious. Contemptuous critics asked where was the Greece for
which the Great Powers were to undertake personal responsibility.
One symptom of the country’s state was that the National Assembly
at Piadha relieved the members of the Government of their authority
and offices. In its stead they appointed eleven men, under the
presidency of Andreas Zaimis, as a temporary Committee of Govern-
ment, and created also a Committee of Surveillance, with the Arch-
bishop Germanos at its head. The Moreotes had a majority in
both assemblies. When the new Government entered Nauplia,
they found only sixteen piastres.in the Treasury, and were con-
tinuously threatened by Suliote and Rumeliote marauders. Piracy
at sea and disease on shore completed their misfortunes.

In other respects, however, matters were more promising. The
numbers and enthusiasm of the Philhellenes throughout Europe
grew apace. Money began to flow into the Greek coffers, the
English loan was paid and creditors were satisfied. Moreover,
the operations of the Turks, both at sea and in the Morea,
were very weak. Mehmed began to cool in his devotion to the
Porte, having good reason to believe that Chosrev, the Kapudan
Pasha, his ancient enemy, was endeavouring to wear out his fleet.
On the other hand, Reshid. Pasha was able to capture Athens.
The Acropolis was defended gallantly by Guras, and when he
was killed by a stray shot, his widow took his place, and succeeded
in rescuing the citadel from the hands of the Turks.

Warned by these events and by the fall of Mesolonghi, the
Government removed from Piadha to the island of Aegina, on
November 23rd. This change was followed by new victories.
On December 6th Karaiskakis gained the Battle of Arachova,
where he completely defeated Mustapha Bey, who commanded an
army four times as strong as his own. Six days later the French-
man, Fabvier, succeeded in forcing his way through the Turkish
lines into the Acropolis. He brought the besieged a supply of
powder, which they sadly needed, but, as his retreat was cut off,
and he could not succeed in raising the siege, there were so many

153
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

more mouths to feed. Reshid Pasha continued the bombardment,
doing irreparable harm to the buildings. and burying the widow
of Guras under the mins of the Erechtheum.

Another attempt was made by the Philhellenes to rescue the
Acropolis. During ‘the autumn the Englishman, Hastings. had
arrived at Nauplia with his ship, the Karferia, which was followed
in December by an American vessel, the Hevlas. Thomas Cochrane,
afterwards Lord Dundonald, was expected to take the command
of the fleet, and Richard Church to take charge of the army.
Before they arrived, Thomas Gordon, a Scot. determined to imperil
his hfe for the cause he loved, and was joined by the Bavarian
Colonel von Heideck, who had been sent with several officers and
sergeants by King Ludwig. Gordon’s plan was to land some
thousand men at the Pireus, protected by the guns of Hastings.
Another body was to march from Eleusis to Menidhi. This was
commanded by Colonel Bourbaki, of Cephalonia, whose son became
a distinguished general under Napoleon III.

Everything was ready for the attack in Febmary, 1827. On
February 5th Gordon landed his troops and entrenched himself
on the hill of Munichia, but was unable to capture the convent
of St. Spiridion, which barred his passage. Bourbaki was defeated
and killed on the march by Reshid Pasha, and the Pahkar of
Gordon's army fled to their ships and retired to Salamis. Reshid
was now free to tum the whole af his strength against Gerdon,
who found himself blockaded. Attempts of Heideck and Rarais-
kakis to cut off Reshid’s communications were not entirely success-
ful, and the hopes of the Greeks now centred on the two great
Englishmen, Church and Cochrane. Church landed at Argolis on
March 13th, and was received by Kolokotronis and Metaxas with
the cry, ‘ Here is our father; we will obey him and our freedom
will be secured.” Church. however, left them and proceeded to
the seat of government in Aegina. Cochrane, whose reputation
was known in both hemispheres, arrived in command of a brig
equipped by the French Philhellenes, and with a considerable sum
of money from the same source. Both he and Church stipulated
that, before they did anything, the Greeks should cease to quarrel
among themselves and agree upon a united command.

At this time there were two main parties in Greece. One was
headed by Kolokotronis, whoa was joined by the wealthy Hydriote,
WKonduriotti, and had its seat at Kastri, the ancient Hermione,
in Argolis. The other, in Aegina, was led by Mavrocordatos and
Tricoupis. The latter, devoted to Great Bfitain, was supported
by Commodore Hamilton, and was in constant communication

154
DEFEAT OF CHURCH AND COCHRANE

with Stratford Canning. Kolokotronis, on the other hand, disliked
the British and looked for support to Russia, especially to Capo-
distrias, who had been the favourite of the Emperor Alexander.
The French party, who favoured the Duc d’Orléans, had by
this time lost ground, but it was rather inclined to Kolo-
kotronis. Cochrane and Church spoke their mind forcibly to
both factions.

A new Assembly was summoned at Dramala, near the ruins
of the ancient Troezen, and on April 11th, 1827, Capodistrias was
elected President for seven years, with the consent of all parties
and the sanction of Stratford Canning and Commodore Hamilton.
Cochrane was appointed Chief Admiral and Miaoulis placed him-
self under his command, giving up to him the Hellas. On April
igth Church took the oath as Commander-in-Chief. They then
set themselves to a united enterprise for the relief of the Acropolis.
Three thousand soldiers marched from the Morea, by the Isthmus
of Corinth, to Megara and Eleusis. A number of Hydriote and
Spezziote mercenaries, paid by Cochrane, under the command of
Urquhart, landed at Phalerum. Cochrane and Church consulted
with Karaiskakis as to the best means of attack. The Greek
advised the cutting-off of Reshid Pasha’s supplies, but Cochrane
determined on a front attack. On April 25th he stormed the
Turkish trenches in front of St. Spiridion, but the monastery was
still held by Albanians. After three days the defenders capitulated,
but were most shamefully murdered by the Greeks. Gordon sent
in his resignation to the Government, while Cochrane and Church
protested against the outrage in vain.

Cochrane did not understand that the strength of the Greeks
lay in guerilla warfare, and that they were comparatively useless
for a direct attack. Thus he and Church continued to press on
for the relief of the Acropolis, with the untoward results that
Karaiskakis was killed on May 4th, and Church and Cochrane
were completely defeated before Athens on May 6th. Reshid
Pasha put 240 prisoners to death in revenge for the massacre of
St. Spiridion. After this defeat, the Acropolis surrendered on
June 6th, and, by the intervention of the French Admiral de Rigny,
generous terms were granted to the besieged. They were to retire
with arms and baggage and be shipped on board French and
Austrian vessels. The convention was carried out honourably.
Two thousand persons—men, women, and children—marched sadly
from the scene of ancient glory to the shore.

The capture of the Acropolis set Reshid free for action in
Rumelia, and he cleared the north of Klephts as far as the frontiers

155
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of Thessaly. He might then have marched through the Isthmus
of Corinth to assist Ibrahim, but the latter declined his aid. During
the winter, Mehmed Ali had exacted hard terms from the Sultan.
His enemy Chosrev was required to retire from the post of Kapudan
Pasha, and the Kapudan Bey, Tahir, was established in his place.
He was to go to Alexandria and receive the orders of Mehmed
Pasha, and the island of Crete was placed under him. The command
of the whole force in Greece, naval and military, was committed to
his adopted son Ibrahim, who was strengthened by reinforcements.
Ibrahim landed in Elis, marched to Patras, and was about to
take part in the reduction of the Acropolis when he heard of the
capitulation. Cochrane, anxious to recover his reputation, made
an attack upon Alexandria, which wholly failed. Church found it
difficult to reduce the Greek captains to obedience, a number of
primates and kapitani either deserting the Greek cause or being
lukewarm in its defence.

On May 17th, 1827, a Constitution was promulgated by the
Assembly at Troezen which, although at first only a piece of paper,
contemplated a united Greece, and served as a model for the
constitution eventually adopted for the liberated Hellas. It was
probably influenced by the Cortes Constitution of 1812.

A senate was established, elected by eparchies, extending over
the whole of Greece. The president was responsible, but he had
only a suspensive veto over the decrees of the senate. He nomi-
nated six ministers or state secretaries, who were responsible to
the senate. The yearly meeting of the senate and the duration of
its sittings were determined by the Constitution. The senate was
elected for three years, with a renewal of a third every year. No
one could be a deputy for two successive terms, a very unfortunate
provision. This put an end to the idea of a divided or a tributary
Greece, such as had been formed by Stratford Canning and the
Powers. The news of the Treaty of London reached Nauplia at
the end of July. One of its conditions proposed an armistice, and
this was agreed to by the Greek Government, which removed to
Aegina on August a2ist. e

On August 16th the ambassadors of Great Britain, Russia and
France handed to the Reis Effendi the collective note which offered
the mediation of the three Powers, and demanded the conclusion
of an armistice. The answer was to be given within fourteen days.
The Reis Effendi refused to receive the note, and said that the
Porte would never suffer any mediation in favour of the Greeks.
Again, on August 31st, the ambassadors informed the Reis Effendi
that the three Powers would compel the granting of the armistice,

150
MEHMED ALI’S PRICE

and he made answer that, “To the day of the Last Judgment,
the Sublime Porte would never take cognisance of intervention,
or armistice, or peace.”

What were the admirals to do now? The Russian admiral,
von Heyden, had not yet appeared, so that the responsibility lay
upon Codrington and de Rigny. They were ordered to cut off all
supplies of soldiers, arms and provisions, between Turkey or Egypt
and Greece; to avoid all acts of war, though, as eventualities
could not be foreseen, they were allowed a certain liberty of action,
and to apply for instructions to the Conference of Ambassadors
at Constantinople. This laid down, as the limits of their action,
the coast of the Greek continent from the mouth of the Aspro-
potamo and the Gulf of Volo to the southern point of the Morea,
the neighbouring islands of the Archipelago, including Euboea,
but excluding Samos and Crete. On Codrington asking Stratford
Canning how far he was to oppose force to force, the ambassador
told him, on September Ist, that in case of necessity he was to
allow his cannon to speak.

Colonel Cradock, a British officer, had been sent by Canning
secretly to Mehmed Ali, to persuade him to refuse his assistance
to the Turks, and not to hinder the operations of the Convention
of London ; but he appeared too late. The grand fleet, with four
thousand fresh troops, munitions, money and provisions of all
kinds, had already sailed on August 5th, under the command of
Tahir, the Kapudan Bey, and Mohassem Ali, Mehmed Ali’s son-
in-law. Cradock persuaded Mehmed Ali to declare himself and
Ibrahim neutral, and Mehmed consented, provided that Arabia
and Syria were handed over to him, and his independence were
recognised. Cradock did not feel authorised to agree to these
terms, although he expected that, if Mehmed Ali made himself
independent, Great Britain might then recognise him as such.
Mehmed Ali, however, promised to send some warning to Ibrahim.

The armada entered the harbour of Navarino on September
8th, where it was impatiently expected by Ibrahim. It consisted,
probably, of two ships of the line, twelve frigates, twenty corvettes
and about a dozen and a half of smaller vessels and fireships, and
about forty transports. -It gave Ibrahim an overwhelming force,
which it was to be feared he would use to deal a long-looked-for
and fatal blow at Hydra and Spezzia. Codrington, for his part,
without waiting for de Rigny, had sailed in pursuit, and when he
heard that it had reached Navarino, he went thither and prepared
to blockade it. He informed Ibrahim that the three Powers would
carry out the provisions of the Convention of July regardless of

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

consequences, On September 22nd de Rigny also appeared and,
together with Codrington, sent a warning letter to Ibrahim.

On the following day Codrington had an interview with Ibrahim,
and received the impression that the latter would be glad to meet
the views of the Powers, if Mehmed Ali allowed him to do so, but
felt bound to have some regard for the suspicions of the Turks
around him. On September 25th both admirals had an interview
with Ibrahim in his tent, where they found him in the midst of
the commanders of the fleet. He eventually gave his word that
he would keep the armada in the harbour of Navarino until he
could receive instructions from Constantinople and Alexandria.
In the meantime he held that he was free to provision distant
garrisons like Patras and Crete. The two admirals, content with
this assurance, raised the blockade of the harbour, leaving only
two warships. From private communications with Ibrahim, de
Rigny imagined that, even if the Sultan ordered him to fight, a
mere demonstration of the Allies would suffice to secure the
withdrawal of the fleet either to Alexandria or the Dardanelles.
Codrington was by no means so confident, but felt certain that, in
consequence of secret instructions from Mehmed Ali, a month’s
practical armistice would be gained.

At the same time the Greeks were not disposed to give up the
hopes of new conquests. In the second week of September Cochrane
had appeared with a squadron before Mesolonghi, and bombarded
Fort Vasiladhi. Codrington had heard of the probable landing of
troops in Albania, which he and de Rigny thought quite inadmis-
sible, and, on September 25th, they had assured Ibrahim that
they would prevent anything that would extend the theatre of
the war. At the same time, they said that until the Porte accepted
the armistice the Greeks might move as they pleased within the
prescribed limits; but Ibrahim was not quite satisfied with this.
At any rate, on September 30th Hastings pressed into the Gulf
of Patras with a small squadron and annihilated a Turkish flotilla
which had anchored in the Bay of Salona.

On this very day, Mustapha, a vice-admiral of Ibrahim,
sailed from Navarino to Patras with a division of the fleet, and
Ibrahim followed with a second division. When Codrington heard
that Mustapha was approaching, he stopped him with three ships
and told him that if he did not return he should fire, and Mustapha
retreated. In the night of October 3rd—4th a number of Turkish
ships sailed into the harbour of Patras. Codrington hastened
thither and opened fire, which they did not return. Ibrahim then
sailed back to Navarino. Codrington would have wished to prevent

158
BATTLE OF NAVARINO

this and to break up Ibrahim’s fleet, sending the Turks to the
Dardanelles and the Egyptians to Alexandria, but his force was
not adequate. Many of his ships had gone to Malta for provisions,
de Rigny was cruising with the French squadron off Cerigo, and
Heyden had not yet appeared. The three fleets did not unite
until October 13th, when they anchored together before Navarino.

Ibrahim was at this time not present. He had received
instructions from the Porte to allow of no mediation, but to secure
at all hazards the reduction of the Morea, in which Reshid Pasha
was to assist him. He had ordered three columns in different
directions, and was burning olive groves and vineyards. Hamilton
saw from the Gulf of Koroni the columns of smoke rising in the
sky, and knew that the soil was being turned into a desert.
Accordingly the three admirals sent Ibrahim an ultimatum,
demanding the immediate return of the fleet to Alexandria and
Constantinople and the cessation of hostilities in the interior.
On October 18th they determined to sail into the harbour of
Navarino and renew their demands.

Codrington must have been aware that there was great likeli-
hood of a battle, but the first shot must not be fired by the Allies.
On October 20th, about 2 p.m., the allied fleet began to sail into
the harbour of Navarino. Codrington’s ship, the Asia, leading the
way and anchoring opposite the ship of the Kapudan Bey. On
his left were two British ships of the line, on his right two French
ships, the farther being the frigate, the Siven, on which de Rigny
flew his flag. Behind him was a second line of British and French
ships; the remainder and the whole of the Russian squadron had
not yet passed. Codrington had under his command twenty-
seven vessels with 1,298 guns, while the Turko-Egyptian fleet
numbered sixty vessels with more than 2,000 guns. But in every-
thing except numbers the allied fleet was far superior.

Mohassem Bey, who commanded in Ibrahim’s absence, ordered
Codrington not to enter. But Codrington replied, ‘I have not
come to receive commands, but to give them.” Before the allied
fleet reached their position, the captain of the Dartmouth asked
the commander of a Turkish fireship to make room for him to
anchor. The request was refused. : A boat was sent from the
Dartmouth to cut the cable of the fireship, and it was received with
musket-shots. The Darimouth and the Siren replied. Then a
cannon-shot was fired against the Siven, and the battle became
general. The Asia, whose pilot had been struck by Turkish bullets,
hoisted the signal for action, and her fire destroyed the ships of
the Kapudan Bey and Mohassem. She was roughly handled by

159
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the second and third lines of the Turkish fleet, her mizzen mast
being cut in two. After three hours the battle was at an end, the
major part of the Turkish armada being destroyed. Six thousand
of its complement perished, among them nearly all the pupils of
Mehmed Ali’s school. When the sun rose next day it was seen
that the narrow harbour was filled with corpses and that three
line-of-battle ships, twenty frigates, and twenty-four corvettes
had been wrecked. The Allies lost some 200 killed and wounded.
After issuing a proclamation against piracy, the three admirals
retired, Codrington to Malta, de Rigny to Smyrna, whilst Heyden
remained in the Archipelago. i

The news of the battle at Navarino brought joy to the Phil-
hellenes of all countries. They did not stop to inquire whether
what had happened was in accordance with international law, or
was likely to precipitate a war between Russia and Turkey. They
saw in the event of October 2oth only the righteous punishment
of deeds of blood-curdling horror and the liberation of the Greeks
from the danger of annihilation. Stein wrote to his friend Capo-
distrias, ‘‘ The curse of Heaven has fallen upon the rude, stupid
Ottoman, and an unhappy, persecuted population will be allowed
to breathe again and to hope for a happy future.” Schén said,
*‘In the Battle of Navarino, Heaven has for the first time since
1813 spoken with no uncertain voice.” Victor Hugo exclaimed,
“Greece is free; six years have been avenged in a single day.”

But the Great Powers were not so well satisfied with the result.
Metternich was discouraged. He had hoped much from the death
of Canning, and these hopes were now dashed to the ground and
the threads of his diplomacy torn asunder. He saw in the disaster
the beginning of a new era, in which Constantinople would be
blockaded by the fleet and armies of Russia. Gentz called the
victory a horrible crime. Bernstorff thought that the peace of
the world was endangered by it, and that such a battle, without a
previous declaration of war, was the beginning of an epoch of
barbarism. At the same time he refused the invitation to act with
Metternich. 1

In London, opinions were divided. The Whigs rejoiced, but
the Tories were alarmed. Codrington was made a K.C.B., but
was required to explain his conduct. Canning would probably
have used the victory to procure the recall of Ibrahim, but similar
energy was not to be expected from Lord Goderich. Lieven pro-
posed a blockade of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, but the
Ministry hesitated to consent. In Paris the joy was pure and
undiluted. The King expressed himself delighted with the victory,

160
TURKEY’S WEAKNESS

and hoped it would have a good effect upon the approaching elec-
tions. The nation was proud of the success of French arms, on
which fortune seemed to smile after a long interval. But the
greatest jubilation took place in St. Petersburg. The Tsar wrote to
congratulate Codrington, and gave him a Russian order. Nessel-
rode wrote to Tatischev, “‘ What will our friend Metternich say
to this unparalleled triumph? He will again chew the cud of his
wearisome old principles and dilate upon order and law. Long
live force: it rules the world to-day.’’ Lieven in London had a
conversation with Huskisson, the friend of Canning, in which he
sounded him as to his views, before surprising Dudley and Goderich
with the proposal that the Russians should be allowed to occupy
the Danubian Principalities with their troops. Huskisson would
not encourage him.

The Greeks, carried away with delirious excitement, made no
attempt to check piracy, but encouraged it. They had no
thoughts of limiting the sphere of the war, but extended their
operations in all directions. Fabvier attempted the conquest of
Chios, paying no regard to the warnings of the three admirals.
With 1,000 regular and 1,500 irregular troops, he landed on the
island on October 28th, and drove the Turkish garrison into the
citadel. But there his successes came to an end. He had no siege-
train or ammunition, and, in spite of warnings from all sides,
persisted in the hope that he would eventually force Jusuf Pasha
to surrender. In Constantinople the ambassadors of the allied
Powers had asked Pertev Pasha, the Reis Effendi, what he would
do if hostilities should break out between Ibrahim and the allied
fleets. He replied, ‘‘ No one can give a name to an unborn child
whose sex is not known.’”’ On November 2nd, when he heard of
the battle, he said to the interpreters of the three Powers, ‘‘ Now
that the child is born and its sex known, I can answer the question.
I demand satisfaction for the disgraceful act of violence which
has been committed on the fleet of the Sultan.” A general
mobilisation was ordered, the Bosphorus was closed, and ships
lying in the harbour of Constantinople were confiscated.

But the Turkish Government was too weak to run the risk of
open rupture, and the Austrian Internuntius attempted to arrange
matters. The Porte demanded compensation, an honourable
apology, and a promise that there should be no further interven-
tion. The ambassadors threw the responsibility upon the admirals,
but laid stress on the demand for an armistice, according to the
terms of the Convention of July. They even threatened their
departure, in which step they probably exceeded their powers.

G 161
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

On November 24th the ambassadors had an interview with
Pertev, in which he appeared to be more yielding, and referred
the decision to his master. Sultan Mahmoud said that if the rebels
submitted he would release them from the payment of the poll-
tax, which had been owing for six years for the payment of the
costs of the war, and would excuse them from all payment of
taxes for a year. The ambassadors declared this insufficient, and
demanded their passports. The Ulemas condemned the weakness
of Pertev, and their reproaches were enforced by the arrival of the
defeated Tahir. A great divan was held on December 2nd,
Mahmoud listening to the discussions behind a curtain. Outside
thousands of all ranks surrounded the hall. The divan rejected
the proposals of the ambassadors as inconsistent with the Koran,
and ordered the arming of the Empire for a defensive war.

Some delay ensued in giving passports to the ambassadors,
but eventually Stratford Canning and Guilleminot left Constanti-
nople on December 8th, and Ribeaupierre passed the Dardanelles
a week later. The Turks began to arm immediately. On December
20th, 1827, the Grand Vizir issued a proclamation denouncing
Russia as “ the sworn enemy of Islam and the Moslem people.”
She had incited the Greeks to rebellion and dragged France and
Great Britain with her. He solemnly called upon all believers
to join the banner of the Prophet against the unbelievers. The
“ Franks,’’ who had been placed under the protection of the
Dutch minister, were driven out, and thousands of Catholic
Armenians, old men, women and children, were driven into Asia
in circumstances of great cruelty in the middle of winter.

This action of the Porte was very grateful to the war party
in Russia, the success of Paskevich in the war with Persia stimu-
lating their feelings. The Tsar seemed to be drawn with the
stream, and Russian troops assembled on the frontiers of the
Principalities. In order to explain the attitude of Great Britain
and France, a protocol of the London Conference was issued on
December 12th, in which they renounced any exclusive commercial
privileges or accession of territory, even if war should break out
with Turkey. On January 6th, 1828, Nesselrode wrote to Lieven
proposing that the three Powers should issue a manifesto that the
Russian troops should enter the Principalities and not pause until
the Porte had granted all the demands of the London Conference ;
that the three fleets should act together before Alexandria, Con-
stantinople, and the coasts of the Morea, and establish order in
Greece ; that Capodistrias should be assisted by a loan; that the
three ambassadors, who had been engaged in Constantinople,

162
METTERNICH’S “WORLD OF DELUSION”

should be sent to the Archipelago, and that, if this ultimatum
should be rejected, the Russian armies should cross the Pruth.
The Tsar said that he awaited with impatience the answer of his
allies, to whom he had given new evidence of his moderation,
uprightness, and unselfishness, and that they should regard any
interference of other Powers as inconsistent with their dignity.
This last stroke was directed against Metternich.

Indeed, the hope of Metternich that he would be able to arrange
matters at Constantinople proved futile. The New Year did not
break happily for him. He found himself in a “ world of delu-
sion,’ and said that the spirit of Liberalism which had recently
appeared in all its nakedness was responsible for the mischief.
His hopes were raised by the Duke of Wellington succeeding Lord
Goderich as Prime Minister on January 8th, 1828. Huskisson
remained in the Cabinet as Colonial Secretary, but Eldon retired,
as Peel came back, and Dudley returned to the Foreign Office.
Although the retention of Canning’s friends gave some guarantee
for the maintenance of his policy, it was known that Wellington
did not agree with it. Metternich hoped that the cause of right
would find a supporter in Wellington, and Gentz that he would
perform his duties with wisdom and prudence. The King’s Speech
of January 29th characterised the Battle of Navarino as an
“ untoward event.”

In Paris a change of ministry also took place. On January
4th Villéle made way for Martignac, and Laferronays became
Foreign Minister. But Metternich was disappointed in him, for
he demanded the unconditional fulfilment of the Convention of
July and did not object to the occupation of the Principalities by
Russia, if it were accompanied by the occupation of the Morea by
the Western Powers or the French. Gentz complained that the
confidant of the Tsar was possessed by the most foolish ideas, and
that France submitted herself to the leading of St. Petersburg.
Laferronays had some hope to strengthen the Triple Alliance by
the accession of Prussia, but Nicholas would not hear of it.

Dudley’s answer to the Russian Note was given on March 6th.
He would not allow that a general attack on the Turkish posses-
sions should be made to enforce the conditions of the July Conven-
tion, saying that the march of armies after so long a peace might
produce incalculable effects. He disapproved of the occupation
of Moldavia arid Wallachia and of moving the fleets to Constanti-
nople, and could not allow such an extreme measure as the blockade
of Alexandria in order to hasten the withdrawal of Ibrahim from
the Morea. If this were done, the Greeks might co-operate with

163
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the three Powers to set free the rest of the territory to which the
convention referred. He thought that the limits of the Greek
frontiers might be more restricted than had been proposed by
the ambassadors at Constantinople in August, 1827.

This answer crossed a memorandum of Nesselrode’s, dated
February 26th, 1828, which stated that the condition of things
was now altered. The destruction of Russian commerce by the
blockade of the Bosphorus, the compulsory sale of Russian corn-
freights, the expulsion of Russian subjects; above all, the pro-
clamation of the Grand Vizir of December 2oth, 1827, showed that
the Porte was determined to tear up the Treaty of Akkerman and
the other treaties made with Russia during the last fifty years.
The Porte had used her influence with the Shah of Persia to break
the peace which Paskevich had extorted from him. Russia, he
said, had no choice but to take up the challenge and obtain justice
by arms. The coming war would be a war neither of religion nor
of conquest, but it must give Russia satisfaction for the past and
security for the future. A secondary effect of it might be to
secure the fulfilment of the Convention of the three Powers which
had undertaken the cause of Greece. Great Britain and France
might take their choice whether they would support Russia materi-
ally or morally. If they did neither, Russia would consult her
own interests.

Metternich made a desperate attempt to secure peace, by
proposing, on March 15th, that independence should be granted to
the Morea and the islands. He could hardly have expected to be
successful. He said in his Note, “‘ There are moments in the course
of human affairs when the strongest will must submit to the
commands of necessity. It is a fact that causes, revolutionary in
their origin, have often triumphed, and that the strongest and
most enlightened governments have had to compromise with
obvious usurpation. If the independence of a part of Greece,
with all the evil and danger which will follow in its train, is the
indispensable condition of the maintenance of the peace of Europe,
we must no longer hesitate to accede to it.” The answer to this was
easy. Wellington declared that the proposal was not in accord-
ance either with the demands of justice or the conditions of the
London Convention; and the Tsar replied, ‘“‘ You are deserting
your stronghold ; you are setting the rebels a bad example. So
far as I am concerned, I detest the Greeks, although they are my
co-religionists. They have behaved disgracefully. I always regard
them as insurgents, and I will not agree to their liberation.”

Nicholas was bent on war. His brother Constantine in vain

164
DECLARATION OF WAR

urged him to avoid it, and Paskevich sent word that Persia had
accepted his conditions, that his frontiers had been pushed back
to the Araxes, and the Caspian Sea had become a Russian lake.
Dudley’s answer to Nesselrode’s note of February 26th was not
very encouraging. The British Cabinet regretted that Russia
was going to war, and, as signatories of the July Convention, they
could not approve of, much less take part in, an invasion of Turkey.
They pointed out that the concert of the three allied Powers would
now become difficult, but did not question the right of the Tsar
to determine at what point his interests must be settled by the
sword. They added that the most complete success in the most
righteous cause could not excuse the strong from demanding
sacrifices from the weak, which would endanger their political
position or destroy their territorial possessions, on the basis of
which rested the general peace of Europe. Vienna spoke more
strongly. The Emperor Francis wrote to Nicholas that to kindle
the flame of war at such a time was to load oneself with the
heaviest responsibility, and to threaten the world with a burden
of evil which would throw into the shade the horrors of the French
Revolution.

These warnings and prophecies fell in St. Petersburg upon
deaf ears. At this time, Prince William of Prussia, the future
Emperor, was on a visit to St. Petersburg, attended by Leopold
von Gerlach, and heard, as early as April roth, that the Emperor
was contemplating his departure to the army. A few days later
General Diebich said to him, “ If we come to the Balkans, and win
a battle at Adrianople, why should we not capture Constantinople
by coup de main?” The formal declaration of war was carried
on April 26th. Metternich expressed the view that the Porte
had only the choice between death and prolonged agony. This
would resemble the second Punic War, and give the Sultan’s power
the death-blow. Gentz prophesied that Turkey would in three
months lie at the feet of the conquerors. “ This war will either
be the last, or the last but one, which Russia will have to wage
against the Porte: the last but one if the Sultan submit in the
first or second act of the tragedy; the last if he await the third
act.”
CHAPTER XVII
THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR, 1828-9

THE war now undertaken by Russia against Turkey, which might
have the effect of making the Black Sea a Russian lake, of develop-
ing largely the resources of Southern Russia, and perhaps of
securing to Russia the possession of Constantinople, did not appar-
ently cause any great excitement in Europe, or stir the Powers
to the defence of the Sultan. France was well disposed to Russia,
and Laferronays was assured by Nesselrode and Pozzo di Borgo
that France should not be excluded from any advantages which
might eventually arise from the course Russia was now taking. The
Duc de Montemart succeeded Laferronays as French Ambassador
in St. Petersburg. His instructions spoke of the danger of a general
European conflagration. From fear of this the King of France
would not enter the field, but would assure Russia of his moral
support. It was necessary to consider what compensation France
would expect if there should be a partition of European Turkey.
If Russia were to incorporate the Danubian Provinces together
with conquests in Asia, if Austria were to lay her hand upon Servia
and Roumania, and Great Britain were to confirm her position
in the Archipelago, ought not France to strengthen herself by the
acquisition of Belgium or some other neighbouring territory? On
this point Montemart was ordered to sound Nicholas. The war
would naturally be followed by a congress, and in this Russia
must support the righteous and reasonable claims of France. If
this could not be done, France might assert herself in arms.
Wellington had some inkling of this possibility, and he felt it
necessary to act cautiously, so as not to throw France entirely into
the arms of Russia. At the same time, he objected to sending
supplies of money to the Greeks, and still more to undertaking a
common expedition to the Morea. He was ready to bring about
the fulfilment of the London Convention by peaceful means. A
breach, however, took place in the Cabinet. Huskisson and the
other Canningites left the Ministry, and Wellington was able to
form a pure Tory Government. Dudley was succeeded by Lord
Aberdeen, who was an enemy of the Triple Alliance, and assured
Lieven that Great Britain could not make the settlement of the
166
RUSSIANS CROSS THE DANUBE

Greek question dependent upon the issue of the Russo-Turkish
War, and warned him of the danger of disturbing the equilibrium
of Europe.

But he renewed with him and Polignac the discussions about the
fate of Greece, which had been interrupted for several months. A
protocol of June 15th determined that Stratford Canning, Guille-
minot and Ribeaupierre should meet representatives of the Greeks
in Corfu and discuss the best means of carrying out the London
Convention. On July 19th Aberdeen gave his approval to the
dispatch of a French corps to the Morea, in order to compel the
departure of the Egyptians by a land blockade. Austria was too
weak internally to take any decided step, and Prussia felt that
neutrality was necessary for her prosperity. The King refused to
assist his son-in-law with arms, and forbade his son, Prince William,
to take part in the war. Russia had nothing to fear from a joint
opposition of Austria and Prussia.

The Russian army crossed the Pruth on May 7th, 1828. Jassy
and Bucharest were speedily occupied, and the two Principalities
were placed under a Russian Governor-General. The plan of
campaign was to cross the Danube, to occupy the most important
places on the coast of the Dobrudsha and in Northern Bulgaria.
When Braila and Silistria, Varna and Shumla had fallen, the
Russians would press on across the passes of the Balkans and
might attempt an attack on Constantinople, a movement which
would be supported by the Russian fleet.

These schemes did not meet with a ready fulfilment. The
Danube was not crossed till June 8th, and Braila did not fall till
June 17th. The Russians then occupied the whole country from
the mouth of the Danube to the wall of Trajan, and obtained a
valuable harbour in Kustendje. The advance into Bulgaria pro-
ceeded slowly, as the Russians had not enough soldiers. The
occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia and the siege of Silistria
employed 23,000 men, and only 40,000 men, with 194 guns, were
left for the attack upon Varna and Shumla. The Tsar had to give
up the attack on Varna for the moment and confine himself to
Shumla, which was defended by 40,000 men, well supplied with
provisions. The siege of Varna proceeded slowly, and Silistria
held out. In a series of engagements before Varna, fought in the
last five days of September, in which Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg
highly distinguished himself, the Turks were on the whole victori-
ous, but Omer Brionis did not follow up his advantage, and Varna
fell on October 12th. But the Russians had gained only a very
partial success. The sieges of Shumla and Silistria were given up,

167
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and there could be no thought of an advance on Constantinople.
The brilliant successes of the Russian arms in Asia, which gave
them Poti and Kars and a large portion of Asia Minor, did not
compensate for their comparative failure in Europe, and a second
campaign was necessary for the passage of the Balkans.

Metternich was delighted. He compared the failure before
Silistria with that before Moscow in 1812; only, he said, there
was here no genius to make the disaster good. He tried his utmost
to make peace, and to bring about an intervention of Austria,
Prussia, Great Britain and France. He had little comfort in
Prussia. He found Prince William more Russian than the Emperor
Nicholas himself, and ascribed his partiality to the belief that
the victory of Russia would bring aggrandisement and conquests
to Prussia. He discovered that all Prussian Liberals were on the
side of Russia. In his sight the brothers Humboldt were the
scourge of Europe. Henry von Biilow, the son-in-law of William
von Humboldt, belonged to the same faction. Metternich fixed
his hopes on the King, the Crown Prince, and on Bernstorff. He
said, ‘‘So long as Bernstorff lives Prussian policy will have the
same character as the Austrian.”

Great Britain was in a peculiar position. Admiral Heyden
received orders to blockade the Dardanelles, and Admiral Grieg to
shut up the Bosphorus. This was a serious blow to British trade,
and the British Press clamoured against this exhibition of Russian
perfidy. But neither Wellington nor Aberdeen was prepared to
prevent it, and Wellington lost in popularity. Wellington would
have been very glad if the engagements of the London Conference
could have been brought to an end, and he could have been free
to come to an understanding with France, a sentiment that was
not unreciprocated on the banks of the Seine. The expedition
to the Morea had fulfilled its object. The London Conference
had agreed, on November 16th, that at least the Morea, the neigh-
bouring islands, and the Cyclades should be placed under the
guarantee of the three Powers, while the final settlement of the
Greek frontiers should wait for the present. Nesselrode consented
to this, but would not assent to France and Great Britain approach-
ing the Porte by themselves, although it was pointed out that, as
Russia was at war with the Porte, she was not likely to be listened
to. It was agreed that, in any case, the future constitution of
Greece, its limits, its position towards the Sultan, and its internal
organisation, should be approved by the Tsar. Under these con-
ditions Nesselrode agreed to the separate action of Great Britain
and France, although very unwillingly.

168
THE TSAR’S ANGER WITH METTERNICH

Metternich now conceived the plan of a common intervention
between Russia and Turkey. He began to talk of the military
strength of Austria, suggesting the possibility of an armed inter-
vention. She could put under arms 400,000 men within a month ;
her Landwehr was as good as the Prussian, whereas in reality it
did not exist. Gentz said, “If the Tsar desires peace, he must sur-
render all idea of compensation. We know the Sultan well enough
to know that it is no good asking for anything which goes beyond
the former treaties. It is possible he may demand that the
Russians shall recross the Pruth before he listens to any negotia-
tions.”” Austria wished to convey the impression of a coming
ultimatum, but Metternich knew in his heart how much of this
was bluff. If he had the men, which he certainly had not, he had
not the money. So he fell back upon the suggestion of a congress.
He said to Laval Montmorency, the French Ambassador in Vienna,
“T am the patron of congresses.” But he desired that the pro-
posal for a congress should not proceed from Vienna, but from
Constantinople, and should be regarded in Europe as a sign of
“ progressive Turkish civilisation.’ The Internuntius, as the
Austrian Ambassador at Constantinople was called, was instructed
to press this matter on the Reis Effendi. But Bernstorff would
hear nothing of these plans, Wellington was opposed to them, and
Laferronays was too cautious to fall into Metternich’s net, saying
that his Sovereign would never join in a common step against the
Tsar. He rejected the idea of a congress, unless it was likely to
bring some advantage to France.

It may be supposed that the representatives of Russia did not
regard Metternich’s policy with satisfaction. Pozzo di Borgo repre-
sented him, both in Paris and London, as the most accomplished
mischief-maker. In France he had encouraged the Bonapartists
by raising hopes of the succession of the Duke of Reichstadt ; in
Italy he stirred up the King of Sardinia against the Bourbons and
the Prince of Carignan; in Constantinople, he supported the
obstinacy of the Sultan. Pozzo advised his master to renew the
war with spirit in order to force Austria either to advise the Turks
to submit, or, by assisting them, to bring destruction upon herself.
The Tsar needed no stimulus to increase his wrath. He charged
Austria with every kind of secret enmity. He believed that she
was plotting a coalition against Russia, and Tatischev was ordered
to demand explanations.

To calm their apprehensions, General Count Ficquelmont was
sent from Vienna, in January, 1829, with an autograph letter of
the Emperor Francis addressed to the Tsar. The Tsar said, “I

G* 169
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

place confidence in everything which comes from the Emperor,
but others [meaning Metternich] come in between us.” He did
not wish to destroy the Turkish Empire, which would fall of itself ;
but that, if the Turks would not listen to reason he would press
on to Constantinople. He did not desire the city for himself, but
would not ask the Sultan to take it back again; it was desirable
to anticipate those who wished to seize the inheritance of “‘ the
Sick Man.” Ficquelmont represented to him the dangerous condi-
tion of France, but the Tsar replied that, until the crisis of the
East was settled in a manner worthy of Russia he could not
divert his attention to the affairs of the West. Nesselrode said
that Russia must first have an honourable and advantageous peace
in her pocket before she could attempt to deal with the revolu-
tionary spirit in the West of Europe; but the miserable policy of
Austria had never ceased since the beginning of the war to put
difficulties in the way of Russia. Metternich found himself beaten,
and sent a note to London, Paris and Berlin to say that he had
never desired an intervention of the four ‘Powers, and that his
words had been mistaken. _

On January and, 1829, Laferronays, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
was struck by paralysis, and was succeeded by Portalis, which
brought no change in the situation. Charles X. had wished for
Polignac, but the other ministers refused to work with him. On
March 22nd a new protocol was issued as the fruit of the London
Conference. The Greeks were to cease operations at the Isthmus
of Corinth; but Northern Greece, from the Gulf of Volo to the
Gulf of Arta, together with Euboea and other islands, were to form
part of their half-sovereign State. They were to pay tribute of
one and a half million piastres, but none for the first four years.
The government was to be'a species of monarchy with a tributary
feudal prince, hereditary, and Christian, but not drawn from the
reigning families of Russia, Great Britain or France, and to be
chosen by agreement between the three Powers and the Porte.
Both nationalities were to have liberty to retire and set their
property in order within a year.. These were the bases upon which
the ambassadors of Great ‘Britain and France came to negotiate
at Constantinople, speaking also in the name of Russia. Turkey
was not likely to accept these terms, unless they were made a part
of the conditions of peace.

Energetic preparations were made on both sides for the
campaign of 1829. Diebich was made Commander-in-Chief of the
Russian forces, and the departure of the Emperor from head-
quarters left him a free hand. On the Turkish side, Omer Brionis

170
RENEWAL OF THE CAMPAIGN

was deprived of his command, and Mehmed Selim, the Grand
Vizir, was replaced by Izzet Pasha, who had defended Varna.
But as he allowed, on February 15th, 1829, the Russians to seize
the port of Sisebulo (Sozopolis) by coup de main he was deposed
and Reshid Pasha appointed in his room. Attempts were made
to form an offensive and defensive alliance with Austria, and
territory in Moldavia and Wallachia was offered as a bait. But
Metternich gave a decisive refusal, advising the Porte to make
peace with Russia as soon as possible, to surrender Anapa and
Poti, and allow Russia a protectorate over the Danubian Prin-
cipalities in addition to certain commercial advantages. This
advice was rejected by the Sultan with equal decision. Diebich
crossed the Danube in the beginning of May and began the siege
of Silistria. In the meantime, Reshid Pasha had collected a large
and well-disciplined army at Shumla, but in a battle at Kulevscha
on June 11th, 1829, he was completely defeated. His army was
not, however, destroyed, and Diebich had not sufficient force to
cross the Balkans until Silistria had fallen. He began, therefore,
to think of peace, and the military operations were discontinued.

On June 18th, a week after the victory of Kulevscha, the
French and British Ambassadors returned to Constantinople,
Guilleminot kept his old post, but Stratford Canning was replaced
by Sir Robert Gordon, brother of Lord Aberdeen. The Porte
would not listen to any proposals for peace. They were con-
vinced that Nicholas desired to turn the Turks out of Europe,
and, besides, they had hopes of victory. But Russia was sincerely
desirous of peace. The continuance of the war was disastrous to
her southern provinces, and recruiting went on slowly. As the
Sultan made no sign, the Tsar looked round for a possible mediator.
Great Britain and Austria were regarded as impossible, being too
favourable to Turkey, while the Turks would consider the French
too favourable to Russia. Prussia alone remained. A note from
Nesselrode declared that the King of Prussia would do his master
a great service by inducing the Sultan to open up negotiations for
peace, while a letter from the Tsar to Frederick William III. gave
the assurance that the Russian terms would be moderate. A
meeting between the two sovereigns was arranged.

Nicholas was at the time being crowned at Warsaw; but, to
the disgust of the Poles, not with the true Polish crown. He
arranged to meet his father-in-law at Sibyllenort in Silesia. But
Frederick William was taken ill and could not attempt the journey,
so the Tsar made a sudden journey to Berlin, where he arrived on
June 6th, just as Prince William was being married to Princess

171
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Augusta of Weimar. In the event General Miiffling was sent to
Constantinople. He was head of the general staff, and had been
attached to Wellington during the Waterloo campaign. This
mission was announced to the Powers in a circular note, dated
July 5th, but it was not altogether approved of. Russia did not
like the employment of another German in her affairs; one,
Diebich, was quite enough. Aberdeen wrote to Wellington that
Prussia would not hesitate to surrender to Russia the independ-
ence of Europe if she could get any advantage out of it; and
Wellington regarded Miifflng as a mere agent of the Tsar,
dispatched by the King of Prussia to save appearances. France
was the only Power which candidly supported the step. The
relations both of Austria and Great Britain towards Russia became
strained. Russia took precautions against an Austrian invasion,
and Wellington positively hated Lieven.

The war, however, continued. Silistria fell on June 29th, and
Diebich was able to cross the Balkans, an operation which he com-
pleted on July 24th, after nine days’ march. On August roth
he lay before Adrianople with less than 20,000 men. Adrianople
had 80,000 inhabitants, of whom many thousands were Moham-
medans, capable of bearing arms, and about 15,000 Turkish soldiers
had collected in the place after the recent battle. Notwithstand-
ing, the town surrendered without a struggle. The troops had to
give up their arms, colours and cannon, and were allowed to
go where they wished, excepting to Constantinople. On August
20th Diebich fixed: his headquarters in the former seraglio of the
Sultan.

Miiffling had arrived at Constantinople on August 4th, but
found the Turkish cabinet very stubborn. All he could obtain
was the consent of the Sultan to negotiate with regard to Greece
on the basis of the London Convention. This was received with
satisfaction by Guilleminot and Gordon, though the arrangement
was confined to the Morea and the Cyclades. The Sultan, how-
ever, felt himself hardly pressed. One Job’s post after another
reached him from the seat of war in Asia. Paskevich had taken
Erzeroum, and the way to Trebizond lay open to him. On August
gth he had the banner of the Prophet carried into the camp above
the Bosphorus, but it produced no effect. The massacre of the
janizaries had damped enthusiasm. Conspiracies began to break
out, and, if the Russians reached Constantinople, his life would be
in danger. The same fear worked upon the Powers, especially
Great Britain, which would rather go to war with Russia than see
Constantinople in her hands.

172
PEACE OF ADRIANOPLE

The result was that on August 17th the Sultan empowered
Miiffling to seek an interview with Diebich for the discussion of
peace. Just then came the news of Adrianople. The Reis Effendi
asked for the advice of Gordon, Guilleminot and Miiffling. Nego-
tiators of high rank were sent to Diebich, saying that the Sultan
would leave the indemnity to be settled by the magnanimity of the
Tsar. Miiffling also sent a messenger to Diebich, begging him to
pause. His last act was to advise the liberation of some Russian
merchants and prisoners of war, and the sending of an embassy
to St. Petersburg to beg for generous terms of peace. He returned
home on September 5th, his mission having been a brilliant success.

The Turkish negotiators met at Adrianople with Count Alexis
Orloff and Count Pahlen, who had been dispatched from St. Peters-
burg to make peace. They brought the draft of a treaty, which
was to be unconditionally accepted. The negotiators said that
they could not possibly do this without consulting the Sultan,
and Diebich granted a delay of five days, adding that unless he
received a satisfactory answer in that time he would enforce it in
Constantinople with the sword.

Russian troops were placed on the road to the capital. The
Turks were in great embarrassment. The Reis Effendi had
recourse to the ambassadors of France and Great Britain, and
besides them more especially to Royer, the representative of
Prussia. They advised submission, but sent to Diebich begging
him to stay his march. As a fact, he was in a very bad way, and
not at all in a position to capture Constantinople. Deducting the
8,000 troops he had dispatched towards the capital, he had only
5,000 left before the city, and could not expect reinforcements
for some time. His army was decimated by fever, scurvy and
dysentery, and plague threatened to break out. His great hospital
held, on September Ist, 3,600 sick, who had no attendants,
medicine, or linen, and not even enough straw. His wretched
condition must soon become manifest. Mustapha, the Pasha
of Scutari, was marching from Sophia, by way of Philippopolis,
with 30,000 Albanians, and the Grand Vizir held firmly the
camp of Shumla. Royer did Diebich a great service when he
promised the Turks to make peace.

The Peace of Adrianople was signed on September 14th, 1829.
It was extremely favourable to Russia. Turkey lost a large
domain in Asia. The Pruth and the southern arm of the Danube
remained the boundary of Russia, but the Porte undertook to
leave the southern bank of the Danube uncultivated for a con-
siderable distance, so that the Russians could cross it when they

173
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

pleased. The Porte was to pay 11,500,000 Dutch ducats,
and Russia was to occupy the Principalities and Silistria until
this debt should be wiped off. Russian merchant-ships were
allowed a free passage through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus,
and this was extended to all nations at peace with the Porte.

With regard to the affairs of Greece the Porte gave its adhesion
to the London Protocol of March 22nd, 1829, and promised to
come to terms with the representatives of Russia, Great Britain,
and France as to the best means of carrying it out. Hospodars
for life were to be appointed in Moldavia and Wallachia; all
Turkish places on the left bank of the Danube were to be evacuated
and all fortresses razed, and Mohammedans were not to have
permanent residence in the Principalities.

By the treaty the influence of Russia in the East was con-
firmed, her frontiers were strengthened, and her commerce was
secured. She had destroyed the last ties between Turkey and the
Principalities, and, without annexing them, obtained complete
control over them, and she had loaded Turkey with a debt she
could not pay. Nesselrode said of the treaty, “‘ Turkey henceforth
will be compelled to live under Russian protection and to lend an
ear to Russia; this will be much more in accordance with our
political and commercial interests than any new conditions that
would have compelled us to extend our domains by conquest, or
to permit other States to take the place of the Turkish Empire,
which would soon have become our rivals in power, cultivation, and
riches.” This programme had been carefully considered in the
councils of the Tsar. Nesselrode said, on September 22nd,
“ Before everything we must decide on what is natural and what
is not. The idea of driving the Turks out of Europe, and estab-
lishing the worship of the true God in Hagia Sophia is certainly
very fine, but what will Russia gain by it? Doubtless glory,
but at the same time the loss of all the advantages which she
obtains by the neighbourhood of a State weakened by many wars,
and she will also run the risk of inevitable conflicts with the
great Powers of Europe.” This conclusion was arrived at by a com-
mittee which sat at St. Petersburg under the presidency of Count
Cocubej. It was influenced by the change of ministry in France,
Martignac having been succeeded on August 8th by Polignac, who
was likely to agree with Metternich and Wellington. They felt
that the destruction of the Turkish power in Europe was not for
the true interests of Russia. The signing of the Treaty of
Adrianople put an end to all schemes for the partition of
European Turkey.

174
POLIGNAC’S “ GREAT PLAN”

This caused great disappointment at Paris, where the French
had looked for an increase of territory. In the spring of 1829
General Richemont had published a pamphlet in which he said,
“What the Danube is for Russia the Rhine is for France.” He
claimed for France not only the Rhine, but Belgium and Luxem-
bourg. Prussia was to have Saxony; Austria, Silesia and Eastern
Hanover; Holland, Western Hanover and Oldenburg. Bavaria
was to have Salzburg, to compensate for the loss of the Palatinate ;
Austria, Servia, Bosnia and Albania; Great Britain, Crete. He
thought that this could only be brought about by a war in which
Prussia, France and Russia were ranged against Great Britain
and Austria, but he did not fear its result. This pamphlet was
published just when Polignac had become minister, and-had an
enormous sale.

Polignac had a plan of lis own, known as “the Great Plan.”
Russia was to have Moldavia, Wallachia, and large possessions in
Asia Minor; Austria’s share was Servia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The rest of European Turkey, including Greece and the islands of
the Archipelago, was to be formed into a kingdom of Greece with
Constantinople as its capital, and given to the King of the Nether-
lands. The remains of the Turkish Empire might be left to
Mehmed Ali, including Algeria, Tunis and Tripoli. Holland being
unoccupied, Great Britain was to have her colonies, Prussia
Holland itself, together with Saxony; and Saxony was to have
the Rhine provinces of Prussia, with a capital at Aachen. France
was to receive Landau, Saarbriicken and Saarlouis; Belgium,
Luxembourg, Zeeland and North Brabant. This was the plan of
territorial reorganisation proposed by Polignac, but how was it to
be brought about—by a congress or a secret treaty with Russia ?
Yts author declared for the latter, but saw that it might
produce a war in which Russia, France, Prussia and Bavaria
should be ranged against Austria and Great Britain. Polignac’s
plan was approved of by the King and the Council, and
Montemart was ordered to sound Nicholas with regard to it.
But when it reached him the Treaty of Adrianople was already
signed.

Prussia, however, disclaimed any idea of surrendering the
Rhine provinces, and expressed her delight at the conclusion of
the treaty. The feeling in Austria was very different. The.
Emperor Francis reminded the Tsar that the enemies of order
and society would be encouraged by the hostile attitude of Russia
towards Turkey. The Peace of Adrianople might disappoint their
commercial designs. It was natural that Austria should regard

175
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a commanding position of Russia at the mouths of the Danube
and in the Principalities as a menace to herself. Metternich said
that Russia had seized her prey and would not let it go, and told
his Emperor that the affairs of the East would not have led to so
untoward a result had the financial and military resources of
Austria been in a better condition. But he congratulated him-
self on the peace, as the war might have produced worse conse-
quences. Gentz looked to the future with fear and trembling,
and lamented the disruption of the Great Alliance. Metternich
contemplated its restoration as a bulwark against the moral pest
which would prove the destruction of Europe. He tried to
stimulate Prussia and France to the renewal of the Triple
Alliance, but without effect.

Wellington wrote to Aberdeen that it was foolish to think of
supporting the Turkish power in Europe. It would have been
better if the Russians had taken Constantinople, as the Turkish
Empire would then have been partitioned by the great Powers.
Aberdeen expressed the same opinion to his friends. They
dreaded the success of Russian power, and felt they had suffered
a moral defeat. Their opinions were private, and the only
public step was to write a dispatch to the British Ambassador in
St. Petersburg severely criticising the treaty, a dispatch which
remained secret till the outbreak of the Crimean War. A plan
was now formed for guaranteeing the Turkish possessions in
Europe by the five great Powers. Wellington and Aberdeen
suggested this, and Metternich would gladly have complied, but
Russia refused to take any such step. Nesselrode pointed out
that Turkey was exposed to two dangers, internal and external.
Against the first—the misgovernment or rebellion of the Pashas
—no guarantee would be of any service. External dangers could
only come from Russia, and why should Russia be asked to assure
guarantees against herself? Besides, the inviolability of Turkey
was already guaranteed by the Treaty of Adrianople.

Nicholas took up a magnanimous attitude towards Turkey by
reducing the amount of indemnity she had to pay. This was done
by a treaty signed in April, 1830. The indemnity was reduced
to 8,000,000 ducats, to be paid in eight years, and partly in
kind. The Principalities were to be evacuated as soon as the
Russian subjects living there were compensated, and Silistria alone
was to remain in Russian hands. Another 1,000,000 ducats was
remitted as a reward for the accession of the Porte to the London
Conference, which decided the fate of Greece. All this gave
Nicholas great influence in the counsels of the Sultan. Orloff and

176
RUSSIA’S DIPLOMATIC TRIUMPH

Ribeaupierre stood at the head of the diplomatic body in the
Golden Horn. The aged Chosrev was of opinion that the welfare
of Turkey depended on the support of Russia. His adopted son
Chalil, who was devoted to the Tsar, was made Kapudan Pasha,
and Hamid Bey, who was also a Russophil, became Reis Effendi.
It was evident to Europe that the triumph of Russia at the Porte
was even greater in peace than it had been in war.

177
CHAPTER XVIII

THE INDEPENDENCE OF GREECE

THE arrival of the new President, Capodistrias, was anxiously
expected in Greece, but it was first necessary that he should make
the tour of Europe. At St. Petersburg the Tsar released him from
his service, but gave him instructions that he was on no account
to favour the independence of Greece. She was to remain subject
to the suzerainty of Turkey, an arrangement which was entirely
opposed to the Constitution of Troezen. In Lisbon he found public
opinion wholly changed since Canning’s death. When he reached
London, George IV. would hardly look at him. In Paris his recep-
tion was better, although Charles X. regarded him as a rogue and
a revolutionist. In Turin he announced the welcome news of
the Battle of Navarino. He arrived at Malta on board of a British
man-of-war, sent him by Sir Edward Codrington, and, accom-
panied by a Russian and a French ship, reached Nauplia on
January roth, 1828, where the foreign vessels saluted the Greek
flag for the first time. On January 24th he landed at Aegina, the
seat of the provisional Government and the Senate.

In many respects Capodistrias was not suited for his mission.
He was accustomed to the life of drawing-rooms and a regular
government, but in Aegina he lived within four bare walls and
had to deal with a crowd of unruly rebels. He was full of devotion
to the cause and absolutely unselfish, but he was unacquainted
with the details of government and totally ignorant of military
affairs. His experience in aristocratic Russia unfitted him to deal
with the unbridled democracy around him. He thought that the
only course open to him was the establishment of a dictatorship.
Of the state of things in Aegina he said, “‘ The public revenues are
plundered, commerce and industry have ceased to exist, agricul-
ture is at an end. The peasant has ceased to sow because he does
not know if he will ever reap, or if he will be able to protect his
harvest against the rapacity of the soldiers. The merchant in the
towns is afraid of pirates. Robbery is protected by murder, and
the right of the strongest alone prevails.” He informed the Senate
privately that the one condition of his remaining would be the
suspension of the Constitution. The Senate resigned, and in their

178
CAPODISTRIAS AS PRESIDENT

place was established a Panhellenion, a deliberative body, divided
into three sections, for finance, home affairs, and war. George
Konduriotti, Andrew Zaimis and Peter Mavromichalis were
respectively placed at the head of these departments.

Capodistrias employed Spiridion Tricoupis, Zographos and
Klonaris as secretaries, while Mavrocordatos assisted him with-
out a definite office, and he could depend upon the support of
Kolokotronis. He had, in fact, no rival of importance to fear.
Greece was devoid of funds. At the beginning of the war with
Turkey, Russia contributed about a million and a half of roubles,
and France paid 500,000 francs a month; but it was uncertain
how long this would last, and the negotiation of a third loan was
impossible. The army was in a wretched state, consisting almost
entirely of half-civilised Kapitans and Palikars and Rumeliot
mercenaries, who were little better than brigands. As to the
fleet, after Cochrane had returned to England, in January, 1828,
it was almost impossible to keep down piracy. Viaro Capodistrias,
the brother of the President, who took Cochrane’s place, was a
complete failure.

Capodistrias did not understand the needs or the characteristics
of the country. He encouraged the planting of potatoes, for
which the soil of Greece was not adapted. The mulberry trees
and chestnuts, which he supplied, were destroyed by the careless-
ness of the shepherds. He collected the demoralised boy-servants
of the Palikars, and the half-naked offspring of the camps, into
a school at Aegina, where they were clothed and fed and taught,
according to the methods of Lancaster. He told Eynard that
these men were to be civilised, not by the bayonet, but by the
spade. He bought agricultural machines in Switzerland, and slates
and slate pencils in Malta. He made a great mistake in suppress-
ing the demes and introducing a centralised authority.

Tbrahim could not be induced to leave the Morea, but collected
20,000 men at Navarino, and occupied Koroni, Modon and Patras.
“T will not stir from here,” he said, ‘‘ so long as I have a dog or
a cat, without positive orders from the Sultan or my father.”
Outside the Morea things were not better. Hastings was killed in
the storming of Anatoliko, and Church was compelled to abandon
the siege of Mesolonghi. In the circumstances the outbreak of
the war between Russia and the Porte was a comfort.

On August 6th, 1828, a treaty was signed with Mehmed Ali at
Alexandria, by which Ibrahim was recalled from Greece. Cod-
rington, too, was recalled and accused of having exceeded his
instructions, for Wellington and Aberdeen were not favourable

179
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to his views. Now came the French expedition to the Morea.
On August 30th, General Maison landed 14,000 men between Koroni
and Patras, and, at the same time, the Egyptian fleet, which was
to take Ibrahim back, anchored before Modon. Ibrahim, pressed
by the admirals of the Allies, began to embark, and, on September
16th, 5,000 of his soldiers sailed to Alexandria, accompanied by
the allied fleet, but he himself did not leave until October 5th.
The French, free to clear the Morea of Turks, encountered no
difficulties. The garrisons made little or no resistance, and in a
short time there was not a single Mohammedan left in the Morea.

The French found the Greeks very different from what they
expected. Grecian girls preferred Egyptian harems to liberty.
An eye-witness reports that the most salient characteristic of the
Greeks was their hatred of the foreigner and their passion for
stealing. The French army, decimated with fever, prepared to
leave the Morea and to fight on the other side of the Isthmus,
but was prevented by the action of Great Britain. The London
Conference, of November 16th, 1828, confined liberated Greece to
the Morea, the neighbouring islands, and the Cyclades, and the
French were obliged to return in the spring of 1829. A French
brigade under General Schneider, however, remained in Modon and
Navarino, and assistance in money and officers came from Paris.
The engineers, the artillery, and the military school at Nauplia
were aided by the French. They did as much as they could, in
the circumstances, to help the Hellenic cause, and deserved the
gratitude of Capodistrias.

The Russian War now began to be of great assistance to the
Grecian cause. The best officers having been recalled by the
Sultan to defend the Balkans, Demetrius Ypsilanti took Salona at
the end of 1828, Thebes was blockaded and Helicon and Parnassus
were occupied. Church began to make way in the west, and
Greek cruisers to sail in the Gulf of Arta. In May the Greek
flag floated above the ruins of Anatoliko and Mesolonghi. On
September 24th, 1829, Ypsilanti defeated a body of Albanians at
Petra, and all Greece up to the Gulf of Volo was free from Turkish
garrisons excepting the Acropolis at Athens and a fort opposite
Chalcis in Euboea.

The London Protocol of March 22nd, 1829, had extended the
frontiers of Greece to the Gulfs of Volo and Arta, but it had also
required the withdrawal of Greek troops inside the Isthmus of
Corinth. Capodistrias could not comply with this. He had already
sent Coletti to Samos to assist the island in its rebellion against
the Turks, and the Philhellene Baron Rheineck to encourage the

180
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF GREECE

insurgents in Crete. Unfortunately, the Allies in the London
Conference refused to allow Crete to be included in the Greek
kingdom, and none of the great Powers would accept the island as
a gift. Capodistrias was compelled, therefore, to recall Rheineck
in September, 1829. The jealousies and quarrels between the
Grecian leaders continued: Church broke with the President in
the summer of 1829, and Ypsilanti left the service in the beginning
of 1830. Capodistrias had other troubles. Many inclined to
suspect him as an agent of Russia, and the heads of the English
party, Mavrocordatos, and Tricoupis began to be unfriendly
towards him. He was opposed to the Panhellenion, but the
people saw in him their only saviour, and at the election he was
returned in thirty-six constituencies, while the new Chamber
was composed almost entirely of his adherents.

Capodistrias opened the National Assembly at Argos on July
23rd, 1829, clad in Russian uniform. The ceremony began with
a Te Deum in the church, and the members then marched in
solemn procession to the ancient theatre. He ended his address
with the statement that he desired to serve Greece as a simple
citizen, but was answered with the cry, ‘“‘ We wish to retain our
saviour, the President.” Kolokotronis kept the peace of the
Assembly with his Palikars. The laws passed were chiefly of a
financial character. Capodistrias refused any compensation and
salary. A Senate was formed to take the place of the Panhellenion :
it was to be nominated by the President, in part directly and in
part from candidates suggested by the Assembly. The assent
of the Senate was necessary in financial matters. A Constitu-
tion was to be drawn up by the President and the Senate, but for
the moment the Head was invested with a dictatorship and all his
acts were approved. He had now reached the summit of his power.
The Assembly was dissolved on September 18th, with a speech
from the President and a proclamation addressed to Hellenes.

Still Capodistrias was not without difficulties. Important
members of the English party withdrew from him and Miaoulis
refused to be made a senator. Mavrocordatos would not serve
under him any longer ; Lazarus Conduriotti resigned the governor-
ship of Hydra ; and the Hydriotes, Spezziotes and Psariotes were
opposed to him. The President’s attempts to change the irregular
into regular forces made him many enemies. Money was want-
ing; the treasury had only sixteen and a half millions of piastres
to meet twenty-eight millions for pressing needs. The change from
payment in kind to payment in money caused great distress, as
it did also at a later period. The ambassadors of the three Powers,

181
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Stratford Canning, Guilleminot and Ribeaupierre, met at Paris
to deliberate and determine the future frontiers of Greece, and
gave their decision on December 8th, 1828. The northern frontier
was a line drawn from the Gulf of Volo to the Gulf of Arta, over
the range of Othrys and Pindus. The sea limit was 36° N. and
26° E. They promised to consider the inclusion of Samos and
Crete, and fixed the tribute at a million and a half piastres. Capo-
distrias ‘agreed to this generally, but thought the suzerainty of
the Sultan would require consideration. He desired the creation
of a kingdom under the guarantee of the Powers, and suggested
Prince Leopold of Coburg as a possible sovereign. The meeting
at Paris came to an end, but in London Wellington and Aberdeen
were full of fears. Dreading lest Greece should become an out-
post of Russia, they disapproved of the action of Stratford Canning.
The frontiers as delimited were accepted in the London Protocol
of March 22nd, 1829; but the two ministers would not allow a
hereditary monarchy in Greece to be part of the ultimatum, and
this condition was only secured by the victory of Diebich.

Up to the present moment it had always been assumed that
Greece should be a tributary State under the suzerainty of the
Sultan, but a doubt arose whether a Christian prince could be
found to occupy this position, and whether the vassal condition
might not occasion new disputes. In the summer of 1828, while
his soldiers were in Bulgaria, the Tsar had declared that he was
ready to accord to the Greeks their complete independence. At
the same time he considered the Greeks as rebels, had no love for
the Constitution, and wished to give Greece a government strong
enough to destroy secret societies and the germs of revolution,
A tributary Greece would be a discontented country and offer a
favourable soil for conspiracies and revolt. The views of the
British Government were different. Wellington wrote to Aber-
deen, “ The Greek cause is the greatest humbug that ever was;
thank God, it has never cost us a shilling.” He and Aberdeen
were especially anxious that the Ionian Islands should not be
added to Greece, and they were afraid of Capodistrias on this
account. However, in the final protocol of February 3rd, 1830,
the independence of Greece was secured, but her frontiers were
restricted. The northern boundaries were fixed by a line drawn
from the mouth of the Aspropotamo to the mouth of the Sper-
cheius, passing across Livadia. The sea frontier was the same
as in the protocol of March 22nd, except that the Devil’s Islands
and Scyros were added, while Crete, Samos, Psara and Chios
were excluded.

‘182
GREECE AS A KINGDOM

But it was no longer necessary that the question of a hereditary
sovereign should be approved by the Porte. Two further protocols
were signed on the same day. One guaranteed the Catholic
worship and missions, hitherto under the protection of the French,
and secured the equality of all the subjects of the new State with-
out distinction of creed. The other offered the kingdom to Prince
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. Other candidates, however, had been
put forward—Prince Ferdinand of the Netherlands, Prince Charles
of Bavaria, Prince John of Saxony, and Prince Philip of Hesse-
Homburg. George IV. was strongly opposed to the choice of
Prince Leopold, preferring Prince Charles of Mecklenburg, and
his objections were with difficulty overcome by Wellington.

The Turks agreed to swallow the pill, after it had been gilded
by Nicholas with the remission of 1,000,000 ducats of debt. Prince
Leopold at first yielded his consent, but afterwards withdrew it.
Capodistrias, whom he consulted, advised him to demand the
frontiers of Paris, the inclusion of Crete and Samos, a guarantee
of a loan by the Powers, and the sending of a few thousand Swiss
or German mercenaries. He also said that the Greeks would
require their ruler to be of their own religion, and would demand
a Constitution, which might be procured for them, but for which
they were not really fit. Leopold was very cautious. He was
tempted by the offer, and tried to secure Crete for Greece, but was
snubbed by Aberdeen. When he received the protocol, he drew
up a note, containing five conditions, one of which was the altera-
tion of the frontiers, but, by the advice of Wellington, this was
withdrawn. At last he agreed to accept the offer, making a few
suggestions. His acceptance was confirmed by a protocol of
February 20th, in which the Powers refused to extend the frontiers
of Greece or to grant Crete or Samos. At the same time, they
declared that they would interfere on behalf of the islanders if
they were inhumanly treated by the Porte. They guaranteed
the existence of the Grecian kingdom, and were willing to grant
a loan for the maintenance of a body of troops in the service of the
King. The French troops were to be left in the Morea for a year.
Although Leopold did not want to throw back Greece into chaos,
he was disappointed that he could not obtain better terms. Even
as early as April roth, 1830, he feared there would be a breach.

When the London Protocol was known in Greece, the Greeks
were disgusted at having to surrender their brethren in Attolia
and Acarnania. The conduct of Capodistrias has been a matter
of great discussion, and it is not possible to come to a decision
upon it. When he received the protocol he replied by thanking

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Powers for having secured Greek independence, and for the
choice of the sovereign, and promised that the Greeks should
evacuate Acamnania and Atolia as soon as the Turks evacuated
Attica and Euboea. He did not protest against the change of
frontiers, but only said that it would be necessary to provide for
the numerous families who would have to emigrate from the
northern provinces. At the same time, he pointed out that the
last congress at Argos had decreed that it was necessary to have
the consent of the National Assembly to any new constitution,
and this it might not be easy to obtain. At his suggestion, the
Senate made some objections to the protocol, which Leopold should
bring before the Powers. Capodistrias then wrote to Leopold,
urging him to come to Greece as soon as possible, but describing
the agitation of the Epirotes, the sad state of the finances, and the
almost insuperable difficulties of surrendering the northern pro-
vinces. He told him that he must accept the religion of the
country and respect the decisions of the National Assembly at
Argos. |

Undoubtedly it would have been better had Capodistrias taken
the straightforward course of summoning the National Assembly,
and leaving it to accept or reject the final protocol. The resolu-
tion of Leopold was much shaken by the letter of Capodistrias
and the resolution of the Senate. The promise of a loan of
60,000,000 francs did not appease him, and he could not get over
the separation of Acarnania and A®tolia. General Church, who
was well acquainted with the military conditions, confirmed him
in this view. After requesting time for consideration, he gave
his final decision on May 21st, 1830. He said that the formal
consent of Capodistrias had been extorted from him, and that he
really had strong objections. He would not force himself on an
unwilling people, nor disgrace his government by the surrender
of districts which had been already conquered, or by opposing the
Powers who had appointed him. He therefore declined the offer,
and communicated his decision to Capodistrias on June Ist.

The Greeks were terribly disappointed, and the glamour of
the Philhellenic cause vanished. The revolution of July drew
the attention of the world to France, and henceforth the cause of
Greece excited only a feeble interest, which was scarcely stimu-
lated by the elevation of Otho, a boy of seventeen, son of King
Ludwig of Bavaria, to the throne in 1832.

184
CHAPTER XIX
THE TERROR IN PORTUGAL

THE treaty of August 29th, 1825, had secured the entire indepen-
dence of Brazil, which had previously been a Portuguese colony,
governed by King John VI., and now became a constitutional
empire under the sceptre of his eldest son, Dom Pedro. But
Dom Pedro had not surrendered his right of succession to the
throne of Portugal. Yet if he attempted to unite the two crowns
great difficulties might ensue. Lisbon would not consent to be
governed from Brazil, nor Brazil from Lisbon. On the other hand,
it was not to be desired that Dom Miguel should succeed to the
throne of Portugal. He had been banished for his misdeeds, and
was now living at Vienna under the tutelage of Metternich. But
if he came to live in Lisbon there would be danger of a revival of
the “ White Terror’ of 1824. The Portuguese Government wished
the succession of Dom Pedro to be guaranteed by Great Britain,
but the British Cabinet had no desire to increase its responsibilities.

In March, 1826, John VI. became seriously ill, and it was
necessary to appoint a regency until the will of the Emperor
Pedro could be ascertained. The Infanta Donna Maria was
placed at its head, and it was supposed that if either Queen Carlota
or Dom Miguel created a disturbance, Donna Maria would receive
the protection of the British Ambassador, A’Court. Four days
later, on March roth, the King died. Queen Carlota kept away
from his deathbed and made no revolutionary movement, while
Dom Miguel, by Metternich’s advice, wrote to the Regent express-
ing submission to the last will of his father.

After some consideration, on May 2nd, 1826, Dom Pedro
renounced the throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter Maria
da Gloria, who was seven years old. But this renunciation was
really conditional. Three days before it was made public, on
April 29th, he promulgated a Constitution for Portugal, framed on
the model of the French Chavte. Article 92 of this Constitution
entrusted the regency to the Sovereign’s nearest relation of full
age. Dom Miguel would not come of age for seventeen months,
and therefore the regency passed to Isabel Maria, his sister.
Pedro also desired to marry Maria da Gloria to Dom Miguel, and

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

made his renunciation of the crown depend upon two conditions
—first, that all officials should take the oath to the Constitution ;
and, secondly, that the marriage of Dom Miguel to Maria da
Gloria should be carried into effect.

It has often been supposed that the granting of this Constitu-
tion was due to the influence of Charles Stewart, the ambassador
at Rio, and of Canning. But the diplomatic correspondence,
which is now accessible, does not support this view. Stewart
warned Dom Pedro against taking a step which might involve
Portugal in war with Spain, and Canning was surprised at the
news of the Constitution being granted, and still more so by the
fact that Stewart was deputed to carry it to Lisbon and to see
that it was executed.

Stewart, on arriving at Lisbon, disclaimed responsibility for
Dom Pedro’s action, and at the same time did his best to execute
the commission which had been entrusted to him. The Liberals
were delighted. There were shouts in the theatre of “ Long live
the Constitutional King! Long live England!” Isabel Maria
issued a proclamation declaring to the people that the Emperor
Pedro had given them a Constitution, to which the officials in
Lisbon took the oath on July 31st. On August 1st the Council of
Regency was dissolved, and Isabel Maria assumed their functions,
threatening all who attacked the immortal Constitutional Codex
with condign punishment. She formed a new Ministry, con-
sisting of Liberals, and fell herself under the influence of her
doctor, Abrantes, who had the reputation of being an arch-Jacobin.
The Miguelites resisted this action and tried to gain over the army.
Indeed, some regiments mutinied in the provinces of Tras os Montes
and Alemtejo, and the heads of the mutiny took refuge in Spain.

The Government of Ferdinand VII. thought the Constitution
of Portugal to be a bad example and a standing invitation to
Spanish Liberals, This feeling was stronger amongst the party
of the Apostolicals, whose leader was Don Carlos, and who were
stirred up by his wife, the Portuguese Princess Maria Francisca.
Ferdinand was himself afraid of the Apostolicals, but refused to
recognise Isabel Maria as Regent or to take any steps against
the Portuguese refugees.

The attitude of the great Powers against the action of Dom
Pedro might have been foreseen. The Emperor Francis expressed
his sorrow that his granddaughter, Maria da Gloria, should at
such an early age be obliged to receive the dower of a Constitu-
tion, while Metternich denounced it as a regrettable work, an
act of madness, a cause of future anarchy. On July 4th he sent

186
THE POWERS AND PORTUGAL

a circular note to Berlin, Paris and Petersburg, in which he
reminded them of the agreements made at Troppau and
Laibach. He said that the Emperor of Brazil had, by his action,
threatened the social order with death and destruction, and that
it was impossible to tell what the effect might be on Spain, France
and Italy. He pleaded for a new conference of ministers. Berlin
emphasised the danger of a system of government whose object
was to secure the triumph of all Liberal ideas, which for a quarter
of a century had devastated Europe with fire and sword. The
Tsar, however, was restrained from the expression of similar
opinions by his friendship with Great Britain. He doubted the
wisdom of Dom Pedro’s action, but went so far as to call the
opponents of the Constitution “ rebels.”

Canning, “‘ the scourge of the world,” as Metternich called
him, felt considerable anxiety, and ordered Stewart to return home
as soon as he had finished his commission, in order not to engage
Great Britain further. But he denied the right of anyone to
interfere in the domestic affairs of Portugal. Wellington advised
him to suspend the articles of the Constitution, the publicity of the
sittings of the Chambers, and the freedom of the Press, fearing
that they might produce a conflict between Portugal and Spain.
But Canning declined, advising, instead, a course to moderate the
zeal of the Liberals, and ordering Frederick Lamb, the ambassador
to Madrid, to urge the Spanish Government not to give protec-
tion to Portuguese rebels, and to threaten his departure if Spain
should violate her neutrality with regard to Portugal. The atti-
tude of France was more cautious. The Ultras were very bitter
against the Constitution, and put pressure on Villéle, but the
journey of Canning to Paris smoothed difficulties, and Moustier,
at Madrid, was ordered to support the representations of Lamb.
The French Government preserved towards the Constitution an
attitude of absolute neutrality.

Metternich found himself forced to yield to the inevitable.
On October 4th, 1826, Dom Miguel swore before the Portuguese
Ambassador obedience to the instrument of Dom Pedro, which
Metternich had branded as an “act of madness,’ and applied
to the Pope for a dispensation to marry his niece, Maria da Gloria.
In writing to Dom Pedro, Miguel had expressly reserved his own
rights, and Metternich was of opinion that this gave him the
liberty of resuming them whenever he was in a position to do so.
The Miguelites in Portugal did not despair of receiving assist-
ance from Spain, and the Apostolical party was very active.
Rebellions arose in Portugal against the regency of Isabel Maria

187
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and in favour of Queen Carlota and Dom Miguel. The ambassador
of the Regent left Madrid, and relations between the two coun-
tries became sorely strained. Indeed, the Government of Lisbon
was weak in resources. The mass of the people were indifferent
to the Constitution, which was opposed by a large part of the
nobility and clergy. The army could not be depended upon, and
the Regent talked of retiring to a monastery. At the end of
November a body of Miguelites marched into Tras os Montes
under the command of Chaves. Some troops were sent to repel
them, but neither the militia nor the police could be trusted, and
the Regent was prepared to take refuge in an English ship.

Appeal to the British for assistance was presented by Palmella
on December 3rd, and Canning was prepared for immediate
action. He believed that France would offer no opposition,
and the other Powers were not likely to interfere in force. The
landing of 5,000 men in the harbour of Lisbon would save consti-
tutional government and prevent civil war. On December 12th
he appeared in Parliament, pale from recent illness, to support
a Royal message, which asked for support to England’s oldest
ally against a foreign foe. He said, “It is a duty to hasten to
the assistance of Portugal, be the aggressor who he may.” He
deprecated a war, not only between contending nations, but
between conflicting principles. Such a war would range under
one banner all the discontented and restless spirits of all nations.
He said with regard to Great Britain, in the words of Shakespeare,
“Tt is a great thing to possess the strength of a giant, another
thing to use it as a giant.” This famous speech obtained the
applause of all Liberals in Europe, but the Eastern Powers were
dismayed at the desertion of the path of Castlereagh. Metternich
described the speech as a “dream.” He could not understand
how anyone could have the courage to turn the banner of an
Empire into an oriflamme for the destruction of social order.
Even in Paris the effect was doubtful. The French did not
approve of the well-known words, “I called the New World into
existence to redress the balance of the Old.’ The Cabinet of
Paris was much embarrassed, but the efforts of the Apostolicals,
and an ambiguous letter of Ferdinand VII. to Charles X. pro-
duced no effect. Ferdinand, despairing of French assistance,
recognised the Regent, and allowed his ambassador to return to
Lisbon.

The words of Canning gave encouragement to the Govern-
ment of Portugal, and disturbances in the provinces gradually
ceased. The British troops, under the command of General

188
DEATH OF CANNING

Clinton, reached the mouth of the Tagus at the beginning of
January, 1827, a portion of them occupying the forts and a
portion proceeding to Coimbra. The Spanish Government gave
way, on the French recalling the Swiss regiments from Madrid.
Canning, by his energetic action, had won a splendid victory.
He had raised the reputation of Great Britain, had preserved
the peace of Europe, and had assisted the progress of Liberal
ideas.

The action of Canning, however, did not meet with the entire
approval of his colleagues. Wellington disapproved of some of
the passages of Canning’s speech of December 12th; nor, a few
months later, did he agree with the signing of the London Conven-
tion with regard to Greece. On the questions of Free Trade and
Catholic Emancipation the Cabinet was also divided, Huskisson
being a Free Trader, while Wellington was not. However, in the
spring of 1826 a certain amount of foreign corn was imported into
England. Eldon, Peel and Wellington were opposed to the
emancipation of the Catholics, which was an important matter
for Ireland, but public opinion seemed to be: against it. Lord
Liverpool kept his discordant Cabinet together ; but, on February
17th, 1827, he was struck by paralysis. Canning must either be
got rid of or lead. The decision turned mainly on Catholic Eman-
cipation, and the hopes of the Tories were excited by a division
in the Commons on March 6th, 1827, when a motion of Sir Francis
Burdett in favour of emancipation was rejected by four votes,
although Canning had warmly supported it in opposition to Sir
Robert Peel and Sir John Copley, the Master of the Rolls.

The Duke of Newcastle did his best to persuade the King to
get rid of Canning, but this was found impossible, and on April roth
Canning was empowered to form a new Ministry. Peel, Wel-
lington and Eldon retired, and with them other Tories; only
Huskisson, Robinson, Wynn and Harrowby remained. The
Tories had serious doubts as to Canning’s probable success. How-
ever, he formed a strong Government, in which the King’s brother
became Lord High Admiral, and Copley, with the title of Lord
Lyndhurst, was Lord Chancellor. Among the Whigs, Canning
was supported by Lord Lansdowne, Lord Holland, Tierney and
Brougham. The world, however, was not allowed to see what
Canning might be able to effect as Prime Minister. In the summer
he fell ill, and died on August 8th, 1827, at the Duke of Devonshire’s
villa at Chiswick, in the same room in which Charles Fox had died
twenty-one years before. He was buried in Westminster Abbey,
by the side of William Pitt.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Canning’s death produced a profound effect on Europe. He was
mourned by all Liberals as the man who had released Great Britain
from the fetters of the Holy Alliance. On the other hand, Gentz
regarded his death as an act of God. Metternich compared it
to the “ quenching of an unholy meteor.” He said, “ Canning
did not build; he only pulled down.” His three months’ Ministry,
however, will be placed in history by the side of another Hundred
Days. In that short time he had been able to create the Triple
Alliance for the liberation of Greece.

In Spain, at the end of August, 1827, a rising, the work of the
Apostolical party, took place at Manresa, in Catalonia, a place
intimately associated with the fortunes of Ignatius Loyola. The
garrison of the town was overpowered, and the officers and the
populace embraced the Apostolical cause. Their cry was that
the time had now come to cast the insane enemies of Holy Religion
and of Absolute Monarchy in the dust. Arms and ammunition
were requisitioned under penalty of death, the example of Manresa
was followed by other places, and the contagion spread to Aragon
and Valencia. The numbers of the rebels were swelled to many
thousands. Up to this time Ferdinand, following the advice of
his minister, Calomarde, had tried to manage the Apostolicals by
flattery, but now more strenuous measures were required. The
King and his ministers went to Tarragona, and the rising collapsed.
The few who resisted were overpowered by General Espafia, while
several of the leaders escaped to France, and others were delivered
up to the executioners by their old friends Calomarde and Espaiia,
Calomarde stamping himself for ever as a traitor. Espafia tried
to regain the confidence of his former friends by cruel persecution
of the Liberals, in his capacity as Captain-General of Catalonia.
The result, however, of these events was a policy of moderation.
The Apostolical party suffered a great loss in the death of Queen
Josefa Amalia on May 17th, 1829.

The King, who had no children, immediately prepared to con-
tract a fourth marriage. The Apostolicals wished, first, that the
King should not marry at all; in this case the crown would
descend to his brother, Don Carlos. If he did marry, they desired
that his bride should favour their opinions. They hoped for an
alliance with a Sardinian princess, or the widowed Princess Beira,
the sister-in-law of Don Carlos. But Luisa Carlota, the wife of
Don Francisca de Paula, a bitter enemy of the wife of Don Carlos,
the Portuguese Maria Francisca, and of his sister-in-law, continued
to direct the King’s attention to her younger sister, Maria Cristina,
and she was assisted by Calomarde. The King’s passions were

190
THE RISE OF DON CARLOS

aroused and the marriage was hastily concluded. The newly-
married pair entered Madrid on November 11th, 1829. The
matriage, however, led to a step which altered the succession to
the throne and prepared a long series of disasters for Spain.

In the year 1713, Philip V., the first Bourbon King of Spain,
altered the old Castilian law of succession to the crown. He
promulgated a law which procured the inheritance of women after
the last male heir. In 1789, however, Charles IV. induced the
Cortes to pass a Pragmatic Sanction, restoring the old right of
inheritance. He had lost four sons by death, and the two that
survived were weakly, and he wished to secure the crown to his
daughter Carlota, who was betrothed to the Crown Prince of
Portugal, instead of its going to his Wrother, the King of Naples.
The Pragmatic Sanction was kept an entire secret, and was never
promulgated as a law. The health of Charles’ sons, Ferdinand
and Carlos, improved, and the French Revolution broke out.
The Constitution of 1812 restored the old Castilian order of suc-
cession. But this Constitution was suspended in 1814, and this
fact, together with the recrudescence of the doctrine of Absolute
Sovereignty, made matters more complicated. On March a2gth,
1830, a Royal decree revived the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles IV.,
and two days later it was proclaimed in the capital with the sound
of trumpets. The people received it quietly, but Don Carlos and
his friends were deeply stirred. The Queen was expecting her
confinement, and was anxious to secure the succession of her
child, whatever its sex. Don Carlos did not break with his brother
Ferdinand ; his party awaited the birth of the child. If it were
a male they would acknowledge its claims to the succession; if
a female, they would assert the rights of Don Carlos.

We must now return to the affairs of Portugal. One of the
last actions of Canning had been to send a British auxiliary force
to that country to defend her against the threatened attack of
Spain. The result of this was that the Constitution granted by
Dom Pedro was maintained and his sister Isabel Maria remained
at the head of the Government. But this Constitution had not
taken root in the country, being detested by the clergy and the
great landowners. Indeed, it had few friends, and had not been
a success. The treasury was empty, and public security was not
preserved, the army being without discipline. In June, 1827,
Saldanha became Prime Minister and displayed no lack of energy.
He inaugurated a Liberal regime, but was opposed by his col-
leagues, and the Regent lacked the firmness to help or defend
him. He retired on July 23rd, after little more than a month’s

191
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

term of office. Dom Miguel was now of age. It will be remem-
bered that Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, had renounced the crown
of Portugal in favour of his daughter Maria da Gloria, who, in
May, 1826, was seven years of age, on the condition that, before
she left Brazil, her uncle, Dom Miguel, who was appointed Regent,
should take the oath to the Constitution and marry his niece.
Miguel fulfilled the first condition in word certainly, but the second
could not be fulfilled till the child was of marriageable age. There
was now a general desire that Donna Maria should leave Brazil
and come to Portugal to put an end to the uncertainties of the
situation. Great Britain and Austria, differing in so many matters,
were agreed upon this.

Dom Pedro could not make up his mind. In February he
wished Miguel to come to Brazil, to receive both his daughter and
the Regency; by summer he had altered his views. Palmella,
who was ambassador in London, assured him that the presence of
Dom Miguel was required in Portugal. “ We require a man and
a prince,” he said, ‘ who must, like Henry IV., have the energy
and will to close the Temple of Discord, to adopt honourably the
principles of the Legitimate party, but to protect their opponents
from their vengeance.” Dom Pedro was convinced, and agreed
that Dom Miguel should proceed to Lisbon instead of Rio Janeiro.
By a decree of July 3rd, 1827, he appointed him Regent, on
condition that he governed according to the Constitution. But
he did not absolutely renounce the crown of Portugal; Dom
Miguel was to govern in his name. Dom Pedro asked the King
of Great Britain and the Emperor of Austria to sanction these
decisions. Consequently, conferences were held in Vienna, which
issued a series of protocols on October 18th, 20th and 23rd. Dom
Miguel accepted the Regency under the conditions proposed by
his brother; he promised an amnesty for the past and peace
between the contending factions.

In London the Ministry promised to assist him with a loan,
and sent a squadron to accompany him to Lisbon. Frederick
Lamb went with him as ambassador. However, the news of his
coming excited the enemies of the Constitution and the supporters
of absolute monarchy. He arrived at Lisbon on February 22nd,
' 1828, and was anxiously received by the Regent, Isabel Maria.
His first visit was to his mother, Queen Carlota, who had been
his evil genius. In the evening the mob went about singing,
“Long live King Miguel!’ The foreign diplomats, however,
were afraid that the days of the Constitution were numbered.
On February 26th he swore obedience to the Constitution, in the

192
DOM MIGUEL PROCLAIMED KING

presence of the Cortes, in the palace of the Ajuda. But his friends
declared that he had never repeated the words of the oath, and
the fact was published in the official part of the Journal. He
appointed as Prime Minister the Duke of Cadaval, President of
the House of Peers and a known enemy of the Constitution.

The palace of Dom Miguel became a meeting-place for all
discontented spirits, the friends of .the Queen-Mother, retired
officers, dismissed officials, monks and priests. The mob hindered
the playing of the constitutional hymn and attacked prominent
Liberals with violence. The British and Austrian Ambassadors
made representations to Dom Miguel, but found him like wax in
the hands of his mother. He prepared for a coup d’état by changing
the military governors and the officers, dissolved the Chamber
on March 13th, and made no arrangement for a new election.
Liberals were denounced as the enemies of Holy Church and of
the rightful King Miguel. Riots took place, not without blood-
shed, and many sought refuge in flight. The British troops under
Clinton were the only security for order, and Lamb begged Clinton
to defer his departure, although he despised both parties and
wrote to Wellington that both Pedrists and Miguelists deserved
a good flogging. At the same time, to save the honour of Great
Britain, he asked that reinforcements should be sent, and that
the command of the troops might be given to the ambassador.
Wellington refused, on the ground that the troops had been sent
to secure Portugal against invasion, and that they could now go
home. Great Britain had no right to complain if Dom Miguel
preferred to choose his ministers from one party rather than the
other. If things grew very bad, Lamb must demand his pass-
ports and leave a chargé d’affaires behind. The British troops
were embarked on April 5th.

The Miguelists now had a free hand. On April 25th, the birth-
day of Queen Carlota, the town hall was surrounded by troops
and Dom Miguel proclaimed as King, a number of people signing
their names to the proclamation. Dom Miguel affected a show
of moderation. He asked the Town Council to wait and proceed
in a constitutional manner. He had conceived the idea of sum-
moning the ancient Cortes of Estates, which had not met since
1698, and which was called the Cortes of Lamego, from the place
where it had first met in 1143. Queen Carlota, however, was
strongly opposed to these steps. ‘She demanded that her son
should be proclaimed immediately as King. In fact, the Cortes
of Lamego, consisting of the representatives of the clergy, nobles,
and towns, was summoned on May 3rd, by a proclamation signed

H 193
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

py Miguel, in which he did not call himself either Regent or
Viceroy. He had burned his boats. The diplomatic body declared
their functions suspended, and Palmella and the Portuguese
diplomats in other countries protested against the violation of
the Constitution and of the rights of Dom Pedro.

On May 16th the garrison of Oporto declared itself against
Dom Miguel, and was supported by the population. Coimbra
rose in the south, and even Algarve showed signs of resistance.
A junta under General da Costa was formed in Oporto. How-
ever, these movements had for the time no success, and Dom
Miguel succeeded in putting them down. Saldanha, Villaflor and
Palmella arrived too late to be of any use. Wellington declined to
interfere, and though Dudley might have done something, his
place was now taken by Aberdeen. The Cortes met on June 23rd,
and was called by Metternich a “mad Parliament.” He tells
us: “The pretended representatives of the nation were nothing
but chosen instruments and notorious accomplices of corruption.
Their deliberations, begun and ended in two or three tumultuous
meetings, were the idle echoes of those resolutions which party
spirit had long ago prepared and’ caprice and power were ready
to carry out.” On June 26th, Miguel was proclaimed the lawful
successor of his father to the throne of Portugal, and everything
which Dom Pedro had decreed as King, including the Constitution,
was declared null and void. The Estates then separated. On
July 4th it was announced that Dom Miguel had accepted the
title of King, and the representatives of foreign Powers, with the
exception of the Nuntius and the Spanish Ambassador, left Lisbon.

This was a blow for Austria and Great Britain. Metternich
attempted conciliation by proposing that, until Donna Maria had
reached a marriageable age, Dom Miguel should be considered
co-Regent of the kingdom and share the throne with her, with the
title of King. Wellington approved of this, and asked Dom Pedro
to consent. Paris, St. Petersburg, Berlin and Madrid agreed, and
the Pope was asked to influence Dom Miguel to accept this com-
promise. Miguel, however, continued in his course. Palmella
and Saldanha returned to England, and a White Terror was
established. Imprisonments, confiscations, and executions raged
throughout the land, and the enemies of the Queen-Mother were
barbarously treated. Only one spot in the Portuguese dominions
refused its submission. This was the island of Terceira, in the
Azores, which had once held the standard of Portuguese independ-
ence against Philip II. of Spain. The governor, Cabrera, could
depend upon his garrison, and Miguel was unable to subdue it.

194
A FUGITIVE QUEEN

Under the influence of Austria and Great Britain, Pedro had,
on March 3rd, 1828, declared his unconditional surrender of the
throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter, Donna Maria. He
determined to send her, now a child of nine, to Vienna, to be
educated by her grandfather, the Emperor Francis. But when she
arrived at Gibraltar, her Governor, Marquis Barbacena, heard
that Dom Miguel had assumed the crown and established his
authority. With the consent of Dom Pedro, therefore, the plan
of his journey was changed, and, on September 24th, they reached
the coast of England. Palmella was one of the first to do homage
to her, and the fugitives of Oporto and Corunna clustered round
her. A Brazilian expedition to Terceira was secretly being
prepared. On October 25th Barbacena informed the Duke of
Wellington of it, and asked for the help of a British man-of-war,
and on November 25th presented a similar request to Aberdeen.
Wellington set his face against any such step. He could not
countenance the Emperor of Brazil making preparations in
England to take a Portuguese possession by force. He thought
that the assembling of the conspirators in Plymouth was a danger
to the arsenal, and asserted the neutrality of Great Britain in
the strongest terms. Notwithstanding this, the expedition of
five ships and 600 men, under the command of Saldanha, sailed
from Plymouth to Terceira on January 6th, 1829.

Two British frigates were cruising in the neighbourhood of
the Azores under the command of William Walpole, who was
ordered to prevent the landing of the troops. Saldanha’s ship
came in sight on January 16th, and Walpole fired a shot which
killed one man and wounded another. Saldanha retired, watched
by Walpole, and eventually preferred to go into Brest to being
a prisoner in England. From that port he sailed to Terceira.
Wellington was violently attacked in Parliament by Mackintosh,
Brougham, Palmerston and Londonderry. On June 15th, 1829,
Dom Pedro set up a provisional government in Terceira under
Palmella, in favour of his daughter, while the little Queen returned
with Barbacena to Rio.

The Reign of Terror in Portugal became worse and worse.
Thousands of heads of families were imprisoned, and all classes of
society were sent to the galleys. Dom Miguel even kept his own
sister, the former Regent, under lock and key, and threatened her
with a pistol. Queen Carlota was mistress of the situation. Her
party demanded the restoration of the Inquisition, and posted
placards, with the legend, ‘‘ Our endeavour is to save the Throne
and the Altar. The revolutionaries still hold important places,

195
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and prisons are turned into Freemasons’ lodges. May the galleys,
the axe, and the gallows annihilate the monsters for ever!’’ Her
party was connected with the Spanish Apostolicals. At the same
time, there were furious quarrels between her and her son till her
death, on January 7th, 1830, brought some alleviation, but mis-
government still continued. The state of the finances was hope-
less, and the Bank of Lisbon suspended payment. Foreign
capitalists refused assistance, and an attempt to sell the crown
diamonds failed. No one was paid—neither the officers in the
army, nor the artisans in the arsenal, nor the clerks in the
offices. Portuguese paper fell 40 per cent. The scaffold, however,
was kept busy, and an occasional auto da fé varied the gruesome
spectacle.

196
CHAPTER XX

CHARLES X

Wuen Louis XVIII. died, on September 16th, 1824, the recon-
ciliation between the old France and the new had made very little
progress. On the one side stood the newly arisen middle class
with its ideas of equality before the law and the easy transference
of property ; on the other, the returned nobility, with their ideas
of feudal privilege and their struggle for the restoration of large
consolidated estates. With the Church on its side, this latter
party had won many victories during the last years of Louis
XVIII. Villéle, a far-seeing and cautious minister, had done
his best to restrain the fanatical zeal of the lay and clerical
extremists of his party, which, on the accession of Charles X.,
conceived hopes of fresh victories. They had always been sup-
ported by the Pavillon Marsan, and they thought that the sixty-
seven years of the new sovereign would not allow him to change
the opinions of a lifetime.

The new monarch was careful not to show his hand prema-
turely. He promised to confirm the Charte, and he declared
that all Frenchmen were equal in his eyes. He admitted the
Duc d’Angouléme to the Royal Council, and gave the Duc
d’Orléans the title of “ Royal Highness,” which had hitherto been
withheld. He won all hearts by removing the censorship of the
Press a fortnight after his accession. He was hailed as a new
Henry IV.

However, this happy state of things did not long continue.
The first note of discord was struck by a decree of December Ist,
1824, which put a number of officers of high rank on half-pay.
This was worked so as to affect the soldiers of the Revolution and
the Empire, while those who belonged to the Emigration were
spared. The Chambers met on December 22nd, and the King, in
his speech, announced a law which, to use the expression of Louis
XVIII., was “to heal the wounds of the Revolution.” It was
proposed to compensate the families of émigrés for their confiscated
property which had been sold by auction. The sum necessary
for this purpose was 988,000,000 francs, which it was difficult to
provide.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The debate upon the subject was, naturally, stormy. The
Right was not satisfied with the amount of compensation, some
rejecting the notion of compensation altogether and demanding
that the “stolen property” should be restored entire. The Left
objected that no compensation had been given to those who lost
their property by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Why
should the émigrés be compensated any more than others who
had suffered by the Revolution? Had not they already received
compensation in offices, honours, and other advantages? It
was their fault that France had ever been conquered by a foreign
foe.

Villéle tried to hold the balance between these conflicting
views. He allowed amendments which implied that, notwith-
standing the compensation, the possession of the property was
not secured to its present owners. But General Foy declared that
the proposed law, instead of being a measure of unity and peace,
had become a declaration of war, an instrument of hatred and
revenge. When the vote was taken on March 15th, it was found
that there were 259 for and 124 against, and everyone was shocked
by the largeness of the minority. The Peers endeavoured to modify
the effect of these amendments by declaring that property secured
by the law of December 5th, 1814, should not be affected by the
present Act. The Duc de Broglie denounced the compensation as
a measure of counter-revolution, and a means of stimulating the
appetites of the émigrés. But, in fact, these properties now
reached the settled value of ordinary estates, having been depre-
ciated by the insecurity attaching to them.

Two other laws bore a reactionary character. One made it
possible for nunneries to receive property without legal confirma-
tion. This was enacted with the object of enabling ladies of good
family to retire more easily to a cloister. The other was directed
against sacrilege, which it was proposed to punish with death.
This aroused violent opposition in both Chambers. Molé asked,
*‘ What should we say if Frenchmen of a different religion demanded
from us a law which punished with death the violation of the
sanctity of their churches?” Broglie remarked that the offence
was the same, whether it was committed in a Protestant chapel or
a Catholic church. In the lower Chamber, Royer Collard said,
“The theocracy of our time is not so much religious as political.
It is a part of the general reaction under which we live. It is
recommended to us by its counter-revolutionary character. Cer-
tainly, the Revolution was godless to fanaticism, even to cruelty ;
but this brought about its destruction, and we may predict with

198
REVIVAL OF JESUITICAL INFLUENCE

certainty that a renewal of cruelty, even upon paper, will stain
and disgrace the counter-revolution.”” The law was carried by a
large majority, but its worst provisions remained a dead letter.
At this time Metternich was in Paris, and although he dis-
liked the prevailing ‘‘ theocracy,’ he knew how to make the
reactionary spirit subservient to his plans. But the popularity of
Charles X. began to wane. The people had discovered that he
was not a Henry IV., and the feeling became more obvious when
he returned to Paris after his coronation at Rheims, on May 2gth,
1825, a ceremony carried out with a revival of medieval pomp
which excited the sneers of scoffers. Charles was anoimted in
seven places, and touched for the king’s evil. Clerical oppression
became more pronounced. Officers and officials were compelled
to take part in religious processions. Religious tests were exacted,
the writings of Voltaire, Diderot and d’Alembert were not allowed
to be exhibited in the booksellers’ shops and windows, or to be
retained in lending libraries and reading-rooms. The little semin-
aries, intended originally for the education of priests, were used
as a set-off against the State schools, and numbered 50,000 pupils.
This was attributed to a supposed secret society called the ‘‘ Con-
gregation.” The Jesuits, although forbidden by law to set foot
in France, began to come back, and Gentz, who ought to have
been well-informed, wrote about them, “ The Jesuits in France
are no empty name, but a very active, powerful machine, rightly
feared by all enemies of religion and order, directed by very active,
determined and logical supporters of the true Restoration.”
There was, naturally, a reaction on the other side against the
Congregationists and the black coat of Ignatius. The performance
of Tartuffe produced violent demonstrations. Pamphleteers and
song-writers assisted the movement. Foremost among the news-
papers on this side were the Constitutionnel and the Courier. These
were indicted in August, 1825, for their attacks on the State
religion, and the public prosecutor asked that they might be sus-
pended, one for a month and the other for three months. However,
the Journal des Débats took their side, and they were acquitted—
the Constitutionnel on December 3rd, the Courier on December 5th.
The friends of General Foy, on November 28th, gave occasion for
a Liberal demonstration in favour of this redoubted leader of the
Left. A subscription of 400,000 francs was raised for his children,
among the subscribers being Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orléans.
Villéle tried to recover his lost popularity with the Right by
introducing a Bill for the restriction of primogeniture. It was
violently opposed by the Peers. Broglie said, ‘‘ This is no law,

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

but a manifesto against existing society. It is the forerunner of
twenty other laws, which, unless your wisdom prevent them, will
break in upon us and leave no peace to French society as it has
been constituted for the last forty years.” It was rejected by
120 votes against 24. In the evening Paris was illuminated.
They cried in the streets, “‘ Long live the Chamber of Peers! Long
live the Charte!” Discontent was further increased by the
appointment of the Duc de Riviére, an Ultra pur-sang, as governor
of the Duc de Bordeaux, “‘ the child of the miracle,’’ and Thouin,
Bishop of Strasbourg, as his teacher.

Charles X. had long regretted the first enactment of his reign,
the granting of freedom to the Press. But, on December 2oth,
1826, a law was introduced which was to remedy this defect. To
prevent the circulation of small pamphlets, every copy with fewer
than five leaves was to pay a franc for the first folio and ten
centimes for every succeeding folio. To prevent the publication
of larger works, they were to be kept back for periods varying
from five to ten days according to their size. For periodical works,
the responsibility was laid on the proprietor and the printer.
The tax on newspapers was raised, the scale of fines was increased,
paragraphs on private affairs were forbidden, except with the con-
sent of the parties interested. These and many other provisions
made up a formidable enactment.

The Bill was received with general execration. The Débats,
the Constitutionnel, and the Courier attacked it together. Chateau-
briand called it ‘‘ Vandalish.” The Academy opposed it, and
Villéle confessed that he had never seen such excitement. The
debates in the lower House lasted from February 7th to March
12th. Few Ultras followed Count Salabéry in his opinion that
the “newspaper Press was the only plague which Moses forgot
to inflict upon the Egyptians.’’ Royer Collard said of the Ministry,
“Last year they dug up the right of the first-born from the dust
of the Middle Ages, the year before the law of sacrilege, to-day
they prepare the annihilation of the freedom of the Press. They
are going back in religion, in politics, in social affairs; they are
proceeding by fanaticism, privilege, and ignorance to barbarism,
and to the foolish government which is formed by barbarism.”
On the division the minority numbered 134, although the measure
had been rendered less severe by amendments. The opposition
in the Peers was so strong that the Bill had to be withdrawn on
April 17th. Paris gave way to unrestrained enthusiasm. Even-
ing after evening there were illuminations, processions, and cries
of “‘ Long live the Peers! Down with the Ministers |”

200
DISAFFECTION IN FRANCE

The Ministry now made themselves ridiculous as well as
detested. On April 29th the King held a review of the National
Guard, which passed off fairly well. Most of the soldiers cried
out “ Vive le Roi!’ Some shouted “ Vive la Charte!” “ Vive la
Liberté de la Presse!"" “ A bas les Ministres!” “ A bas les Jéswites !”
The King was, on the whole, satisfied. But, in the evening, he
learned from Villéle that on their return the Guard had insulted
him and Peyronnet, and also the Duchesses de Berri and Angou-
léme on their way from the Champ de Mars. Villéle advised their
immediate dismissal, and the Cabinet agreed with him. The
Ministers received this decree at midnight, and had to suppress
an article in which they spoke highly of the review. Villéle thought
he had made a great stroke; in reality, he had shattered his
Ministry. Twenty thousand Parisian bourgeois felt themselves
grossly insulted, and the Left redoubled its attacks. Benjamin
Constant said, “The Ministry has crossed the Rubicon. Its
standard is absolutism ; the Apostolicals are its only allies.” The
session came to an end on June 22nd.

Two days later the censorship of the Press was restored. The
funeral of Manuel, who died on August 27th, gave rise to a demon-
stration similar to that of General Foy. Villéle felt the ground
tremble under his feet, and formed the plan of creating a number
of new peers, chosen from his majority in the lower House, with
the hope of filling their places with new adherents. On November
6th the Ministers announced a series of ordinances. The Chamber
of Representatives was dissolved, and the decree establishing the
censorship came automatically to an end. Seventy-six new peers
were created, nearly half of whom were taken from the lower
Chamber. The elections were fixed for November 17th to 24th.
The opponents of Villéle made a coalition and issued a list of
candidates, containing the names of Lafayette, Benjamin Constant,
Laffitte, Casimir Périer, together with Labourdonnaye, Hyde de
Neuville, Delatot and Lazardiére, and this step was supported by
Chateaubriand in the Débats. A society called “ Aide-toz, le ciel
taidera,” led by Guizot, Duvergier de Hauranne, Odilon Barrot,
Rémusat and Joubert, conducted a vigorous election campaign.
They formed the party of the Doctrinaires. In the elections the
Ministry were entirely defeated. Peyronnet could find a seat
nowhere, and Royer Collard was chosen in seven constituencies.
Out of 422 deputies, only 125 were supporters of Villéle.

The King did not know what to do, and his ideas changed
every day. He would have liked to keep Villéle and to reform
the Ministry. In January, however, Villéle resigned and was

H* 201
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

succeeded by Chabrol, although the Ministry generally bears the
name of Martignac, who was its most prominent member... Lafér-
ronays became Foreign Minister; Portalis, Minister of Justice
Villéle, Corbiére and Peyronnet were made peers. When Villéle
took leave of the Dauphin, the Duc d’Angouléme expressed his
regret that he was so unpopular. Villéle replied, “ Monseigneur,
thank God I am.” Barante said of him, ‘“ All great political
faults came from Charles X. and his party; Villéle would never
have made them on his own account; he allowed them to be
committed without realising their importance.”

Martignac had a difficult task to perform. The King declared
himself devoted to the principles of Villéle, and Martignac was
often regarded as the figure-head of a Cabinet inspired by Villéle’s
influence, or as a warming-pan for Polignac, whose advent to
power was regarded with apprehension. At the same time, he
showed that he was prepared to take a line of his own. The post
of Director of the General Police, in which Franchet had made
himself so detested, was abolished, and the Prefecture of the Paris
Police was placed in other hands. The “ Black Cabinet” of the
Post Office was abolished. The three academicians, Michaud, Ville-
main and Lacretelle, who had been deprived of their professor-
ships, were restored to their places, and a commission was appointed
to inquire into the “little seminaries.” All this offended the
Ultras, while it did not satisfy the Liberals. Chateaubriand, who
held aloof, did not see how the Ministry could obtain a majority
in the Chamber.

The session opened on January 5th, 1828, the King, in his
opening speech, declaring his determination to bring legislation
into harmony with the Charte.. A good effect was produced
by a circular of Vatismenil, the newly appointed Rector of the
University. He had hitherto been regarded as a violent Ultra
and Congregationist, but now insisted on the close observance of
the Chavte and the laws, and promised to give the protection of
the Government to every kind of useful education. A still greater
success was the appointment of Royer Collard, the leader of
the Doctrinaires, to the Presidency of the Chamber. Frayssinous
and Chabrol were removed from office, and their places filled by
Feutrier, Bishop of Beauvais, mild in manner and tolerant in
character, and Hyde de Neuville, who, from a thoroughgoing Ultra,

had become half a Liberal. Chateaubriand also joined and was
made ambassador in Rome.

Unfortunately, the Chamber brought dissension into this scene

of harmony. In their Address they spoke disrespectfuily of the

202
CLERICAL OPPOSITION TO THE MINISTRY

Ministry of Villéle and made the King very angry. He declared
he would rather saw wood than be a king under the same con-
ditions asin England. To Martignac and Portalis he said, ‘‘ There,
you see what they are driving me to. But I will not allow them
to cast my crown into the mud.” He talked of reforming the
Address and of dissolving the Chamber. Martignac asked him
whether, in that case, he was ready to dismiss his ministers and
had the means to suppress an insurrection. The King bethought
himself. Next day he received the deputation in the Tuileries,
heard the Address read by Royer Collard, and contented himself
with expressing regret that the Chamber had shown lack of unity.
Villéle was very angry at the King’s weakness and Martignac’s
hesitation.

Two Bills were now introduced—one for securing greater
freedom of election, and the other concerning the Press. The
first was directed against intimidation and trickery in preparing
the list of voters. Just at this time some by-elections were held,
which resulted in a victory for the Left. The candidates had
addressed large meetings in the open air, a practice which recalled.
the days of the Girondists and the Jacobin Club. This excited
the Right to opposition, but the Bill passed both Chambers. By
the second Bill the Act of March 17th, 1822, was abrogated, and
more Liberal principles were introduced. This was also passed
by both Chambers, although it did not satisfy the Constitutionals
and Benjamin Constant. Two ordinances were published on
June 16th, dealing with the Jesuits and the “ little seminaries.”
They placed eight religious secondary schools under the Univer-
sity, and demanded a declaration from all teachers in religious
secondary schools that they did not belong to forbidden Orders,
and limited the number of students to 20,000. The session closed
on August 18th, and Martignac had good reason to be satisfied
with his work.

It was, however, found difficult to carry out the ordinances
of June 16th. They were bitterly opposed by ecclesiastical and
political Ultras. Portalis and Feutrier, whose names stood at
the foot of the ordinances, were stigmatised as Diocletian and
Julian. The ordinances were acts of revolutionary vandalism,
and the age of martyrs was at hand! To forbid any Frenchman,
clerical or lay, to teach was to violate the Charte. The Ultras
fought under the banner of freedom of education, but they avowed
that education belonged to the Church alone, because it alone
possessed the treasure of truth, which is the foundation of life.

The bishops protested, Cardinal Clermont-Tonnerre, Arch-

203
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

bishop of Toulouse, leading the way. The Government sent
Lasagni, a French judge, to Leo XII. at Rome. He found
Bernetti, the Secretary of State, and Pope Leo XII. favourable
to the views of the Government. Bernetti expressed the opinion
that the Jesuitical and fanatical party in the Church were the
real enemies of the Holy See and of the peace of Europe. The
Pope said that, much as he should rejoice to see all education in
the hands of the bishops, he could not regard their claims as well
founded. Bernetti induced Latil, the Archbishop of Rheims, to
draft a circular letter to the bishops, saying that, in the Pope’s
opinion, it was their duty to trust the wisdom of the King with
regard to carrying out the ordinances, This brought about the
submission of the bishops; but the Archbishop of Toulouse,
continuing in his opposition, was forbidden access to the Court.

In September the King made a progress, accompanied by the
Duc d’Angouléme and Martignac, through Alsace and Lorraine.
He was received everywhere with enthusiasm. When the people
were shouting at Strasbourg, whilst the cathedral was illuminated,
he turned to Martignac and said, ‘‘ These people cry, ‘ Vive le
Roi!’ not ‘ Vive la Charte!’’ We confessed that if he had
known the disposition of the people he would not have made so
many concessions. The feeling of confidence in the popularity of
his throne was strengthened by the reception which the Duchesse
de Berri had met with in La Vendée and Brittany.

The sudden illness of Laferronays on January gth, 18209,
threatened a change in the Ministry. Polignac was sent for from
London to receive the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, but the other
Ministers declared they would all resign if he were appointed,
and Portalis undertook the office. The King could not carry
Polignac and would not hear of Chateaubriand, who was sup-
ported by Hyde de Neuville. The Chambers met on January 27th,
\1829, with little or no foreboding of coming events.

Martignac was desirous of remedying the extreme centralisa-
tion of French Government and establishing some system of repre-
sentative local self-government, in place of the bureaucracy of
mayors and provincial councillors, who now governed France.
At an earlier period this had been one of the plans of the Pavillon
Marsan, and Charles X. could hardly refuse his consent to it. On
February 9th Martignac introduced Bills for the establishment of
representative councils in the Departments and municipalities,
and pointed out, in a masterly speech, how it would open a new
career of usefulness to young men of talent and tend to allay dis-
content. The proposition was received with acclamation by the

204
DISMISSAL OF MARTIGNAC

Liberal Press, but the Right ridiculed the idea of establishing
“thousands of little republics,’ and the Ultras, forgetting their
previous attacks on bureaucracy, joined the opposition. Differ-
ence of opinion became accentuated as to which proposal should
have the priority. Martignac desired to give this to the municipali-
ties, whereas the Liberals and the Liberal Centre wished first to
deal with the Departments. The Doctrinaires, under the leader-
ship of the Duc de Broglie, also set themselves against the Bill.

This question, which in these days does not appear very impor-
tant, brought about a defeat of the Ministry. The Left and the
Right formed a coalition for giving priority to the law about the
Departments, and Martignac was beaten. He would have been
glad to make concessions to the Liberals; but the King, before
giving his consent to the introduction of the Bills, had exacted
a promise that no alterations should be made in them. When,
on April 8th, an amendment was carried against the Ministry,
Martignac and Portalis left the Chamber. It was supposed that
they would return and announce their resignation, but instead
of this they brought back a Royal Ordinance which removed the
two measures from the Chambers.

Those who did not know the arrangements which had been
made with the King blamed Martignac for behaving like an “ angry
child”; but the truth gradually leaked out, and the Ultras and
Villélians triumphed. They felt certain that the King had deter-
mined to dismiss the Ministry, and he was only waiting till the
budget had been passed, fearing to strengthen the Ministry by
any additions. For this reason he refused to admit Chateau-
briand and Pasquier; and Portalis, whose office had previously
been temporary, was now made permanent Secretary of Foreign
Affairs.

The session closed on July 30th, and Charles set to work to
carry out his own views. Polignac arrived from London, and was
in constant communication with him at St. Cloud. Labour-
donnaye also was taken into confidence. Martignac soon became
aware of these negotiations, and discovered that Polignac was
designated as his successor. The King threw off the mask, and on
August 8th, 1829, dismissed the Martignac Ministry, retaining
only Roy, the Minister of Finance. He, however, refused to serve
when he learnt that Martignac was excluded. The Momiteur of
August gth published the names of the new Ministers, and the
result was general consternation. The Prince de Polignac, the
son of the friend of Marie Antoinette, now Minister of Foreign
Affairs, was regarded as a standard-bearer of the Emigration

205
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and the Congregation; Labourdonnaye recalled the days of the
White Terror; Bourmont, Minister of War, had deserted Napoleon
in 1815 as he rode to the field of Waterloo; Montbel, a devoted
friend of Villéle, became Minister of Instruction ; Courvoisier was
Minister of Justice, Chabrol of Finance, and de Rigny of Marine.
The belief that the Ministry was the offspring of Austrian and
British influence made them more unpopular. As a fact, Metter-
nich and Wellington had nothing whatever to do with the matter.

The newspapers, foremost among them the Journal des Débats,
which had so often defended the monarchy, opened a chorus of
attacks. ‘‘ Once more is the tie of love and confidence between
the monarch and the people torn asunder. What France has
gained in forty years of labour and misfortune is now taken away
from her ; what she rejected with all the strength of her will and
force of her desire is now thrust upon her.” The Débats invoked
the shade of John Hampden, and ended with the words, “ Un-
happy France; unhappy King!” An indictment for high treason
only made Bertin, the editor, more outspoken. He called Polignac
the man of Coblenz and the Counter-Revolution ; Bourmont the
“deserter of Waterloo”; Labourdonnaye the advocate of pro-
scription. Admiral de Rigny refused to serve with Bourmont
and Labourdonnaye ; Chateaubriand resigned his embassy in Rome ;
Lafayette made a triumphal journey in the south as the “ hero
of two worlds.” A Liberal club was founded in Brittany and in
other places, in which Carbonari and Doctrinaires found a common
meeting-place.

Polignac was a Rip van Winkle; he knew nothing of modern
France. He had spent a large portion of his life either as an
émigré or as a prisoner of Napoleon at Vincennes. He had no
desire to abolish the Charte, but wished to emphasise Article 14,
which gave the King power to issue necessary regulations and
ordinances for the carrying out of the laws and the security of the
State. Above all, he was determined to make “no more con-
cessions.” Labourdonnaye was a very different character. He
detested the Clerical party, but wished to fight everything he
considered revolutionary to the bitter end. His cry was, “‘ War
with the Revolution; no armistice between it and us!’’ He said
to Apponyi, the Austrian Ambassador, ‘‘ We are playing not only
our game but yours also, and that of all monarchies.” But,
strongly as he held these principles, he was incapable of carrying
them out. Polignac found him useless, and wished to get rid of
him, and he resigned on November 17th. Polignac, nominated
President of the Council in his stead, was commonly believed to

206
ANTI-BOURBON AGITATION

be really the son of Charles X., and there is no doubt that he bore
a decided resemblance to him.

Several parties continued in opposition to the Bourbons. First
were those who wished to place Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orléans,
on the throne. He did not break with the Court, but lived
quietly at the Palais Royal, without ceremony, sending his
sons to the ordinary public schools. At Neuilly, his country
house, he collected writers and artists, such as Villemain, Delavigne,
Alexandre Dumas, and Ary Scheffer. The leaders of the Left,
Laffitte and Dupin, were also seen there. Favour was extended
even to Talleyrand, who had said, “ En 1814 le retour des Bourbons
a rendu les vépos a l'Europe ; en 1830 ou 1831 leur départ pourra
vendre le répos a la France.”

At the beginning of 1830, Talleyrand, with the assistance of
Thiers and Mignet, founded a new journal, Le National, which
was the mouthpiece of the Orleanist party, and Armand Carrel,
who had written about the English Revolution of 1688, joined the
staff. It was natural to compare the Bourbons with the Stuarts,
and the Duc d’Orléans with the Prince of Orange. A similar
paper was the Globe, in which Rémusat was the principal writer.
There was also a party of Republicans. Among them were Trélat,
Raspail, Cavaignac, Blanqui, Guinard, Bastide, Joubert and
Thomas, along with a number of students and artisans. Their
organ was the Tvibune. They contemplated an insurrection, with
Lafayette at their head, which should depose the King and summon
a Constitutional Assembly. They were joined also by Bonapartists,
who were without a leader of their own. At any rate, the wor-
ship of Napoleon undermined the foundations of Bourbonism.

The Ministry determined to meet the Chambers on March and,
and to confine themselves to passing the budget and a few neces-
sary measures. Polignac hoped to secure a majority by dazzling the
nation with a brilliant foreign policy, and for this purpose he drew
up the famous “Great Plan” for the reconstitution of Europe,
which was rendered impossible by the Peace of Adrianople. Dis-
appointed in this, he determined to make an attack upon another
quarter of the Ottoman Empire. Algiers had long been a nest of
pirates, which rendered the navigation of the Mediterranean
dangerous. Polignac had intended to put an end to this state of
things, and was encouraged to do so from St. Petersburg. Indeed,
since 1827 a state of semi-war had existed between Algiers and
France. The French Consul, insulted by the Bey, had left Algiers ;
the French settlers had been made slaves, and the fortifications
belonging to the French destroyed. France blockaded the Algerian

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

coast, an operation which, although extremely costly, was of no
use. In 1829, attempts were made to bring about an arrange-
ment, but the Bey fired upon the French ships.

This was the state of things when Polignac became Minister.
His first idea was to ask for the assistance of Mehmed Ali, the
Pasha of Egypt, who was to receive money and four ships of war
and to punish the Bey, and also to suppress the piratical haunts
of Tunis and Tripoli. Polignac’s colleagues would not agree to
this arrangement, and Mehmed Ali rejected the application, which
was opposed by the Porte and Great Britain. The French Govern-
ment was compelled to act by itself, and preparations for an
expedition were made in the French arsenal. In a circular note
of February 4th Polignac assured the Powers that his only object
was to put an end to slavery, piracy, and the paying of tribute.
Spain and Sardinia promised their assistance, but it was believed
that Great Britain was opposed to any action which might increase
the power of France in the Mediterranean.

The Chambers met on March 8th, 1830. The speech from
the throne mentioned the contemplated expedition to Algiers,
but it produced no effect. It concluded thus, “ The Charte has
placed public liberties under the protection of the rights of my
Crown. These rights are secured, and my duty to my people
consists in handing them down untouched to my successors. Peers
of France, Deputies of the Departments! I do not doubt of your
co-operation to carry out the good which I have set before myself.
You will reject with contempt the mischievous intrigues which
seek to spread discontent. If criminal machinations prepare for
my Government hindrances which I cannot and will not foresee,
I shall find strength to overcome them in my determination to
maintain inviolate the public peace, in the true confidence of
Frenchmen and the love which they have shown to their kings.”
The Peers returned a meaningless answer, but the Commons took
up the challenge. They chose Royer Collard as President, and
under his guidance formulated their Address. They expressed
love and reverence for the Royal power, which was now secured
against all storms. But they also said that permanent harmony
between the Government and the wishes of the people was essential
for the proper conduct of public affairs, and added, “‘ Sire, our
loyalty and devotion compel us to tell you that this harmony
does not exist at present.” They begged the King to employ his
wisdom and prerogative in restoring constitutional harmony in
the powers of the State. After a good deal of discussion the
Address was carried by 221 to 181.

208
EXPEDITION AGAINST ALGIERS

The Address was delivered to the King on March 18th. He
answered from the throne that he was sorry he could not count
upon the co-operation of the Chamber, but his determination
was unalterable. The next day, March roth, the Chambers were
prorogued to September Ist. It was obvious that this was the
prelude to a dissolution. The Doctrinaires bestirred themselves.
Guizot gave new life to the society, Adde-toi, le ciel t’aidera.
The Deputies who had voted for the address were entertained at
public banquets. Polignac placed his confidence in Article 14 of
the Charte.

In the meantime the preparations for the Algiers expedition
went on briskly. The fleet consisted of above a hundred ships of
war and four hundred transports, together with a military force
of 37,000 men. The command of the fleet was given to Admiral
Duperré. Marmont, Duke of Ragusa, was to have commanded .
the troops, but he had to give way to Bourmont, the Minister of
War.

An ordinance, published on May 16th, dissolved the Chamber,
ordered new elections, and fixed the beginning of the new session
for August 3rd. Other ordinances announced the changes in
the Ministry, the retirement of Courvoisier and Chabrol, and the
appointment of Peyronnet, Chantelauze, and Capelle. Polignac
strained every nerve to obtain a majority at the elections. Pastoral
letters from the bishops vied with ministerial messages. Even
the King himself descended into the lists with a party proclama-
tion. ‘“ Perform your duty,” he declared, ‘and I will perform
mine.” Louis XIV. said, ‘‘I am the State”; Charles X. said,
“T am the Ministry.” Polignac placed his confidence in the
success of the Algerian expedition. Wellington, somewhat unwisely,
opposed the possible aggrandisement of France, but his own days
as Minister were nearly numbered. The British Cabinet persuaded
the Sultan to send the Kapudan Pasha, Takir, to the Bey of
Algiers, either to induce him to submit or to depose him, but
the French blockading squadron would not allow Takir to land.

The expedition under Duperré reached Sidi Ferrusch, a few
miles west of Algiers, on June 13th, and the troops landed on the
following day. On June 19th the army of the Bey was com-
pletely defeated and his camp captured. On July 4th the castle
was taken after a bombardment, and on July 5th the Bey sur-
rendered, provided his life were spared. The French captured a
treasure of 50,000,000 francs, besides immeasurable arms and
spoil, the produce of centuries of piracy. The Bey sailed with his
private treasure and harem to Naples. Polignac had obtained a

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

brilliant success and conferred an inestimable benefit on Europe.
But it produced no effect upon the elections, in which the Opposi-
tion gained a complete victory: out of 195 Deputies in the Arron-
dissements no fewer than 140 belonged to the Opposition. The
Departments exhibited similar results. There remained the twenty
Departments in which the elections had been deferred. Just before
they took place the semaphore announced the capture of Algiers.
The Archbishop of Paris held a solemn ‘Te Deum” in Notre
Dame, which was attended by the King. A few days later the
elections were completed. The majority of 221 in the former
Chamber was now raised to 274, and of the 181 who voted against
the Address only 99 were returned. When the result of the elec-
tions was known Polignac tendered his resignation, but the King
refused to receive it. Polignac said, ‘‘ Vous voulez donc ma téte,
Sire,” and the King replied, ‘“ Et pourquoi pas?” His colleagues
remained with him in what they called the pass of danger. There
now ensued a coup d état.

The fourteenth section of the Charie gave the King power
to issue ordinances and regulations if the security of the State
were in danger, and Polignac affected to believe that this crisis had
arrived. He declared that in accordance with the Charie he was
defending the principles of monarchy against those of democracy.
The foundations of the political arrangements should not be shaken,
but rather strengthened. The foreign Ministers warned him in
vain. One of them compared Polignac’s Ministry to a “ paradise
of fools.’’ Pozzo di Borgo spoke in terms hardly less severe, while
Metternich opined that “the age is not made for coups d'état.”
The Tsar warned the King not to give the Opposition ground for
complaint by the violation of legal liberties, and Nesselrode wrote
to Paris in the same terms. The Ministry proceeded, however, to
act with great deliberation. The Minister of Justice, Chantelauze,
argued on the interpretation of Article 14. But it was another
matter to put it into practice. At last the King decided to cross
the Rubicon, and the Dauphin, from whom better things might
have been expected, offered no opposition.

Chantelauze and Peyronnet drew up two ordinances, one of
which re-established the censorship of the Press in all its severity
and the other dealt with the Chamber. The number of Deputies
was reduced to 258, one-fifth to be renewed every year. The
Arrondissements were deprived of direct election. They were to
prepare a list of candidates, out of which the Departments were
to choose half the Deputies. The franchise was altered, and the
power of the prefects over the elections was increased. These

210
THE FATEFUL ORDINANCES SIGNED

ordinances were accepted by the Cabinet on July 24th, and two
more were added, one dissolving the Chambers, which had not
yet met, and another fixing the new elections and the meeting of
the new Chamber for the month of September.

On Sunday, July 25th, the Ministers met at St. Cloud. The
King had attended Mass before the meeting of the Council. One
of the most devoted adherents of the Pavillon Marsan, the Baron
Vitrolles, who had remarked the troubled mien of the Sovereign,
adjured several of the Ministers not to play with fire, but received
unsatisfactory answers. In the Council the King hesitated a
moment before he signed the first two ordinances, concerning the
Press and the elections, then he said, “The more I reflect upon
it the more I am convinced that it is impossible to act otherwise.”
He then signed them, and all the Ministers likewise. Asked whether
the ordinances would not provoke disturbances, Polignac said they
would not, but that, if they did, he was ready to suppress them.
The chief military command was given to Marmont, but nothing
was said to him upon the subject. Even the Prefect of Police of
Paris knew nothing about the matter till the evening. At II p.m.
Sauvo, the editor of the Moniteur, received the fatal documents
from Chantelauze, in the presence of Montbel, for the purpose
of printing them. He said, “I have seen all the days of the
Revolution, and I shrink with deep horror from new convulsions.”
The Revolution which destroyed the throne of Charles X. was
to shake the foundations of every State in Europe.

arr
CHAPTER XXI

THE REVOLUTION OF JULY

On July 26th, 1830, the Moniteury published the fatal ordinances
and on that day Charles X. went to shoot at Rambouillet and was
not to return to St. Cloud till the evening. In the Paris streets
groups discussed the illegality of the ordinances and talked about
refusing taxes. When the Bourse opened the funds fell four francs.
Some young men mounted on the chairs of the Palais Royal
and asked if France were to be deprived of her liberties. They
were dispersed by the gendarmes, but re-formed amid cries of
“Vive la Charte!” Between 6 and 7 in the evening workmen
tramped along the boulevards crying, “ Vive la Charte!” “ A bas
les Ministres!’’ Two Ministers, Polignac and Haussez, were
insulted and stones thrown at them. This day nothing decisive
took place. The theatres were full and the popular balls fre-
quented. Charles and the Dauphin came back from Rambouillet.
The Duchesse de Berri congratulated him on being at length King,
and he went quietly to bed.

It was not till the morning of July 27th that the King informed
Marmont, Duke of Ragusa, of the ordinance which invested him
with the supreme command of the army of Paris. Charles and
Polignac appeared very calm, but excitement grew in Paris, first
among the printers and the students. The morning papers were
very outspoken, especially the National, the Globe, and the Temps.
The Journal des Débats and the Constitutionnel were more moderate.
The police attempted to seize the National, edited by Thiers,
Mignet and Carrel. The doors were closed, and the seizure had
to be carried out by force. A similar scene took place at the
office of the Temps.

Marmont, as soon as he reached his office, heard that crowds
were collecting in the Rue St. Honoré, and that stones were being
thrown at the gendarmes. He ordered the troops to leave their
barracks and to march, with some cannon, to the Boulevard des
Capucins, the Carrousel, the Place Louis XV., the Pont Neuf,
the Place Vendéme, the Place de la Bastille, and other quarters.
The troops did not meet with serious resistance. Some barricades
had been erected in the Rue St. Honoré, firing had taken place,

212
THE REVOLUTION BEGINS

and an old man had been killed. The movement spread and, in the
evening, the insurgents occupied the Royal printing press. Several
barriers were burned and many lamps broken, leaving the city
in darkness. About 9 p.m. the crowds dispersed and the soldiers
returned to their barracks, thinking that everything was over.
Ministers determined to declare Paris in a state of siege, but Charles
X. passed the evening in playing whist, according to his custom.

During the night several streets were torn up and barricades
erected, and the shops of gunsmiths plundered. In a few hours
the insurgents were masters of the arsenal, the powder magazines,
the prison of the Abbaye, and the depot of arms of St. Thomas
d’Aquin. The Hotel de Ville was seized by revolutionaries, who
hoisted the tricolour flag with cries of “ Vive la Charte!” “ A
bas les Ministres!” “ A bas les Bourbons!”” De Broglie, Rémusat
and Cousin met at Guizot’s house, and Carrel came to tell them
that all was lost, so little hope had they of success. Marmont
placed his troops where they had been stationed before and wrote
to the King that it was not an émeute, but a revolution, and that
the King should adopt measures of pacification. Charles X. was,
however, badly advised, and the revolt grew apace. The students
of the Polytechnic School broke out and joined the mob. The
tocsin sounded from the Hétel de Ville, a huge tricolour floated
from the towers of Notre Dame, and the bells announced civil war.
Ministers collected at the Tuileries, where Marmont was await-
ing impatiently an answer from St. Cloud. At midday he put his
troops into motion, but they were fired at from the windows and
attacked by women and children. In some cases the soldiers were
compelled to surrender. At 3 p.m. Marmont ordered the arrest of
some Deputies, amongst them Lafayette and Laffitte.

At this time the Chamber was discussing what should be done,
and a committee of five was appointed to beg Marmont to suspend
hostilities and intervene between Paris and St. Cloud. Even
before this Arago had sought out Marmont at the Tuileries, and
begged him to go to St. Cloud and tell the King that he would
resign his command if the ordinances were not repealed. The
Marshal, however, considered this incompatible with his honour
as a soldier.

Marmont now wrote to the King tnat it was imperative he
should lose no time in profiting by the overtures in progress. He
sent the letter by his first aide-de-camp, who gave the letter to
Charles in his study, warning him, “ It is not the mob, but the
whole population that is rising.” The King only replied by thank-
ing the troops for their devotion, and telling Marmont to hold

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

firm, that he would give him fresh orders on the following day.
Some Bonapartists, partisans of the Duke of Reichstadt, now
made their appearance, and cries of ‘‘ Vive l’Empercur!” were
heard. Laffitte also began to think of the Duc d’Orléans, who
was at Neuilly. The Royalists did their best to stir their Sovereign
to action, but without effect.

In the meantime the fighting in the streets continued. Almost
the whole population favoured the insurgents. Some of the
National Guard gave their arms to the people ; peasants appeared
upon the scene, armed with scythes and pitchforks. But the
insurgents were without a leader. In the evening Marmont found
it necessary to concentrate his troops, who had lost, in killed,
wounded and missing, 2,300 men. He then held the Tuileries
and the Louvre, but the Hétel de Ville and the greater part of Paris
were in the hands of the revolutionaries. He could maintain his
ground, but could not conquer the city. It was now determined
to summon the regiments of the Guard from Beauvais, Orléans,
Rouen and Caen, and from the camps of St. Omer and Luneville.
The students of the school of St. Cyr were summoned to St. Cloud
with their artillery.

In the midst of the disturbance Charles X. preserved his calm-
ness, and said that the Virgin had appeared to Monsieur de Polignac
and encouraged him to persevere. Vitrolles entreated the King to
stop the firing, but he replied that it would soon be over and the
leaders of the revolt would submit; they might have confidence
in his lenience. At St. Cloud everything went on as usual; the
King played whist, and the Dauphin chess. The fire of artillery
shook the windows, but it was not considered good taste for
anyone to notice it. As the King was going to bed, the Duc de
Montemart arrived and begged the King to recall the ordinances,
but he would listen to nothing. ‘“ You were born in the Revolu-
tion,” he said, “and have unconsciously adopted its prejudices
and its fatal ideas. My old experience is impervious to the illusions.
I know whither the concessions which are asked for will lead
me, and I have no wish to ascend the tumbril like my brother.”

The 2gth of July now dawned, the last day of the Monarchy of
the Restoration. From 5 a.m the sound of musketry was heard
on all sides. On the left bank of the Seine the Invalides and the
Fcole Militaire fell into the hands of the people, while the King’s
troops still occupied the Louvre, the Carrousel, the palace and
gardens of the Tuileries, the Place Louis XV., the Boulevard of the
Madeleine, and the Place Vendéme. Marmont said that he could
hold out for a month, but he was surrounded by batteries and

214
THE PEOPLE TRIUMPHANT

could only retreat towards the Champs Elysées. But the populace
had no leader until Dubourg, who had seen service under the
Empire, presented himself.

Marmont summoned the twelve mayors of Paris to confer
with him, but only three appeared. At 7.30, two peers,
Sémonville and Agout, came to the Tuileries and asked Mar-
mont to put them into communication with M. de Polignac. They
demanded, supported by Marmont, the cessation of hostilities,
the recall of the ordinances, and the resignation of the Ministry.
The conversation soon degenerated into a quarrel; the other
Ministers joined in the discussion, and it became evident that
Polignac stood alone in his obstinacy. Then the two peers and
the Ministers set off for St. Cloud. As they were going, the
Marshal assured them that, if necessary, he could hold out for a
fortnight. On arriving at St. Cloud, Sémonville threw himself
at the feet of the King, begged him to withdraw the ordin-
ances and to form a new Chamber under the Duc de Monte-
mart, of which Gérard and Casimir Périer should form part,
and to give a complete amnesty. The suggestion that the
Dauphiness, who was at Vichy, might be exposed to personal
danger had more effect upon the King, and he wept. He at last
consented to summon his Council.

In the meantime the situation in Paris had grown desperate.
Two regiments of the line, who occupied the Place Vendéme, were
tampered with and eventually persuaded to retire by a speech
of Casimir Périer, This exposed the Tuileries, and Marmont
determined to recall a battalion from the Louvre. In the confu-
sion some of the insurgents climbed up into the palace and fired
upon the Swiss in the inner court. Others fired upon the troops
in the Carrousel. The Swiss offered some resistance, but at length
withdrew and deserted the Louvre for the Tuileries. This retreat
threw everything into confusion. Seeing the Swiss retire, {wo
battalions of the Guard who were posted in the gardens of the
Tuileries marched into the Champs Elysées, towards the Barriére
de l’Ftoile and the Arc de Triomphe. Marmont was’obliged to
order a general retreat, and as soon as he left the Tuileries the
tricolour flag was hoisted on the clock tower. The palace was
saved from pillage, but the residence of the Archbishop did not
escape so easily. The last struggle was around some barracks in
the Rue de Babylon, in which 200 Swiss had taken refuge. This
was besieged for several hours by insurgents, led by pupils of the
Polytechnic School, and was eventually set on fire. Almost all
the Swiss perished, together with their brave leader, Dufoy. The

25
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

struggle was now over, and the authority of the King had ceased
to exist in Paris.

It was necessary to form a provisional Government and some
Deputies met at the house of Laffitte for that purpose. After
much discussion Lafayette arrived. He had been pressed to
take command of the National Guard, and now consented. He
said, ‘“‘ An old man of eighty-nine may be of some use in the grave
condition in which we are placed. We are attacked and must
defend ourselves.” Hearing of the capture of the Louvre, he
promised to take the lead. Guizot said that the safety of Paris
depended on his determination. ‘‘ We must establish, not a
provisional Government, but a public authority, which, under a
municipal form, shall devote itself to the restoration and mainten-
ance of order.” A committee was chosen by ballot, consisting of
Laffitte, Casimir Périer, Gérard, the Comte de Lobau and Odier,
who, however, refused to act. It was publicly announced by
Laffitte that Lafayette undertook the command of the National
Guard and General Gérard of the troops of the line. The regiments
of the line now began to come in.

In the evening the newspapers which had been previously
suppressed made their appearance. The Débats said: ‘‘ For three
days Paris has been bombarded and been taken by assault, and
blood has flowed in the streets. Who ordered this massacre ?
The Ministers of the King of France. Why in the name of Heaven ?
Because they have violated the Charte and laboured to establish
absolute sovereignty. The compact is now broken, and it is not
we who have broken it. Our enemies have thrown themselves
outside the circle of the law. Let them remain there.’ Thus
the night passed. In the meantime, Marmont, with his troops,
retreated, with some difficulty, to St. Cloud. He told Charles
that he had failed to maintain the authority of the King in Paris.
The Swiss, who garrisoned the Louvre, had been seized by panic
and fled, and he, Marmont, had not been able to rally his troops
until he reached the Etoile, when he had marched to St. Cloud.
An officer had been slain by his side, and he wished he had been
killed himself ; death would have been preferable to what he had
seen.

Thereupon the Council deliberated, and it was resolved to
recall the ordinances and form a new Cabinet. The King said,
with emotion, “I am compelled to dismiss Ministers who possess
all my confidence and affection, and to take others given to
me by my enemies. I am in a similar position to that of my un-
fortunate brother in the year 1792, but I have the advantage of

216
THE KING NEGOTIATES

having suffered for a shorter period; in three days the Monarchy
will be at an end and the Monarch will go with it. If I must, I
summon the Duc de Montemart and send him to Paris. I am
sorry that he has acquired the confidence of my enemies; if he has
been wrong, he is well punished for it.”

It was now 3 p.m. Charles went into his study, and Monte-
mart was summoned thither. “ You are right,” said the King
to him, alluding to his conversation in the morning. ‘ The situa-
tion is worse than I had imagined, but it is believed that a Ministry
of which you are the head can arrange everything, and I nominate
you President of the Council, with General Gérard, Casimir Périer,
and M. Hausmann as your colleagues.” Montemart would not
accept office until forced to do so by his Sovereign. He then
waited till the Dauphin returned from Paris, which was not till
5 pm. At 6 o'clock Sémonville, Vitrolles and Agout returned
to the capital, bearing the news of the establishment of the new
Ministry and the recall of the ordinances. The evening passed at
St. Cloud as usual. The King played whist, first with Polignac
and then with Montemart, and the Dauphin chess. Montemart ©
was not permitted to go to Paris, although he earnestly desired
to do so.

The journey of the three negotiators to Paris was accomplished
with difficulty. Their intention was to go to the house of
Laffitte, where they expected to find General Gérard. They were
surprised to learn that Lafayette was at the Hétel de Ville, and
that a provisional Government had been established, of which
nothing was known at St. Cloud. As they proceeded there, inter-
rupted by barricades, they heard cries of “ Vive la Liberté!” and
“ Vive la Charte!” but very rarely “ Vive le Roi!’’ Sémonville
embraced Lafayette, told him of his commission, and of the
approaching arrival of M. de Montemart, but could not assure
him that the tricolour flag would be maintained. Agout then
went to the house of Laffitte, where he found, among other persons,
Thiers, Mignet, the Duc de Broglie, and the poet Béranger. The
courtyard and the street were filled by a crowd of students, work-
men, and National Guards, armed and unarmed, who were strongly
opposed to any compromise. Laffitte declared his willingness to
accept the proposals, but doubted whether they would meet with
the consent of the people. It was now between 10 and Ir p.m.
and Montemart was hourly expected, but he was playing whist at
St. Cloud. Thiers and Mignet were of opinion that the Revolu-
tion, once begun, could not be arrested, and opinion began to turn
towards the House of Orléans. These discussions were continued

217
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

far into the night, when it was agreed to meet at Laffitte’s at
8 o’clock in the morning.

At St. Cloud the King had gone to bed without signing the new
ordinances. Montemart went to sleep on a sofa, and was roused
at 3 a.m. by Vitrolles and Agout, who urged him to hasten to
Paris. He was ready to do so, but objected he had no ordinances
and no powers. They determined to rouse the King, who con-
sented to see Vitrolles. Five ordinances were signed, one of which
established the National Guard; but no mention was made of
the tricolour flag or of Lafayette. The signature of the King was
obtained with difficulty, and Montemart was at length able to
set out for Paris. The Dauphin had forbidden any horse to leave
the royal stables, and Montemart had to ride in a private carriage.
This caused great delay, and he did not reach Laffitte’s house
till midday. By this time a placard had been posted in Paris,
drawn up by Mignet, designating the Duc d’Orléans for the Crown.
This produced considerable effect and cries of “ Vive le Duc
d@ Orléans !’’ were mingled with cries of “ Vive la Liberté!” It
appeared that the large majority of the Deputies were in favour
of the Duc d’Orléans. It was also obvious that Montemart had
come too late.

There had hitherto been some doubts as to the intentions of the
Duc d’Orléans. Fearing arrest, he had left his wife and sister,
his confidante, known as Madame Adelaide, at his place at Neuilly,
and had himself proceeded on horseback to the Park of Raincy.
Thiers, who had been sent to Neuilly to sound the Duke, explained
his views to the two ladies. The Duchess remained unconvinced,
but Madame Adelaide was persuaded that her brother ought to
accept, and sent a message to Raincy.

The Deputies, sixty in number, assembled at midday, only
one member of the Right, Hyde de Neuville, being present.
Laffitte took the chair.. Three solutions were possible—to accept
the proposals of Charles X.; to permit his abdication, with the
Dauphin as King, or the Duc de Bordeaux, under the Regency of
the Duc d’Orléans; or the accession of the Duc d’Orléans to the
throne. The majority of the Deputies would have preferred to
keep the elder branch on the throne. Montemart was anxiously
expected, but did not appear; on the other hand, Thiers arrived
from Neuilly and announced that they could depend upon the
Duc d’Orléans. There was a strong movement in his favour, and
a committee was appointed to determine what should be done to
conciliate all interests and consciences.

Montemart, at the Luxembourg, issued orders as Prime Minister,

218
“THERE IS NO KING IN FRANCE!”

which produced no effect whatever, and were not listened to; but
he declined to go either to the Palais Bourbon or to the Hétel de
Ville. When the five commissioners of the Deputies arrived at
the Luxembourg they said, in the presence of Montemart, that
the only way of putting an end to the anarchy was to appoint
the Duc d’Orléans to be Lieutenant-General of the kingdom.
Montemart agreed with them, but, as a Minister, protested against
the propositions. The new ordinances of Charles X. now arrived,
but no one would receive them for fear of recognising his authority
—neither Laffitte at the Luxembourg, nor Lafayette at the Hotel
de Ville. When they were eventually read there were cries of
“Who dares to bring here the orders of Charles X.?” ‘‘ There
is no King in France!” ‘“ Down with the Bourbons!”

The Chamber of Deputies was greatly perplexed. Some wished
for an arrangement with the monarchy, some for a republic, but
eventually a motion to summon the Duc d’Orléans to Paris as
Lieutenant-General of the kingdom was carried unanimously. The
sitting broke up at 6 p.m., and a message was sent to the Duc
d’Orléans urging him to come at once. He reached the Palais
Royal on foot at 11.30 p.m., accompanied by two aides-de-camp.
At 4 am. the Duc d’Orléans sent for Montemart. The Prime
Minister found the Duke lying on a sofa, overcome by fatigue. It
is not exactly known what passed between them, but it is certain
that Orléans wrote a letter to the King, excusing his action on the
ground that he desired to preserve the public peace.

At St. Cloud Charles X. awaited with anxiety the effect of
Montemart’s mission, while the Duc d’Angouléme regretted openly
the weakness of his father in surrendering his position. Marmont
counselled the King to retire to Blois or Tours, while there was
yet time. Polignac advised him to refuse. No news of what was
passing at Paris reached St. Cloud, and at the usual hour the King
went to bed. But, being aroused by a false alarm of an attack upon
the chateau, he was awakened and left for the Trianon at Ver-
sailles with the Duchesse de Berri at 3 a.m., at the very time that
the Duc d’Orléans was holding his interview with Montemart.
The Dauphin was left at St. Cloud and the King reached the
Trianon with difficulty.

On July 31st, just before midday, the Dauphin left St. Cloud
with about ten cannon and some 12,000 men. A combat took
place at the Bridge of Sévres in which the Dauphin was not suc-
cessful, and he was obliged to make for the Trianon with all speed.
At the Trianon a council was held, in which serious measures were
adopted. After this the Court proceeded to Rambouillet, which

219
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

was reached at 10 p.m., the King on horseback, the Duchesse de
Berri in a carriage. Here the Ministers left their Sovereign and
sought their own safety in different directions. The Dauphin
came to Rambouillet with his little army and encamped round
the chateau, but there was no money to feed or to pay the
men.

At the Palais Royal the Duc d’Orléans conferred at an early
hour with his usual advisers, Dupin, General Sebastiani, Laffitte,
Casimir Périer, Broglie and Guizot. Invited by the committee
of Deputies to accept the post of Lieutenant-General, he demanded
time for reflection. Thereupon he was informed there was real
danger of the proclamation of a Republic, and he yielded. He
drew up a proclamation stating that he accepted the post, and
10,000 copies were printed and exhibited on the walls of Paris.
The municipality declared that Charles X. had ceased to reign,
and the Deputies at the Palais Bourbon agreed to a proclamation
setting forth that the Duc d’Orléans had been invited to become
Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, and promised the restoration
of the National Guard, with the election of officers, self-govern-
ment in departments and communes, juries for offences of the
peace, responsibilities of Ministers, and the re-election of Deputies
appointed to public posts. The whole body rose and voted this
without discussion.

The Deputies then walked to the Palais Royal in order to
accompany the Duc d’Orléans to the Hétel de Ville, Laffitte being
carried in a sedan-chair. Laffitte read the manifesto passed by the
Deputies, and the Duke replied, “ Messieurs, the principles you
proclaim are mine; I will labour like you and with you for the
happiness of France. Deputies will understand me when I declare
that I grieve deeply over the deplorable circumstances which
compel me to accept the mission which they entrust to me and
of which I hope to show myself worthy.” The Duke then embraced
Laffitte amidst general applause.

The Duke next rode on horseback to the Hétel de Ville, accom-
panied by the Deputies. The procession was not a dignified one,
but it arrived without accident, the Duke having occasionally to
climb over the barricades. The crowd was very large, and the
tricolour was everywhere visible, but as they reached their destina-
tion cries of ‘‘ Plus de Bourbons !’’ were heard. At the staircase
they were met by Lafayette, and the Duke said, “It is an old
National Guard coming to pay a visit to his former general.’
The manifesto of the Deputies was read, but without much enthu-
siasm. Dubourg once more tried to make himself conspicuous.

220
THE TRICOLOUR ESTABLISHED

He broke through the crowd and said to the Duke, “I am glad
to believe that you will not break your oath, but if you do we
shall know how to keep you to it.” The Duke replied, “ Sir, to
address me in this way shows you do not know me. I am an
honest man, and no one has ever needed to remind me of my
promises.” Dubourg retired crestfallen, and disappeared till the
next revolution. Lafayette gave the Duke the tricolour flag, and
led him on to the balcony. They embraced in public, and the crowd
applauded. The Duke returned in triumph to the Palais Royal.

The Republicans of the National Guard were reconciled. Thiers
succeeded in obtaining for them an interview with the Duke, in
which a curious conversation took place. One of them said, “‘ To-
morrow, sire, you will be king. Perhaps this is the last occasion
on which you will hear the truth. Allow me to tell it to you.”

In the conversation which ensued, the Duke alluded to the
excesses of the Convention. “ Monseigneur forgets,’ said M.
Cavaignac, ‘‘ that my father was a member of the Convention.”

“So was mine,” said the Duke, “ and I may be allowed to save
my country from the excitement of which he was the victim.”

When the Republicans withdrew Thiers asked them what they
thought of the Duke. “He is a good fellow,” Bastide replied,
but Cavaignac objected that he was not honest.

A species of Cabinet was now formed, with Dupont de I’Eure
at the Ministry of Justice, Gérard at the War Office, Rigny in
charge of the Navy, Bignon of Foreign Affairs, Guizot of Educa-
tion, Broglie of the Home Office and Public Works, Baron Louis
of the Finances. A National Guard of twenty regiments was
voted. The Duke signed ordinances establishing the tricolour
and summoning the Chambers for August 3rd.

The Dauphiness, who had been at Vichy, reached Rambouillet
on August 1st. Charles X. ran up to her, seized her in his arms,
and said, “‘ Can you ever patdon me?” She replied, ‘‘ Let bygones
be bygones.”” Everything was lost, and the King submitted to
destiny. He sent to Orléans the following declaration: ‘‘ The
King, wishing to put an end to the troubles in the capital and in
parts of France, counting also on the sincere attachment of his
cousin the Duc d’Orléans, nominates him Lieutenant-General of
the kingdom. The King, having thought it advisable to with-
draw the ordinances of July 25th, approves of the Chambers
meeting on August 3rd, and hopes that they will restore tran-
quillity to France. The King will await at Rambouillet the return
of the person who is charged with the message to Paris; if any
attempt be made against the life or liberty of the King or his

221
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

family he will defend himself to the death.’’ At the same time,
the Dauphin addressed to the troops an order of the day, in which
he told them that the King had made an arrangement with the
Government established at Paris, which he had every reason to
believe would be satisfactory. He pointed out that the duty of
the soldiers was to remain calm and united and to watch over the
personal safety of the King.

The King’s letter was received by the Duc d’Orléans at 1 in
the morning of August 2nd. The Duke was elaborating, with
M. Dupin, the speech which he was to make at the opening of
the Chambers. He answered that he was made Lieutenant-
General by the choice of the Deputies and could not accept any
other nomination. This letter was delivered to Charles X. at
7 a.m., and he returned no answer to it. On that day, August
and, three regiments of heavy cavalry passed over to the insur-
rection. Desertions from the regiments of the Guard at Ram-
bouillet became frequent, and there only remained round the
King three regiments of light cavalry and a regiment of the Guard,
and for them it was difficult to provide. Charles had contem-
plated abdication in favour of the Duc de Bordeaux, and Marmont
supported the project, but the Dauphin was violently opposed
to it. At last the Dauphin gave way, and the act of abdication
was drawn up and signed and sent to the Duc d’Orléans. The
King called upon the Duke to recognise and proclaim his grand-
son as Henry V. The act of abdication reached the Duke at 11
p.m. He replied that it would be communicated to the Chambers
and deposited in the archives of the State.

The continued sojourn of Charles X. at Rambouillet became
dangerous both to himself and the Government. It was
agreed, therefore, that a Commission should be sent to him,
consisting of Marshal Mortier to represent the army, Schérer and
Jacqueminot to represent the Chambers, and Odilon Barrot to
represent the National Guard. Barrot left the Palais Royal at
4.30 p.m., with the Commission, Maison, however, replacing
Mortier, who had declined to serve. They arrived at Rambouillet at
Io p.m., and were told that the King could not be disturbed. At
length the Duc de Coigny, who alone wore the white cockade,
was admitted. “The Lieutenant-General,”’ explained Charles,
“should have received the generous deed which I signed this
morning with the view of stopping the march of 800,000 foreign
soldiers who are ready to swoop down upon France. It is for
the Lieutenant-General to give this act full effect. For myself
I have only one thing to reproach myself with—that I began an

222
THE EXILED KING

enterprise which was to strengthen my throne with 8,000 men
instead of 60,000.” The Commission immediately returned and
reached Paris at 4 a.m. The Duc d’Orléans was aroused, and
with some reluctance gave orders to Lafayette to despatch 6,000
of the National Guard to Rambouillet.

When this was known, there was general excitement in the
capital. Cries were raised of “To Rambouillet ! To Rambouillet !”
The populace assembled, armed with sabres, pistols, pitchforks,
spades, and even spits, and dressed as occasion served. Their
march recalled that of the market women to Versailles on October
5th, 1789. A deputation approached Charles X. He said, “‘ Well,
what do you wish me to do?” Barrot answered that an armed
column of the population of Paris was at hand, and that he wished
to avoid a conflict which would be useless, since he and the Dauphin
had abdicated. Charles replied, “‘ It is true that I have abdicated,
but in favour of my grandson, and I am determined to defend his
rights to the last drop of my blood.”

After further conversation, Charles asked Marshal Maison how
many of the insurgents there were, and he replied, sixty or eighty
thousand. “It is enough,’ cried the King; ‘in a quarter of
an hour I will let you know what I have decided to do.’”’ After
consulting with Marmont the King determined to retire to Main-
tenon, the chateau of the Duc de Noailles, and there he arrived
at 4 a.m. As soon as he had left, the tricolour was hoisted at
Rambouillet. It has been stated that Maison exaggerated the
number of the insurgents, and the Duc de Luxembourg, captain of
the Guards, complained he had committed an act of great folly
in not firing on the mob and thus ridding the Duc d’Orléans of
“toute cette canaille.”’ But it is doubtful whether, if Charles had
resisted, the soldiers of his Guard would have remained faithful.

At Maintenon Charles resolved to abandon all thought of
resistance and leave the country. His army was disbanded, with
the exception of about 1,000 bodyguard and two cannon, which
served as an escort. Travelling by slow stages, he reached Cher-
bourg on August 14th, experiencing neither favour nor insult
among the people through whom he passed, except that a hostile
demonstration was made in Cherbourg itself. The exiled King
maintained his dignity, but occasionally shed tears. On August
14th the King and his family embarked on the American ship
Great Britain, which had been hired and furnished by the French
Government, and in three days reached the coast of England.
To the Englishmen who visited him he said, “ This is my reward
for endeavouring to make France happy.”

223
CHAPTER XXII

THE CREATION OF BELGIUM

Tue Northern and Southern Netherlands, better known now
under the names of Holland and Belgium, had, after a separation
of two hundred years, been united under the sceptre of Napoleon.
Belgium was made an integral part of France, while Holland
enjoyed the semblance of political independence. The Prince of
Orange, who had fled to England on the occupation of Holland by
the French, took part in the war against Napoleon, fought with
distinction at Waterloo, and was restored to his country. Barely
a month after the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig, risings against
the French took place at Amsterdam and The Hague; the French
officials were driven out; a declaration of independence was
published, and a provisional Government was set up in the name
of the Prince of Orange. The Prince himself landed at
Scheveningen on November 30th, 1813, and was received with
joy by the whole population.

A Constitution was established, under the name of a Funda-
mental Law, drawn up by Van Hoogendorp, and finally passed
on March 30th, 1814. It decreed an almost absolute monarchy.
The Sovereign, besides executive, had considerable legislative
power, authority of peace and war, the control of finance, the
fleet, and the army. The princes were deprived of the power
which they had possessed in the palmy days of the Republic,
which made the United Netherlands one of the loosest confedera-
tions known in history. There was a species of parliament, bear-
ing the name of States General, consisting of fifty-five members,
nominated for three years by the Provincial States. They had
the power of initiating legislation and of imposing a veto on it,
and they had authority over extraordinary legislation, but there
was no responsible Ministry and no liberty of the Press.

To this new monarchy the Congress of Vienna was good enough
to add the provinces of Belgium. Without being consulted, the
Belgians were placed under the sceptre of the King of Holland,
no regard being had to national history or ideals, but merely with
a view to setting up a barrier against the power of France. This

224
DISCONTENT IN BELGIUM

scheme was mainly due to the efforts of British statesmen, work-
ing in conjunction with the Prince of Orange, who was settled in
England. Great Britain received as her reward the Cape of Good
Hope, Guiana, and other colonies which had been captured by
her from France, on the pretence that they were being held in
pawn for a liberated Holland. It was a disgraceful instance of
political traffic, as dishonest as anything which has been laid to
the charge of Napoleon.

Belgium was treated as a conquered country, which might be
disposed of by the great Powers as they pleased; the Austrians,
to whom the Provinces had previously belonged, were always
anxious to get rid of them. The document determining these
arrangements is known as the Eight Articles of London, which
was signed on June 14th, 1814. The return of Napoleon from
Elba consolidated the union of the two States. On March 16th,
1815, the new King issued a proclamation, assuming the title of
King of the Netherlands and Duke of Luxemburg. Holland and
Belgium accepted their fate without a murmur, the foreign Powers
were delighted to give their assent, and the Kingdom was officially
recognised on May 23rd. Dutch and Belgian troops fought side
by side in the Waterloo campaign, under the command of the
Prince of Orange, so that the union was cemented by bloodshed
in the common cause.

At this time the population of Holland was barely two millions,
whereas that of Belgium was nearly three millions and a half.
Belgium was divided into two parts, each speaking a different
language, Flemish or Walloon, while the usual language of society
was French. Belgium was Catholic, Holland Calvinistic; the
Dutch were a seafaring nation, the Belgians farmers and manu-
facturers. When the Constitution of the kingdom came to be
discussed, the Belgians demanded a representation based on
population, the Dutch insisted upon equality. The Constitution,
including the Eight Articles of London, which had hitherto been
kept secret, was passed unanimously by the Dutch, but in Belgium
there was a majority of 269 against it. This was got over by the
King declaring that the Notables who had been summoned to
the meeting, but had not attended, were to be regarded as voting
for the Constitution ; absence gave assent. In this way a negative
majority of 269 was turned into an affirmative one of 263.

It was not likely that these two yoke-fellows would pull well
together. From the very first differences of opinion arose, which
gradually became more violent and eventually caused the separa-
tion of the two countries some fifteen years after they had been

I 225
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

united. The Belgians complained of the unequal division of the
national representation, of the unfair apportionment of the national
debt, of the fact that the taxes were imposed more in the interest
of Holland than in that of Belgium, the Belgians being heavily
hit by the taxes on grinding corn and slaughtering animals, now
imposed for the first time. It was urged, on the other side, that
the national debt was raised to protect the colonies, which were
the common property of Belgium and Holland, and to restore
barrier fortresses, which existed to defend Belgium against the
attacks of France; that the apportionment of the taxes followed
the provisions of the Constitution, as did the prerogative of the
Crown to nominate members of the Upper Chamber for life.

It was pointed out in reply that flaws in the Constitution,
the predominant power of the Crown, the lack of mutual
responsibility, the fixing of the budget for ten years, which
withdrew from the Chambers the power of controlling finance,
the defects of the courts of justice, the harshness of the Press laws,
could be remedied by constitutional means as time went on. At
the outset both French and Dutch had been recognised as official
languages, but in 1819 the knowledge of Dutch was made obligatory
for admission to all public offices and employments, and in 1822
Dutch was recognised as the official and made the national
language. It is true that French was only the language of the
wealthy classes and the large towns, and that Flemish, which
closely resembles Dutch, had at that time no literature. The
development of Flemish literature in the last hundred years is,
in fact, largely due to the influence of Belgian antagonism to Dutch
supremacy. But the establishment of the Dutch language was
resented by the Walloons, whose language resembled French, and
who formed no inconsiderable part of the population of Belgium.

The next grievance lay in the difference of religion. Belgium
was deeply religious, and the Catholic clergy had great influence.
It was a constant complaint that the Royal house of Holland was
Calvinistic, which meant that Catholic Belgians were governed by
Protestant Dutch. The leader of the Catholic opposition was
Prince Maurice de Broglie, Bishop of Ghent, a man of fervent
religious zeal, but fiery and obstinate temper. In 1815 he sent
a pastoral letter, in which he forbade the Notables of his diocese
to vote for a fundamental law which was opposed to the rights of
the Catholic Church, and when the King declared the Constitu-
tion accepted the bishop declared the taking of the oath to it
to be an act of treason to the best interests of religion. This
action was supported by the Pope, and when the Bishop of Ghent

226
POPULARITY OF THE KING

was summoned before the Court of Assizes at Brussels he refused
to admit the competency of the court, took refuge in France, and
in October, 1817, was condemned for contumacy. He, however,
continued to rule the province through the Vicar-General, and
his pastoral letters, dated from Paris, were received with sub-
mission by his flock. The Vicar-General was summoned before
the court in 1821, but was acquitted.

It is true that, as time went on, a more pacific feeling developed.
North and South began gradually to coalesce. The disaffected
modified their views and felt that Dutch Government was, on the
whole, favourable to education and enlightenment. The Belgian
nobles and clergy, however, continued their opposition to a Govern-
ment which they regarded as foreign, and the country people were
superstitious and ignorant. But the townsfolk, who had no
sympathy, on the one hand, with feudal principles and privileges,
and, on the other, with democratic exaggeration, began to appre-
ciate the advantages of a constitutional monarchy. The popula-
tions began to mix. Belgian manufacturers settled in the Dutch
cities, and Dutch men of business became active in Flanders
and Brabant. A Central Party was formed, averse to the
emphasising of national and religious differences, and favourable
to moderation and compromise. They looked upon the House
of Orange as their best support. Even the King—although he
was distasteful to the nobles because of the simplicity of his habits
and his dislike of ceremony, and to the democracy because of his
hatred of Romanism and French authors—was popular with and
respected by the Belgian shopkeepers. They were little affected
by his avaricious disposition, his lack of generosity, his cold-
ness and lack of sympathy; they preferred his dull, prosaic
character to the dangerous romanticism of the age. Unfortun-
ately, his personal qualities were not calculated to favour the
assimilation of the two parties. His obstinate disposition brooked
no opposition, and he disdained the co-operation of broad-
minded ministers like Hoogendorp and Falck. Servile natures
like Van Maanen were more to his taste. He was not suited for
the part of a constitutional King. He preferred personal rule, in
which he should be the centre of everything, the soul of the
political body.

Disputes about education fanned the smouldering embers into
a flame. The Dutch Government desired to place all education
in the hands of the State, to restrict the influence of the religious
Orders, especially of the Jesuits, in the teaching of the young,
and to prevent the young Belgian nobility from being educated

227
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

in foreign convents. The Clericals declared themselves friends of
religious freedom and demanded complete toleration in all matters
of education. The Liberals were ready to meet the Clericals
half-way, and the middle classes were offended at the corn and
slaughtering taxes, which had been lately introduced.

De Gerlache led the movement of opposition, while the Liberals
found a leader in Louis de Potter, a man of independent fortune,
who had been much occupied in literary pursuits, especially in
ecclesiastical history. An attempt of the King to bring about a
concordat made matters worse. In December, 1828, De Potter
was condemned to imprisonment and fine for an article he had
written, and the Government was assailed by a storm of petitions.
A work by Lammenais in favour of religious democracy increased
the agitation. De Potter issued from his cell a book demanding
freedom of the Press, and he also advocated the separation of
Church and State. The Union, as it is now called, between
Catholics and Liberals was supported by writers who afterwards
became famous, such as Ducpetiaux, Nothomb, Van de Weyer,
Gendebien, Lebeau, and Rogier. The Government attempted to
meet this onslaught of the Press by the establishment of a paper
called the National, of which Libri Bagno was made editor. He
was a man of bad personal character, and had even been con-
demned in France to hard labour for forgery. He declared that
the Belgians ought to be muzzled like dogs, an opinion which was
supposed to be held also by Van Maanen, Minister of Justice. Both
men became objects of execration, which was intensified when it
was found that Bagno was receiving a large subsidy from the
Government.

The King was distressed at these revolutionary movements,
and ascribed them to intriguers who, with no other end in view
than their own interest, stirred up the people and brought about
this unnatural union of parties. His warm reception by the
middle class in the Belgian cities strengthened him in the belief
that the discontent was the work only of a few. At Liége he
stigmatised the conduct of the reformers as infamous. The appella-
tion was seized upon as the term “ beggars ”’ had been in the revolt
of the Netherlands three centuries before. A league was formed
and a medal struck with the legend, “ Faithful even to Infamy.”
The higher clergy began to be alarmed at the union of Catholics
and Liberals, and this nervous feeling spread to Rome. Com-
promise was difficult owing to the aristocratic temper of the King,
who rejected any submission, and the situation was aggravated
at the opening of the States-General on December 11th, 1829,

228
SIGNS OF THE REVOLUTION

when the King laid the whole blame for the discontent upon the
Press. It was clear that the King was determined to maintain
his attitude of defiance and suffer no changes in the Ministry.
Next day a circular was issued by Van Maanen, calling upon all
officials to give their adherence to the principles laid down in the
Royal message by which the Chambers were opened.

This circular produced a similar effect in Belgium to that
which the ordinances of July produced in Paris. One newspaper
spoke of refusing taxes, and the budget was passed with the
greatest difficulty. De Potter published a Letter of Demophilus
to the King, in which he ‘said, ‘‘ No, Sire, you are not the master
of the Belgians, as people would have you believe ; you are only
the first among them; you are not the master of the State, you
are only its head, the most elevated of its functionaries.” In
February, 1830, De Potter, with two of his friends, Tillemans
and Bartels, the editor of a Catholic newspaper, were brought
before the law and condemned—De Potter to eight, the other two
to seven years’ banishment. The King thought he had con-
quered, and it is true that the Revolution of July exercised no
apparent influence at Brussels. Louis Philippe, the new King of
France, remained on good terms with the Dutch Government, and
the fifty-eighth birthday of the King was celebrated with rejoicings
on August 24th.

This, however, was the calm before the storm. De Potter and
his fellow exiles hastened to Paris as soon as they heard of the
Revolution, and were joined there by Alexandre Gendebien,
an intimate friend and supporter of De Potter. Some of the
Belgian Liberals were in favour of a separation from Holland and
a union with France. De Potter was, however, in favour of
neither; he wished the union with Holland to remain, but the
Constitution to be reformed. The Radicals, however, gained the
upper hand, and the walls of Brussels were covered with an inscrip-
tion, ‘ Monday, Fireworks ; Tuesday, Illumination; Wednesday,
Revolution.”

On the evening of August 25th the Muette de Portici, otherwise
called Masaniello, an opera written by Scribe and composed by
Auber, was given at the Thédtre de la Monnaie for the first time.
The people, fired by the example of the Neapolitan fisherman,
rushed to the offices of the National and the house of its editor,
Libri Bagno; others sacked the abodes of Van Maanen and of
Knyff, the Director of the Police. On the following day several
warehouses were destroyed, but no attempts were made to pre-
serve order. The old Brabant flag was raised and the Royal arms

229
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

were torn down in many places. As the regular troops did nothing,
a Civic Guard was organised, with Baron d’Hoogvorst at its head.
It was divided into seven bodies to patrol different sections of
the city, and order was restored, but not without bloodshed. On
August 28th an assembly of Notables was held at the Hétel de
Ville, and a deputation, of which Alexandre Gendebien and
Felix, Count de Merode, were members, was sent to ask the King
respectfully to summon the States-General. The King refused to
take any steps until the Netherlands flag had been restored and
order re-established. In these matters Van Maanen played the
part of Polignac in France. On August 31st the King replied
to the deputation that he would neither dismiss Van Maanen nor
consent to a law instituting the responsibility of Ministers until
order was restored. However, the Prince of Orange and his
brother, Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, set out for Antwerp.
Prince Frederick took command of the soldiers, and the Prince of
Orange proceeded alone to Brussels, where he was met with cries
of “ Down with Van Maanen! Down with the Dutch!” The
Prince was able to effect nothing, because he had no power, and
was obliged to refer everything to his father. At last Van Maanen
was dismissed on September 3rd, and the States-General were
summoned to meet on September 13th.

A Committee of Public Safety was formed, of which Gendebien,
Van de Weyer, and Merode were members; but they were power-
less to control the extreme party. By the influence of De Potter
a People’s Club had been founded consisting of young Radicals and
Republicans, and it was joined by revolutionary members from
France, Liége, and Flanders, whose leaders were Rogier, Bayet,
van Halen, and a Spanish conspirator of Belgian origin, called
Pletinkx. They had been the leaders of the original revolution
on August 25th, but had been disarmed by the National Guard.
The object of the Club was to rouse the bare-armed, blouse-clad
workman to destroy the power of the Moderates in the Hétel de
Ville. This was not difficult, considering the action of the King
at The Hague and the presence of the Dutch troops at Vilvoorden.
Masses of the mob streamed through the streets, demanding
arms. Chance placed five cases of muskets in their hands, and
others were wrested from the National Guard. Thus armed, they
secured the Hétel de Ville and so alarmed the Committee of Public
Safety that it left the capital.

The middle classes, in dismay, turned to Prince Frederick,
and begged him to occupy the city, promising indemnity to the
victors. But before he could issue a proclamation intimating

230
THE ROYALIST TROOPS RETREAT

that he was there at the invitation of the inhabitants, and that
everyone would be pardoned excepting the leaders of the outbreak,
the rioters were masters of the city. Owing to the patriotic devo-
tion of Pletinkx, the excesses which the citizens feared and the
Dutch desired were prevented. On September 22nd, Hoogvorst
resigned his command of the National Guard, and the leaders of
the Club, Ducpetiaux, Everard, Baron Felner, Ernest Gregoire
and Roussel, formed a provisional Government. The Dutch troops,
who numbered 10,000, with a corresponding force of artillery,
expected a speedy victory. Two members of the Club who had
been sent to Prince Frederick to discuss terms of compromise were
arrested by him and sent to Antwerp. But when the troops
attacked the rioters they met with unlooked-for resistance. Gates,
palaces and barricades were occupied by an armed crowd, actuated
by passion and despair. The middle classes, on the other hand,
in whose name the Prince was fighting, showed no appetite for
the conflict.

For three days the struggle continued, and the troops made
no advance. Palaces were burned and the park was turned into
a desert. When Pletinkx was wounded and made prisoner there
was no one to restrain the fury of the rioters. The troops were
worn out, thelr ammunition was exhausted, and thousands of
Dutch soldiers had been killed. In the night of September 26th
Prince Frederick received the order to retreat, and on the follow-
ing day the people celebrated their triumph. In the evening of
September 27th De Potter returned to Brussels in triumph. The
days of September at Brussels constituted a parallel to the days
of July at Paris. During the conflict a provisional Government
had been formed at the Hotel de Ville, consisting of Gendebien,
Rogier, Van de Weyer, Emmanuel Hoogvorst and Felix de Merode,
and to this was added De Potter on his arrival. They issued a
proclamation releasing the Belgian soldiers from allegiance to the
Dutch Government and establishing national independence. In
a short time the tricolour of revolt was seen in all the provinces,
and the only fortresses left in the hands of the Dutch were Antwerp,
Maestricht, Venlo and Luxemburg.

The independence of Belgium had not yet been officially
announced, and it was still possible to preserve the union between
the two countries. The King yielded so far as to send the Prince
of Orange to the southern provinces with full powers, and Prince
Koslowski, a Russian, was authorised to negotiate with the Revo-
lutionary Government ; but the attempt to come to terms failed,
and the Prince of Orange issued a proclamation in which he

231
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

proposed a separate government for Belgium, absolute freedom of
education, and a complete amnesty for political offences. But the
Liberals had prevailed, and their aspirations would not be satisfied
by a dynastic union, either under the King or the Prince of Orange.
All suggestions of amnesty were rejected. The Dutch troops must
leave the territory and a National Congress must be called to
decide the political future of Belgium.

A second proclamation of the Prince of Orange, issued on
October 16th, in which he recognised the independence of Belgium
and suggested that he should preside over an unfettered congress,
proved fruitless. It was met by a declaration of the provisional
Government that the independence of the Belgian people had
been won by arms and required no recognition. A few days later
the Prince went to London, where the representatives of the great
Powers had met to decide the future of Belgium, but with an eye
to the interests of the House of Orange.

The provisional Government in Brussels determined. to organise
a national army with the object of seizing the fortress of Antwerp.
The Dutch army, under Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, might
have held its own in Flanders had the government of The Hague
not ordered it to withdraw into Antwerp, which was commanded
by Colonel Chassé, a man of sixty-five. Antwerp had been hitherto
under the control of the middle classes, but when the Belgian
army approached the revolutionary element got the upper hand,
soon became masters.of the town, and began to attack the citadel.
Chassé gave orders to fire, and Antwerp was bombarded. In the
space of seven hours three hundred shots were fired and many
houses burned, besides warehouses full of property, which caused
a loss of many millions of francs. However, a large portion of
the garrison left the town by water, in virtue of a convention with
Rogier, the representative of the provisional Government. The
struggle at Antwerp only seemed to consolidate the Revolution.

On November roth, the National Congress, composed of two
hundred members, elected by all Belgian citizens over twenty-
five years of age, met at Brussels and, eight days later, declared
the independence of Belgium and the exclusion of the House of
Nassau-Orange from the throne. De Potter was in favour of a
republic, of which he probably hoped to be president. However,
the convention decided in favour of a constitutional monarchy.
The King of Holland was not popular with the great Powers, and
the re-establishment of the House of Orange found few supporters.
On January 2oth, 1831, the London Conference decided that the
frontier of Belgium should be that of 1790, that her neutrality

232
THE BELGIANS CHOOSE THEIR KING

should be guaranteed, that the navigation of her rivers should
be free, and that the public debt should be divided with Holland.
Luxemburg was given to the King of Holland as part of the Germanic
Confederation. These provisions, however, did not meet with the
approval of the Brussels Congress, which protested against them.
The Belgians had set their hearts upon the inclusion of Luxemburg,
Maestricht and Dutch Flanders within their territory, and they
did not at all like the condition that the choice of the new Sovereign
was to have the approval of the great Powers.

There were three candidates for the crown before the con-
sideration of the Congress—(r1) the Duke of Leuchtenberg, the son
of Eugéne Beauharnais, the stepson of Napoleon; (2) Louis de
Nemours, son of Louis Philippe, and (3) Archduke Charles of
Austria. On February 3rd, Nemours obtained 97 votes, Leuch-
tenberg 74, and Archduke Charles 21. Prince Leopold of Saxe-
Coburg, who had married the Princess Charlotte, and since her
death had resided in England, now began to be put forward seriously
as a candidate. It was known that the London Conference would
not accept as sovereign any candidate belonging to the great
Powers, and Lord Palmerston said that he should regard the
election of Nemours as equivalent to the union of Belgium with
France and a cause of war. Upon this Louis Philippe naturally
declined to accept the crown for his son. Lebeau, the Foreign
Minister, and Van de Weyer, who was afterwards, till his death,
the representative of his country in England, found that Leopold
would be favourably received by Great Britain and would not be
rejected by France. He was accordingly elected King of the
Belgians on June 4th, 1831, by 152 votes to 43. Important con-
cessions were made to the new country by the Powers, chiefly
with regard to the frontiers and the apportionment of the
debt.

Leopold entered Brussels as King on July 21st, 1831, but he
did not gain possession of Antwerp till December 23rd, 1832, and
then only by the active intervention of France and Great Britain.
The creation of the Kingdom of Belgium has been justified by
success. Inhabited by two races, Flemish and Walloon, speak-
ing different languages, differing in religious views, Belgium has
presented the spectacle of a free, intelligent and progressive
society. The development of its mines, manufactures, industries
and commerce has been remarkable. Europe has learnt much
from her in the matter of education and, in the midst of difficulties,
the Constitution has never been violated. It is refreshing to turn
from the failure of the Congress of Vienna to enforce the principle

I* 233
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of legitimacy upon a reluctant Europe, to the success of a govern-
ment founded on national aspirations and popular consent.

Holland, refusing to accept the settlement, declared war, and
the Belgian army was soundly beaten. The French intervened
with an army under General Gérard and a British fleet threatened
the Dutch coast. The Powers proposed a new arrangement, which
they declared they were prepared to enforce by arms. King
William continued obstinate, and refused to evacuate the citadel of
Antwerp. Dutch ships were captured in English and French
harbours, the coasts of Holland were subjected to a blockade,
and Gérard was obliged to resort to a second campaign to
compel Chassé to surrender before the Government of Holland
would give in. Even then the forts of Lillo and Liefkenshoek,
which impeded the navigation of the Scheldt, remained in Dutch
hands. It was not till March 14th, 1838, that the Dutch finally
accepted the conditions imposed by the great Powers. Since that
time Belgium has continued to advance, and at the present day is
rapidly becoming a rival to her protector, France.

234
CHAPTER XXIII

THE REFORM ERA IN GREAT BRITAIN

Tue ten years of the history of the United Kingdom from 1820
to 1830 are occupied by the reign of George IV. He was one of
the most contemptible of British Sovereigns. He led a life of
selfishness, and thought more of the gratification of his personal
desires than of the prosperity of the nation. He was called “ the
first gentleman in Europe,” but, save courtly manners and taste
in dress, he had none of the qualities of a gentleman. His acces-
sion marks no epoch in British history, because he had acted as
Regent since 1812.

In 1795 he had married Caroline, Princess of Brunswick, the
daughter of the Duke who played so prominent a part in the
history of the French Revolution. From the very first he treated
her with dislike, and, as soon as peace rendered it possible, she
withdrew from England and travelled on the Continent. Her
behaviour during the six years of her residence abroad was very
eccentric, and gave rise to scandal, but nothing wrong was ever
proved against her. The King was anxious for a divorce, but the
Ministry effected a compromise, by which her name was omitted
from the Liturgy on condition that no penal proceedings of any
kind were taken against her. The King, however, was dissatisfied
with this arrangement, and the Queen determined to proceed to
England to claim her rights.

She landed at Dover on Monday, June 5th, 1820. An immense
crowd cheered her, and she was received with a royal salute. The
inhabitants of Dover presented her with an address, congratulat-
ing her on her accession to the throne, and she replied that she
hoped she should be permitted to help in promoting the welfare of
her husband’s subjects. At Canterbury the horses were removed
from her carriage and the Queen was drawn to the door of her
hotel. Her journey to London was one long, triumphal proces-
sion. At every village through which she passed business was
suspended and the church bells rang out a peal of welcome. As
she approached the capital the carriage was thrown open, and
she completed her journey amid the acclamation of a countless
multitude. As she drove past Carlton House, the residence of the

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

King, the sentries presented arms. Her progress at last ended at
the residence of Alderman Wood, in South Audley Street.

Continued attempts at compromise were made by the advisers
of the contending parties, but all failed upon the point whether
her name should or should not be included in the Liturgy. The
King refused to admit it, and the Queen declined to sanction its
omission. The Ministers, at the bidding of the King, introduced
a Bill of Pains and Penalties, to deprive the Queen of her rank
and to dissolve the marriage between them. The Queen was
defended by Lord Brougham, and the Bill passed its readings in
the House of Lords with decreasing majorities, and was abandoned
by the Government amidst popular rejoicings, the streets of London
being illuminated for three nights. The result of the trial was to
alienate the middle class from the Crown and the Tories, and to
enhance the prospects of parliamentary reform.

Parliament met on January 29th, 1821; but a month before
this its most powerful orator had retired from the Ministry.
Canning had been a constant guest at the Queen’s table before
her departure from England, and he felt that he could not remain
in a Government which was persecuting her with such relentless
energy. An Act was now passed which granted the Queen a suit-
able residence and an annuity of £50,000, although her name was
still excluded from the Liturgy ; but her acceptance of this income
went far to diminish her popularity with the mob.

But the last scene of the tragi-comedy was enacted at the
Coronation of George IV., which took place on July 1oth, 18az.
The Queen made numerous efforts to be included in the ceremony,
but was baffled at every turn. She, however, determined to be
present, and left South Audley Street at 5 o’clock in the morn-
ing in a coach drawn by six bay horses. The soldiers presented
arms as she passed, and the people cheered. She went to the door
leading into Westminster Abbey at Poet’s Corner, and might have
been admitted alone had she not hesitated and turned back. This
altered the sentiment of the crowd, who greeted her now with
derisive shouts and cheers. She made one more effort to be
crowned before the decorations were removed from the Abbey,
but met with another repulse. Worn out with fever and vexa-
tion, she was taken suddenly ill at Drury Lane Theatre, and died
shortly afterwards. Her body was conveyed to her native city
of Brunswick for burial.

In 1822 changes took place in the Ministry which profoundly
modified the policy of Great Britain in internal as well as external
affairs. Peel became Home Secretary, in the place of the notorious

236
THE NAVIGATION ACTS MODIFIED

Lord Sidmouth, who, as Addington, had excited the ridicule of the
Tories and, as a peer, had incurred the detestation of the Liberals.
On August 12th, Lord Castlereagh, now become Lord London-
derry, died by his own hand and was succeeded by Canning as
Foreign Secretary. Castlereagh had been the friend of Metter-
nich, and had supported the reactionary policy which led to such
disastrous consequences in Europe. Canning, on the other hand,
although a Tory in domestic, was a Liberal in foreign, affairs, and
his name is even now remembered by continental Liberals as that
of the man who first opened to the oppressed nations of Europe the
hope of better government. The Liberalising of Lord Liverpool's
Cabinet was continued in 1823 by the appointment of Robinson as
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Huskisson as President of the
Board of Trade. Huskisson, like Canning, was sneered at for
being an adventurer. In other words, he did not belong to those
privileged families who were considered, at that time, to keep the
government of England in their own hands. He had carefully
studied the principles of political economy and was thoroughly
versed in the laws under which wealth is produced and distri-
buted. He used his position to pass a number of measures which
rapidly developed the resources of the realm.

A law had been enacted during the time of the Common-
wealth, ratified by Charles II., which forbade, with some excep-
tions, foreign produce to be brought to England save in English
ships. The effect had been to give to Great Britain the carrying
trade of the world and to enrich British merchants with all the
profits of carrying foreign goods. Other nations objected, and
America, in particular, imposed so high a duty on goods imported
in British vessels that it practically prevented the continuance of
the trade with the United States. British ships used to go empty
to fetch American goods, and American ships, after carrying
goods from British ports, returned to England empty, so that
the price of freight was doubled on both sides. To remedy this
evil, Huskisson determined to modify the Navigation Acts, as they
were called, and in 1823 carried a Reciprocity of Duties Act, by
which duties were made equal on all goods, whether brought in
British or foreign vessels. The shipping trade of Great Britain, which
had been depressed, was by these means very largely increased.

Heavy duties were at that time levied on the import of foreign
silk. This did an injury to English weavers, partly by depriving
them of raw material, partly by removing the stimulus of healthy
competition. French silks were everywhere preferred to English ;
indeed, such was the rage for them that it was profitable for an

237
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

English manufacturer to have his own goods smuggled into England
under the name of French. The prohibition of foreign wool was
equally injurious, because British wool was benefited by being
mingled with foreign. These proposed changes were, at first,
resisted by manufacturers and operatives alike; but Huskisson,
confident in the truth of his principles, carried measures which
reduced the duties on both articles. Other steps were taken in a
similar direction. The Acts which fixed the wages of the Spital-
fields weavers were repealed, and all Acts were abolished which
restrained the free travelling-about of workmen and controlled
combination between either masters or workmen—a liberty, how-
ever, which was restricted in the following year.

The question of the abolition of slavery next came into promin-
ence. Like many other reforms, it had been brought forward by
Wilberforce and Pitt, but had been laid aside in the confusion of
the European struggles. The West Indian Colonies, belonging to
Great Britain, were full of slaves, and scenes were enacted as
terrible as any afterwards heard of in the United States. Yet
slavery could not be abolished without a heavy loss of money. It
was feared that if the change were effected indiscreetly the blacks
might rise and cause a general massacre. An Act was passed
to mitigate the sufferings of the slaves, and all slave-holders knew
that by this wide measure a deathblow had been dealt at slavery.

Under these favourable influences the prosperity of Great
Britain advanced rapidly. Wealth began to flow into new channels,
and all classes experienced in their daily lives that peace was far
preferable to war. Unfortunately, the change was too sudden,
and the country ran into wild speculation. Companies were
formed for the promotion of unattainable objects, and banks were
opened by men who had no capital to support them. A crash came
in 1825. On December 5th in that year the great banking house
of Sir Peter Pole and Co., in Bartholomew Lane, closed its doors.
It was known that it kept accounts with forty-five country banks,
and the funds fell. Lombard Street was filled with persons hasten-
ing to withdraw their deposits. Even old men, who recollected
the crisis of 1790, were appalled at the extent and character of the
present disasters. The worst pressure came at Christmas time,
and so sad a Christmas had rarely been celebrated in London.
Riots broke out in the midland counties, and machines were
destroyed as the supposed cause of the people’s misery. The
Government, however, came to the rescue: money was lent to
merchants with which to retrieve their fortunes, foreign corn was
allowed to enter, and the panic passed away.

238
CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION

Two great questions began to clamour for adjustment—the
Corn Laws and Catholic Emancipation. The Catholic population
of Ireland was four times as great as the Protestant, but the
Catholics had, for more than a century and a half, been treated as
a conquered and downtrodden race. In some respects their posi-
tion had gradually improved, but in 1828 no Catholic could sit in
either House of Parliament, no Catholic could be guardian to a
Protestant, nor keep any arms or warlike stores. Catholics were
excluded from almost every office of trust or distinction, and were
made, in a variety of ways, to feel that they stood on a different
social footing from Protestants. In 1800, when Ireland was
united with England and Scotland, Pitt had promised to remedy
their grievances, but the King pleaded his coronation oath and
said that if he consented the crown would pass to the House of
Savoy. When the matter was pressed upon him his mind gave
way, and it was felt that nothing could be done as long as
George III. lived.

Canning had been in favour of Catholic emancipation from
his earliest years, but the matter still remained an open question
with the Ministry, and it is probable it would have continued un-
settled for a much longer period but for the efforts of the Catholic
Association, founded in 1823, under Daniel O’Connell. A Bill
for the relief of the Catholics passed the House of Commons in
1825, but was defeated in the House of Lords by the efforts of
the Duke of York, the heir to the throne, who declared his unflinch-
ing hostility to any measure of the kind so long as he lived or
whatever might be his situation in life. The Duke of York died
in January, 1827, and Lord Liverpool was struck down by paralysis
in the following month.

Canning was reluctantly summoned by the Sovereign to form
a Ministry, but he, too, had received his death-blow by attending,
on a cold winter night, the Duke of York’s funeral in St. George’s
Chapel, Windsor. The Duke of Wellington, Robert Peel and Eldon
declined to serve under Canning, but Lord Lyndhurst became
his Lord Chancellor, and Palmerston, Huskisson, Goderich and
Harrowby joined him. Though opposed to parliamentary reform,
Canning was in favour of Catholic emancipation and the Corn
Laws. A Corn Bill, intended to redeem part of this pledge, was
rejected in the House of Lords, but Canning had no time to fulfil
the cherished purpose of his life by emancipating the Catholics.
Worn out by the cares of office, disheartened by the desertion of
friends, harassed by the constant persecution of an unprincipled
Opposition like that which had embittered Pitt’s last years, he

239
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

sank under the accumulated burden and died in August, 1827, at
the age of fifty-seven, leaving a name high up in the glory roll of
British statesmen. His policy was not bounded by the limits
of his country, and his heart was ever moved with indignation
against oppression. He vindicated the position of Great Britain
as the champion of liberty and freedom throughout the civilised
world.

The King hoped to retain the same Ministry in office and carry
on public business with as little change as possible. Lord Goderich,
who was considered a moderate man, became Prime Minister, while
Herries and the Duke of Wellington, both Tories, were received
into the Cabinet. A quarrel arose between Herries and Huskisson,
however, and Goderich, not wishing to get rid of either, preferred
to resign himself. His place was filled by the Duke of Wellington,
who became Prime Minister in January, 1828. The Duke was now
fifty-nine years of age, was indisputably the first subject of the
Crown, and was regarded in all parts of Europe as the embodiment
of British power and British spirit. Yet he was destined to impair
in office the reputation he had gained in war. His industry, courage
and integrity were beyond question, but he had little sympathy
with the people, and was apt to base his conduct too exclusively
on obedience to the authority of the Sovereign. Huskisson
endeavoured to convince himself that the spirit of Canning would
still guide the conduct of the Ministry, and therefore remained
in office. But the Cabinet, composed as it was of discordant
elements, could scarcely hope to hold together. At last, upon
the question whether the seat gained by the disfranchisement of
East Retford should be given to a large town or to a country
Hundred, Huskisson and Peel found themselves voting in different
lobbies. Huskisson accordingly sent in his resignation to the
Duke of Wellington, never dreaming it would be accepted. The
Duke, however, seized the opportunity of removing a troublesome
colleague, and four other members of the Cabinet—Palmerston,
Dudley, Grant, and Lamb (afterwards Lord Melbourne)—shared
Huskisson’s retreat.

Before this change of Ministry took place, the Test and Corpora-
tion Acts had been repealed. They were passed in the reign of
Charles II., and provided that no one should hold any important
office, civil or military, without giving evidence that he belonged
to the Church of England by receiving the Holy Sacrament. The
first of these Acts, passed in 1661, had been directed against the
Presbyterians ; and the second, passed in 1673, against James II,
and the Catholics. Their chief burden now fell on the Dissenters,

240
O’CONNELL ENTERS PARLIAMENT

who were, however, able to some extent to evade them by an Act
of Indemnity, first passed in the reign of George II. and renewed
every year. It was the custom for persons to wait in taverns and
houses near the Church and not go in till the service was over.
The ceremony used to be styled “ qualifying for office,’ and an
appointed person called out ‘‘ those who want to be qualified will
please to step this way.”’ Persons then received the Communion for
the purpose of obtaining office, and with no other intent whatever.

In 1828 Lord John Russell proposed and carried a motion
that a committee should be appointed to consider the abolition of
these galling and useless restrictions. Peel and Huskisson opposed
the measure, as Canning had always done, on the ground, not of
principle, but of expediency. But they were defeated by the
majority of 237 to 193. Peel proposed a compromise. A declara-
tion containing a promise that the maker of it would never exert
any power or influence to injure or subvert the Protestant Estab-
lished Church was to be made by the members of every corporation
and, at the pleasure of the Crown, by the holder of every office.
This was passed by the Commons, but the Peers insisted on adding
the words “ in the true faith of a Christian,” in order to keep out
the Jews.

The movement which finally resulted in the emancipation of
the Catholics began in Ireland. By the efforts of the Catholic
Association Daniel O’Connell was elected member of Parliament
for Clare. His return was declared valid, although he could not
speak or vote in the House until he had taken the prescribed oaths.
The Catholic Association received more and more adherents.
Supported by the priests, and well furnished with money, it soon
spread over the whole of Ireland. Its object was to secure that
no member should be elected to any Irish constituency who did
not pledge himself to obtain emancipation for the Catholics and
parliamentary reform. The Ministry gradually became convinced
that the wisest course was to conciliate a power which they could
not suppress.

Peel, a noble-minded statesman who always preferred the
interests of his country to the interests of party, was the first of
the Tory ministers to come to this conclusion, as, at a later period,
he was with regard té the Corn Laws, and used his influence with
the Duke of Wellington. Stubborn resistance, however, was made
by the King, supported by the heads of the Peers and the Church,
and the prospect of agreement seemed at one time to be hopeless.
But the King was eventually induced to modify his attitude, and
it was arranged that the Royal Speech at the opening of Parlia-

241
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ment in 1829 should contain the surprising announcements that
the Catholic Association would be suppressed and that a measure
for the relief of Catholics would be presented for the consideration
of Parliament. The secret was well kept, and nothing was known
of these designs until copies of the speech were sent to the leaders
of the Opposition on February 4th. Peel thought it his duty to
resign his membership for the University of Oxford, and to offer
himself for re-election, but he was defeated by 755 votes to 609.
He was eventually returned as member for the little borough of
Westbury.

The Bill for suppressing the Catholic Association was passed,
and that for the relief of the Catholics was to be introduced on
March 5th. At the last moment the King declared that he could
not assent to it, and only yielded when he found that it was
impossible to form an administration which would oppose the
Bill. Ultimately the measure passed both Houses and received
the Royal Assent. It abolished all political distinctions between
Catholics and Protestants in the fullest and most generous manner.
The association which had been mainly instrumental in obtain-
ing this victory passed quietly out of existence, and a great step
had been taken in redressing the wrongs of Ireland. O’Connell
now turned his attention to agitating for the repeal of the Union
between Great Britain and Ireland, thus beginning a controversy
which was vastly to affect the course of British politics. In this
year also Robert Peel established the police force, which was to
replace the old watchmen, and the members of which still bear
the name of “ Peelers” or ‘‘ Bobbies.”

It was obvious that the next leading question would be that
of the reform of Parliament, but that it could not be dealt with
whilst the Duke of Wellington remained in office. Indeed, he
declared himself opposed to all measures for reform. He said
he had never heard of any measure which could in any degree
satisfy his mind that the existing state of representation could be
improved. He went still further, and declared that if the duty
were imposed upon him to frame a Legislature for any country,
and especially for a country like Great Britain, in possession of
great properties of various descriptions, he did not mean to assert
that he could frame such a Legislature as they possessed now,
for the nature of man was incapable of reaching such excellence
at once, but his great endeavour would be to frame some descrip-
tion of Legislature which would produce similar results.

When he sat down, a colleague said to him, “ You have
announced the fall of your Government.” The effect on the

242
THE REFQRM MINISTRY

country was disastrous: the funds fell 4 per cent., and there was
grave doubt whether the usual banquet would be held in the City
on Lord Mayor’s Day. Indeed, the banquet had to be postponed.
The Duke resigned, and Lord Grey was entrusted with the forma-
tion of a Ministry. This was the act of William IV., George IV.
having died on June 26th, 1830. Grey had been connected with
every movement for parliamentary reform during the last forty
years. He was a most respected statesman, a finished orator,
dignified and cultured. Lord Althorp became Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Lord Melbourne Home Secretary, Lord Palmerston
Foreign Secretary, and Lord Brougham Lord Chancellor. Lord
John Russell was a member of the Ministry, but was not in the
Cabinet. The history of the fifteen years which succeeded the
fall of Napoleon was thus, to a great extent, made up, on the
one hand, of the struggle to establish government on democratic
principles, and, on the other, of the more or less successful efforts
to stifle such a movement.

All government consists in the union of two principles, which
the Romans called imperium and libertas—one the enforcement
of authority from above, the other the security of freedom ot
thought and action from below. The French Revolution was the
exaggerated assertion of the democratic principle, caused by the
unreasonable exercise of the principle of authority, coupled with
monstrous abuse of class privilege. As it proceeded, it so extended
the domain of liberty that authority lost all power. The Govern-
ment of the Directory was the weakest that France, and perhaps
Europe, had ever seen; a weaker government would have been
anarchy, or no government at all. Napoleon attempted to
reconcile the two principles by founding a democratic Empire—a
Government strong in authority, but instinct with the spirit of
liberty. He failed, because he could not reign in peace, but had
to meet the continual demands of wars forced upon him by those
who opposed his actions, just as they had been forced upon the
Republic which preceded him.

After his fall liberty almost disappeared, just as authority had
disappeared before his. arrival on the scene. The Powers of
Europe, led by Metternich, occupied themselves in suppressing
what they believed to be revolution, but what was really liberty.
Liberty, the just demand of the people for self-government, could
only be put down by force, and the efforts to regain it caused the
abortive attempts of 1820 and the more successful struggles of
1830. But in these movements Great Britain had stood by her-
self, As she had not known to the full the abuses of authority,

243
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

so she refrained from demanding’ the exaggeration of liberty.
What other countries had sought by revolution she laboured to
secure by reform. But the realisation of reform could not be
won without a struggle—bloodless, indeed, but scarcely less violent
than those which had ended in revolution in other countries.

Great Britain fixed her mind on the reform of Parliament as
the key to the position; if that were accomplished, everything
else would follow. The chief evils to be remedied were these:
first, the existence of rotten boroughs, places with few electors
and sometimes no inhabitants, which returned two members to
Parliament at the bidding of a neighbouring magnate; next, the
fact that large and wealthy towns, which had grown into import-
ance during the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century,
had no representative in Parliament; and, thirdly, that only a
small part of the population had the right of voting at elections.
To remedy these evils a Reform Bill was to be introduced, and its
preparation was entrusted to a committee of four, consisting of
Lord Durham, Sir James Graham, Lord Duncannon, and Lord
John Russell. The most influential of these was Lord Durham,
who was mainly responsible for the details of the scheme, and
who included vote by ballot in the plan, against the opinion of
Lord John Russell. The part he played in the movement has
only become recognised of late years, the lion’s share having been
too readily and too exclusively awarded to Lord John Russell,
who introduced the measure into the House of Commons.

The committee proposed the disenfranchisement of all boroughs
with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants; the partial disenfranchisement
of all boroughs with fewer than 4,000 inhabitants; the extension
of the franchise to £20 householders in boroughs and £10 copyholders
in counties; the assignment of members to populous towns, and
of additional members to the more populous. It further pro-
posed the enforcement of residence as a qualification for voting,
the registration of voters, the adoption of the ballot, an increase
in the number of polling stations, and the limit of the duration of
Parliament to five years. In the Cabinet vote by ballot was dis-
allowed and the borough franchise lowered to f{10. Lord John
Russell introduced the Bill in the House of Commons on March
Ist, 1831. The excitement was indescribable ; petitions in favour
of the Bill were heaped upon the table; the House was crowded ;
dense masses of people assembled outside, waiting for the news
of the fate of the measure, and on their fringe were horsemen,
ready to carry the earliest tidings of the details to every part of
England.

244
A MAJORITY OF ONE

Lord John Russell’s speech proposed that sixty of the smaller
boroughs should be disfranchised altogether, and that forty-seven
should return one member instead of two. London received eight
additional representatives, and thirty-four seats were distributed
amongst towns hitherto unrepresented. The English counties
received fifty-five new members, the Scottish five, the Irish three,
the Welsh one. The result of these changes would be to reduce
the House of Commons from 658 members to 596. Corporations
in towns lost their exclusive right of election, and the franchise
was given to all householders who paid {10 a year rent. This
would give votes to half a million citizens who had not as yet
possessed them.

The speech was received with derisive cheers and laughter,
but Sir Robert Peel sat immovable in his place, and the Duke of
Wellington told his friends that it was no joke, that there was
nothing to laugh at. The debate lasted seven nights, and elicited the
conflicting objections of Tories and Radicals. The Tories thought
that such a reform, coupled with a free Press, was incompatible
with the independence of the House of Lords. The Radicals
recognised the boldness of the measure, but regretted that the
plan did not include vote by ballot, short parliaments, and
universal suffrage. At last, after a short reply from the opener
of the debate, leave was given to bring in the Bill and it was read
a first time.

Opinion in the country was divided. The Court, the House
of Lords, the Clergy, the Army and Navy, the Universities, and
the Inns of Court were mainly against the Bill; it was supported
by the manufacturers and the body of the people, and the Press
was generally in its favour. The second reading of the Bill was
fixed for March 21st. After a vigorous debate the second reading
was carried in a full House by a majority of one vote, the numbers
being 302 and 301—another of the great measures, including the
Irish Union, which have been determined by one vote. The
excitement was beyond description, but the success of the Bill
seemed very doubtful.

After the Easter recess Ministers proposed some changes in
the details. Five boroughs were deprived of one member instead
of two, and seven boroughs which were to lose one member were
left untouched. Eight counties and seven large towns received
additional members, and additional members were assigned to
Ireland and to one large town. These concessions did not con-
ciliate the Opposition, and the fateful division was taken at 4
o’clock in the morning of April 21st, when Ministers were defeated

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

by a majority of twenty-two; and at once, as they had already
secretly agreed to do should events demand it, determined to
dissolve. The King, after some hesitation, acceded to their
resolution. When, on the day of dissolution, a difficulty was made
about the carriage to convey him to Parliament, he said, ‘‘ Never
mind the carriage; send for a hackney coach.” The Lords were
engaged in debate when the cannon announced His Majesty’s
arrival. But Lord Mansfield went on speaking while the Royal
procession was entering the House. The King was firm, cheer-
ful and dignified. He announced as his reason for dissolving that
he wished to ascertain the sense of the people, constitutionally
expressed, on the expediency of making changes in the representa-
tion, The question of reform was thus left to the judgment of
the people and the country.

The dissolution of Parliament brought general rejoicing.
London was illuminated, and those who did not light up had
their windows broken. From one end of the land to the other
the cry rang out, ‘“‘ The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the
Bill!’”’? In the new election candidates in favour of the Bill were
chosen throughout the country, and nearly all the county members
were pledged to support it.

Parliament was formally opened on June 21st, and three days
later Lord John Russell introduced the second Reform Bill. He
was now a member of the Cabinet, and therefore spoke with the
authority which belongs to Cabinet rank. But he had no
concessions to offer; the Bill was introduced without material
amendment, and leave to introduce it was granted with only one
dissentient voice. The debate on the second reading—which was
carried by a majority of 136, the numbers being 367 and 231—
lasted three nights. The figures showed that the Ministry had
gained 135 votes by the dissolution. But the Opposition was
united and determined, and met the motion to go into Committee
by repeated amendments. In Committee the case of each borough
was separately discussed. It was urged that the Bill disfranchised
the south of England for the benefit of the north, though it was
in the north that wealth and population had mainly increased.
Every art of obstruction was practised, and the House continued
to sit during the tropical heat of July and past the “ Festival of
St. Grouse’ on August 12th, the work of the Committee being con-
cluded only just before the King’s Coronation in September. The
Bill finally passed the House of Commons by a majority of 106.

The Bill was carried up to the House of Lords by nearly two
hundred Liberals, who broke into cheering when Lord John

246
THE LORDS REJECT REFORM

Russell handed it to the Lord Chancellor. The second reading
was proposed by Lord Grey on October 3rd. In his speech he
defended the consistency of his career, and showed that he had
supported Pitt’s proposals for reform as long ago as 1786.
Brougham, the Lord Chancellor, went down on his knees, theatric-
ally begging the Peers to pass the Bill. It was opposed by the
Duke of Wellington and Lord Lyndhurst, who complained that
it opened the floodgates of democracy. The Lord Chief Justice
and the Archbishop of Canterbury also demanded its rejection.
Earl Grey replied on the morning of October 8th, after an all-
night sitting, and the Bill was thrown out by a majority of 41.

Indignation throughout the country was profound, and a spark
might have produced a revolution. Two papers, the Chronicle
and the Sun, appeared in mourning, and The Times declared that
it turned from the appalling sight of a wounded nation to the
means already in action for its recovery. A muffled peal was
rung at Birmingham, riots broke out at Derby, the jail at
Nottingham was burned down, and the abolition of the House
of Lords was mooted. Unpopular peers were attacked in the
streets, and a procession of 60,000 persons presented a petition
to the King in favour of the Bill. Brougham and Russell did
their best to calm the minds of the people, assuring them that
there was no intention to shelve or desert the Bill, but that repose
was absolutely necessary. Parliament was prorogued for a month.

Even after this it was found necessary to prohibit political
associations by proclamation. At Bristol a riot was directed
against the Recorder, Sir Charles Wetherell, who had been one
of the fiercest opponents of the Bill. The constables were routed,
and soldiers were called in to quell the tumult. The prisons were
broken open and the prisoners liberated, and the Mansion House
and Bishop’s Palace were burned to the ground. The riots were
at last suppressed with great bloodshed and loss of life. It was
realised that the vote of the twenty-one bishops who had voted
against the Bill would have just turned the scale. A ery was
raised that the bishops had thrown out the Bill, and they were
burned in effigy throughout the country, while the Church was
involved in the hatred arising from the action of its chiefs.

The third Reform Bill was introduced by Lord John Russell
on December 12th, 1831. It had been prepared on a slightly
different principle from its predecessors. The census of 1831 had
become known, and its results could not be ignored in framing
the measure. Moreover, the number of the House of Commons
was left unaltered. The second reading was carried by a majority

247
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of 112, and in spite of attempted delay it finally passed the
Commons in March. It was, however, still violently opposed in
the Upper House by the Duke of Wellington and his friends ;
but a party called the ‘“ Waverers,” or the ‘“‘ Trimmers,” repre-
sented by Lords Wharncliffe and Harrowby, were disposed to agree
to the second reading in order to amend the Bill in Committee,
and the second reading was carried by a majority of 9. In
Committee, on May 7th, Lord Lyndhurst proposed that the dis-
enfranchisement clauses should be postponed till the others had
been passed, and the amendment was adopted by a majority of 35.

Lord Grey at once deferred the consideration of the measure.
Ministers had the alternatives of advising the King to create
sufficient peers—which would be not fewer than fifty—to ensure
the passing of the Bill or of resigning office. The King was reluc-
tant to swamp the Upper House with so many new creations, so
the Ministry elected to resign. The Lords determining to proceed
with the discussion of the Bill, the Commons prayed, in an Address
to the Throne, that the measure passed by them might not be
surrendered. The excitement throughout the country was more
violent than ever. A union was founded at Birmingham, one of
whose objects was to refuse payment of taxes. Arms were pre-
pared, and there seemed to be a danger of civil war. In the
meantime, an attempt to form an anti-Reform Ministry failed,
Lord Lyndhurst and Sir Robert Peel declining the task. The
Duke of Wellington, with characteristic courage, undertook it;
but, finding it impossible, advised the King to recall Lord Grey,
and His Majesty had no alternative but to adopt this course.

Lord Grey was recalled in May, 1832. The restored Cabinet
decided that their continuance in office must depend upon their
receiving full and indisputable security for the passing of the Bill,
and the King reluctantly gave permission to the Prime Minister
and Lord Brougham to create as many peers as might be neces-
sary to pass the Bill, first calling up peers’ eldest sons or the
collateral heirs of childless noblemen. In consequence of this,
the opposition of the Lords ceased and the Bill passed through
Committee at the end of May and was read a third time on June
4th, 1832. Slight amendments introduced by the Lords were
accepted by the Commons, and the Bill became law. Consent
was given by Commission on June 7th, in the silence of deep
emotion. Parliament was shortly afterwards dissolved, in order
that the House of Commons might be elected under the condi-
tions imposed by the new Act.

248
BOOK II

CHAPTER I
ENGLAND, 1832-1844

AFTER the great war which was concluded at Waterloo the
population of the United Kingdom largely increased. In 1816 it
amounted to 19,000,000, in 1831 it had reached 24,000,000, and,
with the population, the wealth of the country increased also.
In 1815 the income on which income tax was levied was esti-
mated at £150,000,000; in 1832 it cannot have been less than
£225,000,000 ; so that the wealth of the nation must have grown
by £75,000,000 since the termination of the war. Population
had grown by 25 per cent., wealth by 50 per cent., so that the
accumulation of wealth had been twice as rapid as the multiplica-
tion of the people.

Moreover, a great revolution had taken place in industries.
The use of machinery had lessened the cost of production, and
the cost of distribution had undergone similar diminution. Brindley
and his followers had intersected the country with canals; Telford
and Macadam had furnished it with roads. Facilities for travel-
ling had increased, and the railway was at hand. The railway
consists of two essential parts—a carriage propelled by steam
and rails on which it may run. The second had been invented
and used before the first, and the earlier steam-coaches were made
to run on roads; the union of the two was effected by George
Stephenson. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, the work
of Stephenson and Pease, was opened on September 27th, 1825,
a momentous date in British history. In 1830 a more important
railway was constructed between Liverpool and Manchester. The
opening day was marked by the death of Huskisson, who was
knocked down by the “ Rocket’ steam engine as he was moving
forward to shake hands with the Duke of Wellington, with whom
he had quarrelled two years before. The engine which conveyed
the injured statesman after this accident achieved a speed of
thirty-six miles an hour.

About the same time domestic comfort was enlarged by the
invention of lucifer matches, which took the place of the old tinder-

249
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

box. It is difficult to imagine the fundamental differences which
existed between the England of 1815 and the England of 1832.
Up to 1870 legislation had generally been directed to provide special
advantages for a class; in 1832 it began to aim at securing the
greatest happiness of the greatest number. The sinecures which
existed for the benefit of the upper classes had been abolished ;
learning and capacity became the avenue to the bishop’s mitre
and the judge’s ermine; public officials were compelled to dis-
charge their duties themselves, instead of leaving them to deputies ;
religious disabilities had been swept away ; Roman Catholics were
admitted to Parliament; all offices were free to Dissenters; the
political power of the State was no longer monopolised by a hand-
ful of privileged individuals. The franchise had been extended
to shopkeepers in the boroughs and to occupiers in the counties,
and rotten boroughs had disappeared. Members of Parliament
had lost some of their oppressive rights. Landowners could not
now defraud their creditors or exercise exclusively the privilege
of killing game. The principles of Adam Smith and Jeremy
Bentham had soaked into the hearts of the rising genera-
tion.

But the condition both of the labouring and manufacturing
poor remained very unsatisfactory. Pauperism was terrible. In
the middle of the eighteenth century the poor rate and the
county rate had not amounted together to more than £750,000 B
in 1832 the relief of the poor cost {7,000,000 in England
and Wales alone. The maintenance of the poor threw an annual
charge of ten shillings on every man, woman, and child of the
population. One person in seven in England and Wales was a
pauper. Emigration began to be used as a remedy for these evils,
but it did not attain anything like its present proportions. In
1815 only 2,081 emigrants left the country; in 1832 the number
amounted to 102,313. The condition of the labouring poor in
Ireland was far worse than it was in England, and in 1830 Daniel
O’Connell began to agitate for the repeal of the Union.

The General Election of 1832 passed in comparative quiet.
By a new law the poll was closed in two days, instead of being
kept open for a fortnight, a custom which had occasioned much
disorder. The composition of the House of Commons did not
differ very much from that of previous Parliaments. Parties
were slightly changed: Tories became Conservatives and Whigs
Liberals, and the Radicals began to assume the character of a
responsible political combination. Ireland occupied the first
attention of the reformed House. The state of that country was

250
THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT

deplorable, assassination and robbery were the order of the day.
In Queen’s County, in a single year, there were 60 murders and
II5 malicious injuries to property, 626 burglaries, and 209 serious
assaults on individuals. Peaceable people were afraid to give
evidence or serve on juries to try the offenders. By the intro-
duction of an Irish Church Bill something was done to remedy
the grievances which caused these evils. The members of the
Irish Church mustered only 800,000 out of a population of
8,000,000, but the maintenance of the Church cost more than
fr a head a year for each of its members. It possessed 1,400
benefices and twenty-two bishops. Lord Althorp imposed a tax
on all benefices of over £200 a year, varying as their value. The
£60,000 which this would yield was to be expended in the repair of
churches and the building of parsonages, so that the Church Tax
might be abolished. The number of bishops was reduced from
twenty-two to twelve. But, unfortunately, a Coercion Act was
still thought necessary. The provisions were extremely severe.
The Lord Lieutenant had power to suppress all meetings; he
might declare any county to be in a state of disturbance, and in
districts so disordered it was perilous to be out between sunset
and sunrise. Offenders in disturbed districts were to be tried by
court-martial. The Bill was introduced in the House of Lords
on February 15th, 1833, and passed through its stages in five days.
In the Commons it met with violent opposition, but, owing to the
fiery eloquence of Stanley, the Chief Secretary, it became law on
April 1st, with certain modifications. The Church Bill passed
the Commons, but was nearly defeated in the House of Lords. It
did not become law till July 30th.

After this the Government was reconstructed. Lord Durham,
the principal author of the Reform Bill, left the Ministry and
received an Earldom. Lord Goderich, now made Earl of Ripon,
was given the Privy Seal, and Lord Stanley was entrusted with
the Colonies. Here he was confronted with a difficult and labori-
ous task, the abolition of slavery in British dominions. Slavery
was marked by two evils—the existence of slavery itself and the
horrors of the slave trade, by which slaves were brought from
Africa to labour in other countries. Long regarded with indiffer-
ence, men such as Clarkson, Granville Sharp, and Wilberforce
had succeeded, after years of philanthropic efforts, in rousing the
conscience of Englishmen upon the subject. In 1806, in the middle
of the Napoleonic war, Grenville and Fox, the leaders of the
Ministry which received the name of “ All the Talents,” carried
resolutions in favour of the abolition of the slave trade, and an

251
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Act for its abolition was passed on March 25th, 1807. But slavery
remained and Wilberforce was anxious to complete his work.

It was, however, far more difficult to convert 750,000 slaves
into free labourers than to cut off the supply. Besides, to
do this interfered with the rights of property and might ruin
the Colonies, where cultivators depended on slave labour. The
work was made easier by the fact that trade between Great
Britain and the West Indies had seriously diminished since the
Peace. In 1814 the West Indian trade formed one-sixth of
British commerce ; in 1833 it was only one-fifteenth. The aboli-
tion of slavery was a natural result of the advent of democratic
government due to the Reform Bill of 1832. But, to the surprise
of the abolitionists, no mention of the abolition of slavery was
made in the Speech from the Throne in 1833. Thomas Fowell
Buxton, who had taken charge of the subject in succession to
Wilberforce, asked the Government whether they intended to do
anything, and they were obliged to. answer in the affirmative.
Nothing, however, would have been done had not Stanley been
Secretary for the Colonies. He devoted himself to the study of
a subject of which he was before entirely ignorant, and rose to
make his momentous speech on May 14th. The line he took was
bold and statesmanlike. He was opposed to gradual abolition,
as he held that slave and free labour could not exist side by side.
The proposal was that, for a period, slaves should become appren-
tices, that they should give three-quarters of their time to their
masters and have the rest for themselves. The period of appren-
ticeship, first fixed by Stanley at twelve years, was afterwards
reduced to seven, and £20,000,000 was voted as a compensation
for the slave-owners. The apprenticeship system proved to be
a failure, as the apprentices were treated by their masters really
as badly as the slaves had been. In 1838 it was abolished by
Act of Parliament.

But there was slavery at home, and to this attention was now
directed. The effect of the industrial revolution of the eighteenth
century was to create labour in factories, and it was found that
child labour was cheaper than adult labour. This led to a kind
of slave-trade. Wagon loads of children were sent from London
into Lancashire to act as apprentices in factories. But as time
went on the manufacturing towns supplied their own children,
most of whom did not begin work till they were nine years of age,
though it was not uncommon to begin at six, and there were
instances of beginning at five. The work was extremely hard.
The child was dragged out of bed, winter and summer, at five

252
POOR LAW COMMISSION

o’clock in the morning, to begin work in the factory at six. There
were no holidays. The work continued, with two intervals of
half an hour (often spent in cleaning machinery), for thirteen hours
a day. The atmosphere breathed by the operatives was physic-
ally unwholesome and morally degrading. The question had
been taken up in Parliament, and in 1831 Thomas Sadler had
introduced a Bill to limit the labour of factory children to ten
hours. He was, however, not elected to the Reformed Parlia-
ment, and the work passed into other hands.

In 1833 the question was taken up by Lord Ashley, to a later
generation known as the great philanthropist, Lord Shaftesbury.
The Factory Bill introduced by him forbade the employment of
children under nine years of age, and restricted the work of persons
under eighteen to ten hours a day. Inspectors were to be appointed
to see that the law was enforced and to provide for the educa-
tion of the children. Eventually a modified measure was passed,
which did not go as far as Lord Ashley wished, but greatly
alleviated the sufferings of the factory children.

Thus the Reformed Parliament, in its first session, had
remodelled the Irish Church, had abolished slavery, and had
regulated factory labour. It had renewed the Charter of the Bank
of England and terminated the monopoly of the East India
Company. It also took up the question of elementary education,
and a sum of £20,000 was voted for its improvement. The Ministry
employed this money, through the agency of the National Society
and the British and Foreign School Society, to give grants for
school-houses, supplemented by large local subscriptions. The
Catholics, however, were entirely omitted. But the feeble ray of
enlightenment, which seemed at first merely to irradiate the gloom,
brightened in after years into a glorious day, so that elementary
education has become the most important and the most success-
ful part of the teaching of the British Isles.

A Commission—of which Blomfield, Bishop of London, was
chairman, and other members were Sumner, afterwards Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, Sturges Bourne, and Nassau Senior—had
been appointed to inquire into the working of the Poor Law.
Great pains were taken to ascertain the existing condition of the
question. It was found that the whole nation was pauperised
by the system of outdoor relief established in 1796. In most
parishes doles were given to the inhabitants in addition to any
other means they might possess. This had the effect of inducing
farmers to employ at a reduced wage labourers so subsidised, and
to force everyone to become a pauper. Men received a dole for

253
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

their wives and an extra sum for every child. This led to an
enormous increase of pauper families. Relief in kind tempted
the masters of poor-houses to make a profit by securing for them-
selves the orders for food and clothes. It was held by some that
even able-bodied men were entitled to sixpence a day. Children
did not support their parents, because they were supported by the
parish. The poor man was bribed to marry, and as every girl
who had gone wrong received two shillings a week, either from the
father or from the parish, a woman with a family of bastards
brought her husband a considerable dowry. The amount of the
poor rate became intolerable. Hundreds of farms were without
tenants because no reduction of rent could induce tenants to bear
the weight of the poor rate.

The Commission recommended that after a certain date no out-
door relief, except medical aid in sickness, should be given to any
able-bodied man ; it proposed that women should be compelled to
support their illegitimate children, and that the law of settlement
should be abolished, except settlement by birth or marriage. A
Central Board was to be established to carry out the law, with
powers to make parishes or unions, to effect uniformity in assess-
ment, to dismiss incompetent officers, and to revise the whole
system. On April 17th, 1832, Lord Althorp introduced a Bill for
carrying out these recommendations, and, in spite of violent
opposition, it became law by July 3rd. The measure was a decided
success. Poor law relief, which cost the country {7,000,000 in
1832, cost only a little over £4,000,000 in 1837,

But the Ministry which had done such great things was now
approaching its end. The blow came from Ireland. O’Connell
proposed to inquire into the means by which the Union had been
brought about, thus raising the question of Repeal. After a
debate which lasted six nights the motion was rejected by 529
votes to 38, but it left a sting behind. Another dispute arose
about the tithes in Ireland, which the Roman Catholics naturally
objected to pay. In 1833 the tithes in arrears amounted to
£1,200,000, and Littleton, the Secretary for Ireland, carried a
proposal for spending a million of money on the security of these
tithes, which the Irish Government was to collect. This made
matters worse. There was no justification for the tithe, and it
ought not to have been collected. The whole question of the
existence of the Irish Church was raised in the Cabinet, and there
were grave differences of opinion on the subject. After a number
of discussions, which it is needless to recount, Althorp resigned,
and Grey determined to resign with him (x834). And so the

254
O’CONNELL’S INFLUENCE EXTENDS

Reform Ministry, which had done so much for the United Kingdom,
came to an end.

Grey was succeeded by Melbourne, but he only held office for
a short time. William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, had been a
follower of Canning, and had held office with the Wellington
Ministry, but retired with the other Canningites in 1828. As
Home Secretary in the Ministry of Lord Grey he helped to pass
the Reform Bill, although he had little sympathy with its pro-
visions. He was a man of great ability, but singularly indolcnt.
His chief claim to distinction, however, is that he was Prime
Minister when Queen Victoria came to the throne, and that he
gave her a sound training in constitutional government. One
of the disputes which had broken up the Grey Ministry was a
Coercion Bill for Ireland. Melbourne determined to proceed with
it, and it was passed in a modified form. Disputes about the
tithes still continued. The power of O’Connell in the House
increased, and the Ministry found it necessary to treat him with
respect.

Althorp, the leader of the Commons, enjoyed an authority
based partly on his abilities and partly on his character. He was,
after Grey’s departure, the strongest bulwark of the Whigs, but
on the death of his father he became Lord Spencer and a member
of the House of Lords. His likeliest successor was Lord John
Russell, but the King refused to accept him, and determined to
dismiss Melbourne and send for Wellington. This was the last
instance in British history in which a Ministry was dismissed
by the action of the Sovereign. Wellington accepted office, but
thought that the Prime Minister should be in the House of
Commons, and that the post should be given to Peel. But Peel
was in Italy, and it would take some time to communicate with
him. Wellington, therefore, became sole Minister. The King
made him First Lord of the Treasury, and gave him also the seals
of the Home Office, the Colonies, and the Foreign Office.

James Hudson, the Queen’s Secretary, afterwards celebrated
as the champion of renovated Italy, was sent to look for Peel.
He found him at a ball at Prince Torlonia’s, on the evening of
November 25th, 1834. Peel set off immediately and reached
London on December 9th, becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer
on the following day. Stanley refused to take office, Lyndhurst was
made Lord Chancellor, and Wellington Foreign Secretary. Peel,
however, was the real master of the Government. Born in the
same year as Byron, who had died ten years before, he had been
Chief Secretary for Ireland under Lord Liverpool at the age of

255
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

twenty-five, had succeeded Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary in
1822, but had declined to serve under Canning. Although only
a short period of his life had been spent in office, and he was gener-
ally in Opposition, his large-minded patriotism and preference of
national to party considerations earned for him a worthy place
in the first rank of British statesmen. He now issued a mani-
festo, addressed to the electors of Tavistock, in which he expressed
his political principles. He said that he regarded the Reform Bill
as a final and irrevocable settlement of a great constitutional
question, and that he would never oppose the correction of proved
abuses or the redress of real grievances. His chief objects were
peace abroad and the reform of Church and State at home. By
the enunciation of these principles he became the founder of the
party known as Conservative, in distinction to the former Tories.

Peel thought it necessary to dissolve Parliament, which was
probably a mistake. The election proved adverse to him. The
nation was obviously incensed at the King’s arbitrary dismissal
of Melbourne. London and the boroughs elected Liberals, the
counties Conservatives. Before the new members assembled,
the old Houses of Parliament were burned down on October
17th; but, happily, Westminster Hall was saved. The new
Parliament met on February 19th, 1835, and Peel was defeated
on the election of Speaker and the Address to the Throne.
He was afterwards beaten on the question of the Irish
Church. He did not resign, however, until April 7th, having held
power for four months. Strangely enough, his failures increased
his reputation. Guizot said of him that he was the most Liberal
of Conservatives, the most Conservative of Liberals, and the most
capable man of all in both parties. Bulwer, who voted against
him, declared that never a statesman entered office more trium-
phantly than Peel left it. The King had no alternative but to
recall Melbourne, when Spring Rice became Chancellor of the
Exchequer and Lord John Russell Home Secretary and leader of
the House of Commons, while Lord Palmerston received the seals
of the Foreign Office.

Parliament had now leisure to turn its attention to the reform
of municipal government. Most of the new boroughs, constituted
under the Reform Act, had no municipal government at all, and
the municipalities under which the old boroughs were governed
were generally corrupt. Many towns were ruled by small, irre-
sponsible, and dishonest oligarchies. A Commission was appointed
to inquire into the state of municipal corporations in England,
Wales and Ireland. The inquiry began in the autumn of 1833

256
MUNICIPAL REFORM

and was not concluded till the spring of 1835. The report then
issued was very long and elaborate. The Commission had speedily
ascertained that an unreformed House of Commons and unreformed
corporations went together: that both were founded on monopoly
and supported by corruption. The reform of Parliament natur-
ally carried with it the reform of the corporations, and the Ministers
who had introduced the Bill for reforming the one were charged
with a second task in the reformation of the other.

Lord John Russell proposed that the Bill which he introduced
should apply to 183 boroughs, not including the metropolis. The
general provisions were that the parliamentary boundary was to
be the boundary of the municipality ; that the borough was to be
governed by a mayor and council; that the councillors were to
be elected by residents who had been ratepayers for three con-
secutive years. The twenty largest boroughs were to be divided
into wards, with a certain number of councillors attached to each.
The Tories naturally opposed the measure, but it passed the
Commons, owing to the statesmanlike moderation of Peel, who
supported the principles of the Bill. In the Upper House, how-
ever, Lord Lyndhurst made amendments which entirely altered
its character, transforming it into a Conservative measure, and,
so changed, the Bill passed the Lords in August, 1838. The
Commons accepted some of the amendments, but rejected those
which essentially altered the character of the measure. Wellington
advised the Lords to submit, and even Lyndhurst was convinced
that further resistance was useless. The Bill—in all essential
particulars the same measure as that which Lord John Russell
had introduced—thus became law. The Lords by their action
lost greatly in the opinion of the country.

Treland still continued in a state of disturbance. During the
preceding fifty years a number of political societies, called “‘ Orange
Lodges,” in memory of the Protestant liberator, William of Orange,
had sprung up in Ulster. Their object was to support the cause
of Protestantism against the members of Catholic associations,
who were called “ Ribbon men.” The attempt to diminish the
revenues of the Irish Church favoured the extension of these
lodges, which spread throughout England, Ireland, and the
Colonies. The number of their members amounted to 300,000,
and the Duke of Cumberland, the King’s brother, was placed at
their head, with almost despotic power. It was felt that the
existence of these lodges was a serious political menace, and Par-
liament declared against them, while the King asserted his firm
intention of discouraging all such societies in his dominions. The

J 257
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

result was that the lodges were broken up, and the organisation
which threatened the peace of the Empire ceased to exist.

Other social reforms followed. A uniform registration of births,
deaths, and marriages was ordered throughout the kingdom. The
revenues of bishops and canons of the Established Church were
remodelled, while the tax on newspapers was reduced to one penny,
in spite of the Tories, who preferred cheap soap to a cheap Press,
The debates of the Commons also began to be published, for the
first time, by the House itself. But the passage of these reforms
exhausted the force of the Ministry, and, distracted by internal
dissensions, they failed to carry further measures of improve-
ment. Discredited by repeated defeats, they would have resigned
but for the illness and death of the King, who expired on June
20th. William IV. was honest and conscientious. His reign
witnessed the passage of the Reform Bill and the other beneficent
measures which accompanied and followed it, and a strong impulse
was given to commerce by the extension of railways and the use
of steamships. Whether, as a Sovereign, he had much to do with
the advance or not, there can be no doubt but that in the reign
of William IV. the progress of the nation was unusually rapid.

On Tuesday morning, June 2oth, 1837, shortly after two
o’clock, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain
left Windsor for Kensington Palace, where the Princess Victoria
was residing with her mother, to inform the girl, who was now
Queen, of the King’s death. They reached the Palace about five,
and rang and stamped for a considerable time before they roused
the porter to open the gate. They were again kept waiting in the
courtyard, and were then shown into one of the lower rooms, where
they seemed to be forgotten by everybody. They rang the bell
and desired that the attendant of the Princess Victoria might be
sent to inform Her Royal Highness that they requested an audience
on business of importance. When the attendant came she said
that the Princess was in bed and sound asleep, and that she could
not venture to disturb her. They replied, ‘‘ We have come to
the Queen on business of State, and even her sleep must give place
to that.” To prove that she did not wish to keep them waiting,
the girl-Queen came into the room in a loose white dressing-gown
and shawl, her night-cap thrown off, her hair falling over her
shoulders, her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly
collected and dignified.

Queen Victoria has left an account of this event in her own
words, so simple and graphic that it should not be omitted in any
mention of this momentous occasion. ‘“ I was awoke at six o’clock

258
CANADIAN DISTURBANCES

by Marie, who told me that the Archbishop of Canterbury and
Lord Conyngham were here, and wished to see me. I got out
of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing-gown)
and saw them, and Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that
my poor uncle, the King, was no more and had expired at twelve
minutes past two in the morning, and consequently that I am
Queen. Lord Conyngham then knelt down and kissed my hand.”
After she had received an account of the King’s last moments
she went to her room and dressed. She then notes, “ Since it
has pleased Providence to place me in this station, I shall do my
utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country. I am very young,
and perhaps in many, though not in all, things, inexperienced ;
but I am sure that few have more real goodwill and real desire
to do what is fit and right than I have.”

The Queen’s diary continues: “ At nine came Lord Melbourne,
whom I saw in my room and, of course, quite alone, as I shall
always do with all my Ministers. He kissed my hand, and I then
acquainted him that it had long been my intention to retain him
and the rest of the present Ministry at the head of affairs, that it
could not be in better hands than his. He then again kissed my
hand. He then sent to me the declaration which I was to send
to the Council, which he wrote himself, and which is a very fine
one. I then talked with him some little time longer, after which
he left me. He was in full dress, I like him very much, and feel
confidence in him. He is a very straightforward, honest, clever,
and good man. At about eleven Lord Melbourne came again to
me and spoke to me about various subjects. At about half-past
eleven I went downstairs and held a Council in the red saloon.
I went in, of course, quite alone and remained seated the whole
time. My two uncles, the Dukes of Cumberland and Sussex, and
Lord Melbourne conducted me. I was not at all nervous, and
had the satisfaction of hearing that the people were satisfied with
what I had done and how I had done it.”

The first disturbance to the quiet of Victoria’s reign came
from Canada. The condition of that country was perilous. Lower
or Eastern Canada was inhabited, for the most part, by men of
French descent, whereas Upper Canada was almost exclusively
British. The French of Lower Canada were disinclined to forge
ahead, whereas the inhabitants of the Upper Province were sup-
porters of energetic progress. The most important statesman in
Lower Canada was Papineau. He had been Speaker of the
House, and had planned a Convention to discuss the grievances
of the Colony, the chief of which was the need of self-government,

259
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

although it was said that he desired to make Canada into an
independent State. A rebellion broke out in the lower province ;
it was not very important at first, but was clumsily dealt with
and much blood was shed. The disturbance spread to Upper
Canada, but here it took slight hold. The Earl of Durham was
selected by Lord John Russell to settle these disturbances. He
was an extremely able man, full of energy and passion, who has
never received that meed of praise to which his public services
entitled him.

Durham arrived at Quebec at the end of May, 1838, taking
with him, as secretary, Charles Buller, the most brilliant of the
younger generation of public men. He soon found himself con-
siderably hampered by the action of Parliament, which passed
a Bill abridging his powers. Desperate diseases require desperate
remedies, and there can be little doubt but that, if Durham had
been left to himself, he would have carried to a triumphant issue
the accommodation which he was charged to effect. He secured
a generous amnesty, but excluded from its operation Papineau
and others, whom he exiled to Bermuda, threatening them with
death if they returned. As they had not been tried, the action of
the Governor was illegal. He also dismissed his regular Council
and appointed another. Nothing could be more heroic than his
performance of duty while wasting with an incurable disease and
threatened by factious opposition. His chief antagonist in England
was Brougham, with whom he had a personal quarrel. As the
Home Ministry disallowed the ordinances, Durham had no alter-
native but to resign. Before he left Canada he issued a proclama-
tion in self-defence, which, to say the least of it, was extremely
indiscreet, and its terms were condemned by Ministers. He set
out for England shortly after the issue of the proclamation, but
before he could reach home he was recalled. He came back a
disgraced man and was accorded a triumphant reception. He
spent his leisure in drawing up, with the assistance of Charles
Buller, a report which marked a new era in the government of
colonies. His principles of administration, which in two or three
years were in full operation in Canada, were afterwards extended
to all colonies of European race which have any claim to the
character of important communities.

On May 8th, 1838, the so-called People’s Charter, the mani-
festo of the Chartists, was published to the world. Chartism
sprang from the conviction that the Liberals in Parliament did not
intend to push Reform any farther. Regarded in the light of
modern ideas, the Charter is not very formidable. It consisted

260
THE CHARTIST RIOTS

of six points. Universal suffrage came first, which really meant
manhood suffrage, as the promoters had no idea of extending the
suffrage to women. This was followed by vote by ballot and
annual parliaments. Then came the abolition of the property
qualification for members, the payment of members, and the
division of the country into equal electoral districts.

The Ministry, in the meantime, became gradually weaker, and
were only allowed to exist on sufferance. They had no power to
carry measures or to support those who served them. In May,
1839, they were defeated on the Jamaica Bill, which proposed to
suspend the Constitution of Jamaica for five years, in consequence
of the difficulties made by the Assembly in connection with the
emancipation of the slaves. The Bill was opposed by the Radicals,
led by Joseph Hume and by Sir Robert Peel, and only carried by
five votes. The Ministry resigned, but Sir Robert Peel would
not take office unless permitted to make changes in the Queen’s
personal household. He felt he could not retain his authority if
the Queen were surrounded by ladies deeply devoted to the oppo-
site party. The Queen vehemently objected to any change being
made, an attitude which she afterwards admitted to have been
mistaken, and Lord Melbourne returned to office.

The same year witnessed the introduction of the penny post,
though the reform did not come into full operation until January
roth, 1840. The plan of conveying letters for a uniform low
charge was invented by Rowland Hill, but the adhesive stamp
was of another origin. At this time the postage of no letter was
less than twopence. Letters from the country to London cost
from sixpence to a shilling; letters from Scotland or Ireland
from a shilling to eighteenpence. Rowland Hill showed that
the cost of carrying each letter was extremely small, and that,
if a stimulus were given to correspondence by lower rates, the
profits would increase enormously. Experience has amply con-
firmed the truth of his reasoning, and cheap postage has been
adopted by all civilised countries. Of course, the introduction
of postage stamps greatly facilitated the new arrangements. In
consequence of this change the privilege of franking letters was
abolished.

Chartist riots continued during the whole of the year. The
worst of them took place at Newport, in Monmouthshire, on
November 4th. The rioters, after sacking the villages through
which they passed, and compelling the whole adult population to
join them, reached Newport at four o’clock in the morning, 50,000
strong, and were joined there by another division. The soldiers

261
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

received the order to load, but the mob fired first. Then, under
the fire of the soldiers, the mob dispersed.

The question of the Queen’s marriage now began to assume
prominence. The Coronation had taken place on June 28th,
1838. The Queen has given an interesting sketch of it in her
“* Journal”: “ I was awoke at four o’clock in the morning by the
guns in the Park, and could not get much sleep afterwards, on
account of the noise of the people and the bands. Got up at seven,
feeling strong and well. At half-past nine I went into the next
room and dressed exactly in my House of Lords costume. At ten
I got into the State coach, with the Duke of Sutherland and Lord
Albemarle, and began our progress. It was a fine day, and the
crowds of people exceeded what I have ever seen. Many as there
were the day I went to the City, it was nothing to the multitudes,
the millions, of my loyal subjects who were assembled in every
spot to witness the procession. Their good humour and exces-
sive loyalty were beyond everything, and I cannot say how proud
I feel to be Queen of such a nation. I was alarmed at times, for
fear that the people would be crushed and squeezed on account
of the tremendous rush and pressure.

“T reached the Abbey, amid deafening cheers, at a little after
half-past eleven. I first went into the robing-room, quite close
to the entrance, where I found my eight train-bearers. After
putting on my mantle, and the young ladies having properly
got hold of it, and Lord Conyngham holding the end of it, I left
the robing-room and the procession began. The sight was splendid ;
the rank of Peeresses, quite beautiful, all in their robes, and the
Peers on the other side. My young train-bearers were always
near me, and helped me when I wanted anything. The Bishop
of Durham stood on the side near me, but he was very maladroit,
and never could tell me what was to take place.

“At the beginning of the anthem I retired to St. Edward’s
Chapel, a dark, small place, immediately behind the altar; took
off my crimson robe and kirtle, and put on the supertunica of
cloth of gold, took off also my circlet of diamonds, and then pro-
ceeded bareheaded into the Abbey. I was then seated upon St.
Edward’s Chair. Then followed all the various things, and last
the crown being placed on my head, which was, I must own,
a most beautiful, impressive moment. All the Peers and Peeresses
put on their coronets at the same instant. My excellent Lord
Melbourne, who stood very close to me during the whole ceremony,
was completely overcome at this moment and very much affected.
He gave me such a kind and, I may say, such a fatherly look. The

262
QUEEN VICTORIA’S MARRIAGE

Enthronisation and the Homage of, first, all the Bishops, then
my uncles, and lastly of all the Peers, in their respective order, was
very fine. Poor old Lord Rolle, who is eighty-two, and dreadfully
infirm, in attempting to ascend the steps, fell and rolled quite
down, but was not the least hurt. When he attempted to
re-ascend them I got up and advanced to the end of the steps
to prevent another fall.

“T then again descended from the Throne, and repaired, with
all the Peers bearing the Regalia, to St. Edward’s Chapel, as it is
called; but, as Lord Melbourne says, was more unlike a chapel
than anything he had ever seen, for what was called an altar was
covered with sandwiches, bottles of wine, etc. There we waited
some minutes. The Archbishop came in, and ought to have
delivered the orb to me; but I had already got it, and he was so
confused and puzzled and knew nothing and went away. The
procession being formed, I replaced my crown, which I had taken
off for a few minutes, took the orb in my left hand, and the
sceptre in my right, and, thus loaded, proceeded through the
Abbey, which resounded with cheers, to the first robing-room,
and here we waited for at least an hour, with all my ladies
and trainbearers.

“The Archbishop had, most awkwardly, put the ring on the
wrong finger, and the consequence was that I had the greatest
difficulty to take it off again, which I at last did with much pain.
At half-past four I re-entered my carriage, the crown on my head
and the sceptre and orb in my hands, and we proceeded the same
way as we came, the crowds, if possible, having increased. The
enthusiasm, affection, and loyalty were really touching, and I
shall ever remember the day as the proudest of my life. I came
home a little after six, really not feeling tired.”

The choice of the King of the Belgians, in selecting a husband
for the Queen, had fallen on a member of his own house, Prince
Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, brother of the reigning Duke, and
he took great pains with the Prince’s education to fit him for his
responsibilities. The Queen wrote to her uncle Leopold, on
October 12th, 1839, that the cousins had arrived at half-past
seven on Thursday, both looking very well and much improved.
“Emest is grown quite handsome, and Albert’s beauty is most
striking, and he is amiable and unaffected—in short, very fascinat-
ing. He is exceedingly admired here.’ Two days afterwards
she told Prince Albert that she wished to marry him. “‘ The warm
affection he showed me on learning this gave me great pleasure.
He seems perfection, and I think I have the prospect of great

263
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

happiness before me. I love him more than I can say, and I shall
do everything in my power to render the sacrifice he has made
(for a sacrifice, in my opinion, it is) as small as I can. These last
few days have passed like a dream to me, and I am so much
bewildered by it all that I know hardly how to write; but I do
feel very, very happy.”

