CIass.J}358 Book v i CopigM . COPYRIGHT DEPOSm PROGRESS OF 1 HE CENTURY. j(i yu [ Story of One Hundred Years A MATCHLESS RECORD OF THE GREATEST CENTURY OF HISTORIC TIME. A Comprehensive Review of the Political and Military Events, the Social, Intellectual and Material Progress, and the General State of Mankind in All Lands. Embodying; Detailed and Accurate Accounts of all Things of Importance and Interest, from J 80 1 to 1900, Inclusive. Profusely Illustrated from Historic Paintings and Engravings and from Special Drawings made expressly for this work. By DANIEL B. SHEPP, Aethor of "Shepp's Photographs of the ■World." "Shepp's World's Fair Photographed."* "Shepp'» Giant Library," "Shepp's New York City Illustrated,** etc— etc Published by Globe Bible Publishing Company* 723 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. LIBRARY of CONGRESS! Two Copies Received NOV 28 1904 Copyriem entry CUSS // XXc, Noi COPY B. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 190c, By D. B. SHEPP, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. All rights reserved. PREFACE. ROM 1 80 1 to 1900. It is a small part of the history of the world. It is the merest fraction, insignificant in extent, of the whole story of Time. Yet it surpasses in human inter- est all that had gone before. It has been well said that the Nineteenth Century is properly to be compared not with any other century but with all other centuries put together. And this estimate does not seem extravagant when we consider the marvelous progress which has been made by man in these one hundred years. In all the thrilling interest of war and conquest, of heroic achieve- ment, of daring adventure, the Nineteenth Century is more than the peer of any other. In scientific progress it easily outstrips all its eighteen predecessors, and the forty more that preceded them. In literature, music, art, it proves that the former times were not better than the later. And in social advancement, free institutions, elevation of the masses of the people, and general betterment of the condition of humanity, it so far outranks all other centuries as to seem almost an era in a new world. To tell the story of such an epoch is a task that may well fascinate the fancy and engage the highest endeavors of the historian. In many respects the story can never be fully told, for it is written only upon the hearts and souls of the human race. To tell all that could be told of the Hundred Years, in all its fullness, would require a whole library, and would need a lifetime to read. The present undertaking aims at no such thing as that. It aims at the production of a practical book, which in cost is within the reach of all, and in compass is within the power of all to read, and yet which in scope and detail covers the entire range of the century and includes every fact of real and lasting import. In performing this task the historian must tell the story of his own land, in its progress from the estate of a puny handful of half-settled States to that of one of the greatest powers on the face of the globe. In so doing he must tell of great foreign and domestic wars, of territorial expansion, and of such inventive and industrial genius as the world has not elsewhere seen. He must tell of the mighty wars of the Old World, of the gradual emancipation ol nation after nation from absolutism to 14 PREFACE. constitutional government. He must tell of the opening of the Dark Continent, and of the lands of Asia, and the settlement of the islands of the sea, and the extension into them of the arts of civilization. The rise and fall of empire, the transforming of the map of the world, are mere incidents in the progress of the mighty drama. For the proper fulfilment of such a task it is necessary to draw upon all sources of information, to ransack libraries, documents, statistics, and a vast wealth of data wholly inaccessible to the average man ; and to glean therefrom the choicest grain of information and place it in practi- cal and attractive form before the reader. The resources of pictorial art are likewise to be utilized, in the securing of present scenes of inter- est and the reproduction of old ones from the great galleries and treasure houses of art. The labor involved in such an undertaking is enormous. But the satisfaction in achieving it is likewise beyond all estimation. The work is done, ended with the closing days of the century which it records. It is offered to the reader with an earnest hope that it will be found not unworthy of its exalted theme, and that it will assist the multi- tudes who may peruse it to form a more adequate estimate of the " clos- ing cycle " than would have been possible without it. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Dawn of the New Century — Washington the National Capital — War with Tripoli — Ohio Admitted to the Union — Duel Between Hamilton and Burr — The Louisiana Purchase — Re-election of Mr. Jefferson — Trouble with England and France — The Embargo — Impressment of Seamen — Chesa- peake and Leopard — The First Steamboat — Jefferson's Retirement 33 CHAPTER II. The Napoleonic Wars — Copenhagen — Alexandria — Reconstruction of France — War Renewed — England Threatened with Invasion — Emmett's Rebellion — - Napoleon Made Emperor — Ulm, Trafalgar and Austerlitz — Changing the Map of Europe — Jena and Auerstadt — Friedland — The Peninsular War — French Troops in Madrid — Victories of Napoleon 40 CHAPTER III. General Progress of the World — Independence of Hayti — Seizure of Toussaint — Bloody Independence — King Henry — Peruvian Revolution — Buenos Ayres — Disaster to the British — Storming of Buenos Ayres — Moving for Independence — Civil Dissensions — Success of the Revolution — Other Countries Revolt — Colombian Independence — Science and Literature — American Literature 52 CHAPTER IV. Madison Becomes President of the United States — Trouble with the Indians — The War of 1812 — American Disasters — -Victories at Sea — Invasion of Canada — Battle of Lake Erie — British Success at Sea — Chippewa and Lundy's Lane - — Lake Champlain — Burning of Washington — Talking of Peace — Battle of New Orleans — Hartford Convention — The Creek War — Close of Mr. Madison's Administration 68 CHAPTER V. Austria Against Napoleon — Napoleon's Divorce and Re-marriage — Wellington at Torres Vedras — Turn of the Tide in Spain — Quarrel with Russia — Marching to Moscow — Borodino — Destruction of Moscow — Horrors of the Retreat — Destruction of the Grand Army — Lutzen and Leipsic — Invasion of France — Napoleon's Return from Elba — Waterloo — Restoration of the Bourbons — The Second Peace of Paris 79 15 1 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. The War for Independence in South America -■—Simon Bolivar — Liberator and Dictator — La Puerta and San Marco — Republic of Bolivia — Revolution of Mexico — Hidalgo — Death of Hidalgo — Calleja — Russia and Turkey — Stories of the Years — Scientific Progress 9* CHAPTER VII. James Monroe Becomes President of the United States — Acquisition of Florida — The Monroe Doctrine — Three New States — The Missouri Compromise — Treaties and Controversies — Lafayette — The Pension System — Revision of the Tariff — Re-election of Mr. Monroe 101 CHAPTER VIII. Treaty of Paris — Reaction in Europe — The Manchester Meeting — The Barbary Pirates — Disquiet in France — Rebellion in Spain — Revolution in Portugal — Naples and Sicily — Revolution in Piedmont — Congress at Carlsbad — The Greek Revolution — Independence Proclaimed — Turkish Atrocities — The Greek Constitution — The Destruction of Scio — Marco Bozzaris — Byron at Missolonghi — The Egyptian Fleet at Navarino 109 CHAPTER IX. Great Britain and the Indian Empire — The Mahratta War — Obrenovitch, Prince of Servia — Revolutions in America — The Triumph of Bolivar — The Repub- lic of Colombia — Three Republics Organized — Death of Bolivar — Iturbide in Mexico — Treaty of Cordova — Iturbide Emperor — Fall of Iturbide — Liberia — "Byron is Dead" — Literature and Science — Trumbull's Paintings • — Steam Navigation — Death of Decatur 125 CHAPTER X. John Quincy Adams Becomes President of the United States — Trouble with Creek Indians — The Panama Congress — A Notable Anniversary — Political Movements — Election of General Jackson 140 CHAPTER XI. Fall of Louis XVIII — The War in Greece — Accession of Czar Nicholas I — Change of Russian Policy — Destruction of the Janissaries — Declaring for Greek Independence — Battle of Navarino — Russia Makes War on Turkey — Doings in Various Lands - 144 CHAPTER XII. Opening of the Erie Canal — Gas Lighting — Railroads — Arctic Exploration — Early Strikes — Miscellaneous Events 155 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. 17 Andrew Jackson Becomes President of the United States — Changes in Office — Nullification — South Carolina Yields — Georgia and the Cherokees — -Na- tional Bank — Removal of the Deposits — Black Hawk War — Seminole War — Jackson Re-elected — Foreign Affairs 160 CHAPTER XIV. Catholic Emancipation in England — Wellington Prime Minister — Catholic Emancipation Effected — End of the Greek Revolution — Russo-Turkish War — Troubles in France — Conquest of Algeria — Reaction in France — The Revolution Begins — Flight of the King — Belgian Revolution — ■ Unrest in Poland — Outbreak at Warsaw — Russians Routed — The Fall of Poland — Reform Law in England — Triumph of Reform — Doings in Various Lands — The Carlist War 171 CHAPTER XV. Spanish Attack upon Mexico — Usurpation of Bustamente — Defence of the Federal Constitution — Proceedings of Santa Anna — Texas Declared Inde- pendent — New Grenada, Venezuela and Ecuador — Personal Incidents — First Passenger Railway — Exploring the Niger — Copyright Reform — Obituary — Slave Insurrection — Events Abroad — Girard College Founded — Chastis- ing Savage Sumatrians — The Cholera Epidemic — The Death Roll — Treaty with Russia — Rioting in the United States — Shooting Stars — Necrology — Great Fire in New York — Colt's Revolver 189 CHAPTER XVI. Martin Van Buren Becomes President of the United States — The Great Panic — ■ Continuance of the War in Florida — Internal Improvements — Difficulties in the State of Maine — Incidents of the Administration — Changes of Opin- ion Among the People — An Exciting Campaign 203 CHAPTER XVII. Accession of Queen Victoria — Insurrection in Canada — Suppression of the In- surgents — Indemnity in Canada — Outbreak in Acadie — Persian Invasion of Afghanistan — The Chartist Agitation — Attempt to Burn Sheffield — Marriage of Queen Victoria — The Opium War — Hostilities at Macao — Destruction of Chinese Fleet — Attempt to Assassinate Queen Victoria — Louis Napoleon at Boulogne — Remains of Bonaparte Brought Home — The British Princess- Royal — Turkish Affairs — Fall of Acre — Terms of Peace 208 I S CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. Regular Steam Navigation of Atlantic Begun — The "Great Western" — Regular Trips Begun — The "Great Britain" — A Fine Ship's Bad Luck — Origin of the Cunard Line — Antarctic Explorations — Wilkes's Expedition — "Erebus" and "Terror" — New Year's at Mount Sabine — Antarctic Volcanoes — The Icy Barrier — The Attempt Abandoned — Origin of Photography — Temper- ance Societies — Literary Progress 228 CHAPTER XIX. William Henry Harrison Becomes President of the United States — Death of Harrison — John Tyler Becomes President — Ashburton Treaty — Dorr's Re- bellion — Saving Oregon — Anti-Slavery Agitation — General Jackson's Fine — Annexation of Texas — Treaty with China — The Texas Question — Inci- dents of the Administration — End of Tyler's Term 242 CHAPTER XX. Mehemet Ali Ruler of Egypt — Disasters in Afghanistan — Hastening to the Res- cue — Fall of Ghuznee — Capture of Cabul — Release of Captives — Conquest of Scinde — The Bogue Forts — Fall of Canton— Capture of Amoy — Capture of Shanghai — Treaty Signed at Nankin — Annexation of Natal — O'Con- nell's Agitation — British Interests — Two Revolutions 248 CHAPTER XXI. Fremont Explores the Rocky Mountains — Newspapers — Telegraphy — Wheat- stone's System — Greenough's Washington — -Labor Troubles — Francia, the Dictator — Autocracy Extraordinary 263 CHAPTER XXII. James K. Polk Becomes President of the United States — The Mexican War — General Taylor at the Front — Palo Alto — Monterey — President Santa Anna — Taylor Resumes Operations — Buena Vista — Scott at Vera Cruz — Cerro Gordo — Two Bloody Battles — Suing for Peace — Capture of the City of Mexico — Conquest of New Mexico — Fremont's Conquest of California — Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo — The Wilmot Proviso — Discovery of Gold ■ — Close of the Administration — The Free Soil Party 275 CHAPTER XXIII. First Sikh War — Great Battle of Ferozeshah — The Second Sikh War — The Irish Famine — Abolition of the Corn Laws — Break-up of the Tory Party — Emi- CONTENTS. 19 gration from Ireland — Smith O'Brien's Insurrection — End of Chartism — The Spanish Marriages — Discontent in France — Beginning the Revolution —The King's Surrender — The Republic Proclaimed — Rise of the Mob — Organizing the Republic — Louis Napoleon President of France — Affairs in Germany — The Revolutionary Era — Concessions in Prussia — The Op- pression of Italy — Awakening of the Italians — ■ Throwing off the Austrian Yoke — The Suppression of Lombardy — The Pope Flees from Rome — Revo- ' lution in Austria-Hungary — War Threatened in Vienna — War with Hun- gary — "King Bomba" — Reaction in Prussia 286 CHAPTER XXIV. Sir John Franklin Sails to Seek the Northwest Passage — Humboldt's "Kosmos" ■ — Necrology — The Planet Neptune — The Sewing Machine — Anaesthetics — Personal „ 316 CHAPTER XXV. Za/chary Taylor Becomes President of the United States — The Free Soil Party — The Slavery Question — Clay's Compromise — A Famous Oration — Foote's Resolution — Lopez in Cuba — Clayton-Bulwer Treaty — Death of Taylor — Accession of Fillmore — The Lopez Expedition — Incidents of the Adminis- tration — Election of Pierce 320 CHAPTER XXVI The Frankfort Parliament — Organizing a German League — An Error of Tactics — A Christmas Gift to Germany — Framing a Constitution — A King De- clines to be Emperor — A Conflict with the Kings — Revolutionary Move- ments — The First "Dreibund" — Final Failure of the Congress — Schleswig- Holstein — Kossuth's Campaign — Russian Intervention — Another Italian War — Italian Republic Crushed — The Taiping Rebellion — Indian Affairs — Death of Lopez in Cuba — Imperial Ambitions — The Coup d'Etat — Resto- ration of the Empire — Rebuilding Paris 331 CHAPTER XXVII. Barth's Explorations in Africa — Necrology — London World's Fair — Gold in Australia — Helmholtz and the Ophthalmoscope — Caloric Engines — Per- sonal — Kossuth and His Visit — Reception in New York — Death of Mr. Clay ■ — His Career at Washington — Death of Mr. Webster — His Early Career — In Public Life — The Great Expounder of the Constitution — Close of His Career — Submarine Boats — Submarine Telegraphy — The Brothers Brett — The First Cable — Triumph at Last — Extension of the System 350 20 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. Franklin Pierce Becomes President of the United States — Walker in Nicaragua —Anti-Slavery Power in Congress — Ostend Manifesto — Reciprocity with Canada — Squatter Sovereignty — Protests Against Extension of Slavery — The War in Kansas — Organizing the Kansas Government — Anti-Slavery Agitation — "Under-Ground Railroad" — The Sumner-Brooks Episode — Know- Nothing Party — The Republican Party — The Koszta Incident — Perry in Japan : 368 CHAPTER XXIX. Marriage of Napoleon III. — The Crimean War — Invasion of the Crimea — The Charge of the Light Brigade — Inkerman — Sufferings of the Troops — Minis- terial Changes in England — Redan and Malakoff — Terms of Peace — Turk- ish Reforms — Revolution in Spain — British War with China — Opening of Japan — Minor Incidents 379 CHAPTER XXX. Doctor Kane's Search for Franklin — The North-west Passage — New York Crys- tal Palace — Livingstone's Explorations — His First Work in Africa — Impor- tant Discoveries — Crossing the Continent — Victoria Falls — Niagara Sus- pension Bridge — Various Incidents 393 CHAPTER XXXL James Buchanan Becomes President of the United States — Troubles in Kansas — John Brown at Harper's Ferry — The Dred-Scott Decision — Lincoln and Douglas — Lincoln Elected President — Secession — Attitude of the Washing- ton Government — Incidents of the Administration 400 CHAPTER XXXII. End of British War with Persia — Origin of the Mutiny — The Greased Catridges — Outbreak at Meerut — Cawnpore and Lucknow — Suppression of the Mutiny — End of the East India Company — British and French in China- Moving on Peking — Fall of Peking — The Rise of Sardinia — Attempt to Kill Napoleon II — War with Austria — -Magenta and Solferino — Peace of Villafranca — Union of Northern Italy — Savoy and Nice — Garibaldi Liber- ates Naples and Sicily — Defeat of the Papal Army — Victor Emanuel King of Italy — Interests of Various Lands 408 CHAPTER XXXIII. First Atlantic Cable used for a few Messages — African Exploration — Living- stone Discovers Lake Nyassa — "Striking Oil" — Fate of Sir John Franklin — Literary Landmarks — The Death Roll 435 CONTENTS. 2 1 CHAPTER XXXIV. Abraham Lincoln Becomes President of the United States — Plans of Secession- . ists — Beginning of the War — The Great Uprising — The First Fighting — Bull Run — The "Trent" Affair — Fort Donelson — Pittsburg Landing — "Mer- rimac" and "Monitor" — Capture of New Orleans — McClellan's Campaigns — The Second Bull Run — Antietam — Emancipation — Operations in the West — Vicksburg — Chancellorsville — Gettysburg — Riots in New York — Chick- amauga — Grant in Virginia — Winchester — Sherman's March — Thomas in Tennessee — Naval Operations — End of the War — Assassination of Lincoln — President Johnson — Impeachment 440 CHAPTER XXXV. Death of Prince Albert — Second Schelswig-Holstein War — The Prusso-Austrian Invasion — Prussia Takes the Lead — The Prusso-Austrian War — End of the War and Terms of Peace — Austro-Hungarian Reorganization — The Rise of Italy — Garibaldi — Maximilian's Short-lived Empire — Revolution in Spain — The Poles Finally Crushed — The Greek Revolution — Turkey — The Taip- ings — Cochin China 467 CHAPTER XXXVI. Discovery of the Victoria Nile by Speke and Grant — Livingstone's Return — Another Expedition — Interests of Various Lands — Necrology 481 CHAPTER XXXVII. Ulysses S. Grant Becomes President of the United States — Santo Domingo — Treaty of Washington — San Juan Boundary — Grant's Re-election — Indian Troubles — The Centennial State — Financial Troubles — The Disputed Elec- tion 485 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Irish Church Disestablished — Irish Land Act — Revolution in Spain — French Quarrel with Prussia — Beginning of the War — German Conquest of France ■ — The French Republic — Siege of Paris — Surrender — Terms of Peace — The Commune — Strength of the Republic — The German Empire — Conference on the Black Sea — British Affairs — Gladstone and Disraeli — Ashantee War — Empress of India — The Suez Canal Shares— Occupation of Rome — King Amadeus — Germany and the Vatican — Emancipation in Brazil 493 CHAPTER XXXIX. Completion of Pacific Railroad and Suez Canal — Obituary — Baker on the Nile — Chicago Fire — Mont Cenis Tunnel — Hoosac Tunnel — Polar Exploration —Stanley's Search for Livingstone —End of Livingstone's Career — Death 22 CONTENTS. of Livingstone — Two Great Fires — The Centennial of Independence — Vari- ous Doings in Various Lands 510 CHAPTER XL. Rutherford B. Hayes Becomes President of the United States — Civil Service Re- form — Free Coinage of Silver — Specie Payments — Incidents of the Admin- istration — Labor Troubles — Knights of Labor — Growth of the Order — First General Assembly — Presidential Election 520 CHAPTER XLI. War Between Russia and Turkey — Plevna — Shipka Pass — Treaty of Stefano — Treaty of Berlin — Results of the War — Second Afghan War — Conquest of Burmah — Australia — Development of the Colonies — New Zealand — Can- ada — Irish Agitation — Crime in Ireland — "Boycotting" — Montenegro — Nihilism— Zulu and Transvaal Wars — Pope and King 526 CHAPTER XLII. Stanley's Great Explorations in Africa — Vindication of Stanley — Stanley's Third Expedition — Paris Exposition — Arctic Exploration — Cologne Cathe- dral — Modern Inventions — Necrology 543 CHAPTER XLII1. James A. Garfield Becomes President of the United States — President Arthur — The Isthmian Canal — Star Route Trials — Anti-Polygamy Law — Chinese Exclusion — Irish-American Convention — Exhibitions and Conventions — Foreign Envoys — The New Navy — Financial Panic — Political Doings .... 549 ' CHAPTER XLIV. Memorable Events Throughout the World — The Irish Problem — Egyptian Rev- olution — Bombardment of Alexandria — Fall of Arabi — The Soudan — Gor- don to the Rescue — In Khartoum — Dervishes Closing In — Siege of Khar- toum — The Relief Expedition — Hero and Martyr 55^ CHAPTER XLV. Panama Canal — Various Routes Surveyed — DeLesseps' Scheme — Reorganiza- tion — St. Gothard Tunnel — The East River Bridge — Great Earthquakes — Louis Pasteur — Necrology 565 CHAPTER XLVI. Grover Cleveland Becomes President of the United States — The Navy — Rock Springs Massacre — The Presidential Succession — The Chicago Anarchists — Interstate Commerce — Presidential Campaign 573 CONTENTS. 23 CHAPTER XLVII. Russian Advance Toward Herat — Riel's Rebellion — Home Rule — The Queen's Jubilee — Expulsion of French Pretenders — Boulanger — Death of the Ger- man Emperor — German Affairs — In Many Lands 576 CHAPTER XLVIII. Completion of Canadian Pacific Railway — ■ Earthquakes — Ship Canals — Stanley and Emin — A Noteworthy Expedition — Railroad to Samarcand — Blowing Up Hell Gate — Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty — The Great Blizzard — Necro- logy 580 CHAPTER XLIX. Benjamin Harrison Becomes President of the United States — Additions to the Union — Pan-American Congress — Behring Sea — The McKinley Tariff- Controversies with Chili — Italian Massacre in New Orleans — Farmers' Alli- ance 585 CHAPTER L. Boulanger Trial — German Affairs — Resignation of Bismarck — African Treaty — Triple Alliance — Revolution in Brazil — War in Chili — The Japanese Con- stitution 591 CHAPTER LI. Great Storm and Disaster at Samoa — The Johnstown Flood — The Washing- ton Centenary — The Nicaragua Canal — Various Achievements — Peary in Greenland — The Columbian Celebration — The Death List 595 CHAPTER LI1 Grover Cleveland Becomes President of the United States — Ambassadors — Behring Sea Arbitration — Currency Troubles — The Silver Controversy — Bond Issues — The Tariff Fight — Admission of Utah — Foreign Affairs — The Venezuela Boundary — Election of McKinley 599 CHAPTER LT.T1, Assassination of President Carnot of France — French Operations Abroad — Uni- versal Suffrage in Belgium — Italy in Abyssinia — African Affairs — China and Japan — Revolts in Cuba and Crete 607 CHAPTER LIV. Columbian Fair and Celebrations — Quick Railroad Time — The Cherokee Lands — Centenary of the Capitol — Great Achievements — In Austria-Hungary — Necrology 611 24 CONTENTS. CHAPTER LV. William McKinley Becomes President of the United States — The Dingley Tariff — Partition of Samoa — Intervention in Cuba — "Remember the Maine" — Beginning the War — Manila Bay — Cervera's Fleet — Santiago — Peace Ne- gotiations — The Philippine Insurrection — Events of the Administration — Presidential Election 614 CHAPTER LVL War Between Greece and Turkey — Queen Victoria's Jubilee — Redeeming the Soudan — Germany in China — The Dreyfus Case — Spoliation of Finland — Australian Federation — The Transvaal War — Anarchist Murders — The Boxer Outbreak in China 621 CHAPTER LVII. Rudyard Kipling — Electrical Appliances — The Germ Theory — Liquid Air — Rapid Transit — Sewage Disposal — Polar Exploration — The Crew — Objects of the Expedition — The Galveston Flood — The Death Roll 627 ■safed. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Progress of the Century Frontispiece l800 Presidents of the United States during the 1 9th Century 31 Thomas Jefferson, 1 801- 1809 James Madison, 1809-18 17 James Monroe, 1817-1825 John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829 Andrew Jackson, 1829- 1837 Martin Van Buren, 183 7-1 841 Wm. H. Harrison, 1841 1800 American Fashions 32 1804 First Balloon raised in the United States 49 1804 Duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr ....... 50 1805 Battle of Trafalgar 55 1806 Fulton's First Steamboat on the Seine, Paris 56 1807 Officers of the "Chesapeake" offering their swords to the officers of the "Leopard" 65 1807 Fulton's Steamboat on the Hudson River 66 1808 Scene in a Convent during the Franco-Spanish War 71 1809 Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram 72 1810 Prominent Inventors of the Nineteenth Century : 89 James Watt Robert Fulton Samuel F. B. Morse Elias Howe Robert Stephenson Eli Whitney Friedrich Krupp Henry Bessemer Louis Daguerre I8I0 Slave Auction in St. Augustine, Florida 90 l8l I General Harrison and Tecumseh — the Indian Chief 95 l8l I Course of the Great Comet near the Rhine, Germany 96 I8I2 Capture of the " Guerriere " by the "Constitution" 105 l8l2 Napoleon on the Road to Russia 106 1812 Napoleon Retreating from Moscow ill 1813 Perry's Victory on Lake Erie 112 1814 McDonough Pointing the Gun at the Battle of Lake Champlain ... 129 1815 Napoleon Returning from Elba 130 25 26 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I8I5 General Wellington at the Battle of Belle Alliance I35 I815 General Blucher at the Battle of Waterloo 136 I8I5 Napoleon ' ■ 145 l8l5 Napoleon's Cavalry Charge at Waterloo 146 1815 Napoleon on Board the " Bellerophon " 151 l8l5 Decatur's Struggle with the Algerians 1 52 I819 "Savannah" — First Steamship Crossing the Atlantic Ocean .... 169 182 1 Pioneers Crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains . . . 170 1823 Early Settlers in the Far West 175 1823 "Washington" — First Steamship Between the United States and Germany 176 1824 Lafayette Laying the Corner Stone of Bunker Hill Monument ... 185 1825 First Steam Railway Between Stockton and Darlington, England . . 186 I825 American Fashions 191 1825 Great Scientists of the Nineteenth Century : 192 Charles R. Darwin Thomas H. Huxley Alexander von Humboldt Sir John Herschel Justus Liebig 1827 Naval Battle of Navarino 209 1828 First Steam Railway in the United States 210 I83O Indians Plundering Cattle in South Carolina 215 1835 Dangers of Frontier Life 216 I838 Thomas Simpson Discovering Victoria Land .,. 225 I838 Col. Taylor at the Battle of Okeechobee 226 I84I Presidents of the United States during the Nineteenth Century : . . . 231 John Tyler, 1 841 -1 845 James K. Polk, 1 845-1 849 Zachary Taylor, 1849- 18 50 Millard Fillmore, 1 850-1853 Franklin Pierce, 185 3- 1857 James Buchanan 18 57-1 86 1 Abraham Lincoln, 1 861 -1865 1847 Battle of Buena Vista — Mexican War 232 1847 General Scott at Contreras, Mexico 249 1847 General Scott Entering the City of Mexico 250 1848 French Revolution — Populace Destroying the Throne 255 1850 American Fashions 256 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 27 I85O Eminent Statesmen of the Nineteenth Century : . . . , 265 Daniel Webster Henry Clay Benjamin Disraeli Prince Bismarck James G. Blaine John C. Calhoun Lord Salisbury I85O Street Scene in Paris in the Middle of the Century 266 I85O Stage and Mail Coach in the Middle of the Century '271 I85O Henry Clay Making his Famous Speech on the "Missouri Compromise" in the United States Senate 272 I855 Storming of the "Malakoff" — Crimean War 289 I855 Projectors of the First Trans-Atlantic Cable 290 1855 Paris Industrial Fair 295 1856 Slaves Working on a Southern Plantation 296 1857 " Great Eastern " Laying the First Trans-Atlantic Cable 305 I859 Petroleum Wells Opened in Pennsylvania 306 I859 Napoleon III. at the Battle of Solferino 311 I859 Battle of Magenta between the Austrians and Italians ... .... 312 i860 Leading Generals and Admirals of the Nineteenth Century : .... 329 General Wellington General Lee General Sherman General Miles General Roberts General von Moltke General Meade Admiral Farragut Admiral Dewey 1861 Firing on Fort Sumter 330 1861 Defending Fort Sumter 335 1862 Farragut's Fleet Passing Forts Jackson and St. Philip 336 1862 Battle between the " Merrimac " and " Monitor " 345 1862 An August Morning with Farragut . 346 1862 " Merrimac " Sinking the " Cumberland " 351 1863 Battle of Gettysburg . 352 I863 Battle of Chattanooga 369 I863 Lincoln Delivering his Famous Address at Gettysburg 370 IS64 Sinking of the "Alabama" by the " Kearsarge " off the Coast of France 375 28 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I865 Assassination of President Lincoln . 376 I865 Presidents of the United States During the Nineteenth Century : . . . 385 Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869 Ulysses S. Grant, 1869- 1877 Rutherford Hayes, 1 877-1881 James A. Garfield, 1881 Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885 Grover Cleveland, 188 5- 1889 Benjamin Harrison, 1889- 1893 Grover Cleveland, 1893- 1897 1868 Indians Attacking an Overland Coach 386 1869 First Steamers Passing Through the Suez Canal 391 1869 Opening the Central Pacific Railway 392 1870 Famous Poetry and Prose Writers of the Nineteenth Century : . . . 409 Lord Tennyson Charles Dickens Thomas Carlyle Sir Walter Scott Lord Byron Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Victor Hugo James Fennimore Cooper John Ruskin 1870 Charge of the French Dragoons at Gravelotte 410 I87O Bismarck Meeting Napoleon after the Battle of Sedan 415 1870 Storming a Retreat — Franco-Prussian War 416 1871 Cruelties of War — Shooting Spies 425 1871 Stanley Finds Livingstone in Africa 426 1873 Capitol at Washington Completed 431 1875 American Fashions 432 1875 Famous Poetry and Prose Writers of the Nineteenth Century ; . . . 449 Henry W. Longfellow William Cullen Bryant Oliver Wendell Holmes John G. Whittier James Russell Lowell Ralph Waldo Emerson Washington Irving Harriet Beecher Stowe Mark Twain 1876 Birdseye View of the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia 450 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 29 1878 Berlin Congress 455 1878 Thomas Edison, Inventor of the Phonograph 456 l88l Laings Nek and Majuba Hill — Scene of Colley's Repulse 465 1883 Completion of the Brooklyn Bridge 466 1884 Gen. Gordon on the Road to Khartoum 471 1886 Bartholdi's "Statue of Liberty," Erected in New York Harbor . . . 472 1889 Eiffel Tower — World's Fair, Paris 489 1890 Noted Music Composers of the Nineteenth Century : 490 Wagner Beethoven Franz Liszt Felix Mendelssohn Mascagni Paderewski John Philip Sousa I89O Completion of the Firth of Forth Bridge, Scotland 495 1893 Birdseye View of the World's Fair, Chicago 496 1893 Gladstone Introducing the Irish Home Rule Bill in Parliament . . . 505 1895 Louis Pasteur in his Laboratory 506 1895 Popular Actors and Actresses of the Nineteenth Century : 511 Edwin Booth Edwin Forrest Jenny Lind Sarah Bernhardt Mdme. Adelina Patti Henry Irving J. P. Kemble Joseph Jefferson Richard Mansfield 1896 Italians Fighting Against King Menelik in Abyssinia 512 1896 Czar Nicholas II. Crowns Himself in the Kremlin of Moscow .... 529 1897 Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 530 1898 Battle of Manila Bay 535 1899 Peace Conference at The Hague, Holland 536 1900 American Fashions 545 1900 United States Government Building, Paris Universal Exposition . . . 546 1900 Leading Rulers of the World: 55 1 President of the United States Queen of England President of France Emperor of Germany Czar of Russia 30 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ipOO Leading Rulers of the World (continued) 552 Queen of Holland King of Norway and Sweden King of Denmark King of Belgium King of Greece 1900 Leading Rulers of the World (continued) , 569 Emperor of Austria King of Italy- King of Spain Sultan of Turkey Khedive of Egypt I9OO In the Bowels of the Earth 570 I9OO At the Bottom of the Sea ....•• 587 1900 Remarkable Inventions of the Nineteenth Century : 588 Typewriting Machine Telegraph Instrument Typesetting Machine Sewing Machine Gramophone Stationary Engine 1900 Remarkable Inventions of the Nineteenth Century : 605 X-Ray Machine Ten-inch Disappearing Rifle Automobile Electric Light Telephone Underground Electric Railway Car I900 Remarkable Inventions of the Nineteenth Century : 606 Printing Press Self-Binding Harvester Locomotive JAMES MONR( ANDREW JACKSON JAMES MADISON THOMAS JEFFERSON WM H. HARRISON ..JOHN QUINCY ADAMS MARTIN VAN BUREN I800-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE i 9 th CENTURY 1800— AMERICAN FASHIONS CHAPTER L Ddtwn of the New Century— Washington the National Capital— War with Tripoli— Ohio Admitted to the Union— Duel Between Hamilton and Burr — The Louisiana Purchase — Re-election of Mr. Jefferson— Trouble with England and France— The Embargo — Impressment of Seeunen — Chesapeake and Leopard— The First Steamboat- Jefferson's Retirement THE dawn of the Nineteenth Century, on January I, 1801, was marked with no great convulsion of nature or other phenomenon. The processes of the universe maintained their way unmoved. Yet there was ushered in, upon the terrestrial stage, the greatest era of recorded time, and forces were even then at work which were destined speedily to change the political and social face of the globe. Of all the lands of the earth, only two continents were then of marked importance — Europe and North America. South America was slumber- ing the unquiet sleep of mediaeval Spanish tyranny, but on the point of awaking with tremendous energy. Asia was still scarcely touched by the hand of modern progress, and most of its countries were forbidden lands to all outsiders. Africa was emphatically a "Dark Continent;'' only a spot here and there and on its extreme borders made the fight- ing ground of European powers. The islands of the sea were practically unknown. WASHINGTON THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. In the United States, independence had become an established fact, the Constitution was in full working order, the city of Washington had become the national capital, and the third presidential term, that of John Adams, was drawing to its close. Adams had been betrayed by men of his own party, and his party had been rendered unpopular by its Alien and Sedition laws and other acts. Accordingly a second term had been denied to Mr. Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, his political opponent, had 3 33 34 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. been elected in his place. This had been effected in a close election Jefferson and Aaron Burr had each received the same number ol electoral votes, and the matter had then been referred to Congress, which finally chose Jefferson President and Burr Vice-President. As a sequel to that memorable contest, the Constitution was amended, and the present system of electing President and Vice-President was adopted. Mr. Jefferson was the leader of what was then called the Republi- can party, now known as the Democratic, and was popularly regarded as the Apostle of Democracy. He turned his back upon the stateliness and ceremony that had marked the administrations of Washington and Adams, and practiced the utmost simplicity. He would have no cere- monies at the White House, no formal receptions, no invited guests. He would not be called "Your Excellency" or even "The Honorable." Even the title "Mr." was repugnant to him. "Citizen Jefferson" was his favorite appellation. His inauguration was marked with no cere- mony, and at the opening of Congress, instead of going before it in person and addressing it, as Washington and Adams had done, he sent it by messenger — a written message — an example which has been in- variably followed by all Presidents since. WAR WITH TRIPOLI. In his first message to Congress Jefferson called attention to the unjust and insolent demands of the pirate-fostering government of Tripoli upon the United States, and reported that he had sent a naval force to the Mediterranean to resist them. In 1803 a squadron of seven ships was sent thither, of which one of the largest, the " Philadelphia" frigate, ran aground in the harbor of Tripoli and was captured by the Tripolitans. Soon afterward, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, with seventy- five men in a small vessel which had been taken from the Tripolitans, stealthily entered the harbor in the evening, boarded the "Philadelphia," killed the Tripolitan crew, and set the ship afire. The " Philadelphia" was destroyed, and Decatur and his men made good their escape. In July, 1804, a general attack was made by the American fleet upon Tripoli, in which Decatur again greatly distinguished himself. Further operations checked the piratical zeal of Tripoli, and added great lustre to the American arms. