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diff --git a/old/10641-h/10641-h.htm b/old/10641-h/10641-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b0c478 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10641-h/10641-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8112 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beacon Lights of History, Volume X, by John Lord</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + // --> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Beacon Lights of History, Volume X, by John +Lord</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a> + +Title: Beacon Lights of History, Volume X + +Author: John Lord + +Release Date: January 8, 2004 [eBook #10641] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME X*** + + +</pre> + +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> + +<hr class="full"> +<br><br> +<center><i>LORD'S LECTURES</i></center> +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.</h2> + +<h2>BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.</h2> + +<center>AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," +ETC., ETC.</center> +<br><br> + +<h2>VOLUME X.</h2> + +<h2>EUROPEAN LEADERS.</h2> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p><i><a href="#WILLIAM_IV.">WILLIAM IV</a></i>.</p> + +<p>ENGLISH REFORMS.</p> + +Social evils in England on the accession of William IV.<br> +Political agitations.<br> +Premiership of Lord Grey.<br> +Aristocratic character of the reformers.<br> +Lord John Russell.<br> +The Reform Bill.<br> +Its final passage.<br> +Henry Brougham.<br> +Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister.<br> +Troubles in Ireland.<br> +O'Connell.<br> +Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister.<br> +His short administration.<br> +Succeeded by Lord Melbourne.<br> +Abolition of West India slavery.<br> +Thomas Babington Macaulay.<br> +Popular reforms.<br> +Trades unions.<br> +Reform of municipal corporations.<br> +Death of William IV.<br> +Penny postage.<br> +Second ministry of Sir Robert Peel.<br> +The Duke of Wellington.<br> +Agitations for repeal of the Corn Laws.<br> +<br> + +<p><i><a href="#SIR_ROBERT_PEEL.">SIR ROBERT PEEL</a></i>.</p> + +<p>POLITICAL ECONOMY.</p> + +Birth and education of Sir Robert Peel.<br> +His conservative views.<br> +His High Church principle.<br> +Enters the Cabinet of Lord Liverpool.<br> +Catholic Emancipation.<br> +Resigns the representation of Oxford.<br> +Member of Tamworth.<br> +Opposes the Reform Bill.<br> +Prime Minister in 1841.<br> +Financial genius.<br> +His sliding scale.<br> +O'Connell's death.<br> +The Factory Question.<br> +Renewed charter of the Bank of England.<br> +Financial measure.<br> +Maynooth Grant.<br> +Agitation for Free Trade.<br> +Anti-Corn Association.<br> +Cobden and Bright.<br> +Free Trade leagues.<br> +Free Trade Hall in Manchester.<br> +Peel converted to Free Trade.<br> +Disraeli leader of the Protectionists.<br> +His virulent assaults on Peel.<br> +Abolition of the Corn Laws.<br> +Irish Coercion Bill.<br> +Fall of the Peel Ministry.<br> +Peel's great speech.<br> +Chartist movement.<br> +Its collapse.<br> +Death of Sir Robert Peel.<br> +Character of Sir Robert Peel.<br> +<br> + +<p><i><a href="#CAVOUR.">CAVOUR</a></i>.</p> + +<p>UNITED ITALY.</p> + +The Roman Catholic Church.<br> +The temporal power.<br> +General desire of Italians for liberty.<br> +Popular leaders.<br> +The Carbonari.<br> +Charles Albert.<br> +Joseph Mazzini.<br> +Young Italy.<br> +Varied fortunes of Mazzini.<br> +Marquis d'Azeglio.<br> +His aspirations and labors.<br> +Battle of Novara.<br> +King Victor Emmanuel II.<br> +Count Cavour.<br> +His early days.<br> +Prime Minister.<br> +His prodigious labors.<br> +His policy and aims.<br> +His diplomacy.<br> +Alliance with Louis Napoleon.<br> +Garibaldi.<br> +His wanderings and adventures.<br> +Daniele Manin.<br> +Takes part in the freedom of Italy.<br> +Garibaldi in Caprera.<br> +Peace of Villa-Franca.<br> +Liberation of Naples and Sicily.<br> +Flight of Francis II. of Naples.<br> +Battle of Volturno.<br> +Annexation of Naples to Sardinia.<br> +Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy.<br> +Venetian provinces annexed to Italy.<br> +Withdrawal of French troops from Italy.<br> +All Italy united under Victor Emmanuel.<br> +<br> + +<p><i><a href="#CZAR_NICHOLAS.">CZAR NICHOLAS</a></i>.</p> + +<p>THE CRIMEAN WAR.</p> + +Origin of the Russians.<br> +Extension of Russian conquests.<br> +Conquests of Catherine I.<br> +Conquests of Alexander I.<br> +Conquests of Nicholas.<br> +Treaty of Adrianople.<br> +Ambition and aims of Nicholas.<br> +His character.<br> +Prince Mentchikof.<br> +Lord Stratford.<br> +Causes of the Crimean War.<br> +England and France in alliance with Turkey.<br> +Occupation by Russia of the Danubian provinces.<br> +War declared.<br> +Lord Palmerston.<br> +Lord Aberdeen.<br> +Lord Raglan.<br> +Marshal Saint-Arnaud.<br> +English and French at Varna.<br> +Invasion of the Crimea.<br> +Battle of Alma.<br> +Colonel Todleben.<br> +Siege of Sebastopol.<br> +Battle of Balaklava.<br> +"The Light Brigade".<br> +"The Heavy Brigade".<br> +Battle of Inkerman.<br> +Horrors of the siege.<br> +General disasters.<br> +Florence Nightingale.<br> +Sardinia joins the allies.<br> +Assault of Sebastopol.<br> +Death of Lord Raglan.<br> +Treaty of Paris.<br> +Indecisive results of the war.<br> +The Eastern Question.<br> +<br> + +<p><i><a href="#LOUIS_NAPOLEON.">LOUIS NAPOLEON</a></i>.</p> + +<p>THE SECOND EMPIRE.</p> + +Fortunes and adventures of Louis Napoleon.<br> +The political agitations of 1848.<br> +Louis Napoleon, President of the French Republic.<br> +His Ministers.<br> +The Coup d'État.<br> +Usurpation of Louis Napoleon.<br> +His tools.<br> +His enemies.<br> +Hostility of the leading statesmen of France.<br> +Character of Louis Napoleon.<br> +The Crimean War.<br> +Alliance of France and England.<br> +Lord Palmerston.<br> +Stability of the Empire.<br> +Prosperity of France.<br> +Public Works.<br> +Splendid successes of Napoleon III.<br> +War with Austria.<br> +Peace of Villa-Franca.<br> +Improvements of Paris.<br> +Haussmann.<br> +Mexican War.<br> +Archduke Maxmilian.<br> +Humiliations and shifts of Louis Napoleon.<br> +War with Germany.<br> +Indecision and incapacity of Louis Napoleon.<br> +Battle of Worth.<br> +Marshal Bazaine.<br> +Gravelotte.<br> +Battle of Sedan.<br> +Fall of Napoleon III.<br> +Calamities of France.<br> +<br> + +<p><i><a href="#PRINCE_BISMARCK.">PRINCE BISMARCK</a></i>.</p> + +<p>THE GERMAN EMPIRE.</p> + +Humiliation of Prussia.<br> +Her great deliverers.<br> +Baron von Stein.<br> +His financial genius.<br> +His intense hatred of Napoleon.<br> +His great reforms.<br> +Disgrace of Stein.<br> +Prince Hardenberg.<br> +Baron von Humboldt.<br> +Scharnhorst.<br> +New military organization.<br> +Frederick William III.<br> +German Confederation.<br> +Diet of Frankfort.<br> +Reaction of liberal sentiments.<br> +Influence of Metternich.<br> +Frederick William IV.<br> +Rise of Bismarck.<br> +Early days.<br> +Politician.<br> +His unpopularity.<br> +Diplomatist at the Diet of Frankfort.<br> +Ambassador at St. Petersburg.<br> +Death of Frederick William IV.<br> +Bismarck, Prime Minister.<br> +Increase of the army.<br> +The Schleswig-Holstein Question.<br> +Treaty of Vienna, 1864.<br> +War between Austria and Prussia.<br> +Count von Moltke.<br> +Battle of Sadowa.<br> +Great increase of Prussian territory and population.<br> +New German Constitution.<br> +War clouds--France and Luxembourg.<br> +Conference at London.<br> +King William at Paris.<br> +Preparations and pretext for war with France.<br> +Mobilization of German troops.<br> +King William at Mayence.<br> +Battle of Gravelotte.<br> +Fall of Louis Napoleon at Sedan.<br> +Siege and surrender of Paris.<br> +King William crowned Emperor of Germany.<br> +Labors of Bismarck.<br> +His character.<br> +Quarrel with the Catholics.<br> +Socialism in Germany.<br> +Bismarck's domestic policy.<br> +Bismarck's famous speech, 1888.<br> +Death of Emperor William.<br> +Retirement of Bismarck.<br> +<br> + +<p><i><a href="#WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE.">WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE</a></i>.</p> + +<p>THE ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE PEOPLE.</p> + +Precocity of Gladstone.<br> +Life at Oxford.<br> +Enters Parliament.<br> +Negro Emancipation.<br> +Under-Secretary for the Colonies.<br> +Ultra-Conservative principles.<br> +His eloquence as member of Parliament.<br> +His marriage.<br> +Essay on Church and State.<br> +Parliamentary leader.<br> +Represents Oxford.<br> +Letter on the Government of Naples.<br> +Benjamin Disraeli.<br> +Gladstone Chancellor of the Exchequer.<br> +Opposes the Crimean War.<br> +Great abilities as finance minister.<br> +Conversion to Free Trade.<br> +"Studies on Homer".<br> +His mistake about the American War.<br> +Defeat at Oxford.<br> +Irish Questions.<br> +Rivalry between Gladstone and Disraeli.<br> +Gladstone, Prime Minister.<br> +His great popularity.<br> +Disestablishment of Irish Church.<br> +Irish Land Bill.<br> +Radical army changes.<br> +Settlement of the Alabama claims.<br> +Irish University Bill.<br> +Fall of Gladstone's Ministry.<br> +Influence of Gladstone in retirement.<br> +Disraeli as Prime Minister.<br> +Return of Gladstone to power.<br> +His second administration.<br> +Parliamentary defeat of Gladstone.<br> +The Irish Question.<br> +Death.<br> +<br> + +<p>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p>VOLUME X.</p> + +<a href="Illus0370.jpg">Bismarck at Versailles</a> +<i>After the painting by Carl Wagner</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0371.jpg">William IV., King of England</a> +<i>After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0372.jpg">Sir Robert Peel</a> +<i>From the engraving by Sartain</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0373.jpg">Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield</a> +<i>From a photograph</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0374.jpg">Camillo Benso di Cavour</a> +<i>From a photograph</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0375.jpg">Assassination of the Emperor Paul I. of Russia</a> +<i>After the painting by H. Merté</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0376.jpg">Czar Nicholas I.</a> +<i>After the painting by Horace Vernet</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0377.jpg">Capture of Napoleon III. at Boulogne</a> +<i>After the painting by R. Gutschmidt</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0378.jpg">Louis Napoleon III.</a> +<i>From a photograph</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0379.jpg">Bismarck</a> +<i>After the painting by Franz von Lenbach</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0380.jpg">Count Von Moltke</a> +<i>From a photograph from life</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0381.jpg">Proclamation of King William of Prussia as Emperor of +Germany, at Versailles</a> +<i>After the painting by Anton von Werner</i>.<br> + +<a href="Illus0382.jpg">William Ewart Gladstone</a> +<i>After a photograph from life</i>.<br> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.</h2> + +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_IV."></a>WILLIAM IV.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1765-1837.</p> + +<p>ENGLISH REFORMS.</p> +<br> + +<p>On the death of George IV. in 1830, a new political era dawned on +England. His brother, William IV., who succeeded him, was not his equal +in natural ability, but was more respectable in his character and more +liberal in his views. With William IV. began the undisputed ascendency +of the House of Commons in national affairs. Before his day, no prime +minister could govern against the will of the sovereign. After George +IV., as in France under Louis Philippe, "the king reigned, but did not +govern." The chief of the ascendent political party was the real ruler.</p> + +<p>When William IV. ascended the throne the Tories were still in power, and +were hostile to reform. But the agitations and discontents of the latter +days of George IV. had made the ministry unpopular. Great political +reformers had arisen, like Lords Grey, Althorp, and Russell, and great +orators like Henry Brougham and Macaulay, who demanded a change in the +national policy. The social evils which stared everybody in the face +were a national disgrace; they made the boasted liberty of the English a +mockery. There was an unparalleled distress among the laboring classes, +especially in the mining and manufacturing districts. The price of labor +had diminished, while the price of bread had increased. So wretched was +the condition of the poor that there were constant riots and +insurrections, especially in large towns. In war times unskilled +laborers earned from twelve to fifteen shillings a week, and mechanics +twenty-five shillings; but in the stagnation of business which followed +peace, wages suffered a great reduction, and thousands could find no +work at all. The disbanding of the immense armies that had been +necessary to combat Napoleon threw out of employ perhaps half a million +of men, who became vagabonds, beggars, and paupers. The agricultural +classes did not suffer as much as operatives in mills, since they got a +high price for their grain; but the more remunerative agriculture became +to landlords, the more miserable were those laborers who paid all they +could earn to save themselves from absolute starvation. No foreign grain +could be imported until wheat had arisen to eighty shillings a +"quarter," <a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>--which unjust law tended to the enrichment of +land-owners, and to a corresponding poverty among the laboring classes. +In addition to the high price which the people paid for bread, they were +taxed heavily upon everything imported, upon everything consumed, upon +the necessities and conveniences of life as well as its luxuries,--on +tea, on coffee, on sugar, on paper, on glass, on horses, on carriages, +on medicines,--since money had to be raised to pay the interest on the +national debt and to provide for the support of the government, +including pensions, sinecures, and general extravagance.</p> + +<a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> A quarter of a gross ton. + +<p>In the poverty which enormous taxes and low wages together produced, +there were not only degradation and squalid misery in England at this +time, but violence and crime. And there was also great injustice in the +laws which punished crime. There were two hundred and twenty-three +offences punishable with death. If a starving peasant killed a hare, he +was summarily hanged. Catholics were persecuted for their opinions; Jews +were disqualified from holding office. Only men of comfortable means +were allowed to vote. The universities were closed against Dissenters. +No man stood any chance of political preferment unless he was rich or +was allied with the aristocracy, who controlled the House of Commons. +The nobles and squires not merely owned most of the landed property of +the realm, but by their "rotten boroughs" could send whom they pleased +to Parliament. In consequence the House of Commons did not represent the +nation, but only the privileged classes. It was as aristocratic as the +House of Lords.</p> + +<p>In the period of repose which succeeded the excitements of war the +people began to see their own political insignificance, and to agitate +for reforms. A few noble-minded and able statesmen of the more liberal +party, if any political party could be called liberal, lifted up their +voices in Parliament for a redress of scandalous evils; but the +eloquence which distinguished them was a mere protest. They were in a +hopeless minority; nothing could be done to remove or ameliorate public +evils so long as the majority of the House of Commons were opposed to +reform. It is obvious that the only thing the reformers could do, +whether in or out of Parliament, was to agitate, to discuss, to hold +public meetings, to write political tracts, to change public opinion, to +bring such a pressure to bear on political aspirants as to insure an +election of members to the House of Commons who were favorable to +reform. For seven years this agitation had been going on during the +later years of the reign of George IV. It was seen and felt by everybody +that glaring public evils could not be removed until there should be a +reform in Parliament itself,--which meant an extension of the electoral +suffrage, by which more liberal and popular members might be elected.</p> + +<p>On the accession of the new king, there was of course a new election of +members to the House of Commons. In consequence of the agitations of +reformers, public opinion had been changed, and a set of men were +returned to Parliament pledged to reform. The old Tory chieftains no +longer controlled the House of Commons, but Whig leaders like Brougham, +Macaulay, Althorp, and Lord John Russell,--men elected on the issue of +reform, and identified with the agitations in its favor.</p> + +<p>The old Tory ministers who had ruled the country for fifty years went +out of office, and the Whigs came into power under the premiership of +Lord Grey. Although he was pledged to parliamentary reform, his cabinet +was composed entirely of noblemen, with only one exception. There was no +greater aristocrat in all England than this leader of reform,--a cold, +reticent, proud man. Lord Russell was also an aristocrat, being a +brother of the Duke of Bedford; so was Althorp, the son and heir of Earl +Spencer. The only man in the new cabinet of fearless liberality of +views, the idol of the people, a man of real genius and power, was +Brougham; but after he was made Lord Chancellor, the presiding officer +of the Chamber of Peers, he could no longer be relied upon as the +mouthpiece of the people, as he had been for years in the House of +Commons. It would almost seem that the new ministry thought more and +cared more for the dominion of the Whigs than they did for a redress of +the evils under which the nation groaned. But the Whigs were pledged to +parliamentary reform, and therefore were returned to Parliament. More at +least was expected of them by the middle classes, who formed the +electoral body, than of the Tories, who were hostile to all +reforms,--men like Wellington and Eldon, both political bigots, +great as were their talents and services. In politics the Tories +resembled the extreme Right in the French Chamber of Deputies,--the +ultra-conservatives, who sustained the throne of Charles X. The Whigs +bore more resemblance to the Centre of the Chamber of Deputies, led by +such men as Guizot, Broglie, and Thiers, favorable to a constitutional +monarchy, but by no means radicals and democrats like Louis Blanc, Ledru +Rollin, and Lamartine. The Whigs, at the best, were as yet inclined only +to such measures as would appease popular tumults, create an intelligent +support to the throne, and favor <i>necessary</i> reform. It was, with them, +a choice between revolution and a fairer representation of the nation in +Parliament. It may be reasonably doubted whether there were a dozen men +in the House of Commons that assembled at the beginning of the reign of +William IV. who were democrats, or even men of popular sympathies. What +the majority conceded was from fear, rather than from a sense of +justice. The great Whig leaders of the reform movement probably did not +fully foresee the logical consequences of the Reform Bill which was +introduced, and the change which on its enactment would take place in +the English Constitution.</p> + +<p>Even as it was, the struggle was tremendous. It was an epoch in English +history. The question absorbed all other interests and filled all men's +minds. It was whether the House of Commons should represent the +privileged and well-to-do middle classes or the nation,--at least a +larger part of the nation; not the people generally, but those who ought +to be represented,--those who paid considerable taxes to support the +government; large towns, as well as obscure hamlets owned by the +aristocracy. The popular agitation was so violent that experienced +statesmen feared a revolution which would endanger the throne itself. +Hence Lord Grey and his associates determined to carry the Reform Bill +at any cost, whatever might be the opposition, as the only thing to be +done if the nation would escape the perils of revolution.</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell was selected by the government to introduce the bill +into the House of Commons. He was not regarded as the ablest of the Whig +statesmen who had promised reform. His person was not commanding, and +his voice was thin and feeble; but he was influential among the +aristocracy as being a brother of the Duke of Bedford, head of a most +illustrious house, and he had no enemies among the popular elements. +Russell had not the eloquence and power and learning of Brougham; but he +had great weight of character, tact, moderation, and parliamentary +experience. The great hero of reform, Henry Brougham, was, as we have +said, no longer in the House of Commons; but even had he been there he +was too impetuous, uncertain, and eccentric to be trusted with the +management of the bill. Knowing this, his party had elevated him to the +woolsack. He would have preferred the office of the Master of the Rolls, +a permanent judicial dignity, with a seat in the House of Commons; but +to this the king would not consent. Indeed, it was the king himself who +suggested the lord chancellorship for Brougham.</p> + +<p>Lord Russell was, then, the most prominent advocate of the bill which +marked the administration of Lord Grey. It was a great occasion, March +1, 1831, when he unfolded his plan of reform to a full and anxious +assembly of aristocratic legislators. There was scarcely an unoccupied +seat in the House. At six o'clock he arose, and in a low and humble +manner invoked reason and justice in behalf of an enlarged +representation. He proposed to give the right of franchise to all +householders who paid £10 a year in rates, and who qualified to serve on +juries. He also proposed to disfranchise the numerous "rotten +boroughs" which were in the gift of noblemen and great landed +proprietors,--boroughs which had an insignificant number of voters; by +which measure one hundred and sixty-eight parliamentary vacancies would +occur. These vacancies were to be partially filled by sending two +members each from seven large towns, and one member each from twenty +smaller towns which were not represented in Parliament. Lord Russell +further proposed to send two members each from four districts of the +metropolis, which had a large population, and two additional members +each from twenty-six counties; these together would add ninety-four +members from towns and counties which had a large population. To obviate +the great expenses to which candidates were exposed in bringing voters +to the polls (amounting to £150,000 in Yorkshire alone), the bill +provided that the poll should be taken in different districts, and +should be closed in two days in the towns, and in three days in the +counties. The general result of the bill would be to increase the number +of electors five hundred thousand,--making nine hundred thousand in all. +We see how far this was from universal suffrage, giving less than a +million of voters in a population of twenty-five millions. Yet even so +moderate and reasonable an enlargement of the franchise created +astonishment, and was regarded by the opponents as subversive of the +British Constitution; and not without reason, since it threw political +power into the hands of the middle classes instead of into those of the +aristocracy.</p> + +<p>Lord Russell's motion was, of course, bitterly opposed by the Tories. +The first man who arose to speak against it was Sir H. Inglis, member of +the university of Oxford,--a fine classical scholar, an accomplished +gentleman, and an honest man. He maintained that the proposed alteration +in the representation of the country was nothing less than revolution. +He eulogized the system of rotten boroughs, since it favored the return +to Parliament of young men of great abilities, who without the patronage +of nobles would fail in popular elections; and he cited the cases of +Pitt, Fox, Burke, Canning, Perceval, and others who represented Appleby, +Old Sarum, Wendover, and other places almost without inhabitants. Sir +Charles Wetherell, Mr. Croker, and Sir Robert Peel, substantially took +the same view; Lord Althorp, Mr. Hume, O'Connell, and others supported +the government. Amid intense excitement, for everybody saw the momentous +issues at stake, leave was at length granted to Lord John Russell to +bring in his bill. No less than seventy-one persons in the course of +seven nights spoke for or against the measure. The Press, headed by the +"Times," rendered great assistance to the reform cause, while public +meetings were everywhere held and petitions sent to Parliament in favor +of the measure. The voice of the nation spoke in earnest and +decided tones.</p> + +<p>On the 21st of March, 1831, Lord John Russell moved the second reading +of the bill; but the majority for it was so small that ministers were +compelled to make modifications. After a stormy debate there was a +majority of seventy-eight against the government. The ministers, +undaunted, at once induced the king to dissolve Parliament, and an +appeal was made to the nation. A general election followed, which sent +up an overwhelming majority of Liberal members, while many of the +leading members of the last Parliament lost their places. On the 21st of +June the new Parliament was opened by the king in person. He was +received with the wildest enthusiasm by the populace, as he proceeded in +state to the House of Lords in his gilded carriage, drawn by eight +cream-colored horses. On the 24th of June Lord John Russell again +introduced his bill, this time in a bold, manly, and decisive manner, in +striking contrast with the almost suppliant tone which he assumed +before. On the 4th of July the question of the second reading was +brought forward. The discussion was carried on for three nights, and on +division the great majority of one hundred and thirty-six was with the +government. The only hope of the opposition was now in delay; and +factious divisions were made on every point possible as the bill went +through the committee. The opposition was most vexatious. Praed made +twenty-two speeches against the bill, Sugden eighteen, Pelham +twenty-eight, Peel forty-eight, Croker fifty-seven, and Wetherell +fifty-eight. Of course the greater part of these speeches were +inexpressibly wearisome, and ministers were condemned to sit and listen +to the stale arguments, which were all that the opposition could make. +Never before in a legislative body was there such an amount of quibbling +and higgling, and "speaking against time;" and it was not till September +19 that the third reading came on, the obstructions in committee having +been so formidable and annoying. On the 22d of September the bill +finally passed in the House of Commons by a majority of one hundred and +six, after three months of stormy debate.</p> + +<p>But the parliamentary battles were only partially fought; victory in the +end was certain, but was not yet obtained. It was necessary that the +bill should pass the House of Lords, where the opposition was +overwhelming.</p> + +<p>On the very evening of September 22 the bill was carried to the Lords, +and Lords Althorp and Russell, with one hundred other members of the +Commons, entered the Upper House with their message. The Lord Chancellor +Brougham advanced to the bar with the usual formalities, and received +the bill from the hands of Lord John Russell. He then resumed his seat +on the woolsack, and communicated to the assembled peers the nature of +the message. Earl Grey moved that the bill be read a first time, and the +time was agreed to. On the 3d of October the premier addressed the House +in support of the bill,--a measure which he had taken up in his youth, +not so much from sympathy with the people as from conviction of its +imperative necessity. There was great majesty in the manner of the +patrician minister as he addressed his peers; his eye sparkled with +intelligence, and his noble brow betokened resolution and firmness, +while his voice quivered with emotion. Less rhetorical than his great +colleague the Lord Chancellor, his speech riveted attention. For +forty-five years the aged peer had advocated parliamentary reform, and +his voice had been heard in unison with that of Fox before the French +Revolution had broken out. Lord Wharncliffe, one of the most moderate +and candid of his opponents, followed. Lord Melbourne, courteous and +inoffensive, supported the bill, because, as he said, he dreaded the +consequences of a refusal of concession to the demands of the people, +rather than because he loved reform, which he had previously opposed. +The Duke of Wellington of course uttered his warning protest, and was +listened to more from his fame as a warrior than from his merits as a +speaker. Lord Brougham delivered one of the most masterly of his great +efforts in favor of reform, and was answered by Lord Lyndhurst in a +speech scarcely inferior in mental force. The latter maintained that if +the bill became a law the Constitution would be swept away, and even a +republic be established on its ruins. Lord Tenterden, another great +lawyer, took the side of Lord Lyndhurst, followed in the same strain by +Dr. Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury. On a division, there was a +majority of forty-one peers against the bill.</p> + +<p>The news spread with rapidity to every corner of the land that the Lords +had defeated the reform for which the nation clamored. Never in England +was there greater excitement. The abolition of the House of Lords was +everywhere discussed, and in many places angrily demanded. People could +do nothing but talk about the bill, and politics threw all business into +the shade. An imprudent speech from an influential popular leader might +have precipitated the revolution which the anti-reformers so greatly +dreaded. The disappointed people for the most part, however, restrained +their wrath, and contented themselves with closing their shops and +muffling their church bells. The bishops especially became objects of +popular detestation. The Duke of Newcastle and the Marquis of +Londonderry, being peculiarly obnoxious, were personally assailed by a +mob of incensed agitators. The Duke of Cumberland, brother of the king, +was dragged from his horse, while the mob demolished the windows of the +palace which the nation had given to the Duke of Wellington. Throughout +the country in all the large towns there were mobs and angry meetings +and serious disturbances. At Birmingham a rude and indignant meeting of +one hundred and fifty thousand people vented their wrath against those +who opposed their enfranchisement. The most alarming of the riots took +place in Bristol, of which Sir Charles Wetherell was the recorder, and +he barely escaped being murdered by the mob, who burned most of the +principal public buildings. The example of Bristol was followed in other +towns, and the whole country was in a state of alarm.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these commotions Parliament was prorogued. But the +passage of the bill became more than ever an obvious necessity in order +to save the country from violence; and on December 12 Lord John Russell +brought forward his third Reform Bill, which, substantially like the +first, passed its second reading January 17, 1832, by the increased +majority of one hundred and sixty-two. When considered in committee the +old game of obstruction and procrastination was played by the +opposition; but in spite of it, the bill finally passed the House on the +23d of March.</p> + +<p>The question which everybody now asked was, What will the Lords do? It +was certain that they would throw out the bill, as they did before, +unless extraordinary measures were taken by the government. The creation +of new peers, enough to carry the bill, was determined upon if +necessary, although regretted by Lord Grey. To this radical measure +there was great opposition on the part of the king, although he had thus +far given the bill his support; but the reformers insisted upon it, if +reform could not be accomplished in any other way. To use a vulgar +expression, Lord Brougham fairly "bulldozed" his sovereign, and the king +never forgave him. His assent was at last most reluctantly given; but +the peers, dreading the great accession to their ranks of sixty or +severity Liberal noblemen, concluded to give way, led by the Duke of +Wellington, and the bill passed the House of Lords on the 4th of June.</p> + +<p>The Reform Bill of 1832 was the protest of the middle classes against +evils which had been endured for centuries,--a protest to which the +aristocracy was compelled to listen. Amid terrible animosities and +fearful agitations, reaching to the extremities of the kingdom, the bill +was finally passed by the Liberal members, who set aside all other +matters, and acted with great unanimity and resolution.</p> + +<p>As noted above, during this exciting parliamentary contest the great +figure of Henry Brougham had disappeared from the House of Commons; but +more than any other man, he had prepared the way for those reforms which +the nation had so clamorously demanded, and which in part they had now +achieved. From 1820 to 1831 he had incessantly labored in the lower +House, and but little was done without his aid. It would have been +better for his fame had he remained a commoner. He was great not only as +a parliamentary orator, but as a lawyer. His labors were prodigious. +Altogether, at this period he was the most prominent man in England, the +most popular among the friends of reform, and the most hated by his +political enemies,--a fierce, overbearing man, with great talent for +invective and sarcasm, eccentric, versatile, with varied rather than +profound learning. When Lord Melbourne succeeded Lord Grey as premier, +Brougham was left out of the cabinet, being found to be irascible, +mischievous, and unpractical; he retired, an embittered man, to private +life, but not to idleness, He continued to write popular and scientific +essays, articles for reviews, and biographical sketches, taking an +interest in educational movements, and in all questions of the day. He +was always a lion in society, and, next to Sir Walter Scott, was the +object of greatest curiosity to American travellers. Although great as +statesman, orator, lawyer, and judge, his posthumous influence is small +compared with that which he wielded in his lifetime,--which, indeed, may +be said of most statesmen, the most noted exception to the rule being +Lord Bacon.</p> + +<p>With Brougham in the upper House, Lord John Russell had become the most +prominent man in the lower; but being comparatively a poor man, he was +contented to be only paymaster of the forces,--the most lucrative office +in the government. His successful conduct of the great Reform Bill gave +him considerable prestige. In the second ministry of Lord Melbourne, +1834-1841, Lord Russell was at first colonial and afterward home +secretary. Whatever the post he filled, he filled it with credit, and +had the confidence of the country; for he was honest, liberal, and +sensible. He was not, however, an orator, although he subsequently +became a great debater. I have often heard him speak, both in and out of +Parliament; but I was never much impressed, or even interested. He had +that hesitating utterance so common with aristocratic speakers, both +clerical and lay, and which I believe is often assumed. In short, he +had no magnetism, without which no public speaker can interest an +ordinary audience; but he had intelligence, understood the temper of the +House, and belonged to a great historical family, which gave him +parliamentary influence. He represented the interests of the wealthy +middle classes,--liberal as a nobleman, but without any striking +sympathy with the people. After the passage of the Reform Bill, he was +unwilling to go to any great lengths in further reforms, and therefore +was unpopular with the radicals, although his spirit was progressive. It +was his persistent advocacy of parliamentary reform which had made him +prominent and famous, and it was his ability as a debater which kept him +at the head of his party. Historians speak of him without enthusiasm, +but with great respect. The notable orators of that day were O'Connell +and Brougham. As a platform speaker, probably no one ever surpassed the +Irish leader.</p> + +<p>After the passage of the Reform Bill, the first thing of importance to +which the reform Parliament turned its attention was the condition of +Ireland. The crimes committed in that unfortunate country called loudly +for coercive measures on the part of the government. The murders, the +incendiary fires, the burglaries and felonious assaults, were +unprecedented in number and atrocity. The laws which had been passed for +the protection of life and property had become a dead letter in some of +the most populous districts. Jurors were afraid to attend the assizes, +and the nearest relatives of the victims dared not institute +proceedings; even magistrates were deterred from doing their duty. In +fact, crime went unpunished, and the country was rapidly sinking into +semi-barbarism. In the single year of 1832 there were two hundred and +forty-two homicides, eleven hundred and seventy-nine robberies, four +hundred and one burglaries, five hundred and sixty-eight house-burnings, +one hundred and sixty-one serious assaults, two hundred and three riots, +besides other crimes,--altogether to the number of over nine thousand. A +bill was accordingly brought into the Upper House by Lord Grey to give +to the lord-lieutenant power to substitute courts-martial for the +ordinary courts of justice, to enter houses for the purpose of searching +for arms, and to suspend the act of <i>habeas corpus</i> in certain +districts. The bill passed the Lords without difficulty, but encountered +severe opposition in the House of Commons from the radical members and +from O'Connell and his followers. Nevertheless it passed, with some +alterations, and was at once put in force in the county of Kilkenny, +with satisfactory results. The diminution of crime was most marked; and +as the excuse for disturbances arose chiefly from the compulsory tithes +which the Catholic population were obliged to pay in support of the +Protestant Church, the ministry wisely attempted to alleviate the +grievance. It was doubtless a great injustice for Catholics to be +compelled to support the Established Church of England; but the ministry +were not prepared to go to the length which the radicals and the Irish +members demanded,--the complete suppression of the tithe system; in +other words, "the disestablishment of the Irish Church." They were +willing to sacrifice a portion of the tithes, to reduce the number of +bishops, and to apply some of the ecclesiastical property to secular +purposes. But even this concession called out a fierce outcry from the +conservatives, in and out of Parliament. A most formidable opposition +came from the House of Lords, headed by Lord Eldon; but the ministers +were at last permitted to carry out their measure.</p> + +<p>Nothing satisfactory, however, was accomplished in reference to the +collection of tithes, in spite of the concession of the ministers. The +old difficulty remained. Tithes could not be collected except at the +point of the bayonet, which of course was followed by crimes and +disturbances that government could not prevent. In 1833 the arrears of +tithes amounted to over a million of pounds, and the Protestant clergy +were seriously distressed. The cost of collecting tithes was enormous, +from the large coercive force which the government was obliged to +maintain. When the pay of soldiers and policemen is considered, it took +£25,000 to collect £12,000. The collection of tithes became an +impossibility without a war of extermination. Every expedient failed. +Even the cabinet was divided on all the schemes proposed; for every +member of it was determined to uphold the Established Church, in some +form or other.</p> + +<p>At last Mr. Ward, member for St. Albans, in 1834 brought forward in the +Commons a measure which had both reason and justice to commend it. After +showing that the collection of tithes was the real cause of Irish +discontents, that only a fourteenth of the population of Ireland were in +communion with the English Church, that nearly half of the clergy were +non-residents, and that there was a glaring inequality in the salaries +of clergymen,--so that some rectors received from £500 to £1,000 in +parishes where there were only ten or twelve Protestants, while some of +the resident clergy did duty for less than £20 per annum,--he moved the +following: "Resolved, that as the Protestant Episcopal Establishment of +Ireland exceeds the spiritual wants of the Protestant population, it is +the opinion of the House that the temporal possessions of the Church of +Ireland ought to be reduced." The motion was seconded by Mr. Grote, the +celebrated historian; but Lord Althorp rose and requested the House to +adjourn, in consequence of circumstances he was not prepared to mention. +All understood that there was trouble in the cabinet itself; and when +the House reassembled, it was found that the Duke of Richmond, Earl +Ripon, Lord Stanley (colonial secretary), and Sir James Graham, being +opposed to the appropriation of the funds of the Irish Church to other +than ecclesiastical purposes, had resigned. The king himself was +strongly opposed to the motion, to say nothing of the peers; and the +conservative part of the nation, from the long-inherited jealousy of the +Catholic Church, stood upon the same ground.</p> + +<p>While ministers were tinkering on the affairs of Ireland, without lofty +purpose or sense of justice or enlightened reason even, the gigantic +figure of O'Connell appeared in striking contrast with the statesmen who +opposed him and tried in vain to intimidate him. The great agitator had +made his power felt long before the stormy debates in favor of reform +took place, which called out the energies of Brougham,--the only man in +England to be compared with O'Connell in genius, in eloquence, in +intellect, and in wrath, but inferior to him in the power of moving the +passions of an audience, yet again vastly superior to him in learning. +While Brougham was thundering in the senate in behalf of reform,--the +most influential and the most feared of all its members, without whose +aid nothing could be done,--O'Connell was haranguing the whole Catholic +population of Ireland in favor of a repeal of the Union, looking upon +the evils which ground down his countrymen as beyond a remedy under the +English government. He also made his voice ring with startling vehemence +in the English Parliament, as soon as the Catholic Emancipation bill +enabled him to enter it as the member from Clare, always advocating +justice and humanity, whatever the subject under consideration might be. +So long as O'Connell was "king of Ireland," as William IV declared him +to be, nothing could be done by English ministers on Irish matters. His +agitations were tremendous, and yet he kept within the laws. His mission +was to point out evils rather than to remove them. No man living was +capable of pointing out the remedy. On all Irish questions the wisdom +and experience of English statesmen were in vain. Yet amid the storms +which beat over the unhappy island, the voice of the great pilot was +louder than the tempests, which he seems to control as if by magic. Mr. +Gladstone, in one of his later contributions to literature, has done +justice to the motives and the genius of a man whom he regards as the +greatest that Ireland has ever produced, if Burke may be excepted, yet a +man whom he bitterly opposed in his parliamentary career. Faithful alike +to the interests of his church and his country, O'Connell will ever be +ranked among the most imposing names of history, although he failed in +the cause to which he consecrated his talents, his fortune, his +energies, and his fame. Long and illustrious is the list of reformers +who have been unsuccessful; and Mr. O'Connell must be classed with +these. Yet was he one who did not live in vain.</p> + +<p>Incapable of effectively dealing with the problem, the government +temporized and resolved to stave off the difficulty. A commission was +appointed to visit every parish in Ireland and report the state of +affairs to Parliament, when everybody already knew what this state +was,--one of glaring inequality and injustice, exceedingly galling to +the Catholic population. Nor was this the only Irish Church question +that endangered the stability of the ministry. Tithe bill after tithe +bill had been passed, and all alike had failed. Mr. Ward had argued for +the entire abolition of the tithe system, from the expense and +difficulty of collecting tithes, leaving the clergy to be supported by +the crown. A new tithe bill was, however, introduced, by which the +clergy should accept something short of what they were entitled to by +law. Not only was the tithing system an apparently inextricable tangle, +but there was trouble about the renewal of the Coercion Act. Lord Grey, +wearied with political life, resigned the premiership, and Lord +Melbourne succeeded him,--a statesman who cared next to nothing for +reform; not an incapable man, but lazy, genial, and easy, whose +watchword was, "Can't you let it alone?" But he did not long retain +office, the king being dissatisfied with his ministers; and Sir Robert +Peel, being then at Rome, was sent for to head the new administration in +July, 1834. It may be here remarked that Mr. Gladstone first took office +under this government. Parliament, of course, was dissolved, and a new +election took place. The Whigs lost thereby much of their power, but +still were a majority in the House, and the new Tory government found +that the Irish difficulties were a very hard nut to crack.</p> + +<p>The new Parliament met Feb. 15, 1835; and as the new government came +into power by defeating the Whigs on the subject of the Irish Church, it +was bound to offer some remedy for the trouble which existed. +Accordingly, Lord Morpeth, the eldest son of the Earl of Carlisle, and +closely allied with the Duke of Sutherland and other great +families,--agreeable, kindly, and winning in his manners, and of very +respectable abilities,--on June 26 introduced his Tithe Bill, by which +he proposed to convert the tithe itself into a rent-charge, reducing it +to a lower amount than the late Whig government had done. His bill, +however, came to nothing, since any appropriation clearly dealing with +surplus revenues failed to satisfy the Lords.</p> + +<p>Before anything could be done with Ireland, the Peel ministry was +dissolved, and the Whigs returned to power, April 18, 1835, with Lord +Melbourne again as prime minister. But the Irish difficulties remained +the same, the conservatives refusing to agree to any bill which dealt +with any part of the revenues of the State church; and the question was +not finally settled for Ireland till after it was settled in England.</p> + +<p>Thus the reformed Parliament failed in its attempt to remove the +difficulties which attended Irish legislation. It failed from the +obstinacy of the conservatives, among Whigs as well as Tories, to render +justice in the matter of rates and tithes,--the great cause of Irish +discontent and violence at that time. It will be seen that new +complications arose with every successive Parliament from that time to +this, landlords finding it as difficult to collect their rents as the +clergy did their tithes. And these difficulties appear to be as great +to-day as they were fifty years ago. It still remains to be seen how +Ireland can be satisfactorily governed by any English ministry likely to +be formed. On that rock government after government, both liberal and +conservative, has been wrecked, and probably will continue to be wrecked +long after the present generation has passed away, until the English +nation itself learns to take a larger view, and seeks justice rather +than the conservation of vested interests.</p> + +<p>But if the reformed Parliament failed to restore order in Ireland, and +to render that justice which should have followed the liberal principles +it invoked, yet in matters strictly English great progress was made in +the removal of crying evils.</p> + +<p>Among these was the abolition of slavery in the British West India +Islands, which as early as 1833 occupied the attention of the House, +even before the discussion on Irish affairs. The slave-trade had been +suppressed long before this, through the untiring labors and zeal of +Wilberforce, Zachary Macaulay (father of the historian), and other +philanthropists. But the evils of slavery still existed,--cruelty and +oppression on the part of slave-owners, and hardships and suffering on +the part of slaves. Half-caste women were bought and sold, and flogged +and branded. As early as 1823 Fowell Buxton, then in Parliament, +furnished with facts by Zachary Macaulay, who had been manager of a West +India estate, brought in a motion for the abolition of slavery. Canning +was then the leading member of the House of Commons; although he did not +go so far as Buxton, still he did something to remedy the evils of the +system, and was supported by Brougham, Mackintosh, and Lushington,--so +that the flogging of women was abolished, and married slaves were not +separated from their children. In 1830, Henry Brougham introduced a +motion for the total abolition of slavery in the British colonies, and +thrilled the House by his eloquence and passion; but his motion was +defeated. When the new reform Parliament met in 1831, more pressing +questions occupied its attention; but at length, in 1833, Buxton made a +forcible appeal to ministers to sweep away the greatest scandal of the +age. He was supported by Lord Stanley, then colonial secretary, who +eloquently defended the cause of liberty and humanity; and he moved that +effectual measures be at once taken to abolish slavery altogether, with +some modifications. Thomas Babington Macaulay, who had entered +Parliament in 1830, also brought all his eloquence to bear in behalf of +the cause; and the upshot of the discussion was that Parliament set free +the slaves, and their masters received twenty millions of pounds as a +compensation. Thus the long agitation of fifty years pertaining to negro +emancipation in the British dominions was closed forever. The heart of +England was profoundly moved by this act of blended justice, humanity, +and generosity, which has been quoted with pride by every Englishman +from that time to this. Possibly a similar national assumption of the +vast expense of recompensing English owners of Irish lands may at some +time relieve Ireland of alien landlordism and England of her +greatest reproach.</p> + +<p>The condition of Hindostan next received the attention of Parliament; +and on the renewal of the charter of the East India Company, in 1833, +its commercial monopoly was abolished, and trade with the East was +thrown open to the merchants of all the world. The political +jurisdiction of the Company was, however, retained.</p> + +<p>The new Parliament then turned its attention to a reduction of taxes. +The duty on tiles was repealed; also the two-shilling stamp duty on +advertisements, together with the vexatious duty on soap. Dramatic +copyrights also received protection, and an improvement in the judicial +administration was effected. Sinecure offices were abolished in the +Court of Chancery, and the laws of dower and inheritance were amended.</p> + +<p>The members most active in these reforms were Lord Althorp, Daniel +O'Connell, Joseph Hume, and William Cobbett. Lord Althorp, afterward +Earl Spencer, made not less than one thousand speeches, and O'Connell +six hundred, in support of these reforms,--all tending to a decrease +in taxation, made feasible by the great increase of wealth and the +abolition of useless offices.</p> + +<p>The Trade Unions (a combination of operatives to secure improvement in +their condition) marked the year 1834, besides legislative enactments to +reduce taxation. Before 1824 it was illegal for workmen to combine, even +in the most peaceable manner, for the purpose of obtaining an increase +of wages. This injustice was removed the following year, and strikes +became numerous among the different working-classes, but were generally +easily suppressed by the capitalists, who were becoming a great power +with the return to national prosperity. For fifty years the vexed social +problem of "strikes" has been discussed, but is not yet solved, giving +intense solicitude to capitalists and corporations, and equal hope to +operatives. The year 1834, then, showed the commencement of the great +war between capital and labor which is so damaging to all business +operations, and the ultimate issue of which cannot be predicted with +certainty,--but which will probably lead to a great amelioration of the +condition of the working-classes and the curtailment of the incomes of +rich men, especially those engaged in trade and manufactures. There will +always be, without doubt, disproportionate fortunes, and capitalists can +combine as well as laborers; but if the strikes which are multiplying +year by year in all the countries of Europe and the United States should +end in a great increase of wages, so as to make workmen comfortable (for +they will never be contented), the movement will prove beneficent. +Already far more has been accomplished for the relief of the poor by a +combination of laborers against hard-hearted employers than by any +legislative enactments; but when will the contest between capital and +labor cease? Is it pessimism to say that it is likely to become more +and more desperate?</p> + +<p>The "Poor Law Amendment" was passed July, 1834, during the +administration of Lord Melbourne,--Lord Grey having resigned, from the +infirmities of age and the difficulties of carrying on the government. +He had held office nearly four years, which exceeded the term of his +predecessor the Duke of Wellington; and only four premiers have held +office for a longer period since 1754. The Poor Law Amendment, supported +by all political parties, was passed in view of the burdensome amount of +poor rates and the superior condition of the pauper to that of many an +independent laborer.</p> + +<p>The ill management of the beer-houses led to another act in 1834, +requiring a license to sell beer, which was granted only to persons who +could produce a certificate of good character from six respectable +inhabitants of a parish.</p> + +<p>The session of Parliament in 1834 was further marked by a repeal of the +house tax, by grants for building schoolhouses, by the abolition of +sinecure offices in the House of Commons, and by giving new facilities +for the circulation of foreign newspapers through the mails. There was +little or no opposition to reforms which did not interfere with landed +interests and the affairs of Ireland. Even Sir Robert Peel, in his +short administration, was not unfriendly to extending privileges to +Dissenters, nor to judicial, municipal, and economical reform generally.</p> + +<p>The most important of the measures brought forward by Whig ministers +under Lord Melbourne was the reform of municipal corporations. For two +hundred years the abuses connected with these corporations had been +subjects of complaint, but could not easily be remedied, in consequence +of the perversion of municipal institutions to political ends. The venal +boroughs, which both Whig and Tory magnates controlled, were the chief +seats of abuses and scandals. When these boroughs were disfranchised by +the Reform Bill, a way was opened for the local government of a town by +its permanent residents, instead of the appointment of magistrates by a +board which perpetuated itself, and which was controlled by the owners +of boroughs in the interests of the aristocracy. In consequence of the +passing of the municipal reform act, through the powerful advocacy of +Lord John Russell, the government of the town passed to its own +citizens, and became more or less democratic, not materially differing +from the government of cities in the United States. Under able popular +leaders, the towns not only became a new political power in Parliament, +but enjoyed the privilege of electing their own magistrates and +regulating their domestic affairs,--such as the police, schools, the +lighting of streets, and public improvements generally.</p> + +<p>Besides this important act, some other salutary measures for the general +good were carried by parliamentary leaders,--such as enlarging the +copyrights of authors, lecturers, and dramatists; abolishing +imprisonment for debt for small sums; amending the highway and the +marriage laws; enforcing uniformity in weights and measures, regulating +prison discipline, and commuting death punishment for many crimes. These +reforms, having but little reference to partisan politics, received the +approbation of both Whigs and Tories. Most of the important bills which +passed the Parliament from the accession of William IV., however, were +directly or indirectly the result of the Reform Bill of 1832, which had +enlarged the representation of the people.</p> + +<p>William IV. died in January, 1837, after a short but prosperous reign of +seven years, much lamented by the nation. He was a frank, patriotic, and +unconventional king, who accepted the reforms which made his reign an +epoch. At his death there were more distinguished men in all departments +of politics, literature, science, and art in Great Britain than at any +previous period, and the condition of the people was more ameliorated +than had been known since the Reformation. A great series of reforms had +been peaceably effected without revolution; the kingdom was unusually +prosperous; so that Queen Victoria, William's niece, the daughter of his +brother the Duke of Kent (whose previous death had made Victoria +heir-apparent to the throne), entered upon her illustrious reign under +hopeful auspices, June 21, 1837. The reform spirit had passed through no +reactions, and all measures which were beneficent in their tendency were +favorably considered.</p> + +<p>In 1837 Mr. Rowland Hill proposed the startling suggestion that all +existing rates of postage should be abolished, and the penny postage +substituted for all parts of the kingdom, irrespective of distance. This +was not at first accepted by the government or post-office officials; +but its desirableness was so apparent that Parliament yielded to the +popular voice and it became a law, with increased gain ultimately to the +national finances, to say nothing of its immense influence in increasing +knowledge. The old postage law had proved oppressive to all classes +except members of Parliament, who had the franking privilege, which the +new law abolished. Under the old system, the average of letters mailed +was annually only four to each person. In 1875 it was thirty-three, and +the net revenue to the nation was nearly two million pounds sterling.