The marriage took place on February roth, 1840, at the Chapel
Royal, St. James’s, and the married couple went to Windsor in
the afternoon. The marriage, although arranged by statesmen,
was a marriage of love. The Prince’s personal virtues contri-
buted largely to the prosperity of the reign, and his many-sided
culture and intellectual activity left their mark on the com-
munity. He contributed to making German thought, in its
various branches, current coin in his adopted country, and in
this regard achieved a result which the union with Hanover
failed to accomplish.

The year 1840 was marked by British intervention in Syria.
In 1832 Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, had made war upon
his suzerain, the Sultan of Turkey, had captured Acre, occupied
Damascus, and, in 1833, secured for himself the whole of Syria
and the Province of Adana. In 1839, the Sultan, feeling himself
stronger, had renewed the war, but Mehemet Ali had gained a
decided victory over the Turks, and the Turkish fleet deserted to
his cause. A Quadruple Alliance was formed between Great
Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia to force ‘the Turks and
Egyptians to make peace. From this alliance France held aloof;
having great influence in Egypt, she naturally supported the
Egyptians against the Turks. In fact, the Egyptians governed
Syria better than the Turks did. For a short time it seemed
possible that war might break out between France and Great
Britain, but France eventually became convinced that she could
not stand against the rest of Europe. Beirut was attacked and
Acre captured by Admiral Sir Charles Napier, and Mehemet Ali
was turned out of Syria. In compensation he was recognised as
Pasha of Egypt, with virtual independence.

Melbourne’s administration had now Jost credit, and a vote of
no confidence, taken in April, was rejected by only twenty-one. In
August, however, the Government was able to pass a Municipal
Act for Ireland, the measure abolishing fifty-eight municipalities
and reconstituting ten. But Ministers failed to carry other
measures of importance, and a Sugar Duty Bill was rejected by a
majority of thirty-six. After this Sir Robert Peel brought forward
a motion of want of confidence, which was carried by a single vote.

264
DEFEAT OF MELBOURNE

Lord Melbourne had the alternative of resigning or dissolving
Parliament, and chose the latter; but the country decided against
him. In the new Parliament, which met in August, 1841, the
Conservatives numbered 367 and the Liberals 286. The Ministers
were defeated on the Address by a large majority and, to the
distress of the Queen, Lord Melbourne resigned.

j*¥ 268
CHAPTER II

THE CITIZEN KING

Louis PHILIPPE ascended the throne of the Bourbons as King, not
of France, but of the French. He was supported by the heads of
the Liberal Opposition and the leaders of the Napoleonic party
who had returned from exile. The new monarchy was distinctly
middle-class, finding favour with the manufacturers and shop-
keepers, who dreaded a republic on the one hand and an aristo-
cratic autocracy on the other. The supporters of the monarchy
of July did not form a homogeneous body. They were composed
of a party of movement and a party of reaction. The first, repre-
sented by Laffitte, Lafayette and Odilon Barrot, sympathised
with the popular risings in different parts of Europe, and wished
France to take the side of peoples against their Sovereigns. The
second agreed with Louis Philippe in thinking that the Revolu-
tion of July had been closed on August 9th. The leaders of this
party were Guizot, Casimir Périer and the Duc de Broglie. The
King, however, was obliged to form his first Ministry from both
sections, and we find that it inc'uded a number of incongruous
names. It comprised Laffitte, Dupont de l’Eure, Bignon, Gérard,
Molé, Casimir Périer, Dupin, Guizot, Broglie. Lafayette com-
manded the National Guard, as he had done in the days of the
Revolution, and Odilon Barrot was Prefect of the Seine.

This divergence of opinion ‘became clearly shown in the atti-
tude of the Government towards the Belgian Revolution of 1830.
Some believed that they were bound to support a revolt which
had directly sprung from their own. They called upon the King
to declare himself a supporter of the democracy, to punish the
Ministers of Charles X. who had signed the ordinances, and to
prepare the way for a declaration of war against the Sovereigns
and Ministers of the Holy Alliance. Polignac, Peyronnet, and
two others were confined in the Chateau of Vincennes. The
Chamber, at the end of September, had voted their accusation,
and many were in favour of their death, The Chamber, however,
presented an address to the King, recommending that capital
punishment should be done away with, and Louis Philippe
expressed his satisfaction. The agitation, however, continued.

266
STORMY DAYS IN FRANCE

On October 17th rioters proceeded to the Palais Royal, crying
“Death to the Ministers!”’ and on the following day a mob of
ruffans marched to Vincennes to execute the prisoners. They
were resisted by Dumesnil, who declared that, if the gates were
forced, he would blow the chateau into the air. In this crisis,
which threatened the safety of the King, the Conservatives Broglie
and Guizot determined to resign. Louis Philippe adopted a
moderate course with tact and courage. He reconstituted the
Ministry with Laffitte and Dupont de l’Eure at its head; but
appointed as Minister of the Interior Montalivet, a man devoted
to himself. Montalivet proposed a reform of the electorate, which,
by reducing the property qualification for the franchise, doubled
the number of voters, while his colleague Mérilhou laid before
the Chamber of Peers a scheme of public education which he
thought would be popular in the country. At the same time the
King resolutely opposed all violence. However, the trial of the
Ministers took place on December 21st, before the Chamber of
the Peers. They were condemned to imprisonment for life, but the
extremists desired their death, and a revolt took place, which it
required all the efforts of the army and the National Guard to
keep in check,

On February 14th, 1831, the anniversary of the death of the
Duc de Berri, the Legitimists held a special service in the Church
of St. Germain l’Auxerrois, when a collection was made for the
soldiers of the Royal Guard who had been wounded in the days
of the Revolution. The angry mob attacked the church and the
presbytery, and on the following day the palace of the Archbishop
was attacked, and Notre Dame itself was in danger of being sacked.
A strong feeling against the clergy broke out, both in the capital
and in the provinces, and the King was forced to abstain from
attending mass. The result was to render the Liberals unpopular
with the middle classes who governed the country. When the
King refused to support the inhabitants of the Italian duchies
of the Emilia against an Austrian intervention, Laffitte resigned.

He was succeeded by Casimir Périer, the head of the Con-
servative party, a man of large fortune and commanding temper,
clear head and energetic spirit, but possessed, above all, with the
sense of authority and a passion for power. His manners were
imperious, his tone of voice stern and occasionally offensive. He
kept the King under strict discipline; every dispatch was sub-
mitted to him before it met the eyes of the Sovereign; and no
communication was made by the King to the Ministers without the
previous approval of the Minister. He was always ready to take

267
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

responsibility upon himself, even if it brought hatred with it,
and aimed at the establishment of a free but regular government,
a government of peace which encouraged no violence, either at
home or abroad. He dissolved the Chamber on May 31st, 1831,
and asked the electors to decide between the new monarchy and
the old. The enlarged electoral body gave a decisive verdict,
which disarmed, once and for all, the forces of Legitimism and at
the same time repressed the Radicals. Meanwhile, the heads of
the Opposition, Arago, Odilon Barrot and Laffitte, were returned
to the Chamber.

In fourteen months Casimir Périer had firmly established his
authority over the Chamber, and the power of the Chamber over
the Sovereign and the country. He carried to a practical result
the programme of the Doctrinaires and the more Liberal Con-
servatives. To the democracy he opposed the army; to the
revolutionaries the doctrines of Liberalism. He exercised a dicta-
torship, but a liberal dictatorship. He called to his side Dupin,
Guizot and Thiers. Unfortunately his rule was short. The
cholera, the scourge of God, which broke out in Paris on March
26th, 1832, after a masked ball, and slew nearly 20,000 victims
in three months, brought about a kind of truce between the violent
antagonisms of the two parties. Indeed, most of the Deputies
had left Paris to avoid the pestilence. The Prime Minister, with
rare devotion, paid a visit to the hospital, the Hétel Dieu, accom-
panied by the Duc d’Orléans, the eldest son of the King, but
he was attacked by the disease and died on May 16th, after five
weeks’ illness. He disappeared from the scene just when the
new monarchy was about to undergo its most serious trial.

In the night of April 28th, 1832, an Italian steamer, the Carlo
Alberto, landed in the neighbourhood of Marseilles the Duchesse
de Berri, accompanied by some of her faithful supporters, such
as Bourmont and Kergolay, with the object of recovering the
crown for her son, the Duc de Bordeaux. She failed to rouse
the south of France, but collected the chiefs of a new Vendéan
insurrection at Nantes, and forced the Government to declare
a state of siege in four Departments. With superb audacity, she
crossed the south, and entered Bordeaux in an open carriage.
Reaching in this way the Chateau de Plassac, she issued to the
people of La Vendée a summons to arms for May 24th. Only
a few hundreds answered the call, and two engagements, one at
La Chéne, the other at La Pénissiére, sufficed to crush the move-
ment. The defeated duchess wandered about in strange disguise
from cottage to cottage, but was eventually caught and imprisoned

268
“THE REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT IS DEAD”

in the citadel of Blaye. Here she was delivered of a daughter,
the fruit of a secret marriage with Count Hector Lucchesi di
Palli, Chancellor of the King of the two Sicilies. This somewhat
untoward, but: not dishonourable, event, lending a touch of the
ludicrous to her case, rendered her politically powerless for the
future.

A still more serious insurrection broke out in Paris on June 5th,
on the occasion of the funeral of General Lamarque. It began
with a conflict with the Municipal Guard at the Bridge of Auster-
litz, and the quarters of the Temple, St. Martin, St. Dénis, and
the Place de la Bastille were soon covered with barricades. But
the insurgents had little chance of success. They were not joined
by the workmen, and the middle classes were enraged against
them, while the National Guard assisted the troops of the line
on the following day, when the rioters were dispersed ; they were
treated with clemency, however, only a few being punished.

The natural successor of Casimir Périer would have been Guizot,
the leader of the Doctrinaires. But the King had the strongest
objection to appointing him. He had got rid of one dictator and
did not wish to subject himself to another. For four months,
from June to October, 1832, the King strained every nerve to
avoid entrusting the government to Guizot and his friends. He
attracted to his side men whom he disliked less, such as Montalivet
and Sebastiani, and kept for himself the Presidency of the Council.
But events were too strong for him, and, after October 11th, he
gave to Marshal Soult the task of forming a Ministry. Broglie
became Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thiers took the portfolio of
the Interior, and Guizot that of Education. It was a “ Ministry
of all the talents,” a triumph for the Doctrinaires.

In February, 1833, Guizot was able to say, ‘‘ Insurrection is
dead, the societies are dead, revolutionary propagandism is dead,
and the revolutionary spirit is dead.” This was too optimistic a
view, but, in order to destroy the evil of unrest and all prospect
of its revival, Guizot passed a law concerning primary education
in June, 1833, which invited the Catholics to associate themselves
with State officials in the work of establishing internal and social
peace. He regarded a system of religious education as the best
means of arresting disintegration and the dangers to which society
was exposed. Thiers, on his side, urged the adoption of a system
of public works at a cost of 100,000,000 francs to be spread over
five years.

But, in this very summer, the heads of the Republican party
were stimulated to fresh efforts. The Ministry attempted to suppress

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

activity by indicting twenty-seven of the Republican leaders
before the Court of Assizes. They were all acquitted, and this
gave new encouragement to the leaders, who thought the time
had come to unfurl their standard. An explosion was brought
about through an attempt made by the Ministry forcibly to
suppress strikes. In Lyons an insurrection lasted from April gth
to April 13th, and when news of the outbreak reached Paris
barricades were raised there by the Republicans. Thiers adopted
rigorous measures, arresting the most active members of the
Society of the Rights of Man, and holding 40,000 soldiers in
readiness to march. In a short time all the positions of the
insurgents were captured. Attempts of a similar kind made at
St. Etienne, Clermont, Marseilles, Belfort, Luneville, and else-
where were extinguished with equal success.

Opportunity was now taken to crush the Republican faction.
Laws of great severity were passed against the carrying of arms
and against the democratic journals. The elections which took
place in May, 1834, produced a Parliament still more hostile to
Republican ideas. It redoubled the severity of previous Ministries.
During the last four years, there had been 529 Press trials.
Journalists had been condemned to periods of imprisonment
which amounted to 106 years, and the fines paid for offences
reached the sum of 400,000 francs. The Tribune, the principal
organ of the Republicans, had been prosecuted 111 times,
and its editor had been condemned to imprisonment twenty
times. The National, the organ of Armand Carrel, had been
treated with similar harshness. The Government was deter-
mined to bring the whole of the offenders before a special High
Court composed of the Chamber of Peers. Two thousand persons
had been arrested, and 164 were brought to trial. The trial did
not begin till March 5th, 1835, and was not concluded till January
23rd, 1836, by which time 4,000 witnesses had been examined.
The offenders were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment,
but were all amnestied on the occasion of the marriage of the
Duc d’Orléans, which took place on May 8th, 1836.

While this trial was proceeding, on July 28th, 1835, as Louis
Philippe was riding with the most distinguished members of the
Court, the Government, and the army, to attend a review in
honour of the Revolution of July, a so-called infernal machine
was exploded in the Boulevard du Temple close to the head of
the cortége. The machine consisted of a row of musket-barrels
filled with bullets, and was placed in a window commanding the
procession. Eighteen persons who were close to the King were

270
THE RISE OF THIERS

killed, amongst them the ancient Marshal Mortier, Duc de
Treviso, and many others were wounded. The King was slightly
injured, but continued his progress with commendable courage.
The author of this conspiracy was Joseph Fieschi, a Corsican
adventurer of abandoned character, who had once served under
Murat, He seemed, to have had only two accomplices, who were
guillotined with him on February 16th, and were regarded as
martyrs by the Democrats and Socialists.

The result, of this conspiracy was the passing of the Laws of
September, three in number, dealing respectively with courts
of assize, trial by jury, and the Press. The first gave the Ministry
power to create as many courts of assize as might be thought
necessary for trying offenders against the security of the State ;
the second allowed condemnations to take place by a bare majority
of the jury ; and the third established in their most repulsive form
the most stringent laws against the Press. The Press law was
directed equally against Legitimists and Republicans, both opponents
of the Government, but the Legitimists, having a larger command
of money, were less affected by it. The laws were strongly opposed
by Royer-Collard and Odilon Barrot. Some months afterwards
Armand Carrel, the brilliant editor of the National, fell (July 24th,
1836) in a duel with Emile de Girardin, in the cause of the liberty
of the Press.

Meanwhile a third Party was being organised, consisting partly
of men who could not make up their minds, and partly of men

whose ambitions had been disappointed. These were favoured
by Louis Philippe, who did not like the Doctrinaires. The con-
sequence was that the Broglie Ministry was overthrown, and, in
February, 1836, a new Ministry was formed, in which the Presidency
of the Council and the portfolio of Foreign Affairs were held by
Thiers.

The first Ministry of Thiers lasted from February 22nd to
September 6th, 1836. From the first there was dissension between
the Sovereign and his Ministers. They both determined to govern
and, when this could not be done openly, they resorted to obscure
and subtle means of gaining their ends. Thiers once said to the
King: “Sire, I am very subtle,’ and Louis Philippe replied :
“T am more subtle than you,, because I do not say so.” The
King’s declared policy was to resist the Revolutionary movement
at home and, while enforcing respect for existing treaties, to avoid
interference in the affairs of other States. Lamartine once said
to Thiers with great truth: ‘‘ You have in you a restless, jealous,
insatiable spirit, which nothing can appease, and which brooks

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

no rival. You have a passion for governing, for governing alone,
for governing always, for governing with a majority or with a
minority, for governing either with or against all, for reigning
alone, for reigning always and at any price.”

The difference broke into a flame with reference to the civil
war between the Carlists and the Cristinos, which still continued
in Spain. Great Britain intervened, according to the terms of
the Quadruple Alliance. As early as March 18th, 1836, Thiers
protested to Lord Palmerston against the policy of the Quadruple
Alliance, and reserved to France liberty of action with regard
to Spain. In July he made preparations for the intervention.
He increased the foreign legion, which the Government had lent
to the Queen of Spain against the Carlists, and offered the services
of a general to command the royal army. He said: ‘‘ We intend
to annihilate Don Carlos, the hero of Navarre.” By the Revo-
lution of La Granja, which broke out on August 12th, 1836, the
Queen-Mother was forced by the party of progress to accept the
liberal Constitution of 1812. On August 24th, Louis Philippe,
having heard that Thiers had allowed it to be announced that a
French army would enter Spain, had an official denial inserted in
the Moniteur, without communicating with his Minister. Thiers,
unable to send the army which he had promised, decided to keep
his soldiers in arms at the foot of the Pyrenees, but the King
ordered him to disband them. Nothing but resignation was
possible. Thiers exclaimed indignantly: “The King does not
desire intervention ; we desire it, so I resign.”

A new Ministry was formed, with Molé as President of the
Council and Guizot as Minister of Education. Molé was opposed
to the Doctrinaires and devoted to the King; Guizot, the head of
the Doctrinaires, was purposely kept in a subordinate position. The
Ministry was compelled to deal with the affairs of Algiers, the
conquest of which had been among the last acts of the Bourbon
dynasty. The subjection of the country had been continued
with varying success. General after general had applied himself
to this task, without producing any decisive results, and the
resistance of the Algerians. had been strengthened by the alliance
of neighbouring States. In February, 1834, after some victories
had been gained in the province of Oran, peace was made with
the young Emir, Abd-el-Kader, a man of remarkable powers and
rare dignity of character, who had justly obtained a pre-eminence
in the councils of his countrymen. It was now determined to
constitute Algiers a French colony, to put an end to the restricted
occupation, and to make the country into a Gallic India, as a

272
REVIVAL OF NAPOLEONISM

valuable training-ground for soldiers and generals. This project
led to a renewal of hostilities in 1835, at first with results disastrous
to the French. Marshal Clauzel was sent as Governor to Algiers,
with General Bugeaud and the Duc d’Orléans.

The conquest of the interior of the country was very difficult
and was interrupted by many surprises. Clauzel came to Paris
to consult upon future operations, and at that very time the change
of Ministry took place. Thiers had desired the conquest of the
colony, which was also the view of Clauzel, but Molé advocated
a middle course, while the British Government viewed the ex-
tension of French colonies with suspicion. Eventually, the policy
of Molé prevailed. Marshal Valée, the conqueror of Constantine,
said: ‘I desire the French to restore Roman Africa. I will
endeavour to found cities and open roads of communication. The
army shall no longer scour the provinces. I will go slowly, but
will never retreat. Wherever, at my bidding, France sets her
foot, I will establish trading stations. The cities which already
exist I will develop.” This programme became the policy of the
Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the country.

The policy of the King and of Molé had rendered France secure
against the attempts of Republicans and Legitimists, but a new
danger threatened it by the revival of Napoleonism, which might
have been thought to have become extinct by the death of the
Duke of Reichstadt, the son of the great Napoleon, in 1832. The
head of the Napoleon family was now Prince Louis Napoleon,
son of the younger brother of Napoleon, who had been King of
Holland, and Hortense Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine.
He had long brooded over his fortunes, and had succeeded in
gaining over to his side some members of the garrison of Strasbourg,
On October 29th, 1836, Prince Napoleon suddenly appeared at
Strasburg, and called upon Vaudrey, colonel of an artillery
regiment and an ardent Napoleonist, to assist him. Vaudrey
summoned his regiment at 5 a.m. on the following day to the
courtyard of the barracks. There Louis Napoleon appeared in
the uniform of his uncle, accompanied by a few officers, one of
whom carried a tame eagle. The soldiers responded to the
appeal and marched through the city, arresting in their bedrooms
Voirol, the commandant, and the prefect. They then proceeded:
to the artillery barracks, where their appeal elicited no response,
Prince Louis was arrested without shedding of blood, the revolted
artillery regiment marched quietly back to its barracks, and the
incident was at an end. After a few days’ imprisonment, he: was
allowed to go to America, and his accomplices were tried and

273
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

acquitted. It was safer to make an attempt of this kind ridiculous
than to render it formidable by severity.

At the same time Napoleonism tended to increase in strength
and, indeed, Louis Philippe was not hostile to its development,
as the policy of its supporters served to accentuate the differ-
ence between the policy of the Monarchy of July and that of
the Restoration. Thiers, the illustrious author of Consulat et
VEmpire, was not averse to the admiration of the hero whom
he had deified, and those who had borne a conspicuous part under
the Empire were, therefore, well received at the Tuileries. The
palaces of Paris and Versailles were decorated with pictures of
Napoleon’s battles; the Arc de l’Etoile, inscribed with the names
of the victories of the Empire, was brought to completion; the
column in the Place Vendéme was surmounted by the statue of
“ the Little Corporal,” in his cocked hat and grey overcoat. Bridges,
streets, and squares were named after Napoleon’s victories; in
the Palace of Versailles, converted into a National Museum, his
name was placed by the side of that of the Grand Monarch. Bona-
partism, idealised by poetry and legend and associated with the
tragic death of its hero on the rock of St. Helena, was the political
creed of the large majority of the nation. The memorial of St.
Helena was in everyone’s hand, Napoleon’s name was the burden
of the national poetry, but all this enthusiasm had not sufficed
to carry Prince Louis into the Tuileries, as it had carried his uncle,
after the return from Elba. Balzac, a great admirer of the Emperor,
has shown us that the major proportion of the healthiest elements
in French society at this time were drawn from the traditions of
the Empire, and were, indeed, the best antidote to the common-
place ideas and smug shopkeeping vulgarity which were the
prevailing notes of the middle-class Monarchy of July.

The new elections of the autumn of 1837 were on the whole
favourable to the Government. The parties in the Chambers
were reckoned, as is usual in Continental Chambers, from Left to
Right, the Left being the Liberals and the Right the Conservatives.
The Left was divided into three sections. The Extreme Left—or
what in England would be called the Radicals—still theoretically
Republican, numbered Garnier Pagés as its most important member,
but it was afterwards strengthened by the adhesion of Henri Martin
and Ledru Rollin. The Left, the old Republican party, was led
by Dupont de l’Eure, Arago the astronomer, and the banker
Laffitte. But Laffitte at this time lost his election. Ledru Rollin
was head of a party called the Dynastic Left, which was in favour
of a democratic monarchy. Between the Left and the Right was

274
HIGH-WATER MARK OF THE MONARCHY

the Centre, divided into Left Centre and Right Centre, the former
being led by Thiers, whose chief characteristic was the support
of a spirited foreign policy. The Right Centre, which was as
large as all the other parties put together, was composed mainly
of prosperous merchants, but also contained the Doctrinaires,
led by Guizot. Between the two Centres there was a small in-
dependent party of no great importance. The Right consisted of
Legitimists of different complexion, but numbered only between
twenty and thirty members.

The year 1837 may be considered as the high-water mark of
the July Monarchy. In the last days of 1836 an attempt on the
life of the King was made by a young man, named Meunier, a
contemptible creature, who was not worth executing, and was
punished by banishment. Molé and Montalivet were the leaders
of the Government, and Thiers had promised the King that, as
leader of the Left Centre, he would cause no embarrassment to
the Cabinet. Charles X. had expired at Gérz and Queen Hortense
died at Arenenberg, on the Lake of Constance, while her son Louis
‘Napoleon sought refuge in England. The time was come when
an amnesty could be granted to political offenders. This was
issued in May, 1837, and tended to appease the opponents of the
Monarchy, at least for a season,

The time had arrived for marrying the Duc d’Orléans, the
heir to the throne. His hand was sought by the King of Prussia,
for a princess of the House of Hohenzollern. But the Court of
the Tuileries preferred an Austrian alliance, and the daughter of
the Archduke Charles, the hero of Aspern, was selected. But
this negotiation failed, from the opposition of the Legitimists.
At last a suitable bride was found in the person of Princess Helen
of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a niece of Queen Louise of Prussia, a
lady of heroic character, worthy to occupy any throne. Leaving
her home in May, the Princess was met at Fulda by the Duc de
Broglie, and the marriage took place at Fontainebleau. The
festivities added brilliancy to a splendid summer, and the House
of Orléans was definitely received into the circle of reigning families.

The opponents of the Government now set themselves to organise
their forces—Thiers, Guizot, Broglie, Villemain, Odilon Barrot,
and even Berryer the Legitimist. The only common ground of
attack was that the monarchy was too pacific. The coalition
stirred their countrymen to resume the great part which the Empire,
and even the Convention, had once played in Europe. Louis
Philippe dazzled them with the conquest of Algeria, and opened
the museum of Versailles, a veritable pageant of military glory.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The great struggle took place in the debate on the Address, which
began on December 26th, 1838, and lasted till January roth, 1839.
In this the whole Opposition took part, the Extreme Right and
the Extreme Left. Thiers spoke thirteen times, and Guizot twelve.
Molé fought with great courage, and won the day, but only by
thirteen votes. The country, however, decided against him, and
the King dissolved the Chambers at the beginning of February.
The electoral excitement was at fever height, Thiers, Guizot,
Odilon Barrot, Garnier Pagés all thundering against the Monarchy.

In the meantime a large majority declared in favour of the
coalition. A few acute observers saw that the attack was not
so much on the Ministry as on the Throne. The mutiny of 1839
.was a prelude to the disaster of 1848. Molé resigned, but it was
difficult to form a new Ministry. The bond of union between
the Royalists and the Republicans had been broken. The inter-
regnum lasted from March 8th to May 14th, and Soult, who was
appointed Prime Minister, was unable to form a Government.
He was, however, assisted by the conspiracy of Barbe, who, with
the assistance of Blanqui and Martin Bernard, reorganised a secret
society called “The Seasons,” and prepared for a democratic
insurrection. On May 12th an attempt was made to seize the
Prefecture of Police and the Hotel de Ville. It was easily defeated,
and by the evening Barbe was a prisoner and Bernard and Blanqui
in flight. Next day Soult succeeded in forming a Ministry, the
principal members of which were Duchatel, Dufaure and Ville-
main. A new compact was made with the King, and he was
accorded almost complete control of the foreign policy of the
country. But the passions aroused by the struggle were not so
easily allayed.

An Eastern Question now arose, which seriously affected the
relations between France and Great Britain. The Treaty of
Kutajah made in 1833 had ceded Syria to the Pasha of Egypt.
Palmerston, now British Foreign Minister, a strong supporter of
the Turkish Government, was afraid of the growing influence of
France in Egypt through her support of Mehemet Ali, and was
an enemy of Russia, which, he thought, had allowed the favour-
able terms in the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi. He therefore stirred
up Sultan Mahmoud at Constantinople to recover his lost province.
The Turkish army crossed the Euphrates, but was defeated by
the Egyptian troops at Nisib on January 24th, 1839, and the road
to Constantinople lay open to the conqueror, Mehemet Ali.

The five Great Powers exerted themselves to preserve the
integrity of the Turkish Empire. Soult had done his utmost to

276
FRANCE AND EGYPT

maintain peace, and he now prevented the Egyptians from
marching into Asia Minor and adding the Pashalik of Adana
to their dominions. The news of the defeat of Nisib arrived at
Constantinople just as Sultan Mahmoud was lying unconscious on
his death-bed. He died on July Ist, 1839, leaving his empire to
Abdul Mejid, a lad of sixteen. At the same time it became known
that Ahmed Pasha, the Turkish admiral, had treacherously handed
over his fleet to Mehemet Ali. The new Sultan made overtures to
Mehemet Ali, offering him the hereditary Pashalik of Egypt, and
the Government of Syria to his son Ibrahim, on condition that
Syria should be restored to the Sultan ; but Mehemet Ali met this
with a dilatory answer. :

It appeared, however, that a peaceable settlement could be
made. The Tsar informed Palmerston that he was ready to allow
the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi to lapse, and act henceforth in Turkey
in concert with the other Powers, and, if the Dardanelles were
closed to the ships of all nations, to extend the same system to the
Bosphorus, unless he acted as the mandatory of Europe. Palmer-
ston also agreed to allow Mehemet Ali to retain the here-
ditary Pashalik of Egypt, together with that of Acre, excluding
the fortresses and the towns. But French feeling was opposed to
this, and Soult shared the erroneous popular estimate of the
invincibility of Mehemet Ali and Ibrahim. When the French
pressed for further concessions, Palmerston withdrew those already
made.

Guizot was now sent as ambassador to London, where he was
extremely popular. Before he arrived, Soult had resigned, and
Thiers taken his place, with Rémusat and Cousin as his colleagues.
The first work of the Cabinet presided over by the historian of
the Consulate and the Empire was to perform a great act of national
expiation. A quarter of a century before, the Emperor Napoleon,
after his defeat at Waterloo, had invoked the hospitality of the
British people. This was refused him, and he was sent instead
as a prisoner to St. Helena, where he spent six years of enforced
idleness, until he died by a painful and lingering disease, which
was caused, or aggravated, by the mode of life imposed upon him.
His mother had been refused access to him; he had not been
allowed to communicate with his friends; the title of Emperor,
which had been acknowledged by Great Britain in the Congress
of Chatillon, was now refused to him, and his unfortunately-chosen
jailer inflicted upon him a number of petty insults, especially gall-
ing to a high, proud and sensitive spirit. A copy of Coxe’s Life
of Marlborough, which Napoleon, as a soldier, desired to present

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to the officers of a regiment quartered in the island, was retained
in the private library of the Governor, because it was stamped
with the Imperial Eagle on the fly-leaf. In this small persecution
the British Government, with Lord Liverpool at its head, were
the chief culprits, and had a willing instrument in the Secretary
of the Colonies, Earl Bathurst. At the very time when Napoleon
was dying, when he could not enter or leave his bath without
assistance, Sir Hudson Lowe was warned to redouble his -pre-
cautions, because vigorous measures were being made to effect
the Emperor’s escape.

These things being so, conceive the surprise when, on May
12th, 1840, it was announced in the Press that the British Govern-
ment had consented to allow the bones of the Emperor to be brought
from St. Helena to Paris, that they might repose, according to
his wish, on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people
whom he loved so well. The Prince de Joinville, son of Louis
Philippe, accompanied by Bertrand, Gourgaud, Las Cases and
Marchand, the companions of Naploeon’s exile, sailed in a French
frigate to bring home the ashes of the hero. When the coffin
was opened, the faithful servants recognised the features of their
master, as they saw him in his favourite dress, his heart, in a silver
casket, resting between his knees. The coffin was covered with
a velvet pall, decorated with golden bees, and the British Governor
walked behind it bareheaded all the way from the grave to the
coast. Some months afterwards, on December 15th, the remains
were laid to rest under the dome of the Invalides, with every
circumstance of military pomp and popular enthusiasm.

One result of this act of reparation was to revive the hopes
of Louis Napoleon, on whom it ought to have produced just the
contrary effect. Embarked on an English vessel, he landed at
Wimereux, near Boulogne, with about sixty followers, and attempted
to obtain possession of the town and the garrison, but failed in both
objects. In a short time he and his accomplices were arrested and
the ship in which he had arrived was secured. On board was found
a wardrobe of Napoleonic properties, a tame eagle, similar to that
which had accompanied him to Strasburg, typical of the glories
of his uncle’s empire. Decrees were found in his possession
appointing Clauzel Commander-in-Chief and Thiers Prime Minister.
Louis Napoleon was tried before the Chamber of Peers, condemned
to imprisonment for life, and confined in the Castle of Ham, where
he remained for nearly six years. He eventually escaped, with
the help of Doctor Conneau, in the disguise of a workman named
Badinguet, and again found an asylum in England.

278
EGYPT AND SYRIA

The Eastern difficulty still continued. On July 15th, 1840,
a Convention was signed in London between Great Britain, Russia,
Austria, and Prussia, the Powers of the Quadruple Alliance, pro-
viding that, if Mehemet Ali would desist from his march on
Constantinople, he should receive the hereditary Pashalik of
Egypt, together with the administration for life of Southern
Syria, with the title of Pasha of Acre and the command of the
frontiers of that district. If he did not consent to these terms in
ten days the offer of Syria and Egypt would be withdrawn, and
if he continued to be obdurate for another ten days the whole
offer would be null and void.

Meanwhile, the action of the Allies under the Convention had
begun. On August 11th Sir Charles Napier had appeared off
Beirut and summoned Suleiman Pasha to evacuate the town and
Syria. No shot, however, was fired, and the French Government
pressed Mehemet Ali to moderate his terms. On September 17th
Thiers wrote to Guizot in London that Mehemet Ali would accept
the hereditary Pashalik of Egypt and the Pashalik of Syria for his
son Ibrahim for life. However, on September 11th Napier had
bombarded Beirut and had landed a Turkish force to act against
Ibrahim. Four days later the Sultan declared Mehemet Ali
deposed, a sentence which he treated with contempt. He did
this in reliance on the assistance of France. Guizot informed the
British Government that Mehemet Ali would never submit to
deposition. Thiers was for heroic measures. He talked of sweep-
ing away the treaties of Vienna and advancing the French frontiers
to the Rhine. Military preparations were made, and a war
between Great Britain and France seemed inevitable. Louis
Philippe set himself to resist this policy, and Thiers resigned. He
was succeeded by Marshal Soult, with Guizot as Foreign Secretary.

However, the power of Mehemet Ali suddenly collapsed.
When the combined fleets of Great Britain, Austria, and Turkey
appeared off Beirut in August, the tribes of the Lebanon rose
against Ibrahim, who was obliged to retire to the south, and on
November 8th Acre surrendered to the allied fleet. On November
25th Napier sailed to Alexandria and induced Mehemet Ali to
submit. Ibrahim received orders to evacuate Syria and, on
January roth, 1841, a joint note was presented to the Sultan,
recommending that Mehemet Ali should receive the hereditary
Pashalik of Egypt. The Porte endeavoured to procrastinate,
but was compelled to give way. The solemn proclamation of the
agreement at Alexandria, on June roth, 1841, marked the close
of a perilous phase of the Egyptian Question. By the Treaty of

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

London, signed by the five Powers on July 13th, 1841, Mehemet
Ali was secured in the possession of Egypt. It was also decided
that the Porte had a right to close the Bosphorus and the Dar-
danelles to warships of all nations, while the Red Sea and the
Persian Gulf were to remain open. France thus entered again
into the circle of the European Concert, but her unwise diplomacy
had ruined her ally and weakened her own prestige in Europe.

The Ministry of October 19th, as it was called, was entirely
of one mind with the King, and gave him valuable assistance
both at home and abroad. It was loyally supported by the
majority of the Chamber. The landed proprietors, the industrial
magnates, and the heads of commerce, who composed the majority
of the deputies, had no inclination either for war or for revolu-
tion. The Monarchy of July, which had nearly perished in the
events of 1840, was destined to live for another eight years, with
such apparent stability that it seemed unshakable at the very eve
of its downfall.

The history of the eight years after 1840 may be divided into
four periods. The first ends with the death of the Duc d'Orléans,
the second with the formation of the Entente Cordiale with Great
Britain, the third with its rupture, and the fourth with the Revolu-
tion of February. Guizot was now fifty-three years of age. In
the days of the Empire and the Restoration he ranked as a Liberal,
but the political ideas which he then held had crystallised into
irrefragable dogma. He did not realise that since that time ideas
had advanced, that a new conception of liberty had arisen, that
the number of persons interested in politics had increased largely,
and that new classes had awakened to the realities of political
life. His creed was still based on the Charter of 1814, modified
by the Revolution of July.

Unfortunately, the Government was corrupt. The authority
rested on the party of the Centre, which was chiefly occupied in
making money for its own advantage. The great railway scheme
of 1842, conceived for patriotic purposes, for linking up Paris with
Lille, Strasbourg, Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes and Cher-
bourg, while it gave an impetus to social and political reforms,
became, by leaving the constitution and the making of the rail-
ways in the hands of the great companies, nothing less than a
large engine of political bribery.

The elections of 1842 were conducted in an apathetic manner,
and produced no radical change in the composition of the Chamber.
But, on the very day (July 13th) that the elections took place
the Duc d’Orléans was killed by a terrible accident. As he was

280
THE SPANISH MARRIAGES

driving towards Neuilly, the horses ran away in the Champs
Elysées. He jumped out of the carriage, was dashed to the
ground, and died four hours afterwards from concussion of the
brain. This was a serious blow to the dynasty, as the Comte de
Paris, the heir to the throne, was only four years old, and Louis
Philippe was seventy. The discussions on the Regency showed
the divergency between the parties. They raised the question
whether the Orléans Monarchy was to rest on the Revolution or
the Charter; were the Chambers supreme, or did the Monarchy
subsist independently of them? As this fundamental question
could not be determined, a compromise became necessary. Thiers
and Guizot insisted on the choice of the Duc de Nemours as Regent,
as he seemed more able to resist the encroachments of the Left
than th Duchesse d’Orléans, although she was very popular and
likely to make liberal concessions. The Act of Regency strictly
maintained the Salic and other laws, and therefore seemed to
decide in favour of the Charte.

Thiers now devoted himself to writing his history of the Con-
sulate and the Empire and to a large extent retired from politics,
while Guizot took the opportunity of strengthening his position.
In the meantime the House of Orléans received illumination from
the military glory of the Duc d’Aumale. In the war against
Abd-el-Kader in Algiers, while marching at the head of a flying
squadron of cavalry, he suddenly came upon the smala, or travel-
ling-camp, of the Emir at a little distance. With energy and dash
he attacked, without waiting for his infantry, gained a complete
victory, and brought back his prisoners and booty in triumph to
Algiers, Abd-el-Kader escaping with difficulty. The brilliancy of
this feat of arms has rarely been surpassed.

Guizot now set himself to form a closer connection with Great
Britain, and chose, as an occasion for this, the opportunity of forcing
a bargain about the Spanish marriages. The marriage of Queen
Isabella of Spain was obviously a matter of more than domestic
interest. Queen Cristina, her mother, devoted to French interests,
was prepared to allow the marriage of her two daughters, Queen
Isabella and the Infanta, Maria Louisa Fernanda, to the two sons
of Louis Philippe, the Duc d’Aumale and the Duc de Montpensier.
Another candidate for the hand of Queen Isabella was Prince
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the cousin of Queen Victoria and her
husband. The British Government objected to the French alli-
ances, which were withdrawn simultaneously with the withdrawal
of the proposal of Prince Leopold. It was now suggested by Guizot
that the choice of Queen Isabella’s husband might be postponed

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till the Duc de Montpensier should marry the Infanta. This was
again rejected by Palmerston.

In September, 1843, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited
Louis Philippe at the Chateau d’Eu, and were enthusiastically
received at Tréport. On September 2nd there was a banquet in
the chateau ; on the 4th a féte-champétre on Mont d’Alcans in the
forest; on the 5th a review; and on the 7th they returned to
England. During their visit it was agreed that all candidates for
the hand of the Queen of Spain should be excluded, except such
as belonged to the Spanish-Bourbon line, and that there should be
no talk of Montpensier marrying her sister until the Queen of
Spain was married and had a child. This visit established the
Entente Cordiale—the cordial understanding between France and
Great Britain. The sojourn at Eu and the announcement of the
Entente Cordiale resounded through France like a flourish of
trumpets. —

This arrangement, however, did not last long. Thiers had
nothing but sarcasm for the Entente Cordiale, and circumstances
soon arose which strained it to breaking point. In September,
1842, a French admiral, who had been instructed to occupy the
Marquesas Islands, had taken upon himself to sign a treaty with
Pomare, Queen of Tahiti, which placed Tahiti in the position
of a State protected by France. At this moment Pritchard, a
missionary and a consul, who advised the Queen on political
matters, was absent, but on his return he pressed the Queen to
hoist the flag of independence and throw off the French yoke.
When the admiral returned, in November, 1843, he found that
this had been done, and in March, 1844, ravaged the island and
expelled Pritchard. The British made a serious remonstrance.
The Opposition in the French Chambers clamoured for the recog-
nition of the admiral’s action, the annexation of Tahiti, and the
rejection of foreign interference. But Louis Philippe said that a
petty quarrel of this kind was not worth a war with Great Britain,
while Guizot disavowed the French admiral and his project of
annexation, and made a kind of reparation for the injury done
to Pritchard. On the other hand, the British refused to replace
Pritchard in Tahiti, and he was obliged to content himself with an
indemnity in money.

Before this matter was settled, another difficulty arose about
Morocco. Abd-el-Kader, after his flight from his own country,
had taken refuge with Abdur Rahman, Sultan of Morocco. The
Moroccans took up arms against the French, but were completely
defeated at the Battle of the River Isly on August 14th, 1844. The

282
THE FERMENT OF DEMOCRACY

French demanded a payment of money from the Sultan and the
surrender of Abd-el-Kader. The latter was compelled to leave
Morocco, but the French refrained from exacting a cession of
territory or the payment of an indemnity. On the other hand,
Great Britain officially recognised the definite establishment of
France in Algiers.

The year 1845 witnessed the continuance of the struggle
between Guizot and Thiers. The questions of Tahiti and Morocco
were made grounds for a charge of subserviency towards Great
Britain. This was accentuated by a return visit of Louis Philippe
to Windsor, in which Guizot accompanied him. Thiers also
demanded the expulsion of the Jesuits, who, although legally
subject to expulsion, were tolerated in Paris, and were employed
by the richer classes in the education of their children.

The comparatively uneventful session of 1846 was marked by
the cruelties of the Austrian Government in Galicia, about which
France did not remonstrate, and by the escape of Prince Napoleon
from the fortress of Ham, to which we have already referred.
The Chamber was dissolved, and the new elections gave a
substantial majority to the Ministry.

But, under these outward signs of peace, a surging demo-
cratic spirit was exciting movements in every part of Europe. In
England Palmerston and the Whigs were triumphantly returned to
power in June; in Switzerland the Federal Council was captured
by the Radicals; and Germany was excited about the question
of Schleswig-Holstein. The election of Pio Nono to the Papacy
stirred the forces of liberation in Italy. Suffering nationalities
began to make their claims heard in Austria, Denmark and Poland.
The whole of Europe was in a state of restlessness and ferment.
Guizot chose this moment to make a bid for popularity by attempt-
ing to establish a French dynasty in Spain. On October roth it
was announced that Queen Isabella of Spain would marry her
cousin, Don Francis of Assisi, and that, on the same day, her sister
would marry the Duc de Montpensier.

It was commonly believed that Don Francis was incapable of
becoming a father, and that therefore one day the Crown of Spain
would fall to the children of Montpensier. Queen Victoria and
Lord Palmerston were furious at this breach of faith, and the Queen
expressed herself most strongly about it in her correspondence.
She wrote to the King of the Belgians: “ This unfortunate Spanish
affair has gone on heedlessly, and our entente was entirely thrown
away, and we feel deeply the ingratitude shown; for, without
boasting, I must say that they never had truer friends than we

283
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

are, and who always stood by them. How can we ever feel
at our ease with Louis Philippe again? Guizot’s conduct is
beyond all belief shameful, and so shabbily dishonest. Molé and
Thiers both say he cannot stand.’ Indeed, Guizot’s conduct
was condemned by the whole of Europe, and France felt herself
without an ally.

Since the death of his eldest son Louis Philippe had lost faith
in his dynasty. The Ministerial majority was largely under the
suspicion of corruption and commanded little confidence ; whereas
the Opposition, led by men like Lamartine and Ledru Rollin, who
had studied the principles of democracy and were now learning
those of Socialism from Louis Blanc, was regarded as the true
representation of the people. The comic journals, such as the
Charivari, and a large section of the daily Press served to under-
mine the authority of Parliament. The King was further dis-
tressed by another attempt at assassination made upon him in
the forest of Fontainebleau, on April 16th, 1846, and when he
showed himself on the balcony of the Tuileries on July 2oth, in the
same year—the anniversary of 1830—two shots were fired at him
by a half-crazy workman. Louis Philippe had endeavoured to
protect his dynasty by surrounding Paris with useless fortifications,
and gradually centralising the powers of Government. The money
thus spent might have connected the capital with the provinces
by a network of railways. The Revolution of February showed
how inadequate these precautions were, and how idle is all such
apparatus of artificial defence. The only true safeguard for a
throne lies in the love and confidence of the people.

Lamartine once said in the Chamber, “‘ La France s’ennuie”’
(‘‘ France is bored’”’). She had ceased to care for a dynasty which
gave her neither the glory of the Empire nor the freedom of a
Republic. A bad harvest increased the prices of all articles of
food and caused misery and distress among the poorer people,
while the demoralisation of the governing classes created general
disgust. This was placed in the clearest light by Emile de Girardin
in the Presse. An attempt was made to prosecute him before the
House of Peers, but the consent of the Chamber to this course
was not obtained. The Opposition was jubilant. The sadness
of the King was deepened by the death of Princess Adelaide, his
beloved sister, who had been his true and faithful adviser, the
confidante of his policy.

If “coming events cast their shadows before,’ everything
indicated that a tempest was at hand.

284
CHAPTER III
THE END OF POLAND

By the fall of Napoleon Poland lost the best opportunity she ever
had of recovering her independence. At the date of the Treaty
of Vienna Russia had in her hands nearly nine-tenths of the original
territory of Poland. Alexander I. was anxious, at this time, to
make a new kingdom of Poland under Russian suzerainty, and to
incorporate in it a large portion of the Polish territory over which
he ruled. But the Congress would not allow this, That Napoleon
had desired it was sufficient reason for the statesmen of Europe
to oppose it. Therefore parts of Poland were given back to
Prussia and Austria, and the Polish kingdom, thus weakened,
lost all chance of being able to hold its own against the
preponderance of Russia.

In November, 1815, Alexander I. made his State entry into
Warsaw, and granted a Constitution, which was mainly the work
of Prince Adam Czartoryski, but which had been modified by the
advice of Novolsiltzov. By this the Catholic religion was not
recognised as the religion of the country. It was placed on an
equal footing with other religions, but enjoyed the special protec-
tion of the Government. The Polish Crown was made hereditary
in the Russian Imperial family, the Tsar having the power of
administering the country, of convoking and dismissing the Diet,
and of accepting or rejecting its resolutions. He was represented
in the country by a Viceroy and a Council of State. The Diet
consisted of two Chambers, which met every two years for a session
of thirty days. The members of the Senate were appointed for
life by the Crown, while the Lower House was chosen for six years
by direct election under a restricted franchise. The sittings of
the Diet were made public, the voting was open, and a simple
majority was decisive. Five Ministers formed an Executive
Council presided over by the Viceroy. Foreign policy was
entrusted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at St. Petersburg,
and personal liberty, freedom of religious belief, and freedom of
the Press were guaranteed. The Jews, however, were excluded
from all political privileges.

This Constitution was progressive and liberal, and tended to

285
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

propitiate the Polish nobility and nationality, as it established
the Polish language and restricted public employment to Poles.
It worked out, however, somewhat differently from what was
expected. During the fifteen years of the existence of the kingdom
no budget was ever submitted to the Diet for ratification, and
of seven Diets which ought to have met during that time only
four were held.

Under Alexander Poland had been, in the main, well governed.
He established a national bank, constructed roads, favoured
industry and the development of science and literature. The
nobles and peasants had become friends, and a middle class had
grown up. But the Poles are conspirators by nature, and Poland
was honeycombed by secret associations. One of the most
important of these was the Patriotic Society, founded in 1821,
with the object of regaining the independence of Poland. It was
governed by a central committee under Lukasinski, and was
divided into seven provinces: Poland, Lithuania, Volhynia, Posen,
Galicia, Cracow, and the Polish Army. In 1822 Lukasinski and
his friends were arrested. He was imprisoned for thirty-six years
and died in the fortress of Schliisselburg in 1868. On June 14th,
1825, Alexander said good-bye to the kingdom of Poland for the
last time, and Nicholas, at his accession, promised that his rule
should be a continuance of that of Alexander. He said, ‘‘ The
Constitution which he gave you will remain unchanged. I promise
and swear before God that I will maintain the Act of Constitu-
tion, and make every effort to ensure its being preserved.”’ Things,
however, turned out very differently. The Patriotic Society was
attacked, and in the course of the accompanying proceedings
a deep antagonism between the nobles and the Emperor was
disclosed. However, after the Turkish War and the Peace of
Adrianople, Nicholas came to Warsaw on May 17th, 1820,
to celebrate his ‘coronation, along with his son, afterwards
Alexander II. The Tsar put the crown on his own head, after
he had received it from the hands of the Primate. He knelt down
and read the oath of the Constitution in French. He opened the
sittings of the fourth and last Diet on June 28th.

The Patriotic Society disappeared, and its place was taken by
a new secret society, which bore the character of a military con-
spiracy. The number of conspirators at first grew slowly, but
the Revolution of July gave a powerful stimulus to the move-
ment. The outbreak took place at Warsaw on the evening of
November 2gth, an attack being made on the Belvedere Palace,
in which Prince Constantine—the Tsar’s brother—lived, and also

286
POLAND’S CHALLENGE TO RUSSIA

on the barracks of the Russian cavalry. Both assaults were
unsuccessful. Constantine could easily have stifled the move-
ment, but his presence of mind deserted him, and he failed to
take any decided action. He said he desired to be passive, and
left the pacification of the capital to the Poles themselves. Con-
sequently the movement spread, first over Warsaw, and afterwards
over the whole country. Constantine left Warsaw and then
Poland, accompanied by all the Russian officials. In eight days
the Revolution was complete: the army, munitions of war, and
public treasury were in the hands of the Poles. But dissension,
the curse of Poland, as it had been of Greece, soon made itself
felt. A party of Conservative aristocrats under Lubecki were
entrusted with a reform of the Constitution in the spirit of the
Paris Charter, while men of more ardent temperament would
not be satisfied with anything short of absolute independence.

On December 5th Chlopicki declared himself Dictator, until
the meeting of the Extraordinary Diet. He was an able soldier,
but wanting in the qualities necessary for a revolutionary leader.
He did not believe in the success of the insurrection, and placed
his sole hope in negotiations. If the Poles had determined to
fight at once they had a good chance of success, as they could
command an army of 80,000 men, while the Russians had not so
many. The best course would have been to march into Lithuania
with full strength, take up and incorporate the Lithuanian army,
occupy Wilna, and engage each corps of the Russians as it advanced.
Chlopicki rejected this plan, and resolved to act entirely on the
defensive. The Extraordinary Diet met on December 18th. It
solemnly announced the deposition of Nicholas and the exclusion
of the Romanovs from the throne. This was a foolish step, because
it challenged Russia to fight, and made it difficult for other Powers
to interfere. The cloud of Imperial vengeance was gradually
forming, and whilst the Poles, with characteristic frivolity, were
celebrating the recovery of their liberty with songs and dances,
Nicholas was slowly collecting an army of 120,000 men and 400
cannon, under the command of Diebich and Toll, for the invasion
of the country.

The Diet drew up a manifesto setting forth the grievances of
Poland against Russia, and sent two emissaries to the Tsar to
present their demarids, These were strict adherence to the
Constitution, the withdrawal of Russian troops, and the union
of the former provinces of Poland to the kingdom. Nicholas
replied by commanding unconditional surrender. On January
17th, 1831, Chlopicki laid down his office and was succeeded by

287
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Prince Michael Radziwill, assisted by a Council which numbered
Adam Czartoryski and Lelewel among its members. It was now
that the Diet pronounced the dethronement of the House of
Romanov and its desire for a Constitutional Monarchy.

In February, 1831, Diebich entered Poland with an army of
I14,000 men and 336 guns, and marched straight to Warsaw. The
Poles bore themselves bravely in the retreat. The first battle,
in which Chlopicki and Radziwill commanded, resulted in favour
of the Poles. Skrynecki was now appointed Commander-in-Chief,
and gained considerable success, cutting to pieces the Russian
corps of General Rosen. With a little more energy he might have
had the whole army of Diebich at his mercy. This was the cul-
minating point of the Revolution. A decisive blow might have
been struck at the Russian army, and this would have brought
about the intervention of Europe.

Nicholas now seized the opportunity to lighten the burden of
the peasants in the provinces over which he had authority. He
thus set the peasantry against the nobles, and broke up the
unity of the Polish people. Opportunity was frittered away in
fruitless risings. In April Dwernicki was driven across the Austrian
frontier, where he capitulated with 6,000 men. An attempt was
made to attack the Russian generals, who were acting under the
Grand Duke Michael, to cut them to pieces, and, by taking up a
position upon the Bug, to intercept the communication of Diebich
with his own country and with Prussia. Skrynecki was at the
head of the movement, and on May 17th overtook the Russian
generals with a superior force. The attack was delayed, the
Russians retreated, and Skrynecki’s army was weakened by
sending 12,000 men into Lithuania.

Diebich now hurried up, and the Battle of Ostrolenka was
fought on May 26th, when the Poles suffered a crushing defeat,
which was the beginning of the end. For a moment, however, the
patriots were supported by a mightier hand than their own. On
June 11th Diebich died of cholera, at that time a strange and
unknown disease. The Grand Duke Constantine and Clausewitz,
the Chief of his Staff, also fell victims to the same scourge. The
place of Diebich was taken by Paskevich, who bore the title of
Erivanski from his capture of that fortress. The Prussians allowed
him to march through their territory, making common cause with
the Russians for the preservation of their Polish territory. He
advanced against Warsaw with 78,000 men, the Poles having only
37,000 men and 130 guns to defend the city. The Russians took
the redoubt of Vola after a stubborn defence and on September

288
POLAND ABSORBED BY RUSSIA

8th Paskevich entered the capital. Before the end of October
the whole country was in the hands of Nicholas, and the consti-
tutional kingdom of Poland had ceased to exist. The last defenders
of their country were disarmed on Prussian soil. Thousands of
Polish patriots, notwithstanding the clemency of the Tsar,
wandered as exiles into France, England, Switzerland, and other
countries, eating the bread of affliction upon a foreign soil, and
pouring the story of their country’s woes into the ears of a
sympathetic Europe, which had not yet lost its faith in liberty.
At the same time the mines and highlands of Siberia were
overrun with Polish exiles.

The revolutionary party in Poland had, from the very first,
applied to the European Powers, which had guaranteed the
independence of the kingdom of Poland at the Congress of Vienna,
to assist them either by intervention or mediation. Memoirs were
sent to Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and London, but nowhere did they
find support. Prussia and Austria were actually hostile, and only
after the insurrection did the Governments of London and Paris
make representations to St. Petersburg. These, naturally, had
no effect. Indeed, the Governments were told to mind their own
business. In February, 1832, Paskevich was appointed viceroy with
unlimited powers, receiving the title of Prince of Warsaw. The
Constitution was replaced by an organic statute, which contained
certain provisions for autonomy, but they remained a dead letter
and were never carried into effect. The Polish army was incor-
porated in the Russian, the committees of Warsaw and Wilna
were dissolved, all the principal posts in the Government were
filled by Russians, and the Russian language was made compulsory
for all important purposes. Paskevich ruled the country with an
iron hand till his death in 1856. The failure of the Poles to achieve
independence was due, not so much to the strength of Russia, as
to their own inherent weakness and the jealousies by which they
were rent asunder,

K 289
CHAPTER IV

TROUBLE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

WE have seen in a previous chapter that disputes arose in Spain
as to whether the law restricting succession to the male line should
prevail or not. The King, it will be remembered, published on
March zgth, 1830, the Pragmatic Sanction, or law of 1789, which
opened the succession to women; and on October roth a daughter
was born, who received the name of Maria Isabella. She was at
once proclaimed Princess of Asturias, which implied that she was
heiress to the throne. Don Carlos, the brother of the King, was
furious at this, and struggles ensued between him and Queen
Cristina concerning the maintenance of the law of 1789. Cristina
had not many adherents in the Ministry, because Calomarde, the
Prime Minister, was a strong Conservative and belonged to the
party of the Apostolicals, but she was very popular with the army.
In September, 1832, the King became dangerously ill, and, by
various influences, was induced to withdraw the Pragmatic
Sanction which he had promulgated in 1830. When, however,
he unexpectedly recovered, the revocation of the law was annulled
and the law of 1789 was published a second time. Calomarde was
dismissed from his office and banished the Court, and all the
Ministers, with the exception of Ballesteros, shared his fall.
Cristina found herself at the head of a powerful party, which
included all friends of constitutional government, enlightenment
and intellectual freedom. Spain took her part in that great conflict
of principles which was soon to be fought out in every quarter
of Europe. The two principles were represented by the
antagonistic parties of the Cristinos and Carlists. At the begin-
ning of October, 1832, the Queen was appointed Regent during
the illness of the King, and Zea Bermudez, Spanish Ambassador
in London, was made Prime Minister in place of Calomarde. He
announced, as the basis of his policy, neutrality abroad, moderate
reform at home, and the maintenance of the Pragmatic Sanction.
At the close of the year the King solemnly declared before the
notables of the kingdom that his letter of September rgth, which
revoked the Pragmatic Sanction, had been extorted from him by
the devices of wicked men, and he now pronounced it null and

290
THE CARLIST WAR

void. On January 4th, 1833, Ferdinand resumed the reins of
government and wrote a letter to the Queen, praising the care
and wisdom with which she had conducted affairs and assuring
her of his entire confidence.

The resumption of the Government by the King for a time
kept the extreme Carlists in check, because they knew that Don
Carlos was loyally disposed towards his brother. The conse-
quence was that the Apostolical army refused to take the field,
and the King’s confessor fled to Portugal. The Prince of Beira,
the chief mover of the revolt, was ordered to join his brother,
Dom Miguel, in the same country, and Don Carlos and his wife
went with him. Spain was thus relieved of the presence of the
most inflammatory elements. The Cortes being assembled in
the ancient manner in June, an oath was taken recognising
Isabella as heir to the throne; against this Don Carlos formally
protested. Not long after this, on September 2gth, 1833, King
Ferdinand died suddenly, without having received the consola-
tions of that religion for which he had suffered so much. Spain
never had a worse ruler ; he left his people without energy, without
prosperity, a prey to civil war, a scorn and mockery to the world.
He had returned to his country welcomed by the blessings of his
subjects; he sank into his grave amid their curses.

After the death of Ferdinand, we must consider the history of
Spain, for the next six years, under two aspects—the struggle
of internal parties and the Carlist war. With regard to the former
aspect, the Regency of the Queen may be divided into three periods
—the Ministries of Martinez and Torreno (1834-35), which were
marked by the Constitutional charter called Estatuto Real; the
second period (1836-37), containing the Radical Ministries of
Mendizabal and Calatrava, and ending with the Constitution of
1837; the third period (1838-40), characterised by more moderate
principles and ending with the abdication of Queen Cristina.
The Carlist war may also be divided into three periods. In the
first (1833-36), the two parties were organising their forces and
fortifying their territory; in the second (1836-37) the Carlists
took the offensive and at one time nearly gained the victory; in
the third, which came to an end in 1841, the Carlists were weakened
by treason and discouraged by the indifference of their partisans.

Queen Cristina’s first idea was to preserve Bermudez in power.
Don Carlos, who had assumed the title of Charles V., was declared
a usurper and his property was confiscated. But Russia, Prussia
and Austria, the three northern Powers, refused to recognise
Queen Isabella, and the Carlist insurrection spread in the north

291
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of Spain under Zumalacarregui. Cristina therefore thought it
advisable to adopt a more decidedly Liberal policy, and made
Martinez de la Rosa Prime Minister. On April 15th a treaty was
signed between Great Britain, Portugal and Spain, which secured
the aid of the first-named both for Spain and Portugal on the
constitutional side. This treaty was acceded to by France, and
thus was formed the so-called Quadruple Alliance, which stood
opposed to the policy of the three northern Powers. It did not
mean much, because Great Britain refused to interfere or to allow
France to do so. France, however, lent an Algerian legion, and
a British legion was formed, which gave considerable assistance
against the Carlists. In June, 1835, Zumalacarregui died. He
had been instructed to attack Bilbao, in order to provide a more
secure basis for the Carlist Government, and did so against his
better judgment. He was wounded in the siege, and died from
bad medical treatment. In July the siege was raised. The success
of the Cristinos was largely due to General Espartero, who after-
wards wielded great influence in the affairs of his country.

In April, 1834, Martinez de la Rosa had proclaimed a Con-
stitution, called the Estatuto Real, resembling the French Charie
of 1814. Kt established a Parliament consisting of two Chambers
or Estamentos, the House of Proceres, composed of grandees,
bishops, and high officers of state, nominated by the King for life,
and the Lower House of Procuradores, chosen out of the propertied
classes by double election. This did not satisfy the Liberals, and
the Radicals still less, so, on June 7th, 1835, Martinez de la Rosa
resigned his position and Torreno took his place. He appointed,
as Minister of Finance, Don Juan Alvarez de Mendizabal, a man
of remarkable energy, who came to Madrid in 1825 from exile in
England. He was now practically Prime Minister, and endeavoured
to pacify the Revolution by satisfying some aspirations of the
Radical party, by granting pardon to the insurgents, and by
reforming the administration. He extinguished a number of
religious houses and declared their property for sale. Those who
purchased this property naturally became supporters of Isabella,
because Don Carlos did not recognise the validity of the sale.
He also strengthened the connection between Spain and Great
Britain, his exile in England having made him a warm admirer
of the country. These measures produced a strong opposition,
and Mendizabal fell before the storm. His place was taken by
Isturiz, a statesman of more moderate complexion.

The new Minister was violently attacked by the Progressives,
and Aragon, Estremadura and Andalusia proclaimed the Con-

292
NEW CONSTITUTION IN SPAIN

stitution of 1812. On August 3rd, an insurrection broke out
in Madrid, and Isturiz began to look towards the intervention of
France. This was followed by what is known as the Revolution
of La Granja, a pleasant country residence, in which the Court
were accustomed to pass the summer months. In the night of
August 12th, 1836, the garrison marched up to the palace in which
Cristina was staying with her favourite Mufioz, calling out:
“Long live the Constitution of 1812! Long live the Queen!”
Cristina received a deputation of the rioters, and consented to
the publication of the Constitution of Cadiz. On the following
day she appointed Calatrava Prime Minister, and a few days later
made a solemn entry into her faithful city of Madrid, accompanied
by the “ Heroes of La Granja,” and the shouts of a democratic
mob.

The Cortes met on October 24th, 1836, to draw up a new Con-
stitution, The code of Cadiz was impossible, but was modified
by Calatrava into a more reasonable shape. Two Chambers were
formed instead of one, the Crown was given an absolute veto,
and the suffrage was raised. It was, however, provided that, if
the Sovereign should neglect to summon the Cortes before December
Ist, they might meet of themselves. The Upper Chamber also
received an elective character. The new Constitution, which was
produced under the influence of the British Reform Bill of 1832,
did not satisfy either the Moderates or the Radicals. It was,
however, for a long time the banner under which the advanced
Liberals fought, and had the advantage of asserting the consti-
tutional principle and destroying the exaggerated reverence felt
for the Constitution of 1812.

The state of confusion in the country had favoured the cause
of the Carlists. A new leader appeared in the person of Ramon
Cabrera, a man of remarkable military capacity. Bilbao was
besieged a second time and again relieved by Espartero. The
British Government sent the Regent half a million for military
expenses, and the British legion did good work. On the other
hand, the northern Powers sent assistance to Don Carlos.
Espartero became Prime Minister on August 18th, 1837, following
upon a revolt of the soldiers against the Government of Calatrava.
The cause of Don Carlos began to fail, in consequence of negotiations
between him and the Regent with reference to a possible marriage
which might unite the two parties. The year 1838 passed in com-
parative quiet, marked only by the rise of Narvaez as a rival to
Espartero, and the following year was fatal to the Carlist cause.
General Maroto, who commanded the Carlist army, became anxious

293
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

for peace, partly from weariness of the war and partly from a
growing dislike to the personality of Don Carlos himself. Great
Britain and France also exerted themselves to bring about a settle-
ment, and an agreement was at last signed between Espartero and
Maroto at Vergara, on August 31st, 1839. Espartero undertook
to recommend to the Cortes the confirmation of the fueros, or local
liberties of Catalonia and the Basque Provinces, while the Carlists
who submitted were to be confirmed in their military rank. Don
Carlos declined to accept the agreement and retired to France.
He attempted no resistance, although for years to come the party
which supported him continued to be powerful. The departure of
Don Carlos from the scene on June 6th, 1841, terminated the
struggle which had stained the Peninsula with blood for seven
years.

The close of the Carlist war brought about other changes of
a still more important character. Espartero, whose services to
his country it was impossible to exaggerate, was created Duke of
Vittoria. He was a decided Progressive, whereas Cristina was
inclined to favour the Moderates, although she vacillated between
the two parties. The question in dispute between them at this
time was the preservation of local government in the communes.
This was threatened by a law of the Ayuntamiento, which had
passed the communes and was now awaiting the confirmation of
the Sovereign. It was violently opposed by the Aragonese, who
were passionately in favour of the local freedom which had appeared
in their province at an early date. Espartero entreated the
Regent not to sign this law, but she was deaf to his advice. He
therefore resigned, and an insurrection broke out in Barcelona
on July 18th. Cristina temporarily appointed a Progressive
Ministry, but as soon as she found herself safe in Valencia
replaced it by one of Moderates. Upon this revolution burst
forth in Madrid, and Cristina recalled Espartero as Prime Minister.
Weary of these attacks, and unable to control the warring forces
which assailed her, she abdicated and retired to France. On
September 16th, 1840, Espartero entered Madrid in triumph,
the popular hero of the country. Cristina was not without her
merits, her chief faults being vacillation and apparent insincerity.
Really moderate in her views, she gave way to the pressure of
the Progressives, only to return to her former position when she
found the opportunity. She was a patron of literature and art,
and the intellectual forces of the country flourished under her rule.

Espartero governed Spain from October, 1840, to June, 1843.
His defects were that he was a soldier and inclined to the use of

204
SPAIN UNDER THE REGENCY

military measures, and that his ambition grew as his power increased.
He had to contend against the Moderates, against the machinations
of Cristina, and against the members of his own party who were
jealous of him. He was consistently supported by the British
Government. His consecration as Regent in May, 1841, inflamed
the jealousy against him. The appointment of Argiielles as guardian
to Queen Isabella gave Cristina another opportunity for mischief.
Conspiracies were formed in Pamplona and Madrid, and an attack
was made upon the palace with the object of gaining possession of
the Queen, who was declared to be the prisoner of the Esparteristos.
On July 13th, 1842, a revolt broke out in Barcelona and the
captain-general was driven from the town. The city was eventu-
ally bombarded by Espartero and 400 houses were bummed
down. This severity was never forgiven. Espartero tried more
and more to rule by force, and steadily lost the confidence of the
country. It is useless for a great man to raise a fabric of good
government upon a foundation which is not strong enough to
support it. Espartero found a powerful rival in Narvaez, while the
name of Prim was also heard for the first time as that of a
discontented Liberal.

The political cohesion of Spain had always been weak, and
discontented politicians were in the habit of raising the standard
of rebellion as a means of enforcing their views. Alicante, Cartagena,
Murcia, Valladolid and Seville all declared against Espartero,
and on June 27th, 1843, Narvaez offered to lead the Valencians
against the ruthless punisher of Barcelona. Espartero left Madrid
and Narvaez entered it. The former might have resisted with
success, but his troops deserted him and Cadiz declared against
him. He therefore embarked on an English vessel and sought
refuge in the country which had long been his best friend.

The leader of the Moderates from 1843 to 1845 was General
Narvaez, a dictator by nature, so harsh and cruel in his methods
that he was said never to leave alive any enemy who fell into his
hands. Reforms were abrogated. The Constitution of 1837 was
set aside, and a new arrangement was promulgated on May 23rd,
1845. In this the Crown acquired the power of nominating the
Cortes and the right of spontaneous meeting was taken away
from the Chambers. Offences against the Press law were no
longer subject to the verdict of a jury. In 1843 Queen Isabella
was declared by the Cortes to have attained her majority, although
she was only thirteen years of age. She appointed Olozaga, a
Professor, as Prime Minister, but his power only lasted for six
days, and he was succeeded by Bravo, a revolutionist, who promptly

295
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

declared the whole of Spain to be in a state of siege, crushed the
Press and imprisoned Progressive Deputies. On May and, 1844,
Narvaez assumed the reins of office, and the triumph of the reaction
was complete. It is to the credit of Narvaez that he did not sully
his reputation by complicity in the Spanish marriages, but resigned
rather than have anything to do with so disgraceful a transaction.
At the time of the double marriage, which took place on October
roth, 1846, Isturiz, a Conservative, was Prime Minister. Narvaez
was again recalled to power in October, 1847.

The history of Portugal during this period has a strange simi-
larity to that of Spain, except that in Portugal Great Britain
was the predominating influence and in Spain France. We find
the same division of parties, the same incapacity of the Sovereign,
and the same palace intrigues. On March 6th, 1826, John VI.
was taken suddenly ill, and in four days died, not without suspicion
of poison. A decree named the Infanta, Isabel Maria, Regent until
the legitimate Sovereign should issue instructions. The Regency
then acknowledged Pedro IV. as King, but it was regarded as
impossible that such a man should be Emperor of Brazil and King
of Portugal, and it was assumed that he would abdicate in favour
of his brother. But this was not his view, and he adopted a line
of conduct characteristic of his temper and disposition. He drew
up a Constitution for Portugal, in the shape of a Charter, and
then abdicated the throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter
Donna Maria da Gloria, a child of seven years old, on the condition
that she should take an oath to preserve the Charter. This was
done, and Dom Miguel, a man of twenty-five, was recognised as
Regent on condition that he married his niece, a girl of seven.
The Charter was ill received in Portugal, but General Saldanha,
who was a strong Liberal, declared that unless the Charter were
accepted he would march to Lisbon with his troops. The Regency
yielded, the Charter was published, and the oath was taken to it.

Saldanha now became head of a Liberal Ministry, but in various
parts of Portugal Dom Miguel was proclaimed King by the reac-
tionaries, and the British Cabinet, which theoretically wished the
Portuguese to choose their own form of government, was forced
to send 5,000 men to Portugal, under General Clinton, to
restore order. In March, 1827, the Charter, supported by British
bayonets, had been accepted throughout Portugal, but it was not
popular. Dom Miguel, who was residing at Vienna, under the
eye of Metternich, took the oath to the Charter on October 4th,
and on October 29th became engaged to his niece. But he did
not regard the oath as binding on his conscience. He landed at

296
REVOLUTION IN PORTUGAL

Lisbon on February 23rd, 1828, as Regent and upholder of the
Charter, but Queen Carlota had no intention that he should retain
this position. The Prince, when crowned, was the idol of the
populace. He was received at Lisbon with enthusiasm, and
entered the capital amid cries of “ Viva Dom Miguel, Rei Absoluto !”’
However, on February 26th, he publicly accepted the Regency and
took the oath to the Charter, acting, however, as constitutional
king. On March 14th the Chambers were dissolved, and were
not again summoned, and on April 2nd the British troops were
recalled by Wellington. In May Miguel summoned the old Cortes
of Three Estates, which met accordingly on June 23rd, and offered
him the crown. He assumed the title of King, and, on July 7th,
took the oath before the Cortes. There was some opposition in
Oporto, but otherwise the new king was received with acclamation.
Palmella and Saldanha fled to London, and the army was broken
up. Donna Maria also went to London, but Wellington refused
to acknowledge her as Sovereign, although he treated her with all
due respect as Queen.

There was now a reign of terror in the country, every effort
being made to extirpate the Liberals. Great Britain’s policy of
non-intervention was followed by Austria and France. Dom
Pedro was told that his abdication was definite, and that he could
not place Donna Maria on the throne of Portugal except by war.
On August 29th, 1829, Donna Maria returned to Brazil. The
scene now shifts to the Azores, and especially to the island of
Terceira. In the spring of 1829 the Azores had declared them-
selves Miguelists, the garrison of Angra in Terceira alone remaining
faithful to the Liberal cause. Here Maria II. was recognised as
Queen, and Terceira became the centre of resistance to the Miguelist
Government. Palmella and Saldanha determined to take advantage
of this, and, at the end of 1828, they set out for Terceira with a
strong Portuguese force. They were, however, intercepted by a
British squadron and forced to take refuge in France. Troops,
however, gradually dribbled in, and Miguel sent an expedition
to occupy the island, but it was driven back with disaster. Palmella
came from London to Terceira and there established a Government
in the name of Maria II.

The Revolution of 1830, however, wrought a great change.
Lord Palmerston had become Foreign Minister of England, Queen
Carlota died, and the reign of terror in Portugal attained its height.
The French sent a squadron to Lisbon to avenge the treatment
of two French residents. On April 7th, 1831, Dom Pedro resigned
the Empire of Brazil and left his son Pedro II., a boy of six

K* 297
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

years old, as Emperor in his stead. Pedro II. was declared of
age in 1840, and crowned on July 18th, 1841. He proved to
be a very remarkable man, and was well known throughout
Europe.

In the meantime, Dom Pedro and his daughter Donna Maria
settled in London, where they were joined by Palmella. He was
well received by the Liberal Ministry. He then proceeded to
France, where Louis Philippe gave him the Chateau of Meudon
for a residence. In February, 1832, he sailed for the Azores and
established the government there, in which he was supreme. He
had as ministers Palmella, Silveira and Freire, Villa Flor was
general-in-chief, and Sartorius admiral. Pedro was so elated
with success that he determined to attack Portugal. He got
possession of Oporto, but the country remained faithful to Miguel,
and Pedro was besieged by a vastly superior force. After holding
out with difficulty for a year, he was joined by an Englishman,
Captain Charles Napier, who landed on June 7th, 1833. He
brought with him five ships, four hundred mercenaries, and a
sum of £18,000. Dom Pedro received them coldly, as he had
ceased to have confidence in Palmella. Napier, however, deter-
mined to attack Lisbon. It was necessary first to destroy the
Miguelist fleet, which he found off Cape St. Vincent. The battle
began at four in the afternoon, and in two hours the fleet of Dom
Miguel was entirely destroyed. After considerable fighting, Dom
Pedro entered Lisbon on July 28th, 1833, Miguel being in Oporto.
Miguel ultimately agreed to retire from Portugal, and was
offered an income of £1,500 a year, which he refused to accept,
dying in exile in 1866.

In September, 1834, Dom Pedro died. He was only thirty-
six years old, but had crowded many adventures into his short
life. His minister, Silveira, had governed the country in accord-
ance with Liberal views. Titles were abolished, hereditary rights
and privileges were swept away, monasteries and convents were
closed, monopolies were suppressed. Feudal Portugal disappeared,
and Maria II. reigned over a liberated country. She first married
the Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugéne Beauharnais, but he
died after a few months. Her second husband was Ferdinand
of Saxe-Coburg, nephew of King Leopold of Belgium. During
the reign of Maria II. the country was divided into three parties
—the Constitutional party, who supported the Charter; the Sep-
tembrists, a democratic party ; and the Miguelists. The Queen
at the time of her second marriage was only seventeen years of
age, and her husband only twenty.

298
“REVOLT OF THE MARSHALS”

It was difficult to maintain the authority of the Crown in the
strife of factions. In the first two years of her rule she had a
Constitutional Ministry, led by Palmella, Saldanha and Terceira ;
but in September, 1836, the Septembrists gained the upper hand.
They suppressed the Charter and forced the Queen to take an
oath to the Charter of 1822. The year 1837 witnessed an insurrec-
tion in favour of the Charter under Saldanha and Terceira, known as
the “ Revolt of the Marshals.” This was put down by the Govern-
ment and the two marshals went into exile. Sd-da-Bandeira
had been Prime Minister from 1836 to 1839, and was succeeded
by Costa Cabral, a supporter of the Charter. He retained power
with few checks till April, 1846, by which time the principles of
constitutional government had been firmly established. In May,
1846, a revolution compelled Cabral to go into exile, and Saldanha,
who became Prime Minister, could only save the dynasty with
the assistance of a British fleet. In 1847 foreign intervention
was again called for. A force, partly Spanish and partly British,
marched upon Oporto, and a British fleet blockaded the Douro.
Oporto surrendered, and the civil war came to an end. The
momentous year of revolutions found Portugal in a state of
tranquillity, but exhausted by the struggles through which she
had passed,

299
CHAPTER V
Pius Ix

TwIcE since the settlement of Vienna, in 1820 and 1830, had
the efforts of Italian patriots to save their country from political
annihilation, and endow it with national freedom and unity, failed
before the presence of enemies abroad and at home. Political
prisoners were languishing in Austrian and Italian prisons, and
in every country of Europe exiles, voluntary and involuntary,
were awaiting the hour of deliverance, and longing for a return
to their native land. Italy was covered by a network of secret
societies of a revolutionary character with which the exiles were
in constant communication. The “‘ Young Italy,’ founded by
Mazzini in Marseilles in 1837, took the place of the older Carbonari
and drew into its ranks a host of secret brotherhoods. Mazzini
especially addressed the young men of his country. ‘“ Place
youth at the head of the insurgent multitudes,” he said. ‘“ You
know not the secret of the power hidden in these youthful hearts,
nor the magic influence exercised upon the masses by the voice
of youth. You will find among the young a host of the apostles
of the new religion.” The influence of the society rapidly spread,
and in 1833 it numbered 60,000 members.

Since the French and the Austrians had retired from the States
of the Church, Central and Lower Italy became especially the
scene of agitation and revolutionary movements. It was in these
regions that grievances were most notorious, and the power of
repression in the Government was weakened. Sporadic risings
were crushed, and brought misery and death to those who
took part in them, but this suffering kept the flame alive and
set an example which bore fruit in later days. The political
unrest, which was apparent in the whole of Europe at this time,
showed that events must soon arise and produce a powerful effect
upon Italy. When the time came the reformers felt that they
must not be found unarmed and unprepared.

Nothing showed this feeling more than the touching episode
of the two brothers Attilio and Emilio Bandiera in 1844,
whose name now lives in the history of liberated Italy. They
were sons of an Austrian colonel, who had taken an important

300
ITALY’S NEW LITERATURE

part in suppressing the revolt in the Romagna. Inspired by
the writings of Mazzini, they determined to devote their
lives to the liberation of their country. They obtained the
assistance of Domenico Moro, who, like themselves, was an officer
in the Venetian navy. These three left Venice and went to Corfu
to await an opportunity for action. Hearing of an insurrection
in Calabria, and exaggerating its importance, and joined by fifteen
others, they landed at Cotrone and set out for Cosenza. Betrayed
by a companion, they were surrounded by Bourbon troops and
captured. Nine of them, including the brothers Bandiera, were
condemned to be shot, and died bravely, saying as they fell “ Long
live Italy!” It was a sign of the unity of sentiment which ‘‘ Young
Italy” had produced that Venetians should sacrifice their lives
for the liberation of Calabria, and that their companions should
be drawn from all parts of the peninsula.

A remarkable literary movement gave strength and direction
to these political aspirations. One of the best-known books in
Europe was Le Mie Prigiont, by Silvio Pellico, known to many
as the first Italian book they were taught to read. He was im-
prisoned in the Austrian fortress of Spielberg for ten years, but
does not declaim against his persecutors. He merely relates his
sufferings and misfortunes in moderate language, but every tear
shed for his misfortunes was changed into a drop of hatred of his
tyrants. Antonio Rosmini, of Roveredo, one of the purest spirits
who ever illuminated the Romish community, protested strongly
against the worldliness of the Church to which he belonged and
the decay of the priestly ideal. He advocated the better educa-
tion of the clergy, the independence of the Church, and the forma-
tion of an Italian federation, of which the Pope should be the
head. Another powerful influence in the same direction was
I Promessi Sposi, by Alessandro Manzoni, published in 1827.
He disapproved of conspiracies and violence, but was a strong
advocate of a united Italy. As Goethe did much to bring about
the union of Germany, so Manzoni, by writing a book which was
regarded everywhere as the product of Italy and not of Lombardy,
stirred and consolidated the feeling which eventually succeeded
in making Italy one.

More effective, but less sane, were the writings of Vincenzo
Gioberti, who published in 1843 a book called Primato Morale
e Civile degli Italiani, and in 1845 Prolegoment al Primato. He
argued that the Papacy, the head of Catholicism, the guardian
of civilisation, had secured for the Italian people the first rank
among nations. The unity of Italy could best be obtained by

301
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a confederation under the Pope. The present condition of Italy
was due, not to the badness of the government or the influence
of a corrupt clergy, but to the decline of literature and to the laxness
of the upper classes. He looked forward to a resurrection of Italy,
by its taking the lead in science and art, based upon a foundation
of religion. The Pope was to be the head not only of the Universal
Church, but the president of the Italian federation. His office
made him the arbiter and peacemaker of Europe, the spiritual
father of mankind, the protector of the Latin races throughout
the world, the inheritor of the Imperium of Rome. In the Pro-
legoment he attacked the Jesuits and advocated the suppression
of their order. These views were more powerfully expressed in
Il Gesuita Moderno, published in 1847, which was translated
into all languages. Gioberti was the advocate of a practical system
of Italian government and gave substance to the dreams of “ Young
Italy.” He advocated a scheme by which the unity of Italy could
be secured without destroying existing political arrangements.
Another writer in the same field was Cesare Balbo, of Turin,
who had been forced to leave his country owing to political troubles.
Studying in Paris he wrote a history of Italy, a life of Dante, and
a book on the philosophy of history. He became a minister
and a friend of Charles Albert. His great work was Le Speranze
@ Italia, which was stimulated by the Primato of Gioberti. In
this he advocated the formation of an Italian federation under
the supremacy of the Church, asserted Catholic civilisation to
be the foundation of Italian policy, and pointed out that Austria
was the chief hindrance to the restoration of Italian liberty.
Another author, Massimo d’Azeglio, also a Piedmontese,
and son-in-law of Manzoni, wrote Gli ultimi casi di Romagna,
in which he exposed the consequences of Papal misrule. He
showed the arrogance and incapacity of the delegates, the arbitrary
character of the administration, the abuse of the courts of law,
and the weakness of the authority of Rome. Anyone subjected
to a special order of the police was not allowed to change his
residence, must be at home at certain hours, report himself once
a fortnight to the police, go to confession once a month, and spend
three days every year in a convent selected by his bishop. The
punishment for neglect of these rules was three years’ penal servi-
tude. D’Azeglio had no strong sympathy either with the dreams
of Gioberti or the republicanism of Mazzini, but advocated the
reforms which commend themselves to practical statesmen. To
these names might also be added that of Gino Capponi, who had
but little faith in the reformation of the Church or the priesthood.

302
ACCESSION OF PIUS IX

He thought that Italy’s salvation was to be sought in submission
to the monarchy of Piedmont, the oldest dynasty in the country.
Similar views were held by Terenzio Mamiani, of Pesaro.

Pope Gregory XVI. died on June ist, 1846. It was imagined
that there would be a disturbance in the Papal States, and especi-
ally in the Romagna, and that Austria would be compelled to
intervene. Her intervention would be opposed by France, and
a European war might be the result. When Metternich ordered
Radetsky to be ready to invade the Legations, France warned
Austria that any step of the kind would be followed by the
occupation of Civita Vecchia and Ancona. As a matter of fact,
no disturbance ensued, and, after a short conclave of forty-eight
hours, Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti was elected Pope, at the
age of fifty-four, and took the title of Pius IX. As Bishop of
Imola he had acquired a hatred of Austrian oppression, was a
close friend of Count Pasolini, a distinguished Liberal, and had
been introduced by him to the writings of Gioberti, Balbo and
d’Azeglio. They all hoped that he would be the leader of Italian
Independence and emulate Hildebrand and Innocent III. in
securing, for the Papal See, the primacy of Italy. He was a man
of the world, accustomed to polite society, and had, before he
became a priest, aimed at being a member of the Pope’s Noble
Guard. He had a magnificent. voice, and when, from the balcony
of St. Peter’s, he gave his blessing to the city and the world, it
could be heard throughout the vast area of the huge piazza.

On July 16th, four weeks after his accession, he published
an amnesty, which proclaimed the pardon of all political offenders
and suspects, and struck the keynote of the resurrection of Italy.
The enthusiasm thus aroused was indescribable, and its import-
ance cannot be overrated. It was a rehabilitation of patriotism,
and made a virtue of what had before been a crime. Metternich
perceived at once that his action must inevitably lead to war with
Austria and to the liberation of Italy. But the Pope probably
did not understand this. Having thus inaugurated his reign, he
proceeded with other reforms. He introduced economies into his
household, liberated the Press, took steps to reform legislation and
the law courts, favoured the construction of railways, enlarged
his Council of State by admitting to it distinguished provincials,
gave the city of Rome a free municipality, and projected a Customs
union, which might lead to an Italian federation. He strengthened
the Civil Guard, as a protection against Austrian interference,
and objected to the occupation by that Power of the Citadel of
Ferrara. {We are prepared for everything,” said Metternich,

303
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

“except for a Liberal Pope, and, now we have got one, there is no
answering for anything.”

In this way Pius IX. placed himself at the head of the National
movement, and made the Papacy once more the political centre
of Italy. His policy was soon felt beyond the boundaries of the
Papal States. Genoa celebrated the centenary of the expulsion
of the Austrians in 1746. Milan held a public mourning for the
death of Federigo Confalonieri, who had been confined in the
Spielberg, and died just as he returned to celebrate the birth of
a new Italy. Since 1839 scientific congresses had been held in
Italy, and these served to bring together the most distinguished
men from the whole peninsula, and bore the same relation to
political union that the gymnastic meetings bore in Germany.
In 1846 the scientific congress called itself a National Conven-
tion, and invited all Italy to take part in the Genoese celebrations
and to illuminate the whole range of the Apennines with beacon
fires. Similar feelings had been roused in the smaller Italian
States—Tuscany, Lucca, Modena and Parma—while Naples and
Sicily had been deeply stirred. Charles Albert carried out reforms
in his own country of Piedmont, dismissed his Foreign Secretary,
Della Margarita, who was favourable to the Austrians, and made
Alfieri di Sostegno Minister of Education. In Venice Daniele
Manin, Pietro Paleocapo and Valentino Pasini began to show
themselves as opponents of Austrian domination.

Meanwhile, in Rome reforms continued to proceed slowly, and
the Pope began to be afraid of the significance of his own work
The Liberals wished for a Papal autocracy, but, on April azst,
1847, the Pope created a Council of State, or advising council.
The amnesty had now lasted a year, and preparations were made
for celebrating it ; but the leader of the populace, the Capapopolo,
Brunetti, called Ciceruacchio, stopped it, being afraid of the grow-
ing influence of Austria and the Jesuits. Gioberti said that as
Cicero had prevented the conspiracy of Catiline, so Ciceruacchio
had stopped the conspiracy of the autocracy. The occupation
of Ferrara by the Austrians on July 17th, a forcible repression
of the reforming tendencies of the Pope, was the beginning of the
Italian Revolution.

Metternich now began to act, and looked on the prospect of
revolution and war with unshaken gaze. He was supported by
Prussia and Austria, but Great Britain was on the side of reform.
The British Cabinet had sent Lord Minto to encourage the Pope,
but cautioned him to avoid provocation of Austria. In other
parts of Italy the irritation against Austria developed. A civic

304
THE ITALIAN REVOLUTION

guard was formed in Tuscany, and Ridolfi became head of a Liberal
Government. In Piedmont Charles Albert seemed ready to meet
the occupation of Ferrara by declaring war against Austria. In
August, 1847, an insurrection took place in both Messina and
Reggio, and a more serious rising in the whole of Sicily was
announced for January, 1848. The Pope declared that he had
no desire for a war with Austria, and that the establishment of
the Council of State had set the coping-stone to his reforms. At
the same time the new municipality of Rome was decreeing a
Constitution. The Revolution actually began by the rising in
Palermo on January 12th, and in twenty-four days the whole of
Italy was free from foreign occupation, except the fortress of
Messina. The King of Naples offered to make terms, but the
Sicilians proclaimed the adoption of the Constitution of 1812, a
ridiculous and unworkable arrangement, imposed upon them by
Lord William Bentinck during the British occupation, and a
provisional Government was set up, with Ruggieri Settimo at its
head.

The King of Naples, anxious to anticipate the coming storm,
granted a Constitution. On March 5th Charles Albert pro-
mulgated a Statuto for his dominions, which was never recalled,
and, a few days earlier, on February 17th, a similar Statuto had
been published in Tuscany. The Pope refused to grant a Consti-
tution, or to expel the Jesuits, or to make war against Austria,
and confined himself to blessing Italy solemnly from the balcony
of the Quirinal. But he was obliged to give way, and on March
roth formed a Ministry of which Minghetti and Pasolini were
members, and on March 14th he published a Constitution. But
all these efforts were thrown into the shade by the Revolution of
February in France, which drove Louis Philippe from his throne.

We must now pass to Switzerland, where the Revolution had
a religious origin, although the struggles between democracy and
its opponents still went on. In January, 1834, certain cantons,
with Berne at their head, drew up a document called “ The Articles
of Baden,” the object of which was to defend the State against
the encroachments of the Church. They were condemned by the
Pope as false, audacious, inclining towards heresy and schismatism,
and were not supported by public opinion. They were rejected
in St. Gall, and proved a dead letter even in Berne, but had the
effect of exasperating the Roman Catholics. On the other hand,
great indignation was roused in Ziirich by the appointment of
David Friedrich Strauss, the author of the Leben Jesu, to a
professorship, and the Liberal Government was turned out.

395
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Retribution followed, as a matter of course. In Ticino the
clerical Ministry was deposed, and in Aargau an attempt of the
Catholics, in 1841, to turn out the Liberals was defeated, with the
result that a law was passed to suppress the monasteries. This
was contrary to the provisions of the Union, and the Catholics
determined to protect their rights by force of arms. The dispute
continued till 1843, when three nunneries were re-established,
which the Federal Diet considered as satisfactory. Against this
decision the Catholic cantons protested, and Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz,
Unterwalden, Zug, Freiburg and the Valais eventually formed a
separate league, called the Sonderbund, which was finally con-
stituted in June, 1844. The seven cantons demanded the restora-
tion of the Aargau monasteries, and Aargau replied by asking
for the expulsion of the Jesuits. This led to a civil war in Lucerne
itself, which culminated in the Battle of Malters, April 1st, 1845,
in which the Liberals were defeated.

On December 11th, 1845, the seven cantons banded them-
selves into an armed separate league, with a common council of
war, presided over by Siegwart-Miiller. As they formed a fifth
part of the population, it was clear their secession could not be
allowed, since it would have broken up the confederation. In
July, 1846, Ziirich, which was then the capital of the confedera-
tion, protested against the league and asked the Federal Diet to
dissolve it. It was not till July, 1847, however, that a vote was
passed to this effect. The Sonderbund prepared for war and
sought alliances with foreign Powers. Europe, in the main, took
the side of the Sonderbund as an outwork against revolution,
then generally threatening. Piedmont and France actually assisted
the League with arms and money. Great Britain, however, was
an exception. George Grote, the historian of Greece, had
explained the situation to his countrymen, and Palmerston, like
Canning, was a European Liberal at heart. But war grew inevit-
able, and in October, 1847, General Dufour was placed at the
head of 100,000 soldiers and 260 guns. To these the Sonderbund
opposed an army of 79,000 men and 74 guns, under the command
of Salis-Soglio. The campaign was over in twenty-five days.
Freiburg capitulated on November 14th, Zug on November arst,
Lucerne on November 24th, Unterwalden, Schwyz and Uri on
the three following days, and Valais on November 29th. The
Federals lost 78 killed and 260 wounded, and the disbanded
Federal army reached their homes in February, 1848.

The sudden collapse of the Sonderbund made intervention by
foreign Powers impossible. Guizot had formed a plan by which

306
THE SWISS FEDERATION

the Powers should unite to impose a new Constitution on the
Federation. Great Britain, represented by Palmerston, refused to
take part in this enterprise, and confined herself to simple offers
of mediation, The French note arrived at Berne the very day
after the Sonderbund had ceased to exist. The Diet could reply
with dignity that it was contrary to the principles of independ-
ence, recognised for Switzerland in 1835, to listen to foreign
interference. It became necessary, however, to remodel the Swiss
Constitution and change it in some degree from a loose to a close
confederacy. Owing to the revolutions which now broke out in
various European countries, the Swiss were at liberty to manage
their own affairs and work out their democratic principles
unchecked.

In federal governments the main point to determine is what
powers shall be given to th: central authority, and what shall
remain with the separate States of which the confederation is
composed. The Federal Government was given complete control
of the army, which, by wise legislation and administration,
developed into one of the best armies in Europe, a model to all
nations of what a citizen army should be. Weights, measures, and
coinage were made uniform. Common Customs were established,
and a common Post Office the administration of which is an object
of admiration to all who have to do with it. Equality before the
law, liberty of residence, liberty of creed for all Christian denomina-
tions, freedom of the Press and of public meeting, were recognised
as the fundamental principles of a democratic State.

The Legislature was constituted in two Houses—the Senate,
representing the cantons, to which it gave equal representation,
each canton, whether small or large, sending two members; and
the Lower House, which represented the people and was composed
of members elected in proportion to the population of each canton,
the large cantons, therefore, receiving a greater number of repre-
sentatives than the smaller. This arrangement was borrowed
from the United States, where it formed the basis of the famous
“Connecticut compromise,’’ which made the Constitution of America
possible. It has worked in Switzerland with remarkable success.
The Federal Executive was a council comprising seven members,
elected by the two Chambers acting together, to sit for three years.
Out of this council was chosen a President, to hold office for a
year. A Federal Court of Judicature was also established, and a
means of revising the Constitution, if necessary, was provided. A
further revision took place in the year 1867.

The Constitution remains the model of a democratic govern-

397.
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ment, the best, the happiest, the most successful known to the
present day, worthy of the attentive study of all who visit Switzer-
land. It is a marvel that Switzerland has a separate existence at
all. It is composed of at least three races, speaking at least
three languages, professing different religions; its component
parts are separated by impassable mountains ; its territory is an
object of desire to all the Powers which surround it. It owes its
existence to the passionate love of liberty which animates its
citizens, and to the Constitution, based upon liberty, which binds
them together. It is significant that, at the moment when thrones
were toppling and European Governments were shaken to their
foundations, Switzerland should have succeeded in raising an
edifice which has withstood all the shocks of fate. After the
convulsions of these two revolutionary years Switzerland took her
place among the Powers of Europe as an independent State, more
fitted to be a mediator or model to other nations than to be the
object of tutelage or patronage.

308
CHAPTER VI

PRESIDENT LOUIS NAPOLEON

BEFORE the dynasty of July fell it met with several notable
misfortunes. The charges of corruption which weakened its
authority were confirmed by the trials of General Cubiéres and
the Minister Teste. Emile Girardin, the editor of La Presse,
which was the powerful opponent of Republicanism, who had
killed Armand Carrel in a duel, was found to be in the pay of the
Government ; and the murder of the Duchesse de Praslin by
her husband threw a lurid light on the moral character of the
Orléans Monarchy, which did not become less strong when the
Duke killed himself in prison. The people were reminded, by
these events, of the scandals which had preceded the fall of
Louis XVI.

Moreover, the foreign policy of Louis Philippe had become
gradually less in harmony with the nation. He appeared more
as a supporter of the Holy Alliance and less as a supporter of
democratic reform. Guizot’s action with regard to Switzerland
produced unfavourable impressions. Yet, while the King estranged
his own subjects, he did not conciliate the Courts of Vienna and
St. Petersburg. Austria was not sympathetic, and the Emperor
of Russia treated the Orléans king as a parvenu. It was known
that France had used her influence to restrain Rossi, the reform-
ing Minister of Pius IX., lest any offence should be given to
Austria; that in Italy she represented a counter-influence to
the generous policy of Great Britain; that, while the British navy
was assisting the efforts of Italian independence, French vessels in
Toulon and Port-Vendres were arming to repress it. The whole
nation was conscious that the Government was rotten, that it had
failed to carry out the objects for which it was originally estab-
lished. The aged monarch removed himself more and more from
the influences of public opinion, and only associated with those
who agreed with him. He gave his complete confidence to Guizot,
who almost equalled his Sovereign in unchangeable stubbornness,
but who, from his eloquence and high character, was possibly
the best support that the Orléanist dynasty could find.

Matters would not be improved by the King’s death. The

399
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

heir to the throne was a child, and the chosen Regent, Nemours,
was unpopular. The Chambers were composed largely of place-
men and were tainted with suspicions of corruption. It was
against them that the attacks of the Liberal Opposition and the
friends of reform were in the first instance directed. There are
many reasons why France is better governed as a monarchy than
as a republic. But a French monarchy, to be effective, must
have both prestige and power, and the monarchy of Louis Philippe
had neither. The new French King, who appeared on the balcony
of his palace whenever a few street ragamuffins shouted “ Vive
le Roi!” under his window, did not impress the Parisian imagina-
tion, and the Parisian has no respect for, or understanding of, a
monarchical government founded on the dull, drab lines of the
British Constitution, their history having led them to associate
monarchy with the splendour of Henry IV. and Louis XIV. and
the glories of Napoleon.

The remedy of these evils was looked for in electoral reform.
As the British Reform Bill of 1832 had made the government
national, instead of confining it to a privileged class, so the
opponents of the present regime, whether Legitimists, Constitu-
tionals, or Republicans, regarded the extension of the franchise
as the only means of doing away with corruption and inefficiency.
At the same time, while the first two parties advocated a restricted
franchise, the Republicans demanded universal suffrage. A method
of stimulating public opinion on this question was sought, not in
public meetings or in petitions, but in so-called Reform banquets,
held in different parts of France and addressed by prominent
statesmen. Among those who spoke at these political dinners
were Odilon Barrot, Duvergier de Hauranne, Thiers, and Rémusat.
A speech of Lamartine at Macon on one of these occasions pro-
duced a great sensation. The Radicals revived the Société de
Saisons, and Ledru Rollin and Louis Blanc advocated social
democracy in La Réforme. The feeling that Guizot’s Govern-
ment had opposed the popular party in Italy and Switzerland
increased the agitation and led to more pronounced demonstrations.

The Chambers met on December 28th, 1847, and the Opposi-
tion determined to hold a Reform banquet in Paris, which had
hitherto been free from this particular form of movement. The
Speech from the Throne denounced the blind perverseness of the
Reformers and, in order to stop the banquets, an antiquated law
of 1790 was resuscitated. A violent assault was made upon the
Government. They were accused of interfering with the rights
of public meeting, and charged with political corruption and support

310
REFORM RIOTS IN PARIS

of the Austrians and Jesuits. Lamartine said: “Since you inter-
fered in Spain, France has acted in contradiction to ‘its traditions
and its interests; she has been Ghibelline in Rome, Clerical in
Berne, Austrian in Piedmont, Russian in Cracow, French nowhere,
counter-revolutionary everywhere.”

Notwithstanding the prohibition, the leaders of the Left—
Odilon Barrot, Garnier Pagés and Arago—had determined to hold
a Reform banquet in the Twelfth Arrondissement, in the neighbour-
hood of the Champs Elysées. There was to be a procession, and
the National Guard was invited, without obtaining leave from its
officers. The Government objected, and the Opposition gave way,
and agreed to submit the question of the legality of public meeting
to the Law Courts. But they had reckoned without their host.
On February 22nd, the day fixed for the banquet, workmen in
blouses, students, pupils of the Polytechnic School, and urchins
went about the streets shouting, “Down with Guizot! Vive la
Réforme!” They thronged the vicinity of the Parliament House
and demanded the indictment of Ministers. These disorders
lasted for two days; the National Guard was on the side of the
people, and the soldiers were averse to energetic measures.
The King thought that he could calm the storm by dismissing
Guizot and putting Molé in his place, keeping the rest of the
Ministry unchanged. This news caused great excitement. The
streets were thronged, the houses were illuminated, men embraced
each other. But the step was not enough. The workmen in
the north of Paris still retained their arms and stood by the
barricades. At night a torchlight procession, which the troops
were powerless to stop,:marched along the boulevards. In an
unhappy moment a shot was heard, the soldiers fired a volley
into the crowd, and eighty-two bodies of dead and wounded
lay upon the ground. The furious mob seized upon a passing
wagon, filled it with corpses, and marched, torch in hand,
with cries of ‘‘ Treachery!”’ “‘ Vengeance!” ‘To arms!”

The King now saw his error and summoned to his councils
Thiers, Odilon Barrot, Duvergier de Hauranne and Marshal
Bugeaud. It was too late. Appeals for peace were answered by
cries of ‘‘ The King deceives you! Bugeaud will slaughter you!”
Louis Philippe now abdicated in favour of his grandson, the Comte
de Paris—whose mother, the Duchesse d’Orléans, was Regent—
stole out of the Tuileries by a back door, and set off, first to
St. Cloud, and then to Dreux and the coast. The King and Queen
eventually reached England with some difficulty, and were lodged
at Claremont, which belonged at that time to their son-in-law,

3Il
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the King of the Belgians. There Louis Philippe remained till his
death on August 26th, 1850. ,The Duchesse d’Orléans, with great
courage, went to the Parliament House, accompanied by her two
sons, the Comte de Paris and the Duc de Chartres, and asked for
the protection of the Chambers. This could not be granted in
the face of the surging mob and the tumultuous galleries. The
Duchess was, indeed, separated for some time from her children
and her brother-in-law, the Duc de Nemours.

Liberal opinion was gradually demanding a republic. A pro-
visional Government was formed, with the aged Dupont de I’Eure
at its head, and a Republic was proclaimed from the Hotel de
Ville, even before the sanction of the people for this form of
government had been obtained. It was formed of Lamartine,
Ledru Rollin, Arago, Garnier Pagés and Louis Blanc. The
Tuileries was attacked, the furniture was. burned, and the throne
was carried into the Place de la Bastille and torn to pieces under
the Column of July. Life, however, and property were safe in the
capital, and works of art were protected by the Polytechnic and
other students. Lamartine succeeded in forming a Guard Mobile,
and a few days afterwards Caussidiére, the Prefect of Police, got
together a kind of National Guard. The revolution had taken
place with lightning rapidity ; a few hours had upset the monarchy
and driven the King into exile; the unpopular deputies in the
Chamber fled or concealed themselves. The Orléans dynasty had
no party and no supporters. Aumale and Joinville, one of whom
was commanding an army in Algeria, the other a fleet at sea,
quickly resigned their posts and retired to England.

The difficulties of the new Government now began. They had
to reconcile government with revolution, order with anarchy ;
to find work for the unemployed and subsistence for the starving.
The excitement was over; the cries of “ Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity ’ had ceased; the reality of political life had come.
A National Assembly was to meet in May, but till that time the
provisional Government ruled over France. Lamartine secured
the substitution of the tricolour for the red flag. He was the
soul of the administration, and his manifesto to Europe, published
on March 3rd, tended to produce confidence in the new order of
things and to allay apprehension. At the same time the Revolu-
tion had been the work of the working classes, and it was necessary
to listen to the leaders of the Radicals and Socialists. In the
first days of the Revolution Louis Blanc and Garnier Pagés had
put their names to a petition declaring that it was the duty of
the Government to find work for the unemployed. The “ right

312
THE RISE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

to work ”’ was advocated, and at last a workman named Albert
was added to the provisional Government, while Louis Blanc was
allowed to organise labour for the unemployed and poorer classes
with the help of a workmen’s Parliament. It was difficult to stop
the Socialist movement. The State found itself bound to provide
for the unemployed and unemployable sections of society, in
national workshops, which consumed millions and produced
nothing. To produce an appearance of utility, earthworks were
begun, in which the earth was taken away one day and brought
back the next. Two francs a day were given to all persons with-
out work, and this impoverished the revenue and pauperised the
people.

The Anarchists began to raise their heads; the foundation of
a Committee of Public Safety, with a revolutionary dictatorship,
was part of their programme. Conspiracies and insurrections
were put down with the greatest difficulty. The Treasury was
exhausted, taxes were not paid, business was at a standstill, the
National Debt grew, the project of a national loan came to nothing,
and an increase of taxes produced general discontent.

The embarrassment of the Government was increased by the
return of the Social Democrats, who clamoured for a popular
representation and attempted to form a Committee of Public
Safety, after the model of that established in Paris in 1789. While
Garnier Pagés mismanaged the Treasury, Ledru Rollin caused
confusion in the whole machine of Government, by dismissing all
the permanent officials and filling their places with men of
decided Republican and revolutionary opinions. A Constitu-
tional Assembly was now summoned. The suffrage was to be
direct and universal; all Frenchmen over twenty-one years of
age were to have a vote, and all Frenchmen over twenty-five were
eligible for election. Voting was to be by ballot and scrutin de
liste, according to Departments—that is, all the candidates for a
Department were to be voted for together.

The result of the elections was a disappointment to the
Extreme party. In Paris the Socialist leaders, Barbés, Leroux
and Raspail, obtained a relatively small number of votes, and the
members of the provisional Government received support in their
efforts to restrain violence and impatience. In the provinces
Lamartine was elected in ten Departments, but out of 840
deputies, of whom the new Assembly was composed, 130 were
Legitimists and at least 100 were supporters of Louis Napoleon.
Thus more than a fourth of the Assembly was Royalist. It met
on May 4th, declared the government of France to be permanently

313
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Republican, and established in the place of the provisional Govern-
ment an Executive Committee, consisting of Arago, Garnier Pagés,
Lamartine and Ledru Rollin. Preparations were made for
abolishing the national workshops, and it was clear that the
new Chamber would not recognise the axiom of the “ right
to work.”

Huber, Blanqui and Raspail, the leaders of the Social
Democrats, consequently determined to destroy the National
Assembly by a new conspiracy, and establish a revolutionary
dictatorship. Their pretext was the foreign policy of the Govern-
ment; they adopted the principles of 1792—that the business
of a republic was to make war on kings and organise crusades
for the liberation of enslaved nations. On May 15th a deputation
was presented to the Chamber, asking that France should demand
the restoration of Poland, and, in case of refusal, declare war
upon the three Powers which had partitioned her. The Assembly
was invaded, and Blanqui, Barbés and Huber proceeded to decree
its dissolution, to establish a tax on the rich, and to declare war
against the kings of Europe. Happily, the National Guard was
able to establish order in the capital; the revolt was put down,
and the conspirators were imprisoned at Vincennes. The Assembly
met in a large hall built for the purpose, which exposed them to
the attacks of the crowded galleries. When the Assembly was
complete, Buchez and the bulk of the members retired, whilst
the Democratic leaders proceeded to the formation of a new
Government. Driven out by the National Guard, they took refuge
in the Hotel de Ville. Sobrier and his myrmidons were over-
powered in the Rue de Rivoli, and the Revolutionary Guard of
Caussidiére was dispersed. The workmen’s Parliament, which
sat in the Luxembourg under Louis Blanc, came to an end.

Supplementary elections strengthened the Moderate party by
returning Thiers, Changarnier and Louis Napoleon as members
of the Assembly ; and they now attempted to establish a republic
on a durable basis. It became necessary, however, to deal with
the national workshops, which were a source of pauperism and
expense. The younger workmen were sent into the army, and
the older drafted to the provinces to make entrenchments. The
workmen resented this and prepared for a rising. They were
supported by Legitimists and Bonapartists, who supplied them
with money. On June 23rd barricades were erected in all the
working-class districts, and Lamartine, seeing that a struggle was
inevitable, advised his colleagues to give unrestricted authority
to General Cavaignac, Minister of War, The Assembly, having

314
THE REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION

established a dictatorship, requested the Executive Committee
to resign.

The struggle which now broke out between the Extremists
and the Moderates was longer and more sanguinary than that
which brought about the fall of the Monarchy of July. Cavaignac
was a more resolute antagonist than Louis Philippe. General
Bréa fell, and Affre, the pious Archbishop of Paris, who advanced
to the barricades to attempt to establish peace between the warring
factions, was mortally wounded.

Cavaignac would accept no terms short of unconditional
surrender, and at three in the morning of July 26th ordered an
attack which resulted in a complete victory. The insurgents
lost 10,000 killed and wounded, and their leaders were tried before
the courts, thousands of prisoners being transported to colonies
across the seas. Cavaignac received the thanks of the Assembly,
and was made president of a new executive authority. Lamoriciére
became Minister of War, and Changarnier was placed in command
of the National Guard.

The first piece of business was the drawing-up of a Consti-
tution. It was the work of a committee, of which Armand Marrast
was the reporter, and was afterwards ratified by the Assembly.
A preamble declared that, by means of the Republic, the nation
would work with greater freedom in the matter of progress and
civilisation, would assure a more equal distribution of burdens
and advantages, and would enable all citizens to attain a higher
standard of moderate prosperity and enlightenment, by the help
of laws and institutions. It recognised that there were rights
and duties, equal to and superior to actual laws; undertook to
respect foreign nationalities and establish free popular educa-
tion; and announced that the State and the Departments
would. establish public workshops for the benefit of the un-
employed. This programme was certainly not carried into
practice.

There was great discussion whether there should be one or
two Chambers. Lamartine and Dupin, who were in favour of a
single Chamber, obtained a majority of forty over Duvergier de
Hauranne and Odilon Barrot, who supported two. The committee
proposed to place the executive power in the hands of a president,
elected directly by the people, by universal suffrage, and this
was eventually passed by a majority of 500. He was to serve
for five years, and could not be elected a second time except
after a five years’ interval. He appointed his Ministers, but
they were responsible to the Assembly, and, with the president

315
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

himself, were subject to a High Court of Justice, elected out of
the members of the Court of Cassation. On November 12th, 1848,
a service, held in the Place de la Concorde, gave a solemn religious
sanction to the new Republican rule.

The president was to be elected on December roth. The
choice lay between General Cavaignac and Prince Louis Napoleon,
and the nephew of the Emperor was chosen by a vote of
5,500,000. He had only recently become a Deputy, after
the decree of banishment against the Napoleon family had been
rescinded. At that time Louis Napoleon was regarded as a man
of no great importance. The Duc de Sermoneta, who had known
him well in Italy, said that he ‘“‘ was a reed painted to look like
iron,” and he received the name of Napoleon the Little, in contrast
to Napoleon the Great. This was, however, a mistaken view.
He was a very able man with decided views and determination
to carry them out. Indeed, his career as Emperor, though begun
in crime and darkened by extravagance and social corruption,
has not received the praise which it deserves, and which, doubt-
less, some day will be given to it. He owed his return to the
devotion of the people to the Napoleonic tradition, to the Clerical
influence, for he was known to be a supporter of the Church, and
to the landed proprietors’ hatred of Radicalism and Socialism.
Cavaignac laid down his power, and on December 2oth, 1848,
the new President took the oath—at the hands of Armand Marrast
and in the sight of God and the French people—to remain faithful
to the democratic Republic, one and indivisible, and to perform
all the duties laid upon him by the Constitution.

After this he made a speech to the Deputies, in which he said :
“The voice of the nation and the oath which I have just taken
point out the course of my future conduct. My duties are prescribed
for me, and I shall perform them as a man of honour. I will
regard all those as enemies of their country who try to alter, by
illegal means, what France has ordained. Between you and me,
citizens and deputies, there can be no difference of opinion. Our
will and our wishes are the same. I wish, like you, to secure the
State and society firmly on their foundations. I will strengthen
democratic institutions, and will do everything to alleviate the
sufferings of this magnanimous and single-minded people, which
has given me so clear a proof of its confidence.’ As President
Louis Napoleon went to live in the Palace of the Elysées Bourbon,
which was assigned to him as a residence.

Throughout these convulsions the French had preserved their
qualities of bravery, patriotism and political tact. All parties

316
THE REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED

strove for the greatness of France. Thiers said, in his first speech
in Parliament : ‘“‘ My friends and I have neither made the Republic
nor desired it, but we accept it ; we accept it honestly and sincerely.
The form of government which we strove for is broken, but under
the present form, as under forms which have previously existed,
we will endeavour to realise the best interests of our country.”

317
CHAPTER VII

THE REVOLUTION FEVER IN 1848

THE Revolution of February in France produced in the rest of
Europe far more startling effects than the Revolution of July had
done. In Italy, Germany, Poland and Switzerland it gave rise
to violent party quarrels and passionate national feeling. Some
enthusiastic natures, knowing little of practical politics, went so far
as to dream of the establishment of unrestricted liberty and a
Republic which should embrace the whole of Europe, founded
upon the principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, without
any restraints of national or religious differences. The temporary
victory of these views confirmed the enthusiasts in their hopes,
and a propaganda, which had its centre in Paris, fed the re-
volutionary fire and spread abroad Republican ideas of a
socialistic and communistic character, and stirred the aspira-
tions of the lower classes of the people, the workmen and the
proletariat.

Many believed and many hoped that the Revolution would
take its course through Europe, following the precedent of its
predecessor in 1789 ; and the circumstances of the time were
favourable to revolutionary movements, especially in Germany.
In that country a serious commercial crisis was accompanied
by distress caused by unfavourable harvests. The discontent
was stimulated by the current literature, and excited outbreaks
in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, and other towns. They were put
down by the military and the police, and the misery which
provoked them was alleviated by the generosity of the rich and
the sympathy of the benevolent. A good harvest also led to a
temporary improvement.

But inequality in the distribution of property and in the
enjoyment of the advantages of life was becoming more apparent.
The population of Germany was growing gradually poorer. The
proletariat had nothing before them but an abyss of wretchedness
and misery, which might end by swallowing up the middle classes
as well. The only remedy lay in far-reaching political and social
reforms, for the emigration of thousands every year to the United
States did little to stop the evil, and the attempt to curb the Press

318
THE DECLINE OF METTERNICH

only drove the feeling of discontent deeper into the people’s heart.
The universal unrest could only end in political convulsions.

The Revolution first broke out in Baden. Violent petitions
addressed to the Chambers demanded freedom of the Press, trial
by jury, the establishment of a National Guard and a German
Parliament. The Baden Government met this’ by abolishing
feudal privileges and compensating their possessors out of the
public funds. Officials who had incurred the hatred of the people
were removed, and unpopular deputies resigned their seats. The
example of Baden proved infectious. In Wiirtemberg, Saxony,
and other German States the government was entrusted to the
Liberal Opposition, some crying evils were remedied and electoral
laws altered. The news of the Revolution in Paris, which reached
Baden on February 27th, produced a powerful effect. Fifty-one
popular men, mostly leaders of the Liberal Opposition in the several
States, met at Heidelberg to consult upon the needs of the hour.
They issued to the German people an appeal, which demanded
a national representation according to population, besides
appointing a committee of seven, which embraced the names
of Gagern, Welcker and Itzstein.

A still larger assembly of prominent Liberal politicians was
summoned to meet at Frankfort at the end of March, and even
the Diet found it necessary to satisfy national aspirations. It
issued an appeal to the German nation on March Ist, urging the
co-operation of governments and peoples to place Germany in
the position which she ought to occupy in Europe; this could only
be done by concord, constitutional progress and national develop-
ment. The Diet allowed its members to deal with the censorship
of the Press in any way they liked, and determined to undertake
a revision of the Constitution. A commission was appointed for
this purpose, and the German tricolour, for which so many patriots
had suffered persecution and imprisonment, was adopted as the
national flag. But the repentance of the Diet came too late to
obliterate the memory of its previous errors.

It was now the turn of Metternich to suffer. For thirty years
he had dominated the councils of Europe with undisputed authority,
and it was not creditable to the intelligence of those who followed
him that a man so shallow, so frivolous, so immoral, should have
possessed the influence he wielded. Oxenstiern has bid us remember
with how little wisdom the affairs of the world are governed. The
study of history shows that light-minded and adaptable natures,
floating like corks on the surface of affairs, have often great in-
fluence for harm, while deeper and more powerful characters are

319
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

unable to subdue to their will the forces of the age. Metternich
never understood or affected to understand the forces by which
he was surrounded and by which he was eventually overthrown.
Examination of his career shows that the harm he did was scarcely
illuminated by a single good action. He wormed himself into
the confidence of Napoleon, persuaded him to divorce Josephine
and to marry Marie Louise. Bound to support the French Empire
by every consideration of honour, and indeed of interest, he basely
deserted Napoleon in his hour of need; and while he was able to
bring about the fall of that mighty man, he also effectually secured
the ruin of his own country. It was mainly owing to him that
Austria does not hold in Germany the position which Prussia holds
to-day. His voluminous memoirs hardly contain a single page
exhibiting statesmanlike insight and precision. He meets patriotic
enthusiasm with cynical contempt, and his ridicule of progress
did not prevent him from arresting it with inhuman cruelty.
His deliberate corruption of Marie Louise, his master’s daughter,
may be the worst of his crimes, but it is typical of many others
with which his career was stained. The hatred with which he
was regarded by the enlightened minds of Europe has been
confirmed by posterity, and it is not likely that this deliberate
judgment will ever be reversed.

The Revolution of February sounded the knell of his system.
The excitement in Vienna was feverish. The States of Hungary
demanded a separate Government, a reform of the Constitution,
more moderate taxation, liberation from the necessity of undertaking
the Austrian debt, and a provision that Hungarian soldiers should
not be compelled to serve out of their own country. From Hungary
the agitation spread to Prague, and from Prague to Vienna, where
the Austrian Chambers met in March. The secrecy which was
preserved with regard to the financial condition of the country
caused profound mistrust. Paper money was in some cases refused,
commerce and industry came to a standstill, and the number of
the unemployed increased. Viennese students put themselves
at the head of the movement. They presented petitions to the
Chambers, the Ministers and the Emperor, and by tumultuous
meetings stirred up the country to rebellion. The students were
armed, and the soldiers declined to act with severity against them.
As the powers of the State were unable to restore order, Metternich
had no alternative but to resign his office, which he did on March
13th, seeking refuge in England.

The flight of the Chancellor was the prelude to anarchy. The
people were aroused. A nation which had never been allowed

320,
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN PRUSSIA

to know what freedom meant, or how it could be properly used,
now came into the possession of unrestricted political power.
The freedom of the Press found expression in the wildest extrava-
gance of abuse, the right of public meeting resulted in the coming
together of noisy and violent demagogues, and the foundation of
democratic clubs, which were a hindrance to order. The Govern-
ment which succeeded Metternich was out of sympathy with
Radical demands, and showed weakness and incompetence. Vienna
was in the hands of the students and a hastily-formed Civic Guard.

The proposal of a moderate Constitution caused another out-
break on May 15th. The Government was asked to summon a
Constitutional Diet, elected by manhood suffrage from all the
States of which the Monarchy was composed, whose business it
would be to draw up a new Constitution. The Emperor, broken
in health by these occurrences, retired to Innsbruck on May roth.
This produced a reaction in his favour, which was utilised to dissolve
the Student Legion and to occupy the University buildings with
troops. These steps, however, resulted in a third outbreak on
May 26th, worse than the other two. The streets were blockaded
with barricades and filled with citizen soldiers, warming themselves
at watch-fires. At last it was arranged that the soldiers should
be removed from the city and that order should be preserved
by a Committee of Public Safety, composed of citizens, National
Guards and students. The University buildings, however, re-
mained closed. .

On July 22nd the National Assembly was opened under the
presidency of Archduke John, acting as representative of the
Emperor in his absence. On August 12th Ferdinand returned
to the capital, amid the acclamations of the people, under the
escort of the National Guard. At the same time force had to be
used to quell disorder. On June 2nd Prague was bombarded
by Prince Windischgratz, after his wife had been shot dead at
a window of her palace.

Berlin also had her days of March. Frederick William IV.
was urged to make concessions, which would, prevent the influence
of the Revolution of February from spreading to Prussia. But
what could he do? His stubborn spirit urged him to do nothing,
and nothing he could have done would have been of any use. He
depended upon the loyalty and steadfastness of his army. But
the disturbances in Vienna made him realise that the danger was
nearer than he thought, and the necessity of timely reform became
apparent. Even then he was deaf to advice. The disturbances
in Berlin must first be put down by force; then, when that was

L 321
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

done, reforms could be conceded by grace, instead of being extorted
by fear. This did not suit the populace, or the Poles, who were

; behind their back. The removal of soldiers was demanded with

‘increasing energy, and on March 17th, 1848, the Government
yielded. The censorship of the Press was abolished, and a com-
plete alteration of the Constitution was promised, coupled with
a fresh arrangement as to the relations of Prussia to the German
Federation.

Next day the rioters were more audacious than ever. Crowds
collected before the palace, demanding the dismissal of the soldiers
and the establishment of a National Guard. The King refused to
receive a deputation of the town authorities. At last a division
of infantry marched out of the palace to drive the people back.
Two shots were fired, as so frequently happens in such crises,
whether by accident or design, by soldiers or casual loiterers, is
not known. Cries arose of “‘ Treason!”’ “ We are being murdered !”
“To arms!” Barricades were immediately erected: it is said that
two hundred were made within two hours. A murderous struggle
took place, which lasted fourteen hours. The soldiers captured
a certain number of barricades, but, with the attack, the passion
of the people rose. On the morning of March roth the struggle
was still undecided. The citizens refused to lay down their arms
or evacuate the barricades, and at last the King gave in. He sent
away the soldiers, dismissed his Ministry, and placed both the
town and the palace under the protection of a National Guard.
The soldiers withdrew to the sound of muffled drums. The corpses
of those who had fallen at the barricades were carried into the
palace court, and the King was compelled to pay them honour
with uncovered head, while the Queen, who accompanied him,
fainted. The whole assembled throng intoned a solemn chorale
as Germans alone know how to execute it, and the striking scene,
scarcely surpassed in history, came to an end.

Frederick William IV. was so impressed by what had happened
that he granted a complete amnesty to all who had been accused
of or condemned for political offences. This amnesty, which was
extended to other German States, allowed political exiles to return
to their native land, where they renewed their agitations. On
March 21st the King issued a proclamation declaring that he placed
himself at the head of the Fatherland for the salvation of Germany,
and that he desired, as a new Constitutional King, to be regarded
as the leader of a free, new-born German nation. This was received
with general mistrust, which was not diminished when he executed
a solemn progress through the streets of his capital, decorated with

322
KEE eg

THE NATIONAL PARLIAMENT

German colours, and accompanied by his Ministers and the princes
of his house. The declaration that he desired the freedom and
unity of Germany caused dismay in the southern States, and his
theatrical performance inspired ridicule rather than confidence.
The time was not yet ripe for the declaration of the Prussian
hegemony of Germany.

The King’s brother, the Prince of Prussia, afterwards the
Emperor William I., who was supposed to be the leader of the
reactionary party, was sent to England, and on March 22nd a
solemn funeral of the martyrs of the insurrection was held at
Berlin, attended by nearly all the clergy of the capital, the King
baring his head as the coffins passed the palace. In the following
month the Prussian Parliament met for the last time, to give its
consent to a law referring the elections to the new constitutional
National Assembly. But in consequence of these disturbances
the capital had undergone a remarkable change. Hundreds of
well-to-do families had left Berlin, and the streets were filled with
starving beggars, fit material for the operations of agitators, of
clubs and workmen’s unions, which all had a revolutionary tendency.
The Ministry underwent a rapid metamorphosis, which deprived
the Government of strength and determination, and it was known
that the King had yielded to the popular sentiment much against
his will and under the pressure of circumstances.

The National. Parliament at Frankfort now came into being.
On March 5th, 1848, a committee of seven had been appointed
to make arrangements for the meeting of the National Assembly,
but previously to this a preliminary assembly was to be held under
the name of a Vorparlament. On March 8th, an advisory committee
of seventeen had been appointed by the old Diet, to suggest means
of constituting a new Diet. Of these Dahlmann was the most
distinguished, and on April 25th he produced a sketch of a Con-
stitution, which is known in German history as ‘“ Dahlmann’s
Constitution.” (Mt established the principle of a hereditary head
of the Empire. There were to be two Chambers, the Upper
Chamber to consist of the hereditary princes and 160 notables,
chosen partly by the Government and partly by the Diet of the
several States. There were to be common diplomatic action
and common customs, but a large amount of independence was
left to the component parts of the Empire.. East and West Prussia
were to be included in it, and part of Posen, but only the German
dominions of the House of Austria. ! The scheme was supported
by the Prince of Prussia and by Usedom, the Prussian pleni-
potentiary at the Diet, but it was strongly opposed by Frederick

323
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

William IV., who preferred a scheme of his own, with the Emperor
of Austria as hereditary Roman Emperor and the King of Prussia
as German King. Thus the scheme fell through.

The Vorparlament met at Frankfort on March 31st. It
* consisted of 576 members, of whom 141 came from Prussia, 72
from Baden, 84 from Hesse-Darmstadt, but only 2 from Austria.
It was not a great success, and has been generally known as “ the
Wild Parliament.’ A powerful minority proposed to summon
a National Assembly, elected on democratic lines with regard to
position, property and creed. A Radical party, led by Hecker
and Struve, went even farther. They put forward a socialist
programme and recommended revolutionary methods for carrying
it out. Not being able to carry this into effect, they quitted the
Assembly in disgust. But the result was an armed rising in the
neighbourhood of Constance in favour of a German Republic.
This rising was suppressed before the end of April, after it
had cost the valuable life of Friedrich Gagern, brother of the
Minister,

On May 18th the National Assembly was opened, with appro-
priate solemnity, in St. Paul’s Church in Frankfort. It was a
very distinguished body. The landowners, the merchants and
the manufacturers were inadequately represented in it, but it
included a number of men of solid academical learning, indeed,
the foremost historical and legal luminaries of the age. Amongst
them were Dahlmann, Droysen, Duncker, Waitz, Mohl, Welcker
and Mittermaier, together with Jacob Grimm, Arndt and Uhland ;
there were also several judges and administrative officials, and a
fine sprinkling of barristers. It chose as its president, by a large
majority, Heinrich von Gagern, a man distinguished by high
principles, great moral courage, and a commanding personality.
On May 24th two committees were appointed, one of thirty,
to draft a scheme for a national Constitution, and one of fifteen,
to consider the establishment of a supreme executive authority.
Archduke John of Austria, who had democratic sympathies and
had married the daughter of a village postmaster, was appointed
Reichsverweser, a strange title which apparently meant “ Imperial
Vicar.” On July 11th the new head of the Empire made his
solemn entry into Frankfort and appointed a Ministry. The
discussions with regard to the Constitution began in character-
istic German fashion, by establishing the fundamental rights of
German citizenship. They were produced by the Reichsverweser on
December 27th, 1848, and were inaugurated into the Constitution
of the Empire on March 28th, 1849, but the larger States, Austria,

324
THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN TROUBLES

Prussia, Bavaria and Hanover, did not proclaim them as law or
regard them as having the force of law.

Together with these events occurred disturbances in Schleswig-
Holstein, the fruitful cause of trouble in Germany, which led
eventually to the war between Prussia and Denmark, then to
the war between Prussia and Austria, and finally to the establish-
ment of the German Empire in the hands of Prussia. Without
going deeply into the ramifications of this complicated question,
it may be mentioned that Holstein was regarded as an integral
part of the German Empire, while Schleswig was almost entirely
Danish, but that these two Duchies regarded themselves as bound
together by an indissoluble tie. The first line of their national
hymn was “‘ Schleswig-Holstein sea-surrounded.””

Frederick VII. became King of Denmark in January, 1848,
and disturbances broke out which forced him to declare the Duchy
of Schleswig an integral part of the Danish kingdom. The Duchies
clung to their independence. A provisional Government was
formed, which occupied Rendsburg, a fortress commanding both
Duchies, and organised the insurrection against Danish rule. The
Danes collected an army and soon obtained possession of Schleswig,
but the Prussians intervened, and the Danes were compelled to
retire. On April 12th the provisional Government of Schleswig-
Holstein was acknowledged by the Federal Diet, but the presence
of a German fleet made energetic measures impossible, and the
continuance of the struggle led to serious losses in the commerce
of the North Sea. Russia, Sweden and Great Britain took the
side of the Danes, and at length the Prussians were compelled to
allow the incorporation of Schleswig with Denmark.

The troubles of the new Diet were not confined to the north.
The Polish inhabitants of the Prussian Province of Posen raised
the flag of independence. The Prussians proposed to incorporate
the German parts of Posen with the neighbouring German provinces,
and to place the Polish moiety under a national Government, but
the Poles claimed the whole of the territory and had recourse to
arms. They were eventually compelled to yield, but the project
of partitioning the country was given up.

325
CHAPTER VIII

THE FIRST STRUGGLE FOR A NEW ITALY

THE Revolution of February, as has been said, caused a recrudes-
cence of discontent in every country in Europe, even in those
which had hitherto been unaffected by such sentiments. In Italy
the desire for independence and national unity, which had long
characterised its literature, now came to the surface and called the
revolutionary spirit into activity. When Charles Albert, without
a formal declaration of war, marched into the Milanese territory
and drew the sword against Austria, the whole of the peninsula
was seized with a longing for war. Not only did the Italian Govern-
ments send their troops and promise constitutions to their peoples,
but bodies of armed volunteers took the field, so that the whole
country was arrayed against Austria.

The revolutionary movement affected two parties—those who
followed Mazzini, who aimed at the establishment of Republican
institutions, and those who wished to join the Cross of Savoy, and
to found the independence of Italy by union with Charles Albert,
the constitutional King of Sardinia. The latter were, on the
whole, the more powerful, and both Milan and Venice determined
to throw in their lot. with the House of Savoy. The Dukes of
Parma and Modena, who had made alliances with Austria, were
driven out of their Duchies, and even the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
whose sympathies with the national aspirations were well known,
and whose territories were admirably governed, had to surrender
his Duchy for a time to democratical republicans. The Pope
conceded a Constitution to his people and nominated a progressive
Ministry, composed of laymen, but this popular Government had
only to do with secular and political affairs; all clerical interests
were left in the hands of the Pope and the cardinals, and were
withdrawn from public discussion, a division of authority which
did not satisfy popular sentiment. When Pius IX., in an allo-
cution, declared himself opposed to a war with Austria, his
popularity immediately disappeared. In Naples King Ferdinand
If. played fast and loose with Constitutionalism, and Sicily
exhausted herself in a vain attempt to secure an independent
autonomy.

326
TROUBLE IN SICILY

A provisional Government had been formed in Sicily, under
Ruggiero Settimo, Pietro Lanza and the Prince of Butera.
Through the instrumentality of Lord Minto, they undertook
negotiations with the King, which, however, led to no result.
The utmost the Sicilians would consent to was the personal union
of the crowns, and this Ferdinand would not accept. Sicily
retained her independence and formed a Liberal Ministry, under the
presidency of the historian Troya. The Sicilian National Assembly,
divided into two Chambers under the presidency of Ruggiero
Settimo, passed, on April 13th, a resolution that the throne of
Sicily was vacant, and that Ferdinand Bourbon and his dynasty
were for ever dethroned, and proclaimed for the island a con-
stitutional monarchy under an Italian prince.

The breach between the two Sicilies became irrevocable, when
Ferdinand attempted to dissolve the Neapolitan Chambers on the
very day of their opening, attacked the National Guard with his
Swiss mercenaries, and delivered up the respectable population
of the city to the wild excesses of his lazzaroni subjects. The King
of Naples issued a proclamation announcing the continuance of
the Constitution, but it was a mere delusion, as it was never put
into force. An insurrection of Liberals in Calabria was suppressed
with bloodshed, and when a few deputies met in July they were
treated with abuse and contumely by the Minister Bozzeli, and in
the autumn the sitting was closed by the King. In the following
spring the Chambers were dissolved, and the persecution of Liberals
and patriots resumed its former course. Naples submitted, but
Sicily, with more persistence, continued its democratic progress.
The two Chambers, the Senate and the Lower House, met together,
and on July 11th, 1848, chose the second son of Charles Albert,
Prince Albert Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Genoa, as constitutional
King of Sicily:

But the troubles of the island were not at an end. The news
reached the camp of Charles Albert just as the sun of his success
was setting, for he was on the point of resigning his crown to
his son, Victor Emmanuel. Ferdinand determined to reconquer
the island with the help of the garrison of Messina, which still
held out. A terrible civil war was the result. For three days
in the early part of September General Filangieri, who had served
under Murat, bombarded Messina; the houses of the city were
burnt, hundreds of dead bodies lay in the streets, and the popula-
tion had to seek refuge on board the foreign ships in the harbour.
From this action Ferdinand II. received the appropriate name
of “King Bomba.” By British and French intervention an

327
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

arrangement was concluded, by which the eastern part of the
island, with Messina as its capital, remained in the hands of
Naples, and the western part, including Palermo, Catania and
Syracuse, was left with a provisional Government, of which
Ruggiero Settimo was president and Torrearsa, Butera and the
brothers Amari were members.

The efforts of France and Great Britain to produce a settle-
ment during the winter had no effect, and in April, 1849, the
struggle began anew. A Polish legion under Mieroslawski came
to assist the Sicilians, but they could do nothing against the
better-disciplined Neapolitan army, the head of which was the
Royal Swiss Guard, and were defeated in the Battle of Catania
on April 6th. The victorious Neapolitan army advanced first
to Syracuse, and then to Palermo. The leaders of the Revolution
fled to Malta, and the citizens submitted under promise of an
amnesty. On May 14th the victorious army made its triumphal
entry into the conquered town, and Filangieri, decorated with the
title of Duke of Terracina, became Viceroy of Sicily.

We have already seen that Pope Pius IX. lost most of his
popularity by his disapproval of the war against Austria. He did
not recover his position by the proclamation of a Constitution
on March 14th, 1848, and the expulsion of the Jesuits from the
Italian States. His allocution, held before the cardinals on April
2oth, which declared that in no circumstances would he make
war against Austria, was regarded as the beginning of a reaction.
In this case, what became of the Roman soldiers and volunteers
which a Liberal Ministry had despatched across the Po under
General Durando, to assist the Italians who were fighting for
their imdependence? The Pope endeavoured to recover his
popularity by recommending Mamiani, a layman, as Minister of
State, and Farini as Secretary. But the patriots would be satis-
fied with nothing but war, although it was unreasonable to demand
action from Pius IX., who was certainly not a Julius II.

The feeling against the Papal See was accentuated by the
refusal of Austria to mediate, and by the reactionary events in
Sicily. The Pope now summoned to his councils Pellegrino Rossi,
of Carrara, an Italian political exile, naturalised in France. He
had been. educated at Geneva, had occupied important posts
under Louis Philippe, and had-been sent by Guizot as ambassador
to the Vatican in the time of Gregory XVI. He did his best to
restore order and good government, but his career was short. On
the morning of November 15th, 1848, he drove to the Palace of
the Cancellieri to assist in the opening of the new Parliament.

328
THE POPE APPEALS TO THE POWERS

As he mounted the steps he was struck by a dagger in the throat.
On this a tumult arose. The populace, led by Charles Lucien
Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, nephew of the great Emperor, sur-
rounded the Quirinal, and forced the Pope to appoint a Liberal
Ministry. Mamiani was recalled and supported by Galletti and
a well-tried democrat, ‘Sterbinii The disorder increased. The
Chamber of Deputies lost its authority and was so diminished by
the desertion of its Ministers that it could hardly command a
quorum. The Papal Swiss Guard was disarmed and dismissed,
and its place taken by a Civil Guard of dubious fidelity. Many
cardinals emigrated, and the Pope was a prisoner in his palace.
Eventually, on November 24th, with the help of the Bavarian
Ambassador, Count Spaun, he fled in disguise to Gaeta, where
he formed a new Ministry and protested against the validity of
everything that was being done in Rome.

In February, 1849, a Constitutional Assembly met, which
deprived the Papacy of its temporal power, established a Roman
Republic, and determined to work for the establishment of a
united Italy, under the form of a democratic republic. A trium-
virate—consisting of Mazzini, Saffi and Ammellini—was placed at
the head of affairs, but the whole power was in the hands of
Mazzini. Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the purest and truest spirits
that ever took part in political affairs, who gave his assistance,
was afterwards to play a leading part in the lseration of his
country, and was especially notable for the self-command and
wisdom by which, himself a Republican, he saw that the salvation
of Italy lay in its adhesion to the House of Savoy. He had begun
his career in America, and had afterwards commanded a body of
volunteers to assist the Piedmontese and Lombards in their
struggle against Austria. The failure of the campaign in Northern
Italy sent him to Rome. He regarded the Holy City as the last
refuge of liberty and the best centre for future efforts.

In his distress the Pope called upon the Powers of Europe to
help him. The Austrians, after hard fighting, gained possession
of Bologna and Ancona, the Neapolitans invaded the Papal terri-
tory from the south, and a French army under General Oudinot
landed at Civita Vecchia and besieged Rome. The. French
declared that they came as friends to restore order and peace, to
prevent the occupation of the States of the Church by Austrians
and Neapolitans, and to check the possibility of a counter-
revolution. But the Roman patriots rejected these advances and
offered a stern resistance to the French army. The first attack
of the French failed. Oudinot suffered severe loss and had to

L* 329
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

retire to the coast to await reinforcements. A week’s armistice
was declared, which Garibaldi used to attack the Neapolitan troops
at Velletri and to drive them across the frontier.

The intervention of France in the affairs of Rome produced
an unfavourable effect in Paris. The demand for a credit for the
purpose, made by Odilon Barrot, was opposed by a large minority,
and when the news of Oudinot’s reverse arrived the Social
Democrats made it the occasion of a fresh demonstration. On
May 28th, 1849, the new Legislative Assembly had met for the
first time with de Tocqueville, the famous publicist, as Minister
of Foreign Affairs. Under him the enterprise went on. Negotia-
tions with Oudinot failed, and the siege continued. It was not
till July 3rd that, after many a bloody conflict, the French troops
became masters of the city. The barricades were thrown down,
the provisional Government was deposed, and a military despotism
was established in its place.

Garibaldi managed to cross the Apennines and reach Genoa
by sea, after which he retired to America. The larger portion
of his followers fell into the hands of the Austrians. Some were
shot, others were imprisoned in Mantua, and among these was
Ciceruacchio, who was afterwards shot with his young son.
Mazzini fled first to Switzerland, and then to London, where he
carried on his liberating work. Pius IX. remained sulkily in
Gaeta and did not return to his ungrateful capital till June, 1850.
Order was preserved in Rome by the French garrison, which had
its headquarters in the Castle of St. Angelo, but the condition
of Italy was insecure, and the country was overrun by brigands.

_As already mentioned, Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany,
attempted to meet the wishes of his subjects by the passing of
reforms, the expulsion of the Jesuits, and even by taking part,
against his will, in the campaign against Austria. But this did
not satisfy the extreme spirits, and a Constitutional Assembly was
summoned to meet on February 8th, 1849. The disorder became
worse, and the Grand Duke was compelled to leave Tuscany. A
Republic was established in Florence, Guerazzi and Montanelli
being placed at the head of the provisional Government. The
revolutionary spirit was still more active in Leghorn, which was
an occasional residence of Mazzini. ‘However, on April xr1th, a
moderate Government was formed under Gino Capponi and the
brothers Ricasoli, and the Grand Duke, who also had taken refuge
in Gaeta, was invited to return; but he refused to do so till July
27th, when the Austrians had taken Leghorn. Guerazzi had to
spend many years in prison. The worst prince in Italy was

330
PIEDMONT AND AUSTRIA

Francis V., Duke of Modena, though Charles, Duke of Parma,
was not much better. They were absolutely devoted to Austria,
and, when driven from their estates, took refuge with her armies
and shared her defeat and her final triumph. When Radetzky
recaptured Milan they were able to return.

If such were the fate of the Papacy and the Duchies, still more
tragic was the career of Charles Albert, King of Piedmont and
Sardinia, who had received from his admirers the title of “the
Sword of Italy.” Having given a Constitution to his country
and appointed Cesare Balbo as Prime Minister, he conceived the
idea of liberating the nation of Italy from Austrian domination
by a military advance. A provisional Government was estab-
lished in Milan on March 18th, and after an obstinate struggle in
the streets old Marshal Radetzky, eighty-two years of age, was
compelled to leave the city. Similarly, Count Zichy, commandant
at Venice, had capitulated to the patriots.

Charles Albert now advanced to the Mincio, and on April 8th,
1848, won the Battle of Goito, and threatened Peschiera, a fortress
at the south of the Lake of Garda, which, with Verona, Mantua
and Legnano, formed the famous Quadrilateral. Combats took
place in the hilly country near Pastrengo. Italian volunteers
advanced into Italian Tirol, to wrest their country from Austria.
The Italian flag of red, white and green, the loveliest tricolour
in the world—the emblem of energy, purity and hope—was
everywhere seen. Mantua and Verona remained faithful to their
German lords; but Modena, Parma, Florence, Rome and Naples
obeyed the summons to unity. The King of Piedmont marched
at the head of his troops, accompanied by Balbo, La Marmora
and Torelli. The struggle took the character of a religious war,
the priests, with the Archbishop of Milan at their head, being
on the Liberal side and giving the blessing of the Church to the
enterprise. The volunteers wore red crosses, as if they were
Crusaders.

The scene, however, was soon changed. While the Italians
were celebrating this triumph, Radetzky in Verona was preparing
his revenge. On May 6th, 1848, his eighty-second birthday, a
battle was fought at Santa Lucia, not far from Verona, in which
the Austrians held their ground against the superior numbers of
their enemies. The tide of fortune began to turn, and the advance
of Charles Albert was stayed.. He was himself dismayed at the
Republican tendencies of the provisional Government in Milan,
at the rising democracy of France, already aiming at the acquisi-
tion of Savoy and Nice, at the dissensions of his own followers,

331
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and at the intrigues of the Mazzinists. He doubted of the success
of his enterprise, and began to wish for peace. An Austrian army
came down from Carinthia, and, after a slight hindrance at
Vicenza, joined Radetzky at Venice. The Papal troops, who
had invaded Venetia, offered little resistance, especially after
Durando’s authority had been impaired by the Papal allocution.
Mantua was at this time besieged by a Tuscan army, but the
victory of Curtatone, on May 2gth, enabled the aged field-marshal
to relieve the fortress. Charles Albert, however, on the following
day gained a success for the second time at Goito, which placed
the fortress of Peschiera in his hands. But he did not know how
to use his victory.

Radetzky began his advance by the capture, on June 11th,
of Vicenza, which had long withstood the assaults of Austria,
being defended by Durando, with the help of Azeglio and Cialdini.
The Papal troops and the volunteers were allowed to depart,
and throngs of citizens followed them. In July the insurgents
of Venice and Milan succeeded in persuading their adherents to
make common cause with Piedmont, and place themselves under
a Savoyard king, thus raising the hopes of a free and united Italy.
But before the end of the month the brilliant victory gained by
Radetzky at Custozza dashed their hopes to the ground. Not
content with this triumph, he passed on, and at the beginning of
August stood before the gates of Milan. On August 6th he made
a solemn entry into the capital of Lombardy. Charles Albert left
the town secretly during the night, and on August gth accepted
the amnesty of Vigevano. Radetzky used his victory with
moderation. No acts of severity took place, but the town was
deserted, and the palaces of the Milanese nobles were filled with
Austrian troops. Garibaldi, after making a short stand in the
neighbourhood of Como, withdrew into Switzerland, and after-
wards, as we have seen, went to Rome.

But the war between Sardinia and Austria was not at an end.
The successes of the revolutionary party at Verona filled the
Italian patriots with new hopes. But attempts of friendly Powers
to bring about an understanding had no success; and a congress,
which it was proposed to assemble at Brussels, never met. Charles
Albert, driven to despair, determined to try once more the fortune
of arms. In March a fresh Sardinian army crossed the frontier,
but after a four days’ campaign was completely routed at Novara,
on March 23rd, 1849, the Austrian victory ending the aspirations
of Piedmont. Charles Albert abdicated in favour of his son
Victor Emmanuel, and, seeking a refuge in Portugal, died at Oporto

332
AUSTRIA SUPREME IN ITALY

on July 28th, full of confidence that the final liberation of Italy
was bound up with the fortunes of his House. Victor Emmanuel
made peace with Austria, and, still preserving the Constitution,
which, once given, was never withdrawn, he was able to effect
the triumph of his country by pean paths of progressive
development.

The defeat at Novara produced a disieious effect on the
fortunes of Venice. The union with the monarchy of Piedmont
had to be abandoned, and a republic was established by the
influence of Daniele Manin. The Austrians obtained possession
of the fortress of Malghera in the Lagoons on May 27th, but the
position of the city, amidst its defences, was so strong that they
could not get any further, and it held out for months. It was
not till August 20th, 1849, that Radetzky was able to enter Venice
in triumph. Manin fled to Paris, where he lived as a teacher of
languages till 1857. Ten years later his ashes were brought back
to his native town and a monument was raised to him by
international subscription.

After the fall of Milan and Venice the Double Eagle brooded
anew over the Lombard and Venetian kingdoms, and the Italian
tricolour was seen in Sardinia alone. But the struggle had done
good to the Italian cause. The Italians were no longer the objects
of the sarcasm and laughter of the civilised world. They had
shown themselves capable of fighting for their liberties and, though
they had not obtained them, it was felt that the day was near
when they would bear the cause of freedom to a triumphal issue.

333
CHAPTER IX
HUNGARY: THE EFFORT FOR INDEPENDENCE

THE year 1848 destroyed, in Hungary, the feudal (monarchy,
controlled by Estates, which had existed for several hundreds of
years. The Hungarian Diet decreed the abolition of all the
burdens and contributions of the peasants, without compensation
to those to whom they were paid. It made all classes subject
to taxes, and established freedom of the Press, publicity in the
law courts, trial by jury, and a liberal franchise on a democratic
basis. The Austrian Government, itself hard pressed, made no
efforts to resist these innovations ; but, on the contrary, declared
its willingness to make sacrifices to secure the contentment of
the Hungarian nation. But the Magyar party thought the time
had come to restore the Hungarian kingdom in its greatness and
independence, and desired that the tie between the two monarchies,
which are divided by the river Leitha (hence called the Cisleithan
and the Transleithan monarchies) should be that of a personal
union.

The Government of Vienna yielded on some points, but
remained firm on others. In March, 1848, it recognised a Liberal
Government, of which Count Louis Batthyani was the head and
Louis Kossuth the most influential member, but desired to keep
questions of finance and war in its own hands. It also asked that
the Magyars should accept parts of the State Debt, and pay a
certain contribution to the common expenses of administration.

The Austrians found themselves unexpectedly assisted by the
South Slavonic races—the Croatians, Slavonians and others—
which, having a deep-rooted dislike to the Magyars, had also
aspirations of forming themselves into a Panslavic community,
under the Austrian Empire, but entirely separated from Hungary.
The Transylvanian tribes. objected to assisting Hungary to attain
independence, and this country found itself standing alone, with-
out the aid of the subject races that had formerly supported it.
The races which occupied the country from the Carpathians to
the Save and the Danube were each desirous of obtaining its own
freedom. The Magyars, who had been accustomed to employ
the Latin language in public affairs, now insisted upon the use

334
SLAVONIC UNREST

of their own tongue, one of the most difficult languages in Europe,
with few or no analogies to any other. A concession made to
the Croatians, that they might use their own language, which is
practically Servian written in Latin characters, came too late to
remove the deep-seated canker of national hatred. The Foreign
Office in Vienna was assailed at the same time by two conflicting
deputations—one asking that the three kingdoms of Croatia,
Dalmatia and Slavonia, together with the military families, might
be formed into an independent State, having nothing to do with
the Magyars ; and the other urging the integrity of the Hungarian
kingdom, with all its subject populations.

The Austrian Government well understood how to play off
these contending forces against each other, and did not, there-
fore, desire to gratify the wishes of either. At this time the Ban
of Croatia, as the ruler of that country was called, was Jellachich,
a violent enemy of the Hungarians, but much beloved and appre-
ciated by the Austrian Court. The Hungarians endeavoured to
soothe his stubborn spirit, but in vain; they tried to remove
him from his post, but the Emperor clung firmly to his friend.
The territory of Sirmium, in south-east Hungary, is a marshy
land, intersected by walls and ditches, which mark the ruins of
the Roman capital. It is inhabited by wild peoples, with strange,
outlandish names, mostly of Slavonic origin. They now joined
with the Croatians to establish a government independent of
Hungary. The outbreak of the war was marked by acts of
savagery. On Easter Monday a rising took place in the little
town of Kikinda, and soon spread to the neighbouring districts.
The Servians and the wild occupants of the surrounding frontiers
laid waste the plains watered by the Theiss and the Danube.
Neusatz, Karlowitz, Pancsova, Weisskirchen were the scenes of
revolting cruelties and undisciplined raids. Anarchical uproar,
coupled with a remorseless war of races, filled the whole country
for months. Matters were made worse by the rising of the Czechs
in Prague. The rising was not suppressed till August, when the
Austrian army became masters of the lines of St. Thomas and
the town of Weisskirchen. -

But the deep breach between Slav and Magyar was not filled.
The Slavs were at least Aryans, or Indo-Germans; they belonged
to that division of the human family from which probably all
civilisation has proceeded: But the origin of the Hungarians was
obscure: they were part of a Mongolian race, and their language was
Turanian, like Turkish or Chinese. The Slavs looked down upon
them as an Asiatic horde, and when, in September, 1848, Jellachich

335
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

raised the standard of Croatian independence and crossed the
Drave, he was supported by the Court of Vienna and the revo-
lutionary party in the capital. He issued a manifesto, in which
he declared that his object was to protect the rights of his nation
and to support the Austrian monarchy, which was threatened by
the selfish obstinacy of the Hungarians.» He desired to free
Hungary itself from the hands of a faction. Jellachich marched
without resistance to Lake Balaton. As the Hungarian army
was commanded by Austrian officers, whose sympathies were with
Jellachich, it offered only a weak resistance. Approaching the
Government of Vienna, the Hungarians found but little encourage-
ment and were gradually driven back to rely on their own resources.

Kossuth put himself at the head of the Hungarian movement.
His fiery eloquence stirred the crowds whom he addressed, a
national army was created, and a violent national war was begun.
The Grand Duke Stephen resigned his office of Palatine of
Hungary. Batthyani and Edétvés also gave up their posts, and
the direction of affairs came into the hands of Kossuth and his
friends. On September 28th, 1848, Count Lamberg, the com-
mander of the Hungarian army, was murdered on the bridge of
boats which at that time connected Pest with Buda. A Hungarian
magnate, he had been sent to Pest as a superior authority to
Jellachich, but Kossuth forbade any part of the Hungarian army
to acknowledge his command, and, while driving to Buda in a
hackney carriage, he was fallen upon by an excited mob and
brutally done to death. This murder really strengthened the
authority of Jellachich, and so did the fact that Count Zichy, who
acted as Imperial Commissary in the army of Jellachich, was
strangled by the orders of Gérgei as a traitor to the Hungarian
cause ; the treasure which he had accumulated was appropriated,
so that Jellachich obtained the whole command over the Imperial
troops in Hungary and in the neighbouring districts.

Vienna itself now requested assistance, but the part played in
the contest by Slav and Magyar respectively is but little known.
On October 7th the Emperor left Vienna and retired to the fortress
of Olmiitz. Two days later the army of Jellachich reached the
frontier town of Borek; on the Leitha; he rapidly occupied the
hills and the city with his troops, and on October 13th was at
Schénbrunn. The rumour that the Magyars intended to rescue
the city of St. Stephen from the Slavs had no foundation. It is
said that on two occasions the Hungarian troops crossed the
Leitha and that once they returned. It was, however, determined
that Vienna should be occupied, not by Jellachich, but by

336
CHAOTIC CONDITION OF TRANSYLVANIA

Windischgratz. He began the bombardment of Vienna on October
28th, and on October 30th the decisive battle took place at
Schwechat, in which the Hungarians were completely defeated.
On the following day Vienna was entirely in the hands of the
Imperial troops, and the black-and-yellow flag again floated from
the spire of St. Stephen’s. The result was the abdication of the
Emperor in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph.

The change, however, was not accepted by the Hungarians.
Kossuth brought together a national army of 200,000 men in the
valley of the Theiss, and prepared to do battle against the black-
and-yellow flag. On December 15th Prince Windischgratz set
out for the reconquest of Hungary. He captured, without diffi-
culty, the towns of Odenburg, Pressburg, and Raab and then
advanced in eight divisions against the capital, Budapest. He
reached his objective at the beginning of the new year, 1840,
and refused offers of accommodation. In the night of January
4th-5th Kossuth went to Debreczin, carrying with him the crown
of St. Stephen, the regalia of the Hungarian monarchy, and a
press for the printing of bank-notes. He was also accompanied
by the Deputies of the Diet and the Committee of National
Defence. On January 5th Windischgratz and Jellachich entered
the two towns and sent their keys as an offering to the new
Emperor.

In the meantime the struggle was raging against the Slavs
at Pancsova and in Transylvania. This country is one of the
most interesting in Europe, both from its natural features and
from the variety of races which inhabit it. Here is a settlement
of pure Germans, there a village of Roumanians, with their hand-
some features, picturesque dresses, Sunday national dances, and
the patriarchal disposition of the land. Of these some desired
political independence, with a Parliament at Klausenburg, others
wished to preserve an indelible union with the Austrian monarchy.
As time went on, the Roumanians, Wallachians and Saxons
became more bitter against the Magyars, and felt greater devotion
to the Double Eagle. :

Civil war broke out. The Szekler hussars and the Hungarian
infantry devastated the fields and pastures of the Saxons; the
Roumanians were guilty of still worse excesses, and the peace-
loving Saxons, unable to protect themselves, summoned an
Austrian army under General Puchner to their assistance. Every
valley of that beautiful country seethed with the excesses of
national hatred, and the Austrians had no need to learn the lesson
of ruling by division. The war took a more civilised character in

337
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

January, 1849, when General Bem became commander of the
Hungarian army in Transylvania. He did his best to unite the
Slavs and the Roumanians with the Magyars in a common effort
against their common foe, and to mitigate the rage of the Wallachs
and the Szeklers. The result was unfortunate for the Saxons,
who clung closely to the Austrian monarchy.” Of their three
principal towns, Kronstadt and Klausenburg fell into the hands
of the Magyars, while Hermannstadt was hard pressed. In their
embarrassment the Austrians sought assistance from the Russians,
who had been hanging for some time on the Wallachian frontier.
On the last day of January the Russian general, Engelhardt,
entered Transylvania with 6,000 men and twenty cannon, and
took possession of Kronstadt and Hermannstadt after a consider-
able struggle.

The Austrian Government now agreed that, when Budapest
was taken and placed under military law, the war was at an end.
Jellachich was made Governor of Dalmatia, keeping his position
as Ban of Croatia, and steps were taken for separating Servia and
Transylvania from the Hungarian monarchy. This, however,
was not accepted by the patriots, and a war broke out for the
preservation of the integrity of the Hungarian kingdom, a war
which was more violent than the struggle that had preceded it.

Arthur von Gérgei now became prominent, a man of mysteri-
ous and enigmatical character. He came of a German Protestant
family and, in 1849, took service with the National Guard in
Hungary. He had many enemies, and was especially disliked by
Kossuth, who regarded him as a German rather than as a patriot,
and a soldier rather than a politician. The Hungarian cause was
also assisted by Polish exiles, such as Dembinski and Bem, who
hoped to be able to do something for the advantage of their own
country. Other distinguished generals were Perczel and Klapka.
Kossuth used his printing press to make Hungarian banknotes to
the value of 70,000,000 of florins. These generals were, as a rule,
very jealous of each other and were always quarrelling. The first
great event was the Battle of Kapolna, which lasted two days—
February 26th and 27th; 1849. It was reckoned as a defeat for
the Hungarians, but it might have been a victory if Gérgei, in his
jealousy of Dembinski, had not appeared on the field too late to
make it one. The result was that the whole of Western Hungary
fell into Austrian hands. On the other hand, Bem was successful
in Transylvania. The Russians were driven out of Hermann-
stadt and Kronstadt and had to retire over the frontier; Puchner
was followed by Bem into Wallachia.

338
HUNGARY’S INDEPENDENCE

Windischgratz was determined to strike a serious blow and
to crush the insurgent army in the valley of the Theiss. But his
schemes failed; the passages over the Theiss were stoutly and
successfully defended. Schlick was driven back by Dembinski,
Jellachich was repelled at various points, and the fortress of
Komorn was able to preserve its “‘ virgin’’ character of never
having yielded to an enemy. Easter witnessed continual con-
flicts in the field of Rakos, in the neighbourhood of Budapest,
which was the place of election of the Hungarian kings. On
April 19th, 1849, Gorgei defeated the Austrian general, Wohlge-
miith, at Nagy-Sarlo, and relieved Komorn, where the black flag
of independence still floated proudly from the battlements.

We now reach the crowning point of Hungarian success.
Windischgratz was recalled by the Court of Olmiitz, and Welden
appointed in his place. On April 23rd, 1849, the Austrians
evacuated Pest; they burned the bridge of boats which connected
it with Ofen, in order to secure the garrison, which still occupied
that fortress, from attack. The Magyars entered their capital
amidst popular rejoicings. Two days later the army which was
besieging Komorn was forced to retire, and on May 3rd Gorgei
appeared on the heights above Buda with a well-seasoned army.
The place was bravely defended by General Hentzi, a Swiss, who
threw up batteries and entrenchments, and made every prepara-
tion for an obstinate resistance. On May 21st Ofen was set on
fire by red-hot cannon balls, and a strong wind completed the
destruction of the town; but it was defended street by street,
house by house, and room by room. MHentzi perished in the
conflict, but his companions were made prisoners of war. The
Austrian army retreated to Pressburg. The Magyars also gained
successes in the south. On April 14th the Parliament at Debreczin
had proclaimed the independence of Hungary, and a provisional
Government with Kossuth at its head. This step towards a
republic excited the anger of Gérgei, who refused to obey the
orders of Kossuth, and acted henceforth on his own initiative.

In their embarrassment the Austrians again turned to Russia
for assistance. The young Kaiser met the Tsar at Warsaw on
May aist, the very day that Gorgei stormed Ofen. Unless
energetic measures were adopted Austria would be reduced to the
rank of a second-rate Power, while the fact that so many Poles
were engaged in the struggle on the Hungarian side was a danger
to the Russian Empire. Arrangements were completed between
the Sovereigns before the end of the month. Paskevich was to
cross the Hungarian frontier by Cracow and Dunkla. General

339
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Haynau, a man of ruthless severity, was to advance from the
east, and Jellachich was to command an expedition from the
south. No alternative was left the Panne but to submit
or fight to the bitter end.

Kossuth, determined upon the second course, strained every
nerve to rouse his people to every kind of sacrifice in the cause
of freedom and independence. The invading armies had great
difficulties to contend with. The conditions of land and climate
fought for the Hungarians, as they fought for the Russians in
181z. There were no military roads, and rain made the ways
impossible both for men and animals. Days of oppressive heat
alternated with nights of frost, and both were equally dangerous
to health. The fever-stricken marshes of the Theiss had a deadly
effect on the Austrians and Russians. By the orders of Kossuth
the country was turned into a desert and no supplies were forth-
coming. The Hungarians had been accustomed to warfare from
their childhood, and were more than a match for the rude German
levies.

The beginning of the war was favourable to the allied forces.
Gorgei was defeated by Wohlgemiith and Haynau, and had to
take refuge under the walls of Komorn. On July 12th the
Austrians again entered Budapest. Paskevich raided the streets
with his Cossacks from Gédéll6, and Haynau revelled in those
shameless atrocities which afterwards secured an appropriate
punishment when he was flogged out of Barclay and Perkins’
brewery in London by the-indignant draymen. Anyone who had
any of Kossuth’s notes in his possession was punished with death,
which was a special hardship, because up to that time they had
been accepted even in public offices,

Jellachich had similar success in the south, and effected the
crossing of the Theiss. On July z Bem succeeded in taking
possession of Arad, and Jellachich was driven to retreat. It is
not necessary to follow the vicissitudes of the campaign in detail.
The interest of Europe was concentrated round the fortress of Arad,
where both Kossuth and Gérgei were present. What happened
between them is a matter’of dispute. Kossuth, after burying the
crown of St. Stephen at Orsova, where its place of concealment
is still shown, passed into Turkey. Gérgei remained master of
the situation and capitulated to General Rudiger in Vildgos on
August 13th. Gérgei was allowed to spend the rest of his life
at Klagenfurt, while his supporters were, for the most part,
executed. Kossuth always declared him to be a traitor, but
how far this charge is justified will probably never be known.

340
HUMILIATION OF HUNGARY

His own account of his life and activities is not a very trustworthy
document.

Komorn, commanded by Klapka, did not surrender till
September 27th, 1849, and with it ended the Hungarian War,
heroic in its origin and conduct, tragic in its conclusion. Paske-
vich sent a message to Francis Joseph, “ Hungary lies at the
feet of your Majesty.” The punishment of the authors of the
rising was severe. The most guilty of them were either hanged
or shot in Pest. The latter fate overtook Count Louis Batthyani
and the aged Perenyi, President of the Upper House. Towns,
villages and country-seats were laid in ruins. Two years later
Kossuth went to England, where he was received with enthusiasm.
The Holy Crown of St. Stephen, which he had concealed at Orsova,
was exhumed in 1853 and restored to the Emperor. But the
relations between Austria and Hungary remained strained, and,
indeed, long continued so.

341
CHAPTER X

THE COUP D’ETAT

THE two revolutionary years 1848 and 1849 had left the countries
of Europe in a condition of exhaustion. In Italy the efforts to
obtain unity, which had been the dream of three hundred years,
had entirely failed. In Hungary the struggles of a vigorous and
energetic nation to raise itself to a position of independence in
the European family had met with disaster, and it was necessary
to begin over again. In Germany the strength of the nation had
been exhausted in constitutional struggles which produced no
result ; the Germans had not learnt that the solution of their
difficulties lay, not in oratory or in literature, but in blood
and iron. Europe was full of political exiles, fortresses were
crowded with political prisoners, civilisation suffered, morals were
corrupted. Statesmen had lost their clearness of vision, and could
see neither the object to be aimed at nor the method of obtain-
ing it.

France was in a particularly unhappy state. She had entirely
lost the supremacy in European affairs which once belonged to
her. She was not in as bad a condition as that in which she was
left by the Revolution of 1789, but there was a similarity in the
two results. The foundations of civilisation, of family, of property,
and of personal freedom were being attacked by a wild and undis-
ciplined proletariat. The fundamental conditions of all govern-
ment, security of life and property, could not be preserved without
an active struggle. It was evident that the new Prince-President
was not satisfied with the existing state of things, and that he
intended to take a line of his own. He had obvious sympathies
with the Clerical and Conservative parties, and did not choose his
Ministers from the groups possessing a majority in the Assembly.
Odilon Barrot became Prime Minister, Drouyn de I’Huys Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, and Falloux, a Legitimist, supported by the
Abbé Dupanloup, Minister of Education. The complexion of the
Cabinet was mainly Orleanist.

On January 2gth, 1849, the Constituent Assembly voted its
own dissolution, and agreed to retire as soon as it passed laws for
regulating the Council of State, the responsibility of the Executive,

342
THE FRENCH IN ITALY

an electoral law, and a budget. The Conservative party began to
organise itself in view of the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
A Committee was formed, entitled ‘‘ Union Electoral,’ which met in
the Rue de Poitiers. It contained men of different ideals, Thiers,
a Royalist, Faucher, Barrot and Dufaure, Lucien Murat and Louis
Bonaparte, who were Bonapartists, and Falloux. Their common
cause was to defend the Church of Rome, and Montalembert
placed himself at the head of the association, in order that liberty
might unite with the Church for the safety of society. Falloux
then promised to get a law passed which gave the control of
education to the Church.

Ministers now had to determine what they should do with
regard to Rome. Cavaignac had offered assistance to the Pope,
but the Pontiff preferred to retire to Gaeta, whence he appealed
for assistance to Europe and to the Catholic Powers other than
France. This did not suit the French, or the Ministers of the
Prince-President. But it was not easy to act. By the terms of
the Constitution which they had sworn to uphold they were
forbidden to interfere in quarrels between a Sovereign and his
people. Besides, Louis Napoleon in 1833 had fought in Rome
for the concessions which the Pope now declined to grant. Drouyn
de l Huys proposed that a congress should be held in the dominions
of the King of Sardinia, who was a Catholic and a Liberal. But
the defeat of Novara, in 1848, prevented this, and drove the French
to more energetic measures. Falloux, in the name of the Catholics,
prepared for some definite action. At length representatives
of France were sent to join those of the other Catholic States in
Gaeta, and Drouyn de I'Huys advised his master to dispatch an
army corps to Italy.

The execution of this very delicate enterprise was entrusted to
General Oudinot. He received instructions to refrain from attack-
ing the rebels; at the same time he was to contribute to the
establishment of order. The French troops disembarked at
Civita Vecchia on April 25th, 1849. The Romans did not know
whether they had come to defend them against the Austrians
and Neapolitans, or to restore the power of the Papacy. Oudinot
soon had to make a choice of alternatives. Five days after his
arrival he risked an attack upon the city and was defeated.
The news of this event caused dismay to the Republican party,
and joy in the Rue de Poitiers. In the Chambers the action of
Oudinot was condemned by a large majority, and Drouyn de I’Huys
was compelled to suspend operations against the Roman Republic.
But by this defeat French military honour had been insulted

343
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and it had to be avenged. The Prince-President announced that
this was his duty.

The elections of May, 1849, gave success to the Rue de Poitiers.
The moderate Republicans received little support, but the Social
Democrats were strongly represented. Ledru Rollin was elected
in four departments by 2,000,000 votes. On May 27th the
Constituent Assembly was formally dissolved. The French Govern-
ment, anxious to find a middle term in their difficulties, had sent
Ferdinand de Lesseps, the creator of the Suez Canal, a practised
and conciliatory diplomat, to Rome, to arrange matters, if possible,
between the Roman people and the Pope. But with the claim of
military honour, on the one hand, to avenge defeat, and the
determination of Mazzini and Garibaldi, on the other, to defend
the city against attack, his task was by no means easy. However,
just when Lesseps had signed an agreement with the Roman
Republic, to the effect that the French army should be allowed
to enter Rome on condition that it respected the rights of the
nation, he was summarily recalled by Drouyn de I’Huys, and
Oudinot received orders to take the city by assault. Oudinot
began the siege on June 3rd, 1849, and finished it on June 30th.
A solemn Te Deum was sung at St. Peter’s to celebrate the victory
of France over the Roman Republic and the unconditional restora-
tion of pontifical authority.

The Catholic party was now strong enough to suppress or
impede public demonstrations, and the strength of the agitation
was transferred to the Press. Foremost among the political
newspapers of a Liberal complexion were the National, edited
by Jules Simon, L’Evénement, supported by Victor Hugo, and
La Presse, directed by Emile de Girardin, together with Le Siécle
and La République. In consequence of these journalistic efforts
the power of the Republican opposition grew.

France was divided between two powerful conflicting parties,
the Catholic Conservatives and the Democratic Republicans, and
the Prince-President had to feel his way between the two and
devise an independent policy. He did not desire to lose his influence
with either party. He posed as the supporter of order, despite
the democratic Press and the Protestants, but did not wish to
become the servant of the Church. What he possibly had in
his mind was the settlement which his uncle had always aimed
at, and particularly desired, the establishment of a democratic
Empire. He appointed Liberal Ministers of great distinction,
de Tocqueville, Lanjuinais, and Dufaure, who became Minister
of the Interior. He attempted to persuade the Pope to adopt

344
NAPOLEON’S NEW MINISTERS

Liberal reforms, but received a doubtful answer and a shadowy
promise. The Catholics were not satisfied with this, and said
that it would be an obvious piece of inconsistency to force
the will of a Sovereign whose independence they were engaged
in vindicating. The Assembly approved by a large majority of
the expeditionary corps remaining unconditionally at Rome, in
the Pope’s service.

The President now created a new Ministry, containing some
names which continued to be connected with him during the rest
of his career. Rouher was made Minister of Justice and Fould
Minister of Finance. Rouher was the most energetic of the new
servants of Napoleon, and carried on an active crusade against
the Republicans. His subordinates were ordered to gain informa-
tion every month with regard to the organisation of the Democratic
party, its newspapers, its societies, and all its dealings. An attempt
was made by Parieu, Minister of Education, to centralise instruction
under the Prefects, but this gave way to the famous Act of Falloux,
passed on March 15th, 1850, which charged the State with the
burden of providing national education, but, at the same time,
placed it, to a great extent, under the influence of the Church.
Four archbishops, elected by their colleagues, were installed as
the governing body of the University, to inspect programmes of
lectures, examine books and inquire into abuses. Two priests,
one of them a bishop, were placed on the provincial academic
councils to supervise the masters, and the parish priests acquired
the right of inspecting their parish schools. In March, 1850,
Baroche was made Minister of the Interior. He had come into
notice by opposing first Guizot and then the Republicans. These
three, Rouher,: Fould and Baroche, to whom Morny was after-
wards added, became the devoted Ministers of the second Empire.

The campaign against the Republicans as the enemies of order
was prosecuted with persistence, if not with vigour. Baroche set
himself to rectify universal suffrage, as it was called, and accordingly
those who had not resided for three years in one place, or had
taken part in clubs or in secret societies, or been convicted before
a political tribunal, were deprived of the franchise. House-to-
house distribution of books and pamphlets, and political meetings
and banquets were forbidden. These and other measures were
necessary for the establishment of good government, and are
comparable to the steps taken by Napoleon Bonaparte when he
became First Consul. But the policy was interpreted by the
Republicans as a step towards the re-establishment of the Empire,
and this opinion may have unduly influenced them. Of the two

345
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

great forces of which government is composed, it is difficult to
regulate libertas without exaggerating imperium.

By the beginning of 1851 it became nearly certain that there
would be an Empire; the question was whether it would come
into existence by legality or by violence. Article 45 of the Con-
stitution forbade the re-election of the President after five years
of office. If, therefore, the Prince were to continue President,
the Constitution would have to be revised. There was a majority
in the Chamber for the revision of the Constitution in this respect.
But a simple majority was not enough. A majority of three-
fourths was necessary and more than a quarter were obstinate
Republicans. On July 8th, de Tocqueville opened the debate
in favour of revision, but Victor Hugo declared that not a single
Republican would vote for it, and on July rgth the project was
thrown out by nearly 100 votes. A deputy remarked: ‘“ The
Constitution will not be revised; it can only be said to have
ceased to exist.”

Napoleon now made preparations for action of a different
character. He summoned to Paris St. Amaud, Magnan and
Fleury, young officers from Africa, who could assist him in a coup
@’état. He took Maupas and Morny, men of unscrupulous devotion
to his cause, further into his confidence, and the question how
the revolution was to be carried out seems to have been discussed
between them and Caslier, the Prefect of Police, at St. Cloud between
August 11th and September gth. Napoleon himself was undecided ;
he was divided between the alternatives of establishing his power
on a firm basis and. losing all his power if he took no risk.

At last he resolved that he must dare everything. On the
morning of December 2nd, 1851, the walls of Paris were covered
with a proclamation announcing that the Assembly was dissolved,
and the electors were to meet between December 14th and aist,
to decide about the revision of the Constitution. In this hopeless
deadlock the President turned from the impracticable Chamber
to the voice of the people. At the same time the garrison of
Paris was under arms. The Parliament House was occupied by
two regiments of the line. But, what was grossly illegal, and
an unpardonable outrage on the liberties of the country, a number
of deputies, Royalist as well as Republican, had been arrested
early in the morning and carried off to prison. Among them
were Changarmier, Lamoriciére, Cavaignac and Thiers.

Those attacked defended themselves. Under Berryer 200
deputies met for a last sitting and proclaimed the fall of Louis
Napoleon and the continuance of the Assembly. At the order

346
NAPOLEON’S RUTHLESSNESS

of Maupas, General Forey cleared the hall, and the courageous
asserters of constitutional principles were marched off to prison
between two lines of soldiers.

Some Republican representatives adopted even stronger measures
than did the deputies to secure their rights. A committee of
opposition, which contained the names of Carnot, Jules Favre and
Victor Hugo, decided on a popular rising in the Faubourg Saint-
Antoine on December 3rd. But nothing happened till the evening,
when, between seven o’clock. and midnight, St. Arnaud cleared
the Boulevards with considerable and indiscriminate slaughter.
Morny was now established as Minister of the Interior. He did
everything to arouse the enthusiasm of the country for the coming
plebiscite. He stimulated his prefects and sub-prefects by ardent
dispatches. He authorised them, after December 4th, to replace
quges de paix, mayors, and schoolmasters, whose loyalty was not
certain, by such as could be depended upon, and forbade them
to allow a single newspaper to appear of which he had not seen
the proofs. On December 7th and 8th a list of proscriptions was
drawn up, probably the most terrible of any known in history.
The members of the political Opposition, whether Legitimists, or
Monarchists, or Republicans, were incarcerated by hundreds in
prisons and fortresses. Thousands were deported to the deadly
climate of Cayenne, which earned for itself the name of the “‘ blood-
less guillotine.’ In Paris up to December 4th the number of
arrests amounted to 2,100, and they continued during the following
days. In the Department of La Meurthe nearly 5,000 of the
Republicans were arrested.

On December a2ist, 1851, the plebiscite took place, and France
decided by 7,500,000 votes against 640,000 to delegate to the
Prince-President the right of drawing up the Constitution. This
victory was celebrated by a solemn Te Deum at Notre Dame,
on January Ist, 1852. The President installed himself at the
Tuileries, and the eagle of the Empire appeared once more on
the standards of France. It cannot be denied that when a revision
of the Constitution was obstinately refused by a great portion of
the Chamber vigorous action was necessary. For Napoleon to
have surrendered the Presidency would have thrown the country
back into hopeless confusion, and made it the prey of warring
factions, But some means of effecting*‘this could have been
found other than the commission of monstrous crimes, for such
were the imprisonment of the deputies on December 2nd, the
shooting down of the populace in the streets, and the deportations
which followed. Those deeds tainted the new Government with

347
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

an indelible stain. Those who were punished and their friends
never forgot the injury, and even those who supported the change
lamented the means by which it had been brought about.

Tacitus says that no government founded on crime can be a
permanent success, and this saying was often referred to during
the triumphs of the Empire. For some two years after the Crimean
War Louis Napoleon became, to an extent which it is difficult for
the present age to realise, the most commanding figure in Europe.
But throughout this splendid position the vice of the Empire’s origin
was never forgotten, nor the despicable character of the Emperor’s
entourage, which had little object in view except to profit by the
spoils. When the Emperor was driven from Sedan to Bouillon,
a defeated prince in abasement and tears, those who saw him
felt pity for his misfortunes, but admitted at the same time that
the punishment long delayed was not undeserved, and that the
mills of God may grind slowly but they grind exceeding small.

Persecution continued after the declaration of the plebiscite.
By the decree of January gth, eighteen deputies, of whom six
-were Republicans, were exiled for a period, and sixty-six for life,
all of whom belonged to the extreme party. The Conservative
deputies were released. In the provinces lists of suspects were
drawn up by prefects and other officials. It is estimated that
‘in the month of January, 1852, nearly 100,000 were arrested.
These were tried by special tribunals, mixed commissions acting
in districts declared to be under martial law. We learn from
official documents that the number of persons thus sentenced
was but few under 30,000, of whom 3,000 were banished to the
interior of the country, 10,000 were deported to Algeria, and
6,000 were subjected to penal servitude. To these must be
added the voluntary exiles in Switzerland, Belgium, England
and America, who were very numerous. This cruel work was
completed by February, 1852.

It now remained for the President to give the provisional
‘Constitution to France. This was promulgated on January 14th,
‘1852. It was mainly the work of Troplong, Persigny, Flahaut
and Rouher. Ministers were to be appointed by the President and
were removable at his pleasure. Great powers were given to the
Council of Three, nominated by the head of the Government.
The Senate was also appointed by the President and the salaries
of its members were fixed by him. The sittings of the Senate were
not public and only lasted so long as the President chose. The
legislative body consisted of 250 members, who were elected by
the arrondissements to pass laws and to regulate taxation, but

348
THE EMPIRE ESTABLISHED

they had no power of initiative and were obliged to pass
Government Bills without having any right to modify them.
About the only power left to them was the annual voting of the
budget.

This was merely an Empire in disguise, and in November,
1852, came the formal restoration of the hereditary Empire in
the person of Napoleon III. A storm of addresses had given the
President the opportunity of asking for an expression of opinion
in the country with regard to altering the form of the Constitution.
The Senate decreed the holding of a plebiscite by an almost
unanimous vote, and the people decided for an Empire by an
overwhelming majority. On the fatal day, December 2nd, the
day of Austerlitz, the day of the coup d'état in Paris, a dull,
wintry afternoon, the Senate and the legislative body went to
St. Cloud, attended by torches, to announce to the Prince-
President the result of the popular vote. He told them that
he assumed the title of Napoleon III., by the grace of God and
the will of the people Emperor of the French, but that he
recognised everything which the history of France recorded since
the extinction of the first Empire. Shortly afterwards he made

his solemn entry into the Tuileries, and his civil list was fixed
at £1,000,000 a year.

349
CHAPTER XI
ENGLAND, 1846-52

THE Ministry of Lord John Russell in 1846 marks to some extent
a new epoch in the history of the United Kingdom, an epoch which
lasted until the advent of Gladstone in 1868. During this period
domestic questions become less important, and the front of the
stage is occupied by the politics of the Continent and the affairs
of China and India. In this Ministry, Sir Charles Wood was
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Palmerston was Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, until his place was taken by Lord Granville
in 1851. Except in its dealings with foreign nations the Cabinet
could not be called conservative.

The men who had just won the repeal of the Corn Laws were
not represented in it. Mr. Villiers, a prominent Free Trader,
was offered a place in it, but refused the honour, and Richard
Cobden was neglected. The only representative of that party
was Milner Gibson, and he was placed in a very inferior position.
Still, the principles of Free Trade were fully accepted by the new
Ministry. They extended those principles to the important
commodity of sugar, which forms so important a part of the food
of the poorer classes. This was opposed by the Protectionists,
but supported chivalrously by Peel. The alteration in the tax
had the effect of bringing to British markets large quantities
of sugar which previously had been excluded. It increased the
revenue and at the same time decreased the price. Lord George
Bentinck admitted that by this measure the revenue had gained
£400,000 and the consumer had saved nearly {£2,500,000.

The question of Ireland was very urgent. A terrible famine
was raging in the country, and masses of people, without food
and without shelter, were dying by the roadside. Potatoes were
rotting in the ground, and potatoes were the staple of the people’s
diet. The Cabinet established relief works, but they were of
little use, and it was impossible to regulate admission to them.
The number attending them rose from 114,000 in October, 1846,
to 734,000 in March, 1847. The blight had fallen quite suddenly
on the crops. Father Mathew wrote: “On July 27th I passed
from Cork to Dublin, and the doomed plant bloomed in all the

350
DISTRESS IN IRELAND

luxuriance of an abundant harvest. Returning on August 3rd
I beheld with sorrow mere wastes of putrefying vegetation.”
But while the relief works alleviated misery in some districts, in
others thousands of people were perishing. It was evident that
the relief works must be discontinued, for the roads were blocked
by the labourers and -by the stones they were crushing. The
works had developed into a vast system of impoverishment for
England and of pauperism for Ireland. The system came to an
end in August, 1847. Relief Committees were organised instead,
and the population was kept alive by daily rations until the
harvest. At the same time a Bill was passed suspending the
duty on foreign corn, and relaxing the navigation laws which
prevented the importation of foreign corn in non-British ships
and ships not manned by British seamen.

Another pressing evil in Ireland was the inadequacy of the
arrangements for the relief of the poor. Outdoor relief was
unknown and anyone requiring assistance had to seek it in the
workhouse. But workhouses were few and had accommodation
for only a very small fraction, not more than 3 per cent., of
those really requiring help. However, notwithstanding the
vigorous opposition of the Irish landlords, a measure of outdoor
relief was passed. A Bill was also passed for selling encumbered
estates, but this did not produce the good expected of it, because
the new proprietor was often an unsympathetic landlord, who
raised the rent of his tenants, and made their position worse than
it had been before. A small sum was also granted by the Govern~-
ment to encourage the building of Irish railways.

The expenditure undertaken for the relief of the Irish distress
had laid a burden on the Exchequer of not less than £7,000,000 ;
the relief works alone had cost over £5,000,000, and the distri-
bution of food more than {1,500,000. It was only possible to
meet this by a loan. Though the attention of the country was
occupied by the election of a new Parliament, which differed but
little from the Parliament it replaced, and by a commercial crisis
which made it necessary to suspend the operation of the Bank
Charter Act, it soon became needful for it to concentrate its
thoughts on Ireland.

During the months of October and November, 1847, shooting
at the person in open daylight was a common occurrence in the
counties of Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. With few exceptions
none of the miscreants were arrested; the murderers, protected
by the people, in almost every instance escaped, and the hillsides
were sometimes illuminated to celebrate the crime. The Govern-

351
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ment’s remedy for this state of things was a Coercion Bill. The
Lord Lieutenant was authorised to proclaim a district, and in a
proclaimed district he had power to increase the police force and
charge the cost to the ratepayers.

Ireland was, morecver, to be affected by the convulsions which
shook the thrones of Europe in 1848. Smith O’Brien went as the
head of a deputation to ask Lamartine, the famous French orator
and statesman, to assist Ireland in her troubles, but Lamartine
replied that it would not be proper for France to interfere in the
affairs of a country with which she desired to remain at peace.
The Cabinet increased the stringency of the Coercion Act, restricted
freedom of speech, and suspended the Habeas Corpus Act. But
the so-called rebellion of Smith O’Brien was a mere flash in the
pan, and the movement, which had been treated as a serious
menace to the community, ended in laughter. This was the last
Irish rebellion, and the chance of its having a successor grew less
and less likely owing to the gradual diminution of the population,
which six years of famine had reduced by nearly two millions ;
and the numbers, comparatively small as they were, were still
further decreased by emigration.

But rebellion would not have occurred in Ireland at all if
it had not been stimulated by similar disturbances in England,
where the unrest of the Continent also produced an effect. Multi-
tudes were out of employment, and the poor were suffering priva-
tions the like of which they had not experienced for many years.
These hardships led to a revival of Chartism. The Chartists were
at this time under the guidance of an Irishman, Feargus O’Connor.
Tall, and of noble presence, he had all the qualifications for a
rough, popular orator. He and his colleagues and their followers
agreed to carry a monster petition to the House of Commons, and
to escort it by a monster procession. It was publicly advertised
that this would take place on April roth, 1848. The Government
issued an order that such a procession was illegal, and the defence of
London was entrusted to the Duke of Wellington. The approaches
to Westminster were guarded by some regular troops, many more
being held in reserve, but judiciously kept out of sight. A hundred
and seventy thousand special constables were sworn in for the
preservation of order, amongst them Prince Louis Napoleon, the
future Emperor of the French. The procession was abandoned,
and the petition, instead of being accompanied to Parliament
by a triumphant throng, was taken in a hackney coach. When
the roll was examined, it was found to contain fewer than
2,000,000 signatures, instead of over 5,500,000, as had been

352
AN UNREASONING PANIC

asserted by its supporters. Many of the names were fictitious.
Besides those of the Queen, Wellington, and Peel, were found
appellations such as “ Pugnose,” ‘“‘ Flatnose,” and ‘‘ No Cheese.”
The English rebellion ended, like the Irish, in ridicule.

Unfortunately the disturbed state of the Continent produced
a panic in England, founded upon a dread of France, which, but
for the sudden collapse of the French Government, might have
had disastrous consequences. Such panics are liable to recur,
directed now against one country and now against another, and
the lessons of experience seem powerless to prevent them. At
that time the subject of the panicmonger’s frenzy and tail-lashing
was the creation of a French steam fleet. The Duke of Wellington
denounced the condition of the national defences, and the United
Kingdom quivered at the fear of imminent invasion. And this
was at a period when economy was especially needed to repair
commercial disaster, and when the famine in Ireland had caused
a large expenditure. The Prime Minister did not dare to resist
a senseless popular cry, and the budget left the nation with a
deficit of over £3,000,000, the shortage being met by raising
the income tax from sevenpence to a shilling in the pdund. The
budget was received with a burst of disapproval from both parties,
one clamouring for economy and the other for further expense.
But a dramatic catastrophe happened. The budget was pro-
pounded on February 18th, and a week later it was known that
the Monarchy of July had collapsed, and that the dreaded master
of an imaginary steam fleet was on his way to England, a sick
and weary fugitive. The budget was withdrawn and the income
tax remained as before.

The difficulties with regard to Ireland still continued. The
Poor Law of 1847 had given Irish peasants a claim to outdoor
relief, and this, by making it more easy for the owner to clear
the property, led to wholesale evictions. Thousands of families
were turned out of their cottages ; some went into villages where
there was no proper accommodation for them, others lay down
and died by the wayside. Some went to England; those who
could, emigrated. Wherever they went they carried with them
the seeds of disease and perished like flies. One of the first acts
of the Ministry was to vote £50,000 in aid of bankrupt unions,
but really the whole system of Irish poor law relief demanded
examination and amendment. In the end the situation was met
by a regular grant in aid of poor law relief from the richer country
to the poorer, and by the limitation of the amount of poor rate
to which Irish estates were liable.

M 353
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The year 1849 also witnessed an extension of Free Trade by
the repeal of the Navigation Acts, the object of which was to keep
the world’s carrying trade entirely in the hands of Great Britain.
First passed in the time of the Commonwealth, they were con-
firmed by the Parliament of the ReStoration in 1660 and 1662.
They were directed primarily against the Dutch, then England’s
great rivals in maritime commerce. But as years rolled on and
the circumstances of the world altered, the working of these laws
became disastrous. When the Americans came to possess a
mercantile marine they retaliated, and if American ships could
not bring British produce to America, British ships might not
bring British produce to the United States. Huskisson was
obliged to introduce the principle of reciprocity, which after his
time was largely extended by treaty. Direct trade with the
treaty countries was partially opened. Concessions were made to
Austria and the States of the Prussian Zollverein. The Colonies
were allowed to trade directly with most foreign nations, and
the East Indies with any friendly Power. American ships might
trade between England and India, but no foreign ship might carry
between England and her colonies, or from colony to colony.
No Asian, African, or American produce could, as a rule, be brought
from any European port, neither sugar nor coffee from Rotterdam,
nor cotton from Havre.

In 1844, Mr. Gladstone, then Vice-President of the Board of
Trade, appointed a committee to inquire into the operation of
the Acts, but the matter was not ripe for legislation till 1840.
Even then opinion was equally divided. Mercantile and manu-
facturing prosperity required complete freedom, but the British
shipping interest and the old school of naval officers were almost
unanimous against repeal. Probably the scale was turned by
Canada, which declared that the repeal of the Corn Laws had
given the Americans a great advantage in competition for the
corn trade. America could send her corn freely to England, but
Canada must use only British vessels, and the British shipowners
raised the freights. There was danger of an estrangement between
the colony and the Mother Country. Canadians said that this
was one of the evil consequences of Free Trade, and that if Pro-
tection were established all grievances would be removed. The
Bill passed with great difficulty, the Protectionists in the House
of Lords only being defeated by a majority of ten on the second
reading, and by a majority of thirteen on the third. The passing
of this Act was the main work of the session of 1849.

Difficulties again arose with regard to Ireland. The Battle

354
PALMERSTON’S FOREIGN POLICY

of Dolly’s Brae, between the Orangemen and the Catholics, took
place on July 12th, 1849. On that day, the anniversary of the
Battle of the Boyne, the Orangemen of Down set out to pay a
visit to their master, Lord Roden, at Tollymore Park, and had to
pass through a defile in the Monaghan Hills known as Dolly’s
Brae. A large force of military and police prevented a conflict
on the outward journey, and the return might also have been
achieved in peace had the Orangemen taken a shorter and more
convenient road home, but, swollen with whisky, they refused
to do this, and, singing Orange songs and waving banners, reached
the pass in the evening. There they produced an explosion of
feeling. The Ribbonmen fired on the police, and the Orangemen
joined in the fray, Four Ribbonmen were shot dead, forty were
wounded, the Orangemen sacked and burned the houses of the
Ribbonmen, and murdered at least one inoffensive person. This
scandal caused a profound sensation, but it was difficult to find a
remedy. A better state of feeling was evoked by a short visit
which Queen Victoria paid to Ireland in her yacht, steaming into
Cork and leaving by Belfast. She and her family were received
everywhere with enthusiasm. Thus encouraged, the Ministry
in 1850 introduced three measures, a Relief Bill to alleviate the
burden on Irish property, an extension of the Irish county franchise,
and the abolition of the Viceroyalty. The first two measures
were passed, the second in an amended form, but the third, the
object of which was to abolish an office that was a symbol of depend-
ence and more ornamental than useful, was not carried; it is
difficult to say why. Perhaps it was feared that the abolition
of the Castle Court might be prejudicial to the interests of Dublin
tradesmen. The second reading was adopted by a large majority,
but the Bill was afterwards abandoned.

Between 1846 and 1851 Lord Palmerston held the office
of Foreign Secretary, certainly one of the most brilliant statesmen
that ever held those seals. He carried out a difficult policy in a
determined manner, and his action often brought him into conflict
with the Crown. The foreign policy of the United Kingdom has
always been largely under the control of the Sovereign. Con-
sequently all dispatches were submitted to the Queen before being
sent, and when returned to the office they frequently showed
alterations in her handwriting. But in these matters Prince
Albert also exercised a powerful, if not paramount, influence.
He always worked with the Queen, their writing-tables were side
by side, and her correspondence was invariably prepared for her
perusal by him. He had a profound knowledge of foreign affairs

355
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and very definite views, but his ideas did not always coincide
with those of Palmerston, and the British Minister might reason-
ably hold that the foreign policy of Great Britain ought not to
be controlled by one who was himself a German and possibly
represented the ideas of the smaller German States.

When Palmerston came into office in 1846, the relations between
France and Great Britain were strained by the question of the
Spanish marriages. A dispatch of July 19th, in which he objected
to the French marriages, and expressed a desire for a return of
constitutional government in Spain, offended both Paris and
Madrid and drove Queen Isabella into hastening the Bourbon
matriage. Probably Palmerston’s action wrecked an understanding
between the two countries, a relation, however, which he described
as i entente, m cordiale. When, in 1846, Austria destroyed the
independence of Cracow, Palmerston was rumoured to have said
that Cracow had always formed part of the general arrangement
which the great Powers had made at Vienna for the settlement
of Europe: what Europe laid down Europe alone could alter.
He also interfered actively in the affairs of Portugal, where
civil war was raging between Saldanha and the insurgents.
Palmerston, however, agreed to mediate if four conditions were
fulfilled :—

x. A general amnesty ;

2. A revocation of the decrees issued since Saldanha took office;

3. A convocation of the Cortes ;

4. The appointment of a national administration.

If these terms were refused the British Government would
arrange, with the Governments of France and Spain, the best means
of offering essential assistance to the Queen of Portugal. Neither
party liked this arrangement, but, their fleet being captured by
the British, the Portuguese were obliged to submit. A Convention
was duly signed, and the civil war ceased.

Palmerston took an equally bold and independent line on the
question of the Sonderbund. He refused to admit that the
formation of the Sonderbund had dissolved the Swiss Confedera-
tion, and proposed that the foreign Powers should offer their
mediation on the understanding that, if it were refused, no inter-
vention should take place, and that, if it were accepted, the
Jesuits should be expelled, the Sonderbund be dissolved, and
the civil war terminate. Guizot threatened to form a separate
alliance and leave Great Britain to stand alone. Luckily, the
rapid suppression of the Sonderbund by General Dufour obviated
all danger of a civil war.

356
PALMERSTON AND THE POWERS

To the unconcealed disgust of Metternich, Palmerston also
loyally supported the new Liberal movement in Italy. He ex-
pressed a hope that, considering the deep, widespread, and well-
founded discontent, Austria would use her influence to encourage
necessary reforms and improvements, declared that any armed
intervention of Austria in Italy would be resented by Great Britain,
and seemed to hint at the possibility of war. Lord Minto was
dispatched to Italy to support reforms both in Rome and Sardinia.
He was asked to assure the Italians that the moral force of Great
Britain would be everywhere on the side of progress. Palmerston
learned of the Revolution of February with some satisfaction,
because it brought about the fall of Guizot, to whom he was especially
opposed, and whose fate he deemed to be a guarantee for peace.
He ordered the Minister accredited to Louis Philippe to continue
at his post, and to assure the provisional Government of the friendly
feelings of the British nation.

In the disaster caused by the revolution of Italy, Austria appealed
to Palmerston for the assistance of Great Britain. He was obdurate
and told the Austrian envoy that his sympathies were with Italy,
and advised Austria to give up her Italian possessions quietly and
at once. It is probable that Palmerston trusted too much to the
possibility of Italy’s obtaining what she wanted by force of arms,
and that he did not foresee the victories of Radetzky. It is doubtful
whether Great Britain could have done anything worth doing for
Italy, and it is certain that Palmerston did not choose the favour-
able opportunity for doing it. When Radetzky was beaten,
Palmerston had urged Austria to cede Venice; when Radetzky was
victorious, he did his utmost to secure the cession of Lombardy.
Even after Novara he endeavoured to moderate the demands of
Austria.

Palmerston pursued an equally enlightened and generous
policy towards Hungary, urging Austria to satisfy the national
feeling of the Hungarians. When the Hungarians were crushed
by the aid of Russia, he warned Austria to pay regard to the ancient
constitutional rights of Hungary. When the patriots fled for
refuge into Turkey, both Russia and Austria put strong pressure
on the Porte for their extradition, and even broke off diplomatic
relations with Turkey. But on the advice of Palmerston, supported
by Stratford Canning, the Turks refused to surrender them. In all
these matters Palmerston played a noble and high-spirited part,
and raised the reputation of his country to the highest pitch.
He has never received adequate praise for his heroism when
he stood at bay against the great autocratic Powers of Europe,

357
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

exhibiting conduct worthy to be compared with the best
achievements of Canning, who is still the idol of European
Liberals.

But heroic conduct, to be appreciated and supported, needs
a heroic environment, and this was not to be found in the Great
Britain of 1850 and still less in the mind of Prince Albert. He was
jealous of Palmerston ; he could not follow the rapid decisions of
the statesman’s intellect, and was always recommending caution.
Palmerston was perfectly right not to allow the foreign policy of
Great Britain to be transferred to the Prince’s study at Osborne
or Windsor Castle. Yet a comparatively unimportant matter —
gave Palmerston’s enemies an opportunity of scoring a point
against him; this happened in connection with the tiny kingdom
of Greece.

King Otho, in building his palace, had taken possession of
some ground belonging to George Finlay, the historian of Greece,
the King offering very inadequate compensation for its value.
About the same time, an outrage was committed upon a Jew,
named Don Pacifico, who was a British subject from Gibraltar.
On Easter Sunday, a Greek had broken into his house, beaten his
wife and children, destroyed his furniture, and robbed him of
money and jewels. Don Pacifico’s claim for money amounted
to £30,500. Palmerston endorsed this claim and, as the demands
for redress dragged on from 1847 to 1850, at last determined to
bring matters to a crisis by sending the British fleet to the Pirzeus.
He gave the Greeks forty-eight hours to settle the claims, and at
the expiry of that time began to seize Greek gunboats and merchant
vessels. An attempt was made by the French to mediate, but
eventually the Greek Government gave way and satisfied all claims.
Palmerston’s action was honourable and even estimable, but it
exposed him to attack. A vote of censure was carried in the
House of Lords by 169 to 132, but a resolution in his favour, pro-
posed by Roebuck in the House of Commons, where Palmerston
made a masterly and convincing defence, was carried by 310 to 264,
and he emerged triumphantly from his ordeal.

One result, however, was that the Queen drew up a memorandum
on August 12th, 1849, in which she required Lord Palmerston to
say distinctly what he proposed doing in any given case, so that
she might know to what she was giving her sanction; she further
stipulated that, having given her sanction, it must not be arbitrarily
altered or modified by the Minister; and she also stated that
she expected to be informed as to what passed between Lord
Palmerston and foreign Secretaries of State, and to receive

358
POSITION OF PRINCE ALBERT IN POLITICS

dispatches from abroad promptly and the drafts of dispatches
in reply in sufficient time to make herself acquainted with their
contents before they were sent out. In this controversy, public
opinion generally has supported the Queen, and modern historians
agree in condemning the Foreign Secretary and in underrating the
character of his work.

Final judgment, however, will probably recognise Palmerston
to have been one of the greatest Foreign Secretaries that Great
Britain has ever had: wise, liberal and courageous, the very
opposite of Castlereagh; as bold as, but more generous than,
Wellington, ranking rather with Cromwell, Chatham and Canning.
To have withstood Metternich, to have championed the cause
of liberty in Europe in its darkest days, to have foreseen and
to have aided it in its future triumph, to have maintained the
credit of the British crown high and unsullied, when thrones
were toppling throughout Europe, is no mean praise. In England
justice is sometimes long in coming, but it comes in the end.
Further, it may be doubted whether Prince Albert really had
the qualities of a great Minister. He was learned, laborious, and
conscientious, but his political training had been narrow and
pedantic, and he possessed neither the outlook nor the intuitive
grasp necessary for the successful conduct of affairs. Those
behind the scenes in the Courts of Europe knew all along what
the British public shrewdly suspected, that the Queen was the
genius and her Consort the pedagogue, and an attentive study
of her letters, one of the most interesting and most valuable
contributions ever made to political literature, will lead the
careful student to the same conclusion.

Still, on some sides, Prince Albert was supreme. He was a
man of culture, to whom nothing could have been more distasteful
than the insular ignorance and boorishness which characterised
the governing classes amongst whom he had to live. It is creditable
that he suffered them with such patience and concealed the dislike
which they, in turn, instinctively felt for him. He did this by
identifying himself so closely with the Queen that it was impossible
to dissociate them. As Charles Kingsley said when he heard the
news of his death, “ He was King of England for twenty years,
and no one knew it.’ The secret of his power lay in the fact that
no one knew it, and that he allowed no one to know it. The Queen,
although a woman of rare natural capacity, did not care for
intellectual society, and Prince Albert’s love for it, which would
have injured him in English opinion, was veiled by her distaste
for it.

359
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Yet his influence in skilfully undermining the crust of Philistine
prejudice which lay over the highest society, and impeded
its growth, cannot be overrated. He produced a sympathy
between Great Britain and Germany which the union with
Hanover had never been able to effect. German, instead of
Italian, began to be studied by young Englishmen. The intricacies
of German music received an appreciation which had been con-
fined to the admirers of Handel, whom most Englishmen regarded
as their own countryman. The Queen had little taste, and the
Prince a rather poor taste, but the love of music began to make
itself felt, and Prince Albert’s deep interest in science was not
without its effects. Whatever England possessed of culture in
the last half of the nineteenth century received from him probably
a greater stimulus than from any other man. He took a keen
interest in education, paid marked attention to Eton, founded
Wellington College, was Chancellor of Cambridge, and his early
death laid a serious misfortune on England by depriving her of
the services of the one man who could have led the educational
strivings of the age to a successful issue.

All these efforts culminated in the International Exhibition of
1851, which was the creation of the Prince Consort. It was a fine
idea to induce the nations of the world, exhausted by the struggles
of internal civil war, to meet as brothers, and to know no rivalry
except in the arts of peace and industry. It is strange to remember
that, in those days, the masterpieces of Italian art, the works
of Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, were classed among the
products of Austria, and that the only collection from Germany
bore the uncouth and unintelligible appellation of ‘‘ Zollverein.”
But from the time of this exhibition insular barriers were broken
down; Englishmen discovered that the Continent was peopled
by human beings like themselves, and foreigners found out that
the island of Britain was not always shrouded in perpetual fog,
nor its people’s hearts frozen in continual reserve. The exhibition
marked a great epoch in the history of civilisation, and was a
dividing line between the new era and the old.

The year 1850 saw the death of Sir Robert Peel, who, although
more frequently in opposition than in office, deservedly ranks with
the foremost British statesmen. His last speech in the House of
Commons was on the question of the censure of Palmerston.
Next day he attended a committee of the Commissioners for the
Exhibition of 1851, and in the afternoon went out for a ride.
While proceeding up Constitution Hill, he stopped to speak to
a young lady. His horse shied and threw him, causing severe

360
CATHOLIC BISHOPS FOR ENGLAND

injuries. He lingered for a few days, but died in the night of
July 2nd, 1850. L

The final excitement of the year was caused by the issue
of a Papal Bull at the end of September, creating a hierarchy of
Roman Catholic bishops in England, each having the title of his
own see. Lord John Russell wrote a letter to the Bishop of
Durham, in which he declared the Pope’s action to be a pretension
of supremacy over the realm of England, and a claim to sole and
undiminished sway which was inconsistent with the Queen’s
supremacy and the rights of the bishops and clergy of the Anglican
Church. He went on to attack the High Church party in the
Church of England. The day following the publication of this
letter was Guy Fawkes’ Day, and the effigies of the Pope and
Cardinal Wiseman, who had just been made Archbishop of West-
minster, instead of Archbishop of Mesopotamia, took the place
of those of the traditional conspirators. The agitation led, in
the following year, to the introduction of the Ecclesiastical Titles
Bill, which was received with much ridicule and obloquy when
first proposed, but which, when altered and strengthened, was
passed by a large majority.

The Ministry, discredited by the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill,
suffered a more severe defeat on the budget. The window tax
had existed for a hundred and fifty years, and had been originally
associated with a house tax. All houses had to pay a tax of two
shillings, but houses with ten or twenty windows had to pay an
additional tax of four shillings and eight shillings respectively.
In 1834 Althorp repealed the house tax, but the window tax
remained. It was a wretched burden, tending to diminish in
every dwelling the sun and air, the first requisites of health. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer determined to abolish the tax and
substitute a house tax for it. But the budget had no prestige,
and was received with indifference.

Locke King, member for Surrey, having proposed a motion
to place householders in counties on the same footing, with
regard to the franchise, as householders in towns, was opposed by
Lord John Russell, who was, however, defeated by nearly two
to one. The Cabinet, thus discredited, and not supported either
in the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill or the budget, resigned on February
gznd. But an endeavour to form another Ministry, either under
Lord Stanley or with the assistance of Aberdeen or Graham, having
proved fruitless, the Queen was obliged to recall Lord John Russell,
as was said, to office, but not to power. Shortly after this, the
relations between the Crown and Palmerston reached breaking-

M* 361
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

point. The Queen was anxious not to express approval of
the coup d’éat of Louis Napoleon, but Palmerston had already
spoken to Walewski, the French Ambassador in London, recog-
nising the necessity and the advantage to France and Europe
of the bold and decisive step taken by the President. Pal-
merston, instead of explaining his conduct, entered into a long
defence of Napoleon, and Russell decided to dispense with his
services.

We have already seen how the International Exhibition came
into being, and it remains to say that it was opened on May Day,
1851. The building had been erected in a portion of Hyde Park,
lying between Knightsbridge and the Serpentine, a little to the
east of the ground now occupied by the Albert Memorial, and of
the trees that were left standing in the vast structure one still
flourishes. The Exhibition was opened by the Queen, and never
during her reign did she preside at a more impressive pageant.
In her speech she expressed a hope that the undertaking might
conduce to the common welfare of the human race, by display-
ing the arts of peace and industry, and strengthening the bonds
of union among the nations. At the time when the riches of the
world were collected in her capital, when her husband was assum-
ing the position which she felt him to deserve, when the various
peoples governed by her sceptre were present with their products,
and when a sympathetic world shared in the enjoyment of the
spectacle, she might have been exalted with pride, but her only
thought, she humbly avowed, was to give praise and thanks to
God.

The Great Exhibition was regarded as a festival which was to
inaugurate a long reign of peace. It is now, to the eye of the
historian, an event which closed a long interval of peace, because,
since the year 1851, war has almost continuously disturbed the
world. The coup d'état in France was followed by the Crimean
War as one of its natural effects, and this by the Indian Mutiny.
Then came the war between France and Austria for the liberation
of Italy, the Civil War between North and South in the United
States, the conquest of Sicily and Naples by Garibaldi, the expulsion
of the Emperor Maximilian from Mexico. Next ensued the war
between Germany and Denmark, the struggle for supremacy in
Germany between Austria and Prussia, and the war between France
and Germany in 1870. Since the last-named campaign the world
has witnessed the war between Russia and Turkey, between Turkey
and Greece, the disastrous struggle between Boer and Briton, the
wars between Japan and China and between Russia and Japan.

362
A LANDMARK OF CIVILISATION

During half a century the gates of the Temple of Janus were scarcely
ever closed. But notwithstanding this, and the possibility of
future strife, the Exhibition of 1851 remains a landmark of civilisa-
tion, and has been the fruitful parent of similar international
meetings, the general outcome of which must be the gradual
extinction of war and the consolidation of the brotherhood
of man.

363
CHAPTER XII

THE SECOND EMPIRE

Napo.eon III. ascended the throne of France with the intention
of realising what he called “‘ the Napoleonic ideas.” These were
the reconstruction of French society, shattered by fifty years of
revolution, and the reconciliation of order with liberty, and of
popular rights with the principle of authority; in other words,
he hoped to reconcile the conflicting principles of imperium and
libertas by establishing a democratic Empire. Napoleon I. had
found it impossible to realise his projects in ten years ; his mission
had been to complete the work of the Revolution and establish
liberty in France. But liberty could not crown the edifice unless
a sure and solid foundation were first laid. The authority of
government must be generally recognised; it must appear as the
beneficent influence which rules the whole community. Napoleon
had attached great importance to manufactures, had encouraged
those which existed, and had created new ones. His successors,
if they would complete his work, must supply a similar stimulus
to affairs by helping and encouraging all classes alike. They
must assist the peasants by improving the cultivation of the land,
the manufacturers by opening new fields of industry, and the
artisans by keeping them well employed with good wages. In
this manner work would be found for the unemployed, a demand
would be created for every product, and poverty would disappear.
The triumph of Christianity abolished slavery, the triumph of the
French Revolution abolished serfdom, the triumph of Democracy
would abolish pauperism. In foreign affairs the fundamental
Napoleonic idea was that of a European confederation, the
loyal offer of an alliance with France to every Government
willing to combine with her in defence of interests common to
all. Such were the ideas which the Emperor pledged himself to
accomplish. They included a cordial understanding with Great
Britain, and he believed that peace with the United Kingdom
had always been one of his uncle’s dearest wishes if the island
Power had but given him the opportunity of carrying it into effect.
The Constitution of January r4th, 1852, together with later
additions, made the head of the State responsible to the nation,

364
THE EMPEROR’S POSITION

but gave him free and unfettered authority. He commanded the
forces by land and sea, could make peace and war, administered
justice, and possessed the prerogative of pardon. He had the sole
power of initiating laws, he promulgated them and carried them
into effect. He had, therefore, the whole of the executive in his
hands, and considerable influence over the judiciary and the
legislature. He obtained the power of concluding treaties of
commerce and of ordering and authorising all works of public
utility. He was the judge of the relations between the Senate
and the legislative body. It is true that the budget of each
Ministry was voted by the legislative body, but the appropria-
tion of the various sums was settled by Imperial decree.

It was said that he was responsible to the people, but the
people could only act through a plebiscite, and a plebiscite could
only be sanctioned by the authority of the Emperor. He governed
France through the Ministers, the prefects, and the great network
of centralised administration by which the country was covered.
The Ministers were ten in number. First came the Minister
of State. He was the means of communication between the
Emperor, the Senate, the legislative and other bodies; he had
charge of the Imperial household, and was entrusted with all
matters not specially assigned to other Ministers. The other
Ministers presided over Justice, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs,
Finance, War, Marine and the Colonies, Public Institutions and
Religion, Public Works, and Police, including the Press. The
Ministers waited on the Emperor at least once a week, made their
reports, expressed their views, and received his orders; but they
did not form a Cabinet. They swore fidelity to the Emperor,
were excluded from the legislative body, and each worked by
himself in his own Ministry.

The prefects of the different departments were the repre-
sentatives of the Government, and had all the authority of the
Sovereign in their own territories. They received the commands
of the Emperor through his Ministers; had power to legislate
in certain cases, appointment of teachers being eventually placed
in their hands, and had full control over all local bodies in their
departments. Within his own sphere the prefect was a miniature
Emperor, with his council of the prefecture and his general council.
There was, indeed, in each commune, except in Paris, an elective
municipal council, chosen every five years, with power to vote
the municipal budget ; but its sittings were not public, it might
be suspended, and had very little power.

Besides Ministers and prefects, the Emperor had under his

365
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

authority the army and the police. The police kept the news-
papers well under control, only one paper being allowed for each
shade of opinion. The Government was represented by the
Constitutionnel, the Patrie, and the Pays; the Orléans party by
the Journal des Débats ; the Legitimist party by the Gazette de
France and the Union ; and a mild Republicanism by the Svécle.

It was natural that the Emperor should wish to establish a
brilliant Court, and, indeed, the Court of Napoleon III. was very
brilliant. He took up his abode at the Tuileries and, as we have
said, his civil list was fixed at {1,000,000 a year. The dynasty
was made hereditary in his own legitimate and direct descendants,
but in default of male issue he might adopt the male issue of the
brothers of Napoleon I. All his relatives received an allowance
of £60,000 a year, but the only recognised members of his family
were Jerome, ex-King of Westphalia, and his two children, Prince
Napoleon and Princess Mathilde, who was married to Prince
Demidoff.

Prince Napoleon lived at the Palais Royal, and gathered round
him advanced Liberals who had leanings towards Republicanism.
He had a strongly-marked Napoleon face and went by the name
of Plon Plon, had considerable abilities, but was deficient in tact
and moderation. The Emperor did not trust him, and looked
upon the Palais Royal as a centre of opposition.

It was natural that the Emperor should desire to marry as
soon as possible, partly to provide his Court with a mistress and
partly to secure an heir. Overtures were made to several
European Courts without success; but Mr. Evans, an American
dentist, who was an intimate friend of the Emperor, had some
time before fixed his mind on Eugénie de Montijo as a fitting
consort. She was, on her father’s side, of a noble Spanish family,
and on her mother’s of Scottish descent. She was invited to
Court balls and danced frequently with the Emperor, who was
much fascinated by her. One morning Mr. Evans was with the
Emperor when the post arrived, bringing a fresh rejection. The
Emperor read the letter with disgust and said, “I won’t have
anything more to do with these princesses: Ill marry your
American.”

Evans said, “ She is not an American; she is a Spaniard.”

**T don’t care what she is,’ cried the Emperor; “ I'll marry
her.”

And the marriage took place. She was then twenty-six years
of age, and a better choice could not have been made. She was
one of the loveliest women in the world, and her manners were

366
THE LEGISLATURE OF THE EMPIRE

simple and dignified; but she was extremely religious and un-
doubtedly strengthened the hands of the Clerical faction in the
Tuileries.

Let us now consider the position of the bodies who were
supposed to limit the power of the Emperor—the legislative
body, the Council of State, and the Senate. The Lower House
was elected by universal suffrage, all citizens being voters. France
had been divided into one-member constituencies, as the scrutin
de liste—according to which members were elected by larger
constituencies—had been abolished. At every election there was
an official candidate, whose address to the electors was posted at
the public expense. Opposition candidates were permitted, but
great! difficulties were placed in their way. The mayor, appointed
by the Government, was the returning officer, and was able to
exert considerable influence over the results. The official candi-
date generally obtained a majority. The-President of the Chamber,
or, as we should say, the Speaker, was appointed by the Emperor.
The legislative body sat for three months in the year, chiefly for
the purpose of passing a budget. It had no power of initiative,
nor could it amend a Bill brought in by the Government.

The Council of State was a very important body. The Presi-
dent, appointed by the Emperor, held the rank of a Minister. A
similar council does not exist in the British Constitution, but it is
of great service. Its business was to discuss and elaborate all
Government measures, first in each of its six sections, and then
in a full sitting. It also had certain legislative and judicial
powers. It was also the supreme administrative tribunal, and
appointed from its own body inspectors of prefects, who exercised
a certain control over the executive. The Senate consisted partly
of ex officio members (marshals, admirals, cardinals and the like),
and partly of 150 members nominated by the Emperor. It had
not only a share in legislation, but the power of initiative,
and could propose measures to the Government. It could codify
and interpret the Constitution, and annul enactments which were
not in accordance with it. The text of the Constitution said
“The Emperor governs by means of the Ministers, the Council
of State, the Senate, and the legislative body.”

The relations of the Emperor to the Church and education may
be concisely stated. The leaders of the Catholic party, Veuillot,
Montalembert, and Dupanloup supported the results of the coup
d'état. Of these, Montalembert broke with the Emperor and
formed a Liberal Opposition, while the Emperor received
thoroughgoing support from Veuillot and the Univers. The

367
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Church gradually obtained control over education, chiefly by
means of Fortoul, Minister of Instruction from 1851 to 1856. It
is unnecessary to trace the steps by which the Universities became
gradually the servants of the Government. The secondary and
primary schools also came, little by little, into the hands of the
Church. The time when the instruction of France was to be
committed to Duruy, a Liberal and a reformer, was not yet.

There is no doubt that the material prosperity of France
increased greatly under the Empire: those who travelled through
the country saw everywhere increasing signs of trade and pros-
perity, of commerce, of the spread of towns, and of social and
industrial well-being. This was greatly due to the wisdom of the
Emperor, who attracted to himself such commercial leaders as
Enfantin, Talabot, Michel Chevalier, and the brothers Péreire.

Under this influence the well-known trading institutions were
founded—the Crédit Foncier and the Crédit Mobilier. The object
of the first was to lend money on mortgage, the second was to be
a joint-stock bank, which was to contract loans, make advances
and issue notes. The function of the Crédit Mobilier was to set on
foot and support important enterprises, take part in public loans,
and assist in the establishment of great companies, and it was
allowed to issue securities to the amount of ten times its capital.
One of its enterprises was the establishment of a gas company for
the lighting of Paris. Its prosperity was so great that in a few
years its shares were worth four times their original value. The
Bank of France shared in the general expansion, and in the later
years of the Empire an order was issued to establish at least one
branch in each department of the country. By wise legislation the
building of railways was encouraged, and in five years the length
of the system was increased fivefold. The number of agricultural
societies was enlarged and medals were accorded to those who
had distinguished themselves in agricultural enterprise. The
Landes, the vast pine-covered sandy plains in the south-west,
were drained, and horse-breeding was encouraged. Manufactures
were stimulated, and trades, like those of butchers and bakers,
were relieved from vexatious restrictions.

The number of patents taken out became much larger, and
the amount of horse-power used in steamers increased fivefold.
Manufactures of cast and wrought iron developed wonderfully
and were able to satisfy the demands made upon them by the
extension of railways and the like. The cotton industry doubled
its consumption of raw material, and in the chemical industries
the value of the output grew tenfold between 1847 and 1865.

368
A NEW PARIS

To benefit the working classes, a scheme of Government work-
shops was introduced. Ten millions of francs were devoted to
the improvement of workmen’s dwellings, and extensive measures
were undertaken for the improvement of the condition of the
men. This policy was, in part, no doubt, devised to prevent
political discontent, but it was also inspired by higher motives.
Boards of arbitration, which had long existed under the name
of Conseils des Prud’hommes, were placed upon a better footing,
and given into the hands of the masters and the men together.
Associations of workmen were also permitted, and great efforts
were made to find work for the unemployed, both in the provinces
and the capital, At Marseilles the docks were completed and
opened, and many other public buildings adorned that city,
which takes the first place among the ports of the Mediterranean.
The towns of Lyons and Lille were beautified, and the port of
Havre was enlarged.

Immediately after the coup d’état the Emperor set to work on
the improvement of Paris, which under his hands became one of
the wonders of the world. In this work he found an able coadjutor
in Haussmann, whom he made Prefect of the Seine. He created
an entirely new Paris by opening up facilities for traffic in the
approaches to railway stations, by constructing squares, churches,
and barracks, and by making magnificent boulevards. Visitors
from every part of the world thronged to the beautiful city, some
as sightseers and some to reside, and the money they brought helped
to pay for the cost of the improvements. Paris in those days was
excellently groomed. There was no accumulation of snow and
filth, and everything bore the appearance not only of material well-
being, but of gaiety and happiness. If the working class population
were driven to the circumference away from the centre, they
had ample means of communication with the field of their
labours.

A new epoch in the history of the Empire began with the
Crimean War. Emile Ollivier, the Liberal Minister of the last
years of Napoleon III., who had ample means of knowing the
facts, attributes its origin mainly to the designs of the Emperor.
He says that, being a Carbonaro in 1830, and intimately connected
with the secret societies of Italy, the Emperor was pledged to
the liberation of that country. A more honourable motive,
perhaps, existed in the circumstance that Napoleon I. was Italian
by origin, had been the first to realise the possibility of Italian
regeneration, and the first to give effect to it, and that the libera-
tion of Italy from the yoke of the Double Eagle was one of the

369
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

most fruitful and most beneficent of the “ Napoleonic ideas.”
However this may be, Napoleon III. had determined to make the
enfranchisement of Italy the principal .work of his reign, and he
saw that this meant the expulsion of Austria, which could only
be accomplished by war. He saw further that such a war could
not be successful if France had to fight Austria and Russia in
conjunction, and it was, therefore, essential to render it impossible
for Russia to give active assistance to her Austrian neighbour.
For this purpose France must go to war with Russia. A pretext
for hostilities presented itself in the dispute about the Holy Places,
a quarrel which was the ostensible cause of the campaigns in the
Crimea.

We must consider the condition of Great Britain when this
crisis occurred. The dismissal of Lord Palmerston, who was
succeeded by Lord Granville, nearly brought about the fall of
the Ministry. It lingered for nearly a year, but was defeated
on the Militia Bill, The restoration of the Napoleonic dynasty in
France led Great Britain to fear that a new series of wars might
be embarked upon, and so the country was driven to adopt
measures of internal defence. The British army, apart from the
enlisted professional army, consisted of militia, which was of two
kinds, regular and local. The regular militia was under the
control of the Crown, and could be called out for training and be
embodied for actual service. The local militia had come into
existence during the war with Napoleon. It could only be used
for the suppression of riots or rebellion, or in the case of the
appearance of an enemy upon the coasts. It could not, in any
circumstances, be moved out of Great Britain.

After Waterloo both forces had fallen into desuetude, and the
Ministry now proposed to revive one of them. But they chose to
revive the local, instead of the regular, militia, which was a very
inadequate step. Palmerston had no difficulty in persuading the
House to remove the word “local”? from the proposals of the
Ministry, who, in virtue of this defeat, resigned office. They
were succeeded by Lord Stanley, who had just inherited the title
of Lord Derby, but his reign was a short one. The most powerful
man in the administration was Disraeli, who became Chancellor
of the Exchequer. It is remarkable that, of the thirteen members
of the Cabinet, only two had ever sat in a Cabinet before. More-
over, they did not possess a majority in the House of Commons
and barely in the House of Lords. They avoided the mistake
made by Lord John Russell, by reviving the regular militia, with
the approval of the Duke of Wellington.

370
DISRAELI’S FIRST BUDGET

This was, indeed, the last advice given by the Duke on public
affairs. He died at Walmer Castle, in Kent, on September 14th,
1852. The Queen wrote of him in her diary: ‘“ His position was
the highest a subject ever had; above party, looked up to by all,
revered by the whole nation, the friend of the Sovereign; and
how simply he carried these honours. With what singleness of
purpose, what straightforwardness, what courage, were all the
motives of his actions guided. The Crown never found, and I
fear never will find, so devoted and faithful a subject, so staunch
a supporter.” He was buried on November 14th in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, with a magnificence of pomp which must live in the
memory of all who saw it or even heard of it from eye-witnesses.
He did not believe in popular liberties, but had no sympathy with
the oppression of liberty as carried out by foreign Governments.
If he was opposed to the principles of the Reform Bill, he was
also opposed to those of the Holy Alliance. He was the embodi-
ment of the sense of public duty. His firmness and tenacity won
the Battle of Waterloo; but he was generous to his antagonist,
and would never allow a word to be spoken against him in his
presence. When asked his opinion about Waterloo, he would
only reply, “We pounded and they pounded, and we pounded
hardest.’ Undoubtedly he prevented the Ministry from delivering
up Napoleon to Louis XVIII., to be shot as a traitor; but it is
thought that he might have intervened to prevent the execution
of Ney and the slow murder of the fallen Emperor on the rock of
St. Helena.

Before the funeral a newly-elected Parliament had met. Lord
Derby had hoped that he would obtain from the country a reversal
of the policy of Free Trade. But he was disappointed. Disraeli
was clever enough to throw over Protection. The spirit of the
age tended to free intercourse, and the producer had nothing to
expect but fair treatment, for whom all the Ministry could do
was to diminish the cost of production. The Free Traders did
not like this, and Mr. Villiers proposed a resolution declaring
that the Act of 1846 was a wise, just and beneficent measure.
To this Disraeli brought forward amendments, but the House
eventually adopted a resolution of Lord Palmerston’s which was a
compromise between the two. Disraeli then introduced his budget
in a five hours’ speech of remarkable brilliancy. But the measure
itself was fantastic and economically unsound, and was ruthlessly
exposed by Gladstone. It was defeated by 300 votes to 286,
and the Ministry had no alternative but to resign. The majority
was composed of very different elements. The larger section were

37!
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Whigs, led by Lord John Russell, but it also contained
followers of Sir Robert Peel, and independent Radicals like
Cobden and John Bright.

In the first instance the Queen sent for Lord Lansdowne, but
he was too unwell to undertake the duty offered to him, and the
task of forming a new Administration fell upon Lord Aberdeen.
He composed a Cabinet of Whigs and Peelites, but whereas in the
House of Commons the Peelites stood to the Whigs in the propor-
tion of one to nine in the Cabinet they stood as six to seven. Lord
John Russell was disappointed at not becoming Prime Minister,
an office which he had already held, but finally consented to lead
the House of Commons, and for a time to hold the seals of the
Foreign Office, which were ultimately transferred to Lord
Clarendon. Lord Aberdeen said that he intended to retire at the
end of the session and leave the first place in the Cabinet to Lord
John Russell. The Cabinet contained a large number of extremely
distinguished men, particularly Lord John Russell, a former Prime
Minister; Palmerston, a future Prime Minister; and Gladstone,
afterwards one of the greatest of all Prime Ministers. It marked
an epoch of transition between the old battles of Peel and Russell
and those between Disraeli and Gladstone, but its foreign policy
was weak and undecided.

Nevertheless, the Cabinet acquired credit by some vigorous
acts of administration in 1853. In Canada it surrendered to the
Government a large extent of territory known as the Clergy
Reserves, the revenues of which were appropriated to the mainten-
ance of an Established Church. It gave up the practice of
transporting criminals to Australia; threw open the Civil Service
of India to public competition ; established Charity Commissioners
for the better control of charities, and an Ecclesiastical Com-
mission for the better management of endowments. But its
great achievement was the budget, the first of those which were
due to the financial genius of Gladstone, and marked the dawn
of a new era in the commercial history of the country.

Gladstone found himself with a larger surplus than had been
anticipated—{2,460,000 instead of £460,000 ; but the new military
expenditure lowered it to £807,000. He proposed to reduce the
income tax gradually to eightpence in the pound, and to terminate
it altogether in 1860. The deficiency was to be supplied by a
succession duty. This raised the surplus to something like
£3,000,000. With this surplus he proposed to repeal the duty
on soap; to diminish the duty on tea, advertisements, carriages,
dogs, men-servants, apples, cheese, cocoa, butter, raisins, and 133

372
CAUSES OF THE CRIMEAN WAR

other articles; to abolish altogether the duty on almost the same
number; and to reduce the rate of postage to the Colonies. He
also made important changes in the Public Debt, and issued a
new security under the name of Exchequer Bonds. This budget
was magnificent in conception, but it proved something of a failure
in execution. The succession duty did not yield what was
expected of it. The budget was based on the assumption that
the peace and prosperity of the world would continue unchecked,
which was unfortunately falsified by events. Gladstone did not
foresee that the country stood on the brink of a costly war. The
hopes excited by the Exhibition of 1851 had a more powerful
influence on his mind than the fears which might have been
suggested by the renewal of the Napoleonic Empire.

The Crimean War began in contests about Jerusalem, that
city which must be regarded as the holiest by Christians of every
denomination; the city which witnessed the childhood, the
ministry, the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Thither throng,
and have thronged for many ages, believers from every Christian
country. Thousands of Russians spend their accumulated savings
in visits to the holy shrines. They march in long processions
to the Jordan, cut rods of bamboo in the sacred stream, have
them fashioned into rude staves, and perambulate with them the
streets of the city. French, Belgians, Germans do likewise,
singing litanies as they march under their appropriate banners.
The goal of their wanderings is the sepulchre of Christ, a tiny
cell approached by a narrow passage, by which only one person
can pass at a time. Some who visit the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre may dwell on the fact that the followers of Him whose
mission it was to bring peace and goodwill to men have sanctioned
conflict and the sword ; others may feel that it is a sign of the unity
of Christendom that these separate altars, representing different
traditions of faith and worship, should be collected in a single
church united in the adoration of the same God.

The two main divisions of the Christian community are the
Latins and the Greeks, represented by France and Russia; and
it is natural that a rivalry should exist between them for the
preservation and adornment of the sanctuaries of their common
faith. Since 1740 France had enjoyed, by treaty, paramount
rights to the custody of the sacred places in or near Jerusalem,
but the hundred years which succeeded that date were not favour-
able to piety in France, and it was unlikely that the countrymen
of Voltaire and Rousseau,.Robespierre and Marat would trouble
themselves much about the well-being of the Church of Bethlehem

373
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

or the lamps of the Holy Sepulchre. During this period, how-
ever, Russian Christians had done what the French had failed to
do, and their action had been recognised and authorised by the
Sultan. In 1850 Louis Napoleon, as President of the French
Republic, stimulated by the Catholic influences which surrounded
him, revived their claims, and after long negotiations succeeded
in obtaining their recognition by the Porte. This concession
excited resentment in Russia, and the Porte found itself between
the upper and the nether millstone. It endeavoured, in the first
instance, to gain time, and then to do something which would
conciliate both disputants, but which ended in exasperating both.

Relations between France and Russia were further strained
by the dislike of the Emperor Nicholas to the creation of the
second Empire. He had no great desire to see the advent of a
third Empire in Europe, and his strong Legitimist prejudices were
offended at the manner of its creation. He was somewhat slow
in acknowledging it, and addressed the new Sovereign not as
“my brother,” but as “my friend.” If Napoleon really wished
to pick a quarrel with Russia this gave him an opportunity of
doing so. At the same time there began to arise a misunder-
standing between Russia and Great Britain. Nicholas was natur-
ally anxious for the destruction of the Turkish Empire and the
expulsion of the Turks from Europe, as every patriotic Russian
and, indeed, every right-thinking man would be. In 1844 the
Tsar had paid a memorable visit to England, when Aberdeen was
Foreign Minister, with whom he formed an intimacy which almost
amounted to friendship. Nicholas said to Aberdeen and Peel,
then Prime Minister: “Turkey is a dying man. We cannot now
determine what shall be done at his death, but we may keep the
event before our eyes. Russia does not claim one inch of Turkish
soil, but she will not suffer any other Power to have an inch of it;
therefore, to prevent France from seizing Turkish territory in
Africa, the Mediterranean, or the East, Russia and Great Britain
should be agreed, and should arrive at some common understand-
ing. If Russia, Great Britain and Austria were at one, peace
would be assured.”

Nicholas imagined that the advent of Aberdeen to power
would give him another opportunity of doing what he wished,
and on January goth, 1853, he said to Sir Hamilton Seymour,
British Ambassador at St. Petersburg: ‘‘ The Turk is a sick man,
his country is falling to pieces; it is important that Great Britain
and Russia should come to an understanding on the subject.”
He renewed the conversation five days later, remarking: ti Turkey

374
INTERNATIONAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS

may suddenly die upon our hands; we cannot resuscitate what
is dead; if the Turkish Empire falls, it falls to rise no more. It
is better to be prepared for this catastrophe.” He asked Sir
Hamilton Seymour to communicate his views to the British Govern-
ment. Lord John Russell, who had not yet surrendered the seals
of the Foreign Office, replied in a friendly dispatch that personal
arrangements, made without the knowledge of the Powers, might
precipitate the crisis, but that Great Britain would enter into
no arrangement for the disposal of Turkish territory without
communicating with Russia in the first instance.

On February 2oth, 1853, when Seymour received Russell’s
dispatch, he had an interview with the Tsar, in which the latter
again referred to the fate hanging over Turkey. He said
that he had no desire to see Constantinople in the hands of
Russia or any other Great Power. On the other hand, he would
not consent to the restoration of the old Byzantine Empire, the
extension of the territory of Greece, or the division of Turkey
into a number of petty States. The Principalities already enjoyed
independence under the protection of Russia. Servia, Bulgaria,
and other Turkish provinces might be made independent in a
similar manner, and Great Britain might occupy Egypt and Crete,
thus securing the road to India. Lord Clarendon, who had now
succeeded as Foreign Minister, replied “‘ that the British Govern-
ment did not think the condition of Turkey so desperate as
Nicholas supposed, and that, when the catastrophe came, the
future of Turkey should be decided at a congress of the Great
Powers.”

The careful student of history will probably come to the con-
clusion that no wars are inevitable, but arise principally from
misunderstandings, just as quarrels arise between individuals
in private life. Such misunderstandings were now about to plunge
Europe into war. The Tsar sent Prince Menshikov and the
British Government Lord Stratford de Redcliffe as ambassadors
to Constantinople. Menshikov arrived at Constantinople on
February 28th. He waited upon the Sultan and the Grand Vizier,
but refused to wait upon Fuad Pasha, the Foreign Minister. Fuad
resigned his post and Refad Pasha was appointed in his place.
A panic seized upon the Turkish Government, and the Grand Vizier
appealed to the Ministers of France and Great Britain. As Lord
Stratford and the French Ambassador had not arrived, both
countries were represented by subordinate officers. Benedetti sent
a warning letter to Paris and Rose ordered up the fleet from Malta.
This, however, was overruled by the British Cabinet, and the French

375
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Emperor, who was probably anxious to fish in troubled waters, sent
a French fleet to Salamis. It was not favourable to the preser-
vation of peace that France and Russia, whose relations were
already strained, should be placed within striking distance of
each other.

What now happened is a little obscure. Menshikov asked that
the Greek Christians in Turkey might be placed under the protection
of Russia. There was nothing unreasonable in this demand.
The Roman Catholics in Turkey were already under the protection
of Austria, and the Treaty of Kuchuk Kanardji, just eighty years
before, had placed the Greek Church at Constantinople under
Russian protection. But by this time Lord Stratford de Redcliffe
had arrived. He was an arrogant and hot-headed diplomatist,
an enthusiast for the cause of Turkey—the Government of which,
however, he treated with supreme contempt—and had his personal
reasons for disliking Nicholas, who had objected to his being
ambassador at Constantinople. He affected to believe that the
concession Menshikov asked for would strengthen Russia’s influence
all over Turkey, as the Greek Churches were numerous, and per-
suaded the Porte to refuse. In consequence of this, Menshikov
broke off the negotiations and left Constantinople on May 22nd,
1853. Lord Stratford, without any orders from home, had changed
the whole aspect of affairs, and involved Great Britain in a dispute
with which she had nothing to do. The result was that Russia
threatened to send her armies across the Pruth, and to occupy
Moldavia and Wallachia, and the British Cabinet ordered the
Mediterranean fleet to the Dardanelles, and placed its further
movements in the hands of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe.

It is difficult to write with patience about these events, when
reviewing the circumstances long after the curtain fell on the last
act. As far as can be seen, the principal forces at work were in
favour of peace. Nicholas was strongly opposed to war, and
was shocked at the thought that the Union Jack should float side
by side with the Crescent in opposition to the Cross of St. Andrew.
The Queen and the Prince were strongly in favour of peace, and
so were a majority of the Cabinet, especially Gladstone. Russell
and Palmerston favoured a warlike policy, and the principal desire
of Aberdeen was to keep his Cabinet together. But Lord Stratford
de Redcliffe at Constantinople was determined for war, and un-
fortunately the Cabinet, by placing the control of the fleet in his
hands, gave him the opportunity of making it. Terrible, indeed,
is the responsibility which lies on the man who brings about an
unnecessary war.

376
LORD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE AND THE WAR

The Great Powers still worked for peace. They drew up a
Note, originally drafted in France, but adopted at Vienna in July,
which was to be presented simultaneously at Constantinople and
St. Petersburg. It was accepted by the Tsar on August 3rd.
But in the meantime Stratford de Redcliffe had composed an
alternative Note, which he published and the adoption of which
he urged. In Clarendon’s name he advised the Porte to accept
the Vienna Note, but his personal objection to it was well known,
and the Porte, believing that it was sure of the support of Great
Britain, refused. There is no doubt that, at this juncture, the
Powers should have declined to support Turkey any further, for
she had refused the Vienna Note, which Russia had accepted.
Austria and Prussia continued to do their best for the acceptance
of the Note by the Porte, but France and Great Britain did nothing.
This broke up the concert of the four Powers.

At the beginning of October, 1853, the Sultan, with the approval
or at the suggestion of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, summoned
Russia to evacuate the Principalities within fifteen days, and
said that a refusal would be considered as a declaration of war.
Omar Pasha, the commander of the Turkish army, actually crossed
the Danube, and engagements occasionally took place between the
two armies, although Russia announced that she had no intention
of undertaking offensive operations, either in Europe or in Asia,
during the winter. In the beginning of December a new Note
was drawn up by the four Powers, which it was hoped would be
satisfactory to both belligerents. But Stratford de Redcliffe,
urged on by France, advised the entrance of the British and French
fleets into the Black Sea, under the pretence of bringing off the
consuls from Varna, and of looking after the grain ships at the
Sulina mouth of the Danube.

On November 27th the Queen wrote to Aberdeen that the
perusal of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe’s dispatches gave her the
strongest impression that, while guarding himself from the possibility
of being called to account for acting in opposition to his instructions,
he was plunging deeper and deeper into the war policy, from which
escape would be difficult; wherefore should three poor Turkish
steamers go to the Crimea, but to beard the Russian fleet and
tempt it to come out of Sebastopol, which would thus constitute
the much-desired contingency for the combined fleets to attack
it, and so commit Great Britain irretrievably? The Queen
seriously called upon Lord Aberdeen and the Cabinet to consider
whether they were justified in allowing such a state of things
to continue.

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

At the very time this letter was written, the Tsar, harassed
on all sides, allowed his squadron to leave Sebastopol and cruise
in Turkish waters, and, three days later, a Turkish squadron, on
its way from the Bosphorus to Batoum, was attacked at Sinope
by a Russian fleet and virtually destroyed. This ‘“‘ massacre of
Sinope,” as it was called, was regarded in Great Britain as a humili-
ation and defiance, and aroused in that country and France feelings
of strong indignation, and an almost irresistible desire for war.
No one stopped to ask whether the incident had not been caused by
the hostile action of the Western Powers, and whether it was not
the natural answer of Russia to the order of the Western Powers,
given in September, for their fleets to pass the Dardanelles. The
Tsar naturally desired to strike a blow at the Turkish navy before
the Allies could intervene in its favour.

In the closing days of 1853 a new Note was drawn up, which
was adopted by the Porte, and communicated by the four Powers
to the Tsar on January 13th, 1854. But on the very day that
the four Powers adopted their resolution, the British Minister at
St. Petersburg communicated to Nesselrode the decision of the
Western Powers, taken at the instance of France, to invite all
Russian ships to return to Sebastopol. Nicholas refused in these
circumstances to answer the new proposal, and in the beginning
of February the Russian Ministers were withdrawn from Paris
and London, and the British and French Ministers from St. Peters-
burg. War, however, did not immediately break out, and Austria
offered to join France and Great Britain in urging the evacuation of
the Principalities by a fixed date. But the passions of the nations
were already beyond control. British indignation at the so-called
massacre of Sinope was so insistent that the popular demand for
war could not be denied. Without waiting for a formal arrange-
ment with Austria, the Western Powers addressed an ultimatum
to Russia, and, on the Tsar declining to notice it, declared war.

378
CHAPTER XIII
ALMA, BALAKLAYA AND INKERMAN

ONE of the most painful things in the outbreak of a war is the
madness which seizes upon the populace and makes war inevitable,
even before statesmen have determined that it is necessary.
This was not absent in the case of the war with Russia. Ignorant
of the real matters in dispute, careless of the object to be gained,
negligent of the means by which it was to be obtained, the people,
the Parliament, the Press of the United Kingdom, all demanded
war. There was an outbreak of popular indignation against Prince
Albert, because of his supposed leanings towards peace, arising
perhaps from some reminiscences of his previous misunderstanding
with Palmerston, who was known to be favourable to war. A
great fleet, such as Great Britain had hardly ever seen before,
was assembled at Portsmouth. The command was given to Sir
Charles Napier, of whom Aberdeen wrote that he mingled boldness
with discretion, and that, if he had the faults of his family, he was
not without their virtues ; courage, generosity, and love of country
were not wanting to him. On March 7th, Sir Charles was enter-
tained at dinner by the Reform Club, where speeches were made
by Lord Palmerston and Sir James Graham of a flippant and
unbecoming character. After all, the great admiral did nothing ;
the Russian fleet was not captured or destroyed. Cronstadt was
not even attacked, and Napier’s inactivity passed into a proverb
and reproach.

In April, 1854, about 20,000 British troops, under the com-
mand of Lord Raglan—who, as Lord Fitzroy Somerset, had been
the intimate friend of Wellington, and had lost an arm at
Waterloo—together with a French army of twice that strength,
under the command of Marshal St. Arnaud, landed at Gallipoli,
in the Dardanelles. They then removed to Varna, where a council
of war was held to decide upon further operations. Fuad Pasha
recommended a landing in Asia, with the purpose of driving the
Russians from the Caucasus, a proposition which met with favour
from the British. But St. Arnaud was in favour of an attack
upon Sebastopol, and Lord Raglan agreed with him, as the best
means of concentrating the naval power of Russia in the Black

379
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Sea. Omar Pasha was defending the line of the Danube, and
1,500 men of the allied armies had already perished in the
pestilential swamps of the Dobrudscha. The Turks on the
Danube were able to manage for themselves. The Russians
under Paskevich attacked Silistria, but the garrison resisted, and
on June 22nd the siege was raised. Indeed, the Russians were
compelled to evacuate the Principalities. Now was the time for
making peace, as the one object of the war had been realised.
But when war has once begun the belligerents will not be satisfied
without a substantial victory. Great Britain could not bear the
thought of peace without the attainment of a national triumph.