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 35 During Jefferson's administration the United States Military Acad- emy, at West Point, N. Y., was founded, and thus provision was made for the military as well as the naval efficiency of the nation. OHIO ADMITTED TO THE UNION. At the beginning of Mr. Jefferson's administration the Union con- sisted of sixteen States — Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee having been added to the original thirteen. Early in his administration in 1803, Ohio was admitted as the seventeenth State. A little later the Territory of Michigan was formed, and the way thus opened for the ultimate creation of another State. Nor was this the only step toward great expansion of the area of the Nation. Early in his first tern Jefferson dispatched an expedition, under the lead of Lewis and Clarke, two Virginians, to cross the con- tinent to the Pacific coast, to take possession of the country in the name of the United States. This expedition made its way up the Missouri River, across the Rocky Mountains, and down the Columbia River to the Pacific, reaching the coast in 1805. This led to the establishment, six years later, of John Jacob Astor's fur-trading post at Astoria, and the settlement of the region now forming the States of Oregon and Washington. DUEL BETWEEN HAMILTON AND BURR. On July 12, 1804, Alexander Hamilton, probably the greatest statesman the Western Hemisphere has ever produced, died in New York, in consequence of a wound inflicted by Aaron Burr in a duel fought at Hoboken the day before. The two men were political oppo- nents, and their quarrel arose out of a political controversy, in which Burr deemed his ambitious schemes imperilled by Hamilton, and accord- ingly determined to remove the latter from his path. The result was that the land was plunged into all but universal mourning, and from that moment forward Burr was regarded with general detestation. Finding himself a political outcast, Burr thereupon played the part of a traitor. Leaguing himself with other unscrupulous, ambitious and discontented men, he formed the scheme of establishing in the south- western part of this country an Empire of which he should be the head. New Orleans was to be his capital city. He was arrested and tried for treason in 1807, but for lack of technical evidence was not convicted. On his release he went abroad and ended his days in obscurity. 36 8T0RY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. The great measure of the first term of Mr. Jefferson's administra tion was the acquisition and annexation to the United States of the great country of Louisiana, which was purchased of France for the sum of $15,000,000. This country was first colonized by the French in 1699. In 1752, it was ceded by France to Spain, and, in 1800, it was ceded back by Spain to France. Upon receiving intelligence of this intended transfer, great sensibility prevailed in Congress, and a proposition was made to occupy the place by force ; but, after an animated discussion, the project was relinquished, and negotiations with France were com- menced by Mr. Jefferson for the purchase of the whole country of Louisiana, which ended in an agreement to that effect, signed at Paris, April 30, 1803, by which the United States were to pay France $15,000,000. Early in December, 1803, the commissioners of Spain delivered possession to France, and, on the 20th of the same month, the authorities of France duly transferred the country to the United States. RE-ELECTION OF MR. JEFFERSON In 1805 Mr. Jefferson was elected a second time to the office of President. The electoral votes were 176, of which he received 162. George Clinton was chosen Vice-President. At the time when Mr. Jefferson was raised to the presidency, the state of the country was highly prosperous, and it so continued during his first presidential term. The conflicts between the two great political parties, which had greatly agitated the country during the preceding administration, still continued ; but the party which sustained Mr. Jeffer- son increased in strength to such a degree that he was re-elected by an almost unanimous vote. TROUBLE WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE. The war which had for a number of years been raging between Great Britain and France had involved nearly all the nations of Europe. America endeavored to maintain a neutrality towards the belligerents, and peaceably to carry on a commerce with them. Being the great neutral trader, she had an interest in extending the privileges of neu- trality, which the belligerents, on the contrary, were inclined to contract within the narrowest limits. In April, 1806, the British ship "Leander" STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 37 fired upon the American coaster " Richard," off Sandy Hook, killing the helmsman. This incident added much to the strain upon relations between the two countries. In May, 1806, the Britisn Government declared all the ports and rivers, from the Elbe in Germany to Brest in France, to be blockaded, and all American vessels, trading with these interdicted ports, were liable to seizure and condemnation. In the ensu- ing November, 1806, the Emperor of France issued his Berlin Decree, declaring the British Islands in a state of blockade, and prohibiting all intercourse with them. Next followed, in November, 1807, the British Orders in Council, by which all neutral vessels, trading with France, were compelled to stop at a British port and pay a duty. In consequence of this measure, Bonaparte issued, in December, 1807, the Milan Decree, by which every vessel which should submit to British search, or consent to any pecuniary exactions whatever, was confiscated. THE EMBARGO. In the same month (December, 1807), on the recommendation of Mr. Jefferson, Congress laid an embargo on all the shipping of the United States. This measure was designed to retaliate on both Eng- land and France, and also to put the United States in a better state of defence, by retaining their vessels and seamen at home ; but, inasmuch as it annihilated all foreign commerce, it operated with great severity on the interests of the people, and became unpopular; and in March, 1809, the embargo was removed, and non-intercourse with France and Great Britain was substituted. While matters continued in this state, new causes of provocation continually occurred. The trade of the United States was harassed by both of the belligerents ; and the government was accused in Britain of partiality to France, and in France of pusillanimously submitting to the insults of Britain. IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN. But one species of injury, which was keenly felt and loudly com- plained of in this country, the United States suffered exclusively from Britain. This was the impressment of her seamen, on board the Ameri- can vessels, by British men-of-war. The similarity of language renders it difficult to distinguish American from British seamen; but there is rea- son to believe, that, on some occasions, the British officers were not 38 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. anxious to make the distinction, being determined, at all hazards, to procure men ; and American seamen were compelled to serve in the British navy and fight the battles of Britain. The British, on the other hand, complained that their seamen escaped on board American vessels, to which they were encouraged, and where they were carefully concealed ; and they contended for the right of searching American merchant vessels for their own runaway seamen. This custom had been long practiced ; was a fruitful source of irritation and was submitted to, with extreme reluctance, on the part of the Americans, who maintained that, under British naval officers, it was often conducted in the most arbitrary manner, with little regard to the feelings of those against whom it was enforced ; and that, under the color of this search, native seamen were frequently dragged on board British vessels. CHESAPEAKE AND LEOPARD. The custom of searching for British seamen had hitherto been con- fined to private vessels, but, in 1807, it was ascertained that four seamen had deserted from the British service, and entered on board the " Chesa- peake," an American frigate, commanded by Commodore Barron, and carrying $6 guns. Captain Humphreys, of the "Leopard," an English frigate of 50 guns, in compliance with the orders of Admiral Berkeley, followed the "Chesapeake" beyond the Capes of Virginia, and, after demanding the deserters, fired a broadside upon the American frigate, and killed and wounded about 20 men. The "Chesapeake" struck her colors, and the four seamen were given up. This outrage occasioned a general indignation throughout the country, and was deemed, by many, in conjunction with other causes, a sufficient ground for declaring war. The President issued a proclama- tion, ordering all British vessels of war to quit the waters of the United States, and forbidding all intercourse between them and the inhabitants. The British government disavowed the attack on the "Chesapeake;" yet the measures taken with regard to the affair were far from being satis- factory to the government of this country. THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. During Jefferson's administration, steps were taken for the material enlargement of the army and navy to meet the troublous times which STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 39 were plainly to be foreseen. There occurred, also, an incident which was full of meaning and promise for the future of not only the navy but the mercantile marine and the whole world of commerce. This was the completion of Robert Fulton's first steamboat, the " Clermont," and its successful trial trip upon the Hudson River. People traveled far to see the mysterious vessel, as it puffed fire and smoke, and moved through the water against wind and tide, without sail, paddle, or oar. Great activity in steamboat building followed. The "Phcenix," another paddle- wheel boat, built by John Stevens, was put upon the Delaware in 1808. The "Orleans," with a stern wheel, the first steamboat on the Mis- sissippi, went from Pittsburg, where she was built, to New Orleans in fourteen days in 181 2. JEFFERSON'S RETIREMENT. As his second term in the White House drew to a close, and the time came for the election of another President, Mr. Jefferson signified his determination to follow and confirm the example of Washington, by retiring to private life at the expiration of his second term. " Never did a prisoner," said he, " released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall, on shaking off the shackles of power. I thank God for the opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with me the most constant proofs of public approbation. I leave everything in the hands of men so able to take care of them, that, if we are destined to meet misfortunes, it will be because no human wisdom could avert them." James Madison was chosen his successor, and George Clinton re-elected Vice-President. CHAPTER II. The Napoleonic Wars — Copenhagen — Alexandria — Reconstruction of France — War Renewed — England Threatened with Invasion — £m- mett's Rebellion — Napoleon Made Emperor — Ulm, Trafalgar and Austerlitz— Changing the Map of Europe — Jena and Auerstadt — Friedland — The Peninsular War — French Troops in Madrid — Victories of Napoleon. THE Nineteenth Century opened in Europe in the midst of the era of Napoleonic wars. Napoleon Bonaparte, then Consul of France and soon to be Emperor, had, under the peace of Luneville, been successfully planning a union of the northern powers against England. On December 16, 1800, accordingly, a maritime confederacy was signed by Russia, Sweden and Denmark, and soon after by Prussia, as an acceding party. This league, aimed principally against England, was designed to protect the commerce of the northern powers on prin- ciples similar to the armed neutrality of 1780 ; but its effect would have been, if correctly carried out, to deprive England, in great part, of her naval superiority. The Danish government had previously ordered her armed vessels to resist the search of British cruisers, and the Russian Emperor had issued an embargo on all the British ships in his harbors. COPENHAGEN. England, determined to anticipate her enemies, despatched, as soon as possible, a powerful fleet to the Baltic, under the command of Nelson and Sir Hyde Parker. Passing through the Sound, under the fire of the Danish batteries, on the 30th of March, the fleet came to anchor opposite the harbor of Copenhagen, which was protected by an imposing array of forts, men-of-war, fire ships and floating batteries. On the 2d of April Nelson brought his ships into the harbor, where, in a space not exceed- ing a mile and a half in extent, they were received by a tremendous fire from more than 2000 cannons. The English replied with equal 40 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 41 spirit, and after four hours of incessant cannonade the whole front line of Danish vessels and floating batteries was silenced, with a loss to the Danes of more than 6000 men. The English loss was 1 200. Of this battle Nelson said, "I have been in 105 engagements, but that of Copenhagen was the most terrible of them all." While Nelson was preparing to follow up his success by attacking the Russian fleet in the Baltic, news reached him of an event at St. Petersburg which changed the whole current of Northern policy. A conspiracy of Russian noblemen was formed against the Emperor Paul, who was strangled in his chamber on the night of the 24th of March. His son and successor, Alexander, at once resolved to abandon the con- federacy, and to cultivate the friendship of Great Britain. Sweden, Denmark and Prussia followed his example ; and thus was dissolved, in less than six months after it had been formed, the League of the North — the most formidable confederacy ever arrayed against the maritime power of England. ALEXANDRIA. While these events were transpiring in Europe, the army which Napoleon had left in Egypt under the command of Kleber, after losing its leader by the hands of an obscure assassin, was doomed to yield to an English force sent out under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who fell at the head of his victorious columns on the plains of Alexandria. By the terms of capitulation the French troops, to the number of 24,000, were con- veyed to France with their arms, baggage and artillery. As Malta had previously surrendered to the British, there was now little left to contend for between France and England. To the great joy of both nations preliminaries of peace were signed at London on the 1st of October, and on the 27th of March, 1802, tranquillity was restored throughout Europe by the definite treaty of Amiens. RECONSTRUCTION OF FRANCE. Napoleon now directed all his energies to the reconstruction of society in France, the general improvement of the country, and the con- solidation of the power he had acquired. By a general amnesty one hundred thousand emigrants were enabled to return ; the Roman Catholic religion was restored, to the discontent of ttie Parisians, but to the great joy of the rural population ; a system of public instruction was 42 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. established under the auspices of the government ; to bring back that gradation of rank in society that the Revolution had overthrown, the Legion of Honor was instituted, an order of nobility founded on personal merit ; great public works were set on foot throughout France ; the collection of the heterogeneous laws of the Monarchy and the Republic into one consistent whole, under the title of the Code Napoleon, was commenced, an undertaking which has deservedly covered the name of Napoleon with glory, and survived all the other achievements of his genius ; and finally the French nation, as a permanent pledge of their confidence, by an almost unanimous vote, conferred upon their favorite and idol the title and authority of consul for life. In his relations with foreign states the conduct of Napoleon was less honorable. He arbitrarily established a government in Holland, entirely subservient to his will ; and he moulded the northern Italian republics at his pleasure ; he interfered in the dissensions of the Swiss cantons to establish a government in harmony with the monarchical institutions which he was introducing in Paris, and when the Swiss resisted he sent Ney at the head of twenty thousand men to enforce obedience. England remonstrated in vain, and the Swiss, in despair, submitted to the yoke imposed upon them. Napoleon was less successful in an attempt to recover the island of St. Domingo, which had revolted from French authority. Forces to the number of 35,000 men were sent out to reduce the island, and the patriot Toussaint l'Ouverture was betrayed to his death, but nearly all the French troops perished — victims of fatigue, disease, and the perfidy of their own government. WAR RENEWED. It soon became evident that the peace of Amiens could not be per- manent. The encroachments of France upon the feebler European powers, the armed occupation of Holland, the great accumulations of troops on the shores of the British Channel, and the evident designs of Napoleon upon Egypt, excited the jealousy of England, and the latter refused to evacuate Malta, Alexandria and the Cape of Good Hope, in accordance with the late treaty stipulations, until satisfactory explanations should be given by the French government. Bitter recriminations fol- lowed on both sides, and in the month of May, 1803, the cabinet of London issued letters of marque and an embargo on all French vessels STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 43 in British ports. Napoleon retaliated by ordering the arrest of all the English then in France between the ages of eighteen and sixty years. ENGLAND THREATENED WITH INVASION. The first military operations of the French were rapid and success- ful. The electorate of Hanover, a dependency of England, was quickly conquered, and in utter disregard of neutral rights the whole of the north of Germany was at once occupied by French troops, while simul- taneously an army was sent into southern Italy to take possession of the Neapolitan territories. But these movements were insignificant when compared with Napoleon's gigantic preparations ostensibly for the inva- sion of England. Forts and batteries were constructed on every head- land and accessible point of the channel ; the number of vessels and small craft assembled along the coast was immense ; and the fleets of France, Holland and Spain were to aid in the enterprise. England made the most vigorous preparations for repelling the anticipated inva- sion, which, however, was not attempted, and perhaps never seriously intended. EMMETT'S REBELLION. The year of the renewal of the war was further distinguished by an unhappy attempt at rebellion in Ireland against the union of Ireland with Great Britain, which had been effected at the beginning of the century. The leaders, Russell and Emmett, were seized, brought to trial, and ex- ecuted. Early in the following year, 1804, a conspiracy against the power of Napoleon was detected in which the generals, Moreau and Pichegru, and the royalist leader, Georges, were implicated. Moreau was allowed to leave the country, Pichegru was found strangled in prison and Georges was executed. Napoleon, either believing, or affecting to believe, that the young Duke D'Enghien, a Bourbon prince, then living in the neutral territory of Baden, was concerned in this plot, caused him to be seized and hurried to Vincennes, where, after a mock trial, he was shot by the sentence of a court-martial, an act which has fixed an indeli- ble stain on the memory of Napoleon, as not the slightest evidence of criminality was brought against the unhappy prince. Owing to the intimate connection that had been formed between the courts of Paris and Madrid, England sent out a fleet in the autumn of 1804, before any declaration of war had been made, to interrupt the 44 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. homeward-bound treasure frigates of Spain ; and these were captured, with valuable treasure amounting to more than two million pounds ster- ling. The British government was severely censured for this hasty act. Spain now openly joined France and declared war against England. NAPOLEON MADE EMPEROR. On the 1 8th of May of this year Napoleon was created, by decree of the Senate, Emperor of the French, and on the 2d of December, 1804, was solemnly crowned by the Pope, who had been induced to come to Paris for that purpose. The principal powers of Europe, with the exception of Great Britain, recognized the new sovereign. On the 26th of May of the following year he was formally anointed sovereign of Northern Italy. The iron crown of Charlemagne, which had quietly reposed a thousand years, was brought forward to give interest to the ceremony, and Napoleon placed it on his own head, at the same time pronouncing the words, " God hath given it to me ; beware of touching it." The continued usurpations charged upon Napoleon at length in- duced the Northern Powers to listen to the solicitations of England ; and in the summer of 1805 a new coalition, embracing Russia, Austria and Sweden, was formed against France. Prussia, tempted by the glit- tering prize of Hanover, which Napoleon held out to her, persisted in her neutrality, with an evident leaning towards the French interest. The Austrian Emperor precipitately commenced the war by invading the neutral territory of Bavaria, an act as unjustifiable as any of which he accused Napoleon. The latter seized the opportunity of branding his enemies as aggressors in the contest, and declared himself the protector of the liberties of Europe. ULM, TRAFALGAR AND AUSTERLITZ. In the latter part of September, 1805, tne French forces, in eight divisions, and numbering 180,000 men, were on the banks of the Rhine, preparing to carry the war into Austria. The advance of Napoleon was rapid, and everywhere the enemy was driven before him. On the 20th of October Napoleon, having surrounded the Austrian general, Mack, at Ulm, compelled him to surrender his whole force of 20,000 men. On the very next day, however, the English fleet, commanded by Admiral STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 45 Nelson, gained a great naval victory off Cape Trafalgar, over the com- bined fleets of France and Spain ; but it was dearly purchased by the death of the hero. On the 13th of November Napoleon entered Vienna, and on the 2d of December he gained the great battle of Aus- terlitz, the most glorious of all his victories, which resulted in the total overthrow of the combined Russian and Austrian armies, and enabled the victor to dictate peace on his own terms. The Emperor of Russia, who was not a party to the treaty, withdrew his troops into his own ter- ritories ; the King of Prussia received Hanover as a reward of his neu- trality ; and Great Britain alone remained at open war with France. CHANGING THE MAP OF EUROPE. While the English now prosecuted the war with vigor on the ocean, humbled the Mahratta powers in India, subdued the Dutch colony of the Cape and took Buenos Ayres from the Spaniards, Napoleon rapidly extended his supremacy over the continent of Europe. In February, 1806, he sent an army to take possession of Naples, because the king, instigated by his queen, an Austrian princess, had received an army of Russians and English into his capital. The king of Naples fled to Sicily, and Napoleon conferred the vacant crown upon his brother Joseph. Napoleon next placed his brother Louis on the throne of Holland ; he erected various districts in Germany and Italy into dukedoms, which he bestowed on his principal marshals, while fourteen princes in the south and west of Germany were induced to form the Confederation of the Rhine and place themselves under the protection of France. By this latter stroke of policy on the part of Napoleon a population of sixteen millions was cut off from the Germanic dominion of Austria. In the negotiations which Napoleon was at this time carrying on with England, propositions were made for the restoration of Han- over to that power, although it had recently been given to Prussia. It was, moreover, suspected that Napoleon had offered to win the favor of Russia at the expense of his Prussian ally. These and other causes aroused the indignation of the Prussians, and the Prus- sian monarch openly joined the coalition against Napoleon before his own arrangements were completed or his allies could yield him any assistance. Both England and Russia had promised him their co- operation. 46 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. JENA AND AUERSTADT. With his usual promptitude Napoleon put his troops in motion, and on the 8th of October reached the advanced Prussian outposts. On the 14th he routed the Prussians with terrible slaughter in the battle of Jena, and on the same day Marshal Davoust gained the battle of Auerstadt, in which the Duke of Brunswick was mortally wounded. On these two fields the loss of the Prussians was nearly 20,000 in killed and wounded, besides nearly as many prisoners. The total loss of the French was 14,000. In a single day the strength of the Prussian monarchy was prostrated. Napoleon rapidly followed up his victories, and on the 25th his vanguard, under Marshal Davoust, entered Berlin, only a fortnight after the commencement of hostilities. Encouraged by his successes, Napoleon issued a series of edicts from Berlin, declaring the British Islands in a state of blockade and excluding British manufacturers from all the continental ports. He then pursued the Russians into Poland ; on the 30th of November his troops entered Warsaw without resistance, but on the 26th of December his advanced forces received a check in the severe battle of Pultusk. On the 8th of February, 1807, a sanguinary battle was fought at Eylau, in which each side lost 20,000 men, and both claimed the victory. In some minor engagements the allies had the advantage, but these were more than counterbalanced by the siege and fall of the important fortress of Dantzic, which had a garrison of 17,000 men, and was defended by 900 cannon. FRIEDLAND. At length, on the 14th of June, Napoleon fought the great and decisive battle of Friedland, and the broken remains of the Russian army fell back upon the Niemen. An armistice was now agreed to ; on the 25th of June the emperors of France and Russia met for the first time, with great pomp and ceremony, on a raft in the middle of the Niemen, and on the 7th of July signed the treaty of Tilsit. All sacrifices were made at the expense of the Prussian monarch, who received back only about one-half of his dominions. The elector of Saxony, the ally of France, was rewarded with that portion of the Prussian territory which, prior to the first partition in 1772, formed part of the kingdom of Poland ; this portion was now erected into the grand-duchy of Warsaw. Out of another portion was formed the kingdom of Westphalia, which STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS, 47 was bestowed upon Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon ; and Russia agreed to aid the French emperor in his designs against British commerce. Soon after the treaty of Tilsit it became evident to England that Napoleon would leave no means untried to humble that power on the ocean, and it was believed that, with the connivance of Russia, he was making arrangements with Denmark and Portugal for the conversion of their fleets to his purposes. England, menaced with an attack from the combined navies of Europe, but resolving to anticipate the blow, sent a powerful squadron against Denmark, with an imperious demand for the instant surrender of the Danish fleet and naval stores, to be held as pledges until the conclusion of the war. A refusal to comply with this summons was followed by a four-days' bombardment of Copenhagen and the final surrender of the fleet. Denmark, though deprived of her navy, resented the hostility of England by throwing herself, without reserve, into the arms of France. The navy of Portugal was saved from falling into the power of France by sailing, at the instigation of the British, to Rio Janeiro, the capital of the Portuguese colony of Brazil. Napoleon had already announced, in one of his imperial edicts, that "the House of Braganza had ceased to reign," and had sent an army under Junot to occupy Portugal. On the 27th of November the Portuguese fleet, bearing the prince regent, the queen and court, sailed for Brazil ; and on the 30th the French took possession of Lisbon. THE PENINSULAR WAR. The designs of Napoleon for the dethronement of the Peninsular monarchs had been approved by Alexander in the conferences of Tilsit ; and wken Napoleon returned to Paris he set on foot a series of intrigues at Madrid, which soon gave him an opportunity of interfering in the domestic affairs of the Spanish nation, his recent ally. Charles IV oi Spain, a weak monarch, was the dupe of his faithless wife and of his unprincipled minister, Godoy. The latter, secured in the French interest by the pretended gift of a principality formed out of dismembered Portugal, allowed the French troops under Murat to enter Spain, and by fraud and false pretences the frontier fortresses were soon in the hands ot the invaders. Too late Godoy found himself the dupe of his own treachery. Charles, intimidated by the difficulties of his situation. 48 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. resigned the crown to his son Ferdinand, but, by French intrigues, was soon after induced to disavow his abdication, while at the same time Ferdinand was led to expect a recognition of his royal title from the Emperor Napoleon. The deluded prince and his father were both enticed to Bayonne, where they met Napoleon, who soon compelled both to abdicate, and gave the crown to his brother Joseph, who had been summoned from the kingdom of Naples to become king of Spain. The Neapolitan kingdom was bestowed upon Murat as a reward for his military services. Although many of the Spanish nobility tamely acquiesced in this foreign usurpation of the sovereignty of the kingdom, yet the great bulk of the nation rose in arms ; Ferdinand, although a prisoner in France, was proclaimed king ; a national junta, or council, was chosen to direct the affairs of the government ; and the English at once sent large sup- plies of arms and ammunition to their new allies, while Napoleon was preparing an overwhelming force to sustain his usurpation. A new direction was thus given to affairs, and for a time the European war centered in the Spanish Peninsula. FRENCH TROOPS IN MADRID. In the first contests with the invaders the Spaniards were generally successful. A French squadron in the Bay of Cadiz, prevented from escaping by the presence of an English fleet, was forced to surrender ; Marshal Moncey, at the head of 8000 men, was repulsed in an attack on the city of Valencia ; Saragossa, defended by the heroic Palafox, sustained a siege of sixty-three days, and, although reduced to a heap of ruins, drove the French troops from its walls ; Cordova was indeed taken and plundered by the French marshal Dupont, yet that officer himself was soon after compelled to surrender at Baylen, with 8000 men, to the patriot general Castanos. This latter event occurred on the 20th of July, the very day on which Joseph Bonaparte made his triumphal entry into Madrid. But the new king himself was soon obliged to flee, and the French forces were driven beyond the Ebro. In the meantime the spirit of resistance had extended to Portugal ; a junta had been established at Oporto to conduct the government ; British troops were sent to aid the insurgents, and on the 21st of August Marshal Junot was defeated at Vimiera by Sir Arthur Wellesley. This 1804— FIRST BALLOON RAISED IN THE UNITED STATES D4 X < < Q < 2 H STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 5 1 battle was followed by the convention of Cintra, which led to the evacu- ation of Portugal by the French forces. VICTORIES OF NAPOLEON. Great was the mortification of Napoleon at this inauspicious be- ginning of the Peninsular war, and he deemed it necessary to take the field in person. Collecting his troops with the greatest rapidity, in the early part of November he was in the north of Spain at the head of 180,000 men. He at once communicated his own energy to the operations of the army ; the Spaniards were severely defeated at Rey- nosa, Burgos and Tudela, and on the 4th of December Napoleon forced an entrance into the capital. The British troops, who were marching to the assistance of the Spaniards, were driven back upon Corunna, and being there attacked while making preparations to embark, they com- pelled the enemy to retire, but their brave commander, Sir John Moore, was mortally wounded. On the following day the British abandoned the shores of Spain, and the possession of the country seemed assured to the French Emperor. In the meantime difficulties had arisen between the French Emperor and the Pope Pius VII ; French troops entered Rome, and by a decree of Napoleon the Papal States were annexed to the French Empire. This was followed by a bill of excommunication against Napoleon, whereupon the Pope was seized and conveyed a prisoner into France, where he was detained until the spring of 18 14. Other events that deserve notice were the conquest and annexation of Georgia by Russia in 1801, the independence of Hayti in 1803, the assumption of the title of Emperor by the sovereign of Austria, the death of Pitt in 1806, the formal end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Great Britain's abolition of the slave trade in 1807, and Russia's conquest of Finland in 1808. CHAPTER III. General Progress of the World — Independence of Hayti — Seizure of Toussaint — Bloody Independence — King' Henry — Peruvian Revolu- tion — Buenos Ayres — Disaster to the British — Storming' of Buenos Ayres — Moving* for Independence — Civil Dissen- sions — Success of the Revolution — Other Countries Revolt — Colombian Independence — Science and Literature — American Literature. THE world at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century was in a transition state. Revolutionary impulses prevailed in politics, and in science and art men were just upon the verge of wonderful achievements, of which the first premonitions were beginning to be appreciated. In electricity the discoveries of Franklin, Volta and Galvani had startled the world. Lagrange and Laplace had developed mathematical analysis. Zoology and geology had been erected into definite sciences by Buffon. Linnaeus had done the same for botany. Lavoisier had laid the rudiments of the vast structure of the chemical sciences. Jenner had invented vaccination. The Montgolfiers had made the first balloon. Cook, Bougainville and La Perouse had carried on the work of the great navigators of earlier centuries, and had filled up most of