</p> + +<p>Another great reform was effected in the early part of the reign of +Victoria,--that of the criminal code, effected chiefly through the +persevering eloquence of Sir James Mackintosh; although Sir Samuel +Romilly, an eminent and benevolent barrister, as early as 1808, had +labored for the same end. But thirty years had made a great change of +opinion in reference to the punishment of crime, which was cruelly +severe. Capital offences numbered at the beginning of the century nearly +two hundred and fifty, some of which were almost venial; but in 1837 +only seven crimes were punishable with death, and the accused were +allowed benefit of counsel. Before this, the culprit could be condemned +without a hearing,--a gross violation of justice, which did not exist +even under the imperial despotism of the Caesars.</p> + +<p>Such were the most important measures passed by the reformed Parliament +during the ten years' administration of the Whigs, most of which were +the logical results of the Reform Bill of 1832, which made the reign of +William IV. the most memorable in the domestic history of England since +the great Revolution which hurled the Stuarts from their throne. But the +country was not satisfied with these beneficent reforms. A great +agitation had already begun, under the leadership of Cobden and Bright, +for a repeal of the Corn Laws. The half measures of the Liberal +government displeased all parties, and the annual deficit had made it +unpopular. After vainly struggling against the tide of discontent, the +Melbourne ministry was compelled to resign, and in 1841 began the second +ministry of Sir Robert Peel, which gave power to the Tories for five or +six years. Lord Lyndhurst returned to his seat on the woolsack, Mr. +Goulburn was appointed chancellor of the exchequer, Sir James Graham +became home secretary, Lord Aberdeen took the foreign department, and +Lord Stanley the colonial office. Into this cabinet Mr. Gladstone +entered as president of the board of trade, on the retirement of +Earl Ripon.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Wellington also had a seat in the cabinet, but held no +office, his age and infirmities preventing him from active duties. He +was "the grand old man" of his generation, and had received unparalleled +honors, chiefly for his military services,--the greatest general whom +England has produced, if we except Marlborough. Although his fame rests +on his victories in a great national crisis, he was also an able +statesman,--sensible, practical, patriotic; a man of prejudices, yet not +without tact; of inflexible will, yet yielding to overpowering +necessities, and accepting political defeat as he did the loss of a +battle, gracefully and magnanimously. If he had not, however, been a +popular idol for his military exploits, he would have been detested by +the people; for no one in England was more aristocratic in his +sympathies than he, no one was fonder of honors and fashionable +distinctions, no one had a more genuine contempt for whatever was +plebeian and democratic.</p> + +<p>In coming lectures,--on Sir Robert Peel, Gladstone, etc.,--we shall find +occasion to trace the course of Victoria's beneficent reign over Great +Britain, beginning (as it did) after the abuses and distresses +culminating under George IV. had been largely relieved during the +memorable reform epoch under William IV.</p> + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>Miss Martineau's History of England; Molesworth's History of England; +Mackenzie's History of the Nineteenth Century, Alison's History of +Europe; Annual Register; Lives of Lord Brougham, Wellington, Lord +Melbourne, Lord John Russell, Lord Liverpool, and Sir Robert Peel. These +are the most accessible authorities, but the list is very large.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="SIR_ROBERT_PEEL."></a>SIR ROBERT PEEL.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1788-1850.</p> + +<p>POLITICAL ECONOMY.</p> + +<p>Among the great prime ministers of England Sir Robert Peel is to be +classed. He ranks with Pitt, Canning, and Gladstone for his intellectual +force, his services, and his patriotism. He was to England what Guizot +and Thiers were to France,--a pre-eminent statesman, identified with +great movements, learned, eloquent, and wise. He was a man of unsullied +character, commanding the respect and veneration of superior +minds,--reserved and cold, perhaps; not a popular idol like Fox and +O'Connell, but a leader of men.</p> + +<p>There was no man in his cabinet more gifted or influential than he. Lord +Liverpool, Lord Melbourne, and Lord Aberdeen were placed in their +exalted posts, not for remarkable abilities, but by the force of +circumstances, for the purpose of uniting greater men than they in a +coalition in order to form a strong government. Thus, Canning really was +the master spirit in the cabinet of Lord Liverpool, as Lord Palmerston +was in that of Lord Aberdeen. Peel, however, was himself the controlling +intellect of the government of which he was the head, and was doubtless +superior in attainments and political genius to Wellington, to Earl +Grey, and Lord John Russell,--premiers like him, and prominent as +statesmen. Lord Goderich, Lord Stanley, Lord Althorp, Sir James Graham, +Mr. Goulburn, Lord Wharncliffe, Lord Howick, Earl Ripon, Mr. C. Wood, +Mr. Macaulay, Mr. Croker, were all very able ministers, but not to be +compared with Sir Robert Peel in shaping the destinies of the country. +His administration was an epoch in English political history, to be long +remembered as singularly successful and important.</p> + +<p>Sir Robert Peel came from the people, although his father was a baronet +and a very wealthy man, proud and aristocratic as he was rich. His +riches were acquired by manufacturing cotton goods, like those of his +father before him, whose business he inherited; but the +great-grandfather of Sir Robert was a plain and unimportant cotton +spinner in Lancashire, of no social rank whatever. No noble blood flowed +in the veins of the great premier, nor was he ever ambitious of +aristocratic distinction. He declined an earldom, though rich enough to +maintain its rank. He accepted no higher social rank than what he +inherited, and which came from successful business.</p> + +<p>But Peel was educated with great care by an ambitious father. He was +sent to Harrow and Christ Church, and was distinguished as a boy for his +classical attainments, as was Canning before him. At an early age he +reached all the honors that Oxford could bestow; and when he was only +twenty-one was brought into Parliament for the close borough of Cashel, +in Ireland, in the gift of some noble lord. He entered the House of +Commons in 1809, at the same time with Palmerston, and a few years +earlier than Lord John Russell, during that memorable period when +Napoleon was in the midst of his victories, and when a noble +constellation of English statesmen combined their energies for the good +of their country,--Wilberforce, Wyndham, Tierney, Perceval, Grattan, +Castlereagh, Canning, Romilly, Brougham, Mackintosh, Huskisson, and +others,--all trained in the school of Pitt, Fox, or Burke, who had +passed away. Among these great men Peel made his way, not so much by +force of original genius--blazing and kindling like the eloquence of +Canning and Brougham--as by assiduity in business, untiring industry, +and in speech lucidity of statement, close reasoning, and perfect +mastery of his subject in all its details. He was pre-eminently a man of +facts rather than theories. Like Canning and Gladstone, he was +ultra-conservative in his early political life,--probably in a great +measure from his father's example as well as from the force of his +university surroundings,--and, of course, joined the Tory party, then +all-powerful. So precocious were his attainments, and so promising was +he from the force of his character, that at the age of twenty-four he +was made, by Mr. Perceval, under-secretary for the Colonies; the year +after (in 1812) he was promoted, by Lord Liverpool, to the more +important post of secretary for Ireland. In the latter post he had to +combat Canning himself in the matter of Catholic emancipation, but did +his best to promote secular education in that priest-ridden and unhappy +country. For his High Church views and advocacy of Tory principles, +which he had been taught at Oxford, he was a favorite with the +university; and in 1817 he had the distinguished honor of representing +it in Parliament. In 1819 he made his financial reputation by advocating +a return to specie payments,--suspended in consequence of the Napoleonic +wars. In 1820 he was married to a daughter of General Sir John Floyd, +and his beautiful domestic life was enhanced by his love of art, of +science, of agriculture, and the society of eminent men. In 1822 he +entered Lord Liverpool's cabinet as home secretary; and when the +ministry was broken up in 1827, he refused to serve in the new +government under Canning, on account of the liberal views which the +premier entertained in reference to Catholic emancipation.</p> + +<p>The necessity of this just measure Sir Robert Peel was made to feel +after Canning's death, during the administration of the Duke of +Wellington. Conservative as he was, and opposed to all agitations for +religious or political change even under the name of "reform," the fiery +eloquence of O'Connell and the menacing power of the Catholic +Association forced upon him the conviction of the necessity of Catholic +emancipation, as the cold reasoning of Richard Cobden afterward turned +him from a protectionist to a free-trader. He was essentially an honest +man, always open to reason and truth, learning wisdom from experience, +and growing more liberal as he advanced in years. He brought the Duke of +Wellington to his views in spite of that minister's inveterate +prejudices, and the Catholics of Ireland were emancipated as an act of +expediency and state necessity. Peel, although only home secretary under +Wellington, was the prominent member of the administration, and was +practically the leader of the House of Commons, in which character he +himself introduced the bill for Catholic relief. This great service was, +however, regarded by the ultra Tories as an act of apostasy, and Peel +incurred so much reproach from his former friends that he resigned his +seat as member for Oxford University, and accepted the constituency of +Westbury. During this administration, too, Sir Robert, as home +secretary, reorganized the police force of London (whence their popular +nicknames of "Peelers" and "Bobbies"), and performed other +important services.</p> + +<p>In 1830 the Whigs came into power under Lord Grey, and for ten years, +with the brief interval of his first administration, Sir Robert Peel was +the most able leader of the opposition. In 1833 he accepted the +parliamentary membership for Tamworth, which he retained to the end of +his great career. He persistently opposed the Reform Bill in all its +stages; but when it was finally passed, he accepted it as unmistakably +the will of the nation, and even advocated many of the reforms which +grew out of it. In 1841 he again became prime minister, in an alarming +financial crisis; and it was his ability in extricating the nation from +financial difficulties that won for him general admiration.</p> + +<p>Thus for thirty years he served in Parliament before he reached the +summit of political ambition,--half of which period he was a member of +the ministry, learning experience from successive administrations, and +forging the weapons by which he controlled the conservative party, until +his conversion to the doctrines of Cobden again exposed him to the +bitter wrath of the protectionists; but not until he had triumphantly +carried the repeal of the corn laws,--the most important and beneficent +act of legislation since the passage of the Reform Bill itself.</p> + +<p>It was this great public service on which the fame of Sir Robert Peel +chiefly rests; but before we can present it according to its Historical +importance, we must briefly glance at the financial measures by which he +extricated his country from great embarrassments, and won public +confidence and esteem. He did for England what Alexander Hamilton did +for the United States in matters of finance, although as inferior to +Hamilton in original genius as he was superior to him in general +knowledge and purity of moral character. No one man can be everything, +even if the object of unbounded admiration. To every great man a +peculiar mission is given,--to one as lawgiver, to another as conqueror, +to a third as teacher, to a fourth as organizer and administrator; and +these missions, in their immense variety, constitute the life and soul +of history. Sir Robert Peel's mission was that of a financier and +political economist, which, next to that of warrior, brings the greatest +influence and fame in a commercial and manufacturing country like +England. Not for lofty sentiments, such as Burke uttered on the eve of +the French Revolution, are the highest rewards given in a material +country like that of our ancestors, but for the skill a man shows in +expounding the way in which a nation may become prosperous and rich. It +was Sir Robert Peel's mission to make England commercially prosperous, +even as it was that of Brougham and Russell to give it liberty and +political privileges, that of Pitt and Castlereagh to save it from +foreign conquest, and that of Wilberforce to rescue it from the disgrace +and infamy of negro slavery.</p> + +<p>Sir Robert Peel came into power in 1841, the Russell Whig ministry +having failed to satisfy the country in regard to financial questions. +There had been an annual deficit, and the distress of both the +agricultural and manufacturing classes was alarming. The new premier +proceeded with caution in the adoption of measures to relieve the +burdens of the people and straighten out the finances, which were in +great disorder. His first measure had reference to the corn laws, for +the price of food in England was greater than in other European +countries. He finally proposed to the assembled Parliament, in 1842, to +make an essential alteration in the duties; and instead of a fixed duty +he introduced a sliding scale, by which the duty on corn should be +thirteen shillings a quarter<a name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> when the price was under sixty +shillings, increasing the duty in proportion as the price should fall, +and decreasing it as the price should rise,--so that when the price of +corn was under fifty shillings the duty should be fixed at twenty +shillings, and when the price was above seventy-three the duty should be +only a shilling a quarter. This plan, after animated discussion, was +approved; for although protection still was continued, the tendency of +the measure was towards free-trade, for which the reformers were +clamoring. Notwithstanding this measure, which was triumphantly carried +through both Houses, the prevailing distress continued, and the revenue +was steadily diminishing. To provide revenue, Peel introduced an income +tax of seven pence in the pound, to stand for three years; and to offset +that again lowered the import duties on domestic animals, dairy +products, other articles of food, and some drugs.</p> + +<a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> "The fourth of a ton in weight, or eight bushels of +grain." + +<p>When Parliament assembled in 1843 the discussions centred on free-trade. +Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Gladstone and Sir James Graham admitted the +general soundness of the principles of free-trade, but felt that the +time had not yet come for their adoption, fearing an increased distress +among the agricultural population. At that time, and for a long period +before, the interests of agriculture were regarded as paramount, and +those of manufacturing secondary; but, as time passed, it was generally +felt that reduced taxes on all the necessities of life were imperative. +Fifty years earlier, England produced corn enough for all the wants of +the country; but with a population increasing at the rate of two hundred +thousand a year, it was obvious that the farmers could not supply the +demand. In consequence of which, at then existing tariffs, bread became +yearly still dearer, which bore hard on the manufacturing operatives.</p> + +<p>The year 1844 opened under happier auspices. The financial measures of +the government had answered public expectations, and changed the growing +deficiency into an increasing surplus. Improvements in machinery had +increased the gains of the manufacturers; a war in India had been +terminated successfully, and England was at peace with all the world. +The only formidable troubles were in Ireland,--the standing difficulty +with all administrations, Conservative or Liberal, and which no +administration has ever been able to surmount. Sir Robert Peel had hoped +that the Catholic Emancipation Act would lead to the tranquillity of +Ireland. But that act did not content the Irish reformers. The fiercest +agitation was conducted by O'Connell for the repeal of the Union itself +and the restoration of the Irish parliament. At bottom, the demands of +the great agitator were not unreasonable, since he demanded equal +political privileges for both Ireland and England if the Union should +continue,--that, in short, there should be one law for both countries. +But since the ministry insisted on governing Ireland as a foreign and +conquered country, denying equality of rights, the agitation grew to +fearful proportions, chiefly in the shape of monster meetings. At last +the government determined on the prosecution of O'Connell and some +others for seditious conspiracy, and went so far as to strike off the +name of every Catholic on the jury which was to try him. The trial +lasted twenty-four days, and the prisoners were convicted. The hard and +unjust sentence on O'Connell himself was imprisonment for twelve months +and a fine of two thousand pounds. Against this decision an appeal was +made to the House of Lords, and the judgment of the court was reversed. +But the old man had already been imprisoned several weeks; his +condemnation and imprisonment had told on his rugged constitution. He +was nearly seventy years of age, and was worn out by excitement and +unparalleled labors; and although he tried to continue his patriotic +work, he soon after sickened, and in 1847 died on his way to Rome in +search of rest.</p> + +<p>O'Connell's death did not end the agitations, which have continued from +that time to this with more or less asperity, and probably will continue +until justice shall be done to Ireland. It is plain that either Ireland +should be left free to legislate for herself, which would virtually be +the dismemberment of the empire; or should receive equal privileges with +the English; or should be coerced with an iron hand, which would +depopulate the country. It would seem that Ireland, if it is to form +part of the empire,--not as a colony, but an integral part, like the +different States of the American Union,--should be governed by the same +laws that England has, and enjoy the same representation of its +population. Probably there never will be order or tranquillity in the +island until it shall receive that justice which the prejudices of the +English will not permit them at present to grant,--so slow are all +reforms which have to contend with bigotry, ignorance, and selfishness. +The chain which binds nations and communities together must be a chain +of love, without reference to differences in color, religion, or race.</p> + +<p>In the session of 1844 the factory question occupied a large share of +public attention. Lord Ashley, whose philanthropic aims commanded great +respect, contended for a limitation of the hours of labor. The ministry +insisted upon twelve hours; but Lord Ashley carried his measure, with +some amendments, the government being brought over to the side of +humanity. The result was that the working-hours of children under +thirteen was limited to six and a half hours, and the amount of fines +imposed for a violation of the laws was lowered; while a provision was +made for the instruction of children employed in the mills of three +hours in summer, and two and a half in the winter.</p> + +<p>The confidence in the government showed itself in the rise of public +securities, so that it became practicable to reduce the interest on +consols (the consolidated government debt) from three and a half to +three percent, by which a saving accrued to the country of £1,250,000, +indicating general prosperity. The income increased with the revival of +trade and commerce, and the customs alone increased to nearly +£2,500,000, chiefly from duties on tea and sugar, which increasing +prosperity enabled the poorer classes to use more freely. The surplus of +the revenue amounted to over £4,000,000 sterling, owing largely to the +income tax, which now the ministers proposed to reduce. The charter of +the Bank of England was renewed in a form which modified the whole +banking system in England. The banking business of the Bank was placed +on the same footing with other institutions as to its power of issuing +notes, which beyond a certain amount should depend on the amount of +bullion in the Bank. Substantially, this was the same principle which +Daniel Webster advocated in the United States Senate,--that all +bank-notes should be redeemable in gold and silver; in other words, that +a specie basis is the only sound principle, whether in banking +operations or in government securities, for the amount of notes issued. +This tended to great stability in the financial world, as the Bank of +England, although a private joint-stock association, has from its +foundation in 1694 been practically the fiscal agent of the +government,--having the management of the public debt, paying dividends +upon it, holding the government moneys, making advances when necessary, +helping the collection of the public revenue, and being the central bank +of the other banks.</p> + +<p>In addition to the financial measures by which Sir Robert Peel increased +the revenues of the country, and gave to it a greater degree of material +prosperity than it had enjoyed during the century, he attempted to +soothe the Catholics of Ireland by increasing the grant to the Roman +Catholic College of Maynooth, in Ireland; indeed, he changed the annual +grant to a permanent endowment, but only through a fierce opposition. He +trebled the grant for national education, and exhibited increasing +liberality of mind as he gained experience. But his great exploit was +the repeal of the corn laws, in a Parliament where more than three +quarters of the members represented agricultural districts, and were +naturally on the side of a protection of their own interests. In order +to appreciate more clearly the magnitude of this movement, we must trace +it from the beginning.</p> + +<p>The centre of agitation for free-trade, especially in breadstuff's, was +Manchester,--the second city of the kingdom for wealth, population, and +influence, taking in the surrounding towns,--a very uninteresting place +to the tourist and traveller; dingy, smoky, and rainy, without imposing +architecture or beautiful streets; but a town of great intellectual +activity in all matters pertaining to industrial enterprise and +economical science,--the head centre of unpoetical materialism, where +most of the well-to-do people dined at one o'clock.</p> + +<p>As soon as this town was permitted to send members to Parliament it +selected eminent free-traders,--Poulett Thomson and Mark Phillips,--who +distinguished themselves for the fearlessness of their speeches on an +unpopular subject. The agitation in Parliament had begun in 1836, at a +period of great depression in all kinds of business and consequent +suffering among the poor; but neither London nor the House of Commons +was so favorable to the agitation of the principles of free-trade as +Manchester was, and the subject began to be discussed throughout the +country. An unknown man by the name of Poulton was the first to gain +attention by his popular harangues; and he was soon followed by Richard +Cobden,--a successful calico printer.</p> + +<p>An Anti-Corn-Law Association was started by these pioneers, and £1,800 +were raised by small subscriptions to enlighten the people on the +principles of free-trade, when protection was the settled policy of the +government. The Association was soon after reinforced by John Bright, an +exceedingly brilliant popular orator, who was rich enough to devote a +large part of his time to the spread of his opinions. Between him and +Cobden a friendship and cordial co-operation sprang up, which lasted to +the death of the latter. They were convinced that the cause which they +had so much at heart could be effectually advanced only by the widest +dissemination of its principles by public meetings, by tracts and by +lectures. It was their aim to change public opinion, for all efforts +would be in vain unless the people--and especially their leaders--were +enlightened on the principles they advocated. They had faith in the +ultimate triumph of these principles because they believed them to be +true. From simple faith in the power of truth they headed the most +tremendous agitation known in England since the passage of the Reform +Bill. It was their mission to show conclusively to all intelligent +people that it was for the interest of the country to abolish the corn +laws, and that the manufacturing classes would be the most signally +benefited. To effect this purpose it was necessary to raise a large sum +of money; and the friends and advocates of the movement most liberally +subscribed to circulate the millions of tracts and newspapers which the +Association scattered into every hamlet and private family in England, +besides the members personally giving their time and effort in public +speeches and lectures in all parts of the country. "It was felt that the +battle of free-trade must be fought first by the conversion of +individuals, then at the hustings, and lastly in the House of Commons."</p> + +<p>The principle of protecting the country against the importation of +foreign breadstuffs was upheld as fostering the agricultural interests, +as inciting the larger cultivation of poor lands, as providing against +dangerous dependence on foreign countries, and as helping the large +landowners and their tenants to patronize manufactures and trade; so +that, although the high prices of breadstuffs were keeping vast numbers +of people in misery and the country on the edge of revolution, the +protectionist doctrine was believed in religiously by the laboring +classes, the small shopkeepers, nearly all the educated classes, and a +large majority of the members of Parliament.</p> + +<p>To combat this unshaken traditional belief was a gigantic undertaking. +It was the battle of reason and truth against prejudice and +bigotry,--the battle of a new enlightenment of general interests against +the selfishness of unenlightened classes. While Villiers and Thomson +appealed to members in the House of Commons, Cobden and Bright with +still greater eloquence directly addressed the people in the largest +halls that could be found. In 1838 Cobden persuaded the Chamber of +Commerce in Manchester to petition Parliament for a repeal of the duties +on corn. In 1839, the agitation spreading, petitions went up from +various parts of the country bearing two million signatures. The motion +to repeal, however, was lost by a large majority in the Commons. Then +began the organization of Free-Trade Leagues. In 1841 a meeting in +Manchester was held, at which were present seven hundred nonconformist +ministers, so effectually had conversions been made among intelligent +men. Nor did the accession of the conservative Sir Robert Peel to power +discourage the agitators, for in the same year (1841) Cobden was sent to +Parliament. Meetings were still more frequently held in all the towns of +the kingdom, A bazaar held in favor of the cause in the Theatre Royal, +Manchester, in 1842, produced a clear profit of £10,000. In 1843 the +great Free-Trade Hall was opened in Manchester, built expressly for +public meetings for the anti corn-law agitation, and the sum of £150,000 +was raised by private subscription to disseminate knowledge. At last, +recognizing with keen instinct the inevitable turn in public opinion, +the "Times" came out with a leading article of great power, showing a +change of views on the subject of protection. Great noblemen, one after +another, joined the League, and the Marquis of Westminster contributed +£500 to the cause.</p> + +<p>The free-trade movement was now recognized as a great fact which it was +folly to ignore. Encouraged by the constant accession to the ranks of +reform, the leaders of the League turned their attention to the +registration of voters, by which many spurious claims for seats were +annulled, and new members of Parliament were chosen to advocate +free-trade. At last, in 1846, Sir Robert Peel himself, after having been +for nearly his whole career a protectionist, gave in his adhesion to the +new principles. Cobden, among others, had convinced him that the +prosperity of the country depended on free-trade, and he nobly made his +recantation, to the intense disgust of many of his former +followers,--especially of Disraeli, who now appears in Parliament as a +leader of the protectionists.</p> + +<p>This brilliant man, who in 1837, at the age of thirty-two, took his seat +in Parliament, had made no impression in that body for several years; +but having learned from early failures his weak points, and by careful +study of the successes of others trained himself to an effective style +of parliamentary speech, he became, at the critical time of Peel's +change of front, the representative of Shrewsbury, and gradually +organized about himself the dissatisfaction and indignation of the +landed proprietors with Sir Robert Peel's concessions to the free-trade +movement. His strictures on Peel were severe, caustic, and bitter. +"What," said this eloquent speaker, "shall we think of the eminent +statesman, who, having served under four sovereigns, who, having been +called to steer the ship on so many occasions and under such perilous +circumstances, has only during the last three or four years found it +necessary entirely to change his convictions on that most important +topic, which must have presented itself for more than a quarter of a +century to his consideration? I must, sir, say that such a minister may +be conscientious, but he is unfortunate.... It is all very well for the +right honorable gentleman to come forward and say, 'I am thinking of +posterity; my aim is heroic; and, appealing to posterity, I care neither +for your cheers nor for your taunts,' It is very well for the right +honorable gentleman to take this high-flying course, but I can but say +that my conception of a great statesman is one who represents a great +idea,--I do not care whether he is a manufacturer or a manufacturer's +son. I care not what may be the position of a man who never originates +an idea,--a watcher of the atmosphere,--a man who, as he says, 'takes +his observations,' and when he finds the wind in a certain quarter trims +his sails to suit it. Such a man may be a powerful minister, but he is +no more a great statesman than a man who gets up behind a carriage is a +great whip."</p> + +<p>All this tirade was very unjust,--though it pleased the +protectionists,--for Sir Robert Peel was great enough to listen to +arguments and reason, and give up his old sentiments when he found them +untenable, even if he broke up his party. His country was greater in +his eyes than any party.</p> + +<p>As prime minister, Peel then unfolded his plans. He announced his +intention to abandon the sliding scale entirely, and gradually reduce +the duty on corn and other articles of necessity so that at the end of +three or four years the duty would be taken off altogether. This plan +did not fully satisfy the League, who argued for immediate repeal. +Indeed, there was a necessity. The poor harvests in England and the +potato-rot in Ireland were producing the most fearful and painful +results. A large part of the laboring population was starving. Never +before had there been greater distress. On the 2d of March, 1846, the +ministerial plan had to go through the ordeal of a free-trade attack. +Mr. Villiers proposed an amendment that would result in the immediate +and total repeal of the corn laws. Nevertheless, the original bill +passed the Commons by a majority of ninety-eight.</p> + +<p>It was at once carried to the House of Lords, where it encountered, as +was expected, the fiercest opposition, no less than fifty-three lords +taking part in the discussion. The Duke of Wellington, seeing that the +corn laws were doomed, and that further opposition would only aggravate +the public distress, supported the bill, as did Lord Aberdeen and other +strong conservatives, and it was finally carried by a majority of +forty-seven.</p> + +<p>Before the bill for the virtual repeal of the corn laws was passed by +the House of Lords, the administration of Sir Robert Peel abruptly +closed. An Irish coercion bill had been introduced by the government, +not very wisely, even while the corn bill was under discussion by the +Commons. The bill was of course opposed by the Irish followers of +O'Connell, and by many of the Liberal party. The radical members, led by +Cobden and Bright, were sure to oppose it. The protectionists, full of +wrath, and seeing their opportunity to overthrow the government, joined +the Liberals and the Irish members, and this coalition threw out the +bill by a majority of seventy-three. The government of course resigned.</p> + +<p>Nor was the premier loath to throw off his burdens amid calumny and +reproach. He cheerfully retired to private life. He concluded the +address on his resignation, after having paid a magnificent tribute to +Cobden--by whose perseverance, energy, honesty of conviction, and +unadorned eloquence the great corn-law reform had been thus far +advanced--in these words: "In quitting power, I shall leave a name +severely blamed, I fear, by many men, who, without personal interest but +only with a view of the public good, will bitterly deplore the rupture +of party ties, from a belief that fidelity to party engagements and the +maintenance of great parties are powerful and essential means of +government. [I fear also] that I shall be blamed by others who, without +personal interest, adhere to the principles of protection, which they +regard as necessary to the prospects of the country; that I shall leave +a name detested by all monopolists, who, from less honorable motives, +claim a protection by which they largely profit. But I shall perhaps +leave a name which will sometimes be pronounced by expressions of +good-will by those whose lot in this world is to labor, who in the sweat +of their brow eat their daily bread; and who may remember me when they +renew their strength by food at once abundant and untaxed, and which +will be the better relished because no longer embittered by any feeling +of injustice." He then resumed his seat amidst the loudest applause from +all sides of the House; and when he left Westminster Hall, leaning on +the arm of Sir George Clark, a vast multitude filled the street, and +with uncovered heads accompanied him in respectful silence to the door +of his house.</p> + +<p>Sir Robert Peel continued to attend the meetings of Parliament as an +independent member, making no factious opposition, and giving his +support to every measure he approved,--more as a sage than a partisan, +having in view mainly the good of the country whose government he no +longer led.</p> + +<p>It was soon after Peel's retirement from office that O'Connell, too, +made his last speech in the House of Commons, not as formerly in +trumpet tones, but with enfeebled voice. "I am afraid," said the +fainting athlete, "that the House is not sufficiently aware of the +extent of the misery in Ireland. I do not think that members understand +the accumulated miseries under which the people are at present +suffering. It has been estimated that five thousand adults and ten +thousand children have already perished with famine, and that +twenty-five per cent of the whole population will perish, unless the +House will afford effective relief. I assure the House most solemnly +that I am not exaggerating; I can establish all that I have said by many +and painful proofs. And the necessary result must be typhus fever, which +in fact has already broken out, and is desolating whole districts; it +leaves alive only one in ten of those whom it attacks." This appeal +doubtless had its effect in demonstrating the absolute need of a repeal +of the corn laws. But it is as the "liberator" of the Roman Catholic +population of Ireland in the great emancipation struggle,--triumphantly +concluded as early as 1829,--and the incessant labors after that for the +enlargement of Irish conditions, that O'Connell will be remembered. +"Honor, glory, and eternal gratitude," exclaimed Lacordaire, "to the man +who collected in his powerful hand the scattered elements of justice and +deliverance, and who, pushing them to their logical conclusions with a +vigorous patience which thirty years could not exhaust, at last poured +on his country the unhoped-for delight of liberty of conscience, and +thus deserved not only the title of Liberator of his Country but the +oecumenical title of Liberator of his Church."</p> + +<p>O'Connell, Cobden, and Sir Robert Peel,--what great names in the history +of England in the agitating period between the passage of the Reform +Bill and that of the repeal of the corn laws! I could add other +illustrious names,--especially those of Brougham and Lord John Russell; +but the sun of glory around the name of the first was dimmed after his +lord chancellorship, while that of the latter was yet to blaze more +brightly when he assumed the premiership on the retirement of his great +predecessor, with such able assistants as Lord Palmerston, Earl Grey, +Macaulay, and others. These men, as Whigs, carried out more fully the +liberal and economic measures which Sir Robert Peel had inaugurated amid +a storm of wrath from his former supporters, reminding one of the fury +and disappointment of the higher and wealthy classes when Mr. +Gladstone--a still bolder reformer, although nursed and cradled in the +tenets of monopolists--introduced his measures for the relief +of Ireland.</p> + +<p>During the administration of Sir Robert Peel there was another agitation +which at one time threatened serious consequences, but as it came to +nothing it has not the historical importance of the Anti-Corn-Law +League. It was a fanatical uprising of the lower classes to obtain still +greater political privileges, led by extreme radicals, of whom Mr. +Feargus O'Connor was the most prominent leader, and Mr. Henry Vincent +was the most popular speaker. The centre of this movement was not +Manchester, but Birmingham. The operatives of Manchester wanted cheaper +bread; those of Birmingham wanted an extension of the franchise: and as +Lord John Russell had opposed the re-opening of the reform question, the +radicals were both disappointed and infuriated. The original leaders of +parliamentary reform had no sympathy with such a rabble as now clamored +for extended reform. They demanded universal suffrage, annual +Parliaments, vote by ballot, abolition of property qualifications, +payment of members of Parliament, and the division of the country into +equal electoral districts. These were the six points of the people's +charter,--not absurd to the eyes of Americans, but utterly out of the +question in such an aristocratic country as England, and advocated only +by the working-classes and their incendiary leaders. Discontent and +misery were the chief causes of the movement, which was managed without +ability. The agitation began in 1836 and continued to 1848. At first the +government allowed it, so far as it was confined to meetings, speeches, +and the circulation of tracts,--knowing full well that, as it made no +appeal to the influential and intelligent classes, it would soon expend +itself. I was lecturing at the time in Birmingham, and the movement +excited contempt rather than alarm among the people I met. I heard +Vincent two or three times in his chapel,--for I believe he was educated +as a dissenting minister of some sort,--but his eloquence made no +impression upon me; it was clever and fluent enough, but shallow and +frothy. At last he was foolishly arrested by the government, who had +really nothing to fear from him, and imprisoned at Newport in Wales.</p> + +<p>In England reforms have been effected only by appeals to reason and +intelligence, and not by violence. Infuriated mobs, successful in France +in overturning governments and thrones, have been easily repressed in +England with comparatively little bloodshed; for power has ever been +lodged in the hands of the upper and middle classes, intolerant of +threatened violence. In England, since the time of Cromwell, revolutions +have been bloodless; and reforms have been gradual,--to meet pressing +necessities, or to remove glaring injustice and wrongs, never to +introduce an impractical equality or to realize visionary theories. And +they have ever been effected through Parliament. All popular agitations +have failed unless they have appealed to reason and right.</p> + +<p>Thus the People's Charter movement, beginning about 1838, was a signal +failure, because from the practical side it involved no great principles +of political economy, nothing that enriches a nation; and from the side +of popular rights it was premature, crude, and represented no +intelligent desire on the part of the people. It was a movement nursed +in discontent, and carried on with bitterness and illegal violence. It +was wild, visionary, and bitter from the start, and arose at a period +when the English people were in economic distress, and when all Europe +was convulsed with insurrectionary uprisings, and revolutionary +principles were mixed up with socialism and anarchy. The Chartist +agitation continued with meetings and riots and national conventions +until 1848, when the Revolution in France gave a great impulse to it.</p> + +<p>At last some danger was apprehended from the monster meetings and +inflammatory speeches of the Chartists, and government resolved to +suppress the whole movement by the strong arm. The police force +throughout the kingdom was strengthened, and one hundred and seventy +thousand special constables were sworn in, while extensive military +preparations were intrusted to the Duke of Wellington. The Chartists, +overrating their strength, held a great meeting on Kensington Common, +and sent a petition of more than five millions of names to the House of +Commons; but instead of half a million who were expected to assemble on +the Common with guns and pikes, only a few thousand dared to meet, and +the petition itself was discovered to be forged, chiefly with fictitious +names. It was a battle on the part of the agitators without ball +cartridges, in which nothing was to be seen but smoke. Ridicule and +contempt overwhelmed the leaders, and the movement collapsed.</p> + +<p>Although the charter failed to become law, the enfranchisement of the +people has been gradually enlarged by Parliament in true deliberate +English fashion, as we shall see in future lectures. Perhaps the +Chartist movement may have ripped up the old sod and prepared the soil +for the later peaceful growth; but in itself it accomplished nothing for +which it was undertaken.</p> + +<p>The repeal of the corn laws in 1846 was followed, as was the Reform Bill +of 1832, by a series of other reforms of a similar kind,--all in the +direction of free-trade, which from that time has continued to be the +established principle of English legislation on all the great +necessities of life. Scarcely had Lord John Russell in 1846 taken the +helm of state, when the duties on sugar were abolished, no +discrimination being shown between sugar raised in the British colony of +Jamaica and that which was raised in Cuba and other parts of the world. +The navigation laws, which prohibited the importation of goods except +in British ships, or ships which belonged to the country where the goods +were produced, were repealed or greatly modified. The whole colonial +system was also revised, especially in Canada; and sanitary measures +were taken to prevent disease in all the large towns of the country.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these various reforms, which the government under Lord +John Russell prosecuted with great zeal and ability, and by which a +marked improvement took place in the condition of the people, Sir Robert +Peel was thrown from his horse in London, June 29, 1850, and survived +but a few days. His accidental death created universal lamentation, for +everybody felt that a great national loss had occurred. In spite of the +bitterness of the monopolists, disappointed in their gains, no death was +ever more seriously and universally lamented in England. Other statesmen +blazed upon their contemporaries with more brilliant original genius +than Peel, but no one ever had more force of character than he, or was +more respected for his candor, truthfulness, and patriotism. If he had +not the divination to originate, he showed transcendent ability in +appropriating and making his own the worthy conceptions of others. He +was among those few statesmen who are willing to renounce the dearest +opinions of youth and the prejudices of manhood when convinced of their +unsoundness.</p> + +<p>Peel was a great administrator and a great debater. His character was +austere, his temperament was cold, his manners were awkward and shy; he +was chary in the bestowal of pensions and rewards; and by reason of his +rather unsympathetic nature he never was a favorite with artists and +literary men. It was his conviction that literary men were not +sufficiently practical to be intrusted with political office. Hence he +refused to make Monckton Milnes an under-secretary of state. When +Gladstone published his book on Church and State, being then a young +man, it is said that Peel threw it contemptuously on the floor, +exclaiming, "What a pity it is that so able a man should injure his +political prospects by writing such trash!" Nor was Peel sufficiently +passionate to become a great orator like O'Connell or Mirabeau; and yet +he was a great man, and the nation was ultimately grateful for the +services he rendered to his country and to civilization. Had his useful +and practical life been prolonged, he probably would again have taken +the helm of state. He was always equal to the occasion; but no occasion +was sufficiently great to give him the <i>éclat</i> which Pitt enjoyed in the +wars of Napoleon. Under the administration of Peel the country was at +peace, and no such internal dangers threatened it as those which marked +the passage of the Reform Bill.</p> + +<p>Sir Robert Peel was one of the most successful ministers that England +ever had. Certainly no minister was ever more venerated than he; and +even the Duke of Wellington did nothing without his advice and +co-operation. In fact, he led the ministry of the duke as Canning did +that of the Earl of Liverpool; and had he been less shy and reserved, he +would not have passed as so proud a man, and would have been more +popular. There is no trait of character in a great man less understood +than what we call pride, which often is not pride at all, but excessive +shyness and reserve, based on sensitiveness and caution rather than +self-exaggeration and egotism.</p> + +<p>Few statesmen have done more than Peel to advance the material interests +of the people; yet he never was a popular idol, and his history fails to +kindle the enthusiasm with which we study the political career of Pitt +or Canning or Disraeli or Gladstone. He was regarded as a great +potentate rather than as a great genius; and he loved to make his power +felt irrespective of praise or censure from literary men, to whom he was +civil enough, but whose society he did not court. Politics were the +element in which he lived, and politicians were his chief associates +outside the family circle, which he adorned. And yet when distinguished +merit in the Church or in the field of literature was brought to his +notice, he was ready to reward it.</p> + +<p>As a proof of the growing fame of Sir Robert Peel, no less than three +biographies of him have lately been issued from the Press. Such, after a +lapse of forty years, indicates the lasting reputation he has won as a +statesman; but as a statesman only. He filled no other sphere. He was +not a lawyer like Brougham; not a novelist like Beaconsfield; not a +historian like Macaulay; not an essayist and reviewer like Gladstone. He +was contented to be a great parliamentary leader alone.</p> + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>Molesworth's History of England; Miss Martineau's History of England; +Justin McCarthy's Life of Sir Robert Peel; Alison's History of +Europe,--all of which should be read in connection with the Lives of +contemporary statesmen, especially of Cobden, Bright, and Lord John +Russell. The Lives of foreign statesmen shed but little light, since the +public acts of Sir Robert Peel were chiefly confined to the domestic +history of England.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CAVOUR."></a>CAVOUR.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1810-1861.</p> + +<p>UNITED ITALY.</p> + +<p>The most interesting and perhaps important event in the history of +Europe in the interval between the fall of Napoleon I. and that of +Napoleon III., a period of fifty-six years,--from 1815 to 1871,--was +that which united the Italians under the government of Victor Emmanuel +as a constitutional monarchy, free of all interference by +foreign Powers.</p> + +<p>The freedom and unity of Italy are to be considered, however, only from +a political point of view. The spiritual power still remains in the +hands of the Pope, who reigns as an ecclesiastical monarch over not only +Italy but all Roman Catholic countries, as the popes have reigned for a +thousand years. That venerable and august despotism was not assailed, or +even modified, in the separation of the temporal from the spiritual +powers. It was rather, probably, increased in influence. At no time +since the Reformation has the spiritual authority of the Roman Pontiff +been greater than it is at the present day. Nor can any one, however +gifted and wise, foretell when that authority will be diminished. "The +Holy Father" still reigns and is likely long to reign as the vicegerent +of the Almighty in all matters of church government in Catholic +countries, and as the recognized interpreter of their religious faith. +So long as people remain Roman Catholics, they must remain in allegiance +to the head of their church. They may cease to be Catholics, and no +temporal harm will happen to them; but the awful power remains over +those who continue to abide within the pale of the Church. Of his +spiritual subjects the Pope exacts, as he has exacted for centuries, +absolute and unconditional obedience through his ministers,--one great +hierarchy of priests; the most complete and powerful mechanism our world +has seen for good or evil, built up on the experience of ten centuries, +and generally directed by consummate sagacity and inflexibility +of purpose.</p> + +<p>I have nothing here to say against this majestic sovereignty, which is +an institution rather than a religion. Most of the purely religious +dogmas which it defends and enforces are equally the dogmas of a +majority of the Protestant churches, founded on the teachings of Christ +and his apostles. The doctrines of Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, +the great authorities of the Catholic Church, were substantially +embraced by Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, and the Westminster divines. The +Protestants rebelled mainly against the usurpations and corruptions of +the Catholic Church as an institution, not against the creed of the +Fathers and schoolmen and theological doctors in all Catholic countries. +The Nicene and Apostles' creeds bind together all orthodox Christians, +whether of the Roman or Greek or Protestant churches.</p> + +<p>Thus, in speaking of the liberation and unity of Italy as effected by an +illustrious band of patriots, aided by friendly powers and fortunate +circumstances, I mean freedom in a political sense. The papal yoke, so +far as it was a yoke, was broken only in a temporal point of view. The +Pope lost only his dominions as a temporal sovereign,--nothing of his +dignity as an ecclesiastical monarch; and we are to consider his +opposition to Victor Emmanuel and other liberators chiefly as that of a +temporal prince, like Ferdinand of Naples. The great Italian revolution +which established the sovereignty of the King of Sardinia over the whole +peninsula was purely a political movement. Religious ideas had little or +nothing to do with it. Communists and infidels may have fought under the +standards of Mazzini and Garibaldi, but only to gain political +privileges and rights. Italy remained after the revolution, as before, a +Catholic country.</p> + +<p>In considering this revolution, which destroyed the power of petty +tyrants and the authority of foreign despots, which gave a free +constitution and national unity to the whole country,--the rule of one +man by the will of the people, and the checks which a freely elected +legislature imposes,--it will be my aim to present chiefly the labors +and sacrifices of a very remarkable band of patriots, working in +different ways and channels for the common good, and assisted in their +work by the aid of friendly States and potentates. But underneath and +apart from the matchless patriotism and ability of a few great men like +D'Azeglio, Mazzini, Garibaldi, Manin, Cavour, and, not least, the King +of Sardinia himself,--who reigned at Turin as a constitutional monarch +before the revolution,--should be mentioned the almost universal passion +of the Italian people to throw off the yokes which oppressed them, +whether imposed by the King of Naples, or by the Pope as a temporal +prince, or by Austria, or by the various princes who had divided between +them the territories of the peninsula,--diverse, yet banded together to +establish their respective tyrannies, and to suppress liberal ideas of +government and all reforms whatsoever. All who could read and write, and +even many who could not, except those who were dependent on the +government or hopelessly wedded to the ideas and institutions of the +Middle Ages,--that conservative class to be found in every country, who +cling to the past and dread the future,--had caught the contagion +spread by the apostles of liberty in France, in Spain, in Greece, in +England. The professors and students in the universities, professional +men, and the well-to-do of the middle classes were foremost in their +discontent and in their zeal for reform. They did not agree in their +theories of government, nor did they unite on any definite plan +for relief. Many were utterly impractical and visionary; some +were at war with any settled government, and hated all wholesome +restraints,--communists and infidels, who would destroy, without +substituting anything better instead; some were in favor of a pure +democracy, and others of representative governments; some wanted a +republic, and others a constitutional monarchy: but all wanted a change.</p> + +<p>There was one cry, one watchword common to all,--<i>Personal +liberty</i>!--freedom to act and speak without the fear of inquisitions, +spies, informers, prisons, and exile. In Naples, in Rome, in Bologna, in +Venice, in Florence, in Milan, in Turin, there was this universal desire +for personal liberty, and the resolution to get it at any cost. It was +the soul of Italy going out in sympathy with all liberators and patriots +throughout the world, intensified by the utterances of poets and +martyrs, and kept burning by all the traditions of the past,--by the +glories of classic Rome; and by the aspirations of the <i>renaissance</i>, +when art, literature, and commerce revived. The common people united +with their intellectual leaders in seeking something which would break +their chains. They alike responded to the cries of patriotism, in some +form or other. "Emancipate us from our tyrants, and we will follow you +wherever you choose to lead," was the feeling of all classes. "We don't +care who rules us, or what form government may take, provided we are +personally free."</p> + +<p>In addition to this passion for personal liberty was also the desire for +a united Italy,--a patriotic sentiment confined however to men of great +intelligence, who scarcely expected such a boon, so great were the +difficulties and obstacles which stared them in the face. It was +impossible for the liberators of Italy to have effected so marvellous a +movement if the material on which they worked had not been so impulsive +and inflammable.</p> + +<p>It required an uncommon degree of patriotic ardor on the part of the +mass of the people to follow leaders like Garibaldi and Mazzini,--one of +whom was rash to audacity, and the other visionary; and neither of whom +had the confidence of the government at Turin, which, however, was not +disposed to throw cold water on their enterprises or seriously to +interfere with them. One thing is clear,--that had not the Italians, on +the whole, been ripe for revolution it could not have succeeded; as in +France the <i>coup d'état</i> of 1851, which enabled Louis Napoleon to mount +the throne, could not have succeeded twenty years earlier when he made +his rash attempt at Strasburg. All successful revolutions require the +ready assent--nay, even the enthusiasm--of the people. The Italian +revolution was based on popular discontent in all parts of the country +where the people were oppressed, and on their enthusiastic aspirations +for a change of rulers. What could any man of genius, however great his +abilities, have done without this support of the people? What could the +leaders of the American Revolution have done unless the thirteen +colonies had rallied around them? Certainly no liberated people ever +supported their leaders with greater enthusiasm and more self-sacrifices +than the Italians. Had they been as degraded as has sometimes been +represented, they would not have fought so bravely.</p> + +<p>The Italian revolution in its origin dates back as early as 1820, when +the secret societies were formed--especially that of the Carbonari--with +a view to shake the existing despotisms. The Carbonari ("charcoal +burners"), as they called themselves, were organized first at Naples. +This uprising (at first successful) in Naples and Piedmont was put down +by Austrian bayonets, and the old order of things was restored. A +constitutional government had been promised to various Italian States by +the first Napoleon in 1796. when he invited the Italians to rally to +his standard and overthrow the Bourbon and Austrian despotisms; but his +promises had not been kept. "Never," said that great liar to Prince +Metternich, "will I give the Italians a liberal system: I have granted +to them only the semblance of it." Equally false were the promises made +by Austrian generals in 1813, when the Italians were urged to join in +the dethronement of the great conqueror who had drafted them into his +armies without compensation.