Certainly the Sultan, on whose behalf these great sacrifices
were being made, did not impress those who saw him for the first
time as worthy of the outlay in money and, it might be, in life.
The Duke of Cambridge, who was in command of the Guards,
wrote from Constantinople in May that he was not struck either
with the appearance or the ability of the Sultan, ‘a wretched
creature, prematurely aged, having nothing to say for himself.”
The Duke found his Ministry, and the whole population of the
country, a most wretched and miserable set of people, far, far worse
than anything he could have imagined or supposed. ‘In fact,
‘the sick man’ is very sick indeed, and the sooner diplomacy
disposes of him the better, for no earthly power can save him;
that is very evident.” The Duke was also of opinion that the
sooner the Turks were turned out of Europe the better, and he
added that he did not think that anyone was aware of the real
state of affairs in Turkey. However, the question in people’s
minds was now not so much the regeneration of Turkey as the
honour of the British arms and the abasement of Russia.

Under’ these feelings an expedition against Sebastopol, the
great arsenal of the Russians in the Black Sea, was decided on.
The naval strength of Russia might be destroyed for years if
Sebastopol were taken and the fleet sunk. On June 15th, 1854,
The Times voiced the popular opinion by saying that the political
and military objects of the war could not be obtained so long as
Sebastopol and the Russian fleet were in existence, and on June
gand it insisted that a successful enterprise against this place was
the essential condition of permanent peace. On June 28th the
Cabinet assembled at Lord John Russell’s house at Richmond,
and, after a very long discussion, sent instructions to Lord Raglan,
in which the necessity of a prompt attack upon Sebastopol and
the Russian fleet was strongly urged. The final decision was
left to the discretion of the French and British commanders, after

380
ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES

they should have communicated with Omar Pasha. They were,
indeed, both of them opposed to it, but Lord Raglan was of opinion
that the terms of the dispatch left him no choice in the matter.
Thus the war entered upon an entirely new and unnecessary phase.
If peaceful councils had prevailed the failure of the Tsar’s attack
upon Turkey might have led to a satisfactory arrangement.
Gladstone and those members of the Cabinet who agreed with him
should have pressed their opposition to the point of resignation.

The allied forces landed on September r4th, 1854, a short
distance from Eupatoria, on the west coast of the Crimean peninsula.
This point had been chosen because there was sufficient space
for the two armies to stand together, and the operations would
be protected by the fire of the ships. It was four days before the
whole of the forces were disembarked and in a condition to advance.
The British numbered about 21,000 infantry, 60 guns, and the Light
Brigade of cavalry, about 1,000 strong. The French had 28,000
infantry and the Turks 7,000, with 68 guns, but no cavalry. The
advance began on September roth, the French being on the right,
next to the sea. The army moved straight towards Sebastopol,
which was about twenty-five miles distant. The post road to
Eupatoria ran through their positions, but the ground was such
that the army could march anywhere, and roads were not needed.
In the rear were the cattle, sheep, carriages and pack horses, and
behind all came the cavalry, to keep the throng in motion.

The enemy were first seen at the River Bulganak, which was
reached early in the afternoon. After a few shots had been inter-
changed, the army bivouacked by the river and were unmolested
during the night. Next morning, the march was continued towards
a succession of grey ridges, and about noon, from the top of
a ridge, the army looked down upon the valley of the Alma,
a name destined to be great in history. The Russians were
posted on the opposite side, with an army of 33,000 infantry,
3,400 cavalry, and 120 guns, all commanded by Prince Menshikov.
On coming in sight of the enemy, the Allies halted, while the
commanders arranged the order of the attack, which was
delivered on September zoth. Military critics are of opinion that
on neither side was any great tactical skill exhibited. It would
have been better if the British had neglected the difficult ground
near the sea, moved their forces beyond the post road and
enveloped the Russian right with their superior numbers. On the
other hand, the Russians might have massed their forces upon
the road to Simpheropol, concentrating for an attack upon the
British left. Neither of these courses was taken.

381
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The allied columns advanced towards the stream, and the
Russians retired, first setting fire to the village of Burliuk, but the
ground was not of such a nature as to allow the Allies to deploy
with advantage, and the efficiency of the troops was spoilt by
crowding. The stream was in some places shallow, with occasional
deep parts, in which the soldiers stood up to their necks in water.
As they climbed the slopes on the other side, they suffered much
from the fire of the Russian batteries, especially from a heavy
battery which plunged its shot into Codrington’s division and
checked his advance. The Grenadier and the Coldstream Guards
continued to advance steadily, in lines still unbroken, except
where they were struck by the enemies’ shot, their advance
producing a great effect on the French. The Highlanders also
climbed the hill to the left of the Guards and the whole of the
British army began to close upon the enemy. The steady pressure
of the Guards and the Highlanders finally decided the battle, and
the Russian forces began to retreat all over the ground. In the
meantime, Canrobert’s division of the French army had occupied
the Telegraph Hill, and the allied forces, which had been separated
in the engagement, were now connected again. Lord Raglan
was anxious to pursue the enemy in their retreat, but St.
Arnaud would not allow his men to march without their
knapsacks, which they had left behind. In the battle the
British lost 2,000 men, killed and wounded, the French probably
a much smaller number. The Russian losses amounted to nearly
6,000.

Tf the Allies had advanced at once, they might have entered
Sebastopol unopposed, but they remained two days on the battle-
field, burying the dead and tending the wounded. On the third
day the march was resumed, and on September 24th the army
crossed the Belbek. They had now reached a point. from which
the town and fortifications of Sebastopol could be seen at no great
distance, and the question arose whether the city should be attacked
at once from the north side. The delay at the Alma enabled Prince
Menshikov to carry out two momentous decisions. He blockaded
the harbour by sinking the Russian fleet at its entrance, and leaving
the town and fortress to be protected by the crews of the smaller
ships. He withdrew his own army to a position towards the
north-east, in order to watch the movements of the Allies, and at
the same time secure his communication with Russia. St. Arnaud
came to the conclusion that it was impossible to attack Sebastopol
on the north side with any prospect of success. It could not be
accomplished by the army alone, and it was now impossible to

382
DELAYS BEFORE SEBASTOPOL

employ the fleet. It was, therefore, determined to march around
Sebastopol and attack it from the south.

The march began at noon on September 25th, the army passing
Mackenzie’s farm and the Traktir bridge, where the road to Bala-
klava crosses the Tchernaia. The next day from a high ground
was seen the harbour of Balaklava, a deep port, lying between
opposing cliffs, crowned with walls and towers. An English
steamer soon made her appearance in the harbour, showing that
it had been captured, and communication with the fleet was
established. Only four shots had been fired by the garrison,
the commandant, being asked why he had fired at all, said that
he thought that he was bound to do so, until he was summoned
to surrender. No one was wounded on either side. The French
crossed the Tchernaia on the same day. It was soon seen that
Balaklava was of very little value and was not what the map
represented it to be. As the British were in possession of it, the
French gave up their position on the right, which was taken by
the British, together with the harbour, an arrangement which
proved a fruitful cause of disaster. The armies now took up the
positions which they were to occupy till the end of the war. Above
them was the broad plain of the Tauric Chersonesus, on which,
for nearly a year, their lives were to be passed, and on which many
were to die.

If the fortress had been assaulted on September 28th, it might
have been taken without loss. Sir George Cathcart declared that
he could walk into the place without the loss of a man, and the
Russians have expressed the same opinion. Indeed, the Cabinet
had reckoned upon this, and had made no preparations for a winter
campaign. Three-fourths of the troops arrived before the town
without their knapsacks, with no tents and no change of clothing.
The army brought with it the seeds of cholera, and, if it were not
intended to take Sebastopol by assault, it was a mistaken policy
to be in the Crimea at all. However, Canrobert, who, on the
death of St. Arnaud, had succeeded to the command of the French
army, thought it dangerous to advance, and his opinion was
shared by Sir John Burgoyne, who commanded the Engineers,
They decided that it was better to bombard the place before
storming it, and they were consequently compelled to wait till
October 17th, the earliest day they could put their siege-train
in position.

It happened that there were present among the Russians in
Sebastopol at this time two men of genius, Kornilov and Todleben.
Kornilov had been admiral of the sunken fleet. He was a man of

383
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

enthusiastic nature, with that unfaltering faith in his Sovereign,
his country, and his God which inspires so many persons in his
wonderful country. He was killed at the opening of the siege,
but the spirit which had animated him lived after him. Todleben
was an engineer of unlimited patience and resource, who knew
how to make earthworks, and was well aware of their value. The
delays of the Allies gave him the opportunity of turning Sebastopol
into an impregnable fortress. He used the twenty days required
to bring up the Allies’ siege-train in procuring the help of the
dockyard labourers and the resources of the arsenal to strengthen
his defences, and, when the bombardment began, the assailants
had before them an object of attack worthy of their supremest
efforts.

The fire opened at daybreak on October 17th, both from the
batteries and from the fleet, one of the fiercest bombardments
known to history. The Allies had imagined that the defences
of Sebastopol would fall before them like the walls of Jericho,
and they would walk in as conquerors. The result was entirely
different. The ships sustained some injury themselves, but effected
little loss on the enemy. The British succeeded in dominating
the Russian fire, but the French had no advantage, and the ex-
plosion of a magazine in their lines disheartened their troops and
silenced their batteries. The Russians repaired at night the effects
of the day’s attack, and Sebastopol was actually stronger after the
bombardment, which was intended to be fatal, than when the
Allies arrived before it.

At the end of October, the British army, including the sailors
landed from the fleet, numbered about 25,000 combatants, the
French were about 40,000. At the Battle of the Alma the Allies
had only about 40,000 men against them, but during the six
weeks which followed Menshikov was largely reinforced. The
concentration of the Allies at Sebastopol had left all the roads
from Russia open, and the surrender of the Principalities set free
a large number of men for service in the Crimea, so that, by the
end of October, the Russian army was not less than 130,000 men
strong, twice the number of the Allies. Menshikov was now able
to take the offensive, and he first struck at the port of Balaklava,
We must give some description of the ground.

The outer harbour of Sebastopol is about four miles long from
its entrance in the Black Sea to the point where the Tchernaia
flows into it. The water in it is extremely deep, even close to the
shore. It was defended, at its entrance, by two shore forts, bearing
the name of Constantine and Alexander, as well as the Quarantine

384
SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL

Fort outside and the Artillery Fort inside. There was also an inner
harbour, a mile and a half long, starting from the southern shore
of the great harbour, at about a mile from its entrance, defended
at its mouth by two forts named Nicholas and Paul.

Sebastopol stands on the western shore of this inner creek and
on the opposite side was the Karabelnaia suburb, which contained
the barracks for the garrison. There was also, on the same side,
a creek on which the dockyards were built, and about a mile from
the inner harbour, on the same side, ran the so-called Careenage
Bay, terminated by Careenage Creek. The allied armies were
posted on a plateau separated from the valley of the Tchernaia
by a wall of cliff, which, at its termination, formed the boundary
of the harbour of Balaklava. The plateau is channelled by many
chasms and ravines and is marked by elevations, which afterwards
became well known as the Malakov, the Redan, and other similar
names. The extreme point of the Chersonesus, in this direction,
bore the name of Cape Cherson, and just to the north of it lie the
two inlets of Kazatch and Kamiesch, which were used by the
French as their sea base, and were far superior to Balaklava, which
had been assigned to the British.

The two harbours were connected with the French positions
by a paved road. The depression which forms the inner harbour
is connected by a ravine, which for some time formed the line of
separation between the French and the British armies. There
was also an important feature called the Woronzov Road, which
connected the Woronzov estate at Yalta with Sebastopol, and
crossed the Valley of Balaklava. A branch of this road crossed
the Tchernaia and went along the heights, by Mackenzie’s farm
to Bakhtchiserai. By this road the Russians were able to approach
Balaklava without coming into the range of the allied batteries
placed upon the plateau.

Todleben, to strengthen the defence, built the Star Fort on
the south side of the harbour, and on the same side completed
the defences which had been traced years before. These consisted
of the Redan, the Little Redan, batteries at Careenage Bay, and
a semicircular tower called the Malakov, built of stone, 4 feet
thick, 28 feet high, and 50 feet across. By September 26th
Todleben had armed this place with 172 pieces of ordnance. On
October 2nd, before the siege began, all non-combatants were
sent out of the town, the works were strengthened every day,
and a ship of 84 guns was moored at the head of the harbour.

As we have indicated, the valley between Balaklava and the
Tchernaia is crossed by a line of low hills, along which lies the

N 385
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Woronzov Road. Four of these hills had been crowned with earth-
works of very slight description, armed with nine twelve-pounder
guns, and a high hill at the south-eastern corner had been fortified
and named Canrobert Hill after the new French commander.
On October 25th the Russians with a body of 22,000 infantry,
a large force of cavalry, and 78 guns, crossed the Tchernaia, and
began to bombard Canrobert Hill. The fire was returned by the
forts, and afterwards by the batteries of artillery, supported by the
Scots Greys. When it appeared that the attack was more formidable
than was anticipated, the British divisions and a French brigade
were sent to the scene of action, but, instead of descending into
the valley, they marched along the heights. They saw the Russians
storm Canrobert Hill, killing many of the Turks who occupied
the redoubt, and putting the rest to flight. There was a danger
of the Russians securing the shipping and stores at Balaklava,
which were only protected by the 93rd Regiment, under Sir Colin
Campbell, who, however, was equal to the trial.

Two brigades of British cavalry were at this time moving on
different sides of the ridge, the Light Brigade, numbering 600
on the side towards the Tchernaia, and the Heavy Brigade, number-
ing 900, on the side towards Balaklava. The Heavy Brigade was
commanded by General Scarlett. Scarlett did not know that he
was marching, with a comparatively small force, across the face
of a huge body of Russian cavalry. When he discovered this
fact, he wheeled his little force into position and prepared to
attack. The Russians, instead of charging, received the onslaught
at the halt, and the British cut their way through the column.
In eight minutes, the unwieldy column was broken and retreated
to the eastern end of the valley. The glory of this magnificent
exploit has been shared by the brilliant, but inexcusable, charge
of the Light Brigade, which followed on the same date (October
25th).

The Russian artillery still occupied the heights on the north,
the Russian troops still held the guns which they had captured
from the Turks, and a Russian army still held the eastern end of
the valley. But the valley itself was clear of the enemy. Lord
Raglan wished to recover the redoubts, on the south of the valley,
which had been captured from the Turks, as their possession
seemed necessary for the security of his base at Balaklava. He
therefore ordered Cathcart to recapture them; but, the infantry
moving slowly, decided to employ cavalry for the purpose. He
gave the order, “ Cavalry to advance and take advantage of any
opportunity to recover the heights. They will be supported by

386
“SOMEONE HAD BLUNDERED ”

the infantry, which have been ordered to advance on two fronts.”
On receiving this order, Lord Lucan moved the Heavy Brigade
to the other side of the ridge, to await the promised support of
the infantry. When it was seen that the Russians were attempt-
ing to carry off the guns they had captured, a second order was
sent to Lord Lucan, in the following words: ‘‘ Lord Raglan wishes
the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, and try to prevent
the enemy carrying away the guns. Troops of artillery may
accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate.” The
order was carried by Captain Nolan, who found Lord Lucan
between his two brigades, divided by the Woronzov Road.

Lord Raglan had intended the charge to be made against the
defeated Russian cavalry, who had retreated down the valley
towards the Tchernaia; but Lord Lucan, strengthened in his
opinion by some blunder of Nolan’s, understood the order to refer
to a large body of Russians posted right in front, strongly
supported on either side by artillery. Although both Lord
Cardigan and Lord Lucan knew the charge to be desperate, they
did not hesitate, and the order was given for the Brigade to
advance. They moved at a steady trot, and in a minute came
within the range of the cannon. After five minutes they found
themselves exposed to the fire of twelve guns in front, and the
pace was increased, but when they reached the battery more than
half the Brigade had been killed or wounded, and the rest were
now lost to view in the smoke of the guns. The Heavy Brigade
moved in support, but had to retire with severe loss, and a brilliant
diversion was effected by a regiment of Chasseurs d’Afrique, sent
by the French General Morris, whose well-directed charge saved
many British lives. Behind the smoke of the guns the Light
Cavalry drove the gunners off and charged parties of Russian
cavalry, who retreated; but they soon had to retreat them-
selves, and rode back, singly, or in twos or threes, some wounded,
some supporting wounded comrades. But when the Russian
cavalry drew up across the valley to cut off the retreat of the
British, the 8th Hussars and some of the 17th Lancers scattered
them to right and left.

The Brigade had lost 247 men killed and wounded. The
Russians were left in undisturbed possession of the three hills
which they had captured, with their seven guns. The charge of
the Light Brigade will be remembered for ever; that of the
Heavy Brigade is well-nigh forgotten; but, while Scarlett led his
men to a gallant and successful feat of arms, Cardigan’s squadrons
were the victims of an unhappy blunder. The French character-

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ised the operation in their well-known phrase, “ C’est magnifique,
mais ce nest pas la guerre.”

The plateau above Sebastopol, upon which the allied forces
were encamped, was accessible to the Russians at many points,
but especially by the Careenage Ravine, which was a continua-
tion of the Careenage Harbour. At noon on October 25th, the
day of the Battle of Balaklava, a Russian force of six battalions
and four light field guns, came out of the town and ascended the
ravine and the slope which led to the camp of the Second Division.
They threw a heavy fire on Mount Inkerman, but were easily
repelled by De Lacy Evans, who was in command of the British
troops opposed to them, and who gradually withdrew his pickets
and dispersed the enemy with artillery. It is probable that the
object of the Russians was to establish a redoubt on Shell Hill, in
order to cover a more serious attack to be made at a future time.
In order to prevent them, the British built a battery upon an
advanced ridge, armed it with two eighteen pounders, and called it
the “ Sand-bag Battery.” When it had done its work of clear-
ing the Russians its guns were removed, but the post became
important in future operations.

On November 4th it was known on both sides that a crisis was
impending. The allied infantry before Sebastopol now consisted
of 31,000 French, 16,000 British, and 11,000 Turks. The French
slege corps was endeavouring to retrieve its disaster of October
17th. The British were strengthening their batteries and replenish-
ing their magazines, and their daily loss of men was not so large
as that of the Russians. A meeting of the allied commanders
had been summoned for November 5th, to concert measures for
delivering the final assault. The total of Menshikov’s forces in
and around Sebastopol was not less than 100,000 men, without
counting the seamen, so that about I15,000 men were opposed
to 50,000.

In the early dawn of Sunday, November 5th, the bells of the
churches were celebrating the arrival at Sebastopol of the young
Grand Dukes, Michael and Nicholas. Menshikov chose that day
for a great battle, and it was his purpose to drive the Allies from
the Crimea by an attack all along the line. He felt himself strong
enough to threaten at all points, and to strike at many; but his
main plan was aimed at a rocky eminence on the right flank of
the British army. Simonov was to move up the Careenage Ravine
with 19,000 infantry and 38 guns; Paulov was to advance along
the Woronzov Road, round the bridge of the Tchernaia, with 16,000
infantry and 96 guns; whilst Gortshakov was to support the grand

388
THE ATTACK AT INKERMAN

attack with a division, and the garrison of Sebastopol was to
cover the right flank of the attacking force with its artillery
fire. When the two bodies of Simonov and Paulov had
effected their juncture they were to be commanded by General
Dannenberg.

The ground which was the object of the main attack was
occupied by about 3,100 men of the Second Division, and three-
quarters of a mile behind them was the Brigade of Guards, number-
ing 1,330 men. Two miles in the rear of the Second Division were
the nearest troops of Bosquet’s Army Corps. Simonov left
Sebastopol in the middle of the night, and, passing to the
Careenage Ravine, began to form the order of battle at about
6am. He did not wait for Paulov, but began the attack at once.
He placed twenty-two heavy guns on Shell Hill and opened fire
and attacked with his columns at about 7 a.m. The pickets of
the Second Division, commanded by General Pennefather, in the
absence, through illness, of De Lacy Evans, were driven back;
but the main body was moved forward to support them, the crest
being held by twelve nine-pounder guns. The morning was foggy
and the ground muddy, but the mist was sufficient to conceal
from the Russians that the troops attacked had no immediate
support.

Simonov assaulted the British left, our troops, fortunately,
being in ignorance of the enormous numbers opposed to them.
By extraordinary acts of personal prowess and daring seven out
of the fourteen battalions were repulsed, and Simonov himself
was killed. Paulov, advancing up the Quarry Ravine from the
Tchernaia, was not more successful. The 41st Regiment, number-
ing 525, drove five battalions of Russiang, numbering 4,000, down
the hills. When General Dannenberg arrived a new action, began.
He brought with him about 19,000 infantry and go guns, and
attacked the centre and right of the British position. But by
this time the British had received reinforcements. Cathcart had
come with 400 men of the Fourth Division, but his troops suffered
heavily, and he was himself shot dead. Indeed, the British right
was in considerable danger, until a French regiment came to its
assistance.

Finally, the Russians made a third attack with 6,000 men,
the Allies being able to meet them with 5,000, the Russian artillery
still having the predominance. Issuing from the Quarry Ravine,
they attacked the British centre and left, and met with con-
siderable success. They penetrated as far as the Careenage
Ravine and spiked some British guns. The attack was finally

389
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

repulsed by the combined efforts of the French and British, and
it was all over by eleven o’clock.

The Battle of Inkerman was without decisive results to either
side. The British had not the numbers, nor the French the desire
to turn the defeat into a rout. The early gloom of a November
evening descended upon the battle-field. The Russian losses were
said to be 12,000 killed and wounded. The British lost 597
killed and 1,760 wounded; the French, 143 killed and 786
wounded. This shows that the Allies had acted mainly on the
defensive, and had spent their efforts in driving back the Russians.
The heavy Russian losses were mainly due to the fact that they
persisted in attacking by columns, whereas, if they had thrown
out skirmishers, they would have been more successful. The
British losses, also, would have been less severe if they had trusted
more to their artillery. The battle, however, had a great moral
effect, and the Russians lost all hope of driving the Allies from
the plateau they occupied. At the same time, the losses of the
Russians had been more than double those of the Allies, the
conditions of the campaign were altered, and any idea of an
immediate assault on the part of the Russians was given up.

It became evident that the Allies would have to remain in
the Crimea during the winter. But no preparations had been
made for this contingency. It had been difficult enough to provide
the army with the arms and ammunition necessary for the bom-
bardment, and nothing had been done to furnish the soldiers
with what was absolutely necessary for their health. Even those
who were wounded in battle or struck down with cholera had
neither adequate shelter nor the necessary medical comforts.
Matters were made worse by a terrible storm on November 14th.
Up to this time the tents had stood in dry and level spaces of
turf, and it had been possible to supply the rations for men and
horses with tolerable regularity. But the storm changed all this,
It tore down whole camps and scattered them on the plain, so
that there was no refuge for the men when they returned from
the trenches. The sick and wounded were without protection,
quantities of food and forage were spoilt, and communications
with Balaklava were interrupted. Twenty-one vessels in or near
the harbour were dashed to pieces, among them the Prince, a
magnificent steamer, containing stores of every kind which the
Government could think of for the comfort of the troops, besides
twenty days’ hay for the horses. The French lost their most
beautiful vessel, the Henrvz IV., and the storm affected the Russians
as well as the Allies,

390
THE HORRORS OF SEBASTOPOL

After the storm came the snow. The sick and wounded had
to lie in mud, and the trenches were often deep in water. The
soldiers were afraid to pull off their boots, lest they should not
be able to draw them on again. The difficulty of cooking induced
the men to devour their rations raw, and this largely increased
the number of the sick. There was, it is true, a sufficiency of
salt meat, biscuits, and rum, but there was little variety, and
means of preparing it were lacking. There was stored at Balak-
lava plenty of flour, rice, fuel, vegetables, tea, but there was no
Army Service Corps to convey these supplies to the front. The
sufferings of the animals were frightful; they died all round the
camp and on the road to Balaklava, and lay unburied where they
died. The labour of toiling through the muddy roads to Balaklava
to fetch their own forage killed many horses on each journey.
The result was that by the end of November the British had nearly
8,000 men in hospital. The great hospital was at Scutari, close
to Constantinople, and the journey thither proved the death of
many. The hospital itself was said to be “ crammed with misery,
overflowing with despair.’

It is true that every effort was made both at home and on
the spot to remedy these disasters, and on January 13th, 1855,
Lord Raglan was able to write, “I believe I may assert that
every man in the army has received a second blanket, a jersey
frock, flannel drawers and socks, and some kind of winter coat
in addition to his ordinary great coat,” but still the number of
the sick mounted up till it reached 14,000. The French were
better off, because their harbours were more convenient: their
transport was well organised, and the sea was at a shorter distance.
On the other hand, their tents were a very inadequate protection
against the weather, and their rations were barely sufficient to
keep them in health. They lost many men from sickness,
especially frostbite. Still, they received reinforcements, so that
in January they had 78,000 men on the plateau, whereas the
British had only 11,000 men fit to bear arms. Lord Raglan
admitted that the numbers of the French were at least four times
those of his own troops. Canrobert, therefore, relieved the British
from the duty of guarding part of their ground, and this set free
1,500 men.

As we have said, strenuous efforts were made to relieve these
sufferings. A Crimean Army Fund was established in England,
by means of which not only necessaries, but luxuries, were poured
into the camps. Sidney Herbert, also, the Secretary for War,
succeeded in introducing a better system of management into

391
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the hospitals at Constantinople. Florence Nightingale, whose
name must ever be held in reverence by English-speaking people,
arrived at Scutari on November 4th, 1854, accompanied by
eighteen Protestant sisters and nurses and twenty trained nurses,
She organised the management of the hospital on a new plan,
which became the pattern of modern scientific nursing. Improve-
ments, however, were slow to take effect, and in the four winter
months nearly nine thousand soldiers died in the hospitals.

Such was the result of the war which had been entered into
with such lightheartedness and begun with so much enthusiasm.
The then rising generation had had no experience of war in Europe.
For the first time in the history of war newspaper correspondents
at the front were writing home vivid accounts and impressions of
what they saw with their own eyes. The public felt that they
themselves had largely been the cause of these misfortunes, but
scrupled not to call for the punishment of the men whom they
had driven into a course of action of which their better judgment
disapproved. When Parliament met on January 23rd, 1855,
Mr. Roebuck gave notice that he would move for a Committee
of Inquiry. Lord John Russell immediately resigned, on the
ground that he had strongly urged the reorganisation of the War
Office in the previous autumn, and he felt he could not defend in
public arrangements he had condemned in private. His retire-
ment made the defence of the Ministry impossible. After two
nights’ debate it was defeated by the large majority of 305 to
148, and Lord Aberdeen resigned the Premiership.

Thus ended the career of a man who deserved a better fate.
He had been an excellent Foreign Minister under Peel, but was
unfit for the position of a leader on strong lines. He could not
command his own Cabinet, nor restrain the efforts of Lord
Stratford de Redcliffe, aided by Lord Palmerston, to plunge the
country into a war, which he knew to be indefensible. When he
resigned, public opinion pointed to Lord Palmerston as _ his
successor, and after a vain attempt to secure the services of
Lord Derby, Lord Lansdowne, and Lord John Russell, the Queen
was obliged to send for the Minister whom, above all others, she
and the Prince Consort especially disliked.

392
CHAPTER XIV
THE CRIMEAN WAR: THE CONDITIONS OF PEACE

THE history of the Crimean War during the year 1855 can now
be written with more fullness and accuracy, in consequence of the
publication of the letters of Queen Victoria. In the autumn of
1854 the Tsar was desirous of peace, and at the beginning of 1855
agreed to accept the Four Points originally put forward by the
four Powers, together with the interpretation now put upon
them. The Four Points were: the cessation of the Russian
protectorate over Moldavia, Wallachia and Servia; the privileges
granted by the Sultan to the Principalities to be effectually
guaranteed by the Powers; the free navigation of the Danube
and the termination of the preponderance of the Russian power in
the Black Sea; and abandonment by Russia of her claim to
protect any subjects of the Porte. The Queen, however, thought
it most important that Sebastopol should first be taken. Before
Parliament met she showed her confidence in Lord Aberdeen
by forcing upon him the Order of the Garter, which he was
extremely reluctant to receive.

Lord John Russell, as has been seen, left the Ministry at the
first intimation of Mr. Roebuck’s Commission of Inquiry. The
Queen was surprised and disgusted at this conduct, and expressed
these feelings to him in a strong and abrupt letter. Aberdeen
was shocked at being deserted without notice or warning, so that
the only object could be to upset the Government. Palmerston
was equally scandalised at Russell’s- conduct, and wrote him a
scolding letter; but the Cabinet felt that without Lord John
they could not go on and determined to resign. The Queen
protested against this as exposing her and the country to the
greatest peril, since it was impossible to change the Government
at the moment without altering the whole policy of the nation in
diplomacy and war. Yielding to the Queen’s wishes, the Ministry
resolved to meet Mr. Roebuck’s motion, though with little hope
of success. Lord Palmerston became leader of the House of
Commons, and at 2 a.m. on January 30th announced to the Queen
that Mr. Roebuck’s motion had been carried with a majority of
157, a large number of Liberals voting in the majority. The

N* 393
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Tories, however, refused to regard the division as a party triumph.
At 3 o’clock in the afternoon Aberdeen came down to Windsor
and tendered the unanimous resignation of the Cabinet.

It seemed almost as if the Premiership might go a-begging.
The Queen tried first one statesman, then another, but for two
or three days to no purpose, reluctance to serve with Lord John
Russell being at the root of the difficulty. Finally, and in despair,
she was at length obliged to solicit the co-operation of Lord
Palmerston, who handsomely undertook to come to his Sovereign’s
rescue. But the Queen’s troubles were not yet ended. Roebuck
determined to proceed with the appointment of a Committee of
Inquiry, and the Government did not oppose it. Mr. Gladstone
and his friends, Sidney Herbert and the Duke of Argyll (who had
consented to join Palmerston on the assurance that his policy
would not be bellicose), were of opinion that this action was most
unconstitutional, a most presumptuous and most dangerous course,
after which it would be impossible for the Executive ever to oppose
again the most absurd and preposterous demands for inquiry.
Therefore, on February 21st, they retired from the Cabinet. The
Queen wrote to her uncle, ‘‘ We have lost our three best men—
certainly from the best and purest of motives, but the result is
unfortunate. Altogether affairs are very unsettled and unsatis-
factory. The good people here are a little alarmed, but I feel
sure that it will right itself. Lord John’s return to office under
Lord Palmerston is most extraordinary.” Another cause of
anxiety was the determination of the Emperor of the French to
go to the Crimea, a course to which the Queen, Prince Albert,
Lord Palmerston, and the Emperor’s own advisers were strongly
opposed. Eventually it was averted, but it had been determined
that if he did go Lord Cowley was to accompany him.

On March and, 1855, a dispatch was received at Windsor
from The Hague, saying that the Emperor Nicholas had died that
morning at I a.m. of pulmonic apoplexy after an attack of
influenza. He really died of a broken heart, the final blow being
given by the defeat of the Russians by the Turks at Eupatoria.
In this place Omar Pasha had collected about 30,000 men, and
the Russians, feeling that both Perekop and Simpheropol were
threatened, ordered Wrangel to drive them out. The Russians
were entirely defeated and driven back with great loss. There-
upon Menshikov resigned the command, and Gortshakov took
his place. The Emperor felt the blow keenly, although in his
letters he did everything he could to spare the feelings of the
defeated generals. On February 27th he caught a chill at a review

394
SORTIE FROM SEBASTOPOL

of the Imperial Guard, and died three days afterwards. He was
succeeded by his son Alexander II. The news of the Tsar’s death
reached Sebastopol on March 6th, and was communicated by
Canrobert to General Osten Sacken. Both sides hoped that it
might hasten the conclusion of peace, but meanwhile the operations
went on.

The allied generals were of opinion that the fall of Sebastopol
could only be brought about by the capture of the Karabelnaian
suburb, and that this could only be effected by their becoming
masters of the Malakov Tower, for which purpose the occupation
of the Green Hill was necessary. Todleben, however, succeeded
in establishing a lunette on the Green Hill, and by a system of
earthworks, partly under ground and partly over, greatly impeded
the siege. Between March 13th and March 31st there were four
skirmishes between the Russians and the French. On April 19th
Rear-Admiral Istovich was killed on the Green Hill and buried
in the cathedral near to Komilov. On the night of March 22nd
a sortie was made by Kulov, but without success. Eight
Russian officers and nearly 400 men were slain and more than
1,000 wounded; the French lost 600 killed and wounded; and
the British fewer. This sortie was the most murderous of the
whole siege, and an armistice was arranged for the burial of the
dead and the care of the wounded. At the same time the besieg-
ing forces were increased by Turkish troops, which Omar Pasha
brought from Eupatoria.

A great bombardment was arranged for April goth. The
previous day was Easter Sunday, the most important festival of
the Russian year, and the troops decorated their new fortifica-
tions with sacred pictures, and the clergy offered prayers for the
success of the Russian arms. Women and children ventured into
the trenches to give the Easter kiss to their husbands and fathers.
There was laughing and singing in the cheerful throng, which
was unconscious of the fate which awaited them next day.
During the night the weather, till then fine, changed to
torrential rain. At 5 o'clock in the morning 520 cannons of the
Allies opened fire and were answered by nearly 1,000 on the
Russian side. In estimating the difficulties of the besiegers, we
must remember that all artillery and ammunition had to be
brought from the coast, that the batteries were 30 feet thick,
and that the earth of which they were made had to be brought
from a distance. By midday the fire of the besiegers was seen
to be superior to that of the Russians, Breaches were made in
the wall which united the Quarantine and the Central Bastion,

395
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and several Russian forts were destroyed, notably those on the
Green Hill. The Russians had lost 536 men, but the Allies deter-
mined not to storm the place, but to continue bombardment for
ten days longer.

Todleben afterwards admitted that the Allies might easily
have become masters of the Flagstaff Bastion, and that this would
have carried with it the fall of Sebastopol. But they could not
make up their minds. Niel, the new French general, believed
that the Russians had in their trenches a number of concealed
cannon, and said that an attack on Sebastopol would be rather in
the nature of a battle than a storm, and that in a battle the
ground must be favourable for the command of troops. Neither
Canrobert nor Raglan could successfully oppose these views, and
it is Todleben’s opinion that this hesitation was increased by the
fear of Russian mines. The ten days’ bombardment, which had
taken six months to prepare, and in which 254,000 projectiles
were fired at a loss of the lives of 6,000 Russians, 1,584 French,
and 205 British soldiers, must be pronounced an entire failure.
The third day cost the life of General Buzot, who had laid the
mine before the Flagstaff Battery, which held about 50,000 pounds
of gunpowder. The explosion of this mine, on the evening of
April 15th, was like a funeral salute to the general who had been
the maker of it.

The condition of the Russian wounded during the ten days
was incredible. In the ball-room of the Nobles Club sixty
Sisters of the Cross tended the wounded. The floor was several
inches deep in blood. In the next room the blood streamed down
from the operating tables, and heaps of amputated limbs were
thrown into casks. One of the most skilful operators was a sailor,
Paskevich, who was specially expert in tying up arteries. The
atmosphere of the room was a repulsive mixture of the odours of
blood and chloroform and sulphur. When seen at night the scene
can only be likened to the lower regions of Dante’s Malebolge.

It now became important that Austria should make up her
mind to take decided action, that is, to force Russia to accept
the Four Points under threat of declaring war. For this purpose
representatives of the Powers interested were sent to Vienna—
Lord John Russell from England, Emir Ali Pasha from Turkey,
and Drouyn de l’Huys from France. The last-named, before
proceeding to Vienna, went to London to discuss with Clarendon,
Palmerston and Lansdowne the exact meaning of the Third Point,
to which Russia had the strongest objection. Was the Black Sea
to be entirely neutralised, that is, closed to the warships of all

396
AUSTRIA AND THE FOUR POINTS

nations, or only the numbers of the Russian fleet to be limited ?
The French Emperor was in favour of neutralisation, that is to
say, that neither Russia nor Turkey should have ships in the
Black Sea or Sea of Azov; that the harbours in these seas should
be regarded as places of commerce, in which consuls might be
established; that any concentration of troops which might
threaten the security of the neighbouring States should be illegal ;
and that, if these conditions were not observed, Great Britain,
France, and Austria should have the power of sending their fleets
into the Black Sea. If it were preferred to proceed in a different
manner, Russia and Turkey should be allowed to have only four
ships of the line and four frigates in the Black Sea and the Sea of
Azov, and a corresponding number of light, unarmed vessels for
the transport of troops. France, Great Britain and Austria
might have half these numbers, but Russia should not have the
right of entrance into the Mediterranean. In case of danger, and
at the command of the Porte, the whole fleets of the three Powers
might pass the Bosphorus, and these Powers should also have the
right of establishing consuls in the ports of the two seas.

From London Drouyn de l’Huys went to Vienna, where he
found Buol in favour of pressing the Four Points, but reluctant
to declare war if they were not accepted, and preferring limita-
tion to neutralisation. In his conversation with the Emperor,
Drouyn de l’Huys said that the settlement of the Eastern Question
was not so important as a good understanding between France
and Austria; but it is doubtful whether in saying this he was
expressing the real opinions of his Sovereign. Francis Joseph
received these advances with caution. He had not forgotten that
the Emperor of the French, when urging an Austrian alliance
upon Hiibner in Paris, had said, by way of threat, “I have con-
fidence in Austria, but I suppose you know I could kindle a war
in Austria as easily as I light this cigarette.” The Austrian
Emperor desired to treat Russia with as great tenderness as
possible.

In the Conference it was found that Gortshakov was in favour
of all limitations being removed and the straits being open to the
warships of all nations. This was opposed by Russell and Ali
Pasha. After Russell had left Vienna Gortshakov proposed that
the straits should be closed as a rule, but that they might
be opened to the fleets of all nations in case the Porte asked for
assistance. But these propositions were futile. Drouyn de l’Huys
had been ordered by the Emperor to consent either to neutralise
the Black Sea or to limit the Russian fleet, and he had no authority

397
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to accept any other proposals. As Austria and Russia were
opposed to both conditions, the Conference, so far as France was
concerned, came to an end, and the British representative had
already left.

Matters entered upon a new phase by the visit of the Emperor
and Empress of the French to England. The charm and beauty
of the young Empress delighted all hearts, her drive down
Piccadilly being a triumphal procession. They were received at
Windsor with great pomp and were lodged in the suite of apart-
ments which had been arranged for the Emperor Nicholas in
1844. The Queen was deeply impressed both by the Emperor
and the Empress. She wrote that “he is a very extraordinary
man, with great qualities, there can be no doubt. I might almost
say a mysterious man. He is evidently possessed of indomitable
courage, unflinching firmness of purpose, self-reliance, persever-
ance, and great secrecy. To this should be added a great reliance
on what he calls his star, and belief in omens and incidents as
connected with his future destiny, which is almost romantic, and
at the same time he is endowed with wonderful self-control, great
calmness, even gentleness, and with a power of fascination the
effect of which upon all those who become more intimately
acquainted with him is most sensibly felt.” She mentions that
he had written in 1847, ‘‘ Let us hope that the day may yet come
when I shall carry out the intentions of my uncle, by uniting the
policy and interests of England and France in an indissoluble
alliance. That hope cheers and energises me. It forbids me
repining at the altered fortunes of my family.’’ She wrote of
the Empress, ““I am sure you would be charmed with the
Empress; it is not such great beauty, but such great elegance,
sweetness, and nature. Her manners are charming; the profile
and figure beautiful and particularly distinguée.”

Advantage was taken of the Emperor’s presence at Windsor
to hold two councils of war in the Castle. On April 18th Prince
Albert stated that all present were opposed to the Emperor’s
going to the Crimea. Two days later another council was held,
at which the Queen was present, in which detailed arrangements
were made for the prosecution of the siege. The journey of the
Emperor was left uncertain, but all idea of peace was to be post-
poned until a decisive victory should be gained by the fall of
Sebastopol. On hearing of this Drouyn de lHuys resigned. He
could no longer follow the Emperor in his foreign policy. He
knew or suspected his ulterior designs with regard to Italy; these
designs were, indeed, partly revealed by the accession of Sardinia

398
AUSTRIA’S NEUTRALITY

to the alliance and the dispatch of an Italian contingent to the
seat of war. Drouyn de l’Huys knew that the foreign policy of
the Emperor was now at the parting of the ways. For himself,
he preferred that which represented the traditional policy of
France to that which arose from the private objects of the
Napoleonic dynasty.

In fact the Emperor was reminded of his engagements towards
Italy by an attempt upon his life made by an Italian, Pianori,
who fired two pistol-shots at him in the Champs Elysées, neither
of which took effect. Pianori was guillotined, and the Emperor,
feeling more acutely the uncertainty of his position, gave up the
journey to the Crimea. The place of Drouyn de I’Huys was taken
by Walewski, who had been ambassador in London. He was
a natural son of Napoleon I., whom he resembled in a striking
manner.

At the end of May Buol made a proposal that the number
of Russian troops in the Black Sea, now greatly reduced, should
not be increased, and that any addition to the Russian ships
should be followed by an addition to those of the Powers.
He offered to present this as an ultimatum to Russia, and to
declare war if it were rejected, but this proposal was declined
by the Powers. Buol then proposed a private arrangement
between Russia and Turkey, which Gortshakov accepted. A
further proposal of Buol’s, that the Russian fleet in the Black
Sea should not exceed its present diminished number, was taken
by Gortshakov ad referendum, as he knew that Great Britain
and France would never consent to it.

Russia, however, had gained her object in keeping Austria
neutral. When Gortshakov left Vienna Francis Joseph thanked
him for his conciliatory attitude, and the Russians believe that
he gave him an assurance that Austria would never take up a
hostile attitude towards his country. The conduct of Austria
in these matters had been wavering and uncertain, but it must
be remembered that her finances were in a very bad condition,
and that for her war meant bankruptcy. The heads of the
Austrian War Office were also opposed to war. France and
Great Britain were disgusted with her temporising policy, and
made known to her that in any peaceful arrangement which
they might eventually make with Russia they should not feel
bound to consider the interests of Austria.

In the council held at Windsor on April 2oth, it had been
determined that a body of 60,000 men would be required to hold
the trenches and the town after it was taken, and that the rest

399
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of the allied army should be used for defensive purposes as might
be necessary, so that the army should be divided into two sections,
one for the siege and the other for general operations. The
60,000 men of the besieging army should be composed of 30,000
French and 30,000 Turks, and be under the command of Can-
robert ; the army of operations should be made up of 25,000 British
and 15,000 Sardinian troops, to which should be added, if possible,
5,000 French and 10,000 Turks. This should be under the command
of Lord Raglan. A second army of operations should be composed
of the remaining 45,000 French already before Sebastopol and
25,000 more who were now at Constantinople in reserve. This
army of 70,000 French should be under the direct command of
the Emperor, or of some general whom he might appoint. Before
these arrangements were known, the assault was fixed for April
28th, but on the news that the steamers were under orders to
bring the reserve from Constantinople the plan of an assault
was given up.

On May 5th Niel took the place of Buzot in command of the
engineers, and on May 17th Pélissier succeeded Canrobert, who
had begun to have some difficulties with Lord Raglan, and now
resumed the command of his own division. -Pélissier had to choose
between two plans of operation, either to cut off the communications
between Sebastopol and Simpheropol or to proceed with the
destruction of the southern works of defence. The latter course
was chosen, partly because there were no trustworthy maps of
the region with which the first alternative was concerned, and
partly because operations in the interior might be deferred. At
the same time he determined to make an attack on Kertch, and
ordered Canrobert, supported by the Sardinians, to descend into
the plain of the Tchernaia.

There was a difference of opinion between Niel and Pélissier,
and Pélissier had the stronger will of the two. Niel was in favour
of enclosing the whole of Sebastopol, but Pélissier urged that to
take the Mackenzie Heights, which was necessary for this purpose,
would be as costly as a storm. At the same time the united forces
of the Allies amounted to 180,000 men, against the 100,000 which
Russia could oppose to them, which gave some support to the
views of Niel and the Emperor. Todleben now formed an entrenched
camp, which commanded the flank of the French approaches and
defended the Central and Quarantine Bastions, and Krilov threw
up earthworks on the heights of Quarantine Bay. These works
were attacked successfully by the French. The Russians suffered
very serious losses, and became convinced that this kind of defence

400
ATTACK ON THE MAMELON

was disastrous, and the iron ring which enclosed them grew
gradually tighter.

On May 25th Pélissier made a movement which improved
his position and secured himself from an attack in the rear. Some
important ground was wrested from the Russians. The Sardinians
secured for themselves an independent position, between the
French and British, and Omar Pasha pitched his camp close to
the redoubts which had been lost in the Battle of Balaklava. The
line of the Allies was thus extended and strengthened, and their
encampment was made more sanitary, with a good supply of forage
and water.

The bombardment began on June 6th. It was agreed that
the French should attack both the Careenage Bay redoubts and
the Green Hill, or Mamelon, while the British should occupy the
Quarries before the Great Redan. On June 7th, just before sunset,
the signal for the attack was given by Bosquet from the Lancaster
Battery and by Pélissier from the Victoria Redoubt. The French,
under Leconte and Failly, successfully stormed the two redoubts
opposed to them, and 4oo Russians, including twelve officers,
were taken prisoners. The storming of the Mamelon was more
difficult, but, after a severe struggle, it was eventually carried.
The British succeeded in taking the Quarries, and the conquered
batteries were used against the Russians. On June goth an
armistice was proclaimed for burying the dead. The French
loss was, in men 628 dead, 4,160 wounded, 379 missing, and in
officers 69 dead, 203 wounded, and 4 missing. The British had
lost altogether 693 men, and the loss of the Russians was estim-
ated at 6,000, although they only admitted a loss of 2,500 men.
Among the dead was General Tomosiev. The French had captured
seventy-three guns in the Mamelon, of which twenty-one were
of heavy calibre. .

This victory raised the spirit of the Allies. The generals
were in favour of a storm along the whole line, but Pélissier
insisted on limiting the attack to the Karabelnaia until the
Malakov Tower and the Redan were in his hands. Pélissier was
at this time much troubled by the interference of the Emperor,
who was very anxious for the conquest of Simpheropol, and
intimated to his master that unless he were trusted and allowed
to carry out his own views he must resign the command.

It was now settled in a council of war held on June 15th that
the fourth bombardment should begin on June 17th, and that
simultaneously on June 18th (Waterloo Day) the French were to
storm the Malakov Tower and the British the Redan. A demon-

401
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

stration should be made in the valley of the Tchernaia by the
Sardinians and Turks, supported by five divisions of the French.
This bombardment was so severe that by the evening all the
Russian batteries were silenced and the Russian hospitals over-
crowded with the wounded. The garrison of Sebastopol, con-
sisting of 43,000 soldiers and 10,000 sailors, performed wonders
of bravery and self-devotion.

But the attacks of June 18th failed. The French, by a mistake,
began their advance too soon, and were forced to retreat. The
Redan was stoutly defended, and the British were repulsed with
severe losses. The Russians were correspondingly jubilant, and
their thanksgivings for victory were heard in the allied camps.
The failure of this attack, from which so much had been expected,
cost the life of Lord Raglan. Five days later an officer of the
staff wrote: “I fear that it has affected Lord Raglan’s health ;
he looks far from well, and has aged very much latterly.” On
June 26th he was seized with cholera and died two days after-
wards. Next morning Pélissier stood for more than an hour by
the bed on which the corpse had been laid, crying like a child.
On July 3rd the coffin, on a gun-carriage drawn by eight artillery
horses, was taken to Kazatch, through a continuous line of British
and French soldiers, and placed on board the Caradoc, the ship
which had brought him from England. His place in the command
was taken by General Simpson. Just before this Todleben had
been wounded and had to leave the field of action, and on
June 12th the Russians lost their most valiant champion, Admiral
Paul Nakhimov.

On the other hand, the position of the Allies before Sebastopol
was far from favourable. Misunderstandings arose between the
British and French commanders in the field, and there were
grave doubts whether it would be possible to continue the siege
of Sebastopol through another winter. At the same time Omar
Pasha was anxious to leave the Crimea and to devote himself to
the defence of the Caucasus. However, the visit of the Queen and
the Prince to Paris, where they stood with the Emperor before
the grave of the great Napoleon in the Invalides, strengthened
the essential conditions of the alliance.

402
CHAPTER XV

THE CAPTURE OF SEBASTOPOL

In the middle of August, 1855, the parallel of the Allies was only
a short distance from the Malakov and the Little Redan, so that
the question arose in the Russian camp whether it were better
to continue a hopeless defence, or make an effort to drive the
besiegers from their position. Gortshakov was opposed to an
attack, and wrote in July to Dolgorouki, the Minister of War,
that it would be madness to assault an enemy so strongly posted
and fortified. It might be easy to gain a temporary success which
would sound well to the public ear, but it would mean a loss of
from 10,000 to 15,000 men, and necessitate the surrender of
Sebastopol. It was urged, on the other hand, that the daily
drain on the defenders of Sebastopol was very considerable, even
when there was no special attack, and that when reinforcements
arrived it would be better to employ them in the offensive against
the Allies than allow them to waste away uselessly. Gortshakov
gradually gave way, but determined to wait for the arrival of
sixty cohorts of militia from the Central Provinces. The question
was at last, by the Emperor’s command, submitted to a council
of war on July 30th, and the majority decided on an attack on
the Tchernaia. Todleben, who was lying wounded at Belbek,
was strongly opposed to this plan, and Gortshakov undertook it,
although convinced it would fail. He wrote to Dolgorouki:
“IT march against the enemy because if I do not do so Sebastopol
will shortly fall. The conditions of the attack are terrible. The
position of the enemy is particularly strong. I have only 43,000
infantry against 60,000. If disaster follow it is not my fault.
I have done my best, but, since my arrival in the Crimea, the task
has been too hard for me.”

The position of the Allies on the Tchernaia was very strong.
Balaklava lay to the south, Inkerman to the north, and the river
to the east. In the centre Herbillon commanded nearly 18,000
men with 48 cannon, three divisions were in reserve, besides a
strong cavalry division under Morris and the reserve of artillery.
On the right were the Sardinians, and there were, besides, 10,000
Turks and 3,000 British under Scarlett. Two bridges crossed

403
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Tchernaia, one the Traktir Bridge, over which passed the
road to Simpheropol, the other two miles distant, near the mouth
of the river.

Gortshakov’s force was divided into two army corps, the
first commanded by Read, and the second by Liprandi. There
were also an infantry reserve, a cavalry reserve, and an artillery
reserve. His whole army amounted to 60,000 or 70,000 men,
of which only 45,000 could, according to Todleben, be made
available for attack. The Russians left the Mackenzie Heights
on the evening of August 15th. The general plan was that Read
was to attack the French, and Liprandi the Sardinians, while
Gortshakov was to assist one or the other as occasion might
demand. A dense fog concealed the advance of the Russian
army. When Gortshakov arrived on the field he found that
nothing had been done, and sent to Read and Liprandi to ask
what they were waiting for; it was time to begin. Read said,
“ Begin what ?’”’ and on the question being repeated said, “ Good !
tell the Prince that I will begin the cannonade.’’ The Russians
attacking the Sardinians at first forced them to retire, but under
the orders of La Marmora they took up a strong defensive position.

Gortshakov was preparing to attack the Sardinians when
he heard firing on the right wing. This came from Read, who,
inspired by the retreat of the Sardinians, had attacked the French
and driven them from the bridge across the river. However,
reinforcements came up and the Russians were repulsed in their
turn. Indeed, the assault was so severe that Read and the chief
of his staff were killed. It was still early in the morning, and
the mist concealed the movements of the Russians. They gained
a temporary advantage in an attack on Division Failly, but did
not know how to make use of it. The battle raged principally
round the Traktir Bridge. When Pélissier was convinced that
the attack on the Tchernaia was not a feint, he brought up fresh
forces from the town. The Division Dulac came first, then the
Division Levaillant, and last the Guards.

La Marmora, when he had established himself safely in the
Sardinian entrenchments, directed the Brigade Mollard, under
his orders, to cover the right flank of the French. But the rout
of the igth Russian Division was already completed. The
Russian cavalry began to retire. The Sardinians continued the
pursuit, and Gortshakov rallied his forces beyond the range of
the fire of the Alles. His right wing was protected by cavalry
and his fresh forward movement was protected by artillery.
The Sixth Division blocked the valley of Shulin. But the

404
GREAT RUSSIAN LOSSES

Sardinians drove everything before them, and crossed the
Tchernaia. The battle was now virtually at an end, and at
three in the afternoon the Russians gave the order to retreat.
On August 18th and igth an armistice was proclaimed for
the burying of the dead. Among the Russian dead were three
generals and two colonels, and among the wounded eight
generals and sixteen colonels. Out of 2,250 prisoners 1,750
were wounded. The Allies only lost 196 dead. The military
conduct of Gortshakov was severely blamed. Paskevich said
of him: ‘“‘ Whe the Emperor sent his whole army, except the
Guards and the first corps, to the front he certainly must have
intended that this Commander-in-Chief would do something, but
neither the Emperor nor Russia could have foreseen that he would
lead the whole army like victims to the slaughter.” He also
complained that Gortshakov had left in Perekop 20,000 grenadiers
who had done nothing and eventually perished by disease. This
defeat took away from the Russians their last hope of retrieving
their misfortunes. Their losses during the war had been enormous
and were estimated from the official sources at 250,000. It is
said that in the six months from March to August 81,000 men
had been killed and wounded in and around Sebastopol.

Russia had suffered a severe defeat not only by land but by
sea. On May a2ist, under the command of Sir George Brown,
a British, Turkish and French division had been sent by sea to
the Sea of Azov, accompanied by 34 British ships under Lyons,
and 24 French ships under Bruat. On May 24th the troops
landed in the neighbourhood of Kertch, which was weakly garrisoned
by Wrangel. The Russians blew up the fortifications of Kertch
and Yenikale, destroyed their supplies as far as they could, and
allowed the allied fleet free entry into the Sea of Azov. Kertch
was somewhat disgracefully plundered, and a large quantity of
war materials and provisions was captured. The Allies found
large supplies of grain and eighty-three cannon, besides several
Russian ships, and thus deprived Sebastopol of its principal source
of supply.

On August 17th a bombardment of the works in the Kara-
belnaia suburb began; this cost the Russians a loss of from 600
to I,o0o men every day, and made it impossible for them to repair
their defences. The French, however, suffered a great loss in
the night of August 28th by the explosion of two magazines in
the so-called Brancion Redoubt, which lay on the extreme left of
their works. This destroyed an enormous amount of gunpowder
and shells, and caused great destruction.

405
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

However, the Allies were now so near the town that the final
storm could not be long delayed. Their principal objective was
the Malakov Tower, which completely commanded the Kara-
belnaia suburb, and from which the bridge across the harbour
could be easily destroyed. The French were now only about
thirty yards from the Malakov Tower and fifty from the Little
Redan. The British had harder work, because the ground before
them was more rocky, and they were at least 200 yards from the
Great Redan. On the other side the trenches were being brought
to within sixty or eighty yards of the Flagstaff Bastion and the
Central Bastion, which defended Sebastopol itself.

The storm was fixed for September 8th, but the preparatory
bombardment began on September 5th, with 635 guns on the
French side and 179 on the British. The Russians replied with
1,380 guns. Thirty flying-bridges, made especially strong so that
they could be used for the support of artillery, were constructed
to cross the ditches. Pélissier ordered the attack to be made
in three divisions. MacMahon and Wimpffen were to advance
against the Malakov Tower on the left, Dulac and Marolles
against the Little Redan on the right, Motterouge and Mellinet
against the curtain which joined the two walls. The whole force
consisted of 25,300 men arranged in sixty-one divisions.
On the Sebastopol side the Central Bastion was to be attacked
by Levaillant and d’Autemarre, and the Flagstaff Bastion by
the Sardinians and Cialdini, supported by a French reserve, the
general command of the whole being committed to General de
Salles. The British were to attack the Great Redan, with 10,726
men, Codrington being on the right, Markham on the left, and
Eyre and Colin Campbell in reserve.

At 11 a.m. Pélissier, accompanied by his staff, took up his
position in the Brancion Redoubt, Bosquet being opposite to the
Little Redan, Simpson close to the Great Redan, and de Salles
close to the Schwartz Redoubt, which lay midway between the
Central and the Flagstaff Bastions. At noon the pioneers of the
leading regiment, without their ladders, rushed over the ditches,
which were filled with ballast, and appeared on the Russian breast-
work. The rest of the columns followed, and in a short time, after
a brave defence, the outer Malakov works were in the hands ot
the French. At the same time the Grand Duke Michael’s regiment
was driven by Vinoy’s brigade out of the Gervais Battery on the
left. The attack on the Little Redan under St. Pol was at first
successful and the Russians were driven out, but they rallied and,
supported by strong reserves and assisted by the fire of the forti-

406
THE ATTACK ON THE GREAT REDAN

fications and the ships in the harbour, drove the French back into
their trenches with considerable loss. St. Pol was killed and so,
too, was Marolles, who went to his assistance.

It had been originally intended that the attack should be
supported by the allied fleet, but the weather was too stormy
to admit of this, whereas the Russian ships in the harbour, the
Chersonesus, the Vladimir, and the Odessa, were of great service
to their own side.

Bosquet now made a new attempt to become master of the
Little Redan, calling up the Guards to his assistance. He suc-
ceeded in occupying the works, but was again compelled to retreat
by the violence of the Russian fire. He then brought into action
two reserve batteries of field artillery, but these were silenced
by the Russians, and out of 150 gunners ninety-five fell. Bosquet
was himself wounded and Dulac took his place. The attack on
Sebastopol itself seemed at first to be successful, but Trochu was
compelled to retire, with the loss of g00 men out of 3,200 and 71
officers, being himself severely wounded. The Schwartz Battery,
which had been at first captured, was retaken by the Russians ;
a second attack under Levaillant was equally unsuccessful, and
a final storm under de Salles himself failed.

The assault of the British on the Great Redan was an entire
failure. Markham’s division advanced when they saw the French
tricolour floating from the Malakov works. But Russian rein-
forcements soon came up and Codrington’s reserve met with a
stubborn resistance. The work was taken and retaken twice,
but finally remained in the hands of the Russians, therefore the
only success of the day was the capture of the Malakov Tower.
Todleben tells us that on September 8th the Allies made twelve
separate strong attacks, of which this alone succeeded.

Even so the works connected with it had to be taken against
an obstinate resistance, the capture being mainly due to the Zouaves,
with whose manner of fighting the Russians were not familiar.
In the end only a small body of Russian soldiers and five officers
remained in the last vault of the fortress. The French were pre-
paring to smoke them out, but desisted from fear of exploding
the mines. When the brave little handful came forth, they
were greeted with cheers by their conquerors, The French were
already complete masters of the Malakov, when Gortshakov,
who had gone to Fort Nicholas, at the mouth of the harbour,
gave General Martinau the command of the Karabelnaia and
ordered him to recover the Malakov. The Russians fought with
distinguished bravery, and Martinau lost his right arm, but the

407
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

attempt was a complete failure. The losses on this day were
terrible. The French losses before the Karabelnaia were, officers
122 dead, 131 wounded, men 1,475 dead, 2,959 wounded, 369
missing. Before Sebastopol, 154 men and officers were killed,
1,418 wounded, and 546 missing. The British lost 365 dead and
1,886 wounded, the Sardinians four dead and 36 wounded, so
that the whole losses of the Allies on this single day were not
less than 10,000. According to Todleben the Russians lost two
generals, 34 officers dead, 7,750 common soldiers killed and
wounded, 37 officers and 1,838 men missing, of whom 600 were
taken prisoners in the works of the Malakov.

Pélissier was making preparations for a renewed attack when
he saw the Russians retreating over the great bridge. Gortshakov,
after a reconnaissance in which he was exposed to considerable
personal danger, gave orders to evacuate the town. Thirteen
Russian sailing-ships were sunk first, and ten steamers eventually
suffered the same fate, so that the whole Russian fleet in the Black
Sea was destroyed. The Russians also blew up thirty-five powder
magazines, three batteries, and Fort Paul, which defended the
harbour on one side, but there was no time to blow up Fort Nicholas.
The booty which fell into the hands of the Allies was very great ;
it comprised 128 large and 374 smaller guns, more than 400,000 filled
and more than 100,000 empty shells, 500,000 cartridges, more
than 500,000 pounds of gunpowder, and a large amount of war
material for the fortifications and the ships. Todleben gives the
whole of the Russian losses, killed and wounded, as 128,669 men,
of whom 102,669 fell in the siege. Among them were five generals
and 129 officers dead, 14 generals and 1,626 officers wounded, and
54 missing. But it is possible that the losses are largely understated.

The French lost about 45,000 men, over 41,000 in the siege;
amongst these 416 generals and officers were killed, 1,543
wounded, and 59 missing. The British lost 17,90r men, of
whom 13,000 fell before Sebastopol. Of British generals and
officers 157 were killed, and 515 wounded. It has been reckoned
that in the siege 1,906,000 cannon shots were fired, of which
I,I04,000 came from the French, and 252,000 from the British.
The Russians are said to have fired 1,506,964, of which many
came from the ships. To the 16,500,000 cartridges of the French
the Russians replied with 28,500,000,

The Queen wrote to the King of the Belgians from Balmoral
on September 11th: “ The great event has at length taken place.
Sebastopol has fallen. We received the news here last night,
when we were sitting quietly at our table after dinner. We did

408
AFTER SEBASTOPOL

what we could to celebrate it, but that was but little, for, to my
grief, we have only one soldier, no band, nothing here to make
any sort of demonstration. What we did was, in Highland fashion,
to light a bonfire on the top of the hill opposite the house, which
had been built last year, when the premature news of the fall of
Sebastopol deceived everyone, and we had to leave it unlit, and
found it here on our return. On Saturday evening we heard of
one Russian vessel having been destroyed, on Sunday evening of
the destruction of another, yesterday morning of the fall of the
Malakov Tower, and then of Sebastopol. We were not successful
against the Redan on the 8th, and I fear that our loss was con-
siderable. The daily loss in the trenches was becoming so serious
that no loss in achieving such a result is to be compared with
that. This event will delight my brother and faithful ally and
friend, Napoleon III., I may add, for we really are great friends.”’

The Emperor himself, although he shared in the general
rejoicings, and gave the rank of Marshal to Pélissier, Canrobert
and Bosquet, and the title of Duc de Malakov to the first of these,
did not lose his calmness of judgment, and knew well that the
fall of Sebastopol did not necessarily imply the conclusion of the
war. He expressed his views in a dispatch to Walewski on
September 14th, in which he said that the month of October must
be used to change the front of the Crimean army. The right wing
must be moved to compel the Russians to surrender the fort on
the north side and their strong position on the Mackenzie Heights.
This could be effected by an occupation of Eupatoria, or Simpheropol,
or Bakhtchiserai, in the rear of the Russian army. The allied
army must then repair the land fortifications in Sebastopol, hold
the barricade and the docks, and open the entrance into the great
harbour. The mass of the army could then withdraw from the
Crimea, leaving a mixed garrison of British, French, and Turks,
and a considerable and well-found fleet. It would be a mistake
to destroy Sebastopol and to fill up the harbour. If the Allies
kept Sebastopol they would have a protection against Russian
ambition ; from it they could command the whole coast of the
Black Sea and strike important blows either in Asia or Bessarabia.
In short, they must threaten the Russian rear and restore Sebastopol
instead of destroying it.

There was a great deal to be said in support of the views
expressed in this dispatch, although they favoured French rather
than British interests, and from this point the policy of the two
countries began to diverge. As Great Britain could not expect
to have the sole possession of Sebastopol, it was not in her interest

409
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to preserve it at all, However, for the moment, the Emperor’s
plans received the approval of the British Cabinet ; indeed, they
were highly praised by Lord Palmerston. They gave prominence
to the occupation of Simpheropol, which had been so strongly
opposed by Pélissier.

At a later period the real views of Great Britain found
practical expression in the entire destruction of the costly works
of Sebastopol. In the Crimea itself, however, the Emperor’s plan
had been supported by Niel, but strongly opposed by Pélissier,
who was of opinion that the establishment of the Allies in their
present strong position would be more likely to subdue the Russians
than a renewed attack. He would only consent to the strength-
ening of the garrison of Eupatoria and an improved position on
the Tchernaia, which would be rather of a defensive than an
offensive character. The British, on the other hand, approved
of an expedition against Kaffa and the capture of the Russian
magazines in Karasubazar, north-east of Simpheropol. Marshal
Vaillant strongly opposed the undertaking against Karasubazar,
and the expedition against Kaffa was rejected by the votes of
a general council of war. Eupatoria, however, according to the
views of both Allies was retaken by General d’Allemande and
strongly occupied by a whole division of French infantry and a
brigade of cavalry. The Allies agreed also to the occupation of
Kinburn, at the mouth of the Dnieper. The estuary of the
Dnieper was defended on one side by Kinburn, and on the other
by the fortress of Oczakov, the place which was the cause of so
much excitement at the end of the eighteenth century. Kinburn
was attacked by an army of French and British 8,500 strong,
under the orders of General Bazaine, the allied fleet being com-
manded by Lyons and Bruat. It was taken on October 17th,
after a slight resistance, and the fortifications of Oczakov were
destroyed by the Russians. The Allies were satisfied with leaving
in Kinburn a small garrison and a few ships.

The new Tsar, Alexander JIJ., determined, with great nobility
of character, to proceed himself to the Crimea, where he behaved
with sympathetic gentleness to Gortshakov and the other generals,
and issued an order of the day calculated to raise the spirits
of the army. Both he and Gortshakov were strongly opposed
to the surrender of the Crimea. However, on January 8th, 1856,
the control of the army and the general charge of the forces of
the Crimea were given to Linden, and Gortshakov was deprived
of his command. Similarly, Simpson was replaced in the head of
the British command by Codrington,

410
A USELESS WAR

At the same time the allied forces in the Crimea were not
diminished, but increased. In the autumn of 1855 they reached
the number of 147,000. The war material in the peninsula was
of almost incredible extent. On November 15th an explosion
took place which killed and wounded many French and British
officers, in which 100,000 pounds of gunpowder, 4,000 bombs,
and 600,000 cartridges were destroyed, but an adjoining tower
with very thick walls which held twice as much was happily spared.

In Asia Omar Pasha defeated a body of 10,000 Russians on the
banks of the Ingur, and forced the passage of the river. He then
advanced to Kutais, but was compelled to retreat. Muraviev
made an attempt to capture Erzeroum, and then turned his atten-
tion to the fortress of Kars, which was gallantly defended by
General Williams. The garrison was closely invested and suffered
greatly from hunger, and, as Omar Pasha was unable to come to
their assistance, Williams was obliged to surrender the fortress on
November 26th. This was the only success of the Russians during
the war, but it made it easier for them to make peace.

Curiously enough, Sweden joined the alliance against Russia
on November 21st, 1855, but only for defensive purposes, and
the mission of Canrobert to Stockholm could not persuade her
to adopt a more decisive action. Denmark, on the other hand,
had withstood all efforts to include her in the alliance, and her
refusal induced the French Emperor to suggest to the King of
Prussia the occupation of Holstein, which, however, for the present
he declined to agree to.

Thus, at the end of 1855, the bloodiest war of modern times
came to an end. It was also the most unnecessary, and has been
condemned by the mature judgment of all subsequent commen-
tators. It was not only useless in itself, but it unfortunately
broke the halcyon days of peace which Europe had enjoyed for
forty years and was the precursor of a long series of political
storms which have not yet ceased to agitate the world.

The historian is forced to the conclusion that no war is inevit-
able, any more than quarrels between individuals are inevitable.
They are brought about partly by national passions and partly
by the ambitions and follies of statesmen, who for their own
purposes fan a spark into a flame and excite feelings of enmity
and rivalry between communities, passions which soon pass
beyond their control. Yet every experienced Minister is aware
that the wars which have taken place are very few compared with
those which might have taken place. Not a year passes in which
events do not arise that the world knows nothing of, that

411
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

remain as the secrets of Chanceries and Foreign Ministers, which
might easily produce war if war were desired, and which are
constantly with difficulty rendered innocuous. It is not too much
to hope that mankind may come to consider that war is a barbar-
ous expedient, unworthy of civilised nations, and that peoples
will be so bound together by mutual interest and sympathy that
they will not suffer themselves to be drawn into quarrels, or be
made the instruments of a statesman’s ambition or the cat’s-paw
of his personal antipathies.

412
CHAPTER XVI

THE PEACE OF PARIS

MEANWHILE, strong influences were making for peace. The
French and Russians had found during the war that no cause
for hatred existed between them; that, indeed, it might be some
day to their interest to combine against the overwhelming influ-
ence of Great Britain. The French Emperor was anxious to
maintain the alliance with Great Britain, but he saw that the
continuance of the war, which would cost France a great deal
more than it would cost Great Britain, could only be compensated
for by arrangements to which the latter would probably object.
When Drouyn de l’Huys had come to London in March, 1855, to
discuss terms of peace, which was then thought possible, he spoke
about the restoration of Poland without considering how offen-
sive such an arrangement would be to Austria and Prussia. Great
Britain repudiated the idea, as she still had hopes of persuading
the two Powers to join the alliance against Russia. Walewski
was ordered by the Emperor to make a similar proposal to Great
Britain in the following September. The renewed refusal of
Great Britain made Napoleon III. more inclined to come to
terms with Russia.

At the same time Russia, although willing to treat for peace,
did not desire to begin the negotiations. To use an expression
of Gortshakov, “She was dumb, but not deaf.” Two men, a
Frenchman and a German, were found to give the first impulse to
negotiations which neither side cared to open officially. These
were Count Morny and Seebach, the Saxon Minister in Paris.
Morny was an illegitimate son of Queen Hortense and, therefore,
half-brother to the Emperor, while Seebach was a son-in-law to
Count Nesselrode and had represented Russian interests in Paris
during the war. Morny was an unprincipled person who, as we
have seen, had taken an active part in the coup d’état and had
used his official knowledge to make money on the Stock Exchange.
He had no scruples about throwing over Great Britain and making
suggestions to Russia that there was no reason why the French
and Russians should be enemies. He gave out that any limita-
tion of Russian power in the Black Sea need only be of a tem-

413.
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

porary character, and that treaties on this head only lasted as
long as the circumstances which had produced them. After all,
the very nation which had imposed the conditions might be the
first to desire them to be broken. It did not occur to him that
the treacherous alliance which he now desired to make might
lead to a treacherous desertion when France was in need of Russian
assistance.

Austria, although she had taken no part in the war, was
anxious not to lose her influence in the negotiations, and on
November 14th Buol and Bourqueney proposed an ultimatum
to Russia, on the refusal of which she could withdraw her
ambassador from St. Petersburg. Great Britain was not informed
of this whilst it was under discussion, but it was offered to her
to take it or leave it as she pleased. We gather from the Queen’s
correspondence that she thought the participation of Austria in
the war was so important that she did not care to complain of
the scant courtesy with which she had been treated. Eventually
a proposal was made, under the influence of Austria, that a Fifth
Point should be added to the conditions of peace, by which Russia
was not only deprived of the mouth of the Danube, but of half of
Bessarabia. Esterhazy was to carry these proposals to St. Peters-
burg, but it was determined that Seebach should go there as well,
Napoleon III. personally charging him to express his strong desire
for peace. Esterhazy reached the Russian capital on December
26th, three days before Seebach.

Austria represented herself as a mediator, anxious to obtain
favourable conditions for Russia, which, if Russia accepted, she
would press in Paris and London. The Emperor Alexander did
not see things in this light, and demanded the withdrawal of the
Fifth Point. Thereupon Austria declared that if her proposals
were not accepted she would break off diplomatic relations. The
message brought by Seebach from Napoleon III. induced Russia
to disregard this threat, and she proposed to submit her interests
to a general conference, as proposed by Napoleon III., in which
she would probably obtain better terms. In Prussia King
Frederick William IV. strongly urged on Alexander the necessity
of concluding a speedy peace.

There can be no doubt that the British Government was at
this time anxious to continue the war. Great Britain had not
come out of the business with any great amount of honour. The
French had taken the Malakov, but the British had been repulsed
at the Redan. They were not in a position to dictate the terms
of a treaty and were in danger of being dragged at the heels of

414
A REMARKABLE COUNCIL OF WAR

Austria or France. Palmerston was strongly opposed to peace.
The Duke of Cambridge was sent to Paris to confer directly with
the Emperor, and on January roth, 1856, a remarkable council
of war was held at the Tuileries at which the Emperor presided.
It was attended by Prince Jerome and his son; by Generals
Canrobert, Bosquet, Niel and Martimprey; Admirals Hamelin,
Jurien la Graviére and Regnault; the Duke of Cambridge;
Generals Airey and Jones; Admirals Dundas and Lyons; by
La Marmora, Walewski and Lord Cowley. Great Britain pressed
strongly for the continuance of the war; the British army was
to be raised to 74,000 men, and the Sardinian to 34,000; so that
the Allies would have a force of 250,000 men, which they would
first employ for conquering the Crimea. It was hoped also that
Spain would give assistance.

Five days later an Imperial council met in St. Petersburg,
attended by the Grand Duke Constantine, Dolgorouki, Orlov,
Woronzov, Kisselev, Nesselrode and Meyendorff, the Emperor
taking the chair. Nesselrode proposed to accept the Austrian
ultimatum, otherwise the negotiations with Austria must be broken
off, which would mean the renewal of the struggle, with Austria,
Prussia and Sweden against them. Russia’s strength was not
broken, but it would be hard for her to conduct a defensive
campaign over a huge extent of territory, since the enemy could
choose their own point of attack. Austria and Prussia might be
neutral for a time, but would eventually be drawn into the
conflict. It had been determined at Paris that the British,
with the Sardinians and the Turks, should attack Batoum and
Trebizond, while France continued the war on the Danube and
in Bessarabia, and the occupation of the Crimea would divide
the Russian forces. If the Allies merely blockaded the Russian
ports they would do her great injury; the longer the war con-
tinued the worse it would be for her. Great Britain had, with
difficulty, been persuaded to agree to the Five Points, and if
Russia consented to them the coalition against her would be
divided. To reject the advances of Napoleon would throw him
into the arms of Great Britain; to accept him as mediator would
give a new direction to Russian policy. Even if the acceptance
of the ultimatum did not bring peace, Russia would have given
a proof of her good intentions, thrown the responsibility of the
war on the Allies, and deprived the neutral Powers of all ground
for action.

The feeling of the council was in favour of peace. It is
probable that Nesselrode had arranged matters previously with

415
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Tsar, and finally the ultimatum was accepted. Paris was
chosen in preference to Brussels as the place of congress, as the
British Government thought that in this way they would have
a more direct influence over the policy of the Emperor. Cavour
was disappointed when he heard of the conclusion of peace, but
it was difficult to understand why, since the participation of
Austria in the war would have made it difficult for France to
declare war against her for the liberation of Italy.

On February 1st the ambassadors of Great Britain, France,
Austria, Russia and Turkey drew up a protocol which declared
that, in consequence of the acceptance of the Five Points, the
Governments now proposed to sign formal preliminaries of peace,
to conclude an armistice, and to sign a treaty. For this purpose
they should meet in Paris in three weeks or earlier. Great Britain
opposed the admission of Prussia to the Congress, and Bismarck,
who was then beginning to have influence, was strongly in favour
of her maintaining an independent position. Russia, on the other
hand, strongly supported the admission of Prussia, whom she
regarded as her friend. Great Britain pressed for the admission
of Sardinia, and France did not oppose it. Indeed, it was known
that the Emperor eagerly desired it, but did not wish by any
public declaration of policy to offend the Pope and the French
Catholics. Cavour entered the Congress with the plan already
formed that Parma and Modena should be incorporated with
Sardinia, and that their Sovereigns should receive compensation
in the Danubian Principalities.

In the Congress France was represented by Walewski and
Bourqueney, Great Britain by Clarendon and Cowley, Austria by
Buol and Hiibner, Turkey by Ali Pasha and Djemil Bey, Sardinia
by Cavour and Villamarina, Russia by Orlov and Briinnow. On
February 21st there was a preliminary meeting of the representa-
tives of France, Austria and Great Britain, when it was agreed
that the points in dispute with Russia should be first considered,
that no concessions should be made to Russia on which the three
Powers were not agreed, and that the Sardinians should be
admitted to the conference.

The first sitting of the Congress took place on February 25th.
The Five Points were formally accepted as preliminaries of peace,
and an armistice was proclaimed till March 31st, during which the
troops should maintain their present positions. The blockade
was to be continued and, indeed, was not raised till April 8th.
The early sittings were stormy, and nearly led to the dissolution
of the Congress, chiefly owing to the demands of Great Britain,

416
THE TREATY OF PARIS

which asked for the surrender of the Aoland Islands to Sweden and
suggested a limitation of the Russian fleet in the Baltic. When
Russia’s proposal that her surrender of Kars should be condi-
tional on her retaining the whole of Bessarabia was rejected
by the Congress, Orlov declared that his instructions were
exhausted and that he must leave the Congress. However, the
negotiations continued and, by the influence of the Queen, the
demands of Great Britain were made less onerous. On March
roth a proposition for the admission of Prussia into the Congress
was carried, and on March 16th Manteuffel and Hatzfeldt took
their places for the first time.

The actual Treaty was signed on March 30th, 1856, which
happened to be a Sunday. The Catholics rejoiced because the
Epistle of the day told how Christ had appeared on the evening
of the Resurrection with the words, ‘‘ Peace be unto you”’; but
Lord Clarendon wished to defer the signature till the following
day, for fear of offending the Sabbatarians. The instrument
consisted of thirty-four Articles, three separate Conventions, and
a Declaration. The main points were as follows: Russia gave
back to the Sultan the town and fortress of Kars, as well as the
other Turkish possessions owned by her; the Powers restored to
Russia the town and harbour of Sebastopol, Balaklava, Kamiesh,
Yenikale, Eupatoria, Kertch, Kinburn, and the other places they
had occupied; the Porte was henceforth to participate in the
European Concert and be on the same footing as the other Powers
in public law. The Powers made themselves responsible for the
independence and integrity of the Turkish Empire, gave a general
guarantee of their duties in this respect, and regarded any viola-
tion of those conditions as a matter of common interest. In case
of a dispute between the Porte and any of the signatories the other
contracting Powers were to mediate. The Sultan’s firman in
favour of the Christians was communicated to the Powers, but did
not give any right of interference in the domestic concerns of the
Turkish Empire. The Black Sea was to be neutralised. It was
to be opened to the merchant ships of all nations, but closed to
all ships of war; consuls were to be admitted to the Black Sea
ports, both by Russia and the Porte, but no arsenals were to be
formed in the Black Sea either by Russia or Turkey. The number
of ships necessary for coal traffic in the Black Sea was fixed by
treaty and was not to be altered without the consent of the
Powers. The navigation of the Danube was not to be subject
to any dues or difficulties excepting those fixed by treaty. Russia
conceded a portion of Bessarabia, to belong to Moldavia under

oO 417
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the suzerainty of the Porte. The Principalities of Wallachia and
Moldavia were to retain their existing privileges under the suze-
rainty of the Porte, and none of the guaranteeing Powers was
to exercise any special protectorate over them. On the other
hand, the Porte agreed to give them an independent and national
government, with free exercise of religion, legislation, commerce,
and navigation; they were also allowed to possess a national
army. Servia was to remain in a similar position. Russia and
Turkey were to maintain their possessions in Asia as they were
before the war. The ratifications were to be exchanged within
four weeks.

After the Treaty had been signed on March 30th, five other
sittings took place, at which were discussed the immediate raising
of the blockade and the evacuation of the Crimea. In the twenty-
second sitting, held on April 8th, Walewski, the President, spoke
of other matters which were not connected with the Eastern
Question. The Congress, he said, would be sorry not to use the
opportunity of clearing up certain questions and dispersing the
clouds which darkened the political horizon. Although it was
known that Italy was principally in his thoughts, he began with
Greece.

French and British troops had been obliged to occupy the
Pirzeus at a time when they were wanted elsewhere. Even now
Greece was by no means in a satisfactory condition. The three
protecting Powers should consider the state of that country and
take means for improving it. Walewski added that he was sure that
Lord Clarendon would agree with him that the Powers looked
with impatience to the time when the occupation could be given
up, although this could not be dene at present without causing
serious mischief, unless a real change-were made in the condition
of Greece. The fact was that France and Great Britain had only
determined on this step in order to destroy the influence of Russia.
During the Crimean War Great Britain had made up her mind as
to the deposition of King Otho, Lord Palmerston desiring to replace
him with the Prince of Carignan, who was to marry the Duchess
of Parma, and Parma would then come to Sardinia. France and
Great Britain had agreed before April 8th that the occupation of
Greece should come to an end simultaneously with the French
and Austrian occupation of Italy, but to this Russia and Austria
would not agree.

After Greece came the turn of Italy. Walewski said that the
condition of the States of the Church had compelled France to
occupy Rome, and Austria to occupy the Legations. France per-

418
THE CONGRESS AND ITALY

formed the duty both as a Catholic and as a European Power.
The Emperor of the French held the title of the Eldest Son of the
Church, which forced him to defend the Papal See; but he
admitted that there was something abnormal in the position of
a Power which required such assistance. France would be glad
if the Papal States could be rendered so secure as to dispense with
assistance either from Austria or from France. Going a step
farther, the President of the Congress asked whether it would not
be well that certain Italian States should, by an act of grace, allow
such of their subjects to return as might be regarded as mistaken,
but could not be considered corrupt, and whether they could
not put an end to a system which weakened their authority with-
out punishing the enemies of order. The Government of Naples
would be doing a great service if it would declare itself on this
point. Walewski concluded by complaining of the unrestrained
licence of the Belgian Press, which had attacked France in the
most offensive manner.

Lord Clarendon said that, regarding it as a sacred duty to
evacuate territory occupied during the war, it would be inconsis-
tent not to consider whether occupation existing before the war
could not also be put an end to. At the same time, the Congress
must not confuse the two duties, which were essentially different.
He recommended the secularisation of the Papal Government,
which might be difficult to carry out in Rome itself, but would
be easy in the Legations. With regard to Naples, Lord Clarendon
admitted that, as a rule, interference with the internal affairs of
another Power was inadmissible, but there were cases where the
exception must become the rule. There could be no peace with-
out justice, and therefore the Congress asked the King of Naples
to reform his system of government and to pardon political
prisoners who had not been punished or imprisoned by any judicial
sentence. He could not agree with the remarks of Walewski with
regard to the Belgian Press. Count Buol expressed his objections
to any interference with the affairs of Italy, and Manteuffel, in
the name of Prussia, also objected to any interference in the
internal affairs of another State, and particularly called attention
to the condition of Neufchatel.

Now came the turn of Cavour. He had already, in February,
sent a memoir, expressed in moderate terms, to France and Great
Britain about Italy. He considered then that it was not to his
interest to disclose his whole plan to the Emperor Napoleon, whom
he believed to be devoted to the Pope and the French clergy ;
he recommended reforms in Naples and the Papal States, although

419
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

he knew that their introduction would assist the revolution;
and suggested the annexation to Sardinia of Parma, Modena,
Ferrara and Piacenza. At the sitting of the Congress on April
8th, he pointed out that the occupation of the Papal States by
Austria had now lasted seven years, and assumed every day a
more permanent character. It was clear that circumstances had
not improved, because in Bologna a state of siege still continued
in full severity. The presence of Austrian troops in the Legations
and in Parma destroyed political equilibrium, and was a real
menace to Sardinia. With regard to Naples, he entirely agreed
with the views of Walewski and Clarendon, and thought it in the
highest degree necessary to devise measures which, while they
tended to appease passion, would make the regular course of
affairs in the rest of the peninsula less difficult.

To this Hiibner replied that Cavour had spoken only of the
Austrian occupation and not of the French, that the towns of
Mentone and Roccabruna, which belonged to the Principality of
Monaco, were occupied by Sardinian troops, and that the only
difference between the two occupations was that the Austrians
and the French had been invited by the Sovereigns to whom the
territories belonged, whereas the Sardinian garrison in the Princi-
pality of Monaco was there against the wish of the Sovereign and
remained there in spite of his protest. Cavour replied that he
wished nothing better than that both the French and the Austrian
occupation should come to an end, but that for Italy the Austrian
was by far the more dangerous of the two, because it was based
on Ferrara and Piacenza, where the fortifications had been
increased in violation of the Treaty of Vienna, and had extended
along the Adriatic as far as Ancona. As for Monaco, Sardinia
would be happy to withdraw the fifty soldiers who occupied
Mentone if the Prince of Monaco were in a position to return to
it without the most serious danger.

Cavour had good reason to be pleased with the result of this
sitting. He rubbed his hands and said, “Now we are in the
saddle.” The Italian Question had entered into the domain of
practical politics.

The two last protocols, drawn up on April 14th and 16th,
had reference to the new regulations about maritime warfare,
which were drawn up with reserve, and to a proposal of Clarendon
to extend the arbitration of a third Power, which had been already
admitted in the case of Turkey and in other international conflicts
as well, to be employed before there was an actual recourse to
arms.

420
A TRIANGULAR TREATY

The victorious Powers did not demand any war indemnity
from Russia. Indeed, Russia, under the protection of France,
was able to make more favourable terms with regard to Bessarabia
than those which Austria at first proposed. She lost, however,
besides the mouth of the Danube, about two hundred geographical
miles of territory, the fortresses of Beni Ismail and Kilia Nova,
and the salt lakes on the Danube. Public opinion in Great Britain
thought that Russia had been let off too easily. Great Britain,
indeed, was still sore about her repulse at the Redan and at
the fact that the British army in the Crimea had suffered from
disease far more than the French. She felt that in military
matters indirectly, and in diplomacy directly, she had been
beaten by France. Disraeli very properly denounced this feeling,
opposing the principle that wars should only be undertaken with
the prospect of important conquests; to hold this view was to
lower the status of the defenders of public law to that of
gladiators.

However, on April 15th, the day before the last sitting of the
Congress, a Treaty was signed between Great Britain, France and
Austria for the defence of Turkey, which was not communicated
to Russia. In this Treaty the high contracting Powers guaranteed,
singly and together, the integrity and independence of the Turkish
Empire, as laid down in the Treaty of Paris, signed on March 30th,
1856. Every violation of the provisions of the Treaty would be
regarded by the signatories of the general Treaty as a casus belli.
They would consult with the Porte as to the naval and military
arrangements to be made in the furtherance of this object. Later
events showed that this agreement did not prevent Russia from
tearing up the Treaty of Paris when it suited her interest to do
so, and its publication was a sad blow to the illusions of the
northern kingdoms with regard to the friendship of France.
Nevertheless, for the present all was smooth. The French Empire
was at the height of its prosperity. The International Exhibition,
held in Paris in 1857, consolidated the glory with which the
glamour of a successful war had invested it, and the birth of the
Prince Imperial on March 5th seemed to secure the permanence
of the Imperial dynasty. It is worth noting that Count Orlov
was the first to pay a visit to the Tuileries to offer his congratula-
tions on that auspicious event.

In taking leave of the Congress of Paris, which closed one
important epoch in European history and opened another, it is
well to consider what were the results of the arrangements then
made, and what effect they produced. In the first place, any

421
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

hopes which might have been formed with regard to the regenera-
tion of Turkey were never realised. The Treaty by which the
Sultan promised to grant religious equality and freedom to all
his subjects remained without effect. The neutrality of the Black
Sea, which was regarded as one of the principal results of the war,
was denounced by Russia during the war of 1870. In 1878 Russia
resumed that part of Bessarabia which she had surrendered in
1856, and when she attacked Turkey in that year none of the
signatories of the Treaty of Paris intervened in defence of the
Porte.

On the other hand, the views put forward by the Emperor
Nicholas, which were the origin of the war, have been justified
by events. The subject provinces of Turkey have become to a
great extent autonomous Principalities, and further progress is
likely to be made in that direction. Nicholas proposed that Great
Britain should occupy Egypt and Crete—she does occupy Egypt
and Cyprus. This was the result of a great war, which, in all
probability, cost the lives of not less than 600,000 men. More-
over, we must remember that the Crimean War, contemptible
in its origin and useless in its results, put an end to the long era
of peace which had been the happy possession of Europe since
the wars of the Revolution and the Empire.

In 1859 the French made war against the Austrians for the
liberation of Italy, an enterprise only partially successful; in
1864 there was war between Denmark and Prussia about the
question of Schleswig-Holstein, a war in which Great Britain came
very near to taking a part. This was followed in 1866 by the war
between Austria and Prussia for the hegemony of Germany, and
then again in 1870 by the great war between France and Germany,
the results of which are still with us, and may perhaps lead to
other struggles to settle questions yet in dispute. The war between
Russia and Turkey in 1878 arose directly from the fact that the
arrangements which concluded the Crimean War were not of a
satisfactory or permanent character. Wars have taken place in
other parts of the world—such as those between China and Japan
and between Japan and Russia—but the five wars we have
specified were closely connected with that in the Crimea.

War springs, to some extent, from a conflict of ideals. A
nation, like an individual, sets a new conception of conduct and
policy before itself, and proceeds to carry it out with such energy
as may belong to it. It is hardly possible that the ideal can be
realised without conflicting with the ideals cherished by other
communities, and the result of these conflicts is war. The Crimean

422
WAR AND ITS EVILS

War shows us not only that one war may be the progenitor of many,
but also that there have been few wars with regard to which a
judgment may be more confidently pronounced that they arose less
from hate and misunderstanding than from coalition and intrigue,
were disastrous to all the countries engaged in them, set back the
course of civilisation, and never ought to have taken place.

423
CHAPTER XVII

THE INDIAN MUTINY

In this history we have said little or nothing about the British
Empire in India, which now demands our special attention from
the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857. In 1815, with which date
our present survey began, the Earl of Moira, afterwards Marquis
of Hastings, was Governor-General of Bengal, a title exchanged
for Governor-General of India by Lord William Bentinck in 1834
and for Viceroy by Lord Canning in 1858. His main exploit was
the last Mahratta War, which began with the suppression of the
Pindaris, a group of marauders, who, like “ human jackals,” as
they were called, brought the lives and properties of British
subjects into perpetual jeopardy. In March, 1816, the Pindaris
made an incursion into the northern districts of Madras, which
lasted eleven days and a half. During this time, as Sir William
Lee Warner tells us, they plundered 359 villages, killed 182
persons, wounded 305, and tortured 3,603. They spared neither
age nor sex, violated the living and profaned the dead. What
would the Mahratta chiefs do? Would they assist the British in
suppressing these robbers, or would they continue to regard them
as allies? This choice Hastings offered to the Mahratta chiefs
in Western and Central India.

Appa Sahib of Nagpur and Baji Rao, Peshwa of Poona, made
treaties with the British, and Sindiah was compelled to do the
same. The Peshwa, who violated his engagements, was defeated
at the Battle of Kirki, and again at Koregaon. Holkar was
subdued and the Peshwa was deprived of his sovereign powers.
The Pindaris were treated as public enemies, and eventually the
Presidency of Bombay was consolidated, treaties were made with
the neighbouring States, and in March, 1818, Hastings was able
to break up his army. He left India in 1823, having largely
increased the British Empire, to the discontent and disgust of
the Directors of the East India Company.

His successor, Lord Amherst, was obliged by circumstances
to make war with Burma and attack Rangoon. The war, which
lasted till February, 1826, was only partially successful. Great
Britain gained possession of Assam, and the right to maintain a

424
THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR

Resident at Ava, but the war cost £5,000,000 and thousands of
lives.

Lord William Bentinck held the office of Governor-General
from 1828 to 1835, seven years of comparative peace. He placed
the finances upon a better footing, improved the communication
by land and coast, suppressed thuggee and dacoity, put down
the practice of suttee, or burning widows alive, and improved
education. He annexed Cachar and Coorg, and established British
influence in Mysore and paved the way for the annexation of
Oudh. During his rule, in 1833, the East India Company was
given a new Charter, which converted it from an association of
traders to the position of rulers of an Indian Empire in trust for
the Crown. Bentinck retired prematurely from ill-health, and
was succeeded by George Eden, Lord Auckland.

Auckland’s rule was marked by the disastrous Afghan War,
undertaken from an exaggerated fear of Russian aggression, and
continued because Auckland had not the moral courage to
abandon an enterprise of which he must have disapproved. In
this war we hear of Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Kabul, names
which became current in the mouths of Englishmen forty years
later. We need not dwell on the intricate details of these
struggles. One of the most notable episodes was the defence of
Herat by Eldred Pottinger for ten months in 1839 against a force
of 40,000 Persian troops directed by Russian officers. In July,
1838, a treaty was.signed at Simla, with the object of placing
Shah Shuja on the throne of Kabul and to confirm Ranjit Sing,
the head of the Sikhs, in the possession of Kashmir and Peshawar.

British troops marched from Firozpur and Karachi. Kandahar
surrendered without resistance, and Shah Shuja was crowned
there on May 8th, 1839. Ghazni was taken by storm, and in
August Shah Shuja made his triumphal entry into Kabul. Dost
Mohammed fled and surrendered to the British. Auckland should
have been content with this success, but he attempted to establish
a settled government in Afghanistan by British influence. The
mismanagement was conspicuous, as the British did not know
the country or the people. Afghanistan is approached by two
passes from the plains—the Khyber Pass, a long and difficult
defile, leads to Jelalabad, and the Khoord Kabul Pass, much
more difficult, bars the passage to Kabul. General William
Elphinstone, who commanded in Afghanistan, sent General Sale
to occupy the pass to Jelalabad. But the same obvious pre-
cautions were neglected with regard to Kabul. The tribes rose,
provisions were cut off, and Macnaghten, seeing nothing before

o* 425
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

him but starvation, promised to evacuate Kandahar, Ghazni,
and Jelalabad, and to leave Kabul in three days, giving hostages
for the performance of the agreement. The terms were violated,
and Macnaghten was treacherously assassinated at an interview
on Christmas Day, 1841. Deprived of food, harassed by treacherous
attacks, frozen in the snow, the army dwindled away to a mere
handful, and the women and children had to be surrendered to
the enemy. The Ghilzais wreaked their vengeance on the remnant
of the British army in the passes covered with snow, and, on
January 13th, 1842, Dr. William Brydon, the solitary survivor,
rode into Jelalabad wounded and exhausted.

Auckland was so much crushed by this disaster that he made
no attempt at retaliation. Even though he was aware that the
British captives, some of them women and children, were in the
hands of the enemy, he let it be known that the Governor-General
in Council did not contemplate any great effort for the reoccupation
of Afghanistan. He was succeeded by Lord Ellenborough in
February, 1842, but the reverses continued. Ghazni capitulated
on March ist, and Kandahar narrowly escaped capture. Ellen-
borough ordered Nott to retire, and Pollock to concentrate on
the Indian side of the Khyber Pass. The Governor-General was,
however, forced by his subordinates to take more active measures.
Pollock was at Jelalabad with 15,000 men, and Nott at Kandahar
with 10,000. Napier was summoned from Bombay, and a reserve
army was organised on the Punjab frontier. Nott and Pollock
arrived at Kabul, Pollock’s army first. He marched through
the Khyber Pass, joined General Sale, took the city of Kabul,
and burned the Great Bazaar to the ground. The European
prisoners, 105 in number, were rescued on September 21st, and
before Christmas Day Pollock and Nott had recrossed the Sutlej.

The war with Afghanistan was followed by a war with Sind.
It was the old story, which dominated the rise of the British
Empire in India, of commercial intercourse leading, first, to the
establishment of suzerainty and then to conquest and annexation.
The treaties of 1758 led to the capture of Kandahar in 1839, to
a payment of a tribute by the Ameers, and to the repudiation of
the tribute when the day of disaster came. The recovery of British
power in Afghanistan led to the enforcement of it in other places,
to the demands for cession of territory, a free passage for British
troops and a partial diminution of sovereignty. The lion claims
his share because his name is lion. Sir Charles Napier, who was
entrusted with the conquest of Sind, had a conscience which
revolted from the work he had undertaken. He wrote at the

426
THE SIKH WAR

beginning of the enterprise, ‘“ My present position is not to my
liking ; we had no right to come here, and we are tarred with the
Afghan brush,” and he admitted that the enemy whom he was
ordered to crush were really incapable of opposition.

Then followed what always happens. The weak, when they
discover the disastrous results of their weakness, make a feverish
effort to free themselves and put themselves entirely in the wrong.
So, when the Ameers realised the real nature of the treaty they
had made, they treacherously attacked James Outram in the
Residency at Haidarabad. He defended himself as long as he
could against a force of 8,000 men, and then joined Napier. There
followed the Battle of Meeanee, fought on February 17th, 1843,
in which the enemy were entirely defeated. The Battle of Dubba,
on March 24th, completed their discomfiture, and the whole country
was annexed. Great Britain’s justification for thus taking what
did not belong to her was, firstly, the welfare of the inhabitants
of the country, although they were probably better judges of which
government they preferred than the British were, and, secondly,
the treachery of the Ameers. But the march of the Empire was
remorseless, and is, indeed, governed by forces which are beyond
the control of those who summon it. It was necessary to secure
a free passage for troops and communication between Bombay
and the Punjab, and the obstacles which stood in the way had
to be removed.

The reduction of Sind carried with it the reduction of Gwalior,
the Maharaja of which, after a hopeless struggle, submitted on
January 13th, 1844, when he had to disband his army. Troops
commanded by British officers occupied the magnificent fort,
one of the grandest objects in India, but the Maharaja preserved
a nominal independence. Peace and order, as they were called,
continued till 1857, but in that year a contingent from Gwalior
joined the mutineers at Cawnpur, and Tantia Topee, a Brahmin
officer in the service of Nana Sahib of Gwalior, raised the standard
of rebellion in Central India.

Now followed the great struggle with the Sikhs. Ranjit Sing,
the head of that nation, had died on June 27th, 1839. After
his death, and the death of his son and successor, Kharak Sing,
a series of revolutions took place. The army had become insub-
ordinate and disorganised. An infant son, Duleep Sing, became
Maharaja under his mother’s regency. But the army of 12,000
well-drilled troops usurped the government, and resolved on a
campaign across the Sutlej. The British Government had fore-
seen danger, and moved towards the frontier. The Sikh Durbar

427
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

resolved on war on November 17th, 1845. The Sikhs committed
the first act of aggression in December by crossing the river near
Firozpur, and in the same month Lord Hardinge, by proclamation,
annexed all the Sikh country on the left bank of the Sutlej.

It was not likely that a warlike and powerful nation consolidated
by religious enthusiasm would submit to this. A battle was fought
on December 18th, 1845, at Mudki, where the Sikhs attempted to
oppose the advance of Hardinge and Gough. Coming up late
in the afternoon, the British attacked on the same day and routed
the Sikhs, losing about 200 men, among them the gallant Sale,
the hero of Jelalabad. This was followed by the Pyrrhic victory
of Firozshah. Here the British forces were unable to concentrate,
after a long march, until late in a December afternoon. They
were immediately attacked, and held their own with difficulty.
A night of horror followed, in which the British troops were unable
to light a fire, for fear of drawing on them the attack of the enemy’s
artillery. At the break of dawn, hungry and weary, they again
advanced, but were met by a fresh force of Sikhs, 25,000 strong.
Ammunition was exhausted, and the fighters dropped down from
sheer fatigue, but, by a miracle of British pluck and endurance,
the Sikh camp was taken and the hard-fought victory was won,
costing the victors 694 killed and 1,721 wounded.

Though the Sikhs continued the contest in confidence and
hope, Sir Harry Smith won a brilliant victory at Aliwal on January
28th, 1846, but with considerable loss. This was followed by
Gough’s triumph on February roth, 1846, at Sobraon, where the
Sikh camp on the Sutlej, connected by a bridge of boats with
batteries on the other side of the river, was taken at the point of
the bayonet, and nearly the whole of the guns were captured.

Panic followed, and a treaty was signed at Lahore on March
gth, 1846. The State of which Lahore was the capital was not
annexed, but it was diminished by the transfer of Kashmir to
Galab Sing and the retention by the British of certain portions.
A large force of British troops was quartered at Lahore, and it
was there that the Lawrences, Henry and John, laid the foundation
of their splendid reputation in civil administration. Their ex-
perience and acuteness led them to see danger ahead, but Hardinge
was satisfied with his acquisitions, and,. when he handed over
India to his successor, Lord Dalhousie, on January rath, 1848,
he believed the Sikh territory might be regarded as a peaceful
and contented part of the British protectorate.

This dream of security was dispelled by the murder of William
Anderson and Vans Agnew at Mooltan, a crime soon avenged by

428
QUEEN VICTORIA AND DULEEP SING

Herbert Edwardes. Eventually, the Battle of Chilianwala was
fought on January 14th, 1849, but it is difficult to determine
whether it was a victory or a defeat. During the night the Sikhs
recovered the guns that had been taken from them, nearly 700
British dead lay unburied on the field of battle, and more than
twice as many wounded, British guns and standards were in the
hands of the enemy, and pursuit was impossible. British honour
was not avenged until the Battle of Gujrat, fought by Gough on
February 21st, in which the Sikhs were worsted with comparatively
small loss to the conquerors. On March 12th the Sikhs succumbed
at Rawal Pindi, the Afghan contingent flying off discomfited.

Dalhousie, against the advice of the Lawrences, and without
instructions from home, forced Duleep Sing, who was a mere child,
to sign a treaty, and annexed the Punjab, placing the country in
the hands of three Commissioners, of whom the Lawrences were two.
Duleep Sing received a not very generous pension, and lived in
England as a private gentleman. The Queen felt great sympathy
for him, and, if her sentiments had been shared by those who
directed the policy of the India Office, some trouble and scandal
might have been avoided. The Queen wrote of him to Lord
Dalhousie in 1854, when the Prince was sixteen years old: ‘It
is not without mingled feelings of pain and sympathy that the
Queen sees the young Prince, once destined for so high and powerful
a position, and now reduced to so dependent a one by her arms.
His youth, amiable character, and striking good looks, as well
as his being a Christian, the first of his high rank who has em-
braced our faith, must incline everyone favourably towards him,
and it will be a pleasure to us to do all we can to befriend and
protect him.’’ And later in the same year she wrote: ‘ This
young Prince has the strongest claims upon our generosity and
sympathy ; deposed, for no fault of his own, when a little boy
of ten years old, he is as innocent as any private individual of
the misdeeds which compelled us to depose him and take possession
of his territories. He has, besides this, become a Christian, whereby
he is for ever cut off from his own people. There is something so
painful in the idea of a young deposed Sovereign, once so powerful,
receiving a pension, and having no security that his children and
descendants, and these moreover Christians, should have any
home or portion.’”’ The Queen goes on to advise that the pension
should be exchanged for a property, on which he might live, which
was in fact done.

Dalhousie proceeded with his policy of annexation. After a
war with Burma, on December 2oth, 1852, he annexed Pegu. He

429
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

“e

also extended what was called the “‘ Rule of lapse,”’ a provision
exercised previously by Bentinck and Auckland. It laid down
that States to which no heir of any kind was forthcoming should
lapse to the British Government, but Dalhousie applied it in such
a way as not to recognise the law of Hindu adoption, which was
regarded by the natives as equivalent to a natural birth. In
this way a number of States were annexed which it would have
been more prudent and more statesmanlike to leave under the
care of their native rulers.

Still greater was the error made by the annexation of Oudh.
This kingdom was created in 1819, it being agreed by treaty that
the Sovereign was bound to govern properly; but there could
be no doubt that the worst possible government existed in the
country. Dalhousie would have preferred to retain the titular
sovereign, while administering the country on his behalf; but
if the King refused to consent to this arrangement, a further period
of misrule would be inevitable, which would have ended in revo-
lution. The Court of Directors, therefore, informed the King
that if he did not voluntarily surrender his authority, he should
be deprived of it by force. He refused and was removed, and in
1856 Oudh was annexed. Dalhousie laid down rules for respecting
the rights of landed proprietors, conciliating the people, and pre-
serving the servants and retainers of the Court. It was also in-
tended to occupy the province with a sufficient force, but at that
moment Dalhousie retired and was succeeded by Canning, so that
these arrangements were not in every case carried out. Dalhousie
was a great Governor-General. He strengthened the administration
of the country in every department, and left it in a sound financial
position, with men capablein every part, men who saved the country
in the hour of need.

Canning became Governor-General on February 2gth, 1856.
It is the custom for the incoming Viceroy to spend at least a day
in Calcutta with his predecessor and discuss with him the situation
of the charge which the latter is transferring to other hands.
Dalhousie had on this occasion no idea that within fifteen months
British supremacy over 150,000,000 natives would be endangered,
although warnings had reached him which should not have been
disregarded. In his eyes the only possible source of trouble lay
in Persia, which had attacked and taken Herat. Canning’s first
act, therefore, was to declare war and send Outram with a force
to Bushire. The Persians soon submitted, and a treaty was
signed at Paris on March 4th, 1857. In the meanwhile Canning
had made friends with Dost Mohammed, Ameer of Afghanistan,

430
THE CAUSES OF THE MUTINY

who had been grievously wronged in the Afghan War, granted
him a subsidy, and made a fresh treaty with him.

About this time, in the middle of January, 1857, a lascar
engaged in the cartridge factory at Dumdum, near Calcutta,
asked a Brahmin soldier to let him have a drink out of his Jotah,
or brass pot. The sepoy refused on the ground that the lotah
would be defiled if the lascar drank out of it. The lascar laughed
and said: “‘ You will all soon be biting cartridges smeared with
the fat of the cow and the pig.’’ The fact was that the Govern-
ment of India intended to introduce into the native army a new
cartridge smeared with fat. It was the practice to bite off the paper
at one end of the cartridge before ramming it down the musket-
barrel. No new cartridges had been issued, but the story told
by the sepoy spread like wildfire, and the native soldiers believed
there was a conspiracy to destroy their caste. About sixteen miles
from Calcutta, on the banks of the Hugli, stands at Barrackpur
the Viceregal villa, where the rulers of India enjoy a well-earned
week-end holiday. On January 26th the telegraph house at
Barrackpur was burned down, and on the same day a conversa-
tion was heard between two sepoys at Calcutta, that it would be
easy to master the arsenal and magazines, kill the Europeans as
they slept, and possess themselves of the fort.

In May, 1857, the sepoys, or native troops, outnumbered the
British troops by nearly eight to one, being 311,038 as against
39,500. Of these 137,580, belonging to the Bengal army, were
mainly recruited in Oudh, and, as servants of the Company, had
the valuable privilege of securing, through the influence of the
British Resident in Lucknow, the right of prompt and fair trial
in the native courts, an advantage which none of their fellow-
countrymen was able to secure. This had made enlistment in
Oudh very popular, and when this privilege was lost by the annex-
ation a deep feeling of discontent was produced, which contributed
undoubtedly to the outbreak of the mutiny.

Moreover, the more distant wars in which the Government
was engaged might necessitate crossing the sea, the dreaded
“ black water,’ to pass over which involved a loss of caste; and,
in July, 1856, Canning issued a general order providing that
every future recruit should be compelled to serve beyond the sea,
whether in the territories of the Company or beyond them. This
was represented to the sepoys as a deliberate attack upon their
faith, Many other changes, merely the inevitable result of civi-
lisation, were hateful to the Hindus. Schools had been opened
to all children irrespective of caste, suttee abolished, and slavery

431
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

put down; the same laws were applied to the highest and the
lowest ; while telegraphs and railways were regarded as the works
of sorcery and magic. All these things had worked upon the
native mind, and the story of the greased cartridges fell like a
spark on inflammable material.

The first outbreak took place at Barhampur, about 120 miles
from Calcutta. On February 26th a parade was ordered for the
following day, for which old cartridges were served out, but in
paper of a different colour from that to which the troops had been
accustomed. The sepoys, violently excited, rose in a tumult
and resolved to defy their officers. Colonel Mitchell, who com-
manded them, rode down the lines and addressed the native officers,
telling them that there was no cause for alarm, and that they
were to appease the men. But his words had no effect. Before
midnight the regiment rose as one man, loading their muskets
and shouting wildly. The commandant called the men out, and
they promised to return to their lines if he would call back the
cavalry and artillery. This was done, and they obeyed. Next
day the parade was held quietly, but the excitement among the
men continued. The regiment was eventually marched to Barrack-
pur and disbanded on March 31st.

But before this date the first blood had been shed at that
station. On Sunday afternoon, March agth, 1857, a sepoy named
Mangal Purdy, half drunk with bhang, was swaggering along the
parade ground, calling his comrades to come out. Lieutenant
Baugh, hearing of this, mounted his horse and rode to the scene
of the disturbance. The sepoy fired and killed the horse, but
Baugh rushed up with a pistol, shot at him, but missed him.
Baugh was cut down by Mangal Purdy, but saved from death by
a Mohammedan. Then the sergeant-major came up, but he,
too, was cut down. After this Brigadier-General Hearsey arrived
with his son and others of his staff. Mangal Purdy kept shouting
to his comrades: ‘‘ Die for your religion and caste!” The general
ordered the guard to follow and rode straight at the fanatic. His
son shouted, “‘ Take care of his musket!” upon which Hearsey replied,
“Damn his musket! If I fall, John, rush upon him and kill him.”
However, before the general could reach him, the madman shot
himself. His wound, however, was not mortal, and he was after-
wards hanged. As a punishment for this outbreak, the whole
of the 19th Regiment and seven companies of the 34th Regiment
at Barrackpur were disbanded, the men were not allowed to keep
their uniforms, but were marched out of the station with every
show of disgrace. There were thus turned loose upon the country

432
THE SPREAD OF THE MUTINY

500 embittered conspirators, while nearly 1,000 men went back
to Oudh to preach disaffection and treason.

A much more serious mutiny took place at Meerut, a station
thirty-six miles from Delhi, between the Ganges and the Jumna.
A parade of the 3rd Native Light Infantry had been ordered for
May 6th. The ordinary cartridges were issued to the men on
the previous evening, but eighty-five troopers refused to receive
them. The men were brought before a court-martial composed
entirely of native officers, and sentenced to various terms of hard
labour, varying from six to ten years. On May gth the mutineers
were marched to the parade ground, stripped of their accoutre-
ments, shackled and ironed, and marched off to the jail, two miles
distant. On the following day, which was Sunday, at the time
of the evening service, sounds of bugle calls and musket firing
were heard, bodies of armed men were seen hanging about, columns
of smoke rose, as if bungalows had been fired, and it was known
that the native troops had revolted. A rumour had been spread
abroad that the rest of the native troops would be treated as the
eighty-five prisoners had been, so, when they heard the sound
of the tolling bell, the men of the 3rd Cavalry galloped off to the
jail to rescue the prisoners. They dragged them out, knocked
off their fetters, and brought them back to the regimental lines.
When they returned they found that the Bren officers had
been killed by the sepoys.

For the rest of the night the mutinous shane, the scum of
the population, and the released prisoners were masters of the
situation. The authorities were paralysed by the shock and did
nothing effective. Bungalows were burnt, wives left unprotected
by their husbands were butchered, children were slaughtered under
the eyes of their mothers. When day broke mangled corpses
lay on the roads, and the sun shone on the blackened ruins of
the European houses and their broken and destroyed furniture.
The sepoys themselves had marched off to Delhi. There they
had gone to the palace of the King, clamoured for admittance,
declared they had killed the British at Meerut, and had come to
fight for the faith.

The Palace of Delhi, now called the Fort, is one of the most
magnificent buildings in the world, a specimen of Oriental archi-
tecture not surpassed even by the Alhambra. The Hall of Private
Audience, which once contained the peacock throne, is a dream
of beauty. The royal baths rival the masterpieces of Moorish
art; and the Pearl Mosque is worthy of its name. The palace
was occupied by Bahadur Shah, the titular King of Delhi, who

433
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

was twentieth in succession from Akbar. He was now an old man
and his power did not extend beyond the citadel. Dalhousie
had been inclined to deprive him even of this, as a possible menace
to the peace of the country, and Canning had determined that
he should be the last to hold the title of King. It is scarcely to
be wondered at that he admitted the native mutineers to his palace.
Once admitted, they killed all the British they found, Fraser, the
commissioner, Douglas, the commandant, Jennings, the chaplain,
his daughter, a young lady staying with them, and Hutchinson,
the collector. There is no reason to believe that the King sanctioned
these murders; indeed he was absolutely powerless.

The revolt spread to Delhi itself. The Delhi fort was attacked
and its defenders were slain, the office of the Delhi Gazette was
sacked, the English church was rifled, every European house was
attacked, and every Christian found was slain. The cantonments
of the native troops were situated on the Ridge, which overlooks
the town at a distance of two miles. But the sepoys either refused
to obey orders, or revolted and killed their officers. In the heart
of the city was the great magazine full of munitions of war. This
was heroically fired by British officers, who died in the performance
of their duty. The mutiny had triumphed; men, women and
children fled to the jungle. At sunset on May 11th, the surviving
fifty Christians in Delhi, adults and children, of both sexes, were
brought to the palace and placed in a dungeon. Five days later
they were led into the courtyard, butchered before an exulting
crowd, and their bodies thrown into the Jumna. As a final step,
Bahadur Shah, urged by his ambitious queen, was proclaimed
Sovereign of India.

Lord Canning heard of the mutiny at Meerut on May 1ath;
on May 14th he received news of the seizure of Delhi, and on the
two following days of the massacre of the Christians, the flight
of the officers, and the proclamation of the Mogul. He telegraphed
to Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay, to hurry up the troops
from that province, to the Commander-in-Chief, to make short
work of Delhi, to Sir John Lawrence, Commissioner-in-Chief of
the Punjab, to act according to the best of his judgment, and to
the Governor of Madras to send his two regiments. He also took
the responsibility of intercepting the troops which were on their
way from England to China, and diverting them to the service of
India. This was a bold and masterly step. But it is scarcely
surprising that he did not fully grasp the danger of the situation.
His Home Secretary, Cecil Beadon, replied to an offer of the
French residents in Calcutta to enrol themselves as special con-

434
THE MARCH ON DELHI

stables, “ Everything is quiet within one hundred miles of the
capital. The mischief caused by a passing and groundless panic
has been already arrested, and there is every reason to hope that,
in the course of a few days, tranquillity and confidence will be
restored throughout the Presidency.” Canning had realised the
danger of the position to the south of Delhi, but did not under-
stand the strength of Delhi itself, and the difficulty which would
be found in conquering it. There can be little doubt that, had he
trusted to his own instincts, or listened to the advice of the most
capable men about him, many of the disasters which afterwards
happened would not have occurred.

As it was, the mutiny spread to Firozpur, to Aligarh, to
Mainpuri, and above all to Agra, where, after a mistaken at-
tempt at conciliation, the sepoys of two regiments were dis-
armed on May 31st. At Gwalior, on June r4th, the native troops
broke out into insurrection. They rushed from their lines,
murdering every European they met. Seven British officers, the
wife of an officer, a nurse, the wife of a warrant officer, three
children, and six soldiers were killed. The rest of the British
escaped to Agra.

The Commander-in-Chief in India at this time was the Hon.
George Anson. He heard of the outbreak at Meerut when he was
on his way to Simla. When the news of the catastrophe at Delhi
reached him, he interrupted his journey and went to Ambala,
which he reached on May 15th. He realised that the most necessary
step was an immediate march to Delhi, but he also knew that
he had not sufficient troops for the purpose, though both Canning
and John Lawrence urged him to take that course. He waited at
Ambala until he had dispatched the last of his troops, and set out
himself on May 25th, but on the following day he was attacked by
cholera and died in a few hours. There is no doubt that if he
had lived through the Mutiny he would have made a splendid
reputation.

Anson was succeeded by Sir Henry Barnard, who continued the
march and reached Alipur, twelve miles from Delhi, on June 6th.
He left this two days afterwards, and fought a splendid battle at
Badli Serai against the mutineers, six miles to the north of Delhi,
driving them into the town. Above all he occupied the Ridge,
which formed the best possible base of operations against the city,
as it allowed reinforcements to come in from the rear, whilst it
commanded the plain right up to the walls. Unfortunately, on
the very day after his arrival in the camp before Delhi, he was
seized with cholera and died on July 5th.

435
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

We must now turn our attention to Cawnpur, Lucknow and
Allahabad. At Cawnpur Sir Hugh Wheeler was in command.
He realised early the danger of the situation, and resolved to fortify
and provision a place, where, if danger should arise, all British
and European men, women and children might take refuge until
assistance came. He found what he thought a suitable spot in
some unoccupied barracks. At Lucknow was the great Sir Henry
Lawrence. On May roth, he was made, by Canning, Brigadier-
General, in supreme command in Oudh. He made all preparations
for defence, and, on May 24th, moved into the Residency the
ladies, the families and sick men of the 32nd Regiment, and the
European and Eurasian recruits. On May 27th he wrote to Canning
that the Residency and the Mandi Bhavan, a building about half
a mile from the Residency, used for the storage of supplies, were
safe against amy possible attack. No sooner had he completed
these arrangements than risings took place all round him, and on
June 12th he recognised that the Residency was the only place
in the whole country over which he had any real authority. Un-
fortunately his health gave way, and he had to rely largely on the
assistance of others.

At Allahabad Simpson was in command. Here the sepoys of
the 6th Regiment professed the greatest indignation at the conduct
of the mutineers, and volunteered to march to Delhi against them.
But a week afterwards they rose in revolt and murdered a number
of their officers. They also captured the guns and dragged them
into their lines. Fortunately, by the vigorous action of Lieutenant
Bragge, the sepoys in the fort were disarmed and the fort was
secured. The town, however, and the cantonments were left to
the mutineers. The jails were broken open and the criminals let
loose, the shops were pillaged, the railway works and the telegraph
wires destroyed. Europeans and Eurasians were mutilated, tor-
tured and killed, and the treasury was sacked.

On the night of June 4th the long-expected mutiny broke out
at Cawnpur. The troopers of the 4th Cavalry burnt the sergeants’
bungalows, got possession of thirty-six elephants, plundered the
treasury and the magazine, broke open the jail and let the prisoners
loose. At Cawnpur was Nana Sahib, the adopted son of the last
Peshwa of Poona. He had been very friendly to the British,
entering freely into society, but at this time he was resenting his
treatment by Dalhousie. His adoptive father had received a large
pension from the Government, and had retained the title of Peshwa.
The adopted son was allowed to inherit the savings and the landed
property of his father, but was deprived of the pension and the

436
NANA SAHIB AT CAWNPUR

title. This, in the opinion of competent persons, was, if not unjust,
at least impolitic.

It is not quite certain how far Nana Sahib was responsible for
the events at Cawnpur. The soldiers who committed the out-
rages were undoubtedly his, but he had little authority over them,
and perhaps could not have restrained them if he had desired to
do so. The mutinous sepoys chose Nana Sahib for their leader,
and demanded that he should lead them to Delhi. They did march
to Kilianpur, seven miles off, but on the following morning returned
to Cawnpur, and Nana Sahib pitched his tent in the centre of the
station. On June 7th, Wheeler received a letter from Nana Sahib,
saying that he intended to attack the garrison, and by June 11th
the rebels were firing upon the garrison night and day with three
mortars and twelve other guns. During this time Nana Sahib was
treated like a sovereign prince.

The British garrison consisted of 450, armed with six guns.
Alone, they could have fought their way to Allahabad, but they
had with them 350 women and children, and this fact made it
impossible for them to move. They had provisions for four weeks.
The casualties were considerable, and the dead bodies were thrown
into a well. The siege lasted three weeks. Water was only to be
obtained from one source, and that could only be approached with
danger to life. Every day was marked with acts of heroism.
Wheeler now had only 240 European soldiers, with six guns, to
protect 870 non-combatants against 4,000 rebels well supplied with
guns and ammunition. The women and children burrowed in
holes to escape the bullets and the fall of crumbling masonry.
Some died from sunstroke or thirst, others were burnt to death
in the hospital. At night, every person in turn was compelled
to keep watch. Towards the end of the third week the supply
of food became very short. At last, on June 26th, an armistice
was proclaimed.

Nana Sahib agreed to allow the British to march out with
their arms and sixty rounds of ammunition. They should be
escorted to the river side, whence boats with provisions should
take them to Allahabad. Those who communicated with him
found him courteous in manner and full of compassion for the
sufferings of the women and children. They set out on the morn-
ing of June 27th, and, reaching the river at eight, found forty
boats. The embarkation lasted an hour, after which some of
the boats pushed off. Suddenly, at the sound of a bugle, fire
was opened upon the boats. Nearly all the men were massacred ;
the women and children were dragged out and lodged in a brick

437
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

building near the shore. Here, on July 15th, they were brutally
murdered and their bodies thrown into a well close to the house.

On July 7th General Havelock started from Allahabad for
the relief of Cawnpur. He had with him 76 artillerymen, 976
English infantry, 18 volunteer cavalry, 150 Sikhs, and 30 irregular
infantry. On July 12th he gained a complete victory over the
rebels at Futtehpur, and two days later beat them again. They
were now twenty-two miles distant from Cawnpur, and heard
that their advance would be opposed by Nana Sahib with a force
of 7,000 men. But they also heard that 200 British women and
children were confined there, and Havelock exclaimed, “‘ With
God’s help, men, we will save them, or every man of us will die
in the attempt.’’ They started early next morning, and a march
of sixteen miles, in intense heat, brought them to the village of
Maharajapur.

Havelock heard that Nana Sahib was posted in front with
5,000 men and eight guns, in a very strong position, supported on
both flanks and in the centre by earthworks and more artillery.
He determined to employ a flanking movement. When within
eighty yards of the rebel batteries, he gave the order to charge.
The North Staffordshire Regiment and the Seaforth Highlanders,
on the right, with their pipers sounding the pibroch, advanced
under heavy fire in quick time, with sloped arms, until a hundred
yards from the village. Then they charged, using the bayonet
with deadly effect. After a short halt the line was reinforced, but
a large gun on rising ground was doing great mischief. Havelock
rode in front and cried, ‘‘ Highlanders, another such charge wins
the day!” They marched on and captured the gun. The rebels
now took refuge in a village a mile in the rear. On arriving in
front of it, Havelock cried, “ Soldiers, who is to take that village,
the Highlanders or the 64th? ’’ Immediately the two regiments
rushed for the village and carried it without a check. The force
again moved on and came unexpectedly upon the enemy, with a
twenty-four pounder gun in position in the road. Farther back
was a large body of horsemen and infantry in a concave formation,
with two smaller guns.

Havelock told his men to lie down when a_ twenty-four
pounder shot tore through the column. The rebels advanced,
with trumpets sounding and drums beating. Havelock’s horse
had been shot, but he mounted a pony and rode out in front.
giving the order, ‘“‘ The longer you look at it, men, the less you
will like it; rise up; the brigade will advance, left battalion lead-
ing!” The 64th, led by Major Stirling, marched straight on the

438
THE DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW

gun, and captured it, Lieutenant Havelock, who was aide-de-camp
to his father, riding directly up to its muzzle. The rebels gave
way, and Havelock’s force encamped without food within two
miles of Cawnpur. In nine days they had marched 126 miles in
the hottest weather and fought and won four battles, as well as
other engagements, and had captured twenty-three guns. Next
morning they heard that the women and children whom they had
hoped to save had been massacred, that four sepoys had been
ordered to shoot them through the doors and windows, that some
of them refused, and eventually two Mohammedan butchers from
the city did the work with swords and knives. Early next day
the dead and dying, for they were not all dead, were thrown, as
has been said, into an adjacent well.

In the meantime Sir Henry Lawrence was concentrating his
forces in the Residency at Lucknow. On July ist he had blown
up the Mandi Bhavan, the large house before mentioned, and
had withdrawn entirely within the Residency enclosure. He had
there about 600 British infantry, 89 artillerymen, 100 British
officers, 153 civilians, and 765 natives. The position was, from
a military point of view, a very weak one. It consisted of a
number of private houses, the principal of which was the
Residency, roughly joined together by mud walls and trenches.
It was exposed to the rebels’ continuous fire, which included
shells, sent hissing into the Residency. By one of these shells
Sir Henry Lawrence was wounded on July 2nd, and died on
July 4th.

The defence was continued under Banks and Inglis. After
some of the outlying houses had been destroyed, the rebels made
their general attack on July 2oth. They were triumphantly
repulsed at four in the afternoon. On July 21st Banks was killed,
and there was no one to replace him. On July 25th news reached
the beleaguered garrison that Havelock was advancing to their
assistance from Cawnpur, and would arrive in five or six days.
He, however, had great difficulites to contend with, which delayed
him. Cawnpur must be held in his absence, and for this purpose
he had built a fortification commanding the river; this held 300
men, and he entrusted it to the command of Neill. Havelock
crossed the river on July 25th, and three days afterwards was
ready to move. He had with him a small force of 1,500 men, of
whom about 1,200 were Europeans, 60 volunteer cavalry, and
to field-pieces. The distance he had to traverse was over forty
miles. On July 29th he fought an engagement with the rebels, in
which, although he defeated them, he lost considerably, and was

439
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

obliged to return to his base. On August 4th he marched forward
again, once more defeated the rebels, but was again forced to
return to Cawnpur, convinced that he could do no more unless he
received reinforcements. He recrossed the Ganges on August 13th.

Three days before this the rebels made a second attack upon
the Residency, which lasted twelve hours, and on August 18th
a third attack in full force. On August 28th a letter was received
from Havelock, telling them that he had no hope of being able
to relieve them for five-and-twenty days. On September 5th
the rebels made their fourth and last attack, but were again
defeated. On September 22nd the exhausted garrison received
news that help would certainly come within a fortnight.

However, the situation developed on lines which neither the
besieged nor the relief force could foresee. On August 13th Sir
Colin Campbell arrived in Calcutta, and his first object was to
march to Cawnpur and then relieve Outram and Havelock. The
former had been sent to Cawnpur, where, as the superior officer,
he would have superseded Havelock, and he arrived at that city
with much-needed reinforcements on September 16th. He deter-
mined not to deprive Havelock of the credit of relieving Lucknow,
and issued a letter declaring that, in gratitude for and admira-
tion of the brilliant deed of arms achieved by Brigadier-General
Havelock and his gallant troops, he would cheerfully waive his
rank and accompany the force to Lucknow in his civil capacity as
Chief Commissioner of Oudh, tendering his military services as a
volunteer. This offer was accepted by Havelock, who now had
a force of 3,179 men, all told. By heroic efforts this force, under
Havelock and Outram, at last reached Lucknow. The losses
were very heavy, and, after all, Lucknow was not relieved, but
reinforced. Outram, who now assumed the command, thought
that it would be possible to reach Cawnpur, but it was certain
that the women and children could not have been withdrawn
except at tremendous risk. It had cost 500 men to get into the
Residency unencumbered: how many would it cost to get out?
Therefore, the two brave men had to stay till they were relieved
by a superior force.

Delhi was now the centre of the situation. Here a British
force of 4,500 effective men maintained its position in the face
of a large army of rebels, whose numbers varied from 30,000
to 50,000. On August 14th John Nicholson brought up a force
of 1,600 infantry, a battery of artillery, and 200 cavalry. The
arrival of siege-guns a month later rendered an assault possible.
The siege of Delhi had continued since June 8th, on which day

440
ASSAULT ON DELHI

Barnard had taken possession of the Ridge from which the siege
was to be conducted. On this Ridge a comparatively small force
of Europeans and Ghurkas, who were still loyal, had to construct
its defences exposed to a burning sun, repelling assaults by day
and night, subject at all times to a deluge of shot and shell from
the works of the city. At the same time the rebels received
constant reinforcements as the spirit of mutiny spread from place
to place, and each arrival of reinforcements was the signal for a
new general sortie. In two of these, on July 9th and July r4th,
the British lost 468 killed and wounded out of a force which then
numbered only 5,367 men. Besides this, disease was rife in the
besiegers’ camp. Many died of cholera and sunstroke ; but when
the rains began and the heat became less severe matters did not
improve, and on September 6th there were 2,800 men in hospital.

Reinforcements had increased the force under Wilson to 8,748
men, of whom 3,317 were British. After a good deal of hesita-
tion he decided on an assault which, after breaches had been made
by a bombardment, took place on September 14th. The columns
of assault were drawn up at three o’clock in the morning, and
every one who took part in the operation knew that the fate of
India depended on its result. As day dawned, the columns
advanced and took up their position. The most difficult operation
was the taking of the Kashmir Gate. This was entrusted to a
forlorn hope, led by Lieutenants Home and Salkeld. Each member
of it carried a bag containing about 4 lb. of gunpowder. They
crossed the ditch by a gate which was fortunately open, and reached
the great double gate which was the object of their attack. The
enemy, paralysed by their audacity, for a moment ceased to fire.
Home and Salkeld attached the bags to the gateway, and then
attempted to escape; Home leaped into the ditch, but Salkeld was
shot in the arm and leg and was disabled, dying a few days later.
Burgess tried to light the fuse, but was shot dead. Carmichael
did light it, but was mortally wounded. Next moment, a terrible
explosion took place, and the great gate was shattered. Sergeant
Smith and Bugler Hawthorne alone survived, and both received
the Victoria Cross.

Campbell pressed on with his men and reached the great
mosque, the Jumma Musjid, but, not being supported, had to
retire. Another victim of the assault was the gallant John
Nicholson. He resolved to attack the Lahore Gate, a work of
the greatest danger. While ordering a third attack, he was
pierced by a bullet before the men could respond to his order.
He still called upon his men to go on, but this had become

441
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

impossible. There was nothing to be done but to retire to the
Kabul Gate. He lingered for eight days in agony, and died with
an unrivalled reputation at the age of thirty-seven.

The first day’s assault was not very successful, but a solid
base had been acquired for future operations. Yet the cost had
been enormous—sixty-six officers had been lost and 1,104 men
killed and wounded. In the following days, in spite of the
stubborn resistance of the sepoys, ground was gained step by
step. The magazine was taken on September 16th, and on
September 21st Wilson took up his quarters in the Imperial palace.
The King had fled and had taken refuge in the tomb of Humayan,
three and a half miles from the city. Hodson, of Hodson’s Horse,
received permission to bring in the old sovereign, providing his
life was spared, and this was successfully done. Two sons of the
King, however, and a grandson were still at liberty. Hodson was
again allowed to fetch them, but no stipulation was made about
their lives. They surrendered, dismissed their followers, and rode
towards Delhi in a native cart. In a sudden panic, Hodson
made them dismount and shot them with his own hand, a most
unnecessary act of bloodshed, and an indelible stain on himself
and the country he served. No sooner was Delhi captured than
a force was sent under Greathed, consisting of about 1,000 British
and 2,000 native soldiers, to open the country between Delhi and
Agra, and eventually to reach Cawnpur. Agra was relieved after
a severe engagement, and Hope Grant, who superseded Greathed,
reached his destination on October 26th.

As we have already said, Colin Campbell arrived at Calcutta
on August 13th. On October 27th he had completed his arrange-
ments and started for Allahabad, where he arrived on November
Ist. He set out for Cawnpur next day, and reached it the day
afterwards. He found things by no means in a satisfactory state.
Even the road by which he had marched was not at all safe. He
felt it dangerous to march to Lucknow, but the need was so
pressing that he determined to risk it. Six weeks had now elapsed
since the arrival of Outram and Havelock. During this time the
garrison had made numerous attacks, the effect of which was
somewhat to reduce the desultory fire of the rebels. On October
gth the gatrison heard of the capture of Delhi and Greathed’s
march. They realised that Colin Campbell would come to them
in a few weeks. Outram communicated with him by means of
a clerk in a public office named Kavanagh, who, disguised as a
native, found Campbell, and gave him such information as enabled
him to mature his plans.

44a
THE FIGHT AT LUCKNOW

To relieve Lucknow and withdraw the garrison and the British
in the Residency was an operation of great difficulty and danger.
At first Campbell contented himself with getting into communica-
tion with the Alambagh, which had a garrison of 430 British;
when this had been effected he found he had a force of about
4,700 men. These he divided into six brigades—the Naval
Brigade, under William Peel; the Artillery Brigade, the Cavalry
Brigade, and three others, Hope Grant directing the operations.

It would have been madness to attack the city in front, where
the way lay between narrow lanes, fortified and stoutly defended,
so he determined to swing round to the right, march in a wide
curve through open ground, and seize Dalhousie Park, a large open
garden surrounded by a wall 20 feet high, which lay about two
miles from the Residency. He could use this as a base of opera-
tions and pass round to the north of the city. But before he
reached the Residency he would have to take a number of strong
posts, the most formidable of which were the Secundrabagh and
the Shah Najah Mosque.

‘Making a feint to his left to draw the attention of the rebels
in that direction, he marched to his right, occupied Dalhousie
Park without difficulty, and afterwards the Martiniére College.
Here the troops bivouacked, and next day, November 15th, was
spent in preparation. Early in the morning of November 16th
he moved forward to the attack of the Secundrabagh. A murder-
ous fire opened upon the troops, but they gained their ground.
Then the guns were swung round and, within musket-shot of the
crowded walls and under a tempest of pellets, opened a heavy fire
on the place, the infantry lying down out of sight to wait the
moment of assault. Campbell had given orders that, in the
assault, they were to keep together in clusters of three, and to
rely on nothing but the bayonet. The central man was to attack
and his. companions right and left were to guard him. Campbell
himself stood by his guns, watching the cannon-balls tearing down
the works, which were immensely thick. It took three-quarters of
an hour to make a breach, and it was difficult to restrain the men.

At last the hole was considered large enough, and the Sikhs
and the Highlanders rushed for it at full speed, each straining
every nerve to reach it first. A Sikh ran forward, leaped
through the aperture, and was shot dead as he sprang; others,
however, say it was a Highlander. The Secundrabagh was held
by four strong sepoy regiments, amounting to 2,000 or 2,500 men,
who had all been well seasoned in the British service. After the
walls had been passed, the fight within the building continued

443
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

for two hours, and not a single one of its defenders was spared ;
they were all killed, the British losses being comparatively slight.
After the Secundrabagh, came the Shah Najah, a great mosque
with a high loopholed wall, defended by trees and enclosures of
different kinds. Against this Peel led the attack and opened
fire within twenty yards of the wall. After three hours’ firing
he had not succeeded in piercing it. Night fell, but the place
must be captured, as retreat was impossible. At last a breach
was discovered at the north-east corner by Sergeant Paton, who
entered the place without opposition. A rush was made to
it, and when the enemy saw that their position was no longer
tenable they fled like sheep.

After this terrible work the troops were exhausted and the
muskets had become so foul that it was impossible to load them.
However, on the following day, the task was resumed. The first
building to be attacked was the Mess House. A Union Jack,
hoisted as a signal to the Residency, was shot down. In the
meantime, Outram had been pressing forward to join the rescuers,
and late on a November afternoon Campbell, Havelock and
Outram met on the slope outside the Mess amidst a murder-
ous fire from the Kaiserbagh. Lucknow had now been relieved
with a loss of 45 officers and 496 men. But it was necessary to
evacuate the Residency and to carry off in safety 600 women and
children and more than 1,000 sick or wounded men. Yet so
adroitly was this done that the mutineers were pounding the
Residency with shot for at least four hours after it had been
completely deserted. However, the rescued party did not reach
the Dilkusha till November 22nd. On November 24th Havelock
died of dysentery and was buried in the Alambagh. On a tree
near the grave the letter ‘‘H ” was roughly carved, and a stately
obelisk now marks the spot.

On November 27th Campbell started for Cawnpur, where
Windham, who had been left in command, was seriously defeated
by Nana Sahib and Tantia Topee. Campbell was not able to attack
the rebels till December Ist, and did not reach Cawnpur till the
end of the month. Again the garrison had to be removed, and
for thirty-six hours the procession of sick and wounded, women
and children, guns and baggage, moved slowly across the bridge
and eventually reached Allahabad in safety. After this, Campbell,
with 5,000 men, brilliantly defeated the rebel army, numbering
25,000, including the Gwalior contingent of 10,000 men. He
captured all their baggage and thirty-two guns, and sent them
flying in all directions. His own loss was only gg killed.

444
ATTACK ON LUCKNOW

When Delhi was taken, on September 21st, 1857, the mutiny
might be considered at an end, but Lucknow still remained to be
captured. On November 26th Outram had been left in the
Alambagh, with between 3,000 and 4,000 men, twenty-five guns
and howitzers, and ten mortars. He occupied a position across the
Cawnpur road, defended by batteries, trenches, and abattis. For
about a month the rebels made no attempt to disturb him, but
at the beginning of 1858 they became more active, and in the
latter half of February made several attacks, all of which were
repulsed. Outram’s force never exceeded 5,000 men, but opposed
to this the rebels never had fewer than 120,000 men, 27,000 of
whom were trained sepoys and 71,000 trained cavalry.

The city stretched along the left bank of the Gumti for more
than five miles, being more than twenty miles in circumference.
The strongest position held by the rebels was the Kaiserbagh, a
palace about 40o yards square. In addition to this they had
constructed three lines of earthworks, the first along the side of
the canal, the second ending at the Mess House, the third cross-
ing the flank of the King’s palace. Campbell’s plan was to attack
in two directions, to throw a bridge across the Gumti, and to
place heavy guns on the north bank, which should attack with
overwhelming force the Mess House, the Secundrabagh, and the
Residency, which were held by the sepoys. This was the right
attack. The left, led by Napier, was to cross the Dilkusha bridge
and fight its way up to the Kaiserbagh and the Residency, always
supported by the flanking gunfire of Outram.

Campbell began his operations on March 3rd. The entrancing
appearance of Lucknow on that fateful morning has often been
described. Palaces, minarets, domes, orange and golden cupolas,
colonnades, long facades of fair perspective in pillars and columns,
terraced roofs, rose up amidst a calm ocean of the brightest
verdure. The bridge across the Gumti was completed by mid-
night on March 5th, and the troops were crossing at four in the
morning. On the evening of March 6th Outram encamped about
four miles from the city, and on March 9th made his spring. He
found that he had approached the sepoys’ batteries from the rear,
so that they were of no use whatever. After a heavy cannonade
he stormed the Chaker Kothi, a yellow house, which was
strongly held by the sepoys. Campbell advanced at the same
time, and next day the two divisions were in complete touch.
On March 11th Outram carried all the positions leading to the
Residency, and established batteries close to it. Campbell, on
March 11th, occupied the Secundrabagh and the Mosque, but

445
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

found himself stopped by the Begum’s house. In the storm 600
sepoys were killed. On March 14th the Kaiserbagh was taken by
a spirited attack. It is scarcely to be wondered that the soldiers
were drunk with plunder. They streamed through court after
court, piled up with embroidered clothes, gold and silver brocade,
arms inlaid with jewels, priceless pictures and vases.

Unfortunately, a great blunder was now made. Outram asked
permission to cross the main bridge and -cut off the rebels who
were escaping. He was told he might cross, but was not to do
so if he would lose a single man. Of course, he must have lost
men, but the later pursuit of the rebels who escaped caused a far
larger loss of life than would have been occasioned by crossing the
bridge then and taking the rebels in the rear. Also, by a mistake
of judgment, Outram allowed a body of 20,000 sepoys to escape
through a gap in the British lines, and in this way, as Lord Roberts
said, the campaign which should then have come to an end was
prolonged for nearly a year, in consequence of the fugitives
spreading over Oudh and resisting till the end of May, 1859, thus
involving the loss of thousands of British soldiers. The Residency,
which the sepoys had tried in vain to carry for more than eighty
days, was now taken by the British in as many minutes. In this
brilliant manner Lucknow was captured after less than fourteen
days’ fighting, with a loss of only 125 officers and men killed, and
less than 600 wounded.

The fall of Lucknow was followed by a campaign in Rohil-
khand. In Central India Sir Hugh Rose, starting from Mhow,
demolished several forts, defeated the rebels before Jhansi, and
took that city by storm. He also recaptured Gwalior, which had
been seized by Tantia Topee. This notorious rebel was at last
cornered and captured in April, 1859. The last struggle was in
Oudh, against the forces of Nana Sahib and the Begum. It is
said that Nana Sahib escaped to the jungle of Nepal, where he
possibly died a miserable death. But there are some who think
that he was alive long afterwards. On January 27th, 1858, the
King of Delhi was brought to trial in the Privy Council Chamber
of the Palace, charged with making war against the British Govern-
ment, and was sentenced to be transported for life. After some
time he was sent to Pegu, where he died in peace.

The Mutiny demonstrated that the relations of India to the
British Empire must be radically changed, and that it was no
longer possible to leave the government of the greatest dependency
of the British Crown in the hands of a trading company. An Act
of Parliament for transferring the administration of India from

446
INDIA A BRITISH POSSESSION

the East India Company to the Crown was passed. without much
opposition, and received the royal assent on August 2nd, 1858.
Consequent upon this, the Queen issued a proclamation declaring
the principles upon which she intended in future to govern the
country. She informed the native Princes that all treaties in
force with them would be scrupulously maintained, that she would
respect their rights, their dignity, and their honour as her own;
that she would sanction no encroachment on the rights of any of
them ; that the obligations which bound her to her other subjects
would bind her also to them. To the natives the proclamation
promised complete liberty in matters of religion, and, so far as
might be, office was thrown open, without question of religion, to
all such persons as might be qualified for it by education, ability
and integrity. The Queen said that in framing and administer-
ing laws due regard should be paid to ancient rights, usages and
customs ; that those who had taken part in the Mutiny should be
treated with clemency, and that unconditional pardon should be
given to all who submitted before January 1st, 1859. This
proclamation, published on November rst, 1858, was regarded
everywhere as the charter of the new regime. Addresses poured
in from every part of India—from Hindoos, Mohammedans and
Parsees, expressing their gratitude, loyalty, and devotion. The
British members of the Indian army were not equally complacent,
but resented being made forcibly part of the British army,
instead of continuing to serve the Company. Eventually they
were allowed to choose between the two, and about 10,000 took
advantage of this permission.

The events of the Mutiny aroused a bitter desire for revenge,
both in Great Britain and in India, and cruel measures of retalia-
tion were demanded which would only have perpetuated ill-
feeling between the two countries and stained the honour of the
British name. Canning, who had from the first set himself to
moderate these sentiments, now did his best to restore the civil
administration, and to gain the confidence of the native chiefs. The
country was in a deplorable condition, famine having devastated
villages and emptied cities of their inhabitants. Canning made
a new departure in the relations between the British Government
and the chiefs by agreeing to their customs of adoption and
succession; this removed an ancient grievance, and ensured the
continuance of native rule. The dread of annexation under the
“rule of lapse’? was removed, and at the same time the chiefs
were charged with the responsibility of active loyalty to the
Crown. The British Government and the native chiefs were to

447
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

co-operate together for the benefit of the country which they
ruled side by side. Great Britain remained suzerain, but native
rule was to be perpetual so long as the chiefs remained true to
their engagements. At the same time, residents were established
at the different native courts, to give friendly advice, to correct
grave abuses of power, to maintain peaceful succession, and to
ensure the continuance of the reign of law and justice.

So far as India was concerned, the transference of the govern-
ance did not produce any striking changes, nor was it felt as a
violent alteration. The new masters at home merely continued
the authority of the old. The place of the Court of Directors
and Proprietors and the Board of Control was taken by the
Secretary of State for India, assisted by a Council. Unity of
government was secured by giving the Secretary of State power to
overrule his Council in most matters; in some others, such as
appropriation of revenue, he represented a majority of the votes.
At the same time, he could, on his own responsibility, give orders
regarding foreign affairs and other secret matters with which the
former Secret Committee used to deal. Annual reports on the
moral and material progress of each province were laid before
Parliament. Indeed, the statute which transferred the govern-
ment to the Crown may be regarded rather as an enabling and
continuing Act than as the establishing of a new order of things.

Before Lord Canning left India he had done much besides
suppressing the Mutiny. He had defined the legislative authority
of the Government of India in respect both of Parliament and the
Councils of Madras and Bombay. Power was taken to establish
Legislative Councils in Bengal, the North-West Provinces, and the
Punjab, and provision was made for the codification of Indian
Law. He also placed the finances of the country on a secure
basis. The year 1860-1 saw a deficit of £4,000,000, but this was
the last. Canning reduced the expenditure by £5,000,000, and
so made the two ends meet. The Mutiny was not followed by
any serious military operations, and Canning left the country, on
March 12th, 1862, in a condition of prosperity and peace. He
was followed by Lord Elgin, who had no chance to show his policy
because he died of heart failure on November 21st, 1863. To
succeed him, John Lawrence, one of the heroes of the Mutiny,
was appointed, and held the office from January 12th, 1864, till
its natural termination in 1869.

448
BOOK III

‘CHAPTER I
THE MAKING OF ITALY

On the night of the disastrous defeat at Novara, Friday, March
23rd, 1849, Charles Albert resigned his crown in favour of his
son, Victor Emmanuel II., then twenty-nine years old. He
was known as the Re Galant’uomo—‘ King Honest Man ’’—from
the uprightness of his character and the fact that he sturdily
refused to recall or impair the Constitution which had once been
given to his country. On the following day he held a conference
with Radetzky, the conqueror, and, on March 25th, accepted the
onerous conditions of the armistice. The Piedmontese agreed to
retire from the area bounded by the Po, the Sesia, and the Ticino,
to allow the fortress of Alessandria to be occupied by a mixed
garrison of Austrians and Piedmontese till the conclusion of peace,
to evacuate the Duchies immediately, to recall the fleet from the
Adriatic, to disband the Lombard volunteers, and to pay the
expenses of the war. Next night the King returned to Turin,
accepted the resignation of the Ratazzi Ministry, and established
de Launay in his place.

On March 2gth Victor Emmanuel swore fidelity to the Consti-
tution in the presence of the two Chambers. He was coldly
received, as the armistice was unpopular. Indeed, the Chambers
declared it to be unconstitutional, and a revolt at Genoa, under
the influence of Mazzini, was put down by La Marmora. Austria
demanded a war indemnity of nearly {10,000,000, and, since it
was impossible to pay this, the country had to submit to the
indignity of a part occupation of Alessandria. However, by the
mediation of France and Great Britain, Alessandria was evacuated,
the indemnity was reduced to £3,000,000, and peace was signed
on August 6th, 1849, by which time Massimo d’Azeglio had become

P 449
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Prime Minister. The King had great difficulty in inducing the
Chamber to approve of this treaty. It met on July 30th, 1849,
with a determination not to ratify the treaty or to recognise its
terms, and, on November 11th, passed a resolution to suspend
its operation. There was nothing to do but to dissolve the House,
and the new Parliament accepted the treaty by a very large
majority on January 19th, 1850.

D’Azeglio, being anxious to abolish the exclusive privileges of
the Ecclesiastical Courts, appointed Siccardi to the office cor-
responding to the British Lord Chancellorship, having first sent
him as ambassador to Pius IX., to endeavour to induce the Pope
to accept his views. Siccardi introduced a Bill for the abolition
of the Ecclesiastical Courts and their special jurisdiction. He
also attempted to abolish mortmain, or the holding of land by
corporations without the consent of the Government, and to
regulate marriage as a civil contract. These measures were
embodied in three laws known as the Leggi Siccardiant, which were
carried by both Chambers, their acceptance by the Senate, which
was supposed to be Conservative, causing great astonishment.

These laws were warmly supported by Cavour in one of the
best speeches he ever made—one, in fact, which was the turning-
point in his career. He supported them on the broad ground that,
the Constitution having been granted to the country by Charles
Albert, with the view of establishing liberal institutions, it was the
duty of a wise Ministry to carry out these principles by legislation
in the same direction, and, the quieter and more peaceful the con-
dition of the country, the more seasonable was the time for doing
so. He enforced his arguments by the examples of the Duke of
Wellington consenting to the emancipation of the Catholics,
Lord Grey carrying the Reform Bill, and Sir Robert Peel
avowing his conversion to the principles of Free Trade. He con-
cluded with these words: “‘ See, gentlemen, how reforms, made in
time, strengthen authority instead of weakening it, and, instead
of increasing the strength of the revolutionary spirit, reduce it to
impotence. Imitate boldly the spirit of the Duke of Wellington,
Lord Grey and Sir Robert Peel, whom history will declare to be
the first statesmen of our time. Go forward generously in the
path of reform; do not be afraid if measures are declared
inopportune; do not be afraid to weaken the power of the
Constitutional Throne, which is entrusted to your hands, because
you will really strengthen it. You will really place the Throne on
such a secure basis that, when the storm of revolution bursts
against it, it will not only be able to resist it, but, by summon-

450
THE RISE OF CAVOUR

ing around it the living forces of Italy, will be able to lead our
nation to the high destinies to which it is summoned.”

Up to that moment Cavour had been regarded as an aristo-
cratic Tory, but he now received the applause of the Chambers,
the Ministry, and the people. He had hitherto been the leader
of the Right Centre; he now put himself at the head of all the
intelligent Liberals in the Lower House. The Siccardi Laws,
however, were not put into effect without opposition. Franzoni,
Archbishop of Turin, refusing to obey them, was condemned to a
month’s imprisonment and a fine, and the Bishops of Sassari and
Cagliari in Sardinia were similarly punished.

The quarrel was further embittered by the case of Santa
Rosa, Minister of Agriculture. Feeling that he was near death,
he asked a Servite brother, named Paravino, to perform for him
the last offices of religion, but Franzoni refused to allow it unless
he withdrew his adhesion to the Siccardi Laws. This he refused
to do, and he died on August 5th without having received the
sacraments. There was some difficulty in securing for him a
religious funeral, and popular feeling was so much excited that
the Servites were suspended and their property confiscated. The
archbishop was imprisoned in the fortress of Fenestrelle, and
eventually exiled. The portfolio left vacant by the death of Santa
Rosa was given to Cavour, who became Minister of Agriculture
and Marine on October 11th, 1850.

When the proposal to appoint him was made to Victor
Emmanuel, he said, “Take care what you are doing. Cavour
will soon dominate you all, and will be himself Prime Minister.”
He began by demanding that Mameli, who was a weak Minister
of Education, should be replaced by someone more vigorous. He
took a step in the direction of Free Trade by sending a circular
to the syndics, advising them to abolish the limit of the price of
bread, and made a commercial treaty with Belgium and, a month
later, a similar treaty with Great Britain, which compelled the
Protectionists in his own country to consent to a reciprocity of
duties. On April 19th, 1851, he accepted the portfolio of Finance,
which was vacant by the resignation of Nigra. He executed a
commercial convention with France, which led to a commercial
treaty in the following year. A commercial treaty with Austria,
signed in October, 1851, secured the free navigation of the Po and
the Ticino, and the junction of the railways uniting Genoa, Turin
and Milan.

On December 2nd, 1851, came the coup d'état of Louis
Napoleon. This alarmed the Liberals, and strengthened the

451
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

revolutionary forces in Europe. But Cavour and d’Azeglio
remembered his past career, and knew that Italy had nothing
to fear from a man who had played so large a part in
Liberal conspiracies. Therefore some French refugees, who were
opposed to the cowp in France, were expelled from Piedmont,
and a Bill was introduced to control the extravagances of the
Press. But a difference began to arise between d’Azeglio and
his Ministers, Cavour thinking that the Government ought to
assume a more definitely Liberal character and attitude, and that
this could only be done by a coalition with the Left Centre, then
led by Ratazzi. This coalition, finally concluded, was announced
in a debate on the Press on February 5th, 1852, in which Cavour
not only accepted the partnership of the Liberal Ratazzi, but
refused that of the Conservative benches, thus bringing about
the divorzio and connubio, the divorce and marriage which are so
famous in Italian constitutional history. Ratazzi became first
Vice-President and then President of the Council.

Cavour had undoubtedly committed a serious breach of
discipline in forming this coalition without the knowledge and
approval of d’Azeglio; his only excuse was that, if he had con-
sulted his chief, permission to make it would not have been
given. So Cavour resigned his two posts, and the Ministry was
reconstructed with the omission of Cavour and Farini. The new
Ministry met the Chambers on May aist, 1852, but it was soon
apparent that Cavour had seen the position of affairs with true
insight. A Bill authorising civil marriage was introduced and
passed the Chamber, but was rejected by the Senate by a single
vote. The Pope was very angry at it, and d’Azeglio found
himself in troubled waters. Antonelli published a paper, and the
Pope wrote to the King, who said that he would not have
consented to the law had he known that it would displease the
Pope, and that he was ready to make every sacrifice for his
country except that of his conscience. Accordingly d’Azeglio
resigned and advised the King to send for Cavour.

Victor Emmanuel was reluctant to appoint a Minister who
would be distasteful to the Papal Court, and Cavour himself
suggested Balbo as an alternative. But these suggested arrange-
ments proved impossible, and, on November 4th, 1852, Cavour
formed, without conditions, what has ever since been known as
“The Great Ministry.” This coalition, or connubio, as it was
called, formed a solid body made up of the Catholics of the
Right and the Democrats of the Left. It was strong enough
to support in the country the expedition to the Crimea, the

452
CAVOUR’S REFORMS

participation in the Congress of Paris, the interview of Plom-
biéres, and the war of 1859.

In the Ministry Dabormida took the portfolio of Foreign
Affairs, Buoncompagni of Justice, Citrario of Education, La
Marmora of War. Ratazzi, leader of the Left, remained President
of the Council, and in 1853 became Minister of Justice in place of
Buoncompagni. Cavour was above everything a financier, and
knew that financial prosperity must be the foundation of a
country’s greatness. At the same time, he did not hesitate to
sacrifice present interest to future advantage, to contract large
loans, and to impose heavy taxation to pay the interest. He
spent much money in developing railways, especially that from
Turin to Genoa. ‘‘ Genoa,” he said, ‘ will now have no time to
think of revolutions.’”” He established lines of mail steamers to
cross the Atlantic, and took the first steps towards the piercing
of the Mont Cénis. He made commercial treaties, revised the
customs tariff, with a view to the introduction of Free Trade;
cheapened the necessaries of life and the raw materials of industry ;
established companies, corporate societies, a system of credit for
agricultural operations, banks of deposit, and banks of discount.

The first year of his Ministry was a miracle of administrative
achievement. He created a new Piedmont, as Peter the Great
created a new Russia and Napoleon a new France; and the new
Piedmont was eventually to create a new Italy. In all this he
had to consider the bitter hostility of Austria, He made his
country respected and formidable, reorganised the navy, and
fortified Alessandria and Casale.

It was only natural that this bold and original policy should
be opposed by the timid folk who form the bulk of every com-
munity. They felt the sacrifices which they were compelled to
make, but did not realise their import. The priests and the
demagogues were against Cavour. He was held responsible for bad
harvests and for the failure of the vintage, and in February, 1853,
his palace was attacked and his life threatened. At length he
appealed to the country, and the new Chamber, which met on
December 19th, 1853, gave him a decided majority in support
of his policy.

Then followed a stroke of genius by the participation in the
Crimean War. The negotiations which preceded it are obscure,
but the main lines of the policy are clear at the present day. By
taking this bold and decided step Piedmont offered a vigorous
contrast to the feeble waverings of her rival, Austria, and took
her place among the Powers of Europe, who were joining together

453
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to perform what was supposed to be an act of international justice,
although it was really a great iniquity. She earned the gratitude
of France, which might repay her services some day by the
exchange of Milan and Lombardy for Savoy, and obtained the
right of taking part in the congress which must follow the war.
It is probable, as we have seen, that the Emperor Napoleon
originally began the war with the object of weakening Russia, so
as to prevent her from supporting Austria in the war which he
intended to undertake for the liberation of Italy. In that case
the step now taken was important both for Cavour and the
country he desired to serve. Eventually the alliance between
France and Great Britain was joined by Piedmont on January
a5th, 1855, and on April 21st 15,000 Sardinian troops, as they
were called, commanded by Alphonso La Marmora, sailed from
Genoa to the Crimea.

On January rath, 1855, the King lost his mother; on January
20th his wife; and on February roth his brother, the Duke of
Genoa. Victor Emmanuel saw in this the finger of God, and
was reluctant to pursue the course of ecclesiastical reform which
was being advocated by his Ministers. At this time Piedmont,
with a population of under 5,000,000, possessed seventy-one
religious orders and 604 religious communities, while the
capitalised value of the ecclesiastical property in the whole
kingdom, including Sardinia, was estimated at over seventeen
millions of English money. It was a pressing necessity to reduce
the number of religious orders and to forbid the creation of any
fresh ones except by legislation. This step was violently opposed
by the Clericals, and was distasteful to the King himself; but the
Bill eventually became law on May a2gth, Cavour making a con-
cession by excluding from its operation an order which had been
specially protected by the King’s mother and his brother. The
Bill suppressed thirty-four religious orders and 334 religious houses,
leaving twenty-two corporations, with 274 houses. On July 22nd
Pius IX. excommunicated all those who had promoted, approved
of, or sanctioned the law. Cavour, warned by the example of
Santa Rosa, had made arrangements with a priest to attend him
in his last moments, and this was eventually carried out.

The expedition to the Crimea consisted of 17,767 men, 4,464
norses, and 36 guns. It disembarked at Balaklava on May 8th,
and had orders to act mainly with the British. It suffered much
from sickness, especially from cholera; but, on August 16th, the
success of the Battle of the Tchernaia compensated for every-
thing. It was not a great victory, but it attracted attention and

454
NAPOLEON AND VICTOR EMMANUEL

irradiated the Italian tricolour with a gleam of glory. Indeed, the
whole expedition did not bring much military glory, since, while
1,200 men died of cholera in hospital, only forty died on the field
of battle.

The visits paid by Victor Emmanuel to the Courts of Paris
and St. James’s, accompanied by Cavour and d’Azeglio, were
first suggested by Cavour, and were a great success. Queen
Victoria wrote of the King that ‘he is startling in the extreme in
appearance and manner, when you first see him, but when you
know him well you cannot help loving him. He is frank, open,
just, straightforward, liberal, and tolerant, with much sound
good sense. He never breaks his word, and you can rely on him ;
but wild and extravagant, courting adventure and danger, with
a very strange, short, rough manner. He is more like a knight
of the Middle Ages than anything one knows nowadays.” Cavour
was at first afraid to accompany the King for fear it might give
the visit too political a character, but yielded on condition that
Massimo d’Azeglio should go as aide-de-camp, to show to Europe
that Piedmont was not infected by the disease of revolution.

As they returned through Paris the Emperor proclaimed his
interest in the Italian cause by suddenly crying to Cavour, “ What
can we do for Italy?”’ He probably said more to the King than
he did to the Minister. It is recorded that, on his return to Italy,
Victor Emmanuel praised Napoleon to a friend, and said, ‘‘ You
might hear great things if 1 could speak: enough, either King of
Italy or simply head of Savoy.” Cavour drew up a memorial
for the Emperor, dated January 2ist, 1856, which said, ‘‘ The
Emperor can render immense service to Italy, first, by persuad-
ing Austria to do justice to Piedmont; secondly, by obtaining
a milder government for Lombardy and Verona; thirdly, by
forcing the King of Naples not to continue to scandalise Europe
by conduct contrary to all principles of justice and equity; and,
fourthly, by removing the Austrian governors from the Legations
and Romagna, and giving them a better, that is, a lay, govern-
ment.” He concluded with the words, “Whatever Fate or
Providence reserves for Italy, every man of heart will always
remember that Napoleon was the first to ask, ‘ What can we do
for Italy ?’”

The Congress of Paris met at the end of February, 1856. It
was not certain whether the representative of Sardinia could be
admitted to the congress at all, or be admitted only on a lower
footing, and Cavour attended it with great reluctance, foresee-
ing only disaster. However, by the influence of the Emperor,

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A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

supported by Great Britain, he was able to take part in it on
the same footing as the others. He behaved with wisdom and
moderation, speaking little and always on the Liberal side. In
this way he gradually won influence. Eventually, on April 8th,
he was able to bring the question of Italy before the attention of
the diplomats in a manner which has been related in a previous
chapter. Cavour was disappointed with the result of the congress,
but on his return to Turin received not only the applause of the
King and Parliament, but also congratulations from the whole of
Italy. His position had gained immensely in influence and
strength, both at home and abroad.

Austria relaxed her severity in Lombardy and Venetia, and
removed the edict sequestrating the property of the emigrants.
The Emperor Francis Joseph visited the provinces in January,
1857, accompanied by the Empress Elizabeth, who won all hearts,
and sent his brother, the admirable Maximilian, to govern it, who
was so successful that Cavour was afraid the hoped-for liberation
of the territory might not be realised.

At the same time, in Cavour’s own government, Mazzini stirred
up a useless and motiveless rebellion in Genoa in June, 1857, and
in the general election in November, the first that had taken
place since the legislation affecting the Church, the Clerical party
obtained seventy seats out of a total of 200. Cavour was alarmed.
“‘ What,” he said, “if eight years’ labour were thrown away and
the movement of the State turned backward?” Never would
he advise a coup d'état, nor would his master consent to one; but,
if the King abdicated, what then? Victor Emmanuel said to
Cavour, “‘ Let us do our duty, stand firm, and we shall see.” The
crisis was surmounted. Some elections in which the priests had
exercised undue influence were declared null, and Ratazzi, who
was a red rag to the Clericals, retired from office. Cavour found
himself master of the. Chamber.

Ratazzi retired from the Ministry on January 15th, 1858; but
the night before a terrible event had taken place at Paris. As
the Emperor and Empress were driving to the theatre, bombs
were thrown at the carriage by Felix Orsini; they wounded
150 persons and killed eight. The Emperor’s carriage was
struck by 76 projectiles, one of the horses was killed, the other
wounded. The Emperor and Empress escaped by a miracle,
as the general who sat opposite them was wounded. Antonio
Pieri, teacher of languages, was seized immediately, with a large
bomb in his pocket. Other persons arrested were Gomez, a
Neapolitan servant, young Count Rudio of Belluno, and Orsini, who

456
NAPOLEON AND ITALY’S INDEPENDENCE

was wounded in the head. The bombs, invented by Orsini, had
been made by Bernard, a Frenchman, and filled by Orsini; one
was thrown by Gomez, a second by Rudio, a third by Orsini.

Orsini wrote a letter from his prison to the Emperor, saying
that on his will depended the happiness or misery of Italy, the
life or death of a nation to which Europe owed a great part of its
civilisation. ‘‘I conjure your Majesty to restore to Italy the
independence which its sons lost in 1849 by the fault of the
French. Remember that the Italians, amongst whom was my
father, gave, with joy, their lives for Napoleon the Great, when-
ever he might please to lead them; remember that they were
faithful to him to his fall; remember that the tranquillity of
Europe and your own is a dream so long as Italy is not indepen-
dent. Do not reject these last words of a patriot who is already
on the steps of the scaffold ; liberate my country, and the blessings
of 25,000,000 people will follow you to posterity.” There can
be no doubt that the crime of Orsini stimulated the action of
Napoleon with regard to the liberation of Italy.

It might have been thought that the deed would have alienated
the Emperor and put an end to all hope of achieving the liberty
of Italy by the help of France. But this was averted by the
diplomatic skill of Cavour and the manly straightforwardness of
the King; and in May, 1858, Cavour received from Paris a letter
written by a friend who was intimate with Prince Napoleon,
which proposed an alliance between France and Italy, and
suggested the marriage of Prince Napoleon to the Princess
Clothilde. After this, Cavour sent Nigra to Paris, and the
diplomatist reported that the Emperor really had ideas of
this kind in his head. In June M. Conneau, an intimate friend
of Napoleon’s, came to Turin to invite Cavour to visit the Emperor
at Plombiéres, where he was taking the waters. This was com-
municated to the King and La Marmora alone. Cavour arrived
at Plombiéres on June 2oth, and saw the Emperor on that and
the following day.

An account of what passed is contained in a letter from Cavour
to the King, although it is believed that a more accurate narrative
exists in a minute which has not seen the light. The Emperor
began by saying that he had made up his mind to support Sardinia
in a war with Austria, if a cause could be found which would
satisfy the public opinion of Europe. He suggested that some-
thing might be made of the revolutionary movements in Massa
and Carrara. As to the future of Italy, the Austrians were to be
driven from the country entirely, not a foot of ground being left

p* 457
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to them. The north of Italy was to be formed into a kingdom of
Alta Italia, under the House of Savoy; the Pope was to keep
Rome and its environs; Naples was to be left as it was; and a
kingdom of Central Italy was to be created. These four States
were to form a confederacy under the presidency of the Pope. The
Emperor said that he would like a Murat to reign at Naples, and
Cavour proposed the Duchess of Parma for Tuscany. Napoleon
then touched upon the cession of Savoy and Nice. Cavour made
no difficulty about Savoy, but said that Nice was thoroughly
Italian; but the Emperor remarked that this was a secondary
consideration. The conversation lasted from eleven to three.

In the afternoon the Emperor took Cavour for a drive, himself
holding the reins. He then suggested a marriage between Prince
Napoleon and Princess Clothilde, but did not make it an absolute
condition. At the same time, Cavour was convinced that the
Emperor desired that Prince Napoleon should be sovereign of
Central Italy.

It now remained to find a decent pretext for the war with
Austria. Odo Russell has reported that Cavour said to him on
this occasion, ‘I will compel Austria to declare war,” and there
is no doubt that the Minister brought the whole force of his mind
to bring this about. He conceived the idea of sending Garibaldi
to the Duchies to promote an insurrection which would force
Austria to action. He considered whether something might not
be made out of the capture of Cagliari, which was causing much
excitement, but a more hopeful project was to be found in the
Duchies of Massa and Carrara, which belonged to the Duke of
Modena. Napoleon twice requested Austria to assist in urging
the Pope to give a better government to his dominions, but she
twice refused. Cavour, as we have seen, was much troubled by
the success of the government of Maximilian at Milan, which led
the Milanese to feel that they would be content to have him as
an independent King or a Viceroy. If this spirit spread there
would be an end to all his plans.

In October, 1858, Cavour had a long conference with La Farina
to concert a plan for exciting a revolution in the spring of 1859
in Central Italy, Parma and Bologna, and if possible to force
the Austrians to war. Massa and Carrara should begin ; Garibaldi
should go to Parma; a squadron should be sent to Leghorn, which
would certainly drive away the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In
December Garibaldi came from Caprera to Turin to confer with
La Farina and Cavour.

These diplomatic movements were kept a secret till they were

458
THE FRANCO-ITALIAN ALLIANCE

revealed by the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon to the Austrian
Ambassador on January Ist, 1859, which came like a thunder-
clap upon Europe. As he passed before Baron Hiibner on that
day he said, in the hearing of all the diplomatic body, “I regret
the relations between us are bad; but, nevertheless, tell your
Sovereign that my sentiments towards him are not changed.”
When, ten days afterwards, Victor Emmanuel opened the session
of Parliament, he said: ‘‘ The horizon in which the new year opens
is not altogether serene. Strong in the experience of the past,
we meet with resolution the eventualities of the future. This
future will be happy if we rest our policy on justice, on love of
liberty and of our country. Our country, small in territory, has
acquired credit in the counsels of Europe, by the ideas which it
represents and the sympathy which it inspires. This condition
is not exempt from danger, but at the same time, whilst we respect
treaties, we are not insensible to the cry of pain which rises towards
us from every part of Italy.”

} L.While these war cries were resounding, Great Britain and
Austria were doing all they could to preserve peace. In Great
Britain a Tory Government was in office, which was not so much
in favour of Italy as a Liberal Ministry would have been. But
Austria sent troops into Italy and Cavour recalled the Govern-
ment from Sardinia to the capital.

On January 16th Prince Napoleon came to Turin to claim
the hand of Princess Clothilde, and discuss the details of the
alliance with Cavour. On January 18th the treaty was signed
which bound Napoleon to assist Piedmont in case of an aggressive
act on the part of Austria. If the war were successful an Italian
kingdom was to be formed, consisting of 10,000,000 or 12,000,000
inhabitants, and Savoy was to be ceded to France, the question
of Nice being left for future arrangements. It was also agreed
that in case of war the Sardinian troops should abandon the
territory between the Ticino and the Serio and concentrate in the
defence of Alessandria and Casale, in order to protect the capital
and assist the junction of the French forces which were to march
by the Mont Cénis and Genoa.

On January 20th Prince Napoleon was married to the Princess
Clothilde, the King accompanying the married pair as far as
Genoa. He was received with enthusiasm, the first time that such
feeling had been shown towards a King of Sardinia. Meanwhile,
although Great Britain was opposed to an active policy, the
stubbornness of Austria played into Cavour’s hands. When Lord
Malmesbury urged Austria to evacuate the Legations and use her

459
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

influence with the Italian princes to procure the concession of
necessary reforms, Count Buol replied: “We do not intend to
abdicate our right of intervention, and if we are called upon to
protect the Italian Sovereigns with our arms we shall do so. We
shall not recommend their Government to undertake any reforms.
France plays the part of protectress of nationalities; we are,
and shall be, protectors of national rights.”

At the beginning of 1859 there appeared in Paris a pamphlet
entitled Napoleon III, et V’Italie, which had been written by
Vicomte la Guerriére in 1858, and expressed the views of the
Emperor. It proposed to form Italy into a confederation, with
the Pope at its head, but was opposed to Italian unity, consider-
ing the differences in the peninsula too serious to make this
possible. These were not the views of Cavour, who steadily kept
in view the formation of a united Italy, and knew it could only be
brought about by a war with Austria. He therefore asked the
Chambers for a loan of £2,000,000. This was carried in the Lower
House by a majority of 116 votes to 35, and in the Upper by
59 votes against 7. Rothschild refused to finance it, and it was
thrown open to public subscription at 79. It was subscribed for
with enthusiasm, and especially remarkable was the number of
people who took five-franc and twenty-franc shares.

In Paris the Chambers were opened on February 17th, and the
Emperor declared war with Austria neither inevitable nor even
probable. Indeed, the force of public opinion in France was
against war. It was opposed by Walewski, Gortshakov, Lord
Cowley, the newspapers, and the Empress. The Emperor was in
favour of it, because it destroyed the treaties of 1815 and gratified
the Italian sympathies of his youth. On February 23rd Lord
Cowley was sent to Vienna to request the Austrians to evacuate
the Papal dominions and to stop interference with Italian affairs.

But Cavour did not lose heart or hope. On March 8th he
mobilised the army, in answer to Austria, which had massed
troops on the Italian frontier, and on March 17th he formed the
corps of the Cacciatori delle Alpi, to which volunteers flocked
from every part of Italy—from Piedmont, Tuscany, the Duchies,
Lombardy, and Venice.

When Lord Cowley returned from Vienna, without having
effected his object, Russia proposed a congress, which was sup-
ported by Great Britain. This was accepted by Buol, on condition
that Piedmont should not be admitted to it, and that Austria
should not attend it till Piedmont had disarmed and disbanded
her volunteers. The Powers agreed to the exclusion of Piedmont,

460
WAR WITH AUSTRIA

and the idea of a congress seemed to find favour with the Emperor,
On March 23rd Cavour went to Paris and saw Walewski, who
told him that the Emperor had determined to support the project
of an Italian confederation in the congress, and not to interfere
in the affairs of Italy, except by peaceful means. Cavour was
overwhelmed ; he saw the work of seven years rendered useless.
He determined to go away, without seeing the Emperor, to
resign, and make the King abdicate, and was pacified with diffi-
culty. On March 26th he did see the Emperor, and refused
positively to disarm. He reminded Napoleon of the engagements
entered into at Plombiéres, which included the marriage of Princess
Clothilde, which had already taken place, and threatened that, if
war were not declared, he would go to America and publish their
correspondence.

On April roth the congress was accepted by France and Great
Britain, but Austria would not agree to it, unless Piedmont
previously disarmed. Cavour telegraphed to Prince Napoleon
on April 18th, “ We will not disarm. It is better to fall with
arms in our hands than to ruin ourselves miserably in anarchy.”
On the night of April 18th Cavour was awakened from his slumbers
by a telegram from Walewski, in the name of the Emperor, saying
that France had accepted the British proposals for a congress,
and that Cavour must telegraph his acceptance immediately. It
was a terrible shock. ‘‘ Nothing remains,” he said, ‘‘ but to blow
my brains out.” He was obliged, however, to reply in the affirma-
tive, but_a ray of hope came from the reflection that Austria had
not accepted. Indeed, he heard on April 2oth that Francis Joseph
had determined on war. But these two days were periods of
indescribable anguish, the saddest in his life, not excepting those
which followed Villafranca. However, on April 26th, Cavour
learned that Austria had declined the British proposal to admit
the Italian States to the congress, and his anxieties were relieved.
The fact was that war with Italy had been decided upon at Vienna
on April roth at a council at which all the Grand Dukes were
present, and she now sent Italy an ultimatum to disarm. This
was the stellone, the ‘‘ great star,’ the prize in the lottery, which
cheered the Liberal statesmen of Italy and set the seal to the
efforts of so many years. On April 26th the French Ambassador
at Vienna informed Count Buol that the violation of the Sardinian
frontier by an Austrian army would be considered in the light of
a declaration of war.

The Austrian army crossed the frontier on April 29th, about
200,000 strong, divided into two army corps, their object being

461
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to crush the Sardinian army before the French could arrive. But
the heads of the French columns had passed the frontiers of Savoy
three days before, although the proclamation of the Emperor
was not issued until May 3rd. The French army consisted of
about 130,000 men and 330 guns, divided into five army corps,
in addition to the Imperial Guard. Besides this, 8,700 men of
the French troops landed at Genoa, and 4,000 went to the assist-
ance of the Piedmontese in the Alpine valleys. Public opinion in
France began to change in favour of the war, and this produced
the enrolment of 30,000 volunteers.

The first French troops entered Turin on April 29th, and the
Emperor Napoleon landed on May rath at Genoa, where he was
received by Victor Emmanuel and Cavour, and on May 14th he
reached Alessandria. The French army might now be considered
to have joined the Piedmontese, and the object of their strategical
march had been attained. The Sardinian army numbered at
this time 76,000 infantry, 5,400 cavalry, and 2,700 artillery,
making a total of 84,000 men. But this force was not really
present in the field, and after making the necessary reductions
the forces of the sub-Alpine kingdom cannot be placed at
more than 62,332 men with go guns. Besides these were the
three regiments of Garibaldi, which did splendid service, and a
National Guard of 26,000. Altogether, the forces of the Allies
cannot be placed at less than 260,000 men, which was consider-
ably more than the Austrians.

Military authorities almost unanimously blame the strategy
of the Austrians at this time. Instead of attacking the right wing
of the Sardinian army or hindering the march of the French, they
confined themselves to threatening the left wing of the Sardinians,
and consequently gave the attack to their opponents. If they
had decided on a defensive policy, it would have been better
not to cross the Ticino, but to complete their preparations. As
it was, the only advantage they gained was that they were occupy-
ing the enemy’s country and living at the enemy’s expense.

On the other hand, the enemy had full knowledge of their
movements, their own information about the Allies being so
extremely defective that their headquarters were frequently better
informed by the newspapers than by their own agents. At first
they were able to spend their time in healthy exercises, but on
the evening of May 14th it began to rain, and they were driven
into their camp. As the Austrians were very badly informed as
to the movements of the Allies, Stadion was sent to reconnoitre,
with a force of 18,000 men.

462
THE BATTLE OF MONTEBELLO

This led to the first encounter between the two armies, on
May 30th, an engagement generally known as the Battle of Monte-
bello, a place distinguished in the wars of Napoleon I. The
Austrians reached Casteggio about midday and found the place
deserted, with windows and doors shut as if no one were living in
it. The Austrian infantry took possession of it, and the hussars
of the advanced guard went on to Genestrello. They reported
that the village was held by the enemy’s infantry, and Schaff-
gotsche determined to drive them out, although he had orders
not to engage, that he might not be attacked himself. When
Genestrello had been occupied without difficulty, Schaffgotsche
observed that he had a strong body of the enemy in front of him,
and therefore began a new attack about the middle of the day.
This body was formed by the troops of Forey, who had marched
up from Voghera to defend his outposts.

The first cannon-shot was fired at 1.15 p.m., and the Austrians,
who were up to this time superior in numbers to the French,
continued to advance, but by 2 p.m. the rest of Forey’s division
had arrived in the field and the conditions of the battle were
changed. At 3 p.m. Schaffgotsche had been driven from Genes-
trello, and had taken up his position at Montebello, which is
situated on a hill of considerable strength. The two armies were
now about equal in numbers, but the Austrians were fresh and
had plenty of cover. Forey, however, did not hesitate to attack.
The cavalry, artillery, and two battalions of foot soldiers, advanced
along the main road, while the bulk of the infantry, leaving their
knapsacks behind them, climbed the precipitous wooded slope to
the southern point of Montebello, from which the village descends
in one long street towards the high road. The French were
obliged to capture house after house, and fight hand to hand
with great loss of life. The artillery took scarcely any part in
the engagement. At last the village was won and the Austrians
retreated to Casteggio. Forey had thus in four hours driven
back, first a brigade of 3,000 and then one of 4,000 men. Stadion
had now 18,000 men under him, and of these 4,000 or 5,000 were
really in hand. But he did nothing, and the French were allowed
to claim the victory undisturbed. The Austrians lost 1,293 men
and the French 723.

Giulay had in the beginning confined his attention to the north
side of the Po, but the affair of Montebello led him to suppose that
the main attack of the French would be delivered towards the
south, in the direction of Piacenza, and he made his prepara-
tions accordingly. This theory, however, was erroneous, because

463
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Napoleon’s plan was to march towards the north and attack the
right wing of the Austrians and advance upon Milan. The orders
for the French army to march on the left flank were issued on
May 27th, but the movement was to be masked by the Sardinian
army, which for this purpose was to push on towards Robbio, by
way of Palestro. The ground through which the Sardinians
advanced was of such a nature that the Austrians were unable
to see what was going on, whereas, on their side, the infantry
found it difficult, and indeed almost impossible, to cross the rice
fields, cut up by ditches and canals. Palestro is about six miles
distant from Vercelli, which is situated on the other side of the
Serio. The Serio, which is usually dry, was at this time full of
water, from the abundant rain which had fallen, and a bridge
over it had to be constructed with some difficulty, across which
the Sardinian army passed. The crossing occupied the whole
morning, but did not apparently attract the attention of the
Austrians, and shortly after midday Victor Emmanuel was able
to make an attack upon Palestro. The Austrians, at first, man-
aged to repel all assaults; but when the Sardinians were able, by
building a bridge, to attack on the other side, they were obliged
to retire. An attempt to retake Palestro was frustrated by
Cialdini, who arrived with superior forces, and the Austrians
retreated to Robbio. In this engagement the Austrians lost 460
men and the Sardinians 140.

Both sides were aware that Palestro was the key of the
position, as it commanded the passage of the Serio. Victor
Emmanuel, feeling insecure, asked for assistance from his allies,
and Palestro was occupied by 14,000 men. The Austrians now
made a serious effort to retake it and assaulted it with superior
numbers. The first gun was fired at 10.30 a.m., and a battalion
of jagers rushed to storm the village. Although the Sardinians
had thrown up earthworks in the night, the Austrians penetrated
to the first houses of the village, but were not able to hold their
ground; they retreated, and the Sardinians pursued them as they
fled. The left column met with no better success. Szabo attacked
the French with his artillery, as they were crossing walls, and they
suffered some loss. In another attack a number of Austrians were
drowned in the canal and the Serio, and Szabo was compelled to
retire with great loss. The result of the battle was entirely in
favour of the Allies, the Austrians having lost more than 2,000
men in the two days.

In the meantime Garibaldi, who had been made a general in
the Sardinian army, and was in command of the Cacciator1 delle

464
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA

Alpi, placed his headquarters at Varese. He repulsed an attack
by General Urban, occupied Como, and threatened Monza, but
faited to take the strong fortress of Laveno, on the shores of Lago
Maggiore. The Austrians, however, were now in full retreat
towards the Ticino. They were in worse condition than if they
had never advanced but had waited to be attacked. In this case
they might have met the Allies with seven complete army corps,
and threatened the passage of the river with some hope of success.
As it was, they were dispersed in a long line extending from Varese
to Piacenza, the troops weary with marching, weakened by fight-
ing, and disheartened by defeat.

The Battle of Magenta was fought on June 4th, the day on
which the Emperor had determined to pass the Ticino. Magenta
is a village of 400 inhabitants, situated on the high road between
Novara and Milan, about four miles from the left bank of the
Ticino. About halfway between it and the river runs the canal
of the Naviglio Grande, which carries the waters of the Ticino
to Milan. The canal is deep and lies between high banks, so
that it is difficult to cross. In this part of its course it is crossed
by six bridges—that of Benevento in the north, Buffalora about
a mile below, Ponte Nuovo di Magenta on the high road, the
railway bridge about a third of a mile below, and by Ponte Vecchio
di Magenta and Robecco to the south. All these bridges had
been manned and placed in a condition of defence by the Austrians,
and a strong redoubt had been built at the railway bridge. The
bridge of Buffalora and the Ponte Nuovo had also special defences.
From the bridge which crosses the Ticino at San Martino four
roads diverge—the main road to Milan, which passes by Magenta,
in the middle; to the left the road to Buffalora; to the right the
railway ; and still farther to the right the roads to Ponte Vecchio
and Robecco.

Magenta thus formed a formidable defensive position, and
Giulay had intended to concentrate the whole of his forces there.
But, owing to various circumstances, he could not get together
more than a third of them, while the French were not able to
dispose of more than a quarter of their strength for the attack.
On the morning of June 4th the Austrians were not expecting an
attack, and had just finished their food, when they heard that
three heads of French columns were advancing upon Buffalora.
A brigade was immediately sent to protect the two bridges which
had not been destroyed—that over the high road and that over
the railway, and the slowness of the French advance enabled them
to do this,

465
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The heads of the French columns advanced at 10.30 am. The
first shots were fired on the roads which lead over the Ticino to
the Naviglio. Wimpffen led his troops partly by the Buffalora
road and partly by the railway; while the Zouaves, with two
pieces of artillery, marched along the central causeway. The
Austrians fired at the advancing troops, gradually retiring on the
railway. The French skirmishers were stopped by a heavy fire,
and Wimpffen found the Naviglio well defended. But Canrobert
had not arrived, and nothing had been heard of MacMahon, so
the Emperor suspended his attack and withdrew Wimpffen to
a position 400 yards in advance of the Ticino. At midday the
fire of MacMahon was heard on the left, and Wimpffen resumed
his advance. He was, however, driven back over the Buffalora
bridge.

Attacks on other quarters were repelled by the arrival of
Austrian reinforcements; the battle swayed backwards and
forwards, as the forces were relatively greater in number on either
side. At 2 p.m. two points on the Naviglio were in possession of
Mellinet’s division, which, however, consisted of only 5,000 men,
and had no reserve to support it. Nothing had been heard of
Canrobert and Niel, and the advance of MacMahon had been
arrested. The position was very critical, but just at this moment
Picard’s brigade, which formed part of Canrobert’s division, arrived.
They reached the bridge of San Martino at 2 p.m., and were able
to support Wimpffen, who was in difficulties. They gained
possession of the village of Ponte Vecchio and made numerous
prisoners, but could not get any farther. However, at 3.30 p.m.
the position of affairs was decidedly more favourable for the
French.

At the same time the position of the Emperor was very serious.
When asked for reinforcements, he replied, like Napoleon at
Waterloo, that he had none to send. The French columns on the
Ponte Nuovo were visibly thinned; they could not advance, and
they would not retreat. For hours nothing had been heard of
MacMahon on the left, and the enemy were beginning to press with
terrible force on the right. Just at this moment MacMahon’s
cannon were again heard, and Canrobert came up in person to
announce that reinforcements were at hand. MacMahon had
crossed both the Ticino and the Naviglio at Turbigo, far away to
the left, to attack the right flank of the Austrians, but had met
with unexpected difficulties. Leaving Turbigo at 9.30 a.m., he
advanced towards Buffalora and Magenta in two columns; but
they wete stoutly resisted by the Austrian reserves. The result

466
THE ALLIES ENTER MILAN

was that his advance was delayed for two hours, and that he was
unable to rejoin the Emperor. He and his staff remained in a
condition of feverish impatience, whilst the musketry and cannon
fire sounded fiercely from the Naviglio, and the south wind brought
the smell of powder to their nostrils. At last Espinasse and La
Motterouge were able to advance to Magenta and, after heavy
fighting and considerable loss, the junction of the two columns
was effected about five in the afternoon.

At last MacMahon was able to re-form his lines and order the
advance from all sides on the bell tower of Magenta. His troops
marched forward, with drums beating and colours flying, and
they found little resistance until Magenta was reached. Here
every house was pierced for musketry, the streets were blocked
with barricades, the gardens turned into redoubts, the church-
yard and even the bell tower armed with artillery and riflemen.
The battle raged with especial fury at the open space of the
railway station, and here the gallant Espinasse was killed. No
essential progress was made till the arrival of Trochu at the Ponte
Vecchio at 7 p.m., and it was not till 9 that the field of battle was
entirely in possession of the French. In the battle the Allies lost
4,500 men, of whom 100 were taken prisoners; the Austrians
lost 10,000, of whom 5,000 were prisoners. MacMahon received
the title of Duke of Magenta, which he had won by his success-
ful exertions in marching the two divisions, and his wisdom in
attacking the right and the reserve of the Austrians, by which many
prisoners were made. After all, Magenta was very much a drawn
battle. It was expected that the Austrians would renew the
attack, but on June 5th Giulay ordered the retreat, the last order
which he had the opportunity of giving, as he was immediately
afterwards deprived of his command.

At midday on June 5th the Milanese discovered that there
were no more Austrians in the city, and the municipality sent the
keys of the town to Victor Emmanuel. On June 7th MacMahon’s
corps began to march down the street, and on the following day
the King and the Emperor made their entry in a delirium of
enthusiasm. Napoleon exclaimed, “How much the people must
have suffered!” On the same day he issued a proclamation to
the Italian people, in which he said: “ Providence sometimes
favours nations as it does individuals, giving them the oppor-
tunity of becoming great in a single day; but only on the
condition that they know how to profit by it. Your desire for
independence, so long expressed, so often disappointed, will be
fulfilled if you know how to show yourselves worthy of it. Let

467
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

all of you unite in one sole desire, the liberation of your country.
Organise your military arrangements. Fly to the banner of Victor
Emmanuel, who has so nobly prepared for you the way of honour.
Remember that there can be no army without discipline, and
burning with the sacred fire of patriotism, be soldiers to-day
that to-morrow you may become the free citizens of a great
country.”

In fact, the liberation of Italy was progressing well, with greater
rapidity than Napoleon III. either expected or desired. Leopold,
Grand Duke of Tuscany, had left his country on April 2gth. It
was at this time ruled by Ricasoli, assisted by the baker Giuseppe
Dolfi, of whom it was said that he could any day collect in the
Piazza della Signoria 10,000 men who would do whatever he told
them. The Duke went from Modena and the Duchess Regent from
Parma as soon as the protecting Austrians were withdrawn and
the Romagna demanded to be annexed to Piedmont. Farina was
sent to administer Modena and Parma, and Massimo d’Azeglio
the Romagna. Ferdinand II. of Naples—generally known as
“Bomba ’’—died rather suddenly on May 22nd, and was suc-
ceeded by his youthful son. If he had joined Sardinia in the
war against Austria he might have kept his throne, but his
refusal rendered its forfeiture inevitable.

It was now evident that the Austrians intended to withdraw
to the Mincio, where they would be defended by the famous
Quadrilateral of Mantua, Verona, Peschiera and Legnago. The
Emperor attempted to impede this movement by dispatching
troops to Lodi, hoping they would reach the Adda before the
rearguard of the enemy, and be able to divide his forces. The
movement failed, for the rearguard reached Lembo a few hours
before the French. Except a brush with Benedek at Melegnano,
no engagement of any importance took place until the Battle of
Solferino, fought on June 24th, 1859, which put an end to the
war. This was fought in a space bounded to the north by Lago
di Garda and the railway, on the south by the Oglio, on the west
by the Chiese, and on the east by the Mincio, being about twenty
miles long and twelve miles broad.

This historic area contains some of the most beautiful scenery
in Europe. It is traversed by three ranges of hills, one below the
other, each of which played a part in the battle, the most
important being the southernmost range, which overlooks the
Italian plain. On the northern range lie the villages of San
Martino, Ostiglio and Feniletta, which lay within the operations
of the Sardinian army; on the central range were Castelvenzago

468
THE AUSTRIAN PLANS

and La Madonna della Scoperta, and on the southern Vilsana,
Fenile, Solferino and Cavriana. High in the midst rises the
watch-tower of Solferino, which from its commanding view had
obtained the name of La Spia d’Italia.

The plain below the hills is traversed by the high road lead-
ing from Castiglione to Mantua, on which lie Guidizzolo and Goito.
The traveller proceeding along this road sees first the hamlet of
La Fontana, then the village of Le Grote, half hidden under a
fold of Monte Fenile, then some of the houses of Cavriana in the
mountains, and then, at some distance, Volta with its conspicu-
ous campanile. The fields are planted with rice, mulberries and
maize. The wayfarer then reaches Guidizzolo, a large village,
from which issue three carriageable roads, one to Volta, one to
Cavriana, and one to Cenesara in the south. To the right of this
great high road lie the villages of Carpenedolo, south-west of
Castiglione, and Medole, to the west of Guidizzolo and Cenesara.
The ground between Guidizzolo and Medole is covered with many
houses, whose red-tiled roofs are visible through the trees, the
hamlet of Rebecco forming the principal group. Still farther on
the right are situated Acqua Fredda, the walls and towers of Castel
Goffredo, and other villages.

The French army consisted of five army corps and five
Sardinian divisions, bringing up the strength of the Allies to
seventeen divisions of infantry, five of cavalry, and a number of
cannon, making a total of 160,000 men. The Austrian army had
eight army corps of infantry and one corps of cavalry, making
124 battalions of infantry and sixty squadrons of cavalry, amount-
ing altogether to about the same number of 160,000 men, under
the personal command of the Emperor Francis Joseph. On the
morning of June 23rd the headquarters of the Emperor of Austria
were at Villafranca ; those of the first army corps, under Stadion,
were at Mantua; those of the second army corps, under Schlick,
were at Custozza. The eighth army corps, under Benedek, form-
ing the extreme right, was at Peschiera; the second, forming the
extreme left, under Lichtenstein, at Mantua. The plan was that,
on the morning of June 23rd the Austrians should advance from
their positions to surprise the enemy, falling on their right flank
and driving them towards the Alps, the decisive battle being left
to the following day. According to this plan, they crossed the
Mincio at six points and occupied, before the evening, a number
of the villages already enumerated, Pozzolengo, Solferino, Cavriana,
Guidizzolo, Rebecco and Medole, their advance posts being at
Madonna della Scoperta, Le Grote and Castel Goffredo. It was

469
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

intended that the army should advance to the Chiese at 9 on the
morning of June 24th.

Before this could be done the bulk of the allied army had
crossed the Chiese, the intention of the French being to occupy
the hilly country and to force a passage across the Mincio. On
June 23rd the headquarters of the Emperor were at Montechiaro,
and it was heard that on the following day the army would reach
the Mincio, the headquarters being at Castiglione. The army
was to begin its march at 2 p.m., in order to avoid the great heat
of the sun. It thus happened that the two armies came into
collision while they were preparing to make an offensive attack
in opposite directions, neither being prepared to fight an imme-
diate battle. The problem before both was to transform a line
of march most rapidly into a line of battle.

Accordingly the Battle of Solferino may be divided into two
periods, the first resulting from the fortuitous shock of the two
hosts, neither of whom had expected to meet the other, the orders
given for the march on either side having not yet been modified ;
the second period, beginning when the action became general,
may be divided into two smaller sections, the attack of the French
on the centre, and that of the Austrians on the left. The
Sardinians and the eighth army corps under Benedek had, as
it were, a battle to themselves. It will thus be seen that two
armies, nearly equal in strength, marching towards each other in
a front of equal length, without knowing each other’s positions,
met in the line marked by the villages of San Martino, Solferino,
Guidizzolo and Medole.

The Austrian army tried at first to execute its original plan
of turning the French right, and driving it towards the Alps, while
the army of the Allies concentrated towards its centre. In this
manner the positions of Solferino and San Casciano were attacked
by three French corps and defended by three Austrian corps. The
French succeeded in piercing the centre of the Austrian army,
because their three corps attacked simultaneously, whereas the
Austrian corps only came up one after the other. At the same
time, the Austrian corps which had been intended to turn the
French right were defeated by two French corps, because they
could not succeed in acting together, and one corps, which was
intended to strike a decisive blow, was never engaged at all. On
the Austrian right the eighth corps succeeded in holding back the
Sardinians till nightfall, but could not redeem disaster in other
parts of the field. The capture of Cavriana finally put an end to
the battle, and the Austrians retired behind the Mincio.

470
THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO

Let us now describe the battle more in detail. By orders
issued the night before the Sardinians were to march on Pozzo-
lengo, Baraguay d’Hilliers on Solferino, MacMahon on Cavriana,
Niel on Guidizzolo, Canrobert on Medole, and the Imperial Guard
on Castiglione, the cavalry marching in the plain between Solferino
and Medole. Setting out at 3 a.m., the French encountered no
serious opposition till 5 a.m., when MacMahon perceived that the
situation was becoming dangerous. He halted and remained
inactive for two hours. About 7 a.m. MacMahon was informed
that Niel had arrived before Medole, that as soon as he had taken
that village he would concentrate on his left, and that Canrobert
would do the same. MacMahon, therefore, at 8.30 a.m. took
possession of Casa Marino, commanding the lower ground of
Guidizzolo. He was opposed by a strong Austrian force coming
from that place, which did not drive him back, but caused him
considerable loss. He did not hear that Niel’s corps was in a
position to join him till rm a.m., and he was then able to advance
towards Solferino, where a vigorous battle had been proceeding
for some time. It had thus taken six hours for the French right
to change an order of march into an order of battle.

Early in the day the Emperor discerned from a height in the
neighbourhood of Castiglione that a serious battle was proceed-
ing. He determined to concentrate on his centre, and directed
his attack on Solferino and Cavriana, giving orders to Niel and
Canrobert to move towards their left, and to the Sardinians to
move towards their right. Baraguay d’Hilliers was now assault-
ing the strong position of Solferino, held by Stadion, the hill
covered with cypresses, the graveyard and the castle dominated
by the well-known tower, “‘ The Spy of Italy.’ The place was in
excellent condition for defence, and well supplied with artillery.
The walls of the cemetery, defended by a flank of the cypress-
covered hill, defied all efforts, and the Austrians were able to act
energetically on the offensive. The struggle was terrific, and it
was not till 3 in the afternoon that the French could hoist their
victorious flags on the tower and the cypress hills. At last the
Austrians were driven from Solferino, and an important point
had been gained. Cavriana still remained to be taken—a village
strengthened by ancient walls and by a castle. This was attacked
at 4 in the afternoon after Solferino had been taken. MacMahon
was able to assault the strong position from the other side and, in
consequence of this double attack, the place fell about 4.30 p.m.
Two hours later the Austrians began to retreat in all directions,
and their centre was entirely in the hands of the French.

471
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Notwithstanding this success, Niel was not able to take
Guidizzolo, which the Austrians held till 7 in the evening, and
Victor Emmanuel could not capture San Martino till sunset, when
the capture of Solferino and Cavriana was already known. The
Sardinians were able to hold the high ground they had captured,
but lost 6,000 men, considerably more than their adversaries.
At the battle the Emperor of the French occupied the quarters
which the Emperor of Austria had occupied the night before.
But there was no pursuit. On June 25th the headquarters of
Francis Joseph were at Villafranca, and on June 27th at Verona,
and on this day the French occupied the line of the Mincio. It
is reckoned that in the battle the Austrians lost 21,500 men and
the Allies 18,500, of whom 13,000 were French.

Two great battles had been won by the French, but it was
not possible to march on to Vienna, nor even to storm the Quad-
rilateral. It would be necessary to blockade the four fortresses
one by one. The French army rested from June 25th to July 5th,
and on July 6th, without consulting the King of Italy, Napoleon
sent Fleury to Francis Joseph, proposing a meeting of the two
Emperors at Villafranca, and early in the morning of July 7th the
offer was accepted. On July 8th an armistice was arranged at
Villafranca to last till August 15th, and La Marmora telegraphed
to Cavour the suspension of arms. Cavour hurried to the head-
quarters of the King on July roth.

On the following day the interview between the two Emperors
took place at Villafranca. Francis Joseph spontaneously offered
the cession of Lombardy, without Mantua or Peschiera, and was
also willing to cede Parma, provided that the sovereigns of Modena
and Tuscany were allowed to keep their dominions. Napoleon
proposed a confederation of Italian States under the presidency of
the Pope. The interview lasted an hour; no one was present at
it, and it is probable that nothing was committed to writing. The
Emperor communicated the results of the interview to the King
in the presence of Prince Napoleon. It is not precisely known
how Victor Emmanuel received the news. There is no doubt
that he was disappointed, that he knew he could not persuade
the Emperor to further exertions, and that he expressed his
gratitude for the acquisition of Lombardy, which was a solid gain.

By the preliminaries of the Peace of Villafranca the Emperor
of Austria ceded Lombardy to the Emperor of the French, who
transferred it to the King of Italy. An Italian confederation,
including Venetia, to which liberal institutions were promised,
was to be formed, with the Pope at its head ; Tuscany and Modena

472
CAVOUR’S RESIGNATION

were to return to their Dukes with a general amnesty ; Parma was
surrendered, but was afterwards retained on the recommendation
of Russia. The Papal States were to have reforms, the Legations
a separate administration. The articles were communicated to the
King, who consented to them because he could not do otherwise.

It is easy to blame Napoleon. There is no doubt he eagerly
desired that Italy should possess Venetia and the Quadrilateral,
but circumstances were too strong for him, and it was impossible
to continue the war. How did Cavour receive the news? We
will use the narrative of the Countess Martinengo Cesaresco, who
was probably well informed, and is certainly wise and temperate.

“Cavour,” she wrote, ‘rushed from Turin to Desenzano,
where he arrived the day before the final meeting between
Napoleon and Francis Joseph. He waited for a carriage in the
little café in the piazza. No one guessed who it was, and con-
versation went on uninterrupted; it was full of sneers at the
French Emperor. Mazzini, someone said, was right; this was
the way the war was sure to end. When a shabby conveyance
had at length been found, the great statesman drove to Monzam-
bano. There, of course, his arrival did not escape notice, and all
who saw him were horrified at the change that had come over
his face. Instead of the jovial, witty smile, there was a look of
frantic rage and desperation.

“What passed between him and his Sovereign is partly a
matter of conjecture; the exact sense of the violent words into
which grief betrayed him is lost, in spite of the categorical versions
of the interview which have been printed. Even in a fit of mad-
ness he can hardly have spoken some of the words attributed to
him. That he advised the King to withdraw his army and
abdicate rather than agree to the treason which was being plotted
behind his back seems past doubting. It is said that, after
attempting in vain to calm him, Victor Emmanuel brought the
interview to a sudden close.

“Cavour came out of the house flushed and exhausted, and
drove back to Desenzano: he had resigned office. Kossuth relates
that on July 14th Cavour said in his presence, to Pietri, the private
secretary of Napoleon, that there was one thing in which a man
can never compromise, and that was honour. ‘ Your Emperor
has dishonoured me; he gave me his word that he would not
desist till he had driven the Austrians out of Italy, and he took
Savoy and Nice as a recompense. I persuaded my King to
consent, to make the sacrifice, for Italy. My King, a good and
honest man, consented, trusting to my word, and now the Emperor

473
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

carries off the recompense and leaves us in the lurch. Certainly—
T say it not before you, but before God—this peace shall never
be concluded, this treaty shall never be executed. I will make
myself a conspirator, a revolutionary. No, this treaty shall never
be executed. No, a thousand times no! Never, never!’ ”

After all, what happened was probably for the best. Another
Solferino might have driven the Austrians from Italy and estab-
lished a powerful kingdom in northern Italy; but it would have
left the rest of the peninsula under the virtual government of

the Dukes and established a confederation, which would have
made the unity of Italy difficult. The Peace of Villafranca was
really the salvation of Italy. Otherwise Italy would have remained
under the influence of France, and the other Powers of Europe
would have looked upon the new kingdom as the creation of that
country. As it was, both Prussia and Great Britain began to
consider the unity of Italy as coming within the range of practical
politics. The restoration of Italy—advanced a step further in
1866, completed in 1870—was to await the consecration of other
efforts, if it should become a fabric resting on natural forces, and
of such a character as to endure the shocks of circumstance and
time.

474
CHAPTER II

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA

Tue Civil War in America between the Northern and Southern
States arose out of the question of slavery. It will, therefore, be
well to give a short history of this question from the time at
which our narrative opens—the year 1815. At that date all the
Eastern Middle States, excepting Delaware, were non-Slavery, or,
as they were called in America, Free Soil. Slavery was prohibited
in the North-West Territory, American citizens were forbidden to
engage in the slave trade of foreign countries, subjects of foreign
countries were prohibited from engaging in the American slave trade,
and the importation of slaves into the United States was forbidden
by law. Of the twenty-two States which, before 1820, composed
the Union, eleven were slave-holding and eleven free, so that the
two principles were equally represented in the Senate. In 1821
the State of Missouri was created, lying west of Mississippi, and
being part of the Louisiana Reserve, in which slavery had been
left an open question. Missouri had wished to be a slave State, but
the Anti-Slavery party were determined that it should not be.
A fierce struggle went on, and in 1820 the famous Missouri Com-
promise was effected, by which Missouri was admitted to be
known as a slave-holding State, but in all the rest of the Louisiana
Reserve slavery was ‘“‘for ever prohibited.” A few months
previously Maine had been admitted as a free State, so that the
balance in the Senate was preserved.

Hostility to slavery as a moral and political wrong now spread
widely and grew in intensity. A paper, called the Liberator,
urging the abolition of slavery, was established at Boston by
William Lloyd Garrison. Although violently attacked by the
slave-holding States, Garrison gathered round him a band of
abolitionists, and in 1832 founded the New England Anti-Slavery
Society. The dissensions between the slave-holders and the
abolitionists came to a head about the admission of Texas to the
Union, which was finally settled in December, 1845. Texas, a
slave-holding State, had been, first, part of the Mexican Confedera-
tion and then independent, and by its adherence to the Union
slavery became illegal. The admission of Texas also led to a war

475
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

with Mexico. At last, in 1850, feeling rose so high that there was
grave danger that the Union would be broken up; and Henry
Clay, who, after an absence of eight years, had come back to the
Senate, bent all his talents and energies to the effecting of a
compromise.

Gold had been discovered in California, and it became neces-
sary to admit that territory to the Union. Should it be slave or
free? If it were free it would destroy the balance in the Senate,
making sixteen free to fifteen slave-holding States. A similar
difficulty arose about the admission of the Mormon State of
Deseret or Utah, which had formed part of Mexico. The Wilmot
Proviso, discussed in 1848, laid down that any State formed out
of territory acquired from Mexico should be Free Soil. The South
threatened secession if this were applied to New Mexico and Utah.
The South, further, demanded more stringent legislation for the
capture and return of fugitive slaves, and the North insisted on
the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of
Columbia.

Clay proposed, as a compromise, that California should be
admitted as a free State, that New Mexico and Utah should be
made Territories without restriction of slavery, that the boundary
between Texas and New Mexico should be settled, that slavery
should not be abolished in the District of Columbia without the
consent of the inhabitants or without compensation, and that
more effectual provision should be made by law for the return of
fugitive slaves. These resolutions were referred to a committee
of thirteen, and eventually, after much discussion and some
amendments, were adopted.

If the cause of abolition were growing in the North, the South
had good reason for resisting it. The possession of slaves gave
her leisure, as it gave leisure to the Greeks, and fostered the growth
of a ruling class, so that the Southern half of the Union was
regarded as the mother of statesmen, born with the instinct for
and the habit of leadership. The makers of America—Madison,
Washington and Jefferson—came from the South. Virginian
statesmen had held the Presidency for thirty-two out of the
first forty years of the existence of the Union. Throughout
American history the South had played a part, in the contest
of parties, out of proportion to her importance in wealth and
population.

Now the South was losing her pre-eminence. She had no
manufactures and few immigrants, while the growth of industries
and the influence of foreign immigrants were enhancing, every

476
GROWTH OF ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT

year, the power and prosperity of the North. As time went on, the
pressure of these forces became more intense. The population of
the United States increased everywhere else by leaps and bounds,
but in the South remained stationary. While the rest of the
country gained each year new sources of wealth and power, none
came to the South. Even her own population left her for the
West and North. In obedience to such forces, the conditions
of political parties began to change.

From the Presidency of Washington to that of Monroe the
country had been governed, much as Great Britain was governed,
by the advice of a few distinguished leaders and conference
between the most prominent members of the two Houses of
Congress. A change set in on the election of Andrew Jackson in
1828, and the old order disappeared for ever. The nominating
convention by which Presidents are still virtually elected dates
from 1832, and was finally consolidated during the next twenty
years. The effect of this change upon the question of slavery was
very serious. A strong feeling against slavery grew up. There
was no desire to abolish it in the States where it was already
established, for it was admitted that this would be a violation
of the Constitution, but there was an extension of the Free
Soil feeling, a determination that slavery should hold no part in
any new additions to the United States. In every extension
towards the west this question had to be fought out. It was
always open, and could never be closed so long as there was new
land to be occupied.

The Democrats succeeded the Whigs as leaders of the South,
as the champions of wise compromise and progressive Conser-
vatism, and it took some time to form a party which could
effectually oppose them. The Whigs had been defeated by the
election of Franklin Pierce to the Presidency in 1852, and the
American Party, or ‘‘ Know-Nothings,” took their place. For
the next eight critical years politics were in a very confused
condition, but the Anti-Slavery cause steadily gained in power.
Its supporters were irritated by the purchase by Pierce of a terri-
tory in Mexico which it would be difficult to rescue from the
grasp of slavery. The creation of the new Territories of Kansas
and Nebraska led to a serious conflict. Should the new terri-
tories be Free Soil, in accordance with the Missouri Compromise,
or decide for themselves whether they should hold slaves or not ?
This was, and remained, the buming question, even after the
Nebraska Territory had been opened conditionally to slavery by
the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.

47 -
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

In 1856 the Republican party was formed in opposition to the
Democrats ; it united the men of very different opinions, but was
essentially Anti-Slavery. It had a majority in fifteen States,
eleven votes in the Senate, and 117 members in the House of
Representatives. The Presidential election of 1856 was a contest
between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Democrats
elected James Buchanan, a strong supporter of the South, who
remained President till 1861. The irritation of the Republicans
against Democratic supremacy was stimulated by the decision
of the Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scott, which was
decidedly favourable to slavery, and by opening the Nebraska
Territories unconditionally to slavery, knocked the bottom out of
the Missouri Compromise.

The contest of the two parties came to a head in Illinois, when
Douglas, the advocate of State rights with regard to slavery, and
father of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, was standing against Abraham
Lincoln for election to the Senate. Lincoln stated the issue with

his usual force and acuteness: ‘‘A house divided against itself
cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure perman-
ently half slave and half free. . . . . I do not expect the house

will fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become
all one thing or all the other.” Douglas was victorious, but the
moral victory was on the side of Lincoln. He had become known
all over the country and was in the running for the Presidency.

Still Buchanan continued the struggle, strongly advocating the
acquisition of Cuba, which would mean an extension of slave
territory, and desiring acquisitions in Mexico and in the Isthmus of
Panama. The South began to threaten disruption, while the
North opposed even more passionately the predominance of
slavery. On October 16th, 1859, took place the raid of John
Brown at Harper’s Ferry in Virginia, for the purpose of liberating
the slaves and bringing about a servile insurrection. Though he
was hanged, he was a noble and courageous enthusiast, and the
flame he kindled spread until it set the whole country in a blaze.

In these circumstances came the Presidential election of 1860.
The Democrats were divided against themselves; one section
nominated Stephen A. Douglas as candidate, another section John
C. Breckinridge. The Republicans voted solid for Lincoln, who
was elected President by 180 votes; while his three opponents,
—for John Bell, of Tennessee, had been added to the other two—
only claimed 103 among them. At the same time, the popular
vote, when analysed, showed that it was a narrow victory ; indeed,
the actual votes supporting Lincoln were nearly 1,000,000 less

478
SECESSION OF THE SOUTH

than those cast for his opponents. Nevertheless, the South felt
the defeat to be irreparable, and determined to sever their
connection with the Northern States.

The Legislature of South Carolina had remained in session to
hear the results of the election. When it knew that Lincoln was
certain to be elected it summoned a constitutional Convention
and renounced the Union, and before Lincoln was inaugurated
in his office six other States had followed its example—namely,
Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. On
December 14th a number of the slave State senators and repre-
sentatives in Congress issued a manifesto from Washington calling
on their constituents to organise a Southern Confederacy and
asking each slave-holding State to separate from the Union.
President Buchanan, it must be added, made no attempt to
prevent ithe secession of the States. The next step was to seize
the forts, arsenals, and custom houses belonging to the Federal or
central Government. However, Major Anderson, who commanded
a garrison of about sixty men in Fort Moultrie on the mainland,
and was not able to hold it, transferred his force by a sudden
movement to Fort Sumter, which was situated in the middle of
Charleston Harbour, and could not be approached except by water.
The capture of Fort Sumter was the first action of the Civil War.
As it refused to surrender, the Confederate batteries opened fire
upon it on April rath, 1861, and on April 14th the fort surrendered
and the garrison was allowed to march out with the honours of
war, no life having been lost on either side.

Although Lincoln was chosen President in November, 1860, he
did not enter upon his office till March 4th, 1861, and during this
period Buchanan was responsible for the maintenance of the
Government and Constitution of the country. He was quite
unequal to the emergency. He denied the right of the South
to secede, but also declared his inability to coerce, and continued
to offend both sides equally. The South, in the meantime, had
not been idle, and her representatives gradually withdrew from
the Senate and Congress. On February 14th they formed a pro-
visional Government under the title of the Confederate States
of America, and on March 11th adopted a permanent Con-
stitution under the same name, Jefferson Davis being chosen
President.

Lincoln was inaugurated as President on March 4th, 1861.
In his address he declared the Union was perpetual and unbroken,
and that the ordinances and resolutions of the secession Govern-
ment were void in law, and promised to execute the law in all the

479
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

States. He concluded with an appeal to the South, saying: ‘“ In
your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, is the momentous
issue of Civil War. You can have no conflict without yourselves
being the aggressors.” They shortly afterwards became the
aggressors, as we have seen, by the attack on Fort Sumter.

On April 15th the President issued a proclamation calling out
75,000 militia for the service of the United States, and two days
later Jefferson Davis, in a proclamation, offered to issue letters
of marque and. reprisal against Federal commerce. This was met
by a counter-proclamation of Lincoln, declaring that the Southern
States were in a state of revolution, and that privateers would be
subject to the laws against piracy. The response to Lincoln’s
appeal for volunteers was much larger and more unanimous than
could have been expected. Recruiting offices were opened in
every town, men of all sorts and conditions left their businesses
to step into the ranks, and in a few days there were placed at the
disposal of the Government several times as many troops as had
been called for. All kinds of buildings, even churches, were
turned into temporary barracks; village greens and city squares
were occupied by drilling soldiers; but there was a great scarcity
of arms.

The first blood was shed at Baltimore, where four companies
of a Massachusetts regiment, who were attempting to march
across the city, met a riotous procession carrying a Confederate
flag. Some provocation being given, orders were issued to fire
into the mob, and many fell. Three militiamen were killed, and
their bodies were sent home to their native State, the firstfruits of
a prolonged service of sacrifice. On the night of May 24th four
regiments of Northern troops crossed the Potomac and took
possession of Arlington Heights, which commanded Washington.
One regiment, commanded by Ellsworth, who had distinguished
himself by teaching a Chicago company the Zouave drill, marched
to Alexandria, where a Secessional flag was flying over the
principal hotel. Accompanied by two soldiers, he went to the
top of the house and seized the flag, but as he was returning with
it he was shot by the hotel-keeper on the stairs. Ellsworth became
a hero of the national movement.

The militia called out by President Lincoln were at first to
serve only three months; but on May 3rd, by another proclama-
tion, 42,000 volunteers were summoned for three years. He also
took power to raise ten new regiments for the regular army and
18,000 volunteer seamen for the navy. These steps involved a
stretch of Presidential authority, but when Congress met on July

480
BATTLE OF BULL RUN

4th the President’s action was confirmed. He then asked Congress
for 400,000 men and 400,000,000 dollars, and received 500,000
men and 500,000,000. At the same time, the Confederates had
established their capital at Richmond in Virginia. The Federal
army became anxious for a forward movement, and a cry was
raised, ‘‘On to Richmond!” Some experienced officers, such as
General Scott, were opposed to undertaking an offensive move-
ment with raw troops, and advised that operations should for the
moment be confined to the protection of Washington, the capital,
and the retention of Maryland. However, the three months’
term of the seventy-five militia regiments was rapidly running out,
and political considerations seemed to require vigorous military
action.

The Confederate army under Beauregard had been sent to
occupy Manassas Junction, which was the railway centre of
Northern Virginia. His army was 22,000 strong, and McDowell
was sent to attack it with a force of 30,000 men. He started on
his expedition on July 16th. The Southern army had some
field works at Manassas, armed with fifteen heavy guns and
garrisoned with 2,000 men; but Beauregard’s main strength was
posted along the south side of a stream called Bull Run, flowing
in a south-easterly direction, about three miles east of Manassas.
On July 17th the Confederate army was distributed along this
space, seven or eight miles in extent, a brigade being posted at
each passage of the river, two brigades being held behind in reserve.
The Federal army in the field was commanded by McDowell, and
his plan was to turn Beauregard’s right flank, to seize the railway
in the rear of his position, and so to defeat him. It was important
that Beauregard should not be assisted by Joseph E. Johnston,
who had an army of 9,000 men in the Shenandoah Valley, and
Patterson had been told off to prevent this junction.

McDowell reached Bull Run on July 18th, and the first engage-
ment took place at Blackburn’s Ford with the loss of about sixty
men on each side. McDowell then determined to attack on the
left wing, partly because he wished to secure the Manassas Gap
railway, so as to prevent the junction of Johnston and Beauregard.
Two days were spent in seeking for a passage higher up the river,
and such a passage was found at a place called Sudley’s Ford.
The battle took place on Sunday, July 21st, the Federal army
advancing three divisions, towards Mitchell’s Ford on the right,
Stone Bridge in the centre, and Sudley’s Ford on the left,
the reserve remaining at Centreville. McDowell, unaware that
Johnston had succeeded in evading Patterson and had joined

Q 481
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Beauregard with part of his forces on the previous day, made a
feint upon Stone Bridge; but the bulk of his force marched to
Sudley’s Ford, which was two miles and a half distant. He passed
the river without opposition, but was soon met by the Confederates
coming from Stone Bridge. The rest of the Federal army
remained on the left bank of the stream. The Confederates fell
back and established themselves on better ground, more capable
of defence, and also received reinforcements from the right,
whereas the Federal army became separated and fought in
detachments.

In the early afternoon a brigade, 5,000 strong, arrived by rail,
formed at right angles to the Federal right, and fell upon it at
about 4 in the afternoon. The Federals broke and fled over
the Bull Run, but the Confederate reserves, crossing the river,
advanced upon Centreville and threatened the reserves posted
there and the line of retreat, so that the retreat degenerated into
a rout and a race for Washington. Arms and accoutrements
were thrown away, drivers of army wagons cut the traces, leaped
upon the backs of horses, and rode through the crowd of fugitives,
abandoning guns and trains. The loss of the Confederates was
about 1,900, that of the Federals 1,500 killed and wounded and
aS many more taken prisoners. The Confederates remained in
possession of the battlefield for weeks. The Confederates were
as much surprised as the Federals themselves at their sudden
victory, and there was little pursuit. Sherman, who commanded
a brigade in the Federal Army, said, “‘It was one of the best
planned battles in the war, but one of the worst fought’’; while
Johnston declared, ‘‘ If the tactics of the Federals had been equal
to their strategy we should have been beaten.”

The victory of Bull Run produced a feeling of wild excite-
ment in the South, and helped to cherish the confidence that it
would eventually lead to independence. “On the other hand,
it was a bitter disappointment and profound humiliation to the
North. Lincoln and Congress had not expected anything of the
kind. Scott, their general, had confidently looked forward to
victory. Indeed, the result would have been different if Patterson
had succeeded in holding back Johnston at Winchester. Several
members of Congress had gone to the front, to be present at the
battle, and one of them was taken prisoner and kept for several
months in confinement at Richmond. But in spite of the sense
of chagrin the defeat at Bull Run had the effect of deepening
the zeal, courage and determination of the Government, Congress,
the army, and the nation at large.

482
MCCLELLAN TAKES COMMAND

General McClellan was now summoned to Washington, owing
to the retirement of Scott through age and infirmity, and in a
short time formed what was afterwards known as the Army of
the Potomac out of the new regiments of three-year volunteers
who were passing into the capital. McClellan had gained a
brilliant success in West Virginia, having captured seven guns,
the greater part of the camp equipment and baggage of the
Confederates, together with nearly 1,000 men, his own loss having
been under fifty. His arrival at Washington roused warm enthu-
siasm. He had in his favour youth, industry, and a winning
personality. He wrote, “By some strange operation of magic
I seem to have become the power of the land. They give me my
way in everything, full swing, and unbounded confidence.”
Unfortunately this too sympathetic treatment engendered an
exaggerated self-esteem which did not escape the notice of
Lincoln; but, for the moment, his countrymen regarded him as
a young Napoleon. He succeeded Scott as Commander-in-Chief,
and thus had control over all the forces of the Union, with an
army of nearly 125,000 effective soldiers under his personal com-
mand, thoroughly organised, drilled, and armed.

The popular hero, however, remained in irritating inactivity.
The only serious force opposed to him was the Confederate army
of less than 50,000 men, under Johnston, who had planned several
offensive movements, but had not been able to carry them out
for want of troops. Although McClellan was superior to the
enemy immediately in front of him by three to one, the best season
for operations was allowed to pass away. At the end of October,
1861, he determined to send a strong reconnaissance to Leesburg,
to gain the position of the enemy and cross the Potomac into
Maryland. The expedition ended in complete disaster. The
Federal troops gave way before their opponents, broke, and ran
towards the river, swarmed down the steep bluff, pursued by the
Confederates, who shot and bayoneted them as they ran. They
crowded along the bank of the river, throwing away arms,
accoutrements, and clothing ; indeed, nearly half the force engaged
was either killed or captured.

Such was the disaster of Ball’s Bluff, and it had an exasperat-
ing effect on public opinion. When Congress met in December,
it created a Joint War Committee of the two Houses, which played
an important part throughout the whole war by its examination
into and criticism of military affairs. In the meantime, the
Confederates established batteries on the Virginian side of the
Potomac, thus creating an almost complete blockade of the river.

483
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Finally, McClellan’s army went into winter quarters, and the
general himself fell ill. In January, 1862, Lincoln said that if
something were not done soon the bottom would be out of the
whole affair, and that if General McClellan did not want to use
the army he would like to borrow it, provided he could see how it
could be made to do something.

At this time an event occurred which, while it relieved the
tension in the North, threatened to disturb the peaceful relations
with Great Britain. When the war broke out Great Britain
determined to take up a position of strict neutrality, and recog-
nised the Southern States as belligerent. The popular feeling in
Great Britain probably favoured the South, although the more
intellectual and more cultivated part of the nation espoused the
cause of the North. This support of the Confederates was partly
due to the fact that the blockade of the Southern ports deprived
Lancashire of the cotton which was the foundation of its prosperity.

The Federals were naturally annoyed at this attitude. Know-
ing the passionate hatred which Great Britain had always shown
towards slavery, and the sacrifices she had made for the extermina-
tion of the trade in slaves and for the abolition of slavery
in her colonies, they thought that she would take the side of
those who were contending against slavery, and would not have
recognised a slave-holding power as belligerent. The North
naturally complained that this action had converted civil into
international war. Towards the close of 1861, Captain Wilkes,
an officer of the United States Navy, stopped a Royal Mail
steamer, called the Tvent, on her voyage from Havana to
England, and arrested two Southerners, Mason and Slidell, who
were on their way to represent the Confederate States at London
and Paris. The Cabinet at once decided that this insult to the
British flag must be made good, and sent a large expedition to
Canada. There was considerable danger of a war, which, how-
ever, was averted by moderation on both sides of the Atlantic.
In England, at a Privy Council, held at Windsor just before his
death, the Prince Consort suggested a modification of a dispatch,
by the insertion in it of the belief that the action of Captain Wilkes
had neither been directed, nor approved of, by his Government,
and in this view Lincoln had the wisdom to acquiesce.

Before we proceed to narrate the further events of the war, it
will be well to give a sketch of the geographical areas in which the
principal struggles took place. For this purpose we may divide
the territory of the United States into three great sections, the
first extending from the eastern coast to the Alleghany Mountains,

484
IMPORTANCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI

the second from these mountains to the Mississippi, and the third
from the Mississippi to the western coast. But besides the battles
fought in these regions, a most important incident in the war was
the strict blockade of the eastern coast, which extended from
Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the western
shore of the Gulf of Mexico. This not only prevented foreign
ships from landing arms or munitions of war for the South, but
also prevented Confederate vessels from carrying cotton for sale
to Europe. It had a serious effect on the social and political life
of the South, which was deprived of the enjoyment of foreign
products and lost its credit in the world.

Of the three geographical sections mentioned, the first was
the most important. The two capitals of the belligerent Powers
were Washington on the Potomac and Richmond on the James
River in Virginia, only 115 miles from each other. It was the
business of the Federals to defend the one and capture the other,
their efforts to effect the latter object leading to the most impor-
tant battles of the war, the action of the Federals, in consequence
of their superior numbers, being almost always aggressive.

The determining influence in the other two sections was the
Mississippi, which divided them. On this river were situated
the two great commercial cities of the west—St. Louis, which
belonged to the Federals, and New Orleans, which belonged to
the Confederates. There was, therefore, a constant struggle for
the possession of the Mississippi. The Confederates, who had the
advantage of possession, did their best to fortify the waterway at
the best available points; but the Federals had the advantage
that the State of Illinois, which was part of their territory,
reached down between the Ohio and the Mississippi to their
junction at Cairo, which was farther south than any other part
of the Northern dominions. Moreover, the Northern States in
this region were especially populous and energetic. It follows,
therefore, that the operations of the war after 1861 were devoted
to three main objects—the maintenance of the blockade, the
capture of Richmond, and the conquest of the Mississippi.

In our narrative we shall pursue mainly a chronological order
and begin with the events which led to the Battle of Shiloh. The
command in the west was now held by Halleck, who had succeeded
Fremont. He had been ordered by McClellan to concentrate the
mass of the troops on or near the Mississippi, in order to under-
take operations from Cairo to the Gulf of Mexico. From Cairo
to the sea the Mississippi pursues a winding course of nearly 1,100
miles, in which it only falls 322 feet. It flows through an alluvial

485
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

valley enclosed on each side by bluffs or hills, which approach the
river only at a few points, and therefore afford only occasional
opportunities for fortification. In order to capture the upper
reaches of the river, the Confederates had advanced into Kentucky
to seize and fortify the Heights of Columbus, twenty miles below
Cairo, which they did so effectually that it became known as “ the
Gibraltar of the West.” Buell commanded in Kentucky, but did
not get on with Halleck. On January 7th, 1862, Lincoln was
obliged to interfere, and sent an identical despatch to both, order-
ing them to act together and to name a day when they would
be able to march southwards in concert, as delay was ruining the
cause and it was indispensable to secure definite results.

On the previous day Halleck had ordered Ulysses S. Grant, a
subordinate general, posted at Cairo, to make a demonstration
with land forces and gunboats against Columbus, and also to
examine Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson on the
Cumberland River. Observation convinced Grant that it was
possible to break through the Confederate lines on the Tennessee.
After obtaining permission with difficulty, he captured Fort
Henry after an hour’s bombardment on February 6th, and
assaulted Fort Donelson on February 15th. Next morning
Buckner, who was in command, proposed an armistice to
arrange terms of capitulation. To this Grant replied, ‘‘ No terms
other than an unconditional and immediate surrender can be
accepted. I propose to move immediately on your works.”
Buckner at once surrendered the fort with its garrison of 14,000
men. This led to the evacuation of Columbus.

In March there took place the fight between the Monitor and
the Merrimac. The latter vessel was really a steamer that had
been sunk at Norfolk and been raised by the Confederates, who
had transformed it into an ironclad. The Monitor was altogether
novel in design, Southern officers describing her as “a tin can on
a raft.” When fighting she showed nothing above water but a low
hull, well protected by armour, a circular turret plated with iron
and carrying two heavy smooth-bore guns, and a low conning-
tower in front—of course, a dangerous type in an open sea. The
Merrimac had four rifled and six smooth-bore guns of heavy calibre.
She had attacked the Northern fleet and done considerable damage
to the wooden vessels ; but on March gth her career was effectu-
ally checked by the Monitor. The duel, indeed, was indecisive ;
but the further destruction of the fleet was stopped. The
Merrimac was destroyed by the Confederates in May, and the
Monitor foundered in December, with the loss of some of her men ;

486
THE BATTLE OF SHILOH

but she had done her work .by preventing the breaking of the
blockade. The battle is important in history as the first action
fought between armoured steamships.

Two days later, on March 11th, Lincoln issued his War Office
Order No. 9, relieving McClellan from the command, entrusting
him with the campaign against Richmond, and forming the
Department of the Mississippi, which was placed under Halleck.
The latter now undertook an expedition into Tennessee, which
led to the Battle of Shiloh, one of the bloodiest of the war, called
after a little log church in the south-west of that State. The
Confederate general, Albert S. Johnston, was at this time
posted at Corinth with a large force. This place, situated
in Northern Mississippi, had been fortified as a position of great
importance, being the point where the Memphis and Charleston
Railway is crossed by the Mobile and Ohio Railway.

Grant moved forward to attack Corinth, with 40,000 men,
expecting to be joined by a similar force from Nashville. On
April 6th he had reached Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank
of the broad Tennessee river, about twenty miles north of Corinth.
One portion of his army was at Crump’s Landing, about five
miles to the north, and the force expected from Nashville had
just reached the shore of this river opposite to the landing. All
Grant’s troops were comparatively raw, two divisions having never
been under fire. They possessed courage enough, but had not
learnt the necessity of precaution. They were so intent upon an
advance that they had made no preparations for defence. Sherman
wrote, “At a later period of the war we should have made this
position impregnable in one night.” On the morning of Sunday,
April 6th, they were suddenly attacked by 40,000 troops under
Johnston, who had, during the last two days, marched from
Corinth. The battle lasted the whole day, and the field was hotly
contested; but, on the whole, the Confederates steadily gained
ground. One Federal division was captured, but Johnston him-
self was killed. When the battle ended the Federal line had been
driven back two miles. Grant said of the battlefield, “‘ It was so
covered with dead that it would have been possible to walk across
the clearing in any direction, stepping on dead bodies, without a
foot touching the ground.” On one side of it Federal and Con-
federate troops were mingled together in nearly equal proportions,
but on the rest of the field nearly all were Confederates.

During the night the Nashville contingent, commanded by
Buell, crossed the river, and at daylight Grant renewed the attack.
Beauregard, who had replaced Johnston, must have known that

487
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

resistance was hopeless, but did his best to hold the road which
passes by Shiloh Church in order to secure his retreat. Sherman
advanced and recaptured his camp, which had been taken on the
previous day, and around Shiloh Church the battle raged with the
greatest fury. At last Beauregard withdrew, leaving his dead
on the field, and there was no attempt at pursuit. In the battle
Sherman, commanding a division, especially distinguished him-
self. The losses were large: the number of killed and wounded
was about the same on either side, the Federal loss being, if any-
thing, the heavier, while they also had 2,000 more men missing
than the Confederates. After the battle Halleck laid siege to
Corinth, which was defended by Beauregard and not evacuated
till May 29th. By some authorities the Battle of Shiloh has been
thought to be the turning point of the war, as it opened for the
Federals the way to the sea, and an army could not be prevented
now from marching to the rear of the Confederates and cutting
off the supplies of the troops who held Richmond, thus compelling
their surrender. The loss of Johnston was very serious; had
he survived he might have turned the fortune of the war.

Nor was Shiloh the sole success of the Federals at this period,
for Admiral Farragut succeeded in capturing New Orleans, by
far the largest and most influential city in the Confederacy, and
a point of the highest strategical importance. Farragut was a
Southerner by birth, but from conscientious reasons had taken
the side of the North. He opened the bombardment from his
fleet on April 18th, and continued it for six days and nights. Six
thousand shells fell in and near the forts, St. Philip and Jackson,
which, garrisoned by 1,500 Confederate soldiers, defended the
city towards the sea. A shell fell about every minute and a half,
but the forts were not rendered untenable, nor their guns silenced,
although more than fifty of the defenders were killed and wounded.
In the meantime the Confederates had prepared fireships, flat-
bottomed boats loaded with dry wood and turpentine, which
they lighted and sent down the stream. Farragut, however,
intercepted them and disposed of them without suffering damage.

He now formed the plan of running by the forts, destroying
and capturing the Confederate fleet and bringing the city within
range of his guns. He started on April 24th, just before sunrise,
an opening being made in the chain which closed the harbour to
let him through. Three of the ships in the rear failed to make the
passage, but those that got through began at once to destroy the
enemy’s flotilla and then pushed on and took possession of New
Orleans. The two forts, being isolated, surrendered to Farragut,

488
INVESTMENT OF RICHMOND

as he expected, on April 28th. The victory was one of first-rate
consequence politically, as we are told by the envoy of the South
in Paris that if New Orleans had not fallen the recognition of the
Confederacy by France could not have been much longer delayed.
This great feat, which sets the name of Farragut beside that of
Grant, was accomplished with a loss to the fleet of only 37 killed,
147 wounded, and one small ship rammed and sunk.

We must now consider the operations against Richmond. On
March 13th, 1862, it had been determined to attack the city by
way of Fort Monroe. This plan was accepted by Lincoln on
condition that Manassas were permanently occupied and the
city of Washington made perfectly secure. The forces went
down the Potomac in boats, and on April 5th there were concen-
trated at Monroe 121,500 men, with arsenals, wagons, batteries,
pontoon bridges, and other requisites. McClellan arrived there
on April 2nd, with the intention of leading the army up the
peninsula between the York and James rivers. Had he moved at
once he might possibly have taken Richmond without difficulty,
but circumstances caused delay. On April 4th he marched with
50,000 men against Yorktown, which was defended by a compara-
tively small. force. McClellan, instead of storming the place, laid
regular siege to it, and on May 3rd, when he was ready to open
the bombardment, Joseph Johnston, who was in command, stole
away, leaving dummy guns in the embrasures. Johnston said
that this delay not only saved Richmond, but gave the Con-
federates time to convert a handful of troops into an army. On
May 5th McClellan fought another battle at Williamsburg, twelve
miles distant. Both sides claimed the victory, but the loss of
the Federals was greater than that of the Confederates, who
retired without hindrance.

The Confederate army now went into camp about three miles
from Richmond, and McClellan, advancing, placed his forces as
a line about thirteen miles in length on the left bank of the
Chickahominy. On May 31st he commanded 127,000 men; and
Johnston, who opposed him, only 62,000. However, a violent
storm gave the Confederates an opportunity of attacking a portion
of the Federal army which was separated from the rest by water ;
but the ensuing battle at Fair Oaks was without decisive results,
the Federals losing 5,000 and the Confederates 6,000 men. Late
in the evening Johnston was seriously wounded, and his place
as commander of the armies around Richmond was taken by
Robert E. Lee in June, 1862. Lee was a Virginian, and had been
marked out by Scott as a possible commander of the Federal

af 489
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

army; but on April 2oth, 1861, he tendered his resignation and
was placed in command of the Virginian troops who were fighting
for the South. In course of time he became General-in-Chief of
the Confederate armies. His ablest lieutenant was “‘ Stonewall”
Jackson, so called from an incident in the battle of Bull Run,
where General Bee, of South Carolina, who was killed later in
the day, rallied his wavering men by appealing to them to follow
the example of Jackson’s brigade, standing there “ like a stone
wall.” Lee repeatedly astonished his adversaries by his marvellous
rapidity and his appearances in unexpected places.

The beautiful valley of the Shenandoah, which lies between
the Blue Mountains and the Alleghany Mountains, was favourable
to an army threatening Washington, and unfavourable to one
attacking Richmond; for the Confederates, as they marched
down the valley, came at every step nearer to the Federal capital,
whereas a Federal army marching up the valley was gradually
carried farther and farther from Richmond. In the valley
McDowell was opposed to Jackson, and there was a chance of
Jackson being overwhelmed, but he contrived to escape and
joined Lee at Richmond. Lee was making preparations for driving
McClellan from the peninsula, and wrote to Jackson that unless
McClellan could be driven out of his entrenchments he could
come so near to Richmond that he would be able to bombard it.
Pains were taken to conceal from the Federals the fact that
Jackson’s army was to join Lee’s. The result of Lee’s arrange-
ments was the seven days’ battle, which lasted from June 25th to
July 1st, and ended in the retreat of McClellan from Richmond. As
a preliminary, Lee, leaving about 30,000 men to defend Richmond,
crossed the Chickahominy with 35,000, intending to join Jackson,
who had 25,000, and with this overwhelming force suddenly attack
the 20,000 men who were posted on the north side of the river,
and, after destroying them, ere reinforcements could come up,
capture McClellan’s base. Jackson, for once in his life, was late,
so that the plan failed, Lee losing 3,000 men.

Next day followed the Battle of Gaines Mills, also called the
Battle of Chickahominy, or the first Battle of Cold Harbour, in
which the Federal line was broken. After Jackson’s arrival on
the field, two Federal regiments were made prisoners and two
guns were taken. McClellan now changed his base from the
Chickahominy to the James River, where he was attacked by
Magruder, who had been left behind at Richmond. The attack
failed and the Federals were able to defend the road which led
through White Oak Swamp. Jackson now crossed the Chicka-

490
CONFEDERATE ADVANTAGES

hominy, and attempted to follow McClellan’s rearguard through
White Oak Swamp, but was unable to do so. Hill and Longstreet,
however, had crossed the river, farther up the stream, and marched
round the swamp, striking the retreating army near Charles City
Cross Roads on June 30th. There was terrific fighting all the
afternoon, but the Federal army held their ground. MacCall,
however, was captured and carried off to Richmond. Dark-
ness put an end to the fighting, and McClellan retreated to
Malvern Hill, having lost two guns and suffered severely in
other ways. :

The last battle of the series was fought at Malvern Hill, where
McClellan made his final stand. It is a plateau on the side of
the James, about 80 feet high, a mile and a half long, and a mile
broad, and can only be approached by the north-western face.
McClellan’s army was arranged in a semicircle, with the right
wing thrown back so as to reach Harrison’s Landing on the James.
His position was strongly defended by artillery. Lee was not
able to make the assault till July 1st. The battle began by an
artillery duel, which was not very effective on the Confederate side.
The infantry attack was made with too little regard for concentra-
tion, and, although fighting continued till 3 p.m., the line was
never shaken nor were the guns in danger. The battle had cost
Lee 5,000 men, and he desisted from the pursuit of the Northern
army. McClellan retired during the night to Harrison’s Landing,
where he was protected by gunboats and had collected his supplies.
The losses during the seven days’ fighting were estimated at 15,000
on the Federal and over 19,000 on the Confederate side.

Lincoln now saw that nothing substantial could be effected
unless the Northern army were very considerably increased, and
he appealed to the Governors of the States for 300,000 volunteers.
He also issued an order on July 11th constituting Halleck
Commander-in-Chief of the land forces. The Army of the
Potomac was withdrawn from Harrison’s Landing and united
with the Army of Virginia under Pope; while Lee, relieved from
all fears about the safety of Richmond, assumed the offensive
and marched against Pope.

From July rth to Novembe: 7th numerous engagements
took place between the two forces, one side eager to reach
Richmond, the other Washington. Generally the advantage
was with the Confederates, who had superior skill and dash but
inferior numbers, yet Washington was never really in danger,
and on several occasions greater energy on the part of the Federals
might have achieved the entire defeat of the South.

491
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

McClellan’s conduct of this campaign has been much discussed.
It is alleged that he was dilatory, and that he overrated the
strength of his adversaries and underrated his own, and later
information seems to have strengthened the case against him.
But it must be remembered that the Southern troops were, in the
first place, more fit for war than the Northern. The position,
indeed, resembled that of the Cavaliers and the Puritans in the
Civil War in England. The South were mainly gentlemen, ‘“ men
of a spirit,” to use the expression of Cromwell, whereas the North
needed much training and consolidation to bring them up to their
level. McClellan’s hesitation and delay may therefore have been
justified ; but Lincoln, having borne long with him and shown
tenderness and ‘patience towards him, at last gave way and put
Burnside in his place. Nevertheless, whatever changes were
made in the personnel of command, many engagements had to be
fought—long, stubborn and bloody—ere the miserable struggle
reached its end. One of the most important of them was the
Second Battle of Bull Run. In the middle of August, 1862, Lee
and Jackson had together a force of 70,000 men, whereas Pope,
having only 50,000, retired beyond the Rappahannock. On
August 25th, Jackson, with 18,000 men, moved up the Rappa-
hannock and completed a circle round Pope’s right. He then
passed over the Bull Run Mountains and destroyed a railway
station in the rear of the Federals. Pope marched against him
and Jackson retired to Manassas Junction, where he took a
number of prisoners and destroyed a quantity of commissariat
stores. Pope, being reinforced by some of McClellan’s army, sent
McDowell, with 40,000 men, to intercept Lee, who was marching
to join Jackson, and himself advanced against Jackson. This
gave Lee the opportunity of meeting Jackson, which McDowell
had been powerless to prevent. The consequence was that, on
August 30th, Lee was able to attack Pope and inflict a severe
defeat upon him, causing him heavy loss. After this battle Pope’s
army crossed the Bull Run at Stone Bridge and encamped upon
the heights round Centreville, but afterwards fell back still farther
and occupied Fairfax Court House and Germantown. Lee now
attempted to cut Pope off from Washington, and the latter was
forced to withdraw to the fortifications of Washington, where his
army became merged in that of the Potomac. Lee claimed that in
these operations he had captured 9,000 prisoners and 30 guns, and
Pope’s killed and wounded could not have fallen short of 10,000 men.