the blank spaces on the map of the world. In literature it was a time of great activity, and the beginning of one of the most glori- ous eras in history. INDEPENDENCE OF HAYTI. The early years of the century saw a general movement among the minor states of the Western Hemisphere to throw off the yoke of Euro- pean rule. Among the first of these was Hayti, where the negroes were under the lead of Toussaint l'Ouverture. This famous man was born a slave, and continued so for nearly fifty years. When the insurrection broke out he refused to join in it, and assisted in procuring his master a passage to the United States. After this he joined the French forces 5 2 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS, 53 and rose by successive steps to the rank of brigadier-general. He obtained such influence that all the proceedings of the French commis- sioners were directed by him. The Directory at Paris became jealous of him, and sent out General Hedouville to observe his conduct and re- strain his ambition. Toussaint, however, refused to submit to his man- agement. Bonaparte, on becoming first consul, confirmed him as com- mander-in-chief, and Toussaint succeeded in freeing the island from the English. He introduced order and discipline into the government, and under his sway the colony advanced, as if by enchantment, towards its ancient splendor. The lands were again put under cultivation ; all the people appeared to be happy, and considered Toussaint as their guar- dian angel ; both blacks and whites regarded him with esteem and confidence. The general enthusiasm which he had excited was sufficient to instil vanity into the strongest mind, and he had some excuse for saying he was the Bonaparte of St. Domingo ! He had in early life stored his memory with an incoherent jumble of Latin phrases from the psalter, of which he made a whimsical use after his elevation. Sometimes a negro or mulatto would apply to be made a magistrate or judge. " Certainly," he would reply, "you understand Latin, of course?" " No, General." " How ! — wish to be a magistrate and not know Latin ! " And then he would pour forth a torrent of Latin jargon, which sent the sable can- didate away with the opinion that the general was a most portentous scholar. SEIZURE OF TOUSSAINT. The prosperity of the colony was, unfortunately, of short continu- ance, After the peace of Amiens, Bonaparte, urged on by the expelled planters and mercantile speculators, determined to recover the colony, reinstate the former proprietors and subjugate the emancipated slaves. For this purpose he dispatched his brother-in-law, General Le Clerc, with a force of 25,000 men. On the appearance of the fleet in the Bay of Samana, Toussaint exclaimed, " We shall all perish ; all France is come to St. Domingo." The army landed and several desperate battles were fought. Le Clerc at last found himself under the necessity of proclaim- ing liberty and equality to all the inhabitants, with the reservation, how- ever, of the approval of the French government. The negroes, tired of the war, deserted their leaders, and a treaty of peace was concluded, by 54 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. which the sovereignty of France over the island was acknowledged and a general amnesty granted. In direct violation of this agreement Tous- saint was seized by Le Clerc and carried to France, where he died in prison. This outrage on the person of their favorite chief exasperated the blacks to a high degree. They flew to arms and organized themselves under leaders, among whom Dessalines and Christophe soon became conspicuous. They spread slaughter and devastation among the French, who could offer little resistance against them on account of the excessive heat of the summer — 1802. Le Clerc and most of his officers were attacked by sickness, and all the reinforcements sent from France suffered successively from the pestilence. Yet they continued to practice great barbarities towards the unfortunate blacks. In the midst of these scenes of horror Le Clerc died, and the command devolved on General Rochambeau, who fought several battles with varied success ; but the losses sustained in these actions, added to disease, reduced the French to the necessity of shutting themselves up in their strongholds, while the blacks were daily increasing in number and confidence. By the end of the year 1802 no less than 40,000 Frenchmen had perished. Dessalines, now commander-in-chief of the negro army, advanced to the plain of Cape Francois, to besiege the French in their headquar- ters. A bloody battle followed, in which neither could claim the victory. The French were said to have tortured their prisoners and then put to death 500 of them. Dessalines, hearing of this, caused 500 gibbets to be erected, and after selecting all the French officers, made up the num- ber out of the other prisoners, and hung them up at break of day in sight of the French army. The misery of the French was completed by the breaking out of the war with England in 1803. A British squad- ron blockaded Cape Francois ; the town was reduced by famine, and Rochambeau surrendered at the end of the year. BLOODY INDEPENDENCE. On the 1 st of January, 1804, the independence of the island was formally proclaimed, and it resumed its aboriginal name of Hayti. Jean Jacques Dessalines was appointed Governor-General for life. His first act was to encourage the return of those blacks who had taken refuge in the United States. He next excited the people to a horrible massacre 1806— FULTON'S FIRST STEAMBOAT ON THE SEINE, PARIS STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 57 of the whites, which took place on the 28th of April. By a series of cruelties and perfidies he got rid of all whom he conceived to be his enemies, and on the 8th of October, 1804, procured a Capuchin mission- ary to crown him Emperor, by the name of Jacques I. On this occasion he signed a constitution declaring the Empire of Hayti to be a free, sov- ereign and independent state. It proclaimed the abolition of slavery, the equality of rank, the equal operation of the laws, the inviolability of property, etc. Under this government the island rapidly advanced to prosperity. Dessalines, though a cruel and sanguinary tyrant, was not without skill in the art of government. When Emperor, he appointed his ancient master to the office of butler to his household, which he said was precisely what the old man wished for, as his love for wine made up for the abstemiousness of Dessalines, who drank only water. KING HENRY. Dessalines closed his bloody career on the 17th of October, 1806, being assassinated by the mulatto soldiers of Petion. At his death Christophe was called to the head of the government, and a constitution projected which should guarantee the safety of persons and property. A proclamation was issued denouncing the crimes of which Dessalines had been guilty, and, among other things, accused him of having robbed the public treasury of $20,000 for each of his twenty mistresses. Christophe, however, deplored the fate of Dessalines, and affirmed that he had been put to death by the mulattoes without inquiry into his con- duct. The blacks, always jealous of the mulattoes, attacked Petion, who with his adherents escaped into the southern and western districts, where a new constitution was prepared, and on the 27th of December, 1806, Petion was proclaimed President of the Republic of Hayti. A civil war now sprang up between the partisans of the two chiefs, until at length, by a sort of tacit agreement, the mulatto President fixed himself in the south and west, while Christophe established himself in the north, where, on the 2d of June, 181 1, the royal crown was placed on his head and he was proclaimed Henry I, King of Hayti. King Henry established his court and government in all the pomp of a European monarchy. He maintained an army of 25,000 men. He created orders of nobility, with princes, dukes, earls, barons and chevaliers, knights of the grand cross, etc. He set up a sort of feudal 58 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. system, partitioning out the vacant lands among his retainers. He founded a royal college, established schools, endowed an academy for music and painting, built a theatre, patronizd the arts, and encouraged magnificence in dress. He was born a slave in the island of St. Chris- topher's, from whence he took his original name ; yet his literary ac- quirements were respectable, and he spoke French and English well. The country prospered under his administration, and for a time he ruled in tranquillity. PERUVIAN REVOLUTION. In Peru the movement against Spain soon began. As early as 1805 Ubalde, an eminent jurist of Cuzco, excited the alarm of the government by his revolutionary designs. He gained a large party of adherents, but before their schemes could be put in operation, they were betrayed. Ubalde and eight others were put to death at Cuzco, and more than a hundred of his party were exiled. The particulars of this plot are not distinctly known, but independence was the main object. Ubalde on the scaffold predicted that the Spanish dominion in South America would soon be overthrown. It was impossible that he could, at this early period, have foreseen the occurrences in Spain, which shortly after paved the way for the emancipation of the Spanish American colonies ; and his dying declaration affords us reason to believe that the project of throwing off the yoke of the mother country had been cherished in Peru to a greater extent than has generally been imagined. BUENOS AYRES. The revolution in the countries bordering on the Rio de la Plata had its origin in the war between Great Britain and Spain. A British fleet and army, under Commodore Popham and General Beresford, which had been despatched against the Cape of Good Hope, after effect- ing the conquest of that colony, proceeded to Buenos Ayres, in 1806, and on the 8th of June arrived in the mouth of the river La Plata. A general consternation seized the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres when the squadron appeared in sight of that city. Not more than 300 muskets could be found for the defence of the place, and these the inhabitants had not the skill to use. A show of defence was attempted by the vice- roy, but the only military movement was made by a single troop of cav- alry, who undertook to harass the British army of 2000 men, on their STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 59 march to Buenos Ayres. The viceroy, panic-struck, fled for safety to Cordova, and the British took possession of Buenos Ayres on the 28th of June. The Spaniards, when the first moments of panic were over, ap- peared to rouse as from a dream or lethargy, and exhibited a degree of energy and resolution which astonished their enemies. Inflamed with indignation at the unmanly conduct of their leader, and chagrined at see- ing foreigners in possession of their capital, they began to meditate upon the means ot driving them out of the country. An active and res- olute leader was found in Liniers, a French officer in the Spanish service. He exerted himself with great industry in the districts north of the river in collecting and arming the people. A secret correspondence was set on foot between him and certain persons within the city. Arms were distributed and secreted in Buenos Ayres, and a regular insurrection or- ganized under the guidance of Puyrredon, a magistrate, and a person of great talent and address. DISASTER TO THE BRITISH. Liniers having collected a considerable force at Colonia, opposite the city, the British attempted to drive him from this post, but without suc- cess, and on the 1st of August Liniers crossed the river with his whole army and marched to the attack of the city. On the morning of the 12th the combined attack began. The British occupied the castle and great square, and planted their cannon towards the principal streets which led to those points. The Spaniards advanced with their artillery along the avenues, while the roofs of the houses were covered with musketeers, who could pour their fire upon all below without any hazard to themselves. The attacking columns in the streets were repeatedly checked in their advance, but the fire from the house-tops made dreadful havoc and threatened the British with utter destruction. The British commander had now no choice but to sur- render or see his army slaughtered to the last man. A capitulation was therefore proposed, and immediately accepted ; the whole army surrendered prisoners. STORMING BUENOS AYRES. The squadron, however, continued in the river, and being shortly after reinforced, made an attempt on Monte Video. This proving unsuc- 60 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. cessful, they took possession of Maldonado, near the mouth of the river, where they found a secure port for their shipping. Being strengthened by additional reinforcements, the attack on Monte Video was repeated a year afterwards, and on the 3d of February, 1807, after a close siege and great slaughter, Monte Video fell into the hands of the British. The hostile temper of the Spaniards prevented them for some time from attempting to regain their lost footing at Buenos Ayres ; but early in the summer they received large reinforcements of troops, and on the 25th of June an army of 12,000 men, u*~der General Whitelocke, proceeded from Monte Video up the river and disembarked about 30 miles from Buenos Ayres. They drove a body of Spanish troops before them, and on the 30th arrived before the city. The British army moved to the attack on the 5th of July. The troops marched in separate columns, each having its distinct point to as- sail. As the columns entered the city they were greeted with a furious and overwhelming fire from the roofs and windows. At every step they encountered a fresh storm of shot and missiles. Grapeshot were poured upon them from every corner ; musketry, hand-grenades, bricks and stones rained from the housetops. Every dwelling was a fortress, and all its tenants were indefatigable in its defence. For ten hours the battle raged without diminishing the ardor and obstinacy of the combatants on either side. Some of the detachments were totally destroyed by the fire of the citizens. Others had their retreat cut off, and were forced to surrender in the streets. Others took shelter in convents and churches, and after terrible slaughter, yielded to overwhelming numbers. Only two of the posts assailed by the British remained in their hands at the end of the > en O o en H O H M O n w jo C/J STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 6j in 1802, and in 1808 published his famous " Knickerbocker's History ot New York." In 1805 Abiel Holmes, father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, published the first two volumes of his monumental work, "American Annals." At the same time Sir Walter Scott was rising into notice in Great Britain. He produced his "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border" in 1802, his " Lay of the Last Minstrel" in 1805, his " Tales of My Land- lord" in 1807, and " Marmion " in 1808. Schiller, one of the greatest poets of Germany, died in 1805, hav- ing produced his famous drama of "William Tell" in the preceding year. The philosopher Hegel ended his Jena lectures in 1806, and in 1807 published his "Phenomenology of Spirit." The general manners and customs of society in these years were a curious mixture of ancient and modern. Old things were passing away, yet had not entirely vanished, and the fashions of the present time were only just beginning to commend themselves to the world. CHAPTER IV. Madison Becomes President of the United States— Trouble with the In- dians — The War of l8l2— American Disasters — Victories at Sea— In- vasion of Canada — Battle of Lake Erie — British Success at Sea— Chippewa and Lundy's Lane — Lake Champlain — Burning of Washington— Talking of Peace — Battle of New Orleans — Hartford Convention— The Creek War — Close of Mr. Madison's Administration. IN 1809, Mr. Jefferson, having declined a re-election, was succeeded as President of the United States by James Madison, who had held the office of Secretary of State in the late administration, and who pursued the same general policy. At the commencement of the new administration an arrangement was made with Mr. Erskine, the British minister, by which the American government was induced to renew the trade with England ; but this arrangement was afterwards disavowed on the part of Great Britain. The succeeding negotiator, Mr. Jackson, having, soon after his arrival, used offensive language, the President de- clined having any further correspondence with him. An unhappy ren- counter between the American and English ships of war, the "President" and the "Little Belt," served to increase the unfriendly sentiments of the two countries. TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS. The first war of the Administration was, however, not foreign but domestic. Ohio had been admitted as a State. Illinois was now erected into a territory. And the Indians occupying those regions were consequently disturbed, and were, so far as possible, induced to settle in Indiana, over which Territory General William Henry Harrison was gov- ernor. In September, 1809, General Harrison negotiated a treaty with the Miami Indians, by which they sold to the United States a large tract of country along the Wabash River. This aroused much dissatisfaction among the warlike members of the tribe, with the result that the bulk & STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 6Q of the tribe was soon persuaded to go upon the warpath. The hostili- ties culminated in the battle of Tippecanoe, which was fought on No- vember 7, 181 1, the American forces being led by General Harrison in person. More than three thousand Indians were engaged, and they were completely routed. Other incidents of the early part of Mr. Madison's administration were the admission of Louisiana as a State, the creation of the Terri- tory of Missouri, and a dreadful theatre fire at Richmond, Virginia, in which many lives were lost. THE WAR OF 1812. The prospect of an amicable adjustment of existing difficulties be tween the United States and Great Britain continuing to become daily more dark and unpromising, Congress met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 25th of May, 181 2 ; and on the 1st of June the President sent a message to that body, strongly recommending a declaration of war. The principal grounds for it, as stated in the message, were the impressment of American seamen by the British ; the blockading of the ports by their enemies ; the orders in Council ; and a suspicion that the Indians had been instigated to acts ol hostility by British agents. The bill for declaring war passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 79 to 49, and the Senate, by one of 19 to 13 ; and on the 18th of June, the day after it passed the Senate, it was signed by the Presi- dent. Five days after the declaration of war the British orders in Coun- cil were repealed in consequence of the decrees of Berlin and Milan having been revoked. The minority of Congress opposed the declaration of war on the ground of its being, in their view, unnecessary and impolitic ; they main- tained, also, that the aggressions of the French had been greater than those of the English ; and they entered a solemn protest against the measure. A considerable proportion of the people of the United States sympathized, in their views, with this minority ; and the war was, conse- quently, prosecuted with much less energy and success than it might otherwise have been. AMERICAN DISASTERS. Notwithstanding the length of time during which hostilities had been meditated, they were commenced in a very imperfect state of pre- paration on the part of the American government ; and in consequence. 70 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. the operations of the American armies by land during the first year were wholly unsuccessful and disastrous. Fort Dearborn, near the site of Chicago, and the rising town of Detroit, had speedily to be surrendered to British invaders from Canada. On the 12th of July, 181 2, General Hull, with an army of upwards of 2000 men, invaded Canada; and, on the 1 6th of August, he surrendered, with the whole of his troops, to the British. A second attempt to invade the province was made by General Van Rensselaer who, with about 1000 men, crossed the Niagara in No- vember and attacked the British at Queenstown ; after an obstinate en- gagement he was obliged to surrender with his army. In this engage- ment the British commander, General Brock, was killed. VICTORIES AT SEA. While the operations of the troops of the United States in Canada were so extremely unfortunate and mortifying, brilliant success attended the American flag on the ocean. In August the frigate " Constitution," or "Old Ironsides," commanded by Captain Hull, captured the British frigate, the " Guerriere." In October, the frigate " United States," com- manded by Captain Decatur, took the British frigate, the " Macedonian." In November, the British sloop, the "Frolic," was captured by the sloop "Wasp," under Captain Jones ; but the " Wasp " was immediately after taken by the " Poictiers," a British seventy-four. In December the "Constitution," commanded by Captain Bainbridge, captured the British frigate, the "Java." In these four engagements the total loss of the British in killed and wounded was 423 ; that of the Americans, only 73. The operations of the war during 181 3 were productive of alternate successes and reverses. In January a detachment of about 800 men under General Winchester was surprised and defeated by the British and Indians under General Proctor, at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin. Those who had not fallen, amounting to about 500, surrendered prison- ers, a great part of whom were inhumanly massacred by the Indians. INVASION OF CANADA. In April a detachment of 1700 American troops, under General Pike, after some severe fighting, took possession of York, in Upper Canada, and destroyed a large quantity of public stores. By the explo- sion of a mine, prepared for the purpose, General Pike, together with about 100 Americans, were killed. The British lost about 700 in killed STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 73 wounded and captured. Colonel Dudley, being detached from Fort Meigs with 800 men to attack the enemy's battery, was surrounded by a large army of Indians, under Tecumseh, and was defeated, with the loss of most of his troops. In May an attack was made upon Sackett's Harbor by about iooo British troops, under Sir George Prevost, who was repulsed with consid- erable loss by the Americans under General Brown. Two days before this event Fort George, in Canada, was taken by the Americans under General Boyd and Colonel Miller. The British, who were commanded by General Vincent, lost nearly 1000 in killed, wounded and captured. A few days afterwards Generals Chandler and Windier, who had ad- vanced with a considerable force, were surprised in the night, not far from the fort, by the British under General Vincent, and were both taken prisoners. BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. The most brilliant achievement during this year was the defeat of the British naval force on Lake Erie in September by Commodore Perry. The British fleet consisted of six vessels, having 63 guns ; that of the Americans, of nine vessels, with 56 guns. The conflict, which lasted three hours, was tremendous ; but the victory was complete. The British force being reduced to almost a total wreck fell entirely into the hands of the Americans, who were, by this achievement, rendered mas- ters of the lake. After this victory General Harrison embarked his main army on board the American squadron, landed on the Canadian shore, and in October, near the Thames, defeated and dispersed the British army under General Proctor. In this action the enemy sustained a severe loss, and the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, was killed. But the Americans were afterwards repulsed at Williamsburg. BRITISH SUCCESS AT SEA. Great preparations had been made for the conquest of Canada, under Generals Wilkinson and Hampton, but nothing of importance was effected ; and a disagreement between the two generals prevented that concert which was necessary to insure success. The village Newark, in Canada, being burnt by the Americans, the British crossed over, and, in retaliation, burnt Buffalo, which was then a small town,, and some 5 74 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. other villages. During this year, the British, under Admiral Cockburn, committed various depredations in the south, and on the shores of the Chesapeake ; but they were repulsed at Craney Island, near Norfolk. The English were more successful on the ocean during this year than during the preceding. The American flag, however, was not, in any instance, disgraced ; nor were the American ships and men found inferior to those of Britain of equal force. In February, the " Hornet," commanded by Captain Lawrence, captured the British sloop the " Pea- cock." In June, the "Chesapeake," under Captain Lawrence, was cap- tured by the "Shannon," commanded by Captain Broke. In August, the "Argus" was captured by the English sloop the "Pelican" ; and in September, the British brig the "Boxer" surrendered to the "Enter- prise." CHIPPEWA AND LUNDY*S LANE. The campaign of 1814 was distinguished by more severe fighting in Canada than had before occurred. On the second day of July the Americans, under General Brown, having taken Fort Erie, proceeded to attack the British under General Drummond at Chippewa, where on the 5th an obstinate engagement took place which terminated in favor of the Americans. On the 25th of the month a more sanguinary and warmly contested battle was fought at Bridgewater, or Lundy's Lane, by the Americans under Generals Brown and Scott, and the British under Generals Drummond and Riall. The British were forced to retreat, with the loss of about 900 in killed, wounded and taken. The American army was also so much weakened that it fell back to Fort Erie, which the British afterwards attempted to storm ; but they were repulsed with a severe loss. This was the last important operation of the war on this frontier. LAKE CHAMPLAIN. Sir George Prevost, having received large reinforcements from the troops which had been employed under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, now advanced with an army of 14,000 men, to carry offensive war into the United States ; and his first attempt was on Plattsburg. The operations of this army were accompanied by those of the British naval force on Lake Champlain, consisting of 95 guns and 1050 men, com- manded by Commodore Downie. This force was totally defeated by the American fleet having 86 guns and 826 men. under the command of STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 75 Commodore Macdonough. During the engagement between the fleets Sir George Prevost attacked the forts of Plattsburg, but was effectually repulsed by the Americans under General Macomb. The loss of British in killed, wounded and deserters was estimated at 2500 ; while that of the Americans, both on the land and water, was only 231. BURNING OF WASHINGTON. In August, a British fleet of about 60 sail arrived in the Chesapeake, and an army of about 5000 men, under General Ross, landed in the Patuxent, about forty miles from the city of Washington. Having easily put to flight the American militia under General Winder, of Bladens- burg, the enemy entered Washington, burnt the capitol, the President's house and other public buildings, and retired without molestation. In September, about a fortnight after this transaction, the British army, to the number of about 7000, under General Ross and Admiral Cockburn, made a similar attempt on Baltimore, but after gaining some advantages, they were finally repulsed. In this attempt General Ross was killed. During the British attack upon Fort McHenry, at Baltimore, the national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," was written by Francis Scott Key. On the ocean, the American flag maintained its reputation, and in no instance yielded to an inferior or equal force. The American frigate the "Essex," however, was captured by the British frigate the " Phcebe " and the sloop " Cherub" of a superior force, and the frigate "President" by a squadron of the enemy ; but the British vessels of war, the " Eper- vier," "Avon," "Reindeer," " Cyane," "Levant" and "Penguin," were taken by the Americans. TALKING OF PEACE. As the war between the United States and Great Britain was a branch of the great European quarrel, it naturally fell to the ground when that quarrel ceased. The matters in dispute between the two countries related to maritime and neutral rights ; but, with regard to these subjects, there was no longer any cause of difference, as the world was at peace. On the restoration of peace in Europe, both parties began to think seriously about ending the war, and the Emperor of Russia offered his services as mediator, which were, however, declined by the British government, and a direct negotiation at London or Gotten- 76 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. burg was proposed. In April, 1813, commissioners, on the part of the United States, were appointed to meet others from England at Gotten- burg ; but the place of meeting was afterwards changed to Ghent, where 1 treaty was finally signed on the 24th of December, 18 14. BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. While the negotiation was in progress, a large armament, under the command of Sir Edward Packenham, was fitted out by Great Britain for an attack on New Orleans, with the intention, apparently, of ending the war with some eclat, but the design met with a most signal and fatal defeat. The British, after enduring great fatigues and numerous diffi- culties, and sustaining some desperate encounters, assaulted the works thrown up for the defence of the city, on the 8th of January, 181 5, when they were dreadfully cut to pieces and repulsed by the Americans under General Jackson. The loss of the enemy in killed, wounded and cap- tured amounted to about 2600 ; among the slain were the commander- in-chief, General Packenham, and other principal officers. The loss of the Americans was only 7 killed and 6 wounded. This was the last important operation of the war. HARTFORD CONVENTION. In 1 8 14, the North-eastern States were in a very exposed condition, being destitute of protection from the national troops, and great alarm was excited among the people. At this juncture, the legislature of Massachusetts proposed a conference, by delegates from the legislatures of the New England States and of any of the other States that might accede to the measure, in order to devise and recommend to these States measures for their security and defence. A convention, composed of distinguished men, delegates from the New England States, accord- ingly met at Hartford, in Connecticut, on the 15th of December, and after a session of three weeks, they published the result of their deliberations. The commissioners of the convention, who were sent to confer with the national government and the treaty of peace with Great Britain, arrived at Washington about the same time, so that the war and all proceedings relating to its continuance were, at length, happily terminated. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 77 THE CREEK WAR. While the war with Great Britain was in progress, in the fall of 1812, a sanguinary war was waged by the Creeks and Seminoles, against the frontier inhabitants of Georgia. At the head of 2500 volunteers from Tennessee, General Jackson marched into their country, and compelled them to desist ; but, soon after his return, their ani- mosity burst fortb with increased and fatal violence. Dreading their cruelty, some 300 men, women, and children, took refuge in Fort Mimms. Here, at noon-day, on the 30th of August, they were sur- prised by a party of 600 Indians, who, from the fort, drove the people into the houses which it inclosed. To these they set fire. Seventeen only of the refugees escaped to carry the horrid tidings to the neigh- boring stations. But the whites resolved on vengeance. General Jackson, at the head of 3500 militia of Tennessee, again took up his march into the southern wilderness. A detachment, under General Coffee, encountering at Tallushatchie a body of Indians, a sanguinary conflict ensued. The latter fought with desperation, neither giving nor receiving quarter, until nearly every warrior had perished. Yet still, the spirit of the Creeks remained unsubdued. With no little sagacity and skill, they selected and fortified another position on the Tallapoosa, called by themselves the Tohopeka, and by whites the Horse-shoe Bend. Here nearly a thousand warriors, animated with a fierce and determined resolution, were collected. 3000 men, commanded by Gen- eral Jackson, marched to attack this post. To prevent escape, a de- tachment under General Coffee encircled the Bend. The main body advanced to the fortress, and for a few minutes the opposing forces were engaged muzzle to muzzle at the portholes ; but at length, the troops leaping over the walls, mingled in furious combat with the sav- ages. When the Indians, fleeing to the river, beheld the troops on the opposite bank, they returned, and fought with increasing fury and desperation. 600 warriors were killed ; four only yielded themselves prisoners; the remaining 300 escaped. Of the whites, 55 were killed and 146 wounded. It was deemed probable that further resistance would be made by the Indians at a place called the Hickory-ground ; but, on General Jackson's arriving thither in April, 1814, the principal chiefs came out to meet him, and peace was made. 78 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS, CLOSE OF MR. MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. The remainder of Mr. Madison's administration was marked by few events or measures of national importance. Yet, we may briefly notice the conclusion of a treaty, conducted at Algiers, with the dey of Algiers, with William Shaler and Commodore Stephen Decatur, on the 30th of June, 181 5 — a "convention by which to regulate the commerce between the territories of the United States and of His Britannic Majesty," con- cluded at London, July 3 — and the incorporation of a national bank, with a capital of thirty-five million dollars. Indiana was admitted to the Union as a State, and Alabama was erected into a Territory. In the fall of 181 2, Mr. Madison was re-elected President for a second term, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, was elected Vice- President. In the fall of 18 16, Mr. Madison made it known that he would follow Jefferson's example, and retire from office at the end of his second term. Accordingly, James Monroe, of Virginia, was chosen President in his place, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, was chosen Vice-President. CHAPTER V. Austria against Napoleon — Napoleon's Divorce and Re-marriage— Welling* ton at Torres Vedras— Turn of the Tide in Spain— Quarrel with Russia — Marching to Moscow — Borodino — Destruction of Moscow- Horrors of the Retreat — Destruction of the Grand Army — Lutzen and Leipsic — Invasion of France — Napoleon's Return from Elba— Waterloo — Restoration of the Bourbons — The Second Peace of Paris. A SHORT time before the battle of Corunna, Napoleon received dispatches which induced him to return immediately to Paris, The Austrian Emperor, humbled but not subdued, and stimulated by the warlike spirit of his subjects, once more resolved to try the hazards of war, while the best troops of Napoleon were occupied in the Spanish Peninsula. On the 8th of April, 1809, large bodies of Aus- trian troops crossed the frontiers of Bohemia, of the Tyrol, and of Italy, and soon involved in great danger the dispersed divisions of Napoleon's army. On the 17th of the same month Napoleon arrived and took the command in person. Baffling the Austrian generals by the rapidity of his movements, he speedily concentrated his divisions, and in four days of combats and manoeuvres, from the 19th to the 2 2d inclusive, he com- pleted the ruin of the Austrian army. On the last of these days he de- feated the Archduke Charles at Eckmuhl, and compelled him to recross the Danube. Rapidly following up his victories, he entered Vienna on the 13th of May, and although worsted in the battle of Aspern on the 2 1 st and 2 2d, on the 5th of July he gained a triumph at Wagram, and soon after dictated a peace by which Austria was compelled to surrender territory containing 3,500,000 inhabitants. During the war with Austria the brave Tyrolese had seized the opportunity to raise the standard of revolt ; and it was not until two powerful French armies had been sent into their country that they were subdued. The British government also sent a fleet and an army of 40,000 men to make a diversion against Napoleon on the coast of Hol- land ; but the expedition proved a failure. 