</p> + +<p>Though Italian liberty was suppressed by the strong arm of despotism, +its spirit was kept alive by the secret societies, among whom were +enrolled men of all classes; but these societies had no definite ends to +accomplish. Among them were men of every shade of political belief. In +general, they aimed at the overthrow of existing governments rather than +at any plan as to what would take their place. When, through their +cabals, they had dethroned Ferdinand I. at Naples, he too, like +Napoleon, promised a constitution, and swore to observe it; but he also +broke both his promises and oaths, and when reinstated by irresistible +forces, he reigned more tyrannically than before.</p> + +<p>When the revolution in the Sardinian province of Piedmont was suppressed +(1821), King Victor Emmanuel I. refused to grant further liberty to his +subjects, or to make promises which he could not fulfil. In this state +of mind the honest old king abdicated in favor of his brother Charles +Felix, who ruled despotically as Austria dictated, but did not belong to +that class of despicable monarchs who promise everything and +grant nothing.</p> + +<p>In 1831, on the death of Charles Felix, the throne of Piedmont--or, +rather, Sardinia, as it was called when in 1720 the large island of that +name was combined with the principality of Piedmont and other +territories to form a kingdom--was ascended by Charles Albert, of the +younger branch of the House of Savoy. Charles Albert was an honest +sovereign, but perpetually vacillating between the liberal and clerical +parties. He hated Austria, but was averse to revolutionary measures. He +ruled wisely, however, effecting many useful reforms, and adding to the +prosperity of the country, which was the best governed of all the +Italian States. It was to him that Mazzini appealed to put himself at +the head of the national movement for liberty.</p> + +<p>Joseph Mazzini, one of the earliest of the prominent men who aided in +the deliverance of Italy, was a native of Genoa, belonging to a good but +not illustrious family. He was a boy of twelve years of age when the +revolution of 1821 broke out in Piedmont, which was so summarily crushed +by Austria. At that early age he had indefinite ideas, but thought that +Italians should boldly struggle for the liberty of their country. In +1826, while a student at the university, he published an article on +Dante, whose lofty sentiments and independent spirit made a deep +impression on his soul. His love for his native land became like a "fire +in his bones;" it was a passion which nothing could repress. He was an +enthusiast of immense physical and moral courage, pure-minded, lofty in +his aspirations, imbued with the spirit of sacrifice. As his mind +developed, he became an intense republican. He had no faith in +monarchies, even if liberal. Heart and soul he devoted himself to the +spread of republican ideas. He early joined the Carbonari, who numbered +nearly a million in Italy, and edited a literary paper in Genoa, in +which he dared to rebuke the historian Botta for his aristocratic +tendencies. He became so bold in the advocacy of extreme liberal +opinions that his journal was suppressed by government. When the French +insurrection broke out in 1830, he and other young men betook themselves +to the casting of bullets. He was arrested, and confined in the fortress +of Savona, on the western Riviera. It was while in prison that he +conceived the plan of establishing a society, which he called "Young +Italy," for the propagation of republican ideas. When liberated he +proceeded to Geneva, where he made the acquaintance of Sismondi, the +Swiss historian, who treated him with great kindness and urbanity, and +introduced him to Pellegrino Rossi, the exiled publicist, at that time +professor of law at Geneva. From Geneva Mazzini went to Lyons, and there +collected a band of Italian exiles, mostly military men, who +contemplated the invasion of Savoy. Hunted as a refugee, he secretly +escaped to Marseilles, and thence to Corsica, where the Carbonari had +great influence. Returning to Marseilles, he resumed his design of +founding the Association of Young Italy, and became acquainted with the +best of the exiles who had flocked to that city. It was then he wrote to +Charles Albert, who had lately ascended the Sardinian throne, inviting +him to place himself at the head of the liberal movement; but the king +at once gave orders to arrest the visionary enthusiast if found in his +dominions.</p> + +<p>The Association of Young Italy which Mazzini founded, and which soon +numbered thousands of enthusiastic young men, proclaimed as the basis of +its political belief Liberty, Equality, Humanity, Independence, Unity. +It was republican, as favoring the only form of government which it was +supposed would insure the triumph of these principles. It was unitary, +because without unity there was no true nationality or real strength. +The means to reach these ends, Mazzini maintained, were not +assassination, as represented by the dagger of the Carbonari, but +education and insurrection,--and insurrection by guerrilla bands, as +the only way for the people to emancipate themselves from a foreign +yoke. It was a foreign yoke under which Italy groaned, since all the +different states and governments were equally supported by +foreign armies.</p> + +<p>So far as these principles harmonized with those proclaimed by the +French revolutionists, they met very little opposition from the Italian +liberals; but national unity, however desirable, was pronounced +chimerical. How could Naples, Rome, Venice, Florence, Sardinia, and the +numerous other States, be joined together under one government? And +then, under what form of government should this union be effected? To +the patriots of 1831 this seemed an insoluble problem. Mazzini, from +first to last, maintained that the new government should be republican. +Yet what more visionary than a united Italy as a republic? The sword, or +fortunate circumstances, might effect unity, but under the rule only of +one man, whether he were bound by a constitution or not. Such a union +Mazzini would not entertain for a moment, and persistently disseminated +his principles.</p> + +<p>In consequence, a decree of banishment from France was proclaimed +against him. He hid himself in Marseilles, and the police could not find +him. From his secret retreat his writings continued to be issued, and +were scattered over France, Switzerland, and Italy, and found readers +and advocates.</p> + +<p>At length, in 1833, Mazzini ventured to put his principles into +practice, and meditated the invasion of Savoy, to produce an +insurrection at Genoa and Alessandra. With amazing perseverance under +difficulties, he succeeded in collecting money and men, and, without +military education or genius, made his attempt. Defeated by the royal +troops, the expedition failed, as might have been expected. Such a man +should have fought with the pen and not the sword. The enterprise was a +failure from the start. Mazzini was sentenced to death; but again he +escaped, and fled to Berne, whence he continued to issue his +publications. Thus two or three years were passed, when, through the +efforts of sundry Italian governments, the authorities of Berne resolved +to disperse the Association of Young Italy.</p> + +<p>Mazzini again became a fugitive, and in 1837 found his way to England, +without money, without friends, without influence,--a forlorn exile +fraternizing with doubt, sorrow, and privation; struggling for more than +a year in silence; so poor at one time as to be compelled to pawn his +coat and boots to keep himself from absolute starvation, for he was too +proud to beg. Thus did he preserve his dignity, and uncomplainingly +endure his trials. At last he found means to support himself modestly +by literature, and gradually made friends,--among them Thomas Carlyle. +He gained social position as a man of genius, of unsullied moral +character and of elevated patriotism, although his political opinions +found but few admirers. Around his humble quarters the Italian exiles +gathered, and received kind words of encouragement and hope; some of +them he was able to assist in their struggles with bitter poverty.</p> + +<p>Finally, in 1848, Mazzini returned to Italy, no longer molested, to take +part in the revolution which was to free his country. He found power in +the hands of the moderate progressive party.</p> + +<p>The leader of this party was the Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio, belonging to +an ancient and aristocratic Piedmontese family. He was a man of great +weight of character and intellectual expansion. In 1846 he was ordered +to leave Tuscany, for having printed a book of liberal views, which gave +offence to the government. He was opposed to the republican opinions of +Mazzini, and was a firm advocate of a constitutional monarchy. He +desired reforms to be carried on moderately and wisely. Probably he was +the most enlightened man in Italy at this time, and of incorruptible +integrity. He was well acquainted with the condition of the cities of +Italy, having visited most of them, and had great influence with Charles +Albert, who was doubtless patriotic in his intentions, but disposed to +move cautiously.</p> + +<p>It was the aim of D'Azeglio to bring to bear an enlightened public +opinion on the evils which were generally admitted, without provoking +revolutionary risings, in which he had no faith. Like other Italian +patriots, he desired to see his country freed from foreign domination, +and was as much disliked by Metternich as by Mazzini. The Austrian +statesman ridiculed the idea of Italian unity, and called Italy a +"geographical expression." What he considered an impossibility is now +realized as a fact. His judgment of the papacy however was wiser. A +"liberal Pope," he declared, "is not a possible being." To all the +reforms advocated by Italian statesmen the Pope, whatever his name, has +remained consistently inflexible. The words ascribed to the Jesuits +would apply to all the Popes,--"Let us remain as we are, or let us exist +no longer." To every proposition for reform the cry has been, <i>Non +possumus</i>. The minutest concession has been obstinately refused,--a fact +so well known that even in Rome itself no other course has been possible +among its discontented people than absolute rebellion. Something was +hoped from Pius IX.; but all hopes of reforms at his hand vanished soon +after his elevation in 1846. He did, indeed, soon after his accession, +publish an amnesty for political offences; but this was a matter of +grace, to show his kindness of heart, not to indicate any essential +change in the papal policy.</p> + +<p>Benevolence and charity are two different things from sympathy with +reform and liberality of mind. The first marked Metternich and Alexander +I. of Russia, as well as Pius IX. The most urbane and graceful of +princes may be inflexible tyrants so far as government is concerned, +like Augustus and Louis XIV. You may be charmed with the manners and +genial disposition and unaffected piety of a dignitary of the Church, +but there can be no cordial agreement with him respecting the rights of +the people any more than as to Church dogmas, even if you yield up +ninety-nine points out of a hundred. The intensest bigotry and +narrowness are compatible with the most charming manners and the noblest +acts of personal kindness. This truth is illustrated by the characters +drawn by Sir Walter Scott in his novels, and by Hume in his histories. +It explains the inconsistencies of hospitable English Tories, of +old-fashioned Southern planters, of the haughty nobles of Austria who +gathered around the table of the most accomplished gentleman in +Europe,--equally famous for his graceful urbanities and infamous for his +uncompromising hostility to the leaders of liberal movements. On the +other hand, those who have given the greatest boons to humanity have +often been rough in manners, intolerant of infirmities, bitter in their +social prejudices, hard in their dealings, and acrid in their tempers; +and if they were occasionally jocular, their jokes were too practical to +be in high favor with what is called good society.</p> + +<p>Now D'Azeglio was a high-born gentleman, aristocratic in all his ideas, +and, what was unusual with Italian nobles, a man of enlarged and liberal +views, who favored reforms if they could be carried out in a +constitutional way,--like Lord John Russell and the great English Whig +noblemen who passed the Reform Bill, or like the French statesmen of the +type of Thiers and Guizot.</p> + +<p>In the general outbreak of revolutionary ideas which convulsed all +Europe in 1848, when even Metternich was driven from power, Charles +Albert was forced to promise a constitution to his North Italian +subjects,--and kept his word, which other Italian potentates did not, +when they were restored by Austrian bayonets. He had always been +vacillating, but at last he saw the necessities of Italy and recognized +the spirit of the times. He was thus naturally drawn into a war with +Austria, whose army in Italy was commanded by the celebrated Marshal +Radetzky. Though an old man of eighty, the Austrian general defeated the +King of Piedmont in several engagements. At Novara, on the 23d of March, +1849, he gained a decisive victory, which led to the abdication of the +king; and amidst gloom, disaster, and difficulty, the deposed monarch +was succeeded by his son, the Duke of Savoy, under the name of Victor +Emmanuel II.</p> + +<p>The young king rallied around him the ablest and most patriotic men he +could find, including D'Azeglio, who soon became his prime minister; and +it was from this nobleman's high character, varied abilities, unshaken +loyalty to his sovereign, and ardent devotion to the Italian cause, that +Victor Emmanuel was enabled to preserve order and law on the one hand +and Italian liberties on the other. All Italy, as well as Piedmont, had +confidence in the integrity and patriotism of the king, and in the +wisdom of his prime minister, who upheld the liberties they had sworn to +defend. D'Azeglio succeeded in making peace with Austria, while, at the +same time, he clung to constitutional liberty. Under his administration +the finances were improved and national resources were developed. +Sardinia became the most flourishing of all the States of Italy, in +which both freedom and religious toleration were enjoyed,--for Naples +and Rome had relapsed into despotisms, and the iron hand of Austria was +still felt throughout the peninsula. Among other reforms, ecclesiastics +were placed on the same footing with other citizens in respect to the +laws,--a great movement in a Catholic State. This measure was of course +bitterly opposed by the clerical and conservative party, but was ably +supported in the legislature by the member from Turin,--Count Camillo +Cavour; and this great man now became one of the most prominent figures +in the drama played by Italian patriots, since it was to his sagacious +statesmanship and devoted labors that their efforts were crowned with +final success.</p> + +<p>Cavour was a man of business, of practical intellect, and of +inexhaustible energies. His labors, when he had once entered upon public +life, were prodigious. His wisdom and tact were equal to his industry +and administrative abilities. Above all, his patriotism blazed with a +steady light, like a beacon in a storm, as intense as that of Mazzini, +but more wisely directed.</p> + +<p>Cavour was a younger son of a noble Piedmontese family, and entered the +army in 1826, serving in the engineers. His liberal sentiments made him +distrusted by the government of Charles Felix as a dangerous man, and he +was doomed to an inactive life in an unimportant post. He soon quitted +the army, and embarked in business operations as manager of one of the +estates of his family. For twelve years he confined himself to +agricultural labors, making himself acquainted with all the details of +business and with the science of agriculture, introducing such +improvements as the use of guano, and promoting agricultural +associations; but he was not indifferent at the same time to public +affairs, being one of the most zealous advocates of constitutional +liberty. A residence in England gave him much valuable knowledge as to +the working of representative institutions. He established in 1847 a +political newspaper, and went into parliament as a member of the Chamber +of Deputies. In 1848 he used all his influence to induce the government +to make war with Austria; and when Charles Albert abdicated, and Victor +Emmanuel became king, Cavour's great talents were rewarded. In 1850 he +became minister of commerce; in 1852, prime minister. After that, his +history is the history of Italy itself.</p> + +<p>The Sardinian government took the lead of all the States of Italy for +its vigor and its wisdom. To drive the Austrians out of the country now +became the first principle of Cavour's administration. For this end he +raised the military and naval forces of Sardinia to the utmost +practicable point of efficiency; and the people from patriotic +enthusiasm, cheerfully submitted to the increase of taxation. He built +railways, made commercial treaties with foreign nations, suppressed +monasteries, protected fugitives from Austrian and Papal tyranny, gave +liberty to the Press, and even meditated the construction of a tunnel +under Mont Cenis. His most difficult task was the reform of +ecclesiastical abuses, since this was bitterly opposed by the clergy and +the conservatives; but he succeeded in establishing civil marriages, in +suppressing the Mendicant order of friars, and in making priests +amenable to the civil courts. He also repressed all premature and unwise +movements on the part of patriotic leaders to secure national +deliverance, and hence incurred the hostility of Mazzini.</p> + +<p>The master-stroke in the policy of Cavour as a statesman was to make a +firm alliance with France and England, to be used as a lever against +Austria. He saw the improbability of securing liberty to Italy unless +the Austrians were expelled by force of arms. The Sardinian kingdom, +with only five millions of people, was inadequate to cope singly with +one of the most powerful military monarchies of Europe. Cavour looked +for deliverance only by the aid of friendly Powers, and he secured the +friendship of both France and England by offering five thousand troops +for the Crimean war. On the 10th of January, 1855, a treaty was signed +which admitted Sardinia on equal terms as the ally of the Western +Powers; and the Sardinian army, under the command of General La Marmora, +rendered very substantial aid, and fought with great gallantry in the +Crimea. When, in 1856, an armistice took place between the contending +Powers, followed by the Congress of Paris, Cavour took his place with +the envoys of the great Powers. Furthermore, he availed himself of his +opportunities to have private conferences with the Emperor Napoleon +III. in reference to Italian matters; and his influence with the foreign +statesmen he met in Paris was equally beneficial to the great end to +which his life was devoted. His diplomacy was unrivalled for tact, and +the ministers of France and England saw and acknowledged it. By his +diplomatic abilities he enlisted the Emperor of the French in behalf of +Italian independence, and, perhaps more than any other man, induced him +to make war on Austria.</p> + +<p>Cavour's lucid exposition of the internal affairs of Italy brought out +the condemnation of the Russian and Prussian envoys as well as that of +the English ministry, and led to their expostulation with the Austrian +government. But all in vain. Austria would listen to no advice, and +blindly pursued her oppressive policy, to the exasperation of the +different leaders whatever may have been their peculiar views of +government. All this prepared the way for the acknowledgment of Sardinia +as the leader in the matter of Italian emancipation, whom the other +Italian States were willing to follow. The hopes of the Italians were +now turned to the House of Savoy, to its patriotic chief, and to its +able minister, whose counsels Victor Emmanuel in most cases followed. +From this time the republican societies which Mazzini had established +lost ground before the ascendency which Cavour had acquired in Italian +politics. Of the Western Powers, he would have preferred an alliance +with Great Britain; but when he found he could expect from the English +government no assistance by arms against Austria, he drew closer to the +French emperor as the one power alone from whom efficient aid was to be +obtained, and set his sharp wits at work to make such a course both easy +and profitable to France.</p> + +<p>There is reason to believe that Louis Napoleon was sincere in his desire +to assist the Italians in shaking off the yoke of Austria, to the extent +that circumstances should warrant. Whatever were his political crimes, +his personal sympathies were with Italy. His youthful alliance with the +Carbonari, his early political theories, the antecedents of his family, +and his natural wish for the close union of the Latin races seem to +confirm this view. Moreover, he was now tempted by Cavour with the +cession of Savoy and Nice to France to strengthen his southern +boundaries; and for the possession of these provinces he was willing to +put Victor Emmanuel in the way to obtain as a compensation Venetia and +Lombardy, then held by the iron hand of Austria. This would double the +number of Victor Emmanuel's subjects, and give him the supremacy over +the north of Italy. Cavour easily convinced his master that the +sacrifice of Savoy, the home of his ancestors, though hard to accept, +would make him more powerful than all the other sovereigns of Italy +combined, and would pave the way for the sovereignty of Italy +itself,--the one object which Cavour had most at heart, and to which all +his diplomatic talents were directed.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1858 Napoleon III. invited Cavour to a conference at +Plombières, and thither the Italian statesman repaired; but the results +of the conference were not revealed to the public, or even to the +ministers of Louis Napoleon. Although there were no written engagements, +it was arranged that Sardinia should make war on Austria and that France +should come to her assistance, as the only practicable way for Italy to +shake off the Austrian domination and secure her independence. +Ultimately, not only independence but unity was the supreme aim of +Cavour. For this great end the Italian statesman labored night and day, +under great difficulties, and constant apprehension that something might +happen which would compel the French emperor to break his promises, for +his situation was also critical. But in reality Louis Napoleon desired +war with Austria as much as Cavour, in order to find employment for his +armies, to gain the coveted increase of territory, and to increase his +military prestige.</p> + +<p>Cavour, having completed arrangements with Napoleon III., at once sought +the aid of all the Italian patriots. He secretly sent for Garibaldi, +and unfolded to him his designs on Austria; and also he privately +encouraged those societies which had for their end the deliverance of +Italy. All this he did without the knowledge of the French emperor, who +equally disliked Garibaldi and Mazzini.</p> + +<p>At this time Garibaldi was one of the foremost figures in the field of +Italian politics, and, to introduce him, we must go back to an earlier +day. Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in 1807, at Nice, of humble parents, +who were seafaring people. Although he was a wild youth, full of deeds +of adventure and daring, he was destined by his priest-ridden father for +the Church; but the boy's desire for a sailor's life could not be +resisted. At the age of twenty-one he was second in command of a brig +bound for the Black Sea, which was plundered three times during the +voyage by Greek pirates. This misfortune left the young Garibaldi +utterly destitute; but his wants being relieved by a generous +Englishman, he was enabled to continue his voyage to Constantinople, +where he was taken sick.</p> + +<p>In 1834 he was induced to take part in the revolutionary movement which +was going on under Mazzini, who had instituted his Society of Young +Italy. On the failure of Mazzini in the rash affair of St. Julien,--an +ill-timed insurrection in which Garibaldi took part,--the young sailor +fled in disguise to Nice, and thence to Marseilles. Charles Albert was +then on the throne of Sardinia, and though the most liberal sovereign in +Italy, was tyrannical in his measures. Ferdinand II. ruled at Naples +with a rod of iron; the Pontifical States and the Duchies of Modena and +Parma were equally under despotic governments, while Venice and Lombardy +were ground down by Austria.</p> + +<p>In those days of discouragement, when all Italy was enslaved, Garibaldi +left his country with a heavy heart, and sailing for South America, +entered the service of the Republic of Rio Grande, which had set itself +up against the authority of the Emperor of Brazil. In this struggle of a +little State against a larger one, Garibaldi distinguished himself not +only for his bravery but for his military talent of leadership. He took +several prizes as a privateer, but was wounded in some engagement, and +fled to Gualeguay, where he was thrown into prison, from which he made +his escape, and soon after renewed his seafaring adventures, some of +which were marvellous. After six years of faithful service to the +Republic of Rio Grande, he bought a drove of nine hundred cattle, and +set out for Montevideo with his Brazilian wife and child, to try a +mercantile career. This was unsuccessful. He then became a schoolmaster +at Montevideo, but soon tired of so monotonous a calling. Craving war +and adventure, he buckled on his sword once more in the struggle +between Montevideo and Buenos Ayres; and for his gallantry and successes +he was made a general, but refused all compensation for his services, +and remained in poverty, which he seemed to love as much as some love +riches. The reputation which he gained drew a number of Italians to his +standard, resolved to follow his fortunes.</p> + +<p>In the meantime great things were doing in Piedmont towards reform by +the Marquis D'Azeglio,--prime minister of Charles Albert,--who was then +irretrievably devoted to the liberal cause. Every mail brought to +Montevideo news which made Garibaldi's blood boil, and he resolved to +return to Italy and take part in the movements of the patriots. This was +in 1848, when not only Italy but all Europe was shaken by revolutionary +ideas. He landed in Nice on the 24th of June, and at once went to the +camp of Charles Albert, sought an interview, and offered his services, +which, however, were not accepted,--the king having not forgotten that +Garibaldi was once a rebel against him, and was still an outlaw.</p> + +<p>Nothing remained for the adventurous patriot but to continue an inactive +spectator or throw in his lot with the republican party. He did not wait +long to settle that question, but flew to Milan and organized a force of +thirty thousand volunteers for the defence of that city from the +Austrians. On the conclusion of an armistice, which filled him with +detestation of Charles Albert, he and Mazzini, who had joined the corps, +undertook to harass the Austrians among the mountains above Lake +Maggiore. Finding it impossible to make head against the Austrians in +the midst of their successes, Garibaldi retired to Switzerland, where he +lay ill for some time with a dangerous fever. On his recovery he started +for Venice with two hundred and fifty volunteers, to join Daniele Manin +in his memorable resistance to the Austrians; but hearing at Ravenna +that a rebellion had broken out in Rome, he bent his course to the +"Eternal City," to swell with fifteen hundred men the ranks of the +rebellious subjects of the Pope,--for Pius IX. had repudiated the +liberal principles which he had professed at the beginning of his reign.</p> + +<p>When the rebellion broke out in Rome the Pope fled to Gaeta, and put +himself under the protection of the King of Naples. A Constituent +Assembly was called, in which both Mazzini and Garibaldi sat as members. +Garibaldi was intrusted with the defence of the city; a triumvirate was +formed--of which Mazzini was the inspiring leader--to administer +affairs, and the temporal government of the Pope was decreed by the +Assembly to be at an end.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Louis Napoleon, then President of the French Republic, +against all his antecedents, sided against the Liberals, and sent +General Oudinot with a large army to restore the papal power at Rome. +This general was at first defeated, but, on the arrival of +reinforcements, he gradually gained possession of the city. The +resistance was valiant but useless. In vain Mazzini promised assistance; +in vain Garibaldi, in his red shirt and cap, defended the ramparts. On +the 21st of June the French effected a breach in the city wall and +planted their batteries, and on the 30th of June they made their final +assault. Further resistance became hopeless; and Garibaldi, at the head +of four thousand fugitives, leaving the city as the French entered it, +again became a wanderer.</p> + +<p>He first made his way to Tuscany, but at Arezzo found the gates closed +against him. Hotly pursued by Austrian troops he crossed the Apennines, +and sought the shelter of the little republic of San Marino, the +authorities of which, in fear of the Austrians, refused him the refuge +he sought, but in full sympathy with his cause connived at his escape. +As Venice still held out under Manin, Garibaldi made his way to the +Adriatic,--accompanied by his wife, the faithful Anita, about to become +a mother,--where he and some of his followers embarked in some +fishing-boats and reached the mouth of the Po, still hounded by the +Austrians. He and his sick wife and a few followers were obliged to +hide in cornfields, among rocks, and in caverns. On the shores of the +Adriatic Anita expired in the arms of her husband, who, still hunted, +contrived to reach Ravenna, where for a while he was hidden by friends.</p> + +<p>It was now useless to proceed to Venice, at this time in the last gasp +of her struggle; so Garibaldi made his way to Spezzia, on the Gulf of +Genoa, with a single companion-in-arms, but learned that Florence was +not prepared for rebellion. The government of Turin, fearing to allow so +troublesome a guest to remain at Genoa, held him for a while in +honorable captivity, but permitted him to visit his aged mother and his +three children at Nice. On his return to Genoa, the government politely +requested him to leave Italy. He passed over to the island of Sardinia, +still hunted and half a bandit, wandering over the mountains, and, when +hard pressed, retiring to the small island-rock of Caprera.</p> + +<p>Eventually, finding no hopes of further rising in Italy, Garibaldi found +his way to Liverpool, and embarked for New York. Arriving in that city +he refused to be lionized, and also declined all contributions of money +from admirers, but supported himself for eighteen months by making +tallow candles on Staten Island. At the same time French exiles were +seeking to gain a living in New York,--Ledru Rollin as a store porter, +Louis Blanc as a dancing-master, and Felix Pyat as a scene-shifter. Not +succeeding very well in making candles, Garibaldi went again to South +America, and became captain of a trading-vessel plying between China and +Peru, and then again of a vessel between New York and England. In 1854 +he was once more in Genoa, and after cruising about the Mediterranean, +he had amassed money enough to buy a portion of the island of Caprera, +where he found a resting-place.</p> + +<p>Sardinia was then under the guidance of Cavour, who was meditating the +gaining of friendship from France by furnishing troops for the Crimean +war. The moderate Liberal party had the ascendency in Italy, convinced +that all hopes for the regeneration of their country rested on +constitutional measures. Venice and Lombardy had settled down once more +in subjection to Austria; the Pope reigned as a temporal prince with the +assistance of French troops; and at Naples a Bourbon despot had +re-established his tyrannical rule.</p> + +<p>For ten years Garibaldi led a quiet life at Caprera, the whole island, +fifteen miles in circumference, near the coast of Sardinia, having +fallen into his possession. Here he cultivated a small garden redeemed +from the rocks, and milked a few cows. He had also some fine horses +given to him by friends, and his house was furnished in the most simple +manner. On this island, monarch of all he surveyed, he diffused an +unostentatious but generous hospitality; for many distinguished persons +came to visit him, and he amused himself by writing letters and +attempting some literary work.</p> + +<p>In 1859, under the manipulation of Cavour, French and Italian politics +became more and more intertwined,--the war with Austria, the formation +of an Italian kingdom from the Alps to the Adriatic, the cession of Nice +and Savoy and the marriage of Princess Clotilde to Prince Napoleon being +the main objects which occupied the mind of Cavour. Early in the year +Victor Emmanuel made public his intention of aiding Venice and Lombardy +to throw off the Austrian yoke. It was then that the all-powerful +Italian statesman sent for Garibaldi, who at once obeyed the summons, +appearing in his red blouse and with his big stick, and was commissioned +to fight against the Austrians. Volunteers from all parts of Italy +flocked to his standard,--some four thousand disorderly troops, but +devoted to him and to the cause of Italian independence. He held a +regular commission in the allied armies of France and Sardinia, but was +so hampered by jealous generals that Victor Emmanuel--dictator as well +as king--gave him permission to quit the regular army, go where he +liked, and fight as he pleased. With his volunteers Garibaldi performed +many acts of bravery which won for him great <i>éclat</i>; but he made many +military mistakes. Once he came near being captured with all his men; +but fortune favored, and he almost miraculously escaped from the hands +of the Austrians. The scene of his exploits was in the mountainous +country around Lake Como.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the allied armies had defeated the Austrians at Magenta and +Solferino, and Louis Napoleon had effected the celebrated treaty with +Austria at Villa-Franca, arranging for a confederation of all the +Italian States under the Papal Protectorate, and the cession of Lombardy +to Sardinia. This inconclusive result greatly disgusted all the Italian +patriots. Cavour resigned at once, but soon after was induced to resume +his post at the head of affairs. Venice and Verona were still in +Austrian hands. As the Prussians showed signs of uneasiness, it is +probable that Louis Napoleon did not feel justified in continuing the +war, in which he had nothing further to gain; at all events, he now +withdrew. Garibaldi was exceedingly indignant at the desertion of +France, and opposed bitterly the cession of Nice and Savoy,--by which he +was brought in conflict with Cavour, who felt that Italy could well +afford to part with a single town and a barren strip of mountain +territory for the substantial advantages it had already gained by the +defeat of the Austrian armies.</p> + +<p>The people of the Italian States, however, repudiated the French +emperor's arrangements for them, and one by one Modena, Tuscany, Parma, +and the Romagna,--the upper tier of the Papal States,--formally voted +for annexation to the Kingdom of Sardinia; and the king, nothing loath, +received them into his fold in March, 1860. This result was in great +measure due to the Baron Ricasoli of Tuscany, an independent +country-gentleman and wine-grower, who had taken active interest in +politics, and had been made Dictator of Tuscany when her grand duke fled +at the outbreak of the war. Ricasoli obstinately refused either to +recall the grand duke or to submit to the Napoleonic programme, but +insisted on annexation to Sardinia; and the other duchies followed.</p> + +<p>Garibaldi now turned his attention to the liberation of Naples and +Sicily from the yoke of Ferdinand, which had become intolerable. As +early as 1851, Mr. Gladstone, on a visit to Naples, wrote to Lord +Aberdeen that the government of Ferdinand was "an outrage on religion, +civilization, humanity, and decency." He had found the prisons full of +state prisoners in the vilest condition, and other iniquities which were +a disgrace to any government. The people had attempted by revolution +again and again to shake off the accursed yoke, and had failed. Their +only hope was from without.</p> + +<p>It was the combined efforts of three men that freed Southern Italy from +the yoke,--Mazzini, who opened the drama by recognizing in Sicily a +fitting field of action; Cavour, by his diplomatic intrigues; and +Garibaldi, by his bold and even rash enterprises. The patriotism of +these three men is universally conceded; but they held one another in +distrust and dislike, although in different ways they worked for the +same end. Mazzini wanted to see a republican form of government +established throughout Italy, which Cavour regarded as chimerical. +Garibaldi did not care what government was established, provided Italy +was free and united. Cavour, though he disapproved the rashness of +Garibaldi, was willing to make use of him provided he was not intrusted +with too high a command. Moreover, there were mutual jealousies, each +party wishing to get the supreme direction of affairs.</p> + +<p>The first step was taken in 1860 by Garibaldi, in his usual fashion. +Having gathered about a thousand men, he set sail from Genoa to take +part in the Sicilian revolution. Cavour, when he heard of the +expedition, or rather raid, led by Garibaldi upon Sicily in aid of the +insurrectionists, ostensibly opposed it, and sent an admiral to capture +him and bring him back to Turin; but secretly he favored it. The +government of Turin held aloof from the expedition out of regard to +foreign Powers, who were indignant that the peace of Europe should be +disturbed by a military adventurer,--in their eyes, half-bandit and +half-sailor. Lord John Russell, however, in England, gave his +encouragement and assistance by the directions given to Admiral Mundy, +who interposed his ships between the Neapolitan cruisers and the +soldiers of Garibaldi, then marching on the coast. France remained +neutral; Austria had been crippled; and Prussia and Russia were too +distant to care much about a matter which did not affect them.</p> + +<p>So, with his troop of well-selected men, Garibaldi succeeded in landing +on the Sicilian shores. He at once issued his manifesto to the people, +and soon had the satisfaction to see his forces increased. He first came +in contact with the Neapolitan troops among the mountains at Calatafimi, +and defeated them, so that they retired to Palermo. The capital of +Sicily could have been easily defended; but, aided by a popular +uprising, Garibaldi was soon master of the city, and took up his +quarters in the royal palace as Dictator of Sicily, where he lived very +quietly, astonishing the viceroy's servants by his plain dinners of soup +and vegetables without wine. His wardrobe was then composed "of two +pairs of gray trousers, an old felt hat, two red shirts, and a few +pocket-handkerchiefs."</p> + +<p>On the 17th of July, 1860, Garibaldi left Palermo, and embarked for +Milazzo, on the northwest coast of Sicily, where he gained another +victory, which opened to him the city of Messina. The Neapolitan +government deemed all further resistance on the island of Sicily +useless, and recalled its troops for the defence of Naples. At Messina, +Garibaldi was joined by Father Gavazzi, the finest orator of Italy, who +had seceded from the Romish Church, and who threw his whole soul into +the cause of Italian independence. Garibaldi now had a force of +twenty-five thousand men under his orders, and prepared to invade the +peninsula.</p> + +<p>On the 17th of August he landed at Taormina with a part of his army, and +marched on Reggio, a strong castle, which he took by assault. This +success gave him a basis of operations on the main land. The residue of +his troops were brought over from Messina, and his triumphal march to +Naples immediately followed, not a hand being raised against him. The +young king Francis II. fled as the conqueror approached,--or rather I +should say, deliverer; for Garibaldi had no hard battles to fight when +once he had landed on the shores of Italy. His popularity was so great, +and the enthusiasm of the people was so unbounded, that armies melted +away or retired as he approached with his Calabrian sugar-loaf hat; and, +instead of fighting, he was obliged to go through the ordeal of kissing +all the children and being hugged by all the women.</p> + +<p>Naples was now without a government, and Garibaldi had no talent for +organization. The consequence was that the city was torn by factions, +and yet Garibaldi refused to adopt vigorous measures. "I am grieved," he +said, "at the waywardness of my children," yet he took no means to +repress disorders. He even reaped nothing but ingratitude from those he +came to deliver. Not a single Garibaldian was received into a private +house, while three thousand of his men were lying sick and wounded on +the stones of the Jesuit College. How was it to be expected that +anything else could happen among a people so degraded as the +Neapolitans, one hundred years behind the people of North Italy in +civilization, in intelligence, in wealth, and in morals,--in everything +that qualifies a people for liberty or self-government?</p> + +<p>In the midst of the embarrassments which perplexed and surrounded the +dictator, Mazzini made his appearance at Naples. Garibaldi, however, +would have nothing to do with the zealous republican, and held his lot +with the royalists, as he was now the acknowledged representative of the +Sardinian government. Mazzini was even requested to leave Italy, which +he refused to do. Whether it was from jealousy that Garibaldi held aloof +from Mazzini,--vastly his intellectual superior,--or from the conviction +that his republican ideas were utterly impracticable, cannot be known. +We only know that he sought to unite the north and the south of Italy +under one government, as a preparation for the conquest of central +Italy, which he was impatient to undertake at all hazards.</p> + +<p>At last the King of Naples prepared to make one decisive struggle for +his throne. From his retreat at Gaeta he rallied his forces, which were +equal to those of Garibaldi,--about forty thousand men. On the 1st of +October was fought the battle of Volturno, as to which Garibaldi, after +fierce fighting, was enabled to send his exultant dispatch, "Complete +victory along the whole line!" Francis II. retired to his strong +fortress of Gaeta to await events.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, on the news of Garibaldi's successes, King Victor Emmanuel +set out from Turin with a large army to take possession of the throne of +Naples, which Garibaldi was ready to surrender. But the king must needs +pass through the States of the Church,--a hazardous undertaking, since +Rome was under the protection of the French troops. Louis Napoleon had +given an ambiguous assent to this movement, which, however, he declined +to assist; and, defeating the papal troops under General Lamoricière, +Victor Emmanuel pushed on to Naples. As the King of Piedmont advanced +from the north, he had pretty much the same experience that Garibaldi +had in his march from the south. He met with no serious resistance. On +passing the Neapolitan frontier he was met by Garibaldi with his staff, +who laid down his dictatorship at his sovereign's feet,--the most heroic +and magnanimous act of his life. This was also his proudest hour, since +he had accomplished his purpose. He had freed Naples, and had united the +South with the North. On the 10th of October the people of the Two +Sicilies voted to accept the government of Victor Emmanuel; and the king +entered Naples, November 7, in all the pomp of sovereignty.</p> + +<p>Garibaldi's task was ended on surrendering his dictatorship; but he had +one request to make of Victor Emmanuel, to whom he had given a throne. +He besought him to dismiss Cavour, and to be himself allowed to march on +Rome,--for he hated the Pope with terrible hatred, and called him +Antichrist, both because he oppressed his subjects and was hostile to +the independence of Italy. But Victor Emmanuel could not grant such an +absurd request,--he was even angry; and the Liberator of Naples retired +to his island-home with only fifteen shillings in his pocket!</p> + +<p>This conduct on the part of the king may seem like ingratitude; but what +else could he do? He doubtless desired that Rome should be the capital +of his dominions as much as Garibaldi himself, but the time had not +come. Victor Emmanuel could not advance on Rome and Venice with an "army +of red shirts;" he could not overcome the armed veterans of Austria and +France as Garibaldi had prevailed over the discontented troops of +Francis II.,--he must await his opportunity. Besides, he had his hands +full to manage the affairs of Naples, where every element of anarchy had +accumulated.</p> + +<p>To add to the embarrassments of Victor Emmanuel, he was compelled to +witness the failing strength and fatal illness of his prime minister. +The great statesman was dying from overwork. Although no man in Europe +was capable of such gigantic tasks as Cavour assumed, yet even he had to +succumb to the laws of nature. He took no rest and indulged in no +pleasures, but devoted himself body and soul to the details of his +office and the calls of patriotism. He had to solve the most difficult +problems, both political and commercial. He was busy with the finances +of the kingdom, then in great disorder; and especially had he to deal +with the blended ignorance, tyranny, and corruption that the Bourbon +kings of Naples had bequeathed to the miserable country which for more +than a century they had so disgracefully misgoverned. All this was too +much for the overworked statesman, who was always at his post in the +legislative chamber, in his office with his secretaries, and in the +council chamber of the cabinet. He died in June, 1861, and was buried, +not in a magnificent mausoleum, but among his family relations +at Santena.</p> + +<p>Cavour did not, however, pass away until he saw the union of all +Italy--except Venice and Rome--under the sceptre of Victor Emmanuel. +Lombardy had united with Piedmont soon after the victory at Solferino, +by the suffrages of its inhabitants. At Turin, deputies from the States +of Italy,--except Venice and Rome,--chosen by the people, assembled, and +formally proclaimed Italy to be free. The population of four millions, +which comprised the subjects of Victor Emmanuel on his accession to the +throne, had in about thirteen years increased to twenty-two millions; +and in February, 1861, Victor Emmanuel was by his Senate and Chamber of +Deputies proclaimed King of Italy, although he wisely forbore any +attempt actually to annex the Venetian and Papal States.</p> + +<p>Rome and Venice were still outside. The Pope remained inflexible to any +reforms, any changes, any improvements. <i>Non possumus</i> was all that he +deigned to say to the ambassadors who advised concessions. On the 7th of +September, 1860, Victor Emmanuel sent an envoy to Rome to demand from +his Holiness the dismissal of his foreign troops; which demand was +refused. Upon this, the king ordered an army to enter the papal +provinces of Umbria and the Marches. In less than three weeks the +campaign was over, and General Lamoricière, who commanded the papal +troops, was compelled to surrender. Austria, Prussia, and Russia +protested; but Victor Emmanuel paid little heed to the protest, or to +the excommunications which were hurled against him. The Emperor of the +French found it politic to withdraw his ambassador from Turin, but +adhered to his policy of non-intervention, and remained a quiet +spectator. The English government, on the other hand, justified the +government of Turin in thus freeing Italian territory from +foreign troops.</p> + +<p>Garibaldi was not long contented with his retirement at Caprera. In +July, 1862, he rallied around him a number of followers, determined to +force the king's hand, and to complete the work of unity by advancing on +Rome as he had on Naples. His rashness was opposed by the Italian +government,--wisely awaiting riper opportunity,--who sent against him +the greatest general of Italy (La Marmora), and Garibaldi was taken +prisoner at Aspromonte. The king determined to do nothing further +without the support of the representatives of the nation, but found it +necessary to maintain a large army, which involved increased +taxation,--to which, however, the Italians generously submitted.</p> + +<p>In 1866, while Austria was embroiled with Prussia, Victor Emmanuel, +having formed an alliance with the Northern Powers, invaded Venetia; and +in the settlement between the two German Powers the Venetian province +fell to the King of Italy.</p> + +<p>In 1867 Garibaldi made another attempt on Rome, but was arrested near +Lake Thrasimene and sent back to Caprera. Again he left his island, +landed on the Tuscan coast, and advanced to Rome with his body of +volunteers, and was again defeated and sent back to Caprera. The +government dealt mildly with this prince of filibusters, in view of his +past services and his unquestioned patriotism. His errors were those of +the head and not of the heart. He was too impulsive, too impatient, and +too rash in his schemes for Italian liberty.</p> + +<p>It was not until Louis Napoleon was defeated at Sedan that the French +troops were withdrawn from Rome, and the way was finally opened for the +occupation of the city by the troops of Victor Emmanuel in 1870. A Roman +plebiscite had voted for the union of all Italy under the constitutional +rule of the House of Savoy. From 1859 to 1865 the capital of the kingdom +had been Turin, the principal city of Piedmont; with the enlargement of +the realm the latter year saw the court removed to Florence, in Tuscany; +but now that all the States were united under one rule, Rome once again, +after long centuries had passed, became the capital of Italy, and the +temporal power of the Pope passed away forever.</p> + +<p>On the fall of Napoleon III. in 1870 Italian nationality was +consummated, and Victor Emmanuel reigned as a constitutional monarch +over united Italy. To his prudence, honesty, and good sense, the +liberation of Italy was in no small degree indebted. He was the main +figure in the drama of Italian independence, if we except Cavour, whose +transcendent abilities were devoted to the same cause for which Mazzini +and Garibaldi less discreetly labored. It is remarkable that such great +political changes were made with so little bloodshed. Italian unity was +effected by constitutional measures, by the voice of the people, and by +fortunate circumstances more than by the sword. The revolutions which +seated the King of Piedmont on the throne of United Italy were +comparatively bloodless. Battles indeed were fought during the whole +career of Victor Emmanuel, and in every part of Italy; but those of much +importance were against the Austrians,--against foreign domination. The +civil wars were slight and unimportant compared with those which ended +in the expulsion of Austrian soldiers from the soil of Italy. The civil +wars were mainly popular insurrections, being marked by neither cruelty +nor fanaticism; indeed, they were the uprising of the people against +oppression and misrule. The iron heel which had for so many years +crushed the aspirations of the citizens of Venice, of Milan, and Rome, +was finally removed only by the successive defeats of Austrian armies +by Prussia and France.</p> + +<p>Although the political unity and independence of Italy have been +effected, it is not yet a country to be envied. The weight of taxation +to support the government is an almost intolerable burden. No country in +the world is so heavily taxed in proportion to its resources and +population. Great ignorance is still the misfortune of Italy, especially +in the central and southern provinces. Education is at a low ebb, and +only a small part of the population can even read and write, except in +Piedmont. The spiritual despotism of the Pope still enslaves the bulk of +the people, who are either Roman Catholics with mediaeval superstitions, +or infidels with hostility to all religion based on the Holy Scriptures. +Nothing there as yet flourishes like the civilization of France, +Germany, and England.</p> + +<p>And yet it is to be hoped that a better day has dawned on a country +endeared to Christendom for its glorious past and its classic +associations. It is a great thing that a liberal and enlightened +government now unites all sections of the country, and that a +constitutional monarch, with noble impulses, reigns in the "Eternal +City," rather than a bigoted ecclesiastical pontiff averse to all +changes and improvements, having nothing in common with European +sovereigns but patronage of art, which may be Pagan in spirit rather +than Christian. The great drawback to Italian civilization at present is +the foolish race of the nation with great military monarchies in armies +and navies, which occupies the energies of the country, rather than a +development of national resources in commerce, agriculture, and the +useful arts.</p> + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>Alison's History of Europe; Lives of Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi; Fyffe's +Modern Europe; Mackenzie's History of the Nineteenth Century; Biography +of Marshal Radetsky; Annual Register; Biography of Charles Albert; +Ellesmere, as quoted by Alison; Memoirs of Prince Metternich; Carlo +Botta's History of Italy.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CZAR_NICHOLAS."></a>CZAR NICHOLAS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1796-1855.</p> + +<p>THE CRIMEAN WAR.</p> + +<p>For centuries before the Russian empire was consolidated by the wisdom, +the enterprise, and the conquests of Peter the Great, the Russians cast +longing eyes on Constantinople as the prize most precious and most +coveted in their sight.</p> + +<p>From Constantinople, the capital of the Greek empire when the Turks were +a wandering and unknown Tartar tribe in the northern part of Asia, had +come the religion that was embraced by the ancient czars and the +Slavonic races which they ruled. To this Greek form of Christianity the +Russians were devotedly attached. They were semi-barbarians, and yet +bigoted Christians. In the course of centuries their priests came to +possess immense power,--social and political, as well as ecclesiastical. +The Patriarch of Moscow was the second personage of the empire, and the +third dignitary in the Greek Church. Religious forms and dogmas bound +the Russians with the Greek population of the Turkish empire in the +strongest ties of sympathy and interest, even when that empire was in +the height of its power. To get possession of those principalities under +Turkish dominion in which the Greek faith was the prevailing religion +had been the ambition of all the czars who reigned either at Moscow or +at St. Petersburg. They aimed at a protectorate over the Christian +subjects of the Porte in Eastern Europe; and the city where reigned the +first Christian emperor of the old Roman world was not only sacred in +their eyes, and had a religious prestige next to that of Jerusalem, but +was looked upon as their future and certain possession,--to be obtained, +however, only by bitter and sanguinary wars.</p> + +<p>Turkey, in a religious point of view, was the certain and inflexible +enemy of Russia,--so handed down in all the traditions and teachings of +centuries. To erect again on the lofty dome of St. Sophia the cross, +which had been torn down by Mohammedan infidels, was probably one of the +strongest desires of the Russian nation; and this desire was shared in a +still stronger degree by all the Russian monarchs from the time of Peter +the Great, most of whom were zealous defenders of what they called the +Orthodox faith. They remind us of the kings of the Middle Ages in the +interest they took in ecclesiastical affairs, in their gorgeous +religious ceremonials, and in their magnificent churches, which it was +their pride to build. Alexander I. was, in his way, one of the most +religious monarchs who ever swayed a sceptre,--more like an ancient +Jewish king than a modern political sovereign.</p> + +<p>But there was another powerful reason why the Russian czars cast their +wistful glance on the old capital of the Greek emperors, and resolved +sooner or later to add it to their dominions, already stretching far +into the east,--and this was to get possession of the countries which +bordered on the Black Sea, in order to have access to the Mediterranean. +They wanted a port for the southern provinces of their empire,--St. +Petersburg was not sufficient, since the Neva was frozen in the +winter,--but Poland (a powerful kingdom in the seventeenth century) +stood in their way; and beyond Poland were the Ukraine Cossacks and the +Tartars of the Crimea. These nations it was necessary to conquer before +the Muscovite banners could float on the strongholds which controlled +the Euxine. It was not until after a long succession of wars that Peter +the Great succeeded, by the capture of Azof, in gaining a temporary +footing on the Euxine,--lost by the battle of Pruth, when the Russians +were surrounded by the Turks. The reconquest of Azof was left to Peter's +successors; but the Cossacks and Tartars barred the way to the Euxine +and to Constantinople. It was not until the time of Catherine II. that +the Russian armies succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the Euxine by +the conquest of the Crimea, which then belonged to Turkey, and was +called Crim Tartary. The treaties of 1774 and 1792 gave to the Russians +the privilege of navigating the Black Sea, and indirectly placed under +the protectorate of Russia the territories of Moldavia and +Wallachia,--provinces of Turkey, called the Danubian principalities, +whose inhabitants were chiefly of the Greek faith.</p> + +<p>Thus was Russia aggrandized during the reign of Catherine II., who not +only added the Crimea to her dominions,--an achievement to which Peter +the Great aspired in vain,--but dismembered Poland, and invaded Persia +with her armies. "Greece, Roumelia, Thessaly, Macedonia, Montenegro, and +the islands of the Archipelago swarmed with her emissaries, who preached +rebellion against the hateful Crescent, and promised Russian support, +Russian money, and Russian arms." These promises however were not +realized, being opposed by Austria,--then virtually ruled by Prince +Kaunitz, who would not consent to the partition of Poland without the +abandonment of the ambitious projects of Catherine, incited by Prince +Potemkin, the most influential of her advisers and favorites. She had to +renounce all idea of driving the Turks out of Turkey and founding a +Greek empire ruled over by a Russian grand duke. She was forced also to +abandon her Greek and Slavonic allies, and pledge herself to maintain +the independence of Wallachia and Moldavia. Eight years later, in 1783, +the Tartars lost their last foothold in the Crimea by means of a +friendly alliance between Catherine and the Austrian emperor Joseph II., +the effect of which was to make the Russians the masters of the +Black Sea.