Lee now crossed the Potomac and marched into Maryland,
by way of Leesburg and Frederick, issuing a proclamation to the

492
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

inhabitants to join the Confederacy; but the appeal was with-
out result, as all Marylanders who intended to join the South had
already done so. He also hoped he might gain a decisive battle
over McClellan, advance into Pennsylvania, occupy Philadelphia,
and dictate peace in Independence Hall. McClellan arrived at
Frederick on September 12th, two days after Lee had left it.
Here he found a sketch of the campaign which Lee had drawn up,
from which he learned that Lee had divided his forces, leaving
some in Maryland and sending others across the Potomac to
capture Harper’s Ferry, which was effected by Jackson. Eleven
thousand men were taken in the capitulation, with 73 guns and
much camp equipage.

The Battle of Antietam was fought on September 17th, 1862.
Lee’s forces numbered 40,000 men. He occupied a strong position,
both wings resting on the Potomac and the Antietam Creek flowed
in front. The creek was passable by four stone bridges and a
ford, all, except the most northerly bridge, strongly guarded.
McClellan determined to throw his right wing over the unguarded
bridge, assail the Confederate left, and then force the remaining
bridges with his left and centre. The struggle went on all day
without any very definite results. About noon Burnside carried
the bridge opposite to him, and attacked the Confederate right,
taking a battery on the ridge. Lee, however, came up with fresh
forces, drove Burnside from his position, and retook the battery.
The Battle of Antietam was at first regarded as a Federal victory,
and it certainly caused the Confederates heavy losses and stopped
all ideas of invading Maryland and Pennsylvania; but, in reality,
it was a drawn battle, both sides having suffered equally, and
neither being able to resume the struggle.

Lee withdrew to Winchester, and McClellan took up his
position on the Potomac. Here, at the beginning of October, he
was visited by Lincoln, who urged him to cross the Potomac,
give battle to the enemy, and drive him south. Lincoln said,
“Your army must move now, while the roads are good. If you
cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the
capital with your operations, you can be reinforced with 30,000
men.” McClellan, however, remained inactive, saying that his
army was in need of shoes and clothing. At last, on October
26th, he did cross the Potomac, and marched southwards, on the
eastern side of the Blue Mountains, while Lee moved parallel with
him on the western side. But nothing decisive was done, and on
November 7th, the President, as we have seen, relieved McClellan
and put Burnside in his place.

493
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Burnside was a graduate of the West Point Academy, and had
at first devoted himself to civil pursuits, but had re-entered the
army at the beginning of the war. Besides his military training,
he had a handsome person and winning disposition. He under-
took the command of the Army of the Potomac reluctantly, as he
doubted his ability to perform the duty, and it was only when urged
by McClellan, who was a valued friend, that he consented. Burn-
side, after reorganising his army into three great divisions, under
Sumner, Hooker and Franklin, aimed straight at Richmond and
set out for that place by the north bank of the Rappahannock and
the city of Fredericksburg. Lee immediately marched to cover
the Confederate capital, and stationed his army on the heights
south and west of Fredericksburg, which he strongly fortified.
His line was 54 miles long, but it was very strongly defended.

Burnside did not succeed in crossing the Rappahannock till
December 12th, being much impeded by Lee’s fire, and next day
proceeded to attack the heights on which the whole of the Con-
federate army was concentrated, Longstreet being on the right and
Jackson on the left, with every gun in position. The attack, which
was not delivered at the right place, was a complete failure. At one
spot the advance was made along a road with a wall on one side,
and the Confederate army was so numerous that each man posted
at the wall had two or three men behind him to load his muskets,
and all he had to do was to lay them in turn upon the wall and
fire them rapidly without exposing himself. At last nearly half
the attacking force was shot down and the rest retired. Burnside,
in great wrath at his ill success, ordered Hooker to advance with
the reserve. He reluctantly obeyed after a remonstrance, and
lost 1,700 dead and wounded out of 4,000. After he had been
completely defeated, Burnside was anxious to make another
attack next day, but was dissuaded by Sumner. He recrossed
the Rappahannock in the night of December 15th during a
storm, and the campaign was at an end. In the attack on
Fredericksburg the Federals had lost 12,353 men and the Con-
federates 4,201.

This defeat was so disastrous and so discreditable to Burnside’s
military capacity that Lincoln ordered him to make no other
move without his knowledge. However, on January 21st, 1863,
he started his army on what was afterwards known as “the Mud
March,” because it was cut short by a rain-storm which rendered
the roads impassable. The soldiers blessed an intervention of
Nature for saving them from massacre. Burnside quarrelled with
his officers and sent in his resignation, and Lincoln, seeing that

494
THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE

reconciliation was hopeless, relieved him and appointed Hooker
in his place.

He did this in a most characteristic letter: ‘‘I have placed
you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have
done this upon what appear to me sufficient reasons, and yet I
think it right for you to know that there are some things in regard
to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be
a brave and skilful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe
you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are
right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if
not indispensable, quality. You are ambitious, which within
reasonable bounds does rather good than harm; but I think that
during General Burnside’s command of the army you have taken
counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could,
in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most
meritorious and honourable brother officer. I have heard, in such
a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army
and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it was not for
this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only
those generals who gain successes can set up as dictators. What
I ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship.
The Government will support you to the utmost of its ability,
which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for
its commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have
assisted to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander
and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you.
I shall assist you, as far as I can, to put it down. Neither you
nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of
an army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now, beware of
rashness. Beware of rashness. But with energy and sleepless
vigilance go forward and give us victories.”

' Hooker was not a much greater success in the field than
Burnside had been. It is said he planned well but fought badly.
After spending some time in restoring the relaxed discipline of
the Army of the Potomac, he opened the spring campaign with
every prospect of success. Lee remained entrenched at Fredericks-
burg, and Hooker, by April 30th, 1863, had collected four army
corps at Chancellorsville, eleven miles distant, to attack his rear.
Lee, however, brought his troops up from Fredericksburg and
extended them in front of Hooker. He then organised a flanking
movement under Stonewall Jackson, which surrounded the Federal
right and, by a furious attack, threw it into great disorder. After
a series of battles which lasted four days Hooker was entirely

495
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

defeated; but in one of the battles, which were called by the
collective name of Chancellorsville, Stonewall Jackson was killed.
Riding forward in front of his troops, he came between the fire
of both sides, and was shot by accident by his own troops. He
was carried into the hospital and his arm amputated, but he died
within the week.

After these successes public opinion in the South began to
demand that Lee should invade the North, or at least threaten
Washington. His army had been reinforced by Longstreet ;
losses had been supplied by a levy of conscripts, which called
even boys of sixteen from school; and the army had unbounded
confidence in itself. Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, was _ being
besieged by Grant, and its fall would deal a severe blow to the
Confederacy unless it were neutralised by a victory in the east.
There was, moreover, the hope that, if a great battle were won
by the Confederates they would receive recognition, if not active
assistance, from Great Britain and France. For these reasons
Lee began his northward march in the beginning of June and
invaded Pennsylvania.

Hooker at first thought that this would be a good oppor-
tunity for a dash at Richmond, but Lincoln disapproved of the
plan and advised Hooker, in case he found Lee moving to the
north of the Rappahannock, not to cross to the south of it. “I
would not take any risk,”’ he wrote, “ of being entangled upon the
river, like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn
by dogs front and rear without a fair chance to gore one way or
kick the other. I think Lee’s army, and not Richmond, is the
best objective point.” Hooker took the President’s advice and
began well, but after a time dissensions between the commanders
broke out and Hooker asked to be relieved of his command.
Lincoln, knowing that harmony and effective co-operation were
of final importance, appointed Meade in his stead.

Lee continuing his advance, a contest took place at Gettys-
burg on July 3rd. Both armies were in full force, and both felt
that the impending struggle would be not only of a decisive
character, but probably determine the result of the war. The
forces were posted on opposite elevations—the Federals on the
Cemetery Ridge, the Confederates on the Seminary Ridge. The
early part of the day was spent in ominous silence, and the battle
did not begin till x o’clock. For two hours there was a furious
cannonade from ridge to ridge, the continuous and deafening
roar being audible fifty miles away. The shot and shell tore
up the ground and shattered gravestones, the fragments of

496
FEDERAL VICTORY AT GETTYSBURG

which, flying among the troops, exploded caissons and dis-
mounted guns.

Lee now organised his attack and, forming 15,000 of his best
troops in long columns, moved forward to the charge. They had
to cross a mile of open ground, but before they had got halfway
over the Federal artillery ploughed through and through the
ranks; the gaps were filled up and the columns did not halt.
As they drew nearer the batteries used grape and canister, and
some infantry poured volleys of musketry into their right flank.
The principal attack was directed towards the now famous “ clump
of trees” in a depression in Cemetery Ridge, and it was here that
“ Pickett’s Charge ’’ was made—a brave but ill-judged onslaught
against superior odds that resulted in fearful loss.

The result of this battle was the entire defeat of the Con-
federates. Of the magnificent columns which left the Seminary
Ridge, only a broken fragment returned, nearly every officer,
excepting Pickett, having been killed or wounded. Lee gave
orders for a retreat during the night, and next day the
Confederates retired, first to Hagerstown and then across the
Potomac. The retreat was very pitiful, as the roads were in a
bad condition. Few of the wounded had been properly cared
for, and, as they were jolted along in agony, they groaned, cursed,
babbled of their homes, and called upon their mates to put them
out of their misery, while there was also constant apprehension
of an attack in the rear. The loss of the Confederates was 36,000
killed, wounded, and missing; that of the Federals 23,000. Lee
left 7,000 of his wounded amongst the unburied dead, and 37,000
muskets were picked up on the field.

On the very day of Lee’s retreat, July 4th, Vicksburg, on the
Mississippi, the largest town in the State of Mississippi, sur-
rendered. It is situated on a high bluff, overlooking the river,
whence it makes a sharp bend, ending in a long, narrow peninsula.
Farragut, after he had captured New Orleans in April, 1862, went
up the river in May and demanded its surrender, but the demand
was refused and the town could not be captured without a land
force. The attack was renewed at the end of 1862 by Grant and
Sherman, but serious operations were not begun till the spring
of 1863. :

Grant then undertook a new plan. Porter, who commanded
the fleet, ran past the Vicksburg batteries with a number of his
vessels, and Grant marched his army by a very circuitous route
of seventy miles down the western bank of the river. At last he
reached a place where he could cross, and on April 30th his army

497
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of 33,000 men reached high land on the eastern side of the
Mississippi. Shortly after this Grant proceeded to attack the
Confederate army, defeating it at Raymond and Jackson, the
capital of the State, and then moved on to Vicksburg.

On May 16th he encountered the bulk of the Confederate
forces, 20,000 strong, under Pemberton, at Champion’s Hill, about
halfway between Jackson and Vicksburg. Here he fought the
severest battle of the campaign, in which the Confederates were
defeated with heavy loss. They retreated towards Vicksburg,
the Federals in quick pursuit, and on May 18th Pemberton shut
himself up in the town, which Grant, with a force of 30,000 men,
invested next day, Sherman being placed on the right at Haines’s
Bluff. The line of attack was eight miles long, and there was
danger of Grant being assailed in his rear. He, therefore, ordered
an assault on May 22nd, but the result was disastrous, and he
settled down to a regular siege. Thousands of shells were thrown
into the town, the inhabitants finding refuge in caves. Provi-
sions became scarce and mules were eaten for food. At last the
besiegers brought their trenches so close to the defences that the
soldiers bandied jests with each other across the narrow space.
After forty-seven days spent in this manner, when a grand assault
was imminent, Pemberton surrendered unconditionally with his
army of 31,600 men, 172 guns, and 60,000 muskets. By
the capture of Vicksburg the Mississippi was open to the
Federals, and the forces of the Confederates were cut com-
pletely in two.

The dead and wounded of the Federal army at Gettysburg, as
well as those abandoned by Lee, were humanely cared for. A
portion of the battlefield was transformed into a National
Cemetery, in which the fallen soldiers found orderly burial. It
was dedicated for this purpose on November roth, 1863, and
President Lincoln delivered on this occasion an address, which
is one of the masterpieces of literature, strongly resembling the
famous speech of Pericles at Athens, delivered in the Ceramicus
on a similar occasion, which im all probability Lincoln had never
read, and perhaps never heard of. He said: “ Fourscore and
seven years ago, our fathers brought forth in this continent a new
nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great
civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-
field of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the
final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that

498
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA CREEK

nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we
should do this.

“But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot conse-
crate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and
dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power
to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to this imperish-
able work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be dedicated to this great task
remaining before us, that from these honoured dead we take in-
creased devotion to the cause for which they here gave the last
full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that the
dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation shall, under
God, have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the

people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from
the earth.”

The vicissitudes of the war now carry us into another region.
Chattanooga is in Tennessee, not far from the borders of Alabama
and Georgia, and Rosecrans, opposed by the Confederate General
Bragg, was manceuvring to get possession of it. He succeeded
in capturing the town, and proceeded in pursuit of Bragg. In the
course of a week the two armies came up with each other, and
there was fought, on September 19th and 2oth, 1863, a great
battle on the bank of Chickamauga Creek, one of the most murder-
ous of the war, Bragg having 71,500 men and Rosecrans 57,000.
Bragg took the offensive, and his plan was to make a feigned
attack on the Federal right, while he directed his main strength
towards the left, with the intention of crushing it and seizing the
roads which led to Chattanooga.

On the first day the battle began at 10 a.m. and lasted until
the evening. The projected attack on the left failed, and, although
the Federal positions were for a time forced back, they were
resumed before night, and at the end of the day’s fighting the
situation was unchanged. The night was spent by both sides
in preparing for a renewal of the struggle on the morrow, Bragg’s
design being to carry out the plan of the day before; but the
fighting did not begin until the day was well advanced and the
Confederates could make no permanent impression. However,
through a mistake or a misunderstanding of orders, a gap of
two brigades was made in Rosecrans’s line. The Confederates
discovered this gap, and poured through it with an energy
before which the whole Federal right and part of the centre

499
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

crumbled away and were dispersed in flight towards Chatta-
nooga.

Rosecrans retired, under the impression that the day was
hopelessly lost, and, on reaching Chattanooga, telegraphed the
disaster to Washington. He was, however, mistaken. Thomas,
who commanded the centre, had, in the manceuvring, been sent
to the extreme left, where he found a strong position on the head
of a ridge, around which he posted his own command of seven
divisions in a flattened semicircle, and thus formed a nucleus for
all the reserves who had not been under fire, with such portions
of the brigades and regiments as had not been wholly destroyed
by the defeat on the right. In this manner he got together about
half of what remained of Rosecrans’s force and held his position
against Bragg’s army, flushed as it was with victory. Bragg
repeated his assaults throughout the whole of the day, but could
not shake the lines or the courage of Thomas, who received the
name of the “ Rock of Chattanooga’ from his devoted troops.
At night Thomas began his retreat, and continued it without
opposition, so that, on the morning of September 22nd, the Federal
army was protected by the fortifications of Chattanooga, which
had not been destroyed by Bragg when he evacuated it. The
losses were very severe, those of the Federals being 16,179 men,
those of the Confederates 17,804.

The army of Rosecrans was not destroyed, but it was still in
danger, as Bragg’s army was blockading it with greatly superior
numbers. The Confederates were able to cut off Rosecrans’s
supplies, both by rail and river, so that he depended upon a
difficult road sixty miles long. Provisions and forage were soon
exhausted, horses and mules perished by thousands, and the
garrison began to feel the effects of famine. By October roth, a
month after Chickamauga, the situation had become so strained
that Rosecrans was relieved and Thomas put in his place, while
Grant was given the command of the three departments in the
West and ordered personally to Chattanooga, where he arrived
on October 22nd. With the help of his chief engineer, Smith,
Grant arranged for a better system of supply, and, when reinforce-
ments arrived under Hooker and Sherman, the Federals were
superior in numbers and the Confederates were obliged to act on
the defensive.

Eventually the great Battle of Chattanooga took place on
November 24th-25th, 1863, one of the most important of the
war. In order to understand it, it is necessary to give some
account of the ground. The valleys of the Chickamauga and the

500
GRANT’S SUCCESSES

Chattanooga are parallel to each other, and also to the general
course of the Tennessee River. They are divided by Missionary
Ridge, fourteen miles long and 500 feet high, ending in Lookout
Mountain, over 1,000 feet in height. This mountain is three miles
south of Chattanooga, and on the other side of it is Lookout
Valley, watered by Lookout Creek. Grant had under him about
100,000 effective soldiers, under the commands of Thomas, Hooker
and Sherman. Thomas was in Chattanooga, Hooker in Lookout
Valley, and Sherman in the hills on the other side of the
Tennessee.

On the morning of November 24th Sherman crossed the
Tennessee, three miles north of Chattanooga, and attacked the
northern end of Missionary Ridge, with the intention of moving
southwards along the top of it, to take the entrenchments of
the enemy in flank. But his progress was barred by a deep
depression, of the existence of which he was unaware, and he was
obliged to stop and entrench himself. On the following day he
endeavoured to carry out his plan, but made little headway. In
the meantime, Hooker, from Lookout Valley, had crossed Lookout
Creek and climbed Lookout Mountain. He drove the Con-
federates into Chattanooga Valley and planted the Federal flag on
the top of the mountain amid the cheers of the whole army.

Grant was watching the operations from the top of Orchard
Knob, and in the afternoon of November 25th ordered Thomas
to advance along the western base of Missionary Ridge. His
army, starting with alacrity, formed a line a mile in length with
such order as if they were going on parade. They found in front
of them a steep and rocky ridge, defended by thirty cannon and
two lines of rifle pits. However, they dashed forward and, with-
out command, to the dismay of Grant, viewing them from his
point of vantage, stormed the hill. Fighting in small parties,
clambering up the rocks and over the fallen timber, ‘undeterred
by the rifle-pits, they drove the enemy steadily before them, until,
after an hour’s fighting, they reached the summit of the crest
and captured the batteries. Bragg, Breckinridge, and other
Confederate generals were amazed and nearly captured. The loss
of the Federals was terrible, but they had performed one of the
finest exploits recorded in military history. They next descended
into Chickamauga Valley and captured another ridge which
was defended by eight Confederate guns. On November 26th
Bragg’s army was in full retreat, defeated and demoralised. The
Federals pursued them, taking 6,000 prisoners, 46 guns, and 7,000
stand of small arms. They had, however, lost 5,824 men and the

501
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Confederates 6,687. After the battle Grant sent Sherman to
relieve Burnside, who was being besieged by Longstreet at
Kingsville, eighty-four miles distant. But before he reached the
place Longstreet had been driven back and forced to take refuge
with Brage’s retreating army.

In February, 1864, a new complexion was given to the war,
when Grant was placed in command of all the Federal armies, with
the title of Lieutenant-General, under the supreme command of
the President, a position which had previously been held only
by Washington and Scott. Grant took up his headquarters with
the Army of the Potomac, which he considered as his centre. He
placed Butler in command of the Army of the James River on his
left wing, and the Western armies under Sherman as his right
wing, Banks’s army in Louisiana being designed to act against
the Confederates in the rear. Grant intended that all the armies
should move simultaneously—Butler to Petersburg to cut off the
communications of Richmond with the south; Sherman against
Johnston’s army in Georgia, with the view of capturing Atlanta ;
Banks to take Mobile and to close its harbour to blockade runners.
Sigel was to drive back the Confederates from the Shenandoah
Valley, and the Army of the Potomac was to follow Lee and fight
him whenever it had an opportunity. The principal scenes of
conflict were now laid in the Wilderness, a district of about ten or
fifteen miles square, south of the Rapidan. It had formerly been
the site of numerous ironworks, mines having been opened to
dig the ore and the woods cut down to supply fuel for smelting.
After the mines were abandoned a tangled growth of underwood
grew up, and the whole region was deserted, except for a few open
spots and a few roadside taverns.

In the east the armies lay opposite to each other, north and
south of the Rapidan, near Fredericksburg, a little south of the
ground on which the first Battle of Bull Run had been fought
nearly three years before. On April 30th, 1864, Grant’s army
numbered 122,146 men, veterans thoroughly well armed and
equipped. Lee’s army was estimated by Grant at 80,000. Lee
had the advantage of conducting a defensive campaign upon
interior lines, among a population every man of which was on his
side. Grant crossed the Rapidan on May 4th, and by the evening
of next day his whole army, including a train of 4,000 wagons,
was across the stream. Through the forest of the Wilderness two
roads run north and south, which are crossed by two other roads
running east and west—the Orange Turnpike and the Orange
Plank Road. There are also numerous cross-roads and wood-

502
THE FIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS

paths. Grant slept on May 4th at a Wilderness tavern, situated
at the junction of the Germania Plank Road and the Orange Plank
Road.

As Lee had not disputed the passage of the Rapidan, Grant
debated whether he would fight in the Wilderness at all. How-
ever, on the morning of May 5th Grant found himself attacked,
and it was obvious that Lee designed to send his whole army
down the two parallel roads and fight Grant on this difficult
ground. Grant recalled Hancock’s corps from the front and
hurried up Burnside from the rear. The battle inevitably
assumed the character of a hand-to-hand engagement, and when
night fell no decisive advantage had been gained by either side.
Lee had succeeded better on the left than on the right, and Long-
street’s command had not arrived in time to take part in the
engagement. The night was spent in cutting down trees, collect-
ing logs for breastworks, and digging trenches. On the following
day Hancock attacked the Confederates ; but, Longstreet coming
up, he was compelled to retire. Longstreet, however, had to
leave the field through a similar accident to that which had
happened to Jackson a year before. As he was riding through
the trees, some of his own men mistook the party for Federal
troops and fired upon them, and he was wounded in the head and
neck. The conflict continued all day with no very definite results,
the losses on each side being not fewer than 15,000 men.

On May 7th Grant moved his army forwards to Spotsylvania,
wishing to place it between Lee and the capital. The court-
house of Spotsylvania is about fifteen miles south-east of the
ground on which the Battle of the Wilderness was fought, and
some twelve miles south-west of Fredericksburg. On the morn-
ing of Sunday, May 8th, the Federal cavalry reached the court-
house, but discovered that the Confederates had arrived first and
had posted themselves on very favourable ground, lying in an
irregular semicircle about three miles across, with a salient
jutting out towards the north, nearly a mile long and about half
a mile wide. With his wonted diligence Lee had formed a vast
fortified camp of great strength. This was attacked by Grant
on May roth, but he suffered a defeat. He wrote, however, to
Washington that after six days’ very hard fighting and heavy
losses the result had been on the whole favourable to the Federals,
and he added, “I purpose to fight it out on this line, if it takes
all summer.” He made another assault on May 12th in very
wet weather, a fierce struggle taking place for the possession of
the salient, known afterwards as the “ Bloody Angle.” Eventu-

503
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ally the Federals succeeded in capturing the salient, together
with 3,000 prisoners and 20 guns. But they were still not able
to attack Lee’s line in front. Grant continued to advance south-
wards, but Lee was always before him, seizing favourable points
for defence and blocking his pathway. The two antagonists were
equally matched, and the strategy of both was of the highest merit.

On May 8th Grant dispatched Sheridan with his cavalry to
ride round the Confederate army, to tear up railways, destroy
bridges and depots, and capture trains. He succeeded in
demolishing ten miles of railway and several trains, cutting all
the telegraph wires, and recovering 400 Federal prisoners who
were being taken to Richmond. The last engagement took place
at Yellow Tavern, seven miles north of Richmond. He even
broke into the defences of Richmond and captured some prisoners.
He then crossed the Chickahominy and rejoined the main army
on May 25th. .

Grant now moved towards the North Anna River, hoping to
engage Lee before he had time to entrench himself. For this
purpose he sent Hancock to Richmond, on the chance that Lee
might fall on him with his whole army, upon which Grant would
attack him undefended by earthworks. The Confederates, how-
ever, had the advantage of a shorter line, and saved their capital.
Having effected this, Lee took up a very strong position, his line
extending from Little River, by North Anna River, to Hanover
Junction. Burnside assailed this position, but could do nothing.
The two armies then came face to face at Cold Harbour, about
eight or ten miles from Richmond, but the Federals were held
back by the threatening position of the Confederate artillery.
The assault was delivered at half-past four o’clock in the morning
of June 3rd, and in a single hour 4,000 veterans lay dead or
wounded under the fire of the skilfully-constructed Confederate
batteries, raising the casualties of the first twelve days of June
to nearly 10,000.

Grant was obliged to report that it was the only general attack
made from the Rapidan to the James which did not inflict upon
the enemy losses which compensated for his own. He wrote to
the Government after this that he had discovered in thirty days’
experience that the enemy had determined to run no risks, but
to act purely on the defensive, and, therefore, he could not carry
out the plans he had formed without a greater sacrifice of life
than he felt justified in risking. Accordingly, he determined to
cross the James River and invest Richmond from the south. He
carried out this difficult manceuvre with masterly skill, having to

504
SHERMAN’S GREAT MARCH

withdraw his army from the front of the enemy, march fifty miles,
cross two rivers, and bring it into a new position. He accom-
plished this design during the following week. He left Cold
Harbour on June Iath, threw a pontoon bridge across the
Chickahominy, by which Wilson’s cavalry crossed, and reached
the James on June 14th. Between afternoon and midnight on
that day a bridge, 3,580 feet long, was laid across the James, and
before daybreak on June 17th the whole army was on the south
side of the stream, in immediate junction with Butler. The
united armies of Grant and Butler amounted to 150,000 men,
and Lee, with his 70,000, withdrew into the defences of Richmond.
Thus an army of more than 100,000 men, with all its baggage,
had been moved from trenches which were only a few yards from
the enemy, and placed in a position to threaten the enemy’s
capital, without any mishap. After this feat of generalship and
the substantial advantage gained by it, the Confederate cause
might well seem hopeless.

When he assumed command of the United States Army it
was part of Grant’s plan that Sherman should move southwards
from Chattanooga and capture Atlanta, thus attacking the
Confederates in an entirely new place and securing a city which
was useful as a railway centre and as a manufacturing place of
military stores. The distance between Chattanooga and Atlanta
in a straight line is about 100 miles. The road was defended
by Johnston, stationed at Dalton with a force of 43,150 cavalry,
artillery and infantry, while Sherman’s attacking force numbered
100,000 with 254 guns. They were the flower of the Western
soldiers, seasoned men, commanded by officers of sound judgment
and trained courage. They had carefully prepared for the work
they had to do, and realised Sherman’s own description, that they
were a mobile machine, willing and able to start at a minute’s
notice and submit to the scantiest food.

Sherman left Chattanooga on May 5th, the day that Grant
entered the Wilderness, and followed the line of railway to
Atlanta. Johnston had fortified a position on the railway called
Tunnel Hill, which prevented Sherman from continuing his march
to Dalton, so he was obliged to pass through the hills and strike
at Resaca. McPherson, who commanded this detachment, found
Resaca fortified, and when Sherman came up he learned that
Johnston himself had retreated from Dalton to Resaca, and had
made the position very strong. Sherman eventually gained
possession of Resaca without a battle, and five days later reached
Kingston. Here he halted to consolidate his army, supply it with

595
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

provisions, and repair the railway in his rear. After this he came
into conflict with Johnston at New Hope Church, and fought in
that neighbourhood for six continuous days, gradually gaining
the advantage. At the end of the month of May it was found
that with the loss of 10,000 men on each side Sherman had
successfully taken strong positions in which Johnston had
entrenched himself, and was gradually approaching Atlanta.

For the first half of June the two armies remained opposite
to each other at Pine Mountain. On June 27th, however,
Sherman made a vigorous attempt to capture Johnston’s posi-
tion in the Battle of Kenesaw, but it ended with failure and with
great loss. He therefore determined to recross the railway and
move his army to the south, by which he compelled Johnston
either to retire to Atlanta or come out to fight him. Johnston
was superseded by Hood, who, however, did not prove a success.
Eventually, on September 2nd, 1864, Sherman became master
of Atlanta, after four months’ hard fighting and clever strategy.
During his stay at Atlanta the Presidential election took place,
and Lincoln was re-elected by a large majority, being opposed by
McClellan. Lincoln remarked with regard to his own candidature
that “it was best not to swop horses when crossing a stream.”

By the end of October Sherman had, in counsel with the
President and Grant, determined upon his march through Georgia
from Atlanta to Savannah upon the sea, which eventually put
an end to the war. He made careful preparations for his enter-
prise, sending away all his sick and disabled men, and reducing
his baggage to a minimum. He left Atlanta on November 2nd,
1865, and nothing was heard of him for six weeks. He had with
him 55,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 68 guns. Besides these,
there was an enormous number of ambulances and wagons. The
army was principally composed of veteran soldiers, all of whom
had unbounded confidence in “ Uncle Billy,” as they called their
leader. The distance to be covered was 300 miles. The army
was divided into two wings, marching by parallel routes, gener-
ally a few miles apart, each wing having its own proportion of
cavalry and trains.

It is important to pay attention to the instructions issued for
the conduct of the march, as they have been frequently referred
to when similar circumstances have arisen elsewhere. The columns
were to start at 7 in the morning and march about fifteen miles a
day. The artillery and wagons were to keep the road, the troops
marching at the side. The troops were permitted to forage so
as to keep the wagons supplied with provisions for ten days. The

506
OCCUPATION OF SAVANNAH

soldiers were not allowed to enter dwellings or commit any
trespass, but during a halt they were permitted to gather turnips,
potatoes, and other vegetables, and drive in stock in sight of
their camp. The power of destroying houses or mills was per-
mitted to the commanders of corps alone, and this right of
destruction was only allowed when the march was molested by
irregular troops, or if the inhabitants burned bridges or obstructed
roads. In these cases the commanders were to enforce a devasta-
tion more or less relentless, according to the measure of hostility
shown. Horses, mules, and wagons might be appropriated freely,
a distinction, however, being made between the rich and the poor.
In all foraging the parties engaged were to leave behind a reason-
able portion for the maintenance of the family.

Sherman’s army marched in accordance with these instruc-
tions, occupying a space from forty to sixty miles wide. The
wealthier inhabitants, as a rule, made their escape, but the negroes
followed the army. There was scarcely any fighting excepting
within a few miles of Savannah and at the city itself. Savannah
was occupied on December 21st, and Sherman wrote to the
President, “I beg to present to you, as a Christmas gift, the city
of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition,
also about 25,000 bales of cotton.” His entire loss during the
march was only 764 men.

This successful march was the beginning of the end, if it were
not the end itself; but Sherman had still work of a similar kind
to do. On February ist, 1865, he began a march northwards,
through Columbia, which was more difficult and more dangerous
than the previous journey and required more military skill.
Columbia was captured on February 17th, without opposition,
and Charleston was evacuated on the following day. Leaving
Columbia on February 20th, Sherman reached Fayetteville on
March irth. After this he fought a victorious battle, which
enabled him to reach Goldsboro, on the direct road to Petersburg
and Richmond. In the latter part of February Sheridan moved
up the Shenandoah Valley with 10,000 cavalry, defeated Early
with heavy loss, and joined Grant on the James River. At the
beginning of April Sheridan gained a battle at Five Forks, which
enabled him to render effective assistance to Grant, and at the
same time the latter broke through the Confederate lines, while
Sheridan moved up on the left, so that Petersburg, which is only
twenty-three miles from Richmond, was completely surrounded.

Lee telegraphed to his Government that both Petersburg and
Richmond must be evacuated, and next morning the Confederate

507
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

capital was taken possession of by a detachment of the Federal
army. The end came at Appomattox Courthouse, where, on
April 9th, 1865, Grant and Lee arranged the surrender of the
Army of Virginia. The men were allowed to lay down their arms
and return to their homes without molestation, provided that
they did not take up arms against the United States. On the
same terms Johnston surrendered to Sherman in North Carolina,
and by the end of May all the Confederate armies had surrendered,
while Jefferson Davis, who had been President of the Confederate
Republic, was taken prisoner on May roth.

The war was virtually at an end, but ete its conclusion the
man who had done more than anyone else to secure the victory
was treacherously murdered in Washington. On the evening of
April 4th the President and Mrs. Lincoln, along with friends,
went to Ford’s Theatre to see a play called Our American Cousin.
About tro o’clock, while Lincoln was seated in an arm-chair
watching the play, a young actor, John Wilkes Booth, a fanatical
Secessionist, opened the door of the box and, holding a pistol in
one hand and a knife in the other, put the pistol to the President’s
head and fired. Major Rathbone, who was in the box, tried to
seize him; but Booth jumped on to the stage and, turning to the
audience, uttered the motto of Virginia, “ Sic semper tyrannis !”
He then moved to the stage door, mounted a horse, and rode
away, but did not escape punishment for his crime. The ball
had entered the back of Lincoln’s head and, passing through
the brain, had lodged behind his left eye. He was carried,
alive but unconscious, to a house across the street and, after
lingering all night, watched by his family and members of his
Cabinet, expired on the following morning, at about half-past
seven. Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, assumed the Presi-
dential office, and Lincoln—one of the greatest and most typical
men the United States has yet produced—was buried on May
4th, amid profound public mourning.

508
CHAPTER III

GERMANY: THE MAN OF BLOOD AND IRON

ON October 7th, 1858, Prince William of Prussia was made Regent
of that country in the place of King Frederick William IV., who
was in bad health. He had, in fact, exercised these functions
for nearly a year without having been formally appointed ; Prince
Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became his Prime Minister.
In his first official speech the Prince declared that the welfare
of the Crown and country was inseparable and depended on the
maintenance of sound, strong, Conservative principles. After
some words in favour of toleration in religion, he said that the
army had created the greatness of Prussia and had won its
territory ; the army of Prussia must, therefore, be powerful and
conspicuous, if Prussia were to possess political influence in inter-
national affairs. The world must learn that Prussia was prepared
to stand everywhere as an upholder of justice.

On April 14th, 1859, Archduke Albert of Austria appeared
in Berlin to announce the policy of his country with regard to
the war in Italy, which was just beginning, and to ask for the
co-operation of Prussia. He said that Austria was about to send
an ultimatum to Turin, and that if this were refused Piedmont
would be immediately occupied and Austria would also direct her
arms against France. He was ready to devote to a campaign on
the Rhine 260,000 Austrian troops, who would be united with the
federal army of Germany. Then the South Germans should unite
with Austria under his command, and the North Germans should
attack the Lower Rhine under the leadership of Prussia. This
meant that Prussia and Germany should throw themselves into
the quarrel, and shed their blood for the preservation of Austrian
dominion in Italy and her headship of the German Confederation.

This offer was definitely refused by the Prince Regent, who
determined, however, to strengthen his army in order to be able
to speak with authority when the time came. Therefore, on April
zoth he mobilised three army corps, on April 29th six more,
and on June 14th, ten days after the Battle of Magenta, he
mobilised six divisions of the Guards, and on July 6th sent three
of them to garrison Cologne, Coblenz and Treves. The Peace of

599
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Villafranca, concluded suddenly on July 11th, as we have already
narrated, put an end to further extension of this policy for the
present, but what had been already done had produced a certain
amount of irritation in Austria.

The Regent, however, pursued his reconstruction of the
Prussian army, and in his speech from the throne on January
rath, 1860, accentuated his policy. He said that Prussia must
not break with the tradition of a glorious past, and that in the
future, as well as in these days, the Prussian army must be a
Prussian nation in arms. This duty must be fulfilled so far as
the finances of the kingdom would allow. A new effort must be
made for the protection and development of the Fatherland; it
must be protected against all the chances which Fortune might
have in store for it. To carry this out a law of compulsory military
training was proposed on February roth, similar to that which
had been passed in September, 1814.

This project has not received the attention which it deserved in
the light of after events. The then existing law of military service
dated from 1820, when Prussia had a population of 11,000,000.
From these 40,788 recruits were raised by ballot and kept for two
years under the colours. Although the population had increased
to 18,000,000, the number of recruits continued nearly the same;
indeed, in 1858, the number was only 40,537—-that is, fewer than
in 1820. It was believed, on good evidence, that the number
of recruits could be raised to 63,000 without impairing their
efficiency. But further alterations were necessary. The law
imposing the duty of service up to the age of thirty-nine affected
only 26 per cent. of those who were liable to serve. They served
two years under the colours, then ten years with the reserve, then
seven years in the first division of the Landwehr and four in the
second. Consequently, during the last eleven years those who
served had not only to perform their ordinary civic duties, but
to remain subject to constant interference from military superiors,
so long as they continued in the first division of the Landwehr ;
and if they were mobilised their condition became far worse.
In short, the larger part of the population available for service
did not serve at all, and those who did were oppressed by an
intolerable burden. The number of those who had, by lot, become
subject to military service was diminished every year, between
their entry into the reserve and their liberation from the Landwehr,
by death, illness or emigration, so that a heavier burden lay upon
those who remained. The drainage from these causes was esti-
mated at not less than 26 per cent. per annum. It was therefore

510
KING WILLIAM I

determined that all the infantry should serve for three years,
which corresponded with the arrangement made in September,
1814, and that the cavalry should serve for four years. The
Regent was strongly in favour of this change, and he was supported
by Albert von Roon, who in 1859 took the place of Bonin as
Minister of War. These proposals were strongly opposed, but
were eventually carried, with some alterations in form, in May,
1860.

King Frederick William IV. died at Sans Souci on New
Year’s Day, 1861, and the Regent became King William I. of
Prussia. In his first speech he declared that Prussia ought not
to be contented merely with what she possessed. She could only
maintain her position among European Powers by the energetic
exercise of spiritual and moral forces, sincere devotion to religion,
the union of obedience and freedom, and by strengthening her
army. In the Landtag, the lower house of the Prussian Parliament,
a vote for the expenses necessary for the reorganisation of the
army was only carried by eleven votes, and the election of a new
House, which followed in the summer, saw the foundation of the
so-called Forischritispartei, that is, Progressive Party, which was
opposed to spending more money on the army and to the increase
of the term of military service. In the elections this party won
a hundred seats, and in the debate on the budget, which took
place on March 6th, 1862, it gained a signal victory. Accordingly,
the House was dissolved in the hope that new elections would
give the military party a majority. Prince Hohenlohe Ingelfingen
was made Prime Minister, and the Liberal members of the Cabinet
resigned their portfolios.

But the elections of May showed a complete victory for the
party of progress, which in September passed a motion that all
the expenditure necessary for the reconstruction of the army on
its new footing should be annulled. It was impossible to carry
this out, because the money had been already spent. They, there-
fore, fell back upon the dismissal of the Ministers and the return
to the system of two years’ service. The King found himself at
war with his Chambers, and strong measures were necessary if
the policy on which he had set his heart were to be maintained.
In pursuance of this, on September 23rd, 1862, the King appointed
Bismarck-Schénhausen Prime Minister, who, he knew, would
support at all costs and without flinching the policy he favoured.
The rise of Bismarck to the first place in the counsels of his
Sovereign was the opening of a new phase in the history of
Prussia.

5ul
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Bismarck began his Ministry with the determination to place
Prussia instead of Austria at the head of Germany. For this
purpose political power must lie in the hands of the King, as no
Parliament, divided by party, would be strong enough to carry
an enterprise of this kind to a successful issue. Finding, there-
fore, that the King and the Parliament were in hopeless disagree-
ment about the organisation of the army, he determined that
Parliament must give way, and advised his Sovereign to continue
the struggle. The King was so disheartened by the opposition
with which he was met that he thought seriously of abdication,
but Bismarck appealed successfully to his feelings of honour as
a soldier to maintain his post. He attempted at first to effect
a reconciliation with the Liberals, and offered to include their
leaders in the Ministry if they would support the new military
arrangements. But they clung to the two years’ military service,
which the King would not accept.

Bismarck therefore prorogued the Chambers before they had
passed the army estimates, or even voted a budget for 1863, and
governed without a budget and, indeed, without Parliamentary
sanction, pursuing a course which in England in Charles I.’s time
had cost Strafford his head, but which in the Germany of William I.
was to have a very different result. He broke with the Liberals
and gave all his confidence to the Conservatives. He appointed
them to important military and administrative posts, and lost
no opportunity of showing his dislike and distrust of his opponents.
He kept a tight hand on the Press and gradually established an
autocratic authority. He had no fear of revolution, as he could
depend on the army, and the mass of the people took no interest
in constitutional politics. He had the middle classes on his
side, as he knew that they would appreciate his foreign policy
and profit by the exaltation of Germany. The Conservatives
on whom he depended in the House only numbered eleven
votes.

Meeting the House in the autumn of 1862, Bismarck began
by stating that the budget for 1863 would be withdrawn, and
that a new budget for the year would be laid before them as soon
as possible. This statement was not well received, as it was
regarded as a return to the practice of not settling the budget
until the beginning of the year to which it applied. Bismarck
then had to face the budget committee, the members of which
were for the most part opposed to his policy. The committee
passed a resolution that the budget for 1863 should be imme-
diately laid before them, and that it was contrary to the

512
BISMARCK’S FIGHT FOR SUPREMACY

Constitution to spend any money which had been refused by
the House of Representatives. The committee consisted of about
thirty members, and the speeches were largely of the nature of
conversations ; and of these there were no verbatim reports, but,
as the sittings were public, what passed could be remembered
by many who heard what had been said.

Bismarck warned the committee not to exaggerate their
powers, as the right of settling the budget did not rest with the
House of Representatives alone, but was shared with the Upper
House and the Crown, so that difference of opinion must be
settled by compromise and not by forcing the vote on either side ;
and, after all, patriotism and devotion to the interests of their
common country were the most important things. He then
proceeded to give his views of the Prussian character and to show
how difficult it was for Prussia to adopt a constitutional form of
government. Prussia was too educated, too critical; the habit
of discussing public affairs was too universal; there were in the
country too many Catilinians who had an interest in revolution.
If Prussia were to have a predominating influence in Germany,
this would be due, not to its Liberalism, but to its power. The
territory of Prussia, as fixed by the Treaty of Vienna, was not
favourable to a limited monarchy. The great questions of the
age were not to be settled, as was attempted to be done in 1848
and 1849, by speeches and divisions in Parliament, but by “ blood
and iron.” He begged them to have confidence in the Ministry,
and not to force a quarrel, so that their devotion to their country
and their fundamental honesty might be implicitly trusted.

The first attempt at conciliation failed. The report of the
committee was adopted, and an amendment proposed by Winckler,
which Bismarck was willing to accept, was rejected. Bismarck
warned them not to push the conflict too far; if they did, a
peaceful solution would be impossible. He showed the President
of the House a twig of olive, which he said he had gathered at
Avignon on his way up from Toulouse to present to the House,
but the time for doing this did not seem to have arrived.

Fortunately for Bismarck, the Prussian Constitution provided
that all taxes and other imposts should remain in force until they
were abrogated or altered by law. If a proposed budget failed
to pass the Chambers the Government were justified in having
recourse to this provision. It is true that the Constitution declared
that the budget must be passed in anticipation of each year. But
it is also declared that the budget must be established by law.
A law must be agreed to by three authorities to make it valid—the

as 513
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Lower House, the Upper House, and the Sovereign. If the Lower
House refused to agree to a new budget, that did not prevent the
other two bodies from providing for the necessities of the country.
Bismarck said: ‘‘ We will give you what the Constitution entitles
you to; we will not allow you anything which conflicts with the
prerogative of the Crown. The Prussian monarchy has not yet
fulfilled its mission; the time has not yet come for making it a
superfluous detail in the parliamentary machine.”

The attention of the political world was now turned to a
new quarter. In the night of January 22nd, 1863, the
Russian garrisons of fourteen towns in Poland were attacked
by the inhabitants, and many soldiers murdered in their sleep.
This led to a general insurrection in Poland, which established a
provisional Government and nominated Mieroslavski as Dictator.
Bismarck immediately perceived the danger of the situation. He
said, ‘‘ The Polish question is to us a matter of life or death.”
The insurgents, to whichever party they belonged, would not be
contented with liberating Russian Poland alone; they would
liberate Posen, and would not rest until they had gained the coast
of the Baltic and deprived Prussia of her Eastern Provinces. If
the Poles became reconciled to the Russians the danger to Prussia
would be greater. Russia and Poland might join together on
the common basis of a Slav nationality, but there never could be
peace between the Slav and the Teuton.

King William sent Alvensleben to St. Petersburg with an
autograph letter to the Tsar proposing that the two Governments
should take steps to meet the common danger, and it was agreed
to prevent assistance from Posen from being given to the insur-
gents, and to allow Russian troops to cross the Prussian frontiers
in pursuit of the rebels; four army corps were also mobilised
so as to be able to guard the frontier. The Emperor Napoleon
proposed that Austria, Great Britain and France should send
identical notes to Prussia remonstrating on her conduct towards
the Poles and threatening active measures. Great Britain, led
by Lord Russell—Lord John had been ennobled in 1861—
refused to take part in this action; but, at the same time,
Buchanan, the British Minister at Berlin, was instructed to
moderate the action of Prussia as far as possible.

There is no doubt that Bismarck’s policy enabled Gortshakov
to suppress the Polish insurrection, and also established a close
alliance between Russia and Germany, which subsisted for a
considerable time. It required great boldness to. take this line.
If war actually broke out, Prussia would bear the brunt of it,

514
AUSTRIA AND GERMAN FEDERATION

because Russia could have procured little assistance against
France and Austria. Bismarck did not believe- in the likeli-
hood of war; but he had, nevertheless, placed his country in a
critical condition, and the Prussian Liberals resented his alliance
with Russia. Prussia was becoming unpopular in Europe, whilst
Austria was gaining fresh sympathy in consequence of her defence
of Poland.

In July, 1863, the Emperor of Austria convened at Frankfort
a meeting of all the German Princes to obtain their consent to a
scheme of federal reform, which should place the central authority
of the Federation in the hands of Austria and the Southern German
States, her allies. No sovereign was obliged to attend the meet-
ing unless he wished to do so. The Emperor did his best to
persuade the King of Prussia to take part in the congress, on the
ground that it offered the best mode of reforming the Confedera-
tion on conservative lines and preventing revolution, and William
was on the point of yielding to these representations. Bismarck,
however, saw that the success of the congress would strengthen
the position of Austria, and persuaded the King with consider-
able difficulty to have nothing to do with it. Bismarck even
threatened to resign unless his wishes were yielded to, and William
knew that the assistance of the Minister was indispensable in the
struggle with the Parliament. In the absence of Prussia nothing
could be accomplished at the congress, and the Southern States,
jealous for their independence, rejected the proposal of Austria,
as they had before rejected the proposals of Prussia for a closer
union. Austria, finding that she could not obtain the assistance
of the smaller German States in her rivalry with Prussia, was
driven to make terms with her antagonist. Bismarck had, there-
fore, succeeded in improving the position of Prussia both with
regard to Russia and to Austria.

Napoleon proposed, on November 5th, that a congress of all
the Powers should be held in Paris to discuss the condition of
Europe. This was directed against Austria, which formed an
obstacle in the settlement of the Italian Question. He took steps
to secure the friendship of Prussia, which might help him against
Austria. Austria was naturally opposed to this congress, but
did not like to refuse it, as she was already on bad térms with
Russia over the Polish Question. So Rechberg, the Austrian
Minister, had recourse to Prussia, to frustrate the congress with her
help. Prussia, therefore, found herself approached by the two
rival Powers, Austria and France, and in the position of a
mediator.

515
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

At this moment the Schleswig-Holstein Question entered into
a new phase. The relations between Denmark and the Duchies
had been settled by the London Protocol of 1852, but Denmark
had refused to carry its provisions into effect. She trusted to the
antagonism between Austria and Prussia, and the Polish insurrec-
tion, which seemed likely to lead to a European war, also favoured
her plans. On March 30th, 1863, a new Constitution was
proclaimed in Denmark on the authority of the Crown, by which
Schleswig became a Danish Province, Holstein retaining to some
extent an independent position. In doing this Denmark had
acted with gross illegality. She had forced the new Constitution
on Holstein without asking her consent, and, by annexing
Schleswig, had disobeyed the conditions of the London Protocol
and disregarded the rights of the German Confederation.

This event caused intense excitement in Germany. The only
way to carry out the agreement of 1852 was to separate the united
Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark and establish
them as an independent territory under the Duke of Augusten-
burg, and public opinion strongly urged that this should be done.
Such a course could have been supported at the Federal Diet by
most of the German States. But Austria and Prussia followed a
policy that was in accordance with their own views and interests.
Austria had no special reason to desire the emancipation of the
Duchies. She knew by experience that the Schleswig-Holstein
Question was one of the most difficult in Europe, and was likely to
cause trouble and embarrassment to anyone who meddled with
it. As she was at present engaged in the settlement of the Polish
Question with Russia, she was not anxious to have other quarrels
on her hands. At the same time she could not allow such a matter
to be adjusted without her co-operation, nor, having urged the
adoption of a scheme of Federal reform which should place her
at the head of Germany, could she afford to neglect a subject
which the smaller States considered to be of vital importance.
She therefore proposed that the German Confederation should
demand the withdrawal of the Charter of March 30th, under
penalty of federal execution, on the ground that the rights of
Holstein were violated by it.

Bismarck had no reason to desire the establishment of a
separate sovereignty of the two Duchies under the House of
Augustenburg, as such a course would be opposed to the unity of
Germany and the supremacy of Prussia. A small State of this
kind would be driven to lean upon the protection of Austria, in
order to escape absorption by Prussia. His real desire was, what

516
THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION

he eventually achieved, the union of both Duchies with a German
Confederation of which Prussia should be the head. This, how-
ever, could not be effected without war with Denmark, since that
proud, though tiny, State would not give up Schleswig without a
struggle, and the Great Powers would not view the dismember-
ment of Denmark with indifference.

Moreover, Prussia was unpopular with most of the German
States and, if she went to war, would in all probability be attacked
by them, supported by Austria. It was necessary, therefore, to
gain time. The Austrian proposal of a federal execution would
at least give Bismarck breathing space for the making of his plans,
as it could not be carried out without some delay, and in the
interval fresh circumstances might arise and place Prussia in a
more favourable position. For these diverse reasons, therefore,
Austria and Prussia, in spite of their bitter disagreement about
the Polish Question, joined in carrying a resolution in the Federal
Diet on July gth, 1863, that Denmark should be ordered to annul
the Charter issued in March and comply with the provisions of
1852. If she refused, Holstein would be immediately occupied
by the troops of the Confederation.

The Danish Government met this by repudiating every kind
of compromise, and announced on September 28th that a Constitu-
tion would be proclaimed to act according to the provisions of
the Charter, and twelve days later the German Confederates deter-
mined, amidst great enthusiasm, to take immediate action. This
decision was embarrassing both to Austria and Prussia. They
could not stand aloof, yet were not prepared to enter into a war
with Denmark, as she was almost certain to be supported by Great
Britain. Bismarck was approached by Blixen, the head of
the Moderate Party in Denmark, and by Sir Andrew Buchanan,
acting under the instructions of Lord Russell, to delay the execu-
tion, which he was very willing to do. He was assisted by the
fact that Napoleon was renewing his favourite proposal of a
congress in Paris to settle disputed European questions, and this
circumstance also disposed Austria to delay. In the midst of
these complications King Frederick VII. of Denmark, the last of
an ancient line, was suddenly seized with erysipelas and died after
a short illness on November 15th, so that the whole question
assumed an entirely different aspect.

Napoleon said, in his Speech from the Throne on November
5th, 1863: “‘ The treaties of 1815 have ceased to exist ; what is
more reasonable than to summon the European Powers to a
congress which should form a high court of arbitration for all

517
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

questions in dispute?”’ On the same day invitations to attend
such a congress in Paris were issued to all European sovereigns.
The tidings came like a thunderclap upon Europe. The suggested
congress was welcomed by the smaller and weaker Powers, but
it would throw the Frankfort Congress into the shade, while Great
Britain and Russia regarded it as an act of impertinence. The
consequence was a change of alliances. Hitherto France and
Austria had been opposed on the Polish Question to Prussia and
Russia; now Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Great Britain were
formed into a combination against France.

In Denmark Prince Christian had been designated as sovereign
by the protocol of 1852, but he was obliged, in deference to Danish
opinion, to accept the Constitution, and thus broke with Germany.
On the other hand, Prince Frederick of Augustenburg laid claim
to Schleswig-Holstein by hereditary right. His father, indeed,
had renounced his claim in 1852, but the Germans ignored this
in their desire to liberate the Duchies from the detested Danish
yoke. The Confederation seemed to support his claims, and he
was acknowledged by some of its members, such as Baden and
Coburg; but Austria and Prussia were bound by the protocol
which they had both signed, and, therefore, were obliged to
acknowledge King Christian IX. as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

At the same time, Bismarck saw that the dispute had not
been entirely disposed of. It was true that the protocol settled
the question of the sovereignty of the Duchies, but the Constitu-
tion of November went farther than this, and violated the protocol
by incorporating the northern Duchy with Denmark. If King
Christian sided with the Eider-Danes, that is, with the party which
desired the Eider to be the southern boundary of Denmark, and
confirmed the Constitution, the Germans could take their stand
upon the protocol and make it difficult for Great Britain and other
friendly Powers to interfere on behalf of the Danes. If a war
broke out Prussia would play a leading part in it and be able to
dispose of the spoils of victory as she pleased. The Austrian
Government was inclined to follow a similar line and to base its
policy on the solid ground of the London Protocol and the resolu-
tion of the Bund. But, in doing this, it did not, like Bismarck,
hope for war, but looked forward to a peaceful conclusion. The
two Powers having thus come to agreement, Holstein was occupied
in December, 1863, by Hanoverian and Saxon troops, the armies
of Austria and Prussia being at their back. The Danes retired
from the southern Duchy without a blow, but were prepared to
defend Schleswig by a stubborn resistance,

518
BISMARCK’S ASTUTENESS

It was hardly to be expected that the astute and foreseeing
policy of Bismarck would be understood and recognised by public
opinion in Prussia or even in the rest of Germany. The pre-
dominant desire in Germany was that the Duchies should not be
Danish, and the London Protocol seemed to hand them over to
King Christian. But a policy bound upon the observance of the
protocol was not in accordance with German feeling; the best
way of securing the independence of the Duchies was to hand
them over to Frederick, Duke of Augustenburg. This feeling
found expression in the Prussian Parliament and, on December
and, 1863, the Lower House, by a large majority, demanded the
immediate acceptance of Duke Frederick, in opposition to the
policy of Bismarck. A similar revulsion of opinion showed itself
in the Bund. The Federal Diet, in a resolution of January 16th,
1864, refused to continue the execution, thus declining to acknow-
ledge the right of King Christian to the Duchies, and breaking
with the provisions of the London Protocol.

This action was turned to good account by Bismarck, for it
exactly suited his policy. He could now disregard the Confedera-
tion and act independently, as representing one of the great
European Powers who had signed the London Protocol. Austria,
in her dread of Napoleon, afraid to sacrifice the friendship of
Prussia, adopted a similar policy, and on January 16th, 1864,
agreed to send a joint ultimatum to Denmark, demanding the
repeal of the Constitution. If Denmark refused, Schleswig would
immediately be occupied by 60,000 Austrians. This arrangement
was so hastily concluded that there was no time to consider what
should be the result of this action, or what should be done with
the Duchies in the future. This was left to mutual agreement.
Bismarck had thus secured the co-operation of Austria in the
conquest of the Duchies, without binding himself in any way not
eventually to attach them to his own kingdom. Rechberg asked
for the laying down of some principles on which future agreements
would be based, but it was easy for Bismarck to turn a deaf ear
to these representations and as time pressed they remained
unanswered. Things turned out as Bismarck had suspected.
Denmark rejected the ultimatum, war was declared, and Schleswig
was attacked.

Some years afterwards Count Beust asked Bismarck how he
had persuaded the Danes to fight, seeing that they were certain
to be beaten, and he replied that he contrived to assure them
that they were certain to receive assistance from Great Britain.
At this time the future Lord Lytton was Chargé d’Affaires at

519
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Copenhagen, in the absence of the Ambassador, Sir Arthur Paget.
One day he received a dispatch from Lord Russell, promising
British assistance to the Danes against the attacks of Austria
and Prussia. This dispatch was so important and so certain to
bring about a European war that Lytton put it, for the moment,
into his pocket and said nothing about it, waiting for further
information. Russell had sent this dispatch without the know-
ledge of the Queen, who was at the time in the Isle of Wight,
much withdrawn from public affairs in the early years of her
widowhood. When it came to her knowledge she refused to give
her adhesion to the policy, unless it were endorsed by all the
members of the Cabinet, expressed in public. She knew well
that this consent could not be given, and, in fact, a week later a
dispatch was sent of a very different character, which was not
likely to lead to extreme measures. Lytton was able to con-
gratulate himself upon his foresight, but Bismarck had probably
become acquainted with the purport of the first dispatch and
had based upon it the information given to the Danes, although
he must have known that it was extremely unlikely that Great
Britain would risk a war on their behalf.

Bismarck had to pursue an isolated policy without sympathy
or support, against the opposition of his country and the Court
which he served. On January 22nd, 1864, the Lower House of
the Prussian Parliament refused supplies for the war and, what
was worse, the King began to waver. The Duke of Augusten-
burg was a favourite at the Prussian Court, and an intimate friend
of the Crown Prince, and when he came to Berlin he was well
received by the King. The Crown Prince Frederick had no great
sympathy with the general policy of Bismarck, either then or
afterwards. He considered that, by weakening the position of
the smaller German States, he was impairing his own future
authority as King of Prussia. oon, also, the Minister of War,
was in favour of the claims of Augustenburg. Bismarck,
however, clearly saw that the recognition of the claims of Duke
Frederick and the creation of the two Duchies into an indepen-
dent sovereignty would be hostile to the interests of Prussia.
Among other things, it was important to secure Kiel for the
creation of the German fleet, which was one of his favourite plans.
Besides, to desert the firm ground of the protocol might give other
Powers a pretext for supporting Denmark. To gain his way,
therefore, Bismarck was driven to adopt his usual expedient of
threatening resignation, and the King could not dispense with the
Minister who alone could support him against the unfriendly

520
DEFEAT OF DENMARK

Chambers. He therefore accepted the line of foreign policy upon
which Bismarck insisted.

The troops destined for the invasion of Schleswig were collected
at the Eider at the beginning of January, 1864. They consisted
of three army corps, the first under the command of Prince
Frederick Charles of Prussia, known as “the Red Prince,” the
Austrians under Gablentz, the third a division of the Prussian
Guard under von der Miilbe. The whole army, 57,000 strong,
was commanded by Wrangel, a vigorous man of eighty, but too
old for the work. To these forces the Danes opposed an army of
55,000 men under the command of de Meza, but of these only
40,000 were available in Schleswig. The Danes were inferior in
numbers, but trusted to the difficulties of the country, the deep
sea-inlets, the swamps, the hedge-divided fields, and, above all, to
their fleet. North of the Eider the threatened Duchy was
defended by the Dannewerk, an ancient earthwork, protected by
deep morasses, stretching between the town of Schleswig and the
sources of the river Rheide, and also by the broad fiord of the
Schlei. The Dannewerk was garrisoned by 22,000 infantry and
artillery, with a reserve of 5,000, and 2,000 dragoons. This
defence was regarded as impregnable, and the Emperor Napoleon
expressed the opinion that it would keep the Germans back for
at least two years.

Miilbe said that the war was easy to begin but difficult to end.
He was opposed to direct attacks. He recommended the passing
of the Lower Schlei and the capture of Flensborg rather than the
storming of the Dannewerk; the. occupation of Jutland rather
than the attack on Diippel; if this did not bring peace the seizure
of Fiinen would end the war. Unfortunately Wrangel did not
follow these instructions. The Eider was crossed on February
1st. The Danes retired without resistance, and the first conflict
took place next day at the trenches of Missund. In the following
days the Prussians crossed the Schlei, and the Austrians attacked
the Dannewerk. To the joy of the Germans and the dismay of
the Danes, it was found that the morasses were hard frozen and
offered no obstruction to the enemy. Nothing was left for the
Danes but to evacuate the position, and the Dannewerk was
occupied by the Germans five days after the beginning of opera-
tions. The effect of this sudden surprise caused the greatest
consternation. De Meza, who had saved the Danish army, was
driven from his post, and in Paris the startling news was declared
to be a fabric of falsehood. Palmerston threatened to assist the
Danes materially in the spring, a step which public opinion in

R* 521
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Great Britain rendered impossible. In Germany the opponents of
war were divided in opinion, but suffered a common disappoint-
ment. The smaller States were especially sorry that Schleswig
should be occupied by the Prussians, who, they thought, were not
likely to surrender what they had once conquered. To calm
this excitement Manteuffel was sent to Hanover and Dresden, and
the fears of King George and King John were quieted by his
assurances.

The allies had now the alternative of storming Diippel or
occupying Jutland. After deliberation it was agreed that Prince
Frederick Charles should remain before Diippel, and that Gablentz
should enter the Northern Province. The Austrians, however,
objected, and Miilbe hastened to Berlin to persuade the Emperor
and Bismarck that his plan of campaign must be carried out.
Operations were hindered for nearly a month, during which time
France and Great Britain had a fair opportunity to devise
expedients to put an end to the war. At last the Austrians gave
way, and the march into Jutland began on March 6th, and by
March 2oth the greater part of the province was in German hands.
Now began the attack on Diippel, which opened on March 15th.
An attack on Alsen was prevented by bad weather, and the forces
of the Allies were concentrated in Diippel. At the end of March
it had become necessary that the position of Prussia with regard
to Europe should be strengthened by the gaining of a decisive
victory.

The Danes were averse to the British proposal to call a confer-
ence in London to reconsider the protocol of 1852, because they
believed that not only would the Powers intervene on their behalf,
but that it was possible civil war might break out in Germany.
The Danish Ministers adhered strongly to the incorporation of
Schleswig, and were opposed to the union of the two Duchies as
a separate State. But the occupation of Jutland had produced
the effect Miilbe had expected, as Denmark was deprived of the
income and the profits she derived from that province. In the
meantime Bismarck replied to the British invitation to attend a
conference on April rath, that it was impossible for Austria and
Prussia to make any decision without the consent of the Bund,
and when this body took the matter into consideration on March
26th they determined to send Beust to represent them.

With great exertions the Prussians were able to open the bom-
bardment of Diippel at the beginning of April; but it was impos-
sible to effect its capture before the opening of the conference.
The date of the assault was eventually fixed by Prince Frederick

522
CAPTURE OF DUPPEL

Charles for April 18th. The whole of the preceding day was
occupied by a murderous fire from the Prussian batteries, and
at two in the morning the columns advanced to the attack.
At daybreak the cannonade began again and, as the clock
struck 10, the cannonade ceased and the storm columns advanced
from the parallels. In a few minutes the ditches were occupied,
all obstacles overcome, and in less than half an hour the six
batteries were conquered, the defenders were killed or made
prisoners, and the Prussian flag was planted on the parapet. The
capture of the second line of defence succeeded that of the first,
and in three hours everything was over. The Danes had suffered
such losses and were so entirely broken that Gerlach could no
longer hold the bridge-head, but led his troops across the Alsen
and destroyed the bridge. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Diippel,
and with it the whole of Schleswig, was in the hands of the
conquerors. The Prussian loss was 1,100 killed and wounded
out of a total force of 16,000. The Danish loss was about the
same out of 11,000, but 3,600 were taken prisoners and 118 guns
and 4,000 rifles were lost.

News of the victory roused Berlin to enthusiasm. The King
received the telegram announcing it just as he had finished a
review of the Guard. Hurrying back to the review ground, he
communicated the tidings to the troops and sent his thanks to
Prince Frederick Charles and the victorious army. He went
himself to Schleswig and reviewed his conquering troops on April
21st. He was soon followed by Moltke, head of the general staff.
Jutland was overrun, but the Danish Government, determining
to continue the war, transferred the garrison of Fredericia to the
Island of Fiinen and gave up the place to the Austrians.

The victory of Diippel did not put a stop to the strife of parties
in Germany, though it produced a profound effect in Europe.
Clermont Tonnére informed his Government that it was impossible
to maintain the union of the Duchies with Denmark, and the
correspondent of The Times expressed the same opinion. In
Paris Lord Cowley told Goltz that it was obvious that the Duchies
desired to be free from Denmark, and that it would be un-English
to keep them under Danish rule. King Leopold compared the
union of the Duchies with Denmark to that of Belgium with
Holland, to the division of which he owed his crown, and Queen
Victoria came over at last to the same view. Palmerston, how-
ever, still remained obstinate, but it now appeared that Bismarck
had been right in his forecast that no intervention would be under-
taken by the Powers. Great Britain had to content itself with

533
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

summoning the signatories of the protocol of 1852 to a conference
in London. Immediately after the fall of Diippel a truce was
arranged at the conference, which met in London on April 25th.

It is interesting to trace the skill with which Bismarck, who had
steadily set before himself the object of uniting the two Duchies
to Germany, gradually gained his end; he was the only one
among the negotiators who knew his own mind and had a clear
and settled policy. To assist his projects public opinion began
to turn in favour of the Prussian annexation of the Duchies.
France, embittered with Great Britain for many reasons, among
them the persistence of plots against the Emperor’s life and the
visit of Garibaldi, came round to the side of Prussia and secretly
offered her the possession of the Duchies. A popular agitation
in the Duchies themselves favoured annexation, and, despite
Bismarck’s contempt for popular opinion, he carefully fostered it.
In England sympathies in favour of Denmark were once more
aroused by the appearance of Tegethoff’s fleet in the English
Channel, and an Austrian victory over some Danish ships made
the Germans afraid that if Austria gained the upper hand she
might assume a preponderating position in the settlement of the
question. This inclined public opinion in Prussia to Bismarck’s
views, while the agitation in Germany in favour of some practical
result from the war might, if mot satisfied, cause a revolution,
and fear of this brought Austria over to her side.

In the conference Rechberg declared that the provisions of
1852 were at an end, and Bismarck made a formal demand for
the separation of the Duchies from Denmark. The Danes refused
all compromise, and on June 25th the conference broke up with-
out result. The resumption of the war was inevitable, but
Prussia was now in a more favourable position than before.
Russia was on her side, and France was her friend, while Great
Britain found that an understanding with Austria and Prussia
was the best safeguard against the dangers of Napoleon’s rest-
lessness. The Great Powers, therefore, left Denmark to her fate,
and she could expect no assistance from Sweden.

There remained the difficulty of Augustenburg. If the Duchies
were separated from Denmark and made into a separate State,
this would be naturally governed by Duke Frederick, and this
would not be in accordance with Bismarck’s views. He therefore
set himself to get rid of these obstacles. King William being still
in favour of Augustenburg, Bismarck affected to support his claims,
but demanded certain guarantees for the security of Prussia. For
instance, the army, the post office, and the railways must be under

524
THE PRUSSIANS OVERRUN JUTLAND

Prussian control. Austria did not like this, and under her
influence the Duke refused any conditions which might limit his
independence. This made his cause hopeless. At the beginning
of June Bismarck published his offers to Augustenburg and the
Duke’s refusal of them, and this convinced the King and a large
portion of the Prussian people that the accession of Augusten-
burg would be inopportune. Bismarck now began to reap the
fruit of his labours. His policy was generally approved by the
country, and some members of the Opposition came over to his
side. Indeed, both parties in the Prussian Parliament became
convinced that to establish a Sovereign in the Duchies who would
be in league with Austria would be a serious danger to Prussian
interests and the future of German unity, and they set themselves
to discover means by which the Duchies could be annexed to
Prussia or a Protectorate established over them.

Before the conference actually closed, Prince Frederick Charles
prepared for an attack upon Alsen. He collected, in advance, as
many pontoons and boats as he could lay his hands on, so as to
throw a force of 2,500 men into the island, who were to be
reinforced at intervals of half an hour. On June a2ist he was able
to inform King William and Bismarck, who were at Carlsbad,
that everything was ready, and he heard with joy that on June
26th the armistice would be at an end. The expedition set out in
the early morning of June 29th. The Danes made what resist-
ance they could, but by 9 everything was over, and on July rst
not a single Dane was left in the island. The loss of the Danes
had been twice that of the Prussians, half of their army had been
made prisoners, and the spoil of the conquerors included two
gunboats, 108 guns, 200 rifles, and a large quantity of munitions
of war. The defeat fell like a bolt from the blue on Copenhagen.
The Eider-Danes were in despair; the expected assistance from
Great Britain was not likely to be forthcoming, and the defeated
army threatened the war party with an attack unless they concluded
peace.

After the occupation of Alsen King Christian ordered his
ambassador in Paris to ask the Emperor categorically whether
assistance might be expected from him. The answer came in the
early morning of July 8th: “ All is lost; the Emperor will do
nothing for us.” The King did not wait for his Privy Council.
He sent for Monrad, the head of the Eider-Danes, who imme-
diately resigned his post and was succeeded by Bluhne, who,
on July 12th, made proposals for an armistice and peace to Berlin
and Vienna. In the meantime the Allies continued their opera-

525
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

tions. On July r4th Prince Albert and Falkenstein rode with
their staffs to the Skaw, the northern extremity of Jutland, where
the waters of the North Sea and the Baltic meet. As they gazed
over the expanse of the stormy sea, they saw some Danish trans-
ports on the waters, and hoisted the allied flags of Prussia and
Austria in their sight. The whole of Schleswig and Jutland was
now in the possession of the allies. The armistice began on
July 30th.

It was now necessary to determine the terms of peace.
Bismarck proposed to Rechberg that King Christian should
surrender his rights over all territory south of the King’s Island,
and recognise any arrangements which the Allies might make
about the three Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenberg.
Some settlement must also be made with regard to the public
debt and the costs of the war. He thought the idea of including
Denmark in the German Bund impracticable and undesirable.
He made preparations during the armistice for an attack on
Fiinen, notwithstanding the opposition of Austria. He then had
an interview with Prince Gortshakov at Carlsbad, in which he
secured the adhesion of Russia to his plans for peace. When
King William departed for his cure at Gastein, Bismarck persuaded
him to confer with Rechberg at Vienna. Here Bismarck person-
ally conducted the negotiations for peace, the conditions of which,
naturally, seemed hard to the Danes; but preliminaries were
eventually signed on August rst, 1864.

Schleswig-Holstein was now free from Danish rule, and the
German language and German education were to prevail undis-
turbed from the King’s Island to the Eider. After signing the
preliminaries, Bismarck left Vienna and joined King William at
Gastein, committing the conclusion of the definite treaty to other
hands. A long correspondence took place between Rechberg and
Bismarck, which ended in the retirement of the Austrian Minister
on October 27th, and three days later the Peace of Vienna was
signed. The differences of opinion between Austria and Prussia
had nearly brought about a war, but, for the moment, peace was
assured and Francis Joseph and Wilham remained on the most
friendly terms.

The Duchies were now subjected to a joint administration
of the two allied Powers, and the differences of opinion which
arose out of this situation eventually led to the Austro-Prussian
War of 1866. It is, therefore, worth while to consider how these
differences came into existence, and what was their nature. The
moment the war was concluded the divergence between the

526
PRUSSIA’S SUPREMACY

policies of Austria and Prussia became evident. Austria, anxious
that Prussia should not obtain a large accession of territory in
consequence of the war, wished the Duchies to be handed over to
Augustenburg. She would thus be relieved of the duty of garrison:
ing Schleswig and would secure the favour of the smaller German
States. Bismarck was, of course, opposed to this, but saw clearly
that the end he was aiming at could only be accomplished by
war, and afterwards expressed the opinion that it would have
been better if war had come at that moment. But King William
had made up his mind that he would not draw the sword against
Austria unless it were clear that she was attacking the honour
and welfare of his country. Besides, it would not be wise to make
war with Austria if there were any likelihood of France inter-
fering on her behalf, Bismarck therefore rejected the Austrian
proposal on the ground that the titles of all claimants, including
that of Oldenburg, must first be examined; and Austria, however
much she might have considered war inevitable, did not desire it
at present, especially as she was being threatened in her Italian
dominions by France.

Austria also suffered a defeat in her commercial policy. The
Prussian Zollverein, or Customs Union, was renewed in October,
1864, for another period of twelve years. Austria would have
been glad to form a similar combination of her own with the South
German States; but as this was not done, no alternative was
left them excepting to join Prussia. From the victories of Federal
Reform, the Danish War, and the Customs Union it was obvious
that Prussia represented German feeling far more than Austria
did, and that the supremacy would gradually fall into Prussian
hands. This led to an attack upon Rechberg, who was accused
of offending both the smaller States and the great Powers of
Europe, and of pursuing a policy which would inevitably lead to
the domination of Prussia. The supporters of the Anti-Prussian
policy were Schmerling, the Home Secretary, and Biegeleben, a
Privy Councillor. Rechberg foresaw what would happen—that
Bismarck would never yield to threats, that war was inevitable,
and that the consequence would be the loss of Venice. It was,
therefore, better to remain on good terms with Prussia, even at
the cost of sacrifices in Schleswig-Holstein. But he was not a
Bismarck, and as the Emperor could not spare Schmerling from
the Home Department, Rechberg resigned. He was succeeded
by Count Mensdorff, a Conservative and a strong supporter of the
alliance with Prussia. But he was too much under the influence of
Biegeleben, who made it his policy to consolidate the smaller

527
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

German States and settle as soon as possible the question of
Schleswig-Holstein.

Whilst Prussia had reached the first stage in the unification
of Germany by the liberation of Schleswig-Holstein, the Emperor
Napoleon took an important step towards his favourite project
of the independence of Italy. French troops still formed the
garrison of Rome, as the Emperor found the support of the
Clerical party necessary to the security of his throne. Yet the
presence of the French garrison was a continual grievance to Italy,
and many representations were made to the Emperor for its
removal. At length it was suggested that the removal of the
capital of Italy from Turin to Florence might tend to produce the
impression that the Italians had surrendered the idea of claiming
Rome, and pave the way for the withdrawal of the French
garrison.

There were, indeed, many reasons why Florence should make
a more fitting capital for Italy than Rome. She was the spiritual
head of the Italian peninsula. The mighty dead whose monu-
ments adorn the walls of Sante Croce—Dante, Michael Angelo,
Machiavelli, and others—were the real source of Italian greatness
in the modern age, and the intellect of Europe turned to Italy
with passionate devotion. Every street in Florence throbbed
with the Italian spirit. The majestic pile of the Palazzo Vecchio,
the sacred gloom of the Duomo, the gay elegance of Giotto’s
Campanile, the alabaster windows of San Miniato, the sculptured
doors of San Giovanni, spoke to the Italians of the glory of their
country. On the other hand, Rome, by the influence of the
Jesuits and the presence of the Papacy, had become almost a
non-Italian city. It contained nothing of the Republic, little of
the Empire, much of foreign influence and domination. Florence
recalled a glorious past and stimulated a prosperous future. Rome
might be the capital of an organised Church; Florence was the
source of a spiritual Italy which based its aspirations for the
future on the intellectual triumphs of the past. At the same time
it was a hard task for Victor Emmanuel to depose the city of his
birth. He had surrendered to the French the cradle of his race,
and was now asked to reduce the capital of his kingdom to the
level of a provincial town.

Eventually a treaty providing that the French garrison should
evacuate Rome within two years was signed on September 15th;
of course, with the condition that the capital should be transferred
to Florence. The change was resented by riots in Turin, and
these could not be put down without bloodshed. The King, whose

528
AUSTRIAN AND PRUSSIAN DIFFERENCES

real sympathies lay with the rioters, dismissed the Minghetti
Ministry on September 23rd, 1864, and summoned La Marmora
to his counsels. He formed a Ministry which consisted almost
entirely of Piedmontese, who quieted the apprehension of the
people, secured the approval in both Chambers of the Convention
with France, and transferred the Government to Florence, the
King taking up his residence in the Palazzo Pitti. But such a
change could not be effected without symptoms of disintegration.
There was now a violent Piedmontese party, over which Mazzini
was able to exercise considerable influence, in opposition to the
Government. The Ministry had a large majority in Parliament,
but the existence of discontent amongst those holding extreme
opinions on either side deprived it of the homogeneous authority
it had before possessed.

The differences between Austria and Prussia with regard to
Schleswig-Holstein still continued acute. Bismarck had his mind
fixed firmly on the acquisition of the Duchies, but was reluctant
to break with Austria. Mensdorff, on the other hand, was
persuaded by Biegeleben that he might force Bismarck to give
way by an attitude of firmness, and he wrote three dispatches
to Berlin on the subject, the result of which was to dismiss the
claims of Oldenburg and to revive those of Augustenburg, in order
that the Duchies might not fall into Prussian hands. Bismarck
saw that the first step was to get the troops of the Bund out of
the Duchies, and, with that object, he made an application to
Hanover and Saxony, who supplied them. But these smaller
States were also jealous of Prussia, and supported Austria in her
reluctance to see the federal occupation come to an end. Eventu-
ally the Bund decided by a majority that the occupation should
cease, whereupon the administration of Holstein should be under-
taken jointly by Austria and Prussia, as that of Schleswig had
already been.

The condition of affairs was now as follows. The Bund held
firmly to the rights of Augustenburg, but they had no authority
to enforce their opinions. Bismarck, on the other hand, recognised
that Christian IX. was the only legal sovereign of the Duchies,
but he denied his right to the incorporation of Schleswig with
Denmark. Austria oscillated between these two views. She had
begun by recognising the rights of Christian IX., but when she
feared that this might lead to a Prussian occupation and annexa-
tion of the Duchies, she leaned to the side of Augustenburg ; yet
she would have sacrificed the Duchies could she have obtained
adequate compensation for herself. Eventually she concluded that

529
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

her only safeguard against Prussia lay in supporting the authority
of the Bund; and Bismarck, on his side, was convinced that his
only chance of realising his policy lay in getting rid of that
authority. Eventually Bismarck informed Mensdorff, in February,
1865, that he would admit the claim of Augustenburg, on condi-
tion that the Duchies should enter into the Zollverein and adopt
the Prussian system of customs, that the posts and telegraphs
should belong to Prussia, that the control of the North Sea and
Baltic Canal, which was soon to be constructed, should remain
in her hands, that Friedrichstadt, Diippel and the mouth of the
canal should be surrendered to her. He asked further that the
army and fleet of the Duchies should be under Prussian control,
that Rendsburg should receive a Prussian garrison, that the Duchies
should be subject to Prussian military law, that the recruiting
system for the army and navy should be in Prussian hands, and
that the troops of the Duchies should take the oath of allegiance
to the King of Prussia and be under his orders.

To this Austria replied that they had always opposed the
formation of Schleswig-Holstein as a half-Sovereign State, and
that if it were admitted into the Confederation it must be on the
same footing as other members. Austria was ready to concede
to Prussia all the advantages which were reasonably demanded
by her sacrifices, her expenses, and her geographical position. It
was right that Rendsburg should be made a federal fortress, that
Kiel should be a harbour for the Prussian navy, that the canal
should be made between the North Sea and the Baltic, that
Schleswig-Holstein should enter the Zollverein ; but, when Prussia
made demands which were inconsistent with the existence of the
Bund, Austria must protect her own interests and those of
Germany and decline to enter upon negotiations on such a basis.
Nothing, therefore, remained but a continuance of the joint
occupation, to the delight of Bismarck and the distress of
Menadorff. At the same time the tone of Austria in this answer
made Bismarck cautious, and induced him to ask Moltke to make
a report on the strength of the Austrian army. For the time the
world had peace. On February 27th a commercial treaty was
concluded between the two rival States, with as much unanimity
as if a difference between them had never existed.

Bismarck had good reason to hope that the annexation of
the Duchies to Prussia would eventually be accomplished. Their
financial position was not such as to render their separate exist-
ence possible. The income of the united Duchies was 6,500,000
thalers, but the cost of collection, together with the expenses of

530
AUSTRIA FAVOURS AUGUSTENBURG

local government, was 4,500,000, and their share of the Danish
debt was 1,000,000; there remained, therefore, only 1,000,000
for the civil list, the army, the fortresses, the navy, and the
charge of the central Government. Nothing was left for the
future development of the country or the creation of a German
fleet, and the only advantage would be that Germany would possess
thirty sovereigns instead of twenty-nine. On the other hand,
annexation with Prussia would extinguish the expense of the
civil list, diminish that of the central Government, give Germany
additional 10,000 combatants in peace and 30,000 in war from
every million of inhabitants, and make it possible to lay the
foundations of a German fleet. For these reasons annexation
would further the interests of the Duchies, of Prussia, and of
Germany.

Unfortunately, these facts were unknown or unrecognised by
the population. They had sworn allegiance to the Duke of
Augustenburg, whom they regarded as their protector from the
hated domination of the Danes, were satisfied with their local
independence, and had no desire to become part of a great nation.
An address in favour of annexation to Prussia slowly obtained
200 signatures, but a similar address in favour of Augustenburg
was speedily signed by 50,000 persons, of whom four-fifths came
from Holstein. His Highness Duke Frederick VIII. was the
darling of the people. Austria took advantage of this feeling by
encouraging the Augustenburg agitation in the Duchies, and
endeavoured to induce the smaller German States, who were,
naturally, in favour of it, to bring about a division of the Bund
in the same sense. This step was contrary to the agreement of
January 16th, 1864, and it became necessary for Prussia to do
something. Therefore, on March 24th, 1865, King William ordered
the naval station of Prussia to be transferred from Dantzig to
Kiel.

Austria, however, pursued her course in spite of the warning
of Bismarck that they were following gradually diverging lines.
The Bund passed a resolution in favour of Augustenburg, and
Austria protested against the establishment of the naval station
at Kiel. Bismarck replied, somewhat ungraciously, that there
was no reason why Austria should not follow the Prussians’
example and transfer their station from Pola to Kiel if it pleased
them. Bismarck now proposed that the local parliament of
Schleswig-Holstein should be summoned to discuss the situation,
but Austria imposed conditions for its meeting which could not
be accepted. Excitement in the Duchies became more intense,

531
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and at last Bismarck found himself obliged to face the question
of a war with Austria. A Council to discuss the question was
summoned at Berlin on May 2oth, at which the Crown Prince
Frederick and Moltke were present. The alternative was the
annexation of Schleswig-Holstein, which would certainly bring
about a war with Austria, or the recognition of Augustenburg,
who was known to be friendly to Prussia and would accept the
conditions which she proposed. The King was in favour of the
first course, the Crown Prince of the second. Bismarck was
convinced that war was inevitable, but did not wish it to take
place immediately. Ultimately it was decided that no steps
should be taken likely to provoke war, and that another attempt
should be made to arrive at an understanding. Austria was not
anxious for war, and she knew that France was well disposed to
Prussia.

Accordingly, prolonged discussions took place in which the
differences between the two Powers became more and more
accentuated, until at last a compromise was arrived at by the
Convention of Gastein on August 14th, 1865. This stipulated
that the territory in dispute should be jointly administered,
Austria being responsible for Holstein and Prussia for Schleswig,
Lauenburg being surrendered to Prussia on the payment of a sum
of money to Austria, while the rights of Augustenburg were left
undecided. Bismarck was certain that war would eventually
break out, but accepted the compromise as a temporary expedient.
He wished, before war broke out, to secure the alliance of Italy
and the neutrality of France. Prussia lost nothing by this
arrangement, and Austria gained nothing. On the whole, the
Convention was regarded as a triumph for Bismarck, and it
brought him some friends in his own country, where the
opposition to his policy gradually declined. The South German
democrats called a meeting at Frankfort in October to insist
upon the investiture of Augustenburg, but it proved a complete
failure and very few Prussians attended it. Bismarck appeared
to have the Prussian nation at his back.

The arrangements come to at Gastein were known in Paris
some days before their ratification. Mensdorff had given the
information to Metternich, and Metternich had communicated it
to Drouyn de l’Huys. Public opinion in France was not favour-
able to what had been done. Austria and Prussia were accused,
on the pretext of safeguarding the rights of the population of
Schleswig-Holstein, of having forcibly wrested the Duchies from
Denmark and of violating the ancient right of the Duchies to

532
BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON

personal union. The whole of the Parisian press echoed these
sentiments, the Revue des Deux Mondes for once agreeing with
the Revue Contemporaine.

Goltz, under instructions from Bismarck, did his best to
remove these feelings, and succeeded so far that the French
Minister spoke of a possible understanding between France and
Prussia in case of war, and of the possible compensation which
France might receive for the aggrandisement of Prussia. There
can be little doubt that Luxemburg was hinted at. At the same
time France joined Great Britain in a public denunciation of the
Convention.

Bismarck thought it well to have a personal interview with
the Emperor, and for this purpose travelled to Biarritz on
September 30th and stayed there till October rath. The day after
his arrival he was received in audience by the Emperor, who asked
him whether he had given Austria any securities with regard to
Venice, and Bismarck said decidedly not. He declared he was
opposed to any step which might bring about a European war,
and that we must not make opportunities, but let them open of
themselves. Napoleon then asked how Bismarck proposed to
arrange the question of the Duchies with Austria; he replied that
he would give Austria pecuniary compensation for Holstein, to
which the Emperor made no objection. With regard to France
receiving a compensation for the increase of Prussian territory
through the annexation of the Duchies, Bismarck avowed that
the addition of a million inhabitants to the existing population
of Prussia was of no moment, and must rather be regarded as a
pledge for the fulfilment of the mission which events had imposed
upon the Prussian State. A strong Prussia would be an assist-
ance to a friendly France, but a weak Prussia would always be
seeking for alliances to defend herself against a France of whom
she was afraid. For further compensation the Emperor expressed
his conviction that they must await the development of events.
He hoped the King of Prussia would write to him if any new
circumstances should arise, and said it was impossible that France
should ever ally herself with Austria against Prussia. When
Bismarck returned to Berlin on November 7th he had the firm
conviction that France would look upon the aggrandisement of
Prussia with no unfriendly eye, and that no difficulties in the
development of Prussian policy were to be apprehended from that
quarter.

Such is the account of the interview at Biarritz given by
Sybel in his famous History of the Founding of the German Empire

533
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

under William I., but a different story is told by Roloff in the
Cambridge Modern History. He says that Napoleon encouraged
Bismarck to proceed against Austria, signifying a wish for compen-
sation should Prussia gain fresh acquisitions from the war. In
answer to this Bismarck made no promise, but seemed to imply
that if Prussia improved her position in Germany there would be
no objection to France’s acquiring new territory, obviously either
in Belgium or on the Rhine. Roloff avers that the Emperor was
strongly in favour of the alliance between Prussia and Italy, and
promised to recommend it in Florence.

Both statesmen parted on excellent terms. Napoleon counted
on war in Germany, with France, as arbiter, receiving a share of
the spoils. Bismarck was confident of vanquishing Austria with
the help of Italy and of then evading the necessity of compen-
sation to France. Henceforth Bismarck and Napoleon are the
two protagonists in all European struggles, and a contest, at first
secret and then open, began between them which finally ended at
Sedan.

534
CHAPTER IV

THE HEGEMONY OF PRUSSIA

WE have seen how Bismarck, by his visit to Biarritz, had assured
the neutrality of France in the event of war between Prussia and
Austria. We must now consider how he obtained the alliance of
Italy. Whilst he was still in France the Court of Vienna was
surprised by a diplomatic offer from La Marmora. As no regular
diplomatic relations had existed between Austria and Italy since
1859, La Marmora sent Count Malaguizzi of Modena as his envoy.
He offered to purchase Venetia from the Austrians at the price of
2,000,000,000 lire, or £80,000,000, to make a favourable commer-
cial treaty with Austria, and to treat the Pope with consideration.
Malaguizzi spent two months in Vienna and found that his
proposals met with favourable consideration. Statesmen doubted
whether, in view of the hostility of Prussia, Venetia could remain
long in their possession, and merchants rubbed their hands at
' the proposal of Free Trade with Italy. The Prime Minister liked
the prospect of two milliards to restore their shattered finances.
On the other hand, the clergy were unwilling to have any-
thing to do with an excommunicated sovereign. Austrian officers
regretted the loss of a pleasant Italian sojourn, and the Emperor
was personally opposed to this scheme. But how was the Austrian
deficit to be met ? Count Larisch sought for a loan in Paris, but
Rothschild positively refused to lend anything, and eventually
the promise of a large sum was obtained at ruinous interest.
The offer of Bismarck to purchase the Duchies put an end to the
matter. Austria had already sold Lauenburg, and the proud old
Empire was not prepared to barter away one by one the pearls
of its diadem. The Emperor gave a decided negative to both
propositions. If Italy desired Venetia, she must fight for it.
Austria, however, was disposed to treat Italy with consideration
and to prefer her friendship to that of Prussia, when suddenly
Prussia acknowledged Victor Emmanuel as King of Italy, a step
in which she was followed by the whole of the Zollverein, except-
ing Hanover and Baden, always devoted to the interests of Austria.
In the meantime, friction arose between Gablentz, who
represented Austria and Holstein. and Manteuffel, who was

535
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Prussian Viceroy in Schleswig. During a journey from Altona to
Kiel the Princess of Augustenburg was received everywhere with
delirious enthusiasm, Gablentz preserving a friendly neutrality.
Manteuffel could not put up with this, and remonstrated with
Gablentz. Bismarck threw himself into the quarrel, and it was
felt there would be no peace unless Augustenburg left the Duchies.

Now came the crisis of Bismarck’s career. He had long ago
determined upon creating a new Prussia and a new Germany, but
how was this to be done? Should he march hand in hand with
Austria with a common policy, or should Austria be driven from
the Bund, which would thus remain under the hegemony of
Prussia? He could not but recognise the dangers of the second
course—the indignation against Prussia as the destroyer of the
peace of Europe and the possibility of a European war. He was
willing to pursue peaceful methods so long as they were feasible,
and share with Austria the command of military strength, which
should direct the destinies of the German Federation to beneficent
ends. But this course had proved impracticable before, and it
was impracticable now. The attempt to carry it out in the two
Duchies had failed, and brought the two Powers to the verge
of war. To his mind it was plain that he must either submit
or conquer, and if his ideals were to be realised Austria must
be crushed. On January 13th, 1866, he wrote to Usedom, in
Florence, that the arrangements of Gastein had proved unwork-
able, and that, if a new policy were adopted, he would like to
know what would be the attitude of Italy.

Meanwhile, matters continued to grow worse in the Duchies.
A demonstration in favour of Augustenburg, arranged to take
place at Altona on January 23rd, was not prevented by Gablentz.
Four thousand people, including delegates from South Germany,
met and gave three cheers for their rightful, beloved Prince,
Duke Frederick. Bismarck and the King were deeply stirred. On
January 26th Bismarck wrote to Werther, in Vienna, to complain
of the aggressive policy of Austria, and to inform Mensdorff in
the clearest language that, unless Austria proposed to maintain,
in every respect, the principles of their common action, Prussia
must choose by herself the path most conducive to her own
interests. Mensdorff appreciated the significance of this language,
but his reply of February 7th was couched in somewhat cold and
haughty tones, and he denied the right of Prussia to interfere in
the administration of Holstein, which had been committed to
Austrian hands. On receipt of this letter Bismarck expressed his
regret to Karolyi that the relations of Prussia and Austria were

536
AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR INEVITABLE

no longer of that intimate nature which had previously charac-
terised them. It was clear that the alliance between Prussia and
Austria was at an end.

If war with Austria were inevitable after the dispatch of
February 7th, how was it to be brought about? The sooner it
was begun and over the better for Prussia; in this Moltke, Roon
and Manteuffel were agreed. The King was also convinced that
war was the only way out of the difficulty, but he felt the full
responsibility of the decision. All his private relations disposed
him against a breach with Austria, and equally against an alliance
with France. But the Court influences in Berlin were not entirely
on the side of Bismarck, and his conversations with his Sovereign
must have caused them both very anxious moments. Napoleon
preserved absolute neutrality in the event of a war, but he said
that Prussia was more likely than Austria to consider general
interests in the case of a change in the political condition of
Europe. He laughed at the idea of compensating Austria for
the loss of Venice by giving her the Danubian Principalities.
Roumania would not like to be absorbed by Austria, and Russia
would certainly object.
| Although Austria was determined not to surrender Venetia,
her growing dislike of Prussia made her better disposed towards
Italy. At the beginning of January she granted an amnesty to
the political exiles from Venetia and gave the country a more
liberal government. Mensdorff told Grammont that Austria was
ready to extend to the rest of Italy the commercial advantages
she had already granted to Sardinia, provided France had no
objection, and Drouyn de l’Huys willingly gave his consent. But
La Marmora was, for many reasons, not very anxious to accept
the offer. Indeed, the policy of La Marmora at this time struck
an uncertain note, and Bismarck began to have doubts how far
he could be depended upon.

In these circumstances King William summoned a council on
February 28th, at which, besides Bismarck and the other members
of the Ministry, the Crown Prince, Goltz, Moltke, Manteuffel and
Alvensleben were present. The final conclusion was not to hurry
on a war, but to try once more the effect of diplomatic negotia-
tions. The King closed the conference by saying that he wished
for peace; but that, if war must come, he would not shirk it, as
he was sure that his cause was righteous.

It was now necessary to come to terms with France and Italy.
Goltz went to Paris to discuss matters with Drouyn de I’Huys
and the Emperor. The first question was that of compensation.

537
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Napoleon would not expect anything from the annexation of the’
Duchies, but France would require an equivalent for any further
extension of Prussian territory, either in Belgium or on the Rhine.
Bismarck firmly declared that under no consideration would
German territory be ceded to France, and the matter remained
undecided, it being understood that France was to preserve a
friendly neutrality if war should ensue. Goltz, however, learnt
the welcome news that Napoleon had agreed with Victor
Emmanuel to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with
each other.

On February 24th, 1866, Prince Cusa had been compelled to
resign the throne of Roumania, and his place was taken by a pro-
visional Government. This gave an opportunity for compensating
Austria and obtaining Venetia without war. La Marmora was
rather in favour of this project, and Govone was sent to Berlin
with the object of urging the Prussians to declare war in order that
Austria might be frightened into concluding some arrangement
of this kind. The project, however, ended in smoke, as Great
Britain and other European Powers were decidedly opposed to
it. Austria began to be seriously alarmed, and an Imperial
Council, held at Vienna between March 7th and 18th, was in
favour of mobilisation and of placing a northern army on the
frontiers of Prussia and a southern army on the frontiers of Italy.
Mensdorff was opposed to any active measures for the present,
but his anxiety was not relieved by the following news from
Berlin.

Countess Hohenthal, while sittins next to Bismarck at dinner
with the Saxon Ambassador at Berlin, said to him, “ Is it really
true, Excellency, that you are intending to go to war with Austria
and conquer Saxony ? ”

Bismarck answered, “It is quite true, dearest Countess; I
have had no other idea since the first days of my Ministry. Our
cannon are cast, and you will soon see how superior they are to
the Austrian artillery.”

“ Horrible!”’ said the Countess; “‘ but tell me, I have two
estates, one in Bohemia, the other in Saxony, near Leipzig; in
which would you advise me to take refuge ?”’

‘I would advise you not to go to Bohemia,” replied Bismarck ;
“for we shall beat the Austrians just in the neighbourhood of
your property, and you might have some terrible experiences.
Go quickly to Saxony; nothing will happen at Leipzig. You will
even be secure against billeting, for your house at Knauthagen
is not on the line of march.”

538
PRUSSIA’S ALLIANCE WITH ITALY

Bismarck afterwards tried to laugh this away, but Beust took
it very seriously, and it is well known how the great Chancellor
embarrassed his secretaries by talking openly about the most
important secrets,

At any rate, steps were taken to strengthen the Austrian
garrisons in Bohemia and Moravia. Further, on March 16th,
Mensdorff asked Bismarck whether he really intended to break
the Convention of Gastein; and on the same day a circular was
sent by Austria to the German Governments, telling them what
had happened, and saying that, if Bismarck gave an unsatisfactory
answer, the Diet would be asked to decide about Schleswig-
Holstein, and, if Prussia resisted, the forces of the Bund would be
mobilised, excepting the three army corps which belonged to
Prussia. Bismarck replied that, if an answer were expected, he
must have the question in writing, for to a verbal question he could
only reply in the negative, as he had received no orders from his
Sovereign to say anything else. It was also remarked that, while
Prussia was not arming at all, Austria was massing troops on the
frontier, which might lead to war, as it had led before. The real
answer was given by a circular letter on March 24th, in which
Prussia asked whether she could depend on the assistance of her
allies in the event of her being attacked by Austria.

Eventually a treaty of alliance between Prussia and Italy was
signed on April 8th. Its provisions were that, if the negotiations
which the King of Prussia was conducting with regard to the
reform of the German Federation should come to nothing and he
were compelled to have recourse to arms, Italy should immediately
declare war against Austria; that the war once begun should
be carried on with energy, and that neither Power should make
peace without the consent of the other; that the consent must
be given if Austria surrendered to Italy the Lombardy Venetian
kingdom, and to Prussia corresponding territories of similar
importance; that the alliance was made for three months, and
should not come into effect if Prussia had not declared war against
Austria within that period. Moreover, if the Austrian fleet left
the Adriatic before the declaration of war, Italy was to send a
portion of her fleet to the Baltic to act in conjunction with that of
Prussia. Bismarck thus obtained the assistance of Italy, which
Moltke, who had been sent to Florence at the beginning of March,
thought absolutely necessary, and the neutrality of France and
the protection of Italy had been secured. Italy did not enter
into the alliance without great searchings of heart, and was only
induced to do so by the consideration that its execution depended

539
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

on the declaration of war by Prussia, a prerogative which the
King would never let pass out of his hands.

The alliance with Italy laid upon Bismarck the necessity of
bringing about war with Austria within three months. Two
roads lay open to him for this purpose—a project for the reform of
the Federation, and defence against the military preparations of
Austria, preparations which could only be met by similar action
on the part of Prussia. Bismarck’s whole action was that of a
subtle conspirator, which cannot be justified on any abstract
principle of morality, and can only be defended by overmastering
considerations of expediency. He had made up his mind, as he had
told the Countess Hohenthal, that the only solution of imminent
difficulties was to secure the unity of Germany with Prussia at
its head, and that this could not be effected except by a war with
Austria.

Bismarck now had to devote the whole force of his intellect
and character to the task of goading Austria to war, much as the
picador in the bullfight goads the reluctant animal to resistance,
and to persuade his Sovereign, the soul of honour and the possessor
of a tender conscience, to consent to the means his Minister was
employing to achieve his ends. Besides this, he had to assure
Italy of the honesty and straightforwardness of his intentions,
to prevent her from joining Austria in an attack upon Prussia,
after the three months were over, if war had not been declared ;
to preserve the goodwill of France, and yet prevent Napoleon from
urging his favourite device of a European congress—which would
spoil the whole of Bismarck’s plans—and amuse him with dreams
of compensation, without committing himself to any promise; to
keep the smaller German States quiet, and prevent them from
a sudden warlike union with Austria; to justify his policy for
the union of Germany and the aggrandisement of his country—
first, to the public opinion of that country itself, which was by no
means friendly, and then to the public tribunal of Europe.

The fulfilment of such a task might seem to transcend human
powers, and Bismarck had to strain his physical energies to break-
ing point. Indeed, some calm and unprejudiced observers have
condemned Bismarck’s action, even after its triumphant conclusion,
as the act of an unprincipled and reckless filibuster, who embroiled
Europe and set the whole fortunes of his country upon a stake
which he might lose and could only win by an extraordinary
combination of good fortune. King William was determined not
to subject himself to blame of this kind; it should never be said
of him that he had forced the hand of Austria by premature

540
AUSTRIA’S MOBILISATION

armament ; and public opinion was on his side. Even those who
were most opposed to Austria and most in sympathy with the
objects for which Bismarck was contending were anxious for a
peaceful solution of the question and afraid of some evil stroke
from the side of France. At the same time the suspicions of
Italy were aroused by the backwardness of Prussia in arming
herself, which was really due to the hesitation of the King.
Fortunately, Austria, -becoming weary, like the baited bull, of
the maddening ambitions of her neighbours, began to move troops
in Moravia and Venetia. This induced the King, at the end of
March, to make some military preparations, but not yet to mobilise
his army.

Bismarck’s attempt to bring about war by a proposal to
reconstruct the German Federation proved an entire failure. On
April 9th he brought forward, before the Diet at Frankfort, a
motion advocating the creation of a strong central authority and
the representation of the people by universal suffrage. His
object was to rouse the opposition of Austria, and make himself
popular in his own country. But it had the opposite effect. The
Prussian nation refused to support him, because they knew that
the Minister who was governing without parliamentary control
over the finances could be no true democrat. Bavaria also was
opposed to him, Great Britain was hostile, France unsympathetic.
Indeed, the hollowness of the proposal was generally seen through,
and Bismarck was compelled to retrace his steps and have recourse
to other methods.

At this time mobilisation in Austria would require seven weeks,
in Prussia three, which would give Prussia the advantage of four
weeks in beginning a war. On March 31st Mensdorff wrote to
Berlin that nothing was further from his mind than an attack
upon Prussia, both on personal and on public grounds. Bismarck
replied, on April 4th, that the concentration of troops by Austria
on the frontier of Prussia had compelled him to make correspond-
ing preparations for defence. This produced an uncomfortable
feeling in Vienna, and on April 8th a military conference deter-
mined on the raising of 85,000 troops. The proposal of Prussia
for the reform of the Bund, which we have already mentioned,
increased the feeling of uneasiness, and the pressure of the Austrian
generals became more intense and the resistance of Mensdorff
weaker. On April 13th Austria armed her northern fortresses,
next day recalled her reservists and the soldiers on leave and
purchased horses, and on April 15th mobilised a northern and a
southern army. Then followed proposals for mutual disarmament,

541
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and the friends of peace hoped that before the end of April all
danger would have passed away. At this very moment news
arrived at Vienna that Italy was arming, and had mobilised a
force of 100,000 men. This was entirely without foundation, as
all that had been done was in accordance with the usual practice ;
indeed, La Marmora was much disturbed by the apparent quies-
cence of Prussia, and determined to take no steps for mobilisation
a day before his ally.

However, the war party had gained the ascendancy. On
April 21st a council of war decided to mobilise the Austrian army
on a large scale. Archduke Albert was given command of the
southern and Benedek of the northern army. The Finance
Minister, although at his wits’ end for money, contracted a new
loan for £60,000,000, and unnegotiable paper money was created
to the extent of £115,000,000. The financial pressure became so
great that Austria could not wait for peace; it was necessary she
should force a definite declaration of Prussian policy with respect
to the Duchies and Venetia. On April 26th Austria proposed that
the question of Schleswig-Holstein should be left to the decision
of the Bund, and Mensdorff wrote on the same day to France that
he would surrender Venetia to Italy if France and Italy remained
neutral while the Austrians reconquered Schleswig. The answer
to this was the mobilisation of the whole Italian army, to the
inexpressible joy of the nation. Party conflicts were forgotten,
and the enthusiasm of the people flowed out in a united stream
towards war with the hated Austrians for the liberation of Venice.

Prussia, however, still held back, and it was not until the
beginning of May that the complete mobilisation of the army
was decided upon at Berlin. This was followed by the smaller
German States, first Saxony, then Bavaria, and then Wiirtem-
berg, Darmstadt and Nassau. The delay in the mobilisation of
the Prussian army arose from two causes—the King’s reluctance to
go to war, and the existence of foreign complications. On April
25th Goltz reported a conversation with Napoleon, in which the
Emperor had referred to the idea of a European congress which
he had first proposed in 1863. The difficulty lay in the settle-
ment of a compensation for France. The Emperor said, “ If you
had a Savoy, everything would be easy.” On May and a formal
proposal to take part in a congress was made by Benedetti at
Berlin. Bismarck believed the congress would produce discord
and not peace, but did not refuse to take part in it, but wished,
as a preliminary, to have a clear understanding with France.
The Emperor did not agree with this, which he said would create

542
BISMARCK’S PEACE PROPOSALS

confusion in Europe; but he told Goltz at a court ball that
Austria had offered him the Rhine frontier as the price of an
alliance, and he wished that Prussia would do likewise. Bismarck
doubted whether Goltz’s information was trustworthy, and we
do not know what offer had actually been made by Austria, but
it is certain that he regarded the possession of Venetia by Italy
as necessary for the security of peace in Europe. At the same
time the national feeling of France was strongly opposed to the
creation of a united Germany.

On May 5th the Emperor told Nigra, the Italian Ambassador
in Paris, that Austria was ready to surrender Venetia as soon as
she became mistress of Schleswig, but that Venetia would be given
to the Emperor, who would then make it over to Italy, and that
Italy would pay Austria a certain sum, which would enable her
to fortify her new possessions. He asked whether it was possible
for Italy to give up her connection with Prussia. There was,
indeed, some possibility of this, because, although Bismarck had
declared that he was personally prepared to defend Italy against
an attack by Austria, he was not bound to do so by the terms of
the treaty. Nigra replied, according to the instructions of La
Marmora, that Italy could not honourably desert her ally, but
that the treaty would end on July 8th, and that after that Italy
would be free to act as she pleased.

On May 21st Bismarck made a final proposal for peace with
Austria. The Duchies should be united under the government of
Prince Albert of Prussia, Diippel and Sonderburg being sur-
rendered to the Prussian kingdom; Prussia and Austria were to
undertake the common work of the reform of the Confederation ;
a common army should be formed with similar organisation and
discipline, Prussia commanding in the north, Austria in the south ;
and in order to complete these arrangements, the smaller German
sovereigns and the representatives of the free towns should meet
at Weimar. This offer was approved of by the King. However,
the propositions were not well received by the smaller States, and
eventually Mensdorff wrote, on May 28th, that he was sorry that
the strained relations between the two countries did not admit of
friendly negotiations, but that he hoped that matters might
improve.

At this time the Emperor Napoleon was in great embarrass-
ment. Public opinion in France was opposed to the warlike
tendencies of Prussia. But peace in Germany meant the retention
of Venetia by Austria, and this entailed the sacrifice of his dearest
wishes and perhaps the explosion of more bombs. He therefore

543
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

harked back to his idea of a congress. In his heart he desired to
abrogate the arrangements of the Treaty of Vienna by the creation
of a new European tribunal, but he had neither the firmness of
mind nor the strength of body to carry this out with vigour, and
he therefore had resort to temporary expedients and a tortuous
policy. His plan now was to give the Duchies to Prussia, and
compensate Austria for the loss of Venetia by the absorption of
Silesia. Prussia was to be enlarged by Saxony and some other
German territories, and be the head of North Germany. The
southern and middle German States were to form a federation,
not under Austria, but attached by ties of gratitude to France.
The left bank of the Rhine, from Alsace to Holland, was to form
a neutral State on the model of Belgium, which would be a
reconstruction of the Confederation of the Rhine. If the negotia-
tions for the congress were spun out beyond July 8th, Italy would
be free to act as she pleased. Bismarck would not accept these
proposals, and Italy was reluctant to do so, because she feared
that Napoleon was not in favour of a united Italy, but would
prefer to have a Murat in Naples, Prince Napoleon in Tuscany,
and a reigning Pope in Rome.

In the meantime official invitations to the congress were sent
to the European Powers and acknowledged before June 7th.
Austria declined the congress and took the important step of
summoning the Bund to settle the difficulties in Germany. This
was tantamount to a declaration of war, because it was certain
that the Bund would give its verdict against Prussia, and that
Prussia would resist. Napoleon now made an arrangement with
Vienna on the terms that France should remain neutral, that the
Emperor should do his best to secure the neutrality of Italy, that
Venetia should be surrendered in exchange for Silesia, and that
France should receive some compensation on the Rhine. It is clear
that this agreement, which was signed on June 12th, would be a
humiliation for Prussia, since it must effectually prevent the unity
of Germany and the unity of Italy.

From this moment war was certain. On June 3rd Bismarck
announced to the Court at Vienna that he regarded the reference
of the questions in dispute to the Bund as a breach of the
Convention of Gastein. He also declared to the Federal Diet that
Schleswig had nothing to do with the Bund, and that it was part
of the arrangements of January 16th, 1864, that the affairs of
the Duchies should be settled by mutual consent between Prussia
and Austria. Austria now asked the Bund to arm against Prussia,
because she had violated the Treaty of Gastein, forgetting that

544
THE WAR CLOUD BURSTS

the treaty had been concluded between Austria and Prussia acting
as great European Powers and not as members of the Federation.
Bismarck was, in fact, rather pleased at this turn of affairs, because
it put Austria more decidedly in the wrong.

Diplomatic relations were now interrupted. On June rath
Austria recalled Count Karolyi from Berlin, and Baron Werther
asked for his passports in Vienna. On the same day Bismarck sent
a note to the Prussian representatives in Germany that he should
regard the acceptance of the Austrian proposal by the Bund as a
declaration of war. He also laid before the King a plan of military
operations, formed on the alternative suppositions that the smaller
German States remained neutral and that they did not. The lot
of these States was not a happy one: they were willing to light
the match but did not wish to be blown up by the explosion which
would follow.

__At last June 14th arrived, the day on which the resolution of
the Bund was to be taken. In the voting Austria accepted the
proposal, Prussia protested against it. Bavaria, Saxony and
Darmstadt voted for the proposal, so far as it implied an arrange-
ment for the preservation of peace, but did not consider that the
breach of the Convention of Gastein was a sufficient reason for
war. Hanover agreed to this, but thought that no federal
general should be appointed for the present. Wiirtemberg fol-
lowed Austria, Baden stood aloof. The Elector of Hesse agreed
with Austria; but Hanover, Luxemburg and the Saxon Duchies
were against the proposal. When the votes had been given, the
President declared that the amendment of Bavaria for a limited
interference had been carried by nine to six. The representative
of Prussia then said that the introduction, let alone the passing,
of this proposal was in contradiction of the fundamental laws of
the Bund, and the Emperor of Austria could not be regarded as
a member of the Bund for Holstein. He said that his master, the
King, now regarded the Confederation as dissolved, and would
attempt to make a new combination to accomplish the unity of
Germany. The President declared, in answer, that it was
impossible for Prussia to dissolve the Federation, and that it
would continue to do its work as before. When the King was
informed of what had passed, he recalled his ambassadors from
Dresden, Hanover and Cassel, and orders were given to the great
army to begin an immediate attack upon Bohemia.

The war having broken out, the Austrians determined to
assemble their troops in the neighbourhood of Olmiitz in Moravia,
where six army corps were gradually collected. Three divisions of

§ 545
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

cavalry were already in Bohemia, and a fourth had been sent in
advance to Austrian Silesia. The whole strength of the Austrians
amounted to 238,000 men, which was afterwards increased by
23,000 from Saxony. There were, however, certain defects.
Financial difficulties had prevented her from keeping her army
in a high condition of strength and efficiency, and a large propor-
tion of the soldiers had only been trained for a year. They were
also lacking in culture and education, and were, in this respect, far
behind the Prussian troops. In arms the Austrians had nothing
to compare with the needle-gun of their adversaries, and were
not likely to be effective with the bayonet, which in these years
was often decisive in a battle. On June 16th the army collected
at Olmiitz comprised 174,000 infantry, and Benedek, the Com-
mander-in-Chief, thought he could not depend on more than
158,000, which would give the Prussians an advantage of
more than 40,000. The armies of the smaller German States
were also in a most unsatisfactory condition.

The Prussian forces were divided into three armies: one in
Silesia, called the Second Army, under the command of the Crown
Prince, 111,000 strong; the First Army, under Prince Frederick
Charles, 93,000 strong; and the Elbe Army, 46,000 strong, under
Herwarth von Bittenfeld. Another army never engaged the
enemy, being used for garrison purposes. The whole Prussian
force amounted to 263,000 men, as opposed to the Austrian
total of 261,000.

On the morning of June 15th Schulenburg, the Prussian
Minister in Saxony, asked Beust, the Saxon Prime Minister, to
make an alliance with Prussia, on the conditions that her troops
should be placed upon a peace footing, and that a Parliament
should be summoned, whereupon Prussia would guarantee her
sovereignty on the basis of the reform proposals of June roth. An
answer was to be given in the course of the day, and a
refusal would be regarded as a declaration of war. The Saxons
had already made preparations, and 36,000,000 thalers had been
safely deposited in Munich. The answer was not doubtful:
Saxony could not disarm without an order of the Diet. In
the evening Schulenberg communicated the declaration of war
privately to the King, and at the same moment Herwarth von
Bittenfeld’s battalions crossed the frontier; Beust immediately
demanded the assistance of the Bund, especially of Austria and
Bavaria. But Benedek was at Olmiitz, and the Bavarian troops
were not yet assembled, so King John, the first Dante scholar in
Europe, retired to Pirna, and then led his troops across the

546
ABSORPTION OF THE SMALLER STATES

mountains into Bohemia. Dresden was occupied by the Prussians
without resistance on June 18th, and the whole country submitted
quietly to Prussian domination.

In Electoral Hesse the Government had ordered the mobilisa-
tion of its army corps on June 14th, and summoned the Parlia-
ment in order to provide the money. The Parliament, however,
refused supplies, and demanded the reversal of the mobilisation
and the preservation of complete neutrality. At this moment
Réder appeared to lay the Prussian ultimatum before the
Hessian Minister, who referred him to the Elector. The Prince
received him ungraciously, and refused to give a decided answer ;
but all idea of mobilisation was at an end. The Hessian troops
retired, in order that they might not come into conflict with the
Prussians, and made an abortive attempt to carry off the treasure,
In the evening the Elector declined to give an answer. Réder
declared war, and Beyer advanced into Hesse from Wetzlar and
reached Cassel on June 19th. The Elector stayed at Wilhelmshéhe
and refused to recognise the declaration of war. He was regarded
as a prisoner, and was removed, first to Minden and then to the
castle at Stettin, where he was treated with royal honours. Hesse
was then administered by Beyer.

In Hanover, King George had no idea of acceding to the
demands of Prussia, or of submitting to an unarmed neutrality.
He summoned a council of Ministers, to whom he repeated his
determination to be neutral, but said that it would be dishonour-
able to recall the mobilisation which had already been ordered,
and degrading to sacrifice his divine right to Prussian projects
of reform. His Ministry agreed with him, which, of course, meant
a declaration of war. Orders were sent to all soldiers to return to
Gottingen, in the southern half of the kingdom, and at a meeting
of the Chambers Benningten proposed the dismissal of the present
Ministry and the declaration of complete neutrality. The people,
however, were excited by the news that the Prussians were already
in Harburg. The King endeavoured to temporise, but Ysenburg
was firm and declared war, and King George set out to join his
troops at Géttingen. Two hours later Manteuffel crossed the
Elbe, and Falkenstein was on the march to Hanover, which he
reached on June 17th.

There could not be a greater contrast than the activity
and determination of the Prussians and the vacillation of their
opponents. Within three days three kingdoms which could
supply 75,000 men to the federal army were occupied by Prussia.
In Gottingen the King took command of his troops; but, being

547
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

blind, had to depend on Tscherschiitz, his adjutant. He pressed
for a further advance to the south to join the Bavarians, but the
army was not in a condition to proceed. At last they reached
Langensalza on June 23rd; here an armistice was arranged by
the Duke of Gotha, which might have led to a peaceful conclu-
sion. King William, who was unwilling to make war against his
friend and brother, offered most honourable terms, which King
George, after considerable deliberation, refused to accept. His
answer cost him his crown. Eventually a battle took place at
Langensalza, which resulted in the defeat of the Prussians. They
lost 170 dead, 600 wounded, and goo prisoners, while the
Hanoverian losses were 400 dead and 1,000 wounded. The
battle, however, was of little use. The victors found themselves
surrounded by 40,000 Prussians, deserted by the Bavarians, and
without food or shelter; so, on June 2gth, a capitulation took
place, which made the Prussians master of the whole country and
the munitions of war it contained. King William respected the
brave resistance of the Hanoverian army and allowed the King
and the Crown Prince to choose any place of residence which kept
them outside Hanover. They went first to Vienna and took up
their abode in Hietzing, the Queen remaining in Hessenhausen
under Prussian protection. Hanover was incorporated with
Prussia, much to its advantage, and the rivalry between the
Houses of Guelph and Hohenzollern, which had lasted for many
centuries and exercised a great influence over German history,
came to anend. The Guelphs reigned in Great Britain, but wholly
lost their power in the country of their origin.

There was great joy in Italy at the news of the outbreak of
the war between Austria and Prussia. The enthusiasm spread
throughout all parts of the nation, and Neapolitans, Tuscans,
Piedmontese, Lombards and Romagnols ranged themselves
under the Italian tricolour. The troops were numerous if their
quality was not high; they formed twenty divisions, each of
nearly 12,000 men, so that the total was not less than 240,000.
The larger portion was in Lombardy under the command of the
King, with La Marmora as chief of the staff; the smaller on the
Lower Po, near Bologna and Ferrara, under Cialdini. Besides
this, there was a body of, volunteers numbering 15,000 under
Garibaldi, which was afterwards increased to 35,000. In addition
we must reckon about 150,000 troops as a reserve.

Opposed to this ponderous and motley host the Austrians
could only muster 82,000 men, of whom 30,000 were needed for the
protection of the Quadrilateral, while 13,000 were required to

548
THE WAR IN ITALY

cover southern Tyrol, and 16,000 were needed for Istria and Fiali.
Archduke Albert had to deal with an enemy whose forces were
twice or three times as numerous as his own, and the Italians
looked forward to a certain victory.

La Marmora, however, was disposed to be cautious, and not
commit himself to a dangerous adventure. He knew that the
Austrians were ready to surrender Venetia if they could only
defeat the Prussians, and that, if he could wait, the fruit would
fall into his hands, and still more readily if the Austrians could
gain some slight advantage. For these reasons he was unwilling
to submit to the advice of Prussian strategists, who were naturally
anxious to offer it. It was impossible for Moltke to leave Berlin
at this important crisis, and so Bernhardi was sent, a man equally
renowned as a general and an historian.

Venetia was bounded on the north by the Alps, on the south
to a great extent by the Po, on the west by the Mincio. Behind
these two rivers flows the Adige, first to the south, parallel with
the Mincio, and then to the east, parallel with the Po. In the
north, Venetia was defended by the famous Quadrilateral, formed
by four fortresses, Peschiera and Mantua on the Mincio, Verona
and Legnago on the Adige. A doubt arose as to the side from
which Venetia should be attacked—from Milan on the west, or from
Bologna and Ferrara on the south. The passage over the Mincio
was easier than that over the Adige, but the invaders would be
immediately stopped by the four formidable fortresses, and if the
enemy retired they could fight from river to river. If the attack
came from the south, the Austrians would be cut off from Venice
and Trieste, from Laibach and Vienna, and be compelled either to
shut themselves up in the Quadrilateral, or make a difficult march
through Tyrol. Moltke had no hesitation in recommending the
southern attack, so as to press the Austrians in the rear, drive
them into Tyrol, and give the lead to the Prussians in the neigh-
bourhood of Linz. Simultaneously with this movement, a demon-
stration might be made on the Mincio. There was also an idea
of rousing the discontented Liberals of Hungary against their
Austrian oppressors, and of sending Garibaldi to Hungary for this
purpose, with 35,000 volunteers, by way of Dalmatia and Trieste.
Money would be supplied by Prussia and Italy.

La Marmora did not look forward to Bernhardi’s visit with
enthusiasm. No doubt at this moment there was great divergence
between the designs of Prussia and Italy. The Prussians desired
to crush the Austrians, and for this purpose were anxious for a
strong attack on the side of Italy, which must seriously injure

549
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Austrian operations on the north. But La Marmora limited his
outlook to the possession of Venetia. The Emperor Napoleon also
was opposed to violent measures, while the British Government
dreaded revolutionary movements in Hungary, which might
spread in other directions, and it is supposed that other secret
influences were at work in the background. Therefore, when
Bernhardi strongly urged an advance from the Po, and the send-
ing of Garidaldi across the Adriatic into Dalmatia, La Marmora
set himself obstinately against it and contented himself with opera-
tions which had Alessandria as their base and the conquest of the
Quadrilateral as their objective. In fact, he did precisely what
Austria would wish him to do.

La Marmora now resigned his office as Prime Minister, and
his place was taken by Ricasoli, a man of very different stamp,
who was quite ready to carry on the war with vigour, desiring
the liberation of Italy not only from the Austrians, but from the
French. He was prepared to conduct the campaign from the
Po to the Danube, and send Garibaldi to rouse Hungary to rebellion,
and wrote to La Marmora to that effect. But La Marmora, after
reading the letter with disgust, put it into his pocket and said
nothing to anyone. He was, indeed, embittered against Prussia.
Cialdini was strongly in favour of an advance from the Po, so that
the relations of Ricasoli with the two generals were somewhat
strained. The King, however, could not effect a settlement
between them, and it was decided that Cialdini should cross the Po
with eight divisions and La Marmora the Mincio with twelve. On
June 20th La Marmora sent a declaration of war to Archduke
Albert, and said that operations would begin in three days. To
this communication no answer was returned.

Archduke Albert was well informed of what was passing in
the camp of the enemy, and was aware that the chief attack would
be made by the King on the Mincio. He disposed of his 82,000
men in a workmanlike manner, placing his main force so as to be
within two days’ march of both the Mincio and the Po, and allotting
small bodies for the defence of both rivers. La Marmora announced
that he intended to spring into the middle of the Quadrilateral,
establish himself there, and proceed with the investment of
Peschiera or one of the other fortresses. What his later designs
were remained a secret in his own bosom.

The struggle took place at Custozza, the battlefield of which
we will describe.” The Mincio, on leaving the Lake Garda at
Peschiera, flows southwards towards Mantua and the Po. At
Valeggio, five or six miles from Peschiera, it reaches a hilly country,

550
LA MARMORA’S ERROR

marked by conspicuous heights—Monte Vento, Custozza, where
Radetzky defeated the Piedmontese in 1848, and Monte della
Croce. Eastward from Valeggio on the plain lies Villafranca,
where the peace of 1859 was concluded, and northward of this
lies Somma Campagna, also on the edge of the plain. This was
the country into which La Marmora proposed to make his spring.
He had under him 140,000 men, twice the strength of the enemy,
in twelve divisions.

In the early morning of June 23rd, 1866, he crossed the Mincio
at four different points, but met very few of the enemy, whom he
believed to be behind the Adige. He therefore continued his
march through the hilly country towards Verona, as if he were
in a time of peace. Archduke Albert was well informed of La
Marmora’s movements, and knew the latter could receive no
assistance from Cialdini for several days. He therefore collected
his troops on the right bank of the Adige, with the design of
marching westwards towards Somma Campagna, then turning
south to march through the hilly country and attack the enemy
where he could find them. He began this movement on June
a3rd, and continued it on the following day. The Italians marched
on towards Verona without the slightest notion that an enemy
was on their flank. When La Marmora reached Villafranca,
Prince Humbert asked him whether the soldiers might rest or
whether they should first reconnoitre to look for the enemy.
La Marmora replied that there was not one Austrian on the
western side of the Adige, and that they might rest in peace.
Hearing a cannonade on their left, the general remarked that
it was the beginning of the siege of Peschiera.

At that moment an Austrian brigade attacked them, and
La Marmora became aware that he had to do with the whole of
the Austrian army detailed for the Italian campaign, and that
the cannonade he had heard was part of the general attack. He
would have been completely defeated had not Pianell, contrary
to orders, marched with twelve battalions towards the sound
of the guns and saved him from disaster. As it was, the left wing
was entirely broken, but the right wing still held out. Their
superior numbers gave the Italians great advantage, and, with
proper management, they might have resisted the Archduke Albert
and forced him to retreat. But at the crisis, when the presence
of the commander-in-chief was necessary, La Marmora was not
to be found, Pianell, Bixio and the Crown Prince seeking for
him everywhere in vain. It appeared that he had imagined
that the day was lost and had ordered the retreat, first setting the

551
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

example himself. It is said that he had mistaken the dark forms
of a number of baggage-wagons for the approach of the enemy
in his rear. The generals could do nothing without orders, and
the Italians suffered a crushing defeat. The fact was that more
than half of their troops were never engaged at all, and the battle
took place between 82,000 Austrians and 60,000 of the enemy.
The news of the victory was received with enthusiasm in Vienna,
and caused corresponding depression in Italy. It was true, how-
ever, that the Austrians, having gained a victory, would become
more disposed to surrender Venetia than if they had been defeated.
It was, indeed, suggested that La Marmora had submitted to the
disaster on purpose, in order that the Austrians might retreat
from Venetia without loss of honour. This, however, will not
bear investigation, and the better judgment is that La Marmora’s
defeat was due to his own incompetence, whatever may have
been the advantage his country eventually derived from it.

In their struggle with the Austrians possession of Saxony
gave the Prussians the advantage of being able to make a con-
centrated advance of the three armies against the frontier passes
and a speedy union of their forces in Bohemia. The operations
were carried out with a masterly swiftness, although the Prussians
had the disadvantage of attacking with bodies at considerable
distances from each other, while the Austrians could choose their
positions for defence. Benedek had collected his forces between
Theresienstadt, Prague, Josefstadt and Pardubitz, with the idea
of making an attack on Prussia, supported by Bavaria and the
smaller German States on his flank, but he was prevented from
doing this by the energy of the Prussian advance. The Viennese
newspapers predicted the speedy reconquest of Saxony, an advance
towards Berlin, and the dictation of peace in the Prussian capital ;
and in many parts of Europe, especially in England, the opinion
prevailed that the Prussians could offer no effective resistance to
the Austrian troops.

It had been arranged that Saxony should be invaded by two
corps, the Army of the Elbe and the First Army, one advancing
from the north, the other from the east. The Saxon army began
its retreat on the evening of June Ist, proceeding towards Bohemia
by way of Bodenbach, in order to join the Austrians. The two
Prussian armies converging on Dresden entered this capital without
opposition on the afternoon of June 18th, and in two days the
country was occupied, with the exception of the fortress of Kénig-
stein, in which the royal treasure and papers were deposited.
Eye-witnesses relate that the Prussian troops were well received

552
INVASION OF BOHEMIA

by the population, and that, had it not been for the swords and
bayonets of patrols which glittered in the sun along every road,
the scene would have been one of perfect peace. The soldiers
helped the peasants to carry in the hay harvest, worked in the
cottage gardens, and made purchases in the village shops; bare-
legged country urchins got rides on the cavalry and artillery
horses as they went to be watered, and were invited to peep into
the muzzles of rifled guns, and only when some adventurous child
ventured to put a handful of cornflowers in the mouth of a cannon
was he turned off the battery by the sentry. Passenger traffic
on the railways was soon resumed, and telegraphic messages were
regularly delivered.

The occupation of Saxony enabled the Prussians to attack
the Austrians on a narrow front if they came out of the mountains,
and rendered the invasion of Bohemia not only possible, but easy.
The Austrians had not been prepared for the celerity of the Prussian
movements. Benedek had concentrated his army with a view
to strike a deadly blow at the heart of the Prussian kingdom,
supported on the flank by the Bavarians and the other troops of
the Federation. But his plans had been dislocated. Instead of
Austria setting Saxony free by a rapid march and dictating peace in
Berlin, the field-marshal saw the Prussian armies march through
the passes in the mountains into north-eastern Bohemia. The
Austrians were sadly deficient in the spirit and energy of the
Prussians, their armies were inefficiently equipped, and their com-
manders were without any clear plans. At the same time the
northern army of the combined Austrians and Saxons was nearly
equal in strength to the forces of Prussia, and, when the forces
of the Confederation joined them, would be greatly superior.
Moreover, Baden, which had at first determined to remain neutral,
was forced by public opinion to join the Austrians, finding that
if she stood aloof her territory might be treated as a convenient
object of compensation, and her adhesion gave the Austrians an
additional force of 15,000 men.

The fate of Germany was decided in an irregular square of
territory enclosed by the Sudetian mountains and the higher
waters of the Iser and Elbe. . Prince Frederick Charles, on his
march to join the Silesian army, passed along the southern foot
of the Riesengebirge, one of the four ranges by which Bohemia
is enclosed, and soon reached the western bank of the Iser. On
the other hand, the Crown Prince, on his way to Bohemia, must
pass through the Sudetian mountains and the county of Glatz, and
would reach the eastern bank of the upper Elbe, and so form

s* 553
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

his junction with Prince Frederick Charles. In order that the
two armies might unite, both rivers must be passed, and the passage
of both was defended. The harder task fell to the Silesian army,
for the Iser was only defended by 60,000 men, the Elbe by 200,000.
On June 22nd a telegram was sent to the two commanders ordering
them to march into Bohemia and join forces in the neighbourhood
of Gitschin, a town at an equal distance from the two rivers.
Moltke, at the same time, left the generals free to act according
to their own judgment, in case the operations of the enemy were
different from what he expected.

On June 22nd Prince Frederick Charles took up his quarters
at Gorlitz and marched towards the Austrian frontier by the two
roads leading through Zittau and Seidenberg, Bohemia being
entered on the following day. At the same time Herwarth von
Bittenfeld, in command of the Army of the Elbe, marched on the
high road from Schelucheim to Rumburg, and occupied Reichen-
berg on June 24th. The position of this place enabled Prince
Frederick Charles to open communication with the Silesian and
Saxon lines of railway, which were of great importance for the
commissariat. The first engagement of any importance took
place at Podol upon the Iser, here about a hundred yards wide.
The battle did not begin till eight in the evening, when darkness
was coming on, and it was not finished till midnight, every house
in the village being obstinately disputed. At last both the town
bridge and the military bridge were captured by the Prussians,
and the Austrians drew off sullenly on the road to Miinchengratz.
The last dropping shots did not cease till daybreak, when there
were no Austrians within three miles of the bridges except the
wounded and the prisoners. No artillery was engaged on either
side, and the Prussians owed much of their success to their
needle-guns. By the retreat of the Austrians to Minchengratz,
communications were opened between the army of Prince Frederick
Charles and that of the Elbe, and on the following day the two
forces were able to take possession of the whole line of the Iser.
Miinchengratz was not gained without a struggle, but Prince
Frederick Charles, by a series of tactical movements, and the loss
of only a hundred men, gained twelve miles of country, captured
1,000 prisoners, and effected a more complete junction with the
army of Bittenfeld, the Panes 2 of both generals being
established in the same town.

More serious was the conflict at Gian the place originally
designated by Moltke as the meeting-place of the two armies,
about twenty miles from Miinchengraétz. The Austrians were

554
UNION OF THE PRUSSIAN ARMIES

strongly posted, their artillery and sharpshooters being carefully
placed, but their young soldiers were slowly and steadily driven
back by the heavier and more mature troops of the Prussians.
At night began an attack on the Austrians and Saxons who occupied
the town, a night full of horror and terror. It is said that even
the inhabitants took part in this untimely struggle, which was
carried on in the dark and narrow streets. When day dawned
the Austrians were in retreat, and the blood-stained town, with
the streets choked up with corpses, fell into the hands of the
Prussians, a dearly-won possession, but of decisive importance
for the success of the whole campaign. Another conflict took place
on the same evening on the other side of the town, where the
Prussians were advancing from the direction of Turnau. In this
part of the battle the loss of the Saxons was very heavy, and the
Prussians also suffered severely, for they had to carry a strong
position held by a superior force. The Prussian headquarters
were now established at Gitschin, and in the afternoon of June
30th communications were opened between the army of Prince
Frederick Charles and that of the Crown Prince of Prussia, who
was advancing by Arnau.

The Crown Prince’s army had crossed the Austrian frontier
on the evening of June 26th, his first action taking place at Trautenau
on the following day, in which battle the Prussians lost 63 officers
and 1,214 men, the Austrians 196 officers and 5,530 men. The
Austrians gained the victory, which was, however, of very little
use to them, as the balance was redressed by an action at Soor,
which allowed the two portions of the Prussian army to unite,
while Gablentz, the Austrian general, retreated to Koéniginhof.
This town was captured on June 2oth, after a severe contest,
each yard of every street and each window of every house being
stoutly defended. While this was going on, the left columns
of the Crown Prince’s army rushed through the passes of the
Riesengebirge from Glatz to Nachod, along a narrow road through
a difficult defile, the column of march being twenty miles in length.
This defile was defended by the Austrians in front of Skalitz, but
after an obstinate struggle they were driven back by Steinmetz,
who had fought in the War of Liberation, the Crown Prince being
also present in person. Another battle took place at Skalitz itself
and another at Schweinschadel on the following day, which enabled
the Crown Prince to concentrate his army on the left bank of
the Elbe, and, on the last day of the month, as we have seen,
communications were opened between the two main branches of
the Prussian army.

555
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Benedek now telegraphed to Vienna that, in consequence of
the complete defeat of the first corps and the Saxon corps, he
was compelled to withdraw his army to K6éniggratz. This dispatch
came upon the Viennese public as a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
They had, up to that moment, been confident of victory. After
Skalitz Benedek announced that Ramming had escaped all dangers
and arrived safely and happily at Skalitz. Then came the news
of the victory of Gablentz at Trautenau, and then a short telegram
from Benedek from Skalitz saying that nothing serious was likely
to happen there, and that the artillery had shown itself efficient
as usual. The newspapers disseminated this joyful intelligence,
and throughout Europe there was a cry of victory all along the
line. Suddenly came the alarming revelation of complete defeat
and retreat to Kéniggratz. The exaltation of seven months only
made the depression more severe.

At this period King William arrived at Reichenberg and took
command of the army. He left Berlin on June 30th, accompanied
by Bismarck, Roon and Moltke. He had heard of the success
at Skalitz, but not of the victory at Gitschin. The Prussian armies
were now united at Horsitz and Jaromierz, and the King moved
his quarters first to Sichrow, and then to Gitschin. Benedek reached
Koniggratz on July 1st, and before midday telegraphed to the
Emperor, begging him to make peace at all hazards, as the defeat
of the army was certain. In answer to this two telegrams were
sent, one to the Emperor Napoleon, saying that the Austrians
were prepared to surrender Venetia if the neutrality of Italy were
guaranteed, the other to Benedek, ‘‘ Impossible to make peace. I
command a retreat in perfect order if such step is unavoidable.
Has a battle already taken place?”

Benedek understood from this that the Emperor desired a
battle, but allowed retreat in case of necessity. In the course of
the night he sent another telegram to the Emperor that he intended
to let the army rest for the next day, that he could not stay where
he was because there was no water, that he should retreat to
Pardubitz on July 3rd, that if he could depend upon the troops
he would fight a battle, but that he intended to take the troops
back to Olmititz as soon as possible. Finally, he sent another
dispatch, in the afternoon of July and, that the army would remain
in its position at Kéniggratz for the following day, and that he
hoped a further retreat would not be necessary. He had, there-
fore, made up his mind to fight a decisive battle next day. Indeed,
iti was not until the night of July 2nd that his whole forces were
assembled, taking up a position between the town of Kéniggratz

556
BATTLE OF KONIGGRATZ

and the Bistritz, now swollen with rain and only passable in
certain places by bridges. Of the armies opposed to him, that of
Prince Frederick Charles had fought five severe combats without
a reverse, and had secured a favourable position in which to engage
a great battle. The army of the Crown Prince had fought stubborn
actions on July 27th, 28th, 29th, had now secured its junction
with the other army, and was bringing with it as trophies 15,000
prisoners, 24 captured guns, 6 stand of colours, and 2 standards.

The field of the battle which was to form such an important
epoch in European history lay between the Elbe and the Bistritz,
which ran parallel to each other at a distance of about five miles.
The high road from Gitschin to Kéniggratz crossed the Bistritz
at Sadowa. Behind Sadowa is a thick wood, the Hohewald,
and between it and Nechanitz about half-a-dozen small villages.
Afterwards the ground becomes more hilly, and then smooth
again, so that close to Kéniggratz it is entirely flat. The village
of Chlum is about a mile and a half from Sadowa. Another mile
and a half from Sadowa, down the Bistritz, is the village of
Mokrovous, and a little way above it the church of Dohalitzka
and the village of Dohalitz.

The Prussian troops were in motion long before midnight,
and at 1.30 a.m. the staff left Kammeritz. With the dawn of
day a drizzling rain came on, which lasted till five in the after-
noon, while a keen wind blew sharply on the soldiers, who were
short of sleep and food. At 6 a.m. the army had reached the Hill
of Dub, on the other side of the Bistritz, but it was not allowed
to mount the summit of the slope, which had hitherto concealed
it from the Austrians. At 7 Prince Frederick Charles pushed
over the hill, with some of his cavalry and horse artillery, and
at 7.30 the first shot was fired. The Prussian horse artillery,
close to the Bistritz, replied to the Austrian guns, but neither
side fired heavily, and for half an hour the cannonade consisted
of single shots. At 7.45 the King of Prussia appeared upon the
scene, and the battle became more vigorous on both sides.

During the cannonade the Prussian infantry had been moved
down to the river, and at about ro were ordered to attack Sadowa,
Dohalitz and Mokrovous. They were obliged to contest every inch
of the way, as the Austrians fired upon them as they approached.
The fighting continued in and around the villages for nearly an
hour and little progress was made. The headquarters were wait-
ing for the approach of the Elbe army under the Crown Prince,
much as Wellington was waiting at Waterloo for the arrival of
Bliicher. No news of his approach had reached them. What

557
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

were they todo? Were they to allow their soldiers to be sacrificed
in the murderous fire, or should they retreat or call up the reserves ?
The King decided that the Crown Prince must come, and that
they must hold the position until he did, and in the meantime
employ their last resources. A heavy burden fell upon Franzesky,
who was holding his own against the Austrians, in the wood above
Benatek. At length the Prussian infantry captured Sadowa and
Dohalitz, and were now engaged in the wood which ran on both
sides of the river. The battle became stationary, and remained
so for about two hours.

Benedek now heard that the Crown Prince was expected to
arrive on his right; he therefore strained every nerve to inflict
a sharp blow on Prince Frederick Charles before the reinforcements
could come up. At noon the whole battle line of the Prussians
was stopped from further advance and obliged to fight hard to
retain the position it had won. Indeed, there was a fear lest the
battle should be lost, for the Austrian artillery had decimated the
Prussians, and the needle-guns had no effect in the wooded ground.
Herwarth von Bittenfeld found himself checked on the right, and
things were not going much better for the Prussians in the
centre. Indeed, they were growing very uneasy, and preparing for
a disaster.

The Crown Prince had received the order to march at Koniginhof
at 2 in the morning, but a large part of his army had to cross
the river, and he could not set out before 8. They had a
long way to go in drenching rain over marshy ground, but they
overcame all difficulties and advanced eagerly to the fray. They
saw before them an Austrian battery on a hill, under a group of
lime trees and towards that they marched. At last the heights of
Chlum, which dominated the whole of the battlefield, became the
main point of attack. The Prussian Guard marched to its assault
and, when they arrived on the summit, saw between them and
the fortress of Kéniggrétz the whole of the Austrian reserves,
to the number of 40,000 men, while between them and the rear
of the first army were the Austrians who were fighting near Lipa
and in the Sadowa wood. There were only twelve battalions of
the Prussian Guard to hold the key of the position against the
whole of the enemy’s reserve. When Benedek heard that the
Prussians had occupied Chlum, he would not believe it, but, on
moving up to ascertain its truth, was received by a murderous
fire, which killed many of his staff.: The position of the Guard
was critical, but at last they were relieved by the arrival of 50,000
fresh troops.

558
EFFECT OF KONIGGRATZ

At last the long-hoped-for army had come! With loud cheers
and beating drums they ran at full speed up the hill. The Sadowa
wood was cleared, the Austrian batteries were silenced, the summit
of the hill was gained, and they saw the white uniforms running
before them. The newly-arrived army took the fugitives in flank
and raked them as they fled. The artillery, when it reached the
ridge, opened fire on the retreating Austrians, who, however,
did not lose heart in their dangerous position and maintained good
order. Benedek now saw that the battle was lost, and that nothing
remained but to retire to Kéniggrétz with the fragments of his
army. King William rode through the battlefield, saluted every-
where by the cries of his troops. He even rode under the fire
of a battery and was forcibly removed by Bismarck.

Moltke told the King that he had won, not only the battle,
but the campaign. Benedek sought for safety on both sides of the
Elbe, till at last the Austrian cavalry reached Pardubitz and the
army was able to cross the river during the night without further
loss. The way now lay open to Vienna. Benedek said sorrowfully
that he had lost everything except the life which he desired to
lose. The loss of the Austrians amounted to 5,600 dead, 7,600
wounded, 9,300 prisoners, 12,800 surrendered, and 6,100 missing ;
together, with the loss of the Saxons, nearly 43,000 men. The
previous contests had cost the Allies 32,000 men, so that, in a
week, the north army had been robbed of nearly a quarter
of its strength. The whole loss of the Prussians was nearly
10,000,

Europe heard the news of the victory of Sadowa, or Kéniggratz,
on the following morning with amazement. An army which had
not been under fire for fifty years, which its enemies had despised
as consisting of parade soldiers, militia troops, and beardless boys,
had almost annihilated the most famous army in Europe. Antonelli,
in the Vatican, said that the world was falling about his ears. Italy
felt the joy of a true-hearted ally, but Napoleon began to consider
how he could best look after his own interests.

The excitement in Paris over the Prussian victory can hardly
be conceived ; a success like that of Kéniggrétz put Magenta and
Solferino into the shade. ‘A great Power had suddenly sprung
into existence by the side of France, equal to her if not superior.
A strong and united Germany would shatter into nothingness
the proud hegemony of France, and the sympathies of Napoleon
for Prussia began to cool. On the day on which the defeat of
K6niggratz was reported to Paris, Metternich called on the Emperor
to say that Austria was ready to renounce Venetia and to ask

559
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

for French mediation, saying that he had full power to conclude
a negotiation.

The Emperor was embarrassed, compensation for the cession
of Silesia was no longer possible, and still less could an armed
intervention be carried out. He had recourse to bluff. On
July 5th the Moniteuy declared that Austria had surrendered
Venetia to the Emperor of the French, and had asked for his
mediation, but that he was taking steps to bring about an armistice
both with Prussia and Italy. On the evening before a council
had been held at St. Cloud, at which Drouyn de l’Huys, supported
by the Empress, had urged the summoning of the Chambers,
the demand for the loan of a milliard, and the massing of
100,000 men on the Rhine. This was opposed by Lavalette,
who pointed out that it was inconsistent with the policy of a
mediator, and that France was not strong enough to begin a
simultaneous war with Prussia and Italy, which would certainly
be the upshot. A compromise was adopted, as announced in
the Moniteur, but the result was the isolation of France in Europe,
as neither Russia nor Great Britain would support her action.
When the news of the French offer reached King William, he was
overwhelmed with astonishment, but thought it prudent to accept
it, stating the conditions on which such an intervention would
be possible.

Feeling in Italy was very different. In every part of the
peninsula it seemed an indignity to accept Venetia in this manner
from the hand of the Emperor, lke a bone thrown to a dog.
Ricasoli and the King were both of the same opinion. Venetia
must be conquered from the Austrians, and the disgrace of Custozza
rubbed out. Eventually a telegram was sent to the Emperor
accepting the armistice under three conditions—the cession of
Venice directly by Austria to Italy, the surrender of the Italian
Tyrol, and the restriction of the negotiations to the question of
Venetia alone. The Emperor tried to put pressure on Italy,
threatening to send a French fleet to Venice, but Ricasoli, now
certain of the help of Prussia, stood firm and sent Cialdini across
the Po.

In the Tuileries the statement of the Prussian conditions
was anxiously awaited. Drouyn de l’Huys was in favour of
sending French troops to Venetia, which was now a French
province, the Empress wept over the fate of unhappy Austria,
and dreaded the formation of a Germany which would be hostile
to France. The Emperor was besieged with arguments for war,
and Lavalette and Prince Napoleon found it difficult to keep

560
OTHER PRUSSIAN VICTORIES

him back. The Emperor felt himself indeed in an unfor-
tunate position, for his alliance with Prussia had permitted
the formation of a united Germany. The Empress declared she
was afraid that a German army might appear some day at the
gates of Paris, that she might go to bed a Frenchwoman and
wake up a Prussian. Prince Reuss came to Paris, but brought
no conditions with him. The Emperor did not know what com-
pensation to ask for and ended by asking for none. The policy
of Bismarck had conquered. Austria was annihilated, Prussia
was master of Germany, and France, oscillating from one side
to the other, instead of appearing as a triumphant mediator, had
to suffer the humiliation of disappointment and insult.

In the meantime Prussia was gaining victories in other parts
of Germany. After the capitulation of the Hanoverians, Falken-
stein was able to consolidate the various bodies of troops coming
from the commands of Gében, Manteuffel and Beyer into a single
force called the Army of the Main, and to attack the troops of the
Federation which were still in arms against Prussia. Of these the
Seventh Army Corps, as it was called, was composed of Bavarians,
50,000 strong, under the command of Prince Charles, who had
served in the Napoleonic wars, and in the Schleswig-Holstein
campaign of 1848. The Eighth Army Corps was made up of
contingents from Wiirtemberg, Darmstadt, Baden and Nassau,
together with Austrian troops drawn from different garrisons,
and was commanded by Prince Alexander of Darmstadt, a fine
soldier-like man, brother of the Empress of Russia and father
of the Princes of Battenberg. But, for purposes of securing unity,
the supreme command was committed to Prince Charles, a unity
which was very imperfectly obtained.

The Federal army was not in a position to take the field till
the beginning of July. The Bavarian army was posted in Northern
Franconia, while the corps of Prince Alexander occupied a district
called the Wetterau, to the north of Frankfort, while it took
possession of Giessen and Wetzlar, which was an enclave of Prussia.
Falkenstein formed the plan of pushing a wedge between these
two armies, which would prevent them from combining in any
common action. He therefore attacked the Bavarians, who
had advanced from Coburg and Meiningen and were now in the
valley of the Fulda. The two armies came into collision on
July 4th, in a battle which bears the name of Dermbach in the
Wiesenthal, fought the day after Koniggratz. The field was
obstinately contested, with great bravery on both sides. Although
the Bavarians were superior in number, the result remained un-

561
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

certain and the losses on either side were equally heavy. However,
it had the result of preventing the union of the Seventh Army
Corps with the Eighth, so that Prince Charles marched south-
wards towards the Franconian Saale, followed by the Prussians,
who advanced along the Fulda Valley to Hanau, and the valley
of the Main.

Falkenstein’s object had been so far attained that, whereas
on July 5th the two corps were only thirty miles distant from
each other, two days later the distance had been increased to
seventy miles. After a difficult march through the mountainous
district of the Rhén, he came up with the Bavarians in the valley
of the Saale, and on July roth fought the battles of Hammelburg
and Kissingen. In the first of these the town was bravely defended
by the Bavarians, who stood their ground firmly on the bridge
which crosses the Saale, notwithstanding the heavy cannonade
and the burning houses on each side. The position was at last
stormed, as the Bavarians could not stand the vigour of the
assault and the good firing of the needle-guns. The Bavarians
drew off to the south-east and the Prussians gained the passage
of the Saale.

Kissingen is a fashionable watering-place, and the guests who
thronged it to get rid of their gout were much surprised on
finding themselves in the middle of a battle. They were not
allowed to leave the town, for fear of giving information to the
enemy. The Prussians made their appearance in the early morn-
ing of July roth, and crossed the Saale without serious loss. They
then pushed forward into the heart of the town, but met with a
stout resistance. The Kurgarten, the centre of the social life of
the place, was only conquered after a fourth assault, and it was
not till 3 in the afternoon that the town was in the possession
of the Prussians. Even then the Bavarians continued the contest
on the hills, and the fight lasted till evening.

Falkenstein now turned his attention to the Eighth Army
Corps, which was entrenched in various positions on the River
Fulda. When the news of the Austrian defeat at Kéniggratz
reached Prince Alexander, he thought that his first duty was to
defend Frankfort, so he sent a division of Austrians and Hanoverians
under Neipperg to Aschaffenburg to defend the old Imperial city.
However, on July 13th, G6ben won a victory at Laufach, Aschaffen-
burg was captured on July 14th, and Frankfort was occupied two
days later, Prince Alexander evacuating the town and retiring
with his whole army to the Odenwald. Thus, in fourteen days,
Falkenstein had defeated two armies, each as strong as his own,

562
AUSTRIA CRUSHED

and was able to report to the King that all lands north of the
Main were in the possession of the Prussians.

We must now return to the operations of the main army.
After the victory of Kéniggratz, it rested for a few days and then
advanced to Pardubitz, pursuing the Austrians in their retreat
to Olmiitz. In the meantime Prague, the capital of Bohemia,
had been occupied without a battle, on July 8th. At the news
of these events terror reigned in Vienna, and a movement was
made to summon the whole nation to arms. On July 13th the
Archduke Albert took command of all the forces of the Empire.
He brought a portion of the army of the south to the capital and
united it with the remains of the army of the north. At this
time the Crown Prince was holding Benedek fast in Olmiitz, and
Prince Frederick Charles was advancing towards Vienna by the
shortest road. The Emperor asked for an armistice, but this
was declined, because he insisted that the Federal States should
be included in it, and that no obstacle should be placed to the .
operations of the Austrian army of the south.

Communications between Olmiitz and Vienna still remained
open, and therefore Archduke Albert issued orders to Benedek
to send his six army corps by train to Vienna. But before half
of them were dispatched the railway was broken up, and Benedek
was obliged to retire to Pressburg in Hungary, which he only reached
by fighting with considerable loss. An eye-witness gives an
interesting account of the incident. He says that when he came
in sight of the railway at Géding, he saw two trains, one close
behind the other, with engines puffing and snorting violently,
as if drawing a heavy load, steaming slowly in the direction of
Lundenburg, which is about an hour and a half distant from
Vienna. These trains were conveying Austrian troops to the
capital. The Prussians immediately determined to break up the
line. The men found pickaxes and spades in the neighbouring
cottages, and some set to work on foot, whilst others held the
horses. The rails were wrenched up out of their places, and
thrown on one side, and, in a few minutes, the line was useless
for traffic. Scarcely had they finished the work before another
train came up, but when the engine-driver saw the Prussian cavalry,
he reversed his engine and steamed slowly back in the direction
from which he had come.

On July 18th, 1866, King William took up his quarters in
the little Moravian town of Nikolsburg, and slept in the very
room which Napoleon had occupied before the Battle of Auster-
litz. At this time the advance guard of the Prussian army were

563
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

in sight of the Imperial city of Vienna, conspicuous by the tower
of St. Stephen’s and that of the Palace of Schénbrunn, while
before them lay the Marchfeld, with the villages of Aspern, Esslingen
and Wagram, the scenes of Napoleon’s defeat and his ultimate
victory. They were situated in the middle of rich corn-fields
bright with poppies, which from a distance looked like pieces
of dazzling mosaic let into a golden pavement, fringed by the
silver band of the Danube, studded with emerald islets, while, in
the distance, the dark blue lines of the Carpathian Mountains
bounded the view towards Hungary. No Prussian army, not
even that of the Great Frederick, had ever gazed upon this view
before. Floridsdorf and Pressburg were the only strong places
which the Austrians now had in their possession on the north
bank of the Danube.

A last struggle took place on July 22nd, 1866, at Neudorf
and Blumenau, and Pressburg, which was the key of the passage
between Austria and Hungary, was on the point of being captured,
when, a few minutes after midday on July 23rd, an Austrian
messenger advanced from Blumenau to the Prussian lines with
a flag of truce. He reported to a Prussian officer, who came out
to meet him, that an armistice had been agreed upon to date from
midday and that the hour was already spent. The signal to cease
firing passed along the Prussian ranks, and a sudden stillness,
a hum of conversation from the astonished soldiers, took the place
of the roar of artillery and the patter of small arms.

The negotiations between the Emperor of the French, on the
one side, and Prussia and Austria on the other, had at length
produced their effect, and Napoleon had sent Benedetti, his
ambassador at Berlin, to the King’s headquarters at Nikolsburg
to propose terms of peace. Bismarck saw, with statesmanlike
insight, that the golden moment had come in which a treaty
could be made, and that the opportunity ought not to be lost.
The Austrians, besides, were anxious for a cessation of the war.
On July 24th the Emperor Alexander of Russia sent a message
proposing a European congress; the attitude of Napoleon was
uncertain. Bismarck therefore wrote a letter to King William
proposing terms. The points he laid down were, the exclusion
of Austria from the Bund, the annexation of Schleswig-Holstein,
Hanover, Hesse and Nassau, together with the independence of
Saxony, but under such terms that in any future war she could
not take part against Prussia.© He also mentioned, as a reason
for concluding peace, the outbreak of cholera in the army, and
the dangers of a campaign in the unhealthy month of August.

504
PEACE SIGNED

The King agreed with his Minister, and after some discussion, in
which the indemnity to Prussia was eventually fixed at 20,000,000
thalers, proclamations of peace were signed on July 26th. At
the last moment Benedetti informed Bismarck that France
expected some compensation for the aggrandisement of Prussia
and her own share in the peace, and Bismarck replied that he
was quite ready to enter into negotiations on the subject.

Austria submitted to peace because she could expect no assist-
ance from France. The interference of Russia was caused by
jealousy of the aggrandisement of Prussia, which would make her
more independent than was in accordance with Russian interests,
a view on which Gortshakov, the Tsar’s Chancellor, laid great
stress. There was a danger that the meeting of the congress would
strengthen the claims of France for compensation, and would be
an occasion for establishing an alliance between Russia and France,
which would be inimical to Prussia. Bismarck therefore declined
the offer of a congress, and said that his country would not allow
the terms of peace between two German Powers to be settled
by any foreign interference. Indeed, if anything of the kind
were attempted, it would be resisted by the whole strength of
the German nationality, together with that of other peoples who
threatened insurrection in Poland and Hungary. This firm
language produced a salutary effect both in Paris and St. Peters-
burg. But, to smooth matters, Manteuffel was sent to the Russian
Court, it being known that he was well regarded in the city on
the Neva. He was instructed to explain the policy of Bismarck
and to offer assistance in the case of complications in the East.
By these means Alexander became reconciled to the new state
of things, and the friendship between Russia and Prussia, which
had existed for so many years, and had stood so many trials,
remained undisturbed.

On July 28th an armistice was concluded at Wiirzburg between
Manteuffel and Prince Charles, which formed a basis of peace
between Prussia and the South German States. The war on
the Main came to an end, and armistices were concluded with
Baden, Bavaria and Wiirtemberg, which were eventually formed
into preliminaries of peace, the Eighth Army Corps being gradually
disbanded. Finally, the Peace of Prague was signed on August 23rd,
1866, which comprised the conditions of which we have already
given an account.

On August 22nd Baden, Bavaria and Wiirtemberg made a
treaty with Prussia, at Berlin, in which the preliminaries of Nikols-
burg were recognised, with the foundation of a North German

565
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

League, and the admission of the increase of Prussian territory,
The Zollverein was to continue, with power to determine it by
six months’ notice on either side, and the tolls on the Rhine and
the Main were abolished. Towards the expenses of the war Wiir-
temberg contributed 8,000,000, Baden 6,000,000, and Bavaria
30,000,000 gulden, while Bavaria had to make a small sacrifice
of territory. A secret article contained an agreement for an
offensive and defensive alliance in case of a foreign war. The
settlements with Hesse-Darmstadt and Saxony were more difficult,
because both countries had been deserted by their sovereigns,
and were occupied by the Prussians. At last the Grand Duke
of Hesse submitted on September 3rd, and King John of Saxony,
a great scholar and almost a saint, agreed to surrender some of
his royal authority on October 21st. Beust, who had supported
his anti-Prussian sympathies, was removed and was immediately
made Chancellor of Austria in the place of Mensdorff. A Prussian
garrison was admitted into Dresden and even into Kénigstein.
The King agreed to pay an indemnity of 10,000,000 thalers, to
enter the North German Confederation, and to accept the Prussian
acquisition of his army. This example served to overcome the
obstinacy of the Regent Caroline of the elder line of Reuss, and to
induce Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen to abdicate in favour
of his son George.

It was found impossible to establish a South German League,
with an independent international existence, but the young King
of Bavaria, Ludwig II.—a monarch whose surpassing beauty
and brilliant genius sank eventually under the cloud of mental
derangement—summoned a friend of Prussia, Prince Hohenlohe-
Schillingsfiirst, to his counsels, instead of von der Pfordten, the
friend of Austria, and while preserving his full sovereignty and
the independence of his country, made an alliance with Prussia
and allowed his army to become part of the Prussian army in
the case of war. re

The war in Venetia continued until the Peace of Prague was
signed. The Austrians fought for the possession of a country
which did not belong to them, and the Italians had to conquer
a country which was their own. In the middle of July Cialdini
with his army occupied Padua and Vicenza, and the Austrians
retired to the Isonzo and Cialdini reached Mestre. Indeed, Victor
Emmanuel was no longer satisfied with Venetia, and, with the
help of Garibaldi, attempted the conquest of the Italian Tyrol,
whose inhabitants were clamouring for union with the country
of their race and language. Garibaldi was not very successful

566
THE KINGDOM OF ITALY

in the mountain districts west of Lake Garda, and his young raw
levies, badly clothed and fed, fell easy victims to the Tyrolese
sharpshooters. Medici had more success in the battle of Levico
on July 22nd, fought a month before the conclusion of the
Peace of Prague, which brought him within striking distance
of Trent. If he could have continued the struggle he would
have joined Garibaldi’s volunteers in the Giudicaria, conquered
the valley of the Adige, and severed the connection between
Vienna and the Quadrilateral.

At length the Austrians won at sea the victory which eluded
them on land. In the battle of Lissa, fought on July arst, 1866,
between Persano and Tegethoff, the Austrian fleet emulated the
triumph of Custozza and allowed of a peace to be concluded, not
without honour. The Italians fought with bravery and self-
devotion, but when the Re d'Italia had been rammed by the
Erzherzog Max, and the Palestvo had been blown into the air
with all its armament, Persano was forced to retire to the harbour
of Ancona. The war began and ended with an Italian defeat, but
the fruits of victory remained in their possession.

An armistice was signed on July 25th. With some difficulty
Victor Emmanuel was induced to surrender the districts he had
occupied in the Trentino, and a peace was signed at Vienna on
October 3rd, in which the Kingdom of Italy was recognised by
Austria. The union of Venetia to Italy, submitted to the popular
vote, was carried with absolute unanimity, and Victor Emmanuel
made a solemn entry into the City of the Lagoons amid thunderous
applause, the people showing an enthusiasm at which even the
Austrians were surprised.

Before the end of the year the French garrison departed from
Rome, where they had been established for seventeen years, their
place being taken by mercenaries; and when Victor Emmanuel
opened the Italian Parliament on December 18th, he could have
declared that the soil of Italy was entirely free from the presence
of the foreigner. Rome, however, still remained unassimilated.
The more moderate of the Italian statesmen would have been
willing to keep Florence as the capital and to come to some
arrangement with the Pope, but the national party, headed by
Garibaldi, clamoured for Rome.

In the autumn of 1867, Garibaldi made an attempt to realise
his wishes by a raid on the Papal States, but, opposed by the
Papal troops, under the German general Kanzler, and by a
French auxiliary corps, under de Failly, he was defeated at Mentana,
on November 3rd, 1867, and, after a short imprisonment, was

567
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

allowed to return to Caprera, not struck in the foot, as at Aspromonte,
but deeply wounded in his heart. Failly telegraphed gaily to
Paris that the chassepot had worked wonders. The result of
it all was that a French garrison was placed in Civita Vecchia,
and Rome did not become Italian until after the defeat of the
French in the war of 1870,

568
CHAPTER V
GLADSTONE AND His FIRST MINISTRY

A LARGE part of the history of modern Europe has been occupied
by efforts to get rid of the artificial conditions imposed by the
Treaty of Vienna. The basis of the treaty was the principle of
Legitimacy, coupled with the desire to punish the friends of
Napoleon, to reward his enemies, and generally to reverse his policy.
The insistence upon this principle was due mainly to the genius
of Talleyrand, who perceived that it was the only way in which
France, governed by Bourbons, could resume her leading position
in the family of nations. But the principle was outworn. What-
ever it had done for the consolidation of Europe in the past, it
promised nothing for the future, and its place was taken by the
principle of Nationality.

We have, in preceding chapters, traced some of the steps by
which the first of these principles was gradually succeeded by
the second. The independence of Greece, though not consummated
until 1859, and the separation of the Roumanians and the Servians
from the Turkish Empire, were followed in 1830 by the fall of the
Monarchy of July in France, which was founded on the principle
of Legitimacy. This was succeeded by the revolutionary movement
in Poland and Italy, which culminated in the cataclysm of 1848,
and by the establishment of the second French Empire, which
placed Bonapartism on the throne. Then came events of still
greater significance, the defeat of the Austrians at Kéniggratz,
and the formation of the North German Federation under the
leadership of Prussia, the annexation of Venice to the Italian
Kingdom, and the completion of this edifice by the occupation
of Rome; the fall of the second Napoleonic Empire at Sedan,
and the creation of a new German Empire at Versailles, Protestant
and progressive, founded on the dual basis of militarism and
culture, destroying the old Austrian Empire, whose treachery to
Napoleon had been her ruin, and establishing in her place the
despised and downtrodden country of Hardenberg and Fichte,
of Luise and Gneisenau.

In 1860 the central figure on the stage of European politics
was undoubtedly the ruler of France. The Crimean War had

569
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

strengthened his dynasty at home and had secured his position
abroad. Cavour had come into conflict with him, but had been
beaten in the struggle. Bismarck, who eventually overthrew
him, had not yet consolidated his strength for the purpose. When
the Sovereigns of the three northern Powers met at Warsaw at
the end of 1860, with the view of combining against France, Russia
refused to join the conspiracy, and Napoleon remained master
of the situation. The French Empire was at its zenith. Thiers,
afterwards a hostile critic, said that the best compensation for
a Frenchman’s being nothing in his own country was the sight
of that country filling its right place in the world.

Never was there a more strenuous upholder of the principle
of Nationality and of peoples “rightly struggling to be free”
than William Ewart Gladstone, who for so long moulded the
destinies of the British Empire. He had, of course, the strongest
sympathy with the creation of a new Italy. In 1853 he dined
with Cavour at the Italian Foreign Office, and the Italian Minister
spoke of him as one of the sincerest and most important friends
that Italy had, and it was mainly through his influence that Great
Britain took a firm line in obtaining the annexation of Sicily and
Naples to the Kingdom of Italy. With his full approval, Russell
wrote in October, 1860, that Great Britain could not condemn
these Southern peoples for throwing off the yoke of a government
which they detested, and which was little better than an anarchy ;
nor could it blame the King of Sardinia for assisting them. A few
days after the writing of this dispatch, Victor Emmanuel and
Garibaldi rode into the liberated city of Naples side by side,
and on February 18th, 1861, the first parliament of united Italy
assembled at Turin.

Gladstone became, for the third time, Chancellor of the
Exchequer on June 20th, 1859, and one of his first acts was to
negotiate a commercial treaty with France. It was really the
idea of Cobden, supported in the Cabinet by Gladstone and Russell,
most of the other members being indifferent or hostile. At this
period there was great indignation in Great Britain about the
annexation of Savoy and Nice to France. There was good reason
why Savoy should not continue to belong to Italy, but no special
reason why it should be annexed to France—some portion
of it certainly should have gone to Switzerland—whereas the
annexation of Nice was regarded as completely unjustifiable.
Gladstone tells us that a French panic prevailed, as strong as
any of the other panics which have done so much discredit to
the United Kingdom. For this panic the treaty of commerce

570
THE BUDGET OF 1860

with France was the only sedative. It was, in fact, a counter-
irritant, and roused the sense of commercial interest to correct
the war poison. The choice lay between the Cobden treaty
and not the certainty, but the high probability, of a war with
France. The treaty was signed on January 23rd, 1860, before
the meeting of Parliament, and was announced in the Queen’s
Speech. One of its principal effects was largely to increase the
consumption of claret in Great Britain.

Out of the commercial treaty grew the great budget of 1860,
the end of a series of treaties which produced the liberation of
commerce. With the French treaty the movement in favour
of Free Trade reached its zenith. It was an important financial
epoch; more money than ever was required; more than ever
economy was unpopular and difficult. The Estimates now stood
at {£70,000,000, which seven years before had been £52,000,000.
Gladstone made his position more difficult by renouncing £1,000,000
of income by the French treaty, {1,000,000 more by the abolition
of a number of minor duties, and a third £1,000,000 by the abolition
of the tax on the manufacture of paper. He was able to meet this
expenditure by £2,000,000 of large annuities which had fallen to
the Exchequer, and by an increase of the income tax.

When the time for introducing the budget came, Gladstone
was ill in bed, and the debate had to be adjourned for a week.
He then spoke for three hours and fifty minutes without suffering,
aided, as he tells us, by a great supply of eggs and milk. The
speech was one of the most extraordinary triumphs ever witnessed
in the House of Commons. The budget was eventually passed,
but the Lords refused to repeal the duty on paper. They held
that, although the Upper House had no right to increase taxation,
they might constitutionally protect existing taxes from being
repealed. Unfortunately Palmerston was against the repeal of
the tax, and even wrote to the Queen that if the Lords threw this
Bill out he should not be sorry. He was obliged to condemn
the action of the Peers in the House of Commons, but spoke in
a half-hearted manner, and the brunt of the attack lay upon
Gladstone, who was believed by his friends to be nearly killing
himself by his exertions. It was, until the momentous crisis of
1910, the sole occasion on which the Peers had ventured to tamper
with finance.

Concurrently with the budget, to Gladstone’s great disgust,
Russell had introduced a Reform Bill, as he always regarded
Parliamentary Reform as a panacea for political ills. It pro-
posed to lower the county franchise to £10, the borough franchise

571
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to £6, and make a relative reduction of seats. It also gave members
to unrepresented Universities by providing that, in constituencies
which had returned three members, electors should only be allowed
to vote for two. Russell and the Radicals were heartily in favour
of reform, but Palmerston and other members of the Cabinet were
lukewarm. Disraeli described the measure as one of a medieval
character, without the inspiration of the Feudal System or the
genius of the Middle Ages. Attempts were made to talk out
the Bill by long speeches, and at last the chances of its passing
were so hopeless that it had to be withdrawn.

We have before mentioned the affair of the Tvent, and the
death of the Prince Consort. With regard to the first, Gladstone
was strongly in favour of the milder course eventually adopted,
although he made what he afterwards confessed to be the serious
mistake of saying at Newcastle that the South had constituted
themselves into a nation. Prince Albert’s death was little short
of a calamity to Gladstone, because it removed from the counsels
of the Queen a strong sympathiser, who would have made his
actions and ideas intelligible to the Sovereign and prevented the
friction which sometimes broke out in after years. At the same
time the character of the Prince Consort was one which did not
specially attract him. Gladstone did not care for the German
race as much as he did for the Italian, and he disliked the influence
of German education, especially from the religious point of view.
The Prince Consort was a firm enemy of Roman Catholicism and
all its works, and his opinions were not likely to be appreciated
by Gladstone, who also found him cold and ungenial in intellect.
This, however, did not prevent his deep feeling for the Queen
in her sorrow, and his stay at Balmoral in her early widowhood
strengthened the ties between them.

The meeting of the Italian Parliament, to which we have already
referred, renewed Gladstone’s enthusiasm for the country for which
he had done so much. He wrote, at the end of 1862: ‘“ My
confidence in the Italian Parliament and people increases from
day to day. Their self-command, moderation, patience, firmness
and forethought, reaching far into the future, are beyond praise.”
But he strongly disapproved of the French occupation of Rome.
His support of Italy largely evoked the enthusiasm for the cause
which characterised all Liberal Britons until their attention
was diverted to the American Civil War. It is curious that the
generation whose first impressions were formed by the struggle of
Italy for liberation from Austria regarded self-government as the
paramount principle of liberty, whereas those whose sympathies

572
BRITAIN AND BISMARCK

were first stirred by the efforts of the North to preserve the Union
laid more stress on the necessity of a strong central government.
The two eternal principles of imperium and libertas were thus
again beheld in conflict.

The strength of British sympathy with Italy was most clearly
shown by the warmth of the welcome given to Garibaldi on his
visit to England in 1864. His progress through London, as he
passed from Vauxhall Station to Stafford House, lasted for five
hours. Those who came into closer contact with him were charmed
by the simple nobility of his demeanour, by his manners and his
actions, by the union of the most fiery valour with the most
profound and tender humanity, by the blending of absolute
simplicity with complete self-possession in the presence of the
rulers of the earth. One of the most striking incidents of his
stay was his visit to Eton College. Three of the masters went
over to Cliefden on a Sunday to pay him a visit and to invite
him to the school. When he came next morning he was received
by the provost and the headmaster, who turned out in their black
silk gowns, greatly disgusted at having to meet a revolutionary
leader. The carriage drove into the school-yard, which was
thronged with boys in the highest excitement, and the hero stood
up in his grey cloak and said with a radiant smile: “I love you
all; I love you all dearly.”

When Cavour retired from the scene in 1861, Bismarck took
his place as the most prominent figure in Europe. Cavour had
foreseen to some extent what the character of his career would
be. In 1859, when Prussia objected to the Italian invasion of
the Marches, Cavour said: “I am sorry that the Radical of Berlin
judges so severely the conduct of the King of Italy and his Govern-
ment. I console myself by thinking that on this occasion I am
setting an example which probably, in no long time, Prussia will
be very glad to imitate.”

The action of Bismarck against the Danes made it necessary
for Great Britain to make up her mind whether she should take
part in the contest. The Prime Minister, Palmerston, and the
Foreign Secretary, Russell, were eager for war, even though it
would have to be fought single-handed, but the Queen was strongly
against them, and so were the majority of the Cabinet. Gladstone
was opposed to war, especially as the Emperor Napoleon refused
to take part in it, but he was indignant at the conduct of
Prussia in rejecting the legal rights of the House of Augusten-
burg. However, the danger was averted, and public opinion
was with difficulty appeased.* But the action of the Cabinet,

573
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

deemed vacillating and pusillanimous at the time, has since been
vindicated.

The American War affected Great Britain in two ways. The
supply of cotton to the manufacturing districts was cut off, in
consequence of which great distress was caused in Lancashire
by what was known as the Cotton Famine. The operatives dis-
played fine self-control under their sufferings, and large subscrip-
tions were raised for their support. But ere the war was over
the worst pressure had passed. The second trouble was caused
by the steamship Alabama, which was allowed to leave the Mersey
on June 2gth, 1862. It was protested that she was proceeding
on a trial trip, but it was an open secret that she was intended
to act as privateer, to assist the South against the North. The
American Ambassador had made a strong remonstrance when
the event came to his knowledge, and, at the last moment, orders
were sent to Liverpool to stop the ship. She was able, however,
to go to the island of Terceira, where she took aboard her captain
and stores. During her career she captured nearly seventy
Northern vessels. She used to hoist the British flag, and thus
decoy the victims within her reach, and then display the Con-
federate colours and capture her prize. She generally burnt the
ship she had captured, and attracted fresh booty by the flames.
She was at last engaged and burnt by the Kearsarge off Cherbourg
on July roth, 1864. The Americans were deeply hurt at the
negligence shown in not stopping the vessel, and when the war
was over a feeling of bitterness was left which nearly led to a
rupture which was healed with difficulty.

On March roth, 1863, the Prince of Wales was married to
Princess Alexandra of Denmark, in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor,
amid signs of universal rejoicing. Banquets were held in every
important town in the kingdom, and in the evening London
and other great cities were illuminated, the display in Edinburgh
—largely helped by its natural configuration—being of remarkable
splendour. Never was a marriage crowned with such happiness
and success. The affection between the pair deepened throughout
their married life, which endured for more than forty-seven years.

On the dissolution of Parliament on July 6th, 1865, Gladstone
was defeated by a large majority at the University of Oxford,
but immediately stood for South Lancashire, his native county,
and was returned third on the poll, defeating one of the Conserva-
tive candidates. He was now, as he said himself, “‘ unmuzzled,”
and was free to fight the battle of a democratic policy. One of
the most remarkable candidatures in this election was that of

574
DEATH OF PALMERSTON

John Stuart Mill, who was returned for Westminster. He was,
in the intellectual world, one of the most influential men in England,
through his works on Logic and Political Economy, and the
respect with which his opinion on all important questions of the
day was received by his countrymen. He was not a popular
speaker, but nevertheless secured a majority of some hundreds
over his Conservative opponent. He owed his success mainly to
the courage and straightforwardness with which he dealt with
questions at public meetings, even when his answers might seem
to be opposed to his interests.

But a great change was at hand, for, ere Parliament met,
Lord Palmerston was dead. The coilapse of his strength came
very suddenly. On his eightieth birthday—he was born on
October 20th, 1784—he had started at half-past eight from Broad-
lands, taking his horses with him by train to Fareham, where
he was met by engineer officers, and rode along the Portsdown
and Hilsea line of. forts, getting off his horse and inspecting some
of them, crossing over to Anglesey forts and Gosport, and not
reaching home till six in the evening. In June of the same year
he had gone to Harrow, his old school, to attend the speeches
and lay the foundation-stone of the Vaughan Library, trotting down
the twelve miles within the hour on a rainy day. But in 1865
a marked change was obvious. He found difficulty in performing
his duties in the House, and a balustrade on one of the staircases
is shown as having been placed there to assist his movements.
He died on October 18th, 1865, and was buried in Westminster
Abbey on October 27th.

No one since the Duke of Wellington had filled so conspicuous
a place in the public eye, or had enjoyed so large an amount of
popularity. He was, indeed, a very great Foreign Minister, and
it is probable that the verdict of history will be more favourable
to him than was the judgment of his contemporaries. He kept
steadily before his eyes the honour and greatness of his country,
and was generally favourable to the progress of Liberalism in
Europe, in which respect he found himself frequently in conflict
with the Prince Consort and the Queen. Like Canning, who was
regarded as a god by foreign Liberals, he was not a Liberal in
domestic policy. His oratory was of a curious character; his
speeches, as they were listened to, seemed halting and rough,
but when read in the newspapers they appeared admirable. He
was a man of the world, and took, in the main, a gay and joyous
view of life. When Secretary of War under Wellington, the Iron
Duke once made an appointment with him for six in the morning,

575
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Palmerston answered that he should be delighted to come, but
could not the Duke make it five ?

Palmerston’s successor in the premiership was Lord Russell,
although other names, such as Clarendon, Granville, and even
Gladstone, had been mentioned. Lord Clarendon was made
Foreign Secretary, and Gladstone Chancellor of the Exchequer and
leader of the House of Commons. Among the new men admitted
to office were two who left first-rate reputations, W. E. Forster,
who framed the great Education Act of 1870, and Goschen, after-
wards a famous Chancellor of the Exchequer in a Tory Government.
It was felt, however, that the existing arrangements were only
temporary, and it was not difficult to predict that the Conservatives
would be in office before the end of the following year, and that
then, before two more years had elapsed, Gladstone would be
Prime Minister.

Public feeling in the United Kingdom at this time was much
disturbed by a rebellion which had broken out in Jamaica, the
rising seeming to have been suppressed with unnecessary cruelty.
The British officers quartered in the island appeared to consider
that any measure was justifiable in the circumstances. One,
writing to his superior officers, says: ‘I started with thirty men
from Dunkinfield and visited several estates and villages, but did
not see a single rebel. On returning in the evening, seventy-six
prisoners had been sent in by the marines. I disposed of as many
as possible, but was too tired to continue after dark.’ He then
goes on to describe how he flogged some and hanged others, and
continues: ‘‘ We were come so suddenly upon these two villages
that the rebels had no time to retire with their plunder; nearly
three hundred rushed down into a gully, but I could not get a
single shot, the bushes being so thick.”

The most profound sensation, however, was caused by the case
of George William Gordon. He was a coloured member of the
House of Assembly, and was suspected of having caused the
rebellion. He surrendered himself at Kingston, was put on board
a vessel there and taken to Morant Bay, a district where martial
law had been proclaimed, was tried by a drum-head court-martial
and immediately hanged.

The Colonial Office was at once bombarded with memorials,
asking that the conduct of Colonel Eyre, Governor of Jamaica,
might be inquired into. He was suspended from his functions
in the meanwhile, and a Committee of Inquiry was sent out to
Jamaica. They reported that 590 persons had been put to death,
that over 600, including many women, had been flogged, some in

576
GLADSTONE LEADS THE COMMONS

circumstances of revolting cruelty, some of the scourges having
been made of pianoforte wire. The Commission concluded that
the punishment of death was unnecessarily frequent, that the
floggings were reckless, and in some cases probably barbarous,
and that the burning of 1,000 houses was wanton and cruel.
Opinion at home was divided into two parties, one glorify-
ing Colonel Eyre, the other condemning him—Carlyle being the
principal literary representative of the former, John Stuart Mill
of the latter. The final report of the Commissioners, issued in
April, 1866, gave credit to Eyre for the way he had put down
the rebellion in its first inception, but decided that martial law
had been kept in force too long, and that the execution of Gordon
was unjustifiable. Eyre’s career was cut short, but the Govern-
ment eventually paid the expenses of the prosecution which had
been brought against him.

The new Parliament was opened by the Queen in person, on
February 6th, 1866. The Royal Speech contained a reference to
an approaching Reform Bill. As has been already said, Mr.
Gladstone was leader of the House of Commons, and the Liberals
numbered 361 members, against 294 Conservatives. The Reform
Bill promised in the Queen’s Speech was introduced by Gladstone
on March 12th. His speech was eloquent, but the House of Commons
remained impassive; it was evident that the proposed measure
was only a compromise. The Bill proposed to reduce the county
franchise from £50 to £14, and the borough franchise from £10
to £7, and to allow a savings bank franchise and a lodger’s
franchise.

But the House did not wish for Reform. Conservatives were
opposed to it, and Liberals were averse to another general election.
It was unfortunate that a scheme, heralded by a proclamation
of the grievances of unenfranchised millions, should end in the
enfranchisement of only a few hundreds here and there. Robert
Lowe was the hero of the opposition to the Bill. Although he
had everything against him as an orator, his speeches produced
a profound effect from their intellectual power and biting sarcasm.
Bright, somewhat indifferent at first, warmed as he went on. He
likened the operations of the band of Liberal malcontents to the
action of David in the Cave of Adullam, when he summoned to
his aid every one who was in distress, and every one who was
discontented, and became a captain over them. The Liberal
dissentients were immediately christened the Adullamites, and
the word “cave” was added permanently to the Parliamentary
vocabulary.

z 577
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Gladstone, during the debate, made the memorable speech
in which he said: “‘ Time is on our side. The great social forces
are against you, they are marshalled on our side, and the banner
which we carry, though perhaps at this moment it may droop
over our sinking heads, yet soon again will float in the eye of
heaven.” The second reading was carried by a majority of only
five, and strife was resumed in Committee. Lord Dunkellin, a
Liberal, moved that the {7 franchise should be on a rating
instead of a rental basis, which would make the qualification
for the franchise a little higher than the Government proposed,
and the amendment was carried by 315 votes to 304. The
Ministry thereupon resigned. It was a dismal time; Friday,
May 11th, was the famous ‘“ Black Friday,” which produced such
a financial crisis in England as to make it necessary to suspend
the Bank Charter; the cattle plague was raging, and the war
between Prussia and Austria was on the point of breaking out.

Lord Russell was succeeded as Prime Minister by Lord Derby.
Disraeli became Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the
House of Commons. Lord Stanley was Foreign Secretary ; Lord
Cranborne, formerly Lord Robert Cecil, and afterwards Lord
Salisbury, became Secretary for India; Lord Carnarvon had
charge of the Colonies; General Peel of the War Office; and
Stafford Northcote became President of the Board of Trade.
The Home Office, which turned out difficult and laborious, fell to
the lot of Mr. Walpole. On July oth, 1866, Lord Derby announced
that he had formed a Ministry, but no one imagined it would last
long. He promised a safe and moderate measure of Reform,
but there arose an agitation in the country for Parliamentary
Reform which took every one by surprise. Reform Leagues and
Reform Unions started up in all directions. Public meetings to
advance this object were held every day, the most important
being that held in Hyde Park on July 25th. This meeting was
forbidden by the Government, and orders were given that the
park gates should be shut at five o’clock. The processions, how-
ever, were not countermanded, and thousands of people were
collected outside the park. The persons responsible for the meeting
having made a protest against the prohibition retired to Trafalgar
Square, where appropriate speeches were made. But a large and
motley crowd remained at the park. It being accidentally dis-
covered that the railings were not very firm, a simultaneous pressure
was made, the railings fell down, the crowd rushed into the park
and spent half the night destroying the flower beds. Yet no great
damage was either intended or done, and police and soldiers were

578
THE “TEN MINUTES BILL”

cheered when they tried to clear the park. At the same time there
is no doubt that this demonstration, which was not important
in itself and had its humorous side, eventually caused Reform.

The Tory Ministry brought forward their new Reform Bill
at the beginning of March, 1867, but Peel, Carnarvon and Cran-
borne left the Ministry rather than be responsible for it. Its pro-
visions were submitted in the form of resolutions which were after-
wards embodied in a Bill. It was proposed that all who paid
rates, or twenty shillings in direct taxes, should have the franchise,
and that this privilege should be extended to certain classes
qualified by education, or by the possession of a certain amount
of property in the funds or savings’ banks, while householders
who paid rates received a second vote. All seats were taken
from the smaller boroughs and from those recently reported against
for bribery, and given to more populous places, fourteen to boroughs,
fifteen to counties, and one to the University of London. There
were also elaborate and cumbrous arrangements with regard to
residence, rating and dual voting.

The story of the composition of this extraordinary measure
was revealed in Parliament by Sir John Pakington. Two Reform
Bills had been submitted to the Cabinet, one of a more generous,
the other of a less liberal character. Which should be submitted
to the House of Commons depended upon the temper of the assembly.
At the Cabinet which met on February 23rd it was arranged
that the more liberal measure should be introduced on Monday,
February 25th. But at the Cabinet summoned for two o’clock
on that day it appeared that the introduction of this Bill meant
the disruption of the Government, and that it was necessary to
bring forward the measure of more limited character. Lord Derby
had to address a meeting of the Conservative Party at half-past
two, and Disraeli to introduce his Reform Bill in the House of
Commons at half-past four. Only ten minutes were left for dis-
cussion, and it was impossible to frame a measure in that time.
So recourse was had to the alternative Bill, and it was introduced
as the measure on which the Cabinet was agreed. Pakington
admitted that the Government had made a mistake, but who
could be expected to act wisely with only ten minutes for de-
liberation ? So the measure came to be known as the “Ten
Minutes Bill.”

The reception given to the “ Ten Minutes Bill’’ was entirely
discouraging. Disraeli saw that there was no chance of passing
it, but clung to the fundamental conviction that a Reform: Bill
must be passed by the Tories. Therefore, on February 26th,

579
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

he announced that the “ Ten Minutes Bill”? would be withdrawn
and that another and more comprehensive measure would be
introduced on March 18th. The new measure proposed that in
boroughs all ratepayers, or payers of twenty shillings in direct
taxation, all possessors of property in the funds or savings’ banks,
and persons of specified intellectual qualifications should have
the franchise. It contained certain checks also to prevent it
from becoming too democratic. English people do not like
complicated schemes, and it was obvious that this elaborately con-
structed scheme would not command the confidence of the strong
common sense of the nation. Bright described the Bill as a plan
for offering something with one hand and withdrawing it with
the other. Eventually the measure was converted into a Bill
that was much more democratic than anything which had been
advocated by Bright.

_ This measure established household suffrage in the towns.
All the checks and balances which it originally contained were
eliminated one by one. The dual vote, the voting paper, the
fancy franchises all disappeared, and a lodger franchise was intro-
duced. Disraeli met the amendments first by declining to receive
them, and then accepting them. The last trench in which the
Government fought was the compound householders ; householders
whose rates were paid in the lump by the landlord and not by
themselves in person were not to have the vote. Probably many
of those who discussed at length the question of the compound
householder’s vote had no idea who he was. Paying and receiving
rates in this way was so convenient that it was found that in
some boroughs two-thirds of the householders under {10 belonged
to this class.

Gladstone did not desire that votes should be given to persons
below a certain level in the social scale, and proposed at a meeting
of the Liberal Party that the lowest-rented tenements should
be relieved from rates altogether, and that only those who paid
rates should have votes. The Radicals were not satisfied with
this, and at a meeting held in the Tea Room of the House of
Commons decided that they could not support it, so that in the
Liberal Party a “cave” was formed, called the ‘‘ Tea Room
Party,” and Gladstone’s scheme was defeated. An effort was
made to get rid of the compulsory system altogether, and, to the
surprise of everyone, the Government yielded. The name of
every occupier was placed in the rate-book, and every occupier
was given the vote. In other words, household suffrage, pure
and simple, was established in the boroughs. The ‘“‘ Tea Room

580
“A LEAP IN THE DARK”

Party” had gained a complete victory ; they had prevailed over
Gladstone and had conquered Disraeli.

The Bill had now become a reality ; it was built upon a sound
principle, but probably went further in the direction of democracy
than Bright had ever desired to go. Mill now proposed that votes
should be given to women as well as men. He was defeated by
196 votes to 73, but was satisfied at having brought the question
of the enfranchisement of women prominently into the political
arena. The Bill also contained a provision for the representation
of minorities, by arranging that when a constituency returned
three members, electors could not vote for more than two. It
gave the franchise to lodgers paying not less than {10 a year rent
and resident for one year, to possessors of property of the clear
annual value of £10, and to occupiers paying {12 a year. It
awarded a third member to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham
and Leeds, and a member to the University of London. It was
also settled that Parliament should not be dissolved on the death
of a Sovereign, and that members of a Government should not
vacate their seats on the acceptance of another office. It put
off the reform of Scottish and Irish representation for another year,
though when the time for dealing with this branch arrived little
alteration was made. The Reform Bill eventually became law
on August 15th, 1867. Thus a Tory Government had passed a
Radical measure of reform. Lord Cranborne called it a “ leap
in the dark,’ an expression generally attributed to Lord Derby.
Lowe warned those who had consented to it that “the working
men, the majority, the people who live in the small houses, all
are enfranchised ; we must now at least educate our new masters.”

Shortly after the close of the session which passed the Reform
Act, a prison van containing two political prisoners was stopped
and thrown open in broad daylight in the streets of Manchester
and the prisoners were released. The two prisoners belonged to
the society of Fenians. The Fenian movement was first heard
of in February, 1861, when the House of Commons met on a
Saturday to discuss a proposal of the Government of the day to
suspend the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland and give the Lord
Lieutenant almost unlimited power to arrest and imprison suspected
persons. The Bill passed through all its stages on the same day ;
the House of Lords finished its discussion at an early hour in the
evening, adjourned till eleven at night to receive the royal assent
from Osborne, and the Bill became law at 12.40 on Sunday morning.

Fenianism was to some degree connected with the Civil War
in America, because the conflict had created a class of Irish-

581
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

American soldiers who looked to new methods of freeing their
country. Phoenix Clubs had come into existence among the
peasants of Ireland after the suppression of the movement of 1848,
and out of them rose the Fenians, the name borne by the ancient
militia of Ireland. Ossian speaks of the tales of the bare-armed
Fenians ; very legendary and very stimulating they probably were.
The Fenian organisation was perfected during the American Civil
War at a convention held in the United States. Its members
were bound to give absolute obedience to a single head. Mr.
Justin McCarthy, who has ample right to speak with authority,
tells us that the Fenian movement was got up, organised and
manned by persons who, however mistaken and misguided, were
high-minded, unselfish and devoted to their cause. They hoped
that Great Britain and America might come to war in consequence
of the ill-feeling about the Alabama claims, that the Americans
might invade Canada, and that a Fenian rising in Ireland might
secure Irish independence. The Fenian leaders actually issued
an address, announcing that officers were going to Ireland to raise
an army for this last-named purpose, and, indeed, James Stephens,
the Head Centre of Fenianism in America, reached the Irish shores.
He was arrested and imprisoned in Dublin early in November,
1865, but he contrived to escape and returned to New York.

The Irish Fenians were divided into two parties, one in favour
of an invasion of Canada, the other of a rebellion in Ireland. A
body of Fenians did invade Canada at the end of May, 1866, but
were met bravely by the Canadians, and the Americans suppressed
the movement with unexpected energy and determination. As
numbers of Fenians came from America to Ireland, an attempted
rising was made in March, 1867, which was immediately put down,
being stopped, it is said, by a phenomenal fall of snow. Of the
prisoners then taken, one, Colonel Burke, was sentenced to death
in May, but reprieved.

What has been said will show that the state of affairs demanded
strong action on the part of the Government, and that the suspension
of the Habeas Corpus Act was fully justified. But the Fenian
troubles continued. Three of the men who had attacked the police
van at Manchester were hanged in that city on November 23rd,
1867, and on December 13th an attempt was made to blow up the
House of Detention at Clerkenwell, in London, with the intention
of releasing two Fenians imprisoned within its walls. About sixty
yards of the prison wall were blown in, and several houses in the
neighbourhood were destroyed. Six persons were killed on the spot,
six more died of their wounds, and about a hundred and twenty

582
CANADIAN CONFEDERATION

persons were injured. The prisoners, too, would probably have
been killed had not the Governor, apprised of the plot, locked his
charges up in their cells. It is alleged that the perpetrators of
this crime were not Fenians, but conspirators must be held
responsible for the deeds of those who, while not perhaps belonging
to the central organisation, hang upon its skirts and do untold
mischief.

There can be no doubt but that the Fenian conspiracy exercised
a profound effect on the mind of Mr. Gladstone, and made him
realise that the time had come for dealing seriously with the true
causes of Irish discontent. He said twelve years afterwards that
it had an important bearing upon Irish policy, that when the
Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, when the tranquillity of
Manchester was disturbed, when London was shocked and horrified
by an inhuman outrage, when there was such a widespread sense
of insecurity that inhabitants of many towns in England and
Scotland were sworn in as special constables, that when all these
things occurred men began to pay more serious attention to the
urgency and magnitude of Irish grievances.

On February roth, 1867, Lord Carnarvon, as Secretary for
the Colonies, moved the second reading of the Bill for the Con-
federation of the North American provinces of the British Empire.
It was a measure to give practical expression to the principles
which Lord Durham had laid down in his famous report issued
more than a quarter of a century previously. By this Act the
provinces of Ontario and Quebec, together with Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick, were federated together as the Dominion of Canada,
with a central Parliament and State Legislature for each province.
There were to be two Houses in the central Parliament, the Senate
consisting of seventy members, nominated for life by the Governor-
General, and a House of Commons elected according to population,
at the rate of one member for each 17,000, the duration of the
Parliament not to be more than five years, The executive was
vested in the Crown, represented by the Governor-General. The
central government should administer the Crown affairs of the
Dominion, while each province passed its local laws. The electoral
systems of the various provinces were very different ; in some the
vote being open, in others by ballot. The first Federation con-
sisted of four provinces only, but provision was made for others
to come in. Manitoba was admitted in 1870, British Columbia
and Vancouver in 1871, Prince Edward Island in 1873, and the
Dominion now includes the whole of British North America,
excepting Newfoundland.

583
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

In February, 1868, in consequence of ill-health, Lord Derby
resigned the premiership. The Queen sent for Disraeli and asked
him to form a Government. The Cabinet remained nearly un-
changed, Lord Cairns became Lord Chancellor, and Ward Hunt
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Walpole retiring. The chief measures
of the session were the abolition of public executions, the trans-
ference of the trial of election petitions from a tribunal of the
House of Commons to a tribunal of judges, the abolition of the
power of the Peers to vote by proxy, and the purchase of telegraphs
by the Post Office.

More important than these, however, was the Abyssinian War.
Some British subjects, men and women, were held in captivity
by Theodore, King of Abyssinia, and it was felt that a strong
effort should be made to release them. Theodore was a man of
tumultuous passions, capable of strong loves and violent hatreds.
For very inadequate reasons he felt that he had been slighted by
Great Britain, and, seizing certain British subjects, imprisoned
them in his capital, Magdala. Hormuzd Rassam, vice-consul at
Aden, was sent to demand their release, with a message from
Queen Victoria, accompanied by Lieutenant Prideaux and Dr.
Blanc. After a time, mainly owing to misunderstandings, Theo-
dore threw these emissaries into prison also. At last, Lord Stanley,
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, sent him an ultimatum, demanding
the release of the prisoners within three months, with war as the
alternative. This letter probably never reached the King at all.
However, an expedition was formed under the command of Sir
Robert Napier, which left Bombay at the end of the year.

It is impossible to read the history of the campaign without
feelings of pity. The King oscillated from the height of hope to
the depths of despair. The Abyssinians were, of course, no match
for the invaders, but the King made an elaborate road, and dragged
along it a piece of ordnance which was to annihilate his enemies,
but it burst at the first discharge. In an engagement 500 Abys-
sinians were killed and thrice as many wounded. At last Theodore
liberated the prisoners, who found themselves safe under the
British flag. Moreover, on Easter Sunday, the great festival of
the faith which both British and Abyssinians hold, he sent into
the British camp a present of beeves and sheep, intended as an
offering of peace. It was, however, deemed necessary for British
prestige to capture the fortress. This was done without much
difficulty on April 13th, and when the gate was forced the dead
body of the King was found within it, shot by his own hand.
Magdala was dismantled and destroyed for fear lest it should fall

584
GLADSTONE AND IRELAND

into the hands of the Mohammedans, and the troops immediately
returned. It was some compensation that Theodore’s son, Alamayou,
a child of seven years, was taken care of by Queen Victoria. He
was educated first in India and then in England, but died before
he reached maturity.

We now approach the period in which Gladstone began his
great efforts for the pacification of Ireland. He had long been
convinced that Ireland was the weak spot in the British Empire,
a source from which danger had arisen and might at any moment
return in more dangerous form. This is not the place to recount
the wrongs which Ireland had suffered at the hands of England.
It had always been treated as a conquered country, to be kept
in subjection by the overwhelming supremacy of Great Britain.
The emancipation of the Catholics, and the admission to Parlia-
ment and to full political privileges of those who professed the
national religion, had done something to ameliorate the bitterness
of the national sentiment ; but it still suffered from the pressure
of an alien Church, endowed by revenues contributed by its own
people, from the possession of the land by an absentee aristocracy,
which spent in personal enjoyment elsewhere the exorbitant rents
derived from the exertions of a laborious peasantry, from an
administration directed from a British stronghold on principles
foreign to Irish feeling, by men who did not understand the
conditions of the country, and took no pains to understand them.
These grievances Gladstone determined to remove, first that of
the Church, then that of the land, and lastly that of Dublin Castle.

It is probable that when he formed the design of bringing the
disestablishment of the Church into the domain of practical
politics, he had in his mind the possibility of granting Home Rule
as the only valid remedy for Irish discontent, and to apply to
this open sore the magic power of self-government. The Irish
had been driven by ill-treatment to emigration on an enormous
scale; indeed, it was a common opinion in England that the
more Irish that emigrated the better, and that it would be a happy
thing if Ireland could be entirely deserted by its own people, and
their places taken by British emigrants. But those who held
such opinions forgot that there was growing up, in every country
to which the Irish went beyond the seas, an Irish party hostile
to Great Britain. This was notably true of the United States,
but it was also the case in Australia and Canada.

Now, whatever convictions a statesman may form in his own
mind as to the desirability of reform in any direction, he cannot
hope to give effect to them except with the support of public

T* 585
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

opinion, and this opinion, to be valid, cannot be artificially created
but must grow up in great measure of itself. A wise statesman
will always take care to have this force on his side. It was idle
to remedy the grievances of Ireland, unless Englishmen and
Scotsmen felt they had a real existence. This explains why
Gladstone came to the conclusion that the Fenian outbreak, the
Manchester rescue, the Clerkenwell explosion gave an oppor-
tunity for the introduction of the beneficent legislation which
he had long pondered in his mind.

On March 16th, 1868, Mr. John Francis Maguire, an Irish
Member of Parliament, trusted by British and Irish alike, brought
forward in the House of Commons some resolutions on the con-
dition of Ireland. In the course of his speech he laid great stress
upon the mischief produced in Ireland by the existence of an
alien Church. The debate lasted a considerable time, and on
the first night Gladstone expressed the opinion that the Irish
Church must cease to exist as a State institution. In consequence
of this avowal Maguire withdrew his resolutions. He knew that
the Protestant garrison in Ireland was doomed, and that the fall
of the Irish State Church was merely a question of time.

A few days later Gladstone gave notice of three resolutions on
the subject. The first declared that the Established Church of
Ireland must cease to exist as an establishment, respect being
had to personal interests and to individual rights of property ;
the second declared that it was inexpedient to create new personal
interests by any public patronage; and the third prayed the
Sovereign to place at the disposal of Parliament the interests of the
Crown in the temporalities of the Irish Church. Gladstone proposed
his resolutions on March 30th, 1868. Lord Stanley met them
by declaring that any proposition tending to the disestablishment
or dismemberment of the Irish Church ought to be reserved for
the decision of the new Parliament. The amendment only pleaded
for delay ; it did not ask that the Irish Church should not perish,
but only that its end should come to-morrow instead of to-day.

Robert Lowe attacked the Irish Church with remarkable
bitterness. He compared it to an exotic brought from a far country,
tended with infinite pains and useless trouble, and kept alive
with great difficulty and expense in an ungenial climate and an
ungrateful soil. He said: “The curse of barrenness is upon it.
It has no leaves, puts forth no blossoms and yields no fruit. Cut
it down. Why cumbereth it the ground?” In the division
there were 270 votes for the amendment and 331 against it, so
that the Irish Church was condemned by a majority of 61.

586
GLADSTONE’S FIRST PREMIERSHIP

Such was the fate of the amendment, but Gladstone’s resolu-
tions had still to be voted upon, and the first resolution was carried
by a majority of 65, the numbers for and against it being 330
and 265. Disraeli determined to dissolve Parliament. This
took place at the end of July, and the new elections were held in
November. It was probably the most important election since
the days of the Reform Bill. Gladstone was defeated in South
Lancashire, but found a seat at Greenwich; Lord Hartington was
defeated in North Lancashire, and was out of Parliament for a
short time; John Stuart Mill was not re-elected for Westminster ;
and Lowe was chosen as the first Member for the University of
London. The polls, however, gave the Liberals a majority of 112.
Disraeli thought it useless to meet the new Parliament as Prime
Minister, and resigned office. Gladstone’s opportunity had come,
and on the afternoon of December rst he received at Hawarden
an intimation from Windsor that placed him in power. Evelyn
Ashley has described the homely incident when the message arrived.

“To was standing by him, holding his coat on my arm, while
he in his shirt-sleeves was wielding an axe to cut down a tree,
when up came a telegraph messenger. He opened the telegram
and read it, then handed it to me, speaking only two words:
‘Very significant,’ and at once resumed his work. The message
merely stated that General Grey would arrive that evening from
Windsor. This, of course, implied that a mandate was coming
from the Queen, charging Mr. Gladstone with the formation of
his first Government. After a few minutes the blows ceased and
Mr. Gladstone, resting upon the handle of his axe, looked up, and
with deep earnestness in his voice and great intensity in his face,
exclaimed, ‘My mission is to pacify Ireland.” He then resumed
his task and never spoke another word till the tree was down.”

“Mr. Disraeli,’ said the Royal missive, ‘“‘ has tendered his
resignation to the Queen. The result of the appeal to the country
is too evident to require its being pressed by a vote in Parliament,
and the Queen entirely agrees with Mr. Disraeli and his colleagues
that the most dignified course for them to pursue, as also the best
for the public interests, is immediate resignation. Under these
circumstances, the Queen must ask Mr. Gladstone, as the acknow-
ledged head of the Liberal Party, to undertake the formation
of a new Administration. With one or two exceptions, which she
has requested General Grey, the bearer of this letter, to explain,
the Queen would impose no restrictions on Mr. Gladstone with
regard to the arrangements of the various offices in the manner
which he believes to be best for the public service, and she trusts

587
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

that he will find no difficulty in filling them up, or at least the
greater part of them, so that the Council may be held before the
13th. Mr. Gladstone will understand why the Queen would wish
to be free from making any arrangements for the next few days
after the 13th.* The Queen echoes what she said two and a
half years ago to Lord Derby, that she will not have any time
for seeing Mr..Gladstone, who may wish to have an opportunity
of consulting some of his friends before he sees her, but that, as
soon as he shall have done so, and expresses a desire to see the
Queen, she will receive him.”

On December 29th Gladstone entered in his diary: “ This
birthday opens my sixtieth year. I descend the path of life;
it would be truer to say I ascend a steep path with a burden ever
gathering weight. The Almighty seems to sustain and spare
me for some purpose of His own, deeply unworthy as I know
myself to be. Glory be to His name.” And in the last hours
of the year he wrote further: ‘‘ This month of December has
been notable in my life as follows—Dec., 1809, born; 1827, left
Eton; 1831, Classics at Oxford; 1832, elected to Parliament ;
1838, work on Church and Siate published; 1852, Chancellor
of the Exchequer ; 1868, First Lord. Rather a frivolous enumera-
tion, yet it would not be so if the love of symmetry were carried
with a well-proportioned earnestness and firmness into the higher
parts of life. I feel like a man with a burden under which he must
fall and be crushed if he look to the right or the left, and fail from
any cause to concentrate mind and muscle upon his progress step
by step. This absorption, this excess, this constant jar is the
fate of political life with its insatiable demands, which do not
leave the smallest spark of moral energy unexhausted and avail-
able for the surgeons. Swimming for his life, a man does not see
much of the country through which the river winds, and I probably
know little of these years through which I busily work and live.”

* December 14th was the anniversary of the death of the Prince Consort.

588
CHAPTER VI
FRANCE: DECAY OF THE SECOND EMPIRE

THE close of the war of 1866 left the Emperor Napoleon in a
worse condition than that which he had before occupied; but
the disaster which eventually overwhelmed him was brought
about largely by his policy in Mexico. Benito Juarez, President
of that country, in 1860 expelled Pacheco, the Spanish envoy,
and a few months later suspended the interest on the foreign
debt for two years. The Governments principally concerned
remonstrated without effect, and in October a Convention, signed
in London between Great Britain, France and Spain, decided
on a joint expedition, but disclaimed any intention of territorial
aggrandisement, or of interfering with the inherent right of the
Mexican people to choose their own form of government, their
sole object being to obtain material guarantees for the redress
of wrongs which had been done to their subjects, and for which
remedies had been asked in vain. Great Britain was sincere
in this declaration, but France and Spain both wished to substitute
a monarchy for a republic, while the Emperor Napoleon desired
to establish Archduke Maximilian of Austria on the throne, and
Queen Isabella pressed the claims of the Montpensiers, the duchess
being her sister. In November Prim was appointed to the com-
mand of the Spanish contingent of the allied forces, and was
ordered to adhere strictly to the principles of the Convention.
Napoleon’s views became known to the Spanish Government
at the beginning of 1862, but Prim warned the Emperor that if
he proclaimed Maximilian Emperor of Mexico his power could
only last so long as he was supported by French troops. But
trouble was soon a-brewing. One of the first acts of Andrew
Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln as President of the United States,
was to assure Napoleon that America would not allow a foreign
and monarchical government to be established on her soil. The
triumphant close of the war brought even stronger counsels. The
Monroe Doctrine, which proclaimed the principle of ‘‘ America
for the Americans,” was enforced. On December 12th, 1865,
both Houses of Congress passed a resolution that an attempt to
destroy an American republic and to build upon its ruins a

589
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

monarchy, supported by European bayonets, was opposed to the
declared policy of the United States, repulsive in the highest degree
to the American people, and an attack upon the political system
of the United States.

Mexico, otherwise called New Spain, originally a vice-royalty
of the Spanish monarchy, revolted against the Mother Country
in 1820, and obtained her independence in 1821. After forty
years of civil war, she eventually fell into the hands of Benito
Pablo Juarez, a lawyer and statesman, who was elected president
by the free choice of the Mexican people. Born of poor parents
in the year 1809, he suffered in his youth from the tyranny of
the Spaniards, who treated the aboriginal inhabitants, to whom
he belonged, with contempt and insult. His early manhood was
spent in the struggle for freedom, and in the attempt to wrest
the territory of his country from the dead hand of the Church.
Elected president in 1858, under the new Constitution of
1857, he defeated the champions of the Clerical party in
1860, and entered the city of Mexico in triumph on January
12th, 1861.

We have said that the new Government of Mexico repudiated
its debt, but there was some reason for this. The debt had been
contracted by the Clerical party to assist them against their
national adversaries, and it was so heavy that nearly one-half
the revenues of the country went to England and one-fifth to
France and Spain, leaving the Republic almost without resources
to defray its expenses. In these circumstances suspension of
payment was inevitable, and it was met by the Convention of
London and the military intervention of the three Powers to which
we have already referred. Spain signed, on February tioth,
1862, an arrangement with General Doblado, called the Treaty
of La Soledad, acknowledging the sovereignty of the Republic,
and Great Britain had no difficulty in adhering to an understanding
which was in accord with the Convention of London.

But the French representatives hesitated to concur, because
they knew that the policy of France was different from that of
the two other allies. By the Second Article of the provisional
treaty, the foreign allied troops were allowed to occupy the towns
on the edge of the plateau on which Puebla and Mexico were situated,
Cordova, Orizaba and La Tehuacan, but by the Third Article they
were compelled to retire to Vera Cruz in case preliminaries should
not be ratified. On the strength of the Second Article, Saligny,
the representative of France, signed the treaty with the intention
of breaking the First and the Third Articles.

590
NAPOLEON AND MAXIMILIAN

On March 3rd, General Lorencez landed at Vera Cruz with
reinforcements from France, accompanied by General Almonte,
a Mexican refugee, who openly proclaimed his intention of upsetting
Juarez and establishing Maximilian on the throne. On April 3rd
the Mexican Government demanded the expulsion of Almonte
from their territory, and, when the plenipotentiaries met at Orizaba
on April oth, Prim exposed the nature of the disgraceful intrigue
in which France was engaged. In consequence of this, the re-
presentatives of Spain and Great Britain declared the Convention
of London and the Treaty of Soledad to be violated and determined
to depart. The French, who, according to the treaty, ought to
have retired to Vera Cruz, marched forward and attacked Puebla.
Reinforcements having arrived from France under General Forey,
Puebla was taken, on May 17th, 1863, after two months’ siege,
and the city of Mexico was occupied at the beginning of June.
On July 8th an Assembly of Notables met under the presidency of
Almonte, who determined to consolidate Mexico as an hereditary
empire and to invite Archduke Maximilian of Austria to assume
the crown. Maximilian, who received the deputation sent for
the purpose at Miramar, stipulated for two conditions—the pro-
tection of the maritime Powers and the consent of the Mexican
people. Both were impossible, because Great Britain, Spain
and the United States were opposed to any such arrangement,
and because the whole of the Mexican people, except the Clericals,
were in favour of Juarez. Maximilian persisted in his refusal
for several months, but in the spring of 1864 he accepted, with
his wife, an invitation to the Tuileries, and there, on March 12th,
a treaty was signed which made him Emperor of Mexico.

After some difficulties between the Emperor and his brother
with regard to the Austrian succession had been settled, it was
arranged at Miramar that the Emperor Napoleon should supply
a French garrison of 58,000 men, which should, year by year,
be gradually diminished. These troops were to be paid for by
Mexico at the rate of £40 a year per man. This was a heavy
burden for the new government, especially as the funds arising
from the confiscation of church lands could not be used for the
payment, because it would offend the Clerical party, who were
the Emperor’s only supporters.

The Emperor Maximilian left Miramar on April 14th, 1864,
on the frigate Novara, and reached Civita Vecchia four days later.
He and the Empress had an interview with the Pope, with the
object of establishing a concordat between State and Church in
his new country. He landed at San Juan d’Ulloa on May 28th.

591
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Nothing could be done with regard to the Church question till
the arrival of the Nuncio Meglia at the end of the year. Meglia
brought with him a letter written by the Pope’s hand, which
showed that all hope of an arrangement was impossible. Any
step taken by the Emperor himself to shake off the burden of
the dead hand was met by energetic expostulation from the Nuncio,
who threatened a breach with Rome, so that the Emperor had
no money to pay his way with. A loan was contracted in France
in April, 1865, under the most onerous conditions, which raised
the public debt of Mexico to over £30,000,000. The French army,
now commanded by Bazaine, barely sufficed to protect Vera Cruz,
Cordova, Orizaba, Puebla and Mexico, and keep the roads which
connected them clear of the Liberal guerillas.

Maximilian found himself an emperor without an empire,
a monarch without authority, in continual strife with the Pope
on one side and the French on the other. Bazaine, too, became.
insufferable, but without his assistance the Empire would fall
to pieces, and the time was at hand when the imperious march
of events would bring this assistance to an end. The result of
the American Civil War was as great a surprise to Napoleon as
was the victory of the Prussians at Koniggratz in the following
year. The victorious North, as we have seen, insisted on the
withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico. The demand,
urgent in 1865, became more urgent at the beginning of 1866.
At that time Schofield, sent from Washington to Paris, told the
Emperor that a year was the utmost limit the United States
could allow for the presence of foreign troops on American soil.

Napoleon was forced to give way. In his Speech from the
Throne on January 22nd, 1866, he said: “ The government founded
in Mexico on the will of the people gains strength; the oppo-
sition, now without a head, is conquered and dispersed. The
national troops have shown themselves brave, and the country
has found guarantees for order, which increase its security.
Commerce with France has risen from 21,000,000 to 76,000,000
francs. Last year I expressed the hope that our expedition
was approaching its termination, and I am now coming
to an understanding with the Emperor Maximilian as to the
time for the recall of our troops, so that it may be carried out
without danger to French interests which we have defended in
those distant regions.”

This speech was really a tissue of falsehoods, The Republican
troops were neither defeated nor dispersed; on the contrary,
they were pressing forward, and the national army could hardly

592
MAXIMILIAN ABANDONED

be said to exist; and for “order” and “ security ’’ we ought
to read “civil war” and “anarchy.” The negotiations with
Maximilian were not yet begun, for Baron Saillard, who was to
conduct them, had only left France six days before the speech.
It was true that the French troops were preparing to depart, but
untrue that the interests of France were in a secure position. Baron
Saillard took with him two letters from Drouyn de I’Huys, in
which the French Minister, Daru, was ordered to treat with Maxi-
milian and Bazaine for the immediate withdrawal of the French
garrison. They stated, on the one hand, that the French army
would depart in the autumn, and, on the other, that it would be
better for Maximilian that his throne should not be supported
by foreign bayonets. This meant that after a year and a half’s
reign, an enterprise undertaken by Maximilian only under strong
pressure from France, two alternatives were left him, either of
retiring to Europe with the French, or of certain destruction if
he remained in the country. ‘Napoleon’s conduct was mean, but
imminence of war with the United States, if he acted otherwise,
left him really without a choice. On April 5th the Ministers
announced that the French troops would leave Mexico in three
detachments, and that the last of them would return in the spring
of 1867.

In July the Empress Charlotte undertook a journey to Europe
in the hope of saving the situation. She found Napoleon at St.
Cloud, having just returned from Vichy, and, with the most
moving eloquence, depicted the terrible position of her husband.
When these entreaties failed, she gave him two letters written
with his own hand in 1864, in which he (the Emperor) assured
the Archduke that he would never desert him until his work was
accomplished.

He looked hastily through the letters and said: ‘‘ I have done
what I could for your husband; I can go no further.”

The Empress was in despair, and, as she took leave, cried:
“T suffer what I deserve. The grandchild of Louis Philippe of
Orléans should never have trusted her fortunes to a Bonaparte.”

Added to other misfortunes was the treachery of Bazaine.
His wife was a Mexican, and her family were infected with the
ambition that they might be masters of the country, and Bazaine
sought for himself the position of Emperor. Hence his policy
was to weaken the authority of Maximilian and to increase the
power of the dissidents, with whom he was in secret communication,
and for this purpose he prolonged the occupation in order that he
might have more time for the prosecution of his designs. It was

593
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

known that the occupation would come gradually to an end, and
as each strong place was evacuated by the French it was occupied
by the dissidents. Treachery took even a more solid form.
Supplies paid for by the sacrifices of Maximilian’s supporters were
sold by Bazaine to the highest bidder, and the money went into
his pockets.

History does not record a more heart-breaking or a more con-
temptible tragedy. But Maximilian’s cup of agony was not yet
full. On October 18th, 1866, he received the news that his gifted,
beautiful, beloved wife had lost her reason. It is said that the
insanity was first caused by a glass of orange water which she had
drunk during her stormy interview with Napoleon, and which
was made from oranges brought from Mexico by one of her suite,
and believed to have been poisoned.

As soon as he heard the news, Maximilian determined to leave
Mexico, and retired to Chapultepec, and then to Orizaba, which
he reached on October 27th. Pale and wasted with fever, he
drove in a carriage drawn by six mules. When he reached the
town he was received by the French with salvoes of artillery and
the ringing of bells, but his Austrian suite could only reply to the
Gallic transports with Hungarian curses. The Indians flocked
round with joy, his officers besought him on their knees to remain
in Mexico, but he declared that it was impossible. The Clerical
party, dismayed at his resolution, strained every nerve to keep
him. They sent Father Fischer, a wily ecclesiastic, to promise
him money and support from the revenues of the Church, engage-
ments which they were powerless to fulfil; but Lacuza, his Minister,
struck a more promising note when he told him that a Hapsburg
should not desert his post in the hour of danger, and that he must
meet bravely the attacks of open as well as secret enemies,
prepared to conquer or fall.

On November 25th Maximilian held a council, in which ten
members out of twenty-three declared against his departure, and
he determined to remain. He returned to his capital in January,
1867, resolved to carry on the war with the help of the Mexicans
who were true to him, and, for this purpose, he recalled Marquez
and Miramon from exile. He depended mainly upon the Imperial
Hussars, a regiment of pure Hungarians, commanded and paid
by the devoted Khevenhiiller, on the infantry of Hammerstein
and on the Mexican chasseurs of Moso. He found that the stores
collected in Mexico had been destroyed by Bazaine’s orders, and
that the marshal had persuaded the municipality to repurchase at
an exorbitant price the palace which Maximilian had presented to

594
BETRAYAL OF MAXIMILIAN

him. Bazaine left the city on February 12th, 1867, starting out
in the early morning as if ashamed of being seen, having carefully
destroyed, before his departure, arms, horses, harness and cannon,
knowing that the crown he had been commanded to defend had
no money to supply the loss. :

Next morning the troops of Khevenhiiller and Hammerstein
were summoned to the palace. The Emperor appeared along
with his physician Basch, Father Fischer and others, and told
his faithful officers that he had determined to return to Queretaro,
but that they must remain behind. They were in despair, knowing
that his Mexican guards could not defend him against the in-
surgents and that he was in the hands of traitors. But he declared
that it was his unalterable wish, and rode away to his doom.
Maximilian left his true-hearted Austrians in the capital, in order
to live for the future as a Mexican among Mexicans. He found
at Queretaro a population of 40,000 souls, who received him with
joy and an affection strengthened by a three months’ siege, and
he commanded there an army of 95,000 men. But in the capital
he found himself betrayed. Ministers behaved exactly as if there
were no Emperor at all, did nothing that they had promised,
supplied him with no money, and disregarded his commands to
send him Khevenhiiller and Hammerstein.

On March 14th, when he had successfully repelled the attack
of General Escobedo, he sent Marquez and Bidaum, whom he
believed devoted to his cause, with orders to depose the Ministry,
to obtain money, and in any case to return to Queretaro with
reinforcements. The two generals arrived at Mexico on the evening
of March 25th, accompanied by 800 cavalry. Four days later
Khevenhiiller and Hammerstein received marching orders, and
on March 30th they set out, apparently to join the Emperor at
Queretaro with 4,000 troops and 12 guns. But they marched
not north-west to Queretaro, but south-west to Puebla, which
was being besieged by Porfirio Diaz. When they had proceeded
for four days with incredible slowness they heard that Puebla
had fallen. This was owing to the treachery of Marquez, who
disregarded all representations of the German officers. They were
obliged to return to Mexico, which was soon afterwards blockaded,
so that no further expedition was possible. -

Maximilian defended himself stoutly in Queretaro. After fight-
ing bravely on March 24th, April rst and 27th, May ist and 3rd,
he determined to make a final effort on the night of May 14th.
But shortly after midnight the enemy, led by the traitor Lopez,
broke into the monastery of La Cruz, where the Emperor was

595
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

residing with his staff, and took them all prisoners, unarmed as
they were.

Juarez did not himself desire the death of Maximilian. The
besiegers received orders to allow him to pass unscathed should
he wish to do so. But he was brought before a court-martial
and tried, together with Generals Meija and Miramon, who
were regarded by the Mexicans as traitors. If they were
condemned to death, and they deserved no other punishment,
how could Maximilian be allowed to escape, under whose
command they had fought? Maximilian refused all offers of
escape, unless the two generals could go with him. When he
heard of his condemnation, he said to Juarez that he hoped his
blood would be the last shed for the peace of Mexico. In the
early morning of June 19th, 1867, the three were led together
to the place of execution, where the sentence was read out to them.

Maximilian said: “I die for the independence and freedom
of Mexico; may my blood strengthen them both!”

Miramon said : “‘ Long live the Empress! Hurrah for Mexico

Meija kissed his crucifix.

The officers gave the signal, the volleys were fired, and the
victims fell. The colonel who commanded the firing party said
to Herr Basch: “‘ His was a mighty soul!”

On the evening of June rgth, as soon as he heard of the execu-
tion, Baron Lago, the Minister of Austria, telegraphed to Juarez
asking to be allowed to convey the body of Maximilian to Europe.
The Austrian corvette Elizabeth had been waiting on the coast
to receive the Emperor at any moment. The cabin reserved for
his return to his country was now turned into a chamber of death.
Juarez barbarously refused to surrender the corpse, which he
regarded as a spoil of victory. The captain of an American ship
of war was asked to press the request. He did so, pointing out
that the ashes of the victim could be of no possible service to
Mexico, and adding: “All expenses will be paid.” This was
refused and a similar request of a more official character met with
the same result. The faithful Basch, who had been careful to
embalm the body, and was keeping it at Queretaro, asked, on his
own account, that the remains might be removed, but received
an answer that the Citizen President had decided for grave reasons
not to accede to the request. At last Tegethoff was dispatched,
fresh from the laurels of Lissa, and was allowed to come to Mexico.
He said that he represented the family of the Archduke. Juarez
demanded an official request from Austria, or a written demand
from the family of the Archduke. Beust bowed before necessity

596

1?
NAPOLEON’S ANXIETY

and the body of the murdered hero was brought back to Europe
on the Novara, the ship which had conveyed him, in his youth,
on his voyage round the world and had brought him as an Emperor
to those ill-fated shores. On January 18th, 1868, the Royal vault
of the Capuchins received the mortal remains of the most un-
fortunate member of the unfortunate House of Hapsburg. In
the meantime, the beautiful and gifted Empress Charlotte was
wandering, a hopeless lunatic, about the gardens of Laeken, near
Brussels. Napoleon and Bazaine were, as yet, unscathed, but
a more terrible calamity awaited them than that which had befallen
the Emperor whom they had destroyed.

The year 1867 was the year of the Paris Exhibition, the most
brilliant of those international festivals which have now become
too common to excite much attention, but were then untarnished
by familiarity. It witnessed also the culmination of the splendour
of the Imperial Court. Paris was visited by the monarchs and
statesmen of Europe. The Tuileries and the Hétel de Ville vied
with each other in dazzling hospitality. But the brief period of
brilliance lay between 1866 and 1870, between Sadowa and Sedan,
between the humiliation and the destruction of the Imperial edifice ;
under the triumphal song of exaltation sounded the burden of
sadness. The tolling of a funeral bell, which accompanied the
merry carillons of success, was heard by the acutest ears of European
statesmen, and even in the intoxication of pleasure the Emperor
and Empress could not have been deaf to its warnings.

These feelings naturally made the Emperor more anxious to
consolidate the fabric he had created, in order to leave it, with some
hope of continuance, to his heirs. The most obvious way of doing
this was to change it from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy,
and this feeling was exhibited in the rise of the Third Party, which
came into existence in the early months of 1866. The Third Party
did not desire parliamentary government comparable to that
of Great Britain, but what it called a development of political
freedom, a Ministry responsible to the Legislative Assembly, which
should give that body a voice in the general policy of the country
and a certain power of control. This change would naturally be
accompanied by the liberty of the Press, and the concession of
the right to hold public meetings. It was a move in the ceaseless
struggle between imperium and lbertas, authority and freedom,
the two foci on which government is based, the conciliation of
which constitutes the duty and the difficulty of every statesman.

The leader of the Third Party was Emile Ollivier, a young,
vigorous and attractive personality, who, living to a green old

597
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

age, gave to the world a record of the events in which he played
so prominent a part. His chief opponent was Rouher, who had
been a faithful supporter of the Second Empire since its founda-
tion in 1857. Rouher began the campaign with vigour. In
July, 1866, he obtained the passing of a decree of the Senate
which gave to that body the sole right of discussing constitutional
changes, removed their discussion from the Lower House, and
punished by a severe fine any treatment of this question in the
Press. Petitions to the Senate for any change in the Constitution
could only be brought before it for consideration if primarily
authorised by the public officers. By this measure Rouher hoped
to establish a bulwark to defend the Constitution of 1852.

But the catastrophe of Kéniggratz and Queretaro had produced
a powerful effect on the mind of the Emperor, an effect which
was deepened by the evidences of unrest and discontent in the
nation at large. Therefore, on January 19th, 1867, he promul-
gated a decree restoring the right of interpellation to the Deputies,
and enacting that a Minister might be specially deputed by the
Emperor to represent him in the discussions of either House.
Notice was also given of an intention to introduce the freedom of
the Press and the right of public meeting, both in a modified
form.

During the first six months of 1867 it was uncertain how far
these measures portended the transference of power from Rouher
to Ollivier. An interpellation, to be valid, required the signa-
tures of five Ministers, and the approval of four committees,
which gave the majority in the Chamber power to prevent a
demand which might be disagreeable to the Government. Besides,
the presence of Ministers in the Chamber did not indicate that
they were responsible to Parliament, as it was expressly declared
that they were responsible to the Emperor alone. Rouher still
remained supreme. He established a kind of club in the Rue de
lArcade, composed of thoroughgoing Bonapartists, who were
opposed to all Liberal reform, and he publicly announced in the
Chamber that the Liberal concessions of January 19th were mace
at his instigation. At his instigation, too, on March rath, the
Senate demanded and obtained the right of examining all laws,
not to determine whether they were constitutional, but to help
in their formation, and this power was certain to be used in a
reactionary sense. Walewski, the friend and protector of Ollivier,
resigned the presidency of the Legislative Assembly, and when
the Bills passed in January were adjourned indefinitely, and
Ollivier made a violent attack on Rouher, whom he called the

598
THE QUESTION OF LUXEMBURG

Vice-Emperor, Napoleon sent Rouher the Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour to console him for the attack to which he had
been subjected.

Matters were, however, complicated by the rise of the Luxem-
burg Question—that is, the nature and amount of the compensation
which France was to receive for the aggrandisement of Germany.
The ‘“ Arcadians,” as the ultra-Bonapartists were called, would
not have recoiled from war to obtain their ends ; but the Emperor
was prudent and determined to confine himself to diplomatic
means. In the negotiations with Bismarck before the war of
1866 Napoleon had always emphasised the necessity of some
compensation for France. Bismarck had not definitely opposed
these views. He had, indeed, done something to stimulate them,
but had carefully refrained from committing himself, from promis-
ing anything, or even from saying that he would agree to such
a demand. He, however, privately declared that no cession of
German territory could be thought of for a moment, and that
Great Britain would oppose any aggrandisement of France in
Belgium; but that if there could be found on the confines of
France a small territory resembling Savoy, Germany would not
object to its annexation as an accomplished fact. This could
only refer to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.

The history of this little country had been remarkable and
anomalous. The treaty of April r9th, 1839, had left it indepen-
dent, under the sceptre, indeed, of the King of Holland, but with
separate institutions—a Sovereign State under a Prince who
resided at The Hague, but, at the same time, belonging to the
German Federation and a member of the Zollverein. Moreover,
in 1815, it had been declared a federal fortress, and was garrisoned
by Prussian troops. But by the war of 1866 the old Confedera-
tion had been destroyed, and it would be possible to form a new
one, of which the Duchy of Luxemburg should form no part. It
seemed, therefore, to be able to command its own destinies,
excepting as concerned the Sovereign of the Low Countries, the
King, or Grand Duke as he was called. The country caused no
little worry to the House of Orange-Nassau, to which it was a
source of embarrassment rather than profit, being politically and
naturally separated from the country of the Netherlands. On
the other hand, France was close by, ready to receive it gladly.
It was a small country of 200,000 inhabitants. Its main import-
ance lay in the fortress-capital, which was more formidable in
appearance than in fact. If it became French by an act of cession,
supported by a plebiscite, who could find fault ?

599
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

An opportunity for opening the question was afforded when
Holland asked France whether she would give assistance, in case
she (Holland) were attacked by Prussia. The French Govern-
ment said that, though they did not apprehend any danger, the
presence of a Prussian garrison in Luxemburg was undesirable.
The dissolution of the German Confederation had _ restored
Luxemburg to Holland and had made Luxemburg an independent
State. It would, therefore, be wise of the King of Holland to
cede Luxemburg to France; Germany would not object to such
a step, which would gratify the feelings both of the Dutch and of
the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy. Eventually, in January,
1867, the Dutch, convinced that Luxemburg actually belonged
to them, offered to cede their province to France in return for a
payment in money, if the Prussians would agree to withdraw their
garrison. The people of Luxemburg agreed to this arrangement,
and the King of Prussia had also given his approbation, when, in
March, 1867, public opinion in Germany suddenly took alarm,
and Goltz, the Prussian Ambassador in Paris, demanded from
Moustier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a pledge to discontinue
the negotiations. But this did not lead to war, as was ex-
pected. The question was referred to a conference of the Powers
in London, the result of which was that France renounced
her scheme for the possession of the Grand Duchy, and Prussia
evacuated the fortress, which was declared neutral and was dis-
mantled.

One of the results, indeed, one of the objects, of the Exhibition
in Paris was to attract a crowd of distinguished visitors to that
city, especially princes and kings. They all came, first the King
and Queen of the Belgians, then the Queen of Portugal, Prince
Oscar of Sweden, the Prince of Wales, and the son of the Tycoon
of Japan. But the most distinguished and the most longed-for
of all were the Emperor Alexander of Russia and King William
of Prussia. If their friendship were secured, the Empire might
feel safe. The Tsar arrived on June Ist. Great pains were taken
for his safety, which were not entirely successful. His cortége
avoided the dangerous streets, and he was lodged in the Elysée.
But he did not escape some insults from friends of Poland. King
William left Berlin on June 4th. As he entered Paris he saw the
Heights of Montmartre, which he had occupied with an invading
army in 1814. He was met at the station by the nephew of the
man he had helped to depose, the sovereign whom three years
later he himself was to depose. He was lodged in the Pavillon
Marsan, and was better received by the populace than Alexander,

600
BISMARCK IN PARIS

although he was really more dangerous. He was attended by
Bismarck, who drove in the carriage behind him.

On June 6th a great review was held for the two Sovereigns.
As they returned in the afternoon King William sat with the
Emperor, and the Tsar with the Empress. The crowd was so
thick that they could only proceed at a foot’s pace. Suddenly
a shot was fired at the Emperor’s carriage. An equerry drove
his horse in the way, and the ball wounded its nostrils, the blood
spurting out over a Grand Duke.

“ Sire,” said Napoleon, “ we have been under fire together ;
we are now brothers in arms.”

The Tsar, who was destined to be killed some years later by
the explosion of a bomb, replied, ‘“‘ Our days are in the hands of
Providence.”

The assassin was a young Pole named Berezowski, who desired
to avenge the wrongs of his country.

In the brilliant company Austria was alone wanting, wrecked
by domestic misfortunes. One Archduke was mad; Maximilian
was a prisoner, awaiting his doom; Archduchess Mathilde set fire
to herself while dressing for dinner, and was burned to death.
The Austrian Embassy was closed.

Bismarck was the hero of the day. His sallies were in every-
body’s mouth. Certainly, French society was never more brilliant
than in June, 1867. Yet Offenbach was there with his mocking
laugh, and was more applauded than anyone; the Grand Duchess
of Geérolstein was the play of the summer. All good things come
to an end, however, and Alexander left on June 11th and King
William on June 14th. The latter sent a warm message of thanks
on his return to Babelsberg.

As Austria could not come to the Emperor, the Emperor
determined to go to Austria. Beust was anxious for the meeting,
saying that an alliance between France and Austria was a first
political necessity. The visit took place at Salzburg on August
18th, the birthday of Francis Joseph, and lasted five days. It
led to no definite results, and was rather a visit of condolence for
the past than a union of hope for the future. On his return the
Emperor passed by Lille, which he had visited just after his
marriage with his lovely bride. He was tempted to compare
the present with the past, and admitted black clouds hung on
his horizon. When Francis Joseph paid a return visit to Paris
in October, he visited the tombs of his ancestors at Nancy, and
expressed a hope that France and Austria might advance hand
in hand on the path of progress and civilisation. But nothing

601
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

tangible came of these words. At last the pageants were over,
and the puppets were put back into their box. A feeling of dis-
quietude and discontent followed the orgies of splendour. Imperial
France knew no more happy days. .

By the Convention signed between Napoleon and Victor
Emmanuel on September 15th, 1864, it had been agreed that
Italy should not attack the existing territory of the Pope, or
permit any attack upon it, that the French troops should evacuate
Rome within a maximum delay of two years, and that Victor
Emmanuel should establish his capital in some other place than
the Eternal City, probably Florence. The Convention was dis-
tasteful to Catholics throughout the world. To the Pope it was
a thunderbolt. Beust disbelieved in its reality, and French
Catholics received it with disgust. The Convention was approved
of by the Italian Government and Parliament, but many Italians
hoped and believed that Florence was only a step towards Rome.
In 1865 signs appeared that the Convention would be carried out.
Victor Emmanuel established himself in the Palazzo Pitti, and
the Italian Parliament held its sittings in the large hall of the
Palazzo Vecchio.

Napoleon withdrew a regiment from Rome, and the Pope
began to resign himself to his fate. On January rst, 1866, he
said to Montebello, commandant of the Roman garrison: “ This
is the last time you will receive my New Year’s blessing; after
your departure, perhaps the enemies of the Church will come to
Rome. I pray for you, for France, for the Imperial family.”
Napoleon endeavoured to find a substitute for his garrison by
constituting the Legion of Antibes, a body of French Catholic
soldiers, recruited under the Papal flag for a service of five years.
In August, 1866, this Legion numbered 1,000 men, and was placed
under the command of Colonel d’Arz. It entered Rome on
September 22nd.

After the acquisition of Venice the Italians became more
anxious for the occupation of Rome, and in November Fleury
was sent to Florence to counsel moderation and to inform the
King that if, after the departure of the French garrison, the Pope
were compelled to leave Rome, he would be brought back by
French bayonets; and that, for this purpose, 20,000 French
soldiers would always be posted between Marseilles and Toulon,
ready to sail for Civita Vecchia at any moment. But, before
the end of the year, the Convention was carried out. On
December 11th, 1866, the French tricolour disappeared from the
Castle of St. Angelo and, two days later, Montebello landed in

602
GARIBALDI THE HOPE OF ITALY

France. After seventeen years the French occupation was at
an end.

At first sight the Papal Government appeared stronger than
ever. The carnival and the Holy Week were unusually brilliant ;
never had the influx of visitors been more numerous. In June
the centennial anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Peter was
celebrated with great pomp, and the Pope issued invitations for an
@cumenical Council. Italian patriots sought for a leader to help
them to realise their hopes, and they found one in Garibaldi,
whom they believed to be invincible. In February, 1867, he
left Caprera and went to Venice, where he preached a campaign
against Rome. He was placed at the head of the national move-
ment and addressed a remonstrance to the courts of Europe
against the continuance of the temporal government of the Pope.
At Genoa he prepared an expedition which was to land on the
shores of the Papal territory, and on June 20th 200 Garibaldians
assembled at Terni and made a raid into the territory of Viterbo.
Garibaldi himself entered Orvieto on August 13th. Ratazzi, a
man of vacillating character, was now Prime Minister of Italy,
in place of the strong-minded Ricasoli. He did his best to
minimise the danger, and placed his hopes on the promise which
Garibaldi had given to attend a congress at Geneva, which would
remeve him from Italy at least for a time.

This congress, which bore the name of “a Congress of Peace,”
met at Geneva on September 8th, and Garibaldi arrived there
with great éclat. He made a speech from the balcony of his hotel
in which he extolled the freedom of Switzerland, the heroism of
William Tell, the passionate democracy of Rousseau, and the
brotherhood of man, and expressed the necessity of destroying
all thrones and, above all, the pestilential institutions of the
Papacy—a, strange allocution for ‘a Congress of Peace.” At the
first sitting he made a speech in which he uttered the opinion that
all wars were impious except those directed against kings, and
he renewed the cry which had been first heard at Catania in
1862—“ Rome or death!” In three days the Genevese were
tired of his presence, and on September 11th he made a hurried
departure. He did not, as was desired, retire to Caprera, but
went to Italy and invaded the Papal territory. As he was
preparing to cross the frontier, he was arrested, on September
24th, at Sinalunga and imprisoned for a time in the fortress of
Alessandria. It was a second Aspromonte, and Ratazzi was proud
of it.

Rome remained comparatively tranquil. The Papal army now

603
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

numbered 13,000 men—not, however, of a very serviceable
character, the best being the Papal Zouaves, composed of French
and Belgians. But the frontier was difficult to defend. The
first Garibaldian attack came from Viterbo on September 28th,
followed, on October 11th, by a movement against Subiaco
and an assault on the Neapolitan frontier by Nicotera. Menotti
Garibaldi, in the absence of his father, who was at Caprera,
proposed to descend the valley of the Tiber. These attacks were
repulsed by the Papal army with satisfactory success.

At this time the representative of France at Rome was M.
Armand, and he continued to represent the danger of the situa-
tion to his Government in the strongest language. Napoleon
was at Biarritz, very weary and far from well. He complained
to the Italian Government that they were violating the Convention
of September 15th by permitting the attack upon the Papal
territory ; but they replied that they were powerless to prevent
it, that it came from the Revolution which they were unable to
control. The French Government were divided in opinion, some
being in favour of intervention, some of leaving things as they
were, which meant the surrender of Rome to the Italians. A
council was held at St. Cloud, to which place the Emperor had
now retired, on October 16th, at which the proposal of interven-
tion was decided, but no orders were issued; but on the following
day a message was sent to Armand saying that if the Papal
Government continued to defend themselves energetically the
assistance of France would not be wanting. The news was
received with enthusiasm by the Pope and the Clerical party,
who believed that the danger was over and the hour of liberation
had arrived.

Meanwhile, where was Garibaldi? He was guarded by seven
ships at Caprera, but contrived to escape during a fog. On
October 22nd he addressed the crowd on the Piazza Maria Novella
at Florence from the balcony of his hotel, saying, “ We shall have
Rome. I thank the people of Florence. A foreign expedition
is announced, but do not be afraid; it will vanish before the
people’s breath.” After this address he left by special train for
Terni. When he was gone it occurred to the Italian Government
that it would have been better to arrest him.

The attacks of the Garibaldians continued. On October 22nd
assaults were made on the Capitol and on the Porta San Paolo;
they failed, but the Serristori barracks were blown up, burying
twenty-two soldiers. Two heroic brothers, Enrico and Giovanni
Cairoli, made an attempt to convey arms into Rome and to

604
FIGHT FOR THE PAPAL STATES

rally their adherents. They, with about sixty companions, rowed
down the Tiber and reached the city. Their design was to seize
the steamer which guarded the river and disembark in the centre
of the city, opposite the Ripetta. Foiled in their attempt, they
passed the night in their boats, and then took up a position in
a villa on Monte Parioli, a short distance from Rome. The Papal
troops attacked them, and after a vigorous resistance Enrico was
killed, Giovanni was wounded, and the survivors were taken
prisoners. At this moment the news reached the cafés of the
Piazza del Popolo that the French expedition was put off.

Antonelli said to Armand, “If your Emperor really desires
to save the Holy See there is not a minute to lose.”

Armand communicated with his Government, but the wires
had been cut and the message had to be sent by boat. The
expedition eventually sailed from Toulon on October 3rd, and
made for Civita Vecchia, but there was great danger of its being
recalled. Would it reach Rome in time?

Garibaldi, leaving Florence on October 22nd, reached the
Papal -frontier at Passo Carrese on the following day, and took
command of the Revolutionary army, about 10,000 strong.
Marching towards Rome, he arrived at Monte Rotondo, a small
town situated on a hill, crowned by an old castle. It had a
garrison of 300, commanded by Captain Costa. Garibaldi did
not attack at once, and the garrison defended themselves bravely.
They held out during the whole of October 25th, and all the
following night, and eventually surrendered, after they had
seriously impeded the advance of their assailants and perhaps
saved Rome. Though there was great alarm in the Holy City,
Antonelli kept his head. Who would reach Rome first, the
Garibaldians or the French? Garibaldi arrived on October 28th
at Castel Gandolfo, about five miles from Rome, but apparently
hesitated to attack. On the same day the French squadron
reached Civita Vecchia, and on Coa 30th the advanced guard
of the French entered Rome.

On hearing of this the Italian eopunaan determined to
follow their example, and Italian troops occupied Acquapendente,
Civita Castellana, Orte and Frosinone, which were situated on
the frontier. There were, therefore, four armies in the Papal
States—the Italians, the French, the Garibaldians, and the Papal
troops. A plan of action was agreed upon between Failly, the
French general, and Kanzler, the Papal general. At 4 a.m. on
November 3rd, the Papal troops left Rome by the Porta Pia,
reached the village of Capo Bianco at the time of the celebration

605
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of Sunday Mass, and were joined there by the French brigade,
which had left Rome a little later. They saw in front of them
the large villages of Mentana and Monte Rotondo, both occupied
by Garibaldi. His army was depressed by the fact that there had
been no rising in Rome, and by the news of the arrival of the
French. It is said that he was on the point of marching to Tivoli,
with the view of retiring to the Abruzzi, when he heard of the
approach of the enemy and immediately made his dispositions
for defence.