99 g Q STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. NAPOLEON'S DIVORCE AND RE-MARRIAGE. Near the close of 1809 the announcement was made that Napoleon was about to obtain a divorce from the Empress Josephine for the pur- pose of allying himself with one of the royal families of Europe. To Josephine Napoleon was warmly attached ; but reasons of state policy were, in his breast, superior to the dearest affections. His first marriage having been annulled by the French Senate, early in 18 10 he received the hand of Maria Louisa of Austria, daughter of the Emperor Francis. This marriage, which seemed permanently to establish Napoleon's power, by uniting the lustre of descent with the grandeur of his throne, was one of the principal causes of his final ruin, as it was justly feared by the other European powers that, secured by the Austrian alliance, he would strive to make himself master of Europe. His conduct towards Holland justified this suspicion. Dissatisfied with his brother's govern- ment of that country, he soon after, by an imperial decree, incorporated Holland with the French Empire. In the same year Bernadotte, one of his generals, was advanced to the throne of Sweden. Napoleon con- tinued his career of aggrandizement in the central parts of Europe, and extended the French limits almost to the frontiers of Russia, thereby ex- citing the strongest jealousy of the Russian Emperor, who renewed his intercourse with the court of London, and began to prepare for that tre> mendous conflict with France, which he saw approaching. WELLINGTON AT TORRES VEDRAS. The war still continued in the Spanish Peninsula. Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had recently been created Lord Wellington, had the chief command of the English, Spanish and Portuguese forces. On the 10th of July the Spanish fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo surrendered to Mar- shal Massena, but on the 27th of September Massena was defeated in an attack upon Wellington on the heights of Busaco. Wellington, still pur- suing his plan of defensive operations, then retired to the strongly for- tified lines of Torres Vedras, which defended the approaches to Lisbon. Massena followed, but in vain endeavored to find a weak spot where he could attack with any prospect of success, and after continuing before the lines more than a month, he broke up his position on the 14th of November, and for the first time since the accession of Napoleon, the French eagles commenced a final retreat. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 8 1 The early part of 1811 witnessed the siege of Badajoz by Marshal Soult, and its surrender to the French on the 10th of March ; but this was soon followed by the battle of Albuera, in which the united British and Spanish forces gained an important victory. Many battles were fought during the remainder of the year, but they were attended with no important results on either side. TURN OF THE TIDE IN SPAIN. The year 181 2 opened with the surrender of the important city of Valencia to Marshal Suchet on the 9th of January, the last of a long series of French triumphs in the peninsula. On the same day Welling- ton, in another quarter, laid siege to Ciudad Rodrigo ; and the capture of this place by the British arms was soon followed by that of Badajoz. Wellington, following up his successes, next defeated Marmont in the battle of Salamanca ; the intrusive King Joseph fled from Madrid, and on the next day the capital of Spain was in the possession of the British army. The concentration of the French forces again compelled the cau- tious Wellington to retreat to Portugal ; but early in the following year, 18 1 3, he resumed the offensive, gained the decisive battle of Vittoria, and before the close of the campaign, drove the French across the Pyre- nees into their own territories. QUARREL WITH RUSSIA. During these reverses to the French arms, events of greater mag- nitude than those of the Peninsular war were occupying the personal at- tention of Napoleon. The jealousy of Russia at his repeated encroach- ments in Central and Northern Europe has already been mentioned ; moreover, the commercial interests of Russia, in common with those of the other Northern powers, had been greatly injured by the measures of Napoleon for destroying the trade of England : but the French Em- peror refused to abandon his favorite policy, and the angry discussions between the Cabinets of St. Petersburg and Versailles led to the assem- bling of vast armies on both sides, and the commencement of hostilities in the early part of the summer of 181 2. Napoleon had driven Sweden to enter into an alliance with Russia and England; but he arrayed around his standard the immense forces of France, Italy, Germany, the Confedera- tion of the Rhine, Poland, and the two monarchies, Prussia and Austria. 82 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. The "Grand Army" assembled in Poland for the Russian war amounted to the immense aggregate of more than 500,000 men, of whom 80,000 were cavalry, the whole being supported by 1300 pieces of cannon. Nearly 20,000 chariots or carts, of all descriptions, followed the army, while the whole number of horses amounted to 187,000. To oppose this vast army the Russians had collected at the beginning of the contest nearly 300,000 men ; but as the war was carried into the interior their forces increased in numbers until the armies on both sides were nearly equal. MARCHING TO MOSCOW. On the 24th of June, 181 2, Napoleon crossed the Niemen at the head of the " Grand Army," and entered upon his ever memorable Russian campaign. As the enormous superiorty of his forces rendered it hope- less tor the Russians to attempt any immediate resistance, they grad- ually fell back before the invaders, wasting the country as they re- treated. The wisdom of this course soon became apparent. A terri- ble tempest soon set in, and the horses in the French army perished by thousands from the combined effects of incessant rain and scanty forage ; the soldiers sickened in great numbers, and before a single shot had been fired 25,000 sick and dying men filled the hospitals ; 10,000 dead horses strewed the road to Wilna, and 120 pieces of cannon were abandoned for want of the means of transport. Still Napoleon pressed onward in several divisions, frequently skirmishing with the enemy, and driving them before him, until he arrived under the fortified walls of Smolensko, where 30,000 Russians made a stand to oppose him. A hundred and fifty cannon were brought up to batter the walls, but without effect, for the thickness of the ram- parts defied the efforts of the artillery. But the French howitzers set fire to some houses near the ramparts ; the flames spread with won- derful rapidity, and during the night which followed the battle, a lurid light from the burning city was cast over the French bivouacs, grouped in dense masses for several miles in circumference. At 3 o'clock in the morning a solitary French soldier scaled the walls and penetrated into the interior; but he found neither inhabitants nor opponents. Deso- lation had been completed by the voluntary sacrifice of the inhabitants, who had withdrawn with the army, leaving a ruined city, naked walls, and the cannon which mounted them, as the only trophy to the conqueror. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 83 BORODINO. The division of the army led by Napoleon followed the Russians on the road to Moscow, engaging in frequent but indecisive encounters with the rear guard. When the retreating forces had reached the small village of Borodino, their commander, General Kutusoff, resolved to risk a battle, in the hope of saving Moscow. On the evening of the 6th of Septem- ber, the two vast armies took their positions facing each other, — each numbering more than 130,000 men — the Russians having 640 pieces of cannon, and the French 590. Napoleon sought to stimulate the enthu- siasm of his soldiers by recounting to them the glories of Marengo, of Jena, and of Austerlitz, while a possession of dignified clergy passed through the Russian ranks, bestowing their blessings upon the kneeling soldiers, and invoking the aid of the God of battles to drive the invader from the land. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 7th, a gun, fired from the French lines, announced the commencement of the battle ; the roar of more than 1,000 cannon shook the earth ; vast clouds of smoke, shutting out the light of the sun, arose in awful sublimity over the scene; and 260,000 combatants, led on in the gathering gloom by the light of the cannon and musketry, engaged in the work of death. The battle raged, with desolating fury, until night put an end to its horrors. The slaughter was immense. The loss on both sides was nearly equal, amounting, in the aggregate, to 90,000 in killed and wounded. The Russian position was eventually carried, but neither side gained a decisive victory. DESTRUCTION OF MOSCOW. On the day after the battle, the Russians retired, in perfect order, on the great road to Moscow. Preparations were immediately made by the inhabitants for abandoning that city, long revered as the cradle of the Empire; and when, on the 14th, Napoleon entered it, no deputation of citizens awaited him to deprecate his hostility, but the dwellings of 300,000 persons were as silent as the wilderness. It seemed like a city of the dead. Napoleon took up his residence in the Kremlin, the ancient palace of the Czars ; but the Russian authorities had determined that their beloved city should not afford a shelter to the invaders. At mid- night, on the night of the 15th, avast light was seen to illuminate the most distant part of the city; fires broke out in all directions, and 84 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. Moscow soon exhibited a vast ocean of flame agitated by the wind. Nine-tenths of the city were consumed, and Napoleon was driven to seek a temporary refuge for his army in the country ; but, afterwards, return- ing to the Kremlin, which had escaped the ravages of the fire, he re- mained there until the 19th of October, when, all his proposals of peace being rejected, he was compelled to order a retreat. HORRORS OF THE RETREAT. The horrors of that retreat, which, during fifty-five days that inter- vened until the recrossing of the Niemen, was almost one continued battle, exceeded anything before known in the annals of war. The exas- perated Russians intercepted the retreating army wherever an oppor- tunity offered ; and a cloud of Cossacks, hovering incessantly around the wearied columns, gradually wore away their numbers. But the severities of the Russian winter, which set in on the 6th of November, were far more destructive of life than the sword of the enemy. The weather, before mild, suddenly changed to intense cold; the wind howled frightfully through the forests, or swept over the plains with resistless fury ; and the snow fell in thick and continued showers, soon confound- ing all objects, and leaving the army to wander, without landmarks, through an icy desert. Thousands of the soldiers, falling benumbed with cold, and ex- hausted, perished miserably in sight of their companions ; and the route of the rear guard of the army was literally choked up by the icy mounds of the dead. In their nightly bivouacs, crowds of starving men prepared, around their scanty fires, a miserable meal of rye, mixed with snow-water and horse flesh ; but numbers never awoke from the slumbers that followed ; and the sites of the night fires were marked by circles of dead bodies, with their feet still resting on the ex- tinguished piles. Clouds of ravens, issuing from the forests, hovered over the dying remains of the soldiers ; while troops of famished dogs which had followed the army from Moscow, howled in the rear, and often fell upon their victims before life was extinct. The ambition of Napoleon had led the pride and the chivalry of Europe to perish amid the snows of a Russian winter ; and he bitterly felt the taunt of the enemy, ''Could the French find no graves in their own land?" STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 85 DESTRUCTION OF THE GRAND ARMY. Napoleon had first thought of remaining in winter quarters at Smolensko, but the exhausted state of his magazines, and the concentrat- ing around him of vast forces of the enemy, which threatened soon to overwhelm him, convinced him that a protracted stay was impossible, and on the 14th of November the retreat was renewed — Napoleon, in the midst of his still faithful guards, leading the advance, and the heroic Ney bringing up the rear. But the enemy harassed them at every step. During the 16th, 17th and 18th, in the battles of Krasnoi, Napoleon lost 10,000 killed, 20,000 taken prisoners, and more than a hundred pieces of cannon fell into the hands of the enemy. The terrible passage of the Beresina, which was purchased by the loss of 16,000 prisoners and 24,000 killed or drowned in the stream, completed the ruin of the Grand Army. All subordination now ceased, and it was with difficulty that Marshal Ney could collect 3000 men on foot to form the rear guard and protect the helpless multitude from the indefatigable Cossacks, and when at length the few remaining fugitives reached the passage of the Niemen the rear guard was reduced to 30 men. The veteran marshal, bearing a musket and still facing the enemy, was the last of the Grand Army who left the Russian territory. Napoleon had already abandoned the remnant of his forces, and setting out in a sledge for Paris, he arrived there at midnight on the 18th of December, even before the news of his terrible reverses had reached the capital. It has been estimated that in this famous Russian campaign 125,000 men of the army of Napoleon perished in battle; that 132,000 died of fatigue, hunger and cold, and that nearly 200,000 were taken prisoners. LUTZEN AND LEIPSIC. Notwithstanding his terrible reverses in the Russian campaign, Napoleon found that he still possessed the confidence of the French nation ; he at once obtained from the Senate a new levy of 350,000 men — took the most vigorous measures to repair his losses, and having ar- ranged his difficulties with the Pope, on the 15 th of April he left Paris for the theatre of war. In the meantime Prussia and Sweden had joined the alliance against him ; a general insurrection spread over the German States ; Austria wavered ; and already the confederates had advanced as fa*" as the Elbe. On the 2d of May Napoleon gained the battle of g6 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. Lutzen, and a fortnight later that of Bautzen ; but as these were not decisive, on the 4th of July an armistice was agreed to, and a congress met at Prague to consider terms of peace. As Napoleon would listen to nothing calculated to limit his power, on the expiration of the armistice, on the 10th of August, war was re- newed, when the Austrian Emperor, abandoning the cause of his son-in- law, joined the allies. Napoleon at once commenced a series of vigorous loperations against his several foes, and with various success fought the battles of Culm, Cross Beren, the Katsbach and Dennewitz, in which the allies, although not decidedly victorious, were constantly gaining strength. In the first battle of Leipsic, fought on the 1 6th of October, the result was indecisive, but in the battle of the 1 8th the French were signally de- feated, and on the following morning began a retrograde movement to- wards the Rhine. Pressed on all sides by the allies, great numbers were made prisoners during the retreat ; about 80,000, left to garrison the Prussian fortresses, surrendered; the Saxons, Hanoverians and Hol- landers threw off the French yoke, and it was at this time that Wellington was completing the expulsion of the French from Spain. INVASION OF FRANCE. The year 1814 opened with the invasion of France, on the eastern frontiers, by the Prussian, Russian and Austrian armies ; while Welling- ton, having crossed the Pyrenees, laid siege to Bayonne. Bernadotte, the old comrade of Napoleon, but now King of Sweden, was marching against France at the head of a 100,000 men ; and Murat, King of Naples, brother-in-law of the French Emperor, eager to secure his crown, entered into a secret treaty with Austria for the expulsion of the French from Italy. Never did the military talents of Napoleon shine with greater lustre than at this crisis. During two months, with a greatly inferior force, he repelled the attacks of his enemies, gained many brilliant vic- tories, and electrified all Europe by the rapidity and skill of his move- ments. But the odds were too great against him ; the enemy had crossed the Rhine, and while, by a bold movement, Napoleon threw himself into the rear of the allies, hoping to intimidate them into a retreat, they marched upon Paris, which was compelled to capitulate before he could come to its relief. Two days later the Emperor was formally deposed by the Senate, and on the 6th of April, with a trembling hand, he signed STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 87 an unconditional abdication of the thrones of France and Italy. By a treaty concluded between him and the allies on the nth, Napoleon was promised the sovereignty of the island of Elba and a pension of ,£100,000 per annum. On the 3d of May, Louis XVIII, returning from his long exile, re-entered Paris. To conciliate the French people he gave them a constitutional charter, and soon after concluded a formal treaty with the allies, by which the continental dominions of France were re- stricted to what they had been in 1792. NAPOLEON'S RETURN FROM ELBA. The final settlement of European affairs had been left to a general congress of the ministers of the allied powers, which assembled at Vienna on the 25th of September ; but while the conferences were still pending, the congress was thrown into consternation by the announce- ment that Napoleon had left Elba. An extensive conspiracy had been formed throughout France for restoring the fallen Emperor, and on the 1 st of March, 181 5, he landed at Frejus, accompanied by only 1100 men. Everywhere the soldiery received him with enthusiasm. Ney, who had sworn fidelity to the new government, went over to him at the head of a force sent to arrest his progress ; and on the evening of the 20th of March he re-entered the French capital, which Louis XVIII had left early in the morning. With the exception of Augereau, Marmont, Mac- donald and a few others, all the officers, civil and military, embraced his cause. At the end of a month his authority was re-established through- out all France, and he again found himself at the summit of power by one of the most remarkable transitions recorded in history. In vain Napoleon now attempted to open negotiations with the allied powers, and professed an ardent desire for peace ; the allies de- nounced him as the common enemy of Europe, and refused to recognize his authority as emperor of the French people. All Europe was now in arms against the usurper, and it was estimated that, by the middle of summer, 600,000 effective men could be assembled against him on the French frontiers. But nothing which genius and activity could accom- plish was wanting on the part of Napoleon to meet the coming storm ; and in a country that seemed drained of men and money, he was able, by the 1st of June, to put on foot an army of 220,000 veterans who had served in his former wars. 88 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. WATERLOO. His policy was to attack the allies in detail, before their forces could be concentrated, and with this view he hastened across the Belgian frontier on the 15th of June with a force numbering, at that point, 120,000 men. On the 16th he defeated the Prussians, under Blucher, at Ligny, but at the same time Ney was defeated by Wellington at Quatre Bras. The defeat of the Prussians induced Wellington to fall back upon Waterloo, where, at 11 o'clock on the morning of the 18th, he was attacked by Napoleon in person, while at the same time large bodies of French and Prussians were engaged at Wavre. On the field of Waterloo the combat raged during the day with terrific fury — Napo- leon in vain hurling column after column upon the British lines, which withstood his assaults like a wall of adamant ; and when, at 7 o'clock, in the evening be brought up the Imperial Guard for a final effort it was driven back in disorder. At the same time Blucher, coming up with the Prussians, completed the rout of the French army. The broken host fled in all directions, and Napoleon himself, hastening to Paris, was the herald of his own defeat. Once more the capital capitulated, and was ..occupied by foreign troops. Napoleon a second time abdicated the throne, and after vainly attempting to escape to America, surrendered himself to a British man-of-war. He was banished by the allies to the Island of St. Helena, where he died on the 5th of May, 182 1, during one of the most violent tempests that had ever raged on the island — fitting time for the soul of Napoleon to take its departure. In his last moments his thoughts wandered to the scenes of his military glory, and his last words were those of command, as he fancied himself at the head of his armies. RESTORATION OF THE BOURBONS. After the capitulation of Paris, the tranquilization of France and the future peace and safety of Europe received the first attention of the allies. Louis XVIII, following in the rear of their armies, entered the capital on the 8th of July, but the French people felt too deeply the humiliation of defeat to express any joy at his restoration. The mourn- ful tragedy which followed, in the execution of Marshal Ney and Labedoyere for high treason in favoring Napoleon's return from Elba, after the undoubted protection which had been guaranteed them by the capitulation of Paris, was a stain upon the character of the allies ; and EL! WHITNEY JAMES WATT ROBERT STEPHENSON LOUIS JACQUES DAGUERRE HENRY BESSEMER ALFRED KRUPP I8IO— PROMINENT INVENTORS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 9 1 although Ney's treason was beyond that of any other man, to the end of the world his guilt will be forgotten in the broken faith of his enemies and the tragic interest and noble heroism of his death. The fate of Murat, king of Naples, was equally mournful, but less unjust. On Napoleon's landing at Frejus he had made a diversion in his favor by breaking his alliance with Austria and commencing the war ; but the cowardly Neapolitans were easily overthrown, and Murat was obliged to seek refuge in France. At the head of a few followers he afterwards made a descent upon the coast of Naples, in the hope of regaining his power ; but being seized, he was tried by a military commission, con- demned and executed. THE SECOND PEACE OF PARIS. On the 20th of November, 1815, the second treaty of Paris was concluded between France and the allied powers, by which the French frontier was narrowed to nearly the state in which it stood in 1 790 ; twenty-eight million pounds sterling were to be paid by France for the expenses of the war, and a larger sum still for the spoliations which she had inflicted on other powers during her revolution, and for five years her frontier fortresses were to be placed in the hands of her recent enemies ; while the vast treasures ot art which adorned the museums of the Louvre — the trophies of a hundred victories — were to be restored to the States from which they had been pillaged by the orders of Napoleon. CHAPTER VI. The War for Independence in South America — Simon Bolivar— Liberator and Dictator— La Puerta and San Marco — Republic of Bolivia — Revolution of Mexico — Hidalgo — Death of Hidalgo— Calleja — Russia and Turkey — Stories of the Years — Scientific Progress. IN a former chapter we have told of the beginning of the war foi independence begun by General Miranda in the northern part of the South American Continent. The Spanish dominion continued but a few years longer. The great revolution burst out in 1810. The captain-general of Caracas was deposed on the 19th of April, and a popular congress convened to organ ize a new government for Venezuela. The same was done at Bogota the capital of New Grenada, which erected itself, at first, into a separate republic. The congress of Venezuela published a declaration of inde- pendence on the 5th of July, 181 1, and this example was followed by the other provinces, which were afterwards united in the republic of Colombia. The history of this revolution, like that of most others of the Spanish American States, is filled with a perplexing and most wearisome detail of political changes, party manoeuvres, factions, intrigues, negotia- tions, plots and counter-plots, and marches and counter-marches of political and military leaders. SIMON BOLIVAR. The whole control of the revolution soon became engrossed in the hands of one individual, who, for many years, became the most promt nent and powerful man in South America. This man was Simon Bolivar, a native of Caracas, who, as early as 1810, was sent to London as agent for the revolutionary government, to solicit aid from the British. That government, however, determined to remain neutral. Bolivar returned to Venezuela, where he was made colonel in the independent army, and 92 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 93 governor of Puerto Cabello. General Miranda had returned to this country, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces. The Spaniards sent armies into the country, and many actions were fought. The patriots were generally successful till 1812, when they experienced a terrible calamity. On the 26th of March, an earthquake destroyed, either entirely or in part, the city of Caracas, killing 20,000 persons. This was regarded by the superstitious people as a Divine rebuke to the revolution. Meantime the royalist troops were getting possession of the whole country. Miranda, in despair, capitulated, and was preparing to leave the country, when he was arrested by the patriots as a traitor. He was delivered up to the royalist general, Monteverde, and sent to Spain, where he died in a dungeon. Venezuela was now entirely in the hands of the royalists, and deeds of revolting ferocity and plunder reduced the whole country to a fright- ful state of misery ; old men, women and children were seized and mas- sacred as rebels. One of Monteverde's officers cut off the ears of the patriots, and had them stuck in the caps of his soldiers for cockades. In this state of things, Bolivar began to show the firmness and energy of his character. He raised a small force, and in December, 18 12, entered upon a campaign against the royalists. He defeated them at Teneriffe, Ocana and Cucuta, and by an expedition to Bogota, increased his army to 2000 men. Marching back, along the Andes, he invaded Venezuela, and defeated the royalists in several other battles. The war now assumed the most bloody character ; the terrible cruelties of Monteverde obliged the patriots to commence reprisals, and the most horrible butcheries were the consequence. The cause of independence was now more prosperous. Bolivar defeated Monteverde at Lostaguanes, and on the 4th of August, 1 8 14, he entered the city of Caracas in triumph. The joy of the people exceeded all bounds, and this was undoubtedly the most brilliant day in Bolivar's whole career. The whole population crowded to meet him with acclamations, and he was drawn into the city in a triumphal car by twelve beautiful young ladies, of the first families in Caracas, while others crowned him with laurels and strewed his way with flowers. LIBERATOR AND DICTATOR. Bolivar was now in the possession of unlimited power in this part of the country, and assumed the title of Liberator and Dictator of the 94 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. western provinces of Venezuela. This gave great offence to the demo- cratic party, and charges were uttered against him of studying his own aggrandizement ; yet the enthusiasm in his favor confirmed the dictatorial power in his hands. In the meantime, the royalists at a distance were still deluging the country with blood. Boves and Rosette, two of their generals, in a march of 400 miles from the Orinoco to the Ocumare, with an army of slaves and vagabonds, murdered every individual who refused to join them. General Puy, a negro assassin and a robber in the royal interest, having murdered hundreds of the patriot inhabitants of Varinas, Bolivar, to deter him from the repetition of such atrocities, ordered 800 Spaniards in La Guayra and Caracas to be arrested and shot, in February, 18 14. This was retaliated by the royalists, who mas- sacred their prisoners in Puerto Cabello. The patriots, however, did not repeat these dreadful reprisals, and Bolivar, in July, 181 6, formally proclaimed, " No Spaniard shall be put to death except in battle : the war of death shall cease." LA PUERTA AND SAN MARCO. Success continued to fluctuate between the patriots and royalists. On the 14th of June, 1814, a battle was fought at La Puerta, in which Bolivar was defeated, with a loss of 1500 men. Another action occurred on the 17th of August, at San Marco, the estate of Bolivar. Here the Liberator's army was surprised by the "infernal division" of Boves, a legion of negro cavalry, with black crape on their lances, who rushed with hideous shouts from an ambush, and scattered Bolivar's whole force by the suddenness and impetuosity of their assault ; the general escaped only by the fleetness of his horse. Bolivar's family mansion was burnt to the ground, and he was ultimately compelled, in September, to leave the royalists in possession of all Venezuela, when thousands of the patriots deserted to their ranks. He repaired to New Grenada, where the government employed him in their army to subjugate the revolted province of Cundinamarca. Bolivar captured the city of Bogota, which afterwards became the capital of Colombia. He returned to Venezuela in 1 816, but was again defeated. Notwithstanding, he persevered in 'his exertions, and in December of the same year, he convened a general congress. In March, 181 7, he was enabled to give the royalists a severe check. I o w z w JO > r > JO 2 O 2: > U H W o G w X I H W o > n 5 5 I8ll— COURSE OF THE GREAT COMET NEAR THE RHINE, GERMANY STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 97 Numerous transactions took place between the patriot and royalist forces during this and the following year, but our limits will not admit of a detailed account of them ; victory remained nearly balanced between the two parties, but the cause of independence was gaining strength. REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA. The republic of Bolivia was formed out of the provinces of Upper Peru, which under the Spanish dominion were governed as a dependency of Buenos Ayres. These provinces were wrested from the Spaniards by the victory of Ayacucho, in December, 1828. General Sucre, who, at the head of the Colombian forces, gained this victory, soon cleared the country of the royalist forces, and no obstacle existed to the forma- tion of an independent government. A congress assembled at Chuqui- saca, in August, 1825, and lodged the supreme authority provisionally in the hands of Sucre, while, as a testimonial of their gratitude to Bolivar, they requested him to frame a constitution for them. Bolivar accordingly drew up a plan of government, founded on a representative basis but of a very complicated and inconvenient character. The chief magistrate is a president who appoints his own successor, nominates to all offices, ex- ercises the whole patronage of the government, and is irresponsible for his actions. This constitution was adopted by the congress, and went into operation in December, 1826. REVOLUTION OF MEXICO. The revolutionary conspiracies in Mexico, which began in 1808, cul- minated in the seizure of the Spanish Viceroy by the chief Spaniards, and the sending him a prisoner to Spain, while the reins of government were assumed by a committee of Spaniards, to save the country from falling into the hands of the Creoles and Indians. The Spanish Govern- ment sent a new viceroy, who encountered new plots and troubles. Finally, in 18 10, an insurrection of natives rose openly against the government. HIDALGO. These men were led by Hidalgo, a priest of some talents, and an enthusiast in the cause of independence. From Dolores, where they first assembled, they marched upon the wealthy city of Guanaxuato, which they took and pillaged. The viceroy dispatched his forces to sup- 98 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. press the rebellion, but the whole country through which Hidalgo passed, took up arms and joined him. Acting with great policy, he abolished the tribute paid by the aborigines, which brought all the Indians to his standard. Valladolid fell into his hands, and on the 24th of October, the priest Hidalgo was proclaimed generalissimo of the Mexican armies. On this occasion he threw aside his sacerdotal robes and appeared in uniform. He advanced upon the capital, and in three days entered Toluco, not more than twelve miles from Mexico. The royal forces were scattered throughout the country, and Mexico was in imminent danger. After some skirmishes the independent army approached to the heights of Santa Fe, where the royalists, with a much inferior force, were drawn up to defend the city. Mexico was on the point of seeing a conquering army enter her gates, when, to the astonishment of every spectator. Hidalgo suddenly wheeled to the right-about, and marched away. This extraordinary proceeding was never explained. DEATH OF HIDALGO. Hidalgo retreated to the neighborhood of Guadalaxara. The roy- alists now had leisure to collect a strong force, and pursued him. A sanguinary battle was fought on the 17th of January, 181 1, which ended in the total defeat and dispersion of the independent army. Hidalgo made his escape, but was closely pursued from post to post, till at length his retreat was cut off; when, by the treachery of one of his own men, he was betrayed and made prisoner with all his staff, on the 21st of March. Fifty of his officers were executed on the spot. Hidalgo was tried and shot, at Chihuahua, on the 20th of June, 181 1. The death of Hidalgo did not stop the progress of the revolution in other quarters. In the meantime, the whole country had risen in in- surrection, and many leaders began to act separately. The most remark- able among them was Morelos, another priest, who, with great activity, talents and success, maintained the rebellion in the southern provinces* and organized a junta or central government, which, in September, 181 1, assembled at Zacaturo, in Mechoacan. This town was soon after cap- tured by Calleja, a royalist general, and the junta dispersed. Morelos penetrated into the highlands of Tenochtitlan, where he fought many battles with Calleja during a period of three months. He took Acapulco, Oaxaca, and many other towns, and convened a congress at Apatzinjan. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 99 in the province of Valladolid. This congress took the name of the National Assembly, and declared the independence of Mexico on the 13th of November, 18 13. A constitution was framed, and proposals for a suspension of hostilities were made to the royalists, but without effect. CALLEJA. Calleja, who was now appointed viceroy, prosecuted the war with barbarous cruelty. Morelos involved himself in difficulties by surrender- ing his authority to the congress at this critical period. All his military plans were defeated by the interference and delays of that body, and he no longer met with any success, and in November, 181 5, he was taken prisoner, carried to Mexico and shot. The war was feebly carried on until the arrival of a new partisan from Europe. This was General Mina, nephew of the guerrilla chief, so celebrated in the war in Spain. He sailed from England with a small force in May, 18 16, and after visiting the United States, where he received some reinforcements, he landed at Galveston in November. There he organized his forces, proceeded to Soto la Marina, in April, 181 7. and took up his march for Mexico. After valiant struggles, however, he was totally defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death. Thereafter the revo- lution languished, and before long was practically extinguished. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. The antagonism between Russia and Turkey continued. Russia, on one pretext or another, constantly pressed her aggressions against the Ottoman Empire, and steadily gained ground. In 18 10 the Russian General Kamenskoi conducted a campaign in Bulgaria, and was gen- erally successful, though he received a check at Shumla. The next year Kutusoff carried on the war against the Turks along the Danube, with some success. The war ended in May, 18 12, when the peace of Bucha- rest was concluded and the River Pruth was made the boundary between the two empires. In another part of the Moslem world the year 181 1 was marked by a stupendous tragedy. This was the massacre of the Mamelukes, at Cairo, by Mehemet Ali. This act was deemed necessary, on account of the insubordinate disposition of the Mamelukes. But by it Egypt and the Moslem world lost its most effective body of fighting men. LofC. IOO STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. Russia, in 1814, concluded with Persia a treaty at Tiflis, called the Peace of Gulistan, under which Persia was compelled to cede to Russia a large region, including Daghestan, Shirvan, Baku, and other territories. The year 18 15 saw the Ionian Islands made into a republic under the protectorate of Great Britain. At the same time Milosh Obreno vitch headed a new insurrection of the Servian people against Turkish rule, and thus founded the Obrenovitch dynasty in that country. He was chjsen Prince of Servia in 181 7. STORIES OF THE YEARS We may well review in brief the salient incidents of the time, year by year. In 1809 Haydn, one of the greatest of musicians, died. King George III. of Great Britain became hopelessly insane in 18 to, and the affairs of State had to be entrusted thereafter to a Regency. In the same year Bernadotte, who had been one of Bonaparte's marshals, was pro- claimed Crown Prince of Sweden, and thus the way was opened for the establishment of the present dynasty in that kingdom. The opening of the University of Berlin was in the same year an incident of significance in the intellectual world. The year 1 81 1 saw the British conquest of Java, which island was afterwards restored to the Dutch. In this year Niebuhr began the pub- lication of his famous historical works. A more sensational literary incident was the publication of the first part of Byron's "Childe Harold" in 181 2, in which the world perceived the advent of one of the greatest poets of all time. American literature was promoted by the foundation of "The North American Review." SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS The year 181 4 was marked in the scientific world by the introduc- tion of illuminating gas in the city of London, and by the death of Count Rumford, one of the ablest scientists of his day as well as a conspicuous statesman. The death of Fichte occurred in the same year ; the suc- cessor of Kant and the second of the four great German philosophers. In the preceding year, 181 3, the world suffered loss in the death of Wieland and Delille, the poets, and of Lagrange, the illustrious geom- eter, who formulated the scientific doctrines of planetary orbits. In these years the world was making steady and even rapid progress in the ways of civilization and of scientific and literary achievement. CHAPTER VII. James Monroe Becomes President of the United States — Acquisition o! Florida — The Monroe Doctrine — Three New States — The Missouri Compromise — Treaties and Controversies — Lafayette — The Pension System — Revision of the Tariff- Re-election of Mr. Monroe. M R. MADISON, after having filled the office of President eight years, was succeeded, in 1817, by James Monroe, who had held the office of Secretary of State during most of the time of Mr. Madison's administration. In 1821, Mr. Monroe wanted only a single vote of a unanimous re-election. o During Mr. Monroe's administration the United States were at peace, with the exception of a war with the Seminole and Creek Indians, and the prosperity of the country, which had been interrupted in the war with England, was gradually restored. Mr. Monroe was the possessor of a sound and discriminating judg- ment, and a remarkably calm and quiet temperament. In not a few of the qualities of his mind he resembled Washington, and, like that great and good man, apparently had the true interests of his country in view in the acts and measures of his administration. He may be said to be fortunate in respect to the time and circumstances of his accession to the presidency. A war, of whose justice and expediency a respectable portion of the country had strong doubts — and as to which, therefore, loud and even angry debate had existed, both in Congress and through out the country — that war had terminated, and the asperities growing out of different views entertained of it were fast subsiding. Commerce, too, was beginning to revive, and the manufacturers were hoping for more auspicious days. In every department of industry there was the commencement of activity ; and, although the country had suffered too long and too seriously to regain at once her former prosperity, hopes of better times were indulged, and great confidence was reposed in the wise and prudent counsels of the new President SO* [02 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. It was during his administration that, after various minor changes Df pattern, the United States flag was finally adopted in its present form, and the foundation of the present Capitol building was laid at Washington. ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA. The first important incident of President Monroe's administration was another of those Indian wars which were so numerous in the early history of this country. At that time Florida still belonged to Spain, and was largely occupied by the Seminole Indians. The Seminoles were a warlike and powerful tribe, possessing not only horses and cattle, but also many human slaves. They were much given to raiding adjoining territories, especially the country of the Creek Indians in Georgia. To put a stop to this, General Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans, went against them with an army of 4000 men, many of whom were Creeks. He not only drove the Seminoles out of Georgia, but followed them into the Spanish territory of Florida, and there captured several Spanish forts behind which they had taken refuge. This invasion of a Spanish province, at a time when the United States was at peace with Spain, was bitterly resented by the Spanish government. Owing, however, to troubles at home caused by the Napoleonic wars, Spain did not see fit to resort to extreme measures, but presently concluded a treaty with the United States by which she agreed to sell to this country the whole territory of Florida for the sum of $5,000,000. This was done in 18 1 9. The territory of Florida itself was well worth the money. But, in addition, the United States acquired under the same treaty all of Spain's rights and title to all the country west of the Louisiana purchase, including California and Oregon. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. The incident of President Monroe's administration which makes the greatest mark in history, and by which Mr. Monroe himself is best remembered, was the enunciation of what is known as the " Monroe Doctrine." At that time, as is related elsewhere in this volume, the chief continental powers of Europe, under the lead of Russia, formed a so-called Holy Alliance, the object of which was to maintain and extend monarchical institutions throughout the world, and to repress, if not to suppress, civil and religious liberty. Great Britain was strongly STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. IO3 opposed to this Alliance, realizing its serious menace to progress and civilization. The British Foreign Minister of that time, the illustrious George Canning, suggested to John Quincy Adams, Mr. Monroe's Sec- retary of State, that the objects of the Alliance were inimical to the United States, and that some concert of action toward it between Great Britain and this country might be desirable. The result was that, in his message to Congress in the fall of 1823, President Monroe set forth in emphatic language the doctrine which bears his name. This was, in brief, an announcement to all the world that, while the United States would not interfere with such possessions as the monarchical powers of Europe then had upon the American continents, it would not permit them to extend those possessions at the expense and to the oppression of the independent republics already existing here ; and he asserted that, "as a principle, the American continents are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power." At this time the various States of South and Central America had practi- cally won their independence from Spain, and the Monroe Doctrine was therefore practically an act of protection extended over them to prevent the reconquest of them that was threatened by the Holy Alliance. Since that date the Monroe Doctrine has formed an integral part of the foreign policy of the United States, and has been respected by the world. THREE NEW STATES. The acquisition of Florida greatly promoted colonization and general development of the region bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico. The region now forming the States of Mississippi and Alabama had been known as the Mississippi Territory. It was now divided into two Ter- ritories, known as Mississippi and Alabama. The former was admitted into the Union as a State in 18 17 and the latter in 1819. These were both slave States. At a date between the two, in 1818, Illinois was admitted into the Union as a free State. Arkansas was erected into a Territory. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. At about this time the great controversy over slavery began. It had its origin in the request of the people of Maine and Missouri to have those Territories erected into States. Maine had hitherto belonged to Massachusetts, but the people desired to be set off from that State, 104 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. and remained an independent member of the Union. They meant, of course, that it should be a free State, and they inserted in the constitu- tion which they adopted a clause forever forbidding slavery. To admit Maine as a State would therefore increase the power of the free States in Congress, and this was objected to by the slave States of the South. Then there came a request from the people of Missouri for the admis- sion of that Territory as a State. They were willing, and, in fact, desirous, that it should be a slave State. After a long controversy in Congress the matter was finally settled by the adoption of what has ever since been known as the Missouri Compromise. This became law in 1820. Under it slavery was permitted to exist in Missouri and in all Territories south of the line of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, but all territory north of that line was forever to be kept free from slavery. Under this agreement Maine was admitted as a State in 1820, and Missouri was similarly admitted in 1821. TREATIES AND CONTROVERSIES. During Mr. Monroe's administration a new treaty was concluded with Great Britain, and another treaty was made with Russia. At the same time there arose the beginning of what was destined to be a for- midable controversy over the ownership of the Oregon Territory, and the way was opened for the famous war-cry of " Fifty-four Forty or Fight ! " of which we shall hear more in a later chapter. LAFAYETTE. The year 1824 was made memorable by the visit to this country of the Marquis de Lafayette. This was an incident of great interest to the whole nation. As the friend, benefactor and ally of the Americans during the Revolution, he was remembered with lively gratitude after his return to his native land, and his subsequent history had been traced by many among us with deep concern, as well as admiration. Nearly half a century had elapsed, since he came as a youthful, devoted adven- turer to our shores, in the cause of freedom, and age was now stealing over him, with its usual effects on the human frame. Before the close of life, he wished once more to revisit the scenes of his early conflicts ; and, having intimated his intention of coming to this country, the people were prepared to give him a welcome and enthusiastic reception. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. IO7 He landed at New York, on the 16th of August, accompanied by his son, and M. L. Vasseur, his secretary. His entrance into the city was more than a Roman triumphal procession. Splendid as it was, it was more remarkable as the tribute of the concentrated heart of America, in its great commercial capital. He was met by one universal burst of grateful enthusiasm. In the course of about a year, he visited each of the twenty-four States, and most of the principal cities of the land, and was everywhere received with the like spirit of enthusiasm and gratitude. He was present on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument, and assisted, as was most befitting he should, in laying its corner-stone. His presence added greatly to the interest of the occasion, and long will it be remembered with what enthusiasm his presence was greeted. THE PENSION SYSTEM. In 1 818, a law was passed by Congress, granting pensions to the surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary War, which included all who had served nine months in the Continental Army at any period of the war, provided it was at one term of enlistment. Another act of Congress, following at the expiration of two years, modified, and, in some degree, restricted this law, by confining the pension to those who were in destitute circumstances. Still, under this condition, the number who received the bounty, or, rather, the justice of their country, was very large, not less than 13,000 having experienced the grateful relief. Through the inability of the government, soon after the war, these soldiers who had so largely contributed to the liberties of their country had never been duly compensated. They now received a welcome, though late, remuneration. REVISION OF THE TARIFF A law was passed by Congress, on the subject of the tariff, in May, 1824, embracing the revision and alteration of the tariff which had here- tofore existed. Except a slight protection to coarse cotton cloths, noth- ing had been done to encourage the manufactures of the country. The attention of the people had been, for a long time, turned towards the subject, and Congress had debated it at different periods, but very little had been effected. Such was the state of things from 181 6 to 1824. 108 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. On the part of many citizens, great zeal had been manifested in favor of manufactures among us. Numbers, especially in the Northern and Eastern States, owing to the impediments which existed in the prosecu- tion of commerce and navigation, by the restrictive measures of the government, as well as by the war, had engaged in the business of manufacturing. By their energy, perseverance, and economy, they had attained to a measure of success ; but still, some public enactments were wanting to give due encouragement to the general interests of manu- factures. RE-ELECTION OF MR. MONROE. In March, 1821, Mr. Monroe entered upon his second term of office, having been re-elected President by nearly a unanimous vote. Mr. Tompkins was also continued in the Vice-Presidency. In fact, only one electoral vote was cast against Mr. Monroe, and that was cast by a New Hampshire elector, for John Quincy Adams. The elector ex- plained that he really favored Mr. Monroe's re-election, but did not think it fitting that any man, save only Washington, should have a unanimous vote. It being understood that, according to the example of his pre- decessors, Mr. Monroe would retire at the expiration of his second term, the subject of his successor was early introduced to the nation. Severa' candidates were put in nomination, and the claims of each were duiv urged by their respective friends and supporters. CHAPTER VIII. Treaty of Paris— Reaction in Europe— The Manchester Meeting— The Barbary Pirates— Disquiet in France— Rebellion in Spain— Revolu- tion in Portugal— Naples and Sicily— Revolution in Piedmont —Congress at Carlsbad— The Greek Revolution— Inde- pendence Proclaimed —Turkish Atrocities — The Greek Constitution — The Destruction of Scio — Marco Bozzaris — Byron at Misso- longhi— The Egyptian Fleet at Navarino. ON the day of the signing of the treaty of Paris, another was concluded between Russia, Prussia, Austria and England, de- signed as a measure of security for the allied powers, and declaring that Napoleon Bonaparte and his family should be forever excluded from the throne of France. On the same day a third treaty, of notorious celebrity, called "The Holy Alliance," was sub- scribed by the Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the King of Prussia, who bound themselves, "in conformity with the principles of Holy Scripture, to lend each other aid, assistance and succor, on every occa- sion." This treaty was, ere long, acceded to by nearly all the Conti- nental powers as parties to the compact, although the ruling Prince of England declined signing it, on the ground that the English Constitution prevented him from becoming a party to any convention that was not countersigned by a responsible Minister. REACTION IN EUROPE. The terms of the Holy Alliance were drawn by the young Russian Emperor, Alexander, whose enthusiastic benevolence prompted him to devise a plan of a common international law that should substitute the peaceful reign of the Gospel in place of the rude empire of the sword. But the law of the Holy Alliance, although beneficent in its origin, was tc 109 IIO STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. be interrupted by absolute monarchs ; as it was evident that its only active principle would be the maintenance of despotic power, under the mask of piety and religion, it was justly regarded with dread and jealousy by the Liberal party throughout Europe, and was, in reality, made a con- venient pretext for enforcing the doctrine of passive obedience and re- sisting all efforts for the establishment of constitutional freedom. The English Government, wiser than the Continental powers, has ever had the prudence to make reasonable concessions to reasonable popular demands, before the spark of discontent has been blown into the blaze of revolution ; and now, after a spirited contest, a heavy property tax, that had been patiently submitted to as a necessary war measure, was repealed amid the universal transports of the people ; the remission of other taxes followed, and in one year a reduction of ^"35,000,000 sterling was made from the national expenditure, although strongly opposed by the Ministry. Still the distress continued ; the popular feeling against the Government increased ; numerous secret political societies were organized among the dissatisfied ; and early in the following year (181 7) a committee of Parliament reported that an extensive conspiracy existed, chiefly in the great towns and manufactur- ing districts, for the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in its stead. THE MANCHESTER MEETING. In consequence of the information, greatly exaggerated, which had been communicated to the committee, Ministers were enabled to carry through Parliament bills for suspending the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, and for suppressing tumultuous meetings, debating societies and all unlawful organizations. Armed with extensive powers, the Government took the most active measures for putting a stop to the threatened insurrection ; a few mobs were suppressed ; many persons were arrested on the charge of high treason ; and several were convicted and suffered death. In 18 19 a large and peaceable meeting at Man- chester, assembled to discuss the question of parliamentary reforms, was charged by the military, and many lives inhumanly sacrificed ; but all attempts in Parliament for an inquiry into the conduct of the Manchester magistrates, under whose orders the military had acted, were defeated. Although the people still justly complained of grievous burdens of tax- w 2 w w < z o >« o f- u (/J > Pi w I 00 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. "3 ation and unequal representation in Parliament, those evils were not so oppressive as to induce them to incur the hazards of revolution ; and the Government, having yielded to the point where danger was past, was sufficiently strong to carry all its important measures. The illustrious George Canning now came to the fore in English politics, and while he lived exerted a salutary influence upon them in the direction of progress, freedom and human rights the world over. Early in 1820 King George III, o\ England, died after one of the longest and most eventful reigns on record, and was succeeded by his son, George IV. THE BARBARY PIRATES. An event of general interest that occurred soon after the close of the European war was the merited chastisement of the piratical State of Algiers. During a long period the Barbary powers had carried on piratical warfare against those nations that were not sufficiently powerful to prevent or punish their depredations. From the year 1795 to 181 2 the United States of America had preserved peace with Algiers by the payment of an annual tribute ; but in the latter year the Dey, believing that the war with England would prevent their commerce in the Medi- terranean, commenced a piratical warfare against all American vessels that fell in the way of his cruisers. In the month of June, 181 5, an American squadron, under the command of Commodore Decatur, being sent to the Mediterranean, after capturing several Algerian vessels, com- pelled Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis to release all American prisoners in their possession, pay large sums of money, and relinquish all future claims to tribute from the United States. In the following year the continued piracies of Algerines upon some of the smaller European States that claimed the protection of England, induced the British Government to send out a powerful squadron, with directions to obtain from the Dey unqualified abolition of Christian slavery, or, w case of refusal, to destroy, if possible, the nest of pirates whose tolerance had so long been a disgrace to Christendom. On the 27th of August, 1 81 6, the British fleet, commanded by Lord Exmouth, appeared before Algiers, whose fortifications, admirably constructed and of the hardest stone, were defended by nearly 500 cannons and 40,000 men. No answer being returned to the demands of the British Govern- ment, the attack was commenced in the afternoon of the same day ; and 7 114 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. although the defence was most spirited, by ten in the evening all the fortifications that defended the approaches by sea were totally ruined, while the shot and shells had carried destruction and death throughout the city. On the following morning the Dey submitted, agreeing to abolish Christian slavery forever, and immediately restoring 1 200 captives to their country and friends. The total number liberated by Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis was more than 3000. The humiliation of the piratical Barbary powers by the Americans in 18 1 5 and the battle of Algiers in the following year, were events highly important to the general interests of humanity, not only from their immediate results, but as the beginning of the decisive ascendancy of the Christian over the Mohammedan world. DISQUIET IN FRANCE. The situation of France at the second restoration of Louis XVIII, with a vast foreign army quartered upon her people, an empty treasury, and an unsettled government, was gloomy in the extreme. With a vacillation peculiar to the French people public opinion had already turned against the Bonapartes and the Republicans, who were regarded as the authors of all the evils which the nation suffered ; and the King soon found himself seriously embarrassed by order of his own friends. The year 1818 saw the Congress of the great Powers at Aix-la- Chapelle and the final withdrawal of the foreign armies from France. In the same year Bernadotte, who had been one of Napoleon's marshals, became King of Sweden and Norway. The Duke of Berry, second son of the future King Charles X, of France, was assassinated in 1820, a serious blow to the Bourbon dynasty. On the death of Louis XVIII, in 1824, the crown of France fell to his brother, Charles X, who commenced his rule by a declaration of his intentions of confirming the constitutional charter that had been granted the French people at the time of the first restoration. Buf the new King bitterly opposed to the principles of the Revolution, and governed by the counsels of bigoted priests, labored to build up an absolute Monarchy, with a privileged nobility and clergy for its support ; while, on the other hand, the people, persuaded that a plot was formed to deprive them of their constitutional privileges, talked of open resistance to the arbitrary commands of the court. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I 1 5 REBELLION IN SPAIN. During the period of general peace, from 1S15 to 1820, Spain, under the rule of the restored Ferdinand, was in a state of constant political agitation ; and in 1820 an insurrection of the soldiery compelled the King to restore to his subjects the free and almost republican constitution of 181 2. The Republicans, however, who thus obtained the direction of the Government, showed little wisdom or moderation ; and a large party, directed by the monks and friars, and supported by the lower ranks of the populace, was formed for the restoration of the monarchy. Several of the European powers, in a congress held at Verona, adopted a reso- lution to support the authority of the King in opposition to the constitu- tion which he had granted ; but England stood aloof, and to France was entrusted the execution of the odious measure of suppressing democratic principles in Spain. Accordingly, early in the year 1823, a French army of a 100,000 men, under the command of the Duke d'Angouleme, entered Spain ; the patriots made a feeble resistance, and the King was soon restored to absolute authority on the ruins of the constitution. The remainder of the reign of Ferdinand, who died in 1833, was characterized by the com- plete suppression of all liberal principles in politics and religion, and the revival of the ancient abuses which had so long disgraced the Spanish monarchy. England and the United States severely censured the inter- ference of France in the domestic affairs of the Spanish nation, showed their sympathy with the cause of the oppressed by recognizing, at as early a period as possible, the independence of the Spanish South American Republics, which had recently renounced their allegiance to Spain. REVOLUTION IN PORTUGAL. The adjoining kingdom of Portugal was a prey to similar commo- tions. The emigration of the King and court to Brazil during the Peninsular war, has already been mentioned. The nation being dis- satisfied with the continued residence of the court in Brazil, which, in fact, made Portugal a dependency of the latter, and desiring some funda- mental changes in the form of government, at length, in August, 1820, a revolution broke out, and a free constitution was soon after established, having for its basis the abolition of privileges, the legal equality of all classes, the freedom of the press, and the formation of a representative Il6 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. body in the national legislature. The constitution, being violently opposed by the clergy and privileged classes, who formed what was called the Apostolical party, at the head of whom was Dom Miguel, the King's younger son, was suppressed in 1823, and a state of monarchy continued until the death of the King in 1826, when the crown fell to Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil. Dom Pedro, however, resigned his right in favor of his infant daugh- ter, Donna Maria, at the same time granting to Portugal a constitutional charter, and appointing his brother, Dom Miguel, Regent. Although the latter took an oath of fidelity to the charter, he soon began openly to aspire to the throne, and by means of an artful priesthood, caused him- self, in 1829, to be proclaimed Sovereign of Portugal, while the charter was denounced as inconsistent with the purity of the Roman faith. The friends of the charter, aided by Dom Pedro, who repaired to Europe to assert the rights of his daughter, organized a resistance, and after a san- guinary struggle, during which they were once driven into exile, they obtained the promise of support from France, Spain and England, who, in 1834, entered into a convention to expel the younger brother from the Portuguese territories. Soon after Dom Miguel gave up his pretensions, and the young Queen was placed upon the throne. NAPLES AND SICILY. The kingdom of Naples, embracing Sicily and southern Italy, nearly- identical with the Magna Grsecia of antiquity, had been erected into an independent monarchy in 1734, under the Infanta Don Carlos, of Spain, who took the name of Charles III. It continued under a succession of tyrannical and imbecile rulers of the Bourbon dynasty till 1798. The Italian portion of the kingdom was then overrun by the French, who held it from 1803 to 181 5, when it reverted to its former sovereign, Ferdinand, who, during the French rule, had maintained his court in the Sicilian part of the kingdom. Under the rule of Ferdinand popular education was wholly neglected, the roads, bridges and other public works which the French had either planned or executed were left unfinished or fell into decay, and yet the people were oppressively taxed, and a representative gov- ernment was denied them. At length, on the 2d of July, 1820, the growing discontents of the people broke out in open insurrection, and STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 1 7 a remonstrance was sent to the Government demanding a representative constitution. One based on the Spanish constitution of 181 2 was imme- diately granted, and the Neapolitan parliament was opened on the 1st of October following ; but, on the same month, a convention of the three crowned heads who formed the Holy Alliance, attended by minis- ters from most of the other European powers, met at Laybach, and it was there resolved by the sovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia to put down the Neapolitan constitution by force of arms. France approved the measure, but the British Cabinet remained neutral. The old King Ferdinand, who had been invited to visit the sovereigns at Laybach, was easily convinced that his promises had been extorted, and therefore were not binding, and Austrian troops imme- diately prepared to execute the resolutions of the congress, while the aid of a Russian army was promised, if necessary. An Austrian force of 43,000 men entered the Neapolitan territory, heralded by a procla- mation from Ferdinand, calling his subjects to receive the invaders as friends. A few slight skirmishes took place, but the country was quickly overrun, foreign troops garrisoned the fortresses, the king's promise of complete amnesty was forgotten, and courts-martial and execution closed the brief drama of the Neapolitan revolution. REVOLUTION IN PIEDMONT. Piedmont was the principal province of the Sardinian monarchy, and the latter, first recognized as a separate kingdom by the treaty of Utrecht in 1 7 1 3, comprised the whole of northern Italy west of the Tes- sino, together with the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean. The Piedmontese, never considering themselves properly as Italians, had been proud of their annexation to France under the rule of Napoleon, and on the restoration of the monarchy they were the first of the Sar- dinian people to exhibit the liberal principles of the French Revolu- tionists and to complain of the oppressive exactions imposed upon them by the Government. Scarcely had the Neapolitan revolution been suppressed, when an insurrection, beginning with the military, broke out in Piedmont. On the 10th of March, 1821, several regiments of troops simultaneously mutinied ; and it is believed that the malcontents were secretly favored by Charles Albert, a kinsman of the royal family, who afterwards became Il8 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. king of Sardinia. The seizure of the citadel of Turin, on the 12th, was followed, on the 13th, by the abdication of the king, Victor Emanuel, in favor of his absent brother, Charles Felix, and the appointment of Prince Albert as regent. While efforts were made to organize a government, an Austrian army was assembled in Lombardy to put down the revolu- tion ; the new king repudiated the acts of the regent, who threw him- self on the Austrians for protection ; on the 8th of April the insurgents were overthrown in battle, and on the 10th the combined royal and Aus- trian troops were in possession of the whole country. In Piedmont, as in Naples, Austrian interference, ever exerted on the side of tyranny, suppressed every germ of constitutional freedom. CONGRESS AT CARLSBAD. The famous Congress of Carlsbad was held in 18 19. This was composed of the heads of the various German States. A resolution was adopted directed against freedom of the press and against freedom of teaching in the universities. It was, in a measure, a counter-move- ment against the patriotic associations of students which had been formed a few years before. In it, too, were the first beginnings of the German Zollverein, or customs union, which afterward played so important a part in leading to the organization of the new German Empire. THE GREEK REVOLUTION. In the year 1481, Greece, the early and favored seat of art, science and literature, was conquered by the Turks, after a sanguinary contest of more than forty years. The Venetians, however, were not disposed to allow its new masters quiet possession of the country, and during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was the theatre of obstinate wars between