</p> + +<p>Catherine II., of German extraction, is generally regarded as the ablest +female sovereign who has reigned since Semiramis, with the exception +perhaps of Maria Theresa of Germany and Elizabeth of England; but she +was infinitely below these princesses in moral worth,--indeed, she was +stained by the grossest immoralities that can degrade a woman. She died +in 1796, and her son Paul succeeded her,--a prince whom his imperial +mother had excluded from all active participation in the government of +the empire because of his mental imbecility, or partial insanity. A +conspiracy naturally was formed against him in such unsettled times,--it +was at the height of Napoleon's victorious career,--resulting in his +assassination, and his son Alexander I. reigned in his stead.</p> + +<p>Alexander was twenty-four when, in 1801, he became the autocrat of all +the Russias. His reign is familiar to all the readers of the wars of +Napoleon, during which Russia settled down as one of the great Powers. +At the Congress of Vienna in 1814 the duchy of Warsaw, comprising +four-fifths of the ancient kingdom of Poland, was assigned to Russia. +During fifty years Russia had been gaining possession of new +territory,--of the Crimea in 1783, of Georgia in 1785, of Bessarabia and +a part of Moldavia in 1812. Alexander added to the empire several of the +tribes of the Caucasus, Finland, and large territories ceded by Persia. +After the fall of Napoleon, Alexander did little to increase the +boundaries of his empire, confining himself, with Austria and Prussia, +to the suppression of revolutionary principles in Europe, the weakening +of Turkey, and the extension of Russian influence in Persia. In the +internal government of his empire he introduced many salutary changes, +especially in the early part of his reign; but after Napoleon's final +defeat, his views gradually changed. The burdens of absolute government, +disappointments, the alienation of friends, and the bitter experiences +which all sovereigns must learn soured his temper, which was naturally +amiable, and made him a prey to terror and despondency. No longer was he +the frank, generous, chivalrous, and magnanimous prince who had called +out general admiration, but a disappointed, suspicious, terrified, and +prematurely old man, flying from one part of his dominions to another, +as if to avoid the assassin's dagger. He died in 1825, and was +succeeded by his brother,--the Grand Duke Nicholas.</p> + +<p>The throne, on the principles of legitimacy, properly belonged to his +elder brother,--the Grand Duke Constantine. Whether this prince shrank +from the burdens of governing a vast empire, or felt an incapacity for +its duties, or preferred the post he occupied as Viceroy of Poland or +the pleasures of domestic life with a wife to whom he was devoted, it is +not clear; it is only certain that he had in the lifetime of the late +emperor voluntarily renounced his claim to the throne, and Alexander had +left a will appointing Nicholas as his successor.</p> + +<p>Nicholas had scarcely been crowned (1826) when war broke out between +Russia and Persia; and this was followed by war with Turkey, consequent +upon the Greek revolution. Silistria, a great fortress in Bulgaria, fell +into the hands of the Russians, who pushed their way across the Balkan +mountains and occupied Adrianople. In the meantime General Paskievitch +followed up his brilliant successes in the Asiatic provinces of the +Sultan's dominions by the capture of Erzeroum, and advanced to +Trebizond. The peace of Adrianople, in September, 1829, checked his +farther advances. This famous treaty secured to the Russians extensive +territories on the Black Sea, together with its navigation by Russian +vessels, and the free passage of Russian ships through the Dardanelles +and Bosphorus to the Mediterranean. In addition, a large war indemnity +was granted by Turkey, and the occupancy of Moldavia, Wallachia, and +Silistria until the indemnity should be paid. Moreover, it was agreed +that the hospodars of the principalities should be elected for life, to +rule without molestation from the Porte upon paying a trilling tribute. +A still greater advantage was gained by Russia in the surrender by +Turkey of everything on the left bank of the Danube,--cities, +fortresses, and lands, all with the view to their future annexation +to Russia.</p> + +<p>The territory ceded to Russia by the peace of Adrianople included the +Caucasus,--a mountainous region inhabited by several independent races, +among which were the Circassians, who acknowledged allegiance neither to +Turkey nor Russia. Nicholas at first attempted to gain over the +chieftains of these different nations or tribes by bribes, pensions, +decorations, and military appointments. He finally was obliged to resort +to arms, but without complete success.</p> + +<p>Such, in brief, were the acquisitions of Russia during the reign of +Nicholas down to the time of the Crimean war, which made him perhaps the +most powerful sovereign in the world. As Czar of all the Russias there +were no restraints on his will in his own dominions, and it was only as +he was held in check by the different governments of Europe, jealous of +his encroachments, that he was reminded that he was not omnipotent.</p> + +<p>For fifteen years after his accession to the throne Nicholas had the +respect of Europe. He was moral in his domestic relations, fond of his +family, religious in his turn of mind, bordering on superstition, a +zealot in his defence of the Greek Church, scrupulous in the performance +of his duties, and a man of his word. The Duke of Wellington was his +admiration,--a model for a sovereign to imitate. Nicholas was not so +generous and impulsive as his brother Alexander, but more reliable. In +his personal appearance he made a fine impression,--over six feet in +height, with a frank and open countenance, but not expressive of +intellectual acumen. His will, however, was inflexible, and his anger +was terrible. His passionate temper, which gave way to bursts of wrath, +was not improved by his experiences. As time advanced he withdrew more +and more within himself, and grew fitful and jealous, disinclined to +seek advice, and distrustful of his counsellors; and we can scarcely +wonder at this result when we consider his absolute power and +unfettered will.</p> + +<p>Few have been the kings and emperors who resembled Marcus Aurelius, who +was not only master of the world, but master of himself. Few indeed have +been the despots who have refrained from acts of cruelty, or who have +uniformly been governed by reason. Even in private life, very successful +men have an imperious air, as if they were accustomed to submission and +deference; but a monarch of Russia, how can he be otherwise than +despotic and self-conscious? Everybody he sees, every influence to which +he is subjected, tends to swell his egotism. What changes of character +marked Saul, David, and Solomon! So of Nicholas, as of the ancient +Caesars. With the advance of years and experience, his impatience grew +under opposition and his rage under defeat. No man yet has lived, +however favored, that could always have his way. He has to yield to +circumstances,--not only to those great ones which he may own to have +been determined by Divine Providence, but also to those unforeseen +impediments which come from his humblest instruments. He cannot prevent +deceit, hypocrisy, and treachery on the part of officials, any easier +than one can keep servants from lying and cheating. Who is not in the +power, more or less, of those who are compelled to serve; and when an +absolute monarch discovers that he has been led into mistakes by +treacherous or weak advisers, how natural that his temper should +be spoiled!</p> + +<p>Thus was Nicholas in the latter years of his reign. He was thwarted by +foreign Powers, and deceived by his own instruments of despotic rule. +He found himself only a man, and like other men. He became suspicious, +bitter, and cruel. His pride was wounded by defeat and opposition from +least expected quarters. He found his burdens intolerable to bear. His +cares interfered with what were once his pleasures. The dreadful load of +public affairs, which he could not shake off, weighed down his soul with +anxiety and sorrow. He realized, more than most monarchs, the truth of +one of Shakespeare's incomparable utterances,--</p> + + "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."<br> + +<p>The mistakes and disappointments of the Crimean war finally broke his +heart; and he, armed with more power than any one man in the world, died +with the consciousness of a great defeat.</p> + +<p>It would be interesting to show how seldom the great rulers of this +world have had an unchecked career to the close of their lives. Most of +them have had to ruminate on unexpected falls,--like Napoleon, Louis +Philippe, Metternich, Gladstone, Bismarck,--or on unattained objects of +ambition, like the great statesmen who have aspired to be presidents of +the United States. Nicholas thought that the capital of the "sick man" +was, like ripe fruit, ready to fall into his hands. After one hundred +years of war, Russia discovered that this prize was no nearer her +grasp. Nicholas, at the head of a million of disciplined troops, was +defeated; while his antagonist, the "sick man," could scarcely muster a +fifth part of the number, and yet survived to plague his thwarted will.</p> + +<p>The obstacles to the conquest of Constantinople by Russia are, after +all, very great. There are only three ways by which a Russian general +can gain this coveted object of desire. The one which seems the easiest +is to advance by sea from Sebastopol, through the Black Sea, to the +Bosphorus, with a powerful fleet. But Turkey has or had a fleet of equal +size, while her allies, England and France, can sweep with ease from the +Black Sea any fleet which Russia can possibly collect.</p> + +<p>The ordinary course of Russian troops has been to cross the Pruth, which +separates Russia from Moldavia, and advance through the Danubian +provinces to the Balkans, dividing Bulgaria from Turkey in Europe. Once +the Russian armies succeeded, amid innumerable difficulties, in +conquering all the fortresses in the way, like Silistria, Varna, and +Shumla; in penetrating the mountain passes of the Balkans, and making +their way to Adrianople. But they were so demoralized, or weakened and +broken, by disasters and privations, that they could get no farther than +Adrianople with safety, and their retreat was a necessity. And had the +Balkan passes been properly defended, as they easily could have been, +even a Napoleon could not have penetrated them with two hundred thousand +men, or any army which the Russians could possibly have brought there.</p> + +<p>The third way open to the Russians in their advance to Constantinople is +to march the whole extent of the northern shores of the Black Sea, and +then cross the Caucasian range to the south, and advance around through +Turkey in Asia, its entire width from east to west, amidst a hostile and +fanatical population ready to die for their faith and country,--a way so +beset with difficulties and attended with such vast expense that success +would be almost impossible, even with no other foes than Turks.</p> + +<p>The Emperor Nicholas was by nature stern and unrelenting. He had been +merciless in his treatment of the Poles. When he was friendly, his +frankness had an irresistible charm. During his twenty-seven years on +the throne he had both "reigned and governed." However, he was military, +without being warlike. With no talents for generalship, he bestowed +almost incredible attention upon the discipline of his armies. He +oppressively drilled his soldiers, without knowledge of tactics and +still less of strategy. Half his time was spent in inspecting his +armies. When, in 1828, he invaded Turkey, his organizations broke down +under an extended line of operations. For a long time thereafter he +suffered the Porte to live in repose, not being ready to destroy it, +waiting for his opportunity.</p> + +<p>When the Pasha of Egypt revolted from the Sultan, and his son Ibrahim +seriously threatened the dismemberment of Turkey, England and France +interfered in behalf of Turkey; and in 1840 a convention in London +placed Turkey under the common safeguard of the five great +Powers,--England, France, Prussia, Austria, and Russia,--instead of the +protectorate exercised by Russia alone. After the fall of Hungary, a +number of civil and military leaders took refuge in Turkey, and Russia +and Austria demanded the expulsion of the refugees, which was +peremptorily refused by the Sultan. In consequence, Russia suspended all +diplomatic intercourse with Turkey, and sought a pretext for war. In +1844 the Czar visited England, doubtless with the purpose of winning +over Lord Aberdeen, then foreign secretary, and the Duke of Wellington, +on the ground that Turkey was in a state of hopeless decrepitude, and +must ultimately fall into his hands. In this event he was willing that +England, as a reward for her neutrality, should take possession +of Egypt.</p> + +<p>It is thus probable that the Emperor Nicholas, after the failure of his +armies to reach Constantinople through the Danubian provinces and across +the Balkans, meditated, after twenty years of rest and recuperation, +the invasion of Constantinople by his fleet, which then controlled the +Black Sea.</p> + +<p>But he reckoned without his host. He was deceived by the pacific +attitude of England, then ruled by the cabinet of Lord Aberdeen, who +absolutely detested war. The premier was almost a fanatic in his peace +principles, and was on the most friendly terms with Nicholas and his +ministers. The Czar could not be made to believe that England, under the +administration of Lord Aberdeen, would interfere with his favorite and +deeply meditated schemes of conquest. He saw no obstacles except from +the Turks themselves, timid and stricken with fears; so he strongly +fortified Sebastopol and made it impregnable by the sea, and quietly +gathered in its harbor an immense fleet, with which the Turkish +armaments could not compare. The Turkish naval power had never recovered +from the disaster which followed the battle of Navarino, when their +fleet was annihilated. With a crippled naval power and decline in +military strength, with defeated armies and an empty purse, it seemed to +the Czar that Turkey was crushed in spirit and Constantinople +defenceless; and that impression was strengthened by the representation +of his ambassador at the Porte,--Prince Mentchikof, who almost openly +insulted the Sultan by his arrogance, assumptions, and threats.</p> + +<p>But a very remarkable man happened at that time to reside at +Constantinople as the ambassador of England, one in whom the Turkish +government had great confidence, and who exercised great influence over +it. This man was Sir Stratford Canning (a cousin of the great Canning), +who in 1852 was made viscount, with the title Lord Stratford de +Redcliffe. He was one of the ablest diplomatists then living, or that +England had ever produced, and all his sympathies were on the side of +Turkey. Mentchikof was no match for the astute Englishman, who for some +time controlled the Turkish government, and who baffled all the schemes +of Nicholas.</p> + +<p>England--much as she desired the peace of Europe, and much as Lord +Aberdeen detested war--had no intention of allowing the "sick man" to +fall into the hands of Russia, and through her ambassador at +Constantinople gave encouragement to Turkey to resist the all-powerful +Russia with the secret promise of English protection; and as Lord +Stratford distrusted and disliked Russia, having since 1824 been +personally engaged in Eastern diplomacy and familiar with Russian +designs, he very zealously and with great ability fought the diplomatic +battles of Turkey, and inspired the Porte with confidence in the event +of war. It was by his dexterous negotiations that England was gradually +drawn into a warlike attitude against Russia, in spite of the +resolutions of the English premier to maintain peace at any cost.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the English people, after their long peace of nearly +forty years, were becoming restless in view of the encroachments of +Russia, and were in favor of vigorous measures, even if they should lead +to war. The generation had passed away that remembered Waterloo, so that +public opinion was decidedly warlike, and goaded on the ministry to +measures which materially conflicted with Lord Aberdeen's peace +principles. The idea of war with Russia became popular,--partly from +jealousy of a warlike empire that aspired to the possession of +Constantinople, and partly from the English love of war itself, with its +excitements, after the dulness and inaction of a long period of peace +and prosperity. In 1853 England found herself drifting into war, to the +alarm and disgust of Aberdeen and Gladstone, to the joy of the people +and the satisfaction of Palmerston and a majority of the cabinet.</p> + +<p>The third party to this Crimean contest was France, then ruled by Louis +Napoleon, who had lately become head of the State by a series of +political usurpations and crimes that must ever be a stain on his fame. +Yet he did not feel secure on his throne; the ancient nobles, the +intellect of the country, and the parliamentary leaders were against +him. They stood aloof from his government, regarding him as a traitor +and a robber, who by cunning and slaughter had stolen the crown. He was +supposed to be a man of inferior intellect, whose chief merit was the +ability to conceal his thoughts and hold his tongue, and whose power +rested on the army, the allegiance of which he had seduced by bribes and +promises. Feeling the precariousness of his situation, and the +instability of the people he had deceived with the usual Napoleonic +lies, which he called "ideas," he looked about for something to divert +their minds,--some scheme by which he could gain <i>éclat</i>; and the +difficulties between Russia and Turkey furnished him the occasion he +desired. He determined to employ his army in aid of Turkey. It would be +difficult to show what gain would result to France, for France did not +want additional territory in the East. But a war would be popular, and +Napoleon wanted popularity. Moreover, an alliance with England, +offensive and defensive, to check Russian encroachments, would +strengthen his own position, social as well as political. He needed +friends. It was his aim to enter the family of European monarchs, to be +on a good footing with them, to be one of them, as a legitimate +sovereign. The English alliance might bring Victoria herself to Paris as +his guest. The former prisoner of Ham, whom everybody laughed at as a +visionary or despised as an adventurer, would, by an alliance with +England, become the equal of Queen Victoria, and with infinitely greater +power. She was a mere figure-head in her government, to act as her +ministers directed; he, on the other hand, had France at his feet, and +dictated to his ministers what they should do.</p> + +<p>The parties, then, in the Crimean war were Russia, seeking to crush +Turkey, with France and England coming to the rescue,--ostensibly to +preserve the "balance of power" in Europe.</p> + +<p>But before considering the war itself, we must glance at the +preliminaries,--the movements which took place making war inevitable, +and which furnished the pretext for disturbing the peace of Europe.</p> + +<p>First must be mentioned the contest for the possession of the sacred +shrines in the Holy Land. Pilgrimages to these shrines took place long +before Palestine fell into the hands of the Mohammedans. It was one of +the passions of the Middle Ages, and it was respected even by the Turks, +who willingly entered into the feelings of the Christians coming to +kneel at Jerusalem. Many sacred objects of reverence, if not idolatry, +were guarded by Christian monks, who were permitted by the government to +cherish them in their convents. But the Greek and the Latin convents, +allowed at Jerusalem by the Turkish government, equally aspired to the +guardianship of the Holy Sepulchre and other sacred shrines in +Jerusalem. It rested with the Turkish government to determine which of +the rival churches, Greek or Latin, should have the control of the +shrines, and it was a subject of perpetual controversy,--Russia, of +course, defending the claims of the Greek convents, who at this time had +long been the appointed guardians, and France now taking up those of the +Latin; although Russia was the more earnest in the matter, as holding a +right already allowed.</p> + +<p>The new President of the French republic, in 1851, on the lookout for +subjects of controversy with Russia, had directed his ambassador at +Constantinople to demand from the Porte some almost forgotten grants +made to the Latin Church two or three hundred years before. This demand, +which the Sultan dared not refuse, was followed by the Turks' annulling +certain privileges which had long been enjoyed by the Greek convents; +and thus the ancient dispute was reopened. The Greek Church throughout +Russia was driven almost to frenzy by this act of the Turkish +government. The Czar Nicholas, himself a zealot in religion, was +indignant and furious; but the situation gave him a pretext for insults +and threats that would necessarily lead to war, which he desired as +eagerly as Louis Napoleon. The Porte, embarrassed and wishing for peace, +leaned for advice on the English ambassador, who, as has been said, +promised the mediation of England.</p> + +<p>Then followed a series of angry negotiations and pressure made by Russia +and France alternately on the Sultan in reference to the guardianship of +the shrines,--as to who should possess the key of the chief door of the +Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem and of the church at Bethlehem, Greek or +Latin monks.</p> + +<p>As the pressure made by France was the most potent, the Czar in his rage +ordered one of his <i>corps d'armée</i> to advance to the frontiers of the +Danubian provinces, and another corps to hold itself in +readiness,--altogether a force of one hundred and forty-four thousand +men. The world saw two great nations quarrelling about a key to the door +of a church in Palestine; statesmen saw, on the one hand, the haughty +ambition of Nicholas seeking pretence for a war which might open to him +the gates of Constantinople, and, on the other hand, the schemes of the +French emperor--for the ten-year president elected in 1851 had in just +one year got himself "elected" emperor--to disturb the peace of Europe, +which might end in establishing more securely his own usurpation.</p> + +<p>The warlike attitude of Russia in 1853 alarmed England, who was not +prepared to go to war. As has been said, Mentchikof was no match in the +arts of diplomacy for Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and an angry and +lively war of diplomatic notes passed between them. The Czar discovered +that the English ambassador had more influence with the Porte than +Mentchikof, and became intensely angry. Lord Stratford ferreted out the +schemes of the Czar in regard to the Russian protectorate of the Greek +Church, which was one of his most cherished plans, and bent every energy +to defeat it. He did not care about the quarrels of the Greek and Latin +monks for the guardianship of the sacred shrines; but he did object to +the meditated protectorate of the Czar over the Greek subjects of +Turkey, which, if successful, would endanger the independence of the +Sultan, so necessary for the peace of Europe. All the despatches from. +St. Petersburg breathed impatience and wrath, and Mentchikof found +himself in great difficulties. The Russian ambassador even found means +to have the advantage of a private audience with the Sultan, without the +knowledge of the grand vizier; but the Sultan, though courteous, +remained firm. This ended the mission of the Russian ambassador, foiled +and baffled at every turn; while his imperial master, towering into +passion, lost all the reputation he had gained during his reign for +justice and moderation.</p> + +<p>Within three days of the departure of Prince Mentchikof from +Constantinople, England and France began to concert measures together +for armed resistance to Russia, should war actually break out, which +seemed inevitable, for the Czar was filled with rage; and this in spite +of the fact that within two weeks the Sultan yielded the point as to the +privileges of Greek subjects in his empire,--but beyond that he stood +firm, and appealed to England and France.</p> + +<p>The Czar now meditated the occupation of the Danubian principalities, in +order to enable his armies to march to Constantinople. But Austria and +Prussia would not consent to this, and the Czar found himself opposed +virtually by all Europe. He still labored under the delusion that +England would hold aloof, knowing the peace policy of the English +government under the leadership of Lord Aberdeen. Under this delusion, +and boiling over with anger, he suddenly, without taking counsel of his +ministers or of any living soul, touched a bell in his palace. The +officer in attendance received an order for the army to cross the Pruth. +On the 2d of July, 1853, Russia invaded the principalities. On the +following day a manifesto was read in her churches that the Czar made +war on Turkey in defence of the Greek religion; and all the fanatical +zeal of the Russians was at once excited to go where the Czar might send +them in behalf of their faith. Nothing could be more popular than such +a war.</p> + +<p>But the hostile attitude taken by all Europe on the invasion of the +principalities, and by Austria in particular, was too great an obstacle +for even the Czar of all the Russias to disregard, especially when he +learned that the fleets of France and England were ordered to the +Dardanelles, and that his fleet would be pent up in an inland basin of +the Black Sea. It became necessary for Russia to renew negotiations. At +Vienna a note had been framed between four of the great Powers, by which +it was clear that they would all unite in resisting the Czar, if he did +not withdraw his armies from the principalities. The Porte promptly +determined on war, supported by the advice of a great Council, attended +by one hundred and seventy-two of the foremost men of the empire, and +fifteen days were given to Russia to withdraw her troops from the +principalities. At the expiration of that term, the troops not being +withdrawn, on October 5 war was declared by Turkey.</p> + +<p>The war on the part of Turkey was defensive, necessary, and popular. The +religious sentiment of the whole nation was appealed to, and not in +vain. It is difficult for any nation to carry on a great war unless it +is supported by the people. In Turkey and throughout the scattered +dominions of the Sultan, religion and patriotism and warlike ardor +combined to make men arise by their own free-will, and endure fatigue, +danger, hunger, and privation for their country and their faith. The +public dangers were great; for Russia was at the height of her power and +prestige, and the Czar was known to have a determined will, not to be +bent by difficulties which were not insurmountable.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the preachers of the Orthodox Greek faith were not behind the +Mohammedans in rousing the martial and religious spirit of nearly one +hundred millions of the subjects of the Russian autocrat. In his +proclamation the Czar urged inviolable guaranties in favor of the sacred +rights of the Orthodox Church, and pretended (as is usual with all +parties in going to war) that he was challenged to the fight, and that +his cause was just. He then invoked the aid of Almighty Power. It was +rather a queer thing for a warlike sovereign, entering upon an +aggressive war to gratify ambition, to quote the words of David: "In +thee, O Lord, have I trusted: let me not be confounded forever."</p> + +<p>Urged on and goaded by the French emperor, impatient of delay, and +obtuse to all further negotiations for peace, which Lord Aberdeen still +hoped to secure, the British government at last gave orders for its +fleet to proceed to Constantinople. The Czar, so long the ally of +England, was grieved and indignant at what appeared to him to be a +breach of treaties and an affront to him personally, and determined on +vengeance. He ordered his fleet at Sebastopol to attack a Turkish fleet +anchored near Sinope, which was done Nov. 30, 1853. Except a single +steamer, every one of the Turkish vessels was destroyed, and four +thousand Turks were killed.</p> + +<p>The anger of both the French and English people was now fairly roused by +this disaster, and Lord Aberdeen found himself powerless to resist the +public clamor for war. Lord Palmerston, the most popular and powerful +minister that England had, resigned his seat in the cabinet, and openly +sided with the favorite cause. Lord Aberdeen was compelled now to let +matters take their course, and the English fleet was ordered to the +Black Sea; but war was not yet declared by the Western Powers, since +there still remained some hopes of a peaceful settlement.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Prussia and Austria united in a league, offensive and +defensive, to expel the Russians from the Danubian provinces, which +filled the mind of Nicholas with more grief than anger; for he had +counted on the neutrality of Austria and Prussia, as he had on the +neutrality of England. It was his misfortune to believe what he wished, +rather than face facts.</p> + +<p>On the 27th of March, 1854, however, after a winter of diplomacy and +military threatenings and movements, which effected nothing like a +settlement, France and England declared war against Russia; on the 11th +of April the Czar issued his warlike manifesto, and Europe blazed with +preparations for one of the most needless and wicked contests in modern +times. All parties were to blame; but on Russia the greatest odium rests +for disturbing the peace of Europe, although the Czar at the outset had +no idea of fighting the Western Powers. In a technical point of view the +blame of beginning the dispute which led to the Crimean war rests with +France, for she opened and renewed the question of the guardianship of +the sacred shrines, which had long been under the protection of the +Greek Church; and it was the intrigues of Louis Napoleon which entangled +England. The latter country was also to blame for her jealousy of +Russian encroachments, fearing that they would gradually extend to +English possessions in the East. Had Nicholas known the true state of +English public opinion he might have refrained from actual hostilities; +but he was misled by the fact that Lord Aberdeen had given assurances of +a peace policy.</p> + +<p>Although France and England entered upon the war only with the intention +at first of protecting Turkey, and were mere allies for that purpose, +yet these two Powers soon bore the brunt of the contest, which really +became a strife between Russia on the one side and England and France on +the other. Moreover, instead of merely defending Turkey against Russia, +the allied Powers assumed the offensive, and thus took the +responsibility for all the disastrous consequences of the war.</p> + +<p>The command of the English army had been intrusted to Lord Raglan, once +known as Lord Fitzroy Somerset, who lost an arm at the battle of +Waterloo while on the staff of Wellington; a wise and experienced +commander, but too old for such service as was now expected of him in an +untried field of warfare. Besides, it was a long time since he had seen +active service. When appointed to the command he was sixty-six years +old. From 1827 to 1852 he was military secretary at the Horse +Guards,--the English War Office,--where he was made master-general of +the Ordnance, and soon after became a full general. He was taciturn but +accessible, and had the power of attracting everybody to him; averse to +all show and parade; with an uncommon power for writing both good +English and French,--an accomplished man, from whom much was expected.</p> + +<p>The command of the French forces was given to Marshal Saint-Arnaud, a +bold, gay, reckless, enterprising man, who had distinguished himself in +Algeria as much for his indifference to human life as for his +administrative talents,--ruthless, but not bloodthirsty. He was only +colonel when Fleury, the arch-conspirator and friend of Louis Napoleon, +was sent to Algeria to find some officer of ability who could be bribed +to join in the meditated <i>coup d'état</i>. Saint-Arnaud listened to his +proposals, and was promised the post of minister of war, which would +place the army under his control, for all commanders would receive +orders from him. He was brought to Paris and made minister of war, with +a view to the great plot of the 2d of December, and later was created a +Marshal of France. His poor health (the result of his excesses) made him +unfit to be intrusted with the forces for the invasion of the Crimea; +but his military reputation was better than his moral, and in spite of +his unfitness the emperor--desirous still further to reward his partisan +services--put him in command of the French Crimean forces.</p> + +<p>The first military operations took place on the Danube. The Russians +then occupied the Danubian principalities, and had undertaken the siege +of Silistria, which was gallantly defended by the Turks, before the +allied French and English armies could advance to its relief; but it was +not till the middle of May that the allied armies were in full force, +and took up their position at Varna.</p> + +<p>Nicholas was now obliged to yield. He could not afford to go to war with +Prussia, Austria, France, England, and Turkey together. It had become +impossible for him to invade European Turkey by the accustomed route. +So, under pressure of their assembling forces, he withdrew his troops +from the Danubian provinces, which removed all cause of hostilities from +Prussia and Austria. These two great Powers now left France and England +to support all the burdens of the war. If Prussia and Austria had not +withdrawn from the alliance, the Crimean war would not have taken place, +for Russia would have made peace with Turkey. It was on the 2d of +August, 1854, that the Russians recrossed the Pruth, and the Austrians +took possession of the principalities.</p> + +<p>England might now have withdrawn from the contest but for her alliance +with France,--an entangling alliance, indeed; but Lord Palmerston, +seeing that war was inevitable, withdrew his resignation, and the +British cabinet became a unit, supported by the nation. Lord Aberdeen +still continued to be premier; but Palmerston was now the leading +spirit, and all eyes turned to him. The English people, who had +forgotten what war was, upheld the government, and indeed goaded it on +to war. The one man who did not drift was the secretary for foreign +affairs, Lord Palmerston, who went steadily ahead, and gained his +object,--a check upon Russia's power in the East.</p> + +<p>This statesman was a man of great abilities, with a strong desire for +power under the guise of levity and good-nature. He was far-reaching, +bold, and of concentrated energy; but his real character was not fully +comprehended until the Crimean war, although he was conspicuous in +politics for forty years. His frank utterances, his off-hand manner, his +ready banter, and his joyous eyes captivated everybody, and veiled his +stern purposes. He was distrusted at St. Petersburg because of his +alliance with Louis Napoleon, his hatred of the Bourbons, and his +masking the warlike tendency of the government which he was soon to +lead, for Lord Aberdeen was not the man to conduct a war with Russia.</p> + +<p>At this point, as stated above, the war might have terminated, for the +Russians had abandoned the principalities; but at home the English had +been roused by Louis Napoleon's friends and by the course of events to a +fighting temper, and the French emperor's interests would not let him +withdraw; while in the field neither the Turkish nor French nor English +troops were to be contented with less than the invasion of the Russian +territories. Turkey was now in no danger of invasion by the Russians, +for they had been recalled from the principalities, and the fleets of +England and France controlled the Black Sea. From defensive measures +they turned to offensive.</p> + +<p>The months of July and August were calamitous to the allied armies at +Varna; not from battles, but from pestilence, which was fearful. On the +26th of August it was determined to re-embark the decimated troops, +sail for the Crimea, and land at some place near Sebastopol. The capture +of this fortress was now the objective point of the war. On the 13th of +September the fleets anchored in Eupatoria Bay, on the west coast of the +Crimean peninsula, and the disembarkation of the troops took place +without hindrance from the Russians, who had taken up a strong position +on the banks of the Alma, which was apparently impregnable. There the +Russians, on their own soil and in their intrenched camp, wisely awaited +the advance of their foes on the way to Sebastopol, the splendid +seaport, fortress, and arsenal at the extreme southwestern point of +the Crimea.</p> + +<p>There were now upon the coasts of the Crimea some thirty-seven thousand +French and Turks with sixty-eight pieces of artillery (all under the +orders of Marshal Saint-Arnaud), and some twenty-seven thousand English +with sixty guns,--altogether about sixty-four thousand men and one +hundred and twenty-eight guns. It was intended that the fleets should +follow the march of the armies, in order to furnish the necessary +supplies. The march was perilous, without a base of supplies on the +coast itself, and without a definite knowledge of the number or +resources of the enemy. It required a high order of military genius to +surmount the difficulties and keep up the spirits of the troops. The +French advanced in a line on the coast nearest the sea; the English +took up their line of march towards the south, on the left, farther in +the interior. The French were protected by the fleets on the one hand +and by the English on the other. The English therefore were exposed to +the greater danger, having their entire left flank open to the enemy's +fire. The ground over which the Western armies marched was an undulating +steppe. They marched in closely massed columns, and they marched in +weariness and silence, for they had not recovered from the fatal +pestilence at Varna. The men were weak, and suffered greatly from +thirst. At length they came to the Alma River, where the Russians were +intrenched on the left bank. The allies were of course compelled to +cross the river under the fire of the enemies' batteries, and then +attack their fortified positions, and drive the Russians from +their post.</p> + +<p>All this was done successfully. The battle of the Alma was gained by the +invaders, but only with great losses. Prince Mentchikof, who commanded +the Russians, beheld with astonishment the defeat of the troops he had +posted in positions believed to be secure from capture by assault. The +genius of Lord Raglan, of Saint-Arnaud, of General Bosquet, of Sir Colin +Campbell, of Canrobert, of Sir de Lacy Evans, of Sir George Brown, had +carried the day. Both sides fought with equal bravery, but science was +on the side of the allies. In the battle, Sir Colin Campbell greatly +distinguished himself leading a Highland brigade; also General +Codrington, who stormed the great redoubt, which was supposed to be +impregnable. This probably decided the battle, the details of which it +is not my object to present. Its great peculiarity was that the Russians +fought in solid column, and the allies in extended lines.</p> + +<p>After the day was won, Lord Raglan pressed Saint-Arnaud to the pursuit +of the enemy; but the French general was weakened by illness, and his +energies failed. Had Lord Raglan's counsels been followed, the future +disasters of the allied armies might have been averted. The battle was +fought on the 20th of September; but the allied armies halted on the +Alma until the 23d, instead of pushing on directly to Sebastopol, +twenty-five miles to the south. This long halt was owing to +Saint-Arnaud, who felt it was necessary to embark the wounded on the +ships before encountering new dangers. This refusal of the French +commander to advance directly to the attack of the forts on the north of +Sebastopol was unfortunate, for there would have been but slight +resistance, the main body of the Russians having withdrawn to the south +of the city. All this necessitated a flank movement of the allies, which +was long and tedious, eastward, across the north side of Sebastopol to +the south of it, where the Russians were intrenched. They crossed the +Belbec (a small river) without serious obstruction, and arrived in sight +of Sebastopol, which they were not to enter that autumn as they had +confidently expected. The Russian to whom the stubborn defence of +Sebastopol was indebted more than to any other man,--Lieut.-Colonel +Todleben,--had thoroughly and rapidly fortified the city on the north +after the battle of the Alma.</p> + +<p>It was the opinion of Todleben himself, afterward expressed,--which was +that of Lord Raglan, and also of Sir Edmund Lyons, commanding the +fleet,--that the Star Fort which defended Sebastopol on the north, +however strong, was indefensible before the forces that the allies could +have brought to bear against it. Had the Star Fort been taken, the whole +harbor of Sebastopol would have been open to the fire of the allies, and +the city--needed for refuge as well as for glory--would have fallen into +their hands.</p> + +<p>The condition of the allied armies was now critical, since they had no +accurate knowledge of the country over which they were to march on the +east of Sebastopol, nor of the strength of the enemy, who controlled the +sea-shore. On the morning of the 25th of September the flank march +began, through tangled forests, by the aid of the compass. It was a +laborious task for the troops, especially since they had not regained +their health from the ravages of the cholera in Bulgaria. Two days' +march, however, brought the English army to the little port of +Balaklava, on the south of Sebastopol, where the land and sea +forces met.</p> + +<p>Soon after the allied armies had arrived at Balaklava, Saint-Arnaud was +obliged by his fatal illness to yield up his command to Marshal +Canrobert, and a few days later he died,--an unprincipled, but a brave +and able man.</p> + +<p>The Russian forces meanwhile, after the battle of the Alma, had +retreated to Sebastopol in order to defend the city, which the allies +were preparing to attack. Prince Mentchikof then resolved upon a bold +measure for the defence of the city, and this was to sink his ships at +the mouth of the harbor, by which he prevented the English and French +fleets from entering it, and gained an additional force of eighteen +thousand seamen to his army. Loath was the Russian admiral to make this +sacrifice, and he expostulated with the general-in-chief, but was +obliged to obey. This sinking of their fleet by the Russians reminds one +of the conflagration of Moscow,--both desperate and sacrificial acts.</p> + +<p>The French and English forces were now on the south side of Sebastopol, +in communication with their fleet at Balaklava, and were flushed with +victory, while the forces opposed to them were probably inferior in +number. Why did not the allies at once begin the assault of the city? +It was thought to be prudent to wait for the arrival of their siege +guns. While these heavy guns were being brought from the ships, +Todleben--the ablest engineer then living--was strengthening the +defences on the south side. Every day's delay added to the difficulties +of attack. Three weeks of precious time were thus lost, and when on the +17th of October the allies began the bombardment of Sebastopol, which +was to precede the attack, their artillery was overpowered by that of +the defenders. The fleets in vain thundered against the solid sea-front +of the fortress. After a terrible bombardment of eight days the defences +of the city were unbroken.</p> + +<p>Mentchikof, meanwhile, had received large reinforcements, and prepared +to attack the allies from the east. His point of attack was Balaklava, +the defence of which had been intrusted to Sir Colin Campbell. The +battle was undecisive, but made memorable by the sacrifice of the "Light +Brigade,"--about six hundred cavalry troops under the command of the +Earl of Cardigan. This arose from a misunderstanding on the part of the +Earl of Lucan, commander of the cavalry division, of an order from Lord +Raglan to attack the enemy. Lord Cardigan was then directed by Lucan to +rescue certain guns which the enemy had captured. He obeyed, in the face +of batteries in front and on both flanks. The slaughter was +terrible,--in fact, the brigade was nearly annihilated. The news of this +disaster made a deep impression on the English nation, and caused grave +apprehensions as to the capacity of the cavalry commanders, neither of +whom had seen much military service, although both were over fifty years +of age and men of ability and bravery. The "Heavy Brigade" of cavalry, +commanded by General Scarlett, who also was more than fifty years old +and had never seen service in the field, almost redeemed the error by +which that commanded by Lord Cardigan was so nearly destroyed. With six +hundred men he charged up a long slope, and plunged fearlessly into a +body of three thousand Russian cavalry, separated it into segments, +disorganized it, and drove it back,--one of the most brilliant cavalry +operations in modern times.</p> + +<p>The battle of Balaklava, on the 25th of October, was followed, November +5, by the battle of Inkerman, when the English were unexpectedly +assaulted, under cover of a deep mist, by an overwhelming body of +Russians. The Britons bravely stood their ground against the massive +columns which Mentchikof had sent to crush them, and repelled the enemy +with immense slaughter; but this battle made the capture of Sebastopol, +as planned by the allies, impossible. The forces of the Russians were +double in number to those of the allies, and held possession of a +fortress against which a tremendous cannonade had been in vain. The +prompt sagacity and tremendous energy of Todleben repaired every breach +as fast as it was made; and by his concentration of great numbers of +laborers at the needed points, huge earthworks arose like magic before +the astonished allies. They made no headway; their efforts were in vain; +the enterprise had failed. It became necessary to evacuate the Crimea, +or undertake a slow winter siege in the presence of superior forces, +amid difficulties which had not been anticipated, and for which no +adequate provision had been made.</p> + +<p>The allies chose the latter alternative; and then began a series of +calamities and sufferings unparalleled in the history of war since the +retreat of Napoleon from Moscow. First came a terrible storm on the 14th +of November, which swept away the tents of the soldiers encamped on a +plateau near Balaklava, and destroyed twenty-one vessels bringing +ammunition and stores to the hungry and discouraged army. There was a +want of everything to meet the hardships of a winter campaign on the +stormy shores of the Black Sea,--suitable clothing, fuel, provisions, +medicines, and camp equipage. It never occurred to the minds of those +who ordered and directed this disastrous expedition that Sebastopol +would make so stubborn a defence; but the whole force of the Russian +empire which could be spared was put forth by the Emperor Nicholas, thus +rendering necessary continual reinforcements from France and England to +meet armies superior in numbers, and to supply the losses occasioned by +disease and hardship greater than those on the battlefield. The horrors +of that dreadful winter on the Crimean peninsula, which stared in the +face not only the French and English armies but also the Russians +themselves, a thousand miles from their homes, have never been fully +told. They form one of the most sickening chapters in the annals of war.</p> + +<p>Not the least of the misfortunes which the allies suffered was the loss +of the causeway, or main road, from Balaklava to the high grounds where +they were encamped. It had been taken by the Russians three weeks +before, and never regained. The only communication from the camp to +Balaklava, from which the stores and ammunition had to be brought, was a +hillside track, soon rendered almost impassable by the rains. The wagons +could not be dragged through the mud, which reached to their axles, and +the supplies had to be carried on the backs of mules and horses, of +which there was an insufficient number. Even the horses rapidly perished +from fatigue and hunger.</p> + +<p>Thus were the French and English troops pent up on a bleak promontory, +sick and disheartened, with uncooked provisions, in the middle of +winter. Of course they melted away even in the hospitals to which they +were sent on the Levant. In those hospitals there was a terrible +mortality. At Scutari alone nine thousand perished before the end of +February, 1855.</p> + +<p>The reports of these disasters, so unexpected and humiliating, soon +reached England through the war correspondents and private letters, and +produced great exasperation. The Press was unsparing in its +denunciations of the generals, and of the ministry itself, in not +providing against the contingencies of the war, which had pent up two +large armies on a narrow peninsula, from which retreat was almost +impossible in view of the superior forces of the enemy and the dreadful +state of the roads. The armies of the allies had nothing to do but fight +the elements of Nature, endure their unparalleled hardships the best way +they could, and patiently await results.</p> + +<p>The troops of both the allied nations fought bravely and behaved +gallantly; but they fought against Nature, against disease, against +forces vastly superior to themselves in number. One is reminded, in +reading the history of the Crimean war, of the ancient crusaders rather +than of modern armies with their vast scientific machinery, so numerous +were the mistakes, and so unexpected were the difficulties of the +attacking armies. One is amazed that such powerful and enlightened +nations as the English and French could have made so many blunders. The +warning voices of Aberdeen, of Gladstone, of Cobden, of Bright, against +the war had been in vain amid the tumult of military preparations; but +it was seen at last that they had been thy true prophets of their day.</p> + +<p>Nothing excited more commiseration than the dreadful state of the +hospitals in the Levant, to which the sick and wounded were sent; and +this terrible exigency brought women to the rescue. Their volunteered +services were accepted by Mr. Sidney Herbert, the secretary-at-war, and +through him by the State. On the 4th of November Florence Nightingale, +called the "Lady-in-Chief," disembarked at Scutari and began her useful +and benevolent mission,--organizing the nurses, and doing work for which +men were incapable,--in those hospitals infected with deadly poisons.</p> + +<p>The calamities of a questionable war, made known by the Press, at last +roused public indignation, and so great was the popular clamor that Lord +Aberdeen was compelled to resign a post for which he was plainly +incapable,--at least in war times. He was succeeded by Lord +Palmerston,--the only man who had the confidence of the nation. In the +new ministry Lord Panmure (Fox Maule) succeeded the Duke of Newcastle +as minister of war.</p> + +<p>After midwinter the allied armies began to recover their health and +strength, through careful nursing, better sanitary measures, and +constant reinforcements, especially from France. At last a railway was +made between Balaklava and the camps, and a land-transport corps was +organized. By March, 1855, cattle in large quantities were brought from +Spain on the west and Armenia on the east, from Wallachia on the north +and the Persian Gulf on the south. Seventeen thousand men now provided +the allied armies with provisions and other supplies, with the aid of +thirty thousand beasts of burden.</p> + +<p>It was then that Sardinia joined the Western Alliance with fifteen +thousand men,--an act of supreme wisdom on the part of Cavour, since it +secured the friendship of France in his scheme for the unity of Italy. A +new plan of operations was now adopted by the allies, which was for the +French to attack Sebastopol at the Malakoff, protecting the city on the +east, while the English concentrated their efforts on the Redan, another +salient point of the fortifications. In the meantime Canrobert was +succeeded in the command of the French army by Pélissier,--a resolute +soldier who did not owe his promotion to complicity in the +<i>coup d'état</i>.</p> + +<p>On the 18th of June a general assault was made by the combined +armies--now largely reinforced--on the Redan and the Malakoff, but they +were driven back by the Russians with great loss; and three months more +were added to the siege. Fatigue, anxiety, and chagrin now carried off +Lord Raglan, who died on the 28th of June, leaving the command to +General Simpson. By incessant labors the lines of the besiegers were +gradually brought nearer the Russian fortifications. On the 16th of +August the French and Sardinians gained a decisive victory over the +Russians, which prevented Sebastopol from receiving further assistance +from without. On September 9 the French succeeded in storming the +Malakoff, which remained in their hands, although the English were +unsuccessful in their attack upon the Redan. On the fall of the Malakoff +the Russian commander blew up his magazines, while the French and +English demolished the great docks of solid masonry, the forts, and +defences of the place. Thus Sebastopol, after a siege of three hundred +and fifty days, became the prize of the invaders, at a loss, on their +part, of a hundred thousand men, and a still greater loss on the part of +the defenders, since provisions, stores, and guns had to be transported +at immense expense from the interior of Russia. In Russia there was no +free Press to tell the people of the fearful sacrifices to which they +had been doomed; but the Czar knew the greatness of his losses, both in +men and military stores; and these calamities broke his heart, for he +died before the fall of the fortress which he had resolved to defend +with all the forces of his empire. Probably three hundred thousand +Russians had perished in the conflict, and the resources of Russia were +exhausted.</p> + +<p>France had now become weary of a war which brought so little glory and +entailed such vast expense. England, however, would have continued the +war at any expense and sacrifice if Louis Napoleon had not secretly +negotiated with the new Czar, Alexander II.; for England was bent on +such a crippling of Russia as would henceforth prevent that colossal +power from interfering with the English possessions in the East, which +the fall of Kars seemed to threaten. The Czar, too, would have held out +longer but for the expostulation of Austria and the advice of his +ministers, who pointed out his inability to continue the contest with +the hostility of all Europe.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of February, 1856, the plenipotentiaries of the great Powers +assembled in Paris, and on the 30th of March the Treaty of Paris was +signed, by which the Black Sea was thrown open to the mercantile marine +of all nations, but interdicted to ships of war. Russia ceded a portion +of Bessarabia, which excluded her from the Danube; and all the Powers +guaranteed the independence of the Ottoman Empire. At the end of +fourteen years, the downfall of Louis Napoleon enabled Russia to declare +that it would no longer recognize the provisions of a treaty which +excluded its war-ships from the Black Sea. England alone was not able to +resist the demands of Russia, and in consequence Sebastopol arose from +its ruins as powerful as ever.</p> + +<p>The object, therefore, for which England and France went to war--the +destruction of Russian power on the Black Sea--was only temporarily +gained. From three to four hundred thousand men had been sacrificed +among the different combatants, and probably not less than a thousand +million dollars in treasure had been wasted,--perhaps double that sum. +France gained nothing of value, while England lost military prestige. +Russia undoubtedly was weakened, and her encroachments toward the East +were delayed; but to-day that warlike empire is in the same relative +position that it was when the Czar sent forth his mandate for the +invasion of the Danubian principalities. In fact, all parties were the +losers, and none were the gainers, by this needless and wicked +war,--except perhaps the wily Napoleon III., who was now firmly seated +on his throne.</p> + +<p>The Eastern question still remains unsettled, and will remain unsettled +until new complications, which no genius can predict, shall re-enkindle +the martial passions of Europe. These are not and never will be +extinguished until Christian civilization shall beat swords into +ploughshares. When shall be this consummation of the victories of peace?</p> + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>A. W. Kinglake's Invasion of the Crimea; C. de Bazancourt's Crimean +Expedition; G. B. McClellan's Reports on the Art of War in Europe in +1855-1856; R. C. McCormick's Visit to the Camp before Sebastopol; J. D. +Morell's Neighbors of Russia, and History of the War to the Siege of +Sebastopol; Pictorial History of the Russian War; Russell's British +Expedition to the Crimea; General Todleben's History of the Defence of +Sebastopol; H. Tyrrell's History of the War with Russia; Fyffe's History +of Modern Europe; Life of Lord Palmerston; Life of Louis Napoleon.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="LOUIS_NAPOLEON."></a>LOUIS NAPOLEON.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1808-1873.</p> + +<p>THE SECOND EMPIRE.</p> + +<p>Prince Louis Napoleon, or, as he afterward became, Emperor Napoleon +III., is too important a personage to be omitted in the sketch of +European history during the nineteenth century. It is not yet time to +form a true estimate of his character and deeds, since no impartial +biographies of him have yet appeared, and since he died less than thirty +years ago. The discrepancy of opinion respecting him is even greater +than that concerning his illustrious uncle.</p> + +<p>No one doubts that the first Napoleon was the greatest figure of his +age, and the greatest general that the world has produced, with the +exception alone of Alexander and Caesar. No one questions his +transcendent abilities, his unrivalled fame, and his potent influence on +the affairs of Europe for a quarter of a century, leaving a name so +august that its mighty prestige enabled his nephew to steal his sceptre; +and his character has been so searchingly and critically sifted that +there is unanimity among most historians as to his leading traits,--a +boundless ambition and unscruplous adaptation of means to an end: that +end his self-exaltation at any cost. His enlarged and enlightened +intellect was sullied by hypocrisy, dissimulation, and treachery, +accompanied by minor faults with which every one is familiar, but which +are often overlooked in the immense services he rendered to his country +and to civilization.