Garibaldi had no artillery excepting what he had captured
at Monte Rotondo, and only a few cavalry, but he still commanded
9,000 troops, a number superior to that of the enemy. He was
protected by the old castles of Monte Rotondo and Mentana.
A fierce fusillade began and the Papal Zouaves fell back,
but Charette, with an energy worthy of his name, cried,
“Forward with the bayonet! If you do not follow me I
will go alone!” On the side of the road were a vineyard and
a farm, called the Vigna Santucci, occupied by Garibaldians.
After a severe struggle it was captured at 2 p.m., and the French
were less than a mile from Mentana. They came into action
armed with chassepot rifles, but the Garibaldians fought bravely,
and when night fell Mentana was not taken. However, when
they were about to renew the attack at daybreak the white flag
was hoisted on the walls of Mentana, and Monte Rotondo was
evacuated. The Garibaldian army had ceased to exist, 1,000
had been killed or wounded, many prisoners were taken, and
those who escaped were disarmed at the frontier on November
6th. The Allies returned to Rome in triumph. Garibaldi was
arrested at Foligno. Failly shocked public opinion and senti-
ment by saying in his dispatch, ‘“‘ The chassepots have done
wonders.” Napoleon had now completely broken with the Italian
patriots. On November 4th Rouher declared in the Chamber
that Italy should never take Rome, and that France would never
permit such a violence to her honour and to Catholicism.

The expedition to Rome had the effect of reconstituting the
Republican party in France. Mentana had produced a breach
between Italy and France, and set the revolutionaries against the
supporters of authority. On November z2oth, just after the
expedition had started, a fresh attempt at combined action was
inaugurated at a Radical demonstration in Paris. A new
opposition, more audacious and more enterprising than any which
had previously existed, came into being. Among its orators was
Léon Gambetta, a young lawyer from Cahors, whose eloquence

606
PRUSSIA CAUSES NAPOLEON ANXIETY

was the admiration of the Quartier Latin. Newspapers of a more
violent tone made their appearance, such as the Rive Gauche, the
Courier Francais, and the Candide, edited by Blanqui and his
disciples. A Labour Party also came into being with strong
Socialist tendencies. The Workmen’s International Association
had been founded in London in 1864, and in September, 1867,
the second International Congress at Lausanne sent a delegation
to the Peace Congress at Geneva, to which we have already
referred, Socialist workmen thus uniting themselves with Genevese
Republicans against the Empire. On November 4th the Inter-
national took part in a demonstration against the expedition to
Rome, and on December 30th the members of the Paris branch
were prosecuted for interfering in political matters.

At the beginning of the year 1868 the Emperor felt himself
in a dangerous position, and Prussia was to him more and more
a cause of anxiety. The French military attaché at Berlin
reported to his Government that any accident might bring on
war. Mentana had put an end to any hope of an alliance with
Italy. It was imperative to reorganise the army, but this could
not be done without the consent of the Chambers, which would
refuse it unless concessions were made to the desire for more
Liberalised government, which would mean the emancipation of
the Press and an alteration of the law of public meeting. The
whole year was occupied in the discussion of these measures, the
general result of which was to weaken the authority of the Empire
and hasten its fall.

At this time the French army was recruited by conscription.
The routine was as follows: It was first determined how many
new soldiers were required for the service of the year, and all
young men who had reached the age of twenty-one were
summoned to the capital of the Department and drew lots.
Those who drew the lowest numbers were taken one after the
other until the number required was complete. The number
asked under the Restoration had been at first 40,000, and then
60,000 ; under Louis Philippe it was raised to 80,000, and under
the Empire to 100,000, but in the Crimean and Italian wars it
was increased to 140,000. The length of service was seven years,
and those who had drawn good numbers, as they were called—
that is, numbers higher than were needed for the service, did not
serve at all. By this system the population was divided into two
classes, one of artisans and labourers altogether free from military
service, the other living in garrisons and always subject to be
called to arms, the difference between them depending solely on

607
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the hazard of a lottery. Those who could afford it could purchase
exemption, which, at first customary, became legalised in 1855.
It is difficult to imagine a worse system. No wonder the word
“conscription” grew hateful, and it is used at the present day
to discredit universal military service, which, whether good or
bad, is certainly not conscription.

In Prussia the system was entirely different. In that country
the whole male population was compelled to serve, but only for
two or three years, and thus the separation of the population into
two classes did not arise. This system was ridiculed in France,
because it was not understood. It was regarded as impossible
that an army of semi-citizens, without the splendour and éclat of
the French service, could acquit themselves bravely in the field of
battle. The existence of a highly-trained scientific General Staff
was not known, and the care with which the cadres of the regiment
were maintained in a high state of efficiency was also ignored.
The Battle of Koéniggraétz was a revelation; as a consequence of
it, the Prussian system became the admiration of Europe, and
in September, 1866, Napoleon and Randon undertook the reform
of the French army.

Napoleon was in favour of compulsory military service, but
the marshal did not go beyond a modification of existing condi-
tions. A new spirit, however, was infused into these discussions
by the appointment of Niel to succeed Randon as Minister of
War, and this was emphasised by an expression in the speech of
the Emperor on opening the Chambers on February 14th, 1867:
“The influence of a nation depends upon the number of men
whom she can place under arms,” an opinion which came as a
shock to those who were dreaming of universal peace and the
federation of the world. These words gave rise to heated debates
and a rain of pamphlets, the most remarkable of which was that
of Trochu, L’ Armée Frangaise en 1867. He criticised severely
the existing conditions, but had little to propose in their place
except a yearly contingent of 100,000 recruits and nine years of
service—five in the active army and four in the reserve.

The Government plan appeared in March, 1867. The recruits
of the year were to be divided into two classes; the first was to
serve five years in the active army and four in the reserve, and the
second four years in the reserve only. In the active army some
citizens were exonerated from service altogether; in the reserve,
substitution was allowed. A Garde mobile was to be formed, con-
sisting of two parts—one, of those who had been exonerated or
had found a substitute; the other, of those who had served four

608
FRENCH ARMY BILL

years in the reserve. The Garde “mobile was subject to military
exercise, but could not be called to active service except by an
Act of the Legislature. The period of active service was reduced
to five years. To this project the Chambers made three objec-
tions: they wished to preserve the right of fixing the annual
contingent, desired the preservation of the ‘good numbers”
and the privilege of entire exemption, and proposed to give the
Garde mobile a civil rather than a military character. These
discussions continued during the whole of 1867, and the law was
voted on January 14th, 1868. The result of the debates was that
little serious change was made, saving the creation of the Garde
mobile, an imitation of the Prussian Landwehr, and it was doubtful
how far that would be carried out.

The Bills relating to the freedom of the Press and the right
of public meetings were before the Chambers at the same time as
the Army Bill, and were considered as the first steps towards the
foundation of a Liberal Empire. The Liberalising of the Empire
suffered much from the premature death of Morny, the son of
Queen Hortense and Flahault, in March, 1865. He had been the
author of the decree of November 24th, 1860, which founded this
policy. In the debates on the Address in March, 1866, an amend-
ment was proposed, signed by forty-two Deputies, begging the
Emperor to give effect to the decree of 1860. This is known in
French history as the ‘Amendment of the Forty-two.” It is
uncertain whether the Emperor agreed with them or not, but on
January rgth, 1867, a letter from him to the Ministers was
published announcing certain reforms in the direction of liberty.
These were to substitute the right of interpellation for the right
of address, to allow Ministers to attend the debates in the
Chambers, to reform the law of the Press and the law of public
meeting.

It is reported that on the day after their publication Prince
Napoleon said, “ If the Emperor wishes to be consistent, he will
take Emile Ollivier into his counsels.” In fact, Rouher, the
actual Minister, had opposed the Amendment of the Forty-two,
and Ollivier, who had been offered the portfolio of Public Instruc-
tion, had refused to serve under him. Granier de Cassagnac
pronounced strongly for the principle of personal government,
declaring it to be the true Liberalism. -He supported the Con-
stitution of 1852, to be used, however, with moderation, saying
it had protected France for sixteen years and would continue to
protect her. Eventually, Rouher, in the desire to maintain his
position, came round to the Bill, and it was finally carried on

U 609,
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

March gth, Berryer alone voting against it. It made it possible
to found a newspaper by a simple declaration, instead of
obtaining the consent of the Government; and it abolished
governmental interference by means of warning, suspension
and suppression. Newspapers were placed under the jurisdiction
of the law courts, but the necessity of a stamp and a deposit by
way of security was still insisted upon. The law of public
meeting authorised the holding of such meetings, subject to the
signature of the necessary declaration by five competent persons,
and provided that a meeting should take place in a closed building
under the supervision of a commissary of police, who could dissolve
it if he pleased.

The Empire was evidently on its decline. What were the
evidences of its decay and the causes which led to it? Like the
ancien régime, it owed its destruction in part to the spread of
ideas which were inimical to the principle of authority. Religion
was attacked, and the power of the Government undermined.
Moreover, the new Press law led to the multiplication of Radical
newspapers. In addition to the Siécle and the Temps, which were
old asserters of the Liberal cause, there were issued the Tribune
of Eugéne Pelletan, the Revue Politique of Challemel Lacour, and
the Revue of Delescluze, who was a zealous Republican. On May
30th, 1868, appeared the Lanterne of Henri Rochefort, which
rapidly attained a dominant position. It attacked the dynasty
with the most bitter sarcasm. The first number said: “I am
thoroughly Bonapartist, but I must be allowed to choose my
hero in the dynasty. As Bonapartist, I prefer Napoleon II. It
is my right: he represents for me the ideal of the sovereign. No
one can deny that he occupied the throne, because his successor
is Napoleon IIT. What a reign, my friends, what a reign! No
taxes! No war! No Civil List! Oh, yes, Napoleon II., I love
and admire you without reserve.” The Tuileries was in constern-
ation, Rochefort was punished and exiled, but nothing would stop
the dissemination of the scarlet pamphlet. At the same time,
under the law of public meeting, the gatherings of Socialist work-
men became more frequent, social and economic questions were
freely discussed, and before long the debates took the form of
attacks on the Government.

Towards the end of the year 1868 the horizon darkened. A
book entitled Paris in December, 1851, by a young publicist,
Eugene Ténot, told in merciless terms the history of the coup

‘état. Demonstrations were made in favour of an obscure
Republican named Baudin, who had fallen at a barricade in 1851,

610
ADVANCE OF REPUBLICANISM

and a subscription was opened for a monument. The Republican
newspapers that supported the movement were prosecuted, and
were defended by Gambetta, who attacked the coup d’éat in
violent language, calling for a great national expiation. Demo-
cratic principles began to spread throughout the bourgeoisie, the
middle class which had hitherto supported the Empire. When
the Chambers were opened on January r8th, 1869, the Emperor
denounced from the throne the revolutionary spirits whose aim
was to disturb public tranquillity. During this session the
Opposition gained a victory in the vindication of the liberties of
Paris. It was settled that the budget of the city was to be voted
by the Municipal Council, under the sanction of the legislative
body, and was no longer wholly dependent on the will of the
Government.

The result of the elections held in May, 1869, furnished further
proof of the spread of Republicanism and of opposition to the
Empire. At their close the Government secured 4,438,000 votes,
the Opposition 3,385,000. In Paris the Opposition had a large
majority—231,000 against 74,000. Out of ninety candidates of
the Opposition, about forty were irreconcilable to the Empire.
The Emperor was determined to proceed in the path of Liberalis-
ing the institutions of his Government, doubtless satisfied that it
was the best means of securing the throne to his son. In 1866
the Liberal movement had been supported by 42 Deputies; in
1869 personal government became unpopular. An interpellation
put forward by the Left Centre, the old Third Party, received
a number of adhesions, at first 70, then 100, then 116, and the
new party entered into French history as that of the Cent Seize
(the Hundred and Sixteen). Their principles soon secured the
public sanction of the Emperor, and on July 1ath, when the
business of parliament began, Rouher read a message from the
throne consenting to their programme. Their main object was
to establish Parliamentary Government. The office of Secretary
of State was abolished and the new Prime Minister was to be a
member of the Chambers and to speak in their name. In these
circumstances Rouher tendered his resignation, and his long reign
was at an end.

Unfortunately, having taken the great step, the Emperor
proceeded with hesitation. Indeed, he was at this time very ill,
and in August his life was despaired of. He seemed to be afraid
of the consequences of his action. In the place of Rouher, who
became President of the Council, he made Forcade de la Roquette,
the great supporter of official candidatures, Minister of the

611
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Interior, and shrank from giving office to men who, in the opinion
of the country, were the most prominent advocates of the new
regime. In September the draft of the decree giving effect to
the reforms indicated in the message of July rath was accepted
by the Senate. The Legislative Assembly became a parliament
on the British model; it chose its own president and secretaries,
and had the right of initiation, of discussing and voting the
budget, of discussing amendments of it in detail, instead of voting
large portions of it in the mass. The Senate was transformed
into a deliberative assembly with public sittings ; it could discuss
laws brought up from the Lower House and discuss them in detail,
while the Ministers were responsible and could be impeached.
There was, however, a party in favour of personal government,
supported by the Empress, and called the Arcadians or the
Mamelukes, and Rouher still had access to the Emperor’s private
ear.

The Chambers opened on November 29th, and the Emperor
in his speech said that the new state of things should be founded
on order and liberty, avoiding reaction on the one hand, and
revolution on the other. He would be responsible for order, but
it was the duty of the Chambers to assist him in preserving
liberty. On December 27th the Emperor wrote a letter to Emile
Ollivier, asking him to nominate the persons who might form
with him a homogeneous Cabinet faithfully representing the
opinion of the majority of the legislative body, and bent on carry-
ing out the new Constitution both in letter and in spirit. The
formation of the new Ministry was very difficult, but on January
and, 1870, the names were published in the Moniteur. Daru
became Minister of Foreign Affairs, Buffet of Finance; Lebceuf,
who had succeeded Niel, remained Minister of War. These
changes had roused more curiosity than interest in the country.
The Ministers were known to be honest men, enlightened and
incorrupt, faithful servants of their sovereign and country. The
new order of government was looked upon with hope rather than
with suspicion, and was generally popular. The year 1870, which
was to prove the last of the Empire and the most tragical in the
history of France, opened under the most favourable auspices for
peace and liberty.

Nevertheless, the Ministry had from the first great difficulties
both in Parliament and the country. Ollivier was supported by
the official Ministerialists, who gave him a large majority, but
the extreme Independents were hostile and ready to take advan-
tage of any mistake he might commit. The forty Republican

612
THE BONAPARTIST ENFANT TERRIBLE

Deputies had no real power, but represented the inhabitants of
the great towns, the working classes, and the educated middle
class. Gambetta, their most prominent member, declared for a
proposal which included universal suffrage, the entire freedom of
the Press, absolute right of meeting and combination, the separa-
tion of Church and State, and the suppression of a standing
army. There were also Socialists belonging to the International,
preaching Republicanism and Revolution to the workmen of the
great cities, organising trade unions, and supporting strikes. In
November Rochefort was elected for Belleville by 17,900 votes,
in place of Gambetta, who had chosen to sit for Marseilles, and
this was regarded as a triumph for the Socialists and the party
of Revolution.

An event now occurred of a dramatic character, which
hastened the fall of the Empire. Prince Pierre Bonaparte, third
son of Lucien, a man of fifty-three years of age, was living in a
small house in the Rue d’Auteuil. He was a thoroughly bad lot,
an unreclaimed and uncivilised Corsican, who got into mischief
wherever he fixed his abode. He was the enfant terrible of the
Bonaparte family and a constant source of anxiety to the Emperor.
A quarrel arose between him and some newspapers which had
abused the Bonaparte family, and Paschal Grousset, the editor
of the Marseillaise, sent him a challenge, which was conveyed,
among others, by a young man of twenty-one, called Victor Noir.
The envoy did not behave with discretion, a shot was fired by the
Prince, and Victor Noir was killed. On June 11th the Marseillaise
came out bordered in black, with the heading, “ Assassina-
tion of Victor Noir by Prince Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte.” On
the following day the victim’s funeral was attended by 100,000
persons, and disorders occurred which it was the duty of the
Liberal Government to put down. A more ungrateful task could
not have fallen to the lot of Ollivier, and this untoward episode
cast a shade on the new policy of Parliamentary Government,
and deepened the clouds gradually closing round the head of
the State. 2

Ollivier soon found that the task he had to perform was not
the conversion of the Empire into a Constitutional Monarchy,
but the preservation of the Emperor. In dealing with Republicans
and Socialists, he was obliged to have recourse to the detested
methods of absolutism. He arrested Rochefort for taking part
in the funeral of Victor Noir, and also arrested the editor of the
Marseillaise, and kept the leaders of the International under police
supervision. Pierre Bonaparte was acquitted of murder by the

613
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

High Court of Tours, but this did not allay the public ferment
nor tend to reassure the Tuileries.

It was a fundamental part of the Constitution that no change
could be effected in it without the ratification of a plebiscite, and
on April 23rd the nation was summoned to vote on the question
whether it approved of the Liberal reforms effected in the Con-
stitution since 1860, and whether it ratified the vote of the Senate
of April 20th, 1870. The Emperor announced that his object
was to avert the peril of revolution, to establish order and liberty
on a firm basis, and to assure the transmission of the crown to his
son. The voting took place on May 8th, and showed 7,358,786
“ Ayes” and 1,571,939 “‘ Noes,” there being 1,894,181 abstentions.

This result seemed to have given strength to the Empire, and
Napoleon, in acknowledging the vote, called upon his subjects
to contemplate the future with confidence. Changes were made
in the Ministry, the Duc de Gramont taking the portfolio of
Foreign Affairs and Plichon that of Public Works.

In June, 1870, France appeared to be both powerful and
prosperous, and on the last day of the month Ollivier was able
to assure Jules Favre that on whichever side he looked there was
an absence of troublesome questions, and that at no moment
had the maintenance of peace in Europe been better assured.
These momentous words were spoken sixty-four days before the
fall of the Empire at Sedan.

614
CHAPTER VII

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

To provide against the eventuality of a war with Prussia, it was
necessary, first, that France should have a strong army, and,
secondly, that she should have allies. But what allies were
possible ? Russia was estranged in consequence of her Polish
policy ; Great Britain was indifferent and unwilling to be mixed
up in foreign complications. Only two alliances could be
contemplated—with Austria and Italy. But between Austria
and France there were serious causes of disagreement—the Battle
of Solferino, the hesitating conduct of Napoleon in the war of
1866, and the betrayal of Maximilian. On the other side there
were the interview of Salzburg and the visit to Paris.

At this time Beust was Chancellor of the Austrian Empire, a
man of moderate talents but of great ambitions. He was jealous
of Bismarck, who, he thought, prevented him from being the
dominant figure in Europe, and desired to avenge the misfortunes
of 1866, which he could not hope to accomplish without the aid
of France. Gramont, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, was
strongly in favour of an alliance with Austria. He detested
Bismarck and the Prussians; as an aristocrat of ancient Europe,
his sympathies naturally turned to the successor of the Holy
Roman Empire. At the same time there were many grave reasons
to deter Austria from entering upon a war. The consequences of
defeat would be disastrous, involving dismemberment of the
Empire. Besides, desire to avenge Sadowa was not felt among
the motley nations of which Austria was composed with the
intensity that it evoked at Vienna. Hungary, nearly as im-
portant a member of the Empire as Austria itself, was strongly
opposed to war, and there was danger lest an alliance with
France might give rise to a counter-alliance between Berlin and
St. Petersburg.

There was, of course, a prospect of making a triple instead of
a dual alliance by including Italy in the arrangement ; but Austria
would have to grasp the hand of her former enemy, and Italy to
condone Mentana and forget her suspicions of Napoleon and her
recent relations with Bismarck. Above all, there was the question

615
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of Rome, which Victor Emmanuel desired to possess and which
Napoleon would not surrender.

Still, in this world of change sentiments do alter and, in the
hope that bygones might be bygones, negotiations were begun.
Originating in 1868, these altered feelings became more palpable
in 1869.’ Negotiations were conducted with the greatest secrecy
between a small number of men—Beust, Metternich and Vitz-
thum on the side of Austria, Vimircati representing Italy, and
Rouher France; Gramont was not in the secret till he became
Minister of Foreign Affairs. Little, however, was accomplished,
and by September, 1869, all that had been determined was that
France and Austria should not make a new alliance without the
knowledge of the other. Austria was always afraid lest France
might, by a sudden impulse, turn towards Prussia. The over-
mastering desire of Italy was to acquire Rome; she insisted,
therefore, that the French occupation should cease, that the
Convention of September 15th should be again enforced, and that
Italy should be left to work out her own destinies. Napoleon,
however, refused to desert the Papacy during the lifetime of Pius
IX. When the war broke out nothing definite had been arranged,
but unhappily the Emperor believed that he had letters from
Francis Joseph and Victor Emmanuel which could at any
moment form the basis of a definite treaty.

At this time Prussia was not anxious for war, but wished to
devote herself to the task of consolidating the German Confedera-
tion. There was, however, a certain amount of popular irritation
against the French, and an increasing eagerness to recover Alsace
as an ancient province of which Germany had been robbed. The
decision between peace and war was in the hands of the King.
He professed an ardent friendship for the Emperor and Empress
of the French, and treated Benedetti, the French Ambassador at
Berlin, with great kindness; but it was known that he had never
forgotten the events of his youth, the War of Liberation, and the
triumphal entry into Paris. Among those who surrounded him,
Prince Frederick Charles was one of the advocates of war; but
the Queen and, above all, the Crown Prince Frederick were ardent
supporters of peace. There was an outward appearance of repose,
and Bismarck, Moltke and Roon had all retired to their estates.

But there is no doubt that Bismarck always regarded war
with France as an inevitable consequence of the war with Austria,
and that he was occupied in preparing for that contingency. His
first object was to secure Russia, and there was little likelihood
that any efforts of Napoleon would be able to weaken the ties

616
BISMARCK’S ADROITNESS

which united the uncle and the nephew; Fleury was sent to St.
Petersburg in vain. In December, 1869, Alexander sent to King
William the Crown of St. George, and the Emperor received in
return the Order of Merit. The one thing which would have
attracted Russia—namely, the removal of the barriers imposed
by the Treaty of 1856 and the opening of the Black Sea to ships
of war—it was impossible for Napoleon to propose. With regard
to Prussia the main object of her diplomacy was to keep Russia
neutral. If Beust were irreconcilable, it was all the more neces-
sary to secure the friendship of the Imperial family. During
the autumn of 1869 the Crown Prince spent two days with the
Court of Vienna, on his way to Servia, and an Archduke, the
brother of the Emperor, paid a return visit to Berlin. The tone
of Bismarck and Beust towards each other became more con-
ciliatory. On the other hand, great exertions were made to stir
up dissensions between Italy and France. Bismarck was an
accomplice in the campaign of Mentana, and other steps were
taken in the same direction; but the presence of the French
garrison at Rome was sufficient to prevent France and Italy from
ever being friends. Great Britain was undoubtedly well disposed
towards the new German Confederation.

There was greater difficulty in dealing with the States of
Southern Germany than with foreign Powers. It is true that
Hesse-Darmstadt accepted the situation because it was too weak
to resist, and that Baden, closely connected with the House of
Hohenzollern, eagerly sought the protection of Prussia, but
Bavaria and Wiirtemberg did their best to preserve their independ-
ence. There was much to alienate Bavaria from Prussia. She
had hitherto depended upon the protection of Austria, although
she was not too small to acquire some degree of independence ;
besides, her national temperament, her mode of life, her religion,
all separated her from the rigid formalism of the northern
kingdom. Wiirtemberg was proud of her independence. Her
inhabitants, belonging to the homogeneous race of the Swabians,
clung with passionate devotion to their Sovereign, their hills, their
paternal yet democratic government. Resistance, stimulated in the
Bavarians by religion, was in her inspired by the love of liberty.

From 1868 to 1870 Bismarck combated these antagonisms
with consummate adroitness. In Bavaria he had the King on
his side and a large portion of the Press, which he had also used
at Stuttgart ; but he knew that, after all, he must rely mainly
on force, and he spent his energies on perfecting the army. In
this task he had the invaluable assistance of men whose qualities

u* 617
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

fitted them in a special manner for the work—the King and
Moltke. The King was devoted to the army and knew no greater
happiness than when engaged in its service. He was able to say,
at the age of seventy-one, that he had inspected eighty-seven
battalions in twenty-two days. The care of the army was his
duty and his religion. ,

Moltke remains the best example of pure scientific intellect
applied to the conduct of military affairs. It was said of him at
Berlin that he could be silent in seven languages, that on the eve
of Sedan, when reports were brought showing that his instruc-
tions had been carried out and that the circle of shell and fire
had closed round the devoted French, his only remark was “ Es
stimmt”’ (“Correct !’’). He was a born student, forgetting nothing
and every day learning something new. Since the war of 1866
he had concentrated his intellect on the invasion of France.
Assisted by a General Staff which became the model for all similar
institutions in the rest of Europe, he had drawn the most perfect
maps, formed the most elaborate calculations, and made all
arrangements with the most mathematical accuracy, leaving
nothing to chance. His maxim was “ Discover the principal army
of the enemy, and attack it when you find it.” He knew that a
single mistake at the beginning of a campaign remained a weak-
ness throughout. He held that, though something could be done
by dash, much more was achieved by accurate preparations and
prevision. He was well aware that the virtues of a soldier are
often his greatest weaknesses. Energy, chivalry, high spirit,
self-sacrifice, all that captivates the imagination and arouses
sympathy with the military life, cannot hold their own, either
against the deep devotion of a nation fighting for its existence, or
against an elaborate machine constructed and working on scientific
principles.

Armies representing these antagonistic forces were now to
meet in the shock of war. The Prussian host, formed by years of
thought and hard work and matured by the experience of two
campaigns, was to be pitted against levies inspired by high
traditions, in which the new was still in conflict with the old;
the result was not doubtful, and the calamity which ensued was
to change the face of Europe.

Daru, who had charge of foreign affairs in the Ministry of
January 2nd, was resolute for peace. We find his true policy
sketched in his private papers; it was incumbent, he held, to
maintain the status quo, to let sleeping dogs lie, to preserve a good
understanding with Great Britain—but, if she took the side of

618
THE THREATENED WAR

Prussia, to find a compensation in Russia—to avoid raising any
Eastern question, to reassure the Italians as to the occupation of
Rome, to let the Spaniards settle their own affairs—but with a
leaning towards the Prince of Asturias—to keep an attitude of
reserve against Bismarck.

It is said that the Prussian Prime Minister did not appreciate
Daru’s caution, that a possible quarrel with France was too
valuable an asset to surrender. It is true that the expenses of
the Prussian army constituted a very heavy burden on the
Prussian people, but the system of national military service was
so essential that when Lord Clarendon attempted to bring about
a European disarmament, Loftus, the British Ambassador at
Berlin, could not secure the attention of the King to his
proposals. In those days it was not understood that national
armies are supposed to be the best guarantee for international
peace.

Very important was the visit of Archduke Albert of Austria
to Paris. He discussed with the Emperor the chances of
war, the possibility of an Austrian alliance, and even the plan
of a campaign. In April Daru, disheartened perhaps at the small
likelihood of his peaceful policy being successful, resigned his
portfolio; and in May, Gramont, a fatal choice, was, as we have
seen, appointed as his successor.

On May 18th the Emperor summoned a council to the
Tuileries, consisting of Lebceuf, Frossard, Lebrun, and Jarras
with his maps. Napoleon related what had passed between the
Archduke Albert and himself. In the case of war with Prussia,
one French army was to hold the Prussians back upon the Sadne,
another was to march through Germany and join the Austrians
in Bavaria, an Italian army was to reach Bavaria through Tyrol,
and a French fleet was to appear in the North Sea. Wiirtem-
berg, Baden, Hanover and Denmark were to join the plot; and
Prussia, surrounded by a wall of enemies, would be obliged to
submit. Deep silence followed this revelation. Then came the
announcement that Austria would require six weeks’ notice before
beginning the campaign. Could France keep Prussia back for
six weeks ? The maps which Jarras had brought with him proved
incontestably that she could not, and the meeting dispersed in
melancholy mood. ;

The Emperor, however, persisted. Lebrun was sent to the
Archduke to complete arrangements and, if possible, induce him
to surrender the delay of six weeks which seemed fatal to the
French cause. This Archduke Albert refused to do, and Lebrun

619
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

began to doubt whether Austria did not desire delay in order to
withhold her alliance until after a French victory. Lebrun held
a conversation with Francis Joseph at Laxenburg which was
even less satisfactory. He had reached Vienna on June 6th and
returned to Paris on June 22nd; his report to the Emperor is
dated June 30th, but deeds move more quickly than words. War
was declared between France and Prussia on July roth, and on
September 2nd the Empire fell.

We must now relate the cause of the catastrophe. In
September, 1868, the Spaniards rebelled against Queen Isabella,
who, obliged to leave the country, was hospitably received in
France. This revolution was brought about by three parties—
the Unionists, who represented the Liberal middle class; the
Progressists, who were in favour of Reform; and the Democrats,
who supported the idea of a federal Republic. Serrano was
leader of the Unionists, Prim of the Progressists, the Republicans
had few supporters. In the case of a monarchy being decided
upon, who was to be sovereign? Prince Leopold, son of Prince
Antony of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and brother of Prince
Charles, who had been made King of Roumania, was mentioned
as a candidate, but a scion of the Royal House of Prussia would
certainly be distasteful to the French. Other candidates were
Amadeo of Italy, Archduke Charles of Austria, Prince Alfred of
Great Britain. The Unionists worked for the Duc de Mont-
pensier, who had married Queen Isabella’s sister ; the Progressists,
for Ferdinand of Coburg, who had married Donna Maria, Queen
of Portugal. Salazar, a Deputy, issued a paper advocating
Leopold of Hohenzollern, a Catholic by religion, thirty-five years
of age, an officer in the Prussian army, and very distantly related
to the Prussian Royal family. He was connected in various ways
with the Royal family of Portugal and the Bonapartes. Another
possibility was to recall the son of Isabella, the Prince of Asturias,
but this Prussia declared impracticable.

It was difficult to discover what were the views of Bismarck,
but it was supposed that King William would not give his consent
to the adoption of Prince Leopold. After much discussion the
Unionists decided in favour of a monarchical constitution, and
until a king was found Serrano was made Regent and Prim
Prime Minister. The search after a sovereign continued.
Ferdinand of Portugal definitely. refused; so did the Duc de
Genoa. Salazar was sent to sound the Hohenzollerns, but neither
Prince Antony nor Prince Leopold seemed inclined to accept the
onerous task,

620
GRAMONT’S IMPERIOUS DEMAND

At the beginning of 1870 the crown of Charles V. still went
begging, but the wishes of Spain seemed to incline towards
Leopold of Hohenzollern, and Salazar was indefatigable in his
advocacy. He went to Berlin and found the King doubtful,
Bismarck favourable. On March 15th, 1870, a council was held
at Berlin, at which were present the King, the Crown Prince,
Princes Antony and Leopold, together with Bismarck, Moltke,
Roon, Schleinitz, Thile and Delbriick. The Prussians pleaded
for the acceptance, but Leopold first hesitated and then refused.
Prince Antony, who was anxious for the aggrandisement of his
family, suggested his younger son Fritz, who refused the offer
unless positively commanded by King William to accept it. His
father was ambitious for the glory of his house; but, in order
that Fritz might be a serious candidate, it was necessary that
Leopold should abandon all idea of the enterprise. The affair
ended by the positive refusal of Leopold and Fritz, and everyone
believed that the danger was at an end.

No sooner was the negotiation closed than the Catholic Hohen-
zollerns began to repent of what they had done. The military
sense of King William was annoyed at this vacillation; but
Bismarck, who was at Vienna in bad health, still ardently wished
for the German candidature. He advised Prim to say nothing
at Berlin, but address himself directly to Sigmaringen, where
Prince Antony resided. Salazar arrived there on June tgth,
just a month before the actual declaration of war. Leopold gave
his consent, and on the following day King William was asked to
agree also. He viewed the matter with some indifference, and
seemed inclined to leave it entirely to the decision of Leopold.
Until now the negotiations had been secret, and Prim intended
that they should remain so for the present. But in southern
nations secrecy in matters of this kind is difficult, and at the
beginning of July reports as to what had happened began to be
current in Madrid, and the French Ambassador demanded an
explanation, which Prim was unable to give.

The news of the fatal resolution of the Hohenzollern candi-
dature reached the French Foreign Office on July 3rd. It was
the first serious business with which Gramont had to deal.
He adopted the worst possible course, and sent an imperious
message to Berlin. There was no one to receive it—the King was
at Ems; the Chancellor, Bismarck, at Varzin; Benedetti at
Wildbad. The dispatch was opened by the French Secretary,
who sought an interview with the Prussian Secretary, Thile, who
alleged entire ignorance of the business. It was the season when

621
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

all diplomats were taking their annual rest, and when the repose
of the world is such as to suggest that, if statesmen were always
on their holidays, no serious quarrels between nations would ever
take place. But on July 5th the newspapers gave the news to
the world, and the Chanceries of Europe were in a blaze.
Gramont did not hesitate to declare that Prussian approval of
the candidature would mean war. :

July 6th was a date of destiny for France. There was an
interpellation in the Chamber and a council at St. Cloud.
Gramont was impetuous, Ollivier moderate, and the Emperor
seriously unwell. He was surrounded by the military party,
who urged him to war, the Empress surpassing Gramont in
vehemence. But was France ripe for war? Lebceuf promised
an army of 300,000 men, of whom 250,000 men would be ready
in four days, and the rest ten days later. It appeared that she
could count on the sympathy of Italy, the neutrality of Southern
Germany, and the moral support of Austria, but nothing definite
had been arranged. A reply had to be drawn up to the interpella-
tion in the Chamber. Unfortunately it took a form which was
not conciliatory, and when it became public the telegraph flashed
the news all over Europe that war was at hand.

During the night of July 7th Benedetti was ordered to proceed
from Wildbad to Ems, where he arrived late in the evening of
July 8th. At Coblenz he received a public dispatch and a private
letter from Gramont. The dispatch merely ordered him to advise
the King to ask Prince Leopold to withdraw his acceptance; the
private letter said that he was to demand from the King not
merely a disapproval of the Hohenzollern candidature, but an
erder to Prince Leopold to withdraw the acceptance which he
had given without his permission. He went on to say that
unless the King gave a satisfactory answer the mobilisation of
the French troops would begin immediately, that no evasive
answer would be tolerated, and that unless the King disavowed
the acceptance of Prince Leopold war would be declared.

Benedetti had an interview with the King on the afternoon of
July gth. King William distinguished between his position as
head of the Hohenzollern family and his position as Sovereign
of Prussia.. In his former capacity he could not interfere with
the action of Prince Antony or Prince Leopold; as representing
Prussia, his country had no more to do with the matter than
any other Power in Europe. He had asked the intentions of
his kinsmen, but as yet had received no reply. When the
answer came he would communicate with Benedetti.

622,
FRENCH IMPATIENCE

During this time Gramont was in a fever of anxiety at Paris,
and the account of the interview which he received by telegraph
on the morning of July 1oth excited rather than reassured him.
He would not be satisfied with a refusal from Sigmaringen; he
must have it from the King himself. He was possessed by a fatal
desire to humiliate Prussia. July roth passed quietly at Ems, but
in violent unrest on the Quai d’Orsay. Gramont wrote in the
evening to Benedetti: ‘“‘ We cannot delay any longer; we cannot
allow Prussia to make her preparations. We are waiting for
your answer to mobilise 300,000 men. If the King will not advise
Prince Leopold to refuse, war will immediately follow, and in a
few days we shall be on the Rhine.”’ At 1 a.m. he telegraphed,
“We must have an answer to-morrow; the day after to-morrow
will be too Iate.”

On the morning of Monday, July 11th, a council was held at
St. Cloud to discuss the military preparations. The legislative
body had not met since Saturday, and the populace thronged the
approaches to the Palais Bourbon, eager for news. Gramont
was obliged to tell the Chambers when they met that he had
nothing definite to communicate. On the same day Benedetti
had an interview of an hour’s duration with the King at Ems.
William held to the statement that he could not withdraw from
a consent already given, and that the decision must depend upon
Prince Leopold and his father, from whom he had not heard. He
advised patience on the part of the French if they desired to avoid
war.

At the same time the situation at Sigmaringen became increas-
ingly difficult. It was obvious that a Hohenzollern candidature
would precipitate a European war. Prussia was herself afraid
and subjected to pressure from the Courts of Europe to withdraw
the proposal. Prince Antony, who owed the election of his son
Charles to the throne of Roumania to the good offices of Francis
Joseph, began to fear that Francis Joseph might destroy what he
had created, and that, in attempting to gain the crown for his
family, he might lose both; and the Emperor William sent
a private intimation to Sigmaringen that he would be glad of a
withdrawal.

But public opinion in France became more and more
impatient, and Gramont allowed himself to be carried away by
it. He telegraphed to Benedetti at 1 p.m. on July 11th that
he must press the King more closely, that France could not admit
the distinction between head of the House of Hohenzollern and
chief of the Prussian Monarchy, that the King must forbid Prince

623
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Leopold to persevere in his candidature, and that on the next
day the failure to answer would be regarded as a refusal.

There was no need for these vehement messages. On the
morning of July 12th Prince Antony telegraphed to Prim that
he withdrew his son’s acceptance. A duplicate of this telegram
was sent to Paris and came to the knowledge of Ollivier at noon,
and he communicated it immediately to the Chambers. Unfor-
tunately the war party in France was not satisfied. Prussia had
not been humiliated; the pacific message had passed between
Sigmaringen and Madrid, and the King had taken no part in it.
The fatal expression, “Guarantees for the future,’ made its
appearance, and a telegram was sent to Benedetti at 7 p.m. on
July 12th, ordering him to see the King immediately to ask him
to declare that he associated himself with the action of Prince
Antony, and that he would never give his consent to a similar
candidature. The circumstances which produced this telegram
have been related and analysed by Ollivier. We must conclude
that in taking this step the Emperor was as much to blame as
the Foreign Minister, that he did not sufficiently insist on
his authority, and that he allowed steps to be taken by his
subordinates which he would not have initiated himself.

Benedetti was shocked at Gramont’s telegram. He saw that
to ask for future guarantees would mean war, and at the same
time he felt it his duty to do as he had been told. At German
baths it is the custom to go to the spring at 6 o’clock in the
morning to drink the waters and listen to the band. Benedetti
went there as usual, hoping to see some member of the King’s
suite. He did meet one, and was telling him that he must see
the Sovereign when King William himself appeared. He went
up to the ambassador, who informed him of the decision of Prince
Antony, but that the determination of Sigmaringen could have
no value unless it were approved of by the King, and that it was
essential that France should have a guarantee that the candidature
would not be renewed.

The King, surprised and annoyed at these words, said that
he was completely ignorant of the action of Prince Antony, and
that it was impossible to give the guarantees asked for. Benedetti
continued to press for the answer he wished for, and the King,
much amazed, said, ““ You ask for a new and unexpected con-
cession which I cannot consent to,’’ and dismissed his interlocutor
brusquely, but without discourtesy. The message which the
King declared he had not received from Sigmaringen arrived in
the middle of the day, and Prince Radziwill, a Royal aide-de-

624
BISMARCK RENDERS PEACE IMPOSSIBLE

camp, was dispatched at once to Benedetti’s hotel to inform him
that Prince Leopold had declined the throne of Spain and that
the King considered the incident completely closed.

Benedetti was disappointed at not having a personal interview
with the King.. The reason was that the King had become aware
of the form of renunciation which Gramont had suggested, and
determined not to see Benedetti. The ambassador, ignorant of
this, asked Radziwill to remind the King of his promise to see
him again and his desire to obtain guarantees for the future. At
half-past four Radziwill returned and replied that the King
approved of the refusal as he had before approved of the accept-
ance, but could give no guarantees for the future. Benedetti
persisted in demanding an audience, but at half-past five came
the answer that the King had said everything he had to say and
had nothing more to add.

Bismarck now suddenly took a step which brought about the
war he had so earnestly desired. He kept in the background at
Varzin, not returning to Berlin until the chance of rupture seemed
more promising. He was piqued when King William began to
treat directly with Benedetti, and on July 12th, when everything
appeared to be settled, announced his intention of returning to
Varzin; but the violent language of the French Press and the
Chambers induced him to stay in the capital. He next did what
in private affairs would be thought to be infamous: he stirred up
enmity between two antagonists who were on the point of coming
to terms. He refused to admit that the quarrel was at an end,
and by a master-stroke rendered peace impossible.

A telegram from the King giving his account of the interview
with Benedetti on the morning of July 13th reached Bismarck
on the evening of the same day, just as he was going to dinner with
Moltke and Roon. All three were disgusted to find that there
was still a chance of peace. The last sentence of the dispatch
allowed Bismarck to decide whether he would communicate what
had occurred to the ambassadors and the newspapers. This gave
him an opportunity of modifying the dispatch in the interest of
war. He asked Moltke how long it would take him to complete
his preparations in case war should break out. The Chief of the
Staff replied that the sooner it was begun the better. Bismarck
thereupon set to work, as he said, adding nothing, omitting
nothing, but making certain suppressions. These suppressions
represented the negotiations as broken off, instead of being still
in suspense. Moltke and Roon approved highly of the emenda-
tions. Bismarck explained that it was essential that Prussia

625
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

should be attacked by France, and that, if this altered dispatch
were communicated to all the embassies and became known in
Paris, it would act like a red cloth upon the Gallic bull.

That evening Bismarck’s dispatch was distributed gratuitously
in the streets of Berlin, as a supplement to the North German
Gazeite, and passions rose to fever heat. In Prussia it was believed
that the French Ambassador had insulted the King ; in Paris that
the King had insulted the ambassador. Crowds assembled in
both capitals in the middle of the night, the one shouting ‘ To
Paris !”’ the other ‘“‘ To Berlin!”

At this very moment peace might yet have been preserved.
France had committed two great blunders, one the declaration of
July 6th, the other the demand for guarantees. But a sentiment
in favour of peace was in being in the French Cabinet. Lord
Granville, on behalf of Great Britain, was acting the part of
mediator. In the afternoon of July 14th a council was held at
the Tuileries. One of the Ministers begged the Emperor not to
ruin his country and throne by war. He said that the Emperor
and the King were not on equal terms; the King might lose many
battles, but to the Emperor a single defeat would mean revolution.

Lebceuf declared, as before, that his army was absolutely
ready, that it had an advantage of a fortnight over that of Prussia,
and that if war were not made now the opportunity might not
occur again. Indeed, he clamoured for immediate mobilisation,
threatening his resignation if it were not granted, and losing his
temper with those who argued against him. At 4, before the
council had broken up, he drove to the Rue St. Dominique, and
gave the necessary orders to mobilise. The council continued to
sit at the Tuileries, the members arguing and disputing like the
Committee of Public Safety at the time of the Terror. A proposi-
tion for a congress was welcomed eagerly by the Emperor, who
sent a message to restrain Lebceuf’s zeal an hour after he had left
the palace. Ollivier drew up a declaration in favour of peace,
which was to be read in the Chamber on the following day.

The Cabinet returned in the evening to St. Cloud, downcast and
dispirited, not even daring to hope for the holding of a congress.
There the Empress was found, incensed at the conduct of Prussia
and furious for war. Gramont, on entering his office in the
Quai d’Orsay, received a sheaf of dispatches which reported in
various tones Bismarck’s paragraph in the North German Gazette.
He complained to Ollivier that he could no longer tolerate the
bitter insults of Prussia. Lebceuf clamoured for a fresh council
which should repeat the order for mobilisation. It was held at

626
“MOBILISATION IS ORDERED”

St. Cloud at ro in the evening, but some of the more pacific of
the Ministers were not present. However, when the majority
appeared to be in favour of peace, the Empress intervened. She
said that peace was incompatible with the honour of France, and
was supported strongly by Lebceuf. But it was eventually decided
that the order for mobilisation should be held back. The field of
debate was now transferred to the Chamber, and there, after
prolonged discussion, war was decided upon. Gramont said
afterwards in his own defence, “I decided upon war with an
absolute confidence in victory. I believed in the greatness of my
country, its greatness, its strength, its warlike virtues, as I believe
in my holy religion.” These brave words expressed the feelings
of many others.

On the same day, July 15th, King William travelled from
Coblenz to Berlin, and was received everywhere with addresses
expressing devotion to the throne. At the station of Branden-
burg he was met by the Crown Prince, Moltke, Roon, Bismarck
and Thile. An informal council was held in the waiting-room,
and when it was over the Crown Prince said to those who were
standing near, ‘‘ Mobilisation is ordered.’’ Some final attempts at
conciliation, notably on the part of the Southern States, came to
nothing. France and Prussia were straining for war, and nothing
could stop them, and on July roth, the day of the meeting of the
Reichstag, the declaration of war by France was received at Berlin.

Nothing could be more different than the condition of the two
armies which were about to contend for the mastery of Europe,
and nothing could be more divergent than the popular opinion
about the strength and character of the two forces and the facts
as they actually were. The French army had long been looked
up to as a pattern for all European armies, its organisation being
carefully studied in other countries. The idea prevailed that
the French had a genius for warfare, which was the backbone of
their strength, whereas Prussia was held up to ridicule for its
supposed pedantry in military affairs. No one in France, or out
of it, had the smallest notion that this magnificent fabric was
rotten at the core and would crumble into pieces before its better-
organised and sounder antagonist. <

In 1870 the principle of liability to military service was
acknowledged by French law just as fully as in Germany; but
in France, as we have seen, the rule of conscription prevailed—
that is, the summoning of only a certain portion of the nation to
arms, instead of universal military service, which is a very different
matter. In France, among other exceptions, anyone was allowed

627
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to provide a substitute who could pay for it, whereas in Germany
the duty of personal service was imposed on every one. The result
was that the French army, being recruited from the lower and
more ignorant classes of society, lacked the elements of intelligence
and culture which entered so largely into the German. More-
over, conscription settled from the date of his earliest manhood
whether a man was to be a soldier or not, and once a soldier he
was always a soldier. Pains were taken to keep the soldiers from
contact with the citizens, to isolate them in barracks and camps,
to avoid billeting them upon the inhabitants, so that the army
gradually became a military caste. The German army, on the
other hand, remained in contact with the classes from which it
was recruited. Indeed, the world has learnt since the Franco-
Prussian War that a national army was not only a training-ground
for culture, efficiency, and every kind of civic virtue, but was
often the’ most secure ground for international peace.

France had learnt much from her war of 1859 and the brief
Austro-Prussian campaign of 1866. She had discovered, to her
dismay and undoing, that although, in 1859, her army was said, on
paper, to consist of 400,000 men, and that although the war in Italy
had not employed more than 120,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry,
she could not march an army to the Rhine to defend Austria if
Prussia mobilised her army and threatened France. The war of
1866 showed that an army of 600,000 men would be totally
inadequate to meet the Prussian and North German armies,
including the Landwehr. We have already given an account of
the changes effected in the French army in consequence of these
experiences. The Garde mobile, or National Guard, a substitute
for a citizen army, consisted, as we have said, of all persons who
for one reason or another had not been enrolled in the active army
or the reserves, or had paid for substitutes. They were liable to
service for five years, with fifteen days’ annual training in time
of peace. This was supposed to produce a force of 425,000 men.
Their duty was to act as auxiliaries to the active army, especially
in garrisoning fortresses, for the defence of coasts and frontiers, or
the maintenance of internal order. This new force was at first
popular with the nation ; but, as the necessity for sacrifices became
apparent, the enthusiasm cooled and the mobiles were of little use
in the war and generally a butt for ridicule.

On the other hand, the military organisation of Prussia, which
dates from 1861, had been proved to be sound in the war against
Denmark in 1863 and in that against Austria in 1866. After the
latter war it had been extended to the North German States and

628
PRUSSIA’S PERFECT PREPARATIONS

gradually introduced into the South German States as well. Its
main principle was to secure that in time of peace those who were
liable to active service should also be fit for it, so that when they
met the enemy they should be perfectly trained and instructed.
For this purpose a period of twelve years’ service was imposed upon
the whole nation, consisting of three years in the standing army,
four years in the Reserve, and five years in the Landwehr, there
being in the four years of the Reserve two terms of training of
eight weeks each, and in the five years of the Landwehr two periods
of from eight to fourteen days each.

The contrast between the two armies was still more apparent
in their mobilisation. In Germany the plan which had been
formed to provide a maximum force under arms at any time,
originally excellent, had been improved by constant study and
elaboration, even up to the last moment. It was based upon
minute decentralisation, each unit of the German military system
being organised by itself, but yet with due subordination to the
whole. If a new branch or section of a railway were opened for
traffic, the entire service of time-tables was altered, if need be,
to furnish fresh facilities for transport. The greatest diligence
was shown in obtaining information about foreign countries.
The German staff maps of France, especially of the country east
of Paris, laid down roads which in July, 1870, were not indicated
on any map issued by the French War Office. In 1870 the army
of the North German States, with a peace establishment of 12,000
officers, 285,000 men, and 73,000 horses, was augmented, in the
short space of from eight to ten days, to a war establishment
of 22,000 officers, 932,000 men, and 192,000 horses, equipped
with everything which an army requires in the field. This gigantic
task could never have been performed unless every constituent
part had done its share of the work with the greatest diligence and
rapidity, each wheel working with its fellows with punctuality
and precision; nor could this have been effected without decen-
tralisation of the military administration, division and partition
of labour, and constant provision in peace for the exigencies of
war.

When King William of Prussia arrived at Berlin in the evening
of July 15th, 1870, he at once sanctioned Moltke’s orders, which
were immediately transmitted to the officers commanding the
several army corps. By regular and prearranged stages, each corps
was gradually but swiftly developed into its full proportions, and
was ready to start for the frontiers as a finished product. The men
were supplied with arms, clothing, and equipments from the local

629
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

depots, and horses were called up by requisition or bought, and
transport was obtained, All the needs of a complete army corps
were easily met, because they had been ascertained and provided
for beforehand. The whole of the operations were carried out in
the short space of eighteen days. More than 300,000 combatants,
with everything they required, were conveyed to their appointed
places on the day specified, in accordance with a scheme calculated
and drawn out two years before. ,

The mobilisation of the French army was a complete contrast
to that of the Prussian. The territorial organisation which pre-
vailed in Germany did not exist in France. A peasant in Provence
might be called upon to join a regiment quartered in Brittany,
or a workman employed in Bordeaux be called up to the Pas de
Calais, and, when they arrived, they might discover that their
regiment had marched to Alsace or Lorraine. During the first
fortnight after the declaration of war, thousands of reserve men
were travelling to and fro over France in search of their comrades.

When Lebceuf’s assertion that the army was ready was becoming
one of the principal reasons for declaring war, the marshal was
asked what he meant, and replied: ‘“‘I mean that the army is
perfectly equipped in every respect, that it will not require the
provision of a single gaiter button for a year to come.” “‘ Elle
est archiprétre.’ This statement was afterwards found to be
absolutely false. At the beginning of the war France possessed
only one completely formed corps d’armée, the Army of the Rhine,
at Metz, and a second stationed at the camp of Chalons commanded
by Frossard. All the other corps had to be provided out of garrison
troops, and the entire staff to be made up in haste. The armament
of Strasburg was not begun till August 4th, and on July 2oth
there was not sufficient food in the fortresses of Metz and Thion-
ville, and a million rations had to be sent from Paris, while on
July 25th there was neither biscuit nor salt meat in the fortresses
of Méziéres and Sedan.

All the regiments were far short of their military strength,
and there was a great deficiency of ready money, Failly at Bitsch
not having the wherewithal to pay his troops. While the German
soldiers were adequately supplied with maps of France brought
well up to date, the French had only maps of Germany, intended
for service in that country, but none of their own land. Owing
to careful previous preparation, the German officers had a far
more intimate knowledge of the country through which they passed
than the French inhabitants themselves. On July arst General
Michel sent the following telegram to Paris: ‘“‘ Have arrived at

630
THE EMPRESS’S WAR

Belfort, cannot find my brigade; cannot find the general of
division. What shall I do?”

Let us now consider the position of the two armies at the end
of July. The main army of the French, 200,000 strong, was placed
in and near Metz, and was called the Army of the Rhine, although
it had little connection with that river. On July 28th this force
was joined by the Emperor, the Prince Imperial and Lebceuf.
To the east was the Southern Army under MacMahon, Duke of
Magenta, about 100,000 strong. To this army were attached the
African troops and the Zouaves, who, though wearing an African
dress, were mainly of Parisian origin. This army lay in the direc-
tion of Alsace, and its advance guard, under Douay, was on the
Rhine. In the camp of Chalons was a third army, consisting mainly
of reservists and mobiles, very imperfectly drilled. Besides these
armies, a fleet was sailing from Cherbourg through the Channel
with the object of cruising in the North Sea and the Baltic. The
Germans were also divided into three great sections. The first,
61,000 strong, under Steinmetz, formed the right wing ; the second,
under Prince Frederick Charles, 206,000 strong, together with
the third, under the Crown Prince of Prussia, with 180,000 men,
formed the left wing. A central army was under the King himself,
with Moltke as Chief of the Staff. It has been calculated that
the whole German forces amounted to 984,500 men, and those
of the French to 798,000, but the numbers actually brought into
the field were considerably smaller. Ollivier, writing in December,
Ig10, estimated the number of men actually ready for action
at 426,723, and attributed the failure of the campaign, not to
the false calculations of supplies, but to the inherent faults of
mobilisation.

The Emperor left St. Cloud to join the army in the morning
of July 28th, accompanied by the Prince Imperial. Dr. Evans,
the American dentist, who was with him at the time, says that
he was silent and out of spirits, seeming to anticipate disaster.
As he picked up various well-loved trinkets to place them in his
travelling-bag, his eyes were full of tears. On the other hand,
the Empress was radiant with joy and hope, and did her best to
rouse her husband. She brought into the room the latest copy of
The Times and read extracts from it. She was passionate for
the war. “It is my war,” she proudly claimed, but she had
little cause to be proud of it in the sequel.

The Emperor entered Metz on the same day at six in the
evening. He lodged at the prefecture, but the headquarters were
at. the Hétel de Europe. A council was held immediately, but

631
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

it merely took the form of a conversation. The Emperor, on
retiring, was beset with demands from all sides for men, horses,
and military stores. Thirty anonymous letters denounced the
incapacity of the generals and demanded their dismissal. The
reservists came in very slowly and were found to be dangerously
incompetent, many of them even not knowing how to use the
chassepot. It was found that the numbers were far below the
estimates. Everything was in confusiou, no order was kept, and
strangers, tourists, soldiers’ wives, newspaper reporters, wandered
about freely in the passages of the hotel. It is said that the
hotel at Metz was full of German spies.

The first action of the campaign was an attack on Saarbriick,
a small town on the River Saar, which divided it into two parts,
the railway station and the suburb of Saint Jean being on the
right bank. The operation was important, provided it included
the seizure of the station and the destruction of the telegraph.
This, however, was not done. The battle began at nine in the
morning of August 2nd. Attacked by a largely superior force
the Prussians retired by the bridge across the stream. Here the
movement stopped. The Prussian loss in killed and wounded
was eighty-three men, but the French had succeeded in occupying
a portion of Prussian territory. The French papers boasted:
““Saarbrtick has once more become a French city; the splendid
coal district on the Saar is French property. Saarbriick is the
first stage ; we shall soon reach the last, Berlin.” The Emperor
wrote to the Empress that the Prince Imperial had received his
“baptism of fire,” and that the first shots from the mitrailleuses
had produced a wonderful effect. The French made no further
advance, but fortified their position on the left bank of the Saar,
the Emperor returning to Metz.

King William left Berlin on July 31st. He was full of anxiety,
but his counsellors were confident. Roon said that Germany
had never seen a finer army; Bismarck thought the Emperor
must clearly repent of his conduct; Charles of Roumania wrote
that in two months Napoleon would be conquered and his power
destroyed ; Moltke was in raptures at the successful carrying
out of his plans. Steinmetz, on the right, opposed the 27,000
of Ladmirault with double strength. Prince Frederick Charles,
in the centre, had 194,000 men to resist the armies of Bazaine,
Frossard, Failly and Bourbaki, whose commands, even if the
reserves of Canrobert be added, would not exceed 140,000 men.
On the left, the Crown Prince could meet MacMahon’s 44,000 men
with a force of 130,000. Besides these, reinforcements were pouring

632
GERMAN SUCCESSES

in from every quarter of Germany. The French had to fight a
nation in arms.

The Third Army, that of the Crown Prince, would open the
campaign. It was posted between Landau, Germersheim and
Speyer, and, with the exception of the Wiirtemberg and Baden
troops, was on the left bank of the Rhine. It was to pass the
Lauter, spread over Lower Alsace, beat MacMahon, and cut him
off from the rest of the Army of the Rhine. The other armies
would approach the Saéne, enter Lorraine, and attack the main
forces of the enemy. The King entered Mainz, the new head-
quarters, at 7 a.m. on August 2nd, and heard there of the engage-
ment of Saarbriick, which Moltke considered as of no importance.

It was settled that the Crown Prince should answer this attack
by crossing the Lauter on August 3rd. The first great battle of
the war was to be fought at a place well known in the wars of
the Spanish Succession, called Weissenberg by the Germans and
Wissenbourg by the French. It was now a decayed town situated
on the Lauter, which ran through it. It had three gates, called
by the names of Landau, Bitsch and Hagenau. On both sides
of it extended the once famous lines of Weissenberg, celebrated
in the campaigns of Marlborough. The Bale express passes
through them on its way from Strassburg at the present day.
The town lies close to the frontiers of Alsace and Bavaria, and the
inhabitants of mixed races are very friendly with each other.
The surrounding hills are outliers of the Vosges. Against this
town 70,000 Prussian troops were marching on August 3rd.

Douay was in a position of false security, looking for an enemy
which he could not find, when, at 8.30 on the morning of August
4th, he was surprised by some German bombs being fired into
the centre of the town. What was he to do? He had 5,800
infantry, goo cavalry, 18 guns, and Ducrot was nine miles off,
separated by a mountain pass. But he did not believe in a serious
attack and prepared to defend himself. The struggle took place
in three centres—the banks of the Lauter, the town itself, and the
Gaisberg. The Turcos defended the river bravely against the
Bavarians, but, from the summit of the Gaisberg, Douay saw the
serried masses of the Prussians approaching irresistibly. The
Gaisberg itself was shelled and in danger of being surrounded.
Douay gave the order to retreat, but at that moment was mortally
wounded and carried to a farm, where he died. The town was
then stormed and taken after a gallant resistance, the brunt of
which fell upon the Turcos.‘ An attack was then made upon the
Gaisberg, which dominated the surrounding country and was

633
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

crowned by a strong castle, and eventually the French lines were
broken, and the heights stormed. The French sullenly retired from
their camp, and the remaining companies which were occupying
the castle were compelled to surrender at 2 p.m., having lost
seventy-four men killed and wounded. Seven hundred men were
taken prisoners.

MacMahon was at Strassburg when he heard of the attack
on Weissenberg. He immediately left by train, but, finding that
method of progress difficult, mounted his horse and joined Ducrot,
who, being on the other side of a mountain pass, knew little of
what had happened. The two generals climbed to the Col du
Pigeonnier, from which the whole extent of the catastrophe was
manifest. The disaster was complete and irremediable. It was
obvious the Germans were intending a general attack, and it
became the duty of the marshal to resist it. The Sauer, rising
in the Lower Vosges, after passing Lembach, flows from south
to north, to Worth, and then reaches the Rhine.

Here MacMahon chose a strong position, where the chain of
steep hills, partly wooded, completely dominates the ground on
the left bank of the Sauer, a chain with steep banks offering a
serious obstacle to the advance of the enemy. He strengthened
his position by rifle-pits, trenches, abattis, fieldworks, batteries,
and wire fences. He took up his position on the morning of
August 6th, having no information of the line on which the enemy
was to approach. He placed Ducrot on the left wing with the
first division, Raoult with the third division in the centre, holding
the village of Worth, at the passage over the Sauer, strongly occupied.
The fourth division, under De l]’Artigue, was on the right, holding
the lower wood, with part of his troops thrown back at right angles
—a formation known in military language as en potence—opposite
to the village of Morsbrunn. He had, at first, intended to fight
a purely defensive battle, and had ordered the bridges over the
Sauer at Gorsdorff, Worth and Gunstett, to be destroyed, but he
changed his mind and left them standing. MacMahon fixed
his headquarters at Froeschweiler, after which the French named
the battle. He commanded 35,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and
130 guns.

It is curious that neither commander had made up his mind
to fight a decisive battle on this day. MacMahon was beset by
advisers who urged him to retreat to the Vosges instead of contend-
ing against forces double his own in number, and he would have
done so if he had not expected the arrival of Failly. The Crown
Prince had made up his mind to fight on August 7th, and gave

634
THE DEFEAT OF MACMAHON

pressing orders that the battle should be stopped. However,
fate prevailed, and the battle was fought and won.

The Crown Prince occupied the heights on the left bank of
the Sauer from Worth to Gunstett, having 90,000 men opposed
to 40,000. Soon after 8 am. he began an attack on Worth;
by 11 the Prussian artillery had proved itself superior, and orders
were given to storm the village. In the meantime the French
attack on Gunstett was repulsed, and Worth was carried soon
after noon despite an obstinate resistance. Both of the vigorous
attempts of the French to recover it were unsuccessful. At 1.30
the Crown Prince gave orders to continue the fighting, contrary
to his original intention.

Then came the most obstinate part of the struggle, the taking
of Froeschweiler, the heights to the east of this being strongly
occupied and partly fortified. The third French division fought
splendidly, their commander, Raoult, being killed. It was not
until after the fourth attack that the Prussians gained possession
of the ground. The French, led by MacMahon, made a desperate
attempt to retake Elsasshausen, but the Prussians succeeded in
holding it. It was now possible to make a concentric attack
on Froeschweiler, and the village was stormed at 3.30, and 1,000
prisoners were taken. After the loss of Froeschweiler further
resistance became impossible. The French army broke up and
fled in two directions, some to Reichshofen and some to Jagersthal.
The Prussians bivouacked on the field of battle, the cavalry being
pushed forward to Reichshofen. The troops which fled to Hagenau,
and were forwarded by rail to Strassburg, produced there the
utmost consternation.

On August 7th the bulk of the army rallied at Saverne, and
when the roll was called it was found that 20,000 men had dis-
appeared, being either killed, wounded or missing. Froeschweiler
proved the grave of the army of the Second Empire, brave but
undisciplined, presumptuous and brilliant, despising study, but
passionate lovers of danger. After the victories of Africa, Sebastopol
and Lombardy, they imagined that fortune could never be unfaithful
to them. MacMahon’s army had done everything which courage
could do, but could not defend its country. Alsace had been
invaded, the enemy had reached the crest of the Vosges, and on
the following day they could cross them and overrun the plains of
France.

August 6th, 1870, was marked, not only by the destruction
of the Army of Alsace, but by the defeat of the Army of Lorraine.
After the Battle of Saarbriick on August 2nd nothing was done.

635
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The two next days were spent in vain imaginings about the move-
ments of the enemy. The news of the defeat of Weissenberg
arrived on the evening of August 4th. It showed the rapidity
of the Prussian movements. The Crown Prince had crossed the
Lauter, when would Steinmetz and Prince Frederick Charles
cross the Saar? Both generals were on the road, and expected
to reach the French frontier about August 6th. Frossard was
certain to be attacked first. After the battle of August 2nd he
had occupied, with a portion of his forces, the heights evacuated
by the Prussians on that day, the Exercier Platz, the Nussberg,
the Galgenberg, the Winterberg. Knowing that he was in an
exposed position, he suggested to the Emperor that he should
retire to the plateau, which extends from Forbach to Saargemiind,
occupying Forbach, and Napoleon gave his consent, the movement
to be carried out on the following day, August 6th. But as the
day proceeded he became aware of the approach of the enemy,
and, fearing to be surrounded, began the operation at once. He
was not, however, completely established at Forbach till long after
nightfall.

The country which formed the battlefield was well known to
Frossard, as he had completely examined it in 1867. It was
composed of a number of wooded hills which surrounded the village
of Spicheren. The railway from Saarbriick to Metz ran along a
ravine, which reached first Stieringen and then Forbach. Frossard
was in command of three divisions. The first he placed in the
valley near Stieringen, protecting the high road, the railway and
the town of Forbach, where heavy stores had been collected. The
second, at Spicheren, guarded the country up to the Saar and
beyond; the third was held in reserve. The headquarters had
been established at Forbach.

On the morning of August 6th the Prussian scouts began to
make their appearance. They occupied the suburb of St. Jean,
on the other side of the river, and then the Exercier Platz, and
the Galgenberg, which had been evacuated by the French. From
their view of the Valley of Forbach and the heights of Spicheren,
it appeared as if the French were contemplating a retreat. Kameke
obtained leave from Zastrow to cross the river, and to follow the
French closely, in accordance with the Prussian traditional practice
of pushing forward. He crossed the stream at rz by bridges which
had not been destroyed, and after a short hesitation determined
to attack the enemy.

The battle began by an artillery duel, which was soon followed
by the advance of the Prussian columns. A severe struggle raged

636
WHY THE FRENCH WERE DEFEATED

in the woods around Stieringen. Le Francois, a distinguished
German general, was killed. The Germans were not very successful ;
they had attempted too much, and, if they were broken, had the
Saar at their backs. It is a maxim of war never to fight with a
river in your rear. A Napoleon or a Marlborough would have
seized the opportunity to inflict a crushing defeat, but Frossard
was neither. Bazaine, whose name became afterwards so notorious,
was equally incompetent, and failed to send the reinforcements
which Frossard so earnestly requested. But the assistance, which
the French were vainly expecting from Metz, came to the Prussians
from Saarbriick. Goeben, Zastrow and Alvensleben arrived one
after the other, about 3 in the afternoon, ready to take their
proper places without delay or confusion. The Prussians continued
the battle with forces constantly renewed, and were eventually
able to occupy the woods of Stieringen.

About 5 the French gained a slight advantage, but, as the
sun sank, the German generals were filled with hope and Frossard
with despair. The three fatal bridges which had not been destroyed
poured ever fresh masses against the doomed French. At last
the final blow was given by the arrival of the 3rd German division,
which had marched to the sound of the cannon. They were
stubbornly resisted by a small body of French under Dulac, but
at half-past seven Frossard was obliged to inform Bazaine of his
intention to retreat. When the roll was called next morning the
French had lost 2,000 killed and wounded, and 2,000 prisoners,
but had saved their standards and guns. Throughout the night
the steady tramp of retreating hosts was heard in the woods, and
another province of France lay at the feet of the enemy.

What were the faults and what the mischances that led Frossard
to his fate? At midday Metmas had been sent by Bazaine in
the direction of Forbach, but the order gave no indication that
a battle was in progress, or that Frossard needed help. At 3
Metmas was within five or six miles of the battlefield, but stopped
where he was and did nothing. An order from Bazaine at 4 gave
no explanation, but a dispatch sent by Frossard with an earnest
demand for assistance unfortunately went astray, and Metmas
remained quietly in his place. At 7.30 he received an appeal
from Frossard urging him to move, but did not reach Forbach
till 9.30, when it was too late.

Castigny behaved better. He did march to the sound of the
guns, but, having reached what he considered a fine position,
halted, and waited on events. The cannonade having ceased,
he retired to Puttelange, but no sooner had he got there than

637
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the firing began again with a terrible din. It was then 5, but
he began to march. Two hours later he met some fugitives from
the battlefield, who told him that all was lost, so that he retired.

Montauban heard the cannon, but paused for orders from
Bazaine. At 3 he received orders to assist Frossard, but he
hastened slowly, and it was not until nightfall that he was within
two miles of Forbach, and announced to Frossard that he was
at his disposal. Then it was too late, for the battle was over.

On August 7th the confused mass of fugitives came together
at Puttelange in a terrible state of disorder and despair. Frossard’s
troops had lost everything ; they could not make soup, or provide
shelter. They had the impression that, had they been properly
led, victory might have been secured. As for Frossard, when he
had superiority of numbers he had displayed lack of insight and
resolution. Bazaine had shown both incompetence and selfishness,
and evidently did not care about a battle which he did not consider
his own.

The issue of this battle exemplified the fundamental difference
between the Prussians and the French. The victory was won by
the rapid concentration on the field of numbers of troops belonging
to a great variety of corps and divisions. The achievements of the
Prussian army on August 6th could not have been accomplished,
unless every officer had been zealous to hurry forward with energy
and self-abandonment on hearing the voice of the cannon; if
he had not done so it might have been a day of defeat instead of
victory. Although the chief command in the battle was changed
four times, being held successively by Kameke, Stiilpnagel,
Goeben and Zastrow, there was the most perfect unity in the
conduct of the engagement, testifying alike to the absence of
personal jealousy and to uniformity of tactical system.

638
CHAPTER VIII

SEDAN

ABOUT noon on August 6th a rumour was current in Paris that
the Prussian army was defeated. The Marseillaise was sung
in the streets, and some decorations were exhibited. But the
illusion did not last long. Just before midnight a report was
received by the Empress from the Emperor, saying: ‘‘ We are
in full retreat ; we must rise to the occasion; we must declare a
state of siege and prepare for the defence of the capital. I have
no news of MacMahon.’ The Cabinet was immediately summoned
and met the Empress at the Tuileries. It was resolved to collect
all available troops and defend Paris. The Ministers separated
as dawn was breaking on Sunday morning. Early in the day
the worst was known; the north-eastern gate of France was open
to the invading enemy. At g Paris heard of the catastrophe,
and determination to make a brave resistance was coupled with
demands for the deposition of the Emperor and the punishment
of the generals who had betrayed their country. The spirit of
1792 was not dead.

At Metz the first idea was to concentrate the third and fourth
corps and the Guard at St. Avold and attack the enemy in flank.
A train was prepared to carry the Emperor into the heart of his
troops. Napoleon was already in his carriage when he heard
that the railway station of Borney was in possession of the enemy,
and the line of retreat of the defeated army was not known. He
therefore returned to the prefecture, and Lebceuf proceeded to
St. Avold alone, where he found Bazaine and Bourbaki, with
whom he discussed many plans. One of these contemplated with-
drawal to Chalons, leaving Alsace, Lorraine, and a large portion
of Champagne at the mercy of the enemy. The resignation of
his military command by the Emperor was also mooted, and it
was proposed he should resume the reins of government. Napoleon,
however, refused to leave his soldiers: On August 8th the indecision
continued, but it ended by the army retiring to the neighbourhood
of Metz. Next day Napoleon transferred the command of the
army to Bazaine, although he did not entirely surrender control
of it.

639
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

In Paris the Chambers had been summoned to meet on August
11th, but they met on August gth. Ollivier and Gramont showed
a determined spirit, but were violently attacked. The deposition
of the Emperor was called for and the institution of a provisional
government. The excitement grew, and the Deputies nearly
came to blows. At last a vote was passed inviting the Cabinet
to resign. Montauban, Count of Palikao, in command at Lyons,
was summoned by the Empress to Paris, and made Minister of
War. Ollivier and his colleagues immediately surrendered their
posts, and Montauban found himself at the head not only of
the army but the Government as well. He appeared before the
Chambers on August roth. When the members called upon him
to speak louder, he said: “‘ Pardon me, twenty-five years ago
I received a bullet in my breast, and it is still there.”

A new Ministry was constructed, Latour d’Auvergne becoming
Minister of Foreign Affairs. The new Ministers did not, occupy
the Treasury Bench, but were dispersed throughout the House
among the ordinary members. Lebceuf was deposed, and Bazaine
was given command of the Army of the Rhine, great, but misplaced
confidence being reposed in him. Bazaine represented to the
Emperor that both Canrobert and MacMahon were senior to him-
self, but the Emperor replied that his appointment was demanded
by public opinion. This was followed, as we have said, by the
Emperor’s resignation of the command of the army.

It was now determined to withdraw the whole army behind
the Meuse in the direction of Chélons and Paris. The discussions
on this point lasted a week, and the retreat did not begin till
August 14th. It was desirable that the Emperor should return
to Paris, but he would not undertake the journey till he knew
that his army was safely out of Metz.

The war now enters into a new phase. MacMahon retired
into the interior of France, followed by the third Prussian army.
He halted in the plains of Champagne, oscillating between Paris
and Metz. As he proceeded in a half-hearted and indecisive manner
he suffered the defeat which destroyed him. At Metz the Prussians
were endeavouring to cross the Moselle and throw themselves on
the rear of the retreating enemy, and the French were endeavour-
ing to liberate themselves from the net which entangled them
and organise the defence of their country in the centre of France.

In order to attain their purpose, the Germans had to alter
their direction, turning themselves round gradually, and using
the First Army, which remained at Metz, as a pivot. They had
to move, first to the south and then to the west of the city. The

640.
BATTLE OF BORNY

two adversaries had a race which should first arrive at the high
ground between the Moselle and the Meuse. The responsibility
of resisting these movements fell upon Bazaine, and his talents
were not equal to the task. The successful carrying out of the
Emperor’s plan demanded the utmost energy and speed, but at
the very moment when Bazaine should have been giving the
necessary orders he was still hankering after another policy and
longing to remain in Metz. However, on August 14th the retreat
began. At midday the Cent Gardes and the Imperial carriages
appeared before the prefecture and the Emperor and his son left
in safety by the Porte de France. The troops followed about
4p.m. Nothing was left to the north of the city except the third
army corps and part of the fourth. Suddenly a cannonade was
heard, and the Battle of Borny had begun.

The country through which the rear of the French army had
to march consisted of two plateaux, called by the names of Borny
and St. Barbe, which were separated by ravines which, about three
miles from Metz, became one and descended in a westerly direction
to the Moselle. The heights and slopes were covered with many
villages. Early on August 14th the Germans found that the
French encamped on the plateaux were preparing to march, and
set off in pursuit of them. The proper course for the French would
have been to continue their retreat and to allow the Germans to
come within the range of the guns of the fortress. About 5 in
the afternoon Bazaine arrived on the scene. He had two plans
open to him—to continue his course or turn on the Germans and
crush them. He did neither, but stayed where he was and fought
a feeble battle, called by the French after Borny, by the Germans
after Columbey.

Goltz, who had begun the attack, was held in check before
Columbey, and awaited assistance. This was given by Zastrow.
Though the Prussians did not gain much ground, they inflicted
severe losses on the French, Decaen being killed and Bazaine
wounded. The struggle was furious, a hollow way leading up to
Columbey being disputed step by step with such terrible carnage
that it has since been called ‘“ The Alley of the Dead.” On the
whole, the Prussians did not gain the ground they wished for,
but prevented the passage of the French. The loss on the
French side was 3,500 and on the German 5,000.

Next day (August 15th) the Moselle was crossed, and by noon
the right bank was entirely evacuated. The Battle of Borny had
delayed the French retreat by twenty-four hours. On the dawn
of this day the Germans pushed their reconnaissances close up to

Vv 641
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Metz. A thick fog enveloped the Valley of the Moselle, but when
the King came up shortly afterwards, and the mist had risen, clouds
of dust revealed the march of long columns moving towards the
west. The retreat of the French seemed to be secure. On this
day, however, the two armies came into close contact, and an
artillery duel, begun by accident, continued for several hours.

The Emperor, moving by slow stages, reluctant to leave the
scene of conflict, slept with his son in a small cottage at
Gravelotte. A few faithful friends made an offering of flowers.
He did not know whether to go or stay, or along which road to
travel. Thus the Imperial nephew spent the birthday of his
uncle, one of the saddest anniversaries which that much-tried
family has ever experienced. Bazaine was in a state of similar
uncertainty. It is said that when he lost the last sight of Metz he
was seized with dizziness ; he lost his head; and the uncertainty
of the commander spread through every department of the
administration. The night passed quietly, and Napoleon left
Gravelotte with imposing parade at daybreak. Bazaine came to
bid him farewell, and the Emperor said to him, “I confide to you
the last army of France; think of the Prince Imperial,’ and
recommended him to proceed with all speed to Verdun and
Chalons. The Emperor abandoned the route by Mars-la-Tour as
too dangerous, and chose that by Etain. He sent away his
dragoons and was escorted by Chasseurs d’Afrique. From Etain
the Prince Imperial telegraphed to his mother, ‘“ Everything goes
better and better.”

Bazaine was now left to himself. If he had marched at once
on August 16th he would have caught the Germans at a dis-
advantage; but Lebceuf insisted on a delay, which proved fatal.
At 9.15 on August 16th the French soldiers were making their
soup, and many of the horses, unsaddled, were being led to drink.
Suddenly an alarm was raised, and shells fell into the camp.
Vionville was choked with baggage wagons, and at the first fire
the drivers fled. Wherever they went they carried dismay and
confusion, some retreating to Rezonville, some as far as Gravelotte.
Order was with difficulty restored and resistance organised.

The artillery which had caused the panic belonged to the
advance guard of Prince Frederick Charles, who did not desire
to bring about a battle there, but hoped to fall in with the rear-
guard of the French and, if possible, to compel them to halt and
fight before they reached the Meuse. The sound of the cannonade
startled Lebceuf at Verneville and Bazaine at his headquarters
at Gravelotte. By this time other parts of the German army

642
ATTACK ON REZONVILLE

became informed about the movements of the French. Alvens-
leben learned that their outposts were at Trouville and Vionville,
and camps of large bodies of troops were visible behind these
two villages. He thus knew that at least a great portion of the
French forces had not begun to march to Verdun and, in order
to detain them, determined to attack them with the third corps
and the sixth cavalry division. Though he was not aware of the
strength of the enemy, he was confident in the bravery of his
troops and inspired by his previous success. For the purposes of
defence the French occupied Vionville, Flagny, and a building
called the White House, to the south of Rezonville.

It was now about 10.30 am. Had Bazaine adopted a strong
line at once, the Germans might have been driven back before
they had time to collect and form, and the road to Verdun could
have been secured. But the battle began as a soldiers’ battle,
and so it continued, being fought with great energy and deter-
mination on both sides, but in separate detachments without
definite plan. The Prussians, however, were being constantly
reinforced, and Bazaine’s opportunity passed; indeed, within
half an hour the most favourable positions were occupied by the
enemy’s cavalry. At last, after an obstinate struggle, Vionville
and Flagny were carried, and the Prussians began to move towards
Rezonville. At this moment Frossard went in search of Bazaine,
who ordered a charge of cavalry, which was performed with
splendid energy, but produced no effect, as they were checked by
the Prussian infantry in front of Flagny. At this time Bazaine,
separated from his staff, was nearly taken prisoner, but he galloped
away, sword in hand, side by side with a Prussian officer. At last
his escort arrived and dispersed the enemy.

The first attack of the Germans had been successful: of
Frossard’s five brigades three were in retreat, but still all was not
lost. The grenadiers of the Guard formed a firm defence to
Rezonville, and stood like a wall round the town. Had Bazaine
displayed vigour and grasped the situation at this moment, victory
might yet have been secured. But he began to be afraid of his
communications with Metz, and was distracted by two conflicting
impulses—to push forward or hold back. Alvensleben was in
serious danger. It was now two o’clock, and he had to hold his
own for an hour or two until help arrived. He had to depend on
a charge of the Prussian cavalry, and decided to run the risk. He
had at his disposal only eight squadrons under Bredow. In order
to give time for the tenth corps to come up the cavalry were
entrusted with a duty as desperate as that of the Light Brigade

643
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

at Balaklava. This body of magnificent troops rode at Canrobert’s
division and went right through it, checking the movement of
the French before it had well begun, but losing more than half
their number in the effort. This charge was the turning-point of
the battle. Fresh detachments crossing the Moselle enabled
Alvensleben to hold his own. For some time the struggle on the
German right and centre remained stationary, as the Prussians
were unable to make any impression on the grenadiers of the
Imperial Guard.

At last, at 4 o’clock, Prince Frederick Charles appeared, having
ridden from Pont-a-Mousson. He saw that the stress of the
battle was on the left wing, where French troops had appeared
under Lebceuf and Ladmirault. After a brisk artillery fire the
infantry drove the French out of the wood. A cavalry charge
followed, in which Bismarck’s two sons rode as privates. They
both distinguished themselves ; one was wounded, and the other
lifted a wounded soldier on to his horse and carried him off the
field. The day ended with a severe artillery duel. It was now
past 7, and both sides were exhausted, but the contest continued
until darkness fell, at the very last moment a violent cannonade,
the origin of which is uncertain, breaking forth on both sides. The
French slept on the ground which they held in Rezonville or on
the heights to the south of it, and on the ridge on the north, over-
looking the upper road to Verdun. In the battle the French had
lost 17,000 men out of 125,000, and the Germans 16,000 out of
77,000 men.

During the night the French army was ordered to retire
towards Metz, to their great surprise, as they imagined that they
had gained a victory, and on August 17th the approach to the
Meuse was still open by the northern roads. But Bazaine could
not bring himself to abandon Metz, and determined to fall back
upon a strong position west and north-west of the fortress. He
said that the number of his wounded, the state of the army, and
the lack of ammunition and supplies left him no alternative. As
a competent judge remarks, “ That the army should have fallen
into this condition within sight of a great depot shows how deeply
the canker of disorganisation had entered into the French military
system.” Bazaine now took up a purely defensive position, with
his front towards the west. He had not given up the idea of
retiring to Chalons, as is shown by the fact that he reported to
the Emperor, on August 17th, that he would move towards Verdun
by the northern road when the needs of the army had been
supplied. If he had begun the march in the morning, or even in

644
FRENCH RETREAT ON METZ

the night of August 17th, the Germans would not have been able
to oppose the movement, but only to harass his flank, whereas
they were now able to concentrate a superior force and cut off
his retreat altogether.

Bazaine’s movement was carried out without opposition, and
by nightfall on August 17th the Army of the Rhine was in the
position he had determined for them. On the left, under the
great fort of Plappeville, lay Frossard with the second corps;
Lebceuf, with the third corps, was on the north; Ladmirault,
with the fourth corps, was at Amanweiler; Canrobert, with the
sixth corps, on the right, at St. Privat; while Bazaine took up
his position with the Guard in the glacis of Plappeville.

It was Moltke’s business to prevent the escape of’ Bazaine
from this position, and this he did with consummate skill. He
had, within reach, the whole of the First and Second Armies except-
ing the fourth corps, which was engaged in an expedition against
Toul; and the second corps, which had not yet arrived from
Germany, but was proceeding by forced marches to Pont-a-
Mousson. Moltke knew that the French army was west of the
Moselle; he therefore found the first corps, with some cavalry,
sufficient to watch Metz on the east. The tenth and third corps
were left in their positions at Vionville and Mars-la-Tour; the
seventh, eighth, and ninth corps were brought up on their right,
and the Guard and the twelfth corps were placed to the left of the
third corps and west of Mars-la-Tour. Thus, at the close of
August 17th, 140,000 men were in line, parallel to a road which
led from Metz to Mars-la-Tour.

In order to reach the position assigned to them on the German
right, the seventh and eighth corps had to make a flank march,
in close proximity to the forts of Metz. It was essential to the
success of the movement that their march should be unobserved,
and that no indiscreet impetuosity should bring on a premature
engagement. Stringent orders to this effect were issued from
headquarters and were obeyed so exactly that the French were
allowed to slip away, not only unchecked, but unobserved. The
consequence was that at daybreak on August 18th Moltke did
not know whether Bazaine was continuing his design of retreating
by the northern roads or had retired definitely to Metz. He had
to be prepared for either event. He therefore ordered the Second
Army to move to the north, towards Doncourt, while he, with the
seventh and eighth corps of the First Army, prevented any inter-
ference from Metz. If Bazaine were in retreat the same army
could follow closely till the First Army came up in support, and, if

645
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

he determined to remain at Metz, the Second Army could wheel
round to the right and surround him on his right flank.

At a quarter to twelve on the morning of August 18th, when
the soldiers had just finished their breakfast in Ladmirault’s corps,
patrols arrived announcing that the enemy had arrived at Verné-
ville. At the same moment the sound of artillery was heard
coming from the batteries of Mannstein, who commanded the
ninth corps. The fire, which was unexpected by the French, was
an equal surprise to Prince Frederick Charles. When he learnt
from Hessian scouts that a portion of the French troops was
encamped at St. Privat, he prepared a vigorous attack upon
the French right. But it was a condition of success that all
should act together, so that this sudden attack of Mannstein’s
on the French centre caused the greatest alarm. The fire was
promptly replied to by French batteries posted on all the heights.
The advance of the Germans was repulsed and Mamnnstein’s pre-
cipitate action ended in failure. Indeed, he found himself in a
most dangerous position and, had he been vigorously attacked,
little resistance could have been made. But there was no one,
to lead. Bazaine was in his house at Plappeville, his horse saddled
outside, his staff grumbling with discontent. He attempted to
minimise the danger, and as he was not there to give orders
nothing could be done.

Prince Frederick Charles set out to march in the direction of
the cannon. At half-past three new vigour was thrown into the
Prussian attack, and at 5 in the afternoon the French were begin-
ning to retreat. Still, as he surveyed the battle from Plappeville
at this hour, Bazaine might believe that victory had inclined to
his favour, and that the French had only lost a few advanced
posts. Canrobert still held his position at St. Privat and
Doncourt. Although his corps had been driven back at Ste.
Marie, and he was now engaged in a severe artillery combat,
Ladmirault was holding his ground at Amanweiler and Montigny.
Lebceuf had been compelled to evacuate the Bois de Geniveaux,
but had been able to maintain his position at the farm of Moscou.
Frossard, although he had lost St. Hubert, still held his position
at Pointe-du-Jour and Rozellieures. But the Imperial Guard
had as yet taken no part in the engagement and only about
half the German forces had been employed, so that much might
be done on both wings with fresh troops.

The battle had now been raging for five hours without inter-
mission, evening was coming on, and if any decisive effect was
to be produced the Guards must take part in the engagement.

646
ATTACK ON ST. PRIVAT

Soon after 5 King William, who was commanding in person,
gave orders to the three brigades of Guards to advance to the
attack of St. Privat. As they advanced they were received
with a heavy fire, but continued to press steadily forward; but
nearly all the generals, field officers, and adjutants who remained
on horseback were either dismounted or killed. The loss was
so great that orders were given to suspend the attack and await
the arrival of the Saxons. The Saxon troops, who formed part of
the twelfth corps, reached Doncourt at 6.30, and then the Guards
were ordered to continue their advance. At 6.45 the Guards
forced their way into the village from the south and met some of
the Saxon troops entering from the north at the same moment.
The houses in the village were stormed one after the other, and
the Germans were not masters of the place until it was too late to
continue the conflict.

This successful attack upon St. Privat made it possible for
the Hessians and the third brigade of Guards to attack Aman-
weiler, but they were so hotly received by the superior numbers
of the French that they could gain no advantage. However, St.
Privat was the key of the position, and when that was captured
Amanweiler had to be abandoned. Ladmirault, also, fearing to
be taken in flank, had to break up his positions and retreat to
Plappeville, sacrificing his large encampment of huts and many
other munitions of war. When the news of the defeat of the
French right wing reached headquarters, Bourbaki, the com-
mander of the Imperial Guard, ordered his soldiers to march to
their support, but the general arrived too late to be of any
advantage.

On the other side of the field, Fransecky, who commanded
the second corps, received orders from the King at 5.30 to carry
the farm of Moscou. To do this it was necessary to pass through
the terrible defile of Gravelotte, which can never be forgotten by
anyone who has seen it, as it appears impregnable. The pass is
only twelve yards wide and is formed by the steep bank of the
Mance. The road to Metz is here bordered for about 500 yards
by a wall of precipitous rock, 30 or 40 feet high, and on the other
side by a ravine in some places 20 feet deep. Along this road
the infantry had to advance unsupported, until they reached St.
Hubert. Their progress was watched by Moltke and by the King
himself, until Roon forced him away from his dangerous position.

The orders given to Fransecky were that his troops were to
climb the steep ascent by the eastern bank of the Mance until they
arrived at Pointe-du-Jour, which was the highest part of the wood.

647
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

They were then to storm this important position. These orders
were carried out, the troops proceeding in one continuous close
column, every file closing up to the next one, and each rank call-
ing to the other, ‘‘ Close up well forward, shoulder to shoulder.”
The drummers beat the charge, the bugles sounded the advance,
and the soldiers answered by a hurrah. When they arrived on
the plateau they were received by a storm of bullets from mit-
railleuses and chassepots, while the solid mass of soldiers moving
forward on the high road were cut to pieces by projectiles. In
the meantime, the Prussian artillery kept up a continuous fire,
directed against the French troops on the plateau, over the heads
of the storming columns. The sun had now gone down, and it
was found that in some cases the Prussian troops, who had reached
the heights, were firing, in the confusion, on their advancing
comrades. Fransecky therefore ordered the bugler to sound
“Cease firing,” and a general cessation of fire took place for a
short time on both sides. Soon afterwards the column reached
St. Hubert, under a murderous rain of projectiles, and eventually
Pointe-du-Jour was carried.

About 310 the French delivered a terrible assault of mit-
railleuses and chassepots upon the Germans, which formed the
closing scene of the great battle. The King passed the night at
Rezonville, sleeping on a small camp-bed, without having changed
his clothes for thirty hours, and having no covering but his military
cloak. Next day he moved his quarters to Pont-4-Mousson. In
this battle, called by the French St, Privat, and by the Germans
Gravelotte, the French lost 609 officers and 11,700 men, 6,000
French being taken prisoners. The Germans lost 904 officers
and 19,058 men.

Moltke became aware, on August Igth, that the Army of the
Rhine had fallen back upon the forts surrounding Metz, and was
holding positions which could not be carried by assault. He had
originally intended that, while the armies advanced to Paris,
Metz should be masked—that is, prevented from taking part in
the campaign—by a portion of the Landwehr, and the division
intended for this purpose was already approaching. It now
became necessary to make fresh arrangements, because Metz,
instead of its ordinary garrison, contained a large number of
troops ready, at any moment, to break out and fight the Prussians.
Therefore an army of investment had to be formed, and this was
comprised of the whole of the First Army, four corps of the Second
Army, and a division of the Landwehy. This army, consisting of
175,000 men, was placed under the command of Prince Frederick

648
TROCHU RETURNS TO PARIS

Charles, Besides this, an Army of the Meuse was created and
placed under the Crown Prince of Saxony to assist the Third Army,
which was 240,000 strong, in advancing on the French capital,
The Third Army and the fourth corps had reached the Meuse on
August 19th, and were halted there to enable the rest of the new
army to come up.

We must now return to the Emperor. He had left Grave-
lotte at daybreak on August 16th, accompanied by the Prince
Imperial and Prince Napoleon, the journey becoming more and
more of a flight. He reached Verdun at 1, the inhabitants
being silent and stupefied. The under-prefect was obliged to
ask him whether they should cry, ‘‘ Vive l’Empereur!”’ He had
to travel to Chalons in a third-class carriage, and reached the
town in the evening, unexpected, and found a lodging with
difficulty. The course of events now depended on the leaders
assembled in the camp—the Emperor, Prince Napoleon,
MacMahon and Trochu. <A conference was held, and it was
decided that Trochu should return to Paris with the title of
Governor of the capital; that the Emperor should go back to
the Tuileries; that the command of the Army of Chalons should
be given to MacMahon, who was, however, to remain under the
orders of Bazaine; and that the camp, which was composed
chiefly of Gardes mobiles, should be broken up. Trochu was
detested by the Empress, but was beloved by the populace, and
it was thought his popularity would cover the unpopularity of
the Emperor.

Paris at this time was governed by the Empress as Regent
and Palikao as Minister of War. They naturally thought that
the safety of France depended upon their preserving their
authority, and that the return of the Emperor was undesirable.
Therefore, when the news of the changes made at Chalons arrived
in the evening, Palikao telegraphed to beg the Emperor to sur-
render the idea, which implied the abandonment of the army of
Metz. Trochu reached Paris at midnight, and went first to
Chevren, Minister of the Interior, and asked him to sign the
Emperor’s decree. He hesitated and said that the Empress must
be consulted. A stormy council was held at the Tuileries, in
which the Empress expressed herself strongly against the return
of the Emperor. At last Palikao consented to countersign the
decree, and it was presented to the Ministers. On August 18th
Palikao announced to the Chambers that he had himself recalled
Trochu to Paris, as the best man to undertake the government of
the city.

ve 649
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

At Chalons during the whole of August 17th nothing seemed
to be decided. There was no news from Bazaine, nor did the
Emperor make any movement of departure, but it was evident to
MacMahon that the camp was indefensible. On the following
day some mobiles left the camp, and the Emperor announced his
departure to MacMahon and Prince Napoleon, but still he stayed
on. The Prussian army approached, and at 8.30 MacMahon
telegraphed to Bazaine, ‘“‘ If the Crown Prince attacks me in force,
I shall occupy a position between Epernay and Reims, so as to
be able either to join you or to march to Paris as circumstances
may demand.”

At Io a.m. Magnan arrived from Metz, bringing bad news.
Bazaine said that he would resume his march if possible. During
the day messages from Bazaine gave successive scraps of informa-
tion about the catastrophe of Gravelotte. What was MacMahon
to do? His own prudence counselled retreat; but Palikao in
Paris urged him to join Bazaine at Metz. About midday on
August 19th telegraphic communication was finally interrupted,
and he was left without information except such as could be
brought by messengers. The Prussian cavalry was scouring the
country and getting nearer and nearer to the camp. It became
necessary to act. At daybreak on August 21st the camp of Chalons,
which had witnessed so many of the glories of the Empire, was
broken up under a leaden sky and heavy rain, and the army
reached Reims, the Emperor fixing his headquarters at the
Chateau de Courcelles, two miles from Reims, where he was joined
by Rouher. Rouher represented the views held in Paris, He
was strongly in favour of a march to Metz and a junction with
Bazaine. If this were effected, the united armies could pursue
the Crown Prince on the road to Paris. MacMahon, with better
military knowledge, recognised that Bazaine was invested, and
strongly urged return to Paris. The Emperor remained silent.
It was settled that MacMahon should take. command not
only of the army, but of all the towns which defended Paris.
This would be a set-off against the authority of Trochu, and
Rouher carried off in his pocket the decrees necessary for this
purpose.

News at last came from Bazaine. On August i9th he had
entrusted a letter to a gamekeeper, who hid it in the sole of his
boot. It reached Reims early on August 22nd. It announced
the defeat of St. Privat, and that Bazaine’s plan was to retire
to Chalons by St. Menehould and Montmédy if the road were free,
and, if this were impossible, to reach it by way of Sedan and

650
PARIS FORTIFIED

Méziéres. Another letter arrived later, expressing a doubt whether
he should be able to march at all. A third letter from Bazaine,
dated August 2oth, never arrived, and, left to his own devices,
MacMahon on August 23rd withdrew his army towards the north-
east.

The first care of the Ministry of August roth was to increase
the strength of the army. The contingent of 1870 was imme-
diately summoned to the colours. All citizens from twenty-five
to thirty years of age, unmarried, or widowers without children,
not forming part of the Garde mobile, were called out, and some
other persons who belonged to the classes of 1865 and 1866, who
had escaped service, were incorporated. The admission of volun-
teers was arranged for, and a National Guard was established in
the Departments which should include all men under forty. But
all these troops had to be exercised and trained.

Labour was abundantly spent in repairing and arming the
fortifications of Paris erected under Louis Philippe. For this
purpose a number of sailors were summoned, as well as the marine
artillery, the gamekeepers, and the Custom-house officers. It was
also necessary to accumulate provisions and money. The pictures
of the Louvre, the Crown diamonds, the bullion in the Bank, and
the captured flags of the Invalides were sent for security to Brest.
The interior government of the country gave a great deal of
trouble, anarchy began to raise its head, and there were disorders
and murders in the streets, while in the Chambers the deposition
of the Emperor was discussed. It is impossible to describe the
anxiety of this month of August, and the only hope of the people
seemed to lie in Bazaine. All generals but he were denounced as
traitors ; all foreigners were believed to be spies. The condition
of the provinces was as bad as that of Paris.

An effort was also made to secure allies. We have related
some of the negotiations begun with Austria and Italy. These
were continued at Metz at the beginning of August. But Austria
could not undertake any decisive action before the beginning of
September, and Italy would do nothing unless the evacuation of
Rome by the French were conceded. The Emperor positively
refused to abandon the Pope, and it is doubtful whether his doing
so would have secured the alliance of Italy. Vimercati at Metz
and Vitzthum at Florence found themselves equally impotent.
Russia gave France to understand that any violation of neutrality
by Austria would bring her also on the scene of action.

But the events of August 6th brought all these negotiations
to an end. Wérth opened the doors of Alsace, Forbach of

651
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Lorraine. Immediately after these defeats Austria took pains to
declare that she was free from all engagements, and Vitzthum
was delighted to feel that he had escaped a serious danger. On
August 7th Gramont asked Italy to send 60,000 men to the assist-
ance of France, but the proposition was instantly declined. Great
Britain, with Lord Granville at the Foreign Office, refused to
commit herself. The entente cordiale, the alliance of the Crimea,
was already forgotten. There can be little doubt but that the
sympathies both of the Court and the people of Great Britain were
really with the Germans. A Neutral League was formed, the
object of which was to confine the extent of the war, but mainly
to protect Italy from pressure by France, and membership of
which would be a sufficient ground for maintaining inactivity.
The alliance did not take the form of a treaty, but merely of an
exchange of ideas and of agreement in a common action. The
Neutral League completed the isolation of France.

It was indeed difficult for Napoleon to believe that his old
friend Victor Emmanuel would leave him entirely in the lurch.
Therefore, on August I9th, he sent Prince Napoleon to Florence
to see the Prince’s father-in-law, to induce him to declare war
against Prussia, and, if possible, to carry Austria with him. When
he arrived at Florence he found that he could do nothing and
that he was received with more pity than respect. On August
27th Cadorna, the Italian Ambassador in London, asked Lord
Granville if he did not think that the time had come to put an end
to the horrors of war, but he was told that the time had not yet
come and that any effort would do more harm than good. Prince
Napoleon remained, amusing himself with his Italian relations,
until the catastrophe which destroyed both the dynasty and
France. We have said nothing about Russia. She determined
to remain neutral so long as Austria pursued a similar policy, but
if Austria had joined France Russia would undoubtedly have
made war upon Austria. Her private ties were far closer with
Austria than with Prussia, but she desired the liberation of
the Black Sea and the abrogation of the Treaty of Paris as
keenly as the Italians desired the liberation of Rome.

The army which left Reims on August 23rd to march in
a north-easterly direction numbered about 120,000 men. The
object was to reach Bazaine, and the route to be followed had been
traced with great care and precision by Palikao. Leaving Chalons
on August a2ist, the army could reach the Meuse in four or

-five marches and concentrate in the neighbourhood of Verdun.
MacMahon would have against him the Third Army, under the
652
MOLTKE AND MACMAHON

Crown Prince of Saxony. If he followed this route he would
avoid the Third Army and could easily beat the Fourth Army, which
did not consist of more than 70,000 men. He would then march
to Metz, join with Bazaine, and return with him to crush the Third
Army. This plan was not at all impossible, and with good fortune
and a good leader might have been carried out with success. But,
unfortunately, MacMahon had lost two days by going to Reims,
and he determined not to march straight to Verdun, but to bend
a little to the north in the direction of Montmédy, hoping thus to
avoid the enemy altogether.

When MacMahon arrived at the river at the end of the first
day he was informed that there were no more provisions, although
the troops had been ordered to carry supplies for four days. What
was to be done? He determined to move towards Rethel in order
to get provisions. But the commissariat was badly organised,
and the soldiers took to marauding and discipline became slack.
At last they reached the Aisne and the Argonne, and in the neigh-
bourhood of Grand Pré they suddenly came into contact with the
German scouts. Moltke was contemplating a march on Paris,
which he hoped to reach in about a week’s time, when information
reached him from different quarters, notably by telegraph from
London, through the French Press, that MacMahon had changed
his plans and intended, if possible, to join Bazaine.

From this, on August 25th and 26th, he had to alter all his
calculations, as his previous arrangements had been made on the
supposition of a march upon Paris. The fourth German army,
now called the Army of the Meuse, had reached the valley of
that river and was occupying the road between Clermont and St.
Menehould, in the immediate neighbourhood of the historic town
of Varennes; but it was not, of itself, strong enough to oppose
MacMahon, if he should operate in the direction of Metz. The
Third Army had established communications with the Fourth,
and the two armies together formed a line forty-six miles long,
broken by a right angle. In order to crush the French army it
was necessary that, while the Fourth Army detained the French
and obstructed their progress, the Third should make a long bend
to the east to envelop them and deal a crushing blow. These
complicated operations were carried out with such precision that
in no single case did any crossing of soldiers occur. This rapid
wheel to the right of an army of more than 200,000 men, and its
concentration at the point originally determined, is probably one
of the most masterly exploits ever executed in any war. There
was great difficulty in procuring subsistence upon a new line of

653
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

advance, but this was met by the zeal and resource of the
commissariat.

On August 27th MacMahon fixed his headquarters at Chesne,
in the Argonne. He was informed there that the Fourth Army
was marching up the Meuse, and that the Third had already
changed its course, was proceeding north, and was by this time
approaching the Aisne. He now saw the terrible nature of the
danger to which he was exposed. He could not bear to abandon
Bazaine, but he felt that he might be cut off both from Metz and
from Paris. After consulting the Emperor, he sent a message
to Bazaine at 3.25 p.m., saying that he had learnt that the Crown
Prince of Prussia was approaching, and that he was obliged to
retreat on Méziéres, unless he heard that Bazaine had already
begun his retreat. At 8.30 he dispatched a similar message to
Palikao. If MacMahon had really reached Méziéres he would
have been in easy communication with Paris, but he was not his
own master. When Palikao received MacMahon’s dispatch he
sent a furious telegram, not to the general, but to the Emperor,
at 11: “ If you abandon Bazaine the Revolution will be in Paris,
and you will be yourself attacked by all the forces of the enemy.
Paris can protect herself against an attack from outside. The
fortifications are finished; it seems to me urgent that you
should rapidly reach Bazaine.’”’ The dispatch concluded by
saying that it was quite impossible that the Crown Prince could be
where MacMahon believed him to be. This dispatch reached
MacMahon at 1 in the morning, and, in spite of the remonstrance
of the army, he determined to obey it. The retreat towards
Méziéres had already begun, the weather was terrible, the country
extremely difficult, and everything was thrown into confusion by
the change of plan.

On August 28th MacMahon had his headquarters at Stone.
Here he learned in the afternoon that the Germans had occupied
Stenay. This was very grave, because it closed the route to
Metz by Montmédy, the alternative route by Verdun having been
closed long ago. At the same time he received another dispatch
from Palikao, ordering him to relieve Bazaine. Below Stenay
there was a bridge thrown across the Meuse at Mouzon, and a
wooden bridge lower down at Remilly. MacMahon intended to
cross the Meuse by these bridges, to reach Carignan, and then
march up the Chiers to Montmédy. This plan was unwise,
because it delayed the march of the army and brought it too near
the Belgian frontier, which it was contrary to international law
to cross. Orders had been given to carry out these movements,

654
BATTLE OF BEAUMONT

but they went wrong, and August 29th was a day of disaster.
On the other hand, it was favourable to Moltke, who had his
headquarters at Grand Pré. All his calculations turned out as
he would wish. The Army of the Meuse was almost concentrated,
and the army of the Crown Prince was only a march behind. He
had penetrated the design of MacMahon and determined to
prevent it. He therefore gave orders for an attack on Beaumont,
a small town lying two miles from the Meuse, and about six miles
from Mouzon.

On the morning of August 29th the fifth corps reached the
place in small detachments, weary and harassed, wishing for
nothing but repose, and many of the troops did not arrive till
night. MacMahon reached Beaumont at 7 a.m. He had no
idea of immediate danger, and the troops, resting after their
labour, were engaged in foraging. The town was surrounded by
woods and there were many farms on the slopes. The troops
were principally encamped on the south of the town, at dangerous
positions, but were so tired when they arrived that they were
allowed to rest in the first places they reached. Failly, who
commanded, fancied himself in perfect security, and had no
apprehension of attack. Suddenly, just after the church clock
had struck mid-day, a cannonade began. The panic was
indescribable, but the chivalrous French spirit asserted itself,
and the best preparations were made for defence which circum-
stances allowed. But no resistance was possible, and everything
fell into the hands of the Prussians—tents, baggage, even the
wounded—and prisoners were made in crowds. The fifth corps
was entirely defeated. The first corps had just crossed the Meuse
at Remilly and were pursuing their road to Carignan, when they
heard the cannon of Beaumont. They could not retreat, how-
ever, because the Emperor was with them, and they could not
desert him. The seventh corps was at Stone when they heard
the sound of the battle, about six miles from Beaumont, but
they dared not disobey orders, and had to continue their march.
It is not necessary to pursue the dolorous story. The day of
Beaumont was fatal. Eighteen hundred men were killed and
wounded and 3,000 taken prisoners.

After the battle the Emperor might have escaped to Méziéres
and secured his personal safety, but he refused to leave the army.
He reached Carignan at 4.30 p.m. on August 30th, and sent a
reassuring dispatch to the Empress; but MacMahon was aware
that the Army of Chalons had been overtaken by the forces of
the enemy in far greater numbers than his own. The march to

655
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Montmédy had become impossible, and all idea of relieving Bazaine
at Metz was at anend. The choice remained between fighting a
battle at Mouzon and retreating westwards without fighting, to
prevent the army, if possible, from being surrounded. The
Marshal therefore concentrated his forces at Sedan, which could
only be effected by a night march. Every preparation had been
made for the Emperor’s passing the night at Carignan, but at 11
he left unexpectedly by railway for Sedan, which is about twelve
miles off; the troops, marching through the night, reached their
encampments at Sedan on the morning of August 31st, some
arriving as late as 9.

We must now consider the position of Bazaine in Metz, which
MacMahon and Palikao were so anxious to relieve. The Prussian
army of the siege, gradually strengthened by the arrival of
reservists and other soldiers, contained now more than 150,000
combatants. It invested the city on both sides of the Moselle
and was stationed in trenches, batteries, and parallels, often
double or three-fold in depth, the artisans within the lines being
utilised for the investment. The outposts were pushed forward
as far as the fire of the forts permitted ; indeed, they were gener-
ally within reach of the heavy ordnance, only the reserve being
entirely out of range. The whole length of the line of invest-
ment was about thirty miles. Observatories were erected on all
lofty points, and connected by telegraph with each other and with
the different headquarters, so that any weakness in the blockade
could be immediately repaired. The fortress was well supplied
with ammunition, but not so well with provisions, as the city
contained, besides the army of Bazaine, the inhabitants of the
city and those of a great part of the surrounding country.

Considering these difficulties, it is creditable to Bazaine that he
was able to make a sortie on August 26th when MacMahon’s army
was marching from Reims to Rethel. His object was to get
possession of Thionville and force his way to Chalons by the passes
of the north, but after a few attempts he became convinced that
the Prussians were stronger than himself, and he determined to
postpone any other efforts until the ground should have recovered
from the effects of heavy rains. However, on August 31st he
made a powerful sortie with the object of driving the Prussians
back or, at least, replenishing his commissariat. He advanced by
the right bank of the Moselle, and succeeded in getting as far as
Columbey, but he was defeated by Manteuffel. The French army
was driven back to Metz on September 1st, and its surrender was
merely a matter of time, as provisions were becoming scarcer,

656
MACMAHON’S LAST HOPE

and after the last sortie the besieged began to slaughter their
horses.

Sedan was one of the worst places which could have been
chosen as a refuge for a defeated army. It was surrounded on
the south, north, east, and west by a series of hills which
dominated the river, the city, and fortress. To the east stretched
the last spurs of the Argonne from Remilly to Donchery, which
offered a favourable spot for placing artillery, and there were
similar heights on the north-east. To the north the hills were of
a different description, as they were separated from each other
by deep ravines. Important points on this side were the plateaux
of Illy, on the summit of which was a Calvary, the peninsula of
Iges surrounded by the Meuse, and the heights of the Ardennes,
which marked the Belgian frontier. If the enemy occupied these
heights he would be master of Sedan, of the army, indeed, of
everything, and would be able to cut off the French retreat.
MacMahon’s only hope lay in seizing these eminences, destroying
the bridges across the Meuse at Bazeilles and Donchery, march-
ing along the defile between the Meuse and the frontier, and
so reaching Méziéres and Paris. This was the last chance of
safety, but the Germans were using these remaining hours of
grace in a manner to make it impossible for the French to
profit by it.

King William arrived at Buzancy on August 30th, and in the
‘evening was informed of the victory of Beaumont. Orders were
immediately given to the two Crown Princes to close all avenues
of retreat for the French, the Saxons those on the east, the
Prussians those on the south and west. Bismarck reminded
King Leopold of his duty to disarm any Frenchman who crossed
the frontier. Sedan being too small to contain the retreating
army, the fifth corps took up a perilous position at Vieux Camp,
the seventh corps on the slopes of Algerie, and the twelfth corps
at Bazeilles. Ducrot was still on the march. At 9 a.m. Wimpffen
suddenly arrived from Paris, having travelled thither from Algiers.
He had with him an order to supersede Failly in the command of
the fifth corps. MacMahon was much distressed at this, and
considered that Failly had been badly treated. Wimpffen also
had with him a letter, of which he said nothing, which gave him
the command of the whole army in case MacMahon should be
disabled. At 9.30 the Marshal ascended to the summit of the
citadel: the view to the north and to the north-east was cut off,
but in other directions he saw quite enough to convince him that
he had no time to lose if he intended to reach Méziéres. He

657
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ordered the bridge at Donchery to be destroyed, but this was not
done.

About ro o’clock on the morning of August 31st news was
brought to the Emperor that the enemy were close to Donchery
and advancing to Méziéres, but the Emperor still believed that
a retreat to the west was possible, nor was MacMahon less
obstinate in his conviction that there was no pressing danger.
The officer who brought the news found, on his return, that the
road by which the Emperor wished to withdraw his army was
so encumbered by fugitives as to be useless. Early in the morning
the Bavarians were approaching Bazeilles, and had prevented
the destruction of the bridge. Other misfortunes occurred.
MacMahon had expected to find four days’ provisions in Sedan.
They were indeed there, but the greater part was in railway
wagons. At the first sound of the firing the station-master had
lost his head and sent them all off to Méziéres. This increased
the urgency of departure. The Marshal hoped that the Meuse
would protect him, but the bridges still existed, which allowed the
advance of the enemy. The bridge of Douzy over the Chiers was
left standing, like the bridge of Bazeilles. As soon as the sappers,
sent to destroy the bridge at Donchery, got out of the carriages,
the train steamed off to Méziéres with their powder and tools, so
that nothing could be done. As the day advanced, the net
gradually closed round the devoted army. At 5.30 a kind of
council was held, when it was found that, although MacMahon
was determined to get away, he did not know by what route he
should effect his object. When night fell the French army
remained in the position in which they happened to find them-
selves, the fires of the Belgian troops marking the line of the
frontier. Moltke had only one anxiety—that his prey might
escape him in the night. If the morning found the French still
where they were his triumph was assured.

On September Ist, 1870, the French army at Sedan was
confined within a space of four miles and a half from north to
south and two miles from east to west. Sedan lies on the right
bank of the Meuse with the suburb of Torcy on the left bank,
defended by a ¢éte-du-pont. The village of Bazeilles is on the
right bank, and so is Balan, a suburb of Sedan, above the town.
On the east are the villages of Givonne, Daigny and Moncelles,
and on the north-west those of Illy and Floing. The ground
between Sedan and Bazeilles, on the right bank, is low, whereas
on the opposite side the high ground comes down to the bank
of the river between Remilly and Wadelincourt. The wood of

658
BATTLE OF SEDAN

Garenne, which played an important part in the battle, lies to
the north of the town. Sedan is seven miles distant from the
Belgian frontier.

The right wing of the French held Balan and Bazeilles and was
opposed to the Bavarians; then came the first French corps at
Givonne and Daigny, opposed by the Prussian Guard and the
Saxons of the twelfth corps. The positions of Illy and Floing
to the north of Sedan were defended by the seventh French corps
and two cavalry divisions and were attacked by the eleventh and
fifth corps, together with some cavalry. The fifth French corps
was posted just outside Sedan to act as a reserve. But the three
main posts of the French position—Bazeilles to the south-east,
the valley of the Givonne, and the positions of Floing and Illy
—were all exposed to the attack of the German troops, marshalled
for the purpose by the consummate skill of Moltke.

The battle began before daylight, at 4 in the morning of
September 1st, by the Bavarians under Von der Tann advancing
to attack Bazeilles. The village was most obstinately defended
in the streets, houses and gardens, both by the soldiers and the
inhabitants, and was only captured after a severe struggle. At
5 Lebrun sent word to MacMahon that he was severely attacked
and that a great battle was imminent. MacMahon rode out to
see for himself, and as he was reconnoitring from a point of
vantage, with a field-glass in his hand, the splinters of a shell
wounded him in the thigh. He fell from his horse and became
insensible. The wound was not dangerous, but it entirely
incapacitated him for performing the duties of command, and
he was carried back into Sedan. This happened at 6.15. The
tidings were brought to the Emperor as he was dressing, and his
eyes filled with tears. He mounted his horse and rode along the
Daigny road to Bazeilles.

When MacMahon found that he was wounded, he nominated
Ducrot as his successor, a man of great energy and fine and
decisive character. He saw that the one chance of safety lay in
reaching Méziéres, where he would find the corps of Vinoy and
a good supply of provisions, and be in communication with the
northern fortresses. He had desired to begin the march on the
day before, but as soon as he heard that he was in command he
said there was not a moment to lose and that the plans already
formed must be carried out. The army did not like the notion
of a retreat, but Ducrot was perfectly right. He explained that
the attack was merely a feint, and that the real struggle was to
come in the opposite direction. It is still disputed among military

659
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

experts whether a retreat would have been honourable, and
there is no doubt but that it would have been very difficult. At
this moment Ducrot received a letter from Wimpffen informing
him that he (Wimpffen) had been appointed to the command by
the Minister of War at Paris, and that he was strongly opposed to
a retreat. A heated personal interview ensued. Ducrot, who
knew the Prussians and the ground, insisted that they were
being surrounded. Wimpffen, who knew neither, maintained that
Lebrun must be supported at all hazards in his contest against
the Bavarians. Ducrot, obeying the orders of Palikao, rode away,
declaring that all was lost.

Wimpffen was brave and energetic, but penetrated by the
ideas of Palikao. He still believed that the proper course was to
press on to Carignan and thence to Montmédy, in the hope of join-
ing Bazaine, and regarded the defeat of the Bavarians at Bazeilles
as the first step in the operation. He said to the Emperor, whom
he met in the valley of the Givonne, ‘‘ Don’t be distressed, your
Majesty ; in two hours I shall have thrown the enemy into the
Meuse.’”’ As he rode away, he heard a voice behind him, “ Pray
God that we are not thrown into the river ourselves.” His idea of
retreating to Carignan was purely chimerical, when the Saxons
had, after superhuman efforts, obtained possession of the ridge
of Villers and Cernay and the valley of the Daigny and Givonne,
and had joined the Bavarians, who had become masters of
Bazeilles; and, when these two victorious arms had united to
drive the French out of Balan, the issue of the battle could be no
longer doubtful.

Just as Wimpffen was making efforts to throw the Prussians
into the Meuse, Von der Tann was reinforced by the arrival of the
fourth Prussian corps, while the Saxons held Moncelle and the
valley of the Givonne. The struggle in Bazeilles became more
and more severe. At this time occurred the incident known as
“la dermiéve cartouche,’ in which an isolated house was held
by fifty men and three officers against masses of the enemy.
They fought until only a single cartridge was left, and when
that was fired the few survivors surrendered. Bazeilles was
captured at mid-day.

During the battle the Crown Prince took his stand a little to
the south of the village of Donchery, and the King of Prussia
established himself at a point a little farther to the east, from
which the whole field was visible. This stationary position of the
two commanders was of great advantage, both for receiving reports
and sending orders. After the capture of Bazeilles, the French

660
NAPOLEON SEEKS DEATH

artillery had been compelled to retire to a new position at Balan,
and all possibility of their being able to break through on this
side was at an end.

At this moment the Emperor rode back to Sedan, passing
through Balan. He found that he was neglected on the battle-
field, and that his physical powers were exhausted. He had to
force his way through crowds of running troops, who were seeking
refuge in the fortress, while shells were falling in the streets. As
he rode into the town, one of the projectiles exploded in front of
him and killed his horse.

Meanwhile the battle began to rage in the direction of the
north-west. The Prussian troops approached by the difficult road
which Ducrot would have followed had he been able to carry out
his plan of retreating to Méziéres. The French divisions holding
Floing and Illy were exposed to an awful fire of artillery, and by
noon all hope of escape was closed. Illy was then taken by the
advance of the Prussian Guards, the iron ring closed more pitilessly
round the fortress, and the end was at hand.

What was the condition of things in Sedan? All night no one
had slept for terror. At dawn of September Ist men began to
creep away to Bouillon. As the sun mounted, the roar of guns
spread from south to north, from north to east, and then all round,
and the streets swarmed with wounded soldiers. About noon,
accompanied by his staff of aides-de-camp, the Emperor rode in,
a death’s head at this feast of horrors. It was said that for four
hours he sought death; certainly he had done nothing to avoid
it. He would have set out again, but it was impossible to leave
the town. He knew that all was over, that further resistance
was useless, and hoisted the white flag on the summit of the citadel,
but no one heeded it and it was pulled down.

Wimpffen, persisting in his delusions, begged the Emperor
to place himself at the head of his troops and cut a passage out of
Sedan. Napoleon, better informed, refused. Wimpffen, attempt-
ing the mad enterprise himself, forced his way with a body of men
through the Bavarians, but behind the Bavarians he found the
solid Saxons and then realised that the battle had been lost and
won.

Ducrot sought his master at the palace, as all headquarters
of the Emperor were called during the time of war.

“ How I wish I had listened to you!” said the Sovereign ;
“the retreat by Méziéres was our only chance of safety.” Silence
followed, broken by the roar of cannon.

“How can we stop this firing?” continued the master. “I

661
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

have hoisted the white flag; I wish for an interview with the
King of Prussia. I think I might obtain favourable terms.”

Ducrot shook his head, remarking that he had not much
confidence in the generosity of the enemy. He suggested a
sortie in the night, but the Emperor said, “All our chances
are lost.”

The storm of cannon-balls became heavier and heavier, and a
shell exploded in the courtyard.

The Emperor dictated to Ducrot these words, ‘‘ The white
flag having been hoisted and negotiations opened with the enemy,
firing must cease all along the line.”

But who was to sign it? Ducrot refused, on the ground that
Wimpffen was Commander-in-Chief. But where was Wimpffen ?
Eventually Ducrot carried off the order, looking for someone to
sign it.

Lebrun arrived and a similar conversation took place. He
said, ‘If you wish the firing to cease, you must send a message
to the enemy by a bugler and a white flag. The message
must carry a request for an armistice, signed by the general
commanding.”

The paper was drawn up and Lebrun, like Ducrot, looked
for someone to sign it. Both were unsuccessful. Faure refused
the request of Ducrot, and Wimpffen that of Lebrun.

Napoleon was in despair. Neither Ducrot nor Lebrun returned ;
Wimpffen had disappeared from view, and general after general
was killed. At last some Prussians came, summoning the fortress
to surrender. Then Napoleon wrote with a firm hand:

‘ SIRE, MY BROTHER,—

“Not having been able to die in the midst of my
troops, there is nothing left me but to render my sword into
the hands of Your Majesty.

“Tam, Your Majesty’s good brother,
“ NAPOLEON.”

Reille took this letter to the King, who did not know that
his “ good brother” was in Sedan, and who answered :

‘My BRoTHER,—
“ While regretting the circumstances in which we meet,
I accept Your Majesty’s sword, and request that you will
appoint one of your officers, and furnish him with the neces-
sary powers to treat for the capitulation of the army which
662
NAPOLEON AND THE KING

has fought so valiantly under your command. I, for my part,
have appointed General Moltke to this duty.
‘Your loving brother,
“ WILHELM.”

Whom should the Emperor appoint to represent him? With
great difficulty Wimpffen was persuaded to accept the duty, and
he left for Donchery. The discussion about terms of surrender
lasted two hours.

Moltke said, ‘ The whole army must be prisoners, with arms
and baggage ; the officers will be allowed to retain their swords,
but they will be prisoners like the rest.”

Wimpffen tried to obtain easier terms, but Bismarck replied
that France had declared war, and that the whole army must be
transported to Germany; then he added that, as a condition
of peace, Germany would demand the cession of Alsace and
Lorraine, and an indemnity of 4,000,000,000 francs.

To a suggestion of further resistance Moltke replied, “ You
have no provisions and no munitions of war; your army is
decimated. You may verify our position: we can destroy you
in two hours.”

In fact, Sedan was menaced by 500 cannon.

Wimpffen, however, threatened to renew the struggle.

“As you please,” said Moltke; “the armistice will end
at 4 o'clock to-morrow afternoon; at that hour I will re-
open fire.”

At 6 next morning, September 2nd, Napoleon set out to visit
King William. Bismarck met him just before he reached
Donchery, and they went into a weaver’s cottage by the roadside.
Napoleon asked for easier conditions, and Bismarck referred him
to Moltke, who asked whether he were prepared to negotiate ;
but the Emperor answered that he was prisoner of war and could
do nothing. He begged to see the King, and this was allowed,
after the capitulation had been signed. The interview took place
at the Chateau Bellevue, close to Frénois, and lasted twenty
minutes. Nothing was settled, except that Napoleon was to go
to Wilhelmshéhe, the former palace of his uncle, Jerome, King of
Westphalia.

The Emperor left on the following day, September 3rd, for
Wilhelmshéhe. He slept the first night at Bouillon, in a little
inn, and as he drove to the door tears coursed down his cheeks.
The French army, now prisoners, were shut up in the Peninsula
of Iges, surrounded on three sides by the Meuse, on the fourth by

663
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a canal; 21,000 prisoners had been made during the battle; to
these were now added 83,000. Their condition was very miser-
able ; they were without shelter, straw, and huts, and had only
scanty provisions. On September 6th they began to leave for
Germany, 2,000 men at a time. A few, but only a few, succeeded
in escaping.

664
CHAPTER IX
THE WAR WITH THE REPUBLIC

THE earliest news of the defeat of Sedan reached Paris on the
afternoon of the fatal day. Next day, September and, a
telegram arrived: ‘‘ Great disasters; MacMahon killed; the
Emperor prisoner ; where the Prince Imperial is, unknown.” On
September 3rd the extent of the catastrophe was revealed. The
Emperor telegraphed to the Empress, ‘“‘ The army is defeated
and captured. I am myself a prisoner.”

On September 4th the momentous decision had to be made
whether the Empire should continue or not. Perhaps, could
Palikao have seized the occasion, the Regency might have been
preserved, but the opportunity was lost. The Chambers met
towards the previous midnight, and the news of disaster was
confirmed. Thereupon Jules Favre proposed that Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte and his dynasty should be considered as deposed, that
a provisional government should be formed, and that Trochu
should be continued as Governor-General of Paris—a proposal
less astonishing in itself than the torpor with which it was received.
The Ministers met in council at the Tuileries at 8 on the morning
of the 4th. There was great difference of opinion. One remarked
that the Emperor alone could abdicate, that the Empress could
not, since her power was derived from him alone. The Empress
was strongly opposed to anything which might cause civil war ;
if she had to disappear, she said she would rather do so peace-
fully. It was proposed to commit to the Chamber the election of
a Council of Regency. The dispatches which reached the Empress
during the day announced the increase of popular excitement in
Paris and the fact that the Republic had been proclaimed at
Lyons.

About r0 o’clock bodies of workmen gathered in the centre
of Paris. In the Place Vendéme there was a cry of “ Déchéance !
Déchéance!’’ National Guards also appeared in the Rue Royale
and the Rue de Rivoli, for the most part without arms. It is
probable that these movements were organised by the advanced
Liberals, such as Delescluze and Blanqui. It is well known that,
in the Revolution of 1789, few popular movements of any kind,

665
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

such as the march to Versailles and the Massacres of September,
took place without being organised and paid for. Palikao said
that he was sufficiently strong to put down any hostile agitation,
and could dispose of 40,000 men, but this number was greatly
exaggerated. Indeed, the only man on whom he could depend
was Trochu, who was by no means popular at Court, being especi-
ally disliked by the Empress. He was a friend of the Opposition,
however, and much beloved of the people. It is believed that,
at this time, he might have saved the dynasty had not Palikao
offended him by attempting to entrust the defence of Paris to
his subordinate. Nor had Trochu the magnanimity to offer his
services unreservedly to the Sovereign, so that on September 4th,
although he did nothing to stir the émeute, he allowed it to
proceed unchecked.

When the Chambers met on September 4th there were three
proposals before them—those of the Government, of Jules Favre,
and of Thiers. Palikao, in the name of the Government, pro-
posed to establish a Council of Government and National Defence.
The Council was to be composed of five members to be elected by
an absolute majority of the legislative body, while the Council
was to nominate Ministers, with Palikao as Lieutenant-General.
A grave defect in the motion was that it made no mention of the
Regent.

Jules Favre simply proposed déchéance—that is, deposition of
the Napoleon dynasty, as he had done a few hours before. Thiers
advocated the creation of a Committee of Government and
National Defence. The question of déchéance was left open. The
majority was in favour of Thiers’ proposition, but before the
vote could be taken the Chamber was attacked by the mob.
There is no need to describe the scene, which followed the course
of all Paris revolutions. The Empress, like Louis XVI. and Louis
Philippe, was opposed to the shedding of blood, and the troops
and police retired, leaving the mob masters of the situation. A
cry arose that the members should quit the Palais Bourbon and
proceed to the Hotel de Ville, and thither accordingly they went,
Jules Favre, a man of lofty stature and unblemished character,
leading the way.

Trochu, the most popular man in Paris, was sent for, and came
with some hesitation. He refused to act without consulting
Palikao, his superior officer, whom he found completely crushed,
seated with his face in his hands, having just heard of the death
of his son at Sedan. After listening to Trochu’s statement, he said,
If you do not take the direction of affairs, everything will be

666
FLIGHT OF THE EMPRESS

lost ; if you do, everything will be equally lost, but at least the
army will follow you.” Trochu took this as consent on Palikao’s
part, and returned to the Hétel de Ville. A new Government
was formed, of which he was the head. Jules Favre was Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Le Fl6 of War, Fourichon of the Navy,
Crémieux of Justice, Gambetta of the Interior, Picard of Finance.
It assumed the title of “‘ The Government of the National Defence.”

While this was going on, the Empress remained at the
Tuileries, surrounded by about twenty faithful servants. She
heard the cries of the mob in the Rue de Rivoli, and saw, in the
distance, the surging crowds in the Place de la Concorde. About
2 p.m. two of the Ministers arrived in the Tuileries, together with
Metternich and Nigra, the Ambassadors of Austria and Italy.
They had heard on the way the tumultuous shouts of ‘“ Déché-
ance!” and “‘ Vive la République!” and advised the Empress to
seek safety in flight. When she heard what had passed in the
Chamber, she was indignant at the desertion of Deputies who
owed everything to her. She then asked a friend if the Tuileries
could be defended without employing force, and he replied in the
negative. “‘Then there is nothing more to be done,’ she
answered, “ for I will not have a civil war.’’ The servants of the
household began to run away, as rats desert a sinking ship. Pietri,
the Minister of Police, arrived, and said: ‘‘ We are betrayed. All
resistance is impossible, and the forces on which we relied are
leaving us. The safety of Your Majesty necessitates an immediate
departure.”

The Empress bade farewell to her friends, most of whom wished
to accompany her; but she said that it would be impossible. She
was left alone with Metternich, Nigra, the two Chevreaus, Pietri,
and her reader, Madame Lebreton. Eventually she found an
asylum in the house of her faithful friend Evans, the American
dentist, the most upright of men, who, admitted to the friendship
of almost every reigning house in Europe, remained until his death
the trusted confidant of all, as he had been the trusted confidant
of Heine in his youth. He took the Empress and her companions,
with infinite wisdom, to Trouville, where his wife was staying,
avoided those mistakes which ruined the flight of the old monarchy
to Varennes, and, on a stormy night, one of the most tempestu-
ous of the century, the night on which the Captain foundered,
conveyed the Imperial party in a private yacht to Cowes.

It is needless to describe the dying agonies of the Senate and
the legislative body. These were neither very long nor very
dignified. Thiers expressed the general feeling when he said:

667
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

“We have only a few moments to pass together. We will not
dissolve, but retire each one to his own house, to live as good
citizens devoted to our country. We, indeed, neither resist nor
assist those who are fighting against the enemy. We can only say,
“God help them!’ ”

Paris gave itself up to scenes already too common in its history.
With characteristic levity the ensigns of the Empire—the eagles
and the crowned N—were destroyed; omnibuses ran as usual ;
shops and cafés were open; cries of “ Vive la République!”
alternated with the playing of the Marseillaise. The police were
absent, and in the streets soldiers and prostitutes indulged in
public debauch, as they had done in the Palais Royal at the
beginning of the century, before the arrival of Napoleon as
First Consul. At night the theatres were open and there was
almost an illumination.

When history narrates these epochal catastrophes, it is difficult
to realise how little they interrupt the general course of human
affairs. On Sunday, June 18th, 1815, when the fate of the world
was being decided a few miles off, at Waterloo, the cafés along
the boulevards of Brussels, which led to the battlefield, were all
open, and the crowds, who sipped their sugared water, gazed
upon the passage of wounded soldiers and fugitives as an amusing
sight.

The Imperial family was once more in exile—Napoleon at Wil-
helmshche, the Prince Imperial and the Empress at Hastings, and
Prince Napoleon at Florence, whence he was soon expelled, though
his wife drove out of the Palais Royal in Paris in her own carriage
like a true Princess. Pietri, Palikao, Chevreau, Rouher, Gramont
and Benedetti sought safety in emigration. But the German peril
was at the gates. If it had been forgotten in the moment of
exultation, it now returned as a burden of sorrow, sounding
through all the chants of triumph. On September 4th King
William was at Réthel, on September 5th at Reims, and in a
week’s time he would be at Paris.

The German army received its marching orders on the evening
of September 2nd, and next morning advanced in different direc-
tions on Paris, embarrassed with 120,000 prisoners. They were to
be within ten leagues of the capital by September 14th. The Third
Army was to escort the prisoners to Pont-a-Mousson and, having
handed them over to the troops before Metz, join the Crown
Prince. The army of the Crown Prince of Prussia was to march
to Versailles, that of the Crown Prince of Saxony to St. Denis.
Their routes intersected each other at Reims, but all passed with-

668
PARIS INVESTED

out disaster. The march proceeded quietly and regularly. Pre-
ceded by the trusty Uhlans, their mounted scouts, they moved
in open order, always within reach of Moltke, who could direct
them where he pleased. After the surrender of Reims on
September 5th, Laon was occupied on September 8th, but a
terrific explosion of a powder magazine killed 50 Germans and
300 Gardes mobiles.

As the armies approached Paris they met with a certain
amount of resistance, and a few combats took place, which were
of no great importance. Versailles was occupied on September
tgth, and the defiling of the troops through the town lasted from
Io in the morning till 5 in the afternoon. Versailles remained the
headquarters of the King and the Crown Prince of Prussia till the
close of the war.

In the investment of Paris the Crown Prince of Saxony
occupied the right bank of the Seine and the lower Maine from
Argenteuil by Montmagny and Blanc-Mesnil, and through the
wood of Bondy to Gournay ; the Crown Prince of Prussia occupied
the left bank of the Seine from Gournay to Bonneuil, Choisy-le-
Roy, Thiais, Chevilly, Sceaux, Meudon, Sévres and Bougival.
The two armies touched each other at the peninsula of Argenteuil.
The forces taking part in the investment, which eventually reached
the number of 250,000, were divided in such a way that the
Prussians occupied the north and west, the Bavarians the south,
the Saxons the east; while the Wiirtembergers were stationed
before the Paris forts. After the combats of Petit-Bicétre and
Chatillon on September rgth, the investment was complete, six
army corps occupying a space of fifty miles and standing in some
places within the fire of the fortifications.

Paris was now a fortress of the first rank, its river line
of defences being composed of ninety-four armed bastions, and
the second line by a circle of advanced forts, well provided with
garrisons and guns, one of which, Mont Valérien, was regarded as
impregnable. Besides these, the hills surrounding Paris were
furnished with entrenchments and redoubts, all connected with
each other. Bismarck had no desire to storm the capital, but
determined to invest it and trust to the effects of famine. He
wished, it is said, to allow the Parisians to “stew in their own
juice,” a very brutal expression, perhaps not historically accurate.
He believed that, if all supplies of food were carefully cut off, a
population of 2,000,000, many accustomed to luxury and self-
indulgence, could not hold out for very long. Great pains were,
therefore, taken to make the lines of investment impenetrable.

669
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

But Paris and Metz were not the only cities which were being
besieged by German armies. Toul, an ancient city of Lorraine,
which with Metz and Verdun formed the “‘ Three Bishoprics,”
the first territory ceded by the Teutons to the French, capitu-
lated on September 23rd, after a terrible bombardment. The
possession of this city opened up for the Germans direct railway
communication with the Rhine. Four days later, on September
27th, Strassburg, the great frontier city of the Rhine, the most
important acquisition of Louis XIV., fell into the hands of the
Germans, having held out since August roth. In the bombard-
ment great pains were taken to spare the cathedral, which was
only slightly injured. On the other hand, the public library, con-
sisting of about 300,000 volumes, many of exceptional value, was
entirely destroyed.

A natural result of the fall of the Empire was the withdrawal
of the French garrison from Rome and the establishment of Rome
as the capital of Italy. Indeed, an announcement of this policy
had been made by Ollivier on July 31st, 1870. It was obvious
that the Papal troops were quite unable to protect the Papal
territory. On August 29th a public declaration was made by the
Ministry at Florence that the capital would be transferred to
Rome before the end of September. On the Ist of that month
Victor Emmanuel proposed to the Pope that Rome should be
occupied by the Italians on the following conditions: The Pontiff
was to retain his sovereignty over the Leonine city—that is, over
the portion of Rome situated across the Tiber and occupied mainly
by St. Peter’s and the Vatican, and over all the ecclesiastical
institutions in the city. The incomes of the Pope, the Cardinals,
and all the Papal officers and officials were to remain unchanged.
The Papal debt was to be guaranteed to the Pope, and the
Cardinals were to retain their present immunities, even if not
residing in the Leonine city. All nations were to be freely
admitted to Rome, and the Catholic clergy throughout the whole
of Italy were to be immune from government supervision, and
the laws with regard to military service, inheritance of estates,
and municipal government were to be modified so far as Rome
was concerned. Unhappily the Pope refused to accept these
offers, and the division between Church and State in Italy still
continues.

On the morning of Sunday, September 11th, the Italian troops
entered Roman territory, and Viterbo was occupied without
opposition. The garrison of Rome numbered 9,000 men of different
kinds, and the gates were barricaded and strengthened by earth-

670
GUERILLA WARFARE

works. The garrison had sixty guns, and the extent of walls to be
defended was thirteen miles long. The storm began on September
20th, but after three hours’ fighting breaches were made at each
of the points attacked, and when the Italian troops began to
charge with the bayonet the Papal troops ran away. Then Keyler,
the commandant, hoisted the white flag, and negotiations for
surrender were begun. The Italians lost 21 killed and 117
wounded, the Papal troops 6 killed and 20 or 30 wounded. A
plebiscite for the annexation of the Papal territory to Italy was
taken on October 2nd, with the result that 136,681 voted “ Yes”
and only 1,507 “No.” The transcendent event, the completion
of Italy by the crown of Rome, the dream of so many generations,
the goal of the strivings of so many patriots, the cause for which
so many men had suffered and died, was accomplished by a coup
de main, which, in the general turmoil of European affairs, passed
almost without notice.

After Werder had captured Strassburg, he was sent to conquer
the southern portion of Alsace, from Schlettstadt to Belfort, and
drive the mobiles and the free corps out of the passes of the
Vosges, in which they were conducting a guerilla warfare. They
had collected together from all parts, and their operations were
conducted from the lofty Plateau of Langres, which played so
important a part in the war of 1814. These antagonists are the
most difficult to deal with in the invasion of a country. They
come into existence from the necessity of the case, yet cannot
be treated as belligerents and must be put down with severity.
They inflicted serious losses on the regular troops, and the
measures needed for their extermination constitute a stain on
the conduct of the war. Great Britain had experience of them
in the South African War, in which the measures adopted for
their suppression only produced additional irritation, and she
allied herself with them in Spain against Napoleon, when they
were called patriots and resisters of tyranny and oppression. They
were for many years the curse of La Vendée, where they were
also assisted by the British Government until they were put down
by the genius of Napoleon.

Certainly the conduct of the war by the German armies forms
a striking contrast to the wild attacks of these undisciplined com-
batants, and even to the behaviour of the French regular troops.
The German operations were a triumph of reason, calculated effort,
and unbroken discipline. Every loss was rapidly repaired ; roads,
bridges, railways were promptly mended; a man lost by death,
disease, or desertion was immediately replaced; hundreds of

671
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

thousands of armed warriors obeyed the order of a single mouth,
the thought of a single brain. Disobedience and mutiny were
unknown. The French, clinging to the old ideas of chivalry and
dash, confident in the strength of outworn principles and ideals,
were no match for the cultured, spectacled, serious masses of a
national army, which now came down upon them with resistless
might, but also with the moderation and self-command which
should always be at hand to temper the exercise of power. The
order imposed by Moltke on the general conduct of the war was
shown in the detailed execution of it, in the discipline of the
corps, the organisation of the field force, the accuracy of field
telegraphy, the faultless commissariat, the quality of the food
supplied, in which the famous “pea sausage” played an
important part, the rapid communication by field-railways, the
admirable sanitary arrangements, and the devotion of men and
women of all classes in the work of the hospitals and the care of
disease.

War is a hideous thing, but it loses much of its horror when
directed by organised reason and intelligence. The first Napoleon
was the incarnation of order, no person having ever manifested
in such harmonious equilibrium the spirit of calculation and the
energy of passion; but he had to build upon a foundation which
was not strong enough to bear the weight of his ideas. When he
saw that his last hope had been defeated at Waterloo, he said,
“Tt has always been the same since Crécy!” Bismarck and
Moltke were able to act upon a surer foundation; the victories
of Sedan and Paris were won, not in the playing fields of public
schools, but in the classrooms of gymnasiums and on the benches
of universities.

We have already recorded that, on October 5th, King William
moved his headquarters to Versailles. In these gilded saloons
the aged monarch slept on a field-bed, the General Staff developed
their plans for the administration of a conquered France, Bismarck
plied his diplomatic arts to prevent the interference of Europe
with his plans. The halls and galleries, silent for years, echoed
once more to the throng of princes and courtiers. Unfortunately,
during the siege of Paris the lovely country which stretches
between the chateau and the capital was gradually turned into
a howling desert. St. Cloud, the scene of so many historical
events, was set on fire by the French, and only with difficulty
and danger could the Germans save any part of the edifice
and the costly works of art it contained. Malmaison, insepar-
ably connected with the name of Josephine and the First Con-

672
GAMBETTA’S CAMPAIGN

sulate of Napoleon, was ruined in a sally by the French on
October 2ist.

A new character was given to fig struggle by Léon Gambetta,
a man of commanding ideas and fiery eloquence, who always kept
the leaders of the Great Revolution before his eyes. He left
Paris in a balloon, and reached Tours on October 7th, where he
joined the provisional Government. He spared no effort to rouse
the country against the invaders and compel the retirement of
the besieging army. For this purpose France, with the exception
of Paris, was divided into four governments—the north, under
Bourbaki, with Lille for its capital; the south, under Fiérick,
who had his headquarters at Le Mans; the centre, under Palikao,
in Bourges ; and the last, under Cambriéls, in Besancon. Eleven
camps of instruction were also formed against the enemy.
Two armies, which bore the names of the Loire and the Seine,
were to advance upon Paris and assist in sorties organised
by Trochu.

In accordance with this policy sorties were made on October
13th and October aist, the first in the south and the second in the
west, and the more important attack on Le Bourget, in the south-
east, which took place on October 28th and caused great sensation
in Europe. The French succeeded in driving the Germans from
Le Bourget and holding it for two days, but they were eventually
driven back after an obstinate engagement. There was great
difficulty in keeping up communication between the capital and
the provinces, because all the telegraph wires had been destroyed
by the invading army. This difficulty was surmounted to a great
extent with admirable ingenuity by the use of carrier pigeons and
balloons.

In forming his plans for the relief of Paris, Gambetta had
counted on the co-operation of Bazaine, who was shut up with
his army in Metz, but before the organisation of the Army of the
Seine was completed Bazaine capitulated. On October 11th he
sent one of his adjutants, Boyer, to the headquarters at Versailles
to propose terms. He demanded for his army a free departure
with arms and baggage, with the obligation not to take part in the
war for three months, while Metz preserved the right of defending
herself. At the same time private negotiations were conducted
between Bazaine and the Empress Eugénie in England, with the
object of employing the army of Metz for the restoration of the
Empire. The history of these negotiations is imperfectly known,
but it is probable that Bazaine was deceived by Bismarck for his
own purposes. These negotiations came to no result, and Bazaine

w 673
1

A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

was at last forced to capitulate on similar terms to those which
had been granted to the French army at Sedan. If he had only
held out for a fortnight longer the course of the war might have
been materially altered. As it was, Metz and its fortifications
were delivered to the enemy, with arms, munitions of war, and
provisions; and the whole army, including three marshals—
Bazaine, Canrobert and Lebceuf—with 6,000 officers and more
than 150,000 soldiers, became prisoners of war. The disarma-
ment took place on October 27th and 28th, in a meadow
on the road between Jarny and Metz. A catastrophe of this
kind has seldom been recorded in the history of any European
war.

In the last months of 1870 the northern half of France, from
the Jura to the English Channel, from the frontier of Belgium to
the Loire, was one vast battlefield. Of the troops set free by the
capitulation of Metz, part remained behind as a garrison under
Zastrow, having also the object of attacking Thionville, and part
marched to the north under Manteuffel, to occupy Picardy and
Normandy and prevent Bourbaki from approaching Paris. Another
portion joined the Second Army, which, under the command of
Prince Frederick Charles, had its headquarters in Troyes. This
army was supported on the right by Von der Tann and the
Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and on the left by Werder, who
was on one side opposed to the French Army of the Loire and
on the other to the volunteer corps of Garibaldi. Other detach-
ments went to strengthen these armies, which were besieging
Paris, and were also sent against the forces in the north. The
result of the various movements was that Soissons fell on October
16th, Verdun on November 8th, Thionville on November 24th,
Pfalzburg on December 12th, Montmédy on December 14th,
and Méziéres on January 2nd, 1871, the garrisons of all these
towns being sent as prisoners to Germany. One fortress, the
little castle of Bitsch, nestling among the mountains of Alsace,
was never taken, and did not come into the possession of the
Germans till the peace.

We have already mentioned that Werder had great difficulty
in dealing with the mutinous districts of the Jura and the Vosges,
in consequence of the resistance of the inhabitants. These were
joined by Garibaldi and his two sons, Ricciotti and Menotti, who
were accompanied by a motley crew of Republicans of all
nationalities—Italians, Spaniards and Poles. Lyons, with the
camp of Santonay and the industrial town of St. Etienne, was a
centre of rebellious excitement. The red flag floated in the streets,

674
GAMBETTA’S NATIONAL APPEAL

and the Socialists, who got command of the town, established a
reign of violence and terror. Garibaldi, who had been brought
from Caprera to France in a French ship, proceeded by way of
Marseilles to Tours, where he received the command of all the
free corps on the Vosges. He established his headquarters in
Dole on October 14th.

In the chilly days of November and December, when Treskow
began the siege of Belfort, a violent struggle took place in
Burgundy, round Vesoul and Montbeliard, Gray and Dijon.
The last-named city, the old capital of Burgundy, was taken
on the last day of October, by Prince William of Baden, and
this success assisted the capture of Belfort, bravely defended by
its commandant, Denfert-Rochereau. When Treskow entreated
him not to increase the horror of the war unnecessarily, he replied
that the best method of effecting that would be the retreat of the
Germans. Dijon was held with difficulty and had to be evacuated
more than once, while the night attack on Chatillon by Ricciotti
Garibaldi, which cost considerable loss to the Germans, showed
the dangers to which the invading army was exposed. It seemed
possible that the line of the Rhine might be reconquered, and the
valleys of the Black Forest exposed to attack.

Gambetta now set himself to involve the whole French people
in the struggle against the Germans, and make the annihilation of
the enemy a national duty. The character of the war became
very bloodthirsty, and the attacks of guerilla combatants
upon the German troops had, as we have said, to be put
down by severe reprisals. In the night of October 7th a
squadron of Prussian hussars was attacked by free corps at
Athis and almost entirely destroyed. An example was necessary,
and the town was burned. The neutral Powers were horrified
at these measures, which, however, were shown to be absolutely
essential.

In October some cavalry regiments were sent in a southerly
direction to explore the country between the Seine and the Loire,
make requisitions, and fall in with the rearguard of the Army of
the Loire under La Motterouge, who was marching to the relief of
Paris. The Crown Prince, learning that this force was in Toury,
which lies between Orleans and Etampes, sent against them
General von der Tann, with the first Bavarian army corps and
some North German troops. They came up with the rearguard
of the retreating French at Artenay on October oth, compelled
them to fight in the forest of Orleans, and, on the following day,
took possession of Orleans. Motterouge was deprived of his

675
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

command by Gambetta, who gave it to Aurelle de Paladines, who
had served in Africa, the Crimea and Italy.

The new commander got together the various contingents
which had been formed and practised in the several camps of
instruction, and set himself not only to recover the line of the
Loire, but to cross the stream at various points and carry out
the original design of a march towards Paris. Although great
pains were taken to conceal these movements, they came to Von
der Tann’s knowledge. In order that his flank might not be
turned, he evacuated Orleans on November 8th, leaving his sick
behind, in charge of the municipality, as he hoped to be able to
return. Wittich, who had been sent against Chateaudun and
captured it with difficulty, defended as it was by Gardes mobiles
and free corps under the command of Lipowski, a Pole, received
orders to retreat to Chartres. A severe battle took place at
Coulmiers on November roth, in which the French were much
superior in numbers, and Von der Tann had some difficulty in
effecting his retreat to Tours, where he was joined by Wittich.
In the fight, which lasted from daybreak to dusk, the French lost
2,000 killed and wounded, and the Germans only a little more
than half this, showing the difference between seasoned troops and
hot, inexperienced levies.

The victory at Coulmiers caused great rejoicings to the French
and some discouragement to the Germans. Gambetta, to whose
energy and genius it was mainly due, did everything in his power
to increase the forces at his disposal, and unite the whole strength
of the south and north in common action. He summoned up, as
it were, from the soil new forces from the south. He hastened
in person to the camp of Conlie, in Brittany, and succeeded in
reconciling the two generals, Charette and Kératry, who had
quarrelled. But his principal hopes for the salvation of France
and the deliverance of Paris from the iron ring which enclosed her,
lay in the Army of the Loire and the energetic leadership of Aurelle
de Paladines. But, as before, enthusiasm and zeal were no match
for discipline and experience. The German troops in the vicinity
of the Loire were united in a single army under the command of
Frederick Francis, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. A
week after the battle of Coulmiers he inflicted such defeats at
Dreux, Chateauneuf, Bigny, and in the forest of St. Jean, upon
Gardes mobiles, who under Fiéreck were attempting to join
the Army of the Loire, that he not only prevented the threatened
junction, but created such dismay among the young recruits that
Kératry laid down his command and Fiéreck had to be super-

676
INEFFECTUAL FRENCH EFFORTS

seded. Some detachments retired by way of Nogent-le-Rotrou
to Le Mans, where they were followed and watched by the
Germans.

The Grand Duke now received orders to march farther to the
east and join the Second Army under Prince Frederick Charles.
This resulted, on November 28th, in the indecisive Battle of
Beaune-la-Rolande, north-east of the Forest of Orleans, in which
the French were as numerous as the Germans. Both sides were
aware of the importance of the battle and the influence it would
have on the progress of the war. It was therefore contested with
the utmost energy, and the losses on both sides were correspond-
ingly heavy. The Germans, however, had the best of it, and the
French were prevented from carrying out their design of proceed-
ing to Paris by way of Fontainebleau. Further attempts to push
through to the west were repelled in a number of engagements
fought by the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin between
Artenay and Chateaudun, the most important being the Battle
of Loigny, on December 2nd, the great day of the fallen Empire.
The French were compelled to retreat with serious loss, but the
Germans also suffered considerably, their difficulties being
enhanced by the endless labour caused by the nature of the
muddy soil, now thoroughly soaked with rain, and the cold winter
which had begun to make itself felt.

Trochu, who commanded at Paris, was not ignorant of the
efforts which were being made to relieve him. He did his best
to second them by repeated sorties to the south and west, and
desired to effect a junction with the Army of the Loire in the
Forest of Fontainebleau. But the possibility of relief from the
side of the Loire was gradually coming to an end. The day after
the Battle of Loigny, the French were driven back from Pougny,
and the result of four days’ fighting on the bank of the Loire and
the edge of the thick forest which protects Orleans was that the
French were eventually compelled to abandon their positions
and retire to the south, the Germans reaching Orleans on
December 4th. Trochu’s attempts to break through the lines
of investment at the same time and join the Army of the
Loire were also repulsed. It is impossible to contemplate
without a deep sense of pathos the result of the passionate
efforts of the French, everywhere crushed by the iron hand of
the relentless foe, like the struggles of a boar in the folds of a
python.

By the capture of Orleans a large number of prisoners and
much booty fell into the hands of the Germans, and what remained

677
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of the Army of the Loire retreated down the river to Blois.
Bishop Dupanloup was taken in his palace, and his cathedral was
turned into a receptacle for captives. Gambetta narrowly escaped
being captured on his way from Tours to the field of battle. He
was dissatisfied with the manner in which Aurelle de Paladines
had conducted the campaign, and relieved him of his command.
He now conceived the plan of forming his levies into two divisions,
one of which should operate towards the east under the command
of Bourbaki, who had relinquished the command of the Army of
the North to Faidherbe, while the other, under Czerny, should
undertake the duty of expelling the enemy from the lower and
middle Loire. For the purpose of conducting these operations with
greater freedom, the seat of the Government was removed, on
December roth, from Tours to Bordeaux, and was followed there
by a portion of the Diplomatic Body.

The struggle of the French against the invaders became more
and more severe. The feeling of desperation grew stronger, and
this was enforced by the pressure of the French Government,
which drove combatants into the field and extracted money from
all quarters. Chanzy, the commander of the second Army of
the Loire, conducted a splendid resistance against the troops of
the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Meung, Beaugency
and Marchenoir, and gained considerable advantages, until Prince
Frederick Charles, who had at last driven back Bourbaki, came
to the Grand Duke’s assistance. Chanzy was driven back towards
Blois and Tours, both of which were soon occupied. Chanzy now
retired to Vendédme and Le Mans, in the valley of the Sarthe, to
strengthen the Army of the West, while Bourbaki was driven to
the south, and the whole country as far as Bourges and Nevers
was occupied by German troops. The great object had been to
prevent the Army of the Loire from reaching Paris, and this
object was attained, Orleans, Chartres and Beauvais were used
by the invading army as places of concentration of their forces
directed against the south, west and north. About Christmas
there was a cessation of hostilities to give the troops rest. Von
der Tann established a kind of winter quarters in Orleans. Men
and horses needed repose, and their equipment repairs, while the
shoes of the infantry had been destroyed by constant marches
in the snow and rain. The French were even in worse plight ;
the inhabitants had fled in terror, and the wounded, overflowing
the neighbouring hospitals, had to be taken as far as Bayonne,
Biarritz and Pau. It was sometimes difficult to get the mobiles
to stand their ground.

678
BELEAGUERED PARIS

After a fortnight’s rest the united armies of Prince Frederick
Charles and the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, number-
ing more than 70,000 men, advanced against Chanzy. In the
midst of the paralysing cold of an unusually severe winter the
Germans pursued the French over fields whose surface was covered
with snow and slippery ice. Shot at by the sharpshooters of the
free corps, who lay in ambush behind every hedge and every wall,
the Germans moved slowly by painful efforts, hill after hill and
field after field, but a decisive battle took place at the gates of
Le Mans on January 11th and rath, 1871, and the camp of Conlie
was captured on January 15th. Chanzy was compelled to retire
to Laval, where he attempted to reorganise the relics of his army,
and the Germans pressed forward to Alencon.

The attempts to reach Paris by the armies of the south and
west were seconded by the effort of the beleaguered forces to break
through the lines of investment and join their deliverers. For
this purpose batteries armed with large pieces of field ordnance
had been erected on the heights of Mont Avron to the east of
Paris, in front of the forts of Nogent and Rosny, in order to
bombard the villages occupied by the troops of Saxony and
Wiirtemberg. Ducrot had selected this region as best adapted
for a successful outbreak, and he issued a proclamation declaring
that he would return from the attack either a conqueror or
a corpse. He made frequent assaults on the Germans to the
south and north to divert the attention of the enemy, while he
passed beyond Vincennes, carrying his main force in ironclad
trains, to reach the point against which his efforts were directed.
Under the protection of a terrible cannonade from Mont Avron
and the forts of Charenton and Nogent, he threw eight bridges
across the Marne and attacked the villages of Brie, Champigny,
Villiers, and Noisy. On November 30th the Germans were able
to defend their positions for a whole day, but were eventually
compelled to evacuate Brie and Champigny, which, however, were
shortly afterwards recovered. In their engagements in the two
days’ battle of Villiers, Cornilly, and other combats, the Germans
lost about 6,200 men, and the French enjoyed the triumph of
marching some hundreds of German prisoners through the streets
of Paris, but they lost on their side 12,000 men and more than
400 officers.

The hopes of the defenders of Paris to obtain relief from the
south gradually disappeared, while cold and hunger produced
their inevitable results. But the beleaguered city continued to
look for assistance from the north and north-west, from Normandy,

679
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Artois and Picardy, the free corps of French Flanders and the
“Wild Boars of the Ardennes.’’ Since October considerable forces
had been collected in these regions, supported by the strong places
of Lille and Amiens, first under the command of Bourbaki and
then of Faidherbe. The fact that La Fére, St. Quentin and
Péronne were in the hands of the French hampered the concen-
tration of the German forces, and made an advance upon Paris
possible at any moment. The combat of Formerie between
Rouen and Amiens on October 28th, 1870, showed how much the
organisation of the French forces had improved. But Manteuffel
and Gébe, by superhuman efforts, gradually became masters of
the Valley of the Somme, and Amiens was captured after a great
battle on November 27th, after which the Germans proceeded to
the conquest of Normandy.

Rouen fell on December 6th, and three days later, by the
conquest of Dieppe, the Germans reached the shores of the English
Channel, the French taking refuge in Le Havre, where the soldiers
arrived in the most miserable condition without clothes and with-
out shoes. The peasants took refuge in the same place, although
their peace was afterwards disturbed by patrolling Uhlans. Ten
days later the repulse of a sortie, organised by Trochu on a large
scale at Le Bourget, already the scene of hard-fought engagements,
gave the Germans and the French the opportunity of celebrating
their Christmas in comparative peace. Christmas Eve was marked
by the long-protracted and sanguinary Battle of Hallue. At
Bapaume, on January 2nd and 3rd, 1871, the victory remained
uncertain, the French retreating to the north and the Germans
to the south. Rouen had to be carefully watched by Bentheim,
and many prisoners were taken. The Germans learnt from them
that the population was becoming tired of the war and that the
mobiles had to be driven into the field by force. The stores of the
French became gradually less. Roncy was captured on January
8th and Péronne on January roth. The departure of Manteuffel
for the Army of the East inspired Faidherbe with new courage.
Reinforced by fresh arrivals of marines and Gardes mobiles, he
determined to make an attack on the lines of investment; but he
suffered a serious defeat at St. Quentin on January roth, and that
important fortress was lost to the French. Gambetta now went
to Lille and did his best to rouse the spirits of the northern army.
But it was all in vain. The troops were clad in rags and wooden
shoes, and the people were gradually losing their spirit. Gambetta
went by way of Calais to Bordeaux to exert in another direction
the efforts of a heroic defence. Longwy fell on January 25th,

680
AN EMPIRE IN THE MAKING

and the eyes of Europe were turned to a new scene of conflict on
the Jura and the Saéne.

The bombardment of Paris, which had long been deferred,
was now begun on the day after Christmas Day, and increased
tenfold the distress of the besieged citizens. The Parisians had
believed that an effectual bombardment at so great a distance
was impossible, but when shells were seen to fall in the heart of
Paris, in the Luxembourg, in the churches of St. Sulpice and
the Panthéon, when persons were killed in the Rue de Bois and
the Faubourg St. Germain, there was a general outcry against
the barbarians who had the audacity to destroy the metropolis of
civilisation. Trochu was now driven, against his better judgment,
to make one last effort on January 19th, the day after the King
of Prussia had been proclaimed German Emperor in the Mirror
Gallery of the Palace of Versailles. The whole of the French
forces, 100,000 strong, marched in the direction of Meudon, Sévres,
and St. Cloud for the final struggle. Vinoy commanded on the
left, Ducrot on the right, while Trochu conducted the whole
advance from the commanding position of the Observatory. By
II a.m. the redoubt of Montretout and the villas had been taken,
but Ducrot was hindered in his advance by the barricades which
had been erected in the streets of Paris, and was unable to give
support at the proper time. After an obstinate fight of seven
hours the French were driven back into Paris, with a loss of 7,000
men, and next day Trochu demanded an armistice to bury the
dead. After long discussions a convention was signed providing
for a suspension of hostilities from January 28th to February 19th.
It was stated at Berlin in the succeeding winter, on the authority
of Moltke, that until this last sortie had been made and failed
the success of the investment of Paris was still regarded as un-
certain, and that the King’s baggage stood ready packed at
Versailles in order that he might depart at any moment if it were
necessary to do so.

Whilst events were passing on the Seine, the Loire, and the
Somme, and in the east of France, the new German Empire, which
was to take the place of the Holy Roman Empire of ancient days,
to realise the aspirations of many centuries, and make Germany
a single nation, was slowly coming into being. North Germans
and South Germans were now fighting together for a common
cause against a common enemy, and differences of race and creed
had disappeared on the field of battle. Surely the time had
come when this union should be politically consummated, when
the Main should no longer separate communities which God and

w* 681
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Nature had joined together ; when Germany should take its place
among the consolidated nations of the world. Baden was the
first to show the way. She was followed by Bavaria, Wiirtemberg
and Hesse; and in November, 1870, the Ministers of these four
States conferred with Bismarck as to the best means of enlarging
the North German League so as to include the South. Some
difficulty was found with Bavaria, a country with a strong national
life, differing from Prussia in religion and sentiment, and proud
of its individuality. But by mutual concessions these difficulties
were overcome, and both Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were allowed
certain privileges with regard to military service, taxes, post and
telegraphs. A treaty was signed with Bavaria on November 23rd
and with Wiirtemberg on November 25th.

These treaties had now to be confirmed by the Parliaments
of the South and the North. No difficulty was made in Carlsruhe,
Stuttgart, Darmstadt or Berlin, the necessary majority of two-
thirds being readily obtained. A great advance in political wisdom
was apparent since 1848 and 1849. It had been recognised that
compromise is the essence of government, and that strict and
pedantic adherence to outworn precedents makes progress
impossible. In Munich, however, strong opposition was met
with, partly from the Ultra-Catholics and partly from the
Democrats, the first not liking to submit to the headship of a
Protestant sovereign, the others holding that the basis of freedom
lay in particularism, and that it would be fatal to individual
liberty to submit to the stern rule which made Prussia a military
nation and held the community together with an iron hand.
Many had also dreamed of a future in which Bavaria should be
at the head of a South German Confederation, Catholic and
cultivated, sociable and unrestrained, free from the narrow for-
malism which characterised the North.

For many weeks the excitement of these debates held Germany
in suspense, and it was feared that the cause of German unity
might spell shipwreck to Bismarck. It was said that eighty-five
members of the Bavarian Chamber had sworn never to consent
to the Treaty of Versailles, or sanction the admission of the
country into the North German League. King Ludwig was at
this time Sovereign of Bavaria, one of the most brilliant and
attractive personalities that ever occupied a throne. Splendidly
handsome, full of enthusiasm for art and music and all lofty
ideals, he was now beginning a career which was to end in gloom
and sorrow. Instinct with the idea of renewing a German Empire
of which his ancestors had so often been the head, he addressed

682
THE GERMAN EMPIRE PROCLAIMED

a demand to King William to assume that position, with the
assurance that the Upper House of his country was in favour of
the step, though even then it was doubtful whether the patriots
in the Lower House would give their consent.

When it was known that the Reichstag in Berlin had agreed to
the new order of things, and that the proposal of the King of
Bavaria had met with the general approval of the princes, it was
determined to send a deputation to Versailles to congratulate the
King. Thirty members of the Reichstag, with the venerable
President Simson at their head, carried to their Sovereign the
wish of the nation that he would accept the dignity offered him,
and give to the ancient title of Emperor a new lustre. This was
the second time that Simson had made a similar offer. In 1849
a small majority of the Frankfort Parliament had begged the
King of Prussia to assume the crown of the German Empire, and
the same offer was now made by the German people and its
princes after a series of brilliant victories.

On December 18th, 1870, the deputation made its request to
the King, who personally acceded to it, and it was arranged that
the new order of things should begin on January 1st of the coming
year. The public and solemn assent to this act was given in
the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles on January 18th, 1871, the
r17th anniversary of the day when the first King of Prussia,
Frederick I., received the crown in the old capital of Kénigsberg
and opened a new epoch to the glories of his House. It is needless
to describe the historic scene when, in the sanctuary of that proud
palace in which French Sovereigns and Ministers had so often
plotted for the ruin of the Germany they despised, a new European
Power was created which should compel France to take a second
place in the counsels of the world. It came as a cheerful piece of
news on January 22nd that the Bavarian Parliament had accepted
the proposal of the new Empire with a sufficient majority.

The line of demarcation established by the Convention cut
through the Departments of Calvados and Orne, and left in the
power of the Germans the Departments of Indre-et-Loire, Sarthe,
Loir-et-Cher, Loiret and Yonne. It then passed to the north-
east, but did not include the Departments of Pas-de-Calais and
Nord. The cessation of war in the Departments of Céte-d’Or,
Doubs, Jura, and at Belfort was deferred for the present.
Arrangements were made for the election of a National Assembly,
which was to meet at Bordeaux and to decide the question of war
and peace. The whole of the Paris forts were to be immediately
surrendered and the fortifications dismantled. Ali the French

683
—

A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

troops in Paris were to be considered prisoners, with the excep-
tion of 12,000, who were to be left for the security of the capital.
They were to remain for the present within the walls of the city,
their arms being surrendered. The National Guard and the
gendarmes were allowed to retain their arms for the purpose of
preserving the peace, but all the free corps were disbanded.
Measures were taken for the provisioning of Paris. No one was
allowed to leave the capital without the joint permission of the
French and Germans, and the municipality was to pay a contri-
bution of 200,000,000 francs within fourteen days. All German
prisoners were to be immediately exchanged for a corresponding
number of French.

The Convention was carried out with difficulty; the forts
were evacuated and occupied by Germans, arrangements were
made for the elections, and outbreaks of patriotic fury were
prevented. Gambetta attempted to exclude from the franchise
for the election of the new Assembly anyone who had served
under the Empire. Some objection was taken to this, but Jules
Simon and Arago left for Bordeaux to carry out the work
according to the conditions of the Convention. Gambetta
retired ; his military dictatorship was at an end. The arrival of
provisions for the starving capital was hailed with enthusiasm,
but the Republicans and advanced Democrats began to cause
disturbance. They would not accept the situation, attributing
defeat not to the superiority of the enemy, but to the
incompetence of the Government. The largest number of votes-
was given to the extreme candidates—Victor Hugo, Delescluze,
Ledru Rollin, Lockroy, Floquet, Louis Blanc, Rochefort, Gam-
betta, and other members of the International. The coming
Commune began to announce itself.

The bloodshed was not at an end. Werder had, for a long
time, his headquarters in Dijon, from which centre he contested
several engagements in November and December, 1870. Garibaldi
directed his operations from Autun and, joining with General
Cremer, attempted to drive the Germans out of Burgundy and
relieve Belfort. The battle took place at Nuits, famous for its
wine, on December 18th, and the Baden troops sustained the
hottest part of the fray. The French were compelled to retreat
in the evening, having lost 2,000 dead and wounded, besides
leaving 700 prisoners in the hands of the enemy. The losses of
the Germans were also very severe. Gambetta now formed a
plan by which Bourbaki, perhaps the most competent of the
French generals, should, with that part of the Army of the Loire

684
BOURBAKI’S GREAT EFFORT

which, after the second conquest of Orleans, had retired to Bourges,
move eastwards towards Nevers and, gathering what reinforce-
ments he could, throw himself on the German communications,
set Belfort and the Upper Rhine free, and carry destruction into
the hills of Baden and the Black Forest. Telegraph wires were
to be cut, railways broken up, and bridges destroyed, so that the
retreat of the Germans towards the Rhine might be cut off. In
pursuance of these plans, the bridge over the Moselle at Fontenay
was broken down on January 22nd, 1871, and railway communica-
tions were interrupted for ten days.

The only barrier to the carrying out of these designs, inspired
by the genius of Gambetta, was the force of Werder, who was
posted at Dijon with 28,000 men, composed of contingents from
every part of Germany. Whilst Bourbaki was approaching in rapid
marches by way of Besancon and Montbeliard to raise the siege
of Belfort and invade Alsace,-Werder was compelled to evacuate
Dijon, which was immediately occupied by Garibaldi. Proceed-
ing by forced marches past Gray, Vesoul and Lure, after three
days Werder got in front of the enemy, whom he defeated on
January gth at Villersexel, on the Oignon, losing 27 officers and
619 men. He then occupied a favourable position on the wooded
heights beyond the Lisaine, and arrested Bourbaki’s march, at
Héricourt. Three days’ obstinate struggle, on January 15th, 16th
and 17th, gave Manteuffel time to come up from the north,
and the victories of Werder at Héricourt and of Godben at St.
Quentin were the first gifts of honour which the newly-proclaimed
Emperor received at Versailles. Bourbaki had intended to march
from Besancon in a southerly direction towards Lyons, but it was
too late. Manteuffel arrived to the assistance of Werder, with
two army corps—the Pomeranians under Fransecky and the
Westphalians under Zastrow.

Kettler was left behind at Dijon to watch Garibaldi, posted
there with 25,000 volunteers, and hold him in check; whilst the
larger portion of the army marched between the forces of
Garibaldi and Bourbaki by way of Gray to Déle, an important
junction of three railways, thus cutting off the supplies of food
and clothing which were intended for the hungry and frozen
soldiers of Bourbaki. Whilst Garibaldi fought against Kettler
on January 21st, 22nd and 23rd, under the impression that he
had the whole of Manteuffel’s army in front of him, Bourbaki
was gradually surrounded by the troops of Werder, Zastrow and
Fransecky in such a manner that they had no alternative but
cross the frontier into Switzerland.

685
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

By the Convention of Paris, the Departments of the Céte d’Or,
Jura and Doubs had been excepted from the armistice, in order
that Bourbaki might have an opportunity of relieving Belfort.
When Jules Favre made these conditions, he did not know that
Bourbaki was separated from Garibaldi, and that his army was
in the Jura in a miserable condition, without clothes or ammuni-
tion. After an engagement at Salins on January 27th, Bourbaki’s
troops were attacked not far from Pontarlier on January 2gth
and driven to the frontier, where 10,000 prisoners fell into the
hands of the Germans. The last two days of January witnessed
the Battle of Frasne, which caused still greater losses, and
Bourbaki was reduced to such a state of despair that he attempted
his life. But the wound was slight, and he was conveyed to
Lyons, where he speedily recovered.

His place was taken by Clinchant, who, on February ist, had
the alternative of a capitulation like that of Sedan or of crossing
the neutral frontier. He chose the latter, and Europe witnessed
the spectacle of an army of 65,000 men in the most miserable
condition, half-starved and scarcely like human beings, crossing
the frontier and laying down their arms, the Swiss doing their
utmost to supply their needs. General Cremer, with a small force
of cavalry, contrived to reach the soil of France. An eye-witness
tells us that when the French arrived in Switzerland their clothes
were rent and dropping off them, their hands and feet were frost-
bitten, their shrunken features and uncertain gait told of gnawing
hunger, their deep coughs and hoarse voices bore witness to long
nights spent on snow and frozen ground. Some had tied bits
of wood under their bare feet to protect them from stones; others
wore wooden sabots; hundreds had no socks, and such as were
worn were only of thin cotton. For weeks none had washed or
changed his clothes or removed his boots. Some had lost their
toes ; for three days they had neither food nor fodder served out
to them, and before that only one loaf was allowed among eight
men. This was the fourth French army which had been rendered
useless for further combat since the Germans had invaded France
in August, the others being those of Sedan, Metz, and Paris.
Belfort, which had been so nobly defended by Denfert-Roehereau,
capitulated by order of the French Government on February 16th,
and the garrison, in recognition of their bravery, were allowed to
march out with the honours of war.

Thus ended one of the most remarkable wars in history,
marked by twenty-three battles and an endless number of other
engagements. Never before had such large masses of men been

686
END OF THE WAR

seen in conflict. The losses of the Germans were calculated at
5,254 officers and 112,000 men, while those of the French in killed,
wounded, and prisoners almost defy enumeration. The number
of German prisoners captured by the French did not exceed

10,000, whereas at least 400,000 unarmed Frenchmen crossed the
Rhine as captives.

687
CHAPTER X

THE COMMUNE

THE National Assembly at Bordeaux consisted of 750 Deputies,
elected in Cantons from a list of candidates for each Depart-
ment. The general desire was for peace. The peasants had
chosen Orleanists and Legitimists, as being men well known and
of position, who could be trusted and were in favour of peace.
They formed the majority of the Assembly, numbering 400 against
350. The Departments of the south-east, where the war had
been most severe, returned Republicans, and in Paris many
Revolutionaries were chosen. There was not a sufficient number of
Monarchists to outweigh the Republicans, but they were deter-
mined not to submit either to Gambetta or to Paris, and therefore
they left the choice of the form of government to the future.

Jules Grévy, a Republican and an opponent of Gambetta, was
made President, and Thiers was placed at the head of the
Executive, as he had been elected in twenty-six Departments
and was very popular in consequence of his protest against the
war. He was, indeed, master of the situation. He selected for
his Ministers moderate Republicans, who belonged to the peace
party, and announced that his policy would be confined to
reorganisation, the restoration of credit, and the revival of
industry. On February 26th Thiers and Jules Favre signed the
preliminaries of peace, which were ratified by the Assembly on
March 1st by 546 votes to 107, with 23 abstentions. Napoleon
III. was formally deposed and declared responsible for the ruin
of France.

On this same day the German troops marched through a
portion of the capital. The amour propre of France had been
so far considered that an occupation of Paris had been given up,
but the march had been conceded by Thiers as a ransom for Belfort.
Prussian and Bavarian troops marched from Mont Valérien,
through the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées. The
Palais de I’Industrie and the Cirque Impérial were assigned to the
German troops, and a strong French force guarded the line which
separated the occupied districts from the remainder of the city.
The day passed without serious incident, but was kept throughout

688
ANARCHY IN PARIS

Paris as a day of mourning. Neither the Emperor nor the Crown
Prince accompanied the troops. As soon as the ratification of
the treaty had been notified by Favre to Bismarck, Paris was
evacuated and the march home begun. The headquarters of
Versailles were broken up on March 7th. °

As soon as the preliminaries had been ratified, four of the
Revolutionary Deputies for Paris resigned, refusing to sit in an
Assembly which had surrendered two provinces, dismembered
France, and ruined the country. It was inevitable that a conflict
should break out in the Bordeaux Assembly between the Revolu-
tionaries of the towns, especially of Paris, and the Deputies for
the country districts. The decree allowing the Prussians to enter
Paris roused intense indignation in the city, and there were signs
of a coming storm. The cannon which had been purchased by
the citizens for the defence of Paris were removed to Montmartre
and Belleville, but the people had the good sense not to attack
the Prussians. Another cause of offence was that the Bordeaux
Assembly determined to sit at Versailles and not at Paris. More-
over, the commercial interests of the capital were neglected by
the Assembly refusing to sanction the postponement of rent and
of payments due for commercial transactions which had been
granted during the siege, and the payment to the working men
as National Guards, which cost a considerable sum, was stopped.

When Thiers arrived at Versailles on March 15th he sent
troops to bring back the cannon from Montmartre, and three days
later the soldiers made common cause with the people. Lecomte,
who commanded the troops, was shot by the mob, and so was
Clément Thomas, who happened to be passing. During the day
the insurrection grew, and Thiers and the other members of the
Government left Paris, intending to return with an army and
destroy the rebels who would pillage Paris and ruin France. Thus
on the morning of March rgth Paris was without regular govern-
ment, and all authority passed into the hands of the old war
party—the National Guards and the revolutionary Republicans.
A Central Committee of the Federation of the National Guards,
which had been formed at the end of February and chosen on
March 15th, installed itself at the Hétel de Ville and sent
representatives to the different Ministries.

On March 19th the red flag floated from the Hétel de Ville,
and at half-past eight the Central Committee of the Commune
held their first meeting in the room from which Trochu used to
give his orders. The president was a young man of thirty-two—
Edward Moreau, a commission agent. The Committee spent their

689
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

time organising the elections and providing for the carrying out of
public affairs, and sat till 1 o’clock. At 2 the proclamation they
had drawn up was posted in the town: “Citizens, the people of
Paris, calm and impassive in their strength, have awaited, with-
out fear as without passion, the shameless fools who wish to touch
our Republic. Let Paris and France together lay the founda-
tion of a true Republic—the only government which will for
ever close the era of Revolution. The people of Paris is convoked
to make its elections.” This was signed by twenty obscure
persons.

Twenty thousand men were encamped in the square before
the Hétel de Ville, with pieces of hard steel at the ends of their
muskets, and fifty cannon and mitrailleuses were drawn up in
front of the building. At the same time a meeting of the heads
of battalions of the National Guard and of the mayors and
deputies of the Department of the Seine was being held at the
Town Hall of the third arrondissement. The Committee fixed
the date of elections for the following Wednesday, declared the
state of siege at an end, abolished court-martials, and gave an
amnesty for all political causes and offences. At 8 p.m. it
received a deputation from the mayors and deputies, of which
Clémenceau was the best-known member. The discussion was
stormy, and lasted till 10.30. The Commune proclaimed its
programme—the election of the municipal council, the suppres-
sion of the Prefecture of Police, the right of the National Guard
to elect its officers, the proclamation of the Republic as the legal
government, the remittance of all rents due, an equitable law on
over-due bills, and the exclusion of the army from Parisian
territory. There was yet a third meeting of mayors and deputies
of the several arrondissements ; this included Louis Blanc,
Carnot and Floquet. At its close the Central Committee held
a heated debate which lasted far into the night.

Next morning the Central Committee was summoned to leave
the Hotel de Ville, but they refused to yield, and arranged
the election of the municipal council for March 22nd. The
Committee also managed to get 1,000,000 francs advanced for
current expenses. March aist was the day of trial for the
Committee. The Place Vendéme was occupied by their soldiers,
and an attack was made upon them by those who desired to
support the authority of the Assembly. Firing took place, and a
certain number were killed. Paris was divided between the
friends of the Committee and the supporters of the Assembly.
The night passed quietly; the Place Vendédme was defended by

690
THE COMMUNE PROCLAIMED

barricades, and the battalions of the Hétel de Ville were
strengthened. It was impossible to hold the elections on March
aand, and they were deferred until March 26th. The mayors
of the Department of the Seine organised themselves against the
Committee, and sent a deputation to the National Assembly at
Versailles ; but when they found that union with the Assembly
would lead to civil war, they returned to Paris and eventually
came to terms with the Committee.

The elections were held on Sunday, March 26th, a day of
quiet, with order and regularity ; and the Commune, the govern-
ment of Paris by its own municipality, was proclaimed. The
majority of the Central Committee were Republicans and
Socialists, but they did not put forth any programme of social
reform. Their one desire was to defend what they called Repub-
lican principles, and the autonomy of the Commune, against
those whom they designated as the “Men of Versailles,” the
only people from whom an organised government could be
expected. The newly-elected General Council of the Commune
consisted of ninety members; of these, fifteen, the most
moderate, retired a few days after their election. The rest
belonged to the party of the insurrection and retained their
seats. Among them were a few members of the original Central
Committee, but there were associated with them representatives
of all the extreme doctrines which had been disseminated among
the lower classes of Paris since the fall of the Empire. There
were followers of Blanqui, either pure and simple, or with a
difference; advocates of a democratic dictatorship; Radicals
like Félix Pyat and Delescluze, who sprang up in the last years
of the Empire and wished to revive the Jacobin tradition of
1793; June Socialists; “Reds,” who were ignorant both of
the theory and practice of government, but who had a desire
for the existence and the opportunities of the revolution; and
seventeen members of the International, who favoured sweeping
social changes, to be carried out by peaceful means. The last
were the members of the Committee who had the clearest ideas
of what they wanted and from whom most had to be expected.
Although the General Council was thus finally constituted, the
General Committee did not altogether surrender its powers, but
continued to act in order to serve as a bond between the Council
and the National Guard, over whom it continued to have con-
siderable influence. The Commune was never able to divest
itself of the double authority of the General Council and the
Central Committee.

691
A HISTORY OF ‘THE MODERN WORLD

The General Council began its work on March a2oth. It
appointed committees to carry out the various branches of
government, with full powers—an executive committee, a finance
committee, committees of war, justice, public security, subsistence,
labour, manufactures, commerce, foreign relations, public service,
and education. It remitted all rents due in October, 1870, and
January and April, 1871, and gave a respite of three years in
respect of commercial obligations. It abolished conscription and
established compulsory military service for all able-bodied men
between the ages of eighteen and forty, adopted the Republican
calendar and the red flag, and declared all the acts of the
Government of Versailles to be null and void.

There can be no doubt that the leading members of the
committees laboured hard in their several departments to realise
the ideals they set before themselves. It was impossible, in the
short time at their disposal, and in the circumstances, to do
much; but they set before the people of Paris a high standard of
independence and hard work. The names of those engaged in
this work and of the members of the International are little
known. The Republicans were more familiar. Foremost amongst
them was Delescluze, the intimate friend, first of Ledru Rollin,
then of Rochefort, Flourens, Raoult-Rigault, Cluseret and Félix
Pyat. Blanqui had been chosen, but he was a prisoner at
Versailles and could not take his seat. He was represented by
Paschal Grousset, a man of culture and refinement, who had
charge of foreign affairs. Rochefort was a member, but he had
sufficient insight to distrust the success of the movement, and did
not take an important part in it. Jourde was a good Minister
of Finance.

But however excellent the intentions of the Communal Govern-
ment may have been, it was not likely that they could be
effectually carried out. There was a lack of unity and organisa-
tion, and an absence of discipline and knowledge of affairs ;
conflicting orders were given, confused and difficult to accomplish ;
much was destroyed, little constructed. The committees at first
established were changed, both in the persons of whom they were
composed and in the work they were to undertake, while their
methods were modelled too much after the example of 1793.
They made domiciliary visits in search of suspected persons, and
filled the public offices with their own adherents. Among the
mayors and municipal officers were seen citizens like Malou,
Tolain, Heligon, Murat, sitting by the side of millionaires like
Tiraud, distinguished barristers like Herisson, statesmen like

692
PARIS v. VERSAILLES

Clémenceau, men of letters like Henri Martin. But the instru-
ments of which they made use were far from creditable. Twenty
or thirty thousand criminals served in the National Guard; a
corps of women was formed, which contained, together with the
famous women of the markets, a number of very doubtful
characters. There was little security of property in the city;
the National Guard thought more of attacking Versailles than of
keeping order, and the so-called police were themselves among
the worst offenders, Passes and certificates of security were
bought and sold.

On April 3rd the Gardes Nationaux Fédévés, the soldiers of
the Commune, attempted a sortie in retaliation for an attack
made by the troops of Versailles the evening before, and marched
upon Versailles in three columns. They occupied an important
flanking position against Versailles, in the neighbourhood of
Asniéres and Neuilly, and protected the passage with strong
barricades. This success stimulated the Commune to further
efforts. The soldiers of the Commune who were taken prisoners
were shot without trial, the Government treating the Communards
not as political rebels, but as criminals. The Commune retaliated
by seizing certain people of good position, who were suspected
of sympathy with Versailles, and said that any execution of a
soldier of the Commune would be followed by the shooting of
these hostages. They also arraigned the heads of the Ver-
sailles Government — Thiers, Dufaure, Picard, Sommer — before
their courts and confiscated their property. As we have said,
Paschal Grousset undertook Foreign Affairs, and Cluseret and
afterwards Rossel represented War, assisted by the Pole Dom-
browski.

The principles of the Commune spread to the provinces. Lyons,
St. Etienne, Creusot, Narbonne, Marseilles, Toulouse, Limoges,
all set up Communal governments, which, however, had little
strength and did not last long. They indulged in shouts of
“Vive Paris!” but had no power of control, and could not
assist the city they regarded as their head. Therefore the
Government of Versailles had before it the simple task of
reducing Paris, and when the army of Thiers, which was mainly
composed of soldiers who had returned from captivity in Ger-
many, was sufficiently concentrated, the second siege of Paris
was begun.

Attempts were made at this time to bring about a reconcilia-
tion between Versailles and Paris. A so-called League and Union,
formed among the citizens of Paris for the preservation of

693
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

municipal rights, conducted this work, assisted by the Free-
masons; and on April 11th, 1871, a deputation from Lyons
visited Versailles and then Paris, but to no purpose, as the
Government of Versailles would make no terms. The move-
ment, however, had the effect of inducing the Commune to declare
its objects, which was done in a document called a “‘ Testament.”
Their aims, it seemed, were to establish the absolute autonomy
of the Commune throughout the whole of France, which should
secure to every Frenchman the full exercise of his rights and
inclinations as man, citizen and workman; but their chief end
was to abolish the centralisation which had been the curse of
France for so many years, and to convert the country into a loose
federal State, a confederation of completely independent town
republics, of which the communes should form organic cells.
Despotic, arbitrary, unintelligent and costly centralisation would
thus be replaced by a free union of all local authorities, which
should direct the independent operations of individual forces
towards a common end—namely, the prosperity, liberty and
security of all. A National Guard, composed of all citizens, was
to take the place of the standing army, and public business was
to be transacted by elected officials. It was, indeed, an exalted
ideal, the direct negation of everything which had distinguished
France for eight hundred years. She was no longer to be the
Grande Nation, distinguished by splendour and éclat, a brilliant
court and conquering army, but a democratic Switzerland, divided
into cantons and communes, the individual freedom of which
was only limited by the necessities of combination for the purposes
of existence.

Supplemental elections, held on April 16th, added twenty-one
members to the Council, and on April 2oth, the date of the
Testament, the executive was reorganised. Each of the nine
special committees was replaced by a delegate, who acted as a
Minister, and the nine delegates together formed what was
practically a Ministry. On March 28th, after a parade at Fort
d’Issy, the majority carried by forty-five votes to twenty-
three the appointment of a Committee of Public Safety, con-
sisting of five members, such as had existed in the great
Revolution.

The troops of the Commune offered a brave resistance to the
army of Versailles, but MacMahon gradually made himself master
of the outer works of defence, though each success served to
stimulate the terror of the Communal government and urge it to
fresh acts of violence and atrocity. The need of money was

694
PITEOUS CONDITION OF PARIS

supplied by the confiscation of public and municipal revenues,
obtained by requisitions upon the Bank of France, the Post Office,
the railway and telegraph companies, and the rich merchants.
The separation of Church and State was decreed, and the
possessions of the Church were declared to be public property.
On May 8th Thiers issued a proclamation calling upon Paris to
free herself from the tyranny of the Commune and re-establish
peace, order and prosperity. In answer to this, the property of
Adolphe Thiers was declared to be confiscated, but the many
treasures of art his house contained were, by friendly influence,
safely deposited in the public buildings. Other attempts at
indiscriminate plunder were fortunately checked ; Beslay contrived
to save a large portion of property preserved in the Bank of
France, and Jourde provided that the restoration of all the
property deposited in the Mont de Piété, the State Pantechnicon,
should be confined to the articles belonging to the poor of the
value of less than 20 francs.

The leaders of the Commune determined that if they fell Paris
should fall with them, and that the army of Versailles should
only conquer its ruins. The Cri du Peuple, a newspaper founded
by Blanqui and edited by Jules Viller, said, on May roth: ‘“ Our
walls may fall, but no soldier shall enter Paris. If M. Thiers is
a chemist, he will understand what we mean. The army of
Versailles must understand that before Paris surrenders it will
dare everything.” As danger threatened, the General Council,
the Committee of Public Safety, the Central Committee, and the
National Guard, which had so long contended against each other,
drew closer together, and a Scientific Committee was established
to assist the Barricade Committee, to examine how far the
destructive forces of science could be used in the service of the
Revolution.

As MacMahon gradually became master of the bridge of
Neuilly and other points in the neighbourhood of the fortifications,
the fever of resistance became more pronounced. On May 18th
the column in the Place Vendéme, which symbolised the victories
of Napoleon, was pulled down. On May aist the Paris troops
advanced without fighting to the Point du Jour, and occupied
the western districts. Fierce fighting continued for seven days,
from May 21st to May 28th, the so-called ‘ Bloody Week.’ The
army of Versailles gave no quarter, and the Commune was
stimulated to reprisals. The hostages were put to death, among
them Darboy, Archbishop of Paris; Abbé Allard; President
Bonjeau; and the universally-respected Curé of the Madeleine,

695
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Duguerry. The principal buildings of Paris were drenched with
petroleum, and either wholly or partially burnt, including the
Tuileries, the Louvre, the Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, the
Hotel de Ville, the Ministry of Finance, and the Cour des
Comtes.

The work of retaliation and repression was carried on with
terrible severity. The city was gradually conquered from the
Point du Jour to the Pére la Chaise, district by district, barricade
by barricade. On May 31st Thiers proclaimed that the full
penalty would be exacted and, in fact, no quarter was given.
Men were put to death after a pretence of trial, or without any
trial at all, by officers and soldiers. It was admitted at Versailles
that 17,000 persons were killed; as a fact, the number reached at
least 20,000. Besides these, 38,568 persons were arrested, of
whom 1,058 were women and 651 children; and of the number
arrested 1,179 died in consequence of bad treatment. The
prisoners were tried by court-martial and condemned to death
or penal servitude. The number of the condemned reached
13,450, of whom 2,710 were sentenced to death and 7,500
to transportation. The court-martial continued to sit as late
as 1876. The effect of these measures was to wipe out the
Revolutionary and Socialist parties; the only parties that
remained were Monarchists and Republicans, the former being
divided into Legitimists and Orleanists, since the cause of
the war had destroyed all chance of a Bonapartist restora-
tion.

By the elections which took place on May 1st, the moderate
Republicans obtained a majority. But the decrees of banish-
ment against the Houses of Bourbon and Orleans were recalled,
and the Duc d’Aumale and the Prince de Joinville were actually
elected to the Assembly. In October, Aranda was chosen Presi-
dent of the General Council of the Oise, a very influential position.
In the supplementary elections of July 28th the Republicans:
were successful in twenty-five out of thirty-nine Departments,
and of twenty-one Deputies returned from Paris sixteen belonging
to the Union of the Press, and the followers of Thiers, were elected.
The fact that a loan was subscribed many times over showed
the inexhaustible wealth of the country and the confidence with
which it was regarded by foreign nations. The war indemnity
could now be paid and the evacuation of the country by the army
of occupation secured. A proclamation of the Comte de Cham-
bord in favour of the white flag weakened the Legitimists and
strengthened the hands of the Republic, and gave Thiers the

696
PEACE OF FRANKFORT

support of all sensible and practical people. On August atst
an enactment was passed, by 491 votes to 94, providing that the
head of the executive should take the title of President of the
French Republic, that he should have the power of appointing
and dismissing his Ministers, and the right to address the
Assembly whenever he pleased; but that the individual Minis-
ters, the Cabinet as a whole, and the President himself should
be responsible to the Assembly. This meant the formation
of a moderate Republic, equally opposed to Monarchy and
to advanced Republicanism. This was a provisional constitu-
tion; the final and definite constitution was not formed till
1875.

During the very height of these disturbances the Peace of
Frankfort was signed on May ioth by Bismarck on behalf of
Germany and by Jules Favre and Pouyer-Quertier on behalf of
France. The arrangements with regard to the payment of the
indemnity of five milliards and the tracing of the frontier between
Belfort and Thionville received the approval of the German
Emperor and the French Assembly. The final closing of the war
was received with the greatest joy, not only in Germany itself,
but in all parts of the world inhabited by Germans. A South
German paper wrote: “‘ The dove of peace which was sent out from
the German Ark has at length returned with a fresh olive branch.
The sound of the cannon and the tocsin no longer summon us to
the murderous field of battle ; they have become heralds of peace.
The flood of war has overwhelmed many of our dear ones, but
our land and people stand as if refreshed with morning dew, ready
for the work of our hands and for the seed-time of culture. The
general feeling of the great majority of our people is thanks and
praise to God that, together with peace abroad and at home, we
have laid the foundations of a strong Fatherland and of civic
freedom. We know that in this battle of giants our people
have won spurs of honourable knighthood, an equality of rank
with the first nations of the world. But this exalted rank
lays heavy duties upon us. Let us first think of our duties
towards the dead, who fell in this holy war upon the field of
victory.”

The first German Reichstag, or Parliament, met in Berlin on
March 21st, 1871, containing representatives from every part of
Germany, both north and south of the Main. Their first duty
was to consider how the government of Alsace and Lorraine could
best be carried out, and then to take care of those wounded and
invalided in the war and the families of the dead. A sum of

697
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

12,000,000 marks was voted as a present to the generals and
statesmen who had contributed in a conspicuous manner to the
successes of their country, and a similar sum to the governments
of the separate States as assistance to the support of the reservists
and others who were liable to military service.

698
BOOK IV

CHAPTER I

GLADSTONE’S MINISTRY, 1868-74

THE British Parliament elected in 1865 was dissolved by pro-
clamation in November, 1868. The question before the country
was the disestablishment and disendowment of the Irish Church.
Although Gladstone himself was defeated in Lancashire, the
voting was favourable to the Liberal Party, the Liberals being
returned with an overwhelming majority. This was a surprise
to the Conservatives, just as the election of 1874, which closed
Gladstone’s Ministry, was a still greater surprise to the Liberals.
On December 2nd Disraeli sent a letter to his supporters in both
Houses of Parliament, announcing his intention of resigning before
Parliament met. The Queen at once sent for Gladstone, and he
had no difficulty in forming a Government. Lowe became Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer; Childers, First Lord of the Admiralty ;
Goschen, President of the Poor Law Board; Bright, President of
the Board of Trade. The seals of the Foreign Office were given
to Lord Clarendon, those of the Colonial Office to Lord Granville,
of the War Office to Cardwell, of the India Office to the Duke of
Argyll. Lord Justice Page Wood, a man of the highest character,
which shone conspicuously on his spiritual face, became Lord
Chancellor, with the title of Lord Hatherley. Although a strong
Churchman and a man of deep piety, he had no objection to the
disestablishment of the Irish Church.

Parliament met on December roth, but the Queen’s Speech
was not delivered until February 16th, 1869. The Queen did
not open Parliament in person, and therefore was not compelled
to read a speech which announced legislation on the ecclesiastical
affairs of Ireland and heralded a measure to which she had pre-
viously been strongly opposed. The Irish Church Bill was brought
forward on March 1st. It provided that from and after January
ist, 1871, the Church of Ireland was to be entirely disconnected
from the State, and that its government was to be entrusted to a
body in the composition of which the clergy and laity of the

699
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Church should be agreed, and that this body should be incor-
porated by law. For the purpose of disendowment the property
of the Church was to be vested in commissioners appointed by
Parliament for ten years, private endowments given to the
Church of Ireland after 1660 being excepted. The fabrics of
churches and parsonages were to be handed over to the governing
body already mentioned. Full compensation was given to all
vested interests. The State was no longer to subsidise either
the Catholic Church through the grant to Maynooth College,
or the Presbyterians through the Regium Donum; but com-
pensation for the loss of these sums was to be made from the
funds of the disestablished Church. Gladstone estimated the
whole value of the existing endowments at £16,000,000. Of this
sum {8,500,000 were to be given back to the Church under its
new constitution, and the remaining £7,500,000 were to form a
compensation fund for the relief of unavoidable calamity and
suffering not met by the existing poor law.

There was little opposition in the Commons to a measure of
which the country had expressed its approval: the Bill was read
a second time before Easter by a majority of 118, and the third
reading was passed by a majority of 114 on June ist. But the
Bill had to pass the ordeal of the House of Lords, where the
decisive struggle had to take place. It was determined to contest
the second reading in the Upper House. Although the Queen
was strongly opposed to the measure, she did not desire to see a
violent conflict between the two Houses, and wrote to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury to remind him that the Bill had been carried
by an overwhelming majority through the House of Commons,
which had been specially elected to express the feeling of the
country in the matter, and that it was not likely that a fresh
election would have a different result. Eventually, after a debate
of four nights, at 3 o’clock in the morning on June 1gth, the
second reading of the Bill was carried by 179 votes to 146. By
this wise resolve, preferring the welfare of the country to its own
predilections, and the will of the nation to its own private
opinions, the House of Lords voted in a manner worthy of its
best traditions. It should have been evident to the peers that
by such behaviour alone could the continued existence of a
hereditary chamber be preserved. But having gone so far, they
were not prepared to go farther, and so altered the Bill in
Committee that the Irish Church remained in possession of
£13,000,000 instead of £8,500,000, while other important changes
were also made.

700
LIBERALISM’S GREAT TRIUMPH

Gladstone refused to accept these amendments, and the Bill
was returned to the Lords much in the same state as that in which
it had been first introduced in the Commons. There was a dead-
lock; but the spirit of political wisdom and compromise which
has permeated the history of the United Kingdom for so many
years, and made it a model of instruction for the world, once more
prevailed. On July 21st a meeting was held at the Colonial Office
attended by Lord Granville, Lord Cairns, and the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and when the peers met on the following day they
found the matter had been arranged. The compensation offered
had been slightly increased, and the application of the surplus
was left to the decision of Parliament.

There can be no doubt but that the disestablishment of the
Irish Church has been a success, and justified the prevision of
those who carried it. Under its new conditions the Church has
been, if more clerical, more prosperous than it was before, and
the Church of England has been rather strengthened than
weakened by its severance from a sister whose indefensible position
was the cause of constant irritation.

The budget had been introduced on April 8th. The financial
condition of the country was not very favourable, as the
Abyssinian expedition had cost £9,000,000. Robert Lowe framed
his measure with wonted cleverness and ingenuity, but roused,
after his manner, a great deal of unnecessary opposition; yet
the budget was eventually found not to be so eccentric as it
appeared at first sight, and was passed quietly into law. The
year 1869 also witnessed a measure which was a first step towards
the organisation of secondary education, but which has not been
much developed since. Probably the only sound policy is to
abolish the distinction of secondary education altogether, and
leave but two classes, elementary and superior—the education
of the common school and the education of the University, just
as changes have abolished the second class on most British
railways and left first and third classes to fight it out side by
side.

But the great triumph of Liberalism under Gladstone’s Govern-
ment was secured in 1870—a year of far other memories on the
Continent—by the passing of a Land Act for Ireland and an
Education Act for England. The first was a step towards Home
Rule as the only remedy for Irish difficulties, and the second
has more profoundly modified the whole condition of England,
intellectually and socially, than any other measure ever passed
by Parliament.

701
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

An Irish Land Bill, which had been discussed in the Cabinet
during the autumn of 1869, was introduced into the House of
Commons on February 15th, 1870, It recognised that the Irish
farmer had an estate in his holding, and extended to the whole
of Ireland and gave the sanction of law to the Ulster custom of
tenant right. It gave compensation to tenants who were turned
out of their holdings for any other cause than the failure to pay
their rents, and provided that they should receive the value of
their unexhausted improvements. Hitherto all that had been
done by the tenant for the soil in the absence of the landlord led
merely to the raising of his rent, a grievance which did not
practically exist in England and was peculiar to Ireland alone.
It also made it easier for those who held the soil to become the
possessors of it. Before this an enterprising tenant might turn
a barren desert into a fruitful farm, and for his trouble and enter-
prise would have to pay a higher rent for the land, the value of
which he had largely increased, or be turned out of his holding
without receiving any pecuniary advantage for what he had done.
This now became impossible. The burden of showing that he had
made the improvements was laid upon the landlord, otherwise
it would be presumed that they had been made by the tenant.
Contracting out of this arrangement was illegal for all whose rent
was under {50 a year. On the other hand, the landlord could
avoid all claims to compensation by granting a lease for thirty-
one years.

The principle of the Bill met with little opposition in either
House. In the House of Commons only eleven members voted
against the second reading, and in the House of Lords the Bill
passed that stage without a division. It was more difficult to
get it through Committee. Some amendments were made in the
Upper House, but were not accepted by the Government, and
the Act eventually passed much in its original form. The Land
Act of 1870 was a step in advance in the settlement of Irish
grievances; it checked arbitrary eviction, and recognised the
principle that the tenant was part owner of the soil. But the
fact that it was not a complete remedy for the evil which it
attempted to remove was shown by the passing of a Coercion Act
for Ireland. This Act declared the use of firearms to be illegal in
proclaimed districts, allowed dwelling-houses to be searched for
arms, or for evidence of the authorship of threatening letters, and
the arrest on suspicion of persons wandering about at night. It
also provided that agrarian murder might be punished by the
levying of compensation on the district in which it occurred, for

702
ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOL BOARDS

the seizure of intimidating newspapers, and for a change of the
place where offences were tried. On the other hand, the Fenians
in prison were released on condition that they left the country,
a limitation of very doubtful wisdom.

The Education Act of 1870 is a landmark in English history.
Its effect went far beyond the expectations of those who carried
it. The passing of it was mainly due to the statesmanship and
foresight of William Edward Forster, and it will always be
associated with his name. Forster announced that the object
of the Bill was to cover the country with good schools. The
existing schools, called Voluntary because they were partly main-
tained by voluntary subscription, belonged to religious bodies,
such as the Church of England, the Roman Catholics, the
Wesleyans, and the Jews. They received grants from the State
if they satisfied the requirements of the inspectors of the
Education Department, but were greatly deficient in number
for the needs of the population, and this deficiency it was the
object of the new Act to remedy.

To effect this, England and Wales were divided into school
districts, generally conterminous with the borough and the parish.
If it were found that sufficient accommodation was not supplied
in these districts for children between the ages of five and thirteen,
and if after six months the need was not met by voluntary efforts,
a School Board was to be established with power to levy a rate.
Unfortunately, in England, all educational legislation has been
made a battleground for conflicting sects. It may be doubted
whether Englishmen care for education at all in the sense in
which it is cared for by Germans and Swiss. Englishmen are so
gifted naturally, and are able to do so much by their own intelli-
gence, that they distrust and even despise the routine which their
foreign rivals impose upon themselves. It is said that Germans
always begin at the beginning, Englishmen in the middle; that
Germans will never take the second step till they have taken the
first, but that Englishmen always prefer to break the line of
ignorance. Consequently it was impossible to carry compulsory
education at that time, although it has since been recognised that
such a condition is absolutely necessary for the creation of an
educated population. Forster left the question of religious train-
ing to the direction of the local authority, which might have any
religion taught or no religion taught at all, as it pleased.

The Bill was strongly opposed by the Birmingham Education
League, which, in that fortress of Radicalism, supported free,
compulsory, and secular education, with School Boards everywhere

703
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and no Voluntary schools. Gladstone intervened, however, as a
mediator, and the Bill passed its second reading. Three months
were allowed to elapse between the second reading and the
Committee stage, during which time there was a great deal of
private discussion. On June 16th, an amendment was accepted
by the Government, proposed by Cowper-Temple, who was an
English Churchman and a Whig. It provided that no Catholic
or distinctive religious formulary should be taught in a Board
school, and that a Voluntary school should receive no assistance
from the rates. This clause has been famous ever since, and the
author of it has given his name to a form of religious teaching
which is moral and edifying, but which is not conveyed by any
special religious formulary. The amendment also contained a
clause which relieved voluntary subscribers in respect of their
contributions, and was favourable to the Church of England.
This facilitated the passing of the Bill, and the Cowper-Temple
clause was carried by 252 votes to 95. What was called a
‘Conscience Clause ”’ also provided that religion should be taught
either at the beginning or the end of the school day, so that those
might absent themselves who wished to do so. A single School
Board was established for the whole of London, and this great
measure finally became law on August gth.

In the days of Gladstone retrenchment was a watchword of
the Liberal Party, and the Prime Minister did his best to make it
effective. The Navy Estimates in 1870 were the lowest since
1858, and the Army Estimates had been reduced by more than
£2,000,000 since 1868. This economy was mainly brought about
by the withdrawing of British troops from self-governing colonies.
In this year the Canadian Rifles, the Cape Mounted Rifles, and
the West India Regiment were disbanded. These reductions of
expenses produced a surplus of more than {£4,000,000, which was
spent in reducing the income tax to 4d. in the pound, lowering
the duty on sugar by 50 per cent., abolishing the remaining burden
on newspapers and on railway passengers, and in the institution of
halfpenny postcards, which the Prime Minister used very largely
in his private correspondence. >

Another triumph of the Liberal Government in 1870 was the
reformation of the army by Cardwell, who was Minister of War.
When he assumed office the army was under the dual control of
the War Office and the Horse Guards. The Commander-in-Chief,
who sat at the Horse Guards, and was appointed by letters
patent for life, dispensed patronage and exercised power without
consulting the War Minister, who was responsible to the House

704
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

of Commons. This was a survival of the time when the army
was supposed to be under the personal control of the Sovereign.
Cardwell saw that it was necessary that the War Office should
be under a single head. The first step was made by removing the
Commander-in-Chief from the Horse Guards to the War Office,
which was done by an exercise of the Royal prerogative, but
against the private wishes of the Queen. He then proceeded to
alter the terms of service for which a soldier enlisted, and to
establish a reserve. Before 1847 a man enlisted for life or for
twenty-one years; in 1847 enlistment for ten years was allowed,
against the opinion of the Duke of Wellington. Now, in 1870,
twelve years was fixed as the longest and three years as the
shortest period for which a man might enlist; and it was calcu-
lated that in ordinary circumstances six years would be spent in
active service and six in the reserve. This reconstruction of the
army was due to the victory of the Prussians over the Austrians
at Kéniggratz. The success of the Prussian army, which before
the war had been regarded by competent military observers as
little better than an exalted militia, had shown that a soldier
serving only two or three years with the colours could become the
most formidable combatant in Europe. It is noteworthy that a
reform originating out of the war of 1866 should have been
consummated on the verge of the still greater conflict of 1870.

This era of reform beheld a great change also in the appoint-
ments of the Civil Service. By an Order in Council, dated June
7th, 1870, all public offices in the State, excepting the Foreign
Office and the Education Office, were thrown open to competition,
a change which had been advocated for nearly twenty years by
Sir Charles Trevelyan and Sir Stafford Northcote. Hitherto all
appointments had been made by private patronage, the exercise
of which was a great burden on those to whom it belonged, and a
very inefficient method of choosing public servants. The change
has, no doubt, been beneficial; but it has had the result of limit-
ing the ambitions of the ablest men the Universities produce and
driving them to prefer a modest certainty to an honourable
struggle, besides filling the public offices with men who are too
able for the work they have to do, and are apt, therefore, to
display more ingenuity in contrivance than common sense in
everyday administration. On the whole, however, the change
has been advantageous, and the country has gained by the
application to the whole Civil Service of the principles which
have made the Civil Service of India the most efficient, the most
intelligent and the purest bureaucracy in the world.

x 795
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The session of 1870 was indeed memorable, and in recalling
its achievements, Mr. Herbert Paul says: ‘‘ Between February
8th and August roth Parliament took the first step, the step
which counts, in remodelling the agrarian law of Ireland, estab-
lished a permanent system of education in England and Wales,
introduced into the army the principle of a short enlistment and
a reserve, formed a code of neutrality in time of war, erected a
scientific theory of naturalisation, provided for the extradition
of criminals, and abolished the punishment of the innocent with
the guilty by the forfeiture of the felon’s estate: of an activity
so various and so successful, scarcely an example can be found
since the days of the Great Parliament, which assembled in
1640 after eleven years of barren personal rule. Although
Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues, especially Mr. Cardwell and Mr.
Forster, were the principal agents in producing this splendid
result, the entire credit does not belong to them. It was shared
by their followers, by the Conservative Party, and by the House
of Commons as a whole.”

This record of reforms was increased in the following year by
the abolition of the purchase of commissions in the army. To us,
indeed, it seems almost incredible that such a system could ever
have had a vogue. The sale of commissions which had originally
existed had been regulated by Royal Warrant in the reign of
Charles II. The system was abolished by William III., but was
resumed after his death. Although prices were fixed by states-
men, sums largely in excess of the legal amount were given and
received, and, in 1871, both regulation prices, which were legal,
and over-regulation prices, which were not only illegal but
criminal, were charged as a matter of course. An Act of George
III. abolished the selling of offices in other departments, but
gave to the Crown the discretion of retaining the practice in the
army if it should think fit, and this discretion had been regulated
by a warrant sanctioning and regulating the practice. It became
apparent that no effective reorganisation of the army was possible
without the abolition of this practice. As Gladstone said, the
nation must buy back its own army from its own officers.
Purchase, indeed, was unknown at any time in the Navy, the
Engineers and the Royal Artillery. In the army it did not
extend beyond the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

This reform had been taken up as a special question by
George Otto Trevelyan, the son of Sir Charles Trevelyan, who had
reformed the Civil Service. As compensation must be voted to
those who lost money by the change, a Bill was introduced into

706
UNIVERSITY REFORMS

the House of Commons, where it met with the most violent
opposition. Having passed the Commons with great difficulty,
the Bill went to the Lords in the beginning of July, and again
encountered the most determined hostility. A dilatory motion
proposed by the Duke of Richmond was supported by Lord
Salisbury, who said that “ seniority tempered by selection meant
stagnation tempered by jobbery.” The motion was carried by
155 votes to 130. The Prime Minister now found himself face to
face with the House of Lords—not for the first time. So the
Cabinet determined on drastic action. As purchase had been
originally established by Royal Warrant, it could be abolished by
Royal Warrant. On July 18th, therefore, the Queen signed such
a warrant, abolishing purchase in the army from November Ist,
1871. She made no difficulty about it after she had received a
minute from the Cabinet intimating their unanimous approval.
By the abolition of purchase the efficiency of regimental officers
was greatly improved.

Another important step in army reform was the division of
the country into territorial districts, each of which contained a
battalion of the line, two regiments of militia, and the volunteers
of the district, all under the command of a lieutenant-colonel. A
system of what were called linked battalions was also introduced,
by which half a regiment was maintained at home and half abroad,
the officers and men being interchangeable.

In the same year religious tests for degrees were abolished.
It is difficult for anyone not intimately acquainted with the
conditions of University life to understand what injustice was
imposed by the existence of these tests. Dissenters might gain
the highest honours of the Universities, but could not take degrees
unless they were prepared to sign the Thirty-nine Articles. But
when this disability was removed others still remained. In many
colleges fellowships could not be held unless the holders were
prepared to take holy orders after a certain number of years, and
a large number of the highest posts were reserved for clergymen.
A community in which academical distinction ought to be the
determining consideration in promotion was mainly a clerical
body. The result of this was profound. The taking of orders
was, with the less serious-minded men, regarded with levity, and
even with blasphemy, and the more serious were hindered from
taking orders at all. In some cases they resigned their fellow-
ships and embraced a life of poverty ; in others, by refusing to
serve the Church, they lowered the intellectual standard of the
ministry. It was long before Gladstone could bring himself to

707
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

see the essential justice of the reform. But he did so by 1871,
and the Abolition Act of this year served not only to make the
Universities national institutions, but gave renewed strength and
vigour to the Church itself.

The harmonious march of reform ‘was interrupted by the
eccentricity of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe.
In the budget of 1871 he had to provide for an extra charge of
£3,000,000, caused by the greater expense of the army and the
abolition of purchase. The easiest mode of doing this would
have been to raise the income tax to 6d., but the Chancellor
preferred more tortuous methods, and among them the imposi-
tion of a tax on lucifer matches, a halfpenny a box for wood and
a penny for wax. A good classical scholar, he proposed to mark
the stamp by which the tax was imposed by a Latin motto, “ Ex
luce lucellum’”’ (“A little gain from light ’’), a frivolous proceed-
ing which tended to make the new tax ridiculous as well as
odious in the eyes of those who had no sense of humour. A
storm of indignation arose, a procession of match-makers march-
ing by way of protest from the East End to Westminster. The
tax was withdrawn and the income tax was raised.

Another important indication that a new era had dawned was
found in the Act for the legalisation of trade unions, which gave
effect to the report of the Royal Commission appointed to examine
the subject which was published in 1869. The most prominent
advocates for new methods in dealing with this question were
Frederic Harrison and Thomas Hughes. Bruce, the Home
Secretary, brought in a Bill to amend the law. By it trade
unions were declared to be neither criminal conspiracies subject
to prosecution, nor illegal combinations incapable of prosecuting
those who defrauded them. They were to be registered in such
a way as to allow them to bring dishonest officers to justice, and,
on the other hand, were not to be saddled with the legal liabilities
which attach to corporations. The Bill should have stopped
there, but unfortunately it attempted to deal with the practice
of picketing. It went so far as to make peaceful picketing
impossible ; as Mr. Sidney Webb said, in its eyes a strike was
lawful, but anything done in pursuance of a strike was criminal.
The picketing clauses were made into a separate Bill, and the
measures passed the House of Commons without difficulty... They
finally became law after the Lords had very seriously increased
the severity of the picketing clauses. A similar solicitude for the
working members of the population was shown in the institution
of Bank Holidays, by the closing of banks on Easter Monday,

708
GLADSTONE AND QUEEN VICTORIA

Whit Monday, and the day after Christmas, generally known as
Boxing Day. The fourth Bank Holiday, the first Monday in
August, was not instituted until later. The closing of banks led
to the closing of shops and to a general national holiday. The
author of this excellent measure was Sir John Lubbock, banker,
philanthropist, and distinguished man of science, who afterwards
bore the title of Lord Avebury.

This beneficent legislation, which leaves a white mark in the
pages of British history, did not tend to make the Ministry
popular ; and on October 28th, Gladstone, who was member for
Greenwich, addressed an audience of 20,000 persons on Black-
heath. This audience was not friendly, as it contained many
who had been discharged from the Woolwich dockyards. Lord
Morley has described how, in the cold mist of the October after-
noon, Gladstone stood bareheaded, pale and resolute before a
surging mass, few of them friends, many of them furious at neglect
or discharge by an economising Government. At first he could
hardly make himself heard, but after half an hour of interruptions
he prevailed. The speech lasted two hours, and at the end he
had deserved and won applause.

But his office was not a bed of roses. It is difficult to
maintain the spirit of a nation at the level of that of a great
Minister in a great Cabinet. The Court was also a subject of
anxiety ; the Queen lived in retirement, and there was a breath
of Republicanism in the air. Public opinion did not understand
the crushing work which the administration of a great Empire
implies, nor realise that the necessary occupations of the head
of the State left little time for public functions or for society. Sir
Charles Dilke, member for Chelsea, having professed Republican
sentiments, the Queen good-naturedly remarked that she had
stroked his hair when he was a boy, and supposed she had not
stroked it the right way. Gladstone did all he could to induce
the Queen to spend less time at Balmoral, but she did not like
him, and complained that he addressed her as if she were a public
meeting. The sympathy and sentiment of the nation, however,
were aroused by the serious illness of the Prince of Wales in
December, 1871, and the public thanksgiving for his recovery
which followed early in the next year. But a difficult situation
continued, and the deep veneration which was felt for the Mother
Sovereign in every part of her dominions was not generally realised
until the outbreak of sorrow which followed her death and made
her funeral memorable.

There can be little doubt but that the unexpected fall of the

709
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Gladstone Ministry in 1874 was mainly due to its best and most
memorable act—the treaty of arbitration with America with
regard to the Alabama claims. On February 1st, 1871, the two
Governments agreed that a Joint Commission should be appointed
to discuss the questions pending between the two countries. The
British commissioners acted in a very friendly spirit, expressed
their regret for the escape and depredations of the Alabama,
and abandoned all claims for indemnification for the Fenian
raids into Canada, and in consequence of this the treaty was
ratified before the end of May. The five arbitrators, appointed
by Great Britain and America, by the King of Italy, the Presi-
dent of the Swiss Republic, and the Emperor of Brazil, met at
Geneva.

The American case was published in January, 1872. It was
found, to the dismay of all lovers of peace, that it contained a
demand not only for the payment of direct claims, but of indirect
claims of a vague and shadowy nature, which, if admitted, might
exceed the whole amount of the National Debt. The storm
aroused by these preposterous claims nearly wrecked the treaty ;
but, through the moderation of Lord Ripon and W. E. Forster,
the decision whether they were valid was left to the arbitrators.
Charles Francis Adams proposed that the court should declare the
indirect claims to be outside the scope of International Law. This
was agreed to, and the news that the treaty was saved reached
the British Cabinet on July rgth.

The hearing of the case began at Geneva in the beginning of
July, and the finding was issued in the middle of September. The
damages were estimated by America at 9,500,000, and the
amount actually paid was £3,250,000, which the Americans found
great difficulty in distributing among the persons supposed to
have been injured. The amount awarded was excessive, and
could not be supported by legal argument. But the matter had
passed out of the domain of law into that of politics, and it was
worth while to make even a large payment to settle a disastrous
quarrel between two peoples who ought to live together in peace
and amity, and to offer to the world an example of the manner
in which such differences should be arranged. But these doctrines
were beyond the appreciation of public feeling in England. A
sullen discontent against the award was aroused in the country,
and it was made worse by the decision of the German Emperor,
which was adverse to Great Britain, in the matter of the San
Juan dispute. Even if this decision were right, however, anyone
acquainted with public feeling at Berlin at this time must admit

710
THE IRISH UNIVERSITY BILL

that the Americans were much more popular than the British,
owing to the severe neutrality of Great Britain in the Franco-
Prussian War, and could have predicted the result of the arbitration
before it was declared.

During the session of 1872 the Government steadily lost
ground, partly from the reasons we have mentioned, partly from
discontent at smaller matters, such as the appointment of Sir
Robert Collier to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
and of Mr. Harvey to the Rectory of Ewelme. Disraeli said at
Manchester : “ As I sit opposite the Treasury bench, the Ministers
remind me of one of those marine landscapes, not very unusual
on the coasts of South America. You behold a range of
exhausted volcanoes; not a flame flickers upon a single pallid
crest, but the situation is still dangerous. There are occasional
earthquakes, and ever and anon the dark rumblings of the sea.”
One of these earthquakes was the Ballot Act, which, promised in
the Queen’s Speech of 1870, was rejected by the Lords in 1871,
and finally passed in 1872. Although in some particulars it was
not consistent with sound political theory, and with the highest
standard of political morality, which demands that an elector
shall not be ashamed to declare his opinions in public, the Ballot
Act has been a success and strengthened the parliamentary
system. No one would now propose to abolish it.

The Government eventually fell on the question of Irish
University Education. On his entry upon office in 1868
Gladstone had determined to devote himself to the removal of
Trish discontent. He had disestablished the Irish Church,
reformed the land laws, and now intended to deal with the
problem of higher education. The granting of Home Rule, which
was part of the same scheme, was to come at a later period. The
University of Dublin, which was really the same as Trinity
College, had opened its doors to Catholics as early as 1794. A
few attended, but all places of honour and emolument were
reserved for members of the Irish Church, which had been dis-
established in 1869. Mr. Gladstone’s Bill, which attempted the
solution of the difficulty, was introduced on February 13th, 1873.
It proposed to establish a new University of Dublin, which was
to be a teaching as well as an examining body. It was to include
Trinity College, the Catholic University of Dublin, and the
Queen’s Colleges of Cork and Belfast, which were unsectarian.
The money for its endowment was to be found by Trinity College,
the Consolidated Fund, and the Irish Church surplus, and was
to amount to £50,000 a year. But to these arrangements, which

711
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

were not very wise or statesmanlike, two were added which made
it impossible that the Bill should pass. By one of these any
teacher might be dismissed who, in speech or writing, wilfully
gave offence to the religious opinions of any member, and by the
other the University was to have no chairs of theology, modern
history, or of moral and mental philosophy. The colleges of
which the University was composed might, indeed, teach these
subjects, but they would not be taught authoritatively by the
University.

Mr. Gladstone’s speech in introducing these measures was so
persuasive that it was thought on all hands that the Bill was
sure to pass. It was wrecked, however, by the opposition of
Cardinal Cullen, the head of the Catholic hierarchy of Ireland.
The Cardinal said that the Bill was in flat opposition to what
the Catholics had been working for in Ireland for years. It
continued the Queen’s Colleges and set up another Queen’s College
in the shape of Trinity College with a large endowment; it
perpetuated the mixed system of education to which he had
always been opposed, while no endowment or assistance was
given to the Catholic University; the Council could appoint
professors to teach English literature, geology or zoology who
might be dangerous men in Catholic eyes. The Bill was rejected
by 287 votes to 284, its principal opponents being Fawcett,
Patrick Smyth, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice and Disraeli.

After this division Gladstone was of opinion that the Cabinet
ought to resign, and as they agreed with him he went to the
Queen for that purpose. The Queen, of course, sent for Disraeli ;
but he was unwilling either to accept office in the present Parlia-
ment or summon a new one. Thus, a week after their defeat, the
Liberal Cabinet determined to remain where they were, although
nothing could be worse for the country than the continuation in
power of a weak and discredited Ministry. Even in this condi-
tion they were able to pass the Judicature Bill, which was due
to the genius and industry of Lord Selborne. His plan was to
unite all the superior courts in one Supreme Court of Judicature
and give to every court the power of administering equity. The
Courts of Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer
remained as divisions of the High Court, but the judges of one
division had power to sit in any other. He also established a
Court of Appeal, consisting of nine judges and sitting in three
divisions, whose decision should be final.

In July, in consequence of some irregularity in the public
accounts, the details of which need not detain us, the Cabinet

712
GLADSTONE’S SURPRISE DISSOLUTION

was remodelled, and Gladstone became Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer as well as Prime Minister.

It was natural that Gladstone, as Chancellor of the Exchequer,
should desire to construct a great budget and carry out ideas
which had long been in his mind, but which he had not been able
to bring to maturity. He proposed to abolish the income tax
and the duty on sugar, and make up part of the deficit by raising
the succession duties and the duty on spirits. He could not,
however, obtain all the money he required unless he could reduce
the Estimates for the army and navy. To this Cardwell and
Goschen strongly objected, and Cardwell said that he could only
give way if the country sanctioned the new policy. This con-
firmed the Prime Minister in his determination to dissolve, a step
he had, for other reasons, long contemplated. He felt it was
intolerable to carry on a Government unless not only the House
of Commons but the country was firmly on his side. This was
not the case, for, since 1872, the Opposition had won twenty
seats, and the latest contest, at Stroud, proved unfavourable. It
was understood that Parliament was to meet on February 8th,
and members of Parliament, and even members of the Govern-
ment, were taking a comfortable holiday.

Suddenly, on January 24th, 1874, Gladstone’s address to his
constituency appeared in the morning papers, and the world knew
that a dissolution was imminent. The result of the election was
a great surprise, both at home and abroad, but it was decisive.
Gladstone had been informed by Lord Wolverton, the chief whip,
that he was sure of an increased majority, and the Diplomatic
Body had informed their Governments that the Liberals were
sure to win. The Conservative majority was fifty, exclusive of
the Irish Home Rulers, who held aloof from both parties. Glad-
stone, following what he believed to be the proper constitutional
usage, was reluctant to leave office without meeting Parliament,
but yielded to the advice of his colleagues, and on February 17th
this memorable Government ceased to exist. It perished because
it was too good for the age and the circumstances with which it
had to deal; but the spirit of human actions, even when they
fail, often lives after their seeming decease, and leads to greater
successes than their premature triumph might have achieved.

x* 713
CHAPTER II

RUSSIA AND THE EAST

THE policies pursued towards Europe by the Emperor Nicholas
of Russia and his son Alexander II. were very different. The
former attempted by aggressive means to raise Russia to a
position of supremacy; the latter endeavoured by a course of
important internal reforms to elevate his country to an equality
with other civilised peoples, and emulate the example of Peter
the Great by bringing his empire into close connection with the
rest of Europe. The first of such measures was the liberation of
the serfs, which, whatever inconveniences it may have brought
with it, was absolutely necessary if Russia were to fall into line
with European civilisation. The second was the introduction
of universal military service for fifteen years, which served, as it
has served in Germany, to elevate the intelligence of the nation
and form the basis of a national education. Other steps were
the extension of the railway system, both for industrial and
military purposes; reform of the taxes, by which the privilege of
exemption was taken away from the nobles and approach made
towards establishing equality of rank; reform of law and justice ;
encouragement of commerce and industry; and the improvement
of education and culture.

Alexander also contemplated, what his successor Nicholas II.
brought to being, the extinction, or at least the diminution, of
war, by the general adoption of principles of International Law.
For this purpose a congress, held at Brussels in 1874, laid the
foundations of an improved international code for the conduct of
wars. These efforts to reduce armaments and mitigate the evils
of war do not produce immediate effect and are often misunder-
stood. They are attributed to a crafty device to induce Powers
to deprive themselves of the means of defence in order that they
may fall an easier prey to their neighbours. But the seed, once
sown, begins to grow, and the bread is cast upon the waters,
although someone else may find it after many days.

Alexander pursued a similar magnanimous policy in his
relations with the East. The friendship formed with Turkey
by the assistance of the Grand Vizir, Mahmoud Pasha, was not

714
RUSSIAN EXTENSION IN ASIA

interrupted by the sudden fall of this Minister; indeed, in the
difficult question in regard to the Bulgarian Patriarchate, which
arose shortly afterwards, both Powers adopted a similar policy.
The Bulgarians were the most active and most promising branch
of the southern Slavs. They are more solid, more laborious, and
more trustworthy than the Servians.

It is difficult to unravel the intricacies of the origin of the
races inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula. The history of any one
of these peoples written by any other is too much infected by
racial jealousy to be trustworthy. The Servians maintain that
the Bulgarians are not Slavs at all, but a Mongol race who have
adopted the Slavic language and customs; the Bulgarians declare
that they are Slavs who were conquered by Mongols, and_ received
their name and a certain tinge of their language. However this
may be, those who have most carefully studied the situation are
of opinion that, if Constantinople is to be held by any of the
Balkan races, the Bulgarians have most claim to it and would
occupy it with the greatest advantage to the civilisation of the
world. The Bulgarians professed the Eastern form of Christianity,
generally known as the Greek Church, and were under the
authority of the Greek Patriarch who lived in the Fanariote
Quarter of Constantinople, so called after the Fanar, or lighthouse,
the most conspicuous building in it. As the Greeks were their
principal rivals, were of an overbearing disposition, and always
laid claim to the possession of Constantinople, which the
Bulgarians desired for themselves, and as the Bulgarian Church
was an ancient and distinguished community, dignified by a
literature, churches and traditions of its own, they wished to have
an independent Patriarch and throw off the yoke of the Greeks ;
and the Sultan and the Tsar were agreed in granting these
privileges.

During the reign of Alexander the Russians extended their
confines far over the plains of Central Asia. This development
began with the conquest of Siberia, which was inaugurated by
Peter the Great and continued by Nicholas I. Step by step
Russia. advanced into the country of the Kirghizes, defending
its acquisitions by building fortresses as it proceeded, and in 1843
the great horde of that people submitted to Russian authority.
This was succeeded by long wars with the Khan of Khokand, in
the ’fifties and ’sixties, which had the object of extending Russian
power in the valley of the Syr Daria, the ancient Jaxartes, and of
conquering the important commercial city of Tashkend. When
the country was subdued, it was incorporated with the Russian

715
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Empire under the name of Turkestan in 1865. The two following
years witnessed the defeat of the Emir of Bokhara and the
annexation of his dominions, Samarkand, the capital, falling into
Russian hands in May, 1868. The Emir was wise enough to see
that resistance was useless, and that his best hope lay in a close
friendship with the victorious foe.

Still more important was the campaign against the Khan of
Khiva, the last portion of Turkestan which remained unsubdued.
These conquests were not like the exploits of the ancient Persians,
mere military manifestations for the glory and interest of the
Sovereign. They were brought about by inevitable circumstances.
It is impossible for a civilised Power to be the close neighbour of
an uncivilised Power without feeling the necessity of extending
its frontiers. The conqueror who attempts to introduce civilisa-
tion and good government into a country which has not known
them finds his roads of communication broken up and his criminals
and conspirators gladly received across the border, and reprisals
are forced upon him, and war tends to annexation. The Russian
military stations in Turkestan were perpetually harassed by the
raids of the undisciplined tribes of the valley of the Oxus, south
of the Aral Sea. They were obliged to put them down by force,
and in the conflict which ensued the Khan of Khiva seized some
Russian subjects and refused to give them up. This was regarded
as a cause of war. The Khan was compelled to submit, and the
influence of Russia in Central Asia was largely increased. The
advance of Russia caused Great Britain some alarm with regard
to her position in India, and Count Shuvalov was sent to London
to give explanations. He succeeded in persuading the British
Government that Russian conquests in Khiva threatened no
danger to India, but were merely measures of absolute necessity
for the preservation of those districts Russia had already
conquered. He also said that if the Russian advance in Central
Asia, which was in the interest of peace and civilisation, was
unopposed by Great Britain the Russians would not object to an
extension of British influence on the side of Afghanistan. How-
ever, Great Britain thought it prudent to conclude an offensive
and defensive alliance with Afghanistan, pay the Ameer a yearly
subvention, and promise to protect his country against aggression
if he would take her advice.

In 1873 General Kaufmann was placed in command of an
expedition against Khiva, which was to attack it from four sides.
His march, which lasted from April to June, lay through a desert
country, swept by storms of wind and sand, against which tents

716
THE BALKAN TROUBLES

offered no protection. The heat was intense and there was no
water, but the Russian soldier is patient and enduring, and
trained by long practice to bear hardship. Khiva was defended
by a force of 20,000 Turkomans, but after a siege and bombard-
ment Kaufmann entered it as conqueror on June roth. In the
meantime Skobelev, who afterwards became so famous, was
exploring the bed of the Oxus and the district towards the east.
The Khan had escaped to the desert, but returned and made
peace, on payment of a war indemnity of 2,000,000 roubles and
the cession of the country on the right bank of the Amu Daria,
the ancient Oxus. Thus the Khan of Khiva became a vassal of
Russia.

By this exploit the power of Russia in Central Asia was
enormously increased, and Great Britain had reason to complain
that the trust which Russia had imposed upon herself in previous
negotiations had been greatly exceeded. Indeed, this sudden
and momentous development of Russian territory and influence
gave some excuse for the anti-Russian policy of Beaconsfield,
and a struggle now ensued between Great Britain and Russia for
the subjection of the tribes which lay between their respective
frontiers. In 1875 and 1876 Kaufmann and Skobelev entirely
subdued the Khanate of Khokand, and annexed it to the Russian
Empire under the name of Ferighan. In 1880 and 1881 Skobelev
reduced the wild and untamable horse-riding hordes of the Tekke
Turkomans, and penetrated as far as Mery, a town fifteen or
twenty days’ journey from Khiva, which some Englishmen have
described as the key to India. The territory of Khuldja, which
had formerly belonged to the Chinese, was also conquered, but
the greater part of it was afterwards given back to them, and
the island of Sakhalin was conquered from Japan. A similar
struggle was going on in Persia, where, since 1848, Nasraddin
had been Shah. Moreover, the Russians had started the Trans-
Caspian railway from the Caspian Sea to Samarkand. It was
mainly constructed by General Annenkoy, and was completed in
1888 ; the Trans-Siberian railway was also begun.

A league was formed between the Emperors of Germany,
Austria and Russia, with the immediate purpose of preserving
peace in the Balkan Peninsula, but with certain ulterior objects.
There was, at this period, a Panslavic movement which aimed at
uniting all branches of the Slavic race under the Tsar of Russia.
This was opposed to the interests of two of the three Powers
mentioned, but the Tsar hoped that if he gave way on this point
his Imperial brothers might be willing to further his ambitious

717
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

designs in other directions. At this time a spark was kindled in
Bosnia and Herzegovina which, gradually spreading, eventually
set Europe in a flame. Ever since the Peace of Paris the Turkish
Government had been falling into a state of decadence.

The Crimean War had left Turkey weaker than it found her.
The “ Sick Man ”’ was not cured, but every day approached nearer
to dissolution. The non-Mohammedan races under the dominion of
the Sultan aimed more and more at independent government,
with a persistence which rendered all efforts of the Christian West
futile, while the Porte tried to pacify them with deceitful promises.
Foreign intervention became a necessity. In 1860 the Emperor
Napoleon was compelled to prevent by arms the common murders
of the Druses and Maronites which drenched the Lebanon with
blood. A French general marched into Damascus and enabled
the Turkish pasha to inflict the penalty of justice on the mur-
derers, while the Government at Constantinople was compelled
to grant a constitution to the Lebanon, which would prevent. such
atrocities in future.

On June 26th, 1861, Abdul Medjid died, and was succeeded by
his brother Abdul Aziz. After initiating a few reforms he fell into
a condition of slackness and apathy, and was swayed by favourites
who squandered the finances. A conviction grew up in Con-
stantinople that the Turkish Empire could only be saved from
ruin by the adoption of reforms on the European model and by
an approach to European culture. These views were put forward
by the great statesman, Fuad Pasha, who, in the summer of 1867,
accompanied his Sovereign in a journey to the Courts of Paris,
London and Vienna and, under cover of the impression which
this journey made upon the mind of his master, induced the
Sultan to grant equal privileges to his Christian and Mohammedan
subjects and release the Government from the hampering principles
of the Koran. His efforts were not altogether in vain, and a good
deal was effected of a reforming character. But the ignorance
of the officials, the prejudices of the people, the fanaticism of the
Old Turkish party, the hatred of the army towards Christians,
and the hopeless condition socially and financially of the Empire
made it doubtful whether reform were possible at all. Unhappily,
Fuad Pasha died at Nice on February 11th, 1867, and the reforms
came to an end.

One of the greatest difficulties of the Porte lay in the desire of
her vassal states for independence. In January, 1859, Moldavia
and Wallachia joined together under the title of the Principality
of Roumania. The Diet, paying no attention to the protests of

718
SERVIA’S INDEPENDENCE

the Porte against the union, chose as sovereign Alexander Cusa,
descended from an unimportant Boyar family, who had risen by
his own abilities and character. He was not a success. In May,
1864, tired of the opposition of the Diet to his wilful and
extravagant rule, he imitated Louis Napoleon by demanding a
plebiscite, which abrogated the Constitution; but in less than
two years he was deposed by a conspiracy at Bucharest on
February 23rd, 1866, and died at Heidelberg on May 15th, 1873.
A German Prince, Charles Antony of Hohenzollern, brother of the
Hohenzollern whose candidature for the throne of Spain was the
cause of the Franco-Prussian War, was elected in his place, and
as King of Roumania met with universal praise, while his gifted
and beautiful Queen was recognised as a crowned genius.

Servia had attempted to liberate herself from the fetters of
Turkish supremacy since the beginning of the century. Milosh
Obrenovich, the founder of a line of national Princes, went farther
and endeavoured to get rid of the Russian patronage, exercised
through the National Party and the Senate in Belgrade, which
possessed a predominant power. He was unable to effect this and,
on July 13th, 1839, abdicated in favour of his eldest son. Milan,
who was in bad health, died, and his brother Michael Obrenovich
was made Prince. He was even less capable than his father of
overcoming the obstacles which beset his path, and, after having
for three years done his best to withstand the intrigues and
conspiracies of the opposite party, also was forced to leave the
country in September, 1842, whereupon the Skupshina, the
National Assembly, declared that the family of Obrenovich were
deposed, and summoned Alexander Karageorgievitch to the
throne, and he was confirmed by the Sultan. The Emperor
Nicholas was very angry at these proceedings, but when he was
assured that the position of Russia as protector of the Christians
in Servia would not be affected he gave his consent.

The Crimean War was helpful to Servian independence. Prince
Alexander declared his neutrality, and the Porte was obliged to
permit him to train an army in order to defend it. The Peace of
Paris also tended in the same direction. Servia remained subject
to the Porte, but it became perfectly independent in administra-
tion, legislation and religion. Further, it acquired freedom of
commerce and navigation under the guarantee of the Powers.
The Turks continued to garrison the Turkish fortresses, but were
not allowed to interfere with the administration of the country—
a dual control which held within itself the seeds of disorder.
Arrangements rendered necessary by the war and carried still

719
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

farther after the peace had the effect of weakening the supremacy
of the Sultan, of increasing the national conscience, and preparing
for the complete independence of the country. A national militia
was formed with the acknowledged purpose of assisting the
Christians against the Turks if the occasion arose, and no atten-
tion was paid to the protests of the Porte.

The national party of the Young Servians, supported by the
Senate and the cultured classes, looked towards Russia as the
head of their national inspirations and their religion. On the
other hand, Prince Alexander leaned more upon the support of
Austria. The opposition to him became stronger and, in 1858,
he was compelled to summon a Skupshina, which on December
23rd deposed him. He took refuge in Austria, and the banished
Prince Milosh Obrenovich was summoned to the throne. He
died next year and, on September 26th, 1860, the crown came to
his son, Michael III., who declared it hereditary in his House. He
tried to increase the national army and also, with the help of the
Powers, to drive the Turks out of the country, excepting those
who garrisoned the fortresses. This arrangement only lasted till
March, 1867, when the fortresses were evacuated by the Turkish
troops, and the suzerainty of the Porte was reduced to a shadow.

On June roth, 1868, one of those tragedies occurred which
have so often disgraced the annals of Servia. As Michael was
walking in the Park of Topshider, in the neighbourhood of
Belgrade, he was attacked by three insurgents armed with
revolvers and killed, a relation who was with him being fatally
wounded. Popular opinion ascribed this murder to the intrigues
of Alexander Karageorgievitch. If this were the case, the
plot failed. Milan Obrenovich, the youthful cousin of Michael,
succeeded, and Radovonovitch was condemned to death and
three others to five years’ imprisonment. Michael’s tragic death
caused universal sympathy. During his reign he had set himself
free from Turkish influence, had driven the Turks from the
country, and had secured the possession of their fortresses. He
had done his best to introduce European culture, and had placed
the constitution on a firm basis. He fell a victim to the barbarism
which he had attempted to destroy. After four years of regency
there followed a period of peace and prosperity, in which the
constitution was established on a parliamentary basis. Milan
assumed the government in August, 1872, it being well known
that he was under the influence of Russia. Montenegro and
Herzegovina were also occupied in settling themselves under
the protection of Russia. Danilo, Prince of Montenegro, was

720
TROUBLES IN GREECE

murdered on August 12th, 1860, and was succeeded by his
brother’s son, Nikola.

The kingdom of Greece also was not without its troubles. King
Otto had proved a very bad ruler, but for thirty years the sceptre
was held by his trembling hands. Bavaria had paid a large sum
to maintain the security and dignity of his throne. But the defects
of his personal character prevented the Greeks from feeling grati-
tude, and the injudicious conduct he had shown after the crisis
of the Crimean War estranged the affections of his subjects, especi-
ally the army. The gradual dismemberment of Turkey encouraged
the Greeks to hope for an addition to their country, an enlarge-
ment they were hardly likely to obtain under this feeble monarch.
A conspiracy was formed, the head of which was the aged Admiral
Canaris, so distinguished in the War of Liberation. In February,
1862, a military rising occurred in N auplia, which, however, was
put down in April, though the lack of energy displayed by the
King in suppressing it encouraged others to follow the example.
In October, as the King was occupied in a progress round the
Peloponnesus, risings took place in Patras and Corinth and
eventually in Athens itself. A provisional Government was
established, and when the King heard of it he returned to the
Pireus. Here he was advised by his ambassadors to abandon all
idea of resistance, and from Salamis he issued a proclamation
announcing his intention of returning to his own country. He
went on board an English ship which brought him to Trieste.

There was some difficulty in finding a successor. Prince Alfred
of Great Britain was first chosen, and crowned as King of Greece
by his fellow midshipmen on board his ship with a bunch of tallow
candles, but he refused the honour. The Tsar wished for the
Duke of Leuchtenberg, the son of Prince Eugéne, the step-son of
Napoleon, who was also favoured by France. It was then deter-
mined to return to the old decision which excluded the families
of the principal European Powers, and when the British Govern-
ment announced its intention to strengthen the new kingdom by
the cession of the Ionian Islands, the choice of a Sovereign was
left to it. After searching in vain in the favourite preserves of
the House of Coburg, and proposing in turn to the King of
Portugal and Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the choice
eventually fell on the brother of the Princess of Wales, who, on
June 5th, 1863, became King of Greece with the title of George.
King George married a Russian princess, as was right and pruper,
and the principal objects of his reign were to acquire a better
frontier on the north and obtain possession of Crete, which ought

721
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to have belonged to Greece from the beginning, and would have
done so but for the prejudice and obstinacy of the Duke of
Wellington.