them and the Turks, which continued till 1718, when the Turks were confirmed in their conquest by treaty. Although the Turks and Greeks never became one nation, and the relation of conquerors and conquered never ceased, yet the Turkish rule was quietly submitted to until i82i,when, according to previous arrangements, on the 7th of March, Alexander Ypsilanti, a Greek, and then a major-general in the Russian army, proclaimed, from Moldavia, the independence of Greece, at the same time assurring his countrymen of the aid of Russia in the approaching contest. But the Russian emperor declined intervention ; STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. \ \§ the Porte took the most rigorous measures against the Greeks, and called upon all Mussulmans to arm against the rebels for the protection of Islamism ; the wildest fanaticism raged in Constantinople, where hundreds of the. resident Greeks were remorselessly murdered, and in Moldavia the bloody struggle was terminated with the annihilation of the patriot army and the flight of Ypsilanti to Trieste, where the Austrian Government seized and imprisoned him. INDEPENDENCE PROCLAIMED. In southern Greece no cruelties could quench the fire of liberty, and sixteen days after the proclamation of Ypsilanti the Revolution of the Morea began at Suda, a large village in the northern part of Achaia, where eighty Turks were made prisoners. The revolution rapidly spread over the Morea and the islands of the yEgean ; the ancient names were revived ; and, on the 6th of April, the Messenian Senate, assembled at Kalamatia, proclaimed that Greece had shaken off the Turkish yoke to save the Christian faith and restore the ancient charac- ter of the country. From that time the Greeks found friends wherever free principles were cherished ; and from England and the United States large contributions of clothing and provisions were forwarded to relieve the sufferings inflicted by the wanton atrocities of the Turks. TURKISH ATROCITIES. During the summer months the Turks committed great depredations among the Greek towns on the coast of Asia Minor ; the inhabitants of the island of Candia, who had taken no part in the insurrection, were disarmed, and the archbishops and many of the priests executed ; in Cyprus, where also there had been no appearances of insurrection, the Greeks were disarmed, and their archbishop and other prelates mur- dered. The most barbarous atrocities were also committed at Rhodes and other islands of the Grecian Archipelago, where the villages were burned and the country desolated. But when, in August, the Greeks captured the strong Turkish fortresses of Monembasia and Navarino, and, in October, that of Tripolitza, they took a terrible revenge upon their enemies, and in Tripolitza alone 8000 Turks were put to death. On the 5th and 6th of September the Greek General Ulysses defeated, near the pass of Thermopylae, a laiqre Turkish army which 120 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. had advanced from Macedonia ; but, on the other hand, the peninsula of Cassandra was taken by the Turks, when 3000 Greeks were put to the sword ; women and children were carried into slavery, and the flourishing peninsula converted into a desert waste. The Athenian Acropolis was garrisoned by the Turks, and the inhabitants of Athens fled to Salamis for safety ; but in general, throughout all southern Greece, the Turks were driven from the country districts and com- pelled to shut themselves up in the cities. THE GREEK CONSTITUTION The year 1822 opened with the assembling of the first Greek Con- gress at Epidaurus, and the proclaiming of a provisional constitution on the 13th of January. On the 27th of January, 1822, the independence of the country was proclaimed, and its code published amid the joyful accla- mations of the deputies, the army and the people. The government was for the present styled "provincial," while the promulgation of the constitution was accompanied with an address, exhibiting the reasons for shaking off the Turkish yoke. Five members of the Congress were nominated as an executive, and Prince Mavrocordato was appointed President. Ministers were appointed for the different departments of war, finance, public instruction, the interior, and police ; and a commis- sion named of three individuals to superintend the naval affairs. The new Government signalized their liberty by a decree for the abolition of slavery, as well as the sale of any Turkish prisoners who might fall into their hands, prohibiting it under the severest penalties ; they also passed another edict for a compensation for military services, and a provision for the widows and orphans of those who should fall in battle ; and a third, regulating the internal administration of the prov- inces. The organization of the army was also commenced ; a corps, called the first regiment of the line, was formed and officered from the volunteers of the different nations, and as there were more of them than were requisite for this service, a second was formed of the remainder, which took the name of Philhellenes. Patras was blockaded again by 3000 men, and a smaller body under the French colonel, Voutier, was sent to Athens, to reduce the Acropolis ; the forces before Napoli were augmented, and Modon and Coron closely invested by the armed peas- antry around. An event, the most terrific and atrocious that history has STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 121 ever recorded, marked the commencement of the second campaign : the destruction of Scio and its miserable inhabitants. The Sciots had taken no part in the movement of 182 1. In the beginning of May, in that year, a small squadron of Ipsariots appearing off the coast, furnished the aga with a pretext for his oppressions, and he began by seizing forty of the elders and bishops, who were immured as hostages for the good conduct of the people. THE DESTRUCTION OF SCIO. "On the 23d of April," says Mr. Blaquiere, "a fleet of fifty sail, including five of the line, anchored in the bay, and immediately began to bombard the town, while several thousand troops were landed under the guns of the citadel, which also opened a heavy fire on the Greeks. It was in vain for the islanders to make any resistance ; deserted by the Samians, most of whom embarked and sailed away when the Turkish fleet hove in sight, they were easily overpowered and obliged to fly. From this moment until the last direful act, Scio, lately so great an object of admiration to strangers, presented one continued scene of horror and dismay. Having massacred every soul, whether men, women or children, whom they found in the town, the Turks plundered and then set fire to it, and watched the flames until not a house was left, except those of the foreign consuls. Three days had, however, been suffered to pass before the infidels ventured to penetrate into the interior of the island, and even then their excesses were confined to the low grounds. While some were occupied in plundering the villas of rich merchants, and others setting fire to the villages, the air was rent with the mingled groans of men, women and children, who were falling under the swords and daggers of the infidels. The only exception made during the mas- sacre was in favor of young women and boys, who were preserved to be afterward sold as slaves. Many of the former, whose husbands had been butchered, were running to and fro frantic, with torn garments and dishevelled hair, pressing their trembling infants to their breasts, and seeking death as a relief from the still greater calamities that awaited them. About 40,000 of both sexes had already either fallen victims to the sword, or been selected for sale in the bazaars, when it occurred to the pacha that no time should be lost in persuading those who had fled to the more inaccessible parts of the island, to lay down their arms and sub- 122 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. mit. It being impossible to effect this by force, they had recourse to a favorite expedient with Mussulmans — that of proclaiming an amnesty. In order that no doubt should be entertained of their sincerity, the foreign consuls, more particularly those of England, France and Austria, were called upon to guarantee the promises of the Turks ; they accord- ingly went forth and invited the unfortunate peasantry to give up their arms and return. Notwithstanding their long experience of Turkish perfidy, the solemn pledge given by the consuls at length prevailed, and many thousands who might have successfully resisted until succor had arrived, were sacrificed ; for no sooner did they descend from the heights and give up their arms, than the infidels, totally unmindful of the prof- fered pardon, put them to death without mercy. The number of per- sons of every age and sex who became the victims of this perfidious act was estimated at 7000. After having devoted ten days to the work of slaughter, it was natural to suppose that the monsters who directed this frightful tragedy would have been in some degree satiated by the blood of so many innocent victims ; but it was when the excesses had begun to diminish on the part of the soldiery that fresh scenes of horror were ex- hibited on board the fleet and in the citadel. In addition to the women and children embarked for the purpose of being conveyed to the markets of Constantinople and Smyrna, several hundred of the natives were also seized, and among these, all the gardeners of the island, who were sup- posed to know where the treasures of their employers had been con- cealed. There were no less than 500 of the persons thus collected hung on board the different ships. With respect to the number who were either killed or consigned to slavery during the three weeks that followed the arrival of the capitan-pacha, there is no exaggeration in placing the former at 25,000 souls. It has been ascertained that above 30,coo women and children were condemned to slavery, while the fate of those who escaped was scarcely less calamitous. MARCO BOZZARIS. Marco Bozzaris, who commanded the Greeks at Grionero, fell on the Turks, and either killed or captured two-thirds of their number. The same brave leader undertook a forced march against Mustapha, who had 14,000 men, while he had only 2000. On assigning each man's part at midnight on the 19th, his last words were : "If you lose sight of STORY OP ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 12$ me during the combat, seek me in the pacha's tent." On his arrival at the centre, he sounded his bugle, as agreed upon, and the enemy, panic- struck, fled in all directions. In the midst of the attack, which was now general, he was twice wounded, and at last carried off from the field expiring ; the struggle, however, was maintained till daylight, when the Greeks were victorious on all points, and the loss of the enemy was not less than 3000. BYRON AT MISSOLONGHI. At the commencement of the year 1824, proclamation was issued by the President and Senate of the United States of the Ionian Islands, declaring their neutrality, and their firm resolution not to take any part in the contest ; also prohibiting any foreigner who should do so from residing in the islands. Among the Greeks dissensions still prevailed, every faction following its own plans and seeking to advance its own influence. Mavrocordato, Colocotroni and Ypsilanti headed different factions, among the members of which there was neither unanimity ol counsel nor uniformity of action. The Turkish fleet sailed on the 23d of April. The Greek Senate summoned Colocotroni to surrender him- self and to deliver up Napoli and Tripolizza, but he refused ; the troops that were investing Patras quarrelled about the division of some of their booty, and were withdrawn ; in the meantime the Turks sailed from Lepanto with fourteen ships, and blockaded Missolonghi. In order to encourage the Greeks, a loan of about ,£800,000 was contracted for in London. About this period Ispara was threatened by the Turkish fleet, which was now at Mitylene. The island of Caso was attacked on the 8th of June by an Egyptian squadron, and, after an obstinate resistance, was taken on the 9th. On the 18th of April, this year, Lord Byron died at Missolonghi of an inflammatory fever, after having zealously devoted himself to the cause of the Greeks from the time he first landed, in August, 1823, up to the period of his death. THE EGYPTIAN FLEET AT NAVARINO. Taking advantage of an insurrection that broke out on the Morea, at the head of which were Colocotroni and his sons, the troops of Mahomet Ali, pacha of Egypt, were directed to land in great force there, and it now became evident that the neighborhood of Navarino 124 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. was destined to be the seat of war. On the ist of May the Egyptian fleet, from sixty-five to seventy sail, left the port of Suda, where it had been watched by a Greek squadron under Miaoulis, who now sailed to Navarino. On the 8th, Miaoulis' squadron, amounting to twenty-two vessels, was near Zante, the Egyptian fleet, forty-six in number, being off Sphacteria. In about an hour from 2000 to 3000 troops effected a debarkation from the Egyptian fleet on the island. The garrison of Old Navarino capitulated on the 10th, and the garrison of Navarino on the 23d. After the surrender of Sphacteria, a great part of the Egyp- tian fleet was followed by Miaoulis into the harbor of Modon, and more than half of it destroyed by fire-ships. In the end of May the Turkish admiral left the Dardanelles, and on the ist of June was encountered by the Hydriote Sakhturi, who, by means of his fire-ships, destroyed three men-of-war and some transports. Soon after the capitan-pacha entered Suda, and destroyed the Egyptian fleet from Navarino. The Greek fleet was dispersed by a tempest, and, having no fire- ships, they retired to Hydra, while the Turkish admiral landed a reinforcement of 5000 men at Navarino, and went to Missolonghi with seven frigates and many smaller vessels. The siege was now vigorously pressed ; the lagune was penetrated on the 21st of July, and Anatolica, an island on the north, surrendered to the Turks. The supply of water was now cut off, batteries had been erected near the main works of the place, the ramparts had been injured and part of the ditches filled up ; at length a general attack was ordered on the ist of August, and the town assailed in four places at once. On the 3d the Greek fleet, consisting of twenty- five brigs, attacked and destroyed two small ships-of-war and all the boats in the lagune, relieved Missolonghi and obliged the enemy's fleet to retire. On the 10th the Greeks attempted, but without success, to burn the Turkish fleet in the harbor of Alexandria. On the 20th the fleet of the Greeks, about thirty sail, commanded by Miaoulis, engaged the Turks between Zante, Cephalonia and Chiarenza, and an action ensued, which lasted with little intermission for two days and nights, till at length the Greeks were obliged to retire. Other incidents of the years under consideration were the death of Pope Pius VII and the accession of Pope Leo XII in T823, the outbreak of the first British war in Burmah in 1824, and the foundation of the British Anti-Slavery Society, by Wilberforce and others, in 1823. CHAPTER IX. Great Britain and the Indian Empire— The Mahratta War— Obrenovitch, Prince of Servia — Revolutions in America — The Triumph of Bolivar— The Republic of Colombia— Three Republics Organized— Death of Bolivar — Iturbide in Mexico— Treaty of Cordova— Iturbide Emperor— Fall of Iturbide— Liberia— " Byron is Dead"— Literature and Science — Trumbull's Paintings— Steam Navigation — Death of Decatur. THE eight years during which James Monroe was President of the United States were years of exceptional interest in the general affairs of the world. In the preceding chapter we have traced the progress of events in the chief States of Europe. It remains to chronicle doings in other parts of the world, and those events in all places which do not properly come under the head of political and military history. THE MAHRATTA WAR. Great Britain was at this time engaged in extending the borders of her Indian Empire. The Marquis of Hastings was Governor General, and administered the affairs of the country with aggressive ability. Trouble arose with the Pindarees, a tribe of freebooting horsemen. These were secretly supported and encouraged in their raids by the great Mahratta princes, and their operations kept a large part of India in a state of unrest, amounting almost to civil war. Finally, in 1817, the British Government made a decided movement against them to suppress them. This led to a general war with the Mahratta princes, an episode known in history as the first Mahratta war. It was a severe contest, for the Mahrattas were one of the most warlike of all the nations of Hindo- stan. The result was victory for the British. A part of the Mahratta territories were retained by the conquerors, and the remainder restored to the native princes. The latter were, however, taken under British protection, and thus practically the whole of Hindostan came directly or indirectly under the sway of the British Crown. Lord Hastings re- 125 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. signed his post in 1823, leaving British India in a proud and prosperous condition. His successor, Lord Amherst, soon became involved in a war with Burmah, in 1824. The conflict lasted two years. A British force penetrated almost to Ava, the Burmese capital, and the King was glad to purchase peace by ceding to Great Britain the provinces of Assam, Aracan and Tenasserim. OBRENOVITCH, PRINCE OF SERVIA. The affairs of the Turkish Empire in Europe were in a troublous condition. In Servia the revolution of Kara George was ended in 1813, and an attempt was made to reestablish Turkish rule. A new revolu- tion was, however, promptly organized by Milosh Obrenovitch, a swine- raiser, and in 18 17 he was formally elected Hereditary Prince of Servia. His title was not recognized by Turkey, and years of war followed. In time, however, he forced the Sultan to recognize him a Prince and to grant to Servia semi-independence. Thus was established the Obreno- vitch dynasty, to which the present King of Servia belongs. In this same year, 181 7, Bolivar established a Supreme Council in Venezuela, and assumed the chief power, practically as Dictator. His operations leading to the independence of Venezuela are more fully detailed elsewhere in this volume. We may also note in passing the great Wartburg Festival of the German Students' Patriotic Association, and the formation of the United Evangelical Church in Prussia, through a union of the Lutheran and Calvinistic Churches; two incidents of 181 7 fraught with much interest in the subsequent development of the German nation. REVOLUTIONS IN AMERICA. The revolutions in Central and South America against Spanish rule made steady progress. The year 1818 is reckoned the date of Chilian independence, the important battle of Maypu marking the final triumph of Chilian arms and the practical liberation of the country. The three chief actors in the drama of Chilian liberation were General San Martin, the Dictator Bernard O'Higgins, and Admiral Cochrane, the illustrious British commander. We have elsewhere related that the royal family of Portugal, in 1806, sought refuge in Brazil. In 181 7 a revolution broke out in Pernambuco, STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. \2j which failed. But the Portuguese King thereupon granted a free constitu- tion and returned to Europe. On October 22, 1822, the Prince-regent, Dom Pedro, was proclaimed constitutional Emperor of Brazil, and the inde- pendence of the country was soon recognized by Portugal. The inde- pendence of the United Provinces of La Plata was similarly recognized by Portugal in 1821, and thus the Argentine Republic came into exist- ence. The independence of Peru was formally proclaimed in 182 1. In 1824 Bolivia was detached from Peru and formed into a separate State. THE TRIUMPH OF BOLIVAR. We have hitherto recounted the chief incidents of Bolivar's cam- paign in Venezuela and Colombia down to the spring of 181 7. In 1819 the Congress of Venezuela assembled at Angostura, and Bolivar sur- rendered into the hands all the powers he had been exercising as Dic- tator. The Congress, however, required him to resume supreme power and exercise it until the independence of the country should be fully established. He then re-organized his army and set out across the Andes to effect a junction with General Santander, who commanded the revolutionists in New Grenada. In July, 1819, he reached Tunja, where he defeated the Royalist troops and captured the city. On August 7th the Spanish army, under the Viceroy, Samano, advanced to meet him at Bojaca, where a severe battle was fought, which resulted in the complete victory of the revolutionists. The Viceroy fled from the field of battle, and the whole Province of New Grenada was conquered by this victory. Bolivar entered the capital in triumph, and was appointed President and Captain-General of the republic. Having amply recruited his army he returned to Venezuela, where, on the 17th of December, 18 19, a union between the two republics was decreed by the congress through his influence. He then took the field at the head of the strongest army that had yet been collected by the patriots. The Spaniards, after many defeats, agreed to an armistice of six months, in November, 1820. Morillo, their General, returned to Spain, leaving his army under the command of La Torre. At the termi- nation of the armistice the two armies resumed active operations ; and, on the 23d of June, was fought the decisive battle of Carobobo ; the Spaniards, under La Torre, were entirely defeated, and their broken and scattered forces saved themselves by fleeing to Puerto Cabello. This 128 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS, victory was the finishing stroke to the war in Venezuela ; by the end of the year the Spaniards were driven from every part of Venezuela and New Grenada, except Puerto Cabello and Quito. THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. The two provinces were now united into one State, called the Republic of Colombia. The installation of the first general congress took place on the 6th of May, 182 1, at Rosario de Cucuta. A Constitu- tion was adopted on the 30th of August. Bolivar was appointed Presi- dent, and Santander Vice-President. Puerto Cabello surrendered in December, 1823, and all the Spanish forces had been expelled from the southern part of the republic before this period ; so that, at the beginning of 1824, the Republic of Colombia was totally freed from foreign enemies. But at the moment when affairs seemed most prosperous, the re- public began to be disturbed with civil records. General Paez, a mulatto, and one of the most distinguished officers of the revolution, had received the command of the department of Venezuela. In the execution of a law for enrolling the militia of Caracas, he gave so much offence to the in- habitants by his arbitrary conduct, that they obtained an impeachment against him before the Senate. Being notified of this in April, 1826, and summoned to appear and take his trial, he refused to obey, but placed himself at the head of his troops, and called around him all the disaffected persons in Venezuela, who formed a very strong party. These persons objected to the central government ; some of them wishing for a federal system like that of the United States, and others desiring a total separa- tion from New Grenada. Various disorders broke out in other parts of the republic, and a great portion of the country refused obedience to the Colombian Constitution. An attempt was made to accommodate matters by a convention at Ocana, for amending the constitution, in March, 1828, but the violence of parties and the disturbea state of the country pre- vented the convention from doing anything, and they soon separated. THREE REPUBLICS ORGANIZED. Affairs now came to a crisis ; the country was threatened with anarchy, and Bolivar took a bold and decisive step, by dissolving the Colombian Congress, on the 27th of August, 1828, and assuming absg- < w o O Z Z e£ H W Z o w -J o Oh- < z I in So STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I3I lute authority. This act was preceded by addresses from various muni- cipal bodies, calling upon Bolivar to put an end to the public disorders by assuming the supreme command. Whether these addresses were procured by his intrigues, in order to give a plausible color to his usur- pation, we have no means of knowing. He organized a new government to suit his own views, and soon began to feel the consequences of the bold step he had taken, in the conspiracies that were plotted against him. On the 15th of September, 1828, an attempt was made to assassinate him. His aid-de-camp was killed, but Bolivar's life was saved by the courage of his officers. Generals Padilla and Santander were charged with this plot, and condemned to death by a special tribunal. Padilla was exe- cuted, but the punishment of Santander was commuted for banishment. Various others suffered death. The country was more and more agitated by violent factions ; many military leaders aspired to the supreme com- mand, and the efforts of Bolivar to prevent dissension excited insurrec- tions. Bolivar was denounced as a usurper and a tyrant. Venezuela claimed her independence, and Bolivar, finding it impossible to unite the factions and create a spirit of harmony under his rule, resigned all his authority to the congress at Bogota, in 1830. He retired to Carthagena, dispirited and broken down by the calamities of his country. Bolivar's retirement from public life removed every obstacle to the division of the Republic of Colombia. In 1831 it was formed into three independent States — Venezuela, New Grenada and Ecuador — which have continued to the present day. DEATH OF BOLIVAR. On the 17th of December, 1831, Bolivar died at San Pedro, near Carthagena, at the age of forty-eight. He was, by far, the most cele- brated of all the South American revolutionary leaders ; and during many years was considered the "Washington of the South." Yet, notwith- standing his brilliant successes, he outlived both his power and his repu- tation. At the period of his death he had lost all influence over his countrymen, and he died tainted with the suspicion of having engaged in an intrigue for introducing foreign aid to restore monarchy in Colombia. ITURBIDE IN MEXICO. The estab^shment of a constitution in Spain in 1820 suddenly changed the course of affairs in Mexico. The European Spaniards and 132 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. the Creoles, who had before made common cause In the royal interest, now divided into two parties, royalists and constitutionalists. The Vice- roy, Apodaca, was a royalist, and wished to suppress all attempts to establish a constitution in Mexico. The cause of the insurgents received new strength from the Spanish and Mexican constitutionalists, and the insurrection again looked threatening. Apodaca raised a small army and despatched it to crush the remnant of the insurgent forces. He gave the command to Don Augustin Iturbide, a Creole, but a royalist, and an officer who had distinguished himself in the war against the inde- pendents. It is supposed that at this moment Iturbide began to enter- tain those designs of self-aggrandizement which afterwards led him to the throne of Mexico. His very first steps exhibited art and dissimulation. The priests and Europeans furnished him with some money, and on his march he seized on a convoy of specie belonging to the Manila mer- chants. He formed a junction with Guerrero, one of the patriot chiefs, and had the address to persuade Apodaca that it was only an act of par- don by which the adherents of the revolution would be brought over to the royal cause. Emissaries in the meantime were despatched to every part of the country, and they executed their mission so ably that the in- habitants were everywhere ready to declare in favor of independence. On the 24th of February, 1821, at the little town of Iguala, on the road from Mexico to Acapulco, Iturbide issued a proclamation, which has since been known by the name of the " Plan of Iguala." Its professed object was to conciliate all parties ; to establish the independence of Mexico, and still to preserve its relationship to Spain. To accomplish this, the crown of Mexico was to be offered to the King of Spain ; and in case of his refusal to one of his brothers, on condition of his residing in the country. Though Iturbide had manifestly exceeded the powers which he had received from his superior, yet the Viceroy, thunderstruck at this unexpected event, and seeing that the proposal met the wishes of a great majority of the people, took no decisive steps against him. The royalists, who were numerous in the capital, alarmed at this indecision and delay of Apodaca, instantly deposed him, and placed Don Francisco Novello, an artillery officer, at the head of affairs. But the disorders in- separable from such violent changes gave Iturbide time to augment his forces, strengthen his party, and gain all the northern and western prov- inces. Before the month of July the whole country acknowledged his STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I 33 authority with the exception of the capital, in which Novello had shut himself up with all the European troops. TREATY OF CORDOVA. In this state of things General O'Donoju arrived at Vera Cruz from Spain, with the office of constitutional Viceroy. Iturbide hastened to the coast, held an interview with the new functionary, and persuaded him to accept the plan of Iguala as an armistice and final settlement, with the proviso that it should be approved by Spain. This agreement was called the Treaty of Cordova, from the town where it was made. It provided that commissioners should be sent to Spain with the offer of the crown, and that in the interim a governing junta and a regency should be ap- pointed ; and that a cortes should be immediately convened to form a constitution. The royalists were deeply chagrined at this proceeding, and the garrison at Mexico refused to obey O'Donoju, when he ordered them to evacuate the city. Iturbide obtained possession of Mexico by capitulation, and established a junta and regency, but in such a form that all the power remained in his hands. A cortes was summoned, which met on the 24th of February, 1822, and soon found themselves divided into three parties — the Bourbonists, or friends of the plan of Iguala ; the Republicans ; and the partisans of Iturbide, who wished to elevate him to the supreme power. Amidst all this dissension Iturbide had little dif- ficulty in playing off one party against another in such a manner that no effectual opposition could be thrown in the way of his ambitious schemes. An accident helped him onward. The royalist garrison of Mexico, which had capitulated and were now encamped at Toluca, entered into a conspiracy to effect a counter-revolution. Iturbide detected the con- spiracy and seized this occasion to withdraw from the capital all the troops disaffected to his cause. ITURBIDE EMPEROR. Meantime his emissaries were at work intriguing in the army, and on the evening of the 18th of May they assembled the soldiers, ha- rangued them, and distributed money among them. The soldiers marched out of their quarters, drew up in front of Iturbide's house, where they were joined by a mob of the lowest class of people. At 10 o'clock in the evening this multitude began their shouts of " Long 134 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. live Iturbide, Augustin the First Emperor of .Mexico!" These cries, with salvos of fire-arms, continued till morning, and the members of the cortes unfriendly to Iturbide's ambitious views were advised, from a pre- tended regard for their safety, not to attend the meeting that day for fear of the soldiery. Forty members absented themselves in consequence, and the Cortes having assembled, amidst the shouts of the soldiery and the mob, Iturbide was proclaimed Emperor. Most of the provinces sub- mitted to this usurpation without delay or complaint. Thus, in a short career of little more than two years, an obscure in- dividual was enabled to seat himself on a throne. But his downfall was as rapid as his rise. Dissensions soon broke out between him and the cortes, to which he put an end by dissolving that body on the 30th of October, 1822, precisely as Cromwell dismissed the Long Parliament, and Bonaparte the Chamber of Deputies. Iturbide, however, possessed very little of the genius of these great leaders. He was unable to rec- oncile the officers of the army, or the men of influence in the country, to these daring measures. He formed a new legislative assembly, com- posed of persons favorable to his views, but they had not the skill to make his cause popular. Several of the chief officers of the army de- clared against him, and prepared for resistance. Iturbide began to be terrified at the storm which he saw gathering against him on all sides. General Santa Anna, who had assisted in elevating him to the throne, took up arms against him. Guadalupe Victoria joined his forces to those of Santa Anna. The provinces fell off from the Emperor, and at length Iturbide, utterly despairing of his fortunes, convoked the old cortes on the 8th of March, 1823, and on the 19th of that month abdicated his crown. FALL OF ITURBIDE. Thus, after a troubled and disastrous reign of ten months, his Imperial Majesty of Mexico and Anahuac reluctantly threw down his sceptre. He was permitted to leave the country and reside in Italy, with a pension of $25,000. His exile, however, did not restore tran- quillity to the country. The struggles of opposing factions kept every- thing in confusion, and Iturbide, before the end of a year, miscalculat- ing his influence over his countrymen, had the presumption to imagine that he could re-enact the drama of Napoleon's return from Elba, and regain his throne by merely showing himself in Mexico. Accordingly, w w JO > r I ... c- O W H H < W h w u D eq W w o I STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 37 embarking with his family and two or three attendants, he landed in Mexico on the 12th of July, 1824. On attempting to proceed into the interior in disguise, he was discovered and arrested. The Government had previously outlawed him, and he was shot by order of the local authorities at Padilla, in Tamaulipas, on the 19th of July. In the meantime the neighboring States of Central America followed the example of the rest of Spanish America, and in 182 1 declared their independence. Two years later Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nica- ragua and Costa Rica formed themselves into the Federal Republic of Central America. This organization did not last many years, and the five States in time became independent of each other, as at the present time. LIBERIA. The year 1822 saw the creation of a new State among the inde- pendent nations of the world. This was Liberia, a negro republic, based on the model of the United States. It was organized by the American Colonization Society, a society which sought to solve the slavery question by returning the negroes to Africa. The site of the new State does not seem to have been well chosen, being intensely hot and not salubrious. Nevertheless, a considerable colony was planted there, and a civil government established. In spite of many drawbacks, and the more or less open hostility of some European powers, the little State has maintained its independence to the present time, and has had on the whole a creditable record. In connection with Africa, we may mention the discovery of Lake Chad, which was effected in 1823 by the British expedition of Denham and Clapperton. " BYRON IS DEAD." The death of Lord Byron at Missolonghi has already been