</p> + +<p>Napoleon III., aspiring to imitate his uncle, also contributed important +services, but was not equal to the task he assumed, and made so many +mistakes that he can hardly be called a great man, although he performed +a great <i>rôle</i> in the drama of European politics, and at one time +occupied a superb position. With him are associated the three great +international wars which took place in the interval between the +banishment of Napoleon I. to St. Helena and the establishment of the +French Republic on its present basis,--a period of more than fifty +years,--namely, the Crimean war; the war between Austria, France, and +Italy; and the Franco-Prussian war, which resulted in the humiliation of +France and the exaltation of Prussia.</p> + +<p>When Louis Napoleon came into power in 1848, on the fall of Louis +Philippe, it was generally supposed that European nations had sheathed +the sword against one another, and that all future contests would be +confined to enslaved peoples seeking independence, with which contests +other nations would have nothing to do; but Louis Napoleon, as soon as +he had established his throne on the ruins of French liberties, knew no +other way to perpetuate his dominion than by embroiling the nations of +Europe in contests with one another, in order to divert the minds of the +French people from the humiliation which the loss of their liberties had +caused, and to direct their energies in new channels,--in other words, +to inflate them with visions of military glory as his uncle had done, by +taking advantage of the besetting and hereditary weakness of the +national character. In the meantime the usurper bestowed so many +benefits on the middle and lower classes, gave such a stimulus to trade, +adorned his capital with such magnificent works of art, and increased so +manifestly the material prosperity of France, that his reign was +regarded as benignant and fortunate by most people, until the whole +edifice which he had built to dazzle the world tumbled down in a single +day after his disastrous defeat at Sedan,--the most humiliating fall +which any French dynasty ever experienced.</p> + +<p>Louis Napoleon offers in his own person an example of those extremes of +fortune which constitute the essence of romantic conditions and appeal +to the imagination. The third son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland +(brother of Napoleon), and Hortense Beauharnais, daughter of the Empress +Josephine by her first marriage, he was born in Paris, in the palace of +the Tuileries, April 20, 1808. Living in Switzerland, with his mother +and brother (Napoleon Louis), he was well-educated, expert in all +athletic sports,--especially in riding and fencing,--and trained to the +study and practice of artillery and military engineering. The two +brothers engaged in an Italian revolt in 1830; both fell ill, and while +one died the other was saved by the mother's devotion. In 1831 the Poles +made an insurrection, and offered Louis Napoleon their chief command and +the crown of Poland; but the death, in 1832, of the only son of his +uncle aroused Louis's ambition for a larger place, and the sovereignty +of France became his "fixed idea." He studied hard, wrote and published +several political and military works, and in 1836 made a foolish attempt +at a Napoleonic revolt against Louis Philippe. It ended in humiliating +failure, and he was exiled to America, where he lived in obscurity for +about a year; but he returned to Switzerland to see his dying mother, +and then was obliged to flee to England. In 1838 he published his +"Napoleonic Ideas;" in 1840 he made, at Boulogne, another weak +demonstration upon the French throne, and was imprisoned in the +fortress of Ham. Here he did much literary work, but escaped in 1848 to +Belgium, whence he hurried back to Paris when the revolution broke out. +Getting himself elected a deputy in the National Assembly, he took +his seat.</p> + +<p>The year 1848, when Louis Napoleon appeared on the stage of history, was +marked by extraordinary political and social agitations, not merely in +France but throughout Europe. It saw the unexpected fall of the +constitutional monarchy in France, which had been during eighteen years +firmly upheld by Louis Philippe, with the assistance of the ablest and +wisest ministers the country had known for a century,--the policy of +which was pacific, and the leading political idea of which was an +alliance with Great Britain. The king fled before the storm of +revolutionary ideas,--as Metternich was obliged to do in Vienna, and +Ferdinand in Naples,--and a provisional government succeeded, of which +Lamartine was the central figure. A new legislative assembly was chosen +to support a republic, in which the most distinguished men of France, of +all opinions, were represented. Among the deputies was Louis Napoleon, +who had hastened from England to take part in the revolution. He sat on +the back benches of the Chamber neglected, silent, and despised by the +leading men in France, but not yet hated nor feared.</p> + +<p>When a President of the Republic had to be chosen by the suffrages of +the people, Louis Napoleon unexpectedly received a great majority of the +votes. He had been quietly carrying on his "presidential campaign" +through his agents, who appealed to the popular love for the name +of Napoleon.</p> + +<p>The old political leaders, amazed and confounded, submitted to the +national choice, yet stood aloof from a man without political +experience, who had always been an exile when he had not been a +prisoner. Most of them had supposed that Bonapartism was dead; but the +peasantry in the provinces still were enthralled by the majesty and +mighty prestige of that conqueror who had been too exalted for envy and +too powerful to be resisted. To the provincial votes chiefly Louis +Napoleon owed his election as President,--and the election was fair. He +came into power by the will of the nation if any man ever did,--by the +spontaneous enthusiasm of the people for the name he bore, not for his +own abilities and services; and as he proclaimed, on his accession, a +policy of peace (which the people believed) and loyalty to the +Constitution,--Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality, the watchwords of the +Revolution,--even more, as he seemed to represent the party of order, he +was regarded by such statesmen as Thiers and Montalembert as the least +dangerous of the candidates; and they gave their moral support to his +government, while they declined to take office under him.</p> + +<p>The new President appointed the famous De Tocqueville as his first prime +minister, who after serving a few months resigned, because he would not +be the pliant tool of his master. Louis Napoleon then had to select +inferior men for his ministers, who also soon discovered that they were +expected to be his clerks, not his advisers. At first he was regarded by +the leading classes with derision rather than fear,--so mean was his +personal appearance, so spiritless his address, so cold and dull was his +eye, and so ridiculous were his antecedents. "The French," said Thiers, +long afterward, "made two mistakes about Louis Napoleon,--the first, +when they took him for a fool; the second, when they took him for a man +of genius." It was not until he began to show a will of his own, a +determination to be his own prime minister, that those around him saw +his dangerous ambition, his concealed abilities, and his unscrupulous +character.</p> + +<p>Nothing of importance marked the administration of the President, except +hostility to the Assembly, and their endless debates on the +constitution. Both the President and the Assembly feared the influence +of the ultra-democrats and Red Republicans,--socialists and anarchists, +who fomented their wild schemes among the common people of the large +cities. By curtailing the right of suffrage the Assembly became +unpopular, and Louis Napoleon gained credit as the friend of order +and law.</p> + +<p>As the time approached when, by the Constitution, he would be obliged to +lay down his office and return to private life, the President became +restless, and began to plot for the continuance of his power. He had +tasted its sweets, and had no intention to surrender it. If he could +have been constitutionally re-elected, he probably would not have +meditated a <i>coup d'état</i>, for it was in accordance with his indolent +character to procrastinate. With all his ambition, he was patient, +waiting for opportunities to arise; and yet he never relinquished an +idea or an intention,--it was ever in his mind: he would simply wait, +and quietly pursue the means of success. He had been trained to +meditation in his prison at Ham; and he had learned to disguise his +thoughts and his wishes. The power which had been developed in him in +the days of his obscurity and adversity was cunning. As a master of +cunning he saw the necessity of reserve, mistrust, and silence.</p> + +<p>The first move of the President to gain his end was to secure a revision +of the Constitution. The Assembly, by a vote of three-fourths, could by +the statutes of 1848 order a revision; a revision could remove the +clause which prohibited his re-election, and a re-election was all he +then pretended to want. But the Assembly, jealous of its liberties, +already suspicious and even hostile, showed no disposition to smooth his +way. He clearly saw that some other means must be adopted. He naturally +turned to the army; but the leading generals distrusted him, and were in +the ranks of his enemies. They were all Orléanists or Republicans.</p> + +<p>The ablest general in France was probably Changarnier, who had greatly +distinguished himself in Algeria. He had been called, on the change of +government, to the high post of commander of the National Guards and +general of the first military division, which was stationed at Paris. He +had been heard to say that if Louis Napoleon should undertake a <i>coup +d'état</i>, he would conduct him as a prisoner to Vincennes. This was +reported to the President, who at once resolved to remove him, both from +hostility and fear. On Changarnier's removal the ministry resigned. +Their places were taken by tools still more subservient.</p> + +<p>Nothing now remained but to prepare for the meditated usurpation. The +first thing to be done was to secure an able and unscrupulous minister +of war, who could be depended upon. As all the generals received their +orders from the minister of war, he was the most powerful man in France, +next to the President. Such was military discipline that no subordinate +dared to disobey him.</p> + +<p>There were then no generals of ability in France whom Louis Napoleon +could trust, and he turned his eyes to Algeria, where some one might be +found. He accordingly sent his most intimate friend and confidant, Major +Fleury, able but unscrupulous, to Algeria to discover the right kind of +man, who could be bribed. He found a commander of a brigade, by name +Saint-Arnaud, extravagant, greatly in debt, who had done some brave and +wicked things. It was not difficult to seduce a reckless man who wanted +money and preferment. Fleury promised him the high office of minister of +war, when he should have done something to distinguish himself in the +eyes of the Parisians. Saint-Arnaud, who proved that he could keep a +secret, was at once promoted, and a campaign was arranged for him in the +summer of 1851, in which he won some distinction by wanton waste of +life. His exploits were exaggerated, the venal Press sounded his +praises, and he was recalled to Paris and made minister of war; for the +President by the Constitution could nominate his ministers and appoint +the high officers of State. Other officers were brought from Algeria and +made his subordinates. The command of the army of Paris was given to +General Magnan, who was in the secret. The command of the National +Guards was given to a general who promised not to act, for this body was +devoted to the Assembly. M. Maupas, another conspirator, of great +administrative ability, was made prefect of police.</p> + +<p>Thus in September, 1851, everything was arranged; but Saint-Arnaud +persuaded the President to defer the <i>coup d'état</i> until winter, when +all the deputies would be in Paris, and therefore could be easily +seized. If scattered over France, they might rally and create a civil +war; for, as we have already said, the Assembly contained the leading +men of the country,--statesmen, generals, editors, and great lawyers, +all hostile to the ruler of the Republic.</p> + +<p>So the President waited patiently till winter. Suddenly, without +warning, in the night of the 2d of December, all the most distinguished +members of the Assembly were arrested by the police controlled by +Maupas, and sent to the various prisons,--including Changarnier, +Cavaignac, Thiers, Bedeau, Lamoricière, Barrot, Berryer, De Tocqueville, +De Broglie, and Saint-Hilaire. On the following morning strong bodies of +the military were posted at the Palais Bourbon (where the Assembly held +its sessions), around all the printing-presses, around the public +buildings, and in the principal streets. In the meantime, Morny was made +minister of the interior. Manifestoes were issued which announced the +dissolution of the Assembly and the Council of State, the restoration of +universal suffrage, and a convocation of the electoral college to elect +the Executive. A proclamation was also made to the army, containing +those high-sounding watchwords which no one was more capable of using +than the literary President,--eloquent, since they appealed to +everything dear to the soldiers' hearts, and therefore effective. Louis +Napoleon's short speeches convinced those for whom they were intended. +He was not so fortunate with his books.</p> + +<p>The military and the police had now the supreme control of Paris, while +the minister of the interior controlled the municipalities of the +various departments. All resistance was absurd; and yet so tremendous an +outrage on the liberties of the nation provoked an indignation, +especially among the Republicans, which it was hard to suppress. The +people rallied and erected barricades, which of course were swept away +by the cannon of General Magnan, accompanied by needless cruelties and +waste of blood, probably with the view to inspire fear and show that +resistance was hopeless.</p> + +<p>Paris and its vicinity were now in the hands of the usurper, supported +by the army and police, and his enemies were in prison. The Assembly was +closed, as well as the higher Courts of Justice, and the Press was +muzzled. Constitutional liberty was at an end; a despot reigned +unopposed. Yet Louis Napoleon did not feel entirely at his ease. Would +the nation at the elections sustain the usurpation? It was necessary to +control the elections; and it is maintained by some historians that +every effort to that end was made through the officials and the police. +Whether the elections were free or not, one thing astonished the +civilized world,--seven millions of votes were cast in favor of Louis +Napoleon; and the cunning and patient usurper took possession of the +Tuileries, re-elected President to serve for ten years. Before the year +closed, in December, 1852, he was proclaimed Emperor of the French by +the vote and the will of the people. The silent, dull, and heavy man had +outwitted everybody; and he showed that he understood the French people +better than all the collected statesmen and generals who had served +under Louis Philippe with so much ability and distinction.</p> + +<p>What shall we say of a nation that so ignominiously surrendered its +liberties? All we can say in extenuation is that it was powerless. Such +men as Guizot, Thiers, Cousin, Changarnier, Cavaignac, Molé, Broglie, +Hugo, Villemain, Lamartine, Montalembert, would have prevented the fall +of constitutional government if their hands had not been tied. They were +in prison or exiled. Some twenty-five thousand people had been killed or +transported within a few weeks after the <i>coup d'état</i>, and fear seized +the minds of those who were active in opposition, or suspected even of +being hostile to the new government. France, surprised, perplexed, +affrighted, must needs carry on a war of despair, or succumb to the +usurpation. The army and the people alike were governed by terror.</p> + +<p>But although France had lost her freedom, it was only for a time; and +although Louis Napoleon ruled as an absolute monarch, his despotism, +sadly humiliating to people of intelligence and patriotism, was not like +that of Russia, or even like that of Prussia and Austria. The great men +of all parties were too numerous and powerful to be degraded or exiled. +They did not resist his government, and they held their tongues in the +cafés and other assemblies where they were watched by spies; but they +talked freely with one another in their homes, and simply kept aloof +from him, refusing to hold office under him or to attend his court, +waiting for their time. They knew that his government was not permanent, +and that the principles of the Revolution had not been disseminated and +planted in vain, but would burst out in some place or other like a +volcano, and blaze to heaven. Men pass away, but principles are +indestructible.</p> + +<p>Louis Napoleon was too thoughtful and observant a man not to know all +this. His residence in England and intercourse with so many +distinguished politicians and philosophers had taught him something. He +feared that with all his successes his throne would be overturned +unless he could amuse the people and find work for turbulent spirits. +Consequently he concluded on the one hand to make a change in the +foreign policy of France, and on the other to embellish his capital and +undertake great public works, at any expense, both to find work for +artisans and to develop the resources of the country.</p> + +<p>When Louis Napoleon made his first attack on the strong government of +Louis Philippe, at Strasburg, he was regarded as a madman; when he +escaped from Ham, after his failure at Boulogne, he was looked upon by +all Europe as a mere adventurer; and when he finally left England, which +had sheltered him, to claim his seat in the National Assembly of +republican France, and even when made President of the republic by the +suffrages of the nation, he was regarded as an enigma. Some thought him +dull though bold, and others looked upon him as astute and long-headed. +His heavy look, his leaden eye, his reserved and taciturn ways, with no +marked power but that of silence and secrecy, disarmed fear. Neither +from his conversations nor his writings had anybody drawn the inference +that he was anything remarkable in genius or character. His executive +abilities were entirely unknown. He was generally regarded as simply +fortunate from the name he bore and the power he usurped, but with no +striking intellectual gifts,--nothing that would warrant his supreme +audacity. He had never distinguished himself in anything; but was +admitted to be a thoughtful man, who had written treatises of +respectable literary merit. His social position as the heir and nephew +of the great Napoleon of course secured him many friends and followers, +who were attracted to him by the prestige of his name, and who saw in +him the means of making their own fortune; but he was always, except in +a select and chosen circle, silent, non-committal, heavy, reserved, and +uninteresting.</p> + +<p>But the President--the Emperor--had been a profound student of the +history of the first Napoleon and his government. He understood the +French people, too, and had learned to make short speeches with great +effect, in which adroitness in selecting watchwords--especially such as +captivated the common people--was quite remarkable. He professed liberal +sentiments, sympathy with the people in their privations and labors, and +affected beyond everything a love of peace. In his manifestoes of a +policy of universal peace, few saw that love of war by which he intended +to rivet the chains of despotism. He was courteous and urbane in his +manners, probably kind in disposition, not bloodthirsty nor cruel, +supremely politic and conciliating in his intercourse with statesmen and +diplomatists, and generally simple and unstilted in his manners. He was +also capable of friendship, and never forgot those who had rendered him +services or kindness in his wanderings. Nor was he greedy of money like +Louis Philippe, but freely lavished it on his generals. Like his uncle, +he had an antipathy to literary men when they would not condescend to +flatter him, which was repaid by uncompromising hostility on their part. +How savage and unrelenting was the hatred of Victor Hugo! How unsparing +his ridicule and abuse! He called the usurper "Napoleon the Little," +notwithstanding he had outwitted the leading men of the nation and +succeeded in establishing himself on an absolute throne. A small man +could not have shown so much patience, wisdom, and prudence as Louis +Napoleon showed when President, or fought so successfully the +legislative body when it was arrayed against him. If the poet had called +him "Napoleon the Wicked" it would have been more to the point, for only +a supremely unscrupulous and dishonest man could have meditated and +executed the <i>coup d'état</i>. His usurpation and treachery were gigantic +crimes, accompanied with violence and murder. Even his crimes, however, +were condoned in view of the good government which he enforced and the +services he rendered; showing that, if he was dishonest and treacherous, +he was also able and enlightened.</p> + +<p>But it is not his usurpation of supreme power for which Louis Napoleon +will be most severely judged by his country and by posterity. Cromwell +was a usurper, and yet he is regarded as a great benefactor. It was the +policy which Napoleon III. pursued as a supreme ruler for which he will +be condemned, and which was totally unlike that of Cromwell or Augustus. +It was his policy to embroil nations in war and play the <i>rôle</i> of a +conqueror. The policy of the restored Bourbons and of Louis Philippe was +undeniably that of peace with other nations, and the relinquishment +of that aggrandizement which is gained by successful war. It +was this policy,--upheld by such great statesmen as Guizot and +Thiers,--conflicting with the warlike instincts of the French people, +which made those monarchs unpopular more than their attempts to suppress +the liberty of the Press and the license of popular leaders; and it was +the appeal to the military vanity of the people which made Napoleon III. +popular, and secured his political ascendency.</p> + +<p>The quarrel which was then going on between the Greek and Latin monks +for the possession of the sacred shrines at Jerusalem furnished both the +occasion and the pretence for interrupting the peace of Europe, as has +been already stated in the Lecture on the Crimean war. The French +usurper determined to take the side of the Latin monks, which would +necessarily embroil him with the great protector of the Greek faith, +even the Emperor Nicholas, who was a bigot in all matters pertaining to +his religion. He would rally the French nation in a crusade, not merely +to get possession of a sacred key and a silver star, but to come to the +assistance of a power no longer dangerous,--the "sick man," whom +Nicholas had resolved to crush. Louis Napoleon cared but little for +Turkey; but he did not want Constantinople to fall into the hands of the +Russians, and thus make them the masters of the Black Sea. France, it is +true, had but little to gain whoever possessed Constantinople; she had +no possessions or colonies in the East to protect. But in the eye of her +emperor it was necessary to amuse her by a war; and what war would be +more popular than this,--to head off Russia and avenge the march +to Moscow?</p> + +<p>Russia, moreover, was the one power which all western Europe had cause +to dread. Ever since the Empress Catherine II., the encroachments and +territorial aggrandizement of this great military empire had been going +on. The Emperor Nicholas was the most powerful sovereign of the world, +having a million of men under arms, ready to obey his nod, with no check +whatever on his imperial will. He had many fine qualities, which +commanded esteem; but he was fitful, uncertain, ambitious, and warlike. +If an aggressive war to secure the "balance of power" could ever be +justified, it would seem to have been necessary in this case. It was an +aggressive war on the part of France, since the four great +Powers--Austria, Prussia, France, and England--were already united to +keep the Czar in check, and demanded his evacuation of the Danubian +provinces which he had invaded. Nicholas, seeing this powerful +combination against him, was ready to yield, and peace might have been +easily secured, and thus the Crimean war been avoided; but Louis +Napoleon did not want peace, and intrigued against it.</p> + +<p>Resolved then on war, the real disturber of the peace of Europe, and +goaded on by his councillors,--the conspirators of the 2d of December, +Morny, Fleury, Maupas, etc.,--Louis Napoleon turned around to seek an +ally; for France alone was not strong enough to cope with Russia. +Austria having so much to lose, did not want war, and was afraid of +Nicholas. So was Prussia. It was the policy of both these Powers to keep +on good terms with Nicholas. It always will be the policy of Germany to +avoid a war with Russia, unless supported by England and France. The +great military organization which Bismarck and Moltke effected, the +immense standing army which Germany groans under, arises not from +anticipated dangers on the part of France so much as from fear of +Russia, although it is not the policy of German statesmen to confess it +openly. If France should unite with Russia in a relentless war, Germany +would probably be crushed, unless England came to the rescue. Germany, +placed between two powerful military monarchies, is obliged to keep up +its immense standing army, against its will, as a dire necessity. It is +Russia she is most anxious to conciliate. All the speeches of Bismarck +show this.</p> + +<p>In view of this policy, Louis Napoleon turned his eyes to England as his +ally in the meditated war with Russia, notwithstanding the secret +hostilities and jealousies between these nations for five hundred years. +Moreover, the countries were entirely dissimilar: England was governed +by Parliament, based on free institutions; France was a military +despotism, and all who sought to establish parliamentary liberties and +government were banished when their efforts became dangerous or +revolutionary. Louis Napoleon showed great ability for intrigue in +forcing the English cabinet to adopt his warlike policy, when its own +policy was pacific. It was a great triumph to the usurper to see England +drifting into war against the combined influence of the premier, of +Gladstone, of the Quakers, and of the whole Manchester school of +political economists; and, as stated in the Lecture on the Crimean war, +it was an astounding surprise to Nicholas.</p> + +<p>But this misfortune would not have happened had it not been for the +genius and intrigues of a statesman who exercised a commanding influence +over English politics; and this was Lord Palmerston, who had spent his +life in the foreign office, although at that time home secretary. But he +was the ruling spirit of the cabinet,--a man versatile, practical, +amiable, witty, and intensely English in all his prejudices. Whatever +office he held, he was always in harmony with public opinion. He was not +a man of great ideas or original genius, but was a ready debater, +understood the temper of the English people, and led them by adopting +their cause, whatever it was. Hence he was the most popular statesman of +the day, but according to Cobden the worst prime minister that England +ever had, since he was always keeping England in hot water and stirring +up strife on the Continent. His supreme policy, with an eye to English +interests on the Mediterranean and in Asia, was to cripple Russia.</p> + +<p>Such a man, warlike, restless, and interfering in his foreign policy, +having in view the military aggrandizement of his country, eagerly +adopted the schemes of the French emperor; and little by little these +two men brought the English cabinet into a warlike attitude with Russia, +in spite of all that Lord Aberdeen could do. Slight concessions would +have led to peace; but neither Louis Napoleon nor Palmerston would allow +concessions, since both were resolved on war. Never was a war more +popular in England than that which Louis Napoleon and Palmerston +resolved to have. This explains the leniency of public opinion in +England toward a man who had stolen a sceptre. He was united with Great +Britain in a popular war.</p> + +<p>The French emperor, however, had other reasons for seeking the alliance +of England in his war with Russia. It would give him a social prestige; +he would enter more easily into the family of European sovereigns; he +would be called <i>mon frère</i> by the Queen of England, which royal name +Nicholas in his disdain refused to give him. If the Queen of England was +his friend and ally, all other sovereigns must welcome him into their +royal fraternity in spite of his political crimes, which were +universally detested. It is singular that England, after exhausting her +resources by a war of twenty years to dethrone Napoleon I., should +become the firmest ally and friend of Napoleon III., who trampled on all +constitutional liberty. But mutual interests brought them together; for +when has England turned her back on her interests, or what she supposed +to be her interests?</p> + +<p>So war became inevitable. Napoleon III. triumphed. His co-operation with +England was sincere and hearty. Yea, so gratified and elated was he at +this stroke of good fortune, that he was ready to promise anything to +his ally, even to the taking a subordinate part in the war. He would +follow the dictation of the English ministers and the English generals.</p> + +<p>It was the general opinion that the war would be short and glorious. At +first it was contemplated only to fight the Russians in Bulgaria, and +prevent their march across the Balkans, and thence to Constantinople. +The war was undertaken to assist the Turks in the defence of their +capital and territories. For this a large army was not indispensable; +hence the forces which were sent to Bulgaria were comparatively small.</p> + +<p>When Nicholas discovered that he could not force his way to +Constantinople over the Balkans, and had withdrawn his forces from the +Danubian principalities, peace then might have been honorably declared +by all parties. France perhaps might have withdrawn from the contest, +which had effected the end at first proposed. But England not only had +been entangled in the war by the French alliance, but now was resolved +on taking Sebastopol, to destroy the power of Russia on the Euxine; and +France was compelled to complete what she had undertaken, although she +had nothing to gain beyond what she had already secured. To the credit +of Louis Napoleon, he proved a chivalrous and faithful ally, in +continuing a disastrous and expensive war for the glory of France and +the interests of England alone, although he made a separate peace as +soon as he could do so with honor.</p> + +<p>It is not my purpose to repeat what I have already written on the +Crimean war, although the more I read and think about it the stronger is +my disapproval, on both moral and political grounds, of that needless +and unfortunate conflict,--unfortunate alike to all parties concerned. +It is a marvel that it did not in the end weaken the power and prestige +of both Palmerston and Napoleon III. It strengthened the hands of both, +as was foreseen by these astute statesmen. Napoleon III. after the war +was regarded as a far-seeing statesman, as well as an able +administrator. People no longer regarded him as a fool, or even a knave. +Success had shut the mouths of his enemies, except of a few obdurate +ones like Thiers and Victor Hugo,--the latter of whom in his voluntary +exile in Guernsey and Jersey still persisted in calling him "Napoleon +the Little." Thiers generally called him <i>Celui-ci,</i>--"That fellow." +This illustrious statesman, in his restless ambition and desire of +power, probably would have taken office under the man whom he both +despised and hated; but he dared not go against his antecedents, and was +unwilling to be a mere clerk, as all Louis Napoleon's ministers were, +whatever their abilities. He was supported by the army and the people, +and therefore was master of the situation. This was a fact which +everybody was compelled to acknowledge. It was easy to call him usurper, +tyrant, and fool,--anything; but he both "reigned and governed."</p> + +<p>"When peace was finally restored, the empire presented the aspect of a +stable government, resting solidly upon the approval of a contented and +thriving people." This was the general opinion of those who were well +acquainted with French affairs, and of those who visited Paris, which +was then exceedingly prosperous. The city was filled with travellers, +who came to see the glory of success. Great architectural improvements +were then in progress, which gave employment to a vast number of men +theretofore leading a precarious life. The chief of these were the new +boulevards, constructed with immense expense,--those magnificent but +gloomy streets, which, lined with palaces and hotels, excited universal +admiration,--a wise expenditure on the whole, which promoted both beauty +and convenience, although to construct them a quarter of the city was +demolished. The Grand Opera-House arose over the <i>débris</i> of the +demolished houses,--the most magnificent theatre erected in modern +times. Paris presented a spectacle of perpetual fêtes, reviews of +troops, and illuminations, which both amused and distracted the people. +The Louvre was joined to the Tuileries by a grand gallery devoted +chiefly to works of art. The Champs Elysées and the Bois de Boulogne +were ornamented with new avenues, fountains, gardens, flowers, and +trees, where the people could pursue their pleasure unobstructed. The +number of beautiful equipages was vastly increased, and everything +indicated wealth and prosperity. The military was wisely kept out of +sight, except on great occasions, so that the people should not be +reminded of their loss of liberties; the police were courteous and +obliging, and interfered with no pleasures and no ordinary pursuits; the +shops blazed with every conceivable attraction; the fashionable churches +were crowded with worshippers and strangers to hear music which rivalled +that of the opera; the priests, in their ecclesiastical uniform, were +seen in every street with cheerful and beaming faces, for the government +sought their support and influence; the papers were filled with the +movements of the imperial court at races, in hunting-parties, and visits +to the <i>châteaux</i> of the great. The whole city seemed to be absorbed in +pleasure or gain, and crowds swarmed at all places of amusement with +contented faces: there was no outward sign of despotism or unhappiness, +since everybody found employment. Even the idlers who frequented the +crowded cafés of the boulevards seemed to take unusual pleasure at their +games of dominoes and at their tables of beer and wine. Visitors +wondered at the apparent absence of all restraint from government and at +the personal liberty which everybody seemed practically to enjoy. For +ten years after the <i>coup d'état</i> it was the general impression that the +government of Louis Napoleon was a success. In spite of the predictions +and hostile criticisms of famous statesmen, it was, to all appearance at +least, stable, and the nation was prosperous.</p> + +<p>The enemies that the emperor had the most cause to dread were these +famous statesmen themselves. Thiers, Guizot, Broglie, Odillon Barrot, +had all been prime ministers, and most of the rest had won their laurels +under Louis Philippe. They either declined to serve under Napoleon III. +or had been neglected by him; their political power had passed away. +They gave vent, whenever they could with personal safety, to their +spleen, to their disappointment, to their secret hostility; they all +alike prophesied evil; they all professed to believe that the emperor +could not maintain his position two years,--that he would be carried off +by assassination or revolution. And joined with them in bitter hatred +was the whole literary class,--like Victor Hugo, Lamartine, and +Cousin,--who hurled curses and defiance from their retreats, or from the +fashionable <i>salons</i> and clubs which they frequented. The old noblesse +stood aloof. St. Germain was like a foreign city rather than a part of +Paris. All the traders among the Legitimists and Orléanists continued in +a state of secret hostility, and threw all the impediments they could +against the government.</p> + +<p>The situation of Louis Napoleon was indeed extremely difficult and +critical. He had to fight against the combined influences of rank, +fashion, and intellect,--against an enlightened public opinion; for it +could not be forgotten that his power was usurped, and sustained by +brute force and the ignorant masses. He would have been nothing without +the army. In some important respects he showed marvellous astuteness and +political sagacity,--such, for instance, as in converting England from +an enemy to a friend. But he won England by playing the card of common +interests against Russia.</p> + +<p>The emperor was afraid to banish the most eminent men in his empire; so +he tolerated them and hated them,--suspending over their heads the sword +of Damocles. This they understood, and kept quiet except among +themselves. But France was a hotbed of sedition and discontent during +the whole reign of Louis Napoleon, at least among the old government +leaders,--Orléanists, Legitimists, and Republicans alike.</p> + +<p>Considering the difficulties and hatreds with which Napoleon III. had to +contend, I am surprised that his reign lasted as long as it did,--longer +than those of Louis XVIII. and Charles X. combined; longer than that of +Louis Philippe, with the aid of the middle classes and the ablest +statesmen of France,--an impressive fact, which indicates great ability +of some kind on the part of the despot. But he paid dearly for his +passion for power in the enormous debts entailed by his first war of +prestige, and in the death of more than a hundred thousand men in the +camps, on the field of battle, and in the hospitals. If he had had any +conscience he would have been appalled; but he had no conscience, any +more than his uncle, when anything stood in his way. The gratification +of his selfish ambition overmastered patriotism and real fame, and +prepared the way for his fall and the ignominy which accompanied it.</p> + +<p>Had either of the monarchs who ruled France since the Revolution of 1791 +been animated with a sincere desire for the public good, and been +contented to rule as a constitutional sovereign, as they all alike swore +to rule, I do not see why they might not have transmitted their thrones +to their heirs. Napoleon I. certainly could have perpetuated his empire +in his family had he not made such awful blunders as the invasion of +Spain and Russia, which made him unable to contend with external +enemies. Charles X. might have continued to reign had he not destroyed +all constitutional liberty. Louis Philippe might have transmitted his +power to the House of Orléans had he not sacrificed public interests to +his greediness for money and to his dynastic ambition. And Napoleon III. +might have reigned until he died had he fulfilled his promises to the +parties who elevated him; but he could have continued to reign in the +violation of his oaths only so long as his army was faithful and +successful. When at last hopelessly defeated and captured, his throne +instantly crumbled away; he utterly collapsed, and was nothing but a +fugitive. What a lesson this is to all ambitious monarchs who sacrifice +the interest of their country to personal aggrandizement! So long as a +nation sees the monarch laboring for the aggrandizement and welfare of +the country rather than of himself, it will rally around him and +venerate him, even if he leads his subjects to war and enrolls them in +his gigantic armies,--as in the case of the monarchs of Prussia since +Frederic II., and even those of Austria.</p> + +<p>Napoleon III. was unlike all these, for with transcendent cunning and +duplicity he stole his throne, and then sacrificed the interests of +France to support his usurpation. That he was an adventurer--as his +enemies called him--is scarcely true; for he was born in the Tuileries, +was the son of a king, and nephew of the greatest sovereign of modern +times. So far as his usurpation can be palliated,--for it never can be +excused,--it must be by his deep-seated conviction that he was the heir +of his uncle, that the government of the empire belonged to him as a +right, and that he would ultimately acquire it by the will of the +people. Had Thiers or Guizot or Changarnier seized the reins, they would +have been adventurers. All men are apt to be called adventurers by their +detractors when they reach a transcendent position. Even such men as +Napoleon I., Cromwell, and Canning were stigmatized as adventurers by +their enemies. A poor artist who succeeds in winning a rich heiress is +often regarded as an adventurer, even though his ancestors have been +respectable and influential for four generations. Most successful men +owe their elevation to genius or patience or persistent industry rather +than to accidents or tricks. Louis Napoleon plodded and studied and +wrote for years with the ultimate aim of ruling France, even though he +"waded through slaughter to a throne;" and he would have deserved his +throne had he continued true to the principles he professed. What a name +he might have left had he been contented only to be President of a great +republic; for his elevation to the Presidency was legitimate, and even +after he became a despot he continued to be a high-bred gentleman in the +English sense, which is more than can be said of his uncle. No one has +ever denied that from first to last Louis Napoleon was courteous, +affable, gentle, patient, and kind, with a control over his feelings and +thoughts absolutely marvellous and unprecedented in a public man,--if we +except Disraeli. Nothing disturbed his serenity; very rarely was he seen +in a rage; he stooped and coaxed and flattered, even when he sent his +enemies to Cayenne.</p> + +<p>The share taken by Napoleon III. in the affairs of Italy has already +been treated of, yet a look from that point of view may find place here. +The interference of Austria with the Italian States--not only her own +subjects there, but the independent States as well--has been called "a +standing menace to Europe." It was finally brought to a crisis of +conflict by the King of Sardinia, who had already provided himself with +a friend and ally in the French emperor; and when, on the 29th of April, +1859, Austria crossed the river Ticino in hostile array, the combined +French and Sardinian troops were ready to do battle. The campaign was +short, and everywhere disastrous to the Austrians; so that on July 6 an +armistice was concluded, and on July 12 the peace of Villa Franca ended +the war, with Lombardy ceded to Sardinia, while Nice and Savoy were the +reward of the French,--justifying by this addition to the territory and +glory of France the emperor's second war of prestige.</p> + +<p>Louis Napoleon reached the culmination of his fame and of real or +supposed greatness--I mean his external power and grandeur, for I see no +evidence of real greatness except such as may be won by astuteness, +tact, cunning, and dissimulation--when he returned to Paris as the +conqueror of the Austrian armies. He was then generally supposed to be +great both as a general and as an administrator, when he was neither a +general nor an administrator, as subsequent events proved. But his court +was splendid; distinguished foreigners came to do him homage; even +monarchs sought his friendship, and a nod of his head was ominous. He +had delivered Italy as he had humiliated Russia; he had made France a +great political power; he had made Paris the most magnificent city of +the world (though at boundless expense), and everybody extolled the +genius of Hausmann, his engineer, who had created such material glories; +his fêtes were beyond all precedent; his wife gave the law to fashions +and dresses, and was universally extolled for her beauty and graces; the +great industrial exhibition in 1855, which surpassed in attractiveness +that of London in 1851, drew strangers to his capital, and gave a +stimulus to art and industry. Certainly he seemed to be a most fortunate +man,--for the murmurs and intrigues of that constellation of statesmen +which grew up with the restoration of the Bourbons, and the antipathies +of editors and literary men, were not generally known. The army +especially gloried in the deeds of a man whose successes reminded them +of his immortal uncle; while the lavish expenditures of government in +every direction concealed from the eyes of the people the boundless +corruption by which the services of his officials were secured.</p> + +<p>But this splendid exterior was deceptive, and a turn came to the +fortunes of Napoleon III.,--long predicted, yet unexpected. Constantly +on the watch for opportunities to aggrandize his name and influence, the +emperor allowed the disorders of civil war in Mexico--resulting in many +acts of injustice to foreigners there--to lead him into a combination +with England and Spain to interfere. This was in 1861, when the United +States were entering upon the terrific struggles of their own civil war, +and were not able to prevent this European interference, although +regarding it as most unfriendly to republican institutions. Within a +year England and Spain withdrew. France remained; sent more troops; +declared war on the government of President Juarez; fought some battles; +entered the City of Mexico; convened the "Assembly of Notables;" and, on +their declaring for a limited hereditary monarchy, the French emperor +proposed for their monarch the Archduke Maximilian,--younger brother of +Francis Joseph the Austrian emperor. Maximilian accepted, and in June, +1864, arrived,--upheld, however, most feebly by the "Notables," and +relying chiefly on French bayonets, which had driven Juarez to the +northern part of the country.</p> + +<p>But against the expectation of Napoleon III, the great rebellion in the +United States collapsed, and this country became a military power which +Europe was compelled to respect: a nation that could keep in the field +over a million of soldiers was not to be despised. While the civil war +was in progress the United States government was compelled to ignore the +attempt to establish a French monarchy on its southern borders; but no +sooner was the war ended than it refused to acknowledge any government +in Mexico except that of President Juarez, which Louis Napoleon had +overthrown; so that although the French emperor had bound himself with +solemn treaties to maintain twenty-five thousand French troops in +Mexico, he was compelled to withdraw these forces and leave Maximilian +to his fate. He advised the young Austrian to save himself by +abdication, and to leave Mexico with the troops; but Maximilian felt +constrained by his sense of honor to remain, and refused. In March, +1867, this unfortunate prince was made prisoner by the republicans, and +was unscrupulously shot. His calamities and death excited the compassion +of Europe; and with it was added a profound indignation for the man who +had unwittingly lured him on to his ruin. Louis Napoleon's military +prestige received a serious blow, and his reputation as a statesman +likewise; and although the splendor of his government and throne was as +great as ever, his fall, in the eyes of the discerning, was near +at hand.</p> + +<p>By this time Louis Napoleon had become prematurely old; he suffered +from acute diseases; his constitution was undermined; he was no longer +capable of carrying the burdens he had assumed; his spirits began to +fail; he lost interest in the pleasures which had at first amused him; +he found delight in nothing, not even in his reviews and fêtes; he was +completely ennuied; his failing health seemed to affect his mind; he +became vacillating and irresolute; he lost his former energies. He saw +the gulf opening which was to swallow him up; he knew that his situation +was desperate, and that something must be done to retrieve his fortunes. +His temporary popularity with his own people was breaking, too;--the +Mexican <i>fiasco</i> humiliated them. The internal affairs of the empire +were more and more interfered with and controlled by the Catholic +Church, through the intrigues and influence of the empress, a bigoted +Spanish Catholic,--and this was another source of unpopularity, for +France was not a priest-ridden country, and the emperor was blamed for +the growing ecclesiastical power in civil affairs. He had invoked war to +interest the people, and war had saved him for a time; but the +consequences of war pursued him. As he was still an overrated man, and +known to be restless and unscrupulous, Germany feared him, and quietly +armed, making preparations for an attack which seemed only too probable. +His negotiation with the King of Holland for the cession of the Duchy of +Luxemburg, by which acquisition he hoped to offset the disgrace which +his Mexican enterprise had caused, excited the jealousy of Prussia; for +by the treaties of 1815 Prussia obtained the right to garrison the +fortress,--the strongest in Europe next to Gibraltar,--and had no idea +of permitting it to fall into the hands of France.</p> + +<p>The irresistible current which was then setting in for the union of the +German States under the rule of Prussia, and for which Bismarck had long +been laboring, as had Cavour for the unity of Italy, caused a great +outcry among the noisy but shallow politicians of Paris, who deluded +themselves with the idea that France was again invincible; and not only +they, but the French people generally, fancied that France was strong +enough to conquer half of Europe, The politicians saw in a war with +Prussia the aggrandizement of French interests, and did all they could +to hasten it on. It was popular with the nation at large, who saw only +one side; and especially so with the generals of the army, who aspired +to new laurels. Napoleon III. blustered and bullied and threatened, +which pleased his people; but in his heart he had his doubts, and had no +desire to attack Prussia so long as the independence of the southern +States of Germany was maintained. But when the designs of Bismarck +became more and more apparent to cement a united Germany, and thus to +raise up a most formidable military power, Louis Napoleon sought +alliances in anticipation of a conflict which could not be much +longer delayed.</p> + +<p>First, the French emperor turned to Austria, whom he had humiliated at +Solferino and incensed by the aid which he had given to Victor Emmanuel +to break the Austrian domination in Italy, as well as outraged its +sympathies by his desertion of Maximilian in Mexico. No cordial alliance +could be expected from this Power, unless he calculated on its hostility +to Prussia for the victories she had lately won. Count Beust, the +Austrian chancellor, was a bitter enemy to Prussia, and hoped to regain +the ascendency which Austria had once enjoyed under Metternich. So +promises were made to the French emperor; but they were never kept, and +Austria really remained neutral in the approaching contest, to the great +disappointment of Napoleon III. He also sought the aid of Italy, which +he had reason to expect from the service he had rendered to Piedmont; +but the Garibaldians had embroiled France with the Italian people in +their attempt to overthrow the Papal government, which was protected by +French troops; and Louis Napoleon by the reoccupation of Rome seemed to +bar the union of the Italian people, passionately striving for national +unity. Thus the Italians also stood aloof from France, although Victor +Emmanuel personally was disposed to aid her.</p> + +<p>In 1870 France found herself isolated, and compelled, in case of war +with Prussia, to fight single-handed. If Napoleon III. had exercised the +abilities he had shown at the beginning of his career, he would have +found means to delay a conflict for which he was not prepared, or avoid +it altogether; but in 1870 his intellect was shattered, and he felt +himself powerless to resist the current which was bearing him away to +his destruction. He showed the most singular incapacity as an +administrator. He did not really know the condition of his army; he +supposed he had four hundred and fifty thousand effective troops, but +really possessed a little over three hundred thousand, while Prussia had +over one-third more than this, completely equipped and disciplined, and +with improved weapons. He was deceived by the reports of his own +generals, to whom he had delegated everything, instead of looking into +the actual state of affairs himself, as his uncle would have done, and +as Thiers did under Louis Philippe. More than a third of his regiments +were on paper alone, or dwindled in size; the monstrous corruptions of +his reign had permeated every part of the country; the necessary arms, +ammunition, and material of war in general were deplorably deficient; no +official reports could be relied upon, and few of his generals could be +implicitly trusted. If ever infatuation blinded a nation to its fate, it +most signally marked France in 1870.</p> + +<p>Nothing was now wanting but the spark to kindle the conflagration; and +this was supplied by the interference of the French government with the +nomination of a German prince to the vacant throne of Spain. The +Prussian king gave way in the matter of Prince Leopold, but refused +further concessions. Leopold was sufficiently magnanimous to withdraw +his claims, and here French interference should have ended. But France +demanded guarantees that no future candidate should be proposed without +her consent. Of course the Prussian king,--seeing with the keen eyes of +Bismarck, and armed to the teeth under the supervision of Moltke, the +greatest general of the age, who could direct, with the precision of a +steam-engine on a track, the movements of the Prussian army, itself a +mechanism,--treated with disdain this imperious demand from a power +which he knew to be inferior to his own. Count Bismarck craftily lured +on his prey, who was already goaded forward by his home war-party, with +the empress at their head; negotiations ceased, and Napoleon III. made +his fatal declaration of hostilities, to the grief of the few statesmen +who foresaw the end.</p> + +<p>Even then the condition of France was not desperate if the government +had shown capacity; but conceit, vanity, and ignorance blinded the +nation. Louis Napoleon should have known, and probably did know, that +the contending forces were uneven; that he had no generals equal to +Moltke; that his enemies could crush him in the open field; that his +only hope was in a well-organized defence. But his generals rushed madly +on to destruction against irresistible forces, incapable of forming a +combination, while the armies they led were smaller than anybody +supposed. Napoleon III. hoped that by rapidity of movement he could +enter southern Germany before the Prussian armies could be massed +against him; but here he dreamed, for his forces were not ready at the +time appointed, and the Prussians crossed the Rhine without obstruction. +Then followed the battle of Worth, on the 6th of August, when Marshal +McMahon, with only forty-five thousand men, ventured to resist the +Prussian crown-prince with a hundred thousand, and lost consequently a +large part of his army, and opened a passage through the northern Vosges +to the German troops. On the same day Frossard's corps was defeated by +Prince Frederic Charles near Saarbrücken, while the French emperor +remained at Metz irresolute, infatuated, and helpless. On the 12th of +August he threw up the direction of his armies altogether, and appointed +Marshal Bazaine commander-in-chief,--thus proclaiming his own incapacity +as a general. Bazaine still had more than two hundred thousand men under +his command, and might have taken up a strong position on the Moselle, +or retreated in safety to Chalons; but he fell back on Gravelotte, when, +being defeated on the 18th, he withdrew within the defences of Metz. He +was now surrounded by two hundred and fifty thousand men, and he made no +effort to escape. McMahon attempted to relieve him, but was ordered by +the government at Paris to march to the defence of that city. On this +line, however, he got no farther than Sedan, where all was lost on +September 1,--the entire army and the emperor himself surrendering as +prisoners of war. The French had fought gallantly, but were outnumbered +at every point.</p> + +<p>Nothing now remained to the conquerors but to advance to the siege of +Paris. The throne of Napoleon III. was overturned, and few felt sympathy +for his misfortunes, since he was responsible for the overwhelming +calamities which overtook his country, and which his country never +forgave. In less than a month he fell from what seemed to be the +proudest position in Europe, and stood out to the eye of the world in +all the hateful deformity of a defeated despot who deserved to fall. The +suddenness and completeness of his destruction has been paralleled only +by the defeat of the armies of Darius by Alexander the Great. All +delusions as to Louis Napoleon's abilities vanished forever. All his +former grandeur, even his services, were at once forgotten. He paid even +a sadder penalty than his uncle, who never lost the affections of his +subjects, while the nephew destroyed all rational hopes of the future +restoration of his family, and became accursed.</p> + +<p>It is possible that the popular verdict in reference to Louis Napoleon, +on his fall, may be too severe. This world sees only success or failure +as the test of greatness. With the support of the army and the +police--the heads of which were simply his creatures, whom he had +bought, or who from selfish purposes had pushed him on in his hours of +irresolution and guided him--the <i>coup d'état</i> was not a difficult +thing, any more than any bold robbery; and with the control of the vast +machinery of government,--that machinery which is one of the triumphs of +civilization,--an irresistible power, it is not marvellous that he +retained his position in spite of the sneers or hostilities of statesmen +out of place, or of editors whose journals were muzzled or suppressed; +especially when the people saw great public improvements going on, had +both bread and occupation, read false accounts of military successes, +and were bewildered by fêtes and outward grandeur. But when the army was +a sham, and corruption had pervaded every office under government; when +the expenses of living had nearly doubled from taxation, extravagance, +bad example, and wrong ideas of life; when trusted servants were turned +into secret enemies, incapable and false; when such absurd mistakes were +made as the expedition to Mexico, and the crowning folly of the war +with Prussia, proving the incapacity and folly of the master-hand,--the +machinery which directed the armies and the bureaus and all affairs of +State itself, broke down, and the catastrophe was inevitable.