After the Treaty of Frankfort the condition of the Turkish
Empire became worse, and the desire of her Christian subjects
for independence grew stronger. The relations between the
Christians—responsible for the payment of taxes and the per-
formance of services—and their Mohammedan masters gradually
became less endurable, as the financial condition in Constantinople
assumed the proportions of a national bankruptcy, and the
Turkish tax-farmers in the provinces resorted to the most
oppressive means to extort the money necessary to pay them-
selves and the troops. In July, 1875, an armed insurrection,
caused by these abuses, broke out, first in the Herzegovina and
then in Bosnia. The women, children and old men, with their
cattle and other scanty possessions, took refuge in Austria and
Montenegro, while the men and youths opened an irregular warfare
against the Turkish troops, who were commanded by Mukhtar
Pasha, a natural son of Abdul Aziz. The rising, which might
have been put down by energetic methods rapidly applied,
gained strength through the laziness and carelessness of the
Turks ; and the insurgents, reinforced by volunteers from. Servia
and Montenegro, took up strong positions in the passes and
ravines.

At the suggestion of Austria the Powers attempted to mediate
by means of a consular deputation. The insurgents were informed
that they must not expect assistance from a Christian Power,
and must lay their grievances before Servar Pasha in Mostar,
while the Ottoman Government was advised to remove abuses
and execute reforms. The mediation had no result. The insur-
gents knew by experience that they could place no confidence
in any promises from Constantinople unless guaranteed by the
Powers. Austria, Russia and Germany gave their sanction to
a note drawn up by Count Andrassy with the object of putting
an end to the insurrection, by obliging the Turks to grant reforms
to improve the condition of the Christians, and to this note Italy
and France gave their adhesion. But Great Britain kept
aloof. A Tory Government was now in power, and Disraeli
cherished such jealousy of Russia that he was afraid the Tsar
might drive the Turks out of Europe and seize Constantinople
for himself,

The winter passed in this manner, but unrest spread through-
out the Balkan Peninsula. At length, on January 31st, 1876,

722
PANSLAVIC ACTIVITY

Great Britain gave her adhesion to the Andrassy Note, which was
now presented by Count Zichy to Raschid Pasha, the Foreign
Minister of the Porte. The note was considered by a Council of
Ministers, and the ambassadors were informed that the Porte
accepted the suggestions with regard to the equality of Christians
before the law, the abolition of tax-farming, and improvement
in the condition of the peasantry, and for this purpose an Irade,
or Circular Note, was issued on February 23rd, promising an
amnesty to the insurgents, a safe return to the emigrants, and
remittance of the tithe for one year and of other taxes for two
years. The insurgents, however, declined to lay down their arms
or return to their homes unless the concessions of the Porte were
guaranteed by the Powers. This, of course, was impossible, so
the Andrassy Note failed. Hostilities began anew, the excite-
ment spread to Bulgaria, and Prince Milan in Belgrade began
to show sympathy with his brother Slavs, hoping that, in the
general confusion, he might be recognised as Sovereign of Servia
and Bosnia. A secret society, called the Omladina, was estab-
lished in the Balkan Peninsula, similar to the Hetairia in Greece,
for the purpose of spreading the Panslavic propaganda.

Through this increase of Panslavic sentiment, Austria, which
had hitherto occupied the principal place in the negotiations with
Turkey, began to take a subordinate position, as the Hungarians
had more sympathy with the Turks than with the southern Slavs.
Although the Hungarians had suffered many hardships from the
Turks in ancient days, yet they had never forgotten the defeat
of Villagos, and their hatred of Russia and fears of an increase of
the Slavic element in their own country were stronger than the
recollection of their own past history. Thus Russia now took
the first place in the movement. The southern Slavs in Bulgaria,
Bosnia and Servia were bound to her not only by ties of race,
but also of religion. The Russians were delighted to think that
the races in the Balkan Peninsula were looking to them for
protection, and the Tsar was proud to appear as the representa-
tive of Europe before the Turks, to defend the cause of humanity,
Christianity and civilisation. The insurrection, which had begun
in the Herzegovina and Bosnia, spread still farther in the spring.
When in April, 1876, the Turkish commander wished to provision
the fortress of Nicsics, which was being besieged, his army was
intercepted at the Duga Pass.

In May the insurrection spread to Bulgaria, and there was
danger of the whole of European Turkey being in a blaze. In
the middle of May a conference, held at Ems, between Bismarck,

773
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Gortshakov and Andrassy, resulted in a memorandum being
presented to the Porte by the three Powers, saying that they
regarded the request for a guarantee as reasonable, that there
should be an armistice for two months, and that if at the end of
that time satisfactory arrangements had not been made, the three
Courts would take steps to enforce their wishes. Great Britain
declined to join, and Russia was designated as the instrument
to be employed to execute the judgment. But just at this time
certain occurrences at Constantinople turned the attention of the
world to matters of greater importance.

All these events—the uprising of the Christians, the support
given by the Prince of Montenegro to the insurgents of Nicsics,
and the rebellion of the Bulgarians—had stimulated Moham-
medan fanaticism and the hatred of the Turks against the
Russians. Even before the Conference of Ems quarrels had
arisen at Salonica between Christians and Mohammedans, which
led to the murder of the German and French consuls, while a few
days later there was an outbreak of fanaticism against the Sultan
in Constantinople, Abdul Aziz being considered the cause of all
the mischief. On May rth the softas, or pupils of the Moslem
theological seminaries, came together, and passing in long pro-
cession before the palace of the Sultan demanded the dismissal
of the Grand Vizir Mahmoud Pasha, and the Sheikh-ul-Islam.
The Sultan gave way, but the riot was not at an end. On May
30th his own ministers, with the consent of the new Sheikh-ul-
Islam, pronounced his deposition, and declared his heir, Murad V.,
to be Ruler of the Faithful. When he heard of this, on June 4th,
Abdul Aziz, as was publicly announced, put an end to himself
by opening his veins. But it was afterwards discovered that he
had been killed by a number of high officials, among whom was
Midhat Pasha; eunuchs and palace officials held him fast while
he was stifled by chloroform, and then a Jewish doctor, a pervert
to Islamism, opened his veins.

Under Murad V., who was a nonentity, the country was
governed by the Grand Vizir Rushdi, the War Minister
Hussein Avni, and the cultured Midhat, who by many was
thought a charlatan. Their plan was to establish parliamentary
government on the British model, with equal rights for all
religions, but at the same time to regenerate the Ottoman Empire
and make it independent of external influences. The Koran and
the harem were to cease to rule, and a new Eastern Empire was
to be established on the Bosphorus. But this were as profitable
as to graft an apple on an oak tree; nations, like individuals

724
THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES

are too much bound by their past to profit by these sudden
conversions.

The Bulgarian atrocities, which horrified the conscience of

Europe, took place at the very time this new era was called into
existence, and showed that, however the Turks might change
their principles, their actions remained the same. “‘ You may
change a man’s skin,” say the Italians, “but you will never
change his vices.’’ The spirit of Mohammedan fanaticism, instead
of being pacified by these proceedings, was roused to more violent
passions, which were intensified by the dispatch of the British
fleet to Salonica. On June 15th Raschid Pasha and Hussein
Avni, two of the murderers of Abdul Aziz, were themselves
murdered at a Council of State by Hassan Bey, the brother of
one of the slain Sultan’s favourite wives. The Bulgarian insur-
rection, which had broken out prematurely, was put down by
Circassians and Bashi-Bazouks with the utmost severity and
cruelty. In Batak, on May 12th, there was an indiscriminate
slaughter. Thousands of Christians—men, women and children
—were murdered, mutilated and violated, and more than a
hundred villages were burned. The news of these barbarities
reached England on June 23rd. Further investigations made
matters worse instead of better. The question occupied the
attention of Parliament, Gladstone being indignant, and Disraeli,
shortly to become Lord Beaconsfield, indifferent.
_ We will desert a strictly chronological order and speak of
the effect on Great Britain later. Milan of Servia and Nikola of
Montenegro made common cause with the insurgents in Bosnia
and the Herzegovina, with the object of securing these provinces for
themselves. They reckoned upon the support of Russia, and
especially of the Panslavic party in Moscow. At the end of
June Milan crossed the frontier with his army ; but Great Britain
continued to play an unworthy part. She sent her fleet into
Besika Bay, ostensibly to prevent bloodshed, but really to protect
the Turks from the attacks of Russia. On August 31st Murad V.,
who had been found imbecile, was deposed, and his brother Abdul
Hamid put in his place. Milan was declared King of Servia by
Russian influence on September 16th, but before the end of
October his army had been so completely beaten by the Turks
that the road lay open to Belgrade.

In the meantime the details of the Bulgarian massacres
had begun to make way in England. On September 6th, Mr.
Gladstone published a pamphlet, Bulgarian Horrors and the
Question of the East, which was sold at the rate of 10,000 copies

725
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a day. He declared he could not longer bear in silence his share
of responsibility for the Crimean War. There was not, he said,
a criminal in a European jail, or a cannibal in the South Sea
Islands, whose indignation would not rise at the sight of what
had been done by the one great anti-human specimen of
humanity. He demanded the entire withdrawal of the adminis-
trative rule of the Turks from these provinces. The words
which follow have become famous: ‘As an old servant of the
Crown and State, I entreat my countrymen, upon whom,
perhaps, far more than upon any other people in Europe it
depends, to require and insist that our Government, which has
been working in one direction, shall work in another, and shall
employ all its vigour to concur with the other States of
Europe in obtaining the extinction of the Turkish executive
power in Bulgaria. Let the Turks now carry away their
abuses in the only possible manner—namely, by carrying off
themselves. Their Zaptiehs and their Mudirs, their Bimbashis
and their Yuzbashis, their Kaimakams and their Pashas, one and
all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out from the province
they have desolated and profaned.”

On September 18th, when the excitement of this pamphlet was
at its height, the appearance of Mr. Walter Baring’s report on
the massacres added fuel to the flames. He put the number of
Bulgarians massacred at 12,000. The case of Batak was even
worse than the report. The inhabitants had been summoned to
give up their arms, and were assured that if they did so their
lives would be spared. They obeyed and were all murdered ;
I,200 were burned alive in a church. Lord Derby, who felt the
shame and infamy more keenly than other members of the Cabinet,
ordered Sir Henry Elliot, the British Ambassador at the Porte,
to inform the Turkish Government that their atrocious crimes
had roused the anger of the British people, and that the Powers
could not be indifferent to such abominations. He was instructed
to ask for a personal interview with the Sultan, and demand the
punishment of the murderers, especially Achmet Aga, to which
request, it is needless to say, the Turks paid no heed.

Unhappily, this honourable expression of opinion about the
conduct of Turkey was checked by the stupid jealousy which had
been the curse of British policy in the East. It was thought part
of Great Britain’s duty to defend Constantinople against capture
by Russia, whereas a saner policy teaches that Russia is the
natural heir to the Byzantine Empire, and that, if she had become
mistress of Constantinople a hundred years before it would have

726
THE CONSTANTINOPLE CONFERENCE

been better for Great Britain and better for the world. It was idle
for statesmen to attempt to pervert what all the forces of Nature
were clamouring to have done. The Tsar, however, gave the
British Ambassador his word of honour that he had no designs on
Constantinople, nor any intention of annexing Bulgaria.

The Emperor Alexander now determined on more energetic
measures. He could not see with indifference Servia destroyed,
Bosnia and Herzegovina wasted, the Bulgarian Christians mur-
dered. The result of conferences at Livadia was that on October
31st, 1876, he gave Turkey the alternative of war with Russia
or a cessation of hostilities within two months. The latter, after
some delay, was agreed to by Midhat. But this policy met with
strong opposition from Great Britain. At the Guildhall Banquet on
November gth Lord Beaconsfield delivered a speech of a threaten-
ing description. He said that there was no country so well
prepared for war as England, because there was no country whose
resources were so great, and he added that in a righteous cause
England would begin a fight which would not end until right had
been done. Naturally the Tsar was very angry at this. ‘“ Why,”
he asked, ‘‘ should there be war with England, and what was the
righteous cause?’ He had assented to a congress proposed by
England, of which the object was peace. Lord Salisbury, who
had been deputed to attend the conference, left England on
December 5th, and the conference opened on December 12th.

In London a memorable meeting was held in St. James’s Hall,
on December 8th, to protest against war with Russia. Among
the conveners were men of letters who did not as a rule take
any part in politics, such as William Morris and Robert Browning,
John Ruskin and Edward Burne-Jones. Carlyle wrote advising
that the unspeakable Turk should immediately be struck out of
the question and the country left to honest European guidance,
delaying which could be profitable and agreeable only to gamblers
on the Stock Exchange, but distressing and unprofitable to all
other men. The Duke of Westminster, who presided at the morn-
ing meeting, advised that the fleets and armies of Great Britain
should be sent to Constantinople, not in opposition to Russia,
but for the coercion of the Turks.

The conference sat in Constantinople from December 12th to
the 20th. It consisted of representatives of the great European
Powers without any member from Turkey. It decided that
reforms should be introduced into the Turkish administration
of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria, and that a force of 6,000
Europeans should see that they were carried out. If it rejected

727
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

this proposal, the Ottoman Empire should be at an end. Unfor-
tunately, the Powers were not agreed on the policy they should
pursue, and Lord Salisbury was instructed to oppose occupa-
tion. The manner in which the Porte met the proposals was
characteristic. The day before the conference met Midhat was
appointed Grand Vizir, and Safvet Pasha announced the estab-
lishment of a Parliamentary Government. By this instrument
all provinces of the Turkish Empire were to enjoy equal rights ;
therefore it would be impossible to accept the proposals of the
conference, by which certain provinces were to be treated in an
exceptional manner. The advent of this precious document was
announced to expectant Europe by a salvo of artillery; but its
only result was, on December 28th, to prolong the armistice and
postpone the danger of immediate war. The demands of the
Powers instantly took the form of an International Commission
nominated by them, and the submission of the appointment of
Governors-General to their approval. On January 2oth, 1877,
these points were finally rejected by Safvet Pasha, and Lord
Salisbury declared the conference to be at an end. Shortly after
this, on March 1st, Midhat, the reputed leader of the reform party,
was banished, and Edhem Pasha took his place.

Although the conference had failed, owing to the disagree-
ment of the Powers, the Emperor of Russia determined to proceed
with the beneficent work of protecting the Christian subjects of
the Porte from intolerable oppression. He sent Shuvalov and
Ignatiev to London, with the result that a protocol was signed
at the British Foreign Office on the last day of March. It declared
that if the reforms promised by the Turkish Government were
not effectively carried out the situation would become intoler-
able. On April roth the Porte repudiated the protocol as incon-
sistent with the Treaty of Paris, and after a short delay Russia
declared war. Alexander avowed that he was acting as the
representative of Europe, but Great Britain declined to endorse
this view.

728
CHAPTER ITI

THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR

AFTER the Emperor Alexander had decided upon war, he left
St. Petersburg, and on April 23rd arrived at Kishinev, the head-
quarters of his army. On the following day he issued a manifesto
announcing to the world that he undertook the war in order to
obtain for his fellow Christians living in Turkish territory the
securities which were absolutely necessary for their future welfare.
On the night of April 23rd he crossed the Pruth and entered
Roumania, with whose Government he had made a convention
which enabled him to march upon the Danube. The Emperor
accompanied the army, not with the idea of taking the command,
which he left in the hands of Duke Nicholas, but to stimulate the
courage of the soldiers, and he remained in Ploesti, where his
headquarters were stationed. Azakov wrote in a Moscow news-
paper, “‘ The Russian banners are moving on the other side of the
Danube, for the purpose of restoring freedom and the rights of
humanity to the Christian races of the Balkan Peninsula, hitherto
enslaved and persecuted, despised by the Powers of Europe, who
are so proud of their civilisation. The slumbering Orient is
awake ; not only the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula, but the whole
Slavic world awaits its regeneration. This is the dawn of a new,
an entirely new, epoch—a dawn which announces the coming of
a new day for the Slavic race.”

It is desirable to give some account of the organisation of the
Slavic armies. The Russian army was organised in army corps.
It was recruited by a system of compulsory military service which
had been introduced in 1874, in consequence of the lessons of the
war of 1870, but had not been completely developed when the
present war broke out. In each army corps there were two
infantry divisions, each composed of two brigades. Each brigade
contained two regiments, each regiment three battalions, each
battalion five companies. An army corps also had a division
of cavalry, composed of two brigades, each containing two regi-
ments; one brigade had a regiment of dragoons and a regiment
of lancers, the other a regiment of hussars and a regiment of
Cossacks. The cavalry division, besides, had two horse artillery

729
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

batteries, each consisting of six four-pounder guns. The army
corps had, further, two brigades of artillery, one containing three
nine-pounder batteries, the other three four-pounder batteries,
so that an army corps at full strength held 25,000 infantry, 3,000
cavalry, and 108 guns; but in actual service the corps were
seldom, if ever, complete. The Cossacks were a peculiar part of
the Russian army. They had an organisation of their own—
a compromise between the national customs and the arrangements
of a modern army. They were, as Maurice says, a semi-regular
force of national horsemen, provided their own horses and equip-
ment, and rendered military service in lieu of taxes, the Govern-
ment supplying them with arms and ammunition. They were
intelligent, accustomed to rely on their own resources, and made
good scouts, when placed under suitable officers, but were deficient
in discipline. They were organised in squadrons 100 strong,
called sotnias.

The Turkish army was composed entirely of Mohammedans,
Christians not being permitted to serve, but paying a poll-tax
instead. The army consisted of four classes of soldiers, each with
a different obligation. A Mussulman had first to serve in the
mzam, or active army, in which the infantry served for four years
and the cavalry and artillery for five; he then passed into the
ithick for two more years’ service; from this he went into the
vedif for eight years, and then into the mustaphiz for six years.
The army was divided into seven army corps, formed on a terri-
torial basis: two of these were in Europe and five in Asia. The
whole organisation of the Turkish army was very loose, but it
was now in a better condition than usual, having been employed
in 1875 and 1876 against Herzegovina and Montenegro. The
soldiers were excellent, but their commanders were corrupt. They
looked upon their commands merely as sources of income, and
were given to peculation. They depended for their advance-
ment, and even for the maintenance of their position, on Court
intrigue ; but, at the same time, the pashas were aware that if
they did not do their duty they would inevitably lose their
heads.

The Russian army contained fourteen army corps, to which
must be added a special corps of Bulgarian refugees, under Russian
officers, so that the total force available at the beginning of the
operations was about 200,000. It was commanded by the Grand
Duke Nicholas, the brother of the Tsar, a man to whom the
reorganisation of the army was principally due. His Chief of
Staff was Nepokortshitzki, who was sometimes called “ the Russian

730
THE RUSSIANS CROSS THE DANUBE

Moltke.” On April 18th the Roumanian army was mobilised for
the first time in its history, and comprised 32,000 infantry,
4,000 cavalry, and 84 guns.

The chief command of the Turkish army was given to Abdul
Kerim Pasha, who was seventy-one years of age and belonged to
the old school. Maurice says of him that he thought slowly, spoke
little, never set his foot to the ground, and hardly ever put his
horse out of a walk. He had been educated in a military college
in Vienna, had commanded the Turks in the war against Servia,
but seldom left his house in Sofia. His second in command was
Ahmed Eyoub Pasha, who was a born fighter but had had no
scientific training as a soldier. Abdul Kerim had under his
command an army of 170,000 men, in very scattered positions,
and the Turks had another 150,000 still more widely dispersed
in different parts of the Empire. There was a quadrilateral in
Turkey, as there was in Venetia, consisting of the fortresses of
Rustchuk, Schumla, Varna and _ Silistria, and Abdul Kerim’s
plan was to entice the Russians into it and destroy them; but the
Russians were equally anxious to avoid the trap. On May 22nd
Prince Charles of Roumania, with the consent of his Chambers,
declared the country to be independent of the Porte, and, placing
himself at the head of his army, marched into the field to fight
against the Sultan who had been his suzerain. At the same time
Russian troops crossed the Turkish frontiers into Asia, captured
Bayazid without opposition, and stormed Ardahan on the upper
waters of the Kur.

Between June 21st and 28th the Russians successfully crossed
the Danube, partly by boat and partly by a pontoon bridge
constructed not far from Galatz, and became masters of a number
of important places in the Dobrudsha, while the Turks retreated
to the Wall of Trajan, which extends from Tchernavoda to
Kustendji. This passage of the river, which had been made with
astonishing ease, cost the Russians only 800 men, and they
thoroughly deserved the success which they had won. Their
plans had been well thought out, and every precaution had been
taken to mislead and deceive the enemy. When ready to strike,
they had struck with energy and decision, whereas the Turks
adopted a system of passive defence and waited for the blow to
fall. The Turks ought, if they had desired to prevent the pas-
sage, to have guarded the river by constant patrolling and been
prepared to concentrate at any point on which the attack might
be made. Instead, they allowed themselves to be easily deceived
by the adroitness of the enemy. The Turks had an overwhelm-

731
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ing force of gunboats on the Danube, which proved to be of no
service. There was no connection either between the different
flotillas themselves or between the army and the navy, and this
lack of understanding, enhanced probably by jealousy between the
services, led to inaction and defeat.

A last attempt was made by Russia to stop the war even at
this stage by urging the British Cabinet to put pressure on the
Turks to grant effective reforms in the Balkan Peninsula; but
Sir Henry Layard, at this time British Ambassador at Constanti-
nople, declared that the Porte would never consent to a course
of action the result of which would be to change Bulgaria into
an autonomous, although vassal State, to recognise the independ-
ence of Roumania and Servia, and to enlarge the territory of
Montenegro. The Russians, therefore, were left to do the work
by themselves. Towards the end of June their main army crossed
the Danube at Simnitza and Sistova, and compelled the Turks
to retreat, partly to Nikopolis and partly to Tirnova. The Tsar
himself advanced to Tirnova, the administrative capital of the
ancient Bulgarian kingdom, and from this centre of memories and
hopes issued a manifesto to the Bulgarian Christians, telling
them that the hour had come to free them from Mussulman
tyranny.

In the first days of July the Russians were in possession of
all the country between Sistova and Gabrova at the foot of the
Shipka Pass, so that the Grand Duke Nicholas could transfer
his headquarters to Tirnova, and Prince Cherkaski, the well-
known Slavophil, could begin the organisation of Bulgaria as an
independent State. The Russians in Moscow thought the war
would be a parallel in success to the Franco-German War of 1870,
and that Bulgaria would be a new Alsace. On July 16th, four
days after the arrival of the main army at Tirnova, Nikopolis fell
into Russian hands, and the attack on the Shipka Pass, the
passage over the Balkans which opened the road to the valley
of the Maritza and Constantinople, began under the direction of
the gallant Gourko.

The pass was defended by Raouf Pasha, who placed his head-
quarters at Slivno and had at his disposal twenty-one battalions
of infantry, twelve squadrons of cavalry, and two and a half
patteries of artillery. On July 13th a small body of Cossacks and
other troops crossed the summit, bivouacked on the southern
slopes of the Balkans, and descended, next morning, into the
beautiful valley of the Tundja. The drop from the summit of
the pass to its foot is one of 3,000 feet in five miles, so that it was

732
BRITISH FLEET IN BESIKA BAY

necessary to dismount the greater part of the cavalry, and employ
them in lowering the mountain-guns over the rocks and through
thick brushwood. When the Turks knew that the pass was being
attacked both from the north and the south, they determined
to evacuate it, and Gourko’s victorious cavalry took possession
of Eski-Sagra, Karabunar and Jamboli till, on July 25th, they
reached Harmanli, which lies between Adrianople and Philippo-
polis and encamped in the valley of the Maritza. It seemed as if
the campaign would be over in a few weeks, and the Russians
could march as conquerors into Constantinople. They were
naturally seconded in their efforts by the Bulgarian Christians,
who had many wrongs and insults to avenge.

It might have been thought that the Russian advance would
be hailed with joy by all friends of liberty and progress through-
out the world. But the members of Lord Beaconsfield’s Cabinet
were of a different opinion. They were full of dismay at the
Russian success, and did not recognise the full evil and enormity
of Turkish rule. They strengthened the British squadron in
Besika Bay and offered to send ships into the Bosphorus or to
occupy Gallipoli. But Turkey would not consent to this, except
under an offensive and defensive alliance, and so far the Tories
were not prepared to go. They would not make war against
Russia unless Austria would join them. Andrassy thought it
better policy to preserve the Triple Alliance, and an interview
with Bismarck in Berlin confirmed him in this opinion.

The view taken by the Liberals could not be better explained
than in the magnificent speech made by Gladstone on May 7th,
1877. He said: “There were other days when England was
the hope of freedom. Wherever in the world a high inspiration
was entertained, or a noble blow was struck, it was to England
that the eyes of the oppressed were always turned, to their
favourite, their darling home of so much privilege and so much
happiness, where the people who had built up for themselves a
noble edifice would, it was well known, be ready to do what in
them lay to secure the same inestimable boon for others. You
talk to me of the established tradition and policy with regard to
Turkey. I appeal to an established tradition, older, wider, nobler
far—not a tradition which disregards British interests, but which
teaches you to seek the protection of these interests in strengthen-
ing the dictates of honour and justice.” He added, in conclu-
sion: ‘‘I believe, for one, that the knell of Turkish tyranny in
these provinces has sounded; so far as human eyes can judge,
it is about to be destroyed. Its destruction may not come in the

733
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

way or by the means which we should use, but, come from what
hands it may, I am persuaded that it will be accepted as a boon
by Christendom and the world.”

However, at this time the future of the Turkish arms began
to brighten. It was recognised by the Turks that their disasters
were due to the incompetence of their commanders and the
inefficiency of the War Department in Constantinople. Abdul
Kerim and Redif Pasha, the Minister of War, were accordingly
dismissed from their offices and sent in banishment to the island
of Lemnos, while Chalib Effendi, the new Sheik-ul-Islam, stirred
the religious feelings of the Moslems and talked of proclaiming a
holy war by unfurling the banner of the prophet. The command
of the army on the Danube was given to Mehemet Ali Pasha, the
descendant of a Huguenot family which had emigrated from
France to Magdeburg, and Osman Pasha, who had been com-
mandant of Widin, took up a strong position at Plevna with
30,000 men and surrounded it with earthworks. His army was
gradually increased until it reached the number of 50,000.

The occupation of Plevna was of great importance, both to
the Russians and the Turks. It is situated on the Vid, which
is here 60 yards wide, and six roads radiating from it open
communication with all parts of Bulgaria. Osman reached Plevna
from Widin early on July roth, having in six days and a half
marched 11r0 miles through difficult country, his troops suffering
much from heat and want of water. He was attacked by the
Russians under Schildner-Schuldner on July 2oth, but gained a
complete victory. Indeed, if his soldiers had not been tired out
by long marches and want of sleep, he would have entirely
destroyed the enemy. The failure of the Russians was due to
the fact that they underrated the strength of the foe. They
threw themselves upon the Turkish earthworks without previous
artillery fire or other preparation. They lost 74 officers and 2,771
men killed and wounded, the Turkish losses being slightly less.

Kriidener was now bidden drive back Osman at once, but he
did not consider himself strong enough to attack. He was, how-
ever, overruled by the Grand Duke Nicholas, who ordered an
immediate assault. Kriidener now commanded a force of about
25,000 men. It was decided to make the attack on July 30th, by
two columns, one moving from the north-east and the other from
the south-east, the general reserve in the rear forming a connect-
ing link. The battle ended in total failure, Kriidener losing 168
officers and 7,167 men—nearly a quarter of his whole force.
Osman had used up all his reserve during the battle, and had

734
PLEVNA’S GALLANT DEFENCE

no fresh troops to conduct a pursuit. Indeed, he was probably
not aware of the extent of his victory, as darkness prevented
him from seeing the disorder of the Russian retreat.

When the news of the defeat reached Nikopolis and Sistova
it created the utmost alarm. The report that the Turks were
approaching caused a wild panic, the bridges at Sistova being
blocked for hours by fugitive Bulgarians, who, along with wounded
men and camp followers, sought the protection of the northern
side of the river. If Osman had been in a condition to pursue,
it is difficult to conjecture what the result would have been. The
Grand Duke Nicholas was forced to retreat, and moved his head-
quarters from Tirnova to Biela, and then to Gornia Studena,
where he was joined by the Tsar. It is said that the Turks
behaved in a barbarous manner towards the wounded Russians,
although the Porte had acceded to the conditions of the Geneva
Convention.

The town of Plevna now occupied a place in the Russo-Turkish
War similar to that which Metz had held in the war between
France and Germany. Public feeling in St. Petersburg and
Moscow was depressed, especially as telegraphic news from the
seat of war was scanty and uncertain, and foreign newspapers
were generally favourable to the Turks. It seemed undignified
that the Tsar should be at headquarters without taking command
of his army; and the Grand Duke Nicholas had not exhibited
those abilities in the conduct of the war which were expected
from him when he was appointed. Moreover, financial difficulties
supervened, and paper-money sank in value. The Guard was
withdrawn to the Danube and the reserves were called out, even
though it was the time of harvest. Happily for the Russians,
Osman made no attempt to advance, contenting himself with
strengthening Plevna by a very large circuit of earthworks, and
converting it into an impregnable fortress by numerous well-
equipped batteries. On their side, the Russians brought new
army corps into action and entered upon an alliance with the
Roumanians to secure their help in their operations. Prince
Charles placed himself at the head of his troops and took an
active part in the various sanguinary attempts to drive the Turks
out of Plevna. It became obvious to the Russian Government that
the war must be pursued with energy, and that the Tsar must
not return to his capital save as a conqueror. But, in spite of
the brilliant capture of Lovcha by Skobelev, which formed a
turning-point in the campaign, and the third battle of Plevna,
fought on September 11th, 12th and 13th, which was mainly an

735
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

attack on the Grivitza redoubts, the siege of Plevna still con-
tinued. During these three days the Russians lost 300 officers
and no fewer than 12,000 men killed and wounded, while the
Turkish losses were not more than 3,000.

In the meantime the fire of war was raging in other places
besides the Balkan Peninsula. In Armenia the Turks held their
own, and successfully defended Kars and Batoum against the
assaults of the enemy, and compelled General Tergukasov to
evacuate Bayazid. He was, however, able to effect a masterly
retreat to his own country, although his march was threatened by
a Mohammedan rising in Abkhasia and Daghestan. The army of
the Caucasus was not able to effect anything until it had received
reinforcements in the late autumn. Then it was competent to
defeat the Turks in a series of battles before Erzerum and storm
the fortress of Kars, where 17,000 men, among whom were two
pashas and 800 officers, as well as 300 guns and 20 banners, fell
into their hands. The Grand Duke Michael, the Governor of
Tiflis, was able to enter the city in triumph.

Nor had the Turks any success in Montenegro. Mehemet Ali
and Suleiman Pasha attacked Prince Nikita from three sides, and
did their utmost to crush the rebellion in the Black Mountain,
but they met with serious defeats. On September 6th Nikita,
who had been long blockading the fortress of Nicsics, compelled
it to surrender, took the Duga forts, and turning towards the sea,
occupied the port of Spizza and the defences of Antivari.

Bulgaria was the only portion of the theatre of war in which
fortune smiled upon the Crescent. Here the Turks were able to
drive the invaders back from their positions south of the Balkans.
When Suleiman Pasha left Montenegro and, joining the troops of
Raouf, marched into the valleys of the Tundja and the Maritza,
Gourko was forced to abandon his position in Eski-Sagra, and
retire with his cavalry to Kazanlik, and thence to the Shipka Pass.
As the Russians retired, the Turks followed them, burning and
wasting the country. Eski-Sagra and Kazanlik were given to
the flames, and the inhabitants were murdered with indescrib-
able horrors. Then Suleiman, with admirable strategy, placed his
forty battalions right across the path of the Russians and barred
their further advance; but he could not drive them from their
entrenchments, and they became again masters of the summit of
the pass. The struggle continued for weeks. Both sides fought
with the utmost energy, and the losses on both sides were very
great, but the Russians were still masters of the pass at the end
of the year.

736
POSITION OF PLEVNA

In northern Bulgaria the fortunes of war wavered on the
Lom and the Jantra, inclining now to one side, now to the other.
Mehemet Ali, the Franco-German, whose real name was Charles
Detroit, held his own against the foe with the army of the
Danube, but could not drive the Russians across the river.
The fact was, he had completely lost heart. He could not trust
his subordinates, and knew that intrigues against him were rife
at Constantinople, where the party of Suleiman were gaining the
upper hand. Every pasha in the army had some friend at Court,
who kept him informed of what was going on, and when they
knew that Mehemet was declining in favour they became insub-
ordinate and rendered effective command of the army impossible.
At last the expected blow fell. On October 2nd Suleiman arrived
on the field with an order from the Sultan giving him the chief
command, and Mehemet Ali was recalled to Constantinople.
Suleiman was not, however, more successful here than he had
been in his other enterprise, and the Russians still held their own
on the Lom and the Jantra.

A radical change now took place in the fortunes of the
siege of Plevna. Todleben, who had won unspeakable glory at
Sebastopol, was recalled from the retirement into which he had
been forced by the jealousy of the Slavs against a German to
conduct the blockade of Plevna. Prince Charles of Roumania
still remained in nominal charge of the western army, but the
conduct of operations was left entirely to Todleben. He effected
reforms in the command of the army: Skobelev was placed at the
head of the sixteenth division, and Gourko was given control of
all the cavalry of the western army. In order to raise the spirits
and strengthen the moral tone of the men, a large number of
promotions and decorations were distributed amongst those who
had distinguished themselves.

Osman, on his side, was not less busy with arrangements for
provisioning Plevna, and repairing the losses the troops had
suffered. He saw that the object of the Russians was to cut his
communications and establish a complete blockade, and there-
fore he utilised every opportunity to obtain food and forage. But
he knew that his position was hopeless, and that if he remained
at Plevna he would be either starved out or captured by an over-
whelming force. It was almost impossible to preserve his connec-
tion with Sofia, and therefore he asked permission to fall back
on the Etropol Balkans, where he would be able to manceuvre
with freedom. But he received the answer, dictated by an
ignorance of the situation and the art of war, that Plevna must

¥ 737
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

be held at all costs. It was not seen that Plevna was important
only so far as it was a danger to the Russian communications,
but that as soon as the investment was complete it would cease
to effect these ends. The Sultan thought that Plevna had
become a watchword of Turkish success in the eyes of Europe,
and must, therefore, be held to the last.

On the other hand, Todleben determined that no further attack
should be made on the fortifications of Plevna, but that recourse
should be had to blockade alone. For this purpose it was essential
that he should receive every available man. The first necessary
step was to cut communication between Plevna and Sofia, and
to occupy the left bank of the Vid. This was committed to the
competent hands of Gourko, who succeeded in effecting his object
on November ist. A week later Skobelev occupied the Green
Hill to the south of the town, and thus rendered the investment
of the doomed fortress closer still.

Indeed, matters were becoming desperate. In the middle of
November it was necessary to put the beleaguered soldiers on half
rations, and even this had to be reduced. By November 27th
Osman came to the conclusion that his supplies would not last
much more than a fortnight. There was no forage for the
animals, no medicine or bandages for the sick and wounded;
the men’s clothing was in rags; there was barely sufficient food
for cooking; and the cold was intense. Osman heard of no
preparations for his relief; therefore, on December rst, he
summoned a council of war, at which it was determined that
an attempt should be made to break through the lines of invest-
ment. The only side open to him was the west. In this
direction he might hope to reach the Isker in one march,
and then occupy Sofia and come into touch with the relieving
army which was assembling in the Etropol Balkans. He resolved
to move at the end of the first week in December.

Suleiman Pasha, who commanded the relieving force, had
earned a great reputation by the rapidity and skill with which
he had transferred his forces from Montenegro to Roumelia. But
the command of the armies of the quadrilateral demanded quali-
ties which he did not possess. His subordinates intrigued against
each other and against him, and he was obliged to employ a large
portion of his army in garrison duty. It was, therefore, some
time before he could organise an attacking force such as could
deliver a rapid and decisive blow against the enemy. He had
an army of 14,000 men at Rustchuk, a field army of 40,000
infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and 111 guns, about 15,000 men at Eski-

738
FAILURE TO RELIEVE PLEVNA

Djuma, 5,000 men at Osman Bazar, and about 30,000 men in
other garrisons. He spent the whole of October and the greater
part of November in comparative inactivity ; but towards the end
of the latter month he was positively ordered to relieve Osman
Pasha. He determined to attack the left flank of the Tsarevitch,
who commanded the Russian forces, and destroy the bridge
across the Danube which the Russians had constructed and
which kept up their communications with Roumania. The attack
entirely failed, the Turks losing some 1,200 men, the Russians
about 7oo. Although Suleiman could have disposed of 75,000
men, yet he only employed 25,000 for the attack, and the rest
of his army was scarcely used at all. His operations showed no
improvement in arrangement and cohesion.

Having failed in his attempt to attack the left of the
Tsarevitch, Suleiman now turned his attention to his right, and
for this purpose collected about 30,000 men. He seized Elena
and Slataritza and prepared to attack Tirnova; had he succeeded
in capturing this position, the Russians would probably have
been compelled to abandon the siege of Plevna. But he failed
at the critical moment, and the opportunity was lost. The
Russians regained the places they had lost, and the expedition
collapsed. The capture of Elena, however, was a masterly pro-
ceeding, and if Suleiman had persevered in his efforts on
December 5th he would have been able to seize Tirnova.

Another attempt to relieve Plevna was made by assembling
a force at Sofia under Mehemet Ali. He had returned to
Constantinople after handing his army over to Suleiman, as we
have seen, and was then directed to organise an army for the relief
of Osman. He got together about 30,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry,
and 36 guns, his reserve being placed under the orders of an
Englishman, Valentine Baker, who had adhered closely to his
fortunes. But his army had great elements of weakness; his
arrangements for supply and transport were very defective, and
there was little concentration or solidarity in the force under
his command.

In the meantime Gourko had been very active. He recog-
nised that he could not achieve success by occupying a purely
defensive position, but that he must drive the Turks into western
Bulgaria, south of the Balkans, and, if possible, secure the passes
through them. Mehemet knew that he was not strong enough
to meet Gourko in the open field, and contented himself with
occupying the Balkan provinces for defence, making no serious
effort to oppose the Russian advance in those districts which

739
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

commanded the issues from Sofia into western Bulgaria. This
showed that he had no immediate intention of relieving Osman,
and that he must confine himself to covering Sofia. Gourko,
however, pressed on, seized the northern end of the passes which
led to Sofia, and held them, while Mehemet Ali was recalled to
Constantinople to prepare for the defence of the capital.

We must now return to Osman. As we have already said,
he had decided to begin his sorties on the night of December
gth, a night on which the Turkish works were covered
with a thick fog, which enabled him to evacuate his position
unobserved by the Russians. He had gradually slackened his
fire during the three previous days, and entirely suspended it
during the fourth, in order that the suspicions of the Russians
might not be roused by any sudden cessation of the cannonade.
His first division had crossed the Vid at 5 a.m. on December roth,
but the convoy which followed it consisted of 1,000 vehicles and
3,000 pack animals, and before half of it had got over, the
Russians opened fire on the crowded and encumbered bridge,
and the presence of 150 Mohammedan families with their goods
and chattels added to the confusion. The Turks found them-
selves exposed to a heavy artillery fire, both from the front and
from enfilading batteries, so that the first division could not
remain where it was, and the second division had not begun
to cross the Vid. Osman determined, therefore, to attack the
Russian front, from which the artillery fire proceeded. The
attack, however, being delivered across the open against a strongly
entrenched position, failed, and Osman himself was wounded.
The position of the first division grew desperate, and the second
division did not appear. Shortly after noon the major part of
the Turkish force found itself hemmed in between the Goritza
and the Vid; and Osman, finding further resistance useless,
surrendered unconditionally with his whole army. This disaster
was produced by the fatal decision of the Sultan not to permit
the evacuation of Plevna in October. Osman had done his work
well, and if in August there had been a Turkish general able to
take advantage of the situation, the defeat of the Russian armies
would have been assured. Osman, by his march from Widin,
had nearly ruined the power of the Tsar, but the opportunity
was lost. Osman’s heroic defence had lasted six months, to the
admiration of the world, and when the Tsar rode into the
conquered city on the following day, at the side of his brother
Nicholas—who had said to Osman, after the surrender, “It is
one of the most splendid military events in history ’—he returned

740
RUSSIANS AT ADRIANOPLE

his sword to the wounded hero and assigned him Charchov as
a place of imprisonment.

The fate of Plevna practically brought the whole campaign
to an end. By the capture of Osman’s army the whole of
Bulgaria north of the Balkans and west of the Kara Lom, with
the exception of Widin, was cleared of the Turks, the Russians
being in possession of the principal passes across the Balkans,
excepting their southern ends. It was decided to proceed with a
winter campaign. Gourko’s force was raised to 80,000 men, and
Radetzky’s to 70,000 at the Shipka Pass. On January 4th, 1878,
Sofia was occupied by the Russians without opposition; and
on January oth, by Skobelev’s advance over the Shipka Pass, the
Turks were surrounded and 30,000 men surrendered. Suleiman
was preparing to oppose Gourko’s advance between Philippopolis
and Sofia when he heard of the surrender of Shipka. He retired
upon Adrianople, but, finding that he could not reach that city
before Radetzky, took refuge in Macedonia, leaving a rearguard
under the command of Fuad Pasha. Fuad detained Gourko for
three days near Philippopolis, but was finally driven into the
mountains. The remains of Suleiman’s army were collected on
the coast and taken to Constantinople by sea. The Russians
occupied Adrianople on January 22nd, without opposition, and
on the last day of the month an armistice was signed which led
to the Treaty of San Stefano.

In the middle of December Servia began to join in the war,
and attacked Nish and Pirot in the south and Widin in the east.
The Greeks were forced to defend their frontiers against the wild
Tcherkesses, whom the Turks were unable to restrain. The latter
were reduced to the last extremity, and there was a chance at last
of their meeting with a fit punishment for their prolonged career
of crime, but they addressed a circular to the Powers asking for
intervention. Abdul Hamid wrote a personal appeal to Queen
Victoria, which, to the disgrace of Great Britain, met with a
favourable response. British traditional policy had always been
to oppose Russia and support Turkey, a policy which is now
considered to have been a serious error. It was imagined that the
agerandisement of Russia implied danger to India, whereas wise
statesmen ought to have seen that by depriving Russia of her
natural growth towards the Mediterranean, and forcing her to
Eastern conquest, instead of recognising her as the legitimate
heir to the Byzantine Empire, they were compelling her to adopt
a system of expansion which threatened to pass the barrier of the
Himalaya,

741
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The British Cabinet was now hopelessly divided, some of its
members wishing to see the Christian Cross replace the Crescent
on the dome of St. Sophia, others to declare an immediate war
with Russia. Parliament met on January 17th, and on January
23rd the British fleet was ordered to leave Besika Bay for the
Dardanelles, to keep the strait open, and, in the event of riots
at Constantinople, to protect the lives and property of British
subjects. The admiral started on the following day, having
received a firman from the Sultan, without which, under the
Treaty of London, no ship of war could pass the Dardanelles.
However, wiser counsels prevailed, and he was recalled to Besika
Bay, which, for the honour of his country, he ought never to have
left. But a credit of £6,000,000 was asked for in Parliament to
prepare for war, should war be necessary.

The Treaty of San Stefano was the wisest measure ever
proposed for the pacification of the Balkan Peninsula. It was
by no means favourable to Russian ambition, and, indeed,
suggested the suspicion that it was drawn up by Ignatiev with
exaggerated moderation, because he knew that as soon as it was
concluded it would be torn to pieces by Great Britain. It created
a large Bulgaria, founded on knowledge of the history of that
country and her claim, through her energy and steadfastness, to
be the dominant Power in the Peninsula. It recognised that
Tirnova and Ochrida are the two foci of the Bulgarian nation,
just as Moscow and Kiev are of Russia, one the civil, the other
the religious capital. The new Bulgaria received Kavala on the
f2gean as a port for the exportation of her produce. She was
recognised as a free Christian province of the Turkish Empire,
with an elective prince. Thus constituted, she could not have
been a satellite of Russia, but was far more likely to become
ungrateful to the Power which had created her, and thus be
an effective barrier to the advance of Russia towards Constanti-
nople. In their ignorance, the bulk of British statesmen knew
nothing of this; they had no knowledge of Bulgarian history,
and an incorrect map was issued to members of Parliament, which
entirely distorted the true state of affairs and represented Ochrida
as a part of Macedonia.

Servia, Montenegro and Roumania were to be acknowledged
formally as independent in theory as they were already in fact.
Bosnia and Herzegovina were made self-governing provinces,
and other provinces inhabited by Christians acquired a similar
position. Russia was to receive an indemnity of £12,000,000.
Bessarabia, which was now part of Roumania, was to be

742
BIRTH OF JINGOISM

exchanged for the Dobrudsha, which now belonged to Russia,
and in Asia Russia was to receive Batoum, Ardahan, Kars and
Bayazid.

This very moderate arrangement, which, if accepted, would have
solved most of the questions which afterwards disturbed the East,
was received by Great Britain with a shout of indignation, wholly
irrational and unfounded. However, before its conclusion there
was danger of war between Russia and Great Britain, and the
feeling between the two countries was adroitly stimulated by
Lord Beaconsfield. On February 11th the British fleet was sent
to Constantinople, without the permission of the Porte, and
Prince Gortshakov announced that Russian troops would
immediately enter Constantinople, which would have been the
best thing that could happen. At Woolwich Arsenal extra
hands were employed, and the vessels at Chatham were ordered
to be ready for sea. The fleet before Constantinople was
reinforced, and preparations were made for a land expedition.
The music halls vociferously shouted the refrain of the song,

““We don’t want to fight, but, by Jingo, if we do,
We've got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.”

Although it was quite obvious that the treaty did not
endanger either British or German interests, it was thought
necessary to appeal to the arrangement of 1856, by which Great
Britain, France and Austria had agreed to maintain the integrity
of the Turkish Entpire; and Lord Derby, the Foreign Minister,
informed Gortshalov that the whole treaty must be submitted
to a European congress. This Russia objected to, declaring that
she could only accept a discussion of those points which affected
European interests. When the reserves were called out, Lord
Derby resigned, Lord Salisbury taking his place. The new
Foreign Secretary did not lose a minute in issuing a circular
dispatch that the Treaty of San Stefano must be submitted to a
congress of the Powers, which eventually met at Berlin. To that
question our attention must now be directed.

743
CHAPTER IV
THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN

GREAT BRITAIN and Austria had been waiting at the doors of
the congress house in the village of San Stefano in order to destroy
the treaty between Russia and the Porte so soon as it was
concluded. Jealousy and vindictiveness had been roused by
the victories of Russia, and the two Powers had no doubt that
the conditions of peace would be such as to excuse their passions
and raise them to a higher pitch. Sincere, therefore, was the
surprise at the moderation of the terms proposed; but Great
Britain, at least, refused to be pacified, and the warlike spirit she
had so laboriously evoked had got beyond her control. A council
of the Crown had met in Vienna on February 24th, at which
Andrassy had asked for a credit of 60,000,000 gulden, which was
granted by the delegates on March 21st. This was rather with
the view of lending emphasis to the policy of Austria than as a
war loan. Indeed, the Minister announced that, in his opinion,
the outstanding questions could be settled without war; he had
no objections to the proposals about Bosnia and Herzegovina,
but felt that he could not permit the creation of a large Bulgaria.
Indeed, Ignatiev, the author of the treaty, took pains to spare
the susceptibilities of Austria by giving her a means of control
on the west similar to that which Russia was reserving for herself
on the east.

But the attitude of Great Britain was very different. As we
have already said, she clung closely to the arrangements of Paris
in 1856, and demanded that the whole of the treaty should be
submitted to the arbitrament of Europe. The Ministry obtained
from Parliament a credit of £6,000,000, preparations for war were
pursued with vigour, the reserves were called out, and the unusual
step was taken of summoning Indian troops for active service
in Europe, a measure of very doubtful legality. Lord Stanley
was placed at the War Office, and Gathorne Hardy took the
seals of the India Office, which had been left vacant by the
transference of Lord Salisbury to the Foreign Office.

A circular note of the new Foreign Secretary, dated April 1st,
1878, explained Great Britain’s position. He said that it had

744
SALISBURY’S MANIFESTO

been recognised by the European Powers, including Russia, in
the London Protocol of 1871, that no Power should set itself
free from the obligation of a treaty, or alter its terms, without
the consent of the other signatory Powers after a mutual exchange
of views. The Treaty of San Stefano affected all the nations of
south-eastern Europe; the creation of a large Bulgaria called
into existence a powerful Slavonic State, under the auspices and
control of Russia, on the shores of the Black Sea, and gave it the
possession of a port on the AXgean, which would secure to it a
powerful influence, both political and commercial, over both
waters. It was so composed that it would contain a consider-
able number of Greeks, and the first rulers of the new State
would be appointed by Russian influence and be supported by a
Russian army. The separation of Constantinople from the Greek,
Albanian and Slavic provinces, which still belonged to Turkey,
would cause great difficulties of administration, and threaten
a condition of anarchy. The taking away of Bessarabia from
Roumania, the extension of Bulgaria to the shores of the Black
Sea, which were chiefly inhabited by Russians and Greeks, and
the acquisition of the harbour of Batoum would make Russia
the predominant Power in these regions. Her influence would be
further extended by the possession of the Armenian fortresses,
and the trade which at that time existed between Trebizond and
Persia would be seriously hindered by the prohibitive policy of
Russia. The circular attacked other conditions of the treaty,
especially the war indemnity to be paid by Turkey, declared that
the general effect of the settlement was injurious to the peace of
Europe, and demanded the serious attention of the Powers.
Great Britain would have no objection to take part in a congress
in which the whole matter could be discussed.

This manifesto, based upon ignorance and prejudice, is a
discreditable event in British history. As we have said, the map
of the Balkan Peninsula distributed to members of Parliament
was of a mendacious character. Reference to authoritative
sources, such as Petermann’s Mitteilungen, would have shown
that the Bulgarians were the predominant Power in the peninsula
and that the Greeks had no claim to consideration. Salisbury
knew little or nothing about Bulgarian history, or the conditions
on which alone a stable government could be erected. This
circular rested on the mischievous attitude assumed by Beacons-
field at the outset of his Ministry, when he was in dire need of a
policy. Salisbury admitted afterwards that he was wrong; but
it is a poor reparation for a disastrous error to say some years

x 745
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

afterwards that you “put your money on the wrong horse.’
Salisbury’s dispatch was replied to by Gortshakov on April oth,
in a document of moderate temper, full of sound argument and
accurate knowledge, which was not listened to by the Jingo party.

At the end of April and the beginning of May, 7,000 Indian
troops, consisting of infantry, cavalry, artillery and sappers, were
shipped from Bombay to Malta, and on May 13th the Queen held
a review at Aldershot, and the world was given to understand
that Great Britain could dispose of 70,000 European troops.
Russia made some counter-preparations on her side, but it was
doubtful whether she was in a condition to maintain a war against
Great Britain, which would probably not have to fight alone. The
command of her army was given to Todleben, who had returned
from St. Petersburg, and Imershinsky was made Chief of the Staff.

The condition of the Russian army in the Balkans was very
bad; the soldiers were corrupted by sickness, drunkenness and
lack of discipline ; the earthworks were neglected; and effective
measures were needed to remedy these evils. The Russians
received reinforcements, as well as the artillery which had been
left behind in Roumania. Efforts were made to create a fleet
by the purchase of ships in America, which might harass British
commerce, and steps, which afterwards produced disastrous conse-
quences, were taken to weaken the British Empire in India.

The state of things in the Balkan Peninsula got worse and
worse. Risings against the Turks took place in Thessaly, Epirus,
Macedonia, Crete, the Rhodope Mountains and Bosnia. The
prisoners taken at Plevna had produced an outbreak of typhus
in Roumania and Russia. In St. Petersburg, in March, there
were no fewer than 3,747 cases of this disease. The malady even
affected the doctors, of whom about 100 died, and nearly
400 were attacked by the poison. The Russian Governor of
Adrianople was carried off by the plague. In May there were
70,000 men in hospital suffering from typhus and other diseases.
A medical report stated that, from April ist, 1877, to October
Ist, 1878, whereas only 3,900 men of the Caucasian army had
perished in the field, 9,871 had died of disease. Things in
Constantinople were no better, the mosques and other public
buildings being crowded with fugitives.

Bismarck was lying ill at his country house at Friedrichsruhe
when the proposal for a congress of the Great Powers reached
him in the spring of 1878. He did not, however, refuse to engage
in it, partly from the desire that Germany should bear an
honourable part in the conclusion of peace, partly from his

746
CYPRUS CEDED TO BRITAIN

personal regard for Alexander II., and partly from an awaken-
ing of the old friendship between Germany and Russia, and
declared that he was willing to undertake the office of mediator
if asked to do so by Great Britain and Austria. On May 7th
Shuvalov, who was Russian Ambassador at London, and was very
anxious for peace, travelled to St. Petersburg, visiting Bismarck
both on the outward and the homeward journey. He returned
to London on May atst and signed, with Salisbury, an agreement
on May 30th, which settled most of the points in dispute between
the two countries. The points which it contained had reference
to the extent of the new Bulgaria, to its division into two parts,
one north, one south of the Balkans, one to be under the rule of
a prince, the other under a Christian governor, appointed with
the consent of the Powers for a period of five or ten years, with
a large administrative independence, the Turkish troops being
withdrawn from this province. Other subjects connected with
Russian influence in Asia were touched upon in this lengthy
document, which showed that the two contending Powers were
able to come together without being absolutely of the same mind.

At the same time it was announced that Cyprus had been
ceded to Great Britain by the Porte, Turkey remaining the
suzerain Power and a tribute being paid to her. It was intended
that this tribute should represent the profit- which the Turkish
Government made out of the island, but it now stands at an
unreasonable amount, and the Cypriotes complain with reason
of the sacrifices they have to make to produce a large sum which
does not benefit them in the slightest degree. The fixing of this
tribute was settled at Constantinople by a commission, of which
Sir Robert Biddulph, afterwards Governor of Cyprus, was a
prominent member. The amount was fixed at {£96,000, and
included a large revenue derived from the Turkish Government
through the sale of salt. But as soon as the convention was
concluded the Turks prohibited the importation of salt from
Cyprus at any of their ports, so that the island was encumbered
with unsaleable salt. Another reason for fixing this tribute at
so high a figure was that Great Britain had guaranteed the interest
of a loan contracted by Turkey in the Crimean War, and the
British Government thought that this was a convenient way of
finding the money, so that Cyprus not only pays tribute, but
suffers for the faults of her rulers. It is not easy to see why
Lord Beaconsfield thought it worth while to acquire Cyprus.
There may have been some idea of setting to Turkey the example
of a well-governed community close to her own shores, but when,

747
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

in 1910, forty corpses of murdered Armenians were thrown up
by the sea on the southern coast of the island, some of them those
of little girls with their throats cut, it was too abominably evident
that the example had been of little value. A more probable
explanation is to be found in the romantic temper of Lord
Beaconsfield and the recollections of his early travels in the East.

On June 4th, 1878, a defensive alliance was signed between
Sir Henry Layard and Safvet Pasha, providing that Great Britain
should engage to assist Turkey in the event of any ill gal aggres-
sions on the part of Russia, and that the Sultan in return
should promise to introduce reforms in the administration of
the provinces with regard to Christians and the other inhabitants.
A curious condition was added that if, at any time, Russia should
surrender Kars and the other conquests which she had made in
Armenia, Great Britain should restore Cyprus to its former owners.
Bismarck was now in a position to accept the official invitation
to the congress, which was to open at Berlin on June 13th. He
did this in a manner to conciliate all antagonisms, describing
himself as an “honest broker,’ and, while not neglecting the
interest of his own country, he gained golden opinions by the skilful
manner in which he averted impending war. This momentous
congress was composed as follows: Germany was represented
by Bismarck, Biilow, and the German Ambassador in Paris,
Prince Hohenlohe-Schillingfiirst ; Andrassy, Karolyi and Hay-
merle stood for Austria; of the representatives of France,
Waddington was the most important ; Great Britain had Beacons-
field, Salisbury and Odo Russell; Italy, Corti and De Launay ;
Russia, Gortshakov, Skobelev and Ombril; Turkey, Karatheo-
dori Pasha, Mehemet Ali and Sedulah Bey. Bismarck was
unanimously chosen president.

The first sitting of the congress was devoted to the affairs of
Bulgaria. They were settled, not without considerable difficulty,
by compromises arranged outside of the congress room. At the
fourth sitting Salisbury proposed that the Balkans should be the
southern boundary of the new province, and that the province
south of the Balkans should bear the name of Eastern Roumelia ;
but the important concession was made that the sanjak of Sofia,
which lay south of the Balkans, should be given to Bulgaria for
strategical reasons, in exchange for Varna, which remained in
the hands of the Turks. Eastern Roumelia was to remain under
the direct political and military control of the Sultan. Bulgaria
was to be formed into an autonomous but tributary State, with
a Christian government and a national militia, its frontiers fixed

748
THE BERLIN CONGRESS AND ROUMELIA

on the spot by a European Commission. The Prince was to be
elected by the people and confirmed by the Porte with the consent
of the Powers, but no member of the reigning families of the
great Powers was eligible. Preparations for the election were to
be made by an assembly of notables at Tirnova. There was to
be complete religious toleration and equality with regard to the
exercise of political and other rights. Until the election of the
Prince, the government was to be placed in the hands of a Russian
Commission, assisted by a Turkish commissary and the consuls
of the Powers, but this state of things was only to last nine
months. The Turkish army was to leave the new principality
within a year, all fortresses in existence were to be razed, and
no new ones were to be erected.

Eastern Roumelia was to possess administrative autonomy,
but to remain under the political and military control of the
Sultan. The Sultan might construct fortresses for the defence
of the Province, order was to be preserved by an international
gendarmerie and a local militia, the officers to be appointed by
the Sultan, but no Bashi-Bazouks or Tcherkesses were to be
admitted to the frontier garrisons, nor were troops to be billeted
on the inhabitants. The Governor had the right of summoning
Turkish soldiers to his assistance if necessary, but for giving
consent to this measure the Porte was answerable to the Powers.
The Governor was nominated by the Porte, with the consent of
the Powers, for five years. Until matters were definitely settled
in the two provinces, they might be occupied by a Russian
garrison, consisting of six divisions of infantry and two of
cavalry ; but the whole number was not to exceed 50,000 men,
the cost of their maintenance being borne by the country they
occupied.

The settlement of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia occupied
the congress from June 17th to June 26th, but other questions
remained for discussion which concerned Bosnia, Montenegro,
Servia, Roumania, the Danube, the Straits, and the war
indemnity. The question of Bosnia and Herzegovina was taken
in hand at the eighth sitting, and was a matter in which Austria
was particularly interested. It originated in disturbances which
had arisen in these countries, and the ill-feeling between Christians
and Mohammedans was by no means allayed. Turkey was
powerless to restore order; at least 200,000 inhabitants had left
the country, and Austria had spent in the last three years at
least 2,000,000 gulden in their maintenance. Lord Salisbury
proposed that the occupation and government of Bosnia and

749
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Herzegovina should be entrusted to Austria. This was supported
by Bismarck, but strongly opposed by Karatheodori Pasha, upon
which Bismarck emphatically reminded the representatives of
Turkey that the congress had not met to preserve the integrity
of the Turkish frontier, but to safeguard the future peace of
Europe. The only alternative to the conclusions of the congress
was the Treaty of San Stefano, and Eastern Roumelia was far
better worth having than Bosnia. The Turks yielded, and Bosnia
and Herzegovina were secured to Austria, with the exception of
the sanjak of Novi Bazar, which was retained by Turkey.

Servia became independent, under the conditions of absolute
religious equality, responsibility for portion of the Turkish debt,
and an extension of territory which increased the population by
506,934 inhabitants.

The traveller arriving at Orsova after a night journey from
Buda Pest finds himself in a new world. In front are the hills
of Servia, to his left the Carpathians of Roumania, while the noble
Danube is divided by the little Turkish island which diplomacy
has been obliged to leave in the hands of that Power. Up the
stream is the defile of Kazan, with the proud inscription of Trajan
and the remains of his road, and down the stream is the passage
of the Iron Gate, now free from rocks and available for traffic,
one of the most beneficent acts of the Treaty of Berlin; but the
current of the Danube is still so strong that the steamer which
threads its rapids in three minutes on its downward course takes
twenty minutes to accomplish the ascent. A little way below
are the remains of Trajan’s bridge. The day may come when
this exulting and abounding river may bear upon its waters a
similar traffic to that which makes the Rhine so interesting to
the thoughtful traveller, though it may also have become less
attractive to the artist.

Two representatives of Greece, Delyannis and Rangabé, were
admitted to the ninth sitting, at which they proposed the annexa-
tion of Crete and a rectification of their northern frontier. After
some discussion the representatives of Roumania were allowed
to attend the tenth meeting of the congress, held on July rst.
The burning question was the cession of Bessarabia to Russia.
Greece was not treated so well, and the frontier disputes between
herself and Turkey were not settled till 1881, when she received
a slight readjustment of her northern frontiers. Crete belongs
by every right to Greece, and would have been annexed to her
territory when her kingdom was constituted had it not been for
the prejudice and obstinacy of Wellington; but it was left in

750
RUSSIA’S CONCESSIONS

the hands of the Porte, with the usual promise of reform, readily
given because never meant to be kept.

Montenegro was declared independent under the condition of
absolute religious equality. She received an accession of terri-
tory, which contained about 50,000 inhabitants and included the
important harbour of Antivari, which was a necessity to her
existence. Dulcigno was given to Turkey, Spizza to Dalmatia.
Montenegro obtained the right to navigate the shores of the
Adriatic, but might not keep ships of war or have a war flag.
Antivari and, indeed, all Roumanian waters were closed to
warships of all nations. The martial policing of Montenegro was
to be exercised by Austria, and Austrian consuls were to protect
Roumanian commerce. Montenegro took upon herself responsi-
bility for a certain amount of the Montenegrin debt.

July 6th was occupied by a very important session, in which
the relations of Russia to her Asiatic conquests were discussed.
Here Russia and Great Britain found themselves in direct opposi-
tion, Russia claiming accessions of territory as part payment of
the war indemnity, Great Britain, with her antiquated, narrow-
minded policy, doing her best to retain all she could in the
demoralising and corrupting hands of Turkey. Bismarck had
great difficulties in keeping the peace, and it is said that Beacons-
field had a special train waiting for him in the station, ready to
depart for England if matters did not turn out in accordance
with his wishes. Happily the controversies were arranged, and
Gortshakov gave utterance to his views on the arrangement in
language which it is worth while to reproduce.

“Thanks,” he remarked, “to the spirit of conciliation and
reciprocal concessions, of which I can conscientiously claim a
large part for Russia, the work of the congress has moved to its
end, that of a peace which is in the interests of the whole of
Europe, and which will be worthy of the eminent men assembled
at Berlin. Two days’ sitting has been devoted to a question, the
solution of which has been found to be an equitable arrangement,
removed from petty passions, which will crown the work which we
have in hand. We make the concession of Erzerum, of Bayazid
and of the valley of Alaskand, those two last points covering
the passage of caravans and the principal commercial route into
Persia. I am also authorised to declare that my illustrious master
is disposed, in his Sovereign power, to declare Batoum a free
port, a concession to the material interests of all commercial
nations, and especially of Great Britain, which has the largest
commerce in the world. In conclusion, I must express the hope

751
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

that, in the sitting of to-day, we shall have made an immense step
towards the exalted object of our meeting.”

This statement of the Russian representative was received
with applause, begun by Bismarck and continued by Salisbury.
It was then officially announced that the Porte surrendered to
Russia in Asia the territories of Ardahan, Kars and Batoum,
with its harbours, while the Tsar’s offer to make Batoum a free
commercial port was gratefully accepted.

On July 23rd the twentieth and last sitting of the congress
was held. Andrassy solemnly thanked Bismarck for the untiring
energy with which he had conducted the business of the congress,
and expressed the hope that its work might be lasting, and that
the friendly relations between the Powers might strengthen and
confirm the general feeling of friendship which existed between
the Governments that had taken part in it.

The effect of the Treaty of Berlin has certainly not tended
to increase the influence of Russia in the Balkan Peninsula.
Bulgaria has proved rather a barrier to Russian progress than a
door, while Roumania has flourished under a German Prince.
There is no reason to believe that the Treaty of San Stefano, had
it been duly sanctioned, would have been any more favourable
to Russian ambition, whereas, in many respects, it would have
been a better and more durable arrangement than the Treaty of
Berlin. Still, the occasion was very dramatic, for the meeting
of such remarkable personages as Beaconsfield and Bismarck lent
distinction to any assembly. It was said by some that Beacons-
field was the most remarkable figure at the congress, because he
had the force of Great Britain at his back. A strange story is
also told about the concessions made by Russia. It is alleged
that Gortshakov had brought with him from St. Petersburg a
map on which was carefully marked the utmost territory which
Russia would ask for, and the least which she would accept, and
that when the British plenipotentiaries asked for a map to give
them information about countries with which they were very
little acquainted, this map was lent to them by Gortshakov.
Their task, therefore, became easy, as they had nothing to do but
ask for what they knew the Russians were willing to surrender.

Beaconsfield and Salisbury returned to London on July 16th,
when the Treaty of Berlin was laid before Parliament. They
were received with tumultuous rejoicings, and Beaconsfield made
a speech to the crowd, telling them that he brought back “ peace
with honour,” a somewhat exaggerated statement of the case.
In his speech in the House of Lords he apologised for having

752
GLADSTONE AND THE TREATY OF BERLIN

ceded Sofia, which was south of the Balkans, to Bulgaria, but
asserted that between Sofia and the valley of the Maritza lay
the watershed of the Ikhtiman Pass, and that this was entirely
in the possession of Eastern Roumelia. He ought to have known
that the Ikhtiman Pass was no barrier at all to anyone attack-
ing Adrianople from Sofia, and that not only was the pass
itself given to Bulgaria by the treaty, but that the town of
Ikhtiman was never evacuated by Bulgarian soldiers. He went
on to speak of Greece as an interesting country with a future,
which could afford to wait. With such levity and lack of know-
ledge were such momentous interests treated that letters in the
public press drawing attention to misstatements passed entirely
without notice.

Gladstone’s criticism of this treaty was pronounced on July
30th. He pointed out that Servia, Montenegro and Roumania,
which made war upon Turkey in reliance upon Iussia, were
rewarded with independence and an increase of territory, while
Greece, which kept quiet and trusted Great Britain, received
nothing. The action of the congress, which was to deal with the
Treaty of San Stefano as a whole, was invalidated by the
agreement with Russia and the Anglo-Turkish Convention which
preceded it. The convention was an abuse of the prerogative
of the Crown, made behind the back of Parliament. By it Great
Britain had rendered herself responsible for Turkish policy,
Turkish judicature, and Turkish finance, and for the corruption
which paralysed them.

But this weighty indictment did not prevent the two Ministers
from being the heroes of the hour, from receiving the freedom of
the City of London, and from paying a tribute to the character of
the Sultan, who had imposed a charge of £2,500,000 upon the nation
as the cost of a policy which is now universally repudiated. With
all his claims to be the champion of Imperialism, Beaconsfield
threw away at Berlin the chance of acquiring Egypt, which was
offered to him by Bismarck, not as plunder of the Turks, but in
the best interests of Europe. The Minister refused it on the
ground that it would violate the principle of the integrity of the
Turkish Empire. There is no stronger condemnation of his policy
than the condition of Egypt under British rule at the present
time. To pass from Syria to Egypt is to pass from barbarism to
civilisation. The foundations of civilisation are the security of
life and property, but under Turkish rule it is dangerous to walk
alone at night in the streets of Beyrout, Haifa or Jaffa, and to
exhibit any signs of wealth is a direct incentive to its being taken

753
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

forcibly from you. In Cairo and Alexandria an English lady may
go anywhere without being molested, and the magnificent palaces
of pashas which fill the streets testify to the security with which
wealth may be acquired and displayed.

If we look back over the years that have passed since the
conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin we see that it has not settled the
question which calls for settlement now as it did then, and which
can only be solved by the expulsion of the Turks from Europe. It
has not secured the peace of the Balkan Peninsula nor the
proper treatment of the Christians whom it left under Turkish
rule. It has been violated by almost every Power that signed it,
among others by Turkey, Russia, Austria, Roumania, Bulgaria and
Montenegro. Two wars have followed it, neither of which need
have taken place had the Treaty of San Stefano been adopted.
Its effect has not been wholly bad, because some portions of the
earth’s surface, such as Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria are
better off than before; but this was due to Russian self-sacrifice
rather than to British diplomacy. The whole story of the treaty
enforces the melancholy reflection that the world, after all, is
governed with very little wisdom.

754
CHAPTER V

DISRAELI’S MINISTRY —1874-80

In the second Ministry of Disraeli the Conservatives found them-
selves in office, but not in power. Probably they had been
returned because the country felt that it needed rest after a long
period of legislative activity ; all political energy is followed by
an interval of repose, if not of reaction. The leaders of commerce,
who had been on the Liberal side since the time of Lord Liverpool,
were becoming Conservative from fear of the support given by
the Liberals to trade unions and the working man. Beaconsfield
was looked upon by the solid mercantile interests as_ their
protector against adventurous innovation—a strange fate to
befall a Jew, the Young Englander of the ‘forties and the author
of brilliant novels.

The Queen’s commands to form a Ministry were given to
Disraeli on February 18th, 1874, and he had no difficulty in doing
so. Lord Cairns, a dignified and even majestic lawyer, who was
something also of a statesman, was made Lord Chancellor; the
Duke of Richmond, a respected peer of moderate ability, was
President of the Council and leader of the House of Lords; Lord
Derby was Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Lord Salisbury took
the India Office; Lord Carnarvon, a distinguished scholar and
man of letters, watched over the Colonies; Sir Stafford North-
cote, who had been trained in the school of Gladstone, became
Chancellor of the Exchequer; Gathorne Hardy was Secretary of
War ; and Lord John Manners, afterwards Duke of Rutland, who
had been, with Disraeli, one of the leaders of the Young England
party, was made Postmaster-General. The Home Office was
given to Richard Assheton Cross, an excellent man of business,
who looked after the Queen’s money affairs with singular tact
and judgment; and William Henry Smith, the creator of the
railway bookstall business, famous for good sense and integrity,
was made Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

This powerful Ministry was confronted with a weak Opposi-
tion, who were dissatisfied with themselves. The Nonconformists,
who were the great support of the Liberal Party, disliked the
Education Act, and the trade unions desired the repeal of

755
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Lord Aberdeen’s Act against conspiracy. Many Liberals could
not forgive Gladstone for his sudden dissolution of Parliament,
which took them by surprise, when they thought that they ought
to have been consulted, and cost many of them their seats. If
he had such faith in the virtues of his promised budget, he ought,
the dissentients urged, to have had the courage to produce it.
Gladstone was also himself weary of discussions, which he had
so much difficulty in controlling, and wished to resign the leader-
ship of his party, but offered to retain the post for a year, on
the condition that he should attend the House only when it
suited his convenience, and this arrangement was accepted. The
consequence was that the session of 1874 passed quietly. Brand
was re-elected Speaker, and the only measure mentioned in the
Queen’s Speech was one to amend the Licensing Act of 1872.

Much interest was felt among Gladstone’s friends as to
what Stafford Northcote would do with the budget. Gladstone’s
splendid finance gave the incoming Government a surplus of
£6,000,000, and the new Chancellor took the opportunity of taking
a penny off the income tax and abolishing the duty on sugar.
Gladstone had promised, if returned to power, to abolish the
income tax altogether. Northcote reduced it to twopence, a
sum which Gladstone always affirmed was not worth collecting ;
but of course, in the circumstances, to abolish it altogether was
impossible.

Home Rule for Ireland, which was to occupy a foremost place
in British politics for many years to come, now began to make
its appearance. Isaac Butt, who brought forward an annual
motion in its favour, was now given two nights to debate the
subject, and was found to have fifty-eight Irish members—more
than half the members for Ireland—on his side, a significant fact
as a prelude to the time when the Irish demand for Home Rule
would become almost unanimous. A Church Patronage Bill for
Scotland, to abolish private patronage for livings in that country,
was passed, notwithstanding Gladstone’s opposition. The powers
of the Endowed Schools Committee, from which England might
have expected an organised system of secondary education, were
transferred to the Charity Commissioners, certainly a retrograde
step, as it slackened the spirit of reform; but other provisions of
a sectarian character were happily averted.

The Public Worship Regulation Act, which established a new
court for dealing with refractory clergymen, was an attempt to
arrest the advance of Ritualism. It was vigorously opposed by
Gladstone, who was a strong High Churchman. Freedom, he

756
BEACONSFIELD’S ADVENTUROUS POLICY

urged, was better than discipline ; leaden uniformity was spiritual
death. Parliament should never forget the services of the clergy
In an age which was, beyond all others, luxurious, selfish and
worldly. He proposed an alternative to the measure, but he met
with no support. This, however, was his last conflict, and in the
first weeks of 1875 he retired from the leadership of the Liberal
Party, against the wishes of his wife and of the majority of his
friends. He desired, he said, to place a quiet interval between
Parliament and the grave. But who was to be his successor ?
The choice lay between Lord Hartington and Forster. Hartington
was chosen, and thus began a career, continued as Duke of
Devonshire, of devoted and unremitting work. Besides other
reasons for choosing him, it was felt that he would more easily
make room for Gladstone if he should be willing to return.

In 1875 the leader of the Opposition had an easy task, as the
new Government were not friends of energetic legislation. The
budget presented no novelties beyond the establishment of a
sinking fund, the object of which was to reduce the National Debt
by £200,000,000 in thirty years. But Tory extravagance and
Beaconsfield’s adventurous policy soon rendered this illusory.
The Home Secretary did something to secure English tenants in
the holding of their land, to improve the dwellings of artisans
and the relations of employers and workmen. A notable step
was made for the security of navigation by the establishment of
the Plimsoll mark, now so prominently shown on all ships,
indicating the depth beyond which a ship must not be loaded. It
was carried by the vehemence of its author, Samuel Plimsoll, who,
standing in the middle of the floor of the House, denounced the
ship-knackers, who, by a nefarious system of over-insurance,
made fortunes out of drowned men.

Activity was also displayed by the Colonial Office. Fiji was
occupied, to save it from the rapacious immorality of unprincipled
beach-combers, and, in the case of the Kafir chief, Langalibalele,
who had been treated with undue severity by the Natal Govern-
ment, Lord Carnarvon showed that he could brave opinion in
the exercise of humanity and public spirit. He attempted the
federation of South Africa, which has been carried out in our own
day. South Africa then consisted of three British colonies—
Cape Colony, Natal, and Griqualand West—with two Dutch
Republics on its frontiers—the Transvaal and the Orange Free
State. Carnarvon wished to include these in his scheme, for
unless they were included federation would be a vain dream. But
his tact was not equal to his enthusiasm. He proposed a confer

757
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

ence at Cape Town, but excited opposition by stating the names
of the delegates who were to attend it. He chose the historian
Froude, who was more indiscreet and less cautious than the
Minister who sent him. He made a worse blunder by attempting
to remove the seat of the conference from Cape Town to London.
The disastrous award of MacMahon gave Delagoa Bay to Portugal,
although it was the natural outlet of the Transvaal to the sea.

On November 26th, 1875, the Prime Minister executed by a
masterstroke one of the most fortunate and most sensational
pieces of business which have ever occurred in British history.
He bought, for the price of £4,000,000, the shares in the Suez
Canal which had belonged to the Khedive of Egypt. The idea was
suggested by the astuteness of Mr. Frederick Greenwood, the
editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, but it was Disraeli who recog-
nised the importance of it and had the courage to carry it out.
The state of Turkey, the suzerain Power of Egypt, was desperate.
In October she had confessed her inability to pay more than ten
shillings in the pound, and the British Government had refused
to assist those who had lost their money on bad security. The
Khedive, Ismail Pasha, spent on his own pleasures the money
which came to him from the oppression of his subjects, and was
driven to sell the shares which had been assigned him in the
French company which opened the Canal; for, although the canal
was more largely used by Great Britain than by any other nation,
and the closing of it would bar the way to India, yet she had
no voice in its management. It was, therefore, exceptionally
fortunate that the British Government was enabled to gain the
position which it might have held from the. first if only the
sanction of Lord Palmerston had allowed it, while the possession
of a Prime Minister gifted with imagination enabled us to take
advantage of the deal.

It is significant to reflect that the Foreign Secretary, Lord Derby,
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford Northcote,
were opposed to the purchase. The Chancellor said in the House
that he had rather the Khedive had kept the shares, that the
Government had acted in self-defence, and that he did not object
to the canal being mainly under French control. Even Gladstone
made a feeble attack upon the measure. But the good sense and
patriotism of the English people supported the Minister. Disraeli
was able to say both with force and truth that if Gladstone had
been in office the shares would have been purchased by France.
The success of the enterprise far exceeded the hopes of its
promoters, and the possession of the shares has brought many

758
DISRAELI AND IMPERIALISM

millions into the British Exchequer and strengthened the hold
upon the gate of India. The purchase of the shares made it
desirable to inquire more fully into the financial condition of
Egypt, and Stephen Cave, an able financier, was sent out to
report. He said that Egypt was suffering from the ignorance,
dishonesty, waste and extravagance of the East, such as had
already brought Turkey to the verge of ruin, and also from the
expense caused by the hasty and ill-considered endeavours to
adopt the civilisation of the West. The report led to the sending
out of a joint commission, French and British, and the placing of
Egyptian revenue under two Controllers-General, one British and
the other French, which did not prove to be a success.

At the beginning of 1876 Disraeli was at the height of his
power. In the winter the Prince of Wales had made a tour
through India, and this fact, coupled with other considerations,
induced the Prime Minister to introduce into Parliament a Royal
Titles Bill, which granted to the Queen the right to assume by
proclamation any new title which she might think fit to adopt.
It was generally known that the object of the measure was to give
the Queen the title of Empress of India. The proposition excited
a good deal of ridicule, but the proposal really emanated from
the serious and not the theatrical side of Disraeli’s nature, and it
is conceivable that a grandiose title may have an advantage in
the governance of the country to which it refers.

Disraeli is generally credited with having introduced the
spirit of Imperialism into British politics, and the belief that he
did so accounts for his extraordinary popularity, which has
followed him after his decease. There are two opinions on the
matter. Some think that he possessed powerful convictions on
the position which ought to be held by the British monarchy ;
others that he was an opportunist, and that, coming into office
unexpectedly and without a cry, he clutched at the first idea
which presented itself, and took up the line of opposing Russia
and exalting the predominant power of Great Britain in all parts
of the world. The latter opinion, which is held by persons who
knew him well, seems the more probable. He had nothing but
contempt for the British Constitution, which he was never tired
of comparing with that of Venice, with its phantom Doge, its
subservient people, and its predominant aristocracy. He cared
too little for certain features of the body politic to attempt to
reform the abuses that had grown up in them, and he knew
that if they were reformed it would not be in the direction of
which he would approve. His object was to maintain the

759
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

supremacy of the Tory Party, of which he was the faithful
servant, and he was ready to employ any means to that end.

At the same time, he determined to treat the Queen in a different
manner from that which Gladstone had adopted. Gladstone,
although personally devoted to the monarchy and to the noble
woman who held the throne, was unfortunate in the manner he
assumed to the Queen, who, as we have already said, complained
that he addressed her as if she were a public meeting. He opposed
her visits to Scotland and absence from the centre of affairs at the
time of political crisis. A man well acquainted with the correspond-
ence which passed upon this topic described it as one in which the
Minister had gone as far as a subject could, and the Queen farther
than a Sovereign ought. Gladstone was too proud and too clumsy
to conciliate the Queen’s humble friends, who exercised great
influence over her and for whom she felt a deep affection. Disraeli,
on the other hand, did not hesitate to conciliate them.

Nothing is more noticeable than the change which came over
the Queen’s feelings towards this remarkable man. The Prince
Consort did not like him, and the Queen shared his judgment.
In the early days of their association Disraeli gave the Queen
a magnificently bound collection of his works, with a fulsome
inscription. The Queen, instead of keeping them in her own
apartments, sent them to her public library, where it was not
likely she would ever see them again. But in later years Disraeli
became one of her most trusted friends, and at the end of her life
she hung over the two contiguous doors which led to her private
apartments in Windsor Castle the portraits of Salisbury and
Beaconsfield. The Queen undoubtedly liked the new title. She
always signed herself “ Victoria R. and I.,’’ and in India, at the
banquets of the Viceroy and other great officers, the toast of the
King-Emperor is drunk with enthusiasm and is followed by
the strains of the National Anthem. Lord Lytton, a man of
exuberant ability and vivid imagination, was sent to India to
inaugurate the new Imperial policy, and the proclamation of
the Queen-Empress took place under his auspices at Delhi, on
January ist, 1877.

We have already given an account of the events in the East
which culminated in the Treaty of Berlin. Disraeli’s last speech
in the House of Commons was made on the subject on August
11th, 1876, when he said that the nation’s duty at that critical
moment was to uphold the Empire of Great Britain, by which he
apparently meant the Empire of Turkey. Next day the papers
announced that he had been created Earl of Beaconsfield. In

760
ANNEXATION OF THE TRANSVAAL

this position he emphasised more strongly than before his opposi-
tion to Russia and his intention to adopt an Imperial policy. At
the Lord Mayor’s banquet, on November gth, he made a speech
in the Guildhall which shook the confidence of the world, much
as the speech of Napoleon III., to which we have already referred,
had done on January 1st, 1859. What, it was asked, did this ill-
omened oration portend? The Emperor of Russia had consented
to a congress, the object of which was peace, but these attacks
drove him into war.

The session of 1877 witnessed some measures of beneficent
but rather feeble legislation, and the first appearance of Charles
Stewart Parnell, a young Irish landlord, born of an American
mother. He was educated by a private tutor in England, and
had made himself conspicuous in early life by an ambition to set
the fashion in personal attire. As a passionate Home Ruler, he
determined to adopt a more aggressive and more militant attitude
than that of Butt, and diligently studied the rules of the House,
with the view of obstructing the operation of the British
Parliament if he could not obtain for Ireland a Parliament
of her own. He was assisted by Mr. J. G. Biggar, a vigorous
but uncouth man, who was little understood and who was fond
of stating that his great ambition in life was to be an English
clergyman. Parnell began by obstructing the business of Supply
by dilatory motions, although he had only a few colleagues to
support him. He succeeded in getting suspended from the service
of the House, but the evil went on unchecked.

If the advent of Parnell heralded the troubles of Home Rule,
the annexation of the Transvaal in April, 1877, was a step towards
the South African War. The Dutch farmers who wished to escape
from the control of British government had formed the Republic
of the Transvaal in 1852, and, by proclamation, this was now
annexed to the British Empire by Sir Theophilus Shepstone. It
was true that the finances of the country were in a desperate
condition, that the mineral wealth concealed in the hills was
entirely unknown, that the inhabitants were not able to hold
their own against the attacks of the surrounding natives.
Burgers, the President, advised the Boers to submit to the British
Government, as the Republican Constitution had broken down
and their taxes could not be collected. The Transvaal Parlia-
ment did not agree with him, and two delegates, one of whom
was Paul Kruger, were sent to England to show cause against
the annexation. But the Government insisted, and the Liberal
Party did not oppose, although some courageous statesmen, such

761
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

as Leonard Courtney and Henry Fawcett, did their best to
prevent it.

Another measure of importance belonging to this year was the
appointment of a commission to investigate the affairs of the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. University commissions
are neither very popular nor very useful. It is much better that
the Universities should reform themselves than that they should
be tampered with from outside by persons who understand very
little about the matter. The commission now established did a
certain amount of good, but not so much as was. anticipated.
Some clerical restrictions were abolished, fellows were allowed to
marry, and a certain amount of money was given by the colleges
to the University. The intention had been to transfer the greater
part of teaching from the colleges to the University and establish
a large scheme for the endowment of research. But this proved
an entire failure. It has been found that in every department,
even in Natural Science, the colleges do much better work than
the University. A further step was taken to give the franchise
to agricultural labourers, which was eventually effected by the
Reform Bill of 1880. George Trevelyan’s annual resolution on this
subject was this year supported by Lord Hartington as leader
of the Opposition, but the motion was, nevertheless, defeated,
Lowe and Goschen being opposed to the measure. The year
1878 was taken up with the Treaty of Berlin and with the Zulu
and Afghan troubles, which will be treated of later.

We will now take a summary view of Beaconsfield’s Imperial
policy. Lord Northbrook had resigned the office of Viceroy
because he could not agree with the proposal to ask the Amir of
Afghanistan to receive a British Resident at Cabul; but Lord
Lytton, who succeeded him, did not mind whether he offended the
Amir or not. Russia had made large advances in Central Asia
during the last four years, and Gladstone was inclined to enter
into direct negotiations with the Tsar in order to avoid difficulties
for the future. Beaconsfield preferred to use British influence with
the Afghans in order to counteract Russian influence with the
Turkomans. Lytton, therefore, sent Shere Ali, the Amir, a letter
announcing his appointment as Viceroy and the Queen’s assump-
tion of the title of Empress of India; he also asked the Amir
to receive a British Agent, Sir Lewis Pelly, and discuss with him
matters that might be in dispute. The Amir replied that he
preferred to send to India a confidential agent of his own. Lytton
considered this answer disrespectful, and refused to receive Shere
Ali’s messenger, and intimated that if the Amir did not receive

762
THE “SCIENTIFIC FRONTIER”

Sir Lewis Pelly, his country would be treated as a State
which had virtually isolated itself from the alliance of the
British Government. This was almost equivalent to a threat of
war, and was strongly objected to by members of the Indian
Council. The Amir replied that, in his opinion, no Englishman
would be safe at Cabul, and that if he received a British he must
also receive a Russian agent, but that he wanted neither.
On December 8th Quetta was occupied, which gave the Indian
Government control of the Bolan Pass into Afghanistan. This
frightened the Amir still more, and a letter of Lytton’s, dated
March 3rd, 1877, which told him that he could no longer depend
upon the support of the British Government, turned him into
an active foe.

Whilst these things were happening Bombay and Madras
were oppressed by a cruel famine, which taxed all the resources of
the Administration. In the spring of 1878 the movement of
Indian troops to Malta was met by the dispatch of a Russian
mission to Cabul. Lytton expected war with Russia, and thought
that this would be a favourable opportunity for disintegrating
Afghanistan, though, by restraining the vernacular Press in India,
he deprived himself of the best means of ascertaining public
opinion in that country. The object of the Russian envoy at
Cabul was to embroil the Amir with Great Britain. In this he
completely succeeded, Lytton walking into the trap with apparent
readiness. He argued for the rectification of the north-western
boundaries—a “‘ scientific frontier,” as it was called in those days
—consisting of the range of the Hindu Kush and its spurs, with
such outposts as might be necessary to secure the passes. This
was strongly opposed by Henry Fawcett and all who were best
acquainted with India. Amongst these was Lord Lawrence,
who wrote a number of weighty letters to The Times deprecating
a forward policy. Even the Cabinet hesitated and, when Lytton
proposed that Shere Ali should be dethroned and his government
broken up, refused to support the Viceroy.

On November goth, however, at the Guildhall, in London,
Beaconsfield denounced these cautious waverings as the “ hair-
brained chatter of irresponsible frivolity,” and defended the scien-
tific frontier as the voice of security and truth. In the meantime
war had broken out and was powerfully denounced by Gladstone.
The war found many supporters in the Upper House, including
six bishops; but in the House of Commons the policy that pro-
voked it was pulverised by Gladstone and Hartington. The
latter said: “It is we, and we alone, who drive the Afghans

763
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

into the arms of Russia; whatever else may be done, the present
Viceroy of India should be recalled. We have seen him imitat-
ing at Delhi the fallen state of the Mogul Empire; we see him
fidgeting about the harmless eccentricities of the Indian Press ;
we now see him addressing the envoy of a puzzled and frightened
sovereign in terms which seem to be borrowed partly from a
lawyer’s letter, partly from a tale in the Avabian Nights.”
Stafford Northcote, who replied, felt no enthusiasm for the cause
he was defending. But Jingoism was rampant and the voice
of truth and reason was hushed for a time. All this contention
was carried on with a falling exchequer. The state of trade was
deplorable, and the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank for
£6,000,000 had paralysed enterprise in Scotland. Taxes had been
raised, wages reduced, and the splendour of Imperialism coruscated
against a background of gloom.

“A cartoon in Punch respecting the heavy burden which John
Bull had to bear represented a naked Zulu jumping on the tail
of the patient British lion with the words, “‘ Just room enough for
me.” Sir Bartle Frere was to South Africa what Lytton was to
India. He had formed the opinion that the power of Cetewayo,
the King of the Zulus, who was establishing a strong military
government, ought to be crushed, and sent him, even against the
opinion of the Colonial Office, an ultimatum threatening war.
The results of this disastrous war will be related in another
chapter.

In 1879 the expenses of Imperialist adventure had not only
squandered the magnificent surplus which had been accumulated
by the genius of Gladstone, but had caused deep and disastrous
depression. Stafford Northcote was afraid to impose more taxes,
but preferred to live upon his capital by contracting loans. The
Zulu War cost £4,500,000, and depression extended to agriculture
for the first time since the repeal of the Corn Laws. Remon-
strance went so far that the Government appointed a Royal
Commission, with a Cabinet Minister at its head, to investigate the
condition of farm labourers, the law and practice of agricultural
tenure, the importation of agricultural produce, and the state
of agricultural knowledge, Ireland being included in the inquiry.
Troubles also arose in Egypt. In February, 1879, the Khedive
dismissed Nubar Pasha, the Minister of the Dual Control, and
put in his place Shereef Pasha with a native Ministry. This was
too much for the bond-holders. In June Ismail was deposed
and Tewfik, his son, was put in his place. The Dual Control
was established with even greater authority, and the British

764
GLADSTONE IN MIDLOTHIAN

representative appointed was Major Baring, who afterwards, as
Lord Cromer, was to make for himself an honoured name.

When the autumn of 1879 approached Parliament was nearly
six years old, and a General Election could not long be delayed.
Both parties began to arm for the fray, and combative oratory
was transferred from St. Stephen’s to the platforms. To meet
the growing agricultural depression, a Farmers’ Alliance was
formed, the object of which was to protect tenant farmers against
loss of their capital and give them security in their holdings and
prevent their interests from suffering from the undue preserva-
tion of game. This led to a discussion on the policy of small
holdings, which were supported by Hartington and attacked by
Beaconsfield. The condition of Ireland was even worse than that
of England, as it suffered from a bad harvest, the failure of the
potato crop, and damage done to the peat by rain. Pauperism
increased, saving was impossible, railway traffic diminished, and
many farmers became bankrupt. The result was the foundation
of the Land League by Michael Davitt and Parnell. It was not
unlawful in its objects, which were to protect the tenants from
unjust rent; but it was likely for the present to employ means
which violated the law. The farmers were advised to pay no
more rent than they thought advisable. Davitt said that rent
for land, in any circumstances, whether times were prosperous
or bad, was nothing more or less than an unjust and immoral tax
on the industry of the people; and Daly, the proprietor of the
Connaught Telegraph, spoke strongly against eviction. For the
bitterness of their opinions Davitt and Daly were arrested by
the Government, but no further steps were taken.

The most prominent place in the Parliamentary struggle was
taken by Gladstone in Midlothian, where he was contending
against the eldest son of the Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Dalkeith.
The invitation had come, in the beginning of 1879, from Lord
Rosebery and William Adam, the Liberal Whip, with the approval
of Lord Granville and Lord Wolverton. The Liberals were over-
joyed at the constituency being contested by the man whom they
regarded as the greatest living Scotsman, and Adam predicted a
majority of 200. Gladstone left Liverpool for Edinburgh to open
the campaign on November 24th. The journey was a triumphal
procession, the like of which had never been seen before. On
this bleak winter day the whole countryside was roused. Wher-
ever the train stopped, thousands flocked to greet the statesman,
and even at wayside spots hundreds assembled to catch a
glimpse of the express as it hurried past. Addresses were pre-

795
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

sented at Carlisle, Hawick and Galashiels. Edinburgh was reached
after a nine hours’ journey; the streets were crowded by a joyous
multitude, and Lord Rosebery conducted his guest to Dalmeny.
Gladstone wrote in his diary that he had never gone through a
more extraordinary day.

Similar enthusiasm accompanied the speeches themselves.
People came from the Hebrides to hear the orator, and the
applications for seats were nearly ten times as many as the
rooms would hold. The weather was bitter, the hills being
covered with snow; but this could not chill enthusiasm. In
this wonderful series of speeches, which lasted more than a week,
Gladstone traversed the whole field of Tory government, attack-
ing it at every point. He showed how an ample surplus had
been converted into a disastrous deficit; how there had been a
lack of beneficent legislation; how national honour had been
compromised by the breach of public law; how in foreign
politics the country had earned the enmity of Russia and yet
had not prevented the increase of the Tsar’s power; how Great
Britain’s friendship and support of Turkey, given to her with
great sacrifices, had not prevented her ruin; how blood had
been shed to no purpose in Zululand; how freedom had been
destroyed in the Transvaal; how confusion had been caused in
Afghanistan ; and how India had been left in a worse condition
than that in which the present Government had found it. He
laid down the great principles which the country ought to
follow—the passing of just laws, the fostering of economy, the
preservation of peace, the cultivation of European union and
friendship, the avoidance of entangling engagements, the devotion
to freedom, and the acknowledgment of the equal rights of all
nations.

“Remember,” he said at one meeting, “that the sanctity of
life in the hill villages of Afghanistan, among the winter snows,
is as inviolable in the sight of Almighty God as can be your
own. Remember that He who has created you a human being
in the same flesh and blood has bound you by the law of mutual
love ; that mutual love is not limited by the shores of this island,
is not limited by the boundaries of Christian civilisation, that
it has power over the whole surface of the earth and embraces
the meanest as well as the greatest in its unmeasured scope.”
Never since the days of Edmund Burke had the case of Liberalism
and the plea for the restoration of a Liberal Government been
placed so powerfully and so convincingly before the tribunal of
the nation. The effects of this campaign were not immediately

766
THE HOME RULE QUESTION

apparent. The London Press was hostile, and the by-elections
were indecisive. But at the end of November a great victory
was won at Sheffield, which was a harbinger of hope and confid-
ence. The battle of oratory continued during 1880, beginning
at the close of the Christmas holidays, as a dissolution was
imminent and no member knew when he might have to meet his
constituents. Parliament met on February 4th, and it became
necessary to legislate at once for the relief of Irish distress,
which was very acute. To supplement private charitable efforts
the Government authorised the construction of public works to
be paid for out of the Irish Church Fund. A provision restrain-
ing eviction on the relieved estates was unfortunately struck out
by the Lords.

The month of March had now arrived, and Ministers announced
that as soon as the budget had been introduced and the necessary
votes taken Parliament would be dissolved. The budget had to
deal with a deficit of £3,000,000, which was provided for by the
suspension of the sinking fund. The Prime Minister addressed
the country by means of a letter to the Duke of Marlborough,
the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on the danger of Home Rule, a
political doctrine which had hitherto received very slight support
from British politicians and none from the country. Beacons-
field denounced it as being, in its ultimate results, scarcely
less disastrous than pestilence or famine, and summoned all men
of light and leading to resist disintegration of the United
Kingdom. This was the only topic treated of, but Imperialism
received some recognition in the assurance that peace rests on
the presence, not to say the ascendancy, of Great Britain in
the councils of Europe. Lord Hartington replied on March 11th
in an address to the electors of North-East Lancashire. He
denounced Home Rule as impracticable and mischievous, but
repudiated Beaconsfield’s expressions as extravagant and over-
strained, and urged the adoption of equal laws as a remedy for
Irish discontent. Leading Liberals rejected Home Rule as part
of their platform, and the only English Home Ruler appears to
have been Joseph Cowen, of Newcastle, who, however, supported
Beaconsfield warmly in his foreign policy. The result was that
the question of Home Rule did not form part of the controversy
in the election.

Gladstone’s address was very powerful. It repudiated the
assertion that the Liberal policy aimed at repeal of the Union
with Ireland and the abandonment of the colonies. He said that
the enemies of the Union were those who maintained in Ireland

767
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

an alien Church, unjust land laws, and a franchise inferior
to that of the sister countries. The colonies, he maintained,
were united by the principles of Free Trade with the rest of the
world, of popular and responsible government, and of confedera-
tion where it was possible to carry it out, and by the promise to
defend them in case of need with all the strength of the Empire.
On March 16th he set out for another campaign in Midlothian,
accompanied by similar manifestations of a royal progress to
those which he had before experienced. He received addresses
at Grantham, York and Newark, and was greeted at Edinburgh
with as much enthusiasm as ever. When he arrived at Dalmeny
he set himself to work with unbounded energy and, indeed,
spoke every day for a whole fortnight. Hartington made even
more speeches than Gladstone, and conducted in Lancashire
a close duel with Cross, by no means a contemptible antagonist..
A main proposal of the Liberals was to extend the franchise
in the counties, and it was to fight this issue that the
Eighty Club, which afterwards became such a powerful in-
stitution, was founded. Joseph Chamberlain, then an ardent
Radical, established the caucus system at Birmingham, adminis-
tered by the able hands of Schnadhorst, and this contributed
largely to the success of the election.

Parliament was dissolved on March 24th, and the first elec-
tions took place on March 30th; it was at once evident that
the Liberals would have a majority. On the first day they had
a net gain of fifteen seats in sixty-nine constituencies, and by
the end of the fourth day a net gain of fifty seats was announced,
and the Ministerial majority had disappeared. Gladstone was
elected both for Midlothian and for Leeds, and when he preferred
the former, his youngest son, Herbert, was returned for Leeds
without a contest, and thus began a distinguished and successful
political career. The result of the elections was a great surprise
to both parties, but it spoke with no uncertain voice. The new
Parliament contained 347 Liberals as against 351 Tories in the
old. The Conservative Opposition was now 240, whereas the
Liberal Opposition in the late House had been 250. The numbers
of the Home Rule party had risen from 50 to 65. Beaconsfield
heard the result of the elections at Hatfield, where he was staying
alone in the absence of Lord Salisbury. He had expected a very
different result, but he viewed the ruin of his Government and
the end of his career with unshaken serenity and magnanimity.
Gladstone wrote: ‘‘ The downfall of Beaconsfield is like the
vanishing of some vast, magnificent castle in an Italian romance.

768
GLADSTONE AND QUEEN VICTORIA

We may be well content to thank God in silence. But the out-
look is tremendous. The gradual unravelling of the tangled
knots of the foreign and Indian policy will indeed be a task for
skilled and strong hands if they can be found, and there can
hardly be found such as the case requires.”

Beaconsfield determined not to meet the new Parliament, and
only delayed his resignation until the Queen returned from the
Continent. The last meeting of the outgoing Cabinet was held
on April 21st. On the following day the Queen sent for
Hartington, and urged him to form a Government, expressing
confidence in his moderation, which is perhaps the main reason
why she chose him in preference to Gladstone and Granville.
Hartington replied that no Cabinet could be formed without
Gladstone, and that no post could be offered him except that
of First Minister, an obvious proposition which the Queen, how-
ever, appeared to doubt, asking him to ascertain if this were
really the case. Of course, it was found to be the case, and, after
another interview with Granville and Hartington, the Queen sent
for Gladstone. In the interview which followed, the Queen asked
some questions about suggested Ministers, and ended by saying,
“T must be frank with you, Mr. Gladstone, and must firmly say
that there have been some little things which caused me concern.”

Gladstone was free to admit that he had used a mode of
speech and language different in some degree from what he
would have used had he been the leader of a party or a
candidate for office; that in office he would use every effort
to diminish her cares, or, at any rate, not to aggravate them ;
but that, considering his years, he could only look forward to
a short period of active exertion and a personal retirement at
a comparatively early date. She answered that, with regard to
the freedom of language, he would have to bear the consequences,
to which Gladstone assented. He then kissed hands and the
interview ended.
CHAPTER VI

THE ZULU WAR

Tue land of the Zulus, lying between the Transvaal and the
Indian Ocean, is a most interesting portion of South Africa, and
the Zulus are a very attractive people. Their language closely
resembles Kafir, but is more musical and more refined. It is
spoken by many English men and women, and is used for
religious purposes by many missionaries. The war, the incidents
of which we now have to relate, sprang out of the endless conflict
between barbarous and civilised races which is always going
on—and from the forward policy of which we have already
given some account.

A competent historian tells us that the Emashlabatini country
was originally occupied by a small tribe called the Abanguni,
that of its more ancient kings little is known, except that they
seem to have been of peaceful habits, making no wars and breed-
ing cattle, and that the name of one of them was Zulu. The
tribe was comprised of several families or clans, each having
its own chieftain. The first king of whom any particulars are
known was Senzagacone, son of Ufaina, who had a son Chaka,
who at the death of his father was made king with great
rejoicings.

Chaka’s authority was disputed by some of the other tribes
and needed many wars to support it, but he eventually became
chief potentate, levying tribute from the tribes around him. He
then endeavoured to extend his authority, especially over the
Pondos, so that he claimed to rule over the entire country from
the sea to Pondoland. He then proceeded to consolidate his
position. The petty kings under his power became tributary chief-
tains, and if any did not pay his tribute an impi was sent to eat
him up. He also established a standing army, military service
being made compulsory, the army becoming the King’s army
instead of the army of the tribes. Women were also compelled
to marry into regiments at the King’s command, and the
regiments were not allowed to marry until they were entitled
to wear head rings, and this did not occur until the men had

770
THE ZULUS AND BOERS

reached forty years of age. He also defeated the Swazis and
compelled them to pay tribute. Chaka was a great adminis-
trator, like Charles the Great on a small scale, comparable to
those heroes whom we are taught to admire in the dawn of
European history. But one day, while his army was absent on
a military expedition, Dingaan and four more of the King’s
brothers fell treacherously upon Chaka and killed him. He is
said to have been contemplating a journey to England about the
time of his death.

Dingaan began his reign by killing all his brothers except
Panda; but he soon came into conflict with the Boers, who sent
Pieter Retief to chastise him. Retief was killed on February
5th, 1838. Dingaan then invaded Natal and waged war with
considerable success; but Panda, recollecting the fate which
had befallen the rest of his family, joined the Boers, and with
them invaded Zululand and defeated Dingaan, who was slain
by the Swazis. Upon this Panda became king, and ceded to
the Boers the territory of Natal as far as the Tugela. He had
many sons, the best known of whom were Cetewayo and
Umbulazi, but Cetewayo defeated Umbulazi and killed him.
Cetewayo, being accepted as King of the Zulus after Panda’s
death in October, 1872, asked the British Government to accept
him. Shepstone, the British envoy, publicly crowned him, saying
to the Zulus, “ He is your King. You have recognised him as
such, and I will now do so also in the name of the Queen of
England. If you kill him we shall surely require his blood of
you.” Cetewayo reigned well, but it could be hardly expected
of him that he should be entirely devoid of cruelty.

» Questions of frontier were bound to arise between the Zulus
and the Boers. Moreover, the young men of the army wanted
to “ wash their spears’ and to attack the Boers with that object,
but the British Government refused to allow it. It was only
natural that the people of Natal should be afraid of the military
nation of the Zulus on their borders, and should dread a possible
invasion of their colony, though, in fact, a certain section of the
colonists eagerly desired war. They disliked the neighbourhood
of black people, whom they could neither tax nor force to work ;
if the power of this native race were broken, they would get a
hut tax out of them, and the presence of British troops would,
in a variety of ways, also be very lucrative. Besides, the white
young men were just as anxious to try their rifles as the Zulus
to “ wash their spears.”” Some even of the missionaries clamoured
for war, and said that only the utter destruction of the Zulus

771
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

could secure peace in South Africa, and that in making war they
would have the approbation of their God, their Queen, and their
conscience.

For many years there had been a dispute between the Zulus
and the Boers upon a question of boundary. The claims of both
parties were examined by the British Commissioner, Sir Bartle
Frere, and the result was communicated to Cetewayo’s envoys
at the Lower Tugela Drift on December 11th, 1878. The award
was favourable to the Zulus, but with it was delivered an ulti-
matum involving the destruction of the whole system of Zulu
government. They were not only asked to pay 600 head of
cattle for supposed offences, but to undertake to observe certain
promises which it was asserted Cetewayo had given at his
coronation—to disband the Zulu army; to discontinue the Zulu
military system; to allow men to marry when they pleased;
to readmit missionaries and their converts, who had been expelled
in 1877 for disloyalty; to allow a British Agent to reside in
Zululand, so that all cases in which Europeans were engaged
should be heard in public; and to expel no one from the country
except with the commissioner’s approval. It was stated that if
these demands were not agreed to before the end of the year,
that is, within twenty days, the British army would invade the
country on the first day of the New Year and enforce them
at the point of the bayonet —a term afterwards extended to
January 1th.

It is quite clear that the King could not accept these demands,
which were of a most humiliating and most destructive character,
without consulting his Indunas, and that the cattle could not be
collected for delivery within the time specified; but Sir Bartle
Frere had made up his mind that the existence of the Zulu State
was inconsistent with British rule in South Africa, and that it
must be crushed at all hazards. Cetewayo did not desire war,
and wished to live in peace with neighbours who had been kind
and friendly. He had contemplated nothing but self-defence and,
by the exercise of patience and moderation, matters might have
been peacefully arranged without the loss of men, money and
honour. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, the Secretary for the Colonies,
expressed a hope that, by meeting the Zulus in a spirit of forbear-
ance and reasonable compromise, the very serious danger of a
war might be avoided. But the Natal Government set to work to
raise a corps of 7,000 natives to fight against their countrymen,
and declared that the time had arrived for decisive action, that
there would never be so favourable an opportunity for smashing

772
BARTLE FRERE’S RESPONSIBILITY

the Zulu power, and that if it were lost Great Britain would sooner
or later be taken at a disadvantage.

At this time Sir Bartle Frere, a proconsul of the greatest
eminence, was Governor of Cape Colony, and was responsible for
settling such important matters. No historian can deny Frere’s
high qualities or belittle the value of the services he rendered to
the Empire during his administration of Sind and Bombay, and
his conduct during the Indian Mutiny. But when sent to the
Cape he was advanced in years, and found himself in a most
difficult position, which he imperfectly understood, and his train-
ing as an Indian official made him less fit to deal with the strange
problems before him. He conceived a strong dislike to Cetewayo,
and a deep distrust for the methods which had been adopted for
welding the Zulus into a powerful nation, and in the steps he
took to remedy these evils he went not only beyond what the
occasion demanded, but exceeded the powers committed to him
by the Government, In the controversy which ensued upon his
conduct between himself, on the one side, and the Home Govern-
ment and Mr. Gladstone on the other, it is impossible to avoid
the conclusion that they were right and that Frere was wrong,
and that the Zulu War which he brought about was a serious and
unnecessary crime. Hicks Beach wrote, in January, 1879, that
the demands with which Cetewayo had been called upon to
comply, and Frere’s own description of the situation with which
he had to deal, had not prepared the Government for the course
which Frere was now taking. The Colonial Secretary said that
he had impressed upon Frere the importance of using every effort
to avoid war, but that Cetewayo would not improbably refuse
the terms offered him even at the risk of hostilities, and that
Frere ought to have consulted the Home Government before
presenting such conditions to the Zulu king.

War was now inevitable, and it was determined to advance
into Zululand with four columns, each complete in itself, with
its own artillery, cavalry, and independent leader. The native
levies, which should never have been employed, were armed with
rifles and clothed in corduroy tunics and breeches with long boots
of untanned leather and the now familiar cowboy hat. There
were also 1,000 European volunteers and a contingent of mounted
Boers, trained horsemen and deadly shots, who were savage
against the Zulus and did not realise that the destruction of the
natives’ liberty was to be a prelude to the subversion of their own.

The first column, under Pearson, was to assemble on the Lower
Tugela, garrison Fort Pearson, cross the river, and encamp on

773
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the Zulu side, under the protection of the guns of the fort. The
second, under Durnford, composed almost entirely of natives,
was to cross the Tugela; the third, under Glyn, was to cross at
Rorke’s Drift ; the fourth, under Evelyn Wood, was to advance
to the Blood River. The strength of the Imperial and Colonial
troops has been placed at 6,669. The Zulu army was composed
of the natives in arms, all males between fifteen and sixty-five
being compelled to serve without exemption. It consisted of
large regiments, each containing a right and left wing, each
wing being divided into companies. The companies were really
families or clans, and varied in strength from 10 to 200, each
possessing their own kraal or headquarters. At certain intervals,
varying from two to five years, a general levy had been held,
when all the males who had attained the age of fifteen were
formed into regiments and had to undergo a year’s probation
to mark the change from boyhood to manhood. There were,
in all, thirty-three regiments, some married, some unmarried,
none being allowed to marry without the King’s consent, which
they did not receive till they were about forty years of age.
The married men had their heads shaved in a Capuchin tonsure,
and bore white shields; the unmarried, with unshaven heads,
bore coloured shields. It was reckoned that only about twenty-
five regiments would be fit for active service, numbering some
40,000. They were fed by three or four days’ supply of grain,
carried by lads who followed each corps, and by herds of cattle
driven with each column.

The Tugela was crossed on January 12th, 1879, the day after
the expiry of the ultimatum; but the difficulties of advance were
found to be great. The long train of wagons was very cumber-
some, and the invaders were almost completely ignorant of the
country. On January 20th the third column moved from Rorke’s
Drift to Isandhlwana Hill, the spot selected for a camp. The
Lion Hill rises abruptly to the west, representing the head of the
crouching animal, and after forming the back extends sharply
to the east. At both ends are necks or ridges connecting the hill
with smaller elevations; the road from Rorke’s Drift passes over
the western ridge, and on the north is a deep ravine and water-
course. On the left of the camp was posted the Natal native
contingent ; in the centre were the Colonial regular infantry and
the headquarters camp of Lord Chelmsford, the commander-in-
chief; on the right were the guns and mounted corps lining the
edge of the road, and behind was the precipitous Lion a, sO
that the camp was placed with its back to the wall.

774
THE ISANDHLWANA DISASTER

On January 22nd, at 6 in the morning, a company of Natal
natives was despatched to scout towards the left, to search for
the enemy. At g Durnford came up with a rocket battery and
500 native troops. False intelligence was brought that the Zulus
were retiring in all directions. However, about 10 they were
found in force on a range of hills about five miles off. Lord
Chelmsford had very little acquaintance with South Africa, or with
Zulu methods of fighting, and Frere managed that he should meet
Kruger and Joubert, who, twenty years later, became so prominent
in the Boer War. They impressed upon him the absolute
necessity of collecting his wagons in a laager every evening and
whenever there was any danger of the approach of the enemy.
Chelmsford, however, continued to hold his own opinions; he
despised the enemy and clung to English methods. Attaching
himself to the third corps, he crossed the Buffalo at Rorke’s Drift
and encamped at Isandhlwana.

On the morning of the fatal 22nd the general set out to attack
the Zulus. He left Pulleine in command of the camp and sent
a message to Durnford to move up from Rorke’s Drift. Pulleine
had been ordered to draw in his line of defence and his infantry
outposts, but to keep his cavalry vedettes still far advanced.
After the departure of the advance column at daybreak every-
thing remained quiet in the camp until between 7 and 8 o'clock,
when news came that some Zulus were approaching. Pulleine
communicated this to Chelmsford, who received the news between
g and ro. Durnford reached the camp at about 11, and found
that some preparations were made and that reports were coming
in announcing the retirement of the enemy. Durnford deter-
mined to move out and reconnoitre, but about five miles off met
a large body of the Zulus, in skirmishing order, who opened fire
and advanced very rapidly. Durnford fell back, keeping up a
steady fire, for about two miles, and disputing every yard of
ground, until he reached a gully, about 800 yards in front of
the camp, where he made a stand. He held the gully most
heroically and is supposed to have killed 1,000 Zulus.

Firing was not heard in the camp till mid-day, and soon after-
wards the Zulus swept down upon it in overwhelming numbers.
They completely surrounded the 24th Regiment; the retreat
by the Rorke’s Drift road was blocked; the soldiers ran away
down a ravine, and the Zulus mingled with them, striking at them
with their assegais.as they ran. At last the Buffalo was reached,
about five miles below Rorke’s Drift, and here a number of the
fugitives were shot or carried away by the stream and drowned.

775
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The ground was rugged, broken up with small streams of water
and strewn with boulders, but was such as a Zulu could traverse
more quickly than a horse. The river, which ran fast, was deep
and without a ford, sharp rocks alternating with deep water. Not
half of those who escaped from the camp succeeded in crossing it.
Here occurred the brilliant action of Lieutenants Melvill and
Coghill which still lives in history and art. Seeing that all was
lost, they attempted to escape on horseback with the colours of
the 24th Regiment. Coghill got safely across the Buffalo, but
Melvill was shot just as he was reaching the farther bank. Coghill
turned back to help his comrade, and suffered the same fate.
Their bodies were found close to each other, surrounded by dead
Zulus, and the colours which they had sacrificed their lives to
defend were discovered in the bed of the river, saved from dis-
honour.

When the attack ceased, Durnford rallied the white troopers
on the right of the camp, and with them and the Basutos forced
the Zulu left, keeping open the road across the Nek, by which
retreat was still possible. Durnford held his position until all
hope of retrieving the day was gone. He and his companions left
their horses to cover the retreat of their comrades and died to
a man at their posts. Durnford’s body was afterwards dis-
covered in a patch of long grass near the right flank of the enemy,
surrounded by the corpses of the brave men who had fought it
out with him to the bitter end. Durnford was a remarkable
man; he strongly disapproved of the whole policy of the Colonial
Government towards the natives, and, while the best-abused man
in the colony, was adored by the Zulus. Indeed, he inspired
them with such love and devotion that they sold their lives at
his side. Bulwer described him as a soldier of soldiers, with his
whole heart in his profession, keen, active-minded, and indefatig-
able, unsparing of himself, brave and utterly fearless, honourable,
loyal, of great gentleness and goodness of heart. There perished
at Isandhlwana twenty-six British officers and 600 men, the loss
of the Colonials not being less.

In the meantime Chelmsford was perfectly happy, having no
fear for the safety of the camp, continuing his operations against
the supposed main body of the Zulus. At 2 o'clock he was
selecting a fit spot for a camp, when he heard from a native
horseman of the attack on Pulleine and the heavy firing of big
guns. He surveyed the camp from the summit of a hill, and
everything seemed quiet. The sun shone on the white tents ;
there were no signs of firing, and it was not until some time later

776
DEFENCE OF RORKE’S DRIFT

that he was informed that the camp was in the possession of the
enemy. He sent Glyn and his force towards the camp; but,
in spite of all his exertions, he could not reach it before dark.
He found it an entire wreck, the ground being strewn with corpses,
broken tents, dead horses, oxen, and other signs of complete
destruction. His men, most of whom were without ammuni-
tion and had not eaten anything for forty-eight hours, were
obliged to bivouac amongst the relics of the slaughter, and were
entirely unable to withstand the Zulus if they attacked. Next
morning the British retreated to Rorke’s Drift.

In this place a deed of heroic daring had taken place which
illuminates the sad history and will live for ever in the annals
of valour. Lieutenant Chard, with a sergeant and six men, was
guarding the pontoon bridge over the Tugela at this point, and
Lieutenant Bromhead had command over the commissariat depot
with a company of the 24th. They heard of the disaster at
Isandhlwana and of the advance of the Zulus about 3 in the
afternoon, and, joining together, loopholed and barricaded the
storehouse and hospital, and connected the two with “ works”
of mealie-bags. At 3.30 about I00 natives of Durnford’s Horse
arrived, but eventually deserted and galloped off to Helpmakaar.
As they could not defend all their buildings with their small
numbers, they made an inner entrenchment of biscuit-boxes, the
wall being two boxes high. Suddenly they were attacked by 600
Zulus, who, braving their fire, came within fifty yards of the
biscuit boxes. Then the larger number of them swung to the
left, round the hospital, and rushed upon the wall of mealie bags.
Others held a ridge of rocks overlooking the British position,
and kept up a constant fire at the distance of 100 yards; others
occupied a garden in a hollow on the road and the bush beyond.

At last the fire from the ridge of rocks compelled the defenders
to retire behind the inner defence of biscuit boxes. Presently
the hospital was set on fire and the garrison defended the build-
ing room by room, bringing out all the sick who could be moved
before they retired. Five patients, however, had to be left.
They now made a redoubt of the lines of mealie bags, thus
obtaining a second line of fire, and in this way defended them-
selves until darkness fell. The attacks continued throughout the
night, until at 4 in the morning of January 23rd the enemy retired
over the hill. The defenders then examined the ground, collected
the arms of the dead Zulus, and strengthened the position as far
as they could. At 7 a large body of Zulus were seen to approach,
but an hour later the British troops began to appear, the enemy

2% 777
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

fell back, and the post of Rorke’s Drift was saved. The defence
had been conducted by eight officers and about 131 men of lower
rank against a force of nearly 4,000 Zulus, of whom 370 lay dead
around the spot. Chard and Bromhead—one belonging to the
Royal Engineers and the other to the 24th Regiment—received
the thanks of Parliament for their services, and were promoted
to the rank of major.

Such is the story of Isandhlwana. The British underrated
the power of the Zulus, overrated the courage of their native
allies, neglected the most obvious precautions, and allowed masses
of the enemy, who had no plan of their own, to blunder into the
British camp and cause terrible disaster. But the chief lesson to
be derived from what happened was that the war should never
have been undertaken at all.

The next point of interest is Ekowe, a position of great
natural beauty, 2,000 feet above the sea-level, commanding a
view of Port Durnford, the sea being about twenty miles distant
as the crow flies. The buildings on this site consisted of three
structures of brick and a small church, which was afterwards
turned into a hospital. Pearson, who commanded the first
division, had entrenched himself here, intending to make it a
place of support to the invading army, as it was about seventy
miles distant from Cetewayo’s kraal at Ulundi, which was the
main point of attack. Here Pearson heard the news of Isandhl-
wana, and determined to remain where he was, being confident
he could hold out for at least two months. He laboured hard to
make a very strong fort, and had an excellent supply of water.
His force had not much to eat, two pounds of freshly-killed beef
(very tough), two commissariat biscuits as hard as flint, a little
coffee, tea and sugar, one spoonful of lime juice, and a small
quantity of preserved vegetables being the daily ration per man.
They had no lack of ammunition and the troops led an orderly
and strenuous life, part of their time being spent in raiding for
the destruction of kraals. At the same time Pearson’s force was
wholly isolated and surrounded by the enemy, so that it became
necessary to release it.

The advance for this purpose began on March 27th, the first
division consisting of 3,720 infantry and 350 cavalry, commanded
by Lowe, and the second of 2,060 infantry and 196 cavalry,
commanded by Pemberton, the whole forming an aggregate of
6,320 men. The column was made as light as possible, no
tents being taken, and each man being allowed only a blanket
and waterproof sheet, while the wagons and pack animals were

778
RELIEF OF EKOWE

reduced to the smallest proportions. It was a great help that
sun-signalling was possible between Pearson and Chelmsford.
A battle took place on April 2nd in which the Zulus were
defeated, after fighting with conspicuous bravery. They wore
crests of leopard skins and feathers, the tails of wild oxen
dangled from their necks, and they carried white and coloured
shields. They approached with a sort of measured dance, but
at about three hundred yards the flame burst forth from the
shelter-pit, and a number of the fearless enemy fell. But, nothing
daunted, the main body again advanced and boldly faced the
murderous fire. At last a charge of cavalry decided the fate of
the conflict. The British loss was small, only two officers and
four privates being killed, and three officers and thirty-four
privates wounded, whereas the Zulus must have lost nearly a
thousand men—a number which pains one to chronicle and
which seriously detracts from the glory of the exploit. At
length, on April 3rd, Pearson and Chelmsford met, and a
rousing British cheer celebrated the event. Pearson had been
beleaguered for seventy days, the monotony of which had been
relieved by lawn tennis, bowls, ninepins and quoits, together
with concerts and theatrical performances.

With the relief of Ekowe, the first period of the Zulu War
came to an end. There was no danger of an invasion of Natal,
but it was thought necessary to capture Cetewayo. Large
reinforcements arrived from England, comprising 9,000 troops
and 2,000 horses, the cavalry being the most wanted and the
most important. With the force arrived the Prince Imperial of
France, a noble and chivalrous youth, destined to perish in a
quarrel not his own, in a moment of surprise and treachery. A
new plan of campaign was formed, by which the principal forces
operating, one from Utrecht and the other from Durban, were
to make an attack upon the King’s kraal at Ulundi.

About the middle of May the task, too long delayed, of
burying the dead at Isandhlwana was undertaken. The work
was a very sad one. At the same time, there was nothing of
the horrors of a recent battlefield. Silence reigned in the
solitude; grass had grown luxuriantly round the wagons and
shrouded the dead, who had been lying there for four months.
Rider and horse, officer and private, man and boy, their parch-
ment-looking skins half eaten by the carrion crows and _ half
covering the bleaching bones, formed a gruesome sight. Many
of the bodies were recognised; Durnford was found in a patch
of grass, surrounded by those who had fallen near him, and was

779
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

buried with deep respect in a donga, close to the spot where he
fell. The dead were roughly buried, excepting the men of the
24th Regiment, who were left to be interred by their comrades.
Fifty-five wagons were brought away by the horses and mules,
and a quantity of stores was stowed in them. The staff which
had borne the colours of the 24th was also recovered, and the
men returned to the camp with due precautions for their
safety.

During the whole of this time Cetewayo was continuously
asking for peace, professing not to understand the object of
the war. As early as March 3rd he sent a message to Bishop
Schneider, saying that he had taken care of the deserted mission
stations, not allowing them to be damaged, thinking that the
missionaries might return to them; but in some cases they had
come back and converted them into forts, whereupon his people
had destroyed them, which he could not complain of, seeing the
use which had been made of them. He also said that he had
never desired war, that he had never refused the terms proposed
to him, that he had collected the 600 head of cattle which
were asked for, that the attack upon Isandhlwana was not made
by his orders, and that his Induna was in disgrace for it, and that
he wished negotiations to be resumed, with a view to a permanent
settlement. He also sent back the book given to him by the
Government at the time of his accession, and asked that it might
be shown to him in what respect he had transgressed its
provisions. It was impossible for him to open communications,
because his messengers were fired upon and in some cases detained.
In one case the Natal papers reported that when a small party
bearing a white flag approached the British station the flag was
fired at to test its sincerity. Unfortunately, Cetewayo’s efforts
to make peace were never encouraged, and the opinion was held
that his messengers were spies.

At the same time the Home Government was expressing its
desire that the war should terminate at the earliest moment
consistent with the honour of the British arms and the settle-
ment of the Zulu question. But when war is once begun the
officers conducting it are generally reluctant to make peace until
the enemy has been entirely crushed. In May it was reported
that the King was suing for peace. He said, ‘‘White men
have made me King, and I am their son. Do they kill the
man in the afternoon whom they have made King in the morn-
ing? What have I done? I want peace; I ask for peace.”
Lord Chelmsford, however, was of opinion that Cetewayo must

780
DEATH OF THE PRINCE IMPERIAL

be deposed, and that peace must be signed at Ulundi, in the
presence of the British force.

On Sunday, June 1st, occurred the episode in which the
Prince Imperial lost his life. It is so important in itself and so
characteristic of the conduct of the war that a detailed account
should be given of it. The Prince had arrived in Natal early in
April. He acted at first as extra aide-de-camp to Chelmsford,
but afterwards became attached to Colonel Harrison, of the
Engineers. Harrison was requested to find him some work, and
he was asked to collect information about the distribution of
troops and similar objects. He then accompanied Harrison on
a skirmishing expedition into Zululand, undertaken with the
object of ascertaining which route the invading forces should
take. They were thus occupied from May 13th to 17th, camp-
ing by night with their horses saddled and bridled, marching
at dawn, and driving the Zulu scouts before them. The Prince
was then sent back, but on May 18th received permission to
return and begin a new reconnaissance. Harrison was now
informed that he was to consider the Prince Imperial as attached
to the quartermaster’s staff for duty, but that it was not put
into orders because the Prince did not belong to the army. He
did not live with Harrison, and only saw him when he came for
work or orders, which was very frequently. On May 24th the
Prince was ordered to prepare the plan of a divisional camp;
but that evening Harrison was rebuked by Chelmsford for having
allowed the Prince to go out of the lines without an escort, and
gave orders that this should not be done in future, and the Prince
received orders to this effect in writing. He was then required
to make a map of the country, from the reports received, and
this he did very well.

As the month advanced, reconnaissances were extended into
the country and no enemy was seen. On May 31st the Prince
was told that the army was to march on the following day, and
that he might go out and report on the roads and the camps for
the purpose. Lieutenant Carey, who was Harrison’s subordinate
officer, expressed a desire to go with the Prince, as he wished to
verify a sketch previously made, and Harrison said to him, “ All
right, you can look after the Prince’’; but at the same time he
was told that the Prince was to be allowed to do the work of
making a report upon the road and fixing a site for the camp.
Carey and the Prince were to set out with an escort of six
Europeans, a friendly Zulu, and six Basutos; but the Basutos,
who were invaluable as scouts, never arrived.

781
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

‘The party set out along a valley running north-east and
gradually narrowing. They reached the watershed in about an
hour, and were overtaken by Harrison, who ordered them to
wait till the Basutos came up. The Prince said, “Oh! we are
quite strong enough,” and they pushed on to the river. They
proceeded for four miles along a deep, sandy ravine, with pre-
cipitous sides, and came to an open space from which a path led
to a deserted kraal about two miles away. They went on about
two miles farther, but then off-saddled. It was a very dangerous
place—a kraal, surrounded by tall grass. Remains of cooking
showed that the kraal had been recently occupied, and dogs
came out and barked at the intruders. No precautions were
taken; the horses were knee-haltered and turned out to graze,
coffee was prepared, and no search was made in the surrounding
grass.

Yet all this time a party of thirty or forty Zulus were watch-
ing the doomed men, waiting for the moment to attack. They
crept up through the rank vegetation till their presence was
detected by the Zulu who accompanied the British. He gave the
alarm, the horses were collected, and the men prepared to mount.
Suddenly a volley was fired from the river, the horses were seized
with terror and broke away, and a private was shot dead. The
Prince’s horse —a grey, sixteen hands high, very difficult to
control—became wild with fear. The escort galloped away, each
anxious to save his own life, and the Prince was left alone. He
made desperate attempts to mount, by means of his holster flap,
but the leather broke, and he fell beneath his horse, which
trampled on him. His body was afterwards found, pierced with
eighteen assegai wounds, stripped, with nothing but the amulet
which his mother had given him hanging round his neck The
body was conveyed to England and buried beside his father’s
at Chislehurst.

About the middle of June news arrived in South Africa that
Chelmsford had been superseded, Sir Garnet Wolseley having
been recalled from Cyprus and made Governor of South Africa,
High Commissioner of Natal and the Transvaal, and Commander-
in-Chief of the forces in South Africa. However, till his arrival
operations were continued which lasted till the end of the month.
On July 27th some natives arrived from Cetewayo bringing 150
of the oxen captured at Isandhlwana, a pair of elephant’s tusks,
and a letter written by a Dutch dealer, who was with the King.
The letter said that the King could not comply with the whole
of Chelmsford’s demands, as the arms taken at Isandhlwana had

782
BATTLE OF ULUNDI

not all come in, and that he had no power as King to disband his
regiments. He asked the English, on receipt of what they had
asked for, to retire from the country. To this Chelmsford replied
that he must advance to the Umvolosi, that he would remain
there quietly till noon on July 3rd, when, if certain conditions
were complied with, proposals for peace would be entertained,
Apparently no reply was received to this ultimatum.

Wolseley landed at Durban on June 28th, and Chelmsford
acquainted him with what he had done. The final battle of Ulundi
was fought on July 4th. Chelmsford had under his command a
force of a little over 5,000 men. Redvers Buller, who led the
attack, fought with his men in two ranks. The first were
mounted, ready to attack any weak point in the enemy’s line ;
the second dismounted, using their saddles as a rest for their
rifles. When the front rank were exhausted they retired, and the
second then took their places, each thus in turn relieving the
other. At last the Zulus advanced with a grand front attack,
showing great courage. One who was present tells us that their
wild yells and unearthly war-cries were heard through the bang
and rattle of the musketry fire. Drury-Lowe charged with his
lancers, who, in their furious onslaught, pressed through the wall
of human flesh, but the Zulus fought on stubbornly, stabbing
at the horses’ bellies and trying to drag the men from their
saddles. Lord William Beresford pursued the flying Zulus with his
dragoons. At last the enemy’s force was broken and the Battle
of Ulundi was won, and was celebrated at the time as a great
victory for British arms. The Zulus numbered at least 23,000,
of whom over 1,500 were lost. The British loss was very small,
about a dozen killed and eighty wounded. The King’s five great
kraals had been destroyed.

For some reason the Battle of Ulundi was not followed up.
The Zulu army had bgen thoroughly broken and dispersed, and
nothing could have prevented Chelmsford from destroying the
King’s stronghold and securing a complete victory. Instead of
this, he retired and resigned his command ; but it cannot be said
whether this was due to the action of Wolseley or not. There is
no doubt that Wolseley had been sent out to finish the war as
speedily as possible. Accordingly, he crossed the Tugela on
July 6th, reached the headquarters of the first division near Port
Durnford next day, set to work to reduce expenses, dispensed
with the services of the Naval Brigade, stopped reinforcements
of every description, and gave up the idea of an invasion of
Swaziland.

783
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

It only remained to find Cetewayo, who was said to be some-
where to the north of the Black Umvolosi, with a small number
of adherents; and a force of cavalry was sent from Ulundi for
this purpose. They endeavoured in vain to induce his people
to betray him, but his folk clung to him with the utmost
devotion, as the Highlanders clung with loyalty to the fugitive
Prince Charlie. The chase was most adventurous and most
picturesque. The men had to live on what they found in the
kraals—sour milk, cakes of Indian corn, pumpkins, sweet potatoes,
and native beer. Their road led through a thickly-wooded forest,
with strange trees, like an artificial park. In some places they
came to treeless plains and flats broken by bamboos and massive
jungles which seemed almost impenetrable; but in others they
met with better cultivated land, with large fields of maize. Now
they found tamarinds, which gave them a pleasant shade; now
tracts of long, stiff grass, which came up to their saddle-flaps and
tickled the horses; now an open steppe, with a distant view of
the hills in front; now a thick wood, where the foliage was so
dense that they could scarcely see the steps of those in front ;
now they gazed at the valleys and rivers below from an
elevation of 2,000 feet.

From August 19th to August 27th their long marches were
incessant. At last they came to a kraal which the King
had left early in the morning; mats, blankets, and a snuff-
box were recognised as belonging to him. Marching all night,
they came at daybreak within four miles of the kraal in which
they were told that the King was lying. They knew that he was
footsore and very weary. By and by his hut was surrounded,
and the native friendlies said to the King’s men, “ The white
man is here; you are caught !”

Major Marter, who commanded the detachment, rode up and
called on Cetewayo to surrender.

The King replied, ‘“ Enter into my hut; I am your
prisoner.”

This Marter declined to do, and the King came forth with a
dignity which could not have been surpassed, and when a
dragoon tried to lay hands on him, he said to the soldier, ‘ Do
not touch me. I surrender to your chief.”

When Lord Gifford, who had commanded the expedition, came
upon the scene, the King said that he surrendered to him, and not
to Marter; and then, as an eyewitness tells us, with head erect
and regal, though savage, dignity, and the mien of a Roman
Emperor, he marched between the lines of the 6oth Rifles to

784
CETEWAYO A _ PRISONER

the tent prepared for him, the men presenting arms as he
passed.

Thus ended the Zulu War. Cetewayo was taken as prisoner
to Cape Town; and the Zulu country, so well governed by a
single man, was split up into thirteen districts, each governed by
its own chief,

785
CHAPTER VII

THE PACIFICATION OF AFGHANISTAN

AT the risk of repetition, we must give an account of Great
Britain’s dealings with India under the Beaconsfield Govern-
ment, on which we have already touched in the chapter devoted
to the general survey of his Ministry. The suppression of the
Mutiny marked an epoch in the relations of Great Britain to her
Indian dependency. The conquest of India within natural
frontiers was at an end. The native States were at peace, their
limits defined, their dynasties were established, and their exist-
ence was guaranteed. In 1869 Sir John Lawrence was succeeded
as Viceroy by the Earl of Mayo, appointed by Disraeli just before
his Government came to an end. The appointment was far from
popular, and Gladstone was urged to cancel it; but the proposed
Viceroy proved a success. On his arrival in India he found the
Afghan question still unsolved, the dispute about the frontier
being difficult to determine. From Baluchistan to Chitral there
is a debatable zone of tribal territory, occupied by restless
warriors, who owed a very imperfect submission to their nominal
suzerain, the Amir of Afghanistan; and it was hard to decide
where the limit of British rule should be drawn, especially in view
of the advance of Russia in Central Asia. Various plans had
been formed of a very divergent character, some authorities hold-
ing that the frontier of the British Empire should be withdrawn
to the Indus; others that the intermediate zone should be
conquered ; some that Afghanistan should be partitioned, or the
country conquered between the Oxus and the Indus; but, as a
fact, Great Britain had stopped at the base of the mountains,
had left the tribes independent, and had regarded Afghanistan
as an inviolable buffer State.

A new epoch began with the death of Dost Mohammed in
1863, an event which was followed by an internecine war between
his sons. Shere Ali held the throne for two years, and was then
driven from Cabul and Candahar by his elder brother Afzal.
Afzal died and, as his eldest son, Abdurrahman, gave up the claim
to the succession, the throne passed to another brother, Azim.
In 1868 Shere Ali, starting from Herat, gained possession of all

786
SHERE ALI AND BRITAIN

the dominions of Dost Mohammed, and ruled them for ten years.
The policy of Great Britain, at this time, was to recognise the
de facto ruler, whoever he might happen to be. Lawrence, there-
fore, recognised Shere Ali, as soon as he had consolidated his
power, and made him a present of arms and money. Lord Mayo
met Shere Ali in conference at Amballa in March, 1869; but
when the Amir made proposals for a closer alliance the Viceroy
was compelled by the Home Government to refuse them, much
to Shere Ali’s disappointment. He took back with him no treaty,
but only a promise of moral support, whatever that might mean.
In 1869 an agreement had been made with Russia that the Oxus
should be accepted as a boundary of Shere Ali’s dominions
to the north, and that Russia should respect the integrity of
his country so long as he promised not to interfere with
Bokhara.

In 1872 Lord Mayo, while visiting the convict settlement in
the Andaman Islands, was assassinated by a fanatic, and was
succeeded by Lord Northbrook. The latter’s relations with the
Amir were not so good as those of his predecessor. Russia was
making rapid advances in Central Asia, and Shere Ali was alarmed
at them, especially at the conquest of Khiva in June, 1873. The
Amir was deeply anxious for an alliance with Great Britain to
protect him against Russia. But the Liberal Government, afraid
of entanglements, gave him nothing but vague promises. Yet
the opportunity of making friends with the Amir ought not to
have been allowed to pass. Shere Ali was bitterly disappointed,
and sought with Russia the friendship which Great Britain had
denied him, Consequently, when Disraeli became Prime Minister,
the Government, with a dread of the advance of Russia, suspected
Shere Ali of friendly feelings towards their enemy, and desired
the Viceroy to press upon him the admission of a British Resident
into his country, to be stationed first at Herat and afterwards at
Cabul. The Viceroy and his whole Council protested against
the proposal, on the ground that this change of policy would
produce a disastrous effect in the mind of the Amir. In 1868
and 1873 Shere Ali had entreated the British Government to
make a close alliance with him, in order to protect him against
Russia, and he had been assured there was no need for appre-
hension. It would be inconsistent and unwise to force upon
him the alliance which had been emphatically rejected, together
with a condition which he had always regarded as impossible.
Unable to convince the Home Government of the soundness of
his views, and unwilling to commit himself to their adventurous

737
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

policy, Lord Northbrook magnanimously resigned his office, and
Lord Lytton was appointed in his place.

Lytton proved himself the willing instrument of the new
Imperial policy, which, if he did not originate, at all events he
executed. He acceded to the demands which Shere Ali had put
forward in 1873, but the latter was stubborn in refusing the
acceptance of a Resident. The Amir pointed out, with truth,
that he would be unable to protect a British Resident against
the fanaticism of his subjects, and urged that if he admitted a
representative from Great Britain he must also admit one from
Russia. Lytton apparently believed that Shere Ali was intriguing
with Russia, and such ultimately became the case, although up
to May, 1877, all letters from Russia were opened in the presence
of the native who represented the British Government at Cabul,
and communicated to the Viceroy. The occupation of Quetta
in 1876 increased the terror of the Amir, and an interview which
took place at Peshawar between the representatives of the Viceroy
and the Amir produced no result. When the Afghan envoy,
Syed Nur Mohammed, whose name should be mentioned
with honour, died, Lytton refused to receive his successor,
who was already on his way, and broke off communications
with Shere Ali, who naturally turned to Russia. It is difficult
to defend the vacillating and yet precipitate policy of Great
Britain towards Afghanistan during the ten years which followed
1868.

We have already narrated at length the conduct of the British
Government towards Russia. The two nations were on the
brink of war, which was only averted by the Congress of Berlin,
and Russia naturally endeavoured to create a diversion in India.
On June 13th, 1878, the very day on which the Congress of Berlin
held its first sitting, a Russian mission, under General Stoletov,
began its march from Tashkent to Cabul. Shere Ali endeavoured
to arrest its progress; but the Russians threatened him with the
rivalry of Abdurrahman, his nephew, who resided in their country,
so that he was compelled to submit, and possibly even signed a
treaty with the Russian Government. This news decided Lytton
upon vigorous action, and he announced his intention of sending
Sir Neville Chamberlain to Cabul. Stoletov, on hearing of this,
left Cabul, and, on September 30th, Major Cavagnari, who com-
manded the advance guard of Chamberlain’s mission, was stopped
at the fort of Ali Musjid, refused an entrance to the Khyber Pass,
and eventually war was declared on November 21st, 1878. Shere
Ali deserves our pity ; he had done his best to avert the dangeis

788
MURDER OF CAVAGNARI

which threatened his country, and the death of his younger son,
Abdullah Jan, had nearly disordered his mind.

Afghanistan was invaded by three columns—Sir Samuel
Browne marched from the Khyber to Jelalabad; Sir Frederick
Roberts executed his famous advance through the Kuram Pass,
and stormed the heights of Peiwar; and Sir Donald Stewart
marched from Quetta to Candahar. Shere Ali fled northwards
to Turkestan, leaving his son Yakub Khan to make terms with
the invader; and, rejected by the Russian General Kauffmann,
died broken-hearted in February, 1879. Lytton would have
preferred to dismember the conquered country, but the British
Government made with Yakub Khan the Treaty of Gundamuk
in May, 1879. By the terms of this treaty the Amir was to follow
the orders of the British Government in conducting his foreign
relations, to receive a British Resident at Cabul, to place under
British control the districts of Kuram, Pishin and Sibi, together
with the passes of Khyber and Michni. In return for these
concessions the Amir was to be protected, by arms, money and
troops, from foreign aggression and to receive an annual subsidy
of six lakhs of rupees.

The chief object of the Treaty of Gundamuk was to secure
that a British Resident should be established at the court of the
Amir Yakub Khan of Afghanistan, and in accordance with it Sir
Louis Cavagnari was received at Cabul as Resident on July 24th,
1879. He had, as escort, a mounted guard of twenty-five sowars,
and fifty sepoys of the Guides, the Amir having promised to
protect him. Certain regiments arrived from Herat on August
5th and swaggered through the streets of Cabul, declaiming
against the admission of the ambassador. Cavagnari was warned
of the coming storm, but remained calm, refusing to believe the
rumours and, when convinced of their truth, saying, ‘“ They can
only kill the three or four of us here, and our deaths will be
avenged.” On September 2nd he sent a message to the Viceroy
that all was well; next day he and the whole mission were mur-
dered ; not one of them was left. Yakub Khan sat in his palace,
vacillating and sullen, but did nothing. Instead of employing
the troops which were faithful to him to quell the disorder, he
only sent the Commander-in-Chief to remonstrate. It was not
till Cavagnari’s head was carried through the bazaar by an excited
crowd that he began to fear British vengeance.

The news reached Sir Frederick Roberts at Simla at midnight
on September 4th, and he secured the Shutargardan Pass and
determined to move 6,000 men upon Cabul as soon as possible.

789
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

On September 27th the Amir arrived in the British camp and
was treated with every possible mark of respect and given a guard
of honour. The visit proved that he had lost all authority in
his capital, and he expected that the British Government would
avenge the murder of the Embassy but replace him on the throne,
The Amir tried to delay the advance, but Roberts told him that
not a day’s delay would take place. Roberts, however, issued
a proclamation that a distinction would be observed between
the peaceful inhabitants of Afghanistan. and the treacherous
murderers of Cavagnari. On October 6th the mutinous troops
were defeated and driven from the heights above Charasiah, and
next day the force encamped within a few miles of the Bala Hissar
and the city of Cabul. On October 12th Roberts took formal
possession of the Bala Hissar, and a durbar was held at which
the terms imposed upon Cabul were announced. The proclama-
tion asserted that justice would be done if Cabul were utterly
destroyed and its name for ever blotted out, but that the British
Government would be merciful and spare the city. At the same
time, the buildings which interfered with the military efficiency
would be levelled with the ground and a fine imposed upon the
inhabitants. Cabul and the country for ten miles round were
placed under martial law; a military governor of the city was
appointed to administer justice; the carrying of arms within
the city or within five miles of the gates was forbidden, and anyone
infringing this regulation was liable to the penalty of death.
Cabul is, in itself, not an impressive city, nor is the Cabul
river a majestic stream. Sometimes it rises in flood, carrying
away all obstacles and drowning those who attempt to cross ;
generally it crawls along, impotent for good or evil, a shallow
streamlet which a child could wade. But the city is the link
between Central Asia and India, and its bazaars contain both
the cloths of Bokhara and the textiles of Manchester, the
hardware of Sheffield and Birmingham, and the jewellery of
native artificers—everything, in fact, from a diamond to a dhoti.
Although the reception of the British troops had been fairly
friendly, suspicions were aroused by an explosion in the arsenal,
in which were stored some millions of cartridges and nearly
seventy tons of gunpowder. The explosion was like the shock
of an earthquake. Darkness blotted out everything, and
showers of bullets, stones, cartridges, and rubbish fell into the
surrounding garden, some twelve men being killed and seven
wounded. When another explosion took place in the afternoon
the city was seized with panic, the shops were shut, and the
790
REPRISALS IN CABUL

streets deserted. The disaster was due to the treachery of those
who resented the British occupation.

At the time of the occupation of the city Yakub Khan had
resigned the office of Amir. Roberts was strongly opposed to his
doing so; but Yakub declared he would rather be a grass-cutter
in the British camp than Amir of Afghanistan. He was ready
to go to India, London, Malta, or wherever the Viceroy should
send him. The resignation could not be valid until it was
accepted by the Viceroy, and when this was given Roberts
assumed the government; but the Amir was kept under close
guard, lest he should escape to Turkestan. During this time the
causes of the rising against Cavagnari were being carefully and
systematically investigated. No one was condemned without a
fair and deliberate trial, nor executed without the personal order
of Roberts. Altogether eighty-seven persons were executed under
the Military Commission, either for complicity in the massacre
or for subsequent disturbances of the peace. At the beginning of
November the British army moved into cantonments at Sherpur,
and the Bala Hissar was dismantled. The cold grew intense, and
the watercourses were frozen, which made the life in tents very
trying.

Roberts tells us that probably the general expectation among
the Afghans was that, after punishment had been exacted from
the people and the city, the British force would be withdrawn ;
but the occupation of the fortified lines which had been prepared
by Shere Ali for his own army, the capture of the artillery and
the munitions of war of which they were so proud, and which
had been so laboriously collected, the destruction of the Bala
Hissar, and the exile of the Amir, had animated the Afghans
with a patriotic hatred of the foreign invader. This feeling was
made more intense by the preaching of the aged mullah, or
priest, Mushk-i-Alam, who denounced the British in every mosque
throughout the country, so that the movement speedily assumed
the character of a religious war. Thus, in the winter, there were
many serious risings in the neighbourhood of Cabul, and it was
only by hard fighting that Roberts was able to keep his com-.
munications with India open. With great skill he prevented the
different sections of the enemy from concentrating at Cabul.

At the beginning of 1880 Roberts considered the condition
of Afghanistan fairly satisfactory. The country had become
tranquillised, even as far as Candahar, and preparations were
made for the advance of Sir Donald Stewart’s force into southern
Afghanistan. But before the troops could withdraw, it had to

791
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

be settled what Great Britain was to do with Afghanistan now
that she had got it, and who could be set up as ruler, with
any chance of being able to hold his own. Abdurrahman Khan,
who occurred to some as a likely man, had been living since 1868
in exile beyond the Oxus, under Russian protection. Roberts
now heard that he was at Kanduz, on his way to Badakhshan. A
fortnight later Sir Donald Stewart was informed by the Prince’s
mother, who lived at Candahar, that his cousin, Ayub Khan,
having asked him to march with him against the British, her son
had replied that he would have nothing to do with the family of
Shere Ali, that he had no intention of opposing the British, that
he could not leave Russian territory without the permission of
the Russians, or come to Cabul without an invitation from the
British; but that, if he received such an invitation, he would
obey it at once. Lytton felt very sanguine about Abdurrahman,
and desired to place him on the throne of Cabul. By the end
of March it was known that Abdurrahman had made himself
master of Afghan Turkestan, and overtures were made to him.
He answered them in a guarded manner, saying that he wished
to be friends with the British, but that he was under great
obligations to the Russians. In the meantime, Roberts held a
durbar on April 13th, at which it was declared that Yakub Khan
would not be allowed to return, that there was no intention of
annexing the country, that the British would withdraw as soon
as a suitable ruler had been found, and that Candahar would not
again be united to Cabul.

Sir Donald Stewart had left Candahar on March 30th, had
gained a victory at Ahmed Khel on April 19th, and reached
Cabul on May 5th. On the same day Roberts heard that
Beaconsfield had ceased to be Prime Minister, his place having
been taken by Gladstone, that Lytton had resigned the Vice-
royalty, that Lord Ripon was to be his successor, and that
Hartington was Secretary of State for India. Ripon’s instruc-
tions were to effect a peaceable settlement with Afghanistan,
the Liberal Cabinet being determined as far as possible to return
to the state of things which existed before 1876. On July 22nd
Abdurrahman was formally proclaimed Amir, with the under-
standing that he was to have no foreign relations with any other
State except Great Britain. He was to be defended against
outside aggression so long as he observed this condition, and he
was not required to admit a British Resident. It was not,
however, intended that he should succeed to all the dominions
of Shere Ali, for Candahar was to be ruled by an independent

792
THE MARCH ON CANDAHAR

prince, and Herat was to remain for the time in the possession of
Ayub Khan, a son of Shere Ali.

Immediately after the durbar orders were issued for the
retirement of the troops. Some time later Roberts started off
to ride to the Khyber Pass; but, obeying a sudden presentiment,
determined to return to Cabul, and on the way was met by Sir
Donald Stewart, who told him that Ayub Khan had almost
annihilated a British brigade at Maiwand on July 27th and was
besieging General Primrose in Candahar. Roberts was deeply
affected by the news. It was impossible to say how far what
had happened would affect the arrangements with Abdurrah-
man or what the attitude of the tribesmen would be; but it was
certain that his first duty was to send assistance to Candahar
from Cabul. He was strongly in favour of this course, although
the Government first thought that the advance should be made
from Quetta. He promised that he would reach Candahar within
the month, and Lord Ripon assented to this proposal. The force
under him consisted of about 10,000 men of all ranks and 18
guns, comprising three brigades of infantry, one of cavalry, and
three batteries of mountain artillery. The army had to take
with them 8,000 animals, and had great difficulty in providing
food and fuel. Sometimes the soldiers could only cook with tiny
roots of southern-wood, which had to be dug out and collected
after a long day’s march before the men could eat their dinner.

Roberts began the memorable march on Monday, August 6th.
As a rule, the army rose at 2.45 in the morning and by 4 every-
thing was ready for the day’s start. A halt of ten minutes
was called at every hour, and at 8 twenty minutes was allowed
for breakfast. The column changed its face every day, the front
brigade becoming the rearguard, which had the most arduous
duty, in preventing the followers from lagging behind, which
meant certain death. Towards the end of the march the followers
were so weary and footsore that they laid themselves down in
ravines, making up their minds to die and, when discovered,
entreating to be left where they were. But such care was taken
that only twenty were lost, besides four native soldiers. The
temperature varied from freezing-point to 110° F., and was very
trying, and the force suffered from sandstorms as well as want
of water. The Zambak Kotal, 8,000 feet high, had to be crossed
on August 12th, and by August 15th the army reached Ghazni.
At Charden they learned that Candahar was closely invested, but
had supplies for two months and forage for fifteen days, and
on August 21st they opened heliograph communication with the

793
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

town. On August 23rd the army rested for a day, having made
a continuous march of 275 miles. On August 31st Roberts—
still weak from the fever which had attacked him—rode into
Candahar, 313 miles from Cabul. He had covered the whole
distance in twenty days. The garrison turned out and gave the
relieving force a hearty welcome, very grateful for rendering their
assistance so quickly. They were in a state of deep depression,
and had not even hoisted the Union Jack until succour was close
at hand. The decisive battle took place on September Ist, and
Ayub Khan was completely defeated. Roberts was so exhausted
that he with difficulty found strength to announce his victory
to the Queen; but he woke on the following morning to realise
that the march had ended. Candahar had been saved, Ayub
Khan’s army was routed and dispersed, and southern Afghanistan
was freed from further disturbance.

The evacuation of the country proceeded, the British troops
being withdrawn through the Bolan and Khyber passes. The
policy of placing Candahar under an independent ruler proved
a failure and he was allowed to resign. Candahar was evacuated
in 1881, although a great clamour against its surrender was made
by the so-called Imperial party, of which Gladstone was believed
to. be a bitter antagonist. In point of fact, the evacuation proved
to be a most salutary measure. Nothing bound the Amir so
closely to the British alliance as the possession of a place he had
always ardently coveted. It is true that it was not obtained
without a struggle, because Ayub Khan, advancing from Herat,
occupied and held the city for a few months; but he was defeated
by Abdurrahman, who thus became master both of Candahar and
Herat, and in 1883 his subsidy was increased to eight lakhs. In
this manner the dominions of Dost Mohammed were at last con-
solidated under a capable ruler, who was firmly convinced of his
divine right to hold them and also understood that, while it was
the interest of Russia to dismember his country, it was the interest
of Great Britain to preserve it intact. He thus fulfilled his part
as an outpost in defence of the northern frontier of India.

Ripon was succeeded as Viceroy by Lord Dufferin, and in 1884
the occupation of Merv by Russian troops once more raised the
question of a definite boundary between Afghanistan and Russian
territory in Asia. The chief difficulty arose with regard to
Penjdeh, which had been occupied by the Afghans ; but in March,
1885, they were attacked and driven out by the Russians. War
between Russia and Great Britain, however, was avoided by the
statesmanlike good sense of Abdurrahman and the diplomacy of

794
LORD LANSDOWNE AND THE AMIR

Dufferin. The Amir was determined at all costs to prevent a
war between the two Powers which enclosed his frontier, well
knowing that it would be a fatal calamity. He was ready to
abandon Penjdeh if he were allowed to hold Zulfikar. An Afghan
Boundary Commission was appointed which worked hard to
arrive at a conclusion during the years 1885 and 1886, and their
conclusions were supplemented and ratified by an agreement
signed at St. Petersburg in 1887. A frontier line was marked
out between the Heri Rud and the Oxus, beyond which Russia
was not to advance towards India, and there was prospect of peace
for the future.

From this time Abdurrahman remained consistently faithful
to Great Britain; but his personal relations with successive
Viceroys naturally varied with their character and their policies.
Lord Lansdowne, who succeeded Dufferin, was not so intimate
with the Amir as his predecessor had been, and there had come
about a gradual change in British frontier policy. Between the
two countries lay a belt of territory occupied by semi-savage
tribes which it was the duty of the Indian Government to keep
in order, although it was impossible to foresee anything to prevent
their depredations, while it was easy for the Amir to foment
disturbances if he desired to do so. A school of administrators
arose in India who were in favour of a forward policy, of the
rectification of the frontier, the extension of railways, and the
reduction of these semi-independent clans to order. The Amir
viewed approach to his frontiers with jealousy, and desired that
the tribes under his religious headship should be left alone.
Abdurrahman also cherished grievances against Great Britain for
acts of aggression in the Pamirs, and was alarmed at the approach
of the British railway to the neighbourhood of*Candahar. How-
ever, satisfactory arrangements were made in 1893, when it was
agreed that the Afghan frontier, both as regarded Great Britain
and Russia, should be settled as soon as possible. The Amir’s
yearly subsidy was raised from {£80,000 to £120,000, and he was
promised further supplies of arms and ammunition. Up to the
time of his death, in 1901, the friendliness of his relations with
the British Government remained unbroken.

The difficult question of Indian frontier policy had to be
settled by Lord Curzon of Kedleston, who succeeded Lord Elgin
as Viceroy in 1899. Having made a special study of the frontier
question before he assumed office, he held a position intermediate
between the two schools, the forwards and their opponents. He
did not, on the one hand, believe in extending the British

795
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

dominion until it touched the Afghan frontier; mor, on the
other, was he in favour of evacuating Chitral, Quetta, and the
points already reached. He held that in the restless districts
the place of British troops should be taken by tribal levies, trained
and commanded by British officers. The tribes were assured that
no interference would be permitted either with their religion or
their independence, but they were given to understand that
strict order must be kept on the borderland. Advantage was
taken of their mutual jealousies and suspicions, and they were
set to watch each other, instead of looking for an opportunity to
attack their common enemy. A concentration of force and an
increase of garrison were effected within the British lines, the
traffic in arms and ammunition was suppressed so far as possible,
and strategic railways were pushed forward. This wise policy
brought about an era of peace on the north-western frontier,
thus testifying to the success with which it had combined
the advantages of economy, efficiency and respect for tribal
independence.

796
CHAPTER VIII

THE TRAGEDY OF KHARTUM

TEWFIK PasHA had been placed on the throne of Egypt in 1879
by the joint action of Great Britain and France. He entered
upon his office with a high reputation for integrity and accessi-
bility to Western ideas. His habits were simple, thus contrasting
in a striking manner with those of his predecessor, Ismail. His
first act on succeeding to the Khediviate was to reduce the Civil
List from £360,000 to {£200,000 a year. The Porte issued a
firman confirming Tewfik in all the privileges enjoyed by his
father. Cherif Pasha was ordered to resign, and Riaz Pasha,
who was reported to be the most Liberal of Egyptian statesmen,
and had been one of the creators of the system of Dual Control,
was placed at the head of the Government. It seemed that an
era of peace and tranquillity had settled over the land. In 1880
a law of liquidation was passed which appeared to place the
financial affairs of Egypt on a satisfactory footing, and other
reforms were begun. But the East is the land of surprises, and
it is difficult for Western rulers to understand or to divine what
is passing in the Eastern mind.

There was, indeed, some cause for discontent. The law of
liquidation, passed to secure the interests of foreign bondholders,
prevented the Khedive and his ministers from devoting the
revenue of their country to the development of Egypt, and the
Dual Control involved the employment and maintenance of more
than 1,300 persons at the cost of nearly £400,000. A cry arose
of “ Egypt for the Egyptians ! ’ and in 1881 signs of trouble began
to show themselves. Under Ismail Egypt had not been free from
military pronunciamientos and the interference of the army in
the government was to be expected. On February ist a quarrel
broke out between the Circassian and Egyptian officers, the latter
complaining that the Circassians were treated with undue favour,
the Minister of War being himself a Circassian. Three of the
Egyptian colonels having been placed under arrest, the regiment
commanded by one of them marched to the military prison, broke
open the doors, and released their chief. The soldiers clamoured
for his reinstatement and the dismissal of the Minister of War.

797
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The Khedive took counsel of his masters, the French and British
consuls-general, but it was found that the troops in Cairo were
not strong enough to put down the mutineers, and that a black
regiment was marching to join the latter. Their demands were
acceded to, the Minister of War was dismissed, and the soldiers
returned with shouts of “ Long live the Khedive!”

Military discontent continued, however, and a colonel in the
army, known as Ahmed Arabi, “the Egyptian,’ but better
perhaps as Arabi Bey, put himself at the head of the movement.
Some believed that he was an enthusiastic patriot, eager to free
his country from a foreign yoke, and this view was probably
correct ; but he could not make himself champion of the national
cause without becoming a mutinous soldier, and as that he had
to be regarded. He would certainly have deposed the Khedive
if he had found an opportunity of doing so. The tone of Arabi’s
party in addressing Tewfik grew increasingly disrespectful, and
early in September the Khedive ordered that the 4th Regiment,
of which Arabi was colonel, should be transferred from Cairo
to Alexandria.

To resist this a meeting was held by Arabi and his partisans
on September 7th, at which it was determined to make a
demonstration for the purpose of intimidating the Khedive and
compelling the resignation of Ministers. On Friday, September
gth, the Minister of War received a letter at x in the afternoon,
signed ‘‘ Arabi Bey,’’ in which he was informed that at 3 the
army would assemble in the square before the Abdin Palace at
Cairo, and demand the dismissal of Riaz Pasha and his colleagues,
the summoning of the Chamber of Notables, and the increase of
the army by 18,000 men. Tewfik, who was at the palace of
Ismailieh, asked the advice of Sir Auckland Colvin, one of the
comptrollers of finance, and Mr. Cookson, the consul-general,
and, in accordance with their views, went first to the Abdin
barracks, where he summoned the ist Regiment of the Guard,
and then to the citadel, where he found another loyal regiment,
being received by both with acclamation. Had he marched with
these two regiments to Abdin Square, all would have been well,
but instead he drove to Abassieh, where Arabi’s regiment was
posted, with the view of intercepting him. On arriving there he
found that Arabi had marched off half an hour before with
eighteen pieces of artillery, and on returning to Abdin Square
he saw that it was held by 4,000 troops, with cavalry in the centre
and guns pointed at his windows. The two regiments on whom
he had relied had joined the mutineers, and he had to enter the

798
TRIUMPH OF ARABI PASHA

palace by the back door. Stimulated by Cookson, he went into
the square, but showed little vigour or determination, and the
result was that Riaz Pasha, who would have hanged Arabi at
once, was forced to retire. Cherif Pasha was reinstated, the
Chamber of Notables was summoned, and the mutinous Arabi
was created a pasha.

It was time for the Dual Control to interfere, but nothing was
done at the moment. Tewfik telegraphed to the Porte for 10,000
men to put down the revolt; but Arabi believed that he had
the support of the Sultan. Cherif Pasha refused to accept office
unless the mutinous regiments were dismissed from Cairo; but
Arabi’s party refused to allow this, and demanded the right to
appoint the Minister of War, an increase of the army, and a
constitution. Discovering, however, that they were not sup-
ported by the Notables, the officers agreed to leave Cairo for a
time, to adjourn the questions of the increase of the army and
the constitution, and to allow Cherif Pasha to choose his own
Ministers. But although peace was apparently restored it was
evident that Tewfik’s power had been seriously weakened.

In the first week of January, 1882, Arabi returned to Cairo,
and was appointed Under-Secretary in Cherif’s Ministry. A
manifesto, which appears to have been drawn up by him, was
published in The Times, demanding the abolition of the Dual
Control, the dismissal of European officials, and the adoption of
the principle of Egypt for the Egyptians. This movement was
resisted by the Powers. ‘The Notables claimed the right of
regulating the budget, to which the comptrollers objected, and
Cherif Pasha resigned, his place being taken by Mahmud Samy,
while Arabi was appointed Minister for War. The Notables
became an important part of the Government. Gambetta, the
Prime Minister of France, was eager for intervention, and sup-
ported the sending of a joint Note to the Khedive assuring him
of the support of the Western Powers; but France was not
strong enough to support a statesman of Gambetta’s energy, and
he fell from power, Freycinet, a man of very different stamp,
taking his place. Tewfik was helpless and Arabi became the
most powerful man in Egypt.

The party of revolution impudently ignored the authority of
the Khedive, and even went so far as to summon the Chamber
without consulting him. The French and British Governments
were so much alarmed for the safety of Europeans that they each
sent an ironclad to Alexandria. The Nationalist Government
promised to protect the lives of foreigners, but intimated that

799
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

they only recognised the authority of the Porte and not that of
Tewfik. France and Great Britain now moved their whole fleets
from Suda Bay in Crete to Alexandria, declaring that they would
use such means as they might think necessary to maintain order
and the authority of the Khedive. This terrified the Ministers,
and they hastened to the Ismailieh Palace and made their sub-
mission to Tewfik. But they were strongly opposed to more
vigorous measures. Arabi was ordered to retire from Egypt for
a year, but he refused to go, and the whole Ministry resigned.
Cherif Pasha was asked to undertake the work of government,
but he refused. The military party became more arrogant than
ever, and informed the Khedive that they would not listen to the
remonstrance of the Powers and rejected all authority. except
that of the Porte. Indeed, on May 27th, Arabi stimulated a
demonstration with the object of warning Tewfik that, unless
the portfolio of the War Office were returned to him, the
Khedive’s life would be in danger.

“~—When the combined fleets arrived at Alexandria, Arabi, the
only person in the country whose authority was respected, gave
orders to put the harbour in a condition of defence, and earth-
works were thrown up and batteries erected. This caused great un-
easiness and, on May 30th, Mr. Cookson, the British consul-general,
sent to Lord Granville a memorandum, signed by the principal
merchants, stating the dangerous condition of affairs. Arabi
proceeded to increase the defences; and the Porte sent a com-
missioner, Dervish Pasha, to examine the situation, but no one,
apparently, paid the slightest attention to him. Arabi treated
the Khedive, the Sultan, and the British admiral, Sir Beauchamp
Seymour, with equal contempt.

At last, on June zith, a riot broke out. Mr. Cookson was
dragged out of his carriage, the Greek consul-general was attacked,
and a French consular dragoman and several French and British
subjects were killed. The loss of life was estimated at from fifty
to 200. The representatives of the Powers at Cairo appealed to
Dervish Pasha to ensure the security of Europeans throughout
Egypt, but he declined to undertake the responsibility, as he had
no troops. They had, accordingly, no alternative but to apply
to Arabi, who undertook the duty, the Khedive and Dervish Pasha
associating themselves with him.

What was to be done? Gladstone and Granville would have
been false to their promises and antecedents if they had not used
their best efforts to keep clear of Egyptian entanglements ; but
they could not continue to recognise Arabi as the ruler of Egypt.

800
BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

They endeavoured to act in concert with France, but the Govern-
ment of that country was not in a position to take vigorous
measures, and the only French statesman who could have done
so had recently fallen from power. The task was therefore left
to Great Britain alone, and the stress of circumstances imposed
upon this country a duty which had been continually offered
to her, which she had persistently rejected, but which she was
now forced to accept.

On July roth Sir Beauchamp Seymour sent an ultimatum to

Arabi, demanding not only that the work on the forts should be
discontinued, but that they should be placed in British hands.
By this time nearly all the European inhabitants had taken refuge
on the foreign ships. As no message was received from Arabi at
nightfall on July roth the British ships left the inner harbour ©
and took up their position for the bombardment of the forts, and
the French ships sailed away to Port Said. France deliberately
left Great Britain master of the field.
/ Thirteen British vessels were present, and at 7 in the morning.
- of July 11th the first shot was fired by the Alexandva, and the
conflict became general. One of the forts was blown up at 8.30
and at 11.30 the guns of another were silenced. Fort Pharos,
at the extremity of the beautiful bay, which preserves the un-
dying memory of Cleopatra, and perhaps enshrines her embalmed
remains, held out till 4, and the order to cease fire was not given
till 5.30. The British loss was five killed and twenty-seven
wounded. As the forts were not formally surrendered, the bom-
bardment was resumed on the following morning. The Egyptians
hoisted a white flag, but said to these who replied to it that
they could not surrender the forts without the authority of the
Khedive. A truce was agreed to, but at the expiration of it
the Inflexible opened fire.

It was then found that the entire line of fortifications had
been evacuated by Arabi and his troops under cover of the white
flag. But, by accident or design, the prisons had been thrown
open and the city was filled with abandoned criminals, who
committed every outrage. During two days, July 12th and 13th,
the city was given up to every kind of horror. Property
was destroyed and many people were killed, chiefly Greeks and
Levantines. On July 14th Seymour deemed it absolutely neces-
sary to send a force of bluejackets and marines ashore to quell
the riots. The work was executed promptly and effic:ently.
Plunderers caught red-handed were shot, and malefactors were
sent to the prisons from which they had escaped, to await their

2A 801
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

trial. Within twenty-four hours order had been restored. The
Khedive had been confined in the small palace which lies at the
end of the Ramleh, the beautiful sandy stretch which extends
six miles from Alexandria and ends with the Victoria College.
He was now released and, placing himself under British protec-
tion, was conveyed to the Palace of Ras-el-tin, in the vicinity
of the harbour. Alexandria was now in the hands of the British,
but Cairo was still in the power of the insurgent military chiefs ;
and Arabi, having withdrawn all his troops from the former city,
was prepared to defend himself in the desert.

It may be supposed that this action of the British Government
was not consented to by Gladstone without great pain—a feeling
intensified by the fact that John Bright felt constrained to retire
from the Ministry. At the same time it met with the approval
of Europe. Germany and Austria were cordial and respectful ;
France was only desirous of obtaining some equivalent for the
decline of her power in Egypt; Italy was pleased that British
association with France had become less close; and Russia was
thinking chiefly of her interests in the Black Sea. Freycinet
would have fought for the Canal, but France would not support
him; the terror of what Bismarck might attempt paralysed her
energies. Indeed, on July 2gth, the French Chamber turned
Freycinet out of office by a large majority rather than sanction
intervention even for the protection of the Suez Canal.

Let us now hear what Gladstone said in defence of his action :
“Tt had come to pass that in Egypt everything was governed
by military violence; every legitimate authority—the Khedive,
the Sultan, the Notables, and the best men of the country—had
been put down. A situation of force had been created which
could only be met by force, and everything had been done to
make that force the force of a united Europe acting in the
interests of civilisation. The British fleet at Alexandria found
itself threatened by the armament of fortifications. Demands of
surrender having been met by fraud and falsehood, there was
no alternative but to destroy them. The pillage of the released
convicts which followed was done by the wickedness of Arabi.
These were the causes of our action, which has not been met
with a word of disapproval, great or small, from any source
having the slightest authority. It brought again to light the
benignness of British rule, and advanced the Egyptian question
towards a permanent and peaceful solution.” Gladstone came
to the condlusion that in this work he had been a labourer in the
cause of peace.

802
WOLSELEY IN EGYPT

It now became necessary for the British Government, having
gone so far, to take stronger measures. A vote of credit of
£2,300,000 was obtained from Parliament on July 27th, and
three days later the first battalion of an expeditionary force
sailed for Egypt. Originally numbering 1,010 officers and 21,000
men, the force was afterwards increased, first to 33,000, and later,
by the addition of Indian troops to the number of 7,200, to
40,560. Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had command of the expedi-
tion, having been delayed by an attack of fever, did not reach
Alexandria till August 16th. Finding that Alexandria was full
of spies, he had recourse to stratagem to conceal his operations.
He gave out that he was going to Abukir to silence the forts
and land the troops, and on August 18th the whole fleet of war-
ships and transports sailed apparently for that place. But next
day the public heard that Port Said had been the objective, that
it was occupied by the first division of the Guards, and that the
fleet was blockading the land. This was done with such ease
that the duty of taking possession of the offices of the Suez Canal
Company on behalf of the British fleet and army was entrusted
to a single midshipman.

It was a great advantage that the waterway of the canal
was available for the advance. Ismailia was seized without delay,
a Highland Brigade which had arrived from India occupying
Shaluf and the Freshwater Canal. On August 22nd the first
division disembarked at Ismailia, and on August 24th a strong body
of the enemy was found posted at Tel-el-Mahuta, about two miles
from Ismailia. They were some 10,000 strong and were defended
by twelve Krupp guns; but two British pieces of artillery served
to dislodge them. By the end of the day the insurgents were
entirely defeated, and retreated. After another combat by the
Freshwater Canal the belligerents rested for a time.

Arabi had taken up a position at a place called Tel-el-Kebir,
or the “Large Mound,” a place distant about thirty miles by
railway from Ismailia and a little farther than that from Cairo
across the desert. This he fortified whilst Wolseley was waiting for
the reinforcements from England and India; but on September
gth Sir Garnet advanced from Ismailia towards the enemy’s
fortifications. Arabi’s position was very strong. It was four
miles in length, and consisted of a double line of earthworks,
interrupted at intervals by redoubts, mounted with guns which
could fire both in front and on the flank. This fortress was
manned by 20,000 Egyptian troops, while the force opposed to
them did not exceed 13,000,

803
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Wolseley determined on a night attack as best suited to his
purpose, and on September 12th, after dark, the camp was broken
up and the British army advanced. After a short halt, an hour
past midnight, the march was resumed, and the attacking force
arrived within 500 yards of the entrenchments before they were
perceived by the enemy. Suddenly a shot was fired by the
Egyptians and a sheet of flame burst from the whole position.
The first line was carried by the Infantry Brigade at the point
of the bayonet, the second and stronger line offering little diffi-
culty. The redoubts were scaled, the gunners bayoneted at
their guns, and in less than twenty minutes the whole of the
right of the Egyptian line was broken and taken. The attack was
equally successful against their left. Indeed, the Egyptian army
was in danger of being enclosed, as in a net, by the two divisions
of the attacking force. The cavalry completed the rout, and
Arabi’s soldiers fled far and wide across the desert, hotly
chased by General Drury-Lowe and Sir Baker Russell. The flat
of the sword was used more than the point, and a smart smack of
the cold steel on the cheek or the hinder parts was sufficient to
effect complete collapse.

Wolseley then, with the audacity of genius, dispatched 300
cavalry and mounted infantry under Drury-Lowe across the
desert, the small force, after a trying march of thirty-nine miles
through heavy sand and beneath a torrid sun, reaching Cairo on
the evening of September 14th. The invaders were admitted
into the city without resistance, and Arabi was taken prisoner
in his own house. Thus Cairo was taken by a brilliant coup de
main, the enterprise of Napoleon and his French in Egypt paling
before the exploit of Wolseley and his British troops. The Indian
contingent, under General Macpherson, pushed forward from the
battlefield of Tel-el-Kebir and occupied Zagazig.

With the fall of Cairo and the capture of Arabi the national
movement collapsed, and Wolseley was soon able to send home
the bulk of the British troops, retaining only a force of about
ro,ooo men. Wolseley’s brilliant achievement has scarcely ever
been surpassed in British military history. The country showed
its gratitude by giving him the thanks of Parliament, a grant
of £30,000, and a peerage with the title of Lord Wolseley of
Cairo.

~ What was to be done with Egypt, which had now suddenly
and unexpectedly fallen into British hands? Some wished to
re-establish the Dual Control, which had proved a complete failure
and was the cause of all the troubles. Others desired Great

804
GREAT BRITAIN AND THE SUEZ CANAL

Britain to withdraw altogether and leave the country to the
Khedive, and this opinion was held by no less a veteran than
Leonard Courtney, then Secretary to the Treasury. Great Britain
made the serious mistake, which she is now expiating, of not
assuming boldly the responsibility which circumstances had laid
upon her, and of which she could not divest herself. The assump-
tion of the government of Egypt, if not its actual possession,
would have been treated by Europe as a relief, and would have
received the approbation of all reasonable men. But British
statesmen were haunted by dislike of Imperialism, which had
certainly been discredited by the disastrous adventures of
Beaconsfield, and had not learnt that British rule in the East
means the establishment of civilisation in place of barbarism.
Lord Dufferin, sent out to arrange matters, arrived at Cairo in
the first week of November, 1882, and within a fortnight of his
arrival a Note was delivered from the Egyptian Government to the
Governments of London and Paris, asking that the Dual Control
should terminate. In fact, it had already come to an end at
Alexandria and Tel-el-Kebir. France objected to the loss of
her influence, which she had emphatically refused to make an
effort to preserve, and perhaps too much heed was paid to her
susceptibilities.

Great Britain, however, was determined that the canal should
be safeguarded, its destruction having formed part of Arabi’s
insane plan for the liberation of his country. In January, 1883,
Lord Granville, a perfectly delightful personality, but a dawdling
and timid Minister, addressed to the Powers a circular dispatch
of unwonted firmness and decision, saying that the British
Government considered that the free and unimpeded navigation
of the canal at all times, and its protection from destruction or
damage by act of war, were matters of importance to all nations,
and proposing that it should be free for the ships of all nations,
in any circumstances, and that it should never be affected by
military operations. There was considerable delay before this
suggestion was put into a regular form; but two years later,
Waddington, the French Foreign Minister, suggested that an
International Commission, consisting of representatives of each
of the six Great Powers and Turkey, should be convened, and
this was done. The discussions really turned on the different
views of France and Great Britain, Britain wishing to inter-
nationalise the canal completely, being anxious to preserve
the independence and territorial rights of Egypt, with which
her interests were closely connected. The treaty embodying

805
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

these conclusions was not signed till October, 1886, and in
the end the canal was not wholly internationalised, but, in the
language of Lord Granville, “clothed with that neutrality
which attaches by international law to the territorial waters
of a neutral State, in which a right of universal passage for
belligerent vessels exists, but no right to commit an act of
hostility.” How this artificial fabric would stand the strain of
war remains to be seen.

Peace was established in Cairo and Alexandria; but on the
upper waters of the Nile, in the south of the Sudan, a storm was
arising. At the beginning of November, at the time of Dufferin’s
arrival, news reached Cairo that a Mahdi, or prophet, had arisen
in those regions and was preparing to march against Khartum
with a formidable force. Already it was seen that Great Britain
had committed a grave error in not establishing a protectorate
in Egypt. Neglect to do this created a situation which has always
been, and still is, difficult. Lord Cromer tells us that no British
Ministry since the occupation began has held any other language
with regard to Egypt save that of declaring that Great Britain’s
presence there is merely a temporary expedient, and that she
will withdraw as soon as Egypt is fit to govern itself. When
will a country admit that it is not fit to govern itself? Every
advance made by Egypt in security and civilisation is regarded
‘by her as an indication of her capacity for self-government.

These considerations agitated Gladstone and Granville in the
year 1884, and the historian must take some account of them.
Gladstone admitted in the spring of this year that he was
principally animated by three considerations—respect for public
law, the just claims of the Khedive, and the reluctance to
increase the responsibilities of England. These were mere
phantoms. It was not likely that France would undertake a
war against us, when she had refused her support both to the
vigorous Gambetta and the cautious Freycinet. All the other
European countries would have supported us. The fault of
Gladstone’s mind was that he applied his faculty of psychological
and ethical analysis to every question equally, and never allowed
himself to follow an instinct more powerful and more just than
any course which could be arrived at by an elaborate process
of ratiocination. Instinct induced Beaconsfield to purchase the
canal shares; instinct should have led Gladstone to establish an
English Protectorate in Egypt in 1882. As it was, circumstances
proved too strong for him. We were forced by them to annex
a territory larger than Egypt and to govern it on principles which

806
THE SUDAN ABANDONED

secured us a far greater liberty of action than we have ever been
able to use in Egypt itself.

A Mahdi is a hermit, an inspired prophet, honest or dishonest,
or a mixture of the two, as the case may be, and not infrequently
arises among some Eastern peoples. Such a Mahdi, a native
of Dongola, appeared in the Sudan, as we have seen, in the
autumn of 1882, his mission being to confound the wicked, the
hypocrites, and the unbelievers, and turn the world to the true
faith in the One God and His prophet. He was assisted by a
powerful friend, afterwards known as the Khalifa. The Sudan
belonged to Egypt, having been captured by Mehmed in 1829,
and the Equatorial Provinces were added to it by Sir Samuel
Baker in 1870. The Sudan had always been badly ruled from
Cairo, but that was no reason for abandoning it, and whoever
reigned at Cairo was responsible for its proper administration.
In the spring of 1883 General Hicks, belonging to the Staff of the
Egyptian army, was dispatched by the Khedive from Khartum
for the recovery of regions which had revolted under the Mahdi’s
influence. He succeeded in clearing Sennar of rebels and pro-
tecting Khartum; but, against the advice of Dufferin, Malet and
Stewart, he continued his operations in Darfur and Kordofan,
which the British advisers of the Khedive at Cairo were anxious
to abandon. When Gladstone was asked to restrain Hicks from
further advance, he said that it was not within the responsibility
of Great Britain. However, Hicks’ rashness brought with it
signal punishment, for on November 5th, 1883, the whole of his
force was cut to pieces and the victorious Dervishes were free to
march upon Khartum.

The British authorities at Khartum declared that the Egyptian
Government could not hold it against an attack, and that,
unless some other force came to the rescue, the Sudan must be
abandoned. Gladstone refused to employ British or Indian
troops for. the purpose, but would have allowed the Turks to act
at their own expense. He therefore advised the Khedive to
abandon all territory south of Assuan or Wady Halfa, and Evelyn
Baring agreed with him. Baring was instructed to inform the
Egyptian Government that the Sudan would be abandoned.
Upon this Cherif Pasha resigned, Riaz Pasha declined to take his
place, and Nubar Pasha was with difficulty persuaded to accept office.

When the evacuation of the Sudan was determined upon, it
was assumed that this would carry with it the duty of extricating
the Egyptian garrisons, which occupied posts in the several
provinces, lest they should be massacred by the Mahdi’s forces.

807
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

But it is doubtful whether this conclusion was correct, for in
the cases where opportunity afforded, the garrisons were not
massacred, but joined the Mahdi. When, however, it was
declared that British honour rendered deliverance necessary,
means had to be devised for carrying out the operation
effectively. In December, 1883, the Cabinet conceived the
idea that General Gordon might be the man for the purpose,
and there was much to justify this opinion. After gaining a
great reputation and the title of ‘“‘ Chinese Gordon”’ for suppress-
ing the Taiping Rebellion in 1869, he was appointed by the
Egyptian Government, in 1874, Governor of the Equatorial
Provinces of Central Africa. He resigned this office in 1876, but
in 1877 was created Governor-General of the Sudan, Darfur, the
Equatorial Provinces, and the coast of the Red Sea. He held
this position till 1879, having succeeded in establishing compara-
tive order. The work he had done did not survive his departure,
but it was reasonable to assume that what he had done once
he might do again. The authorities in Egypt were reluctant to
agree to his appointment, but under pressure from home at last
yielded, provided he would pledge himself to carry out the work
of evacuation. Gladstone somewhat reluctantly gave his consent
on January 16th, 1884, and the die was cast.

Gordon was at this time in Brussels, conferring with the King
of the Belgians about a proposed mission to the Congo, which
afterwards produced remarkable results. On receiving a telegram
from Wolseley summoning him to England, he started at once
and arrived in London at 6 in the evening of January 16th, when
he had a long interview with the general who had summoned
him. On January 18th Hartington, who was Secretary for War,
Granville, Northbrook, and Sir Charles Dilke, who was Under
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, met at the War Office in Pall Mall.
Wolseley brought Gordon and left him in the ante-room. After
a conversation with the Ministers, he came out and said to
Gordon, “Government are determined to evacuate the Sudan,
for they will not guarantee its future government. Will you
go out and do it?” Gordon said that he would, and Wolseley
told him to go into the room.

Gordon says: “I went in and saw them. They said, ‘ Did
Wolseley tell you our orders?’ I said, ‘Yes; you will not
guarantee future government of the Sudan, and you wish me to
go up and evacuate now.’ They said, ‘ Yes,’ and it was over, and
I left at 8 p.m. for Paris.” Such is Gordon’s own account, written
in 1884. It is graphic, but probably does not give a full narrative

808
GORDON IN KHARTUM

of what passed. At the station Granville bought Gordon’s ticket,
Wolseley carried his bag, and the Duke of Cambridge held open
the carriage door. Next day one of the four Ministers said, ‘‘ We
were proud of ourselves yesterday; are you sure that we did not
commit an act of gigantic folly?”

Lord Morley has given an excellent account of Gordon’s
character. ‘“‘ Gordon,”? he writes, “‘ was a hero of heroes. He
was a soldier of infinite personal courage and daring; of striking
military energy, initiative and resource; a high, pure and single
character, dwelling much in the region of the unseen. But, as all
who knew him admit, and as his own records testify, notwith-
standing an undercurrent of shrewd common sense, he was the
creature, almost the sport, of impulse: his impressions and pur-
poses changed with the speed of lightning; anger often mastered
him; he went very often by intuitions and inspirations rather
than by cool inference from carefully-surveyed fact; with many
variations of mood he mixed, as we often see in people less famous,
an invincible faith in his own rapid prepossessions while they
lasted. Everybody now discerns that to send a soldier of this
temperament on a piece of business that was not only difficult
and dangerous . . . . but profoundly obscure . . . . was little
better than to call in a wizard with his magic.”

Gordon left England with the intention of going to Suakin ;
but the plan was changed, and he proceeded to Cairo to confer
with Baring, and then went on to Khartum. He left Cairo on
January 26th, and reached Khartum on February 18th. His
first idea had been that he could pacify the Sudan by restoring
the old rulers of the different provinces; but on his arrival he
found that, with one exception, they had all disappeared, and his
plan of action had to be reconstructed. On February 28th he
wrote to Baring, “If Egypt is to be quiet, Mahdi must be smashed
up. Remember that once Khartum belongs to Mahdi, to leave
it will be far more difficult. I repeat that evacuation is possible ;
but you will feel the effect in Egypt, and will be forced to
enter into a far more serious affair to guard Egypt.” Gordon
clearly saw what afterwards became obvious, that with the Mahdi
at Khartum the whole situation in Egypt became uncertain.

Immediately after his arrival at Khartum, Gordon sent a
message to Baring proposing that, upon his withdrawal from
the city, Zobeir Pasha should be named as his successor in the
Governorship of the Sudan. He should be made a K.C.M.G.
and have presents made to him. Zobeir had been a noted
slave-dealer and had acquired Darfur for Egypt. He was a great

2A* 809
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

soldier and the ablest leader in the Sudan. He is described by
Wingate as a far-seeing, thoughtful man, of iron will, a born
ruler of men. Gordon had been responsible for the shooting
of Zobeir’s son, and this would naturally have produced a death
feud between them; but they met at Cairo, and although Zobeir
reproached Gordon with having killed his son, they were appar-
ently not bitter enemies. Baring and Stewart supported Gordon’s
request for Zobeir, and Nubar was favourable to it, but it was
strongly opposed by the religious and anti-slavery societies in
England. Gordon said that if Zobeir was not sent there would
be no chance of getting the garrisons away. Gladstone came
round to Gordon’s opinion, and the Queen supported it, but it
became certain that the opposition in Parliament would be too
strong, and therefore he was not sent—a fatal and irreparable
mistake. Gordon was from this time gradually surrounded by
the Mahdists until all chance of escape had vanished. From the
end of March it was probable that no road of retreat was open,
and when Berber fell, on May 26th, the investment became
complete. As the troops could not be depended upon, Gordon
was obliged to remain on the defensive behind his earthworks,
but he succeeded, nevertheless, in sending down 2,600 persons
in safety to Assuan.

During the remaining months of 1884 the question of the
relief of Gordon was debated. Popular opinion was strongly
in favour of it, and it occupied the attention of the Cabinet
during the whole of May and June. At last Hartington
declined to be responsible for the War Department unless a
decision were reached, and before Parliament was prorogued
a pledge was given that an expedition should be sent, and
the money necessary for it was voted. But long weeks were
consumed in the discussion as to the best route to be adopted,
whether the relief force should be sent up the Nile or from
Suakin to Berber. Wolseley, who was to command the ex-
pedition, strongly advocated the Nile route, and a Departmental
Committee, after careful deliberation, reported in favour of it
on July 29th, so that he was able to leave London for Cairo
on September Ist. Ten days later Gordon sent Colonel Stewart,
his second in command, down the Nile in the Abbas steamer
to convey news to Lower Egypt, but the steamer was
treacherously run aground and the party murdered. All their
papers were captured, among which were some which gave full
details of the stores and food in the city up to September oth,
with the exact strength of the garrison. It was thus possible

810
SLOW ADVANCE OF THE RELIEF COLUMN

for the enemy to calculate exactly how long Gordon could hold
out, and the siege was therefore more closely pressed.

Kitchener recommended that the expedition should consist
of a small and handy column, but it gradually grew to an
unwieldy body of 10,000 men. In consequence, it moved very
slowly, and on October 21st was still at Wady Halfa, struggling
with difficulties of transport and the lack of coal. On November
12th the Dervishes made a strong attack upon Omdurman, on
the other side of the Nile, opposite to Khartoum. Gordon was
suffering much from want of food, and actual starvation set in;
rats and mice, the leather of boots, the straps and plaited strips
of native bedsteads, the flower of the mimosa, the inner fibre of
the palm tree being all eagerly consumed. The enemy were
pressing the attack night and day, and the relief seemed as far
off as ever.

On December 14th, which marks the last entry in Gordon’s
diary, the leading troops had just reached Korti, the point where
the caravan route crosses to Metammeh. A halt of sixteen days
was made here, and the march was not resumed until December
30th. Even then the advance was very slow. The column was
short of baggage animals and was obliged to move in detach-
ments, sending the camels back to Korti to fetch up more men
and stores. The column did not reach Gakdul until January
12th, and the camels were so exhausted that another rest of three
days was necessary. After Gakdul they met with severe resist-
ance, and on January 17th was fought the battle of Abu Klea,
in which Sir Herbert Stewart was mortally wounded and was
replaced by Sir Charles Wilson. On January rgth a battle took
place at Metammeh, but on the evening of the same day the Nile
was reached at Gubat, only 100 miles distant from Khartum.

Here, on January 21st, four steamers arrived from Gordon
and, to the great delight of the expedition, brought tidings of
him. Every consideration urged immediate departure, and it is
probable that if the steamers had started at once the sight of the
red coats would have driven the Mahdi’s army into Kordofan
and Khartum would have been saved. But three days were
unaccountably wasted, partly in exchanging the Egyptian troops
for Sudanese, and partly in making reconnaissances, and it was
not until January 24th that Sir Charles Wilson started with
steamers, containing a detachment of the Sussex Regiment, for
the beleaguered city. At midday on January 28th, the steamers,
having cleared the cataract which lies between Gubat and
Khartum, reached the island of Forti, from which Khartum can

811
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

be discerned. Alas! no flag was flying from the roof of the
palace. Half an hour later the city was in full view, and they
were received by the fire of artillery and musketry. Khartum
had fallen. In the Dervishes’ final assault, only made on January
26th, Gordon boldly met his fate on the steps of the palace which
he had so long defended. He was killed by a revolver shot, and
his head was cut off and thrown at the feet of Slatin Pasha.

The news of the fall of Khartum was received in Great Britain
on February 5th, and caused an outbreak of universal indigna-
tion. Gladstone, who was staying at Holker with Hartington,
hurried to London. The Queen sent an angry telegram, not
written in cipher, blaming her Ministers for what had happened.
Votes of censure were moved in both Houses; that in the House
of Lords was carried by 181 votes to 81, but in the Commons
the Government escaped defeat by a majority of 14. Resigna-
tion was thought of, but Gladstone was opposed to it. Some
feeble attempts were made to repair the disaster. A mixed
British and Indian force, with a contingent of Colonials from
New South Wales, advanced from Suakin and began to lay down
a railway from that point to Berber. But the pressure on the
Afghan frontier caused unexpected difficulties; and in April, in
spite of the strong opposition of the Queen, the Sudan was finally
deserted. Its eventual recovery will be related in another place.

All the circumstances connected with the loss of Khartum
were undoubtedly most discreditable, and exhibited a culpable
feebleness in every part of the Administration. Between the
end of March and the beginning of August the Government showed
constant vacillation, military operations dawdled on through
August and September, and this incompetence lasted until the
fatal delay at Gubat, which sealed the fate of the hero. The
death of Gordon remains an indelible stain on the Liberal
Government of 1880.

812
CHAPTER IX

INDEPENDENCE OF THE TRANSVAAL

WE must now relate the events which led to the resignation of
Gladstone’s Ministry in 1885. Charles Bradlaugh became promi-
nent, and we must give some account of him. He was a man of
high character and rigid sternness, but held opinions which
shocked the conscience of the people, partly on religion and partly
on questions of sexual morality. Being elected to Parliament in
1880 as junior member for Northampton, he claimed to make
an affirmation instead of taking an oath, as he had been already
allowed to do in courts of justice. The matter was referred
to a Select Committee, which decided against Bradlaugh by a
majority of one. He then agreed to take the oath, but this he
was not allowed to do. A second committee decided he could
not take the oath, but might affirm at his own risk. Then, on
June 29th, a motion was carried that he could neither affirm
nor take the oath. Bradlaugh came to take the oath, but
was ordered to withdraw, and, refusing to do so, was committed
to the Clock Tower. On July 1st Gladstone proposed that any
member might affirm without taking the oath, subject to his
liability by statute. This was carried by a large majority, and
Bradlaugh took his seat, ending for the time a most discredit-
able scandal.

In March, 1881, the Court of Appeal decided that Bradlaugh,
not being a Quaker, had forfeited his seat by voting without
taking the oath. He was re-elected for Northampton, but on
attempting to take his seat was excluded from the precincts of
the House, and, afterwards, on endeavouring to force his way
through the doors, was dragged by policemen into Palace Yard.
Being re-elected in 1882 and denied the oath as before, he adminis-
tered the oath to himself and took his seat. For this he was
expelled the House, but by an absurd compromise was allowed
to sit below the bar. In 1883 the House of Lords decided that
he was not liable for the enormous debt of £45,000, which he was
supposed to have incurred for having voted without having been
sworn; but before this award Ministers had introduced a Bill
which allowed members to choose between affirmation or oath.

813
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

In spite of the eloquent advocacy of Gladstone, the Bill was
defeated by the majority of three. In 1884 Bradlaugh again
administered the oath to himself, voted in three discussions,
resigned his seat, and was re-elected by a larger majority than
ever. However, the Court of Appeal decided that Bradlaugh had
not taken the oath and, having no religious belief, was incapable
of taking an oath, so that the sore continued unclosed; but
at the meeting of the new Parliament in 1886 the Speaker declared
that he would not allow any objection to a newly-elected member
taking the oath, so that Bradlaugh sat and voted till his death
in 1891. He died universally respected, and three days before
his death the House of Commons expunged from its journals
the resolutions passed against him eleven years before.

At this time London was startled by an apparent conspiracy
to destroy it by dynamite, attempts to produce wreckage
by explosion taking place at four railway stations—Victoria,
Paddington, Charing Cross and Ludgate Hill. Two men were
sentenced to penal servitude respectively for life and twenty
years; but this did not stop the evil, for in January, 1885, an
explosion occurred in the banqueting-room in the Tower and a
piece of dynamite under the Treasury Bench blew up Mr. Glad-
stone’s usual seat. Another packet was placed under the steps
of the crypt of Westminster Hall, but was prevented from
doing damage by the courageous promptitude of Constable Cole.
Though none of the Irish members had anything to do with
these crimes, they inevitably discredited the Nationalist cause.

The year 1882 was critical in the history of Great Britain,
and the divisions of opinion which agitated the public mind
were reflected in the Cabinet. Mr. Chamberlain, then President
of the Board of Trade, began to give trouble as a Radical.
He attacked the House of Lords and described England as the
paradise of the rich but the purgatory of the poor. He was in
favour of compulsory allotments, small proprietors, a large tax
on property, and free education. The Queen remonstrated
with the Prime Minister on his leniency, but he replied that
these proposals did not raise any definite point on which he
was entitled to interfere. Chamberlain went on to say worse
things and to advocate the abolition of plural voting, the pay-
ment of members, and manhood suffrage, drawing up, in fact,
a valuable programme for a future Radical Ministry, which,
however, by the irony of fate, he was condemned violently to
oppose when these reforms came within the range of practical
politics.

814
THE PHOENIX PARK MURDERS

Lord Spencer was at this time Viceroy of Ireland, where his
administration had been a conspicuous success. Shortly after
his appointment Forster resigned the office of Chief Secretary,
and was succeeded by Lord Frederick Cavendish. Spencer and
Cavendish entered Dublin together, on Saturday, May 6th, the
day on which Michael Davitt was released from prison at
Portland, and the work of conciliation seemed to have begun in
earnest. Returning from the Castle to Phoenix Park, Spencer
rode with a small escort, and Cavendish walked across the Park
with the Under-Secretary, Burke. Four men, who, on April
1gth, had only been prevented by accident from assassinating
Forster, were now waiting for Burke, whom they stabbed to
death near the Viceregal Lodge; Cavendish, of whom they
had never heard, went to his assistance, and he also was
killed. The miscreants then drove away and disappeared.
Englishmen who were alive at this time will never forget the
gloom which fell upon the’ country on that terrible 7th of
May. No one felt the blow more than Parnell. He went
to Gladstone and offered to retire from Parliament, but Glad-
stone dissuaded him. Forster chivalrously offered to take the
place of Cavendish, but that could not be accepted. The office
was given to George Trevelyan, who nobly did his duty,
though suffering severely from the strain. It had previously
been determined by the Cabinet to introduce a Coercion Bill
of a mild character, which, although making the law more
stringent, did not authorise the imprisonment of any man with-
out a trial. But the murder of Burke and Cavendish led to its
being made more severe, by the addition of clauses which were
never employed, but which irritated Irishmen.

Lord Spencer devoted his energies to the discovery of the
Phoenix Park murderers, and seventeen men were arrested in
January, 1883. Three of these were identified as having been in
Pheenix Park on May 6th, and Kavanagh, a car-driver, declared
that he had driven four of the arrested men to the Park, and that
one of them, James Carey, had given the signal for the murder
by waving a white handkerchief, and that after the deed he
had driven the assassins away. Carey turned Queen’s evidence.
He said that the crime was arranged by a body known as the
Invincibles, under the orders of ‘‘ Number One,” a man called
Tynan. Carey said that he was himself responsible for what had
happened in Phcenix Park, and that the original plan had been
to murder Earl Cowper, Forster and Burke, but that the first
had escaped and Cavendish was slain because he defended his

815
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

companion. By this evidence five men were hanged, and three
were sent into penal servitude for life. The Invincibles detested
Parnell, and had nothing to do with the Land League. Carey
was sent to the Cape to save his life, but was shot before he
reached his destination by a former comrade, named O’Donnell,
who was tried and executed for the crime.

In this way Spencer had put down political assassinations
in Ireland without resorting to the exceptional measures of the
Crimes Act. But the Irish trouble was not over. In February,
1883, Forster made a violent attack on Parnell, not accusing
him of murder, but of presiding over an organisation which
encouraged outrage. This speech showed clearly that, although
Parnell and the Land League had had nothing to do with the
Phcenix Park murders, its members had stood passively by while
landlords were shot and while tenants who had offended the
League were dragged from their homes to be slain in the presence
of their families. The speech was unanswerable. Parnell did
not reply till the next day, when he did not rebut the assertions,
but only said that he was not responsible to England, but
to Ireland, and that the House had no jurisdiction in the
matter. He did not refute the charges, because it was im-
possible to do so.

The Government was gradually becoming weaker, and one of
the issues used most persistently against it was that of the
retrocession of the Transvaal after the Battle of Majuba. It is
necessary to explain this. In May, 1880, in pursuance of the
policy of reviving the Imperialism of Beaconsfield, it was decided
by the Cabinet not to relinquish the Queen’s sovereignty over
the Transvaal, but to give the country self-government as part of
a South African federation. This was a bitter disappointment
to Kruger and Joubert, who, relying on the Midlothian speeches,
had expected entire independence. Bright and Chamberlain
were in favour of independence—although Chamberlain was, at
a later period, to be the author of the Boer War—and Gladstone
was inclined to agree with them; but Lord Kimberley was
strong on the other side. The Dutch farmers took up arms,
and on December 16th, 1880, the Boer Republic was proclaimed
at Heidelberg and the British garrisons were invested. On
January 28th, 1881, the Battle of Laing’s Nek was favourable
to the Boers, but Sir George Colley, the Governor of Natal,
occupied Majuba Hill, four miles within the frontier of Natal,
in the hope of making Laing’s Nek untenable. He reached the
summit unobserved, and believed his position to be impreg-

816
AFTER MAJUBA

nable; but next day, February 27th, the Boers climbed the
mountain and opened fire on Colley. He was shot through the
head, about 90 others fell, and 60 prisoners were taken,
although the force of the Boers was less than 200 strong.
Roberts was sent out to succeed Colley, who had been ordered
by the Cabinet to tell Kruger that, if he would cease from
further resistance, a commission would be appointed to settle
the terms in dispute. This message was dispatched on February
21st, a reply being demanded in forty-eight hours. As Colley
did not receive it, Majuba Hill was occupied as described on
February 26th; but, in point of fact, the letter did not reach
Kruger till February 28th, the day after the disaster. Kruger
replied on March 7th that he accepted the terms offered. Some
distinguished officers thought that Colley’s death ought to be
avenged ; but the Cabinet determined to go on with the negotia-
tions, as the Boers had acted in perfect good faith. The Con-
vention of Pretoria was signed in August, and Roberts was
recalled from Cape Town twenty-four hours after his arrival.
The righteous act of restoring the independence of the Trans-
vaal afterwards formed for a time a favourite subject of attack
on the Liberal Government, and the refusal to avenge Majuba
was ignorantly declared to be one of the most prominent causes
of the second Boer War.

The great measure of 1884 was the Reform Bill for the enfran-
chisement of the counties, which was introduced on February
28th. Counties were given the household and the lodger franchise,
which had existed in boroughs since 1867, and the number of
voters in the United Kingdom was increased from 3,000,000
to 5,000,000. The question of the redistribution of seats was
left over for another year. The Bill was not directly opposed
by the Conservatives, but they moved an amendment that re-
distribution should precede reform. Ireland was included in the
Reform measure, which made Home Rule certain at some time
or other.

The Bill passed the Commons, but was thrown out by the
Lords. Gladstone thereupon announced an autumn session, when
the Bill would again be introduced. Parliament met on October
23rd; but, through the influence of the Queen, a meeting was
arranged between the leaders of the two parties, and Salisbury
and Northcote went to tea in Downing Street and discussed the
question of redistribution. Before the adjournment on December
6th the Franchise Bill had passed the Lords, and the Redistribu-
tion Bill had been read a second time in the Commons. Boroughs

817
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

having a population of less than 15,000 were merged in the
counties; those with less than 50,000 lost one member if they
had two; the members for the City of London were reduced from
four to two, and thirty-seven members were added to the remainder
of London. Towns having more than two members were divided
into wards with one member each, and the counties, with the
exception of Rutland, were all divided. The number of members
in the House was slightly increased. The dissensions between
the two Houses, which seemed nearly incurable, had been healed
by the interposition of the Sovereign.

The Government eventually fell from an attack upon the
budget, which was introduced by Childers on April 30th, 1885.
A deficit of £15,000,000 had to be met, and the national expendi-
ture had reached the then unparalleled amount of £100,000,000.
Childers proposed to raise the income tax from sixpence to eight-
pence, to increase the succession duties, to impose a heavier
duty on spirits and beer, and to suspend the Sinking Fund. It
was a budget difficult to attack, but the Opposition knew that
Chamberlain and Dilke were opposed to the increase of the duty
on beer, and that the landed proprietors would stubbornly resent
a larger succession duty unless a more generous subsidy were
given to the local governing bodies. An amendment was there-
fore moved by Sir Michael Hicks Beach that the duty on spirits
and beer should not be made higher without a corresponding
change in the duty on wine, and that the new succession duty
was unjust without a corresponding grant from the Treasury for
the relief of land rates. On a division the Government was
beaten by twelve votes (264 against 252), and the Cabinet re-
signed. The defeat was due to a coalition between the Tories
and the Irish, the latter opposed to renewal of the Crimes Act
in any form, the former to any relaxation of it. It was evident
that parties would never resume their normal position until the
Irish question was settled. The Cabinet was itself divided on
the Irish question as well as on the policy to be pursued in
Egypt.

It was time, however, that the Administration should cease
to be, but it had done a great work. It had passed the Irish Land
Act, had largely increased the franchise, had improved the condi-
tion of the farmer, protected him from the ravages of agrarian
agitators, obtained for him compensation for improvements ;
secured the decent burial of Dissenters; protected workmen
against accidents; defended the property of married women ;
improved the law of bankruptcy; and more fully provided for

818
THE MAN OF THE HOUR

the purity of elections. Egypt could wait, but Ireland remained
to be pacified, and Parnell was a man needing to be dealt with.
He was, in truth, the master of the situation. What he had
failed to obtain from the Liberals he hoped to win from the
Tories, but he was doomed to disappointment.

819
CHAPTER X
HOME RULE

BEForRE Gladstone resigned office, difficulties with Russia had
arisen on the Afghan frontier with regard to Penjdeh. A Joint
Commission of British and Russians had been appointed to settle
the boundary north of Herat, the two Commissioners being
Sir Peter Lumsden for Great Britain and Zelenov for Russia.
Lumsden reached the debatable land on November roth, 1884,
but Zelenov was supposed to be ill and did not appear. However,
bodies of Russian troops, under the command of Alikhanov, a
Russianised Mussulman, advanced south of Sarakhs. The Amir
moved to the north to defend his territory, and the two hostile
forces met at Penjdeh, which was regarded as indisputably Afghan
territory. The Russians refused to retire at the request of the
British, but said that they would avoid a conflict with the Afghans.

There was such danger of hostilities that the Queen approached
the Tsar personally in favour of peace. A half-promise was given,
but on March 30th, 1885, Komarov attacked the Afghans and
routed them. Penjdeh was declared to be annexed to Russia,
and Lumsden retired towards Herat. It was impossible to pass
over this violent conduct in silence. Dufferin prepared to dispatch
25,000 men to Quetta, in order to occupy Herat before the
Russians should arrive there, and an arrangement was made which
allowed 50,000 men to cross the frontier if war were declared,
while the construction of the railway to Quetta was hastened.
On April 21st Gladstone asked for a credit of £11,000,000,
£4,000,000 of which were for the Sudan and the rest for special
preparations. Port Hamilton, an island in the Pacific, which
threatened Vladivostok, was occupied. Negotiations, from which
a friendly issue might be expected, were, however, continued ;
but little progress had been made when the Gladstone Ministry
came to an end. They were resumed by Salisbury, and Sir West
Ridgeway was appointed in the place of Lumsden. A compromise
was made which allowed the Russians the road and the Afghans
the command of the pass; but the final treaty which delineated
the whole frontier between the Heri Rud and the Oxus was not
signed till July, 1887.

820
LORD SALISBURY’S MINISTRY

Lord Salisbury, on taking office, found himself in a minority
of nearly 100 in the House of Commons, and it was impossible
for a dissolution to take place before November, when the new
Franchise and Redistribution Bills would come into operation.
This led to a crisis, which lasted a fortnight, during which period
there was practically no Ministry. Salisbury could not take office
unless pledges were given not to embarrass his government in
Parliament, and Gladstone would only come back if Salisbury
failed to form a Ministry. Sir Henry Ponsonby, the Queen’s
Private Secretary, one of the most devoted and most self-sacri-
ficing servants that the Crown ever possessed, called on Gladstone
no fewer than six times on June 22nd. On the following day
the Queen was able to tell Salisbury that in her opinion he might
trust Gladstone’s assurances that the Opposition in majority
would have no idea of withholding ways and means, and the crisis,
almost unique in British history, came to an end. It remains
as an example of the dignity, the patriotism, and the wise spirit
of compromise which animated the Sovereign and the leaders of
the two contending parties—qualities which tend to make party
government a blessing rather than a curse.

But the foundation of a Tory Ministry was no easy task. As
Gladstone had to reckon with Chamberlain, so Salisbury had to
reckon with Lord Randolph Churchill, the most prominent member
of the Fourth Party, a little group of active Conservatives, which
included also Arthur Balfour, Drummond Wolff and John Gorst.
Lord Randolph had an extraordinary power of speech, which
did not consist wholly of invective. He was more of a Liberal
than a Tory, or even a Conservative, and might be called a Tory
Democrat with original ideas of his own. He believed that the
working classes could unite with the Tories in framing a fresh
energetic and moral policy for the country. He was in favour
of a different treatment of Ireland; but, above all, he wanted
new men in office, and spoke contemptuously of the “old gang.”
Salisbury gave in to him. Stafford Northcote was banished to
the House of Lords with the title of Lord Iddesleigh and the
unmeaning office of the First Lord of the Treasury. Salisbury
became Prime Minister and Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
Randolph Churchill received the seals of the India Office, and
Carnarvon was made Viceroy of Ireland, a pledge that a
different attitude towards that country was in contemplation.
Cross received the seals of the Home Office, and Hicks Beach
led the House of Commons as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

After adjourning for a few days to enable the new members

821
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of the Government who belonged to the House of Commons to
be re-elected, the House met for business on July 6th. Little
was done except to wind up the session as soon as possible.
Carnarvon declared that he did not ask for a renewal of the
Coercion Act in Ireland, and Hicks Beach accepted the budget
of Childers as far as it was possible to do so. Randolph Churchill
made an impressive speech on Indian finance, which showed his
capacity for managing important business, and justified the
opinion held of him by distinguished Indian officials such as Sir
Henry Maine; and on August 14th Parliament was prorogued
by commission, on the understanding that it was shortly to be
dissolved. Churchill signalised his tenure of the India Office by
the annexation of Upper Burma, governed by King Thebaw, who
was an impossible sovereign. He gave the order to advance in
November, 1885; the conquest was announced as complete on
December 1st, and annexation was authorised before the end of
the month. He also carried the foundation of the Indian Midland
Railway against considerable opposition. There is little doubt
that, had health permitted and circumstances been more favour-
able, the name of Randolph Churchill would stand to-day in the
first rank of British statesmen.

It soon became certain that the question of Home Rule for
Ireland would be a dominant factor in the new election for
Parliament. Gladstone stated in his address that history would
combine to disgrace the name of every man who, having it in
his power, did not aid in providing and maintaining an equitable
settlement between Ireland and Great Britain; and John Morley
expressed a confident hope that Gladstone would complete his
work in Ireland by giving that country a system of government
which would meet her highest claims. At the same time Glad-
stone desired that the Irish Question should be settled by a
Parliament in which the Liberal majority should be so powerful
as to be able to act independently of the Irish vote. This was
misunderstood by the Irish party, and the consequence was that
the Irish vote was cast for the Tories. It is true that Carnarvon
was at this time in favour of a kind of Home Rule and was
negotiating with Parnell, but it is doubtful how far he could have
carried the Cabinet with him. The results of the elections became
known in the middle of December. The Liberals returned 334
members, the Conservatives 250, and the Irish Nationalists 86
out of 103. It is clear that if the Liberals were joined by the
Irish Nationalists they would have a very large majority, but
if the contrary were the case the Tories might sometimes have a

822
CHAMBERLAIN’S PROGRESS

majority of two or three votes. It became known that Gladstone
was being gradually converted to Home Rule as a remedy for
Irish grievances. He had been studying the question for many
years, but in accordance with the habit of his mind he would have
thought it wrong to advocate it publicly unless he was sure that
the Irish people were in favour of it. The present election left
no doubt on that score.

Joseph Chamberlain, whose name now comes prominently
forward, had made his reputation as mayor of Birmingham, where
he had established a model of municipal government, besides
amassing a fortune by the scientific manufacture of screws. First
elected to Parliament in 1876, he proved himself to be one of the
keenest and most formidable debaters in the House. He had a
clear, incisive voice, great self-control, and readiness of repartee.
He was thought to be a first-class fighting Radical, whose object
was to overthrow the altar and the throne. He was an
enthusiastic Home Ruler, and when he opposed Home Rule in
Birmingham in 1892 many of those whom he attacked said that
they had first learnt Home Rule from him. He was now
ambitious of leading the Liberal Party in succession to Gladstone,
whose age, he thought, would soon drive him into retirement
from the stage of politics. He therefore issued what was known
as the Unauthorised Liberal Programme, demanding, under the
name of “ransom,” the sacrifices from the rich many of which
afterwards became law—free education, improved dwellings for
the poor at moderate rents, the abolition of indirect taxation,
the restoration of enclosed land to the people, disestablishment
of the Church, a graduated income tax, and an increased burden
on landowners; in fact, the whole Radical programme as we
know it in these modern days.

Parliament was opened by the Queen on January 21st, 1886,
but it was evident that the Government would be defeated on
the Address. The amendment which effected this was proposed
by Jesse Collings, a staunch friend and faithful henchman of
Chamberlain, and proposed the policy of giving small allotments
and small holdings to agricultural labourers—afterwards com-
monly known as ‘“ Three acres and a cow,” although he was
not the inventor of the phrase. This amendment, supported by
Gladstone, Joseph Arch and Chamberlain, but opposed by
Hartington and Goschen, was carried by a majority of 329
votes to 250, and Salisbury immediately went out of office. In
Gladstone’s new Government Harcourt became Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Childers Home Secretary, Rosebery Secretary for

823
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Foreign Affairs, Granville for the Colonies, Kimberley for India,
Lord Aberdeen was made Viceroy of Ireland with John Morley
as Chief Secretary, and Chamberlain was appointed President
of the Board of Trade. Hartington’s name did not appear on
the list, and it was known that he differed from Gladstone on
the policy of Home Rule.

On April 8th, 1886, Gladstone moved in the House of Commons
for leave to introduce the Bill which was eventually known as
the Home Rule Bill. The excitement was beyond all descrip-
tion. Although the House was opened at the unusually early
hour of 6 in the morning, some members arrived as early as 5,
and stood ready to rush in as soon as the doors were open. The
Chamber was so crammed that chairs were placed across the floor
from the bar to the table. Gladstone rose in the House at 4.40
in the afternoon, and spoke for nearly three hours and a half,
yet the speech did not appear to anyone too long.

The Bill provided that Ireland should have a Parliament of
her own, and that the Irish representation at Westminster should
cease—an arrangement which had been accepted by Parnell and
his colleagues. They thought that it would be better to allow
Irishmen to manage their own affairs apart, without direct com-
munication with Westminster, and that it would be more easy
to attract the best intellects of Ireland to a Parliament sitting
in Dublin if the attraction of Westminster were out of the way.
The new Legislature, as it was called instead of Parliament, was to
consist of two Houses or Orders, the Upper formed of Irish Peers
and members elected under a high pecuniary qualification, the
Lower of the present Irish members and an additional ror chosen
by all Irish constituencies except Trinity College. The Irish
judges were to be subject to the Irish Legislature, and the Irish
Executive were to control the police. The Legislature would be
unable to deal with matters affecting the Crown, with military or
naval forces, trade, navigation or coinage, and proposals to estab-
lish or endow any religious institution. It would have no power
to impose duties on British or foreign goods. Ireland would levy
her own taxes and pay to the London Treasury a sum amount-
ing to one-twelfth of the British revenue. The Legislature, as
well as the Executive, were to be subject to the Lord Lieutenant,
who could hold office independently of British parties. There
was great discussion whether the refusal of consent to any Bill
was to rest with the Irish or the British Ministry ; but the Irish
members had no doubt that it would be in the hands of the British
Executive, and this opinion was confirmed by Mr. Gladstone.

824
THE HOME RULE BILL

The Home Rule Bill was accompanied by a Land Bill, intro-
duced a few days afterwards, by which every Irish landlord would
have the option of selling his estate to his tenants, at the price
of twenty years’ purchase, the money being lent by the Treasury
under stringent conditions. The Land Bill was not agreeable to
the Irish Home Rulers, but was accepted by them as a price for
self-government.

It was probably a mistake to introduce an elaborate measure
like that of Home Rule in the form of a Bill containing so many
conditions which would give rise to acrid discussion, and it would
have been better to proceed by resolutions; but Gladstone was
old and conscious of the shortness of life, and his mind delighted
in the task of working out details. It is, therefore, scarcely
surprising that the Bill was opposed by some who reckoned
themselves as stalwart Liberals. Trevelyan and Chamberlain
left the Cabinet. Trevelyan had been Chief Secretary in the
troubled times following the murder of Cavendish, and he could
not bring himself to consent to leave the Irish police in the
hands of the Executive. He voted against the Bill because, in
his opinion, it was bad; but he afterwards regretted his action
and returned to the Liberal fold.

The case of Chamberlain was different. He had been a Home
Ruler before Gladstone; his friends in Birmingham, who voted
against his son Austen in 1892, declared, as we have seen, that
whatever they knew about Home Rule they had learnt from him.
But he was a man of strong personal ambition, and desired to
be leader of the Liberal Party and Liberal Prime Minister, and
he was too impatient to wait until Gladstone’s vigorous life had
run its natural course. He therefore determined to oppose the
measure—more, it may be feared, from pique than from political
prescience. He might have hoped to be able to turn Gladstone
out and fill his place, but he could hardly have foreseen that he
was to be the founder of an anti-Liberal party and a prominent
member of a Tory Government. He, like Trevelyan, rejected
the Land Bill, but had difficulty in finding reasons for voting
against Home Rule. He took his standing on the sacredness of
federal principles, and the bad policy of excluding Irish members
from Parliament, which Bright, on the other hand, regarded as
the redeeming feature of the measure. When Gladstone proposed
a different arrangement in his second Home Rule Bill, Chamber-
lain again found reasons for opposing what he had previously
advocated. This was the turning-point of his career. Up to
this moment the world would have predicted a brilliant and

825
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

victorious rise; from this time he pursued a devious course
which ended in disaster and failure.

A large meeting was held in Her Majesty’s Opera House
to uphold the legislative union between Great Britain and
Ireland. Lord Cowper, who had been an Irish Viceroy, presided,
and Hartington and Salisbury were found on the same platform.
Goschen was one of the prominent speakers, and many lifelong
Liberals and even Radicals supported the movement. Churchill
gave to the party the name of Unionist, which has remained
ever since, although the designation has frequently changed its
meaning. The intellect of the country was against Home Rule,
chiefly because it took people by surprise and they had not
adequately considered the question. They were reluctant to
admit that a British Parliament was incompetent to govern
Ireland, and the conduct of the Irish had not been such as to
command respect.

The debate on the second reading took place on May roth,
and lasted for nearly a month. Hartington moved the rejection
of the Bill. The attitude of Chamberlain was well sketched in
Gladstone’s concluding speech. Chamberlain had said that a
dissolution had no terrors for him. Gladstone rejoined: ‘‘I do
not wonder at it. He has trimmed his vessel, and he has handled
his rudder in such a masterly way that, in whichever direction
the winds of heaven may blow they must fill his sails. If an
election were favourable to the Bill he would say, ‘I declared that
I accepted the principles of the Bill’; if public opinion were in
favour of a large measure of Home Rule, he would say that he
had advocated the principle of federation; if in favour of a
smaller, he would declare that he had been in favour of four
provincial councils, controlled from London.” At 1 o’clock in
the morning of June 8th the House divided, and the Bill was
defeated by 343 votes to 313. Ninety-three Liberals voted with
the “Noes,” including Bright, Hartington, Chamberlain, Goschen,
Trevelyan and Henry James. Gladstone determined to dissolve
Parliament, which was effected on June 26th. The elections
began on July rst, and from the beginning were unfavourable
to the Government. In the midst of the polls, just before the
counties began to vote, John Bright issued a strong manifesto
against Home Rule which had a powerful effect. The final result
was the election of 315 Conservatives, 78 Liberal Unionists, 191
Liberals, and 86 Nationalists. The Cabinet resigned at once. If
they had not done this they would have been beaten on the
Address, as there was a majority of more than 100 against them.

826
RANDOLPH CHURCHILL’S RESIGNATION

Salisbury succeeded Gladstone as Prime Minister; but the
Conservatives, although the most numerous party in the House,
did not command an absolute majority, and had to depend on
the support of the Liberal Unionists. Hartington was offered a
place in the Cabinet, but refused it, and continued to sit on the
same bench as Gladstone and his former friends, although he
persistently voted against them, a most inconvenient and dis-
turbing arrangement. Lord Iddesleigh became Foreign Secretary,
Randolph Churchill led the House of Commons as Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Hicks Beach became Secretary for Ireland, and
Henry Matthews, afterwards Lord Llandaff, was Home Secretary.
The disorder in Ireland became worse; the rents, although fixed
by law, were more than the tenants could pay. Parnell intro-
duced a Bill to relieve the tenants, which was supported by
Gladstone, but it was rejected by a large majority, and the
consequence was the establishment of the system called the Plan
of Campaign, by which the tenants of any Irish estate who
considered their rents too high should agree what they would
offer to the landlord, and if the landlord refused the offer the
money was paid to trustees for the purpose of resisting evictions.
This method of procedure was undoubtedly illegal, and was
declared by the Irish judges to be a criminal conspiracy ; but it
worked well and saved many Irish tenants from ruin and starva-
tion. Parnell disapproved of it, but Gladstone did not condemn
it, and Spencer was well disposed towards it.

Then a thunderbolt burst from a clear sky by the sudden
resignation of Randolph Churchill. As a Tory Democrat he was
anxious to identify his party with progress and reform, and had
drawn up a budget which, besides reducing the expenditure on
the army and navy, increased the estate duties by £4,500,000,
the house duties by £1,500,000, and lowered the tea duty, the
tobacco duty, and the income tax. This masterly scheme was
opposed by the heads of the departments threatened with reduc-
tion, and when the Chancellor made the acceptance of it a
condition of his remaining in office the Prime Minister refused to
give way and Churchill resigned, Goschen being appointed in his
place. Churchill said afterwards that he had forgotten Goschen.
By this sudden and inconsiderate step he ruined what promised
to be a first-rate political career. This characteristic event led
to other changes. Mr. W. H. Smith, who had made a fortune
by selling newspapers and establishing railway bookstalls, became
leader of the House of Commons, and Salisbury was so taken
aback by the Churchill incident that he took the seals of the

827
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Foreign Office himself, without informing Iddesleigh, the actual
holder of them, that he had done so, This caused the aged
statesman such a shock that he died in Salisbury’s presence on
January 12th, 1887.

An attempt was made to patch up the quarrel with the dissi-
dent Liberals by a friendly meeting at the house of Sir William
Harcourt, at which Herschell, Morley, Chamberlain and Trevelyan
sat at a round table and endeavoured to come to an agreement.
Gladstone and Hartington held aloof. Chamberlain went so far
as to acknowledge the expediency of establishing a Parliament in
Dublin and having an Irish executive; but just as the first
proceedings of the round table conference were being communi-
cated to Gladstone, an article of Chamberlain’s in the Baptist
produced a breach, and he afterwards declined to have anything
more to do with the matter, so the Tory Government in Ireland
was left to pursue its own course.

When Parliament met in January, 1887, coercion was proposed
as a remedy for Irish disorder, and was supported by the Liberal
Unionists. The “resolute government,” advocated by Salisbury
as an alternative to Home Rule, was begun, and Arthur Balfour,
Lord Salisbury’s nephew, was entrusted with the duty of carrying
it out, becoming Irish Secretary in the place of Hicks Beach.
Balfour began by bringing in a permanent Coercion Bill of most
stringent character. It gave the power of trying in England
murders and other serious crimes committed in Ireland ; it allowed
the Lord Lieutenant to declare an assembly unlawful if he thought
it dangerous, and to permit resident magistrates to try cases of
conspiracy without juries.

In order to secure the passage of this measure, and to prevent
obstruction, a new method of parliamentary procedure was intro-
duced by Mr. Smith, which gave the power of closing the debate
at any time by the vote of 200 members if the Speaker allowed
the motion to be put. This machinery of the “ guillotine,” as
it has been called, has been strengthened since, and used by
both parties. It has proved indispensable in the congested condi-
tion of business in the House of Commons, but at the moment it
was a triumph for the Irish in their attempt to render Parlia-
mentary government for Ireland impossible. The Coercion Bill
was strongly opposed by Gladstone. Indeed, the situation was a
tragic one for Home Rulers. The country was about to celebrate
the fiftieth anniversary of the Queen’s accession. London was
full of evidences of exuberant loyalty; the whole Empire was
asked to concur in honouring the national festival, but a thick pall

828
PARNELL AND “THE TIMES”

of tyrannous government hovered over unhappy Ireland. The
contrast was striking, and Gladstone might well ask whether
Ireland deserved this exceptional treatment for having been born
with a double dose of original sin.

The division on the second reading of the Coercion Bill was
fixed for April 18th, 1887, and on the morning of that day
The Times published the facsimile of a letter signed, ‘“‘ Yours
very truly, Chas. S. Parnell.” Any critic of historical sources
would have pronounced the authenticity of this document to be
extremely doubtful, as the signature, even if genuine, appeared
on a different page from the substance of the letter and might
have had nothing to do with it. The letter was dated nine days

after the murder of Frederick Cavendish. It purported to run
as follows :—

“ DEAR SIR,—

“T am not surprised at your friend’s anger, but he
and you should know that to denounce the murders was the
only course open to us. To do that promptly was plainly our
best policy. But you can tell him and all others concerned
that, though I regret the accident of Lord F. Cavendish’s
death, I cannot refuse to admit that Burke got no more
than his deserts. You are at liberty to show him this, and
others whom you can trust also, but let not my address be
known. He can write to the House of Commons.

“Yours very truly,
“ Cuas. S. PARNELL.”

Parnell, like many others, regarded this letter as so absurd
in itself that he did not, perhaps, take sufficient pains to denounce
it in the face of the great excitement of public opinion. However,
rising in the House after midnight, he stigmatised it as a villainous
and barefaced forgery, and declared that he never had heard of the
letter, or directed such a letter to be written, or seen such a letter,
before he saw it in The Times. A society of fair-minded gentle-
men should have at once accepted this statement, but the temper
of the Tories was at this time not fair-minded, and within two
days Salisbury made a speech at Battersea in which he assumed
the authenticity of the letter. The Coercion Bill was passed by
the end of the month.

Arthur Balfour showed unexpected qualities in the administra-
tion of the Crimes Act. He had the reputation of being some-
thing of a dilettante, and he undoubtedly cared more for music
and philosophy than he did for politics; but he now showed he

829
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

could govern in a manner steady, courageous and determined.
His health and vigour improved in the conflict, and he developed
qualities seldom found save in the first rank of Cabinet Ministers.
His chief object was to defeat the Plan of Campaign, and from
this he never flinched. He gave orders to the executive officers
of the Castle, the resident magistrates, and the Royal Irish
Constabulary as to the duty which lay upon them of executing
the law in all circumstances and at all costs. He ordered them
to employ such force as might be necessary for the purpose, and
promised them the fullest support if they did their duty, while,
on the other hand, slackness would be severely punished.

A crisis occurred at Mitchelstown on September gth. A public
meeting of several thousand people was held there, at which two
English members of Parliament were present and several English
ladies. While John Dillon was speaking, some police endeavoured
to press through the crowd to make way for a Government
reporter, and were driven back with shillelaghs. The constables
retreated to their barracks and fired upon the people, killing one
man and mortally wounding two others. No proper inquiry into
this outrage, which was, on the face of it, murder, was held; and
Balfour, three days after the event, said in the House that those
who called the meeting were responsible and that the police were
blameless. In the following month the coroner’s jury found the
county inspector and three constables guilty of wilful murder ;
but in February, 1888, the High Court in Dublin quashed the
verdict, so that the question of murder, manslaughter or justifi-
able homicide was never decided at all.

Besides this, 200 branches of the National League were
suppressed in six counties, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin was
prosecuted and committed to prison. William O’Brien, Balfour’s
chief opponent, was convicted on a similar charge, but, unlike
the Lord Mayor, he was deprived of his ordinary clothes and
treated as if he had been a malefactor. The struggle in Ireland
aroused great interest amongst English Liberals, and many of
them went over to Ireland to help in the movement, as they
would have helped Garibaldi in Italy. But Balfour was deter-
mined to put this down. He threw Wilfrid Blunt, a man of great
literary and social distinction, into prison, treating him as an
ordinary criminal, for creating a disturbance on Lord Clanricarde’s
estate, and was bent on carrying out the law ruthlessly and with-
out respect of persons. In this course he gained great esteem
and popularity, which was felt even by the Irish whom he
attacked. He was not hated as Forster had been, for the Irish

830
“PARNELLISM AND CRIME”

admired chivalry, even when it was turned against themselves.
“Prince Arthur,’”’ as he was called, became the darling of both
countries, and Gladstone’s influence was correspondingly dimin-
ished. It looked for the moment as if Salisbury’s “resolute
government ’”’ would assert its pre-eminence over the policy of
Home Rule.

In the summer of 1888 the Home Rule controversy entered
into a new phase. A year before, about the time of the publish-
ing of the supposed Parnell letters in The Times, that journal
had also printed a number of articles entitled “ Parnellism and
Crime.” They contained charges of an indefinite character
against the Irish leader. They used, as Morley says, allusion,
suggestion and innuendo to make a crude and hideous mosaic.
These articles were afterwards published in book form, and
O’Donnell, a former member of the Nationalist party, whose name
occurred in them, brought an action for libel against Mr. Walter,
the proprietor of The Times, claiming as damages £50,000. As
O’Donnell would not go into the witness box he lost the action,
in the course of which the Attorney-General, Sir Richard Webster,
counsel for The Times, read a number of letters, purporting to
be written by Parnell, showing complicity in and approval of
the Phoenix Park murders. , Parnell having no legal redress for
these libels, took the only course possible. He emphatically denied
in the House the authenticity of the letters, and asked for
a Select Committee, from which all Irish Members of Parliament
should be excluded, to investigate the matter. This reasonable
demand was refused, and, instead, the Government offered to
bring in a Bill to appoint a Commission, consisting wholly or
mainly of judges, to inquire into the allegations and charges
made against members of Parliament by The Times. This was
accepted by Parnell and his friends, but the Government then
altered their offer by inserting the words ‘“‘ and other persons ”
after “members.” This changed the Commission from an inquiry
into specific charges made against known individuals into a general
investigation into the course of Irish politics since the establish-
ment of the Land League.

This Commission consisted of three English judges, Sir James
Hannen, a man of the highest character, presiding. It first met
on September 17th, 1888, and sat for 120 days, rising for the last
time on November 22nd, 1889. It examined more than 450
witnesses; one counsel spoke for five days, another for seven,
and a third for nearly twelve. The questions put to witnesses
numbered nearly 8,000, The Commission was itself unconsti-

831
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

tutional and unfair, for it tried men on a political charge without
giving them the benefit of a jury, and left to the judges the
decision on the facts.

The letters which formed the occasion of the Commission were
not reached till the fiftieth day—February 14th, 1889. The
manager of The Times, called to tell his story, said he had pur-
chased three batches of letters for £2,500 from the Secretary of
the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. It was not known to whom
they were addressed, there were no envelopes with the letters,
the signatures corresponded with those admitted to be Parnell’s ;
but the editor’s chief reason for believing in their genuineness
was that he thought that they were the kind of letters which
Parnell would be likely to write.

After some reluctance on the part of the prosecution, the judges
called the secretary of the union, and he said he had received
them from a certain Richard Pigott, who was the next witness.
This man was notorious in Dublin as ‘“ Dick” Pigott, a broken-down
hack, living from hand to mouth, and begging from anyone who
was likely to believe him. In the autumn of 1885 he had received,
from the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, £60 for a pamphlet
called ‘“‘ Parnellism Unmasked,” and had been paid a guinea a
day and travelling expenses to collect evidence against Parnell
and his friends. He appeared to make a substantial living, and
took trips to New York, Lausanne and Paris. He forged the
letters which he pretended to have obtained from Parnellite
conspirators, and received £500 for the conspirators and {100
for himself. He said, at a later period, “I have been in diffi-
culties and great distress for want of money for the last twenty
years and, in order to find means of support for myself and my
large family, I have been guilty of many acts which must for ever
disgrace me.’ In October, 1888, just after the opening of the
Commission, he made a full confession to Parnell’s solicitor, which
he afterwards withdrew.

He went into the witness-box on February 21st, 1889, and,
under the cross-examination of Sir Charles Russell, who conducted
the defence with rare dignity and statesmanship, he completely
broke down. It was shown that his customary errors in spelling
were precisely similar to those which occurred in the Parnell
letters. Correspondence between him and the Catholic Archbishop
of Dublin, as well as with W. E. Forster, was read. Pigott
entirely collapsed, and when the court opened on the following
morning he did not appear. After confessing his crime, he went
to Spain, thinking that England had no treaty of extradition with

832
EXONERATION OF PARNELL

that country. But when the police entered his hotel in Madrid
on March ist with a warrant for his arrest he shot himself.

The report of the commission was presented to Parliament
on February 13th, 1890. It was eagerly read and admitted to
be an acquittal. The only condemnation expressed was that
the Parnellites had denounced crime, yet did not denounce the
system which led to crime and outrage, but persisted in it with
a knowledge of its effects. No action was taken by Parliament
with regard to the report, but on the first appearance of Parnell
in the House after its publication he was greeted by an extra-
ordinary demonstration. The House was crowded when he
appeared, and at the sight of him the whole of the Liberals rose
to their feet and, standing up, cheered him again and again,
while even some Tories joined in the applause. Parnell took it
very quietly, but with some embarrassment, and as he sat down
said to a friend next to him, “‘ Why did you fellows all stand up ?
You almost frightened me.” That scene was the zenith of Parnell’s
parliamentary career.

We must now give some account of Salisbury as Foreign
Secretary. When he took office at the beginning of 1887 Egypt
was a burning question. Five years before Great Britain had
talked about leaving in six months, but she was still in possession,
and likely to remain. In May she proposed a treaty to the
Sultan, promising to leave in three years; but this was never
ratified, and she had, moreover, signed an agreement with France
which effectually neutralised the Suez Canal. Salisbury also
attempted to settle the long-standing dispute with France about
the Newfoundland fisheries, but his endeavours were frustrated
by the rashness of his chosen envoy, Joseph Chamberlain. In
the autumn of 1887 a change took place in the international
relations of Europe by the formation of a Triple Alliance between
Germany, Austria and Italy, which claimed to be a league of
peace. It was inaugurated by Crispi, on a visit to Bismarck
at Friedrichsruhe. In Italy dread of France had taken the place
of hatred of Austria, and France, in her jealousy of Italy, was
inclined to turn to Russia. Salisbury favoured the Triple Alliance,
thinking it favourable to European quiet. He also believed that
friendship with Italy would be useful in checking the preponder-
ance of France in the Mediterranean.

In Egypt Salisbury made no attempt to reconquer the Sudan,
but left it to the Khalifa. He, however, sent an expedition to
secure Suakin against attack by the Dervishes. At the same
time, he saw that, in order to prevent complications with

a 833
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Germany, it would be well to make some arrangement for the
delimitation of Africa, in which country exploration and annexa-
tion had gone on with extreme rapidity. In 1885 Carl Peters,
a German explorer, had acquired for the German East Africa
Company a large amount of territory which might have been
obtained for Great Britain. In 1887 the Royal Niger Company
had been formed, and the King of the Belgians had become
Sovereign of the Congo State. Bechuanaland had been placed under
British protection, and Matabeleland and Mashonaland had been
annexed. For the administration of these districts the South
Africa Company had been founded, and the Imperial British East
Africa Company had been established in the previous year. The
head-quarters of this company were at Mombasa, but their principal
acquisition was Uganda, on the shores of Victoria Nyanza. A
charter was given to the South Africa Company on October 15th,
1889, which eventually brought about unexpected results.

In 1890 Germany had acquired a considerable portion of East
Africa, and put in a claim to what is called the hinterland or
back country of Zanzibar, affirming the doctrine that when a
Power has taken possession of a coast line the unoccupied territory
behind it cannot be claimed by any other Power. Thereupon
Caprivi, who had succeeded Bismarck as Chancellor of the German
Empire, set to work to define what were called British and
German spheres of influence. By an agreement signed between
Great Britain and Germany on July rst, 1890, a road called the
Stevenson Road was recognised as the frontier between the two
Empires. Nyassa and Uganda became British, the frontier line
being drawn across Victoria Nyanza, and a British protectorate
was established over the island of Zanzibar and the adjacent
island of Pemba. In return, Great Britain ceded Heligoland
to Germany, a place of great use to us during the Napoleonic
wars, but which had ceased to be of much value. A French sphere
of influence was also marked out, which included the French
Congo on the West Coast, occupied in 1888, and the whole
of the Sahara from Algeria to Timbuctoo, a very valuable
possession. Portugal received 31,000 square miles on the north
of the Zambesi in return for a narrow slip of Manicaland which
gave access to the domain of the Chartered Company. The
results of these “arrangements’’ have been on the whole satis-
factory, and since their conclusion no disputes have arisen in
Africa of any importance with regard to undefined and un-
occupied land.

On November 15th, 1890, ten days before the meeting of

834
GOSCHEN’S BUDGET

Parliament for the autumn session, a case came before the Divorce
Court in which Parnell was involved as co-respondent. Parnell
was unmarried, had no regular home, and no address except that
of the House of Commons. The intrigue with Mrs. O’Shea had
gone on for a long time, the suit was undefended, and judgment
was bound to go against him. This unfortunate affair ruined
for the time being the cause of Home Rule. Many of the Irish
Nationalists expressed their unabated confidence in Parnell, but
British Liberals refused to support the cause of Home Rule if he
continued to be at the head of it. It was hoped that he would
resign the leadership of his own accord, but he declined to go.
For several days the battle between the two sections of the Irish
Party raged within the walls of the House of Commons in Com-
mittee Room No. 15. Parnell stood at bay and fought with tre-
mendous energy. As he was chairman of the meeting it was
impossible to turn him out. At last the majority of forty-five
left the room, and elected Justin McCarthy as their chairman,
though twenty-five continued to follow Parnell’s lead. On
December 5th Parnell crossed over to Ireland and conducted a
hopeless battle with restless vigour and passion, but he found
little support in the constituencies. He married Mrs. O’Shea on
July 7th, 1891, and by so doing offended the Catholics more
deeply than ever by the disregard of the prohibition of marriage
between divorced persons. He was a stricken man, and died at
his house at Brighton on October 6th, 1891, at the early age
of forty-five; he was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin on
October 11th, amidst manifestations of profound sorrow and
respect.

Mr. Goschen’s budget for 1890 produced an important result
which was entirely unanticipated. He had to deal with a surplus
of £3,800,000, which was popularly supposed to be due to the
excessive consumption of whisky. He used it to remit taxation,
reducing the duty on tea and currants, and diminishing the house
duty. With the residue he proposed to create a fund for the
purchase and extinction of publicans’ licences. This raised a
storm among the friends of temperance, the licensing clauses were
dropped, and the money was given to the county councils to be
spent upon technical education. This laid upon the county
authorities, for the first time, the duty of considering how educa-
tion, other than elementary, could be best provided in the districts
which they controlled. The operation of this and other causes
is gradually removing from our country the well-merited reproach
of being an uneducated people.

835
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

In the following year free education was established in the
public elementary schools of England and Wales, greatly through
the influence of Chamberlain, who, many years before, had been
one of the founders of the Birmingham Education League, and
had included free education in the Unauthorised Programme to
which we alluded on an earlier page. The country was already
familiar with the payment for education by the Government. All
elementary schools certified by an inspector to be efficient received
a contribution from the rates, whereas the so-called voluntary
schools, which were generally Church schools, were maintained
largely by subscriptions. It was proposed to endow both classes
of schools at an estimated cost of 1os. a child, and the Act,
originated by the Liberals, was passed by the Tories. It has had
an effect little contemplated, and even now little observed
and understood. Since 1891 the standard of national culture
has been raised in a surprising manner. The democracy, educated
in elementary schools, or in higher schools of the elementary type,
has developed a knowledge and love of literature, music and
art which in some respects places it above that of other nations.
Shakespeare has taken his place by the side of the Bible as the
chief source of national education, and the culture thus obtained
has tended to compensate for the withering blight which devotion
to amusement and self-indulgence has cast upon the governing
classes.

The Parliament of 1886 was now nearing its natural end, and
was dissolved on June 26th, 1892. It was understood that the
contest would turn on the question of Home Rule, although
temperance and the disestablishment of the Welsh Church would
also be considered. The election was fought with great enthu-
siasm. Gladstone declined to give a sketch of the Bill which
he intended to propose, except that it would provide for the
Irish members sitting in Parliament. But the results of the
contest were unsatisfactory, as it gave no party a majority of
the whole House, and the balance was held by the Irish.
Salisbury did not resign until he was defeated on an amend-
ment to the Address by 350 to 310 votes. Gladstone became
Prime Minister for the fourth time, but he was at the mercy
of the Irish. Any Home Rule Bill, moreover, which might be
passed by the Commons was certain to be rejected by the
House of Lords. He formed a strong Cabinet, Rosebery going
to the Foreign Office and Morley becoming again Chief Secretary
for Ireland. Asquith, then at the outset of a distinguished
career, was given the Home Office, and the Queen, as she gazed

836
THE SECOND HOME RULE BILL

with veiled apprehension at the Minister to whom she was
obliged to entrust the seals of office, thought him very young for
the post. Bryce, the brilliant Oxford historian, became Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Gladstone introduced his Home Rule Bill on February 13th,
1893. It was virtually the same as the first, excepting that Irish
members were allowed to vote at Westminster on any Imperial
question or any question affecting Ireland, their numbers being
reduced from 103 to 80. The second reading was passed on April
22nd, by a majority of 43. The Unionists caused great obstruc-
tion in Committee, and Balfour declared his intention of voting
for any amendment which might improve the Bill and for any
which might destroy it. In the discussion the clauses limiting
the subjects on which Irish members might vote were dropped,
after some very stormy scenes, which culminated at the end of
July in disorder unparalleled in Parliament in recent years. The
Bill was read for the third time by a majority of 34 and was
taken to the Lords on September Ist. Lord Spencer did his best
for it, but there could be no doubt as to its fate. The Bill was
rejected in a House of unprecedented fullness by 417 votes to 41,
the largest division ever taken in the Lords.