men- tioned in these pages. It occurred on April 19, 1824. It was an irre- parable loss to the world's literature, for in that tragedy perished the greatest poet since Shakespeare. It is related that on hearing the news Alfred Tennyson, already a youth of high promise, went out into the fields and wrote upon a large stone the words " Byron is dead !" and remained for hours musing over the fact is speechless grief. The progress of literature and science in these times was marked in 1817 by the publication of Cuvier's "Animal Kingdom," a monu- I38 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. mental work which practically marked the foundation of the science of comparative anatomy and gave the greatest conceivable impetus to fur- ther research and achievement in the domain of natural history. In the following year, 18 18, the great University of Bonn, in Rhenish Prussia, was founded, an institution soon distinguished by the teachings of such scholars as Niebuhr, Schlegel and their compeers, and which now ranks among the foremost universities of the world. LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. Sir Walter Scott, whose advent in the domain of poetry has already been recorded, published his "Ivanhoe" in 1819, and thus indisputably established his title as the greatest romance writer of the age. The year 1819 was made memorable in the scientific world by a fundamental discovery in electricity. In that year Oersted, a professor in the University of Copenhagen, after a long and patient series of experiments and investigations, convincingly announced to the world his discovery of the unity between electricity and magnetism. Between the years 1817 and 1825 the Count de Saint-Simon pub- lished the noteworthy series of religious, philosophical and industrial treatises which marked him as the founder of the French school of Socialism. About this time one of the most extraordinary scientific theories was put forth and obtained for a time a considerable number of enthu- siastic believers. This was the theory of Captain Symmes that the earth was hollow and its interior probably inhabited, and that entrance was to be had to the interior through a large aperture at the North Pole. Serious endeavors were actually made to send a scientific expedition to the Arctic regions to ascertain the truth of this theory, but, of course, nothing practical ever came of it. TRUMBULL'S PAINTINGS. American progress in the fine arts was splendidly exemplified between 1815 and 1822 by the completion of Trumbull's paintings in the dome of the Capitol at Washington. John T. Trumbull, of Con- necticut, was a son of the famous Governor Jonathan Trumbull, of that State. Having assured his rank among the foremost painters of the day, he conceived the splendid project of adorning the dome of the STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 39 Capitol with a series of four colossal illustrations of notable scenes in American history. These he completed in a manner that has secured for him lasting fame. The four paintings represent, respectively, "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence," "The Surrender of General Burgoyne," "The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis" and "Wash- ington's Resignation of his Commission at Annapolis." In these same years the art of lithography, which had been founded by Senefelder in 1796, was first practiced with success in the United States, and made rapid progress. STEAM NAVIGATION. We have already spoken of Fulton's invention of the steamboat. In the year 18 19 the first steam-propelled vessel crossed the Atlantic Ocean. This was the steamer "Savannah," which made the voyage from Savannah to Liverpool in twenty-two days, and from Liverpool proceeded to Russia. A little later the first steamship line from New York to New Orleans was established, and thereafter steam navigation, both coastwise and trans-oceanic, was rapidly developed. DEATH OF DECATUR. A tragic incident of national importance must at this point be noted. We have hitherto spoken of the gallant and renowned exploits of Commodore Stephen Decatur in the war with the Barbary pirates. This distinguished officer, one of the naval heroes of the age, became involved in a dispute with his brother officer, Commodore James Barron, which, according to the barbarous code of ethics prevailing at that time, could be settled only by mortal combat. The two accordingly repaired to the famous, or rather infamous, duelling-ground at Bladensburg, in the outskirts of the city of Washington, and there, on March 22, 1820, fought a duel which resulted in the death of Decatur. This tragedy, more, perhaps, than almost anything else, led to the abolition of the savage practice of duelling in the United States. The death of Napoleon Bonaparte occurred on the island of St. Helena in 182 1. In the following year the world suffered the early death of Shelley, one of the greatest of English lyric poets ; of Herschel, one of the foremost astronomers of his time ; and of Canova, the great Italian sculptor. CHAPTER X. John Quincy Adams becomes President of the United States— Trouble with Creek Indians — The Panama Congress— A Notable Anniver- sary — Political Movements— Election of General Jackson. N 1825, Mr. Monroe was succeeded by John Quincy Adams, who had held the office of Secretary of State during Mr. Monroe's administra- tion. In the Presidential election of 1824 there were four candidates for the Presidency, — John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. Of the electoral votes, Jackson received 99, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. There being no choice by the people, the election evolved upon the House of Representatives ; and Adams was elected, having received the votes of 13 States, Jackson 7, and Crawford 4. During Mr. Adams's administration the country was at peace and in a highly prosperous condition ; and advantageous treaties of peace and commerce were negotiated with various foreign nations. The policy of Mr. Monroe's administration was continued and greatly extended, in strengthening every arm of the national defence, by erecting light- houses, arsenals, fortifications, etc., by increasing the naval establish- ment ; and especially by improving the inter-communication between the different parts of the country. The famous Bunker Hill monument was also begun. In these internal improvements more was effected by the aid of the government, during Mr. Adams's administration, than during the administrations of all of his predecessors. TROUBLE WITH CREEK INDIANS. The national government had agreed to extinguish, for the benefit of Georgia, the Indian title to the lands held by the Cherokees and Creeks in that State. In the last year of Mr. Monroe's administration, the Creeks, in a national council, refused to part with their territory. After the council broke up, however, a few of the chiefs remained, and were induced to make a treaty, ceding the lands to the United States. 140 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 4 1 This treaty was repudiated by the Creek nation as an act of fraud ; but the Governor of Georgia determined to act upon it as valid. At this juncture, the Indians appealed for protection to the Presi- dent of the United States, who interposed to protect them from gross injustice. It was, however, deemed expedient to obtain the lands in question by fair purchase. This was subsequently accomplished ; and, in a few years, the Indians were removed to Territories west of the Mississippi. In 1828, a new tariff law was enacted, imposing duties on imports, with a view to afford protection to American manufacturers. The prin- ciple of a protective tariff has met with a strong opposition, especially in the Southern States ; and it has, ever since the passage of this act of Congress, unhappily, continued to be a subject of contention between opposite political parties. THE PANAMA CONGRESS. The President, having been invited to send commissioners to the Congress of Panama, which had for its object the cementing of the friendly relations of all the independent States of America, saw fit to accept the invitation. Having nominated Richard C. Anderson and John Sergeant, as Ministers on the part of the United States, and William B. Rochester, of New York, as Secretary, he presented these names to the Senate for confirmation. This step awakened a spirit of animosity against the President, and a long and angry debate ensued ; but the nominations were eventually confirmed, and the necessary appropriations voted. Measures were soon taken to carry this policy into effect, and directions were sent to Mr. Anderson, who. was then in Columbia, to attend the Congress, which was to be convened in the beginning of summer. But he was cut down by a malignant fever before he could reach the place. Mr. Sergeant was prevented from going, on account of the lateness of the period at which his appointment was made. This failure of representation at the Congress, on the part of the United States, was, by many, deemed auspicious, as the relations and interests of the country might otherwise have been compromitted ; but others thought differently, and believed that a conference of the kind might issue in the adoption of a friendly and enlightened policy between the parties, 142 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. A NOTABLE ANNIVERSARY. In this administration occurred the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This was a day long to be remem- bered in the annals of the nation. The exultation of feeling throughout the country, that we had reached in safety the fiftieth anniversary of our independence, was great. The day was everywhere celebrated with more than the usual demonstrations of joy. But the most striking feature of the occasion was the simultaneous deaths of two ex-Presi- dents of the United States, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The coincidence in their departure from life was certainly remarkable, more especially as having occurred at that particular juncture. It would seem to have been a providential dispensation, designed to answer some important purpose ; perhaps to awaken the great principles of political freedom and equal rights, to the maintenance of which the lives of both were consecrated. They had both — and equally, perhaps — acted a most conspicuous part on the theatre of the world, and especially in the affairs of American independence. ''Both had been Presidents, both had lived to great age, both were early patriots, and both were distinguished and ever honored by their immediate agency in the act of independence. It cannot but seem striking and extraordinary, that these two should live to see the fiftieth year from the date of that act ; that they should complete that year, and that then, on the day which had fast linked forever their own fame with their country's glory, the Heavens should open to receive them both at once. As their lives themselves were the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to recognize, in their happy termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs that our country and its benefactors are objects of His care?" POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. The administration of Mr. Adams was marked by the rise or development of several political movements which were destined to have far-reaching effects. One of these was the adoption of the "Ameri- can System" of a protective tariff, especially championed by Henry Clay, of Kentucky. The name "American System" was given to the policy of protecting, by impost duties, the manufactures of the country against foreign competition. It began to be employed during the administration of Mr. Adams. Additional duties were sought by the STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 43 friends of manufactures on woolen goods, and a bill for that purpose passed both houses of Congress in the months of April and May, 1827. The measure, however, seemed not to be satisfactory to the country at large. "The President was in favor of affording protection to domestic manufactures generally, and of woolens particularly, which, at this time, was the leading question in political economy, so far as the Federal government was believed to have authority to interfere. But he was also friendly to extensive enterprises in commerce and navigation, and express- ed no opinion in support of the ultra doctrines of the manufacturers." The rise of the Anti-Masonic party, of which more will be heard in a later chapter, is also to be attributed to this era. The tariff contro versy gave rise to the famous "Nullification" movement, and the dispute with Great Britain over the ownership of Oregon waxed apace. A new treaty was concluded with Great Britain, and a material revision of the pension system, to Revolutionary soldiers and veterans of the War of 181 2, took place. ELECTION OF GENERAL JACKSON. The administration of Mr. Adams encountered strong and deter- mined opposition. The circumstance of his rival, General Jackson, having had a larger popular vote than himsell, and having in Congress only a small majority when elected to office, seemed, in the view of the Democratic party, quite sufficient to justify a more than usual distrust of his administration from its beginning. Mr. Adams was watched with singular vigilance, and every advantage taken to render his acts unpopu- lar. It was early charged against him that a corrupt bargain had been made with Mr. Clay, his Secretary of State. The Panama mission was represented as a measure weak and injudicious. And, moreover, it was charged that his administration was wasteful and extravagant. During Monroe's administration, and, indeed, in the early part oi John Quincy Adams's, party lines were practically abolished in American politics. But in the latter part of Mr. Adams's term they began to be drawn again pretty strictly. The friends of Mr. Adams called them- selves National Republicans, or Whigs. The friends and political fol- lowers of General Jackson, on the other hand, took the name of Demo- crats. Mr. Jackson was put forward as a candidate for the presidency, and, after a heated and bitter campaign, was elected, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, being chosen at the same time as Vice-President. CHAPTER XL Fall of Louis XVIII. — The War in Greece — Accession of Czar Nicholas I. — Change of Russian Policy — Destruction of the Janissaries — Declar- ing for Greek Independence — Battle of Navarino — Russia Makes War on Turkey — Doings in Various Lands. UPON the fall of Louis XVIII, of France, his brother, the Count of Artois, became King, as Charles X. He was imbued with all the prejudices and prepossessions of the old regime, and he had none of his brother's power of seeing when it was necessary to yield. He contrasts with Louis XVIII as James II did with Charles II. But his first measures were popular. He expressed his determination to uphold the Charter; he removed the censorship of the press ; and he restored to Louis Philippe, the son of Philippe Egalite, the great posses- sions of the house of Orleans and the title of Royal Highness. But before long he showed his real intentions. The Ministry of Villele was retained, and more than 150 officers of the Empire were dismissed from the army, and the Jesuits, though still proscribed by law, were allowed to return to France and to resume their control of education. The enormous sum of 100,000,000 francs was raised to compensate the losses of the emigrants who had fled during the revolution, and in spite of vigorous opposition the scheme was adopted by the submissive chambers. But it was the Kingf's devotion to the church that raised the bitterest discontent. The open patronage of the Jesuits, the gorgeous processions through the streets, in which the King himself took part, and a law which proposed to punish sacrilege with death, aroused uncompro- mising hostility in a city where the teaching of Voltaire still prevailed. In 1825 the funeral of General Foy, the most eloquent leader of the opposition, gave an opportunity for a grand Liberal demonstration. To silence criticism the Government brought in a new law to shackle the press, but it was received with such disfavor in both chambers that it had to be withdrawn. In 1827, while the King was reviewing the National Guard, a cry was raised of " Down with the Jesuits ! " and the force was 144 1815— NAPOLEON , ' . .. ■'«" *J .; '"*' 1 #s I, % H W o ■ i STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 47 broken up. Villele now determined on a last effort to maintain his power. The Chamber of Deputies was dissolved, and seventy-six new peers were created. But the new elections went completely against the Government, and the Liberals secured a majority of 428 to 125. The King was compelled to give way, and Villele was dismissed (January 3, 1828). A moderate Ministry now came into office under the Presidency of M. de Martignac. A law was introduced which imposed only slight restrictions upon the press, and a number of ordinances were issued against the Jesuits. But Martignac found that he had a very difficult position to occupy. Charles X regarded the Ministers as forced upon him, and refused to give them confidence. THE WAR IN GREECE. The campaign of 1825, in Greece, was opened by the landing, in the Morea, of an Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pacha, son of the Viceroy of Egypt, whom the Sultan had induced to engage in the war. Navarino soon fell into his power ; nor was his course arrested till he had carried desolation as far as Argos. In the meantime Missolonghi was closely besieged by a combined land and naval Turkish force, which, on the 2d of August, after a contest of several days, suffered a disastrous defeat, with the loss of 9000 men. But Missolonghi was again besieged for the fourth time, the siege being conducted by Ibrahim Pacha alone, who had an army of 25,000 men, trained mostly by French officers. After repelling numerous assaults and enduring the extremities of famine, Missolonghi at length fell, on the 2 2d of April, 1826, when 1800 of the garrison cut their way through the enemy and reached Salonica and Athens in safety. Many of the inhabitants escaped to the mountains ; large numbers were captured in their flight ; and those who remained in the city, about one thousand in number, mostly old men, women and children, blew them- selves up in the mines that had been prepared for the purpose. Five thousand women and children were made slaves, and more than three thousand ears were sent as a precious trophy to Constantinople. The fall of Missolonghi was followed by the siege of Athens. Another obstinate defence was made, but in spite of the assistance ren- dered by Colonel Fabvier, Lord Cochrane and General Church, Athens had to surrender (2d of June, 1827). The Greek cause was hopeless I48 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. unless the European powers would interfere, and the old dissensions broke out again. Fortunately for the Greeks events had occurred which altered the relations of the European States, and frustrated Metternich's determination to uphold the Porte as the champion of legitimate authority against revolution. ACCESSION OF CZAR NICHOLAS I. On the 1 st of December, 1825, Alexander I, of Russia, died sud- denly on a journey to the Crimea. As he left no children, his natural successor was his brother, Constantine, who resided in Warsaw, as Governor of Poland. But Constantine, who had contracted a morganatic marriage with a Polish Princess, and who was devoid of ambition, had, in 1822, formally renounced all claims in favor of his younger brother, Nicholas. This rem. nciation had never been made public, and Nicholas, unwilling to act upon it until it had been confirmed, caused the troops to swear fealty to Constantine as Alexander's successor. But the elder brother positively refused to ascend the throne, and Nicholas was com- pelled to assume the authority that now devolved upon him. But unex- pected difficulties confronted him. Alexander's desertion of Liberal principles in his later years had alienated the affection of his subjects, and a secret association had been formed, under Prince Troubetskoi, with the object of forming Russia into a federal republic. The uncer- tainty about the succession and the consequent interregnum gave the conspirators an unexpected opportunity. They persuaded the soldiers that Constantine' s pretended renunciation was a fraud, and that Nicholas was trying to usurp his brother's throne. The result was that, when the troops were called upon to take a new oath of fealty, a cry was raised for Constantine, and the tumult went so far that artillery had to be employed, and the disloyal regiments were almost destroyed before they would yield. The conspiracy was now discovered and its leaders punished. CHANGE OF RUSSIAN POLICY. The accession of Nicholas brought with it a complete change in both the internal and foreign politics of Russia. From the first moment he abandoned the system pursued by his predecessors from Peter the Great downwards. Instead of attempting to civilize Russia by introducing the customs and laws of western Europe, he showed himself an ardent par- STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 149 tisan of all the old national institutions, and especially the Greek Church. The Russian language was ordered to be taught in the German and Polish provinces, and a knowledge of it was essential for a place in the public service. If a foreigner married a Russian their children must be educated in the faith of the latter. The zeal for proselytism only just stopped short of actual persecution. At the same time Nicholas claimed to be the head and protector for all members of the Greek Church out- side of his own dominions, It was evident that his attitude in the eastern question would be very different from that of Alexander, and that it would be determined by the interests of Russia rather than by the princi- ples of legitimacy. The Holy Alliance had been shaken by the conduct of Canning ; it was shattered by the accession of Nicholas. Metternich lost the control of European diplomacy which he had contrived to hold for the last ten years. Canning lost no time in sending Wellington to St. Petersburg to discuss the question of Greece with the Czar. At first Nicholas haughtily declared that his relations with the Porte concerned no other power, but he soon saw the advantage of making England his accomplice in a par- tition of Turkey. In April, 1826, a secret convention was signed, which arranged that Greece should be formed into a regular State, but should pay tribute to the Sultan. In case of refusal the two powers were to compel the Porte to accept these terms. The other powers were to be invited to join the alliance. DESTRUCTION OF THE JANISSARIES. At the same time Nicholas had other matters to settle with the Sultan, and Mahmoud II played into his hands by choosing this very moment for the reforms which he had been meditating ever since his accession. He issued an ordinance altering the constitution of the Janis- saries, the famous Turkish troops composed of children of Christians taken captive, though it left the existing members of corps in enjoyment of their privileges. The result was a general mutiny on the 14th of June. But the Sultan was prepared for extreme measures. He pro- duced the sacred standard of the prophet and called upon all true be- lievers to support him. A wholesale massacre of the Janissaries followed, and the name was banished forever. Mahmoud now set to work to raise a new army, which was to consist of 250,000 men, armed and trained like 150 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. European troops. But a long time must elapse before such an elaborate scheme could be carried out, and meanwhile Turkey was defenceless. This compelled the Sultan to accept all the demands of Nicholas in the convention of Ackermann (October, 1826). The treaty of Bucharest was confirmed, and it was agreed that the Hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia should be chosen for seven years, that they should rule with a council of Boyars in complete independence of the Porte, and that they could not be deposed without the consent of Russia. Servia was to elect its own Prince, and the Sultan was not to interfere in its internal affairs. Russia was to occupy the fortresses on the east coast of the Black Sea, and Russian ships had the right of entering all Turkish waters. DECLARING FOR GREEK INDEPENDENCE. One of the Sultan's motives for such abject compliance was a desire to separate Russia from England on the Greek question. But Nicholas was the last man to be turned from his course by an exhibition of weak- ness, and the negotiations were actively prosecuted at a conference in London. Metternich resolutely refused to countenance rebellion in any form, and induced Frederick William of Prussia to adhere to the pro- gramme of the Holy Alliance. In France the moderate Louis XVIII had been succeeded by the reactionary Charles X, but the strong French sympathy with the Greeks induced the Government to disregard the danger of revolution and to join Russia and England. On the 6th of July, 1827, the three powers concluded the treaty of London, which was based on the previous convention of April, 1826. Greece was to be tributary, but otherwise independent ; hostilities were to cease imme- diately ; and if the Sultan failed to accept the mediation of the powers within a month, the latter would recognize the entire independence of Greece. This treaty, which was forced upon Canning by the fear of allowing Russia to interfere single-handed, was his last conspicuous act. He died on the 8th of August, and the Tories gradually regained the upper hand in the Ministry. BATTLE OF NAVARINO. The Sultan, whose hopes of success had been raised by the capture of Missolonghi and Athens, haughtily refused to admit the right of any power to interfere between himself and his rebellious subjects. Ibrahim STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I 53 at this time received large reinforcements, which were brought to Nava- rino by an Egyptian fleet from Alexandria. He received orders to wage a war of extermination in the Morea, and he acted up to the letter of his instructions. Meanwhile the allied fleets of England, France and Russia had appeared on the scene to enforce the treaty of London. The admirals called upon Ibrahim to cease hostilities, and entered the harbor of Navarino to compel his submission. In these circumstances a battle was inevitable, and in four hours the whole Egyptian fleet was utterly destroyed (20th October, 1827). Mehemet Ali was compelled to recall his son. Such active mediation had not been anticipated in England, where the Ministers alluded to the battle as "an untoward event." But the Greeks, whose cause seemed on the very verge of collapse, received the news with frantic enthusiasm. Mahmoud II complained bitterly o'i the outrage, and expressed his determination not to yield. In December the Ambassadors of the allied powers had to leave Constantinople. RUSSIA MAKES WAR ON TURKEY. That the battle of Navarino really proved an " untoward event " to English interests was due mainly to the conduct of the Ministers, who abandoned the policy of Canning and allowed Russia to attack Turkey single-handed, the very thing which he had striven to avoid. No oppo- sition was made to the election of the Russian nominee, Capo d'Istria, as President by the Greek National Assembly. Nicholas was eager to seize the advantages offered to him by the vacillation of England and the destruction of the Janissaries. Time was required to collect the resour ces of so vast a country as Russia, but in April, 1828, war was declared, and in May 150,000 Russian troops, under Wittgenstein, crossed the Pruth. To the astonishment of Europe the campaign was a complete failure. The Turks wisely restricted their efforts to the defence of for- tresses, in which they have always excelled. The Russians spent so much time in the siege of Schumla, Varna and Silistria, that winter com- pelled them to retreat before they had achieved anything beyond the reduction of Varna. The simultaneous campaign in Asia was more for tunate, and Paskiewitsch, who had already made a great name in the wars with Persia, captured the strong fortresses of Kars and Achalzik, which the Turks regarded as impregnable. At the same time the with- drawal of Ibrahim and his Egyptian troops enabled the Greeks once 154 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. more to hold their own in the peninsula. Still, on the whole, the Russians had failed, and Metternich endeavored to take advantage of this to arrange a peace which should save Turkey from humiliation. But France and Prussia declined to support him, and even Wellington, who was now at the head of the English Ministry, would not take any active steps to check the advance of Russia. In the month of January, 1829, the Sultan received a protocol from the three allied powers, declaring that they took the Morea and Cyclades under their protection, and that the entry of any military force into Greece would be regarded as an attack upon themselves. DOINGS IN VARIOUS LANDS. The year 1825 saw changes on other thrones than that of Russia. In it Maximilian I, of Bavaria, was succeeded by his son, Louis I ; and Ferdinand I, of Naples, was succeeded by his son, Francis I. These changes were, however, of no special significance to the general course of events on the Continent. Of the first Burmese war and its results to the British Empire we have already spoken. It came to an end in 1826. In the same year the Spaniards evacuated Callao, their last holding in Peru. The illustrious Canning succeeded Lord Liverpool as Prime Minister of England in April, 1827, and died at the post of duty in August of the same year. In that year Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony, was succeeded by his brother Anthony. In 1828 the Duke of Wellington, the conqueror of Napoleon Bonaparte, became Prime Minister of England, and the Test Act, of which we have elsewhere spoken, was repealed. The war between Persia and Russia came to an end in February, 1828, with the cession of Persian Armenia to Russia. In that year Uruguay was recognized as an independent republic. CHAPTER XII. Opening' of the Erie Canal — Gas Lighting — Railroads — Arctic Explor- ation — Early Strikes — Miscellaneous Events. THE year 1825 was marked in the United States with an event of inestimable industrial and commercial importance. This was the opening of the Erie Canal, directly connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Hudson River. Seldom has a work of great public utility been so stubbornly resisted and so bitterly ridiculed and savagely denounced. Its author and promoter, DeWitt Clinton, was alternately derided as a lunatic and denounced as a knave. But his perseverance was crowned with success, and thus New York City was made the greatest commercial port of the Western Hemisphere. The project of connecting the lakes with the ocean by way of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys was considered as far back as the early part of the Revolutionary War, when no less a man than General Wash- ington found time amid his urgent military duties to look over a part of the route, and to express his opinion of the practicability of the scheme. The Western Inland Navigation Company was formed in 1792, and five years later it completed some six miles of shallow canal around rapids of the Mohawk, thus opening a waterway for small boats from above Little Falls to Lake Ontario. These works were afterwards purchased by the State of New York. The next step was taken in 1808, when Simeon DeWitt, the Sur- veyor-General of the State of New York, was directed to inspect and lay out a canal route from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. He ap- pointed James Geddes to do the work, and the latter, in January, 1809, reported on various routes by way of Oneida Lake and Oswego. The next year the New York Legislature appointed a committee on the pro- ject. The chairman of this committee was Gouverneur Morris, who as early as 1803 had declared himself in favor of a canal from Albany to Buffalo. This committee made several reports, but nothing practical 156 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. was done until De Witt Clinton took up the matter and urged it to completion. On April 7th, 181 6, Clinton secured the passage of an act authoriz- ing the construction of the canal. Ground for the great work was broken at Rome, N. Y., on July 4th, 181 7. In the face of obstacles, the work was earnestly prosecuted, and Clinton had the supreme felicity of seeing it successfully completed and opened on November 4th, 1825, from Buffalo to Albany, a distance of 352 miles. It was forty feet wide and four feet deep, and was navigable by boats of 76 tons burden. It has since, of course, been much enlarged. The Lake Champlain Canal was authorized at the same time as the Erie. The State of Pennsylvania in 1826 began the construction of an elaborate series of canals from Pittsburg to Philadelphia and to Lake Erie, comprising more than 600 miles. The canal along the Delaware River from Bordentown to Easton was begun in 1827. The George- town and Cumberland Canal, to connect the Potomac with the Ohio River, was begun on July 4th, 1828, President Adams himself turning the first spadeful of earth. The Louisville and Portland Canal, in Kentucky, was begun in 1825. In 1824-29 the Chesapeake and Delaware bays were connected by a canal across the State of Delaware. The Delaware and Raritan Canal, across New Jersey, was planned at the same time, and was constructed a few years later. GAS LIGHTING. We have hitherto recorded the use of gas for illuminating purposes in London. The first attempt to manufacture gas in the United States was made at Baltimore in the second decade of the century, but was not successful until 1821. Gas lighting was introduced into the city of Boston on a small scale in 1822. The next year the New York Gas Light Company was organized in New York City, but for some time did nothing practical. At last, however, in 1827, it set to work and illuminating gas came into general use in the city. RAILROADS. The first real railroad in the world was that between Stockton and Darlington, in England, for the carrying of coal. It was opened in 1825, the cars being drawn by horses. But Stephenson soon equipped it STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 57 with steam locomotives. In 1828 the Liverpool and Manchester railroad was opened, also for horse-power. Stephenson urged the use of steam- power, and the directors offered a reward for a locomotive that should be able to draw three times its own weight on a level track, at the rate of ten miles an hour. In October, 1829, the "Rocket," an engine built by Stephenson's nephew, more than answered the required test. It weighed only 7^ tons, and it drew 44 tons at the rate of 14 miles an hour. The United States did not lag behind in railroad building. A five- mile horse road was built at Quincy, Mass., in 1826—27, to convey granite from the quarries to tidewater. It was built to supply stone for the Bunker Hill Monument. Another was begun in 1827 and com- pleted in the same year, to carry coal from the mines to the river, at Mauch Chunk, Pa., a distance of nine miles. The cars, loaded, were to be run down by gravity, and pulled up again by mule-power. A simi- lar road was built in 1828 by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- pany, at Honesdale, Pa. In January, 1828, Horatio Allen, of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, went to England to order iron rails for the last-named road, and to examine the newly-invented steam locomotives ; and, if he thought well of them, to purchase three. He did, in fact, order one locomotive at the works of Foster, Rastrick & Co., of Stourbridge, and two more at the works of R. Stephenson & Co., at Newcastle. These engines were received at New York in the winter of 1828-9, and the following spring were put upon the rails. The Stourbridge engine was run with anthracite coal as fuel, by Mr. Allen himself, making six miles at its first trip, and was the first steam locomotive to be run on the American continent. The next year locomotive building was success- fully begun in the United States at West Point. ARCTIC EXPLORATION. The first important voyage to the Arctic seas in the nineteenth cen- tury was that of Captain Scoresby. This was simply a whaling voyage, but the high latitude of 81 deg. 30 min. was reached, in 1806. Twelve years later Commander John Ross made an unsatisfactory voyage into Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. In the same year, 18 18, Captain Buchan reached the northern part of Spitzbergen. I58 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. The first voyage of Lieutenant Parry was made in 1819-20. He was in quest of the north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and he went through Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Lancaster Sound and Bar- row Strait, to Melville Island. Captain (afterward Sir) John Franklin made a journey in the Hudson Bay and Great Slave Lake region, to the Arctic Ocean in 1819-22. At about the same time a Russian expedition explored Nova Zembla. Parry's second voyage was made in 182 1-3. Again he sought the northwest passage, and he went through Hudson Strait and Fox Channel to Fury and Hecla Strait. Captain Score:iby explored and mapped the eastern coast of Greenland to a high latitude in 1822. In that and the following year Captain Sabine went to Spitz - bergen and the eastern coast of Greenland. Parry's third voyage for the northwest passage, in 1824-25, ended in a shipwreck. In 1825-7 Franklin made his second expedition to the Arctic regions by way of the Mackenzie River. Captain Beechey went through Behring Sea and along the Arctic coast as far as Point Barrow in 1826. Parry made his fourth voyage in 182.7. On this occasion he forsook the northwest passage and steered for the North Pole. He went by ship to Spitzenbergen and thence by boats as far north as 82 degrees 45 minutes, the highest latitude that had thus far been reached, and the highest that was reached for many years thereafter. EARLY STRIKES. The earliest strike of which there is any satisfactory record in this country was that of the boot and shoe makers of Philadelphia in 1796. These men "turned out," as the saying then was, for an increase of wages. They won, and again struck in 1798 and 1799, carrying their point each time. The first strike in New York of which record has been found is that of the sailors in 1803 for an increase of wages from $10 to $14 a month. The jack tars paraded around the water front and compelled seamen from every ship in port that they could reach to join with them in their agitation. They became riotous, and the town guard turned out and repressed their disorder. The leader of this strike was convicted and sent to jail, and the strike was a signal failure. On November 1, 1805, the journeymen bootmakers of Philadelphia again struck, this time for an increase in their pay of from 25 to 75 cents on each pair of boots. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 159 The successful precedents set by their fellows some years before did not avail them, however ; the strike was an egregious failure. Its organizers were found guilty of "conspiracy to raise wages," and were fined $8 and costs each. When the New York shoemakers turned out in 1809, 200 strong, they won their contention, but when the shoemakers in Pittsburg in 18 15 followed their example they failed, and were convicted and fined. As long ago as 1821 the printers struck in Albany against non- union workmen, but there are no data at hand now indicating the exact result of their protest. Next in chronological order came the strike of the spinning girls in the Cocheco Mills in Dover, N. H., in 1827. The carpenters and masons of Boston struck in 1830 for a ten-hour day and failed. So the protest against non-union workingmen dates at least from 182 1, and that for a ten-hour day at least from 1830. MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS. The University of London, England, was founded in 1826, to become University College when the new University of London was incorporated in 1836. In 1825 occurred the death of Saint-Simon, the founder of French Socialism, and of Jean Paul Richter, the incomparable German essayist, humorist and philosopher. One of the most impressive incidents of the age was the death of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on July 4, 1826, already mentioned elsewhere in these pages. Both were conspicuous framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence, both had been President of the United States, and both died on the same day, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. Laplace, the great French astronomer, died in 1827, and the same year saw the death of Beethoven, the greatest musical composer the world has ever known. The years of which we are now speaking were marked with a strange mixture of fashions and customs in dress and otherwise. In the reactionary countries of Europe the tendency was toward a restora- tion of manners that had prevailed before the revolutionary era, while in England and the United States the tendency was in the opposite direc- tion. The latter tendency was the more rational, and finally prevailed. CHAPTER XIII. Andrew Jackson becomes President of the United States — Changes in Office — Nullification — South Carolina Yields — Georgia and the Cherokees — National Bank — Removal of the Deposits — Black Hawk War — Seminole War — Jackson Re-elected — Foreign Affairs. IN 1829 Mr. Adams was succeeded as President of the United States by Andrew Jackson, who had been principally known for his military achievements, and who, in the battle of New Orleans, and in conduct- ing 1 a war with the Seminole and Creek Indians, had acquired a high reputation as a military commander. General Jackson's administration was signalized by a more extensive removal of office-holders than had been practiced by any of his prede- cessors ; by a persevering hostility to the United States Bank, which terminated in the overthrow of that institution ; and by opposition to the policy of making appropriations for internal improvements. Several bills making such appropriations, and also a bill for the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank, which passed both Houses of Congress, he returned with his veto. CHANGES IN OFFICE. President Jackson not only introduced into American politics the Democratic party under its present name, but he also established the principle of "rotation in office," or, as it has in later years been known, "the spoils system." He believed that it was best for the country to have frequent changes in office, and that such changes should be made by the simple process of turning off all the old office-holders and filling their places with the friends and followers of the new administration. So well did he put this principle into practice that in two years he made more changes in office than all his predecessors had made in forty years. His doctrine of rotation in office was in after years tersely expressed by his friend and follower, William L. Marcy, in the historic phrase, " to the victors belong the spoils." 160 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. l6l NULLIFICATION. One of the most sensational events of Jackson's administration was the rise of " nullification," of which, indeed, the first intimations had been perceived in the preceding- administration. This was otherwise known as the doctrine of States Rights or States Sovereignty. It was put for- ward by the Vice-President, John C. Calhoun, and by Senator Robert Y. Hayne, both of South Carolina. They insisted that the United States was not a Union, but a mere Confederacy or Alliance of independent States, and that any State was at liberty to withdraw from it at any time, or to refuse to obey any law of the general government. This was, of course, the origin of the theory which in i860 and 1861 reached its culmination in open secession. Upon this subject was held the most famous debate ever known in the United States Senate, between Mr. Hayne on one side, and Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, on the other. The great reputation won by Mr. Webster in this debate gained for him the popular title of the Expounder of the Constitution, and his words, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable," became the often quoted watchword of those who were opposed to nullification and secession. Soon after this debate Mr. Hayne resigned his place in the Senate and became Governor of South Carolina, and Mr. Calhoun re- signed the Vice-Presidency to take the place thus left vacant in the Senate. Then a popular convention in South Carolina declared the national tariff law which Congress had enacted to be null and void, and added that if any attempt was made by the Federal government to enforce it in South Carolina that State would secede from the Union. President Jackson acted in this emergency with great promptness and resolution. He declared that nullification was treason, and that the Union must be and should be preserved. In this year, 1832, he issued a proclamation plainly and forcibly stating the nature of the American government, and the supremacy of the federal authorities in all matters intrusted to their care. At the same time, in this document, he exhorted the citizens of South Carolina not to persist in a course which must bring upon their State the force of the confederacy, and expose the Union to the hazard of a dissolution. SOUTH CAROLINA YIELDS. The proclamation of General Jackson was a noble production. It was hailed with delight throughout the country as well by his political 162 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. opponents as by his friends. " Perhaps no document has emanated from the executive department of the government which has been more generally approved, both in regard to the style in which it was written, and the doctrines asserted and maintained, since the farewell address of the first President. It contains no speculative opinions, no new theories; it speaks the facts of history, in the language of the Constitution, and in the spirit which we, of a later generation, may suppose animated its framers." The Governor of South Carolina issued a counter proclamation, calling on the people to resist any attempt to enforce the tariff laws. The President then addressed a message to Congress, recommending such measures as would enable the executive to suppress the spirit of insubordination, and sustain the laws of the United States. The Presi- dent, on this momentous occasion, was nobly supported by the leaders of the opposition party in Congress, with Mr. Webster at their head. The force of public opinion was irresistible— South Carolina was com- pelled to shrink before it. No resistance was actually made to the enforcement of the laws they had nullified, and, consequently, no coercive measures were necessary on the part of the general government to maintain its authority. The objectionable laws were somewhat modified in the session of 1833, by what was termed "the compromise act," pro- posed by Mr. Clay ; and South Carolina, though she was not convinced of her error, made no further attempt, until many years later, to put her theories into practice. GEORGIA AND THE CHEROKEES. The President, in his message on the 8th of December, 1829, pre- sented at considerable length, his views in regard to the disposal of the Indian tribes within the limits of the United States. He recommended their removal beyond the boundary of the different States, but without compulsion, to such territory west of the Mississippi as Congress might set apart for their use. In this he wished to avoid the difficulties arising from the treaties between the United States and these Indians, and the opposing claims of the States within whose limits the Indians resided. This was one of the most embarrassing subjects which demanded the attention of the new administration. It was especially applicable to the relation which the Cherokees, a powerful tribe within the limits of Georgia, sustained to the general government. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 63 Treaties had been made with this tribe, from time to time, ever since the adoption of the Federal Constitution. In these treaties the protec- tion of the United States was promised them, and the territory they inhabited was acknowledged to be theirs. But the government had also acknowledged the limits of Georgia, and had agreed to extinguish the Indian title whenever it could be peaceably effected. Georgia, in her anxiety to secure the Indian territory, had passed laws, from time to time, with reference to that object, claiming exclusive civil and criminal jurisdiction over the Indians. In this state of things the new administration came in, and the views of the President coinciding with those of the State of Georgia, a change was made in her mode of procedure. She was allowed, with the approbation of the general government, to extend her laws over the Cherokees, and to consider the treaties of the United States with them, guaranteeing their territory, as unconstitutional and void. Notwithstanding all the stringent measures of Georgia the Chero- kees were determined to remain in the land of their fathers. But at length, in 1835, a few of their chiefs were induced to sign a treaty for the sale of their lands and a removal west of the Mississippi. Although this treaty was opposed by a majority of the Cherokees, and the terms after- wards decided upon at Washington rejected, yet, as the State of Georgia was determined in its hostility, and they could expect no protection, according to the new doctrine, from the general government, they finally decided upon a removal ; but it was not until the close of the year 1838 that the task of emigration was completed. NATIONAL BANK. In anticipation of a request for the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank, the President, in his message to Congress, had expressed opinions adverse to that measure. But the standing com- mittees of the Senate and House, to which that portion of his message referred, made reports in opposition to the President's views. The friends of the administration formed a majority in both committees, and it was readily perceived how little harmony of action there was likely to be, on that subject, between the President and the party which had brought him into power. About four years anterior to the expiration of the existing charter, that is, in December, 1832, a memorial was presented to Congress from 164 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. the President and Directors of the United States Bank, for a renewal of its charter. This memorial was referred to a select committee, which, on the 13th of March following, reported in its favor, recommending only some limitations to the power of issuing notes and holding real property, also the payment of a bonus of $1,500,000. After long debates and various amendments a bill for this purpose was carried in the Senate by a vote of twenty-eight to twenty, and in the House by a vote of one hundred and seven to eighty-five ; but, being on the 4th of July sent to the President, it was returned to the Senate on the 10th of July with an absolute veto, which, not being opposed by two-thirds, decided the fate of the bank. REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS. The law of 18 16, which created the United States Bank, required that the public moneys should be deposited in that bank, subject to be removed only by the Secretary of the Treasury, and requiring him, in that case, to present his reasons for removing them to Congress. Congress had already refused to authorize the removal of the deposits, and the President was now resolved to effect it on his own responsibility. The new Secretary of the Treasury, William J. Duane (for there had been some recent changes in the Cabinet), refusing to act in this matter and resigning his office, the Attorney-General, Roger B.Taney, was appointed in his place. Mr. Taney immediately issued the necessary orders for the removal of the deposits from the United States Bank — a measure which resulted from the President's determination to break off all connection between the government and the bank. At the coming session of Congress, 2d of December, 1833, one of the first acts of the Senate was the adoption of a resolution, by a vote of twenty-six to twenty, declaring "that the President, in his late execu- tive proceedings in relation to the public revenue had assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." This resolution remained on the journal until January 15, 1837, when it was formally expunged by order of the Senate. The act of the President, and the measures taken by the United States Bank, occasioned much embarrassment throughout the mercantile community during the years 1834 and 1835. Committees, appointed by the merchants, mechanics and tradesmen of the principal commercial STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 1 65 cities, solicited the President to replace the government deposits in the United States Bank. But he resisted every solicitation. Many petitions were sent to Congress on the same subject. The Senate favorably received them, but the House saw fit to sustain the President in this measure. BLACK HAWK WAR. The year 1832 was signalized by the Black Hawk War, so named for the famous chief of the Sac and Fox Indian tribes, who was the leader in it. These tribes had joined the British in the War of 181 2, and inflicted much injury on the Americans. Encouraged by the friend- ship of the British, as well as incited by their own warlike propensities, the Sacs and Foxes claimed the right of occupying a part of the country upon Rock River, even after it had been sold to the citizens of the United States and the latter had made settlements upon it. In attempt- ing to assert this right, frequent collisions ensued ; and, as no persua- sions on the part of the agents of the government could induce them to be quiet and confine themselves to their own country on the west of the Mississippi, measures were taken to compel them to desist from their aggressions. As early as 1831, a considerable detachment of the army, and also of the militia of Illinois, was called into the field ; upon which the Indians agreed to confine themselves within their own proper limits. In a short time, however, this arrangement was violated by a party of these Indians in an outrage committed upon a band of friendly Menomonies in the very vicinity of Fort Crawford. Twenty-five per- sons were wantonly killed and many wounded while encamped in the village of Prairie du Chien under the protection of our flag. It was felt by the government that this aggression could not be passed over without the infliction of a due chastisement, as all was at stake in regard to the friendly Indians and the frontier settlements in that quarter. Accord- ingly, the department ordered General Atkinson, on the 7th of March, 1832, to ascend the Mississippi with the disposable regular troops at Jefferson Barracks, and to strengthen the frontiers ; orders were also given for the re-occupation of Chicago. In the prosecution of his instructions, General Atkinson proceeded to the Indian country, where, after various skirmishes and several more serious engagements, the Sacs and Foxes, under the direction of Black Hawk, fled beyond the Mississippi. On the 28th and 29th of July, j66 story of one hundred years. General Atkinson crossed with his army to the north side of the Wis- consin, at Helena, in pursuit of the enemy. After a most difficult and forced march over steep mountains and through deep ravines, on the 5th day of March the enemy was announced by one of the scouts. A suit- able disposition was made of the American forces, with a view to pre- vent the escape of any of the foe, and the firing commenced as the dif- ferent portions of the army came in contact with him. The battle lasted upwards of three hours. About fifty of his women and children were taken prisoners, and many were killed in the battle. When the Indians were driven to the bank of the Mississippi, some hundreds of the men, women and children plunged into the river, and hoped, by diving, to escape the bullets. Very few, however, escaped — the American sharp- shooter is nearly infallible in his aim. Black Hawk, in the midst of the battle, escaped, and went up the river. The savages, after this defeat, became convinced of the impos- sibility of contending with success against the American arms. No fur- ther serious resistance was offered on their part, and the war soon closed by the capture of Black Hawk, who was delivered up to the American commander by two Winnebagoes on the 27th of August. He was well treated and much noticed in the United States. SEMINOLE WAR. The Seminole Indians of Florida, near the close of the year 1835, commenced hostilities against the settlements of the whites in their neigh- borhood. To this they were incited by the attempt of the government to remove the Indians to lands west of the Mississippi, in accordance with the treaty of Payne's Landing, executed in 1832. That treaty, however, the Indians denied to be justly binding upon them, and they naturally felt a strong reluctance to quit their homes forever. Micanopy, the king of the Seminoles, was opposed to the removal ; and Osceola, their most noted warrior, said he "wished to rest in the land of his fathers, and his children to rest by his side." Osceola was cruelly put in irons by General Thompson, the govern- ment agent, who was displeased by the pretensions of the chieftain and his remonstrances against the governmental proceedings. He, however, obtained his liberty at length by dissembling his displeasure, and gave his confirmation to the treaty of removal. The whites were thus lulled STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I67 into security, and, while they were expecting the delivery of the cattle and horses of the Indians according to the treaty, the latter were already commencing the work of devastation and death. At this time Major Dade was dispatched from Fort Brooke, at the head of Tampa Bay, with upwards of one hundred men, to the assistance of General Clinch, stationed at Fort Drane, in the interior of Florida. The latter was supposed to be in imminent danger. Dade had proceeded only about half the distance when he was suddenly attacked by the enemy, and he and all except lour of his men were killed, and these four, terribly mangled, afterwards died of their wounds. At the time of this massacre, Osceola, with a small band of warriors, was lurking in the vicinity of Fort King, about sixty-five miles south-west from St. Augustine. Here General Thompson and a few friends were dining at a store near the fort when Osceola and his band surprised them by a sudden discharge of musketry, and five out of nine were killed. The general was one of the slain. The war came to an end in 18^6, the Indians being subdued and removed to the Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River. JACKSON RE-ELECTED. Mr. Clay's compromise tariff of 1832 averted civil war, but did not prove permanently satisfactory. In the fall of 1832 a new presidential election was held, and, for the first time in the history of the country, the candidates were nominated at national conventions of the respective parties. Before that time they had been nominated by congressional caucuses, by the States' Legislatures or by local conventions. Three nominations were made in 1832. The Democrats renominated Jackson ; the National Republicans or Whigs, nominated Henry Clay ; the third party, which nominated William Wirt, was known as the Anti-Masonic party. It had its origin in 1826. In that year one William Morgan, living in the western part of New York State, published a little book purporting to reveal some of the secrets of Freemasonry. Shortly after- ward he mysteriously disappeared, and was never again heard of. His friends immediately raised the cry that he had been kidnapped and mur- dered by the Freemasons, and, in consequence, a political party was formed designed to exclude all Freemasons from office, if not from citi- zenship. The dead body of a man was afterward found in a river where he had been drowned, and, though quite unrecognizable, was declared [68 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. by the Anti-Masons to be that of Morgan. Among- themselves they admitted that it might not be, and, indeed, probably was not, Morgan's body, but they said in a phrase which has become historic, " It is a good- enough Morgan until after election." FOREIGN AFFAIRS. In 1834 the country was disturbed by an apprehension of a hostile collision with France. The French government, by a treaty negotiated in 1 83 1, had agreed to make indemnity for spoliations made on American commerce during the reign of Napoleon, but it had failed to fulfill its engagements. The President recommended (1834) reprisals upon French commerce. The measure, however, was not adopted by Congress, and the danger of open hostility was happily removed by the action of the French government in making, in the following year, provision to fulfill its stipulations. The public debt of the United States in 1816, after the close of the war with Great Britain, amounted to upwards of $127,000,000. After the return of peace the debt was rapidly reduced, and in 1836, it having been all paid off, it was computed that on the 1st of January, 1837, there would remain in the treasury a surplus revenue of $27,000,000. An act was passed by Congress (1836) for distributing this surplus (reserving $5,000,000), to be paid, in four instalments, to the several States, in pro- portion to their representation in the Senate and House of Represen- tatives. The admission of Arkansas into the Union as a State, the beginning of Garrison's anti-slavery agitation, and the conception of the Anti- Slavery Society, date from the closing years of Jackson's administration, though more is to be heard of the last two at a later date. At the close of his second term President Jackson acquiesced in the established custom, and signified his intention of retiring to private life. At the election in the fall of 1836, Martin Van Buren, of New York, was chosen to succeed him, with R. M. Johnson, of Kentucky, as Vice- President. •:■ 1821— PIONEERS CROSSING THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS CHAPTER XIV. Catholic Emancipation in England— Wellington Prime Minister— Catholic Emancipation Effected — End of the Greek Revolution — Russo-Turkish War — Troubles in France — Conquest of Algeria — Reaction in France — The Revolution Begins — Flight of the King— Belgian Revolution — Unrest in Poland — Outbreak at Warsaw — Russians Routed — The Fall of Poland— Reform Law in England — Triumph of Reform — Doings in Various Lands — The Carlist War, FOREMOST among the political questions in England in the third decade of the century was that of Catholic emancipa- tion, so-called. It really involved the granting of political rights to Roman Catholics and to Protestants who dissented from the Established Church of England. In the year 1824 an Irishman, Daniel O'Connell, a barrister of great eloquence, organ- ized the "Catholic Association," and collected a "rent" from the Irish people. In 1825 a relief bill, brought in by Sir Francis Burdett, passed the Commons, but was lost in the Lords, where the Duke of York uttered a solemn oath that, if he came to the throne, he would never consent to the repeal of the Catholic disabilities. The Duke, however, died on the 5th of January, 1827, and in February the long administration of Lord Liverpool was ended by his seizure with paralysis. The King, who disliked Canning for his former advocacy of the Catholic claims, felt nevertheless obliged to receive him as a Pre- mier (April 1, 1827). But Canning had already contracted a mortal dis- ease at the funeral of the Duke of York. He was regarded by the aristocracy as an upstart. He was deserted by the Duke of Welling- ton, Mr. Peel, Lord Eldon, and the old Tory party. He was harassed by his false position between the opposition, who called on him to re- deem his professions in favor of the Catholics, and the King, who de- clared that he should break his coronation oath if he consented to emancipation. In four short months Canning died (Aug. 8, 1827). 10 171 17 2 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. He was buried privately in Westminster Abbey, and his widow was made a viscountess. The title descended to his son, who raised it to an earldom by his signal services in India, and died, like his father, a martyr to the public service (June, 1862). WELLINGTON. PRIME MINISTER. The short administration of Viscount Goderich (Aug., 1827 — Jan., 1828) was again succeeded by that of the Duke of Wellington, with Mr. Peel as Home Secretary. The friends of Mr. Canning — namely, Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Grant and Lord Palmerston — afterward left the ministry. It was under this Tory Government that the disabilities, both of the Protestant Dissenters and of the Roman Catholics, were re- moved. Lord John Russell (b. Aug. 18, 1792), the younger son of the Duke of Bedford, and the faithful inheritor of the principles for which Lord William Russell suffered under Charles II, moved the repeal of the Test and Corporation acts passed under that King. Mr. Peel was leit in a minority, and withdrew his opposition. In the Lords the measure was supported by Lord Holland, the nephew of Charles James Fox, and the Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of George III., to whom his consistent support of civil and religious liberty had been most distasteful, as it now was to George IV. The passing of this act gave a new stimulus to the agitation for Catholic relief. The crisis was brought on by the election of O'Connell for the county of Clare. The Duke of Wellington was convinced that his choice lay between concession and a civil war, the horrors of which he deprecated with deep feeling ; and his ministry an- nounced a measure for the relief of the Catholics in the King's speech (1829). Mr. Peel, who had always opposed the Catholic claims, was re- jected by his constituents of the University of Oxford in favor of Sir Robert Harry Inglis, a kind-hearted, simple-minded Tory, who always held that "wherever the King carried his flag, there he should carry his 'church." Peel came back to the House as member for Westbury, and introduced the bill, which passed the Lords on April 10, after earnest opposition. Lord Eldon was moved to tears, and Lord Winchelsea came forward as the champion of religion in a duel with the Duke of Wellington. The act opened Parliament and offices of State to the Catholics on their taking a new oath in place of the -oath of supremacy; but they were excluded from the offices of Regent, Viceroy of Ireland. STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. I 73 and Lord Chancellor both in England and Ireland. The exclusion from the crown, and its forfeiture by marriage with a Catholic, remained in force. The words of the new oath, "on the true faith of a Christian," had the effect of excluding the Jews from Parliament until 1858, when they were admitted. CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION EFFECTED. The King gave his assent to the bill, but showed a resentment against the ministry, which was shared by the Tory party. Their violent opposition, in concert with the Radicals, was only neutralized by the sup- port of the Whigs, which enabled Peel to carry some valuable measures, among which was the formation of the new police (1830). He had pre- viously mitigated the criminal law ; and Mr. Brougham had moved (Feb., 1828), in a speech of surpassing eloquence, for a commission on the state of the law, which led to most important reforms. But the rejection of Lord John Russell's motion to give members to the great manufac- turing towns of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, left the question of parliamentary reform to be settled in the next reign. Meanwhile the King was living in peevish seclusion at Windsor, where he died on the 26th of June, 1830, in the 68th year of his age and the 11th of his reign, and was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William Henry Duke of Clarence. END OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION. The battle of Navarino and accompanying events, recorded in a former chaper, practically ended the Greek revolution and gave that coun try independence. The provisional government of Greece, which had been organized during the revolution, was agitated by discontents and jealousies. For some time the country remained in an unsettled condi tion, and the President, Count Capo d'Istria, was assassinated in October, 1 83 1. The allied powers having previously determined to erect Greece into a monarchy, fir^t offered the crown to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Co burg (since King of Belgium), who declined it on account of the unwil- lingness of the Greeks to receive him, and their dissatisfaction with the boundaries prescribed by the allied powers. Finally the crown was conferred on Otho, a Bavarian Prince, who arrived at Nauplia in 1833. 174 STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS. RUSSO-TURKISH WAR. Russia continued her aggressions upon Turkey. In 1829 the com- mand of the Russian army in European Turkey was given to Diebitsch, a native of Silesia. He left behind him, under guard, the Turkish for- tresses which his predecessor had vainly tried to reduce, and pressed on to and across the Balkans. His was the first Russian army that ever crossed the Balkans and approached Constantinople. On reaching Adrianople, however, his army was found to be so weakened by fatigue and disease that it mustered only 13,000 men. A vigorous attack by the Turks would have ensured his annihilation. Fortunately for him, how- ever, the Turks entered into negotiations for peace, and a treaty was concluded. Russia resigned all conquests except some islands at the mouth of the Danube and a small strip of territory in Asia, acquisi- tions, however, of much strategic importance. The Hospodars of Mol- davia and Wallachia were to be appointed for life, and were to be practi- cally independent of Turkey. No Turk was to reside in those prov- inces, which were made a protectorate of Russia. Thus was laid the foundation of the present great kingdom of Roumania. The navigation of the Danube was to be free, and the Dardanelles were to be open to the ships of neutral powers. In 1829, through the close intercourse of the Western powers with Turkey, the dreadful scourge of Asiatic cholera was first introduced into Europe, where it made hideous ravages, and whence it was later trans- ferred to the United States. TROUBLES IN FRANCE. Meantime, Charles X of France was hastening to his fall. The liberal ministry, which the popular party had forced upon the king, was suddenly dismissed, and in August, 1829, an ultra-royalist ministry was appointed, at the head of which was Prince Polignac, one of the old royalists, and an early adherent to the Bourbons. At the opening of the Chambers in March, 1830, the speech from the throne plainly announced the determination of the king to overcome by force any obstacles that might be interposed in the way of his government, concluding with the threat of resuming the concessions made by the charter. As soon as the speech was made public the funds fell ; the ministers had a decided majority opposed to them in the Cham- m>\ I'-iiiiiiiih : < w o Q Z