</p> + +<p>Louis Napoleon certainly was not the same man in 1870 that he was in +1850. His burdens had proved too great for his intellect. He fell, and +disappeared from history in a storm of wrath and shame, which also hid +from the eyes of the people the undoubted services he had rendered to +the cause of order and law, and to that of a material prosperity which +was at one time the pride of his country and the admiration of the +whole world.</p> + +<p>But a nation is greater than any individual, even if he be a miracle of +genius. When the imperial cause was lost, and the armies of France were +dispersed or shut up in citadels, and the hosts of Germany were +converging upon the capital, Paris resolved on sustaining a +siege--apparently hopeless--rather than yield to a conqueror before the +last necessity should open its gates. The self-sacrifices which its +whole population, supposed to be frivolous and enervated, made to +preserve their homes and their works of art; their unparalleled +sufferings; their patience and self-reliance under the most humiliating +circumstances; their fertility of resources; their cheerfulness under +hunger and privation; and, above everything else, their submission to +law with every temptation to break it,--proved that the spirit of the +nation was unbroken; that their passive virtues rivalled their most +glorious deeds of heroism; that, if light-headed in prosperity, they +knew how to meet adversity; and that they had not lost faith in the +greatness of their future.</p> + +<p>Perhaps they would not have made so stubborn a resistance to destiny if +they had realized their true situation, but would have opened their +gates at once to overwhelming foes, as they did on the fall of the first +Napoleon. They probably calculated that Bazaine would make his escape +from Metz with his two hundred thousand men, find his way to the banks +of the Loire, rally all the military forces of the south of France, and +then march with his additional soldiers to relieve Paris, and drive back +the Germans to the Rhine.</p> + +<p>But this was not to be, and it is idle to speculate on what might have +been done either to raise the siege of Paris--one of the most memorable +in the whole history of the world--or to prevent the advance of the +Germans upon the capital itself. It is remarkable that the Parisians +were able to hold out so long,--thanks to the genius and precaution of +Thiers, who had erected the formidable forts outside the walls of Paris +in the reign of Louis Philippe; and still more remarkable was the rapid +recovery of the French nation after such immense losses of men and +treasure, after one of the most signal and humiliating overthrows which +history records. Probably France was never stronger than she is to-day +in her national resources, in her readiness for war, and in the apparent +stability of her republican government,--which ensued after the collapse +of the Second Empire. She has been steady, persevering, and even patient +for a hundred years in her struggles for political freedom, whatever +mistakes she has made and crimes she has committed to secure this +highest boon which modern civilization confers. A great hero may fall, a +great nation may be enslaved; but the cause of human freedom will in +time triumph over all despots, over all national inertness, and all +national mistakes.</p> + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>Abbott, M. Baxter, S.P. Day, Victor Hugo, Macrae, S.M. Smucker, F.M. +Whitehurst, have written more or less on Louis Napoleon. See Justin +McCarthy's Modern Leaders; Kinglake's Crimean War; History of the +Franco-German War; Lives of Bismarck, Moltke, Cavour; Life of Lord +Palmerston; Life of Nicholas; Life of Thiers; Harriet Martineau's +Biographical Sketches; W.R. Greg's Life of Todleben.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="PRINCE_BISMARCK."></a>PRINCE BISMARCK.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1815-1898.</p> + +<p>THE GERMAN EMPIRE.</p> + +<p>Before presenting Bismarck, it will be necessary to glance at the work +of those great men who prepared the way not only for him, but also for +the soldier Moltke,--men who raised Prussia from the humiliation +resulting from her conquest by Napoleon.</p> + +<p>That humiliation was as complete as it was unexpected. It was even +greater than that of France after the later Franco-Prussian war. Prussia +was dismembered; its provinces were seized by the conqueror; its +population was reduced to less than four millions; its territory was +occupied by one hundred and fifty thousand French soldiers; the king +himself was an exile and a fugitive from his own capital; every sort of +indignity was heaped on his prostrate subjects, who were compelled to +pay a war indemnity beyond their power; trade and commerce were cut off +by Napoleon's Continental system; and universal poverty overspread the +country, always poor, and now poorer than ever. Prussia had no allies +to rally to her sinking fortunes; she was completely isolated. Most of +her fortresses were in the hands of her enemies, and the magnificent +army of which she had been so proud since the days of Frederic the Great +was dispersed. At the peace of Tilsit, in 1807, it looked as if the +whole kingdom was about to be absorbed in the empire of Napoleon, like +Bavaria and the Rhine provinces, and wiped out of the map of Europe like +unfortunate Poland.</p> + +<p>But even this did not complete the humiliation. Napoleon compelled the +King of Prussia--Frederic William III.--to furnish him soldiers to fight +against Russia, as if Prussia were already incorporated with his own +empire and had lost her nationality. At that time France and Russia were +in alliance, and Prussia had no course to adopt but submission or +complete destruction; and yet Prussia refused in these evil days to join +the Confederation of the Rhine, which embraced all the German States at +the south and west of Austria and Prussia. Napoleon, however, was too +much engrossed in his scheme of conquering Spain, to swallow up Prussia +entirely, as he intended, after he should have subdued Spain. So, after +all, Prussia had before her only the fortune of Ulysses in the cave of +Polyphemus,--to be devoured the last.</p> + +<p>The escape of Prussia was owing, on the one hand, to the necessity for +Napoleon to withdraw his main army from Prussia in order to fight in +Spain; and secondly, to the transcendent talents of a few patriots to +whom the king in his distress was forced to listen. The chief of these +were Stein, Hardenberg, and Scharnhorst. It was the work of Stein to +reorganize the internal administration of Prussia, including the +financial department; that of Hardenberg to conduct the ministry of +foreign affairs; and that of Scharnhorst to reorganize the military +power. The two former were nobles; the latter sprung from the people,--a +peasant's son; but they worked together in tolerable harmony, +considering the rival jealousies that at one time existed among all the +high officials, with their innumerable prejudices.</p> + +<p>Baron von Stein, born in 1757, of an old imperial knightly family from +the country near Nassau, was as a youth well-educated, and at the age of +twenty-three entered the Prussian service under Frederic the Great, in +the mining department, where he gained rapid promotion. In 1786 he +visited England and made a careful study of her institutions, which he +profoundly admired. In 1787 he became a sort of provincial governor, +being director of the war and Domaine Chambers at Cleves and Hamm.</p> + +<p>In 1804 Stein became Minister of Trade, having charge of excise, +customs, manufactures, and trade. The whole financial administration at +this time under King Frederick William III was in a state of great +confusion, from an unnecessary number of officials who did not work +harmoniously. There was too much "red tape." Stein brought order out of +confusion, simplified the administration, punished corruption, increased +the national credit, then at a very low ebb, and re-established the bank +of Prussia on a basis that enabled it to assist the government.</p> + +<p>But a larger field than that of finance was opened to Stein in the war +of 1806. The king intrusted to him the portfolio of foreign +affairs,--not willingly, but because he regarded him as the ablest man +in the kingdom. Stein declined to be foreign minister unless he was +entirely unshackled, and the king was obliged to yield, for the +misfortunes of the country had now culminated in the disastrous defeat +at Friedland. The king, however, soon quarrelled with his minister, +being jealous of his commanding abilities, and unused to dictation from +any source. After a brief exile at Nassau, the peace of Tilsit having +proved the sagacity of his views, Stein returned to power as virtual +dictator of the kingdom, with the approbation of Napoleon; but his +dictatorship lasted only about a year, when he was again discharged.</p> + +<p>During that year, 1807, Stein made his mark in Prussian history. Without +dwelling on details, he effected the abolition of serfdom in Prussia, +the trade in land, and municipal reforms, giving citizens +self-government in place of the despotism of military bureaus. He made +it his business to pay off the French war indemnity,--one hundred and +fifty million francs, a great sum for Prussia to raise when dismembered +and trodden in the dust under one hundred and fifty thousand French +soldiers,--and to establish a new and improved administrative system. +But, more than all, he attempted to rouse a moral, religious, and +patriotic spirit in the nation, and to inspire it anew with courage, +self-confidence, and self-sacrifice. In 1808 the ministry became warlike +in spite of its despair, the first glimpse of hope being the popular +rising in Spain. It was during the ministry of Stein, and through his +efforts, that the anti-Napoleonic revolution began.</p> + +<p>The intense hostility of Stein to Napoleon, and his commanding +abilities, led Napoleon in 1808 imperatively to demand from the King of +Prussia the dismissal of his minister; and Frederick William dared not +resist. Stein did not retire, however, until after the royal edict had +emancipated the serfs of Prussia, and until that other great reform was +made by which the nobles lost the monopoly of office and exemption from +taxation, while the citizen class gained admission to all posts, trades, +and occupations. These great reforms were chiefly to be traced to Stein, +although Hardenberg and others, like Schön and Niebuhr, had a hand +in them.</p> + +<p>Stein also opened the military profession to the citizen class, which +before was closed, only nobles being intrusted with command in the army. +It is true that nobles still continued to form a large majority of +officers, even as peasants formed the bulk of the army. But the removal +of restrictions and the abolition of serfdom tended to create patriotic +sentiments among all classes, on which the strength of armies in no +small degree rests. In the time of Frederic the Great the army was a +mere machine. It was something more when the nation in 1811 rallied to +achieve its independence. Then was born the idea of nationality,--that, +whatever obligations a Prussian owed to the state, Germany was greater +than Prussia itself. This idea was the central principle of Stein's +political system, leading ultimately to the unity of Germany as finally +effected by Bismarck and Moltke. It became almost synonymous with that +patriotism which sustains governments and thrones, the absence of which +was the great defect of the German States before the times of Napoleon, +when both princes and people lost sight of the unity of the nation in +the interests of petty sovereignties.</p> + +<p>Stein was a man of prodigious energy, practical good sense, and lofty +character, but irascible, haughty, and contemptuous, and was far from +being a favorite with the king and court. His great idea was the unity +and independence of Germany. He thought more of German nationality than +of Prussian aggrandizement. It was his aim to make his countrymen feel +that they were Germans rather than Prussians, and that it was only by a +union of the various German States that they could hope to shake off the +French yoke, galling and humiliating beyond description.</p> + +<p>When Stein was driven into exile at the dictation of Napoleon, with the +loss of his private fortune, he was invited by the Emperor of Russia to +aid him with his counsels,--and it can be scarcely doubted that in the +employ of Russia he rendered immense services to Germany, and had no +little influence in shaping the movements of the allies in effecting the +ruin of the common despot. On this point, however, I cannot dwell.</p> + +<p>Count, afterward Prince, Hardenberg, held to substantially the same +views, and was more acceptable to the king as minister than was the +austere and haughty Stein, although his morals were loose, and his +abilities far inferior to those of the former. But his diplomatic +talents were considerable, and his manners were agreeable, like those of +Metternich, while Stein treated kings and princes as ordinary men, and +dictated to them the course which was necessary to pursue. It was the +work of Hardenberg to create the peasant-proprietorship of modern +Prussia; but it was the previous work of Stein to establish free trade +in land,--which means the removal of hindrances to the sale and purchase +of land, which still remains one of the abuses of England,--the ultimate +effect of which was to remove caste in land as well as caste in persons.</p> + +<p>The great educational movement, in the deepest depression of Prussian +affairs, was headed by William, Baron von Humboldt. When Prussia lay +disarmed, dismembered, and impoverished, the University of Berlin was +founded, the government contributing one hundred and fifty thousand +thalers a year; and Humboldt--the first minister of public +instruction--succeeded in inducing the most eminent and learned men in +Germany to become professors in this new university. I look upon this +educational movement in the most gloomy period of German history as one +of the noblest achievements which any nation ever made in the cause of +science and literature. It took away the sting of military ascendency, +and raised men of genius to an equality with nobles; and as the +universities were the centres of liberal sentiments and all liberalizing +ideas, they must have exerted no small influence on the war of +liberation itself, as well as on the cause of patriotism, which was the +foundation of the future greatness of Prussia. Students flocked from all +parts of Germany to hear lectures from accomplished and patriotic +professors, who inculcated the love of fatherland. Germany, though +fallen into the hands of a military hero from defects in the +administration of governments and armies, was not disgraced when her +professors in the university were the greatest scholars of the world. +They created a new empire, not of the air, as some one sneeringly +remarked, but of mind, which has gone on from conquering to conquer. For +more than fifty years German universities have been the centre of +European thought and scholastic culture,--pedantic, perhaps, but +original and profound.</p> + +<p>Before proceeding to the main subject, I have to speak of one more great +reform, which was the work of Scharnhorst. This was that series of +measures which determined the result of the greatest military struggles +of the nineteenth century, and raised Prussia to the front rank of +military monarchies. It was the <i>levee en masse</i>, composed of the youth +of the nation, without distinction of rank, instead of an army made up +of peasants and serfs and commanded by their feudal masters. Scharnhorst +introduced a compulsory system, indeed, but it was not unequal. Every +man was made to feel that he had a personal interest in defending his +country, and there were no exemptions made. True, the old system of +Frederic the Great was that of conscription; but from this conscription +large classes and whole districts were exempted, while the soldiers who +fought in the war of liberation were drawn from all classes alike: +hence, there was no unjust compulsion, which weakens patriotism, and +entails innumerable miseries. It was impossible in the utter exhaustion +of the national finances to raise a sufficient number of volunteers to +meet the emergencies of the times; therefore, if Napoleon was to be +overthrown, it was absolutely necessary to compel everybody to serve in +the army for a limited period, The nation saw the necessity, and made no +resistance. Thus patriotism lent her aid, and became an overwhelming +power. The citizen soldier was no great burden on the government, since +it was bound to his support only for a limited period,--long or short as +the exigency of the country demanded. Hence, large armies were +maintained at comparatively trifling expense.</p> + +<p>I need not go into the details of a system which made Prussia a nation +of patriots as well as of soldiers, and which made Scharnhorst a great +national benefactor, sharing with Stein the glory of a great +deliverance. He did not live to see the complete triumph of his system, +matured by genius and patient study; but his work remained to future +generations, and made Prussia invincible except to a coalition of +powerful enemies. All this was done under the eye of Napoleon, and a +dreamy middle class became an effective soldiery. So, too, did the +peasants, no longer subjected to corporal punishment and other +humiliations. What a great thing it was to restore dignity to a whole +nation, and kindle the fires of patriotic ardor among poor and rich +alike! To the credit of the king, he saw the excellence of the new +system, at once adopted it, and generously rewarded its authors. +Scharnhorst, the peasant's son, was made a noble, and was retained in +office until he died. Stein, however, whose overshadowing greatness +created jealousy, remained simply a baron, and spent his last days in +retirement,--though not unhonored, or without influence, even when not +occupying the great offices of state, to which no man ever had a higher +claim. The king did not like him, and the king was still an +absolute monarch.</p> + +<p>Frederick William III. was by no means a great man, being jealous, +timid, and vacillating; but it was in his reign that Prussia laid the +foundation of her greatness as a military monarchy. It was not the king +who laid this foundation, but the great men whom Providence raised up in +the darkest hours of Prussia's humiliation. He did one prudent thing, +however, out of timidity, when his ministers waged vigorous and +offensive measures. He refused to arm against Napoleon when Prussia lay +at his mercy. This turned out to be the salvation of Prussia, A weak +man's instincts proved to be wiser than the wisdom of the wise. When +Napoleon's doom was sealed by his disasters in Russia, then, and not +till then, did the Prussian king unite with Russia and Austria to crush +the unscrupulous despot.</p> + +<p>The condition of Prussia, then, briefly stated, when Napoleon was sent +to St. Helena to meditate and die, was this: a conquering army, of which +Blücher was one of its greatest generals, had been raised by the <i>levee +en masse</i>,--a conscription, indeed, not of peasants alone, obliged to +serve for twenty years, but of the whole nation, for three years of +active service; and a series of administrative reforms had been +introduced and extended to every department of the State, by which +greater economy and a more complete system were inaugurated, favoritism +abolished, and the finances improved so as to support the government and +furnish the sinews of war; while alliances were made with great Powers +who hitherto had been enemies or doubtful friends.</p> + +<p>These alliances resulted in what is called the German Confederation, or +Bund,--a strict union of all the various States for defensive purposes, +and also to maintain a general system to suppress revolutionary and +internal dissensions. Most of the German States entered into this +Confederacy, at the head of which was Austria. It was determined in +June, 1815, at Vienna, that the Confederacy should be managed by a +general assembly, called a Diet, the seat of which was located at +Frankfort. In this Diet the various independent States, thirty-nine in +number, had votes in proportion to their population, and were bound to +contribute troops of one soldier to every hundred inhabitants, amounting +to three hundred thousand in all, of which Austria and Prussia and +Bavaria furnished more than half. This arrangement virtually gave to +Austria and Prussia a preponderance in the Diet; and as the States were +impoverished by the late war, and the people generally detested war, a +long peace of forty years (with a short interval of a year) was secured +to Germany, during which prosperity returned and the population nearly +doubled. The Germans turned their swords into pruning-hooks, and all +kinds of industry were developed, especially manufactures. The cities +were adorned with magnificent works of art, and libraries, schools, and +universities covered the land. No nation ever made a more signal +progress in material prosperity than did the German States during this +period of forty years,--especially Prussia, which became in addition +intellectually the most cultivated country in Europe, with twenty-one +thousand primary schools, and one thousand academies, or gymnasia, in +which mathematics and the learned languages were taught by accomplished +scholars; to say nothing of the universities, which drew students from +all Christian and civilized countries in both hemispheres.</p> + +<p>The rapid advance in learning, however, especially in the universities +and the gymnasia, led to the discussion of innumerable subjects, +including endless theories of government and the rights of man, by which +discontent was engendered and virtue was not advanced. Strange to say, +even crime increased. The universities became hot-beds of political +excitement, duels, beer-drinking, private quarrels, and infidel +discussion, causing great alarm to conservative governments and to +peaceful citizens generally. At last the Diet began to interfere, for it +claimed the general oversight of all internal affairs in the various +States. An army of three hundred thousand men which obeyed the dictation +of the Diet was not to be resisted; and as this Diet was controlled by +Austria and Prussia, it became every year more despotic and +anti-democratic. In consequence, the Press was gradually fettered, the +universities were closely watched, and all revolutionary movements in +cities were suppressed. Discontent and popular agitations, as usual, +went hand in hand.</p> + +<p>As early as 1818 the great reaction against all liberal sentiments in +political matters had fairly set in. The king of Prussia neglected, and +finally refused, to grant the constitutional government which he had +promised in the day of his adversity before the battle of Waterloo; +while Austria, guided by Metternich, stamped her iron heel on everything +which looked like intellectual or national independence.</p> + +<p>This memorable reaction against all progress in government, not confined +to the German States but extending to Europe generally, has already been +considered in previous chapters. It was the great political feature in +the history of Europe for ten years after the fall of Napoleon, +particularly in Austria, where hatred of all popular movements raged +with exceeding bitterness, intensified by the revolutions in Spain, +Italy, and Greece. The assassination of Kotzebue, the dramatic author, +by a political fanatic, for his supposed complicity with the despotic +schemes of the Czar, kindled popular excitement into a blazing flame, +but still more fiercely incited the sovereigns of Germany to make every +effort to suppress even liberty of thought.</p> + +<p>During the period, then, when ultra-conservative principles animated the +united despots of the various German States, and the Diet controlled by +Metternich repressed all liberal movements, little advance was made in +Prussia in the way of reforms. But a great advance was made in all +questions of political economy and industrial matters. Free-trade was +established in the most unlimited sense between all the states and +provinces of the Confederation. All restraints were removed from the +navigation of rivers; new markets were opened in every direction for the +productions of industry. In 1839 the Zollverein, or Customs-Union, was +established, by which a uniform scale of duties was imposed in Northern +Germany on all imports and exports. But no political reforms which the +king had promised were effected during the life of Frederick William +III. Hardenberg, who with Stein had inaugurated liberal movements, had +lost his influence, although he was retained in power until he died.</p> + +<p>For the twenty years succeeding the confederation of the German States +in 1820, constitutional freedom made little or no progress in Germany. +The only advance made in Prussia was in 1823, when the Provincial +Estates, or Diets, were established. These, however, were the mere +shadow of representative government, since the Estates were convoked at +irregular intervals, and had neither the power to initiate laws nor +grant supplies. They could only express their opinions concerning +changes in the laws pertaining to persons and property.</p> + +<p>On the 7th of June, 1840, Frederick William III. of Prussia died, and +was succeeded by his son Frederick William IV., a religious and +patriotic king, who was compelled to make promises for some sort of +constitutional liberty, and to grant certain concessions, which although +they did not mean much gave general satisfaction. Among other things the +freedom of the Press was partially guaranteed, with certain +restrictions, and the Zollverein was extended to Brunswick and +Hesse-Homburg. Meantime the government entered with zeal upon the +construction of railways and the completion of the Cathedral of Cologne, +which tended to a more permanent union of the North German States. "We +are not engaged here," said the new monarch, on the inauguration of the +completion of that proudest work of mediaeval art, "with the +construction of an ordinary edifice; it is a work bespeaking the spirit +of union and concord which animates the whole of Germany and all its +persuasions, that we are now constructing." This inauguration, amid +immense popular enthusiasm, was soon followed by the meeting of the +Estates of the whole kingdom at Berlin, which for the first time united +the various Provincial Estates in a general Diet; but its functions were +limited to questions involving a diminution of taxation. No member was +allowed to speak more than once on any question, and the representatives +of the commons were only a third part of the whole assembly. This +naturally did not satisfy the nation, and petitions flowed in for the +abolition of the censorship of the Press and for the publicity of +debate. The king was not prepared to make these concessions in full, +but he abolished the censorship of the Press as to works extending to +above twenty pages, and enjoined the censors of lesser pamphlets and +journals to exercise gentleness and discretion, and not erase anything +which did not strike at the monarchy. At length, in 1847, the desire was +so universal for some form of representative government that a royal +edict convoked a General Assembly of the Estates of Prussia, arranged in +four classes,--the nobles, the equestrian order, the towns, and the +rural districts. The Diet consisted of six hundred and seventy members, +of which only eighty were nobles, and was empowered to discuss all +questions pertaining to legislation; but the initiative of all measures +was reserved to the crown. This National Diet assembled on the 24th of +July, and was opened by the king in person, with a noble speech, +remarkable for its elevation of tone. He convoked the Diet, the king +said, to make himself acquainted with the wishes and wants of his +people, but not to change the constitution, which guaranteed an absolute +monarchy. The province of the Diet was consultative rather than +legislative. Political and military power, as before, remained with the +king. Still, an important step had been taken toward representative +institutions.</p> + +<p>It was about this time, as a member of the National Diet, that Otto +Edward Leopold von Bismarck appeared upon the political stage. It was a +period of great political excitement, not only in Prussia, but +throughout Europe, and also of great material prosperity. Railways had +been built, the Zollverein had extended through North Germany, the +universities were in their glory, and into everything fearless thinkers +were casting their thoughtful eyes. Thirty-four years of peace had +enriched and united the German States. The great idea of the day was +political franchise. Everybody aspired to solve political problems, and +wished to have a voice in deliberative assemblies. There was also an +unusual agitation of religious ideas. Rouge had attempted the complete +emancipation of Germany from Papal influences, and university professors +threw their influence on the side of rationalism and popular liberty. On +the whole, there was a general tendency towards democratic ideas, which +was opposed with great bitterness by the conservative parties, made up +of nobles and government officials.</p> + +<p>Bismarck arose, slowly but steadily, with the whole force of his genius, +among the defenders of the conservative interests of his order and of +the throne. He was then simply Herr von Bismarck, belonging to an +ancient and noble but not wealthy family, whose seat was Schönhausen, +where the future prince was born, April 1, 1815. The youth was sent to a +gymnasium in Berlin in 1830, and in 1832 to the university of Göttingen +in Hanover, where he was more distinguished for duels, drinking-parties, +and general lawlessness than for scholarship. Here he formed a memorable +friendship with a brother student, a young American,--John Lothrop +Motley, later the historian of the Dutch Republic. Much has been written +of Bismarck's reckless and dissipated life at the university, which +differed not essentially from that of other nobles. He had a grand +figure, superb health, extraordinary animal spirits, and could ride like +a centaur. He spent but three semestres at Göttingen, and then repaired +to Berlin in order to study jurisprudence under the celebrated Savigny; +but he was rarely seen in the lecture-room. He gave no promise of the +great abilities which afterward distinguished him. Yet he honorably +passed his State examination; and as he had chosen the law for his +profession, he first served on leaving the university as a sort of clerk +in the city police, and in 1834 was transferred to Aix-la-Chapelle, in +the administrative department of the district. In 1837 he served in the +crown office at Potsdam. He then entered for a year as a sharpshooter of +the Guards, to absolve his obligation to military service.</p> + +<p>The next eight years, from the age of twenty-four, he devoted to +farming, hunting, carousing, and reading, on one of his father's estates +in Pomerania. He was a sort of country squire, attending fairs, selling +wool, inspecting timber, handling grain, gathering rents, and sitting as +a deputy in the local Diet,--the talk and scandal of the neighborhood +for his demon-like rides and drinking-bouts, yet now studying all the +while, especially history and even philosophy, managing the impoverished +paternal estates with prudence and success, and making short visits to +France and England, the languages of which countries he could speak with +fluency and accuracy. In 1847 he married Johanna von Putkammer, nine +years younger than himself, who proved a model wife, domestic and wise, +of whom he was both proud and fond. The same year, his father having +died and left him Schönhausen, he was elected a member of the Landtag, a +quasi-parliament of the eight united Diets of the monarchy; and his +great career began.</p> + +<p>Up to this period Bismarck was not a publicly marked man, except in an +avidity for country sports and skill in horsemanship. He ever retained +his love of the country and of country life. If proud and overbearing, +he was not ostentatious. He had but few friends, but to these he was +faithful. He never was popular until he had made Prussia the most +powerful military State in Europe. He never sought to be loved so much +as to be feared; he never allowed himself to be approached without +politeness and deference. He seemed to care more for dogs than men. Nor +was he endowed with those graces of manner which marked Metternich. He +remained harsh, severe, grave, proud through his whole career, from +first to last, except in congenial company. What is called society he +despised, with all his aristocratic tendencies and high social rank. He +was born for untrammelled freedom, and was always impatient under +contradiction or opposition. When he reached the summit of his power he +resembled Wallenstein, the hero of the Thirty Years War,--superstitious, +self-sustained, unapproachable, inspiring awe, rarely kindling love, +overshadowing by his vast abilities the monarch whom he served +and ruled.</p> + +<p>No account of the man, however, would be complete which did not +recognize the corner-stone of his character,--an immovable belief in the +feudalistic right of royalty to rule its subjects. Descended from an +ancient family of knights and statesmen, of the most intensely +aristocratic and reactionary class even in Germany, his inherited +instincts and his own tremendous will, backed by a physique of colossal +size and power, made effective his loyalty to the king and the monarchy, +which from the first dominated and inspired him. In the National Diet of +1847, Herr von Bismarck sat for more than a month before he opened his +lips; but when he did speak it became evident that he was determined to +support to the utmost the power of the crown. He was <i>plus royaliste +que le roi.</i> In the ordinary sense he was no orator. He hesitated, he +coughed, he sought for words; his voice, in spite of his herculean +frame, was feeble. But sturdy in his loyalty, although inexperienced in +parliamentary usage, he offered a bold front to the liberalism which he +saw to be dangerous to his sovereign's throne. Like Oliver Cromwell in +Parliament, he gained daily in power, while, unlike the English +statesman, he was opposed to the popular side, and held up the monarchy +after the fashion of Strafford. From that time, and in fact until 1866, +when he conquered Austria, Bismarck was very unpopular; and as he rose +in power he became the most bitterly hated man in Prussia,--which hatred +he returned with arrogant contempt. He consistently opposed all reforms, +even the emancipation of the Jews, which won him the favor of +the monarch.</p> + +<p>When the revolution of 1848 broke out, which hurled Louis Philippe from +the French throne its flames reached every continental State except +Russia. Metternich, who had been all powerful in Austria for forty +years, was obliged to flee, as well as the imperial family itself. All +the Germanic States were now promised liberal constitutions by the +fallen or dismayed princes. In Prussia, affairs were critical, and the +reformers were sanguine of triumph. Berlin was agitated by mobs to the +verge of anarchy. The king, seriously alarmed, now promised the boon +which he had thus far withheld, and summoned the Second United Diet to +pave the way for a constituent assembly. In this constituent assembly +Bismarck scorned to sit. For six months it sat squabbling and fighting, +but accomplishing nothing. At last, Bismarck found it expedient to enter +the new parliament as a deputy, and again vigorously upheld the absolute +power of the crown. He did, indeed, accept the principle of +constitutional government, but, as he frankly said, against his will, +and only as a new power in the hands of the monarch to restrain popular +agitation and maintain order. Through his influence the king refused the +imperial crown offered by the Frankfort parliament, because he conceived +that the parliament had no right to give it, that its acceptance would +be a recognition of national instead of royal sovereignty, and that it +would be followed probably by civil war. As time went on he became more +and more the leader of the conservatives. I need not enumerate the +subjects which came up for discussion in the new Prussian parliament, in +which Bismarck exhibited with more force than eloquence his loyalty to +the crown, and a conservatism which was branded by the liberals as +mediaeval. But his originality, his boldness, his fearlessness, his +rugged earnestness, his wit and humor, his biting sarcasm, his +fertility of resources, his knowledge of men and affairs, and his +devoted patriotism, marked him out for promotion.</p> + +<p>In 1851 Bismarck was sent as first secretary of the Prussian embassy to +the Diet of the various German States, convened at Frankfort, in which +Austria held a predominating influence. It was not a parliament, but an +administrative council of the Germanic Confederation founded by the +Congress of Vienna in 1815. It made no laws, and its sittings were +secret. It was a body which represented the League of Sovereigns, and +was composed of only seventeen delegates,--its main function being to +suppress all liberal movements in the various German States; like the +Congress of Vienna itself. The Diet of Frankfort was pretentious, but +practically impotent, and was the laughingstock of Europe. It was full +of jealousies and intrigues. It was a mere diplomatic conference. As +Austria and Prussia controlled it, things went well enough when these +two Powers were agreed; but they did not often agree. There was a +perpetual rivalry between them, and an unextinguishable jealousy.</p> + +<p>There were many sneers at the appointment of a man to this diplomatic +post whose manners were brusque and overbearing, and who had spent the +most of his time, after leaving the university, among horses, cattle, +and dogs; who was only a lieutenant of militia, with a single +decoration, and who was unacquainted with what is called diplomacy. But +the king knew his man, and the man was conscious of his powers.</p> + +<p>Bismarck found life at Frankfort intolerably dull. He had a contempt for +his diplomatic associates generally, and made fun of them to his few +intimate friends. He took them in almost at a glance, for he had an +intuitive knowledge of character; he weighed them in his balance, and +found them wanting. In a letter to his wife, he writes: "Nothing but +miserable trifles do these people trouble themselves about. They strike +me as infinitely more ridiculous with their important ponderosity +concerning the gathered rags of gossip, than even a member of the Second +Chamber of Berlin in the full consciousness of his dignity.... The men +of the minor States are mostly mere caricatures of periwig diplomatists, +who at once put on their official visage if I merely beg of them a light +to my cigar."</p> + +<p>His extraordinary merits were however soon apparent to the king, and +even to his chief, old General Rochow, who was soon transferred to St. +Petersburg to make way for the secretary. The king's brother William, +Prince of Prussia, when at Frankfort, was much impressed by the young +Prussian envoy to the Bund, and there was laid the foundation of the +friendship between the future soldier-king and the future chancellor, +between whom there always existed a warm confidence and esteem. Soon +after, Bismarck made the acquaintance of Metternich, who had ruled for +so long a time both the Diet and the Empire. The old statesman, now +retired, invited the young diplomatist to his castle at Johannisberg. +They had different aims, but similar sympathies. The Austrian statesman +sought to preserve the existing state of things; the Prussian, to make +his country dominant over Germany. Both were aristocrats, and both were +conservative; but Metternich was as bland and polished as Bismarck was +rough and brusque.</p> + +<p>Nothing escaped the watchful eye of Bismarck at Frankfort as the +ambassador of Prussia. He took note of everything, both great and small, +and communicated it to Berlin as if he were a newspaper correspondent. +In everything he showed his sympathy with absolutism, and hence +recommended renewed shackles on the Press and on the universities,--at +that time the hotbed of revolutionary ideas. His central aim and +constant thought was the ascendency of Prussia,--first in royal strength +at home, then throughout Germany as the rival of Austria. Bismarck was +not only a keen observer, but he soon learned to disguise his thoughts. +Nobody could read him. He was frank when his opponents were full of +lies, knowing that he would not be believed. He became a perfect master +of the art of deception. No one was a match for him in statecraft. Even +Prince Gortschakoff became his dupe. By his tact he kept Prussia from +being entangled by the usurpation of Napoleon III., and by the Crimean +war. He saw into the character of the French emperor, and discovered +that he was shallow, and not to be feared. At Frankfort, Bismarck had +many opportunities of seeing distinguished men of all nations; he took +their gauge, and penetrated the designs of cabinets. He counselled his +master to conciliate Napoleon, though regarding him as an upstart; and +he sought the friendship of France in order to eclipse the star of +Austria, whom it was necessary to humble before Prussia could rise. In +his whole diplomatic career at Frankfort it was Bismarck's aim to +contravene the designs of Austria, having in view the aggrandizement of +Prussia as the true head and centre of German nationality. He therefore +did all he could to prevent Austria from being assisted in her war with +Italy, and rejoiced in her misfortunes. In the meantime he made frequent +short visits to Holland, Denmark, Italy, and Hungary, acquired the +languages of these countries, and made himself familiar with their +people and institutions, besides shrewdly studying the characters, +manners, and diplomatic modes of the governing classes of European +nations at large. Cool, untiring, self-possessed, he was storing up +information and experience.</p> + +<p>At the end of eight years, in 1859, Bismarck was transferred to St. +Petersburg as the Prussian ambassador to Alexander II. He was then +forty-three years of age, and was known as the sworn foe of Austria. His +free-and-easy but haughty manners were a great contrast to those of his +stiff, buttoned-up, and pretentious predecessors; and he became a great +favorite in Russian court circles. The comparatively small salary he +received,--less than twenty thousand dollars, with a house,--would not +allow him to give expensive entertainments, or to run races in +prodigality with the representatives of England, France, or even +Austria, who received nearly fifty thousand dollars. But no parties were +more sought or more highly appreciated than those which his sensible and +unpretending wife gave in the high society in which they moved. With the +empress-dowager he was an especial favorite, and was just the sort of +man whom the autocrat of all the Russias would naturally like, +especially for his love of hunting, and his success in shooting deer and +bears. He did not go to grand parties any more than he could help, +despising their ostentation and frivolity, and always feeling the +worse for them.</p> + +<p>On the 2d of January, 1861, Frederick William IV., who had for some time +been insane, died, and was succeeded by the Prince Regent, William I., +already in his sixty-fifth year, every inch a soldier and nothing else. +Bismarck was soon summoned to the councils of his sovereign at Berlin, +who was perplexed and annoyed by the Liberal party, which had the +ascendency in the lower Chamber of the general Diet. Office was pressed +upon Bismarck, but before he accepted it he wished to study Napoleon and +French affairs more closely, and was therefore sent as ambassador to +Paris in 1862. He made that year a brief visit to London, Disraeli being +then the premier, who smiled at his schemes for the regeneration of +Germany. It was while journeying amid the Pyrenees that Bismarck was +again summoned to Berlin, the lower Chamber having ridden rough-shod +over his Majesty's plans for army reform. The king invested him with the +great office of President of the Ministry, his abilities being +universally recognized.</p> + +<p>It was now Bismarck's mission to break the will of the Prussian +parliament, and to thrust Austria out of the Germanic body. He +considered only the end in view, caring nothing for the means: he had no +scruples. It was his religion to raise Prussia to the same ascendency +that Austria had held under Metternich. He had a master whose will and +ambition were equal to his own, yet whose support he was sure of in +carrying out his grand designs. He was now a second Richelieu, to whom +the aggrandizement of the monarchy which he served and the welfare of +Fatherland were but convertible terms. He soon came into bitter +conflict, not with nobles, but with progressive liberals in the Chamber, +who detested him and feared him, but to whom he did not condescend to +reveal his plans,--bearing obloquy with placidity in the greatness of +the end he had in view. He was a self-sustained, haughty, unapproachable +man of power, except among the few friends whom he honored as boon +companions, without ever losing his discretion,--wearing a mask with +apparent frankness, and showing real frankness in matters which did not +concern secrets of state, especially on the subjects of education and +religion. Like his master, he was more a Calvinist than a Lutheran. He +openly avowed his dependence on Almighty God, and on him alone, as the +hope of nations. In this respect we trace a resemblance to Oliver +Cromwell rather than to Frederic the Great. Bismarck was a compound of +both, in his patriotism and his unscrupulousness.</p> + +<p>The first thing that King William and his minister did was to double the +army. But this vast increase of military strength seemed unnecessary to +the Liberal party, and the requisite increase of taxes to support it was +unpopular. Hence, Bismarck was brought in conflict with the lower +Chamber, which represented the middle classes. He dared not tell his +secret schemes without imperilling their success, which led to grave +misunderstandings. For four years the conflict raged between the crown +and the parliament, both the king and Bismarck being inflexible; and the +lower House was equally obstinate in refusing to grant the large +military supplies demanded. At last, Bismarck dissolved the Chambers, +and the king declared that as the Three Estates could not agree, he +should continue to do his duty by Prussia without regard to "these +pieces of paper called constitutions." The next four sessions of the +Chamber were closed in the same manner. Bismarck admitted that he was +acting unconstitutionally, but claimed the urgency of public necessity. +In the public debates he was cool, sarcastic, and contemptuous. The +Press took up the fight, and the Press was promptly muzzled. Bismarck +was denounced as a Catiline, a Strafford, a Polignac; but he retained a +provoking serenity, and quietly prepared for war,--since war, he +foresaw, was sooner or later inevitable. "Nothing can solve the +question," said he, "but blood and iron."</p> + +<p>At last an event occurred which showed his hand. In November, 1863, +Frederick VII., the king of Denmark, died. By his death the +Schleswig-Holstein question again burst upon distracted Europe,--Who was +to reign over the two Danish provinces? The king of Denmark, as Duke of +Schleswig and Holstein, had been represented in the Germanic Diet. By +the treaty of London, in 1852, he had undertaken not to incorporate the +duchies with the rest of his monarchy, allowing them to retain their +traditional autonomy. In 1863, shortly before his death, Frederick VII. +by a decree dissolved this autonomy, and virtually incorporated +Schleswig, which was only partly German, with the Danish monarchy, +leaving the wholly German Holstein as before. Bismarck protested against +this violation of treaty obligations. The Danish parliament nevertheless +passed a law which incorporated the province with Denmark; and Christian +IX., the new monarch, confirmed the law.</p> + +<p>But a new claimant to the duchies now appeared in the person of +Frederick of Augustenburg, a German prince; and the Prussian Chamber +advocated his claims, as did the Diet itself; but the throne held its +opinion in reserve. Bismarck contrived (by what diplomatic tricks and +promises it is difficult to say) to induce Austria to join with Prussia +in seizing the provinces in question and in dividing the spoil between +them. As these two Powers controlled the Diet at Frankfort, it was easy +to carry out the programme. An Austro-Prussian army accordingly invaded +Schleswig-Holstein, and to the scandal of all Europe drove the Danish +defenders to the wall. It was regarded in the same light as the seizure +of Silesia by Frederic the Great,--a high-handed and unscrupulous +violation of justice and right. England was particularly indignant, and +uttered loud protests. So did the lesser States of Germany, jealous of +the aggrandizement of Prussia. Even the Prussian Chamber refused to +grant the money for such an enterprise.</p> + +<p>But Bismarck laughed in his sleeve. This arch-diplomatist had his +reasons, which he did not care to explain. He had in view the weakening +of the power of the Diet, and a quarrel with Austria. True, he had +embraced Austria, but after the fashion of a bear. He knew that Austria +and Prussia would wrangle about the division of the spoil, which would +lead to misunderstandings, and thus furnish the pretext for a war, which +he felt to be necessary before Prussia could be aggrandized and German +unity be effected, with Prussia at its head,--the two great objects of +his life. His policy was marvellously astute; but he kept his own +counsels, and continued to hug his secret enemy.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of October, 1864, the Treaty of Vienna was signed, by which +it was settled that the king of Denmark should surrender +Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg to Austria and Prussia, and he bound +himself to submit to what their majesties might think fit as to the +disposition of these three duchies. Probably both parties sought an +occasion to quarrel, since their commissioners had received opposite +instructions,--the Austrians defending the claims of Frederick of +Augustenburg, as generally desired in Germany, and the Prussians now +opposing them. Prussia demanded the expulsion of the pretender; to which +Austria said no. Prussia further sounded Austria as to the annexation of +the duchies to herself, to which Austria consented, on condition of +receiving an equivalent of some province in Silesia. "What!" thought +Bismarck, angrily, "give you back part of what was won for Prussia by +Frederic the Great? Never!" Affairs had a gloomy look; but war was +averted for a while by the Convention of Gastein, by which the +possession of Schleswig was assigned to Prussia, and Holstein to +Austria; and further, in consideration of two and a half millions of +dollars, the Emperor Francis Joseph ceded to King William all his rights +of co-proprietorship in the Duchy of Lauenburg.</p> + +<p>But the Chamber of Berlin boldly declared this transaction to be null +and void, since the country had not been asked to ratify the treaty. It +must be borne in mind that the conflict was still going on between +Bismarck, as the defender of the absolute sovereignty of the king, and +the liberal and progressive members of the Chamber, who wanted a freer +and more democratic constitution. Opposed, then, by the Chamber, +Bismarck dissolved it, and coolly reminded his enemies that the Chamber +had nothing to do with politics,--only with commercial affairs and +matters connected with taxation. This was the period of his greatest +unpopularity, since his policy and ultimate designs were not +comprehended. So great was the popular detestation in which he was held +that a fanatic tried to kill him in the street, but only succeeded in +wounding him slightly.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Austria fomented disaffection in the provinces which +Prussia had acquired, and Bismarck resolved to cut the knot by the +sword. Prussian troops marched to the frontier, and Austria on her part +also prepared for war. It is difficult to see that a real <i>casus belli</i> +existed. We only know that both parties wanted to fight, whatever were +their excuses and pretensions; and both parties sought the friendship of +Russia and France, especially by holding out delusive hopes to Napoleon +of accession of territory. They succeeded in inducing both Russia and +France to remain neutral,--mere spectators of the approaching contest, +which was purely a German affair. It was the first care of Prussia to +prevent the military union of her foes in North Germany with her foes in +the south,--which was effected in part by the diplomatic genius of +Bismarck, and in part by occupying the capitals of Hanover, Saxony, and +Hesse-Cassel with Prussian troops, in a very summary way.</p> + +<p>The encounter now began in earnest between Prussia and Austria for the +prize of ascendency. Both parties were confident of success,--Austria as +the larger State, with proud traditions, triumphant over rebellious +Italy; and Prussia, with its enlarged military organization and the new +breech-loading needle-gun.</p> + +<p>Count von Moltke at this time came prominently on the European stage as +the greatest strategist since Napoleon. He was chief of staff to the +king, who was commander-in-chief. He set his wonderful machinery in +harmonious action, and from his office in Berlin moved his military +pawns by touch of electric wire. Three great armies were soon +centralized in Bohemia,--one of three corps, comprising one hundred +thousand men, led by Prince Charles, the king's nephew; the second, of +four corps, of one hundred and sixteen thousand men, commanded by the +crown prince, the king's son; and the third, of forty thousand, led by +General von Bittenfield. "March separately; strike together," were the +orders of Moltke. Vainly did the Austrians attempt to crush these armies +in detail before they should combine at the appointed place. On they +came, with mathematical accuracy, until two of the armies reached +Gitschin, the objective point, where they were joined by the king, by +Moltke, by Bismarck, and by General von Roon, the war minister. On the +2d of June, 1866, they were opposite Königgrätz (or Sadowa, as the +Austrians called it), where the Austrians were marshalled. On the 3d of +July the battle began; and the scales hung pretty evenly until, at the +expected hour, the crown prince--"our Fritz," as the people +affectionately called him after this, later the Emperor Frederick +William--made his appearance on the field with his army. Assailed on +both flanks and pressed in the centre, the Austrians first began to +slacken fire, then to waver, then to give way under the terrific +concentrated fire of the needle-guns, then to retreat into ignominious +flight. The contending forces were about equal; but science and the +needle-gun won the day, and changed the whole aspect of modern warfare. +The battle of Königgrätz settled this point,--that success in war +depends more on good powder and improved weapons than on personal +bravery or even masterly evolutions. Other things being equal, victory +is almost certain to be on the side of the combatants who have the best +weapons. The Prussians won the day of Königgrätz by their breech-loading +guns, although much was due to their superior organization and +superior strategy.</p> + +<p>That famous battle virtually ended the Austro-Prussian campaign, which +lasted only about seven weeks. It was one of those "decisive battles" +that made Prussia the ascendent power in Germany, and destroyed the +prestige of Austria. It added territory to Prussia equal to one quarter +of the whole kingdom, and increased her population by four and a half +millions of people. At a single bound, Prussia became a first-class +military State.</p> + +<p>The Prussian people were almost frantic with joy; and Bismarck, from +being the most unpopular man in the nation, became instantly a national +idol. His marvellous diplomacy, by which Austria was driven to the +battlefield, was now seen and universally acknowledged. He obtained +fame, decorations, and increased power. A grateful nation granted to him +four hundred thousand thalers, with which he bought the estate of +Varzin. General von Moltke received three hundred thousand thalers and +immense military prestige. The war minister, Von Roon, also received +three hundred thousand thalers. These three stood out as the three most +prominent men of the nation, next to the royal family.</p> + +<p>Never was so short a war so pregnant with important consequences. It +consolidated the German Confederation under Prussian dominance. By +weakening Austria it led to the national unity of Italy, and secured +free government to the whole Austrian empire, since that government +could no longer refuse the demands of Hungary. Above all, "it shattered +the fabric of Ultramontanism which had been built up by the concordat +of 1853."</p> + +<p>It was the expectation of Napoleon III that Austria would win in this +war; but the loss of the Austrians was four to one, besides her +humiliation, condemned as she was to pay a war indemnity, with the loss +also of the provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, +Nassau, and Frankfort. But Bismarck did not push Austria to the wall, +since he did not wish to make her an irreconcilable enemy. He left open +a door for future and permanent peace. He did not desire to ruin his +foe, but simply to acquire the lead in German politics and exclude +Austria from the Germanic Confederation. Napoleon, disappointed and +furious, blustered, and threatened war, unless he too could come in for +a share of the plunder, to which he had no real claim. Bismarck calmly +replied, "Well, then, let there be war," knowing full well that France +was not prepared, Napoleon consulted his marshals, "Are we prepared," +asked he, "to fight all Germany?" "Certainly not," replied the marshals, +"until our whole army, like that of Prussia, is supplied with a +breech-loader; until our drill is modified to suit the new weapon; until +our fortresses are in a perfect state of preparedness, and until we +create a mobile and efficient national reserve."