Gladstone had previously given a pledge that he would not
dissolve if the Lords threw out the Home Rule Bill, so that the
session went on, all Liberal legislation being nullified or impeded
by the action of the Upper House. This reached such a pitch
that Gladstone thought a new election might be favourable to
his party, based upon the conduct of the Lords. They had
rejected the Home Rule Bill, to which the Commons had given
eighty-two days’ discussion, and had marred the Parish Councils
Bill, which had been debated for forty-one days in the Lower
House. Gladstone urged that, for practical purposes, the Lords
had destroyed the work of the House of Commons, unexampled
as that work was in the time and pains bestowed upon it. But
the Cabinet were entirely averse to dissolution, and the only
alternative was his own resignation; but Lord Morley tells us
that up to the last moment he held that it would have been a
right course to dissolve upon the relations between the two
Houses. His desire to resign office was intensified by his inability
to persuade his colleagues of the necessity of reducing the naval
and military Estimates.

Gladstone’s last Cabinet Council was held on March ist, 1894.
Morley has given us a touching account of it. ‘‘ Mr. Gladstone
sat, composed and still as marble, and the emotion of the Cabinet

837
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

did not gain him for a moment. He followed the ‘ words of
acknowledgment and farewell’ in a little speech of four or five
minutes, his voice unbroken and serene, the tone low, grave and
steady . . . then hardly above a breath and every accent heard,
he said, ‘God bless you all.’ He rose slowly and went out of
one door, while his colleagues, with minds oppressed, filed out
of the other.” He entered in his diary that “it was a very
moving scene.”

His last speech in the House of Commons, delivered the same
afternoon, was a vigorous assault upon the House of Lords. The
question, he said, was whether the function of the House of Lords
was not merely to modify but to annihilate the whole work of the
House of Commons. He ended by saying that the present state
of things could not continue, and that the issue which was raised
between a deliberative assembly, elected by the votes of more
than 6,000,000 people, and a hereditary assembly occupied by
many men of virtue, many men of talent, of course with consider-
able diversities and varieties, was a controversy which, when
once raised, must go forwards to an issue. On his resignation
being accepted by the Queen, he wrote to General Ponsonby that
he had witnessed in him such a combination of tact and temper,
with loyalty, intelligence and truth, as he could not expect to
see again.

If Gladstone had been consulted about his successor, he would
have recommended Lord Spencer; but his advice was not sought,
and the Queen on her own responsibility sent for Lord Rosebery,
although Sir William Harcourt had superior claims. The new
session began on March rath. Rosebery was not keenly in favour
of Home Rule. He agreed with Lord Salisbury in thinking that,
before it could be conceded, England, the predominant partner,
must be convinced that it was just. The session was mainly
occupied with Harcourt’s Radical budget, which largely increased
the death duties. The difference between real and personal
property in this matter was abolished, duty was made payable
on the estate as a whole, and it had to be assessed according
to its value in the open market, and not on the worth of
the estate to the recipient. The rate of duty was graduated
from 1 to 8 per cent., according to the value of the estate.
By alterations in the income tax the burden of the poorer
taxpayers was lightened; while the death duties, under the new
scheme, brought to the Exchequer an increase of more than
£4,000,000. The Finance Bill was much abused, and only
passed the House by a majority of 14, but time proved its

838
A DRAMATIC MINISTERIAL DEFEAT

soundness, and no Conservative Government has attempted to
repeal it.

In the session of 1895 efforts were made to redeem the promises
given in the general election of 1892, by dealing with the questions
of Welsh Disestablishment and temperance reform. The Welsh
Disestablishment Bill, which included a large measure of dis-
endowment, was read a second time on April 3rd, by 304 votes
to 260, Chamberlain voting in the majority; but, owing to the
fall of the Government, did not get beyond the Committee stage.
The Local Option Bill, as it was called, did not get beyond a first
reading. The defeat of the Government was paltry, but dramatic.
Mr. Brodrick moved an amendment to the Estimates, calling
attention to the small supply of cordite in the Government
magazines, although there was really a larger supply than usual
or than was necessary. He had, with great astuteness, collected
members of his party for a snap division, and when this was taken
it was found that his amendment was carried by 132 votes to
125, the Government being beaten by a majority of 7. There
was no need for the Cabinet to resign on such a vote, but they
were weary of their position, and were glad to be relieved of it.
Lord Rosebery, in a farewell speech, dwelt on the misery of
governing with a small and uncertain majority, and, he might
have added, with a leader in the Lower House who was thoroughly
unsympathetic. He reiterated the attack already made by Glad-
stone on the House of Lords. Thus ended the Gladstonian regime,
and the curtain was about to rise on a new phase of Imperialism,
in which Joseph Chamberlain was the chief actor.

839
CHAPTER XI

OLD CHINA AND NEW JAPAN

In the sixteenth century the Christian nations of the Aryan stock
did not occupy more than a five-and-twentieth part of the surface
of the globe, whereas the followers of Mohammed, Buddha and
Confucius had spread themselves over nearly one half. During
the last three centuries this proportion has notably changed.
Armenia, Siberia, South Africa, and the islands of Asia have been
conquered by Europeans. This progress, which had been hindered
in Central and Southern Asia by the increasing power of the
Manchus, received a great impulse in the beginning of the nine-
teenth century. Europeans now govern, directly or indirectly,
three-fourths of the globe; indeed, their only formidable antago-
nists are the Arabs and the inhabitants of Eastern Asia. The
Arabs have less importance, because they are not a seafaring
nation and have no fleet of war, so that the struggle between
the Aryans and other races for the domination of the world is
likely to concentrate itself in Eastern Asia, and it is possible that
the conflict between them may become prominent in the
impending future.

The chances of success seem to be on the side of the Euro-
peans. The United States and Canada are the centre and the
starting place of a conquering civilisation. India, Hong Kong and
Shanghai are becoming rapidly Europeanised; Australia, Manila
and Saigon are pressing the Eastern Asiatics from the south,
while Russia presses them from the north. It is hardly likely
that Japan will be able to place herself at the head of a new
Eastern Empire under the rule of the Mikado, because the Malays
differ from the Japanese in race, language, religion and _ political
ideas. However, since 1900 a change has taken place in favour
of the Eastern civilisation, and it is possible that the independ-
ence of ideas and government which has made Japan almost a
member of the European family of nations may spread to China
and produce results difficult to foresee. There can, however, be
no doubt that Japan has won a strong position for herself by
her own strength, and is likely to keep it. The war of 1894 had

840
OPENING OF CHINA

the effect of giving to Japan a considerable moral and material
development.

The intercourse between Great Britain and China began later
than that of other European Powers, but has grown to large
dimensions. In 1613 the East India Company established a
factory in Japan and, two years later, opened agencies in Formosa
and Amoy. Little progress, however, was made until Oliver
Cromwell concluded the treaty with Portugal which gave England
free access to China by way of the East Indies. In 1644 the
reigning dynasty in China was replaced by the Ts’ing, a Manchu,
dynasty, and the new government showed itself hostile to the
foreigner. The East India Company’s factory at Amoy was
destroyed in 1681. Trade continued, subject to great difficulties
and interruptions, and it was only in 1771 that permission was
given to foreigners to reside at Canton during the winter—that is,
during the trading season.

For more than two centuries the relations of the East India
Company towards the new government were those of a suppliant,
humbly acknowledging the supreme sovereignty of the Son of
Heaven. The higher classes, the Court, the officials, and the
educated mandarins despised trade as only fit for the lowest class ;
foreign traders were tolerated for brief periods in the suburbs of
Canton, but were not allowed to enter the gates or travel inside,
nor to come into contact with any but the lowest orders of the
Chinese. The embassies of Lord Macartney in 1792 and of Lord
Amherst in 1816 were treated as tribute-bearing deputations,
and, until a comparatively recent date, Great Britain was only
allowed a place in the roll of tributary nations. At last, in 18309,
war broke out, the results of which were that the island of Hong
Kong was ceded to the British, and five ports—Canton, Amoy,
Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai—-were opened to British trade.
Another war broke out in 1856, and the Treaty of Tientsin was
signed in 1858 and confirmed by the Convention of Peking in
1860. Additional ports in China were opened to British trade,
a British representative was allowed to reside permanently in
Peking, and the territory of Kowloon opposite to Hong Kong was
ceded to Great Britain.

The Treaty of Tientsin and the subsequent conventions which
accompanied it form an epoch in the relations between China
and Europe. China was brought, for the first time, face to face
with the fact that her supposed supremacy was at an end, and
that she must acknowledge the equality of other States. But
whatever privileges were granted to foreigners on paper, the

2B* 841
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Chinese were, in spirit, as much opposed to them as ever. In
1875 friendly relations between Great Britain and China were
seriously interrupted by the murder of Augustus Margary, an
official in the British consular service. Trade between China
and Burma having been interrupted by a rebellion of the
Mussulmans of Yunnan, which was suppressed in 1873, the British
were desirous of reopening it, and collected an expedition for
the purpose at Bhamo, to which Margary was to act as interpreter.
Margary readily went ahead of the expedition to test the feeling
of the Chinese, and was killed just across the frontier. Colonel
Horace Browne, who was in command of the expedition, had to
retire, and reached Bhamo in safety. Sir Thomas Wade, the
British representative at Peking, demanded reparation, and when
delays took place hauled down his flag and left the Chinese capital.
He, however, agreed to meet Li Hung Chang, a prominent and
powerful Chinese statesman at Cheefoo, and an envoy was sent
to London with an apology for the crime. In 1872 the Emperor
Tung-chi, having arrived at the age of sixteen, was obliged to
assume the Imperial sceptre and to take to himself a wife. Aluli,
the daughter of a Manchu official, was chosen for the purpose,
and the marriage took place on October 16th.

It was hoped that the succession of the new Emperor would
place the representatives of foreign Powers in a better position.
They had hitherto been denied personal audiences, on the ground
that the Sovereign was not of age to receive them, but that excuse
now became invalid. So on June 29th, 1873, they were permitted
to have an audience. But the ceremony, instead of being held
in the State Hall of the Imperial Palace, took place in an apart-
ment used for less solemn occasions, and the concession was
regarded rather as a slight than an honour. Any effort in the
direction of improving the relations between China and Europe
was cut short by the sudden death of Tung-chi on January 12th.
It was announced that he died of small-pox, but it is believed
he was poisoned by the two Empresses, into whose hands the
Regency now returned. These were the widow of the late Emperor
Hien Fung and the mother of Tung-chi. It was the duty of the
Regents to nominate a successor to the throne, and the choice fell
upon Tsai-tien, a child of four years old. This nomination was
illegal in several ways. It violated the rule that the successor
to the throne must belong to a later generation than the previous
occupant, and it disregarded the fact that Aluli, the widow of
Tung-chi, was with child and that no appointment should be made
until it became known whether the infant was a son or a daughter.

842
FRANCO-CHINESE WAR

Aluli, however, conveniently died, the other objection was over-
ruled, and the boy of four years old was recognised as Emperor
under the name of Kwang Hsu, the “ Successor of Glory.”

It was only natural that these events should strengthen the
feeling in China against the foreigner. Mission houses were
destroyed and missionaries attacked and murdered, the out-
breaks taking place in country districts where their causes were
difficult to ascertain. However, the pressure for greater liberty
continued, and in 1876 four new ports were opened to foreign
trade. The feeling towards the foreigners was further improved
by the action of the missionaries, who organised relief for the
sufferers from the terrible famine of 1878, which destroyed 9,000,000
people. The Chinese Government went so far as to send a formal
letter of thanks to the foreign representatives at Peking.

Great activity was now shown in external affairs. In July,
1871, the Chinese had allowed the Russians to occupy the province
of Kuldja, on the understanding that they should receive the
territory back again so soon as they were able to occupy it effec-
tually. After the death of their great enemy, Yakub Khan, the
Chinese considered that the time for this had arrived, and began
negotiations with the Russians for this purpose. An incompetent
ambassador completed an agreement in October, 1879, which
ceded the greater part of the province to the Russians, and when
he returned to Peking he was promptly condemned to death
and a more discreet emissary, the well-known Marquis Tseng, was
dispatched in his place. By the payment of a sum of money
he recovered the ceded territory.

In April, 1881, the co-regent died and the government remained
in the hands of Tsu-tsi, the mother of the late Emperor. She,
however, became responsible for a war with France, which lasted
from 1882 to 1885. The origin of this lay in the desire of the
Ferry Ministry in France to force the note of colonial enterprise,
which led to the mission of Admiral Courbet, first, to compel
the Emperor of Anam to acknowledge the French protectorate,
and, secondly, to wrest the delta of Tonking from the Black Flags,
which was effected in the Treaty of Tientsin, signed on May 11th,
1884. The Chinese Government, who had secretly assisted the
Black Flags, resented this arrangement and attacked a French
force, with the view of expelling the hated foreigners from Tonking.
But Courbet destroyed the arsenal of Foochow, took possession
of Formosa, and the Pescadores Islands, besides blockading the
southern part of China to prevent the trade in rice. The Chinese
were compelled to accept peace, which was signed on June gth,

843
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

1885, at Tientsin, under which they definitely recognised the
establishment of a French protectorate over Tonking and Anam.

The young Emperor came of age in 1889, when he not only
had to take to himself a wife, but also to assume the reins of
government, and the Dowager Empress chose her own niece for
his consort. The Emperor followed the example of his predecessor
in receiving the foreign envoys, and with some difficulty was
persuaded to do this in the large Hall of Audience, instead of in
the smaller which had been used for the purpose by Tung-chi.
The head of the progressive party at this time was Li Hung
Chang, who persistently urged the desirability of constructing
railways for commercial and military purposes. The Emperor
strongly opposed the project, but eventually Li gained a certain
amount of success for his policy. Attempts were also made to
modernise the system of official examination, to establish schools
and colleges, to open a college of science at Peking; but all these
failed for the moment. Reforms were introduced in the currency,
which were absolutely necessary for commercial operations; but
these, too, for the time, did not meet with success.

In 1888 a new era was opened by a number of concessions of
Chinese soil to foreign Powers. Macao, which in 1557 had been
handed over to Portuguese traders for a sum of money, which
ceased to be paid in 1848, was in 1887 surrendered to Portugal on
the same footing as any other Portuguese possession, Portugal
promising not to alienate it without the consent of China. Russia
also began to advance, her left eye looking, as was said,
covetously at Korea and her right at Mongolia. In 1888 a
treaty was concluded between Russia and Korea, which gave her
the right to trade at various Korean ports, such as Chemulpo,
Gensan, Fusan, and the town of Seoul. Li happened to be a
warm supporter of the Russian schemes. Li and the Empress
were opposed by the Marquis Tseng, a man of great ability,
who might have rendered to China invaluable assistance in the
troublous times which were approaching, but he was taken ill
after a dinner given by one of his colleagues which he was foolish
enough to attend, and died on April 12th, 1890.

Before we deal with the war between China and Japan in
1894, which forms such an important epoch in the history of
the Far East, we must give some account of the development
of Japan and Korea, which was the cause of the war. The most
remarkable fact about the history of Japan in modern times was
the sudden abolition of feudalism, effecting at one stroke what
it cost other nations similarly situated years to accomplish.

844
JAPAN AND FEUDALISM

Feudalism in Japan is generally considered to have begun in
1192, when the civil government of the several provinces, previ-
ously chosen from the Kugé, or Court nobles, was replaced by one
composed of Shugo, or protectors drawn from the military class.
However, three hundred years before that time an economical
change had taken place which substituted large estates exempt
from taxation for peasant holdings subject to taxation, which
had previously existed. Four centuries of civil war succeeded,
favourable to the development of the great territorial lords, who
had risen from the military order, and to whom the peasants were
responsible for the payment of taxes and the performance of
services in labour.

The feudal system was completely established at the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century, when power was vested in the
Daimios, or great feudal lords, owing a nominal allegiance to the
Mikado, a phantom sovereign without power, and in a number of
smaller owners, who were really dependent on their feudal lords.
The Daimios and their feudal followers formed the Samurat, the
military and noble class who were the rulers of the land. These,
however, were subdivided, as in other countries, some being
granted land, others receiving pay, usually in the form of rice;
some serving with their personal vassals, some alone, some on
horseback, some on foot. Service in the cavalry was considered
more respectable, as in Greece and Rome and other feudal States,
and the man who had a horse was able to ride it in times
of peace. The Mikado and the Kugé retained all their titles
and prerogatives, but lost every vestige of influence and power.
They were allowed only a moderate income, and were excluded
almost entirely from intercourse with the external world. But,
curiously enough, this entire deprivation of power was coincident
with the theory that the Emperor was supreme, and for this reason
devotion to the Emperor never died out. He lived in his palace,
as in heaven, in order to keep his noble heart unharmed. Every
day he was to pray to heaven that he might be an example to
his country, for by such means the lofty virtues of the Emperor
were spread abroad; all the country under heaven belonged to
the Emperor; his duty was to help and educate his people, and
for this reason he committed the care of the peace and prosperity
of the country to officials and warriors. This duty might have
been entrusted to the Kugé, but the people preferred that it
should be given to the Buké or military class. The rulers of
provinces were called Kokushu, and of them the Shogun was the
chief. Beginning at first as primus inter pares, he gradually arrived

845
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

at predominant authority. The Kokushu could only approach
the Mikado through the Shogun; all direct communication with
the Imperial Court was forbidden; they were not allowed to
visit the capital without the approval of the Shogun, and even
then they must not come within a certain distance of the Imperial
palace. Marriages between the Buké families and the Kugé
families were not allowed without the permission of the Shogun,
and also every precaution was taken to maintain the authority of
the Shogun over the Daimios, generally on the principle of divid-
ing and governing. The most powerful of the Shoguns was
Iyemitsu, who held the office from 1623 to 1651, and made
himself and his successors masters of Japan. The visit he paid to
the Mikado in Kioto in the first year of his reign was the last paid
by any Shogun until 1863. Under his rule the British and Chinese
were sent to Nagasaki, and all other foreigners were expelled
the country, the Japanese themselves being forbidden to leave
it. The administration of his dominions was admirable in all
respects. He was the first to assume the title of Tycoon, or “ great
lord,’”’ which he used in intercourse with other countries.

It must not be supposed that the supremacy of the Shogun
was universally accepted without opposition. Iyemitsu belonged
to the powerful family of the Tokugawa, but there were divisions
in this family itself as to the policy by which the Mikado had
been deprived of his rights. The opposition to it was mainly
literary, and the leaders of it were the princes of the House of
Mito. Mitsukumi, who died in 1700, published a great history
and a book of ceremonial, which drew attention to the early
history of Japan and prepared the way for the restoration of the
Mikado. The poverty of the Samurai, the growth of Ronins (or
masterless Samurai), who were no better than brigands; the rise
of a bureaucracy which ate like a canker into the land of the
Shogunate, the spread of foreign ideas, the desire of the Daimios
for independence, led to the formation of parties at the courts
both of the Mikado and the Shogun, and the situation was brought
to a crisis by the appearance of foreign vessels off the coast.
Political parties arose, some of which were for the Mikado, some
for the Shogun, while others wavered between the two. In the
midst of this ferment in 1853, Commodore Matthew Galbraith
Perry arrived at Yokohama and demanded the opening of Japan
in the name of the United States of America. By treaty signed
on March 31st, 1854, the ports of Shimonoseki and Hakodate
were opened to the Americans. The Mikado and his followers
seized the opportunity of raising the cry of “ Jo7/” (‘‘ Drive

846
THE MIKADO TRIUMPHANT

out the strangers!’’) with the object. of weakening the power
of the Shogun.

At length, in 1858 conventions were executed with the
United States, Great Britain, France, Russia and Portugal, and
Prussia in 1861, by which the ports of Kanagawa, Nagasaki and
Hakodate were thrown open to foreign trade, diplomatic repre-
sentatives were admitted to Yedo and consuls to the Treaty
ports, the Mikado still opposing the policy for his own purposes.
As may be imagined, the movement was not universally popular,
and a number of murders of foreigners took place. It became
evident that no finality could be secured unless the conventions
made with foreigners by the Shogun were recognised by the
Mikado. This concession was obtained in November, 1866, but
the feeling against foreigners remained. The struggle between
the Mikado and the Shogun continued, with varied fortunes,
until on January 13th, 1868, the Shogun was finally defeated at
Fushimi. His life was spared, but the Tokugawa was deprived
of nearly all its revenue and of a large portion of its territory.
Resistance was finally crushed on June 26th, 1868. Thus fell
the dynasty of the Tokugawa Shoguns which, for nearly 400
years, had given peace and prosperity to the country. Its
fall was due to its own weakness and the treachery of those
whose interest it was to support it. It is certainly one of the
most remarkable facts in history that a dynasty, which had been
powerless for 700 years, and had been excluded from all inter-
course with the outer world for 250 years, should have been able
to assert itself in this decisive manner.

The movement against the rule of the Shogun had begun with
the cry of “ Down with the foreigner!” The fact that they
had one national object in view consolidated the Mikado’s party
as nothing else would have done. But some of their influential
advisers realised that progress was intimately connected with
the admission of foreigners and foreign ideas, and they did not
hesitate to give utterance to these opinions even at the risk of
their lives. More than one of them suffered death or damage at
the hands of the Jo-i party.

The Mikado had, indeed, a difficult task in reorganising his
government. The first plan was to re-establish the Taikwa, a
constitution promulgated by the Emperor Kotoku in 645, which
implied a well-organised centralised government. But in April,
1868, the Mikado gave a solemn assurance that a deliberative
assembly should be summoned; a few days afterwards he
reviewed the army and fleet at Osaka, and on January 5th,

847
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

1869, received the representatives of foreign courts at Yedo. The
work of reform was carried on with less difficulty than might
have been expected.

A great problem was how to raise the position of the lower
classes and depress that of the Samurai so as to form a fairly
homogeneous population. As we have seen, the Samurai were
formed of the Daimios and their retainers, and occupied them-
selves as notabilities have done in all countries and in all ages—
the more intelligent as statesmen, the lower ranks in fencing,
riding, and learning the use of the spear and the bow. The
remainder of the population consisted of three classés—the No,
or farmers, the Ko, or artisans, and the Sho, or traders; but
below these were two other classes, or rather two unclassed
sections, reminding us of ancient Rome and modern India, the
Eta and the Hinin, the latter word meaning “‘ Not human,” the
pariahs of the nation, living entirely apart from their fellow-
countrymen. They were employed in slaughtering animals,
tanning skins, burying executed criminals and similar pursuits,
the No, the Ko, and the Sho regarding the touch or presence
of these people as contamination. Yet the position of the two
lowest classes, with regard to those immediately above them, was
not worse than the relation of these latter to the Samurai. In
the presence of a Samurai they either prostrated themselves
on the ground or stood bowing with downcast eyes. They could
not retaliate if struck, nor would they be avenged if murdered.

On such foundations the fabric of modern Japan had to be
built. The first task was to abolish or modify profoundly class
distinctions. The Kugé and the Daimios were merged in a new
class of nobles; the remainder of the Samurai were grouped
together with distinctions of rank, and the rest of the popu-
lation, including the Eta and the Hinin, were formed into a
single class of commoners. Disabilities of every kind and all
sumptuary laws were abolished, and every office in the Govern-
ment was thrown open to the people. The foundations of a
national army, with universal military service, were laid; railway,
postal, and telegraph services were organised; a system of
compulsory education was established, and a uniform coinage
was introduced.

The moving spirit of all these reforms was Prince Ito, of whom
Professor Longford enables us to conceive a trustworthy picture.
Born a simple Samurai, he early discerned the advantages of
Western civilisation. Leaving his country with four others, under
pain of death, he made his way to England. To do this he shipped

848
RISE AND FALL OF KOREA

before the mast and worked his way as a common sailor. When
he returned he ran the danger of assassination, but was saved
by the devotion of a young girl, who afterwards became his wife,
He held many offices in his own country, but his chief merit lies
in the fact that in every crisis of the Empire, whenever a mission
Tequired special tact, decision, sacrifice, broad-mindedness and
elaborate investigation, he was chosen as ambassador. He was
the first Prime Minister when the system of responsible govern-
ment was introduced, and before his death, in 1909, had held that
office four times.

Great pains were taken in the preparation of a Constitution,
and the best intellects of Europe were consulted on the subject,
and at last, on February 11th, 1890, the document was formally
presented to his subjects by the Emperor. The first general
election took place in the summer of 1890, and the parliament
met in the following November. The Constitution resembled
that of Germany rather than that of Great Britain, the Ministers
being responsible to the Emperor and holding their offices at his
will; but, considering the difficulties in the path, parliamentary
government in Japan cannot be regarded as other than a success.

The narrow peninsula of Korea, jutting out from the continent
of Asia, washed on one side by the Yellow Sea and on the other
by the Sea of Japan, has, during the greater part of its history,
been an apple of discord and a theatre of war between its contend-
ing neighbours. Struggles between China and Korea occupied
the two centuries before the Christian era. These wars, which
continued for nearly 1,400 years, ended in the acknowledgment
of the supremacy of China. Korea had been the teacher of Japan
in almost all its arts and sciences, and a higher civilisation existed
in the “Land of the Morning Calm” than in China itself; but
under the Ming dynasty the country became wholly dependent
on China, the calendar, chronology, methods of government, and
the dress of the Chinese being adopted. Buddhism was almost
entirely suppressed, and priests were forbidden to enter Seoul,
the capital, strict Confucianism becoming the State religion of
the country. At the same time advances were made in civilisa-
tion; the practices of human sacrifice and of burying slaves
alive at the burial of their masters were given up. But whatever
advances were made in Korean self-government, the country was
dependent on its more powerful neighbours, and embassies were
sent both to China and Japan as bearers of tribute.

Tribute to Japan was discontinued in 1460, but in 1592
Hideyoshi, the ambitious ruler of Japan, set out to conquer

849
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Korea, as the first step to the conquest of China. In eighteen
days Seoul was captured, and the Japanese reached the Ta Tung.
It is said that Hideyoshi’s army consisted of nearly 200,000 men.
Chinese troops came to the assistance of the Koreans, but they
were defeated, and peace was made between Japan and China.
By this treaty the southern provinces of Korea were ceded to
Japan and her tributary relations with that country were acknow-
ledged. A few years later war broke out again, and the Japanese
were again victorious, Korea, however, retaining a certain measure
of independence, though greatly weakened. On the fall of the
Ming dynasty, Korea was invaded by the Manchus and forced
to pay tribute to China. We see, therefore, that from the dawn
of its annals, Korea, although proud of its individuality and
possessing a noble history and many excellent traditions, was
obliged to live on sufferance, a buffer State between two imperious
neighbours.

After the revolution in Japan and the restoration of the
Mikado the new Government demanded from Korea the resump-
tion of the payment of tribute, which was indignantly refused.
The Japanese clamoured for conquest, and an expedition against
Formosa was undertaken to direct popular sentiment into another
channel. However, in September, 1875, when a Japanese war-
ship, which was surveying the coast of Korea, was captured, it
was impossible to restrain the popular feeling. The Japanese
sent an embassy to Peking to ask for definite information with
regard to the position of the Chinese Government in respect to
Korea, and, upon the Chinese declining all responsibility for the
affairs of that country, an expedition was sent to the peninsula.
Negotiations took place, however, and on February 27th, 1876,
a convention was signed in which Japan recognised the independ-
ence of Korea, and her harbours were thrown open to Japanese
trade.

This led to the rebellion of the Satsuma in Japan. Saigo, the
head of that clan, one of the most powerful personalities in Japan,
was profoundly dissatisfied with the peaceful policy adopted
towards Korea, and withdrew to his native province, where he
was said to devote his time to farming and field sports. But he
was really organising rebellion, as in his own clan he had kept
the Samurai on their former footing and had trained them as
soldiers of the modern type. He was able to do this without
difficulty, because his clansmen regarded him with passionate
devotion.

Satsuma was the most powerful of all the Daimiotes; it lay

850
DISTURBANCES IN KOREA

in the extreme south of Japan, and was protected by a frontier
of hills; while Kagoshima, the capital, situated at the head of
a long, narrow bay, could easily be guarded. Everything, there-
fore, favoured its isolation and secrecy. In 1871 the Daimios
accepted the new order of things; but Saigo refused to admit
the officials dispatched from Tokio and sent them back by the
steamers which brought them. The Government, not being
able to coerce, attempted to flatter, heaping honours on Saigo
himself and giving important duties to other members of the
clan; but Satsuma continued to maintain its quasi-independence.
When, however, an edict was issued in 1876, forbidding the
Samurai to wear their accustomed swords, Saigo lost all patience,
and, on February 14th, 1877, marched out of his capital at the
head of 14,000 men, equipped with modern weapons and well
drilled in their use, to “ address,” as he said, ‘‘ some inquiries to
the Government.”

The campaign lasted more than seven months; at first the
Satsuma were victorious. After firing a few volleys with their
rifles, they rushed upon the troops of the Government with their
terrible swords and routed them. But the Imperialists, largely
exceeding the rebels in number, gradually gained confidence, and
the clansmen were driven back and eventually surrounded. Saigo,
with a few faithful followers, broke through the investing forces
and entrenched himself on a hill near Kagoshima, leaving
the others to surrender if they pleased. On September 24th the
hill was stormed by the Imperial troops, and all the insurgents,
excepting 200, who were made prisoners, were killed. The
campaign cost the Government 17,000 lives and £8,500,000, but
feudalism received its last blow; Satsuma was placed under the
Tokio officials, and has been quiet ever since.

In 1882 the United States, and then Great Britain and Germany,
followed the example of Japan and concluded conventions with
Korea. But in that year a rebellion broke out in Seoul, directed
against the Japanese, and the members of the Japanese Embassy
had to flee the country. They returned, however, a few weeks
afterwards, and a convention was signed at Chemulpo, by which
Japan obtained the right to keep troops in Seoul for the protec-
tion of her Embassy. In 1884 fresh disturbances occurred in
Seoul, the object being to destroy the Chinese conservative
influence and substitute the Japanese progressive party in its
place. Fighting ensued, but ultimately the Chinese gained
possession both of the palace and the person of the King. At the
same time an anti-Japanese riot broke out, the houses of Japanese

. 851
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

traders were destroyed and their inhabitants murdered. The
Japanese Legation was attacked, the members of the Embassy
had great difficulty in making their way to the coast, and the
Legation itself was burned.

Popular opinion in Japan was more excited against the Chinese
than against Korea; but the Government, better informed, kept
the parties quiet, and Ito was sent to Peking. A treaty was
drafted providing that both China and Japan should withdraw
their troops from Korea, but should have the power of sending
them back should circumstances require it; neither country,
however, was to act without the knowledge of the other. Korea
was to be left to herself and to be encouraged to train her own
population to arms. This was signed on April r8th, 1885, by
Ito and Li Hung Chang, under the name of the Convention of
Tientsin. Peace continued for some years, although the com-
mercial rivalry of the two Powers created perpetual friction,
and the establishment of constitutional and parliamentary govern-
ment in Japan caused a recrudescence of a more vigorous foreign
policy. The proceedings of the ambassador, Oishi, who was sent
to Seoul in 1893, would have produced a war but for the
diplomatic wisdom of Li Hung Chang.

In 1894 a fanatical religious sect revolted in Korea, and the
Government, being unable to suppress the disturbance, applied
to China for help. Two thousand troops were sent to Seoul by
orders from Peking, the Chinese Government informing the
Japanese of what they had done. Upon this the Japanese
dispatched an army of equal strength to the peninsula and
collected a reserve in case of emergency. The first Chinese
troops landed on the east coast of Korea on June 8th, and the
first Japanese troops at Chemulpo on June 12th. The revolt was
quickly suppressed; but, when the Chinese sent information of
the fact and of their intention to withdraw their troops, the
Japanese replied that they had no intention of evacuating Korea
until an understanding had been come to with China as to the
reforms to be introduced into the affairs of the peninsula. China
refused to take part in this policy, and maintained that Korea
should be left to take care of herself and work out her own
reforms. Japan then addressed Korea in the same terms, and,
not meeting with an adequate response, sent an ultimatum on
July 20th, 1894, demanding that reforms should be accepted
within three days. Two days later an unsatisfactory reply was
delivered, Seoul was attacked and captured, and the King was
taken prisoner.

852
CHINO-JAPANESE WAR

This was an act of war, and the civilised world heard that the
two great nations of the Far East were about to contend for
supremacy. Those who thought they knew the situation best con-
sidered that China would have an easy victory, and were not sorry
that the upstart Japanese should receive a lesson from their
more solid and more trustworthy neighbours. The innate strength
of China and the hollowness of Japanese civilisation would become
apparent to the world. Chinese transports were dispatched to
the Yalu River, the northern boundary of Korea, and to Oram,
on the south-western coast. On July 25th three Japanese men-
of-war sent to guard the coast sighted two Chinese ships of
similar strength. Within an hour one of these ships was driven
ashore and the other escaped to Wei-hai-wei. At the end of the
action a Chinese man-of-war appeared, apparently escorting the
Kowshing, an English vessel. The Chinese ship hauled down
its flag, but the Kowshing refused to obey. Thereupon the
Japanese opened fire, and sank the transport with 1,500 men.
Asan was captured shortly afterwards, and the struggle shifted
to Ping Yang, a very strong place farther north. This was
captured on September 16th. The garrison were pursued, and
1,500 of them killed, the rest making their escape across the
Yalu. Two days later a great battle took place off the island of
Hai Yang, at the mouth of the Yalu. The battle lasted three
hours ; four Chinese ships were sunk, but the Japanese did not
lose one. The Japanese then crossed the Yalu and continued
their victorious march into Manchuria. They now proceeded to
attack Port Arthur, which was defended by a wall of forts con-
solidated by French engineers, and fell on November 21st. The
Chinese retreated northwards along the coast.

Li Hung Chang now advised the Emperor to sue for peace ;
but the Japanese were unwilling for the moment to consider it.
The one remaining Chinese fortress, Wei-hai-wei, was attacked by
Admiral Ito and, after the loss of five ships of war, surrendered
by Admiral Ting, who, shamed by this defeat, committed suicide.
Li Hung Chang presented himself personally at Shimonoseki on
March roth, 1895. By the treaty signed on April 17th, China
ceded to Japan the Liao-tung peninsula, the island of Formosa and
the Pescadores ; a war indemnity of {50,000,000 was to be paid
in eight instalments; fout new cities were to be open to trade;
and Japanese vessels were allowed to navigate the Upper Yangtsze-
kiang and other Chinese waters. As a guarantee of the fulfilment
of these conditions the Japanese were to occupy Wei-hai-wei.

But the European Powers now interfered. They could not

853
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

view with indifference the surrender of Port Arthur, which, they
said, would dominate Peking. The Japanese wisely yielded on
the payment of a larger indemnity. Out of this originated the
secret convention between Count Cascini, the Russian Minister
at Peking, and China, which is supposed to have guaranteed the
integrity of her Empire to China and resistance to any attempt
of the Japanese to gain a footing on the mainland. The Chinese in
return were to give facilities for the making of Russian railways
through Manchuria, and to agree to the settlement of certain
disputed questions concerning the long-extended frontier between
China and Russia. Russia did not gain her way without some
difficulty, but the general result of the war was to place her in
Korea instead of China, although one of the objects of Japanese
policy had been to check the advance of that aggressive Power.

834
CHAPTER XII

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA

TASMANIA was discovered by Abel Tasman (who named it Van
Diemen’s Land) in 1642, and Australia by Captain Cook in 1770,
though Australia had often been sighted before that date.
When the exportation of criminals to Virginia came to an end
after the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Botany Bay, of
which Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist, had given a glorious
account, praising its magnificent scenery and splendid climate,
was chosen as a dumping-ground for convicts. A more rational
plan of colonisation by exiled American loyalists was proposed
by Matra, afterwards British Consul at Algiers, and Lord
Sydney, Secretary for the Colonies and Plantations, favoured the
scheme in 1784, but afterwards recurred to the plan of trans-
portation. It is a pity that the idea did not receive the serious
attention of Pitt. 2

On May 13th, 1787, a frigate and tender of the Royal Navy,
six transports, and three store ships sailed from England with
I,t00 men, of whom some 250 were free, and landed at Botany
Bay about January 2oth, 1788, but removed in a few days to the
site of the modern city of Sydney. The expedition was com-
manded by Captain Arthur Phillip, the son of a German governess
who had married an English seaman. Phillip remained Governor
for five years (1788-92) and did his work admirably. Sheep-
farming owes its origin to John MacArthur, who was also the
first to introduce Australian wine culture. In 1797 he procured
some fine merinos from Cape Town, and these, with some ordinary
Cape sheep which were afterwards added, were the progenitors
of the immense flocks which were the foundation of the wealth
of the island-continent. MacArthur obtained a concession in
perpetuity of 5,000 acres of grazing land, with convicts as
labourers, and founded the Camden estate, so called in honour
of the Secretary of State who had given it to him. The results
of this policy were prodigious. On the retirement of Phillip
in 1792, only 1,700 acres were under cultivation, and the
number of domestic animals could be reckoned by dozens.
In 1806, after five years of the government of Gidley King,

855
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

the stock amounted to 37,768 and the white population to 9,462
persons.

The close of the Napoleonic wars gave a great impulse to
Australian emigration, and New South Wales received, besides
criminals, a large number of free colonists, mainly time-expired
soldiers or discharged convicts. When Governor Macquarie retired
in 1821, after holding office for eleven years, the white population
was reckoned at 39,000 persons, 32,267 acres were under cultiva-
tion, and there were 103,000 head of cattle, 4,564 horses, and
more than 250,000 sheep. The revenue of the community was
£30,000. After Macquarie’s departure the power of the Governor
was limited, and Brisbane, his successor, who held office from
1821 to 1825, was obliged to act in conjunction with an advisory
board. Under him the income of the colony more than doubled.
Brisbane was succeeded by Darling, who ruled from 1825 to
1831, but did not gain that popularity which his name would
seem to imply. He treated the convicts with inhumanity and
the free settlers with tyranny and hostility. Still, his term of
office witnessed an increase of material prosperity. On May
22nd, 1840, transportation to New South Wales was abolished,
but it still continued to North Island and Tasmania; afterwards
it was partially restored and did not come finally to an end till
1868.

Of the six States of which the Commonwealth of Australia is
composed, only three—Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland—were
offshoots from New South Wales. South Australia and Western
Australia were founded, like New Zealand, by direct colonisation
from Great Britain. Tasmania was founded as a penal colony
by Lieutenant Bower in June, 1805, the reason being fear of
French aggression, and the necessity for providing additional
accommodation for the convicts, who were becoming too numerous
for New South Wales. The wanton destruction of the natives
in Tasmania is a blot on civilisation. They were naturally
peaceable, harmless, and contented, and bore the cruelty of
the barbarous criminals with exemplary patience; but in 1826,
driven to desperation, they retaliated and murdered all the whites
who fell into their hands. Since the landing of the whites they
had lived upon the produce of the sea; but, being driven into
the interior, this supply failed them. They fought heroically for
their existence. At last large sums of head-money were offered
for the shooting or capture of the blacks, and aboriginals were
brought over from Australia to track them more securely. The
process of extinction was cruel and pitiless, The convicts killed

856
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLONIES

the natives from lust of blood, the settlers pursued them in self-
defence, and the Government helped to destroy them from desire
of territory. At last Colonel Arthur, the then Governor (1823
to 1836), organised a colossal drive. A cordon was drawn across
the island from coast to coast and the natives were forced
into a narrow peninsula. This elaborate design, which cost this
country £30,000, resulted in the capture of two natives, The last
Tasmanian native, called Trukanini, or Lalla Rookh, died in
London in 1876. She had been born in 1803, the year of
Bower’s expedition, when the native population was numbered at
8,000. In 1830, the time of the native war, they had been reduced
to 700, and in 1861 to 18. The last male Tasmanian died at
Hobart in 1869, aged thirty-four.

Originally known as Port Phillip, Victoria, which changed
its mame in 1851, was founded in 1835 by settlers from Van
Diemen’s Land, against the will of the Government of New South
Wales. But the colony, once established, soon developed and
grew very prosperous. In 1840 Melbourne became a free port;
in 1843 the trade of the colony amounted to £341,000, and in
1848 to {1,049,000. The relations between the colonists and the
natives were friendly. In 1851 it was separated from New South
Wales and raised to the position of an independent colony.

Queensland derives its origin from settlers who proceeded
from New South Wales to the north, from the Liverpool Plains
to the Darling Downs, the best pasture grounds in the world.
There was at this time a penal settlement at Moreton Bay, which
is the modern Brisbane, but it could only be reached from the
interior by a difficult mountain path, and settlement by squatters
was absolutely forbidden. It was not until the abolition of the
penal settlement in 1839 that good roads were made over the
mountains, and the value of the position was enormously
increased. Therefore the development of this country is unique
from the fact that it proceeded from the interior to the coast.
Queensland was declared an independent colony in 1859, the
population then consisting of 30,000 souls.

West Australia, formerly Swan River Settlement, was founded
directly from England in 1829 by Thomas Peel, who had grand
schemes, but lost £50,000 in attempting to carry them out. Lack
of labour compelled the colonists to invite convicts to their shores,
an offer which was readily accepted by the British Government
in 1849. By 1852 there were 1,500 transported men in the
country, half of whom were ticket-of-leave men. This proved to
be a blessing, and the influx of new workers brought money and

857
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

life into the colony. Coalfields were discovered, guano beds
were exploited, sandal-wood was exported, a pearl fishery was
established, and studs for breeding horses were introduced on a
large scale. It profited largely by the money obtained from the
Mother Country for the support of the convicts. Transportation
to Western Australia finally ceased in 1868, after the colony had
received 9,718 convicts. The stoppage of this source of men
and money hindered the development of the colony, which was
not considered ripe for responsible government until 1890.

South Australia was, like West Australia, colonised from
England, and the South Australian Land Company, formed in
London in 1831, contained amongst its directors Edward Gibbon
Wakefield, the distinguished originator of scientific colonisation.
According to his plan, large tracts of land were to be assigned
to a colonisation company and provided with sufficient means,
on the understanding that it founded settled communities. The
company was to recoup itself for its initial expenditure by selling
land at fixed prices, the profits to be expended by bringing over
British workmen. In 1834 the Government gave its practical
consent to Wakefield’s scheme, and the success of the experiment
was very great. A capital was chosen, called Adelaide, after
the name of the consort of William IV. In 1840 there were
10,000 settlers, who owned 200,000 sheep and 15,000 head of
cattle. Indeed, the flood of prosperity was so great and so sudden
that the colony soon got largely into debt. The situation was
saved by the appointment of the great statesman, George Grey,
to govern the colony. He adopted drastic measures, especially
in the direction of economy, and in five years ended a brilliant
term of office, after which he was transferred to New Zealand.
In 1849 the population amounted to 52,000, and in the follow-
ing year South Australia became a recognised colony.

Australia having thus been called into existence with its six
colonies (counting Tasmania as one), each as large as a European
kingdom, the next step was to endow it with the magic powers
of self-government. New South Wales had enjoyed this privilege
since 1842, and a Bill became law on August 5th, 1850, by which
Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria, now separated from
New South Wales, received Constitutions. Every proprietor of
land of the value of £10, who was at least twenty-one years of age,
received the franchise, as well as anyone who rented or held a
farm of the annual value of f{10. Customs and excise were left
to the colonies under the condition that no preferential duties
were to be proposed; but the customs continued to be collected

858
DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AUSTRALIA

by officials nominated from Great Britain. Self-government was
incomplete, as half the profits drawn from Crown lands were at
the disposal of the Mother Country, and the nomination of the
higher officials rested entirely with the Colonial Office in London.
At last, owing to the discovery of gold, fear lest the colonies might
secede, and the distractions of the Crimean War, the demands
of South Australia and Tasmania for greater and more complete
liberty were granted in 1854, and those of Victoria and New
South Wales were confirmed by Parliament in the following year.

These new Constitutions introduced a bicameral system. The
former Legislative Council became an Upper House, and to this
a Lower House was added. In New South Wales the Upper
Chamber consisted of twenty-one members, nominated by the
Crown for life, and the Lower Chamber of fifty-four elected
representatives, a number which has now increased to 125. In
Tasmania the Council has always numbered eighteen and the
Lower House thirty-seven, all elected. The Governor is nominated
by the Crown but paid by the Colony, and holds office for six
years. He occupies the position of a constitutional sovereign,
but is controlled by the Colonial Office. His consent is necessary
to all colonial legislation, but his actions may be reversed by
the Colonial Secretary. The Colonial Parliaments are regarded
as Parliaments of the King, passing laws which bind the Australian
subjects of the Sovereign. Indeed, the Crown is the link which
binds the colonies—recognised as States since the founding of the
Commonwealth—and the Mother Country together. The colonists
enjoy all the rights and privileges of British subjects, without
paying one penny to Great Britain, and English law holds good
in Australia, except so far as it has been superseded by local
legislation. The executive power is in the hands of the Ministers,
who vary in number from six in Tasmania to nine in New South
Wales. Their nomination depends upon Parliamentary majorities
in the different colonies, and in consequence they change very
rapidly. Between 1858 and 1876 South Australia had twenty-nine
different Ministers at the head of affairs.

The discovery of gold produced a profound effect upon the
development of the country. The ore was first found in the
mountains near Bathurst in 1851; a few weeks later near
Ballarat, in Victoria; in October in Mount Alexander, not far
from Melbourne, and a little later at Bendigo; in 1856 in Queens-
land; and in 1886 in West Australia. The whole population
rushed to the goldfields. Melbourne was left with a single police-
man, South Australia seemed to be inhabited by women and

859
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

children, and crowds of emigrants flocked from the Old World.
The growth of population was phenomenal. In ten years that of
Victoria increased from 70,000 to 581,000. This enhanced the
difficulties of the Government, which was still more embarrassed
when the majority of the Civil Service deserted their offices
for the goldfields. Soldiers had to be imported from England,
and the place of government officials was supplied by English
pensioned prison warders.

Another difficulty was to determine to whom the gold
belonged. At the outset it was claimed for the Crown, and it was
even proposed to stop mining altogether ; but this was impossible,
even if it had been desirable. It was difficult to insist even on the
payment of a royalty, and the questions of the amount to be im-
posed and the tax on the exportation of the precious metal were not
settled for some time. The average yearly output of gold from
185r to Ig0r was not less than {9,000,000 sterling. But great
expenditure was needed to meet the new problems which had
arisen. In 1900 the public debt of Australia reached £187,000,000,
or £50 per head of the population. The land question assumed
great prominence, and there was a severe contest between the
large and the small proprietors, which is not even now completely
at an end. The population trebled in forty years, owing mainly
to emigration from the United Kingdom.

The internal development of Australia was accompanied by
the desire and the effort to spread its sway beyond the limits of
the continent. This was shown, first, in the anxiety to relieve
the Mother Country of Fiji, and, secondly, in the wish to take
over at least a portion of the immense island of New Guinea, on
which Germany had cast covetous eyes. The Australians sug-
gested the acquisition of that part of New Guinea which was not
occupied by the Dutch, and Great Britain consented on condition
that Australia bore the cost of administration, but this she
refused to do. As the fear of German encroachment grew more
imminent, the Prime Minister of Queensland declared, in March,
1883, that he had taken possession of the island. The Mother
Country still refrained from decisive action, and Germany did
actually annex the northern portion of the island, whereupon, on
November 6th, 1884, the British flag was hoisted on the southern
coast. British New Guinea became a Crown Colony, Queensland,
New South Wales and Victoria paying a fixed sum every year
towards the cost of its administration. The authority at the
head of British New Guinea communicates with the Colonial
Office through the Governor of Queensland. Pitcairn and Norfolk

860
QUESTION OF FEDERATION

Islands stand in the same relation to New South Wales. Questions
of a kindred character have also arisen with regard to Samoa,
but these so far have been happily settled, though it is impossible
to predict what may be the future of a greater Australia.

The necessity or prudence of federation in course of time
became a question of importance. Early in the ’fifties the creation
of an Australian Parliament was proposed to settle the differences
of tariff, but it was rejected. Then the adoption of a Customs
union in Canada in 1871 stimulated the movement. From the
first one of the greatest obstacles to union had been conflicts on
the tariff. In the ‘forties, New South Wales and Tasmania differ-
ing in opinion on the subject, it was felt to be undesirable that
the colonies should pass hostile or retaliatory measures which
were likely to interfere with trade and commerce and excite
feelings of jealousy and ill-will, and possibly produce even worse
results. As early as 1849 the establishment of a uniform tariff
for Australia, to be fixed by the British Parliament, was proposed,
to be adjusted from time to time by representatives of all the
colonies in council. Thus the federation of Australia, like the
federation of the United States, took its origin from the difficulties
arising out of the adjustment of mutual trade.

Indeed, a Constitution Bill was introduced by Earl Grey to
establish a general executive and legislative authority in Australia
for the promotion of the common welfare and prosperity of the
separate communities, as well as a Supreme Court for the settle-
ment of disputes between them. The clauses passed the Commons,
but were withdrawn in the Lords. The movement was premature.
However, in 185r Sir Charles Fitzroy was appointed Governor-
General for the whole of Australia, with lieutenant-governors for
the separate provinces; but this arrangement only lasted until
1855, and was finally repealed in 1861, so that the attempt of
Earl Grey to construct a central government came to an end.
Efforts at federation still continued. In 1858 New South Wales,
Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia agreed to a conference,
and in 1860 the new colony of Queensland gave her adhesion. But
some of the colonies thought that the proper moment had not yet
come, and the first conference, held in 1863, to discuss questions
of tariff, declined to consider federation.

As the six colonies developed separate interests and separate
politics the prospects of union became more and more remote.
The tariff had, as we have seen, been a source of trouble from the
beginning. Each of the colonies had a separate scale of import
duties, and it was found that goods imported into a colony with

861
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

lower duties could easily find their way into another colony, while
the colonies could not bear the expense of guarding their several
frontiers. Also the natural port of one colony might be situated
in another. Accordingly, rough-and-ready agreements were made
to provide a kind of remedy. A modified system of intercolonial
free trade was suggested by the South Australians in 1862, but
received little encouragement. Indeed, all the colonies were
restrained by Act of Parliament from establishing differential or
proportional duties, either between themselves or with the world
outside, and attempts made to abrogate the Act were not success-
ful. At last, in 1873, an Australian Duties Act was passed which
removed all obstacles to tariff arrangements between the Australian
colonies. This, in some ways, made matters worse. Victoria
had adopted a strong protective policy, and she was just as
anxious to protect her agricultural and pastoral industries against
her neighbours as her manufactures against the competition of
Europe. She would not hear of Free Trade, unless her manu-
factures found a free market in other colonies. Protection begat
retaliation, and in the interests of internal peace the question of a
common tariff had to be laid aside.

Beside the question of a Customs union, the general political
condition of Europe favoured a federal union of the Australian
colonies. The year 1870 brought war very close to the United
Kingdom, and it was thought that if Great Britain were involved
in a European war the colonies might be a source of danger to
the Mother Country, while the connection with Great Britain
might cause danger to them. There were also some who feared
lest federation should be a step towards independence. Imperial
troops had recently been withdrawn from the colonies, a fact which
tended to expose them to the dangers of war. A commission,
presided over by Charles Gavan Duffy, emphasised the view
that the colonies possessed responsibility without either authority
or protection. They were exposed to the hazards of war, which
they were powerless to avert, and could not rely on defence from
the Mother Country. The commission, therefore, was in favour
of greater independence, especially in the direction of power to
contract agreements with foreign States. It also approved of the
eventual separation between the colonies and the Mother Country.
As a French writer once expressed it, in somewhat infelicitous
language, Great Britain says to her colonies when they have
grown up, ‘“‘ Wayward sisters!” (Allez, mes scurs /), imagining
that “ wayward” was a synonym for “ onward.”

After 1870 the power of other countries began to develop in

862
IMPERIAL DEFENCE

the Pacific, and the necessity for definite action became urgent.
Great Britain annexed Fiji in 1874. There being some likelihood
of France acquiring the New Hebrides and using them for the
transportation of convicts, in 1878 an agreement was made
between France and Great Britain that neither country should
annex these islands, but suspicion of danger still remained.
Similar difficulties arose with regard to Samoa. The result was
that in 1883 federation assumed a more tangible shape, which
was strengthened by the question of New Guinea, to which we
have already referred. In August, 1885, a Federal Council of
Australia was established for the purpose of considering the
marine defences of Australasia, the relation of Australia to the
islands of the Pacific, the prevention of the influx of criminals,
the regulation of quarantine, and—using a phrase employed on a
similar occasion by Alexander Hamilton—‘ other matters” of
general Australian importance and interest. The council was a
permanent body ; it was to meet at least once in every two years
and had power to make laws. At its first meeting, in 1886, it
appointed a standing committee to assemble out of session and
communicate, through its chairman, with the Secretary of State.
But the council was not received with equal enthusiasm by all
the States. Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and West Australia
were the only constant members, Fiji was represented only
at the first meeting, and South Australia soon withdrew. New
Zealand and New South Wales were not represented at all. The
great weakness of the council was that it did not possess the
power of the purse.

The further development of the principle of federation was
connected with Imperial defence. In 1887 an agreement was
made by which Australia was to contribute {126,000 a year
towards the expenses of an Australian squadron. This was the
result of a conference held in London on the occasion of Queen
Victoria’s Jubilee, when the widespread character of the British
Empire was the subject of an ocular and visible demonstration to
the colonies, to the Mother Country, and to the Powers of the
world. It was also agreed that periodical inspection of the
Australian forces should be made by a general officer of the
Imperial army. The first report, issued by the inspector in
October, 1889, recommended the federation of the colonies for
the purposes of defence, and the adoption of a common gauge for
the Australian system of railways. In pursuance of this idea, a
conference of the six colonies met at Melbourne on February 6th,
1890, when a resolution was unanimously adopted that it was

863
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

desirable to effect union between the colonies under the Crown,
and under a single legislative and executive government.
Consequently, a National Australian Convention was appointed,
consisting of not more than seven delegates from each of the self-
governing colonies and four from each of the Crown colonies.
The Convention met at Sydney on March 2nd, 1891, and sat till
April oth. In these short weeks they agreed that a federal
Constitution should be formed, containing a Parliament of two
Houses, a federal Supreme Court, and a federal Executive.
Committees were formed to deal severally with questions of
Constitution, finance and justice, and finally a drafting committee
of four produced a Bill to constitute the Commonwealth of
Australia. This draft Bill contained in substance the Constitu-
tion which received the Royal assent in 1900 and came into
operation on January Ist, rgor.

When the Convention had drawn up the draft Bill of jan,
it recommended that as soon as the Constitution had been
accepted by three colonies the Home Government should take
steps to put it into execution. But much had to be done before
that result could be realised. New South Wales held back;
Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania were uncertain; and the
other colonies did nothing. Sir Henry Parkes suggested that
the matter should be taken out of the hands of Parliament, and
that the Australian people should elect a federal Congress repre-
senting all the colonies and the whole people. Steps in this
direction were taken, and a conference of Premiers, held at Hobart
in January, 1895, recommended that the duty of fixing a federal
Constitution should be given to the representatives of each colony
directly chosen by the electors, the Constitution so formed to be
submitted to the electors for acceptance or rejection by a direct
vote, and that these resolutions should be confirmed by the
Parliaments of each colony.

The elections for the Convention took place in March, 1897,
and four colonies were represented—Victoria, New South Wales,
South Australia and Tasmania. The Convention met at Adelaide
on March 22nd, 1897, and it was evident that Edmund Barton
was the leading spirit. The draft Bill of 1891 was adopted as
the foundation of the work of the Convention. The first session
came to an end after a month, and the Bill was sent to the
Colonial Parliaments for consideration and amendments. At the
second session, held in Sydney between September 2nd and
September 24th, the most troublesome problems lay in the diffi-
culty of determining the Constitution and the power of the Senate,

864
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

and, as in the American Constitution, the conflicting claims of
population and the rights of individual States. Financial ques-
tions also occupied much time. The third and final session was
held at Melbourne between January 21st and March 17th, 1808.
The Bill had now to be submitted to a popular vote by means of
the referendum. It was passed in Victoria and Tasmania by a
majority of five to one, and in South Australia by: two to one;
but in New South Wales, although there was a small majority
for it, the statutory number of votes was not obtained. As the
Bill had been accepted by three colonies, it was competent to
present it to the Crown for enactment, but it was felt impossible
to move without the concurrence of New South Wales. At last
matters were adjusted, and on June 20th, 1899, the Bill was
passed by New South Wales. In September Queensland, which
had hitherto stood aloof, came in; but West Australia did not
join until the Act had received the Royal assent.

In every federal Constitution it is necessary to determine
who is the residuary legatee. Is the central federal authority
entrusted with certain regulated and defined powers, everything
not so enumerated being left to the component parts? Or, are
the States entrusted with certain powers, everything not so given
being left to the central government? America is representa-
tive of one system, Ireland under Home Rule would be an example
of the other.

Australia followed the American model, every power not
directly given to the central authority being left to the States.
The States remained separate entities, sovereign within their own
sphere, intact in their territories, capable of modifying their own
Constitutions, and in direct relation with the Imperial Govern-
ment, not being obliged to communicate through the federal
body. They surrendered to the central body certain specified
powers—the control of commerce, Customs, post office, foreign
affairs, defence, navigation, naturalisation, railways and State
debts. The States retained control over education, the police and
the land.

The federal Government consists of a Parliament, a Federal
Council, and a High Court of Judicature, the Parliament having
two Chambers, a Senate and a House of Representatives. The
qualification for members and for electors is the same for both
Houses, and the members of both receive the same salary. In
this bicameral Parliament the principles adopted in America and
in Switzerland are followed. The Senate represents the States,
each State sending an equal number of representatives, six for

ac 865
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

each province. The senators are chosen for six years, and one
half of the members retire every third year. The Lower House
is elected according to population, it sits for not more than
three years and is twice as large as the Senate. The Senate
cannot initiate or amend money Bills, but it may reject them.
A dispute between the two Houses that cannot be arranged
is met either by a simultaneous dissolution or by a joint sitting
of the Houses. The head of the Executive is a Governor-
General. The ministers are appointed by the Governor-General
to administer certain departments, their number, however,
being fixed by Parliament, and they may be dismissed by him.
The ministers" are always members of the Executive Council,
but all members of the council are not necessarily ministers. The
High Court has original jurisdiction in certain defined matters,
and a general appellate jurisdiction, but appeal may be made from
its decision to the Privy Council.

The Constitution of Australia, following the lead of America
and Great Britain rather than that of Canada, is essentially
democratic. It bears every mark of confidence in the capacity of
the people to undertake any and every function of government.
In the constitution of Parliament, in the relations between the
Houses, and in the amendment of the Constitution the people
play a direct part, and the qualifications both for members and
electors rest on the widest possible basis.

The creation of the Commonwealth has opened a new phase
in the history of Australia. No great change has taken place in
the policy of the country, because the principles and objects of
its government remain the same as before. But the unity to
which all progress had been tending was now embodied in definite
institutions, and the ideals which had been cherished in different
parts of the Commonwealth could now be regarded as the expres-
sion of national feeling. A firmer stand was made against slavery.
The importation of native labourers was forbidden in igor, and
in 1906 those already introduced were sent out of the country.
Care was taken in the introduction of new citizens, educational
tests were imposed on immigrants, and sugar planters who only
employed white labour received pecuniary encouragement from
the State. Tariff barriers between the several States were
removed, the bonds between the separate provinces rapidly
increased, and a policy of Protection was introduced, partly from
the necessity of providing for the heavy expenses of the Govern-
ment and partly from the desire to encourage nascent industries.
At the same time the policy of Imperial Preference has made some

866
THE LABOUR PARTY IN AUSTRALIA

progress ; but the question of preference between Australia and
Great Britain divides parties in the Mother Country, and is still
far from settlement.

One of the most notable facts has been the growth of the
Labour Party, which has brought the regulation of industry in
the interests of the workman into prominence. This, again, has
made it necessary to determine what are the spheres of the State
and what of the individual. A tendency has been shown towards
the increase of federal power, a movement which is observable
in all federal constitutions, and which is checked in Switzerland
by the operation of the referendum. It has been felt that a
revision of the Constitution is desirable to increase the authority
of the central Government. The Labour Party has shown itself
desirous of strengthening and extending federal control, and a
change of this nature would have an important bearing on the
policy of Protection, on government regulation of industry, and
on legislation with regard to land and labour. An increase of
federal revenue has also become desirable, and it is possible that
the future will see an increase of federal taxation. The site of
a federal capital has been settled by the choice of a territory
about 140 miles to the south-west of Sydney.

It is impossible to forecast the history of Australia, but there
is no doubt that the Pacific Ocean will gradually become more
and more important in the history of the world. Australia is at
the outset of a great career and will play a more energetic part
in the policy of the Pacific than has hitherto been the case. For
a long time to come her policy will be identical with that of the
Mother Country, but the opening of the Panama Canal may pro-
duce results which cannot be foreseen.

867
CHAPTER XIII

RECONQUEST OF THE SUDAN

WE have already seen how, after the death of Gordon in 1885,
the Sudan was abandoned by Egypt to the rule of the Mahdi
and Osman Digna. This lasted for thirteen years, during which
period the country was devastated and almost depopulated. Five
months after the capture of Khartum the Mahdi died and was
succeeded by the Khalifa. The Dervishes under him conceived
the design of invading Egypt, but their troops were crushed
at Toski on August 3rd, 1889. Osman Digna, the chief supporter
of the Mahdi and the Khalifa, was defeated in February, 1891,
near Tokar, an event which permitted the Egyptians to reoccupy
part of the Eastern Sudan, and establish a settled frontier and
a tranquillised province. Before this date fighting had taken
place on the border of Abyssinia. Some of the Egyptian
garrisons, abandoned in 1883, were in great danger, from the
Mahdi on the one side and the Abyssinians on the other. King
John of Abyssinia was eventually persuaded to allow them to
retire through his country. The Italians, who were anxious to
follow the example of the rest of Europe by acquiring a colonial
dominion, occupied Massowah, a port on the Red Sea. This led
to hostilities between King John and the Italians, but the differ-
ences were adjusted by the intervention of Queen Victoria in
October, 1887. A war which broke out between the Abyssinians
and the Dervishes in 1889 resulted in the death of the King,
and the project of capturing Khartum, which had brought it about,
was abandoned.

In the meantime Egypt remained in a most unsettled con-
dition as a consequence of Great Britain not having declared
a protectorate of the country after the defeat of Arabi in 1882.
The French, who had refused to assist in that enterprise, did all
they could to impede the results of victory. Other European
Powers, from jealousy of Great Britain, aided and abetted France,
while Abdul Hamid used to the full his opportunities of fomenting
disorder, by proposing that Tewfik should be deposed and the
hold of Turkey over Egypt strengthened. The cause of this
trouble was the weakness of Gladstone and Granville, who shrank

868
FINANCES OF EGYPT

from assuming the responsibilities which their policy had imposed
upon them, and talked of retiring from Egypt, as if the interests
of civilisation or a proper regard for moral considerations would
admit of such a course. Feeble attempts were made to improve
the situation with very little success. Clifford Lloyd did what he
could for a few months in 1883 and 1884 in this direction,
but found that serious reforms were impossible in the face of
Mohammedan prejudice, nor was the mission of Lord Northbrook
in 1884 productive of better results.

When Salisbury succeeded Gladstone in 1885 he sent Sir
Henry Drummond Wolff, who was supposed to have a special
knowledge of Eastern affairs and to be popular with the Turks,
to arrange matters. But he was met by the invincible jealousy
of France, supported by Russia, and under their combined influ-
ence the Sultan refused to ratify the Convention, and the only
result was that a permanent Turkish Commissioner was placed
as an additional thorn in the side of Great Britain. However,
notwithstanding these difficulties, which might have been removed
by a firmer and more vigorous policy, some progress was made.
The use of the kurbash, a whip of hippopotamus hide, in driving
the fellahin, or peasants, to forced labour in clearing the canals,
was abolished; the corvée ceased to exist, and a small wage
was paid, in spite of the opposition of France, out of the interest
due to Great Britain on account of the Suez Canal shares. But
it took many years to effect a permanent settlement of the
question.

The whole of this period had been one of great financial
difficulties. The release of Egypt from debt and the placing of
the Egyptian budget on a secure footing were due, more than to
anyone else, to Evelyn Baring (afterwards Lord Cromer). He
had been appointed in 1877 British Commissioner to the Public
Debt of Egypt by Goschen, to whom the Khedive had applied
for a suitable official. He next undertook the office of Agent
and Consul-General, and began his duties in Cairo on September
11th, 1883. In 1885 he proposed to the Powers to raise a loan
of £9,000,000 for the purpose of paying off the war indemnities
in connection with the bombardment of Alexandria, of wiping
off the deficit which had accumulated since 1882, and of providing
a surplus of £1,000,000 for the purposes of irrigation. The careful
expenditure of this sum brought about a condition of equilibrium
in 1888, and in time raised Egyptian credit to a level only a
little below that of the richest European Powers. The outlay on
railways, roads and public buildings has been provided out of

869
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

annual revenue, and the only increase in taxation has been in
the tobacco duty. The administration has been essentially honest.
Natives have been encouraged to become proprietors of small
holdings of land, the traditional industry of the peasants has
been stimulated and rewarded, and in a quarter of a century a
transformation has been accomplished which is unique in history.

Egypt was now completely civilised under British rule; the
roads had been cleansed and extended; drainage of the land,
which is as important as its irrigation, had been introduced; and
the great barrage, situated a short distance below Cairo, had been
repaired and rendered serviceable. The result of this was that
in ten years the cotton and sugar crops were both trebled and the
country was covered by a network of light railways and agricul-
tural roads. In 1898 a dam was established at Assuan, which,
though it partially submerged the beautiful temple of Philz, has
rendered infinite service to the prosperity of the country. The only
dangers are that more water should be supplied than the cultivators
are able to utilise, and that the truth should be forgotten that the
flooding of land for crops is useless, and, indeed, mischievous,
unless accompanied by a system of carrying off the superfluous
waters, a process almost as costly as irrigation itself. Another
great step in advance has been the creation of a serviceable
Egyptian army. In old days conscripts, chained together like
convicts, were torn from their homes and dispatched to distant
garrisons, from which they seldom returned. Egyptians, excellent
as soldiers, were useless as officers; but Sir Evelyn Wood, the
first Sirdar of the Egyptian army, inaugurated a system by which
the new soldiers taken from the land, when well fed, well clothed,
punctually paid, instructed and officered by British soldiers,
became efficient instruments of war. The army was, moreover,
strengthened by the enrolment of black volunteers from distant
places in the Sudan.

In consequence of all these improvements a desire arose for
the reconquest of the Sudan, a measure necessary for the security
of civilisation in Egypt ; but the stimulus to this effort proceeded
from the relations of Italy to Abyssinia, of which we must give
some account. Italy had taken no part in the suppression of
Arabi; indeed, popular sympathy in that country ran strongly
in his favour, but in 1884, when Depretis was Prime Minister,
Great Britain suggested to the Italian Government that they
should occupy some country on the shore of the Red Sea as a
counterpoise to the French. Therefore, early in 1885, Bailul and
Massowah were taken by the Italians, although Lord Cromer

870
ITALY’S APPEAL TO BRITAIN

was opposed to the policy. The abandonment of the Sudan by
the British was an unforeseen blow, and the Italians complained
that they had first been instigated to embark upon colonial
adventure and then deserted. The Abyssinians resented the
Italian occupation, and in January, 1887, a whole battalion of
5300 men was cut to pieces by Ras Alula at Dogali, while a
force of 20,000 men, sent to retrieve the disaster, had to be
recalled. However, in 1890 the suzerainty of Italy over Abys-
sinia was announced, a coinage was introduced bearing the offigy
of King Humbert, and a colonial Eritrea was established. The
Dervishes were defeated at Agordat and Kassala; and Crispi,
who was Prime Minister, conceived the idea of a vast African
Empire. But on March ist, 1896, the Italians suffered a terri-
ble defeat at Adowa, losing all their artillery. The killed in-
cluded 254 officers and nearly 4,500 men, and the prisoners
45 officers and 1,500 men. The suzerainty over Abyssinia was
abandoned, and by the treaty signed in September, 1900, the
Italian possessions were reduced to a territory of 80,000 (?) square
miles.

Dismayed by this defeat the Italians turned to Great Britain
for assistance. They represented that they had originally under-
taken the occupation of a portion of the Red Sea littoral under
British advice, and that unless energetic steps were taken the
whole of their Eritrean colony was in danger. The matter was
brought before the Cabinet, and the request of the Italians
appeared to be reasonable. But there was no decision to recover
Khartum; the plan was to advance as far as Akasheh and
then to await events. Kassala, with the Italian garrison, was
threatened by the Dervishes, and was in imminent peril. It was
obvious that if it fell into the hands of the Dervishes there was
a danger that they would overrun the whole of the Nile valley.
It was deemed essential to save Kassala by a diversion towards
Dongola, and this could best be done while the Khalifa’s forces
were occupied.

Other European Powers, however, were contending for the
occupation of the Upper Nile. The French were advancing from
the south-west, the Belgians from the south, and it was necessary
that the British should exhibit similar activity. In March Lord
Curzon, Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, stated in the House
of Commons that, in view of the forward movements of the
Dervishes in different directions, and the threatened attack on
Kassala, the Government had ordered an advance to Akasheh
in order to avert danger to Italy, Egypt and Great Britain.

871
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The advance, he said, might be extended to Dongola, but that
would depend on circumstances. The Dongola expedition was
to consist of 9,000 Egyptian troops under the command of the
Sirdar, Sir Herbert Kitchener, but some British troops were to
advance to Wady Halfa to take the place of the Egyptians
stationed there. Although some Liberals approved of the expedi-
tion, it was opposed by the party as a whole, and the National
Liberal Federation, at a meeting in Huddersfield, condemned it ;
while Morley, in the House of Commons, proposed a vote ol
censure against it, which was defeated by 288 votes to 143.
Money had to be provided for the expedition, and the British
Cabinet thought that Egypt ought to pay for the recovery of her
lost territory. She had the money, and was willing to give it,
but could not do so without the consent of the six Commissioners
of the Debt. Four of them authorised payment and advanced
the money, but the French and Russian Commissioners dissented.
The mixed tribunal of Cairo ordered the Egyptian Government
to refund the money with interest, but Lord Cromer induced
the British Government to lend Egypt £800,000 with interest at
2% per cent., so that the money was repaid.

On March aist, 1896, the Sirdar, with Colonel Wingate, and
the first battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment, 917
strong, left Cairo for Assuan and Wady Halfa. Wingate,
who was stationed at Wady Halfa, moved forward to Akasheh,
which had been for some time the advanced post of the
Dervishes, and occupied it without opposition. On June 7th an
advance was made to Ferkeh, and the Dervishes were attacked
with masterly skill by the Sirdar, who divided his forces into a
desert and river column, so that the enemy had no chance of
escape. In two hours the Dervishes were completely routed,
losing 1,000 killed and wounded and 400 taken prisoners, whereas
the Egyptian losses were very slight. By the victory of Ferkeh
forty miles of the Nile valley were cleared of Dervishes and the
only organised army of the Khalifa over the frontier was destroyed
near Suakin, which had been for many years the starting-place for
raids against the Nile villages and was now the advanced post of
the Sirdar’s army. ,

After the victory of Ferkeh and the occupation of Suakin
there was an interval of three months, a time of very hard work.
The railway had to be pushed on, stores collected at the front,
and steamers tugged up the cataracts, while, to make matters
worse, the troops were attacked with cholera, which killed nearly
200 Egyptians and some British. The attack on Dongola was

872
SUCCESSES IN THE SUDAN

made on September 3rd, at 7 in the morning. But the Dervishes
refused to fight, retiring whenever the Egyptians advanced. The
Sudanese garrison of the town surrendered to the Egyptians and
at 1m in the morning Dongola was occupied. The inhabitants
crowded amongst the troops, seizing the hands of the soldiers
and kissing them in their delirious joy at being delivered
from oppression. On the same night the army bivouacked in
and near Dongola or its ruins. The British troops were sent
back to Cairo, having lost seventy-four of their number, chiefly
from enteric fever. Every Dervish fled for his life, the horse-
men riding across the desert into Omdurman, the foot soldiers
following the Nile to Berber, which now became the next objective.

While Dongola was being rebuilt and its government re-
organised, news was brought to the Sirdar by Slatin Pasha and
other escaped prisoners that the Khalifa’s rule was crumbling
to dust, and the British Government announced that they
contemplated the reconquest of the Sudan. On February 5th,
1897, Hicks Beach, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in asking for a
vote of £800,000, declared in the House of Commons that Egypt
could never be considered secure so long as hostile Powers were
in occupation of Khartum, and that Great Britain, having com-
pelled the Egyptian Government to abandon the Sudan, was now
bound in honour to recover it for civilisation. Between Dongola
and Berber the Nile makes a large loop to the north and, in
order to avoid this, the Sirdar determined to make a railway
across the desert, thus saving a distance of 330 miles. In order
to make the railway,-Abu Hamed had to be captured, and this
was effected on August 7th, four-fifths of the Dervishes being
killed or taken prisoners, and the rest fleeing to Omdurman,
spreading everywhere the news of their defeat. The consequence
was that they evacuated Berber, and General Hunter was able
to enter it on September 13th. Formerly a large and important
town, the centre of a flourishing trade, it had been sacked and
destroyed and was only represented by a large Dervish village two
miles from the river.

Whilst Hunter was advancing upon Abu Hamed and Berber,
Osman Digna had collected a force of 5,000 men at a place on the
Atbara, situated about ninety miles from Ed Damer, where the
Atbara flows into the Nile above Berber. Hunter determined to
attack him, and, leaving Berber on October 23rd, reached Adarana,
where Osman Digna had established himself, six days later. They
found he had evacuated the town and was in the desert between
Omdurman and Kassala. As nothing more could be done,

2c* 873
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Adarana was burnt and the expedition returned to Berber. The
road between Berber and Suakin, which had been closed for many
years, was now open, and plenty of water was obtainable on the
way. There was at this time bad feeling between the Mahdist
leaders, Mahmoud and Osman Digna, the first, who was at
Metammeh on the Nile, halfway between Ed Damer and Khartum,
being anxious to advance, Osman being unwilling to help him.
The Khalifa at Omdurman could not weaken himself by sending
supplies to Mahmoud, who had, therefore, to remain inactive.
Demonstrations were made against him, but nothing important
was done. The railway from Wady Halfa to Abu Hamed was
completed on October 31st and pushed on to Berber. The
Italians now arranged that Kassala with its surrounding territory
should be handed over to the Egyptians on December 25th, 1897.
It will be remembered that the expedition was originally under-
taken with the object of preventing Kassala from being taken
from the Italians by the Dervishes. The town is situated near
the Atbara, and forms the third point of a triangle with Berber
and Khartum, the three places being at an equal distance from
each other. The Egyptian troops who, under the command of
Colonel Parsons, were to occupy Kassala marched through the
Italian colony of Eritrea, being received everywhere with the
greatest courtesy.

Early in 1898 the military position was somewhat as follows:
the Khalifa was at Omdurman with 40,000 men; Mahmoud, who
had been joined by Osman Digna, was at Metammeh with 20,000 ;
the Egyptian army had its headquarters at Berber, with an
advanced post at Ed Damer, occupying also Abu Hamed, Merawi
and Dongola, as well as Kassala and various positions between
Berber and Suakin; and the desert railway was well advanced
towards completion. It was known that Mahmoud intended to
move down the Nile and attack Berber. It having been deemed
necessary that British troops should be employed to reinforce
the Egyptians, three battalions were sent up from Cairo, and
the Seaforth Highlanders were summoned from Malta. General
Gatacre was placed in charge of the British brigade.

Mahmoud began to move on February tIoth, and it would
have been possible to intercept his force and cut it to pieces
before it could reach its destination, but probably the Sirdar
desired to do nothing which might prevent a general and
decisive engagement. Such a conflict was approaching, and
troops of both nationalities were rapidly moved up, the Sirdar com-
manding 13,000 Egyptians and Gatacre four battalions of British

874
THE BATTLE OF THE ATBARA

infantry. On March 31st Mahmoud occupied a strong position
between Omdurman and Berber, well fortified, but he was in
great straits for food, his soldiers being disaffected and anxious
to desert. He could not advance to Berber, because the Sirdar
stopped him; to come out into the open meant disastrous defeat ;
to retire to Omdurman would demoralise his followers. He had,
therefore, no alternative but to remain where he was and await
the Sirdar’s attack. At the same time the Sirdar’s army was
receiving its own supplies with difficulty, and the British troops
began to suffer from dysentery and enteric.

At last the attack took place on April 8th. Mahmoud was
strongly fortified by a zariba, formed by cut mimosa branches
and strengthened by a palisade of palm logs, laid endways on
the ground, and an encircling trench. The bombardment, begun
at 6.15 in the morning, lasted for an hour and a half, and at 8.15
the advance was sounded. The whole line marched in quick
time, inspired by the bagpipes and the bands of the native
regiments. The Camerons, Warwicks, Leicesters and Lincolns
came up to the zariba, tore down the thorn bushes, gaps were
soon made, and the zariba was entered at about 8.30. The
trenches were full of crouching Dervishes, who fired as fast as
they could load, neither wishing for nor receiving quarter. After
half an hour’s fighting the Battle of the Atbara was won, and
orders were given to cease firing. The troops indulged in mutual
congratulations, and the Sudanese soldiers danced with joy, waving
their rifles in the air and shaking hands with every British soldier
they came across. When they met the Sirdar they greeted him
with enthusiastic cheers. The British brigade had 5 officers
and 21 men killed, with gg officers and men wounded. The
Egyptian loss was more severe, 57 men being killed and 386
wounded, including 10 British officers. Osman Digna escaped
with the cavalry, but Mahmoud was taken prisoner. His force
had numbered 14,000, and of these only 8,000 remained. On
April 14th the Sirdar made a triumphal entry into Berber and a
review was held, at which Mahmoud, a tall, majestic figure, with
his hands tied behind his back, was a conspicuous object. He
was afterwards sent down to Wady Halfa.

In May, 1898, preparations were made for the advance to
Omdurman; the railway had now reached El] Abeidieh, only
twelve miles north of Berber, but military operations were
suspended for a time and the Sirdar went to England. However,
by the middle of August the Nile had risen sufficiently and a
start was made, the force being only six miles from Omdurman on

875
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

September 1st. When they reached this place they found the
whole Dervish army drawn up in battle array in the desert outside
of the city. They were in five divisions, and numbered between
40,000 and 50,000 men. On the night of September Ist everyone
in the Sirdar’s camp was anxious. The two opposing armies were
only five miles distant; a report had come that the Khalifa
intended to make a night attack, and the men lay down on the
sand, fully dressed, with arms and accoutrements beside them.
The night was cloudy and the enemy could only be looked for with
the help of the searchlight from the gunboats. By a ruse the
Khalifa was led to suppose that the British intended an attack,
and he kept quiet and the night passed in peace. But he missed
a grand opportunity, as no one could foretell what a night assault
might have produced, for though victory would doubtless have
waited on British prowess the loss of life would have been terrible.

However, the decisive battle was to take place next day,
September 2nd. The Sirdar had under his command a force of
22,000 men, naval and military. His camp formed a kind of
horseshoe, the ends resting on the side protected by the gunboats.
The order of the brigades was as follows, counting from the left :
Lyttelton’s, with the Rifles and the Grenadiers ; Wauchope’s, with
the Seaforths and the Camerons ; Maxwell’s, with the Egyptians
and the Sudanese; then came Macdonald’s, Lewis’s, and
Collinson’s—all black troops. Along the British line was a
rampart of bushes, which proved afterwards a hindrance rather
than a help, while the Egyptians were defended by a shallow
trench. The buglers sounded the réveillé at 3.30, and all
the troops stood to their arms. When after an hour’s waiting
there seemed to be no sign of an advance, the Sirdar determined
to march out against the Dervish forces.

At 5.30 in the morning the booming of guns announced
the bombardment of Omdurman, but the cannonade had hardly
begun when the patrols announced that the enemy were in
motion. According to George Steevens, the brilliant and gifted
war correspondent, who by his death at Ladysmith robbed
England of a great literary name, ‘“‘an electric whisper came run-
ning down the line, ‘They are coming.’ The noise of something
began to creep in upon us; it advanced and divided into the tap
of drums and the far-away surf of raucous war cries; a shiver of
expectancy ran along our army, and then a sigh of content. They
were coming on. Allah help them! they were coming on! It
was now 6.30. The flags seemed still very distant, the roar
very faint, and the thud of our first gun was almost startling. It

876
“THE LAST DAY OF MAHDISM”

may have startled them, but it startled them into life. The line
of flags swung forward, and a mass of white, flying linen swung
forward with it too. They came very fast, and they came very
straight, and then presently they came no farther. The crash
of bullets leapt out of the British rifles.”

The courage of the Dervishes was without parallel. They
advanced in an immense mass, marching with military regularity
and well-kept ranks, shouting the defiant cry of “ There is one
God, and Mohammed is His Prophet.” Emirs and sheikhs led the
way, and Baggara horsemen trotted abreast of the men on foot.
From one end to the other of the British line there was a con-
tinual blaze of flame, the men firing both in volleys and inde-
pendently. Through the smokeless air the Dervishes were seen
falling in heaps. As whole ranks dropped others rushed in to
supply their places. When the Dervishes were within 800 yards
of the British line their advance was practically arrested. Yet
even then individuals attempted to rush on. One old man with a
white flag started with five comrades; all fell but he, and by
himself he came bounding forwards to within 200 yards of the
Sudanese. Then he folded his arms across his face, his limbs
loosened, and he dropped to the earth beside his flag. As Steevens
Bays, “it was the last day of Mahdism and the greatest.”

The ground was white with dead men’s drapery, for it was
not a battle, but a battue. At first the British loss had been
slight, the Dervishes not halting to fire, but discharging their
weapons into the air; careless of aim, their bullets fell short;
when they got closer their fire began to tell, and casualties became
frequent. But this was as nothing compared with the awful
slaughter of the Dervishes. They were not driven back; they
were simply killed as they came on. Just before the British fire
ceased a last Dervish effort was made, taking the form of a cavalry
attack. A party of Baggara horsemen, 200 in number, gallantly
charged Maxwell’s white brigade. Shot down by rifle and Maxim,
the undaunted remnant repeatedly dashed on until there was
nothing to be seen but a struggling heap of men and horses lying
on the ground. At 8 the grand attack was finished and the main
body of the enemy was in retreat to the hills three miles distant.

At 8.30 the bugle sounded for the advance to Omdur-
man. As the soldiers passed over the field of battle they saw
the slaughter they had done. The bodies—nearly all of Arabs
—were not in masses, but spread evenly over acres and acres.
Some lay very composedly, with their slippers placed under their
heads for a pillow; some were kneeling, killed in the midst of a

877
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

last prayer; some were torn to pieces; others, not dead yet,
sprang up as the soldiers approached and rushed savagely, hurl-
ing spears. These were bayoneted or shot. The losses of the
Dervishes were immense. No fewer than 10,800 bodies were
counted on the field, and the wounded numbered at least 16,000,
making a total of 27,000 out of a force of 52,000. Besides these,
4,000 black troops surrendered, and three of Gordon’s steamers
were captured. The Sirdar’s losses were only nominal—48 killed
and 382 wounded.

Steevens pays a magnificent tribute to the Dervishes. He
says that ‘“‘the British were perfect,’ but that “the Dervishes were
superb beyond perfection.”

“It was the largest, best and bravest army which ever fought
against us for Mahdism, and it died worthily of the huge Empire
which Mahdism won and kept so long. Their riflemen, mangled
by every kind of death and torment which man can devise, clung
round the black flag and the green, emptying their poor, rotten,
home-made cartridges dauntlessly. Their spearmen charged death
at every minute hopelessly. Their horsemen led each attack, riding
into the bullets till nothing was left but their horses trotting
up to our lines. It was over; the avenging squadrons of the
Egyptian cavalry swept over the field. Now, under the black
flag, in a ring of bodies, stood only three men, facing the 3,000
of the British brigade. They folded their arms about their staff
and gazed steadily forward. Two fell. The last Dervish stood
up and filled his chest; he shouted the name of his God and
hurled his spear, then he stood quite still, waiting. It took him
full; he quivered, gave at the knees, and toppled with his head
on his arms and his face towards the legions of his conquerors.”

In the afternoon, when the fight was over, the Sirdar rode
forward to occupy Omdurman. When the surrender of the fight-
ing men was accepted, the inhabitants swarmed out of their houses
and cheered the troops. The victorious army marched down the
broad street leading to the Khalifa’s house and the Mahdi’s tomb.
Finding that the Khalifa’s house was barred, the gunboats pro-
ceeded to shell it from the river, and in doing this nearly killed
the Sirdar and did kill Herbert Howard, the son of Lord Carlisle,
a newspaper correspondent. The Khalifa had run away after a
vain attempt to organise renewed resistance. The prisoners were
released, the chief of them being Charles Neufeld, a German
subject (who had been for eleven years in captivity and was kept
in chains), two Italians, and thirty Greeks. In the arsenal were
found large stores of ammunition.

878
THE FASHODA INCIDENT

It was necessary to crush the feeling of fanatical reverence
which had grown up around the Mahdi, by destroying his tomb
and throwing his burnt ashes into the Nile, and those who
criticised this action can have little idea of the requirements of
statesmanship in dealing with ignorant and superstitious natives.
Lord Crewe declared the deed to be a practical necessity. Duty
demanded a visit to Gordon’s grave at Khartum, and a memorial
service was held in the remains of his palace. This accomplished,
the British army left as soon as possible, as it began to feel the
inevitable reaction from fatigue, and fever also had set in. By
the end of September nearly the whole of the British division had
left for the north. The Khalifa fled from Omdurman into the
wilds of Kordofan, wandered about for a year, and was there
killed by Sir Reginald Wingate, who succeeded Kitchener as Sirdar
of the Egyptian army. The Khartum expedition was not only a
thorough success, but owing to the Sirdar’s excellent management
cost only £1,000,000, besides the {1,200,000 spent on permanent
improvements on railways and telegraphs.

The taking of Khartum was followed by a surprising incident
which nearly brought about war between Great Britain and
France. On September 7th one of Gordon’s old steamers, which
had been sent up the White Nile by the Khalifa, returned to
Omdurman to find the place in the hands of the British. The
captain reported that at Fashoda he had been fired at by some
white men, and produced bullets of European manufacture in
support of his statement. It was evident that some European
expedition had reached Fashoda, and Kitchener determined to
ascertain what it was. . Having, with characteristic caution, sent
all the newspaper correspondents to Cairo, he left Omdurman on
September roth with a small fleet of vessels. On September 18th
he reached a point ten miles from Fashoda, and, after five miles’
further journey, was met by a boat bearing the French flag, and
learned that Lieut. Marchand, a French explorer, had occupied
Fashoda since July roth. When Fashoda was reached the French
flag was seen flying, with Marchand’s fleet close to the old Egyptian
fort. The Sirdar told him that the presence of a French force in
Egyptian territory was inadmissible, and Marchand replied that he
was acting under orders from the French Government. Kitchener
landed his troops and posted the Egyptian flag about 500 yards
from the French flag. The Sirdar returned to Cairo, but the
relations between the French and Egyptian Governments assumed
a serious aspect, and for twenty-four hours war between the
two countries seemed probable. The French held that Fashoda,

879
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

although formerly belonging to Egypt, had, by abandonment,
ceased to belong to anyone and might be legally claimed by either
France or Belgium; the British, on the other hand, claimed the
whole valley of the Nile for Egypt. Eventually the French with-
drew from an untenable position, and on November 4th, when
the Sirdar was entertained by the Lord Mayor of London, Lord
Salisbury was able to announce that the incident was closed.

In the final settlement of the Sudan some of the mistakes made
in Egypt in 1882 were avoided. The agreement of January, 1899,
gave the Queen of Great Britain sovereign rights in the Sudan in
conjunction with the Khedive, based upon the right of conquest.
The frontier of the Sudan towards the south was left undefined.
The supreme military and civil command was vested in a Governor-
General appointed by the Khedive on British recommendation,
and no foreign consuls were allowed to reside in the Sudan without
the previous consent of Great Britain. It was also decided that
in all matters concerning trade, with a residence in the Sudan,
no special privileges would be accorded to the subjects of any
one Power. Consequently, in the following years the Sudan
advanced greatly in prosperity, and the population increased.
Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, was made into a well-equipped
harbour; the White Nile was rendered navigable by the removal]
of 400 miles of sudd ; and Gordon University at Khartum provided
for the enlightenment of one of the darkest spots in the Dark
Continent,

880
CHAPTER XIV

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR OF 1898

THE war between the United States and Spain in 18098 was of
such importance in the history and development of the great
Republic that some account of it is inevitable, although it did not
produce much effect upon Europe, excepting that it put the finish-
ing touch to the course of humiliation to which Spain had exposed
herself ever since the era of her grandeur in the Middle Ages. The
war, which had been impending for a considerable period, was due
to an accumulation of causes. The Americans, for one thing, could
not suffer a small country at their very doors, closely connected
by commerce with themselves, to remain in a condition of malad-
ministration which was a perpetual menace to good government
in their own country. For another, controlling, as it did, the
approaches to the Gulf of Mexico and the Panama Canal, it
was felt undesirable that Cuba should be in the hands of a
Power that might possibly become hostile. Relations had grown
so strained and feeling was so tense that it only required a spark
to fire the magazine.

In 1898 the Cubans were in revolt against Spain, and the United
States had been urged to give them assistance. Nevertheless,
there was a strong party, not only in the United States, but even in
the Government, which was opposed to interference in the affairs
of Spain or of any other country, and there is every probability that
nothing would have been done had not an event occurred which
changed the whole situation. The United States battleship Maine
was blown up in the harbour of Havana on February 15th in a
mysterious manner, with a loss of 266 lives. The general belief
was that the ship had been destroyed by the Spaniards or by
Cuban sympathisers to force the hands of the United States, and
the testimony of the survivors confirmed this opinion. The whole
country was in a state of excitement, the newspapers clamoured
that the outrage on the Maine should be revenged, and, although
a large number of cool-headed people, including President McKinley
himself, were against hostilities, the President was compelled to
declare war upon Spain on April arst, 1898.

The news was received with great joy in New York. The Stars
and Stripes were hung across the streets and from the windows of

881
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

towns and cities, and everywhere was seen the motto, “ Remember
the Maine.” Steps were immediately taken to meet the crisis. The
American army, which on a peace footing consists of 25,000 men,
was raised to 71,000, while the President called for a volunteer force
of 125,000 men. The first shot was fired on April 23rd at Key
West, when the Spanish merchant ship, Buena Ventura was cap-
tured by the Nashville. President McKinley announced a blockade
of the northern coast of Cuba between Cardenas and Bahia Honda,
as well as of the harbour of Cienfuegos upon the south coast. This
was carried out by a squadron of twenty-three men-of-war, under
the command of Admiral Sampson, in the New York, who started
from Key West Islands, which are only a hundred miles distant
from Havana, the capital of Cuba.

The American fleet began the bombardment of Castel Morro,
one of the defences of Havana, on April 25th, and of Matanzas
on the two following days. An eyewitness of the first engagement
tells us that the shots fell in the ramparts, throwing the earthworks
fifty feet in the air and cutting them level with the ground. Only
three shots from the enemy’s batteries struck the New York, and of
the others none came closer than a hundred yards, although the
engagement lasted fifteen minutes.

Sampson’s fleet could not sail out to intercept the fleet of Admiral
Cervera, on its way from Spain, because it was difficult, if not
impossible, to discover its whereabouts in the broad expanse of the
Atlantic, and because two American warships, expected from
Brazil, could not be left off the coast of Cuba without protection.
On the other hand, if Cervera’s fleet were left unmolested, it might
attack the east coast of North America without being materially
prevented by the flying squadron commanded by Admiral Schley.
Consequently, some apprehension was felt in the towns of the
United States seaboard, and, as a precautionary measure, mines
were laid in the harbour of New York.

Whilst in the West Indies every one was on the tiptoe of expecta:
tion with regard to the coming of Cervera’s fleet, news of momentous
import arrived from the Far East. Admiral Dewey, commanding an
American squadron of eight ships-of-war in the harbour of Hong-
Kong, sailed on April 25th for the Philippines, with orders to capture
or destroy the Spanish fleet lying off the islands. This squadron of
thirteen ships, under the command of Admiral Montojo y Pasaron,
went out to meet Dewey, but soon returned with the intention of
awaiting the attack in the Bay of Canacao, near Cavite, in the
Bay of Manila. They would thus be supported by the land bat-
teries, and a bombardment of Manila during the sea-fight would

882
DEWEY’S MAY-DAY VICTORY

be impossible. Dewey, who had anchored in Mirs Bay, on the
coast of China, left on April 27th, and om May Ist sailed into the
Bay of Manila without being stopped by the batteries of the
Corregidor Islands which lie at the entrance, and laid his ships
alongside of the Spanish fleet at the extremity of the Peninsula
of Cavite. His fleet was armed with 122 guns of modern construc-
tion, some of! enormous size, and in seven hours he completely
destroyed the whole of the Spanish ships.

The Spaniards defended themselves with heroic courage, but the
combatants were unequally matched. Of the Spanish cruisers,
armed with ninety-six guns, only five were fit for battle, while the
American ordnance consisted mainly of long eight-inch guns of the
newest construction, which had a longer range and never missed
their mark. Of course, the Spanish vessels, which had no similar
resources, were either at once set on fire or sunk. The Spaniards
lost 175 killed and 214 wounded ; the Americans had none killed and
only seven wounded. Apparently it had never occurred to the
Spanish Government that a number of antiquated vessels, sufficient
for the local needs of the far-distant and extensive group of islands
and the maintenance of Spanish sovereignty, would be useless
against an enemy possessing serviceable vessels of modern type.

Needless to say, tidings of this disaster caused the utmost con-
sternation in Madrid, and Sagasta’s Ministry was attacked for the
insufficiency of its preparations. On May 2nd a state of siege was
proclaimed in the capital, and eventually the Ministry was recon-
structed. In the United States the victory of Admiral Dewey on
May Day was received with enthusiasm, and when he reported
that he had not sufficient men to take possession of Manila, it was
determined to dispatch an army to his support.

On May 2nd, the fleet of Admiral Cervera, consisting of four
armoured cruisers, three torpedo boats, and three destroyers,
was sighted at Fort de France, in the Island of Martinique. It
appears to have been Cervera’s intention to discover as soon as
possible one of the two American squadrons which had not yet
been able to unite, to engage with it, and inflict so much damage
as to render it incapable of protecting the transports which had
left Tampa, in Florida, on May 11th, with the troops destined for
action in Cuba.

Cervera, forbidden to land at Martinique, which belonged to
the French, proceeded to the harbour of Santiago, on the southern
coast of Cuba. The town is situated in a large bay, surrounded by
the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, and has ample space for the
evolutions of many large ships-of-war. The narrow and difficult

883
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

entrance is defended by the castles of Morro and Estrella. Cervera
thought that from this basis he would be able to defend the neigh-
bouring coast, and was the more confident of his ability to do so
because the squadron of Admiral Sampson, who had been misin-
formed with regard to Cervera’s movements, was crossing to the
north of Hayti and proceeding in the direction of Key West, where
there happened to be a serious scarcity of fresh water.

Sampson’s fleet reached Santiago on May roth, and was joined
here, on the last day of the month, by the flying squadron of Schley.
The two admirals then undertook to bombard the forts, whose
defective armaments had to be strengthened by cannon from Cer-
vera’s ships. The attack was renewed on June 3rd, and on this
occasion the American schooner Merrimac was sunk in the entrance
of the harbour, but not in such a manner as to render the egress
impossible, although it increased the difficulties of entrance. A
third attempt was made on the following day, June 4th, but an
assault on the forts of La Sorapa and Puertegrande was repelled,
and it seemed as if Cervera intended to break out and sacrifice his
fleet in preventing the arrival of an invading army. He still, how-
ever, remained in the vicinity, and on June 6th 5,000 American
infantry were landed at Punto Cabrera under the shelter of a heavy
bombardment, and on the following day 600 at Carminanera.

The Bay of Santiago is so extensive that Sampson’s heavy guns
could barely reach the town (which lies at its furthest extremity),
or even Cervera’s fleet. At the same time the admiral did not feel
justified in forcing an entrance. He therefore sent to the American
Government, on June 17th, a pressing request for further reinforce-
ments on a considerable scale. Some detachments which had landed
at Guantanamo on June 8th, had a few days later serious engage-
ments with the Spanish troops. The Spaniards began to congratu-
late themselves on their successes, as the American fleet had not
been able to effect anything conclusive, and the only loss they
had suffered had been the sinking of the torpedo-boat destroyer
Terror by the American line-of-battle ship Oregon.

At length the army which had been so anxiously expected sailed
from Tampa on June 8th, under the command of General Shafter,
who had served in the War of Secession, and landed on June 23rd
at Baiquiri, a harbour half-way between Santiago and Guantanamo,
an operation in which two men were drowned. After landing they
were assisted by 3,000 insurgents under the command of Calixto
Garcia, who speedily united himself with Shafter. But on the
following day, June 24th, was fought the battle of Las Guasimas,
which, after a vigorous resistance on the part of the Spaniards,

884
ATTACK ON SANTIAGO

ended in the victory of the Americans. The burden of the fight
fell upon the regiment of “‘ Rough Riders ’’ commanded by Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt. It had been intended, at first, to recruit it
mostly from cowboys, picked up from the ranches, but actually
there enlisted fashionable young men from New York clubs, under-
graduates and graduates from the Universities, and athletes from
schools and colleges, and it certainly achieved much distinction. In
the battle of Las Guasimas the enemy numbered at least 4,000,
whereas the Rough Riders were only 500 and General Young’s
force 464. Of the former force eight were killed and thirty-four
wounded, and of the latter eight killed and eighteen wounded. The
Americans had thus attacked and vanquished an enemy over four
times their number, entrenched behind rifle-pits and bushes in a
mountain pass.

On June 25th fighting began for the possession of Sevilla, south
of Santiago, which was captured on June 28th. Then took place the
Battle of San Juan, the entrenchments of which were the outer
defences of Santiago. The advance began on the afternoon of
June 3oth, “‘ twelve thousand men, with their eyes fixed on a balloon,
treading on each other’s heels in three inches of mud.”’ At El Pozo
the trail forked, the right-hand road leading to El Caney, the left
to Santiago. The troops slept in the mist, seeing the street lamps
of Santiago and the moon shining over the hill of San Juan.
Before the moon rose again every sixth man who slept in the mist
that night had either been killed or wounded.

El Caney, about four miles to the east of Santiago, was held by
500 Spanish soldiers, and it was thought the Americans would take
it without difficulty. _The idea was that the right division should
attack towards the north, and after the capture of El Caney, turn
south-westwards and join the left division in the attack on Santiago.
But the village was strongly defended, and El Caney was not taken
till late in the afternoon, the Americans having lost 377 killed
and wounded.

On the left the battle was far more serious. The greatest loss
took place at the San Juan River, where the Americans—com-
manded not to return the fire, but lie still and wait for further
orders—were simply fired into. For a whole hour they lay on their
rifles while the bullets drove past incessantly, sharpshooters and
guerillas being hid in the trees above the stream and above the
track. They spared no one, neither wounded, nor surgeons, nor
attendants carrying the litters. The balloon, intended as a point
of observation, was a complete failure ; not only was it of no use,
but it directed the fire of the enemy.

885
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

At last the division came within sight of the hill on the top
of which stood the Spanish blockhouse and fort of San Juan. The
troops were intended to take it, although it was almost impregnable.
Though it was madness to assault this hill without artillery, it was
done. Luckily, the Spanish trenches on the summit were built
so far back from the brow that, unless the Spanish soldiers lay on
the breastworks or outside of them, they could not depress their
rifles sufficiently to fire down the hill. Thus the fire was hotter in
the last stage than in the actual assault. At length the Americans
flooded the ridges, swarmed into the blockhouse, and carried
the crest. Then the invaders halted, gazing at the city beneath
them. It is reckoned that the loss on both American wings did
not fall short of 2,000 men. On the side of the Spaniards,
General Linares was severely wounded, 467 men were killed, and
half their force was disabled.

An unexpected incident now supervened. The moment had
arrived when Cervera’s fleet could be of great service, although up
to the present it had been of little good. But, to the surprise of
all, at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday, July 3rd, it came out of the harbour
under full steam, and, in three-quarters of an hour, was entirely
destroyed by the American fleet, three times superior in number,
and armed with excellent artillery. The Spanish ships were set on
fire and driven on to the coast, where they blew up.

Field-Marshal Blanco had sent Cervera repeated orders to come
out, and he had at last obeyed, because his supply of coal was
nearly exhausted, and because, seeing that Santiago was closely
invested, he did not wish to be caught, like Montojo at Cavite,
but preferred to perish in the open sea. Unfortunately, he was
misinformed as to the position and number of the American fleet,
and sailed in the wrong direction. As the engagement took place
at a distance beyond the range of the Spanish guns, not a single
shot touched the American ships, although the flagship, the Vizcaya,
continued to fire after she was in flames, and the Colon did not
haul down her colours until she had done her utmost to escape.
This Spanish fleet was not ten years old, but the armour-plates were
thin; it carried 6 heavy, 46 medium, and 96 light guns, whereas
the American fleet had 67 heavy, 36 medium, and 196 light guns.
Cervera was taken prisoner, and, with his companions, honourably
treated.

Before Santiago an armistice was arranged from July 2nd
to July 9th, during which period many discussions were held about
surrender, although Marshal Blanco talked about making the place
a second Saragossa. Both sides were really desirous of peace, for

886
THE CAMPAIGN IN THE PHILIPPINES

though the position of the Americans was anything but secure,
the garrison of Santiago, which had been reinforced with 18,000
men under General Pondo from Seilobo, was gradually running short
of provisions and ammunition. At length, on July 15th, the town
and province of Santiago de Cuba was surrendered to the United
States, under the condition that the garrison, amounting to 22,780
men, should be sent back to Spain unarmed. Sampson’s fleet now
entered the harbour, and on July 17th President McKinley issued
orders for the Government of the Province.

In the Philippines, Admiral Dewey was still waiting for a force
to begin operations on land, but meanwhile the Spanish troops
were hardly pressed by the insurgents. At the end of June, the
Governor-General, Augusti, proposed to the German Vice-Admiral,
Von Diedrichs, who was at Manila for the purpose of protecting
German commerce, that the admirals of the neutral Powers should
take Manila under their protection. This offer was refused in
consequence of the American blockade. On the other side, Emilio
Aguinaldo, who commanded the insurgent Filipinos, and who, on
June 12th, had proclaimed the independence of the islands, made
a declaration to the same admiral that any claim made by the
United States was excluded by the convention which had been
signed by him and Admiral Dewey on April 24th, and agreed to by
President McKinley, Great Britain and Japan, in virtue of which
the insurgents should join the Americans in making war upon
Spain, with the object of establishing in the Philippines an inde-
pendent Federal Republic under American protection.

The American land forces were still detained at sea. On their
way they had hoisted the American flag in the Ladrone Islands,
which belonged to Spain, and carried off the garrison, which had
heard nothing of the outbreak of the war. On July 17th they
eventually arrived at the island of Luzon, and engaged the Spanish
troops on July 31st. This enabled Admiral Dewey to demand the
surrender of Manila on the following day. The summons, however,
was rejected, and the Americans did not become masters of the city
until August 13th, after it had suffered a bombardment.

The capture of the island of Porto Rico forms a striking contrast
to the operations in Cuba, the difference being attributed by the
Americans to the incompetence of the commanders in the one case,
and their competence in the other. General Miles had assumed
the command of the American army in Cuba in the latter half of
July, and immediately turned his attention to Porto Rico, where
the feeling of the inhabitants was strongly anti-Spanish. The island
had been declared independent on February gth, and a Parliament

887
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

assembled on July 24th, which protested against the attack of
America on the freedom of the country. The invading army
marched, it was said, with the precision of a set of chessmen ; its
moves were carefully considered and followed by corresponding
success ; its generals, acting independently and yet along routes
reconnoitred by Generals Ray and Stone and Major Flagler and
selected by General Miles, never missed a point, nor needlessly
lost a man, nor retreated from a foot of ground over which they
had advanced. Accordingly, eight cities or towns, with 700,000
inhabitants, were won over to the United States at the cost of
very few men killed. General Miles landed at Geronimo on
July 25th, and the reduction of the island was completed by the
surrender of Ponce on July 28th.

Although only a small portion of Cuba had surrendered to the
Americans, and the Spaniards still had 80,000 men on the island,
the latter could not continue the war, which had cost Spain about
5,000,000,000 pesetas in six months, and was likely to cost 12,000,000
or 15,000,000 a month in the future. Moreover, the destruction
of the Spanish fleet made it impossible to raise the blockade.
Therefore, on July 27th, through the friendly offices of the French
Ambassador, Cambon, in Washington, the Spanish Government
avowed itself beaten, and asked for conditions of peace.

On August 12th, preliminaries were signed, in terms of which
Spain surrendered all the Antilles, except Cuba, the town, bay, and
harbour of Manila, and a coaling station on the Ladrones, to the
United States, besides further renouncing its’ sovereignty over
Cuba. The United States, on its side, while declining to take over
the debt of Cuba and Porto Rico, made no claim to a war indemnity.
A commission to settle the details of the treaty was also appointed
on the understanding that Spanish troops should be immediately
withdrawn from Porto Rico and the remaining provinces of Cuba.

By the definite treaty, signed at Paris on December roth, 1898,
Spain relinquished her sovereignty and right to possession in respect
of Cuba, and made over to the United States Porto Rico and the
rest of her West Indian islands, the island of Guam, the most southerly
of the Ladrone group, and the Philippine archipelago, on the con-
dition that for ten years Spanish ships should be allowed to have
access to them on the same conditions as the ships: of the United
States. The United States was to pay 20,000,000 dollars to Spain,
which thus abandoned every title to be deemed a colonial empire,
and stripped herself of the last shred ot claim to rank among the
Great Powers of the world.

888
CHAPTER XV

THE BOXERS IN CHINA

On November Ist, 1897, two German missionaries were murdered
in a village near Chining Chow, in the province of Shantung. The
country to which they belonged was bound to resent this, as there
was no cause for the outrage, and the deed had been executed
in cold blood, with special circumstances of barbarity. A German
admiral lost no time in avenging the insult. He steamed into
Kiaochow, the harbour of the province, and took possession of
the island of Tsingtao situated within it. He demanded an
indemnity of 200,000 taels of silver (over £6,000), the rebuilding
of the mission chapel (which had been destroyed in the riot), the
repayment of the expenses incurred by Germany in these opera-
tions against Kiaochow, the dismissal of the Governor of Shantung,
and the condign punishment of the murderers. The Germans
also demanded that the territory which had been seized should
be leased to them for ninety-nine years, with rights of mining
and making railways, and all these demands were granted.

Shantung province forms a peninsula which lies between the
Yellow Sea and the Gulf of Pechili, the Bay of Kiaochow being
situated on its southern coast. Shantung has enormous mineral
wealth in gold, iron, and coal, and pays the largest land tax of
any province in China. The natives possess high physical and
moral qualities; from them the Chinese navy draws its best
recruits, and the overflow from it has peopled the rich lands of
Manchuria. The Germans made full use of the privileges granted
to them. They have opened a railway from Tsi-nan-fu, the
capital of the province, and have erected a German town at
Tsingtao.

The example of Germany was soon followed by other Powers.
In 1897 Russia opened negotiations at Peking for permission to
anchor her fleet at Port Arthur. This being granted, they
demanded that the harbour might be leased to them on the same
terms that Kiaochow had been leased to Germany, and this was
conceded without demur. Port Arthur, which derives its name
from the English captain who discovered it, lies at the extremity
of the peninsula of Liaotung, in the very north of which is

889
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

situated the town of Mukden. Liaotung is opposite Shantung,
and with it helps to close the Gulf of Pechili, and is only 163
miles from Taku, the fort which commands the passage to Peking.
It is, therefore, the key to Northern China. The treaty making
these concessions was signed on March 15th, 1898.

As Great Britain could not acquiesce in this act of Russian
aggression, a convention was signed on July 1st, 1898, by which
Wei-hai-Wei, an important area at the extremity of the Shantung
peninsula, not far from Chifu, was ceded to Great Britain, so
long as Port Arthur remained in the possession of Russia. Not
to be behind in the loot, France demanded the port of Kwang-
chow-wan, together with an assurance from the Chinese Govern-
ment that this part of China should be recognised as subject to
French influence. Kwang-chow is in the south of China, not far
from Canton and Hong-Kong on the one side and the French
province of Tonking on the other. To counterbalance this, Great
Britain asked for and received an accession of 200 square miles of
territory on the mainland opposite to Hong-Kong and an assur-
ance that no other foreign Power should be allowed to acquire
territorial rights in the basin of the Yang-tsze-Kiang, the river
which passes by Nanking and reaches the sea at Shanghai. The
Foreign Office of China was, at this time, administered by Prince
Kung, who died in 1898. Next year, when the Italian Minister
at Peking asked for a concession to his country similar to that
which had been granted to other Powers it was summarily
refused.

In 1898 the question of preaching Christianity in China became
acute. The European missionaries, who were supported by the
diplomatic influence of their own countries, were powerful and
determined and the native converts supported them. On the
other side was the vast majority of the non-Christian natives,
who were encouraged by the mandarins and other Government
officials. The dispute was not entirely religious, but social and
political also. Missionaries of all kinds, Catholic as well as
Protestant, were accused of using influence in favour of Christian
converts in the native courts of justice, and the Catholics tried
to exert both a political and a religious influence. Notwithstand-
ing this, when the French Legation brought pressure to bear on
the Chinese Government, the latter issued, on March 15th, 1899,
an Imperial edict granting officially to all missionaries a public
status of an important character. The privilege was accepted and
at once put in force by the Catholic missionaries, but, being
declined by the Protestants, it was withdrawn in 1908.

890
THE OPIUM QUESTION

There were other causes of irritation. The French Treaty of
1860 allowed the Catholic missionaries to recover buildings which
had been wrested from them during the popular outbreaks of
that period; but as many of these buildings had been converted
to secular, or even to religious uses, some more than a hundred
years before, the resumption caused great resentment. More-
over, the orphanages established by the sisters of mercy were
completely misunderstood, and were believed by the Chinese
Foreign Office to be instituted solely for the purpose of political
propaganda. The disastrous result of the war with Japan also
embittered the feeling between the Chinese and the foreigners.
Placards issued with the purpose of stirring up hostility between
the yellow and the white races warned the British, French and
Americans that if in future they wished to preach their doctrines
in China, they must drive the Japanese back into their own
country. The worst of these documents came from the Tsungli
Yamen, and the Chinese Foreign Office refused to take measures
for their suppression.

The opium traffic had also its share in increasing this anti-
foreign odium, as it was well known that it was favoured by
foreigners for their own pecuniary advantage. A strong move-
ment against the smoking of opium had recently taken place in
China. One of the principal opponents of this traffic, Chang
Chihtung, wrote: “ Assuredly it is not foreign intercourse that
is ruining China, but this dreadful poison. Opium has spread
with frightful rapidity and heartrending results throughout the
provinces. Millions upon millions have been struck down by the
plague. The ruin of the mind is the most woeful of its many
deleterious effects. The poison enfeebles the will, saps the strength
of the body, renders the consumer incapable of performing his
regular duties. It consumes his substance and reduces the
miserable wretch to poverty, barrenness and senility. Unless
something is done to arrest this awful scourge in its devastating
march, the Chinese people will be transformed into satyrs and
devils.”

Convinced by these and other opinions to a like effect, ener-
getic steps were taken by the Government. On September 2oth,
1906, the following edict was issued by order of the Emperor :
“Since the first prohibition of opium almost the whole of China
has been flooded by the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted
their time, neglected their employments, ruined their constitu-
tions, and impoverished their households. Thus for several
decades China has presented a spectacle of increasing poverty

891
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

and weakness. The Court is now determined to make China
powerful, and it is our duty to urge our people to reformation in
this respect. We decree, therefore, that within the limit of ten
years this harmful filth be fully and entirely swept away. We
therefore command the Council of State to consider means for the
strict prohibition both of opium smoking and of poppy growing.”
There is much to be said for the exclusive attitude of the Chinese
against foreigners. The Chinese Empire is self-sufficing, contain-
ing within its bounds everything it requires for itself. If foreigners
insist upon being admitted to China for their own purposes they
are bound to submit to its laws,

Even in the later ‘eighties outrages against foreigners had
taken place in the valley of the Yang-tsze-Kiang ; at Chin-kiang
the British consulate was burned to the ground, and similar
outrages took place in the west and north. The defeat of China
by Japan impressed some statesmen with the imperative necessity
of reforming the Empire. But the reactionary party at Peking
had recourse to the Dowager Empress, and begged her to resume
the reins of power. Therefore, in 1898, she ordered the Emperor
to surrender his power into her hands, reversed his edicts, and
commanded the punishment of his friends. This increased the
hostility to the foreigners, and in many places the Christians were
assaulted.

But the most remarkable result was the emergence of a secret
society, known in Europe as the ‘‘ Boxers,”’ in China as the Ino
Chuan, or the “ Patriotic Harmonious Fists.” This society
received vigorous Imperial support: ‘‘ The Powers cast looks of
tiger-like voracity on the Empire; to resist this, Viceroys and
Governors should act together without distinction of jurisdiction ;
the word ‘peace’ should be banished from their lips; they
should preserve the homes and the graves of their ancestors from
desecration at the hands of the invader.”’ The Dowager Empress
was the soul of this encouragement.

The foreign Ministers besought the Tsungli Yamen to suppress
the Boxer movement, and were told that everything was being
done to effect this, and that a large army was at hand for the
purpose under the command of Tung Fuhsiang. But he really
took the other side, and when he arrived matters became worse,
three British officers being pelted with stones by his soldiers in
October, 1899. The Boxers now drilled openly and threatened
foreigners and their native servants. Throughout winter matters
continued in a very grave condition. Christians were massacred
and burnt in the neighbourhood of Peking, and the Boxers

8g2
THE LEGATIONS BESIEGED

destroyed the railway and tore up the track not far from the
capital.

The foreign representatives were obliged to send to the ships
stationed at Taku for additional guards, and the Legations were
protected by 340 men. Prince Tuan, a professed supporter of
the Boxers, became President of the Tsungli Yamen, and the
Legations could no longer be considered safe. The Boxers now
reckoned themselves strong enough to take active steps, and the
Legations called on the admirals for protection. On June roth
Admiral Seymour marched from Tientsin with a force of 2,000
men. At Antung he found the railway line destroyed and a large
body of Boxers in position. After staying there some days he
discovered the railway cut behind him, and determined to retire
to Tientsin by water. On June 22nd he seized the Chinese arsenal,
finding in it large stores of rice and ammunition, and with some
difficulty returned to Tientsin on June 26th. The Boxers being
joined by the Imperial troops, the Legations at Peking and the.
foreign settlements at Tientsin were besieged, and but for the
opportune arrival of 1,700 Russian troops a catastrophe would
have taken place. The foreigners at Tientsin were in a hopeless
plight; they had few works of defence, and their communica-
tions with the Taku forts were cut off. On June 15th the Boxers,
who had sixty guns at their disposal, bombarded the foreign
settlements at Tientsin from the walls of the native city. Not
until June 24th could a relieving force arrive, but with this the
allied commanders were able to act, though the bombardment
did not take place until July 13th. On the following day the
city was occupied by the allied forces, whose next business was to
relieve the Legations at Peking. This was done by a column
drawn from the whole of the allied armies. On the night of
August 13th the Russians began an attack on the city wall of
the capital, and, asking for reinforcements, these were supplied
by the Japanese.

The Legations had been besieged for eight weeks. On June
zoth Baron von Ketteler, the German Minister, had been shot
dead a few hundred yards from his Legation, as he was riding
out to pay a visit to the Tsungli Yamen. Peace was no longer
possible, and foreigners of all nationalities retired to their Lega-
tions; the British Legation, being the largest, accommodated
the largest number of fugitives. On the arrival of the relieving
columns the Chinese made only a faint-hearted resistance. The
Dowager Empress, with the Emperor and the Court, fled to
Li-an-fu, the capital of the province of Shensi. Prince Ching and

893
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Li Hung Chang being given full powers to arrange terms, it
was decided that the officials connected with the Boxer move-
ment should be punished, an indemnity paid, the Taku forts
dismantled, the importation of arms prohibited, the Tsungli Yamen
abolished, and a rational system of intercourse with the Emperor
established. In pursuance of these terms, Princes Tuang and
Tsailan were sentenced to death, three high officials were con-
demned to commit suicide, and three mandarins were beheaded.
Prince Chun proceeded to Berlin to apologise for the murder of
Ketteler, and the indemnity was fixed at about £10,000,000. The
conditions of peace were signed on September 7th, Ig01. Two
months later Li Hung Chang, the most powerful statesman whom
China at that time possessed, died after a short illness.

The movement of the Boxers, which meant the regeneration
of the fighting power of China, was viewed with great suspicion
by the Russian Government, which feared they would endeavour
to recover some of the territory which China had lost in Manchuria.
The town of Blagovestchensk, on the Amur, had grown very
rapidly, and a small force of Russians was face to face with a large
Chinese population. The Governor, Chichegov, afraid of what
might occur, commanded all the Chinese to cross to the south side
of the river, and, when they hesitated to obey, the soldiers were
ordered to drive them over at the point of the bayonet. The
result of this atrocity was that 4,500 people were drowned in the
stream, a barbarous outrage on the Mongols which was soon to
be avenged.

894
CHAPTER XVI

THE BOER WAR

THE Cape ot Good Hope was so named by John II. of Portugal,
who hoped it might prove a place of call on a new and easier
route to India. In 1620 Captain Fitzherbert claimed it as British
territory, but did nothing to secure its possession, so that in 1652
the Dutch East India Company were able to occupy it in order
to assist their trade with India. The Dutch did everything to
keep the Cape to themselves and exclude other nations from it.
They deposed Governor Quellbergen with dishonour because he
showed friendliness to a French ship. The Company forbade all
commerce, and the farmers were required to sell their produce
to them alone at prices they fixed. Taxes and tithes were
oppressive, all settlers holding their position on sufferance and
being thus liable to expulsion at any moment. The French
Huguenots, who came to the Cape in 1690 and formed the most
valuable part of the population, were forbidden to employ their
language in public affairs, and found the oppression of the Dutch
Governor just as irksome as that of Louis XIV., from which they
had escaped. At the same time the Government was thoroughly
corrupt, and all complaints were punishable by death. The
colonists possessed freedom only in name, and their condition
was such that they would have welcomed at any moment the
arrival of a British fleet to rescue them from an intolerable
tyranny.

From this discontent arose the system of treks, or wholesale
migrations, which have since been so characteristic of the Boer
community. In 1795 there was a revolution and the districts of
Graaf Reinet and Swellendam declared their independence. In
the same year the Prince of Orange was driven out of Holland
by the French and fled to England. Having urged the British
Government to occupy Cape Colony in order to save it from the
French, Admiral Elphinstone was sent to the Cape with a letter
from the Prince recommending its surrender. This was arranged,
and the British were welcomed as liberators; but in the Peace
of Amiens in 1802 the Colony was restored to Holland. During
the years 1803 to 1806 the Batavian Republic gave rise to no

895
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

complaints, but in 1806 Holland was at war with Great Britain
and the Cape was conquered without difficulty. After the fall
of Napoleon and the return of the Orange family to Holland
the Cape was ceded to Great Britain on October 2gth, 1814, for
£6,000,000, the price being heavier because the Cape lay on the
then direct sea road to India. The little house in which the
treaty for the cession of the Cape was signed still exists; but
in 1906 Great Britain’s position in the country was not such as
to enable her to celebrate the centenary of its acquisition.

Having become master of the Cape, Great Britain gave the
Dutch two occasions of offence—one, that she insisted upon the
use of the English language; the other, that she interfered with
their treatment of the natives. This made them anxious to with-
draw to territories where they might do as they pleased. They
first moved to Natal. When Natalia, as it was called, became
important, the British annexed it, on the ground that its Boer
inhabitants were British subjects. But they had a better reason,
because in 1842 a Dutch ship had made its appearance on the
coast and the skipper had advised the Natal Boers to adopt the
Dutch flag and to place themselves under the suzerainty of
Holland. In search of liberty, the Boers travelled to the country
which afterwards became the Orange Free State and the Transvaal,
and founded there independent communities. The Orange Free
State was temporarily occupied “by Great Britain from 1848 to
1854, but was voluntarily given up, and at the outbreak of the
Boer War in 1899 was as little connected with Great Britain as
Switzerland. In 1852 the Sand River Convention recognised
the independence of the Boer community on the other side of the
Vaal.

The Dutch of the Transvaal were at first organised in separate
communities, and in 1852 there were four of these—Potchef-
stroom, Utrecht, Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg—bound together
in a loose confederation. In 1857 the Boers of Potchefstroom,
attempting to conquer the Orange Free State, desisted when they
saw that the latter could defend itself, but in 1862 civil war broke
out. This was put an end to in 1864 by Pretorius, who founded
the Transvaal Republic. In 1872 Pretorius was succeeded by
Burgers, who was too liberal both in politics and religion to
please his fellow countrymen, and the condition of the country
deteriorated. The disorganisation became gradually worse and
worse, the Government was nearly bankrupt, and money was
scarcely to be had. In 1876, in the north-east, the Boers were
at war with Sikukuni, whom they were not able to conquer; while

896
DISCOVERY OF GOLD

Cetewayo, then at the height of his power, was pressing them from
the south.

The condition of the Transvaal being regarded as a danger
to Natal, the country was, on April 12th, 1877, annexed to Great
Britain, Burgers, the President, receiving a pension. It was
believed at the time that this met with the approval of the Boer
inhabitants, but, as a fact, only 2,500 out of 8,000 Boers had given
their consent in writing. This arbitrary proceeding led to the
rebellion which has been already described, and this in turn was
succeeded by the Treaty of Pretoria, signed in 1881, by which
independence was restored to the Transvaal, the suzerainty of
Great Britain, however, being directly acknowledged. This was
modified by the Treaty of London in 1884, in which the term
“suzerainty ’’ was expressly deleted, and an article substituted
which provided that the Transvaal should not contract any agree-
ment with any country, excepting the Orange Free State and
the native States to the east and west of the Republic, without
the consent of the British Crown. The Boers might make a
treaty with Germany, but it would have no validity unless the
consent of Great Britain had been previously given to its provi-
sions. Article 2, a repetition of Article 19 of the superseded
treaty, provided that the Transvaal should confine itself to its
own territory, and not permit its subjects to cross the frontiers.
The situation was, however, altered by the discovery of gold in
1886 and also by the development of the spirit of colonial
expansion which had seized upon all European nations since
1880.

The discovery of gold especially produced important effects.
In 1885 the whole revenue of the Transvaal Republic amounted
to £177,876; in 1897 it had increased to £4,480,217. All nations
flocked to the new source of wealth, millions of capital had been
attracted to the country, roads constructed, and the economic
foundations of a modern State laid. A change on this scale
could not have been brought about by the Boers themselves.
The progress was due to the foreign settlers—the Uitlanders, as
they were called—Dutch, German, French and British. Out of
this mixed community arose a conflict, not so much racial as eco-
nomic in character. The Boers, essentially farmers, were wedded
to a country life; the new settlers, essentially a town population,
lived together in one area for the purpose of making money.
Another cause of difference was the attitude of the Boers and the
British towards the natives. The Boers regarded them as animals,
hardly distinguishable from the wild creatures they had been

= 897
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

obliged to get rid of in order to secure their safety. The British
detested slavery, and approved of missionary efforts to convert
and instruct the natives.

From these differences arose two ideals, both of them extreme,
held only by an advanced section of either people—the driving out
of the British from South Africa with the help of the Dutch and
the Germans on the one hand, and the constitution of South
Africa as a British community under the British Crown on the
other. The necessity for expansion tended in the same direc-
tion. South Africa, with only 500,000 of white population, was
divided into seven different provinces, each with different laws
and different economical and political ideals. Both Kruger, the
President of the Transvaal Republic, and Cecil John Rhodes, the
most powerful of the British settlers, looked forward to a united
South Africa, but they were divided as to the flag under which
the union should take place. The desire of the British and the
Boers for expansion was likely to bring about a conflict unless
pains were taken to avoid it. There is no doubt also that the
Transvaal had broken the contract, adopted in 1881 and 1884,
which forbade the Republic to extend its frontiers. It had
advanced its influence in every direction, from Bechuanaland in
the west to Mashonaland in the north, to Swaziland in the east,
and to Zululand in the south. The British opposed a barrier to
this expansion in all directions. Bechuanaland was placed under
British protection, the Republic of Goshen was conquered by the
Crown, the Boers were cut off from the sea to the east, and the
territory of Lobengula was secured by Rhodes to the north.
Kruger saw that Rhodes’ energy was gradually surrounding him
by a wall which he could not pass. The irritation thus produced
brought about an economic struggle of a petty but vexatious
kind. The British tried to prevent direct communication between
Cape Colony and the Transvaal, forcing it thus to the circuitous
route by Delagoa Bay. Kruger, for his part, gave an advantage
to Dutch and Germans in granting concessions and monopolies,
hoping to secure their co-operation in case of a war with Great
Britain.

The main cause of dissension was formed by the so-called
grievances of the Uitlanders. No doubt the miners had, in the
first instance, been welcomed and even invited by the Boers.
When the Transvaal was an agricultural settlement efforts were
made to encourage colonists, and rights of naturalisation were
virtually, if not legally, promised. But the advance of a stream
of undesirable adventurers attracted by the gold modified the

898
THE NATURALISATION QUESTION

condition of things and induced the Boers to alter their naturalisa-
tion law so as to make it difficult or impossible for new-comers
to become complete citizens of the Republic. There was much
excuse for this; agricultural settlers were welcome so long as
they were likely to assume the conditions of Boer life; but it
was reasonable that the Boers should take precautions against
being swamped by a motley influx of men who would stifle and
eventually destroy their national character, and who had not—
most of them at least—the remotest intention of settling
permanently in the country. These so-called grievances were
exaggerated by the jingo Press in England, just as the British
nationality claimed by a mass of speculators of Jewish origin
with German names seemed to be of a very shadowy description.
Yet the Uitlanders had some rights, and their desire to be admitted
to a share in the government had a real and reasonable basis,
as was shown by the National Union, founded in 1892, though
it was not until 1895 that capitalists, by the advice of ‘Rhodes,
began to take part in it. Even then Barney Barnato stood aloof,
while J. B. Robinson was directly opposed to it.

The condition of the Transvaal was indeed very peculiar,
hardly paralleled by that of any other State known to history.
The number of foreign settlers was double, or nearly double, that
of the Boers, and they paid nineteen-twentieths of the taxes.
Their principal grievances were that the taxes were too high,
amounting to £4,000,000 in a country inhabited by scarcely
250,000 whites, the larger proportion, too, being paid by
Uitlanders; the absence of any proper budget or other state-
ment as to how the money was spent; the absence of English
schools supported by the State; the commandeering of British
subjects for military service; the exclusive use of Dutch in the
law courts; the bad municipal rule of Johannesburg; and the
corrupt character of the Government. The Boers, viewing the
British as enemies to their freedom and independence, were not
disposed to place them in a position of influence; on the other
hand, the Dutch whom they imported from Holland to supply
their own: deficiencies were corrupt and tyrannical, and not
qualified to improve the relations between the rival peoples, but
rather to embitter them.

Of all the grievances the most serious was the question
of naturalisation—the admission of Uitlanders to the franchise,
the right to elect and to be elected. A Boer received full
political franchise at the age of sixteen, but a Briton could not
be fully enfranchised until he had been fourteen years in the

899
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

country and was forty years of age, and even then he had no
vote for the office of President or Commander-in-Chief. These
restrictions were felt more deeply because, up to 1883, citizen-
ship had been obtained after a single year’s residence, and, up to
1890, after five years’ residence; while the Orange Free State
asked for only two years’ residence, and Cape Colony for none
at all. The reformers set themselves to obtain, in the first
instance, a more generous law of naturalisation; but they forgot
that a man cannot be a citizen of two countries at the same time,
that an Englishman cannot become a Boer without ceasing to
be an Englishman, and it was doubtful whether any of those who
complained most loudly of their grievances would have accepted
relief on such a condition.

A spark fell into this mass of explosive matter when Dr.
L. S. Jameson made a raid into the Transvaal on December 2oth,
1895, with a view to entering Johannesburg, joining there with
the Uitlanders who, he believed, were ready to rise, and estab-
lishing a reformed government under the Dutch flag. The enter-
prise was insane; it was undertaken against the wishes of Rhodes
and with the strong disapproval of the British Government. A
few Boer commandos were hastily summoned together, and the
raiders ignominiously surrendered to them at Krugersdorp. Kruger
behaved magnanimously. He might justifiably have tried the
raiders by court-martial and shot them; but he gave them up
to the British Government, which, when the first passion of
indignation had passed, treated them with undue leniency. The
part played by Chamberlain, the Secretary for the Colonies, in
the matter has never been adequately explained. Kruger now
recognised the necessity of arming if he wished to preserve his
independence. In 1897 more than 147,000 rifles were imported
into the Transvaal by way of Delagoa Bay, whereas the number
of fighting citizens was only 29,500, and a close alliance was
formed with the Orange Free State. The idea of a Dutch South
Africa came again into prominence. There was no organised
conspiracy against British rule, as has sometimes been asserted,
but the most violent spirits amongst the Boers cherished the
hope of independence, and this was stimulated by Dr. Leyds, an
able Dutch lawyer, who had a pernicious influence over Kruger’s
administration.

In February, 1897, Sir Alfred Milner was sent out to succeed
Lord Rosmead, formerly Sir Hercules Robinson, as Governor of
Cape Colony, and there is no doubt that he set himself to make
a fair and unprejudiced examination of the situation. He was

goo
MILNER AND THE WAR

well disposed to the Boers, learnt their language, and made speeches
in it, but, being more of an administrator than a statesman, was
soon drawn into close communion with, and strong support
of, the Uitlander party. He seems to have come to the
conclusion that war was inevitable, which he believed would be
short and decisive, and that any attempt at conciliation was only
putting off the evil day. In the spring of 1899 he sent to England
a petition of the Uitlanders with 23,000 signatures, demanding a
redress of grievances. To this Chamberlain replied, on May roth,
that a conference should take place between Milner and Kruger
at which all matters in dispute should be fairly discussed. The
conference took place at Bloemfontein, but it was foredoomed
to failure. Milner had made up his mind that it could not
succeed, and did not wish that Kruger should make concessions
which could only be illusory and would hinder the only settle-
ment possible—that of the sword. He was therefore relieved
when the conference came to nothing. At the same time Cham-
berlain embittered the relations between the Transvaal Govern-
ment and himself by the revival of the term ‘“ suzerainty,”
which had appeared in the Convention of 1881, but had been
expressly omitted from that of 1884. The Transvaal was not
an absolutely free government in the sense in which the Orange
Free State was, because its power of making treaties with other
countries was limited. But it had complete independence in the
management of its own affairs, and could not be said to be under
the suzerainty of the British Crown. The abuse of this title drove
the Transvaal to declare itself to be a “ sovereign independent
State,” rather a strained expression.

After the Bloemfontein conference was over, a Bill submitted
by Kruger was passed by the Raad, granting the suffrage after
seven years’ residence upon certain conditions of registration.
This being only partially accepted by the British Government,
a further step was taken, which conceded everything which Milner
had asked at Bloemfontein, and more. This proposal, made on
August 12th, gave a five years’ retrospective franchise, as had
been proposed, eight new seats in the First Chamber, and more,
if necessary, in the Second. The new citizens would have equal
rights with the old, and friendly suggestions from the British
Government would be considered. To this Chamberlain gave, on
August 30th, what he called a qualified acceptance, but expressed
in an ambiguous manner and in language which would be certain
to be offensive to the Boers.

It is possible that this so-called acceptance, although indirect,

gor
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

qualified and excluding finality, might have been accepted at
Pretoria. But two days before it reached the Boer Government
Chamberlain had made at Highbury, his residence near Birming-
ham, a speech of an irritating character, in which he implied that
concessions had been squeezed out of Kruger as out of a sponge,
and that the time was running out during which a peaceful
solution was possible. This speech was immediately cabled to
Pretoria and produced the most disastrous effect. Up to that
time the better-disposed Boers hoped for a peaceful settlement,
believing that the Boer Government, if pressed, was ready to
give a liberal franchise and representation, and submit all other
disputes to conference or arbitration. The speech at Highbury,
however, shattered these hopes, for they felt that it meant war,
being a direct denial of finality to all British demands. The
consequence was that Chamberlain’s dispatch was regarded, not as
a qualified acceptance, but as a virtual refusal.

It is difficult to resist the conclusion that both Chamberlain
and Milner had made up their minds that war was inevitable.
Probably these two responsible public men believed that the war
would be short and would entail only a moderate expenditure.
Following, however, the best precedents of British government,
Lord Salisbury should, as soon as the danger of war became
imminent, have taken the negotiations into his own hands, as
he would certainly have done had it been a European complica-
tion, in which event war might have been avoided. But it was
the long vacation; Salisbury was at Dieppe, and undoubtedly did
not realise the calamity which was impending.

On September 8th Chamberlain sent an ambiguous dispatch,
which was regarded by the Boers as an ultimatum, and at the
same time large bodies of troops were sent out from England, in
addition to those previously ordered from India. The dispatch
spoke of the British Government formulating proposals for a final
settlement, but it has never been revealed what these proposals
were, nor is there any ground for supposing that they really
existed. At the end of September the Transvaal Government
asked for information, but were told that the proposals would
not be ready for some days. In the meantime Parliament had
been summoned, the reserves called out, troops landed at the
Cape and moved towards the frontier, and during the whole of
these events no further dispatch arrived from the Colonial Office.
Consequently, on October gth, the Boers sent a request that all
points of mutual difference should be relegated to friendly arbitra-
tion, and that the British Government should withdraw its troops

go2
BRITAIN UNPREPARED FOR WAR

from the frontier and cease to land.and send forward other troops.
To this Chamberlain replied that the conditions imposed made
discussion impossible. The result of this was war.

As a counter-move to the British massing of troops the
Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State took a
number of farmers from their homes and set them on the frontier
awaiting the final proposals of Great Britain. Days and weeks
passed and the proposals did not come. The burghers, stationed
on the veldt in days and nights of heavy rain, mostly without
tents, began to grow restive. They thought of their neglected
farms, where ploughing and sowing were beginning, and of their
wives and children.. Grumbling led to open discontent, and
they refused to remain idle while Great Britain strengthened her
artillery and brought up her armies. They threatened to return
to their homes unless those in command took action. No one can
blame them for refusing to wait until the forces of the British
Empire had assembled ready to crush them before they struck
a blow in their own defence.

The justification of the war, which was at first sought in the
grievances of the Uitlanders, was afterwards based upon the belief
that there was a conspiracy among the Boers to drive the British
out of South Africa. There is not the slightest proof that any
such conspiracy ever existed, and no papers supporting this opinion
have been published, although all the documents which might lend
it colour and support afterwards came into the hands of the British.
There were some, indeed, who thought that a favourable moment
had arrived for achieving the independence of South Africa, and
they were as anxious as Chamberlain and Milner that the war should
not be avoided. In fact, there is little doubt that, could the Boers
have compelled the British garrisons to surrender before reinforce-
ments arrived from England, the Boers might in a few days have
been in Cape Town and Durban, that the Dutch residents in
British territory would have joined them, and that South Africa
would have been free, united, and Dutch. This, however, was
not to be; the British were too vigorous and the Dutch too
indolent.

The outbreak of the war found Great Britain unprepared. She
had failed to realise the seriousness of the conflict, although Sir
William Butler had warned the Government on this point. The
public feeling of the world was strongly against her, and reason-
ably so, for in contradiction to the lessons of her history she was
unjustly oppressing a small nation, depriving it of liberty and
coveting valuable territory which did not belong to her. She had

9°3
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

exceptional difficulties to contend with owing to the enormous
extent of territory over which the war was spread, and the con-
trast between the lightly equipped, easily moving Boers and the
lumbering transport of a regular army. Every burgher between
the ages of sixteen and sixty had to be prepared to fight for his
country at any moment. If required for active service he must
provide himself with a riding horse, saddle and bridle, a rifle and
thirty cartridges, or, if unable to obtain a rifle, thirty bullets,
thirty caps, and 4lb. of powder, together with provisions for
eight days. The provisions consisted of meat cut into strips,
salted, peppered and dried, or sausages and Boer biscuits. When
meat was served out the British received theirs cooked; the
burghers theirs raw and had to cook it themselves. The Boer
ultimatum to the British expired on October 11th, 1899, and
war had broken out. The British Parliament met a few days
afterwards and voted {10,000,000 for the conduct of the war.
It is believed that if at that time the operations of the Boers had
not already begun, Parliament would have taken a peaceful line
and the South African War would have been averted.

When Milner and Chamberlain entered upon this struggle with
the Boers they had no idea of the kind of resistance their enemies
were likely to offer; they thought the conflict would be over in
a few months and would cost only a moderate amount of money,
which would be easily repaid out of the profit of the gold mines.
On the other hand, a different view was taken by some in Great
Britain. They regarded the South African conflict as a parallel
to the attempt to reduce the North American colonies in. the
eighteenth century, foresaw the costly nature of the struggle,
recognised the difficulty of vanquishing the Boers, and doubted
whether they would be conquered at all.

Moreover, as we have said, the public opinion of Europe was
opposed to Great Britain’s war policy. At this time two
questions were agitating the Continent—the trial of Dreyfus in
France and the treatment of the Boers by Great Britain. France
was made so unpopular by the one that she was almost ostracised
by her sister communities, and in consequence of the other British
travellers were so rudely treated on the Continent that few
ventured to go abroad for pleasure. In the efforts of other
countries to obtain liberty Great Britain had hitherto borne
an honourable part. She had always been on the side of the
weak, even lately supporting struggling Finland against the
encroachments of Russia, and it appeared incredible that she
should now employ her immense resources to crush a small

904
THE OPENING BATTLE

community of farmers, whose only crime was a determination
to live under their own laws and their own flag.

Germany took full advantage of the opportunity which Great
Britain afforded her. While the German Press teemed with
exasperating insults and insinuations, their Government set them-
selves to extend their commerce and develop their fleet. The
Boer War not only laid upon Great Britain an expenditure of
£270,000,000, but it left her burdened with the task of recovering
her lost position and of contending against fresh advantages which
her absorption in war had enabled her rivals to consolidate. It is
providential that no other nation took the opportunity of attack-
ing Great Britain or assisting the Boers; her neighbours thought
it better to use her extremity for their own advantage rather than
imperil their chances by attacking her. In India the masterly
diplomacy and wise government of the Viceroy, Lord Curzon,
prevented any movement on the part of Russia to profit by the
occasion. That Great Britain rose superior to these misfortunes
was due to the admirable qualities of King Edward VII., who,
by his personal popularity, wide knowledge of European affairs,
and diplomatic skill, succeeded, within the ten short years of his
reign, in leaving his country as powerful and as much respected
in Europe as she had ever been.

The period fixed by the Boer ultimatum came to an end at
5 in the afternoon of Wednesday, October 11th, 1899, and next
morning, amid cold and mist, their camps were broken up and
the Boers rode to the war. Twelve thousand mounted burghers
and two batteries of eight Krupp guns each invaded Natal from
the north, hoping to be joined later by contingents from the Free
State and the Transvaal. An eyewitness tells us that their faces
wore an expression of determination and bull-dog pertinacity,
with no sign of fear or wavering. They were evidently no
cowards, nor unworthy antagonists of British valour. They were
commanded by Piet Joubert, a Boer of Huguenot extraction.

The British troops in North Natal had been under the
command of General Sir William Penn Symons, who had been
superseded only a few days before the declaration of war by Sir
George White. Their main position was at Ladysmith, but there
was a force of 4,000 men at Glencoe, which was five miles from
the railway station at Dundee, and forty miles from Ladysmith.
The garrison of the place was 8,000 to 10,000 strong, and was
commanded under White by Archibald Hunter, John French and
Ian Hamilton. The first contest took place on October 2oth, at
Talana Hill. In the attack Symons was shot in the stomach and

2p* 905
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

fell mortally wounded. The British won the hill, but with a
serious loss, mainly of officers, so that the affair was a tactical
victory but an actual defeat. It was a crude front attack with-
out any attempt at flanking, and was carried through by the
dogged valour of the British troops. This, for some time to
come, was to be the characteristic note of the British operations.
The conflict involved retreat to Ladysmith, which was reached on
October 26th, leaving 200 sick and wounded, together with
Symons, in the hospital at Dundee. The Battle of Elandslaagte
was fought on October 2ist, with a view to enabling the Dundee
column to retire to Ladysmith. It was a brilliant action and
disengaged the railway, but had no permanent results. At the end
of the first week the Boers had made the position of the British
in Dundee untenable and had forced them back to Ladysmith ;
they had thus the northern quarter of the country in their
possession. They had killed or wounded between 600 and 700
of their foes, and were so insistent that the British had to
leave considerable stores as well as their wounded behind at
Dundee.

George White now commanded at Ladysmith an army of
12,000 men. His best policy was to remain on the defensive
and await reinforcements from England. But his chivalrous
feeling led him to court actions which would have better been
avoided. The Battle of Ladysmith was fought on October 30th,
but resulted in defeat. At the end of a fortnight 100 miles of
railway line were in the hands of the enemy; out of five actions
only one was a victory, and one a positive disaster. The Boers
had lost two guns and 300 prisoners, the British had lost 1,200
prisoners and a battery of small guns. Besides, 12,000 British
troops were shut up in Ladysmith, and there was no reason why
the invaders should not reach the sea.

Two other important towns were invested by the Boers—
Mafeking and Kimberley. Kimberley, the seat of the diamond
mines, was defended by Kekewich ; but Cecil Rhodes, the founder
and director of the De Beers mines, had thrown himself into the
town. Mafeking was defended by the genius and resource of
Baden Powell, and, although it was of no great importance in
itself, the attempt to capture it kept Boers employed who might
have been doing mischief in other directions. The Boers appeared
before Mafeking on October 13th; after three days the siege
began in earnest, and a week later a bombardment began which
lasted with intermissions for seven months. The successes of the
Boers continued. The burghers of the Orange Free State seized

go06
BRITISH TACTICAL BLUNDERS

the railway junctions of Naauwpoort and Stormberg, and threatened
De Aar, where, if they had persevered in their attack, they
would have found large quantities of provisions and supplies.
But great as their opportunities were, and great as their advance
had been, the invaders were lacking in energy, definiteness of
purpose and initiative. They allowed Kimberley and Ladysmith
to hold out until such reinforcements should arrive as would
crush all resistance.

The war entered into a second stage by the arrival of Sir
Redvers Buller from England in November. Strenuous efforts
were made to relieve both Kimberley and Ladysmith, but they
were not successful, mainly for two reasons. In the first place,
the British had not realised that they required a much larger
force to subdue an enemy fighting on interior lines, with an
intimate knowledge of the country and possessed of extreme
mobility ; and, secondly, they had not learned the proper way
of fighting against them. The British attacked in the open an
enemy who had the art of concealing themselves behind every
stone and every tussock, whose firing was admirable, and who
used smokeless powder, and the soldiers had the demoralising
experience of seeing their comrades killed while lying on the ground
by a mysterious foe, whose position and means of offence were
equally inscrutable.

Lord Methuen reached the Orange River on November 12th,
and ten days later came into touch with the Boers at Belmont.
The British gained a victory of a sort, but with little material
result, for the enemy galloped away comfortably after the action
and pursuit was impossible. The Battle of Enslin was fought on
November 25th, and in it the Naval Brigade behaved splendidly ;
but little advantage was derived from it because, as Conan Doyle
says, if the British won the kopjes they lost the men. They had
200 killed and wounded and the Boers less than 100. The British
had set out from the Orange River on Wednesday ; on Thursday
they fought at Belmont, on Saturday at Enslin; on Monday the
column set out again, and on Tuesday reached the Modder River,
defended by the famous Cronje, on November 28th. Here was
fought a desperate battle, which ended in victory for the British,
because the Boers retired and left the former masters of the
field. But it was a Pyrrhic triumph, for the British losses were
enormous. Cronje sullenly retired to new defences, while the
British slept exhausted upon the stricken field.

But disaster overtook Methuen at Magersfontein, when he
attempted to force his way across the hills which separated him

9°7,
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

from Kimberley. His force moved out on Sunday, December roth,
in pouring rain and bivouacked on the cold, soaked ground. In
the middle of the night they started in a dense mass, but before
they could deploy a hail of Boer bullets dashed against them,
which slew them by hundreds. Their leader, General Wauchope,
was killed, and the rest of the Highland Brigade broke. The
Highland regiments re-formed next morning and advanced, but
nothing could be done against Cronje’s trenches. After remain-
ing all day under a burning sun without food or water, they were
compelled to retire, and the whole force returned with bitter
humiliation to the place from which they had started. The
British lost nearly 1,000 men killed, wounded and missing, of
whom 700 were Highlanders, and 57 officers of the Highland
Brigade had fallen.

Similar ill-success befell General Gatacre, who on December
gth advanced from Sterkstroom to attack the enemy at Storm-
berg, to carry out a storm movement which had been minutely
described by The Times correspondent two days before it was
begun. He started with 3,000 men in open railway trucks, detrained
at Molteno in the evening, missed his way, and in the dawn of
December 1oth was entirely defeated by the Boers. Only a few
men fell, 26 being killed and 68 wounded, but 600 were taken
prisoners and two guns were captured. The losses of the Boers
were very slight.

Such was the fate of the efforts to relieve Kimberley, but the
mind of the British at home was set upon the beleaguered Lady-
smith. White had been driven back into that town on October
30th ; a few days afterwards both its railway and telegraph were
cut and Ladysmith isolated. Buller now made serious attempts
to relieve it. His troops were massed at Chieveley, and on Friday,
December 15th, he moved out to attack the Boers at Colenso,
with a force of about 21,000 men. The expedition was a complete
failure. The British advanced in masses against an invisible
enemy, concealed behind every rock and protected by every fold
of the ground. At 12 o'clock all the troops were retreating,
having lost 1,127 men, killed, wounded and missing, the enemy
having lost not more than 100, while the British guns were left as
trophies to the Boers. Conan Doyle says that the week between
December roth and December 17th, 1899, was the blackest known
for one generation, and the most disastrous to British arms during
the century. They had lost in seven days, in three separate
actions, 3,000 men and 12 guns, which involved despair to
themselves and triumph to their enemies.

gos
SPION KOP

At length Great Britain realised the magnitude of the enter-
prise and the seriousness of the position. Lord Roberts, the
best general she possessed, was sent to take command, with
Lord Kitchener as Chief of Staff. Volunteers offered themselves
with eagerness, crowds of young men in frock coats and top hats
waiting to be enlisted, one fashionable club sending 300 of its
members to the war. A fact of significance for the whole world
was the dispatch by Canada, Australia and New Zealand of
voluntary levies in aid of the Mother Country. There was there-
fore a lull in the operations, Methuen strengthening himself at the
Modder, Gatacre at Sterkstroom, and Buller preparing for a final
advance on Ladysmith.

In January Buller determined to turn the Boer right flank and
gain the hills which overlooked Ladysmith, with an army of 20,000
men. The operations began on January ioth, but the decisive
conflict did not take place till twelve days later. On the evening
of January 22nd a portion of the British force climbed up a bare
hill 2,000 feet high, called Spion Kop (Spy Hill), because from
its summit in 1835 the Boers looked down upon the promised
land of Natal. But when they reached the summit they tound
that they only held half of the hill and that the rest was occupied
by the Boers, strongly entrenched. They stayed there all the
following day, but were in a hopeless position. If they retreated
the Boers would rush the summit they occupied; if they held
their ground they were exposed to a murderous fire of shells.
Reinforcement merely meant adding more victims to the slaughter.
The situation was saved for the moment by the advance of some
Rifles from Lyttelton’s Brigade, who climbed up the precipitous
path with an activity and a heroism rarely surpassed in war.
At last night came and Colonel Thorneycroft determined to
retreat, feeling that he could not face another day such as that
through which he had passed. The Boers were probably in as
bad a position as himself, and were themselves on the point of
retreating ; but the sight of 1,300 dead and dying unnerved the
commander, and he gave the word to retire on January 24th.

In the morning the hill-top was in the hands of Louis Botha,
but it was known that at daybreak he had regarded the affair as
hopeless, and that no one was more surprised at the victory than
himself—a victory which had been won by the excellence of the
Boer guns. It is clear that Buller and his subordinate, Sir Charles
Warren, ought to have taken more personal interest in the opera-
tions, and should have decided the momentous issue of retreat.
Four thousand troops had been crowded into a space which could

999
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

only hold 500 in proper cover, and the British losses were very
severe, 1,500 being killed, wounded or missing. The Boers lost
only 50 killed and 150 wounded. Buller had lost 2,000 men since
he passed the Tugela, and on January 27th he retired across the
river, unmolested by the Boers. All he had to show for his
exertions was the possession of Mount Alice.

Buller having failed in his attacks upon the Boers’ centre and
their extreme right, now determined to assault the extreme left
with the hope of better results. He started on this expedition
at daybreak on February 17th, and after three days had estab-
lished himself fairly along the whole south bank of the Tugela.
On the following evening he crossed the river at Colenso, and
attacked the formidable post of Pieters Hill. Conan Doyle is of
opinion that this direct attack should never have been attempted,
and that a flanking movement should have been persisted in from
the first. Buller only came to this conclusion after the sad
experience of repulse and after terrible losses had been incurred
on both sides. The Tugela was recrossed, and another advance
was made in a different direction. At last a hill was taken which
was known to be the key of the position. A great plain lay before
them which extended as far as Bulwhana, a mountain overlooking
Ladysmith. The British pushed over the plain until Dundonald’s
cavalry were met by a picket from Ladysmith, and it was known
that the town was saved. Relieved on February 28th, 1goo,
Ladysmith had held out for 118 days, 16,000 shells having fallen
in the town. Buller in his efforts to relieve it had lost over 5,000
men, more than 20 per cent. of the whole army. He entered
the rescued city in state on March 3rd, passing between the lines
of the defenders, and those who saw that the Dublin Fusiliers,
who had suffered most and were placed in the van of honour, were
represented only by five officers and a handful of men, sobbed
like children.

Kimberley was finally relieved by a body of cavalry—hussars,
dragoons and lancers—under the command of General John
French, who rode roo miles in four days with insufficient food
and water. On the night of February 15th, 1900, the relieving
column camped in the plain two miles from the town, while French
and his staff rode in. The relief of Kimberley had really been
effected by the operations of Roberts, of which we must now give
some account. His second object, besides this relief, was to cut
the connection between Cronje and Bloemfontein. Cronje was
hidden in most extraordinary entrenchments on the Modder,
which, in spite of all remonstrances, he refused to leave. It had

gio
SURRENDER OF CRONJE

been found by bitter experience impossible to attack him in front,
and the only alternative was to advance from each end of his
position and reduce the length of river held by him. With the loss
of 1,100 men, the length of his position had been shortened from
three miles to less than two. The cordon around the Boer lines
gradually grew tighter and tighter, and on February 26th it was
determined to attack. After a furious onslaught of nine hours a
white flag was shown at the trench. A haggard figure appeared and
said, ‘‘ The burghers have had enough; what are they to do?”

At 6 o’clock next morning, Conan Doyle tells us, a white-
headed man on a white horse rode up to Lord Roberts’ head-
quarters. He was of middle age, thickly built, with grizzled hair
flowing from under a tall brown felt hat. He was dressed in
black broadcloth with a green summer overcoat, and carried in
his hands a small whip, looking more like a cattle drover than
a famous general, He agreed to unconditional surrender, stipu-
lating that his wife, secretary, adjutant, and servant might
accompany him, and on the same evening he was dispatched
to Cape Town. His men, a pallid, ragged crew, emerged from
their holes and burrows, and delivered up their muskets and rifles.
The prisoners consisted of 3,000 from the Transvaal and 1,100
from the Free State. They formed a singular assemblage of
people—ragged, patched, grotesque; some with goloshes, some
with umbrellas and coffee-pots; all with Bibles, which they
always carried with them. They had crouched for six days in
deep, narrow trenches, in which a rifleman could lie with little
danger from shells and in which the non-combatants remained
in absolute safety.

De Wet and Botha made a gallant attempt to rescue Cronje,
but it was not successful. With the help of a Krupp gun and a
Maxim-Nordenfeldt, a way of escape had been made for him, if
he would leave everything and be content with saving his life
and the lives of his burghers. His losses would not have been
heavy, and some of the burghers did escape and join De Wet. On
the night of February 25th De Wet sent Danie Theron to urge
Cronje to fly. He crawled past the British lines, tearing his
clothes to rags as he did so. When he returned to De Wet, on
February 27th, the blood was running from his knees where the
skin had been rubbed off. He reported that he had seen Cronje,
put that he refused to accept De Wet’s advice, because he did
not think the attempt would be successful; and that morning,
as we have seen, he surrendered. De Wet believed that Cronje
was not only wedded to the defensive position he had constructed

gli
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

with so much care, but that he did not realise the consequences
of his capture. He did not see that it would cause a panic in
Colesberg, Stormberg and Ladysmith, and throughout all the
laagers on the veldt. Cronje could have escaped that night, for
the British did not at that time employ Kafirs and Hottentots to
guide them in the darkness, and De Wet had a force of 1,600 men,
with whom he could have held Roberts back had he attempted to
pursue Cronje. De Wet regarded the surrender of Cronje as the most
terrible blow which the Boer cause suffered throughout the war.

After Cronje had surrendered, Christian De Wet was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Orange Free State forces, and, as
Roberts rested after his exertions from February 27th to March 7th,
De Wet spent this interval in fortifying his position at Poplar Grove,
ten miles from the scene of Cronje’s surrender. Here he received
a visit from Kruger, who had made the journey of ninety-six miles
from Bloemfontein in a horse wagon. However, the danger of
Roberts’ advance compelled him to retire immediately. Roberts
had made elaborate dispositions for the capture of Poplar Grove, but
the Boers did not stop to defend it. Before the assault began
they ran away in mad terror, much to De Wet’s disgust, until
they reached a farm eighteen miles distant. Here they defended
their position gallantly during a whole day, but in the evening ran
away again, so much had Cronje’s surrender demoralised them.

On March 5th Kruger and Steyn, the Presidents of the two
Republics, sent proposals for peace to the British Government,
saying that they had only fought for their independence and
asking that this might be recognised by the Prime Minister.
Salisbury replied that he could accept no terms but unconditional
surrender. So the war went on. De Wet tried in vain to infuse
something of his own courage and enthusiasm into his citizen
soldiers, but it was in vain. He had hoped for a vigorous defence
of Bloemfontein, and had ridden at nightfall from position to
position, haranguing to no purpose both the officers and the
privates. Wellbach deserted the key to Bloemfontein, and the
British occupied it. After a sleepless night, De Wet found, on
March 13th, one post after another abandoned by his command-
ants, and Bloemfontein fell on that day without a shot having
been fired. Roberts rode into the town amid the sympathies
of many of the inhabitants, a number of Union Jacks floating
from the windows.

After Bloemfontein had fallen, De Wet gave permission to
his burghers to return home and remain there till March 25th.
He knew that many of them would not come back, but that those

gi2
DISASTER AT SANNA’S POST

who did would fight hard. On March 2oth a council of war was
held at Kroonstad, now the capital of the Orange Free State, at
which Kruger and Steyn were present. Salisbury’s proposal of
unconditional surrender had made peace impossible. On the
other hand, there were no hopes of ultimate victory against the
overwhelming forces of Great Britain. But they felt that, as
men, they were bound to fight for their independence, and show
that they were worthy to exist as a free nation under a Repub-
lican form of government. The meeting decided to continue the
war more energetically than ever, to abandon the plan of great
wagon laagers, and employ nothing but horse commandos. De
Wet tells us that the effect of this council was to introduce a fine
spirit into the Boer army, and that the watchword “‘ Forward!”
was in the mind and on the tongue of every one.

Whilst Roberts was at Bloemfontein preparing for his advance
to Pretoria occurred the disastrous defeat of Sanna’s Post, or
Koorn Spruit, as it is also called, arranged and carried out by
the crafty and courageous De Wet on March 31st. Broadwood,
in command of Sanna’s Post on the Modder, was retreating to
Bloemfontein for greater security, and De Wet was anxious to
capture the waterworks in order that he might deprive the
garrison of Bloemfontein of their supply of that necessity. De
Wet, who had 350 men with him, occupied a ravine which com-
municated with the Modder, called Koorn Spruit, and he placed
his force, concealed in this ravine, on either side of the ford,
through which the road from Sanna’s Post to Bloemfontein passes,
There was another force of Boers, 1,150 strong, to the left of the
Modder. The British wagons came first, containing chiefly women
and children. As they crossed the Drift they were threatened
by De Wet that if they gave the slightest sign the drivers would
be shot. The British troops, seeing the wagons pass in safety,
thought that everything was secure, and descended into the
stream. As they reached it, they were met with the cry, “ Hands
up!” More troops followed, and 200 were secured before they
knew where they were. When the disaster was discovered the
British retreated to the railway station, about 1,300 yards distant,
a terrific fire being opened upon them as they retreated. The
larger force of Boers did not arrive for three hours, and
during that time the battle raged severely. Broadwood received,
most unaccountably, no help from Bloemfontein, which was
only seventeen miles distant. At last, on the arrival of the
Boer reinforcements, the British retreated. De Wet had only
three killed and five wounded ; Broadwood had 330 dead and

913
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD)

wounded, besides the loss of 421 prisoners, seven guns, and 117
wagons.

Four days later another disaster took place at Reddersberg.
De Wet had with him a force of over 800 men and three
Krupp guns. The British and the Boers marched together
towards a ridge, the former getting there first. However,
De Wet, finding himself in a superior position, wrote to the
commanding officer, calling upon him to surrender to avoid
bloodshed, to which the officer replied, “I am damned if I
will surrender!’ De Wet made it impossible for the British
to escape during the night, and began his attack at daylight next
morning, April 4th, and at 1 the white flag was hoisted, and
they had to surrender, 470 prisoners being taken.

De Wet tells us that, notwithstanding a proclamation of Lord
Roberts guaranteeing the property and personal liberty of the
burghers who did not fight, they were captured while peace-
fully working on their farms. This was probably due to accident,
but it made the Boers feel that the British were not to be trusted,
and justified the message sent by De Wet to Steyn that Roberts
was his best recruiting officer.

At this time the enormous forces at the disposal of the British
commander began to produce an effect, and all De Wet could
do was to hang upon their rear and offer a certain amount of
resistance. Kroonstad was taken and, on May 18th, Roberts
prepared to advance farther. It was decreed that Louis Botha,
who commanded the Transvaal forces, should cross the Vaal,
and that the Orange burghers should remain behind in their own
country. This division between the two allies was made purely
for strategic purposes. The number of 45,000 burghers, with
which the campaign had begun, was now reduced to 15,000, partly
by Cronje’s surrender and partly by the fact that a number of
Boers had returned to their farms. It was hopeless for this
handful to make a stand against 240,000 men and 350 guns. De
Wet says that he was ashamed to retreat, but that if he did so it
was because it was impossible for one man to stand against twelve.
On May 28th Roberts passed the Klip River without fighting.
The country had become more populous, and on the hills were
seen high chimneys and iron pumps which made the northern
soldiers feel homesick. This was the famous Rand, the cause of
the war, the source of untold wealth. A battle was fought at
Doornkop by the British left flank, and on May 31st Johannes-
burg was entered. After two days’ halt the army advanced to
Pretoria, thirty miles to the north, and in the early morning of

914
DE WET’S HUMOUR

June 5th that beautiful city, the pride of the Boer Government,
was entered. The first thought was to release the prisoners, who
had been admirably treated. On June 17th Buller had forced
his way over the Drakensberg, crossing the mountains between
Botha’s Pass and Laing’s Nek, so that the Boers were surrounded
on all sides. Steyn and De Wet were full of anxiety. The
burghers were leaving in crowds for their farms, so that there
were plenty of officers, but no men. But besides De Wet, Louis
Botha and Delarey showed splendid examples of foititude, and
pursued the war with invincible determination. The force of the
Orange Free State was reduced to 8,000 men.

After the capture of Bloemfontein and Pretoria and the
annexation of the Orange Free State, later called the Orange River
Colony, and the Transvaal, the war continued for a considerable
time, sustained mainly by the genius and energy of Christian de
Wet. He has left an account of it in his well-written and amusing
memoirs, which give a clear idea of the fight from the inside. The
capture near Heilbron of 200 Highlanders and forty heavily-laden
wagons was followed by the assault of Roodeval Station. After
a furious fire the white flag was hoisted by the British, the defeated
body being allowed to retain their personal belongings, but the
mail bags remaining a prize of war. The post contained all kinds
of articles—underclothing, stockings, oranges, and plum puddings.
The Boers, allowed to carry away anything they pleased, almost
sank under the weight of the spoil. All that was left was con-
sumed by fire. Shortly afterwards Kitchener had a narrow escape
from capture. He was in a train which the Boers stopped, and
orders to storm it were not obeyed. The general procured a
horse from one of the vans, mounted it, and disappeared ‘into
the darkness.

Almost as great a blow to the Boers as the capture of Cronje
was the surrender of Prinsloo on July 30th. Towards the end
of this month the Boers were being hemmed in on every side by
the British, and the pressure was becoming unendurable. Every
hill round the Boer position sparkled with heliographs, nor had
the Boer generals the spirit of De Wet. They elected Prinsloo
irregularly to the chief command, and the first use he made of
his authority was to surrender. He sent a message to Hunter
asking for an armistice, and when this was refused, hoisted the
white flag and surrendered unconditionally with all his men.
Such was the independence of the Boers that it was some time
before they all came in. Indeed, Olivier, with 1,500 men
and several guns, broke away and escaped through the hills.

915
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

But the loss to the Boers amounted to more than 4,000 com-
batants.

De Wet now adopted the policy of dividing the commandos
into small parties, so as not to risk any great battles, but to force
the British to split up their forces as well. In this way, although
the Boers lost many men, their enemies lost more, and the former
made a number of prisoners whom they were not able to keep.
The habit came into vogue of stripping the prisoners of their
clothing, partly with a view to prevent them from immediately
taking part again in the struggle, and partly to supply the Boers
with garments of which they were sorely in need. The bitterness
of the war became accentuated. De Wet’s army had no provi-
sions except meat, bread and maize, and even these were scarce.
Coffee and sugar were entirely lacking, except when they could
be captured from the enemy. The practice was adopted of blow-
ing up trains by placing the barrel and lock of a gun with a
dynamite cartridge under a sleeper, so that, when the engine
passed it exploded and the train was blown up. Thus it became
necessary to guard the railway with soldiers and impossible to
run trains by night.

On August 7th, 1901, Kitchener issued a proclamation calling
upon all burghers to surrender before September 15th. To this
De Wet replied stating that the Boers were still hoping for inter-
vention, and that the moral feeling of the civilised world would
protect them against the crime which Great Britain was com-
mitting in South Africa, of exterminating a young nation; but
that should this not be the case they would exert their utmost
strength to defend themselves, firmly trusting in the mercy of
God.

There is no doubt, from De Wet’s narrative, that the Boers
were greatly assisted by the farmers, and that, as they were
pursued, they found rest and sometimes sustenance at one farm
or another, as was but natural. Roberts, however, determined
to burn these farms, which created great resentment amongst
the famishing Boers and tended to prolong rather than to shorten
the war. The farm-houses were destroyed with everything they
contained, and the women and children were collected into
concentration camps, where they suffered great hardships. An
enormous number of blockhouses were also erected, never more than
a thousand paces from each other, joined together with barbed
wire, and so placed that one could be seen from the other. De
Wet’s opinion is that the blockhouses prolonged the war for three
months, and it may well be doubted whether they repaid the

g16
BOER TERMS OF PEACE

cost of building them and of maintaining the garrisons which
occupied them. More embarrassing to the Boers were the night
attacks, which kept them in continual unrest and led to many
disasters.

The last months of the war were spent in efforts to catch
De Wet, who not only eluded capture, but inflicted considerable
loss on his pursuers. At the end of January, I902, a drive began
with the object of forcing De Wet’s army against one of the two
lines of blockhouses, but the elusive guerilla general cut through
the wire fence close to a blockhouse, and made the other side
in safety. So on two or three other occasions De Wet just
managed to elude capture.

By this time King Edward had succeeded Queen Victoria,
and the Government of the Netherlands made offers of media-
tion, which were rejected by Great Britain. Lord Lansdowne,
however, suggested that Steyn, President of the Orange Free
State, and Schalk Burger, Vice-President of the Transvaal, acting
in the place of Kruger, who was now in Europe, should com-
municate with the British Commander-in-Chief and make any
proposals which occurred to them. This looked like a suggestion
that the Presidents might meet Lord Kitchener with a view to
making peace.

Representatives of the two Boer Governments met at Klerks-
dorp on April gth, 1902, Schalk Burger, Louis Botha and Delarey
appearing with others on behalf of the Transvaal, and Steyn, De
Wet and Olivier on behalf of the Free State. After Louis Botha,
De Wet and Delarey had given an account of the condition of
affairs, Steyn said that unless the British were prepared to grant
independence the war must go on. “ We would rather submit
to unconditional surrender than make terms.” After further
discussions it was determined to offer terms of peace to Kitchener
and suggest a meeting to discuss them, and these were outlined
in a letter sent to Kitchener, who was at Pretoria, signed by Steyn
and Burger. The letter proposed that the peace should include
a customs, post, telegraph, and railway union, the granting of
the franchise, equal rights for the English and Dutch languages
in schools, and arrangements for arbitration in frontier disputes.
The meeting took place at Pretoria on April 12th, but it was
found that there was strong divergence on the most vital point,
the independence of the two Republics, the Boers declaring that
they had no powers to surrender the countries they governed,
the British refusing to annul the annexation which had already
taken place.

917
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Milner was now nominated to act with Kitchener as repre-
senting the British Government. The two plenipotentiaries con-
sented to allow the various commandos to be consulted on the
question of independence, and that representatives should be
chosen, who should meet at Vereeniging on May 15th, for the
purpose of declaring the people’s will. Louis Botha, Delarey and
De Wet received safe conducts, enabling them to visit the several
commandos. They consulted eight commandos, who unanimously
decided to maintain their independence, and the commandos
consulted by others were of like mind. Representatives were
chosen to meet at Vereeniging on the day appointed, each
accompanied by one man.

Steyn was very ill, and his doctor positively forbade him to
attend the meeting. His absence was a very serious loss. De
Wet says that he was a statesman in the best sense of the word,
that he had gained the respect and affection of all, and that no
task was too heavy for him, no burden too great if he could serve
his people. He never complained ; he fought for Boer independ-
ence until he could fight no longer and he was worn out, as weak
as a child, although his mind was still strong. The Commission
that discussed the terms of peace with Kitchener at Pretoria
were Louis Botha, De Wet, Delarey, Hertzog and Smuts. The
negotiations continued from May 18th to May 2oth, and on May
31st the proposals of the British Government were accepted, and
the independence of the two Republics was at an end. The
representatives agreed that nothing else could be done. The
Boers still had 20,000 soldiers—1o,ooo from the Transvaal, 6,000
from the Free State, and 4,000 from Cape Colony—but further
resistance was felt to be impossible. The plenipotentiaries met
on the evening of May 31st, 1902, at Kitchener’s house at
Pretoria and signed the treaty. The burghers in the commandos
laid down their arms and by June 16th the war was over and
the Dutch farmers had submitted to their fate.

De Wet, giving an account of this event six months after it
had happened, addressed a last word to his countrymen: “ Be
loyal to the new Government. Loyalty pays best in the end;
loyalty alone is worthy of a nation which has done its best and
shed its blood for freedom.’ Happily this advice was followed,
and the loyalty of the Boers to their new masters was met by
generosity on the part of Great Britain. The Government which
made the war proceeded with cautious steps, but the advent
oi the Liberal Government in 1905 hastened matters. Full
self-government was granted to the Transvaal in 1906, and to

918
UNITED SOUTH AFRICA

the Orange River Colony in 1907. A convention, sitting from
October, 1908, to February, 1909, first at Durban and then at
Cape Town, drafted a Constitution for South Africa which was
ratified by Act of Parliament in September, 19009.

Under this Constitution, at the head of the Union is a
Governor-General, appointed by the Crown, and there is a Parlia-
ment of two Houses—a Senate and a House of Assembly. The
Senate contains forty members holding office for ten years, eight
nominated by the Governor-General, and thirty-two representing
equally the four provinces. The members of the Lower House
are elected according to population. Members of both Houses
must be British subjects of European descent. The Senate has
no power to originate or to amend money Bills, and in case of a
dispute there .is to be a joint session of both Chambers. The
Governments of the four provinces are administrative bodies,
free from party politics. They are governed by an administrator
appointed by the Governor-General, a council elected for three
years, and an executive of four chosen by the council to act with
the administrator. The councils control local institutions, works,
and other matters referred to them by Parliament. Lord Glad-
stone, the son of the great Minister, was appropriately appointed
the first Governor-General.

The coronation of George V. was the occasion of a Colonial
Conference, in which the unity of the British Empire was con-
solidated on the wise principles of trust and confidence. No
colonial representative was acclaimed more loyally or greeted
more affectionately than Louis Botha, the general who had fought
so bravely against the British. There seemed every hope that
the close of a bitter war would ensure a lasting peace, just as the
richest harvest grows on the field of battle on which human
slaughter has been most severe.

919
CHAPTER XVII

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

THE Treaty of Shimonoseki, which closed the war between China
and Japan, was signed in the spring of 1895. On October 8th
in the same year the Queen of Korea was murdered. She was
a woman of great strength of character and intellectual ability.
She had lofty ambitions, both for herself and her country, founded
on association with China and enthusiasm for Chinese civilisa-
tion. But the result of the war of 1894 had been to substitute
the influence of Japan for that of China in the affairs of Korea.
On the day mentioned a sudden attack was made on the palace
by a crowd composed mainly of Japanese. They forced an entry
into the Queen’s apartments, where she and some of her ladies
were ruthlessly murdered with every circumstance of cruelty and
indignity. The Japanese Government strongly disapproved of
this crime, and all who had taken part in the outrage were recalled
from Korea; but the result was to destroy Japanese influence
in the peninsula. The King took refuge in the Russian Legation
at Seoul and did not move out of it for two years. The influence
of Japan was entirely annihilated, and that of Russia prevailed
in its stead. Korea was gradually becoming a possession of
Russia.

This was one of the ultimate causes of the Russo-Japanese
War. Another cause lay in the struggle for the possession of the
island of Sakhalin. This island, which had belonged to Japan
from the eighteenth century, was ceded to Russia in the Treaty
of St. Petersburg, 1875. But, as time went on, the value of
Sakhalin as a field of Japanese extension was discovered, and the
increase of her population made it essential to find further
territory for her surplus people. Japan took an important share
in the suppression of the Boxer movement, which was effected
by the concert of Europe, and before relief had come from the
West had landed an army of 21,000 excellent soldiers, fully
equipped in every particular, at Taku, and fought side by side
with the British and the Americans. On January 30th, 1902,
Great Britain signed a defensive treaty with Japan, which made
the two countries guarantors of peace in the Far East. The

g20
JAPAN CHALLENGES RUSSIA

former was relieved from the burden of maintaining a powerful
fleet in Eastern waters, and the Japanese obtained recognition
as a great civilising Power.

; A few months after this, on April 8th, 1902, a treaty was
signed between China and Russia by which Russia promised to
respect the integrity of China and to evacuate Manchuria. These,
coupled with other events, seemed to open up a prospect of peace
in the Far East. Russia had obtained an ice-free port in the
Pacific, Japan had come to an arrangement with Russia about
Korea, and Manchuria, which had been occupied by Russia, was
to be gradually evacuated. This operation was to be effected
in three periods of six months each, a definite section being
restored to China at the close of each period. At the end of the
first period, which ended in October, 1902, the money was duly
paid and the section evacuated; but at the end of the second, in
April, 1903, Russia declined to fulfil her engagements unless some
new arrangements, not mentioned in the original treaty, were
made with regard to Manchuria. This China, supported by Great
Britain, America and Japan, refused to do. There was also
evidence of Russian encroachment in Korea, while the memory
of the cession of Sakhalin in 1875 and of Port Arthur at a more
recent date rankled in the minds of the Japanese. They, there-
fore, protested, asking Russia to fulfil her engagements with regard
to Manchuria and refrain from agitation in Korea. The rest
of the year was spent in diplomatic negotiations, during which
time Russia took the opportunity of strengthening her military
position. At last in January, 1904, Japan agreed to withdraw
from the advocacy of Chinese interests in Manchuria, but pressed
her claims with regard to Korea.

As no answer was received to her ultimatum, Japan practic-
ally declared war on February 5th, 1904. It was a strange
position. A small Asiatic Power, only a short time ago a stranger
to European affairs, challenged the Colossus of whose encroach-
ments all the world was afraid, who had her feet in the East and
the West and seemed to bestride the habitable globe. But Japan
had well calculated her task, and knew what she was about.

What forces could Russia bring against Japan in the Far
East? She had at the moment a comparatively small number
of available troops east of Lake Baikal, and these were scattered
over a large area of nearly 1,000 miles in extent. Reinforcements
could only be brought up by the Eastern Siberian Railway, and
the road was interrupted by Lake Baikal, the railway round the
lake not having been at that time completed. This necessitated

g2I
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

a journey of thirty miles over an inland sea. In the winter the
lake was frozen, in the spring the ice was breaking up, and not
until May, could the steamers get to work. Japan, therefore,
knew that in the most favourable circumstances Russia could
only place 80,000 men in the field at the beginning of the
campaign. On the other hand, Japan could mobilise 150,000
men immediately, and had plenty more in reserve. She had also
national enthusiasm and self-devotion on her side. Her people
were ready to sacrifice blood and treasure in the pursuit of objects
they believed essential to their existence, and in obedience to
the commands of the Emperor, devotion to whom was the main-
spring of the national life. Russia dreaded the war which was
forced upon her, and went to meet her doom with a sullen
determination which presaged the disaster she feared. The sea-
power of the two combatants was nearly equal on paper: Japan
had seven battleships and thirty-one cruisers, Russia seven
battleships and eighteen cruisers. The battle-fleet of Russia
was stronger in metal, but the Japanese fleet was the
admiration, the Russian the ridicule, of the world.

The first object of the Japanese was to capture Port Arthur,
which they had wrested from China in their war with that country,
but had been compelled to surrender in 1895, and which had
become Russian in 1897. Japan determined, therefore, to attack
at once the Russian fleet at Port Arthur and Chemulpo, and to
force Korea into a position of benevolent neutrality in order that
she might be able to march through that country to the Yalu.
On February 6th a body of troops, escorted by a small squadron,
sailed for Chemulpo, while the main fleet, under the famous
Admiral Togo, set out for Port Arthur. On February oth Seoul,
the capital of Korea, was occupied by the Japanese, and on the
same day Togo inflicted a severe defeat on the Russian ships at
Port Arthur. By April 2oth the Japanese had marched through
Korea and were concentrated behind the Yalu, while Togo
exhibited ceaseless activity before Port Arthur. The Russian
admiral, Makarov, had arrived from Europe early in March, and
for a time stimulated the activity of the Russian fleet; but on
April 13th his flagship, the Petropaviovsk, was sunk by a mine
with himself and 600 men on board, and the Pobieda, another
battleship, was severely injured.

In March, 1905, Kouropatkin appeared on the scene, having
been appointed Russian Commander-in-Chief in the Far East.
He had gained his reputation by being Skobelev’s right-hand man
in the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, and had been for some years

922
JAPAN PROVES HER SUPERIORITY

head of the War Ministry at St. Petersburg. He determined to
concentrate his army at Liaoyang, the point at which the roads
from Korea and the southern and western coasts of Manchuria
meet, and not assume the offensive until he had amassed a suffi-
cient number of troops to be able to act with effect. But the
carrying out of this project required more resolution and endurance
than the Russians possessed. Admiral Alexeiev, the Viceroy of
Manchuria, was extremely anxious to secure Port Arthur, not
realising that it must fall into the hands of the final victors,
and that it mattered little whether it was held for a time
by Russia or Japan, so long as the eventual triumph was secured
for the Russian arms. He therefore strongly opposed the Fabian
policy of Kouropatkin and did his best to undermine his influence
with the Russian Court.

At the end of April the Russian military forces east of Lake
Baikal were divided into four sections. Kouropatkin had about
45,000 men in the neighbourhood of Liaoyang, Stoessel 19,000
in Port Arthur, Linevich 16,000 near Vladivostok, and Zasulich
9,000 on the Korean frontier. On May 1st the Japanese general,
Kuroki, made a scientific attack upon Zasulich’s position; this
was a complete success, and after two hours the Japanese found
themselves on the north of the Yalu. This was the first battle
which had been fought with equal conditions of weapons and
other matters between white and yellow troops, and the yellow
race gained a signal victory. The Russians lost 1,800 killed and
wounded, 600 prisoners, and 29 guns, the Japanese only 1,021
killed and wounded. This victory produced a great moral effect,
and showed how fruitful had been the pains taken by Japan in
the training of her army under German instructions. The soldiers
were steady, cleanly and abstemious; the officers trained up to
the highest level of modern military science. This theoretical
training now received the consecration of practical advantage,
and produced a powerful effect not only in Japan, but on the
world at large. The Russian troops were very different. The
men were dogged, determined and patient, but lacking in initia-
tive: the officers were deficient in scientific training, and the
colonels were given over to jealousy and intrigue. The cumbrous,
inert, but passively. powerful Russian troops were ill-matched
against the alert, vigorous and resourceful enemies to. whom they
were opposed, and the contrast became more prominent as the
war proceeded.

The next efforts of the Japanese were directed to cutting off
Port Arthur from any prospect of help by land from the interior

923
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

of Russia. This was effected by the second army under Baron
Oku, which had gradually been collected at Chinampo. On
May 3rd Togo reported that he had so far succeeded in blocking
the mouth of the harbour of Port Arthur, that battleships and
large cruisers were no longer able to come out to hinder Japanese
operations. So, on the evening of May 4th, some of the second
army appeared off the mouth of the Huaguan, where they had
landed in the previous war in 1894, and began to disembark on
the following morning under cover of fire from the gunboats. As
the tide was low the soldiers had to wade breast-deep 1,000 yards,
but the Japanese flag was hoisted on the heights of the Liaotung
Peninsula. Indeed, 10,000 men were landed before nightfall.
On May 6th the railway was severed, and a few days later the
Japanese were established securely across the peninsula and Port
Arthur was cut off from communication with the world. The
scheme had been admirably conceived and was perfectly executed.

The Japanese kept the number and nature of the troops which
were being disembarked in Manchuria secret, and the Russians
had to rely on native rumours. Kouropatkin, under the impres-
sion that the Japanese force was much larger than it really was,
delayed the attack, and when, at the end of the month, he
endeavoured, by means of cavalry, to recover his connection with
the coast, he found this was impossible. On May rgth, 10,000
men, under General Kamamura, landed at Takushan, and thus
connected the forces of Kuroki and Oku. The Russians were
entirely in the dark as to the number of this army, which they
greatly exaggerated, and Kouropatkin’s ignorance of his adver-
sary’s strength continued throughout the war, and was a serious
hindrance to his strategy.

Oku now began to advance against Port Arthur, while a
Japanese naval squadron demonstrated along the coast, deterring
Kouropatkin from sending reinforcements for fear of a landing on
his flank. The position in Port Arthur itself was by no means
satisfactory. Stoessel had the chief command, but Smirnov had
been sent from Europe to take control of the fortress, so that
the place was exposed to all the difficulties of a divided command.
Kouropatkin foreseeing the consequences, had ordered Stoessel
to leave, but the latter suppressed the order and remained until
the place was so closely invested that it was impossible for him
to depart.

Oku proceeded to attack the strong position of Nanshan,
situated on the Kuantung Peninsula, between the Bay of
Kinchow on one side and Hamid Bay on the other. The place

924
OPERATIONS AGAINST PORT ARTHUR

itself was defended by General Fock. The assault was made on
May 26th, Oku being assisted by gunboats and torpedo boats,
vessels of a deeper draught being unable to operate in the shallow
waters of Kinchow. But Nanshan was extremely strong, and
the vigorous assaults of the Japanese infantry were for a long
time repulsed. Russian ammunition ran short, but Fock might
have gained a victory with his immense superiority of position.
At last the Japanese concentrated their efforts on a fresh bom-
bardment, and under this the Russians began to give way, and
at 7 in the evening, after sixteen hours’ incessant fighting, the
Japanese infantry, wading through the shoal water on the Russian
left, penetrated into the works and became masters of the entire
position. Stoessel ordered Fock to retire, and consequently
eighty-two cannon fell into the hands of the conquerors. The
Japanese lost the enormous number of 4,192 men, the Russians
perhaps over 2,000. On the following day the Russians were
pursued to Port Arthur and the terminus of the Siberian Railway
was occupied. This brilliant and complete victory was achieved
by the marvellous dash and persistence of the Japanese, and the
effective co-operation of the army and fleet.

On May 30th Dalny passed into the hands of the Japanese
without opposition, and with it 290 railway wagons. Its posses-
sion gave the Japanese an ice-free port for the next winter,
whether Port Arthur stood or fell. On the other hand, the
Japanese suffered a serious loss by the destruction of the two battle-
ships Hatsuse and Yashima, by mines, on May 15th. The loss
of the Hatsuse produced a sensation in Europe, but that of the
Yashima was not known until months afterwards. The crew of
the latter were saved and drafted into other ships.

At the beginning of June the Japanese were free to engage
in direct operations against Port Arthur. A third army under
Baron Noghi was to conduct the siege; the second army, under
Oku, advanced along the railway up to Yingkow; and the
first army, under Kuroki, had advanced as far as Fenghwang-
cheng. Kuroki proceeded into the valley of the Liao by the
Motien Pass, the tenth division through the Fenshui Pass, and
Oku, as has been already said, by the railway. Kouropatkin,
who had received considerable reinforcements, opposed Kuroki
with 21,000 men, under the command of Keller ; Mistchenko
commanded 3,000 Cossack cavalry attached to the tenth division ;
and Stackelberg had 35,000 men at Yingkow. The reserve con-
sisted of 35,000 men, which extended as far as Mukden.

Kouropatkin’s design was to hold two of the Japanese divisions

925
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

in check and devote the whole of his energies to crushing the
third; but he had no transport to enable him to attack with
success the Japanese in the mountain passes, and if he were to
concentrate upon Oku the enemy in the mountains would cut off
his communications. He therefore determined to evacuate Liao-
yang and to concentrate upon Harbin, but the Government
intervened and demanded that an effort should be made to relieve
Port Arthur. This led to the Battle of Telissu on June 14th and
15th, between Stackelberg with 25,000 men and Oku with 37,000.
The victory of the Japanese was complete; the position of
Stackelberg was turned and exposed to an effective fire from
front, flanks, and rear, and the Russians gave way. The Japanese
lost 1,190 killed and wounded, and the Russians more than 4,000,
with sixteen guns. Bad weather and other reasons prevented the
Japanese from pursuing Stackelberg.

The scene of interest now shifts to the first army. On June
24th Kuroki advanced from Fenghwangcheng, and on June 30th
secured possession of the Motien Pass, which the Japanese held
against the assaults of Keller, and on June 27th the tenth division
occupied the Fenshui Pass. A fourth army was formed under
Count Nodzu, so that there were now three Japanese armies
advancing towards the Liao Valley. The Russians, setting out
from Vladivostok, gained a temporary superiority at sea, which
hindered the dispatch of reinforcements and supplies, the conse-
quence being that the operations of all four armies were hindered.
Togo, on his side, made torpedo-boat attacks on the harbour,
and drew the blockade closer, while Noghi obtained advantages
against Stoessel. The chief command of all the Japanese armies
was now given to Marshal Oyama, who left Japan on July 6th.
Shortly afterwards the Battle of Ta-shih-chias was fought between
Zarutieiev, with 36,000 men, and Oku, with 55,000, and ended
in the retreat of the Russians. The harbour of Yingkow fell
into the hands of the Japanese and supplied them with a valuable
base for future operations,

On August ist Nodzu, in command of the fourth army, joined
hands with Oku at Haicheng, and at the same time Keller was
slowly collecting forces to attack the -Motien Pass, which had
been occupied by the Japanese. But the Japanese took the
offensive and occupied the whole valley of the Liao. Keller was
struck by the bursting of a shrapnel in the afternoon of July 31st,
and fell, covered with many wounds. In these operations the
Japanese first army lost 946 killed and wounded, the Russians
2,000 men, 2 guns, 5,300 rifles, and 157 prisoners. After these

926
RUSSIAN FLEET DESTROYED

defeats Kouropatkin collected his forces at Liaoyang on August
3rd, and on the same day Oku occupied Haicheng and Nuichwang.
Kouropatkin might have united his forces at Liaoyang a month
earlier, and would thus have been spared the loss of 6,000 men
and a great diminution of prestige. Since the campaign opened
on land the Japanese had lost 12,000 men, and the Russians about
three times the number. Kouropatkin was now about sixteen
miles distant from each of the divisions of the Japanese force, but
he was in no mind to attack them, although superior in numbers.
The Japanese had, therefore, about a fortnight’s respite.

During this interval Noghi pressed the attack on Port Arthur,
now defended by about 50,000 soldiers, besides sailors and civilians.
He began operations on the night of July 26th, and by August
8th had taken two small forts with a loss of 2,200 killed and
wounded. He had not done much, but he had had an unexpected
stroke of good fortune in the destruction of the Russian fleet.
Admiral Witthoft, alarmed for the safety of his ships, determined
to break out of the harbour and endeavour to reach Vladivostok.
At the very beginning of the action Witthoft was killed by a
chance shot and his flagship disabled. The result of the affair
was the virtual annihilation of the Port Arthur fleet. Ten days
later, on August 20th, Noghi began the assault. The result must
be told in the vivid words of Major-General Maurice :-—

“ Then was seen the curious and horrible spectacle of chivalrous
devotion and absolute contempt of death at grips with every
engine of destruction which modern science has devised. For
two days and nights this wonderful infantry flung itself against
powerful works, crammed with stubborn and unyielding foes.
Small remnants, left by the waves of assault, clung desperately to
such positions as they had won, till they were forced back at
last, human endurance being capable of no more, with a loss of
more than 15,000 killed and wounded; but a lesson was needed
to teach these brave soldiers that there were limits to the power
of their valour. So the siege settled down to the business of sap,
mine and countermine, while the main armies returned to the
business of attack and defence.”

We now come to the great Battle of Liaoyang, fought by
Kuroki against Kouropatkin, which lasted for nine days. When
Kuroki began operations on August 23rd the Russians held a
chain of advanced positions to the south and east of Liaoyang
forty miles in length. Kouropatkin had in all about 140,000
men and was expecting more from Mukden. The Japanese,
numbering about 135,000, were slightly inferior to the Russians

927
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

in number, and during the battle Kouropatkin received an
addition of 10,000 men. The town of Liaoyang was the military
capital of southern Manchuria, being a large city with 60,000
inhabitants. It lies on the railway at the junction of the main
roads, one leading to Korea and the other to Port Arthur. It
was full of stores, supplies, and munitions of war of every kind
necessary for the maintenance of an army in the field. It was,
therefore, worth a deadly struggle to the Japanese, and its loss
would be irreparable to Kouropatkin. The armies of Oku, Nodzu
and Kunshi all advanced to the attack. The three armies of the
Japanese came in touch with each other on August 29th, and the
main attack began on the following day. On September 3rd
Kouropatkin retreated in good order, so that the victory was by
no means decisive for the Japanese. They had lost 23,615 killed
and wounded, and were too weak to pursue, whereas the loss of
the Russians, who had been on the defensive, was only 16,500.

Both sides now prepared for more serious efforts. A law was
passed in Japan which enabled the troops intended only for home
service to be sent abroad, and in St. Petersburg reinforcements
were prepared for Kouropatkin with like energy. After the
abandonment of Liaoyang the Russians retired to Mukden, and
Oyama was following slowly in the same direction. During
September the forces under Kouropatkin were raised to the
number of 220,000, and those under Oyama to 160,000. They
were extended over a front ninety miles in extent, a distance
from the Commander-in-Chief which would have been impossible
but for the telegraph and heliograph.

The next great event in this momentous conflict was the Battle
of the Shaho from October gth to October 17th, 1905, It is a
peculiarity of this wonderful war that the land battles lasted for
days and the sea battles only a few hours. The former feature
was due to the extreme tenacity of the Japanese, who never knew
when they were beaten, fighting against a nation as stubborn and
as valiant as themselves, but led with far less intelligence and
skill; and the latter to the facts that science had taken the place
of personal valour, and that the Russian ships could not stand
against the concentration of intelligence of which the Japanese
navy was the embodiment. —

Kouropatkin having received important reinforcements, be-
came convinced that it was his duty to attack. On October 2nd
he issued a proclamation to the army announcing this, and
declaring that his first object was the relief of Port Arthur. His
plan was as follows: On the Japanese side Kuroki occupied the

928
BATTLE OF THE SHAHO

right, Nodzu the centre, and Oku the left. Kouropatkin’s object
was to keep Nodzu and Oku in their places and to throw his
force against Kuroki. The attack against Kuroki was committed
to Stackelberg ; but whereas Kuroki was quite able to hold his
ground against Stackelberg, Bilderling, whose business it was to
hold back Nodzu and Oku, found that he could not do so. During
the whole of October roth and 11th the battle raged along the
front, and on the night between October 12th and 13th the
Russian army was driven back to the Shaho. On the evening of
October 13th the position of the Russians was extremely serious.
They had been driven back in every part of the field and had lost
heavily in men, along with thirty-eight guns. It was necessary
to retreat, but extremely difficult to do so. Stackelberg, who
was far in advance of the rest of the Russian line, must be with-
drawn first. Zarubaiev, who was in the centre and in advance
of the Russian right, must follow, and for the success of the
operations, Bilderling, in command of the Russian right, must
stand firm. Bilderling held his ground by the skin of his teeth.
On October 13th Oku’s impetuous advance broke the Russian
centre, and if that advantage had been maintained the Russian
army must have been destroyed. But they brought up their
last reserve and recaptured what had been lost.

For thirty-six hours the battle raged at the central point, and
at the end the centre and the left were saved. On the south bank
of the Shaho was an elevation known as Solitary Tree Hill, with
the village of Sha-ho-pu at its foot. On October 14th this
was taken by the Russians and regained twice, fourteen Japanese
guns remaining as the prize of victory. On October 15th the
Japanese again reconquered the hill, but it was recovered by
General Putilov, who held it against all assaults and gave it his
name. On Sunday, October 16th, the Russians attacked Oku
seven times, but were always driven back with loss. At length,
by October 2oth, after ten days’ fighting, the armies were facing
each other on either side of the Shaho, a line fifteen miles north
of that which the Japanese had occupied during the engagement.
The Russians had lost 32,300 killed, wounded, and prisoners, and
the Japanese 20,300.

In the meantime the siege of Port Arthur continued, with the
usual apparatus of such operations—the building of batteries,
the opening of parallels, the final bombardment. On October
26th a general attack was made, which lasted five days; but
it ended in comparative failure, the Japanese losing 151 officers
and 1,970 men.

25 929
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Then occurred the extraordinary incident of the Baltic fleet
in the North Sea. On the calm night of October 21st, 1904, a
division of the fleet of Admiral Rozhdeshtvensky, which had for
months been anxiously expected for the relief of Port Arthur,
in crossing the Dogger Bank passed through a fleet of Hull
trawlers. The Russians opened fire upon them, with the result
that one vessel was sunk and two fishermen were killed and
eighteen wounded. When, two days later, the matter became
public, a wave of indignation swept over Great Britain, and had
it not been for the patriotism and courage of Mr. Balfour and
Lord Lansdowne, war might have resulted. But, on October
28th, the Prime Minister announced that the Tsar had expressed
his regret and had promised compensation. The matter was
referred to arbitration, and a Committee of Admirals met in
Paris in January, 1905. There is no doubt that the Russian
admiral really believed he had Japanese torpedo boats in front
of him, but the fact that he did so made the whole situation
supremely ridiculous. The commission awarded an adequate
compensation, while contriving to save Rozhdeshtvensky’s face.
The Russian fleet continued its voyage, and at length arrived in
Eastern waters.

Whilst it was on its way the Japanese continued to attack
Port Arthur with stubborn persistence. On December 5th Nogh:
captured an eminence known as the “ Two hundred and three
Metre Hill.” In the attack the Japanese lost 13,000 men, 9,000
of whom had fallen round the hill itself, and under the works the
corpses of 400 Russians were discovered. On December 15th
General Kondranshenko died, an officer of high rank, whom it was
impossible to replace. The generals conducting the defence began
to lose heart. On December 28th Stoessel 1eported to his Govern-
ment that the position of the fortress was becoming very painful,
that scurvy was mowing down the men, and that there were only
a few who had not been attacked by it. The next day he said,
“We can only hold out a few days longer; we have hardly any
ammunition left. I have now only 10,000 men under arms. They
are all ill.”

On January Ist, 1905, Stoessel sent a flag of truce to Noghi
without the knowledge of his council, and on the same evening
the capitulation was signed. The Japanese had gained the first
great object of the war. At the same time Stoessel telegraphed
to the Emperor: “ Great Sovereign, forgive. We have done all
that was humanly possible. Judge us, but be merciful. Eleven
months of ceaseless fighting have exhausted our strength; the

930
SITUATION AT MUKDEN

men are reduced to shadows.” Stoessel’s policy can scarcely be
justified, as the means of defence had not been exhausted. The
Prisoners of war who marched out comprised 878 officers and
23,491 men, while provisions for three months and 2,500,000
cartridges were found. Had the Russian commanders not quar-
relled with each other the defence might have been prolonged
until the arrival of the Baltic fleet. The Russian soldiers behaved
splendidly. They lost 28,200 killed and wounded during the
Siege, the Japanese sacrificing 57,780 killed and wounded, besides
many who died from sickness.

The fall of Port Arthur made it possible for Noghi to join
Oyama, but before he could do so it was necessary to reinforce
him and make up the terrible losses he had suffered, and this would
consume much time. But as the weather grew more wintry the
supply of troops to Kouropatkin became more difficult. At the
beginning of January Kouropatkin had control of 250,000 men,
Oyama of 185,000. The Russians made several attempts to
interrupt Noghi’s movements and delay his arrival, but they
were not successful, and at the close of January both armies were
in their positions, except that they had each lost about 10,000
men in the struggle. Eventually Noghi brought an auxiliary
force of 100,000 men to the assistance of Oyama.

The interest of the war now centred round Mukden. In the
month of February, 1905, the Russians occupied the position on
the Shaho and round Mukden which they had held during the
preceding five months. Mukden had been transformed into the
advanced base of operations for the intended march on Liaoyang,
important reinforcements had arrived, and confidence had been
restored. The first Manchurian army was commanded by
Linevich; the second by Kaulbars, and the third by Bilderling.
Remenkamp commanded the cavalry. The whole front of the
afmy measured forty-four miles and the depth four to six miles.
The Japanese had five armies, numbering altogether about 300,000
men, concentrated within striking distance of the enemy. They
prepared to strike at the moment when the severity of winter
had passed, but before the thaw, which usually set in in the
second week of March, and which rendered the rivers impassable
owing to the melting of the ice, and the country difficult for the
movement of guns.

The first, fourth, and second armies retained their relative
positions from right to left. A fifth army was moved through the
mountains and placed on the right of Kuroki. Noghi’s army was
situated in a position which concealed it from observation, and

93}
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

there was a reserve of 20,000 men under Oyama. On the Russian
side Linevich was on the left, Bilderling in the centre, and
Kaulbars on the right. Kouropatkin occupied Mukden with the
reserve, his army amounting to about 310,000. Thus the numbers
of the two armies were about equal, the Japanese being stronger
in infantry, the Russians in cavalry, while the two artilleries
were nearly of the same strength, although the Russians were
superior in quality.

The series of operations which may be called the Battle of
Mukden lasted fourteen days. The first move was taken by
Kamamura, who advanced in two columns on February 1oth,
driving in the Russians. On February 23rd heavy snow fell and
obscured the view, while the ice on the Taitse began to melt.
Operations became difficult and progress slow from the pre-
cipitous nature of the ground. Nevertheless, Kamamura boldly
attacked Alexeiev, and in the evening of February 24th the
Russians finally broke and retired northwards in disorder, having
lost about 1,000 men. Kuroki moved out on February 24th.
On March Ist he was able to operate with Kamamura, and the
general effect of these combined operations was to drive in the
Russian left and to place the Japanese in a favourable position,
north of the Shaho, to co-operate in a general northward
advance. Nodzu’s army did not begin to take a serious part in
the action till February 27th. After two days the Russians who
opposed him were driven across the Shaho. The next river to
deal with was the Hun. On February 27th Oku advanced
between the Shaho and this river, and then along its banks, and
proceeded victoriously till March 6th, when he was stopped by
superior forces. Noghi advanced rapidly and was soon in touch
with Oku’s left. The effect of these successes was that Kaulbars
was forced to evacuate his position and send his siege guns by
railway to the north. The loss of these guns left Kouropatkin
at a great disadvantage.

Kouropatkin did not discover the real nature of the Japanese
plan until March 1st. He was concentrating his defences on his
left, whereas his real danger was on his right, where he was
threatened by Noghi and Oku. He was now obliged to withdraw
from his southern front to the line of the Hun and take up a firm
position round Mukden. Bilderling and Linevich received these
orders with dismay. For ten days or more they had resisted the
attack of the Japanese armies, but the army obeyed the order
with anger and terror in their eyes. They, however, performed
the movement steadily, and at dawn on March 8th the third

932
THE RUSSIAN RETREAT

brmy reached the entrenched camp at Mukden. Any idea which
Kouropatkin may have held for making a general attack upon
the Japanese had to be given up, and he was obliged to
remain entirely on the defensive. The retreating Russians were
vigorously pursued by the Japanese, Oku, Nodzu and Noghi all
defeating the forces opposed to them.

On March goth, in spite of a violent storm, with icy blasts and
clouds of dust, Nodzu crossed the Hun, and the sounds of firing
to the east of Mukden electrified the Russian headquarters and
sounded the knell of the Russian hopes. Kouropatkin had no
further hope of victory, and gave the order for a general retreat.
By the activity of the Japanese this was effected with confusion,
and much booty fell into the pursuers’ hands. The third Russian
army was intending to make an attack upon the enemy on March
toth, but at 10 on the previous night it was ordered to retreat.
It did so in great disorder, being fired into by the Japanese
marching parallel on its flank. The condition of the second
army was even worse; they were scattered about the hills like
sheep without a shepherd. Companies, battalions, regiments and
brigades were all mixed up in inextricable confusion, Linevich
alone preserving some semblance of order. The Japanese occu-
pied Mukden at ro on the morning of March roth, but resistance
was not wholly quelled until the following day.

By March 12th the Russians were twenty-six miles distant on
the road to Tieling. Even then they pressed on, and Linevich
was unable to halt till March zoth, his rearguard on that day
being seventy miles to the north of Tieling. Oyama occupied
Tieling on March 16th and fixed his headquarters there, pushing
his outposts to within twelve miles of the Russian advanced posts.
Both armies were exhausted and stood in position facing each
other until the end of the war, both commanders being unwilling
to undertake active operations. The Japanese had lost 71,014
killed and wounded, the Russians about 60,000 and 25,000
prisoners, together with immense quantities of munitions of
war. Kouropatkin, feeling that he had no longer the confidence
of the army, tendered his resignation, but was anxious to be
employed in a subordinate capacity. Linevich was appointed
Commander-in-Chief, and Kouropatkin took command of the
first army.

We must now follow the fortunes of Rozhdeshtvensky, whose
operations began with the tragic comedy on the Dogger Bank.
As Port Arthur had fallen, there was no need for him to hurry,
so he made a long halt at Madagascar to train his crews, and,

933
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

after coaling and furnishing his fleet in a masterly manner, got
his squadron together in the China Sea on May goth. He had
eight battleships, twelve cruisers, nine destroyers, and a number
of auxiliary ships. But many of his vessels were antiquated,
and their efficiency was impaired by their long voyage. Togo
commanded a squadron somewhat similar in size, but thoroughly
up to date. In making for Vladivostok the Russian admiral had
to pass through the Strait of Korea. Togo, who was always
supplied with the most accurate information, heard of this by
wireless telegraphy at 5 a.m. on May 27th.

The battle began at 2 in the afternoon to the east of the Island
of Tsushima. The Japanese engaged the enemy at 7,000 yards,
which was the most favourable distance for their artillery. They
steered across the Russian fleet, so as to bring every possible gun
to bear, and thus developed a crushing force, whereas the Russian
fire was comparatively ineffective. Rozhdeshtvensky advanced
in three long columns, with his unarmed auxiliary ships in the
centre. In less than three-quarters of an hour from the begin-
ning of the engagement the battleships of the two main columns
were out of action and the admiral himself was severely wounded.
By nightfall every attempt of the Russian ships to break through
to Vladivostok had been frustrated, and all cohesion in the fleet
had been destroyed. During the night the Japanese torpedo boats
continued the work of destruction, and the pursuit was followed
up on the next day. The Russian fleet was annihilated. Four
battleships, seven cruisers, five destroyers, and five auxiliary
ships were sunk, and the rest completely disabled. Only four
ships out of the whole fleet reached Vladivostok.

The supreme victory of Togo decided the fortunes of the
contest. The war was unpopular in Russia, and Japan was on
the verge of exhaustion; but there was no opportunity of a
decisive Japanese victory on land. Vladivostok could not be
taken as Port Arthur had been, but the crushing Battle of
Tsushima paved the way for negotiations. Theodore Roosevelt,
the President of the United States, put himself forward as a
mediator, and in June both belligerents agreed to nominate
plenipotentiaries to consider terms. But the fighting went on.
The Russians were driven out of north-eastern Korea, Sakhalin
and the north of the Amur being occupied without opposition.
The negotiations for peace were held at Portsmouth, N.H., Count
Komura representing Japan and de Witte Russia. The negotia-
tions continued throughout August, de Witte, on behalf of Russia,
refusing to pay an indemnity. At length Komura agreed to

934
THE TREATY OF PORTSMOUTH

waive the indemnity, and the offer to surrender half of Sakhalin
was also accepted.

The Treaty of Portsmouth gave to Japan most of the objects
for which she had entered upon the war. It gained for her a
preponderating influence in Korea, secured the evacuation of
Manchuria, gave her the Liaotung Peninsula, including Port
Arthur and Dalny, and the southern portion of the Island of
Sakhalin. The Japanese negotiators showed themselves extremely
moderate ; indeed, the conditions of the treaty gave rise to serious
riots in Japan. But they were certainly wise, for to have inflicted
further humiliation on Russia would have been disastrous to
Japan. The war cost each nation £100,000,000; each had
mobilised about 1,000,000 men, of whom 230,000 Japanese and
220,000 Russians had died.

Japan’s victory offered a great surprise, but also a great lesson,
to the world. She owed her success to the patriotic devotion
with which statesman, diplomat, soldier and sailor had worked
harmoniously together to achieve a common result ; whereas the
Russians had been inspired by no enthusiasm, nor had unity of
purpose and action possessed her leaders. At the back of the ex-
traordinary heroism of Japan lay the deep-seated sense of the
obligation of personal honour, generally spoken of as Bushido.
Bush is the hero, Bushido is the heroism. Bushido offers the idea
of poverty instead of wealth, humility in place of ostentation,
reserve instead of self-assertion, self-sacrifice instead of selfish-
ness, the interest of the State before that of the individual. It
inspires courage and looks death in the face, preferring it to dis-
honour. It enjoins a strict physical and mental discipline, develops
a martial spirit, and enjoins the virtues of courage, fortitude,
faithfulness and self-restraint. It trains the man as well as the
warrior, the woman as well as the man, and is as useful in times of
peace as in times of war. It was to the constant presence of this
ideal standard of morality and conduct that Japan owed her
success, and those who would be her rivals must educate them-
selves in a similar school.

935
CHAPTER XVIII

EDWARD THE PEACEMAKER

On September 23rd, 1896, Queen Victoria achieved the distinction
of having reigned longer than any other English sovereign. She
had worn the crown nearly twice as long as any other contem-
porary monarch in the world, excepting only the Emperor of
Austria, and he ascended his throne eleven years after her acces-
sion. Hitherto George III.’s reign of fifty-nine years and ninety-
six days had been the longest known to English history. There
had been a Jubilee celebration of her reign in 1887, and it was
now determined that there should be another in 1897—a Diamond
Jubilee.

As in the first Jubilee the sovereigns and princes of Europe
and Asia were the most conspicuous figures in the pageant, so
now the Imperial position of Great Britain was to be signalised
by the presence of representatives of the Colonies and of British
settlements in all parts of the world. These representatives were
entertained with regal munificence. The streets of London were
thronged with Royal carriages, with servants in scarlet liveries
seated on the box, carrying Colonial ministers or dusky potentates,
subjects of the British Crown.

On June 22nd there was a State procession through London,
when the Queen made almost a circuit of her capital, attended by
her family, by envoys from foreign lands, Indian and Colonial
officials, and a great body of Imperial troops, Indian native levies,
mounted riflemen from Canada, Australia and South Africa,
Colonial soldiers from the West Coast of Africa, Cyprus, Hong-
Kong and Borneo. The procession traversed a space of six miles
from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul’s, then over London Bridge
and through the poorer districts of the City on the southern side
of the Thames. As the Queen set out from the Palace she sent a
telegraphic dispatch to all parts of the Empire, “ From my heart
I thank my beloved people. May God bless them!” At night
all cities were illuminated, and every headland from Cornwall to
Caithness was ablaze with beacon fires. A great naval review was
held at Spithead, in which 173 war vessels were drawn up in four
lines, stretching over a course of four miles. These Jubilee cele-

936
DEATH OF GLADSTONE

brations, indeed, constituted the high-water mark of Colonial
loyalty and of the manifestation of the qualities and the unity
of the Empire.

But it was also an object-lesson in Home Rule. It was
expressed by the Colonial Premiers, and felt by every reflecting
observer, that the tie which bound this great organism together
derived its strength not from force, or self-interest, or jealousy
of other nations, but from the spirit of liberty and self-government
which made every part of the great political body vibrate with a
like intensity of life to that which animated the heart of the free
Mother Country herself, and that neglect or ignorance of this
would mean ruin and decay.

On May roth, 1898, Mr. Gladstone died. During his closing
days he suffered intense pain, nervous exhaustion, and the weaken-
ing of his physical, but not of his intellectual faculties. He died
at Hawarden, the favourite home of his happiest hours, with the
porch commemorating the welcome of his home-coming with
his wife; the study—the Temple of Peace, with its two tables,
one for home and one for public affairs, proclaiming his keenness
of literary interest and his spirit of untiring labour up to the very
last. His illness was soothed by his wife, who had been through-
out these many years his faithful confidante and companion. He
was a truly great statesman, one of the greatest known to modern
times, greater than Bismarck, whose death closely followed his
own. His departure marked the close of one epoch and the
beginning of another. He entered Parliament immediately after
the Reform Bill of 1832, and his career may be described as the
bringing of the principles embodied in that measure to a success-
ful conclusion in all departments. His passing also, perhaps,
marked the close of a distinct era in Parliamentary oratory.

In the Upper House Lord Salisbury said that Gladstone had
always sought the achievement of great ideals, which could only
have proceeded from the highest and purest aspirations, and
would leave behind him the memory of a great Christian: states-
man, whose character, motives, and purposes could not fail to
impress the whole world. In the House of Commons Mr. Balfour
described him as the greatest member of the greatest deliberative
assembly the world had ever seen, and proposed that he should
have. a public funeral in Westminster Abbey. The funeral took
place on May 28th, and a more impressive sight was never
witnessed in that historic church, which has been the scene of
so many solemn spectacles. Both Houses of Parliament met at
ro o’clock in the morning and marched in procession through

2E* 937
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Westminster Hall to the Abbey. The majestic appearance of
the Speaker, Gully, as he led the Commons of the realm to
their places will never be forgotten. The pall-bearers represented
the Sovereign, the Lords and the Commons, and nothing was
more deeply touching than the sight of Mrs. Gladstone kneeling
at the head of the grave and gazing into the vault which held
the mortal shell of so much glory and so much greatness—the
vault into which she was, in God’s own time, to follow him.

On Gladstone’s resignation in 1894, the Queen, of her own
authority and without seeking advice, chose Rosebery as his
successor ; but it was a relief to her when, after a short interval,
he was succeeded by Salisbury. She played a very active part in
the government of the country, an important fact of which the
people generally were in ignorance, regarding the Sovereign’ rather
as a figure-head than an important political force. She required
all papers to be regularly sent to her, found fault at any sign of
slackness in public business, and insisted on full time being given
her. for the consideration of important questions. She took a
personal interest in her Ministers’ speeches, and an active share in
political appointments. She flinched from no exertion to fulfil her
duties. Sir Sidney Lee tells us that she often travelled to Osborne
or Balmoral with hundreds of boxes filled with documents which
required her sign-manual, that she would work at these con-
tinuously for two or three hours a day, and sign two or three
hundred papers at a sitting.

One effect of Gladstone’s death was the resignation by Sir
William Harcourt of the leadership of the Liberal party in the
House of Commons. He had never worked harmoniously with
Lord Rosebery, of whose appointment as Prime Minister he dis-
approved. It is said that when he led the House of Commons
under Rosebery’s premiership, he never consulted his chief on
anything which had to be done, and Rosebery himself declared
that the position was intolerable.

Harcourt was succeeded by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman,
a singularly modest man of very remarkable qualities ; he always
distrusted his own capacity for exercising the duties of high
office, but his speeches were admirable, his common sense unusual,
his devotion to the cause of Liberalism without a flaw. In his
conduct as Leader of the House he had to suffer from the jealousy
of those who were anxious to bring others prematurely to the
front, but his unfailing good temper always prevented an
explosion. As Prime Minister he invited the goodwill and secured
the admiration of his country, the Colonies, and the world. His

938
LORD CURZON AS VICEROY

industry was untiring, but his strength was greatly impaired by
the demands made upon him by the weak health of his wife, to
whom he was passionately devoted and to whom he owed so much
in the conduct of his public career. He died in 1908. He was
not buried in Westminster Abbey, but the memorial service in
that place has seldom been equalled in intensity of public respect
and private sorrow.

An important event of the year 1898 was the appointment of
George Nathaniel Curzon to be Viceroy of India, a country which
he administered for nearly seven years with skill and judgment,
leaving a mark upon its development which will last as long as
that dependency is a portion of the British Empire. A t1ained
speaker and writer, a man of unwearied industry and business-
like intelligence, he had already won his spurs as Under-Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, in’ which capacity Salisbury, who knew and
trusted him, committed much of the administration of that
department to his hands. When he arrived in India, he deter-
mined to review personally the action of every part of the public
service, and leave nothing to subordinate officials which he could
do himself. His predecessor, Lord Elgin, had pursued a different
course, and Curzon’s conduct met with some resistance. Hints
were conveyed to him that if he persisted in this policy resigna-
tions would probably ensue. He answered by letting them
know that if their resignations were tendered they would be
immediately accepted, and he heard no more of the matter. He
paid particular attention to education, literature and archeology,
matters which his predecessors had so often neglected, appointing
general administrators of education, archeology and _ libraries,
and these departments have gained much in consequence, with
the result that the lace-like fretwork of the East is no longer
stained by the uniform blue wash of the P.W.D., nor the Taj
Mahal, the paragon of royal tombs, profaned by picnics and
dances. He gave to the world the spectacle of a dignified, pure,
and majestic Court, and in all his actions he was seconded by
his noble-hearted wife, whose beauty made her the cynosure of
Indian society, and did not prevent her kindness of heart and
well-considered charities from making her beloved by her own sex.

With regard to the Boer War, Sir Sidney Lee says that,
though the Queen was profoundly anxious for peace, she was
not altogether averse to the course which Chamberlain took. He
had impressed her by his lofty, but, in the eyes of many, mistaken
and unstatesmanlike views as to the right manner of welding
together a Colonial empire; and from the opening of active

939
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

operations until her death in rgoz the conflict occupied the chief
place in her thoughts. . Throughout i900 the Queen showed
untiring energy in inspecting troops intended for the seat of war,
sending encouraging messages to the field of battle, and writing
letters of condolence to the families of those who had lost relations
during the struggle. Touched by the devotion of the Irish
regiments in South Africa, she accorded to them the privilege
of wearing the shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day, hitherto denied
them. A similar feeling constrained her to visit Ireland in 1900
instead of going abroad, as had been her custom. As a memorial
of her visit, she established the regiment of Irish Guards. But
her life was saddened by the casualties of the war, especially by
the death of her grandson, Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-
Holstein, the son of Princess Helena, her third daughter, who
died on October 29th, rg00. It is said that she never recovered
from this blow. She spent the autumn at Windsor and left on
December 18th for Osborne, the last journey of her life.

The vital powers of the Queen had, indeed, been gradually
failing. Rheumatism compelled her to use a stick in walking,
and to be wheeled about in a bath chair. Her eyes began to fail,
and she was scarcely able to read. She began to lose her memory,
which had been phenomenally strong, and suffered a little from
difficulty in speech. She lost in weight and ability to sleep. She
received Lord Roberts, however, on his return from. South Africa,
although the exertion of talking to him produced a collapse, and
her last interview with a Minister was with Mr. Chamberlain on
October 11th. On January 15th, 1901, she drove out for the last
time, and her physicians knew that her condition was hopeless.
The brain was failing, and life slowly ebbing. Her critical state,
‘which had been kept secret, was made public on January roth,
and she died at 6.30 in the evening of Friday, January 22nd,
being eighty-one years of age and having reigned for sixty-three
years seven months and two days.

The effect produced by her death all over the world is almost
indescribable. In India the grief was most intense. There the
Queen was regarded not only as a Sovereign, but almost as an
object of worship. She was reverenced as a just and beneficent
ruler, but still more as a fruitful mother of Sovereigns and Princes,
for she exhibited in their most striking form those virtues of
maternity which impress the imagination of the East with singular
effect. To every child in that vast country it seemed as if a
shadow had fallen upon the land and the sun had been darkened
in the heavens. Monarchy appeared to have come to an end, and

* 940
INFLUENCE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

it was difficult to believe that any successor could wield the
sovereignty and gain the respect which had attached to the person
of the departed Queen. The Queen’s funeral was deeply impres-
sive. All the details, even the music to be performed at it, had
been previously ordained by the Queen herself. No one who
witnessed it will ever forget the scene as the Queen’s coffin was
conveyed across London from Victoria to Paddington amidst the
silence and tears of mourning millions. The long procession of
soldiers was broken by the little casket, which was borne, by her
wishes, on a gun-carriage, and decorated with robes and the Crown,
shining like a precious jewel in the midst of the funeral gloom,
followed by her son and grandson, the new King and the Emperor
of Germany. As the coffin passed, the crowds in the Parks and
the streets felt as if they had suffered a personal loss, and many
of those who viewed it from the windows fell instinctively on
their knees and breathed a prayer for the departed spirit.

There can be no greater mistake than to suppose that the
Queen had no influence in politics. She was a voluminous letter-
writer, studied every detail of public business, and formed opinions
of her own, which she boldly expressed ; but, strong as her views
were, she always yielded to any manifestation of the popular will.
Any letter written by her to the Prime Minister was the first
business considered at the next meeting of the Cabinet. Her
opinions had naturally great weight. She had known intimately
every public man in England during the whole of her reign, and
most of those on the Continent. She had discussed with them
every detail of policy from different points of view; she had a
most retentive memory and an admirable judgment. Some thought
that she had no commanding strength of intellect, but it may be
doubted whether this was the case. As has been before remarked,
it is questionable whether, in her intercourse with her husband,
she was not the genius and he the well-educated scholar. One
thing is certain: she possessed the most guileless simplicity of
mind, the utmost piety of heart, and instinctively recoiled from
all falseness and insincerity. The character of her counsellors
showed this.

Gerald Wellesley, Dean of Windsor, and Frederick Ponsonby,
her private secretary, both her trusted advisers, were men of
the most conspicuous honesty. The position of the two towards
her was very different. Wellesley never hesitated to give her
advice, however unpalatable. When Gladstone came to stay
at the Windsor Deanery in 1876, the Queen objected to his long
visit, and suggested that his prolonged sojourn in the neighbour-

gat
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

hood of the Castle, when other advisers were at her side and
other parties predominant, might produce an unfavourable impres:
sion. The Dean was indignant with this interference with his
private friendships and hospitalities, and said afterwards, ‘‘ Didn’t
I write her a tickler?’’ On the other hand, when Ponsonby
was appointed, she expressly stipulated that he should give her
no advice. ‘I am older than you,” she said, “‘ and I know more ;
I want assistance, but no advice.” If she occasionally fell under
the influence of some whose honesty and unselfishness were less
generally acknowledged, it may be that she discovered in them
qualities of excellence which were not so apparent to the world as
they were to herself.

In spite of her many cares and the gloom of mourning for her
husband which enveloped her for so many years, she was full of
good spirits and merriment, and was given to hearty and even
exuberant laughter. She was, perhaps, take her all in all, the
greatest of English Sovereigns—greater even than Queen Eliza-
beth, but with far less taste and appreciation of literature and art.
Every noble personality after death enters into a penumbra, and
is partly obscured; but when the shadow moves away it shines
more brightly than ever, and the lustre becomes more vivid the
farther the presence is removed. So, as ages move on, the reign
of Queen Victoria will be regarded as a high-water mark in the
history of Great Britain—not, we may hope, to be illuminated by
contrast with any decadence or misfortune.

At his first Privy Council, held upon January 23rd, roor, the
day following Queen Victoria’s death, the new King said: “In
undertaking the heavy load which now devolves upon me, I am
determined to be a Constitutional sovereign in the strictest sense
of the word, and as long as there is strength in my body to work
for the good and amelioration of my people. I have resolved to
be known by the name of Edward, which has been held by many
of my ancestors. In doing this, I do not undervalue the name
of Albert, which I have inherited from my ever-to-be-lamented,
great, and wise father, who by universal consent is, I think, known
by the name of Albert the Good, and I desire that his name should
stand alone.”

The new King found himself, at his accession, in a very diffi-
cult position. He was now advanced in years, and nearly forty
years had passed since his father’s death; yet he had never been
admitted to any share in the government; indeed, had been care-
fully excluded. Fond of excitement, full of energy and the enjoy-
ment of life, he had sought in amusement the outlet denied him

gaa
KING EDWARD’S DIFFICULT TASK

I serious occupations, and became surrounded by many friends,
male and female, who were unworthy of him. His extreme good
temper and remarkable power of sympathy were frequently
abused, even at times to the harm of his reputation. All this
had to be altered, and he proved every inch a King, gifted with
dignity of mind and character, worthy to maintain the record
of the best of his ancestors.

He found his country in a most unfortunate position. The
Boer War, like the American War of Independence, had left Great
Britain, as we have seen, without a friend in Europe. The feeling
against her was so strong that it was difficult for Englishmen to
travel abroad, so palpable were the insults to which they had
to submit, and in 1900 even the Queen, instead of taking her
accustomed holiday on the Continent, sought change of air and
scene in Ireland. It was not only necessary that the Boer War
should come to an end before the Coronation, but after that
had been accomplished the prestige of Great Britain had to be
reasserted. It was the King’s glory that he achieved this, for it
was apparent to every one that at the crowning of his successor,
George V., the nation stood in popularity and power inferior to
none.

After the Accession came the Coronation. It had been fixed
for June 26th, 1902, peace with the Boers having been signed on
May 31st. The interest manifested in this solemnity was beyond
all precedent. London was concealed under picturesque and
variegated decorations, every little street in the lowest slum dis-
playing its flag or bit of bunting. The curiosity and interest of
country folk seemed insatiable. Day after day, hour after hour,
streams of village wagons, adorned with ornaments and filled with
yokels, their wives and children, passed through Pall Mall and
up St. James’s Street in endless procession. Few living persons
had ever been present at a Coronation at all. Windows were let
at fabulous prices, and every one was in a fever of excitement
for the great day.

Suddenly, on June 24th, the shock came that the Coronation
would not take place. The King had an attack of perityphlitis,
against which he had fought with heroic courage; but he had
now to undergo an operation, the postponement of which would
endanger his life. He said, “ Will my people ever forgive me?”
But there was no talk of forgiveness, all feeling being absorbed
in anxiety for his health and prayers for his recovery. The King
rapidly recovered, and the Coronation took place, though with
diminished interest, on August 9th. Temple, the aged Primate,

943
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

crowned the King, who had to guide the trembling hands of the
Archbishop in the solemn function.

Lord Salisbury had hoped to be present at the ceremony in
the capacity of Prime Minister ; but his nerves had been for some
time failing, and he was obliged to resign his office in July, his
place being taken by his nephew, Arthur Balfour, a paragon of
knightly virtue, whom to know was to love and to love to admire.
In no other country could a man of such spotless integrity, devoid
of all the mean arts of political intrigue, have obtained such a
position, with a career unsmirched by any of the artifices by
which such eminence is too often reached. Throughout his career
he never failed to raise the tone of political controversy and to
prefer patriotism to party.

Balfour’s first task was to deal with the question of education,
one of unrivalled importance but of much difficulty, which has
proved the grave of many political reputations. It is difficult in
England to have educational questions settled on their merits.
They are usually discussed, often with much heat, from the point
of view of religious controversy, the disputes having no existence
in the schools and not being shared by those engaged in teaching.
Balfour took a bold line. Following Sir John Gorst, he estab-
lished a single authority for primary, secondary, and technical
education—the county councils. in the counties, and the borough
councils in county boroughs, working through education com-
mittees chosen by the councils. The important change,
however, consisted in placing voluntary schools on the rates
—an entirely new departure. The Act of 1890 had provided
that undenominational schools should be supported by public
funds, but that denominational, or, as they were called, voluntary,
schools had largely to be paid for by private contributions.
As the standard of education increased, the expense of keeping
the voluntary schools up to the level of Board schools became,
as Balfour said, “an intolerable strain,’ and the subscriptions
were not sufficient to meet it. Only two courses were possible
—to make all schools undenominational or place the denomina-
tional schools on a similar footing with the others with regard
to public maintenance.

Balfour chose the statesmanlike, but dangerous course of
taking the second alternative. He knew that public opinion on
the whole was in favour of religious and opposed to secular
education, and he thought that the education which the people
preferred should be supported out of public funds. This, of
course, produced an outcry, and a national Passive Resistance

944
INTRODUCTION OF TARIFF REFORM

Committee was formed to encourage individuals to refuse to pay
rates for the maintenance of denominational schools. But the
common sense of the more reasonable and less political Dissenters
supported Balfour’s policy, and Quintin Hogg, a Radical and a
Nonconformist, whose statue stands in Regent Street, in London,
close to the Polytechnic which he founded, said, a few days
before his death, that he supported the Bill, but that he never
thought he could have brought himself to approve of a Tory
educational measure.

The amendment of the Education Bill formed a prominent
plank in the Liberal platform at the next general election, and
Mr. Birrell had the ungrateful task of presenting an alternative
measure, which was rejected by the House of Lords. Balfour’s
Act, however, created secondary education in England, before non-
existent, stimulated a wholesome rivalry between counties as to
which should possess the best system of education, extended and
developed national education in England in a manner which
is gradually transforming the character of our people, and will
bear comparison with any other system of national education in
the world.

On August 22nd, 1903, Lord Salisbury died, his death showing
that his resignation could not have been delayed longer. He
was a man of great ability and dignity of character, but his
Conservatism was often too much influenced by prejudice and
passion to be the outcome of philosophical inquiry, or of rever-
ence for the past as the only progenitor of a sound and secure
future. He was a worthy member of that distinguished Cecil
family which had been the advisers of Sovereigns for more than
300 years, and had inspired many of the weightiest pages of the
national history.

A revolution was suddenly introduced into Imperial politics
when Joseph Chamberlain avowed himself in favour of Protection,
or, as it was now called, Tariff Reform. It had been supposed
that since the great struggle of the “forties, Protection was
dead in British politics, and that Free Trade, the open door,
was accepted as the corner-stone of her prosperity. Now, how-
ever, for what reason can only be conjectured, Chamberlain lent
the force of his will and his great influence over the masses to
attempt to reverse this policy. He had recently paid a visit to
South Africa, during which he must have become convinced that
the Boer War, for which he was ready to assume the responsibility,
was a blunder, if not a crime ; and the idea of inaugurating a new
policy with which his name might be connected may have occurred

945
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

to him in his solitary broodings, either on the illimitable veldt
or on the voyage home. The truth seems to be that Free Trade
has not produced all the good effects which were anticipated,
and: has brought with it some evils which were not foreseen.
This is probably the case with all legislative measures.

If a wholly wise and truly honest Prime Minister were entrusted
with the duty of imposing and remitting taxes on his own respon-
sibility, a state of things might be brought about more satisfactory
than absolute Free Trade or absolute Protection. But this is
impossible. Financial matters must be left to the judgment of
the House of Commons, and arranged in accordance with discus-
sion. Protection, even of a limited and restricted nature, would
be liable to similar evils to those of Free Trade, only of a more
serious kind; and it is impossible to predict with any approach
to accuracy the good it might produce or the harm it might cause.
Therefore, the almost unanimous verdict of scientific political
economists is in favour of Free Trade for the United Kingdom,
although it is admitted that a limited Protection may sometimes
be of advantage to young countries, in order to foster nascent
industries. At the same time, Protection appeals to the lower
instincts of business men. Each man feels the spur of competi-
tion in his own case, and thinks that if his particular trade or
industry could be protected he would be better off. It is the
coward’s refuge. All cannot be benefited, but each trader, never-
theless, thinks he will gain in the lottery.

Happily the danger has been averted. It was seen that
Protection could not be introduced without taxes on food, and
to tax food in the British Isles, which must draw so much of their
subsistence from foreign parts, would be a calamity of which the
least instructed can comprehend the danger. The nation has
come to see that its economical safety lies in producing good
work, and that it can leave to neighbours, far or near, the task
of supplying the cheap commodities which may give grace and
comfort to our lives, but which it cannot produce itself. A
healthy preference for British products has grown up, and these
have been stimulated, but the additional revenue required under
modern conditions can better and more justly be obtained by
taxing the rich than by laying fresh burdens on the poor.

This pronouncement of Chamberlain was a serious act of
insubordination. A Cabinet Minister has no right to announce
a policy unless it has received the approval of his colleagues or, at
least, of his chief. Balfour should have informed Chamberlain
that his new departure made it impossible for him to remain in

946
EDWARD THE PEACEMAKER

the Cabinet, and should have demanded his resignation. It is,
indeed, possible that he intended at first to take this course, but
deemed it wiser to temporise than adopt a measure which might
dislocate the party. Chamberlain, however, left the Cabinet in
order to carry out his propaganda of Protection without the re-
strictions of office. Ritchie, who objected to a tax on wheat,
and Lord George Hamilton resigned their portfolios, Austen Cham-
berlain became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Alfred Lyttelton,
a man of vigorous and independent intellect, Colonial Secretary.
Balfour steadily refused to declare his opinions, which, though
philosophically correct, were necessarily of a nature too subtle
and complicated to lend themselves to a proposition intelligible
to the masses or capable of embodiment in a cry. But later fiscal
developments have made Tariff Reform a question of secondary
importance.

The government of King Edward was essentially a govern-
ment of peace, by whatever Ministry he was served. His first
act after his accession was to make a treaty between Great Britain
and the Boers, and he speedily obtained the name, which he
amply deserved, of “ The Peacemaker.” His policy was to come
to a friendly understanding with other nations, when there
were disputes which in untoward circumstances might bring
about a war. After the adjustment of the South African diffi-
culties, the first country to which he turned was France, a land
in which he had spent many happy hours, and where he
possessed many devoted friends. In 1904 an Anglo-French agree-
ment was drawn up which settled many points in debate. France
was given a free hand in Morocco, and in return Great Britain
was allowed to consolidate and extend her power in Egypt.
The vexed question of the Newfoundland Fisheries, the despair
of diplomatists since the Treaty of Utrecht, was placed on a
secure basis. The French rights of drying fish and securing
passports on the coast of Newfoundland were abandoned. France
obtained access to the Gambia, the Los Islands, off the west
coast of Africa, opposite Konakry, and a rectification of the
frontier of Nigeria, which gave a more direct route into her terri-
tory from the Niger to Lake Chad. With regard to Siam, French
influence was recognised as predominant in the valley of the
Mekong, British in the valley of the Menam. Great Britain
abandoned her protest against the French Customs regime in
Madagascar, and the disputes which existed between Great Britain
and France with regard to the New Hebrides were to be settled
by a Joint Commission. The King continued to pay visits to

947
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

Paris and to receive the President of France in London. This
happy friendship between the two neighbouring peoples became
known as the Entente cordiale.

In 1905 the Conservative Ministry came to an end, and the
Liberals accepted office with Campbell-Bannerman at their head.
He was supported by Herbert Gladstone at the Home Office, Sir
Edward Grey at the Foreign Office, Lloyd George at the Board
of Trade, Asquith at the Exchequer, and John Burns at the Local
Government Board. This was followed in 1906 by a general
election, which placed the Liberals in power by an enormous
majority. It was almost impossible for a Liberal to stand with-
out being elected. Many found themselves in Parliament who
were much embarrassed at being elected, and the Liberal pre-
ponderance in the House was a cause of weakness, and even
of danger. Three hundred and seventy-four Liberals, fifty-four
Labour members, and eight-four Nationalists gave their support
to the Ministry, whereas the Opposition could only rely on the
votes of a hundred and thirty-one Conservatives and twenty-
seven Liberal Unionists. On a division the Government would
have a majority of 354. Various reasons were assigned for
this remarkable veering of public opinion. The Tories put it
down to the calumnies alleged to have been circulated by
Liberals with regard to Chinese labour in the Transvaal mines.
It is more reasonable to consider it as a vote condemnatory of
the Boer War, the hollowness of which had become apparent,
while the victory of the ‘‘ Khaki” election held during the
progress of the struggle was now regarded rather as a disgrace
than a triumph. The strength of the Government was unhappily
wasted by an attempt, led by Birrell, to amend Balfour’s
Education Bill, which caused acrimonious discussion and_pro-
duced no practical result, as the amendments introduced by the
House of Lords were rejected by the House of Commons.

The year 1906 witnessed the passing of some useful measures.
The Agricultural Holdings Act gave the tenant-farmer compensa-
tion for improvements he had made and for the termination of
his lease without sufficient cause. An Act was passed allowing
local authorities to provide meals for school children, and a new
Workmen’s Compensation Act included domestic servants in its
scope. In 1907 perhaps the most important part in domestic
affairs was borne by Haldane, who, with admirable self-sacrifice,
had undertaken the office of Minister of War. A man of con-
summate ability and rare intellectual force, he had gained the
highest reputation at the Bar, and had deserved to be placed at

948
THE PERSIAN CONVENTION

the head of his profession; but he elected to devote his patient
acuteness and phenomenal power of work to the task of reorganis-
ing the British Army, a labour which had brought failure to many
patriotic and devoted Ministers. He established what is called
a Territorial army as a reserve to the regular army. The regular
army at home was to consist of a first line of six infantry
divisions, of four cavalry brigades of twelve regiments each,
making in all 160,000 men. The second line was composed of
a Territorial army, consisting of militia, yeomanry, and volunteers.
The country was divided into fourteen regimental districts, and
in each county an association was to be formed under the Lord
Lieutenant for organising the force. The strength of the Terri-
torial army was to be made up to 300,000 men. Service in the
Territorial army was to last four years, terminable at three
months’ notice on the payment of £5.

The most important event of the year 1907 was the signing
of:a Convention between Great Britain and Russia, which defined
the spheres of influence of the two countries in Persia, and agreed,
among other things, that neither should send representatives
to Lhassa, the sacred city of Tibet. The rivalry between Russia
and Great Britain had been one of the most momentous facts,
and certainly the most disastrous, in British foreign politics since
the fall of Napoleon. It is difficult to see how it originated, or
on what reasons it was based. Nicholas I., one of the greatest
of the Tsars, was devotedly attached to Great Britain and was
received with the most friendly hospitality by the British Court
in the ’forties. Great Britain was led into the Crimean War by
the intrigues of Napoleon III., and into unfriendly relations with
Alexander II. by the partisanship of Beaconsfield and_ the
necessity of finding a cry to support him in power. Madame
de Novikov worked hard to improve the relations between the
two Courts and make them understand each other, and she influ-
enced Gladstone in the same direction. But the unreasoning
predilection of the British for Turkey, one of the mysteries
of our policy, prevented the nation from following a new lead,
and the suspicion of Russia still remained. A section of British
Radicals detested Russian systems of government, not knowing
what they really are, not realising how difficult it is to alter them,
and not understanding that the Tsar Nicholas II. is one of the
best, the most enlightened, the most peace-loving, monarchs in
Europe, and had set himself to inaugurate a system of constitu-
tional government in his country, so far as was possible under
the peculiar conditions.

949
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

That an agreement should at last be effected between these
two nations was like sun in winter. It was due to the wisdom of
Sir Edward Grey, the statesmanship of Asquith, the sagacious
counsel of Sir Arthur Nicholson (the British Ambassador at St.
Petersburg, who then happened to be in London), the determined
enthusiasm of John Morley, and, above all, the encouraging
courtesy and sympathy of the Russian Foreign Office. Great
Britain’s relations with France and Russia thus became smooth,
the prudent course being taken of removing out of the path all
controversies which might produce a serious quarrel. The quasi-
alliance, which never became a real alliance, between Great
Britain, France and Russia, caused suspicion and irritation in
Germany, which began to feel isolated ; but Campbell-Bannerman
assured the German Foreign Office that these agreements were
not hostile to its interests, and that the only reason why a similar
arrangement was not made with Germany was because no similar
causes of quarrel existed at the moment between it and Great
Britain.

We have seen that one of the clauses in the Anglo-Russian
Convention provided that neither country should interfere with
Lhassa. Lord Curzon, as Viceroy of India, had found it impera-
tive to send a military expedition to Tibet to conquer Lhassa,
the mysterious city, the home of the Dalai Lama. This expe-
dition, commanded by Younghusband, was eminently successful,
and led to a treaty which was afterwards, unfortunately, disre-
garded. When the expedition was sent Russia had not been
conquered by Japan. There is now less chance of her advance
in this direction; but it may be doubted whether it was wise to
leave Tibet in the hands of China, a country permeated with
spirituality, to be controlled by a material and irreligious horde.

During these years dislike of Great Britain had been gradu-
ally fading away, owing, as we have seen, more than anything
else, to the personal popularity and tact of Edward VII. He
was acquainted with, indeed more or less related to, all European
sovereigns, and worked hard in strengthening these ties. He
was in the habit of paying a yearly visit to Marienbad to drink
the waters, a custom which, under the care of Dr. Ott,
undoubtedly extended his life. Nothing could exceed the affec-
tionate enthusiasm with which he was received in that health
resort, Russians, French, Austrians, and above all Germans,
who had been most embittered against England and against
him personally during the Boer War, thronging to do him
honour. Embarrassing as their attentions must sometimes have

950
BRITAIN THE DOMINATING POWER

been, he valued them as evidence that the cloud which had
hung over his country was passing, and he was becoming a
potent factor in the counsels of Europe as the ambassador of
peace. The effect produced by his ten years of rule in this
respect—the difference between the isolation, the ostracism, of
Great Britain in 1901 and her commanding influence in 1911—
is only comparable with the first ten years of the younger Pitt,
which saw Great Britain in 1783 the pariah of the world, and
in 1793 the dominating Power in Europe.

Early in 1908 Campbell-Bannerman, worn out by political
labour, intensified by the calamity of his wife’s death and the
heroic efforts he had made to prolong her life, was obliged to
resign office, and, indeed, shortly afterwards died. His was
succeeded by a Ministry which was destined to leave a great
mark on the history of the country, in respect of the progress of
democracy and the preservation of peace. Campbell-Bannerman
had worked hard for both objects and left a name honoured on
both counts. In the new Cabinet, Asquith became Prime Minister,
an office now for the first time recognised by the Constitution ;
and Lloyd George, a man of consummate genius and the highest
character, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The summer saw the Franco-British Exhibition in London,
which did much to consolidate the friendship between Great
Britain and France, and, at the same place, the celebration
of the so-called Olympic games in the Stadium, where the youth
of the world competed together in honourable rivalry in almost
every branch of athletic exercise and sport. Lord Desborough, to
whose energy and statesmanlike wisdom the success of this
enterprise was due, said that nothing pleased him more in this
experience than having to preside, night after night, at banquets
of young men of all countries, singing their national songs,
meeting in peace and harmony, and establishing thereby the
solidarity of nations, and making war impossible. Kings and
statesmen may do what they please, but when nations meet
together in athletic sport, or friendly intercourse, in Olympic
games or in Esperanto congresses, to enjoy the same amusements
and speak the same language, war must gradually become im-
possible. Olympia was regarded as the strongest bond of Greek
unity in ancient times ; there is no reason why a similar associa-
tion in these times, embracing, not a nation, but the whole world,
should not achieve as much for us.

In the same year a Pan-Anglican Congress brought together
every section of the English Church throughout the world.

951
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD

The King made visits of amity and peace to the President of
the French Republic, the Tsar—an admirable action, much re-
sented by intemperate Radicals—the Emperors of Austria and
Germany, while the Prince of Wales strengthened the bond of
union with Canada. In the political sphere the rejection of the
Licensing Bill by the Lords accentuated the agitation against
the Upper House. The Old Age Pensions Act, promised by the
Unionists but never given, brought peace and comfort into
many a home and diminished the terrible pauperism of the
country; the Children’s Act, due mainly to Herbert Samuel,
tended to make the youngest and most important members of
society temperate and moral. All these measures were consum-
mated by Lloyd George’s democratic budget, which provided the
money necessary for the increased expenses of the country, not
in the taxation of food and raw material, which would have pressed
heavily upon the poor and upon industry, but in the taxation of
the rich. The budget was, by a grave display of unwisdom, which
much disturbed the King, rejected by the House of Lords, but
was carried after a general election had decided in its favour.