</p> + +<p>When Carlyle heard the news of the great victories of Prussia, he wrote +to a friend, "Germany is to stand on her feet henceforth, and face all +manner of Napoleons and hungry, sponging dogs, with clear steel in her +hand and an honest purpose in her heart. This seems to me the best news +we or Europe have heard for the last forty years or more."</p> + +<p>The triumphal return of the Prussian troops to Berlin was followed on +the 24th of February, 1867, by the opening of the first North German +parliament,--three hundred deputies chosen from the various allied +States by universal suffrage. Twenty-two States north of the Main formed +themselves into a perpetual league for the protection of the Union and +its institutions. Legislative power was to be invested in two +bodies,--the Reichstag, representing the people; and the Bundesrath, +composed of delegates from the allied governments, the perpetual +presidency of which was invested in the king of Prussia. He was also +acknowledged as the commander-in-chief of the united armies; and the +standing army, on a peace footing, was fixed at one per cent of all the +inhabitants. This constitution was drawn by Bismarck himself, not +unwilling, under the unquestioned supremacy of his monarch, to utilize +the spirit of the times, and admit the people to a recognized support of +the crown.</p> + +<p>Thus Germany at last acquired a liberal constitution, though not so free +and broad as that of England. The absolute control of the army and navy, +the power to make treaties and declare peace and war, the appointment +of all the great officers of state, and the control of education and +other great interests still remained with the king. The functions of the +lower House seemed to be mostly confined to furnishing the sinews of war +and government,--the granting of money and the regulation of taxes. +Meanwhile, secret treaties of alliance were concluded with the southern +States of Germany, offensive and defensive, in case of war,--another +stroke of diplomatic ability on the part of Bismarck; for the intrigues +of Napoleon had been incessant to separate the southern from the +northern States,--in other words, to divide Germany, which the French +emperor was sanguine he could do. With a divided Germany, he believed +that he was more than a match for the king of Prussia, as soon as his +military preparations should be made. Could he convert these States into +allies, he was ready for war. He was intent upon securing for France +territorial enlargements equal to those of Prussia. He could no longer +expect any thing on the Rhine, and he turned his eyes to Belgium.</p> + +<p>The war-cloud arose on the political horizon in 1867, when Napoleon +sought to purchase from the king of Holland the Duchy of Luxemburg, +which was a personal fief of his kingdom, though it was inhabited by +Germans, and which made him a member of the Germanic Confederation if he +chose to join it. In the time of Napoleon I. Luxemburg was defended by +one of the strongest fortresses in Europe, garrisoned by Prussian +troops; it was therefore a menace to France on her northeastern +frontier. As Napoleon III, promised a very big sum of money for this +duchy, with a general protectorate of Holland in case of Prussian +aggressions, the king of Holland was disposed to listen to the proposal +of the French emperor; but when it was discovered that an alliance of +the southern States had been made with the northern States of Germany, +which made Prussia the mistress of Germany, the king of Holland became +alarmed, and declined the French proposals. The chagrin of the emperor +and the wrath of the French nation became unbounded. Again they had been +foiled by the arch-diplomatist of Prussia.</p> + +<p>All this was precisely what Bismarck wanted. Confident of the power of +Prussia, he did all he could to drive the French nation to frenzy. He +worked on a vainglorious, excitable, and proud people, at the height of +their imperial power. Napoleon was irresolute, although it appeared to +him that war with Prussia was the only way to recover his prestige after +the mistakes of the Mexican expedition. But Mexico had absorbed the +marrow of the French army, and the emperor was not quite ready for war. +He must find some pretence for abandoning his designs on Luxemburg, any +attempt to seize which would be a plain <i>casus belli</i>. Both parties were +anxious to avoid the initiative of a war which might shake Europe to its +centre. Both parties pretended peace; but both desired war.</p> + +<p>Napoleon, a man fertile in resources, in order to avoid immediate +hostilities looked about for some way to avoid what he knew was +premature; so he proposed submitting the case to arbitration, and the +Powers applied themselves to extinguish the gathering flames. The +conference--composed of representatives of England, France, Russia, +Austria, Prussia, Holland, and Belgium--met in London; and the result of +it was that Prussia agreed to withdraw her garrison from Luxemburg and +to dismantle the fortress, while the duchy was to continue to be a +member of the German Zollverein, or Customs Union. King William was +willing to make this concession to the cause of humanity; and his +minister, rather than go against the common sentiment of Europe, +reluctantly conceded this point, which, after all, was not of paramount +importance. Thus was war prevented for a time, although everybody knew +that it was inevitable, sooner or later.</p> + +<p>The next three years Bismarck devoted himself to diplomatic intrigues in +order to cement the union of the German States,--for the Luxemburg +treaty was well known to be a mere truce,--and Napoleon did the same to +weaken the union. In the meantime King William accepted an invitation of +Napoleon to visit Paris at the time of the Great Exposition; and thither +he went, accompanied by Counts Bismarck and Moltke. The party was soon +after joined by the Czar, accompanied by Prince Gortschakoff, who had +the reputation of being the ablest diplomatist in Europe, next to +Bismarck. The meeting was a sort of carnival of peace, hollow and +pretentious, with fêtes and banquets and military displays innumerable. +The Prussian minister amused himself by feeling the national pulse, +while Moltke took long walks to observe the fortifications of Paris. +When his royal guests had left, Napoleon travelled to Salzburg to meet +the Austrian emperor, ostensibly to condole with him for the unfortunate +fate of Maximilian in Mexico, but really to interchange political ideas. +Bismarck was not deceived, and openly maintained that the military and +commercial interests of north and south Germany were identical.</p> + +<p>In April, 1868, the Customs Parliament assembled in Berlin, as the first +representative body of the entire nation that had as yet met. Though +convoked to discuss tobacco and cotton, the real object was to pave the +way for "the consummation of the national destinies."</p> + +<p>Bismarck meanwhile conciliated Hanover, whose sovereign, King George, +had been dethroned, by giving him a large personal indemnity, and by +granting home rule to what was now a mere province of Prussia. In +Berlin, he resisted in the Reichstag the constitutional encroachments +which the Liberal party aimed at,--ever an autocrat rather than +minister, having no faith in governmental responsibility to parliament. +Only one master he served, and that was the king, as Richelieu served +Louis XIII. Nor would he hear of a divided ministry; affairs were too +complicated to permit him to be encumbered by colleagues. He maintained +that public affairs demanded quickness, energy, and unity of action; and +it was certainly fortunate for Germany in the present crisis that the +foreign policy was in the hands of a single man, and that man so able, +decided, and astute as Bismarck.</p> + +<p>All the while secret preparations for war went on in both Prussia and +France. French spies overran the Rhineland, and German draughtsmen were +busy in the cities and plains of Alsace-Lorraine. France had at last +armed her soldiers with the breech-loading chassepot gun, by many +thought to be superior to the needle-gun; and she had in addition +secretly constructed a terrible and mysterious engine of war called +<i>mitrailleuse</i>,--a combination of gun-barrels fired by mechanism. These +were to effect great results. On paper, four hundred and fifty thousand +men were ready to rush as an irresistible avalanche on the Rhine +provinces. To the distant observer it seemed that France would gain an +easy victory, and once again occupy Berlin. Besides her supposed +military forces, she still had a great military prestige. Prussia had +done nothing of signal importance for forty years except to fight the +duel with Austria; but France had done the same, and had signally +conquered at Solferino. Yet during forty years Prussia had been +organizing her armies on the plan which Scharnhorst had furnished, and +had four hundred and fifty thousand men under arms,--not on paper, but +really ready for the field, including a superb cavalry force. The combat +was to be one of material forces, guided by science.</p> + +<p>I have said that only a pretext was needed to begin hostilities. This +pretext on the part of the French was that their ambassador to Berlin, +Benedetti, was reported to have been insulted by the king. He was not +insulted. The king simply refused to have further parley with an +arrogant ambassador, and referred him to his government,--which was the +proper thing to do. On this bit of scandal the French politicians--the +people who led the masses--lashed themselves into fury, and demanded +immediate war. Napoleon could not resist the popular pressure, and war +was proclaimed. The arrogant demand of Napoleon, through his ambassador +Benedetti, that the king of Prussia should agree never to permit his +relative, Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, to accept the vacant throne of +Spain, to which he had been elected by the provisional government of +that country, was the occasion of King William's curt reception of the +French envoy; for this was an insulting demand, not to be endured. It +was no affair of Napoleon, especially since the prince had already +declined the throne at the request of the king of Prussia, as the head +of the Hohenzollern family. But the French nation generally, the +Catholic Church party working through the Empress Eugenie, and, above +all, the excitable Parisians, goaded by the orators and the Press, saw +the possibility of an extension of the Roman empire of Charles V., under +the control of Prussia; and Napoleon was driven to the fatal course, +first, of making the absurd demand, and then--in spite of a wholesome +irresolution, born of his ignorance concerning his own military +forces--of resenting its declinature with war.</p> + +<p>In two weeks the German forces were mobilized, and the colossal +organization, in three great armies, all directed by Moltke as chief of +staff to the commander-in-chief, the still vigorous old man who ruled +and governed at Berlin, were on their way to the seat of war. At +Mayence, the king in person, on the 2d of August, 1870, assumed command +of the united German armies; and in one month from that date Prance was +prostrate at his feet.</p> + +<p>It would be interesting to detail the familiar story; but my limits will +not permit. I can only say that the three armies of the German forces, +each embracing several corps, were, one under the command of General +Steinmetz, another under Prince Frederic Charles, and the third under +the crown prince,--and all under the orders of Moltke, who represented +the king. The crown prince, on the extreme left, struck the first blow +at Weissenburg, on the 4th of August; and on the 6th he assaulted +McMahon at Worth, and drove back his scattered forces,--partly on +Chalons, and partly on Strasburg; while Steinmetz, commanding the right +wing, nearly annihilated Frossard's corps at Spicheren. It was now the +aim of the French under Bazaine, who commanded two hundred and fifty +thousand men near Metz, to join McMahon's defeated forces. This was +frustrated by Moltke in the bloody battle of Gravelotte, compelling +Bazaine to retire within the lines of Metz, the strongest fortress in +France, which was at once surrounded by Prince Charles. Meanwhile, the +crown prince continued the pursuit of McMahon, who had found it +impossible to effect a junction with Bazaine. At Sedan the armies met; +but as the Germans were more than twice the number of the French, and +had completely surrounded them, the struggle was useless,--and the +French, with the emperor himself, were compelled to surrender as +prisoners of war. Thus fell Napoleon's empire.</p> + +<p>After the battle of Sedan, one of the decisive battles of history, the +Germans advanced rapidly to Paris, and King William took up his quarters +at Versailles, with his staff and his councillor Bismarck, who had +attended him day by day through the whole campaign, and conducted the +negotiations of the surrender. Paris, defended by strong fortifications, +resolved to sustain a siege rather than yield, hoping that something +might yet turn up by which the besieged garrison should be relieved,--a +forlorn hope, as Paris was surrounded, especially on the fall of Metz, +by nearly half a million of the best soldiers in the world. Yet that +memorable siege lasted five months, and Paris did not yield until +reduced by extreme, famine; and perhaps it might have held out much +longer if it could have been provisioned. But this was not to be. The +Germans took the city as Alaric had taken Rome, without much waste +of blood.</p> + +<p>The conquerors were now inexorable, and demanded a war indemnity of five +milliards of francs, and the cession of Metz and the two province of +Alsace-Lorraine (which Louis XIV had formerly wrested away), including +Strasburg. Eloquently but vainly did old Thiers plead for better terms; +but he pleaded with men as hard as iron, who exacted, however, no more +than Napoleon III would have done had the fortune of war enabled him to +reach Berlin as the conqueror. War is hard under any circumstances, but +never was national humiliation more complete than when the Prussian flag +floated over the Arc de Triomphe, and Prussian soldiers defiled +beneath it.</p> + +<p>Nothing was now left for the aged Prussian king but to put upon his head +the imperial crown of Germany, for all the German States were finally +united under him. The scene took place at Versailles in the Hall of +Mirrors, in probably the proudest palace ever erected since the days of +Nebuchadnezzar. Surrounded by princes and generals, Chancellor Bismarck +read aloud the Proclamation of the Empire, and the new German emperor +gave thanks to God. It was a fitting sequence to the greatest military +success since Napoleon crushed the German armies at Jena and Austerlitz. +The tables at last were turned, and the heavy, phlegmatic, intelligent +Teutons triumphed over the warlike and passionate Celts. So much for the +genius of the greatest general and the greatest diplomatist that Europe +had known for half-a-century.</p> + +<p>Bismarck's rewards for his great services were magnificent, quite equal +to those of Wellington or Marlborough. He received another valuable +estate, this time from his sovereign, which gift made him one of the +greatest landed proprietors of Prussia; he was created a Prince; he was +decorated with the principal orders of Europe; he had augmented power as +chancellor of confederated Germany; he was virtual dictator of his +country, which he absolutely ruled in the name of a wearied old man +passed seventy years of age. But the minister's labors and vexations do +not end with the Franco-German war During the years that immediately +follow, he is still one of the hardest-worked men in Europe. He receives +one thousand letters and telegrams a day. He has to manage an +unpractical legislative assembly, clamorous for new privileges, and +attend to the complicated affairs of a great empire, and direct his +diplomatic agents in every country of Europe. He finds that the sanctum +of a one-man power is not a bed of roses. Sometimes he seeks rest and +recreation on one of his estates, but labors and public duties follow +him wherever he goes. He is too busy and preoccupied even for pleasure, +unless he is hunting boars and stags. He seems to care but little for +art of any kind, except music; but once in his life has he ever visited +the Museum of Berlin; he never goes to the theatre. He appears as little +as possible in the streets, but when recognized he is stared at as a +wonder. He lives hospitably but plainly, and in a palace with few +ornaments or luxuries. He enshrouds himself in mystery, but not in +gloom. Few dare approach him, for his manners are brusque and rough, and +he is feared more even than he is honored. His aspect is stern and +haughty, except when he occasionally unbends. In his family he is +simple, frank, and domestic; but in public he is the cold and imperative +dictator. Even the royal family are uncomfortable in his commanding and +majestic presence; everybody stands in awe of him but his wife and +children. He caresses only his dogs. He eats but once a day, but his +meal is enough for five men; he drinks a quart of beer or wine without +taking the cup from his mouth; he smokes incessantly, generally a long +Turkish pipe. He sleeps irregularly, disturbed by thoughts which fill +his troubled brain. Honored is the man who is invited to his table, even +if he be the ambassador of a king; for at table the host is frank and +courteous, and not overbearing like a literary dictator. He is well read +in history, but not in art or science or poetry. His stories are +admirable when he is in convivial mood; all sit around him in silent +admiration, for no one dares more than suggest the topic,--he does all +the talking himself. Bayard Taylor, when United States minister at +Berlin, was amazed and confounded by his freedom of speech and apparent +candor. He is frank in matters he does not care to conceal, and simple +as a child when not disputed or withstood; but when opposed fierce as a +lion,--a spoiled man of success, yet not intoxicated with power. Haughty +and irritable, perhaps, but never vain like a French statesman in +office,--a Webster rather than a Thiers.</p> + +<p>Such was the man who ruled the German empire with an iron hand for +twenty years or more,--the most remarkable man of power known to history +for seventy-five years; immortal like Cavour, and for his services even +more than his abilities. He had raised Prussia to the front rank among +nations, and created German unity. He had quietly effected more than +Richelieu ever aspired to perform; for Richelieu sought only to build up +a great throne, while Bismarck had united a great nation in patriotic +devotion to Fatherland, which, so far as we can see, is as invincible as +it is enlightened,--enlightened in everything except in +democratic ideas.</p> + +<p>I will not dwell on the career and character of Prince Bismarck since +the Franco-Prussian war. After that he was not identified with any great +national movements which command universal interest. His labors were +principally confined to German affairs,--quarrels with the Reichstag, +settlement of difficulties with the various States of the Germanic +Confederation, the consolidation of the internal affairs of the empire +while he carried on diplomatic relations with other great Powers, +efforts to gain the good-will of Russia and secure the general peace of +Europe. These, and a multitude of other questions too recent to be +called historical, he dealt with, in all of which his autocratic +sympathies called out the censures of the advocates of greater liberty, +and diminished his popularity. For twenty years his will was the law of +the German Confederation; though bitterly opposed at times by the +Liberals, he was always sustained by his imperial master, who threw the +burdens of State on his herculean shoulders, sometimes too great to bear +with placidity. His foreign policy was then less severely criticised +than his domestic, which was alternate success and failure.</p> + +<p>The war which he waged with the spiritual power was perhaps the most +important event of his administration, and in which he had not +altogether his own way, underrating, as is natural to such a man, +spiritual forces as compared with material. In his memorable quarrel +with Rome he appeared to the least advantage,--at first rigid, severe, +and arbitrary with the Catholic clergy, even to persecution, driving +away the Jesuits (1872), shutting up schools and churches, imprisoning +and fining ecclesiastical dignitaries, intolerant in some cases as the +Inquisition itself. One-fourth of the people of the empire are +Catholics, yet he sternly sought to suppress their religious rights and +liberties as they regarded them, thinking he could control them by +material penalties,--such as taking away their support, and shutting +them up in prison,--forgetting that conscientious Christians, whether +Catholics or Protestants, will in matters of religion defy the mightiest +rulers. No doubt the policy of the Catholics of Germany was extremely +irritating to a despotic ruler who would exalt the temporal over the +spiritual power; and equally true was it that the Pope himself was +unyielding in regard to the liberties of his church, demanding +everything and giving back nothing, in accordance with the uniform +traditions of Papal domination. The Catholics, the world over, look upon +the education of their children as a thing to be superintended by their +own religious teachers,--as their inalienable right and imperative duty; +and any State interference with this right and this duty they regard as +religious persecution, to which they will never submit without hostility +and relentless defiance. Bismarck felt that to concede to the demands +which the Catholic clergy ever have made in respect to religious +privileges was to "go to Canossa,"--where Henry IV. Emperor of Germany, +in 1077, humiliated himself before Pope Gregory VII. in order to gain +absolution. The long-sighted and experienced Thiers remarked that here +Bismarck was on the wrong track, and would be compelled to retreat, +with all his power. Bismarck was too wise a man to persist in attempting +impossibilities, and after a bitter fight he became conciliatory. He did +not "go to Canossa," but he yielded to the dictates of patriotism and +enlightened policy, and the quarrel was patched up.</p> + +<p>His long struggles with the Catholics told upon his health and spirits, +and he was obliged to seek long periods of rest and recreation on his +estates,--sometimes, under great embarrassments and irritations, +threatening to resign, to which his imperial master, grateful and +dependent, would never under any circumstances consent. But the +prince-president of the ministers and chancellor of the empire was +loaded down with duties--in his cabinet, in his office, and in the +parliament--most onerous to bear, and which no other man in Germany was +equal to. His burdens at times were intolerable: his labors were +prodigious, and the opposition he met with was extremely irritating to a +man accustomed to have his own way in everything.</p> + +<p>Another thing gave him great solicitude, taxed to the utmost his fertile +brain; and that was the rising and wide-spreading doctrines of +Socialism,--which was to Germany what Nihilism is to Russia and +Fenianism was to Ireland; based on discontent, unbelief, and desperate +schemes of unpractical reform, leading to the assassination even of +emperors themselves. How to deal with this terrible foe to all +governments, all laws, and all institutions was a most perplexing +question. At first he was inclined to the most rigorous measures, to a +war of utter extermination; but how could he deal with enemies he could +neither see nor find, omnipresent and invisible, and unscrupulous as +satanic furies,--fanatics whom no reasoning could touch and no laws +control, whether human or divine? As experience and thought enlarged his +mental vision, he came to the conclusion that the real source and spring +of that secret and organized hostility which he deplored, but was unable +to reach and to punish, were evils in government and evils in the +structure of society,--aggravating inequality, grinding poverty, +ignorance, and the hard struggle for life. Accordingly, he devoted his +energies to improve the general condition of the people, and make the +struggle for life easier. In his desire to equalize burdens he resorted +to indirect rather than direct taxation,--to high tariffs and protective +duties to develop German industry; throwing to the winds his earlier +beliefs in the theories of the Manchester school of political economy, +and all speculative ideas as to the blessings of free-trade for the +universe in general. He bought for the government the various Prussian +railroads, in order to have uniformity of rates and remove vexatious +discriminations, which only a central power could effect. In short, he +aimed to develop the material resources of the country, both to insure +financial prosperity and to remove those burdens which press heavily +on the poor.</p> + +<p>On one point, however, his policy was inexorable; and that was to suffer +no reduction of the army, but rather to increase it to the utmost extent +that the nation could bear,--not with the view of future conquests or +military aggrandizement, as some thought, but as an imperative necessity +to guard the empire from all hostile attacks, whether from France or +Russia, or both combined. A country surrounded with enemies as Germany +is, in the centre of Europe, without the natural defences of the sea +which England enjoys, or great chains of mountains on her borders +difficult to penetrate and easy to defend, as is the case with +Switzerland, must have a superior military force to defend her, in case +of future contingencies which no human wisdom can foresee. Nor is it +such a dreadful burden to support a peace establishment of four hundred +and fifty thousand men as some think,--one soldier for every one hundred +inhabitants, trained and disciplined to be intelligent and industrious +when his short term of three years of active service shall have expired: +much easier to bear, I fancy, than the burden of supporting five paupers +or more to every hundred inhabitants, as in England and Scotland.</p> + +<p>In 1888, Bismarck made a famous speech in the Reichstag to show the +necessity of Prussia's being armed. He had no immediate fears of Russia, +he said; he professed to believe that she would keep peace with Germany. +But he spoke of numerous distinct crises within forty years, when +Prussia was on the verge of being drawn into a general European war, +which diplomacy fortunately averted, and such as now must be warded off +by being too strong for attack. He mentioned the Crimean war in 1853, +the Italian war in 1858, the Polish rebellion in 1863, the +Schleswig-Holstein embroilment, which so nearly set all Europe by the +ears, the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, the Luxemburg dispute in 1867, +the Franco-German war of 1870, the Balkan war of 1877, the various +aspects of the Eastern Question, changes of government in France, +etc.,--each of which in its time threatened the great "coalition war," +which Germany had thus far been kept out of, but which Bismarck wished +to provide against for the future.</p> + +<p>"The long and the short of it is," said he, "that we must be as strong +as we possibly can be in these days. We have the capability of being +stronger than any other nation of equal population in the world, and it +would be a crime if we did not use this capability. We must make still +greater exertions than other Powers for the same ends, on account of our +geographical position. We lie in the midst of Europe. We have at least +three sides open to attack. God has placed on one side of us the +French,--a most warlike and restless nation,--and he has allowed the +fighting tendencies of Russia to become great; so we are forced into +measures which perhaps we would not otherwise make. And the very +strength for which we strive shows that we are inclined to peace; for +with such a powerful machine as we wish to make the German army, no one +would undertake to attack us. We Germans fear God, but nothing else in +the world; and it is the fear of God which causes us to love and +cherish peace."</p> + +<p>Such was the avowed policy of Bismarck,--and I believe in his +sincerity,--to foster friendly relations with other nations, and to +maintain peace for the interests of humanity as well as for Germany, +which can be secured only by preparing for war, and with such an array +of forces as to secure victory. It was not with foreign Powers that he +had the greatest difficulty, but to manage the turbulent elements of +internal hostilities and jealousies, and oppose the anarchic forces of +doctrinaires, visionary dreamers, clerical aggressors, and socialistic +incendiaries,--foes alike of a stable government and of +ultimate progress.</p> + +<p>In the management of the internal affairs of the empire he cannot be +said to have been as successful as was Cavour in Italy. He was not in +harmony with the spirit of the age, nor was he wise. His persistent +opposition to the freedom of the Press was as great an error as his +persecution of the Catholics; and his insatiable love of power, grasping +all the great offices of State, was a serious offence in the eyes of a +jealous master, the present emperor, whom he did not take sufficient +pains to conciliate. The greatness of Bismarck was not as administrator +of an empire, but rather as the creator of an empire, and which he +raised to greatness by diplomatic skill. His distinguishable excellence +was in the management of foreign affairs; and in this power he has never +been surpassed by any foreign minister.</p> + +<p>Contrary to all calculations, this great proud man who has ruled Germany +with so firm a hand for thirty years, and whose services have been +unparalleled in the history of statesmen, was not too high to fall. But +he fell because a young, inexperienced, and ambitious sovereign,--apt +pupil of his own in the divine right of monarchs to govern, and yet +seemingly inspired by a keen sensitiveness to his people's wants and the +spirit of the age,--could not endure his commanding ascendency and +haughty dictation, and accepted his resignation offered in a moment of +pique. He fell even as Wolsey fell before Henry VIII.,--too great a man +for a subject, yet always loyal to the principles of legitimacy and the +will of his sovereign. But he retired at the age of seventy-five, with +princely estates, unexampled honors, and the admiration and gratitude +of his countrymen; with the consciousness of having elevated them to the +proudest position in continental Europe. The aged Emperor William I. +died in 1888, full of years and of honors. His son the Emperor Frederick +died a few months later, leaving a deep respect and a genuine sorrow. +The grandson, the present Emperor William II., has been called "a modern +man, notwithstanding certain proclivities which still adhere to him, +like pieces of the shell of an egg from which the bird has issued." He +is yet an unsolved problem, but may be regarded not without hope for a +wise, strong, and useful reign.</p> + +<p>The builder of his country's greatness, however, was too deeply +enshrined in the hearts of his countrymen to remain in shadow. After +more than three years of retirement, Bismarck received from the young +emperor on January 26,1894, an invitation to visit the imperial palace +in Berlin. His journey and reception in the capital were the occasion of +tumultuous public rejoicings, and when the emperor met him, the +reconciliation was complete. The time-worn veteran did not again assume +office, but he was the frequent recipient of appreciative mention by the +kaiser in public rescripts and speeches, and on his seventy-ninth +birthday, April 1,1894, he received from the emperor a greeting by +letter and a steel cuirass, "as a symbol of the German gratitude." On +the same day the castle at Friederichsruh was filled with rare and +costly presents from all over Germany, and "Bismarck banquets" were held +in all the principal cities. It was well that before this grand figure +passed away forever "the German gratitude" to him should have found +expression again, especially from the sovereign who owed to the great +chancellor his own peculiar eminence in the earth.</p> + +<p>As for Prince Bismarck, with all his faults,--and no man is perfect,--I +love and honor this courageous giant, who has, under such vexatious +opposition, secured the glory of the Prussian monarchy and the unity of +Germany; who has been conscientious in the discharge of his duties as he +has understood them, in the fear of God,--a modern Cromwell in another +cause, whose fame will increase with the advancing ages.<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> Bismarck died July 30, 1898, mourned by his nation, his +obsequies honored by the Emperor. + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>Professor Seeley's Life of Stein, Hezekiel's Biography of Bismarck, and +the Life of Prince Bismarck by Charles Lowe, are the books to which I am +most indebted for the compilation of this chapter. But one may +profitably read the various histories of the Franco-Prussian war, the +Life of Prince Hardenberg, the Life of Moltke, the Life of Scharnhorst, +and the Life of William von Humboldt. An excellent abridgment of German +History, during this century, is furnished by Professor Müller. The +Speech of Prince Bismarck in the German Reichstag, February, 1888, I +have found very instructive and interesting,--a sort of resume of his +own political life.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE."></a>WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;"> + +<p>1809-1898.</p> + +<p>THE ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE PEOPLE.</p> + +<p>It may seem presumptuous for me at the present time to write on +Gladstone, whose public life presents so many sides, concerning which +there is anything but unanimity of opinion,--a man still in full life, +and likely to remain so for years to come;<a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> a giant, so strong +intellectually and physically as to exercise, without office, a +prodigious influence in national affairs by the sole force of genius and +character combined. But how can I present the statesmen of the +nineteenth century without including him,--the Nestor among political +personages, who for forty years has taken an important part in the +government of England?</p> + +<a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> This was written by Dr. Lord in 1891. Gladstone died in +1898. + +<p>This remarkable man, like Canning, Peel, and Macaulay, was precocious in +his attainments at school and college,--especially at Oxford, which has +produced more than her share of the great men who have controlled +thought and action in England during the period since 1820. But +precocity is not always the presage of future greatness. There are more +remarkable boys than remarkable men. In England, college honors may have +more influence in advancing the fortunes of a young man than in this +country; but I seldom have known valedictorians who have come up to +popular expectations; and most of them, though always respectable, have +remained in comparative obscurity.</p> + +<p>Like the statesmen to whom I have alluded, Gladstone sprang from the +middle ranks, although his father, a princely Liverpool merchant, of +Scotch descent, became a baronet by force of his wealth, character, and +influence. Seeing the extraordinary talents of his third son,--William +Ewart,--Sir John Gladstone spared neither pains nor money on his +education, sending him to Eton in 1821, at the age of twelve, where he +remained till 1827, learning chiefly Latin and Greek. Here he was the +companion and friend of many men who afterward became powerful forces in +English life,--political, literary, and ecclesiastical. At the age of +seventeen we find him writing letters to Arthur Hallam on politics and +literature: and his old schoolfellows testify to his great influence +among them for purity, humanity, and nobility of character, while he was +noted for his aptness in letters and skill in debate. In 1827 the boy +was intrusted to the care of Dr. Turner,--afterward bishop of +Calcutta,--under whom he learned something besides Latin and Greek, +perhaps indirectly, in the way of ethics and theology, and other things +which go to the formation of character. At the age of twenty he entered +Christ Church at Oxford--the most aristocratic of colleges--with more +attainments than most scholars reach at thirty, and was graduated in +1831 "double-first class," distinguished not only for his scholarship +but for his power of debate in the Union Society; throwing in his lot +with Tories and High Churchmen, who, as he afterward confesses, "did not +set a due value on the imperishable and inestimable principles of human +liberty." With strong religious tendencies and convictions, he +contemplated taking orders in the Church; but his father saw things +differently,--and thus, with academic prejudices which most graduates +have to unlearn, he went abroad in 1832 to complete the education of an +English gentleman, spending most of his time in Italy and Sicily, those +eternally interesting countries to the scholar and the artist, whose +wonders can scarcely be exaggerated,--affording a perpetual charm and +study if one can ignore popular degradation, superstition, unthrift, and +indifference to material and moral progress. He who enjoys Italy must +live in the past, or in the realm of art, or in the sanctuaries where +priests hide themselves from the light of what is most valuable in +civilization and most ennobling in human consciousness.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone returned to England in the most interesting and exciting +period of her political history since the days of Cromwell,--soon after +the great Reform Bill had been passed, which changed the principle of +representation in Parliament, and opened the way for other necessary +reforms. His personal <i>éclat</i> and his powerful friends gave him an +almost immediate entrance into the House of Commons as member for +Newark. The electors knew but little about him; they only knew that he +was supported by the Duke of Newcastle and preponderating Tory +interests, and were carried away by his youthful eloquence--those +silvery tones which nature gave--and that strange fascination which +comes from magnetic powers. The ancients said that the poet is born and +the orator is made. It appears to me that a man stands but little chance +of oratorical triumphs who is not gifted by nature with a musical voice +and a sympathetic electrical force which no effort can acquire.</p> + +<p>On the 29th of January, 1833, at the age of twenty-four, Gladstone +entered upon his memorable parliamentary career, during the ministry of +Lord Grey; and his maiden speech--fluent, modest, and earnest--was in +the course of the debate on the proposed abolition of slavery in the +British colonies. It was in reply to an attack made upon the management +of his father's estates in the treatment of slaves in Demerara. He +deprecated cruelty and slavery alike, but maintained that emancipation +should be gradual and after due preparation; and, insisting also that +slaves were private property, he demanded that the interests of planters +should be duly regarded if emancipation should take place. This was in +accordance with justice as viewed by enlightened Englishmen generally. +Negro emancipation was soon after decreed. All negroes born after August +1,1834, as well as those then six years of age were to be free; and the +remainder were, after a kind of apprenticeship of six years, to be set +at liberty. The sum of £20,000,000 was provided by law as a compensation +to the slave-owners,--one of the noblest acts which Parliament ever +passed, and one of which the English nation has never ceased to boast.</p> + +<p>Among other measures to which the reform Parliament gave its attention +in 1833 was that relating to the temporalities of the Irish Church, by +which the number of bishops was reduced from twenty-two to twelve, with +a corresponding reduction of their salaries. An annual tax was also +imposed on all livings above £300, to be appropriated to the +augmentation of small benefices. Mr. Gladstone was too conservative to +approve of this measure, and he made a speech against it.</p> + +<p>In 1834 the reform ministry went out of power, having failed to carry +everything before them as they had anticipated, and not having produced +that general prosperity which they had promised. The people were still +discontented, trade still languished, and pauperism increased rather +than diminished.</p> + +<p>Under the new Tory ministry, headed by Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Gladstone +became a junior lord of the Treasury. His great abilities were already +recognized, and the premier wanted his services, as Pitt wanted those of +Canning before he was known to fame. Shortly after Parliament assembled, +in February, 1835, Mr. Gladstone was made under-secretary for the +Colonies,--a very young man for such an office. But the Tory ministry +was short-lived, and the Whigs soon returned to power under Lord +Melbourne. During this administration, until the death of William IV. in +1837, there was no display of power or eloquence in Parliament by the +member for Newark of sufficient importance to be here noted, except +perhaps his opposition to a bill for the re-arrangement of church-rates. +As a Conservative and a High Churchman, Gladstone stood aloof from those +who would lay unhallowed hands on the sacred ark of ecclesiasticism. And +here, at least, he has always been consistent with himself. From first +to last he has been the zealous defender and admirer of the English +Church and one of its devoutest members, taking the deepest interest in +everything which concerns its doctrines, its ritual, and its connection +with the State,--at times apparently forgetting politics to come to its +support, in essays which show a marvellous knowledge of both theology +and ecclesiastical history. We cannot help thinking that he would have +reached the highest dignities as a clergyman, and perhaps have been even +more famous as a bishop than as a statesman.</p> + +<p>In the Parliament which assembled after Queen Victoria's accession to +the throne, in 1837, the voice of Gladstone was heard in nearly every +important discussion; but the speech which most prominently brought him +into public notice and gave him high rank as a parliamentary orator was +that in 1838, in reference to West India emancipation. The evils of the +negro apprenticeship system, which was to expire in 1840, had been laid +before the House of Lords by the ex-chancellor, Brougham, with his usual +fierceness and probable exaggeration; and when the subject came up for +discussion in the House of Commons Gladstone opposed immediate +abolition, which Lord Brougham had advocated, showing by a great array +of facts that the relation between masters and negroes was generally +much better than it had been represented. But he was on the unpopular +side of the question, and his speech excited admiration without +producing conviction,--successful only as a vigorous argument and a +brilliant oratorical display. The apprenticeship was cut short, and +immediate abolition of slavery decreed.</p> + +<p>At that time, Gladstone's "appearance and manners were much in his +favor. His countenance was mild and pleasant; his eyes were clear and +quick; his eyebrows were dark and prominent; his gestures varied but not +violent; his jet black hair was parted from his crown to his brow;" his +voice was peculiarly musical, and his diction was elegant and easy, +without giving the appearance of previous elaboration. How far his +language and thoughts were premeditated I will not undertake to say. +Daniel Webster once declared that there was no such thing as <i>ex +tempore</i> speaking,--a saying not altogether correct, but in the main +confirmed by many great orators who confess to laborious preparation for +their speech-making, and by the fact that many of our famous +after-dinner speakers have been known to send their speeches to the +Press before they were delivered. The case of Demosthenes would seem to +indicate the necessity of the most careful study and preparation in +order to make a truly great speech, however gifted an orator may be; and +those who, like the late Henry Ward Beecher, have astonished their +hearers by their ready utterances have generally mastered certain lines +of fact and principles of knowledge which they have at command, and +which, with native power and art of expression, they present in fresh +forms and new combinations. They do not so much add new stores of fact +to the kaleidoscope of oratory,--they place the familiar ones in new +positions, and produce new pictures <i>ad infinitum</i>. Sometimes a genius, +urged by a great impulse, may dash out in an untried course of thought; +but this is not always a safe venture,--the next effort of the kind may +prove a failure. No man can be sure of himself or his ground without +previous and patient labor, except in reply to an antagonist and when +familiar with his subject. That was the power of Fox and Pitt. What gave +charm to the speeches of Peel and Gladstone in their prime was the new +matter they introduced before debate began; and this was the result of +laborious study. To attack such matter with wit and sarcasm is one +thing; to originate it is quite another. Anybody can criticise the most +beautiful picture or the grandest structure, but to paint the one or +erect the other,--<i>hic labor, hoc opus est</i>. One of the grandest +speeches ever made, for freshness and force, was Daniel Webster's reply +to Hayne; but the peroration was written and committed to memory, while +the substance of it had been in his thoughts for half a winter, and his +mind was familiar with the general subject. The great orator is +necessarily an artist as much as Pascal was in his <i>Pensées</i>; and his +fame will rest perhaps more on his art than on his matter,--since the +art is inimitable and peculiar, while the matter is subject to the +conditions of future, unknown, progressive knowledge. Probably the most +effective speech of modern times was the short address of Abraham +Lincoln at Gettysburg; but this was simply the expression of the +gathered forces of his whole political life.</p> + +<p>In the month of July, 1837, Mr. Gladstone was married to Miss Catherine +Glyn, daughter of Sir Stephen Richard Glyn, of Hawarden Castle, in +Flintshire, Wales,--a marriage which proved eminently happy. Eight +children have been the result of this union, of whom but one has died; +all the others have "turned out well," as the saying is, though no one +has reached distinguished eminence. It would seem that Mr. Gladstone, +occupying for forty years so superb a social and public station, has not +been ambitious for the worldly advancement of his children, nor has he +been stained by nepotism in pushing on their fortunes. The eldest son +was a member of Parliament; the second became a clergyman; and the +eldest daughter married a clergyman in a prominent position as +headmaster of Wellington College.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to say when the welfare of the Church and the +triumph of theological truth have not received a great share of Mr. +Gladstone's thoughts and labors. At an early period of his parliamentary +career he wrote an elaborate treatise on the "State in its relation to +the Church." It is said that Sir Robert. Peel threw the book down on the +floor, exclaiming that it was a pity so able a man should jeopardize his +political future by writing such trash; but it was of sufficient +importance to furnish Macaulay a subject for one of his most careful +essays, in which however, though respectful in tone,--patronizing rather +than eulogistic,--he showed but little sympathy with the author. He +pointed out many defects which the critical and religious world has +sustained. In the admirable article which Mr. Gladstone wrote on Lord +Macaulay himself for one of the principal Reviews not many years ago, he +paid back in courteous language, and even under the conventional form of +panegyric, in which one great man naturally speaks of another, a still +more searching and trenchant criticism on the writings of the eminent +historian. Gladstone shows, and shows clearly and conclusively, the +utter inability of Macaulay to grasp subjects of a spiritual and +subjective character, especially exhibited in his notice of the +philosophy of Bacon. He shows that this historian excels only in +painting external events and the outward acts and peculiarities of the +great characters of history,--and even then only with strong prejudices +and considerable exaggerations, however careful he is in sustaining his +position by recorded facts, in which he never makes an error. To the +subjective mind of Gladstone, with his interest in theological subjects, +Macaulay was neither profound nor accurate in his treatment of +philosophical and psychological questions, for which indeed he had but +little taste. Such men as Pascal, Leibnitz, Calvin, Locke, he lets alone +to discuss the great actors in political history, like Warren Hastings, +Pitt, Harley; but in his painting of such characters he stands +pre-eminent over all modern writers. Gladstone does justice to +Macaulay's vast learning, his transcendent memory, and his matchless +rhetoric,--making the heaviest subjects glow with life and power, +effecting compositions which will live for style alone, for which in +some respects he is unapproachable.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I cannot conceive of two great contemporary statesmen more +unlike in their mental structure and more antagonistic in their general +views than Gladstone and Macaulay, and unlike also in their style. The +treatise on State and Church, on which Gladstone exhibits so much +learning, to me is heavy, vague, hazy, and hard to read. The subject, +however, has but little interest to an American, and is doubtless much +more highly appreciated by English students, especially those of the +great universities, whom it more directly concerns. It is the argument +of a young Oxford scholar for the maintenance of a Church establishment; +is full of ecclesiastical lore, assuming that one of the chief ends of +government is the propagation of religious truth,--a ground utterly +untenable according to the universal opinion of people in this country, +whether churchmen or laymen, Catholic or Protestant, Conservative +or liberal.</p> + +<p>On the fall of the Whig government in 1841, succeeded by that of Sir +Robert Peel, Mr. Gladstone was appointed vice-president of the Board of +Trade and master of the Mint, and naturally became more prominent as a +parliamentary debater,--not yet a parliamentary leader. But he was one +of the most efficient of the premier's lieutenants, a tried and faithful +follower, a disciple, indeed,--as was Peel himself of Canning, and +Canning of Pitt. He addressed the House in all the important +debates,--on railways, on agricultural interests, on the abolition of +the corn laws, on the Dissenters' Chapel Bills, on sugar duties,--a +conservative of conservatives, yet showing his devotion to the cause of +justice in everything except justice to the Catholics in Ireland. He was +opposed to the grant to Maynooth College, and in consequence resigned +his office when the decision of the government was made known,--a rare +act of that conscientiousness for which from first to last he has been +pre-eminently distinguished in all political as well as religious +matters. His resignation of office left him free to express his views; +and he disclaimed, in the name of law, the constitution, and the +history of the country, the voting of money to restore and strengthen +the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland. In deference to Sir Robert Peel +and the general cause of education his opposition was not bitter or +persistent; and the progressive views which have always marked his +career led him to support the premier in his repeal of the corn laws, he +having been, like his chief, converted to the free-trade doctrines of +Cobden. But the retirement of such prominent men as the Duke of +Buccleuch and Lord Stanley (of Alderley) from his ministry, as +protectionists, led to its breaking up in 1846 and an attempt to form a +new one under Lord John Russell, which failed; and Sir Robert Peel +resumed direction of a government pledged to repeal the corn laws of +1815. As the Duke of Newcastle was a zealous protectionist, under whose +influence Mr. Gladstone had been elected member of Parliament, the +latter now resigned his seat as member for Newark, and consequently +remained without a seat in that memorable session of 1846 which repealed +the corn laws.</p> + +<p>The ministry of Sir Robert Peel, though successful in passing the most +important bill since that of Parliamentary reform in 1832, was doomed; +as we have already noted in the Lecture on that great leader, it fell on +the Irish question, and Lord John Russell became the head of the +government. In the meantime, Mr. Gladstone was chosen to represent the +University of Oxford in Parliament,--one of the most distinguished +honors which he ever received, and which he duly prized. As the champion +of the English Church represented by the University, and as one of its +greatest scholars, he richly deserved the coveted prize.</p> + +<p>On the accidental death of Sir Robert Peel in 1850 the conservative +party became disintegrated, and Mr. Gladstone held himself aloof both +from Whigs and Tories, learning wisdom from Sir James Graham (one of the +best educated and most accomplished statesman of the day), and devoting +himself to the study of parliamentary tactics, and of all great +political questions. It was then that in the interval of public business +he again visited Italy, in the winter of 1850-51; this time not for mere +amusement and recreation, but for the health of a beloved daughter. +While in Naples he was led to examine its prisons (with philanthropic +aim), and to study the general policy and condition of the Neapolitan +government. The result was his famous letters to Lord Aberdeen on the +awful despotism under which the kingdom of the Two Sicilies groaned, +where over twenty thousand political prisoners were incarcerated, and +one-half of the Deputies were driven into exile in defiance of all law; +where the prisons were dens of filth and horror, and all sorts of unjust +charges were fabricated in order to get rid of inconvenient persons. I +have read nothing from the pen of Mr. Gladstone superior in the way of +style to these letters,--earnest and straightforward, almost fierce in +their invective, reminding one in many respects of Brougham's defence of +Queen Caroline, but with a greater array of facts, so clearly and +forcibly put as not only to produce conviction but to kindle wrath. The +government of Naples had sworn to maintain a free constitution, but had +disgracefully and without compunction violated every one of its +conditions, and perpetrated cruelties and injustices which would have +appalled the judges of imperial Rome, and defended them by a casuistry +which surpassed in its insult to the human understanding that of the +priests of the Spanish Inquisition.</p> + +<p>The indignation created by Gladstone's letters extended beyond England +to France and Germany, and probably had no slight influence in the final +overthrow of the King of Naples, whose government was the most unjust, +tyrannical, and cruel in Europe, and perhaps on the face of the globe. +Its chief evil was not in chaining suspected politicians of character +and rank to the vilest felons, and immuring them in underground cells +too filthy and horrible to be approached even by physicians, for months +and years before their mock-trials began, but in the utter perversion of +justice in the courts by judges who dared not go counter to the +dictation or even wishes of the executive government with its deadly and +unconquerable hatred of everything which looked like political liberty. +All these things and others Mr. Gladstone exposed with an eloquence +glowing and burning with righteous and fearless indignation.</p> + +<p>The Neapolitan government attempted to make a denial of the terrible +charges; but the defence was feeble and inconclusive, and the statesman +who made the accusation was not convicted even of exaggeration, although +the heartless tyrant may have felt that he was no more guilty than other +monarchs bent on sustaining absolutism at any cost and under any plea in +the midst of atheists, assassins, and anarchists. It is said that Warren +Hastings, under the terrible invectives of Burke, felt himself to be the +greatest criminal in the world, even when he was conscious of having +rendered invaluable services to Great Britain, which the country in the +main acknowledged. In one sense, therefore, a statement may be +rhetorically exaggerated, even when the facts which support it are +incontrovertible, as the remorseless logic of Calvin leads to deductions +which no one fully believes,--the <i>decretum quidem horribile</i>, as Calvin +himself confessed. But is it easy to convict Mr. Gladstone of other +exaggeration than that naturally produced by uncommon ability to array +facts so as to produce conviction, which indeed is the talent of the +advocate rather than that of the judge?</p> + +<p>The year 1848 was a period of agitation and revolution in every country +in Europe; and most governments, being unpopular, were compelled to +suppress riots and insurrections, and to maintain order under exceeding +difficulties. England was no exception; and public discontents had some +justification in the great deficiency in the national treasury, the +distress of Ireland, and the friction which new laws, however +beneficent, have to pass through.</p> + +<p>About this time Mr. Disraeli was making himself prominent as an orator, +and as a foe to the administration. He was clever in nicknames and witty +expressions,--as when he dubbed the Blue Book of the Import Duties +Committee "the greatest work of imagination that the nineteenth century +had produced." Mr. Gladstone was no match for this great parliamentary +fencer in irony, in wit, in sarcasm, and in bold attacks; but even in a +House so fond of jokes as that of the Commons he commanded equal if not +greater attention by his luminous statements of fact and the earnest +solemnity of his manner. Benjamin Disraeli entered Parliament in 1837, +as a sort of democratic Tory, when the death of King William IV. +necessitated a general election. His maiden speech as member for +Maidstone was a failure; not because he could not speak well, but +because a certain set determined to crush him, and made such a noise +that he was obliged to sit down, declaring in a loud voice that the time +would come when they should hear him. He was already famous for his +novels, and for a remarkable command of language; the pet of +aristocratic women, and admired generally for his wit and brilliant +conversation, although he provoked criticism for the vulgar finery of +his dress and the affectation of his manners. Already he was intimate +with Lord Lyndhurst, a lion in the highest aristocratic circles, and +universally conceded to be a man of genius. Why should not such a man, +at the age of thirty-three, aspire to a seat in Parliament? His future +rival, Gladstone, though five years his junior, had already been in +Parliament three years, and was distinguished as an orator before +Disraeli had a chance to enter the House of Commons as a supporter of +Sir Robert Peel; but his extraordinary power was not felt until he +attacked his master on the repeal of the corn laws, nor was he the rival +of Mr. Gladstone until the Tory party was disintegrated and broken into +sections. In 1847, however, he became the acknowledged leader of the +most conservative section,--the party of protection,--while Gladstone +headed the followers of Peel.