Steps were now taken to carry out what had been promised
by Campbell-Bannerman and been discussed long before his
time—namely, the making the veto of the Lords suspensive,
instead of absolute; but in the very act of this settlement, King
Edward died, and the task was left to his successor, George V.
Shortly before midnight on Friday, May 6th, 1910, the tolling of
the great bell of St. Paul’s announced that Edward the Peacemaker
had passed away. ,

952
INDEX

A

ABD-EL-KADER, 272, 281, 283
Abdul Aziz, 718, 724
Abdul Hamid, 725, 741, 868
Abdul Kerim Pasha, 731
Abdul Mejid, 277, 718
Abdur Rahman, Sultan of Morocco, 282
Abdurrahman Khan, of Afghanistan, 786,
788, 792, 794-5
Aberdeen, Earl of, Viceroy of Ireland, 824
Aberdeen, Lord, becomes Foreign Secretary,
166 ; on the blockade of Bosphorus and
Dardanelles, 168; on Prussia’s inten-
tions, 172; on Turkey’s position,
176; recalls Codrington, 179; disap-
proves Stratford Canning’s action, 182 ;
and Greek independence, 182; and
Portugal, 195; forms Ministry, 372;
and Emperor Nicholas, 374-5; on Sir
_C. Napier, 379; resignation, 392
Abisbal, General, 107, 109
Abu Hamed, capture of, 873-4
Abu Klea, battle of, 811
Abyssinia: the war with Great Britain, 584 ;
cost of expedition to, 7o1; retirement
of Egyptian garrisons through, 868 ;
war with Italy, and with the Der-
vishes, 868; and Italy, 870; Italian
suzerainty, 871
Achovo, defeat of Greeks at, 131
Aci, Prince, murder of, 62
A’Court, William, British Ambassador at
Madrid, tor, 117, 185
Acre, capture of, 264
Acrocorinthus, capture of, 83, 128
Adam, Frederick, 140
Adarana, General Hunter at, 873; the
‘town destroyed, 874
Addington (see Sidmouth, Lord)
“Address to the German People,” by
Fichte, 29
Adelaide, 858, 864
Adowa, defeat of the Italians at, 871
Adrianople captured by Russians (1829),
172; peace signed at (1829), 1733
Treaty of, 173-6; occupied by the
Russians, 741
Adullamites, the, 577
Affirmation Bill, 813
Affre, Archbishop of Paris, 315
Afghan Boundary Commission, 795
Afghan War (1839), 424
Afghanistan, first war with, 425; Great
Britain concludes an alliance with, 716 ;
Beaconsfield’s policy in, 762-3; Quetta
occupied by the British, 763; Great
Britain at war with, 763-4; the frontier
dispute, 786; agreement with Russia,
787; alliance with Great Britain re-
fused, 787; war with, declared, 788 ;
Abdurrahman Khan proclaimed Amir

 

Afghanistan (continued)
of, 792; British evacuation of, 794:
consolidation of, 794; boundary dis-
pute, 820; Treaty signed, 820

Africa, delimitation of, 834

Agordat, defeat of Dervishes at, 871

Agout, 215, 217, 218

Aguinaldo, Emilio, 887

Ahmed Arabi (see Arabi Pasha)

Ahmed Khel, defeat of the Afghans at, 792

Ahmed Eyoub Pasha, 731

“© Aide-tot, le ciel t'aidera,” 201, 209

Aimerich, General, 118-9

Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of, questions for
discussion at, 23 ; evacuation of France
decided on, 24; German and Spanish
questions at, 25; Barbary pirates and
slavery question, 25; the Congress
dissolved, 26

Akashah, British advance on, 871

Akkerman, Treaty of, 150

Alabama claims and award, 710

Alagon, Duke of, 43

Alaskand, valley of, conceded by Russia,

751

Albanian Islands, Greek rising in, 78

Albert, Archduke, 509, 542, 551, 619

Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Prince,
selected as husband by Queen Victoria,
263; marriage and character of, 264;
influence in foreign affairs, 355-6; and
Palmerston, 358; position in politics,
359; and International Exhibition,
360; feeling against, 379; and Napo-
leon, 398; death of, 572

Alessandria, revolutionary outbreak at, 70;
surrendered to Austrians, 72; occupa-
tion of, by Austrians, 449 ; fortification
of, 453; its position defined in the
Austro-Italian war, 459; Garibaldi’s
imprisonment at, 603 |

Alexander I., Emperor, as mediator between
Richelieu and Prince of Anhalt-Bern-
burg, 22; Metternich and, 23; visits
Paris, 24; on Napoleon at Aix-la-
Chapelle, 26; on Spanish Revolution,
64; at Troppau, 65 ; on revolution, 67 ;
at Laibach, 68; his anger at Piedmont-
ese Revolution, 71; Ypsilanti’s appeal
to, 76; attends funeral of Patriarch of
Constantinople, 80; sends ultimatum
to Turkey, 80; again intervenes for
Greece, 87 ; and Capodistrias, 88 ; ready
to send army to Spain, 97 ; on risings in
Spain, 98; interview with Wellington,
99; at Verona, 99 ; indignation against
Spain, 100; and Chateaubriand, 101;
and question of Spanish colonies, 104 ;
and French war with Spain, 108 ; meet-
ing with Emperor of Austria concerning
Greece, 139; death of, 142; arrangements
for his successor, 144; and Poland, 285

953
INDEX

Alexander II., accession of, 395; in the
Crimea, 410; and the peace negotia-
tions, 414-5; is fired upon in Paris,
601; his important reforms, 714; his
policy as regards the East, 714-5; ex-
tension of Russian dominion in Asia
under, 715-7; his anger at Beacons-
field’s speech, 727; declares war on
Turkey, 728; crosses into Roumania,
729; issues a manifesto from Tirnova,
732; Yides into Plevna, 740

Alexandra, Princess, of Denmark : marriage
to the Prince of Wales, 574

Alexandria, British and French warships
sent to, 799; riot at, 800; bombard-
ment of, 801; arrival of Sir Garnet
Wolseley, 803 ; indemnity for the bom-
bardment of, 869

Alexeiev, Admiral, 923, 932

Algiers, piracy at, 207; French expedition
to, 208-9; as a French colony, 272

Ali Pasha of Janina, 76-7; murder of, 85

Aliwal, battle of, 428

Allard, Abbé, 695

“* Alley of the Dead, The,”

Alma, battle of, 382, 384

Almeida, Count, 134

Alsace, 651, 671

Alsen, the Danes routed at, 525

Alta Italia, Kingdom of, 438

Althorp, Lord, 243, 254-5

Aluli, Tung- chi, Emperor of China, 842-3

Alvensleben, 637, 642-4

Amadeus of Savoy, Prince, 327

Amanweiler, 645-7

Amarante, Count, 113-4

America, North, confederation of, 583

Amherst, Lord, 424, 841

Amiens, Peace of, 895

Amoy, 841

Amur, the, 934

Anam, 843

Anarchists in France, 313

Anatoliko, defence of, 128

Ancillon, 81

Andrassy, Count: note to Turkey, 722-3;
at Ems, 724; and the Treaty of San
Stefano, 744; at Berlin, 748

Andujar, Ordinance of, 110

Annichiarico, Ciro, 59

Anson, Hon. George, 435

Anti-Bourbon press campaign, 207, 212

Antietam, battle of, 493

Antilles, the, 880

Antologia, the, 56

Anton, Prince, of Hohenzollern-Sigmarin-
gen, 509

Antwerp, revolutionary fighting at,
Dutch refuse to evacuate, 234

“* Apostolical” Party, the, 118-9, 186-7, 190

Arabi Pasha, 798-801, 803-4, 870

Arachova, defeat of Turks at, 153

Arago, 213, 274, 312, 314, 684

Aranda, 696

Arch, Joseph, 823

Arcorito, 73

Ardahan, 707, 731

Argiielles, 43, 47, 106, III

Argyll, Duke of, 394, 699

Armenia, 736

“ Army of the Ionian Islands,” 81

Army reform in France, 20-1;
Britain, 704, 705, 706, 707

641

232;

in Great

 

954

Arthur, Sir George, Governor of Tasmania,

857
Aryan nations, their predominance, 840
Asan, capture of, 853
Aschaffenburg, capture of, 662
Ashley, Lord (see Shaftesbury, Earl of)
Asia, extension of Russian dominions in,

715-7

Asia Minor, Turkish atrocities in, 80 ; settle-
ment under treaty of Akkerman, 150;
Russian successes in (1828), 168

Asquith, H. H., becomes Home Secretary,
836; becomes Prime Minister, 951

Assuan dam, thé, 870

Atalanta, Sherman’s march on, 505; taken
by Sherman, 506

Atbara, Battle of the, 875

Athanasios, 77

Athens: Odysseus raises siege of the Acro-
polis, 80; captured by Reshid Pasha,
153; defence of the Acropolis, 153-4;
capture of the Acropolis, 155

Auckland, Lord, 425

Augusta, Princess, of Weimar, 171-2

Augustenburg, 524, 527, 529-31, 536

Augusti, Governor-General of the Philip-
pines, 887

Aumale, Duc d’, 281, 312, 696

Aurelle de Paladines, 676-8

Australia: its effect on Eastern Asiatics,
840; its discovery by Captain Cook,
855; its six States, 856; discovery of
gold, 859; constitution of the various
States, 859; and federation, 861; its
tariffs, 861 ; Federal Council established
1885, 863; National Australian Con-
vention appointed, 864; inception of
the Commonwealth of, 864; the
Federal constitution of, 865 ; Protection
adopted, 866; growth of the Labour
Patsy 867 ; site of its Federal capital,

Australian Duties Act, the, 862

Austria, founding of the empire of, 32;
number of votes in the Bundestag, 33 ;
absolutism in, 34; prepared to keep
peace in Italy, 64; agreement with
Russia and Prussia as to treatment of
revolution, 66; to occupy Naples, 68 ;
victory at Rieti 69; prominent position
of, in Triple Alliance, 7 73; in Italy, 125;
and Turko-Greek question, 140-1;
neutrality in Russo-Turkish war, 1828,
167; suggests intervention in Russo-
Turkish war, 169 ; Turkey tries to form
alliance with, 171; strained relations
with Russia, 172 ; and treaty of Adrian-
ople, 175; irritation in Italy against,
304; revolutionary outbreak in, 320;
riots in Vienna, 321 ; refuses to mediate,
328; gains Bologna and Ancona, 329 ;
war in Italy, 331-3; and Hungarian
independence, 334-5 ; campaign against
Hungary, 336-7; abdication of Em-
peror, 337; defeats in Hungary, 339;
appeal to Russia, 339; Palmerston and,
356-7; and the Crimean war, 396-7;
peace proposals of, 414 ; the Italian war
indemnity, 449; treaty of peace with
Italy, 449; relaxes the Sequestration
edict, 456; Napoleon III.’s antagonism
to, 457; Italy’ S pretexts for war with,
458 ; endeavours to keep the peace with
INDEX

Austria (continued)
Italy, 459; the war with Italy begins,
461 ; the Austro-Italian war, 461 ef seq.
(see Austro-Italian war); loss of Lom-
bardy, 473; overtures to Prussia, 509 ;
sides with Poland, 515; makes terms
with Russia, 515; war with Denmark,
519; the Schleswig campaign, 521-2;
the fleet engaged by Tegethoff, 524 ; re-
tirement of Rechberg, 526 ; Count Mens-
dorff in power, 527; war with Prussia
foreshadowed, 526; is supported by
Hanover and Saxony, 529; attempts to
break Bismarck’s hold on Schleswig-
Holstein, 530 ; treaty with Prussia, 530 ;
protests against the naval station at
Kiel, 531; the convention at Gastein,
532; Italy offers to purchase Venetia,
535; its perilous financial position, 535 ;
determines to keep Venetia, 537; con-
centrates troops on the Prussian frontier,
541; mobilises her army, 542; a loan
of £60,000,000, 542 ; offers to surrender
Venetia, 542 ; Bismarck’s plan for settle-
ment rejected, 543; sounds the call to
war, 544; Count Karolyi recalled from
Berlin, 545; the Austro-Prussian war,
546 et seq. (see also Austro- Prussian war);
prepared to surrender Venetia, 556;
seeks for French mediation after Sadowa,
559; sues for peace, 564; the visit of
Napoleon III., 601; an alliance with
France mooted, 615; Russia’s warning
to, against violation of neutrality, 651 ;
declares herself free from all engage-
ments, 652; league with Germany and
Russia, 717 ; and Andrassy’s note, 722 ;
presents note to the Porte, 724; her
jealousy of Russia, 744 ; feeling towards
Great Britain on Egyptian affairs, 802 ;
Triple Alliance with Germany and Italy,
1887, 833

Austro-Italian war: outline of Napoleon
IIl.’s plan, 457; secret negotiations,
458; the treaty of 1859, 459; Cavour
still working for war, 460; the Franco-
British Congress, 461; the Austrians
cross the frontier, 461 ; strength of the
opposing forces, 462 ; Montebello, 463 ;
Palestro taken by the allies, 464;
Austrian retreat to the Ticino, 465;
Magenta, 465; Napoleon III. in diffi-
culties, 466 ; the taking of Magenta, 467 ;
Napoleon III.’s_ proclamation, 467 ;
flight of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
468; the Austrians withdraw to the
Quadrilateral, 468; area of the battle
of Solferina, 468 ; strength of the forces
at Solferino, 469; the battle of Sol-
ferino begins, 470; disposition of the
armies, 471 ; victory for the allies, 471 ;
peace of Villafranca, 472; Cavour’s rage
at the terms, 473 ; results of the peace,
474 (see also Italy, Austria) ;

Austro-Prussian war: incidents leading up
to the, 526; the mobilisation begins,
542; the war opens at Olmiitz, 545;
strength of the forces, 546; the Prus-
sians occupy Saxony, Hesse and Han-
over, 547; the armistice of Langen-
salza, 548; Italy’s rejoicing at the war,
548; operations in Lombardy and the
Tyrol, 549; plans for invading Venetia,

955

 

Austro-Prussian war (continued)
549; the struggle at Custozza, 5jo ; the
position at Villafranca, 5sr, a big
Austrian victory, 551; La Marmara in
flight, 552; the Prussiana occupy Dres-
den, 552; Bohemia invaded, 553; en-
gagements at Podol, Miinchengratz and
Gitschin, 554; the Austrians in retreat,
5553; Koniggratz, 557; the Prussians
march on Vienna, 559 ; peace mediation
by France, 560 ; operations of the Army
of the Main, 561 ; battle of Dermbach,
561; the Bavarians defeated, 562;
Frankfort occupied, 562; Benedek be-
Sieged in Olmutz, 563; in sight of
Vienna, 563; an armistice, 564; Bis-
marck dictates the terms of peace, 564;
Peace of Prague, 565; progress of the
war in Venetia, 566; a naval victory
by Austria, 567; Italy secures Venetia,
567; peace signed at Vienna, 567

Autun, Garibaldi at, 684

Ayub Khan, 792-4

Azim, of Afghanistan, 786

**Bapen, Articles of,” 305

Baden, founding as a State of, 32; Con-
stitution established, 34 ; revolutionary
outbreak in, 319; and the Union of
North and South Germany, 682; ad-
mitted into North German League, 682

Baden Powell, General Sir R. S., 906

Bagno, Libri, 228-9

Bahadur Shah (see Delhi, King of)

Baker, Sir Samuel, 807

Baker, Valentine, 739

Bala Hissar, the capture of, 790-1

Balaklava, capture of, 383; battle of, 386

Balan, 658; fighting at, 659-60

Balbo, Cesare, 302

Balbo, Prospero, 53

Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., and the Fourth
Party, 821; becomes Secretary for
Ireland, 828 ; and the Crimes Act, 829;
opposes the Plan of Campaign, 830;
becomes popular, 831; and the Home
Rule Bill of 1893, 837 ; and the Dogger
Bank incident, 930; becomes Prime
Minister, 944; his Education Bill, 945 ;
and Tariff Reform, 947

Balkan Peninsula, League formed for pre-
serving peace in, 717 ; unrest in, 722-3;
Powers and, 727-8; Treaty of San
Stefano and, 742; risings against the
Turks in, 746 ; the Berlin Congress and,
748-51; Russia’s influence in, 752, 754

Ballarat, 859

Ballesteros, General, 494, 497, 543, 555, 558

Balloon in Spanish-American war, 885

Ballot Act rejected by the Lords, 1871, 711;
passed, 1872, 711

Ballot, vote by, and first Reform Bill, 244

Bandiera, Attilio and Emilio, 300-1

Bank Holidays, institution of, 708-9

Bank of England: resumption of cash pay-
ments by (1818), 6; Charter renewed,

253
Bank of France restrains discounts (1818), 25
Bafios, Lopez, 96
Barante, 27,92 _
Barbacena, Marquis, 195
INDEX

Barbary Pirates, 25

Barbés, 313

Baring, Evelyn (see Cromer, Lord)

Baring, Walter, 725

Barnard, Sir Henry, 435

Barnato, Barney, 899

Baroche, 345

Barrot, Odilon, 201, 266, 271, 276, 310, 311,
315, 330, 342-3

Bastide, 207

Batak, slaughter at, 725

Batavian Republic, the, 895

Bathurst, Australia, 859

Bathurst, Earl, 278

Batoum, successful defence of, 736 ; Treaty
of San Stefano and, 743; Russia’s
readiness to declare a free port, 751-2

Batthyani, Count Louis, 334, 336, 341

Bavaria, founding as a State of, 480; num-
ber of votes in the Bundestag, 481 ; Con-
stitution established, 482; Prussian
operations in, 561-2; treaty with
Prussia, 565; alliance with Prussia,
566; and the North German League,
682; treaty with, signed, 682-3

Bayazid, taken by the Russians, 731;
General Tergukasov forced to evacuate,
736; confirmed to Russia by Treaty of
San Stefano, 743 ; conceded by Russia,

752

Bazaine, Marshal, in Mexico, 592; his
treachery to Maximilian, 593; his frau-
dulent practices, 594; leaves Mexico,
595; forces under, 632; fails to send
reinforcements to Frossard, 637; his
incompetence and selfishness, 638 ; the
command of the Army of the Rhine, 639 ;
his blundering tactics, 641; wounded
in battle of Columbey, 641; attacked
by Alvensleben, 642-3; orders retreat
on Metz, 644; position of his forces
round Metz, 645; surveys the fighting
from Plappeville, 646; Metz invested,
648; plans retiring to ChAlons, 650;
and MacMahon, 651; MacMahon starts
to his relief, 652; and MacMahon’s
retreat on Méziéres, 654; and sorties
from Metz in direction of Thionville,
656; proposes terms to the enemy, 673 ;
secret negotiations with the Empress,
673; is forced to capitulate, 673 ; course
of the war as affected by his action, 674

Bazeilles, French at, on the eve of Sedan,
657; advance of Bavarians on, 658;
attack on, by Bavarians, 659; capture
of, 660

Beaconsfield, Earl of (see Disraeli)

Beaumont, French defeat at, 655

Beaune-la-Rolande, battle of, 677

Beauregard, General, 481

Bechuanaland, 834, 898

Beira, Prince of, 291

Belfort, mutiny at, 93; its defence by
Denfert-Rochereau, 675, 686; efforts
to relieve, 684-5; capitulation of, 686 ;
march of German troops through Paris
conceded as a ransom for, 688

Belgium, added to the Netherlands by Con-
gress of Vienna, 224 ; the Eight Articles
of London and, 225; its vote over-
whelmed by Holland, 225; reactionary
movements in, 226-8; revolution be-
gins, 229; Van Maanen dismissed and

 

Belgium (continued)
States-General summoned, 230; mob
tule in Brussels, 230; Provisional
Government formed, 231; independ-
ence proclaimed, 232 ; Leopold of Saxe-
Coburg elected King, 233; Holland
declares war and the Powers intervene,

234
Belluno, Duc de (Marshal Victor), 91-2, 120
Belmont, battle of, 907
Bendigo, Australia, 859
Benedek, General, at Solferino, 470; com-

mands the Northern Army, 542; his

plans against the Prussians fail, 553;

withdraws to Kd6niggratz, 556; at

Kéniggratz, 558; besieged at Olmiitz,

563; ordered to Vienna, 563; retires

to Pressburg, 563 :
Benedetti, and British fleet, 375; goes as

a peace envoy to William I., 564; his

unsuccessful interview with William I.,

624; refused further audience with the

a 625; seeks safety in emigration,
Bentinck, Lord George, 350
Bentinck, Lord William, 59, 425
Béranger, on “‘ holy alliance of people,” 40;

attempts to influence army for Spain,

107; and Revolution of July, 217
Berber, 810; occupied by General Hunter,

873; Egyptian army at, 874; trium-

phal entry of Kitchener, 875
Beresford, Lord William, 783
Beresford, Marshal, on condition of Portugal,

50; goes to Rio to report, 51; returns

to Spain, 51; departs for England, 51;

recommended by Wellington for com-

mand of Portuguese army, 115; ap-
proved by the King and accuses
ubserra as a traitor, 116; leaves

Portugal, 116
Berlin, Congress of, representatives of Euro-

pean Powers at, 748; settlement of

Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia, 748-9 ;

secures Bosnia and Herzegovina to

Austria, 749-50; secures the independ-

ence of Servia, 750; settles questions

concerning Crete and Bessarabia, 750-1 ;
declares independence of Montenegro,

751; Russia’s Asiatic conquests, 751 ;

differences between Great Britain and

Russia at, 751; Bismarck keeps the

peace at, 751; Gortshakov on, 751-2
Berlin, Philhellenic enthusiasm in, 138; re-

volutionary scenes in, 322-3; excite-

ment in, at Bismarck’s dispatch, 626 ;

first German Reichstag held in, 697;

Americans more popular in, than the

British, 711 ;
Berlin, Treaty of, effect of, on Russia, 752;

Gladstone’s criticism of, 753; its viola-

tion by the Powers and general failure

of, 754
Bermudez, Zea, 290
Bernetti, 204
Bernstorff, Alexander von, 146
Bernstorff, Count, at Congress of Aix-la-

Chapelle, 24; and Greek insurrection,

81; at Verona, 99; on recognition of

independence of Spanish colonies, 104 ;

on Navarino, 160 ; opposes Metternich’s
suggestion of intervention in Russo-

Turkish War, 169

956
INDEX

Berri, Duc de, 12, 29, 64

Berri, Duchesse de, 22, 204, 212, 219, 268

Bertin, editor of the Débats, 206

Berton, General, 93

Besancon, 673

Besika Bay, British fleet at, 725; fleet
ordered to leave for the Dardanelles,
742; recalled to, 742

Bessarabia exchanged for the Dobrudsha,
742-3; the Berlin Congress and, 751

Bessiéres, 106-7, 109, IIg

Beugnot, 14, 20

Bhamo, British expedition at, 842

Biarritz, Bismarck and Napoleon III. at, 553

Biddulph, Sir Robert, 747

Biggar, J. G., 761

Bignon, 221, 266

Bigny, defeat of Fiéreck at, 676

Bilderling, General, 929

Binder, 71-

Birmingham, and Second Reform Bill, 247

Birmingham Education League, the, 836

Bismarck, Prince, and Prussia’s position at
the Congress of Paris, 416; appointed
Prime Minister, 511; his plans for
Prussia, 512; he dismisses Parliament,
512; his fight for power, 513; inter-
venes in the Polish insurrection, 514;
threatens to resign, 515; is exercised
over the Schleswig-Holstein question,
516; his diplomacy in regard to Den-
mark, 518 ; flouted by the Prussian Par-
liament, 519; and the Austro-Danish
War, 519; again threatens to resign
520; his plans for Kiel, 520; demands
separation of Duchies, 524 ; and Augus-
tenburg, 524; King and Parliament re-
cognise his aims, 525 ; dictates terms of
Prusso-Danish peace, 526; rejects the
Austrian proposals, 527; Mensdorff’s
opposition to, 529; conditionally admits
the claims of Augustenburg, 530; out-
mancuvres Mensdorff, 530; his triumph
on the Schleswig-Holstein question,
532; and Napoleon III., 533; makes
overtures to Italy, 535; he breaks with
Austria, 536; refuses to consider French
extensions, 538; his plans for a united
Germany, 540; proposes to reconstruct
the German Federation, 541; makes
peace proposals to Austria, 543 ; accuses
Austria of breaking faith, 544 ; prepares
for war against Austria, 545; his policy
vindicated on every hand, 561 ; dictates
the terms of peace to Austria, 564;
allows no interference by France and
Russia, 565 ; the most prominent figure
in Europe, 573; and Luxemburg ques-
tion, 599; flattering reception ‘in Paris,
601; his attitude to France, 616; his
complicity in the Mentana campaign,
617; at work making modern Germany,
617; disapproves of Daru’s caution,
619; determines to render peace impos-
sible, 625; warns King Leopold, 657 ;
interview with the Emperor near Don-
chery, 663; determines to invest Paris,
669; purposely deceives Bazaine, 673 ;
signs Peace of Frankfort, 697; at the
conference at Ems, 724; and dispute
concerning the San Stefano Treaty, 747 ;
as the ‘“‘ honest broker,” 748 ; president
of the Berlin Congress, 748, 750-1; his

 

Bismarck (continwed)
offer of Egypt to Great Britain, 753;
visited by Crispi, 833

Bitsch, 674

Bittenfeld, 554

Blacas, 68

“Black Cabinet, The,” 202

“Black Commission, The,” at Mainz, 38

Black Flags, the, and Tongking, 843

Black Sea, question of, discussed at Congress
of Verona, 102, 139; neutrality of, dis-
cussed at Vienna, 396-7 ; Russia desires
liberation of, 652

“Black Week, The,” in the second Boer
War, 908

Blagovestchensk, 894

Blanc, Louis, 310, 312, 684, 690

Blanco, Field Marshal, 886

“* Blanketeers,” march from Manchester of,

4

Blanqui, 207, 314, 665, 691, 692, 695

Blaquiére, Captain Edward, 135-6

Bloemfontein, gor, 912

Blomfield, Bishop, 253

Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen, 830

Boers, their dispute with the Zulus, 772 ; Sir
Bartle Frere’s award concerning, 772;
assist the British, 773 ; war with Siku-
kuni, 896 ; and with Cetewayo, 897 (see
Boer War)

Boer War, the first, 816

Boer War, the second, its outbreak, 903;
Boer ultimatum expires, 904 ; European
opinion on, 904; overtures for peace,
gi2 ; council of war at Kroonstad, 913;
disaster at Sanna’s Post, 913; at
Reddersberg, 914; the British take
Kroonstad, 914; battle of Doornkop,
914; British enter Johannesburg, 914 ;
occupy Pretoria, 914-5; capture of
Highlanders near Heilbron, 915; as-
sault on Roodeval Station, 915; sur-
render of Prinsloo, 915 ; De Wet’s guer-
illa tactics, 916; Kitchener calls on the
burghers to surrender, 916 ; destruction
of farms and erection of blockhouses,
916; overtures for peace, 917; meet-
ing between Kitchener and the Boer
delegates at Klerksdorp, 917; terms of
peace offered by Boer leaders, 917;
commandos consulted on the question
of independency, 918 ; Treaty of Vereen-
iging signed at Pretoria, 918

Bohemia entered by the Prussians, 553

Boissy d’Anglas, 18, 20, 92 :

Bokhara, annexation of, by Russia, 716

“Bomba,” King, 327, 468

Bonald, 25, 31, 91

Bonaparte, Charles
Canino), 329

Bonaparte, Jerome, 19, 137

Bonaparte, Joseph, 19

Bonaparte, Lucien, 19 ;

Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, shoots Victor
Noir, 613

Bonapartism, revival of, 19

Bonjeau, President, death of, 695

Bordeaux, seat of Government removed to,
678; Gambetta’s efforts to arouse the
army at, 680; the National Assembly
at, 683, 688 . .

Bordeaux, Duc de (‘‘ Child of the Miracle’’),
66, 200

Lucien (Prince of

957
INDEX

Borelli, Pasquale, 63, 73, 123

Borgarelli, 53

Bérne, 40

Borny, battle of, 641

Boroughs, creation of, by Lord John Russell,

257

Bosnia, insurrection in, 1785, 722; Servia
and Montenegro make common cause
with, 725; treaty of San Stefano and,
742 (see Balkan Peninsula); secured
to Austria by the Berlin Congress,

749-50

Bosphorus, the Russian terms concerning,
under Treaty of Adrianople, 174; and
Treaty of London (1841), 280

Botany Bay, 855

Botha, General, and Cronje, 911; parts
from his ally and crosses the Vaal, 914;
his fortitude, 915; a delegate at Klerks.
dorp, 917; discusses terms of peace at
Pretoria, 918 ; reception of, at Colonial
Conference, 919

Botsaris, Markos, 128

Botsaris, Notis, 132

Bouillon, Napoleon III. at, 663

Bourbaki, Colonel, 154, 632, 639, 647, 673-4,
678, 680, 684-6

Bourbon, Cardinal de, 46

Bourbon, House of, 696

Bourges, 673

Bourmont, eneeall 118, 206, 209

Bower, Lieut., 856

Boxers, the, 892: -3

Braccio Nuovo, 57

Bradlaugh, Charles, 813

Braila, Pasha of, 77

Bravo, Prime Minister of Spain, 295-6

Brazil, created a kingdom, 50; revolution
in, 52; Empire under Don Pedro, 185

Bréa, General, 315

Bremi, 135

Brigandage in Papal states under Pius VII.,

57

Bright, John, President of the Board of
Trade, 699; retires from the Ministry,
802; and the Home Rule Bill, 825-6;
and Transvaal independence, 816

Brindley, and canal system, 249

Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall, 856

Brisbane, penal settlement at, 875

Bristol, Reform riots at, 247

British and Foreign School Society, 253

British East Africa Company, the Imperial,

834

Broadwood, Major, 913-4

Brodrick, Mr., 839

Broglie, Duc de, 18, 20, 92, 107, 121, 198-9,
217, 221, 266

Broglie, Duchesse de, 13:

Broglie, Prince Maurice es Bishop of Ghent,
226-7

Bromhead, Lieut., 778

Brougham, Lord, and the ‘‘ Three Gentle-
men of Verona,” 107; and Canning, 189 ;
defends Queen Caroline, 236; Lord
Chancellor in Grey’s Ministry, 243 ; and
second Reform Bill, 247

Browne, Sir Horace, 842

Browne, Sir Samuel, 789

Brussels, revolutionary scenes in, 229;
People’s Club in, 230; fighting in, 231 ;
National Congress at, 232; King Leo.
pold enters, 233 ; congress at, 1874, 714

 

Bryce, Rt. Hon. J., 837

Brydon, Dr. William, 426

Buchanan, James, 478

Bucharest, Ypsilanti enters, 76; Turks
capture, 77; treaty of, 148, 150; occu-
pied by Russian army, 1828, 167

Bukés, the, of feudal Japan, 845

Bulgaria, Russian advance into, 1828, 167 ;
the Patriarchate of, 715; insurrection
in, 723; atrocities in, 725 ; Gladstone’s
pamphlet concerning, 725-6; Baring’s
Teport on, 726; as independent state,
732; success of Turks in, 736; posts
hela by Russians in, 737 ; Turks ‘cleared
from the north of, 741; and treaty of
San Stefano, 742; dispute concerning,
between Great Britain and Russia, 745 ;
an agreement upon, 747; and the
Berlin Congress, 748-9

Bull Run, the engagement at, 481

Buller, Charles, 260

Buller, Sir Redvers, at Ulundi, 783; arrival
in South Africa, 907; attempts to re-
lieve Ladysmith, 908; at Spion Kop,
909 ;_ crosses the Drakensberg, 915

Biilow, Count von, 748

Bundestag, the constitution of, 33; adopts
Carlsbad resolutions, 38

Bunsen, German ambassador at Rome, 123

Buol, Count, 397, 399

Burdett, Sir Francis, 189

Burger, Schalk, 917

Burgers, second President of the Transvaal
Republic, 896-7

Burke, T. H., 815, 829

Burnside, General, 493-5

Burschenschaft, the, 36-7

Bushido, explanation of, 935

Butera, Prince of, 327

Butler, Sir William, 903

Butt, Isaac, 756

Buxton, Thomas Fowell, 252

Buyukdere, Turkish atrocities in, 80

Byron, Lord, 132, 135-6

c

‘CABINET Vert, the,” 91

Cabral, Costa, 299

Cabrera, Ramon, 293

Cabul, murder of Macnaghten at, 426 ; cap-
tured by Pollock and Sale, 426 ; dispute
concerning a British resident at, 762-3;
under martial law, 772; Stoletov leaves,
788 ; Sir Neville Chamberlain’ s mission
to, 788 ; British resident at, 789

Cacciatori delle Alpi, 460

Cadaval, Duke of, 193

Cadiz, Cortes of, 41

Cadiz, revolutionary tribunal at, 44; at-
tacked by military rebels, 45 ; massacre
at, 47

Cairns, Lord, 755

Cairo, mutiny at, rei

Calabria, Duke of, 6

Calatrava, 48, 109, fe 29

Calderari (the ‘‘ Kettlers 38 58-9

California, enters the Union, 476; discovery
of gold in, 476

Calomarde, 118, 190, 290

Cambon, 888

Cambridge, Duke of, 380

Campagna, the, under Pius VII., 57

taken by British, 804

958
INDEX

Campana, General, 47

Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, becomes
eader of the Liberal party, 938 ; accepts
the Premiership, 938; his death, 939

Campbell, Sir Colin, arrival at Calcutta, 440 ;
at Delhi, 441; at Cawnpur, 442; relief
‘of Lucknow, 443-4; relieves Cawnpur,
444; attack on Lucknow, 445-6

Campochiaro, Duke of, 61, 66

Canada, Papineau’s rebellion, 259; Lord
Durham and pacification of, 260; the
repeal of the Corn Laws and Navigation
Acts, 354; the Fenian invasion, 582;
the Federation of, 583; effect of adop-
tion of Customs Union on Australian
feeling, 861

Canals, in England, 249

Canaris, Admiral, 721

Candahar, 792-3, 795

Canning, George, visits Paris (1816), 17;
succeeds Castlereagh, 98; and Black
Sea question, 102; and recognition of
Spanish American colonies, 103; on
Franco-Spahish War, 107-8; supports
Brazilian independence, 117; defends
independence of Spanish Colonies,
IIg-20; declines to attend Conference
to consider Spanish Colonies, 120 ; and
Greeks, 135, 137; differences with Met-
ternich, 140; in Vienna, 141; declines
Protectorate to Greece, 142; dislikes
Austria’s proposals to Russia, 148; on
Russo-British mediation for Greece,
150; negotiations with Lieven, 151;
forms new Government, 152; triumphs
over Metternich, 152; and battle of
Navarino, 160; and Portuguese Con-
stitution, 186-7; appeals for help for
Portugal, 188; differences with his col-
leagues, 189 ; forms new Ministry, 189 ;
death of, 189, 240; Gentz and Metter-
nich on, 190; and Queen Caroline, 236 ;
succeeds Castlereagh as Foreign Secre-
tary, 237; and Catholic emancipation,
239; forms a Ministry, 239.

Canning, Lord, becomes Governor-General
of India, 430; and Dost Mohammed,
430-1 ; and the Sepoys, 431; and King
of Delhi, 434 ; prompt measures at out-
break of Mutiny, 434; his judical ad-
ministration after the Mutiny, 447

Canning, Stratford (see Stratford de Red-
cliffe, Lord)

Canosa, Prince of, 59, 72

Canova, in Rome, 57

Canrobert, Marshal, 383, 400, 466, 471, 633,

644-6, 674 : ue

Canton, foreigners accorded trading facilities
at, 841; opened to British trade, 841

Capapé, 118 Maina ete

Cape Colony, naturalisation in, 900

Cape of Good Hope, acquired by Great
Britain, 225 ; claimed for Great Britain,
1620, 895; final acquisition of, 896

Capodistrias, assures Metternich of Russia’s
peaceful policy, 23; at Congress of
Aix-la-Chapelle, 24; Richelieu’s letter
on Austrian intervention in Italy, 65;
note to the Powers on Italy, 66; at
Liabach, 68; rejects the overtures of
the Hetairia, 75; replies to Ypsilanti’s
appeal, 77; opinion of Ypsilanti, 77 ;
supports Tsar in intervention for Greeks,

 

Capodistrias (continued)
80 ; Metternich’s struggle with, 87 ; fall
foreshadowed, 88; elected President of
Greek National Assembly, 155 ; his tour
through Europe, 178; suspends Con-
stitution, 178 ; ignorance of Greek needs,
179; unable to comply with terms of
London Protocol, 180; assumes Dicta-
torship, 181; suggests Prince Leopold
of Saxe-Coburg as King, 182; criticism
of, 183; notes to Powers, and Prince

. Leopold, 184

Capodistrias, Vivaro, 179

Capponi, Gino, 54, 56, 302, 330

Caprivi, 834

Carbonari (“The Charcoal Burners”),
founding of, 58; persecuted by Canosa,
59; spread of principles of, 60; in
Neapolitan Revolution, 61-2; Metter-
nich on, 64; branch established in
France, 92; Leo XII.’s effort to sup-
Bes 124.; Byron’s association with,

13

Cardwell, Lord, 699, 704, 713

Carey, James, 815-6

Carey, Lieutenant, 781

Carignan, House of, 54

Carignan, Prince of, 71-2

Carlist War, 291, 293

Carlos, Don, greeted with hisses in Madrid,
46; urges Ferdinand to go against
Cortes, 48 ; supported by Apostolicals,
118 ; and Portuguese Constitution, 186 ;
position as regards succession, 190 ; and
revival of Pragmatic Sanction, 191,
290; assumes title of Charles V. and
declared a usurper, 291

Carlota, Queen, refuses to take the oath and
banished, 112; proposed Regency for,
114; supports Dom Miguel’s rising,
116 ; refuses to leave Lisbon, 116 ; death
of John VI., 185; rebellions in favour
of, 188; and Dom Miguel, 192-3 ; death
of, 196, 297

Carlsbad, Conference of German States at,

3

Carlyle, Thomas, 727

Carnarvon, Lord, 583, 755, 757-8, 821, 822

Carnot, 347, 690

Caroline, Queen, 235-6

Carrascosa, 69-70

Carrel, Armand, 207, 309

Casa Trujo, 111

Castafios, 46

Castelbajac, 18

Castel Morro, bombardment of, 882

Castlereagh, Lord, 4, 24, 40, 64, 81, 98, 237

Castro, Augustin da, 43

Cathcart, Sir George, 383 .

Catholic Association, founded by Daniel
O’Connell, 239; secures O’Connell’s
election for Clare, 241 ; suppression of,

242

Catholic Emancipation, Wellington opposed
to, 189; motion in favour of, defeated,
189; question of, 239; Canning and.
239; opposed by Duke of York, 239;
supported by Peel, 241 ; Bill passed for
relief of Catholics, 242

Cato Street conspiracy, 9

Cattolica, Prince, murder of, 62

Cavagnari, Major Sir Louis, 788-9

Cavaignac, General, 207, 221, 314-6, 343

959
INDEX

Cave, Stephen, 759
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 815, 829

Cavour, Count, at Congress of Paris, 416,

419-20 ; on the ecclesiastical laws, 450 ;
his popularity, 451; leadership of
Liberals, 451; becomes Minister of
Agriculture and Marine, 451; _ his
activity as Minister, 451; commercial
treaties with various European Powers,
451; Minister of Finance, 451; Free
Trade principles, 451, 453; resigns, 452 ;
forms his ‘great Ministry,” 452; his
financial genius, 453; at the Congress
of Paris, 455; becomes master of the
Chamber, 456; interview with Napo-
leon III., 457; designs to force a war
with Austria, 458 ; makes the Napoleon-
Clothilde marriage arrangements, 459 ;
his defiance of Napoleon III., 461;
er ioe to Villafranca, 472; retirement
ot, 5

73
Cawnpur, Sir Hugh Wheeler’s preparations

at, 436; outbreak of Mutiny, 436;
Nana Sahib at, 437 ; massacre at, 437;
capture of, 438-9

Chantelauze, 209-10

Chanzy, General, 678-9

Chapultepec, Maximilian retires to, 594

Charalampis, 127

Chard, Lieutenant, 777-8 :

Charine Cross Station, attempt to blow up,

14

Charity Commission, establishment of, 372

Charles Albert, Prince, as heir to crown of
Piedmont, 54 ; interviews revolutionary
leaders, 70; dissatisfaction of Liberals
with, 71; reputation as traitor, 72;
position of, considered at Congress of
Verona, 103; reconciled with Charles
Felix, 124; Metternich’s advice to, 125 ;
reforms of, 304 ; effect of action against
Austria, 326; “the Sword of Italy,”
331; successes against the Austrians,
331-2; leaves Milan and accepts
amnesty, 332; defeat at Novara and
abdication, 332, 449; death, 333

Charles, Duke of Parma, 331

Charles Felix, Prince of Piedmont (King of
Sardinia), 54; Victor Emmanuel I.
abdicates in favour of, 70; denounces

Cayla, Madame de, 91-2

Central Italy, the proposed formation as a
State, 458; its plans for revolt, 458

Cerruti,

the Constitution, 71 ; refuses Mecenigo’s
mediation, 72; and Prince of Carignan,
72; ‘returns to Naples, 72; excellent
government of, 124

53
Cervera, Admiral, 882-3, 886

Cetewayo, receives ultimatum, from Sir

Bartle Frere, 764; his early history,
771%; crowned by the British Envoy,

Charles Louis, Duke of Lucca, 122
Charles of ‘Bavaria, Prince, 183
Charles of Mecklenburg, Prince, 183
Charles of Roumania, Prince, 735

771; refuses to accede to British
demands, 772; his efforts for peace,
780 ; his reply to Chelmsford’s demands,
782-3; his surrender, 784; at war with
the Boers, 897

Cevallos, 44

Chabrol, 201-2, 206, 209

Chalil Pasha, 177

Chalons, third army of the French at, 631 ;
conference at, between Emperor, Mac-
Mahon and Trochu, 649; Emperor
lingers at, 650; camp at, broken up,
651; Bazaine unable to reach, 656

Chamberlain, Joseph, establishes the Caucus
system, 768; as a Radical, 814; and
Transvaal independence, 816; and the
Budget of 1885, 818; Mayor of Bir-
mingham, 823; enters Parliament,
1876, 823; his unauthorised Liberal
programme, 823; supports the small
holdings policy, 823; President of the
Board of Trade, 824; leaves the Cabinet
on the question of Home Rule, 825;
Gladstone’s opinion of, 826; and the
Round Table Conference of Liberals,
1886, 828; and the Newfoundland
fisheries, 833 ; and free education, 836;
and Welsh Disestablishment, 839 ; and
the Jameson raiders, 900; and the

Charles III. of Spain, 41
Charles X. of France, accession of, 121; de-

sires Polignac as Foreign Minister, 170 ;
and Capodistrias, 178; condition of
France at accession of, 197; ‘‘a new
Henry IV.,” 197; crowned at Rheims,
199; revival of Jesuitism under, 199;
and Press Laws, 200; reviews National
Guards, 201; vacillation on defeat of
Villéle, 201; expresses determination
to legislate in harmony with the Charte,
202; anger with the Chamber, 203;
royal progress, 204; and Martignac’s
Ministry, 205 ; and the Chamber, 208-9 ;
election proclamation, 209 ; signs Polig-
mac’s ordinances, 211-2; temporises
with revolution, 213; refuses to with-
draw ordinances, 214; consents to
summon the Council, 215; recalls
ordinances, 216; appoints Montemart
President of Council, 217; signs ordin-
ances, 218; retires to Versailles, 219;
retreats to Rambouillet, 220; deposed
at Paris, 220; agrees to appointment of
Duc d'Orléans as Lieutenant-General,
221; abdication, 222; retires to Main-
tenon, 223; takes refuge in England,
223; death, 275

Charlotte, Empress, 593-4

Uitlanders, g01; his dispatch regarded
by the Boers as an ultimatum, goa ; his
Tariff Reform campaign, 945; breaks
with his party, 947; his Tariff Reform
tour, 947

Charter, the People’s, of 1816, 4, 260

Chartered Company, the (see South Africa
Company)

Chartists, 4, 261, 352

Chateaubriand, protests against Lainé’s

Chamberlain, Sir Neville, 788
Chambord, Comte de, 696

Chambre Introuvable, Le, 14, 121
Chancellorsville, Federal defeat at, 495
Chan Chihtung, 891

Changarnier, 314-5, 346

 

franchise scheme, 18 ; revision of Press
Laws, 20 ; opposes Saint-Cyr and Royer-
Collard, 22; contributes to the Con-
servative, 25; on fall of Decazes, 30;
retires from the Berlin Embassy, 91;
ambassador to London, 92; at Verona,
INDEX

Churchill (continued)

Chateaubriand (continued)
99; views on Spain, 101; prominence
of, at Verona, 101 ; warns the Congress
against recognition of Spanish colonies,
104; succeeds Montmorency, 105 ; his
scheme for Spain, 106; warns Spain,
106; persuades the King for war, 106;
avowal with regard to Ferdinand, 106;
and Spanish Regency, 109; on Ordin-
ance of Andujar, 110; against adoption
of La Charte in Portugal, 115; advice
to Talaru, 118; scheme for America,
119; and Britain’s action over Spanish
Colonies, 120; his dismissal, 121 ; joins
Philhellenic Committee, 136; orders
concerning captured Greeks, 139; on
new Press Laws, 200; supports coali-
tion against Villéle, 201; and the
Martignac Ministry, 202; ambassador
in Rome, 202; Charles X. refuses to
admit him to the Ministry, 204-5; re-
signs embassy in Rome, 206

Chatillon, 669, 675

Chattanooga, 499-500

Chaumont, Treaty of, 23

Chelmsford, Lord, 774-6, 782-3

Chemulpo, 844, 851

Cherif Pasha, 797, 799, 807

Cherkaski, Prince, 732

Chevreaus, the two, 667, 668

Chevren, 649

Chian Kiang, 892

Chichegov, 894

Chickamauga Creek, battle of, 499

Child labour in England, evils of, 252-3

“Child of the Miracle” (see Bordeaux,
Duc de)

Childers, H. C. E., 699, 818, 821, 823

Chile revolts against Spain, 45

Chilianwala, battle of, 429

China, and the spread of modern ideas, 840;
intercourse with Great Britain, 841;
war with Great Britain in 1839 and
1856, 841; anti-foreign feeling in, 843,
891; famine of 1878, 843; war with
France, 1882-5, 843; attempts at
modernisation, 844; and Korea, 849-50;
rebellion at Seoul against, 851; agrees
with Japan cn policy in Korea, 852;
secret treaty with Russia, 854; makes
concessions to various European Powers,
889-90; missionaries in, 890; treaty
with Russia, 921

Ching, Prince, 893

Chino-Japanese War, its effect on Japan,
840; its causes, 844; its outbreak and
progress, 852-4

Chios, 79, 85-6

Chlopieki, 287

Chosrev, Kapudan Pasha, 127, 130-3, 153,
156, 177

Christian IX., 518, 529

Christianity in China, 890

Chun, Prince, 894

Church, General, 59, 62

Church, Richard, 154-6, 179, 181, 184

Church schools and free education, 836

Churchill, Lord Randolph, a Tory Democrat,
821; becomes Secretary of State for
India, 821 ; his speech on Indian finance,
822 ; gives the name “ Unionist” to the
new party, 826; leader of House of
Commons and Chancellor of the Ex-

2F

 

961

chequer, 1886, 827; his Budget defeated
and his resignation, 827

Churchit, Pasha of the Morea, 77-9, 85, 127
Cialdini, 550
Ciceruacchio, 752, 778
Cienfuegos, blockade of, 882
laa 43
ircassians in the Egyptian arm
Cirilo, Father, 48-9 oe eee
Civil Service, reform regarding appointments

» to, 705
Civil War in America, the causes of the,

4753; John Brown’s raid, 478; capture
of Fort Sumter, 479; the Confederacy
set up with Jefferson Davis as Presi-
dent, 479; Lincoln calls out the militia,
480; securing the sinews of war, 480-1 ;
occupation of Manassas, 481 ; Bull Run,
481; the army of the Potomac, 483;
Federal victories in West Virginia, 483 ;
the Federals defeated at Ball’s Bluff,
483; the attitude of Great Britain, 484 ;
the Trent affair, 484; area of operations
in the Civil War, 484; struggle for
command of the Mississippi, 485;
General Grant’s early successes, 486;
McClellan superseded, 487; the battle
of Shiloh, 488; New Orleans taken,
488; the battle of Fair Oaks, 489;
General Lee secedes to the South, 489;
battle of Richmond, 490; Stonewall
Jackson’s exploits, 490; McClellan’s
last stand, 491 ; Halleck becomes com-
mander-in-chief, 491; second engage-
ment at Bull Run, 492; Lee marches
into Maryland, 492 ; battle of Antietam,
493; Burnside takes command, 493;
the defeat at Fredericksburg, 494; the
“*Mud March,” 494; Hooker succeeds
Burnside, 495 ; Confederate victory at
Chancellorsville, 495; death of Stone-
wall Jackson, 496; Lee marches north,
496; Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg, 497 ;
the fall of Vicksburg, 497; a run of
Confederate defeats, 497-8 ; the Nation-
al Cemetery at Gettysburg, 498; Lin-
coln’s great oration, 498 ; the campaign
in Tennessee, 499; battle of Chicka-
mauga Creek, 499; Thomas’s good
work, 500 ; battle of Chattanooga, 500 ;
the taking of Missionary Ridge, 5or ;
Bragg’s army in full retreat, 501 ; Grant
given full command of the Federals,
502; the situation changes, 502; the
fight in the Wilderness, 503; the en-
gagement at Spotsylvania, 503; Sheri-
dan’s raid, 504; fighting round Rich-
mond, 504; casualties totalling 10,000
in 12 days, 504; Sherman’s march to
Atalanta, 505; and to Savannah, 506;
the battle of Five Forks, 507; closing
in on Richmond, 507; the beginning of
the end, 508; Richmond falls, 508 ; the
war ends, 508

Clarendon, Lord, 372, 375, 416-8, 575, 699
Clarkson, and slave trade, 251

Clauzel, Marshal, 273

Clemenceau, 690

Clericalism, revival of, 456; Cavour’s alarm

at its success, 456

Clermont-Tonnerre, Cardinal, 92, 203-4
Clinchant, General, 686
INDEX

Clinton, General, 189, 193

Clothilde, Princess, 457, 459

Clubs of Independence in Turin, Alessandria
and Coni, 64

Cluseret, 693

Cobden, Richard, 350, 570

Cochrane, Lord, 132

Cochrane, Thomas (see Dundonald, Lord)

oe Napaioon in Germany, 32; in Naples,

Sod lous, Admiral, 157-61, 179

Coercion Act, the, 815: owl not asked
for (1885), 822

Coercion Bill, the, oo by A. J. Bal-
four, 828 ; passed, 829

Coercion’ for Ireland supported by the
Unionists (1887), 828

Coghill, Lieutenant, 776

Colenso, battle of, 908

Collegno, Major, 70, 131, 134

Colletta, 73, 123

Colley, Sir George, 816

Collier, Sir Robert, 711

Collings, Jesse, and “three acres and a
cow,” 823

Columbey, battle of, 641 ; Bazaine reaches,
in one of his sorties, 656

Colvin, Sir Auckland, 798

Committee of Public Safety elected under the
Commune, 694

Commonwealth of Australia, its inception,

4

Commune, the, first signs of, in Paris, 684 ;
first meeting of its Central Committce
at the Hétel de Ville, 689; proclama-
tion drawn up by, 690; Committee
ordered to leave the Hotel de Ville,
690-1; formally proclaimed in Paris,
691; declares all acts of the Govern-
ment at Versailles null and void, 692;
its general work, 692; lack of security
of property under, 693; its soldiers
march upon Versailles, 6933 its principles
spread to the provinces, 6933 declares
its objects in a “Testament,” 694;
changes in the army under, 694; elects
a Committee of Public Safety, 694;
confiscates the public revenues and
seizes Church property, 695; puts
hostages to death, 695; destruction of
public buildings by, 696 ; overpowered.
by Government troops, 696 ; wholesale
execution of its members, 696

Communeros, the, 49

Concistoriali, the, Secret Society, 58

Conduriotti, Lazarus, 181

Confalonieri, Federigo, 56, 122, 304

Confucianism, the State religion of Korea,

849
Congo State, the, the King of the Belgians
becomes sovereign, 834
“ Congregation,” the, 91, 199
Congregationists, political influence of, 91-2,

199
“ Connecticut Compromise,”
Consalvi, 56, 66, 68, 123
Conscription in France, 2z;result of, 179-80 ;
abolished by the Commune, 692
Conseils des Prud hommes, 369
Constant, Benjamin, supports Saint-Cyr and
Royer- Collard, 22; and the Ultras in
1821, 92; defeat of, 102 ; supports pro-
posal to contribute to Greeks, 139; on

the, 307

 

Constant (continued)
Villéle Ministry, 201 ; opposes Villéle,
zor; and Martignac’s ess reforms,

203

Constantine, Grand Duke, passed over in
favour of Nicholas for succession to
throne, 144; renounces succession and
refuses the crown, 144; receives homage
at Moscow, 145; rebellion in favour of,
146; favoured by Metternich, 148 ; and
the Poles, 286-7; death of, 288

Constantinople, murder of Sultan at, 724;
conference of Powers at, 727-8 ; British
a sent to, 743; outbreak of typhus

» 74!

Constitution of 1812 (Spain), 41; proclaimed
by Riego, 45; accepted by Ferdinand
TL, 46; proclaimed by military in-
surgents in Avellino, 61; accepted by
King of Naples, 61; proclaimed in
Messina, 62; proclaimed in Piedmont,

I

7

Constitutional Codex (Portugal), 186

Convict settlements in Australia, 855

Cook, Captain, discovers Australia, 855

Cookson, Mr., 798, 800

Conyngham, Lord, 259, 262

Copley, Sir ee 189 (see Lyndhurst, Lord)

Corbiére, 18,

Corcundas, the ** Hump. backed’), of Por-
tugal, 112, 114

Cordite amendment,
Brodrick, 839

Cordova, Luiz Fernandez de, 94-5

Corn Laws, Canning’s attempt to reform,
239; repeal, 350

Corporation Act, repeal of, 240

Corsini, Prince Neri, 55

“Cortes of Lamego,” 193

Corti, at the Berlin Congress, 748

Corvée, cessation of, in Egypt, 869

Cos, massacres in, 80

Council of Castile, 43

County enfranchisement, 817

Courbet, Admiral, 843

Courier, Paul Louis, 107

Courtney, Leonard, 762, 805

Courvoisier, 206, 209

Cowen, Joseph, 767

Cowley, Lord, 460

Cowper, Earl, 815, 826

Cowper-Temple, his amendment to the
Education Act, 1870, 704

Cradock, Colonel, 157

Credit Banks, establishment in Italy, 453

Crédit Foncier, foundation of, 368

Crédit Mobilier, foundation of, 368

Cremer, General, 684, 686

Crémieux, 667

Crete, Greek rising in, 79; atrocities by
Egyptian army in, 130; Tahir Pasha
appointed Governor, 156; Capodistrias
sends Baron Rheineck to, 180-1; the
London Conference and, 181; Prince
Leopold tries to secure, for Greece, 183 ;
Greece’s desire to annex, 273-4, 3023
question concerning, settled at the
Berlin Congress, 302-3

Cri du Peuple, 695

Crimean War, causes of, 369, 372-7; de-
claration of war, 378 ; concentration of
allied armies at Varna, 379; advance
on Sebastopol, 381; Alma, 382; caps

the, moved by Mr.

962
INDEX

Crimean war (continued)
ture of Balaklava, 383; bombardment
of Sebastopol, 384-5; battle of Bala-
klava, 386; before Inkerman, 388 ;
battle of Inkerman, 389 ; sufferings of
the Allies, 390-1 ; Florence Nightingale
and hospitals, 392 ; the ‘‘ Four Points,”
393; defeat of Russians at Eupatoria,
394; fighting round Sebastopol, 395;
Pelissier’s plans against Sebastopol, 400;
capture of the Mamelon, 401 ; death of
Raglan, 402; attack on the Tchernaia,
403-4; Russian defeat, 405; capture
of Kertch, 405 ; attack on the Malakov,
406-7; attack on the Great and Little
Redan, 407; Sebastopol evacuated,
408 ; capture of Eupatoria and Kinburn,
410; Russians capture Kars, 411; “‘ the
most useless war of modern times,”
411; Italy’s participation in the, 452,
4533 the Italian victory at the Tchernaia,
4543 Italian casualties at, 455

Crimes Act, the, 816; and A. J. Balfour, 829

Crispi, inaugurates the Triple Alliance be-
tween Germany, Austria, and _ Italy,

_ 1887, 833; Prime Minister of Italy, 871

Cristina, Queen, and marriage of Queen
Isabella, 281 ; appointed Regent, 290;
and Don Carlos, 291; and the rioters,
293; disputes with Espartero, 294;
abdication, 294; plots against Espar-
tero, 295

Croatians, struggle with Magyars, 334-5

Cromer, Lord, appointed British representa-
tive in Egypt, 374-5 ; on the temporary
occupation of Egypt, 806; advises the
abandonment of the Sudan, 807; and
Egyptian finance, 868; appointed
British Commissioner to the Public
Debt of Egypt, and Agent and Consul-
General at Cairo, 869; induces British
Government to advance money to

Egypt, 872
Cromwell, Oliver, his treaty with Portugal,
841

Cronje, 907, 910-1

Cross, Richard Assheton, 755, 757, 821

Cuba and the Spanish-American war, 881
et seq. Spain relinquishes sovereignty
of, 888

Cubiéres, General, 309

Cullen, Cardinal, 712

Cumberland, Duke of, 257, 259 .

Curzon, Lord, succeeds Lord Elgin as Viceroy
of India, 795; and Egyptian affairs,
871; appointed Viceroy of India, 939

Cusa, Alexander, 719

Custozza, battle of, 550 ;

Cyclades, the, Greek rising in, 79

Cyprus, massacre of Greeks in, 80; ceded
to Great Britain, 747; heavy tribute
paid by, 747

Czerny, General, 678

D

Da Costa, General, 194

Dahlmann’s Constitution, 323

Daimios, their position in feudal Japan, 845 ;
merged with the Kugé, 848; accept the
new conditions, 851

Dalberg, Duke of, 54, 107

Dalberg, E. L. von, 134

963

 

Dalhousie, Lord, 430, 434, 478-9

Dalny, Japanese at, 925

Daly, 765

Damas, Baron de, 120

Damas, General, 121

D’Angouléme, Duc, after the restoration of
the monarchy, 12; protests against
Lainé’s franchise scheme, 18; to lead
French army in Spain, 107; crosses the
Bidassoa and defeats Fabvier, 108 ;
captures Vittoria and Burgos, 108 ;
proclamation to Spain, 109; represses
excesses in Madrid, 110; issues Ordin-
ance of Andujar, 111 ; advice to Ferdi-
nand, 111 ; meets the King, 112 ; return
to France, 112; member of Royal
Council, 197 ; tour with the King, 204 ;
and the Revolution, 219

Danilo, Prince of Montenegro, 720-1

Dantzig, 531

Danube, the, crossed by Russian army
(1828-9), 167, 171; arrangement under
Peace of Adrianople concerning, 173;
passage of, by the Russians, 731-2

Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, 695

Dardanelles, the, Russian terms under
treaty of Adrianople, concerning, 174 ;
and Treaty of London (1841), 280;
English fleet ordered to, 742; recalled
to Besika Bay, 742

Darfur, General Hicks in, 807 ; acquired for
Egypt, 809

Darling, Sir Ralph, 856

D’Artois, Comte (‘‘ Monsieur”), character
of, 12 ; supports the Clericals, 15 ; over-
tures to English Tories, 17; protests
against Lainé’s franchise scheme, 18 ;
against Saint Cyr’s army reform scheme,
21; calls for the dismissal of Decazes,
30; as leader of the ‘‘ Ultras,” 91; leads
war party, 105; and Spanish Regency,
10g; accession to throne as Charles X.,
I2I

Davis, Jefferson, 479

Davitt, Michael, 705, 815

D’Azeglio, Massimo, 302, 449, 452, 468

Decabrists, rebellion of, 146; trial of, 147

Decazes, as minister and friend of Louis
XVIII., 14 ; Talleyrand’s hatred of, 17 ;
favours revision of Press Laws, 20 ; be-
comes Home Secretary, 26; “‘ the real
Prime Minister,’ 27; attacked by the
* Ultras,” and scheme for franchise
reform, 29 ; dismissal of, 30 ; excitement
in Paris at fall of, 64; Chateaubriand
takes place of, in London, 92 ~

De’ Concili, 61

De Freycinet, 799, 802

Delacroix, 136

De la Cruz, 118

Delagoa Bay given to Portugal, 758

Delarey, General, 915, 917-8

De lArtigue, 634

Delatot, 200

De Launay, 748

Delavigne, 136, 207

Delescluze, 665, 684, 691-2

Delhi, King of, 433-4, 442, 446 |

Delhi, the palace at, 433; mutiny at, 4343
Sir Henry Barnard at, 435; siege of,
440 ; assault on the Kashmir Gate, 441 ;
captured, 442; proclamation of Victoria
as Queen-Empress at, 760
INDEX

Della Genga, Cardinal, elected Pope, 123
(see Leo XII.)

Delyannis at the Berlin Congress, 750

Denmark, refuses to honour the 1852 London
Protocol, 516-9; the new constitution,
516-7 ; offends Europe, 516; death of
King Frederick VII., 517; Christian
IX. ascends the throne, 518; war with
Austria, 519; an intercepted dispatch,
520; the Schleswig campaign, 521 ;
opposes Great Britain’s suggestion of
a conference as to Schleswig, 522 ; com-
promise refused, 524; attitude of
Europe, 524; the defeat at Alsen, 525 ;
peace demanded by the army, 525;
Mourad resigns, 525; terms of peace,
526; loses Schleswig-Holstein, 526

Depretis, 870

Derby, Lord, Ministry of, 370; becomes
Prime Minister, 578; resigns the Pre-
miership, 584; his resignation, 743;
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 755;
opposes purchase of Suez Canal shares,

758

Derby, Reform riots at, 247

Dermbach, the battle of, 561

D’Eroles, Baron, 96

Dervish Pasha, 800

Dervishes, the, defeat General Hicks, 807;
war with Abyssinia, 868; the, their
defeat at Toski, 868 ; defeat of, at Agor-
dat and Kassala, 871; defeated by
Kitchener at Ferkeh, 872; their disper-
sion, 873; defeat of, at Abu Hamed,
873; defeat of, at the Atbara, 875;
their defeat at Omdurman, 877

Descamisados, the, in Spain, 90

de Serre, 14, 20, 29, 31

Dessolles, General, 26

Determinati, the, 59

de Tocqueville, 330, 344, 346

Deutsche Bund, Der, formation of, 33

De Wet, General, attempts to rescue Cronje,
gir; and the Boer flight from Poplar
Grove, 912; defeats the British at
Sanna’s Post, 913; surrender of British
to, at Reddersberg, 914; complains of
the British not keeping faith, 914; his
genius and energy, 915 ; adopts guerilla
tactics, 916; continues to elude cap-
ture, 917; one of the Boer delegates at
Klerksdorp, 917; appointed to consult
the commandos, 918 ; discusses terms
of peace at Pretoria, 918; signs the
treaty at, 918; his last word to his
countrymen, 918

Dewey, Admiral, 882-3, 887

De Witte, 934

d@Hilliers, Baraguay, 471

d@’Hoogvoorst, Baron, 230-1

Diakos, death of, 79

Diaz, Porfirio, 595

Didier, 16-7

Diebich, General, 144, 165, 170-3, 287-8

Dijon, 675, 684, 685

Dilke, Sir Charles, 709, 808, 818

Dillon, John, 830

d'Infantado, Duc, 43, 49, I09, III, 119

Disraeli, Benjamin, Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, 370; first Budget, 371; and
the Treaty of Paris, 421; opposes new
Reform Bill, 572; pesaiues Chancellor
of the Exchequer and leader of the

 

Disraeli (continued)
House of Commons, 578; gives in on
the Reform Bill, 580-1 ; becomes Prime
Minister, 584; dissolves Parliament,
587; announces his intention of resign-
ing, 699 ; his speech at Manchester, 711 ;
his opposition to the Irish University
Bill, 712; declines office, 712 ; his anti-
Russian policy, 717; his jealousy and
fear of Russia, 722; his indifference as
regards the Bulgarian atrocities, 725 ;
sends warning to Russia, 727; stimu-
lates feeling between Great Britain and
Russia, 743 ; and Cyprus, 747-8; at the
Berlin Congress, 748, 751, 752; his
speech on his return, 752-3; refuses
Bismarck’s offer of Egypt, 753; Bills
on home affairs passed under, 756-7 ;
Colonial policy under, 757-8 ; purchase
of Suez Canal shares, 758; introduces
Royal’ Titles Bill, 759; his contempt
for the British Constitution, 759; his
attitude towards the Queen, 760; her
growing confidence in, 760; his speech
on affairs in the East, 760; created Earl
of Beaconsfield, 760 ; his increasing
opposition to Russia, 761 ; effect on the
world of his speech, 761; annexation
of the Transvaal under, 761; and
Afghanistan, 762-3; and the “ scien-
tific frontier ” for India, 763-4; opposes
policy of small holdings, 765 ; denounces
Home Rule, 767; views with serenity
the end of his career, 768; is succeeded
as Premier by Gladstone, 792; as an
Imperialist, 805

Dittmar, 138

Dobrudsha, the, exchanged for Bessarabia,
742-3

Doctrinaires, the, 18, 20-1, 28, 201, 205

Dogger Bank incident, the, 930

Dolly’s Brae, battle of, 355

Dombrowski, 693

Donchery, 658, 660, 663

Dongola, attack on and capture of, 872;
occupied by Egyptian army, 874

Dongola expedition, the, 871

Donnadieu, General, 17

Doorn Kop, battle at, 914

Doria, of Genoa, 86

Dost Mohammed, 425, 429- 30, 786

Douay, General, 631, 633

Dramali, 86, 126-7

Dresden, Prussians in, 547, 552

Dreyfus, trial of, 904

Drouyn de l’Huys, 342-4, 396- 8

Drury-Lowe, General, 783, 804

Dual control in Egypt, 797, 799, 805

Dubba, battle of, 427

Dublin Fusiliers, the, at Ladysmith, 910

Dubourg, 215, 220-1

‘Ducrot, General, 634, 659-62, 679, 681

Dudley, 163, 165-6

Dufaure, 344, 693

Dufferin, Lord, becomes Viceroy of India,
694; sent’ to Egypt, 695; and the
Penjdeh incident, 820

Duffy, Charles Gavan, 862

Duguerry, 695

Dulcigno given to Turkey, 751

Duleep Sing, Maharaja, 427, 429

Dumas, Alexandre, 207

Duncannon, Lord, 244

964
INDEX

Dundee, Boers drive British from, 906

Dundonald, Lord, accepts command of
Greek fleet, 154 ; arrival in Greece, 154 ;
leads attack on Turks, 155; defeated
at Athens, 155; attacks Alexandria,
156; bombards Fort Vasiladhi at Meso-
longhi, 158

Dundonald, Lord, and the relief of Lady-
smith, 910

Dupanloup, Abbé, 342, 367, 678

Duperré, Admiral, 209

Dupin, 266

Dupont de PEure, 221, 266, 274, 312

Durham, Lord, and first Reform Bill, 244;
resigns and created Earl, 251; mission
to Canada, 260

Durnford, 774-6, 771

Dutch, the, at the Cape, 895 et seq.

Dutch East India Company, 895

Duvergier de Hauranne, 201

Dynamite outrages in London, 814

— Inp1a Company, the, 253, 425, 446
41

Eastern civilisation, 840

Ecclesiastical Commission, establishment of,

372

Ecclesiastical Courts, Italy, abolition of
privileges, 450

Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, 361

Education Act of 1891, the, 836

Education, attempts at modernisation in
China, 844

Education Bill, the, Mr. Balfour’s plan, 944

Education, Elementary, in England, 253;
reform of, under Gladstone, 7or; Act
of 1870, 703 ; School Boards established
by, 703; opposition to, 703; Cowper-
Temple amendment, 704; dislike of
Nonconformists to the Act, 755; fresh
powers given to the Charity Commis-
sioners, 756

Education, Free, advocated by Chamber-
lain, 814; established in England and

Wales, 836

Education, Technical, and county authori-
ties, 835

Edward, Prince of Wales (afterwards

Edward VII.), marriage of, 574 ; public
thanksgiving for his recovery, 709
Edward VII., his personal influence on the
Continent, 905; accession of, 942; pre-
paring for his Coronation, 943; the
Imperial situation at his accession, 943 ;
his sudden illness, 944; the Coronation
postponed, 944; the Coronation takes
place, 944; his efforts in cause of a
world peace, 947; visits to France and
meetings with European sovereigns,
952; illness and death of, 952

Eguia, 93, 109 hs

Egypt, under Mehmed Ali,'130; Beacons-
field refuses offer of, by Bismarck, 753 ;
contrast of British and Turkish rule in,
753; Stephen Cave’s report on affairs
in, 7594 Khedive dismisses Nubar
Pasha,”764; deposition of Ismail and
Shereef Pasha made hice 764 ;
strengthening of the dual control in,
764; political situation in 1879, 797;
mutiny of the army, 798 ; expeditionary

 

Egypt (continued)
force leaves England for, 803 ; proposed
treaty between Great Britain and, 1889,
8333 reoccupation of Eastern Sudan
by, 868; financial difficulties in, 869;
progress of, 870

“Egypt for the Egyptians,” 797

Eight Articles of London, the, 225

Ekowe, defence of, 778

Elandslaagte, battle of, 906

El Caney, capture of, 885

Eldon, Lord, 163, 189, 239, 448

Elementary schools, and free education, 836

Elio, 94, 96

Ellenborough, Lord, 107, 426

Elphinstone, Admiral, 895

Elphinstone, General William, 425

Emigration from Great Britain in 1832, 250

Emir Ali Pasha, 396

Ems, the fateful interview at, 622; con-
ference at, on the Balkan Peninsula,

723-4

England, Philhellenic agitation in, 135;

England, the Church of, the Pan-Anglican
Congress, 952

Enslin, battle of, 907

Ephories, Committees of the Hetairia, 75

“Epidaurus, Organic Law of,” 84-5

Eritrea, Italian colony founded, 871

Erskine, Lord, 135

Erzerum, Turks defeated at, 736

Eski-Sagra, 733, 736

Espafia, General, 190

Espartero, General, 292-5

Estatuto Real, the, Spanish Constitution of
1834, 292

Esterhazy, 414

Eta, Japanese oe 848

Eton, visit of Garibaldi to, 573

Eugene of Wurtemberg, Prince, 167

Eugéne, Prince, 19

Eugénie de Montijo, marriage with Napo-
leon III., 366

Eugénie, Empress, her furious eagerness for
war, 626; intervenes at the Council
of St. Cloud, 627 ; her jubilation at the
outbreak of the war, 631 ; receives tele-
gram from Emperor and summons the
Cabinet, 639; sends for Montauban,
640; receives sanguine telegram from
her son, 642 ; her dislike of Trochu, 649 ;
Paris under her Regency, 649 ; expresses
herself strongly against the return of
the Emperor, 649 ; Emperor sends her
reassuring dispatch after the battle of
Beaumont, 655; receives news of
Sedan, 665 ; opposed to anything likely
to cause civil war, 665; advised by
ministers to escape, 667 ; flight to Eng-
land, 667; Bazaine conducts secret
negotiations with, 673

Europe, influence of Napoleon’s fall in, 2;
spread of Liberalism in, 39; Greek
national appeal to, 85; indifference in,
to Russo-Turkish War of 1828-9, 166;
Polignac’s “‘ Great Plan” for the divi-
sion of, 175; and revolutions, 243;
spread of democracy in, 283; effect of
French Revolution of 1848 in, 318;
exhausted condition of, after 1849, 342;
Napoleon III. proposes a congress of
the Powers, 515, 518; the general
political position in 1866, 537; evinces

965
INDEX

Europe (continued)
a distrust of Bismarck, 541; another
European congress proposed by Napo-
leon ITI., 544; the general position in
the nineteenth century, 569; the effect
upon, of the Treaty of Vienna, 569;
the struggles for national unity and
independence, 569

European nations, their progress and pre-
dominance in modern times, 840

Evans, Dr., 631, 667

Exaltados, the, in Cortes of 1840, 47-9, 90,

94
Exhibition, International (1851), 360, 362
Eynard, 136, 138
Eyre, Governor, 576-7

F

FABVIER, 107-8, 134, 137, 153, 161

Faidherbe, 678, 680

Failly, General, 632, 655, 657

Falck, 227

Falkenstein, 562

Falloux, Act of, 345

Falloux, Minister of Education, 342-3

Farina, 468

Farragut, Admiral, 488

Fashoda incident, the 879

Pagel” Popular Songs of Modern Greece,”
13

Favre, Jules, and Republican rising, 347;
proposes the deposition of Napoleon
TII., 665; heads the members of the
Chamber to the Hétel de Ville, 666;
becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs,
667; signs preliminaries of peace, 688 ;
signs Peace of Frankfort, 697

Fawcett, Henry, 712, 762-6

Federal Assembly (see Bundestag)

Feliu, 89

Felner, Baron, 231

Fenian outrages, the 581-3

Fenianism, inception of, 582

Fenshwi Pass held by the Japanese, 926

Ferdinand I., Sicily under, 59 ; Naples under,
59-60 ; retires in favour of his son, 61;
swears fidelity to Constitution, 62;
plays traitor to Revolution, 62; opens
Neapolitan Parliament, 63; invited to
Troppau Congress, 66; “allowed” to
leave Naples for the Congress, 67; at
Laibach, 68; return from Laibach, 69 ;
claims Spanish throne, 109; death of,

122

Ferdinand II., of Naples, 326; action in
Sicily, 327; ‘King Bomba,” 327;
death of, 468

Ferdinand III., of Tuscany, 55

Ferdinand VII., of Spain, confinement at
Valencey and return to Spain, 42; re-
nounces the Constitution, 43 ; ‘‘ Sweet,
holy Ferdinand,” 43; ‘accepts the Con-
stitution of 1812, 46; retires to the
Escurial, 49; dismay in Paris at his
acceptance of Constitution, 64; and
French Ultras, 93 ; aims at absolutism ;
revolt against, 94; his meanness, 95 ;
declared absolute by Northern insur-
gents, 96; confined to his palace, 97;
promises to restore Cortes of Estates,
97; terrified by Apostolicals, 118 ; con-
tinues ‘ White Terror,” 118-9; refuses

 

Ferdinand VII. (continued)
to recognise Isabel Maria as Regent of
Portugal, 186-8 ; and Apostolical risings,
190; marriage with Maria Cristina,
Igo-t; revives Pragmatic Sanction,
I91, 290; death, 291

Ferdinand of Este, Archduke, 148

Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, Prince, 298

Ferdinand of the Netherlands, Prince, 183

Ferkeh, battle of, 872

Ferry Ministry (France), its colonial aspira-
tions, 843

Feudalism, abolition of, in Japan, 844; its
death-blow, 851

Feutrier, Bishop of Beauvais, 202-3

Fichte, ‘‘ Address to the German People”
forbidden, 39

Ficquelmont, General Count, 169-70

Fieschi, Joseph, 271

Fiévée, 18, 22

Fiji, 757, 860, 863

Finland, 904

Finlay, George, 358

Firozshah, battle of, 428

Fitzjames, Duke, 136

Fitzmaurice, Lord Edmond, 712

Fitzwilliam, Lord, 8

Fitzroy, Sir Charles, 861

Flagler, Major, 888

Fleury, and Louis Napoleon, 346

Floing, fighting at, 658-9, 661

Floquet, 684, 690

Florence, as capital of Italy, 528-9, 670

Florida, Mata, 96

Fock, General, 925

Foller, Karl, 37

“Fontana de Oro, 89

Foochow, 841, 843

Forey, General, 591

Formosa, 841, 843, 850, 853

Forster, William Edward, his Education
Act, 1870, 703-4; resigns Chief Secre-
taryship of Ireland, 815; attacks
Parnell, 816; correspondence with
Richard Pigott, 832

Fort Sumter, capture of, 479

Fortoul, Minister of Instruction, 368

Fossombroni, Count Vittorio, 55, 65, 123

Fouché, 13-4

Four Powers League, 23

Fourth Party, the, 821

Foy, General, 91, 198-9, 201

France, effect of Revolution of 1789 on, 13
effects of Napoleon’s Government on,
11; the Bourbon’s La Charte, 11; the
Powers take control after Waterloo, 12 ;
the ‘“‘ White Terror,’ 13; Le Chambre
Introuvable, 14; Royalist revival, 14;
Royalist reprisals, 15; increase of
clerical influence, 15 ; anti-Royalist ex-
cesses at Grenoble and Paris, 17 ; defeat
of the Ultras, 17; Richelieu’s Ministry
and policy, 18 ; Lainé’s franchise scheme,
18 ; Napoleonic revival, 19 ; famine and
riots (1817), 19; Saint-Cyr’s scheme of
Army Reform, 20-1; foreign creditors
settled, 22; condition at time of Con-
gress of Aix-la-Chapelle, 22 ; its evacua-
tion by foreign armies decided at Con-
gress of Aix-la-Chapelle, 24; financial
crisis (1818), 25 ; sixty new peers created
27 ; spread of Liberalism, 27 ; new Press
Law, 27; constitutional and electoral

966
INDEX

France (continued) France (continued)

reforms by Doctrinaires, 28 ; Decazes’
scheme for electoral reform, 29 ; Riche-
lieu’s Press and Suspect Laws, 30 ; elec-
toral reform carried (1820), 31 3 refuses
to agree to Troppau Protocol, 67 ; agrees
to intervention in Naples, 68 ; the Con-
gregationalists in, 91 ; influence of the
Pavillon Marsan, 92; severity of the

Ultras,” 93; and intervention in
Spain, 97; British offer of mediation
with Spain rejected, 105; Chateau-
briand’s warning, 105; treaty with
Spain, 112 ; defeat of the Liberals, 120 ;
fall of Chateaubriand, 120; death of
Louis XVIII. and accession of Charles
X., 120 ; Philhellenic movement in, 136 ;
and Russian scheme for settlement of
Turko-Greek question, 140 ; interest of,
in Eastern Question, 141; and Can-
ning’s proposals for Greece, 151 ; Treaty
of London with Great Britain and
Russia, 152; and the Battle of Nava-
tino, 161; fall of Villéle’s Ministry,
163; attitude to Russia in war of 1828-9,
166 ; joint Protocol with Great Britain
as to Greece, 170; supports Prussia’s
mediation between Russia and Turkey,
172; and Treaty of Adrianople, 174-5 ;
sends expedition to the Morea, 180;
attitude to Portuguese Constitution,
187; effect of Canning’s appeal for
Portugal in, 188 ; condition of at acces-
sion of Charles X., 197 ; compensation
for emigrés, 197 ; other reactionary laws,
198 ; Charles X. crowned at Rheims,
199; influence of the ‘‘ Congregation”
and Jesuits, 199; anti-Jesuit campaign,
199; primogeniture law rejected, 200;
proposed Press Law defeated, 200;
National Guard dismissed in Paris, 201 ;
Villéle’s Ministry, 201; the Mar-
tignac Ministry, 202; election and
Press Laws revised, 203; education
reforms, 203; Martignac’s scheme of
municipal reform, 204; Martignac dis-
missed, 205 ; Polignac’s Ministry, 205-6 ;
and Algiers, 207 ; seeks help of Egypt
in Algiers, 208; Chambers dissolved,
209; success of Algerian Expedition,
209; outbreak of Revolution, 212-3;
Paris in the hands of Revolutionaries,
217; “ No King in France,” 219 ; Louis
Philippe appointed Lieutenant-General,
220 ; abdication of Charles X., 223 ; the
mob marches to Rambouillet, 223;
Charles X. flees to England, 223 ; Louis
Philippe as King, 266-7; cholera in
Paris, 268 ; the Duchesse de Berri’s re-
bellion, 268 ; Guizot’s education scheme,
269; severe Press Laws, 270; attempts
to assassinate Louis Philippe, 270;
“The Laws of September,” 271;
tise of Thiers, 271; resignation of
Thiers, 272; Algiers annexed, 272; an
African Empire, 273; appearance of
Prince Louis Napoleon, 273; Napo-
leonic revival, 274 ; high-water mark of
Monarchy of July, 275; attack on the
monarchy, 276 ; and Mehemet Ali, 279 ;
the Ministry of Oct. 19, 280; death of
Duc d'Orléans, 280-1 ; the Spanish mar-
riage question, 281 ; entente cordiale with

967

 

Great Britain, 282; the Tahitian diffi-
culty, 282 ; war with Morocco, 282 ; de-
cline of Louis Philippe, 284; under the
Monarchy of July, 309; “ Reform”
banquets, 310; riots in Paris, 311;
abdication of Louis Philippe, 311;
Republic proclaimed, 312; universal
suffrage, 313 ; Social Democratic revolt,
314; Republican Constitution, 315;
Louis Napoleon elected President, 316 ;
assists Pius 1X., 329 ; condition, of, after
Revolution, 342; expedition to Rome,
343-4; clerical influence, 344; revision
of the franchise, 345; revision of Con-
stitution, 346 ; the coup_d’ état, 346 ; anti-
Republican measures, 347 ; Louis Napo-
leon’s Constitution, 348 ; Napoleon III.,
349; under Napoleon III., 364-5;
municipal government under Napoleon
III., 365; the Legislative Body and
Council of State, 367; progress under
the Empire, 368-9; and negotiations
before Crimean War, 375 ; French fleet
sent to Salamis, 376; outbreak of
Crimean War, 378; bombs thrown at
Napoleon III., 456; the proposed alli-
ance with Italy, 457; Napoleon III.’s
stipulations to Italy, 459; friendliness
towards Italy, 460; strong opinions
against Austrian War, 460; Austro-
Italian War, 461 et seq. ; secret overtures
to Prussia, 524; favours Prussia’s
claim to Schleswig-Holstein, 532; dis-
agrees with the Gastein agreement, 532 ;
Napoleon assures Bismarck of France’s
friendliness, 533; wants territory from
Germany, 538 ; alliance with Italy, 538 ;
the agreement with Austria, 544;
alienates Europe over the Prussian
situation, 560 ; wants some benefit from
the Prussian victory, 564 ; a commercial
treaty with Great Britain, 570 ; her posi-
tion in 1866, 589; hesitates on the
Mexican financial Treaty and La Sole-
dad, 590; her secret intentions in
Mexico, 590; her intrigue exposed, 591 ;
military operations in Mexico, 591; the
attack on Puebla, 591; is ordered by the
United States to evacuate Mexico, 592 ;
Maximilian’s unhappy reign in Mexico,
594; the betrayal and death of Maxi-
tmiilian, 596; the origin of the Third
Party, 597; Emile Ollivier leads, 597 ;
Napoleon III. grants Constitutional con-
cessions, 598 ; the Luxemburg question,
599; the Franco-Italian Convention is
signed, 602; the troops are withdrawn
from Rome, 602 ; intends to protect the
Pope, 602; the occupation of Rome
ceases, 603; decides to help the Pope,
604 ; the Papal expedition sets out, 605 ;
the French troops assist in crushing
Garibaldi, 606; the Republican party
reconstituted, 606; rise of Léon Gam-
betta, 606; French troops back in
Rome, 607; the beginnings of Social-
ism, 607; Prussia becomes a constant
anxiety, 607; the conscription system,
607; the reform of army undertaken,
608 ; Niel is appointed Minister of War,
608 ; reforming the army, the new plan,
608; the ‘‘ amendment of the forty-
INDEX

France (continued)

two,” 609; Freedom of the Press is
granted, 610; the Empire in decline,
610; Henri Rochefort’s outspoken at-
tack on Napoleon III., 610; the year
1870 opens, 612; Parliamentary Reform
in operation, 612; Ollivier forms his
Ministry, 612; the Victor Noir affair,
613 ; the plebiscite of 1870, 614 ; possi-
bility of Austria as an ally, 615; seeks
alliance with Italy, 615 ; a plan of cam-
paign against Prussia, 619; war is de-
clared against Prussia, 620; Franco-
Prussian War, 620 et seg. (see also
Franco-Prussian War) ; is eager for war,
622; insists on Prussia taking action,
623; excitement in Paris at Bismarck’s
dispatch, 626; Cabinet in favour of
peace, 626; war decided upon in the
Chamber, 627; sends ultimatum to
Berlin, 627; army compared with that
of Prussia, 627-9; its ill-equipment,
629-30 ; incompetence of the reservists,
632; strength of the army compared
with that of Prussia, 632; destruction
of army at Froeschweiler, 635 ; strength
of the army increased, 651 ; general call
to arms, 651 ; Crown diamonds, bullion,
etc., sent to Brest, 651; anarchy in the
Provinces, 651; effort to secure allies,
651; terms of surrender demanded by
Prussia, 663; fall of the Empire, 665
et seq.; ideas and tone of army no
match for German discipline, 672;
divided into four Governments, 673;
formation of camps of instruction in,
673; Gambetta’s efforts to rouse the
country, 673 ; the whole north one vast
battlefield, 674; feeling of desperation
in, 678 ; pitiable condition of the troops
and general loss of spirit in, 680; elec-
tion of National Assembly, 684 ; general
desire in, for peace 688; meeting of
Assembly at Bordeaux, 688; formal
deposition of the Emperor, 688; As-
sembly removes to Versailles, 689 ; the
Commune proclaims the Republic as
the legal government, 690; principles
of the Commune spread to the provinces,
693; standing army in, to be replaced
by a National Guard, 694; separation
of Church and State decreed by the
Commune, 695; end of the Commune,
696; the moderate Republicans come
into power, 696; provisional constitu-
tion of the Republic, 697; Peace of
Frankfort signed, 697 ; payment of war
indemnity, 697 ; decision as to frontier,
697; gives adhesion to Count An-
drassy’s note, 732; her Egyptian policy,
799; feeling towards Great Britain on
Egyptian affairs, 802 ; and the neutrali-
sation of the Suez Canal, 833 ; relations
with Italy and with Russia, 1887, 833;
in West Africa, 834; war with China,
1882-5, 843; convention with Japan,
1858, 847 ; and the New Hebrides, 863 ;
and Egypt, 868; and the Fashoda
incident, 879; obtains cession of
Kwang-chow, 890; the Anglo-French
agreement of 1904, 947

Franchise reform (continued)

(1816), 18 ; Doctrinaires’ scheme (1819),
28; Decazes’ scheme (1820), 293
Richelieu’s Bill carried, 31; Polignac’s
Ordinance, 210; foundation of the new
Revolution, 211; universal suffrage,
313; Baroche’s scheme, 1850, 345; in
Great Britain, under first Reform
Bill, 244; Trevelyan’s motion for ex-
tension of, 762 ; question of, in England,
768 ; formation of the Eighty Club, 768

Francis, Don, of Assisi, 283
Francis, Emperor, Pepe’s

lot to arrest, 60;
at Troppau, 65 ; on Greek insurrection,
81 ; visit to Charles Felix, 124 ; meeting
with the Tsar concerning Greece, 139 ;
advises Tsar against war with Turkey,
165 ; writes to the Tsar, 169 ; and treaty
of Adrianople, 175; and Portuguese
constitution, 186

Francis Joseph, Emperor, accession of, 337 ;

and Crimean war, 397 ; visits Lombardy
and Venetia, 456; at Solferino, 469;
meets Napoleon III. at Villafranca,
472; refuses to sue for peace, 556;
visits Paris, 601

Francis I. of Naples, 122

Francis IV., Duke of Modena, 54

Francis V., Duke of Modena, 331
Franco-Prussian war, cause of the, 620;

declaration of war by France, 627;
position of the contending armies in
July, 1870, 631; action at Saarbriick,
632; forces engaged in, 632; Prussia’s
strategic plans, 633; battle of Weissen-
berg, 633-4; battle of Froeschweiler,
634-5; capture of Worth, 635; French
stationed in Valley of Forbach, 636;
struggle round Stieringin, and retreat
of French, 636-7; retirement of whole
French army behind the Meuse, 640;
Prussians round Metz, 640; retreat of
French from, 641; battle of Borny or
Columbey, 641; Vionville and Flagny
carried by the Prussians, 643 ; artillery
duel at Rezonville, 644; battle of
Gravelotte or St. Privat, 647-8; Metz
invested, 648; MacMahon’s efforts to
telieve Bazaine, 652 et seg.; battle of
Beaumont, 655 ; battle of Sedan,.659-62;
terms of surrender demanded by Prussia,
663; miserable condition of French
army, 663-4; German advance on Paris,
668 ; investment of Paris, 669; fall of
Toul and Strassburg, 670; guerilla
warfare in the Vosges, 670 ; sorties from
Paris, 673 ; capitulation of Metz, 674;
course of the war materially affected by
Bazaine’s action, 674; disposition of
German forces during siege of Paris, 674 ;
fall of Soissons, Verdun, Thionville,
Pfalzburg, Montmédy, Méziéres, 674 ; of
Belfort and Dijon, 675 ; Athis burnt by
the Germans, 675; engagement at
Artenay, 675; capture of Chateaudun
by Germans, 676; French victory at
Coulmiers, 676°; defeat of French at
Dréux, Chateau Neuf, Bigny and St.
Jean, 676 ; battle of Beaune-la-Rolande,
677; of Loigny, 677; Army of the
Loire driven south, 677; hope of its

Franchise Bill, the (1884), 817

relief of Paris abandoned, 677 ; capture
Franchise reform, in France, Lainé’s scheme

of Orleans by the Germans, 677 ; second

 

968
INDEX

Franco-Prussian war (continued)
Army of the Loire under Chanzy driven
back, 678 ; Bourbaki driven south, 678 ;
Paris cut off from relief, 678 ; battle of
Le Mans, 679; fighting round Paris,
679; concentration of German forces
hampered, 680; advance on Paris of
relieving force still possible, 680; Ger-
mans become masters of the Valley of
the Somme, 680; Amiens taken, 680;
fall of Rouen, 680; of Dieppe, 680;
sortie at Le Bourget repulsed, 680;
battle of Hallue, 680 ; indecisive action
at Bapaume, 680; capture of Roncy
and Péronne, 680; fall of Longwy,
680; bombardment of Paris, 681 ; last
sortie from, repulsed, 681 ; convention
signed for suspension of hostilities, 681 ;
surrender of Paris, 683-4; French com-
pelled to retreat from Nuits, 684;
Bourbaki’s advance towards Belfort,
685; defeat of French at Villersexel,
685; Bourbaki defeated at Heéricourt,
685; German victory at St. Quentin,
685 ; repeated defeats of Bourbaki, 686 ;
battle of Frasne, 686 ; the Army of the
Loire rendered useless, 686; capitula-
tion of Belfort, 686; end of the war,
686; number of killed and wounded
on both sides, 687; of prisoners, 687 ;
preliminaries of peace signed, 688 ;
Peace of Frankfort signed, 697

Frankfort, meeting of Bundestag at, 33 ; the
confederation scheme discussed at, 515 ;
the Diet rebuffs Bismarck, 541 ; Prince
Alexander marches to defend, 562;
evacuation of, 562

Fransecky, 647-8, 685

Frasne, battle of, 686

Fratellt, the, secret society, severe oaths of,

8

5
Frayssinous, the Abbé, 93, 121, 202
Frederick Charles, Prince, 525, 554, 563,
631-2, 644, 648-9, 674, 678-9 _
Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia, 631-3,
635, 655, 660, 668-9, 689
Frederick Francis, Grand Duke, 676-9
Frederick, Prince of the Netherlands, 230-1
Frederick VII. of Denmark, 325; death of,

17

Fredorick William IV. of Prussia, reviews
army of occupation at Sedan and visits
Paris, 24; favours reactionaries, 36;
meets Metternich after assassination
of Kotzebue, 38; at Troppau, 65; at
Verona, 99; subscribes to Philhellenic
fund, 138; neutrality in Russo-Turkish
war, 1848, 167 ; meeting with Tsar, 171 ;
and revolutionary spirit, 321-2; grants
amnesty, 322; and the Tsar, 414;
death of 511

Fredericksburg, the Federal defeat at, 495

Free Trade, extension of, 798, 802 ; Canada
and, 802; Cavour’s endeavours for, in
Italy, 451, 453; the movement favour-
ing, 571 ; Australia and, 862; the Tariff
Reform movement, 945 :

Freemasons, Portuguese officials forbidden
to join the, 114; Dom Miguel and the
“devilish sect’? of, 116; rebellion in
Aragon against influence of, 118 ; per-
secution in Spain of, 119 ; Queen Car-
lota’s proclamation against, 195

2R*

 

Freire de Andrade, Lieut.-General, 50-1

French Congo, 834

French, General Sir John, 905, 910

French Revolution (1789), immediate effects
of, 1; spread of principles of, to Spain,
41; cause of, 243

Frere, Sir Bartle, 764, 772-3

Freycinet (see de Freycinet)

Frimont, General, 68

Froeschweiler, battle of, 734-5

Frossard, General, 632, 636-8, 643, 645-6

Froude, 758

Frullani, Leonardo, 55

Fuad Pasha, 375, 379, 718

Fushimi, defeat of the Shogun at, 847

G

GAETANO DE CASTIGLIA, 71

Gagern, Heinrich von, 324

Galitzin, 145

Galliano, 111

Gallo, Duke of, 67-9

Gamba, Count, 136

Gambetta, Léon, rise of, 606; defends
Republicanism, 611 ; makes known his
views, 613; Minister of the Interior,
667; leaves Paris in a balloon, 673;
joins provisional government at, 673 ;
urges the national duty of people to
annihilate the enemy, 675; his hopes
in the Army of the Loire, 676 ; his nar-
tow escape of being made prisoner, 678 ;
his efforts at Lille and Bordeaux to rouse
the spirits of the soldiers, 680; elected
to the National Assembly, 684; his
Egyptian policy, 799

Garcia, Calixto, 884

Garde Mobile, the, its organisation, 628

Gardes Nationaux Fédéres (see National
Guards)

Garibaldi, Giuseppe, arrival at Rome, 329,
332; retires to America, 330; dis-
patched to stir up rebellion, 458 ; made
a general, 464 ; repulses General Urban,
465; operates against the Austrians,
548; in the Tyrol, 566; raid on Rome,
567 ; defeat at Mentana, 567 ; rides into
Turin beside Victor Emmanuel II., 570 ;
in England, 573; and Papal authority,
603; raid on Viterbo, 603 ; attends the
Congress of Peace at Geneva, 603;
arrest and imprisonment, 603 ; escapes
from Caprera, 604; march on Rome,
605; defeated at Mentana, 606 ; assists
French, 674; receives command of the
free corps on the Vosges, 675; forced
to retreat from Nuits, 684; fights with
Kettler, 685

Garibaldi, Menotti, 604

Garibaldi, Ricciotti, 674-5

Garrison, William Lloyd, 475

Gastein, the convention of, 532, 536; the
treaty of, 544

Gatacre, General, 874, 908

Gendebien, Alexandre, 229-31

General Election, in Great Britain, 1818, 5

Genestrello, occupation by Austrians, 463

Geneva, the Congress of Peace, 603; Gari-
baldi at, 603

Genoa, 53, 72, 136, 449, 456, 603 :

Gentz, as Secretary of Congress of Aix-la-

969
INDEX

Gentz (continued)
Chapelle, 24; warns parents against
Jena University, 36; and the Carlsbad
Conference, 38; “Principles of a
Fundamental Law for the Government
of the Two Sicilies,” 68; at Congress
of Verona, 101, 102; on Stratford
Canning, 141; on Navarino, 160; on
Russian War, 169; and Treaty of
Adrianople, 176; on Canning’s death,
190; on Jesuits, 199

George III., death of, 9

George IV. meets Metternich at Hanover,
81 ; invites Metternich to England, 141 ;
and Capodistrias, 178; and Prince
Leopold as candidate for Greek throne,
183; character of, 235; and Queen
Caroline, 235; death of, 243

George V., accession of, 952

George, Lloyd, 951

George, Prince, of Denmark, 721

Gérard, General, 216-7, 221, 266

Gerlach, Leopold von, 165

Gerlache, de, 228

German East Africa Company, 834

Germanic Confederation, formation of, 33-4,

3

Germany, effect of Revolution and Napo-
leonic wars in, 32; results of Congress
of Vienna on, 34; disaffection among
Liberals, 35; students’ associations in,
36; celebration of 300th anniversary of
Reformation, 36 ; consternation at Carls-
bad Revolutions, 38; Republicanism
appears in, 39; Philhellenism in, 1343
condition of, in 1848, 318; revolu-
tionary outbreaks in, 319; National
Parliament at Frankfort, 323; consti-
tution of Vosparlament, 324 ; the Schles-
wig-Holstein question, 325; revolt in
Poland, 325; general history, 1858-71,
509, etc. (and see Prussia); Austria’s
federation proposals rejected by the
Southern States, 515; foreshadowings
of Federation, 515 ; first steps to unl-
fication, 528; Bismarck’s plans for a
Union of States, 540; a general arm-
ing against Austria, 542; France’s
opposition to a Union of States, 543;
Napoleon III. and German unity, 544;
the Empire within practical politics,
561; the North German League
founded, 565; the formation of a South
German League, 566; Prussia at work
making an Empire, 616 ; general desire
to make it a united kingdom, 681-2;
States of the South admitted into the
North German League, 682; William I.
as Emperor, 683; Peace of Frankfort
signed, 697; first German Reichstag
held in Berlin, 697 ; league with Austria
and Russia, 717 ; and Count Andrassy’s
note, 722; presents note to the Porte,
724; feeling towards Great Britain on
Egyptian affairs, 802; Triple Alliance
with Austria and Italy, 1887, 833; and
New Guinea, 860; murder of mission-
aries in China, 889; and the second
Boer War, 905 ; Anglophobia in, 950

Gettysburg, battle of, 497

Giampietri, murder of, 69

Gibson, Milner, 350

Gifford, Lord, 784

 

Gioberti, Vincenzo, 301, 304

Girardin, Emile de, 284, 309, 344

Gitschin, Austrians defeated at, 554; Prus-
sian headquarters at, 555

Giulay, General, 465

Gladstone, Herbert, 768

Gladstone, W. E., as Vice-President of
Board of Trade and Navigation. Acts,
354 3 attacks Disraeli’s first budget, 371 ;
his first budget, 372; resigns during
Crimean War, 394; his influence on
European policy, 570; again becomes
Chancellor of Exchequer, 570; averts a
war with France, 571 ; his great budget
speech of 1860, 571; expresses confi-
dence in Italy, 572; defeated at Oxford,
574; is returned for South Lancashire,
574; as leader of House of Commons,
577; his Ministry resigns, 578; his
criticism of the Fenian outrages, 583;
his efforts to pacify Ireland, 585; be-
comes Prime Minister, 587 ; his Ministry,
1868-74, 699 et seg. ; memorable session
of 1870, 706 ; tries to draw the Queen
from her retirement, 709 ; her dislike of
him, 709, 711 ; Ballot Act passed, 711;
his Irish University Scheme, 711-2; as
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 713; his
budget, 713; decides for dissolution,
713; his Bulgarian pamphlet, 725-6;
and Russo-Turkish War, 733; discon-
tent of his party at his dissolution of
Parliament, 756; opposes Church
Patronage Bill for Scotland, 756; his
retirement, 757; opposes the purchase
of the Suez Canal shares, 758; his.
attitude to the Queen compared with
that of Beaconsfield, 760; denounces
the Afghan War, 763; his Midlothian
campaign, 765-6; on affairs in Ireland,
767-8; his second Midlothian cam-
paign, 768 ; elected for Midlothian, 768 ;
is sent for by Queen and reproved by
her, 769; succeeds Beaconsfield as
Premier, 792; and Egypt, 800 et seq. ;
advises abandonment of the Sudan,
807; and Charles Bradlaugh, 813 ; and
the Phoenix Park murders, 815; and
Transvaal independence, 816; and the
Reform Bill of 1884, 817; defeat of his
Government (1885),818; andthe Penjdeh
incident, 820; and the iministerial crisis
of 1885, 821 ; conversion to Home Rule,
822; supports Jesse Collings’ small
holdings policy, 823; forms a Govern-
ment in 1886, 823; introduces Home
Rule Bill, 824; his opinion of Chamber-
lain, 826 ; defeat of his Ministry of
1886, 826; and the Plan of Campaign,
827; opposes the Coercion Bill, 828 ;
does not attend the Round Table Con:
ference of 1886, 828; declines to fore-
cast Home Rule Bill in 1892, 836; be-
comes Premier for the fourth time, 836 ;
introduces Home Rule Bill of 1893, 837 ;
his last Cabinet Council, 837; his
farewell speech and resignation, 838 ;
weakness with regard to Egypt, 868 ;
death of, 937 ; Lord Salisbury’s tribute,

937; the State funeral, 937

Gienece, ‘battle of, 905

Goderich, Lord (Earl of Ripon), 161, 163,
239-40, 251

970
INDEX

Goethe, farewell to Byron of, 136

Gold, discovery of, in California, 476; dis-
covery of, in Australia, 859 ; yearly out-
put, 860; discovery of, in the Transvaal,

897

Gordon, General, appointed Governor of the
Equatorial Provinces of Central Africa,
808; appointed to carry out evacua-
tion of Sudan, 808; reaches Khartum,
809; surrounded at Khartum, 810;
telief force sent out, 810; death of,
812; three of his steamers recaptured
after Omdurman, 878; memorial ser-
vice at his grave, 879

Gordon, General Thomas, 82, 154-5

Gordon, George William, execution of, 576

Gordon, Sir Robert, 171-3

Gordon University, Khartum, 880

Gérgei, Arthur von, 784-5, 788

Gorst, Sir John, 821

Gortshakov, Prince, 394, 397; 399, 403-5, 724,
746, 748, 751

Goschen, George J. (afterwards Viscount
Goschen), 699, 713, 762, 823, 826-7, 835

Goshen, Republic of (South Africa), 898

Gough, General, at Sobraon, 428

Gourko, General, 732-3, 737-8, 740

Government, principles of, 243

Graaf Reinet declares independence, 895

Graham, Sir James, 244, 379

Gramont, 619, 626-7, 640, 652, 668

Grant, General, at Cairo, U.S.A., 486; early
successes, 486 ; at Corinth, 487; attack
on Vicksburg, 497; defeats the Con-
federates at Raymond and Jackson,
498; receives full command of the
Federals, 502; defeats Lee at Spot-
sylvania, 503

Granville, Lord, Foreign Secretary (1851),
350; acts as mediator between France
and Prussia, 626; his answer to the
Italian Ambassador, 652; head of the
Colonial Office, 699; and Egypt, 800;
and the evacuation of the Sudan, 808 ;
and the neutralisation of the Suez Canal,
805 ; becomes Secretary for the Colonies,
824; weakness with regard to Egypt,

868

Gravelotte, 642, 647-8

Great Britain, influence on European politics
after Napoleon, 2; position after Peace
of Vienna of, 3; Luddite riots, 3; rise
of Radicalism in, 4; the Chartists’
Charter, 4; the ‘ Blanketeers’ ” march,
4; increasing prosperity of (1817), 53
rising prosperity in (1818), 6; right of
public meeting in, limited by “Six
Acts,” 8-9; advocates suppression of
slave trade at Aix-la-Chapelle, 25;
against intervention in Spain, 64; not
opposed to Austrian intervention in
Italy, 65; refuses to be bound by deci-
sions of Congress of Troppau, 65; pro-
tests against Troppau otocol, 67;
stands aloof at Laibach, 68; intervenes
for Greece, 87; and intervention in
Spain, 97 ; breach with Eastern Powers
at Verona, 100; separation from the
Alliance, 101; recognises Spanish
colonies in America as belligerents, 103 ;
attempts to mediate between France and
Spain, 106; assurance of neutrality,
107-8; and revolted Spanish colonies,

971

 

Great Britain (continued)
120; and the St. Petersburg Con-
ferences, 140-1; understanding with
Russia, 141-2, 148; Emperor Nicholas
and, 148; Turkey declines mediation
of, 149; protocol with Russia, 149;
Treaty of London with France and
Russia, 152; King’s Speech and battle
of Navarino, 163; curious position of,
in Russo-Turkish war of 1828, 168;
joint protocol with France and Russia
as to Greece, 170; strained relations
with Russia, 172 ; declines to guarantee
succession of Dom Pedro in Portugal,
185 ; Portugal’s appeal for help, 188-9 ;
supports Dom Miguel as Regent, 192 ;
deal with Holland for Dutch Colonies,
225; changes in Ministry (1822), 236;
Reciprocity of Duties Act, 237 ; reform
of duties, 238; financial crisis of 1825,
238 ; question of Catholic emancipation,
239; Duke of Wellington’s Ministry,
240; Catholic Relief Act passed, 242;
O’Connell inaugurates Home Rule agita-
tion, 242; Wellington resigns, 243;
position with regard to Revolution, 243 ;
first Reform Bill, 244 ; majority of one
for second reading of Reform Bill, 245 ;
Reform Bill defeated, 246; Lord J.
Russell’s second Reform Bill passed by
Commons, 246; Reform Bill defeated
by Lords, 247; indignation in country,
247 ; third Reform Bill introduced, 247 ;
obstruction in Lords, 248 ; Reform Bill
passed, 248 ; increase of population and
wealth, 249; industrial changes, 249;
social and political improvements, 250 ;
poverty in, 250 ; General Election (1832),
250; condition of Ireland, 250-1 ; anti-
slavery movement, 251-2; child-labour
question, 252; education and Poor Law
administration, 253 ; Poor Law Reform,
254; end of Reform Ministry, 255;
Melbourne’s Ministry, 255; Municipal
Reform, 256-7; death of William IV.
and accession of Victoria, 258; inter-
vention in Syria, 264; Melbourne’s
Ministry defeated, 264; and Turkey,
276; and Spanish marriages, 281;
French entente cordiale, 282; difference
with France over Tahiti, 282; recog-
nises French position in Algiers, 283 ;
treaty with Spain and Portugal, 292;
action in Portugal, 296, 299; and
Pius IX., 304 ; and Switzerland, 306-7 ;
Lord John Russell’s Ministry (1846),
350; distress in Ireland, 350-1; the
Chartist giant petition, 352; fears of
French invasion, 353; Palmerston as
Foreign Secretary, 355-8; Roman
Catholic hierarchy, 361; Ecclesiastical
Titles Bill, 361 ; window tax, 361; con-
dition of, before Crimean War, 370;
death of Wellington, 371; Disraeli’s
first budget, 371; Gladstone’s first
budget, 372; Lord Stratford de Red-
cliffe and Crimean War, 376-7; out-
break of Crimean War, 378; popular
feeling as to war, 379; mismanagement
in Crimea condemned, 392 ; negotiations
after the Crimean War, 413-4 ; demands
at the Congress of Paris, 416 ; adminis-
tration of India taken over, 446-7 ; en-
INDEX

Great Britain (continued)

deavours to maintain Austro-Italian
peace, 459; the Trent affair, 484; atti-
tude in the American Civil War, 484;
as Bismarck’s pawn in the Danish
trouble, 519 ; proposes a conference on
the Danish situation, 522; is hostile to
the Gastein agreement, 533; com-
mercial treaty with France, 570; and
France’s annexation of Savoy and Nice,
570; war with France averted, 571;
the trouble over the Paper Tax repeal,
571; a new Reform Bill, 571-2; and
Garibaldi, 573; indignation at the
Prussian attitude regarding Augusten-
burg, 573; on the verge of war, 573;
effect of Civil War of America, 574;
the Alabama trouble, 574; marriage of
the Prince of Wales and Princess
Alexandra, 574 ; Lord Russell in power,
576; the rebellion in Jamaica, 576; re-
signation of Gladstone’s Ministry, 578 ;
Lord Derby’s Ministry, 578; the Hyde
Park Reform meetings, 578; the Tory
Reform Bill, 579-80; the Household
Suffrage scheme, 580; votes for women
in 1867, 581; anew Reform Bill by the
Tories, 581 ; the Fenian outrages, 581-2 ;
the Federation of Canada, 583; Lord
Derby resigns, 584; the Government
purchase the telegraphs, 584; the
Abyssinian War, 584; the Irish
Church disestablished, 585; the Dis-
raeli Ministry falls, 587; Gladstone in
power, 587; and Mexico, 589-90; sym-
pathies with the Germans, 652; con-
cludes alliance with Afghanistan, 7163

anti-Russian policy of, 717; cedes the
Ionian Islands, 721 ; stands aloof from
Turkish affairs, 722; gives adhesion to
Count Andrassy’s note, 723; dismay
in, at Russia’s success, 725 ; sends fleet
to Besika Bay, 725; Bulgarian atro-
cities, 725-6 ; opposition in, to Russia’s
policy, 727; protocol signed at the
Foreign Office, 728; urged by Russia
to put pressure on the Porte, 732 ; Glad-
stone’s speech on the position, 733;
Turkey’s appeal to, 741; division in
the Cabinet, 742; the Treaty of San
areas 743; fleet sent to Constanti-
nople, 743; Preparations for war in,
743; birth of Jingoism in, 743; Lord
Salisbury’s manifesto, 744; Indian
troops shipped from Bombay, 746 ; dis-
pute with Russia settled by agreement,
747; Cyprus ceded to, by the Porte,
747; defensive alliance with Turkey,
748; differences with Russia at the
Berlin Congress, 751; Bismarck’s offer
of Egypt to, 753; Conservatives in
power, 755 et seq. ; Colonial policy under
Beaconsfield, 757-8 annexation of
Transvaal, 76x the ipuneniee question,
762; rupture with Afghanistan, 762-3 ;
opinions in, concerning the ‘“ scientific
frontier” for India, 763; war with
Afghanistan, 763-4; depressed state of
trade in, 764; beginning of Zulu War,
764; action in Egypt, 764; agri-
cultural depression in, 765 ; Tory policy
of, attacked by Gladstone, 766-7 ;
danger to, of Home Rule, 767; Liberals

972

 

Great Britain (continued)

return to power, 768 ; policy in Egypt,
797 «+e seq.; intercourse with China,
841; convention with Japan, 1858,
847; withdraws troops from the
Colonies, 862; assists Italy in North
Africa, 871; the Fashoda incident, 879 ;
and final settlement of the Sudan, 880 ;
and affairs in the Philippines, 887;
secures lease of Wei-hai-wei, 890; and
the Cape of Good Hope, 895 ¢¢ seq. ;
rejects offers of mediation made by the
Netherlands, 917; end of second Boer
War, 918; ratifies the constitution for
South Africa, 919; unity of the Empire
consolidated by the Colonial Conference,
919; signs defensive treaty with Japan,
g20; the Dogger Bank incident, 930;
Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, 937 ;
death of Mr. Gladstone, 937; Tenens
tion of Sir William Harcourt, 938 ;
Henry Campbell-Bannerman as leader
of the Liberal party, 938 ; Lord Curzon
appointed Viceroy of India, 939; death
of Queen Victoria, 940; accession of
Edward VII., 942; the situation at the
beginning of Edward’s reign, 943 ; resig-
nation of Lord Salisbury, 944; Mr.
Balfour becomes Prime Minister, 944;
Balfour’s Education Bill, 944-5; death
of Lord Salisbury, 945; Tariff Reform
comes to the front, 945; the peace
agreements arranged Dy Edward VII.,
947; the Cabinet split over Tariff
Reform, 947; a remarkable Liberal
majority, 948 ; achievements of amelio-
rative legislation, 948; the Anglo-
Russian agreement of 1907, 949; the
formation of the Territorial force, 949 ;
the mission to Tibet, 950

Greece, founding of Hetairia t6n philic6n,

75; Ypsilanti appointed leader of re-
bellion, 75; Ypsilanti’s proclamation,
76; defeat of Ypsilanti, 77; rising in
the Morea, 77-8 ; revolt in the islands,
78; success of fleet of, 79; Demetrius
Ypsilanti and, 82; Mavrocordatos and
the rebellion, 83; Constitutions of
Western and Eastern Hellas, 84; inde-
pendence declared, 84; ‘“‘ Organic Law
of Epidaurus,” 84; appeal to Europe,
85; Turkish massacres in, 85; flight
of Government to Argos, 86; Greeks
defeated at Peta, 86-7; Russia and
Great Britain intervene for, 87; emis-
saries sent to Verona, 102; detained at
Ancona and refused passage to Verona,
103; condition of, in 1822, 126;
National Assembly meets at Astros, 127;
Civil War in, 128; financial difficulties
of national Government, 129; Turko-
Egyptian campaign against, 130-1; de-
frauded in attempt to form fleet, 132;
growth of European sympathy for, 134
et seq. ; provisional Government appeals
to Britain, 137; Turkish campaign of,
1626, 1373 Russian plan for pacification
of, 140; ‘discussed at St. Petersburg
Conferences, 140-1 ; seeks protection of
Great Britain, 142 ; Stratford Canning’s
mediation for, declined by Turkey, 149 ;
Russo- British proposals for, 149 ; serious
condition after, fall of Mesolonghi of,
INDEX

Greece (continued)
153; appointment of Committee of
Government, 153; Athens captured by
Turks, 153; assisted by Philhellenes,
154 ; dissensions in National Party, 154 ;
Capodistrias elected President, 155;
capture of the Acropolis, 155 ; constitu-
tion issued by Assembly at Troezen, 156;
intervention by three Powers on behalf
of, 156; Capodistrias arrives, 178 ; new
Government formed, 179 ; French army
in, 180; Capodistrias assumes dictator-
ship, 181; financial difficulties, 181;
frontiers determined by ambassadors of
Powers at Paris, 182; frontiers fixed
by London Protocol, 182; question of
hereditary sovereign for, 183 ; Leopold
declines kingship, 184 ; Otto of Bavaria
elected King, 184; the Congress of
Paris and, 418; conspiracy in, under
Admiral Canaris, 721; resignation of
King Otto, 721; Prince George of Den-
mark chosen as King, 721; Ionian
Islands ceded to, by Great Britain, 721 ;
her representatives at the Berlin Con-
gress, 750

Greenwood, Frederick, 758

Grégoire, 27-9

Gregoire, Ernest, 231

Gregory, Bishop, 131

Gregory XVI., Pope, death of, 303

Grenoble, 16-7

Grévy, Jules, 688

Grey, Earl, 861

Grey, Lord, 243, 247-8, 254

Grey, Sir George, 858

Grieg, Admiral, 82, 168

Grote, George, 306

Grousset, Paschal, 613, 692-3

Grudzinska, Countess, 144

Guerazzi, and Tuscan Republic, 330

Guilleminot, General, 141, 162, 167, 171-3,

182

“Guillotine”? method of Parliamentary
procedure, 828

Guizot, in Richelieu’s Ministry, 18; helps
to frame new Press Law, 27; expelled
from Council of State, 31 ; member of,
“© Adie-tot, le ciel Paidera’’ Society, 201,
209; and Revolution of July, 216;
appointed Minister of Education, 221 ;
on Robert Peel, 256; and Monarchy of
July, 266; as successor to Casimir
Périer, 269; education scheme, 269;
leader of Right Centre, 275; attacks
the Monarchy, 276; Minister of Edu-
cation, 277; ambassador to London,
277; Foreign Secretary, 279 ; position
in 1841, 280-1 ; and Spanish marriages,
281; and Tahitian difficulty, 282;
struggle with Thiers, 283 ; and Switzer-
land, 306; influence on Louis Philippe,
309; unpopularity of, 310; dismissal
of, 311

Gujerat, battle of, 429

Gundamuk, Treaty of, 789

Guras, 153

Gwalior, 427, 435

Haseas Corpus Act, suspension of, in 1817,
43 restored 1818, 5

 

Hai Yang, battle of, 853

Hakodate, 846-7

Halleck, General, 491

Hallue, battle of, 680

ue Bo 177

amilton, Commodore, 131, 137, 154, I

Hamilton, General Sir Ian, meee ae

Hammelburg, battle of, 562

Hannen, Sir James, 831

Hanover, number of votes in the Bundestag,
333, occupied by the Prussians, 547;
capitulation of, 548

Harcourt, Sir William, becomes Chancellor
of the Exchequer, 823; and Round
Table Conference of Liberals, 1886, 828 ;
and the death duties, 838 ; resigns the
Liberal leadership, 938

Hardenberg, 24, 38, 99

Hardinge, Lord, 428

Hardy, Gathorne, 744, 755

Harrison, Colonel, 781

Harrison, Frederic, 708

Harrowby, Lord, 239, 248

Hartington, Marquis of (afterwards Duke of
Devonshire), succeeds Gladstone as
leader of the Liberal Party, 757; sup-
ports motion for extension of the
franchise, 762 ; opposition to the Afghan
War, 764; supports policy of small
holdings, 765; denounces Home Rule,
767; the Queen sends for, to form a
Ministry, 769; Secretary of State for
India, 792; and the evacuation of the
Sudan, 808; opposed to the small
holdings policy, 823 ; not in Ministry of
1886, 824; at anti-Home Rule meeting,
826; moves rejection of Home Rule
Bill, 826 ; refuses seat in the Conserva-
tive administration of 1886, 827; and
Round Table Conference, 828

Hassan Bey, 725

Hastings, Captain Frank Abney, 131, 154,
158, 179

Hastings, Marquis of, 424

Hatherley, Lord (see Page Wood)

Hauranne, Duvergier de, 310, 315

Haussez, insulted by rioters, 212

Haussmann, appointed to Ministry, 217, 369

Havana, the Maine blown up at, 881;
bombardment of, 882

Havelock, Sir Henry, 438-40, 442, 444

Hawarden, 937

Haymerle at the Berlin Congress, 748

Haynau, General, 340

Heideck, Colonel von, 154

Helen of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Princess,

275

Heligoland ceded by Great Britain to Ger-
many, 834

Herat, 792

Herbert, Sidney, 391-2, 394

Herreros, Garcia, 43, 47

Herries, Lord, 240

Herschell, Lord, 828

Hertzog, General, 918

Herzegovina, 720, 722, 725, 742, 749-50 (see
Balkan Peninsula)

Hesse, 547-8, 682

Hesse-Darmstadt, 34

Hetairia t6n philic6én, founding of, 75

Heyden, Admiral von, 157, 159-60, 168

Hicks, General, 807

Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael, tries to prevent

973
INDEX

Hicks-Beach (continued)
Zulu War, 772-3; succeeded by A. J.
Balfour, 798 ; and the budget of 1885,
818 ; becomes Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, 821; and Childers’ budget,
822; Secretary for Ireland, 1886, 827;
and Egypt, 873

Hideyoshi, 849-50

Hill, Rowland, and Penny Post, 261

Hinin, Japanese pariahs, 848

Hobhouse and Greek Committee, 135

Hohenlobe-Ingelfingen, Prince, 511

Hohenlohe-Schillingfiirst, Prince, 748

Hohenzollern, Charles Antony of, 719

Holland, Lord, 189

Holland, under Napoleon I., 224; declares
independence under Prince of Orange,
224; Constitution drawn up, 224; Bel-
gium added to, 224; declares war
against Belgium, 234; Powers assist
Belgium, 234; and the Cape of Good
Hope, 895

Holstein, 529 (see also Schleswig-Holstein)

Holy Alliance, the, Pozzo di Borgo on, 23;
formed at Aix-la-Chapelle, 24; applica-
tion of principles of, at Troppau, 65 ;
Frau von Kriidener, the soul of, 80;
Britain breaks from, 104

Home Rule for Ireland, 817, 820 ef seq. ;
Gladstone’s conversion to, 822; Bill
introduced by Gladstone, 824; the in-
tellect of the country opposed to it,
826; delayed through Parnell’s share
in the O’Shea divorce, 835; in 1892,
836; Bill of 1893, introduced by Glad-
stone, 837; the Bill of 1893 passed
through the Commons but rejected by
the Lords, 837 ; an object-lesson in, 937

Hone, William, trial of, 5

Hong Kong, Europeanisation of, 840 ; ceded
to Great Britain, 841 ; grant of territory
near, to Great Britain, 890

Hoogendorp, Van, 224, 227

Hoogvoorst, Emmanuel, 231

Hooker, General, 495

Hortense, Queen, death of, 275

Houses of Parliament, dynamite outrage at,

14

Howard, Hon. Herbert, 878

Huber and Social Democracy, 314

Hughes, Thomas, 708

Hughes, Thomas Stuart, 135

Huguenots, arrival of, at the Cape, 895

Hugo, Victor, 160, 344, 346, 684

Humboldt, Alexander von, 99

Hume, Joseph, 135, 260

Hungary, revolutionary outbreak in, 320,
334; war between Slavs and Magyars,
335; attacked by Croatians, 336; Kos-
suth’s national army defeated, 337;
Gorgei leads Hungarian cause, 338;
Magyar successes, 339; invasion by
Austria and Russia, 340; crushed by
Austria, 341; and Palmerston, 357;
operations of the Prussians in, 563

Hunter, General Sir Archibald, 873, 905

Huskisson, 161, 163, 166, 189, 237-41, 249

Hyde de Neuville, 114-5, 117, 139, 201-2

Hydra, Greek rising in, 78

I
IBELL, attempt to assassinate, 38

 

Ibrahim Pasha (of Egypt), 130-1, 133, 137-8,
156-8, 179, 279

Iddesleigh, Lord (see Northcote, Stafford)

Il Gesutta Moderno, by Gioberti, 302

Imperial Preference between Great Britain
and Australia, 866

Imperialism, British dislike of, in the early
ernes 805; and Lord Beaconsfield,

16

India, events in, from 1815-57, 424-30;
war in Afghanistan, 425-6; annexation
of Sind, 427; the Sikh war, 427-9;
annexation of Pegu, 429; extension of
British dominions by “rule of lapse,”
430; annexation of Oudh, 430; begin-
nings of the Mutiny, 431; outbreak of
Mutiny, 432; history of the Mutiny,
433-46; administration taken over by
Crown, 446-7; Victoria proclaimed as
Queen-Empress at Delhi, 760; famine
in, 763 ; question concerning a “ scien-
tific frontier,” 763 ; under the Beacons-
field Government, 786; frontier policy
settled by Lord Curzon, 795 ; European-
isation of, 840; Lord Curzon appointed
Viceroy, 939

Indian Midland Railway, 822

Indian Mutiny, the cartridge scare, 431;
outbreak at Berhampur, 432 ; at Meerut
and Delhi, 433-4; Lord Dalhousie’s
prompt measures, 434; massacre at
Gwalior, 435; preparations at Cawn-
pur and Lucknow, 436; at Allahabad,
436; Nana Sahib at Cawnpur, 437;
Havelock and Cawnpur, 438; Have-
lock’s march on Lucknow, 439; siege
of Delhi, 440; assault on Delhi, 441;
capture of Delhi, 442; attack on Luck-
now, 442-4,.445-6 ; lesson of the Mutiny,

6

44

Inkerman, battle of, 389-90

Ino Chuan (see Boxers)

Inquisition, the, 42-3, 46

International, the, 684, 692

“ Invincibles,” the, 815

Tonian Islands, 81, 137, 721

I Promessi Spost, by Manzoni, 301

Ireland, condition of, in 1832, 250-1; tithe
question in, 254; Coercion Bill, 255;
foundation of “‘ Orange”? Lodges, 257;
distressful condition of, in 1846-7, 350;
crime in, 351; Smith O’Brien’s “ re-
bellion,” 352; Poor Law relief, 353;
battle of Dolly’s Brae, 354-5; visit of
Queen Victoria to, 355; suspension of
the Habeas Corpus Act, 581; Glad-
stone’s schemes of pacification, 585 ; dis-
establishment of the Irish Church, 585,
699-701; Irish Land Bill passed,
7oi-3; Coercion Act passed, 702-3;
Gladstone’s University scheme for,
711-2; rejection of the Bill, 712;
Home Rule for, makes its appearance,
756; foundation of Land League in,
765; Gladstone’s speech on_ general
affairs in, 767-8; the Phenix Park
murders, 815 ; Lord Randolph Church-
ill and, 821; disorder in (1886), 827;
Queen Victoria visits, in 1900, 940

Irish Church Bill, (1832), 251 L

Irish Church, disestablishment of, Bill
brought in March ist, 1869, 699; pro-
visions of, 699-700; meets with slight

974
INDEX

Irish Church (continued)
opposition in the Commons, 700 ; second
reading of, carried, 7oo ; alterations of,
in Committee, 700 ; Gladstone refuses to
accept amendments, 701 ; Bill returned
to Lords, 7or1 ; a compromise effected,

7OL

Trish Loyal and Patriotic Union, 832

Irrigation in Egypt, 870

Isabel Maria of Portugal, 185-6, 192, 296

Isabella, Queen of Spain, 281, 295

Isandhlwana, battle of, 774-6, 779-80

Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, 758, 764
797

Ismailia, 803

Isturiz, LLL, 292-3, 296

Italy, Napoleon and, 53; its condition re-
garded as satisfactory by Metternich,
125; secret societies in, 300; ‘‘ Young
Italy” movement, 300 ; literary move-
ment, 301 ; the Revolution begins, 304 ;
free from occupation, 305 ; revolution-
ary movements in, 326; civil war in
Sicily, 327 ; effect of revolutionary move-
ments, 333; and Palmerston, 357; the
Congress of Paris and, 418-9 ; accession
of Victor Emmanuel II., 449; France
and England as mediators, 449; pass-
ing of the Siccardi laws, 450; Cavour
in power, 451 ; changes in the Ministry,
451 et seq. ; Civil Marriage Bill rejected,
452; formation and policy of Cavour’s
“Great Ministry,” 452 et seq.; the war
of 1859, 453; development of the rail-
way system, 453; Cavour’s victory of
1853, 453; her growing ae under
Cavour, 454; troops at Balaklava, 454;
casualties in Crimean war, 455; the
rebellion of 1857, 456; proposals at the
Plombiéres meeting, 457-8 ; the begin-
nings of Confederation, 458 ; aspires to
a place among the Powers, 459; the
army mobilised against Austria, 460;
Austro-Italian war, 461 et seg. (see
Austro-Italian War); her progress to-
wards liberty, 468; the Confederacy
idea revived, 472; the treaty signed for
the French to evacuate Rome, 528;
Florence made the capital, 529; offers
to purchase Venetia, 535 ; alliance with
France, 538 ; the treaty of alliance with
Prussia signed, 539 ; mobilises her army,
542; Napoleon III. works against
Italian unity, 544 ; disposition of Italian
and Austrian troops in, 548; stands
firm for straightforward recognition,
560; the peace with Austria is signed
at Vienna, 567; first Parliament sits in
Turin, 570; Mr. Gladstone’s confidence
in, 572; the Franco-Italian Convention
is signed, 602 ; arrest of Garibaldi, 603 ;
Garibaldi’s 10,000 revolutionaries attack
Rome, 605; Garibaldi defeated and
again made prisoner, 606 ; France opens
negotiations for alliance, 616; refuses
alliance with France unless Rome is
evacuated by the French, 651 ; refuses
Gramont’s request for assistance, 652;
French garrison withdrawn from Rome,
670; capital transferred by declaration
from Florence to Rome, 670; Rome
entered by the Italians, 671 ;_ plebiscite
taken for the annexation of Papal terri-

 

Italy (continued)
tory, 671 (see Rome); gives adhesion
to Count Andrassy’s note, 722; feeling
towards Great Britain on Egyptian
affairs, 802; Triple Alliance with Ger-
many and Austria (1887), 833 ; occupies
Massowah, 868; and Abyssiania, 870;
relinquishes Kassala to Egypt, 874;
cessions in China refused, 890

Ito, Prince, 848, 852

Izzet Pasha, 171

J

Jackson, ANDREW, 477
Jackson, ‘‘ Stonewall,” 490
Jahn, Father, 35, 39
Jamaica, 576-7
Jamaica Bill, 261
James, Henry, 776
jen Raid, the, 900
anina, fall of, 85
Japan, and a possible new Eastern Empire,
840; abolition of feudalism, 844; the
various classes of its population, 845,
848; expulsion of foreigners, 846; opens
various ports to foreign trade, 847;
anti - foreign feeling, 847; social re-
forms, 848; its new constitution and
first Parliament, 849; war with Korea
and China (1592-1600), 849-50; con-
vention with Korea, 850; risings against,
in Korea, 851; agrees with China on
policy in Korea, 852; war with China
(see Chino-Japanese War); and affairs
in the Philippines, 887 ; and suppression
of the Boxer movement, 920 ; defensive
treaty with Great Britain, 920 ; arrange-
ment with Russia concerning Korea and
Manchuria, 921 ; declares war on Russia,
g2i (see Russo-Japanese War)
Jellachich, Ban of Croatia, 335-8, 340
Jena, University of, 35-6, 39
Jesuits, 43, 91, 109, 199, 203, 283
Jingoism, birth of, in England, 743
Johannesburg, 899
John, Archduke, of Austria, 321, 324
John, King, of Abyssinia, 868
ohn, Prince, of Saxony, 183
ohn VI., of Portugal, 50, 113-4, 116, 185,

296

Jo-i Party, the, in Japan, 846-7
Joinville, Prince de, 278, 312, 696
Josefa Amalia, Queen, 190
Jou General, 816, 905

ourdan, Camille, 20, 31
Juarez, Benito Pablo, 589-91, 596
Jutland, 522-3

K

KaBut (see Cabul)

Kamamura, General, 932
Kanagawa, opened to foreign trade, 847
Kanaris, 126, 130-1

Kapsalis, the Primate, 138

Kara Ali, 83, 85-6

Kara Georg, murder of, 75

Kara Mehmed, Kapudan Pasha, 126
Karageorgovitch, Alexander, 719-20
Karaiskakis, 138, 153-5
Karathecdori Pasha, 748, 750
Karolyi at the Berlin Congress, 748

975
INDEX

Kars, 411, 736, 743, 752

Kassala, 871, 874

Kaufmann, General, 716-7, 789

Kaulbars, General, 932

Kazanlik, 736

Kekewich, Sir George, 906

Keller, General, 925-6

Kérartry, 676

Kettler, General, 685

Key West, 882

Khalifa, the, 807, 833, 868, 872, 878

Khartum, 806-7, 809, 811-2, 868, 878, 880

Khiva, 716-7, 787

Khokand, 715-7

Khuldja, 717

Khyber Pass, 788-9

Kiaochow, 889

Kiel, 35, 531

Kimberley, 906, 910

Kimberley, Lord, 816, 824

King, Gidley, 855

Kissingen, the battle of, 562

Kitchener, Lord, and the Gordon relief force,
811 ; commands expedition to Dongola,
872; builds railway between Dongola
and Berber, 873 ; waits his opportunity,
874; defeats Mahmoud at the Atbara,
875; visits England, 875; routs the
Dervishes at Omdurman, 876 ; occupies
Omdurman, 878; at Fashoda, 879;
appointed Chief of Staff to Lord Roberts
in South Africa, 909 ; narrowly escapes
capture, 915; his blockhouses, 916;
meets the Boer delegates at Klerksdorp,
917; meeting of plenipotentiaries at
house of, 918

Klephts, 78-80, 127, 138

Klonaris, 179

Kingsley, Charles, 359

Ko, the Japanese artisans, 848

Kokinis, death of, 138

Kokushu, the, of feudal Japan, 845

Kolettis, Dr., 128-9

Kolokotronis, storms Kalamata, 78; na-
tional hero of Greece, 78 ; defeats Mus-
tapha Bey, 78 ; at capture of Tripolitza,
82 ; appointed Commander-in-Chief, 84 ;
reconciled with Ypsilanti and Petrobey,
126; defeats Mehmed Dramali, 126;
refuses place in national Government,
127; refuses to recognise the Kranidhi
Government, 128 ; defeat at Tripolitza,
128 ; recalled, 131 ; and Lord Byron, 136;
and Mesolonghi, 137; and General
Church, 154; as leader of Greek party,
154; dislike of British, 155; supports
Capodistrias, 179, 181

Kolokotronis, Panos, 128

Komura, 934

Kondranshenko, General, 930

Konduriotti, George, 128, 131, 154, 179

K6niggratz, battle of, 556-7

Ko6niginhof, captured by the Prussians, 555

Koorn Spruit (see Sanna’s Post)

Korea, 844, 849-52, 920-2, 934 (see Russo-
Japanese War); Strait of, naval battle,

934
Kornilov, Admiral, 383
Koslowski, Prince, 231
Kossuth, Louis, 334, 336-41
Kotzebue, 37-8
Kouropatkin, 922-3, 924-9, 931-3
Kowloon, 841

 

Kowshing, the, 853

Kroonstad, 913-4

Kriidener, 734-5

Kriidener, Frau von, 23, 80

Kruger, Paul, 761, 816-7, 898, 900-1, 912-3

Krugersdorp, ie

Kugé, the, of feudal Japan, 845, 848

Kung, Prince, 890

Kurbash, discontinuance of its use in Egypt,
869

Kuroki, General, 923, 925-7, 932

Kutajah, Treaty of, 276

Kwang-chow, 890

Kwang Hsu, 843-4

L

Lasfpoykre, execution of, 14

Labour Party in Australia, 867

Labourdonnaye, 15, 18, 93, 201, 205-6

La Charte, 11, 115, 197

Ladmirault, 633, 645-7

Ladrone Islands, 887-8

Ladysmith, 905-6, 908, 910

Lafayette, 92-3, 201, 206, 213, 216-7, 220,
266

Laferronays, 66, I0I, 107, 150, 163, 166,
169, 170, 204

Laffitte, 136, 201, 213, 216-7, 220, 266, 274

Lagarde, Comte de, 89, 97, 106

La Granja, revolution of, 293

Lahore, Treaty of, 428

Laibach, Congress of, 67-9, 73, 76

Lainé, franchise scheme of, 1816, 18

Laing’s Nek, battle of, 816

La Marmora, 529, 535, 548-51

Lamartine, 310-5

Lamb, Frederick, 187, 192-3

Lamb, William (see Melbourne, Viscount)

Lamberg, Count, murder of, 336

Lamennais, 22, 25

Lamoriciére, 315, 346

La Motterouge, 675-6

Land Bill, Irish, passed in 1870, 7o1-2; in-
troduced, 825

Land League, the, 765

Landstaénde, constitution of, 34

Landwehr, the, 628-9, 648

Lanfach, Prussian victory at, 562

Langalibalele, 757

Langensalza, the battle of, 548

Lansdowne, Lord, 107, 189, 372; Viceroy of
India, 795

Lanjuinais, 92, 344

Lanza, Pietro, 327

La Plata revolts against Spain, 45

La Rochefoucauld, 18 :

La Rochelle, execution of revolutionaries at,

93

Lasagni, mission to Pope Leo XII., 204

La Soledad, Treaty of, 590

Latifundia, the, 59

Latil, Archbishop of Rheims, 204

Latour d’ Auvergne, 640

Latour du Pin, 64

Latour Maubourg, 28

Laveno, Garibaldi repulsed at, 465

Lawrence, Lord, 763

Lawrence, Sir Henry, at Lahore, 428; at
Lucknow, 437, 439; death of, 439

Lawrence, Sir John, at Lahore, 428; ap-

pointed Governor-General, 448, 786
“ Laws of September,” 271

976
INDEX

Layard, Sir Henry, 732, 748

Lazardiére opposes Villéle, zor

“* League of Friends,” the, 75

Lebanon, 718

ear ae 626-7, 630-1, 639-40, 642,

45-6, 674

Le Bourget, 673, 680

Lebreton, Madame, 667

Lebrun, 662

Lebzeltern, Count, Austrian Ambassador at
St. Petersburg, 148, 150

peconte shot oy the Paris mob, 689

_ee, Genera -90, 492- -

ie BIR cee 489-90, 492-3, 496-7, 508

Le Francois, death of, 637

Legations, siege of the, at Peking, 492

Leggi Siccardiani (Italy), 450, 451

Le Mans, 673, 679

Le Mie Prigione, by Silvio Pellico, 122, 301

Leo XII., 123-4, 204

Leopold, King of the Belgians, 233, 263, 834

Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Prince, 137, 142,
182-4, 233, 281, 625 (see Leopold, King
of the Belgians)

Leopold II., Grand Duke of Tuscany, 123,

330
Le Speranze d'Italia, by Balbo, 302
Lesseps, Ferdinand de, mission to Rome,

344
Leuchtenberg, Duke of, 233, 298
Levico, the battle of, 567
Leyds, Dr., and Transvaal independence,

goo

Liao, valley of, 895-6

Liao-tung peninsula, 853

Liaoyang, 923, 927-8

Lieber, Franz, joins Greeks, 134

Lieven, Count, 82, 142, 151, 160-1, 166

Lieven, Countess, 99

Li Hung Chang, 842, 844, 852-3, 894

Linares, General, 886

Lincoln, Abraham, 478, 493, 498, 508

Linevich, 923, 931, 933

Lisbon, revolutionary rising at, 51;
in, 52

Lisio, Count, 70

Lissa, the battle of, 567

Tawetnot and Manchester Railway, opening
ot, 249

Liverpool, Lord, 107, 135, 152, 189, 239, 278

Llandaff, Lord (see Matthews, [Sir] Henry)

Lloyd, Clifford, 869

Lobau, Comte de, 216

Lobengula, 898

Local Option Bill, the, 839

London, committee for assisting Greeks
formed in, 135; and first Reform Bill,
245; burning of Houses of Parliament,

riots

25

London Conference, the, agreement as to
Greece, 168, 170, 180; and Crete, 181 ;
of 1831 and frontier of Belgium, 232

London, Convention of (1840), 279; Tre-
garding Mexito, 589

London, the Eight Articles of, 225

London, Treaty of (1841), 280; terms of,
152; effect of, in Greece, 156; is de-
clared void, 591 ; and the suzerainty of
the Transvaal (1884), 897

Londonderry, Lord (see Castlereagh, Lord) i

Lords, House of, rejects second Reform Bill,
247 ; agitation against, 247 ; obstruction
to Reform Bill, 248 ; proposal to create

2 F**

Lords, House of (continued)
new members, 248 ; passes Reform Bill,
248; and creation of boroughs, 257;
rejects the Home Rule Bill of 1893, 837

Lorencez, General, 591

Louis XVIII., 11-12, 20, 24, 65, 67, 69, 975
105, 107, 121, 197

Louis Napoleon, appearance at Strasbourg,
273; trial and imprisonment, 278;
escape from Ham, 283; returned to
National Assembly, 314; elected Presi-
dent, 316 ; character and career of, 316;
his first Cabinet, 342 ; and the Clericals,
344; change of Ministers, 345; pre-

arations for coup d'état, 346; at the
Tuileries, 347 ; vicious methods of, 348 ;

declaration as Emperor, 349 ; as special
constable in London, 352; the coup
@ état of 1851, 451 (see Napoleon IIT.)

Louis Philippe, his character and career, 12;
subscribes to Philhellenic fund, 136;
has hopes of the Greek crown for his
son, 136-7 ; created ‘ Royal Highness,”
197; subscribes to Foy fund, 199;
his circle at the Palais Royal, 207;
favoured for the crown, 218 ; summoned
to Paris, 219; appointed Lieutenant-
General, 220; King agrees to appoint-
ment, 221; and abdication of Charles
X., 222; and Dutch Government, 229 ;
as King, 266; and Casimir Périer, 267 ;
attempt to assassinate, 270; and
Thiers, 271-2; Meunier’s attempt on,
275; visited by Queen Victoria, 282;
visit to Windsor, 283; attempt to as-
sassinate, in Fontainebleau, 284; foreign
policy, 310; abdication and flight to
England, 311 ; death of, 312

Loulé, Marquis, murder of, 115

Lowe, Robert, 577, 699, 701, 708, 762

Lowe, Sir Hudson, 278

Lubbock, Sir John (afterwards Lord Ave-
bury), 709

Lucca, Duchy of, 55, 122

Lucifer matches, introduction of, 249

Lucknow, 436, 439-40, 442-5 _

Ludd, Ned, breaks the stocking frames, 3

Luddite riots, 3

Ludwig, King of Bavaria, 135, 138, 682-3

Lumsden, Sir Peter, 820

Luxemburg, given to Holland by London
Conference, 233; history of, in the
nineteenth century, 599; the Confer-
ence, 600

Luzon, battle of, 887

Lykurgus, of Samos, 85

Lyndhurst, Lord, 189, 239, 247-8, 255, 257

Lyttelton, General, 909

Lytton, Lord, 519-20, 760, 762-3, 788, 792

M

MAANEN, VAN, 227, 229-30

Macanaz and Ferdinand VII., 43-4

Macao ceded to Portugal, 844

MacArthur, John, 855

Macartney, Lord, 841

MacCarthy, Justin, 835

McClellan, General, 483-4, 487, 490-1, 492

McDowell, 481

McKinley, President, 881

MacMahon, Marshal, 466-7, 471, 631-2, 634-5
640, 649-51, 635-9, 694-5

 

977
INDEX

Macnagbten, C., 425-6

Macpherson, General, 804

Macquarie, Lachlan, 856

Madrid, reception of Ferdinand VII. at, 42;
scenes in, on acceptance of Constitution
of 1812, 46; revolutionary scenes in,
49; ‘iots in 1821, 89-90; fighting in,
94; French troops in, 113; state of
siege declared, 883

Mafeking, siege of, 906

Magenta, the battle of, 465, 467 ; MacMahon
created Duke of, 467

Magersfontein, battle of, 907

Magnan and Louis Napoleon, 346

Magyars, the, efforts for independence, 334-5

Mahdi, the, 806-7, 809, 868, 879

Mahdism, its defeat at Omdurman, 877

Mahmoud Pasha, Grand Vizir, 714-5

Mahmoud I1., 76, 162, 172-3, 276-7

Mahmud Samy, 799

Maine, the, blown up in Havana harbour,

8

881

Mainz, ‘‘ Black Commission ”’ at, 38

Maison, General, 180

Maitland, Sir Thomas, death of, 140

Maiwand, battle of, 793

Majuba Hill, battle of, 816

Malays, the, and Japan, 840

Malmesbury, Lord, 459

Mamiani, Terenzio, 303, 328-9

Manchester, march of ‘* Blanketeers”’ from,
4; election of “ Legislational Attorney ”
at, 6; ‘‘ massacre of Peterloo,” 7

Manchu dynasty, 841

Manchuria, Japanese march
Russians in, 854, 921

Manchus, their power, 840

Manicaland, 834

Manila, 883, 887-8

Manin, Daniele, 304, 333

Manners, Lord John (afterwards Duke of
Rutland), 755

Manteuffel, 656, 674, 680, 685

Manuel, 107, 201

Manuscript from St. Helena, an impudent
forgery, I9

Manzoni, Alessandro, 301

Marchand, Lieut., 879

Maria Cristina, Queen, 190-1 (see Cristina,
Queen)

Maria de Gloria, 185, 195, 296 (see Maria II.,

_ Queen)

Maria, Donna, the Infanta, 185, 195

Maria II., Queen of Portugal, 298-9

Marie Louise, Archduchess, 55

Marie Louise, Duchess of Lucca, 55; death
of, 122

Marie Thérése, 12

Margary, Augustus, murder of, in China,

into, 853;

a
Marmont; Marshal (Duke of Ragusa), 18-20,
411-16, 219
Maroncelli, 71, 73, 103
Maroto, General, and Don Carlos, 293-4
Marrast, Armand, 315-6
Marter, Major, 784
Martignac, 163, 174, 202-5
Martin, Henri, 274, 693
Martinez de la Rosa, 43, 47, 94-6, 292
Maryland, 493
Masaniello, first performance of, 229
Mashonaland, 834, 898
Masséna, funeral of, 19, 25

 

Massowah occupied by Italy, 868, 870

Mastai-Ferretti, Giovanni Maria (see Pius
1X., Pope)

Matabeleland, 834

Mathew, Father, 350

Manne Sr Henry, Home Secretary, 1886,

27

Maupas and Louis Napoleon, 346-7

Mavrocordatos, Alexander, scheme for parti-
tion of Turkey, 83 ; meets Greek leaders
and forms Constitutional Assembly, 84 ;
defeat of, at Peta, 86-7; concentrates
forces at Mesolonghi, 126; as Minister
of Foreign Affairs, 127; arrives in
Anatoliko, 128 ; as Prime Minister, 129 ;
accompanies Konduriotti against Turko-
Egyptian army, 131; and Lord Byron,
136; persuades Executive Council to
accept British protection, 137; inter-
view with Stratford Canning, 149;
leads anti-Kolokotronis party, 154;
assists Capodistrias, 179; unfriendly
with Capodistrias, 181

Mavromichaelis, Petros, 78, 82-3, 126, 136,

179

Maximilian, Archduke, 456, 458, 589, 591

Maximilian, Emperor, 591-6

Mayo, Earl of, 786-7

Mazzini, 300, 329-30, 449, 456, 529

Meanee, battle of, 427

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duke of, 674

Medole, occupation of, 469

Mehemet Ali, 76, 264, 276-7, 279, 739-40, 748

bier ee Ali Pasha (Charles Detroit), 734,
738-7

Mehmed Ali, 129-30, 153, 156-7, 179, 208

Mehmed Dramali (see Dramali)

Mehmed Kiuse, 126-7

Mehmed Selim, 171

Melbourne, 857, 859, 865

Melbourne, Viscount, 240, 243, 255-6, 259,
261, 264-5

Melvill, Lieutenant, 776

Members of Parliament, payment of, advo-
cated by Chamberlain, 814

Mendizabal, Don Juan Alvarez de, 292

Menichini, 61

Mensdorff, Count, 529-31

Menshikov, Prince, 375-6, 381-2, 384, 394

Mentana, Garibaldi at, 567, 606; the battle
of, 606

Merode, Felix, Count de, 230-1

Merrimac, the, sunk at Santiago, 884

Merv occupied by Russia, 794

Mesolonghi, 80, 84, 127-8, 132, 136-8, 155,
179-80

Messina, bombardment of, 327

Metaxas, Andrea, Count, 102-3, 127, 154

Metaxas, the Brothers, 81

Methuen, Lord, 907

Methuen Treaty, the, effect on Portugal, 50

Metternich, and Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle,
23-4; expresses his fears of Prussia,
26; warns the Bundestag, 33; as con-
troller of Austria, 34; warns parents
against Jena University, 36; and the
Carlsbad Conference, 38 ; dissatisfaction
with result of Vienna Conference, 39;
alarm at spread of Liberalism, 40;
endeavours to prevent accession of
Charles Albert, 54; alarmed by ambi-
tions of Duke of Modena, 55; satisfac-
tion at failure of Sicilian Constitution,

978
INDEX

Metternich (continued)
59; Pepe’s plot to arrest, 60; horror at
Neapolitan Revolution, 61 ; Ferdinand’s |
explanation to, 62; and Russian note
on Spanish Revolution, 64; note to
Powers on Neapolitan Revolution, 64;
on Austrian intervention in Naples, 65 ;
Laferronays and, 66 ; scores over Capo-
distrias at Troppau, 67 ; at Laibach, 68 ;

Principles of a fundamental law for

the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,” 68 ;
on Piedmontese Revolution, 71; and
Victor Emmanuel’s abdication, 72;
counsels moderation in Naples, 72;
created Chancellor, 73; and the work
of Napoleon, 74; opinion of Greek and
Italian revolutionaries, 81; meets
George IV. at Hanover, 81 ; and Count
Lieven, 82; denies Russia’s right to
intervene in Greek affairs, 87; and
intervention in Spain, 97 ; and the Con.
gress of Verona, 98 ; plans for Spain, 99;
suggests peaceful intervention, 100;
embarrassment at Verona, 102 ; threats
to Italy, 103 ; complains to Papal Gov-
ernment of Greek refugees, 103; and
recognition of independence of Spanish
colonies, 104; displeased with France,
108 ; incites Ferdinand to claim Spanish
throne, 109 ; complains of Pozzo’s child-
ish vanity, 118; pleased at Chateau-
briand’s fall, 121 ; and Confalonieri, 122 ;
Della Genga elected Pope contrary to
wishes of, 123 ; and Charles Felix, 124;
and Charles Albert, 125 ; and the Phil-
hellenic movement, 134-5; unable to
attend meeting of Emperors, 139 ; differ-
ences with Canning, 140; Stratford
Canning’s conference with, 141; and
Russian proposals for Turkey, 141;
in Paris, 141 ; supports French policy,
141 ; invited to England by George IV.,
141; goes to Milan, 142; and Russia,
142; and the Russian succession, 148 ;
efforts to avert war between Russia and
Turkey, 148 ; on Stratford Canning, 149 ;
effort to discredit Canning, 152; on
Treaty of London, 152; after Navarino,
160 ; and the action of the Powers after
Navarino, 163 ; efforts for peace, 164-5 ;
efforts for peace in Russo-Turkish
War (1828), 168 ; on the Brothers Hum-
boldt, 168 ; suggests a conference, 169 ;
the Tsar’s anger with, 169 ; defeated by
Nesselrode, 170; on Treaty of Adria-
nople, 176; effort to renew Triple Alli-
ance, 176; and Dom Miguel, 185 ; and
Portuguese Constitution, 186-7; on
Canning’s appeal for Portugal, 188; on
Canning’s death, r90 ; on Dom Miguel’s
Cortes, 194; attempts to mediate in
Portugal, 194; and reactionary move-
ment in France, 199 ; on Polignac’s coup
@ état, 210; influence on Europe, 243;
and Pius IX., 303; and Italian Revo-
lution, 304; evil influence of, 319-20;
flight to England, 320 ; advises Empress
to seek safety in flight, 667

Metz, 631, 640-1, 644-6, 648, 651, 656-7, 674

Mexico, independence recognised by Great
Britain, 120; Napoleon III.’s policy in,
589; Europe intervenes, 589; her first
President, 590; French military opera-

 

Mexico (continued)
tions in, 691; Maximilian becomes
Emperor, 591 ; the United States inter-
venes, 592; Maximilian retires from
Mexico city, 594 ; a fateful council, 594 ;
Maximilian returns, 594; the capital
blockaded, 595; Maximilian shot, 596

Meyer, Dr., 137-8

Méziéres, 654, 658-60, 674

Migoulls, the Hydriote, 86, 132-3, 137, I$5»
I

I
Michael, Grand Duke, 144, 146-7, 736
Midhat Pasha, 724, 72
Mieroslavski, Dictator
Mignet, 207, 217
Miguel, Dom, takes the oath to the Constitu-
tion, 112; joins revolutionaries, 113;
opposes Constitution on lines of La
harte, and re-establishment of Cortes
of Estates, 115; leads military rising,
which is defeated, and he leaves Por-
tugal, 116; expresses submission to
Regency, 185; rebellions in favour of,
186, 188 ; appointed Regent, 192, 297;
swears obedience to Constitution, 193 ;
his coup d'état, 193; proclaimed King,
193-4, 297; retirement from Portugal
and death, 298
Mikado, the, his position in feudal Japan,
845 ; recognises conventions with for-
eigners, 847 ; consolidation of his party,
Baz receives foreign representatives,

4

Milan, Prince of Servia, 720, 723, 725

Miles, General, takes Porto Rico, 888

Mill, John Stuart, 575, 581

Milner, Lord, 900-1, 918

Miloradovich, Governor-General
Petersburg, 144-5, 147

Milos, of Servia, 75

Mincio, Austrians at the, 468, 470

Minghetti Ministry, the, 529

‘“ Ministry of All the Talents,” 251

Minto, Lord, 304, 327, 357

Missionaries in China, 870

Missouri enters the Union, 475

Mitchelstown, 830

Mitsukumi, his History of Japan, 846

Mizewski joins Greeks, 134

Mocenigo, Count, 71

Modder River, battle of, 907

Modena, Duchy of, 54, 326

Modena, Duke of, 72, 123

Mohasseim Bey, 159 .

Moldavia, Russians enter, in 1828, 167

Molé, 18, 92, 107, 198, 266, 272-3, 275-6, 31%

Moltke, Count von, his military genius, 618 ;
his eagerness for war, 625 ; Chief of the
Staff, 631; success of his plans, 632;
his plans against Bazaine, 645 ; decides
to invest Metz, 648; plans to march on
Paris, 653; his strategic move, 653-4;
his fears as to the enemy’s escape, 658 ;
and the capitulation of the French
army, 663; directs advance on Paris,

669
Mombasa, 834

7
of Poland, 514

of St.

' Monasteries, suppression of, in Spain, 48

Mongolia, Russian designs on, 844
Monitor and Merrimac, duel between the,

486
Monrad resigns leadership of Eider Danes,
525

979
INDEX

Monroe Doctrine established, 103, 120
Mont Cenis tunnel, 453

Montalembert, 343, 367

Montalivet, 267

Montanelli and Tuscan Republic, 330
Montauban, 638, 640

Montbel, 206

Montebello, the battle of, 463
Montemart, Duc de, 166, 175, 214, 217-9
Montenegro, 720-1, 724, 736, 742, 751
Montijo, Count, and Ferdinand VII., 42
Momunersicy, Duc de, 18, 91-2, 99-100, 102,

105

Montmorency, Laval, French Ambassador
in Vienna, 169

Montpensier, Duc de, 281, 283

Morea, the, 75, 77-8, 81, 83-4, 86, 126, 129,
135, 167-8, 179-80, 183

Moreau, Edward, 689

Morello, General, 107, 110

Moreton Bay, penal settlement at, 857

Morley, John (afterwards Lord Morley), 809,
822; becomes Chief Secretary for Ire-
land, 824, 836; attends Round Table
Conference, 1886, 828; on “ Parnellism
and Crime,” 831; opposes the Dongola
Expedition, 872

Morny, Count, 346-7, 413

Moro, Domenico, 301

Morocco, war with France, 282

Moselle, the Prussians at, 640; retreat of
French army over, 640

Motien Pass, 926

Mudki, battle of, 428

Miiffling, General, 172-3

Mukden, 890, 928, 931-2, 933

Miller, William, 135

Miinchengratz, Austrian retreat to, 554

Municipal Reform, under Lord Melbourne,
256-7

Murad V., 724-5

Murat, 458

Murat, Caroline, 19

Museo Chiaramonti, 57

Mushk-i-Alam, 791

Musso, 53

Mustapha Bey, 78, 153

N

NAAUWPOORT, 907

Nagasaki, 846-7 i

Nana Sahib, 427, 437-8, 446

Nanshan, battle of, 924-5

Napier, Sir Charles, 136, 264, 279, 298, 379

Naples, under Ferdinand IV,, 58; under
Ferdinand 14 59% low state of education
in, 60; Revolution in, 61-2 ; reception
of news of Sicilian Revolution, 62 ; con-
stitution of Parliament of, 63; excite-
ment in, at Austrian intervention, 66 ;
pccupation of, by Austria, 68; Metter-
nich’s Constitution for, 68 ; defence pre-
parations against Austria, 69 ; occupied
by Austrians, 70; scenes in, at King’s
return, 72; under Francis I., 122;
Austrian troops withdrawn, 122

Napoleon I., position in world’s history, 1 ;
effects of fall of, 1; his genius as a
builder of Empire, 2; effect of his
government on France, 11; his exile
at St. Helena, 19; appeal to Congress

 

Napoleon I. (continued)
of Aix-la-Chapelle by his mother and
Las Cases, 25 ; Congress decides against
relaxation of his imprisonment, 26;
and Spain, 41; and Italy, 53; effect
in Rome of his fall, 57; death of, 74;
principles of Empire of, 243: treat-
ment at St. Helena, 277; body taken
to Paris, 278; Metternich and, 320;
his aims of government, 364

Napoleon III. (see Louis Napoleon), Louis
Napoleon assumes title, 349; aims as
Emperor, 364; powers under the Con-
stitution, 364-5; his Ministers, 365;
his Court, 366; marriage, 366 ; his rela-
tions with the Church, 367; and the
causes of Crimean War, 369; and the
Tsar, 374 ; decides to go to Crimea, 394 ;
and neutrality of Black Sea, 397; visit
to England, 398; attempted assassina-
tion, 399; interference with Pélissier,
401 ; dispatch on Sebastopol, 409 ; nego-
tiations after the Crimean War, 413;
his object in precipitating the Crimean
War, 454; his interest in Italy, 4553
and Cavour, 455; attempted assassina-
tion of, in Paris, 456; his plans for
a Franco-Italian alliance, 457; seeks
war with Austria, 458; defines terms
of supporting Italy against Austria,
459; secedes from the Plombiéres com-
pact, 461; lands at Genoa, 462; at
Magenta, 465-6; his proclamation after
Magenta, 467; at Solferino, 471 ; meets
Francis Joseph, 472; Cavour’s charge
of deceit against, 473; attitude towards
the Polish insurrection, 514 ;' proposes
the Congress of Europe, 515; and
unification of Italy, 528; interview
with Bismarck, 533; remains neutral
on the Austro-Prussian question, 537;
alliance with Victor Emmanuel, 538;
intervenes in the Austro-Prussian dis-
pute, 543; and treaty of Vienna, 544;
his feelings after Sadowa, 559; adopts
intrigue, 560; is humiliated, 561 ; seeks
to put Maximilian on the throne of
Mexico, 589; instals Maximilian as
Emperor of Mexico, 591; gives way
to the United States, 592; leaves
Maximilian to his fate, 593; is con-
cerned as to the future, 597; visits
Austria, 601 ; complains to Italy of the
Garibaldian invasion, 604; essays to
reconstruct the army, 608; denounces
the Republicans, 611 ; his illness, 611 ;
invites Ollivier to form a Ministry, 612 ;
holds Council as to war with Prussia,
619; welcomes proposition for a Con-
gress, 626; joins the army at Metz,
631; sends news of defeat to Empress,
639; demand in Paris for his deposition,
639-40; leaves Metz for Paris,: 641;
at Gravelotte, 642; conference with
MacMahon and Trochu, 649; lingers
at ChAlons, 650; refuses to abandon
the Pope, 651; his trust in Victor
Emmanuel, 652; with the first corps
near Beaumont, 655.; reaches Carignan,
655; leaves Carignan for Sedan, 656;
hears of approach of enemy on Méziéres,
658; rides out towards Bazeilles, 659 ;
does not share Wimpffen’s optimism,

980
INDEX

Napoleon III. (continued)
660; hoists the white flag, 661 ; opens
negotiations with the enemy, 662;
surrenders, 662; meets Bismarck, 663 ;
starts for Wilhelmshthe, 663; deposi-
tion pope by Jules Favre, 665;
formal deposition of, 688

Napoleon, Prince, 457, 458, 459, 652, 668

Napoleonism, revival of, 274

Narvaez, General, 293, 295-6

Natal, annexation of, 896; Boer invasion

of, 905 ;

National Assembly, election of, 683; seat
of, at Bordeaux, 683; Gambetta and,
684; members of the International
voted into, 684; composition of, 688 ;
Jules Grévy as President, 688; Thiers
at the head of the executive, 688 ; resig-
nation of deputies from Paris, 689;
determines to sit at Versailles, 689;
Commune declares its acts null and
void, 692; refuses to make terms with
the Commune, 694 ; Government troops
gain possession of Paris, 696; head of
the executive made President of the
French Republic, 697; gives approval
to provisions of the peace, 697

National Debt of Great Britain after Peace
of Vienna, 3

National Guard, proposed reorganisation of,
in 1819, 25; and revolutionary Repub-
licans in Paris, 689 ; Federation of, 689 ;
its central committee at the Hétel de
Ville, 689 ; Commune declares the right
of the Guard to choose its own officers,
690; criminals in, 693; the march on
Versailles, 693

National League, 830

National Liberal Federation and the Don-
gola Expedition, 672

National Society and elementary education,
253

Navarino, 131, 157, 159-60

Navarro as Minister of Justice, 96

Navigation Acts, repeal of, 354

Neander and Philhellenism, 138

Negris, Theodore, 84, 129

Neipperg, Count, 55, 122

Nemours, Duc de, 136, 281

Nemours, Louis de, 233

Nesselrode, at Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle,
24; note on Spanish revolution, 64;
and Russo-Turkish war, 82; at Verona,
99; and Stratford Canning, 141; on
position of Greece, 141 ; announces that
Russia will act independently on East-
ern Question, 142; on Navarino, 161 ;
proposals to Lieven after Navarino,
162; announces Russia’s determination
for war, 164; assures Laferronays that
France should not lose by Russo-
Turkish war, 166; agrees to action of
Great Britain and France in Greece,
168; replies to Austria, 170; ap-
proaches Prussia for peace negotiations,
171; on Treaty of Adrianople, 174;
on Turkey’s position, 176; Polignac’s
coup @ état, 210

Netherlands, the, 224, 226, 232

Neufeld, Charles, 878

Neutral League, the, 652

New Guinea, 860

New Hebrides, 860

 

New Orleans, 488

New South Wales, 856, 858-9, 861, 863-5

New Spain (see Mexico)

New Zealand, 856, 863

Newcastle, Duke of, 189

Newfoundland fisheries dispute, 833

Newspaper Tax, 258

Ney, Marshal, 15

Nicholas, Emperor, secures the release of
Ypsilanti, 77; story of his accession,
114-7 ; views on Eastern Question, 148 ;
congratulates British Admiral after
Navarino, 161; on Greeks, and eager-
ness for war, 164; Austrian Emperor
writes to, 165; anger with Metternich,
169; receives letter from Emperor
Joseph, 169; his reply, 170; asks King
of Prussia to negotiate with Turkey,
170; crowned at Warsaw and visits
Berlin, 171; magnanimity to Turkey ;
176; and Capodistrias, 178 ; and Greek
independence, 182; remits Turkish
debt, 183; and Portuguese Constitu-
tion, 187; and Polignac’s coup d'état,
210; and Poland, 286; and the Second
Empire, 374 ; and Turkey, 374-5 ; death
of, 394; his views justified by history,
422; his policy compared with that of
Alexander II., 714; continues pro-
tector of the Christians, 719

Nicholas, Grand Duke, 730, 735

Nicholson, Sir J., 440-1

Nicsics, 736

Niebuhr, 38, 56-8, 69, 138

Niel, Marshal, 471, 608

Nightingale, Florence, at Scutari, 392

Nigra, Count, 451, 457, 667

Nikita, Prince of Montenegro, 736

Nikola, Prince of Montenegro, 721, 725

Nile, the, Gordon relief force reaches, 811

Ningpo opened to British trade, 841

No, the Japanese farmers, 848

Nodzu, General, 926, 928-9, 932-3

Noghi, Baron, 925-7, 930-2

Noir, Victor, 613

Nola, military rising at, 61

Norfolk Island and New South Wales, 860

Northbrook, Lord, 762, 787-8, 808, 869

Northcote, Sir Stafford (afterwards Lord
iddesteleh), 705, 755-8, 764, 817, 821,

27-

North German League, 682-3

Notables, Egyptian Chamber of, 798

Nottingham, Reform riots at, 247

Novara, Italians defeated at, 449

Novi Bazar, Sanjak of, retained by Turkey,

750
Nubar Pasha, 764, 807
Nuichwang occupied by Oku, 927
Nyassa annexed to Great Britain, 834

oO

OBOLENSKI, PRINCE, 147 .
Obrenovich, Michael III., Prince of Servia,

720
Obrenovich, Milosh, Prince of Servia, 719
O’Brien, Smith, 352
O’Brien, William, 830
O’Connell, Daniel, founds the Catholic Asso-

ciation, 239; elected to Parliament, 241 ;

inaugurates Home Rule movement, 242,

250, 254; imcreased power of, 255

981
INDEX

O’Connor, Feargus, 352

Odier and Revolution of July, 216

Odysseus of Ithaca, 79, 86, 126, 128-9

Oku, Baron, 924-9, 932

ee Emile, 369, 597-8, 609, 612-4, 626,

40

Olmiitz, 546, 563

Olozaga, Professor, 295

Omar Pasha, 377, 380, 394-5, 401, 414

Omdurman, attack on (1884), 811; flight
of the Dervishes to, 873 ; the Khalifa at,
874; British preparations for advance
on, 875; the battle of, 876; occupied
by Kitchener, 878

Omer Brionis, 127, 167, 170-1

Opium prohibited in China, 891

Oporto, revolutionary rising at, 51

“Orange Lodges,” 257-8, 355

Orange, Prince of, 224 (see William I. of
Netherlands), 230-2, 895

Orange Free State, the, 896, goo

Orange River Colony, full self-government
granted, 1907, 919

Orleans, 675, 677-8

Orléans, Duc d’ (see Louis Philippe)

Orléans, Duc d’ (son of Louis Philippe), 273,
275,.280-1

Orléans, Duchesse d’, 311-2

Orleans, House of, 696

Orloff, Count Alexis, 173, 177

Orsini attempts the assassination of Napo-
leon ITI., 456, 457

Osha Mrs., and Charles Stewart Parnell,

35

Osman Digna, 868, 873-5

Osman Pasha, 734-5, 737-8, 740-1

Ostolazza, Confessor to Ferdinand VII., 42

Ostrolenka, battle, of, 288

Otho, ene of Greece, and Lord Palmerston,

35

Otto of Bavaria, Prince, elected King of
Greece, 184

Otto, King of Greece, his feeble government
and resignation, 721

Oudh, 430-1

Oudinot, Commandant of Madrid, 110

Oudinot, General, 329-30, 343-4

Outram, Sir James, 427, 440, 442, 445

Overbeck in Rome, 57

Oyama, Marshal, 926, 928, 931, 933

P

Pacirico, Don, 358

Padua, occupation of, 566

Page Wood, Lord Justice, 699

Pagés, Garnier, 274, 276, 311-4

Pahlen, Count, 173

Paleocapo, Pietro, 304

Palermo, revolutionary scenes at, 62, 305
Palestro, battle of, 464

Palit: 649-50, 652, 654, 660, 665-6, 667-8,

3.

Pallavicino, Marchese, 71

Palmella, Count, 52, 115-6, 188, 194-5,
290-9

Palmerston, Lord, on election of King
of Belgium, 233; joins Canning’s
Ministry, 239; leaves Wellington’s
Ministry, 240; Foreign Secretary in
Grey’s Ministry, 243 ; Foreign Secretary
in Melbourne’s Ministry, 256; and the
Sultan, 276-7; and Spanish marriages,

 

Palmerston (continued)
283; and Switzerland, 307; as Foreign
Secretary, 350, 355 ; and France, Spain,
Portugal and Switzerland, 356; and
Italy and Hungary, 357; and Prince
Albert, 358; and Greek Government,
358; and Queen Victoria, 358; his
great work as Foreign Secretary, 359;
and Louis Napoleon, 362; and army
reform, 370; in Lord Aberdeen’s
Ministry, 372; and Crimean War, 379;
called on to form Ministry, 392, 394;
suggests help for the Danes, 521 ; Paper
Tax, 571} wants to go to war, 573;
death of, 575; burial in Westminster
Abbey, 575; an estimate of his political
position, 575

Pamplona (see Subserra, Count)

Panama Canal, the, and Australia, 867

Pando, ‘‘ The Apostle of Liberalism,” 51

Panhellion, 179, 181

Panurias, 79

Papal States, under Pius VII., 57; secret
societies in, 58; under Pius IX., 303,
328; revolt in, 329; reforms promised,
473

Papineau and Canadian rebellion, 259-60

Paris, Philhellenic Committee formed in,
136; renewed Philhellenic enthusiasm,
138; scenes in, on defeat of reactionary
Measures, 200; after review of Guards
by Charles X., 201 ; anti-Bourbon riots
in, 212-3; in the hands of revolution-
aries, 214-5; Provisional Government
established, 217; anti-clerical riots,
267; outbreak of cholera in, 268; in-
surrection in, 269; ‘‘ Reform  ban-
quets” in, 310; Reform riots, 311;
revolutionary scenes in, 312; Hauss-
mann’s work in, 369; International
Exhibition of 1857, 421; the Exhibition
of 1867, 597, 600; the visit of Em-
peror Francis Joseph, 601; the rapid
growth of Republicanism, 611 ; excite-
ment in, at Bismarck’s dispatch, 626 ;
false rumour in, of Prussian defeat, 639 ;
preparations for defence, 639; clamour
for Emperor’s deposition, 639-40 ; under
the regency of the Empress, 649;
Trochu arrives as Governor, 649;
defences of, strengthened, 651; news
of Sedan reaches, 665 ; Jules Favre pro-
poses the deposition of the Emperor and
his dynasty, 665; election of a Council
of Regency proposed, 665; popular
excitement in, 665; Chamber attacked
by mob, 666 ; ‘‘ The Government of the
National Defence” established under
Trochu, 667; revolutionary frenzy in,
668; investment of, 669; its fortifica-
tions, 669; sorties from, 673, 677;
carrier pigeons and balloons, 673;
attempts to relieve, 675-7; Ducrot’s
determined effort to relieve, 679;
bombardment of, begins, 681; a last
sortie, 681; Convention signed, 681;
arrangements for election of a National
Assembly, 683; forts occupied by
Germans, 684; signs in, of the coming
Commune, 684; German troops march
through, 688 ; a day of mourning, 689 ;
cannon removed to Montmartre and
Belleville, 689; offence caused in, by

982
INDEX

Paris (continued)
the Assembly deciding to sit at Ver-
sailles, 689; red flag hoisted on the
H6tel de Ville, 689 ; the Commune pro-
claim the Republic, 690 ; the Commune
formally proclaimed in, 691; work of
the Commune in, 692 ; a corps of women
formed, 693 ; second siege begins, 693 ;
Committee of Public Safety elected,
694; Thiers calls upon the city to
throw off the tyranny of the Commune,
695; the Venddme Column pulled
down, 695; the “‘ Bloody Week,” 695 ;
the Government troops gain possession,
_696; wholesale executions, 696

Paris, Comte de, Louis Philippe abdicates in
favour of, 311

Paris, Congress of (1856), composition of,
_ 416-22, 453, 455

Paris, Convention of, signed, 681; its line
_of demarcation and provisions, 683-4

Paris, Treaty of (1856), terms of, 417;
Russia’s desire for its abrogation, 652

Parkes, Sir Harry, 864

Parliamentary Reform,
Great Britain, 244

Parma, Duchy of, 55, 326, 472-3

Parnell, Charles Stewart, his first appearance,
761; obstructs the business of Parlia-
ment, 761; founds the Land League,
765; and the Phoenix Park murders,
815; and the ‘‘Invincibles,”’ 816;
master of the political situation, 819 ;
negotiations with Lord Carnarvon, 822 ;
introduces an Irish Tenants Bill, 1886,
827; and the Plan of Campaign, 827 ;
the forged letter reproduced in the
Times, 829; more forged letters, 831 ;
demands and obtains a Commission of
Inquiry, 831; as co-respondent in the
O’Shea divorce suit, 835 ; his death, 835

** Parnellism and Crime,” 831

“* Parnellism Unmasked,” 832

Parish Councils Bill, 837

Parsons, Colonel, 874

Pasaron, Admiral Montojo y, 882

Pasini, Valentino, 304

Paskevich, General, 162, 165, 172, 288-9,
339-41, 380, 405

Pasquier, 14, 28, 69, 89, 91, 205

Patras, Greek rising at, 78

‘* Patriotic Harmonious Fists,”
Boxers)

Patriotic Society of Poland, 286

Pauperism in 1832, 250, 252-4

Pavillon Marsan, the, 15, 91-2, 121, 197

Pearson, Major, 773-4, 778-9

Pedro, Dom, as Emperor of Brazil, 112, 117 ;
right of accession to Portugal retained,
185; renounces Portuguese throne in
favour of his daughter, 185; plans for
his daughter’s marriage, 185 ; reception
of his Constitution in Lisbon, 186;
the Powers and, 186-7; Dom Miguel
and, 187; appoints Dom Miguel as
Regent, 192; sends his daughter to
England, 195; establishes provisional]

question of, in

the (see

Government in Terceira, 195; _his
charter for Portugal, 296; resigns
Empire of Brazil, 297; establishes

Government in Azores, 298; invades
Portugal, 298; death, 298

Pedro II. as Emperor of Brazil, 298

 

Pedro IV. as Crown Prince, 52, 296

Peel, Sir Robert, 163 ; opposed to Catholic
emancipation, 189; retires from Cab-
inet, 189; becomes Home Secretary,
236; declines to serve under Canning,
2393 supports emancipation of Catho-
lics, 241; resigns from Oxford and
elected for Westbury, 242; establishes
police force, 241 ; and first Reform Bill,
245; declines to form Ministry, 248 ;
becomes Chancellor of Exchequer, 255 ;
career of, 255-6; founds Conservative
Party, 256 ; defeat and resignation, 256 ;
and Jamaica Bill, 261; supports Free
Trade Ministry, 350; death of, 360

Peel, Thomas, 857

Pegu, 429, 446

Peking, the Convention of, 841 ; massacre
of Christians at, 892; siege of the
Legations, 893

Pélissier, General, 400-2, 404

Pellico, Silvio, 71, 73, 103, 122, 301

Pelly, Sir Lewis, 762-3

Peloponnesus blockaded by Spezziote ships,
78

Pemba, British protectorate established,

34

Peninsular War, effect on Portugal of, 49

Penjdeh incident, the, 796, 820

Penny Post, introduction of, 261

Pepe, Florestan, 62-3

Pepe, General William, 60-1, 63, 69, 72

Perenzi, execution of, in Pest, 341

Périer, Casimir, 139, 201, 215-7, 266-8

Pescadores Islands, 843, 853

Peschiera, the siege of, 551

Perry, Commodore, 846

Pertev Pasha, 161 ©

Peta, battle of, 86-7, 126

Peterloo, 7-8

Peters, Carl, and the German East Africa
Company, 834

“* Petrobey, Lord of Maniotes”” (see Mavro-
michaelis, Petros)

Peyronnet, 92, 201, 209-10, 266

Philhellenes, the, rise of, in Germany, 134;
in Switzerland, 135; in England, 135;
Byron joins, 135-6; in France, 136;
enthusiasm after fall of Mesolonghi,
138-9, 153; rejoicings at battle of
Navarino, 160

Philip of Hesse-Homburg, Prince, 183

Philippines, Admiral Dewey in, 882, 887;
Independent Federal Republic pro-
posed, 887; surrendered to the United
States, 888

Phillip, Captain Arthur, 855

Phoenix Park murders, 815; Parnell’s sup-
posed approval of the, 829, 831

Picard, 667, 693 :

Piedmont, under the Restoration, 53; re-
volution in, 70; evacuation of, decided
on at Congress of Verona, 103; ready
for war with Austria, 305 ; commercial
prosperity of, 453; the forerunner of
a new Italy, 453; its bold policy, 453 ;
its population in 1855, 454; religious
orders in, 454

Pieters Hill, battle of, 910

Pietri and Empress Eugénie, 667-8

Pigott, Richard, 802, 833

Ping Yang, capture of, by Japan, 853

Pishin, to be under British control, 789

983
INDEX

Pitcairn Island and New South Wales, 860

Pitt and Australian colonisation, 855

Pius VII. gives constitution to Papal States,
56; death of, 123

Pius IX., Pope, election of, 303 ; his reforms,
303-4; no desire for war, 305; un-
popularity of, 326, 328; and Pellegrini
Rossi, 328 ; flees to Gaeta, 329; appeal
to the Powers, 329; returns to Rome,
330; and the Siccardi laws, 450; and
d@’Azeglio, 452; and civil marriage, 452 ;
wholesale excommunication by, 454;
Napoleon III. proposes the Pope as
President of United Italy, 458, 472;
strictures on his government, 458 ;
rejects Victor Emmanuel’s offers, 670

“* Plan of Campaign, The,” 827, 830

Pletinkx, 230-1

Plevna, 734-5, 737-40

Plimsoll, Samuel, 757

Plombiéres, the interview between Napoleon
III. and Cavour at, 457

** Plon Plon,” 366

Pocrie, Giuseppe, 63, 73, 123

Poland, division of, 285; Russian govern-
ment of, 285; Patriotic Society of, 286 ;
military outbreak, 286 ; revolution in,
287; war with Russia, 288; crushed
by Russia, and a futile appeal to the
Powers, 289; imsurrection in, 514;
Russia and Prussia take common action,
514; Great Britain keeps on eye on the
insurrection, 514

Pole and Company, Sir Peter, 238

Polignac, Prince de, protests against Lainé’s
franchise scheme, 18; as member of
“the Cabinet Vert,” 91; Canning and
the independence of Spanish colonies
and, 120; Lord Aberdeen discusses
Greek question with, 167 ; King desires
him for Foreign Minister, 170 ; as Prime
Minister, 174; his ‘“‘ Great Plan,” 175.5
summoned from London to take office,
204; appointed Minister of Foreign
Affairs, 205; his Ministry, 206; and
Algiers, 207-8; defeated at elections
and proffers resignation, 210; his coup
@ état, 210; insulted by rioters, 212;
advises King not to leave St. Cloud,
219; imprisoned at Vincennes, 266

Pomare, Queen, of Tahiti, 282

Pombal, founder of elementary schools in
Portugal, 50

Pondo, General, 887

Ponsonby, General, 838

Ponsonby, Sir Henry, 821

Poor Law, commission as to working of, 701

Poplar Grove, De Wet at, 912

‘* Popular Songs of Modern Greece,’’ by
Faurel, 136

Portalis, 170, 203-5

Port Arthur, captured by Japanese, 1894,
8533 leased from China by Russia, 889 ;
defeat of Russian fleet at, 922; siege
of, 923-31

Por Hamilton occupied by the British,

Port ene, its name changed to Victoria,

857
Port Said occupied by the Guards, 803
Porto Rico, capture of, by Americans, 887 ;
surrendered to the United States, 888
Portsmouth, U.S.A., peace overtures at

 

Portsmouth (continued)
(Russo-Japanese War), 934; the Treaty

of, 935

Portugal, effect of Peninsular War in, 49;
relations with Brazil, 50; condition of,
in 1812, 50; anti-English conspiracy,
50; independence proclaimed, 51;
meeting of first Cortes, 51; John V.
returns and recognises Constitution, 52 ;
condition of, in 1822, 112; Queen
Carlota banished, 112; Liberal discon-
tent, 112-3; Regency formed, 113;
Dom Miguel joins the counter-revolu-
tionaries, 113; the King captured by
counter-revolutionaries, 114 ; John VI.
promises new Constitution, 114 ; British
fleet in the Tagus, 114 ; murder of Loulé,
114; Dom Miguel’s rising, 116 ; French
and British struggle for mastery in, 116 ;
fall of Subserra, 117; independence of
Brazil recognised, 117; Dom _Pedro’s
tight of succession to, 185; illness of
John VI. and appointment of Regency,
185; death of John VI., 185; Dom
Pedro’s Constitution, 185 ; Constitution
adopted, 186 ; effect in Spain of Portu-
guese Constitution, 186; Metternich on
the Constitution, 186-7; Great Britain
and France and the Constitution, 187 3
Dom Miguel submits, 187; rebellions
against Regency, 187-8 ; appeal to Great
Britain, 188 ; British troops landed, 189 ;
Constitution’ not successful, 191; Sal-
danha becomes Prime Minister, 191;
British troops withdrawn, 193; Dom
Miguel proclaimed King, 193; opposi-
tion to Dom Miguel, 194; the White
Terror, 194 ; Donna Maria seeks refuge
in England, 195; persecution of anti-
Miguelists, 195; financial condition
under Dom Miguel, 196; treaty with
Great Britain and Spain, 292; Dom
Miguel’s Regency, 296; Miguel pro-
claimed King, 297 3 reign of terror,
297; invasion by Dom Pedro, 298;
under Maria II., 298; British inter-
vention, 299 ; Delagoa Bay awarded to,
758; possessions in Africa, 834; treaty
with Cromwell giving Great ‘Britain
access to China, 841; convention with
Japan, 1858, 847

Posen, the Prussians and, 325

Potomac, McLellan crosses the, 493

Potter, Louis de, 228-32

Pottinger, Eldred, 425

Pouyer-Quertier signs Peace of Frankfort,
6

97 :

Pozzo di Borgo, on balance of Powers, 23;
on Austrian occupation of Italy, 67;
draws up declaration at Laibach, 72;
asked by King of Spain to go to Madrid,
89 ; supports the Tsar, 98 ; at Congress
of Verona, Ioo, 105; and Spain, 118 ;
gives assurances to ‘Laferronays, 166 ;
on Metternich, 169 ; on Polignac’s coup
d état, 210

Pragmatic Sanction, Institution of, in Spain,
and revival by Ferdinand VI. +» IQI,

290

Prague, occupied by the Prussians, 563;
the Peace of, 565

Press Laws, in England (1817), 53; “Six
Acts,” 8

984
INDEX

Press Laws, in France, Doctrinaires advo-
cate reform of, 20; revisions in, 1819,
27; Richelieu’s repressive measures,
30; Ultras revise in 1821, 92; Charles
Re removes censorship, 197; attempt
to revive repressive laws, 200 ; reformed
by Martignac, 203 ; repressive measures
of 1834, 270, 271

Press Laws, in Germany, restrictions by
“The Black Commission,” 38

Pretoria, the Convention of, 817; treaty
of (1881), 897; occupation of, by the
British, 914-5; Committee at, dis-
cusses terms of peace, 918; treaty
signed at, 918

EERE US, founds the Transvaal Republic,

9!

Prim, Marshal, 295

Primato Morale e Civile degli Italiani, by
Gioberti, 301

Primrose, General, 793

Prince Imperial, 631-2, 641-2, 649-50, 668,

78

“* Principles of a Fundamental Law for the
Government of the Two Sicilies,” by
Metternich and Gentz, 68

Prinsloo, surrender of, 915

Prolegomeni al Primato, by Gioberti, 301

Protection, Australia and, 862, 865

Prussia, Metternich expresses his fears of,
at Aix-la-Chapelle, 26 ; number of votes
in the Bundestag, 33 ; absolutism in, 34 ;
disappoints German Liberals, 35 ; leads
in reactionary movement, 39; and
Austrian intervention in Italy, 65;
agreement with Russia and Austria as
to treatment of revolutions, 66; neu-
trality in Russo-Turkish War, 1828,
167; approached by Russia to nego-
tiate with Turkey, 171 ; and Treaty of
Adrianople, 175 ; revolutionary move-
ment in, 321; and the Congress of
Paris (1856), 416-7; Prince William
made Regent, 509; overtures from
Austria, 509; changes in the army
system: compulsory training intro-
duced, 510; death of Frederick William
IV., 511 ; William I. ascends the throne,
511; power of the Fortschrittspartei in
the Landiag, 511; Bismarck made
Prime Minister, 511; his high-handed
policy, 512; danger threatens from
Poland, 514; risks of war, 515 ; stands
aloof from Federation, 515 ; the Schles-
wig-Holstein question is raised, 516;
the policy in regard to Denmark, 517 ;
war in the air, 518; Bismarck flouted,
519; the Austro-Danish war, 519;
Bismarck threatens to resign, 520; the
invasion of Schleswig, 521; Schleswig
occupied, 522; a conference of the
Powers again proposed, 522; European
opinion on the situation, 523; a truce
arranged in London, 524; the confer-
ence fails, 524 ; war resumed, 524 ; atti-
tude of Europe, 524; the Augustenburg
difficulty, 524; Bismarck’s plans there-
on, 524; the Danes defeated at Alsen,
525; Jutland and Schleswig conquered,
526; another armistice, 526; terms of
the peace, 526; Schleswig-Holstein
freed from Danish rule, 526; the Peace
of Vienna, 526; war with Austria fore-

Prussia (continued)
shadowed, 526; attains dominant posi-
tion in Germany, 527; the Bund de-
cides on dual control of the Duchies,

529; Bismarck accepts conditionally,
530; Austria disagrees, 530; the
Duchies incline to Prussia, 531; the

naval station removed to Kiel, 531;
the council at Berlin, 532; the Gastein
Convention, 532; its conclusions, 532;
greater favour shown to Bismarck’s
policy, 532; Bismarck’s interview with
Napoleon III., 533; a proposal of alli-
ance with Italy, 534; acknowledges
Victor Emmanuel as King of Italy, 535 ;
friction between Gablentz and Man-
teuffel, 536; a crisis in Bismarck’s
career, 536; more trouble in the
Duchies, 536; complaints of Austrian
aggression, 536; a possibility of war,
5373; William I. holds council, 537;
Bismarck works’ for war, 538; an
alliance with Italy, 539; Prussia on the
defensive, 541; Bismarck’s final peace
proposals, 543; the Gastein Convention
is broken, 544; the Austro-Prussian
war, 544 et seq. (see also Austro-Prussian
War); becomes a great Power, 559;
defeats Austria, 567; the military sys-
tem of recruiting, 608 ; consolidates the
German confederation, 616; welding
the Southern States, 617; Moltke’s
years of preparation, 618 ; Daru advo-
cates a continuance of peace, 618 ; Bis-
marck wants war, 619; declares war
against France, 620; the Franco-
Prussian War, 620 et seq. (see also
Franco-Prussian War); excitement in
Berlin at Bismarck’s dispatch, 626 ; re-
ceives ultimatum from France, 627 ;
its army compared with that of France,
627-9, 632; mobilisation of, 629-30,
position of its three divisions at begin-
ning of the war, 1870, 631; plan of
action, 633; uniformity of Prussian
tactical system, 638; terms demanded
by, after Sedan, 663; organisation and
discipline of its army, 671-2; Moltke’s
orders for the general conduct of the
war, 672; how its victories were won,
672; convention with Japan, 1861, 847
(see also Germany)

Public Worship Regulation Act, 756-7

Puebla, the siege of, 591, 595

Pulleine, at Isandhlwana, 775

“ Punctuation,” a, drawn up by Metternich
after Kotzebue’s murder, 38

Punta Cabrera, American infantry land at,

 

4
Putilov, General, 929
Pyat, Félix, 691

Qa

QUADRILATERAL, the famous, 468, 549

Quadruple Alliance renewal, 25; interven-
tion in Syria, 264; Thiers protests
against intervention in Spain, 272;
agreement as to Egypt and Syria, 279 ;
agreement as to Spain and Portugal,

292
“ Qualifying for office,” ceremony of, 241
Queensland, its foundation, 856-7; dis-

985

 
INDEX

Queensland (continued)
covery of gold in, 859; annexes south-
ern portion of New Guinea, 860; and
federation, 861; and the Federal
ene of 1885, 863; and Federation,

65
Queretaro, the fighting at, 595
Quesada, General, 96
Quetta, 763, 788, 820
Quintana, 43, 47
Quiroga, 45, 47, III

R

RapeEtzxy, Marshal, 331-3

Radical, origin of name, 4; synonymous
with rioter, 4; programme of 1816, 4;
meeting at St. Peter’s Fields, Man-
chester, 6; association of name with
Cato Street conspiracy, Io

Radziwill, Prince, 625

Radziwill, Prince Michael, 288

Raglan, Lord, 379-80, 391, 402

Railways, introduction of, into England,

249
Ranjit Sing, 425, 427
Ras Alula, 871
Raspail, 207, 314
Ratazzi, Urbano, 452, 456
Ray, General, in Porto Rico, 888
Rechberg, 524, 527
Reciprocity of Duties Act (1823), 237
Reddersberg, surrender of the British at,

914

Redesdale, Lord, on Peterloo massacre, 7

Redistribution Bill, the, 817

Refad Pasha, 375

Referendum, the, in Switzerland, 867

Reform Bill, preparation of first, 244;
second reading carried by one, 245;
defeated, 246; second Bill introduced
and carried in Commons, 246 ; defeated
in Lords, 247; third Bill carried in
Commons, 247; in Lords, 248 ; of 1884,

817

Reform Bills, the new, 571-80

Rego, and the Portuguese Revolution, 113

Reichstadt, Duke of, 74, 93

Reims, 650-1, 668-9

Rémusat, 201, 207, 310

Resenda, Count, 51

Reshid Pasha, 131-3, 137-8, 153-5, 171

** Resolute Government, the,” 828, 831

Revel, Count, 72

“* Revolt of the Marshals,” 299

Revolution of July, 214

Rezonville, 644, 648

Rheineck, Baron, 180-1

Rhodes, massacres in, 80

Rhodes, Cecil John, and a united South
Africa, 898; and the Jameson Raid,
goz ; in Kimberley during the siege, 906

Riaz Pasha, 797-9

“ Ribbon Men,” 257, 355

Ribeaupierre, 162, 167, 177, 182

Ricasoli, 468, 550

Ricciardi, 61

Rice, Spring, 256

Richelieu, Duc de, appointed Prime Minister,
14; and Royalist fanaticism, 15 ; seeks
to “obtain withdrawal of foreign garri-
son, 18; and claims of Prince of An-
halt-Bernburg, 22 ; at Congress of Aix-

 

Richelieu (continued)
la-Chapelle, 24; resigns office, 26; re-
turn to power, 30; favours intervention
in Spain, 64; letter to Capodistrias
on Austrian intervention in Italy, 64;
and Greek rebellion, 81; Ministry of
1820, 90 ; confidence of, 91 ; resignation
and death, 92

Richemont, General,
Rhine, 175

Richmond, Duke of, 755

Richmond, the Federal operations against,
489; the battle of, 490; is captured by
the Federals, 508

Ridgeway, Sir West, 820

Riego, Colonel Rafael del, 45-9, 90, 94-5,
III

Rieti, defeat of Pepe at, 69

ey oval de, 141, 155, 157-8, 160, 206,

on France and the

Riven, "Earl of (see Goderich, Lord)
Ripon, Lord, appointed Viceroy of India,

792

Riverole, Cardinal, 124

Riviére, Duc de, 200

Roberts, Sir Frederick (Lord), storms the
heights of Peiwar, 789; secures the
Shutargardan Pass, 789; his march on
Cabul, 790; assumes the government
of Afghanistan, 791; his march on
Candahar, 793; sent to succeed Colley
in South Africa, 817; sent to command
in South Africa, 909; occupies Bloem-
fontein, 912; advance on Pretoria, 913 ;
crosses the Klip River, 914 ; determines
to burn the farms, 916

Robinson, J. B., 899

Robinson, Sir Hercules, goo

Rochefort, Henri, 610, 613, 684, 692

Roebuck, Mr., 392-4

Rogier, and Belgian Revolution, 230-2

Rogon, Bishop of, 138

Rollin, Ledru, 274, 310, 312-4, 684

Romagnosi, 71

Rome, under Pius VII., 56; the capital of
art, 57; fears of invasion of Neapolitan
Carbonari, 69;under Leo XII., 123;
Republic formed, 329; captured by
French, 330, 344; the French troops
leave, 328, 567 ; still outside the Italian
Union, 568 ; withdrawal of Frenchtroops,
602; the Legion of Antibes formed, 602 ;
the end of the French occupation, 603;
Garibaldi attacks, with 10,000 men, 605 ;
withdrawal of French garrison from,
670 ; Italian troops enter Roman terri-
tory, 670; the city stormed, 671 ; sur-
render of Papal troops, 671

Ronins, the, of feudal Japan, 846

Roon, 626, 632

Roosevelt, Theodore, 885, 934

Rorke’s Drift, 774, 777-8

Rosebery, Lord, Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, 1886, 823; Foreign Secretary,
836; as Premier, 838; attacks the
House of Lords, and resigns, 839;
appointed Premier, 938; disagreements
with Sir William Harcourt, 938

Rosmead, Lord (see Robinson, Sir Hercules)

Rosmini, ’ Antonio, 301

Rossarolli, General, 72, 134

Rossi, Pellegrino, 328-9

Rossini, 56, 99, 139

986
INDEX

Rouher, 345, 598, 611, 650, 668 Russia (continued)

Roumania, Prince Cusa resigns the throne,
538; Principality of, formed by the
union of Moldavia and Wallachia, 718 ;
Alexander Cusa chosen as sovereign of,
719; Charles Antony of Hohenzollern
becomes King, 719; Alexander II.
crosses into, 729; mobilisation of its
army, 731; country declared indepen-
dent of the Porte, 731 ; Treaty of San
Stefano and, 742; at the Berlin Con-
gress, 750; the cession of Bessarabia, 750

Roumelia, Eastern, settlement of, by the
Berlin Congress, 748-9

Roumelia, Hetairia makes proselytes in, 75

Round Table Conference, the, of 1886, 828

Royal Niger Company, the, 834

“ Royal Volunteers,” the, 109, 119

Royer, Prussian Ambassador at Constanti-
nople, 173 .

Royer-Collard, and Royalist revival in
France, 14; as leader of Doctrinaires
and Vice-President of the Chamber, 18 ;
career of, 20; on restrictive Press Law,
20; his educational reform schemes
opposed by Ultras, 22; helps to frame
new Press Law, 27; expelled from
Council of State, 31; on sacrilege law,
198; and Press Laws, 200; elected in
seven constituencies, 201; appointed
President of Chamber, 202; reads
address to King, 202 ; formulates address
to the King, 203; opposes ‘‘ Laws of
September,” 271

Rozhdeshtvensky, Admiral, 930, 933-4

Ruffo-Scilla, Count, 66

Russell, Lord John, proposes abolition of
“qualifying for office” scheme, 241 ;
member of Grey’s Ministry, 243; and
first Reform Bill, 244-5; introduces
second Reform Bill, 246; introduces
third Reform Bill, 247; the King re-
fuses to accept him as Prime Minister,
255; as Home Secretary, 256; creates
borough franchise, 257; epoch-mark-
ing Ministry of, 1846, 350; and Roman
Catholic hierarchy, 361; defeated, but
retains office, 361 ; and Lord Aberdeen’s
Ministry, 372; replies to Emperor
Nicholas, 375 ; retirement over Crimean
War, 3923; serves under Palmerston,
394; at Vienna Conference, 396;
favours the revolt of Sicily and Naples,
570; introduces Reform Bill, 571; as
Premier, 576

Russell, Odo, 748

Russell, Sir Baker, 804

Russell, Sir Charles, 832

Russia, Metternich’s fears of, 23 ; proposals
with regard to intervention in Italy, 64 ;
political principles in Protocol of Nov-
ember 19th, 1820, 66; intervenes on
behalf of Greece, 80; prepares for war
with Turkey, 82; again intervenes, 87 ;
questions with Turkey left for settlement
after Congress of Verona, 139; plan for
pacification of Greece, 140; proposals
for Greece at second St. Petersburg
Conference, 141; differences between
Austria and, 141; decides to act inde-
pendently on Eastern Question, 142;
rapprochement with Great Britain, 142 ;
death of Alexander I., 143 ; question of

987

 

succession, 144 é¢ seq. ; Decabrist rebel-
lion, 146; accession of Nicholas, 147;
ultimatum to Turkey, 148; Protocol
signed with Great Britain, 149; treaty
of Akkerman signed, 150; treaty of
London with Great Britain and France,
152; prepares for war with Turkey,
162; proposals to Powers, 162-3; de-
cision for war, 164; war declared with
Turkey, 165; plan of campaign, 167;
campaign of 1829, 170; Turks defeated
at Kulevscha, 171; seeks intervention
of Prussia, 171 ; strained relations with
Great Britain and Austria, 172 ; Adria-
nople captured, 172; Peace of Adria-
nople signed, 173; favourable terms of
peace to, 173-4; refuses to join in
scheme for guaranteeing Turkish pos-
sessions in Europe, 176; diplomatic
triumph of, 177; and Poland, 285;
negotiations before the Crimean War,
374-5; ultimatum from Turkey, 377;
“massacre of Sinope,” 378; war de-
clared, 378; death of Nicholas, and
accession of Alexander II., 395; and
the peace negotiations after the Crimean
War, 413-16; losses by the Treaty of
Paris, 421; suppresses the Polish in-
surrection, 514 ; jealous of Prussia, 565 ;
warns France against violation of
neutrality, 651; and the Black Sea,
652; liberation of serfs, 714; other re-
forms under Alexander II., 714; ex-
tension of influence in Central Asia,
715-7; trans-Caspian and trans-Siberian
railways begun, 717; league with Aus-
tria and Germany, 717; and Count
Andrassy’s Note, 722; Slavs of the
Balkan Peninsula, and, 723; presents
Note to the Porte, with the other two
Powers, 724; ultimatum to Turkey,
727; declares war on Turkey, 728;
organisation of its army, 729-30;
last effort made by, to stop the war,
732; war indemnity, 742; possessions
in Asia, and Treaty of San Stefano,
742-3; Austria’s jealousy of, 744; in-
creasing influence, 745; condition of
army in the Balkans, 746; efforts to
create a fleet, 746; outbreak of typhus
in, 746; dispute with Great Britain
settled, 747; cession of Bessarabia to,
750; relations with Asiatic conquests
discussed at Berlin, 751; differences
with, 751; concessions, 751; and Ber-
lin Treaty, 752; and Afghanistan, 763,
787 (see Russo-Turkish War); ad-
vances in Central Asia, 787; drives
the Afghans from Penjdeh, 794 ; feeling
towards Great Britain on Egyptian
affairs, 802; and the Penjdeh incident,
820 ; relations with France, 1887, 833;
its effect on Eastern Asiatics, 840 ; occu-
pies Kuldja, 843; her advance towards
China, 844; convention with Japan,
1858, 847; secret treaty with China,
854; obtains lease of Port Arthur, 889 ;
and the relief of the Peking Legations,
893 ; massacre at Blagovestchensk, 894 ;
treaty with China, 921; arrangement
with Japan about Korea, 921; fails to
fulfil her undertakings, 921; Japan
INDEX

Russia (continued )
presses her claims, 921 ; Japan declares
war on, 921 (see Russo-Japanese War) ;
the Dogger Bank incident, 930; the
Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907, 949

Russo-Japanese war, causes of, 920 ; Japan’s
ultimatum, 921; number and position
of the Russian forces, 921-2; the
Japanese army, 922; their contrasted sea-
power, 922; occupation of Seoul by
the Japanese, 922; defeat of Russian
fleet at Port Arthur, 922; Japanese
march through Korea, 922; sinking of
Admiral Makarov’s flag-ship, 922;
Kouropatkin made Russian commander-
in-chief, 923; position of the four
sections of the Russian army, 923;
defeat of Zasulich, 923 ; comparison of
morale and training of the opposed
forces, 923; Port Arthur cut off, 924;
further operations under Oku, 924-5;
victory of the Japanese at Nanshan,
925; Dalny taken, 925; destruction of
Japanese battleships, 925; further
advance on Port Arthur, 925; Kouro-
patkin’s movements, 925-6; battle of
Telissu, 926; Japanese advance into
the Liao Valley, 926; temporary naval
success of Russians, 926; battle of
Ta-shih-chias, 926; Oku’s successes,
927; losses sustained on both sides,
927; Noghi presses attack on Port
Arthur, 927; annihilation of Russian
fleet, 927; nine days’ battle of Liao-
yang, 927-8; naval battle of Shaho,
928; the Japanese before Port Arthur,
929; the ten days’ battle, 929; the
difficulties of retreat, 929; the losses
on the Shaho, 929; the general attack
on Port Arthur, 929; the Dogger Bank
incident, 930; Rozhdeshtvensky’s lu-
dicrous mistake, 930; further attacks
on Port Arthur, 930; Stoessel capitu-
lates, 930; the fall of Port Arthur,
931; the battle of Mukden opens, 932 ;
a wild retreat by the Russians, 933;
Oyama occupies Tieling, 9333 Koutro-
patkin resigns, 933; Linevich as com-
mander-in-chief, 933; Rozhdeshtven-
sky’s fleet destroyed by Togo, 934;
peace negotiations at Portsmouth,
U.S.A., 934; terms of treaty of peace,
935; what Japan gained, 935 ; elements
of ‘Japanese success, 9353 the power of
Bushido, 935

Russo-Turkish war: Russians enter Rou-
mania, 729; Bayazid captured, 731;
storming of Ardahan, 731; Russians
cross the Danube, 731; Gourko’s
attack on the Shipka, 732-3; defeat of
Schildner-Schuldner by Osman Pasha,
734;  Kriidener defeated at Plevna,
734; capture of Sovcha by Skobelev,
735; third battle of Plevna, 735-6;
storm of Kars, 736; defeat of Turkish
forces in Montenegro, 736; success of
the Turks in Bulgaria, 736; Gourko
forced to retire from Eski-Sagra, 736 ;
blockade of Plevna, 737-8; capture of
Elena and Slataritza, 739; Mehemet
Ali’s attempt to relieve Plevna, 739;
fall of Plevna, 740; armistice signed
at San Stefano, 741

 

Ss

SAARBRUCK, battle of, 632

Sachovski, Prince, 145

Sacy, Sylvestre a a

Sa-da-Bandeira, 2

Sadik Pasha and 4 “Four Points, 82

Sadler, Thomas, 253

Sadowa, battle of, 557-8

Safvet Pasha, 748

Sagasta, Ministry of, 883

St. Arnaud, Marshal, 346-7, 379

St. Cloud, 626-7, 631, 672, 681

Saint-Cyr, Marshal, 21-2, 27-9

St. Marsan, Colonel, 70

St. Petersburg, military riots in, on acces-
sion of Nicholas, 146; conferences of,
a -I ; proposals of, rejected by Turkey,

St. Pavai, 645-7

St. Quentin, battle of, 680, 685

Saisons, Société de, 276, 310

Sakhalin, island of, 717, 920, 934

Salabéry, Count, 200

Saldanha, I9I, 194-5, 296-7, 299

Sale, General, 425

Salisbury, Lord, as Foreign Secretary, 743;
the San Stefano Treaty, 745; Gort-
shakov’s reply to, 746; signs an agree-
ment with the Russian Ambassador,
747; at the Berlin Congress, 748-9, 752 ;
head of the India Office, 755; and the
Redistribution Bill, 817; and _ the
Penjdeh incident, 820; 3 precarious posi-
tion of his Ministry, 1885, 821; and
Lord Randolph Churchill, 821 ; becomes
Prime Minister and Secretary for India,
821; his defeat in 1886, 823; at anti-
Home Rule meeting, 826; succeeds
Gladstone in 1886, 827; appoints him-
self Foreign Secretary, 827; advocates
the “resolute government,” 828; and
the Parnell forgery, 829; as Foreign
Secretary, 1887, 833; and the Triple
Alliance, 1887, 833; his resignation in
1892, 836; sends Sir Henry Drummond
Wolff to Egypt, 868 ; and the Boer War,
go2; reply to Boer overtures for peace,
912; his tribute to Gladstone, 937;
resignation of, 944; death of, 945

Salonica, murder of Consuls at, 724

Samarkand, 716-7

Samoa, 861, 863

Samos, Greek rising in, 79

Sampayo, Colonel, 113-4

Sampson, Admiral, blockades Cuba, 882 ;
bombards Santiago, 884 ; his fleet enters
Santiago harbour, 887

Samurai, the rulers of feudal Japan, 845,

4

San Carlos, 42-4

San Juan dispute, 710; battle of, 885

San Miguel, 96, 106, 109

San Stefano, armistice signed at, 741;
Treaty of, 742; Great Britain’s in-
dignation at, 743

Sand assassinates Kotzebue, 37

Sand River Convention, the, 896

Sanfedisti, the, 58, 124

Sanna’s Post, disaster at, 913-4

Santa Rosa, Santone di, 70-2, 131, 134, 451

Santiago, bombarded by “American fleets,
ates surrender of town and province,
887

982
INDEX

Sardinia, 72, 457

Satsuma Rebellion, the, 850

Saumur, military rising at, 93

Savoy, the proposed cession to France, 458

Saxe-Weimar, Grand Duke of, 34

Saxony, number of votes in the Bundestag
of, 33 ; invited to make an alliance with
Prussia, 546; capitulates to Prussia,
547; the invasion of, 552; Crown
Prince of, 649, 668-9

Scheffer, Ary, 92, 207

Schildner-Schuldner, General, 734

Schligel, 39

Schleswig, Duchy of, absorbed by Denmark,
325 ; the invasion of, 521 ; the Prussians
in occupation, 522

Schleswig-Holstein, and Germany, 325 ; the
Position in 1863, 516; attitude of
Austria, 516; war in the Duchies, 519;
the position after the war, 523 ; favours,
becoming part of Prussia, 524; freed
from Danish rule, 526; evacuated by
the troops of the Bund, 529; con-
tinues under the dual administration,
530; internal position in 1864, 531;
terms of the Gastein agreement, 532;
the position again becomes acute, 536 ;
Prince Christian Victor of, 940

Schley, Admiral, 882, 884

Schneider, General, 180

Sch6n, on Battle of Navarino, 160

peotene, Church Patronage Bill for, passed,
75

Scurtis, Captain, 131

Sebastopol, Russian fleet at, 377-8; attack
on, decided, 380; advance on, 381 ; de-
cision to bombard, 383 ; bombardment,
384-5; defences of, 384-5; fighting at,
395-6; attacks on, 400; capture of
Mamelon, 401; Russian success, 402;
attack on the Tchernaia, 403-5 ; attack
on the Karabelnaia suburb, 405 ; attack
and capture of the Malakov, 406-7;
attack on the Great and Little Redan,
407; evacuation of, 408

ore aces Italian, 58-9, 300 ; in Poland,
286

Sedan, review of army of occupation by
Tsar and King of Prussia at, 24 ; Mac-
Mahon concentrates his remaining
forces at, 656 ; Emperor arrives at, 656 ;
Wimpffen arrives at, with orders to
supersede Failly, 657; position of
French army at, on September rst, 1870,
658; beginning of battle of, 659;
Emperor hoists the white flag, 661;
fortress summoned to surrender, 662

Sedulah Bey, 748

Selborne, Lord, his Judicature Bill, 712

Sémonville, 215, 217

Seo de Urgel, 96, 101

Seoul, 844, 849, 851-2, 922

Septembrists, the, of Portugal, 298-9

Sepulveda, 51, II2, 114

Sermoneta, Duc de, 316

Servia, Greek hopes shattered concerning,
75; the reigning family of Obrenovich
deposed, 719 ; accession of Michael III.,
720; his murder, 720; succeeded by
Milan, 720; joins in the Russo-Turkish
War, 741; and Treaty of San Stefano,
742; independence secured to, by the
Berlin Congress, 750

 

Servile Party in Spain, 41-2, 49, 90, 93, 94-5,
0

10g

Servite Brotherhood, suspension of, 451

Settimo, Ruggieri, 305, 327-8

Seville, disorder in, 90

Seymour, Admiral, 893

Seymour, Sir Beauchamp, arrives in Egypt,
800; bombards Alexandria, 801

Seymour, Sir Hamilton, 374-5

Shafter, General, 884

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 253

Shah Shuja, 425

Shaho, the, Russians driven back to, 928-9

Shanghai, 840-1

Sharp, Granville, and slavery, 251

Sheep-farming in Australia, its origin, 855

Shepstone, Sir Theophilus, 761, 771

Shere Ali, 762-3, 786-7

Shereef Pasha, 764

Sherman, General 505-7

Shiloh, the battle of, 488

Shimonoseki, 846

Shimonoseki, Treaty of, 1895, 853, 920

Shipka Pass, 732-3, 736, 741

Sho, the Japanese traders, 848

Shogun, the, of feudal Japan, 845, 847

Shugo, Japanese military class, 845

Shumla, 167, 171

Shutargardan Pass, 341

Shuvalov, Count, 716

Siberia, 715, 717

Siccardi laws (see Leggi Siccardiant)

Sicily, Constitution granted by Lord William
Bentinck, 59; united to Naples, 59;
under Ferdinand I., 59; Revolution in,
62; repression of, 63; the Revolution
begins in Palermo, 305; Ferdinand
dethroned, 327; civil war, 327; Naples
victorious, 328

Sidmouth, Lord, 5, 237

Sikh War, the 427-9

Sikukuni, 896

Silistria, 167, 171-2, 176

Silveira, Count Antonio, 51, 113-4, 298

Simon, Jules, 344, 684

Simpson, General, 402, 410

Simson, President, 683

Sind, war with, 426-7

Sinope, ‘‘ Massacre”’ of, 378

Sismondi and Philhellenism, 136

“ Six Acts,” 8

Skobelev, General, 717, 735, 737-8, 747-8

Slave trade, suppression of, discussed at Aix-
la-Chapelle, 25; Anglo - Portuguese
treaty on, 117

Slavery, abolition of, question raised in
England, 238, 251; history of, in
America, 475; prohibition of, in
America, 475; the non-slavery States,
475; hostility to, 475; growth of the
abolition movement, 476; the anti-
slavery cause gains in power, 477;
Lincoln states the issue, 478; John
Brown’s raid, 478; its suppression in
Australia, 866

Slavs, struggle with Magyars, 335

Smith, William Henry, Financial Secretary
under Beaconsfield 755 ; becomes leader
of the House of Commons, 1886, 8275
introduces the “ guillotine,” 828

Smuts, General, 918

Smyrna, massacre of Greeks in, 80

Smyth, Patrick, 712

989
INDEX

Sobraon, battle of, 428

Social Democracy, rise of, in France, 313

Sofia, 741, 748, 752-3

Soledad, Treaty of, 591

Solferino, battle of, 468 et seq.

Somaglia, Cardinal, 123

Somerset, Lord Fitzroy, 106

Sonderbund, the, 306, 356

Sonntag and Philhellenism, 138

‘Sons of Padilla,” the, 49

Soult, Marshal, 269, 276-7, 279

South Africa, Lord Carnarvon’s scheme for
the federation of, 757-8; drafting of
Constitution for, 1909, 919

South Africa Company, foundation of, 834

South America, revolt of Spanish Colonies

in, 45
South Australia, its foundation, 856, 858 ;
self-government of, 858 ; and federa-
tion, 861 ; and inter-colonial Free Trade,
862; and the Federal Council of 1885,
863; and Federation, 864-5
Spa Fields, meeting of Radicals in, Decem-
ber, 1816, 4
Spain, relations with South American
Colonies discussed at Congress of Aix-
Ia-Chapelle, 25; Revolution and, 41;
Constitution of 1812, 41; effect of
Constitution, 42; return of Ferdinand,
II., 42; retrograde condition under
Ferdinand, 43-4; revolt of American
Colonies, 45, 94; military rising in
the south, 45; other risings in the
north, 46; Ferdinand accepts the Con-
stitution of 1812, 46; rejoicings in
Madrid and the provinces, 46-7; Liberal
Ministry of 1820, 47; suppression of
monasteries and religious orders, 48 ;
terrible condition in 1820, 49 ; question
of intervention at Laibach, 69; unrest
in 1821, 89; as an asylum of political
refugees, go ; disorder in, 90, 94; revolts
against the King, 94, Regency es-
tablished by Northern insurgents, 96 ;
attitude of the Powers, 97; considered
at the Congress of Verona, 99; reply
to the Powers, 106; Great Britain’s
efforts to prevent war with France,
106; Bessiére’s rebellion, 106-7; in-
vaded by France, 108; Government
moves to Seville, 108; French vic-
tories, 108; Provisional Junta formed,
109; Jesuits recalled, 109; Cortes
retires to Cadiz, 109; White Terror
in, 109; disorder in, 110; Angouléme
and the Regency, 110; the King set
free, 111; French warning to the
King, 111; return of the King to
Madrid, 111 ; treaty with France, 112;
rise of the ‘ Apostolicals,” 118; reign
of terror revived, 118; deplorable con-
dition of the country, 119; effect of
Portuguese Constitution in, 186; Apos-
tolical risings, 190 ; death of the Queen,
190; Ferdinand’s marriage with Maria
Cristina, 191; Pragmatic Sanction re-
vived, 191; Thiers’ proposed inter-
vention in, 272; the Pragmatic Sanc-
tion withdrawn and again revived, 290 ;
Cristinos and Carlists, 290; death of
Ferdinand, 291; Queen Isabella and
Don Carlos, 291 ; the Estatuto Real, 292 ;
Revolution of La Granja, 293; Con-

 

Spain (continued)
stitution of 1836, 293; abdication of
Cristina, 294; Espartero’s Regency,
294-5; rise of Narvaez and his rule as
dictator, 295; the rebellion in, 620;
the complications arising from the
vacant throne, 621; Prince Leopold re-
fuses the Crown, 624; her humiliation
by the United States, 888

Spanish-American War, the, 881 ef seg.

Spanis Constitution (see Constitution of
1812)

Spaun, Count, 329

Spencer, Earl, Viceroy of Ireland, 815;
and the Plan of Campaign, 827 ; and the
Home Rule Bill of 1893, 837

Spencer, Lord (see Althorp, Lord)

“Spheres of influence,” British and German,
in Africa, 834

Spezzia, Greek rising in, 78

Sphakiotes, rising of the, 79

Spion Kop, 909

Sporades, the, Greek rising in, 79

Stackelberg, General, 925-6, 929

Stanley, Lord, 251-2, 255 (see Derby, Lord)

Steevens, George, 876

Stein, Baron, 32, 39, 138, 160

Stephen, Grand Duke, 336

Stephenson, George, 249

Sterkstroom, General Gatacre at, 909

Stewart, Colonel, murder of, 810

Stewart, Lord, on French elections, 1819, 25

Stewart, Sir Charles, 117, 186-7

Stewart, Sir Donald, 789, 792

Stewart, Sir Herbert, 811

Steyn, President of the Orange Free State,

913, 917-8 . :
Stockton and Darlington Railway, opening

of, 249

Stoessel, General, 923, 926, 930

Stoletov, General, 788

Stone, General, in Porto Rico, 888

Stormberg, 907-8

Stourdza, hatred of German students of, 37

Straffoldo on Piedmontese Revolution, 71

Strangford, Lord, 81-2, 87, 99, 102, 140, 142

Strassburg, siege of, 670

Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord, succeeds Lord
Strangford at Constantinople, 140; in-
terview with Metternich and Nesselrode,
141; negotiates with Mavrocordatos
and the Porte, 149; in constant com-
munication with Mavrocordatos, 154;
sanctions appointment of Cochrane and
Church to command of Greek forces,
155; effect of new Greek constitution
on plans of, 156 ; instruction to Admiral
Codrington, 157; to meet Greek re-
presentatives in Corfu, 167; at Paris
Conference on Greek frontiers, 187;
ambassador to Constantinople, 375;
arrival in Constantinople, 376; offends
Russia and given control of British
fleet, 376; responsibility for Crimean
War, 376; Queen Victoria and, 377

Strauss, David F., 305

Strognov, 80-1

Students’ agitation for liberty in Germany,

35
Students’ Association in Germany, 36
Suakin, 833, 872
Subserra, Count, 115-7
Suchosanet, General, 147

999
INDEX

Sudan, outbreak of war in the, 806; the
decision to abandon and evacuate it,
807 ; its abandonment, 812 ; left in the
possession of the Khalifa, 833; British
reconquest of, contemplated, 873; final
settlement of the, 880

Suez Canal, shares purchased by Beacons-
field, 758-9; offices of the Company
taken possession of by the British, 803 ;
its neutralisation, 805, 833

Suffrage, manhood, advocated by Chamber-
lain, 814

Sugar tax, alteration of, 350

Suleiman Pasha, 736-9, 741

Sussex, Duke of, and Queen Victoria, 259

Sutsos, Gregory, 75

Swan River Settlement, 857

Swaziland, 898

Swellendam declares independence, 895

Swiss Guard, death of, in the Tuileries, 215

Switzerland, Philhellenic movement in, 135,
138; revolution begins in, 305; the
Sonderbund, 306; civil war, 306;
Federal reforms, 307; a model consti-
tution, 307 ; progress of, 308 ; the refer-
endum in, 867

Sydney, Lord, 855

Sydney, National Australian Convention
meets at, 864

Syed Nur Mohammed, 788

Symons, General Sir William Penn, 905

Syria, British intervention in, 264

T

TAHITI, 282

Taikwa, ancient Japanese constitution, 847

Takir Pasha, 156-7, 209

Taku forts, dismantling of, 894; landing of
Japanese forces at, 920, 924

Talana Hill, battle of, 905

Talaru, French Ambassador in Madrid,
Iog-1I, 118
Talleyrand, character of, 13; appointed

Grand Chamberlain, 14; supports the
Extremists, 17; on Lainé’s franchise
scheme, 18; against Saint-Cyr’s army
reform scheme, 21 ; and Ferdinand VII.
of Spain, 42; and Press Law, 92; pro-
tests against war with Spain, 107 ; and
Louis Philippe, 207; founds Le
National, 207

Tantia Topee, 427, 446

Tariff Reform comes into practical politics,
945; Mr. Chamberlain and, 947

Tartuffe, 199

Ta-shih-chias, battle of, 926

Tasmania, its discovery, 855; an offshoot
from New South Wales, 856; extinc-
tion of the aborigines, 856;  self-
government of, 858; constitution of,
859; and federation, 861, 864-5; and
the Federal Council of 1885, 863

Tatischev, 102, 142, 169

Tegethoff, Admiral, 524

Tel-el-Kebir, battle of, 804

Tel-el-Mahuta, defeat of Egyptians at, 803

Telissu, battle of, 926

Temperance legislation, 835-6; reform, 839

Terceira, 194-5, 297

Tergukasov, General, 736

Territorial force, the formation of the, 949

Test Act, repeal of, 240

 

Tewfik Pasha, 764, 797-8, 802, 868

Texas enters the Union, 475

Texeira, 51

The Black Dwarf, 5

Thebaw, King, 822

Thermopyle, defeat of Diakos near, 79

Theron, Daniel, 911

Thessaly, revolt in, 80

Thiers, Louis, founds Le National, 207 ; and
Revolution of July, 217; and the Duc
d Orléans, 218 ; reconciles Republicans
and Duc d’Orléans, 221; in Soult’s
Ministry, 269; energetic measures
against revolutionists, 270; Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, 271; differences
with the King, 271; resignation, 272,
279; and conquest of Algiers, 273;
and Napoleonism, 274; leader of
Left Centre, 275; attack on the
Monarchy, 276; Prime Minister, 277;
turns his attention to writing,
281; struggle with Guizot, 283; and
“ Reform’ banquets, 310; returned
to National Assembly, 314; on the

Republic, 317; member of “ Union
Electoral,” 343; arrested by Louis
Napoleon, 346; and Committee of

Government and National Defence, 666 ;
on the dissolution of the Senate, 668 ;
at head of the Executive of the National
Assembly, 688; his popularity, 688 ;
signs preliminaries of peace, 688;
arrives at Versailles, 689; is arraigned
by the Commune, 693, 695 ; begins the
siege of Paris, 693; denounces the
Commune, 695 ; his work of repression,
696; President of the French Republic,
6

97
Thiersch, Frederick, 134-5
Thionville, 674, 697
Thistlewood, Arthur, and the Cato Street
Conspiracy, 9
Thomas, Clément, 689
Thomaz, Manoel Fernandez, 51, 113
Thorneycroft, Colonel, 909
Thornton, British Minister at Lisbon, 117
Thorwaldsen in Rome, 57
“Three acres and a cow,” 823
Tibet, the mission to, 950
Ticino, Austrian’s retreat to, 465
Tieling, occupied by Oyama, 933
Tientsin, bombardment of, by Boxers, 893
Tientsin, Convention of (1885), 852
Tientsin, Treaty of, 841; Treaty of (1884),

843

Times, The, publication of Russo-British
Protocol in, 150; Treaty of London
ublished in, 152; and the Parnell
orgery, 829, 831-2

Ting, Admiral, 853

Tirnova, 732

Todleben, General, 383-5, 395-7, 402-3, 637,

746

Togo, Admiral, 922, 924, 926, 934

Tokar, battle of, 868

Tokugawa, powerful Japanese family, 846;
their defeat, 847

Tongking, and France, 843

Toreno, the Marquis, 47

Torre, General della, 71

Toski, defeat of the Dervishes at, 868

Toulouse, Communal Government set up in,

693

gor
INDEX

Tours, provisional Government at, 673, 678

Tower of London, dynamite outrage at, 814

Trade Unions (Great Britain), legislation of,
708; desire repeal of Lord Aberdeen’s
Act, 755-6

Transportation to New South Wales, cessa-
tion of, 856

Transvaal, annexation of, by Great Britain,
761 ; unsuccessful opposition to, 761-2 ;
and Great Britain’s withdrawal, 816;
independence restored, 817 ; Boers form
independent community in, 896;
Republic founded, 896; annexation of,
by Great Britain (1887), independence
restored, and suzerainty acknowledged,
897; attempts to extend its borders,
898 ; naturalisation in the, 898-901 ; im-
portation of arms after the Jameson
Raid, 900 ; full self-government granted
to, in 1906, 918 (see Boer War)

Transylvania, 337-8

Trautenau, battle of, 555

Trelawney, accompanies Byron to Greece,

13)

Trent affair, the, 484, 572

Trevelyan, Sir Charles, 705

Tee (Sir) George, 706, 762, 815, 825,
2:

Tricoupis, Constantine, 138

Tricoupis, Spiridion, 137, 179, 181

Tricoupis, the Primate, 136

“Trimmers,” the, 248

Triple Alliance of 1820 (Austria, Prussia,
and Russia), 66; Metternich tries to
Tevive, 176

Triple Alliance, the, between Germany,
Austria, and Italy, 1887, 833

Tripolitza, 77-8, 83, 131

Trochu, General, 649, 665-7 677, 680-1

Troppau, Congress of, 6

Trubetzkoi, Prince, and Decabrist revolt,
146-7

Tsailan, Prince, sentenced to death, 894

Tsai-tien, becomes Emperor of China as
Kwang Hsu, 842

Tseng, Marquis, 843-4

Ts’ing, the first Manchu ruler of China, 841

Tsingtao, seized by Germany, 889

Tsungli Yamen, the, foments anti-foreign
feeling, 891 ; abolition of, 894

Tsushima, battle of, 934

Tsu-tsi, soie regent of China, 843

Tuan, Prince, 893-4

Tugela, the, crossing of, during the Zulu
war, 774, 783; Buller at, g1o

Tung-chi, Emperor of China, 842

Turbigo, French forces at, 466

Turin, 70, 72; 459, 462, 528, 570

Turkey, and Greek rebellion, 76 et seq.;
ultimatum from Russia, 81; Austria
and Great Britain press ‘‘ Four Points,”
82; Russian plan of settlement of
Turko-Greek question, 140; at St.
Petersburg Conferences, 140-1; rejects
proposals of St. Petersburg Conference,
142 ; abolition of janizaries, 150 ; Treaty
of Akkerman, signed, 150; manifesto
to Powers against intervention in
Greece, 151; three Powers send Col-
lective Note, 156; right of intervention

denied, 157; action after Navarino,
161 ; proposals of Powers rejected and
preparations for war, 162; Russia

 

Turkey (continued)
declares war against, 165; defeated by
Russia, and tries to form alliance with
Austria, 171; declines peace pro-
posals of British and French Ambas-
sadors, 171 ; defeat at Adrianople, 172 ;
seeks for peace, 173; peace of Adrian-
ople, 173; losses under peace of
Adrianople, 173; plan suggested
by Great Britain for guaranteeing
possessions in Europe of, 176;
Tsar’s magnanimity to, 176; and Me-
hemet Ali, 279-80; Emperor Nicholas
and, 374-5 ; negotiations before Crimean
War, 375; ultimatum to Russia, 377;
‘Massacre of Sinope,” 378; integrity
guaranteed by Great Britain, France,
and Austria, 421; friendship of, with
Russia, 714-5; French intervention in
affairs of, 718; armed insurrection
in, 722; further spread of insurrection
in, 725 ; joint note presented to, by the
three Powers, 724 ; murder of the Sultan
and accession of Murad V., 724 ; Abdul
Hamid becomes Sultan, 725; punish-
ment of those concerned in the Bul-
garian atrocities demanded by Great
Britain, 726; Conference of Powers in
Constantinople, concerning reforms in
the administration of the Balkan Penin-
sula, 727-8; war declared against, by
Russia, 728; organisation of its army,
728; Great Britain’s offer of ships to,
733; disasters to Turkish arms, 732-3;
inefficiency of its commanders and
Ministers, 734; addresses a circular to
the Powers, 741; and the Treaty of
San Stefano, 743; defensive alliance

with Great Britain, 748; Dulcigno
iven to, 751; surrenders Arabashan,
ars, and Batoum, 752; desperate

state of its finances, 758; and Egypt,
868 ; appoints Commissioner, 869
Turnen, invented by Father Jahn, 35
Turnhailen, closed in Germany, 39
Turnplaiz, first established near Berlin, 35
Tuscany, Duchy of, under Ferdinand III.,
55; Ridolfi becomes head of Govern-
ment of, 305 ; under Republican Govern-
ment, 326, 330; Ricasoli in power, 468 ;
Leopold, Duke of, 468
Tycoon, Iyemitsu assumes the title, 846

U

UGANDA, 834

Ugarte, resignation of, 119

Uitlanders, the, in the Transvaal, 897 ; their
grievances, 898-9; and Sir Alfred
Milner, 901

“ Ultras,” the, 15-8, 22, 25, 68, 81, 91-3, 101,
107, 187, 200, 202-3

Ulundi, battle of, 783

“ Union Electoral,” 343 :

Unionist Party, the, its foundation, 825

Unionists, the, support coercion for Ireland,
1887, 828; and the Home Rule Bill of
1893, 837 ,

United States of America, the: the Monroe
Doctrine, 103, 120; history of the
slavery question, 475 (see also Slavery) ;
the Civil War, 475 et seq. (see Civil War

992
INDEX

United States of America (continued)
in America); Texas admitted to the
Union, 475 ; the war with Mexico, 476;
gold discoveries in, 476 ; California, New
Mexico, and Utah admitted to the
Union, 476; rise of Democratic Party,
477; Jobn Brown’s raid, 478; Lin-
coln becomes President, 478; the Civil
War breaks out, 479; Jefferson Davis
made President of the South, 479; Pre-
sident Johnson’s warning to Napoleon
III., 589; Congress and the Mexican
question, 590; secures free entry at
Shimonoseki and Hakodate, 846; con-
vention with Japan, 1858, 847; war
with Spain (see Spanish-American War)

Universities (Great Britain), abolition of
religious tests at, 707; Commission
appointed to investigate affairs of, 762

Unkiar Skelessi, Treaty of, 276-7

Upper Nile, European Powers and the, 871

Vv

VALEE, MARSHAL, 273

Valencay, Treaty of, 42

Valencia, rising at, 94

Valtetsi, battle of, 78

Van Diemen’s Land, discovery of, 855

Vardarelli, Gaetano, 60

Varna, 167, 748

Veregas, General, 90

Venetia, Austria relaxes her rule in, 456;
Italy’s offer of purchase, 535 ; offered to
Italy by Austria, 542; the invasion of,
549 ; again the centre of political strife,
560; war operations in, 566; becomes
part of Italy, 567 :

Venezuela revolts against Spain, 45

Venice, revolutionary rising in, 71 ; effect of
Novara on, 333 ; Republic formed, 333 ;
conquered by Austria, 333

Verdun, capture of, 674

Verona, Congress of, 98-104

Versailles, headquarters of King, 669, 672;
National Assembly at, 689; its army
marches on Paris, 693-5; gains posses-
,sion of Paris, 696

Veuillot and Catholic Party, 367

Vicenza, occupation of, 566

Vicksburg, fall of, 497

Victor, Marshal (see Belluno, Duc de)

Victor Emmanuel I., 53, 70

Victor Emmanuel II., 72, 333, 449, 452, 454,
455» 457s 4593 407, 472-3, 529, 538, 567,

52

Victoria, Australia, its foundation, 856-7 ;
self-government of, 858; rapid increase
of population on discovery of gold, 860;
and federation, 861, 864-5; and pro-
tection, 862; and the Federal Council
of 1885, 863 :

Victoria, Queen, accession of, 258-9; corona-
tion, 262; chooses her husband, 263 ;
marriage, 264; visit to Louis Philippe,
282; on the Spanish marriages, 283 ;
visit to Ireland, 355 ; and foreign policy,
355; and Palmerston, 358; and Louis
Napoleon, 362; on Wellington, 371;
against war with Russia, 376; and
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, 377; and
Crimean War, 393-4; on Emperor and
Empress of France, 398 ; visit to Paris,

 

Victoria, Queen (continued)
402 ; on the capture of Sebastopol, 408 ;
and Duleep Sing, 429; proclamation on
Indian Government, 467; determines
the British policy on the Danish crisis,
520; promises a new Reform Bill, 577 ;
and Sir Charles Dilke, 709; and Glad-
stone and Balmoral, 709; dislike of
the Prime Minister, 709; receives a
personal appeal from Abdul Hamiz,
741; her trust in Beaconsfield, 760 ;
proclamation as Queen-Empress, 760 ;
sends for Hartington and Gladstone to
form a Ministry, 769; her reproof. to
the latter, 769; indignation at the fall
of Khartum, 812; remonstrates with
Gladstone, 814; and the Reform Bill
of 1884, 817; and the Penjdeh incident,
820 ; and the Ministerial crisis of 1885,
821; her Jubilee, 828, 863; adjusts
differences between Italy and Abys-
sinia, 868; the Diamond Jubilee cele-
brations, 936; her personal activity
in governing, 938; and the Boer War,
939; her visit to Ireland in 1900, 940;
death of, 940; scenes at the funeral
of, 941 ; an assessment of her influence,

941

Vienna, Conference of German States at, 39;
riots in, 321; in terror of a Prussian
invasion, 562; Prince Frederick Charles
advances upon, 563

Vienna, Conference of, on Crimean settle-
ment, 396-7

Vienna, Congress of, question of German
unity at, 32; disappointment of Ger-
man Liberals with results of, 34;
and Greece, 75

Vienna Note, 377

Vienna, Peace of, 3, 567

Vienna, Treaty of, Genoa joined to Piedmont
by, 53; House of Carignan safeguarded
by, 54; Duchy of Lucca and, 55;
Austria appointed guardian of peace in
Italy by, 64

Vieusseux, Giampietro, 56, 123

Villaflor and Dom Miguel, 194

Villafranca, 469, 472, 551

Villafranca, Peace of, 24

Villafranca, Prince of, 62

Villéle, 15-6, 18-9, 31, 90-2, 97, IOI-2, 105,
109, I20-I, 139, 187, 197-200

Villemain and Louis Philippe, 207

Viller, Jules, 695

Villersexel, battle of, 685

Villiers, Mr., 350, 371 ;

Vincent, Austrian Ambassador in Paris, 92

Vionville, battle of, 642-3

Vitrolles and Charles X., 214, 217-8

Vitzthum, 651-2

Vladivostok, 923, 934

Volkonski, Prince, 144

Voluntary schools and free education, 836

Von der Tann, 659, 674, 676, 678

Von Ketteler, Baron, 893

Von Roon, Albert, 511

Vorparlament at Frankfort, 323-4

w

WanopincTon, M., 748, 805
Wade, Sir Thomas, 842

993
INDEX

Wady Halfa, 811, 872, 875

Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 858

Wales, Prince of (Edward), marriage to
Princess Alexandra, 574; public thanks-
giving for his recovery, 709 (see Edward
VII., King)

Walewski, 399, 416-8

Wallachia, Russians enter, in 1828, 167

Walpole, William, 195

War of Liberation, 35, 39

Warren, Sir Charles, 909

Wasa, Prince of, 137

Wauchope, General, 876, 908

‘* Waverers,”’ the, 248

Webb, Sidney, 708

Webster, Sir Richard, 731

Wei-hai-wei, 853, 890

Weissenberg, battle oo 633-4.

Wellington, Duke of, his influence in France
after Waterloo, 13 ; warns Louis XVIII.
against the Comte @ Artois, 16 ; opposes
Richelieu on question of withdrawal of
foreign troops, 18; mediates on Saint-
Cyr’s scheme of army reform, 21;
mediates on Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg’s
claims, 22; at Congress of Aix-la-
Chapelle, 24; disturbed by creation of
new French Peers, 27; portents of
Peterloo, 40; and lost cause of Spain,
41 ; opposes Liberal Party in Spain, 42 ;
efforts to protect Spanish Liberals, 43 ;
Beresford’s letters from Portugal, 50;

against intervention in Spain, 64;
appointed British representative at
Verona, 98; and the Tsar, 99; at

Verona, 99; declares Britain’s policy
at Verona, 100 ; refuses to sign the pro-
tocol, 101; opens question of Spanish
Colonies at Verona Conference, 103;
offers to mediate between France and
Spain, 105 ; recommends Beresford as
head of Portuguese army, 115; pro-
poses to protect King of Portugal with
Hanoverians, 117; goes to St. Peters-
burg, 148-9; leaves the Cabinet, 152;
as Prime Minister, 163 ; reply to Metter-
nich’s note, 164; cautious action over
Russo-Turkish war, 166; secessions
from Cabinet of, 166 ; loses popularity,
168 ; opposed to suggestions of Metter-
nich, 169; and General Miiffling, 172;
on Turkey’s position, 176 ; recalls Cod-
rington, 179; disapproves of Stratford
Canning’s action, 182; and Greek inde-
pendence, 182; and Prince Leopold’s
candidature for Greek crown, 183 ; and
Portuguese Constitution, 187 ; disagrees
with Canning, 189; on withdrawal of
British troops from Portugal, 193;
attempts to mediate between Dom
Pedro and Portugal, 194; refuses to
help Brazilian oped ier to Terceira,
195; attacked in Parliament, 195; and
French Algerian expedition, 209; de-
clines to serve under Canning, 239;
becomes Prime Minister, 240 ; opposes
reform, 242; resigns, 243; and first
Reform Bill, 245; opposes second
Reform Bill, 247; and third Reform
Bill, 248 ; and death of Huskisson, 249 ;
again becomes Prime Minister, 255 ;
advises Lords to submit on Municipal
Reform, 257; and Chartists’ great peti-

 

Wellington (continued)

Lon 352; denounces national defences,
; death, 371

Welsh. ‘Disestablianment, 836, 839

Werder, Von, 670-1, 674, 684-5

West Indies, abolition of slavery in, 252

Western Australia, its foundation, 856-7;
industries, 858; self - government
granted, 858; discovery of gold in,
859; and the Federal Council of 1885,
863; and Federation, 865

Westminster, Duke of, 727

Westminster Hall, attempted dynamite out-
rage at, 814

Weyer, Van de, 230-1, 233

Wharncliffe, Lord, 248

Wheeler, Sir Hugh, 436

White, Sir George, 905, 908

White Nile, the, 880

White Terror, the, 13, I9, 45, 109, 119 20

Wilberforce, W., and slavery, 251-2

Wilhelmshéhe, 663

William I. of Netherlands, 224, 227, 229-31

William I., Emperor (of Germany) hears of
Tsar’s arrangements for the succession,
144 ; visit to St. Petersburg when Crown
Prince, 165; ferbidden by King to
take part in Russo-Turkish war, 1828,
167; marriage with Princess Augusta,
171-2; sent to England, 323; seeks to
prevent war with Austria, 527 ; favours
war with Austria, 532, 537; determines
to resist rash counsels, 540; gives the
word for war, 545; takes command of
the army, 556; astounded at Napo-
leon’s duplicity, 560 ; in sight of Vienna,
563; refuses “guarantees for the
future” demanded by Gramont, 624-5 ;
holds informal council at Brandenburg
Station, 627; in command of central
Prussian army, 631; his anxiety, 632;
enters Mainz, 633; commands during
fight round Metz, 647; at Pont-a-
Mousson, 648 ; arrives‘at Buzancy, 657 ;
at the battle of Sedan, 660; his answer
to the Emperor’s letter, 662 ; at Réthel,
668; at Reims, 668 ; crowned Emperor
at Versailles, 680; his coronation at
Versailles, 683; abstains from accom-
panying the troops in their march
through Paris, 689; and the San Juan
dispute, 710

William IV., 243, 246, 248, 255, 258

William, Prince, of Baden, 675

William, Prince, of Prussia, 509, 51I (see
William I.)

Wilson, Sir Charles, 811

Wimpfien, General, 466, 657, 660-3

Windischgratz, Prince, 321, 337, 339

Window tax, 361

Wingate, General, 872, 879

Witthoft, Admiral, 927

Wolff, Sir Henry Drummond, 821, 869

Wolseley, Sir Garnet, 782-3, 803-4, 808, 810

Wood, Alderman, 236

Wood, Sir Charles, 350

Wood, Sir Evelyn, 774, 870

Wooler, printer of The Black Dwarf, 5

Workmen’s Parliament in Paris, 314

Worth, battle of, 635, 651

Wiirtemberg, 33-4, 565, 682

Wiirtemberg, King of, 135

Wiirzburg, armistice signed at, 565

994
INDEX

Vv
Yaxus KHAN, 789-92, 843
Yalu River, 853
Yedo, 847

Yokohama, 846

York, Duke of, opposition to Catholic
Emancipation, and death of, 239

Young, General, 885

* Young Italy” Society, 300-1

Ypsilanti, Demetrius, 82-4, 86, 126-7, 180-1

Ypsilanti, George, 76

Ypsilanti, Nicholas, 76

Ypsilanti, Prince Alexander, 75-7, 80

Z
ZAGAZIG, 804
Zaimis, Andrew, 179
Zaimis, Primate of Kalavryta, 78, 127

 

Zanzibar, 834

995

Zastrow, 637, 641, 674, 685

Zasulich, 923

Zea Bermudez, 119

“ Zelanti,” the, 56

Zichy, Count, murder of, 336

Zobeir Pasha, 809-10

Zululand, 770, 898

Zulu. War—Cetewayo receives ultimatum
from Sir Bartle Frere, 764; cause of
the war, 772; British forces engaged
in, 773-4; the Zulu army, 774; Lord
Chelmsford encamps at Isandhlwana,
774-53; camp overwhelmed by Zulus,
775 ; scene at the Buffalo River, 775-6;
gallant defence of Rorke’s Drift,
777-8; relief of Ekowe, 778-9; death
of the Prince Imperial, 781-2; battle
of Ulundi, 783

Zumalacarregui, 292

Ziirich, Philhellenic movement at, 135

Zurlo, 61
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