</p> + +<p>On the disruption of the Whig administration in 1851 under Lord John +Russell, who was not strong enough for such unsettled times, Lord Derby +became premier, and Disraeli took office under him as chancellor of the +exchequer,--a post which he held for only a short time, the "coalition +cabinet" under Lord Aberdeen having succeeded that of Lord Derby, +keeping office during the Crimean war, and leaving the Tories out in the +cold until 1858.</p> + +<p>Of this famous coalition ministry Mr. Gladstone naturally became +chancellor of the exchequer, having exhibited remarkable financial +ability in demolishing the arguments of Disraeli when he introduced his +budget as chancellor in 1851; but although the rivalry between the two +great men began about this time, neither of them had reached the lofty +position which they were destined to attain. They both held subordinate +posts. The prime minister was the Earl of Aberdeen; but Lord Palmerston +was the commanding genius of the cabinet, controlling as foreign +minister the diplomacy of the country in stormy times. He was +experienced, versatile, liberal, popular, and ready in debate. His +foreign policy was vigorous and aggressive, raising England in the +estimation of foreigners, and making her the most formidable Power in +Europe. His diplomatic and administrative talents were equally +remarkable, so that he held office of some kind in every successive +administration but one for fifty years. He was secretary-at-war as far +back as the contest with Napoleon, and foreign secretary in 1830 during +the administration of Lord Grey. His official life may almost be said to +have been passed in the Foreign Office; he was acquainted with all its +details, and as indefatigable in business as he was witty in society, to +the pleasures of which he was unusually devoted. He checked the ambition +of France in 1840 on the Eastern question, and brought about the cordial +alliance between France and England in the Crimean war.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone did not agree with Lord Palmerston in reference to the +Crimean war. Like Lord Aberdeen, his policy was pacific, avoiding war +except in cases of urgent necessity; but in this matter he was not only +in the minority in the cabinet but not on the popular side,--the Press +and the people and the Commons being clamorous for war. As already +shown, it was one of the most unsatisfactory wars in English +history,--conducted to a successful close, indeed, but with an immense +expenditure of blood and money, and with such an amount of blundering in +management as to bring disgrace rather than glory on the government and +the country. But it was not for Mr. Gladstone to take a conspicuous part +in the management of that unfortunate war. His business was with the +finances,--to raise money for the public exigencies; and in this +business he never had a superior. He not only selected with admirable +wisdom the articles to be taxed, but in his budgets he made the +minutest details interesting. He infused eloquence into figures; his +audiences would listen to his financial statements for five continuous +hours without wearying. But his greatest triumph as finance minister was +in making the country accept without grumbling an enormous income tax +because he made plain its necessity.</p> + +<p>The mistakes of the coalition ministry in the management of the war led +to its dissolution, and Lord Palmerston became prime minister, Lord +Clarendon foreign minister, while Mr. Gladstone retained his post as +chancellor of the exchequer, yet only for a short time. On the +appointment of a committee to examine into the conduct of the war he +resigned his post, and was succeeded by Sir G.C. Lewis. At this crisis +the Emperor Nicholas of Russia died, and the cabinet, with a large +preponderance of Whigs, having everything their own way, determined to +prosecute the war to the bitter end.</p> + +<p>Yet the great services and abilities of Gladstone as finance minister +were everywhere conceded, not only for his skill in figures but for his +wisdom in selecting and imposing duties that were acceptable to the +country and did not press heavily upon the poor, thus following out the +policy which Sir Robert Peel bequeathed. Ever since, this has been the +aim as well as the duty of a chancellor of the exchequer whatever party +has been in the ascendent.</p> + +<p>From this time onward Mr. Gladstone was a pronounced free-trader of the +Manchester school. His conscientious studies into the mutual relations +of taxation, production, and commerce had convinced him that national +prosperity lay along the line of freedom of endeavor. He had taken a +great departure from the principles he had originally advocated, which +of course provoked a bitter opposition from his former friends and +allies. He was no longer the standard-bearer of the conservative party, +but swung more and more by degrees from his old policy as light dawned +upon his mind and experience taught him wisdom. Perhaps the most +remarkable characteristics of this man,--opinionated and strong-headed +as he undoubtedly is,--are to be found in the receptive quality of his +mind, by which he is open to new ideas, and in the steady courage with +which he affirms and stands by his convictions when once he has by +reasoning arrived at them. It took thirteen years of parliamentary +strife before the Peelites, whom he led, were finally incorporated with +the Liberal party.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone, now without office, became what is called an independent +member of the House, yet active in watching public interests, giving his +vote and influence to measures which he considered would be most +beneficial to the country irrespective of party. Meantime, the continued +mistakes of the war and the financial burdens incident to a conflict of +such magnitude had gradually produced disaffection with the government +of which Lord Palmerston was the head. The ministry, defeated on an +unimportant matter, but one which showed the animus of the country, was +compelled to resign, and the Conservatives--no longer known by the +opprobrious nickname of Tories--came into power (1858) under the +premiership of Lord Derby, Disraeli becoming chancellor of the exchequer +and leader of his own party in the House of Commons. But this +administration also was short-lived, lasting only about a year; and in +June, 1859, a new coalition ministry was again formed under Lord +Palmerston, which continued seven years, Mr. Gladstone returning to his +old post as chancellor of the exchequer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone was at this time fifty years of age. His political career +thus far, however useful and honorable, had not been extraordinary. Mr. +Pitt was prime minister at the age of twenty-eight. Fox, Canning, and +Castlereagh at forty were more famous than Gladstone. His political +promotion had not been as rapid as that of Lord John Russell or Lord +Palmerston or Sir Robert Peel. He was chiefly distinguished for the +eloquence of his speeches, the lucidity of his financial statements, and +the moral purity of his character; but he was not then pre-eminently +great, either for initiative genius or commanding influence. Aside from +politics, he was conceded to be an accomplished scholar and a learned +theologian,--distinguished for ecclesiastical lore rather than as an +original thinker. He had written no great book likely to be a standard +authority. As a writer he was inferior to Macaulay and Newman, nor had +he the judicial powers of Hallam. He could not be said to have occupied +more than one sphere, that of politics,--here unlike Thiers, Guizot, and +even Lyndhurst and Brougham.</p> + +<p>In 1858, however, Gladstone appeared in a new light, and commanded +immediate attention by the publication of his "Studies on Homer and the +Homeric Age,"--a remarkable work in three large octavo volumes, which +called into the controversial field of Greek history a host of critics, +like Mr. Freeman, who yet conceded to Mr. Gladstone wonderful classical +learning, and the more wonderful as he was preoccupied with affairs of +State, and without the supposed leisure for erudite studies. This +learned work entitled him to a high position in another sphere than that +of politics. Guizot wrote learned histories of modern political +movements, but he could not have written so able a treatise as +Gladstone's on the Homeric age. Some advanced German critics took +exceptions to the author's statements about early Greek history; yet it +cannot be questioned that he has thrown a bright if not a new light on +the actors of the siege of Troy and the age when they were supposed to +live. The illustrious author is no agnostic. It is not for want of +knowledge that in some things he is not up to the times, but for a +conservative bent of mind which leads him to distrust destructive +criticism. Gladstone has been content to present the ancient world as +revealed in the Homeric poems, whether Homer lived less than a hundred +years from the heroic deeds described with such inimitable charm, or +whether he did not live at all. He wrote the book not merely to amuse +his leisure hours, but to incite students to a closer study of the works +attributed to him who alone is enrolled with the two other men now +regarded as the greatest of immortal poets. Gladstone's admiration for +Homer is as unbounded as that of German scholars for Dante and +Shakspeare. It is hardly to be supposed that this work on the heroic age +was written during the author's retirement from office; it was probably +the result of his life-studies on Grecian literature, which he pursued +with unusual and genuine enthusiasm. Who among American statesmen or +even scholars are competent to such an undertaking?</p> + +<p>Two years after this, in 1860, Mr. Gladstone was elected Lord Rector of +the University of Edinburgh in recognition of his scholarly +attainments, and delivered a notable inaugural address on the work of +universities.</p> + +<p>The chief duty of Mr. Gladstone during his seven years connection with +the new coalition party, headed by Lord Palmerston, was to prepare his +annual budget, or financial statement, with a proposed scheme of +taxation, as chancellor of the exchequer. During these years his fame as +a finance minister was confirmed. As such no minister ever equalled him, +except perhaps Sir Robert Peel. My limits will not permit me to go into +a minute detail of the taxes he increased and those he reduced. The end +he proposed in general was to remove such as were oppressive on the +middle and lower classes, and to develop the industrial resources of the +nation,--to make it richer and more prosperous, while it felt the burden +of supplying needful moneys for the government less onerous. Nor would +it be interesting to Americans to go into those statistics. I wonder +even why they were so interesting to the English people. One would +naturally think that it was of little consequence whether duties on some +one commodity were reduced, or those on another were increased, so long +as the deficit in the national income had to be raised somehow, whether +by direct or indirect taxation; but the interest generally felt in these +matters was intense, both inside and outside Parliament. I can +understand why the paper-makers should object when it was proposed to +remove the last protective duty, and why the publicans should wax +indignant if an additional tax were imposed on hops; but I cannot +understand why every member of the House of Commons should be present +when the opening speech on the budget was to be made by the chancellor, +why the intensest excitement should prevail, why members should sit for +five hours enraptured to hear financial details presented, why every +seat in the galleries should be taken by distinguished visitors, and all +the journals the next day should be filled with panegyrics or +detractions as to the minister's ability or wisdom.</p> + +<p>It would seem that no questions concerning war or peace, or the +extension of the suffrage, or the removal of great moral evils, or +promised boons in education, or Church disestablishment, or threatened +dangers to the State,--questions touching the very life of the +nation,--received so much attention or excited so great interest as +those which affected the small burdens which the people had to bear; not +the burden of taxation itself, but how that should be distributed. I +will not say that the English are "a nation of shopkeepers;" but I do +say that comparatively small matters occupy the thoughts of men in every +country outside the routine of ordinary duties, and form the staple of +ordinary conversation,--among pedants, the difference between <i>ac</i> and +<i>et</i>; among aristocrats, the investigation of pedigrees; in society, +the comparative merits of horses, the movements of well-known persons, +the speed of ocean steamers, boat-races, the dresses of ladies of +fashion, football contests, the last novel, weddings, receptions, the +trials of housekeepers, the claims of rival singers, the gestures and +declamation of favorite play-actors, the platitudes of popular +preachers, the rise and fall of stocks, murders in bar-rooms, robberies +in stores, accidental fires in distant localities,--these and other +innumerable forms of gossip, collected by newspapers and retailed in +drawing-rooms, which have no important bearing on human life or national +welfare or immortal destiny. It is not that the elaborate presentations +of financial details for which Mr. Gladstone was so justly famous were +without importance. I only wonder why they should have had such +overwhelming interest to English legislators and the English public; and +why his statistics should have given him claims to transcendent oratory +and the profoundest statesmanship,--for it is undeniable that his +financial speeches brought him more fame and importance in the House of +Commons than all the others he made during those seven years of +parliamentary gladiatorship. One of these triumphantly carried through +Parliament a commercial reciprocity treaty with France, arranged by Mr. +Cobden; and another, scarcely less notable, repealed the duty on +paper,--a measure of great importance for the facilitation of making +books and cheapening newspapers, but both of which were desperately +opposed by the monopolists and manufacturers.</p> + +<p>Some of Mr. Gladstone's other speeches stand on higher ground and are of +permanent value; they will live for the lofty sentiments and the +comprehensive knowledge which marked them,--appealing to the highest +intellect as well as to the hearts of those common people of whom all +nations are chiefly composed. Among these might be mentioned those which +related to Italian affairs, sympathizing with the struggle which the +Italians were making to secure constitutional liberty and the unity of +their nation,--severe on the despotism of that miserable king of Naples, +Francis II., whom Garibaldi had overthrown with a handful of men. Mr. +Gladstone, ever since his last visit to Naples, had abominated the +outrages which its government had perpetrated on a gallant and aspiring +people, and warmly supported them by his eloquence. In the same friendly +spirit, in 1858, he advocated in Parliament a free constitution for the +Ionian islands, then under British rule; and when sent thither as +British commissioner he addressed the Senate of those islands, at Corfu, +in the Italian language. The islands were by their own desire finally +ceded to Greece, whose prosperity as an independent and united nation +Mr. Gladstone ever had at heart. The land of Homer to him was +hallowed ground.</p> + +<p>On one subject Mr. Gladstone made a great mistake, which he afterward +squarely acknowledged,--and this was in reference to the American civil +war. In 1862, while chancellor of the exchequer, he made a speech at +Newcastle in which he expressed his conviction that Jefferson Davis had +"already succeeded in making the Southern States of America [which were +in revolt] an independent nation." This opinion caused a great sensation +in both England and the United States, and alienated many +friends,--especially as Earl Russell, the minister of foreign affairs, +had refused to recognize the Confederate States. It was the indiscretion +of the chancellor of the exchequer which disturbed some of his warmest +supporters in England; but in America the pain arose from the fact that +so great a man had expressed such an opinion,--a man, moreover, for whom +America had then and still has the greatest admiration and reverence. It +was feared that his sympathies, like those of a great majority of the +upper classes in England at the time, were with the South rather than +the North, and chiefly because the English manufacturers had to pay +twenty shillings instead of eight-pence a pound for cotton. It was +natural for a manufacturing country to feel this injury to its +interests; but it was not magnanimous in view of the tremendous issues +which were at stake, and it was inconsistent with the sacrifices which +England had nobly made in the emancipation of her own slaves in the West +Indies. For England to give her moral support to the revolted Southern +States, founding their Confederacy upon the baneful principle of human +slavery, was a matter of grave lamentation with patriots at the North, +to say nothing of the apparent English indifference to the superior +civilization of the free States and the great cause to which they were +devoted in a struggle of life and death. It even seemed to some that the +English aristocracy were hypocritical in their professions, and at heart +were hostile to the progress of liberty; that the nation as a whole +cared more for money than justice,--as seemingly illustrated by the war +with China to enforce the opium trade against the protest of the Chinese +government, pagan as it was.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone had now swung away from the Conservative party. In 1864 he +had vigorously supported a bill for enlarging the parliamentary +franchise by reducing the limit of required rental from £10 to £6, +declaring that the burden of proof rested on those who would exclude +forty-nine-fiftieths of the working-classes from the franchise. He also, +as chancellor of the exchequer, caused great excitement by admitting +the unsatisfactory condition of the Irish Church,--that is, the Church +of England among the Irish people; sustained by their taxes, but +ministering to only one-eighth or one-ninth of the population. These and +other similar evidences of his liberal tendencies alienated his Oxford +constituency, the last people in the realm to adopt liberal measures; +and on the proroguement of Parliament in 1865, and the new election +which followed, he was defeated as member for the University, although +he was a High Churchman and the pride of the University, devoted to its +interests heart and soul. It is a proof of the exceeding bitterness of +political parties that such ingratitude should have been shown to one of +the greatest scholars that Oxford has produced for a century. It was in +this year also that on completing his term as Rector of the University +of Edinburgh he retired with a notable address on the "Place of Ancient +Greece in the Providential Order;" thus anew emphasizing his scholarly +equipment as a son of Oxford.</p> + +<p>The Liberal party, however, were generally glad of Gladstone's defeat, +since it would detach him from the University. He now belonged more +emphatically to the country, and was more free and unshackled to pursue +his great career, as Sir Robert Peel had been before him in similar +circumstances. Instead of representing a narrow-minded and bigoted set +of clergymen and scholars, he was chosen at once to represent quite a +different body,--even the liberal voters of South Lancashire, a +manufacturing district.</p> + +<p>The death of Lord Palmerston at the age of eighty, October 17, 1865, +made Earl Russell prime minister, while Gladstone resumed under the new +government his post as chancellor of the exchequer, and now became +formally the leader of the Liberals in the House of Commons.</p> + +<p>Irish questions in 1866 came prominently to the front, for the condition +of Ireland at that time was as alarming as it was deplorable, with +combined Fenianism and poverty and disaffection in every quarter. So +grave was the state of this unhappy country that the government felt +obliged to bring in a bill suspending the habeas corpus act, which the +chancellor of the exchequer eloquently supported. His conversion to +Liberal views was during this session seen in bringing in a measure for +the abolition of compulsory church-rates, in aid of Dissenters; but +before it could be carried through its various stages a change of +ministry had taken place on another issue, and the Conservatives again +came into power, with Lord Derby for prime minister and Disraeli for +chancellor of the exchequer and leader of his party in the House +of Commons.</p> + +<p>This fall of the Liberal ministry was brought about by the Reform Bill, +which Lord Russell had prepared, and which was introduced by the +chancellor of the exchequer amid unparalleled excitement. Finance +measures lost their interest in the fierceness of the political combat. +It was not so important a measure as that of the reform of 1832 in its +political consequences, but it was of importance enough to enlist +absorbing interest throughout the kingdom; it would have added four +hundred thousand new voters. While it satisfied the Liberals, it was +regarded by the Conservatives as a dangerous concession, opening the +doors too widely to the people. Its most brilliant and effective +opponent was Mr. Lowe, whose oratory raised him at once to fame and +influence. Seldom has such eloquence been heard in the House of Commons, +and from all the leading debaters on both sides. Mr. Gladstone outdid +himself, but perhaps was a little too profuse with his Latin quotations. +The debate was continued for eight successive nights. The final division +was the largest ever known: the government found itself in a minority of +eleven, and consequently resigned. Lord Derby, as has been said, was +again prime minister.</p> + +<p>The memorable rivalry between Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Disraeli was now +continued in deeper earnest, and never ceased so long as the latter +statesman was a member of the House of Commons, They were recognized to +be the heads of their respective parties,--two giants in debate; two +great parliamentary gladiators, on whom the eyes of the nation rested. +Mr. Gladstone was the more earnest, the more learned, and the more solid +in his blows. Mr. Disraeli was the more adroit, the more witty, and the +more brilliant in his thrusts. Both were equally experienced. The one +appealed to justice and truth; the other to the prejudices of the House +and the pride of a nation of classes. One was armed with a heavy dragoon +sword; the other with a light rapier, which he used with extraordinary +skill. Mr. G.W.E. Russell, in his recent "Life of Gladstone," quotes the +following passage from a letter of Lord Houghton, May, 1867:--</p> + +<p>"I met Gladstone at breakfast. He seems quite awed with the diabolical +cleverness of Dizzy, 'who,' he says, 'is gradually driving all ideas of +political honor out of the House, and accustoming it to the most +revolting cynicism,' There is no doubt that a sense of humor has always +been conspicuously absent from Mr. Gladstone's character."</p> + +<p>Sometimes one of these rival leaders was on the verge of victory and +sometimes the other, and both equally gained the applause of the +spectators. Two such combatants had not been seen since the days of Pitt +and Fox,--one, the champion of the people; the other, of the +aristocracy. What each said was read the next day by every family in the +land. Both were probably greatest in opposition, since more +unconstrained. Of the two, Disraeli was superior in the control of his +temper and in geniality of disposition, making members roar with +laughter by his off-hand vituperation and ingenuity in inventing +nicknames. Gladstone was superior in sustained reasoning, in lofty +sentiments, and in the music of his voice, accompanied by that solemnity +of manner which usually passes for profundity and the index of deep +convictions. As for rhetorical power, it would be difficult to say which +was the superior,--though the sentences of both were too long. It would +also be difficult to tell which of the two was the more ambitious and +more tenacious of office. Both, it is said, bade for popularity in the +measures they proposed. Both were politicians. There is, indeed, a great +difference between politicians and statesmen; but a man may be politic +without ceasing to be a lover of his country, like Lord Palmerston +himself; and a man may advocate large and comprehensive views of +statesmanship which are neither popular nor appreciated.</p> + +<p>The new Conservative ministry was a short one. Coming into power on the +defeat of the Liberal reform bill introduced by Mr. Gladstone, the Tory +government recognized the popular demand on which that bill had been +based; and though Mr. Disraeli coolly introduced a reform bill of their +own which was really more radical than the Liberal bill had been, and +although at the hands of the opposition it was so modified that the Duke +of Buccleuch declared that the only word unaltered was the initial +"whereas," its passage was claimed as a great Conservative victory. +Shortly after this, the Earl of Derby retired on account of ill-health, +and was succeeded by Mr. Disraeli as premier; but the current of +Liberalism set in so strongly in the ensuing elections that he was +forced to resign in 1868, and Mr. Gladstone now for the first time +became prime minister.</p> + +<p>This was the golden period of Gladstone's public services. During +Disraeli's short lease of power, Gladstone had carried the abolition of +compulsory church-rates, and had moved, with great eloquence, the +disestablishment of the English Church in Ireland. On the latter +question Parliament was dissolved, and an appeal made to the country; +and the triumphant success of the Liberals brought Mr. Gladstone into +power with the brightest prospects for the cause to which he was now +committed. He was fifty-nine years old before he reached the supreme +object of his ambition,--to rule England; but in accordance with law, +and in the interest of truth and justice. In England the strongest man +can usually, by persevering energy, reach the highest position to which +a subject may aspire. In the United States, political ambition is +defeated by rivalries and animosities. Practically the President reigns, +like absolute kings, "by the grace of God,"--as it would seem when so +many ordinary men, and even obscure, are elevated to the highest place, +and when these comparatively unknown men often develop when elected the +virtues and abilities of a Saul or a David, as in the cases of Lincoln +and Garfield.</p> + +<p>So great was the popularity of Mr. Gladstone at this time, so profound +was the respect he inspired for his lofty character, his abilities, his +vast and varied learning, his unimpeachable integrity and conscientious +discharge of his duties, that for five years he was virtually dictator, +wielding more power than any premier since Pitt, if we except Sir Robert +Peel in his glory. He was not a dictator in the sense that Metternich or +Bismarck was,--not a grand vizier, the vicegerent of an absolute +monarch, controlling the foreign policy, the army, the police, and the +national expenditures. He could not send men to prison without a trial, +or interfere with the peaceful pursuits of obnoxious citizens; but he +could carry out any public measure he proposed affecting the general +interests, for Parliament was supreme, and his influence ruled the +Parliament. He was liable to disagreeable attacks from members of the +opposition, and could not silence them; he might fall before their +attacks; but while he had a great majority of members to back him, +ready to do his bidding, he stood on a proud pedestal and undoubtedly +enjoyed the sweets of power. He would not have been human if he had not.</p> + +<p>Yet Mr. Gladstone carried his honors with dignity and discretion. He was +accessible to all who had claims upon his time; he was never rude or +insolent; he was gracious and polite to delegations; he was too +kind-hearted to snub anybody. No cares of office could keep him from +attending public worship; no popular amusements diverted him from his +duties; he was feared only as a father is feared. I can conceive that he +was sometimes intolerant of human infirmities; that no one dared to +obtrude familiarities or make unseemly jokes in his presence; that few +felt quite at ease in his company,--oppressed by his bearing, and awed +by his prodigious respectability and grave solemnity. Not that he was +arrogant and haughty, like a Roman cardinal or an Oxford Don; he was +simply dignified and undemonstrative, like a man absorbed with weighty +responsibilities. I doubt if he could unbend at the dinner-table like +Disraeli and Palmerston, or tell stories like Sydney Smith, or drink too +much wine with jolly companions, or forget for a moment the proper and +the conventional. I can see him sporting with children, or taking long +walks, or cutting down trees for exercise, or given to deep draughts of +old October when thirsty; but to see him with a long pipe, or dallying +with ladies, or giving vent to unseemly expletives, or retailing +scandals,--these and other disreputable follies are utterly +inconceivable of Mr. Gladstone. A very serious man may be an object of +veneration; but he is a constant rebuke to the weaknesses of our common +humanity,--a wet blanket upon frivolous festivities.</p> + +<p>Let us now briefly glance at the work done by Gladstone during the five +years when in his first premiership he directed the public affairs of +England,--impatient of opposition, and sensitive to unjust aspersions, +yet too powerful to be resisted in the supreme confidence of his party.</p> + +<p>The first thing of note he did was to complete the disestablishment of +the Irish Church,--an arduous task to any one lacking Mr. Gladstone's +extraordinary influence. Here he was at war with his former friends, and +with a large section of the Conservative party,--especially with +ecclesiastical dignitaries, who saw in this measure hostility to the +Church as well as a national sin. It was a dissolution of the union +between the Churches of England and Ireland; a divestment of the +temporalities which the Irish clergy had enjoyed; the abolition of all +ecclesiastical corporations and laws and courts in Ireland,--in short, +the sweeping away of the annuities which the beneficed clergy had +hitherto received out of the property of the Established Church, which +annuities were of the nature of freeholds. It was not proposed to +deprive the clergy of their income, so long as they discharged their +clerical duties; but that the title to their tithes should be vested in +commissioners, so that these church freeholds could not be bought and +sold by non-residents, and churches in decadence should be taken from +incumbents. The peerage rights of Irish bishops were also taken away. It +was not proposed to touch private endowments; and glebe-houses which had +become generally dilapidated were handed over to incumbents by their +paying a fair valuation. Not only did the measure sweep away the abuses +of the Establishment which had existed for centuries,--such as +endowments held by those who performed no duties, which they could +dispose of like other property,--but the <i>regium donum</i> given to +Presbyterian ministers and the Maynooth Catholic College grant, which +together amounted to £70,000, were also withdrawn, although compensated +on the same principles as those which granted a settled stipend to the +actual incumbents of the disestablished churches.</p> + +<p>By this measure, the withdrawal of tithes and land rents and other +properties amounted to sixteen millions; and after paying ministers and +actual incumbents their stipends of between seven or eight millions, +there would remain a surplus of seven or eight millions, with which Mr. +Gladstone proposed to endow lunatic and idiot asylums, schools for the +deaf, dumb, and blind, institutions for the training of nurses, for +infirmaries, and hospitals for the needy people of Ireland.</p> + +<p>There can be no rational doubt that this reform was beneficent, and it +met the approval of the Liberal party, being supported with a grand +eloquence by John Bright, who had under this ministry for the first time +taken office,--as President of the Board of Trade; but it gave umbrage +to the Irish clergy as a matter of course, to the Presbyterians of +Ulster, to the Catholics as affecting Maynooth, and to the conservatives +of Oxford and Cambridge on general principles. It was a reform not +unlike that of Thomas Cromwell in the time of Henry VIII., when he +dissolved the monasteries, though not quite so violent as the +secularization of church property in France in the time of the +Revolution. It was a spoliation, in one sense, as well as a needed +reform,--a daring and bold measure, which such statesmen as Lords +Liverpool, Aberdeen, and Palmerston would have been slow to make, and +the weak points of which Disraeli was not slow to assail. To the radical +Dissenters, as led by Mr. Miall, it was a grateful measure, which would +open the door for future discussions on the disestablishment of the +English Church itself,--a logical contingency which the premier did not +seem to appreciate; for if the State had a right to take away the +temporalities of the Irish Church when they were abused, the State would +have an equal right to take away those of the English Church should they +hereafter turn out to be unnecessary, or become a scandal in the eyes of +the nation.</p> + +<p>One would think that this disestablishment of the Irish Church would +have been the last reform which a strict churchman like Gladstone would +have made; certainly it was the last for a politic statesman to make, +for it brought forth fruit in the next general election. It is true that +the Irish Establishment had failed in every way, as Mr. Bright showed in +one of his eloquent speeches, and to remove it was patriotic. If Mr. +Gladstone had his eyes open, however, to its natural results as +affecting his own popularity, he deserves the credit of being the most +unselfish and lofty statesman that ever adorned British annals.</p> + +<p>Having thus in 1869 removed one important grievance in the affairs of +Ireland, Mr. Gladstone soon proceeded to another, and in February, 1870, +brought forward, in a crowded House, his Irish Land Bill. The evil which +he had in view to cure was the insecurity of tenure, which resulted in +discouraging and paralyzing the industry of tenants, especially in the +matter of evictions for non-payment of rent, and the raising of rents on +land which had been improved by them. As they were liable at any time +to be turned out of their miserable huts, the rents had only doubled in +value in ninety years; whereas in England and Scotland, where there was +more security of tenure, rents had quadrupled. This insecurity and +uncertainty had resulted in a great increase of pauperism in Ireland, +and prevented any rise in wages, although there was increased expense of +living. The remedy proposed to alleviate in some respect the condition +of the Irish tenants was the extension of their leases to thirty-three +years, and the granting national assistance to such as desired to +purchase the lands they had previously cultivated, according to a scale +of prices to be determined by commissioners,--thus making improvements +the property of the tenants who had made them rather than of the +landlord, and encouraging the tenants by longer leases to make such +improvements. Mr. Gladstone's bill also extended to twelve months the +time for notices to quit, bearing a stamp duty of half-a-crown. This +measure on the part of the government was certainly a relief, as far as +it went, to the poor people of Ireland. It became law on August 1, 1870.</p> + +<p>The next important measure of Mr. Gladstone was to abolish the custom of +buying and selling commissions in the army, which provoked bitter +opposition from the aristocracy. It was maintained by the government +that the whole system of purchase was unjust, and tended to destroy the +efficiency of the army by preventing the advancement of officers +according to merit. In no other country was such a mistake committed. It +is true that the Prussian and Austrian armies were commanded by officers +from the nobility; but these officers had not the unfair privilege of +jumping over one another's heads by buying promotion. The bill, though +it passed the Commons, was thrown out by the Lords, who wished to keep +up the aristocratic quality of army officers, among whom their younger +sons were enrolled. Mr. Gladstone cut the knot by advising her Majesty +to take the decisive step of cancelling the royal warrant under +which--and not by law--purchase had existed. This calling on the Queen +to do by virtue of her royal prerogative what could not be done by +ordinary legislation, though not unconstitutional, was unusual. True, a +privilege which royalty had granted, royalty could revoke; but in +removing this evil Mr. Gladstone still further alienated the army and +the aristocracy.</p> + +<p>Among other measures which the premier carried for the public good, but +against bitter opposition, were the secret ballot, and the removal of +University Tests, by which all lay students of whatever religious creed +were admitted to the universities on equal terms. The establishment of +national and compulsory elementary education, although not emanating +from Mr. Gladstone, was also accomplished during his government.</p> + +<p>It now began to be apparent that the policy of the prime minister was +reform wherever reform was needed. There was no telling what he would do +next. Had he been the prime minister of an absolute monarch he would +have been unfettered, and could have carried out any reform which his +royal master approved. But the English are conservative and slow to +change, no matter what party they belong to. It seemed to many that the +premier was iconoclastic, and was bent on demolishing anything and +everything which he disliked. Consequently a reaction set in, and Mr. +Gladstone's popularity, by which he had ruled almost as dictator, +began to wane.</p> + +<p>The settlement of the Alabama Claims did not add to his popularity. +Everybody knows what these were, and I shall merely allude to them. +During our Civil War, injuries had been inflicted on the commerce of the +United States by cruisers built, armed, and manned in Great Britain, not +only destroying seventy of our vessels, but by reason of the fear of +shippers, resulting in a transfer of trade from American to British +ships. It having been admitted by commissioners sent by Mr. Gladstone to +Washington, that Great Britain was to blame for these and other injuries +of like character, the amount of damages for which she was justly +liable was submitted to arbitration; and the International Court at +Geneva decided that England was bound to pay to the United States more +than fifteen million dollars in gold. The English government promptly +paid the money, although regarding the award as excessive; but while the +judicious rejoiced to see an arbitrament of reason instead of a resort +to war, the pugnacious British populace was discontented, and again +Gladstone lost popularity.</p> + +<p>And here it may be said that the foreign policy of Mr. Gladstone was +pacific from first to last. He opposed the Crimean war; he kept clear of +entangling alliances; he maintained a strict neutrality in Eastern +complications, and in the Franco-German embroilment; he never stimulated +the passion of military glory; he ever maintained that--</p> + + "There is a higher than the warrior's excellence."<br> + +<p>He was devoted to the development of national resources and the removal +of evils which militated against justice as well as domestic prosperity. +His administration, fortunately, was marked by no foreign war. Under his +guidance the nation had steadily advanced in wealth, and was not +oppressed by taxation; he had promoted education as wall as material +thrift; he had attempted to heal disorders in Ireland by benefiting the +tenant class. But he at last proposed a comprehensive scheme for +enlarging higher education in Ireland, which ended his administration.</p> + +<p>The Irish University Bill, which as an attempted compromise between +Catholic and Protestant demands satisfied neither party, met with such +unexpected opposition that a majority of three was obtained against the +government. Mr. Gladstone was, in accordance with custom, compelled to +resign or summon a new Parliament. He accepted the latter alternative; +but he did not seem aware of the great change in public sentiment which +had taken place in regard to his reforms. Not one of them had touched +the heart of the great mass, or was of such transcendent importance to +the English people as the repeal of the corn laws had been. They were +measures of great utility,--indeed, based on justice,--but were of a +kind to alienate powerful classes without affecting universal interests. +They were patriotic rather than politic. Moreover, he was not supported +by lieutenants of first-class ability or reputation. His immediate +coadjutors were most respectable men, great scholars, and men of more +experience than genius or eloquence. Of his cabinet, eight of them it is +said were "double-firsts" at Oxford. There was not one of them +sufficiently trained or eminent to take his place. They were his +subordinates rather than his colleagues; and some of them became +impatient under his dictation, and witnessed his decline in popularity +with secret satisfaction. No government was ever started on an ambitious +course with louder pretensions or brighter promises than Mr. Gladstone's +cabinet in 1868. In less than three years their glory was gone. It was +claimed that the bubble of oratory had burst when in contact with fact, +and the poor English people had awoke to the dreary conviction that it +was but vapor after all; that Mr. Disraeli had pricked that bubble when +he said, "Under his influence [Gladstone's] we have legalized +confiscation, we have consecrated sacrilege, we have condoned treason, +we have destroyed churches, we have shaken property to its foundation, +and we have emptied jails."</p> + +<p>Everything went against the government. Russia had torn up the Black Sea +treaty, the fruit of the Crimean war; the settlement of the "Alabama" +claims was humiliating; "the generous policy which was to have won the +Irish heart had exasperated one party without satisfying another. He had +irritated powerful interests on all sides, from the army to the licensed +victuallers."</p> + +<p>On the appeal to the nation, contrary to Mr. Gladstone's calculations, +there was a great majority against him. He had lost friends and made +enemies. The people seemingly forgot his services,--his efforts to give +dignity to honest labor, to stimulate self-denial, to reduce unwise +expenditures, to remove crying evils. They forgot that he had reduced +taxation to the extent of twelve millions sterling annually; and all the +while the nation had been growing richer, so that the burdens which had +once been oppressive were now easy to bear. It would almost appear that +even Gladstone's transcendent eloquence had lost in a measure its charm +when Disraeli, in one of his popular addresses, was applauded for saying +that he was "a sophistical rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance of +his own verbosity, and gifted with an egotistical imagination that can +at all times command an interminable and inconsistent series of +arguments to malign his opponents and to glorify himself,"--one of the +most exaggerated and ridiculous charges that was ever made against a +public man of eminence, yet witty and plausible.</p> + +<p>On the retirement of the great statesman from office in 1875, in sadness +and chagrin, he declined to continue to be the leader of his party in +opposition. His disappointment and disgust must have been immense to +prompt a course which seemed to be anything but magnanimous, since he +well knew that there was no one capable of taking his place; but he +probably had his reasons. For some time he rarely went to the House of +Commons. He left the leaders of his party to combat an opponent whom he +himself had been unable to disarm. Fortunately no questions came up of +sufficient importance to arouse a nation or divert it from its gains or +its pleasures. It was thinking of other things than budgets and the +small extension of the suffrage, or even of the Eastern question. It was +thinking more of steamships and stock speculations and great financial +operations, of theatres, of operas, of new novels, even of ritualistic +observances in the churches, than of the details of government in +peaceful times, or the fireworks of the great magician who had by arts +and management dethroned a greater and wiser man than himself.</p> + +<p>Although Mr. Gladstone was only occasionally seen, after his retirement, +in the House of Commons, it must not be supposed that his political +influence was dead. When anything of special interest was to be +discussed, he was ready as before with his voice and vote. Such a +measure as the bill to regulate public worship--aimed at suppressing +ritualism--aroused his ecclesiastical interest, and he was voluminous +upon it, both in and out of Parliament. Even when he was absent from his +seat, his influence remained, and in all probability the new leader of +the Liberals, Lord Hartington, took counsel from him. He was simply +taking a rest before he should gird on anew his armor, and resume the +government of the country.</p> + +<p>Meantime, his great rival Disraeli led his party with consummate skill. +He was a perfect master of tactics, wary, vigilant, courteous, +good-natured, seizing every opportunity to gain a party triumph. He was +also judicious in his selection of ministers, nor did he attempt to lord +it over them. He showed extraordinary tact in everything, and in nothing +more than in giving a new title to the Queen as Empress of India. But no +measures of engrossing interest were adopted during his administration. +He was content to be a ruler rather than a reformer. He was careful to +nurse his popularity, and make no parliamentary mistakes. At the end of +two years, however, his labors and cares told seriously on his health. +He had been in Parliament since 1837; he was seventy-one years of age, +and he found it expedient to accept the gracious favor of his sovereign, +and to retire to the House of Lords, with the title of Earl of +Beaconsfield, yet retaining the office of prime minister.</p> + +<p>During the five years that Mr. Gladstone remained in retirement, he was +by no means idle, or a silent spectator of political events. He was +indefatigable with his pen, and ever ready with speeches for the +platform and with addresses to public bodies. During this period three +new Reviews were successfuly started,--the "Fortnightly," the +"Contemporary," and the "Nineteenth Century,"--to all of which he was a +frequent contributor, on a great variety of subjects. His articles were +marked by characteristic learning and ability, and vastly increased his +literary reputation. I doubt, however, if they will be much noticed by +posterity. Nothing is more ephemeral than periodical essays, unless +marked by extraordinary power both in style and matter, like the essays +of Macaulay and Carlyle. Gladstone's articles would make the fortune of +ordinary writers, but they do not stand out, as we should naturally +expect, as brilliant masterpieces, which everybody reads and glows while +reading them. Indeed, most persons find them rather dry, whether from +the subject or the style I will not undertake to say. But a great man +cannot be uniformly great or even always interesting. How few men at +seventy will give themselves the trouble to write at all, when there is +no necessity, just to relieve their own minds, or to instruct without +adequate reward! Michael Angelo labored till eighty-seven, and Titian +till over ninety; but they were artists who worked from the love of art, +restless without new creations. Perhaps it might also be said of +Gladstone that he wrote because he could not help writing, since he knew +almost everything worth knowing, and was fond of telling what he knew.</p> + +<p>At length Mr. Gladstone emerged again from retirement, to assume the +helm of State. When he left office in 1875, he had bequeathed a surplus +to the treasury of nearly six millions; but this, besides the +accumulation of over five millions more, had been spent in profitless +and unnecessary wars. In 1876 a revolt against Turkish rule broke out in +Bulgaria, and was suppressed with truly Turkish bloodthirstiness and +outrage. "The Bulgarian atrocities" became a theme of discussion +throughout Europe; and in England, while Disraeli and his government +made light of them, Gladstone was aroused to all his old-time vigor by +his humanitarian indignation. Says Russell: "He made the most +impassioned speeches, often in the open air; he published pamphlets, +which rushed into incredible circulations; he poured letter after letter +into the newspapers; he darkened the sky with controversial post-cards; +and, as soon as Parliament met, he was ready with all his unequalled +resources of eloquence, argumentation, and inconvenient inquiry, to +drive home his great indictment against the Turkish government and its +friends and champions in the House of Commons."</p> + +<p>Four years of this vigorous bombardment, which included in its objects +the whole range of Disraeli's "brilliant foreign policy" of threat and +bluster, produced its effect, A popular song of the day gave a nickname +to this policy:--</p> + + "We don't want to fight, but, by Jingo, if we do,<br> + We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money, too."<br> + +<p>And <i>Jingoism</i> became in the mouths of the Liberals a keen weapon of +satire. The government gained the applause of aristocrats and populace, +but lost that of the plain people.</p> + +<p>The ninth Victorian Parliament was dying out, and a new election was at +hand. Mr. Gladstone, now at the age of seventy, went to Edinburgh, the +centre of Scottish conservatism, and in several masterly and memorable +speeches, showing that his natural vigor of mind and body had not +abated, he exposed the mistakes and shortcomings of the existing +government and presented the boons which a new Liberal ministry were +prepared to give. And when in 1880 the dissolution of Parliament took +place, he again went to Scotland and offered himself for the county of +Edinburgh, or Midlothian, making a series of astonishing speeches, and +was returned as its representative. The general elections throughout the +kingdom showed that the tide had again turned. There was an immense +Liberal gain. The Earl of Beaconsfield placed his resignation in the +hands of the Queen, and Gladstone was sent for,--once more to be prime +minister of England.</p> + +<p>And here I bring to a close this imperfect notice of one of the greatest +men of modern times,--hardly for lack of sufficient material, but +because it is hard to find a proper perspective in viewing matters which +are still the subject of heated contest and turmoil. Once again +Gladstone was seated on the summit of power, and with every prospect of +a long-continued reign. Although an old man, his vigor of mind and body +had not abated. He was never stronger, apparently, than when he was past +seventy years of age. At no previous period of his life was his fame so +extended or his moral influence so great. Certainly no man in England +was more revered than he or more richly deserved his honors. He entered +upon his second premiership with the veneration of the intelligent and +liberal-minded patriots of the realm, and great things were expected +from so progressive and lofty a minister. The welfare of the country it +was undoubtedly his desire and ambition to promote.</p> + +<p>But his second administration was not successful. Had the aged premier +been content to steer his ship of State in placid waters, nothing would +have been wanting to gratify moderate desires. It was not, however, +inglorious repose he sought, but to confer a boon for which all future +ages would honor his memory.</p> + +<p>That boon was seemingly beyond his power. The nation was not prepared to +follow him in his plans for Irish betterment. Indeed, he aroused English +opposition by his proposed changes of land-tenure in Ireland, and Irish +anger by attempted coercion in suppressing crime and disorder. This, and +the unfortunate policy of his government in Egypt, brought him to +parliamentary defeat; and he retired in June, 1885, declining at the +same time the honor of an earldom proffered by the Queen. The ministry +was wrecked on the rock which has proved so dangerous to all British +political navigators for a hundred years. No human genius seems capable +of solving the Irish question. It is apparently no nearer solution than +it was in the days of William Pitt. In attempts to solve the problem, +Mr. Gladstone found himself opposed by the aristocracy, by the Church, +by the army, by men of letters, by men of wealth throughout the country. +Lord Salisbury succeeded him; but only for a few months, and in January, +1886, Mr. Gladstone was for the third time called to the premiership. He +now advanced a step, and proposed the startling policy of Home Rule for +Ireland in matters distinctly Irish; but his following would not hold +together on the issue, and in June he retired again.</p> + +<p>From then until 1891 he was not in office, but he was indefatigably +working with voice and pen for the Irish cause. He made in his +retirement many converts to his opinions, and was again elevated to +power on the Irish question as an issue in 1891. Yet the English on the +whole seem to be against him in his Irish policy, which is denounced as +unpractical, and which his opponents even declare to be on his part an +insincere policy, entered upon and pursued solely as a bid for power. +It is generally felt among the upper classes that no concession and no +boons would satisfy the Irish short of virtual independence of British +rule. If political rights could be separated from political power there +might be more hope of settling the difficulty, which looks like a +conflict between justice and wisdom. The sympathy of Americans is mostly +on the side of the "grand old man" in his Herculean task, even while +they admit that self-government in our own large cities is a dismal +failure from the balance of power which is held by foreigners,--by the +Irish in the East, and by the Germans in the West. And those who see the +rapid growth of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, +especially in those sections of the country where Puritanism once had +complete sway, and the immense political power wielded by Roman Catholic +priests, can understand why the conservative classes of England are +opposed to the recognition of the political rights of a people who might +unite with socialists and radicals in overturning the institutions on +which the glory and prospects of a great nation are believed to be +based. The Catholics in Ireland constitute about seven-eighths of the +population, and English Protestants fear to deliver the thrifty +Protestant minority into the hands of the great majority armed with the +tyrannical possibilities of Home Rule. It is indeed a many-sided and +difficult problem. There are instincts in nations, as among individuals, +which reason fails to overcome, even as there are some subjects in +reference to which experience is a safer guide than genius or logic.</p> + +<p>Little by little, however, at each succeeding election the Liberal party +gained strength, not only in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but even in +England also, and their power in Parliament increased; until, in 1893, +after a long and memorable contest, the Commons passed Mr. Gladstone's +Home Rule bill by a pronounced majority. Then it was thrown out by the +Lords, with very brief consideration. This, and other overrulings of the +Lower House by the Peers, aroused deep feeling throughout the nation. In +March, 1894, the venerable Gladstone, whose impaired hearing and sight +warned him that a man of eighty-five--even though a giant--should no +longer bear the burdens of empire, retired from the premiership, his +last speech being a solemn intimation of the issues that must soon arise +if the House of Lords persisted in obstructing the will of the people, +as expressed in the acts of their immediate representatives in the House +of Commons.</p> + +<p>But, whatever the outcome of the Irish question, the claim of William +Ewart Gladstone to a high rank among the ruling statesmen of Modern +Europe cannot be gainsaid. Moreover, as his influence has been so +forceful a part of the great onward-moving modern current of democratic +enlargement,--and in Great Britain one of its most discreet and potent +directors,--his fame is secure; it is unalterably a part of the noblest +history of the English people.<a name="FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a> Mr. Gladstone died May 19, 1898. Perhaps at once the most +intimate and comprehensive account of him is "The Story of Gladstone's +Life," by Justin McCarthy. + +<p>AUTHORITIES.</p> + +<p>There is no exhaustive or satisfactory work on Gladstone which has yet +been written. The reader must confine himself at present to the popular +sketches, which are called biographies, of Gladstone, of Disraeli, of +Palmerston, of Peel, and other English statesmen. He may consult with +profit the Reviews of the last twenty-five years in reference to English +political affairs. For technical facts one must consult the Annual +Register. The time has not yet come for an impartial review of the great +actors in this generation on the political stage of either Europe +or America.</p> +<br><br> +<hr class="full"> +<pre> + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME X*** + +******* This file should be named 10641-h.txt or 10641-h.zip ******* + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/4/10641">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/4/10641</a> + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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